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referring initially to fig1 , it will be seen that the present invention includes a laser unit 10 for generating a laser beam 12 . more specifically , the laser beam 12 is preferably a pulsed laser beam , and the laser unit 10 generates pulses for the beam 12 that are less than one picosecond in duration ( i . e . they are femtosecond pulses ). in fig1 , the laser beam 12 is shown being directed along the visual axis 14 and onto the cornea 16 of the eye . also shown in fig1 is the anterior chamber 18 of the eye that is located immediately posterior to the cornea 16 . there is also a lens 20 that is located posterior to both the anterior chamber 18 and the sclera 22 . in fig2 , five ( 5 ) different anatomical tissues of the cornea 16 are shown . the first of these , the epithelium 24 defines the anterior surface of the cornea 16 . behind the epithelium 24 , and ordered in a posterior direction along the visual axis 14 , are bowman &# 39 ; s capsule ( membrane ) 26 , the stroma 28 , descemet &# 39 ; s membrane 30 and the endothelium 32 . of these tissues , bowman &# 39 ; s capsule 26 and the stroma 28 are the most important for the present invention . specifically , bowman &# 39 ; s capsule 26 is important because it is very elastic and has superior tensile strength . it therefore , contributes significantly to maintaining the general integrity of the cornea 16 . for the methods of the present invention , bowman &# 39 ; s capsule 26 must not be compromised ( i . e . weakened ). on the other hand , the stroma 28 is intentionally weakened . in this case , the stroma 28 is important because it transfers intraocular pressure from the aqueous in the anterior chamber 18 to bowman &# 39 ; s membrane 26 . any selective weakening of the stroma 28 will therefore alter the force distribution in the stroma 28 . thus , as envisioned by the present invention , liob in the stroma 28 can be effectively used to alter the force distribution that is transferred through the stroma 28 , with a consequent reshaping of the cornea 16 . bowman &# 39 ; s capsule 26 will then provide structure for maintaining a reshaped cornea 16 that will effectively correct refractive imperfections . while referring now to fig2 , it is to be appreciated that an important aspect of the present invention is an operational volume 34 which is defined in the stroma 28 . although the operational volume 34 is shown in cross - section in fig2 , this operational volume 34 is actually three - dimensional , and extends from an anterior surface 36 that is located at a distance 38 below bowman &# 39 ; s capsule 26 , to a posterior surface 40 that is located at a depth 0 . 9 t in the cornea 16 . both the anterior surface 36 and the posterior surface 40 essentially conform to the curvature of the stroma 28 . further , the operational volume 34 extends between the surfaces 36 and 40 through a radial distance 42 . for a more exact location of the anterior surface 36 of the operational volume , the distance 38 will be greater than about eight microns . thus , the operational volume 34 will extend from a depth of about one hundred microns in the cornea 16 ( i . e . a distance 38 below bowman &# 39 ; s capsule 26 ) to a depth of about four hundred and fifty microns ( i . e . 0 . 9 t ). further , the radial distance 42 will be approximately 5 . 0 millimeters . fig3 illustrates a plurality of cuts 44 envisioned for the present invention . as shown , the cuts 44 a , 44 b and 44 c are only exemplary , as there may be more or fewer cuts 44 , depending on the needs of the particular procedure . with this in mind , and for purposes of this disclosure , the plurality will sometimes be collectively referred to as cuts 44 . as shown in fig3 , the cuts 44 are made on respective cylindrical surfaces . although the cuts 44 are shown as circular cylindrical surfaces , these surfaces may be oval . when the cuts 44 are made in the stroma 28 , it is absolutely essential they be confined within the operational volume 34 . with this in mind , it is envisioned that cuts 44 will be made by a laser process using the laser unit 10 . and , that this process will result in laser induced optical breakdown ( liob ). further , it is important these cylindrical surfaces be concentric , and that they are centered on an axis ( e . g . the visual axis 14 ). further , each cut 44 has an anterior end 46 and a posterior end 48 . as will be best appreciated by cross - referencing fig3 with fig4 , the cuts 44 ( i . e . the circular or oval cylindrical surfaces ) have a spacing 50 between adjacent cuts 44 . preferably , this spacing 50 is equal to approximately two hundred microns . fig4 also shows that the anterior ends 46 of respective individual cuts 44 can be displaced axially from each other by a distance 52 . typically , this distance 52 will be around ten microns . further , the innermost cut 44 ( e . g . cut 44 a shown in fig4 ) will be at a radial distance “ r c ” that will be about 1 millimeter from the visual axis 14 . from another perspective , fig5 a shows the cuts 44 centered on the visual axis 14 to form a plurality of rings . in this other perspective , the cuts 44 collectively establish an inner radius “ r ci ” and an outer radius “ r co ”. preferably , each cut 44 will have a thickness of about two microns , and the energy required to make the cut 44 will be approximately 1 . 2 microjoules . as an alternative to the cuts 44 disclosed above , fig3 indicates that only arc segments 54 may be used , if desired . specifically , in all essential respects , the arc segments 54 are identical with the cuts 44 . the exception , however , is that they are confined within diametrically opposed arcs identified in fig3 and 5b by the angle “ α ”. more specifically , the result is two sets of diametrically opposed arc segments 54 . preferably , “ α ” is in a range between five degrees and one hundred and sixty degrees . an alternate embodiment for the arc segments 54 are the arc segments 54 ′ shown in fig5 c . there it will be seen that the arc segments 54 ′ like the arc segments 54 are in diametrically opposed sets . the arc segments 54 ′, however , are centered on respective axes ( not shown ) that are parallel to each other , and equidistant from the visual axis 14 . fig6 provides an overview of the bio - mechanical reaction of the cornea 16 when cuts 44 have been made in the operational volume 34 of the stroma 28 . as stated above , the cuts 44 are intended to weaken the stroma 28 . consequently , once the cuts 44 have been made , the intraocular pressure ( represented by arrow 56 ) causes a change in the force distribution within the stroma 28 . this causes bulges 58 a and 58 b that result in a change in shape from the original cornea 16 into a new configuration for cornea 16 ′, represented by the dashed lines . as intended for the present invention , this results in refractive corrections for the cornea 16 that improves vision . in addition to the cuts 44 disclosed above , the present invention also envisions the creation of a plurality of layers 60 that , in conjunction with the cuts 44 , will provide proper vision corrections . more specifically , insofar as the layers 60 are concerned , fig7 shows they are created on substantially flat annular shaped surfaces that collectively have a same inner diameter “ d i ” and a same outer diameter “ d o ”. it will be appreciated , however , that variations from the configurations shown in fig7 are possible . for example , the inner diameter “ d i ” may be zero . in that case the layers are disk - shaped . on the other hand , the outer diameter “ d o ” may be as much as 8 . 0 millimeters . further , the outer diameter “ d o ” may be varied from layer 60 a , to layer 60 b , to layer 60 c etc . from a different perspective , fig8 shows that the layers 60 can be stacked with a separation distance 62 between adjacent layers 60 equal to about ten microns . like the cuts 44 disclosed above , each layer 60 is approximately one micron thick . as mentioned above , the energy for liob of the layers 60 will typically be less than the laser energy required to create the cuts 44 . in the case of the layers 60 the laser energy for liob of the cuts 44 will be approximately 0 . 8 microjoules . for purposes of the present invention , various combinations of cuts 44 and layers 60 , or cuts 44 only , are envisioned . specifically , examples can be given for the use of cuts 44 and layers 60 to treat specific situations such as presbyopia , myopia , hyperopia and astigmatism . in detail , for presbyopia , a plurality of only cuts 44 needs to be used for this procedure . preferably , the cuts 44 are generally arranged as shown in fig4 and 5a . further , for presbyopia it is typical for there to be five individual cuts 44 that extend from an inner radius of about 1 mm to an outer radius of about 1 . 8 mm , with a 200 micron separation between adjacent cuts 44 . when hyperopia / presbyopia need to be corrected together , the cuts 44 will then preferably extend further to an outer radius of about 2 . 3 mm . for hyperopia , a combination of cylindrical cuts 44 and annular layers 60 can be used as shown in fig9 a . in this case , the plurality of cuts 44 is distanced from the visual axis 14 in a range between and inner radius “ r ci ” ( e . g . r ci = 1 mm ) and an outer radius “ r co ” ( e . g . r co = 3 mm ), wherein r co & gt ; r ci , and further wherein “ d i ” of the plurality of layers 60 is greater than 2r co ( d o & gt ; d i & gt ; 2r co ). for myopia , a combination of cylindrical cuts 44 and annular layers 60 can be used as generally shown in fig9 b . in this case a plurality of cuts 44 is distanced from the visual axis 14 beginning at a radial distance “ r c ”, and a plurality of layers 60 , with decreasing outer diameter “ d o ” in a posterior direction , is located inside the cuts 44 . more specifically , for this case “ d i ” of the plurality of layers 60 can be zero ( or exceedingly small ), and “ d o ” of each layer 60 in the plurality of layers 60 can be less than 2r c ( d o & lt ; 2r c ). and finally , for astigmatism , the portions of cylindrical cuts 44 that form arc segments 54 can be used alone ( see fig5 b and 5c ), or in combination with annular layers 60 ( see fig9 c ). specifically arc segments 54 of cylindrical cuts 44 are oriented on a predetermined line 64 that is perpendicular to the visual axis 14 . layers 60 can then be created between the arc segments 54 , if desired ( see fig9 c ). in a variation of the methodologies noted above , the present invention also envisions the creation of radial cuts 66 . the radial cuts 66 a and 66 b shown in fig9 d are only exemplary , and are herein sometimes referred to individually or collectively as radial cut ( s ) 66 . importantly , the radial cuts 66 are coplanar with the visual axis 14 , and they are always located within the operational volume 34 . as shown in fig9 d , each radial cut 66 is effectively defined by the following parameters : a deepest distance into the stroma 28 , z ( distal ) , a distance below bowman &# 39 ; s capsule 26 , z ( proximal ) , an inner radius , “ r i ”, an outer radius “ r o ”, and an azimuthal angle “ θ ” that is measured from a base line 68 . by setting values for these parameters , each radial cut 66 can be accurately defined . for example , as shown in fig9 d , the radial cut 66 a is established by the azimuthal angle θ 1 , while the radial cut 66 b has an azimuthal angle θ 2 . both of the radial cuts 66 a and 66 b have the same inner radius “ r i ” and the same outer radius “ r o ”. the z ( distal ) and z ( proximal ) will be established for the radial cuts 66 a and 66 b in a similar manner as described above for the cylindrical cuts 44 . while the particular method for intrastromal refractive surgery as herein shown and disclosed in detail is fully capable of obtaining the objects and providing the advantages herein before stated , it is to be understood that it is merely illustrative of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention and that no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown other than as described in the appended claims . | 0 |
hereinafter , an exemplary embodiment of the invention will be described in detail to allow those of ordinary skill in the art to easily carry out the invention . while the invention will be described in conjunction with the exemplary embodiment , it will be understood that present description is not intended to limit the invention to the exemplary embodiment . on the contrary , the invention is intended to cover not only the exemplary embodiment , but also various alternatives , modifications , equivalents and other embodiments , which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims . the polycarbonate used in the invention has a melt index of 2 - 30 g / 10 minutes ( 300 ° c ., 1 . 2 kg ). if the melt index is less than 2 g / 10 minutes , moldability is deteriorated , making it impossible to mold a complex structure . on the other hand , if a melt index is 30 g / 10 minutes or more , the physical properties of polycarbonate are degraded due to a low molecular weight of polycarbonate , reducing mechanical properties of a resin composition . the polycarbonate is used in the amount of 65 - 85 wt %, preferably 70 - 80 wt % with respect to the total weight of the polycarbonate resin composition . if the content is less than 65 wt %, the low - temperature impact strength is deteriorated . in contrast , if the content is higher than 85 wt %, the moldability and strength of resin are impaired . a butadiene - based impact modifier and an acryl - based impact modifier used in the invention improve the impact resistance by dispersing and absorbing an external impact on a polycarbonate resin composition . the butadiene - based impact modifier means a resin in which a main component of the impact modifier is butadiene rubber , such as , acrylonitrile - butadiene - styrene ( abs ) and methacrylate - butadiene - styrene . compared to an acryl - based impact modifier , the butadiene - based impact modifier has a poorer weather resistance , but a much better impact resistance . the composition according to the invention is reinforced with the acryl - based impact modifier that has a superior weather resistance but poor low - temperature brittleness . the poor low - temperature brittleness is remedied by an addition of a butadiene - based impact modifier at a level which does not significantly deteriorate the light resistance . the butadiene impact modifier is present in the amount of 2 - 6 wt % with respect to the total weight of the composition . if the amount is 2 wt % or less , there is no sufficient impact modification effect . in contrast , if the amount is higher than 6 wt %, the light resistance of a resin composition is deteriorated . in certain embodiments , the acryl - based impact modifier is present in the amount of 4 - 15 wt % with respect to the total composition . if its amount is less than 4 wt %, there is no sufficient impact modification effect . on the other hand , if its amount is higher than 15 wt %, strength will be deteriorated . examples of the butadiene - based impact modifier according to the invention may include , but not limited to , a copolymer grafted with a styrene - based aromatic vinyl compound , an acrylonitrile - based cyanide vinyl compound , and butadiene rubber ; a copolymer grafted with a styrene - based aromatic vinyl compound , an acrylonitrile - based cyanide vinyl compound , and methacrylate ; and equivalents thereof . examples of the acryl - based impact modifier according to the invention may include , but not limited to , a copolymer grafted with a styrene - based aromatic vinyl compound and an acrylonitrile - based cyanide vinyl compound and equivalents thereof . the styrene acrylonitrile used in the invention gives stiffness to a resin composition , and is present in the amount of 5 - 25 wt %, and preferably 8 - 15 wt % with respect to the total weight of the polycarbonate resin composition . if its amount is less than 5 wt % or less , the stiffness is insufficient . in contrast , if its amount is more than 25 wt %, the impact resistance is deteriorated . consequently , the resin composition cannot be used in various products . generally , an uv absorbent absorbs uv rays , a deterioration initiating factor of plastic , thereby improving plastic &# 39 ; s weather resistance . conventionally , a pindideamine - based uv stabilizer ( hals ) has been used to stabilize plastic by efficiently replacing harmful free radicals generated by uv energy in spite of a low uv absorption rate . a plastic resin using the uv stabilizer shows excellent light resistance , but is not suitable for the intended purposes in terms of physical properties and economic efficiency . the invention employs a uv absorbent which absorbs uv rays having a wavelength of 290 - 400 nm , has superior absorption efficiency , converts the absorbed uv rays into harmless thermal energy , disperses the thermal energy , and is also stable under light . in particular , the invention uses a hydroxybenzotriazole - based uv absorbent . when the hydroxybenzotriazole - based uv absorbent is added to an organic high - polymer compound , it selectively absorbs the uv rays and converts the uv rays into harmless thermal energy , slowing the aging of the composition and reducing the degradation of its mechanical physical property . in particular , when the uv absorbent is added to a composition including poly vinyl chloride ( pvc ), styrene - based , polyester - based , and acryl - based polymers , polyurethane , polycarbonate , polyvinylidene chloride ( pvdc ), and cellulose ester , it can achieve superior effects . efforts needed to be taken to prevent it from discoloring because the uv absorbent forms a complex salt under metallic ions , especially an alkylic substance . the uv absorbent is present preferably in the amount of 0 . 1 - 0 . 8 wt % with respect to the total weight of the composition . if the amount of the uv absorbent is less than 0 . 1 wt %, a sufficient light resistance cannot be obtained . in contrast , if the amount of the uv absorbent is higher than 0 . 8 wt %, the mechanical physical properties of the resin composition are deteriorated and excessive gas is generated , thereby deteriorating the exterior of a molded product . examples of the uv absorbent according to the invention includes , but not limited to , benzotriazole , benzotriazine , and equivalents thereof . according to the invention , in addition to the above components , additives such as an antioxidant , a lubricant , a silicon agent , a release agent , a pigment , an antistatic agent , an antimicrobial agent , a processing agent , an anti - friction / abrasion agent , and so forth may be properly added . to mix the composition , existing methods used in this field may be used , for example , heating - melting - mixing after dry - blending may be adopted . the mixing temperature is generally from 230 - 270 ° c ., or preferably 240 - 260 ° c ., so that the mixing is performed in such a way that components can maintain sufficient affinity physically and chemically . if the mixing temperature is lower than 230 ° c ., the resin composition is not melted such that mixing is not possible ; for a mixing temperature of 270 ° c . or higher , the physical properties of the product are degraded due to an excessive resin decomposition . physical property evaluation of the following example and comparative examples was performed in accordance with the following test method : 1 ) melt flow index ( mfi ): the evaluation was executed based on astm d1238 ( 250 ° c ., 2 . 16 kg ); 2 ) tensile strength : the evaluation was executed based on astm d 638 ( test piece &# 39 ; s thickness of 3 . 2 mm , 23 ° c . ); 3 ) flexural strength : the evaluation was executed based on astm d 790 ( test piece &# 39 ; s thickness of 3 . 2 mm , 23 ° c . ); 4 ) flexural modulus : the evaluation was executed based on astm d 790 ( test piece &# 39 ; s thickness of 3 . 2 mm , 23 ° c . ); 5 ) impact strength : the evaluation was executed based on astm d 256 ( test piece &# 39 ; s thickness of 3 . 2 mm , − 30 ° c . ); and 6 ) light resistance : an injection test piece of 10 × 10 × 3 mm was manufactured and exposed to uv rays using a light - resistance tester from atlas co ., ltd ., after which the exterior was evaluated by the naked eye . components were melted and blended / mixed at 250 ° c . by using a twin - screw extruder . the content of each component for manufacturing a pallet is shown in table 1 . test pieces for measuring physical properties were manufactured by using an injector . each test piece was then tested by the foregoing test method . the test results were shown in table 2 . the process was performed in the same manner as example 1 . the components were blended / mixed as shown in table 1 . test pieces for measuring physical properties were manufactured by using an injector . and , each test piece was tested by the foregoing test method . the test results were shown in table 2 . it can be seen in example 1 and comparative examples 1 and 2 of table 2 that the increase in the content of polycarbonate improves the impact strength , but it deteriorates fluidity , which causes problems in product processing . as the content of polycarbonate decreases , fluidity and strength are improved , but the low - temperature impact strength is sharply reduced . it can be seen in example 1 and comparative examples 3 - 5 that , when the content of an acryl - based and butadiene - based impact modifier decreases , the low - temperature impact strength is impaired . in contrast , when the content of an acryl - based impact modifier decreases , fluidity and strength are deteriorated . it can be seen in example 1 and comparative example 6 that when the content of a butadiene - based impact modifier is higher than a predetermined level , the low - temperature impact strength is reinforced and the physical property balance is maintained , but the light resistance is sharply deteriorated . therefore , to obtain a resin that has superior mechanical properties , such as , a melt flow index , tensile strength , flexural strength , flexural modulus , and izod strength , and excellent light resistance , it is desirable to use an optimal composition ratio as provided herein . as described above , the polycarbonate resin composition according to the invention provides superior light resistance while maintaining an excellent mechanical performance . it is applicable for non - painting uses of a product which needs light resistance as well as superior mechanical physical properties . specifically , the polycarbonate resin composition according to the invention can be used as exterior and interior materials of vehicles , housings of office equipment , or lamp housings , which are continuously exposed to light sources . while an exemplary embodiment of the invention has been described in detail , the protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the foregoing embodiment and it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and improvements using the basic concept of the invention defined in the appended claims are also included in the protection scope of the present invention . 1 . polycarbonate ( pc ): a melt index of 10 g / 10 minutes ( astm d1238 , 300 ° c ., 1 . 2 kgf ); 2 . butadiene - based impact modifier ( a - 1 ): butadiene content is 60 %, lg dry powder ; 3 . butadiene - based impact modifier ( a - 2 ): an impact modifier in which butadiene and acrylate form a core shell structure ( lg em - 500 ); 4 . acryl - based impact modifier ( b ): an impact modifier in which butylacrylate and styreneacrylate form a core shell structure ( ga 0306 ); 5 . styrene acrylonitrile ( c ): styrene acrylonitrile ( san , lg san81 hf ); and 6 . uv absorbent ( d ) ( ciba , tinuvin 329 ) | 2 |
referring now more particularly to fig1 a bank of solar heat collectors 10 has elongated , tubular outer casings 11a - c with reflective surfaces 12a - c away from the sun . the casings 11 surround outer cavities such as 13 . elongated , tubular inner sections such as 21 have darkened surfaces 22 and enclose inner cavities such as 23 . vanes such as 25 may be positioned within the inner cavities . solar rays such as 50a - c and 51 illustrate certain angles of incidence of the solar energy . fig2 shows a front view of a bank of one species of such collectors , also in cross section , at a much reduced scale , with the same elements similarly numbered . fig2 shows a first manner of coupling the collector elements 21 to a cold air plenum 31 , which has a cold air input 32 . this has couplings 33 between the casing 34 of the plenum and the lower ends of the inner sections 21 . the couplings 43 between the upper ends of the inner sections and the casings 44 of the hot air plenum 41 are also seen , along with the hot air output 42 . these couplings are more clearly seen in fig3 which is an enlarged side view , also in cross section , of one of the collector elements of the species of fig2 with the same elements , again , similarly numbered . this figure shows , more clearly , the couplings 33 and 43 mentioned above . this figure also shows the lower end 14 of an outer casing 11 sealed at 15 to the lower end of the elongated inner section 21 , and the upper end 16 of the outer casing 11 sealed at 17 to the upper end of the inner section . fig3 also shows a valve 24 to prevent the reversal of the flow of air . fig4 shows a front view of a bank of another species of the collectors , at a much reduced scale , with similar elements again similarly numbered . the cold air plenum 35 is here at the upper end , along with the hot air plenum 45 , and the casing 38 of the cold air plenum 35 is connected to the upper ends of the outer casings 11 , as at 37 , while the casing 48 of the hot air plenum 45 is coupled , as at 47 , to the upper ends of the inner section 21 . this is seen more clearly in the enlarged side view in fig5 also in cross section , of one of the collector elements of fig4 . fig5 shows more clearly a lower end closure 18 of the outer casing 11 and the coupling 37 of the upper end of the outer casing 11 and the coupling 37 of the upper end of the outer casing to the cold air plenum casing 38 . the casing 48 of the hot air plenum 45 is also seen coupled at 47 to the upper ends of the inner section 21 . in operation , the rays of solar energy 50 , in a plane perpendicular to the collectors , strike the collectors 11 as shown in fig1 . the direct noon - day solar rays would be as shown in element a , and would be symmetrical on both sides of the collector . angled solar rays of late morning or early afternoon are shown in element b , and the most oblique , still - useable rays of early morning or late afternoon , are shown in element c . this illustrates how all of the sun &# 39 ; s rays will be either refracted or reflected to impinge on the heat absorbing surface 22 of the inner collector section 21 during the useful orbit of the sun . it should be noted that the angled solar rays may be reflected off an outer casing into an adjoining collector or may pass through the outer casing to an adjoining collector . in any case , substantially all of the solar energy reaches one of the collector elements 21 in one way or another . it should be noted that if the inner section 21 were any smaller , or below the axis of its outer casing 11 , the portion of the solar energy at the ray 51 , for example , passing through the axis would be reflected back into space , and its energy would be lost . conversely , any enlargement of the inner section 21 would not gain any additional solar energy and would only add expense , weight and inefficiency . in other words , any change in the size ,-- or the shape for that matter -- or the position of the inner section would decrease efficiency . since these collectors should be mounted in a near - vertical plane -- substantially normal to the plane of the solar winter orbit -- the heated gasses within the inner sections 21 will tend to rise to cause circulation between the cold and hot air plenums which couple the collectors to the storage areas , not shown . the parallel coupling of the sections , as shown , would be indicated because the relative size of the inner secions , in a practical embodiment of this device , would be small , and the parallel arrangement would provide the minimum impedance to the flow of air , and the best circulation . the relatively small sizes of the inner sections would be dictated by practical mechanical consideration , since they must be a function of the size of the corresponding outer casings . large outer casings would be heavier , more cumbersome , more subject to damage , and more difficult to replace . they would also be more difficult to seal , as well as to evacuate , and would require larger plenums , but they would provide larger inner sections . however , larger inner sections , while having less impedance to the flow of gasses , would also have less contact with the gasses and less heating effect . reducing the sizes of the outer and inner sections to increase the contact between the inner sections and the gasses must inevitably increase the impedance to , and reduce , the air flow , ultimately to an ineffectual amount . in other words there must be a compromise between the heating effect of the inner section and the free flow of the gasses or air . additional contact between the air and the heating medium may be achieved by vanes such as 25 , projecting into the inner cavity 23 . these vanes , also of highly conductive material to carry the heat from the walls of the highly conductive material of the inner sections further into the inner cavity . they may be of any convenient size and shape , and of any number . however , the compromise , must again , be the increase in heat exchange as against the inevitable decrease in air flow . these vanes may be axial , or they may be spiraled or may include other convolutions to agitate or swirl or otherwise bring the air as much as possible in contact with the sources of heat . the sizes and thicknesses of the highly conductive tubing and of the vanes would be dictated by effective heat transfer as well as by cost . however , with the relatively low pressures involved and the low mass of the air , they can be much thinner than would necessary for a liquid heating collector . the species of fig1 - 3 may have the upper and lower ends , 16 and 14 respectively , sealed around the inner sections 21 so that the outer cavities may be evacuated . this would provide virtually no convection losses in the outer cavities and a high efficiency for this relatively simple collector . the vacuum sealing of the outer and inner casing may be by any available techniques , including direct metal to glass seal , or conventional gaskets . problems arising due to the differences in expansion between the metal of the inner section and the glass or plastic of the outer casing may be overcome by the use of sylphons of other well - known techniques for accommodating the expansion of the various materials without compromising the vacuum in the outer cavity . the coupling of the inner sections to the plenums such as 33 or 43 will probably be metal - to - metal , and may be a simple solder or glue joint since relatively low pressures are to be encountered . it is obvious that any secure pipe coupling may be used here . it would also be desirable to provide a coupling that can be changed , without too much difficulty , to permit the repair or replacement of a collector element . the species of fig4 and 5 suggests that instead of sealing and evacuating the outer cavity 13 , it may be connected so that cold air may be drawn down through the outer cavity 13 by the rising , warmed gasses in the inner cavity 23 . this would have certain advantages , such as eliminating the need for metal - to - glass seals and expansion problems , as well as air pressure differential problems to maintain the vacuum . this would require less strength of the outer casing , as well as the inner section , and put both the cold air and the hot air output adjacent to each other . the cold air , being a poor heat conductor , may have minimal heat losses through the glass of the outer casing , or between the heated surface of the inner section and the outer casing , and would , in fact , be preheated by the contact with the heat absorbing surface 22 of the inner section . in this species , the spacing between the lower , closed end 18 of the outer casing , and the lower open end 28 of the inner section should be sufficient to permit the free flow of air . while any gasses may be heated in this solar collector within the limitations of materials that are available and pressures that may be required , it is assumed that the most commonly used gas would be air under atmospheric pressures . this is most readily available and would enhance the simplicity and adaptability of this collector . while negative , or counterflow of air would not appear to be a problem in a system using these collectors , simple flaps such as 24 of fig3 may be provided in any or all of the inner sections to be opened by the pressure of the hot air rising , and to close when there is no more heat coming in . similar flaps or valves of well known types could also be used at the inputs or the outputs of the plenums . the solar - heated hot air output may be connected directly to a hot air heating system to supplement or replace the conventional system during sunny hours , or the solar - heated hot air may be diverted to a heat storage bin of any well - known type , that may contain rocks , for example , as a heat storage medium . the size of such a storage facility will be dictated by the amount of heat available or desired , and by practical considerations . obviously the larger the storage facility , the more heat energy that can be stored . the size of the collectors , and the number of collector units will also be a matter of practical choice , involving the amount of heat required and the amount of heat storage available . obviously , the more collectors , the more of the available solar heat that can be collected to be used or stored . the primary target of this invention is to provide a natural , gravity flow of heated air , for economy and simplicity , and under ideal -- or reasonably normal -- conditions , this system would be self operating . however , where the existing system may already have a pump , it may certainly be used . or , where complex air passages make natural gravity circulation inadequate , or where the performance in general may be improved by the addition of a pump , it would be quite easy to adapt one . the reflective surfaces may be applied to the inside of the outer casings away from the sun , as shown in 12a and 12b of fig1 or on the outside as shown in 12c . it should extend about half - way up in any case . the inner reflective coating can be applied by well - known techniques , and will be protected by the sealed container . the outer reflective coating can be similarly applied , or merely glued to the outer surface . the logical connection of the units would be in parallel , as noted earlier , and it is assumed that the identical units would have the same flow . however , if , for any reason , there is variation in the flow , this can be compensated for mechanically by automatic or manual valves . it is to be understood that i do not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described since obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art . | 8 |
referring now to the drawings , wherein like reference numerals indicate like parts throughout the views , there is shown an upper arm portion of a sewing machine frame or housing 2 having a transverse web or wall 1 . journaled for turning movement in the frame is a shaft 4 which may be supported for rotation in bushing or bearings 3 carried by the transverse web . the sewing machine is provided with a pressurized lubrication system including plumbing arranged internally of the machine for delivering lubricant to the machine parts requiring same . the plumbing of the present invention includes a series of interconnected passageways for distributing lubricant throughout the machine . in the illustrated embodiment , the upper shaft of the machine 4 is provided with a longitudinal lubricant conducting bore 5 with a radial port 6 arranged in communication with the bore 5 . a collar or sleeve 8 formed with an annular grove 9 , slightly larger than the external diameter of shaft 4 , is arranged in the wall 1 . a port 7 , formed in collar 8 , leads from the annular groove 9 to the exterior of the collar . a lubricant conducting passageway 11 is effective to allow communication between the collar port 7 and a passageway or duct 12 extending transverse to the lubricant conducting bore 5 . one end of the passageway 12 opens to the exterior of housing 2 . the passageway 12 is connected , as at 13 , with a lubricant conduit 14 leading from a lubricant pumping device ( not shown ). in this manner , a forced flow of lubricant may be delivered to passageway 12 from whence it flows through the interconnecting passageways 11 , 7 , and 6 to be lubricant conducting bore 5 and is distributed to parts requiring lubrication . a transparent dome 17 is arranged at the open end of duct 12 . the dome 17 extends exteriorally of the housing and is secured in an opening 15 in the top cover 16 of the machine . a hydraulically actuated indicator 18 , arranged in communication with and positionally sensitive to fluid pressures in the lubrication system , is arranged for sliding movement relative to the machine frame . in its present form , the indicator includes a stem portion and an integrally formed mushroom shaped cap portion 19 . the stem portion should preferably be made of one piece steel construction . the term &# 34 ; one piece construction &# 34 ; should not , however , be literally construed . for purpose of this description , the concept of one piece or unitary construction should be interpreted to mean that the stem or body portion of the indicator is smooth and uniformly sized and is free of seals , springs balls , detents or other allied mechanisms not required for effective and efficient operation of the present invention . the stem portion of the indicator is arranged for free sliding movement in the passageway opening to the dome 17 . as such , the indicator , in its preferred form , is limited to reciprocal linear movement . the body portion of the indicator has a slightly smaller but similar cross sectional shape to that of the passageway in which it is disposed . the cap portion of the indicator may be treated such that it is conspicuously visible and acts as a signal when projected toward the dome as will be discussed hereinafter . the downward movement of the indicator is limited by having the cap portion seat in a step 21 formed at the upper end of duct 12 . as best seen in fig2 the seat 21 opens , on one side , to a recess 22 which , in turn , opens to the interior cavity of the machine . when it is necessary to add lubricant to the machine , cap 17 may be removed and lubricant added through the bore 15 . passing through the bore 15 , the added lubricant will pass from the seat 21 into the recess from whence it drains into the machine reservoir ( not shown ). the indicator 18 is normally biased toward the position shown in solid lines in fig1 . in this position , the cap portion is not visible within the dome 17 . in the preferred embodiment , when the indicator is in its initial or nonvisible position , the depending stem portion operatively extends between the lubricant supplying duct along the longitudinal receiving bore . that is , the depending stem covers the passageway 11 whereby preventing lubricant flow through that portion of the system serially arranged in communication with the lubricant supplying duct . it will be appreciated , however , that the present invention would serve the same function if arranged in a parallel relationship with the lubrication system . when the machine is operated , the lubricant pump forces pressurized lubricant into conduit 14 which exits into the duct 12 . the pressurized lubricant flow into the duct acts upon the indicator whereby displacing same . in the illustrated embodiment , the lubricant continually displaces the indicator until the depending stem portion uncovers or opens the interconnecting passageways 11 , 7 , 6 , and 5 whereby allowing lubricant to flow through the system . for so long as the pressure in the system is sufficient to overcome the normal resistance of indicator 18 , the system remains open . when the pressure in duct 12 displaces the indicator stem portion , the cap portion is projected into the transparent dome 17 , as shown in phantom lines in fig1 whereat it is exterially visible . thus , lubricant flow is indicated as a function of the reciprocal position of the indicator . it will be further appreciated that any lubricant seepage from around the indicator is returned to the lubricant reservoir via the step 21 and recess 22 . thus , it is apparent that there has been provided , in accordance with the invention , a lubricant sensing device for sewing machines that fully satisfies the objects , aims , and advantages set forth above . while the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof , it is evident that many alternatives , modifications , and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description . accordingly , it is intended to embrace all such alternatives , modifications , and variations as fall within the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims . | 3 |
mcpds is basically a software application for producing medication schedules , to be used within the scope of this business model . the system is designed to be compatible with operating systems for : ( 1 ) personal computers , ( 2 ) the internet , ( 3 ) hand - held wireless data storage and transfer devices , ( 4 ) mobile medication dispensers . ( 1 ) using the office personal computer system fig1 item 10 , a secure login code is entered to access physician &# 39 ; s account in mcpds internet online database through wired or wireless connections to a local area network ( lan ) device fig1 item 13 , internet connection router fig1 item 15 , appropriate dial - up - cable - dsl modem fig1 item 14 , to the internet providers network fig1 item 18 . at least one unique and secure account access code is assigned to each physician master account containing all patient data . individual patient accounts may again be password protected to provide a second level of security for patient medical information . ( 2 ) after successful secure login to the physician &# 39 ; s patient database account , separate patient accounts may be created and accessed . each patient file is unique and accessible only by physician &# 39 ; s unique login security code . ( 3 ) every database and individual account access is marked and logged . every access and data entry activity to accounts are automatically date and time stamped by the mcpds program . ( 4 ) prescribed medication data is entered into an individual patient database , if multiple substances are prescribed , the mcpds program will generate an mcpds medication schedule and monograph report for review by both physician and patient which can then be printed and delivered to the patient . other substances such as supplements and herbs , presently being consumed , may also be entered and the monographs for those elements will also be used by mcpds to develop the medication schedule . see fig1 and 20 for logic flow detail operations performed by the mcpds program in development of the medication schedule . ( 5 ) all information , notes and comments necessary to administer medical care for an individual patient are entered into that patient &# 39 ; s record files in the mcpds secure internet online database 20 , which can be accessed by authorized persons , from any location through an internet connection . physicians may also maintain their own internet server computer system for added security and restricted possession of the information stored in the mcpds server database . ( 6 ) through the mcpds internet network , a secure transmission of prescription orders may be forwarded to a designated pharmacy . the physician may opt to electronically transmit the prescription order directly to the patient &# 39 ; s pharmacy computer via secure email , eliminating copy errors and mistranslation of prescription details . ( 1 ) using the physician &# 39 ; s wireless mobile mcpds hand - held communication device , fig1 item 22 , a secure login code is entered to access physician &# 39 ; s account in mcpds internet online database through wireless connections to a transmitter / receiver computer interface , fig1 item 11 , connected to an office personal computer ( pc ), fig1 item 10 , local area network ( lan ) device fig1 item 13 , internet connection router fig1 item 15 , appropriate dial - up - cable - dsl modem fig1 item 14 , to the internet providers network fig1 item 18 ; or through wireless telephone network , fig1 item 21 , public switched telephone network (( pstn ), fig1 item 17 , office private branch exchange or telephone , fig1 item 16 , lan , fig1 item 13 , through router , fig1 item 15 , modem , fig1 item 14 , to the internet providers network fig1 item 18 , and on to the mcpds server , fig1 item 20 . ( 2 ) secure access , data entry and use of the mcpds database functions are identical to those used with the physician &# 39 ; s office pc . ( 1 ) in the hospital , a physician may use the mcpds secure login functions to access private individual patient accounts through internet mcpds online database access via physician &# 39 ; s own wireless hand - held communication device , the hospital mcpds pc , or any computer terminal with an internet connection . physician &# 39 ; s private mcpds database may be accessed in the same manner described in paragraphs ( a )( 1 ) through ( a )( 6 ) to administer individual patient accounts and data entry , and also to create new patient accounts . ( 2 ) the physician may also directly and securely transmit prescription orders to the hospital pharmacy eliminating copy errors and mistranslation of prescription details . ( 3 ) the hospital pharmacy may then download a hospital patient &# 39 ; s medication schedule to an mcpds medication safety dispenser ( msd ). the msd display panel lists the patient &# 39 ; s ( 1 ) name , ( 2 ) id number , ( 3 ) room number , ( 4 ) physician &# 39 ; s name , and ( 5 ) physician contact info , and ( 6 ) time / date of next medication dispenser event . see fig9 through fig1 for logic flow detail operations performed by the mcpds program in development of the medication schedule and programming of an mcpds medication safety dispenser . ( 4 ) the programmed msd is then sent from the hospital pharmacy to the appropriate nurse &# 39 ; s station . all pharmaceuticals are secured in the individual patient msd units . upon nurse &# 39 ; s station receipt , delivery is verified by automatic login to the proper nursing station mcpds computer , preventing accidental delivery to any other hospital nurse &# 39 ; s station . if the msd will not login or is not logged , a notification is sent to the hospital pharmacy identifying medication delivery failure and prompting immediate response to recover the missing msd . ( 5 ) after proper delivery of an msd to the nurse &# 39 ; s station , the patient &# 39 ; s medication may be administered within the proper msd medication delivery protocol . once the msd is loaded with prescribed pharmaceuticals , the unit will only dispense medication when the patient &# 39 ; s id bracelet is scanned and identified by the msd unit electronic reader at the scheduled medication time . the patient &# 39 ; s msd must be placed in proximity to the patient &# 39 ; s hospital id bracelet for scanning . the msd patient identification protocol will mitigate or totally eliminate medicating a patient with anything other than the physician prescribed pharmaceuticals . ( 6 ) after all msd medication safety delivery protocols have been satisfied and the patient has consumed scheduled medication , the msd unit is placed in data transmission proximity of the nurse &# 39 ; s station mcpds computer which receives and logs the medication delivery event into the mcpds hospital network database which then updates pharmacy and physician mcpds accounts . ( 1 ) referring initially to fig2 using the pharmacy personal computer system fig2 item 10 , a secure login code is entered to access pharmacist &# 39 ; s account in mcpds internet online database through wired or wireless connections to a local area network ( lan ) device fig2 item 13 , internet connection router fig2 item 15 , appropriate dial - up - cable - dsl modem fig2 item 14 , to the internet providers network fig2 item 18 . at least one unique and secure account access code is assigned to each pharmacist master account containing all customer data . individual customer accounts may again be password protected to provide a second level of security for customer / patient medical information . ( 2 ) after successful secure login to the pharmacist &# 39 ; s customer mcpds database account , separate customer accounts may be created and accessed . each customer file is unique and accessible only by pharmacist &# 39 ; s unique login security code . ( 3 ) every database and individual account access is marked and logged . every access and data entry activity to accounts are automatically date and time stamped by the mcpds program . ( 4 ) prescribed medication data is entered into an individual customer database . mcpds protocols will notify the prescribing physician &# 39 ; s mcpds patient account when data is entered affecting the physician &# 39 ; s patient . if multiple substances are prescribed , the mcpds program will generate an mcpds medication schedule and monograph report for review by both pharmacist and customer which can then be printed and delivered to the customer by the pharmacist . other substances such as supplements and herbs , presently being consumed , may also be entered and the monographs for those elements will also be used by mcpds to develop the medication schedule . see fig1 and 20 for logic flow detail operations performed by the mcpds program in development of the medication schedule . ( 5 ) all information , notes and comments necessary to administer medical care for an individual customer are entered into that customer &# 39 ; s unique pharmacy record files in the mcpds secure internet online database 20 , which can be accessed by authorized persons , from any location through an internet connection . pharmacists may also maintain their own internet mcpds server computer system for added security and restricted possession of the information stored in the mcpds server database . ( 6 ) through the mcpds internet network , a secure transmission of prescription orders may be received by a designated pharmacy . the pharmacist receipt of electronically transmitted prescription data , directly from the customer &# 39 ; s physician the pharmacy computer via secure email , eliminates copy errors and mistranslation of prescription details . ( 7 ) pharmacy customer file data review . after review and verification of prescription data , the mcpds program will generate a medication schedule and monograph report which can be printed and delivered to the patient . other substances such as supplements and herbs , presently being consumed , may also be entered and the monographs for those elements will also be used by mcpds to develop the medication schedule . ( 8 ) individual drug container labels are prepared and generated by the mcpds program . ( 9 ) financial transaction data is stored in pharmacy database for its own accounting purposes . ( 10 ) if deemed necessary , the pharmacist may elect to provide controlled substances to a customer in a sealed mcpds medication safety dispenser ( msd ). the mcpds program will also generate an msd label and schedule for the drugs loaded into the msd . b . mcpds dispenser bracelet key / necklace / card . a bracelet containing a programmable security key is programmed to prompt the msd , upon wireless recognition of security code , to release contained pharmaceuticals according to downloaded mcpds medication schedule . c . tampering or forced extraction of pharmaceuticals will cause the msd to notify the pharmacy and the customer &# 39 ; s physician mcpds account of suspicious event by telephone page message . ( 1 ) using the a personal computer system fig3 item 10 , a secure login code is entered to access the ahcp &# 39 ; s account in the mcpds internet online database through wired or wireless connections to a local area network ( lan ) device fig3 item 13 , internet connection router fig3 item 15 , appropriate dial - up - cable - dsl modem fig3 item 14 , to the internet providers network fig3 item 18 . at least one unique and secure account access code is assigned to each ahcp master account containing all customer data . individual customer accounts may again be password protected to provide a second level of security for customer information security . ( 2 ) after successful secure login to the ahcp &# 39 ; s mcpds customer database account , separate customer accounts may be created and accessed . each customer file is unique and accessible only by ahcp &# 39 ; s unique login security code . ( 3 ) every database and individual account access is marked and logged . every access and data entry activity to accounts are automatically date and time stamped by the mcpds program . ( 4 ) supplement and herb therapy data is entered into an individual customer database , if multiple substances are entered , the mcpds program will generate an mcpds medication schedule and monograph report for review by both the ahcp and the customer which can then be printed and delivered to the customer . other substances such as prescribed drugs , presently being consumed , may also be entered and the monographs for those elements will also be used by mcpds to develop the medication schedule . see fig1 and 20 for logic flow detail operations performed by the mcpds program in development of the medication schedule . ( 5 ) all information , notes and comments necessary to administer the mcpds protocols for an individual customer are entered into that customer &# 39 ; s record files in the mcpds secure internet online database 20 , which can be accessed by authorized persons , from any location through an internet connection . ahcp &# 39 ; s may also maintain their own internet mcpds server computer system for added security and restricted possession of the information stored in the mcpds server database . ( 6 ) through the mcpds internet network , a secure transmission of customer mcpds data is communicated to the customer &# 39 ; s physician &# 39 ; s mcpds patient record . this mcpds attribute will notify the customer &# 39 ; s physician about other therapies which may impact medical therapies . the electronic transmission of such data directly to the customer &# 39 ; s mcpds physician &# 39 ; s patient account , eliminates copy errors and mistranslation of the data , and subsequently notifies the physician of other therapies being used by his patient . ( 7 ) alternative health care professionals have no access to physician or pharmacy patient / customer mcpds records . an individual customer may provide an ahcp with reference access to mcpds account with a personal identification number ( p . i . n . ), to allow correlation and notification of non - medication therapy to the physician &# 39 ; s mcpds patient account . entry of purchased supplement and herb products into the alternative health care professional mcpds database account will make it possible for the system to flag potential incompatibilities when a physician creates an mcpds new patient account for the same individual . if the individual already has a physician mcpds account , the alternative health care professional may access individual &# 39 ; s account , with proper customer authorization , for data entry only . the ahcp may also review any current medication schedule in order to use the mcpds program to prevent incompatibility between prescribed drugs and intended supplement purchases . ( 8 ) the ahcp &# 39 ; s customer file data review . after review and verification of prescription data , supplied by customer , the mcpds program will generate a medication schedule and monograph report which can be printed and delivered to the individual customer , which includes purchased substances and compatibility to prescribed medications . ( 9 ) for . customers having no active mcpds account the ahcp can create a new account and generate a comprehensive mcpds medication schedule . ( 1 ) an individual may create his own mcpds account or access , for review only , his mcpds account created by a physician , pharmacist , or alternative health care professional with a secure login password . each individual may access their own specific mcpds account with a unique individual password . individual access is restricted to access for review only . individuals are prohibited from modifying any physician &# 39 ; s , pharmacist &# 39 ; s , or health care professional &# 39 ; s record . each access to such records by an individual is fully documented in the respective database record system . ( 2 ) an individual may generate a medication schedule using any one record maintained in the mcpds database system of their own account , their own physician , pharmacist , or alternative health care professional . this function is accessible via internet to individuals for the purpose of obtaining an mcpds medication schedule compiled for supplement / herb consumption that may be contemplated or to replace a lost or missing medication schedule . individuals have no access to physician or pharmacy patient / customer mcpds records , if individuals would like to obtain an mcpds medication schedule which includes supplements / herbs , secure access to is provided for producing medication schedule . ( 3 ) date & amp ; time record created . every individual access to mcpds account is automatically date and time stamped by the mcpds program . mcpds program functions are the tasks completed by the mcpds software in order to address the following attributes of the medication error reduction system . individual monographs for pharmaceuticals — supplements — herbs are stored in the mcpds database . the monographs are compiled from published sources such as the united states pharmacopoeia drug index ( usp di ), and other authoritative sources which produce and publish such monographs . the logic flow chart group consisting of fig1 , and 20 , showing the inputs and outputs from logic flow chart group fig1 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 21 , and 22 , illustrates the logic sequence and the steps the system executes to produce an mcpds medication schedule and associated monograph report when utilized by a pharmacist . [ 0134 ] fig6 shows the internet database connectivity between physicians , pharmacists , health care professionals , and individuals . [ 0135 ] fig7 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , and 20 , shows the logic sequence and the steps required to enter and manipulate the necessary information to protect medical patients from medication errors . [ 0136 ] fig2 shows the information elements required and produced by mcpds for medication container labels . [ 0137 ] fig2 shows what an mcpds medication schedule would look like . from the foregoing , it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the business model system herein described permits convenient , integrated centralization in a communications network , of pertinent medical patient medication therapy information that will promote the highest degree of patient safety and security of personal medical information . | 6 |
the proposed invention is a pressure gradient transducer ( and method for using it ) that employs the principle of diamagnetic current response of a system of mobile charged particles in a magnetic field to a pressure gradient orthogonal to the field . the invention provides a means to measure pressure gradient and , consequently , acoustic particle velocity of an acoustic wave in a fluid medium . the invention may be used for improved measurements of an acoustic wave near a low impedance boundary , or in combination with pressure measurements to determine acoustic intensity or direction of propagation , or to compensate effects derived from nearby boundary conditions ; e . g ., ghosting , multiple reflections , or to provide feedback for active acoustic boundary control . the principle of diamagnetic drift is derived from the fluid description of systems of mobile charged particles . ( see francis f . chen , introduction to plasma physics and controlled fusion ( new york : plenum press , 53 - 77 ( 1984 ).) a system of mobile charged particles may consist of several “ species ”, each consisting of charged particles of a certain nature ; e . g ., charge number and mass . for example , electrons and protons are two species that constitute a hydrogen plasma . when exposed to a magnetic field , systems of mobile charged particles are known to exhibit several types of behavior . in particular , a pressure gradient in the particle population that is orthogonal to a magnetic field will create a diamagnetic current in the direction mutually orthogonal to both the pressure gradient and the magnetic field . the diamagnetic drift velocity for a population of particles of species “ s ” is given by the equation u → s = - ∇ p s × b → q s n s b 2 , where { right arrow over ( u )} s is the diamagnetic drift velocity for species “ s ”, ∇ p s is the partial pressure gradient for species “ s ”, { right arrow over ( b )} is the magnetic flux density , q s is particle electric charge of species “ s ”, and n s is the charged particle number density of species “ s ”. the current density is the product of the drift velocity , number density , and particle electric charge . the total diamagnetic current density for all species combined is given by j → = ∑ s q s n s u → s = ∑ s - ∇ p s × b → b 2 = b → × ∇ ∑ s p s b 2 , where p s is the partial pressure for species “ s ,” and the summation is over all such species that exhibit significant diamagnetic drift under the given value of b . the current to a cross - sectional area , a , with unit normal { right arrow over ( η )}, is given by i = j → · a → = a → · b → × ∇ ∑ s p s b 2 , where { right arrow over ( a )}= a { right arrow over ( η )}. hence , a transducer principle is defined relating electric current to pressure gradient . in constructing such a transducer , one may control the relative orientation of { right arrow over ( a )} and { right arrow over ( b )} so that they are orthogonal to one another . in this case , the current equation may be written i = a ∇ ∑ s p s b cos θ , where θ is the angle between { right arrow over ( a )}×{ right arrow over ( b )} and ∇ σ s p s . the component of ∇ σ s p s , that is mutually orthogonal to { right arrow over ( a )} and { right arrow over ( b )} contributes to the current . this component may be designated ∇ x σ s p s and described by ∇ x ∑ s p s = a → × b → ab · ∇ ∑ s p s = ∇ ∑ s p s cos θ . i = a ∇ x ∑ s p s b , where it is understood that pressure gradient refers only to the component of pressure gradient mutually orthogonal to { right arrow over ( a )} and { right arrow over ( b )}. it may be desirable to package three such transducers together , oriented to measure pressure gradients in each of three mutually orthogonal directions . the vector sum of all three components gives the complete pressure gradient . the transduction constant describes the relationship between the output of a transducer and the desired property to be measured by the transducer . in this case , the transduction constant is defined by where ∇ x p is the total pressure gradient in the direction mutually orthogonal to both { right arrow over ( a )} and { right arrow over ( b )}. hence , i = k ∇ x p . with a known transduction constant and a measured transducer current , the desired property of pressure gradient may then be determined by ∇ x p = i / k . a fully ionized plasma may consist of many different species of mobile charged particles . the total pressure is the sum of partial pressures of all species , p = σ s p s . consequently , ∇ x p =∇ x σ s p s . assuming all species contribute to the diamagnetic current , the current equation may be written and the transduction constant is k = a / b . hence , from the transducer current , one may determine the pressure gradient from the relation some systems may be comprised of free moving charged particles that contribute to diamagnetic current and other components that do not contribute to diamagnetic current ; e . g ., neutral particles . in this case , the total pressure may be considered in terms of the sum of all partial pressures of species that do contribute to diamagnetic current , p i = σ s p s , and the sum of all partial pressures that do not contribute to diamagnetic current , p n = σ q p q . then the total pressure in the system is given by p = p i + p n . a partial pressure may also be written as a fraction of total pressure ; p s = α s p , where α s may be called the partial pressure proportion for species “ s ”. furthermore , one may define α = σ s α s . then the sum of partial pressures of species that contribute to diamagnetic current is given by p i = σ s p s = σ s α s p = αp . the current equation may then be written , i = a ∇ x ∑ s p s b = a ∇ x p i b = α a ∇ x p b . in this case , the transduction constant is given by k = αa / b and the total pressure gradient is obtained from the transducer current by the relation ∇ x p = i k = ib α a . in this general form for the current equation , setting α = 1 yields the previous equation for a medium where all particles that contribute to the total pressure are mobile charged particles . the transduction constant may be determined by several means , including employing knowledge of partial pressure proportions , α s , for a known material , or by a process of calibration . for the latter , a transducer may be subjected to a known pressure gradient , say [∇ x p ] control , then the output current measured and denoted i m . the transduction constant is then given by k = i m /[∇ x p ] control . a medium 1 comprised of a system of one or more species of mobile charged particles with a total pressure gradient 2 and a magnetic field 3 normal to the pressure gradient is illustrated in fig1 as a three dimensional perspective drawing ( mobile charged particles not shown ). a diamagnetic current density 4 is generated which is orthogonal to both the pressure gradient and the magnetic field . the diamagnetic current to a cross - sectional area 5 whose normal 6 is mutually orthogonal to both the pressure gradient and magnetic field is given by i = a ∇ p / b , where the quantities in the equation are defined as stated above . hence , the pressure gradient may be determined from the measured diamagnetic current by ∇ p = ib / a . in a similar manner , it follows that under the same assumptions , the relationship for a medium comprised of a system of one or more species of mobile charged particles and components that do not contribute to diamagnetic current , simplifies to ∇ p = ib / αa . the description above relates diamagnetic current to pressure gradient in a population of mobile charged particles subject to a magnetic field . there are many materials that may host populations of mobile charged particles . these include plasmas , gaseous discharges , gaseous plasmas , solid state plasmas , metals , semimetals , liquid metals , conductive fluids , semiconductors , electrically conducting and superconducting materials . of particular interest may be solid state plasmas , including systems of mobile charged particles in a semiconductor material ( see martin c . steele and bayram vural , wave interaction in solid state plasmas , new york , mcgraw - hill , inc . ( 1969 )) and the properties of semiconductors in magnetic fields ( see jasprit singh , electronic and optoelectronic properties of semiconductor structures , new york , cambridge university press , 440 - 477 ( 2003 )). mobile charged particles in many semiconductor materials consist of electrons and “ holes ”. a hole represents an absence of an electron , and is a concept widely recognized in semiconductor work . for the purpose of this document , a hole will be considered a positively charged mobile particle . there are varying degrees of charged particle mobility , and not all materials exhibit the described behavior to a significant degree . it is anticipated the desired behavior may occur when the product of charge particle mobility and magnetic flux density is of the order of , or exceeds , unity ; i . e ., preferably & gt ; 0 . 5 , more preferably & gt ; 1 . 0 . this condition describes the case in which the cyclotron frequency , or the frequency at which the mobile charged particles orbit the magnetic field lines , nearly equals or exceeds the collision frequency , or the frequency which the mobile charged particles collide with obstacles or each other thereby having their paths of travel interrupted . when this condition is met , the charged particles are able to complete cyclotron motions about the magnetic field lines , and a requirement for realizing the diamagnetic current is satisfied . in some applications , including seismic applications , the fluid medium hosting the propagating acoustic wave and associated pressure gradient will not , itself , possess the properties required to realize a diamagnetic transducer effect . in this case , the medium may be brought into physical contact with a medium hosting mobile charged particles so that the pressure gradient in the fluid medium will cause a pressure gradient in the mobile charged particle population which may then be ascertained from measurement of the diamagnetic current . fig2 illustrates a fluid medium 21 in contact with a second medium 22 hosting a mobile charged particle population 23 . a pressure gradient 24 in the first fluid medium , ∇ p f , perhaps caused by a propagating acoustic wave , causes a pressure gradient 25 in the mobile charged particle population . the pressure gradient in the mobile charged particle population may be different in magnitude than the pressure gradient in the fluid medium . the difference may be due , in part , to the partial pressure of the mobile charged particle population and the acoustic coupling properties between the fluid medium and the mobile charged particle population . the acoustic coupling may be optimized by matching the acoustic impedance of the medium hosting the charged particles to the acoustic impedance of the fluid medium . knowledge of partial pressures and acoustic coupling properties may be used to ascertain the pressure gradient in the fluid medium from the pressure gradient in the mobile charged particle population once the latter has been determined from the measured diamagnetic current . alternatively , a calibration process may be employed to determine the transduction constant . a diamagnetic pressure gradient transducer may be constructed from several different materials . one preferred semiconductor material for this invention is indium antimonide ( insb ) because of extremely high mobilities exhibited by its charge carrier population . electron mobility in insb at room temperature is estimated at 100 , 000 cm 2 / v - sec . ( see the electronics handbook ( beaverton , oregon : technical press , inc ., p . 124 ( 1996 ).) hence , a magnetic flux density of approximately 0 . 1 tesla or greater is sufficient for electrons to complete cyclotron motions and provide a diamagnetic current response to a pressure gradient . the invention may be constructed using a volume 31 of insb sufficiently large compared to the radius of cyclotron motion , as illustrated in three dimensional perspective in fig3 ( cyclotron motion not shown ). the radius of cyclotron motion for an electron at room temperature in a 0 . 1 tesla magnetic field is about 4 microns . hence , the volume of insb would preferably exceed 10 microns in dimensions perpendicular to the magnetic field , and may be considerably larger than 10 microns to increase the current collection area and the total current . plate electrodes 32 are fabricated onto two opposite sides of the volume 31 . the electrodes receive the current density 33 generated from a pressure gradient 34 and applied magnetic field 35 . leads 36 connected to the electrodes carry the electric current which is measured by an ammeter or some other current measurement device 37 . the invention may be placed in an electrically insulating package so that it may be immersed in a fluid medium such as water , seawater , or other fluid . the measured current provides a measure of the pressure gradient in the fluid medium . as indicated above , a charge carrier species within a given medium may be mobile , but not have sufficient mobility to exhibit diamagnetic drift to a significant degree . such is the case for insb in which the electron mobility is high ( 100 , 000 cm 2 volt sec ) but the hole mobility is low ( 1 , 700 cm 2 / volt sec ). for such a medium , with b about 0 . 1 tesla , the transduction constant depends on the electron partial pressure ; that is α = α e , where α e is the partial pressure proportion for mobile electrons . pressure gradient must be calculated from the measured current using one of the equations given above in which α = α e . the hole contribution to the measured current will be negligible . if b is increased to about 6 tesla , the transduction constant depends on both electrons and holes , and pressure gradient is calculated from the measured current using one of the equations given above in which α = α e + α h , where α h is the partial pressure proportion for holes . for many materials , charge carrier species and their mobilities are well characterized , or may be determined by established methods . for a chosen b , it is possible to predict which species will contribute significantly to the measured current . the transduction constant depends on the sum of partial pressure proportions of all species that contribute significantly to the measured current ; that is α = σ s α s , where the summation is over all species that contribute to the measured current . the prediction may be further validated by calibration to a known pressure gradient . a pressure gradient caused by an acoustic wave in a fluid medium is related to the acoustic particle velocity caused by the same wave . the relationship between them is given by ρ ∂ v -& gt ; ∂ t = - ∇ p , where ρ is the mass density of the fluid medium , and ∂{ right arrow over ( v )}/∂ t is the time derivative of the acoustic particle velocity . the acoustic particle velocity may then be obtained from the pressure gradient by { right arrow over ( v )}=−∫∇ pdt / ρ . hence , the transducer and method described above is also effective for obtaining acoustic particle velocity in a fluid medium . the foregoing description is directed to particular embodiments of the present invention for the purpose of illustrating it . it will be apparent , however , to one skilled in the art , that many modifications and variations to the embodiments described herein are possible . all such modifications and variations are intended to be within the scope of the present invention , as defined by the appended claims . | 6 |
the substantial principles of the invention are apparent from the accompanying figures . the total structure of the equipment itself is apparent from fig1 and 2 . fig3 and 4 are functional diagrams that mainly describe the proceeding and processing of the signals in the equipment presented . fig1 illustrates a so - called meg apparatus which is used to measure a neuromagnetic signal and which has , as a part thereof , a system compensating for the interferences . the device consists of an assembly of sensors 10 ( including nine sensors in the example of the figure ) surrounding the head of a person being monitored , of the electronics 11 controlling the operation of the measuring device and of the coils 12 , 13 used as the actuators of the interference compensation system . associated with the sensors of each device is a small - sized feedback coil 14 , by means of which the control electronics 11 runs the sensor in a so - called flow - locked state . this means that the control electronics 11 drives current into the feedback coil 14 , the field caused by which suppresses in the sensor 10 the field entering it and originating from a source disposed in the object being measured 15 . the voltage needed to achieve this current , which is thus proportional to the magnetic effect proceeding from the source 15 to the sensor 10 , is the measurement signal given by the channel in question . all the conventional meg devices have been implemented using this principle . the feedback coils 14 are sensor - specific . the coils are so small and so positioned that a field caused by them only produces a effect on the sensor of each coil &# 39 ; s own . it can be considered that the sensor 10 and the feedback coil 14 together form the component functioning as the physical sensor . in an arrangement such as this , all the measurement channels naturally react to the magnetic fields originating both from the object 15 being measured and from the external interference sources . to achieve active compensation that shields from external interferences , in the present invention , the measuring device is provided with big compensation coils 12 , 13 , the current fed into which produces a magnetic field in the entire region of the assembly of sensors . there can be several compensation coils e . g . six pieces — so that the coils are used to produce compensating fields near the assembly of sensors at least in three nearly perpendicular directions . how the operation of the system is controlled by means of the electronics 11 is apparent in more detail from fig2 , 3 and 4 . fig2 is a simplified representation illustrating a situation in which e . g . the sensor 10 of fig1 has been fed back via the compensation coil 12 . the part within the broken line is a regular meg channel operating in a flow - locked state , and associated therewith are an amplifier 20 , a feedback resistor 21 and a feedback coil 14 , which switches to the sensor 10 via mutual inductance m f . the part divided by the broken line can be seen as the actual measurement channel containing , in the previously mentioned wider sense , the sensor 10 , 14 ; and the electronics part 20 , 21 disposed within the electronics 11 . the voltage u 0 is the signal of the channel that is proportional to the magnetic flux φ s visible to the sensor 10 . thus , the magnetic flux comprises the sum of the interesting magnetic flux to be measured and of the magnetic flux produced by external interferences in the location area of the sensor 10 . when this measurement channel is accepted as the channel that gives the difference signal of the feedback active compensation system , the control electronics is provided with an amplifier 24 , a feedback resistor 25 and a coil 12 . the magnetic field is transferred from the coil 12 to the measuring sensor 10 via the mutual inductance m c . in fig3 there is a functional diagram illustrating this control system provided with two feedback loops , for which one can calculate a transfer function . the inner feedback loop includes an amplification block 30 , a transfer function 31 corresponding to the resistor 21 and a transfer function 32 corresponding to the mutual inductance m f . the outer feedback loop compensating for the interferences includes an amplification block 33 , a transfer function 34 corresponding to the resistor 25 and a transfer function 35 corresponding to the mutual inductance m c . in the input of the amplifier 30 ( the same as the amplifier 20 in fig2 ), there is summed the magnetic flux from the external interference source φ s and the magnetic flux φ c compensating for the interferences , as well as the magnetic flux from the inner feedback that switches via the coil 14 . this summation is performed in the functional block using summing blocks 36 , 37 , which do not exist in practice as real components of the system . the output voltage u 0 of the channel and the voltage u c of the outer feedback loop will be : if the outer feedback loop is omitted ( g 2 = 0 ), there remains a conventional feedback magnetometer — a part which is disposed within a broken line in fig2 and 3 and the calibration of which is determined by the transfer function of the inner feedback loop : when the outer feedback loop is introduced , provided with sufficient amplification , in other words when g 2 *( m c / r c )& gt ;& gt ; m f / r f , then : as a result of introducing the outer feedback loop , the output signal of the channel is thus lost , and a current that produces a compensating magnetic field appears in the compensation coil 12 . when a signal is produced by an outer interference source and if one has managed to build the compensation coil ( s ) 12 so that it produces in the entire sensor region a field that is as closely as possibly of the same form as this external interference source , then the same compensation of the output signal is performed also for all the other sensors in the assembly , although in their feedback , the outer loop has been omitted ( g 2 = 0 ). this is exactly the shielding effect at which one aims by adding the outer feedback loop . as for the control of the outer feedback loop , the same magnetomer channels are used that are also used to measure the biomagnetic signal being monitored , it is obvious that the outer feedback also influences this biomagnetic signal . for example , a channel that has an outer loop added to its feedback ( g 2 & gt ; 0 ) also looses the biomagnetic signal as a result of this arrangement . the basic idea of the present invention is included in how this non - desired effect can be prevented in a simple manner . firstly , we think of a system in which there are no feedback loops activated . the measurement channels of a system such as this register both the big interference signals from externals sources and weak biomagnetic signals . publication fi20030392 discloses a method ( sss method ); taulu s ., kajola m ., simola j . : the signal space separation method , biomed . tech ., 48 , in press ) enabling one , in a situation such as this , to separate from one another , with a high accuracy , the signals that come outside and inside the device &# 39 ; s measurement region , provided that the arrangement of the device &# 39 ; s channels is suitable and their number sufficient ( at least 200 ). this numerical method would be enough as such to eliminate the external interferences from a measured signal , provided that the interferences would remain so small that the dynamic region of none of the measurement channels of the set of sensors is not exceeded . it is exactly this exceeding that can be prevented with the compensation method described in the present invention . as the compensation method is implemented using coils placed outside the measurement region of the device , the effect of the compensation current associated with this outer feedback loop on the signals can be likewise separated , using the sss method , from a signal originating from the measurement region . as an example , we refer to a situation in which a shielding method based on an outer compensation loop would seem to function in a most impractical manner . we assume that there are no external interferences and that the sensor functioning as the difference signal channel only sees the biomagnetic signal . it reacts to this by feeding to the compensation coil a current that produces a compensating field that compensates for the biomagnetic field at the spot where the sensor is located . apparently , the feedback of the outer loop thus functions so that although there is no external interference , it is exactly the interesting signal that is lost . thus , the biomagnetic signal is driven to zero by activating the compensating source of the magnetic field , external of the measurement region . it is exactly the effect of this kind of external source that can be numerically separated by the sss method , resulting in that there is left in the difference signal channel just the original biomagnetic signal . the sss method reconstructs in the difference signal channel — and in the rest of the channels as well — signals that would have been detected in them , if the outer feedback loop was not activated . this reconstruction is based on the measurement that is made simultaneously for both the biomagnetic source and the compensation coil by the assembly of magnetometers . the sss method naturally functions in the same manner in conjunction with interference compensation , that is when the difference signal channel receives part of its signal from an interference source that is disposed outside the measurement region or even outside the entire set of compensation coils . in these cases , both the original source and the compensation coil that activates as a part of the feedback loop are disposed outside the measurement region ; and their portion of the signals can be eliminated by the sss method . in this case , the compensation system only is responsible for modifying the external interference so that all the sensors stay in their dynamic area , enabling one to collect the signals needed by the numerical system as inputs . because as the interference to be compensated for functions a vector field which is not constant in the region of the entire assembly of sensors , to achieve a sufficiently good compensation , it is usually necessary to use a set of compensation coils that can be used to achieve various fields in direction and form . specifically the set of coils must be able to produce the field forms of the most powerful external interferences as accurately as possible , or to be more specific , the compensating fields of these , in the entire region of the assembly of sensors . fig4 is a functional diagram illustrating a generalisation of the compensation method formed by several compensation coils as shown in fig3 . in fig4 , the voltage u c that produces the compensation current has been coupled with two coupling intensities to be selected separately ( 1 / r c , j and 1 / r c , j + 1 ) 40 , 41 to two different coils 42 , 43 , respectively . the inductive couplings m ji etc . 44 are determined based on the location of the compensation coils 43 , 43 and on the location and position of the sensors 45 in the assembly of sensors . u c can be coupled to more than one coil . in addition , in fig4 , the difference signal that produces the compensation voltage has been formed as a linear combination from the signals of two different sensors 45 . in the formation of the linear combination , the weighting coefficients c i , j 46 are used for the sensors 45 ; and the terms are summed by the summer 47 . it also possible to use more than two channels for the formation of the linear combination . the necessary transfer function of the amplifier of the feedback loop is g 2 , 48 . furthermore , it is also possible to generate several compensation voltages u c , n using for the formation of the difference signal , different linear combinations of the signals of the assembly of sensors 45 and to feed the voltages to the different coils 42 , 43 of the set of compensation coils using optimal weighting coefficients . in the functional diagram as shown in fig4 , the sum flow of the compensating magnetic flows visible to the sensor 45 is obtained from the outputs of the summers 49 . in practice , the summers 49 do not exist in the system as real components . the summers 49 are used to describe the total effect of the fields produced by the compensation coils ( the total field is the sum of the sub - fields ) for each sensor . in this manner there is formed the outer feedback loop that performs the interference compensation of a multi - channel device , which feedback loop is described by the two matrixes : the c ij matrix that describes the structure of a direct coupling loop and determines the weighting coefficient of the ith sensor 45 in the jth difference signal , and the 1 / r jk matrix that describes the feedback loop and determines the weighting coefficient of the jth compensation current in the total current to be fed to the kth coil 42 , 43 . the selection of these two matrixes enables one to optimise the performance of the interference compensation . the compiling of the difference signal as a linear combination from several channels that are e . g . disposed on different sides of the assembly of sensors is advantageous because it improves the accuracy of the difference signal and shortens the effective extrapolation distance over the assembly of sensors . in a conventional system that uses separate reference sensors , the sensor that gives the difference signal can be disposed even at a distance of 50 cm from the farthest sensor being compensated for in the assembly of sensors , resulting in that the interference intensity evaluated based on the difference signal is inaccurate because of the geometric reasons . by forming the difference signal from the signals of the sensors disposed on different sides of the assembly , the extrapolation range can be shortened to have the size of the radius of the assembly , that is to about 12 cm . by means of the compensation loop , the field forms that were fed back can , in turn , be customised , to correspond , as accurately as possible , to the geometric form of the biggest external interferences by using a sufficiently big number of compensation coils and by determining the correct weighting coefficients for the 1 / r jk matrix . a typical number of compensation voltages u c , j and compensation coils is e . g . six , whereby the 1 / r jk matrix is 6 * 6 matrix . in fig1 - 4 there have been used symbols that refer to the implementation of the feedback that compensates for external interferences using analogy electronics . this has been done for illustrative purposes only . in a modern implementation , one uses signal processors or real - time computers in which the weighting coefficient matrixes c ij and 1 / r jk and the transfer function g 2 are programmed . the invention is not limited merely to the embodiment examples referred to above ; instead many variations are possible within the scope of the inventive idea defined by the claims . | 6 |
on referring to the drawings in detail and , in particular to fig1 a means for aligning and securing adjacent conveyor trough structures of this invention , indicated generally at 12 , includes a plurality of interconnected conveyor trough means 14 aligned with each other with the aid of alignment and anchor wedge members 16 . a grain type conveyor system is constructed in individual conveyor trough means 14 which are assembled at site of usage . a problem arises wherein the adjacent conveyor trough means 14 are not accurately aligned as such causes undue wear on the conveyor chain structure and high noise level . the means for aligning and securing adjacent conveyor trough structures 12 of this invention is operable to overcome this problem by providing a simple device to assure positive alignment of adjacent ends of the conveyor trough means 14 . as shown in fig1 each conveyor trough means 14 includes a main conveyor assembly 18 ; a connector flange assembly 20 secured to each outer end of the main conveyor assembly 18 , and a plurality of support leg assemblies 22 secured to the connector flange assemblies 20 . the main conveyor assembly 18 includes a main body member 24 having opposed , integral sets of conveyor chain support members 26 . the main body member 24 is of a generally square box shape having a top wall 28 ; opposed upright sidewalls 30 , 32 , and a bottom wall 34 . the bottom wall 34 cooperates as a retainer for moving grain or the like longitudinally of the conveyor trough means 14 through the use of the conveyor chain structure ( not shown ). as noted in fig1 and 3 , the conveyor chain support members 26 are formed as an integral part of the respective sidewalls 30 , 32 , and extends the entire length of the main body member 24 to add strength thereto . as best noted in transverse cross section , each conveyor chain support member 26 includes a triangular shaped main body section 36 . each main body section 36 includes a horizontal wall section 38 secured at one edge to a respective sidewall 30 , 32 and at the other edge to an inclined wall section 40 . the other edge of the inclined wall section 40 is integral with a respective sidewall 30 , 32 . therefore , the inclined wall section 40 and horizontal wall section 38 forms a right angled triangle in transverse cross section with a plane of the respective sidewalls 30 , 32 . each connector flange assembly 20 includes a main flange member 42 connectable to an adjacent one thereof by a plurality of nut and bolt members 44 . the main flange member 42 is constructed of angle iron material and secured as by welding to outer respective ends of the main body member 24 . an outer leg 46 of the main flange member 42 is in a common vertical plane and formed with a plurality of spaced holes 48 to receive the nut and bolt members 44 therethrough as well be explained . adjacent outer legs 46 of conveyor trough means 14 to be interconnected are placed in contact prior to insertion of the nut and bolt members 44 through the aligned holes 48 . as seen in fig7 the nut and bolt members 44 include a bolt member 50 adapted to receive a nut member 52 thereon for interconnection in a conventional manner . it is noted that the main flange member 42 has an inner leg 54 that cooperates with the horizontal wall section 38 and the inclined wall section 40 to form a wedge receiving area 56 therebetween . as each main body section 36 is formed in the respective sidewalls 30 , 32 by a pressing action , they are accurately formed . as the inner leg 54 is secured against a respective sidewall 30 , 32 , the wedge receiving areas 56 are accurately duplicated in each conveyor trough means 14 which is important for reasons to become obvious . as seen in fig1 such support leg assembly 22 includes ( 1 ) a main leg member 58 ; ( 2 ) a connector end section 60 integral with an upper end of the main leg member 58 ; and ( 3 ) a horizontal support plate 62 secured to a lower end of the main leg member 58 . the horizontal support plate 62 is operable to contact a support surface and is provided with a pair of spaced holes 64 . it is obvious that bolt members could be placed through the holes 64 for anchoring to the support surface if so desired . the main leg member 58 is preferrably constructed of an angle iron material . the connector end section 60 has a vertical connector plate 66 with a hole 68 therein for connection by one of the nut and bolt members 44 to the outer legs 46 of the adjacent main flange members 42 . as shown in fig5 and 6 , the alignment and anchor wedge member 16 includes a main body section 70 having integral tapered outer end sections 72 , 74 . the main body section 70 is of a right triangle shape in transverse cross section having two wall sections 76 and 78 perpendicular to each other and joined by another wall section 80 . the tapered outer end sections 72 , 74 extend about a half inch inwardly from outer end wall sections 82 . the tapered end sections 72 , 74 aid in alignment and use thereof in a manner to be explained . it is noted that the right triangular cross section of the alignment and anchor wedge member 16 is of a substantial similar shape and size of the right triangular area formed by the horizontal wall section 38 , the inclined wall section 40 , and the inner leg 54 of the main flange member 42 . the grain type conveyor systems are normally shipped to location with a plurality of conveyor trough means 14 ; a box of nut and bolt members 44 ; and a set of four ( 4 ) alignment and anchor wedge members 16 for each end of the conveyor trough means 14 to be joined together . the first step is to abutt a pair of the conveyor trough means 14 so as to have the outer legs 46 of the adjacent main flange members 42 next to each other . as noted in fig7 the holes 48 in the outer legs 46 are aligned so as to receive the bolt members 50 therethrough . at the same time , the support leg assemblies 22 are connected to the respective nut and bolt members 44 to hold the conveyor trough means 14 in an elevated position as shown in fig1 . the nut members 52 are then loosley threaded on the bolt members 50 as shown in fig8 . the next step is to insert an alignment and anchor wedge member 16 into each of the wedge receiving areas 56 formed between ( 1 ) the inner leg 54 of the main flange member 42 ; ( 2 ) the horizontal wall section 38 ; and ( 3 ) the inclined wall section 40 . the wedge receiving area 56 and the alignment and anchor wedge member 16 are of substantially the same size so that the alignment and anchor wedge members 16 have to be driven into the wedge receiving areas 56 . this achieves alignment of the top surfaces of the horizontal wall sections 38 which is of upmost importance . finally , the nut and bolt members 44 are tightened to achieve the aligned connection of adjacent ones of the conveyor trough means 14 . these steps are repeated for the length of the grain type conveyor system . it is noted that the means for aligning and securing adjacent conveyor trough structures of this invention is simple to use , reliable in operation , and achieves a sturdy conveyor system . the connector flange assemblies can have the spaced holes in the outer legs with greater tolerances as the alignment and anchor wedge members achieve the alignment and not the bolt members in the spaced holes . while the invention has been described in conjunction with preferred specific embodiments thereof , it will be understood that this description is intended to illustrate and not to limit the scope of the invention , which is defined by the following claims . | 1 |
reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention , examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings . wherever possible , the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts . fig3 illustrates a graph of driving waveforms applied to the respective electrodes for a pdp driving according to a first embodiment of the present invention , fig4 illustrates a diagram of a driving circuit of a scan electrode for a pdp driving according to the present invention , and fig5 illustrates a timing diagram of generating waveforms of a scan electrode according to the present invention . the present invention relates to a driving system of pdp equipped with at least three electrodes ( scan electrode , sustain electrode , address electrode ), in which a driving time for expressing a specific gray scale of a single frame in a 3 - electrodes ac surface discharge type pdp is divided into a plurality of sub - fields . and , each of the sub - fields is divided again into a rest period , an address period , and a sustain period for time . in a general pdp driving , pulses of which count is determined by each of the periods of the respective sub - fields are applied to the respective electrodes with a predetermined frequency . more specifically during the rest period , a single reset pulse is applied to a scan electrode 12 y so as to generate a reset discharge for the entire discharge cells . therefore , all the discharge cells are initialized . during the address period , a scan pulse sp is applied to the scan electrode 12 y sequentially as well as a data pulse dp synchronized with the scan pulse sp is applied to an address electrode 20 x , whereby the address discharge is generated from the discharge cells to which the scan pulse sp and data pulse dp are applied . during the sustain period , sustain pulses susps are applied to the scan and sustain electrodes 12 y and 12 z alternately , whereby a sustain discharge is maintained for a predetermined time in the discharge cells from which the address discharge has been generated . and , the count of the sustain pulses susps increases according to the corresponding sub - field so as to display an image with the determined gray scale . referring to fig3 , a reset period is divided into a set - up period and a set - down period . in the set - up period , an ascending ramp wave ramp 1 is supplied to a scan electrode 12 y , while a descending ramp wave ramp 2 is supplied to a scan electrode 12 y . during the set - up period , a weak reset discharge is generated by the ascending ramp wave ramp 1 so that wall charges are accumulated in the cell . during the set - down period , wall charges in a cell are properly erased in part by the descending ramp wave ramp 2 so as to be reduced as helping a following address discharge as well as prevent a wrong discharge . besides , in order to reduce the wall charges , a pulse having a positive (+) dc voltage va is applied to a sustain electrode 12 z during the set - down period . against the sustain electrode 1 z supplied with the pulse of the positive dc voltage va , the scan electrode 12 y supplied with the descending ramp wave ramp 2 becomes negative (−) thus , inversion of the polarities makes the wall charges , which were generated from the set - up period , are reduced . thus , in the reset period , ramp waves for making the entire cells of pdp uniform are supplied to the scan electrode 12 y so as to generate the reset discharge . during the address period , an address discharge is generated by a pulse of a scan voltage v_scan applied to the scan electrode 12 y and a data pulse applied to the address electrode 20 x . the address discharge enables to maintain the previously generated wall charges for a period of other discharge cells to be addressed . in this case , the pulse of the scan voltage v_scan swings centering on a reference potential vref . namely , a polarity of the scan voltage v_scan is inversed for one period . and , the reference potential vref is a lowest voltage level in the reset and sustain discharges . in other words , the pulse of the scan voltage v_scan , in which a positive voltage + vs higher than the reference potential vref and a negative voltage − vs lower than the reference voltage vref swing for one period centering on the reference potential vref of the reset and sustain discharges , is applied to the scan electrode 12 y during the address period . at the same moment , data pulse synchronized with the pulse of the scan voltage v_scan and having the same pulse width is applied to the address electrode 20 x so as to generate an address discharge . in this case , a voltage level of the data pulse is lowered as much as the negative voltage − vs of the pulse of the scan voltage v scan . for instance , when the reference potential vref of the reset discharge is a ground potential , the pulse of the scan voltage v_scan is supplied by being lowered from the positive level to the negative level for the ground potential . thus , compared to the case that a lower limit of the scan voltage v_scan us the ground potential level in the related art , the pulse is applied in a manner that the scan voltage v_scan is lowered down to the level of the negative voltage − vs lower than the reference potential vref during the address period according to the present invention . thus , the voltage level of the data pulse applied to the address electrode 20 x for the address discharge is lowered . namely , the voltage level of the address discharge voltage applied to the address electrode 20 x is reduced , which is explained in the following formula 2 . v address & gt ; v f , y - a −( v w , d + v w , y )− v s , where v address , v w , d , v f , y - a , v w , y , and v s are a address voltage , a wall voltage accumulated on the address electrode 20 x , a discharge initiating voltage between the address and scan electrodes 20 x and 12 y , a wall voltage accumulated on the scan electrode 12 y , and a voltage applied to the scan electrode 12 y by an external voltage supply , respectively . in formula 2 , providing that a minimum point of the scan voltage v_scan , as shown in fig3 , is tied to the ground voltage level , the discharge initiating voltage v f , y - a is expressed by the data voltage applied to the address electrode 20 x only . thus , in addition to the discharge initiating voltage as a difference voltage between the scan and address electrodes 12 y and 20 x , the wall voltage is added to the voltage applied to the scan electrode 12 y for the address discharge . namely , the address discharge is generated from the voltage level resulted by adding the wall voltage having been formed in the reset discharge to the voltage difference between the scan voltage pulse applied to the scan electrode 12 y and the data pulse applied to the address electrode 20 x . the discharge voltage (= data pulse voltage ) applied to the address electrode 20 x for the address discharge is lowered as much as the negative voltage − vs applied to the scan electrode 12 y . besides , when a lower limit of the scan voltage v_scan supplied during the address period is lowered to the level of the negative voltage − vs lower than the reference potential vref of the sustain discharge , a wrong discharge may occur between the scan and sustain electrodes 12 y and 12 z . in order to prevent such a wrong discharge , the present invention supplies the sustain electrode 12 z with a voltage vsus_b of which level is lower than that of a reset voltage vsus_a in the reset period . in other words , in order to reduce the wall voltage so as to prevent the wall voltage formed during the reset period from generating the wrong discharge as well as help a following address discharge , the pulse of a dc voltage va having a positive polarity (+) applied to the sustain electrode is more lowered during the address period . namely , the voltage level of the pulse of the dc voltage va having the positive polarity + applied to the sustain electrode is lowered as much as the voltage − vs of the positive polarity (−) of the pulse of the scan voltage v_scan applied to the scan electrode during the following address period . constitution and operation of an apparatus according to the present invention are explained as follows . fig4 illustrates a diagram of a driving circuit of a scan electrode for a pdp driving according to the present invention . referring to fig4 , a scan electrode driving circuit is installed in pdp including scan , sustain , and address electrodes , and driven in accordance with reset , address , and sustain periods for time . the scan electrode circuit according to the present invention includes a scan driving ic ( integrated circuit ) 52 supplying a scan electrode 12 y with an input voltage , an energy recovery unit 50 recovering a voltage discharged from the scan electrode 12 y to use , a first scan voltage supplying unit 54 supplying the scan driving ic 52 with a positive scan voltage v_scan higher than a reference potential vref of reset and sustain discharges , a second scan voltage supplying unit 60 supplying the scan driving ic 52 with a negative scan voltage v_scan lower than the reference potential vref of reset and sustain discharges , and set - up and set - down voltage supplying units 56 and 58 connected to the scan driving ic 52 by leaving a predetermined switch q 3 therebetween so as to supply ramp waves , respectively . the scan driving ic 52 includes switches q h and q l connected to each other by ‘ push - pull ’. the scan driving ic 52 supplies the scan electrode 12 y with inputted positive and negative voltages . in this case , eleventh and twelfth switches q h and q l are installed in parallel with each other so as to leave a fourth node n 4 , i . e . an output node to the scan electrode , therebetween . and , the eleventh and twelfth switches are turned on when the positive and negative voltages are inputted thereto , respectively . the scan driving ic 52 supplies the scan electrode 12 y through the fourth node n 4 with the voltage supplied by the first scan voltage supplying unit 54 , second scan voltage supplying unit 60 , set - up voltage supplying unit 56 , or set - down voltage supplying unit 58 . the energy recovery unit 50 charges the voltage recovered from the scan electrode 12 y during the sustain period , and then discharges the charged voltage . for this , the energy recovery unit 50 includes an external capacitor c 1 , ninth and tenth switches q 9 and q 10 connected in parallel with the external capacitor c 1 , an inductor l 1 connected in series between a first node n 1 , which is an output node of the ninth and tenth switches q 9 and q 10 when the external capacitor c 1 is discharged , and a second node n 2 as an output node of the energy recovery unit 50 , a first switch q 1 connected between a supply source of a sustain voltage vsus and the second node n 2 , and a second switch q 2 connected between the second node n 2 and a ground node . operation of the energy recovery unit is explained in detail as follows . first , the external capacitor c 1 is charged with electric charges as much as its full capacitance by recovering a predetermined voltage from the scan electrode 12 y when the sustain discharge is generated from the scan electrode 12 y . supposed that the external capacitor c 1 is charged up to the recovered vs / 2 voltage , the voltage charging the external capacitor c 1 is applied to the scan driving ic 52 through the tenth switch q 10 , fourth diode d 4 , and inductor l 1 if the tenth switch q 10 is turned on . accordingly , the scan driving ic 52 supplies the scan electrode 12 y with the vs / 2 voltage . in this case , the inductor l 1 constitutes a serial lc resonance circuit together with the capacitance c in the cell , whereby the scan electrode 12 y is supplied with resonance waves . specifically , the first switch q 1 becomes turned on at a resonance point of the resonance wave , thereby applying the sustain voltage vsus to the scan electrode 12 y . hence , a sustain discharge during the sustain period is generated . subsequently , the first switch q 1 is turned off before another sustain pulse is applied to the sustain electrode 12 z during the sustain period . at the same moment , the ninth switch q 9 becomes turned on so as to restore the voltage discharged from the scan electrode 12 y . the external capacitor c 1 is then charged with the recovered voltage . thereafter , when the second switch q 2 is turned on after the turn - off of the ninth switch q 9 , a voltage of the scan electrode 12 y maintains the ground potential so as to end the sustain discharge . thus , the energy recovery unit 50 recovers the voltage discharged from the scan electrode 12 y during the sustain discharge using the external capacitor c 1 , and then supplies the scan electrode 12 y with the recovered voltage in the following address period . therefore , the energy recovery unit 50 enables to reduce excessive power consumption in the discharge generated from the reset and sustain periods . the first scan voltage supplying unit 54 includes sixth and eighth switches q 6 and q 8 , and a fifth node n 5 is inserted between the sixth and eighth switches q 6 and q 8 . the sixth switch q 6 is connected to a power supply of the positive scan voltage vscan , and the eighth switch q 8 is connected to the second scan voltage supplying unit 60 . if control signals of high and low states are simultaneously applied to gate terminals of the sixth and eighth switches q 6 and q 8 during the address period , respectively , the first scan voltage supplying unit 54 transfers the positive scan voltage + vs supplied from the power supply of the positive scan voltage vscan to the scan driving ic 52 . hence , the transferred scan voltage + vs passes the eleventh switch q h so as to be applied to the scan electrode 12 y through the output node n 4 . the set - up voltage supplying unit 56 driven during the reset period includes a fourth switch q 4 connected between a power supply of a reset voltage vreset and a third node n 3 . the fourth switch q 4 plays a role in transferring the supplied set - up waveform ramp 1 to the scan driving ic 52 . a second capacitor c 2 is connected to a gate terminal of the fourth switch q 4 , and first and second variable resistors r 1 and r 2 are installed in parallel with each other so as to leave the second capacitor c 2 between the first and second resistors r 1 and r 2 . the first variable resistor r 1 is connected to a ramp - up driving controller 61 , and the second variable resistor r 2 is connected to the power supply of the reset voltage vreset . first and second diodes d 1 and d 2 are connected in parallel to these first and second variable resistors r 1 and r 2 , respectively so as to improve a switching speed of the ramp - up driving controller 61 . moreover , a third diode d 3 connected directly to the power supply of the reset voltage vreset cuts off a reverse current flowing in the power supply of the reset voltage vreset . the above - explained set - up voltage supplying unit 56 turns on the fourth switch q 4 when the driving signal of high state is applied thereto from the ramp - up driving controller 61 . in this case , the voltage provided by the power supply of the reset voltage vreset is applied to the scan electrode 12 y with the set - up waveform ramp 1 having a predetermined slope through the scan driving ic 52 . and , the slope of the voltage supplied from the power supply of the reset voltage depends on an rc time constant between the first and second resistors r 1 and r 2 and the second capacitor c 2 . and , the set - down voltage supplying unit 58 driven during the reset period includes a fifth switch q 5 connected between an eighth node n 8 and a ground terminal gnd . the fifth switch q 5 plays a role in transferring the supplied set - down waveform ramp 2 to the scan driving ic 52 . a third capacitor c 3 is connected to a gate terminal of the fifth switch q 5 , and third and fourth variable resistors r 3 and r 4 are installed in parallel with each other so as to leave the third capacitor c 3 between the third and fourth resistors r 3 and r 4 . the third variable resistor r 3 is connected to a ramp - down driving controller 62 , and the fourth variable resistor r 4 is connected to the power supply of the third switch q 3 . sixth and seventh diodes d 6 and d 7 are connected in parallel to these third and fourth variable resistors r 3 and r 4 , respectively so as to improve a switching speed of the ramp - down driving controller 62 . moreover , an eighth diode d 8 cuts off a reverse current flowing in the scan driving ic 52 from the set - down voltage supplying unit 58 . the above - explained set - down voltage supplying unit 58 turns on the fifth switch q 5 when the driving signal of high state is applied thereto from the ramp - down driving controller 62 . in this case , the set - down voltage supplying unit 58 makes the set - down waveform ramp 2 descend down to a reference potential vref of a sustain pulse with a predetermined slope depending on an rc time constant between the third and fourth resistors r 3 and r 4 and the third capacitor c 3 . moreover , the third switch q 3 connected between the set - up and set - down voltage supplying units 56 and 58 responds to control signals applied from the driving controllers 61 and 62 so as to switch the voltages of the set - up and set - down waveforms ramp 1 and ramp 2 supplied from the scan driving ic 52 . subsequently , the second scan voltage supplying unit 60 includes a negative scan voltage power supply 59 and the seventh switch q 7 , which are installed between the ground potential gnd and the scan driving ic 52 . the seventh switch q 7 becomes turned on when a control signal of high state is applied to a gate terminal from a controller ( not shown in the drawing ). hence , the second scan voltage supplying unit supplies the scan driving ic 52 with the negative voltage − vs so that the negative voltage − vs is applied to the scan electrode 12 y . fig5 illustrates a timing diagram of generating waveforms of a scan electrode according to the present invention , and operation of the scan electrode driving circuit is explained as follows . referring to fig5 , as the first switch q 1 is turned on by a control signal cs 1 in the reset period , the energy recovery unit 50 supplies the scan electrode 12 y with the sustain voltage vsus through the scan driving ic 52 . subsequently , as the fourth switch q 4 becomes turned on by a control signal cs 4 , the set - up voltage supplying unit 56 supplies the scan driving ic 52 with the voltage supplied from the power supply of the reset voltage vreset with the set - up waveform ramp 1 having a predetermined slope . the scan driving ic 52 applies the set - up waveform ramp 1 to the scan electrode 12 y . in this case , the reset voltage has a slope determined by the rc time constant of the first and second variable resistors r 1 and r 2 and the second capacitor c 2 and a charged voltage of the fourth capacitor c 4 . therefore , the set - up voltage supplying unit 56 supplies the scan electrode 12 y through the scan driving ic 52 with the set - up waveform ramp 1 of which highest level becomes equal to that of the reset voltage vreset as increasing by the power supply of the reset voltage vreset . then , as the fourth switch q 4 is then turned off by the control signal c 54 and the third switch q 3 is turned on by the control signal cs 3 , a voltage of the scan electrode 12 y drops down to the sustain voltage vsus from the reset voltage vreset . subsequently , as the fifth switch q 5 is turned on by a control signal c 55 , the set - down voltage supplying unit 58 lowers the set - down waveform ramp 2 to the reference potential vref of the sustain pulse with a predetermined slope determined by the rc time constant between the third and fourth variable resistors r 3 and r 4 and the third capacitor c 3 so as to supply the scan electrode 12 y with the reduced set - down waveform ramp 2 through the scan driving ic 52 . as explained in the above description , the set - up waveform ramp 1 in the reset period ascends up to the reset voltage vreset with the predetermined slope , whereby the discharge fails to occur greatly in the cell as well as the required wall voltage is generated in the cell during a scanning process . and , a slope of the set - down waveform ramp 2 is adjusted slowly since the energy recovery unit 50 is operating while the set - down waveform ramp 2 falls down to the reference voltage vref of the sustain pulse . in the address period , as the sixth switch q 6 is turned on by a control signal cs 6 , the first scan voltage supplying unit 54 supplies the scan electrode 12 y with the positive scan voltage + vs through the scan driving ic 52 . next , the eleventh switch q h is turned off by a control signal csh synchronized with the data pulse applied to the address electrode 20 x , and the seventh switch q 7 is turned on by a control signal c 57 as well as the twelfth switch ql is turned on by a control signal csl . hence , the positive scan voltage + vs supplied from the first scan voltage supplying unit 54 is lowered to the negative voltage − vs provided by the negative scan voltage power supply 59 so as to be applied to the scan electrode 12 y . namely , the scan voltage v_scan , which falls from the positive scan voltage + vs applied to the scan electrode 12 y through the scan driving ic 52 to the negative voltage − vs lower than the reference potential vref of the sustain pulse , is applied to the scan electrode 12 y through the scan driving ic 52 . thereafter , as the inner wall voltage accumulated by the wall charges in the cell is added to the voltage corresponding to the voltage difference between the data pulse and the scan voltage v_scan , the address discharge is initiated in the cell to which the data pulse is applied . in this case , in order to maintain the wall charges generated from the address discharge while other discharge cells are addressed , the seventh and twelfth switches q 7 and ql are turned off . accordingly , the positive scan voltage v_scan is applied to the scan electrode 12 y through the turned - on sixth switch q 6 and the scan driving ic 52 . in the following sustain period , after the scan driving ic 52 has been supplied with the voltage charged in the external capacitor c 1 and the resonance waveform generated from a serial lc resonance circuit constructed with the inductor l 1 and capacitance c in the cell , the first and second switches q 1 and q 2 are turned on alternately so that the energy recovery unit 50 supplies the scan electrode 12 y with the sustain voltage vsus through the scan driving ic 52 . then , the sustain discharge is initiated selectively in the discharge cells in which the wall charges are formed sufficiently by the address discharge . fig6 illustrates a graph of driving waveforms applied to the respective electrodes for a pdp driving according to a second embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig6 , a pdp driving according to a second embodiment of the present invention is mainly divided into a reset period initializing cells so as to equalize initial conditions of entire discharge cells , an address period selecting a discharge cell , a sustain period expressing a gray scale according to a discharge count , and an erase period erasing the discharge . the reset period is divided into set - up and set - down periods . and , the drive of the set - up and set - down periods is explained in the foregoing description . hereinafter , explanation for the reset period is skipped . in the address period following the address period , centering on the reference potential vref of the reset and sustain discharges , the scan electrode 12 y is supplied with a pulse of the scan voltage vscan swinging between the positive voltage + vs higher than the reference voltage vref and the negative voltage − vs lower than the reference potential vref . at the same moment , the address electrode 20 x is supplied with the data pulse synchronized with the pulse of the scan voltage vscan as well as having the same pulse width of the very pulse of the scan voltage vscan . in this case , a voltage level of the data pulse is lowered as much as the negative voltage − vs of the pulse of the scan voltage vscan . thus , the address discharge is generated by the supply of the scan voltage vscan and data pulse , whereby the discharge cells are selected . yet , if a lower limit of the scan voltage vscan supplied during the address period is lowered to a level of the negative voltage − vs lower than the reference potential vref of the sustain discharge , a wrong discharge may be generated between the scan and sustain electrodes 12 y and 12 z . therefore , the present invention supplies the sustain electrode 12 z with a voltage vbi having a level lower than that of a reset voltage va 1 having a positive polarity (+) supplied during the reset period . subsequently , in order to maintain the cell selected by the address discharge , a sustain pulse asus of which reference potential is a positive voltage + vs is applied to the scan electrode 12 y after the pulse of the scan voltage vscan . next , in order to improve a contrast ratio of the cell selected by the address discharge and sustain pulse asus , the present invention supplies the scan electrode 12 y with a descending ramp voltage ramp 3 falling down to the reference potential vref of the reset and sustain discharges . the reset discharge by the descending ramp voltage ramp 3 erases a proper quantity of the wall charges remaining in the cells selected by other sub - fields . in this case , a voltage va 2 of positive polarity (+) is applied to the sustain electrode 12 z so as to reduce the wall charges . thus , the descending ramp voltage ramp 3 equalizes the state of the wall charges in the cell selected by the reset and address discharges to those in the cell selected or failing to be selected by the first sub - field . thereafter , centering on the reference potential vref of the reset and sustain discharges , the scan electrode 12 y is supplied with a pulse of the scan voltage vscan swinging between the positive voltage + vs higher than the reference voltage vref and the negative voltage − vs lower than the reference potential vref . at the same moment , the address electrode 20 x is supplied with the data pulse synchronized with the pulse of the scan voltage vscan as well as having the same pulse width of the very pulse of the scan voltage vscan . in this case , a voltage level of the data pulse is lowered as much as the negative voltage − vs of the pulse of the scan voltage vscan . thus , the address discharge is generated by the supply of the scan voltage vscan and data pulse , whereby the discharge cells are selected . in this case , in order to prevent the wrong discharge between the scan and sustain electrodes 12 y and 12 z , the present invention supplies the sustain electrode 12 z with a voltage vb 2 of which level is lower than that of a reset voltage va 2 of positive polarity (+) supplied during the reset period . as explained in the above description , the present invention lowers a level of the scan voltage vscan tied to a ground level in the related art to a level of the negative voltage − vs lower than the reference potential of the sustain pulse , thereby lowering the discharge voltage applied to the address electrode 20 x for the address discharge . accordingly , the power consumption for the pdp drive is reduced as well as a burden of the data driving driver supplying a data pulse of high voltage level . the present invention needs no heat - dissipating plate and data energy recovery circuit using a low driving voltage additionally , thereby enabling to reduce a cost of pdp . moreover , the present invention equalizes the state of the wall charges selected by discharge cell to that selected or failing to be selected by the first sub - field during the address period , thereby enabling to improve a contrast ratio of the cells selected by the address discharge and sustain pulse asus . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art than various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention . thus , it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents . | 6 |
the present invention provides dnt - fumarate , which can be represented by the formula c 23 h 25 no 5 s and the structure : dnt - fumarate is preferably isolated as a solid , and , more preferably as a crystal . the use of dnt - fumarate as an intermediate salt for preparation of dnt , which is an intermediate of duloxetine , allows for obtaining such hydrochloride salt in relatively high purity without the drawbacks of the oxalate salt . use of the dnt - fumarate salt provides an enantiomeric cleaning effect not observed with the oxalate salt . the cleaning effect results from the process of forming crystalline dnt - fumarate which produces a greater ratio of the s enantiomer relative to the r enantiomer , than was present in the dnt starting material . dnt - fumarate can be characterized by data selected from : 1 h nmr ( 400 mhz , dmso d 6 ) δ ( ppm ): 8 . 26 ( dd , j 1 = 6 . 12 hz , j 2 = 3 . 36 hz , 1h ), 7 . 82 ( dd , j 1 = 8 . 00 hz , j 2 = 3 . 17 hz , 1h ), 7 . 50 ( dd , j 1 = 8 . 00 hz , j 2 = 3 . 22 hz , 2h ), 7 . 43 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 31 ( t , j = 7 . 88 hz , 1h ), 7 . 22 ( d , j = 2 . 96 hz , 1h ), 7 . 00 ( d , j = 7 . 66 hz , 1h ), 6 . 97 ( t , j = 3 . 8 hz , 1h ), 6 . 60 ( s , 2h ), 6 . 00 ( dt , j 1 = 6 . 25 hz , j 2 = 2 . 32 hz , 1h ), 3 . 26 ( m , 1h ), 3 . 16 ( m , 1h ), 2 . 75 ( s , 6h ), 2 . 56 ( m , 1h ), 2 . 38 ( m , 1h ); 13 c { 1 h } nmr ( 100 mhz ): δ 166 . 8 , 152 . 6 , 143 . 8 , 134 . 6 , 127 . 8 , 127 . 2 , 126 . 8 , 126 . 4 , 126 . 2 , 125 . 8 , 122 . 1 , 120 . 9 , 107 . 8 , 73 . 3 , 53 . 9 , 42 . 6 , 33 . 4 ; and fab ms : m / z 312 ([ m − h ] + , 100 %). the dnt - fumarate is preferably solid , more preferably crystalline . the present invention also provides a process for preparing dnt - fumarate . dnt - fumarate may be prepared by combining dnt and fumaric acid to create a reaction mixture . dnt fumarate forms in such reaction mixture through contact of dnt with fumaric acid . in one embodiment , a solution or suspension of dnt in a solvent is combined with fumaric acid to form a reaction mixture . the fumaric acid may be either added as a solid or as a solution or suspension in an organic solvent . the solvent may be selected from the group consisting of c 1 - 8 alcohols , c 3 - 7 esters , c 3 - 8 ethers , c 3 - 7 ketones , c 6 - 12 aromatic hydrocarbons , acetonitrile , water and mixtures thereof preferably , the solvent is selected from a group consisting of acetone , n - buoh , ethyl acetate , mtbe , toluene and water . more preferably , the solvent is selected from the group consisting of ethyl acetate , acetone , and n - buoh . in one embodiment , fumaric acid , dnt and at least one solvent are combined to form a reaction mixture . dnt fumarate then precipitates out of such a mixture . generally , fumaric acid is added to a solution of dnt in an organic solvent , followed by precipitation of dnt - fumarate . the reaction mixture may be stirred before , during , or after precipitation . such precipitation may occur on its own or be induced . the process is generally carried out at a temperature of from about room temperature to about the reflux temperature of the solvent . in another embodiment , the mixture of fumaric acid and dnt in a solvent are heated to obtain a reaction mixture . the temperature for heating can be dependent on the solvent , and generally ranges from about room temperature to about the reflux temperature of the solvent . dnt fumarate forms in the reaction mixture . the reaction mixture may be cooled for a subsequent period to facilitate precipitation . cooling may be carried out at a temperature of about 50 ° c . or less , such as about room temperature . the reaction mixture may be stirred before , during or after precipitation . cooling is generally carried out at a temperature of about 50 ° c . or less , such as room temperature . the above embodiments , with or without heating , may be carried out without a solvent . in this method , dnt is used both as a reagent and a solvent ; fumaric acid and dnt are combined to form a reaction mixture followed by precipitation . the resulting precipitate from any of the above embodiments may be recovered by conventional techniques , such as filtration . the precipitate may be dried under ambient or reduced pressure , or elevated temperature . in one embodiment , the precipitate is dried at room temperature at a pressure of less than about 100 mmhg . the dnt - fumarate of the invention can be prepared in different polymorphic forms . polymorphism , the occurrence of different crystal forms , is a property of some molecules and molecular complexes . a single molecule , such as dnt - fumarate may give rise to a variety of crystalline forms having distinct crystal structures and physical properties like melting point , x - ray diffraction pattern , infrared absorption fingerprint , and solid state nmr spectrum . one crystalline form may give rise to thermal behavior different from that of another crystalline form . thermal behavior can be measured in the laboratory by such techniques as capillary melting point , thermogravimetric analysis (“ tga ”), and differential scanning calorimetry (“ dsc ”), which have been used to distinguish polymorphic forms . the difference in the physical properties of different crystalline forms results from the orientation and intermolecular interactions of adjacent molecules or complexes in the bulk solid . accordingly , polymorphs are distinct solids sharing the same molecular formula , yet having distinct physical properties that can be advantageous in certain applications compared to other crystalline forms of the same compound or complex . therefore , processes for the preparation of polymorphic forms of dnt - fumarate are desirable . one such crystalline form of dnt - fumarate , herein defined as form fum2 , is characterized by a powder xrd pattern with peaks at about 9 . 7 °, 16 . 5 °, 17 . 4 °, 21 . 2 °, and 24 . 1 ° 2θ ± 0 . 2 ° 2θ . the crystalline form fum2 may be further characterized by x - ray powder diffraction peaks at about 18 . 7 °, 19 . 3 °, 22 . 4 °, 23 . 1 °, and 26 . 4 ° 2θ ± 0 . 2 ° 2θ . dnt - fumarate form fum2 can also be characterized by an x - ray powder diffraction pattern substantially as depicted in fig1 . form fum2 may be prepared by any of the processes set out above . preferably , the dnt - fumarate , form fum2 , resulting from the above processes is present in a composition , such as a batch , having a polymorphic purity of at least about 10 percent by weight , more preferably , at least about 25 percent by weight , and most preferably at least about 50 percent by weight of a single crystalline form . preparation of the fumarate salt can also lower the amount of the undesired r - enantiomer present in dnt . such reduction in the level of undesired r - enantiomer can be calculated according to the following formula : ( 1 - % r dnt - fumarate % r dnt ) × 100 preferably the molar amount of r - enantiomer present in the dnt - fumarate , compared to the starting material , is less than about 70 percent , more preferably , less than about 40 percent , even more preferably , less than about 17 percent of the molar amount present in such starting material . the process of the invention can lower the level of the undesired r - enantiomer below the detection limit . repetitions of the processes for preparation of dnt - fumarate can increase the enantiomeric purity even further , preferably to an undetectable amount of the undesired r - enantiomer . in other words , the processes can further comprise combining dnt - fumarate with a base , combining the dnt - base with fumaric acid to form a reaction mixture , precipitating dnt - fumarate from the reaction mixture , and recovering the dnt - fumarate . to decrease the level of the r - enantiomer of dnt - fumarate even further , the dnt - fumarate prepared with the process of the invention may be crystallized from one or more polar solvents , such as c 1 - 8 alcohols , e . g ., n - butanol , c 3 - 7 esters , e . g ., ethyl acetate , water , and mixtures thereof . the crystallization may be performed by dissolving dnt - fumarate in the organic solvent , preferably at a temperature of about room temperature to about reflux temperature , followed by cooling . the obtained dnt - fumarate is recovered by any method known in the art , such as filtering , and may be washed and dried . the dnt - fumarate of the present invention , including form fum2 , will generally have a maximal particle size of less than about 500 μm , preferably less than about 300 μm , more preferably less than about 200 μm , and most preferably less than about 100 μm . a particularly preferred crystalline form fum2 of dnt - fumarate has a maximal particle size of less than about 50 μm . the particle size of dnt - fumarate crystalline forms may be measured by methods including , but not limited to , sieves , sedimentation , electrozone sensing ( coulter counter ), microscopy , and low angle laser light scattering ( lalls ). the dnt - fumarate of the present invention is useful as an intermediate in the preparation of pharmaceutically acceptable salts of duloxetine , particularly the hydrochloride salt . the conversion can be carried out by combining dnt - fumarate , water , a base such as ammonium hydroxide , and toluene to obtain a two phase system , separating the organic phase containing dnt and toluene , and converting the dnt to duloxetine hcl . the dnt - fumarate used in this process is preferably the dnt - fumarate prepared as described above . as such , it has a low content of the r - enantiomer , and , therefore , the duloxetine hcl obtained from the dnt - fumarate of the invention also has a decreased r - enantiomer content . the conversion of dnt to a pharmaceutically acceptable salt of duloxetine may be performed by any method known in the art , such as the one described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 023 , 269 or in co - pending u . s . patent application ser . no . 11 / 318 , 365 , filed on dec . 23 , 2005 , for making duloxetine hcl . preferably , the conversion is performed by dissolving dnt in an organic solvent , and combining it with an alkyl haloformate . that step will yield duloxetine alkyl carbamate , which can be combined with an organic solvent and a base , to yield duloxetine . the duloxetine may then be converted to a pharmaceutically acceptable salt . more preferably , the conversion is performed by dissolving dnt in a water immiscible organic solvent ; adding alkyl chloroformate at a temperature of about 5 ° c . to less than about 80 ° c . to obtain duloxetine alkyl carbamate , combining the duloxetine alkyl carbamate with an organic solvent and a base ; maintaining the reaction mixture at reflux temperatures for at least 1 to 3 hours ; cooling , and adding water and an additional amount of an organic solvent ; recovering duloxetine ; combining the duloxetine with a solvent ; adding hydrochloric acid until a ph of about 3 to about 4 is obtained ; maintaining the reaction mixture to obtain a solid residue ; and recovering duloxetine hcl . pharmaceutical compositions can be made using the pharmaceutically acceptable salts of duloxetine from the processes described above . a pharmaceutical composition may comprise a pharmaceutically acceptable salts of duloxetine from the processes described above , and a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient . preferably , a pharmaceutical composition can be made by combining the duloxetine hcl produced by the above method with a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient . these pharmaceutical compositions contain less than about 50 %, more preferably less than about 15 %, even more preferably less than about 5 %, and even more preferably less than about 0 . 04 % of enantiomeric impurity . most preferably such impurity is undetectable by hplc . in addition to the active ingredient ( s ), the pharmaceutical compositions of the present invention contain one or more excipients or adjuvants . selection of excipients and the amounts to use may be readily determined by the formulation scientist based upon experience and consideration of standard procedures and reference works in the field . diluents increase the bulk of a solid pharmaceutical composition , and may make a pharmaceutical dosage form containing the composition easier for the patient and care giver to handle . diluents for solid compositions include , for example , microcrystalline cellulose ( e . g . avicel ®), microfine cellulose , lactose , starch , pregelitinized starch , calcium carbonate , calcium sulfate , sugar , dextrates , dextrin , dextrose , dibasic calcium phosphate dihydrate , tribasic calcium phosphate , kaolin , magnesium carbonate , magnesium oxide , maltodextrin , mannitol , polymethacrylates ( e . g . eudragit ®), potassium chloride , powdered cellulose , sodium chloride , sorbitol , and talc . solid pharmaceutical compositions that are compacted into a dosage form , such as a tablet , may include excipients whose functions include helping to bind the active ingredient and other excipients together after compression . binders for solid pharmaceutical compositions include acacia , alginic acid , carbomer ( e . g . carbopol ), carboxymethylcellulose sodium , dextrin , ethyl cellulose , gelatin , guar gum , hydrogenated vegetable oil , hydroxyethyl cellulose , hydroxypropyl cellulose ( e . g . klucel ®), hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose ( e . g . methocel ®), liquid glucose , magnesium aluminum silicate , maltodextrin , methylcellulose , polymethacrylates , povidone ( e . g . kollidon ®, plasdone ®), pregelatinized starch , sodium alginate , and starch . the dissolution rate of a compacted solid pharmaceutical composition in the patient &# 39 ; s stomach may be increased by the addition of a disintegrant to the composition . disintegrants include alginic acid , carboxymethylcellulose calcium , carboxymethylcellulose sodium ( e . g . ac - di - sol ®, primellose ®), colloidal silicon dioxide , croscarmellose sodium , crospovidone ( e . g . kollidon ®, polyplasdone ®), guar gum , magnesium aluminum silicate , methyl cellulose , microcrystalline cellulose , polacrilin potassium , powdered cellulose , pregelatinized starch , sodium alginate , sodium starch glycolate ( e . g . explotab ®), and starch . glidants can be added to improve the flowability of a non - compacted solid composition and to improve the accuracy of dosing . excipients that may function as glidants include colloidal silicon dioxide , magnesium trisilicate , powdered cellulose , starch , talc , and tribasic calcium phosphate . when a dosage form such as a tablet is made by the compaction of a powdered composition , the composition is subjected to pressure from a punch and die . some excipients and active ingredients have a tendency to adhere to the surfaces of the punch and die , which can cause the product to have pitting and other surface irregularities . a lubricant can be added to the composition to reduce adhesion and ease the release of the product from the die . lubricants include magnesium stearate , calcium stearate , glyceryl monostearate , glyceryl palmitostearate , hydrogenated castor oil , hydrogenated vegetable oil , mineral oil , polyethylene glycol , sodium benzoate , sodium lauryl sulfate , sodium stearyl fumarate , stearic acid , talc , and zinc stearate . flavoring agents and flavor enhancers make the dosage form more palatable to the patient . common flavoring agents and flavor enhancers for pharmaceutical products that may be included in the composition of the present invention include maltol , vanillin , ethyl vanillin , menthol , citric acid , fumaric acid , ethyl maltol , and tartaric acid . solid and liquid compositions may also be died using any pharmaceutically acceptable colorant to improve their appearance and / or facilitate patient identification of the product and unit dosage level . in liquid pharmaceutical compositions of the present invention , the active ingredient and any other solid excipients are suspended in a liquid carrier such as water , vegetable oil , alcohol , polyethylene glycol , propylene glycol or glycerin . liquid pharmaceutical compositions may contain emulsifying agents to disperse uniformly throughout the composition an active ingredient or other excipient that is not soluble in the liquid carrier . emulsifying agents that may be useful in liquid compositions of the present invention include , for example , gelatin , egg yolk , casein , cholesterol , acacia , tragacanth , chondrus , pectin , methyl cellulose , carbomer , cetostearyl alcohol , and cetyl alcohol . liquid pharmaceutical compositions of the present invention may also contain a viscosity enhancing agent to improve the mouth - feel of the product and / or coat the lining of the gastrointestinal tract . such agents include acacia , alginic acid bentonite , carbomer , carboxymethylcellulose calcium or sodium , cetostearyl alcohol , methyl cellulose , ethylcellulose , gelatin guar gum , hydroxyethyl cellulose , hydroxypropyl cellulose , hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose , maltodextrin , polyvinyl alcohol , povidone , propylene carbonate , propylene glycol alginate , sodium alginate , sodium starch glycolate , starch tragacanth , and xanthan gum . sweetening agents such as sorbitol , saccharin , sodium saccharin , sucrose , aspartame , fructose , mannitol , and invert sugar may be added to improve the taste . preservatives and chelating agents such as alcohol , sodium benzoate , butylated hydroxy toluene , butylated hydroxyanisole , and ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid may be added at levels safe for ingestion to improve storage stability . according to the present invention , a liquid composition may also contain a buffer such as gluconic acid , lactic acid , citric acid or acetic acid , sodium gluconate , sodium lactate , sodium citrate , or sodium acetate . selection of excipients and the amounts used may be readily determined by the formulation scientist based upon experience and consideration of standard procedures and reference works in the field . the solid compositions of the present invention include powders , granulates , aggregates , and compacted compositions . the dosages include dosages suitable for oral , buccal , rectal , parenteral ( including subcutaneous , intramuscular , and intravenous ), inhalant , and ophthalmic administration . although the most suitable administration in any given case will depend on the nature and severity of the condition being treated , the most preferred route of the present invention is oral . the dosages may be conveniently presented in unit dosage form and prepared by any of the methods well known in the pharmaceutical arts . dosage forms include solid dosage forms like tablets , powders , capsules , suppositories , sachets , troches , and losenges , as well as liquid syrups , suspensions , and elixirs . the dosage form of the present invention may be a capsule containing the composition , preferably a powdered or granulated solid composition of the invention , within either a hard or soft shell . the shell may be made from gelatin , and , optionally , contain a plasticizer such as glycerin and sorbitol , and an opacifying agent or colorant . the active ingredient and excipients may be formulated into compositions and dosage forms according to methods known in the art . a composition for tableting or capsule filling can be prepared by wet granulation . in wet granulation , some or all of the active ingredients and excipients in powder form are blended , and then further mixed in the presence of a liquid , typically water , that causes the powders to clump into granules . the granulate is screened and / or milled , dried , and then screened and / or milled to the desired particle size . the granulate may then be tableted or other excipients may be added prior to tableting , such as a glidant and / or a lubricant . a tableting composition can be prepared conventionally by dry blending . for example , the blended composition of the actives and excipients may be compacted into a slug or a sheet , and then comminuted into compacted granules . the compacted granules may subsequently be compressed into a tablet . as an alternative to dry granulation , a blended composition may be compressed directly into a compacted dosage form using direct compression techniques . direct compression produces a more uniform tablet without granules . excipients that are particularly well suited for direct compression tableting include microcrystalline cellulose , spray dried lactose , dicalcium phosphate dihydrate and colloidal silica . the proper use of these and other excipients in direct compression tableting is known to those in the art with experience and skill in particular formulation challenges of direct compression tableting . a capsule filling of the present invention may comprise any of the aforementioned blends and granulates that were described with reference to tableting , however , they are not subjected to a final tableting step . the following non - limiting examples are merely illustrative of the preferred embodiments of the present invention , and are not to be construed as limiting the invention , the scope of which is defined by the appended claims . x - ray powder diffraction ( xrd ) data was obtained using a scintag x - ray powder diffractometer model x &# 39 ; tra equipped with a cu - tube solid state detector . a round standard aluminum sample holder with rough zero background quartz plate with a cavity of 25 ( diameter )× 0 . 5 mm ( depth ) was used . the scanning parameters included : range : 2 ° to 40 ° 2θ ; scan mode : continuous scan ; step size : 0 . 05 °; and a rate of 5 °/ minute . column : diacel chiral od 250 × 4 . 65 μm eluent : hexane ( 900 ml ): ipa ( 100 ml ): dea ( 2 ml ) flow : 1 ml / minute detection : 230 nm sample conc : 0 . 5 mg / ml sample vol : 100 μl column temp : 20 ° c . detection limit : 0 . 02 % fumaric acid ( 1 . 53 g ) was added to a solution of 4 g of dnt ( 2 . 3 % enantiomer r ) dissolved in 40 ml of the appropriate solvent , and stirred for about 1 hour . after filtration , the product was dried in a vacuum oven ( 10 mm hg ) at 50 ° c . for 16 hours , and analyzed by xrd and hplc . the results are set forth in table 1 . fumaric acid ( 1 . 53 g ) was added to a solution of 4 g of dnt ( 2 . 3 % enantiomer r ) dissolved in 40 ml of the appropriate solvent , and the mixture was heated to reflux for about 10 minutes . after cooling to room temperature , the mixture was stirred for about 1 hour . after filtration , the product was dried in a vacuum oven ( 10 mmhg ) at 50 ° c . for 16 hours , and analyzed by xrd and hplc . the results are set forth in table 2 . fumaric acid ( 1 . 53 g ) was added to a suspension of 3 g of dnt ( 2 . 3 % enantiomer r ) in 30 ml of water , and the mixture was heated to reflux for about 10 minutes . after cooling to room temperature , the mixture was stirred for an additional 1 hour , filtrated , and washed with water . after drying , in a vacuum oven ( 10 mm hg ) at 50 ° c . for 16 hours , 1 . 5 g ( 88 % yield , 1 . 37 % enantiomer r ) of product were obtained . the product was analyzed by xrd and found to be form fum2 after the drying . a 2 liter reactor equipped with mechanical stirrer is charged with a mixture of 107 g dnt - fumarate , 600 ml water , 96 ml of a 22 percent solution of ammonium hydroxide , and 1 liter toluene . the mixture is stirred at 25 ° c . for 20 to 30 minutes , and the organic phase is separated and washed with water ( 3 × 300 ml ). the toluene solution of dnt can be used for the preparation of duloxetine hydrochloride step without evaporation . to a solution of 2 . 1 g of dnt - base ( 12 % enantiomer r ) dissolved in 12 ml of ethyl acetate was added a solution of 0 . 6 g of oxalic acid in 12 ml of ethyl acetate . the resulting mixture was stirred at room temperature for an hour , filtrated and washed with ethyl acetate . after drying , in a vacuum oven for overnight , 2 g ( 77 % yield ) of dnt - oxalate were obtained containing 12 % of enantiomer r . a 100 ml three necked flask , equipped with mechanical stirrer , thermometer , dean stark , and condenser , was charged with 5 g of dnt and 25 ml of toluene . the clear solution was heated , and an azeotropic distillation was performed for about 30 to about 60 minutes . after cooling to room temperature , 4 . 6 ml of ethyl chloroformate were added during over a period of 1 to 2 hours , and the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature over night . diluted nh 4 oh was added to the reaction mixture , which was stirred for an additional 30 minutes . after phase separation , the organic phase was washed with water ( 3 × 20 ml ), dried over na 2 so 4 , filtered , and concentrated to dryness to give 5 . 2 g of a brownish oil . ( 88 % chemical yield ). a 100 ml three necked flask equipped , with mechanical stirrer , thermometer , and condenser , was charged with 2 . 5 g duloxetine ethyl carbamate and 20 ml toluene . the mixture was stirred , and 4 . 8 g of koh were added in portions , followed by reflux for about 3 hours . after cooling , 30 ml of water , followed by 20 ml of toluene , were added , and the resulting organic phase was washed with water ( 3 × 20 ml ), dried over na 2 so 4 , filtered and concentrated to dryness to give 1 . 70 g of an oily product . ( 85 . 31 % yield ). to a solution of 1 g of duloxetine in 10 ml mek was slowly added 0 . 32 ml of a 37 percent hydrochloric acid solution . the mixture was stirred until a solid formed . the resulting solid was filtered , and dried in a vacuum oven to give 0 . 50 g of ( s )-(+)- duloxetine hydrochloride . ( 94 . 64 % yield ). while it is apparent that the invention disclosed herein is well calculated to fulfill the objects stated above , it will be appreciated that numerous modifications and embodiments may be devised by those skilled in the art . therefore , it is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications and embodiments as falling within the true spirit and scope of the present invention . | 2 |
a method and apparatus for portable dynamic memory management is disclosed , which has particular application to memory controllers , operating systems , runtime libraries of programming languages and the like . in the following description for purposes of explanation , specific numbers , materials and configurations are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention . however , it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without the specific details . in other instances , well known systems are shown in diagrammatical or block diagram form in order not to obscure the present invention unnecessarily . referring now to fig1 a block diagram illustrating a computer system embodying the portable dynamic memory management teachings of the present invention is shown . shown is a computer 10 which comprises three major components 12 , 14 , and 16 . the first of these is an input / output ( i / o ) circuit 12 which is used to communicate information in appropriately structured form to and from other portions of the computer 10 . in addition , the computer 10 includes a central processing unit ( cpu ) 14 coupled to the i / o circuit 12 , and a memory 16 . the i / o circuit 12 , the cpu 14 and the memory 16 are those typically found in most general purpose computers . a magnetic disk 20 is shown coupled to the i / o circuit 12 to provide additional storage capability for the computer 10 . it will be appreciated that additional devices may be coupled to the computer 10 for storing data such as magnetic tape drives , as well as networks which are in turn coupled to other computer systems . as is well known , the disk 20 may store other computer programs , characters , routines , etc ., which may be accessed and executed by the cpu 14 . a raster display monitor 24 is shown coupled to the i / o circuit 12 and is used to display images generated by the cpu 14 . any well known variety of raster displays may be utilized as display 24 . a keyboard 18 is shown coupled to the i / o circuit 12 and is used to input data and commands into the computer 10 , as is well known . a cursor control device 28 is also shown coupled to the computer 10 through the i / o circuit 12 . any well known variety of cursor control devices may be utilized as cursor control device 28 . in fact , the several hardware elements illustrated are intended to represent a broad category of computer systems . particular examples include computer systems based on 80 × 86 microprocessors manufactured by intel corporation of santa clara , calif . other computer systems having like capabilities may of course be adapted in a straight forward manner to perform the functions described below . referring now to fig2 a block diagram illustrating a logical view of the software elements of the computer system illustrated in fig1 is shown . shown is an operating system 36 providing various system services to other programs executing on the computer system . in particular , the operating system 36 provides input / output ( i / o ) services 38 for accessing any i / o devices and dynamic memory management 40 for managing allocation and deallocation of the computer system &# 39 ; s memory to executing programs in accordance to the teachings of the present invention . as will be described , it is immaterial whether operating system 36 provides virtual memory addressing similar to the memory addressing found in the well known unix ™ system , or static memory addressing similar to the memory addressing found in the well known dos . also shown are programming language compilers , software tools / utilities and their runtime libraries 34 for application development and execution . the applications 32 executing on the computer system utilize the underlying system services offered by runtime libraries 34 and the operating system 36 . these software elements are those typically found in most general purpose computer systems and almost all special purpose computer systems . although the dynamic management of memory allocation and deallocation of the present invention is shown to be implemented as part of the operating system 36 , the present invention may also be implemented as part of the memory controllers of various memory units , the runtime libraries of the various programming languages , and the like . in fact , the present invention may be implemented as part of any system or subsystem that manages memory allocation of a memory pool . the portability advantage of the present invention will be maintained by having the implementing runtime library or the like acquires memory for its memory pool in multiples of the system &# 39 ; s memory page or segment size . referring now to fig3 the memory architecture of the computer system illustrated in fig1 is shown . shown is the memory 16 logically divided into a plurality of fixed size memory pages / segments , 42a - 42 *. each memory page / segment , 42a , . . . , or 42 *, comprises a plurality of memory words . also shown are allocated memory blocks 44a - 44 *, and free memory blocks 46a - 46 * ( unallocated ). each allocated / free memory blocks 44a , . . . , 44 *, 46a , . . . , or 46 *, comprises a plurality of contiguous memory words that may or may not span multiple memory pages / segments 42a - 42 *. also shown is a plurality of memory blocks , 48a - 48 * allocated for storing free memory block headers . the free memory block headers point to the free memory blocks 46a - 46 *. there is one free memory block header for each free memory block 46a - 46 *. additionally , the free memory block headers are logically organized as a cartesian binary tree to facilitate dynamic allocation and deallocation of free memory blocks 46a - 46 *. collectively , the free memory block headers form a free memory block header list . the organization of the free memory block headers and their usage will be described in further detail below . although the free memory block headers are shown to be stored in memory blocks 48a - 48 * having sizes of a memory page / segment , it will be appreciated that the free memory block headers may be stored in memory blocks having sizes smaller or greater than a memory page / segment . referring now to fig4 a block diagram illustrating an exemplary free memory block header list comprising exemplary free memory block headers of the memory illustrated in fig3 is shown . shown is an exemplary free memory block header list 50 comprising a mot free memory block header 62a , and a plurality of descendant free memory block header 62b - 62f . each of the exemplary free memory block header , 62a , . . . or 62g , corresponds to a free memory block currently not allocated to any executing program . the exemplary free memory block header list 50 is organized as a cartesian binary tree as follows : 1 ) both first generation descendant free memory blocks corresponding to the first generation descendant free memory block headers 52b and 52c of the mot free memory block header 52a are smaller that the root free memory block ; additionally , the first generation left descendant free memory block has a lower address and the first generation right descendant free memory has a higher address than the address of the mot free memory block ; 2 ) both second generation descendant free memory blocks corresponding to the second generation descendant free memory block headers 52d and 52e of the first generation left descendant free memory block header 52b are smaller that the first generation left descendant free memory block ; additionally , the second generation left descendant free memory block has a lower address and the second generation right descendant free memory has a higher address than the address of the first generation left descendant free memory block ; and 3 ) both second generation descendant free memory blocks corresponding to the second generation descendant free memory block headers 52f and 52g of the first generation right descendant free memory block header 52c are smaller that the first generation right descendant free memory block ; additionally , the second generation left descendant free memory block has a lower address and the second generation right descendant free memory has a higher address than the address of the first generation right descendant free memory block . in general , a free memory block header list is organized as a cartesian binary tree having the following properties : if f ( e ) denotes the descendants of e , left ( f ( e )) denotes the left descendants of e , and right ( f ( e )) denotes the right descendants of e , then for all i in left ( f ( e )) and all j in right ( f ( e )), address ( i )& lt ; address ( e )& lt ; address ( j ), and length ( i )& lt ;= length ( e )=& gt ; length ( j ). as illustrated by the exemplary free memory block header list 50 , each free memory block header , 52a , . . . , or 52g , comprises a free memory block address , 54a , . . . , or 54g , and a free memory block size , 60a , . . . , or 60g . the free memory block address , 54a , . . . or , 54g , identifies the starting location of the corresponding free memory block , whereas , the free memory block size , 60a , . . . , or 60g , identifies the size of the corresponding free memory block . additionally , each free memory block header , 52a , . . . , or 52g , further comprises a left descendant free memory block header address , 56a , . . . , or 56g , and a right descendant free memory block header address , 58a , . . . , or 58g . if a free memory block header has a left descendant free memory block header , 52a , 52b , or 52c , the left descendant free memory block header address , 56a , 56b , or 56c identifies the starting location of the left descendant free memory block header , 52b , 52d , or 52f ; otherwise , 52d , 52e , 52f , or 52g , the left descendant free memory block header address , 56d , 56e , 56f , or 56g contains a null pointer . similarly , if a free memory block header has a right descendant free memory block header , 52a , 52b , or 52c , the right descendant free memory block header address , 58a , 58b , or 58c identifies the starting location of the right descendant free memory block header , 52c , 52e , or 52g ; otherwise , 52d , 52e , 52f , or 52g , the right descendant free memory block header address , 58d , 58e , 58f , or 58g contains a null pointer . although all free memory block headers with no descendant , 52d , 52e , 52f and 52g , were shown in fig4 as having neither left nor right descendant free memory block headers at the same time , it will be appreciated that a free memory block header may have a left descendant free memory block header and no right descendant free memory block header , or vice versa . referring now to fig5 a block diagram illustrating an allocated memory block of the memory illustrated in fig3 is shown . an allocated memory block 44 comprises at least one memory word 64 for storing the allocated memory block &# 39 ; s block length and a plurality of memory words 62 allocated to the requestor . under the present invention , allocation of memory is rounded to the nearest multiples of system word size . the allocated memory block length is stored into the lower memory word ( s ) of the allocated memory block , aligned to the system &# 39 ; s word boundary if necessary . additionally , if the present invention is implemented in a programming language runtime library or the like , acquisition of memory for the memory pool is further rounded to the nearest multiple of the system &# 39 ; s page or segment size . referring now to fig6 a block diagram illustrating the dynamic memory management services of the operating system illustrated in fig2 is shown . the dynamic memory management services 40 comprise a memory allocation procedure 76 , a memory reallocation procedure 78 , and a memory deallocation procedure 80 . the allocate , reallocate and deallocate procedures 76 - 80 are used to allocate , reallocate and deallocate memory blocks . additionally , the dynamic memory management services 40 further comprise an insert procedure 68 , a delete procedure 70 , a demote procedure 72 and a reclaim procedure 74 . the insert , delete , demote and reclaim procedures 68 - 74 are used by the allocate , reallocate and deallocate procedures 76 - 80 to maintain the free memory block header list described earlier . still referring to fig6 upon receipt of a memory allocation request , the allocate procedure 76 rounds the request size upward to the nearest multiple of the system word size . the allocate procedure 76 then searches the free memory block header list for a free memory block to allocate . upon locating the free memory block , the allocate procedure 76 allocates the rounded amount of memory words to the requestor . the allocate procedure 76 writes the allocated memory block size into the lower bound memory word ( s ) of the allocated memory block as illustrated earlier , and calls the delete or demote procedure 70 or 72 to update the free memory block header list , before returning the starting address of the allocated memory block to the requestor . the allocate procedure 76 makes the necessary alignment when writing the allocated memory block size into the lower bound memory word ( s ). the allocate procedure 76 searches the free memory block header list for a free memory block to allocate , starting with the root free memory block header traversing down through the descendant free memory block headers until the sizes of the corresponding free memory blocks of both descendant free memory block headers are too small or there are no more descendant free memory block headers . at each decision point , if both free memory blocks corresponding to the descendant free memory block headers can satisfy the request , the allocate procedure 76 traverse down the descendant free memory block header with the smaller free memory block . the allocate procedure 76 calls the delete procedure 70 to delete the corresponding free memory block header from the free memory block header list if the entire located located free memory block is allocated to the requestor . the allocate procedure 76 calls the demote procedure 72 to reorder the free memory block header list if the located free memory block is being split and only a portion of the located free memory block is allocated to the requestor . by adjusting the rounding and alignment to the system word size , the allocate procedure 76 is made portable to different systems . in its presently preferred form , a rounding constant ( wordsize ) and an alignment constant ( alignsize ) is used to provide the allocate procedure 76 with the necessary information . additionally , in its presently preferred form , the allocate procedure 76 is provided with the ability to initialize the allocated memory block at the request of the requestor before returning to the requestor . if the allocate procedure 76 is implemented as part of the a runtime library of a programming language or the like , it is also provided with the ability of acquiring additional memory from the operating system for its memory pool in multiples of the system &# 39 ; s page or segment size . in that case , the allocate procedure 76 calls the insert procedure to update the free memory block header list . similarly , an acquisition constant ( syspage ) is used to inform the allocate procedure 76 the system &# 39 ; s page or segment size . pseudo code for the key code segments of one implementation of the allocate procedure 76 is shown in a substantially c - like language in appendix a . the allocate procedure 76 as pseudo coded was implemented and incorporated into a c runtime library on a unix ™ system running on an intel i386 ™ microprocessor based computer system , and into a c runtime library on a dos system running also on an intel i386 ™ microprocessor based computer system ( i386 ™ is a registered trademark of intel corporation ). the acquisition constant ( syspage ) was set to 2000h on the unix ™ system , and to ffffh on the dos system . the rounding constant ( wordsize ) was set to 4 bytes on the unix ™ system , and 2 bytes on the dos system . the alignment constant ( alignsize ) was set to 4 bytes on the unix ™ system , and 0 bytes on the dos system . still referring to fig6 upon receipt of a reallocate request , the reallocate procedure 78 either decrease or increases the allocated memory block depending on the request . in the case of decreasing the allocated memory block , the reallocate procedure 78 reduces the memory allocation . the reallocate procedure 78 updates the allocated memory block length , preserves the data within the reduced allocated memory block , and calls the deallocate procedure 80 to deallocate the portion of the previously allocated memory block that is no longer required , before returning to the requestor . in the case of increasing the allocated memory block , the reallocate procedure 78 increases the memory allocation if possible . the reallocate procedure 78 calls the reclaim procedure 74 to determine if there is a free memory block adjacent to the allocated memory block , if so , coalesce them together . if the reclaim procedure 74 is successful in coalescing the allocated memory block with an adjacent free memory block , and the combined memory block is at least as large the new size requested , the reallocate procedure 78 allocates the combined memory block , preserves existing data in the previously allocated memory block , and calls the delete procedure 70 to update the free memory block header list . additionally , if the combined memory block is larger than the new size requested , the reallocate procedure 78 reduces the combined memory block to the requested new size before allocating the combined memory block . if the reclaim procedure 74 is unsuccessful in enlarging the allocated memory block to the requested new size , the reallocate procedure 78 then calls the allocate procedure 76 to allocate a new free memory block of the requested size , transfers the data in the previously allocated memory block to the newly allocated memory block , and calls the deallocate procedure 80 to deallocated the previously allocated memory block . pseudo code for the key code segments of one implementation of the reallocate procedure 78 is shown in a substantially c - like language in appendix b . similarly , the reallocate procedure 78 as pseudo coded was implemented and incorporated into the c runtime libraries described earlier . only one minor emulation was necessary to incorporate the reallocate procedure 78 into the c runtime library on the dos system described earlier . the sbrk () kernel memory facility on the unix ™ system was emulated by the dos interrupt 48h . still referring to fig6 upon receipt of a deallocate memory request , the deallocate procedure 80 deallocates the previously allocated memory block . the deallocate procedure 80 searches the free memory block header list to determine if the memory block being deallocated has adjacent free memory block or not . if so , the deallocate procedure 80 coalesce these adjacent free memory blocks with the memory block being deallocated , and calls the delete procedure 70 to delete the free memory block headers of the adjacent free memory blocks from the free memory block header list . the deallocate procedure 80 then calls the insert procedure 68 to insert the corresponding free memory block header for the memory block being deallocated , with or without coalesced adjacent free memory blocks , into the free memory block header list at the appropriate point . pseudo code for the key code segments of one implementation of the deallocate procedure 80 is shown in a substantially c - like language in appendix c . similarly , the deallocate procedure 80 as pseudo coded was implemented and incorporated into the c runtime libraries described earlier . still referring to fig6 upon receiving an insertion request , the insert procedure 68 locates the correct position with respect to the existing free memory block headers within the free memory block header list , and inserts a free memory block header . the insert procedure 68 , starting from the root free memory block header , performs a binary search for the first free memory block with a free memory block size less than the free memory block size of the free memory block whose header is to be inserted into the header list . the insert procedure 68 traverses down the left descendant if the address of the free memory block whose header is to be inserted is smaller than the address of the corresponding free memory block of the current free memory block header , otherwise , the insert procedure 68 traverses down the right descendant . upon locating the proper insertion point , the insert procedure 68 updates the descendant pointer of the predecessor free memory block header to point to the free memory block header being inserted , and the descendant pointer of the free memory block header being inserted to point to the previous descendant accordingly . in the event that the free memory block whose header is to be inserted into the header list is the smallest free memory block , the null descendant pointer of the predecessor free memory block header is updated to point to the free memory block header being inserted , and the descendant pointer of the free memory block header is set to null . pseudo code for the key code segments of one implementation of the insert procedure 68 is shown in a substantially c - like language in appendix d . similarly , the insert procedure 68 as pseudo coded was implemented and incorporated into the c runtime libraries described earlier . fig7 a illustrates an exemplary insertion of an exemplary free memory block header into the exemplary free memory block header list illustrated in fig4 . shown is the exemplary free memory block header list 50 illustrated in fig4 having the exemplary free memory block header 52h inserted into it . initially , the insert procedure compares the length of the free memory block 60h corresponding to the free memory block header 52h with the length of the free memory block 60a corresponding to the root free memory block header 52a . since the length of the free memory block 60h corresponding to the free memory block header 52h is smaller , the insert procedure traverses to one of the first generation free memory block headers 52b or 52c . the insert procedure traverses to the left descendant , since the address of the free memory block 54h corresponding to the free memory block header 52h is smaller than the address of the free memory block 54a corresponding to the root free memory block header 52a . then , the insert procedure compares the length of the free memory block 60h corresponding to the free memory block header 52h with the length of the free memory block 60b corresponding to the first generation free memory block header 52b . since the length of the free memory block 60h corresponding to the free memory block header 52h is smaller , the insert procedure traverses to one of the second generation free memory block headers 52d or 52e . the insert procedure traverses to the right descendant , since the address of the free memory block 54h corresponding to the free memory block header 52h is greater than the address of the free memory block 54b corresponding to the first generation free memory block header 52b . again , the insert procedure compares the length of the free memory block 60h corresponding to the free memory block header 52h with the length of the free memory block 60e corresponding to the second generation free memory block header 52e . since the length of the free memory block 60h corresponding to the free memory block header 52h is greater , the correct insertion point is found . as illustrated , the right descendant pointer 58b of the first generation free memory block header 52b is updated to point to the address of the free memory block header 52h . additionally , the right descendant pointer 58h of the free memory block header 52h is updated to point to the free memory block header 52e . referring back to fig6 upon receipt of a delete request , the delete procedure 70 merges the left and right descendant free memory block headers of the deleted free memory block header as either the left or right descendant free memory block headers of the deleted free memory block headers predecessor free memory block header , depending on whether the deleted free memory block header is a left or a right descendant of its predecessor free memory block header . if the deleted free memory block header is the root free memory block header , the delete procedure 70 merges the left and right descendant free memory block headers of the deleted root free memory block headers to form a new free memory block header list . in either case , the descendant pointers are updated accordingly . pseudo code for the key code segments of one implementation of the delete procedure 70 is shown in a substantially c - like language in appendix e . similarly , the delete procedure 70 as pseudo coded was implemented and incorporated into the c runtime libraries described earlier . fig7 b illustrates an exemplary deletion of one of the exemplary free memory block header from the exemplary free memory block header list illustrated in fig4 . shown is the exemplary free memory block header list 50 having the free memory block header list corresponding to the free memory block with the starting address &# 34 ; 20000 &# 34 ; deleted . since the deleted free memory block header was a left descendant of the free memory block header 52a , the delete procedure merges the remaining left and right descendant free memory block headers 52d and 52e as the left descendant free memory block headers of the root free memory block header 52a , which was the predecessor free memory block header of the deleted free memory block header . the remaining free memory block header 52d becomes the left descendant free memory block header of the other remaining free memory block header 52e , since the size of the free memory block 60d corresponding to the remaining free memory block header 52d is smaller than the size of the free memory block 60e corresponding to the other remaining free memory block header 52e , and the address of the free memory block 54d corresponding to the remaining free memory block header 52d is also smaller than the address of the free memory block 54e corresponding to the other remaining free memory block header 52e . as illustrated , the left descendant pointer 56a is updated to point to the free memory block header 52e . additionally , the left descendant pointer 56e of free memory block header 52e is in turn updated to point to the free memory block header 52d . referring back to fig6 upon receipt of a demote request , the demote procedure 72 reorders the free memory block header list . the free memory block headers for the pre - split free memory block and all its descendant free memory blocks are deleted from the free memory block list . a new free memory block header is created for the residual free memory block . the newly created free memory block header for the residual free memory block and the deleted free memory block headers for the descendant free memory blocks of the pre - split free memory block are reinserted into the free memory block list in the appropriate locations . pseudo code for the key code segments of one implementation of the demote procedure 72 is shown in a substantially c - like language in appendix f . similarly , the demote procedure 72 as pseudo coded was implemented and incorporated into the c runtime libraries described earlier . fig7 c illustrates an exemplary demotion of the exemplary free memory block header list illustrated in fig4 . shown is the reordered exemplary free memory block header list 50 with the exemplary newly created free memory block header 52i for the residual free memory block from the pre - split free memory block with the starting address of &# 34 ; 20000 &# 34 ;, and the former descendant free memory block headers of the pre - split free memory block header 52d and 52e , reinserted into the free memory block header list 50 in the appropriate locations . the exemplary residual free memory block is resulted from allocating 750 words out of the 800 words available in the free memory block with the starting address of &# 34 ; 20000 &# 34 ;. the free memory block header 52e becomes the left descendant free memory block header of the root free memory block header 52a , since the size of the corresponding free memory block 60e of free memory block header 52e is smaller than the size of the corresponding free memory block 60a of the root free memory block header 52a , and the address of the corresponding free memory block 54e of the free memory block header 52e is smaller than the address of the corresponding free memory block 54a of the root free memory block header 52a . similarly , the free memory block header 52d becomes the left descendant free memory block header of the first generation free memory block header 52e , since the size of the corresponding free memory block 60d of free memory block header 52d is smaller than the size of the corresponding free memory block 60e of the first generation free memory block header 52e , and the address of the corresponding free memory block 54d of the free memory block header 52d is smaller than the address of the corresponding free memory block 54e of the first generation free memory block header 52e . likewise , the new free memory block header 52i becomes the right descendant free memory block header of the first generation free memory block header 52e , since the size of the corresponding free memory block 60i of free memory block header 52i is smaller than the size of the corresponding free memory block 60d of the second generation free memory block header 52d , and the address of the corresponding free memory block 54i of the free memory block header 52i is larger than the address of the corresponding free memory block 54d of the second generation free memory block header 52d . as illustrated , the left descendant pointer 56a is updated to point to the free memory block header 52e , the left descendant pointer 56e of free memory block header 52e is updated to point to the free memory block header 52d , and the right descendant pointer 58d of free memory block header 52d is updated to point to the free memory block header 52i . referring back to fig6 upon receipt of a reclaim request , the reclaim procedure 74 determines if there is a free memory block adjacent to the previously allocated memory block , and if so , coalesce them together . the reclaim procedure 74 , searches for the adjacent free memory block , starting with the root free memory block header . at each decision point , the reclaim procedure 74 traverses down to the next generation left descendant if the address of the adjacent free memory block is smaller than the address of the free memory block corresponding to the current free memory block header , otherwise , down to the next generation right descendant . if the reclaim procedure 74 is successful in locating a free memory block adjacent to the previously allocated memory block , the reclaim procedure 74 calls the delete procedure 70 to delete the corresponding free memory block header for the adjacent free memory block . additionally , if the combined free memory block is larger than the requested new size , the reclaim procedure 74 calls the deallocate procedure to deallocate the excess portion of the combined free memory block . pseudo code for the key code segments of one implementation of the reclaim procedure 74 is shown in a substantially c - like language in appendix g . similarly , the demote procedure 74 as pseudo coded was implemented and incorporated into the c runtime libraries described earlier . while the method and apparatus of the present invention has been described in terms of its presently preferred form , those skilled in the art will recognize that the method of the present invention is not limited to the presently preferred form described . the method and apparatus of the present invention may be practiced with modification and alteration within the spirit and scope of the appended claims . thus , the specification is to be considered as illustrative instead of restrictive on the present invention . ## spc1 ## | 6 |
fig1 a - d depict several views of a preferred hardware configuration for a pen - based handwriting detection , recognition and storage device 98 . fig1 a is a top view of the device 98 which is preferably comprised of a pen body 100 , a pen point 102 , a pen cartridge body 104 , a snap body 106 , a recess for an optical path 108 , an optical input / output data path 110 , an optical analog - to digital ( a / d ) input buffer 112 , a programmable clock 114 , a primary application - specific integrated circuit ( asic ) 116 , a secondary asic 118 , a read - only memory ( rom ) 120 , other memory 122 , and battery cells 124 . the pen body 100 is preferably of a size and shape that is no larger than a large pen , i . e . about ½ ″ in diameter and about six inches in length . near the last ¾ ″ of the length of the pen body 100 , the pen body 100 preferably has a cone - like shape that narrows in diameter to the pen point 102 . the ink cartridge contains standard amount of ink . the pen body 100 is preferably made from or coated with an electrically insulating material such as plastic , and may be for example , polyamide , polypropylene , or polyvinylchloride . the pen cartridge 104 is preferably positioned near the pen point 102 and provides ink for the pen point 102 . the snap body 106 is a means for separating the pen body 100 near its center to enable removal or replacement of the pen cartridge 104 . the top end of the pen body 100 preferably opens for access to or removal of the battery cells 124 . fig1 b is a side view showing a preferred printed circuit board ( pcb ) 126 on which are the chips for the electronic components including the programmable clock 114 , the optical a / d buffer 112 , the primary and secondary asics 116 , 118 , and the memories 120 , 122 . fig1 c is a side view of the device 98 in which the pcb 126 is viewed from its side . the pcb 126 provides for communication between the components . the pcb 126 is preferably positioned along a radial line through the central axis of the pen body 100 . by so positioning the pcb 126 , space is provided to position the components on opposing sides of the pcb 126 without contacting the pen body 100 or requiring a pen body 100 with a larger diameter . additionally , such positioning is preferably designed to allow the weight and feel of the device 98 to more closely resemble that of a traditional pen . the primary and secondary asics 116 , 118 perform separate and asynchronous signal recognition processing tasks . in performing their respective processing tasks , the asics communicate bidirectionally . fig1 d is a head - on view depicting the elements of a detector subsystem 128 for a preferred embodiment of the device 98 . the detector subsystem 128 preferably includes a photo emitter 130 and a photo detector 132 that are preferably positioned on opposing sides of the pen point 102 . the photo emitter 130 preferably emits a pulsed infrared signal that is , at least in part , reflected from the writing surface to the photo detector 132 which tracks the position of the pen point 102 . the photo emitter preferably pulses between about 40 khz and about 100 khz . alternatively , the photo emitter emits a non - pulsed constant infrared signal . the optical data path 110 preferably runs along the inner surface of the pen body 100 and provides the data i / o connection between the pcb 126 and the detector subsystem 128 . the signal received by the photo detector 132 is transmitted along the optical data path 110 . fig1 e - g depict head on views of alternative embodiments of the detector subsystem 134 , 136 , 138 for the pen - based writing and storage device that also use photo emitters and photo detectors . fig1 e depicts a single photo emitter 140 and two photo detectors 142 , 144 . fig1 f depicts a multi - segment photo emitter 146 and two photo detectors 148 , 150 . fig1 g depicts an array 152 comprised of at least one photo emitter and at least one photo detector . preferably , the array 152 comprises up to eight ( 8 ) photo emitters and up to eight ( 8 ) photo detectors . the number of each element in the array 152 is preferably complimentary to the number of the other element . for example , a device configured with six detectors preferably has one or two emitters . in another example , a device with two detectors may have from one to 6 emitters — it may be impractical to load a detector device array with more emitters than detectors . this emitter adaptation uses a taller package to host the emitter / detector arrays . in each of these alternative embodiments , the photo emitters and the photo detectors preferably operate as previously described , and where more than one photo detector is employed , the device preferably includes a comparator ( not depicted ) for each photo detector employed . as will be discussed in more detail , the device 98 preferably detects and recognizes handwriting based on the relative x - y movements of the pen point 102 as would be produced during writing . in order to appropriately detect and recognize the written characters , the device 98 may employ one or more methods to ensure correct orientation in relation to the detected handwriting . one such preferred method is to have the device 98 self - orient upon initialization . self - orientation comprises having the user write a pre - specified sample letter and the device , using the sample letter as a reference for orientation . as an alternative or additional option , the pen is ergonomically contoured to be held by a user in a particular orientation . in a preferred embodiment , when the device 98 is to be secured for nonuse , requires recharging of the battery cells , or contains data that is desired to be transferred to a computer or other electronic data storage device , the device 98 may be placed in a holder that performs these functions . fig1 h depicts a preferred embodiment of a system 160 for interfacing the device 98 with a computer 162 via a device cradle 164 . the device cradle 164 preferably includes an infrared transmitter 166 to enable preferably linear mass data dumps of handwritten character data , preferably already converted into a standardized form , from the device 98 to the computer 162 . the computer 162 preferably includes an infrared receiver 168 to receive data transmitted from the transmitter 166 and electronic memory storage to store received data . alternatively , any wired or other wireless mechanism for transmitting the data from the device 98 to the computer 162 is used . further , the computer 162 may be any device that may receive and store data . once stored by the computer 162 , data that has been received may be error - checked , manipulated or reformatted in any manner desired by the user of the system 160 . optionally , the data is manipulated using any known text - editing application . the device cradle 164 preferably includes a button 170 or , alternatively , another form of actuator to enable the initiation of data transmission . in an alternative embodiment , the data transmission function of the device cradle 164 is incorporated into the device 98 , allowing the device 98 to transmit data directly to the computer 162 . the preferably simplified design that allows device 98 to have a relatively small size readily enables alternative embodiments that feature functional extensions to the device 98 , including a data transmission function . in such an embodiment , the data transmission function is performed by incorporating into the device 98 an infrared , or alternatively , an radio frequency ( rf ) transmitter . in another alternative embodiment , if the transmitted data is not in a recognized character format , the computer 162 includes software to convert received data into data in a standard character format such as ascii . fig2 depicts a detailed circuit schematic 200 preferably implemented in the detector subsystem 128 and on the pcb 126 for a preferred embodiment of the pen - based writing storage device 98 . in fig2 , the photo - detector is a photodiode 202 powered using a preferably 3 . 5 - volt dc power source 204 and resistor 206 combination . since in the preferred embodiment the photo emitter 130 emits a pulsed light signal , the photodiode 202 will detect spectrally reflected light . however , in the alternative embodiment in which the photo emitter 130 emits a non - pulsed light signal , the photodiode 202 will detect a diffusely reflected light . light input into the photodiode 202 results in an analog signal input that indicates the x - y movement of the pen point 102 of the device 98 . the analog signal preferably is then amplified by an op - amp 208 that then feeds a preferably eight - bit a / d converter 210 on the pcb 36 . the a / d converter 210 preferably converts the amplified analog signal to an 8 - bit digital sample . the 8 - bit a / d converter 210 preferably includes pins for ground , a pin to receive power from a 3 - volt source , vcc , a pin to receive an input clock signal , a pin to transmit an output clock signal , and a pin to transmit each of the bits that represent the signal . in fig2 , the eight bits produced by the a / d converter 210 and the output clock signal are input to an input buffer 212 for a processor that is preferably comprised of primary and secondary asics 214 , 216 . alternatively , the processor is implemented as a single asic or more than two asics . as another alternative , some or all of the processing is implemented with other hard - wired circuitry such as a field - programmable gate array ( fpga ) or other logic device . in another alternative embodiment , if the size and power limitations are met , the processor is a general purpose central processing unit ( cpu ) wherein the processing logic is implemented in software . furthermore , the processor alternatively represents multiple processors that perform different processing tasks or have the same tasks distributed between processors . thus , as used herein , the term “ processor ” refers to any computational devices or means that meet the processing requirements and the size and power preferences of the device 98 . however , in the preferred embodiment depicted in fig2 , the input buffer 212 buffers the input to the primary asic 214 , which has the task of performing quadrature component logic operations on the digital input data signal . the quadrature logic operations are steps to characterize or identify the input signal as an element of a character . by doing so , the data that is thereafter processed is greatly simplified as the input data is characterized as preferably one of a reference set of strokes . preferably , the input buffer 212 is loaded when two a / d clock cycles are completed . the input buffer 212 is sized to allow for dynamic changes in the frequency and resolution of input data because preferably possible dynamic increases in sampling frequency result in more data that is input to the buffer 212 for each base clock cycle of the device 98 . when the input buffer 212 has acquired a sufficient amount of data , the input buffer 212 preferably sets a flag for the primary asic 214 to commence quadrature logic operations on the buffered data . the reference set of strokes is preferably stored in and accessed from an 8 - bit dynamic random access memory ( dram ) 218 , preferably with a memory capacity of between 64 k and 128 k bytes , which is estimated to be capable of holding up to approximately 60 handwritten pages of writing . as smaller , higher capacity memory is developed in the art , such memory may be used in the device 98 . the dram 218 holds reference data after a boot - up process in which the rom 120 ( not shown in fig2 ), which permanently holds all of the reference data and initialization data , initializes the device 98 and loads the reference data into dram 218 . using a memory buffer 220 electrically interposed between the primary asic 214 and the dram 218 , the primary asic 214 reads the reference data in the dram 218 to enable the identification of the input data as specific character components . moreover , the dram 218 may store the identified data . preferably , the dram 218 also stores temporary runtime data and logarithm tables . the dram 218 as shown in fig2 , includes pins to ground , a pin to the 3 - volt power source , vcc , a pin for a clock input signal , a memory clock output signal to the memory buffer 220 , and eight pins for eight bits of data i / o with the memory buffer 220 . the primary asic 214 also communicates with the secondary asic 216 and a clock control integrated circuit ( ic ) 222 . the primary asic 214 transmits signals to the clock control ic 222 when the quadrature logic operations require a change in the output from the programmable clock 224 to one of the components of the device 98 , preferably normally the a / d converter 210 which samples the analog input . this capability of modifying the clock reflects an overall active feedback network design for the device 98 that enables the device 98 to adapt to the different writing styles and writing speeds of different users . the clock control ic 222 processes the signals from the primary asic 214 and transmits preferably 4 - bit clock control signals to the programmable clock 224 . thus , the clock control ic 222 provides the logic and interface for communicating with and modifying the operation of the programmable clock 224 . the clock control ic 222 handles communication contention with the programmable clock 224 from the other logic components , including the secondary asic , and provides a standard method of clock function interaction . the clock control ic 222 also provides for synchronization between the components . in communicating with the secondary asic 216 , the primary asic 214 transmits quadrature result data to enable the secondary asic 216 to perform cell - blocking operations , i . e . operations to assemble the character components into an identifiable character . the secondary asic 216 also communicates with the primary asic 214 preferably along the same electrical connection , to under certain circumstances , instruct the primary asic 214 on the acquisition of additional data from the a / d converter 210 . like the primary asic 214 , the secondary asic 216 similarly has a connection to the clock control ic 222 for interfacing the secondary asic 216 with the programmable clock 224 . the clock control ic 222 preferably provides synchronization between the input buffer 212 and the secondary asic 216 . like the primary asic 214 , the secondary asic 216 also accesses the dram 218 via memory buffer 220 to retrieve reference data to perform comparisons with the assembled quadrature components , yet preferably operates asynchronously with respect to the primary asic 214 . for the secondary asic 216 , the reference data is character data stored in a character matrix in the dram 218 . the character matrix preferably contains a list of sets of preferably four integers that correspond to a combination of preferably four quadrature components that correspond to a particular character . each set of preferably four integers therefore preferably describes one character in the character matrix . the secondary asic 216 also outputs a digital representation of a recognized character to the memory buffer 220 and / or an external latch 226 which preferably buffers the output to an 8 - bit d / a converter 228 . the d / a converter 228 preferably includes connections from a 3 - volt power source , from a ground , and from the external latch 226 that provides eight bits of digital input . the output of the d / a converter 228 is then fed to a transmitter ( not shown ) for output preferably to the external system 162 as shown in fig1 h . the programmable clock 224 , as noted above , is controlled by four clock control connections from the clock control ic 222 . the programmable clock 224 also preferably includes connections from a preferably 3 . 5 - volt power source and from ground . for its output , the programmable clock 224 provides synchronization for the asics 214 , 216 and memory components on the pcb 126 , and provides independent programmable clock signals that drive the detection of handwriting input data and the output of recognition data to the external system or the dram 218 . the clock signals from the programmable clock 224 are continuously provided to the various components , insuring the continuous flow of data into the device 98 and safeguarding against the possibility of not capturing handwritten characters . when power is first applied to the device 98 , the programmable clock 224 is initialized to a predetermined sampling and output frequency . the time base for the programmable clock 224 is preferably a 4 - mhz quartz crystal oscillator 230 . preferably , at regular intervals , the clock control ic 222 resynchronizes the independent clock signals of the programmable clock 224 with the time base of the crystal oscillator 230 . fig3 a depicts basic steps in a preferred process 300 of recognizing and storing handwritten characters that are preferably produced on paper by the handwriting storage device 98 . a first step 302 is the acquisition of analog data regarding the x - y movement of the pen point 102 as would be produced during a writing session . the next step 304 is to convert the analog data to digital data . the sampling of the digital data is preferably at a rate that provides for the representation of a discrete “ quadrature ” component or stroke of a character . quadrature components are components of characters that , in an ideal case , if combined in a group of preferably from one to four components form single characters , such as upper and lower case english letters , punctuation characters and numbers . a quadrature component of a character is preferably defined according to a discrete period of time in generating a character , whether a “ null ” in the generation of a character has occurred , or the length of the path in the generation of the character . thresholds for each of these parameters may specify the bounds ( in time or space ) of a stroke . the “ null ” point normally is observed in manuscript writing where the pen point performs distinct movement in the generation of a single character . in the next step 306 , the digital data is then normalized into a form for comparison with a reference matrix of quadrature components . the reference matrix is preferably a previously generated library of quadrature component representations that are used for comparison against input data . an example of a representation of a reference matrix of quadrature components is shown in fig3 b . preferably , the reference matrix contains a representation of a set of strokes that in various combinations may form every character that is commonly handwritten by the user . fig3 b is an example of a set of possible strokes . beside each stroke is a stroke index that is preferably used to represent the individual strokes in the reference and character matrices . before comparing the input data with the reference matrix of quadrature components , the data normalization step 306 preferably converts the digital data of each character component into a polynomial form or alternatively an eigenvector form . alternatively , the normalization step 306 characterizes the component data in a standardized form by converting the data into vector representations , by performing spline fitting methods as are known in the art , or applying fast fourier transform / wavelet operations , preferably configured to use a log table to minimize processing requirements , the output of which distinguishes between ellipses , curvatures , lines and intersections . in each case , the reference matrix represents the quadrature information in a standardized form that is in accord with the normalization processing of the input data . for example , in polynomial - based normalization step , the reference matrix stores polynomial representations of quadrature components having an ideal form or another known level of quality . alternatively , the reference matrix stores fast fourier transform ( fft ) transformations of similar reference data . regardless of the means used to implement the normalization step 306 , the step 306 of converting the input data into quadrature components simplifies the subsequent processing steps and reduces the overall reference storage requirements . with the preferred polynomial representation implementation , the reference matrix stores idealized polynomial representations of character components . an advantage of this tiered recognition process is that with respect to this first tier , the process is character independent . the character components are discrete and generic such that generally they may be used in the formation of a character set representing any written language or symbology . in the next step 308 , a quadrature component search is performed . this step 308 is the first of a two - tiered recognition process that characterizes the input data in phases and simplifies the data following each stage of recognition . in the polynomial - based implementation , once the data has been represented in polynomial form , the polynomial coefficients for the data are compared to the polynomial coefficients that are used in the reference matrix to represent the complete set of quadrature components . by representing the data and the references as polynomial coefficients the process of comparison between them is greatly simplified . preferably a closest match type of comparison is used to identify the polynomial - represented stroke . in the eigenvector - based implementation , the set of eigenvectors is compared to a reference matrix of eigenvectors to identify the character components . preferably , an xor operation is performed as a comparison scheme . when the eigenvectors are identified as a particular quadrature component from the reference matrix , the identified quadrature component is propagated for further processing . in the event that the quadrature comparison with the reference matrix cannot identify the data because the data is malformed or has been misinterpreted , then the process 300 proceeds on an alternative path that is characteristic of the active feedback design of the device 98 . in the alternative path , the next step 310 preferably is to alter the detection sampling rate to attempt to acquire more easily characterized or identifiable data . preferably , the sampling rate is adjusted by instructing the clock control ic 222 to modify the programmable clock 224 , shown as step 312 in fig3 a . preferably , as a temporary measure , additional bits of data are received to aid in the recognition of the quadrature component until the detection sampling rate is modified . specifically , the primary asic 214 preferably additionally instructs the input buffer 212 to receive additional data into the input buffer 212 at the original sampling rate as a temporary adjustment measure until the sampling rate is modified by the programmable clock 224 . for example , in the polynomial - based configuration , if only the lower order polynomial coefficients of the normalized input data do not match the reference matrix polynomial coefficients , then the detection sampling rate is preferably reduced . on the other hand , if higher order coefficients of the normalized input data do not match the reference matrix polynomial coefficients or if they are too high , the clock speed and / or the number of bits that are received for the quadrature are preferably increased . preferably , once the sampling rate is modified , the number of bits sampled for each quadrature component returns to a preferred operational amount , i . e . preferably 16 or 32 bits for each quadrature component . after the step 312 of modifying the programmable clock 224 , the step 302 of acquiring analog data is repeated where new analog data is sampled at the potentially modified sampling rate . as discussed below , the initially unidentified quadrature data is stored and retained for use with up to preferably three subsequent quadrature components to decipher the character that includes the unidentified quadrature component . in relation to the above active feedback design , when the device 98 is first activated , the sampling rate for the device 98 is initially set by requiring the user to hand - write a single character such as an “ s .” based on the detection , quadrature and recognition processing of the “ s ,” the programmable clock 224 may be modified to require an increase or decrease in the data - sampling rate . by requiring an initial test pattern , the device 98 limits the amount of data that may be initially lost . along the first process path , where the quadrature component comparison with the reference matrix identifies the eigenvector or polynomial represented data , the process 300 performs a step 314 of reconstructing the written character based on the resolved quadrature components . this is the cell - blocking sub - process and represents a second tier of the preferred tiered recognition process 300 . if the input quadrature component to the cell - blocking sub - process is the first component of a new quadrature component set representing a character , then the sub - process may not successfully reconstruct the character . in this case , the process 300 proceeds to a step 316 of storing the quadrature component . then , the process returns to the data acquisition step 302 to enable the capture of additional data . the process steps are repeated to resolve a second and potentially third and fourth quadrature components . each time though the process 300 , an attempt is made to reconstruct the cell based on the freshly resolved quadrature component and the quadrature components that have been previously resolved and stored . preferably , at least two quadrature components are resolved before the reconstruction step 314 is successfully performed . if the character cannot be reconstructed , then the detection sampling rate dictated by the programmable clock 224 may again be modified as part of the active feedback mechanism to improve the detection and processing efficiency . in a preferred embodiment , an led at the base of the device 98 is lit when processed data cannot be resolved as a character . preferably , in such an event , the user initializes the device to recommence handwriting detection by writing a predetermined initialization character , such as the “ s ” discussed above . preferably , if the cell is identified based on a set of quadrature components , the process 300 proceeds to a step 318 of converting the assembled cell to a character format and storing a digital , preferably compressed , representation of the character in memory . in that event , the quadrature memory buffer is preferably purged to allow new data for a new character to be acquired and stored . fig3 c depicts the basic elements of the quadrature processing logic of step 314 in fig3 a . digital representations of a character 320 are partitioned and processed on a quadrature component basis . the partitioning 322 provides the elements of the first tier recognition process or quadrature analysis 324 . in the quadrature analysis 324 , a first quadrature component is received . the quadrature analysis 324 preferably commences only after a second quadrature component is received . the quadrature analysis 324 then preferably attempts to identify the character based on the receipt of two quadrature components . the quadrature analysis 324 is performed by scanning a character matrix 326 that represents characters as composites of quadrature components . fig3 d depicts an example of a character set that is represented in the character matrix 326 . the character set includes upper and lower case english characters . fig3 e depicts a representation of the character set in the character matrix 326 as a composition of quadrature components . if the pair of quadrature data sets cannot be identified from the character matrix 326 , a third and potentially a fourth quadrature component is input to the character matrix 326 and the quadrature analysis 324 is reattempted . preferably , the quadrature analysis 324 is optimized according to the frequency of certain letters being written . for example , fig3 f is a table comprised of a set of sub - tables , one for each type of stroke . each sub - table lists a set of english capital letters that generally require the stroke . in each sub - table , in the row below each letter , is a stroke frequency value representing the number of times that a given stroke is written for each english capital letter , with the minimum being one ( 1 ). such data is preferably used in the cell blocking sub - process in initially making “ intelligent guesses ” as to the identity of a character based on the identification of one or more quadrature components . also in fig3 f , to the right of each sub - table for a stroke , is a stroke weight value representing the relative frequency in written english of the respective stroke in relation to other potential strokes . this value is preferably applied to enable the quadrature analysis to test the most likely strokes first , and thus optimize its overall efficiency . in the second row of each sub - table is a character weight . this weight reflects the frequency that a particular character is written . like the stroke frequency value , these weights are preferably used in the cell blocking sub - process to improve the efficiency of character identification . preferably , weighted huffman encoding is applied in generating the stroke frequency and character weights . further , the quadrature analysis 324 is preferably also optimized based on the likelihood of certain characters based on their likely relationship to characters that have previously been identified . once the quadrature analysis 324 reconstructs the quadrature components into a character , that character is preferably stored in a character buffer 328 and / or converted into a 6 - bit ascii , unicode or other character format 330 for storage in a character storage buffer 332 . fig4 a - c illustrate one embodiment of a detailed functional flow for processing handwriting in real - time in the preferred pen - based handwriting storage device 98 . the functional flow is preferably divided into two sub - processes , a quadrature component or stroke detection sub - process ( phases 1 and 2 ) 400 , 402 and a cell - blocking sub - process ( phase 3 ) 404 . in the first phase of the detection sub - process , input data is received and normalized for comparison with the quadrature component reference matrix that occurs in the second phase . when the cell blocking sub - process ( phase 3 ) 404 commences processing of the data , the process also returns to the first phase of the detection process to obtain further data . thus , the two sub - processes preferably operate asynchronously such that a quadrature analysis can be performed on a set of data while simultaneously the cell blocking process may work to resolve the same character . in fig4 a , where initially all global flags are set to “ false ” and all registers empty , analog data 405 is received from the detector at timed intervals according to the programmable clock 407 . the data 405 is digitized and stored in an 8 - bit input buffer 406 . the input buffer 406 is then examined 408 to determine if any data is present . if the input buffer 406 is empty , the null termination ( f_n ) flag is set 410 to “ true ” to indicate that no data was received . the quad start ( f_q ) flag is then examined 412 to determine if the empty input buffer 406 represents the start of the next quadrature . if the null data does represent the start of a new quadrature , then the empty input buffer 406 value is passed 414 into the second phase 402 . however , if the null data does not represent the start of the next quadrature , then the cell start ( f_c ) flag is examined 416 to determine if the empty input buffer 406 represents the start of the next character . if the null data does represent the start of the next character , then the empty input buffer 406 value is passed 414 into the second phase 402 . if , however , the null data does not represent the start of the next character , then the input buffer 406 is again examined 408 for more data . this cycle repeats itself until data is present in the input buffer 406 . when data does exist in the input buffer 406 , f_n is set to “ false ”, the data is copied 418 into a copy buffer ( rc ) and the data max ( f_d ) flag is examined 420 to determine if rc is full . when rc is full , the data in rc is passed 414 into the second phase 402 . however , if rc is capable of storing more data , the quad time ( f_t ) flag is examined 422 to determine if the time elapsed detecting the current quadrature is such that the quadrature has been fully detected . when the quadrature has been fully detected , rc is passed 414 into the second phase . however , if the quadrature still potentially has more data to detect , the previous copy ( rp ) of the input buffer 406 is examined 424 . if rp is empty , rc is copied 426 into rp , and if rp is full , rc is copied 428 into a forward copy ( rf ) of the input buffer 406 . after rc is copied into either rp or rf , then the bit extent for the quadrature ( ve ) is incremented 430 to track the amount of data obtained for the quadrature and rc is passed 414 into the second phase 402 . in fig4 b , the data in rc enters 432 into the second phase 402 of the detection sub - process where f_n is first examined 434 to determine if the current quadrature has completed data . if the current quadrature has completed data , rc is stored 436 directly into the quad vector . when more data is needed to complete the current quadrature , f_c is examined 438 to determine if the data in rc represents either part of the current character or the start of the next character . if the data in rc represents the start of the next character , then f_c and f_q are both set 440 . if the data in rc represents part of the current character , f_q is examined 442 to determine if the data represents part of the current quadrature or the start of a new quadrature . for the start of a new quadrature , f_q is set 444 . after determining what character and quadrature the data belongs to , the data in rc and the data in rp are used to calculate and store 446 the difference in x / y coordinates in a difference register ( rd ). following this calculation , rc is stored 436 in the quad vector . once rc is stored 436 in the quad vector , the quad vector is transformed 448 to a basis form which is compared 450 to the basis forms from the set of reference strokes and approximately fit to the closest match in the set of reference strokes . if transform can be matched 452 to a transform in the set of reference strokes , then f_q is reset 454 to “ false ” to indicate that a new quadrature is being examined and the matched stroke is passed 456 into the cell - blocking sub - process ( phase 3 ) 404 . if no reasonably close match can be found for the basis transform among the set of reference strokes , f_n is examined 458 to determine if the input buffer 406 has a null value . a null value at this point indicates the end of the quadrature has been reached , and the null value is passed 456 into phase 3 404 . if the data does not have a null value , the quad vector is examined 460 to determine if it is full . if the quad vector is full , f_d is set 461 to “ true ” and the adaptive event control ( vs ) is set to “ clock ” to indicate that the sampling rate may need to be adjusted to allow a full quadrature of data to be obtained without overflowing the quad vector . the quad vector is then passed 456 into the phase 3 404 . if the quad vector is not full , then the elapsed time is examined 464 to determine if sufficient time has elapsed to detect an entire quadrature . if sufficient time has not elapsed , then phase 1 400 is reentered 466 to obtain more data . however , if sufficient time has elapsed , then f_t is set 465 to “ true ” and vs is set 468 to “ bitwidth ” to indicate that the bit - width resolution may need adjusting to more accurately obtain a full quadrature of data . the quad vector is subsequently passed 456 into phase 3 404 . in fig4 c , the first step in the cell - blocking sub - process 404 is to convert 470 the cell data to a transform . the next step is to determine 472 whether the transform is complete . that is , if the last quadrature component for this character has been received , then the character may be resolved . if the transform is complete , the sub - process 404 converts 474 the character to a unicode or ascii format , and then stores the character 476 . all flags are then reset and the detector is initialized 478 for acquisition of new data . the sub - process 404 then exits and returns 480 to the first phase 400 for more input . thus , the cell - blocking sub - process 404 , at the point of completion , returns the detector systems to their initial states and is prepared to acquire new character data . if the transform is determined 472 to be incomplete , such that an incomplete quadrature component set has been received by the cell - blocking sub - process 404 , then the sub - process 404 attempts to resolve the character with the extent of data that has been received . in resolving data describing a partial character , the subprocess 404 determines 482 the depth of the data and attempts to identify the character based on the partial character data received and using the information stored in rd , rp and rf . the process attempts to determine whether a specific character is represented by the partial set of data that has been acquired . the sub - process 404 then preferably determines 484 whether to proceed along one of preferably two paths based on whether an identification of the character was made . if the character can be identified with the partial set of data , then the sub - process 404 proceeds to the step 474 of converting the character to a unicode or ascii format and processes thereafter as though the transform had been complete . if the character cannot be resolved , the process waits 486 for more data from the second phase 402 of the detection sub - process . once additional data is thereafter received in the cell - blocking sub - process 404 , the sub - process 404 again determines whether the transform is complete enough to resolve the character or whether another attempt at character identification based on the availability of partial data can be performed . fig5 a - b and 6 a - d depict alternative detector subsystems for the pen - based writing storage device . fig5 a illustrates a mechanical microfeeler - based detector subsystem 500 as shown from a side view . fig5 b illustrates the same subsystem 500 as shown from a head on view . the microfeeler detector subsystem 500 is disposed at the pen tip 102 , the pen tip comprising a ball 501 similar to that found in a ball point pen , and comprises two microfeelers 502 , each resting against the ball 501 coupled to a surface contact 504 , preferably a friction roller . each microfeeler preferably comprises a resistive potentiometer having multi - turn cyclical output with no stops on the shaft rotation . the surface contacts 504 are used for reading resistance and impedance changes on the microfeelers 502 and are coupled to the logic circuitry of the device 98 . the microfeelers 502 are preferably located 90 degrees apart relative to a z - axis , the z - axis running through the center of the device 98 . additionally , the microfeelers 502 are preferably disposed near a great circumference of the ball 501 that is normal to the z - axis . with the microfeelers 502 positioned in this way , this subsystem 500 measures ball rotation along two orthogonal axes as changes in resistance or impedance of the microfeelers 502 . therefore , the use of a microfeeler detection system 500 allows for ready determination of when the pen tip 102 is actually writing mode versus when the device 98 is simply moving in space . fig5 c is a graph depicting an example of the current output from a microfeeler - based detector subsystem 500 . fig6 a - c depict three embodiments centered around an impedance coil based detection subsystem 610 , 630 , 650 . the first embodiment , illustrated in fig6 a , comprises a ball 612 in the tip of a pen , again similar to the kind used in a ball point pen , the ball 612 having magnetic domains 614 of the same relative size evenly distributed across its surface . induction coils 616 are coupled to the logic circuit of the device 98 and positioned just above the surface of the ball 612 without actually contacting it , the induction coils 616 having windings that are asymmetrically wound with linearly increasing space between the windings . preferably , the induction coils 616 are positioned along a z - axis that runs through the center of the device 98 and near a great circumference of the ball 612 that is normal to the z - axis . positioned thusly , the each induction coil 616 generates a current as the ball 612 rotates during writing and the magnetic domains 614 pass underneath . the current generated by each induction coil 616 enables measurement of ball rotation along two orthogonal axes . fig6 d is a graph depicting an example of the current output from an induction coil based detector subsystem 610 . alternative embodiments of impedance coil based detection subsystems 630 , 650 are illustrated in fig6 b and c . these embodiments differ from that depicted in fig6 a in the composition and distribution of the magnetic domains on the ball and in the windings of the induction coils . fig6 b illustrates a ball 632 having magnetic domains 634 that are non - uniform in size and are distributed in a characterized non - uniform pattern across the surface of the ball 632 . additionally , the induction coils 636 for this subsystem 630 are symmetrically wound with evenly spaced windings . fig6 e is a graph depicting an example of the current output from such an induction coil based detector subsystem 630 . fig6 c illustrates an induction coil detector subsystem 650 having similarly symmetrically wound and evenly spaced induction coils 654 as in the subsystem 630 shown in fig6 b . however , the ball 652 in this subsystem 650 comprises a magnetized outer shell 658 over an inner ball 660 , the outer shell 658 giving the ball 652 a single magnetic domain 662 . fig6 f is a graph depicting an example of the current output from such an induction coil based detector subsystem 630 . fig7 depicts a preferred embodiment of logic for interfacing the microfeeler based detection subsystem of fig5 a - b and the impedance coil based detection subsystems of fig6 a - c . in the preferred embodiment , four xor and four nand gates are used to process positive and negative x and y movements of the pen tip . although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments , it will be readily appreciated to those of ordinary skill in the art that many modifications and adaptations of the invention are possible without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed hereinafter . | 6 |
first , notations are defined for the purpose of the present application . a signature algorithm is ssk ( m ) returning a signature a on the message m using a private key sk is firstly defined . a checking algorithm vvk ( m ; σ ) is also defined which checks the validity of the signature a with respect to the message m and to the public key vk . as illustrated in fig1 , the present invention is based on the exchanges between various entities , for a utilisation in an asymmetric cryptosystem . it concerns a user 2 who wants to obtain a certificate on a public key he has generated himself , a certifying entity 1 which is , a priori , the only trustworthy person , capable of certifying data . in a conventional way , such certifying entity 1 is for example a bailiff . it also concerns a validating entity 3 , also called subsequently a supplier , which owns a certification key , but which is not considered as reliable for issuing certificates . such validating entity 3 carries out most of the calculations , storages and interactions with the user . it also concerns a transaction entity 4 , with which the user wishes to make a certified transaction . then , the private key from the certifying entity is noted sk a , and its public key vk a . the private key from the validating entity is indicated sk p and its public key vk p . according to the invention , each user 2 has a public identifier which is unique : login . the certifying authority 1 generates 20 a secret sec which is transmitted to the user 2 when the user shows 10 its login identifier . the certifying authority also transmits 30 to the supplier means for checking the validity of the user &# 39 ; s secret sec . such checking means will be described in greater detail hereunder . in order to have a public key certified , the user transmits 40 such public key to the validating entity . in answer and if the validating entity thinks that the public key is properly associated with the user 2 , it transmits 50 a certificate associating such public key with such user . the user can then carry out a transaction to a transaction entity while using data of the certificate he has received from the checking entity , during a step 60 . now the exchanges between the various entities described hereabove while referring to fig2 and 3 are being described . derived values from the secret sec are first defined . in the field of cryptography , such derivative corresponds to the application of a one - way function which means that if h is a one - way function and if only the result h ( x ) is available , it is very difficult or even impossible to find x within a reasonable time . an example of such a one - way function is the hashing function sha - 1 which is known to the person skilled in the art . several derivatives of the secret sec are thus defined , first in the form of words of acknowledgement ack i , passwords pass , and checking words passi with , for example : according to this definition , it should be noted that ack i is different from ack j if i is different from j and that , consequently pass i ( respectively pass i ) is different from pass j ( respectively pass j ) if i different from j . fig2 shows detailed exchanges between the user 2 and the certifying entity 1 such as referenced in 10 and 20 in fig1 . the user 2 initially knows his identifier login , the public key of the certifying entity vk a and the one - way function h used to make the derivatives . the certifying authority 1 initially knows its public key vk a , its private key sk a and the one - way function h used for making the derivatives . the user 2 transmits 100 his identifier login to the certifying authority . by return , the latter generates a secret sec during a step 102 . then , it transmits 101 such secret to the user 2 . according to one embodiment of the invention , the user is able to calculate the words of acknowledgement ack i and the passwords pass , such as previously defined at steps 103 and 104 . the certifying entity also calculates such variables at steps 105 and 106 . it also calculates checking words pass , during a step 107 , it certifies them and transmits them 108 to the validating entity . thus , when the checking words are certified , the validity of the other words can also be checked by an application of a one - way function . the validity of the passwords pass , is thus checked by testing if h ( pass i )= pass i and the validity of the words of acknowledgement is checked by testing if h 2 ( ack i )= h ( pass i )= pass i . the parameter k , such as previously defined , is here a security parameter which refers to the maximum number of fruitless connections attempts , caused by hardware or network trouble or of dishonest attempts by a user 2 . depending on the implementation context of the present invention , the parameter k may , for example , have values between a few units and several dozens . thus , further to the checking , the user at least has the following variables : sec , pass i , ack i . the validating entity at least has the checking words pass i . more particularly , it doesn &# 39 ; t have the words sec , pass i , ack i which are the user &# 39 ; s own . now , an exemplary method for certifying is now described between the user 2 and the checking entity 3 while referring to fig3 . the user 2 generates 109 , for example using an algorithm g located in its calculator , a couple of signature keys ( sk , vk ) and wishes a certificate on vk . it transmits vk to the validating entity together with his login during a step 110 . as for the validating entity , it manages the counting digital identifier or counter c for the connection attempts by the user . such counter c indicates how many times the user 2 identified by his login attempted to connect to the certification service through the validating entity . the certifying entity transmits 111 the current value of the counter c to the user upon receiving his identifier login and the user &# 39 ; s public key vk . the user must then prove that he knows the signature key sk associated with the key vk to be certified , as well as the derivative from the secret sec by producing 112 a signature on the password having an index c equal to the current value received from the counter σ = s sk ( pass c ). now , the method of certifying making it possible to obtain a certificate from the validating entity will be described . however , it should be noted that if the values supplied by the user generally indicated by test do not correspond to the correct implementation of the method , the certification will be refused . then , it is assumed that the value transmitted to the validating entity at step 112 does correspond to a correct test value . the supplier then checks the user &# 39 ; s signature thanks to the public key he received previously and thus tests vvk ( pass c ; a ). he also checks 113 the password pass c by testing pass c = h ( pass c ). he also increments the counter c at step 114 . once the data have been verified , the supplier is thus sure that the password pass c is associated with the user &# 39 ; s identifier login and that the public key is associated with the user &# 39 ; s identifier login . the supplier then signs 115 in the quadruple ( login , c , pass c , vk ) using his private key sk p and transmits 116 such signature σ p = s skp ( login , c , pass c , vk ) to the user . it also transmits to the user , at step 116 , the certificate received from the certifying entity σ a c ; on the checking word pass c . the checking word transmitted is thus the checking word , the index of which corresponds to the counter for the attempted connections by the user 2 such as transmitted to the user at step 111 . the user then checks the validity of σ p using vvk p ( σ p ; ( login , c , pass c , vk )), vk p being the public key of the supplier and generates 117 a certificate in the form of a n - uple cert =( login , c , ack c , σ a c , vk , σ p ). according to the invention , it should be noted that such certificate can be checked by everyone thanks to the following checking functions : vvk p ( login , c , h ( ack c ), vk ; σ p ) to check login , c , ack c , and vk ; vvk a ( login , pass c ; σ a c ) to check login and pass c ; h 2 ( ack c ) to check ackc using pass c . this certificate can thus be checked by everyone and is transmitted to the transaction entity 4 at step 118 . such certificate then guarantees that the public key vk is associated with the user 2 identified by his login . the method according to the invention makes it possible to supply a high level of security . as a matter of fact , the user only can get a certificate cert in his name since such a certificate incorporates a value unknown to the supplier ( ack c ) before the user uses his certificate with the index c . in any other case , the supplier could take advantage of the information learnt during the certification . in addition , the value ack c is required to validate the certificate . such information is disclosed only when the user has received a valid signature σ p during the utilisation of the certificate cert . a second signature σ p having the same counter value then accuses the supplier . it should be noted that therefor the user must keep a copy of his certificate . in addition , if the user tries to have the supplier charged or if a network trouble blocks the communications , the supplier increments the counter and thus cannot be accused so long as two signature σ p will never be emitted with the same counter . now the size of the variables used within the scope of the present invention in order to guarantee a sufficient security level will be disclosed . selecting a 60 - bit secret sec , and a one - way hashing function of the sha - 1 type , an exhaustive search to find the secret sec from the values of the checking words pass j requires an average of 2 60 estimations of sha - 1 . the time required to make such estimations gives enough security within the scope of the present invention . such a 60 - bit secret sec can thus be encoded using 12 alphanumerical characters . thus , according to the invention , this short 12 - character secret can be transmitted in a confidential way to the user and kept safely by him . it should be noted that , during the management of the objects to be signed , stored and / or transmitted , prints of such objects are sometimes sufficient . in a way known per se , such prints are compressed versions of the total object so that it is impossible to find two objects having the same print . in addition , like any other key management infrastructure , the certification may be associated with the revocation . as a matter of fact , in case the secret key ( or the secret sec ) is lost or corrupted by the user , it is necessary not to consider the associated public keys as belonging to their legal owner anymore . therefore , it is sufficient to keep a list of revocation , mentioning the certificates or the public keys which must no longer be considered as authentic . however , the revocation requires a strong authentication from the person making the application , and the latter can no longer use his / her secret key since he / she is making a request for revocation because he / she lost it . usually questions are prepared concerning the user ( his / her mother &# 39 ; s maiden name , his / her pet &# 39 ; s name , etc ). once again , the supplier cannot be trusted since he could wish to revoke a user without the latter knowing it . the user will thus be asked to sign his / her answers , previously ciphered with the certifying authority &# 39 ; s public key to make them inaccessible to the supplier . upon an application for revocation , the user contacts the supplier and sends one or several answers to the questions . the supplier transmits the request to the certifying authority which gives him or not the authorization to proceed with the revocation by adding the certificate or the public key to a list of revocation . now , alternative solutions for the present invention such as described in details hereunder are being described in a particular embodiment . in the embodiment such as described hereabove , the certifying entity transmits a unique secret sec to the user and the latter calculates the passwords pass , and words of acknowledgement ack i . according to an alternative , it is also possible that the certifying entity directly transmits to the user the passwords ack i and / or the password pass i . in this case , the steps 103 and 104 of calculations of values ack i and pass i may be replaced with steps of transmission of such values from the certifying entity to the user . anyway , it is important , according to the present invention , that the user has data which may be the secret sec , the passwords pass , or the words of acknowledgement ack i he / she shares with the certifying authority only , and which is not known to the supplier but which can be checked by him . in another alternative solution , if the certifying entity is not totally reliable , it is possible that the user and the supplier exchange a second password indicated pw which is not known to the certifying entity . such password is then transmitted from the user to the supplier when the user wishes to have his public key certified . if the second password is not acknowledged by the validating entity , no checking is carried out and the method is stopped . this gives the advantage of preventing the certifying entity from acting on behalf of the user . | 7 |
the voice communication system of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . fig1 shows a block diagram of a voice communication system according to a first embodiment of the invention . referring to fig1 , a voice communication system 100 according to the invention includes : a host 110 , for establishing an internet communication , wherein the host could be a desktop computer , a notebook , a tablet personal computer ( pc ), a personal digital assistant and a cellular phone ; a communication control device 130 , for achieving the internet communication and the pstn communication , wherein the communication control device 130 could be built inside the host 110 , or be a external device to the host 110 ; a telephone 150 coupled to the communication control device 130 , for placing or receiving voip - based calls or pstn - based calls . in an alternative embodiment of the invention , the host 110 further comprises a housing ( not shown ) and the communication control device 130 is set in the housing . referring also to fig1 , the host 110 includes a processing module 112 for performing data processing , wherein the processing module 112 includes a processor and a chipset ( not shown ) ( comprising a south - bridge chip and a north - bridge chip ( a south - bridge 210 shown in fig2 )), and wherein the implementation of the processor and the chipset is well known to those skilled in the art and therefore will not be described herein ; a storage module 114 coupled to the processing module for providing data access , wherein the storage module 114 according to this embodiment includes a nonvolatile storage unit ( such as hard disk ) and a volatile storage unit ( such as a dynamic random access memory ) ( not shown ), and wherein the implementation of the storage module 114 is also well known to those skilled in the art and thus will not be described herein ; a network control circuit 118 coupled to the processing module 112 and the internet , for controlling sending and receiving network packets , wherein the storage module 114 could be a stand - along network interface card , or a network chip integrated into the chipset embedded in the processing module 112 , and wherein the implementation of the network control circuit 118 is also well known to those skilled in the art and thus will not be described herein ; an audio codec 116 coupled to the processing module 112 , for performing sending and receiving operations of audio data , wherein the audio codec 116 could be a stand - along audio card , or an audio chip integrated into the chipset embedded in the processing module 112 . in the first embodiment , the storage module 114 , the network control circuit 118 and the audio codec 116 are coupled to the chipset ( not shown ) in the processing module 112 . besides , the network control circuit 118 and the audio codec 116 are integrated into the chipset . further , the host 110 has a network interface ( such as a rj - 45 interface ) ( not shown ) through which the network control circuit 118 is coupled to an internet line . fig2 shows a detailed diagram of a portion of the first embodiment . as shown in fig2 , the communication control device 130 of this embodiment includes : a high - pass filter 260 for filtering low - frequency signals that the telephone 150 transmits and generating a first differential signal ; a subscriber line interface circuit ( slic ) 230 for providing a third differential signal with a specified voltage level according to a first control signal and a second differential signal output from the audio codec 116 ; a detector 250 for detecting the state of a pstn line 280 and generating a detecting signal ; a switch 240 for connecting the telephone 150 with the internet via the host 110 , or coupling the telephone 150 with the pstn line 280 according to a second control signal output from the audio codec 116 ; two rj - 11 interfaces 281 , 282 coupled to the telephone 150 and the pstn line 280 respectively . referring also to fig2 , two rj - 11 interfaces 281 , 282 of the host 110 are coupled to the telephone 150 and the pstn line 280 respectively . and , the high - pass filter 260 , coupled to a telephone line ( consisting of a tip wire and a ring wire ) located between the interface 281 and the switch 240 , filters low - frequency ring signals and generates a first differential signal . the detector 250 detects the state of the pstn line 280 , e . g ., the voltage variations on the pstn line 280 , to generate a detecting signal . there are three typical states on the conventional pstn line 280 . they are an on - hook state , an off - hook and a ring state . the voltages on the pstn line 280 vary with different states . since the states and the variations on the pstn line 280 are well known , the description is omitted herein . the first terminal of the switch 240 is connected to the telephone 150 and the high - pass filter 260 and its second terminal receives the third differential signal , with its third terminal connected to the pstn line 280 . according to the second control signal , the switch 240 couples the telephone 150 with the internet via the host 110 , or with the pstn line 280 . referring also to fig2 , both of the south - bridge chip 210 and the audio codec 116 are mounted on a motherboard ( such as a computer motherboard ) in this embodiment . an analog - to digital converter 221 embedded in the audio codec 116 receives and converts the first differential signal into a first digital signal . in general , the first digital signal includes voice data and / or keypress data . with respect to voice data , they are sent from a control unit 223 ( e . g ., a dsp , a mpu or a logic circuit etc .) to the south - bridge chip 210 via a high definition audio interface , and then processed using the hardware and the software of the host 110 . for example , while transmitted via the internet to a remote device , the voice data will be first processed using a voip - compliant program ( such as a skype program ) which resides in and is executed on the host 110 , and then be delivered to the remote device via the internet . on the contrary , while receiving the voice data from the remote device via the internet , the host 110 processes the voice data using the voip - compliant program and then transmits the voice data to the audio codec 116 via the south - bridge chip 210 and the high definition audio interface . next , the audio codec 116 receives a second digital signal and then a digital - to - analog converter 222 converts the second digital signal into the analog second differential signal for output to the subscriber line interface circuit 230 . meanwhile , the control unit 223 outputs a first control signal to the subscriber line interface circuit 230 for causing the subscriber line interface circuit 230 to generate a third differential signal responsive to the second differential signal . as previously described , the operating voltages of the motherboard and the telephone are generally different , i . e ., the voltage level of signals transmitted on the motherboard different from the voltage level of signals transmitted by the telephone . the operating voltage of the motherboard is about 3 - 5v , whereas the operating voltage of the telephone is about (− 5 )-(− 50 ) v . therefore , the subscriber line interface circuit 230 mainly performs conversions between two different operating voltages . in this embodiment , the subscriber line interface circuit 230 converts the reference voltage v ref into different dc voltage levels so as to convert the second differential signal into the third differential signal compliant with the telephone signaling form after receiving the enabled first control signal . subsequently , the switch 240 receives and then outputs the third differential signal to the telephone 150 via the interface 281 . on the other hand , if the first digital signal contains the keypress data generated by using the telephone 150 , the control unit 223 decodes the first digital signal to obtain the keypress data according to a dual tone multiple frequency telephone signaling standard . in the case where the keypress data are a telephone number that a user dials to place an outgoing phone call , the control unit 223 transmits the telephone number to the host 110 so that the host 110 processes this telephone number using a voip - compliant program ( such as skype program ). in addition , the control unit 223 can accordingly emulate a dial tone , a dialing keypad tone , a ring tone or a busy tone , and then return it to the telephone 150 through the digital - to - analog converter 222 , the subscriber line interface circuit 230 , the switch 240 and the interface 281 . furthermore , the user is allowed to remotely control the voip - compliant program from the keypad on the telephone handset if the above - mentioned keypress data correspond to a predetermined data , e . g ., the keypress data equal to “##”. for example , numeral keys “ 2 ”, “ 8 ”, “ 4 ”, “ 6 ”, “ 5 or #” on the keypad are employed to remotely control the cursor on the operating interface of the voip - compliant program for different directions and operations , such as “↑”, “↓”, “←”, “→” and “ enter ”. for the case where the keypress data correspond to another predetermined data , e . g ., the keypress data equal to “**”, the control unit 223 outputs the second control data to configure the switch 240 via gpio3 to perform a mode switch between the internet and the pstn line , i . e ., the switch 240 being configured to couple the telephone 150 with either the pstn line 280 or the subscriber line interface circuit 230 . fig3 shows a detailed diagram of the subscriber line interface circuit . recall that the subscriber line interface circuit 230 mainly performs conversions between two different operating voltages . referring to fig3 , the subscriber line interface circuit ( slic ) 230 includes a slic controller 331 and a dc - to - dc converter 332 . the dc - to - dc converter 332 converts the reference voltage level v ref into another dc voltage level v bat which is adapted to generate the dc voltage level of two signals tip , ring on the pstn line . the dc voltage level is about (− 5 )-(− 50 ) v . according to this embodiment , the reference voltage v ref is about 12v and the dc voltage level v bat is about − 90v . the audio codec 116 controls the slic controller 331 using the first control signal . if the first control signal is enabled , the slic controller 331 converts the second differential signal into a signal compliant with a telephone signaling form using the dc voltage level v bat provided by the dc - to - dc converter 332 . referring now to fig1 and fig2 , in an alternative embodiment of the invention , the audio codec 116 doesn &# 39 ; t analyze and process the first differential signal , but passes the data contained in the first differential signal to both the hardware and the software of the host 110 for processing via the south - bridge chip 210 . for example , the host 110 analyzes the data contained in the first differential signal using at least a pre - loaded program ( such as a voip - compliant program , or a software program capable of performing an analysis according to a dual tone multiple frequency signaling standard ). if the analysis indicates that the data contained in the first differential signal are voice data intended for a remote device , the host 110 will send the data contained in the first differential signal to the remote device via the south - bridge chip 210 , the network control circuit 118 and the internet . however , if the analysis indicates that the data contained in the first differential signal are keypress data , the host 110 will place a voip - based phone call according to the keypress data , or return signals to the communication control device 130 . fig4 a is a flow chart illustrating a voice communication method according to the invention . in accordance with fig1 , 2 and 4 a , the voice communication method is detailed as follows . step s 410 : determine if the host 110 is on the internet . if “ yes ” and the pstn line has been in a on - hook state for a pre - determined period , the connection between the telephone 150 and the internet is thereafter initiated and the flow goes to the step s 420 ; if “ no ”, the flow goes to the step s 450 . note that other pre - determined conditions could be included to accordingly determine whether the connection between the telephone 150 and the internet needs to be initiated or not in an alternative embodiment of the step s 410 . step s 420 : determine which state the pstn line 280 is in . if the telephone handset is lifted , the flow advances to the step s 430 with respect to the detecting signal generated by the detector 250 . on the other hand , if there is an incoming pstn - based phone call , the flow goes to the step s 440 . apart from two above - mentioned conditions , the flow returns to the step s 420 repeatedly if the host 110 maintains communication with the internet . in this embodiment , the step s 420 may also determine if the host 110 is disconnected from the internet . if so , the flow returns to the step s 410 . step s 430 : an analysis of keypress data is performed and the communication is in progress . then , the flow returns to the step s 420 . step s 440 : if the telephone 150 is on hook ( i . e . the handset in the cradle ), the control unit 223 generates a second digital signal with a ring tone and then the digital - to - analog converter 222 converts the second digital signal into an analog second differential signal . next , the slic 230 converts the second differential signal into the third the differential signal compliant with the telephone signaling form . finally , the third differential signal rings the bell in the telephone 150 via the switch 240 . on the other hand , if the telephone 150 is in use , i . e ., off hook , the operations of the step s 440 will be performed as follows . the control unit 223 generates a second digital signal with a notifying tone and then the digital - to - analog converter 222 converts the second digital signal into an analog second differential signal . next , the slic 230 converts the second differential signal into the third differential signal compliant with the telephone signaling form . finally , the third differential signal is applied to the handset ( the loudspeaker ) in the telephone 150 via the switch 240 so as to notify the user of the incoming call . then , the flow returns to the step s 420 . step s 450 : establish or maintain the connection between the telephone 150 and the pstn line 280 if the host 110 is not on the internet . then , the flow returns to the step s 410 . in this step , while the telephone 150 attempts to connect with the pstn line 280 , the control unit 223 is employed to invert the second control signal and then transmit the inverted second control signal to the switch 240 via gpio3 so as to control the connection between the telephone 150 and the pstn line 280 . fig4 b is a flow chart illustrating a step of analyzing and communicating of fig4 a . in accordance with fig1 , 2 , 4 a and 4 b , the step s 430 of analyzing and communicating is detailed as follows . step s 431 : first , the analog - to - digital 221 converts the analog first differential signal into the first digital signal . next , according to a telephone signaling standard , the control unit 223 decodes the first digital signal and then analyzes what the first digital signal contains . if the first digital signal contains a first predetermined data , such as “##”, the flow will go to the step s 432 . if the first digital signal contains a second predetermined data , such as “**”, the flow will go to the step s 450 . this often occurs when the user is notified of an incoming pstn - based phone call and then makes a mode switch to the pstn for answering . otherwise , the flow will go to step s 433 . in an alternative embodiment , more conditions can be added in the step s 431 and a corresponding operation is thus performed if the first digital signal satisfies one of the conditions . step s 432 : if the keypress data contained in first digital signal are “##”, it indicates that the user attempts to remotely control the operating interface of the voip - compliant program using the keypad on the telephone handset . for example , the user employs the numeral keys “ 2 ”, “ 8 ”, “ 4 ”, “ 6 ”, “ 5 or #” on the keypad to remotely control the cursor on the operating interface of the voip - compliant program for different directions and operations , like “↑”, “↓”, “←”, “→” and “ enter ”. afterward , the control unit 223 sends the subsequent keypress data representing different directions via the south - bridge chip 210 to the host 110 . accordingly , the host 110 processes the keypress data using the voip - compliant program . then , the flow advances to the step s 433 . step s 433 : if the keypress data contained in first digital signal are a telephone number , the telephone number will be provided to the host 110 via the south - bridge chip 210 . thereafter , the host 110 places an outgoing voip - based phone call using the voip - compliant program in an internet - to - pstn mode ( such as skype out ). likewise , if the keypress data contained in first digital signal represent one of voip phone users , the keypress data will be provided to the host 110 via the south - bridge chip 210 . the host 110 then places an outgoing voip - based phone call using the voip - compliant program in an internet - to - internet mode ( i . e . a peer - to - peer mode ). further , after communication is initiated , the voice data contained in the first digital signal are sent to the internet via the voip - compliant program that is executed on the host 110 . on the other hand , the voice data from the internet are provided to the telephone 150 via the communication control circuit 130 by the host 110 using the voip - compliant program . note that the flow returns to the step s 420 after the analysis and / or communication is terminated in this step . fig4 a and 4b disclosed above are illustrative only , as each step can be modified or combined with other steps without departing from the spirit of the invention . while certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings , it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative of and not restrictive on the broad invention , and that this invention should not be limited to the specific construction and arrangement shown and described , since various other modifications may occur to those ordinarily skilled in the art . | 7 |
the present invention improves upon the problems with the prior art by providing a higher - resolution and higher - fidelity system for allowing users to customize and visualize jewelry over a communications network such as the internet . in one embodiment , the present invention allows a consumer to visit an online site that allows him or her to customize and build a piece of jewelry , such as a ring . the present invention generates high - resolution three - dimensional cad models of the ring in real - time , or on - the - fly , as the user makes selections to build the ring . further , the present invention immediately generates and displays three - dimensional renderings of the ring , which are displayed for the user in customizable points of views from varying angles . three - dimensional rotation and zooming of the ring are additional features provided to the user . referring now to the drawing figures in which like reference designators refer to like elements , there is shown in fig1 an illustration of a block diagram showing the network architecture of a software application in accordance with the principles of the present invention . fig1 shows an embodiment of the present invention wherein a consumer 110 , comprising a user and a computer , interacts with web server 102 over a network 106 , which can be a packet switched network such as the internet or the world wide web . the computer of consumer 110 can be a desktop , a laptop , handheld computer , a smart phone , a tablet computer or the like . web server 102 includes a software engine that delivers files , applications , image files , music files , video files , app files , machine readable code and other media content to consumer 110 . the software engine of server 102 may perform other media content delivering processes such as video streaming or any other standard for transferring multimedia data in a stream of packets that are interpreted and rendered , in real time , by a software application as the packets arrive . it should be noted that although fig1 shows only one consumer 110 and one web server 102 , the system of the present invention supports any number of client users and web servers connected via network 106 . server 102 includes program logic 155 comprising computer source code , scripting language code or interpreted language code that is compiled to produce computer instructions that perform various functions of the present invention . in one embodiment of the present invention , the program logic is a scripting language such as ecmascript , css , xml ( extensible markup language ), xslt ( extensible style - sheet language transformations ), javascript , ajax ( asynchronous javascript and xml ), xul , jsp , php , and asp ( active server pages ). program logic 155 may reside on a client computer , the server 102 or any combination of the two . in one embodiment of the present invention , the network application provided by the web server 102 of fig1 ( i . e ., program logic 155 ) is a client - server application having a client portion that resides on client computer 110 and a server application that resides on web server 102 . for example , the network application can be a web interface that is accessed by client computer 110 via network 106 . in another embodiment of the present invention , the web server 120 delivers to client 110 an application having only a client portion that resides on client computer 110 . for example , the application can be a web browser extension or web browser add - on , which is an installable enhancement to a web browser . the web browser extension or web browser add - on may be written using any of the following technologies : css ( cascading style sheets ), dom ( document object model ), javascript , xpcom ( cross - platform component object model ), xpconnect , xpi ( cross - platform installer ), xul ( xml user interface fig1 further shows that web server 102 is connected to a record database 122 , and a media content database 126 . database 122 is used to store records , such as profiles and consumer account data , which have been created for each user 110 . database 126 stores all media content associated with jewelry , such as still images , three dimensional data , cad models , audio data , movie data , app data , etc . fig1 also shows a payment authority 145 to effectuate payments by consumers 112 for jewelry purchased from the business operating server 102 . in one embodiment of the present invention , the payment authority 145 is a payment gateway , which is an e - commerce application service provider ( asp ) service that authorizes payments for e - businesses , online retailers , or traditional brick and mortar businesses . a payment gateway is the equivalent of a physical point - of - sale terminal located in most retail outlets . payment gateways encrypt sensitive information , such as credit card numbers , to ensure that information passes securely between the customer and the merchant . a payment gateway facilitates the transfer of information between a payment portal ( such as a website ) and the acquiring bank , quickly and securely . when a customer orders a product or service from a payment gateway enabled merchant , the payment gateway performs a variety of tasks to process the transaction . payment gateways accept payment via the use of credit cards , charge cards , bank cards , gift cards , account cards , etc . lastly , fig1 shows a backup server 140 which makes copies of data on server 102 and / or its associated databases , so that these additional copies may be used to restore the original after a data loss event . the backup server 140 may be used to restore a state following a disaster or to restore small numbers of files after they have been accidentally deleted or corrupted . note that although server 102 is shown as a single and independent entity , in one embodiment of the present invention , the functions of server 102 may be integrated with the functions of another entity , such as entities 140 and 145 of fig1 . further server 102 and its functionality , according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention , can be realized in a centralized fashion in one computer system , or in a distributed fashion where different elements are spread across several interconnected computer systems . fig2 - 1 to 2 - 22 are screenshots of an online interface for providing jewelry configuration processes over a communications network , in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . the following fig2 - 1 to 2 - 22 show interfaces provided by server 102 during the jewelry configuration process . fig2 - 1 shows an interface depicting a high - resolution , three - dimensional cad model of a ring that has been rendered in real - time according to a user &# 39 ; s selections of customizations . the figure shows that zoom capability is available for the rendered ring ( also see fig2 - 5 , 2 - 6 and 2 - 22 ). fig2 - 2 and 2 - 4 ( also see fig2 - 21 ) show that a rotation feature is available for the rendered ring . fig2 - 3 shows that information about a rendered ring can be displayed in an overlaid window . fig2 - 7 , 2 - 8 show that clicking on certain selections brings up other options or windows that provide further sub - options . as additional selections are made for the customizations of the ring , a high - resolution , three - dimensional model of the newly defined ring is generated and rendered in the interface ( see fig2 - 10 through 2 - 14 and fig2 - 19 through 2 - 20 ). fig2 - 9 shows a selection of diamonds that may be selected for inclusion in the user &# 39 ; s ring . fig2 - 15 through 2 - 18 show the final stages of customization of the ring , including choosing channels and side stones . the present invention can be realized in hardware , software , or a combination of hardware and software in the system described in the figures above . a system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention can be realized in a centralized fashion in one computer system or in a distributed fashion where different elements are spread across several interconnected computer systems . any kind of computer system — or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methods described herein — is suited . a typical combination of hardware and software could be a general - purpose computer system with a computer program that , when being loaded and executed , controls the computer system such that it carries out the methods described herein . an embodiment of the present invention can also be embedded in a computer program product , which comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein , and which — when loaded in a computer system — is able to carry out these methods . computer program means or computer program as used in the present invention indicates any expression , in any language , code or notation , of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following : a ) conversion to another language , code or , notation ; and b ) reproduction in a different material form . a computer system may include , inter alia , one or more computers and at least a computer readable medium , allowing a computer system , to read data , instructions , messages or message packets , and other computer readable information from the computer readable medium . the computer readable medium may include non - volatile memory , such as rom , flash memory , disk drive memory , cd - rom , and other permanent storage . additionally , a computer readable medium may include , for example , volatile storage such as ram , buffers , cache memory , and network circuits . in this document , the terms “ computer program medium ,” “ computer usable medium ,” and “ computer readable medium ” are used to generally refer to media such as main memory removable storage drive , a hard disk installed in hard disk drive , and signals . these computer program products are means for providing software to the computer system . the computer readable medium allows the computer system to read data , instructions , messages or message packets , and other computer readable information from the computer readable medium . the computer readable medium , for example , may include non - volatile memory , such as floppy , rom , flash memory , disk drive memory , cd - rom , and other permanent storage . it is useful , for example , for transporting information , such as data and computer instructions , between computer systems . although specific embodiments of the invention have been disclosed , those having ordinary skill in the art will understand that changes can be made to the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . the scope of the invention is not to be restricted , therefore , to the specific embodiments . furthermore , it is intended that the appended claims cover any and all such applications , modifications , and embodiments within the scope of the present invention . | 6 |
the oligothiophene - arylene derivative of the present invention is represented by formula 1 below : ar is a c 2 - 30 heteroarylene interrupted by at least one nitrogen atom which may be substituted with hydrogen , hydroxyl , amino , c 1 - 20 linear , branched or cyclic alkyl , c 1 - 20 alkoxyalkyl , alkylamino , ester or amido , or c 1 - 16 linear , branched or cyclic alkoxy , alkylamino , ester or amido ; ar 1 is a c 2 - 30 aryl group which may be interrupted by at least one heteroatom and may be substituted with hydrogen , hydroxyl , amino , c 1 - 20 linear , branched or cyclic alkyl , c 1 - 20 alkoxyalkyl , alkylamino , ester or amido , or c 1 - 16 linear , branched or cyclic alkoxy , alkylamino , ester or amido ; ar 2 is a c 5 - 30 aryl group which may be interrupted by at least one heteroatom and may be substituted with hydrogen , hydroxyl , amino , c 1 - 20 linear , branched or cyclic alkyl , c 1 - 20 alkoxyalkyl , alkylamino , ester or amido , or c 1 - 16 linear , branched or cyclic alkoxy , alkylamino , ester or amido ; the substituents r 1 , are each independently hydrogen , hydroxyl , amino , c 1 - 20 linear , branched or cyclic alkyl , c 1 - 20 alkoxyalkyl , alkylamino , ester , amido , or a c 1 - 16 linear , branched or cyclic alkoxy , alkylamino , ester or amido ; n 1 and n 3 are each independently an integer between 0 and 6 . the oligothiophene - arylene derivative of embodiments of the present invention is synthesized from compounds of formulae 2 , 3 , 4 and 5 below : x 1 and x 2 are each independently br , cl , or i ; x 3 is a trialkyltin group , a dioxaborane group , boronic acid , or the like , and x 4 is a trialkyltin group , a dioxaborane group , boronic acid , or the like , and x 5 is a trialkyltin group , a dioxaborane group , boronic acid , or the like , and in the oligothiophene - arylene derivative of formula 1 according to embodiments of the present invention , non - limiting representative examples of compounds corresponding to ar include compounds represented by formula 6 below : r 2 , r 3 and r 4 are each independently hydrogen , hydroxyl , amino , c 1 - 20 linear , branched or cyclic alkyl , c 1 - 20 alkoxyalkyl , alkylamino , ester , amido , or c 1 - 16 linear , branched or cyclic alkoxy , alkylamino , ester or amido . specific examples of the compounds of formula 6 include , but are not limited to , thiadiazoles , oxazoles , isoxazoles , oxadiazoles , imidazoles , pyrazoles , thiadiazoles , triazoles , tetrazoles , pyridines , pyridazines , pyrimidines , pyrazines , triazines , quinolines , isoquinolines , quinoxalines , naphthyridines , benzoimidazoles , pyrimidopyrimidines , benzothiadiazoles , benzoselenadiazoles , benzotriazoles , benzothiazoles , benzoxazoles , phenanthrolines , phenazines , and phenanthridines . in the oligothiophene - arylene derivative of formula 1 according to embodiments of the present invention , non - limiting representative examples of compounds corresponding to ar 1 include compounds represented by formula 7 below : r 5 , r 6 , r 7 , r 8 , r 9 , r 9 , r 10 , r 11 , r 12 and r 13 are each independently hydrogen , hydroxyl , amino , c 1 - 20 linear , branched or cyclic alkyl , c 1 - 20 alkoxyalkyl , alkylamino , ester , amido , or c 1 - 16 linear , branched or cyclic alkoxy , alkylamino , ester or amido . specific examples of the compounds of formula 7 include , but are not limited to , thiophenes , thiazoles , thiadiazoles , oxazoles , isoxazoles , oxadiazoles , imidazoles , pyrazoles , thiadiazoles , triazoles , tetrazoles , pyridines , pyridazines , pyrimidines , pyrazines , triazines , quinolines , isoquinolines , quinoxalines , naphthyridines , benzoimidazoles , pyrimidopyrimidines , benzothiadiazoles , benzoselenadiazoles , benzotriazoles , benzothiazoles , benzoxazoles , phenanthrolines , phenazines , phenanthridines , benzenes , naphthalenes , and fluorenes . in the oligothiophene - arylene derivative of formula 1 according to embodiments of the present invention , non - limiting representative examples of compounds corresponding to ar 2 include compounds represented by formula 8 below : r 14 , r 15 , r 16 , r 17 , r 18 , r 19 , r 20 and r 21 are each independently hydrogen , hydroxyl , amino , c 1 - 20 linear , branched or cyclic alkyl , c 1 - 20 alkoxyalkyl , alkylamino , ester , amido , or c 1 - 16 linear , branched or cyclic alkoxy , alkylamino , ester or amido . specific examples of the compounds of formula 8 include , but are not limited to , c 5 - 30 aromatic compounds , for example , benzenes , naphthalenes , anthracenes , and fluorenes . the oligothiophene - arylene derivative of embodiments of the present invention can be synthesized by chemical or electrochemical oxidation and condensation using an organometallic compound of a transition metal , such as nickel or palladium . more preferably , the oligothiophene - arylene derivative of embodiments of the present invention can be synthesized by condensation using a palladium ( 0 ) compound of formula 9 , or a palladium ( ii ) compound of formula 10 or 11 below : wherein l is a ligand selected from the group consisting of triphenylphosphine ( pph 3 ), triphenylarsine ( asph 3 ), triphenylphosphite ( p ( oph ) 3 ), diphenylphosphinoferrocene ( dppf ), diphenylphosphino butane ( dppb ), acetate ( oac ), and dibenzylideneacetone ( dba ); wherein l is as defined in formula 9 , and x is i , br or cl ; or the condensation is carried out through the reaction paths depicted by the following reaction scheme 1 : specifically , the condensation is carried out under a nitrogen atmosphere at 70 - 130 ° c . for 2 - 24 hours by the suzuki coupling reaction generally known in the art . at this time , toluene , dimethoxy ether , tetrahydrofuran , dimethylformamide , water , etc ., can be used as a solvent . non - limiting , representative examples of oligothiophene - arylene derivatives that can be synthesized by the suzuki coupling reaction include compounds 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , and 5 of formula 12 below : to synthesize the oligothiophene - arylene derivatives of formula 12 , dihalide - substituted arylene derivatives ( e . g ., the compound of formula 2 ) and boron - substituted compounds ( e . g ., the compounds of formulae 3 to 5 ) are necessary . compounds that are actually used to prepare the oligothiophene - arylene derivatives of formula 12 in the present invention are the compounds 6 , 7 , 8 and 9 represented by formula 13 and the compounds 10 , 11 , 12 and 13 of formula 14 below : the oligothiophene - arylene derivative of embodiments of the present invention can be used as a novel organic semiconductor material for an active layer of an otft . general organic thin film transistors have structures of a substrate / a gate electrode / a gate insulating layer / an organic active layer / source - drain electrodes , a substrate / a gate electrode / a gate insulating layer / source - drain electrodes / an organic active layer , and the like , but are not limited to these structures . at this time , the oligothiophene - arylene derivative of embodiments of the present invention can be formed into a thin film by screen printing , printing , spin coating , dipping , or ink spraying . the gate insulating layer constituting the otft can be made of common insulators having a high dielectric constant . specific examples of suitable insulators include , but are not limited to , ferroelectric insulators , e . g ., ba 0 . 33 sr 0 . 66 tio 3 ( bst ), al 2 o 3 , ta 2 o 5 , la 2 o 5 , y 2 o 3 , and tio 2 ; inorganic insulators , e . g ., pbzr 0 . 33 ti 0 . 66 o 3 ( pzt ), bi 4 ti 3 o 12 , bamgf 4 , srbi 2 ( tanb ) 2 o 9 , ba ( zrti ) o 3 ( bzt ), batio 3 , srtio 3 , bi 4 ti 3 o 12 , sio 2 , sin x , and aion ; and organic insulators , e . g ., polyimides , benzocyclobutenes ( bcbs ), parylenes , polyacrylates , polyvinylalcohols , polyvinylphenols , and the like . the substrate constituting the organic thin film transistor can be made of , but is not limited to , glass , polyethylenenaphthalate ( pen ), polyethyleneterephthalate ( pet ), polycarbonate , polyvinylalcohol , polyacrylate , polyimide , polynorbornene , polyethersulfone ( pes ), and the like . the gate electrode constituting the organic thin film transistor can be made of common metals . specific examples of such metals include , but are not limited to , gold ( au ), silver ( ag ), aluminum ( al ), nickel ( ni ), indium tin oxide ( ito ), and the like . the source and drain electrodes constituting the organic thin film transistor can be made of common metals . specific examples of such metals include , but are not limited to , gold ( au ), silver ( ag ), aluminum ( al ), nickel ( ni ), indium tin oxide ( ito ), and the like . embodiments of the present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the following examples . however , these examples are given for the purpose of illustration and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention . a catalytic amount of acetic acid was added to 1 , 2 - diamino - 3 , 6 - dibromobenzene and 2 , 2 ′- thenil in butanol . the mixture was heated to 110 ° c . for 8 hours . the resulting mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature , and filtered with washing ( methanol ), affording the arylene 6 as a red solid . 1 h - nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ ( ppm ) 7 . 04 ( t , 2h , j = 5 . 0 hz ), 7 . 48 ( d , 2h , j = 5 . 0 hz ), 7 . 55 ( d , 2h , j = 5 . 0 hz ), 7 . 82 ( s , 2h ). a catalytic amount of acetic acid was added to 3 , 4 - diamino - 2 , 6 - dibromopyridine and 2 , 2 ′- thenil in butanol . the mixture was heated to 110 ° c . for 8 hours . the resulting mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature , and filtered with washing ( methanol ), affording the arylene 7 as an ocher solid . 1 h - nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ ( ppm ) 7 . 06 - 7 . 10 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 56 ( d , 1h , j = 3 . 8 hz ), 7 . 56 - 7 . 66 ( m , 3h ), 8 . 67 ( s , 1h ). a catalytic amount of acetic acid was added to 1 , 2 - diamino - 3 , 6 - dibromobenzene and 4 , 4 ′- dimethoxybenzyl in butanol . the mixture was heated to 110 ° c . for 8 hours . the resulting mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature , and filtered with washing ( methanol ), affording the arylene 8 as a red solid . 1 h - nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ ( ppm ) 3 . 85 ( s , 6h ), 6 . 90 ( d , 2h , j = 8 . 7 hz ), 7 . 66 ( d , 2h , j = 8 . 7 hz ), 7 . 93 ( s , 2h ). 3 - hexyl thiophene was reacted with n - bromosuccinimide ( nbs ) in acetic acid to obtain the compound 11a . separately , n - buli was added to 3 - hexyl thiophene in tetrahydrofuran ( thf ) at − 20 ° c ., and then n , n , n ′, n ′- tetramethylethylenediamine ( tmeda ) was added thereto . the mixture was heated to 70 ° c . for 3 hours . subsequently , dioxaborolane was added to the mixture at − 78 ° c . and was slowly allowed to warm to room temperature to obtain the oligothiophene 10 . the compounds 11a and 10 were added to a mixture of toluene and water , and then tetrakis ( triphenylphosphine ) palladium ( 0 ) ( pd ( pph 3 ) 4 , aldrich ) as a catalyst and potassium carbonate were added thereto . the reaction mixture was allowed to react at 110 ° c . for 8 hours to obtain the compound 11b . n - buli in tetrahydrofuran was added to the compound 11b at − 20 ° c ., and then n , n , n ′, n ′- tetramethylethylenediamine ( tmeda ) was added thereto . the mixture was heated to 70 ° c . for 3 hours . subsequently , dioxaborolane was added to the mixture at − 78 ° c . and was slowly allowed to warm to room temperature to afford the oligothiophene borolane 11 . 1 h - nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ ( ppm ) 0 . 86 - 0 . 89 ( m , 6h ), 1 . 25 - 1 . 34 ( m , 24h ), 1 . 58 - 1 . 63 ( m , 4h ), 2 . 60 ( t , 2h , j = 7 . 6 hz ), 2 . 74 ( t , 2h , j = 7 . 9 hz ), 6 . 90 ( s , 1h ), 6 . 99 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 44 ( s , 1h ). the oligothiophene borolane 12 was prepared in the same manner as in preparative example 4 , except that 2 - bromothiophene was used instead of the compound 11a . 1 h - nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ ( ppm ) 0 . 89 ( t , 3h , j = 6 . 8 hz ), 1 . 21 - 1 . 35 ( m , 18h ), 1 . 59 - 1 . 66 ( m , 2h ), 2 . 58 ( t , 2h , j = 7 . 8 hz ), 6 . 68 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 00 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 20 ( d , 1h , j = 3 . 5 hz ), 7 . 47 ( d , 1h , j = 3 . 5 hz ). thiophen - 2 - yl - magnesium bromide was added to a mixture of hexanal and thf to obtain the compound 13a . zinc iodide , sodium cyanoborohydride and 1 , 2 - dichloroethane were added to the compound 13a , and then the mixture was heated to 85 ° c . for 3 hours to obtain the compound 13b . lithium diisopropylamide ( lda ) in thf was added to the compound 13b at − 78 ° c ., and then dioxaborolane was added thereto to obtain the thiophene borolane 10 . thereafter , the thiophene borolane 10 and 2 - bromobithiophene were subjected to the suzuki coupling reaction under the same conditions indicated in preparative example 1 to obtain the compound 13c . lithium diisopropylamide ( lda ) in thf was added to the compound 13c at − 78 ° c ., and then dioxaborolane was added thereto to afford the oligothiophene borolane 13 . 1 h - nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ ( ppm ) 0 . 89 ( t , 3h , j = 6 . 8 hz ), 1 . 25 - 1 . 43 ( m , 18h ), 1 . 57 - 1 . 88 ( m , 2h ), 2 . 79 ( t , 2h , j = 7 . 5 hz ), 6 . 68 ( d , 2h , j = 3 . 5 hz ), 6 . 97 - 7 . 00 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 05 ( d , 1h , j = 3 . 5 hz ), 7 . 21 ( d , 1h , j = 3 . 5 hz ), 7 . 52 ( d , 1h , j = 3 . 5 hz ). the arylene 6 and the oligothiophene borolane 11 were subjected to condensation by the suzuki coupling reaction to obtain the compound 1a . to the compound 1a was added n - bromosuccinimide to obtain the dibromide 1b . the dibromide 1b and the oligothiophene borolane 13 were mixed with toluene and water , and then pd ( pph 3 ) 4 , as a catalyst , and potassium carbonate in a solvent were added thereto . the resulting mixture was heated to 110 ° c . for 8 hours and washed with an aqueous ammonium chloride solution . the obtained organic layer was distilled under reduced pressure and purified by silica gel column chromatography to afford the oligothiophene - arylene derivative 1 . 1 h - nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ ( ppm ) 0 . 87 - 0 . 94 ( m , 18h ), 1 . 26 - 1 . 54 ( m , 36h ), 1 . 65 - 1 . 90 ( m , 12h ), 2 . 78 - 2 . 91 ( m , 12h ), 6 . 69 ( d , 2h , j = 3 . 5 hz ), 7 . 00 ( d , 2h , j = 3 . 5 hz ), 7 . 02 ( d , 2h , j = 3 . 5 hz ), 7 . 05 - 7 . 14 ( m , 10h ), 7 . 55 - 7 . 57 ( m , 4h ), 7 . 78 ( s , 2h ), 8 . 02 ( s , 2h ). the 1 h - nmr spectra is illustrated in fig2 . the oligothiophene - arylene derivative 2 was prepared in the same manner as in preparative example 7 , except that the compounds 10 and 12 were used instead of the oligothiophene borolanes 11 and 13 . 1 h - nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ ( ppm ) 0 . 90 - 0 . 93 ( m , 18h ), 1 . 30 - 1 . 48 ( m , 36h ), 1 . 62 - 1 . 79 ( m , 12h ), 2 . 60 ( t , 4h , j = 7 . 7 hz ), 2 . 78 ( t , 4h , j = 7 . 7 hz ), 2 . 88 ( t , 4h , j = 7 . 7 hz ), 6 . 82 ( s , 2h ), 7 . 03 - 7 . 08 ( m , 8h ), 7 . 10 ( d , 2h , j = 3 . 7 hz ), 7 . 15 ( s , 4h ) 7 . 53 ( d , 2h , j = 3 . 7 hz ), 7 . 58 ( d , 2h , j = 3 . 7 hz ), 7 . 76 ( s , 2h ), 8 . 00 ( s , 2h ). the arylene 7 and the oligothiophene borolane 11 were subjected to condensation by the suzuki coupling reaction to obtain the compound 3a . to the compound 3a was added n - bromosuccinimide to obtain the dibromide 3b . the dibromide 3 b and the oligothiophene borolane 13 were mixed with toluene and water , and then pd ( pph 3 ) 4 as a catalyst and potassium carbonate in a solvent were added thereto . the resulting mixture was heated to 110 ° c . for 8 hours and washed with an aqueous ammonium chloride solution . the obtained organic layer was distilled under reduced pressure and purified by silica gel column chromatography to afford the oligothiophene - arylene derivative 3 . 1 h - nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ ( ppm ) 0 . 88 - 0 . 95 ( m , 18h ), 1 . 25 - 1 . 55 ( m , 36h ), 1 . 66 - 1 . 88 ( m , 12h ), 2 . 78 - 2 . 98 ( m , 12h ), 6 . 68 ( d , 2h , j = 3 . 5 hz ), 6 . 98 - 7 . 00 ( m , 4h ), 7 . 04 - 7 . 10 ( m , 9h ), 7 . 14 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 26 - 7 . 62 ( m , 4h ), 7 . 76 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 47 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 96 ( s , 1h ). the oligothiophene - arylene derivative 4 was prepared in the same manner as in preparative example 7 , except that the arylene 9 was used instead of the arylene 6 . 1 h - nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ ( ppm ) 0 . 89 - 0 . 93 ( m , 18h ), 1 . 30 - 1 . 43 ( m , 36h ), 1 . 68 - 1 . 82 ( m , 12h ), 2 . 77 - 2 . 87 ( m , 12h ), 6 . 69 ( d , 2h , j = 3 . 5 hz ), 6 . 99 - 7 . 02 ( m , 4h ), 7 . 06 - 7 . 09 ( m , 6h ), 7 . 12 ( d , 2h , j = 3 . 5 hz ), 7 . 49 ( s , 2h ), 8 . 81 ( s , 2h ). the oligothiophene - arylene derivative 5 was prepared in the same manner as in preparative example 7 , except that the arylene 8 was used instead of the arylene 6 and that the thiophene borolanes 10 and 12 were used instead of the thiophene borolane 11 . 1 h - nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ ( ppm ) 0 . 89 - 0 . 93 ( m , 18h ), 1 . 26 - 1 . 43 ( m , 36h ), 1 . 64 - 1 . 88 ( m , 12h ), 2 . 80 ( t , 12h , j = 7 . 9 hz ), 3 . 88 ( s , 6h ), 6 . 69 ( d , 2h , j = 3 . 5 hz ), 6 . 95 - 7 . 12 ( m , 10h ), 7 . 22 ( d , 2h , j = 3 . 5 hz ), 7 . 77 - 7 . 82 ( m , 6h ), 8 . 07 ( s , 2h ). the 1 h - nmr spectra is illustrated in fig3 . as schematically illustrated in fig1 , first , chromium was deposited on a plastic substrate 1 that had been previously washed by a sputtering process to form a gate electrode 2 having a thickness of 1 , 000 å , and then sio 2 was deposited on the gate electrode 2 by a cvd process to form a gate insulating film 3 having a thickness of 1 , 000 å . ito as a material for source - drain electrodes 4 , 5 was deposited on the gate insulating layer to a thickness of 1 , 200 å by a sputtering process . the resulting structure was washed with isopropyl alcohol for 10 minutes , dried , dipped in a 1 mm octadecyltrichlorosilane solution in hexane for 30 seconds , washed with acetone , and dried . separately , the oligothiophene - arylene derivative , compound 1 , prepared in preparative example 7 was dissolved in toluene to obtain a solution having a concentration of 2 wt %. the solution was applied to the dried structure at 1 , 000 rpm to a thickness of 700 å , and baked under an argon atmosphere at 100 ° c . for 1 hour to form an organic active layer 6 and fabricate an otft 7 . the current transfer characteristics of the organic thin film transistor fabricated in example 1 using an oligothiophene - arylene derivative prepared in preparative example 7 are graphically shown in fig4 . an organic thin film transistor was fabricated in the same manner as in example 1 , except that the oligothiophene - arylene derivative 2 prepared in preparative example 8 was used . the driving characteristics of the transistor were measured . an organic thin film transistor was fabricated in the same manner as in example 1 , except that the oligothiophene - arylene derivative 3 prepared in preparative example 9 was used . the driving characteristics of the transistor were measured . an organic thin film transistor was fabricated in the same manner as in example 1 , except that the oligothiophene - arylene derivative 4 prepared in preparative example 10 was used . the driving characteristics of the transistor were measured . an organic thin film transistor was fabricated in the same manner as in example 1 , except that the oligothiophene - arylene derivative 5 prepared in preparative example 11 was used . the driving characteristics of the transistor were measured . the current transfer characteristics of an organic thin film transistor fabricated in example 5 using an oligothiophene - arylene derivative prepared in preparative example 11 are graphically shown in fig5 . an organic thin film transistor was fabricated in the same manner as in example 1 , except that polyhexylthiophene ht - p3ht ( aldrich ) was used . the charge carrier mobility of the devices fabricated in examples 1 - 5 and comparative example 1 was measured . the current transfer characteristics of the devices were measured using a keithley semiconductor characterization system ( 4200 - scs ), and curves were plotted . the obtained results are shown in table 1 . the charge carrier mobility was calculated from the following current equations in the saturation region . the charge carrier mobility was calculated from the slope of a graph representing the relationship between ( i sd ) 1 / 2 and v g from the following current equations in the saturation region : in the above equations , i sd : source - drain current , μ and μ fet : charge carrier mobility , c o : capacitance of the oxide film , w : channel width , l : channel length ; v g : gate voltage , and v t : threshold voltage . the off - state leakage current ( i off ) is a current flowing in the off - state , and was determined from the minimum current in the off - state . as can be seen from the data shown in table 1 , the oligothiophene - arylene derivatives of the present invention showed a high charge carrier mobility ranging from 0 . 001 to 0 . 0003 and a considerably low off - state leakage current . as apparent from the foregoing , the oligothiophene - arylene derivatives of the present invention are low molecular weight organic semiconductor materials with a novel structure . in addition , since the oligothiophene - arylene derivatives can be spin - coated at room temperature , are stable , and exhibit high charge carrier mobility and low off - state leakage current , they can be used as a material for an active layer of an otft . 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 . | 7 |
reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the invention , examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings . while the invention will be described in conjunction with the preferred embodiments , the invention is intended to cover alternatives , modifications and equivalents , which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims . furthermore , in the detailed description of the present invention , several specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention . however , one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details . thus , while the invention is susceptible to embodiment in many different forms , the subsequent description of the present disclosure should be considered only as an exemplification of the principles of the invention , that is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiments so illustrated . fig1 shows a perspective view of a complete preferred embodiment of pet toy 10 , in which fabric covering 12 is decorated with ornamentation — ears 13 , trunk 14 , eyes 15 and hind legs 16 — evoking an elephant . a preferred embodiment of pet toy 10 shaped like an elongated oval is shown in perspective view in fig2 , which includes a fragmented showing of fabric covering 12 . pet toy 10 is comprised of two separate cylindrical sound - emitting chambers 22 a and 22 b with hemispherical front sides 23 a and 23 b . sound - emitting chambers 22 a and 22 b are arranged in tandem , juxtaposed so their back sides 24 a and 24 b are touching . sound - emitting chambers 22 a and 22 b are surrounded by fabric covering 12 , which , in fig2 , is fragmented to further the understanding of the invention &# 39 ; s construction . in this preferred embodiment , squeaker 25 a is located on front side 23 a of sound - emitting chamber 22 a . similarly , squeaker 25 b is located on front side 23 b of sound - emitting chamber 22 b . walls 26 a and 26 b of sound - emitting chambers 22 a and 22 b , respectively , may be compressed , thus forcing air through respective squeakers 25 a and 25 b . in the completed invention , fabric covering 12 completely surrounds sound - emitting chambers 22 a and 22 b without substantial layers of materials interposed between fabric covering 12 and sound - emitting chambers 22 a and 23 b , such that the entirety of the overall toy body is formed by the combined shape of adjoining sound - emitting chambers 22 a and 22 b . fig3 a shows a perspective view of one compressible , sound - emitting chamber 22 a having hemispherical front side 23 a and flat back side 24 a . a second , substantially identical compressible sound - emitting chamber ( 22 b in fig2 ) can thus be aligned with sound - emitting chamber 22 a such that flat back side 24 a of chamber 22 a is aligned with flat back side 24 b of chamber 22 b ( see fig2 ), forming an overall shape of an elongated oval comprised of compressible , sound - emitting chambers 22 a and 23 b . squeaker 25 a is located on front side 23 a of sound - emitting chamber 22 a , and compressing wall 26 a of sound - emitting chamber 22 a forces air through squeaker 25 a , generating a noise . front side 23 a of compressible , sound - emitting chamber 22 a is seen in elevated view in fig3 b . front side 23 a of compressible , sound - emitting chamber 22 a is mounted with squeaker assembly 27 on the apex of front side 23 a , which squeaker assembly includes squeaker apertures 28 through which compressed air moves and vibrates , generating noise . an elevated view of flat back side 24 a of one compressible , sound - emitting chamber 22 a is shown in fig3 c . flat back sides 24 a and 24 b of two compressible , sound - emitting chambers 22 a and 22 b may be aligned to form an elongated oval comprised of the two compressible , sound - emitting chambers 22 a and 22 b . as seen in fig2 , when flat back sides 24 a and 24 b of compressible , sound - emitting chambers 22 a and 22 b are juxtaposed and covered with fabric covering 12 , the pet toy 10 is formed and shaped like an elongated oval . fig4 shows a cross - sectional view , taken along line 4 , 5 - 4 , 5 of fig2 and looking in the direction of the arrows , of back sides 34 a and 34 b of two sound - emitting chambers 32 a and 32 b attached using a circumferential embodiment of the alignable locking elements on sound - emitting chambers &# 39 ; 32 a and 32 b back sides 34 a and 34 b . in this embodiment , back side 34 a of sound - emitting chamber 32 a terminates at circumferential groove 31 , followed by circumferential protrusion 33 , while back side 34 b of sound - emitting chamber 32 b terminates with corresponding circumferential groove 35 , followed by circumferential protrusion 37 . to align back sides 34 a and 34 b , back side 34 a is pushed into back side 34 b until circumferential protrusion 37 of back side 34 b snaps over and around circumferential protrusion 33 of back side 34 a , such that circumferential protrusion 37 of back side 34 b rests in circumferential groove 31 of back side 34 a . in this locked position , circumferential protrusion 33 of back side 34 a fits under and within circumferential protrusion 37 of back side 34 b such that circumferential protrusion 33 rests in the circumferential groove 35 of back side 34 b . with back sides 34 a and 34 b locked in place , sound - emitting chambers 32 a and 32 b are further prompted to maintain their orientation and alignment . an alternative , linear embodiment of the alignable locking elements is shown in fig5 , in which back sides 44 a and 44 b of sound - emitting chambers 42 a and 42 b are seen in a different cross - sectional view , taken along line 4 , 5 - 4 , 5 of fig2 and looking in the direction of the arrows . here , back side 44 a of sound - emitting chamber 42 a includes linear trapezoidal protrusion 46 , while back side 44 b of sound - emitting chamber 42 b includes linear trapezoidal groove 47 . to align back sides 44 a and 44 b , linear trapezoidal protrusion 46 is inserted and slides into linear trapezoidal groove 47 until back side 44 a is aligned and flush with back side 44 b . in this embodiment , sound - emitting chambers 42 a and 42 b are juxtaposed to one another at their back sides 44 a and 44 b , and are aligned such that linear trapezoidal protrusion 46 abuts the back side 44 b of sound - emitting chamber 42 b . back sides 44 a and 44 b are then displaced by the width of one sound - emitting chamber , and slid relative to one another such that the tongue of linear trapezoidal protrusion 46 enters into linear trapezoidal groove 47 . linear trapezoidal protrusion 46 slides into linear trapezoidal groove 47 until the back side 44 b of sound - emitting chamber 42 b fits over and around linear trapezoidal protrusion 46 on back side 44 a of sound - emitting chamber 42 a , and back sides 44 a and 44 b are flush . thus , back sides 44 a and 44 b are likewise locked in place , maintaining their orientation and alignment . fig6 shows a perspective view of another embodiment of pet toy 50 , including a fragmented showing of fabric covering 51 , in which pet toy 50 is shaped like a sphere . pet toy 50 is comprised of two separate sound - emitting chambers 52 and 53 with front sides 54 and 55 . sound - emitting chambers 52 and 53 are arranged in tandem , juxtaposed so their back sides 56 and 57 are touching . while the complete pet toy 50 would have both sound - emitting chambers 52 and 53 surrounded by a fabric covering 51 , covering 51 in fig6 is fragmented to further the understanding of the invention &# 39 ; s construction . in this embodiment , squeaker 58 is located on front side 54 of sound - emitting chamber 52 . similarly , squeaker 59 is located on front side 55 of sound - emitting chamber 53 . again , in the completed invention , fabric covering 51 completely surrounds sound - emitting chambers 52 and 53 without substantial layers of materials interposed between fabric covering 51 and sound - emitting chambers 52 and 53 , such that the entirety of the overall pet toy 50 is formed by the combined shape of adjoining sound - emitting chambers 52 and 53 . yet another embodiment of the invention — in which pet toy 60 is shaped substantially like a horseshoe — is seen in fig7 , which includes a fragmented showing of fabric covering 61 . pet toy 60 is comprised of two separate sound - emitting chambers 62 and 63 with front sides 64 and 65 . sound - emitting chambers 62 and 63 — each comprising one - half of a horseshoe - shaped periphery — are arranged in tandem , juxtaposed so their back sides 66 and 67 are touching . while the complete pet toy 60 would have both sound - emitting chambers 62 and 63 surrounded by fabric covering 61 , covering 61 in fig7 is fragmented to further the understanding of the invention &# 39 ; s construction . in this embodiment , squeaker 68 is located on front side 64 of sound - emitting chamber 62 . similarly , squeaker 69 is located on front side 65 of sound - emitting chamber 63 . again , in the completed invention , fabric covering 61 completely surrounds sound - emitting chambers 62 and 63 without substantial layers of materials interposed between fabric covering 61 and sound - emitting chambers 62 and 63 , such that the entirety of the overall pet toy 60 is formed by the combined shape of adjoining sound - emitting chambers 62 and 63 . fig8 shows a perspective view of yet another embodiment of the pet toy 70 , including a fragmented showing of fabric covering 71 , in which pet toy 70 is shaped like a continuous circuitous ring . pet toy 70 is comprised of two separate sound - emitting chambers 72 and 73 with front sides 74 and 75 . sound - emitting chambers 72 and 73 — each comprising one - half of a circuitous ring — are arranged in tandem , juxtaposed so their back sides 76 and 77 are touching . while the complete pet toy 70 would have both sound - emitting chambers 72 and 73 surrounded by fabric covering 71 , covering 71 in fig8 is fragmented to further the understanding of the invention &# 39 ; s construction . in this embodiment , squeaker 78 is located on front side 74 of sound - emitting chamber 72 . similarly , squeaker 79 is located on front side 75 of sound - emitting chamber 73 . again , in the completed invention , fabric covering 71 completely surrounds sound - emitting chambers 72 and 73 without substantial layers of materials interposed between fabric covering 71 and sound - emitting chambers 72 and 73 , such that the entirety of the overall pet toy 70 is formed by the combined shape of adjoining sound - emitting chambers 72 and 73 . the foregoing description and drawings merely explain and illustrate the invention , and the invention is not so limited as those skilled in the art who have the disclosure before them will be able to make modifications and variations therein without departing from the scope of the invention . | 0 |
referring to the drawings , a first embodiment of the present invention illustrated in fig1 through 3 is comprised of a housing 10 for a switch 12 adapted to be strapped to a motorcycle handlebar by straps 14 with nut and bolt assemblies 16 . it is contemplated that the switch 12 be a separate self - contained and sealed unit , as shown in the sectional views of fig2 and 3 taken along respective lines 2 -- 2 and 3 -- 3 of fig1 . the switch may be any one of many commercially available push - button switches of the two - point - break type such as commonly used to turn off a glove compartment light in an automobile when the door is closed . in the closed position , the switch 12 provides electrical continuity from a tab 18 to an insulated lead 20 . when the device is strapped to a motorcycle handlebar as shown in fig8 the tab 18 is grounded to the frame of the motorcycle to effectively ground the primary winding of the ignition coil 22 of the motorcycle , as shown in fig4 . the handlebar is indicated by a dotted line in fig3 . a plunger 24 protrudes from the switch 12 to permit the switch contacts to be opened upon depressing the plunger against the force of the spring biasing the contacts closed . the housing 10 , molded of plastic material as shown , or of metal , is provided with integral and resilient means 26 for receiving and retaining a spherical body 28 fig2 and 3 ) in a position depressing the plunger 24 to maintain the contacts of the switch 12 open . the spherical body 28 is provided with an integral ring 30 for the purpose of connecting a lanyard 31 ( fig8 ) to it . the lanyard is used to yank the spherical body 28 from the resilient retaining means 26 . in practice , the free end of the lanyard is provided with a loop which fits over the wrist of a motorcycle rider so that , in the event of a collision or a spill , the spherical body 28 is automatically yanked out of the retaining means 26 to release the plunger 24 , thus allowing the spring biased contacts of the switch 12 to close and cut out the motorcycle engine . a convenient place to connect the lead 20 of the switch 12 is at the ignition switch 32 of the motorcycle , as shown in fig4 for a motorcycle having a magneto 34 . when the ignition switch is in the off position it connects the primary winding of the ignition coil 22 to circuit ground ( motorcycle frame ). while the ignition switch is in the run position , the ground connection to the primary winding of the ignition coil is removed to permit a contact breaker 34 and ignition coil 22 to function in firing a spark plug 38 . in order for the engine to run with the ignition switch in the run position , the motorcycle rider must insert the spherical body 28 into the resilient retaining means 26 as shown in fig2 and 3 , thereby opening the contacts of the switch 12 . consequently , once the spherical body 28 is yanked from the resilient retaining means 26 , the switch 12 closes to cut out the engine . it should be noted that , in the ignition system of a motorcycle having no battery shown in fig4 a simple and direct connection at the ignition switch is feasible because the magneto 34 is not operative once the engine is cut off even though the ignition switch is still in the run position . in a motorcycle having a battery ignition system it may be desirable to disconnect the battery whenever the safety cut - off switch is closed , as will be described with reference to fig1 . otherwise , the battery could be discharged while the ignition switch is in the run position . the resilient means 26 for retaining the spherical body 28 is comprised of a plurality of finger - like elements 40 molded as integral parts of the housing 10 and shaped to fit snugly around the spherical body 28 . the end of each finger - like element is curved outwardly to facilitate forcing them outwardly as the spherical body 28 is inserted . once the center of the spherical body enters past the curved ends of the finger - like elements , the elements will move the spherical body into place , with the plunger 24 depressed sufficiently to open the switch contacts . a total of twelve finger - like elements are provided in the embodiments of fig1 but in practice any number of finger - like elements may be provided greater than one , each element being shaped with an internal surface corresponding to the shape of the spherical body 28 . however , too small a number , such as two or three , would require each element to be wider with the result that the elements may be too stiff . four elements as shown in the second embodiment of fig5 would therefore be a practical minimum , while the number 12 shown in the embodiment of fig1 would be a practical upper limit . referring now to the second embodiment of fig5 through 7 , the switch housing 10 adapted to be strapped to the handlebar of the motorcycle serves as the body of the cut - out switch . consequently , the housing is in this case required to be molded out of nonconductive material , such as any one of a number of different plastic materials commercially available . to facilitate assembly of the switch within the housing 10 , the housing may be molded in two parts such that the sectional view of fig6 taken along the line 6 -- 6 of fig5 is the face of one part that will mate with the complementary face of the other part . the two halves are then cemented , fused or bolted together after the switch parts are assembled in the housing as shown . the first part of the switch inserted into the housing is an element 18 &# 39 ; adapted to make a contact with the handlebar of a motorcycle ( indicated in fig7 by dotted lines ). the element 18 &# 39 ; is l - shaped with the end of the upright arm bent parallel over the other arm . the one arm fits into a channel in the housing to hold it in the position shown . a second element 18 &# 34 ; having its upper end bent to the right as viewed in fig6 fits into a channel that is made wider at the bottom to accommodate the lead 20 soldered to the element 18 &# 34 ;. the elements 18 &# 39 ; and 18 &# 34 ; have sufficient width to cause them to protrude from the channels in that half of the housing shown in fig6 . the other half of the housing is provided with corresponding channels to interlock with the elements 18 &# 39 ; and 18 &# 34 ;. the plunger 24 &# 39 ;, molded of nonconductive material , is inserted into the housing between the elements 18 &# 39 ; and 18 &# 34 ; with a metal ring 42 cemented onto a shoulder of the plunger . when the second half of the housing is added and the spherical body 28 is in place , the plunger 24 &# 39 ; is depressed against the force of a spring 44 to cause the metal ring 42 to move away from the contact elements 18 &# 39 ; and 18 &# 34 ;, thus breaking electrical continuity between the contact element 18 &# 39 ; and the lead 20 . although particular embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated herein , it is recognized that modifications and variations may readily occur to those skilled in the art . it is therefore intended that the claims be interpreted to cover such modifications and variations . | 7 |
the present invention provides light emitting devices that use conductive nitrides as anode material . the present invention &# 39 ; s conductive nitride anodes can be transparent or opaque depending on the thickness of the anode film / layer . in addition , these conductive nitride anodes can be used with transparent cathodes . while the illustrative embodiments below speak in terms of titanium nitride , it should be understood that any conductive nitride may be used . furthermore , while the illustrative embodiments below speak in terms of single heterostructure oleds , it should be understood that any type of oled ( e . g . polymer ( single and multi - layered ), single heterostructure , or double heterostructure ) may be formed . in a first embodiment of the present invention , small molecule based oleds were prepared on glass substrates having varying tin thickness layers . oleds with ito anodes were also made for comparison . in each experiment two devices were made at the same time , ( i . e ., the organic and metal films were deposited on both substrates at the same time ) one ito / α - npd / alq 3 / mg — ag device used as a reference device and one tin / α - npd / alq 3 / mg — ag device . the purpose of making the devices at the same time was so that the only difference between the devices would be the anode layers . the oleds consisted of a 400 å hole transporting layer ( αnpd ), a 500 å electron transporting layer ( alq 3 ) and a 10 : 1 mg / ag cathode of 800 - 1 , 000 å thus forming either tin / npd / alq 3 / mg — ag or ito / npd / alq 3 / mg — ag . the organic materials were deposited as uniform sheets , while the mg / ag cathodes were deposited as 1 mm diameter dots . the tin films were prepared by atmospheric pressure metalorganic cvd from tetrakis ( dimethylamido ) titanium ( tdmat ) [( ch 3 ) 2 n ] 4 ti and ammonia and deposited onto glass substrates . the tin film preparation process used is similar to the one reported by joshua n . musher and roy g . gordon in j . mater . res ., 1996 , 11 ( 4 ) 736 - 744 . to form the tin films , tdmat ( technical grade ) from aldrich chemical company was purified by vacuum distillation . semiconductor purity ammonia was mixed with ultra high purity ( uhp ) nitrogen in a ratio of 1 . 2 : 1 ( by volume ) and fed into a laminar flow cvd reactor ( 4 inch diameter tube furnace ) heated to 150 ° c . the glass substrate was mounted on a surface heater placed in the center of the cvd furnace and heated to between 300 and 400 ° c . uhp nitrogen was bubbled through liquid tdmat at 65 ° c . and the resulting tdmat saturated nitrogen stream was injected into the cvd reactor through a nozzle near the substrate . during the deposition , the nozzle was moved along the substrate surface , leading to uniform films roughly 2 cm × 2 cm in area . the deposition time to produce a 50 - 200 å tin film was no more than 2 minutes . the compositions of the obtained tin films were analyzed by x - ray diffraction , tem energy dispersive x - ray analysis ( edx ), and auger electron spectroscopy ( aes ). the thickness of the films was determined by ellipsometry using 632 nm laser light ( n = 1 . 5 and k = 1 . 75 for tin at this wavelength , p . j . martin , r . p . netterfield , and w . g . sainty . vacuum , 1982 , 32 ( 6 ) 359 - 362 ), aes depth profile , and light absorption . sem was also used to determine the thickness of the tin film . the uniformity and roughness of the films were checked by sem and atomic force microscopy ( afm ). in addition , the electrical resistivity of the films was measured by a four - point probe method . the tin films prepared by atmospheric pressure metalorganic cvd had a silver - bluish color in reflected light and ranged from light brown to greenish in color in transmitted light ( transmittance 80 - 50 % for films of 50 - 200 å ). the tin films were near stoichiometric , containing a small amount of oxygen ( approximately 5 % or less ) and carbon ( approximately 5 % or less ) based on edx and aes . the x - ray diffraction pattern of the tin samples was consistent with that reported for ti 1 . 0 n 1 . 0 and the resistivity of these films ranged from approximately 400 - 500 μω - cm . sheet resistances were measured for the tin films and varied depending on film thickness as shown in table 1 . tin films of 900 - 1000 å thickness typically have sheet resistances of approximately 40 ω /□ ( ohms per dimensionless value ), which is lower than ito films of the same thickness . the ito on glass ( 100 ω /□) and tin on glass substrates were first cleaned in boiling 1 , 1 , 1 - trichloroethane and then in acetone for 3 - 4 minutes followed by sonication in isopropanol for 2 minutes . after this cleaning procedure , the substrates were dried under a n 2 flow . the background pressure in the deposition system prior to oled fabrication was normally 6 × 10 − 6 torr , and the pressure during film deposition was between 6 × 10 − 6 and 1 × 10 − 5 torr . the compounds used for fabrication of the oleds were evaporated from resistively heated tantalum boats onto the substrates at room temperature . 4 , 4 ′- di ( phenyl - α - napthylamino ) biphenyl ( αnpd ) and aluminum - tris ( 8 - quinoloxide ) ( alq 3 ) were deposited successively at a rate of 0 . 8 - 2 å / sec to give film thicknesses of approximately 400 å and 500 å , respectively . after deposition of the organic films , the chamber was vented and a shadow mask was put onto the substrates to pattern the cathodes as 1 mm diameter dots . magnesium and silver were then co - deposited at a rate of2 å / s for magnesium and 0 . 15 - 0 . 2 å / s for silver . the corresponding ratio of mg : ag was approximately 10 : 1 . the thickness of the cathode layer was approximately 800 - 1000 å . the devices were characterized in air within 4 h of fabrication . current - voltage measurements were made with a keithley source meter ( model 2400 ). light intensity was measured using a newport model 1835 optical power meter and silicon radiometer . el spectra were measured with a photon technology international fluorimeter . optical transmittance at 632 nm was also measured using a hene laser and photodetector . the tin thickness for each oled tested was determined using the film absorptivity ( 1 . 5 × 10 5 cm − 1 ) and the transmittance of the tin film immediately adjacent to the oled , measured using a 632 nm laser and photodetector . the data for several devices are given in table 1 . the anode thicknesses for all of the tin devices were significantly less than that of the ito devices . the usable range of tin thickness is approximately 40 - 180 å and the sheet resistance depending on thickness , ranges from approximately 200 to 1500 ω /□. the light output of the devices can reach 10 , 000 cd / m 2 or more . fig3 shows the current - voltage characteristics of some of the tin oleds including an iv curve for one of the ito device . the differences in the i - v characteristics of the individual tin devices are attributed to the different thicknesses of the tin films used in each device . this is seen in slightly higher drive voltages required for the tin devices . for example , the drive voltage required to achieve 100 cd / m 2 for the tin oleds was typically 1 volt higher than for the ito anode oleds , ( compare 10 - 10 . 5 , and 9 - 9 . 5 v , respectively ). these voltages are typically for oleds fabricated with 400 å of npd and 500 å of alq 3 . table 1 indicates that the quantum efficiencies for oleds with tin & lt ; 100 å are better than the ito devices . in table 1 , the quantum efficiencies for each device are listed both at a set brightness of 100 cd / m 2 and at a fairly high brightness for each device ( potential of 15 volts for all devices ). table 1 shows that as the tin films are made thicker the current - voltage characteristics improve , but the external quantum efficiencies decrease . the decreasing quantum efficiency is due to the increasing optical density of the anode as the tin is made thicker , absorbing more of the electroluminescence . the transmittance spectrum of tin is relatively flat , showing a maximum transmittance in the green part of the spectrum as shown in fig4 . the electroluminescence spectra of a tin anode oled and an ito anode oled are also shown in fig4 . both spectra are consistent with exclusive emission from the alq 3 layer , with very little difference in line shape and λ max . the transmittance of the tin films at 632 nm as a function of tin film thickness is given in fig2 . the value of absorptivity determined from this data is 1 . 5 × 10 5 cm − 1 . tin films thicker than 200 å typically have too high an optical density to make good transparent anodes for oled applications . the external quantum efficiencies can be corrected for the tin anode absorption previously discussed . the corrected external quantum efficiency values shown in table 1 were obtained by taking into account the absorption losses of light in the tin films . the value of the external quantum efficiency of the devices with a tin anode was divided by the coefficient αcalculated as : α = ∫ ( ei tin × t tin ) λ ∫ ( ei std × t std ) λ std — standard reference device with ito anode ( transmittance assumed is equal 1 ). therefore , α depends on the tin &# 39 ; s film thickness , for example , for a 185 å tin film , α would be 0 . 46 . the corrected quantum efficiency values for tin oleds are significantly higher than for ito based devices , averaging 0 . 6 % for the tin - bx set of devices , demonstrating that tin can efficiently inject holes into standard organic hole transporting materials . in a second embodiment of the present invention , tin thin films are deposited onto ito films formed on glass substrates . the multi - layered stack ( tin / ito ) is then used as anode material for forming oleds . while this embodiment of the present invention describes using ito as part of the multi - layered anode , it should be recognized that tin or any conductive nitride could be deposited on any transparent electrode film to form this multi - layered anode material . titanium nitride thin films on top of ito used as anodes for oleds were prepared by atmospheric pressure metalorganic cvd from tdmat and ammonia . the process described below for preparation of tin is similar to embodiment 1 . tdmat , technical grade , from aldrich chemical company was purified by vacuum distillation . semiconductor purity ammonia was mixed with uhp nitrogen in a ratio of 1 . 2 : 1 ( by volume ) and fed into a laminar flow cvd reactor ( 4 inch diameter tube furnace ) heated to 150 ° c . the substrate ( ito coated glass with sheet resistance 100 /□) was mounted on a surface heater placed in the center of the cvd furnace and heated to between 370 and 400 ° c . uhp nitrogen was bubbled through liquid tdmat at 65 - 75 ° c . and the resulting tdmat saturated nitrogen stream was injected into the cvd reactor through a nozzle near the substrate . during the deposition the nozzle was moved along the substrate surface , leading to uniform films roughly 2 cm × 2 cm in area . film thickness was controlled by the deposition time . the time to deposit a 50 å tin film was no more than 1 minute . the composition , thickness , uniformity , roughness , and electrical resistivity were determined and checked in the same manner as described in embodiment 1 . the resulting tin film thicknesses ranged from approximately 20 to 350 å and had a silver - bluish color in reflected light and ranged from light brown to greenish in color in transmitted light ( transmittance 80 - 50 % for films of 50 - 200 å ). the present embodiment involved a 20 - 50 å film of tin on ito . the tin was near stoichiometric , containing a small amount of oxygen and carbon ( ca . 5 % or less ) based on edx and aes . the x - ray diffraction pattern of the tin samples was consistent with that reported for ti 1 . 0 n 1 . 0 . the resistivity of a tin film of this thickness alone was 400 - 500 μω · cm . the sheet resistances measured for the tin on ito films varied depending on the tin film thickness from 75 to 85 ω /□. the ito on glass ( 100 ω /□) and tin on ito on glass substrates were cleaned in boiling trichloroethylene , acetone and isopropanol as described in embodiment 1 . oleds were then prepared as described in embodiment 1 with both 1 and 2 mm cathodes . in each experiment two devices were made at the same time . one of them was an ito / npd / alq 3 / mg — ag / ag device used as a reference and the other one was a ito / tin / npd / alq 3 / mg — ag / ag device . table 2 shows experimental data for tin / ito anode oleds at a brightness of approximately 100 cd / m 2 . the quantum efficiencies for both the ito and tin / ito oleds are very similar , consistent with the thin tin films having little impact on the electronic structure of the device . the voltage offset observed between the ito and tin / ito devices is roughly 1 v , as shown in fig5 . this offset is significantly less than the 5 - 6 v offset that is observed for ito versus tin oleds . in addition to the single oled structure of the first and second embodiments , another embodiment of the invention comprises stacking at least two oleds to form a multi - layered stacked oled . the structure of this multi - stacked oled is similar to those described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 703 , 436 , hereby incorporated by reference . the following illustrative example speaks in terms of oleds described in the first embodiment of the current disclosure , but it should be understood that any of the oleds including a tin anode structure may be used to form the stacked oleds of the present embodiment . a multi - stacked oled of this embodiment includes a substrate , a first oled , includinga a tin layer formed over the substrate , an organic emmissive structure , including α - npd and alq 3 , formed over the tin layer , and a mg — ag layer formed over the organic emmissive structure , and a second oled of the same structure except the tin layer is formed over the mg — ag layer of the first oled . in addition to stacking two oleds of the present invention , a third oled including a tin anode could be added to this structure . it should also be noted that different types of oleds could be stacked , e . g . a combination of oleds with tin anodes and without tin anodes . another embodiment of the present invention includes forming tin anode oleds with substantially transparent cathodes . in this embodiment the cathode material is substantially transparent and depending on the desired use for the oled , the tin anode could be transparent or opaque ( greater than approximately 500 å ). as incorporated above , u . s . pat . no . 5 , 703 , 436 describes a process for forming transparent mg — ag cathodes . in addition to the tin used in the embodiments , other metal nitrides can be used as conductive nitride material in the present invention . for example , table 3 lists a number of nitrides which could be used as anode material in oleds . in particular , zrn is a refractory metallic conductor , with similar characteristics to tin . the present invention provides monochromatic and multicolor light emitting devices with high brightness and efficiency . those with skill in the art may recognize various modifications to the embodiments of the invention described and illustrated herein . such modifications are meant to be covered by the spirit and scope of the appended claims . | 7 |
referring to fig1 the paper used in the described embodiment is originally inserted into the paper tray 11 in the form of a stack 60 which rests on the bottom 61 of the paper tray 11 . the tray 11 and paper 60 extend upward into the space between the spring 27 and the rotating isoprene belt 13 . this belt is driven by the upper roller 74a which , in turn , is driven by a motor , not shown . the spring 27 is biased against the tray 11 which is designed to rotate a few degrees about pivot 65 , thereby forcing the paper 60 against the rotating belt 13 . this spring is a leaf spring comprising one sheet of spring steel , the long dimension of the leaf being perpendicular to the page of fig1 . the belt 13 normally rotates in a clockwise direction , which tends to drive the bottom sheet or sheets of the stack 60 upward . the left surface of the driven sheet first contacts the gate 62 which is biased to the right by a spring , not shown . in case more than one sheet is picked up by the belt 13 , the gate will flatten all sheets against the belt . the lateral position of the belt 13 is maintained in relation to the teflon block 72 and rollers 74 by means of a raised rib 73 which runs along the center of the inside surface of the belt , and which mates with matching grooves along the left side of the block 72 against which the belt bears , and along the circumference of the rollers 74a and 74b . stop 64 is a sharp edge defining a gap between said stop 64 and the belt 13 , the gap being just slightly larger than the thickness of one sheet of paper . in case several sheets of paper were picked up by the belt , the stop 64 will stop the sheet or sheets to the left , and allow only the one to the right to continue on . finally , the sheet that is passed through the gap will push aside flexible wiper 69 and will protrude far enough to be clamped onto by the gripper bar , not shown , which will pull the sheet through the remainder of the system . in case a paper jam occurs wherein a sheet is partially advanced so that the top of the sheet is past the gap between the belt 13 and the stop 64 but the lower portion of the page is still in the tray 11 , the paper itself prevents the sidewall 66 from being opened to clear the jam . under this condition it is convenient for the operator to be able to manually retract the sheet backward until it is entirely within the paper tray . the paper trailing edge in this case is still between the belt 13 and the spring loaded gate 62 providing friction sufficient to allow the paper to be driven down into the enclosure by means of the knob 18 , not shown in this figure . rotation in the counterclockwise direction pushes the paper back into the enclosure . for this purpose a knob is provided which is part of the upper roller assembly 74a for rotating the roller . the gear train connecting the motor to the roller is geared down far enough that turning the roller 74a would be difficult at best . to allow the roller to be turned there is a twenty - three inch - ounce ( 16 meter - gram ) slip clutch provided between the roller 74a and the motor to allow manual roller rotation . this slip clutch has another purpose . in normal operation the belt 13 drives the paper forward into the gripper bar . if the paper is driven too far while the leading edge of the paper is stopped at the gripper , the paper will buckle , possibly causing a paper jam . to prevent this over - travel , the slip clutch is designed to slip when the paper contacts the far end of the gripper throat . there is an additional one way clutch inside roller 74a which allows the roller 74a and belt 13 to freely rotate clockwise while the motor is not running . this feature is used when the gripper bar has gripped , and is pulling , the paper . under this condition , if the drag on the paper is too high , the paper will pull out from the gripper . to minimize this occurrence , the one way clutch allows the roller 74a to freely rotate , without the necessity of overcoming the drag of the slip clutch . the gap between the stop 64 and the belt 13 is adjustable . on the right side of the gap 75 , the belt is flattened against the flat teflon block 72 by the pressure of the tension in the belt 13 and by the pressure of the gate 62 which is spring - biased to the right . on the left , the stop 64 is an elongated member which pivots a few degrees about a shaft 71 under the adjustment of screw 46 . by this screw 46 adjustment , the gap can be made exactly large enough to reliably admit only one sheet . the paper tray 11 is loaded by first rotating latch 34 counterclockwise , and then tilting the lid 66 about hinge point 67 to the left until the bracket 23 contacts the stop 64 . the tray 11 will come out with the lid , and paper can then be loaded into the tray 11 from the top . the paper as delivered from the vendor contains a predetermined amount of moisture , and this moisture content must be maintained while the paper is within the tray 11 . this is accomplished by sealing the entire paper tray enclosure assembly . specifically , a foam rubber seal 68 is provided to seal the gap above the hinge 67 , another seal 70 is provided at the top of the sidewall 66 and the mylar wiper 69 provides an airtight seal before and after the passage of a sheet of paper . the entire paper tray enclosure assembly is located in relation to the remainder of the cabinet by means of a locating slot 76 . internally , a build - up of tolerances can prevent the stop 64 and gate 62 from being perfectly aligned to the surface of the block 72 . the solution selected was to make the gate 62 flexibly mounted so that it is free to move rotationally and translationally a small amount so that , when biased to the right , it will always line up exactly with the surface of the belt 13 and block 72 . in addition , the surface of the stop 64 which is generally in parallel with the surface of the block 72 is rounded along a four inch ( 8 . 8 cm ) radius to create a gap that is wider at the edges of the belt than at the center of the belt so that , in case of a slight angular misalignment that results in the stop edge 64 not being perfectly parallel to said belt 13 ., the second sheet will be blocked by a substantial length of the stop 64 rather than by a sharp corner . fig2 a and 2b are end and front views of the gate assembly , and fig2 c is a view along section a -- a of fig2 b . fig2 a shows the side view of the stop 64 , including the sharp lower edge 17 which stops the second sheet of paper from advancing out of the paper tray . the stop pivots about shaft 71 . also shown in this view is the gate 62 in the position it would have in the absence of a sheet of paper . a single sheet of paper in the gap would push the right edge of the gate back to approximately the same position as the edge 17 . two sheets would push this gate further to the left . fig2 b shows front views of the gate 62 , stop 64 , shaft 71 and the mount 14 . section a -- a of fig2 b is shown as fig2 c . the stop 64 pivots about shaft 71 . spring 15 forces the stop in a counterclockwise direction , the amount limited by the adjustment screw in hole 18 . the gate 62 is also driven to the right by a spring 16 . the mechanical restraints between the gate 62 and the base 19 of the gate assembly 12 allow translational as well as rotational movement of the gate 62 , allowing the gate surface to align itself with the surface of the belt . this flexible mounting also assures that paper can be moved either forward or backward to clear jams . fig2 d is a view of the bottom surface of the stop 64 showing the arcuate edge , the curvature of which creates a gap between it and the belt 13 which is narrower at the center 103 than at the edges 101 , 102 . fig3 a and 3b are front and side views of the belt assembly 20 . as shown in fig3 a , the block 72 is held in place by means of shaft 21 and pin 25 . this view also shows a pin 30 protruding from the front of roller 74a . this is provided to mate with a manually driven shaft for driving the roller 74a backward to clear jams . fig3 b shows the pin 30 protruding from the front of the belt assembly 20 . to the rear of the belt 13 is shown the continuation of the shaft 31 , held in place by a bearing 35 and a spacer 33 within a mounting block 32 . fig4 a and 4b are two views of the roller 74a . in fig4 b the motor is to the right and the manual shaft fits over the pin 30 to the left . the central portion of the roller 74a contains a one - way clutch 40 which couples the roller 74a to a shaft 31 , not shown , which extends from the right side of the roller . also shown is the groove 41 which mates with the rib on the inside surface of the belt . fig4 a is an end view of the roller of fig4 b showing the location of the pin 30 and the locking direction of the clutch . fig5 is a diagram of the shaft assembly which couples the roller 74a to the motor 90 . only that part of the shaft 54 shown to the right of the bushing 52 protrudes from the paper tray assembly . to maintain the paper tray assembly as an airtight enclosure , the bushing 52 is driven against the shaft hole by spring 55 . when the paper tray assembly is inserted into the system , the tapered right end of shaft 54 will tend to slide into a mating hole 92 in the motor shaft coupling 94 . then as the motor 90 rotates , the pin 52 will eventually line up with , and fall into , a matching slot 91 in the motor shaft assembly . to the extent that there is a build up of tolerances , flexible coupling 51 is provided . this coupling is designed to be compressible in the lateral direction and also to allow some angular freedom so that any misalignment between the motor shaft assembly and this shaft 54 will be accommodated by this coupling 51 . the coupling 94 is connected through a shaft 93 to the slip clutch 95 which is connected , in turn to the motor 90 . motor 90 and clutch 95 can be any commercially available part . the overall arrangement of the components is shown in fig6 . at the right there is a manually rotated shaft 84 driven by a knob 81 which is outside , and in front of , the paper tray enclosure . this shaft is fitted through an airtight seal 82 and a collar 83 and connects to the roller by mating with pin 30 . to the rear of the enclosure the roller 74a , not shown , is coupled through the flexible coupling 51 to shaft 54 containing pin 53 which fits into a matching slot of the motor . the hole for the shaft 54 is sealed by bushing 52 biased against the hole by spring 55 . this figure also shows the latch 34 inside the enclosure and its associated handle 85 outside . while the invention has been described with reference to a specific embodiment , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention . in addition , many modifications may be made without departing from the essential teachings of the invention . | 1 |
reference is now made to fig1 and 2 , which illustrate apparatus 10 for administering a substance ( e . g ., insulin ) to a subject , in accordance with a non - limiting embodiment of the present invention . typically , apparatus 10 includes a cartridge 12 ( fig2 ) that contains the substance to be administered to a subject . fig2 illustrates a door 14 of a cartridge insertion assembly in the open position and cartridge 12 poised for insertion into a pathway 15 in apparatus 10 . as seen in fig2 , cartridge 12 includes a cartridge coupling element 16 ( e . g ., a gear ) for coupling ( e . g ., meshing ) with an activation mechanism 18 ( seen in fig4 , which typically includes a motor , a battery and a control unit ) that causes the substance contained in cartridge 12 to be metered out of cartridge 12 for eventual administration to the patient . ( in some embodiments , cartridge coupling element 16 is assembled to an end of a driving screw .) the way in which the activation mechanism works to meter the substance out of cartridge 12 is not pertinent to this invention . by way of example , the activation mechanism may work as in an external drug pump of the type described in us patent applications 20090093792 and 20090093793 or pct patent application pct / il2008 / 001312 ( published as wo 2009 / 044401 ), the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference . however , the invention is not limited to such a drug pump , and may be used for any kind of suitable administration of substances , not just by needle puncture into the patient , but also transdermally ( wherein the substance is metered by apparatus 10 to a transdermal patch ), by spray ( wherein the substance is metered by apparatus 10 to a spray nozzle ), micro needles array and others . it is noted that although cartridge 12 is typically a one - use item , the electronics , batteries and motor and other elements of the system can be used more than once if desired . as seen in fig3 , in accordance with a non - limiting embodiment of the present invention , door 14 includes a door coupling element 20 ( e . g ., a gear , but could also be any other coupling element for transmitting rotary motion , such as a friction wheel ) for effecting coupling ( e . g ., meshing ) between the cartridge coupling element 16 and a coupling element 22 ( fig2 ) of the activation mechanism 18 , as will be described more in detail below . reference is now made to fig4 , which illustrates the cartridge 12 partially inserted into apparatus 10 , showing components of the cartridge insertion assembly . cartridge 12 has a septum 24 at an end opposite to cartridge coupling element 16 . the septum 24 is pierced by a hollow needle 26 so that contents of cartridge 12 flow out of cartridge 12 into needle 26 and from needle 26 to an exit port ( not shown ) for eventual administration to the patient . a cartridge stopper 28 , which may be made of a rigid material ( e . g ., plastic ) or more preferably a resilient material ( e . g ., an elastomer or silicone ), is provided for arresting movement of cartridge 12 during insertion into apparatus 10 and preventing over - insertion of cartridge 12 . cartridge stopper 28 also prevents the torque , which is generated by the activation mechanism 18 to rotate the driving screw of the cartridge , from rotating cartridge 12 . the cartridge stopper 28 abuts against a shoulder 30 of cartridge 12 . fig5 shows cartridge 12 fully inserted into apparatus 10 up to cartridge stopper 28 with door 14 still open . reference is now made to fig6 and 7 . the cartridge insertion assembly of apparatus 10 includes a locking latch 32 which is cantilevered from a base 33 ( fig7 ) of the apparatus 10 . while inserting cartridge 12 into apparatus 10 , a rim 34 near cartridge coupling element 16 depresses and slides over locking latch 32 . when cartridge 12 is fully inserted into apparatus 10 , rim 34 moves past locking latch 32 and locking latch 32 springs back and abuts against rim 34 , thereby locking cartridge 12 in place . the user cannot remove cartridge 12 from apparatus 10 . reference is now made to fig8 , which illustrates the inside of door 14 . the door coupling element 20 mentioned above is in the middle of the inside of door 14 . on one side of element 20 is a hinge member 36 that pivotally connects ( e . g ., by snap fit ) into a corresponding socket 38 ( seen in fig1 ) in the body of apparatus 10 . on the other side of element 20 is a closure member 40 , which is formed with a central hub 42 and one or more ramp members 44 ( in the illustrated embodiment , two inclined ramp members 44 extend on either side of hub 42 ). even if the user has not fully inserted cartridge 12 into apparatus 10 , the act of closing door 14 ( see fig9 ) causes the ramp members 44 to slide and swipe against cartridge coupling element 16 . the inclined surfaces of ramp members 44 gently push and wedge cartridge coupling element 16 to seat fully into apparatus 10 so that septum 24 is pierced by hollow needle 26 as described above with reference to fig4 and 5 . after the cartridge 12 is locked in place , ramp members 44 keep pushing against the driving screw to create priming of the drug pump , wherein contents of the cartridge 12 overflow and pressurize into the needle 26 and drip out therefrom . this priming process reduces the breaking force ( the initial force to remove the plunger after a long storage time ) and removes air bubbles from the fluid path . the inside of door 14 is formed with one or more ribs 46 , which when door 14 is fully closed , are received in one or more corresponding grooves 38 ( fig1 ) formed at the end of the housing of apparatus 10 . ribs 46 seated in grooves 48 provide resistance to axial pull - out forces that may be acting on cartridge 12 and door 14 during operation of apparatus 10 . fig1 illustrates door 14 fully closed . door coupling element 20 couples between cartridge coupling element 16 of the cartridge and coupling element 22 of the activation mechanism , so that the activation mechanism can now cause the substance contained in the cartridge to be metered out of the cartridge for eventual administration to the patient . reference is now made to fig1 . when door 14 is fully closed , hub 42 of closure member 40 snaps and is fixedly received in a snap member 50 ( curved snap member ) so that door 14 is properly secured to the body of apparatus 10 . it will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited by what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove . rather the scope of the present invention includes both combinations and subcombinations of the features described hereinabove as well as modifications and variations thereof which would occur to a person of skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description and which are not in the prior art . | 0 |
the invention is now described with more particular reference to fig1 which shows a dispenser article 10 in accordance with the invention having housing 11 which supports an oxygen permeable cylindrical container 12 enclosing catalyst containing polymerizable paste composition 13 , and oxygen permeable cylindrical container 14 enclosing accelerator containing polymerizable paste composition 15 . preferably the containers are cylindrical and have a wall thickness of from about 0 . 1 to about 2 min . containers 12 and 14 are connected to mixing channel 16 which encloses a static mixing member 17 having a series of baffles turned at angles that cause the two streams from conduits 18 and 20 to divide and recombine and mix . mixing channel 16 is in fluid flow communication with containers 12 and 14 through conduits 18 and 20 respectively . mixing channel 16 is connected to housing 11 by interlocking flanges 22 and 24 . containers 12 and 14 are filled with polymerizable paste compositions 13 and 15 respectively without including of air by entrapment . preferably compositions 13 and 15 are extruded at a predetermined rate into static mixing channel 16 where they are combined essentially without inclusion of air by entrapment to form a polymerizing composition which is readily modeled and / or molded . additional mixing , such as on a slab or in a bowl , is not required . in use the operator presses actuator 26 which forces rods 28 and 30 , which support plungers 32 and 34 , into containers 12 and 14 . plungers 32 and 34 press against disc shaped end walls 36 and 38 respectively . end walls 36 and 38 press upon polymerizable compositions 13 and 15 forcing them through conduits 18 and 20 into mixing channel 16 . polymerizable paste compositions 13 and 15 each contain a component of a polymerization catalyst system which upon mixing provides a free radical generating catalyst system . polymerizable accelerator paste composition 15 includes a reducing agent and in a preferred embodiment a radiation activated initiator , and at least one polymerizable compound . the catalyst paste composition 13 includes an oxidizer and at least one polymerizable compound . polymerizable paste compositions 13 and 15 are extruded simultaneously through a static mixing channel 16 . the polymerizable compositions 13 and 15 are mixed by static mixing member 17 and form a polymerizing composition which is readily molded to a dental prosthesis . in a preferred embodiment , further polymerization of the molded composition may be then accomplished by application of external energy such as light , microwaves , heat , and / or by additional redox polymerization . preferably the polymerizable paste compositions 13 and 15 each contain at least 10 % filler , have a viscosity of at least 5000 centipoise ( cps ) and are substantially solvent free i . e ., have less than 1 percent by weight solvent , more preferably less than 0 . 5 percent by weight solvent and most preferably do not include a solvent . polymerizable paste compositions 13 and / or 15 preferably includes a filler and polymerizable ( meth ) acrylate compound . in a preferred embodiment of the invention a dispenser device includes two connected syringe tubes each having a plunger . the plungers are connected for simultaneous actuation by the operator to discharge the pastes simultaneously through a third discharge tube containing a static mixing element to form a polymerizing paste having dissolved air in a concentration which is insufficient to result in visible voids in the polymerized product formed by the polymerizing paste composition . in a preferred embodiment compositions of the invention are used to reline dentures . polymerizable pastes are statically mixed to form a polymerizing reline paste composition which is extruded directly onto a denture which is being relined to better fit the changed soft tissue contours of the mouth of the patient since the denture was originally produced , or to otherwise improve the fit of the denture to the patients mouth . air is not entrapped within the statically mixed polymerizing reline paste composition as it would be if the polymerizable pastes had been mixed by stirring or spatulation . the polymerizing reline paste composition is adapted ( shaped ) to areas to be impressed . the polymerizing reline paste composition is readily modeled with a gloved finger or suitable tool . an impression of the mouth is made in the polymerizing reline paste composition after it is mixed but before it is no longer impressionable , which defines the work time . the polymerization catalyst is activated during the mixing . the polymerizing reline paste composition preferably has a work time of less than about 5 minutes . within minutes the extruded polymerizing composition is partially polymerized and hardened . the exotherm of the polymerizing composition is lower than it would be if substantially all of the monomer had been more rapidly converted to polymer . the temperature of the exotherm of polymerizing composition is easily tolerated without discomfort to the patient . in a preferred embodiment the reline composition is further polymerized extraorally using a dental light curing oven which provides heat and light . in a preferred embodiment of the invention a mouth molded partially polymerized reline composition adhered to a denture is placed after impressing into a triad ® 2000 light curing oven ( sold by dentsply international inc .) for from 1 to 20 minutes to additionally polymerize the reline composition . alternatively , a partially converted reline composition adhered to a denture is invested in plaster or other media to retain its shape and heated to thermally more completely convert and cure reline composition . in another embodiment of the invention partially polymerized reline composition and the denture adhered to it are removed from the patient &# 39 ; s mouth and further cured under vacuum , pressure in air , water , nitrogen or other inert liquid and / or gas filled container at elevated temperature to substantially complete cure , convert and polymerize the composition . one advantage of this method of packaging , mixing and conversion to cured article is that , because concentrations of amine or other potential color forming reducing agents are low , the potential for unwanted color formation during or after polymerization in minimized . in another preferred embodiment of the invention the polymerizing paste composition is extruded directly into a preformed mold cavity . the mold is preferably formed by the lost &# 34 ; wax &# 34 ; or other mold making process . the polymerizing paste is extruded under pressure and polymerized within the mold at ambient temperatures or with the application of heat or light to accelerate polymerization to form a dental prosthesis , such as a denture or crown and bridge element . in another preferred embodiment of the invention a polymerizing paste composition is extruded from the static mixer into a tray and applied directly onto the patients tissue and modeled to form a custom tray . alternatively a polymerizing paste is extruded on a model of a patient &# 39 ; s tissues to form an impression tray , or a dental prosthesis . in another embodiment a polymerizing paste is extruded directly onto the teeth and a bite registration impressed therein , or it is used to repair a prosthesis which is fixed in the patients mouth . these methods are convenient for deposition of the polymerizing composition at the site of use and provide dental products which are lower in porosity and therefor more stain resistant than if mixed by hand spatulation . in all these applications the product which results is rigid , with a modulus of elasticity greater than about 100 , 000 psi . preferred monomers , oligomers and prepolymers for use in accordance with the invention include polyester and polyether methacrylates , urethane methacrylate , and polyglycol methacrylate ( s ). polymerizable methacrylates are waxy , syrupy or mobile liquids . in a preferred embodiment each polymerizable paste composition includes a methacrylate monomer , oligomer , or prepolymer such as uvithane 783 , 893 or 892 ( sold by morton international ) or craynor cn 961 , 962 , 964 , 966 , 971 or 973 ( sold by sartomer ) mhoromer 6661 - 0 ( sold by rohm tech .) and an organic filler and an inorganic filler . polymerizable acrylic compounds useful in accordance with the invention include compounds within the scope of general formula ( i ): ## str1 ## wherein r is an acrylic - free organic moiety , r 1 is hydrogen , halogen , alkyl , substituted alkyl or cyano radical and n is an integer from 1 to 6 and m is an integer from 1 to 1000 . r is a hydrocarbyl spacer unit such as alkyl or aromatic or polyether , polyurethane , polyester , glycol , polyglycol including forms thereof substituted with carboxyl , phosphoric and other acid moieties and salts thereof . examples of unsaturated acrylic compounds containing phosphorus and phosphonic acid esters which may be used as polymerizable acrylic compounds useful in accordance with the invention include , but are not limited to , monomers containing phosphoric acid groups such as hydroxyethyl methacrylate monophosphate , 2 , 2 &# 39 ;- bis ( alpha - methacryloxy - beta - hydroxypropoxyphenyl ) propane diphosphonate ( bis - gma diphosphonate ), bis - gma methacryloxyethyl phosphate , glyceryl dimethacrylate monofluorophosphate , and glyceryl dimethacrylate phosphate . preferred compounds are those polyethylenically unsaturated monophosphates of the formula ( iii ): ## str2 ## and salts thereof , in which r is an organic radical having a valency of n + 1 ; and r may be interrupted by one or more oxygen atoms and may be substituted or unsubstituted , and may comprise an aliphatic radical , or a cycloaliphatic radical , or an aryl radical ; r 1 is as defined above and n is an integer of at least 1 . polymerizable acrylic compounds useful to provide polymerizable paste compositions in accordance with the invention include monofunctional monomers and multifunctional oligomers and / or monomers having di - or polyfunctional moieties which are capable of addition polymerization . in general , preferred reactive functionalities which serve as active sites for this polymerization are acrylic . monofunctional monomers include cyclohexyl methacrylate , benzyl methacrylate , methacrylate , t - butyl methacrylate , n - butyl methacrylate , isobutyl methacrylate , and 2 - ethylhexyl methacrylate . suitable multifunctional monomers and oligomers may be selected from numerous families of polyfunctional vinyl and / or addition polymerizable monomers such as acrylic and lower alkyl acrylic acid diesters , acrylic and lower alkyl acrylic acid esters formed from alcohols , which alcohols have a different reactive functional group , such as carboxyl and hydroxyl groups , urethane diacrylates and dimethacrylates , polyvinylic compounds , divinyl aromatic compounds , and others as will be apparent to those skilled in the art . preferred , multifunctional monomers and oligomers useful as polymerizable acrylic compounds in polymerizable paste compositions of the invention include esters of unsaturated acids , e . g ., acrylic , methacrylic , ethacrylic , propacrylic , butacrylic , maleic , fumaric , citraconic , mesaconic , itaconic , malonic , or aconitic , acids . other unsaturated acids will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art . these acids are preferably reacted with either saturated or unsaturated polyhydroxylic alcohols to form esters which are effective multifunctional monomers and oligomers useful in the formulation of the compositions of the invention . in general , these alcohols have one or more hydroxylic functionality and have from 2 to about 30 carbon atoms . thus , useful alcohols include allyl , methallyl , crotyl , vinyl , butenyl , isobutenyl , and similar unsaturated alcohols as well as polyols such as ethylene glycol , propylene glycol , butylene glycol , diethylene glycol , triethylene glycol , tetraethylene glycol , pentaethylene glycol , glycerol , 1 , 3 , 3 - trimethylol - propane , pentaerythritol , dihydroxyphenol , and alkylidene bisphenols such as bisphenol - a , 1 , 1 - bis ( 4 - hydroxyphenyl ) methane , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- dihydroxybiphenyl , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- dihydroxydiphenyl sulfone , dihydroxydiphenyl ether , dihydroxydiphenyl sulfoxide , resorcinol , hydroquinone , etc . preferred multifunctional monomers and oligomers useful as polymerizable acrylic compounds in polymerizable paste compositions of the invention include the esters of a monomeric unsaturated acids with an unsaturated mono - hydroxylic alcohol such as allyl acrylate , allyl methacrylate , dimethallyl fumarate , n - allyl acrylamide , crotyl acrylate , allyl crotonate , allyl cinnamate and diallyl maleate . other preferred species are the di -, tri -, and higher esters of polyhydroxylic alcohols such as ethylene glycol diacrylate ( dimethacrylate and c2 - c6 homologs ), trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate , and the dimethacrylate ester of bisphenol - a as well as other acrylate and alkyl acrylate esters . furthermore , mixtures of multifunctional monomers and / or oligomers are useful in the practice of the invention . polymerizable acrylic compounds such as bis - gma and the urethane dimethacrylate formed from the reaction of hydroxyethyl acrylate , hydroxypropyl acrylate , and their methacrylate homologs with 2 , 2 , 4 - trimethylhexyl - 1 , 6 - diisocyanate ( hereinafter referred to as &# 34 ; urethane dimethacrylate &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; diacrylate &# 34 ;) are especially useful , as are ethylene glycol dimethacrylate , 1 , 6 - hexanediol dimethacrylate trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate and the dimethacrylate ester of bisphenol - a and urethane adducts thereof . the corresponding acrylates are similarly useful as is diallyl maleate . in a preferred aspect of the invention , polymerizable acrylic compounds useful in accordance with the invention are vinyl urethane or urethane ( meth ) acrylate monomer or prepolymer materials characterized by the structural formula ( ii ): ## str3 ## wherein each r1 independently , is r 1 is hydrogen , halogen , alkyl , substituted alkyl or cyano radical r2 and r4 , independently , are alkylene , substituted alkylene , cycloalkylene , substituted cycloaklylene , arylene or substituted arylene ; and , r3 is alkylene , substituted alkylene , cycloalkylene , arylene , substituted arylene , heterocyclic , substituted heterocyclic , the reaction product of an organic diisocyanate or an isocyanate terminated prepolymer and a compound having hydroxyl functionality , or the reaction product of a polyol or a hydroxyl terminated prepolymer and a compound having isocyanto functionality . preferred rubber modifiers for use in polymerizable compositions in accordance with the invention include acrylic rubber modifier ( paraloid km 334 manufactured by rohm and haas ) and methacrylated butadiene - styrene rubber ( metablen c223 produced by elf atochem ). preferred fillers useful in the paste compositions of the invention include organic fillers such as particulate polymer , and inorganic filler such as glass , ceramic , or glass ceramic . preferably the filler has a particle size of less than about 200 μm , more preferably less than about 100 μm and most preferably less than about 35 μm . organic fillers include natural and synthetic polymers and copolymers which preferably are formed by , emulsion polymerization , bulk polymerization or suspension polymerization . the fillers may be comminuted by ball milling , shearing or by atomization . inorganic fillers are produced by fusion or sol gel techniques and may be comminuted by ball milling , attritor milling atomization , attention milling or precipitation . preferred inorganic fillers include silica , quartz , borosilicates , silicious fillers , inorganic glasses , such as barium aluminum silicate , lithium aluminum silicate , strontium , lanthanum , and tantalum aluminosilicate glasses . a preferred inorganic filler is microfine amorphous silicone dioxide particulate . silanated inorganic fillers are considered for purposes of this invention to be inorganic fillers and are also preferred . silanated means that some of the silanol groups have been substituted or reacted with , for example , dimethyldiclorosilane to form a hydrophobic filler . preferably the polymerizable compositions mixed in accordance with the invention have substantially the same viscosity . preferably the polymerizable compositions are mixed in a volume ratio between 1 : 1 and 1 : 5 . more preferably the polymerizable compositions are mixed in a volume ratio between 1 : 1 and 1 : 3 . most preferably the polymerizable compositions are mixed in a 1 : 1 volume ratio . preferably each container has an oxygen permeability coefficient at least about 0 . 4 × 10 - 10 cm 2 / sec ( cm hg ). preferably each polymerizable paste composition in each container has a shelf life of at least 180 days . preferred microwave activated catalyst systems include benzopinacole or tertiary butyl perisononanoate . preferably dental products made in accordance with the invention have a specific gravity at least 0 . 5 % greater than a corresponding product formed by hand spatulation of said polymerizable paste compositions , and forming and curing the spatulated paste composition . powder and liquid are mixed in a ratio of 2 . 5 cm 3 / ml in accordance with the instructions of the manufacturer of astron lc reline : astron dental corp . wheeling , ill . to form a paste which is placed in a mold and covered by a polyethylene film and allowed to stand for 5 minutes and then light cured for 5 minutes in an astron xl ( sold by astron dental corp .) light curing unit to form a disk . a 3 . 4 times actual size photographic enlargement of the disk is shown in fig4 . these powder and liquid compositions are described by smith et al in the international journal of prosthodontics volume 4 number 1991 pages 445 - 448 . the powder includes poly ( ethyl methacrylate ), peak mw 245 , 488 , and 1 . 0 % benzoyl peroxide . the liquid includes : n - butyl methacrylate , ethoxylated bis phenol a dimethacrylate , dimethyl - para - toluidine and camphorquinone . powder and liquid are mixed in a ratio of 2 . 0 cm 3 / ml in accordance with the instructions of the manufacturer of extoral reline material : pro - den systems portland , ore . to form a paste which is placed in a mold and covered by a polyethylene film and allowed to stand for 5 minutes and then light cured for 5 minutes in a star cure 360 ( sold by star dental ) light curing unit to form a disk . a 3 . 4 times actual size photographic enlargement of the disk is shown in fig3 . these powder and liquid compositions are described by smith et al in the international journal of prosthodontics volume 4 number 1991 pages 445 - 448 . the powder includes : poly ( ethyl methacrylate )/ poly ( methyl methacrylate ) copolymer ( 9 / 1 ), peak mw 381 . 987 ; 0 . 9 % benzoyl peroxide . the liquid includes : 67 . 1 % ethoxylated bisphenol a dimethacrylate 30 . 1 % cyclohexyl methacrylate , 0 . 14 % camphorquinone . the cured material includes 2 . 83 % inorganic filler , ( see barron et al , dent mater 8 : 27 - 277 , july 1992 pages 274 - 277 at page 276 . powder and liquid are mixed in a ratio of 1 . 9 cm 3 / ml in accordance with the instructions of the manufacturer bosworth reline material : harry j . bosworth skokie , ill . to form a paste which is placed in a mold and covered by a polyethylene film and allowed to stand for 5 minutes and then light cured for 5 minutes in an pro lite 3 ( sold by pro den corporation ) light curing unit to form a disk . a 3 . 4 times actual size photographic enlargement of the disk is shown in fig6 . these powder and liquid compositions are described by smith et al . the powder includes poly ( ethyl methacrylate ), peak mw 300 , 312 ; and 0 . 9 % benzoyl peroxide . the liquid includes 13 . 9 % n - butyl methacrylate ; 74 . 1 % ethoxylated bisphenol a dimethacrylate ; dimethyl - para - toluidine and 0 . 16 % camphorquinone . a catalyst paste is formed by mixing in a planetary mixer 4210 g 7 , 7 , 9 - trimethyl - 4 , 13 - dioxo - 3 , 14 - dioxa - 5 , 12 - dioldimethacrylate , 0 . 7 g 3 - methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane , 3 . 5 g butylated hydroxytoluene , 70 g benzoyl peroxide , and 2715 g powder blend . the powder blend is formed by mixing 3270 g fumed silica inorganic filler , 32920 . 7 g poly ( methyl methacrylate - co - ethylene glycol dimethacrylate - co - ethyl methacrylate - styrene ) ( 49 . 2 : 0 . 8 : 34 . 0 : 16 . 0 ) and 10 g pigment . this paste composition is stored in a chamber of a polypropylene cartridge tube having a wall thickness of 1 mm in a dual cartridge used in a hand activated dispenser made by mixpac . ______________________________________catalyst paste percent by weight______________________________________7 , 7 , 9 - trimethyl - 4 , 13 - dioxo - 3 , 14 - dioxa - 5 , 12 - 60 . 15dioldimethacrylate3 - methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane 0 . 01butylated hydroxytoluene 0 . 05benzoyl peroxide 1 . 00fumed silica inorganic filler 3 . 50poly ( methyl methacrylate - co - ethylene glycol 35 . 26dimethacrylate - co - ethyl methacrylate - styrene )( 49 . 2 : 038 : 34 . 0 : 16 . 0 ) pigment 0 . 03 100 . 00______________________________________ an accelerator and radiation cure initiator paste is formed by mixing in a planetary mixer 216 . 5 g 7 , 7 , 9 - trimethyl - 4 , 13 - dioxo - 3 , 14 - dioxa - 5 , 12 - dioldimethacrylate , 0 . 036 g 3 - methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane , 0 . 05 g butylated hydroxytoluene , 0 . 65 g camphorquinone 1 . 08 g ( 2 - hydroxy - 4 - methoxyphenyl ) benzophenone , 0 . 9 g dihydroxyethyl - p - toluidine and 140 . 75 g of powder blend formed as described in example 4 , in a planetary mixer . this paste composition is stored in the other chamber of the polypropylene cartridge of the dispenser used in example 4 . it has the composition shown in table 1 . an accelerator and radiation cure initiator paste is formed by mixing in a mixer planetary 216 . 5 g 7 , 7 , 9 - trimethyl - 4 , 13 - dioxo - 3 , 14 - dioxa - 5 , 12 - dioldimethacrylate , 0 . 036 g 3 - methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane , 0 . 05 g butylated hydroxytoluene , 0 . 65 camphorquinone 1 . 08 g ( 2 - hydroxy - 4 - methoxyphenyl ) benzophenone , 1 . 8 g dihydroxyethyl - p - toluidine and 140 . 75 g of powder blend formed as described in example 4 . this paste composition is stored in a chamber of a polypropylene cartridge tube of a dispenser prepared as described in example 4 . it has the composition shown in table 1 . table 1______________________________________accelerator and radiation cure initiator paste compositions exam - example ple 6 5 per - percent cent by by weight weight______________________________________7 , 7 , 9 - trimethyl - 4 , 13 - dioxo - 3 , 14 - dioxa - 5 , 12 - 60 . 33 60 . 10dioldimethacrylate3 - methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane 0 . 01 0 . 01butylated hydroxytoluene 0 . 01 0 . 01camphorquinone 0 . 18 0 . 18dihydroxyethyl - p - toluidine 0 . 25 0 . 50fumed silica 3 . 54 3 . 53poly ( methyl methacrylate - co - ethyleneglycol 35 . 68 35 . 66dimethacrylate - co - ethyl methacrylate - styrene )( 49 . 2 : 038 : 34 . 0 : 16 . 0 ) pigment 0 . 01 0 . 01______________________________________ 10 g of catalyst paste formed as described in example 4 is mixed in the static mixer with 10 g of accelerator and radiation cure initiator paste formed as described in example 5 to form 20 g of a denture reline composition . the polymerizing denture reline composition contains 0 . 5 percent by weight benzoyl peroxide . 60 . 12 g 7 , 7 , 9 - trimethyl - 4 , 13 - dioxo - 3 , 14 - dioxa - 5 , 12 - diazahexadecane - 1 , 16 - dioldimethacrylate ( udma ), 0 . 01 g 3 - methacryloxypropyl - trimethoxysilane , 0 . 03 g butylated hydroxytoluene , 35 . 44 g poly ( methyl methacrylate - co - ethylene dimethacrylate - co - ethyl methacrylate - co - styrene ) ( 49 . 2 : 0 . 8 : 34 . 0 : 16 . 0 ) ( cured bead polymer ), 3 . 6 g of silicon dioxide and 0 . 01 g pigment , 0 . 09 g camphorquinone , 0 . 15 g ( 2 - hydroxy - 4 - methoxyphenyl ) benzophenone , and 0 . 125 g dihydroxyethyl - p - toluidine . the polymerizing composition is extruded from the static mixer and placed upon a denture surface , after 2 minutes the denture is positioned in a patients mouth and allowed to cure for 3 minutes . a portion of the polymerizing composition is formed into a disk . a 3 . 4 times actual size photographic enlargement of the disk is shown in fig5 . the denture is then removed and radiation cured in a triad 2000 light curing unit for 5 minutes . see table 7 for formula percentages and properties ingredient . 10 g of catalyst paste formed as described in example 4 is mixed in the static mixer with 10 g of accelerator and radiation cure initiator paste formed as described in example 6 to form 20 g of a denture reline composition . the polymerizing denture reline composition contains 0 . 5 percent by weight benzoyl peroxide . 60 . 12 g 7 , 7 , 9 - trimethyl - 4 , 13 - dioxo - 3 , 14 - dioxa - 5 , 12 - diazahexadecane - 1 , 16 - dioldimethacrylate ( udma ), 0 . 01 g 3 - methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane , 0 . 03 g butylated hydroxytoluene , 35 . 44 g poly ( methyl methacrylate - co - ethylene dimethacrylate - co - ethyl methacrylate - co - styrene ) ( 49 . 2 : 0 . 8 : 34 . 0 : 16 . 0 ) ( cured bead polymer ), 3 . 6 g of silicon dioxide and 0 . 01 g pigment , 0 . 09 g camphorquinone , 0 . 15 g ( 2 - hydroxy - 4 - methoxyphenyl ) benzophenone , and 0 . 25 g dihydroxyethyl - p - toluidine . the polymerizing composition is placed upon a denture surface , after 2 minutes the denture is positioned in a patients mouth and allowed to cure for 3 minutes . the denture is then removed and radiation cured in a triad 2000 light curing unit for 5 minutes . see table 7 for formula ingredient percentages and properties . 10 g of the paste composition formed as in example 4 and 10 g of the paste composition formed as in example 5 are mixed by hand until homogenous upon a parchment pad using a spatula to form a polymerizing composition , which is shaped into a disk . a 3 . 4 times actual size photographic enlargement of the disk is shown in fig6 . see table 7 for properties . 10 g of the paste composition formed as in example 4 and 10 g of the paste composition formed as in example 6 are mixed by hand on a pad using a spatula to form a polymerizing composition . portion of the polymerizing composition placed upon a denture surface , after 2 minutes the denture is positioned in a patients mouth and allowed to cure for 3 minutes . the denture is then removed and radiation cured in a triad 2000 light curing unit for 5 minutes . see table 7 for properties . 10 g of catalyst paste formed as described in example 4 is mixed in the static mixer with 10 g of accelerator and radiation cure initiator paste formed as described in example 5 to form 20 g of a denture reline composition . the polymerizing denture reline composition contains 0 . 5 percent by weight benzoyl peroxide . 60 . 12 g 7 , 7 , 9 - trimethyl - 4 , 13 - dioxo - 3 , 14 - dioxa - 5 , 12 - diazahexadecane - 1 , 16 - dioldimethacrylate ( udma ), 0 . 01 g 3 - methacryloxypropyl - trimethoxysilane , 0 . 03 g butylated hydroxytoluene , 35 . 44 g poly ( methyl methacrylate - co - ethylene dimethacrylate - co - ethyl methacrylate - co - styrene ) ( 49 . 2 : 0 . 8 : 34 . 0 : 16 . 0 ) ( cured bead polymer ), 3 . 6 g of silicon dioxide and 0 . 01 g pigment , 0 . 09 g camphorquinone , 0 . 15 g ( 2 - hydroxy - 4 - methoxyphenyl ) benzophenone , and 0 . 125 g dihydroxyethyl - p - toluidine . the polymerizing composition is extruded through a static mixer and placed in a denture mold half , after 2 minutes the denture mold halves are positioned together and allowed to cure for 10 minutes . the denture is then removed and radiation cured in a triad 2000 light curing unit for 5 minutes . 10 g of catalyst paste formed as described in example 4 is mixed in the static mixer with 10 g of accelerator and radiation cure initiator paste formed as described in example 5 to form 20 g of a denture reline composition . the polymerizing denture reline composition has 0 . 5 percent by weight benzoyl peroxide . 60 . 12 g 7 , 7 , 9 - trimethyl - 4 , 13 - dioxo - 3 , 14 - dioxa - 5 , 12 - diazahexadecane - 1 , 16 - dioldimethacrylate ( udma ), 0 . 01 g 3 - methacryloxypropyl - trimethoxysilane , 0 . 03 g butylated hydroxytoluene , 35 . 44 g poly ( methyl methacrylate - co - ethylene dimethacrylate - co - ethyl methacrylate - co - styrene ) ( 49 . 2 : 0 . 8 : 34 . 0 : 16 . 0 ) ( cured bead polymer ), 3 . 6 g of silicon dioxide and 0 . 01 g pigment , 0 . 09 g camphorquinone , 0 . 15 g ( 2 - hydroxy - 4 - methoxyphenyl ) benzophenone , and 0 . 125 g dihydroxyethyl - p - toluidine . the polymerizing composition is placed in mold created by vacuum molding a sheet of thermoplastic polystyrene over a model of a dentition to be replicated and allowed to cure for 5 minutes . the temporary bridge is then removed from the mold and radiation cured in a triad 2000 light curing unit for 10 minutes . 10 g of catalyst paste formed as described in example 4 is mixed in the static mixer with 10 g of accelerator and radiation cure initiator paste formed as described in example 5 to form 20 g of a denture reline composition . the polymerizing denture reline composition has 0 . 5 percent by weight benzoyl peroxide . 60 . 12 g 7 , 7 , 9 - trimethyl - 4 , 13 - dioxo - 3 , 14 - dioxa - 5 , 12 - diazahexadecane - 1 , 16 - dioldimethacrylate ( udma ), 0 . 01 g 3 - methacryloxypropyl - trimethoxysilane , 0 . 03 g butylated hydroxytoluene , 35 . 44 g poly ( methyl methacrylate - co - ethylene dimethacrylate - co - ethyl methacrylate - co - styrene ) ( 49 . 2 : 0 . 8 : 34 . 0 : 16 . 0 ) ( cured bead polymer ), 3 . 6 g of silicon dioxide and 0 . 01 g pigment , 0 . 09 g camphorquinone , 0 . 15 g ( 2 - hydroxy - 4 - methoxyphenyl ) benzophenone , and 0 . 125 g dihydroxyethyl - p - toluidine . the polymerizing composition is extruded from a static mixer into an alginate impression , placed in the mouth and allowed to cure for 5 minutes . the temporary crown is then removed from the mold and radiation cured in a triad 2000 light curing unit for 5 minutes . 10 g of catalyst paste formed as described in example 4 is mixed in the static mixer with 10 g of accelerator and radiation cure initiator paste formed as described in example 5 , except that benzopinacole is substituted for camphorquinone , to form 20 g of a denture reline composition . the polymerizing denture reline composition has 0 . 5 percent by weight benzoyl peroxide . 60 . 12 g 7 , 7 , 9 - trimethyl - 4 , 13 - dioxo - 3 , 14 - dioxa - 5 , 12 - diazahexadecane - 1 , 16 - dioldimethacrylate ( udma ), 0 . 01 g 3 - methacryloxypropyl - trimethoxysilane , 0 . 03 g butylated hydroxytoluene , 35 . 44 g poly ( methyl methacrylate - co - ethylene dimethacrylate - co - ethyl methacrylate - co - styrene ) ( 49 . 2 : 0 . 8 : 34 . 0 : 16 . 0 ) ( cured bead polymer ), 3 . 6 g of silicon dioxide and 0 . 01 g pigment , 0 . 09 g benzopinacole , 0 . 15 g ( 2 - hydroxy - 4 - methoxyphenyl ) benzophenone , and 0 . 125 g dihydroxyethyl - p - toluidine . the polymerizing composition is extruded through a static mixer and placed in a prepared denture mold with teeth embedded in one half , after 2 minutes the denture mold halves are pressed together and allowed to cure for 15 minutes . the denture mold is then removed from the metal flask and post - cured in a 50 . 0 watt microwave curing oven 5 minutes . the denture is then removed from the mold and polished . 10 g of catalyst paste formed as described in example 4 is mixed in the static mixer with 10 g of accelerator and radiation cure initiator paste formed as described in example 5 , to form 20 g of a denture composition . the polymerizing denture composition has 0 . 5 percent by weight benzoyl peroxide , 60 . 12 g 7 , 7 , 9 - trimethyl - 4 , 13 - dioxo - 3 , 14 - dioxa - 5 , 12 - diazahexadecane - 1 , 16 - dioldimethacrylate ( udma ), 0 . 01 g 3 - methacryloxypropyl - trimethoxysilane , 0 . 03 g butylated hydroxytoluene , 35 . 44 g poly ( methyl methacrylate - co - ethylene dimethacrylate - co - ethyl methacrylate - co - styrene ) ( 49 . 2 : 0 . 8 : 34 . 0 : 16 . 0 ) ( cured bead polymer ), 3 . 6 g of silicon dioxide and 0 . 01 g pigment , 0 . 15 g ( 2 - hydroxy - 4 - methoxyphenyl ) benzophenone , and 0 . 125 g dihydroxyethyl - p - toluidine . the polymerizing composition is extruded from a static mixer and placed in a prepared denture mold ( with teeth embedded in one half ), after 2 minutes the denture mold halves are pressed together and allowed to cure for 10 minutes . the denture flask is then placed in a heat curing unit ( hot water bath ) at 72 . 8 ° c . ( 163 ° f .) for 11 / 2 hours followed by 1 / 2 hour immersion in boiling water . the denture is then removed from the mold and polished . the molded denture material has a flexural strength of 102 mpa , a flexural modulus of 3120 mpa . the molded denture a deflection ( at break ) of 6 . 1 mm and an impact strength of j / m . the mechanical properties of the heat - cured material are determined by testing the flexural strength and impact strength of rectangular bars ( 3 . 18 mm × 11 . 2 mm × 85 mm ) produced in steel molds . bars of the denture material are prepared by extruding material into the bar mold cavities , then positioning the top plate and allowing the material to self cure for 10 to 15 minutes . after the initial self - cure , the bar molds ( with top and bottom plates ) are placed in a spring clamp . the denture material is fully - cured by placing the steel mold into a hot water bath at 72 . 8 ° c . ( 163 ° f .) for 11 / 2 hours followed by immersion in boiling water for 1 / 2 hour . the bars of denture material are then removed from the steel mold and sanded to size with silicon carbide paper ( 120 grit followed by 400 grit ). the final dimensions of each bar is 2 . 85 mm × 10 - 11 mm × 85 mm . the flexural strength properties are determined using an instron model 4301 at a crosshead speed of 2 . 54 mm per minute . the unnotched izod impact strength is determined on a t . m . i . impact test machine model 43 - 01 by using the halves of the 85 mm bar broken in flexure . work time and set time compared for products formed by static and hand mixing work time and set time , measures of the polymerization rate , are shown in tables 2 , 3 and 7 for mixing by static mixing and hand spatulation equal masses of the catalyst paste of example 4 and the paste of example 5 or 6 , which contain different dihydroxy - p - toluidine concentrations . for static mixing a twelve element static mixer is used . hand spatulation is carried out on a mix pad . the work time is measured as the time when the material no longer peaks up from the surface when probed by a sharp instrument . the set time is the time when the sample becomes solid i . e . the probe does not penetrate the surface of the material . table 2______________________________________work time work timecomposition usingequal dihydroxy - work time hand differencevolumes p toluidine using spatulation in workof pastes ( percent by static mix mix timeof example weight ) ( minutes ) ( minutes ) ( percent ) ______________________________________4 and 5 0 . 125 3 . 25 6 . 25 924 and 6 0 . 250 1 . 00 1 . 75 75______________________________________ table 3______________________________________set time set timecomposition usingequal dihydroxy - set time hand differencevolumes p toluidine using spatulation in setof pastes ( percent by static mix mix timeof example weight ) ( minutes ) ( minutes ) ( percent ) ______________________________________4 and 5 0 . 125 4 . 25 7 . 25 704 and 6 0 . 250 1 . 75 2 . 25 29______________________________________ the results in table 2 , 3 and 7 show advantageously faster polymerization rate using the static mix method which avoids the inhibitory effect of excess air incorporated in the polymerizing composition during hand spatulation . the rate of polymerization is most sensitive to the mix method at the lower dihydroxy - p - toluidine level . preferably dental products in accordance with the invention have a total color change less than 1 . 0 as measured on the cielab scale . the color stability of catalyst and base mixed with the static mixer are compared with hand spatulated material . the color stability test is performed by exposing 50 mm by 0 . 5 mm disks of the polymerized materials to a sun lamp as designated by american dental association specification no . 12 . the color change from the color stability test is measured by cielab ae total color change with the results shown in tables 4 and 7 : table 4______________________________________color stabilitytotal color change ( cielab δe ) handcomposition static mix spatulationequal dihydroxy - p - ( total mix , δe percentvolumes toluidine color ( total changeof pastes ( percent by change ), color inof examples weight ) δe change ) color______________________________________4 and 5 0 . 125 0 . 74 1 . 31 774 and 6 0 . 250 2 . 04 2 . 34 15______________________________________ the total color change δe was less than 1 for the static mix material , a change that is not perceptible , at the lower dihydroxy - p - toluidine level . the spatulated polymerizable composition shows perceptible change . the higher dihydroxy - p - toluidine level showed much greater color change for both mix methods . air entrapment during hand spatulation results in porosity of the product formed . air is not entrapped in a product formed by static mixing , see fig5 . increased porosity is visually shown in fig2 , 4 and 6 . fig2 - 6 are photographically enlarged portions of the discs of denture reline products showing their grain structures in fig7 . entrapped air is visually apparent in fig2 , 4 and 6 . increased porosity is shown by percent difference in specific gravity between hand mixing and static mixing . the percent difference in specific gravity was greater when static mixing of the composition is used than when hand spatulation of the composition is used . the comparison for percent difference in specific gravity is shown in table 5 : table 5______________________________________specific gravity changecomposition hand percentequal spatulation differencevolumes dihydroxy - static mix mix inof pastes p ( specific ( specific specificof examples toluidine gravity ) gravity gravity______________________________________4 and 5 0 . 125 1 . 188 1 . 178 0 . 85______________________________________ the shelf life is determined using the arrhenius equation at 23 ° c ., 37 ° c ., 43 ° c ., 50 ° c . and 60 ° c . for compositions stored in two polypropylene cylinders having a piston closing one end . shelf life is determined by cooling the composition to 23 ° c . the piston is removed from both cylinders . a pointed probe ( 50 mm by 1 mm diameter ) is inserted into the composition to check for thickening ( gellation ) at regular time intervals . shelf life ( at each temperature ) is the time from initial formulation to just before gellation is first detected in both of the cylinders . the shelf life for example at 23 ° c . is determined by an arrhenius plot of the log of the shelf life at each temperature versus the inverse of absolute temperature extended to 23 ° c . as shown in fagain et al . shelf life shows a significant decrease in the package at the higher dihydroxy - p - toluidine level as shown in tables 6 and 7 . table 6______________________________________shelf life dihydroxy - pcomposition equal toluidinevolumes of pastes ( percent by shelf life at shelf life atof example weight ) 60 ° c . 23 ° c . ______________________________________4 and 5 0 . 125 & gt ; 8 hours & gt ; 1200 days4 and 6 0 . 250 5 . 5 hours 850 days______________________________________ this static mixing method allows the use of a lower dihydroxy - p - toluidine levels to attain the required setting time than spatulation , thus resulting in improved color stability , shelf life and porosity . table 7__________________________________________________________________________denture reline 1 2 3example 7 8 9 10 ( astron ) ( extoral ) ( bosworth ) __________________________________________________________________________composition ( percent by ( see smith et al ) weight ) benzoyl peroxide 0 . 5 0 . 5 0 . 5 0 . 57 , 7 , 9 - trimethyl - 4 , 13 - dioxo - 60 . 12 60 . 12 60 . 12 60 . 123 , 14 - dioxa - 5 , 12 - diazahexadecane - 1 , 16 - dioldimethacrylate ( udma ) 3 - methacryloxypropyl - 0 . 01 0 . 01 0 . 01 0 . 01trimethoxysilanebutylated hydroxytoluene 0 . 03 0 . 03 0 . 03 0 . 03poly ( methyl methacrylate - co - 35 . 44 35 . 4 35 . 44 35 . 4ethylene dimethacrylate - co - ethyl methacrylate - co - styrene )( 49 . 2 : 0 . 8 : 34 . 0 : 16 . 0 ) ( curedbead polymer ) silicon dioxide 3 . 6 3 . 6 3 . 6 3 . 6pigment 0 . 01 0 . 01 0 . 01 0 . 01camphorquinone 0 . 09 0 . 09 0 . 09 0 . 09 ( 2 - hydroxy - 4 - 0 . 15 0 . 15 0 . 15 0 . 15methoxyphenyl ) benzophenonedihydroxyethyl - p - toluidine 0 . 125 0 . 250 0 . 125 0 . 250mixing method static static hand hand hand hand handstarting consistency paste / paste / paste / paste / powder / powder / powder / paste paste paste paste liquid liquid liquidproduct characteristicswork time ( minutes ) 3 . 25 1 . 00 6 . 35 1 . 75 9 . 5set time ( minutes ) 4 . 25 1 . 75 7 . 25 2 . 25 n / aflexural strength ( mpa ) 93 51 22flexural modulus ( mpa ) 2720 1560 1280impact strength ( j / m ) 106 35 22color stability 0 . 7 2 1 . 3 2 . 3 ( total color change δe ) shelf life at 23 ° c . ( days ) 1200 850specific gravity 1 . 188 1 . 178visually perceptible air no no yes yes yes yes yesentrapment__________________________________________________________________________ the properties of the polymerizing and cured composition , working time and setting times , color stability and shelf life at 23 ° c ., are as shown in combined table . polymerization proceeds more rapidly after passing through a static mixer than after mixing with hand spatulation on a mixing pad . it should be understood that while the present invention has been described in considerable detail with respect to certain specific embodiments thereof , it should not be considered limited to such embodiments but may be used in other ways without departure from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims . | 0 |
the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention as defined by the claims and their equivalents . it includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary . accordingly , those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention . in addition , descriptions of well - known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness . the terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings , but , are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the invention . accordingly , it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention are provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents . it is to be understood that the singular forms “ a ,” “ an ,” and “ the ” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise . thus , for example , reference to “ a component surface ” includes reference to one or more of such surfaces . exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide improvements in a symbol grouping module , such as the interleaver 102 of the convolutional turbo code ( ctc ) illustrated in fig1 . hereafter , it is assumed that the outputs from the subblock interleaving module in the interleaver are sequences a ′, b ′, y ′ 1 , y ′ 2 , w ′ 1 and w ′ 2 . according to an exemplary scheme , sequence a ′ is mapped first . then , the corresponding bit in sequence b ′ that is input to the ctc encoder simultaneously with each bit in sequence a ′ is found . the bit that is input to the ctc encoder simultaneously with a ′, is denoted as b ′ j . b ′ j is referred to as a group unit corresponding bit of a ′ i . then , sequence b ′ is mapped . if a ′, i is mapped to a bit with high reliability , its group unit corresponding bit b ′ j . should be mapped to a bit with low reliability . also , if a ′ i is mapped to a bit with low reliability , its group unit corresponding bit b ′ j . should be mapped to a bit with high reliability . furthermore , according to a second exemplary scheme , sequence y ′ 1 may be mapped first . then , the corresponding bit in sequence w ′ 1 that is output from the ctc encoder simultaneously with each bit in sequence y ′ 1 is found . the parity bit that is output from the ctc encoder simultaneously with y ′ 1 , i s d e noted as w ′ 14 . w ′ 14 is referred to as a group unit corresponding unit of y ′ 1 , i . then , sequence w ′ 1 is mapped . if y ′ 1 , i is mapped to a bit with high reliability , its group unit corresponding bit w ′ 1 , j should be mapped to a bit with low reliability . also , if y ′ 1 , i is mapped to a bit with low reliability , its group unit corresponding bit w ′ 1 , j should be mapped to a bit with high reliability . the parity bits in sequence y ′ 1 and the bits in sequence w ′ 1 , which are simultaneously output from a constituent encoder , constitute a bit group . moreover , according to a third exemplary scheme , sequence y ′ 2 can also be mapped first . then , the corresponding bit in sequence w ′ 2 that is output from the ctc encoder simultaneously with each bit in sequence y ′ 2 is found . the parity bit that is output from the ctc encoder simultaneously with y ′ 2 , is denoted as w 2 , j . w ′ 2 , j is referred to as a group unit corresponding bit of y ′ 2 , i . then , sequence w ′ 2 is mapped . if y ′ 2 , i is mapped to a bit with high reliability , its group unit corresponding bit w 2 , j should be mapped to a bit with low reliability . also , if y ′ 2 , i is mapped to a bit with low reliability , its group unit corresponding bit w ′ 2 , j should be mapped to a bit with high reliability . the parity bits in sequence y ′ 2 and the bits in sequence w ′ 2 , which are simultaneously output from the constituent encoder , constitute a bit group . the above three exemplary schemes can be implemented independently , by combining any two of them together , or by combining all of them together . according to a result of a simulation , the least performance gain is obtained by only applying the second or third schemes . if both the second and third schemes are applied , the performance gain increases a little . when only the first scheme is applied , the performance is superior to that obtained by applying both the second and third schemes . if the first , second , and third schemes are applied , the best performance would generally be obtained . based on the institute of electrical and electronics engineers ( ieee ) 802 . 16e implementation standard , subblock interleaving operations according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to fig5 . fig5 illustrates remapping operations according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention . in fig5 , it is assumed that the outputs from a subblock interleaving module in an interleaver are sequences a ′, b ′, y ′ 1 , y ′ 2 , w ′ 1 , w ′ 2 . here , a ′, b ′, y ′ 1 , y ′ 2 , w ′ 1 , w ′ 2 are specifically arranged as a ′ 0 , a ′ 1 , . . . , a ′ n - 1 ; b ′ 0 , b ′ 1 , . . . , b ′ n - 1 ; y ′ 1 , 0 y ′ 1 , 1 , . . . , y ′ 1 , n - 1 ; y ′ 2 , 0 , y ′ 2 , 1 , . . . , y ′ 2 , n - 1 ; w ′ 1 , 0 , w ′ 1 , 1 , . . . , w ′ 1 , n - 1 ; w ′ 2 , 0 , w ′ 2 , 1 , . . . , w ′ 2 , n - 1 . referring to fig5 , as shown in block 501 , sequence a ′ is mapped first . based on the ieee 802 . 16e standard , the corresponding bit in sequence b ′ that is input to the ctc encoder simultaneously with a ′ , is b ′ i . then , sequence b ′ is mapped . if a ′ i is mapped to a bit with high reliability , its group unit corresponding bit b ′ i should be mapped to a bit with low reliability . also , if a ′ i is mapped to a bit with low reliability , its group unit corresponding bit b ′ i should be mapped to a bit with high reliability . of course , the above operations may also be performed to the bit group constituted of sequences y ′ 1 and w ′ 1 , and the bit group constituted of sequences y ′ 2 and w ′ 2 , respectively . fig6 illustrates remapping operations according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig6 , sequence y ′ 1 is mapped first . in the ieee 802 . 16e standard , the parity bit that is output from the ctc encoder simultaneously with y ′ 1 , i is w ′ 1 , i . then , sequence w ′ 1 is mapped . if y ′ 1 , i is mapped to a bit with high reliability , its group unit corresponding bit w ′ 1 , i should be mapped to a bit with low reliability . also , if y ′ 1 , i is mapped to a bit with low reliability , its group unit corresponding bit w ′ 1 , i should be mapped to a bit with high reliability . then , sequence y ′ 2 is mapped . based on the ieee 802 . 16e standard , the parity bit that is output from the ctc encoder simultaneously with y ′ 2 , is w ′ 2 , i . then , sequence w ′ 2 is mapped . if y ′ 2 , i is mapped to a bit with high reliability , its group unit corresponding bit w ′ 2 , i should be mapped to a bit with low reliability . also , if y ′ 2 , i is mapped to a bit with low reliability , its group unit corresponding bit w ′ 2 , i should be mapped to a bit with high reliability . of course , the operation of alternate mapping may be performed first to the bits in the bit group constituted of sequences a ′ and b ′, and then to the bit group constituted of sequences y ′ 1 and w ′ 1 or the bit group constituted of sequences y ′ 2 and w ′ 2 , respectively . a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention that combines the first and second exemplary embodiments of the present invention is described below with reference to fig7 . fig7 illustrates remapping operations according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig7 , sequence a ′ can be mapped first . the corresponding bit in sequence b ′ that is input to the ctc encoder simultaneously with a ′ i is b ′ i . then , sequence b ′ is mapped . if a ′ i is mapped to a bit with high reliability , its group unit corresponding bit b ′ i should be mapped to a bit with low reliability . also , if the a ′ i is mapped to a bit with low reliability , its group unit corresponding bit b ′ i should be mapped to a bit with high reliability . furthermore , as shown in fig7 , sequence y ′ 1 is mapped . in the ieee 802 . 16e standard , the parity bit that is output from the ctc encoder simultaneously with y ′ 1 , i is w ′ 1 , i . then , sequence w ′ 1 is mapped . if y ′ 1 , i is mapped to a bit with high reliability , its group unit corresponding bit w ′ 1 , i should be mapped to a bit with low reliability . also , if the y ′ 1 , i is mapped to a bit with low reliability , its group unit corresponding bit w ′ 1 , i should be mapped to a bit with high reliability . then , sequence y ′ 2 is mapped . in the ieee 802 . 16e standard , the parity bit that is output from the ctc encoder simultaneously with y ′ 2 , i w ′ 2 , i . then , sequence w ′ 2 is mapped . if y ′ 2 , i is mapped to a bit with high reliability , its group unit corresponding bit w ′ 2 , i should be mapped to a bit with low reliability . also , if the y ′ 2 , i is mapped to a bit with low reliability , its group unit corresponding bit w ′ 2 , i should be mapped to a bit with high reliability . in fig7 , the bits with high reliability are indicated by the bits to which arrows point . if the bits with high reliability are odd number bits and the bits with low reliability are even number bits as shown in fig7 , then the output sequences are a ′ 0 , a ′ 1 , . . . , a ′ n - 1 ; b ′ 1 , b ′ 0 , . . . , b ′ n - 1 , b ′ n - 2 ; y ′ 1 , 0 , y ′ 2 , 0 , y ′ 1 , 1 , y ′ 2 , 1 , . . . , y ′ 1 , n - 1 , y ′ 2 , n - 1 ; w ′ 2 , 0 , w ′ 1 , 0 , w ′ 2 , 1 , w ′ 1 , 1 , . . . , w ′ 2 , n - 1 , w ′ 1 , n - 1 . while the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain exemplary 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 and their equivalents . | 7 |
in fig1 , 1 is a unit or reactor to which fuel is added . the fuel is converted thermally by addition of air ( and / or oxygen ). thus , a warm gas is produced in the thermal reactor 1 . the fuel added to unit 1 is solid , e . g . biomass , waste or coal . if the thermal reactor 1 is designed for fuels with low calorific power , e . g . wet fuels , and if the added fuel has a higher calorific power , the temperature in the unit or in the generator 1 can be adjusted by adding water to the fuel , the drying stage 3 , the pyrolysis stage 4 and / or gas combustion stage 2 . the fuel is dried and pyrolised ( de - volatilized ) by convection and radiation from the combustion stage 2 and by convection from the gases from the gasification and oxidation stage 5 . key parameters of the gas combustion stage , such as temperature , nox and co , can be controlled and adjusted by regulating the oxygen and the water addition according to the measurements of the sensor ( s 1 ). the de - volatilized fuel is gasified and oxidised in stage 5 , and a final ash burn - out is done in stage 6 , in which oxygen and possibly also steam is injected . the ash removal system can have a simple regulation based on a temperature sensor in a short distance of the oxygen inlet . when the ash around the temperature sensor is without char , the air will cool the sensor , and ash removal shall be activated . the warm oxidation stage above will then move downwards , and when the temperature sensor registers a temperature increase , the ash removal system shall stop . the feeding system can also be regulated by one or a few temperature sensors . thermocouples can be integrated in the floor of the drying and pyrolysis stages and / or in the wall on the opposite side of the feeder . a temperature increase of the floor close to the feeder will indicate that there is no ( or very little ) biomass on the floor , so the temperature increase will give signal to the feeder to start . as the temperature in the gas combustion section is higher than the temperature in the solid fraction thermocouples on the opposite side of the feeder can be used to register the bed height . alternatively , a bed height instrument can be used , e . g . radar , ultrasonic , ir camera or such can be used . the gas leaves the combustion stage well above 900 ° c . the gas is then cooled in one or several gas coolers 8 , which can be integrated in the thermal reactor or in following stages . in fig2 , an energy plant , producing varm water , is schematically illustrated , it is illustrated how the drying 3 , pyrolysis 4 , gasification and oxidation 5 and the ash burn - out 6 stages are connected so as to be coherent in vertical direction within the thermal reactor 1 . it is also illustrated how the gas combustion stage delivers energy to the top of the fuel due to radiation . 8 is an internal heat exchanger , e . g . water and / or thermal oil panels or a steam / helium super heater , whereas 9 is a gas cooler downstream the thermal reactor . 10 is water injection for further cooling of the gas , 11 is a filter and 12 is a blower . 13 is water injection which can be used to cool the gas to below 100 ° c . 15 is a condensing heat exchanger where water is heated , while the flue gas is cooled and water vapours condensate . 17 is an enthalpy exchange system , where the air is moisturized and heated while the flue gas is cooled and de - moisturized . in 18 , the air is preheated before it is led to the thermal reactor 1 . fig3 is a schematic drawing of a thermal reactor as illustrated principally in fig1 and fig2 . in the bottom of the reactor , air is led to the ash burn - out stage 6 on both sides of the ash screw . ash pushers move the ash towards the screw . a flow meter measures the air inlet to secure that about 20 % of the total air amount is led to the ash burn - out stage . a thermocouple ( sensor s 2 ) registers the temperature and activates the ash screw , when the temperature decreases to the set point , i . e . 200 ° c . the air is oxidized in the oxidation stage 5 b , and the hot gases ( co2 and h2o ) gasify the char in the gasification stage 5 a . above are the drying and pyrolysis stages . one or several temperature sensors are placed in the floor ( s 1 ), so when the floor temperature increases as the pyrolysis stage moves upwards towards the feed , the feeder will be activated and push in some fresh fuel . the gas combustion stage 2 is formed with a primary combustion stage 2 a where the fresh air meets and mixes with the gasification gas and combusts efficiently in the temperature region of 1000 - 1100 ° c . the hot gases radiate to the bed and hereby cool the gas and heat the bed . a flow correction “ nose ” is placed on the wall opposite the nozzle side in such a way that there is a back mixing of the gas leaving the primary combustion chamber and in such a way that the lower ( and warmest ) side of the “ nose ” radiates to the top of the bed . after the primary combustion stage is the gas burn - out stage 2 b , where the remaining co , hydrocarbons and dioxins are burned out , resulting in a very low co emission , i . e . below 500 mg / nm3 , even below 300 mg / nm3 . again , the separate stages , drying ( 3 ), pyrolysis ( 4 ), gasification and oxidation stage ( 5 ) and burn out stage ( 6 ), are separate and coherent . fig3 a illustrates a cross section of a thermal reactor of about 2 mw thermal input of wood chips . it is seen that the thermal reactor is divided in 4 physical parts and therefore easy to manufacture and transport to the site where is shall operate . the fuel is screwed into the reactor in the opening on the left . the fuel will due to gravity fall towards the bottom of the reactor . the left side wall is vertical , which will minimize bridging . to further prevent bridging a low frequency vibrator can be placed on the thermal reactor . two screws are used , and hereby it is not necessary with pushers to move the ash to the screws . the thermal reactor consist of ( from out and in ): steel casing , insulation , refractory lining . thermocouples across from the feeding section are placed in the refractory lining in order to indicate where the fuel layer is . moisturized primary air is injected in about 12 nozzles in the bottom , while secondary air is injected in about 3 nozzles about 400 mm above the feeder pointing about 35 degrees down . in fig4 and 4 a are diagrams of the local co content in the gas combustion stage 2 . the diagram is a result of a cfd simulation according to which the co content will be below 100 ppm after the gas combustion stage . the secondary combustion air enters the gas combustion stage in three nozzles each with a diameter of 120 mm , with a speed of app . 20 m / s . in fig5 is a diagram of the local temperatures and direction of the gas in the gas combustion stage 2 . the diagram is a result of a cfd simulation according to which the temperatures will be within the 700 - 1100 ° c . region , which will prevent high amounts of thermal nox . the diagram shows that there will be a good back mixing . in fig6 is a schematic diagram of a heating plant that produces hot water according to the invention . fig6 illustrates the reactors described in fig2 . in the thermal reactor 1 the ash screw is placed in one side of the reactor . air is only led to one side of the screw . after the combustion chamber 2 is a radiation cooler 9 . after the radiation cooler is an evaporative cooler 10 , in which the gas is cooled to below 400 ° c ., and where particles are collected and removed by a screw 11 . scrubber water cools the gas further in 13 , and the gas is pumped by a pump 12 . particles are removed from the scrubber water by a hydro cyclone 14 , and heat is recovered in a heat exchanger 15 . combustion and gasification air are moisturized and heated in the air moisturizer 17 , while the scrubber water is cooled . excess water ( condensate ) is cleaned in the filter 14 . fig6 a shows a full schematic overview over an embodiment of the invention where the invented system combustion is used . in this embodiment a feed system comprising a fuel storage unit ( 30 ) and a fuel feeding means ( 31 ) is feeding fuel to a thermal reactor unit comprising a thermal reactor ( 32 ). to the thermal reactor ( 32 ) are two inlets connected feeding moisturizer air or oxygen to the thermal reactor ( 32 ). the moisturized air is distributed both at the bottom ( 33 ) of the thermal reactor and above the point of fuel feeding ( 34 ). at the bottom of the thermal reactor is an outlet ( 44 ) for taking out ash into for example a forest , fields or to deposits . the moisturized air or oxygen comes from a moisturizing system comprising two air moisturizing means ( 35 , 36 ), working using the same principles as a scrubber . these two air moisturizer means ( 35 , 36 ) are serial connected . here the main moisturizer ( 35 ) distributed moisturized air both to the air inlet ( 34 ) above the feeding inlet at the thermal reactor ( 32 ) and to an air moisturizing booster ( 36 ) which further moisturizing the air before being injected at a point in into the bottom ( 33 ) of the thermal reactor ( 32 ). hot exhaust gas created in the thermal reactor ( 32 ) will go through a heat exchanger unit ( 37 ) that is connected to an energy extraction device ( 38 ) which could produce both or either of electric energy and energy for district heating . the hot gas will than continue into the scrubber system where it first enters the quench ( 39 ) where water from the air moisturizer booster ( 36 ) is used to cool down the exhaust gas before entering the scrubber ( 40 ). rests of the scrubber water will be collected together with particles and salts at the bottom of the quench ( 39 ). this slag will be sent back to the fuel storage ( 30 ) to be feed back into the system ; this loop is what previously has been called the first stream . the cooled exhaust gas will then continue into the scrubber ( 40 ) where water will be sprayed on the gas at two different points . the first point ( 41 ) is with water from the air moisturizer booster ( 36 ) and condensate from ( 46 ) and at the second point ( 42 ) with , by filtration ( 43 ), highly cleaned water from the main air moisturizer ( 35 ). the clean and cooled gas will then be connected to a chimney ( 45 ) while the rest of the scrubber water which consists of a large quantity of water and a small concentration of particles and salt will go back to the air moisturizing unit closing the second stream . part of the scrubber water from the scrubber ( 40 ) will be used untreated in the air moisturizer booster ( 36 ) and the rest of the scrubber water will go through a heat exchanger ( 46 ) for extracting energy which could be used for district heating . the water is than re - connected back to the second stream at a point ( 47 ) after the air moisturizer booster ( 36 ). part of the water from the booster mixed with the water from the heat exchanger is than feed into the main air moisturizer ( 35 ) while the rest is connected back to the scrubber ( 40 ). the second stream therefore has a single water channel from the scrubber ( 40 ) to the air moisturizer unit but two water channels back to the scrubber unit . one distributing water to the quench ( 39 ) and the first injection point ( 41 ) at the scrubber ( 40 ) and one with highly cleaned water injected at the second point ( 42 ) at the scrubber ( 40 ). if needed highly cleaned water could be taken out from the second stream after the main air moisturizer ( 35 ) at the point of filtration ( 43 ). in fig7 is a schematic 3 - d illustration of a layout of a heating plant that produces hot water according to the invention . it is an illustration of the plant in fig6 . the thermal reactor is rectangle in the horizontal plane ; the radiation cooler , the evaporative cooler , the gas scrubber and the air moisturizer are round . in fig7 a is a schematic 3 - d illustration of a layout of a 5 mw thermal input heating plant that produces hot water according to the invention . it is an illustration of the plant in fig6 a . measures are in mm . fig8 illustrates the adiabatic temperature of the gas combustion chamber depending on water content of the fuel and surplus air . the diagram show that fuels of moisture content of 52 - 58 % of water is very suitable . for dryer fuels some sort of cooling must be arranged which can be water addition or active cooling of the thermal reactor . | 8 |
these prior art examples are all acidic liquid aluminum cleaners composed of mineral acid , ferric ion , oxidant , and surfactant , and as such they suffer from common problems . thus , because they are fluorine - free , chromium - free cleaners , their treatment temperatures are higher than for fluorine - based cleaners . moreover , because they contain oxidant and metal ion , surfactant decomposition occurs to a substantial extent . not only does this increase consumption of the surfactant , but decomposition product remaining in the treatment bath impairs its degreasing performance . as a consequence , these cleaners lack a robust , durable cleaning activity . the present invention seeks to introduce a concrete means for solving the problems outlined hereinbefore for acidic liquid aluminum cleaners comprising mineral acid , oxidant , polyvalent metal ions , and surfactant . it has been found that the problems observed with such cleaners in the prior art are largely or entirely avoided by addition to such an acidic liquid cleaner of 0 . 05 to 5 grams per liter ( hereinafter &# 34 ; g / l &# 34 ;) of a component selected from the group of c 2 to c 10 glycols . in more specific terms , a preferred acidic liquid aluminum cleaner with a robust , durable cleaning activity can be obtained by preparing the acidic liquid aluminum cleaner as follows : the aforesaid mineral acid comprises at least one selection from phosphoric acid , sulfuric acid , and nitric acid ; the concentrations of phosphoric acid and sulfuric acid do not exceed 20 g / l ; and the nitric acid concentration does not exceed 10 g / l ; the aforesaid oxidant is hydrogen peroxide or a nitrite , and its concentration is in the range from 0 . 02 to 3 . 0 g / l ; the aforesaid polyvalent metal ion is ferric ion , and the ferric ion content is 0 . 02 to 5 g / l ; the aforesaid surfactant is nonionic , and the surfactant content is in the range from to 0 . 1 to 5 g / l ; there is additionally present at least 1 selection from the c 2 to c 10 glycols such as propylene glycol , ethylene glycol , diethylene glycol , and triethylene glycol ; and the ph of this acidic liquid cleaner does not exceed 2 . 0 . the simultaneous presence of surfactant , polyvalent metal ion ( for example , ferric ion ), and oxidant in the acidic liquid aluminum cleaner according to the present invention is essential for the effective maintenance of a degreasing capacity and aluminum etchability . in addition , the presence of such compounds also functions to inhibit corrosion of the cleaning equipment . the mineral acid is exemplified by sulfuric acid , nitric acid , phosphoric acid , and the like , and at least one selection therefrom should be added . the preferable concentrations are as follows : not more than 20 g / l for phosphoric acid , not more than 20 g / l for sulfuric acid , and not more than 10 g / l for nitric acid . this mineral acid may take the form of a single acid or may comprise a combination of two or more acids which is freely selected within a range which does not adversely affect the surface cleaning performance . such mixed acids are exemplified by tricomponent mixed acids of 3 to 10 g / l phosphoric acid , 5 to 15 g / l sulfuric acid , and 0 . 5 to 2 g / l nitric acid , and by bicomponent mixed acids of 10 to 20 g / l sulfuric acid and 0 . 5 to 2 g / l nitric acid . through the use of these mineral acids , the ph preferably does not exceed 2 . 0 and more preferably is 0 . 6 to 2 . when the ph exceeds 2 , the aluminum etching rate is reduced and a satisfactory surface cleaning usually cannot be obtained . no particular restriction is placed on the lower ph limit . no specific restriction is placed on the polyvalent metal ion , this component being exemplified by fe ions , co ions , sn ions , ce ions , and the like . however , this component most preferably comprises , or more preferably consists essentially or , most preferably , entirely of , 0 . 02 to 5 g / l ferric ion ( fe + 3 ), which can be furnished , for example , by ferric sulfate or ferric nitrate . moreover , ferrous ions ( e . g ., from ferrous sulfate or ferrous nitrate ) may be added to the acidic liquid cleaner and then oxidized to ferric ions by the oxidant . no particular limitation is placed on the oxidant , but it is preferably h 2 o 2 or no 2 - present at 0 . 02 to 3 . 0 g / l . the surfactant component should be nonionic surfactants , as exemplified by hydrocarbon derivatives , abietic acid derivatives , ethoxylated primary alcohols , and modified polyethoxylated alcohols , and these may be used singly or in combinations of two or more . the preferable concentration is 0 . 1 to 10 g / l and more preferably 0 . 5 to 3 g / l . with regard to the glycol which is used in order to inhibit surfactant decomposition , propylene glycol is effective in this regard , but ethylene glycol , diethylene glycol , triethylene glycol , etc ., are also effective . at least one of these or other glycols with 2 - 10 carbon atoms per molecule is used , suitably at 0 . 05 to 5 g / l and preferably at 0 . 2 to 2 g / l , referred to the treatment composition . the c 2 to c 10 glycol present in the acidic liquid aluminum cleaner according to the present invention substantially inhibits decomposition of the surfactant by the polyvalent metal ions and oxidant and thus improves the durability of the cleaning activity . in addition , aluminum ions are eluted during cleaning with the acidic liquid cleaner according to the present invention , and this may reduce its cleaning efficiency . accordingly , as a countermeasure in response to this , a chelating agent which sequesters the aluminum ions may also be present . chelating agents useable for this purpose are exemplified by citric acid , oxalic acid , tartaric acid , gluconic acid , and the like . the acidic liquid aluminum cleaner prepared according to the present invention is highly effective for the removal of smut and scale from aluminum and aluminum alloy as well as for the etching of same . the practice of the invention may be further appreciated from the following working and comparison examples . examples the following general conditions applied to all the examples , unless otherwise noted : 1 . test material : container fabricated by the drawing and ironing ( hereinafter &# 34 ; di &# 34 ;) of 3004 alloy aluminum sheet and carrying normal di lubricating oil and smut . 2 . preparation of the test baths : five cleaners in total were prepared as examples , and their compositions are reported in table 1 . the four surfactants identified by number in table 1 had the following chemical characteristics : nonionic ( 2 ): higher alcohol / eo ( 5 moles )- po ( 10 moles ) adduct ( hydrocarbon derivative ) nonionic ( 4 ): higher alcohol / eo ( 5 moles )- po ( 15 moles ) adduct ( hydrocarbon derivative ) five test baths were also prepared by the omission of the c 2 to c 10 glycol from examples 1 to 5 , and these are reported in table 2 as comparison examples 1 to 5 respectively . table 1__________________________________________________________________________phosphoric sulfuric nitricacid acid acid ferric ion oxidant ( examples ) as po . sub . 4 as so . sub . 4 as no . sub . 3 fe . sup .+ counterion h . sub . 2 o . sub . 2 c . sub . 2 - c . sub . 10 surfactant__________________________________________________________________________1 6 g / l 9 g / l 1 . 0 g / l 0 . 05 g / l so . sub . 4 . sup . 2 - : 0 . 13 g / l 0 . 5 g / l propylene glycol nonionic ( 1 ) 0 . 5 g / l 0 . 5 g / l nonionic ( 2 ) 1 . 5 g / l2 6 g / l 9 g / l 1 . 0 g / l 0 . 05 g / l so . sub . 4 . sup . 2 - : 0 . 13 g / l 0 . 5 g / l propylene glycol nonionic ( 1 ) 0 . 5 g / l 1 . 5 g / l nonionic ( 2 ) 1 . 5 g / l3 -- 15 g / l 1 . 0 g / l 1 . 00 g / l so . sub . 4 . sup . 2 - : 2 . 60 g / l 0 . 5 g / l propylene glycol nonionic ( 1 ) 0 . 5 g / l 0 . 5 g / l nonionic ( 2 ) 1 . 5 g / l4 9 g / l -- -- 0 . 05 g / l so . sub . 4 . sup . 2 - : 0 . 13 g / l 0 . 5 g / l ethylene glycol nonionic ( 3 ) 1 . 0 g / l 2 . 0 g / l nonionic ( 4 ) 2 . 0 g / l5 -- 15 g / l -- 1 . 00 g / l so . sub . 4 . sup . 2 - : 2 . 60 g / l 0 . 5 g / l ethylene glycol nonionic ( 3 ) 1 . 0 g / l 2 . 0 g / l nonionic ( 4 ) 2 . 0__________________________________________________________________________ g / l table 2__________________________________________________________________________ phosphoric sulfuric nitric ( comparison acid acid acid ferric ion oxidantexamples ) as po . sub . 4 as so . sub . 4 as no . sub . 3 fe . sup . 3 + counterion h . sub . 2 o . sub . 2 c . sub . 2 - c . sub . 10 surfactant__________________________________________________________________________1 6 g / l 9 g / l 1 . 0 g / l 0 . 05 g / l so . sub . 4 . sup . 2 - : 0 . 13 g / l 0 . 5 g / l -- nonionic ( 1 ) 0 . 5 g / l nonionic ( 2 ) 1 . 5 g / l2 6 g / l 9 g / l 1 . 0 g / l 0 . 05 g / l so . sub . 4 . sup . 2 - : 0 . 13 g / l 0 . 5 g / l -- nonionic ( 1 ) 0 . 5 g / l nonionic ( 2 ) 1 . 5 g / l3 -- 15 g / l 1 . 0 g / l 1 . 00 g / l so . sub . 4 . sup . 2 - : 2 . 60 g / l 0 . 5 g / l -- nonionic ( 1 ) 0 . 5 g / l nonionic ( 2 ) 1 . 5 g / l4 9 g / l -- -- 0 . 05 g / l so . sub . 4 . sup . 2 - : 0 . 13 g / l 0 . 5 g / l -- nonionic ( 3 ) 1 . 0 g / l nonionic ( 4 ) 2 . 0 g / l5 -- 15 g / l -- 1 . 00 g / l so . sub . 4 . sup . 2 - : 2 . 60 g / l 0 . 5 g / l -- nonionic ( 3 ) 1 . 0 g / l nonionic ( 4 ) 2 . 0__________________________________________________________________________ g / l ( a ) comparison of the maintenance of the surfactant concentration in the acidic liquid cleaners the test baths ( examples 1 to 5 from table 1 and comparison examples 1 to 5 from table 2 ) were maintained quiescent at 75 °± 1 ° c . while replenishing the decomposed h 2 o 2 in order to maintain the h 2 o 2 content in the bath at 0 . 5 g / l . the quantity of residual surfactant under quiescent acidic bath conditions was measured every 24 hours for three 24 - hour intervals . the results are reported in table 3 . table 3______________________________________ percent decom - surfactant content after time in hours : position0 24 48 72 in 72 hr______________________________________ex - amplenumber1 2 . 0 g / l 1 . 9 g / l 1 . 8 g / l 1 . 7 g / l 15 % 2 2 . 0 g / l 1 . 9 g / l 1 . 8 g / l 1 . 8 g / l 10 % 3 2 . 0 g / l 1 . 9 g / l 1 . 6 g / l 1 . 5 g / l 25 % 4 3 . 0 g / l 2 . 9 g / l 2 . 9 g / l 2 . 7 g / l 10 % 5 3 . 0 g / l 2 . 8 g / l 2 . 4 g / l 2 . 2 g / l 27 % com - parisonexamples1 2 . 0 g / l 1 . 7 g / l 1 . 3 g / l 1 . 2 g / l 40 % 2 2 . 0 g / l 1 . 7 g / l 1 . 3 g / l 1 . 2 g / l 40 % 3 2 . 0 g / l 1 . 6 g / l 1 . 3 g / l 1 . 1 g / l 45 % 4 3 . 0 g / l 2 . 7 g / l 2 . 0 g / l 1 . 8 g / l 40 % 5 3 . 0 g / l 2 . 5 g / l 1 . 9 g / l 1 . 6 g / l 47 % ______________________________________ ( b ) comparison of the cleaning activity for aluminum can ( water - wetting test ) the test baths ( examples 1 to 5 from table 1 and comparison examples 1 to 5 from table 2 ) were maintained quiescent at 75 °± 1 ° c . while replenishing the decomposed h 2 o 2 in order to maintain the h 2 o 2 content in the bath at 0 . 5 g / l . a container as described above under the heading &# 34 ; test material &# 34 ; was sprayed for 50 seconds at 75 °± 1 ° c . using the test bath after standing for zero , 24 , 48 , or 72 hours . this was followed by a spray rinse for 10 seconds with tap water and standing for 30 seconds . the water - wetted area (%) was then visually evaluated . the results for this evaluation are reported in table 4 . table 4______________________________________elapsed time :( hours ) 0 24 48 72______________________________________examples1 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 % 2 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 % 3 100 % 100 % 100 % 90 % 4 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 % 5 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 % comparisonexamples1 100 % 100 % 80 % 30 % 2 100 % 100 % 80 % 30 % 3 100 % 100 % 70 % 30 % 4 100 % 100 % 100 % 80 % 5 100 % 100 % 100 % 90 % ______________________________________ considering the test results first as they relate to surfactant decomposition , the results reported in table 3 show that it was possible to obtain an approximately 42 to 75 % inhibition of surfactant decomposition . with regard to the maintenance of the cleaning activity , the results reported in table 4 also show superior results obtained in the examples in all cases . | 2 |
reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention , examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings . a digital cable broadcast under an open cable and a cable ready standards observes an atsc standard . therefore , the caption_service_descriptor the eit or the pmt within the psip , included in the digital cable broadcast signal is prescribed by the atsc standard ( a65 , program and system information protocol for terrestrial broadcast and cable ). fig2 is a view showing a syntax of the caption_service_descriptor under the open cable and the cable ready standards according to the present invention . “ descriptor_tag ”, which is a parameter for checking a type of a descriptor , is described by 8 bits . “ descriptor_length ”, which is a parameter representing a length of the whole structure , is described by 8 bits . “ number_of_services ” represents a number of provided caption services and is described by 5 bits . “ language ” represents language information of a relevant caption , such as english for a service 1 and spanish for a service 2 , and is a 3 - byte language code under iso 639 . 2 / b , each letter of which is coded with 8 bits and inserted into a 24 - bit field . “ cc_type ” represents a kind of caption . if cc_type == 1 , it is a digital caption ( advanced caption ) and if cc_type == 0 , it is an analog caption ( analog caption under the eia 708 or the scte 20 ( dvs 157 )). the “ cc_type ” is described by 1 bit . “ analog_cc_type ” represents a kind of an analog caption . if analog_cc_type == 1 , it means caption data transmitted through a line 21 of the vbi under the eia 708 , and if analog_cc_type == 0 , it means caption data transmitted through other line except the line 21 of the vbi according to the scte 20 or the dvs 157 . “ line_offset ” represents a number of the vbi line including the caption data in case caption data under the scte 20 or the dvs 157 is transmitted , namely , in case the analog_cc_type == 0 , and is described by 5 bits . “ line_field ” represents whether the caption data is included in an even field or an odd field . that is , if line_field == 0 , it means the caption data is included in an odd field and if line_field == 1 , it means the caption data is included in an even field . “ caption_service_number ” represents 1 - 63 caption service numbers in case it is a digital caption , namely , in case cc_type == 1 . and is described by 6 bits . “ easy_reader ” is a flag representing whether it is a caption easily read by a user or not . “ wide_aspect_ratio ” is related to a screen ratio , and more particularly , is a flag representing whether a received caption data is intended for a 16 : 9 screen or not . if cc_type == 0 , a received caption is an analog caption . as described above , for the analog caption , there exist an analog caption under the eia 708 standard , and an analog caption under the scte 20 or the dvs 157 standard . however , since the analog caption under the eia 608 standard is a pure analog caption , not a closed caption for a digital tv mentioned in the present invention , the analog caption under the eia 608 standard is excluded . therefore , an analog caption for the case cc_type == 0 , is either an analog caption under the eia 708 standard or an analog caption under the scte 20 or the dvs 157 standard . “ analog_cc_type ” represents whether a received caption is an analog caption under the eia 708 standard or an analog caption under the scte 20 or the dvs 157 standard . if analog_cc_type == 0 , it means that the relevant caption is included in a video data region in form of user data under the scte 20 or the dvs 157 , which are standards on the digital cable broadcast . in that case , since to which line of the vbi the received caption is assigned , is not known in view of characteristics of the cable broadcast , the line_offset describes to which line of the vbi the received caption is included . if analog_cc_type == 1 , it means that an analog caption under the eia 708 standard is included in a video data region in form of user data . in that case , since the caption is assigned to a 21 st line of the vbi , a line_offset value is not required . therefore , 5 bits assigned to the line_offset becomes a reserved bit and 1 bit is assigned to the line_field representing whether a caption is a caption included in an even field or a caption included in an odd field . if line_field == 0 , it means a caption is included in an odd field and if line_field == 1 , it means a caption is included in an even field . as described above , whether a caption included in the digital cable broadcast is an analog caption or a digital caption is judged on the basis of information included in the caption_service_descriptor . further , if the received caption is an analog caption , whether the caption is an analog caption under the eia 708 standard or a caption for a cable broadcast under the scte 20 or the dvs 157 standard , is judged . if the received caption is a caption under the scte 20 or the dvs 157 standard , in which line of the vbi the caption data is included , is judged . if the received caption is a digital caption , information as to which service the caption includes among sixty - three services , is checked . a broadcast station generates caption information including the above described various information and adds the caption information to a broadcast signal . a broadcast receiver detects caption information included in a broadcast signal provided from the broadcast station , and judges various characteristics of the received caption data on the basis of parameter values included in the detected caption information . fig3 is a block diagram illustrating a construction of a digital broadcast receiver according to the present invention . referring to fig3 , a mpeg demultiplexer 501 receives a mpeg - 2 transport stream from a cable and decodes the transport stream so as to extract video data , audio data , and supplementary information . further , the mpeg demultiplexer 501 detects an eit and a pmt included in the supplementary information . the detected pmt is stored in a pmt buffer 502 and the detected eit is stored in an eit buffer 503 . here , the detected pmt or eit includes caption information , namely , caption_service_descriptor . a controller 504 receives caption information from the pmt buffer 502 or the eit buffer 503 and detects caption data included in the transport stream on the basis of the caption information . a video parser 505 receives video data decoded by the demultiplexer 501 and separates the video data into user_data and mpeg - 2 video data . an analog caption decoder 506 receives user_data from the video parser 505 and detects analog caption data from the user_data on the basis of a signal outputted from the controller 504 . a digital caption decoder 507 receives the user_data from the video parser 505 and detects digital caption data from the user_data on the basis of a signal outputted from the controller 504 . a mpeg - 2 video decoder 508 decodes mpeg - 2 video data generated by the video parser 505 . a graphic block 510 outputs a signal for generating a gui ( graphic user interface ) such as an osd ( on screen display ) menu including information provided from the controller 504 . the graphic block 510 displays , on a screen , various characteristics of the received caption data , for example , a number of caption services , a national language of a caption , a type and a standard of the received caption data , vbi line information and field information that correspond to the caption data , a difficulty level of the caption , a picture ratio of the caption . a video combiner 509 receives analog caption data from the analog caption decoder 506 or receives digital caption data from the digital caption decoder 507 . further , the video combiner 509 receives video data from the mpeg - 2 video decoder 508 and receives a signal outputted from the graphic block 510 . the video combiner 509 combines the received signals so as to generate data that will be possibly displayed . a video reconstructor 511 encodes an analog caption data decoded by the analog caption decoder 506 , at a 21 st line of the vbi . operation of the digital broadcast receiver as described above according to the present invention will now be described . fig4 illustrates a method for processing a caption according to the present invention . if a mpeg - 2 transport stream transmitted through a cable is received , the mpeg demultiplexer 501 divides the received transport stream into video data , and audio data , supplementary information . the supplementary information includes a psip defining electronic program guide ( epg ) and system information ( si ). the psip includes a plurality of tables including information for transmitting / receiving a / v ( audio / video ) data made in a mpeg - 2 video and ac - 3 ( audio coding - 3 ) audio formats , and information regarding channels of each broadcast station and information regarding each program of channel . among them , information regarding the pmt and information regarding the eit are stored in the pmt buffer 502 and the eit buffer 503 , respectively . under the atsc standard , the digital cable broadcast signal must include a caption_service_descriptor in its pmt or eit . the controller 504 reads a caption - related option stored in a memory ( not shown ) and determines a caption - related option selected by a user ( s 11 ). for example , the caption - related option includes various options such as “ caption off ”, “ caption service selection ( cc1 , cc2 , cc3 , . . . )”, “ english caption display ”, “ korean caption display ”, “ size of caption ”, “ color of caption ”. if a user selects “ caption off ”, the controller 504 does not display the received caption . if a user selects “ english caption display ”, the controller 504 controls the caption decoders 506 and 507 so that only the caption written in english may be displayed on a screen . further , the controller 504 controls the caption decoders 506 and 507 so that the received caption data may be processed according to a set size and a set color of a caption . the controller 504 receives the caption information and judges characteristics of the received caption data on the basis of parameter values included in the caption information ( s 12 ). the controller 504 judges a number of caption services on the basis of the caption information . for example , the controller 504 judges whether a synchronous caption , an asynchronous caption service , a letter information service are provided . the controller 504 judges a language of the received caption on the basis of the caption information . for example , the controller 504 judges whether the received caption is english , japanese , or korean . the controller 504 judges a type of the received caption data on the basis of the caption information . for example , the controller 504 judges whether the received caption data is digital caption data or analog caption data ( s 13 ). the controller 504 determines a standard of the received caption data on the basis of the caption information . for example , if the received caption data is analog caption data , the controller 504 judges whether the received caption data is caption data under the eia 708 standard or the scte 20 or the dvs 157 standard . further , the controller 504 judges a vbi line number and a field including the received caption , a difficulty level of the received caption , and a picture ratio of the received caption on the basis of the caption information . to judge whether the received caption data is digital caption data in the step of s 13 , the controller 504 judges whether the digital caption data is included in the video data on the basis of the caption information . if digital caption data under the eia 708 is included in the video data ( if cc_type == 1 ), the controller 504 detects a service id that corresponds to the caption data from the caption information ( s 14 ) and transmits the detected service id to the digital caption decoder 507 . the service id can be known from a capto_service_number included in the caption information . the digital caption decoder 507 extracts and decodes caption data that corresponds to the service id from user_data of a picture header transmitted from the video parser 505 ( s 15 ). subsequently , the extracted caption data is transmitted to the video combiner 509 . the video combiner 509 combines the extracted caption data , video data outputted from the mpeg - 2 video decoder 508 , and signals outputted from the graphic block 510 . if analog caption data is included in the video data ( if cc_type == 0 ), the controller 504 judges whether the received caption data is analog caption data ( analog_cc_type == 1 ) under the eia 708 standard or analog caption data ( analog_cc_type == 0 ) under the scte 20 or dvs 157 standard ( s 16 ). at this point , the controller 504 determines a standard of the received analog caption data on the basis of the caption information . if the received caption data is analog caption data under the scte 20 or the dvs 157 , the controller 504 checks vbi line information described in 5 bits by a line_offset included in the caption information . the vbi line information represents a position of the caption data . further , the controller 504 judges a field where the caption data exists on the basis of line_field information included in the caption information . if line_field == 0 , the caption data exists in an odd field and if line_field = 1 , the caption data exists in an even field . after that , the controller 504 transmits the above checked vbi line information and the line field information to the analog caption decoder 506 . if the received caption data is analog caption data , user_data outputted from the video parser 505 is not processed by the digital caption decoder 507 . the analog caption decoder 506 finds out ( s 18 ) analog caption data made in the scte 20 or the dvs 157 standard from user_data inputted from the video parser 505 on the basis of the vbi line information and the line field information , and decodes the analog caption data ( s 19 ). the analog caption data found by the analog caption decoder 506 is transmitted to the video combiner 509 . the video combiner 509 combines the analog caption data , video data outputted from the mpeg - 2 video decoder 508 , and signals outputted from the graphic block 510 . signals outputted from the video combiner 509 are transmitted to the video reconstructor 511 . the video reconstructor 511 reconstructs a caption by encoding analog caption data outputted from the analog caption decoder 506 , at a vbi 21 st line . the reconstruction of a caption is to prevent analog caption data from being an open caption in case of storing data , as it is , outputted from the video combiner 509 in a storage medium such as a vcr ( video cassette recorder ). if the received caption data is analog caption data under the eia 708 standard ( if analog_cc_type == 1 ), the controller 504 transmits line_field information included in the caption information to the analog caption decoder 506 . since analog caption data under the eia 708 standard is positioned at a vbi 21 st line , a line_offset value is not required . at this point , the digital caption decoder 507 extracts a 2 - byte analog data in user_data including digital caption data from the video parser 505 and transmits the analog data to the analog caption decoder 506 . subsequently , the analog caption decoder 506 finds out ( s 17 ) analog caption data present in a vbi 21 st line from the 2 - byte analog data on the basis of the line_field information and decodes the analog caption data ( s 19 ). the found analog caption data is combined with video data from the mpeg - 2 video decoder 508 and signals from the graphic block 510 by the video combiner 509 . the video reconstructor 511 reconstructs a caption by encoding analog caption data from the analog caption decoder 506 at a vbi 21 st line . if analog caption data under the eia 708 and analog caption data under the scte 20 and the dvs 157 are all present in the user_data , the analog caption data under the eia 708 is processed . further , if digital caption data under the eia 708 and analog caption data under the eia 708 are all present in the user_data , the digital caption data is processed . as described above , the present invention judges a type of caption data on the basis of caption information included in the received broadcast signal and automatically processes the caption data according to the type , thereby providing convenience to a user . further , the present invention judges various characteristics of the received caption data such as a standard of caption data , a number of caption services being received and provides the characteristics to a user . furthermore , the present invention can store caption - related options selected by a user and display the caption being received according to the caption - related options . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention . thus , it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents . | 7 |
fig1 shows an abrasive surface suitable for low speed dry sanding applications . abrasive surface 2 is comprised of exposed abrasive particles 4 along with hollow micro - spheres 6 and material matrix binding agent 8 . material matrix binding agent 8 is comprised of a polymer resin and therefore is significantly softer than abrasive particles 4 . materials used for abrasive particles 4 include silicon carbide , zirconia , diamond , ceria , cubic boron nitride , garnet , ground glass , quartz , and combinations thereof . fig2 shows a cross sectional view of an abrasive composition suitable for low speed dry sanding applications . abrasive composition 10 is shown in cross sectional view . abrasive composition 10 is shown having abrasive particles 12 embedded within polymeric matrix material 14 . abrasive particles 12 may comprise a material selected from the group consisting of aluminum oxide , silicon carbide , zirconia , diamond , ceria , cubic boron nitride , garnet , ground glass , quartz , and combinations thereof . also shown are hollow micro - particles , shown in the form of hollow micro - spheres 16 . hollow micro - particles are hollow particles , such as hollow micro - spheres , which allow for the addition of voids to the abrasive composition 10 . hollow micro - spheres are hollow spherical particles having diameters ranging from a few microns to several hundred microns . micro - spheres may be made from numerous materials including polymers and glass . hollow micro - spheres having a diameter range of 50 - 100 microns may be employed to impart increased wear properties to abrasive composition 10 . the rate of wear at major abrasive surface 18 of the abrasive composition 10 determines how fast abrasive particles 12 become exposed and shed during use . if abrasive composition 10 has too slow a wear rate the major abrasive surface 18 may become dull and filled with debris . this condition renders the surface 18 non - useable . if the rate of wear is too rapid , sanding of rough surfaces may tear up the major abrasive surface 18 resulting in limited product life and inconsistent sanding properties . it is important to find a usable rate of wear , which is the rate of wear at the major abrasive surface 18 of the abrasive composition 10 , sufficient for renewal at the major abrasive surface 18 to allow continuous use of the abrasive composition 10 . micro - sphere loading densities ranging from about 25 % by volume to about 75 % volume of the mix often exhibits a usable rate of wear at the major abrasive surface 18 . other factors affecting rate of wear of the abrasive composition 10 includes hardness of matrix material 14 , loading density of abrasive particles 12 , and pressure used in forming operations . these factors , in addition to the volume of micro - particles , may be modified accordingly to achieve a usable rate of wear . major abrasive surface 18 is shown having numerous cavities 20 . cavities 20 may result from wearing open hollow micro - spheres 16 during use . alternatively , cavities 20 may be formed during manufacture by cutting or wearing of the surface prior to use . cavities 20 are shown providing discontinuous surface topography to major abrasive surface 18 . matrix material 20 may be made from polymer resins selected from the group of condensation polymers including epoxy resins , polyamide resins and polyurethane resins . under certain circumstances , condensation polymers such as polyurethane compositions may be produced having a reduced molecular weight . such compositions may be prepared by using a slight excess of either reactant that may be on the order of an excess of a few percent to about 10 percent by weight of the resin mix . the mixture need not be modified very much from the ideal mixture quoted by the manufacturer . an excess of 10 % of either component will drastically affect molecular weight . this has to do with the inherent properties of condensation polymers . in order for a two component reactive condensation polymer to achieve a high molecular weight , exact proportions need to be combined and subsequently allowed to react to completion . if the mixture is off by even a small amount , the reaction stops as soon as the first reactant runs out . the result is limited molecular weight with the polymeric chains terminated by the excess reactant . abrasive compositions made with polymer resins having their molecular weight limited in the above described fashion may be softer and therefore have increased rate of wear . it is important to bear in mind that the abrasive compositions of the present invention may have abrasive properties resembling sand paper of a finer grit than what was employed in the mix . this may be advantageous owing to the lower cost of coarse grit abrasive materials when compared to finer grit abrasive materials . the abrasive surfaces suitable for dry sanding applications of the present invention may be prepared by mixing hard abrasive particles with hollow micro - spheres along with a minimal amount of uncured polymeric resin . the amount of polymeric resin binding agent may be present from 5 % to 35 % by weight of the mix . it should be noted that the density of hollow micro - particles tends to be quite low . because of this , the remainder of the composition by weight is substantially the result of abrasive particles , i . e . abrasive particles may be present from 65 % to 95 % by weight of the mix . this limited quantity of binding agent may be used in order to achieve a useable rate of wear . the mixture may then be pressed into a suitable mold under controlled pressure . when the resin cures the part may be removed from the mold . a specific example of an abrasive surface having a useable rate of wear will now be given in further detail . example : 2 . 0 grams of polyurethane resin 341 a available from plastic depot ( 2907 san fernando blvd . burbank , calif . 91504 . telephone number ( 818 ) 843 - 3030 ). were placed in a 4 ounce polyethylene container along with 2 . 0 grams of polyurethane resin 341 b . this mixture was then rapidly stirred until uniform . to this were added 18 grams of 80 grit silicon carbide abrasive powder along with 0 . 4 grams of west system 407 low density fairing filler . west systems inc . p . o . box 665 . bay city mich . 48707 usa . telephone number ( 866 ) 937 - 8797 . the mixture was then rapidly stirred a second time until uniform . the resulting mixture was slightly damp to the touch indicating that only a minimal amount of polyurethane resin was present in the mix as a material matrix . a material matrix of the present invention may be regarded as an agent used to hold discrete particles together into a solid mass . the above described mixture was then transferred into a 1 . 5 ″× 2 ″ rectangular silicone mold cavity . a 1 . 5 ″× 2 . 0 ″ rectangular ceramic block was then placed on top of the mixture in the mold . a downward force of 40 pounds was then applied to the rectangular ceramic block for a period of two minutes . the mixture was then allowed to stand undisturbed for two hours to thoroughly cure . once cured , the part was removed from the mold . separation was then attempted between the ceramic block and abrasive surface . the two surfaces could not be separated without the risk of breakage and therefore were left in a joined condition . the above described abrasive composition sample was then used to dry sand paint off of numerous metal surfaces . initial sanding was rapid with some build up of paint particles . the rate of wear of the major abrasive surface was sufficient to renew the surface fast enough to prevent excess dulling of abrasive particles , and therefore represents a usable rate of wear . the above experiment was repeated with increasing amounts of micro - spheres . this resulted in more rapid rate of wear of the abrasive surface . polyurethane resin 341 a and 341 b represents a two part system it is designed to be blended into equal parts by volume . because the two components of the polyurethane resin system have different densities , a slight excess of one reactant results when equal weights of each component are used in the mix . reducing the molecular weight of the polymer matrix helps to increase wear properties in the final mix . fig3 shows an abrasive article suitable for low speed dry sanding applications . abrasive article 22 consists of top exposed abrasive surface portion 24 ( abrasive surface 2 of fig1 ). exposed abrasive particle releasing abrasive surface portion 24 is shown to be larger in area than side surface portion 26 and therefore may be considered a first major surface of abrasive article 22 . abrasive article 22 has a second major surface ( not shown ) oppositely facing first major surface 24 . abrasive article 22 is suitable for dry sanding numerous surfaces including painted metal . the overall hardness of abrasive surface portion 24 may be adjusted for use in specific applications . for example , automotive body repair shops often require dry sanding of damaged panels under numerous stages of repair . it is often desirable to sand away paint , rust , and body filler . abrasive surface 24 for automotive body repair shop uses requires enough wear resistance and hardness to provide a useful working life while at the same time having a rate of wear fast enough to renew the working surface before becoming dull . fig4 shows a cross sectional view of an abrasive surface suitable for low speed dry sanding applications comprising a plurality of protrusions . abrasive surface 28 is shown having surface protrusions 30 in discontinuous arrangement extending in an outward direction from laminate backing portion 32 . also shown are abrasive particles 34 along with hollow micro - spheres 36 . binding agent 38 is also shown . binding agent 38 makes up the softer material matrix that holds abrasive particles 34 and micro - spheres 36 together in a controlled manner . fig5 shows a cross sectional view of a sanding disk for a rotary tool suitable for low speed dry sanding applications . abrasive dry sanding disc 40 is shown having abrasive first major top surface portion 42 along with rigid backing portion 44 and central hole 46 for mounting to a shaft ( not shown ). top abrasive first major surface portion 42 is comprised of numerous abrasive particles along with micro - spheres embedded into softer material matrix material 50 . top abrasive first major surface portion 42 is shown attached to rigid backing portion 44 . bottom surface portion 48 of rigid backing portion 44 may be regarded as a second major surface portion . fig6 shows a hand held abrasive article suitable for low speed dry sanding applications comprised of a handle portion fixedly attached to wearable abrasive surface . fig6 shows a hand held abrasive article that may be used to dry sand automotive surfaces . hand held abrasive article 52 is shown comprising a main handle portion 54 and a major abrasive surface working portion 56 . also shown is side groove 58 . side groove 58 provides an ergonomic fit to the hand for easier use . hand held abrasive article 52 is shown having major abrasive surface portion 56 fixedly attached to main handle portion 54 . major abrasive surface portion 56 may be comprised of the abrasive dry sanding composition of fig2 . fig7 shows an abrasive fabric suitable for low speed dry sanding applications employing protrusions comprised of the composition of the present invention . abrasive fabric 60 is comprised of a flexible water absorbent fabric such as cloth backing layer 62 along with attached abrasive loaded dry sanding protrusions 64 . abrasive fabric 60 is shown as a discontinuous surface that releases hard abrasive particles during low speed dry sanding operations . the separation of individual abrasive loaded dry sanding protrusions 64 between each other forms a discontinuous surface . also shown is material matrix portion 66 in the form of a polymer resin such as polyurethane ( shown in further detail in fig2 and 8 ) embedded with coarse abrasive particles 68 having a hardness significantly greater than polymer matrix portion 66 . also present are hollow micro - spheres ( not shown ). abrasive fabric 60 may be used for machine driven sanding surfaces such as belts and discs as well as hand sanding applications . it should be noted that the protrusions themselves provide points of high pressure that facilitate dry sanding operations . it should also be noted flexible fabric 62 allows individual abrasive loaded polymeric resin protrusions to follow surface contours during dry sanding operations . individual protrusions 68 may have grooves like those shown in fig8 . fig8 shows the abrasive loaded protrusion of fig7 in further detail for low speed dry sanding applications having a top surface portion containing a pattern of grooves and ridges . abrasive loaded polymeric dry sanding protrusion 70 is shown having having a top surface portion 72 containing a pattern of grooves 74 . grooves 74 provide means for holding and removal of debris in low speed dry sanding applications . also shown are ridges 76 . ridges 76 result from grooves 74 in top surface portion 72 and provide for increased pressure at the start of dry sanding operations . this added pressure may help to facilitate the initial process of dislodging abrasive particles 78 . once ridges 76 wear , abrasive particles 78 will continue to be released during use . also shown are hollow micro - spheres 80 and softer matrix material 82 . fig9 shows an abrasive fabric glove suitable for low speed dry sanding applications having numerous abrasive protrusions attached to working surfaces comprised of the composition of the present invention . sanding glove 84 is shown having abrasive loaded dry sanding protrusions 86 that are discontinuous from each other and attached to glove 88 with epoxy resin 90 . also shown are ridges 92 on protrusions 86 . ridges 92 on protrusions 86 provide points of high pressure . protrusions 86 consist of hard abrasive particles along with hollow micro - spheres held together within a softer material matrix as shown in fig2 and 8 ). fig1 shows a sectional view of a rotary tool sanding disk suitable for low speed dry sanding applications having a layer of surface protrusions . abrasive dry sanding disc 94 is shown having abrasive releasing first major top surface portion 98 along with rigid backing portion 96 and central hole 100 for mounting to a shaft ( not shown ). abrasive releasing first major top surface portion 98 is comprised of numerous protrusions 102 fixedly attached to rigid backing portion 96 . protrusions 102 are comprised of hard abrasive particles 104 dispersed within softer material matrix 108 along with hollow micro - spheres 106 . the composition of protrusions 102 is described in further detail in fig2 . protrusions 102 are shown in greater detail in figure 2 . bottom surface portion 110 of rigid backing portion 96 may be regarded as a second major surface portion . abrasive dry sanding disc 94 is suitable for dry rotary sanding operations . a shaft may be attached using central hole 100 using a threaded screw . the shaft may be subsequently fitted into the chuck of a low speed rotary tool such as a drill . a relatively low speed of about 50 to 500 rpm may be employed to dry sand numerous surfaces . it should be noted that high rpm conditions of 1000 or more may result in rapid tool wear and possible throwing of pieces of abrasive material from the disk . fig1 shows an abrasive article having a discontinuous surface topography comprising a pattern of cavities and raised portions suitable for low speed dry sanding applications . abrasive article 112 is shown consisting of exposed abrasive top surface portion 116 and side surface portion 114 . also shown are cavities 118 present in exposed abrasive top surface portion 116 . exposed abrasive top surface portion 116 is shown to be larger in area than side surface portion 114 and therefore may be considered a first major surface of abrasive article 112 . abrasive article 112 has a second major surface ( not shown ) oppositely facing exposed abrasive top surface portion 116 . abrasive article 112 is suitable for dry hand sanding operations . exposed abrasive top surface portion 116 of abrasive article 112 is shown having a relatively large percentage of the particle releasing surface exposed with a relatively small percentage of surface cavities . exposed abrasive top surface 116 of abrasive article 112 has a discontinuous surface topography due to the presence of surface cavities 118 . those skilled in the art will understand that the preceding exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide foundation for numerous alternatives and modifications . these other modifications are also within the scope of the limiting technology of the present invention . accordingly , the present invention is not limited to that precisely shown and described herein but only to that outlined in the appended claims . | 1 |
referring to fig1 of the drawings , a structure of a centrifugal type mixing pump according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated . a water inlet is provided on the central axis of the mixing pump . leaves 3 are provided on the surface of an impeller 2 . a permanent magnet a ( 4 ) is provided on an outer circle portion of the impeller 2 . outside of the pump casing 1 , at a place corresponding to the permanent magnet a ( 4 ), a permanent magnet b ( 5 ) is mounted on a device coaxially connected with the motor 6 , such as a rotary plate . the motor 6 drives the permanent magnet b ( 5 ) to rotate , and the permanent magnet b ( 5 ) impulses the permanent magnet a ( 4 ), so as to drive the impeller 2 to rotate synchronously . the rotating leaf 3 drives water to rotate , produces centrifugal force , and increases the pressure and moving speed of the water . the speedy leaves 3 interact with the stationary pump casing 1 to produce an intense turbulent vortex . the bubbles in the water are torn up to produce more and smaller bubbles , so that larger gas - water contacting area is obtained so as to increase the ozone dissolving efficiency . when the turbulent vortex is more intense , the force to tear the bubble in the water is stronger , so that the bubbles in the water are smaller and the ozone dissolves more efficiently . the mixing pump shown in fig2 , fig3 , and fig4 is a vortex mixing pump . as shown in fig3 , the leaves 3 are provided on an outer circle portion of the impeller 2 , and the water inlet is provided on an outer circle of the mixing pump . the leaves 3 are provided on an outer circle portion of the impeller 2 , and form a radiating shape . the rotation of the impeller 2 drives the leaves 3 to move around so as to propel the water to speed up , so that kinetic and potential energy ( pressure ) of water is constantly increasing . a vortex mixing pump produces more intense turbulence vortex than a centrifugal mixing pump . although it has lower converting efficiency from the mechanical energy of the impeller to the kinetic energy and pressure potential energy of the water ; because the vortex mixing pump has more intense turbulence vortex than the centrifugal mixing pump , and the vortex mixing pump has a higher gas - water dissolving efficiency than that of the centrifugal mixing pump . therefore , the vortex mixing pump is a better choice to be used in the gas - water mixing pump . the ozone gas can be added into the water before infusing into the mixing pump ( premixing ), or the ozone conduit 8 can be inserted into the mixing pump directly . usually the inserting position is at the water inlet , as shown in fig3 . the permanent magnets a and b are positioned as near as possible to the outer edge to increase a diameter thereof , so that the moment arm of the permanent magnets a and b are increased , so when the torsion remains , the magnetic driving force can be reduced , which is shown in fig1 , 2 , 3 and 4 . as shown in fig1 and 2 , a rotor in the motor 6 is connected to the device for fastening the permanent magnet b 5 via a shaft to drive the permanent magnet b 5 . the motor shown in fig4 is a brushless dc motor . the rotor of the motor 6 is an annular magnet , and the stator with a winded coil is disposed inside the annular rotor . the rotor is connected to central shaft via a rotary plate , and the permanent magnet b 5 is mounted on the rotary plate . such a structure is simple and compact . the brushless dc motor has high efficiency and long lifespan , and is safe and reliable , so as to be a great choice for household appliance . in order to make the most of the attraction between the permanent magnets a and b , and produce effective moment to drive impeller to rotate , the n - s polar direction of the permanent magnets a and b is the direction of the axis of the motor and the impeller , as shown in fig4 . comparing with other arrangements , the magnetic line of force between the permanent magnets a and b is the shortest , and the attraction between the permanent magnets a and b is the strongest . when the permanent magnet b drives the permanent magnet a to rotate , due to the loading effect of the impeller , the permanent magnets a and b are dislocated ; due to the fact that like poles repel while unlike poles attract , the adjacent permanent magnets a on the impeller 2 are arranged to have opposite polarity , as shown in fig3 . the corresponding two permanent magnets a and b have opposite polarity , so as to attract each other ; the permanent magnet b and the permanent magnet a that are adjacent to the corresponding permanent magnet a therewith have same polarity , so as to repel each other . because of the dislocation between the corresponding two permanent magnets a and b , the permanent magnet b has acting force with two adjacent permanent magnets a , wherein one is attraction , and the other is repellence , so that the magnetic force is fully taken . there are a variety of permanent magnets . the nd — fe — b is the best in terms of cost and magnetic intensity . therefore , in the present invention , nd — fe — b is the first choice . the rotation of the permanent magnets a and b produce alternating magnetic field , especially between the permanent magnets a and the permanent magnets b . if the pump casing is made of metal , the alternating magnetic field produces electric eddy current , which has two major disadvantages . firstly , electromagnetic field lowers the magnetic driving force between the permanent magnets a and b . secondly , the electric eddy current produces heat and increases the load of the motor . therefore , the pump casing , especially between the permanent magnets a and b , should be made of non - conductive and non - metal material . plastic is easily shaped , low cost , and is capable of resisting oxidization and corrosion , so that the plastic completely meets the demand of the household appliance . in the present invention , plastic pump casing is the first choice . referring to fig5 and fig6 , a vortex type of mixing pump of the present invention is illustrated . the motor is a brushless dc motor including a stator 14 , a rotor 12 , a motor shaft 13 , and a rotary plate 11 . the rotor 12 is firmly connected to the motor shaft 13 via rotary plate 11 . the permanent magnet b is partially imbedded in the rotary plate 11 . the pump casing 1 and the pump cover 15 are sealed by a sealing gasket 17 . the permanent magnet a ( 4 ) is entirely imbedded in the impeller 2 , so as to be separated from water , because the permanent magnet , usually made of iron - base material , easily gets rusty when contacting with water , especially ozone water . as shown in fig6 , the ozone gas enters into venturi - tube 18 through ozone conduit 8 . the ozone gas is premixed into water through venturi - tube 18 , before infusing into the mixing pump . only through the intense turbulent vortex produced by the impeller of the mixing pump , can the big bubbles transform into many tiny bubbles , which helps the ozone dissolve into water . the vortex type of mixing pump shown in fig7 is similar to the mixing pump shown in fig5 . the major difference is that there are two water channels at both sides of the impeller 2 , as shown in fig5 , and there is only one water channel at left side of the impeller . the objective of such design is to dispose the permanent magnet a ( 4 ) more closely to the outer circle of the impeller 2 , so as to increase the magnetic driving torsion . one skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment of the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting . it will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively achieved . it embodiments have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from such principles . therefore , this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims . | 5 |
referring to fig1 a typical data processing terminal is shown which may function as a basic computer controlled network receiving terminal used in implementing the present invention for providing a user with a personal shopping cart transferable with its load from web page to web page . a central processing unit ( cpu ) 10 , such as one of the pc microprocessors or workstations , e . g . risc system / 6000 ™ series available from international business machines corporation ( ibm ), or dell corp .&# 39 ; s pc microprocessors , is provided and interconnected to various other components by system bus 12 . an operating system 41 runs on cpu 10 , provides control and is used to coordinate the function of the various components of fig1 . operating system 41 may be one of the commercially available operating systems such as ibm &# 39 ; s aix 6000 ™ operating system or microsoft &# 39 ; s windows98 ™ or windowsnt ™, as well as unix and other ibm aix operating systems . application programs 40 , controlled by the system , are moved into and out of the main memory random access memory ( ram ) 14 . these programs include the program of the present invention which will be subsequently described in combination with any conventional web browser , such as the netscape 3 . 0 ™ or microsoft &# 39 ; s internet explorer ™. a read only memory ( rom ) 16 is connected to cpu 10 via bus 12 and includes the basic input / output system ( bios ) that controls the basic computer functions . ram 14 , i / o adapter 18 and communications adapter 34 are also interconnected to system bus 12 . i / o adapter 18 may be a small computer system interface ( scsi ) adapter that communicates with the disk storage device 20 . communications adapter 34 interconnects bus 12 with an outside network enabling the data processing system to communicate with other such systems over a local area network ( lan ) or wide area network ( wan ), which includes , of course , the web or internet . the latter two terms are meant to be generally interchangeable and are so used in the present description of the distribution network . i / o devices are also connected to system bus 12 via user interface adapter 22 and display adapter 36 . keyboard 24 and mouse 26 are all interconnected to bus 12 through user interface adapter 22 . it is through such input devices that the user may interactively relate to the programs for shopping on the web according to the present invention . display adapter 36 includes a frame buffer 39 , which is a storage device that holds a representation of each pixel on the display screen 38 . images may be stored in frame buffer 39 for display on monitor 38 through various components , such as a digital to analog converter ( not shown ) and the like . by using the aforementioned i / o devices , a user is capable of inputting information to the system through the keyboard 24 or mouse 26 and receiving output information from the system via display 38 . before going further into the details of specific embodiments , it will be helpful to understand from a more general perspective the various elements and methods that may be related to the present invention . since a major aspect of the present invention is directed to documents , such as web pages , transmitted over networks , an understanding of networks and their operating principles would be helpful . we will not go into great detail in describing the networks to which the present invention is applicable . reference has also been made to the applicability of the present invention to a global network such as the internet . for details on internet nodes , objects and links , reference is made to the text , mastering the internet , g . h . cady et al ., published by sybex inc ., alameda , calif ., 1996 . any data communication system that interconnects or links computer controlled systems with various sites defines a communications network . a network may be as simple as two linked computers or it may be any combination of lans or wans . of course , the internet or web is a global network of a heterogeneous mix of computer technologies and operating systems . higher level objects are linked to the lower level objects in the hierarchy through a variety of network server computers . these network servers are the key to network distribution , such as the distribution of web pages and related documentation . in this connection , the term documents , as used to describe data transmitted over the web or other networks , is intended to include web pages including displayable text , graphics and other images . web documents are conventionally implemented in html language , which is described in detail in the text entitled just java , van der linden , 1997 , sunsoft press , particularly at chapter 7 , pp . 249 - 268 , dealing with the handling of web pages ; and also in the above - referenced mastering the internet , particularly pp . 637 - 642 , on html in the formation of web pages . in addition , aspects of this invention will involve web browsers . a general and comprehensive description of browsers may be found in the above - mentioned mastering the internet text at pp . 291 - 313 . also , in the description that follows , reference will be made to searching and search engines . web searching is done through selected search engines , resident on the web or internet access servers . typical search engines include yahoo , altavista , infoseek and lycos . such search engines are described in greater detail in the above - mentioned text , mastering the internet , at pp . 347 - 357 . a generalized diagram of a portion of the internet , that the computer 56 controlled display terminal 57 used for web page or other document display of the present invention , is connected as shown in fig2 . computer 56 and display terminal 57 are the computer system shown in fig1 and connection 58 ( fig2 ) is the network connection shown in fig1 . reference may be made to the above - mentioned mastering the internet , pp . 136 - 147 , for typical connections between local display workstations to the internet via network servers , any of which may be used to implement the system on which this invention is used . the system embodiment of fig2 is one of these known as a host - dial up connection . such host - dial up connections have been in use for over 30 years through network access servers 53 which are linked 51 to the web 50 . the servers 53 are maintained by a service provider to the client &# 39 ; s display terminal 57 . the host &# 39 ; s server 53 is accessed by the client terminal 57 through a normal dial - up telephone linkage 58 via modem 54 , telephone line 55 and modem 52 . the html files representative of the web pages are downloaded to display terminal 57 through controlling server 53 and computer 56 via the telephone line linkages from server 53 which may have accessed them from the web 50 via linkage 51 . three representative web sites are shown : “ we are flowers ” 47 , connected to the web via web server 48 ; “ tin men ” 45 , connected to the web via web server 49 ; and “ la lakers ” 46 connected to the web via web server 59 . these will be referred to in the subsequent illustrations with respect to fig3 through 5 . web browser 44 in receiving web station computer 56 controls the process of this invention and uses cache 43 to temporarily store data relative to the user &# 39 ; s shopping cart . now , with respect to fig3 through 5 , we will provide an illustrative example of how the present invention may be used to provide a universal personal shopping cart that may be moved loaded from one web page to another . in fig3 let us assume that bea ball wishes to buy some birthday presents for her husband . initially , she calls up web page 61 through the browser at her web station . it comes from the flowers site 47 through web server 48 in fig2 as indicated at source line 62 in fig3 . she selects 1 doz . roses 63 from flower menu 68 . she has her shopping cart 64 set up by her web browser at her web site . the roses representation 65 is loaded into the cart 64 along with a description and price 66 . the cart provides a running total price 67 of its contents . it should be noted that the graphics for the cart and its attendant data are provided through the user &# 39 ; s local browser rather than conventionally by the flowers web page itself . under the control of the browser , the graphics engine of the local computer providing the user &# 39 ; s web station display provides the shopping cart and its attendant data . continuing her shopping for gifts , mrs . ball leaves web page 61 and has her browser call up a new web page 71 , fig4 . her shopping cart 64 with its load 65 and data 66 move with the user into the new web page 71 . there , from the tin men page originating from web site 45 , fig2 she selects item 73 from menu 78 a u . s . rifleman antique tin soldier , a representation of which 75 ends up in her shopping cart 64 along with its attendant data 76 . further continuing her shopping for gifts , mrs . ball now leaves web page 71 and has her browser call up a new web page 81 , fig5 . her shopping cart 64 with its full load moves with the her into the new web page 81 . there , from the la laker page from web site 46 ( fig2 ), the page offers tickets to basketball games . she selects item 83 from menu 88 , two tickets to a june 15 game which is then loaded into her shopping cart as representation 85 and attendant data 86 . now she has shopped enough and wishes to have her browser finalize the sales . however , she notes that the total value of the products in her cart is listed at $ 865 and she has only planned to spend about $ 500 . she decides not to take the tickets . in such a case , she may simply bring up any dialog box with a delete , for example , and then click on the ticket representation 85 to delete . her browser is then activated to complete the sale . the browser that has stored the web page url , as well as the product ids , now contacts the web site with the user &# 39 ; s billing information ( e . g . shipping address , billing address , name and credit card information ) needed to complete the sale . in the case where the user may already have an account with the web site vendor , the billing information may be as simple as the user &# 39 ; s id and the ids of the products . the user may be offered additional information with respect to the objects in his cart . for example , if instead of one of the specialty items in her cart the user had chosen a standard item such as , let us call it , a sony 25 ″ txt tv , she could have had the option of getting the tv priced at other web sites : web site item price e - mail sony25txtv $ 380 . 00 tv / tv sony25txtv $ 353 . 00 fast eddies sony25txtv $ 359 . 00 elec outlet sony25txtv $ 352 . 00 in such a case , if the shopper was at the e - mall web page , she could readily move her cart with whatever was loaded in it to the elec outlet web page , load the sony tv at the lowest price and return the cart to e - mall to continue shopping there . now , with reference to fig6 and 7 we will describe a process implemented by the present invention in conjunction with the flowcharts of these figures . fig6 is a flowchart showing the development of a process according to the present invention for enabling a user to move his personal shopping cart from one web page to another . with reference to fig6 first , process step 90 , a conventional web browser program is provided at the web page receiving display station , e . g . the computer controlled display of fig1 or display station 56 , 57 of fig2 for accessing web pages from the web . the browser is set up to provide a shopping cart representation and image , displayable within each accessed web page , that is a shopping page offering goods and services , step 91 . the user is enabled to select and load products into the same shopping cart from many web page , step 92 . the browser is set up to store information relative to each item that the user selects for his cart ( e . g . the price , the url of the item web page ) step 93 . the browser is provided with the capability of accessing another and subsequent web pages selling goods and services while maintaining the cart representation with all loaded goods from web page to web page , step 94 . the browser is further provided with the capability of permitting the user to select which of the items in the shopping cart the user wishes to keep , and which the user wishes to cancel from the cart , step 95 . finally , the browser is provided with the capability of completing the sale of the user selected items by notifying the selling ( offering ) web site and providing user billing data to the web site , step 96 . the running of the process will now be described with respect to fig7 . first , step 101 , a determination is made as to whether the user has selected a web page . if no , the process is returned to step 101 , and the selection of a web page is awaited . if yes , the browser gets the web page , step 102 . then , the browser displays the user &# 39 ; s shopping cart on the page , step 103 . a determination is then made , step 104 , as to whether the user has selected an item from the web page . if yes , the browser loads the representation of the item into the cart , step 105 , and the browser stores the item id , price and web page url . at this point , or if the determination in step 104 is no , a determination is made as to whether the user has selected another web page , step 107 . if yes , then the browser gets the web page , step 108 , and the browser displays the shopping cart with whatever load that it has from the previous web page on this next web page , step 109 . then , the process returns via branch “ a ” to step 104 where a determination is made as to whether the user has selected an item from this next web page and , if yes , then again in step 105 the item is loaded in the shopping cart along with the previous items loaded into the cart and the browser stores the data , step 106 . if in step 107 the user finally does not select another web page , then a determination is made , step 110 , as to whether the user wishes to buy and thus selects items in his cart . if yes , then , step 111 , the sales are completed by the browser sending the stored item ids and the user billing data back to the web pages &# 39 ; urls . at this point , or if the decision from step 110 had been no , via branch “ b ”, a determination is made as to whether the session is over , step 112 . if yes , the session is exited . if no , the process is returned to step 101 where the selection of another web page is awaited . one of the preferred implementations of the present invention is as a routine in an operating system made up of programming steps or instructions resident in ram 14 , fig1 during computer operations . until required by the computer system , the program instructions may be stored in another readable medium , e . g . in disk drive 20 or in a removable memory , such as an optical disk for use in a cd rom computer input or in a floppy disk for use in a floppy disk drive computer input . further , the program instructions may be stored in the memory of another computer prior to use in the system of the present invention and transmitted over a lan or a wan , such as the internet , when required by the user of the present invention . one skilled in the art should appreciate that the processes controlling the present invention are capable of being distributed in the form of computer readable media in a variety of forms . although certain preferred embodiments have been shown and described , it will be understood that many changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope and intent of the appended claims . | 6 |
in the following description , certain details are set forth below to provide a sufficient understanding of the invention . however it will be clear to one skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced without these particular details . in other instances , well - known circuits , control signals , timing protocols , and software operations have not been shown in detail or omitted entirely in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the invention . fig1 is a simplified block diagram of an electronic system 100 comprising a circuit 120 , resonator 130 , and heat source 140 . circuit 120 and resonator 130 together may be referred to as an oscillator 110 . in operation , circuit 120 may apply a voltage to resonator 130 , causing resonator 130 to change its shape . when circuit 120 removes the voltage , resonator 130 may generate a voltage as it returns to its previous shape . circuit 120 may repeat and maintain this process ( i . e ., resonator &# 39 ; s 130 oscillations ) by amplifying the voltage from resonator 130 and feeding it back to resonator 130 . circuit 120 may convert the oscillation ( pulses ) from resonator 130 into signals ( e . g ., clock signals ) suitable for analog and digital circuits . for example , oscillator 110 accuracy may be from 5 ppm to 0 . 1 ppm . in some embodiments , oscillator 110 has a 0 . 5 ppm accuracy . as another example , resonator 130 may be a piezoelectric crystal resonator . in various embodiments , resonator 130 is a quartz crystal resonator . in other embodiments , resonator 130 is a microelectromechanical systems ( mems ) resonator . generally the frequency at which piezoelectric crystals oscillate will change with variations in temperature . for example , a crystal oscillator exactly on a predefined frequency ( or range of frequencies ) at 25 ° c . with a frequency variation of five parts per million ( ppm ) per degree celsius change could experience a frequency offset of 25 ppm with only a 5 ° c . temperature rise . since temperature effects on a crystal oscillator are , for the most part , consistent and reproducible , circuits may be designed to compensate for the temperature effects on oscillator frequency . circuit 120 may include circuitry to compensate for temperature variations . for example , circuit 120 may include a temperature sensor and compensation circuitry which may operate with resonator 130 over a predefined range of temperatures . oscillator 110 , for example , may have an operating temperature range of − 40 ° c . to + 85 ° c . in some embodiments , oscillator 110 has an operating range of − 20 ° c . to + 60 ° c . in operation , circuit 120 may use the compensation circuitry to compensate for temperature effects on the resonator 130 . resonator 130 and circuit 120 ( including temperature sensor and compensation network ) together may form a temperature compensated crystal oscillator ( tcxo ). the compensation network may include capacitors , thermistors , compensating elements ( e . g ., in series ), amplifiers , read only memories ( roms ), low dropout regulator ( ldo ), divider , and phase - lock - loop ( pll ), as well as other circuit elements . as another example , circuit 120 may include a temperature sensor and an oven controller . circuit 120 may use the output of the temperature sensor to control an oven . an oven may include a heating element . in operation , resonator 130 may be maintained at a constant temperature , for example , by heating the resonator to a temperature above an expected ambient temperature ( e . g ., 15 ° to 20 ° above the highest temperature to which resonator 130 will likely be exposed ). an oven may optionally include a thermally insulated container or enclosure around resonator 130 . resonator 130 and circuit 120 ( including temperature sensor and oven controller ) together may form an oven controlled crystal oscillator ( ocxo ). other combinations and permutations are possible without deviating from the scope of the invention . resonator 130 and circuit 120 together , for example , may form a voltage - controlled crystal oscillator ( vcxo ), digitally - controlled crystal oscillator ( dcxo ), voltage controlled / temperature compensated crystal oscillator ( vctcxo ), as well as other oscillator systems . heat source 140 may be one or more components in electronic system 100 which generate heat . heat source 140 , for example , may be a baseband processor for a portable wireless device ( e . g ., for use in a global positioning system , cellular network , wireless local area network , wireless wide area network , etc .). heat generated by heat source 140 may affect the temperature of electronic system 100 and in particular the temperature of circuit 120 and resonator 130 . temperature compensation in tcxos and ocxos may operate properly when the temperature measured by circuit 120 is substantially the same as the temperature experienced by resonator 130 . that is , the amount of compensation provided by circuit 120 for the temperature effect on resonator 130 is based at least on part on the measured temperature . the assumption is that the measured temperature is approximately the same as the temperature of the resonator 130 . if the measured temperature , however , does not accurately reflect the temperature of the resonator 130 , the compensation provided by the compensation circuit of circuit 120 will not effectively compensate for the temperature impact on the resonator 130 . hence , it is desirable for circuit 120 and resonator 130 to experience substantially the same temperature . a different temperature between the circuit 120 and the resonator 130 may result , for example , when due to spatial arrangement circuit 120 receives more heat from heat source 140 than resonator 130 , or resonator 130 receives more heat than circuit 120 . such an arrangement , for example , may occur when circuit 120 , resonator 130 , and heat source 140 are arranged on the same plane of a substrate ( e . g ., printed circuit board ) and the circuit 120 and the resonator 130 are located at significantly different distances from the heat source 140 . to facilitate circuit 120 and resonator 130 being heated to substantially the same amount by the heat from heat source 140 , embodiments of the present invention include at least one of the components ( i . e ., circuit 120 , resonator 130 , and heat source 140 ) embedded in a substrate onto which the other components may be attached . the other components may be arranged on the substrate in such a manner as to be heated substantially the same amount by the heat from heat source 140 . embodiments of the present invention may also result in a low profile ( i . e ., height of components attached to the substrate ). fig2 illustrates an electronic system 200 according to some embodiments of the present invention . for clarity , the same reference numerals are used to designate elements analogous to those described above in connection with fig1 . for brevity , the description of fig1 is not repeated with respect to fig2 . coupled to a surface 270 of substrate 220 are package 240 and optionally electrical device ( s ) 280 . package 240 may include circuit 120 and resonator 130 . circuit 120 and resonator 130 are coupled to each other and to package 240 . heat source 140 may be embedded in substrate 220 , as will be discussed further below . as depicted in fig2 , circuit 120 and resonator 130 may be arranged horizontally alongside one another ( i . e ., side by side ) on package substrate 260 . in some embodiments , circuit 120 and resonator 130 may be assembled into different packages . electrical devices 280 may be active and / or passive electrical components , such as resistors , capacitors , discrete semiconductors , small ics , memory ( e . g ., dynamic random access memory ( dram ), flash memory , etc . ), controllers ( e . g ., touch - screen controller ), applications processors , accelerometers , compasses , as well as other components . circuit 120 may be an integrated circuit ( ic ) in die form or an ic die assembled in a package . in some embodiments of the present invention , circuit 120 may be an ic die assembled into a chip scale package ( csp ) or land grid array ( lga ). resonator 130 may be a piezoelectric crystal or a mems resonator mounted in a package such as an lga . package 240 may include package substrate 260 and lid 250 , which may optionally be hermetically sealed . package 240 may be a multi - chip module ( mcm ) corresponding to an lga form factor . package 240 may also be a laminated mcm with encapsulant applied over circuit 120 and resonator 130 ( which are positioned side - by - side in package 240 ), or a system - in - a - package ( sip ) with circuit 120 and resonator 130 stacked vertically . package 240 may also include underfill , thermal gel / paste , and the like . substrate 260 may be ceramic . substrate 260 may also be a multi - layer laminated printed circuit board ( pcb ). lid 250 may be metal . lid 250 may also be ceramic or epoxy / plastic , and may include an optional heat spreader . in some embodiments where the resonator 130 is a mems device , resonator 130 may be stacked on the top of circuit 120 using die attach adhesive ( not shown ). such a configuration may be referred to as “ stacked die .” interconnection and signal transfer between 130 and 120 may be through bond wires from the pads on 130 to the pads on 120 ( not shown ). bond wires may also be used for interconnect and signal transfer from stacked die resonator 130 and circuit 120 to substrate 220 . in some embodiments , the stacked die resonator 130 and circuit 120 are assembled in package 240 and package 240 is mounted to substrate 220 as described above . other combinations and permutations are possible within the scope of the invention . other packaging technologies may be used . in practice , electronic system 200 may be a subassembly in a larger assembly ( not shown ). the surface 270 of substrate 220 , devices 280 , and package 240 may be covered by a metal lid or plastic / epoxy encapsulant 290 . the metal lid or plastic / epoxy encapsulant 290 may facilitate handling of the electronic system 200 by automated manufacturing machines ( e . g ., pick and place machine ) during assembly of the larger assembly . in some embodiments , the combined height h of substrate 220 and metal lid or plastic / epoxy encapsulant 290 may be 1 mm or less . for example , substrate 220 may be 400 μm or less thick , and package 240 substantially covered by metal lid or plastic epoxy encapsulant 290 may be 400 μm or less tall , resulting in a combined height h of 1 mm or less . in some embodiments where resonator 130 is a mems resonator , package 240 may be omitted , and circuit 120 and resonator 130 may be coupled to surface 270 of substrate 220 , reducing height h further . in operation , heat generated by heat source 140 spreads through printed circuit board 220 . in some embodiments of the present invention , substrate 220 may include a heat conducting plane or layer 230 that may be disposed between heat source 140 and a surface 270 of substrate 220 . the heat conducting plane or layer 230 may contribute to heat distribution in substrate 220 . the heat conducting plane or layer 230 may be a layer of metal , such as copper , and may be substantially solid ( with vias ) or comprised of signal traces . heat from heat source 140 may propagate through substrate 220 to package 240 , and within package 240 to circuit 120 and resonator 130 . accordingly , circuit 120 and resonator 130 in package 240 may be positioned on a surface 270 of substrate 220 to be heated substantially the same amount by heat source 140 embedded within substrate 220 . for example , in some embodiments of the present invention , package 240 is approximately centered above heat source 140 . in the embodiment illustrated with reference to fig2 , the package 240 , which includes circuit 120 and resonator 130 therein , is positioned substantially over the heat source 140 so that the heat generated by the heat source 140 will heat both the circuit 120 and resonator 130 approximately the same . the circuit 120 and resonator 130 may be attached to the package 240 so that both components are approximately in the same horizontal plane . in some embodiments , the circuit 120 and resonator 130 are positioned within the package 240 so that the two are laterally disposed to one another and positioned relative to the heat source 140 within the package 240 to be heated substantially the same by the heat source 140 . for example , the space / distance between the circuit 120 and the heat source 140 is substantially the same as the space / distance between the resonator 130 and the heat source 140 . in some embodiments , the package 240 is located relative to the heat source 140 so that at least a portion of the package 240 is above the heat source 140 . in other embodiments , the package 240 does not overlap ( as viewed from above ) any portion of the heat source 140 , but positioned so that the circuit 120 and resonator 130 are heated substantially the same by the heat source 140 . as may be readily understood by one of ordinary skill in the art , different combinations and permutations are possible within the scope of the present invention . assembly 210 is depicted in two dimensions such that package 240 may appear to be positioned along one dimension ( i . e ., left - right ). however package 240 may be positioned in two dimensions over surface 270 of substrate 220 . package 240 , for example , may be positioned on a surface 270 of substrate 220 off - center from heat source 140 embedded in substrate 220 . heat conducting plane 230 may transfer heat approximately uniformly on the same horizontal plane to both circuit 120 and resonator 130 . it is desirable for the package 240 to be positioned so that circuit 120 and resonator 130 in package 240 are heated substantially the same amount by heat source 140 . fig3 depicts an electronic system 300 according to other embodiments of the present invention . for clarity , the same reference numerals are used to designate elements analogous to those described above in connection with fig1 and 2 . for brevity , the description of fig1 and 2 are not repeated with respect to fig3 . coupled to a surface 270 of substrate 220 are package 240 and optionally electrical devices 280 . package 240 may include resonator 130 . circuit 120 may be embedded in substrate 220 . circuit 120 , for example , may be an ic in die form or an ic die assembled in a package . in some embodiments of the present invention , circuit 120 may be an ic die assembled into a csp or lga . resonator 130 may be a piezoelectric crystal mounted in package 240 . package 240 may be an lga including package substrate 260 and lid 250 , which may optionally be hermetically sealed . other combinations and permutations are possible within the scope of the invention . for example , other packaging technologies may be used in place of or in addition to those described above . in other embodiments , resonator 130 may be a mems die coupled to surface 270 of substrate 220 and package 240 may be omitted . heat source 140 , optional heat conducting plane 230 , and metal lid or plastic / epoxy encapsulant 290 are analogous to that of fig2 except as described below . for brevity , the description of fig2 is not repeated with respect to fig3 . in operation , heat generated by heat source 140 spreads through printed circuit board 220 . in some embodiments of the present invention , heat is distributed through substrate 220 with optional heat conducting plane 230 . heat from heat source 140 travels through substrate 220 to package 240 , within package 240 to resonator 130 , and to circuit 120 in substrate 220 . accordingly , circuit 120 in substrate 220 and resonator 130 in package 240 may be positioned relative to each other to be heated substantially the same amount by heat source 140 within substrate 220 . in some embodiments of the present invention , package 240 is approximately centered above circuit 120 . although shown in fig3 as having the resonator 130 located in the package 240 and the circuit 120 embedded in the substrate 220 , in other embodiments the circuit 120 may be located in the package 240 and the resonator 130 embedded in the substrate 220 . as illustrated for the embodiment of fig3 , at least one of the circuit 120 or oscillator 130 is embedded in the substrate 220 . additionally , although the heat source 140 is illustrated in fig3 as being embedded in the substrate 220 , in some embodiments the heat source 140 may be coupled to the surface 270 of the substrate 220 . as can be readily understood by one of ordinary skill in the art , different combinations and permutations are possible within the scope of the present invention . for example , assembly 310 is depicted in two dimensions such that package 240 may appear to only be positioned along one dimension ( i . e ., left - right ). however package 240 may be positioned in two dimensions over surface 270 of substrate 220 . package 240 , for example , may be positioned on a surface 270 of substrate 220 off - center from circuit 120 embedded in substrate 220 . heat conducting plane 230 may transfer heat approximately uniformly on the same horizontal plane to both circuit 120 and resonator 130 . it is desirable for the position of package 240 is that circuit 120 in substrate 220 and resonator 130 in package 240 be heated substantially the same amount by heat source 140 . fig4 depicts an electronic system 400 according to some embodiments of the present invention . for clarity , the same reference numerals are used to designate elements analogous to those described above in connection with fig1 , 2 , and 3 . for brevity , the description of fig1 , 2 , and 3 are not repeated with respect to fig3 . embedded in substrate 220 are circuit 120 and resonator 130 . as depicted in fig4 , heat source 140 may be embedded in substrate 220 and / or coupled to surface 270 of substrate 220 . in operation , heat generated by heat source 140 may propagate through substrate 220 to circuit 120 and resonator 130 . in some embodiments of the present invention , substrate 220 may include a heat conducting plane or layer 230 that may be disposed between heat source 140 and circuit 120 and resonator 130 . the heat conducting plane or layer 230 may contribute to heat distribution in substrate 220 . accordingly , circuit 120 and resonator 130 may be positioned in substrate 220 to be heated substantially the same amount by heat source 140 . for example , in some embodiments of the present invention , circuit 120 and resonator 130 are approximately centered below heat source 140 . in the embodiment illustrated with reference to fig4 , circuit 120 and resonator 130 are positioned substantially below heat source 140 so that the heat generated by the heat source 140 will heat both the circuit 120 and resonator 130 approximately the same . circuit 120 and resonator 130 may be embedded in substrate 220 so that both components are approximately in the same horizontal plane . in some embodiments , the circuit 120 and resonator 130 are positioned within the package 240 so that the two are laterally disposed to one another and positioned relative to the heat source 140 in substrate 220 to be heated substantially the same by the heat source 140 . for example , the space / distance between the circuit 120 and the heat source 140 is substantially the same as the space / distance between the resonator 130 and the heat source 140 . in embodiments of the present invention , circuit 120 , resonator 130 , and heat source 140 are embedded in substrate 220 . circuit 120 , resonator 130 , and heat source 140 may occupy the same horizontal plane . as depicted in fig4 , circuit 120 , resonator 130 , and heat source 140 may appear to be arranged in one dimension ( left - right ). however , circuit 120 , resonator 130 , and heat source 140 may be arranged in substrate 220 in two dimensions so that circuit 120 and resonator 130 are heated substantially the same amount by heat source 140 . for example , the space / distance between the circuit 120 and the heat source 140 is substantially the same as the space / distance between the resonator 130 and the heat source 140 . heat conducting plane 230 may transfer heat approximately uniformly on the same horizontal plane to both circuit 120 and resonator 130 . as may be readily understood by one of ordinary skill in the art , different combinations and permutations are possible within the scope of the present invention . assembly 410 is depicted in two dimensions such that heat source 140 may appear to be positioned along one dimension ( i . e ., left - right ). however heat source 140 may be positioned in two dimensions over surface 270 of substrate 220 . heat source 140 , for example , may be positioned on a surface 270 of substrate 220 off - center from circuit 120 and resonator 130 in substrate 220 . heat conducting plane 230 may transfer heat approximately unifomrly on the same horizontal plane to both circuit 120 and resonator 130 . it is desirable for circuit 120 and resonator 130 in substrate 220 to be positioned so that circuit 120 and resonator 130 are heated substantially the same amount by heat source 140 . as another example , circuit 120 and heat source 140 may be included in the same integrated circuit die ( not depicted ). in some embodiments , the combined circuit 120 and heat source 140 work in conjunction with resonator 130 . the combined circuit 120 and heat source 140 may be coupled to surface 270 of substrate 220 or embedded in substrate 220 . resonator 130 may also be coupled to surface 270 of substrate 220 or embedded in substrate 220 . it is desirable for resonator 130 to be arranged so that circuit 120 ( in the combined circuit 120 and heat source 140 ) and resonator 130 are heated substantially the same amount by heat source 140 ( in the combined circuit 120 and heat source 140 ). in some embodiments of the invention , the arrangement of the resonator 130 and the circuit 120 may result in an encapsulated package that has a lower profile compared to conventional arrangements , for example , the resonator 130 and circuit 120 stacked within the package 240 that is attached to a surface of the substrate 220 . for example , the embodiment illustrated in fig2 may have a lower profile due to the side - by - side arrangement of the resonator 130 and circuit 120 in the package 240 . the embodiment illustrated in fig3 may also have a lower profile resulting from having the resonator 130 ( or circuit 120 ) disposed in the package 240 and the circuit 120 ( or resonator 130 ) embedded in the substrate 220 . although not a requirement of the present invention , some embodiments may , however , provide the desirable benefit of a lower profile . fig5 illustrates a cross - sectional view of a simplified printed circuit board ( pcb ) stackup including embedded component ( s ) and conventionally mounted component ( s ). embedded component 525 may be attached to first layer 510 . first layer 510 , second layer 520 , third layer 530 , and fourth layer 540 may be stacked and may be pressed / bonded together to form a substrate . vias or bumps 515 may be formed and filled for electrical coupling to the inputs / outputs ( i / os ) of embedded component 520 . metal foil on first layer 510 and fourth 540 layer may be patterned , etched , and plated . one or more conventionally mounted components 560 may be attached on the first layer 510 and / or fourth layer 540 using surface mount technology ( smt ). first layer 510 , for example , may be a dielectric material with a layer of metal foil bonded on one side . second layer 520 may be a dielectric material and may include a mechanically - and / or chemically - created opening for embedded component 525 . third layer 530 and fourth layer 530 may be a dielectric material having a thin layer of metal foil bonded on one side . the dielectric materials of the first layer 510 , second layer 520 , third layer 530 , and fourth layer 540 may be cured ( i . e ., core ) or uncured ( i . e ., prepreg ) fiberglass - epoxy resin , such as fr - 4 , cem , bt - epoxy , polyimide , teflon ( polytetrafluoroethylene ), and the like . the metal foil may be copper foil . various combinations and permutations may be used without deviating from the scope of the present invention . the substrate may have a different number of ( metal ) layers ( e . g ., 2 - 24 layers ). in some embodiments of the present invention , the substrate includes six layers . although only one embedded component 525 and one conventionally mounted component 560 are depicted in fig5 , different numbers of embedded components 525 and conventionally mounted components 560 may be included . fig2 - 5 are simplified and offered by way of illustration only . as such , fig2 - 5 do not show particular terminal configurations or electrical connections to packages , substrates , or layers . fig6 illustrates a simplified functional block diagram of a portable wireless device 600 . portable wireless device 600 comprises an antenna block 610 , radio frequency ( rf ) receiver / transmitter block 620 , tcxo block 630 , baseband and logic block 640 , and microcontroller block 650 . antenna block 610 may be a transducer which transmits and receives electromagnetic waves and converts it into electric current . rf receiver / transmitter block 620 may receive the electric current from antenna block 610 and produce electrical signals based thereon , and / or drive electric current in antenna block 610 . baseband and logic block 640 may convert the analog signal from the rf receiver / transmitter block 620 to a digital signal ( and vice - versa ) and may perform application - specific processing of the digital signal ( e . g ., location determination in a gps receiver , data decoding / encoding in a wireless networking device , sound / voice decoding / encoding in a cell phone , etc .). tcxo block 630 may provide a high - precision clock . microcontroller block 550 may provide a user interface , and / or run applications . antenna block 610 may be designed for a specific frequency or range of frequencies . antenna block 610 may be omnidirectional . rf receiver / transmitter , block 620 may include a low - noise amplifier ( lna ), band - pass filter ( bpf ), and mixer . in some embodiments , rf receiver / transmitter block 620 includes only one of a receiver or transmitter ( e . g ., a gps receiver may only include a receiver ). baseband and logic block 640 may include a digital signal processor ( dsp ), memory ( e . g ., sdram ), memory management unit , input / output ( i / o ), and the like . tcxo block 630 may also , for example , be an oxco and / or vctcxo . in some embodiments , baseband and logic block 640 may be combined with a portion of the tcxo block on one integrated circuit die . in these embodiments , an oscillator ( e . g ., crystal or mems oscillator ) may be used in conjunction with the one integrated circuit die . microcontroller block 650 may include an interrupt controller , microcontroller , programmable i / o , etc . the microcontroller in microcontroller block 650 may be connected to the memory management unit in baseband and logic block 640 . from the foregoing , it will be appreciated that , although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration , various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention . such modifications are well within the skill of those ordinarily skilled in the art . accordingly , the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims . | 7 |
with reference to drawings , and in particular to fig1 and 3 thereof , the water level detector or flood alarm device of the present invention will be described . as seen , the water level detector or flood alarm device 10 of the present invention comprises a housing 12 , an alarm means 14 , a mounting means 16a , and an attaching means 18 . the alarm means 14 comprises a conventional mercury activated float switch 20 mounted interiorly to the housing 12 . other conventional float devices or types of liquid sensors can be used which will activate a switch upon contact with water . it is to be understood that a conventional mercury activated float switch , sure bail ® manufactured by delson industries , has been used to produce favorable results and this conventional mercury float switch is only one example of a suitable sensor that could be used with the water level detector or flood alarm device of the present invention . it is further contemplated that appropriate modifications of the attachment of the conventional water detecting devices 20 to the housing 12 can be done in order for the invention to be suited to receive other conventional water detecting devices within the scope of skill of the ordinary artisan . coupled to the float switch 20 is a power supply 22 , such as a battery , and a warning means 24 , such as a light source , an audible alarm means , or a combination thereof . this will provide for the float switch 20 to be in series with the battery and warning means . as rising water rotates the float , the switch 20 will close , as illustrated , for forming a closed circuit . the closed circuit will activate the warning means 24 via the power source 22 . the electrical conduits 26 used to couple the switch 20 to the power supply and warning means can be any desired length . optionally , the electrical conduits 26 can include connectors 28 for providing for the power supply 22 and warning means to be removably secured to the switch 20 . this will provide for a unit which can be disassembled easily and quickly and made compact for storage and transport . in yet another embodiment , the conduits 26 can be coupled to a transmitter while a receiver would be coupled to the warning means 24 . upon activation of the switch 20 , current is transported to the transmitter . the transmitter sends a signal to the receiver for activating the warning means . the conventional mercury activated float switch 20 is maintained within the housing 12 to provide for the float switch to be pivotally located within the housing . pivotal attachment is dependent upon the type and style of conventional float switch devices which are utilized . some conventional devices will be pivotally housed within its own casing while other conventional devices need not have the pivotal mechanism in order to be utilized . hence , it is seen that the conventional float switch is secured and maintained within the housing . the housing 12 , as seen , includes at least one opening 30a for allowing water to efficiently enter and exit the housing 12 . it is noted that this opening is designed to enable water to enter , but must be sized to prohibit debris , such as leaves and the like , from entering the housing . an additional opening 30b is located in proximity to the upper area of the housing to vent air inside the chamber ( interior area of the housing ) as the water rises and falls . to prevent insects and smaller debris from entering the housing , a screen ( not illustrated ) can be added to cover the at least one opening 30a . secured to housing 12 is the mounting means 16a . the first embodiment for the mounting means is illustrated in further detail in fig2 and 3 . as seen in these figures , the mounting means 16a includes a u - shaped base 32 and a u - shaped housing support member 40 with the u - shaped base 32 having a lower planar member 34 and two vertically extending members 36 situated at opposite ends of the lower planar member 34 . pivotally affixed via a pivot means 38 to the u - shaped base 32 is the u - shaped housing support member 40 . this second u - shaped member 40 includes a lower planar member 42 having two vertically extending members 44 situated at opposite ends of the lower planar member 42 . secured to the upper surface of the lower planar member 42 of the second u - shaped member or housing support member 40 is the housing 12 . as seen in fig3 , 6 , and 8 , the water entrance and exit means or opening 30a is located along the side wall of the housing in proximity to the lower area of the housing while opening 30b is located in proximity to the top area of the housing . attachment of the u - shaped housing support member 40 to the u - shaped base 32 occurs at any point along the vertically extending members 44 and 36 , respectively , via the pivot means 38 . this pivot means enables easy pivotal movement of the u - shaped support member 40 with respect to the u - shaped base . this pivot means 38 also enables a secure angular placement of the u - shaped housing support member 40 to the u - shaped base 32 . accordingly , the desired position of the u - shaped housing support member 40 with respect to the u - shaped base 32 can be locked in a secured position via the pivot means 38 to inherently provide for the housing to be parallel and horizontal with respect to the water . the pivot means 38 comprises bolts , spacers or washers , and wing nuts . for maintaining the pivot means 38 , each vertically extending member , 36 and 44 , include through holes ( illustrated in fig2 but not labeled ). extending through each set of through holes is a bolt 46a , such as a carriage bolt . the head 46b of the bolt 46a faces the housing 12 ( see fig1 ). situated on the bolt and between the vertically extending member 36 of the base 32 and the vertically extending member 44 of the support member 40 is a washer or spacer 48 . this washer or spacer 48 provides a reduction in friction during rotation of the support member . located on the opposite end of the head of the bolt is a wing nut 50 . the wing nut enables the secure placement of the support member 40 . accordingly , the wing nut 50 is rotated counter clockwise to loosen the pivot means 38 to render the support member 40 to rotate freely with respect to the base 32 . once a desired position is obtained , the wing nut 50 is rotated clockwise to tighten and secure the support member 40 to the base 32 . a lock washer 52 may be used to lock and secure the pivot means by providing proper tension between the washer 52 and the bearing surface of the u - shaped base member . additional washers may be used for assisting in the proper distribution of pressure as well as preventing damage to the outer surface of the vertically extending member 36 of the base 32 . if a lock washer is utilized , the additional washers will be located between the lock washer and outer surface of the vertically extending member of the base . for securing this device to any surface , an attaching means 18 is provided . the attaching means includes flanges 54 which extend outwardly and perpendicularly from each vertically extending member 36 of the u - shaped base 32 of the mounting means . for temporary or portable use , the flanges 54 each include at least one elongated aperture 56 which extends through the flange at an acute angle , preferably and approximately 40 - 80 degrees . as shown in the figures , the oppositely located elongated apertures are designed and configured to extend towards each other . this will provide for the apertures of the first flange and the apertures of the second flange to extend downwardly towards one another . removably secured to each aperture is a conventional anchoring pin 58 . it is to be understood that anchoring pins having alternative embodiments , such as skewer stakes , nail pegs , corkscrew anchors , auger anchors , and the like , can be successfully utilized with the present invention . the design and configuration of other anchoring pins , such as the use of corkscrew anchors instead of tent pins , may increase the holding power of the device , but they are usually larger and heavier . the combination of the flange , the elongation and angular placement of the aperture , and the anchoring pins provides for a sturdy and sound attaching means which can successfully secure the device 10 to any surface , ground , terrain or the like . the angular placement provides for the convergence effect , while a resisting means , or the elongation of the apertures , prevents the rotation of the anchor pins even when extraction is attempted . accordingly , it is seen that the attaching means includes an angular convergence means for providing converging attachment and a resisting means which will inherently provides a means of resisting gravitational forces and forces of snags and moving water . this will render the housing to be soundly and securely affixed to any type surface and at any inclination . hence , to utilize the device described above , the user merely attaches the base 32 to a surface via the attaching means 18 so the long axis of the float switch housing is nearly horizontal . once secured , the individual loosens the pivot means 38 and adjusts the support member 40 so the housing 12 is approximately level . this will provide for both the housing and axis of rotation of the conventional float switch to be horizontal with respect to the water . when the housing is leveled , with respect to the water , the pivot means is tighten to secure the position of the housing support member 40 . verification of the coupling of the power supply to the switch and warning means is the next step . once arranged , the unit is set for use . a second embodiment of the mounting means 16b which pivots on the side is illustrated in further detail in fig4 and 5 . this embodiment places the center of gravity of the pivoting components ( 12 and 40 ) closer to the center of the attaching means 18 which reduces the leveraged weight the attaching means 18 must support , especially when installed on steep slopes . as seen in these figures , the housing , alarm means , and attaching means are similar in structure , configuration , and design as discussed above and need not be disclosed in further detail . the second embodiment for the mounting means 16b includes a substantially u - shaped base 60 having a lower planar member 62 . located at opposite ends of the lower planar member are vertically extending members 64 . these vertically extending members 64 each include opposite ends 66a and 66b . the first end 66a of the vertically extending member 64 is aligned with the base while the second end 66b extends slightly outwardly to the side of the base . pivotally secured to the base 60 via a pivot means 38 is a substantially u - shaped housing support member 68 having a lower planar member 70 . located at opposite ends of the lower planar member 70 are vertically extending members 72 . these vertically extending members 72 each include opposite ends 74a and 74b . the first end 74a of the vertically extending member is aligned with the planar member 70 while the second end 74b extends slightly outwardly to the side of the base . extending through the second end of each paired vertically extending members 64 and 72 , respectively , is the pivot means 38 . the configuration of this embodiment of the mounting means 16 reduces the leveraged weight the attaching means 18 must support when installed on a sloping surface . utilization for this embodiment is similar as discussed in the first embodiment as illustrated in fig1 - 3 . for conservation of material and reduction in weight and size , the mounting means can be altered to provide for a third embodiment of the mounting means 16c which is illustrated in further detail in fig6 . as seen in this figure , the alarm means and attaching means are similar in structure , configuration , and design as discussed in the first embodiment and need not be disclosed in further detail . this third embodiment includes a u - shaped base 32 having a lower planar member 34 and two vertically extending members 36 . pivotally affixed via a pivot means 38 to the two vertically extending members of the u - shaped base is the housing 12 . this embodiment eliminates the u - shaped housing support member 40 and , thus , uses less material to inherently provide a unit which is more economical , compact and lightweight . utilization occurs in the same manner as for the first embodiment and as discussed for fig1 - 3 . optionally , this u - shaped base and housing can also be reconfigured to pivot on the side similar to the structure as illustrated in fig4 and 5 . for added holding power or security of the mounting means , the above - identified embodiments can include the alteration of the mounting means 18 . this alteration is illustrated in further detail in fig7 and 8 . as seen in these figures the u - shaped base 60 further includes oppositely located additional flanges 76 having elongated apertures 78 extending therethrough . the elongated apertures 56 of the first set of flanges 54 would be oriented approximately 90 degrees to the elongated apertures 78 of the additional flanges 76 . the elongated apertures of the additional flanges extend , preferably , an acute angle therethrough . as shown in the figures , the oppositely located elongated apertures 78 are designed and configured to extend towards each other . this will provide for the apertures of the first flange and the apertures of the second flange to extend downwardly , with respect to the surface , and towards one another . anchor pins are adapted to be received within the holes . once inserted therethrough , the ends of the pins will converge below the center of the mounting means , making it difficult for removal of the device of the present invention , and inherently , providing a more sturdy attachment to the ground . for conservation of materials or for aesthetic reasons , the flanges can extend the entire length of the lower planar member 60 or , optionally , may partially extend the length of the lower planar member , as illustrated . utilization occurs in the same manner as for the first embodiment and as discussed for fig1 - 3 . optionally , these additional flanges can be used with the u - shaped bases illustrated in fig1 - 3 and 6 . it is noted that the attaching means of the first , second and third embodiments of the present invention can be altered to include screw holes 80 , illustrated and labeled in the figures , located in the flange members 54 and 76 . these screw holes will render a fixed installation of the water level detector or flood alarm device of the present invention . the use of the screw holes is ideal for use on a wooden surface , such as a dock , post or the like . the above screw holes could also be enlarged and used to attach the present invention to a modified corkscrew anchor device such as the awing arm anchor manufactured by moonglow enterprises . this device consists of a conventional corkscrew anchor with a mounting plate centered and fixedly secured perpendicular to its top in lieu of the normal handle . this mounting plate contains slots on both sides of the center that secure and permit lateral adjustment of the two attaching bolts which could be used to secure the present invention to the awning arm anchor or the like . after the anchor is screwed into the river bank , the present invention could be attached as described above and utilized in the manner appropriate for the embodiment used . optionally , this anchor can be directly attached to the housing . this heavier , stronger , and larger attaching means would be ideal for heavy duty use where portability is desired but weight and size are not critical . it should also be noted that in the case of the first , second , and third embodiments , illustrated in fig1 - 3 , fig4 and 5 , and fig6 respectively , the conventional float switch 20 and housing unit 12 can be removed from its u - shaped support mount or mounting means 16 and installed directly when a permanent installation is desired and when the mounting surface is level and there is no need for angular adjustment . the effectiveness of formulation made in accordance with the teaching of the present invention , in particular to the attaching means , is illustrated by the following examples and field test . ______________________________________examples of holding power of attaching means tensionaltest riverbank forcesite slope ( lbs .) ground condition______________________________________1 10 degrees 15 sandy , wet and within three inches of water edge2 40 degrees 29 sandy , damp , and about two feet above the water level3 60 degrees 24 sandy , damp , and about five feet above the water level4 75 degrees 22 sandy , damp , about 3 feet upstream from test # 3 and five feet above the water level5 80 degrees 16 - 23 sandy , wet , and about five inches above the water level6 20 degrees 26 damp , loose sand , several feet above water level7 20 degrees 14 dry , loose sand , several feet above water level______________________________________ notes : 1 . tensional force is the minimal force perpendicular to the incline of the river bank ( slope ) required to pull the present invention free . 2 . at site # 5 , the present invention was loosened at 16 lbs . then apparently hung on roots until it dislodged at 23 lbs . of tension . the test was performed on the sopchoppy river in florida because its banks are usually high and very sandy , and these conditions generally present the most difficulty in securing devices to the ground . the embodiment illustrated in fig3 was utilized having a pair of apertures extending through the flanges at an angle of 60 degrees . the thickness or height of the flanges was 3 / 4 of an inch . the pins inserted into these apertures were conventional and approximately 71 / 2 inches in length . the minimum tensional force required to completely removed the device from the ground was measured as it was slowly pulled straight out of its installed position in a direction perpendicular to the incline or slope of the river bank . as the data indicates , wet mushy sand near the water level and dry loose sand higher on the river bank were associated with the lowest resistance or holding powers of 15 and 14 pounds of tension , respectively . since the device and its anchor pins do not float , the only force that would act on it in flooded conditions besides its own weight would be the dynamic pressure of the moving water when submerged or from snags that might float past . but measurement of these actual forces was not attempted because it would depend on too many highly variable factors such as the speed of the current , depth of the water over the device , turbulence , shape and size of snags , existence of roots in the sand , etc . none of which could be easily produced , controlled , or measured for such a limited study . however , it is not unrealistic to assume that the tensional force required to pull the device outward perpendicular from the ground , as measured in this test , would be less that the holding power that would result from the digging and shearing action created by the 60 degree angle of the anchor pins when the device is pushed horizontally downstream by moving water or snags . in fact huge resistance would be created where underground roots are encountered , especially near the surface , and these conditions are quite common along river banks . therefore , it is concluded by inference that 14 pounds represents the approximate minimum force that would be required to dislodge the device from an installed position . it was further concluded that since the measurements were made on sandy riverbank conditions , which generally exhibit low holding powers , the resistive force or holding power would be greater for most other types of denser , heavier soil conditions . it should be noted that the holding power of the device can be increased by adding additional flanges with elongated apertures to the other two sides of the support base , as discussed and illustrated in fig7 and 8 . the holding power of the attaching means can also be increased by utilizing other types of conventional anchors , such as , but not limited to , skewer stakes , nail pegs , corkscrew anchors , auger anchors , and the like , but these devices are usually larger and heavier than the anchor pins shown in the present invention . the components used with the present invention are typically fabricated from non - corrosive materials to provide a device which will not rust nor corrode in time . the present invention 10 , as illustrated in fig1 - 8 is ideal for use by campers , boaters , armed forces , disaster aid and rescue workers , homeowners , canoeing and rafting outfitters , and other businesses with temporary or permanent operations on or near a river because their activities and possessions are often very susceptible and vulnerable to the dangers of flood conditions . this alarm device provides the capability to all of these potential users to be forewarned when the trend of rising water first begins ; thus greatly reducing the risk to them and their possessions . the unique design , structure , and configuration of the attaching means enables users to install the float switch on practically any surface ranging from sandy river banks to wooden retaining walls that may be inclined at any angle or slope up to 90 degrees . and since the unique mounting means permits angular adjustment of the float switch housing , it can be leveled parallel and horizontal to the water for accurate and adequate placement of the device for successfully activating the warning means . thus warned before flooding actually begins , the users will have more time to increase vigilance , move to higher ground , or evacuate . the device can also be used and attached to docks , piers , posts or the like via the centrally and perpendicularly located aperture situated in the attaching means or base for accepting a screw or the like . this will provide for an alternative usage and environment for the device of the present invention . while the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to an embodiment thereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . | 6 |
all terms used herein are intended to have their ordinary meaning in the art unless otherwise provided . an exemplary embodiment allows for energy theft detection in a distribution circuit . typically , a distribution circuit carries electricity from a transmission system and delivers it to consumer locations . the distribution circuits described herein typically comprise a transformer , which reduces distribution voltage to the relatively low voltages ( e . g ., 1 kv ) required by lighting and interior wiring systems . the transformer may be pole - mounted or set on the ground in a protective enclosure . in any event , the transformer is in electrical communication with any number of consumer locations via , for example , an “ electrical service ” or “ service drop ” connection ( e . g ., and electrical wire ). each consumer location typically comprises a meter to determine the amount of electricity consumed at the location . in one embodiment , the inventive methods require that at least two electric meters are present in the distribution circuit . moreover , instantaneous current and voltage information should be available from all the delivery points ( e . g ., meters ) within the transformer . an exemplary residential distribution circuit in is illustrated in fig1 . as shown , the circuit comprises a number of electric meters ( m 1 , m 2 , and m 3 ), such as those that are typically employed in north america to measure electricity usage at a location ( e . g ., a home , apartment , other residence , office or the like ). each of the meters ( m 1 , m 2 , and m 3 ) are adapted to report an instantaneous voltage ( v 1 , v 2 , v 3 ) and instantaneous current ( i 1 a , i 1 b , i 2 a , i 2 b , i 3 a , and i 3 b ) corresponding to instantaneous electricity usage at the location . moreover , each of the meters may experience an aggregate load during such electricity usage , which may be represented in the circuit diagram , for example , by any number of resistors on both sides of the circuit ( e . g ., r 3 a , r 3 b , r 6 a , r 6 b , r 8 a , and r 8 b ). the electricity distribution circuit is shown to experience a resistance along the main electricity distribution line . the resistance may be modeled or represented by any number of resistors ( e . g ., r 1 a , r 1 b , r 4 a and r 4 b ). additionally , the circuit experiences a resistance along each line feeding to the multiple locations , wherein such resistance may be represented by any number of resistors ( e . g ., r 2 a , r 2 b , r 5 a , r 5 b , r 7 a , and r 7 b ). referring to fig2 , the schematic of fig1 is shown in a simplified state , where it assumed that the resistances of the conductors for both sides of the circuit are equal ( i . e ., r 1 a = r 1 b , r 2 a = r 2 b , r 4 a = r 4 b , r 6 a = r 6 b , r 7 a = r 7 b ). as shown , each of the meters ( m 1 , m 2 , and m 3 ) reports an instantaneous voltage ( v 1 , v 2 , v 3 ) and instantaneous current ( i 1 = i 1 a + i 1 b , i 2 = i 2 a + i 2 b , i 3 − i 3 a + i 3 b ) corresponding to instantaneous electricity usage at a location . the aggregate load experienced by each of the meters ( m 1 , m 2 , and m 3 ) on both sides of the circuit ( r 3 = r 3 a + r 3 b , r 6 = r 6 a + r 6 b , r 8 = r 8 a + r 8 b ) is shown simply as one resistor per meter . the resistance seen along the main electricity distribution line is represented by resistors r 1 and r 4 , where r 1 = r 1 a = r 1 b and r 4 = r 4 a = r 4 b . finally , the resistance along each line feeding to the multiple premises , is represented by resistors r 2 , r 5 , and r 7 , respectively , where r 2 = r 2 a = r 2 b ; r 5 = r 5 a = r 5 b ; and r 7 = r 7 a = r 7 b . the exemplary electricity distribution circuit shown in fig2 ( and fig1 ) is a single - phase , 3 - wire circuit attached to ansi form 4s or 4a meters . other types of distribution circuits and meter forms are possible in north america and throughout the world , with the inventive methods described herein being applicable to most of them . for example , for three phase distribution circuits , one skilled in the art recognizes that the methods described herein with respect to the exemplary single - phase circuit would need to be repeated for each of the three phases . further , since the current distribution circuit configuration in europe need only support 220 v services , not both 110 v and 220 v services , a typical european distribution circuit is in fact equivalent to fig2 . still referring to fig2 , the presence of non - measured energy in a distribution circuit creates discrepancies in the voltages and currents reported by the different electric meters ( m 1 , m 2 , and m 3 ) present in the distribution circuit . it has been found that detection of these discrepancies provides a good indication of energy theft and can be used to trigger further investigation . to enable this analysis , all meters ( m 1 , m 2 , m 3 ) within a distribution circuit are configured to report instantaneous voltage ( v 1 , v 2 , v 3 ) and current ( i 1 , i 2 , i 3 ) samples periodically . for example , the meters may be programmed to report voltage and current readings at time intervals ranging from seconds to hours or even days . it will be appreciated that such samples may be manually determined or automatically determined . to obtain snapshots in time of the different currents and voltages within the distribution circuit , all meters may be adapted to take their measurements simultaneously . exemplary meters for use with the embodiments described herein are smart meters and retrofitted meters that include the necessary communications hardware and software including at least one microprocessor , radio , and memory . once the instantaneous voltage and current samples are procured , the analysis of the information may be completed in the following three steps : in addition to circuitry and meters having the described measuring and reporting functionality , the system for performing the evaluation , verification and other steps of the data collection and analysis processes described herein includes at least a back - end processor programmed with software for implementing the processes . one skilled in the art recognizes that multiple processors , databases , servers , displays and the like may be used in various combinations to implement the invention . additionally , meter data may be communicated to the back - end processor through wired , wireless or a combination of wired / wireless components and steps . the methods described herein may be implemented within ami , amr , or advanced metering management ( amm ) technologies , including systems that measure , collect and analyze utility usage , from advanced devices such as electricity meters , through a network on request or a pre - defined schedule . such infrastructure typically includes hardware , software , communications , customer - associated systems and meter data management software . the infrastructure collects and distributes information to customers , suppliers , utility companies and service providers . the technology described herein may be incorporated into systems comprising mesh network technology . mesh networks typically include at least one mesh gate and at least one mesh device , such as an electrical meter . the mesh gate may communicate with the meters over a mesh network . the mesh gate may also communicate with a server or processor over a wide area network . the mesh gate may form a mesh network with nearby meters and interface between the meters and the server . to analyze the data , it is important for the system to know or determine the position of each meter ( m 1 , m 2 , m 3 ) relative to the transformer . in one embodiment , the meter position can be inferred by analyzing the voltages ( v 1 , v 2 , v 3 ) reported by each meter . the meter consistently reporting the highest voltage will typically be the closest to the transformer . the position of the other meters may then be determined based on their relative voltage . however , depending on the resistance of the different lines and the current present on each line , it is possible that the voltage reported by a meter closer to the transformer may be less than the voltage reported by meters further down the distribution line . for this reason , in certain embodiments , the position of each meter may be determined statistically based on multiple samples . for example , any number of instantaneous voltage samples may be determined by the system for each meter . the average of the samples may be determined for each meter , and meter positions may be determined based on the average . in other embodiments , the position of each meter may be determined based on the respective median sample voltage of each meter . of course , the location of the meters may simply be manually entered into the system by , for example , and operator . the operator may also update the meter position as new meters are installed or as older meters are removed . still referring to fig2 , the resistances ( r 1 , r 2 , r 4 , r 5 , r 7 ) of the different lines can be estimated by using at least two samples of the instantaneous voltages and currents . in one embodiment , this process begins by estimating the resistance of the line farthest from the transformer ( e . g ., r 7 ). referring to fig3 , a first subcircuit of fig2 is shown . the voltage ( v 6 ) across r 5 can be expressed based on the current and voltage reported by meter m 2 ( i 2 , v 2 ) and meter m 3 ( i 3 , v 3 ). the following equations show this relationship for a first sample ( sample x ): using these equations , the relationship between resistances r 5 and r 7 may be expressed as follows : a second sample ( sample y ) may then be obtained to determine a second equation for r 5 : combining equations 3 and 4 , the value of r 7 may be expressed as : using the same technique , the resistance r 5 can computed as follows : each following stage in the distribution circuit can be estimated using the same method described above . to obtain the same condition as above , the voltage and current of the distribution line are estimated using the resistances previously computed . for example , the corresponding samples of v 6 and i 6 may be computed using r 7 as follows : referring to fig4 , a second subcircuit of fig2 is shown . once the above calculations are computed , the following two resistances ( r 2 and r 4 ) can be computed as shown in the equations below : the quality of this estimate depends on the precision of the measurements and the different currents present during these measurements — a higher current typically produces a more accurate estimate since measurement errors are smaller relative to the higher reading . for this reason , multiple sample sets may be used to produce multiple estimates which may then be averaged or from which the median value may be ascertained . typically , the samples used should be different to avoid a division by zero when computing the resistances . accordingly , sample sets that produce a division by zero may be discarded . once the location of each meter within the distribution circuit is known and the different resistances are estimated , each sample reported by the meters can be used to compare the voltage reported by the meters and the voltage computed based on the reference circuit . for example , using the reference circuit defined by fig2 , the voltages may be represented as follows : the percentage of discrepancy can be computed by comparing the voltage reported by the meter ( v 2 , v 3 ) and the voltage computed by the reference circuit ( v 2 ′, v 3 ′): equations ( 17 ) and ( 18 ) are reflective of measured discrepancy with respect to m 2 and m 3 , respectively . possible energy theft is signaled when the percentage of discrepancy is higher than a certain threshold . for example , if the percentage of discrepancy of the voltage reported by the meter and the voltage computed by the reference circuit exceeds about 50 %, about 25 %, about 10 %, about 5 %, about 1 % or even about 0 . 5 %, a possible energy theft may be occurring at the corresponding location in the distribution circuit . accordingly , in one embodiment , if the percent discrepancy exceeds the threshold , the system may raise a flag or otherwise alert an operator . the operator may then investigate the discrepancy and correct the situation for simplicity , the different equations presented have been based on the reference circuit shown in fig2 containing three electric meters . one skilled in the art recognized that the same logic applies to any distribution circuit with at least two meters . unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the foregoing discussion , it is appreciated that throughout the description , discussions utilizing terms such as “ processing ” or “ computing ” or “ calculating ” or “ determining ” or “ displaying ” or the like , can refer to the action and processes of a data processing system , or similar electronic device , that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical ( electronic ) quantities within the system &# 39 ; s registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the system &# 39 ; s memories or registers or other such information storage , transmission or display devices . the exemplary embodiments can relate to an apparatus for performing one or more of the functions described herein . this apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes , or it may comprise a general purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer . such a computer program may be stored in a machine ( e . g . computer ) readable storage medium , such as , but is not limited to , any type of disk including floppy disks , optical disks , cd - roms and magnetic - optical disks , read only memories ( roms ), random access memories ( rams ) erasable programmable roms ( eproms ), electrically erasable programmable roms ( eeproms ), magnetic or optical cards , or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions , and each coupled to a bus . some exemplary embodiments described herein are described as software executed on at least one processor , though it is understood that embodiments can be configured in other ways and retain functionality . the embodiments can be implemented on known devices such as a server , a personal computer , a special purpose computer , a programmed microprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integrated circuit element ( s ), and asic or other integrated circuit , a digital signal processor , a hard - wired electronic or logic circuit such as a discrete element circuit , or the like . in general , any device capable of implementing the processes described herein can be used to implement the systems and techniques according to this invention . it is to be appreciated that the various components of the technology can be located at distant portions of a distributed network and / or the internet , or within a dedicated secure , unsecured and / or encrypted system . thus , it should be appreciated that the components of the system can be combined into one or more devices or co - located on a particular node of a distributed network , such as a telecommunications network . as will be appreciated from the description , and for reasons of computational efficiency , the components of the system can be arranged at any location within a distributed network without affecting the operation of the system . moreover , the components could be embedded in a dedicated machine . furthermore , it should be appreciated that the various links connecting the elements can be wired or wireless links , or any combination thereof , or any other known or later developed element ( s ) that is capable of supplying and / or communicating data to and from the connected elements . the terms determine , calculate and compute , and variations thereof , as used herein are used interchangeably and include any type of methodology , process , mathematical operation or technique . the invention described and claimed herein is not to be limited in scope by the specific embodiments herein disclosed since these embodiments are intended as illustrations of several aspects of the invention . any equivalent embodiments are intended to be within the scope of this invention . indeed , various modifications of the invention in addition to those shown and described herein will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description . such modifications are also intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims . all publications cited herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety . | 8 |
fig1 provides an overview of the deployment system which is used to lower a load 10 to the seabed from a ship , barge or other sea - borne vessel 12 . fibre rope 14 is stored in a spooling system 16 , which does not serve as a winch for the weight of the load 10 , however . a continuous track tensioner 18 engages the rope 16 by friction and or other means and provides the tension for controlled lowering or lifting of the load . tracks or the like arrayed around the axis of the rope 14 are pressed radially inward by suitable rams , levers and the like to grip the rope , and to release it again when required . each track comprises a series of individual shoes linked together . while two tracks are shown for the sake of illustration , three or four tracks will be more usually provided , spaced at 120 ° or 90 ° intervals around the rope axis respectively . the detailed construction and operation of the structures for supporting these tensioners in vertical and / or inclined positions above the sea surface can be readily envisaged by the skilled person , for example by reference to prior art in the field of pipe and cable laying , including those documents mentioned already above . ideally , to use fibre rope in combination with a multi - track tensioner , equipped with pads on the tracks , the pad design should be adapted to the rope . a rope behaves different than , say , an umbilical or pipeline ( flexible or rigid ), when it is fed through a tensioner , compressed by the pads and brought under tension . unlike pipes and umbilicals , the diameter of the rope can change significantly with increasing load onto the pads as well as with increasing tension to the rope . furthermore the danger of pinching the rope between the pads is significant . therefore a proper fit of the rope between the pads should be always ensured , regardless of the load to the pads or the tension to the rope . fig2 shows a novel design of a pad , adapted to the behaviour of the fibre rope . the radius r pad contact surface of the pads is bigger than the nominal radius r rope of the rope , and the centre of the radius of curvature is beyond the centre of the rope when the pads are brought into contact with the rope . in this way the cross sectional area is smaller than the calculated circular area of the radius on the pad ( πr 2 ). when the pads are closed , the cross sectional area has an approximately triangular shape . this is beneficial in order to avoid pinching of the rope between the pads when approaching . for a four - track tensioner ; the shape will be square . fig3 shows three of the pads 20 in use contacting a rope 21 . the first contact of the rope and the pads will occur in the middle of the radius area . by further closing the pads ( moving to the centre line ) the rope will change its shape to a slightly triangular shape . on this stage the rope starts to get compressed at the areas of initial contact ( see fig4 .). compression of the rope starts in the middle of the contact area of the pads to the rope , when load to the pads will be applied . the cross sectional area of the rope reduces as the pads move closer to the centre line and the rope gets compressed . the bigger radius on the pads avoids a pinching of the rope between the pads when moving closer . when fully closed ( still without pads in contact to each other ) the cross sectional area is much less than for the unsqueezed rope ( see fig5 ). this will happen even under tension of the rope . according to this , the cross sectional area described by the closed pads needs to be less than the nominal cross sectional area of the rope . fig6 shows another installation where the track type tensioner is replaced by a movable clamp or preferably a pair of clamps , to pay out or haul in the fibre rope . this shows a tower 106 with a winch 100 mounted at the top . the fibre rope on this which 100 is sourced from a spool 102 . it is connected to a load ( in this case the end of a pipeline 104 , via a pipeline end termination ( plet )). two clamps 210 , 220 having the novel pad arrangement as described above hold the rope . again , the clamp may be formed in two , three or four sections . the same clamps have been used to lay the pipeline , and then adapted by changing their shoes to handle the fibre rope for abandonment of the pipeline . during deployment and / or recovery both clamps 210 , 220 move relative to each other , in a sequential manner to and from the middle of the tower , to hand over the grip on the rope from one clamp to the other . this action results in the paying in or out of the rope , and can be controlled to provide continuous movement . ( with a single movable clamp and a fixed clamp , only intermittent movement could be achieved .) three other possibilities have been considered for adapting the tensioner specifically for gripping of the fibre rope . fig7 shows a further adaptation of the tensioner gripping pads 200 which are made deformable . the deformation under radial pressure accommodates for example the braided surface variations of the rope , while also engaging them to assist in transferring tension from the rope to the hoist . this adaptation may be combined with the novel form described above , if desired , and may be used as movable clamps as well as track tensioner . fig8 shows another adaptation in which the arrays of gripping elements 300 and 302 of the tensioner on opposite sides of the rope axis are staggered so as to induce snaking of the rope 14 under radial gripping pressure . fig9 shows another adaptation , in which stoppers 400 are embedded in the rope 14 at intervals along its length . the rope may be gripped by elements 402 of the tensioner 18 having corresponding spacing . the above adaptations are provided by way of example only , and the skilled reader will appreciate that other arrangements are possible within the spirit and scope of the invention . in particular , it will be noted that the adaptations of fig7 and 9 can be used alone or in combination . thus , for example , gripping elements 300 , 302 and 402 of fig8 and 9 can be made deformable in the manner of fig7 . similarly , elements 400 and 402 of the fig4 arrangement can be provided in staggered arrays , for example at right angles to one another about the rope axis . the method can be applied beneficially in oil & amp ; gas field development ( sub - sea construction ) in depths beyond 300 m . general lifting and lowering operations can also be envisaged in depths down to full oceanic depth , for example for salvage , oceanography , and military purposes . | 1 |
a counterbalance mechanism formed in accordance with a preferred form of the present invention is designated as 10 in fig1 . as viewed in fig1 mechanism 10 generally includes a frame 12 having a pair of parallel right and left hand guide tracks 14 , 14 ; a shelf support 16 having a pair of right and left hand follower devices 18 , 18 movably associated one with each of the guide tracks for supporting the shelf support for movement lengthwise thereof ; a counterbalance spring means 20 ; spring displacement multiplying linkage assembly 22 operably coupled to the frame by the spring means ; and a pair of right and left hand coupling assemblies 24 , 24 for coupling the linkage assembly to the shelf support . as desired , frame 12 may be suitably fixed to a vertically extending or horizontally disposed support , not shown , in order to arrange guide tracks 14 , 14 to extend vertically , and a shelf , not shown , may be cantilever or otherwise suitably affixed to shelf support 16 , such that the shelf is generally horizontally disposed and supported for vertical movement lengthwise of the guide tracks with the weight of such shelf , any object supported thereon and the shelf support being at least partially counterbalanced by the bias established by counterbalance spring means 20 . the structure of the shelf and the mode of attaching frame 12 to its support and the shelf to shelf support 16 may be conventional and form no part of the present invention . the term shelf as used herein is intended to include any fixture adapted to support an art device , such as for example a keyboard , or to provide a work surface , such as for example the top of a drafting table , whose weight is desired to be at least partially counterbalanced throughout a range of vertical travel . frame 12 is shown in fig1 - 3 , as having upper and lower generally parallel , u - shaped support channel members 30 and 32 having generally horizontally disposed connecting flanges 30a and 32a and generally vertically disposed and aligned side flanges 30b , 30b and 32b , 32b . guide tracks 14 , 14 are of generally c - shaped configuration and have their upper and lower ends received within and suitably fixed to opposite ends of channel members 30 and 32 to define a generally rectangular open center frame structure , wherein the interiors of the channel members and interiors of guide tracks open towards one another . counterbalance spring means 20 may be variously defined , so long as it is capable of producing a force adapted for use in counterbalancing the weight of shelf support 16 , the shelf and any art device intended to be supported by the shelf . in the presently preferred construction , spring means 20 is shown as comprising a plurality of parallel , tension type springs , such as coil springs 40 -- 40 , whose first or upper ends are fixed to a common hanger bracket 42 , which is in turn adjustably fixed to depend from connecting flange 30a of upper channel member 30 by an adjustment bolt 44 having an upper end rotatably supported by the connecting flange and a lower end threadably received within a nut 46 associated with the common hanger bracket . the second or lower ends of springs 40 -- 40 are fixed to linkage assembly 22 in the manner to be described . alternately , by appropriate rearrangement of the elements of mechanism 10 , the tension springs may be replaced by a compression spring , such as may be defined by a gas cylinder . shelf support 16 is shown in fig1 and 2 as being in the form of a generally rectangular connecting plate 50 having follower devices 18 , 18 fixed to its horizontally opposite ends . follower devices 18 , 18 are of mirror image construction and , as best shown in fig3 and 4 , each includes a generally l - shaped mounting bracket 52 having a base flange 52a fixed to plate 50 and a bearing flange 52b . as best shown in fig4 bearing flange 52b serves to mount upper and lower bearing pins 54 and 56 for rotatably supporting crowned periphery guide track follower rollers 58 and 60 , respectively ; an intermediate bearing pin 62 serving to mount on its opposite ends and adjacent opposite sides of the bearing flange , a brake assembly 64 and a brake release link 66 ; a second bearing pin 62a ; and upper and lower spring mounting pins 68 and 70 . a second bearing flange 53 ; shown only in fig2 and 3 , is arranged parallel to bearing flange 52b and is connected to opposite ends of pins 54 , 56 , 62 , 62a , 68 , and 70 . preferably , a shelf to be suppported would be affixed to shelf support 16 by bolts 52a carried by base flanges 52a and arranged to freely extend through plate 50 . brake assembly 64 includes a parallelogram linkage defined by pivotably end connected first , second , third , and fourth links 64a , 64b , 64c , and 64d , respectively ; a friction brake pad 72 carried by third link 64c to releasably engage with an inner surface of an associated guide track 14 ; and a pair of springs 76 and 78 having their opposite ends coupled to mounting pin 68 and an upper end of third link 64c and to mounting pin 70 and a lower end of the fourth link 64d , respectively . as will be apparent from viewing fig4 springs 76 and 78 provide a bias tending to maintain the links of brake assembly 64 in their illustrated normal braking position , wherein friction pad 72 is forced into frictional engagement with one side of guide track 14 and rollers 58 and 60 are forced into engagement with an opposite side of the guide track to oppose lowering of shelf support 16 relative to frame 12 . the arrangement of links 64a - 64d is such that the frictional braking force is automatically increased as downwardly directed force applied to shelf support 16 is increased . the links of brake assembly 64 may be moved from their normal braking position against the bias of springs 76 and 78 by the manual application of a release force to brake release link 66 , such as by a release cable or link 80 , which serves to pivot the brake release link , and thus bearing pin 62 and first link 64a , in a clockwise direction , as viewed in fig4 . as shown in fig1 and 3 , the free ends of brake release links 66 , 66 freely pass forwardly through slots 50a , 50a provided in plate 50 . typically , an upper end of each cable 80 , not shown , would be connected to a cable operator , also not shown , carried for movement with the shelf . by again referring to fig4 it will be noted that the point of connection of bearing pin 62 to first link 64a is offset from the center of the first link in a direction relatively towards its pivot connection with fourth link 64d , and that the point of connection of bearing pin 62a to second link 64b is also offset from the center of the second link in a direction relatively towards its pivot connection with the fourth link . this facilitates release of brake pad 72 from frictional engagement with the inner surface of guide track 14 incident to unlocking rotation of brake release link 66 . also , this facilitates sliding of the brake pad upwardly with respect to the inner surface of the guide track when a shelf supported by shelf support 16 is manually lifted or when a heavy load is removed from the shelf and the bias established by springs 40 -- 40 is adjusted / designed such that the weight of the shelf , etc ., absent such load , is exceeded by the counterbalance or lifting force established by the springs . by again viewing fig3 and 4 , it will be understood that the rotational axes of guide rollers 58 and 60 of the respective follower devices are parallel to each other and generally horizontally disposed , but that the rotational axes of the guide rollers of the left and right hand follower devices , as viewed in fig3 converge in a direction towards plate 50 . this canting of the guide rollers 58 and 60 permits the guide rollers to cooperate with guide tracks 14 , 14 to constrain horizonal movements of shelf support 16 within a plane disposed normal to the guide tracks . if desired , the lowermost and uppermost adjusted position of shelf support 16 may be defined by engagement of the lower and upper edges 52b &# 39 ; and 52b &# 34 ; of bearing flanges 52b with upper and lower edges 32b &# 39 ; and 30b &# 39 ; of lower and upper linkage assembly 22 is shown in fig1 and 3 as including crossed first and second elongated force transmitting arms 86 and 88 ; having adjacent first ends 86a and 88a and remote second ends 86b and 88b . pairs of first or right hand and second or left hand links 90 and 92 ; and a common attachment link or bracket 94 . arms 86 and 88 are preferably pivotably supported by a common horizontally disposed pivot pin 96 , which extends through the arms relatively adjacent their first ends 86a and 88a , and has its channel member 32 . first and second links 90 and 92 are shown in fig1 as being disposed on opposite sides of pivot pin 96 with their upper or first ends 90a and 92a pivotably connected to opposite or the right and left hand ends of attachment link 94 by pivot pins 100 and 102 and with their lower or second ends 90b and 92b pivotally connected to first ends 88a and 86a of arms 88 and 86 by pivot pins 104 and 106 . with this arrangement , arms 86 and 88 are caused to rotate or pivot in opposite directions about common pivot pin 96 incident to vertical displacements of attachment link 94 with their second ends 86b and 88b moving in a common direction opposite to the direction of movement of the attachment link . moreover , the placement of pivot pin 96 relatively closer to first ends 86a and 88a , than to second ends 86b and 88b results in such second ends undergoing a greater vertical displacement than attachment link 94 incident to any vertical displacement of the latter . coupling assemblies 24 , 24 each include a first double sheaved pulley 110 supported for rotation by a bearing pin 112 , whose opposite ends are supported by the legs of a u - shaped bracket 114 fixed to depend from connecting flange 30a of upper channel number 30 ; a second single sheaved pulley 116 supported for rotation by a bearing pin 118 , whose opposite ends are supported by the legs of a u - shaped bracket 120 ; a relatively rigid connecting rod 122 having an upper end 122a connected to bracket 120 and a lower end 122b pivotably connected to the second end of one of arms 86 and 88 by a bearing 122a ; and a flexible cable 124 having a first end 124a fixed to connecting flange 30a , a second end 124b fixed to shelf support 16 and an intermediate portion 124c trained about pulleys 110 and 116 . in operation , springs 40 tend to exert a bias or lifting force on attachment link 94 , which acts through first and second links 90 and 92 and first and second arms 86 and 88 to apply a downwardly directed or tension force to connecting rods 122 , 122 . the tension force applied to connecting rods 122 , 122 tends to draw second pulleys 116 , 116 downwardly relative to first pulleys 110 , 110 , thereby tending to increase the length of cable intermediate portion 124c , 124c passing between the first and second pulleys and as a result , tends to raise cable second portions 124b , 124b together with shelf support 16 and the shelf supported thereby . the lifting or counterbalance force applied to shelf support 16 by springs 40 may be adjusted by rotating bolt 44 for purposes of raising or lowering common hanger bracket 42 . the construction of linkage assembly 22 and its mode of attachment to springs 40 and shelf support 16 provides for the uniform application of counterbalancing force to opposite sides of the shelf support . the mechanism is designed for use with a given range of shelf loading conditions , and within this range the shelf tends to reside in any position it is placed by an operator , as by either lifting the shelf with or without first releasing brake assembly 64 or by lowering the shelf after the brake assembly has been released . moreover , the construction of the brake assembly is intended to allow the shelf to slowly raise automatically without operator intervention , when a load , which is relatively heavy compared to the overall weight of the shelf and movable portions of the mechanisms , is removed from the shelf . | 1 |
one feature of the instant invention resides in the novel analytical technique used to identify and quantify the nucleotide equivalents useful in this invention . analysis of certain starting materials , especially the protein , will determine the actual amount of nucleotides to be added . this analysis of the raw materials of the formula is critical to determine what nucleotides , if any , are contained in the starting materials . the analytical method is also critical to determine the proper ratios of the nucleotides to each other . the analytical method according to this invention will determine nucleotide equivalent levels in complex food matrices . the method in general exploits the enzymatic digestion of various forms of ribonucleic acids to the simple monomeric ribonucleosides and the ability of the cis - diol groups of ribonucleosides to form a ph dependent covalent complex with boronic acid . boronate derivatized polyacrylamide gel is used to very selectively prefractionate ribonucleoside directly from complex matrices . the isolated ribonucleosides are subsequently separated via low ph reverse phase / ion - pairing hplc using octanesulfonate as the ion - pairing agent . ribonucleosides are detected via uv absorbance , and the corresponding levels are determined by comparison to external standards . the method can be used to quantitate inherent levels of ribonucleoside in foods . because of the selective prefractionation , the method is essentially matrix independent . it should be understood that the novel analytical technique of this invention will not detect nucleosides from dna or any form of nucleic acid that does not contain the cis - diol groups of ribose . it has been used to determine ribonucleic acid types and levels in infant and medical nutritional products , human milk , protein commodities , and clinical and commercial animal chows . the following is an example of the analytical technique of this invention that can be used to determine the presence and ratios of the nucleotide equivalents . to a 10 ml reacti - therm vial with stir bar was placed 2 . 0 ml of similac ® with iron ( a non - fat milk protein infant formula produced by the ross products division of abbott laboratories , ready to feed form , 676 kcal per liter ) 3 . 0 ml of 50 mm sodium acetate at ph 5 . 1 , 50 μl of 10 mm zinc sulfate and 50 μl of the enzyme preparation nuclease p1 ( sigma chemical ). the enzyme preparation was 5 mg of dry enzyme powder , as received from sigma , and 4 ml of 50 μm sodium acetate at ph 5 . 1 . the mixture was heated to 37 ° c . and stirred for 16 hours . this reaction converted the polymeric rna to monomeric 5 &# 39 ; mono - nucleotides . to the same reaction vial was added 50 μl of 30 % ammonium hydroxide , 1 ml of 0 . 5m ammonium acetate ( ph 8 . 75 ), 50 μl of 1 . 0m magnesium chloride , 50 μl of bacterial alkaline phosphatase ( bap ) ( sigma chemical as a suspension ) and 50 μl of a nucleotide pyrophosphatase enzyme preparation ( sigma chemical ). the pyrophosphatase enzyme preparation was 5 mg of dry powder in 4 ml of 0 . 5m ammonium acetate buffer . the mixture was incubated at 37 ° c . for three hours . this reaction converted the nucleoside containing adducts and the nucleotides to the ribonucleosides . the reaction mixture was transferred to a 50 ml volumetric flask using 25 ml of 0 . 5m sodium phosphate , ph 10 . 5 . water was added to a final volume of 50 ml . the sample mixture was shaken and may be filtered to remove insoluble protein . 5 grams of dried affi - gel - 601 , boronate derivatized ( from bio - rad ) was hydrated in 50 ml of 100 mm phosphate buffer at ph 6 . 5 . to a 10 ml open column was added the hydrated affi - gel - 601 to obtain a packed volume of about 1 ml . the gel was converted to the basic form by washing with 5 ml aliquots of 0 . 25m sodium phosphate buffer , ph 10 . 5 , until the gel no longer swelled . the gel was now about 2 ml in volume . the gel was resuspended in the buffer to maintain adequate flow . to the prepared gel was added 10 ml of the sample that was previously treated with the enzymes and the eluant was discarded . at this point , the nucleosides are covalently attached , through the cis - diol groups , to the boronic acid gel . the gel was washed with 20 ml of 0 . 25m sodium phosphate , ph 10 . 5 and the eluant was discarded . the nucleosides were eluted and collected in a 10 ml volumetric flask by adding 2 ml of 1 . 0m phosphoric acid to the column followed by 5 ml of 0 . 1m phosphoric acid . at this point the nucleosides have been isolated from the sample and are now ready to be characterized . the volumetric flask was brought to a final volume of 10 ml with water . the sample was then placed on a hplc for separation and quantification of nucleosides using external standards . the nucleosides were separated via low ph , reverse phase , ion pairing chromatography using an acetonitrile gradient . the nucleosides were detected by u . v . absorbance at 260 nm and 280 nm . nucleosides were quantified by reference to external standards and the results were converted to the corresponding monophosphate nucleotide value by multiplying the nucleoside value by the molecular weight ratio of the monophosphate nucleotide over the nucleoside . the results were expressed as mg / l , of mononucleotide . ______________________________________nucleotides in similac ® with iron______________________________________uridine - 3 - 5 guanosine - trace adenosine - traceinosine - trace cytidine - 1 - 3______________________________________ it should be noted that some samples have been found to be active with respect to nucleic acid degradation . of particular concern is the enzymatic conversion of amp to imp . heat inactivation has proven to be effective in rendering the sample inactive . the procedure for heat inactivation is to heat the sample to over 100 ° c . for at least 15 minutes . after the sample has cooled , buffer , enzyme , and zinc are added and the first hydrolysis is carried out . this analytical technique was used on raw materials to determine base line nucleotide content and on final clinical product to confirm the presence and concentration of the four nucleotides used in the invention . on a commercial scale , a control and an experimental formula according to the invention were prepared having the compositions set forth in table ii . the two formula are as close as possible to being identical except for the nucleotide components . table ii______________________________________composition of study feedings con nucnutrient ( control ) ( formula of the invention ) per liter______________________________________protein , g 14 . 0 14 . 4fat , g 36 . 5 38 . 3carbohydrate , g 77 . 1 75 . 5calcium , mg 544 . 4 532 . 5phosphorus , mg 295 . 0 316 . 2magnesium , mg 73 . 5 77 . 7sodium , mg 170 . 1 179 . 2potassium , mg 931 948 . 6chloride , mg 487 . 7 493 . 2iron , mg 14 . 0 14 . 0zinc , mg 5 . 1 5 . 1copper , mcg 608 608iodine , mcg 61 61manganese , mcg 34 34vitamin a , iu 2930 2970vitamin d , iu 405 405vitamin e , iu 24 . 6 24 . 8vitamin k , mcg 54 54vitamin c , mg 170 172β - carotene , mcg 450 450selenium , mcg 23 23thiamin , mcg 1350 1360riboflavin , mcg 1014 1014pyridoxine , mcg 480 480vitamin b . sub . 12 , mcg 1 . 7 1 . 7niacin , mcg 7095 7095folic acid , mcg 101 101pantothenic acid , mcg 3041 3041biotin , mcg 30 30taurine , mg 45 45choline , mg 108 108inositol , mg 32 32energy , kcal 676 676cmp , mg 2 . 72 * 31 . 2ump , mg 4 . 19 * 17 . 7amp , mg 0 . 57 * 9 . 8gmp , mg 0 . 45 * 14 . 4______________________________________ *- inherent levels from raw materials in this example , a 7711 kg batch of the formula according to the invention was prepared ( nuc ). the control formula ( con ) was prepared in a similar fashion except the addition of the nucleotides was omitted . the list of ingredients and amounts are found in table iii . table iii______________________________________ingredients and amounts for nuc formulaingredient amount______________________________________high oleic safflower oil 120 . 2 kgcoconut oil 85 . 7 kgsoy oil 80 . 3 kglecithin 2 . 92 kgmono - and diglyceride 2 . 92 kgoil soluble vit . premix 0 . 365 kgβcarotene 0 . 0137 kgcarrageenan 1 . 43 kgwhey protein concentrate 61 . 2 kglactose 476 . 3 kgpotassium citrate 4 . 6 kgmagnesium chloride 0 . 735 kglow heat condensed 821 kgskim milkcalcium carbonate 3 . 36 kgferrous sulfate 0 . 450 kgwater soluble vitamin 1 . 11 kgpremix trace minerals / taurinecholine chloride 0 . 600 kgadenosine 5 &# 39 ; monophosphate 0 . 113 kgguanosine 5 &# 39 ; monophosphate - na2 0 . 197 kgcytidine 5 &# 39 ; monophosphate 0 . 259 kguridine 5 &# 39 ; monophosphate - na2 0 . 216 kgascorbic acid 1 . 78 kg45 % koh 2 . 36 kg______________________________________ total yield 7711 kg the first step is the preparation of the oil blend . to an appropriately sized blend tank with agitation and heating soy oil , coconut oil and high oleic safflower oil were added . the mixture was heated to 73 . 8 °- 79 . 4 ° c . the lecithin and mono - and diglycerides ( myverol 18 - 06 ) were added to the blend tank with agitation . the oil soluble vitamin premix was added with agitation . the premix container was rinsed with the oil blend and transferred back to the blend tank to ensure complete delivery of the vitamin premix . the beta - carotene was added to the oil blend and the mixture agitated until the components were well dispersed . the beta - carotene container was rinsed with the oil blend and the contents returned to the blend tank to ensure complete delivery of the beta - carotene solution . lastly , the carrageenan was added to the oil blend and the mixture was agitated and held at 54 . 4 °- 60 ° c . until used . the carbohydrate , mineral and csm ( condensed skim milk ) protein slurry was prepared next . to water heated to 68 . 3 °- 73 . 8 ° c . the lactose was added and the mixture agitated until the lactose was well dissolved . potassium citrate was then added followed by potassium chloride , sodium chloride and magnesium chloride . the condensed skim milk ( csm ) was then added . tri - calcium phosphate was added , the mixture agitated and held at 54 . 5 °- 60 ° c . until used . the protein - in - water ( piw ) slurry was then prepared . the whey protein concentrate was added to water at 54 . 5 °- 60 ° c . under mild agitation . the piw slurry was held under mild agitation until needed . also contemplated in this invention is the use of protein - in - fat ( pif ) slurries , wherein an appropriate amount of protein is admixed with all or a portion of the oil component . the piw slurry was then added to the prepared oil blend . the required amount of the carbohydrate , mineral and csm slurry was then added to the oil blend . the ph of the mixture was then determined and if below specification it was adjusted using koh to a ph of 6 . 75 to 6 . 85 . the mixture was then held at 54 . 4 °- 60 ° c . under agitation for at least 15 minutes . the mixture was then heated to 68 . 3 °- 73 . 8 ° c . and deaerated under vacuum . the mixture was then emulsified through a single stage homogenizer at 6 . 21 to 7 . 58 mpa . after emulsification , the mixture was heated to 120 °- 122 ° c . for 10 seconds and then 149 °- 150 ° c . for 5 seconds . the mixture was then passed through a flash cooler to reduce the temperature to 120 °- 122 ° c . and then through a plate cooler to reduce the temperature to 71 . 1 °- 79 . 4 ° c . the mixture was then passed through a two stage homogenizer at 26 . 89 to 28 . 27 mpa and 2 . 76 to 4 . 14 mpa . the mixture was held at 73 . 9 ° to 83 . 2 ° c . for 16 seconds and then cooled to 1 . 1 ° to 6 . 7 ° c . at this point , samples are taken for microbiological and analytical testing . the mixture was held under agitation . a calcium carbonate solution may be prepared for use in adjusting the calcium level of the mixture if outside of specification . a vitamin stock solution was prepared . to water heated to 37 . 8 ° to 65 . 6 ° c . was added potassium citrate and ferrous sulfate . the vitamin premix was then added and the mixture agitated . the choline chloride was added and then the required amount of this vitamin mixture was added to the batch . the nucleotide solution was then prepared . the following nucleotides were added to water with mild agitation in the following order : amp , gmp , cmp , ump . agitation was continued for about 10 minutes to dissolve the nucleotides . the nucleotide solution was then added to the batch . this is one critical aspect of the invention . it is extremely important that the nucleotides be added after the homogenizations and heat treatments . numerous experiments have been conducted that have shown the addition of the nucleotides at any other point will result in degradation of the nucleotides and thereby change the specific levels and ratios as claimed . it is believed that amp is converted to imp through the presence of adenosine deaminase in the raw materials , especially the protein components . lastly , an ascorbic acid solution was prepared and added slowly to the batch with agitation for at least 10 minutes . final dilution with water to meet specified levels of solids and caloric density was completed . the batch was then packaged in 32 ounce metal cans and sterilized using conventional technology . the purpose of the clinical investigation was to determine the effect of a nucleotide - fortified formula according to the present invention on the development of the neonatal immune system in infants as measured by the antibody response to childhood vaccines . this was a 12 - month , randomized , controlled , blinded , multi - site trial of term infants . infants enrolled into the study received human milk ( hm ) or one of two clinically labelled formulas : 1 ) control formula ( con ) or 2 ) con formula supplemented with nucleotides ( nuc ). the analyzed composition of each formula is set forth in table ii . a total of 311 infants completed the study ( 107 con , 101 nuc , 103 hm ). infants followed the immunization schedule recommended by the american academy of pediatrics with single lots of hib titer ® hemophilus influenzae type b conjugate vaccine ( diphtheria crm 197 and tetanus protein conjugate sold by lederle , inc .) and diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and pertussis vaccine adsorbed , sold by lederle , inc . infants were full - term with a gestational age of 38 - 42 weeks , at or above the 5th percentile for weight , length , and head circumference and were enrolled between 2 and 10 days of age . all subjects were healthy with no indication of systemic disease and did not receive any medications , mineral , or vitamin supplements . the primary outcome variable investigated was vaccine response at 6 , 7 , and 12 months of age . also investigated were differential white blood cell count , lymphocyte subset analysis , nk activity , and lymphoblast transformation in response to specific and non - specific stimuli at 2 , 6 , 7 , and 12 months of age . secondary outcome variables included intake , anthropometry , and indices of tolerance ( stool characteristics and incidence of spit - up ). also investigated was the antioxidant status of infants fed the formula according to the present invention which contained the novel antioxidant system of : 10 - 30 iu of r , r , r , α - tocopherol per liter of formula , 375 - 575 μg of β - carotene per liter of formula and 14 - 32 mcg of selenium per liter of formula . during infancy , as in adulthood , the body has a number of antioxidant systems to protect against injury from free radicals , the products of oxidation . the antioxidant system of this invention was clinically proven to promote the anti oxidant status of the infant greater than currently available infant formula . this improved antioxidant status was demonstrated as a function of increased levels of plasma vitamin e , reduced levels of plasma lipid peroxides , and increased free radical trapping capacity . at 2 , 4 , and 6 months of age dpt and hib vaccines were administered . blood samples were obtained by venipuncture at 2 , 6 , 7 , and 12 months of age . when vaccines were administered the blood sample was obtained before the inoculation . parents of the infants agreed to feed the infant only study formula until 4 to 6 months of age when table foods were added to supplement the study formula . the hm fed group were exclusively breast fed up to 2 months of age and a mixture of hm and similac ® with iron ( ross products division of abbott laboratories ) after 2 months , if necessary . weight , length and head circumference were measured at 21 days of age and at 2 , 4 , 6 , 7 , and 12 months of age . three - day records of formula intake , frequency of spit - up and vomiting and the frequency , color and consistency of stools were used to assess tolerance . blood samples ( 2 ml ) were drawn at 2 months of age and transferred directly into a heparin - containing tube , and gently inverted . at 4 , 6 , 7 , and 12 months of age 5 ml of blood was collected . two and a half ml were transferred to heparinized tubes and 2 . 5 ml to a plain tube without an anti - coagulant . tubes of blood were carefully packed in thermally insulated containers and shipped to the laboratory for analysis . radial immunodiffusion assays were performed using standard kits purchased from the binding site , inc ( 5889 oberlin drive , suite 101 , san diego , calif . 92121 ) for the measurement of serum or plasma igg and iga . the detection of tetanus and diphtheria igg was accomplished as follows . tetanus toxoid antigen ( connaught ) was diluted in 0 . 05m carbonate buffer ( ph 9 . 6 ) to 2 μg / ml , added to the wells of microtiter plates at 200 μl per well , and incubated at room temperature for 1 hour . diphtheria toxoid antigen ( connaught ) was diluted in the same manner to 15 μg / ml . the coated plates were washed three times in pbs containing 0 . 05 % chicken egg albumin and 0 . 1 % tween 20 . samples and positive control tetanus and diphtheria toxoid immune globulin , were diluted in pbs / albumin / tween , added to triplicate wells at 200 μl / well , and incubated at room temperature for 1 hour . pbs alone was also added to triplicate wells to provide a blank . plates were again washed three times in pbs / albumin / tween . affinity purified horseradish peroxidase - conjugated goat anti - human igg ( the binding site , inc ) was diluted in pbs / albumin / tween , added to the microtiter plates , and again incubated at room temperature for 1 hour . tetramethylbenzidine ( tmb ) substrate ( kirkegaard and perry laboratories ) was added to all wells at 100 μl / well , and incubated at room temperature for 10 minutes . the substrate reaction was stopped by adding 100 μl of 1m phosphoric acid per well . optical density of each well was measured using a wavelength of 450 nm . sample units were calculated based on the tetanus and diphtheria toxoid immune globulin standards . see sedgurch and bolton ; j clin microbiol . 1983 ; 18 : 104 - 109 . serum igg directed against haemophilus influenzae type b capsular polysaccharide ( hib ) antigen was detected using a modified version of the procedure described by anthony et al ; j clin microbiol 1982 ; 16 : 350 - 354 . the modifications are described in granoff , et al ; j infect dis 1986 ; 154 : 257 - 264 . concentrations of total serum antibody to the hib antigen were measured by a radioactive antigen - binding assay ( hib farr ) using the procedure described by granoff et al ; j infect dis 1986 ; 154 : 257 - 264 . the hib antigen was purified and labeled with iodine . a reference serum pool from the us bureau of biologics ( rockville , md .) was used to standardize the assay . the smallest amount of immunoglobulin detectable was 0 . 025 μg / ml serum , as determined with this reference pool . natural killer cell ( nk cell ) activity was measured using histopaque - purified peripheral blood lymphocytes . the cytotoxicity of the nk cells was measured using procedure described by wierda et al ., j immunol . methods 1989 ; 122 : 15 - 24 . the immunological variables were analyzed in two different ways . for the variables relating directly to vaccine response ( hib farr . hib igg , tetanus , diphtheria , total igg and iga ) the variables were transformed by taking logarithm base 10 and doing analysis of variences ( anovas ). the procedure is commonly used in the vaccine literature . anthropometric data were analyzed for each gender separately . analysis of varience ( anova ) was done at birth , initial visit , 2 , 4 , 6 , 7 , and 12 months of age for weight , length and head circumference . weight gain , length gain and head circumference gain were also analyzed by anovas . intake data were ranked and analyzed by anovas ( number of feedings , volume intake , percent of feedings with spit - up , vomits or both ). stool variables were ranked and analyzed with anovas ( number of stools , mean rank consistency and percent of stools with gas or unusual odor ). substantial amounts of data were collected on each of the 311 infants enrolled in this clinical investigation . disclosure of all this information is outside the scope of this document , however , the following is a summary of the information that supports the novel and unobvious features of the instant invention . vaccine antibody response data was statistically analyzed by two methods . table iv shows the medians of the variables in the original units . the anova was performed on medians of ranked data . table v shows geometric means . for this analysis , the variables were transformed by taking logarithm base 10 , and the anova compared the mean of the logs . the mean of the logs converted back to the original units is the geometric mean . use of geometric means is commonly used in the vaccine literature . at 7 months of age , infants in the nuc group had a higher antibody ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ) response than the con or hm group to hib vaccine ( geometric mean of 7 . 24 vs 4 . 05 or 4 . 2 μg ig / ml , respectively by the hib farr assay ). the nuc group had a higher response than the hm group to diphtheria toxoid vaccine ( geometric means of 1 . 77 vs 1 . 29 u diphtheria toxoid specific igg / ml , respectively ). the enhanced antibody response to hib vaccine persisted through 12 months of age as seen in table v . there were no differences in nk activity at any time , and the differential white count , lymphocyte subsets , and lymphoblast transformation was very similar among all groups . the primary differences were at 12 months of age , when infants fed hm had more white blood cells , monocytes , lymphocytes , cd3 , and cd19 cells than con ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ). the nuc group was intermediate and not statistically different . infants fed hm had greater numbers of nk cells ( cd3 -, cd16 +, cd56 +) than formula - fed ( con or nuc ) infants ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ). the nuc group had a higher percent cd4 cells than hm - fed infants ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ) throughout the study . growth of infants was similar in all three groups . tolerance and intake was similar for the two formula groups . the similarity in growth and tolerance among all infants demonstrated that both formulas are acceptable . likewise , the similarity in measures of immune system components among infants fed formulas or hm demonstrates that all feedings promote development of the immune system within normal ranges , however , for the first time an immune enhancement as measured by vaccine response to h . influenzae b and diphtheria toxoid is reported for infants consuming infant formula ( nuc ). the consistently enhanced vaccine response of infants fed nuc vs con suggests that nucleotides play an important function in immunological development of the infant . vaccine response data are provided in table iv as reported from the assays and table v as geometric means . the antibody response to the hib vaccine was measured as hib farr ( μg ig / ml ). nuc - fed infants had significantly higher levels of hib farr antibody than infants fed hm at 6 months ( 0 . 43 vs 0 . 30 , p & lt ; 0 . 05 ) higher than infants fed con or hm at 7 months ( 7 . 7 vs 3 . 62 and 5 . 40 , respectively , p & lt ; 0 . 05 ) and at 12 months ( 1 . 35 vs 0 . 68 and 0 . 82 , respectively , p & lt ; 0 . 05 ). hib response was also measured as hib specific igg , and the results paralleled the hib farr values at 6 and 7 months . this parameter was not measured at 12 months . response to the diphtheria vaccine was measured as diphtheria toxoid specific igg . there were no differences between groups at 6 or 12 months , but at 7 months infants fed nuc had a significantly ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ) higher response ( 1 . 77 u / ml ) than infants fed hm ( 1 . 29 u / ml ). see table v ). there were no differences at any time point for tetanus specific igg . table iv______________________________________vaccine responsemedian ( n ) nuc con hm______________________________________ 6 monthshib farr ( μg ig / ml ). sup . 1 0 . 43 ( 93 )* 0 . 36 ( 96 ). sup . a , b 0 . 30 ( 97 ). sup . bhib igg ( mg / ml ) 0 . 06 ( 94 ). sup . a 0 . 06 ( 101 ). sup . a , b 0 . 03 ( 99 ). sup . bdiphtheria igg ( u / ml ) 0 . 47 ( 78 ) 0 . 32 ( 85 ) 0 . 36 ( 80 ) tetanus ( igg ( u / ml ) 0 . 71 ( 80 ) 0 . 72 ( 82 ) 0 . 53 ( 80 ) 7 monthshib farr ( μg ig / ml ) 7 . 70 ( 94 ). sup . a 3 . 62 ( 101 ). sup . b 5 . 40 ( 99 ). sup . bhib igg ( mg / ml ) 1 . 25 ( 93 ) 0 . 63 ( 101 ) 0 . 60 ( 97 ) diphtheria igg ( u / ml ) 1 . 70 ( 85 ). sup . a 1 . 53 ( 89 ). sup . a , b 1 . 42 ( 90 ). sup . btetanus igg ( u / ml ) 5 . 01 ( 86 ) 4 . 47 ( 90 ) 4 . 75 ( 91 ) 12 monthshib farr ( μg ig / ml ) 1 . 35 ( 89 ). sup . a 0 . 68 ( 94 ). sup . b 0 . 82 ( 95 ). sup . bhib igg ( mg / ml ) nd . sup . 3 nd nddiphtheria igg ( u / ml ) 0 . 30 ( 82 ) 0 . 24 ( 87 ) 0 . 30 ( 84 ) tetanus igg ( u / ml ) 0 . 92 ( 83 ) 0 . 84 ( 87 ) 0 . 90 ( 85 ) ______________________________________ . sup . 1 values in the same horizontal row with different superscripts ( a o b ) are significantly different , p & lt ; 0 . 05 . . sup . 2 p & lt ; 0 . 05 , no pairwise differences . sup . 3 nd = not determined table v______________________________________vaccine responsegeometric mean ( n ). sup . 1 nuc con hm______________________________________ 6 monthshib farr ( μg ig / ml ) 1 . 30 ( 93 ). sup . a 1 . 24 ( 96 ). sup . a , b 1 . 23 ( 97 ). sup . bdiphtheria igg ( u / ml ) 0 . 36 ( 78 ) 0 . 28 ( 85 ) 0 . 33 ( 80 ) 7 monthshib farr ( μg ig / ml ) 7 . 24 ( 94 ). sup . a 4 . 05 ( 101 ). sup . b 4 . 21 ( 99 ). sup . bdiphtheria igg ( u / ml ) 1 . 77 ( 85 ). sup . a 1 . 38 ( 89 ). sup . a , b 1 . 29 ( 90 ). sup . b 12 monthshib farr ( μg ig / ml ) 1 . 41 ( 89 ). sup . a 0 . 76 ( 94 ). sup . b 0 . 85 ( 95 ). sup . bdiptheria igg ( u / ml ) 0 . 33 ( 82 ) 0 . 25 ( 87 ) 0 . 27 ( 84 ) ______________________________________ . sup . 1 values in the same horizontal row with different superscripts ( a o b ) are significantly different ; p & lt ; 0 . 05 . . sup . 2 p & lt ; 0 . 05 , no pairwise differences it is generally accepted that a hib farr level of antibody greater than 1 μg of ig / ml one month after immunization imparts protection to the infant . the percent of infants who had this level of protection was determined from the data set and is set forth in table vi . the infants fed the nuc formula consistently had a 10 % greater protection rate than infants in the other two groups . table vi______________________________________hib protection rate (% of subjects with & gt ; 1 μg anti - hib ig ( ml ) nuc con hm______________________________________6 months 28 % 18 % 16 % 7 months 90 % 80 % 80 % 12 months 55 % 44 % 45 % ______________________________________ natural killer ( nk ) cell activity was similar in all three groups . hm group had significantly higher numbers of nk cells ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ) than nuc at 2 , 6 , and 12 months and con at 2 , 7 , and 12 months . formula - fed infants had a higher percent cd4 cells at 2 months ( nuc , con & gt ; hm ; p & lt ; 0 . 005 ), 7 months ( con , nuc & gt ; hm ; p & lt ; 0 . 01 ), and 12 months ( nuc & gt ; hm ; p & lt ; 0 . 05 ). the nk activity data are presented in table vii . table vii______________________________________nk activity . sup . 1 nuc con hm______________________________________2 months 11 . 2 8 . 0 9 . 06 months 9 . 0 12 . 6 9 . 07 months 13 . 9 14 . 3 13 . 012 months 19 . 4 21 . 3 21 . 4______________________________________ . sup . 1 values are % target cells killed at effector : target ratio of 50 : 1 . part of the impetus for this study and evidence that different ratios and levels of nucleotides impact on different physiological parameters was the report by carver et al . ( pediatrics 1991 ; 88 : 359 ) that infants fed nucleotide - fortified sma ® ( infant nutritional sold by wyeth , inc . believed to contain 21 mg cmp ; 6 . 0 mg amp ; 6 . 0 mg ump ; 6 . 0 mg amp and 3 . 0 mg imp per liter of formula ) had significantly higher nk activity than those fed unfortified sma . the present study , using the formula according to the instant invention , shows no effect of nucleotides on nk activity at 2 months and in fact no difference , among any of the groups at any time . given the small number of infants in the carver study ( 42 degrees of freedom at 2 months ) compared to this study ( 255 degrees of freedom at 2 months ), it would seem likely the carver data are an aberration due to small sample size or , the addition of nucleotides does not increase number of nk cells or , the types and levels of nucleotides used by carver produced only a cellular response as opposed to the humoral response seen in this invention . the anthropometric measurements indicate that growth was comparable among all infants in the study . the fact that even before controlling for birth values there were no differences among males for weight , length , or head circumference gives assurance that growth was acceptable among all groups . the higher stool frequency and number of feedings per day of hm - fed infants compared to formula - fed infants during the first 2 months is well established . softer stools of hm - fed infants are also common , although only the nuc group was different at 2 months and by a small amount . overall , the measures of tolerance among all groups were very similar through 4 months when half the infants were still being exclusively breast - fed . these data demonstrate both formulas were extremely well tolerated and are set forth in table ix . table ix______________________________________intake sand tolerancemean ( sem ). sup . 1 nuc con hm______________________________________ 2 months 100 107 103feedings (#/ day ) 6 . 1 ( 0 . 1 ) 6 . 4 ( 0 . 1 ) 7 . 7 ( 0 . 2 ) intake ( ml / day ) 831 ( 19 ) 823 ( 18 ) ndspit - up (% of feedings ) 8 ( 2 ) 18 ( 2 ) 20 ( 2 ) stool frequency (#/ day ) 1 . 6 ( 0 . 1 ) 1 . 4 ( 0 . 1 ) 2 . 7 ( 0 . 2 ) stool consistency 2 . 0 ( 0 . 1 ) 1 . 9 ( 0 . 1 ) 1 . 7 ( 0 . 1 ) 4 months 98 107 103feedings (#/ day ) 5 . 9 ( 0 . 1 ) 6 . 0 ( 0 . 1 ) 6 . 6 ( 0 . 2 ) intake ( ml / day ) 987 ( 33 ) 926 ( 17 ) ndspit - up (% of feedings ) 22 ( 2 ) 18 ( 2 ) 20 ( 2 ) stool frequency (#/ day ) 1 . 4 ( 0 . 1 ) 1 . 4 ( 0 . 1 ) 1 . 5 ( 0 . 1 ) stool consistency . sup . 2 2 . 0 ( 0 . 1 ) 2 . 1 ( 0 . 1 ) 2 . 1 ( 0 . 1 ) ______________________________________ . sup . 1 values in the same row with different superscripts are significantly different ; p & lt ; 0 . 05 . . sup . 2 mean rank consistency , where 1 = watery , 2 = mushy , 3 = soft , 4 = formed , 5 = hard . the differential white counts and lymphocyte subset numbers of all infants receiving the formula according to this invention were well within normal ranges throughout the first year of life . the vaccine response in this study was intended to be an immunological probe or indicator as to the responsiveness of the immune system in general . on the humoral side , tetanus toxoid vaccine was selected because it is a strong antigen , diphtheria toxoid was selected as a vaccine containing a weaker antigen , and hib vaccine was selected as a very weak antigen that requires conjugation to a carrier protein to achieve a t - cell dependent immune response to the hib polysaccharide component of the vaccine to be effective . it was thought that if nutritional intervention could evoke a difference in response that could be measured , that difference would more likely occur with the weaker antigens . while all infants would be expected to respond well to a strong antigen , like tetanus toxoid , a less vigorous response would be expected to a weak antigen . the lederle hib titer ® was selected specifically because the literature indicated that infants responded rather weakly after the first and second immunizations . furthermore , the protein used as the conjugate in this vaccine , the crm 197 protein ( a non - toxic mutant diphtheria toxin ), is antigenically very similar to diphtheria toxoid . diphtheria toxoid vaccination also represents a response to a moderately weak antigen and correlates with immune response to the h . influenzae conjugate vaccine with the crm 197 protein carrier . the vaccine response at 6 months is taken from blood drawn immediately before the 6 - month vaccination and represents the response 2 months after the second immunization given at 4 months of age . already at that time point the hib response was significantly higher in nuc than hm for both anti - hib igg and hib farr antibody . at 7 months , one month after the third immunization , nuc is significantly higher than con and hm for hib farr . hib igg is higher at 7 months , and although there are not pairwise differences , the nuc group is double con and hm ( 1 . 25 vs 0 . 63 and 0 . 60 , respectively ). the hib farr value was still significantly higher for nucs at 12 months . for this weak antigen , a difference was first seen at 6 months . the difference became stronger at 7 months when the maximum response was expected and was maintained through 12 months of age . in response to the moderately weak antigen diphtheria vaccine , there were no differences at 6 months , but at 7 months the nuc group was significantly higher than hm . by 12 months this difference was no longer present . for the moderately weak antigen , the direction of the present difference was the same as with the weak antigen ( hib ) but was different only at the point of highest response . for the strong antigen , tetanus , there were no differences among feeding groups at any time point . these data strongly support the instant invention of specific nucleotide equivalents at specific levels and ratios to enhance the immune system . in this example and in commercial production of enteral formulas according to the invention , background levels of nucleotide equivalents are determined and then the formula would be supplemented with appropriate commodities , such as cmp , amp , ump and gmp , to the claimed levels and ratios . it should be remembered that by nucleotide equivalents is meant ribo - nucleotides , ribo - nucleosides , rna , and ribo - nucleotide adjuncts , such as activated sugars . the sum of all these elements determine the total potentially available ribo - nucleotides equivalents . two additional pieces of data strongly support that the formula according to this invention provides an unexpected result . the number of subjects who have achieved protective levels of anti - hib immunoglobulin as shown in table vii is consistently 10 % higher in the nuc group . the three - way comparison does not show a statistical difference . however , a two - way comparison between the nuc and con formula groups at 7 months is significant ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ). an additional piece of data comes from two of the clinical sites which chose to collect morbidity data . as part of the study the incidence of diarrhea was determined at the two clinical study sites . of 26 infants fed the nuc formula , only two reported diarrhea while 10 of 29 reported diarrhea in the con formula . the x 2 analysis comparing the incidence of diarrhea in infants fed the two formulas is significant ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ). in summary , the improved response to vaccination , the higher percent of subjects who have protective levels of antibodies , and the reduced incidence of diarrhea show that infants consuming the nucleotide - fortified formula according to this invention achieve enhanced immunological development as compared to those consuming the control formula . the results from these experiments demonstrate that the enteral formula of this invention is effective in enhancing the immune system and treating diarrhea . the medical community is constantly searching for nutritional formulas that will benefit the infant . the present invention can clearly fill that need . the nucleotide equivalent level of the formula in the study is about the minimum for efficacious effect . additionally , the formula is nutritionally complete as an infant formula . the manufacture of the formula utilizes conventional equipment and may be readily accomplished . while the infant formula and method of making said formula herein described constitute a preferred embodiment of this invention , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this precise formulation or method and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined in the appended claims . | 0 |
a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in the figure , which includes a diamond workpiece 1 , metallic layers 2 , a laser beam 3 , and an acrylic plate 4 . the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following examples conducted according to the present invention : artificial diamond plates each having a size of 30 mm × 30 mm and a thickness of 30 μm were prepared from a raw material obtained by a plasma cvd method . after polishing both side surfaces of the plates to a smoothness of less than 0 . 5 μm r max , a layer of titanium having a thickness of 500 å was formed on both side surfaces by a sputtering method to facilitate a firm adhesion of another layer later applied thereon . thereafter , a layer of copper having a thickness of 0 . 2 μm was formed thereon by a vacuum evaporation method . these plates were utilized as workpieces for example 1 . other artificial diamond plates of the same kind and size , except that the metallic layers were not provided , were prepared for use as workpieces for a comparative example 1 . a cutting test with a laser beam was carried out on each workpiece described above , as follows : the workpiece was laid on a transparent acrylic plate having a thickness of 2 mm , and fixed thereon by an adhesive tape , and a carbon dioxide gas laser having a wavelength of 10 . 6 μm and a diameter of 0 . 34 mm was then projected onto the workpiece . the in - feed rate of the laser beam was 0 . 3 m / min and the output power thereof was set at three levels of 30 w , 60 w , and 90 w . each run was repeated on five workpieces . the test results had a good reproducibility and are listed on table 1 , in which the microscopic observation was performed for detection of a hair - line crack under a magnification of 40 . artificial diamond plates each having a side of 30 mm × 30 mm and a thickness of 30 μm were prepared from a raw material obtained by a plasma cvd method . after polishing one side surface thereof to a smoothness of less than 0 . 5 μm r max , a layer of titanium having a thickness of 500 å was formed on the polished surface by a sputtering method . thereafter , a layer of copper having a thickness of 0 . 2 μm was formed thereon by a vacuum evaporation method . these plates were used as workpieces for example 2 . a cutting test with a laser beam was carried out on each workpiece under the same conditions as in example 1 . in this connection , the laser beam was applied on the side of the workpiece on which the metallic layer was formed . the test results had a good reproducibility and are listed on table 1 . by comparing the results of examples 1 and 2 , it can be seen that the provision of the metallic layer on both side surfaces of the workpiece allows a better cutting even by a laser beam having a lower output level . table 1______________________________________output level of laser beamex . no . 30 w 60 w 90 w______________________________________ex . 1 good cutting same as left . same as left . without cracks . no hair - line cracks detected . ex . 2 impossible to cut good cutting same as left . no hair - line without cracks . cracks detected . com . impossible to cut . same as left . possible to cut butex . 1 many hair - line cracks observed . cracks detected . particularly many hair - line cracks detected . ______________________________________ a thickness of a deteriorated layer of graphite in the respective side surface of the workpieces cut in examples 1 , 2 and comparative example 1 was measured , as shown in table 2 . table 2______________________________________ output thicknessex . no . level of laser beam of det . layer______________________________________ex . 1 30 w 32 μmex . 2 60 w 40 μmcom . ex . 1 90 w 52 μm______________________________________ a width of a cutting line in the workpiece was 0 . 34 mm in examples 1 , 2 which was exactly the same as a diameter of the laser beam , and the cut surface was substantially smooth . in the case of comparative example 1 , the width of the cutting line fluctuated from 0 . 35 mm to 0 . 75 mm , and the cut surface of the workpiece contained undulations having a height of from 10 μm to 15 μm . ten workpieces prepared under the same conditions as in example 1 were laminated with the intervention of amorphous silver solder foil between successive adjacent workpieces . the combined workpieces were heat - treated in a nitrogen gas atmosphere at a temperature of 890 ° c . for 30 min so that the silver solder foil melted and adhered the respective workpieces together to form a single integral test piece . after cooling to a room temperature the test piece was cut with the laser beam under the same conditions as in example 1 , except that the output level of the laser beam was set at 100 w . the test result was good and substantially the same as in the example using the laser beam of 90 w . as stated above , in the prior arts , it is very difficult to machine diamond with a laser beam , and if such a machining was carried out , a large number of cracks and splinters would occur , whereby the material loss becomes too high for practical use . according to the present invention , however , the laser beam machining of a diamond workpiece has been made possible for the first time . the present invention is particularly effective for the machining of a diamond thin plate , since during this machining process , cracks and splinters are not generated in the workpiece and the cut surface thereof is smooth , whereby a secondary finishing process is unnecessary . | 1 |
fig1 illustrates a sequence of images projected onto a surface ( 2 a , 2 b , 2 c , 2 d ) according to an embodiment of the present invention . the particular exemplary embodiment illustrates four projected images that , when displayed in sequence , results in the animation of a dog running . a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig2 , illustrating how the basic animation sequence can be achieved . light source outputs 6 a - 6 g display projected frames 4 a - 4 g , respectively . the microprocessor 8 , dictates the sequence upon which the light source outputs 6 a - 6 g are enabled to display the output projected frames 4 a - 4 g . to achieve an animation , only of one light source outputs 6 a - 6 g is enabled at a time . to achieve an animation sequence , the microprocessor may enable the sequencing of animations in order from 4 a through 4 g . the microprocessor may run on a continuous loop in sequence ( e . g , 4 a , 4 b , 4 c , 4 d , 4 f , 4 g ) to show , for example , a character running , or oscillate in a back and forth sequence ( e . g ., 4 a , 4 b , 4 c , 4 d , 4 c , 4 b , 4 a ) to show , for example , a character jumping up and down . the microprocessor 8 may be , for example , a commodity 8 - bit microcontroller , such as a microchip pic 18f252 or an ubicom sx - 28a . the system may be powered by a dc power source 10 . fig3 illustrates an embodiment illustrating that , instead of a microprocessor , a manual switch , such as a rotary switch 12 , may be used to cause the animation sequence . the rotary switch 12 provides for manual switching among light source outputs 6 a - 6 g that produce projected frame 4 a - 4 g . the rotary switch 12 , may have a plurality of contacts . when it is turned , the switch may make contact with one led or light source at a time . when turned continually , each revolution of the switch actuator completes a cycle . the light source can be wired to power the leds in a predetermined sequence to create the desired animation . the frames can be looped in sequence or oscillate in a back and forth sequence depending on how the switch is wired to address the light sources . such a system may be used in , for example , a toy vehicle . in that situation , rolling the car would provide the switching for the animation . the speed of the toy vehicle would dictate the speed of the animation , as the animation would be displayed more quickly based on the car moving more quickly , due to the mechanical nature of the switching . fig4 depicts an embodiment showing that sound can be linked to the animation . the microprocessor 8 is connected to sound chip 9 and output speaker 11 . the sound chip 9 may be , for example , a commodity embedded digital audio sample playback system , such as a winbond isd - 2560 . in this embodiment , facial animation projected frames 5 a - 5 g or visual visemes , for example , may be used . each viseme slide image projected by its light source may correspond to a vocal sound or phoneme . when a phrase is activated by the user , the series of phonemes that are produced through speech are timed to be heard at the same time that the corresponding viseme is seen . the result may be a simulation of a talking face that makes vocal gestures timed with speech sounds . one possible implementation for this embodiment would be for the animation of facial features within , for example , a toy action figure . a cutaway view of an individual light source output 6 is shown in fig5 . the light source 18 may be an led , incandescent light bulb , or other source . a slide transparency ( reticle ) 17 may contain a graphic image that may show one phase of an animation . lens holder 14 holds lens 15 in alignment . fig6 represents an isometric drawing showing seven light output sources 6 grouped together into one integrated projection system 20 . a different number of light output sources 6 may alternatively be used an integrated projection system . fig7 shows a view demonstrating the alignment of the plurality of light output sources 6 ( shown as 6 a , 6 b , and 6 c ) in the integrated projection system 20 . by positioning the outer light output sources ( such as 6 a and 6 c in the demonstrated embodiment ) at angles , the light paths , shown as 26 a , 26 b , and 26 c , can each be projected towards the same area on the projected surface medium 24 . the alignment positioning directly correlates to the intended distance of the medium 24 from the integrated projection system 20 . the medium 24 may be a screen or wall , or any number of surfaces including , for example , smoke , ice , water , etc . fig8 depicts an exemplary slide transparency 17 for a single image as may be used in individual light source output 6 . fig9 presents an first alternative embodiment of an integrated projection system , depicted generally as 32 , containing individual light source outputs 31 a , 31 b , and 31 c . this first alternative embodiment uses angled prisms 34 a to guide the light paths , depicted as 35 a , 35 b , and 35 c , of the outer light source outputs 31 a and 31 c , so that all light paths 35 a , 35 b , and 35 c are projected onto the same location on medium 24 . alternatively , as shown in fig1 an integrated prism 37 may be used that directs the light paths for each individual light source output towards the same location on the medium 24 . fig1 depicts an embodiment showing an integrated transparency holder 40 that holds an integrated common slide 41 ( depicted in fig1 b , 12 d , 13 a , 13 b ). the integrated common slide is a single slide that contains a plurality of images that each represent individual frames for an animation . by utilizing the integrated transparency holder , it may be possible to substitute all images for an animation out at one time . additionally , there is no need to individually assemble slides within the individual light sources . shown in fig1 a and 12 b are a top view and cross section of an embodiment of a parallel integrated projection system 42 utilizing an integrated transparency holder 40 that holds an integrated common slide 41 . light sources are arranged adjacent to individual images on the integrated common slide . the system may use angled prisms 34 a or , as shown in fig1 c and 12 d , an integrated prism 37 to align the light paths to the same focal area . fig1 a represents an exploded cross - section view of the embodiment shown in fig1 b . screws 44 , attach retaining bracket 46 to the angled prisms 34 a and to the lens housing 62 . optic spacer 58 maintains the proper spacing of the angled prisms 34 a . integrated lens 48 , 50 sit within lens holder 60 . light sources 54 , which may be leds , may sit within the light source housing 66 . the integrated transparency holder 40 that holds an integrated common slide sit within the structure . fig1 b represents an exploded cross - section view of the embodiment shown in fig1 d , containing an integrated prism 37 . fig1 , 15 , and 16 depict a second alternative embodiment that utilizes a master slide transparency wheel 70 . the wheel 70 may contain multiple sets of animations , such as those depicted as 72 , 74 , 76 , and 78 . the parallel integrated projection system 42 is aligned with one set of animations at a time , however by rotating the wheel 70 , a different animation may be displayed . switching among animations may be implemented manually , mechanically , or electromechanically . it is to be understood that the embodiments are merely illustrative of the present invention and that many variations of the above - described embodiments can be devised by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention . it is therefore intended that all such variations be included within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents . | 6 |
the present invention relates to a novel combination of methods for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease . the combined method on the one hand comprises inhibiting the normal binding of the hormone gastrin 17 to its physiological receptor by actively immunizing the patient against his or her own gastrin 17 hormone . alternatively or additionally , the hormone gastrin 34 can be neutralized by active or passive immunization with g34 or c - terminal g17 peptide fragment . on the other hand , the method provides inhibition of production of gastric acid either by proton pump inhibition or h 2 receptor blockage . the invention provides a novel immunological method for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease using a peptide immunogen which raises sufficient gastrin 17 or gastrin 34 antibody levels in a patient so as to affect the binding of the gastrin 17 or gastrin 34 to its physiological receptors in the patient and raise the ph of the stomach . gastric acid secretion in the stomach can thus be controlled . the ph of the stomach contents is simultaneously raised to a sufficient ph level , e . g ., greater than ph 3 for a prolonged and sufficient period of time to alleviate the gerd symptoms and heal the acid - induced esophagitis . according to the invention , anti - g17 antibodies are induced in the patient by active immunization with peptide immunogens which comprise a g17 immunogen conjugated to an immunogenic carrier . the antibodies raised in the patient by the immunogens selectively and specifically bind gastrin hormone gi 7 or g34 or both , and neutralize and inhibit separately or together the normal binding of gastrin g17 or g34 or both to its receptors in the parietal cells , thereby controlling acid output in the stomach and preventing gastric acid damage of the esophageal mucosa during regurgitation . a preferred embodiment of the inventive method provides a single administration of an active gastrin 17 or g34 immunogen , which has several advantages over the standard therapies of the art for treating gerd in that problems with patient compliance and undesirable side effects as a result of the therapy are eliminated . other advantages of using the immunological methods for the treatment of gerd include the use of a limited number of administrations . a single primary administration with appropriately spaced boosters may last for approximately 6 months to a year . another advantage is that , in a combination therapy with h 2 agonists or proton pump inhibitors , effective anti - gastrin 17 antibody titers can be maintained by occasional booster shots while the gastric acid inhibitor dosing is reduced or discontinued . another advantage of this invention is that the maintenance of antigastrin antibody titers reduces or prevents excessive levels of gastrin in hypogastrinemia which would otherwise result from administration of a proton pump inhibitor or h 2 blocker . a booster shot of the immunological composition prolongs anti - gastrin 17 immunity and gastric acid suppression . still another advantage of this method is that the immunization allows a sufficient time for the esophagitis to completely heal . additionally , no surgery is required . yet another advantage is that combination therapy is more useful for treating severe cases of gerd , without causing undesirable side effects , since excess serum gastrin 17 peptides are physiologically neutralized . in patients where the gerd condition is alleviated , discontinuation of the booster dose may result in resumption of normal gastrin levels . according to the method of the invention , an immunogen is prepared using peptides or chemical structures that mimic the amino terminal end of gastrin 17 or of gastrin 34 . the immunogens and immunogenic compositions of the invention are those described in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 023 , 077 , 5 , 469 , 494 and 5 , 609 , 870 . the disclosures of these issued patents are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety . u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 023 , 077 , 5 , 469 , 494 , and 5 , 609 , 870 disclose compositions containing anti - gastrin 17 immunogens as well as anti - gastrin 34 immunogens and methods of using these compositions for the treatment of gastric and duodenal ulcers and gastrin responsive cancers . in the present invention , effective dosages ranging from 0 . 1 mg to 5 g of the immunogenic composition are administered for the treatment of gerd combined with 10 - 80 mg daily dose of omeprazole . an effective dosage of the immunogenic composition is capable of eliciting an immune response in a patient and inducing antibody titer against human gastrin 17 within 1 - 3 months after immunization . effective treatment of gerd according to this method results in maintenance of the ph of the stomach contents above ph 3 or 4 , and for a more prolonged period of time than with h 2 antagonist therapy . maintenance of the stomach ph above 3 or 4 is essential in the treatment of gerd , since refluxate material having a ph below 2 . 0 causes esophagitis by protein denaturation and cell damage , and ph values below 2 . 5 triggers painful episodes in a patient . when the ph is maintained above 2 . 5 , pain perception is almost nonexistent ( smith , et al gastroenterology 96 : 683 - 689 , 1989 ) and damage to the esophageal wall is minimized . the immunogens and immunogenic compositions of the invention typically induce specific antibody responses after a single administration . however , it may take several weeks or months for antibody titers to rise to the desired levels effective for the treatment of gerd . combination therapy with a histamine h 2 antagonist , such as ranitidine , cimetidine , fomatidine and nazatidine , or a proton pump inhibitor , such as omeprazole or lansoprazole , is designed so that a gerd patient is immunized with an immunogenic composition of the invention , and administration of h 2 antagonist is provided on a daily basis , at least once a day for the first 2 - 12 weeks of treatment or until the desired serum level of anti - gastrin 17 antibodies is obtained . desired anti - gastrin 17 serum levels range from 10 to 300 pmole / ml . once the desired serum levels of anti - gastrin 17 antibody titer are obtained as measured by elisa or ria , the non - immunological gastric acid inhibiting drug portion of the combination therapy may be reduced or discontinued . in the following examples , the anti g17 immunogenic composition , 150 mg ranitidine and 60 mg omeprazole were administered to pigs and the resulting changes in the ph of the stomach contents before and after treatment were measured . specifically , following the stomach ph measurements of the untreated control state of each pig , the stomach ph of the same pigs was measured after the animals were treated with either ranitidine , or composition of human gastrin 17 ( 1 - 9 )- h ( g17 ) ser9 - diphtheria toxoid ( gastrimmune ), or omeprazole administered individually and at different times in each of four animals ( pigs ). gastrin neutralization was achieved by using the immunological composition gastrimmune which is composed of the amino terminal domain of gastrin - 17 linked , via an amino acid or peptide spacer to diphtheria toxoid which acts as the immunogenic carries . the antibodies raised by virtue of the design of the immunogen , cross - reacted with both amidated and glycine - extended gastrin - 17 , two known proliferative forms of gastrin . serum antibody titers rose within 2 weeks of the initial immunization to levels with an antigen binding capacity of & gt ; 10 − 9 m . the presence of anti - gastrin antibodies within the serum of gastrimmune - immunized mice was confirmed by using an elisa . as expected , no bound gastrin levels were detected in animals immunized with control immunogen . as can be seen in fig1 and fig2 the ph of the stomach contents remained above ph 3 or 4 in anti - gastrin 17 immunized pigs for a longer period of time than in the pigs treated with ranitidine . in omeprazole treated pigs the stomach ph was maintained above ph 3 or 4 for a longer period of time than pigs which were treated with ranitidine and anti - g17 immunized pigs . in addition , fig3 shows the median ph exhibited by the stomach contents of control pigs when compared to ranitidine , anti - gi 7 immunization and omeprazole treatment . the data shows that the stomach ph is maintained at higher levels in pigs than those treated with ranitidine or anti - g17 immunization therapy . anti - g17 immunized pigs had a median ph higher than ranitidine treated pigs . treatment of the pigs with ranitidine was less effective in preventing acid output from the stomach . omeprazole treatment highly inhibited acid output . a single administration of anti - gastrin 17 immunization inhibited stomach acid output at a level of effectiveness between ranitidine and omeprazole , and sufficient to reduce the stomach acid output levels and increase the stomach ph for the effective treatment of gerd . a treatment which combines the gastric acid secretion with proton pump inhibitors or h 2 histamine blockers with the novel immunization by e . g . gastrimmune can thus result in maintaining favorably raised ph in the stomach . furthermore , the treatment with occasional , effective boosters of the antigastrin immunogenic composition can eventually , possibly within a few months , obviate any additional treatment with the anti - acid secretion drugs , such as e . g . omeprazole or ranitidine . one of the possible advantages of the administration of a proton pump inhibitor or h 2 blocker after immunization with an antigastrin immunogen , as described , resides in the use of lower amounts of the proton pump inhibitor or h 2 blocker for effective lowering of gastrin acid secretion or raising of stomach ph to about 3 - 4 . the human patient suffering from gerd is immunized with 200 μg - 400 μg of primary i . v . inoculation of g17 ( 1 - 9 ) ser dt immunogen composition . after 2 weeks a booster of 100 - 200 μg of the g17 ( 1 - 9 ) ser : dt composition is similarly administered . when the anti - g17 titer has reached a level of about 10 - 300 pmole / ml sufficient to lower the serum gastrin level to near normal with a concomitant lowering of gastric acid secretion , about 10 - 20 mg oral omeprazole preparation is administered daily to further reduce or stabilize the gastric secretion at a level which essentially eliminates or substantially ameliorates the gerd symptoms . immunogens capable of inducing specific immune responses to either g17 or to g34 were prepared by standard solid state synthesis methods . each peptide was characterized as to amino acid content and purity . each of these peptides were conjugated to amino groups present on a carrier such as diphtheria toxoid (“ dt ”) via the terminal peptide cysteine residue utilizing heterobifunctional linking agents containing a succinimidyl ester at one end and maleimide at the other end of the linking agent . to accomplish the linkage between any of peptides 1 - 6 above and the carrier , the dry peptide was dissolved in 0 . 1 m sodium phosphate buffer , ph 8 . 0 , with a thirty molar excess of dithiothreitol (“ dtt ”). the solution was stirred under a water saturated nitrogen gas atmosphere for four hours . the peptide containing reduced cysteine was separated from the other components by chromatography over a g10 sephadex column equilibrated with 0 . 2 m acetic acid . the peptide was lyophilized and stored under vacuum until used . the carrier was activated by treatment with the heterobifunctional linking agent , e . g ., epsilon - maleimidocaproic acid n - hydroxysuccinimide ester , (“ emcs ”), in proportions sufficient to achieve activation of approximately 25 free amino groups per 10 5 molecular weight of carrier . in the specific instance of diphtheria toxoid , this amounted to the addition of 6 . 18 mg of emcs ( purity 75 %) to each 20 mg of diphtheria toxoid . activation of diphtheria toxoid was accomplished by dissolving each 20 mg aliquot of diphtheria toxoid in 1 ml of 0 . 2 m sodium phosphate buffer , ph 6 . 45 . aliquots of 6 . 18 mg emcs were dissolved into 0 . 2 ml of dimethyl formamide (“ dmf ”). under darkened conditions , the emcs was added dropwise in 50 microliter (“ ul ”) amounts to the dt with stirring . after 2 hours of incubation in darkness , the mixture was chromatographed on a g50 sephadex column equilibrated with 0 . 1 m sodium citrate buffer , ph 6 . 0 , containing 0 . 1 mm edta . fractions containing the emcs activated diphtheria toxoid were concentrated over a pm 10 ultrafiltration membrane under conditions of darkness . the protein content of the concentrate was determined by either the lowry or bradford methods . the emcs content of the carrier was determined by incubation of the activated carrier with cysteine - hci followed by reaction with 10 mm of elman &# 39 ; s reagent 5 , 5 ′ dithio - bis ( 2 - nitrobenzoic acid ) 10 mm . the optical density difference between a blank tube containing cysteine - hcl and the sample tube containing cysteine - hcl and carrier was translated into emcs group content by using the molar extinction coefficient of 13 . 6 × 10 3 for 5 - thio - 2 - nitro benzoic acid at 412 nm . the reduced cysteine content (— sh ) of the peptide was also determined utilizing elman &# 39 ; s reagent . approximately 1 mg of peptide was dissolved in 1 ml of nitrogen gas saturated water and a 0 . 1 ml aliquot of this solution was reacted with elman &# 39 ; s reagent . utilizing the molar extinction coefficient of 5 - thio - 2 - nitro - benzoic acid ( 13 . 6 × 10 3 ), the free cysteine — sh was calculated . an amount of peptide containing sufficient free — sh to react with each of the 25 emcs activated amino groups on the carrier was dissolved in 0 . 1 m sodium citrate buffer , ph 6 . 0 , containing 0 . 1 mm edta , and added dropwise to the emcs activated carrier under darkened conditions . after all the peptide solution had been added to the carrier , the mixture was incubated overnight in the dark under a water saturated nitrogen gas atmosphere . the conjugate of the peptide linked to the carrier via emcs is separated from other components of the mixture by chromatography over a g50 sephadex column equilibrated with 0 . 2 m ammonium bicarbonate . the conjugate eluted in the column void volume is lyophilized and stored desiccated at 20 ° c . until used . the conjugate may be characterized as to peptide content by a number of methods known to those skilled in the art including weight gain , amino acid analysis , etc . conjugates of these peptides and diphtheria toxoid produced by these methods were determined to have 20 - 25 moles of peptide per 10 5 mw of carrier and all were considered suitable as immunogens for immunization of test animals . peptide hg17 ( 1 - 9 )- ser9 was prepared by standard solid state synthesis methods . that peptide contains an amino terminal immunomimic of hg17 followed by a carboxy terminal spacer . this peptide comprises a 9 amino acid immunomimic of hg17 ( pglu - gly - pro - trp - leu - glu - glu - glu - glu -) [ seq id no : 7 ] followed by the “ ser ” spacer (- ser - ser - pro - pro - pro - pro - cys ) [ seq id no : 8 ] attached to amino acid number 9 of the hg17 immunomimic . the peptide was conjugated to amino groups present on the diphtheria toxoid (“ dt ”) immunogenic carder via the terminal peptide cysteine residue utilizing heterobifunctional linking agents containing a succinimidyl ester at one end and maleimide at the other end of the linking agent essentially as described in example 4 . the immunogenic constructs of this invention include an aminoterminal ( 1 - 9 ) g17 peptide or an aminoterminal ( 1 - 6 ) g34 peptide conjugated via a peptide spacer to an immunogenic carrier . the preferred g17 sequence is pyro - glu - gly - pro - trp - leu - glu - glu - glu - glu [ seq id no : 7 ] and the preferred g34 sequence is pglu - leu - gly - pro - gln - gly - arg - pro - pro - pro - pro - cys [ seq id no : 5 ]. the preferred spacer in both constructs is a ser - peptide ( ser - ser - pro - pro - pro - pro - cys ) [ seq id no : 8 ]. the preferred immunogenic carrier is diphtheria toxoid , tetanus toxoid , keylimpet hemocyanin , and bovine serum albumin ( bsa ). the gastrin immunogen is defined as a conjugate of the pglu - gly - pro - trp - leu - glu - glu - glu - glu [ seq id no : 7 ] peptide sequence , with an amino acid spacer linked to an immunogenic carrier . the preferred gastrin immunogen is defined as a conjugate of the ( 1 - 9 ) amino terminal ( pglu - gly - pro - trp - leu - glu - glu - glu - glu ) [ seq id no : 7 ] peptide which is linked by peptide spacer to diphtheria toxoid . numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are included in the above - identified specification and are expected to be obvious to one of skill in the art . such modifications and alterations to the compositions and processes of the present invention are believed to be encompassed in the scope of the claims appended hereto . | 0 |
the invention consists of a method for evaluating a radar horizon around a radar site . the radar can then import this information and use it for setting up a scanning pattern that avoids the transmission of energy into the surrounding terrain . the method is performed on a computer that , from a given position , divides the surrounding terrain into sectors . in each sector a number of calculation points are chosen , based on simple geometrical considerations . in each calculation point the radar search elevation angle is calculated from terrain altitude information stored in a database . fig2 shows the process . the computer consults the database for each calculation point . if the angle is greater than the previous angle in the current sector , then this angle is stored as the greatest angle . the reason for this is that a nearby object , e . g . the small hill , might “ shadow ” a larger object farther away , e . g . a mountain in the distance . the stored angle is lowest angle the sweeping ray may use in order to clear the terrain in this sector . the suite of stored angles for all sectors considered constitutes a “ radar horizon ” for this particular site . the calculated horizon can then be presented for the radar operator and the radar scanning pattern can be adjusted accordingly , either automatically ( i . e . directly ), manually ( i . e . operator confirmed ) or semi - automatically ( i . e . directly but where the operator can adjust manually at a later time ). the calculation is performed either as a separate program or as part of an already existing program on the computer where access to a suitable set of terrain altitude data on a digital format is required . this terrain data , e . g . dted , can be stored in a conventional or proprietary database , preprosessed or otherwise , or in raw dted format outside of , but connected to , the invention ( dted : digital terrain elevation data , metric mil - prf - 89020a ). the latter is particularly ideal as it provides for the user of the invention to add further terrain data with the detailing level for the area of interest without requiring a separate tool . fig1 shows how the calculation points are chosen within a sector . near to the radar site , the altitude is fetched from the database in points along a line going outward from the site . whenever the distance between an edge of the sector and the nearest point grows too great the number of calculation branches is increased by one . when branching occurs , the calculated values in parallel points ( i . e . in points at the same range in parallel branches ) are compared , and the highest value chosen as the value representing this particular range . absolute geographical position of origo sector width number of sectors ( ie . the total view ) azimuth offset max sector range ; the length of each sector from the observation point stepsize ; the distance between each sampled point from the altitude database ( lsb in fig1 ). the stepsize is chosen dependent on the resolution in the altitude database and the general calculation performance desired . number of calculations ( steps ) in one path ; this value is calculated from the stepsize and sector width parameters in the input data . each look up in the altitude database is done for every step length along a path ( or a line ) inside the sector until the stepsize limit is reached . the stepsize limit is reached when the width of the sector is greater than the horizontal cell size in the altitude database . number of branches ; this value is calculated from the stepsize , max sector range and stepsize parameters in the input data . when the stepsize limit is reached for all existing parallel paths ( if any ) then the algorithm performs a branch which means that the number of parallels is increased by one . number of parallel calculation paths ; this value is calculated from the stepsize parameter in the input data . when the look - ups in the altitude database for the parallel paths do not cover the width of the subsector , it is increased by one . the parallel paths have the same azimuth and number of calculations on the path , but displacement sideways is different . displacement ; a function of the previous parameter . fig3 shows visualizes the individual steps performed in the procedure for evaluating a site . a geographical point is calculated by looping through , in nested order , the number of branches , number of paralells and number of steps . for each point the following procedure is performed : based on the azimut , the range and the displacement a transformation from polar to cartesian coordinates is performed . this gives a geographical coordinate relative to origo . for this point the terrain altitude is retrieved from the height database ( see fig2 ). this altitude is stored in the side - view terrain profile , if it is the highest altitude for this range . the elevation is then calculated as : and is then compared to the previous highest elevation for the sector . if it is the highest it is stored in a front - view terrain profile , fig4 . this procedure is the repeated for all points and for all branches for the specified sector . the end result can visually be presented like in fig5 . the view in fig5 is of the left - most sector in fig4 . the visibility here is limited by a nearby obstruction . the invention can be used for evaluating possible radar sites , e . g . when placing a radar installation for an airport . it allows for off - site evaluation of the terrain . thereby multiple sites can be evaluated and the best located . the method can also be performed “ on the fly ” when relocating a mobile radar . in this application the vertical profile shown in fig4 is of particular usefulness , as it can indicate for the operator that a better place can be found in the immediate neighborhood . another possible application is to use the method for automatically guiding a mobile unit , e . g . a vessel , car or airplane , to the “ best ” sites along its course . however , the main application will be in establishing a scanning horizon for a radar when it has been installed at its site . in this respect one obtains the advantage of eliminating the problems of determining why an echo has not returned and whether it has returned for the “ wrong ” reasons . | 6 |
in the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention , reference is made to the accompanying drawings , which illustrate example embodiments by which the invention may be practiced . it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention . the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention . as used herein , the singular forms “ a ”, “ an ” and “ the ” are intended to include the plural forms as well , unless the context clearly indicates otherwise . it will be further understood that the terms “ comprises ” and / or “ comprising ,” when used in this specification , specify the presence of stated features , integers , steps , operations , elements , and / or components , but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features , integers , steps , operations , elements , components , and / or groups thereof . in accordance with features of the invention , a method , system and computer program product are provided for implementing coherent accelerator function isolation for virtualization in an input / output ( io ) adapter . having reference now to the drawings , in fig1 , there is shown an example computer system generally designated by the reference character 100 for implementing coherent accelerator function isolation for virtualization in an input / output ( io ) adapter in accordance with the preferred embodiment . computer system 100 includes one or more processors , such as processor # 1 , 102 through processor # n , 104 or central processor units ( cpus ) 102 , 104 coupled by a system bus 106 to a memory 108 , a respective host operating system ( os ) 110 , 112 , and a hypervisor adapter driver 114 . the hypervisor adapter driver 114 is a part of the system firmware and manages the allocation of resources to each operating system 110 , 112 . computer system 100 can be utilized within the scope of a single operating system image , whether that operating system ( os ) is one of a plurality on a logically partitioned server , or the sole operating system of a non - partitioned system . computer system 100 enables a coherent accelerator to be shared , or virtualized , across a plurality of operating system ( os ) images on a logically partitioned system . computer system 100 includes an i / o hub , processor host bridge or pcie host bridge ( phb ) 120 providing coherent accelerator pe ( partitionable endpoint ) support in accordance with the preferred embodiment . phb 120 includes an adapter pe 122 coupled to the hypervisor adapter driver 114 , and an afu pe 124 coupled to each respective host operating system ( os ) 110 , 112 . phb 120 includes isolation facilities 126 provided with afu pe 124 . computer system 100 includes an input / output ( i / o ) adapter 130 providing a coherent accelerator with transaction layer functions including for example , a pci services layer ( psl ) 132 , and a plurality of afus 1 - 3 , 134 , 136 , 138 , with the psl 132 , and each afus 1 - 3 , 134 , 136 , 138 coupled to the adapter pe 122 . afus 1 - 3 , 134 , 136 , 138 are logic units within the accelerator that perform specific application tasks . in accordance with features of the invention , isolation facilities 126 within the pci - express phb 120 are used particularly including error isolation without requiring the use of a pci - express endpoint function . methods of the invention detect and recover from pci - express error conditions involving individual afus , the afus as a collective , and the psl . the operating system and application are enabled to continue to function through interacting with the error recovery methods , so that a reboot of the operating system is not required , and so that individual operating systems may individually recover operation of their respective afus even though the accelerator device is shared at a single pci - express endpoint function . in a particular embodiment requests to perform a task and result of completing that task are exchanged between the application running within os 110 , or os 112 and the respective afus 1 - 3 , 134 , 136 , 138 using command / response queues within system memory 108 , the afu , or a combination of both . each of the individual afus 1 - 3 , 134 , 136 , 138 either respond to or originate pci - express memory cycles , and the psl 132 performs the pci - express transactions corresponding to those memory read / write operations . however , the afus 1 - 3 , 134 , 136 , 138 are not themselves pci - express endpoint devices or functions and may not be recognized by an operating system as pci - express devices . instead , the afus are recognized and operated by os 110 , or os 112 as particular types of memory - mapped afu devices and possibly in a manner in which they are completely unassociated with pci - express buses or functions , within the respective operating system . computer system 100 enables coherent accelerator adapter functionality with the additional afu pe 124 that is associated with all afus 1 - 3 , 134 , 136 , 138 , collectively . host os mmio activities are governed by the afu pe 124 . the afu pe 124 can be frozen such that the host oss 110 , 112 are blocked from accessing the adapter 130 . the afu pe 124 allows the hypervisor 114 to complete recovery or maintenance actions without the possibility of a host os user impacting the adapter 130 . transactions of adapter 130 , both those associated with the psl 132 as well those associated with the afus - 3 , 134 , 136 , 138 , utilize the adapter pe 122 . any failure from the adapter pe 122 still impacts all os partitions using the coherent accelerator adapter 130 . computer system 100 is shown in simplified form sufficient for understanding the present invention . the illustrated computer system 100 is not intended to imply architectural or functional limitations . the present invention can be used with various hardware implementations and systems and various other internal hardware devices . referring to fig2 , there is shown another example system generally designated by the reference character 200 for implementing coherent accelerator function isolation for virtualization in an input / output ( io ) adapter 230 with multiple bdfs in accordance with a preferred embodiment . computer system 200 similarly includes one or more processors , such as processor # 1 , 102 through processor # n , 104 or central processor units ( cpus ) 102 , 104 coupled by a system bus 106 to a memory 108 , a respective host operating system ( os ) 110 , 112 , and a hypervisor adapter driver 114 . computer system 200 includes an i / o hub , processor host bridge or pcie host bridge ( phb ) 220 providing coherent accelerator pe ( partitionable endpoint ) support in accordance with the preferred embodiment . phb 220 includes an adapter pe 222 coupled to the hypervisor adapter driver 114 , and a plurality of afu pe 1 - 3 , 224 , 226 , 228 with afu pe 1 - 2 , 224 , 226 coupled to host os 110 and afu pe 3 , 228 coupled to host os 112 , as shown . phb 220 includes isolation facilities 226 provided with afu pe 1 - 3 , 224 , 226 , 228 . computer system 200 includes an input / output ( i / o ) adapter 230 providing a coherent accelerator with transaction layer functions including for example , a pci services layer ( psl ) 232 providing all functions and facilities consistent with a pcie endpoint function , and a plurality of afus 1 - 3 , 234 , 236 , 238 , with the psl 232 coupled to the adapter pe 222 , and each afus 1 - 3 , 234 , 236 , 238 coupled to a respective afu pe 1 - 3 , 224 , 226 , 228 . computer system 200 enables coherent accelerator adapter enhanced functionality with the additional afu pes 1 - 3 , 224 , 226 , 228 , each associated with the respective afus 1 - 3 , 234 , 236 , 238 . when the adapter 230 does dma transactions it encodes the respective one of afus 1 - 3 , 234 , 236 , 238 performing the transaction , for example , using alternative routing - id interpretation ( ari ) techniques into the dma packets . this allows for fault isolation down to a single one of afus 1 - 3 , 234 , 236 , 238 while still only implementing a single pci function with a single configuration space . this is an increasingly important and valuable feature as the number of afus on an adapter 230 increases . host os mmio activities are governed by the respective afu pes 1 - 3 , 224 , 226 , 228 . each respective afu pes 1 - 3 , 224 , 226 , 228 advantageously can be frozen such that the host oss 110 , 112 are blocked from accessing the adapter 230 . each of the respective afu pes 1 - 3 , 224 , 226 , 228 allows the hypervisor 114 to complete recovery or maintenance actions without the possibility of a host os user impacting the adapter 230 . transactions associated with the psl 232 of adapter 230 utilize the adapter pe 222 . any failure from the adapter pe 222 still impacts all os partitions using the coherent accelerator adapter 230 . in accordance with features of the invention , pci - express phb 120 apparatus is used to associate memory - mapped io ( mmio ), direct memory access ( dma ), message signaled interrupt ( msi ) address ranges with pci - express rids ( relative identifier ) to associate these address ranges with each of the individual accelerator function units afus 1 - 3 , 234 , 236 , 238 that are not otherwise configured and operate on the pci - express bus as endpoint functions . in accordance with features of the invention , the hypervisor adapter driver 114 in support of a pci - express interface associates each of the afus 1 - 3 , 234 , 236 , 238 with phb isolation facilities 226 . the hypervisor adapter driver 114 , managing the coherent accelerator as a whole , detects and recovers error involving the psl 232 or afus 1 - 3 , 234 , 236 , 238 , without requiring the termination of any one os 110 , 112 to restore operation of its respective afu , with the afus sharing a common pci services layer ( psl ) endpoint function on the pci - express bus . the hypervisor adapter driver 114 in support of pci - express buses associates afus with phb isolation facilities 226 . in accordance with features of the invention , the psl 232 of a coherent accelerator rid is associated with the mmio , dma , msi , and error state facilities 226 of a pci - express phb 220 , and the pci - express rid is associated with a collective of afus afus 1 - 3 , 234 , 236 , 238 and further associating afus 1 - 3 , 234 , 236 , 238 residing behind the respective psl 232 with the pci - express phb 220 without the afu rid being itself an individual pci - express endpoint or sriov virtual functions and having all the facilities and behaviors of such functions . in accordance with features of the invention , when using pci - express interconnect between each afu of afus 1 - 3 , 234 , 236 , 238 and processor 102 , 104 and memory 108 , the processor and afu utilize pci - express memory read / write operations . an afu of afus 1 - 3 , 234 , 236 , 238 is associated with a pci - express requester id ( rid ) for identifying that afu during the pci - express memory read / write operations . referring to fig3 , there are shown example operational features generally designated by the reference character 300 for implementing coherent accelerator function isolation for virtualization in the input / output ( io ) adapter 130 in system 100 of fig1 and input / output ( io ) adapter 230 in system 200 of fig2 with comparison of existing art in accordance with preferred embodiments , without relying upon facilities or operations of pcie sriov . multiple features 302 are shown for comparison of known existing art , with io adapter 130 in system 100 of fig1 and io adapter 230 in system 200 of fig2 . one endpoint function 304 is included in the known existing art , io adapter 130 in system 100 and io adapter 230 in system 200 . a single configuration space region 306 is included in the known existing art , io adapter 130 in system 100 and io adapter 230 in system 200 . an additional pcie rid 308 is included in the io adapter 230 in system 200 , with zero included in the known existing art , and in the io adapter 130 in system 100 . a single adapter pe 310 is included in the known existing art , io adapter 130 in system 100 and io adapter 230 in system 200 . one afu pe 312 is included in the io adapter 130 in system 100 and one afu pe 312 per afu is included in the io adapter 230 in system 200 , with zero afu pe 312 included in the known existing art . error recovery 314 is not possible in the known existing art with the host os reboot required . error recovery 314 is possible in the io adapter 130 in system 100 with all host os instances impacted . improved error recovery 314 is possible in the io adapter 230 in system 200 with a finer grain and a single host os instances impacted . referring to fig4 , there are shown example operational features generally designated by the reference character 400 for implementing coherent accelerator function isolation for virtualization in an input / output ( io ) adapter 130 in system 100 of fig1 in accordance with preferred embodiments without relying upon facilities or operations of pcie sriov . multiple traffic types 402 are shown with a respective pe used 404 , error action 406 , and error impact 408 . with traffic type 402 of mmio initiated by the hypervisor adapter driver , the pe used 404 is the adapter pe , error action 406 causes the phb isolation facilities 126 to freeze adapter pe plus afu pe , and the error impact 408 includes the hypervisor adapter driver and all host os instances . with traffic type 402 of mmio initiated by the host os to a particular afu n , the pe used 404 is the afu pe , error action 406 causes the phb isolation facilities 126 to freeze the afu pes , and the error impact 408 includes all host os instances . with traffic type 402 of dma initiated by adapter psl , the pe used 404 is the adapter pe , error action 406 causes the phb isolation facilities 126 to freeze the adapter pe and the afu pe , and the error impact 408 includes the hypervisor adapter driver and all host os instances . with traffic type 402 of dma initiated by a particular afu n , the pe used 404 is the adapter pe , error 406 freezes the adapter pe and the afu pe , and the error impact 408 includes the hypervisor adapter driver and all host os instances . referring to fig5 , there are shown example operational features generally designated by the reference character 500 for implementing coherent accelerator function isolation for virtualization in an input / output ( io ) adapter 230 in system 200 of fig2 in accordance with preferred embodiments . multiple traffic types 502 are shown with a respective pe used 504 , error action 506 , and error impact 508 . with traffic type 502 of mmio initiated by the hypervisor adapter driver , the pe used 504 is the adapter pe , error action 506 causes the phb isolation facilities 226 to freeze adapter pe plus afu pes , and the error impact 508 includes the hypervisor adapter driver and all host os instances . with traffic type 502 of mmio initiated by the host os to a particular afu n , the pe used 504 is the particular afu pe n , error action 506 causes the phb isolation facilities 226 to freeze the afu pe n , and the error impact 508 includes the single host os instances . with traffic type 502 of dma initiated by adapter psl , the pe used 504 is the adapter pe , error action 506 causes the phb isolation facilities 226 to freeze the adapter pe and the afu pes , and the error impact 508 includes the hypervisor adapter driver and all host os instances . with traffic type 502 of dma initiated by a particular afu n , the pe used 504 is the afu pe n , error action 506 causes the phb isolation facilities 226 to freeze the afu pe n , and the error impact 508 includes a single host os instances . fig6 , and 8 are flow charts illustrating example system operations of the systems of fig1 and 2 for implementing coherent accelerator function isolation in accordance with preferred embodiments . referring to fig6 , there are shown example high level system operations of the systems of fig1 and 2 starting with phb or root complex hardware or hypervisor adapter driver detects failure and freezes the adapter pe as indicated in a block 600 . as indicated in a block 602 , other pes associated with the adapter pe are frozen including all afu pes . in the event that the phb hardware detects the failure the hardware informs hypervisor of the frozen pes as indicated in a block 604 . the hypervisor informs pe owners of the frozen pes including both adapter driver and host os for each afu as indicated in a block 606 . the adapter driver and each host os asynchronously begin recovery as indicated in a block 608 . referring also to fig7 , there are shown example hypervisor driver operations of the systems of fig1 and 2 starting when the adapter driver receives notification of error as indicated in a block 700 . the adapter driver commences pe recovery as indicated in a block 702 . the adapter driver unfreezes the adapter pe with other pes remaining frozen , collects error data , and commences recover as indicated in a block 704 . the adapter driver recovers the adapter and restores the adapter to a default state as indicated in a block 706 . the adapter driver performs afu configuration to the adapter as indicated in a block 708 . the adapter driver logs error and communicates a pci error log identifier ( plid ) for the error logged by the adapter driver to the hypervisor as indicated in a block 710 . the adapter drives gives the hypervisor permission to unfreeze afu pe ( s ) and resumes normal operation as indicated in a block 712 . referring to fig8 , there are shown example host os operations of the systems of fig1 and 2 starting with host os receives notification of afu error as indicated in a block 800 . the host os commences recovery as indicated in a block 802 . the host os loops attempting to unfreeze afu pe , and the unfreeze is unsuccessful until the adapter driver completes recovery as indicated in a block 804 . as indicated in a block 806 , the adapter driver completes recovery . then the host os unfreezes the afu pe , retrieves error data and commences recovery as indicated in a block 808 . the host os completes recovery , and logs error data as indicated in a block 810 . normal afu operations resume as indicated in a block 812 . referring now to fig9 , an article of manufacture or a computer program product 900 of the invention is illustrated . the computer program product 900 is tangibly embodied on a non - transitory computer readable storage medium that includes a recording medium 902 , such as , a floppy disk , a high capacity read only memory in the form of an optically read compact disk or cd - rom , a tape , or another similar computer program product . recording medium 902 stores program means 904 , 906 , 908 , and 910 on the medium 902 for carrying out the methods for implementing coherent accelerator function isolation for virtualization in an input / output ( io ) adapter 130 , 230 of preferred embodiments in the system 100 of fig1 , or system 200 of fig2 . a sequence of program instructions or a logical assembly of one or more interrelated modules defined by the recorded program means 909 , 906 , 908 , and 910 , direct the computer system 900 for implementing coherent accelerator function isolation for virtualization in an input / output ( io ) adapter 130 , 230 of preferred embodiments . while the present invention has been described with reference to the details of the embodiments of the invention shown in the drawing , these details are not intended to limit the scope of the invention as claimed in the appended claims . | 6 |
fig1 illustrates a portion 10 of a noise reduction device . the portion 10 shown in fig1 comprises a housing 11 . the housing 11 comprises a divider 12 that divides the housing 11 into two air passages 14 and 16 . air flows through air passages 14 and 16 as indicated by arrows 30 , 32 , 34 and 36 . the divider 12 creates two air inlets 13 and 15 and two air outlets 17 and 19 . fig2 illustrates a complete noise reduction device 9 as comprising two portions 10 mated together . in at least some embodiments , each portion 10 is a mirror image of the other portion . when mated together , the portions 10 permit air to flow through the air passages created by the dividers 12 . the two portions 10 may be mated together by welding , adhesive or other suitable mechanisms . each portion 10 may be formed as a unitary piece of material or combined together from separately manufactured pieces . in the embodiments of fig1 and 2 , the dividers 12 create two air passages 14 and 16 . in other embodiments , a divider may create more than two air passages ( e . g ., three air passages ). in one embodiment , more than two dividers 12 may be provided in each portion 10 of the noise reduction device 9 to create three or more air passages . in accordance with various embodiments , the housing 11 comprises at least one resonance chamber for each air passage 14 , 16 . in the embodiments of fig1 and 2 , the housing 11 comprises two resonance chambers for each air passage 14 , 16 — resonance chambers 20 and 22 for air passage 14 and resonance chambers 24 and 26 for air passage 14 . although two resonance chambers are provided for each air passage 14 , 16 in the embodiment of fig1 and 2 , any number ( 1 or more ) of resonance chambers can be provided for each air passage . accordingly , any number of air passages can be provided in housing 11 and any number of resonance chambers can be provided for each air passage . in some embodiments , at least one air passage may comprise a different number of resonance chambers than another air passage in housing 11 . each resonance chamber 20 , 22 , 24 , and 26 comprises a port ( ports 21 , 23 , 25 , and 27 , respectively ) into which acoustic waves enter . once inside the resonance chamber , the air resonates when the frequencies of the acoustical waves from the noise sources are coincident with the natural frequencies of the resonance chambers . the resonances of the air inside the resonance chambers absorb the energy of the airwaves . as a result , the noise level associated with the airflow through the noise reduction device 9 is reduced as compared to what would be the case without the noise reduction device 9 . the divider 12 comprises at least one resonance chamber , and in the illustrative embodiment of fig1 and 2 , divider 12 comprises two resonance chambers 22 , 24 — chamber 22 being provided for reducing the noise associated with air flowing through air passage 14 and chamber 24 being provided for reducing the noise associated air flowing through air passage 16 . in accordance with various embodiments , the material of the housing defining the resonance chambers 20 , 22 , 24 , and 26 comprises metal ( e . g ., aluminum , magnesium , steel , etc . ), carbon , or a sufficiently rigid plastic ( e . g ., glass - filled plastic ). “ sufficiently rigid ” means the resonance chamber is such that resonance of the airwaves inside the resonance chamber can occur with enough of a q value ( a larger q value means the air resonance peak on a frequency response curve will be higher ). each inlet 13 , 15 of the air passages 14 , 16 has a length l and a width w . in accordance with various embodiments , the ratio of l to w is substantially between 1 and 2 . the resonance frequency achieved by each resonance chamber is generally a function of the size of the ports 21 , 23 , 25 , and 27 of the resonance chambers ( i . e ., cross - sectional area of each port and the length of the port ), as well as the interior volume of each resonance chamber . as such , the dimensions can be set so as to achieve the resonance frequency desired for a given application . in some embodiments , the size and thus the resonance frequency of one resonance chamber in the noise reduction device 9 may vary from the size and resonance frequency of another resonance chamber . if desired , all of the noise reduction device &# 39 ; s resonance chambers may be tuned to a different frequency . fig3 illustrates an embodiment in which a heat exchanger 40 ( a heat sink is also within the scope of the term heat exchanger ) is used with the noise reduction device 9 . the heat exchanger 40 comprises a heat exchanging member 41 coupled to a heat pipe 42 . heat from a heat producing component ( e . g ., processor in a computer ) is channeled through the heat pipe to the heat exchanging member 41 . at least a portion of the heat exchanging member 41 is contained within the housing 11 of the noise reduction device 9 . as shown , portions 41 a and 41 b are provided in each air passage 14 and 16 of the noise reduction device 9 . the portions 41 a and 41 b comprise one or more fins . a hole 43 a and 43 b is provided through each set of fins 41 a and 41 b , respectively . in various embodiments , the holes 43 a and 43 b are of the same size and align with resonance chamber ports 21 , 23 , 25 , and 27 of the various resonance chambers 20 , 22 , 24 , and 26 as shown . the holes 43 a and 43 b function as acoustic guide paths for the acoustical waves between each fin to the resonator ports 21 , 23 , 25 , and 27 . these holes 43 a and 43 b through the fins 41 a and 41 b can be circular in cross section , or can be another shape . a fan 50 is also shown coupled to the combination of the noise reduction device 9 and heat exchanger 40 . air from the fan 50 passes through the air passages of the noise reduction device 9 , is warmed by the heat of the heat exchanger 40 , and exits the noise reduction device &# 39 ; s outlets 17 , 19 . at the same time that the process of heat exchanging is occurring to help cool the heat - producing component coupled to the heat pipe 42 , noise produced by the fan 50 is reduced by the resonance of airwaves that occurs in one or more of the resonance chambers 20 , 22 , 24 , and 26 of the noise reduction device 9 . in some embodiments , the noise reduction device 9 is usable with a computer , or other type of electronic system . the noise reduction device may be integrated into a portable or desktop computer . the above discussion is meant to be illustrative of the principles and various embodiments of the present invention . numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated . it is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications . | 6 |
in fig1 the omni - directional air vehicle , depicted generally by the number 10 , comprises a pod 11 with pod supports 12 , and a connected turbofan system 16 having a turbo - electric , counter - rotating ducted fan 20 provided with two counter - rotating propellers 21 and 22 , peripherally driven by counter - rotating , permanent magnet , electric motors 23 and 24 , integrated in a ducted shroud 25 , supported by struts 26 connected to a projecting arm 27 of a spherical articulation mechanism 28 seated in the main body 30 of the pod 11 of the vehicle 10 . the spherical articulatory mechanism 28 changes the angular position of the projecting arm 27 to the angle “ a ” as limited by stop 13 at the top of main body 30 . in the main body 30 , is located a combination thermal electric engine and gas turbine 31 , of the type described in the referenced u . s . pat . no . 6 , 282 , 897 . the combination thermal electric engine and gas turbine 31 is provided with air intake ports 32 and exhaust ports 33 and in out put generator 16 supplies the electric power through an electronic control module 34 to the counter - rotating electric motors 23 and 24 through electric circuit line 34 a . the ability to change the relative angular position ( a ) between the turboelectric counter - rotating ducted fan 20 and the main body 30 allows the vehicle to perform all flying missions from all positions in all directions , including ground and air , from on - board control systems , wherein the vehicle has a universal mobility . the ultra high efficiency of the engines and gas turbines , as described in the referenced u . s . patent , provides the absolute best performance for military applications , such as unmanned aerial vehicles ( uav ) and commercial applications for better cargo and personnel transports than actual helicopters or business airplanes . in fig2 there is depicted a configuration of the same omni - directional vehicle used as a personal transportation system ( pts ) which is designed to accommodate a person or multiple persons . manual control of the spherical articulation mechanism is accomplished by control arm 28 a . [ 0023 ] fig3 depicts a special configuration of the omni - directional air vehicle 10 with the ability to fly horizontally at high speed facilitated by the addition of a cruciform 14 having wings 35 which have directional guides 36 that are active only in horizontal high speed operation . [ 0024 ] fig4 a and 4b depict the omni - directional air vehicle 10 with a discoid shape vehicle body 40 attached to a round fixed wing 41 connected with the dome 42 and at least two electric ducted fans 20 a ( push ) and 20 b ( pull ) with counter - rotating propellers 21 and 22 , each fan being attached with a projecting arm 27 . once the vehicle is converted to horizontal flight , both turbo - electric , counter - rotating ducted fans 20 a and 20 b are horizontally arranged in the same push - pull actions per the direction of flight . the omni - directional air vehicle flight capability is improved by the round discoid wing 41 which uses less energy and has less drag at high speed in the horizontal mode . additionally , the round discoid wing 41 can be used on gliding flight . [ 0025 ] fig5 a and 5b depict the omni - directional air vehicle 10 having an elongated fuselage 50 attached to an adjustable elongated wing 51 able to be rotary arranged always perpendicular to the direction of flight . the same turbo - electric , counter - rotating ducted fans 20 a and 20 b with counter - rotating propellers 21 and 22 in a push - pull arrangement form the omni - directional air vehicle propulsion system . [ 0026 ] fig6 a and 6b depict the omni - directional air vehicle 10 having an adjustable ( rotary ) platform body 60 associated with platform wing 61 articulated by pivot dome 63 and the shaft 62 . the axial position x - x will always be perpendicular with the axial y - y of the body 60 per flight direction . the same turbo - electric , counter - rotating ducted fans 20 a , 20 b and 20 c with counter - rotating propellers 21 and 22 will cooperate in a combined push - pull action for the omni - directional air vehicle direction of flight . the omni - directional air vehicle is designed to accommodate a person or multiple persons . while , in the foregoing , embodiments of the present invention have been set forth in considerable detail for the purposes of making a complete disclosure of the invention , it may be apparent to those of skill in the art that numerous changes may be made in such detail without departing from the spirit and principles of the invention . | 1 |
fig1 is a schematic diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention . in this embodiment a piezoelectric microdispenser is used as the liquid injection device and the torch is suitable for use with an icp , being shown in conjunction with icp spectrometer . liquid injection device comprising single - droplet microdispenser ( sdmd ) 10 comprises liquid - filled glass tube 11 , outer piezoelectric element 12 ( a cylindrical shape is shown ), a first outlet 14 and a second outlet 16 . second outlet 16 is in fluid communication with a conduit 13 containing buffer liquid , conduit 13 being connected to the second outlet at one end and being connected at a second end to pump 20 . examples of such microdispensers are manufactured , for example , by microdrop gmbh ( see patent de10153708 ), microfab ( u . s . pat . no . 6 , 378 , 988 , u . s . pat . no . 6 , 367 , 925 ), gesim ( ep1314479 ). microdispensers of this type may be in the form of single liquid injection devices , or as an array of liquid injection devices as will be further described . a single liquid injection device is shown in fig1 . manipulator 30 , liquid injection device 10 and pump 20 are controlled by controller 100 via control lines 101 , 102 , 103 respectively , and controller 100 is in communication with computer 120 . computer 120 includes an input 121 for receiving data from the spectrometer 90 indicative of the progress of sample analysis and an output 122 for outputting control signals to controller 100 , and computer 120 is programmed with a program comprising modules of program code for deriving control signals to output to the controller 100 . computer 120 is provided with an input 123 for receiving data from controller 100 which includes information about individual emitted droplets . liquid injection device 10 is shown in a first position in fig1 . manipulator 30 is used to move the liquid injection device 10 from the first position to a second position ( not shown ), so that the first outlet 14 is in fluid communication with vessel 40 which contains sample - containing liquid . in this embodiment , the first outlet 14 of liquid injection device 10 is inserted into vessel 40 by manipulator 30 to affect the liquid communication . pump 20 is activated to apply negative pressure to conduit 13 causing buffer liquid to be withdrawn from liquid injection device 10 through second outlet 16 , and this causes sample - containing liquid to be drawn into liquid injection device 10 through first outlet 14 . once a sufficient quantity of sample - containing liquid has been loaded into liquid injection device 10 for subsequent analysis ( preferably 5 - 50 microlitres ), pump 20 is stopped . the amount of sample - containing liquid may be just enough for the anticipated analysis requirements , but should be less than that which would cause mixing of the sample - containing liquid with buffer liquid . manipulator 30 then moves the liquid injection device 10 from the second position to the first position . the time to perform the operations described so far in relation to fig1 is 5 - 10 seconds . upon reaching the first position , the liquid injection device 10 is activated to eject some of the sample - containing liquid from the liquid injection device through the first outlet 14 , in the form of droplets . the activation comprises an electric pulse which is applied to piezoelectric element 12 and this initiates a shock wave in the sample - containing liquid causing a micro - droplet of sample with typical dimensions 5 - 100 micrometers to be ejected from first outlet 14 . the initial velocity of this droplet of several meters per second is sufficient to propel it into a flow of argon gas 15 which is generally concentric with the cylindrical glass tube 11 . this flow of argon gas is known as an injection gas , passing into the injector tube 51 of the torch 50 . torch 50 also comprises auxiliary tube 52 and outer tube 53 . typically , torch 50 is made of quartz glass or ceramic elements . icp coil 60 is used to couple rf power ( typically , at 27 mhz ) into plasma 70 . the liquid injection device when in the first position is located so as to protrude into a tapered inlet end of injector tube 51 ( but without causing discharge ). the injection gas flow carries the droplet ejected from the liquid injection device through the injector tube 51 into icp plasma 70 where it gets fully atomized and partially ionized . excited atoms and ions emit photons characteristic of the elements in the sample and spectrometer 90 may comprise an optical spectrometer . alternatively ions may be drawn into a vacuum system and pass into a mass spectrometer wherein their mass - to - charge ratio is determined and in this case spectrometer 90 comprises a mass spectrometer . as sample utilization approaches 100 % as opposed to 1 - 2 % in traditional pneumatic nebulizers , only few microliters of sample is sufficient to get the same signal . for preferable droplet diameters of 50 - 70 μm this requires 10 4 − 5 × 10 4 droplets that could be provided within 5 - 25 seconds of sdmd operation at up to 2 khz droplet ejection rate . higher frequencies are possible but increase the chances of droplets merging . additionally , the narrow temporal width of signal (& lt ; 1 - 2 ms fwhm ) allows the signal - to - noise ratio to be improved at lower repetition rates as signals from individual droplets do not overlap and could be acquired individually and in a gated manner . once a droplet leaves the sdmd 10 , it never touches any surface again before entering the plasma 70 therefore memory effects within the torch 50 will be negligible . however , sdmd 10 itself might have its orifice 14 and its immediate surroundings contaminated by sample and therefore a thorough wash procedure is required . this is addressed by moving the sdmd 10 from the first position into a third position ( which in this example is perpendicular to the plane of fig1 ) using manipulator 30 , and applying positive pressure to conduit 13 using pump 20 , causing unused sample - containing liquid to be ejected from the sdmd 10 to waste . additional buffer liquid is supplied from supply line 21 via conduit 13 which may serve to wash out the liquid injection device 10 and also to replenish the buffer liquid that partially filled the liquid injection device 10 , eliminating the liquid that was in the vicinity of the interface between the sample - containing liquid and the buffer liquid . once the sampling volume within liquid injection device 10 is drained many times over ( e . g . by spraying 0 . 1 - 0 . 5 ml of liquid at flow rate 1 - 5 ml / min ), sdmd 10 is ready for loading again , after some 10 - 20 sec . prior to loading , it could be additionally rinsed in the optional rinse tube 45 , e . g . for 10 - 15 seconds ( this operation could be combined with draining ). to accomplish this , manipulator 30 moves the liquid injection device 10 to a fourth position ( not shown ), so that the first outlet 14 is in fluid communication with vessel 45 which contains a rinsing agent . in this embodiment , the first outlet 14 of liquid injection device 10 is inserted into vessel 45 by manipulator 30 to affect the liquid communication . pump 20 is activated to apply negative pressure to conduit 13 causing buffer liquid to be withdrawn from liquid injection device 10 through second outlet 16 , and this causes rinsing agent to be drawn into liquid injection device 10 through first outlet 14 . once a sufficient quantity of rinsing agent has been loaded into liquid injection device 10 pump 20 is controlled so as to produce a positive pressure to conduit 13 , ejecting the rinsing agent out of the first outlet 14 of liquid injection device 10 . this process of loading and ejecting rinsing agent may be repeated . washout efficiency may be further improved by applying electric pulses to piezoelectric element 12 during the rinsing procedure . the total wash time after every sample could thereby be reduced to 20 - 30 seconds ( allowing also for 5 - 10 sec motion time of manipulator 30 ). this wash time represents a 2 - fold improvement over prior art methods of washout and is achieved using the invented method and apparatus by reducing the surface area which comes in contact with the sample - containing liquid . further improvements may be made using the method and apparatus of the invention if additional liquid injection devices are utilized . in this case , multiple liquid injection devices may be arranged , for example , as linear or annular or radiating arrays of e . g . 8 or 12 or 16 sdmds . preferably an array of vessels containing rinsing agent is arranged to match the array of liquid injection devices and a further array of sample - containing vessels is arranged to match the array of liquid injection devices . each sdmd is individually addressed by manipulator 30 ( or optionally by a group of independent manipulators ), and rinsing of a particular sdmd could start immediately after the end of ejecting sample - containing liquid and it could continue until the last sdmd has finished ejecting sample - containing liquid . preferably the last sdmd contains the sample with the lowest concentration . sample loading of all the liquid injection devices may be performed in parallel . this means that the analysis time per sample is : t a =( t preparation + n * t sampling + t rinsing + t motion )/ n = t sampling +( t preparation + t rinsing + t motion )/ n where t preparation is the time to load sample - containing liquid into the liquid injection device , t sampling is the time to eject sample - containing liquid so that it passes into the inlet of the torch , t rinsing is the time to rinse the liquid injection device with rinsing agent , t motion is i the time to move the liquid injection device between the various positions , and n is the number of liquid injection devices in the array . utilising this aspect of the invention the added overhead time per analysis is n times smaller than total 20 - 30 seconds above and may constitute only 2 - 3 seconds per sample for a sufficiently high number n of liquid injection devices . with independent manipulators , sampling from one sdmd could be done in parallel with rinsing of another and motion of the third therefore this overhead could be further reduced though at the expense of added complexity . as noted above , the array of liquid injection devices may be an array of similar or dissimilar liquid injection devices . different liquid injection devices may be preferred for different types of sample . preferably all the liquid injection devices in the array are similar to one another . a particularly preferred embodiment comprises an array of sdmds each having an outer diameter & lt ; 6 mm , preferably 3 mm , each having internal hydrophobic coating and each producing droplets with diameters of 50 - 70 μm at frequency 2000 hz . the buffer liquid in conduit 13 is preferably distilled de - ionised water or the same solvent as used in the samples , or an oil which does not mix with water , for example such as a fluorcarbon oil . the argon gas flow in injector tube 51 is 0 . 2 - 0 . 3 l / min ( lower than is usual for conventional nebulisers ), the argon gas flow in auxiliary tube 52 is & lt ; 1 l / min , the argon gas flow in the outer tube 53 is 10 - 15 l / min and the icp forward power is 1 - 1 . 5 kw . the desired analysis time per sample is 15 - 20 sec ( 3 - 4 samples / min ). when utilizing the invention in optical icp spectrometry it is important to take advantage of temporal structure of the signal , i . e . signal should be acquired only when material of each droplet is emitting optically . flicker and shot noises of the background could be reduced thus improving signal - to - noise ratios . to aid in this , computer 120 is provided with an input 123 for receiving data from controller 100 which includes information about individual emitted droplets , which may include , for example , a timing signal as each droplet is emitted from the liquid injection device . though sdmd 10 is best operated in a vertical orientation so as to eject droplets in a vertical direction , it may also be operated in a horizontal orientation ( as is typical for icp - ms ). for this , injector tube 51 should be made as short as possible ( preferably & lt ; 50 mm ) and sdmd 10 shifted slightly upwards and preferably tilted by several degrees so that ejected droplets do not impinge upon the inner surface of the injector . in principle it is also possible to operate sdmd 10 with its orientation downwards . manipulator 30 could be based on any suitable commercial manipulator as is known in the art . the apparatus and methods of the present invention may be used to deliver material from solid samples to the plasma or flame . this may be achieved by depositing one or more droplets of carrier liquid onto the solid sample surface utilizing the liquid injection device . sample material may be transferred into the carrier liquid droplet by various means , including : ( i ) chemically dissolving the sample by using a carrier liquid which may be an acid or other reactive liquid ; the chemical reaction may be assisted by heating , or the application of ultrasonic waves , for example ; ( ii ) microextraction / desorption also assisted if necessary by ultrasonic waves , heating etc . ; ( iii ) laser ablation of the solid sample surface using a laser beam directed through the droplet , or where the solid sample resides upon a transparent carrier plate , through the back of the carrier plate . in all three examples , the carrier liquid droplet which is charged with solid sample material is then picked up and dispensed in the form of monodisperse droplets into the plasma or flame using the same or another liquid injection device . material from solid samples may also be delivered to the plasma via droplets dispensed from the liquid injection device of the present invention where the droplets do not contact the solid sample surface . in this case , particles of solid sample are ablated from the solid sample surface and impinge upon a stream of droplets dispensed from the liquid injection device and which are travelling in the vicinity of the solid sample surface on their way to plasma or flame . ablation may be achieved by pulse heating , spark ablation , or laser ablation , for example . by the above means , contamination of the solid sample material during its transfer into the carrier liquid is thereby minimized , there being no contact between the solid sample and any other liquids or solids . this also reduces memory effects as no separate sample preparation apparatus is involved such as vessels , tubing or pipettes , all of which must be cleaned after contact with each sample . use of such sample preparation apparatus reduces the time available to analyse samples and hence the present invention provides improvements in throughput over prior art methods and apparatus . furthermore , sampled material is not diluted by surrounding gas thereby improving the sensitivity of the analysis . nanoparticles may be suspended in bulk liquid carrier by bubbling gas containing the nanoparticles through the liquid carrier prior to dispensing using the liquid injection device . for example this may be used to suspend nanoparticles found in air by bubbling the air through a suitable carrier liquid , enabling analysis of the nanoparticles by the spectrometer . use of the liquid injection device of the present invention enables further optimizations of the spectrometer to be made . various different torch designs are contemplated , such as a two tube torch , a torch of small axial length , a micro - torch , a low gas - consumption torch . the torch injector tube and the liquid injection device may be combined into one component both to minimize the distance between the sample introduction point and the plasma or flame ; so as to simplify construction and eliminate tube joints , which may harbor contamination ; and to facilitate the transport of larger droplets . the spectrometer optics may also be redesigned so as to image the far smaller signal emitting volume which results from the excitation of single microdroplets . signal detection electronics may also be modified to make best use of the transient nature of the signals generated from single microdroplets , for example synchronous detection methods may be employed , and boxcar detection . these may be particularly applicable to icp - ms . as used herein , including in the claims , unless the context indicates otherwise , singular forms of the terms herein are to be construed as including the plural form and vice versa . for instance , unless the context indicates otherwise , a singular reference herein including in the claims , such as “ a ” or “ an ” means “ one or more ”. throughout the description and claims of this specification , the words “ comprise ”, “ including ”, “ having ” and “ contain ” and variations of the words , for example “ comprising ” and “ comprises ” etc , mean “ including but not limited to ” and are not intended to ( and do not ) exclude other components . it will be appreciated that variations to the foregoing embodiments of the invention can be made while still falling within the scope of the invention . each feature disclosed in this specification , unless stated otherwise , may be replaced by alternative features serving the same , equivalent or similar purpose . thus , unless stated otherwise , each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features . the use of any and all examples , or exemplary language (“ for instance ”, “ such as ”, “ for example ” and like language ) provided herein , is intended merely to better illustrate the invention and does not indicate a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed . no language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non - claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention . | 6 |
referring to the drawings , and particularly fig1 an indicator assembly 10 is illustrated including an integrally molded housing 11 , cover plate 12 , and indicators including a voltage indicator 14 , an oil pressure indicator 15 , a coolant temperature indicator 17 and a fuel indicator 18 , as well as miscellaneous illumination type indicators 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 and 25 . as seen in fig2 and 5 , the housing 11 is an integrally molded plastic body including a back wall 27 , top and bottom walls 28 and 29 , respectively , and side walls 30 and 31 . a flange 34 surrounds the top of the top , bottom and side walls as shown clearly in fig2 and 3 , for the purpose of receiving a cooperating flange 36 on the periphery of the cover plate 12 . suitable fasteners extend through apertures 37 for the purpose of attaching the cover to the housing 11 after the instruments have been placed in position . partitions , such as at 38 and 39 , shown in fig3 isolate the instruments 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 and 25 . to provide the necessary circuitry between each of the indicators and their senders , ignition and ground , where desired , a flat conductive circuit plate 40 is provided integrally molded in the bottom wall 27 by conventional insert molding techniques . as seen clearly in fig4 the flat circuit plate is a conductive rectangularly shaped plate having enlarged apertures 41 for receiving indicator bulb assemblies , smaller rectangular apertures 42 , for receiving clips that support and provide a conductive path with instruments 14 , 15 , 17 and 18 , and a plurality of narrow cut - out portions 43 . spaced along the various cut - out portions 43 are web portions indicated at 45 for the primary purpose of supporting the sheet during assembly and for the secondary purpose of providing selective circuit paths . as will appear hereinafter , most all of the webs 45 are removed after molding into the bottom wall 27 of housing 11 , since at that time the plate no longer requires support . the areas 47 , as seen in fig4 between the cut - out portions 43 , provide the conductive paths for the instruments . each of these conductive paths is connected to terminals 50 that , as shown in fig6 are bent into a receiving boss 51 in the bottom of the housing 11 that is adapted to receive a terminal contact box ( not shown ) for the entire indicator assembly 10 . the circuit plate 40 is integrally molded in the back wall 27 in a position so that each of the web portions 45 is aligned with an aperture 52 in the back wall , as shown in fig5 and 7 . thereafter , most , if not all , of the apertures 52 are punched or otherwise removed ( as seen in fig8 ), removing the webs 45 , and at this time the circuits are isolated from one another . it is also possible not to remove certain of the webs to alter the conductive paths in the circuit plate 40 . for the purpose of providing an electrical connection between the instruments 14 , 15 , 17 and 18 , and ignition , ground , and sender signal , contact clips 53 are provided , shown clearly in fig1 . clips 53 are generally u - shaped in construction , having legs 54 and 55 , and a bottom portion 56 that engages the rear wall of the circuit plate 40 to provide electrical contact therewith . the legs 54 and 55 firmly grasp a threaded projection 57 projecting rearwardly from the associated instrument . clips 53 have retractable shear formed tabs 53 &# 39 ; which snap outwardly upon insertion of a clip . these tabs keep clips from falling out . as seen clearly in fig9 the indicator and illuminating bulb assemblies also project through the circuit plate 40 and through the rear wall 27 . indicator bulb assembly 60 is the indicator bulb associated with indicator 22 which may , for example , be a transmission oil temperature warning indicator . the indicator and illuminating bulb assemblies 60 have generally circular bases 62 with diametrical rear projections 63 for the purpose of facilitating insertion and rotation of the assembly 60 into the back wall 27 of the housing 11 . as shown in fig4 and 5 , each of the circuit plate apertures 41 is recessed at 64 and 65 , as well as the inner surface of the back plate 27 , as shown at 66 and 67 . the base 62 has radial projections 69 and 70 which fit within the recesses 66 and 67 , after which the indicator assembly 60 is rotated by the thumb projection 63 and held firmly in position in the back plate . a contact strip 75 is positioned between bulb base 76 and the base 62 and has contact members 79 and 80 which engage portions 82 and 83 of the circuit plate 40 , as seen clearly in fig4 . this provides the necessary electrical connections between the indicator or illuminator 60 and the circuit plate 40 . it should be understood that the indicators 60 are easily removable and replaceable as a result of this construction . with respect to the instruments 14 , 15 , 17 and 18 , they may be directly plugged into the housing 11 as a result of the clips 53 cooperating with rearward projections 57 . to further assist in holding the instruments 14 , 15 , 17 and 18 in position , there are provided , as shown in fig3 and 5 , posts 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 and 92 , formed integrally with and projecting upwardly from the bottom wall 27 . at the top of the posts 85 - 92 are short shaft portions 95 , as seen in fig5 that receive a u - shaped flexible clamp portion on each of the instruments . it should be noted that diagonal posts 85 and 88 support instrument 15 , posts 86 and 90 instrument 17 , posts 87 and 91 instrument 14 and posts 89 and 92 support instrument 18 . the posts 85 - 92 permit , along with the clips 53 , the instruments to be directly inserted into the housing 11 without the need for any manual fasteners . the circuit plate in fig4 represents a typical circuit for the indicator assembly or cluster shown , but it should be understood that other circuit configurations may be easily devised . it is believed helpful to briefly explain the portions of the circuit plate shown in fig4 . terminal 100 receives the sender signal to the oil pressure gauge 15 through conductive path 101 to conductive clip 102 ( see fig5 ), which is mounted in aperture 103 , in the circuit plate shown in fig4 . note that fig4 represents a back view of the circuit panel , while fig5 represents a front view of the assembly with the instruments removed . terminal 105 provides a common ground through conductive path 106 . terminal 107 provides power to lamps 110 and 111 through conductive path 112 in plate 40 . terminal 108 is the ignition battery terminal providing a conductive path through portion 110 &# 39 ; in the plate , as shown in fig4 . it should be noted that various conductive paths can be interconnected by clips 112 &# 39 ;, shown in fig2 which have legs which project through apertures 113 and 114 , thus connecting conductive path 110 &# 39 ; with conductive path 116 . terminal 118 carries the sender signal to the temperature gauge 17 through conductive path 120 , which has electrical contact with clip 121 associated with the temperature gauge 17 . fuel gauge 18 is driven through terminal 122 through conductive portion 124 to clip 126 which is seated within aperture 127 shown in fig4 . the remaining terminals 130 to 135 are connected up to actuate the remaining instruments in the assembly 10 , and may be easily traced on the circuit of fig4 . it should be understood that the terminals as shown in fig4 are illustrated in their uncut position , while in fig6 they are cut . the center portion , after molding into the wall 27 is cut out and the remaining free ends are bent into the boss 51 , as shown clearly in fig6 . | 7 |
documents of value such as passports , identification cards , entry passes , ownership certificates , financial instruments , and the like , are often assigned to a particular person by personalization data . personalization data , often present as printed images , can include photographs , signatures , personal alphanumeric information , and barcodes , and allows human or electronic verification that the person presenting the document for inspection is the person to whom the document is assigned . many countries have plans to include radio - frequency identification (“ rfid ”) elements in passports , with rfid elements carrying personalization data particular to the person carrying the passport . for example , the united states , some european countries , some latin american countries , canada , and australia plan to issue passports having rfid elements in the near future . an rfid element includes an integrated circuit (“ ic ”) or an rfid tag , which includes an ic and an antenna . when the passport is presented at an entry point in a country , the passport readers will read the rfid element embedded inside the passport and to read certain optical information , such as text , printed images , photographs , or bar codes printed on the passport . the information retrieved from the rfid element and the optical information recorded from the passport will then be processed by at least one computer , and based on that information , a person may be admitted to enter into country or kept for further questioning or screening . there is a need to provide a passport reader that may be used for processing a passport having an rfid element associated with it . the passport reader should also have the ability to capture various optical information and biometric information from the passport . lastly , the passport reader should also have the ability to capture information related to security features on the passport , such as overt security features or covert security features . there is also a need to provide a passport reader that is resistant to eavesdropping or whose signal is resistant to being intercepted by other rfid readers , whether or not such eavesdropping is intentional or unintentional . for example , when a passport reader is reading the rfid element in a passport , it is possible that other rfid readers located some distance away from the passport reader may be able to eavesdrop on the communications . the range at which an rfid reader can read a passive rfid element of a passport is typically limited by the ability to transfer adequate power from the rfid reader to the rfid element to power the rfid element and its subsequent communications . this is the limiting factor because adequate power cannot easily be radiated over large distances ( while conforming to regulatory requirements such as the fcc ). conversely , the range at which the rfid element of a passport can be read is typically not limited by the ability to radiate communication signals between the rfid reader and the rfid element ( when the rfid element is powered by a rfid reader ) because these signals can radiate a great distance ( even when operating within regulatory requirements , such as the fcc ). the communication signals between a first rfid reader and the rfid element ( when the rfid element is powered by the first rfid reader ) are typically radiated well beyond the first rfid reader and the rfid element , into space where a second rfid reader could intercept them . it is possible that someone may wish to intentionally read information from another person &# 39 ; s rfid element in their passport , without them being aware of it , and then use that information to create a fake passport . alternatively , several passport readers may be spaced from each other some small distance , for example 10 feet or less , in a series of border control stations located next to each other in an airport . one passport reader located in one station may unintentionally receive information from the rfid element in a passport being read by the passport reader in an adjacent station . regardless of whether the eavesdropping is intentional or not intentional , there is a need for a passport reader that is able to read information from an rfid element in a passport , when it is inserted into the passport reader , but that also is resistant to eavesdropping or interception by other rfid readers . the passport reader of the present invention includes a unique antenna design that creates opposing magnetic fields in different portions of the antenna , which cancel at a distance , and thus make it difficult for a distant rfid reader to pick up the information being written to the rfid element in the passport by the passport reader or any other instruction sent from the passcode to the rfid element . however , the unique antenna design still allows near communication between the passport reader and rfid element in the passport . for example , using the unique antenna design in the passport reader 10 , an rfid element in a passport may be read if it is less than a distance of 0 . 5 m from the antenna in the passport reader 10 . however , if the rfid element in the passport is at a distance greater than 0 . 5 m from the antenna in the passport reader 10 , then it may be difficult for the passport reader to communicate with the rfid element in the passport . the simulations included below help illustrate this feature . the passport reader of the present invention allows the rfid element in the passport to be read privately by the border guard unit to whom the passport is presented . preferably , the passport with the rfid element should be close to the passport reader for the passport reader to read the information from the rfid element . for example , the passport is preferably in the position illustrated in fig2 to properly read the rfid element in the passport . preferably , the rfid element in the passport is within about 3 cm . from the antenna in the passport reader for the antenna to properly communicate with the rfid element . there is also a need to provide a passport reader that is resistant to signal jamming . signal jamming devices may interfere with the reader &# 39 ; s ability to read the rfid element in the passport by either sending the passport reader a confusing signal or an overwhelming signal . jamming is an electronic warfare technique to limit the effectiveness of an opponent &# 39 ; s communications equipment . jamming typically consists of deliberate radiation or reflection of electromagnetic energy for the purpose of preventing or disrupting receipt of information by a receiver . jamming equipment is typically found in the military environment , as deliberate jamming is largely illegal in nonmilitary applications . the ability to jam the signal in an rfid - related device can create breaches of security , for example , as follows . it is possible a person may tamper with a passport having an rfid element embedded into it . the person may be able to change some of the optically visible information or printed information on the passport , such as the picture or name of a person . however , it is difficult to tamper with the information stored on the rfid element itself or to replace the rfid element with another rfid element without detection . therefore , when the optical information and information on a tampered rfid element is read by the passport reader , an alarm may be set off by the border control security system because the information would not match up or correlate . to avoid this possibility , the person carrying the tampered passport may carry a signal jamming device in his or her brief case , so as to jam the signal between the passport reader and the rfid element in their passport . in doing so , the passport reader will not be able to read the rfid element in the passport , and thus a different alarm will be set off . this different alarm will not be related to suspicions that the passport is a fake passport , but rather that the rfid element is malfunctioning . if the rfid element is malfunctioning , the passport is still considered a valid passport , but the person may be subjected to additional levels of screening , which are most likely not as difficult to circumvent as the additional security steps that are initiated when a fake passport sets off alarms . as mentioned above , the passport reader of the present invention includes the unique antenna design that creates opposing magnetic fields in different portions of the antenna . another advantage of this antenna design includes the ability to resist signal jamming by signal jamming devices . because the passport reader cancels or is unable to receive distant communications , the passport reader is unable to receive the jamming signal . the two portions of the antenna create potentials in opposite direction and effectively cancel the jamming signal out . therefore , it is more resistant to signal jamming devices than the typical passport reader having rfid capabilities . fig1 illustrates one embodiment of the passport reader 10 of the present invention . the passport reader is used to process passports having rfid elements associated therewith . the passport reader 10 includes a housing 50 . the housing 50 includes a first portion 42 and a second portion 44 . the first portion 42 includes a window 40 preferably made of glass , which is convenient for viewing the optical information found in the passport , such as printed images , photographs , signatures , personal alphanumeric information , and barcodes . the second portion 44 of the passport reader includes a ledge , which is convenient for supporting half of a passport when the passport 14 is inserted into the passport reader 10 to be read ( shown in fig2 ). the other half of the passport is placed on the glass 40 when the passport 14 is inserted into the passport reader 10 to be used . fig2 illustrates the passport reader 10 in combination with a passport 14 . the passport 14 is typically a booklet filled with several bound pages . one of the pages usually has a picture of the individual carrying the passport . this same page of the passport may have a variety of covert and overt security features , such as those security features described in u . s . patent application ser . no . 10 / 193850 , “ tamper - indicating printable sheet for securing documents of value and methods of making the same , filed on aug . 6 , 2004 by the same assignee as the present application , which is hereby incorporated by reference . the other pages of the passport booklet may contain blank pages for receiving a country &# 39 ; s stamp as the person is processed through customs . the passport 14 includes at least one rfid element 12 . typically , the rfid element is attached to either the front cover or back cover of the passport booklet 14 , usually by adhesive and a cover layer . however , the rfid element may be attached to the passport booklet 14 by any means know in the art . to read the passport , the passport booklet 14 is opened up to the page of the picture of the individual carrying the passport , creating a first portion 46 of the passport and second portion 48 of the passport . next , the passport booklet is inserted into the passport reader 10 , such that the picture in the first portion 46 of the passport 14 is adjacent ( or placed over ) the glass 40 of the reader 10 . the second portion 48 of the passport 14 is in contact with the ledge 44 of the reader . this placement of the passport 14 on the passport reader 50 is convenient for interacting with the passport reader &# 39 ; s rfid antenna , which is explained in more detail below in reference to fig3 and 4 . the passport 14 will contain at least one rfid element 12 , however the passport 14 may contain more than just one rfid element 12 . the passport 14 illustrated in fig2 includes two rfid elements , a first rfid element 12 a in the first portion 46 of the passport 14 and a second rfid element 12 b in the second portion 48 of the passport 14 . the first and second rfid elements 12 a , 12 b are illustrated in dotted lines in fig2 - 6 . however , the rfid elements 12 can be any size or shape known in the art . fig3 is convenient for illustrating the inside of the passport reader 14 . the passport reader includes an rfid interrogation source 30 . the rfid reader includes a transmitter that may provide energy or information to the rfid element 12 in the passport 14 , and a receiver to receive identity and other information from the rfid element 12 in the passport 14 . the computing device ( not shown ) processes the information obtained by the rfid interrogation source 30 . any computing device known in the art is suitable to be used in the passport reader 10 . the information received from an rfid element 12 is specific to the particular passport and provides a identification of the passport 14 to which the rfid element 12 is fixed . the passport reader 14 also includes an antenna 16 . the antenna is electrically connected to the rfid interrogation source 30 by electrical wires 32 . the antenna 16 is preferably configured to resemble the shape of a “ figure 8 ,” one example of which is illustrated in fig4 . the figure eight antenna 16 is preferably comprised of two portions . the first portion 18 of the antenna 16 is mounted around the glass 40 in the reader . the second portion 20 of the antenna 16 is mounted around the outer boundaries of the ledge 44 . the first portion 18 and the second portion 20 of the antenna 16 are at an angle α relative to each other . preferably , angle α is in the range of 90 ° to 270 °. more preferably , angle α is in the range of 120 ° to 240 °. most preferably , angle α is in the range of 135 ° to 225 °. preferably , the first portion 18 of the antenna 16 is in one plane and the second portion 20 of the antenna 16 is in another plane . however , it is possible that the first portion 18 and second portion 20 of the antenna 16 could be curved around a cylindrical portion of the reader 10 . the transmitter of the rfid interrogation source 30 outputs radio - frequency signals through the antenna 16 to create an electromagnetic field that enables the rfid element 12 to return a radio - frequency signal carrying information from the rfid element . in some configurations , the transmitter initiates communication , and makes use of an amplifier to drive the antenna 16 with a modulated output signal to communicate with the rfid element 12 . in other configurations , the rfid element 12 receives a continuous wave signal from the rfid interrogation source 30 and initiates communication by responding immediately with its information stored on the rfid element 12 . a conventional rfid element may be an “ active ” rfid element that includes an internal power source , or a “ passive ” rfid element that is energized by the field created by the rfid interrogation source 30 . in either case , the rfid elements 12 communicate using a pre - defined protocol , allowing the rfid interrogation source 30 to receive information from one or more rfid elements . the computing device serves as an information management system by receiving the information from the rfid interrogation source 30 and performing some action , such as updating a database . in addition , the computing device may serve as a mechanism for programming data into the rfid elements 12 via the transmitter in the rfid interrogation source 30 . the rfid interrogation source 30 and rfid element may communicate at many frequencies , such as frequencies of 13 . 56 mhz , 915 mhz , and 115 khz . the passport reader 10 also includes a first mirror 34 , a second mirror 36 and a camera 38 mounted inside the housing 50 of the passport reader . the passport reader 10 may also include either one or two light sources ( not shown ) for providing light onto the image provided through the glass 40 in the reader 10 . the light sources , mirror systems and camera inside the passport reader 10 are similar to the system described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 611 , 612 , “ security reader for automatic detection of tampering and alteration ,” which is owned by the same assignee as the present patent application , and which is hereby incorporated by reference . an image of the information on the page of the first portion 46 of the passport 14 facing the glass 40 is reflected on the first mirror 34 , then reflected on the second mirror 36 , and then captured by the camera 38 . this optical information is then processed by a computer ( not illustrated ) connected to camera 38 . the passport reader 10 includes the benefits of capturing and processing the optical information on the passport 14 , as well as the ability to simultaneously capture and process data from the rfid element 12 in the passport 14 . fig4 illustrates the view of the passport antenna 16 relative to the passport 14 as viewed from arrow 4 illustrated in fig3 . as mentioned above , the antenna 16 is preferably configured to resemble the shape of a figure eight . the antenna 16 is constructed in a manner similar to how a figure eight is drawn . the figure eight configuration has a first portion 18 , a second portion 20 of the antenna , and an intersection 27 where the first portion 18 and second portion 20 are connected . the first portion 18 and second portion 20 of the antenna 16 are more preferably in the shape of loops or some other geometric shape , such as triangles , rectangles or modifications thereof . the first portion 18 of the antenna 16 includes a first periphery 22 . the first periphery surrounds or defines a first area 26 . the second portion 20 of the antenna 16 includes a second periphery 24 illustrated by that portion of the antenna . the second periphery surrounds or defines a second area 28 . the first area 26 and the second area 28 may differ in size and shape . preferably , the first area 26 and second area 28 are approximately the same size . preferably , the first portion 18 and second portion 20 of the rfid element 12 are configured such that at least half of the rfid element 12 is within one of the areas 26 , 28 of one of the portions 18 , 20 of the antenna . preferably , when the passport 14 is properly inserted into the passport reader 10 , as illustrated in fig2 , the first portion of the passport 46 is adjacent the first portion 18 of the antenna 16 , the second portion of the passport 48 is adjacent the second portion 20 of the antenna , and the intersection 27 of the antenna 16 is adjacent the spine 49 of the passport 14 . the current flows though the antenna 16 along the path of the figure eight . it starts from 32 a , runs along what is illustrated as the “ bottom ” side of the first portion 46 of the passport 14 , below the picture , and then runs through the intersection 27 to what is illustrated as the “ top ” side of the second portion 48 of the passport 14 . the current continues running through the second portion 20 of antenna 16 , around the outside edges of the second portion 48 of the passport 14 , and eventually through the intersection 27 and to the “ top ” side of the first portion 26 of the passport 14 . lastly , the current continues running through the first portion 18 of the antenna 16 around the outside edges of the first portion 26 of the passport and back out to 32 b . another way to describe the antenna 16 of the passport reader 10 is that it is a single loop antenna that is twisted 180 ° to form a first portion 18 and a second portion 20 . the intersection 27 is where the loop is twisted at 180 °. the twisted single loop antenna may be bent at angle α . the first portion 18 and the second portion 20 of the antenna 16 are in opposite phases . because the first and second portions 16 , 18 of the antenna are in opposite phases , their fields tend to cancel each other at a distance , for example at 0 . 5 m or greater distance measured from the passport reader 10 , while the antenna 16 is able to communicate with the rfid element 12 at near distances from the passport reader , such as 3 cm or less . when the passport 14 is properly placed in the passport reader 10 , as illustrated in fig2 - 3 , the rfid element 12 is 3 cm or less from the antenna 16 . thus , the antenna 16 and the rfid element 12 in the passport 14 are able to properly communicate . lastly , because the fields of the first portion 18 and second portion 20 cancel each other at a distance from the passport reader , the passport reader 10 is resistant to signal jamming by signal jamming devices . fig5 illustrates an alternative antenna 60 known in the art of rfid enabled passport readers . antenna 60 is a single loop antenna configuration . the antenna 60 has a single portion 62 having a periphery 64 which defines an area 66 . with this prior art single loop antenna design , it is often difficult to generate enough energy in the antenna to power the passive ic chip in the rfid elements 12 . in comparison , the figure eight antenna configuration ( shown in fig4 ) generates more field strength than the single antenna design ( shown in fig5 ) using the same amount of current running though the antennas , as explained in more detail below . fig6 illustrates another alternative antenna 70 known in the art of rfid enabled passport reader . the antenna 70 is made from two separate portions 80 , 82 . however , the two portions 80 , 82 are not connected , do not overlap , and do not intersect , in comparison to the figure eight antenna configuration ( shown in fig4 ). the first portion 80 includes a periphery 72 which defines an area 76 . the second portion 82 includes a periphery 74 which defines an area 78 . with this prior art two loops antenna design , it is often difficult to generate enough energy in the antenna to power the passive ic chip in the rfid elements 12 . in comparison , the figure eight antenna configuration ( shown in fig4 ) generates more field strength than the two loops antenna design ( shown in fig6 ) using the same amount of current running though the antennas . in another embodiment of the invention , the antenna 16 is driven by a balanced circuit . a means to minimize the radiated electric field of a figure eight antenna 16 is to drive the figure eight antenna 16 in a differential ( or balance ) mode . the rf drive signals from an unbalanced coax cable can be converted from an unbalanced to a balanced signal using a balun or other appropriate circuitry . consider that the function of converting an unbalanced signal to a balanced signal can be integrated into an impedance matching circuit . it is important to recognize that each voltage referred to in the following paragraphs consists of a magnitude and a phase , where a phase of 180 degrees can be shown as a magnitude with a negative sign . thus , when performing mathematical operations such as addition or subtraction of the field produced each phase component must be properly considered to obtain mathematically correct results . in an unbalanced to an unbalanced impedance matching circuit , one input and one output signal is connected to a common voltage potential . for the purpose of this discussion , the common voltage will be considered ground potential . a loop antenna connected to an rf signal via such an impedance matching circuit has one end of the loop connected to the output drive terminal of the impedance matching circuit , and the other end of the loop connected to ground . the signal from the matching circuit drives one end of the loop with an rf sinusoidal voltage while the other end of the loop is connected to ground ( zero volts ). for the purpose of illustration , in fig9 a , the voltage at point a is a 1 volt peak ( vp ) rf sinusoid and the voltage at point b is at 0 volts , thus the output voltage of the unbalanced network is 1 vp , referenced to ground . in fig9 a the output voltage is measured as the difference between point a and b , i . e . the voltage at point a ′ minus the voltage at point b . the rf signal at point a is shown in fig1 . consider an electrically short antenna , i . e . an antenna where the current magnitude and the voltage phase along the length of the antenna is nearly constant , such antenna typically having a length of less than λ / 10 where λ is the wavelength of the rf signal . for an electrically short antenna , the magnitude of the voltage along the length of the loop varies approximately linearly while there is very little phase shift along the length of the conductive loop . therefore , the voltage at point g will be ½ vp because it is physically midway , along the length of the loop antenna , i . e . midway between points a and b , and thus midway between the voltage at points a and b . continuing this example , the voltage at point c is ⅞ vp , the voltage at point d is ⅛ vp , the voltage at point e is ⅝ vp and the voltage at point f is ⅜ vp . the voltage at any point on the antenna is positive because every point must be at a voltage between 1 vp and 0 volts . because every point on the antenna has the same positive sign , every portion of the antenna will radiate electric fields that are in - phase with the electric field radiated from every other portion of the antenna . thus the electric fields radiated from each portion of the antenna will tend to constructively add to one another , creating an antenna system that is effective at radiating electric fields at a relatively large distance . in an unbalanced to a balanced impedance matching circuit , only the input has a connection to ground . the output signals are ideally of equal magnitude with opposite sign . a loop antenna connected to an rf signal via such an impedance matching circuit has one end of the loop connected to one output terminal of the impedance matching circuit , and the other end of the loop connected to the other output terminal . the signals from a balanced impedance matching circuit drive each end of the loop with rf sinusoidal voltages that are of the same magnitude but of opposite sign . this signal drive arrangement of equal magnitude but opposite sign is often referred to as a balanced or differential signal . in a differential signaling arrangement , the relation of the two signals relative to ground is not of fundamental importance . of fundamental importance in a differential signaling arrangement is the relationship of one signal relative to the other . ( this is the opposite of an unbalanced arrangement , where the relation of the signal relative to ground is the fundamental measure of the signal .) when the difference of the two signals is found , the common potential used to independently measure each voltage is mathematically removed . in fig9 b the output voltage is measured as the difference between point a ′ and b ′, i . e . the voltage at point a ′ minus the voltage at point b ′. by definition , in a differential signaling system the voltage at point a ′ must have the opposite sign of the voltage at point b ′. for a balanced antenna system versus an unbalanced system with all else being equal , it is necessary that the voltage at point a ′ minus the voltage at point b ′ be equal to the voltage at point a minus the voltage at point b . the solution to these constraints is a magnitude of the voltages at points a ′ and b ′ that is half the magnitude of the voltage at point a . this is graphically represented in fig1 . for the purpose of illustration , referring to fig9 b , let the voltage at point a ′ be 0 . 5 vp and the voltage at a point b ′ be − 0 . 5 vp as shown in fig1 . for an electrically short loop antenna , the voltage along the length of the loop varies approximately linearly , while there is very little phase shift along the length of the conductive loop . therefore the voltage at point g ′ will be 0 vp because it is physically midway , along the length of the loop antenna , between points a ′ and b ′, and thus midway between the voltage at points a ′ and b ′. continuing the example , the voltage at point c ′ is ⅜ vp , the voltage at point d ′ is − ⅜ vp , the voltage at point e ′ is − ⅛ vp and the voltage at point f ′ is ⅛ vp . for every portion of the antenna radiating an electric field with a positive sign , there is a portion of the antenna radiating an electric field with an equal magnitude but opposite sign ( or phase ). these fields cancel one another . thus , the electric fields radiated from the antenna will destructively combine , creating an antenna system that is relatively ineffective at radiating electric fields at large distances . data shown below empirically demonstrates the reduced radiation of a figure eight antenna driven differentially as in fig9 b vs . radiation of an identical figure eight antenna driven with an unbalanced signal as in fig9 a . the figure eight antennas were identical , each consisting of two 5 inch loops , the only difference being one antenna was driven using an unbalanced matching circuit and the other antenna using a balanced matching circuit . each antenna had a q of 10 , a swr of 1 . 2 , and was driven with a 1 watt rf signal at 13 . 56 mhz . the radiated field strength produced by each antenna was measured along the x , y and z axis at distances of 7 , 15 and 20 feet . the x , y and z components of the radiation field at each distance was measured and recorded in decibels . the field strength produced by the unbalanced antenna was subtracted from the field strength produced by the balanced antenna with the results shown in table 1 . a negative result would indicate that the balanced antenna radiates less effectively than the unbalanced antenna . the data ( all negative ) show that the balanced antenna is less effective at radiating a field than an unbalanced antenna , thus rendering communications from a balanced antenna less susceptible to eavesdropping . because of reciprocity , from this data it is also then evident that the balanced antenna is also more immune to a jamming signal than the unbalanced antenna . reciprocity is an axiom accepted in the art , that , for example , an antenna that is a relatively efficient radiator of rf energy is conversely a relatively efficient collector of rf energy . likewise , an antenna that is a relatively poor radiator of rf energy is also a relatively poor collector of rf energy . in one embodiment of this invention , the passport reader antenna is tuned with an rfid element closely coupled to the antenna , i . e . the rfid element in near proximity to the antenna of the passport reader . tuning of the antenna of the rfid passport reader in this manner compensates for the loading that happens when two resonate structures , i . e . the antenna of the passport reader and the antenna of the rfid element , are closely coupled . in this embodiment , when a rfid element is in the field of a thusly tuned antenna , the antenna has a low standing wave ratio , which results in the passport reader antenna then reflecting less of the power , thus transmitting more power to the rfid element . such tuning of the antenna of the rfid reader resolves the problem of the rfid tag loading the field of the rfid reader antenna , i . e . changing of the operative resonating frequency of the passport reader antenna , which results in communication between the antenna and the rfid tag being difficult or impossible . methods that rfid reader manufactures have used to solve this loading issue has included changing the modulation index of the reader and some of the circuitry components on the circuit boards of the readers . because of differences in the loading characteristics caused by various rfid tags from different manufactures , such changes by reader manufactures work only for subsets of a tag group . thus , to use various rfid tags , the rfid reader user typically needs to make changes to the hardware and the firmware on the reader depending upon which rfid tags the rfid reader is expected to read . by following the implementation of this embodiment , i . e . tuning the antenna of the rfid reader with an rfid element closely coupled to the rfid reader antenna , the need to change the hardware and firmware of the rfid reader is eliminated and thus by implementing such tuning of the rfid reader antenna , all types of rfid tags can be read without hardware or software changes to the reader . employing this embodiment of the invention will allow for maximum power transfer to an rfid tag , even when the rfid tag loads down the field of the rfid reader antenna . for example , rfid tags that adhere to the iso 14443 - 2 specification for type b tags require a modulation index of eight to fourteen percent . table 2 illustrates the difference in modulation index for a type b tag for an antenna tuned to 13 . 56 megahertz in free space versus an antenna tuned to 13 . 56 megahertz with a type b tag in the rfid reader antenna field . as illustrated by table 2 , communication by the rfid reader antenna tuned in free space is not possible with the type b tag . however , following the implementation of this embodiment of the invention , i . e ., tuning of the rfid reader antenna with an rfid tag closely coupled to the antenna , shows that communication with the type b tag was optimized as the modulation index fell well within the required modulation index . another parameter that must be met for successful communication with a passive rfid element is power transfer from the field of the rfid reader antenna to the rfid element . by minimizing the power reflected by the rfid reader antenna with an rfid element in the field of the rfid reader antenna , one can maximize the power transfer to the rfid tag . the iso 14443 - 2 specification states that to successfully power and thus read a passive tag , an rfid reader complying with this standard must provide a radiated field strength received by the rfid element of at least 1 . 5 a / m . table 3 shows the radiated field strength for an rfid element for an rfid reader antenna tuned to 13 . 56 megahertz in free space versus an rfid reader antenna tuned to 13 . 56 megahertz with an iso 14443 - 2 type b tag in the field of the rfid reader antenna . as shown by table 3 , following this embodiment of the invention i . e ., tuning the antenna of the rfid reader with an rfid tag in the field of the rfid reader , the field strength requirement for successful communication is exceeded . to exemplify that the magnetic field produced by the figure eight antenna of a passport reader is higher at near proximity to the rfid passport reader and that the magnetic field is lower at a distance from a passport reader with figure eight antenna versus a passport reader equipped with other antenna structures , simulations of antenna magnetic field strengths along the x , y and z axis of the antennas at distances ranging from the origin to 10 meters were conducted using “ antenna analysis software ”— nec - win pro from nitney scientific inc ., princeton , utah . the antenna structures chosen for comparison were six inch and eight inch diameter loop antennas . the six inch and eight inch loop antennas are similar to the rectangular loop antenna depicted in fig5 . the figure eight antenna was of the shape shown in fig4 , with each rectangle having a six inch diagonal . the eight inch loop antenna was chosen for comparison , as an rfid element in a passport — whether the rfid element is in the cover page or the back page or any other page of the passport book , would then be within the loop antenna with the passport laid upon the antenna as shown in fig5 . as apparent from fig5 , the origin for the eight inch antenna was not the physical center of the antenna loop , but positioned at a point central to one of the depicted locations of an rfid element in a passport as shown in fig5 . a six inch loop antenna was chosen for comparison , as six inches is slightly larger than the diameter of a typical passport book page . the origin for the six inch loop antenna was oriented at the physical center of the six inch loop . the origin for the figure eight antenna was oriented at the physical center of either loop of the figure eight antenna . such position was chosen for the origin as this location is the most probable location for an rfid tag in a passport book to be centered when the passport book is laid upon an rfid enabled passport reader equipped with a figure eight antenna . the relative position of the x , y and z coordinates for the figure eight antenna is depicted in fig7 . the relative position of the x , y and z coordinates for the six inch and eight inch loop antennas is depicted in fig8 . as illustrated in fig1 , the magnitude of the z component of the magnetic field determined along the z axis for the fig8 , eight inch loop and six inch loop antennas by the nec - win pro “ antenna analysis software ” shows that the magnitude is highest for the figure eight antenna at near proximity to the antenna . table 3 sets forth determined magnetic field magnitudes commencing with the origin through a distance of three centimeters along the z axis . only the z component of the magnetic field radiated by the passport reader antenna is pertinent for this illustration as only the z component in this orientation of rfid element to reader antenna transfers energy to the rfid element . fig1 , 13 , and 14 respectively illustrate the magnitude of the magnetic field determined along the x , y & amp ; z axis for a fig8 , an eight inch loop and a six inch loop antenna using the nec - win pro “ antenna analysis software ”. these figures show that the magnetic field for the figure eight antenna over a distance of 0 . 5 meters to 10 meters is approximately an order of magnitude less than the magnetic fields for the eight inch and six inch loop antennas . one skilled in the art would be able to make the passport reader 10 of the present invention based on the teachings of this application . the present invention has now been described with reference to several embodiments thereof . the foregoing detailed description and examples have been given for clarity of understanding only . no unnecessary limitations are to be understood therefrom . all patents and patent applications cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many changes can be made in the embodiments described without departing from the scope of the invention . thus , the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the exact details and structures described herein , but rather by the structures described by the language of the claims , and the equivalents of those structures . | 7 |
referring to the fig1 a vehicle 10 schematically illustrated , includes an odometer 12 that provides a number of pulses indicative of movement of the vehicle 10 . the odometer 12 receives data from various systems or assemblies on the vehicle 10 such as the engine 22 , transmission 24 , and tires 20 . the pulses emitted from the odometer 12 indicate motion of the vehicle 10 . the odometer 12 transmits the pulses to a controller 18 . the controller 18 also receives data from a receiver 26 . the receiver 26 preferably receives signals indicative of current vehicle 10 position from global positioning satellites 28 . signals indicative of vehicle position may also be obtained from other sources that are known to a worker skilled in the art . a number of vehicle position signals are used by the controller 18 to determine a known distance traveled . the controller 18 combines the number of pulses from the odometer 12 with the known distance traveled to provide a calibration value for the odometer 12 . the calibration value represents the number of pulses emitted over a known distance . preferably , the distance is a half - mile such that the calibration value represents pulses per half mile ( pphm ). the pphm value represents the number of pulses the odometer 12 will emit after the vehicle 10 travels one half mile . the pphm value combined with a timer is used to indicate speed of the vehicle 10 . the actual number of pphm varies in response to physical changes in the vehicle 10 . when the actual number of pphm is different from the pphm value used to calibrate the odometer 12 , mileage and speed values will be inaccurate . physical changes in the vehicle 10 include changes in tire pressure , change in vehicle load , change of tires installed on the vehicle , or other environmental conditions that change operating characteristics of the vehicle 10 as understood by a worker skilled in the art . the controller 18 records the number of pulses received relative to the distance traveled as a data sample . each data sample will include a value that represents the number of pulses recorded per half mile . although , preferably pphm comprise a single data sample , it is within the contemplation of this invention to use distances other than a half - mile . once a minimum number of samples are obtained , an average pphm value is determined from the gathered data samples . the average pphm value is compared to a current pphm value used as the current calibration value by the odometer 12 . preferably , the current pphm value represents an average value of the last 200 data samples . the number of data samples comprising the pphm value is preferably 200 , however it is within the contemplation of this invention to determined the current pphm value with differing quantities of data samples . if the current pphm value differs from the average pphm value , then the calibration value is updated to reflect the average pphm value . a pphm value is recorded only when a comparison of incoming pulses indicates that the vehicle 10 is traveling at a constant speed . variation of vehicle speed causes inaccurate pphm data samples . inaccurate pphm data samples cause correlating inaccuracies in the calibration of the odometer and are therefore eliminated by only recording pphm samples when the speed of the vehicle is constant . consistent speed of the vehicle is determined by examining the number of pulses comprising a pphm sample with a prior obtained pphm sample . the data sample indicates a relatively constant speed if values of incoming pphm samples differ by less than a predetermined tolerance . the tolerance range is a specific percentage of the previous pphm value and is applications specific . in some applications , a difference of 10 % maybe sufficient to indicate a relatively constant vehicle speed . further , other application may require only a 5 % difference between values to signify that the vehicle is traveling at a relatively constant speed . preferably the criteria for determining a constant speed is a variation of less than 1 % from a prior gathered data sample , it is within the contemplation of this invention to use other criteria or other percentages to determine that the vehicle is traveling at a consistent and constant speed . to further assure accuracy of calibration data , pphm values are only recorded if the vehicle 10 is traveling at a speed greater than a minimum speed of 15 miles an hour . the minimum speed requirement is determined to optimize accuracy of distance calculation based on the signals received from the global positioning satellite 28 . preferably , data samples are gathered only when the vehicle 10 is traveling at a speed above 15 miles an hour . however , it is within the contemplation of this invention that other minimum speeds higher or lower maybe used to provide optimal distance calculation to qualify the gathering of sample data indicative of pphm . for example in some application a minimum speed of 10 miles an hour may be sufficient to provide accurate data , wherein another application may require a vehicle to travel at a speed greater than 20 miles an hour to provide accurate data . [ 0023 ] fig2 is a flow chart of the method of auto calibration of the odometer 12 . the initial step , indicated at 30 , includes collecting a number of pulses indicative of movement of the vehicle . the collection of pulses comprises the sub - step , indicated at 32 , of determining that the vehicle 10 is traveling at the minimum speed . preferably , the minimum speed is 15 miles an hour . if the vehicle 10 is traveling above the minimum speed , the data sampled is evaluated to determine if the vehicle 10 is traveling at a relatively constant speed . the determination of a relatively constant vehicle speed , indicated at 34 , includes the step of comparing received pulses for a variation of less than a predetermined percentage . a first received pphm data sample is compared against a second pphm . if the vehicle 10 is moving at a constant speed , the difference between the first and second received values will be less than predetermined percentage . the predetermined percentage is a value selected that corresponds to a relatively constant vehicle speed . the specific percentage is application specific . in some applications , a difference of 10 % may be sufficient to indicate a relatively constant vehicle speed . further , other application may require only a 5 % difference between values to signify that the vehicle is traveling at a relatively constant speed . preferably , a difference of less than 1 % is used to signify that the vehicle 10 is traveling at a relatively constant speed . the pphm sample is then recorded as indicated at 36 . the pphm value is gathered and compared approximately every 1 . 2 seconds during operation of the vehicle 10 . the specific interval in which data is gathered may be of any duration calculated to provide a significant difference between data points to allow the determination that the vehicle 10 is traveling at a constant rate of speed . the pphm is recorded , as indicated at 36 , once it has been determined that the vehicle 10 is traveling above a minimum required speed 34 and that the vehicle 10 is traveling at a relatively constant speed 34 . the controller 18 collects a minimum number of samples , indicated at 38 , in order to calculate the average pphm value . preferably the minimum number of samples is five , however , other quantities of data may be used to determined the average pphm value . each sample is collected at a constant speed , even though the speed may be different for each data sample . because each sample is collected at constant speed , inaccurate and aberrant data caused by variations in speed are eliminated from the odometer 12 calibration . the controller 18 will then compare the average pphm with a current pphm , as indicated at 42 . the current pphm reflects the current calibration of the odometer 12 . if the average pphm differs from the current pphm by an amount greater than a predetermined tolerance , the calibration of the odometer 12 is updated to the average pphm value , as indicated at 44 . the tolerance value may be any value determined to signify a deviation from the current pphm value . tolerance values are application specific . a tolerance value of 1 % maybe sufficient for some applications . preferably , the tolerance is a value determined to be 0 . 125 % of the current pphm . the current pphm consists of a larger number of sample points that have been recorded previous to the number of sample points used to determine the average pphm . preferably , the number of sample points recorded to determine the current pphm is 200 . pphm data samples are continuously gathered as indicated at 46 such that the calibration value of the odometer 12 reflects current operating conditions of the vehicle 10 . further , by recording only pphm values obtained when the vehicle 10 is traveling at a constant speed , the inaccuracies caused by aberrant data are eliminated . the foregoing description is exemplary and not just a material specification . the invention has been described in an illustrative manner , and should be understood that the terminology used is intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than of limitation . many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . the preferred embodiments of this invention have been disclosed , however , one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that certain modifications are within the scope of this invention . it is understood that within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described . for that reason the following claims should be studied to determine the true scope and content of this invention . | 6 |
the present invention is a technique for the percutaneous treatment of idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis ( ihss ) and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy ( hcm ). in ihss the septal wall near the aortic valve thickens reducing the performance of the left ventricle by partially or completely occluding the orifice . in hcm the thickness of the myocardium increases to the extent that the chamber size is reduced , thereby limiting stroke volume . the common treatment for either disease is to surgically reduce the thickness by removing some of the muscle tissue ( i . e ., performing a myectomy ) or reforming the myocardium to improve the shape of the inside of the chamber and increase its volume ( i . e ., cardiomyoplasty ). the reforming can be done surgically ( i . e ., myoptomy ) or by inducing a controlled infarct . the present invention provides the apparatus and technique for performing these procedures percutaneously using laser energy . fig1 is a plan view of catheter 10 of the subject invention . the purpose of catheter 10 is to transmit energy from a medical laser to the myocardium to enable performance of the procedure . this transfer may be transarterial or transveneous as described below . the many aspects of catheter 10 are to optimally facilitate this purpose . the laser energy is directed to the tissue from distal tip 12 . a more detailed view of distal tip 12 is found in fig5 . distal tip 12 is held in position within the ventricle by preformed sigmoidal bend 14 of guiding sheath 10 and fixation wire 42 . distal metal ring 16 provides a radiopaque indication of the location of distal tip 12 . for ease of grasping and turning guiding sheath 18 , it contains winged member 20 at its proximal end . the distal end of wye 26 frictionally engages the proximal end of guiding sheath 18 during use , but is shown exploded in fig1 to view detail . inner catheter 22 runs the entire length of guiding sheath 18 . inner catheter 22 contains the inner lumen through which runs the optical fiber for transmission of the laser energy and the fixation wire 42 . inner catheter 22 is frictionally coupled via swagging or thermoplasty to metal tubing 24 which runs most of the length of wye 26 and defines the inner lumen of main branch 28 of wye 26 . syringe 30 frictionally engages main branch 28 of wye 26 . secondary branch 32 of wye 26 receives sheath 34 which contains the optical fiber through which the laser energy is transmitted . fig2 is a cutaway view of syringe 30 . at its most proximal end is thumb knob 36 . depressing thumb knob 36 moves shaft 38 distally which moves piston 40 distally . fixation wire 42 , which runs the entire length of catheter 10 , is fixedly attached to piston 40 and is therefore moved distally by pressing thumb knob 36 . fixation wire 42 is substantially stiffer than the inner catheter 22 of catheter 10 . the movement of thumb knob 36 ( and hence fixation wire 42 ) in the distal or proximal direction permits medical personnel to maintain the position of distal tip 12 of catheter 10 ( see also fig1 ) and to penetrate the heart tissue for stability ( see also fig7 ). rubber seal 44 sealingly engages wall 46 of syringe 30 . configured stopper 48 guides the movement of shaft 38 for smooth operation . because syringe 30 is airtight , it may be used for resisting inadvertent proximal or distal movement of fixation wire 42 . fig3 is a cutaway view of wye 26 . the outer structure is a molded , rigid plastic . it has a main branch 28 into which syringe 30 is inserted and a secondary branch which receives the optical fiber . as explained above the main branch contains metal tubing 24 which provides a lumen for fixation wire 42 . metal tubing 24 has an aperture 50 which is positioned to receive optical fiber 52 . metal tubing 24 is fixedly engaged by rigid plastic sleeve 54 which in turn is fixedly engaged by the main body of wye 26 and its distal end 56 . rigid plastic sleeve 62 is frictionally engaged by the proximal end of main branch 28 . syringe 30 frictionally engages within the inner diameter of rigid plastic sleeve 62 . sheath 34 runs the length of secondary branch 32 . it provides the lumen for optical fiber 52 . sheath 34 is sealingly engaged by stopper 58 which in turn is sealingly engaged by the proximal end of secondary branch 32 . the outer diameter of sheath 34 is decreased at point 60 corresponding to the distal end of secondary branch 32 . sheath 34 terminates at aperture 50 of metal tubing 24 . fig4 is a cutaway view of the main body of catheter 10 . guiding sheath 18 runs substantially the entire length of catheter 10 . its proximal end is covered by strain relief 64 which is somewhat less flexible than guiding sheath 18 , but not rigid . guiding sheath 18 terminates at point 66 exposing inner catheter 22 which terminates at distal tip 12 . sigmoidal bend 14 and distal metal ring 16 are not shown for clarity , but may be seen in detail in fig5 . fig5 is a cutaway view of the distal end of catheter 10 . distal tip 12 has a metallic cylinder 68 which frictionally and adhesively engages within inner catheter 22 . metallic cylinder 68 also assists in precisely locating distal tip 12 under fluoroscopy . optical fiber 52 is fixedly attached within the lumen of metallic cylinder 68 which also aids in energy transfer , in addition to terminating optical fiber 52 . fixation wire 42 terminates just proximal to metallic cylinder 68 when extended maximally in the distal direction . fixation wire 42 may be advanced and retracted in the manner discussed above to assist in fixation of distal tip 12 . sigmoidal bend 14 of guiding sheath 18 is preformed . because guiding sheath 18 is substantially less flexible than inner catheter 22 , sigmoidal bend 14 greatly aids in placement of distal tip 12 and in maintaining the desired location . distal metal ring 16 is placed on sigmoidal bend 14 . because distal metal ring 16 is radioopaque , it is also helpful in identifying sigmoidal bend 14 during the procedure . fig6 is a schematic diagram of a percutaneous procedure practicing the present invention . yag laser 70 is preferably a model yag - 1 manufactured and sold by quantronix , incorporated , although similar products are available elsewhere . energy from yag laser 70 is transferred via optical fiber 52 to distal tip 12 placed within left ventricle 104 of heart 102 of patient 100 . in this embodiment , catheter 10 is inserted into the femoral artery and proceeds through the aorta into left ventricle 104 via the aortic valve ( see also fig7 ). during operation , the entire catheter system may be cooled by waterflow in the annular space between guiding sheath 18 and inner catheter 22 . fig7 shows an enlarged cutaway view of heart 102 undergoing the procedure of the present invention . as can be seen , left ventricle 104 has had its volume diminished by excessive thickness of septal wall 110 ( shaded area ) resulting in hcm . furthermore , the enlargement of septal wall 110 at point 108 interferes with emptying of left ventricle 104 by occluding aortic valve 106 resulting in ihss . catheter io has been inserted within the femoral artery as shown in fig6 and has been advanced through the aorta into left ventricle 104 . notice sigmoidal bend 14 interacts with the irregular shape within left ventricle 104 to maintain the position of metallic cylinder 68 along the axis of catheter 10 . extension of fixation wire 42 prevents transverse motion . ideally metallic cylinder 68 is positioned within 1mm of the tissue to be irradiated with the laser energy . distal metal ring 16 aids in verification of placement using fluoroscopy . once the exact position of metallic cylinder 68 is obtained , it is affixed by advancing thumb knob 36 as discussed above . after correct placement of metallic cylinder 68 is verified , a short burst of laser energy is issued . preferably the duration is approximately 15 seconds and the power is approximately 15 watts . this energy is sufficient to either cut the myocardial tissue and thereby reform it or at least produce a controlled infarct which greatly shrinks the tissue volume at the infarct area . in this fashion , the myocardium is reformed to enlarge the chamber volume and alleviate occlusion of the aortic outflow track as described by morrow . fig8 shows an alternative approach to the procedure . each of the elements is as shown in fig6 . the major exception is that catheter 10 is advanced to heart 102 transveneously . insertion is preferably made into the femoral vein and is advanced to the right side of heart 102 . left ventrical 104 is entered transeptually as shown in fig9 . fig9 is a cutaway and enlarged view of heart 102 . it differs from fig7 only in that left ventrical 104 is entered transeptually as shown using procedures known in the art . having thus described the preferred embodiments of the present invention , those of skill in the art will be able to readily apply these teachings to other embodiments within the scope of the claims hereto appended . | 0 |
all inspection stations represented in the figures are used for screening hand luggage and other articles carried by persons . they are preferably used for security screening at airports in order to screen passengers &# 39 ; carry - on items for weapons , explosives , or other impermissible items . each inspection station contains an inspection unit 1 , preferably an x - ray inspection device , used to transradiate the carried items . the items to be screened are conveyed on a conveyor 2 , preferably a belt conveyor , through the inspection unit . located at the entry side of the inspection station , ahead of the conveyor 2 , is a deposit point 3 , upon which the items to be screened are deposited and delivered to the conveyor 2 . customarily , the deposit point 3 has a roller section with freely rotating rollers . at the output side , the conveyor 2 is adjoined by a retrieval point 4 , where the passengers retrieve the screened items . the retrieval point 4 also typically has a roller section with freely rotating rollers to which the screened items are delivered from the inspection unit 1 by the conveyor 2 . in a known manner , a recheck point 5 is located next to the retrieval point 4 , to which the items are delivered by an alternative conveyor 6 behind the inspection unit if the screening by the inspection unit 1 is not clear , so that a manual recheck in the presence of an operator is required . located next to the inspection unit 1 on the operator side o is the operator &# 39 ; s terminal for the operator , containing a screen which displays the results of the transradiation . the recheck point 5 is likewise located on the operator side , so that the operator can reach it quickly for a follow - up inspection . a switch point 7 in the conveyor section 2 , which can be actuated by the operator or automatically , makes it possible to switch over to the conveyor section 6 , so that the items are conveyed to the recheck point 5 instead of to the retrieval point 4 . the passengers move through the inspection station on the side p opposite the operator side o . this is the reason the luggage retrieval point 4 is located on the passenger side p . transport bins 10 are used for transporting small items ( wallets , cell phones , laptops , small backpacks , etc .) and articles of clothing through the inspection unit 1 , with these items and articles of clothing being placed in the bins . the transport bins 10 are placed on the rollers of the deposit point 3 , where the passengers place the small items and clothing in the bins 10 . after the screening in the inspection unit 1 , the passengers remove the screened items from the bins 10 again at the retrieval point 4 . all embodiments according to the invention have in common that a return conveyor 11 for the empty transport bins 10 is arranged next to or below the conveyor 2 passing through the inspection unit 1 , and extends from the retrieval point 4 to at least the area of the deposit point 3 ahead of the conveyor 2 . the transport bins 10 are automatically conveyed from the end of the screening section back to the beginning of the screening section by the return conveyor 11 . it is not necessary for an operator to carry the transport bins 10 back or manually push them back on a roller conveyor . the time and physical demands on the operating personnel are thus reduced considerably . shown in fig1 is an embodiment in which the return conveyor 11 is arranged to run beneath the conveyor 2 and the inspection station 1 . the return conveyor 11 contains driven belts or rollers and has a transport width at least as wide as the transport bins 10 . the transport bins 10 can in this way be transported back lying flat , in order to keep the height required beneath the inspection unit 1 and conveyor 2 as small as possible . the transfer point 12 at the end of the screening section , where the emptied bins 10 are transferred by the conveyor 2 to the return conveyor 11 , contains either freely rotating or driven rollers . in the case of freely rotating rollers at the transfer point 12 , either an operator or the passenger pushes the empty bins 10 onto the return conveyor 11 . in the case of driven rollers at the transfer point 12 , the transfer can take place automatically , for example initiated by an operator . the transfer of the empty transport bins 10 from the return conveyor 11 to the deposit point 3 at the start of the screening area is either done manually by an operator or the passenger himself , or suitable conveying means that can be activated by an operator are arranged at this point . shown in fig2 and 3 is another embodiment , in which the return conveyor 11 for the bins 10 is arranged to run next to the conveyor 2 on the operator side o . also shown in both fig2 and 3 are the recheck point 5 and the switch point 7 with the conveyor 6 leading to the recheck point 5 . in this embodiment , too , the bins 10 are transported back lying flat . the return conveyor 11 begins between the retrieval point 4 and the recheck point 5 , and initially runs at a level lower than the conveyors 2 and 6 . this lower level is drawn with crosshatching in the figures . located between the retrieval point 4 and the recheck point 5 is a downwardly angled conveyor surface leading to the return conveyor 11 , on which surface the transport bins 10 slide downward to the return conveyor 11 . the return conveyor 11 runs on the operator side until it is alongside the deposit point 3 . in its final conveying section , it rises to the level of the deposit point 3 , so that a bin 10 can simply be pushed from the end of the return conveyor 11 to the deposit point 3 . in fig4 , another embodiment is shown in which the bins 10 are transported back on the return conveyor 11 lying flat . the structure of this inspection station corresponds to that of the inspection station shown in fig2 and 3 , except that the return conveyor 11 for the bins 10 is arranged to run on the passenger side p next to the conveyor 2 . in this embodiment , too , the return conveyor begins between the retrieval point 4 and the recheck point 5 , below the two conveyors 2 , 6 conveying to these locations . the return conveyor 11 initially runs at an angle below the conveyor 2 to the outside on the passenger side p , and is then guided parallel to the conveyor 2 , past the inspection unit 1 , until it is next to the deposit point 3 at the entry of the inspection station . fig5 - 7 show embodiments in which the bins 10 are conveyed back standing edgewise on the return conveyor 11 . this has the advantage that very narrow conveyors 11 ( belt conveyors or roller conveyors ) can be used , which take up very little space . the return conveyor 11 runs next to the conveyor 2 passing through the inspection unit 1 . it is located either on the operator side o ( fig5 , fig6 ), or on the passenger side p ( fig7 ). the structure of the relevant inspection station corresponds essentially to the embodiments with lying return transport described in fig1 - 4 . like parts are thus also labeled with like reference numbers . the embodiments with return transport of the bins 10 in the edgewise position additionally have , at the start of the return conveyor section , means for standing up the bins 10 located either at the retrieval point 4 or at the recheck point 5 , and getting them in a position standing edgewise on the return conveyor 11 . a variety of these means are shown in fig8 - 11 . in the embodiment from fig8 and 9 , a chute 12 leads downward from the retrieval point 4 to the narrow return conveyor 11 . within the chute 12 , an angled guide surface 13 leads downward and is designed such that a bin 10 sliding down stands on edge , and is placed on the return conveyor 11 in this orientation . the bins 10 are pushed into the chute 12 at the retrieval point 4 either by an operator or by the passenger himself , after it has been verified that no items remain in the bin 10 . alternatively , it is possible to provide a motor drive that conveys a bin 10 into the chute 12 . a chute designed as the mirror image is also arranged at the recheck point 5 to move empty bins 10 located there to the return conveyor 11 . fig1 shows an embodiment that also has a chute 12 with a 90 ° bend , whose inlet is located on the operator side o between the retrieval point 4 and recheck point 5 . the inlet 14 of the chute 12 is located laterally beneath the deposit surface of the retrieval point 4 or recheck point 5 . an operator pulls an empty bin 10 towards himself , and inserts it through the inlet 14 into the chute 12 . as it moves through the chute 12 , the bin 10 is stood up so that it stands edgewise on the return conveyor 11 . in the embodiment from fig1 , a flap 16 that swings downward is located in a deposit surface 15 , which is located at the same level as and between the retrieval point 4 and recheck point 5 . the flap 16 swings downward in such a way that a bin 10 on it slides downward onto the return conveyor 11 , standing itself edgewise in the process . the hinge mechanism for the flap 16 is actuated by an operator when he has determined that the bin 10 has been completely emptied . the invention being thus described , it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways . such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention , and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the following claims . | 1 |
the national electrical manufacturing association , nema , has developed a rating system for rating and testing enclosure types . a rating of 4 × requires that the enclosure be either of indoor or outdoor use which will provide a degree of protection against falling rain , splashing water and hose - directed water . furthermore , the enclosure must be undamaged by the formation of ice on the enclosure and must be resistant to corrosion . the enclosure 10 of the present invention shown in fig1 is designed to satisfy the nema 4 × standard . the enclosure 10 of the present invention is comprised of a body 20 , a door 40 , hinges 60 and a securing latch 80 . the body 20 can be attached to the wall or other appropriate structure through conventional mounting means attached to back surface 22 . shown in fig1 is a substantially rectangular body 20 , although other body shapes are possible . in the embodiment shown in fig1 top surface 24 and bottom surface 25 are attached to the back surface 22 and are positioned substantially orthogonal to the back surface 22 and substantially parallel to each other . a pair of substantially parallel side surfaces 26 and 28 are attached to the back surface 22 and extend between the top surface 24 and the bottom surface 25 . the side surfaces 26 and 28 are positioned to be substantially orthogonal to the top surface 24 , the bottom surface 25 and the back surface 22 . a front surface 30 lies substantially in a plane and is attached to the side surfaces 26 and 28 , the top surface 24 and the bottom surface 25 . the front surface is positioned to be substantially orthogonal to the top surface 24 , the bottom surface 25 and the side surfaces 26 and 28 . the enclosure interior is defined by these surfaces . stainless steel has proven satisfactory in forming the body surfaces . an access opening 32 is positioned within the front surface 30 . the access opening 32 is shown as substantially rectangular and is as large as possible to allow for convenient , easy access to the enclosure interior . the access opening is surrounded by a rim 34 which is attached to the front surface 30 . the rim 34 extends around the entire periphery of the access opening 32 . the rim 34 may be formed from the same material as the surface portions of the body 20 , may be formed integrally therewith and is positioned to be substantially perpendicular to the front surface 30 . a flat sealing flange 36 is positioned around the entire periphery of the rim 34 and is positioned in a plane which is spaced from and substantially parallel to the plane defined by the front surface 30 . the sealing flange 36 is substantially made from the same material as the rim 34 and may be formed integrally with the rim 34 . the door 40 is pivotably attached to the body 20 . the door 40 has also been designed for easy removal and replacement as needed . the door 40 includes a door face 42 having the general shape of a rectangle with planar surfaces . four end faces 44 , 46 , 48 and 50 are attached to the door face 42 at the peripheral edges of the door face 42 . the end faces 44 , 46 , 48 and 50 are positioned to be substantially perpendicular to the plane of the door face 42 with each end face being parallel to another end face on an opposite edge of the door face 42 . cutouts 52 and 54 are positioned in the end face 44 which is positioned adjacent the body 20 . a continuously formed urethane seal 56 is positioned on the interior of door face 42 . the urethane seal 56 is formed in situ and is positioned to engage the entire circumference of the sealing flange 36 when the door 40 is in a closed position . no additional structure is required to support or locate the urethane seal 56 . the urethane seal 56 is positioned to tightly seal against the sealing flange 36 when the enclosure 10 is closed . two hinges 60 are provided to pivotably attach the door 40 to the body 20 . each hinge 60 includes a mounting flange 62 which may be attached to the front surface 30 in any conventional fashion . one such method of attaching the hinge to the front surface 30 is through use of mounting holes 64 which are countersunk to provide for a flush appearance of attaching flat head mounting screws 66 ( shown in fig2 ). the mounting screws 66 will also engage with mounting holes 65 provided in the front surface 30 of body 20 . mounting holes 65 may be provided near all four corners of front surface 30 to allow for reversible mounting of the door 40 . the hinges 60 and the door 40 may be mounted on the left or right of the enclosure 10 to allow the door 40 to open to the left or right as desired . the mounting holes 65 may be sealed with plugs 67 when not utilized to mount hinges 60 to maintain a sealed environment with enclosure 10 . it should be understood that the door 40 will be reversed , or pivoted 180 °, when mounted on the opposite side ; for example , end face 50 will be adjacent top surface 24 and end face 46 will be adjacent bottom surface 25 when the door 40 is attached to the left side of enclosure 10 . the reversibility of the mounting of door 40 adds greater flexibility to the use of the enclosure 10 . as best shown in fig3 each hinge 60 includes a plate 68 attached to and extending from the mounting flange 62 with the plate 68 positioned substantially perpendicular to the mounting flange 62 . a second plate 70 is attached to the first plate 68 and positioned substantially perpendicular to the first plate 68 and includes a loop 72 attached to a distal end of the second plate 70 . the loop 72 rotationally supports a hinge pin 74 ( see fig2 the hinge pin 74 has been omitted from fig1 for clarity ) which defines the rotational pivot axis 76 of the door 40 . the pin 74 is attached to the door by any conventional fashion . the hinge pins 74 may be provided to be easily removable from the door 40 such that the door 40 may be easily replaced or removed as needed . it should be noted that the hinge 60 is constructed to be narrow such that the access opening 32 may be provided as large as possible . the hinge is located outside of the sealing surface defined by the sealing flange 36 and the urethane seal 56 and does not overlap it , permitting the entire opening to be used . the pivot axis 76 , defined by the hinge 60 is positioned substantially parallel to two of the end faces , 44 and 48 , of the door 40 . the pivot axis 76 is also positioned to be between the plane defined by the front surface 30 and the plane defined by the sealing flange 36 such that the closure of the door 40 will provide for a secure engagement between the seal 56 and the sealing flange 36 . the pivot axis 76 is positioned between the two end faces 44 and 46 with which it is substantially parallel . the second plate 70 of the hinge 60 is adapted to be received in the cutouts 52 and 54 formed in the end face 44 of the door 40 to provide for a range of motion of the door 40 greater than 180 °. although a variety of latching mechanisms may be incorporated into the enclosure of the present invention , fig1 illustrates a single latch 80 which is centered along the vertical edge of the door face 42 . stainless steel has proven to be a satisfactory and preferred latch material for the enclosure meeting the nema 4 × standard . the mounting of the latch 80 to the door 40 is sealed so as not to compromise the integrity of the sealed enclosure system . a window 85 ( shown in fig1 ) may optionally be incorporated into the door . the window may be of any size desired up to and including a window sized approximately to the same size as the access opening 32 . although the invention has been described with particularity above , with reference to particular shapes , structures and materials , the invention is to be limited only insofar as is set forth in the accompanying claims . | 8 |
referring to fig1 , a transmission mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention is disclosed and all of the parts have a first end and a second end which is located opposite to the first end . the first end is the direction that the output shaft of the power tool directs , and the second end is the direction that the motor gear is located . referring to fig1 to 5 , especially to fig1 , the transmission mechanism comprises a first gear unit 1 and a second gear unit 2 . the first gear unit 1 includes a first planet gear disk 12 , a plurality of first planet gears 13 , a ring gear 14 having a plurality of first inner teeth 142 , a second planet gear disk 15 having a plurality of outer teeth 151 and a first pinion 152 , and a plurality of second planet gears 27 . the first planet gear disk 12 has a plurality of shafts 122 extending axially from the first end thereof , and a plurality of first planet gear shafts 121 axially extend from the second end of the first planet gear disk 12 . each of the first planet gear shafts 121 has one of the first planet gears 13 connected thereto , and each shaft 122 extends through a roller 17 . an action member 16 is connected to the first end of the first planet gear disk 12 so that each roller 17 is located in a central hole 160 of the action member 16 . then , the first planet gear disk 12 , the action member 16 , the rollers 17 and a bearing 19 are connected in a front case 11 from the second end of the front case 11 . an inner periphery of the front case 11 has a plurality of inner ribs 111 extending therefrom . the second end has an output shaft 18 which includes a polygonal shaft 181 which extends into the front case 11 from the first end of the front case 11 . the output shaft 18 is cooperated with the bearing 19 and the polygonal shaft 181 extends through a polygonal hole 120 of the first planet gear disk 12 . when the first planet gear disk 12 rotates , the first planet gear disk 12 cooperates with the rollers 17 and the action member 16 to drive the polygonal shaft 181 of the output shaft 18 to rotate . the action between the first planet gear disk 12 , the rollers 17 , the action member 16 and the output shaft 18 belongs to the prior art , and therefore the detail is not described here . the ring gear 14 is a ring - shaped member and includes a first groove 141 defined in an outer periphery thereof and a plurality of outer ribs 144 extend axially from the ring gear 14 . the first inner teeth 142 are defined in the inner periphery of the ring gear 14 . the ring gear 14 is connected to the second end of the first planet gear disk 12 so that the first planet gears 13 are engaged with the first inner teeth 142 . a c - shaped first rod 143 has two ends thereof engaged with the first groove 141 and the first rod 143 is connected to a rear case 21 . when a user operates the first rod 143 , the ring gear 14 is shifted axially and the outer ribs 144 are engaged with the inner ribs 111 . the second planet gear disk 15 has the outer teeth 151 and the first pinion 152 is connected to the first end of the second planet gear disk 15 . the second end of the second planet gear disk 15 has a plurality of second planet shafts 153 connected thereto and each second planet shaft 153 is connected with one of the second planet gears 27 . the second planet gear disk 15 is installed in the inside of the ring gear 14 and the first pinion 152 is engaged with the first planet gears 13 . the user operates the first rod 143 to control the movement of the ring gear 14 to make the first inner teeth 142 of the ring gear 14 be engaged with or disengaged from the outer teeth 151 of the second planet gear disk 15 . the second gear unit 2 includes a third planet gear disk 23 , a fixing ring 24 , a plurality of third planet gears 25 and an inner gear 26 . the third planet gear disk 23 has a plurality of second positioning ridges 231 disposed on an outer periphery thereof . the third planet gear disk 23 has a plurality of third planet gear shafts 232 extending axially from the first end thereof and each third planet gear shaft 232 is connected with one of the third planet gears 25 . each of the third planet gears 25 has a second pinion 251 co - axially connected to the first end thereof . the fixing ring 24 is a ring - shaped member and includes a second groove 243 defined in an outer periphery thereof . the fixing ring 24 includes a plurality of first protrusions 241 extending axially from the first end thereof and a plurality of second protrusions 242 extending axially from the second end thereof . the inner gear 26 has a plurality of first positioning ridges 263 extending axially from the outside thereof and a third grove 261 defined in the outer periphery thereof . second inner teeth 262 are defined in the inside of the inner gear 26 . the third planet gear disk 23 connected with the third planet gears 25 are installed in the rear case 21 . a c - shaped second rod 244 has two ends thereof engaged with the second groove 243 and the second rod 244 is connected with the rear case 21 . the inner gear 26 is also installed in the rear case 21 and at least one pin 264 extends through a wall of the rear case 21 and is inserted into the third groove 261 to restrict the inner gear 26 . thus , the inner gear 26 can rotate in the rear case 21 and can not move axially . the front case 11 and the rear case 21 connect to form a complete case so as to accommodate the first and second gear units 1 , 2 . the motor gear 22 is connected to a motor ( not shown ) and extends into the rear case 21 from the second end of the rear case 21 to be engaged with the third planet gears 25 . the second pinions 251 are engaged with the second inner teeth 262 . the user can operate the second rod 244 to axially move the fixing ring 24 to engage the first protrusions 241 with the first positioning ridges 263 , or engage the second protrusions 242 with the second positioning ridges 231 . as shown in fig2 , when the user operates the first rod 143 , the ring gear 14 is shifted axially toward the second end so that the first inner teeth 142 are engaged with the outer teeth 151 of the second planet gear disk 15 . the second rod 244 is also operated to move the fixing ring 24 toward the first end so that the first protrusions 241 are engaged with the first positioning ridges 263 of the inner gear 26 . at this state , the inner gear 26 cannot rotate . when the motor gear 22 rotates in the forward direction , the second planet gears 27 are rotated in the reverse direction and the second planet gear disk 15 rotates in the forward direction . because the ring gear 14 is engaged with the first planet gears 13 and the second planet gear disk 15 , the ring gear 14 , the second planet gear disk 15 and the first planet gear disk 12 rotate simultaneously . therefore , the input speed from the motor gear 22 is transferred into a first speed ( high ) which is output from the output shaft 18 . as shown in fig3 , when the user operates the first rod 143 , the ring gear 14 is shifted axially toward the second end so that the first inner teeth 142 are engaged with the outer teeth 151 of the second planet gear disk 15 . the second rod 244 is also operated to move the fixing ring 24 toward the second end so that the second protrusions 242 are engaged with the second positioning ridges 231 of the third planet gear disk 23 . at this state , the third planet gear disk 23 cannot rotate . when the motor gear 22 rotates in the forward direction , the second planet gears 27 are rotated in the reverse direction and the inner gear 26 rotates in the reverse direction so that the second planet gear disk 15 rotates in the forward direction and reduces its speed . because the ring gear 14 is engaged with the first planet gears 13 and the second planet gear disk 15 , the ring gear 14 , the second planet gear disk 15 and the first planet gear disk 12 rotate simultaneously . therefore , the input speed from the motor gear 22 is transferred into a second speed ( mediate - high ) which is output from the output shaft 18 . as shown in fig4 , when the user operates the first rod 143 , the ring gear 14 is shifted axially toward the first end so that the first inner teeth 142 of the ring gear 14 are disengaged from the outer teeth 151 of the second planet gear disk 15 and the outer ribs 144 of the ring gear 14 are engaged with the inner ribs 111 of the front case 11 . the second rod 244 is also operated to move the fixing ring 24 toward the first end so that the first protrusions 241 of the fixing ring 24 are engaged with the first positioning ridges 263 of the inner gear 26 . at this state , the inner gear 26 cannot rotate . when the motor gear 22 rotates in the forward direction , the second planet gears 27 are rotated in the reverse direction and the second planet gear disk 15 rotates in the forward direction . because the ring gear 14 is engaged with front case 11 , the ring gear 14 cannot rotate . the first pinion 152 of the second planet gear disk 15 drives the first planet gears 13 to rotate in the reverse direction . the first planet gear disk 12 reduces its speed and rotates in the forward direction so that the input speed from the motor gear 22 is transferred into a third speed ( mediate - low ) which is output from the output shaft 18 . as shown in fig5 , when the user operates the first rod 143 , the ring gear 14 is shifted axially toward the first end so that the first inner teeth 142 of the ring gear 14 are disengaged from the outer teeth 151 of the second planet gear disk 15 and the outer ribs 144 of the ring gear 14 are engaged with the inner ribs 111 of the front case 11 . the second rod 244 is also operated to move the fixing ring 24 toward the second end so that the second protrusions 242 of the fixing ring 24 are engaged with the second positioning ridges 231 of third planet gear disk 23 . at this state , the third planet gear disk 23 cannot rotate . when the motor gear 22 rotates in the forward direction , the second planet gears 27 and the inner gear 26 are rotated in the reverse direction . therefore , the second planet gear disk 15 reduces its speed and rotates in the forward direction . because the ring gear 14 is engaged with front case 11 , the ring gear 14 cannot rotate . the first pinion 152 of the second planet gear disk 15 drives the first planet gears 13 to rotate in the reverse direction . the first planet gear disk 12 is reduced its speed and rotates in the forward direction so that the input speed from the motor gear 22 is transferred into a fourth speed ( low ) which is output from the output shaft 18 . although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof , it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims . | 5 |
in the construction of gan material devices , a number of factors impact the functionality and capability of the devices . a large lattice mismatch between gan , aln and inn and the strong piezoelectric and polarization effects in these materials significantly impact the electrical properties of iii - nitride heterojunction devices . nearly all reported gan - based hemts to date use strained gan — algan junctions with alloy compositions that are designed to maximize the strain in the algan layer , while simultaneously trying to avoid dislocations that may be responsible for long term instabilities in the devices . various devices and systems for building heterojunction devices have been proposed to control the lattice mismatch and the strain of the gan — algan junctions . these devices are particularly designed to take advantage of piezoelectric and spontaneous polarization effects and to minimize long term instabilities . hfets typically have three terminals including a gate , a drain and a source terminal for controlling electrical power flow . an electrical potential applied to the gate terminal controls the flow of current from the drain terminal to the source terminal via an electrically conductive channel . the electrically conductive channel is defined by at least one heterointerface between two different semiconductor materials . when algan / gan materials compose the semiconductor materials of the hfet , and algan is used as a barrier layer , polarization charges resulting from the spontaneous polarization properties of algan as well as strain induced characteristics known as piezoelectric polarization fields are present . the control of the formation of these fields in the construction of an hfet leads to different characteristics that make gan - based hfets suitable for a wide variety of applications depending upon how the device is characterized . hfets formed with gan materials typically include a barrier layer of algan that is disposed on the channel layer to induce a high concentration of electrons in the channel and thereby enhance the electrically conductive properties of the channel . however , the algan barrier disposed on top of the channel can make ohmic contact with the channel difficult . in addition , the polarized nature of the algan layer disposed on top of the channel results in the formation of surface charges that adversely affect the operation of the hfet . further , hfets formed with an algan layer on top of the channel layers exhibit trapping effects where electrons migrate from the channel to the algan layer and become trapped . one solution to the above drawbacks is to provide a barrier layer disposed between a buffer layer and a channel layer in a gan - based hfet . the polarization charges associated with the barrier layer create a potential barrier that prevents electrons from flowing out of the channel and into the buffer . however , this solution realized with algan / gan interfaces produces the same difficulties discussed above with respect to algan / gan materials for high current capacity , for example . the use of ingan alloys in the channel layer of hemt devices is also known to permit the use of lower concentrations of al in algan layers to obtain equivalent levels of strain and piezoelectric characteristics for algan / gan heterostructures . ingan provides a large a - lattice constant in relation to gan , and low al and in content layers may be used to produce algan / ingan heterostructures with comparable strain to algan / gan . high density 2degs may be generated based on the strain characteristics of the interface resulting in piezoelectric polarization that could be used to form and control the 2deg with piezoelectric polarization fields . the density of the 2deg can be controlled by varying the alloy percentage of al . accordingly , algan / ingan heterostructures with reduced al content algan layers may be provided without significant reductions in piezoelectric properties of the channel layer . however , as noted above , the properties of a strained iii - nitride material system prevent the realization of a high current carrying device with good insulator qualities . the device according to the present invention produces an inversion or elimination of the strain generated fields that are the focus of study and control in traditional hfet technology , as discussed above . the devices of the present invention also incorporate useful characteristics of the spontaneous polarization fields present in the iii - nitride materials . by controlling these fields , the devices according to the present invention improve the conduction characteristics of the device , while enhancing the insulator qualities permitted by the materials . these results are achieved by controlling the in - plane lattice constant of the materials forming an interface in the iii - nitride material system to produce devices that can be either nominally on or nominally off . in one embodiment , a gan layer or substrate is provided as a basis , over which a layer of inalgan is grown with a particular relationship for the in - plane lattice constant of the two materials . so , for example , a nominally on hfet has an in - plane lattice constant for the material interface that is substantially the same in the gan layer as in the inalgan layer . for nominally off devices , the in - plane lattice constant of the inalgan is larger than that of the gan material . this approach deviates from the conventional methodology for hfet design using the algan / gan material system , where the in - plane lattice constant of the algan is made as small as possible nearing the point at which relaxation occurs . in accordance with the present invention , a base layer is formed that is composed of a iii - nitride material with a lattice constant a and a bandgap eb , typically associated with gan . a second layer is formed over the first layer , and is composed of a iii - nitride material with a lattice constant b and bandgap et , such as an alloy typified by inalgan . the formation of the two layers is controlled so that the resultant interface has specific characteristics dependent upon desired device parameters . for example , bandgap et may be made greater than bandgap eb and lattice constant b may be made greater than or equal to lattice constant a . a device provided in accordance with these relationships controls the spontaneous polarization produced in the materials to generate spontaneous polarization fields that can produce and control the 2deg at the gan / inalgan interface . varying the alloy percentage of in to al can control the density of the 2deg . the spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization fields can be balanced to cancel each other , leading to zero charge accumulation at the interface , resulting in a nominally off hfet device . referring to fig1 , a semiconductor structure 10 illustrates the use of an inalgan / gan interface in accordance with the present invention . semiconductor structure 10 incorporates a quaternary barrier design with a source 12 and a drain 14 . a gate 16 controls the formation and density of the high mobility 2deg between source 12 and drain 14 to permit or prevent conduction . source 12 , drain 14 and gate 16 may be defined and metallized according to known iii - nitride hfet methodologies . the formative methodologies may include ion implantation of impurities to form source 12 and drain 14 , in addition to etching to remove barrier regions over source 12 and drain 14 . other methodologies applicable to the present invention may include the process of forming a low resistive ohmic contact 18 for source 12 and drain 14 . by providing a matching in - plane lattice constant between inalgan layer 11 and gan layer 15 , semiconductor structure 10 achieves a near zero interface density of state . the characteristics of the hfet layer structure permit control of the strain state of the barrier layer , reducing or eliminating relaxation generated defects and providing low leakage in the gate contact . the hfet produced according to semiconductor structure 10 exhibits a high breakdown field resulting from the barrier layer and the large dielectric constant achieved as an improvement over traditional insulator materials . through control of the density of the 2deg , semiconductor structure 10 provides an increase in sheet charge by a factor of 2 - 4 times that of conventional devices . with respect to a nominally off device arranged according to semiconductor structure 10 , control of the density of the 2deg permits a large withstand capability . the barrier region of semiconductor structure 10 has a large bandgap , which results in a large confinement barrier for electrons in the 2deg . this phenomena reduces the scattering cross - section of the electrons and increases their mobility , leading to higher current densities and reduced on resistance . the thickness of layer 11 can vary in semiconductor structure 10 , so that layer 11 has a different thickness under source 12 or drain 14 than under gate 16 , for example . the different thickness of layer 11 can contribute to reducing leakage and assist in forming a good ohmic contact 18 . referring to fig2 , bandgap and critical field values of semiconductor structure 10 in relation to in content are graphically illustrated in graph 20 . the plotted bandgaps reflect the lattice matched barrier layer stoichiometry of the inalgan barrier layers and gan layer . the large bandgaps illustrated are obtained without strain relaxation , resulting in better confinement of electrons and higher mobility of the confined electrons . in addition , the large bandgaps permits lower leakage through the gate electrode due to the large schottky barrier height of the metals on inalgan . graph 20 also illustrates the high critical fields of the inalgan material , permitting thin layers of material to stand off large voltages without dielectric breakdown . inalgan provides a dielectric constant of approximately 10 , a factor of 2 . 5 times better than that of silicon oxide . referring now to fig3 , calculations of the density of the 2deg obtained through the structure according to the present invention are illustrated in graph 30 . graph 30 illustrates the calculated 2deg density versus layer thickness for the lattice matched inalgan barrier layers . the illustrated figures represent a marked improvement over conventional algan devices . for example , a 10 % alloy with a thickness of 200 å has a 2deg density of approximately 1 . 5 × 10 13 e / cm 2 , while previously produced algan devices achieve at best a density of 1 × 10 13 e / cm 2 . although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof , many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art . it is preferred , therefore , that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein , but only by the appended claims . | 7 |
a conventional junction box assembly has a first casing and a second casing . the second casing is provided with t - shaped ribs to prevent sidewalls of the first casing and the second casing from separating from each other by deforming . more specifically , a sidewall of the first casing slides past a sidewall of the second casing , when the first and second casings are engaged with each other , such that an inward - facing surface of the sidewall faces an outward - facing surface of the sidewall . the t - shaped ribs engage with corresponding receiving members formed on the inside surface of the sidewall , and thereby prevent the sidewall from deforming outward and thus becoming separated from the sidewall . such separation would be undesirable because of the open gap that would be formed between the two sidewalls . generally , the t - shaped ribs only extend up to the second sidewall edge of the sidewalls of the second casing in the conventional art . fig1 illustrates a junction box assembly according to an exemplary embodiment . t - shaped aligning protrusions 200 are provided on a second casing 20 . the t - shaped aligning protrusions 200 extend beyond the second sidewall edge 24 of the second casing 20 , and mate with a receiving member ( not shown in fig2 ) of the first casing 10 . the t - shaped aligning protrusions 200 extend beyond the second sidewall edge 24 by a certain amount . the amount may be in a range of from about 0 . 25 inches to about 5 . 0 inches , such as , e . g ., about 0 . 5 inches , about 0 . 75 inches , about 1 . 0 inches , about 2 . 0 inches , or about 3 . 0 inches . the t - shaped aligning protrusions 200 may extend beyond the second sidewall edge of the second casing 20 for a distance about equal to the height of the sidewall 26 of the second casing 20 , as shown in fig1 , or a distance longer or shorter than the height of the sidewall 26 . although not depicted , various fuses , relays , transistors , connectors , bus bars , circuit boards , and / or the like may be accommodated within the junction box assembly . as used in this disclosure , “ t - shaped ” is not limited to the shape shown in the depicted exemplary embodiments , and encompasses any shape in which a first portion having a relatively large width is attached to a second portion having a relatively smaller width , such as a mushroom shape , a keyhole shape , etc ., in addition to more traditional “ t ” shapes . the small - width portion of the t - shaped member attaches to a first junction box structure ( such as a casing ), such as at the sidewall or another suitable surface facing substantially perpendicular to a direction of engaging the first junction box structure with a second junction box structure . when the first and second junction box structures are engaged , a receiving member holds the large - width portion of the t - shaped member so that the large - width portion cannot disengage from the receiving member in a direction perpendicular to the direction of engaging the first junction box structure with a second junction box structure . fig2 , 3 , and 4 , illustrate an embodiment of a t - shaped aligning protrusion 200 . the t - shaped aligning protrusion 200 includes an upper surface 220 , a lower surface 222 , chamfers 224 , sidewalls 226 , extensions 228 , and inward - facing corners 229 . the chamfers 224 allow the t - shaped aligning protrusion to easily be guided into a receiving member ( described below ). the upper end of the t - shaped aligning protrusion 200 , including the upper surface 220 , may be inserted into the receiving member to help the alignment process between the first casing and the second casing . additionally , the extensions 228 interlock with the receiving member to keep the t - shaped aligning protrusion engaged with the receiving member . as shown in fig3 , in this embodiment , inward - facing corners 229 of the t - shaped aligning protrusion 200 are tapered in plan view , rather than being right - angled corners . fig5 , 6 , and 7 illustrate an exemplary receiving member 100 . the receiving member 100 has an end surface 109 , a base portion 111 , and a pair of engaging brackets 113 that extend from the base portion 111 . the engaging brackets 113 are spaced from each other at a distance corresponding approximately to the width of the lower surface 222 of the t - shaped aligning protrusion 200 so as to provide space for the entry of the t - shaped aligning protrusion between the engaging brackets . the engaging brackets 113 are configured to allow the t - shaped aligning protrusion 200 to slide into the space between the engaging brackets 113 . as shown in fig5 , inward - facing surfaces 115 of the receiving member 100 extend substantially parallel to sidewall 16 . as shown in fig8 , as the t - shaped aligning protrusion 200 proceeds to its final engagement position with respect to the receiving member 100 , the t - shaped aligning protrusion 200 slidably engages with the engaging brackets 113 of the receiving member 100 . additionally , the lower surface 222 of the t - shaped aligning protrusion 200 moves towards the upper surface 109 of the receiving member . during this action , the chamfers 224 make it easy to guide the end of the t - shaped aligning protrusion 200 into the open end of the receiving member 100 . additionally , the inward - facing corners 229 of the t - shaped aligning protrusion 200 engage the inward facing surfaces 115 of the receiving member 100 in a substantially line contact manner , rather than a plane contact manner . this helps reduce the actual force necessary to push the t - shaped aligning protrusion 200 into the receiving member 100 . the sidewall 16 of the first casing 10 may slide past the sidewall 26 of the second casing 20 , such that an inward - facing surface of the sidewall 16 faces an outward - facing surface of the sidewall 26 . the t - shaped aligning protrusions 200 engage with corresponding receiving members formed on the inside surface of the sidewall 16 , as described above , and thereby prevent the sidewall 16 from deforming outward and thus becoming separated from the sidewall 26 . while the invention has been described in conjunction with a specific embodiment , this embodiment should be viewed as illustrative and not limiting . various changes , substitutes , improvements or the like are possible within the spirit and scope of the invention . for example , the number of t - shaped aligning protrusions 200 in the second casing is not limited to the three depicted in fig1 , but may be any number , including one . as another example , the location of the t - shaped aligning protrusion is not limited . specifically , the t - shaped aligning protrusion may be located in the first casing 100 and the receiving member may be located in the second casing 200 or the first and second casings could contain both t - shaped aligning protrusions and receiving members . as another example , the t - shaped aligning protrusion could be located on an interior wall or surface of the first or second casing . | 7 |
fig1 a and 1 b illustrate by basic diagrams the antenna according to the invention . the antenna 100 is viewed from above . each of the waveguides 101 , 102 , 103 is fed with radiofrequency signals 101 a , 102 a 103 a and extends parallel to the y axis . the waveguides may be guides with rectangular cross - section . each waveguide 101 , 102 , 103 is regularly drilled with apertures 110 in the form of rectangular slots preferably parallel to the waveguide , so as to reduce the dimensions of the antenna . by way of example , the antenna occupies an area of about 6 cm × 6 cm . a radiating element 120 in the form of a dipole is placed above each aperture 110 , in a plane parallel to the plane in which the apertures 110 are made . the plane in which the dipoles are placed is advantageously situated at a distance equal to a value chosen between a fifth and a quarter of the wavelength of the signals transmitted in the waveguides , in order to produce such a perturbation on the field coming from the aperture so that two orthogonal field components , equal in magnitude and out of phase by 90 degrees , i . e . circularly polarized field , are obtained . the choice of the distance causes a phase difference of 90 degrees . the dipoles 120 form , viewed from above , a nonzero and non - perpendicular angle with the apertures 110 formed in the waveguide 101 , 102 , 103 . the antenna according to the invention can take at least two configurations . fig1 a illustrates a first configuration of the antenna in which a first angle is formed between each of the apertures 110 and the dipoles 120 , this angle being equal , for example to 45 °. that first angle can theoretically take any value between 0 ° and 90 ° strictly excluding 0 ° and 90 °. the angle chosen may result from an analysis taking into account lengths and widths of both , slot and dipole , along with the selected distance between them and the permittivity of the media around . fig1 b illustrates a second configuration of the antenna in which the angle formed between the apertures 110 and the dipoles 120 is equal to the opposite of the first angle . stated otherwise , the dipoles 120 placed above the apertures 110 in the second configuration of the antenna 100 ( fig1 b ) form , with the dipoles 120 placed above the apertures 110 in the first configuration ( fig1 a ), an angle equal to twice the angle formed between the dipoles 120 of the first configuration and the apertures 110 . fig2 a , 2 b and 2 c present a first embodiment of the antenna according to the invention , viewed respectively in perspective , from the side and from above . the antenna 200 comprises support means 201 on which are disposed waveguides 203 a , 203 b and two brackets 205 a , 205 b supporting a plurality of rigid strips 251 a , 251 b above the waveguides 203 a , 203 b . the waveguides 203 a , 203 b extend parallel to one another . they may be fed with signals from an end . in the example , these waveguides 203 a , 203 b are of rectangular cross - section . they are drilled in their upper part , so as to form slots 231 . advantageously , the slots are oriented parallel to one another and in the longitudinal direction of the waveguides 203 a , 203 b . in the example , the slots are placed identically from one waveguide 203 a to the other 203 b . moreover , in each waveguide 203 a , 203 b , the slots 231 are preferably placed alternately on either side of the longitudinal mid - axis 233 of the waveguide in order to make the slots radiate in phase , so as to form a regular grid of slots 231 over the whole area of the antenna 200 . the brackets 205 a , 205 b are placed facing one another , on two opposite edges of the support means 201 , parallel to the waveguides 203 a , 203 b . holding elements 253 a , 253 b for strips are mounted in pairs on each of the brackets , a first holding element being mounted on the first bracket 205 a , a second holding element being mounted on the second bracket 205 b , the two elements facing one another so as to hold the strips 251 a , 251 b at a predetermined distance above the waveguides 203 a , 203 b , the strips extending in a direction perpendicular to the waveguides . the holding elements 253 a , 253 b are mounted so that they are able to rotate about an axis joining two holding elements 253 a , 253 b of one and the same pair , that is to say by two holding elements supporting one and the same strip 251 a . the holding elements 253 a , 253 b of one and the same pair can thus rotate in a coordinated manner so as to drive the strip that they hold in rotation about the longitudinal axis of the strip 251 a . in the example , the first holding element 253 a of a pair is driven by controlled rotation means , the second holding element 253 b is simply in free rotation about an axis and driven under the effect of a rotation of the strip 251 a . the controlled rotation means can comprise a set of two bevel gears 255 , 256 making it possible to transform a rotational motion about an axis orthogonal to the plane of the antenna 200 into a rotational motion about an axis parallel to the brackets 205 a . the first gear 255 is for example secured to a rod 254 driven in rotation by a motor ( not represented in the figure ). the second gear 256 drives an endless screw 257 adjoining the holding elements 253 a , 253 b , thus making it possible to transmit the rotational motion to them , these holding elements comprising a striated projecting part 258 protruding from the rear of the bracket 205 b . dipoles 252 a , 252 b are disposed on the strips 251 a , 251 b so as to be positioned above the slots 231 formed in the waveguides 203 a , 203 b . the strips 251 a , 251 b are transparent to radiofrequency signals so as not to disturb the radiating effect of the dipoles 252 a , 252 b . the support means 201 comprise a lower part 211 and an upper part 212 , which is mounted so as to move along an axis orthogonal to the plane formed by the support means 201 . in the example , the lower part 211 and the upper part 212 are material plates which are able to move away from or towards one another by virtue of sliding means , comprising for example rods 254 , rams , endless screws , or any other means making it possible to vary the distance between the two parts 211 , 212 . the upper part 212 maintains a constant distance with the brackets 205 a , 205 b and the strips 251 a , 251 b , the brackets 205 a , 205 b being fixed to this upper part 212 . the lower part 211 maintains a constant distance with the waveguides 203 a , 203 b , the waveguides 203 a , 203 b being fixed to uprights 214 secured to this lower part 211 . thus when the two parts 211 , 212 move away from one another , the brackets 205 a , 205 b and the strips 251 a , 251 b move away from the waveguides 203 a , 203 b . during normal operation of the antenna 200 , the lower part 211 and the upper part 212 are adjoining . the distance between the slots 231 and the strips 251 a , 251 b is chosen so that the radiofrequency signals travelling through the slots 231 excite the dipoles and thus make it possible to create an array of radiating elements according to a given polarization . when a rotation of the strips 251 a , 251 b has to be performed , the upper part 212 is moved away from the lower part 211 , so as not to damage the strips 251 a , 251 b and / or the holding elements 253 a , 253 b during the rotation , by avoiding a collision of these elements with the waveguides 203 a , 203 b . in addition , when the polarization of the antenna has to switch , the upper part 212 detaches from the lower part 211 so as to let the rotation of the strips 251 a , 251 b proceed without damage , before the two parts 211 , 212 are moved back together again once the rotation has been performed — this moving back together can be effected progressively once the rotation by a quarter of a turn has been performed . fig2 d , 2 e , and 2 f illustrate the switching phase of the first embodiment of the antenna according to the invention , viewed in perspective . according to a first configuration of the antenna 200 , illustrated in fig2 d , the strips 251 a , 251 b are held in the horizontal position , all the dipoles 252 a , 252 b being oriented in a given direction . when a switching of the antenna 200 is performed , the upper part 212 of the support means is displaced so as to move it away from the lower part 211 . once the strips 251 a , 251 b are sufficiently distant from the waveguides 203 a , 203 b , the rod 254 is set into rotation . this rod 254 causes the rotation of the first bevel gear 255 , which transmits the rotational motion to the second bevel gear 256 , which provides for the rotation of the endless screw 257 so as to rotate the holding elements 253 a fixed to the bracket 205 a , and consequently the strips 251 a , and the holding elements 253 b fixed to the opposite bracket 205 b . fig2 e illustrates the first embodiment of the antenna when the rotation of the strips 251 a , 251 b is in progress . the strips 251 a , 251 b are in the process of inverting . the rotation is activated until the upper face of the strips 251 a , 251 b replaces the lower face . advantageously , the dipoles 252 a , 252 b are centred on the axis of rotation of the strip on which they are fixed , in such a way that their position in the first configuration is symmetric with their position in the second configuration . once the rotation has been accomplished , the antenna 200 is situated in the second configuration , illustrated by fig2 f . the orientation of the dipoles 252 a , 252 b is then modified since their position undergoes a transformation with respect to the axis of symmetry formed by the axis of rotation of the strip 251 a , 251 b . on account of the change of position of the dipoles with respect to the slots above which they are situated , the polarization of the signals transmitted by the antenna is reversed . thus , in the case of circularly polarized signals , the passage from one configuration to the other of the antenna makes it possible to pass from a left circular circulation to a right circular circulation . in contradistinction to certain antennas known in the prior art , no element is inserted between the dipoles , whatever the configuration of the antenna , thereby making it possible to reduce the spacing between the dipoles . the arrangement of the slots and dipoles thus makes it possible to obtain an antenna comprising a high density of radiating elements , while having the capability of switching its polarization . fig3 a , 3 b and 3 c present a second embodiment of the antenna according to the invention . the antenna 300 comprises mutually parallel waveguides 303 . slots 331 are formed in the upper part of the waveguides , similarly to those of the first embodiment presented in fig2 a . a pivoting support 310 , for example such as illustrated by the detail of fig3 a , able to rotate about an axis orthogonal to the plane of the antenna 300 is disposed on each slot 331 . a dipole 320 is fixed to each of the pivoting supports 310 , so as to be illuminated by the radiofrequency signals travelling through the slots 331 . the pivoting support 310 may be cylindrical and formed of a material which is transparent to radiofrequency signals . the antenna 300 takes at least two configurations , a first configuration , illustrated in fig3 a , in which the dipoles are oriented in a first direction , and a second configuration , illustrated in fig3 b , in which the dipoles are oriented in a second direction . the two configurations of the antenna 300 correspond to different polarizations . the orientation of dipoles disposed in a row is controlled by a rack 340 placed along this row . for example , a row 350 comprising pivoting supports 310 placed above different waveguides 303 a , 303 b , 303 c is controlled by a rack adjoining the pivoting supports and comprising notches at least at the level of the pivoting supports 310 . the pivoting supports 310 , in the example cylindrical , comprise striations on their wall , so that when the rack 340 is displaced according to a translational motion along the row 350 , it drives the pivoting supports 310 in rotation , and consequently the dipoles 320 which are fixed thereto . a different rack may be assigned to each row of dipoles , in such a way that drive means drive the translation of all the said racks , so as to rotate all the pivoting supports and thus modify the polarization configuration of the antenna . advantageously , the antenna 300 is configured so that the translations of racks 340 correspond to a rotation of half a turn of the pivoting supports 310 . according to another embodiment of the antenna , the rack 340 is replaced with a rod pressed against the pivoting supports 310 , the said rod having capabilities for adhering to the pivoting supports 310 , the said rod and the said pivoting supports being for example formed of a rubbery material . fig4 a , 4 b and 4 c present a third embodiment of the antenna according to the invention . the antenna 400 comprises a flexible band 401 comprising two separate parts 411 , 412 . the first part 411 and the second part comprise dipoles 420 in equal numbers in the two parts 411 , 412 . the dipoles 420 of the second part 412 are placed in such a way that their respective centres of gravity could be superimposed on the centres of gravity of the dipoles 420 of the first part 411 . the orientations of the dipoles are identical within one and the same part 411 , 412 , but are different from one part to the other . the antenna 400 also comprises a set of waveguides comprising apertures in the form of slots 431 , as well as drive means for the flexible band 401 so as to place this flexible band 401 above the slots 431 while matching up the positions of the dipoles 420 and the positions of the slots 431 . the drive means can comprise two rollers 440 ( fig4 c presents the antenna viewed from the top ) placed facing one another so as to wind up or unwind the flexible band 401 above the waveguides . the two rollers 440 may be placed on edges of the antenna 400 , similarly to the disposition of the brackets ( cf . fig2 a ) in the first embodiment described above . according to a first configuration of the antenna 400 , the rollers 440 are activated so as to place the first part 411 above the slots 431 , in order to generate a first antenna polarization . according to a second configuration of the antenna 400 , the rollers 440 are activated so as to place the second part 412 above the slots 431 , in order to generate a second antenna polarization . the antenna switching can thus be triggered by the motorized activation of the rollers in one direction or in the other , so as to modify the orientation of the dipoles illuminated by the radiofrequency signals travelling through the slots of the waveguides . an advantage of the antenna according to the invention is that it does not impose any distance between the slots , thereby making it possible to densify the array of radiating elements and thus to obtain a directional radiation pattern . | 7 |
this invention proposes integrating aluminum in an nbti superconducting wire , wherein the al is inserted in copper - clad al rods , also called cu — al composite elements . in this way , mechanical stress during cold work and / or wire drawing , which results from differing resistance to deformation of soft al on the one hand and of hard nbti and cu on the other hand , can at least partially be absorbed or compensated for . in the inventive structure of the superconducting wire , hard and soft material often alternates ( especially , in the circumferential direction of the wire ), and large ( in particular , circumferential ) contact surfaces between hard cu ( and nbti ) on the one hand , and al on the other hand , are avoided . within the scope of the invention , almost any number of nbti filaments can be integrated into a superconducting wire without causing the formation of cracks as part of cold work processes ( for instance , during wire drawing ). this is especially important because optimization heat treatment ( at approximately 350 - 400 ° c .) is not possible with nbti — al composite material , because at the associated temperatures , recrystallization processes begin and / or intermetallic phases occur , which impede superconductivity . on the other hand , conductivity can be regularly improved by cold work and / or wire drawing ( so - called apc material , apc = artificial pinning center ). according to this invention , nbti apc material is preferably used . aluminum has a low specific weight , so that replacing cu with al saves weight in the superconducting wire , which is particularly advantageous in larger structures ( for example , power cables for offshore wind farms ). moreover , aluminum has good electrical conductivity and is therefore a good ( low - resistance ) shunt resistor . with al , high residual resistance ratios ( rrr values ) are possible , approx . 3000 - 5000 if the aluminum is very pure , which is considerably higher than the rrr values of approx . 100 - 400 that can be achieved with cu . within the scope of this invention , cu is not fully replaced with al but only partially , so that the remaining copper can still contribute to the good mechanical strength of the superconducting wire . in an inventive superconducting wire , hexagonal elements are used that are usually introduced into the superconducting wire as bundles ; typically , the superconducting wire , after introduction of the hexagonal elements ( and any other structures ), is drawn once again . at least a portion of the hexagonal elements in an inventive superconducting wire is constituted as cu — al composite elements . typical production of a cu — al composite element is illustrated in fig1 . a round aluminum rod 2 is inserted into a round copper tube 1 ( tube 1 and rod 2 extend perpendicular to the drawing plane in fig1 , which , like all the subsequent figures , shows the cross - section ). subsequently , the composite material is drawn , which reduces the cross - section . at the same time , it is pressed into a hexagonal cross - sectional shape . the resulting cu — al composite element 3 then has an al core 4 and a cu sheath 5 that completely surrounds the latter ( in cross - section ), both of which have a hexagonal ( outside ) cross - section . in the subsequent figures , the cu — al composite elements 3 are depicted simplified as a hexagon with a cross x ( see illustration on right in fig1 ). in addition to the drawing method described in fig1 , a cu — al composite element can also be manufactured , for example , by extrusion . in many embodiments of the invention , nbti elements are also used . nbti elements also have a hexagonal cross - section and contain one or more nbti filaments . fig2 illustrates the typical production of nbti elements . an nbti rod 7 is inserted into a round cu enclosure 6 . in a subsequent drawing process , the cross - section is reduced and pressed into a hexagonal shape . this results in a simple nbti element 9 a with an nbti filament 8 a and a cu enclosure 10 a . if desired , several such nbti elements 9 a can be bundled and disposed in a further round cu enclosure 10 b . by means of a drawing process , the cross - section can again be reduced and pressed into a hexagonal shape , so that an nbti element 9 b containing several ( 37 in this case ) nbti filaments 8 b in a cu enclosure 10 b is obtained . nbti elements of both types 9 a , 9 b , are represented simplified as an empty hexagon 9 in the subsequent figures ( see fig2 , both on the right ). fig3 shows a simple embodiment of an inventive superconducting wire 12 , in which the cu — al composite elements 3 and nbti elements 9 are randomly mixed in an outside cu enclosing tube 11 . the nbti elements 9 carry the superconductor , whereas the cu — al composite elements 3 and the cu enclosing tube 11 provide its stabilization . to avoid cavities , cu filler plates 19 can be inserted between the cu enclosing tube 11 and the hexagonal elements ( cu — al composite elements 3 and nbti elements 9 ). fig4 shows an embodiment of the inventive superconducting wire 12 , in which the cu — al composite elements are grouped in four cu — al clusters 13 a - 13 d . within each cluster 13 a - 13 d , the cu — al composite elements 3 of the cluster are contiguous , so that each cu — al composite element within the cluster is joined to every other cu — al composite element in the cluster either directly or via other cu — al composite elements of the cluster . the clusters 13 a - 13 d are disposed mutually separated , that is , not contiguous ( in particular , not interconnected via cu — al composite elements ), and are separated from one another by nbti elements 9 . the cu — al clusters 13 a - 13 d are also spaced in the azimuthal direction ( circumferential direction ), so that the clusters 13 a - 13 d can also be termed cu — al sectors . the cluster configuration keeps regions with reforming stress to a minimum . in the embodiment of the superconducting wire 12 in fig5 , four cu — al clusters 13 a - 13 d are also provided as in the previous embodiment , and in addition , in a central region zb , a further cu — al cluster 13 e . the cu — al clusters 13 a - 13 e are again disposed separately and are separated from one another by nbti elements 9 . in fig6 , the embodiment of the superconducting wire 12 comprises four cu — al sectors 14 a - 14 d , which are composed of contiguous cu — al composite elements 3 . the cu — al sectors 14 a - 14 d are separated from one another in the azimuthal direction by nbti sectors 16 a - 16 d , which are composed of contiguous nbti elements 9 . furthermore , a cu — al central sector 15 is provided , which is contiguous with each of the cu — al sectors 14 a - 14 d . the cu — al central sector 15 also overlaps the center z of the superconducting wire 12 . for better visibility , the cu — al central sector 15 is represented by dots . within each sector 14 a - 14 d , 15 , the cu — al composite elements 3 of the sector are contiguous , so that each cu — al composite element within the sector is connected with every other cu — al composite element of the sector either directly of via other cu — al composite elements of the sector . within each sector 16 a - 16 d , the nbti elements 9 of the sector are mutually contiguous , so that each nbti element within the sector is joined to every other nbti element of the sector either directly or via other nbti elements of the sector . it is important to note that the nbti sectors 16 a - 16 d can also be termed nbti clusters because not only are they spaced in the azimuthal direction but they are completely separate from one another ( and not interconnected via nbti elements ). the sector configuration also keeps regions with reforming stress to a minimum . fig7 shows a further embodiment of an inventive superconducting wire 12 . it comprises four cu — al clusters 13 a - 13 d of contiguous cu — al composite elements 3 . the cu — al clusters 13 a - 13 d are mutually separated by nbti elements 9 ( which are here grouped into four clusters or sectors ) and a cu shaped tube 17 ( and also spaced in the azimuthal direction ). the cu shaped tube 17 , which delimits a central region zb of the superconducting wire 12 , has a round al core 18 and is shaped on its outside surface in such a way that the surrounding hexagonal elements ( cu — al composite elements 3 and the nbti elements 9 ) can be disposed closely packed around its edge . it is important to note that cu shaped tube 17 is contiguous with all four cu — al clusters 13 a - 13 d . the al core 18 and the shaped tube 17 should not be too large to prevent stress from building up or to keep it low . in order to form a larger , central region zb containing aluminum , a cu shaped tube 17 shaped on the inside and outside as shown in the embodiment of the superconducting wire 12 of fig8 can be used . cu — al composite elements 3 are disposed in the shaped tube 17 , forming a cu — al central cluster , which is separated by shaped tube 17 from the nbti elements 9 that are located further out . by disposing the al material in the cu — al composite elements 3 , only slight reforming stress that does not result in the formation of cracks builds up in the central region zb , which is delimited by the cu shaped tube 17 . outside the shaped tube 17 , no cu — al composite elements are disposed in the embodiment shown ; however , alternatively cu — al composite elements 3 could be provided outside the shaped tube 17 , grouped in cu — al clusters . here , the superconducting wire 12 has a cu enclosing tube 11 , with cu filler plates 19 ( shown with dark hatching ) placed on its inner side to keep the nbti elements 9 defined and compact . the cu enclosing tube 11 and the cu shaped tube 17 give the superconducting wire 12 good mechanical stability . the shaped tube 17 also makes the bundling process in wire production easier . as shown in fig9 , alternatively it is also possible in another embodiment of the inventive superconducting wire 12 to dispose cu — al composite elements 3 in a central region zb without providing a shaped tube . nbti composite elements 9 then directly adjoin the cu — al central cluster , which is constituted by the cu — al composite elements . fig1 shows a further embodiment of an inventive superconducting wire 12 , comprising a cu sleeve 20 with deep drill holes for nbti substructures 21 , in this case , nbti rods . an nbti rod provides a single superconducting electrical current path in the superconducting wire 12 — that is , a single nbti filament ; alternatively , a multifilament substructure can also be provided as the nbti substructure , for example , comprising a cu matrix with several , typically nineteen or more , embedded nbti filaments . the cu sleeve 20 is here surrounded by a cu enclosing tube 11 , so that the cu sleeve 20 can also be termed an intermediate sleeve . cu — al composite elements 3 are disposed within the cu sleeve 20 ( inside the central drill hole ); any cavities at the edge can be filled in with cu filler plates 19 . the nbti substructures 21 are here disposed evenly in the cu sleeve 20 in the azimuthal direction and all are located at the same radial distance ( radius ) r from the center z of the superconducting wire 12 . considerable weight can be saved by using cu — al composite elements 3 in the central region zb of the superconducting wire 12 . the embodiment shown in fig1 of an inventive superconducting wire 12 is constituted without a cu enclosing tube ; here the cu sleeve 20 delimits the outside of the superconducting wire 12 directly . in the cu sleeve 20 , deep drill holes for nbti substructures 21 are provided distributed at two radial distances ( radii ) r 1 , r 2 . the nbti substructures 21 are disposed evenly distributed in the azimuthal direction at both radial distances r 1 , r 2 . cu — al composite elements 3 are disposed in the central region zb of the superconducting wire . to summarize , the invention describes nbti superconducting wires , in which both aluminum and copper are used to stabilize nbti superconducting filaments . the aluminum is disposed in cu — al composite elements with a hexagonal cross - section , which have an al core and a cu sheath . preferably , aluminum is used exclusively in cu — al composite elements . in the individual composite elements , only slight reforming stress can build up , so that cracks are prevented from forming in the wire drawing processes that are required to produce the superconducting wire . in addition , the cu — al composite elements can be grouped within the superconducting wire , so that the configuration of cu — al composite elements in the circumferential direction is interrupted at regular intervals , for example , by nbti sectors of nbti elements . this further reduces reforming stress . | 7 |
in fig1 and 3 of the drawings , the heater h embodying the present invention is shown in three different conditons or positions . in fig1 of the drawings , the heater h is shown in its normal flat condition . in fig2 of the drawings , the heater is shown flexed and bent laterally , intermediate its opposite end portions by downwardly applied forces which are resolved longitudinally in and throughout the heater . in fig3 of the drawings , the heater h is shown as having one end portion bent and / or flexed on an axis angularly related to the longitudinal axis of the heater , by forces directed downwardly onto said one end portion thereof . the heater h is an elongate , thin , flat , horizontal unit , rectangular in plan configuration . it is characterized by straight parallel front and rear ends 10 and 11 , parallel side edges 12 and top and bottom surfaces 14 and 15 . the top and bottom surfaces 14 and 15 and the several edges 10 , 11 and 12 are defined by a hermetically sealed envelope e of thin , flexible and pliable plastic sheeting , such as polyvinyl chloride sheeting . in the preferred carrying out of the invention , the envelope e is established of top and bottom plastic layers of sheets 16 and 17 , the outside edge portions of which are welded together as indicated at 18 in fig5 of the drawings . the weld 18 is a continuous weld about the perimeter of the envelope . the welded together edge portions define the noted ends 10 and 11 and the sides 12 of the envelope e . in practice , the layers 16 and 17 can be established of a plastic sheeting which is about ten mm . thick . within the envelope e is a thin , flat , horizontal reinforcing plate or strate s of substantially dimensionally stable spring metal , such as spring steel , brass or aluminum . in practice , 1 / 32 &# 34 ; thick sheet metal stock has been satisfactorily used to establish the strate s . the strate s has flat top and bottom surfaces 20 and 21 and is coextensive with the interior plan configuration of the envelope e . the strate is arranged within the envelope with its bottom surface 21 in flat bearing engagement with the top surface of the bottom layer 17 of the envelope . in the preferred carrying out of the invention , the layer 17 and reinforcing strate s are cemented or bonded together by a suitable flexible cement or bonding agent , indicated at 22 . the heater next includes a heater sub - assembly a which includes a thin , flat , horizontal carrier film f of desired dielectric thermo set plastic , such as mylar . the carrier film f has flat top and bottom surfaces 23 and 24 . in practice , the film f need only be about two mm . thick . the sub - assembly a next includes an elongate electric resistance heater element r fixed to the top surface 23 of and carried by the film f . the element r is a thin , flat horizontal metal foil ribbon - like element which is of uniform thickness and lateral extent throughout most of its longitudinal extent and is arranged in a serpentine or zig - zag manner throughout the major part of the plan of the film f . the element r is so thin and fragile that it is not self - supporting and / or capable of being manually manipulated and is therefore bonded to and carried by the film f . in practice , the element r is established by cementing a thin metal foil , such as one mm . thick aluminum foil onto the top surface 23 of the film f by means of a suitable flexible cement 25 . thereafter , the portions of foil which are to establish the element r are masked off by a suitable masking paint or the like , applied to the top surface of the foil by printing , silk - screening or the like . subsequently , the assembled film and painted or masked off foil is subjected to an etching bath which effects removal of the undesired foil stock and which leaves the element r on the film . the sub - assembly a is coextensive with the strate s and is arranged atop the strate s with the top and bottom surfaces 20 and 24 of the strate and the film in flat opposing relationship . the strate and film are bonded together by suitable flexible cement as indicated at 26 . the top layer 16 of the envelope e overlies the sub - assembly a and is bonded thereto by a suitable flexible cement , as indicated at 28 in fig4 and 5 of the drawings . with the above combination and relationship of parts , it will be apparent that the thin fragile element r is bonded within the construction , between the film f and the top layer 17 , in secure and stable supported condition and that the strate s , while permitting bending and flexing of the construction imparts dimensional stability into the construction which prevents it from being stretched or otherwise dimensionally distorted and / or worked in a manner which is likely to result in the element r being torn , broken , stretched or otherwise adversely worked upon . with the heater construction thus far described , it will be apparent that the construction can be easily bent and / or flexed in manners illustrated in fig2 and 3 of the drawings or in various other manners without adverse effects . in furtherance of the invention and to facilitate connecting the element r with related power supply conductors c , the element r is formed or arranged so that an area or zone z , within the plane of the assembly , through which the element r does not extend , is established . the element r is provided with opposite end portions which enter or extend a limited distance into the zone z to join with enlarged terminals t . the terminals t are formed integrally with the element r , on the film f , in the same manner and at the same time that the element r is formed or established . the terminals t are elongate rectangular foil parts or portions at the ends of the element r , within the zone z . the film f is pierced or slit on three sides of the terminals to establish flexible tabs , also identified by the reference characters t . the terminal and tabs , hereinafter called &# 34 ; the terminal tabs t ,&# 34 ; are bent or flexed upwardly from the plane of the film to facilitate engaging clamp - type connectors 30 therewith , which connectors are fixed to or coupled with the ends of the conductors c , as shown in fig8 and 10 of the drawings . in furtherance of the invention , the upper or top layer 16 of the envelope e , at the zone z of the construction , is provided with a pair of spaced windows 31 through which the upwardly turned tabs t freely project . with the above relationship of parts , it will be apparent that the conductors c , tabs t and the connectors 30 occur at and above the top plane of the envelope e , within the zone z . the zone z occurs adjacent the front edge 10 about midway between the ends thereof . the zone z is of limited planar extent and need only be large enough to accommodate the parts and / or portions of the construction noted above . in addition to the foregoing , the invention includes temperature control means m , responsive to the temperature of the heater and operable to control the flow of current through the element r . the means m includes normally closed cartridge type thermostatic switching units u ; there being one unit u connected in each conductor c . the units u are arranged in direct heat conducting contact with the top surface of the top layer 16 of the envelope e , outside the zone z , where the element r occurs . the normally closed thermostatic switch units u are operable to open when the temperature of the heater rises to predetermined temperatures . one unit u is preferably such that it opens when the desired operating temperature of the construction is reached and the other unit is a backup unit set to open at a slightly higher temperature than said one unit and is provided so that in the event said one unit fails to operate or open when desired , the other unit will open . in practice , the second or other of said units u can be eliminated without departing from the spirit of the invention , but is preferably included to meet with those various safety codes which heaters of the character here concerned with are commonly required to meet . in furtherance of the present invention , to provide a safe construction and to meet code requirements , the units u , conductors c , tabs t and connectors 30 , at the top of the envelope e , are housed and protected from the outside environment by a plastic filled shell s . the shell s is a thin - walled shell of plastic material engaged over the parts and / or components to be protected and is filled with a mass or body of flexible dielectric potting material p ( shown in fig1 and 11 of the drawings ). the potting material p encases the various elements and parts within the shell to hold and maintain those parts and elements in desired relationship and to protect them against damage by external means and / or forces . the shell s has an outwardly or forwardly projecting neck 32 in which the rear end portion of an elongate flexible service cable 33 , from which the conductors c extend , is fixedly engaged . in practice , the shell s has a flat rectangular mounting flange about its perimeter which establishes flat engagement on and is bonded to the top surface of the top layer 16 of the envelope e , substantially as shown . the shell s has a large central portion x at the zone z of the heater structure , defining a chamber in which the tabs t , connectors 30 and the major portions of the conductors c are arranged and which is filled by the potting material p . the shell also has small laterally extending wing - like branches y extending outwardly from the zone z over those heated portions of the construction with which the element r is related and in which the units u and short or limited portions of the conductors c are arranged and in which small volumes of the potting material p are deposited . the metal strate s of the construction is an extremely effective and efficient heat conductor and serves to effect rapid uniform distribution of heat throughout the plane of the heater . more particularly , the strate s conducts heat to and from the zone z of the construction at a rapid rate . the larger and massive central portion x of the potting material filled shell s , in which the tabs t , conductors c and connectors 30 are arranged , is an effective heat sink and / or heat barrier which absorbs and / or bars substantial quantities of heat from and to the strate s at a rapid rate . the quantity of heat absorbed by the central portion x of the construction and the rate at which that heat is conducted to the portion x by the strate s is such that the portions of the heater adjacent the zone z and with which the units u are related , are robbed of heat at such a rate that the temperature of those portions of the heater rise at a materially slower rate than the remainder of the heater . as a result of the above , the temperature of the heater construction , remote from the zone z and the units u , can reach self - destructive limits before the portions of the heater related to the units u reach the operating temperatures of the units u . to prevent the above noted adverse effects , the construction includes heat barrier means b about the zone z to prevent the rapid conducting of heat through the strate s , between the zone z and remainder of the heater construction , particularly between the zone z and those portions of the heater construction with which the units u are related . the heat barrier means b includes elongate slot - like openings 40 in the strate s along those sides of the zone z adjacent which the units u occur . the openings 40 establish heat gaps in the strate s , across which heat cannot be directly conducted by the material of the strate s . in addition to the above noted openings 40 , another opening 40 &# 39 ; shown in the dotted lines in fig9 of the drawings can be provided along the other side of the zone z , remote from the edge 10 of the strate s . with the heat barrier means b , here provided , the strate s is substantially ineffective to conduct heat from the areas of the heater with which the units u are related to the greater mass of the construction at the zone z . accordingly , the temperature of the areas of the heater with which the units u are related rapidly rise and fall in substantial direct relationship to the rise and fall of the temperature throughout the portions of the heater with which the element r is related and the temperature of the zone z of the heater is free to fluctuate or change independent of the remainder of the contruction . in operation , should the heater be energized when there is no structure related to it to absorb and carry off the heat generated by it , the portions of the heater with which the units u are related heat at substantially the same rate as the remainder of the portions of the heater about which the element r extends and the units u open to shut off the flow of current through the element r when set operating or maximum temperatures are reached . the temperature of the zone z during such operation does not materially alter or affect the above noted operation of the units u . under the same operating conditions , if the heat barrier means b was not provided , heat generated within the portions of the construction with which the units u are related would be conducted away from those portions of the construction by the strate s to the zone z and into the greater mass of that zone , at a rate which would prevent the units u from being subjected to operating temperatures prior to that time when the portions of the heater structure remote from the zone z and the units u reach self - destructing temperatures . in addition to establishing heat barriers , the slots or openings 40 and 40 &# 39 ; in the strate s impart greater flexibility to the strate about the zone a and allow for free flexing of the construction about the heavier , more massive and substantially inflexible zone z . in practice , when the strate s established of a material having a low index of heat conductivity the openings 40 still serve these above noted functions , though their heat barrier function is less critical . having described only one typical preferred form and embodiment of the invention , we do not wish to be limited to the specific details herein set forth , but wish to reserve to ourselves any modifications and / or variations that may appear to those skilled in the art and which fall within the scope of the following claims : | 7 |
the following describes a solid - state imaging device pertaining to the first embodiment of the present invention . fig1 schematically shows the structure of a solid - state imaging device pertaining to the first embodiment . as shown in fig1 , a solid - state imaging device 10 is a mos solid - state imaging device , and has a pixel area 11 and a peripheral circuit area disposed around the pixel area 11 . the peripheral circuit area includes column amplifiers 12 , noise cancellation circuits 13 , a multiplexer 14 , load circuits 15 , a horizontal scanning circuit 16 , an output amplifier 17 , a vertical scanning circuit 18 , a voltage generation circuit 19 , and a timing control unit 20 . the pixel area 11 includes a plurality of pixels 1 arranged in a matrix , and a column amplifier 2 , a noise cancellation circuit 3 , a switch element 4 , and a load circuit 5 are provided for each column of the pixel area 11 . the pixels 1 included in the pixel area 11 are reset , charged , and read row by row , by operations of the vertical scanning circuit 18 . pixel signals read from each row of pixels are amplified by the column amplifiers 2 each provided for a different one of columns , and retained by the noise cancellation circuit 3 upon offset variation of the amplifiers being cancelled by the noise cancellation circuit 3 . the pixel signals corresponding to one row of pixels retained by the noise cancellation circuit 3 are sequentially outputted via the multiplexer 14 and the output amplifier 17 by operations of the horizontal scanning circuit 16 . the voltage generation circuit 19 generates various voltages necessary for circuits in the solid - state imaging device 10 . the timing control unit 20 synchronizes and drives the circuits in the solid - state imaging device 10 . fig2 is a circuit diagram showing part of the solid - state imaging device pertaining to the first embodiment . specifically , the figure shows a pixel 1 , a column amplifier 2 , and a noise cancellation circuit 3 in a given column . the pixel 1 includes a photodiode ( pd ), a floating diffusion ( fd ), a reset transistor m 11 , a transfer transistor m 12 , an amplification transistor m 13 , and a selection transistor m 14 . the column amplifier 2 includes an input capacitor c 1 , a load unit ( load transistor ) m 51 , a drive unit ( drive transistor ) m 52 , a reset unit ( reset transistor ) m 53 and a feedback capacitor c 2 . the noise cancellation circuit 3 includes a clamp capacitor cc , a sample hold capacitor cs , and a switch transistor m 31 . in the solid - state imaging device 10 as described above , both pixel area and peripheral circuit area include transistors . fig3 schematically shows a cross section of the solid - state imaging device pertaining to the first embodiment . specifically , the figure shows one of the pixels 1 included in the pixel area 11 and one of the transistors ( i . e . the drive transistor m 52 ) included in the peripheral circuit area . as shown in fig3 , the solid - state imaging device 10 includes a low concentration p - type semiconductor substrate 101 , an insulating film 133 formed over the p - type semiconductor substrate 101 , and a wiring layer 134 formed over the insulating film 133 . in the p - type semiconductor substrate 101 , a high concentration p - type well region 101 a is formed . in the pixel area of the p - type well region 101 a , an n - type photoelectric conversion region 102 , an n - type fd region 106 , and n - type source drain regions 111 , 114 , 119 and 122 are formed to be separate from each other . on the n - type photoelectric conversion region 102 , a high concentration p - type injection region 103 is formed . above the p - type channel area sandwiched between the n - type photoelectric conversion region 102 and the n - type fd region 106 , a gate electrode 105 is formed on a gate insulating film 104 . here , the n - type photoelectric conversion region 102 serves as the source of the transfer transistor m 12 , the n - type fd region 106 serves as the drain of the transfer transistor m 12 , and the gate electrode 105 serves as the gate of the transfer transistor m 12 . above the p - type channel area sandwiched between the n - type fd region 106 and the n - type source drain region 111 , a gate electrode 110 is formed on a gate insulating film 109 . here , the n - type fd region 106 serves as the source of the reset transistor m 11 , the n - type source drain region 111 serves as the drain of the reset transistor m 11 , and the gate electrode 110 serves as the gate of the reset transistor m 11 . above the p - type channel area sandwiched between the n - type source drain region 114 and the n - type source drain region 119 , a gate electrode 118 is formed on a gate insulating film 117 . here , the n - type source drain region 119 serves as the source of the amplification transistor m 13 , the n - type source drain region 114 serves as the drain of the amplification transistor m 13 , and the gate electrode 118 serves as the gate of the amplification transistor m 13 . above the p - type channel area sandwiched between the n - type source drain region 119 and the n - type source drain region 122 , a gate electrode 121 is formed on a gate insulating film 120 . here , the n - type source drain region 122 serves as the source of the selection transistor m 14 , the n - type source drain region 119 serves as the drain of the selection transistor m 14 , and the gate electrode 121 serves as the gate of the selection transistor m 14 . a part of the surface of the n - type fd region 106 is silicided . this part ( hereinafter called “ silicide film 107 ”, which is a nickel silicide film , for example ) is in contact with one end of a contact plug 108 , which penetrates the insulating film 133 . the other end of the contact plug 108 is in contact with the wiring layer 134 formed over the insulating film 133 . here , the width of the silicide film 107 is the same as the width of the contact plug 108 . similarly , parts of the respective surfaces of the n - type source drain regions 111 , 114 and 122 are silicided . these parts ( hereinafter called “ silicide film 112 ”, “ silicide film 115 ” and “ silicide film 123 ”) are in contact with one ends of the corresponding contact plugs 113 , 116 and 124 , which penetrate the insulating film 133 . the other ends of the contact plugs 113 , 116 and 124 are in contact with the wiring layer 134 formed over the insulating film 133 . here , the widths of the silicide films 112 , 115 , and 123 are the same as the widths of the contact plugs 113 , 116 and 124 , respectively . the widths of the silicide films formed over the parts of the surfaces the n - type photoelectric conversion region 102 , the n - type fd region 106 and the n - type source drain regions 111 , 114 and 122 are within the range from 30 nm to 150 nm , preferably from 40 nm to 80 nm . the film thicknesses of the silicide films are within the range from 1 nm to 15 nm , preferably from 1 nm to 10 nm . in the peripheral circuit area of the p - type well region 101 a , an n - type source drain region 125 and an n - type source drain region 130 are formed to be separate from each other . in the p - type channel area sandwiched between the n - type source drain region 125 and the n - type source drain region 130 , a gate electrode 129 is formed on a gate insulating film 128 . here , the n - type source drain region 130 serves as the source of the drive transistor m 52 , the n - type source drain region 125 serves as the drain of the drive transistor m 52 , and the gate electrode 129 serves as the gate of the drive transistor m 52 . parts of the surfaces of the n - type source drain regions 125 and 130 are silicided . these parts ( hereinafter called “ silicide film 126 ” and “ silicide film 131 ”) are in contact with one ends of the corresponding contact plugs 127 and 132 , which penetrate the insulating film 133 . the other ends of the contact plugs 127 and 132 are in contact with the wiring layer 134 formed over the insulating film 133 . the widths of the silicide films 126 and 131 are grater than the widths of the contact plugs 127 and 132 , respectively . the minimum widths of the silicide films formed over the parts of the surfaces of the n - type source drain regions 125 and 130 included in the peripheral circuit area are values obtained by adding a value within the range from 16 nm to 80 nm to the widths of the contact plugs 127 and 132 , respectively . here , the value within the range from 16 nm to 80 nm shows the accuracy of the superposing performed in the lithography process . the film thicknesses of the silicide films are within the range from 20 nm to 50 nm , preferably from 20 nm to 30 nm . as described above , the first feature of the solid - state imaging device 10 pertaining to this embodiment is that the widths of the silicide films formed over the parts of the surfaces of the n - type photoelectric conversion region 102 , the n - type fd region 106 and the n - type source drain regions 111 , 114 and 122 , contained in the pixel 1 , are the same as the widths of the contact plugs formed on the silicide films , respectively . the second feature is that the film thicknesses of the silicide films formed over the parts of the surfaces of the n - type photoelectric conversion region 102 , the n - type fd region 106 and the n - type source drain regions 111 , 114 and 122 , contained in the pixel 1 , are smaller than the film thicknesses of the silicide films formed over the parts of the surfaces of the n - type source drain regions 125 and 130 , contained in the peripheral circuit area . due to these features of the solid - state imaging device 10 , the widths of the silicide films on the n - type photoelectric conversion region 102 , the n - type fd region 106 and the n - type source drain regions 111 , 114 and 122 can be minimized within the range that maintains the effect of suppressing the contact resistance in the pixel area . with such a structure , even if a silicide spike is formed in a silicided area , there is only a reduced risk that the spike penetrates the layer where the spike is formed and reaches the p - type well region 101 a . as a result , the increase of the leakage current in the pixel area is suppressed , resulting in a high image quality . meanwhile , when the contact resistance is high , the d range is narrow and it can be a cause of black spots , in the worst case . however , the stated structure reduces the contact resistance and the thermal noise , and thus it maintains the d range . as described above , the solid - state imaging device 10 suppresses the increase of the leakage current and the contact resistance in the pixel area , at the same time . in the description above , only one of the pixels 1 in the pixel area 11 is explained . however , note that the other pixels in the pixel area 11 have the same structure . also , in the description above , only the drive transistor m 52 is explained as a representative of the transistors in the peripheral circuit area . however , note that the widths and the film thicknesses of the silicide films of the drive transistor m 52 apply to the other transistors in the peripheral circuit area . next , a manufacturing method for the solid - state imaging device is described . fig4 a - 4c , 5 a - 5 b and 6 a - 6 b show cross sections of the solid - state imaging device at different steps of the manufacturing method . the left side of each drawing shows the n - type source drain region 125 , which is a representative from the n - type source drain regions in the peripheral circuit area . the right side of each drawing shows the n - type source drain region 122 , which is a representative from the n - type photoelectric conversion region 102 , the n - type fd region 106 and the n - type source drain regions 111 , 114 and 122 in the pixel 1 contained in the pixel area . first , the p - type well region 101 a is formed in the p - type semiconductor substrate 101 , and then the n - type source drain region 122 and the n - type source drain region 125 are formed in the pixel area and the peripheral circuit area of the p - type well region 101 a , respectively ( this step is not illustrated ). next , as shown in fig4 a , a silicide block film ( e . g . silicone oxide film ) 201 is formed over the n - type source drain region 122 in the pixel area , and then a first metal film ( e . g . ni film ) 202 is formed over the silicide block film 201 and the n - type source drain region 125 in the peripheral circuit area . here , the film thickness of the ni film 202 is in the range from 5 nm to 15 nm , preferably from 8 nm to 13 nm . next , the p - type semiconductor substrate 101 ( not illustrated ) is subjected to heat treatment . as a result , the surface of the n - type source drain region 125 in the peripheral circuit area is silicided as shown in fig4 b ( the silicided surface is hereinafter called “ ni silicide film 126 ). on the other hand , the silicide block film 201 has been formed over the n - type source drain region 122 in the pixel area . this prevents ni atoms from being dispersed to the n - type source drain region 122 . as a result , the n - type source drain region 122 in the pixel area is not silicided , and only the n - type source drain region 125 in the peripheral circuit area is silicided . here , it is preferable that the film thickness of the ni silicide film 126 to be formed is several tens of nanometers . next , the residue of the ni film 202 , which is left unreacted , and the silicide block film 201 are removed . after that , an insulating film 203 , which is made of silicon oxide film for example , is layered on the p - type semiconductor substrate 101 ( not illustrated ), as shown in fig4 c . specifically , the insulating film 203 is formed over the ni silicide film 126 on the n - type source drain region 125 and the n - type source drain region 126 . then , the surface of the insulating film 203 is planarized by cmp ( chemical mechanical polishing ) method , for example . next , as shown in fig5 a , the insulating film 203 is partially removed by etching , and thus contact holes 204 are formed . after that , as shown in fig5 b , a second metal film ( e . g . ni film ) 205 is formed by sputtering method for example , such that the inside surfaces and the bottom surfaces of the contact holes 204 are covered with the films . here , the film thickness of the second metal film 205 is in the range from 1 nm to 10 nm , preferably from 1 nm to 5 nm . next , the p - type semiconductor substrate 101 ( not illustrated ) is subjected to heat treatment . as a result , the surface of the n - type source drain region 122 , which is exposed through the contact hole 122 , is silicided . at this step , the insulating film 203 functions as a mask . thus , the ni silicide film 123 is formed in a manner like a self - alignment process . since the ni film 205 has been formed only on the area that is exposed through the contact hole 204 , the width of the ni silicide film 123 will be the same as the width of the contact hole 204 . here , it is preferable that the film thickness of the ni silicide film 123 to be formed is approximately 10 nm . meanwhile , the surface of the n - type source drain region 125 exposed through the contact hole 204 has already been silicided . thus , in comparison with the n - type source drain region 122 , the ni film 205 does not cause a strong chemical reaction . after that , the residue of the ni film 205 , which is left unreacted , is removed . the result is as shown in fig6 a . finally , as shown in fig6 b , a ti film and a tin film are layered by the sputtering method and by the mocvd method respectively , such that the inside surfaces and the bottom surfaces of the contact holes 204 are covered with the films . as a result , an adhesion layer 206 , which is made from the ti film and the tin film , is formed . after that , tungsten ( i . e . a conductive material ) 207 is implanted in the contact holes 204 by the cvd method . in this way , the contact plugs are formed . through the steps described above , silicide films having the same width as the contact plugs are formed in the pixel area . here , in the silicidation with a metal performed on the surfaces of the n - type photoelectric conversion region 102 , the n - type fd region 106 and the n - type source drain regions 111 , 114 and 122 in the pixel area , some of the metal atoms disperse in the width ( horizontal ) direction of the regions to be silicided . thus , the silicided film will practically be wider than the contact plug . note that such a difference is ignored in this description . specifically , the width of the silicide film and the width of the contact plug are regarded as the same as long as their difference does not exceed 10 nm . next , a description is given of the case of microfabrication , in which thin gate wires with a gate length of no greater than 80 nm are used , is adopted in the peripheral circuit area . in this case , the silicided thin gate wires might be broken when the heat treatment after the silicidation process is performed at 600 ° c . or higher . thus , it is not preferable that ti is used in the second metal film 205 . this is because ti requires heating at 600 ° c . or higher to be silicided . in the case where microfabrication is adopted in the peripheral circuit area , it is preferable that ni or nipt is used in the second metal film 205 in the pixel area . this is because the second metal film 205 with such a structure requires heating at no higher than 300 ° c . to be silicided . this realizes silicidation of the second metal film 205 in the pixel area without breaking the silicided thin gate wires on the peripheral circuits . the following describes a modification example of the manufacturing method . the steps shown from fig4 a to fig5 b are the same as the first embodiment . thus , only the steps following them are described here . fig7 a to 7c show cross sections of the solid - state imaging device at the steps following fig5 b . according to the manufacturing method described above , after the ni film 205 is formed in the step shown in fig5 b , the p - type semiconductor substrate 101 is subjected to heat treatment in the step shown in fig6 a . according to this modification example , however , after the ni film 205 is formed , a tin film 208 is further formed over the ni film 205 , as shown in fig7 a . after that , the p - type semiconductor substrate , which is not illustrated , is subjected to heat treatment . as a result , the surface of the n - type source drain region 122 exposed through the contact hole 204 is silicided , and thus the ni silicide film 123 is formed as shown in fig7 b . finally , as shown in fig7 c , tungsten ( i . e . a conductive material ) 207 is implanted in the contact holes 204 by the cvd method . in this way , the contact plugs are formed . the contact plugs are therefore formed over the adhesion layer made from the ni film 205 and the tin film 208 in the contact holes 204 . with the stated process , the step of removing the residue of the ni film 205 , which is left unreacted , can be omitted . the solid - state imaging device pertaining to the present invention is described above based on the embodiment . however , as a matter of course , the present invention is not limited to the embodiment . ( 1 ) according to the embodiment above , the ni silicide film 126 and the ni silicide film 123 are made from the same material . alternatively , at least one of these films may be made from a different material . for example , an nipt silicide film may be formed instead of the ni silicide film . if this is the case , an nipt film is formed instead of the ni film ( i . e . the second metal film ), on the inside surfaces and the bottom surfaces of the contact holes 204 . ( 2 ) according to the embodiment above , ni silicide films are formed . alternatively , a co ( i . e . cobalt ) silicide film , a fe ( i . e . iron ) silicide film , a ti ( i . e . titanium ) silicide film , an mg ( i . e . magnesium ) silicide film , a w ( i . e . tungsten ) silicide film , a pd ( i . e . palladium ) silicide film , a pt ( i . e . platinum ) silicide film , or the like may be formed instead of the ni silicide film . ( 3 ) the circuit configurations shown in fig1 and fig2 are only examples . other configurations may be adopted . ( 4 ) according to the embodiment above , the p - type well region 101 a is formed in the p - type semiconductor substrate 101 . however , instead of the p - type well region 101 a , an n - type source drain region or the like may be formed in the p - type semiconductor substrate 101 . the present invention is applicable to various devices , such as digital cameras . | 7 |
virtually any solid aromatic isocyanato sulphonic acids of the type obtained in a finely divided form by sulphonating mono -, di - or poly - isocyanates are suitable as aromatic isocyanato sulphonic acids to be stabilized according to the present invention , for example the sulphonation products of phenylisocyanate , p - tolylisocyanate , p - chlorophenylisocyanate , p - nitrophenylisocyanate , p - methoxyphenylisocyanate , m - chlorophenylisocyanate , m - chloromethylphenylisocyanate , p - chloromethylphenylisocyanate , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- stilbenediisocyanate , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- dibenzyldiisocyanate , 3 , 3 &# 39 ;- and 2 , 2 &# 39 ;- dimethyl - 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diisocyanatodiphenylmethane , 2 , 5 , 2 &# 39 ;, 5 &# 39 ;- tetramethyl - 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diisocyanatodiphenylmethane , 3 , 3 &# 39 ;- dimethoxy - 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diisocyanatodiphenylmethane , 3 , 3 &# 39 ;- dichloro - 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diisocyanato - diphenylmethane , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diisocyanato - dimethylmethane , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diisocyanatodiphenylcyclohexylmethane , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diisocyanato - benzophenone , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diisocyanato - diphenylsulphone , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diisocyanatodiphenylether , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diisocyanato - 3 , 3 &# 39 ;- dibromo - diphenylmethane , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diisocyanato - 3 , 3 &# 39 ;- diethyl - diphenylmethane , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diisocyanato - diphenyl - ethylene -( 1 , 2 ), 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diisocyanatodiphenyl - sulphide , 1 , 3 - and 1 , 4 - phenylene diisocyanate , 2 , 4 - and 2 , 6 - tolylenediisocyanate and mixtures of these isomers , diphenylmethane - 2 , 4 &# 39 ;- and / or - 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diisocyanate , naphthylene - 1 , 5 - diisocyanate , triphenylmethane - 4 , 4 &# 39 ;, 4 &# 34 ;- triisocyanate , polyphenyl - polymethylene polyisocyanates which are obtainable by aniline - formaldehyde condensation followed by phosgenation and which have been described , for example , in british pat . nos . 874 , 430 and 848 , 671 , polyisocyanates containing carbodiimide groups as described in german pat . no . 1 , 092 , 007 , the diisocyanates described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 492 , 330 , polyisocyanates containing allophanate groups as described , for example , in british pat . no . 994 , 890 , belgian pat . no . 761 , 626 and published dutch pat . application no . 7 , 102 , 524 , polyisocyanates containing isocyanurate groups as described in german pat . nos . 1 , 022 , 789 ; 1 , 222 , 067 and 1 , 027 , 394 and in german offenlegungsschrift nos . 1 , 929 , 034 and 2 , 004 , 048 , polyisocyanates containing acylated urea groups according to german pat . no . 1 , 230 , 778 , and polyisocyanates containing biuret groups as described , for example , in german pat . no . 1 , 101 , 394 , british pat . no . 889 , 050 and french pat . no . 7 , 017 , 514 . pulverulent sulphonated di - and tri - isocyanates are preferred , particularly the monosulphonic and disulphonic acids of 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diisocyanatodiphenylmethane , 2 , 4 &# 39 ;- diisocyanatodiphenylmethane and , in particular , 2 , 4 &# 39 ;- diisocyanatotoluene and 2 , 6 - diisocyanatotoluene and mixtures of these isomers , all of which acids are generally obtained in their dimeric form . methods of preparing these pulverulent polyisocyanates have been described , for example , in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 826 , 769 and in german pat . application nos . p 25 24 476 . 2 and p 26 15 876 . 9 . pulverulent , aromatic isocyanato sulphonic acids which are to be stabilized according to the present invention are generally obtained when sulphonation is carried out in excess isocyanate or an inert organic dispersing agent , such as dichloroethane or tetrachloroethane , by methods analogous to those described in the aforesaid literature . the particle size of the isocyanato sulphonic acids obtained as fine powders may be regulated by suitable choice of the dispersing agent , the temperature at which sulphonation is carried out and the speed of stirring during sulphonation . the particle size is generally reduced by the addition of surface active agents . the aromatic isocyanato sulphonic acids to be stabilized according to the present invention generally have an average particle diameter of from about 0 . 0005 to 0 . 5 mm . partially sulphonated liquid aromatic polyisocyanate mixtures , such as those described , for example , in german offenlegungsschrift nos . 2 , 227 , 111 ; 2 , 359 , 614 and 2 , 359 , 615 and u . s . pat . no . 3 , 959 , 329 , herein incorporated by reference are not isocyanato sulphonic acids of the type which are to be stabilized according to the present invention . the mixtures according to the present invention which are stable in storage contain a second stabilizing component consisting of inert organic liquids which have boiling points above 90 ° c ., preferably above 110 ° c ., and are substantially non - polar and immiscible with water and , moreover , do not act as solvents for the isocyanato sulphonic acids . examples of such compounds include , in particular , aliphatic , cycloaliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons , e . g . heptane , octane , isooctane , nonane , decane , undecane or eicosane , as well as mixtures of these hydrocarbons of the type found in commercial petroleum hydrocarbon and paraffin oil fractions , mineral spirits and mineral oils , for example solvent naphtha , cleaning petrol , petroleum , paraffin oil , polymerized olefins , such as liquid polypropylene and polybutylene , tetraisobutene , methylcyclohexane , cyclododecane , dimethylcyclohexane , turpentine oil and decalin . other suitable aromatic hydrocarbons include toluene , o -, m - and p - xylene , commercial aromatic mixtures , cumene , pseudocumene , hemellitol , p - cumene , tetramethylbenzene , diisopropylbenzenes , isododecylbenzene and tetralin . halogenated hydrocarbons , ketones , esters and ethers could also be used provided they are sufficiently non - polar , i . e . do not dissolve the isocyanato sulphonic acid . this is generally the case if the proportion of pure hydrocarbon in the dispersing agent amounts to at least 70 %, by weight . the following are examples : dibutylether , di - sec - butylether , diisoamylether , methylisobutyl ketone , 4 - heptanone , 5 - methyl - 3 - heptanone , 2 - undecanone , dinonyl ketone , dioctylphthalate , trioctylphthalate and dioctyladipate . another group of suitable substances are the perchlorinated hydrocarbons , e . g . highly chlorinated paraffins , as well as chlorobenzene , dichlorobenzene and chlorocyclohexane . it will be clear from the list given above that &# 34 ; inert liquids &# 34 ; in the context of the present invention are liquids which show no reactivity towards sulphonic acid groups and isocyanate groups . liquids which fulfill this requirement and conform to the conditions defined above are suitable for method ( b ) of carrying out the process according to the present invention . liquids which are used for method ( a ) of the process according to the present invention must in addition be inert towards the sulphonating agents under the reaction conditions employed . most of the exemplified liquids are inert towards sulphonating agents and may therefore also be used as solvents for sulphonation according to method ( a ). as is well known , aromatic hydrocarbons are normally capable of sulphonation on their own . their use is not subject to any restrictions if they are added to the reaction mixture after sulphonation in accordance with method ( b ). their use as solvents for the isocyanates which are to be sulphonated is , however , possible only if they react considerably more slowly with the sulphonating agents than the isocyanates which are to be sulphonated or if a small amount of sulphonation of these hydrocarbons is acceptable . thus , for example , chlorobenzene and dichlorobenzene may be used as solvents for sulphonation , whereas toluene , xylene and cumene are preferably added after sulphonation . in the preparation of isocyanato polysulphonic acids ( derivatives containing more than one sulphonic acid group per molecule of starting isocyanate used for sulphonation ) it is necessary to take into account that disulphonation proceeds much more slowly and with greater difficulty than monosulphonation . in such cases , therefore , only solvents which are inert towards sulphur trioxide should be used for sulphonation . moreover , in the case of the above - mentioned polysulphonic acids , stabilization according to the present invention takes place independently of the nature of the stabilizing agent used according to the present invention , preferably only after sulphonation and after removal of excess sulphonating agent in accordance with method ( b ). the process according to the present invention for stabilizing isocyanato sulphonic acids may be carried out according to two embodiments : sulphonation of the isocyanate may be carried out as described in the above literature references , for example , but the liquid which is essential according to the present invention is added before or during sulphonation to the isocyanate which is to be sulphonated . part of the additive used may then be removed after termination of the sulphonating reaction , for example by filtration or suction filtration . the only essential condition in this embodiment of the process is that a sufficient quantity of the liquid which is essential according to the present invention should be left in the sulphonation product to correspond to the proportions of the components in the mixtures according to the present invention . sulphonation may also be carried out in the absence of the liquids according to the present invention , for example as described in the above literature references , and the product obtained , which may still be moist and contain a residue of auxiliary solvents , such as dichloroethane , or a residue of unsulphonated liquid starting isocyanate , may then be mixed with the dispersing agent according to the present invention . what is essential is that the sulphonated isocyanate should be completely enveloped or penetrated by the dispersing agent according to the present invention as soon after its preparation as possible without , however , being dissolved therein . the mixtures according to the present invention are moist powders , pastes or suspensions , depending on the quantity of dispersing agent present in the mixtures according to the present invention . the quantity of the dispersing agent which is essential according to the present invention , that is to say in the first embodiment of the process the quantity of dispersing agent left in the mixture , should be such that the resulting mixtures contain from about 20 to 90 %, by weight , preferably from about 50 to 85 %, by weight , of aromatic isocyanato sulphonic acids and from about 80 to 10 %, by weight , preferably from about 15 to 50 %, by weight , of the stabilizing liquid which is essential according to the present invention . the average particle diameter of the finely dispersed isocyanato sulphonic acids is from about 0 . 5 to 500 micron . exceptionally finely divided and sedimentation - resistant suspensions of sulphonated isocyanates are obtained if the dispersing agent which is essential to the present invention is used as reaction medium for sulphonation . in this case , the starting material is dissolved in the liquid according to the present invention and thereafter sulphonated analogously to the method described in the above literature references , the sulphonated isocyanate being obtained directly as a suspension according to the present invention . the stabilized preparations according to the present invention may contain additives which increase the stabilizing effect or produce additional stabilizing effects , such as resistance to yellowing . such additives include light protective agents well known in the art , such as sterically hindered phenols , u . v . absorbents and conventional unsulphonated polyisocyanates , in particular aliphatic polyisocyanates having a low vapor pressure , as well as organopolysiloxanes and chlorofluorinated hydrocarbon oils . the stabilized preparations are stable under conditions of storage and transport and are suitable for the preparation of various polyurethanes , such as elastomers , foams , coatings , molded products and adhesives . whereas hydrocarbons , such as octane , toluene or xylene , evaporate during or after preparation or application of the polyurethane , high boiling products , such as phosphates , phthalates or polychloroparaffins , are left in the polyurethane end - product as plasticizers or in the form of micro - droplets . the stabilized isocyanato sulphonic acids are soluble in polyesters and polyethers even after prolonged storage . the polyurethanes produced from them are free from irregularities and cloudiness . one particular advantage of the pastes and moist powders according to the present invention is their low requirement in liquid components for the preparation of reaction mixtures or their reduced viscosity at a given formulation . furthermore , the quantity of air inevitably introduced when preparing the mixture is considerably less and the mixtures contain few or no foam bubbles and give rise to more homogeneous reaction mixtures . 1914 g ( 11 mole ) of tolylene diisocyanate ( isomeric mixture 2 , 4 : 2 , 6 = 80 : 20 ) are reacted with 335 g ( 4 . 2 mole ) of sulphur trioxide at from 23 ° to 30 ° c . for about 20 hours with stirring , a thick liquid suspension of dimeric tolylene diisocyanate monosulphonic acid in tolylene diisocyanate being obtained . sulphur trioxide is liberated from heated 65 % oleum by means of a slow stream of nitrogen and conducted as a gas diluted with nitrogen over the surface of the stirred isocyanate . the resulting suspension is diluted with 500 ml of toluene and suction filtered and the solid residue is suspended twice with 500 ml of toluene and suction filtered . the product , still moist with toluene , is filled into containers . yield : 1285 g , toluene content 23 %, weight of dry substance 990 g , corresponding to 93 % of the theoretical yield . the product is a slightly moist powder which may easily be handled without causing dust . it may easily be poured into containers or from one container to another , does not cake together and does not stick to a spatula . 200 g of the moist powder obtained according to example 1 are dried in a vacuum drying cupboard at 50 ° c . and the dry powder is filled into containers . yield : 154 g . the product causes dust during transfer into containers . 13 g of the product obtained according to example 1 and stored for one month are dissolved in 100 g of tetrahydrofuran . a clear solution is obtained , which shows very slight cloudiness after one hour . when the process is repeated using 10 g of the dry powder obtained from the comparison experiment , a cloudy solution is obtained and a precipitate forms after one hour . 1 . 3 g of the product obtained according to example 1 and stored for one month are dissolved in 10 g of acetone . a clear solution is obtained . severe cloudiness appears after 3 hours due to reaction with acetone . when this process is repeated using 1 g of the dry powder from the comparison experiment , a very cloudy solution is obtained and a floccular precipitate rapidly separates from the solution . 26 g of the product prepared according to example 1 and stored for two months are dissolved in 100 g of trischloroethylphosphate at 50 ° c . a clear , low viscosity solution is obtained . it undergoes no change within 10 days . when this process is repeated using 20 g of the dry powder from the comparison experiment , a very cloudly solution is obtained which becomes viscous after 3 days and gels after 8 days . the same poor result is obtained when 20 g of dry powder which has been stored for two months are made up into a paste using 6 g of toluene and then dissolved . 13 g of the product obtained according to example 1 and stored for one month are mixed with 100 g of tetraethyleneglycol at room temperature and stirred . a clear solution is obtained on heating . when this experiment is repeated using 10 g of the dry powder obtained from the comparison experiment , the mixture must be heated to 60 ° c . to form a solution . the solution is slightly cloudy . 13 g of the product obtained according to example 1 and stored for two months are mixed with 100 g of adipic acid / diethylglycol polyester ( oh - no . 56 , molecular weight 2000 ) and 20 g of toluene at 50 ° c . and stirred . a clear , viscous solution is obtained . when the experiment is carried out using 10 g of the dry powder from the comparison experiment , a more highly viscous , very cloudy solution is obtained . a solution of 43 . 5 g ( 0 . 25 mole ) of tolylene diisocyanate ( isomeric mixture 80 : 20 ) in 102 g of a chlorinated paraffin (&# 34 ; witachlor 40 nv &# 34 ;, manufacturers : dynamit nobel ; chlorine content of 40 %) is sulphonated using 22 g of sulphur trioxide as in example 1 . a 30 % dispersion of sulphonated isocyanate in chloroparaffin is obtained . sedimentation sets in when the dispersion is left to stand for a prolonged period . the sediment is redispersible even after prolonged storage . the stored samples are readily soluble in tetrahydrofuran , trischloroethylphosphate and polypropyleneglycol ( mw 2000 ). the solutions are clear . a solution of 87 g ( 0 . 5 mole ) of tolylene diisocyanate ( isomeric mixture 80 : 20 ) in 87 g of anhydrous chlorobenzene is sulphonated with 40 g ( 0 . 5 mole ) of sulphur trioxide as in example 1 . a remarkably stable , finely divided dispersion of the sulphonated isocyanate in chlorobenzene is obtained . sedimentation begins to appear only after 3 days . the sediment remains redispersible even after prolonged storage . the stored samples are readily soluble in tetrahydrofuran , tris - chloroethylphosphate and polypropyleneglycol ( mw 2000 ). the solutions are clear . the same results are obtained when 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diphenylmethane diisocyanate is used instead of tolylenediisocyanate . a solution of 261 g ( 1 . 5 mole ) of tolylene - 2 , 4 - diisocyanate in 700 g of 1 , 2 - dichloroethane is sulphonated using 120 g of sulphur trioxide as in example 1 . the resulting suspension is suction filtered and the filter residue is washed with dichloroethane and again vigorously suction filtered . 50 g of the product are mixed with 10 g of dioctylphthalate while still moist to form a paste . after one month , the product forms a clear solution in tetrahydrofuran and polypropyleneglycol . 50 g of the product obtained in example 9 are triturated with 10 g of paraffin oil in a mortar to form a paste . a thick paste which is capable of forming a clear solution in tetrahydrofuran after one month is obtained . 50 g of the product obtained in example 9 are mixed with 10 g of trioctylphosphate . a dispersion which dissolves to a clear solution in tetrahydrofuran or polypropyleneglycol is still obtained after one month . 26 g of the product obtained according to example 1 and stored for two months are mixed at 70 ° c . with 100 g of a polypropyleneglycol having a molecular weight of 2000 and stirred . a clear solution of the reaction product is obtained . when the experiment is carried out using 20 g of the dry powder from the comparison experiment , a milky solution is obtained . the same result is obtained using a product which has been stored for four months . this product also dissolves after prolonged stirring at 40 ° c . although the invention has been described in detail for the purpose of illustration , it is to be understood that such detail is solely for that purpose and that variations can be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention except as it may be limited by the claims . | 2 |
in reference to fig1 a socket 10 is shown to include a plastic housing 16 having in the embodiment of fig1 some six apertures 18 in the top surface of the housing . each of the apertures 18 includes a beveled entry 20 which facilitates lead insertion . a series of reliefs 22 are provided periodically along the length of the housing for visual orientation features . the socket 10 is shown in a single row version , it being understood that multiple sockets can be used to handle dual leaded devices plugged to therein . fig1 further shows the socket 10 containing a series of contacts 32 , the ends 40 shown protruding therefrom and aligned for insertion in a printed circuit board 12 , the apertures 14 thereof . it is the misalignment of the apertures 14 in either an x or y sense referencing the top surface of the board which can cause mounting difficulties with respect to the positions of the post portions 40 of the contacts . fig2 shows the interior of housing 16 to include a relief 24 at the bottom thereof and with respect to each cavity , a downwardly directed bearing surface 26 and interior walls 28 . there are two side walls , one for each side of the cavity 30 defined interiorly of the housing . fig2 also shows the compliant spring portion 36 , which can be seen additionally in fig4 to comprise a pair of spring beams offset to allow an interior and elastic deformation as the portion 36 is inserted within a board aperture . fig1 shows a tapering portion 34 which eases entry of the contact into an aperture 14 . above the compliant spring portion 36 is a first u - shaped portion 42 the upper surface of which rests against the bearing surface 26 to allow contact insertion by pushing upon housing 16 with the bearing engagement transmitted through 26 to the portion 42 . viewing fig2 and 4 , there is a further extension portion 46 , the outside edges of which bear against the interior walls 28 to stabilize the contact relative to the housing in a sense longitudinal to the length of the housing . extending above the region including 46 is a u - shaped spring member which includes a flat portion 48 , also shown in fig2 to bear against the inside wall on one side of housing 16 . the portion 50 of the contact shown in fig3 positions 48 relative to the remainder of the contact . thereafter and extending from portion 48 is a bend 52 which defines the principal spring of the contact . thereafter , the contact material tapers as at 54 to the contact portion 56 which itself tapers as indicated in fig4 and then as indicated in fig3 returns as at 58 towards the center line of the contact . this bend defines an area 60 which is held against the inside wall of housing 16 in the manner shown in fig2 to slightly preload the spring of the contact and additionally position the sharp edge 62 as shown in fig2 inwardly to preclude its contacting a lead inserted within a device . the opposite corner 63 serves to provide an anti - overstress of the spring by virtue of striking the opposing portion of the contact as at 64 , shown in phantom in fig2 upon deflection of the spring . as can be appreciated from such view , a lead 70 inserted fully within the housing to a point past the end 62 cannot be caught by such end to thereby trap the lead within the housing and prevent extraction . as lead 70 is inserted within the aperture 18 it will strike the surface 56 deflecting the spring and riding along such surface to be pushed against the interior side wall by area 60 with contact being made between 70 and the contact of the socket through area 60 . in this condition of loading , the housing and the spring serve to confine the lead and maintain a contact therewith under substantial normal force effecting a stable , low - resistance interface connection between the lead and the contact 32 . that interconnection is continued through the compliant spring portion 36 to the board circuits carried in apertures 14 . in fig5 the relationship of surface 56 to the aperture and a lead inserted therein can be seen , the width of area surface 56 being such relative to the aperture to preclude a lead from accidentally riding along the side of the contact to become jammed therein or to otherwise damage the contact or the lead . in an actual embodiment , the contact was formed of a phosphor bronze alloy 5110 , temper 6 , extra hard , material suitably plated with tin lead . the bend radius of 52 was on the order of 0 . 014 inches as measured from the radius point r . p . shown in fig3 . the housing was molded of glass - filled polyester such as a vectra a130 suitable for maintaining the spring force by biasing the lead inwardly against the contact . having now described the invention intended to enable a preferred practice thereof , claims are set forth which define what is asserted as inventive . | 7 |
every financial product contains certain characteristics , some are best described by trend - following , and some are mainly in consolidation . for instance , in the past two decades of taiwan stock market , we can describe it as “ 30 % trend , 70 % consolidation .” as for u . s . stock index s & amp ; p 500 , during most of the time in its history , it has the repeated cycle of consolidation , upward consolidation and downward consolidation . the cataclysmic crash as in the year 2008 rarely happens . this is somehow related to a market &# 39 ; s maturity and features of each individual instrument in different sectors such as indices , stocks , options , bonds , interest rates , agricultural products , foreign exchange rates , energy products and soft commodities . hence , the present invention separates financial products into several states , and selects the relative trading strategy in accordance with the state . the chosen strategy modules ( models ) will execute trading . referring to fig3 on the demonstration which shows a better example of the present invention , it is an illustration of “ state classification modules ( models )” in the state trading management system . data of a financial product is entered to the said state classification modules ( models ) of the presentation . it can be open , high , low and close price of the candlestick chart , or other information related to the said financial product , such as backwardation and contango data , open interest data , volatility of the financial product , or any related prediction of the said product . the state modules ( models ) classify all related data , and divide the movement of the said product into n states according to users &# 39 ; own settings . for instance , if the 10 - day moving average fluctuates in a certain range ( such as within 2 %) within certain data interval on the candlestick chart , that said range on the candlestick chart is considered a consolidation state . similarly , if the 10 - day moving average fluctuates over a certain range ( e . g . more than 7 %) within certain data interval on the candlestick chart , then the period is regarded as the trend state . as for the rest data interval on the candlestick chart which does not belong to the two states , we define it as uncertain state . accordingly , the present invention separates candlestick data interval into three categories , including consolidation , trend and uncertainty states . nevertheless , the candlestick data interval does not limit to only these three states . users may set up more states based on their needs , such as upward consolidation state , downward consolidation state , consolidation state , upward trend state , downward trend state , counter - trend state and uncertainty state , etc . after state classification modules ( models ) source out the states in each financial product , state strategy modules ( models ) for each category then choose the relative strategy modules ( models ) according to each state . to go further , the present invention applies the standard state management mechanism of the state trading management system shown in fig4 to invest and trade financial products . for example , investment on traditional financial products is traded with single market state , that is , purely trend - following , going long , going short , or simply trade in consolidation . with the present invention , investors are able to trade with multiple strategies , and separate one financial product into several states to trade , for instance , trend , consolidation and uncertainty states . in which , users may apply asset allocation modules ( models ) to allocate capital in each of the state appropriately . consequently , no matter how each financial market is going to behave in the future , by applying standard state trading , risk may be diversified , and a stable return may be achieved . from the above , if there are k financial products , and each with n states , we can apply standard state trading to multiple financial products and trade all simultaneously . as shown in fig5 , it is the demonstration of multiple states trading in multiple markets of the present invention . for example , n 1 of product 1 can be trend and consolidation states in the meantime , n 2 of product 2 can be uncertainty , counter - trend , upward trend and downward trend all four states . nk of product k can be consolidation , uncertainty , counter - trend , upward trend and downward trend all five states . users are able to design more states in accordance with different features of each product . fig6 is a dynamic trading demonstration of the present state trading management system . there are n states within k financial product , likewise , we can design different states such as n 1 , n 2 . . . nk in terms of different characteristics of each product . the presented art indeed is capable of managing each state in a financial product dynamically . nonetheless , each state of every financial product does not have to hold positions at all times . if a certain product comprises two states — consolidation state and trend state , when that product has been through a certain period of consolidation , chances for trend to appear is therefore higher , then the state assessment modules ( models ) will send entry signal to the strategy modules ( models ) in trend state of the said product to execute trading . likewise , if a certain product has been through an ascending or descending trend , there are bigger chances for consolidation state to appear , therefore state assessment modules ( models ) send out entry signal to the strategy modules ( models ) in the consolidation state of the said product . as such , through state - driven trading mechanism of the present dynamic state - based trading management system , risk may be well diversified in each market , while it enhances the stability to profit . fig7 displays another good example of the present invention , which implements the state analysis of a financial product to adjust positions . therein , according to the state analysis of the financial product data , the invention can adjust positions based on the prediction of the future state , whether it is going to be in a upward consolidation state , downward consolidation state , consolidation state , upward trend state , downward trend state , trend state , counter - trend state and uncertainty state , or even other self - set states by the users . for example , trading with the trend state strategy , when trend appears , enter the market , or increase positions ; or , when trend state has appeared for a while , decrease positions , or exit market . on the other hand , if we exercise consolidation strategy , when consolidation state occurs , enter and trade , or increase positions ; on the contrary , if consolidation state has occurred for a period of time , decrease positions , or exit the market . as a result , by applying the demonstrated dynamic position adjustment of the state , investment managers can be more versatile in trading each financial product . by the application of state - based trading management system of the present invention , investors should be able to capture behaviors of most of the financial product more precisely , thus choose and modify trading strategy , trading modules ( models ) or predictions to the most suitable ones for each every financial product . although numerous specific examples have been exemplified to assist in an appreciation and understanding of the generic concepts of this disclosure and inventions included therein , the examples are not intended to be limiting with respect to the claims and the scope of the invention . anyone whom shall be skilled in the art of the present invention may practice in embodiments other than those illustrated herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention , and that the invention is only limited by the claims which follows . while particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described , it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that , based upon the teachings herein , changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention and its broader aspects . therefore , the appended claims are intended to encompass within their scope of all such changes and modifications as are within the true spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiment ( s ) of the present invention . | 6 |
fig1 shows a portion of a conveyor in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . the conveyor of fig1 has a turret disk 1 , which generally functions as a movable base , and a number of cell supports 2 which are mounted at regular intervals near the circumference of turret disk 1 . cell supports 2 fixedly support a cell body 6 , at each end thereof such that each passage opening 3 is at least partially congruent with an open cell 4 by defined cell body 6 . the longitudinal walls of cell body 6 are attached to cell supports 2 , adjacent to passage openings 3 , by means of screws 5 . the cell bodies 6 are mounted on cell supports 2 such that the open end thereof generally face toward the center of turret disk 1 . it will be readily appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the preferred embodiment employs a plurality of structures , which are substantially similar to those described above , extending around turret disk 1 . as shown in fig1 the preferred embodiment of the present invention employs a plurality of cell bodies 6 which are arranged in pairs and radially inclined towards one another . when the conveyor is in a transfer position , each pair of cell bodies 6 become aligned with a pair of corresponding radially inclined cells of a larger surrounding turret so that initial reception of cigarette blocks into the conveyor and subsequent transfer therefrom to the surrounding turret can occur in pairs . cell bodies 6 are preferably formed by bending a single thin sheet of metal into a generally u - shaped configuration . each u - shaped cell body 6 consists of substantially parallel first and second longitudinal walls which are spaced at a distance corresponding to the height of the cigarette block to be received therein . each cell body 6 also has an end wall connecting the first and second longitudinal walls at one end to form the bottom of the u . the end wall preferably has an inwardly extending region , located approximately halfway between the first and second longitudinal walls , which projects into cell 4 a distance of about half of the diameter of a cigarette . since cigarette blocks are typically formed by arranging twenty individual cigarettes into a block having three rows ( a row of six sandwiched between two rows of seven ) the inwardly projecting region of the end wall generally conforms to the shape of the block in the region of the shorter central row of cigarettes . finally , the free ends of the first and second longitudinal walls are preferably turned outward so that each cell body 6 is adapted to be mounted onto a cell support . 2 with the above - mentioned screws 5 . referring now to fig2 in the preferred embodiment generally u - shaped double levers 9 are pivotally mounted on turret disk 1 for rotation about parallel axes 10 . an arm 9 &# 39 ; of each double lever 9 extends through a passage opening 3 defined by a cell support 2 toward the open end of cell body 6 . closure elements 8 are mounted on the ends of the arms 9 &# 39 ; of the double levers 9 . a second arm 9 &# 34 ; of each double lever 9 extends from the pivot axis 10 of the lever in a direction opposite to that of arm 9 &# 39 ;. a spring 12 is connected from arm 9 &# 34 ; of a first double lever 9 to a corresponding arm of an identical adjacent double lever . accordingly , the arms 9 &# 39 ; of a pair of adjacent double levers 9 are spring biased into associated cells 4 of open ended cell bodies 6 . referring again to fig2 arm 9 &# 39 ; of each double lever 9 carries a cam follower 13 which is operably associated with a fixed cam 14 . cam followers 13 can be either rollers or a low friction surface or any equivalent thereof . turret disk 1 rotates independently of fixed cams 14 . upon rotation of turret disk 1 , cam followers 13 are guided along the edge of fixed cams 14 causing double levers 9 to pivot about their pivot axes 10 thereby inducing corresponding movement of closure elements 8 . thus , when turret disk 1 is rotated , closure elements 8 selectively pass through passage openings 3 to open and close the open ends of cell bodies 6 and upon closure of the open end of a cell body 6 , a closure element 8 extends into the cell 4 . as shown in fig1 and 2 , double levers 9 are arranged in overlapping pairs , i . e ., adjacent double levers 9 are symmetric relative to one another about a line which extends from the center of turret disk 1 between adjacent cell supports 2 . while fig2 shows arm 9 &# 34 ; of a double lever 9 connected to a corresponding arm of an adjacent double lever with a spring 12 , an alternative embodiment employs two separate springs wherein one spring biases arm 9 &# 34 ; and the other spring independently biases the corresponding arm on the adjacent double lever . the fixed cams 14 are arranged to cause the adjacent double levers 9 to pivot about their respective pivot axes in opposite directions . providing for pivoting in opposite directions in this manner results in coordinated opening and closing of adjacent cell bodies by their respective closure elements 8 . since double levers 9 are arranged in overlapping pairs , the associated cam followers 13 are located at different levels and the cams 14 can , thus , be at correspondingly different levels also . when a conveyor of the present invention is in an initial transfer position , cigarette blocks of the type described above ( i . e ., a block which has already been compressed along the height dimension ) are transferred into cells 4 by another conveyor or any equivalent means such as a cigarette funnel . in this initial transfer position of the apparatus , each arm 9 &# 39 ; of each double lever 9 has been retracted relative to the associated cell body 6 as a result of cam follower 13 following the edge of its associated cam 14 . in this transfer position , each arm 9 &# 34 ; has been rotated against the force of compression spring 12 and closure element 8 has been retracted from cell body 6 . accordingly , cell body 6 is open and is , thus , capable of receiving a cigarette block with an uncompressed width . upon rotation of turret disk 1 , closure element 8 moves into cell body 6 under the influence of expanding spring 12 . closure element 8 thus compresses the width of the cigarette block located therein to the desired width . further , rotation of turret disk 1 causes arm 9 &# 39 ; to again be retracted from cell body 6 , i . e ., the double lever 9 returns to the initial transfer position , thereby completing the cycle , so that the compressed cigarette block can be transferred out of the cell for further processing . it will readily appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the numerous turrets , cells , etc . located around turret disk 1 also simultaneously operate in a substantially similar manner . a wide variety of modifications may be made to the embodiment described above . for example , in an alternative embodiment , the interaction between arm 9 &# 34 ; ( as a result of the interaction of double lever 9 , cam follower 13 , and cam 14 ) and spring 12 is reversed . thus , in this embodiment , spring 12 urges closure element 8 away from cell body 6 and cam 14 urges closure element 8 toward cell body 6 . in another alternative embodiment , the use of a double groove for cam 14 eliminates the need to spring bias lever 9 and also eliminates the need for lever 9 to be a double lever . in yet another embodiment lever 9 can also act radially from the outside to the inside of cell 4 which is then closed radially on the inside end . in yet another embodiment , the means for selectively opening and closing the open end of each cell body consists of a closure element mounted on one end of a ram which moves linearly in a direction generally parallel to first and second longitudinal walls of each cell body . in still another alternative embodiment , the cell bodies , double levers and springs can be mounted on a circulating conveyor belt or other movable base , instead of turret disk 1 , which moves relative to one or more fixed cams . the relative motion between the fixed cams and the elements on the circulating conveyor belt impart motion in a manner similar to that described above . furthermore , movement of the various parts such as arms 9 etc . can also be imparted by the cooperation between a fixed base and one or more movable cams . however , regardless of whether a turret disk or a belt conveyor is employed , the motion imparted to the other components can be in the nature of either discrete steps or continuous movement . while a preferred embodiment and number of alternatives thereto have been shown and described , it will be appreciated that various other modifications and substitutions may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . accordingly , it is to be understood that the present invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation . | 1 |
fig1 - 10 show the preferred embodiment of this invention . in fig1 a liquid pouring head is generally identified by the numeral 10 . this head 10 is specifically for pouring liquid , usually alcoholic beverage , out of a bottle 12 . the bottle 12 is typically a one quart or one liter size . the adjoining head 10 and bottle 12 normally sit upright on a counter or bottle rack and are jointly inverted to pour a unit of liquid from the bottle 12 . the head 10 includes a main body 14 injection molded of a relatively rigid plastic , and a sealing cork 16 , 16a , an optional collar 18 which is combined within the optional collar 16a . the body 14 has a liquid inlet pipe 20 and an air vent pipe 22 . a dump cap 24 is secured to a rear distal end 26 of the inlet pipe 20 and air pipe 22 and retains a shut - off ball valve 28 in a liquid bore 30 of the body 14 . the dump cap 24 also contains a function control ball valve 32 . the dump cap 24 provides an air valve chamber 34 for an air control ball valve 36 . the body 14 , has a front or top pouring spout 38 with a diametric outer perimeter 40 , and a liquid outlet 42 . behind the spout 38 is the inlet pipe 20 and the air pipe 22 , the inlet pipe 20 has its distal end 26 and the liquid bore 30 , which includes a precision valve bore 44 , an enlarged valve pocket 46 , liquid ports 48 into the liquid bore 30 , and a shut - off valve seat 50 , leading outward to the spout outlet 42 . the air pipe 22 has an air inlet 52 in the pour spout 38 . the spout 38 has an internal top cavity 54 in which a label or a function light may be placed . just rearward of the pour spout 38 is a cork retainer 56 which extends around the liquid inlet pipe 20 and the air pipe 22 . an important feature of this invention is embodied in the dump cap 24 , shown in detail in fig2 & amp ; 3 , having a front section 58 sealed and secured to the liquid inlet pipe 20 , and a rear section 60 containing the control valve 32 . the distal end 26 of the liquid inlet pipe 20 and the air pipe 22 is precisely sized . the dump cap front section 58 has a front outer tubular section 62 having a precisely sized internal surface which is a light press fit upon the distal end 26 . the front section of dump cap 58 also has a shorter internal tubular section 64 which is precisely fitted to provide a light press fit into the distal end valve pocket 46 . while the body 14 is of relatively hard and rigid plastic , the entire dump cap 24 is of a different , softer and relatively pliable plastic , such as high density polypropylene which enables the dump cap 24 to pliably conform to the body 14 . the distal end 26 is pressed into and bottomed out in an annular receptor 66 between the tubular sections 62 , 64 . inside the front section of dump cap 58 is a non - round , in this case square , valve support 68 upon which the shut - off valve 28 normally rests . between the valve support 68 and the internal tubular section 64 is a liquid sump 70 for wetting and priming liquid inside of the valve pocket 46 . on the outside of the inlet pipe distal end 26 is an opposed press of retainer abutments 72 having angled entry cams over which the pliant dump cap outer tubular section 62 can be pressed , until bottoming out in the annular receptor 66 whereupon the retainer abutments 72 snap into a pair of complemental retainer acceptors 74 , whereupon the dump cap 24 is permanently sealed and secured to the body 14 . in the dump cap rear section 60 is a control valve chamber 76 containing the function control valve 32 . there are two significant improvements here , the first being a frusto - conical control valve seat 78 having an included angle of less than ninety ( 90 °) degrees , specifically an included angle in the range of forty to sixty ( 40 ° to 60 °) degrees has been found to immediately seat the control valve 32 and prevent it from rolling around on the seat . secondly , the rear section has a new control valve retainer 80 wherein the retainer 80 has the rear distal end of the dump cap 24 is a complete circumfrential ring 82 within which is a plurality of inward projecting valve retainer abutments 84 through which the function control valve 32 is pressed . in between the control valve seat 78 and the shut - off valve support 68 , is the portion control aperture 86 . fig3 best illustrates the air pressure control valve 36 inside of the air valve chamber 34 . the dump cap 24 has a rear vent portion 88 of the air vent pipe 22 . in the front of the rear vent portion 88 is an expanded diameter forming the air valve chamber 36 , and into which an extended air pipe distal end 90 is telescopal , and press fitted and fluid tightly sealed . the air pipe distal end 90 has a rearward facing air valve seat 92 for the air control valve 36 . the rearward or downward end of the air valve chamber 34 has at least one and preferably a pair of open air valve supports 94 which are ramped to bias the air control valve 36 downward during pouring and inward toward the liquid bore 30 during upright rest of the pourer 10 . the air control valve 36 is a precision ball of stainless steel , ceramic , or plastic . the air control valve 36 is always open when the pourer 10 is upright , and is normally closed when the pourer 10 is inverted into a pouring position . another important feature of this invention is the new cork 16 shown best in fig6 & amp ; 7 . the cork 16 has the conventional tubular section 96 and seals 98 . atop the cork 16 is a new annular ring 100 which has an outer perimeter 102 which is larger than the spout outer perimeter 40 . in the cork outer perimeter 102 is a forward facing spout gripping lip 104 which is normally slip - fitted on the spout perimeter 40 . on an underside of the cork perimeter 102 is a continuous plurality of convex grasping knobs 106 , which have an outer diameter larger than the spout perimeter 40 and larger than a neck of the bottle 12 . the cork 16 is retained to the body 14 by a barb section 108 snapped over the cork retainer 56 . when the pourer 10 is installed in a bottle , the cork seals 98 are wetted and the cork perimeter 102 is grasped with three fingers while the palm pushes on the spout 38 . what is new in both function and structure is that the cork 16 can now be turned as it is being inserted in the bottle 12 to reduce the force required to insert and connect the pourer 10 . then , when extracting the pourer 10 from the bottle 12 , the cork 16 is grasped directly either with 3 fingers or with a wrap of the thumb and first finger , and the entire pourer 10 is extracted by pulling and turning directly upon the cork 16 , rather than on the spout 38 as in the prior art . the lip 104 compresses inward against the spout perimeter 40 and the entire pourer 10 with its cork 16 can now be rotated in the bottle 12 during extraction which significantly reduces the force required to pull out the pourer 10 . no more broken off spouts 38 , and fewer broken / cracked fingernails . fig8 - 10 illustrate a further important improvement in the pourer 10 , wherein the pourer 10 is provided with a collar 18 , and a collar cork 16a . the collar 18 is from the exterior conventional and covers the bottle outlet , specifically the threads and security seal . inside the collar 18 , which is a relatively rigid plastic component , is an inward facing radial spline 110 around the entire inside of the collar 18 . the cork annular ring 100a has a peripheral spline 112 which is connected to and engaged to the collar spline 110 . now , during insertion and / or removal of the pourer 10 with the collar 18 , the cork 16a can be rotated in the bottle by turning the collar 18 , which significantly relieves the force needed to insert or to extract the pourer 10 . note that the rigid collar 18 has acute teeth 114 while the soft and pliable cork 16a has obtuse teeth 116 for preventing deformation of the teeth . note than either the cork 16 per se , or the cork 16a and collar 18 combination will work on any pourer 10 , be it of the portion - control type having the dump cap 24 as shown , or a free pour type without a dump cap 24 , or an electronic pourer as shown in my u . s . pat . no . 5 , 255 , 819 . one of the distinguishing features of the pourer 10 of this invention , in that the dump cap 24 is permanently assembled and sealed to the body 14 without solvents , adhesives , sealants , or welding . it is ideally suited for robotic and / or low - skill manual assembly , with extremely high quality and reliability . the dump cap 24 is no longer suspectable to stress cracking from alcohol and chemicals in beverages , and is no longer susceptible to failing and dropping the control valve 32 out of the pourer 10 . the new spout flap 118 shown only in fig1 is pivotally secured to the spout 38 by a hinge pin 120 . the flap 118 is provided with a thumb actuator 122 which is engageable by a users thumb and enables manual opening of the flap 118 during inversion of the pourer 10 . in the use and operation of the pourer 10 , it is normally in a bottle 12 sitting upright on a support surface . as the pourer sits , control valve 32 rests upon the retainer abutments 84 and valve seat 78 is open for drainage of liquid out of the pourer 10 and back into the bottle 12 . after the pourer 10 has drained empty , the sump 70 retains a quantity of priming and wetting liquid in the underside of the valve pocket 46 . the air control valve 36 is open and is supported by the open air valve supports 94 . when the connected bottle 12 and pourer 10 are picked up and inverted , the control valve 32 moves into and closes the control valve seat 78 . the air control valve 36 moves into and closes the air valve seat 92 . the sump 70 drops its liquid onto the shut - off valve 28 sealing it to the liquid bore 30 . whereupon the shut - off valve 28 is held up by a partial vacuum in the valve pocket 46 . controlled flow of liquid into the liquid bore 30 through the portion control aperture 86 controls the rate and time of the fall of the shut - off valve 28 , until the liquid ports 48 are reached , whereupon the shut - off valve 28 falls upon its seat 50 and the pour is terminated . the bottle 12 and pourer 10 are then turned upright to drain and reset the valves 28 , 32 . during pouring of liquid from the bottle 12 , air pressure inside the bottle 12 drops and eventually a pressure differential sufficient to lift the air control valve 36 off its seat 78 is reached . the air control valve 36 opens and closes repetitively to control the pressure in the bottle 12 , at a predetermined and constant partial pressure for an even flow rate of pours . it has been found that with the new reduced angle in the control valve seat 78 , the pourer 10 now needs to be inverted past horizontal only one - half of the include angle , to be positively operable , rather that the forty - five ( 45 °) degrees required by the prior embodiments . further , it has been found that the cork per se , and the combination of the new cork and collar , and the new dump cap per se , are each an invention including patentable utility individually usable on pourer of all / most types . in the improved structure and function of the new dump cap 24 in this new and improved pourer 10 , when the pourer 10 is standing upright , the complete diameter of the control valve 32 , in a horizontal plane through a center of the valve 32 , is completely enclosed by the inside diameter of the control valve chamber 76 and that part of the dump cap rear section 60 previously referred to as the complete circumfrential ring 82 . the control valve chamber 76 has a complete lower floor 124 as shown in fig2 & amp ; 3 , and an opposed pair of lateral inlets / outlets 126 . when the pourer 10 is thus upright and the control valve 32 is resting upon the retainers abutments 84 , a relatively large meniscus of liquid is maintained in the annular space about the entire horizontal diameter of the control valve 32 both above and below the previously referred to horizontal plane , by the complete circumfrential ring 82 . it has been found this meniscus of liquid serves to keep the control valve 32 free and lubricated , and to quickly prime and seal the control valve 32 to its valve seat 78 upon a pouring cycle . the amount of the priming liquid is at least two or three times what has been achieved in the prior art . further , during a pouring inversion this priming liquid is supported upward and kept with the control valve 32 by the complete lower floor 124 . many other advantages and values may be found and realized , and various modifications will be suggested by those versed and working in the art , but be it understood that i embody within the scope of the patent hereon , all such embodiments as reasonably and properly come within the scope of my contribution to the art and industry . | 1 |
the following discussion is presented to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the present teachings . various modifications to the illustrated embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art , and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the present teachings . thus , the present teachings are not intended to be limited to embodiments shown , but are to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein . the following detailed description is to be read with reference to the figures , in which like elements in different figures have like reference numerals . the figures , which are not necessarily to scale , depict selected embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of the present teachings . skilled artisans will recognize the examples provided herein have many useful alternatives and fall within the scope of the present teachings . the inventors of embodiments of the present invention have developed an alternative interconnection design and method of connection replacing or augmenting the use of rigid connectors , wires , cables or flex circuits . this connection design works effectively with a variety of printed circuit boards , shapes and sizes . this method of interconnect uses thin substrate printed circuit boards specially designed for surface mount and manual soldering to join circuit boards . the connection design is desirable for several reasons , not only for ease of assembly , but also for the structure , appearance and reliability of the connection . further , because the circuits can be fabricated using conventional printed circuit board methods , the interconnect geometry can be easily adapted for any angle , split , and for a wide variety of pad sizes and spacing . this connection design can be implemented to span short distances between boards or to join boards placed end to end . this connector is highly effective in joining printed circuit strips into larger strips , arrays and matrices , as might be used for ssl lighting applications . embodiments of the present invention described below describe interconnections providing advantages over both traditional and more recent methods of interconnect such as the newly introduced flexrad ™ system of continuous connection . embodiments of the present invention include aspects addressing the strength , reliability and usability of interconnects between the semi - flexible substrates in order to produce long strips or continuous reels for ease in fixture assembly . embodiments of the present invention provide for a thin board substrate , which makes the connector flexible enough to conform to normal variations of board thickness , solder height and mechanical mounting height differences . the thin board substrate allows heat and solder to easily flow through the connector from top to bottom . an electrical insulating layer within the thin board is both thin enough to enable a high degree of thermal conductivity and is able to maintain high levels of breakdown isolation . the material chosen for the electrically insulating layer enhances thermal conductivity . the thin board substrate adds flexibility to the connection , reducing stress at the solder joint associated with the use of rigid pins and other types of connectors . this assists in preventing tearing of the printed circuit board pads on the board when bending stresses are introduced . the thin board substrate materials and thicknesses assist in handling solder melt temperatures without delamination or damage . copper pads on the bottom side of the connector are designed to match the pads of the boards to be connected ; in spacing , area and thermal characteristics . copper pads on a top side can receive heat ( e . g ., from a soldering iron ) and provide a path for conduction through the electrically insulating substrate and / or a plated through hole to the pads on the bottom . the copper conductors are used to connect the pads to be mated to the printed circuit boards . the copper conductors can be thick to accommodate high currents . copper conductors can be run on top or under the connector insulating substrate , depending on requirements for isolation , current carrying capacity and protection . embodiments of the present invention provide for copper foils designed to maintain gap distances between connections for electrical isolation . connections and conductors are protected from damage or shorting by being covered by the connector body . connections and conductors can be further protected from moisture by the simple addition of an under fill layer of potting material , an encapsulent or an overcoat of potting material or encapsulant . plated holes located at the pad positions , through the connector board allow solder and heat to flow down into the connection both to facilitate solder connections and to enable rapid connection . the plated holes located at the pad positions take up excess solder when solder paste is used to make connections or when solder is applied manually . the plated holes located at the pad positions can be used to store solder paste for later reflow . embodiments of the present invention provide for sealing of solder paste in the holes at the pad positions so the paste remains fresh for later use . the sealing may include a thin solder layer , a thin flux layer or a thin plastic or metallic peel - off material . angled or other geometric patterns in the pad and copper conductors support connections for offset or angled printed circuit boards . multiple pad sets and associated conductor connections allow splitting of conduction paths . a masking coating over the top and the bottom of the connector board ( open at the pads ), reduces the opportunity for solder shorts and improve the appearance of the connector . the masking material can be chosen to match the color and characteristics of the boards being jointed to minimize the visibility of the connector . the connectors can be easily formed for vertical step offsets . connectors onto which other circuits can be used , including pads and geometries for wire or other conventional types of connectors , as well as terminations and active circuitry . the connectors can be stackable . connectors with substrate can extend well beyond pad areas providing mechanical support . connectors with additional pads can provide additional strain relief . the pad geometries may match existing pinned connectors to allow an option to alternate use of pinned connectors . the thin board can be designed to be cut with scissors or a simple shear . printed lines at the top of the strip or matrix can show expected cut lines ; providing guidance . copper pads , holes and conductors can be a sufficient space from the cutting location to assure only electrically insulating substrate will be cut . embodiments of the present invention provide for intimate contact between metal pads with minimal fill layer of solder to increase joint strength . larger pads can be used to increase the strength , both because of the larger solder contact area , but also because of the larger areas of contact and adhesion between pad and insulating substrate . larger areas of conductor surrounding exposed , soldered pad apertures increase the strength both by offering more area for adhesion between conductors and the insulating substrate , but also because they add to the conductor structure . the spacing of the pads for maximum array width and height increases the joint strength against shear and rotational forces and torques . a space between pad and edges of the board can be maintained to increase strength by decreasing leverage and converting stresses into surface pressures away from the joint . embodiments of the present invention disclose increasing the number of holes leading from the top surface to the pad , which increases the strength by adding more areas of solder fill . the increased number of holes also increases the probability of having a better percentage of solder fill . the choice of solder type and composition can have an impact on joint strength . lead baring solders have lower tensile strength then their lead free counterparts . higher tensile strength increases the fracture strength of the connection . embodiments of the present invention provide for the application of thermal tape or adhesive across the bottom side of the joint to increase joint strength . the application of potting material or other adhesives or coatings of the structure adds additional strength to the joint . in the areas of board overlap , excluding the conductive pad locations , adhesive can be added to increase joint strength . embodiments of the present invention enable connection of two or more circuit boards to construct various forms , including linear strips and two and three dimensional arrays and matrix forms . embodiments of the present invention include construction of flat grids of circuit boards , as well as grids able to be formed around curved surfaces or sharp corners . in alternate embodiments three dimensional shapes may be formed . with reference to fig1 , a top and cut away view exposing layers of a circuit board with connection pads in an embodiment of the present invention is shown . the circuit board 9 can have two electrically conductive layers 30 , 32 with a thin electrical isolating material 31 sandwiched in between . the inventors chose the electrically conductive layers to be 2 oz . copper . the inventors also chose the inner insulating layer to be 0 . 012 inch thick fiberglass composite material . circuit paths of various designs can be etched into the top and bottom conductive layers 30 , 32 to produce the circuit conductive paths . plated through holes 2 can be added at metal pads 3 and plated through with conductive metal to form a connection between top and bottom . additional thin layers of non - conductive solder repelling material 5 ( solder masks ) can be added to the top and bottom of the board 9 to restrict the movement of solder and protect the circuit paths from the pads 3 . the solder mask 5 is interrupted to expose conductive pads 4 for mounting electronic components 13 , as well as pads 3 used for board interconnect . on top of the solder mask 10 , visible markings may be printed consisting of text and other circuit markings , and special alignment marks 11 , 17 ( fig2 a ), 28 ( fig8 c ) and 29 ( fig8 a ) or cut marks 33 , 34 ( fig1 c ). in one embodiment the circuit boards 1 ( fig2 a ) and 9 consisted of a thin , low thermal mass substrate base material comprised of two electrically conductive layers with a thin , electrically isolating material sandwiched in between . electrically conductive layers used for proof of concept testing consisted of 2 oz . copper . the thin , semi - flexible circuit boards can be designed with regions of conductors and pads allowing them to function as connectors , enabling the mating of one board to another . the circuit board consists of a thin , low thermal mass substrate base material comprised of two electrically conductive layers with a thin , electrically isolating material sandwiched in between . electrically conductive layers used were of 2 oz . copper . the inner insulating layer was chosen to be 0 . 012 inch thick fiberglass composite material . both of these are common to circuit board fabrication , however generally used for inner layers of a multilayer circuit board , not for circuit board in completion . circuit patterns 60 ( fig4 b ) of various designs were etched into the top and bottom conductive layers to produce the circuit conductive paths . holes 2 are added at the pad locations 3 and plated through with conductive metal to form a connection between top and bottom . additional thin layers of non - conductive , solder repelling material 5 ( solder masks ) were added to the top and bottom of the board to restrict the movement of solder and protect the circuit paths away from the pads . circuit materials and thicknesses are of a design which allows circuit boards 1 , 9 to be cut with a conventional shear or scissors 37 at any of several locations enabling later trimming to length or separation . it is fully contemplated circuit boards could be laser cut as well to obtain individual circuit strips or arrays . electrical components , including led emitters can be assembled onto circuit boards by conventional methods of electronic solder assembly . copper conductors can be used for connecting pads 4 , 3 to be mated with other electronic components 13 . these are etched or formed from the conductive layers 30 , 32 described above . these circuit paths can be printed in almost any pattern commonly used in circuit boards and can be patterned to receive electronic components 13 such as leds 14 or integrated circuits . the copper conductors can be very thick and wide to accommodate high currents . in an embodiment 2 oz . copper was used with a conductor width of 0 . 040 inch to enable a low voltage drop across the connector when carrying up to 5 amps of current . it is recognized there may be one or more conductive layers in the circuit board structure . copper foils are designed to maintain gap distances between connections for electrical isolation . in an embodiment , voltage isolations of up to 500 v were maintained by maintaining a distance of 0 . 025 inches between copper foils . by increasing the spacing , substantially higher isolations can be achieved . copper conductors can be run on top of or under the connector insulating substrate , depending on requirements for isolation , current carrying capacity and protection . circuit boards 1 , 9 can incorporate a variety of circuits , including pads and geometries for wire or other conventional types of connectors , as well as being able to incorporate terminations and active circuitry . the thin circuit board described above is particularly well suited because of its high thermally conductive structure for power and heat creating circuits . in one implementation , the circuitry for high current driver 13 ( e . g ., one semiconductor # nud4001 operating at 24 vdc ) along with a led string 14 was added to the top side of the board . both the top side fig2 a and bottom side fig2 b of the board were designed with large metal ( e . g ., copper ) foils and pads which could translate heat through the thin insulating material 31 by effectively creating a large area for heat transfer from the top copper layer 30 through the less thermally conductive insulating layer 31 and to the bottom copper layer 32 . connections and conductors can be further protected from moisture by the simple addition of an under fill layer of potting material or an encapsulent or an overcoat of potting material or encapsulant 24 . potting compounds or conformal coatings are commonly used in the industry to provide this type of protection . this type of connector is particularly suitable for these coatings because it is essentially flat with no recesses or areas which must be protected from contact with the coatings . the material chosen for the electrical insulating layer 31 enhances thermal conductivity . in one embodiment the electrically insulating layer 31 was chosen as a high temperature variant of fr4 fiberglass with a glass transition temperature of 170 ° c ., although other materials can be used . a higher than normal temperature rating of the material is intentionally used to gain more thermal margin allowing for the very rapid heating ( and probable overheating during manual assembly ) of the thin boards due to their low thermal mass . even higher temperature materials would be helpful in the case higher melting temperature solders are to be used . it is helpful to use an insulating layer 31 both durable at high temperatures and as highly thermally conductive as possible for this construction . thermal conductivity is helpful for the cases of solder iron or point heat source assembly because it aides in rapid transfer of heat from the top side of the pads 3 to pads 7 below . with reference to fig2 a , a top view of circuit board 1 shows electrically conductive connection pads 3 and plated through holes 2 . conductive pads 4 are designed to accept electronic components 13 and printed alignment mark 17 as shown . fig2 b , show the bottom side of the same circuit board 1 with additional connection pads 7 and plated through holes 2 . in this embodiment a large conductive area 6 was exposed to enable good thermal transfer and heat spreading from top side components and circuit paths to the bottom side . optionally , the same area could be used for additional conductive paths and mounting of electronic components . with reference to fig3 , the top side of a second circuit board 9 is shown . electrically conductive connection pads 8 are designed to match the geometry and locations of the bottom side connection pads 7 of circuit board 1 . electrical components may be optionally mounted at exposed conductive pads 4 on this circuit board . in this embodiment an alignment mark 11 is printed on top of the solder mask 5 . with reference to fig4 a , a fully assembled circuit board 12 is shown with electronic components 13 including led &# 39 ; s 14 mounted onto the board . with reference to fig4 b , two fully assembled circuit boards 12 , 16 are joined together . the lower circuit board 12 alignment mark 11 is used to align the edge 15 of the upper circuit board 16 so that the connection pads 8 , 7 are in alignment . the upper circuit alignment mark 17 is used to align the edge of the lower circuit board . it is recognized one or both of these alignment marks may be of different shapes or forms or omitted in the joining process . it is also recognized mechanical alignment devices may be used including tooling holes , slots and sighting holes . however , in this embodiment , the inventors chose linear marks for simplicity and for visual verification of alignment accuracy . the circuit boards can be overlapped for interconnection ( see fig4 b , fig5 ). this is very useful if the connector board contains active circuitry and it is beneficial to connect multiple boards , such as in the fabrication of arrays of boards ( see fig1 ). the overlapping connections are highly advantageous to the assembly of strips consisting of multiple circuit boards ( see fig1 c ). in a practical application , they are used to make long circuit board strips or arrays of solid - state lighting circuits ( e . g ., high power led emitters used as the individual light sources ). thin board substrate materials and thicknesses are chosen to handle solder melt temperatures without delamination or damage . alternate choices for board insulating material are possible such as thermagon ™ in cases where higher temperature resilience and higher thermal conductivity are needed . an embodiment was developed for use with lower temperature solders ( e . g ., leaded ). copper pads 7 on the bottom side of the upper board 1 are designed to match the pads of the bottom receiving board 8 in spacing , in area and in thermal characteristics . with reference to fig5 , a side profile view of an overlapping joint between boards in an embodiment of the present invention is shown . in this embodiment a connection 19 is made by either welding or soldering the conductive pads 7 from the top board 16 to the bottom board conductive pads 8 on the bottom board 12 . the size of pads 7 , 8 factors into both the quality of the connection and the mechanical stress the connection can sustain . also , by embedding or closely connecting through holes 2 to pads 7 , 8 the mechanical performance is improved . the metal plating and optional solder fill through holes 2 links the top side pads 3 to bottom side 8 making the bottom side very difficult to pull off ( delaminate ) from the insulating layer 31 . in the embodiment , holes of 0 . 036 inch diameter are used to promote heat transfer , conduct solder and add enough structure to strengthen the joint . lapped joints add strength by adding additional contact area , by reducing leverage , and by changing certain forces from shearing and tensile to compressive . the interconnect aspect of fig5 allows for the coupling of circuit boards without a connector or any other device between them . plated through holes 2 located at pad positions 3 , 7 through circuit board 16 allow solder and heat to flow down into the connection both to facilitate solder connection and to enable rapid connection . the rate of heat transfer being increased by this structure has the additional benefit of speeding up solder melting and cooling both during manual soldering and reflow processing . this saves time and results in better , more repeatable and stronger joints . it is known in the industry faster cooling times result in stronger , more uniform solder joints . thin circuit boards can be easily mechanically formed for vertical step offsets 21 . in experiments run on these boards , bends up to a right angle could be performed with the conductors ( or any foils crossing the bend ) on the inside radius of the bend . the application of tape or adhesive 23 , across the bottom side of joint 20 , further increases joint strength for handling . viscous tapes act as a spring and dampener to certain stresses , moving forces away from the joint . the application of potting material 24 or other adhesives or coatings of structure adds additional strength to joint 20 as well as protection from mechanical damage and / or moisture ( see fig6 ). the application of tape or adhesive 23 on the bottom side of the board assembly 22 , allows the assembled strip or array to be directly fastened to a chassis , enclosure , or heat sink 18 without the use of mechanical fasteners . in applications for high power leds it is particularly useful to have the tape or adhesive be highly thermally conductive so heat can easily flow from the circuit boards to the heat sink 18 . in one embodiment , a thermally conductive adhesive tape ( e . g ., 3m ™ product # 8810 ) was applied to the back side . the board assembly 22 can then be adhered to a heat sink 18 . the resulting structure maintained excellent heat transfer to the heat sink , which is particularly helpful in high brightness led applications . intimate contact between metal pads with minimal fill layer of solder increases strength for joint 19 . a thick layer of solder decreases strength but adds some flexibility to the joint . solder has generally a much lower tensile and shear strength than the conductors it joins . further , solder tends to have a course crystalline structure and is susceptible to fracturing . a thin layer of solder between copper pads ( used the pad material ) is much less susceptible to fracturing both because of smaller ( or incomplete ) crystal formation , and because stresses are transferred locally to the stronger copper , instead of into the solder itself . a number of experiments were conducted to determine solder wetting and flow paths for various pad geometries using the thin connectors in surface mount applications . after it is melted , solder tends to wet to the metal pads 3 and exposed conductors of printed circuit boards 1 and 9 . it moves by capillary action to actively fill small gaps and spaces between pads 7 and 8 , particularly pads in flat surface - to - surface contact . if solder was applied in exactly the correct amount , the solder would simply fill the joints . but even in small excess , the solder would press outside of the pad areas promoting shorts and lower electrical isolation . holes , recesses or pockets between the pads were tried and did take up the excess solder . however , the approach was to design in plated holes 2 within the area of the pads 3 and 7 taking up the solder through capillary action , effectively pulling excesses into rather than out of the joint . in the embodiment , the holes were approximately 50 % of the diameter of the pad , giving ample room for significant variances in solder application . as a further improvement , plated holes 2 can be used as receptacles for solder paste so boards 12 , 16 could be ready for joining by heat alone . flux and activating resins , which are commonly incorporated into solder paste , are needed for high quality solder joints . in one embodiment , the same plated holes 2 absorb excess solder used to store solder prior to thermal joining . further , it is recognized the holes can be filled with either solder paste or separated layers of hard solder and flux resin . in one experiment , solder wire with a core of flux resin was press fit in holes 2 and sheared to match the bottom surface plane of the circuit board 1 . this was another effective way of putting solder and flux into plated holes 2 . sealing of solder paste in holes 2 at pad positions 3 and 7 is helpful so paste remains fresh for later use . sealing may include a thin solder layer , a thin flux layer or a thin plastic or metallic peel - off material . the thin circuit board as described is flexible enough to conform to normal variations of board thickness , solder height , and mechanical mounting height differences . goals for high reliability connections include robustness , both in mechanical strength and in integrity of the electrical connection . several designs and methods were explored and found to improve both mechanical strength , and in many cases to improve the electrical connection integrity . by increasing the number of pads 3 , 7 and 8 used in the connector , mechanical strength was benefited . simple multiplication of the number of contacts added to the strength by spreading stress across the added contacts . redundant parallel contacts reduce electrical resistance and add to the general integrity of electrical connection . increasing the size of the pads 7 and 8 increases the strength both because of the larger solder contact area , but also because of the larger areas of contact and adhesion between pad and insulating substrate . in multiple trials , larger pads consistently increased the strength as measured in pull tests and in bending tests . larger areas of conductor surrounding exposed soldered pad apertures increase the strength both by offering more area for adhesion between the conductor and the insulating substrate , but also because they add to the conductor structure . increasing the distance across a set of pads or span increases the joint strength against shear and rotational forces and torques . shear and rotational forces ( torques ) are common during handling of the joined boards . of particular use , the assembly of multiple boards into long strips presents the opportunity to put very high torques on the joint connection because of the length and lever arm advantage . preventing damage due to rotational forces is helpful to having reliable joints when the strips are packaged and used in their multiple forms including strips and continuous reeled lengths . by increasing the distance of the pads from the overlapping edges of the board , the inventors have found a decreased leverage on the individual connections by converting stresses into surface pressures away from the joint . by increasing the number of holes 2 leading from top surface to the pads below , an increase in the strength is discovered by adding more copper cylindrical connections and rivet like columns of solder fill linking top to bottom . increased number of holes also increases the probability of having a better percentage of solder fill between the boards . the choice of solder type and composition can have a direct impact on joint strength . lead baring solders have lower tensile strength then their lead free counterparts . higher tensile strength increases the fracture strength of the connection . angled or other geometric patterns in the connection pad and copper conductors support connections for offset or angled printed circuit boards . multiple pad sets and associated conductor connections allow splitting of conduction paths . as part of the printed circuit board fabrication process , mask coatings can be placed over top of circuit boards and the bottom of circuit boards ( open at the pads ), reducing the opportunity for solder shorts and improving the appearance of the connector or overlapping joint . in the embodiments , the mask coating 5 was chosen to match the color and characteristics of the boards being jointed so to minimize the visibility of connection 20 . in the areas of board overlap , excluding the conductive pad locations , adhesive applied between top and bottom board can be added to increase joint strength . the board connections with overlapping joints can be used to construct elongated strips or arrays of multiple circuit boards ( see fig1 and fig1 c ). mass parallel construction of long circuit board strips carrying high intensity leds for ssl applications has been achieved using these connection types . with reference to fig7 , a side profile view of a board to board connector joint is shown in an embodiment of the present invention . thin circuit boards 12 and 16 make connection 20 with an overlapping joint . the circuit boards and connection are flexible enough to conform to normal variations of board thickness , solder height and mechanical mounting height differences in many applications . in this embodiment , board to board connection is shown to bend with a radius 25 of less than 1 inch . the circuit boards are adhered to a heat sink 18 by double sided thermal adhesive tape 23 , affecting a permanent and highly thermally conductive bond . the inventors have conceived of several other methods of attachment , including liquid adhesives , solder or welded bonds , mechanical fasteners , and spring tensioning . in high power led applications , it is particularly helpful to have a good thermal connection to the heat sink because lower led device temperatures improve brightness , efficiency and increase the expected life . with reference to fig8 a , an alternate embodiment is depicted placing the location of connection away from the end of the board . the layered construction of the circuit board has been described ( see fig1 ). conductive pads 3 are shown with plated through holes 2 which pass through to pads 7 on the underside of the board 26 . printed alignment marks 29 provide guidance for connecting overlapping boards . the circuit board may be pre - assembled with electronic components , such as leds 14 and associated drive components . fig8 b shows the underside of the circuit board 26 . the plated through holes 2 provide electrically conductive paths from the pads 3 at the top of the board to pads 7 at the bottom . thermally conductive pads 6 may be etched or formed into the lower conductive layer enabling heat to better transfer and spread from the conductors , pads and components at the top of the circuit board . the bottom side pads 7 may be electrically isolated from the thermally conductive pads 6 . fig8 c shows the top side of another circuit board 27 in this embodiment connecting to the circuit board 26 . electrically conductive pads 8 are designed to receive connection from the previously described board . additional alignment marks 28 are used to guide in the assembly of the two boards . with reference to fig9 , two circuit boards 26 and 27 are joined at a right angle . alignment marks from the lower circuit board 28 are used to locate the second circuit board squarely providing vertical guidance . alignment marks 29 from the upper circuit board 26 align to the edges of the lower circuit board 27 , providing horizontal guidance . as described earlier , solder or welding may be used to join the two boards forming a reliable joint 100 , forming electrical connections between circuitry of the two boards . the inventors conceive circuit boards may be joined at any angle and at any location within the circuit boards in accordance with this invention . further , there are no limits to the number of locations and the number of circuit boards joined . with reference to fig1 , additional connections are made allowing the construction of a two board by two board array 101 . the connection joint 100 is repeated four times in this embodiment . additional connection pads 8 and 3 are indicated at the ends of the boards that can be used for connection to other boards or arrays . the construction of circuit board arrays in accordance with this invention are particularly useful in ssl lighting applications because they reduce or eliminate wire and mechanical connector attachments and allow leds to be placed in specific geometric patterns without requiring as much printed circuit board material be used . with reference to fig1 , construction of larger arrays and grids using building block arrays and circuit boards is conceived . in this embodiment , multiple two by two circuit board arrays 101 are connected to form a larger area array . with reference to fig1 , an alternate embodiment of an array is wrapped around a cylindrical drum 43 . in this embodiment , elongated circuit boards 41 are joined to additional circuit boards 44 wrapping around the cylinder 43 . the individual boards are joined at connection joints 42 similar to those already described . circuit boards of various shapes and sizes may be joined to create a wide variety of two and three dimensional arrays . the connection designs and methods conceived in the present invention makes it possible to assemble geometries and shapes of circuit board arrays distributing electronic devices and circuits spatially and enable them to be positioned and aimed for optimal effectiveness . an aspect of the utility of constructing strips and arrays of circuit boards is the ability to shape them to size immediately prior to installation in a chassis or housing . long strips and large arrays are preferable for shipment and stocking purposes , but it is highly desirable to be able to cut these into smaller strips and arrays fitting the fixtures and devices they are used in . the inventors have conceived a system of marking boards , strips and arrays to indicate safe locations for cutting . further , the thin circuit board embodiments described above can be easily cut with simple shears or scissors 37 ( or any of a variety of tools or cutting processes ). with reference to fig1 a , a printed line is used to mark a safe location for circuit separation . conductor patterns 35 etched into the conductive layers of the circuit boards are used to provide power and interconnect electronic components 13 such as leds 14 . at locations designed in the circuit cut marks 33 , 34 indicate the safe locations for separating interconnected circuits . in one embodiment , the circuit is continuous through the intended cut location . signal conductors or traces passing power and optionally control signals will be cut at the same time as the boards or arrays are separated . in order to minimize conductor damage and to minimize the opportunity for short circuits , circuit traces are narrowed at in the immediate area 36 of the cut marks 33 . further , the narrower traces are easier to cut because they offer less mechanical resistance . in one implementation , 2 oz . copper conductors were used with a width of 0 . 030 inches in the area of cut . outside of this area conductors are expanded to improve their current carrying and thermal conduction capability . outside of this area are additional components and conductors which could be damaged and are not intended to be cut or stressed in the cutting process . it is recognized by the inventors there may not be conductors spanning the cut marks . there may be one or more power conductors , and one or more control signals spanning the locations for cut . with reference to fig1 b , a double line cut mark 34 is shown . the double line cut mark 34 has the advantage of showing the boundaries of the safe location for cutting the board or array . the inventors recognize other ways for indicating safe cutting area including dotted lines , areas of grey or colored printing , tick marks and hatch marks could be used . with reference to fig1 c , circuit separation utilizing the cut marks is achieved with a simple scissors or shear 37 . a long strip 40 or array is separated into two parts with one part 39 being of desired length , size , and shape for final installation , and the second part 38 either being the residual or another part ready for final installation . the inventors conceive the cutting of strips or arrays assembled from multiple circuit boards may be conducted before or after the addition of electronic components onto these boards . further , additional connections and wiring may be needed to complete the assembly . also , after cutting , the resulting boards , strips , or arrays may again be assembled into other shapes and combinations using the connection designs described above . while the present invention is directed towards flexible lighting circuit boards and more directly towards flexible led circuit boards , it is fully contemplated the present invention could extend to most any type of circuit board system . thus , embodiments of the printed circuit board interconnect construction are disclosed . one skilled in the art will appreciate the present teachings can be practiced with embodiments other than those disclosed . the disclosed embodiments are presented for purposes of illustration and not limitation , and the present teachings are limited only by the claims that follow . | 7 |
a prior art scale 1 shown in fig1 includes a platform 2 supported by a mechanical assembly 4 , 5 which directs the full weight of the scale platform onto a load cell 6 the characteristics of which vary in accordance with the load bearing against the top surface of the cell . for example , the load may compress a dielectric medium or displace a conductive diaphragm , to vary the capacitance of a portion of the sensor . a capacitance - sensing circuit 8 determines the capacitance of the cell , and a converter unit 10 converts the sensed capacitance to a weight value which is displayed on display 12 . the circuit 8 generally detects the change in capacitance due to a load , and is thus relatively sensitive to stray capacitances such as parasitic or leakage capacitances of the wiring and system components . fig2 shows another scale design 11 , wherein multiple load sensors 6a , 6b . . . 6d each with a separate load - transmitting column 3a , 3b , 3c , 3d support the scale platform 2 . in this architecture , because of the aforesaid sensitivity to differing stray capacitances , each sensor is provided with its own capacitive sensing circuit 8a , . . . 8d . in this case , the four sensed capacitance values are converted by one or more capacitance - to - weight value converters 14 , and the weight values are summed by a summer 16 before passing to display 12 . the four capacitance values may each be separately converted to the digital weight value indicative of the weight on each separate sensor , or a multiplexer may successively pass the four different capacitance - indicating values to a single capacitance - to - weight converter . in either case , the set of four separate weight values is summed to display the total weight . fig3 shows the improved weight sensing system 20 and circuitry according to the present invention . a plurality of supports direct the load on platform 2 to a plurality of sensor 6a . . . 6d , as in the scale of fig2 . four sensors are shown , but practical embodiments may include three , five or another number of sensors . each sensor has one terminal connected to a switching unit 22 , which is centrally located with respect to and fixedly wired to the sensors 6a . . . 6d . switch unit 22 is a four pole single throw switch unit , or , more generally , an n - pole single throw switch unit ( for n sensors ) in which , at each time only one sensor is connected to the switch active signal line 23 and the remaining three ( or n - 1 ) sensors are connected to the grounded line 24 . switch active signal 23 connects to a single capacitance sensing circuit 8 , the output of which passes on line 25 to a capacitance - to - weight value converter 10 . switch unit 22 cycles successively to interconnect each sensor unit as an active element of circuit 8 , and thus to provide successive values along line 25 indicative of the capacitance of each of the sensors . these are converted to weight - indicating values by the converter 10 which provides the converted values on line 27 . a summer 16 adds four successive values from converter 10 to provide a total weight value to display 12 . switch unit 22 is operated to switch any particular sensor into or out of the circuit only when that sensor is at ground potential . the effect of switching in this manner is that any stray capacitance at the input to an active sensor alters the time it takes for the sensor to charge , but does not introduce an offset or other complicating signal on line 23 to the capacitance sensing circuit 8 , as the unit is switched between different sensors 6a , . . . 6d . fig4 a shows a practical embodiment of a conventional circuit 30 for determining the capacitance of a variable capacitance sensing element 6 such as one of elements 6a . . . 6d . in this circuit a variable capacitance sensing element 6 , acting as a sensing capacitor c s is placed in series with a fixed reference capacitor denoted c ref . a switching unit 32 consists of a reference switch 32a and a sensor switch 32b which , in alternate switching cycles first apply a constant &# 34 ; reference &# 34 ; voltage v ref to c ref while grounding the sensor c s , then apply a feedback voltage to the sensor while grounding c ref . this periodic reversal of polarity along the two legs of the series - coupled capacitor pair c ref and c s results in a fluctuating charging and discharging across their junction 31 , i . e ., creates a varying ac signal at the junction 31 of the sensor c s and c ref . this signal is amplified , demodulated , and processed by elements 34 , 36 , 38 to produce a feedback voltage on line 43 which maintains the signal at 31 stationary . the demodulator may include a gated sampling circuit which detects the signal voltage or slope , or integrates the signal voltage , during a fixed short time interval following switching . in either case the feedback loop raises or lowers v feedback to maintain the sampled signal value at junction 31 stationary . preferably a null signal is maintained at the junction . fig4 b illustrates a capacitance sensing circuit based on the circuit of fig4 a and incorporating features according to the invention for accurately sensing the capacitance of four different sensors 6a . . . 6d , denoted c s1 , c s2 , c s3 and c s4 . in this circuit a single reference capacitance c ref is fixedly connected at junction 31 to all four sensor capacitances , and a pair of switch units 32a , 32c of a network 32 operate synchronously to either ground the second end of c ref while connecting the second ends of each c s to a respective line 40a , 40b , 40c or 40d , or to connect the second end of c ref to v ref while connecting the second ends of all sensor capacitors to ground line 41 . switch 32c as shown , consists of four separate switches 32b 1 , 32b 2 , 32b 3 , 32b 4 each of which is identical to switch 32b of fig4 a . each of these switches is connected to one sensor , and all operate synchronously in parallel and have their non - grounded pole 40a . . . 40d connected to a second switching network 42 which cyclically switches each one of the lines 40a . . . 40d between ground and v feedback . a switch control 45 synchronizes the operation of switches 42 , 32 such that in each switching cycle of switch 32 wherein c ref is grounded , switch 42 grounds three of the sensors while applying v feedback to the fourth sensor . specifically , switch control 45 actuates line 45a to alternately connect the voltage and ground terminal of switches 32a , 32c of switch 32 . in each non - grounded cycle of switch 32c , a second control line 45b actuates the different gangs of a further switch 42 , to ground three of the lines 40a , 40b , 40c , 40d while connecting the fourth line from one &# 34 ; active &# 34 ; sensor to feedback line 43 of the sensing circuit . preferably , the switch timing control unit first grounds the non - active sensors , and next after a brief interval to allow circuit stabilization , connects the remaining sensor to line 43 for a defined time interval . in selecting which sensor to connect to the feedback line 43 , the switch control 45 cyclically selects the line 40i from first , second , third and then fourth sensor so that any sequence of four successive switching cycles results in the production of one measurement from each sensor . switch 42 may be implemented using one of the cmos multi - channel analog switching chips of the mm54hc4051 family of multiplexers made by national semiconductor . in addition to switch 42 and control 45 , the circuitry includes a voltage - to - weight value converter 52 , a summer 54 and a display 56 , corresponding to elements 10 , 16 , 12 of fig3 . demodulator 47 receives timing signals on line 45c synchronized in relation to the operation of switch arrays 32 , 42 , and the demodulated signal is amplified by amplifier 60 with a gain that is selected so that the output signal fed back on line 43 maintains the detected signal at junction 31 stably nulled . this has the result that only small or negligible offsets in signal values arise between different measurement cycles . the amplified demodulated signal on line 61 is converted by output processor 52 to a sensed weight signal corresponding to the detected capacitance value for each switching cycle , and a memory in the processor stores the weight values as they are developed . a summer 54 , illustratively shown as a separate element , sums four weight values to produce a total weight value presented on display 56 as a visible output . the summer 54 may be included with the signal conversion processing and memory in processor 52 . processor 52 may further implement additional processing , such as numerical smoothing of successive corresponding weight values , to eliminate vibrational or noise induced fluctuations in the displayed weight . for high precision weight measurements , the switching cycles are preferably effected at a sufficiently high rate that the series of four consecutive measurements may be treated as simultaneous . in particular , a complete set of four load cell capacitance measurements is preferably taken in a time interval which is less than the period of a characteristic resonance frequency of the scale assembly . since a scale resonance is generally below several hundred hz , this requires that each load cell be measured in under approximately a millisecond . as discussed above , such filtering or smoothing processing function is programmed into processor 52 . in this manner , a single sensing circuit is fixedly connected with a plurality of capacitive sensing elements , and each of these elements is energized to intermittently constitute an active element which is series coupled with a reference capacitor of the circuit while the remaining elements are effectively removed from the measured circuit . the described construction avoids the effects of varying stray capacitances which , with a different switching mechanism , would otherwise render the capacitive sensing inaccurate or make the measurement of a stationary signal infeasible with a single sensing circuit . it is not necessary that two switching networks 32 , 42 be employed as shown . the use of a separate two - state switch 32 and four - state switch 42 was illustrated to more clearly show that of the eight switching states employed , four are identical . these are the first , third , fifth and seventh states , each of which connect c ref to v ref and all sensors to ground . by employing two switches 32 , 42 the switch controller for switch 42 may be a simple counter which develops a cyclic set of two bit control words from the successive control signals provided by prior art circuitry for actuating the switches 32a , 32b of fig4 a . in an alternative embodiment , however , switch portion 32c is simply replaced by switch 42 , and the control circuitry 45 then includes slightly more complex logic to decode eight successive switching cycles to effect the connections described above . a third embodiment may operate by successively sampling and holding the signal from each of the four sensors cs i , with a fast feedback loop multiplexed between the sensors to null each one with respect to a common reference measurement . in this case , the c ref measurements preferably do not alternate with each cs i measurement , but alternate with a group of all cs i measurements , and the measurements are taken sufficiently close in time to provide an accurate reference . such a sampling protocol may be appropriate , for example , in a barometric sensing system where a relatively homogeneous pressure function is expected . the actual behavior of each cs i in the circuit is affected by stray capacitances which may be modeled as a first resistance shunted across the sensor . these two resistances affect the output signal waveform from the sensor by introducing voltage decay and an initial voltage spike , respectively . in a preferred embodiment of the invention , the demodulator minimizes the effect of switching transients by selectively sampling the output of the amplifier connected to reference junction 31 at a time halfway between the switching - in of the reference and the switching - in of the sensing capacitor . preferably the feedback voltage in line 43 is adjusted to null the demodulated signal , and the input signal is sampled during a relatively long interval , e . g ., the middle third of the switching interval , about a nominal output signal zero crossing . this avoids transient spikes at the start of the interval , minimizes the shunt resistance effect and smooths out the effects of any high frequency noise appearing on line 31 . the invention being thus described with reference to an exemplary embodiment , variations and modifications will occur to those skilled in the art , and all such variations and modifications are considered to be within the scope of the invention , as defined by the claims appended hereto . | 6 |
fig1 shows an electrostatic powder coating installation in which the method of controlling the coating devices according to the invention can be used . this powder coating installation is described in more detail in the german patent application de - a - 197 38 141 , &# 34 ; control system for a coating installation &# 34 ; belonging to the same applicant and having the same filing day and corresponding to the u . s . patent application ser . no . 09 / 106 , 482 . the disclosure of this patent application and , in particular the descriptions regarding the network structure , is incorporated herein by reference . fig1 shows a plurality of ( five ) coating modules , each consisting of a digital control device 60 , an injector actuator means 64 , and a spray gun 66 , which are connected to one another via a gun bus 62 . these coating modules form self - controlling functional units , which receive their respective control signals from the digital control device 60 . information about the operating condition of the coating system , necessary for the control , are received by the control device 60 from an internal bus 80 . the plurality of coating modules are connected to one another , to a central control unit 82 and to further components of the system via the internal bus 80 . additional modules connectable to the internal bus are for instance a gap control module 86 , a powder level control module 88 , a position control module 90 and a motion control module 92 . the internal bus 80 as well as the gun bus 62 are preferably each lon busses , the digital control units 60 and the modules are configured as lon network nodes and have a lon interface for connection with the lon bus ( lon = local area network ). the central control unit 82 supplies the powder coating system with electric power and pressurized air . furthermore , the control unit can be switched off by this control unit in case of a malfunction . the gap control module 86 serves for turning off the spray gun in the gaps between the workpieces 200 or parts thereof . the powder level control module 88 monitors the level in a powder reservoir 104 . the position control module 90 controls the position of the spray guns in the z - direction , i . e . the distance of the spray gun 66 to the workpiece 200 . the motion control module 92 controls the vertical stroke and velocity of the up and down movement of the spray gun in response to the height and velocity of the workpiece 200 to be coated . further components may be connected to the central control unit 82 via an external bus 100 ; these components are for instance a powder center 102 having a powder reservoir 104 , a layer thickness measuring and control means 107 , 108 and an air quantity control means 109 for a powder recovery system 110 , a workpiece detection and identification means 111 , a feed clock generator 112 , a control means 106 for the compartment cleaning and an associated cleaning means 116 and the like . the individual components configured as lon nodes , are capable of registering into the system themselves , they are able to detect other system components , adapt thereto and communicate therewith . they may automatically evaluate and use the information about the respective operating conditions of the coating system received via the bus 80 or 100 . fig2 shows a schematical embodiment of a coating device 66 having an integrated quantity sensor 50 , an integrated velocity sensor 52 and an integrated high voltage cascade 58 . an adjusted , dosed powder - air - flow is supplied to the coating device 66 via a supply line 10 , said flow being discharged at a nozzle 46 having a deflector body 48 . a high voltage is generated in a high voltage generator , which is schematically shown as a high voltage cascade 58 , and this high voltage is introduced into the powder - air flow via a line 56 and an electrode ( not shown ) in order to electrically charge the powder particles . fig2 also shows a ground line 54 for connecting the coating device 66 to ground . the quantity sensor 50 and the velocity sensor 52 serve for determining the powder density and the powder velocity in the supply line 10 . they are described in detail below with reference to fig3 and 4 . fig3 a and 3b show an embodiment of a microwave resonator 36 of the powder quantity sensor for determining the powder quantity per volume unit in the supply line 10 . the supply line is electrically non - conductive , it is passed by the powder - air - flow in the direction of the arrow in fig3 a . the resonator 36 has a metal cylinder 38 for shielding stray fields , with an rf input 40 and a rf output 42 for coupling - in microwaves and for tapping the resonator voltage respectively being provided at the metal cylinder . the resonator 44 is provided in the interior of the shielding cylinder 38 in the form of a helix or coil which is wound around the supply line 10 . this resonator requires little space so that it can be directly integrated into the spray gun 66 . a precisely limited resonance and therefore a high quality can be achieved by the helical resonator . the helical resonator can e . g . be vacuum - evaporated onto the supply line 10 as a thin film metal layer 44 or a wire helix can be used . a part of the rf field generated by the resonator penetrates through the wall of the supply line 10 into the powder - air mixture . the resonance frequency of the resonator and its quality are measured . these magnitudes depend on the dielectric constant and on the absorption ( the dielectric loss factor ) in the resonance volume . the changes of the dielectric constant and the absorption are proportional to the change of the powder quantity in the resonance volume . it results therefrom that a change of the powder quantity in the resonance volume leads to a shift of the resonance frequency and to a change of quality . by measuring the resonance frequency or the quality , a direct conclusion can be made on the powder quantity in the resonance volume . the method for determining the powder mass in the resonance volume is described in more detail in the above mentioned de - a - 44 06 046 and de - a - 196 50 112 . fig4 schematically shows the structure of the velocity measuring device . two measuring electrodes 12 , 14 are attached at a distance d at the supply line 10 , said measuring electrodes being connected via signal lines 16 , 18 and an amplifier 20 . the outputs 22 , 24 of the amplifier 20 are connected to a measuring value evaluation device 26 . the measuring electrodes 12 , 14 consist of copper rings , placed around the supply line 10 . furthermore , a grounded shield 28 is placed around the supply line 10 in the measuring area . the signal line 16 , 18 and the amplifier 20 also comprises grounded shields 30 , 32 and 34 , respectively . the powder particles of the powder - air flow transported through the plastic line 10 are electrostatically charged by friction with the plastic tube material . these charges influence or induce voltages in the measuring electrodes 12 , 14 said voltages being supplied to the measuring amplifier 20 . the amplifier measures and amplifies the influence voltages generated by the two electrodes 12 , 14 . the waveforms of these two signals substantially corresponds ( correlation ). since the signal waveforms substantially correspond , a clear definition of the time span between two respective signal peaks is possible so that the velocity v of the powder particles in the supply line 10 can be calculated from the delay δt between the two signal peaks and the distance d between the measuring electrodes : v = d / δt . the velocity measuring method is described in further details in de - a - 44 06 046 . the powder quantity and the powder speed can therefore be determined by means of the above described quantity sensor 50 and the velocity sensor 52 in order to characterize the shape of the cloud of the coating powder discharged . furthermore , the powder - mass flow of the coating powder can be calculated from the measured velocity and the measured powder quantity as well as from the known dimensions of the supply line , said powder - mass flow also being taken into consideration for characterizing the powder cloud . the measuring signals are supplied to the digital control device 60 and compared with the target values for the powder quantity and velocity for a workpiece to be coated . thus , the powder - air flow and thus the desired powder cloud shape can be adjusted via the actuator means shown in fig5 . fig5 shows the actuator means 64 for adjusting the powder - air flow , comprising an injector 120 , a powder intake line 122 , an air supply line 124 , a proprortional valve ( no . 1 ) 126 for supply air , which is connected to the injector 120 via a supply air line 132 , a proportional valve ( no . 2 ) 128 for dosing air , which is connected to the injector via a dosing air line 134 , and a proportional valve ( no . 3 ) 130 for form air , which is directly connected to the spray gun 66 via a shaping air line 136 ( fig5 ). a supply air sensor 138 , a dosing air sensor 140 and a shaping air sensor 142 are associated to the supply air line 132 , the dosing air line 134 and the shaping air line 136 , respectively , in order to measure the respective air volume flows . signal return lines 144 from the sensors 138 , 140 and 142 lead to an interface circuit 146 , which is connectable via an adapter 138 to a signal measuring line 62 , such as the gun bus . control measuring lines 150 lead from the interface circuit 146 to the proportional valves 126 , 128 , 130 . the sensor signals are supplied to the digital control device 60 via the gun bus 62 and compared with the target values for the adjustment of the proportional valves 126 , 128 and 130 , and respective actuator signals are conducted via the gun bus 62 and the interface circuit 146 to the valves to adjust a desired powder - air flow . if the powder cloud is additionally or exclusively influenced by controlling the shaping air , the signal is evaluated by the shaping air sensor 142 in the control device 60 , and in response to the current workpiece shape , a respective actuator signal is sent to the proportional valve no . 3 130 . the output 152 of the injector 120 is connected to the coating device 66 via the supply line 10 . in the coating device 66 , the velocity and the density of the power - mass flow are detected , as already described . these control signals are returned to the digital control device via the gun bus 62 and used for the control of the powder - air flow . fig6 a to 6d show different powder cloud shapes , which are obtained by different nozzles and by different powder - air flows . by means of the slot nozzle shown in fig6 a , a relatively narrow elliptical powder - air jet is obtained , which is narrower and more concentrated at a high powder density and low powder velocity and which is broader at a low powder density and high velocity of the powder - air flow , see fig6 a and 6b . when using a deflector body , a rounder powder cloud is basically obtained , which is narrower , i . e . more concentrated at a great powder density and low powder velocity , and which is broader at lower powder density and higher velocity of the powder - air flow , see fig6 c and 6d . with a given nozzle shape , the powder cloud may be adjusted automatically according to the present invention by varying the powder quantity and / or the powder velocity . in addition , or as an alternative , the cloud shape can be influenced by the separately controlled shaping air . the features disclosed in the above description , in the claims and in the drawing can be meaningful individually or in any combination for realizing the invention in its various embodiments . | 1 |
for the purposes of clarity , in the following description , numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of exemplary embodiments . it should be apparent , however , that exemplary embodiments may be practiced without these specific details or with an equivalent arrangement . in other instances , well - known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring exemplary embodiments . in addition , unless otherwise indicated , all numbers expressing quantities , ratios , and numerical properties of ingredients , reaction conditions , and so forth used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “ about .” the present disclosure addresses and solves the inability problem of a plastic carrier to withstand the high temperatures needed to detect potential defects in any ic chip during a wafer level testing of , for example thinned wafers , where these defects may be due to tsvs used for connecting a plurality of ic chips to each other . the present disclosure addresses and solves such problems , for instance , by , inter alia , measuring various parameters at the ic chip while locally varying and controlling the temperature at a plurality of devices at the ic chip . fig2 illustrates a block diagram of a device , a tsv , and a heating element in an ic chip , in accordance with an exemplary embodiment . diagram 200 includes an electronic device 201 ( e . g ., a diode , transistor , capacitor , etc .) in a semiconductor layer 115 , where the device 201 , a diode for example , has a p + contact 203 and an n + contact 205 , which are further connected to their respective electrical contacts 207 and 209 , for example , at a metal - 1 ( m - 1 ) layer . further , the semiconductor layer 115 includes shallow trench isolation ( sti ) regions 211 and 213 that are to prevent electrical leakage current ( ampere = i ) between adjacent devices ( e . g ., the device 201 and another device ) on the same semiconductor layer 115 . furthermore , the diagram 200 depicts a tsv 119 that is formed and extends into the semiconductor layer 115 , where the tsv may be extended through the semiconductor layer 115 to provide connectivity from / to other substrate layers above or below the device 201 . for example , the tsv 119 may be used to provide signaling connections between a microprocessor ic chip that may be below the semiconductor layer 115 and a memory ic chip that may above the semiconductor layer 115 . additionally , the diagram 200 depicts a metal layer 111 , which may provide electrical connectivity among a plurality of metal layers above or below the device 201 . as mentioned , to detect potential defects 215 in an ic chip , the ic chip may be tested at different temperatures ( e . g ., 25 to 300 ° c .) during a front - end - of - line ( feol ) process where various functional tests ( e . g ., transistor characteristics ) on an ic chip may be performed . in some instances , latent defects in an ic chip may become active or present higher levels of malfunction at higher temperature levels . additionally , the tests may include conditions to reflect variations in the manufacturing process ( e . g ., process corners ) as well as an operating voltage range for the ic chip . for example , a diode - like device may be utilized to study defects in an ic chip since a diode can simulate functional characteristics of a metal - oxide - semiconductor field - effect transistor ( mosfet ) device under similar conditions . specifically , the current conduction mechanism in a diode is limited by electron - hole recombination , such that in the presence of a bulk defect ( e . g ., defects 215 ), the current conduction would increase . furthermore , the defects would be easier to detect as the temperature of each ic chip is increased ( e . g ., 50 to 125 ° c .) by controlling its respective heating element that , for example , may be in a metal - 2 ( m - 2 ) layer . in the reliability field of negative bias temperature instability , where defects are generated in pmos devices at high electric field and high temperature ( e . g ., 125 ° c . ), solutions including use of local heaters have been demonstrated . in some instances , local - heater solutions involving diode junctions or resistor - like structures at interconnect level have been demonstrated . in one example , beol metallization , commonly used as local interconnect for devices and circuits , is used as the local heater . in this case a local resistor - like heater is interconnected on top of the devices or circuits of interest thus being able to optimally heat any device under test even in presence of poorly conductive finfet architectures . additionally , it is noted that these interconnect lines are typically capable to sustain heating power ( e . g ., a milliwatt ) needed to bring local temperature into the desired levels without suffering themselves reliability issues ( e . g ., electromigration ) as well as being robust against process - induced damage by a tsv itself , ( local cracks , flexibility , etc .) fig3 schematically illustrates a circuit for testing an ic chip , in accordance with an exemplary embodiment . in fig3 , circuit 300 includes a plurality of tsvs 119 , heating elements 301 ( e . g ., in the front metal layer 111 ), and devices ( e . g ., diodes ) 303 , wherein the heating elements 301 and the devices 303 are electrically coupled to a source measure unit ( smu ) device 305 . in some instances , a plurality of smus 305 , 305 a , 305 b , 305 c , or the like , may be utilized to perform various functions , e . g ., provide / measure current or voltage , control / measure temperatures , etc ., for a testing of the devices 303 . typically , an smu is a versatile device that can be utilized to provide and control precise levels of voltage or current to an electronic device and simultaneously measure voltage or current at that device . the smu device 305 can be used together with a multiplexer 307 for providing control signals to the devices 303 via control elements 309 ( e . g ., “ and ” gates ), respectively . importantly , this solution enables the fast collection of a large sample statistics for a proper assessment of process variability and process damage induced by , for example , tsv processing or similar . additionally , the smu devices 305 a and 305 b include current sources 311 and 313 to provide current to the devices 303 via the control elements 309 . in one example , the current sources 311 and 313 can provide two different currents of a known ratio to control elements 309 a and 309 b , respectively , where the smu device 305 , 305 a , or 305 b can measure voltages developed across devices 303 a and 303 b and use those voltages to calculate respective temperatures across the devices 303 a and 303 b . furthermore , the heating elements 301 are also coupled to the smu device 305 . in one example , to determine statistical measurement data , the smu device 305 c can cause an increase in the temperature of the multiple devices 303 via their respective heating elements 301 while the devices can be addressed by the smu device 305 in a memory - like coding with row / column indicators associated with each device 303 . in this example the circuit 300 includes a 32 × 32 matrix of tsvs and devices 303 that can be addressed by the multiplexer 307 . it is noted that in addition to characterizing diodes in an ic chip , the circuit 300 may be utilized in a similar fashion to test or characterize mosfets , ring oscillators , or the like devices where tsv architecture is utilized . advantages of the design of fig3 include fast detection of defects and reliability issues in an ic chip that is utilizing tsv architecture in a statistically sound method , wherein a plurality of ic chips may be tested / characterized with different device geometries and manufacturing / fabrication process corners . the embodiments of the present disclosure can achieve several technical effects , including improved detection of defects and reliability issues in an ic chip that is utilizing tsv architecture . furthermore , the embodiments enjoy utility in various industrial applications as , for example , microprocessors , smart phones , mobile phones , cellular handsets , set - top boxes , dvd recorders and players , automotive navigation , printers and peripherals , networking and telecom equipment , gaming systems , digital cameras , or other devices utilizing logic or high - voltage technology nodes . the present disclosure therefore enjoys industrial applicability in any of various types of highly integrated semiconductor devices , including devices that use sram memory cells ( e . g ., liquid crystal display ( lcd ) drivers , synchronous random access memories ( sram ), digital processors , etc .) in the preceding description , the present disclosure is described with reference to specifically exemplary embodiments thereof . it will , however , be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the present disclosure , as set forth in the claims . the specification and drawings are , accordingly , to be regarded as illustrative and not as restrictive . it is understood that the present disclosure is capable of using various other combinations and embodiments and is capable of any changes or modifications within the scope of the inventive concept as expressed herein . | 7 |
hereafter , the term “ wireless transmit / receive unit ” ( wtru ) includes , but is not limited to , a user equipment , mobile station , a fixed or mobile subscriber unit , a pager , or any other type of device capable of operating in a wired or wireless environment . when referred to hereafter , the term “ base station ” includes , but is not limited to , a node b , a site controller , an access point , or any other type of interfacing device in a wireless environment . the present invention discloses methods whereby information regarding the trust state or the integrity of a drm entity ( e . g ., the device , the ri , or the ci ) is explicitly and mutually requested and exchanged between any two drm entities as a pre - requisite to the oma drm procedures . a general architecture 700 of this method is shown in fig7 . the architecture includes four drm entities : a device 702 , an ri 704 , a ci 706 , and a private certification authority ( pca ) 708 . the platform integrity checking assumes that the pca 708 has records of the trusted computing ( e . g ., tcg ) credentials for the other drm entities ( e . g ., the device 702 , the ri 704 , and the ci 706 ), and provides a root of trust for certification of the tcg credentials . any pair of entities ( e . g ., the device 702 and the ri 704 , the device 702 and the ci 706 , or , the ri 704 and the ci 706 ) that want a mutual platform integrity check between themselves are trusted computing capable ( e . g ., are equipped with tcg trusted processing modules ( tpms ) 710 ). this implies that the trusted computing capable drm entity not only have a tpm 710 ( or an equivalent ) but also related tcg resources such as the aik 712 , the sml 714 , and protected memory using blobs 716 . also present are os or platform software 718 and drm software 720 . when the above requirements are met , any pair of different drm entities can mutually check their platform integrity or platform trusted state using the pca 708 and the trusted computing capabilities . as an example , the procedures for mutual integrity checking between the device 702 and the ri 704 are as follows . the device 702 , the ri 704 , and the ci 706 are all capable of performing a self - check of the os or other platform software components ( step 730 ) and a self - check of the drm software ( step 732 ). the self - checks can be requested as part of a larger verification process ( as discussed in greater detail below ) or can be standalone processes . if either of the self - checks were to fail , that could be an indication that the entity has been compromised and should not be trusted . the device 702 sends information about its platform tcg credentials to the ri 704 ( step 740 ). examples of the platform tcg credentials include , but are not limited to , a signed tcg platform certificate or a signed tpm certificate . as part of the credentials , the device 702 can also send the ri 704 a self - attested trusted state or platform integrity checked flag as supplemental information . if the device 702 is going to verify the platform integrity of the ri 704 , the credential information sent in step 740 will also include an indication by the device 702 that it wants the ri 704 to initiate procedures to verify its platform integrity . it is noted that the device 702 will be able to make a decision regarding whether to verify the platform integrity of the ri 704 only if the verification of the ri &# 39 ; s platform integrity status is an optional feature ; in one embodiment , verifying the ri &# 39 ; s platform integrity is a mandatory feature . upon receiving the credential information from the device 702 , the ri 704 relays the credential information to the pca 708 ( step 742 ) and also requests the pca 708 to verify the credentials about the device 702 , especially the device &# 39 ; s most current trustworthiness . the pca 708 then sends the most current trustworthiness information ( e . g ., platform trust level , etc .) regarding the device 702 to the ri 704 ( step 744 ). upon receipt of the device platform trustworthiness information from the pca 708 , and also optionally the supplemental information from the device 702 , the ri 704 evaluates the trust level of the device 702 . the ri 704 decides whether to impart sufficient trust on the device platform &# 39 ; s integrity to proceed further with the drm procedures such as the registration protocol or ro acquisition protocol . the device 702 , either as a mandatory procedure or as an optional procedure , can evaluate the platform integrity of the ri 704 in similar and reciprocal ways as in the steps 740 - 744 . more specifically , the ri 704 sends information about its platform tcg credentials to the device 702 ( step 750 ). as part of the credentials , the ri 704 can also send the device 702 a self - attested trusted state or platform integrity checked flag as supplemental information . upon receiving the tcg - related information from the ri 704 , the device 702 relays the information to the pca ( step 752 ) and also requests the pca 708 to verify the credentials about the ri 704 , especially the ri &# 39 ; s most current trustworthiness . the pca 708 then sends the most current trustworthiness information regarding the ri 704 to the device 702 ( step 754 ). upon receipt of the ri platform trustworthiness information from the pca 708 regarding the ri 704 , and also optionally the supplemental information from the ri itself , the device 702 evaluates the trust level of the ri 704 . the device 702 decides whether to impart sufficient trust on the ri platform &# 39 ; s integrity to proceed further with the drm procedures such as the registration protocol or ro acquisition protocol . the device 702 , either as a mandatory procedure or as an optional procedure , can evaluate the platform integrity of the ci 706 . the ci 706 sends information about its platform tcg credentials to the device 702 ( step 760 ). as part of the credentials , the ci 706 can also send the device 702 a self - attested trusted state or platform integrity checked flag as supplemental information . upon receiving the tcg - related information from the ci 706 , the device 702 relays the information to the pca ( step 762 ) and also requests the pca 708 to verify the credentials about the ci 706 , especially the ci &# 39 ; s most current trustworthiness . the pca 708 then sends the most current trustworthiness information regarding the ci 706 to the device 702 ( step 764 ). upon receipt of the ci platform trustworthiness information from the pca 708 regarding the ci 706 , and also optionally the supplemental information from the ci itself , the device 702 evaluates the trust level of the ci 706 . the device 702 decides whether to impart sufficient trust on the ci platform &# 39 ; s integrity to proceed further with the drm procedures . the platform integrity of the device 702 can be verified by the ci 706 as follows . the device 702 sends information about its platform tcg credentials to the ci 706 ( step 770 ). as part of the credentials , the device 702 can also send the ci 706 a self - attested trusted state or platform integrity checked flag as supplemental information . if the device 702 is going to verify the platform integrity of the ci 706 , the credential information sent in step 770 will also include an indication by the device 702 that it wants the ci 706 to initiate procedures to verify its platform integrity . it is noted that the device 702 will be able to make a decision regarding whether to verify the platform integrity of the ci 706 only if the verification of the ci &# 39 ; s platform integrity status is an optional feature ; in one embodiment , verifying the ci &# 39 ; s platform integrity is a mandatory feature . upon receiving the credential information from the device 702 , the ci 706 relays the credential information to the pca 708 ( step 772 ) and also requests the pca 708 to verify the credentials about the device 702 , especially the device &# 39 ; s most current trustworthiness . the pca 708 then sends the most current trustworthiness information regarding the device 702 to the ci 706 ( step 774 ). upon receipt of the device platform trustworthiness information from the pca 708 , and also optionally the supplemental information from the device 702 , the ci 706 evaluates the trust level of the device 702 . the ci 706 decides whether to impart sufficient trust on the device platform &# 39 ; s integrity to proceed further with the drm procedures . it is noted that in the above example , steps 740 - 744 , for the device 702 to verify its integrity status to the ri 704 , are a mandatory feature of the present invention . however , verifying the platform integrity of either the ri 704 to the device 702 ( steps 750 - 754 ), verifying the platform integrity of the ci 706 to the device 702 ( steps 760 - 764 ), and verifying the device platform integrity to the ci 706 ( steps 770 - 774 ) are optional , yet highly recommended , features in a drm system . it is also noted that these procedures need not be initiated by an active initiation by the entity that needs to be verified . the integrity verification procedures could start with a request by the entity wishing to verify the integrity of the other party . in such cases , steps 740 , 750 , 760 , or 770 would each be preceded by another step , whereby the entity wishing the verification of the platform integrity of the other party calls or requests the other party to send relevant trust - related information . in an alternate embodiment , for a practical oma drm system implementation , the conditions or trigger mechanisms for the proposed platform integrity verification procedures described above may include the following . 1 . the device platform integrity verification procedures ( i . e ., steps 740 - 744 ), could be performed by one or more of the following . 1a . before a device wishes to initiate a new 4 - pass roap registration protocol . 1b . once per each ri , before the first registration with the particular ri takes place . in this case , the ri will receive the device &# 39 ; s tcg credentials once before the first registration , and then the ri protects the device &# 39 ; s credential information under its own tpm by binding the credential information with a tpm key . the ri then later unbinds the stored tcg credential and verifies , either periodically or upon some events , whether the device &# 39 ; s tcg credential that it has received is still valid , e . g ., by consultation with a ocsp ca . 1c . periodically , every time a specified time duration , for example , t dev - platform - last - reg , has elapsed since the device completed the last registration protocol with the same ri . 1d . periodically , every time a specified time duration , for example , t dev - platform - last - report , has elapsed since the last time the device had verified its platform integrity status to the same ri . 2 . if and when the ri platform integrity verification procedures ( i . e ., steps 750 - 754 ) are implemented , they could be performed by one or more of the following . 2a . once per each device , before the first registration with the particular device takes place . in this case , the device will receive the ri &# 39 ; s tcg credentials once before the first registration , and then the device protects the ri &# 39 ; s credential information under its own tpm by binding the credential information with a tpm key . the device then later unbinds the stored tcg credential and verifies , either periodically or upon some events , whether the ri &# 39 ; s tcg credential that it has received is still valid , e . g ., by consultation with an ocsp ca . 2b . anytime an ri receives an indication from the device that the device wishes the ri to verify its integrity status to the device , either as a standalone message or as part of a modified roap protocol message . 2c . periodically , every time a specified secure time duration has elapsed , for example , t ri - platform - last - report has elapsed since the last time the ri has verified its integrity status to the device . 3 . as for the platform integrity verification between a device and a ci , mechanisms similar to the above can be considered for periodic and / or event - driven occurrence of the integrity verification process . also , in the case of the device &# 39 ; s verification of the ci &# 39 ; s platform integrity , it could also be performed every time before content has to be purchased or downloaded , and possibly vice versa ( i . e ., the device &# 39 ; s platform integrity has to be verified to the ci ). the prior art has considered use of a “ secure boot - up ” using tcg techniques coupled with the application of robust drm . in such schemes , the platform &# 39 ; s os and other boot - up related code are integrity - checked whenever a device is booted , implicitly performing a platform integrity check before any drm application can be run . the present invention provides a more systematic and explicit use of the boot - time platform integrity check , as well as platform integrity checks at other times based on pre - determined periods of time as well as upon the occurrence of certain events . the present invention also generalizes platform integrity checking from the device to the ri and the ci as well . the continuous platform integrity checks are beneficial due to the fact that just because a device has correctly received a particular valid co , it doesn &# 39 ; t mean that the ri or the ci should be considered trustworthy indefinitely into the future from that time . a periodic and / or event - driven continual verification of the trustworthiness provides a good protective mechanism . also , as for the need for the integrity checking between the device and the ci , even if the content arrives before an ro , the content may be compromised when the integrity of the ci &# 39 ; s platform or the ci &# 39 ; s drm sw is compromised . for example , suppose a user has downloaded a file . even when the ro has not yet been acquired , a user may inadvertently click on the content or may perform a validity check on the content . if the content was compromised ( e . g ., has a virus attached to it ) the content , even without an ro , could do damage to the device . also , in the pre - download interactions between the device and a ci ( for example , during the discovery phase ), a compromised device can do harm to a ci , for example , by adding a virus attached to the content to a message intended for the ci . in addition , from a business perspective , a ci would not want to send content to a compromised device ; for example , a compromised device could redistribute content for free to unauthorized recipients . the mutual platform ( and sw ) integrity verification between a device and a ci thus have merits in protecting the entire system . it is also noted that there can be several different ways to embody the central ideas outlined in the above architectural discussions . two such examples are discussed below , but it is noted that these are only illustrative examples of the broader concepts based on the architecture described in the above paragraphs . fig8 is a flowchart of a method 800 for performing platform integrity verification between two entities . the two entities can be a device and an ri , a device and a ci , or an ri and a ci . the method 800 utilizes a requesting entity ( re ) and a target entity ( te ); it is noted that either entity of the pair ( device , ri , or ci ) can be the re . the method 800 operates in the same manner regardless of which entity is the re and which entity is the te . the method 800 begins with the re sending a request to the te to report its platform integrity status ( step 802 ). in response to the request , the te send its tcg credentials to the re ( step 804 ). the tcg credentials can include , for example , platform credentials , tpm credentials , or conformance credentials . the re then sends the te &# 39 ; s tcg credentials to an ocsp responder for verification of the credentials ( step 806 ). the ocsp responder reviews the te &# 39 ; s tcg credentials and reports the verification status to the re ( step 808 ). the re sends a request to the te to report its own platform integrity status ( step 810 ). the te checks its platform integrity status ( step 812 ), sends a platform integrity status flag to the re ( step 814 ) and the method terminates ( step 816 ). the method 800 can be applied either without changes to the roap protocols ( discussed below in connection with fig9 ) or with changes to the roap protocols ( discussed below in connection with fig1 ). fig9 is a flow diagram of a method 900 to exchange integrity - related information between a device 902 and an ri 904 using tcg techniques ( i . e ., utilizing an ocsp responder / pca 906 ) separately from the roap protocol . it is noted that in the method 900 , the same entity 906 is depicted as being both a pca for the drm processing as well as an ocsp responder for tcg processing . in the method 900 , the platform integrity verification ( as shown by the dashed rectangle ) is performed prior to the roap 4 - pass registration protocol . performing platform integrity verification before the registration protocol is useful because the registration protocol is not frequently performed and the platform integrity verification process takes some time to complete ; if the platform integrity verification were performed with each message , the overall operation of the system could be unnecessarily slowed . a person skilled in the art could assume that after the platform integrity verification is performed , that only one device hello message would be received by the ri , as it would indicate a trusted device . if more than one device hello message were received by the ri from the same device , it could be an indication of a dos attack . platform integrity verification could also be performed in connection with the authentication protocol and the object acquisition protocol . the device 902 , prior to initiating the 4 - pass registration protocol with the ri 904 , starts a separate set of procedures with the ri 904 to perform mutual verification of platform integrity . the device 902 first sends its own tcg credentials ( e . g ., platform credentials , tpm credentials , conformance credentials , etc .) or other information including or related to the tcg credential , to the ri 904 ( step 910 ). optionally , the device 902 also sends a request to the ri 904 to check and report its own platform integrity status to the device 902 ; this request is included with the device credentials . the ri 904 requests the pca 906 to verify the device &# 39 ; s tcg credentials ( step 912 ). the pca 906 responds to the ri &# 39 ; s request and sends information on the device &# 39 ; s tcg credential ( step 914 ). the ri 904 requests the device 902 to report its platform integrity status flag ( step 916 ). also , if the device 902 has requested that the ri 904 verify and report its platform integrity status in step 910 and if the ri 904 wishes to and is able to oblige to the request , the ri 904 sends its own tcg credential or other information including or related to the tcg credential , to the device 902 in step 916 . if the ri 904 cannot or does not wish to oblige to the request , it sends a “ not obliging ” message to the device . the ri 904 may not respond to the request for a number of reasons , including a resource limited ri ( i . e ., the ri does not have sufficient available resources to respond to the request ) or the device credibility check fails . the device may abort the protocol depending on the confidence level that the device has with the ri ; if the device trusts the ri , it would likely continue with the protocol even if the ri refused to respond to the request . upon receiving the request from the ri 904 to check the platform status , the device 902 checks its own platform integrity status ( step 918 ). the device 902 requests the pca 906 to verify the ri &# 39 ; s tcg credential ( step 920 ). the pca 906 , upon such receiving the request form the device 902 , returns information on the ri &# 39 ; s tcg credential ( step 922 ). the device 902 sends its platform integrity status flag to the ri 904 ( step 924 ). if the ri 904 received a request from the device 902 to check its integrity status , and if the ri 904 wishes to and is able to oblige to the request , the ri 904 checks its own platform integrity ( step 926 ). the ri then returns its platform integrity status flag to the device 902 ( step 928 ). the optional steps regarding the ri integrity check can be performed in any order ; those steps do not need to be intertwined with the device integrity check as shown in fig9 . in addition , the ri can initiate its own integrity check . also , if ri refuses to fully respond to the request with its own tcg credential information for any of the possible reasons , it may indicate such fact to the device in an appropriate way , for example in step 922 . the method 900 enables the device 902 and the ri 904 to achieve mutual platform integrity verification . upon such verification , the device can then start the roap registration protocol . the steps of the registration protocol ( steps 930 - 940 ) shown in fig9 are the same as steps 210 - 220 of the method 200 described above . it is also noted that these procedures can be triggered or repeated at periodic intervals . fig1 , in another exemplary embodiment , shows a method 1000 in which a device 1002 and an ri 1004 exchange integrity - related information , also utilizing the services of an ocsp responder / pca 1006 . in the method 1000 , the existing device hello and ri hello messages of the roap registration protocol are modified to convey both the tcg credential and the request to the other party for platform integrity verification . the device 1002 sends a modified device hello message to the ri 1004 ( step 1010 ), the message including the device tcg credential and an optional request to the ri 1004 to report its platform integrity . the ri 1004 forwards the device credentials to the pca 1006 for verification ( step 1012 ). the pca 1006 then returns the device tcg credentials to the ri 1004 ( step 1014 ). the ri 1004 responds to the device 1002 with a modified ri hello message ( step 1016 ), the message optionally including the ri &# 39 ; s tcg credential . next , the device 1002 optionally sends a request to the pca 1006 to check the ri &# 39 ; s tcg credential ( step 1018 ). the pca 1006 checks the ri &# 39 ; s credentials and reports the result back to the device 1002 ( step 1020 ). the device 1002 checks its own integrity status ( step 1022 ) and reports the integrity status to the ri 1004 ( step 1024 ). if the device 1002 has requested that the ri 1004 report its integrity status , the ri 1004 performs a platform integrity check ( step 1026 ) and reports the integrity status , e . g ., its trusted state flag , back to the device 1002 ( step 1028 ). the steps 1030 - 1036 are the same as steps 214 - 220 as shown in fig2 of the roap registration protocol . fig1 is a flowchart of a method 1100 for checking the integrity of the drm sw ( e . g ., the drm user agent sw residing at the device or the drm sw residing at the ri or the ci ) among any pair of drm entities . a requesting entity ( re ) sends a request to a target entity ( te ) to perform a drm sw integrity check ( step 1102 ). the te checks its drm sw integrity ( step 1104 ), sends a drm sw integrity status flag to the re ( step 1106 ), and the method terminates ( step 1108 ). it is noted that when the te is a device , the integrity of the device drivers and media player sw can be checked separately from the integrity of the drm sw , if these two components exist separately on the device . the method 1100 relates only to the re obtaining a drm sw integrity check from the te . to perform mutual drm sw integrity checking , the method 1100 would need to be performed twice , once from the re to the te and then from the te to the re ( with the re and the te switching roles ). during a mutual drm sw integrity check , the requests can be intertwined ( as shown in fig1 ) or can be separated as shown in fig1 . the operation of the method does not change if a mutual drm sw integrity check is being performed . the oma drm 2 . 0 specification assumes , without suggesting how such assumptions can be validly implemented , that the drm user agent sw ( or the device drm sw , in the terminology used in the present invention ) as well as the ri ( or the ri &# 39 ; s drm sw ) can be implicitly trusted . the authentication protocol in the oma drm 2 . 0 specification thus only specifies the actual authentication procedures between entities that are already considered trustworthy . for obvious reasons , this implicit sw trust assumption in practice cannot be automatically assumed , without actual steps to implement and verify them . the methods described in this section concern such concrete steps . fig1 is a flow diagram of a method 1200 for applying the drm sw check in connection with the roap ro acquisition protocol . the method 1200 utilizes a device 1202 , an ri 1204 , and an ocsp responder / pca 1206 . first , the pca 1206 communicates with the device 1202 and the ri 1204 to perform platform integrity checking and the roap registration protocol ( step 1210 ). the device 1202 and the ri 1204 perform a mutual platform integrity check , a unidirectional drm sw integrity check , or a mutual drm sw integrity check ( step 1212 ). the ri 1204 sends a request to the device 1202 to check and report the device &# 39 ; s drm user agent ( ua ) sw integrity ( step 1214 ). the device 1202 checks its latest drm ua sw integrity ( step 1216 ). the device 1202 optionally sends a request to the ri 1204 to check and report the ri &# 39 ; s drm sw integrity ( step 1218 ). if requested , the ri 1204 checks its latest drm sw integrity ( step 1220 ). the device 1202 sends a device drm sw integrity status flag to the ri 1204 ( step 1222 ). if previously requested , the ri 1204 sends an ri drm sw integrity status flag to the device 1202 ( step 1224 ). it is noted that the steps of the optional ri integrity check can be performed in any order and need not be intertwined with the device integrity check as shown in fig1 . it is noted that the method 1200 can be generalized for mutual drm sw integrity verification between a device and a ci , instead of the illustrated device / ri interaction . upon completion of steps 1210 - 1224 , the device 1202 can start , for example , the 2 - pass ro acquisition protocol in steps 1226 and 1228 , which are the same as steps 310 and 312 as described above in connection with fig3 . it is further noted that although the method 1200 is shown in conjunction with the ro acquisition protocol , it can be used in conjunction with any other roap protocol , but to minimize the overhead associated with the method 1200 , it could be performed with only an appropriately selected subset of roap protocols at any given time . for a practical oma drm system implementation , some of the conditions or trigger mechanisms for the proposed platform and / or drm sw integrity verification procedures described above may include : 1 . the device drm sw integrity verification procedures can be triggered by one or more of the following . 1a . before a device wishes to initiate a new 2 - pass roap registration protocol , 2 - pass join domain protocol , or the 2 - pass leave domain protocol . 1b . periodically , every time a specified time duration , for example t dev - drm - last - roap , has elapsed since the device last completed the 2 - pass roap registration protocol , 2 - pass join domain protocol , or the 2 - pass leave domain protocol with the same ri . 1c . periodically , every time a specified time duration , for example t dev - drm - last - report , has elapsed since the last time the device had verified and reported its drm sw integrity status to the same ri . 2 . the ri drm integrity verification procedures could be performed by one or more of the following . 2a . anytime an ri receives an indication from the device that the device wishes the ri to verify its drm sw integrity status to the device , either as a standalone message or as part of a modified roap protocol message . 2b . periodically , every time a specified time duration , for example t ri - drm - last - report , has elapsed since the last time the ri has verified and reported its drm sw integrity status to the device . 2d . every time before the device sends an ro request , in cases where the user is obtaining content on a frequent basis , such as with streaming content . as for the platform integrity verification between a device and a ci , mechanisms similar to the above can be considered for periodic and / or event - driven occurrence of the drm sw integrity verification process . the proposed methods for drm platform verification and drm sw verification can be performed independently of each other , but it is also contemplated that these verification procedures can be combined as part of a group of procedures . in such an embodiment , the drm platform verification steps are considered a pre - requisite for the drm sw verification steps . for example , for integrity verification between a device and an ri , the device and the ri first establish the trust on each other &# 39 ; s entire platform by performing the drm platform verification procedures as described above . the trigger mechanisms include the general platform verification trigger conditions . then , as the conditions for the drm sw verification trigger arise , the drm sw verification procedure follows . note that both types of verification procedures will execute when their respective trigger conditions are met . however , the drm sw verification steps will be mastered to the successful completion of the drm platform verification steps , i . e ., if the drm platform verification fails between a device and an ri , further processing in the drm sw verification as well as actual drm roap processing and usage - related processing will fail . the oma drm 2 . 0 specification &# 39 ; s existing mechanisms to protect the integrity of the roap protocol is limited to including digital signatures ( or message integrity checking ) in some , but not all , of the roap messages . given that the roap protocol is of central importance in the secure drm processing implementation , it is important to safeguard and continually verify the integrity of the information that is used and exchanged in the roap protocol . therefore , in an alternate embodiment of the present invention , methods are disclosed to strengthen the integrity of the roap protocol whereby information central to a reliable authentication and integrity verification between the drm device and an ri can : ( 1 ) be safely stored using tcg techniques , and ( 2 ) be pre - verified before being transmitted to the other side or before being used for processing at the side where the information is stored . this method involves two basic procedures that use the tcg techniques of sealed - signing ( i . e ., symmetrically encrypt target information and then asymmetrically sign the symmetric key plus a set of pcr values that indicate the then - current integrity status of either the platform or specific sw components ) and binding ( asymmetrically encrypt target information with a key whose private decrypting key is kept in a protected module such as a tpm ). sealed - signing imparts the highest level of information security provided by asymmetric encryption , digital signatures , and binding to a trusted state of the device drm user agent sw as indicated by the protected pcr values . binding imparts a high level of protection using asymmetric encryption where the decryption key is protected inside the tpm . the following systematic principles use sealed - signing and binding to protect both the confidentiality and the integrity of the information that is used in the roap messages , and thereby indirectly enhance the strength of the integrity of the roap protocols themselves . in the following discussion , both the device and the ri ( or the portion of the ri that deals with this specific device ) are assumed to be equipped with a tpm and support full tpm functionality . the device and the ri can each set aside and use a set of two storage keys to cryptographically bind and securely store certain information related to roap processing to the trusted platform on which the device or the ri resides . for the device , these keys are k_dev_bind_a and k_dev_bind_b . for the ri , these keys are k_ri_bind_a and k_ri_bind_b . these are tpm - maintained asymmetric keys ( i . e ., encryption is done with public key and decryption is done with private key protected inside a tpm ). the device and the ri each use either a single pcr or a set of pcrs for drm processing . the device and the ri also set aside and use an attestation identity key ( aik ) to sealed - sign certain information related to roap processing to the trusted platform and its particular pcr values . it is noted that the tcg aik keys are used only for signing pcr values . for the device , its aik is k_dev_aik and for the ri , its aik is k_ri_aik . also , the sealed - signing requires an asymmetric storage key for the encryption operation of the target data . the device and the ri thus each set aside and use a storage key for this purpose . the storage key for the device is k_dev_sto_seal , and the storage key for the ri is k_ri_sto_seal . the method then uses a combination of sealed - signing and binding with an added measure of protecting confidentiality as well as integrity to enhance the strength of storing the various information elements involved in the roap processing . for example , fig1 is a flow diagram of a method 1300 in which tpm sealed - signing and binding operations are used to protect the confidentiality and integrity of information in the various messages that comprise the 4 - pass roap registration protocol . in the method 1300 , a device 1302 and an ri 1304 each sealed - sign a selective set of roap - related information and bind the information using two sets of storage keys that each either transmits ( to the other side ) or receives ( from the other side ) during the course of the 4 - pass registration protocol . the device 1302 first sealed - signs the device id information element ( which , in the oma drm case is the sha - 1 hash of the oma drm public key ) with the encryption key k_dev_sto_seal and the device - specific aik k_dev_aik ( step 1310 ). this information is bound ( using asymmetric encryption ) to other information intended for the device hello message with the storage key k_dev_bind_a ( step 1310 ). the device hello message is then sent from the device 1302 to the ri 1304 ( step 1312 ). by sealed - signing information such as the device id and binding the other information comprising the device hello message , the device 1302 could institute a policy that the device hello message will be transmitted only when and if the device 1302 recovers ( i . e ., unsealed - signs and unbinds ) the previously sealed - signed and bound information from their protected storage , compares them to the current values of such information elements that the drm sw may be using , and verifies the genuineness and integrity of the current values . it is noted that the choice of the information elements to be sealed - signed versus bound in this scenario is given just as an example . other information elements may be sealed - signed and bound in different combinations without effecting the operation of the present invention . other combinations can be derived from items such as system time , any information element in a message , algorithms , and nonces . one reason for securing the nonces is to determine whether the nonces are truly random , as some random number generators especially ones that may be harmfully compromised , may repeat the same pattern and generate the same numbers as their outputs in unacceptably short periods of time . the ri 1304 , upon receipt of the device hello message , binds the information contained in the device hello message with its binding key , k_ri_bind_a ( step 1314 ). this step allows secure , integrity - protected storage of the key information that the ri 1304 received from the device 1302 . alternatively , the ri 1304 can also extract the device id ( or any other information element ) from the device hello message and sealed - sign that information element separately using the aik k_ri_aik and the encryption key k_ri_sto_seal . the ri 1304 sealed - signs the ri id and the ri url information elements with the encryption key k_ri_sto_seal and the aik k_ri_aik ( step 1316 ). the ri 1304 also binds the other information contained in its ri hello message with the storage key k_ri_bind_a ( step 1316 ). the ri 1304 then sends the ri hello message to the device 1302 ( step 1318 ). the ri 1304 transmits the ri hello message to the device 1302 only when and if the ri 1304 first recovers ( i . e ., unsealed - signs and unbinds ) the previously sealed - signed and bound information from the protected storage , compares them to the current values of such information elements that the ri drm sw may be using , and verifies the genuineness and integrity of the current values . the device 1302 , upon receipt of the ri hello message , binds the information contained in the ri hello message with the second binding key , i . e ., k_dev_bind_b ( step 1320 ). this step allows secure , integrity - protected storage of the key information that the device received from the ri 1304 . alternatively , the device 1302 can also extract selected information elements from the received ri hello message ( such as the ri id and / or the ri url ) and sealed - sign them using the aik k_dev_aik and the encryption key k_dev_sto_seal , while simply binding the rest of the information received in the ri hello message using k_dev_bind_b . the device 1302 sealed - signs the certificate chain , the dcf hash , and the request time with k_dev_aik and k_dev_sto_seal ( step 1322 ). the device 1302 then binds the other information intended for the registration request message with k_dev_bind_a ( step 1322 ). the device 1302 then sends the registration request message to the ri 1304 ( step 1324 ). the device 1302 only sends the registration request message if the device recovers ( i . e ., unseal - signs and unbinds ) the previously sealed - signed and bound information , compares the recovered values to the current temporary values used in the drm sw memory , and verifies the genuineness and integrity of the current values . upon receipt of the registration request message , the ri 1304 binds the information from the registration request message with the binding key k_ri_bind_b ( step 1326 ). the ri 1304 sealed - signs the keys , the certificate chain , and the ros with k_ri_aik and k_ri_sto_seal ( step 1328 ). the ri 1304 then binds this with other information to be included in the registration response message with the binding key k_ri_bind_a ( step 1328 ). the ri 1304 then sends the registration response message to the device 1302 ( step 1330 ). the ri 1304 only sends the registration response message if the ri recovers ( i . e ., unseal - signs and unbinds ) the previously sealed - signed and bound information , compares the recovered values to the current temporary values used in the drm sw memory , and verifies the genuineness and integrity of the current values . upon receipt of the registration response message , the device 1302 binds the ri - generated information from the registration response message with the binding key k_dev_bind_b ( step 1332 ). it is noted that the sealed - signing and binding can be used with any other roap protocol . the method 1300 described above is exemplary , and its principles can be equally applied to any other roap protocol . data obtained during the oma drm roap message exchanges will need to be un - sealed and re - sealed to a new configuration pcr value , if the entity that sealed or sealed - signed the data has updated either its platform os or the drm sw . when such an event occurs , the drm roap - related data that had been sealed or sealed - signed to a particular state ( or , equivalently , to a particular set of pcr values ) will have to be first un - sealed and then re - sealed to the most current state of the updated platform os . there are existing techniques in the prior art that address this procedural requirement and it is assumed that such procedures will take place to ensure proper un - sealing and re - sealing of any drm roap - related data that is stored using sealing or sealed - signing as proposed herein . one additional enhancement is to add a field to the existing roap message formats to indicate the tcg capability of the sending device . the tcg capability field can assist in increasing interoperability with legacy devices by making an early determination whether the receiving entity can support tcg related information and procedures . a first modification is to add a new device tpm capability indication ( dtci ), which is an indicator of the device &# 39 ; s tpm capability in either a new element of the existing extension parameter of the device hello message , or alternatively and preferably , add the dtci as a new first parameter in the header of the device hello message . the dtci can be either one bit ( indicating either the absence or the presence of a device tpm ) or a few bits ( indicating more granular information on the device &# 39 ; s tpm capability ). if the dtci is inserted as a new parameter , it preferably should be inserted as the first parameter , before the device id parameter , so that the ri can know in advance of other parameters that the device has certain tpm capabilities and process the information from the later parameters ( e . g ., the device id ) utilizing the dtci . the benefit of the dtci information is that it allows the ri to evaluate the trustworthiness of the device in its further interaction with the device in the remainder of the roap protocols . a second modification is to use the device - specific tcg ek credential or the tcg aik credential to hash and derive the drm device id . the benefit of this modification is that the ek credential and / or the aik credential is highly protected by the tpm inside the device , and thus , deriving the drm device id from either of these credentials strengthens the integrity of the drm device id information . a third modification is to add a new signature parameter where the device hello message , up to but excluding the signature , is signed with the device &# 39 ; s aik private key , intended to be verified by the ri . the benefit of this modification is to protect the integrity of the device tpm capability from the first interaction between the device and the ri . the use of the device &# 39 ; s aik private key , which is highly securely protected by the tpm , strengthens the integrity of the signing operation . tables 12 and 13 show two possible formats for the modified device hello message . tables 12 shows the format of a message with the dtci bit as the first parameter . table 13 shows the format of the device hello message where the dtci is a new element of the existing extension parameter . a first modification is to add a new ri tpm capability indication ( rtci ), which is an indicator of the ri &# 39 ; s tpm capability either as a new element of the existing extension parameter of the ri hello message , or alternatively and preferably , add the rtci as a new first parameter in the header of the ri hello message . the benefit of this modification is that it allows the device to use the rtci information to evaluate the trustworthiness of the ri and to utilize such information in its further interaction with the ri in the remainder of the roap protocol procedures . a second modification is to use the ri tpm to provide a pseudo - random number for the session id . the benefit of this modification is that the tpm provides a highly secure hardware - based pseudo - random number generator . using the tpm to generate a pseudo - random number that is used as the session id strengthens the security of the protocol . a third modification is to use the ri tcg ek credential or the tcg aik credential belonging to the ri &# 39 ; s tpm to derive the ri id . the benefit of this modification is that the ek credential and / or the aik credential is highly protected by the tpm inside the device and deriving the drm device id from either of these credentials strengthens the integrity of the drm device id information . a fourth modification is to use the ri tpm to provide the ri nonce . the benefit of this modification is that the tpm provides a highly secure hardware - based pseudo - random number generator . using the tpm to generate the ri nonce strengthens the integrity of the nonce that is used in the ri hello message . a fifth modification is to include the device tcg credentials in the device trusted ri anchor . the device &# 39 ; s tcg credentials include the ek credential , the aik credential , the platform credential , and the compliance credentials that the ri has pre - acquired from a trusted tcg ca . the benefit of this modification is to enhance the trust that the device can have on the ri hello message . a sixth modification is to add a signature of the ri hello message up to and excluding the signature signed with ri &# 39 ; s aik private key , where the ri &# 39 ; s aik public key has been previously distributed to the device as part of the ri hello message . the benefit of this modification is to protect the integrity of the rtci from the first interaction between the ri and the device . using the ri &# 39 ; s aik private key , which is highly securely protected by the ri &# 39 ; s tpm , strengthens the integrity of the signing operation . tables 14 and 15 show two possible formats for the modified ri hello message . table 14 shows the format of the ri hello message with the rtci bit as the first parameter . table 15 shows the format of the ri hello message where the rtci is a new element of the existing extension parameter . a first modification is to use the device tpm to provide the device nonce . the benefit of this modification is that the tpm provides a secure and reliable pseudo - random number suitable for use for the nonce . a second modification is to include the device tcg credentials in the certificate chain . including the device tcg credentials can be either in replacement of , or in addition to , the existing oma drm 2 . 0 device credentials . the benefit of including the tcg credentials ( such as the ek credential , aik credentials , platform credential , or the compliance credential ) is to add to the trustworthiness of the device . a third modification is to include a list of the tcg cas trusted by the ri in the trusted ri anchor element . including the tcg ca &# 39 ; s trusted by the ri can be either in replacement of , or in addition to , the existing oma drm 2 . 0 ri trusted anchor element lists . the benefit of including the list of the tcg cas trusted by the ri is to add to the trustworthiness of the device . a fourth modification is to include information about the device tpm in the device details element of the extensions parameter . the benefit of including this information is to enhance the trustworthiness about the device to the ri . a fifth modification is to sign the signature with the device aik used to sign the modified device hello message . the benefit of this modification is to add to the trustworthiness of the device and the registration request message due to the highly protected nature of the device aik . a first modification is to use the ri tpm to provide a pseudo - random number for the session id . the benefit of this modification is that the tpm provides a highly secure hardware - based pseudo - random number generator . using the tpm to generate a pseudo - random number that is used as the session id strengthens the security of the protocol . a second modification is to use the ri tcg ek credential or the tcg aik credential belonging to the ri &# 39 ; s tpm to derive the ri id . the benefit of this modification is that the ek credential and / or the aik credential is highly protected by the tpm inside the device and deriving the drm device id from either of these credentials strengthens the integrity of the drm device id information . a third modification is to use the ri tpm to provide the ri nonce . the benefit of this modification is that the ri tpm provides a secure and reliable pseudo - random number suitable for use as the nonce . a fourth modification is to include a list of the tcg cas trusted by the device in the trusted device anchor element . including the tcg cas trusted by the device can be either in replacement of , or in addition to , the existing oma drm 2 . 0 trusted device anchor element lists . the benefit of including the list of the tcg cas trusted by the device is to add to the trustworthiness of the ri . a fifth modification is to sign the signature with the ri aik used to sign the modified ri hello message . the benefit of this modification is to add to the trustworthiness of the ri and the registration response message due to the highly protected nature of the ri aik . a first modification is to use the tpm to create the sha - 1 hash of a selected tcg credential ( an ek credential , an aik credential , a platform credential , or a compliance credential ) to use as the device id . the benefit of this modification is that the credentials are highly protected by the tpm , and thus , deriving the device id from one of these credentials strengthens the integrity of the device id information . a second modification is to use the device tpm to generate the device nonce . the benefit of this modification is that a nonce generated by the tpm is secure , due to the tpm &# 39 ; s protected pseudo - random number generation capability . a third modification is to include the device tcg credentials in the certificate chain . including the tcg credentials can be either in replacement of , or in addition to , the existing oma drm 2 . 0 device credentials . the benefit of including the tcg credentials is to add to the trustworthiness of the device . a fourth modification is to sign the optional dcf hash with a device aik in the extension parameter . the benefit of this modification is that the device aiks are highly protected , thereby making the dcf signature more secure . a fifth modification is to sign the ro request message with the device aik used to sign the most recent successfully responded to registration request message . the benefit of this modification is to add to the trustworthiness of the ri and the ro request message due to the highly protected nature of the ri aik . one modification is to use the ri &# 39 ; s tpm to sign the ro response message with the same ri tpm aik used in signing the most recent successful registration response message . the benefit of this modification is to add to the trustworthiness of the ri and the ro response message due to the highly protected nature of the ri aik . although the features and elements of the present invention are described in the preferred embodiments in particular combinations , each feature or element can be used alone ( without the other features and elements of the preferred embodiments ) or in various combinations with or without other features and elements of the present invention . | 7 |
referring first to fig1 this figure illustrates an exemplary embodiment of display unit of the merchandising system of the present invention . the embodiment is generally indicated at 1 and comprises a base assembly generally indicated at 2 and an upright frame assembly generally indicated at 3 . the base assembly of the present invention is best shown in fig2 and 4 . the base comprises a pair of planar , plate - like , vertically oriented end members 4 and 5 . end member 4 has horizontal upper and lower edges 4a and 4b together with rounded ends 4c and 4d . end member 5 is substantially identical to end member 4 , having horizontal upper and lower edges 5a and 5b and rounded ends 5c and 5d . end members 4 and 5 are joined together by a pair of outer tubular members 6 and 7 , of circular cross - section . the ends of tubular member 6 are fixed adjacent the ends 4c and 5c of end members 4 and 5 by fillet welds or the like . similarly , the outer tubular member 7 is affixed to the end members 4 and 5 adjacent their rounded ends 4d and 5d by fillet welds . it will be apparent from fig3 and 4 that the outer tubular members 6 and 7 are just slightly inset from the rounded ends 4c and 4d of end member 4 and the rounded ends 5c and 5d of end member 5 . end members 4 and 5 are additionally joined together by an intermediate tubular member 8 welded thereto at the center thereof just below their upper horizontal edges 4a and 5a . the intermediate tubular member 8 is of rectangular cross - section . adjacent the juncture of intermediate tubular member 8 and end member 4 , the upper surface of tubular member 8 supports a vertically extending tubular lug 9 . the lug 9 may be made of the same rectangular tubular material as the intermediate tubular member 8 and is welded or otherwise appropriately affixed thereto . the purpose of lug 9 will be apparent hereinafter . as is most clearly shown in fig6 the lug 9 , near its bottom end , is provided with a pair of coaxial perforations 10 and 11 . the perforation 10 receives a threaded bushing 12 , the purpose of which will be explained hereinafter . as is shown in fig2 and 5 , the lug 9 , near its upper end , has a second pair of coaxial perforations 13 and 14 . the perforation 13 receives a threaded bushing 15 , similar to threaded bushing 12 . the intermediate tubular member 8 , near its junction with end member 5 , supports a second upstanding lug 16 ( see fig4 ) substantially identical to upstanding lug 9 and provided with a pair of coaxial holes and a threaded bushing near its bottom end and near its top end ( not shown ) in the same manner described with respect to lug 9 . referring to fig2 and 4 , a horizontal plate 17 is mounted on outer tubular member 6 and end member 4 at the juncture thereof by fillet welding or the like . a bracket - mount caster 18 is affixed to the plate 17 by bolts or other appropriate fastening means . in similar fashion , a horizontal plate 19 is affixed to outer tubular member 7 and end member 4 at the juncture thereof and supports a bracket - mounted caster 20 . a horizontal plate 21 is affixed to outer tubular member 6 and end member 5 at the juncture thereof and supports a bracket - mounted caster 22 . finally , a horizontal plate 23 is affixed to outer tubular member 7 and end member 5 at the juncture thereof and supports a bracket - mounted caster 24 . a pair of z - shaped brackets 25 and 26 are spot welded to end member 4 on either side of tubular member 8 . the upper edges of z - shaped brackets 25 and 26 are spaced inwardly from the inner surface of end member 4 . the upper edges of brackets 25 and 26 are also spaced slightly downwardly of the upper edge 4a of end member 4 , as can most easily be seen in fig2 . the end member 5 has a similar pair of z - shaped brackets 27 and 28 spot welded to its inner surface on either side of tubular member 8 . the upper edges of z - shaped brackets 27 and 28 bear the same relationship to the upper edge 5a of end member 5 as do the upper edges of brackets 25 and 26 with respect to the upper edge 4a of end member 4 . the base assembly of the merchandising system of the present invention is completed by provision of a skirt 29 . the skirt 29 comprises a planar sheet of appropriate material such as plastic or the like . as is evident from the drawings , the skirt 29 has arcuate edge portions 29a and 29b which overlie outer tubular members 6 and 7 , respectively , and curve partway therearound . the edges of the skirt adjacent end members 4 and 5 abut the end members 4 and 5 and are supported by the upper edges of z - shaped brackets 25 , 26 , 27 and 28 . as is apparent from fig2 the skirt 29 is notched as at 30 to accommodate upstanding lug 9 . it will be understood that the opposite edge of skirt 29 will be similarly notched to accommodate upstanding lug 16 . in its simplest form , the upright frame assembly 3 comprises a pair of upright frame members 31 and 32 and a horizontal frame member 33 joining the upper ends of upright frame members 31 and 32 . the upright frame members 31 and 32 and the horizontal frame member 33 may constitute extrusions of identical cross - section and of the type taught in u . s . pat . no . des . 317 , 051 . upright frame member 31 is illustrated in fig5 . a description of the cross - sectional configuration of upright frame member 31 will also serve as a description of the cross - sectional configurations of upright frame member 32 and horizontal frame member 33 . upright frame member 31 comprises an elongated member , the center of which constitutes a tubular portion 34 having sidewalls 35 - 38 . the inside surface of each of the sidewalls 35 - 38 is provided with a pair of longitudinally extending , parallel , spaced ribs 39 . the sidewall 35 has an exterior bifurcated web 40 extending outwardly thereof and centrally therealong . the bifurcations of web 40 terminate in opposed hook - shaped portions 41 and 42 . the hook - shaped portion 41 has a web 43 extending therefrom and supporting an arcuate portion 44 . similarly , the hook - shaped portion 42 has a web 45 extending therefrom and supporting an arcuate portion 46 . in similar fashion , the wall 37 of rectangular tubular portion 34 is provided with a bifurcated web 47 similar to web 40 . the bifurcated web 47 terminates in a pair of hook - shaped portions 48 and 49 similar to hook - shaped portions 41 and 42 . the hook - shaped portion 48 has an outwardly extending web 50 similar to web 43 and supporting an arcuate portion 52 similar to arcuate portion 44 . the hook - shaped portion 49 has an outwardly extending web 51 similar to web 45 and supporting an arcuate portion 53 similar to portion 46 . it will be evident from fig5 that if upright frame member 31 were divided in half by an imaginary plane passing through the center lines of walls 36 and 38 , the resulting halves would be symmetrical and mirror images of each other . the cross - sectional configuration just described provides the upright 31 with a central , longitudinally extending , rectangular socket 54 . this is flanked by a pair of longitudinally extending slots 55 and 56 facing to one side of upright 31 . a similar pair of longitudinally extending slots 57 and 58 face the other side of upright 31 . the opposed hook - shaped members 48 and 49 define a longitudinally extending slotted channel 59 . similarly , the opposed hook - shaped elements 41 and 42 define a longitudinally extending slotted channel 60 . the arcuate members 52 and 53 are spaced from each other to define a longitudinally extending end slot 61 . similarly , the arcuate members 44 and 46 are spaced from each other , forming a longitudinally extending end slot 62 . the nature of the upright frame members 31 and 32 and the horizontal frame member 3 having been described , their assembly to the base 2 is accomplished in the following manner . upright frame member 31 is mounted on base 2 with the upstanding base lug 9 located within the rectangular socket 54 of upright frame member 31 . the sidewall 36 of the rectangular portion 34 of upright frame member 31 is provided with a perforation 63 ( see fig6 ) coaxial with the perforations 10 and 11 in the upstanding base lug 9 . this enables a set screw 64 to be threadedly engaged in bushing 12 . the set screw is tightened until its forward end passes through the perforation 11 of the base lug 9 and engages the inner surface of wall portion 38 of the rectangular part of upright frame member 31 . the wall portion 36 of the rectangular part of upright frame member 31 is provided with a second perforation 65 ( see fig5 ) which is coaxial with the perforations 13 and 14 near the upper end of the base lug 9 . this enables the engagement of a set screw 66 in bushing 15 . the set screw 66 is tightened until its forward end passes through the perforation 14 in the base lug 9 and engages the inside surface of the wall 38 of the rectangular part of upright frame member 31 . thus , upright frame member 31 is mounted on base lug 9 and is removably affixed thereto by the set screws 64 and 66 . it will be understood that the upright frame member 32 will be similarly mounted on the upstanding base lug 16 . the upper ends of upright frame members 31 and 32 are beveled at an angle of 45 °, as is best shown in fig2 . the ends of the horizontal frame member 33 are correspondingly beveled . the horizontal frame member 33 is affixed to upright frame member 31 by a pair of angle elements , one of which is shown at 67 in fig2 and 5 . one leg of angle element 67 is inserted in the slotted channel 59 of horizontal frame member 33 . it will be understood that the second angle element of the pair will have one of its legs inserted in the slotted channel 60 of horizontal frame member 33 . the free legs of the two channel members will then be inserted in the slotted channels 59 and 60 of upright frame member 31 . the legs of angle element 67 are releasably affixed in their respective slotted channels 59 by set screws 68 . access to the set screws is gained through the longitudinal end slots 61 of the upright frame member 31 and the horizontal frame member 33 . it will be understood that the other angle element ( not shown ) of the pair will be similarly affixed in the slotted channels 60 of upright frame member 31 and horizontal frame member 33 in the same manner . it will be further understood that the other end of horizontal frame member 33 will be similarly affixed to the upper end of upright frame member 32 . prior to mounting of horizontal frame member 33 on upright frame members 31 and 32 , the slotted channels 59 and 60 of upright frame members 31 and 32 may each be provided with a slotted standard . this is illustrated in fig1 a wherein a slotted standard 69 is illustrated as receivable in the slotted channel 59 of upright frame member 32 . it will be understood that a slotted standard can also be mounted in the slotted channel 60 of upright frame member 32 . the same is also true of slotted channels 59 and 60 of upright frame member 31 . once the horizontal frame member 33 has been mounted in place , the slotted standards 69 are captive within their respective slotted channel . the purpose of the slotted standards will be apparent hereinafter . it is also within the scope of the present invention to enclose one or both sides of the upright frame members 31 and 32 and the horizontal frame member 33 with an elongated flexible plastic insert . such an insert is shown at 70 in fig5 . the insert 70 is inserted between the exterior of the wall 38 of the rectangular portion 34 of upright frame member 31 and the adjacent edges of arcuate portions 46 and 53 . it will be understood that a similar insert could be mounted on the other side of upright frame member 31 . one or more inserts can also be mounted on one or both sides of the horizontal frame member 33 and upright frame member 32 in the same manner . to this end , for example , an insert 70 is shown similarly mounted on the outer side of horizontal frame member 33 in fig4 while fig3 shows an insert 70 mounted on the outside surface of upright frame member 32 and on the inside surface of upright frame member 31 . the inserts 70 are preferably colored and are color coordinated with the replaceable skirt 29 mounted on base 2 . thus , by appropriately changing the replaceable skirt 29 and the inserts 70 , the color scheme of the system display unit of the present invention can be modified . fig2 and 4 illustrate the simplest form of the system display unit of the present invention . it is within the scope of the invention to provide bases like the base 2 and horizontal frame members like the horizontal frame member 33 in various end - to - end lengths . the same is true of upright frame members like upright frame members 31 and 32 . while dimensions do not constitute a limitation of the present invention , in the system of the present invention the bases and horizontal frame members could be provided in lengths of 24 , 30 and 48 inches , while the upright frame members could be provided in lengths of 30 , 48 , 54 , 60 , 72 and 84 inches . in this simplest form , the slotted standards within upright frame members 31 and 32 may be used to support conventional hardware . for example , the slotted standards 69 may be used to support shelf brackets such as the bracket 71 in fig1 a . such brackets , mounted in vertical alignment on one or both ends of the upright frame members 31 and 32 may be used to support shelves such as shelf 72 of fig1 a . in similar fashion , the slotted standards 69 may be used to support conventional face - outs such as face - out 73 in fig1 b . the face - out 73 may be used to support any appropriate element ranging from clothes hangers to a shelf such as shelf 74 of fig1 b . the slotted standards 69 of upright frame members 31 and 32 may be used to support conventional waterfall brackets such as the waterfall bracket 75 of fig1 c . a usual form of waterfall bracket is provided with a series of balls 76 evenly spaced along its upper edge . the balls 76 enable conventional clothes hangers or the like to be arranged on the waterfall bracket in an evenly spaced , descending manner . an exemplary clothes hanger is illustrated in fig1 c at 77 . another well known form of waterfall substitutes a series of j - hooks extending from its lower edge for the balls 76 . one such j - hook is shown in broken lines at 78 in fig1 c . the j - hooks may be used to support conventional clothes hangers or the like . in some instances , the merchandise to be displayed may be suspended directly from the j - hooks . the slotted standards 69 of upright frame members 31 and 32 can also be used to support a conventional u - shaped horizontal bracket hangbar of the type illustrated in fig1 at 79 . the hangbar 79 comprises a pair of outwardly extending , parallel arms 80 and 81 . the arms 80 and 81 are provided at one of their ends with hook - like elements 82 and 83 adapted to engage the slotted standards 69 of upright frame members 31 and 32 . the forward ends of arms 80 and 81 are joined by a cross - bar 82 . the various hardware items described above are exemplary only of the types of conventional hardware which can be supported by the system display unit of fig2 - 4 . these hardware items can be applied to one or both ends of each upright frame member 31 and 32 and in any desired combination . the system display units thus far described comprise open upright frame assemblies mounted on base assemblies . the upright frame assembly and base assembly of a system display unit of the present invention are also capable of supporting one or two vertically oriented panels . there are numerous standard panels available for this purpose . non - limiting examples of such panels are wire grid panels , solid panels , clear plastic panels , mirrored panels , slotted panels and slotwall panels . with the exception of the clear plastic and mirrored panels , it is within the scope of the invention to color the panels , selecting a color which will coordinate properly with the color of base skirt 29 and the inserts 70 of upright frame members 31 and 32 and horizontal frame member 33 . when a panel is to be incorporated in the structure , inserts 70 are not applied to the inwardly facing surfaces of upright frame members 31 and 32 and horizontal frame member 33 . when it is desired to mount a single panel centrally of the display unit , the inwardly facing wall 36 of rectangular portion 34 of each of the upright frame members 31 and 32 and the horizontal frame member 33 has a channel member mounted thereon , extending longitudinally thereof . such a channel is illustrated at 85 in fig7 . the channel 85 may be affixed to the wall 36 by any appropriate means including self - tapping flathead screws ( not shown ). the single panel to be mounted may be of any of the types described above . for purposes of an exemplary showing , a slotted panel is illustrated at 86 in fig7 . in the assembly of such a unit , the upright frame members 31 and 32 are mounted on the base 2 as described above . thereafter , the panel 86 is caused to slide downwardly into the channels 85 of the upright frame members 31 and 32 . the upper edge of the panel will be further engaged by the channel 85 of the horizontal frame member , once it has been mounted in place . with the base and frame assemblies of the present invention , it is also possible to support a panel in the inwardly facing slots 57 or the inwardly facing slots 58 of upright frame members 31 and 32 and horizontal frame member 33 . this is illustrated , for example , in fig8 wherein a conventional slotwall panel 87 is indicated as mounted in the inwardly facing slot 57 of upright frame member 32 . it will be apparent that the upper edge of panel 87 will be received within slot 57 of horizontal frame member 32 and the far vertical edge of the panel ( not shown ) will be received within the slot 57 of upright frame member 31 . in some instances , it may be desirable to mount two panels in the base and frame assemblies . in this instance , the panels will be arranged back - to - back , with the second panel located in the inwardly facing slots 58 of upright frame members 31 and 32 and horizontal frame member 33 . any of the above described panels can be used and the back - to - back panels may be similar or dissimilar . for example , a second slotwall panel ( not shown ) may be mounted in the slots 58 in back - to - back relationship with the panel 87 . in this way , both sides of the system display unit will present the slotted face of a slotwall panel for the support of various slotwall accessories . prior art workers have devised numerous accessories to be mounted on slotwall panels including shirt bins , utility bins , accessory trays , shelves , slanted shelves , divided shelves , shoe display supports and the like . for purposes of an exemplary showing , a conventional plastic shirt bin is illustrated in fig8 at 88 . the shirt bin is provided with a pair of integral hook - like members 89 and 90 adapted to engage in one of the slots 91 of slotwall panel 87 . fig9 illustrates the mounting of a conventional wire grid panel 92 in the slot 57 of upright frame member 31 . it will again be apparent that the panel 92 will additionally engage in the slots 57 of upright frame member 32 and horizontal frame member 33 ( not shown ). as in the case of the structure of fig8 a second panel could be mounted in the inwardly facing slot 58 , the second panel being the same or different from panel 92 . the wire grid panel 92 may be used to support any appropriate wire grid accessories , well known in the art . fig1 illustrates a system unit of the present invention wherein the base assembly 2 and the frame assembly 3 support a wire grid panel 92 and solid panel 93 . reference is now made to fig1 wherein another embodiment of the system of the present invention is illustrated . the embodiment of fig1 differs from that of fig2 - 4 only in that the frame assembly 3 is provided with an intermediate upright frame member . since the embodiment of fig1 is otherwise similar to that of fig2 - 4 , like parts have been given like index numerals . it will be understood that the embodiment of fig1 is primarily intended for use with base assemblies 2 and horizontal frame members 33 of the longer end - to - end dimensions set forth above . in fig1 , one form of intermediate upright frame member is indicated at 94 . the intermediate frame member 94 is preferably an extrusion and has a cross - sectional configuration most clearly shown in fig1 . such an extrusion is in u . s . pat . no . des . 317 , 050 . upright frame member 94 has a rectangular central portion 95 made up of walls 96 , 97 , 98 and 99 . the walls 96 - 99 define a longitudinally extending rectangular socket 100 similar to the socket 54 of upright frame members 31 and 32 and horizontal frame member 33 . the walls 96 - 99 have on their inside surfaces longitudinally extending spacing ribs 101 . a pair of opposed , mirror image , hook - like elements 102 and 103 extend perpendicularly from wall 96 and cooperate to define a slotted channel 104 similar to the slotted channel 59 of upright frame members 31 and 32 and horizontal frame member 33 . webs 105 and 106 extend from the hook - like elements 102 and 103 and terminate in arcuate elements 107 and 108 , respectively , similar to the arcuate elements 52 and 53 of the upright frame members 31 and 32 and the horizontal frame member 33 . arcuate elements 107 and 108 lie in parallel spaced relationship , defining a wide longitudinally extending slot 109 in the end edge of the intermediate frame member 94 . in similar fashion , a pair of opposed , mirror image hook - like elements 110 and 111 extend perpendicularly from the wall 98 . the hook - like elements 110 and 111 define a slotted channel 112 , similar to the slotted channel 60 of upright frame members 31 and 32 and horizontal frame member 33 . the hook - like elements 110 and 111 have webs 113 and 114 extending therefrom and terminating in arcuate members 115 and 116 respectively . the arcuate members 115 and 116 are similar to the arcuate members 44 and 46 of the uprightframe members 31 and 32 and the horizontal frame member 33 . the arcuate members 115 and 116 lie in parallel spaced relationship , defining a wide , longitudinally extending slot in the end edge of intermediate frame member 94 . intermediate frame member 94 is completed by the provision of a pair of short longitudinally extending walls 118 and 119 extending perpendicularly from wall 97 and a similar pair of short , longitudinally extending walls 120 and 121 extending perpendicularly from wall 99 . a comparison of fig1 and 5 clearly indicates that the sides of intermediate frame member 94 are provided with longitudinally extending slots 122 , 123 , 124 and 125 equivalent to the longitudinally extending slots 55 , 56 , 57 and 58 , respectively of upright frame members 31 and 32 and horizontal frame member 33 . similarly , the short longitudinal walls 118 , 119 , 120 and 121 define central , longitudinally extending slots 126 and 127 , equivalent to the slot provided by channel 85 in fig7 . fig1 illustrates the manner in which the intermediate frame member 94 is mounted on base assembly 2 . to this end , a u - shaped bracket 128 is mounted by means of a self - tapping screw 129 , or the like , to the longitudinal center of intermediate tubular member 8 of base assembly 2 . the legs of bracket 128 extend upwardly as shown in fig1 . the bracket is so sized as to be just nicely received in the rectangular socket 100 formed by the central rectangular portion 95 of intermediate frame member 94 . the upper end of intermediate frame member 94 is shaped to conform to the inwardly facing surface of horizontal frame member 33 . the intermediate frame member 94 is affixed to the horizontal frame member 33 by means of a u - shaped bracket 130 , similar to bracket 128 and attached to the rectangular central portion 34 of horizontal frame member 33 at its longitudinal center by means of a self - tapping screw 131 or the like . this is illustrated in fig1 . as is most clearly shown in fig1 and 12 , the slotted channels 104 and 112 of intermediate frame member 94 are configured to retain double - wide slotted standards 132 and 133 . slotted standards 132 and 133 are similar to the above - described slotted standards 69 with the exception that they are approximately twice as wide and are provided with two parallel rows of slots . the use of the embodiment of fig1 as thus far described is substantially the same as the use of the embodiment of fig2 - 4 . any of the hardware and accessories described heretofore can be applied to the embodiment of fig1 in the same manner . as an exemplary illustration , fig1 shows a pair of shelves 134 and 135 ( equivalent to shelf 72 of fig1 a ) mounted on brackets 136 ( equivalent to bracket 71 of fig1 a ). either or both of the portions of the frame assembly to the right and to the left of intermediate frame member 94 can support one or two panels in the same manner described with respect to fig7 and 9 . when panels are not supported on either or both sides of intermediate frame member 94 , these sides may be provided with flexible , colored inserts equivalent to insert 70 described with respect to fig5 . it is within the scope of the invention , in the embodiment of fig1 , to provide an intermediate frame member 137 ( rather than intermediate frame member 94 ) which is identical in cross - section to upright frame members 31 and 32 and horizontal frame member 33 . this is illustrated in fig1 , 14 and 15 . the cross - sectional configuration of intermediate frame member 137 is identical to that described with respect to fig5 and like parts have been given like index numerals . the intermediate frame member 137 is mounted to the base assembly 2 and frame assembly 3 in the same manner as intermediate frame member 94 . thus , the rectangular socket 54 formed by the rectangular central portion 34 of intermediate frame member 137 is adapted to engage the u - shaped bracket 128 in the same manner as does intermediate frame member 94 , illustrated in fig1 . the upper end of intermediate frame member 137 is configured to conform to the inwardly facing side of horizontal frame member 33 and is attached thereto by u - shaped bracket 130 , as is shown in fig1 . in the embodiment of fig1 , utilizing intermediate frame member 137 , the system display unit structure is again capable of supporting the various hardware and accessories described above with respect to the embodiment of fig2 - 4 . the structure is also capable of supporting one or two panels to either side of intermediate frame member 137 in the same manner described with respect to fig7 and 9 . as a simple illustration of the use of fixtures in the embodiment of fig1 utilizing intermediate frame member 137 , fig1 illustrates a bracket hangbar mounted thereon . the hangbar is identical to hangbar 79 of fig1 and is indicated by the same index numeral . as is apparent from fig1 and 14 , the intermediate upright 127 is capable of mounting slotted standards 69 in the same manner described with respect to upright frame members 31 and 32 . fig1 illustrates an additional accessory for the system display unit of the present invention . as indicated above , hangbar 79 is illustrated in fig1 . let it be assumed that a second hangbar is mounted on the opposite side of the frame assembly 3 directly opposite and in alignment with hangbar 79 . the second hangbar is illustrated at 79a in fig1 . the additional accessory comprises an elongated framed mirror 138 . mounted on the back of mirror 138 , near its upper end , is a pair of aligned and spaced u - shaped brackets , one of which is shown at 139 . the bracket 139 engages the adjacent arm 81 of hangbar 79 it will be understood that the second u - shaped bracket ( not shown ) will similarly engage the adjacent arm ( not shown ) of hangbar 79a . in this way , mirror 138 is securely mounted on the end of the system display unit . fig1 , 17 and 18 illustrate another embodiment of the system display unit of the present invention . in this instance , the embodiment comprises a feature table generally indicated at 140 . the feature table 140 comprises a base assembly 2 , identical to the base assemblies described with respect to the embodiment of fig2 - 4 and the embodiment of fig1 . as a consequence , like parts have been given like index numerals . the base assembly 2 may have any appropriate end - to - end length . the base assembly 2 supports a pair of upright frame members 31a and 32a which are identical to the upright frame members 31 and 32 of fig2 - 4 and 11 , with the exception that their upper ends are not beveled . the inwardly and outwardly facing side surfaces of upright frame members 31a and 32a may be provided with inserts 70 of the type described with respect to fig5 and color coordinated with the base skirt 29 . two such inserts are shown at 70 in fig1 . the primary differences between the structure of fig1 and that of fig2 - 4 relate to the upright frame members 31a and 32a which usually are shorter than the ones used in the embodiment of fig2 - 4 nevertheless , the upright frame members 31a and 32a may be of any appropriate end - to - end length . additionally , in the embodiment of fig1 , the horizontal frame member 33 of fig2 - 4 has been replaced by a table top 141 . while the table top 141 may be of any appropriate construction and made of any appropriate material , for purposes of an exemplary showing it is illustrated in fig1 - 18 as comprising a planar wood or pressboard panel 141a provided with an edge trim 141b . the table top 141 is affixed to the upper end of upright frame member 31a by means of a u - shaped bracket 142 identical to the u - shaped brackets 128 of fig1 and 130 of fig1 . the u - shaped bracket 142 is attached to the table top 141 by a screw 143 , or other appropriate fastening means . the u - shaped bracket 142 is adapted to be inserted in the central rectangular socket 54 of upright frame member 31a , as shown in fig1 . it will be understood that attachment of the table top 141 to upright frame member 32a is accomplished in exactly the same manner . the upright frame members 31a and 32a support slotted standards ( not shown ) identical to those shown in fig5 and 10a at 69 . the slotted standards , themselves , support pairs of brackets similar to bracket 71 of fig1 a . such brackets are shown in phantom lines in fig1 . the brackets 71 , in turn , support shelves . the number of shelves per side of the feature table and the arrangement thereof can be varied , depending upon the ultimate use of the feature table . the shelves could be of the type illustrated at 72 in fig1 a . for purposes of an exemplary showing , the shelves 144 of fig1 are identical and are longer than the base assembly 2 . each of the shelves 144 is provided with a notch to accommodate each of the upright frame members 31a and 31b . such notches are shown at 145 . the notches enable the facing edges of the shelves to abut each other to form the equivalent of a single overall shelf , when brackets 71 of each upright frame member 31a and 32a are aligned with each other . from the above descriptions it will be apparent that the system display units can be made up in many different configurations depending upon the merchandise to be displayed . the frame assembly portion of a display unit may define a single rectangular area as in the embodiment of fig2 - 4 or a pair of rectangular areas as in the embodiment of fig1 . such display units may support conventional panels as well as conventional hardware and accessories , as indicated above . the display units can be converted to feature tables , as last described . when a retail store or a department of a department store is to be renovated , the system units of the present invention can be easily reassembled into any of the configurations described above , depending upon the merchandise to be displayed . through appropriate selection of skirts , shelves , panels and inserts , appropriate color coordination can also be achieved . modifications may be made in the invention without department from the spirit of it . | 0 |
obtaining and treating compounds : neferine with purity ≧ 90 % was obtained from market and prepared into desired differing concentrations ( μmol / l ) according to requirements . preparation of rat drg cells : dorsal root ganglion ( drg ) cell is the main afferent neurons in the mammalian and human peripheral nervous system . it expresses a wide array of trp channel proteins and plays a key role in nerve protection , repair after nerve damage , transmission of noxious stimuli , pathological and physiological processes . to investigate the effect of neferine on trpm8 , newborn sprague - dawley rats ( 5 days after born ) were selected . drg were aseptically removed and meticulously cleaned the rootlets and connective tissue . the tissue was digested with collagenase and trypsin in succession , and then centrifuged and the digestive liquid was discarded . cells were prepared into single cell suspension in common culture medium , and then calculated and adjusted to 10 5 nerve cells per ml . it was incubated in culture plates pre - coated with laminin at 37 ° c . in 5 % co 2 for 48 hours . camptothecine was used to inhibit proliferation of other cells . culture was continued to obtain drg cells with a high purity (& gt ; 98 %). detection of trpm8 and trpv1 mrna expression : the total rna of the drg neuronal cells was extracted in a routine way , after exposure to the tested agents of various concentrations under the normal , low and high temperature conditions respectively . the concentration of rna was measured and its cdna was prepared . the desired amount of resulting cdna and trpm8 or trpv1 gene primers were added on the iq5 - type real - time iq5 - type real - time pcr meter with gapdh as the endogenous control to perform extension . melting curves were generated . relative gene expression was calculated using the comparative threshold cycle ( 2 - δδct ) method with the calculated formula as following : δδct =( ct , target - c t , gapdh ) x -( ct , target - c t , gapdh ) control x represents any one of tested , control represents double target gene expression after gapdh correction . detection of intracellular calcium concentrations of drg cells : drg cells cultured under normal , low and high temperature conditions was obtained . the medium was discarded and the cells were washed after certain time . 0 . 1 % f - 127 , 5 μm of fluo - 4 - am , m fluorescent dye were added and loaded at 25 ° c . out of light for 30 min . after dye loading , the redundant dye was washed out and buffer and test compounds were added respectively . the cells were put in a closed chamber on a microscope stage . fluorescence dyed cells were detected with appropriate conditions . the change of fluorescence intensity in each cell was determined and the data were analyzed by software . the change of the intracellular calcium concentration was indicated by fluorescence intensity . the change degree of the intracellular calcium concentration was represented by the percent ratio of the change value of fluorescence intensity before and after administration and the value of fluorescence intensity before administration ( δ [ ca2 +] i ), i . e . δ [ ca2 +] i =( fluorescence intensity value after administration f - fluorescence intensity value before administration f0 )/ fluorescence intensity value before administration f0 × 100 %. the change of the intracellular calcium concentration indicated the function of trp . inhibition on proliferation of human cancer cells : it is reported that the drugs that up - regulate trpm8 or down - regulate trpv1 can inhibit proliferation of breast cancer . to further investigate whether neferine follow the same way , human breast cancer cell line mda - mb - 231 and mda - mb - 453 as well as cancer gene - containing human breast gland epithelial cell line mcf10a - myc and human pancreatic cancer cell line miapaca - 2 were employed and cultured in dmem or dmem / f12 medium with epithelial growth factor in vitro . after incubation with various concentrations of test agents for 72 h , the effective concentration of them for inhibiting the tumor cells was assayed according to the common method in the art . experiment data were represented with mean ± sd ( x ± s ). multi sample comparing uses one - way anovas and double sample comparing uses t - test . statistical difference was considered when p - value & lt ; 0 . 05 . effect of neferine on trpm8 mrna expression in drg cells under normal ambient temperature ( 37 ° c .) the purified culture medium of drg cells was added with three different concentrations of test compounds and cultured at 37 ° c . in 5 % co 2 for 24 h . the total rna was extracted immediately after culture . the trpm8 agonist hexahydrothymol was positive control group and the normal culture medium was vehicle control group . then the real - time pcr amplification was performed and trpm8 mrna was determined . as indicated in table 1 , neferine could up - regulate the expression levels of trpm8 mrna dose - dependently ( correlation coefficient 0 . 98 ); the effect was more significant when the dose was more than 5 μmol / l ( i . e . 10 μmol / l ). the previous studies had shown that high temperature ( e . g . 39 ° c .) could inhibit trpm8 expression . the purified culture medium of drg cells was added with three different concentrations of test compounds and cultured at 37 ° c . in 5 % co 2 for 23 h followed by 39 ° c . in 5 % co 2 for 1 h . the total rna was extracted immediately after culture . the trpm8 agonist hexahydrothymol was positive control group and the normal culture medium was vehicle control group . then the real - time pcr amplification was performed and trpm8 mrna was determined . as indicated in table 2 , neferine did not up - regulate trpm8 mrna expression . the previous studies had shown that low temperature could improve trpm8 expression . the purified culture medium of drg cells was added with three different concentrations of test compounds and cultured at 37 ° c . in 5 % co 2 for 22 h followed by 19 ° c . in 5 % co 2 for 2 h . the total rna was extracted immediately after culture . the trpm8 agonist hexahydrothymol was positive control group and the normal culture medium was vehicle control group . then the real - time pcr amplification was performed and trpm8 mrna was determined . as indicated in table 3 , neferine could up - regulate the expression levels of trpm8 mrna dose - dependently ( correlation coefficient 0 . 98 ). trpm8 agonist hexahydrothymol also could up - regulate expression levels of trpm8 mrna dose - dependently . according to the protocol of example 1 , the purified culture medium of drg cells was added with three different concentrations of test compounds and cultured at 37 ° c . in 5 % co 2 for 24 h . the medium was discarded and the fluorescent dye was added and loaded for 30 min . the change of fluorescence intensity in cell was determined in a closed chamber on a microscope stage and the change of the intracellular calcium concentration was assayed . as indicated in table 4 , neferine could increase the intracellular calcium concentration dose - dependently as same as trpm8 agonist hexahydrothymol ( correlation coefficient is 0 . 86 and 0 . 94 ). the effect was more significant when the dose is more than 5 μmol / l ( i . e . 10 μmol / l ). according to the protocol in example 2 , the purified culture medium of drg cells was added with three different concentrations of test compounds and cultured at 37 ° c . in 5 % co 2 for 22 h followed by 2 h at 39 ° c . ( the experiment data of the peak value of calcium change after stimulated under high temperature was not shown here ). the medium was discarded and the fluorescent dye was added and loaded for 30 min . the change of fluorescence intensity in cell was determined in a closed chamber on a microscope stage and the change of the intracellular calcium concentration was assayed . as indicated in table 5 , the change of intracellular calcium concentration was inhibited after high temperature treatment . the test compound could increase the concentration of intracellular calcium dose - dependently ( correlation coefficient & gt ; 0 . 93 ) as same as trpm8 agonist hexahydrothymol . the effect was more significant when the dose was more than 5 μmol / l ( i . e . 10 μmol / l ). the purified culture medium of drg cells was added with three different concentrations of test compounds and cultured at 37 ° c . in 5 % co 2 for 24 h . the total rna was extracted immediately after culture . the trpm8 agonist hexahydrothymol was positive control group and the normal culture medium was vehicle group . then the real - time pcr amplification was performed and trpv1 mrna was determined . as indicated in table 6 , neferine and hexahydrothymol could not change expression levels of trpv1 mrna under the test concentrations . the previous studies had shown that high temperatures could improve trpv1 expression . the purified culture medium of drg cells was added with three different concentrations of test compounds and cultured at 37 ° c . in 5 % co 2 for 23 h followed by 39 ° c . in 5 % co 2 for 1 h ( this is the appropriate stimulation time for 39 ° c ., and the experiment data was not shown ). the total rna was extracted immediately after culture . the trpm1 antagonist hexahydrothymol was positive control group and the normal culture medium was vehicle group . then the real - time pcr amplification was performed and trpv1 mrna was determined . as shown in table 7 , neferine could decrease the expression levels of trpv1 mrna dose - dependently ( correlation coefficient − 0 . 99 ). the effect was more significant when the dose was more than 2 . 5 μmol / l ( i . e . 5 μmol / l ). the previous studies had shown that low temperatures ( e . g . 19 ° c .) could inhibit trpv1 expression . the purified culture medium of drg cells was added with three different concentrations of test compounds and cultured at 37 ° c . in 5 % co 2 for 22 h followed by at 19 ° c . in 5 % co 2 for 2 h ( this is the appropriate stimulation time for 19 ° c ., and the experiment data was not shown ). the total rna was extracted immediately after culture . the trpm1 antagonist hexahydrothymol was positive control group and the normal culture medium was vehicle control group . then the real - time pcr amplification was performed and trpv1 mrna was determined . as shown in table 8 , neferine could further inhibit expression levels of trpv1 mrna dose - dependently ( correlation coefficient − 0 . 87 ) as same as hexahydrothymol . according to the protocol in example 1 , the purified culture medium of drg cells was added with three different concentrations of test compounds and cultured at 37 ° c . in 5 % co 2 for 24 h . the medium was discarded and the fluorescent dye was added and loaded for 30 min . the change of fluorescence intensity in cell was determined in a closed chamber on a microscope stage and the change of the intracellular calcium concentration was assayed . as shown in table 8 , neferine could decrease the concentration of intracellular calcium dose - dependently ( correlation coefficient is − 0 . 85 ). according to the protocol in example 2 , the purified culture medium of drg cells was added with three different concentrations of test compounds and cultured at 37 ° c . in 5 % co2 for 22 h followed by 39 ° c . for 2 h ( the experiment data of the peak value of calcium change after stimulated under high temperature was not shown here ). the medium was discarded and the fluorescent dye was added and loaded for 30 min . the change of fluorescence intensity in cell was determined in a closed chamber on a microscope stage and the change of the intracellular calcium concentration was assayed . as shown in table 9 , the change of intracellular calcium concentration could be activated after high temperature treatment . neferine could inhibit the change of the intracellular calcium concentration dose - dependently ( correlation coefficient − 0 . 815 ). the effect was more significant when the dose was more than 2 . 5 μmol / l ( i . e . 10 μmol / l ). according to the protocol in example 1 , the purified culture medium of drg cells was added with three different concentrations of test compounds and cultured at 37 ° c . in 5 % co 2 for 21 h followed by 3 h at 19 ° c . ( this is the appropriate stimulation time for the intracellular calcium change after stimulation under 19 ° c ., and the experiment data was not shown ). the medium was discarded and the fluorescent dye was added and loaded for 30 min . the change of fluorescence intensity in cell was determined in a closed chamber on a microscope stage and the change of the intracellular calcium concentration was assayed . as shown in table 11 , the change of the intracellular calcium concentration could be inhibited after low temperature treatment . neferine could further inhibit the change of the intracellular calcium concentration dose - dependently ( correlation coefficient − 0 . 99 ). according to the “ inhibition on proliferation of human cancer cells ” described above , the effective concentrations of neferine for the inhibition of tumors were obtained ( table 11 ). a strong inhibition of neferine on breast cancer cells with a concentration below 2 . 1 μg / ml was shown and a inhibition concentration below 4 μg / ml was shown for pancreas . according to the method commonly known in the art , 35 g of commercial neferine was added into three times auxiliary material such as calcium carbonate and the mixture was granulated or directly pressed into tablets or coated to form 1000 tablets with each tablet containing 35 mg of neferine . alternatively , the mixture can be put into 1000 hard capsules with each containing 35 mg of neferine . the above - mentioned preparations may be administrated orally as trpm8 agonists for the treatment of chronic obstructive lung disease , parkinson &# 39 ; s disease , painful bladder syndrome , cold hypergesia , melanoma and prostate cancer and the like . alternatively , they may also be used as trpv1 antagonists for the treatment of pain , inflammation , schizophrenia , myasthenia syndrome , non - insulin - dependent diabetes , breast cancer and the like . according to the method commonly known in the art , 35 g of commercial neferine was added with polyoxyethylene hydrogenated castor oil and mixed to produce 1000 injections , or the mixture was further merged into injection saline to produce 1000 injections with each containing 35 mg of neferine . the above - mentioned preparations may be used as trpm8 agonists for the treatment of chronic obstructive lung disease , parkinson &# 39 ; s disease , painful bladder syndrome , cold hyperalgesia , melanoma , prostate cancer . alternatively , they may also be used as trpv1 antagonists for the treatment of pain , inflammation , schizophrenia , myasthenia syndrome , non - insulin - dependent diabetes , breast cancer and the like . according to the method commonly known in the art , the neferine may be prepared into emplastrum with appropriate matrix and material for the skin application to create corresponding topical or general effective . kiselyov k ., soyombo a ., muallem s . : trppathies . j . physiol . 2007 ; 578 : 641 - 6530 . nilius b ., owsianik g ., voets t ., peters j a . : transient receptor potential cation channels in disease . physiol . rev . 2007 ; 87 : 165 - 217 . abramowitz j ., birnbaumer l . : physiology and pathophysiology of canonical transient receptor potential channels . faseb j , october 2008 ; 10 . 1096 / fj . 08 - 119495 . sabnis a s ., shadid m ., yost g s ., reilly c a . : human lung epithelial cells express a functional cold - sensing trpm8 variant . am . j . respir . cell mol . biol . 2008 ; 39 : 466 - 474 . yamamura h ., ugawa s ., ueda t ., morita a ., shimada s . : trpm8 activation suppresses cellular viability in human melanoma . am j physiol cell physiol . 2008 ; 295 : c296 - c301 . ashinger e s r ., steiginga m s ., hieble j p ., leon l a ., gardner s d ., nagilla r ., davenport e a ., hoffman b e ., laping n j ., su x . : amtb , a trpm8 channel blocker : evidence in rats for activity in overactive bladder and painful bladder syndrome . am j physiol renal physiol . 2008 ; 295 : f803 - f810 . szallasi a ., cortright d n ., blum c a ., eid s r . : the vanilloid receptor trpv1 : 10 years from channel cloning to antagonist proof of concept . nature rev . drug discovery 2007 , 6 ( 5 ) : 357 - 372 . okuhara d y ., hsia a y ., xie m . : transient receptor potential channels as drug targets . expert opinion on therapeutic targets 2007 ; 11 ( 3 ) : 391 - 401 . | 0 |
the systems and methods of the present disclosure address the needs of the art by providing tomosynthesis apparatus and techniques for imaging breast specimens that overcome the shortfall of the data received from two - dimensional imaging systems . the aspects of the present disclosure enable the use of tomosynthesis to efficiently provide accurate three - dimensional imaging of a specimen in which overlapping images having differing attenuation characteristics by applying a three - dimensional reconstruction algorithm , all in an x - ray cabinet . as used herein , the term “ computer ,” “ computer system ” or “ processor ” refers to any suitable device operable to accept input , process the input according to predefined rules , and produce output , including , for example , a server , workstation , personal computer , network computer , wireless telephone , personal digital assistant , one or more microprocessors within these or other devices , or any other suitable processing device with accessible memory . the term “ computer program ” or “ software ” refers to any non - transitory machine readable instructions , program or library of routines capable of executing on a computer or computer system including computer readable program code . specimen tomography is a three - dimensional specimen imaging system . it involves acquiring images of a sample at multiple viewpoints , typically over an arc or linear path . the three - dimensional ( 3 - d ) image is constructed by the reconstruction of the multiple image data set . one embodiment of a system 100 incorporating aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated in fig1 the system 100 is totally enclosed or housed in an x - ray cabinet 22 . in accordance with the aspects of the disclosed embodiments , the x - ray source 10 moves around the stationary sample 18 , typically , but not necessarily , in an arc . references 12 , 14 and 16 of fig1 illustrate exemplary positions of the x - ray source 10 within the x - ray cabinet 22 . the reference “ c ” at each of the positions 12 , 14 , 16 of the x - ray source 10 in fig1 refers to the point source of the x - ray beam . the reference “ m ” refers to the spread or fan of the x - ray beam . while the detector 20 may move or rotate , in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure , the detector 20 remains stationary relative to the sample 18 and x - ray source 10 to maintain an equidistant center point . the x - ray data taken at each of a number of exemplary positions 12 , 14 , 16 of the x - ray source 10 relative to the sample 18 within the x - ray cabinet 22 is processed to form images , where two or more of the differing imaging positions are utilized to form a digital tomosynthesis image . in one embodiment , the aspects of the present disclosure limit the arc or linear travel of the x - ray source 10 over about a 20 ° to about a 50 ° arc , preferably about 30 °, more preferably about 20 °. the movement can be clockwise or counter clockwise along a path , which includes for example , one or more , or a combination thereof , of the following exemplary ranges : between approximately 350 ° ( reference position 12 ), to 0 ° ( reference position 14 ) to 10 ° ( reference position 16 ), or between approximately 340 ° ( reference position 12 ) to 0 ° ( reference position 14 ) to 20 ° ( reference position 16 ) and or between approximately 335 ° ( reference position 12 ) to 0 ° ( reference position 14 ) to 25 ° ( reference position 16 ). the ranges recited herein are intended to be approximate and inclusive of start and endpoints . in the example of fig1 the detector 20 is stationary as is the sample 18 . the sample 18 , also referred to as the “ object ” or “ imaging object ” is disposed on or rests on the protective cover 19 or other surface of the detector 20 . in operation , x - ray source 10 is energized to emit an x - ray beam , generally throughout its travel along one or more of the paths or positions described above . the x - ray beam travels through the sample 18 to the detector 20 and the multiple images collected at varying angles are stored and then utilized for the tomosynthesis reconstruction . the x - ray source 10 may range from about 0kvp to about 90 kvp , preferably a 50kvp 1000μa x - ray source . different embodiments of the present disclosure can utilize different ranges of motion of one or more of the x - ray source 10 and detector 20 as well as changing the angularity of one or both . the inventive aspects of the present disclosure differ from the prior art in that in prior art systems either the detector and source move and / or the isocenter is above the sample and not at the detector surface . in accordance with the aspects of the present disclosure , in one embodiment , the x - ray source 10 is configured to move , as is described herein , while the detector 20 is configured to remain stationary or in a fixed position . the detector 20 and associated electronics generate image data in digital form for each pixel at each of the angular positions 12 , 14 , 16 of x - ray source 10 and translation positions of the detector 20 relative to the sample 18 . while only three positions 12 , 14 , 16 are illustrated in fig1 , in practice more images are taken at differing angles . for example , in one embodiment , images can be taken at approximately every 1 ° of rotation or motion of source 10 . fig2 schematically illustrates one embodiment of the orientation of the x - ray source 10 as seen when the door 24 is opened and the x - ray source 10 is locate at approximately 0 ° , reference point 14 in this example , within the x - ray cabinet 22 . in this embodiment , the motion of the x - ray source 10 can generally occur from the back to the front of the x - ray cabinet 22 with the detector 20 oriented , or otherwise disposed , at the base 26 of the x - ray cabinet 22 , within the x - ray cabinet chamber 28 . in one embodiment , the detector 20 is suitably coupled to the base 26 of the x - ray cabinet 22 . the x - ray spread in this example can be from about 0kvp to about 50 kvp with the system preferably utilizing an aec ( automatic exposure control ) to ascertain the optimal setting to image the object or sample 18 being examined . in one embodiment , the detector 20 , x - ray source 10 , and the swing arm 60 ( fig5 ) servo mechanism are controlled via a combination of one or more of software and hardware , such as non - transitory machine readable instructions stored in a memory that are executable by one or more processors . on example of such a configuration can include controller cards of a computer 470 ( fig4 ), such as a ms windows based computer . in one embodiment , non - transitory machine readable instructions being executed by one or more processors of the computer 470 is utilized to compile data received from the detector 20 and present resulting images to a suitable display or monitor 472 ( fig4 ). t each imaging position , such as positions 12 , 14 and 16 shown in fig1 , the detector 20 generates the respective digital values for the pixels in a two - dimensional array . the size of detector 20 may range , for example , from about 2 inches by 2 inches to about 16 inches by 16 inches , preferably about 5 inches by 6 inches . in one example , detector 20 has a rectangular array of approximately 1536 × 1944 pixels with a pixel size of 74 . 8 micrometers . the image dataset attained at each respective position may be processed either at the full spatial resolution of detector 20 or at a lower spatial resolution by overlapping or binning a specified number of pixels in a single combined pixel value . for example , if we bin at a 2 × 2 ratio , then there would be an effective spatial resolution of approximately 149 . 6 micrometers . this binning may be achieved within the original programming of the detector 20 or within the computer 470 providing the tomosynthetic compilation and image . fig3 illustrates one embodiment of an exemplary workflow from initiating 302 the system 100 through imaging , reconstruction and display 324 of data images collected of the sample 18 . as will be generally understood , the system 100 is initiated 302 , the x - ray cabinet door 24 opened 304 , and the sample 18 placed into 306 the x - ray cabinet chamber 28 . as shown in fig2 , for example , the sample 18 is positioned on the detector 20 in a suitable manner . the door 24 is closed 308 . the data and information regarding the sample 18 , including any other suitable information or settings relevant to the imaging process and procedure , is entered 310 into the computer 470 . the scan is initiated 312 . the system 100 will take 314 scout or 2 - d images at top dead center , which for purposes of this example is position 14 of fig1 and 2 . the x - ray source 10 can then be moved to other positions , such as positions 12 and 16 , and the detector 20 can be used to capture 316 images at various increments along the travel path of the x - ray source 10 , such as about every 1 degree . the captured images are stored 318 and digital tomosynthesis is performed 320 . the tomosynthesis image is then displayed 324 . fig4 shows one embodiment of an x - ray cabinet system 400 incorporating aspects of the present disclosure . in this embodiment , the x - ray cabinet system 400 is mounted on wheels 458 to allow easy portability . in alternate embodiments , the x - ray cabinet system 400 can be mounted on any suitable base or transport mechanism . the cabinet 422 in this example , similar to the exemplary x - ray cabinet 22 of fig1 , is constructed of a suitable material such as steel . in one embodiment , the cabinet 422 comprises painted steel defining a walled enclosure with an opening or cabinet chamber 428 . within the cabinet chamber 428 , behind door 424 , resides an interior space forming a sample chamber 444 , which in this example is constructed of stainless steel . access to the sample chamber 444 is via an opening 446 . in one embodiment , the opening 446 of the sample chamber 444 has a suitable door or cover , such as a moveable cover 448 . in one embodiment , the moveable cover 448 comprises a door which has a window of leaded glass . between the outer wall 421 of cabinet 422 and the sample chamber 444 are sheets of lead 452 that serve as shielding to reduce radiation leakage emitted from the x - ray source 10 . in the example of fig4 , the x - ray source 10 is located in the upper part 456 of the cabinet 422 , in the source enclosure 468 . the detector 20 is housed in the detector enclosure 460 at an approximate midpoint 462 of the cabinet 422 . in one embodiment , a controller or computer 470 controls the collection of data from the detector 20 , controls the swing arm 60 shown in fig5 & amp ; 6 , and x - ray source 10 ., a monitor 472 displays the compiled data and can , for example , be mounted on an articulating arm 474 that is attached to the cabinet 422 . the computer 470 receives commands and other input information entered by the operator via a user interface 476 , such as a keyboard and mouse for example . in one embodiment , the computer 470 can comprise a touch screen or near touch screen device . although the aspects of the disclosed embodiments will generally be described with respect to a computer 470 , it will be understood that the computer 470 can comprise any suitable controller or computing device . such computing devices can include , but are not limited to , laptop computers , mini computers , tablets and pad devices . the computer 470 can be configured to communicate with the components of the x - ray cabinet system 400 in any suitable manner , including hardwired and wireless communication . in one embodiment , the computer 470 can be configured to communicate over a network , such as a local area network or the internet . fig5 shows a front interior view and fig6 shows a lateral interior view of the sample chamber of imaging unit cabinet of fig4 . in this embodiment , a sample 18 is placed or otherwise disposed onto the detector 20 . using the computer system 470 shown in fig4 , the operator enters in the parameters for the scan via the user interface 476 , which can be displayed on the monitor 472 . as used herein , the term “ display ” or “ monitor ” means any type of device adapted to display information , including without limitation crts , lcds , tfts , plasma displays , leds , and fluorescent devices . the computer system 470 then sends the appropriate commands to the x - ray source 10 and detector 20 to activate image collection while the swing arm 60 is moving along a path or arc from position 14 to 12 to 16 ( which are shown in fig1 and 5 ) or vice versa as described , which in this embodiment are at 345 ° , 0 ° , and 15 ° respectively with 0 ° at top dead center . at the end of the travel of the swing arm 60 at either position 12 or 16 , the computer 470 issues the command to the x - ray source 10 and the detector 20 to cease operating . the individual 2 - dimensional ( 2 - d ) images which were collected , in this example at 1 ° increments , are then tabulated in the computer 470 to create the tomosynthetic images . in one embodiment , the operator may select which images they wish via the user interface 476 as they are being displayed on the monitor 472 . in one embodiment , the devices and components of the x - ray cabinet system 400 are suitably communicatively coupled together , including one or more of hard wire connections or wireless connections using a suitable wireless connection and communication transmission protocol , as will generally be understood . the x - ray cabinet system 400 can also be configured to transfer images via usb , cd - rom , or wifi . the dynamic imaging software of the disclosed embodiments reconstructs three - dimensional images ( tomosynthesis ) from two - dimensional projection images in real - time and on - demand . the software offers the ability to examine any slice depth , tilt the reconstruction plane for multiplanar views and gives higher resolution magnifications . fig7 a , 7 b , and 7 c illustrate exemplary images of an apple using the above process . fig7 a is an image of a slice of the apple at it &# 39 ; s very top . 59 mm from the bottom . fig7 b is an image of an apple computed at 30 . 5 mm up from the detector , and fig7 c is a view of the apple computed at 13 . 5 mm from the bottom . the real - time image reconstruction of the present disclosure enables immediate review , higher throughput , and more efficient interventional procedures reducing patient call backs and data storage needs . multiplanar reconstruction enables reconstruction to any depth , magnification and plane , giving the viewer the greater ability to view and interrogate image data , thereby reducing the likelihood of missing small structures . built - in filters allow higher in - plane resolution and image quality during magnification for greater diagnostic confidence . software is optimized for performance using gpu technology . the reconstruction software used in conjunction with the aspects of the present disclosure provides the users greater flexibility and improved visibility of the image data . it reconstructs images at any depth specified by the user , rather than at fixed slice increments . with fixed slice increments , an object located between two reconstructed slices , such as a calcification , is blurred and can be potentially missed . the aspects of the present disclosure provide for positioning the reconstruction plane so that any object is exactly in focus . this includes objects that are oriented at an angle to the detector 20 . the aspects of the present disclosure provide for the reconstruction plane to be angled with respect to the detector plane . thus , while there have been shown and described and pointed out fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the exemplary embodiments thereof , it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of devices illustrated , and in their operation , may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention . for example , it is expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and / or method steps which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same results are within the scope of the invention . moreover , it should be recognized that structures and / or elements and / or method steps shown and / or described in connection with any disclosed form or embodiment of the invention may be incorporated in any other disclosed or described or suggested form or embodiment as a general matter of design choice . it is the intention , therefore , to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto . | 0 |
the numerous innovative teachings of the present application will be described with particular reference to the presently preferred embodiment . however , it should be understood that this class of embodiments provides only a few examples of the many advantageous uses of the innovative teachings herein . in general , statements made in the specification of the present application do not necessarily delimit any of the various claimed inventions . moreover , some statements may apply to some inventive features but not to others . some notable features of the chip of the presently preferred chip embodiment include the following : 4096 bits of sram organized in 16 pages , 256 bits per page programmable cycle counter can sample and store the number of system power - on / off cycles programmable alarms can be set to generate interrupts for elapsed time , real - time clock alarms , and / or cycle counter replaces bar code labels with unique 64 - bit factory lasered solid state serial number not all of these features are asserted to be separately novel ; but this list of features is provided to indicate the general characteristics of the presently preferred embodiment . the ds2404 econoram time chip offers a simple solution for storing and retrieving vital information with minimal hardware . only one port pin is required for communication . this i / o gives the user access to a unique lasered identification number , a real - time clock / calendar , elapsed time clock , cycle counter , programmable interrupts and 4096 bits of sram . all these features are available with or without system power applied . the lasered identification number can replace bar codes for tracking purposes . using the 1 - wire port , this id can be read when assembly is without power . utilizing backup energy sources , the data is nonvolatile and allows for stand - alone operation . a strict protocol for accessing the ds2404 insures data integrity . for high speed communication , the traditional dallas semiconductor 3 - wire interface is provided . extensive additional material regarding the one - wire - bus architecture of the preferred embodiment may be found in commonly - owned u . s . patent application ser . no . 725 , 793 , filed jul . 9 , 1991 , entitled &# 34 ; memory ,&# 34 ; which is hereby incorporated by reference . ______________________________________pin symbol description______________________________________1 , 16 vcc power input pins for 3 . 0 to 5 . 5 volt operation . either pin can be used for vcc . only one is required for normal operation . ( see vbato & amp ; pfs definitions ). 2 irq interrupt output pin - open drain 3 rst reset input pin for 3 - wire operation 4 dq data in / out pin for 3 - wire operation5 , 7 nc no connection pins 6 clk clock input pin for 3 - wire operation8 , 13 gnd ground pin - either pin can be used for ground . 9 vbatb battery backup input pin - battery voltage should be 3 . 0 volts for power fail protection mode . see vbato & amp ; pfs pin definition . 10 vbato battery operate input for 2 . 0 - 5 . 5 volt operation . battery with 2 . 0 - 5 . 5 volts can be used to power the chip . the vcc & amp ; vbatb pin must be grounded when this pin is used to power the chip . 11 i / o 1 - wire input / output - complete communi - cation with the chip can be done using this pin . see definitions of 1 - wire protocol for complete description . open drain . 12 pfs pfs power fail select - to activate the power fail protection circuitry when using vcc and battery backup , this pin must be connected to the vbato . in this mode the power monitor circuitry is enabled and will write protect all inputs when vcc & lt ; vbatb . when operation is required from 2 . 0 - 5 . 5 volts , use vbato for power . this pin must be connected to ground . in this mode , no input pin can be held in an intermediate voltage level , i . e ., 0 . 7 & lt ; vin & lt ; 2 . 3 v . all inputs must be at vil or vih levels . see dc characteristics for vil & amp ; vih . operational voltage range is restricted in this mode to vbatb to 5 . 5 v . 14 , 15 x1 , x2 crystal input pins . connections for a standard 32 . 768 khz quartz crystal , daiwa part number dt - 26s ( be sure to request 6 pf load capacitance ). ______________________________________ fig1 shows the high - level physical layout of the chip used in the presently preferred embodiment . batsel 3 refers to location of the battery select circuitry . sfr 5 refers to the location of special function register circuitry . div 7 refers to location of the divider circuitry that comprises a countdown chain and reduces the output from the oscillator ( osc 17 ). io 9 refers to location of the input / output circuitry . ram 11 refers to location of random access memory circuitry . parasitic power capacitor 13 refers to location of the parasitic power capacitor 13 . cntl 15 refers to location of the control circuitry . osc 17 refers to location of the oscillator circuitry . vcc 19 refers to the location of vcc power supply circuitry . pins 21 show the location of the respective pins that correspond to table 1 described above . the real - time clock , elapsed timer , real - time alarm , elapsed time alarm , cycle counter and control / status register are all read / write registers . flag bits in the status register are read - only bits . data is sent from the host via the serial interface ( s ), least significant bit ( lsb ) first . all data is in binary format . as shown in fig2 a , following briefly describes the 1 - wire protocol : the host generates a reset pulse 18 that clears all previous commands and begins communications . the ds2404 then sends a presence pulse 20 to acknowledge that reset has occurred and it is ready for a new command . as an example to illustrate how the protocol works , a typical command for 1 - wire communications is read rom data . the host sends a command byte 33h ( correlates with lead rom data 10 ); after which it drives the i / o line to a low state for less than 15 μsec . it then releases the i / o line and samples the line condition ( high or low level ) at a time greater than 15 μsec but less than 60 μsec . if the voltage level on the i / o is high , vih , the bit is a one . the host drives and samples the i / o line 64 times to complete the reading of the lasered rom . the model number ( 04h for the ds2404 ) is the first byte read . the unique serial number contained in the next 6 bytes is read second ; the crc byte 22 used to verify the data is read last . the process then begins again -- the host sends a reset pulse and the ds2404 responds with a presence pulse . in order to ensure data integrity , multiple commands are required to read or write to the ds2404 . ( see the flow chart in fig2 a - 2b .) all data written to the ds2404 must be written to a 256 - bit scratch page . data can be read from the scratch page or secure memory , which is 16 pages with 256 bits per page . there are four basic commands that enable reading and writing : write to scratch page 2 , read scratch page 4 , read secure memory 6 , and copy scratch page to secure memory 8 . see the section entitled &# 34 ; command byte &# 34 ; for definitions . an important feature of the copy scratch to secure memory command 6 is the authorization code required for data transfer . this code is located in the first three bytes of the scratch page . the first two bytes are the target address that the host sent to the ds2404 when data was written to the scratch page . the third byte , generated by the ds2404 when data was written to the scratch page , contains the ending address within the scratch page . that is , if 256 bits were written , then a 0fh would be the third byte read . this ending address also includes status bytes to verify that data wasn &# 39 ; t corrupted while being sent to the ds2404 . a partial byte flag is set if less than a full byte was written into the scratch page ; an overflow flag is set if more than 256 bits are sent . the last flag bit , the authorization accepted flag , is set if the authorization code matches and the data is transferred from scratch memory to secure memory . here is an example of how this transfer is accomplished . the skip command ( cch ) 16 is issued from the host , followed by the copy scratch to secure memory command ( a5h ) 6 . then the unique authorization code is sent ; this consists of two address bytes along with the ending address byte read when verifying scratch page data . if these three bytes match the scratch page bytes , the data is transferred to secure memory and the authorization accepted ( aa ) bit box 24 is set to a one . the ds2404 remains in a busy state until the data transfer is complete . having sent a reset , the host then reads the third byte in the scratch page to verify the aa bit is set and data has been transferred . see the section entitled &# 34 ; command byte &# 34 ; for more information . the 3 - wire interface bypasses the read rom 10 , match rom 12 . search rom 14 , and skip rom 16 commands used with the 1 - wire protocol . consisting of reset , dq , and clock , the 3 - wire is a high - speed communications interface that transmits / receives at a rate of 2 mhz . to communicate via this interface , only the command bytes for access to secure memory and scratch memory are required . no reset or presence pulses are available . the following steps should be noted in relation to the 1 - wire / 3 - wire protocol : when the 1 - wire interface is used , all communications to and from the ds2404 are accomplished via a single interface lead . data is read and written through the use of time slots to manipulate bits and a command word to specify the transaction . a write time slot is initiated when the host pulls the data line from a high logic level to a low logic level . there are two types of write time slots : write one time slots and write zero time slots . all write time slots must be a minimum of 60 μsec and a maximum of 120 μsec in duration . there is a minimum of a 1 μsec valid access recovery time between time slots . for the host to generate a write one time slot , the data line must be pulled to a logic low level and then released , allowing the data line to pull up to a high level within 15 μsec after the start of the write time slot . for the host to generate a write zero time slot , the data line must be pulled to a logic low level and remain low for the duration of the write time slot . the host generates read time slots when data is to be read from the 1 - wire interface . a read time slot is initiated when the host pulls the data line from a logic high level to a logic low level . the data line must remain at a low logic level for a minimum of 1 μsec and a maximum of 15 μsec . this maximum time of 15 μsec includes the time required for the data line to pull up to a high level after it is released . the state of the 1 - wire data line must be read by the host within 15 μsec after the start of the read time slot . after this time , the state of the data is not guaranteed . all read time slots must be a minimum of 60 microseconds in duration with a minimum of a one microsecond valid access recovery time between individual read time slots . the 1 - wire protocol can be viewed as having three distinct layers . these layers are the presence detect layer 20 , the reset layer 18 , and the command layer 21 . the presence detect layer 20 is used to signal to a host device either 1 ) that a new device has been attached to the 1 - wire port , or 2 ) the device ( s ) on the 1 - wire have cleared previous commands ( after a reset pulse ). this handshake is used for feedback to the host . after presence detect , all devices on the 1 - wire are ready for the next command . the 1 - wire port from the host remains at a logic high level during quiescent times between read and write time slots . this high time must be present for a minimum of 15 μsec before the new device can assert a presence detect signal . the presence detect signal will be a logic low level asserted by the newly attached device which remains low for a maximum of 240 μsec and is then released . this low logic level can be detected by the host and used as an interrupt condition for the host processor . the reset layer is used to reset the attached 1 - wire devices . this allows the host to place the 1 - wire device or devices into a known state at any time . the reset signal consists of a logic low level asserted by the host for a minimum of 480 μsec . after this , the host must release the 1 - wire signal line and allow it to rise to a logic high level . this high logic level must be maintained by the host for a minimum of 480 μsec before any data can be exchanged . during this logic high time , any device present on the 1 - wire signal line will assert its presence - detect waveform . the ds2404 interrupts are provided on two pins , the irq , pin 2 , and the i / o , pin 11 in the table 1 , which describes the pin layout . the irq pin is normally high and will transition to a logic 0 level when an interrupt occurs . the i / o pin will send a high to low pulse when a interrupt occurs . the duration of this pulse is 3 . 0 msec . if communication is occurring on the i / o pin when an internal interrupt is generated , the interrupt will not be sent until the user generates a reset pulse to stop communications . the reset pulse is normally 480 μsec in duration . when the reset is sent , the interrupt pulse width will be added to the reset pulse . the resultant pulse will be typically 3 . 5 msec in duration . to use the i / o interrupt , the user must sample the i / o signal after the 480 μsec to determine if the interrupt signal is active . if i / o signal is in the idle mode , the interrupt pulse will pull the i / o low for 3 msec . idle mode is defined as : 1 . reset pulse has been sent , 2 . no communication has occurred for 1 msec after the presence pulse was sent , and the i / o signal is at a vih level . to reset the irq , pin 2 , the status register , address 0200h , is read . reading this register will clear all interrupt flags . see control register definition . there are four commands which can be issued by the host on the 1 - wire port . these are : upon recognition of the command word [ 33 hex ], the ds2404 is ready to respond to the next eight read time slots with the type identifier number . this number is a hexadecimal 02 and is unique to the ds2404 part . after receipt by the host of the type identifier number , the ds2404 is ready to output the unique 48 - bit serial number contained within the device . the host must issue 48 read time slots to retrieve this number . following the 48 - bit serial number is an 8 - bit cyclic redundancy check ( crc ) value . this crc value has been calculated over the type identifier and serial number , 56 bits total , using the following polynomial : this calculated value is then lasered into the part at the time of manufacture . to read the crc value , the host must issue eight additional read time slots . the match rom data command 12 ( in fig2 a ) is used as a device select when multiple 1 - wire devices are connected to a single bus . this command allows the host to address any one of the multiple 1 - wire devices on an individual basis . to do a match rom data command 12 , the host must issue the command [ 55 hex ] to the device with eight write time slots . following the command byte , the host must write the desired device &# 39 ; s type identifier , serial number , and crc byte . if all of these values match the data stored internally in the rom , the ds2404 can now be accessed using the standard ds2404 commands and protocol . if any of the bit values transmitted by the host fail to match the rom data pattern , the access will be terminated . to return from a pattern fail condition , the host must issue a reset command : ______________________________________ type id 48 bit serial number crc transmit ------------------& gt ; ______________________________________ the search rom data command 14 ( in fig2 a ) allows me host 1 - wire device to poll efficiently to determine the unique rom address of all devices on the 1 - wire bus . in this mode , each of the bits of the rom data requires three time slots on the 1 - wire bus . the first two time slots are read time slots in which the ds2404 transmits back to the host the value of the rom bit followed by its complement . the third time slot is a write time slot in which the host supplies its desired value for the rom bit . the ds2404 then compares the desired value with the actual rom bit . if they disagree , the ds2404 will go to a high impedance state until a reset is issued by the host . if the bits agree , the ds2404 increments its internal counter to point to the next bit in the rom data and then repeats the same set of three time slots for the next bit . if all bits of the rom are matched correctly , the host may access the ds2404 with the standard command structure for the part . the following example of the rom search process assumes two different ds2404s are connected to the same 1 - wire bus . the rom data of the two ds2404s begins as shown : 1 . the host begins by resetting all devices present on the 1 - wire bus . 2 . the host will then issue the search rom data command on the 1 - wire bus . 3 . the host executes two read time slots and receives a zero bit followed by a one bit . this indicates that all devices still coupled have zero as their first rom bit . 4 . the host executes a write zero time slot as the third slot in the set of three . this action keeps rom ≠ and rom1 coupled . 5 . the host executes two read time slots and receives a zero bit followed by a one bit . this indicates that all devices still coupled ( rom ≠ and rom1 ) have a zero as their second rom bit . 6 . the host supplies a write zero time slot as the third time slot to keep rom ≠ rom1 coupled . 7 . the host executes two read time slots and receives two zero bits . this indicates that both one bits and zero bits exist as the third bit of the rom i . d .&# 39 ; s of the devices coupled . 8 . the host executes as write zero time slot as the third bit . this decouples rom ≠, leaving only rom1 still coupled . 9 . the host reads the remainder of the rom bits for rom1 using three time slots for each bit . after this , the host can communicate to the underlying logic if desired . this completes the first rom i . d . search pass , in which one of the devices was found . 10 . the host starts a new rom search by repeating steps 1 through 7 above . 11 . the host supplies a write one time slot as the third bit . this decouples rom1 , leaving only rom ≠ still connected . 12 . the host reads the remainder of the rom i . d . bits for rom ≠ and communicates with the underlying logic if desired . if more devices are present on the 1 - wire , the same structure as presented above will be used to determine the unique rom i . d . of each attached device . as soon as multiple devices are detected , a series of writes will be used to disable that branch in the search path . the host learns the unique address ( rom data pattern ) of one 1 - wire device on each rom search operation . the time required to derive the part &# 39 ; s unique address is : the host is therefore capable of identifying 75 different 1 - wire devices per second . additionally , the data obtained from the two read time slots of each set of three time slots have the following interpretations : 00 -- there are still devices attached which have conflicting bits in this position . 01 -- all devices still coupled have a zero bit in this bit position . 10 -- all devices still coupled have a one bit in this bit position . 11 -- there are no devices attached to the 1 - wire bus ( this is an error condition ). the pass - thru command is used to allow a host connected to the 1 - wire bus to gain access to the ds2404 directly . it can be used only when there is one ds2404 on the 1 - wire bus . this command bypasses the serial number internal to the ds2404 and allows the host to directly control the ds2404 with the ds2404 commands and protocol . the 3 - wire bus is comprised of three signals . these are the rst ( reset ) signal , the clk ( clock ) signal , and the dq ( data ) signal . all data transfers are initiated by driving the rst input high . the rst signal provides a method of terminating a data transfer . a clock cycle is a sequence of a falling edge followed by a rising edge . for data inputs , the data must be valid during the rising edge of a clock cycle . command bits and data bits are input on the rising edge of the clock and data bits are output on the falling edge of the clock . all data transfers terminate if the rst is low and the dq pin goes to a high impedance state . when data transfers to the ds2404 are terminated by the rst signal going low , the transition of the rst going low must occur during a high level of the clk signal . failure to ensure that the clk signal is high will result in the corruption of the last bit transferred . the command bytes are the same for 1 - wire and 3 - wire . the ds2404 can utilize both the 1 - wire and the 3 - wire busses simultaneously . neither input bus has priority over the other . instead , if both inputs are being used , the signal arriving first will take precedence . more simply , if the 1 - wire interface becomes active before the 3 - wire interface , all communications will take place on the 1 - wire bus . the 3 - wire bus will be ignored in this case . the same condition occurs for the 1 - wire interface if the 3 - wire interface becomes active first . the command byte is sent to select read memory , read scratch , write scratch , or copy scratch to memory . after the command byte 2 ≠ fh , 2 address bytes must be sent . these bytes define the target page ( s0 - s15 ) where the data written into the scratch page will be copied . addressing is on page boundaries . data written to the scratch page beyond the 32nd byte will be ignored . this address will be saved in the scratch page and will be sent to the user for verification when the scratch page is read . see copy scratch page to secure memory page and read scratch page definition . after the last address bit ( s15 ) is sent , the user can begin to write to the scratch page at the byte address ( s0 - s4 ). if less than 8 bits are written into a byte , the partial byte flag ( pf ) is set ( bit e5 ). if this flag is set and a copy scratch page to secure memory page command is sent , the bytes will be copied as is to the target address page . if data is sent beyond the last byte in the page , the additional bytes / bits are ignored and the overflow flag ( of ) will be set to a &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; ( bit e6 ). flags e5 and / or e6 will be cleared only when new data is written to the scratch page that does not have partial byte and / or overflow condition . after the command byte 21 , 5ah , the user can start to read scratch page data . the first 3 bytes read will be the last target address ( s0 - s15 ) sent by a write scratch command and a byte containing the ending byte address ( e0 - e4 ), overflow flag ( of ) bit e5 , partial byte flag ( pf ) e6 , and authorization accepted ( aa ) bit e7 . if a copy scratch to secure memory command ( in fig2 b ) is sent and the authorization code is not accepted , bit e7 is set to zero . this bit will be set to a &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; if the code matches . it will be reset when the next write to scratch page command 2 ( in fig2 b ) is sent with a target address . flags e5 and / or e6 will be cleared only when new data is written to the scratch page that does not have partial byte and / or overflow condition . the data is then read from the starting address . to stop reading , a reset pulse is sent by the user . if reading occurs beyond the end of the page , all &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; s will be read and a reset will be required to regain access to the ds2404 . copy scratch page to secure memory page ( command byte a5h ) 6 ( in fig2 b ) after the command byte , the user sends the target address ( s0 - s15 ) and the ending address / status byte ( e0 - e7 ) that was read from the scratch page during verification of scratch data . this target address and ending address is verified internally and when matched , the data in the scratch page is copied to secure memory . bit e7 ( aa ) will be set to a logic ` 1 `. ( see read scratch memory for bits e0 - e7 definition ). read secure memory page ( command byte f ≠ h ) 2 ( in fig2 b ) the user must send 2 bytes ( s0 - s15 ) after the command , f ≠ h . the bits , s0 - s4 , select the beginning byte address within the page ( 0 - 31 ). bits s5 - s15 select the page address . the user can read bytes until a reset pulse is sent or until the last byte in the last page is read . if reading is attempted beyond the last byte in the last page , only logic &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; s will be read . a reset pulse is required to regain access to the ds2404 . these bits are read / write bits that define the target page address and the byte address within the page . bits are active when set to a logic &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;. s0 - s4 define the byte address within a selected page . s5 - s15 define the target page address . secure memory pages = 0000h - 01ffh = sixteen ( 256 bit ) pages . the term &# 34 ; secure memory &# 34 ; is used to define memory that can only be read . to write to this memory , the user must write to the scratch page , verify the data in the page , and authorize the coping of that data to secure memory . the user can start reading any where in the memory map and continue reading until a reset is sent by the user . if reading continues beyond the last byte in the last page , only logic &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; s will be sent . the user will be required to send a reset pulse ( 480 μsec ) before access will again be granted . if more than 32 bytes are read when reading scratch memory page , only logic &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; s will be read until the user sends a reset pulse . control register ( 0200h ) for better understanding of the preferred architecture , the following is a more detailed analysis of the control register assignments . mode select register -- all alarm flags will be reset to a logic low state when the correct bit of this register is read . bit 0 = rtcf = the rtc alarm has occurred and set this bit to a logic &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; state . this bit will clear when bit 1 has been read . this is a read only bit . bit 1 = etcf = this bit is set to a logic &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; when the elapsed time alarm occurs . this bit will clear when bit 1 has been read . this is a read only bit . bit 2 = rtce = this bit , set to a logic &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, will enable the interrupt for the real - time clock alarm . when the alarm condition exists , bit 0 will be set to a logic &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; and an irq will be generated . this is a read / write bit . note : all interrupts will be held in a pending condition if communication is detected on the i / o pin . when the communication has completed , the interrupt will be sent to the host . bit 3 = etce = this bit , set to a logic &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, will enable the interrupt for the elapsed time clock alarm . when the alarm condition exists , bit 1 will be set to a logic &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; and an irq will be generated . this is a read / write bit . note : interrupts generate on the 1 - wire i / o address will be held in a pending condition if communication is detected on the i / o pin . when communication has completed , the interrupt will be sent to the host via the i / o pin . bit 4 = osc = this bit is set to a logic &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; to enable the clock oscillator . bit 5 = dsel = delay select bit . this bit is used to select a delay time for starting the elapsed timer in auto mode . see bit 7 definition for auto . when set to a logic 0 , the delay for starting and stopping the elapsed timer is 3 . 4 + 0 . 5 msec . when set to a logic 1 , the delay will be 123 + 2 msec . bit 6 =/ elap = manual start / stop command bit . this bit is set to a logic &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; to start the elapsed time clock . setting this bit to a logic &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; will stop the elapsed time clock . bit 7 must be set to a logic &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; to use the elapsed timer in the manual mode . bit 7 = auto = this bit , when set to a logic &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, enables the elapsed time clock in the automatic mode . the elapsed timer will start or stop depending on the voltage levels on the i / o input and the bit 5 setting . the requirements for this are listed below . example : when bit 5 is set to a logic 1 , the elapsed time will start when the voltage applied to the i / o pin is greater than 2 volts and has been at this voltage level longer than 123 + 2 msec with no transitions on the i / o . the elapsed time will stop when the voltage on the i / o pin is less than 0 . 8 volts for 123 + 2 msec with no transitions on the i / o pin . the elapsed time registers will accumulate on time . one start state followed by a stop state is defined as one cycle . when bit 7 is set to a logic &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, the elapsed timer can be controlled by bit 6 , and the cycle counter will no longer count cycles until returned to auto mode . the real - time clock register and alarm register are located at address 0201h - 0205h and 020bh - 20fh . the real - time clock is assigned address 0201 - 0205h . the clock and alarm data is in binary format with the lsb equal to 256th of a second . the total count of the 5 bytes is a calendar of 136 years . the alarm is a match of bits in the alarm bytes to the rtc bytes . the alarm registers are located 020bh - 020fh . the elapsed time and alarm registers are located at address 206h - 20ah and 210h - 214h . the elapsed time registers will accumulate the time in binary format with the lsb = 256th of a second . the elapsed time alarm ( bytes 10h - 14h ) is programmed by the user and an alarm condition exists when the alarm byte count matches the elapsed time bytes count . the cycle count registers require 3 bytes . these registers will accumulate the ( binary ) number of times the voltage at the i / o pin transitions from low to high level and back to a low level . one cycle is defined in the bit 7 auto definition . these registers can be cleared only by the user writing &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; s to these registers . the time base for counting cycles is determined by the dsel bit 5 . fig1 shows the high - level physical layout of the chip used in the presently preferred embodiment . the crystal - controlled oscillator , in the presently preferred embodiment , is essentially the same as that described in u . s . application ser . no . 499 , 853 , filed mar . 27 , 1990 , entitled &# 34 ; feedback - controlled oscillator &# 34 ; ( dsc - 74b ), which is hereby incorporated by reference . the parent and grandparent applications have issued as u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 871 , 982 and 4 , 912 , 435 , which are both hereby incorporated by reference . the oscillator output , in the presently preferred embodiment , is divided down to produce a &# 34 ; tick &# 34 ; signal at 256 hz . fig3 a through 3f are an overlaid set of maskwork patterns , showing the principal levels of the layout actually used , in the presently preferred embodiment , for the integrated ram - counter array . fig3 a shows the n - well pattern . the black parts of this pattern are areas where n - type dopant ions will be implanted to form n - well regions ( where pmos devices can be fabricated ). in the remaining areas , the doping will remain p -, and nmos devices can be fabricated there . fig3 a shows the well implant maskwork pattern . in particular , memory cells 303a and 303c correspond to memory cells , which comprise part of the special function register 5 ( in fig1 ). cell 303a contains alarm data and cell 303c contains time - keeping information . fig3 b shows the &# 34 ; active &# 34 ; pattern . in the black areas of this pattern , crystalline semiconductor material will be left exposed , so that a mos transistor will be created wherever the polysilicon pattern crosses the active pattern . the other areas shown in fig3 b will be covered with a thick field oxide . fig3 c shows the polysilicon pattern . the polysilicon layer ( shown in black ) provides transistor gates , and also is used for interconnects . fig3 d shows the p + implant pattern . in the black areas , p - type ions will be implanted . this implant will be blocked by polysilicon ( where present ) and by thick field oxide , wherever those are present ; but in other locations this implant will form the p + source / drain regions of pmos transistors . a complementary mask is used to bring the implantation of n + dopants , to form the n + source / drain regions of nmos transistors . both of these implants are high - dose , low - energy implants , to form shallow , heavily doped source / drain regions . fig3 e shows the contact pattern . each little black square shows a location where a contact hole will be open in the interlevel oxide . thus , overlying metal layer will make contact to the polysilicon layer , or to the silicon active area , wherever one os these contacts occurs . fig3 f shows the metal pattern used , in the presently preferred embodiment . these figures show accurate relative dimensions , and are all drawn to the same scale . thus , while these drawings , of course , do not show absolute dimensions , the relative dimensions are accurately shown . in the sram array , each cell 301 contains two principal nodes , which are labeled &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; b &# 34 ; for one of the cells shown . each of these principal nodes is accessed by a pass transistor p a or p b , and is either being pulled down by a driver transistor d a or d b , or else is being pulled up by a load transistor l a or l b . the pass transistors p a and p b serve to connect the principal nodes a and b to a pair of metal bit lines , bl k and bl k . the ground voltage v ss is routed around the memory array using metal lines . however , note that the power supply voltage , v dd , is routed in a direction parallel to the rows , using a long n + diffused region . ( in the counter cell , v dd is brought in on a metal line ; but this is not necessary for the ram array .) although there appear to be two rows of memory cells shown , the rightmost row ( of cells 302 ) is actually not functional , but is a dummy : note how the active area is interrupted , so that the pass transistors are not able to make contact to the bit lines . the whole purpose of this dummy row is to provide a capacitance , as seen by the dummy word line wl d , which is exactly equal to the capacitance which an operational row of cells provides to its word line wl n . ( thus , by using the voltage on the dummy word line wl d to drive a logic transition , the peripheral logic can tell when the selected one of the real word line has been charged up to a high enough voltage to open the pass transistors in the selected cells .) note how three of the column line pairs ( bl k and bl k through bl k + 2 and bl k + 2 ) shown simply stop at the edge of the array of memory cells . only the fourth pair of column lines ( bl k + 3 and bl k + 3 ) continues up through the counter arrays . the layout shown includes only one bit of one counter chain . the column line pair continues upward , through the stage shown , into the corresponding stage of the next counter chain , and then into the corresponding stage of the third counter chain , and so on . in the presently preferred embodiment , there are three counter chains , each including 41 - bit stages , but of course this number can readily be increased or decreased as desired . in fact , one of the advantages of the disclosed innovations is that they provide a fully saleable architecture for multiple counters of any size . note that two word lines run along each counter chain : one word line is used to address the stored count value , and one word line is used to address the stored alarm value . note that the one - bit counter stage also includes two bits of sram memory . one of these two cells is used to store the one - bit of count value for this stage , and one - bit is used to store the alarm value for this stage . the logic integrated in this counter stage includes a digital comparator , which will pull down the match line if a match is not detected . ( thus , all of these digital comparator circuits are effectively wire - anded together , and an overall match will be detected if , and only if , a match is detected at every bit position .) in addition to the match line , two other lines which run to every cell are ff2l and l2ff . when the line ff2l is driven active ( high ), each flip - flop will transfer its state to the corresponding gated latch . this latch can then be read out over the column line pair , by driving the time data word line . in the presently preferred embodiment , separate ff2l and l2ff lines are provided for each of the three counter chains . however , alternatively , these lines could be connected to be common to all the counter chains . in the presently preferred embodiment , the ff2l line is driven high at the start of any user - read operation . the protocol used , in the presently preferred embodiment , requires address arguments with any read command . communication of these arguments , in the required serial protocol , provides enough time for any ongoing ripple through the counter to be completed , and for transfer of the counter data to the accessible latch cell of each stage , before the selected word line can go high to begin data access . ( a signal ripple -- done is used , in the presently preferred embodiment , to indicate that any ongoing rippling should be completed .) thus , the consumption of battery charge caused by this operation is avoided , except when strictly necessary . the l2ff signal is wired in a similarly parallel connection , but serves merely to provide a transfer in the opposite direction ( from the accessible latch back to the flip - flop stage .) each stage provides a one - bit data output trtc which clocks the next stage of the counter chain . the very first stage of the counter chain is clocked by a divided down signal that is clocked directly by the divided - down oscillator signal . in the presently preferred embodiment , the first stage is clocked at a frequency of 256 hertz , and the total number of stages is 40 . thus , this counter stage will not overflow for approximately 126 years . in the presently preferred embodiment , the ram / counter array is laid out as two half arrays , with some peripheral logic in the center . ( of course , other subarray organizations can be used instead if desired .) however , in the presently preferred embodiment , the gap between the two half - arrays is used for insertion of a test clock signal into the trtc and tect lines . ( a problem with long counter chains is that , even if a fast test clock is applied , the time to propagate this signal through the whole counter chain would be unacceptably long ). note that each counter stage , in the layout of fig3 includes two gated latches : one of these holds one bit of the time data , and the other holds one bit of alarm data . fig4 b1 shows the circuitry used , in the presently preferred embodiment , to generate a parallel transfer signal ( ff2l ) at the start of every read operation . fig2 a and 2b are a single flow chart , on two sheets , showing the sequence of operations used , in the presently preferred embodiment , to interface to the one - wire bus , and to respond to memory read , scratchpad read , scratchpad write , and scratchpad copy commands . three modes of self - disablement are provided in the chip in the presently preferred embodiment . the chip of the presently preferred embodiment is laid out in three separate power supply domains . thus , one side may be operational when the other side is totally powered down . thus , signal lines crossing the power boundary may be in a floating condition . to prevent the potential of a floating line from pulling an input buffer into its high - current region , weak loads are connected to the signal lines . to prevent the weak loads from dissipating excessive amounts of current , the signal lines running across the power boundary are fed through one - shot circuits before they cross the power boundary . thus , the weak load provides no dc current draw . this relationship may be applied only to signals originating on one side of the power boundary , or alternatively , to signals originating on either side of the power boundary . fig4 a7 - 4a9 show three slightly different versions of the circuitry used to transmit signals across a power - supply - domain boundary , in the used in the presently preferred embodiment . fig5 shows a plan view of an innovative socket which can be used in combination with the chip of the presently preferred embodiment . the pattern of pin holes 503 in this particular socket is arranged to match a 40 - pin dip footprint , which is particularly convenient for use with an 8 - bit microprocessor or microcontroller . however , of course , other standard pinout definitions can be used instead . in the plan view shown , a small circuit board 507 is visible through openings in the module &# 39 ; s top surface 505 . wiring traces on the circuit board 507 are routed so that a glob of solder can easily bridge any one of the solder - option - terminal pairs 501a / 501b . in the embodiment shown , a solder - option - terminal pair 501a / 501b has been provided for each of the pin holes 503 , except pins 20 and 40 . the pin numbers are indicated for pins 1 - 6 , to show the corresponding assignments of solder - option - terminal pairs 501a / 501b with pin holes 503 . in this embodiment , the base of the socket module holds a lithium - cell battery and an integrated circuit which has a one - wire interface . ( for example , in the preferred embodiment the integrated circuit is as shown in fig4 .) all of the terminals 501b are connected to the one - wire - bus terminal of this integrated circuit . fig4 a6 shows the innovative power - on - reset circuit of the chip which is used in the presently preferred embodiment , and fig6 a - 6d show a detailed simulation of the timing of voltages appearing at various nodes in the power - on - reset circuit of fig4 a6 . node pint is pulled up by an integration capacitor to vdd2 , and pulled down by a weak nmos pull - down to ground . the capacitor , in the presently preferred embodiment , is a mos capacitor of 40 microns square . the pull - down at node pint , in the presently preferred embodiment , has a nominal width of 5 microns and a nominal length of 200 microns . node pint , followed by an inverter chain , provides an initial pulse - generating circuit . this circuit element produces a pulse , as desired , when power is first applied . however , this circuit element will also produce a pulse on nodes pint and pint1 if a transient voltage increase is seen on the power supply line . the pull - down transistor on node pint will provide an approximate reference voltage , since it will not turn on until node pint exceeds its threshold voltage . the behavior of the voltage at node pint is very similar to that of prior art power - on - reset circuits . fig6 a shows the behavior of nodes pint , vdd2 , a , b , and por2 as the power supply vdd comes up . in this graph ( and in fig6 b ), the right edge of the : graph corresponds to a time about 20 nanoseconds after vdd2 begins its rise from zero volts . nodes a and b are driven by a totally symmetric cross - coupled pair of gates . ( in the presently preferred embodiment , these are nand gates with w p / w n 1 sizes of 17 . 7 / 10 .) since this circuit is symmetric , the relation of nodes a and b , as power is supplied , will be unknown . note that the particular divergence of nodes a and b is random and unpredictable . that is , if power is repeatedly reapplied to a given circuit , sometimes node a will go high , and sometimes node b will . moreover , the delay before these nodes begin to diverge may also be somewhat variable . however , due to the cross - coupling of this circuit , it will settle into one of two possible states . in cmos logic design , &# 34 ; w p &# 34 ; refers to the nominal width of the pmos device in a cmos gate , and w n refers to the nmos width . similarly , l p and l n refer to the respective nominal lengths , and v tp and v tn refer to the respective threshold voltages . logic gate parameters are often also stated as a ratio w p / w n , in which case it is assumed that l p and l n are equal to the minimum geometry . the device parameters of a logic gate may also be stated more fully , as w p / l p , w n / l n . the presently preferred embodiment has been realized with a minimum nominal ( drawn ) dimension of 1 . 2 microns . of course , as is well known to processing engineers , the actual dimensions may vary from the nominal dimensions , and the nominal dimensions can readily be varied according to known scaling laws . nodes a and b are each separately connected to drive a respective highly asymmetrical inverter . in the preferred embodiment , the pmos transistor of each inverter is relatively strong ( with a nominal w / l , in the presently preferred embodiment , of 25 / 1 . 2 ), and the nmos transistor of each inverter is relatively weak ( nominal w / l , in the presently preferred embodiment , of 5 / 10 ). ( by contrast , with the device and process parameters used in the presently preferred embodiment , a normal symmetrical inverter , with a trip point about halfway between vdd and ground , would have a pmos width only about twice the nmos width , with both at the minimum length of 1 . 2 microns .) these two asymmetrical inverters produce outputs a * and b *. these two nodes a * and b * are each separately fed into a respective blocking gate , together with node pint1 . again , the relative states of nodes a * and b * are initially unknown ; but even after the metastable state resolves , at least one of these nodes will have a state which permits the blocking gate to propagation of the pulse from node pint1 . until nodes a and b diverge , to produce a definite logic state which is propagated through , these asymmetric inverters provide an output which is dominated by their strong side ( the pull - up side , in the presently preferred embodiment ). thus , in the presently preferred embodiment , nodes a * and b * will initially follow the power supply voltage up , until one of the nodes a or b goes low enough to switch the following inverter . fig6 b shows the behavior of nodes pint , vdd2 , a *, b *, and por2 as the power supply vdd comes up . note that nodes a * and b * diverge somewhat later than nodes a and b . the outputs c and d of the blocking gates are propagated into a combining gate which , in the presently preferred embodiment , is a nor gate . thus , if a reset pulse has propagated through either of the blocking gates , to either node c * or to node d *, it will propagate on through the combining gate to nodes por1 and por2 . fig6 c shows the behavior of nodes pint , vdd2 , a *, b *, and por2 over a longer period of time . in this graph , the right edge of the graph corresponds to a time about 2000 nanoseconds after vdd2 begins its rise from zero volts . fig6 d shows the behavior of nodes vdd2 , pint , and por2 over a much longer period of time . in this graph ( and in fig6 b ), the right edge of the graph corresponds to a time about 2000 nanoseconds after vdd2 begins its rise from zero volts . in this graph , the right edge of the graph corresponds to a time about 50 , 000 nanoseconds ( 50 μsec ) after vdd2 begins its rise from zero volts . node pint is followed by a strongly asymmetric inverter . this inverter , in the presently preferred embodiment , has dimensions of 5 / 10 , 25 / 1 . 2 , which gives it a threshold voltage of about 250 mv . thus , after vdd has come up , this inverter will switch only if pint declines to a very low level . when this inverter switches , node pint1 will be driven low , and nodes c and d will be driven high ( regardless of the state of nodes a * and b *). both inputs c * and d * to the combining gate will therefore be low , and nodes por1 ( and por2 ) will be driven high . when node por1 goes low , nodes a and b will both be driven high , and nodes a * and b * will be driven low . in this state , the combining gates &# 39 ; outputs c and d are forced high , regardless of the state of node pint1 . thus , the circuit will now remain in a stable state for as long as the power supply is above the minimum , regardless of any further glitches which may occur . this operation may be seen in fig6 d . the time scale of this figure is long enough to show the slowly declining voltage of node pint . when this gets down to about a quarter of a volt , the por signal goes low and node por1 goes low . in the example of fig6 d , it was assumed that a major power supply glitch occurred thereafter ( at time 45 μsec ), and this glitch pulled up the voltage of node pint ; but the simulation indicated that even this strong surge did not cause a por signal to be generated . it should be noted that the device sizings and ratios given are merely illustrative , and help to show the workings of the preferred embodiment in the fullest possible detail . all of the - specific numbers given can be varied , in ways which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art of integrated circuit design . moreover , signal polarities can be changed , logic gate types can be changed , and additional stages added or dropped in the signal propagation paths shown . fig4 shows the high - level circuit organization of the chip used in the presently preferred embodiment . note that this diagram includes circuit blocks div , pf , io , por , ram , sfr , cntl , and osc . div 7 refers to the divider circuitry , which primarily divides the frequency produced from oscillator ( osc 17 ), which is approximately 32 khz , to approximately 256 hz . pf refers to the power failure circuitry , which v cc drops below feedback ( battery voltage ) to stop communication on the serial interface and triggers a back - up mode . io 9 refers to the input / output circuitry , which refers to the type of interface ( i . e ., one - wire , three - wire interface ), and also contains all the rom protocol functions . por 1 refers to power on reset circuitry , which helps initialize particular circuitry to the desired state . ram 11 refers to the random access memory circuitry , which comprises the memory cells . sfr 5 refers to the special function register circuitry , which is comprised of the alarm registers , clock functions , time of day counters , interval counters , cycle counters , control registers , and status registers . osc 17 refers to the crystal oscillator . cntl 15 refers to the circuitry required to perform the memory function commands . fig4 a shows the circuit organization of circuit block io , which was referred to in fig4 . note that this figure itself contains blocks pwrcap , battest , rtos , portarb , owprot , por2 , iobuf , and outbuf . pwrcap 31 refers to the power cap circuitry , which is shown in fig4 a1 and is discussed below . battest 33 refers to the battery test circuitry , which is shown in fig4 a3 and is discussed below . rtos 35 refers to the state circuitry for the one - wire interface , which is shown in fig4 a2 and is discussed in detail below . portarb 37 refers to the port arbitration logic circuitry to handle the one to three wire interface , which is discussed in more detail below . owprot 39 refers to the one wire protocol circuitry , which is shown in fig4 a4 and discussed in more detail below . por2 41 refers to the second power on reset circuitry , which is shown in fig4 a6 and is discussed in more detail below . iobuf 43 refers to the input / output buffer circuitry , which is shown in fig4 a5 and discussed in detail below . outbuf 45 refers to the out buffer circuitry , which is discussed below . fig4 a1 shows the circuit organization of circuit block pwrcap , which was referred to in fig4 a . note that this figure itself contains six diodes , from each of the three incoming lines rst , io , and vcc , to each of the two power - storage capacitors shown . storage capacitor cap - vdd2 feeds the power supply line vdd2 . storage capacitor cap - vdd3 feeds the power supply line vdd3 . connections to the primary on - chip power supply vdd are shown , as is conventional , by an upward lead to a short horizontal line . connections to capacitor - fed supply vdd2 are shown by an upward lead to two horizontal lines , and connections to capacitor - fed supply vdd3 are shown by an upward lead to three horizontal lines . fig4 a2 shows the circuit organization of circuit sub - block rtos , which was referred to in fig4 a . note that this figure itself contains a block labelled tposc which refers to time period oscillator circuitry which is the actual oscillator . the other circuitry in block rtos performs oscillator overhead and control functions . fig4 a2a shows the circuit organization of circuit block tposc , which was referred to in fig4 a2 . this is a cross - coupled oscillator , which provides additional stability in characteristics . ( such oscillator characteristics are more fully reviewed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 868 , 525 ( dsc - 99 ), which is hereby incorporated by reference .) this oscillator provides the timing for operations over the one - wire bus . the primary clock oscillator is shown as block osc in fig4 . fig4 a3 shows the circuit organization of circuit block battest , which was referred to in fig4 a . this circuit detects battery failure . note that the circuitry shown crosses a power domain boundary : the portion on the left is powered by vdd , and the portion on the right is powered by vdd2 . thus a level - translator circuit block lvlt -- cs is used twice . this block is described below in detail . circuit block portarb , which was referred to in fig4 a , simply contains the circuitry for arbitration between the one - wire and three - wire ports . this arbitration circuitry normally gives the three - wire port priority over the one - wire port , but this priority can be reversed by a simple fuse programmation . fig4 a4 shows the circuit organization of circuit block owprot , which was referred to in fig4 a . note that this figure itself contains sub - block owcmd , which refers to one wire command decode , ( which performs decoding in accordance with the one - wire protocol detailed below , and rom memory rom64 , which contains laser - programmable fuses encoding the unique id of each particular chip . fig4 a10 details the particular circuitry involved in sub - block owcmd in fig4 a4 . fig4 a5 shows the circuit organization of circuit block iobuf , which was referred to in fig4 a . note that this circuit falls across three power supply domains , and level translators of two types ( detailed below ) are used . an incoming signal on line io is received by gates in power domain vdd3 , and the corresponding output on line out is powered by supply vdd2 . fig4 a6 shows the circuit organization of circuit block por2 , which was referred to in fig4 a . this figure shows details of the preferred implementation of the innovative power - on - reset circuit which is used in the chip of the presently preferred embodiment . various nodes of this circuit diagram are labelled to correspond to the voltage traces analyzed in detail below . circuit block outbuf , which was referred to in fig4 a , is a simple gated latch . fig4 a7 shows the circuit organization of level - translator circuit block lvlt -- cs , which is referred to in fig4 a and elsewhere . this circuit is used to carry a signal across a power - domain boundary with a clear / set capability . fig4 a8 shows the circuit organization of level - translator circuit block lvlt -- ie , which is referred to in fig4 a and elsewhere . this circuit is used to carry a signal across a power - domain boundary , where the equilibrate signal is at the same level as the supply level on the input side of the translator . fig4 a9 shows the circuit organization of level - translator circuit block lvlt -- oe , which is referred to in fig4 a and elsewhere . this circuit is used to carry a signal across a power - domain boundary , where the equilibrate signal is at the same level as the supply level on the output side of the translator . the circuit block ram , which was referred to in fig4 is entirely conventional . this block contains a low - power sram array , with associated conventional decoding , timing , and buffer logic . as shown above in fig3 the counter array and ram array are in fact physically integrated ; but , in the circuit organization of fig4 the counter circuitry is included in the block &# 34 ; sfr &# 34 ; and not in the block &# 34 ; ram .&# 34 ; ( note that the top - level circuit diagram of fig4 shows some column lines running between block sfr and block ram .) fig4 b shows the special function register block sfr , which was referred to in fig4 . this block contains the three counter chains , with associated logic for accessing them . note that this figure contains sub - blocks sfdecode , tstdc0 , xfer , match , rtc00 - 04 , etc00 - 04 , cc00 - 03 , and control , status . spdecode 51 refers to special function decode circuitry , which is discussed in more detail below . tstdc0 53 refers to test decode circuitry , which is discussed in more detail below . xfer 55 refers to transfer circuitry , which is shown in fig4 b1 and discussed below . match 57 refers to alarm detection circuitry that exists when all the associated bits line up , which is shown in fig4 b2 and discussed in more detail below . rtc00 59a , rtc01 59b , rtc02 59c , and rtc03 59d refers to the integral time counter circuitry . etc01 61a , etc02 61b , etc03 61c , and etc04 61d refers to the elapsed time counter circuitry . cc00 63a , cc01 63b , cc02 63c , and cc03 63d refers to the cycle count circuitry . control 65 is the control circuitry that controls how the counters work , which is shown in fig4 b3 and discussed in more detail below . status 67 is the status circuitry that signals whether an alarm has occurred or not . fig4 b4 shows the actual detailed implementation of one bit of these counter chains . fig4 b1 shows the circuit organization of block xfer which is referred to in fig4 b . this circuitry receives a read - enable signal readrm , and the three clock signals rtc -- clk ( for the real - time clock ), etc -- clk ( for the elapsed - time clock ), and cc -- clk ( for the cycle counter ). when an attempted user read occurs , the circuitry shown drives the appropriate ff2l line ( ff2lr , ff2le , or ff2lc ) high , as long as the corresponding ripple - done line ( rtc -- rd , etc -- rd , or cc -- rd ) has already gone high . ( the ff2l is used to transfer the most current data into the user - accessible latches , as described elsewhere herein .) fig4 b2 shows the circuit organization of block match , which was referred to in fig4 b . this block detects the occurrence of an alarm condition in any of the counters . circuit block sfdecode , which was referred to in fig4 b , merely contains straightforward decode logic . circuit block tstdc0 , which was referred to in fig4 b , is connected to decode a 4 - bit test mode command tmode , and accordingly to drive of the lines tst -- sfr0 - 4 , tst -- pf , and / or tst -- div . circuit block status , which was referred to in fig4 b , is simply a collection of 8 latches ( 3 of them resettable ). fig4 b3 shows the circuit organization of block control , which was referred to in fig4 b . in addition to performing routine control functions , note that this circuitry generates a signal lock when a match occurs within any of the three counters . circuit blocks rtc00 - 04 , etc00 - 04 , and cc00 - 03 are simply the three counter chains . fig4 b4 shows the actual detailed implementation of one bit of these counter chains . the lines mrtc are chained together to provide a match - detect signal mat -- out . circuit block pf , which was referred to in fig4 simply compares the backup battery voltage vbatb against the system supply voltage vcc , and accordingly generates a power - fail warning signal pf , which is received by circuit block div . circuit block por , which was referred to in fig4 is identical to circuit block por2 shown in fig4 a6 , except that block por is connected to vdd rather than to vdd2 . this block generates an on - chip reset signal por , which is routed to the other circuit blocks . circuit block osc , which was referred to in fig4 is a crystal - controlled oscillator . in the presently preferred embodiment , this is essentially the same as that described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 871 , 982 ( dsc - 74 ), which is hereby incorporated by reference . circuit block div , which was referred to in fig4 divides down the output of the oscillator block osc , to produce the real - time - clock increment pulses rtc -- clk at 256 hz . this block also produces elapsed - timeclock pulses etc -- clk conditionally , and cycle - counter pulses cc -- clk when transitions are detected ( as described elsewhere herein ), and handles oscillator - halt commands . circuit block cntl , which was referred to in fig4 contains logic implementations of the various functions described herein . fig5 shows the innovative socket which can be used in combination with the chip of the presently preferred embodiment . port pens 1 - 39 in fig5 may be electrically shorted with solder , which along with jumper cables permits output pens to be customized at the point - of - sale . fig6 a - 6d show the voltages levels at nodes por , vdd , pint , a , and b , verses time , as shown in the upper right hand corner of each fig6 a - 6d , which were produced by spice simulations . please note that x1 , which precedes pint , a , and b in spice refers to subcircuit nodes . it will be recognized by those skilled in the art that the innovative concepts disclosed in the present application can be applied in a wide variety of contexts . moreover , the preferred implementation can be modified in a tremendous variety of ways . accordingly , it should be understood that the modifications and variations suggested below and above are merely illustrative . these examples may help to show some of the scope of the inventive concepts , but these examples do not nearly exhaust the full scope of variations in the disclosed novel concepts . it should also be noted that the disclosed innovations can easily be adapted to other integrated circuit architectures which include additional functions in addition to timekeeping . it should also be noted that the disclosed integrated circuit architecture , while particularly advantageous for clocks and other elapsed - time circuits , can also be applied to integrated circuits of other types . it should also be noted that the claimed innovations are not by any means limited to the specific bus protocol described . while the protocol of the presently preferred embodiment does appear ( as of the effective filing date of this application ) to have substantial advantages over alternative protocols , it may be anticipated that further developments and improvements in bus protocols will continue . thus , many of the disclosed inventions can be used with other serial protocols , or with non - serial bus interfaces . the present application contains several novel teachings which all help to provide reliable communications , over a low - data - rate noisy data channel , without risk of data corruption . these teachings are believed to combine synergistically ( as in the presently preferred embodiment ); but it is also possible to use some but not all of these teachings and still obtain advantages . as will be recognized by those skilled in the art , the innovative concepts described in the present application can be modified and varied over a tremendous range of applications , and accordingly the scope of patented subject matter is not limited by any of the specific exemplary teachings given . | 6 |
referring to fig1 - 5 , there is illustrated a hand tool in the nature of a ratcheting box end wrench 20 , constructed in accordance with and embodying the features of a first embodiment of the present invention . the wrench 20 has a non - metallic body 21 including an elongated handle 22 provided with heads 23 and 24 at the opposite ends thereof , which may be of the same or different sizes . the body 21 is formed of two molded parts 25 which are substantially identical in construction , wherefore like portions of each part will bear the same reference numbers , although one has been designated 25 a so that the two parts can be distinguished . preferably , each of the parts 25 and 25 a is injection molded of a non - metallic material , preferably a high - strength polymer , such as a 60 % glass - filled nylon material . each part has an elongated handle portion 26 provided at the opposite ends thereof with head portions 27 and 28 , the parts 25 and 25 a being joined with their inner sides facing each other along a parting line 29 , so that the handle portions 26 form the handle 22 , the head portions 27 form the head 23 and the head portions 28 form the head 24 . each of the parts 25 and 25 a includes an elongated , substantially flat base wall 30 provided around the periphery thereof with an upstanding peripheral side wall 31 , the opposite sides of which are joined by transverse walls 32 and 33 , respectively adjacent to the opposite ends of the handle portion 26 . projecting from the inner surface of the base wall 30 substantially the same height as the peripheral side wall 31 are three hollow cylindrical bosses 34 , two of which are respectively integral with the facing sides of the transverse walls 32 and 33 . each of the transverse walls 32 and 33 has formed on the opposite or head - facing side thereof two laterally spaced - apart and forwardly extending projections 35 . the peripheral side wall 31 has a flat planar end surface 36 substantially parallel to the base wall 30 , and cooperates with the transverse walls 32 and 33 to define two ratchet mechanism cavities 37 , respectively at the head portions 27 and 28 . formed through the base wall 30 in each of the cavities 37 is a large - diameter circular hole 38 . also formed in the base wall 30 in each cavity 37 is a smaller - diameter circular recess 39 aligned with the hole 38 axially of the wrench body 21 . respectively insert molded in the head portions 27 and 28 are reinforcing structures in the form of two appropriately sized substantially flat , generally pear - shaped reinforcing plates 40 ( see fig2 ), preferably formed of a suitable metal , such as steel . the reinforcing plates 40 are disposed in the base wall 30 substantially parallel to the inner and outer surfaces thereof , as can best be seen in fig4 and 5 , each plate 40 having a large - diameter gear hole 41 therethrough disposed substantially congruent to the hole 38 in the associated head portion 27 or 28 , and a smaller - diameter pawl hole 42 disposed substantially congruent with the associated recess 39 . each plate 40 is disposed in the associated head portion 27 or 28 at a depth slightly above the base of the recess 39 . each reinforcing plate also has formed therethrough two small - diameter holes 43 between the holes 41 and 42 , which are filled with the plastic material during the molding operation to assist in anchoring the reinforcing plate 40 in the part 25 and to help prevent pieces of the wrench from breaking of f in the event of an overload failure . referring to fig5 there is illustrated a portion of a mold apparatus 45 usable in molding the parts 25 . this apparatus preferably includes three core pins 46 to respectively define the cylindrical bosses 34 and core pins 47 and 48 ( one each shown ) for respectively forming the recesses 39 and the holes 38 . while , in the preferred embodiment , the parts 25 are formed by injection molding , it will be appreciated that other types of molding could be used , such as compression molding of layers of sheet molding compound by a technique similar to that disclosed in the aforementioned u . s . pat . no . 5 , 394 , 773 . the wrench 20 also includes two ratchet mechanisms 50 , respectively disposed in the heads 23 and 24 , the ratchet mechanisms 50 being substantially identical in construction , with the possible exception of size , wherefore only one will be described in detail . the ratchet mechanism 50 includes a ratchet gear 51 having an internal fastener - engaging surface 52 , which is illustrated as having a 12 - point configuration , but which could have any of a number of other different configurations , such as hexagonal , double hexagonal , square drive and the like . the gear 51 is provided at its outer periphery with radially outwardly extending and equiangularly spaced ratchet teeth 53 . the gear 51 is provided with a cylindrical hub 54 between the teeth 53 and the fastener - engaging surface 52 , which extends axially from the teeth 53 in both directions and is dimensioned to be rotatably received in the holes 38 of the associated wrench head 23 or 24 . the ratchet mechanism 50 also includes a pawl 55 , having a pivot hub or pin 56 dimensioned to be rotatably received in the recesses 39 of the wrench 20 for ratcheting engagement with the gear teeth 53 . a leaf spring 57 is seated in the space between the projections 35 and resiliently urges the pawl 55 into engagement with the gear teeth 53 in a known manner , as can best be see in fig3 . in assembly , the ratchet mechanisms 50 are seated in the head portions 27 and 28 of one part 25 a , as illustrated in the right - hand end of fig4 . then the other part 25 is fitted over the part 25 a , so that the ratchet mechanisms 50 are respectively confined in the cavities 37 , being completely encompassed by the base walls 30 and the peripheral side walls 31 of the parts 25 and 25 a . when thus assembled , it can be seen that the gear hubs 54 fit through the holes 41 in the reinforcing plates 40 , while the pawl hubs 56 fit through the holes 42 in the reinforcing plates 40 . the parts 25 and 25 a may be fixedly secured together by suitable means , such as by pins disposed in the aligned bosses 34 . however , it will be appreciated that any of a number of different joining techniques could be used , such as suitable adhesives , ultrasonic welding and the like , with appropriate modification of the structure of the parts 25 and 25 a as would be well understood by those of ordinary skill in the art . it is a significant aspect of the invention that , when thus assembled , the reinforcing plates 40 cooperate with the gears 51 and the pawls 55 of the ratchet mechanisms 50 to significantly increase the strength of the wrench 20 , increasing the ultimate torque at which failure is likely to occur . it is also important that the reinforcing plate 40 influences the failure mode such that , when the wrench 20 is tested to failure , the wrench tends not to break apart . also , because the reinforcing plates 40 engage the gears 51 and the pawls 55 , they positively inhibit the tendency of those ratchet mechanism parts to separate from each other during high - torque applications . all of these advantages are achieved in a relatively simple and economical construction . referring now to fig6 and 7 , there is illustrated an alternative embodiment of the present invention in the form of a ratcheting box end wrench , generally designated by the numeral 60 . the wrench 60 has a non - metallic body 61 including an elongated handle 62 provided with heads 63 and 64 at the opposite ends thereof . again , the body 61 is formed of two substantially identical parts 65 and 65 a , each including a handle portion 66 and head portions 67 and 68 . the handle portion 66 is substantially thicker than the heads portion 67 and 68 , being joined thereto by steps or shoulders 69 . formed in the handle portion 66 are three longitudinally spaced - apart , circular recesses 70 . integral with each of the shoulders 69 and projecting therefrom into the adjacent head portion 67 or 68 are a pair of laterally spaced - apart projections 71 . the ratchet mechanisms 50 are assembled in the parts 65 and 65 a in substantially the same manner as was described above in connection with the wrench 20 , with each leaf spring 57 being seated between the adjacent projections 71 . the parts 65 and 65 a may be joined by pins 72 or by any of the other alternative techniques described above . there results a ratcheting box end wrench 60 which is substantially like the wrench 20 , described above , except that , because the parts 65 and 65 a do not have the upstanding peripheral side wall , the ratchet mechanisms 50 are exposed between the head portions 67 and 68 . the wrench body of fig6 and 7 could be formed of a three - part construction rather a two - part construction . thus , referring to fig8 a wrench 75 is illustrated in which each of the outer body parts has substantially the same thickness along its entire length . instead of the steps or shoulders 69 , an intermediate spacer 76 is disposed between the handle portions of the outer parts , the spacer 76 having leaf spring seating recesses 77 formed in the opposite ends thereof and having pin holes 78 formed therethrough for receiving the joining pins 72 in the event that that joining technique is used . in addition to the joining techniques described above , the parts of the wrench body could be designed to be snap - fitted together . thus , referring to fig9 there is illustrated a wrench 80 formed of mating parts 81 and 81 a , respectively having laterally inwardly extending flanges 82 and 82 a along one side of the peripheral side wall thereof and having hooks 83 and 83 a at the opposite sides thereof , respectively having tabs 84 and 84 a designed to snap - fit into engagement with the flanges 82 a and 82 , as illustrated . while , in the preferred embodiments described above , the reinforcing structure is in the form of flat reinforcing plates 40 , it could be in the form of an elongated band . thus , referring to fig1 , there is illustrated a wrench part 85 , which is substantially identical to the wrench part 25 illustrated in fig3 except that the reinforcing structure is in the form of an elongated continuous band 86 defining a loop which encircles the hub 54 of the ratchet gear 51 and the hub 56 of the pawl 55 . preferably , the band 86 is in the form of a rigid metal band which is insert molded in the part 85 in the same manner as described above . principles of the present invention could also be applied to a non - ratcheting box end wrench . thus , referring to fig1 and 12 , there is illustrated a box end wrench 90 having a non - metallic body 91 with an elongated handle portion 92 and head portions 93 ( one shown ) at the opposite ends thereof . embedded in each of the head portions 93 is an annular , fastener - engaging insert 95 , preferably formed of a suitable metal and having an axial extent substantially equal to the thickness of the associated head portion 93 . if desired , the inserts 95 could be provided on the outer cylindrical surfaces thereof with suitable knurling , ridges or the like , more securely to grip the surrounding plastic and inhibit rotation of the insert 95 in the body 91 . preferably , the body 91 is formed by injection molding and the inserts 95 are insert molded therein . the inserts 95 are respectively disposed through complementary holes 96 in two reinforcing plates 97 ( one shown ), which are also insert molded in the body 91 centrally of the thickness thereof . the wrench 90 is illustrated as being of the type having offset heads , so the reinforcing plates are correspondingly offset , defining bend lines 98 . also formed through each of the reinforcing plates 97 is a plurality of holes 99 for receiving the body material therethrough , more securely to anchor the reinforcing plates 97 in place . the reinforcing plates 97 function in substantially the same manner described above , for strengthening the wrench 90 and for shifting the failure locations from the head portions 93 toward the handle portion 92 to failure that results in multiple pieces . the reinforcing plates 97 could be replaced by a reinforcing structure in the nature of an elongated , continuous band or loop . thus , referring to fig1 , there is illustrated a composite box end wrench 100 having a non - metallic body 101 including a handle portion 102 and head portions 103 and 104 , respectively having fastener - engaging inserts 105 embedded therein , as described above . also embedded in the body 101 , as by insert molding , is an elongated , continuous , reinforcing band 106 , which loops around the inserts 105 and extends the length of the body 101 . preferably , the opposite sides of the band 106 are held together by a plurality of fasteners 107 ( two shown ) between the head portions 103 and 104 to position the band 106 centrally of the handle portion 102 . the reinforcing band 106 could be formed of a suitable metal or , alternatively , could be formed of a non - metallic material of suitable strength , such as a pultruded ribbon of reinforced nylon or other suitable material of adequate strength . also , while the inserts 95 and 105 described above are preferably formed of a suitable - strength metal , such as steel , they could also be formed of non - sparking materials , such as non - sparking metal or a non - metallic material of suitable strength , toughness and wear resistance . referring to fig1 , there is illustrated another alternative embodiment of the present invention in the nature of a box end wrench 110 having a non - metallic body in which is embedded a fastener - engaging insert 115 . the wrench 110 may be substantially the same as the wrenches 90 and 100 described above , except that in this case the reinforcing structure is in the nature of a skeleton reinforcing frame 116 which , in addition to the large hole for receiving the insert 115 , has a large opening 117 and a plurality of smaller holes or openings 118 extending around the insert 115 for receiving plastic material therethrough for anchoring purposes . again , the reinforcing frame 116 could be formed of a suitable metal or , alternatively , of a suitable - strength non - metallic material . referring also to fig1 and 16 , there is illustrated another embodiment of the present invention , which includes a box end wrench substantially identical to the wrench 90 described above in connection with fig1 and 12 , except that in this case the inner body 91 of the wrench is provided with an outer sheath 120 which substantially surrounds the handle portion 92 . the sheath 120 is formed of a suitable non - metallic material which is more flexible than the inner body 91 , preferably a tough polymer , such as nylon 6 , and may be applied by over molding the handle portion 92 . also , the sheath 120 could be formed of a material which provides a soft feel to the touch to improve the ergonomics of the wrench and for enhanced gripping characteristics . in use , the sheath 120 will serve to retain parts of the wrench intact in the event of possible overload failure . in this regard , because the reinforcing plates 97 will tend to shift the failure location into the handle portion 92 , it has been deemed necessary only encapsulate the handle portion to achieve this object . referring to fig1 there is a similar embodiment in the nature of a box end wrench 130 having a non - metallic body 131 with a handle portion 132 and head portions 133 ( one shown ). in this case , each of the head portions 133 has a fastener - engaging opening 135 molding directly therein , rather than being provided by an insert . in this case , where the wrench has no insert molded parts , there is provided an outer sheath 136 which covers the entire wrench body 131 , except for the inside of the fastener - engaging openings 135 . thus , the sheath 136 , which could be applied by overmolding or dipping , will tend to retain the pieces of the wrench intact upon possible overload failure , regardless of where that failure may occur along the wrench . from the foregoing it can be seen that there has been provided an improved box end wrench of non - metallic construction , of either the ratcheting or non - ratcheting type , including embedded fastener - engaging inserts provided with reinforcing structure to strengthen the wrench and to change the failure mode thereof such that the wrench tends not to fracture into more than one piece , all while achieving a relatively simple and economical construction . there is also provided an improved wrench construction with an outer sheath for retaining parts of the wrench intact in the event of overload failure , as well as providing a more comfortable grip . while particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described , it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects . therefore , the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention . the matter set forth in the foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way of illustration only and not as a limitation . the actual scope of the invention is intended to be defined in the following claims when viewed in their proper perspective based on the prior art . | 8 |
turning now in detail to the drawings , fig1 shows the separation chamber 1 having the inclined base 2 which is provided with the drain aperture 3 by means of which the flotation residue is drawn off . the freshly conditioned pulp is supplied by means of a supply pipe 5 . the air is introduced into the pulp by means of the pneumatic air line 6 . the gas injection device 4 into which the air line 6 opens out is arranged at the upper end of the supply pipe 5 . at 7 the gassified pulp leaves this gas injection device 4 in the form of an enclosed free jet 7a . the enclosed free jet is formed by a guide column 8 which is essentially a pipe . when the free jet leaving the gas injection device is introduced into the guide column , then as a result of corresponding pressure ratios thinner pulp simultaneously enters at the aperture 9 from the separation chamber , coaxially with respect to the free jet 7a , and thins the free jet . this introduction of thinner pulp into the free jet , indeed from the beginning of the free jet , prevents turbulence which would otherwise occur in this area of the free jet after leaving the gas injection device , and calms the flow pattern of the free jet . the pulp entering through the aperture 9 is thinner than the pulp introduced by the pipe 5 , as in the separation chamber the thickness of the pulp is automatically reduced as a result of the separation processes . the thinning of the free jet by introducing thinner pulp or by support liquid results in a non - turbulent , non - agitated calmed flow . this also results in a dispersion of the mixture ascending in the free jet , with the result that collisions of solid particles laden with air bubbles are largely avoided and accordingly separation of the air bubbles , with the corresponding disadvantageous consequences for the yield are largely prevented . by thinning the free jet the grain bubble aggregates in the free jet arrive by the shortest route at the foam layer , and the residence time of the grain bubble aggregates in the free jet is reduced to a minimum . this is important as the life of the air bubbles of such a grain bubble aggregate is also time - dependent . as a result , it is necessary to ensure that such a grain bubble aggregate arrives as quickly as possible in the foam layer and from there goes into the foam drain channel . it is also important that the foam layer being formed is transported away as quickly as possible . this is achieved in that a thinner foam layer is formed . this is done by keeping the liquid level 21 in the separation chamber adjacent to the upper edge 22 of the separation chamber . an additional measure also produces the same results by having the foam layer being formed at the upper end of the free jet be supported by an air cushion . this is achieved because in the upper area of the separation chamber air is additionally injected in by means of air nozzles 10 . the air cushion formed in this way ensures easier sliding of the foam layer into the surrounding foam drain channels 11 . the transporting away of the foam as quickly as possible also has repercussions for the residence time of the grain bubble aggregates , and reduces this time . when the flotation mixture arrives at the upper end of the guide column , it is distributed in the separation chamber . the solid particles not made hydrophobic begin to drop down at once and collect in the drain channel 3 , while the solid particles made hydrophobic collect in the foam layer . in fig2 a second embodiment of the device of the invention is shown . here , the separation chamber 1 is essentially a cylindrical vessel which becomes conical 12 in shape at the bottom . the conditioned pulp is introduced by means of a supply pipe 13 and is distributed through the pipes 13a . each pipe 13a is fitted into the lower portion of guide column 8a . the flotation residue is drawn off through pipes 14 , 14a . a plurality of such guide columns 8a is arranged distributed around the periphery of the separation chamber , as shown in fig3 . the guide column 8a is upwardly open . between the guide columns , in the area of the upper ends of the guide columns , radial foam drain channels 15 are arranged which open out into a common foam drain device 16 with the drain connection pipe 17 . in the upper area of the separation chamber a porous closed pipe 18 is fitted , through the apertures 19 of which air can be blown in and injected under the foam layer being formed so that an air cushion forms which supports the foam layer . with this procedure , the removal of the foam layer is facilitated . at the lower end of the guide column 8a , a gas injection device 4a is fitted . fresh pulp through the pipe 13a and compressed air through the air line 6a are introduced into this gas injection device 4a . the compressed air is admixed with the pulp in the gas injection device 4a , as already described with reference to fig1 . in the embodiment shown in fig2 support liquid is additionally introduced coaxially with respect to the gas injection device and to the free jet through the pipe 20 and the aperture 9a formed adjacent to the gas injection device 4a , which then also arrives in the guide columns and thins the free jet , whereby the same results are achieved as already described with reference to fig1 . because of the coaxial introduction , the support liquid additionally surrounds in a ring - like manner the free jet produced by the gas injection device , whereby the energy dissipation of the free jet is also reduced . fig4 and 5 show a third embodiment which differs from the embodiment shown in fig2 in that no additional support liquid is introduced . instead , the guide column 8a commences directly in the area of the gas injection device 4a . the lower end of the guide column 8a forms an aperture 9a in the form of an annular channel a spaced distance above device 4a and over which the thinner pulp flows after the free jet as a result of suction . this has already been described in detail with reference to the first embodiment shown in fig1 . if the pulp which is introduced thorough the pipe 13 contains hard salt or raw potassium salt , then kieserite ( mgso 4 h 2 o ) and respectively potassium chloride can be extracted with the foam , wherein in the first case for example praestabite oil is used as the conditioning medium , and in the latter case , for example , a fatty aminoacetate . in both cases , the mineral rock salt is extracted from the residue . a rock salt saturated solution serves as the flotation liquid . in the case of kc1 flotation , the flotation liquid is additionally saturated with kc1 . while several embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described , it is to be understood that many changes and modifications may be made thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims . | 1 |
referring to the drawings , fig1 is a side view of a medical device delivery system 100 for treating vascular lesions , according to the present invention . the medical device delivery system comprises a catheter having a distal end cap 10 , with an elongated inner member 14 attached to end cap 10 . also attached to distal end cap 10 is flexible outer member 12 . in one embodiment , both inner member 14 and outer member 12 are attached to end cap 10 using adhesives . in another embodiment , both inner member 14 and outer member 12 are attached to end cap 10 using fusion bonding . in one embodiment to the invention , a radiopaque marker 18 is embedded in the distal end portion 10 to facilitate placement of the distal tip of the catheter at the desired location in the vascular system . the distal end portion 10 is comprised of silicone , or a biocompatible polymeric material such as polyurethane , polyethylene or polytetrafluroethylene ( ptfe ). the use of silicone in certain embodiments may reduce the incidence of vascular tissue damage due to the lubricious surface provided by silicone . the distal portion of end cap 10 is shaped to facilitate passage of the catheter through the vascular system . in various embodiments of the invention , end cap 10 is rounded , tapered or bullet - shaped , among other appropriate shapes . in one embodiment of the invention , the end cap 10 has a lumen 28 that can accommodate a guide wire running longitudinally through the end cap 10 . the guide wire is , in one embodiment , of metallic construction , and is inserted into the femoral artery and threaded through the vascular system to the target site . the end cap 10 is then slipped over the guide wire and the catheter is guided along the vascular route , until both the guide wire and catheter are at their desired target locations . the guide wire is then withdrawn from the body . using fluoroscopy , the radiopaque marker 18 can be observed during the placement procedure , and thereby facilitate placement of the distal tip of the catheter at a desired location . the inner member 14 comprises a rod or shaft attached at its distal end to end cap 10 and extends the entire length of the catheter . inner member 14 must be sufficiently flexible so that the catheter can be threaded through the vascular system , but must also have sufficient longitudinal stiffness so that it does not kink during placement of the catheter . inner member 14 may be made of a metallic material such as stainless steel , titanium or nitinol , or a biocompatible polymeric material such as polyurethane , polyethylene , nylon , ptfe or combinations of these or similar materials . the diameter of inner member 14 is selected to give it the needed longitudinal stiffness and lateral flexibility , and will depend on the properties of the material ( s ) of which it is composed . generally , the diameter of inner member 14 will be in the range of 0 . 2 to 2 . 0 mm . attached to end cap 10 is at least one outer member 12 . the primary purpose of outer member 12 is to transport the stent during transit through the vascular system and to deploy the stent at the target site . in one embodiment , outer member 12 is a flexible sheath . outer member 12 may comprise a flexible , biocompatible , polymeric material such as polyurethane , polyethylene , nylon , or ptfe . in other embodiments , outer member 12 is a mesh of flexible wires comprising nylon , polyether - block co - polyamide polymers such as pebax ® resins , a metallic material such as braided stainless steel or polymer - coated , braided stainless steel . the polymer coating comprises nylon , polyether - block co - polyamide polymers such as pebax ® resins , or any other appropriate polymeric material . a distal portion 26 of outer member 12 holds the stent in place as it is transported through the vascular system . in one embodiment , a stent or other tubular prosthesis 16 is slipped over the distal end of the catheter , positioned over a distal portion 26 of outer member 12 and crimped to a reduced diameter so that the stent 16 is held firmly in place . the diameter of the distal portion 26 of outer member 12 is selected so that the outer diameter of the crimped stent is no greater than the diameter of end cap 10 , giving the catheter a smooth outer surface and facilitating its passage through the vascular system . two radiopaque circumferential bands 15 and 17 are located on inner member 14 at each end of the stent 16 , and serve as radiopaque markers so that the precise location of the stent within the vascular system can be observed using fluoroscopy . the radiopaque markers 15 , 17 , and 18 comprise gold or any other appropriate material . in other embodiments , a plurality of radiopaque circumferential bands 15 are located on the inner member 14 . a hub 20 is attached to the proximal end of outer member 12 , and a second hub 22 is attached to the proximal end of inner member 14 . in one embodiment , the two hubs are locked to each other as shown in fig1 . when the two hubs are locked , the outer member 12 is maintained in a fully extended configuration and held taut between the distal end cap 20 and the locked hubs ( 20 and 22 ). this configuration prevents outer member 12 from flexing inward toward the center of the catheter during its passage through the vascular system and releasing the stent prematurely . when the distal portion of the catheter is placed adjacent to the target site , the hubs 20 and 22 are unlocked from each other , allowing inner member 14 and outer member 12 to move in relation to each other . inner member 14 is partially retracted as shown in fig2 . as inner member 14 is retracted , it draws end cap 10 in a proximal direction , causing the distal portion 26 of outer member 12 to pass over end cap 10 , and fold longitudinally ( fig2 ), allowing end cap 10 to move in a proximal direction and pass through the lumen of the stent 16 , surrounded by a double layer of outer member 12 . the diameter of the combination of end cap 10 and the folded outer member 12 causes the stent 16 to expand and to be deployed from the catheter to the target site . the diameter of end cap 10 and the thickness of the folded outer member 12 are selected so that the combination causes the stent 16 to expand to a predetermined diameter , beginning at the distal end of the stent 16 , and progressing to its proximal end . the rate of stent deployment is controlled by the rate at which the operator retracts inner member 14 ; consequently , the stent may be deployed slowly if so desired . after the stent is deployed , inner member 14 is advanced in a distal direction causing outer member 12 to unfold . when outer member 12 is fully extended , the hubs 20 and 22 will be aligned with each other , and can once again be locked to each other . the catheter will have regained its smooth outer surface and low profile , and may be removed from the patient . in one embodiment of the invention , the distal portion of outer member 12 is coated with a gel that includes or encapsulates a drug or therapeutic agent . the therapeutic agent or agents may be dispersed within or encased by a polymeric coating , and are eluted at the target site within the vascular system as the stent is deployed . a therapeutic agent is capable of producing a beneficial effect against one or more conditions including coronary restenosis , cardiovascular restenosis , angiographic restenosis , arteriosclerosis , hyperplasia , and other diseases and conditions . the therapeutic agent may comprise , for example an antirestenotic drug , an antisense agent , an antineoplastic agent , an antiproliferative agent , an antithrombogenic agent , an anticoagulant , an antiplatelet agent , an antibiotic , an anti - inflammatory agent , a steroid , a gene therapy agent , an organic drug , a pharmaceutical compound , a recombinant dna product , a recombinant rna product , a collagen a collagenic derivative , a protein , a protein analog , a saccharide , a saccharide derivative , a bioactive agent , a pharmaceutical drug , a therapeutic substance , or combinations thereof . in one embodiment of the invention , the device can be used to deliver a drug or therapeutic agent into the vascular system . in this embodiment , inner hub 22 includes a port and a means to accommodate a syringe such as a luer fitting , or any other appropriate fitting . inner member 14 includes a lumen connected to the port at hub 22 and to lumen 28 connecting to an orifice in the distal end cap 10 for delivery of the drug or therapeutic agent . the drug or therapeutic agent may be any of those described above . fig3 is a flowchart illustrating a method 200 for treating a target site within the vascular system by delivering a stent or other tubular prosthesis in accordance with the present invention . the method begins at block 30 wherein a target site is selected . next , as indicated at block 32 , a guide wire may be inserted into the femoral vein or at another site , advanced to the target site , and positioned so that the distal tip of the guide wire is adjacent to the target site . the end cap of the delivery system may be slipped over the guide wire and the catheter threaded through the vascular system . the distal tip of the catheter is placed adjacent to the target site , as indicated in block 34 . next , the hubs at the proximal ends of the inner member and the outer member are unlocked from each other as indicated in block 36 . with the hubs unlocked , the inner member and the outer member can be moved in relation to each other . as indicated in block 38 , the inner member is retracted while the outer member remains where it was placed . this causes the end cap to be retracted and drawn into the lumen of the stent , and the distal portion 28 of the outer member to fold longitudinally and pass over the exterior of the end cap 10 , as shown in fig2 . the diameter of the end cap 10 with the folded outer member surrounding it is larger than the inner diameter of the stent 16 , and therefore , causes the stent to expand and be deployed from the catheter . once the stent is deployed , the inner member may be advanced to its original , distal position , so that the outer member is fully extended , as indicated in block 40 . the hubs may then be locked to each other , as in block 42 , so that the catheter will have a smooth exterior surface and a constant diameter . finally , as indicated in block 44 , the catheter may be safely removed from the body . because the system of the present invention does not require a balloon or other complex apparatus to deploy the stent , it is simple and inexpensive to manufacture compared to previously disclosed stent delivery systems . further , its low profile makes it comparatively easy to maneuver through the vascular system , and reduces the potential for damage to the vascular tissues . in addition , the delivery system of the present invention can be used with a variety of stent designs and other tubular prostheses , and the rate of delivery may be controlled by the operator . while the invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments , it will be understood by one skilled in the art that variations and modifications may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . | 0 |
a thermal protection system that thermally protects the user &# 39 ; s foot is disclosed herein . in various aspects , the thermal protection system comprises an insert that is removably receivable within a cavity of a shoe . the insert includes multiple layers of material bonded together , with the multiple layers of material conferring various mechanical or thermal properties upon the insert , in various aspects . the insert may protect a foot of a user by insulating the foot against the heat of a surface upon which the shoe is worn . related methods of use and compositions of matter are also disclosed herein . fig1 a illustrates an exemplary implementation of a thermal protection system 10 that includes insert 20 received within shoe 50 . insert 20 , as illustrated in fig1 a , is received within cavity 51 of shoe 50 . shoe 50 includes , for example , athletic footwear ( e . g . soccer shoes , football shoes , track shoes , tennis shoes ), shoes , boots , sandals , slippers , moccasins , and protective gear for the foot . cavity 51 is the portion of shoe 50 that receives a foot of a user . shoe 50 is in contact with surface 530 , and surface 530 has surface temperature t s , as illustrated . surface temperature t s may be uncomfortable or injurious to the foot . for example , surface 530 may be heated to surface temperature t s by the sun or by proximity to a heat source such as fire or heated material . surface 530 may be an athletic field , for example , a football field , soccer field , rugby pitch , or lacrosse field , and shoe 50 may be correspondingly adapted for use on surface 530 ( i . e ., a soccer shoe , football shoe , etc .) insert 20 , in some implementations , may be removably receivable within cavity 51 of shoe 50 to allow the user to place insert 20 within cavity 51 or to remove insert 20 from cavity 51 . as illustrated in fig1 b , absent insert 20 , side 59 of sole 55 defines a portion of cavity 51 . side 23 of insert 20 is biased against side 59 of sole 55 of shoe 50 when insert 20 is received operatively within cavity 51 , as illustrated . when the foot of the user is received by shoe 50 , portions of the foot are biased against side 21 of insert 20 , in this implementation . in other implementations , insert 20 may be formed into shoe 50 , for example by being bonded to the sole 55 , so that insert 20 is non - removable . when side 57 of sole 55 is biased against surface 530 , surface temperature t s may cause the transfer of heat between surface 530 and side 21 of insert 20 through sole 55 and through insert 20 . in this implementation , insert 20 forms an insulating barrier to side 21 of insert 20 that may contact the foot of the user within cavity 51 of shoe 50 . the insulating properties of insert 20 controls temperature t o of side 21 of insert 20 against surface temperature t s of surface 530 . temperature t o may be controlled by the insulating properties of insert 20 to a temperature that is comfortable to the foot of the user , or a temperature that is non - injurious to the foot of the user , in various implementations . fig2 a illustrates a portion of exemplary implementation of a thermal protection system 100 including insert 120 . insert 120 , as illustrated in fig2 a , is shaped in conformity with the plantar surface of the foot of the user . when insert 120 is received within a cavity of a shoe , such as cavity 51 of shoe 50 , side 121 of insert 120 is oriented to be biased against the foot of the user , and side 123 of insert 120 is biased against the entirety of a side of a sole within the cavity , such as the portion of side 59 of sole 55 bounding cavity 51 , in this implementation . side 121 may be biased against generally the entire plantar surface of the foot when the foot is received within the cavity of the shoe . fig2 b illustrates a portion of exemplary implementation of a thermal protection system 200 including insert 220 . insert 220 , in this exemplary implementation , includes gap 227 that passes through insert 220 between sides 221 , 223 . when insert 220 is received within a cavity of a shoe , such as cavity 51 of shoe 50 , side 221 of insert 220 is oriented to be biased against only a portion of the plantar surface of the foot when the foot is received within the cavity , in this implementation . side 223 of insert 220 may be biased against only a portion of a side of a sole within the cavity , such as side 59 of sole 55 . for example , gap 227 may correspond to portions of the plantar surface proximate the arch so that side 221 is biased against portions of the foot proximate the heel and proximate ball of the foot including the toes while not contacting portions of the plantar surface proximate the arch . inclusion of gap 227 may allow insert 220 to consume less volume within the cavity , which may make insert 220 more unobtrusive to the user . inclusion of the gap 227 may facilitate insertion of insert 220 into the cavity or removal of insert 220 from cavity . fig3 illustrates a portion of exemplary implementation of a thermal protection system 300 including portions of insert 320 . as illustrated in fig3 , insert 320 includes layer 332 and layer 334 in biased fixed engagement with one another to form a unitary structure . layer 334 forms side 321 of insert 320 , and layer 332 forms side 323 of insert 320 , as illustrated . when insert 320 is inserted into a cavity of a shoe , such as cavity 51 of shoe 50 , side 321 is oriented such that side 321 may be biased against the foot of the user , while side 323 may be in biased engagement with the sole of the shoe , such as sole 55 of shoe 50 . layers 332 , 334 may comprise differing materials that confer differing mechanical or thermal properties upon insert 320 . for example , layer 332 may include an aerogel formed of glass or sio 2 . aerogel , in various implementations , is a synthetic material made by extraction of a liquid component of a gel by supercritical drying leaving the uncollapsed solid matrix that forms the aerogel . aerogels may be formed from silica gels . aerogels have been formed , for example , from alumina , chromia , tin dioxide , or carbon . aerogel is a thermal insulator because a non - conductive material forms the solid matrix while the solid matrix blocks convection of the gas phase , and the solid matrix may produce the knudsen effect that reduces thermal conduction through the gas phase . layer 334 , for example , may include a meta aramid polymer formed from the monomers m - phenylenediamine and isophthaloyl chloride . the meta aramid polymer may be heat resistant and insulating , and may exhibit wear properties to withstand engagement with the foot of the user . the meta aramid polymer may be , for example , nomex ® manufactured by e . i . du pont de nemours and company of wilmington , del . in other implementations , layers 332 , 334 may comprise substantially the same material , and insert 320 may be so formed for manufacturing reasons or to confer thermal or mechanical properties upon insert 320 . fig4 a illustrates a portion of exemplary implementation of a thermal protection system 350 including portions of insert 370 . as illustrated in fig4 a , insert 370 includes layers 382 , 384 , 386 , 388 , 390 , 392 bonded to one another in succession . layers 382 , 384 , 386 , 388 , 390 , 392 , in this exemplary implementation , comprise materials as listed in table 1 . layer 392 forms side 371 of insert 370 , and layer 382 forms side 373 of insert 370 , as illustrated in fig4 a . when insert 370 is inserted into a cavity of a shoe , such as cavity 51 of shoe 50 , side 371 , which is formed of the material of layer 392 , is oriented to be biased against the foot of the user , while side 373 , which is formed of the material of layer 382 , is in biased engagement with the sole of the shoe , such as sole 55 of shoe 50 , in this implementation . in this implementation , layer 392 is a polyester fabric containing anti microbial material to reduce germ and mold growth made by precision fabrics of greensboro n . c . fig4 b illustrates a portion of exemplary implementation of a thermal protection system 400 including portions of insert 420 . as illustrated in fig4 b , insert 420 includes layers 432 , 434 , 436 , 438 , 440 bonded to one another in succession . layer 440 forms side 421 of insert 420 , and layer 432 forms side 423 of insert 420 , as illustrated in fig4 b . when insert 420 is inserted into a cavity of a shoe , such as cavity 51 of shoe 50 , side 421 , which is formed of the material of layer 440 , is oriented to be biased against the foot of the user , while side 423 , which is formed of the material of layer 432 , is in biased engagement with the sole of the shoe , such as sole 55 of shoe 50 , in this implementation . layers 432 , 434 , 436 , 438 , 440 , in this exemplary implementation , comprise materials as listed in table 2 . fig4 c illustrates a portion of exemplary implementation of a thermal protection system 450 including portions of insert 470 . as illustrated in fig4 c , insert 470 includes layers 482 , 484 , 486 , 488 , 490 bonded to one another in succession . layer 490 forms side 471 of insert 470 , and layer 482 forms side 473 of insert 470 , as illustrated in fig4 c . when insert 470 is inserted into a cavity of a shoe , such as cavity 51 of shoe 50 , side 471 , which is formed of the material of layer 490 , is oriented to be biased against the foot of the user , while side 473 , which is formed of the material of layer 482 , is in biased engagement with the sole of the shoe , such as sole 55 of shoe 50 , in this implementation . layers 482 , 484 , 486 , 488 , 490 comprise materials as listed in table 3 , in this exemplary implementation . fig4 d illustrates a portion of exemplary implementation of a thermal protection system 500 including portions of insert 520 . as illustrated in fig4 d , insert 520 includes layers 532 , 534 , 536 , 538 , 540 bonded to one another in succession . layer 540 forms side 521 of insert 520 , and layer 532 forms side 523 of insert 520 , as illustrated in fig4 d . when insert 520 is inserted into a cavity of a shoe , such as cavity 51 of shoe 50 , side 521 , which is formed of the material of layer 540 , is oriented to be biased against the foot of the user , while side 523 , which is formed of the material of layer 532 , is in biased engagement with the sole of the shoe , such as sole 55 of shoe 50 , in this implementation . layers 532 , 534 , 536 , 538 , 540 comprise materials as listed in table 4 , in this exemplary implementation . fig4 e illustrates a portion of exemplary implementation of a thermal protection system 550 including portions of insert 570 . as illustrated in fig4 e , insert 570 includes layers 582 , 584 , 586 , 588 , 590 bonded to one another in succession . layer 590 forms side 571 of insert 570 , and layer 582 forms side 573 of insert 570 , as illustrated in fig4 e . when insert 570 is inserted into a cavity of a shoe , such as cavity 51 of shoe 50 , side 571 , which is formed of the material of layer 590 , is oriented to be biased against the foot of the user , while side 573 , which is formed of the material of layer 582 , is in biased engagement with the sole of the shoe , such as sole 55 of shoe 50 , in this implementation . layers 582 , 584 , 586 , 588 , 590 comprise materials as listed in table 5 . fig4 f illustrates a portion of exemplary implementation of a thermal protection system 600 including portions of insert 620 . as illustrated in fig4 f , insert 620 includes layers 632 , 634 , 636 , 638 , 640 bonded to one another in succession . layer 640 forms side 621 of insert 620 , and layer 632 forms side 623 of insert 620 , as illustrated in fig4 f . when insert 620 is inserted into a cavity of a shoe , such as cavity 51 of shoe 50 , side 621 , which is formed of the material of layer 640 , is oriented to be biased against the foot of the user , while side 623 , which is formed of the material of layer 632 , is in biased engagement with the sole of the shoe , such as sole 55 of shoe 50 , in this implementation . layers 632 , 634 , 636 , 638 , 640 , in this exemplary implementation , comprise materials as listed in table 6 . a . cut all materials into 5 ″× 5 ″ squares b . pre - heat a digital hot plate ( stable temp 1110016h - cp by cole parmer ) to 55 ° c . ( 131 ° f . ); the heat plate model is adjustable in 5 ° c . increments . c . prepare the digital recorder / thermocouple with type k probe , ( digisense 20250 - 02 ) prep procedure includes clearing the memory , setting the recording rate , and the duration of the experiment d . stack the materials in order as specified for the insert e . place the insert with material closest to the human up on a hot plate f . place the thermocouple probe on the face material , and place 4 layers of insulation on top of the probe followed by a 0 . 75 ″ thick block of wood and a vessel containing 0 . 5 gallons of water . note : the insulation and the wood were used to stabilize the weight without damaging the probe . g . record the data at 15 minute intervals for 2 hours for each composite structure the results of experiment 1 are presented in table 7 . in experiment 1 , the heat source ( the heat plate ) was placed against sides 373 , 423 , 473 , 523 , 573 , 623 of inserts 370 , 420 , 470 , 520 , 570 , 620 , respectively . table 7 gives the temperature measured at the sides 371 , 421 , 471 , 521 , 571 , 621 of inserts 370 , 420 , 470 , 520 , 570 , 620 , respectively after 2 hours of exposure to the heat source . exemplary inserts 370 , 420 , 470 , 520 , 570 , 620 were tested experimentally . forty - seven subjects both male and female , ages 18 - 22 participated in this experimental testing at the citadel . the subjects were asked to perform three 5 - minute submaximal tests ( 60 - 65 % of heart rate maximum , as measured with polar ™ heart rate monitor ) on an elliptical machine . the foot pedals of the elliptical machine were heated to 120 ° f . via heating pads ( two 50 watt water proof sunbeam heating pads ) during all tests . it was noted that the heating pads both heated differently , with the right pad always heating hotter than the left . specifically , the difference between heating pads at rest and between subjects was ( 10 ° f . ), 123 . 2 ° f . and 113 . 1 ° f ., respectively . inserts 370 , 420 , 470 , 520 , 570 , 620 were randomly assigned to the subjects , and the insert randomly selected from inserts 370 , 420 , 470 , 520 , 570 , 620 was placed under the subject &# 39 ; s socked feet and on top of the heating pad . at the end of each of the three 5 minute testing sessions , the temperature of the soles of the feet was monitored and recorded via a thin wired temperature sensor taped to the soles of the participant &# 39 ; s feet ( type - k thermometer with a thermocouple , model number : dm6801a +). in addition , heat was measured at the end of each 5 - minute exercise bout with a heat radar gun ( raytek minitemp mt6 ) directed at the ball of the foot . in addition to measurement of the surface temperature , subjects rated their perception of heat they experienced according to a thermal perception scale that assigns a number ( 1 to 9 ) to the perceived thermal stress with 1 being minimal and 9 being unbearably hot ( see table 9 ). thermal perception of heat was assessed at minute 4 : 30 in each of the 5 minute testing sessions . experiment 21 tested exemplary inserts 370 , 420 , 470 , 520 , 570 , 620 . the results of experiment 2 are presented in fig5 . each subject had an insert selected from inserts 370 , 420 , 470 , 520 , 570 , 620 biased against the left foot and an insert selected from inserts 370 , 420 , 470 , 520 , 570 , 620 biased against the right foot . the insert biased against the left foot differed from the insert biased against the right foot . the order of testing in experiment 2 was as follows : session 1 ( minutes 0 - 5 ): left foot — insert 520 right foot — insert 470 session 2 ( minutes 5 - 10 ): left foot — insert 370 right foot — insert 420 session 3 ( minutes 10 - 15 ): left foot — insert 620 right foot — insert 570 as the subject continued exercise with each foot , both the heating pad generated heat and the subject created heat due to physical exertion . the results of experiment 2 showed that insert 620 ( the thickest of all the inserts ) resulted in less temperature gain versus the other inserts when temperature was measured using the probe . both insert 520 and 620 were cooler than insert 370 , while inserts 470 and 570 were significantly cooler than insert 420 on the right foot when temperature was measured using the heat radar gun . experiment 3 tested inserts 370 , 420 , 470 , 520 , 570 , 620 . the results of experiment 3 are presented in fig6 . each subject had an insert selected from inserts 370 , 420 , 470 , 520 , 570 , 620 biased against the left foot and an insert selected from inserts 370 , 420 , 470 , 520 , 570 , 620 biased against the right foot . the insert biased against the left foot differed from the insert biased against the right foot . the order of testing in experiment 3 was as follows : session 1 ( minutes 0 - 5 ): left foot — insert 620 right foot — insert 570 session 2 ( minutes 5 - 10 ): left foot — insert 420 right foot — insert 470 session 3 ( minutes 10 - 15 ): left foot — insert 370 right foot — insert 420 the results of experiment 3 showed that insert 620 ( the thickest of all the inserts ), insert 520 and insert 470 resulted in less temperature gain versus the other inserts when temperature was measured with the probe . both inserts 520 and 620 were cooler than insert 370 when temperature was measured with the heat radar gun . fig7 illustrates the ratings of perceived heat ( scale of 1 to 9 ) as experienced by the subjects . as indicated by fig7 , the subjects experienced less heat discomfort with inserts 520 , 620 , and 470 . fig8 illustrates the ratings of perceived heat as experienced by the subjects . the higher numbers indicate a greater heat stress as experienced by the subject , while lower numbers indicate less heat stress . the numbers indicate the subjects felt significantly less heat discomfort with inserts 520 , 620 , 570 , and 470 . the difference for 570 may have been due to the order of testing ( first ). in summary , the thickest inserts 620 and 520 performed the best in reducing temperature exposure to the subject . insert 470 was also thick and tested well but this may be due to the order of testing ( second ) as well as its thickness . insert 570 was not thick but tested well with respect to thermal perception . in comparing the results of in vivo experiments 2 & amp ; 3 , with the bench testing of experiment 1 , insert 620 ( 106 . 7 ° f .) and insert 520 ( 107 . 2 ° f .) tested well , but not insert 570 ( 111 . 5 ° f .). although inserts 370 , 420 tested well in bench test experiment 1 , inserts 370 , 420 did not test well in the in vivo experiments 2 & amp ; 3 . this may be due to thinner materials of insert 370 and insert 420 that may be compressed by the subjects &# 39 ; weight resulting in increased heat transfer . the volume of the composite may affect the temperatures recorded . however , as the inserts will be used in footwear , volume of the insert cannot be overlooked as volume may impact the performance of the user . to some degree , the user &# 39 ; s body may be acting to cooling the insert by convection of heat away from the insert through the user &# 39 ; s circulatory system . exemplary materials used in the various implementations are listed in table 8 . the exemplary materials are listed by generic name and material properties may be included . the trade name , commercial source , and function of each of the exemplary materials are also listed in table 8 . the scale used by subjects to rate their perception of thermal stress during the course of various in vivo experiments is indicated in table 9 . pp scrim scrim polypropylene 15 gsm with thickness of 0 . 35 mm spool 15 gsm ( trade name : supacool ) glass paper 15 gsm thickness 0 . 1 mm supacool 10 gsm glass ( scotchlite , glass bead and cotton scrim , beads facing supacool 95 % cotton , 5 % spandex supacool 15 gsm glass pet scrim 20 gsm carbon fiber + ni + cooper coat 34 gsm pet scrim 20 gms 2 mm edura cool ( its trade name ) 100 % pet micro denier , cotton jersey 95 % cotton , 5 % spandex 2 mm edura cool , 100 % pet micro denier the foregoing discussion along with the figures discloses and describes various exemplary implementations . these implementations are not meant to limit the scope of coverage , but , instead , to assist in understanding the context of the language used in this specification and in the claims . upon study of this disclosure and the exemplary implementations herein , one of ordinary skill in the art may readily recognize that various changes , modifications and variations can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventions as defined in the following claims . | 1 |
the structure of electrochromic film 100 of the present invention is as shown in fig1 and it is constructed by the following members in order : a transparent plastic substrate 11 ; an organic electrochromic conducting layer 12 ; and a solid polymer electrolyte layer 13 and an electrical conducting layer 14 . the transparent plastic substrates include but not limited to polyethyleneterephthatate , polycarbonate , cyclo olefin copolymers , polystyrene , polyacrylate , copolymers thereof or mixtures thereof ; the material of organic electrochromic conducting layer 12 changes the light absorption property when subjected to a driven electrical potential . in the preferred embodiment , the present invention uses pedot as the electrochromic conducting material ; however , it is well known in the art that other electrochromic conducting materials comprises pedot , polyaniline , polypyrrole , viologen or the mixture thereof are suitable as the materials for the organic electrochromic conducting layer of the present invention . moreover , the organic electrochromic conducting materials further comprise a light absorbent , a light stabilizer , a temperature stabilizer or an antioxidant for extending the using life of the organic electrochromic conducting material . the role of solid polymer electrolyte layer 13 of electrochromic film 100 of the present invention is for providing organic electrochromic conducting layer 12 the essential ions in order to maintain electroneutrality in a redox reaction . the materials comprise but not limit to peo , peg , ppo , pmma , lithium triflate , lithium perchlorate or the mixture thereof . the material has to be applied in a solid state , and it sandwiches the electrochromic conducting layer 12 with transparent plastic substrate 11 and forms a structure , an electrical conducting layer 14 is further applied on the electrolyte layer which generates electrochromism when a driven voltage is applied . the material of electrical conducting layer 14 includes organic or inorganic material . it is comprised but not limit to transparent metals , for example , silver , gold , aluminum , platinum , copper and metal oxides for example , indium tin oxide , indium zinc oxide , al - doped zno , antimony and the organic conducting materials , for example , pedot , polyaniline , polypyrrole or the mixture thereof . the conducting layer materials in some embodiments can be a material with electrochromic characteristic . in order to enhance the durability of electrochromic film , an extra ion storage layer can be inserted between layer 13 and layer 14 . the solid electrolyte layer 13 then conducts ions back and forth between the electrochromic conducing layer 12 and an ion storage layer . the material of ion storage layer comprises v 2 o 5 , ta 2 o 5 or the mixture thereof . according to the known art in the filed : the arrangement of the ion storage layer between solid polymer electrolyte layer and electrical conducting layer is use for other electrochromic film 100 and the electrochromic film 200 , 300 and 400 of the present invention mentioned later . when the electrochromic film further comprises an adhesive layer , the electrochromic film 100 then can be pasted on the surface of other object and forming a stick - on electrochromic film . when a driven voltage is applied to the electrochromic film 100 , a self redox reaction will occur leading to electrochromic effect in the electrochromic conducting layer 12 . the electrochromic film of the present invention , wherein comprises the coating method and a structure of multi - layered coatings on a transparent plastic substrate . the applied coating method is well known in the art , which comprises roll coating , dip coating or screen - printing method . in most embodiments of electrochromic films , there may happen that the applied current will concentrate mostly in the area close to the circuit and not being able to reach uniform distribution state . this situation can be solved by increasing additional electrical conducting wirings among conducting layers . the amounted position of the conducting circuits is as shown in fig2 , wherein that the fig2 is a modified mode of the fig1 , it is provided with at least one conducting circuit 25 between the transparent plastic substrate 21 and the organic electrochromic conducting layer 22 , and on the top of the organic conducting layer 24 comprises at least one conducting circuit 25 ′. when the conducting circuit 25 and the conducting circuit 25 ′ are driven with opposite electrical polarity the electrochromic effect in the organic electrochromic conducting layer 22 will uniformly expand across the whole film . as shown in fig2 , the design of the conducting circuits makes possible the idea of large area electrochromic film with good electrochromic uniformity . the arrangement is applied in the electrochromic film 100 and 200 of the present invention , and the layout mode of the electrochromic circuit is not limited to lateral or cross mode of the conducting circuit 25 and 25 ′. more examples of the specific arrangement is as shown in fig3 . in fig3 , the conducting circuit 25 and 25 ′ are provided in cross mode , wherein that the conducting circuit 25 is mounted between the transparent plastic substrate 21 and the organic electrochromic conducting layer 22 , and the conducting circuit 25 ′ is mounted on the organic conducting layer 24 . the selection of the conducting circuit material is known in the art , the preferred materials are transparent metals , for example , silver , gold , aluminum , platinum , copper , and metal oxides for example , indium tin oxide , indium zinc oxide , al - doped zno , antimony . moreover , the electrochromic film of the present invention further comprises an insulation layer 26 in order to prevent unexpected shortage between the conducting circuit 25 and 25 ′. besides of the design of the conducting circuit , the electrochromic film is able to raise the electrochromic effect of small organic molecules ( for example , viologen ) by the following structure . it is shown in fig4 that the electrochromic film 300 of fig4 is provided with the same elements and orders as the electrochromic film 100 , which comprises of a transparent plastic substrate 31 , a solid polymer electrolyte layer 33 and an electrical conducting layer 34 . when the material of the organic electrochromic layer 32 is an organic electrochromic material comprising smaller molecular weight , a transparent conducting layer 37 is mounted between the transparent plastic substrate 31 and the organic electrochromic layer 32 in order to improve the electrical conducting property of the layer structures of the electrochromic film 300 . the material of the transparent conducting layer 37 can be transparent metals , for example , silver , gold , aluminum , platinum , copper and metal oxides for example , indium tin oxide , indium zinc oxide , al - doped zno , antimony , which is the transparent conducting material known in the art . the electrochromism occurs when the transparent conducting layer 37 is contacted to an electrode , and the electrical conducting layer 34 is connected to the other electrode with an opposite electrical polarity . the organic electrochromic layer 32 provides a self - redox accompanied by the inputting and the outputting of the ions across the solid electrolyte layer in order to maintain electroneutrallity . according to the known art in the filed : the arrangement of the transparent conducting layer between the transparent plastic substrate and the organic electrochromic layer is use for other electrochromic film 100 , 200 and the electrochromic film 400 of the present invention mentioned later . furthermore , the electrochromic conducting layer of the present invention is further constructed by a plurality of disconnected blocks . the embodiment is shown in fig5 a , the embodiment is a modification from the fig1 , wherein the organic electrochromic conducting layer 12 is constructed by two disconnect blocks , 12 and 12 ′ which are both fully covered by a layer of solid electrolyte . when the two disconnected blocks are connected to two electrodes with opposite plurality , the block composing of cathodic electrochromic material will color immediately as shown in fig5 b . if the two blocks , 12 and 12 ′ of the organic electrochromic conducting layer 12 in fig5 c are constructed with different materials , which mean that one block material is the cathodic electrochromic material , whereas , the other block is anodic electrochromic material ; both blocks will display electrochromic properties as they are electrically contacted . in a preferred embodiment , the present invention also discloses an electrochromic film with single plastic substrate that provides an arrangement comprising : a transparent plastic substrate ; an organic electrochromic conducting layer ; a solid polymer electrolyte layer ; and a layer comprising at least one adhesive block which are patterned in such a way that a “ striped ” or reticulated ” electrical conducting wiring are designed to enable the electrochromic film to have both conducting and adhesion properties . the fig6 is to apply a design embodiment of the organic electrochromic conducting layer , which is constructed by a plurality of the multiple blocks . the organic electrochromic conducting layer forms a number “ 8 ” which is build up from seven segments ,— the other block is built independently around the former number “ 8 ”, the two blocks are then fully covered with solid electrolyte layer as shown in fig6 . when the different wiring alignments of the seven segment blocks are contacted to an electrode and the outer block is further contacted to the other electrode with opposite polarity , the area of seven - segments will color immediately showing the number that is activated . different numeric will be displayed as different wiring signals are inputted . the idea of utilizing disconnected blocks composing either one block or two blocks having electrochromic properties , can be applied as a single substrate electrochromic display which find applications as numeric display to compose figures such as product prices . moreover , with the same concept , the disconnected blocks can be applied as direction sign or symbol sign , as shown in fig7 and 8 , respectively . the electrochromic film 400 of another embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig9 , which is composed in order as follow by : the transparent plastic substrate 41 ; the organic electrochromic conducting layer 42 ; the solid polymer electrolyte layer 43 ; and stripes layers of an organic conducting layer 44 and adhesive block 45 . the stripes design of the adhesive layer and the organic conducting materials formed together in the same layer will reduce the overall electrochromic film thickness . the present invention can be applied by screen printing and the stripe coating methods for forming the specific patterns of the adhesive and the organic conducting material on the same layer as shown in fig1 a or fig1 b . the following examples are used to further demonstrate the advantages of the present invention and to expand rather than limit its scope . a layer of pedot / pss coating was applied on a 5 × 6 cm 2 pet substrate which was then dried to form a transparent conducting layer . the solid polymer electrolyte was prepared as follows : 0 . 1 g lithium trifluomethanesulfonate and 1 g peo were vacuum dried at 100 ° c . and 50 ° c . for 24 hours , respectively , the powders were then dissolved in 6 cc propylene carbonate solvent and stirred and heated to obtain a clear liquid electrolyte . the electrolyte was then coated on an area of 5 × 5 cm 2 pet conducting film , the rest 5 × 1 cm 2 was reserved as an electrode , the film was further dried in the vacuum oven at 120 ° c . for 8 hours . next , a layer of pedot / pss coating was coated on the top of the electrolyte layer and was dried in an oven at 100 ° c . for an hour . this layer would serve as the second electrode . when the electrochromic film was electrically connected with a driving force of 3 to 5 volts d . c . the area of 5 × 5 cm 2 turned immediately into the color of sky blue . the pedot / pss coating layer was designed as shown in fig5 a . the polymer electrolyte was prepared as follows : 0 . 05 g lithium trifluomethanesulfonate and 1 g peo were dried respectively at 100 ° c . and 50 ° c . for 24 hours , then dissolved the powder in 6 cc thf solvent and stirred to obtain clear a liquid electrolyte . the electrolyte was then coated on the top of the specific pattern as shown in fig5 b which was then dried at the room temperature for 2 hours . when the electrochromic film was electrically connected with a driven voltage of 3 to 5 volts d . c ., the cathodic electrochromic layer and the anodic electrochromic layer would color immediately . a 4 × 4 cm 2 portion of 7 . 5 × 5 cm 2 pet substrate was coated with pedot / pss coating which was then dried to form a transparent conducting layer . the solid polymer electrolyte was prepared as follows : 0 . 1 g lithium perchlorate and 1 g pmma were vacuum dried at 100 ° c . and 50 ° c . for 24 hours , respectively , the powders were then dissolved in 10 cc propylene carbonate solvent and were stirred and heated to obtain a clear liquid electrolyte . an electrolyte thin layer of 4 . 5 × 3 . 5 cm 2 was then coated on top 4 × 3 cm 2 of pedot / pss coating layer , the rest 4 × 1 cm 2 of the pedot / pss coating were reserved as an electrode . the whole film was further dried in the vacuum oven at 120 ° c . for 8 hours . a 20 nm thin layer of silver layer was sputtered on the top of the electrolyte layer and the bare part of pet substrate . in the rf magnetron sputtering process , care must be taken not to overlap the silver layer with pedot / pss coating layer . the sputtering conditions were as follows : the sputter rate was 2 a °/ sec in pure argon gas environment . the applied power was 100 w . when cathodic pedot / pss layer and anodic silver layer were electrically connected , the film would color immediately . applied a electrochromic film prepared as described in example 3 . a thin layer of ito was sputtered on the top of the electrolyte layer and the rest area of pet of the electrochromic film without overlapping with the pedot / pss layer . the sputtering conditions were as follows : the vacuum pressure was 6 × 10 − 6 torr in argon / oxygen gas with ratio of 80 : 1 , the sputter rate was 50 angstrom / min and sputtering time was 10 min . the applied power was 100 watt . when the alligator clips were connected to cathodic pedot / pss layer and the anodic ito layer of the electrochromic film , it would color immediately . the electrochromic film of the present invention only needs one single substrate in order to achieve the effect of electrochromic , moreover , the film is able to stick directly on the surface of object by using an adhesive , and the electrochromic film of the invention can be applied as one single substrate electrochromic display by making use of the different patterns with distinct electrochromic effect . the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed in the examples . all modifications and alterations without departing from the spirits of the invention and appended claims , including the other embodiments shall remain within the protected scope and claims of the invention . the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed in the examples . however , the examples should not be construed as a limitation on the actual applicable scope of the invention , and as such , all modifications and alterations without departing from the spirits of the invention and appended claims , including the other embodiments shall remain within the protected scope and claims of the invention . | 6 |
referring first to fig1 and 2 , a wall mountable plumbing fixture 10 includes as its major components , a rear fixture body 12 , a laminar flow cartridge 14 , a frontal nozzle 16 and a decorative escutcheon 18 . the fixture body 12 has a generally cylindrical cup shape , and it is preferably made of brass . it includes a rear base 20 , a tubular wall 22 and a frontal end flange 24 . the tubular wall 22 has a radial port 26 at which a water supply line 28 can be connected . the fixture body 12 has a cavity 30 for housing the cartridge 14 . referring next to fig3 cartridge 14 has a generally cylindrical outer housing 32 having a base 34 and a cylindrical wall 36 enclosing chamber 38 . the base 34 has a circular rearwardly open recess 40 with a small , central inlet opening 42 . a disk - shaped pressure compensating flow regulator 44 , such as one commercially available from neoperl , inc . of waterbury , conn ., is pressed into the recess 40 . as water pressure increases , the regulator is of the type that flexes to reduce the volume of the central inlet . this keeps the volume of flow through the regulator relatively constant . preferably , the flow regulator 44 has an operable pressure range of 12 - 145 psi ( 0 . 8 - 10 bar ). housing 32 is preferably made of a plastic , such as noryl ® ( a trademark of general electric ) which is a blend of polyphenylene sulfide and polystyrene resins . housing 32 can have an inner diameter of approximately 2 inches with the outer diameter of the flow smoothing elements being slightly smaller . the outer diameter of the housing 32 can then be a little over 2 inches with an overall length of just over three inches . the housing chamber 38 contains a series of circular or cylindrical flow smoothing members . in particular , the flow smoothing members include a filter 46 , four screens 48 and two ring spacers 50 and 52 . the filter 46 is preferably made of a reticulated polyurethane foam disk having a pore size of approximately 45 pores per inch . see also u . s . pat . no . 4 , 795 , 092 for a discussion of open cell foam filters . the screens 48 are preferably made of 20 × 20 stainless steel mesh . the ring spacers 50 and 52 are preferably noryl ® and preferably 0 . 65 and 0 . 20 inches in length , respectively . the flow smoothing members can be arranged in series in the chamber 38 in the order shown in fig3 and 4 , that is with one screen 48 on each side of the filter 46 , followed by ring spacer 50 , the third screen 48 , disk 52 and then the forth screen 48 . these elements are held together by a noryl ® cap 54 fit onto the open end of the housing 32 by a suitable means , such as threads or ultrasonic weld . the cap 54 is essentially a ring with a stepped cross - section defining two different inner diameters with the smaller being in the end of the housing 32 . the cap 54 has a large , full - width outlet opening 56 . referring again to fig1 and 2 , a cylindrical brass sleeve 58 having an outer diameter slightly less than the inner diameter of the fixture body 12 , telescopically fits in the fixture body cavity 30 around one end of the cartridge 14 . at an inner end of the sleeve 58 there is a circumferential groove 60 containing an o - ring 62 creating a water - tight circumferential seal between the sleeve 58 and the fixture body 12 . this seal can be maintained while the sleeve 58 is slid axially with respect to the fixture body 12 . the other end of the sleeve 58 has a circular flange 64 for abutting the exposed surface of a wall when recess mounting the fixture 10 in a wall opening . sleeve 58 can be slid axially relative to body 12 to permit room walls of varied sizes to be sandwiched between this flange 64 and the end flange 24 of the fixture body 12 . threaded fasteners ( not shown ) are threaded into openings 66 and 68 in the respective flanges 88 , 24 and 64 to clamp a room wall . the fasteners can be tightened or loosened as needed to secure the fixture 10 to varying thicknesses of the room wall . for example , one can make a rough - in installation , followed by a refined tightening when the final wall board is installed . later adjustment to accommodate the finished wall is accomplished by axial sliding of sleeve 58 . the nozzle 16 is preferably a brass annular body having a stepped outer wall defining two outer diameters 70 and 72 , with circumferential grooves 74 and 76 containing o - rings 78 and 80 , respectively . outer diameter 70 is sized to fit within the outlet opening 56 with o - ring 78 providing a water - tight seal . outer diameter 72 is sized so that o - ring 80 mates with the inner diameter of the sleeve 58 to provide a water tight seal . orifice 82 , in the shape of a frustoconical recess tapering away from the cartridge 14 , is provided , leading to a sharp edge 84 . the other end of the nozzle 16 includes a coaxial stepped inner diameter with a larger diameter having internal threads 86 . this end of the nozzle 16 also includes a flange 88 having threaded openings 90 alignable with the openings 68 in the sleeve flange 64 for securing the nozzle 16 in place . escutcheon 18 is preferably a decorative , polished brass annular flange member having a front end with an outer diameter greater than the sleeve 58 and nozzle 15 . an inner end of the escutcheon 18 has an outer diameter with a circumferential groove 92 containing an o - ring 94 and sized so that the o - ring provides a water - tight seal against the smaller inner diameter of the nozzle 16 and a larger , threaded outer diameter section 100 that threads into the nozzle 16 . the inner diameter at the inner end of the escutcheon 18 is slightly larger than the orifice edge 84 and it tapers smoothly outward to meet the outer diameter at the front end . when the water supply line 28 is connected the fixture 10 , water can flow into the fixture body cavity 30 radially , pass back and then radially inward to the flow regulator 44 , and then into the cartridge 14 through the inlet opening 42 . as described above , flow regulator 44 works in response to fluctuations in flow rate to adjust the passable size of the inlet opening 42 so as to provide a relatively constant flow rate into the cartridge 14 . the flow smoothing elements ( filter , screens ) as well as the spacers are selected and arranged to more evenly distribute the velocity profile of the water passing through the inlet opening 42 throughout the entire inner diameter of the cartridge housing 32 and essentially eliminate turbulence and air pockets . specifically , water flowing through the inlet opening 42 enters the chamber 38 , which has a significantly larger diameter . this sudden expansion in cross - section is intended to reduce the flow velocity of the water . as the water passes through the pores of the filter 46 the non - axial velocity vectors ( causing turbulence ) are blocked by the foam material so that the water leaves the filter 46 with the velocity vectors directed axially . as the water passes through the series of screens 48 the velocity profile is flattened so that there is a nearly uniform flow from the middle to the edges of the flow cross - section . the spacers 50 and 52 separate the screens 48 so that they operate in stages , allowing the water to recover before entering the next screen 48 . the water exits the cartridge 14 through the nozzle 82 . the sharp edge 84 provides sufficient separation to form a single stream of water in laminar flow with little or no side spray . the emanating stream is clear and smooth , and interestingly resembles a glass rod . for routine maintenance ( e . g . in the event the flow state of the stream changes over time due to deposits of calcium or other minerals in the water , or the presence of gravel ) all flow smoothing elements can be quickly and easily removed from the fixture body 12 at once for cleaning or replacement by removing the cartridge 14 . this can also be achieved without access to the rear of the wall . the escutcheon 18 is unscrewed from the nozzle 14 and the threaded fasteners in the flanges 88 , 64 and 24 are removed so that the cartridge 14 can be removed from the chamber 38 after pulling out nozzle 16 and sleeve 58 . the flow smoothing elements and the flow regulator can be cleaned with a suitable solution , or the cartridge 14 can simply be replaced with a new one . in either case , the sleeve 58 can be inserted into the chamber 38 until flange 64 contacts the exposed wall surface . then , the cleaned or new cartridge 14 can be inserted into the sleeve 58 until the respective circumferential catch surfaces 103 and 105 engage , and the nozzle 16 can then be inserted into the sleeve 58 until the orifice 82 seats in the outlet opening 56 . the threaded fasteners , and then the escutcheon 18 , are re - fastened . [ 0041 ] fig5 and 6 illustrate an alternate faucet embodiment . in this embodiment , like elements are referred to in the drawings with similar reference numbers , although with the suffix “ a ”. the plumbing fixture 10 a includes a brass faucet body 12 a supporting a conventional flow control valve 102 . after water is mixed and / or volume controlled by this valve , it passes down then into passage 107 . the faucet body 12 a also includes a spout stem 104 defining a receiving cavity 30 a for containing laminar flow cartridge assembly 14 a . the base of the cavity 30 a has a port 26 a to which is coupled conduit 107 . the cartridge 14 a smooths the flow of water passing there through as discussed above and includes the same components made of the same materials as discussed above , albeit preferably in a slightly smaller scale . in one preferred form , the cartridge housing 32 a has an outer diameter of approximately 0 . 9 inches and an overall length of just under 1 . 5 inches . the flow smoothing elements ( filter 46 a , screens 48 a and spacers 50 a and 52 a ) and a flow regulator 44 a are proportionately smaller . additionally , unlike the cartridge described above , the housing 32 a includes a circumferential groove 106 along its outer diameter for containing an o - ring 108 which mates with the inner walls of the cavity 30 a near its base . the spout stem 104 also includes internal threads 108 at the open end of the cavity 30 a . the threads 108 are engaged by a threaded end 110 of a nozzle 16 a . the nozzle 16 a is an inverted cup - shaped member having a tapered sharp - edged orifice 82 a at one end . the spout stem 104 , as shown in fig5 and 6 , is angled upwardly such that the emanating stream with form an arcuate path . entry water enters axially here , but the operation of the cartridge is otherwise similar . thus , the present invention provides spouts suitable for creating a laminar stream of water in a variety of plumbing environments . a compact cartridge contains all of the flow smoothing and pressure regulating elements so that they can all be removed from the fixture in one unit , for cleaning , service or replacement . the cartridge can be easily removed from an end of the fixture in the interior of the room by loosening and removing the nozzle ( and where applicable escutcheon ). while specific embodiments have been shown , various modifications falling within the breadth and scope of the invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art . thus , the following claims should be looked to in order to understand the full scope of the invention . disclosed are water spouts that provide laminar flow and have unitary replaceable cartridges . | 4 |
a technique to transfer multiple bits of data , also commonly known as a data word , across asynchronous clock domains is described . the technique uses registers placed and routed close to each other with a source register comprised of standard flip flops and one or more special receiving registers which are capable detecting transitions in the inputs which will likely cause metastability and of selecting delayed versions of their inputs to avoid metastability . fig1 illustrates an implementation of a circuit for transferring data across asynchronous clock domains . the circuit includes a source register 110 , a monitoring circuit 120 , a receive register 130 , and a delay element 140 . the source register 110 includes a plurality of flip - flops 112 . the receive register 130 includes a plurality of flip - flops 132 and multiplexers 134 . while the circuits are described with reference to flip - flops , latches can be substituted with adjustments obvious to those skilled in the art . the source register 110 can also be replaced by a fifo or ram . a data word 190 and a status bit 170 from the source clock domain are stored in the source register 110 clocked by source clock 150 . the status bit 170 is toggled for every data word 190 to be transferred to the destination clock domain . the status bit 170 and data word ( bits ) 190 are transmitted to receiving register 130 . the status bit output 180 of source register 110 can also be supplied to other logic circuits for possible use in the source clock domain . a data word 190 and a status bit 170 are registered in a source register clocked by the source clock 150 . the status bit for each word of data to be transferred across to the destination clock domain is toggled . since the data word 190 and status bit 170 are stored in source register 110 , all of the bits are constrained to change values within a small window after the source clock 150 edge . due to the variation in delays for a rising signal edge versus a falling signal edge , clock skews to the flip flops and differences in layout for the flip flops in a register , the register bits will not change values at exactly the same time but can be constrained to all change within a small window of time . it is possible to determine the slowest changing bit and the fastest changing bit of a register after layout on a chip has been completed . the difference between the slowest bit and the fastest bit defines the window of change . this difference is fixed and known once layout and characterization are completed . a receive register 130 clocked by a delayed version of the destination clock 160 has each of its input bits connected to a corresponding output bit of the source register 110 . a monitoring circuit 120 looks at the status bit output 180 for transitions and determines if the transitions will induce metastability in the receiving register bit . an example of a monitoring circuit 120 that can be used in the circuit of fig1 is described in u . s . patent application ser . no . 10 / 458 , 878 , entitled “ prevention of metastability in bistable circuits ,” incorporated here in its entirety . the monitoring circuit 120 generates a change window using the status bit output 180 and a delayed version of the status bit output 180 , as illustrated in fig2 . the amount of delay determines the width of the change window . this change window is selected to be slightly larger than the window of change for all output bits of the source register 110 . by assigning the status bit 170 to the fastest bit of the register , all other register bits will change after the status bit . in fig2 , data bit 0 represents the slowest bit which changes state last . the fastest bit and the slowest bit can be determined using known methods such as simulation and analysis . the width of the change window is established by delaying the status bit enough to ensure that the slowest bit changes within the change window . thus , the monitoring circuit can look only at the status bit change window and know that any other bit transitions will be within the change window . data bit n represents a bit of the data word between the status bit and the slowest bit , data bit 0 . referring again to fig1 , monitoring circuit 120 uses the destination clock 160 to sample the change window . when the monitoring circuit 120 detects a status bit change which can cause metastability , a control signal is generated ( or asserted ) to select alternate stable inputs for all of the flip flops 132 in the receive register 130 . the control signal is asserted if the monitoring circuit 120 determines the change window is occurring too close to a delayed version of the destination clock 160 . each flip - flop 132 in the receive register 130 is coupled to a multiplexer 134 which receives the control signal from the monitoring circuit 120 in its s input . the multiplexer selects one of two inputs to be sampled and stored in a respective flip - flop 132 . the multiplexer can have delay elements associated with the inputs . one of the inputs , the “ 0 ” input , of multiplexer 134 is a delayed version of the source register 110 output and is selected when the control signal is low or not asserted . the other input signal , the “ 1 ” input , of multiplexer 134 is selected when the control signal is high or asserted . the “ 1 ” input signal can be an alternately delayed copy of the source register 110 output , an alternately delayed copy of the source register 110 output with inversion , a static signal or the output of the corresponding receive flip flop 132 . the destination clock 160 is delayed through delay element 140 . this delayed version of the destination clock 160 is used to clock the flip - flops 132 of the receive register 130 . an example of a flip - flop which can select from one of two inputs in response to a control signal and that is clocked by a delayed clock is also disclosed in u . s . patent application ser . no . 10 / 458 , 878 . fig3 illustrates the operation of the circuit of fig1 . referring to fig1 and 3 , the waveform labeled “ source clock ” shows the source clock 150 of the source register 110 . in this example , the “ source clock ” signal is lower in frequency than the “ destination clock ” signal . the waveform labeled “ source status ” shows the output of the source register status bit 180 . this is the signal being monitored by the monitoring circuit 120 . the “ source status ” signal toggles for each new data word . the waveform labeled “ source data [ 2 : 0 ]” shows the outputs of the source register data bits . in this example , the source register 110 has 3 bits of data . the waveform labeled “ change_detected ” shows the change window generated by the monitoring circuit 120 from the status bit 180 . this signal is internal to the monitoring circuit . the “ change_detected ” signal is generated for each new data word because of the status bit toggle . the waveform labeled “ select_alternate ” shows the monitoring circuit 120 output as a result of sampling the change window . “ select_alternate ” goes high when the monitoring circuit 120 decides that the change window is occurring too close to the delayed copy of the destination clock 160 . in this example , select_alternate goes high for data word 2 , which is changing close to the rising edge of the destination clock . the waveform labeled “ destination clock ” shows the destination clock 160 . the destination clock 160 is used to clock the receiving register flip - flops 132 after a delay . the destination clock 160 is also used by the monitoring circuit 120 for sampling the change window . the waveform labeled “ inputdelay0 [ 2 : 0 ]” shows the delayed copy of the source data for the “ 0 ” input of the multiplexer . the waveform labeled “ inputdelay1 [ 2 : 0 ]” shows another delayed copy of the source data for the “ 1 ” input of the multiplexer . the waveform labeled “ recvd status ” shows the output of the receive register 130 status bit . the receive register status bit toggles for each new data word received . the waveform labeled “ recvd data [ 2 : 0 ]” shows the output of the receive register data bits . fig4 shows another implementation of a circuit for transferring data across asynchronous domains . in this implementation , the source register 410 is connected to two separate receive registers 460 , 560 , each clocked by a different clock 490 , 590 . each receive register 460 , 560 has an associated monitoring circuit 470 , 570 and delay element 480 , 580 . this configuration can be used if the source data needs to be transferred to two separate destination clock domains . this configuration can also be used if the source clock 420 is faster than the destination clock by less than two times the destination clock frequency . for this scenario , the destination clock 1 ( clock 490 ) and destination clock 2 ( clock 590 ) can be inverted copies of each other . by sampling the source status 430 and data word 440 with a true and an inverted destination clock , the effective sampling rate is doubled . thus , the faster changing source status 430 and data word 440 may still be transferred to a slower destination clock domain without possibility of aliasing . it should be obvious that four receiving registers , each clocked by a 90 - degree phase offset clock , will allow transfer of data from a source register clocked at up to four times the frequency of the receiving clock . if duplicate data words are received in the destination registers , the duplicate data words may be easily removed by other additional logic circuits in the destination clock domain . fig5 illustrates the transfer of data from a faster clock domain to a slower clock domain by using two receive registers clocked by complementary clocks . referring to fig4 and 5 , the waveform labeled “ fastclk ” shows the source clock 420 used to clock the source register 410 . the waveform labeled “ svld_output ” shows the output of the source register status bit 450 . this is the signal being monitored by both monitoring circuits . as shown , the “ svld_output ” signal toggles for each new data word . the waveform labeled “ sbtn_output [ 2 : 0 ]” shows the outputs of the source register data bits . in this example , the source register 410 has 3 bits of data . the waveform labeled “ change_detected ” shows the change window generated by the first monitoring circuit 470 from the output of the source register status bit 450 . this signal is internal to the first monitoring circuit . this signal is generated for each new data word because of the status bit toggle . the second monitoring circuit will also generate a substantially identical signal as well . the waveform labeled “ slowaclk ” shows the destination clock 1 ( clock 490 ) used to clock the first receiving register 460 after a delay 480 . the “ slowaclk ” signal is also used by the first monitoring circuit 470 for sampling the change window . the waveform labeled “ select_alternatea ” shows the first monitoring circuit output as a result of sampling the change window using its destination clock 1 ( clock 490 ). “ select_alternatea ” goes high when the first monitoring circuit 470 decides that the change window is occurring too close to the delayed copy of its destination clock . in this example , “ select_alternatea ” does not go high because none of the transitions are close to the rising edge of its destination clock . the waveform labeled “ dvlda_out ” shows the output of the first receive register status bit . in the example shown , the “ dvlda_out ” signal does not toggle for each new data word received . this is because its clock frequency is lower than the clock frequency of the status bit it is sampling . the waveform labeled “ destdataa_out [ 2 : 0 ]” shows the output of the first receive register data bits . the waveform labeled “ slowbclk ” shows the inverted copy 590 of destination clock used to clock the second receiving register 560 after a delay 580 . the “ slowbclk ” signal is also used by the second monitoring circuit 570 for sampling the change window . the waveform labeled “ select_alternateb ” shows the second monitoring circuit output as a result of sampling the change window . “ select_alternateb ” goes high when the monitoring circuit decides that the change window is occurring too close to the delayed copy of its destination clock . in this example , “ select_alternateb ” goes high once every three cycles . the waveform labeled “ dvldb_out ” shows the output of the second receiving register status bit . in this example , the “ dvldb_out ” signal does not toggle for each new data word received . this is because its clock frequency is lower than the clock frequency of the status bit it is sampling . the waveform labeled “ destdatab_out [ 2 : 0 ]” shows the output of the second receiving register data bits . one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that in these waveforms all of the source data words are captured by either or both of the receive registers . no data words are lost despite being received by a lower frequency clocked register . some data words are captured by both receive registers . the duplicate data words may be easily removed by other additional logic circuits in the destination clock domain . a number of embodiments of the invention have been described . nevertheless , it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . for example , although a flip - flop is shown as the bistable circuit , a similar metastability prevention circuit can be used for a latch . although the latch is a level sensitive device instead of an edge sensitive device like the flip - flop , the same or similar components can be used with adjustments to the delay elements . also the use of gates can be varied , such as , for example , an or gate can be replaced with a nor gate . accordingly , other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims . | 7 |
preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter in conjunction with the accompanying drawings , in which 1 is a layer of inorganic long filament or filaments and 2 is a layer of inorganic staple short fibers . a piston for an internal - combustion engine is indicated generally by 10 , and 11 is a piston pin bore ( which is mechanically bored after casting ), 12 is a piston boss , and 13 is a shoulder of the skirt of a piston . fig1 to 3 are cross - sectional views of a piston of a first embodiment according to the present invention . the piston 10 is formed by an alumina alloy . the shoulder 13 of the skirt of the piston is reinforced by an annular reinforcement consisting of a layer 1 of carbon long filaments and a layer 2 of alumina - silica staple short fibers . the piston 10 was manufactured by the following process . first , the layer 2 of alumina - silica staple short fibers was formed . namely , in this embodiment , an annular molding 2 of alumina - silica staple short fibers ( outside diameter : 81 mm , inside diameter : 68 mm , thickness : 5 mm , bulk density : 0 . 2 g / cm 3 , average fiber diameter : 2 . 8 μm , average fiber length : several mm , manufacturer : isolite kogyo k . k ., trademark : &# 34 ; caowool &# 34 ;), in which the short fibers were randomly oriented , was made by vacuum - molding and machining . then , a carbon long filament ( coefficient of thermal expansion : - 1 . 2 × 10 - 6 /° c ., average filament diameter : 6 . 5 μm , manufacturer : toray industries inc ., trademark : &# 34 ; toreca m40 &# 34 ;) was wound , by a filament winding machine , in one direction around the above - mentioned annular layer 2 to form the layer 1 , as seen in fig4 . the end of the winding of the carbon long filament was fixed by an inorganic adhesive , such as an alumina - silica adhesive . the bulk density of the layer 1 of the winding of carbon long filament was 0 . 9 g / cm 3 . the annular composite member thus made was heated at approximately 750 ° c ., and then placed at a predetermined position in a lower mold die of a high - pressure casting machine . a molten aluminum alloy ( japanese industrial standards : ac8a ) of 730 ° c . was then poured into the lower mold die and solidified under a pressure of approximately 1000 kg / cm 2 . the work thus formed was subjected to t 6 thermal treatment ( jis ), and then machined to obtain a piston having an 84 mm ouside diameter and 75 mm height , as shown in fig1 to 3 . the piston thus manufactured was subjected to a thermal expansion test by the following procedure . the head face of the piston was heated at 300 ° c . for 30 minutes by a burner , and the outside diameter of the shoulder of the skirt was then measured to find the variation of the outside diameter of the shoulder . for comparison , another piston not provided with a strut , but being the same size as the piston of the first embodiment , and still another piston with an annular strut made of steel ( spcc ), were also subjected to the same thermal expansion tests . fig5 shows the results of the thermal expansion tests in terms of ratio of thermal expansion . here , the term &# 34 ; ratio of thermal expansion &# 34 ; means , in terms of percentage , the ratio of the amount of thermal expansion of a piston to that (&# 34 ; 100 &# 34 ;) of the piston not provided with a strut . as apparent from fig5 diametrical thermal expansion of the shoulder of the skirt of the first embodiment is effectively suppressed by the carbon long filament . the weight of the first embodiment is 15 g less than the weight ( 360 g ) of the piston with the steel strut . in addition , pistons according to the first embodiment were fitted to a six - cylinder four - cycle gasoline engine ( total displacement : 2812 cm 3 , maximum output : 180 ps at 5600 rpm , maximum torque : 24 . 4 kg · m at 4400 rpm ), and the engine was operated at 5600 rpm for 300 hours under a full - load condition . as a result , it was confirmed that the reduced diametrical thermal expansion of the pistons serves to reduce the noise of the engine , and malfunctions , such as seizure of the piston , did not occur . the accelerating performance and the output capacity of the engine were both improved due to the lightweight pistons . fig6 and 8 are cross - sectional views of a piston of a second embodiment according to the present invention . a piston 10 shown in fig6 to 8 is formed by an aluminum alloy . the shoulder 13 of the skirt thereof is reinforced by a composite fiber reinforcement consisting of a layer 2 of silicon carbide whiskers ( short fibers ) and a layer 1 of silicon carbide long filament ( average filament diameter : 13 μm , coefficient of thermal expansion : 3 . 1 × 10 - 6 /° c ., manufacturer : nippon carbon inc ., trademark : &# 34 ; nicalon &# 34 ;), which extends along the shoulder as well as perpendicular to the center axis of the piston pin bore 11 of the piston 10 . the piston 10 was manufactured by the following process . a mixture of silicon carbide whiskers ( average fiber diameter : 0 . 5 μ , average fiber length 130μ ) and an aqueous solution of colloidal silica of 10 % by weight concentration was molded in a compression molding die for molding a strut . then , a circular winding of a silicon carbide filament was placed in the same compression molding die , and the same mixture consisting of a silicon carbide whisker and the solution was again poured into this compression molding die to form a composite fiber strut . the strut was removed from this compression molding die after drying . thus , a strut as shown in fig9 consisting of a layer of a silicon carbide long filament 1 and a layer of silicon carbide whiskers ( short fibers ) 2 enclosing the former therein was obtained . the size of the strut thus obtained was 81 mm × 60 mm × 5 mm . after being heated at 750 ° c ., the strut was placed at a predetermined position in a lower mold die of a high - pressure casting machine . a molten aluminum alloy ( jis ac8a ) of 730 ° c . was then poured into the lower mold die and solidified under a pressure of 1000 kg / cm 2 . the work thus cast was subjected to t 6 thermal treatment ( jis ), and then machine - finished to produce a piston having an 84 mm outside diameter and 75 mm height , as shown in fig6 to 8 . the fiber volume ratios of the layer of silicon carbide whiskers ( short fibers ) and the layer of silicon carbide long filament with respect to the volume of the fiber composite strut , as incorporated into the piston , were 20 % and 55 %, respectively . the weight of this piston was 13 g less than the weight ( 360 g ) of an equivalent piston with a steel strut . the pistons of the second embodiment were subjected to a durability test on the same engine as that employed in the thermal expansion test of the first embodiment . similar results to those of the test of the first embodiment were obtained . that is to say , it was confirmed that the reduced thermal expansion of the pistons of the second embodiment also serve to reduce the noise of the engine and malfunctions , such as seizure of the piston , did not occur . the accelerating performance and the output capacity of the engine were both improved due to the lightweight piston . fig1 to 12 are cross - sectional views of a piston of a third embodiment according to the present invention . a piston 10 is formed by an aluminum alloy . the piston skirt therefore including the shoulder 13 and the piston boss 12 of the piston 10 of fig1 to 12 is reinforced by a composite fiber reinforcement consisting of inner and outer layers 2a and 2b of alumina staple short fibers and an intermediate layer 1 of a carbon long filament ( having the same particulars as that in the first embodiment ). the composite fiber reinforcement is placed across the center axis of the piston pin bore 11 . this piston was manufactured by the following process . first , alumina short fibers ( average fiber diameter : 3 . 0 μm , average fiber length : several mm , manufacturer : international chemical incorporation , trademark : &# 34 ; safill &# 34 ;) were molded by vacuum - molding and machined to form an inner layer 2a of annular fiber mold ( bulk density thereof : 0 . 15 g / cm 3 ). the inner layer 2a was then wrapped by an intermediate layer 1 consisting of a net of carbon long filaments ( fig1 ). then , the combination of the inner layer 2a and the intermediate layer 1 was fitted into the outer layer 26 , which had been made of the same material and in the same manner as the inner layer 2a . the rest of the processes are the same as those for manufacturing the pistons of the first and second embodiments . the pistons of the third embodiment were subjected to a durability test on the same engine as that employed in testing the pistons of the first and second embodiments . the performance of the pistons of the third embodiments was similar to those of the pistons of the first and second embodiments . in addition , in the third embodiment , since reinforcement of the composite fibers extends to an area of the piston skirt below the shoulder 13 , interference between the piston skirt and the cylinder wall was more effectively reduced , as compared with the first and second embodiments . | 5 |
the detailed explanation of the present invention is described as following . the described preferred embodiments are presented for purposes of illustrations and description , and they are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention . the invention discloses a method for manufacturing a stack frame . a stack frame means a frame on which something is constructed to combine some more functionality . please refer to fig1 , a method for manufacturing a stack frame is achieved by the following steps : in step 12 , a metallic frame having a plurality of pins is formed by removing one or more portions of the metallic substrate . in step 13 , a conductive pattern is formed on the metallic frame to make a plurality of electrical connections to connect with the plurality of pins . in step 11 , the metallic substrate can be made of any conductive material , such as metallic material which includes and is not limited , cu , ag , sn or a combination thereof . in step 12 , the technology for removing one or more portions of the metallic substrate to form a metallic frame having a plurality of pins can be any known method . a metallic frame has a plurality of pins as i / o terminals , and pads are placed underlying pins for external electrical connection . the metallic frame can be a lead frame or any other equivalent structure . in one embodiment , the metallic frame can have no vacancy or at least one vacancy . appearance or shape of the metallic frame depends on layout of pads via which the pin of the metallic frame is electrically connected to pcb or another conductive element , such as ic chip , mosfet , igbt , diode , resistor , choke or capacitor . in step 13 , a conductive pattern is formed on the metallic frame by known techniques , such as film process , printing process , laser drilling or a combination thereof . the conductive pattern comprises a plurality of electrical connections to connect with the plurality of the plurality of pins . in one embodiment , at least one conductive layer is patterned on the metallic frame to make better performance of the electrical connections to the plurality of pins . fig2 a and fig2 b illustrate a top view of metallic frame 31 with no vacancy and a top view of metallic frame 32 with at least one vacancy 33 respectively . metallic frame having a plurality of pins 34 can be in any suitable appearance or shape for subsequent processing . fig2 c and fig2 d illustrate a schematic cross - sectional view of a metallic frame 31 with no vacancy and a schematic cross - sectional view of a metallic frame 32 with a vacancy 33 respectively . in reference to both fig2 a and fig2 c together , sections a - a ′ in fig2 c are taken along line a - a ′ shown in fig2 a . in reference to both fig2 b and fig2 d together , sections b - b ′ in fig2 d are taken along line b - b ′ shown in fig2 b . the preferred structures and manufacturing method are described in the following embodiments . fig3 a illustrates a schematic cross - sectional view of a structure 100 of stack frame with no vacancy for electrical connections . in one embodiment , the structure 100 includes a metallic frame 101 with no vacancy , a dielectric layer 102 and a conductive layer 103 . the dielectric layer 102 is disposed on the metallic frame 101 . the conducted layer 103 is formed on the dielectric layer 102 and filled into vias which are formed inside of the dielectric layer 102 . the structure 100 can include any other equivalent structure for electrical connections as well ; and the structure can be made of any suitable material by any suitable process . in another embodiment , as illustrated in fig3 b , a recess 118 is formed in the metallic frame 101 and a conductive element 111 ( e . g ., ic chip , mosfet , igbt , diode , resistor , choke or capacitor ) is bonded in the recess 118 by conventional techniques ( e . g ., ag gluing 119 ). there are many different ways to locate the recess , for example , in one embodiment the recess is formed inside of the metallic frame ; in another embodiment the recess is formed with one side aligned with one edge of the metallic frame ; and in yet another embodiment the recess is formed with two sides aligned with two edges of the metallic frame respectively . in one embodiment , the recess can be formed in the metallic frame which comprises a plurality of sub metallic frames , wherein a plurality of sub metallic frames are joined together . in one embodiment , at least one conductive element is bonded in the recess . i / o terminals of the conductive element 111 can be electrically connected to the conductive layer 103 by conventional technology , such as wire bond , gold - ball bond , conductive wires ( by film process , printing process or electroplating ) or a combination thereof . in one embodiment , the top surface 112 of the conductive element and the top surface 113 of metallic frame are at the same horizontal level . in yet another embodiment , as illustrated in fig3 c , the process can be performed on both top surface 113 and bottom surface 114 of metallic frame . the features described above can also be applied to the structure in fig3 c . fig3 d illustrates a product structure 150 with a first conductive element 105 on the structure 150 in fig3 a . a first pad 104 can be formed on the conductive layer 103 so that a conductive element 105 ( e . g ., ic chip , mosfet , igbt , diode , resistor , choke or capacitor ) can be placed on the first pad 104 . a second pad 106 can be formed underlying the pins of the stack frame . the second pad 106 can be made of any conductive material , such as sn , ni / au or the like . the structure 150 can be mounted on pcb or electrically connected to another conductive element ( not shown ) ( e . g ., ic chip , mosfet , igbt , diode , resistor , choke or capacitor ) so that the conductive element 105 can be electrically connected to pcb or another conductive element ( not shown ) via the conductive path including the first pad 104 , the conductive layer 103 , metallic frame ( or pin ) 101 and a second pad 106 . it should be noted that the way to make electrical connections varies with different kinds of products and process performed on the metallic frame . it can include many ways and is not limited to the ways described above . it can be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art and thus will not be further described herein . fig4 a illustrates a schematic cross - sectional view of the structure 200 of stack frame with at least one vacancy 221 for electrical connections . in one embodiment , the structure includes a metallic frame 201 with at least one vacancy 221 , a dielectric layer 202 and a conductive layer 203 . the filling layer 222 is filled with a least one vacancy 221 of the metallic frame . the dielectric layer 202 is disposed on the metallic frame 201 and the conducted layer 203 is formed on the dielectric layer 202 and filled into vias which are formed inside of the dielectric layer 202 . the structure 200 can include any other equivalent structure for electrical connections . the structure can be made of any suitable material and can be made by any suitable process . in another embodiment , as illustrated in fig4 b , a recess 218 is formed in the metallic frame 201 and at least one conductive element 211 ( e . g ., ic chip , mosfet , igbt , diode , resistor , choke or capacitor ) is bonded in the recess 218 by conventional techniques ( e . g ., ag gluing 219 ). there are many different ways to locate the recess , for example , in one embodiment the recess is formed inside of the metallic frame ; in another embodiment the recess is formed with one side aligned with one edge of the metallic frame ; and in yet another embodiment the recess is formed with two sides aligned with two edges of the metallic frame respectively . in one embodiment , the recess can be formed in the metallic frame which comprises a plurality of sub metallic frames , wherein a plurality of sub metallic frames are joined together . in one embodiment , at least one conductive element is bonded in the recess . i / o terminals of the conductive element 211 can be electrically connected to the conductive layer by conventional technology , such as wire bond , gold - ball bond , conductive wires ( by film process , printing process or electroplating ) or a combination thereof . in one embodiment , the top surface 212 of the conductive element and the top surface 213 of metallic frame are at the same horizontal level . in yet another embodiment , as illustrated in fig4 c , the process can be performed on top surface 213 and bottom surface 214 of metallic frame . please refer back to fig3 a , there is a structural difference between fig3 a and fig4 a . the metallic frame of the structure 100 in fig3 a has no vacancy ; whereas the metallic frame of the structure 200 in fig4 a has at least one vacancy 221 which can be filled by the filling layer 222 . in one embodiment , the filling layer can fill at least one vacancy 202 of the metallic frame 201 and cover the metallic frame 201 . the filling layer 222 includes any suitable material , such as a polymer material or the like . the polymer material includes a photoresist . in one embodiment , underlying the metallic frame is a supporting layer ( not shown ), such as polyimide film ( pi film ), which can support the filling layer 222 . at the end of the overall process , the supporting layer can be removed . in one embodiment , supporting layer is not necessary . in one embodiment , please refer to fig4 d , the filling layer and the dielectric layer can be a single layer 223 . in one preferred embodiment , the single layer 223 is a polymer material layer ( e . g ., photoresist or negative photoresist ). the polymer material layer not only can fill the vacancies but also can be patterned on the metallic frame by some known techniques , such as lithography process , laser drilling or the like , so that the conductive layer 203 can be contacted with the polymer material layer . accordingly , the overall processing cost can be reduced . furthermore , the features described above in fig4 b and fig4 d can also be applied to the structure in fig4 c as well . fig4 e illustrates another product structure 250 with a first conductive element 205 on the structure 200 in fig4 a . a first pad 204 is formed on the conductive layer 203 so that a conductive element 205 ( e . g ., ic chip , mosfet , igbt , diode , resistor , choke or capacitor ) can be placed on the first pad 204 . a second pad 206 can be formed underlying the pins of the stack frame . the second pad 206 can be made of any conductive material , such as sn , ni / au or the like . the structure 250 can be mounted on pcb or electrically connected to another conductive element ( not shown ) ( e . g ., ic chip , mosfet , igbt , diode , resistor , choke or capacitor ) so that the first conductive element 205 can be electrically connected to a pcb or another conductive element ( not shown ) via the conductive path including the first pad 204 , the conductive layer 203 , metallic frame ( or pin ) 201 and a second pad 206 . it should be noted that the way to make electrical connections varies with different kinds of products and process performed on the metallic frame . it can include many ways and is not limited to the ways discussed above . it can be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art and thus will not be further described herein . the following embodiment discloses a package structure and its manufacturing method . in the embodiment , the metallic frame is a lead frame and the lead frame is the main constituent of the package structure . fig5 a illustrates a sectional view of the package structure 300 . the package structure 300 includes a lead frame 301 , a filling layer 306 , a first conductive element 304 , a conductive pattern 312 , a protective layer 311 , a conductive pad 313 , and at least one second conductive element 314 . a lead frame has a plurality of pins 315 which can be in many forms , such as i / o terminals or pads ( not shown ) which are placed underlying pins 315 for external electrical connection . the appearance or shape of the lead frame depends on the layout of the pads via which the structure 300 is electrically connected to pcb or a third conductive element ( not shown ), such as ic chip , mosfet , igbt , diode , resistor , choke or capacitor . in one embodiment , the lead frame 301 can have no vacancy or at least one vacancy . the structure 300 can include any other equivalent structure for a package structure , and it can be made of any suitable material and manufactured by any suitable process . a lead frame 301 can be made of conductive material , such as ag , cu , sn or a combination thereof . a conductive pattern 312 is formed on the lead frame 301 by some known techniques , such as film process , printing process , laser drilling or a combination thereof . in one embodiment , at least one conductive layer is patterned on the lead frame 301 to make better performance of a plurality of electrical connections to the pins 315 . one aspect of structural difference between lead frames lies in whether it has vacancy or not . besides that , the remaining of the structure of lead frame are almost the same . the preferred structures and manufacturing method in the following description refer to performing the film process on the lead frame which has at least one vacancy . fig5 b to fig5 h illustrate a sectional view of process flow for manufacturing the package structure 300 . as illustrated in fig5 b , a recess 303 is formed in the lead frame 301 with at least one vacancy 302 . the recess 303 can be formed by a known technology , such as etching or surface coarsening . there are many different ways to locate the recess , for example , in one embodiment the recess is formed inside of the lead frame ; in another embodiment the recess is formed with one side aligned with one edge of the lead frame ; and in yet another embodiment the recess is formed with two sides aligned with two edges of the lead frame respectively . in one embodiment , the recess can be formed in the lead frame which comprises a plurality of sub lead frames , wherein a plurality of sub lead frames are joined together . next , as illustrated in fig5 c , a first conductive element 304 , such as ic chip , mosfet , igbt or diode , is bonded in the recess 303 by conventional techniques ( e . g ., ag gluing 305 ). in one embodiment , at least one first conductive element is bonded in the recess . next , as illustrated in fig5 d , the filling layer 306 is filled into at least one vacancy 302 of the lead frame 301 . in one embodiment , the filling layer can fill at least one vacancy 302 of the lead frame 301 and cover the lead frame 301 . a supporting layer , such as polyimide film ( pi film ), is attached underlying the lead frame 301 to support the filling layer 306 . at the end of the overall process , the supporting layer can be removed . in one embodiment , supporting layer is not necessary . the filling layer 306 includes any suitable material , such as a polymer material or the like . the polymer material can be a photoresist . in the preferred embodiment , the filling layer 306 is a polymer material layer ( e . g ., photoresist or negative photoresist ). the polymer material layer not only can fill a plurality of vacancies but also can be patterned on the lead frame 301 by known techniques , such as lithography process , laser drilling , so that the conductive pattern 312 can be contacted with the polymer material layer . please refer to fig5 e , a polymer material ( e . g ., photoresist or negative photoresist ) layer 306 is patterned to expose the i / o terminals of the first conductive element 304 by a known process , such as lithography process , laser drilling or the like . a conductive pattern 312 , which will be discussed in next stage , is formed on the lead frame . next , as illustrated in fig5 f and fig5 i , a thin copper layer 308 is sputtered over the polymer material layer 306 , a portion of pins of the lead frame 315 and i / o terminals of the first conductive element 304 . a thin copper layer 108 and a thick copper layer 310 ( shown in fig5 are combined into a conductive pattern 312 to make two groups of electrical connections . the first group of electrical connections is between a portion of pins of lead frame 315 and i / o terminals of the first conductive element 304 . the second group of electrical connections is between the second conductive element 314 and i / o terminals of the first conductive element 304 . a thin copper layer 308 is used to contact i / o terminals of the first conductive element 304 to reduce the contact resistance between i / o terminals of the first conductive element 304 and the conductive pattern 312 . please continuously refers to fig5 f and fig . si . a photoresist layer 309 ( e . g ., positive photoresist ) is patterned on a portion of thin copper layer 108 to expose the remaining portion of thin copper layer 308 . then a thick copper layer 310 is formed on the remaining portion of thin copper layer 308 by a known process , such as electroplating . as a result , a thin copper layer 308 and a thick copper layer 310 ( shown in fig5 are combined into a conductive pattern 312 to make two groups of electrical connections described above . in one embodiment , i / o terminals of the first conductive element 304 can be electrically connected to the conductive pattern 312 by conventional technology , such as wire bond , gold - ball bond , conductive wires ( by film process , printing process , or electroplating ) or a combination thereof . fig5 h and fig5 g illustrate electrical connections between the i / o terminal of the first conductive element 304 and the conductive pattern 312 by way of wire bonds 316 or gold ball bonds 317 . a gold - ball bond is used to contact i / o terminals of the first conductive element 304 to reduce contact resistance between i / o terminals of the first conductive element 304 and the conductive pattern 312 . next , as illustrated in fig5 j and fig5 a , the photoresist layer 309 is removed . in one embodiment , the thick copper layer 310 can be trimmed to a suitable thickness . then , a protective layer 311 is selectively patterned to expose a portion of the conductive pattern 312 . a first pad 313 can be formed on the portion of the conductive pattern 312 by a known process , such as printing solder , to connect with a second conductive element 314 , such as choke , capacitor or resistor . then a second pad 318 can be formed underlying the lead frame to further connect to pcb . the second pad 318 can be made of any conductive material , such as sn , ni / au or the like . fig5 a illustrates a product structure 300 of the embodiment of the present invention . fig5 k and fig5 l illustrate the top view and bottom view of the product structure 300 in fig5 a . in reference to both fig5 a and fig5 k together , sections c - c ′ in fig5 a are taken along line c - c ′ shown in fig5 k . in reference to both fig5 a and fig5 l together , sections c - c ′ in fig5 a are taken along line c - c ′ shown in fig5 l . as illustrated in fig5 k , the top view of the product structure 300 mainly includes a lead frame 301 and a second conductive element 314 in fig5 a . as illustrated in fig5 l , the bottom view of the product structure 300 mainly includes a lead frame 301 and a second pad 318 in fig5 a . the first conductive element ( not shown ) 304 is embedded in the product structure 300 . it should be noted that the way to make electrical connections varies with different kinds of products and process performed on the metallic frame . it can include many ways and is not limited to the ways discussed above . it can be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art and thus will not be further described herein . it follows from description of the above embodiments that the structure in the present invention and the method for manufacturing the same can offer many advantages including : 1 . better performance of heat dissipation and electrical conductance as the metallic frame is metallic . 2 . smaller size by forming a recess in the metallic frame and using conventional technology and process , such as film process , printing process or electroplating , to connect all the conductive elements by a conductive pattern with the metallic frame . 3 . versatile applications including active devices such as ic chip , mosfet , igbt or diode , or passive devices such as resistors , capacitors or inductors . the above disclosure is related to the detailed technical contents and inventive features thereof . people skilled in this field may proceed with a variety of modifications and replacements based on the disclosures and suggestions of the invention as described without departing from the characteristics thereof . nevertheless , although such modifications and replacements are not fully disclosed in the above descriptions , they have substantially been covered in the following claims as appended . | 7 |
referring now to the drawing , wellbore 10 has penetrated upper zone 12 and lower zone 14 . lower zone 14 is separated from upper zone 12 by a distance of about 50 to about 300 feet or more . wellbore 10 communicates fluidly with upper zone 12 and lower zone 14 by perforations 16 . an annular space or annulus 20 is formed via the outside wall of wellbore 10 and a tubing string 24 centrally located within the wellbore . tubing string 24 communicates fluidly with the surface via tubing string conduit 22 . tubing string conduit 22 communicates fluidly with a &# 34 ; frac &# 34 ; fluid supply means ( not shown ) and a pumping means ( not shown ). annulus or annular space 20 fluidly communicates to the surface via annulus conduit 18 . annulus conduit 18 is connected to a &# 34 ; frac &# 34 ; fluid supply means ( not shown ) and a pumping means ( not shown ). in order to create two simultaneous fractures at different spaced apart zones of the formation , a hydraulic fracturing fluid is directed down annulus conduit 18 so as to enter upper zone 12 through perforations 16 . hydraulic fracturing pressure is applied while simultaneously directing a fracturing fluid which is heavier than the first fracturing fluid into tubing string 24 via tubing string conduit 22 . the heavier fracturing fluid is directed by tubing string 24 into lower interval or zone 14 via perforations 16 . hydraulic fracturing fluid is continually directed into annulus conduit 18 and tubing string conduit 22 so as to simultaneously enter upper zone 12 and lower zone 14 respectively . the rate and pressure of the hydraulic fracturing fluid entering upper zone 12 and lower zone 14 is at a rate and pressure sufficient to simultaneously create within upper zone 12 one fracture 26 while simultaneously creating another fracture 28 in lower zone 14 . tubing string 24 is open - ended where it is located in an area adjacent to perforations 16 in wellbore 10 within lower zone 14 . as fracture 26 which is created in upper zone 12 propagates through that zone , it completely covers that zone . additionally , since a lighter density hydraulic fracturing fluid is utilized in upper zone 12 , less pressure is generated in that zone so the fracture does not propagate out of zone 12 . less fracturing force is required because less pressure is generated in zone 12 because its depth is less than that in zone 14 . because lower zone 14 is at a greater depth , a higher density &# 34 ; frac &# 34 ; fluid is needed to generate greater pressures in zone 14 . thus , fracture 28 does not propagate upwardly into zone 12 and problematic fracture growth is eliminated . if the fracture created in zone 12 does communicate with the fracture in zone 14 , density differences will help keep fluids separated into their respective zones . since the hydraulic fracturing fluid of a lighter density is entering upper formation 12 at the same time that a heavier fracturing fluid is entering lower zone 14 , with substantially the same injection rate and pressure without co - mingling of the fracturing fluids , a mechanical packer is therefore not required to separate upper zone 12 from lower zone 14 . since both zones are being simultaneously hydraulically fractured , only one fracturing operation need be conducted in both zones . conducting one hydraulic fracturing operation in both zones at the same time saves both time and money . the effectiveness of fracturing at each zone of the formation can be determined by available methods . one such method is described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 415 , 805 that issued to fertl et al . this patent is incorporated herein by reference . this method describes a multiple stage formation operation conducted with separate radioactive tracer elements injected into the well during the fracturing operation . after completion of the fracturing operation , the well is logged using natural gamma ray logging . the resulting signals are sorted into individual channels or energy bands characteristic of each separate radio tracer element . results of the simultaneous fracturing operation are evaluated based on disbursement of the individual tracer elements . wellbore 10 can be cased or uncased . if the wellbore is cased , the casing is cemented into wellbore 10 . thereafter , the casing is selectively perforated in a manner so that in subsequent treatments , fluids being pumped therein will pass through all perforations at a substantial rate . while the pumping rate of the hydraulic fracturing fluid is formation dependent , it should be at least about 1 to about 10 barrels per fracture . perforations are made within wellbore 10 at a spacing of about 10 to about 100 feet apart so a desired fracture spacing can be obtained . these perforations should comprise two sets of perforations which are simultaneously formed on opposite sides of wellbore 10 . preferably , these perforations should have diameters between about 1 / 4 to about 1 inch . they should be placed circumferentially about the casing in the anticipated plane where it is desired to induce a fracture into the zone . the number and size of perforations are determined by the fracture treatment pumping rate and the pressure drop necessary to divert sufficient fluid through all the perforations to create simultaneously fractures in the upper and lower zones . fracture fluids which can be utilized herein include simple newtonian fluids , gels described as power law fluids , and acids . use of acids as a fracturing fluid is discussed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 249 , 609 issued to haafkens et al . on feb . 10 , 1981 . this patent is herein incorporated by reference . use of a gel as a fracturing fluid is disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 415 , 035 issued to medlin et al . on nov . 15 , 1983 . this patent is herein incorporated by reference . these fracturing fluids as well as a method for fracturing a formation by limited entry is disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 867 , 241 issued to strubhar on sep . 19 , 1989 . this patent is hereby incorporated herein by reference . although the present invention has been described with preferred embodiments , it is to be understood that modifications and variations may by resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention , as those skilled in the art will readily understand . | 4 |
it is to be understood that the following disclosure provides many different embodiments , or examples , for implementing different features of various embodiments . specific examples of components and arrangements are described below to simplify the present disclosure . these are , of course , merely examples and are not intended to be limiting . in addition , the present disclosure may repeat reference numerals and / or letters in the various examples . this repetition is for the purpose of simplicity and clarity and does not in itself dictate a relationship between the various embodiments and / or configurations discussed . the bag spreader described herein simplifies bagging of leaves or other debris by securing a leaf bag or other bag in place in a container so that it can be easily filled . to do this , the bag spreader is not only arranged to hold the bag at the container opening , but is also arranged to extend into the container opening to support or hold the bag open within the container . this becomes particularly helpful when the container is tipped on its side and leaves or other debris are pushed or raked directly into the container opening . because the bag spreader extends into the container opening to support the bag , it reduces or eliminates bag sagging near the container opening . because of this , users can push leaves and debris into the bag and container with a reduced chance of snags or tearing of the bag . when the bag is filled , the container can be uprighted and the bag spreader can be easily removed , leaving the bag to be tied . fig1 illustrates an exemplary bag spreader 100 of the present disclosure joined with a bag 102 and a conventional container 104 , such as a garbage can . the bag spreader 100 fits over an edge of the container 104 and operates to hold the bag 102 in place . as will be discussed further below , the bag spreader 100 holds the bag 102 not only at the edge of the container 102 , but also extends into the container and supports the bag 102 inside the container when the container is tipped onto its side . fig2 and 3 illustrate the exemplary bag spreader 100 in greater detail . the bag spreader 100 includes a connection portion as a plurality of outer legs 106 , a bag supporting portion as a plurality of inner legs 108 , a head portion as a handle 110 , and an attachment element 112 . as can be seen in fig2 and 3 , the plurality of outer legs 106 are disposed substantially in a first plane and the plurality of inner legs 108 are disposed substantially in a second plane , offset from and substantially parallel to the first plane . the plurality of outer legs 106 are configured and arranged to fit along the outer side of the container 104 in the manner shown in fig1 . these outer legs 106 have a proximal portion 114 adjacent the handle 110 and a distal portion 116 . as can be seen , the proximal portion 114 extends rigidly from the handle 110 and is formed to be substantially straight . the distal portion 116 , disposed at the end of the proximal portion 114 , includes a protruding portion 118 protruding inwardly toward the inner legs 108 . this protruding portion 118 includes a curved or tapered leading end 120 curving or angling away from the inner legs 108 to a distal end 122 . this is described in greater detail with reference to fig4 . fig4 is a cross - sectional view of the bag spreader 100 , the bag 102 , and the container 104 . here , the container 104 has been tipped onto its side so that the opening is at a lateral side and a sidewall 123 forms an upper wall . as can be seen , the container sidewall 123 includes an outer surface 124 and an inner surface 126 . the bottom end 127 of the container 104 is opposite the open end . in the exemplary embodiment shown , the container 104 includes a container edge 128 defining the container opening . in this example , the edge 128 includes a lip 130 . when disposed on a container , such as the container 104 tipped on its side , the protruding portion 118 of the outer legs 106 interfaces with the upwardly facing outer surface 124 of the container 104 . this protruding portion 118 cooperates with the container 104 to maintain the outer legs 106 and inner legs 108 in an orientation where the outer and inner legs 106 , 108 are disposed substantially parallel to the inner surface 126 of the container 104 . this enables the inner legs 108 to more effectively hold the bag 102 adjacent the inner surface 126 of the container 104 . in addition , the curved or tapered leading end 120 enables a user to more easily slide the bag spreader 100 over the container edge 128 , as the curved or tapered leading end 120 can guide the outer legs 106 over the edge 128 . the inner legs 108 will now be described with reference to fig2 - 4 . the inner legs 108 extend substantially parallel to the outer legs 106 . like the outer legs 106 , the inner legs 108 are rigid and cantilevered from the handle 110 . these have a proximal portion 131 adjacent the handle 110 and have a distal portion 132 with a distal end 133 . in the example shown , the inner legs 108 have a length greater than the length of the outer legs 106 , such that in use , they are disposed closer to the bottom end 127 of the container 104 . this helps the inner legs support the bag 102 deep into the container 104 , as shown in fig4 . in the exemplary embodiment shown , the inner legs 106 are sized to cooperate with the container 104 by extending along the container inner surface 126 about two - thirds of the depth of the container . however , the inner legs 108 may be arranged to cooperate with a specific container and may extend , for example , to a container depth within the range of about 15 % to 100 % of the total container depth . in other examples , the inner legs 108 extend within a range of about 35 % to 100 % of the total container depth . in some embodiments , the inner legs 108 are arranged to cooperate with a container by extending more than half of the depth of the container . in some embodiments , the inner legs have a length in the range of 12 to 48 inches , although the legs may be either larger or smaller . in some embodiments , the inner legs having a length within the range of about 18 to 36 inches , and in some embodiments , the inner legs have a length within the range of about 24 - 36 inches . because the inner legs 106 extend deep into the container 104 , rather than just attaching at the container edge , the bag 102 does not sag at the container opening . instead , the bag is supported near the opening and deep into the container . accordingly , when the container is on its side as in fig4 , the bag 102 is better held out of the way of debris being pushed into the container opening . this makes loading the bag easier because it reduces the chance of debris snagging on the bag , and it also protects the bag , reducing the change of tearing or otherwise damaging the bag . this may directly lead to more efficient bagging of debris . as best seen in fig4 and 5 , the distal end 133 includes a rounded or tapered leading edge 134 that enables the distal end 133 to smoothly slide along a bag in the container 104 . this reduces the chance of damaging the bag 102 in the container 104 . in addition , the rounded or tapered leading edge 134 may aid when introducing the spreader 100 over the edge 128 of the container 104 by guiding the inner legs 106 . the attachment element 112 is shown in fig1 - 4 and 6 . it cooperates with the container 104 to hold the bag spreader 100 on the container . in the example shown , the attachment element 112 is a sheet - like compliant mechanism integrally formed with the spreader and elastically flexes to fit over the container edge 128 . in this example , the attachment element 112 includes a proximal portion 136 extending parallel to the legs 106 , 108 . this proximal portion 136 may be configured to fit adjacent the container lip 130 , as shown in fig4 . from the proximal portion , the attachment element 112 curves toward the inner legs 108 to form a protrusion 138 that interfaces with the outer surface 124 of the container . by engaging the outer surface 124 distal of the container lip 130 , the attachment element 112 helps secure the spreader 100 on the container 104 . a distal portion 140 of the attachment element 112 is arranged to be spaced from the outer surface 124 of the container 104 for easy grasping when in use . this enables a user to manually elastically flex the attachment element 112 to more easily remove the spreader 100 from a container . it is worth noting that the attachment element 112 is shaped to flex to both be attached to and removed from a container without being independently flexed by a user . the handle 110 , shown in all the figures , is the structure connecting the legs and the attachment element . as shown in fig1 and 4 , it is arranged to lie adjacent the container edge 128 in use . fig7 shows the handle 110 in greater detail . in the example shown , the handle 110 includes a grip 142 formed therein that allows a user to hold the spreader when placing it on or taking it off a container . in this embodiment , the grip 142 is formed as a depression in the handle 110 on the sides that face the container edge 128 and that include the inner legs 108 . referring now to fig8 , the inner legs 108 are shown spaced apart from each other by a distance greater than that of the outer legs 106 . in other examples , the inner legs 108 are spaced apart the same distance as the outer legs 106 . in use , a bag 102 may be placed into a container 104 such that the bag opening corresponds to the container opening , as is shown in fig9 a . in some instances , the bag 102 may be folded about the edges of the container 104 so that the edge of the bag open end is exterior of the container opening and the container edge is entirely covered by the bag . the bag spreader 100 is then disposed over the edge of the container 104 so that the legs extend into the container along a sidewall adjacent to both an inner and an outer surface of the container 104 , as shown in fig4 and 9b . with the bag and spreader in place , the container may be tipped on its side so that the opening lies adjacent the ground . if the bag is disposed to extend over the edge of the container , as shown in fig4 , 9 a , and 9 b , the attachment element 112 and the outer arms 106 may help hold the bag in place along the outwardly facing side of the container . for example , a portion of the spreader &# 39 ; s weight may lie on the bag 102 at the lip 130 of the container edge 128 when the container is tipped on its side . accordingly , in addition to supporting the bag with the inner legs 108 , the bag may be held in place by the attachment element 112 and the outer arms 106 . with the container on its side , a user can rake leaves and other debris directly into the bag . the spreader supports the bag at the top edge of the container when the container is on its side . it also supports the bag inside the container , not just near the opening , but also further in toward the closed end of the container so that the bag doesn &# 39 ; t hang as much as it otherwise would . in the example shown , the container 104 is a square shaped container having substantially straight edges forming the opening . one such square container is marketed by rubbermaid ® under the tradename brute ® utility containers . square containers are particularly useful when raking debris into the can because one edge can lie parallel with the ground . however , other containers suitable for use with the spreader disclosed herein have shapes other than square shaped . for example , in some embodiments , the container is a round container having a circular opening , and the spreader 100 cooperates with the round container to hold the bag in the round container . it should be apparent that other containers in addition to the square and round containers may be used , including containers having round openings , rectangular openings , oval openings , among other . it should also be apparent that in some embodiments , the bag spreader 100 is formed to fit the edge of the container in a manner that helps hold the bag within the container in the manner described above . in some embodiments where the container has a curved opening , such as with a round container , the bag spreader head portion is curved to match the curvature of the container opening . in other embodiments , the bag spreader head portion is straight as shown in fig2 . in some examples , more than one spreader is used with a single container . for example , two or more spreaders may be used with a single container to secure and hold open the bag . in one example , the spreaders are used on opposing sides of the container . in another example , the spreaders are used on adjacent sides , and in yet other examples , the spreaders are used on the same side of the container . although disclosed as a leaf collector , the spreader may be used in any application to collect and bag material . for example , it may be used to collect and bag shavings from animal stalls , gardening mulch , twigs , foliage , weeds , saw dust , trash , debris , or any other material that might be bagged . it is worth noting that the spreader 100 can be used to not only support the bag inside the container , spaced apart from the container opening to reduce bag sagging when the bag is on its side , but it can also be used to secure and hold the bag in place when the container is upright . because some embodiments extend both inside and outside of the associated container , and because some embodiments rest on the edge of the container , the spreader helps secure the bag in place at all times . since the spreader is useful in bagging applications , some spreader embodiments are sized to cooperate with conventional 33 gallon bags or larger . as such , the legs are sized to extend deep into such bags to support the bags and prevent bag sag . the foregoing has outlined features of several embodiments . those skilled in the art should appreciate that they may readily use the present disclosure as a basis for designing or modifying other processes and structures for carrying out the same purposes and / or achieving the same advantages of the embodiments introduced herein . those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure , and that they may make various changes , substitutions and alterations herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure . | 1 |
in a two level pwm inverter drive system , eight possible basic voltage vectors can be produced , including two zero basic voltage vectors 000 and 111 . the non - zero basic voltage vectors are represented in the vector diagrams of fig1 a , 2 a and 4 and indicate states for a 2 - level pwm inverter , such as that illustrated in fig5 . in the inverter of fig5 , the switches are shown in basic voltage vector state v 1 , or 100 . any desired command voltage vector can be formed by the eight basic voltage vectors . the desired command voltage vector is limited by the maximum output voltage of the inverter , as determined by the dc bus voltage level . in a pwm inverter drive system , motor phase current information can be determined from the dc bus current when non - zero basic vectors are used , such as in the case illustrated in fig5 . each basic vector is assigned a specific time in a pwm cycle to generate a command voltage vector . if the command voltage vector is used only for a very short period of time as illustrated in fig1 b , the motor current cannot be observed from the dc bus current . this time constraint results from time delays associated with a / d conversion , including sample and hold times , in addition to voltage slewing resulting from device turn on and other parasitic effects that distort the dc link current from an ideal step waveform to an overshoot with ringing type waveform . it is this time constraint that forms the non - observable ( shaded ) regions in the voltage space vector plane illustrated in fig1 a . the present invention provides an algorithm to reconstruct 3 - phase motor current information from measurement of a dc bus current supply . a voltage space vector plane 10 , as illustrated in fig1 a , contains non - observable regions near sector borders , shown shaded . according to a feature of the present invention , a voltage space vector plane 11 ( see fig4 b ) is produced with reduced non - observable zones when the space vector modulation arrangement is changed from 3 - phase to 2 - phase modulation during a given pwm cycle ( fig4 ). referring to fig6 a , a conventional 3 - phase inverter provides a 3 - phase voltage space vector pwm modulation , illustrated in a timing diagram 62 where all three phases are switched in one pwm cycle . a corresponding space vector or commutation diagram 63 shows the reference voltage vector in a non - observable region near the 100 basic vector . the non - observable reference voltage vector results from the narrow intervals between energization of phases v and w , or when the 3 - phase modulation control switches from the 110 basic vector to the 111 zero basic vector or vice versa . the narrow intervals between switching events each have a width of t2 / 2 , which is too small to permit dc bus current measurements from accurately indicating one of the two - phase current measures needed for complete motor phase current reconstruction . time t2 is the sum of the differences between the on time and off time of the phases v and w . diagram 62 also shows that , over the course of the pwm cycle defined by the interval tpwm , six switching events are observed , so that each of the sets of switches illustrated in fig5 change state . referring now to fig6 b , a reference voltage vector equivalent to that shown in vector diagram 63 can be formed using 2 - phase voltage space vector pwm , as illustrated in commutation diagram 65 . with 2 - phase voltage space vector modulation , a minimum time constraint for non - observability is cut in half as shown in diagram 65 . in addition , four switching events are observed , rather than six , in the 2 - phase versus 3 - phase modulation , illustrated in timing diagram 64 . the total interval time t2 ( on time for the high side switch connected to phase v ) is localized in one spot , thereby providing a greater opportunity to observe motor phase current through dc bus current measurement . indeed , the available time for measurement of dc bus current to determine motor phase current is doubled . referring now to fig6 c , a switching sequence where the reference voltage vector is greater than 30 ° is illustrated . in this instance , the zero basic vector 111 is chosen to obtain an interval that is as long as possible for time period t1 ( vector 100 ). a timing diagram 66 illustrates the use of the zero basic vector 111 in the pwm cycle rather than the zero basic vector 000 to maximize t1 time . commutation diagram 67 illustrates the relevant reference voltage vector being greater than 30 ° according to this arrangement . referring momentarily to fig1 , criteria for the selection between 3 - phase and 2 - phase modulation for a single shunt current measurement is described relative to vector diagram 70 . the pwm modulator has the capability to switch back and forth between 3 - phase and 2 - phase modulation dynamically . a reference voltage vector vref is illustrated in diagram 70 as being located in an observable region between basic voltage vectors 100 and 110 . vector vref is composed of component vectors ta and tb that lie along basic voltage vector axes 100 and 110 . a non - observable region 72 is illustrated for 3 - phase modulation to obtain minimum time constraints for choosing between 3 - phase and 2 - phase modulation . minimum observable component vectors tmin are shown along basic voltage vector axes 100 and 110 to illustrate the time constraints for selection between 3 - phase and 2 - phase modulation . if both component vectors ta and tb are greater in magnitude than minimum voltage vector tmin , then 3 - phase modulation can be used and an observable motor phase current can be obtained for at least two phases in a pwm switching cycle by measuring dc bus current . if either of component vectors ta or tb are less than tmin , resulting voltage reference vector vref falls within non - observable area 72 , preventing accurate motor phase current reconstruction by measuring dc bus current . thus , if (( ta and tb )& gt ; tmin ( 3 - phase )), 3 - phase modulation is used . otherwise 2 - phase modulation is used under these conditions , 2 - phase modulation is selected to reduce non - observable area 72 , resulting in a non - observable region that is half that of the 3 - phase modulation non - observable region . an illustrative voltage vector tmin for 2 - phase modulation is shown on basic voltage vector axis 110 to indicate the dimension of the reduced non - observable region . the transition from 3 - phase modulation observability to 2 - phase modulation observability is illustrated in fig4 for each of the different commutation diagram sectors . a further reduction in the non - observable time constraint can be achieved . when motor current is higher than a given threshold , the need to insert dead time is eliminated . typically , the time constraint can be written as a minimum time tmin as follows : referring now to fig7 , the dc bus current is sampled three times every pwm cycle using 2 - phase modulation . in fig7 , samples idc 1 and idc 3 are used to determine the motor phase current for the same motor phase , but at different time instants . sample idc 2 determines the current in phase w , as shown in fig7 or by reviewing fig5 . current samples idc 1 and idc 3 are combined based on the equations shown in fig7 to provide an average current value for phase u . current sample idc 2 is taken during the interval of active vector 110 . in this example , phases u and v are energized during sample idc 2 , so that the result of the sample is the sum of currents in phases u and v , i . e ., the current in phase w . the current iw is equal to - idc 2 . since the motor phase current varies over the interval between samples idc 1 and idc 3 , it is desirable to obtain an estimate of the current values based on the interval size and the value of the current samples . based on the time intervals between samples , an estimate of the phase current can be calculated . that is , the current samples idc 1 and idc 3 are time averaged together based on the interval spacing . accordingly , iu = tb / t t x idc 1 + ta / t t x idc 3 , where t t = ta + tb . in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention , sampling intervals may be taken over the course of a pwm cycle in either a 3 - phase or a 2 - phase modulation . for example , referring to fig8 a , four samples s 1 – s 4 are taken over the course of a single pwm cycle under 3 - phase modulation control . in the example illustrated in fig8 a , it would be desirable to obtain a current sample at the center of the pwm cycle for a given phase , so that a single sample could be used to represent the current as it changes over the interval of the phase energization . however , because a single current sensor on the dc bus is used to obtain the current samples , the current flowing through the dc bus will not be differentiated to determine the current in each of the two different phases . accordingly , for a 3 - phase modulation , two sets of two samples of the dc bus current can be taken in a pwm cycle and then each set is averaged together to obtain an estimate of the current value that would result from taking a sample in the center of the pwm pulse . as illustrated in fig8 a , sample 51 is taken near the beginning of the pwm cycle which will determine the current in phase u , and sample 54 is taken near the end of the pwm cycle also determining the current in phase u . samples s 1 and s 4 are then averaged together [( s 1 + s 4 )/ 2 ] to obtain a value that represents a sample taken at the center of the pwm cycle for phase u . similarly , samples s 2 and s 3 are taken as shown , determining the current in phase w . an average of samples s 2 and s 3 [ s 2 + s 3 )/ 2 ] provides a good estimate of the phase current in phase w provided during the pwm interval . with respect to fig8 b , samples s 1 – s 3 are taken during 2 - phase modulation with a zero basic vector of 000 . samples s 1 and s 3 determine phase u current and are averaged together to obtain an equivalent current sample taken in the center of the pwm cycle for phase u . a sample s 2 is taken in the center of the pwm pulse for phase w , determining the phase w current . these samples are all that are needed to obtain good estimates of current values for two phases , where the current in the third phase may be readily determined from the other two phase currents . accordingly , the use of 2 - phase modulation permits the taking of three samples in a pwm period to reconstruct motor current in the three different phases . in fig8 c , samples s 1 – s 3 are taken during 2 - phase modulation with a zero basic vector of 111 . samples s 1 and s 3 are obtained and averaged [( s 1 + s 3 )/ 2 ] for current in phase w , while sample s 2 indicates current in phase u , as illustrated in fig8 c . referring now to fig9 , a typical reference voltage vector vref is illustrated in diagram 40 . in space vector diagram 42 , reference voltage vector vref resides in an observable area of operation of the pwm inverter . accordingly , current measurements taken on the dc bus reflect the motor phase currents brought about by applying vector vref to the space vector modulation control . in the instance of vector diagram 42 , a minimum non - observable region is described as having a width a , resulting from the minimum amount of time needed to obtain a current sample on the dc bus . as shown in fig9 , region a has a width related to tmin , as desribed above . referring to vector diagram 44 , reference voltage vector vref falls within a non - observable region of the vector diagram , meaning that the switching sequences brought about by applying reference voltage vector vref are too short in time to permit the motor phase currents from being observed by measuring the dc bus current . in accordance with the present invention , reference voltage vector vref is provided as the time average of two substitute additive voltage vectors , v 1 and v 2 . when reference voltage vector vref is inside the non - observable sector bands , the time - average equivalent is formed by vectors v 1 and v 2 generated in two pwm cycles . preferably , the pwm cycles are sequential . in the example shown , voltage vector v 1 has a phase equal to 30 ° and a magnitude greater than the non - observable sector width a . by forming vector v 1 according to these constraints , observation of two motor phase currents is ensured . vector v 2 is added to vector v 1 to form the resulting reference voltage vector vref . the time average of vector v 1 plus vector v 2 is equal to the time average of vector vref , as illustrated in fig9 . in particular . referring now to fig1 – 10c , vector diagrams 51 – 53 illustrate three different cases of the application of a reference voltage vector vref during 3 - phase modulation . referring to fig1 d , a system block diagram 57 illustrates the generation of the vectors used in controlling the motor drive system . the following is a key to the signals : vcommand — modulation command from motor controller voutput — actual modulation output verr — modulation error vref — reference modulation request where n is denoted as the present pwm cycle n − 1 is denoted as the previous pwm cycle a block 58 is used to generate an applied voltage vector vapply that can be substituted for reference vector vref in the output vector voutput . an error vector verr is generated from reference vector vref and output vector voutput with a time delay element 59 , so that error vector verr will be applied in the next pwm switching cycle . in vector diagram 51 , reference voltage vector vref lies outside of a non - observable region 55 . in this instance , there is no need to compensate voltage vector vref to obtain switching sequences to provide an observable current measure at the dc bus , since the dc bus current may be sampled when voltage vector vref is applied to accurately measure phase currents in the motor drive . accordingly , output vector voutput is set to reference vector vref . the width of non - observable region 55 in vector diagram 51 approximates the width of a minimum pulse that can be applied in the pwm system . in vector diagram 52 , reference voltage vector vref lies inside of non - observable region 55 . in this instance , the component basic vectors that make up reference voltage vector vref each have a magnitude less than tmin , as better illustrated in fig2 a , 2 b . accordingly , reference voltage vector vref is compensated to obtain a switching sequence for the motor phase currents that permits the currents to be observed by measurement of the dc bus current . in this instance , output vector voutput is set to a calculated applied vector vapply , rather than reference voltage vector vref . the case illustrated in vector diagram 52 is similar to that described in fig9 , with the difference being that the applied voltage vector vapply is set to be as small as possible , while still producing observable switching sequences . accordingly , the magnitude of voltage vector vapply falls just outside the non - observable region 55 , at an angle of 30 °. therefore , the switching sequence produced by voltage vector vapply provides phase currents that permit a current measurement taken on the dc bus to accurately indicate motor phase current . to compensate the space vector modulation shown in diagram 52 , a compensating vector verr is applied to the space vector modulation in the next pwm cycle . voltage vector verr has a phase and magnitude such that when added to voltage vector v apply , the result is reference voltage vector vref . for example , as indicated in system block diagram 57 , reference vector vref ( n ) is equal to command voltage vector vcommand ( n ) plus voltage error vector vert ( n − 1 ). error vector verr ( n ) is equal to applied vector vapply ( n ) minus reference voltage vector vref ( n ). preferably , voltage vectors vapply and verr are applied in sequential switching cycles to minimize any impact on performance that may result from applying a compound vector , rather than the original voltage vector vref . in vector diagram 52 , the small magnitude of reference voltage vector vref indicates a low modulation index where the technique of the present invention is particularly useful . this technique also avoids the difficulties associated with changing frequency or shifting sequences within a single pwm period . in vector diagram 53 , a third case of a reference voltage vector vref is considered . in vector diagram 53 , reference voltage vector vref has a relatively large magnitude , but still resides in a non - observable region 55 . region 55 is unobservable because a number of switching transitions occur in relatively close proximity , so that two separate phase measurements may not be accurately obtained by measuring the dc bus current . in this instance , an observable voltage vector vapply is substituted for reference voltage vector vref and output as vector voutput , where voltage vector vapply has a similar angle and magnitude to those of reference voltage vector vref . error voltage vector verr ( n ) is calculated as applied voltage vector vapply ( n ) minus reference voltage vector vref ( n ). in a particular embodiment , voltage vector vapply is constructed so that it has the same component vector on the 100 basic vector axis as does reference voltage vector vref . in this way , the compensating voltage vector verr is minimized in magnitude . stated another way , voltage vector vapply is designed to reside in the observable area of vector diagram 53 at the point closest to reference voltage vector vref . in the example of vector diagram 53 , compensating voltage vector verr is vertical , or perpendicular to basic vector axis 100 . when reference voltage vector vref has a relatively large magnitude , as illustrated in vector diagram 53 , the motor is operating at a relatively high speed . during high speed operation , it is possible to apply a space vector modulation control with 2 - phase modulation in each pwm cycle to further reduce a non - observable region , while avoiding any significant impact to motor drive performance . referring now to fig3 , another aspect of the present invention provides for sampling dc bus current to reconstruct motor phase current after a specified time delay to permit the sample to be taken after switching transients or “ ringing ” have subsided . this technique can potentially increase the dimensions of the non - observable regions in the space vector diagram , because of the additional delay provided to avoid inaccurate current measurements . however , such a delay can be compensated for by using the techniques described above . in the case of high inductance motors , where di / dt is relatively low , a current measure taken near the end of a motor phase energizing event produces a current sample that forms a good approximation of the motor phase current over the entire energizing interval , because the current value during the interval changes at a more predictable rate than in lower inductance motors . accordingly , a good approximation of motor phase current through measurements of the dc bus current near an end of a phase energization interval is possible , and has the potential to reduce the length of the energization interval . for example , if an energizing interval can be reduced according to a desired result using the space vector modulation model , a good current sample reflecting motor phase current can still be obtained from the dc bus if the current sample is taken near the end of the shortened energizing interval . this feature also permits reduced minimum pulse clamping because of the additional compensation available , leading to an improved 2 - phase or 3 - phase modulation arrangement . although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof , many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art . therefore , the present invention should be limited not by the specific disclosure herein , but only by the appended claims . | 7 |
the hydraulic pressure of a solenoid - valve controlled fluid in a brake system is converted to an electrical signal via a pressure measuring cell 14 . to this end , pressure measuring cell 14 is placed on a fastening flange 17 in such a manner that a diaphragm of pressure measuring cell 14 is deformed depending on the pressure of the fluid . the deformation of the diaphragm is detected by a measuring bridge 19 . pressure measuring cell 14 is composed of a carrier 15 which is substantially tubular in design . furthermore , carrier 15 includes a flange in its middle section , which is primarily annular in design . to connect additional components in correct positions , at least one section of the flange of carrier 15 includes a preferably rectangular projection . on the side of pressure measuring cell 14 far from the pole core when in the installed state , four electrical contact points 18 are provided on measuring bridge 19 , via which it is possible to tap the output signals from measuring bridge 19 . carrier 15 of pressure measuring cell 14 is designed such that its inner side interacts in a form - fit manner with the top side of the pole core and with fastening flange 17 . carrier 15 is placed on fastening flange 17 and is connected thereto in a pressure - tight manner via welding , preferably laser welding 16 . a circuit carrier 20 is placed on pressure measuring cell 14 . circuit carrier 20 is substantially cylindrical in design and has a rectangular middle section for receiving printed circuit board 32 . the inner contour of the lower section of circuit carrier 20 — as indicated above with reference to fig2 — is designed to be mechanically connected to the outer contour of pressure measuring cell 14 , and it encloses it at least partially . for this purpose , circuit carrier 20 includes a shoulder in the lower region of the cylindrical contour , which is situated on the flange of carrier 15 when in the installed state . four domes 31 are provided for the purpose of establishing electrical contact between contact points 18 of pressure measuring cell 14 and current carrying traces 47 of circuit carrier 20 ; conductive adhesive is applied to the top side of domes 31 for establishing electrical contact between pressure measuring cell 14 and circuit carrier 20 and mechanically fastening them in position . the lower cylindrical region of circuit carrier 20 is closed by two diametrically opposed centering segments 37 which overhang in the axial direction opposite to pressure measuring cell 14 . in addition , an opening 60 is formed in the lower region of the lower cylindrical section of circuit carrier 20 , into which a sealing means 59 , e . g ., a gel , may be applied , in order to protect measuring bridge 19 located underneath it against environmental influences . in the upward direction , the cylindrical region of circuit carrier 20 transitions into a rectangular region , on one side of which a central segment 41 is provided in the middle section in the axial direction , on the external side of which a fixing adhesive 43 may be applied for attaching printed circuit board 32 to circuit carrier 20 . in addition , eight conductive adhesive domes 45 are provided on the side of the rectangular region of circuit carrier 20 on which printed circuit board 32 is accommodated . domes 45 project slightly outwardly relative to the rectangular body of circuit carrier 20 . they are coated with conductive adhesive to establish electrical contact between printed circuit board 32 and current carrying traces 47 . circuit carrier 20 becomes cylindrical in shape toward the top . four openings 63 are provided , which are used to receive contact means 51 , which are designed in the form of rivets . openings 63 are provided with conductive adhesive surfaces 49 in order to establish contact between contact means 51 and particular current carrying traces 47 using conductive adhesive . a central centering segment 38 is provided on the top , cylindrical region of circuit carrier 20 , as an extension of central segment 41 ; central centering segment 38 interacts with a central centering aid 36 , i . e ., a preferably u - shaped recess in printed circuit board 32 . fig3 shows printed circuit board 32 with components installed , on which electronic components 26 , such as an integrated circuit , resistors , capacitors , etc ., are located . in the lower region , printed circuit board 32 includes lateral recesses 34 which interact with external centering segments 37 of circuit carrier 20 . a recess which is used for centering purposes is also provided in the lower , middle region of printed circuit board 32 . fig4 shows the back side of printed circuit board 32 . eight conductive adhesive surfaces 53 are provided , via which four incoming signals from pressure measuring cell 14 are guided , as are the four outgoing signals that are forwarded to contact means 51 . current carrying traces 47 , which are external in design , are shown in this view , in the rectangular region of circuit carrier 20 . via current carrying traces 47 , conductive adhesive surfaces 53 of printed circuit board 32 are connected to contact points 18 of measuring bridge 19 , and the four other conductive adhesive surfaces 53 are connected above them to four contact means 51 and their conductive adhesive surfaces 49 in an electrically conductive manner . fig5 shows printed circuit board 32 in the installed state . fig5 also shows opening 60 which is used to receive sealing means 59 , e . g ., a gel . contact means 51 are also inserted into appropriate openings 63 in circuit carrier 20 . fig6 shows more clearly how middle centering segment 38 interacts with middle centering aid 36 of printed circuit board 32 , and how outer centering segments 37 interact with external centering aids 34 on printed circuit board 32 . fig6 also shows that middle centering segment 38 increases in terms of its outer circumference in the direction toward the rectangular section of circuit carrier 20 , thereby making it easy to insert printed circuit board 32 . at the end stop , the exact position of printed circuit board 32 relative to circuit carrier 20 is reached . fig7 shows the components in the installed state . in this state , circuit carrier 20 is mechanically and fixedly connected to fastening flange 17 via a fixing adhesive 43 . pressure measuring cell 14 encloses fastening flange 17 toward the top , and it is located on a shoulder thereof in such a manner that the fluid pressure directed through a bore is converted into appropriate output signals of measuring bridge 19 via the diaphragm ( not depicted ) of the pressure measuring cells . circuit carrier 20 encloses pressure measuring cell 14 at least partially from the top . opening 60 is located in circuit carrier 20 , pointing upwardly , and it closes the cylindrical lower region of circuit carrier 20 . a sealing means 59 is inserted into opening 60 . furthermore , contact points 18 of measuring bridge 19 are each contacted in an electrically conductive manner via conductive adhesive 55 to an external current carrying trace 47 of circuit carrier 20 . printed circuit board 32 is connected via fixing adhesive 43 to middle segment 41 of circuit carrier 20 . the electrical contacting of printed circuit board 32 to current carrying traces 47 takes place via conductive adhesive 55 that is applied to the top sides of domes 45 . four openings 63 are provided in the upper cylindrical region of circuit carrier 20 for receiving rivet - shaped contact means 51 . contact means 51 are connected to circuit carrier 20 via conductive adhesive 55 . a current carrying trace 47 is directed to each of the four contact means 51 , and the electrically conductive contact is established via conductive adhesive surfaces 49 using conductive adhesive 55 . furthermore , a protective sleeve 57 is provided ; protective sleeve 57 encloses circuit carrier 20 with printed circuit board 32 on which components have been installed . protective sleeve 57 is connected via laser welding 16 to fastening flange 17 . contact means 51 are still accessible , however . installation aids 61 extend in the axial direction on the top side of circuit carrier 20 . installation aids 61 make it easier to slide protective sleeve 57 over circuit carrier 20 via a guide that is beveled appropriately . the connection unit for a pressure measuring cell 14 depicted in the figures functions as described below . the hydraulic pressure in a brake system is converted to an electrical signal via pressure measuring cell 14 , which is installed , e . g ., on the solenoid valve . the electrical signal is prepared by an integrated circuit as an example of an electronic component 26 , and it is amplified and forwarded to a control device . pressure measuring cell 14 includes a diaphragm that detects the pressure of the fluid . a fluid - filled channel located in the interior of fastening flange 17 is formed in the interior of the pole core of the valve . this channel is closed in a pressure - tight manner via the diaphragm . the pressure conditions of the diaphragm are converted into appropriate electrical signals by measuring bridge 19 . fastening flange 17 is permanently mounted in the hydraulic block using a self - clinch method . circuit carrier 20 is preferably designed using mid - 2k technology . it is manufactured as a plastic injection - molded circuit carrier 20 using mid ( molded interconnect device ) technology , in particular using two - shot molding . using mid technology , it is possible to realize three - dimensional circuit structures . a preliminary injection - molded article composed of a galvanizable plastic is partially covered with a second , non - galvanizable plastic via injection molding . the partially projecting surfaces of the preliminary injection - molded article are coated with a metallic surface using a galvanic process , thereby producing three - dimensional , external current carrying traces 47 . circuit carrier 20 is characterized by a great deal of freedom in terms of shape , in particular via the integration of electrical and mechanical functions . as a result , the connection unit for pressure measuring cell 14 may be particularly compact in design . three - dimensional , external current carrying traces 47 are now used to establish contact between contact points 18 of measuring bridge 19 and printed circuit board 32 . the electrical contact between particular current carrying traces 47 and contact points 18 is established using a conductive adhesive 55 , as indicated in fig7 . particular current carrying traces 47 are contacted in an electrically conductive manner to conductive adhesive surfaces 53 on the back side of printed circuit board 32 via conductive adhesive domes 45 . in the same manner , the output signals from the integrated circuit are guided from printed circuit board 32 to contact means 51 . in turn , the output signals are contacted to conductive adhesive domes 45 using conductive adhesive 55 via corresponding conductive adhesive surfaces 53 . external current carrying trace 47 which is electrically contacted to particular dome 45 is directed on the middle section in the direction toward the particular openings in upper , cylindrical region of circuit carrier 20 . in turn , the outsides of openings 63 are designed as conductive adhesive surfaces 49 , in order to ensure that electrical contacting exists between particular current carrying traces 47 and contact means 51 . in turn , the electrical contacting between contact means 51 and conductive adhesive surfaces 49 is established via conductive adhesive 55 . contact means 51 , which are designed as contact rivets , are the contact surfaces for a separable electrical connection . the counterpart , which is not shown , is composed , e . g ., of four contact springs or spring pins which are anchored in the electrical control device . welded - on protective sleeve 57 is composed of metal and is used to prevent pressure measuring cell 14 from being bent ; it may also divert overvoltages , e . g ., esd pulses , to fastening flange 17 . three pyramid - shaped installation aids 61 are used as installation - centering tools to ensure that protective sleeve 57 is joined well . the above - described connection unit for a pressure measuring cell 14 is suited for use in particular in brake systems in motor vehicles , although it is not limited thereto . a large number of pressure sensors is used where installation space is limited , in premium - class brake systems in particular . a pressure sensor that requires a minimum of installation space is therefore well suited for use for this application . | 1 |
referring to the only drawing figure , there is shown the circuit 10 of the present invention which provides both the desired master clock frequency of 1 . 536 mhz and also the complementary outputs having a frequency of 768 khz . circuit 10 includes first and second identical d type flip - flops 12 and 14 . both flip - flops have clock pulse ( cp ) and d input pins . both flip - flops also have set and reset pins which are designated as s not and r not , respectively . the set and reset pins are also known as control pins . both flip - flops also have q and q not output pins . flip - flop 12 has its cp , d and s not pins connected to ground . the r not pin is connected to ground through the capacitor c1 . the parallel circuit of crystal xtl1 and resistor r1 connects the r not pin to the q not output pin . crystal xtl1 has a resonant frequency of 1 . 536 mhz . the q not pin is connected to the cp input pin of flip flop 14 . flip flop 14 has its d input pin connected to its q not output pin . the s not and r not pins are each connected to + 5 volts . the operation of circuit 10 will now be described . the flip - flops 12 and 14 of the dual d package used in this emobdiment will have a high on both output pins when a low appears on both the s not and r not pins , i . e . when both pins are in the active state . this is not a stable operating state for the flip - flop . if both the set and reset pins are simultaneously released to the inactive state , i . e . a high simultaneously appears on both the s not and r not pins , the state of the output pins will be unpredictable . if , however , only one of the pins is released to the inactive state , the state of the output pins will be determined by the pin which remains in the active state . for example , if both the s not and r not pins are both initially in the active state and the r not or reset pin is then released to the inactive state , it is the s not or set pin which controls the state of the output pins of the flip - flop . in that case , the q pin will have a high and the q not pin will have a low . the set pin of flip flop 12 is always connected to ground . when circuit 10 is initially powered up , the reset pin of the flip - flop is connected to ground through capacitor c1 . therefore , the q and q not output pins of the flip - flop are both high . as the q not output pin is high , the capacitor c1 charges towards the high through resistor r1 . thus , the voltage on the reset pin increases from the low towards the high . as the capacitor c1 charges , the voltage on the flip - flop &# 39 ; s reset pin increases to a level such that it is no longer a valid low . at that time , it is then only the set pin which controls the state of the flip - flop output pins and q not goes low . as crystal xtl 1 is connected between the q not and reset pins , this sudden change in voltage excites the crystal and it oscillates . the resistance of r1 and the capacitance of c1 are selected such that the time constant r1c1 is much longer than the time for one half cycle of the crystal &# 39 ; s resonant frequency . therefore , the crystal dominates the frequency of oscillation . the long time constant ensures that the change in state of the q not output pin occurs on the linear portion of the c1 voltage waveform . it should be appreciated that if crystal control of the frequency of oscillation is not necessary or desired , then the crystal can be omitted . in that case , the frequency of oscillation would be determined by the r1c1 time constant . then periodic voltage at the q not output pin would then first change from a high to a low as capacitor c1 charged and then from a low to a high as the capacitor discharged . the latter change initiates the next cycle of the voltage waveform . in the embodiment described above for circuit 10 , a type 74hc74 dual d package available from national semiconductor of santa clara , calif . was used . it is to be understood that the description of the preferred embodiment is intended to be only illustrative , rather than exhaustive , of the present invention . those of ordinary skill will be able to make certain additions , deletions , and / or modifications to the embodiment of the disclosed subject matter without departing from the spirit of the invention or its scope , as defined by the appended claims . | 8 |
[ 0050 ] fig1 shows the configuration of an information processing system related to the first preferred embodiment of this invention . this information processing system , which is designed for a device with a built - in computer , is based on a source program written in java . it comprises byte code executing unit 1 to execute byte code ; object reference table 2 ; object discriminating unit 3 to discriminate objects ; executing program 4 , the program to be executed ; and memory accessing unit 5 to access the memory . the aforesaid executing program 4 is translated from the source program into byte code ( an intermediate code ) by a compiler ( not pictured ). byte code executing unit 1 is an interpreter to execute byte code . when unit 1 receives a message telling it to create a new object , it associates the name of the object with a number it will use to recognize it and stores these data in the aforesaid object reference table 2 . it also links the aforesaid number to data representing the object &# 39 ; s definition and the address of the area where its variables are stored . when byte code executing unit 1 receives a command in a program to look up an object , object discriminating unit 3 discriminates the id number of the indicated object in the object reference table 2 using the object name in the program . in actual terms , this is done by a program which controls the order of the aforesaid discrimination processing and by a unit to execute that program . based on the data linked to the id number of the object discriminated by unit 3 , unit 1 recognizes the area where the object &# 39 ; s variables are stored . memory access unit 5 accesses the memory , reads and writes data corresponding to a given address in the memory . ( in real terms , it would be a data bus which links the cpu and the memory .) unit 5 receives from unit 1 the address indicating where the aforesaid variables are stored and writes or reads data into or out of that area . if the aforesaid new object is an array object , a data storage area is established in the memory of a size corresponding to that of the array object . when there is a request through one of the elements in the array object to read or write data , byte code executing unit 1 receives a message in the form of indexes attached to the array indicating which element is to have data read or written . ( hereinafter , reading and writing data through an element will be referred to as “ looking up an element ”; indicating an element will be referred to as “ request of looking up an element ”.) based on the result of the discrimination task executed by the aforesaid unit 3 , unit 1 accesses the part of the data storage area in the virtual array object which corresponds to the indexes in the aforesaid request to look up an element , and it writes in or reads out data . the aforesaid object reference table 2 is set up in a given location of the memory by the initialization program immediately after power is supplied to the computer . ordinarily , with this type of system the object reference table 2 , which is set up when the computer is initialized , will be empty . in this embodiment , however , the virtual array object named as “ memory object ” is stored in object reference table 2 during initialization with the recognition code “ 1 ” attached to them . each time it creates a new object , byte code executing unit 1 assigns that object a number in object reference table 2 which has not yet been used . thus objects created after the system is initialized will be assigned recognition codes in order starting with “ 2 ”, and the recognition code assigned to a memory object will never have to be changed . the scheme described above is not the only one which may be used to generate “ memory object ”. the first program executed after the system is initialized could generate an array object which is then called the “ memory object .” unit 1 would then be set to recognize this array object as a virtual object . the aforesaid memory object would then be stored in the initially empty object reference table 2 as a virtual array object with the code “ 1 ”. however , to access the memory immediately after starting the system , it would be necessary during initialization to set up an object reference table 2 like the one in this embodiment , in which the memory object is stored . the aforesaid memory object must be an array object of a size proportional to the total number of addresses in the computer . in other words , it must be set up using the computer &# 39 ; s address 0 as its first address so that it has the same number of elements as the number of addresses in the memory . when unit 1 to process byte code receives a request to look up an element of a memory object , the aforesaid unit 3 determines from the object &# 39 ; s name that it is being requested to look up the virtual object with the number “ 1 ”. when it receives the result of this determination , unit 1 to execute byte code recognizes the entire memory as the area where the data representing this object are stored . it accesses the address which corresponds to the code attached to the array for the aforesaid requested element and writes in or reads out data . since this memory object is not generated by an actual program , it does not have a guaranteed area in the memory where its data are stored , as generated objects ordinarily would . therefore ordinary objects will not be affected by the memory object . they are assured their own data storage area , in which they can be freely accessed . we shall now explain how a memory object differs from an ordinary array object with reference to fig2 and 3 . a memory object is a one - dimensional array having a number of elements equal to the number of addresses in the memory . as can be seen in fig2 the data for element i are stored at address i in the memory . an ordinary array object , in contrast , is accessed only in the data storage area assigned to the object in the memory . as can be seen in fig3 if we call the first address in the data storage area n , the data for the i - th element of the object will be stored at address ( n + i − 1 ). computers normally have both a rom and a ram . if addresses are established for the numbers in the memory and a given number expresses straightforwardly some designated location in the memory , we should be able to access every address in either memory using a memory object . however , the user will be restricted from writing data into the rom . with this kind of memory object the entire area of the memory may be secured . an address which must be accessed in the memory can then be attached as index to a request to look up an element , and data can then be written into or read out of that address . in a program executed by java , a request to look up an element is described in the same fashion regardless of whether the object indicated is a memory object or an ordinary array object . thus , the standard java compiler can execute the claimed invention . when it receives a request to look up an element of a memory object , the unit 1 to execute byte code does not need to perform any special processing , as it can access the indicated address using the same scheme it uses to access an ordinary array object . in the example of a program given below , every element of a memory object is expressed in byte form , so the memory is accessed in byte units . however , if the memory objects are expressed as int arrays , the memory will be accessible in int units . by the same token , if the objects are expressed as double arrays , the memory will be accessible in double units . [ 0066 ] fig4 shows the java program ( of the class “ writetest ”) used to write the procedure by which memory object and ordinary array objects ( called simply “ array objects ”) are written into the memory . for purposes of explanation , each line of the program has been numbered in the figure . ( lines will be numbered in this way in all succeeding programs shown in figures .) when the instance is generated in lines 4 through 7 of this program , the variables designated as constructor arguments , “ memory object ” and “ array object ”, are each given a reference as a memory or array object . in this “ writetest ” class , this is what enables the user or requesting program to request that they desire to be looked up . in the “ memorywrite ” method , in lines 8 through 10 , a value representing the variable “ writevalue ” is written into the element representing the variable “ memoryaddress ” in the memory object . in the “ arraywrite ” method , in lines 11 through 13 , a value representing the variable “ writevalue ” is written into the element representing the variable “ array index ” in the array object . in this way all the values are defined . [ 0069 ] fig5 shows the result of compiling the java source program in fig4 above . in this figure , the box on the left shows the result of compiling the “ memorywrite ” method in lines 8 through 10 of fig4 . the box on the right shows the result of compiling the “ arraywrite ” method in lines 10 through 13 of fig4 . in both boxes , the portions where the code is different are shown in boldface print . as is made clear in this figure , the byte code representing each method is identical with the exception of the portion indicating the object &# 39 ; s name . when it receives the byte code of of either method described above , unit 1 to execute byte code will recognize that the byte code in line 1 is a command to write data into an array element . the byte code in line 2 gives the object that is written in a name . with the “ memorywrite ” method , when the aforesaid object reference table 2 is used , a request to look up an element of a virtual array object with the identification number “ 1 ” attached to it will establish that the entire memory will be considered the data storage area . accordingly , once values are stored in the aforesaid variables “ memoryaddrss ” and “ writevalue ” in a given location of the aforesaid program 4 , the program to be executed , and the aforesaid “ memorywrite ” method is accessed , data can then be written into any address in the memory . in the aforesaid fig4 the program used a memory object to write data into the desired address in the memory . however , if one wished to read data out of the desired address , a method could also be established whereby data stored in a given element could be read just as they would be from an ordinary array object . thus a request to look up an element of a memory object is expressed in the source program using the same scheme as a request to look up an element of an ordinary array object , and it can be converted by an ordinary java compiler . thus unit 1 to execute byte code can execute the same processing to look up a memory object as it would to look up an ordinary array object . we see , then , that it is quite simple to access the memory using a java program . nevertheless , if the looking up of memory objects is not restricted in any way , data in the memory may be accidentally written over or erased just as happened in the prior art when a pointer was used to access the memory . this is why in the embodiment which follows only programs which make the best use of their object - orientation and have proved themselves reliable are permitted access to memory objects . the information processing system shown in fig6 has , for the most part , the same configuration as the first embodiment . the executing program 4 , the program requesting memory access , includes various types of programs , such as os programs and drivers or applications managed by oss . in this embodiment , too , object reference table 2 , in which the memory object is set up , is generated as soon as the system is started . however , only some programs designated by the developers of the system , such as the os and selected drivers , are permitted to access the entire memory . to limit access to the memory , the developers establish criteria to determine which programs will be allowed total access . only programs which are permitted total access are given a designation which allows them to look up the memory object . [ 0079 ] fig7 is an example of how we would set up permission to access the memory in a program consisting of the os ( name of class : os ; hereafter referred to as “ class os ”). the variable “ memoryobject ” designated as the constructor argument is given a reference as a memory object . then when programs of the os class receive a request to look up an element written by the aforesaid “ memorywrite ” method , they will be able to access the designated address in the memory and write in or read out data . since the aforesaid variable “ memoryobject ” in line 2 of fig7 is declared to be private by having modifying indexes attached to it , other classes of programs will not recognize or be permitted access to this variable . [ 0082 ] fig8 shows how the programs in the information processing system in the aforesaid fig6 are related and gives examples of how to set up a reference for a memory object in each program . in the example shown , the programs are given labels indicating what type of program they are : os class , driver class or application class . os class programs are started up when the system is activated . driver class programs and application class programs are then started up in that order . as in the aforesaid fig7 os and driver class programs have a variable called “ memoryobject ” with the modifying indexes “ private ” attached to it . they also have a constructor with the reference of this memory object , through this variable , as its argument . programs of the application class don &# 39 ; t have a reference for the memory object , so they cannot recognize references for os or driver class memory objects . as a result , when os or driver class programs receive a request to look up an element , they can access the desired location in the memory ; but application class programs do not have free access to the memory . even if the aforesaid “ memorywrite ” method is attempted by an application class program , it cannot be executed correctly . in the embodiment we have been discussing , only programs whose reliability can be vouched for , such as those the system designers have developed themselves , are permitted to look up a memory object . imported programs which can &# 39 ; t be vouched for are not permitted to look up a memory object , nor are they allowed to reference a memory object of an os class program . thus data in the memory can never be accidentally written over or erased , which substantially increases the security of the system . [ 0087 ] fig9 shows a third example of an information processing system according to this invention . in this embodiment of an information processing system , unit 6 to restrict reference to memory objects is the device which determines which programs will be allowed access to the memory . just as in the second embodiment , program 4 , the program to be executed , contains various subprograms , including the os , the driver and applications . since unit 1 to execute byte code , object reference table 2 , unit 3 to distinguish objects and unit 5 to access the memory are identical to those components in the aforesaid first and second embodiments , we shall refrain from discussing them in detail at this point . in actual terms , the aforesaid unit 6 to restrict reference to memory objects consists of a program in byte code obtained by compiling a source program written in java and the means to execute that program . in the aforesaid program is a table supplying criteria by which it can be determined whether a given program should be allowed access to the memory . this table may store names of classes or index numbers of programs permitted access , or it may flag such programs . in this information processing system , one of the following two methods is used to restrict the access of program 4 to the memory . in the first method , only the most trustworthy program ( here , the os ) is given a reference for the memory object , just as in the aforesaid second embodiment . when the os activates other programs , only those recognized by unit 6 are given a reference for the memory object . in the second method , the program being executed sends a request to unit 6 that it be allowed to look up a memory object . only programs which are supposed to be permitted to access the memory are given a reference to the memory object by unit 6 . in this section we shall give practical examples of the two processing schemes described above in the order in which they were introduced . [ 0093 ] fig1 shows the order of processing executed by unit 6 when the first method described above is implemented . when the class of the program activated by the os class program is sent to it , unit 6 looks up the class in the aforesaid table in step 1 and determines whether this class of program is permitted access to the memory . if it is , we proceed from step 2 to step 3 and send the os the result “ true ”. if this class of program is not permitted access to the memory , we proceed from step 2 to step 4 and send the os the result “ false ”. only if the os receives the result “ true ” will it give the aforesaid program being activated reference to the memory object . [ 0095 ] fig1 is an example of a program which might be set up in the unit to restrict reference to the memory object to execute the procedure in the aforesaid fig1 . ( the class name is “ memoryobjectreferencerestrict ”. hereafter it is referred to as the “ class to restrict reference to memory objects ”.) line 2 in the figure sets up the aforesaid table to determine access . here , a list is created which contains the names of classes of programs ( in the example , “ os ” and “ driver ”) permitted reference to the memory object . what names will be stored in the table is determined by the system designers . the list may be amended as needed . the program in lines 3 through 10 is the method ( the “ ispermitted ” method ) by which the procedure in steps 1 through 4 in the aforesaid fig1 is implemented . the name of the class sent by the os is housed in the variable “ classname ”. the program then checks whether this name is stored in the aforesaid table . it returns a result of “ true ” or “ false ”. [ 0097 ] fig1 shows an example of an os class program in which the aforesaid “ ispermitted ” method has been accessed . as in the aforesaid fig7 lines 3 to 5 in the figure comprise a constructor with the variable “ memoryobject ” modified by “ private ” as its argument . the aforesaid variable is given reference to memory objects which are array objects . lines 6 to 14 are the program used when driver class programs are activated . the “ ispermitted ” method for the aforesaid class to restrict reference to memory objects is accessed with “ driver ”, the name of the class , as the argument . when “ true ” is returned , the driver class program , which is now permitted reference to the memory object , is activated . if “ false ” is returned , the driver class program is activated with reference to a null object . if the driver class program has a method to get reference to the memory object , like that shown in fig1 , driver can then access the designated address in the memory in response to the received request then the driver can write in or read out data . in the program , in lines 2 to 4 of fig1 , the value “ 99 ” is written into address 100 of the memory when the os gives the memory object a reference . if it does not give the object a reference , nothing is done . [ 0101 ] fig1 shows the order of processing executed by the unit to restrict reference to the memory object when the second method is used . ( to distinguish this procedure from that in the aforesaid fig1 , we specify each step with a number .) the procedure begins when a request is received from a given class of program to reference a memory object . in step 1 , the program obtains the name of the class of program which has submitted the request . it checks whether this name is one of those stored in the aforesaid table . if it is , we proceed from step 2 to step 3 and allow the program access to the memory object . if it is not , we proceed to step 4 and provide the program a null object . [ 0103 ] fig1 shows an actual example of a class of programs with restricted access to memory objects which are the target of the procedure executed in fig1 . fig1 shows an actual example of a program which requests access to the aforesaid memory object . the program in fig1 is one of the desired class ( in the example , driver class ) in program 4 . in the “ run ” method shown in the figure , the portion which accesses the “ getmemoryobject ” method ( lines 3 to 4 ) for a class of program with restricted access is equivalent to a request to access the aforesaid reference . to access the aforesaid method for a program of a class with restricted access , we use the “ getclassname ” method in line 4 of fig1 to obtain the name of the class of program that has submitted the aforesaid request to access the object . lines 5 through 11 correspond to the processing in the aforesaid steps 2 through 4 . the program determines whether the name of the class of program which originally accessed the aforesaid method is stored in the table . it gives that class of program access either to the memory object or to a null object . the “ getclassname ” method in the aforesaid line 4 identifies the class of the program which accessed the aforesaid method based on a stack or list configuration in the system . in response to the request to access the method , unit 1 to execute byte code , the getclassname method stacks the work areas ( i . e ., searches the frames or list contents ) of the accessed method . at the same time , as the method is executed , data generated in the process , the name of the method ( or its identification number ) and the name of the class of program ( or its identification number ) are stored in the method &# 39 ; s frames . by looking back over the frames , the aforesaid “ getclassname ” method can identify the class of the method request access and obtain the name or the identification number of the class . in this way the class of the program , which accessed the aforesaid “ getmemoryobject ” method , can be used to determine , for classes with restricted access , the class of the method that issued the request to access the aforesaid “ getmemoryobject ” method . this can be done , then , without using the name of the class as an argument . the aforesaid “ getclassname ” method can prevent classes of programs which are forbidden access to the memory from using a false name as an argument and executing a “ getmemoryobject ” method to get access to a memory object . this method thus enhances the security of the system . the class of each method requesting access using the “ getmemoryobject ” method to the memory object can be used to determine if the requesting method or program is allowed access to the memory object . this scheme can thus be used to access any address in the memory in response to a request to look up an element . in the example in fig1 , once the aforesaid method has been accessed , memory access will be allowed ( lines 5 to 7 ) only if the memory object is not null . in the schemes described above , the classes of programs to be given access to memory objects is restricted according to the table in unit 6 . thus amending the specifications in the table will allow the user to add to or change the programs permitted to access the memory as needed . this will allow the program to be applied flexibly according to how the system is deployed . it enables us to provide an information processing system which can be used for a wide variety of applications . in the embodiment discussed above , access to the memory is restricted according to the name of the program . however , it would be equally acceptable to determine whether to grant a program access to the memory according to the function or type of program ( e . g ., granting access to applications used to calculate lists ), the name of the developer , the version , the date it was created , or a password . in both the schemes discussed above , the conditions to restrict access to the memory object are written in via a java source program . however , access might be restricted in other ways than just the source program . it would be equally permissible to limit access at the stage where the byte code is executed . in such a case , when unit 1 is about to execute the byte code to grant access to the memory object , it checks the result output by unit 6 , the unit which restricts access . if the program belongs to a class which is not permitted access to the memory , unit 1 changes the code of the object to be accessed by that program from the code for the memory object to the code for a null object . this scheme allows us to prevent a program which should not have access from improperly accessing the memory even if permission to access has somehow been written in . in the information processing systems shown in the aforesaid fig1 and 9 , only one virtual array object has been generated as a memory object . however , the invention is not limited to this case only . it would also be acceptable for a number of virtual objects of different types , such as byte and int arrays , to be generated , and for access to be granted to different objects according to the type of data . in all of the aforementioned information processing systems , the memory object was of a size proportional to the total number of addresses in the memory . however , the invention is not limited to this case only . an accessible area of the memory might be defined , and a virtual object might be created which corresponded to this area ( hereafter referred to as the “ accessible area ”). this would allow us to provide an information processing system appropriate for devices whose access to the memory had to be restricted . it would also make it possible to set up a number of different virtual objects so that the location and size of the accessible area could vary according to the name or type of program . [ 0115 ] fig1 is an example of how a system might be configured in which several different accessible areas are created and each is accessible to a different kind of program . the basic configuration is identical to that shown in fig9 ; but three kinds of virtual array objects with the names memory object a , memory object b and memory object c are stored in table 2 with the corresponding numbers “ 1 ”, “ 2 ” and “ 3 ”. just as in the embodiments discussed previously , memory object a with identification number “ 1 ” is of a size proportional to the total number of addresses in the memory . memory objects b and c correspond to areas defined in the memory to which access is permitted . ( hereafter , when these three kinds of objects are referred to generically , they are called “ memory objects .”) [ 0117 ] fig1 shows examples of accessible areas corresponding to these memory objects . in the figure , r a is the accessible area corresponding to memory object a ; that is , it includes the entire memory . r b and r c are the accessible areas corresponding to memory objects b and c . they represent parts of the memory . it would also be possible to have parts of areas r b and r c overlap or have one of the areas subsumed in the other . in this embodiment , when the system is activated a table 2 is set up in which are stored memory objects for all three numbers , with each linked to the head address and the size of the array for a corresponding accessible area . for each class , the scheme by which memory objects are accessed is the same as that used in the embodiment in the aforesaid fig9 . with this configuration , every subprogram in the program being executed is allowed to access the appropriate memory objects according to the name of its class or what type of program it is . if a program attempts to access a memory object which is off limits or an element outside the boundaries of an accessible memory object , unit 1 to execute byte code will output an error message , just as it would if the element being looked up were in an ordinary array object ; and the program will be denied access . for example , if accessible area r b corresponds to the area normally accessible to driver class programs , and accessible area r c represents an area where corruption of the data will not pose a substantial problem , an os class program , which must be able to access the entire memory , will be permitted to access memory object a ; a driver class program will be permitted to access memory object b ; and an application class program will be permitted to access memory object c . we can thus set the boundaries of accessible areas of the memory according to the function and reliability of each program . the fact that we can allow relatively unreliable programs limited access to the memory enables us to provide an information processing system which is safer and more practical . the information processing systems shown in the aforesaid fig1 , 9 and 17 all use java as the source program . however , the information processing system could be configured in the same way using an object - oriented source language other than java so long as it did not access the memory using a pointer . even languages like c ++ which employ a pointer to access the memory could be used if they were fitted with a special compiler to prevent memory access by pointer or if the pointer access processing were prevented by language specifications . this would allow the same type of information processing system to be realized , and would overcome the shortcoming of prior art systems which allowed the memory to be accessed by an illicit pointer from outside the system . with the invention disclosed in claim 7 of this application , a number of virtual array objects of different types are stored in the aforesaid object reference table . with the invention disclosed above , a virtual array object of a size commensurate with the number of addresses in the memory is created . the desired address in the memory can be , thus , accessed by executing a program to look up a given element of the object . this configuration , therefore , allows a program language such as java , which has no pointers , to access the memory simply and quickly . since it looks up a given element of the virtual array object just like of an ordinary array object , the system does not use a separate compiler , so this system can be installed in any universal program environment . with the invention in claim 2 , only permitted programs can look up the aforesaid virtual array object ; it allows only select programs to access the memory . the system prevents data from being improperly written over in the memory and it can make a reliable data processing system . with the invention in claim 3 , a table can set up the programs which is allowed access to the memory . this configuration makes it easy to change or add permitted programs which are allowed access to the memory . it also allows flexible system changes and versioning up during data processing system development . with the invention in claim 4 , programs are permitted access only to an area of a given size in the memory which is designated as accessible , and they are forbidden access to addresses outside this area . this configuration , therefore , makes it easy to install this system in a device which requires a restricted or controlled memory area . with the invention in claim 5 , a number of areas are established to which access depends on the type of program being executed and its capabilities . this allows the areas which may be accessed to vary depending on the program being executed and it makes it possible to install this system in a low reliability device by allowing access only to the memory area which could be destroyed . with the invention in claim 6 , a virtual array object , which is not defined in an actual program , is created when the object reference table is set up as the computer is initialized . this configuration eliminates the additional processing to access to the memory by creating the access reference table at initial start up . with the invention in claim 7 , a number of array objects of different sizes and types are created in the object reference table . by changing the object to be looked up , one can make it conform to the shape of the data when it is accessed . | 6 |
the ensuing description provides embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope , applicability , or configuration of the claims . rather , the ensuing description will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing the embodiments . it being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims . any reference in the description comprising an element number , without a subelement identifier when a subelement identifiers exist in the figures , when used in the plural is intended to reference any two or more elements with a like element number . when such a reference is made in the singular form , it is intended to reference one of the elements with the like element number without limitation to a specific one of the elements . any explicit usage herein to the contrary or providing further qualification or identification shall take precedence . the exemplary systems and methods of this disclosure will also be described in relation to analysis software , modules , and associated analysis hardware . however , to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present disclosure , the following description omits well - known structures , components and devices that may be shown in block diagram form , and are well known , or are otherwise summarized . for purposes of explanation , numerous details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure . it should be appreciated , however , that the present disclosure may be practiced in a variety of ways beyond the specific details set forth herein . with reference now to fig1 , communication system 100 is discussed in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure . the communication system 100 may be a distributed system and , in some embodiments , comprises a communication network 104 connecting one or more communication devices 108 to a work assignment mechanism 116 , which may be owned and operated by an enterprise administering a contact center in which a plurality of resources 112 are distributed to handle incoming work items ( in the form of contacts ) from customer communication devices 108 . additionally , social media website 130 and / or other external data sources 134 may be utilized to provide one means for a resource 112 to receive and / or retrieve contacts and connect to a customer of a contact center . other external data sources 134 may include data sources , such as service bureaus , third - party data providers ( e . g ., credit agencies , public and / or private records , etc .). customers may utilize their respective customer communication device 108 to send / receive communications utilizing social media website 130 . in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure , the communication network 104 may comprise any type of known communication medium or collection of communication media and may use any type of protocols to transport messages between endpoints . the communication network 104 may include wired and / or wireless communication technologies . the internet is an example of the communication network 104 that constitutes and internet protocol ( ip ) network consisting of many computers , computing networks , and other communication devices located all over the world , which are connected through many telephone systems and other means . other examples of the communication network 104 include , without limitation , a standard plain old telephone system ( pots ), an integrated services digital network ( isdn ), the public switched telephone network ( pstn ), a local area network ( lan ), a wide area network ( wan ), a session initiation protocol ( sip ) network , a voice over ip ( voip ) network , a cellular network , and any other type of packet - switched or circuit - switched network known in the art . in addition , it can be appreciated that the communication network 104 need not be limited to any one network type , and instead may be comprised of a number of different networks and / or network types . as one example , embodiments of the present disclosure may be utilized to increase the efficiency of a grid - based contact center . examples of a grid - based contact center are more fully described in u . s . patent publication no . 2010 / 0296417 to steiner , the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference . moreover , the communication network 104 may comprise a number of different communication media such as coaxial cable , copper cable / wire , fiber - optic cable , antennas for transmitting / receiving wireless messages , and combinations thereof . the communication devices 108 may correspond to customer communication devices . in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure , a customer may utilize their communication device 108 to initiate a work item , which is generally a request for a processing resource 112 . illustrative work items include , but are not limited to , a contact directed toward and received at a contact center , a web page request directed toward and received at a server farm ( e . g ., collection of servers ), a media request , an application request ( e . g ., a request for application resources location on a remote application server , such as a sip application server ), and the like . the work item may be in the form of a message or collection of messages transmitted over the communication network 104 . for example , the work item may be transmitted as a telephone call , a packet or collection of packets ( e . g ., ip packets transmitted over an ip network ), an email message , an instant message , an sms message , a fax , and combinations thereof . in some embodiments , the communication may not necessarily be directed at the work assignment mechanism 116 , but rather may be on some other server in the communication network 104 where it is harvested by the work assignment mechanism 116 , which generates a work item for the harvested communication , such as social media server 130 . an example of such a harvested communication includes a social media communication that is harvested by the work assignment mechanism 116 from a social media network or server . exemplary architectures for harvesting social media communications and generating work items based thereon are described in u . s . patent application ser . nos . 12 / 784 , 369 , 12 / 706 , 942 , and 12 / 707 , 277 , filed mar . 20 , 1010 , feb . 17 , 2010 , and feb . 17 , 2010 , respectively , each of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . the format of the work item may depend upon the capabilities of the communication device 108 and the format of the communication . in particular , work items are logical representations within a contact center of work to be performed in connection with servicing a communication received at the contact center ( and more specifically the work assignment mechanism 116 ). the communication may be received and maintained at the work assignment mechanism 116 , a switch or server connected to the work assignment mechanism 116 , or the like until a resource 112 is assigned to the work item representing that communication at which point the work assignment mechanism 116 passes the work item to a routing engine 132 to connect the communication device 108 , which initiated the communication with the assigned resource 112 . although the routing engine 132 is depicted as being separate from the work assignment mechanism 116 , the routing engine 132 may be incorporated into the work assignment mechanism 116 or its functionality may be executed by the work assignment engine 120 . in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure , the communication devices 108 may comprise any type of known communication equipment or collection of communication equipment . examples of a suitable communication device 108 include , but are not limited to , a personal computer , laptop , personal digital assistant ( pda ), cellular phone , smart phone , telephone , or combinations thereof . in general each communication device 108 may be adapted to support video , audio , text , and / or data communications with other communication devices 108 as well as the processing resources 112 . the type of medium used by the communication device 108 to communicate with other communication devices 108 or processing resources 112 may depend upon the communication applications available on the communication device 108 . in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure , the work item is sent toward a collection of processing resources 112 via the combined efforts of the work assignment mechanism 116 and routing engine 132 . the resources 112 can either be completely automated resources ( e . g ., interactive voice response ( ivr ) units , processors , servers , or the like ), human resources utilizing communication devices ( e . g ., human agents utilizing a computer , telephone , laptop , etc . ), or any other resource known to be used in contact centers . as discussed above , the work assignment mechanism 116 and resources 112 may be owned and operated by a common entity in a contact center format . in some embodiments , the work assignment mechanism 116 may be administered by multiple enterprises , each of which has its own dedicated resources 112 connected to the work assignment mechanism 116 . in some embodiments , the work assignment mechanism 116 comprises a work assignment engine 120 , which enables the work assignment mechanism 116 to make intelligent routing decisions for work items . in some embodiments , the work assignment engine 120 is configured to administer and make work assignment decisions in a queueless contact center , as is described in u . s . patent application ser . no . 12 / 882 , 950 , the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference . in other embodiments , the work assignment engine 120 may be configured to execute work assignment decisions in a traditional queue - based ( or skill - based ) contact center . the work assignment engine 120 and its various components may reside in the work assignment mechanism 116 or in a number of different servers or processing devices . in some embodiments , cloud - based computing architectures can be employed whereby one or more components of the work assignment mechanism 116 are made available in a cloud or network such that they can be shared resources among a plurality of different users . work assignment mechanism 116 may access customer database 118 , such as to retrieve records , profiles , purchase history , previous work items , and / or other aspects of a customer known to the contact center . customer database 118 may be updated in response to a work item and / or input from resource 112 processing the work item . in one embodiment , a message is generated by customer communication device 108 and received , via communication network 104 , at work assignment mechanism 116 . the message received by a contact center , such as at the work assignment mechanism 116 , is generally , and herein , referred to as a “ contact .” routing engine 132 routes the contact to at least one of resources 112 for processing . fig2 illustrates system 200 in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure . in one embodiment , emergent event 202 is being reported by first psap caller 204 and second psap caller 210 utilizing first user device 206 and second user device 212 , respectively . one or more of a number of resources 112 may then process calls via interactions utilizing psap server 216 . first user device 206 and second user device 212 may be selected from customer communication devices 108 having at least an ability to communicate using a data channel . position 208 is the spatial and / or positional relationship between emergent event 202 and first psap caller 204 . position 208 may comprise one or more of distance , direction , height , line of sight , etc . similarly , position 214 describes a spatial and / or positional relationship between emergent event 202 and second psap caller 210 and may comprise one or more of distance , direction , height , line of sight , etc . first user device 206 and second user device 212 each comprises functionality beyond that required for voice - only communications . more specifically , first user device 206 and second user device 212 are each operable to establish a data channel with psap server 216 for interactions therewith . optionally , one or more of first user device 206 and second user device 212 comprise functionality to take photos , take video , capture audio , receive gps data , send and receive text messages , launch applications , and otherwise perform functions generally associated with a , “ smart phone .” resources 112 may , as more fully described with respect to fig1 , may comprise a human agent , automated agent , or a combination ( e . g ., a human agent utilizing a computer , telephony endpoint , or other device to facilitate interactions comprising speech , text , video , images , data files , location information , urls , or other media types ). first user device 206 and second user device 212 interact with the psap server 216 and agent interaction devices connected thereto via the communication network 104 . in some embodiments , the psap server 216 enables a single resource 112 to simultaneously interact with multiple users and / or user devices via various communication channels . as an example , psap server 216 may initially receive a voice - channel communication ( e . g ., pots , cellular - based voice , etc .) or a voice portion of a data channel ( e . g ., voip , sip , etc .) utilizing first user device 206 and / or second user device 212 . the interaction between a user device ( e . g ., first user device 206 ) and psap server 216 may be initiated using a data channel , even if the data channel is initially used only for voice , the data channel may be further utilized for the transfer of multimedia and / or other content as described herein . if the interaction is initiated with a voice - only communication channel , psap server 216 , may prompt the user device and / or user to cause their respective user device ( e . g ., first user device 206 , second user device 212 , etc .) to establish a data interaction connection . the establishment of a data channel is provided to convey data packets , such as internet protocol ( ip ) packets over communication network 104 and may further comprise a webrtc , web ( e . g ., html5 ), or other data channel paradigm . in one embodiment , a data channel connection is established for each of first user device 206 and second user device 212 . in another embodiment , psap server 216 combines calls when they are associated with the same emergent event , such as emergent event 202 . it should be noted that the term “ call ,” as used herein includes , but is not limited to , voice - based audio communications and may comprise video , images , text , data , and / or other content . psap server 216 may further prioritize calls in a call queue for processing by a resource 112 , herein resource 112 . psap server 216 may determine first psap caller 204 and second psap caller 210 are each reporting emergent event 202 based upon one or more factors , such as commonality between position 208 and position 214 , geospatial coordinates reported from a gps sensing module within first user device 206 and / or second user device 212 , spoken position determined from a speech to text module , description of emergent event 202 , identification of first psap caller 204 by second psap caller 210 or vice versa , position related to a landmark , and / or other description of emergent event 202 , position of one of first psap caller 204 relative to second psap caller 210 , position relative to an actual or potential expansion of emergent event 202 , position relative to an actual or potential extension of emergent event 202 , and / or other position or location . for example , first psap caller 204 may report emergent event 202 ( e . g ., a fire ) and second psap caller 204 may report emergent event 202 ( e . g ., smoke coming from behind a building between second psap caller 204 and emergent event 202 ). an example of a potential extension may comprise second psap caller 204 being able to determine whether an emergent event 202 ( e . g ., a fire ) has spread to a location not visible by first psap caller 204 . an example of an extension of an emergent includes second psap caller 210 reporting a suspicious occupant of a parked car while close by , first psap caller 204 is reporting the location of an apparent robbery , second psap caller 210 may be reporting an extension of emergent event 202 , namely the presence of a potential get - a - way driver for the robbers . in another embodiment , psap server 216 may be the initiator of the data channel connection with one or more of first psap caller 204 , via first user device 206 , and second psap caller , via second user device 212 . the call may be triggered by a voice - only call , text message , or other communication leading to the establishment of the data channel connection . in one embodiment , psap server 216 may receive location information for first user device 206 and / or second user device 212 as being proximate to emergent event 202 and / or a in a location suitable to assist in the gathering of information by psap server 216 and / or resource 112 and / or mitigating emergent event 202 . in another embodiment , the location of first user device 206 and / or second user device 212 may be determined by psap server 216 upon accessing social media content on social media server 218 that was provided by first psap caller 204 and / or second psap caller 210 , respectively , such as media files and / or commentary associated with emergent event 202 . psap server 216 may , at any point while engaged in interaction with first user device 206 and / or second user device 212 , obtain information from secondary sources . one secondary source is social media server 218 . social media server 218 may be prompted , such as by searching for key terms related to emergent event 202 to receive social media content related to emergent event 202 . in another embodiment , social media server 218 may report emergent event 202 , or events similar to emergent event 202 , to psap server 216 as a push announcement . emergent event 202 may comprise a number of issues , which must be prioritized and potentially addressed by responders . for example , emergent event 202 may be a fire and warrant a response by firefighters , but also dispatch an appropriate number of ambulances , and / or low - priority responders , such as traffic officers to redirect traffic issues around emergent event 202 . resource 112 may engage in interaction with first user device 206 and / or second user device 216 directly , or via an input to psap server 216 , which provides interactions thereto . resource 112 may specifically provide data channel content to first psap caller 204 and second psap caller 210 , comprising instructions , inquiries , or other content at the same time and yet dissimilar in terms of media type , content sent , content received , or other differentiator . for example , emergent event 202 may comprise a medical emergency , such as a victim suffering a heart attack . in one embodiment , resource 112 may initiate , approve , and / or supervise psap server 216 issuing instructions to first psap caller 204 and / or second caller 218 to play an animation illustrating cardiopulmonary resuscitation ( cpr ) while at the same time the other of first psap caller 204 and second psap caller 210 receives instructions to view the video and prepare to begin cpr on the victim . as a benefit , first psap caller 204 may position first user device 206 , playing the cpr instructions , such that second psap caller 210 is able to see and / or hear ( second psap caller 210 being unable to use or hold second user device 212 while in the act of performing cpr ). as a further example , second user device 212 may present additional audio or video instructions received from medical personnel and / or receive video / audio from first user device 206 . in yet another example , psap server 216 , optionally with guidance and / or instructions and / or supervision from resource 112 , may communicate with first user device 206 and second user device 212 to help guide emergency responders . psap server 216 may select one location for first psap caller 204 and provide to first psap caller 204 instructions as to where first psap caller 204 should position themselves , such as by causing first user device 206 to display directions and / or a map . similarly , psap server 216 , with direction and / or supervision of resource 112 , may provide a different location for second psap caller 210 to position themselves whereby the instructions are similarly delivered by map , or other instructions delivered to a second user device 212 . as a benefit , responders may find the location of emergent event 202 with the assistance of first psap caller 204 and a first location and second psap caller 210 at a second location . psap server 216 may additionally select one or more of the callers , such as second psap caller 210 , to communicate via second user device 212 , with third - party device 222 and thereby establish a direct interaction with third - party 220 . third party 220 may be an on - site responder or other party who is or may become engaged to mitigate emergent event 202 . fig3 illustrates interaction 300 in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure . in one embodiment , first psap caller 204 , utilizing first user device 206 ( not shown ), establishes data connection 302 with psap server 216 . second psap caller 210 , utilizing second user device 210 ( not shown ), then establishes a data connection with psap server 216 at step 304 . psap server may be a stand - alone component or comprise , be compromised by , or co - processing with components of the psap server , including , but not limited to , one or more of work assignment mechanism 116 , work assignment engine 120 , routing engine 132 , and automated resources 112 . optionally , psap server 216 may query , at step 306 , social media server 218 to receive event details 308 regarding an emergent event , such as emergent event 202 . psap server 216 may query social media server 218 or alternatively social media server 218 may provide event details at step 308 as push notifications . furthermore , query step 306 and / or receiving event details step 308 may be performed prior , during , or after to one or more of step 302 and 304 . step 310 then determines commonality for the emergent event provided by two or more of first psap caller 204 , second psap caller 210 , and social media server 218 . if one of first psap caller 204 , second psap caller 210 , or social media server 218 is reporting a different event the different event may be processed separately from emergent event 202 . while automation is obtainable from the embodiments disclosed herein , resource 112 may supplement the interactions established during steps 302 , 304 . for example , interactions step 312 , and optionally at any point until interaction with first psap caller 204 and / or second psap caller 210 has been terminated , may comprise interactions from resource 112 ( e . g ., images , speech , etc .). in another embodiment , resource 112 may approve , trigger , and / or monitor interactions to or from psap server 216 with psap server 216 determining the content and / or form of the interactions with each of first user device 206 and second user device 212 , simultaneously at step 314 . interactions performed at steps 316 and 318 may differ in terms of content and / or media type and may further differ in terms of media type originating from first user device 206 as compared to second user device 212 . for example first psap caller 204 may receive content comprising instructions , such as to go to the corner of first and main street to direct emergency responders . whereas second psap caller 210 may receive content comprising instructions , such as to go to the corner of second and elm street to provide additional guidance to emergency responders or direction for a different emergency responder . in another example , first psap caller 206 may provide a first set of video images of emergent event 202 while second psap caller 210 provides a second set of video images , still images , audio , or other different media and / or media type . media type may differ in terms of audio , video , text , position information , etc . for example , first psap caller 204 may receive audio instructions via first user device 206 for the performance of cpr and second psap caller 210 may receive video instructions , such as to hold in a position visible to first psap caller 204 while performing cpr . step 320 may execute once , periodically , upon an event , or continually , such as to evaluate information received from one or more of first psap caller 204 , second psap caller 210 , and optionally social media server 218 . for example , psap server 216 may already be aware of emergent event 202 . the report by first psap caller 204 and second psap caller 210 is therefore de - prioritized , to better avoid overwhelming resource 112 with what is likely already known information . typically , calls are answered by resource 112 in a fifo queue order . however , step 320 may determine that second interaction 318 provides content to psap server 216 that is different and determined , by step 320 , to be more relevant than that of first interaction received at step 316 . for example second psap caller 210 may be providing still images or video information regarding the emergent event . second psap caller 210 may then be placed in a higher position in the queue to connect with resource 112 , the content of the still or video may or may not be evaluated for relevancy as it may be assumed that a video feed proximate to emergent event 202 is relevant . step 322 may then reprioritize the queue order such that second psap caller 210 is processed prior to first psap caller 204 . in another embodiment , step 324 provides for the establishment of a data channel connection between second psap caller 210 and third - party 220 , utilizing third party device 222 ( not shown ). third - party data channel connection at step 324 may be provided in response to a prompt from psap server 216 and / or resource 112 . third - party 220 may be , for example , an on - site responder , en - route responder , or other party selected by psap server 216 and / or resource 112 . as a further embodiment , second psap caller 210 may establish a non - data channel interaction with third - party 220 , such as when third - party 220 is unable to establish a data channel interaction . following step 322 , step 326 provides for the reprioritized interaction of first psap caller 204 for interaction with resource 112 . similar to that described above with respect to step 324 , first psap caller 204 may also be prompted to establish a data channel connection with third - party 220 or another party ( not shown ). fig4 illustrates a first view of first user device 206 in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure . in one embodiment , fig4 illustrates first user device 206 , albeit in an exaggerated form to more clearly illustrate potential content displayed thereon , but typically not at the same time , such as when a non - exaggerated form includes a scrolling or paging feature . first user device 206 comprises input and output means , such as speaker 402 , microphone 404 , and touch display 406 . other input and output components , not shown , include antenna to enable cellular , wi - fi , and gps functionality as well as other electromagnetic and / or mechanical signal receivers , transmitters , and processors . first user device 206 may also comprise still and / or video camera , speakerphone , etc . in one embodiment , first user device 206 has established a data channel interaction with psap server 216 . touch display 406 presents various options for interacting with psap server 216 and / or resource 112 . for example , portion 408 prompts the user to take and send a picture of the emergent event for use by psap personnel , such as resource 112 , and / or third - party 220 , or other parties operable to mitigate the emergent situation . portion 410 provides the user with a means to initiate capturing and / or sending video of the emergent event to appropriate personnel . while audio communications may be provided via the data channel and / or a voice - only channel , other content is exchanged via the data channel , content such as messages 412 , 416 , 420 ; video ; images ; and / or position data . in another example , message 412 provides instructions for the user of device 206 to relocate to a certain position . button 414 , such as a “ soft button ,” provides a means for first user 204 to launch a map application on first user device 206 ( see fig5 ). alternatively , the map application may automatically launch without receiving any human input to first user device 206 . in another embodiment , button 418 provides a trigger to initiate a connection with a third - party 220 . for example , psap server 216 may provide a telephone number of an en route responder that , upon selecting portion 418 , causes first user device 206 to initiate a telephone call to the responder . in another example , psap server causes first user device 206 to connect to third party 220 via data channel and may further initiate the connection without human input to first user device 206 . as can be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art , other connections types may also be made with third party 220 ( e . g ., bluetooth , near - field communications , infrared , social media , etc .) to convey voice , video , images , data files , position information , and / or other content . psap server 216 may monitor and / or supplement the interaction between first user 204 and third party 220 . in another embodiment , interaction content , such as multimedia data , may be captured by first user device 206 and sent to psap server 216 and optionally for presentation to resource 112 , interaction content and / or links to obtain the interaction content may also be received from psap server 216 . for example , message 420 comprises instructions to play a cpr video , which would then be launched upon selecting button 422 . the multimedia content provided over the data channel may comprise audio , video , data files , urls , gps coordinates , animations , instructions , and / or other content , which may be helpful in mitigating the emergent situation . the data channel may be established as point - to - point ( e . g ., first user device 206 to / from psap server 216 , second user device 212 to / from third party device 222 , etc . ), one - to - many ( e . g ., first user device 206 to / from a combination of psap server 216 , third party device 222 , etc . ), many - to - one , and / or many - to - many . fig5 illustrates a second view of first user device 206 in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure . in one embodiment , first user device 206 has launched a map application , such as by the user selecting button 414 or as an automatic response to a signal received from psap server 216 to open the map application . in another embodiment , first user device 206 executes the mapping application comprising button 502 to return to the emergency services panel , see fig4 , such as when the user needs to provide or receive additional information from / to psap server 216 and / or resource 112 . the map application may include a graphical display 504 to assist the user in navigating to the desired location . the map application may also comprise text - based instructions provided in message 506 and as a further option , audio instructions provided by spoken text 508 presented by speaker 402 . the map application may also report the location of first user device 206 , and thereby first user 204 , to psap server 216 , agent 216 , second user 210 , and / or third party 220 . the map application may also receive inputs , such as to enable first user 204 to touch a spot on a map and have the associated location conveyed to another party and / or psap server 216 . fig6 illustrates process 600 in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure . in one embodiment , process 600 starts as a response to a voice call . however , establishing a data channel without having first established a voice channel is also provided herein . step 602 establishes the data channel with first psap caller 204 , whether in response to a voice channel or as a first channel of communication . next , step 604 establishes a data connection with the second psap caller 210 . as described with respect to step 602 , step 604 may also be in response to a voice channel connection or omitting the voice channel connection and first connecting via a data channel . step 606 determines whether first psap caller 204 and / or second psap caller 210 , via the data channels established during step 602 and 604 respectively , are reporting the same emergent event ( e . g ., emergent event 202 ). if step 606 determines they are not reporting the same event , processing may continue to step 608 whereby the calls are processed as separate calls . the separate calls may each initiate their own respective process 600 . upon step 606 determining first 204 and second psap caller 210 are reporting the same emergent event , processing continues to step 610 . step 610 simultaneously interacts with the first psap caller 204 and second psap caller 210 albeit differently , as described herein . optionally , step 612 obtains social media content related to the emergent event . step 614 determines whether a reprioritization is required . if no , processing continues to step 618 where calls are presented to an agent , such as resource 112 , in the queue order . if yes , processing continues to step 616 whereby the queue is re - prioritized , such as second psap caller 210 is moved ahead of first psap caller 204 . upon completion of step 616 , processing continues to 618 where the agent is presented with the callers in the queue order . in the foregoing description , for the purposes of illustration , methods were described in a particular order . it should be appreciated that in alternate embodiments , the methods may be performed in a different order than that described . it should also be appreciated that the methods described above may be performed by hardware components or may be embodied in sequences of machine - executable instructions , which may be used to cause a machine , such as a general - purpose or special - purpose processor ( gpu or cpu ) or logic circuits programmed with the instructions to perform the methods ( fpga ). these machine - executable instructions may be stored on one or more machine - readable mediums , such as cd - roms or other type of optical disks , floppy diskettes , roms , rams , eproms , eeproms , magnetic or optical cards , flash memory , or other types of machine - readable mediums suitable for storing electronic instructions . alternatively , the methods may be performed by a combination of hardware and software . specific details were given in the description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments . however , it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details . for example , circuits may be shown in block diagrams in order not to obscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail . in other instances , well - known circuits , processes , algorithms , structures , and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments . also , it is noted that the embodiments were described as a process , which is depicted as a flowchart , a flow diagram , a data flow diagram , a structure diagram , or a block diagram . although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process , many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently . in addition , the order of the operations may be re - arranged . a process is terminated when its operations are completed , but could have additional steps not included in the figure . a process may correspond to a method , a function , a procedure , a subroutine , a subprogram , etc . when a process corresponds to a function , its termination corresponds to a return of the function to the calling function or the main function . furthermore , embodiments may be implemented by hardware , software , firmware , middleware , microcode , hardware description languages , or any combination thereof . when implemented in software , firmware , middleware or microcode , the program code or code segments to perform the necessary tasks may be stored in a machine - readable medium , such as storage medium . a processor ( s ) may perform the necessary tasks . a code segment may represent a procedure , a function , a subprogram , a program , a routine , a subroutine , a module , a software package , a class , or any combination of instructions , data structures , or program statements . a code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and / or receiving information , data , arguments , parameters , or memory contents . information , arguments , parameters , data , etc . may be passed , forwarded , or transmitted via any suitable means including memory sharing , message passing , token passing , network transmission , etc . while illustrative embodiments of the disclosure have been described in detail herein , it is to be understood that the inventive concepts may be otherwise variously embodied and employed , and that the appended claims are intended to be construed to include such variations , except as limited by the prior art . | 7 |
hereinafter , a process cartridge , an image forming apparatus in which a process cartridge is removably installable , an image formation system , and a memory medium for a process cartridge , in accordance with the present invention , will be described with reference to the appended drawings . first , referring to fig1 and 2 , an embodiment of an image forming apparatus in which a process cartridge structured in accordance with the present invention is installable will be described . in this embodiment , the image forming apparatus is a laser beam printer which receives image information from a host computer , and outputs the image information as an image . it is an image forming apparatus in which a process cartridge , in which expendables such as an electrophotographic photosensitive member in the form of a drum , that is , a photosensitive drum , developer , and the like , are disposed , can be removably installable . first , referring to fig1 and 2 , the electrophotographic image forming apparatus and process cartridge in this embodiment will be described . in this embodiment , the process cartridge c integrally comprises a developer container 4 and a waste toner container 6 . the developer container 4 integrally holds : a photosensitive member in the form of a drum , that is , the photosensitive drum 1 ; a contact charge roller 2 for uniformly charging the photosensitive drum 1 ; and a development sleeve 5 which constitutes a developing means , and is placed virtually in contact with the photosensitive drum 1 , its generatrix being parallel to that of the photosensitive drum 1 . further , the developer container 4 contains a developer t and rotationally supports the development sleeve 5 . the waste toner container 6 holds a cleaning blade which constitutes a cleaning means , and the residual toner particles removed from the photosensitive drum 1 by the cleaning blade 10 . this process cartridge c is removably installed into an installing means 101 ( fig2 ) provided in the main assembly 100 of the image forming apparatus , by a user . the development sleeve 5 of the developing means comprises a nonmagnetic aluminum base with a diameter of 16 mm , and a resin layer coated on the peripheral surface of the base . the resin layer contains electrically conductive particles . although not illustrated , a magnetic roll with four magnetic poles is placed in the development sleeve 5 . to the shell of the developer container 4 , a development blade , that is , a developer regulating member 7 , is attached . the developer regulating member 7 in this embodiment is formed of silicone rubber with a hardness of approximately 40 deg . in jis scale , and is kept in contact with the development sleeve 5 with the application of a predetermined amount of pressure ( contact pressure ) in a range of 30 – 40 gf / cm ( contact load per centimeter in the longitudinal direction of the development sleeve 5 ). the developer t stored in the developer container 4 in this embodiment is a nonmagnetic single component toner ( hereinafter , toner ) and is negatively chargeable . the ingredients of the developer t are copolymer of styrene - butyl - acrylate ( 100 parts in weight ) as bonding resin , magnetic particles ( 80 parts in weight ), monoazoic complex ( 2 parts in weight ) as negative charge controlling agent , and polypropylene with low molecular weight ( 3 parts in weight ) as wax . in production , these ingredients are mixed and melted in a double axis extruder heated to 140 ° c . after cooling , the mixture is pulverized into relatively large particles by a hammer mill , and then , further pulverized into microscopic particles by a jet mill . the thus obtained microscopic particles are classified by air flow , collecting particles with a weight average diameter of 5 . 0 μm . then , one part by weight of microscopic hydrophobic silica particles is mixed by one part by weight into 100 parts in weight of the classified particles with a weight average diameter of 5 . 0 μm with the use of a henschel mixer to yield the developer t in this embodiment . in reality , the toner particles with a weight average particle diameter within a range of 3 . 5 – 7 . 0 μm ( mostly , 6 μm ) are used as the developer in this embodiment . the development bias applied to the development sleeve 5 is a combination of a dc voltage of − 450 v , and an ac voltage with a rectangular waveform , a peak - to - peak voltage of 1600 v , and a frequency of 2300 hz , when the gap between the photosensitive drum 1 and development sleeve 5 is approximately 300 μm , for example . there is a toner stirring means 8 in the developer container , that is , the toner container 4 , which rotates once every six seconds to convey the toner t in the toner container 4 to the development region , while loosening the toner t . the development roller 2 comprises a metallic core , and an electrically conductive elastic layer formed on the peripheral surface of the metallic core . it is rotationally supported at the longitudinal ends of the metallic core , being kept in contact with the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 with the application of a predetermined amount of pressure . it follows the rotation of the photosensitive drum 1 . to the charge roller 2 , a compound voltage ( vac + vdc ) comprising an ac component vac with a peak - to - peak voltage vpp of twice the charge start voltage , and a dc component vdc , is applied from the high voltage power source provided within the image forming apparatus main assembly 100 through the metallic core . as a result , the peripheral surf ace of the photosensitive drum 1 is uniformly charged by the charge roller 2 which is in contact with the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 . the charge bias applied to the charge roller 2 is combination of a dc voltage of − 600 v , and an ac voltage with a sinusoidal waveform , a vpp of 2 kv , and a frequency of 1500 hz . its effective current value is 1400 μa . with the application of this charge bias , the photosensitive drum 1 is charged to the potential level vd of − 600 v . after the exposure by a laser beam , the potential level vl of an exposed area is − 150 v . the exposed areas ( areas with the potential level of vl ) are reversely developed . fig2 shows the general structure of a laser printer l , that is , an image forming apparatus . the cylindrical photosensitive drum 1 as a latent image bearing member is rotated in the direction of an arrow mark about its rotational axis supported by the image forming apparatus main assembly 100 . after the photosensitive drum 1 is uniformly charged across the peripheral surface by the charge roller 2 , a latent image is formed on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 by an exposing apparatus 3 . the latent image formed on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 is supplied with the toner t by the development sleeve 5 , which is a part of the developing apparatus , becoming a visible image . between the photosensitive drum 1 and development sleeve 5 , a bias supplying power source ( unillustrated ) is connected , which applies the combination of dc bias and ac bias so that a proper amount of development bias is provided . the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 1 by visualizing the latent image on the photosensitive drum 1 with the toner t as described above is transferred onto a recording medium 20 such as a piece of recording paper by a transfer roller 9 . the recording medium 20 is fed by a sheet feeding roller 21 , and is sent to the transfer roller 9 , in synchronism with the toner image on the photosensitive drum 1 , by a registration roller ( unillustrated ). after being transferred onto the recording medium 20 , the visual image formed by the toner t is conveyed , along with the transfer medium 20 , to a fixing apparatus 2 , in which it is fixed to the recording medium 20 with the application of heat and pressure , becoming a permanent image . meanwhile , the particles of the toner t on the photosensitive drum 1 , which were not transferred onto the recording medium 20 , that is , the residual toner particles on the photosensitive drum 1 , are removed by the cleaning blade 10 , and are collected in the waste toner container 6 . thereafter , the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 is again charged by the charging apparatus 2 to be subjected to the above described processes . next , the memory medium , or a memory , for a process cartridge installable in the above described process cartridge , will be described . in the case of this embodiment , the cartridge c is provided with a memory 22 , and a communicating section 23 for controlling the processes of reading from , and writing into , the memory 22 . the communicating section 23 is located on the downwardly facing surface of the bottom wall of the waste toner container 6 . the communicating section 23 on the cartridge side and a control section 24 on the image forming apparatus main assembly side are positioned in such a manner that as the cartridge c is installed into the image forming apparatus main assembly 100 , they face each other . the control section 24 on the main assembly side is given a function to double as the transmitting section . as for the memory 22 to be used with the present invention , there is no restriction ; it may be any ordinary semiconductor electronic memory . however , a noncontact memory enabled to be read or written by an ic through electromagnetic wave transmission is preferable , because the employment of such a memory makes unnecessary the physical contact between the communicating section on the cartridge side and the control section on the apparatus main assembly side , eliminating therefore the possibility of contact failure which might result from the way the cartridge c is installed . as a result , it becomes possible to carry out highly reliable control . the combination of the control section 24 and the communicating section 23 constitutes the control - communicating means for reading information from , or writing information into , the memory 22 . the capacity of the memory 22 should be large enough to store a plurality of data , for example , cartridge identification data , which will be described later , or the values which represent the characteristics of each cartridge . further , according to the present invention , the amount of the usage of the cartridge c is continuously recorded . there is no specific restriction regarding the type of the value which represents the amount of the cartridge usage stored in the memory 22 as long as it can be usable for the image forming apparatus to determine the amount of cartridge usage . for example , it may be the length of the rotation time of each element in the cartridge , the length of the bias application time , the amount of the remaining toner , the print count , the number of image dots formed on the photosensitive drum 1 , the cumulative length of time the laser beam is emitted to expose the photosensitive drum 1 , the thickness of the photosensitive layer of the photosensitive drum 1 , and a weighted combination of the preceding factors . further , cartridge specifications which represent specific properties of each cartridge may be used as parameters for adjusting processing conditions , and they may be those attached to each cartridge when it is shipped from a factory . for example , they may be lot numbers of the photosensitive drum 1 , the toner t , the development sleeve 5 , and the charge roller 2 , the specific value representing the sensitivity of the photosensitive drum 1 , the threshold value , and the coefficient pertaining to the equation weighted by the lengths of the charge - bias application time and the photosensitive - drum driving time . the processing conditions are controlled based on the relationship between the two sets of information stored in the memory 22 . more specifically , the data within the memory 22 are computed by the control section 24 on the apparatus main assembly side , and the resultant electrical signals are sent to appropriate processing units to change the high voltage output , the processing speed , the amount of laser light , and the like . next , the controlling of the processing condition , that is , the image forming conditions , in this embodiment will be described . in this embodiment , an ac application system is employed along with the charge roller 2 as a charging means . thus , negative and positive voltages are alternately applied , triggering electrical discharge in alternating directions . this electrical discharge seriously deteriorates the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 as an object to be charged , and the deteriorated portions of the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 are shaved away due to the friction between the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 and the member such as the cleaning blade 10 which comes into contact with the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 . consequently , the photosensitive layer of the photosensitive drum 1 becomes gradually thinner with the apparatus usage . as the thickness of the photosensitive layer of the photosensitive drum 1 becomes less than a certain value , the photosensitive layer becomes inferior in its function . for example , the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 fails to be uniformly charged , displaying microscopic irregularities in terms of potential level , or reduces in the capacity to hold electrical charge , sometimes failing to be charged . therefore , the length of the service lives of the image forming apparatus or a process cartridge corresponds to the print count , which accumulates before the thickness of the photosensitive layer reduces to its limit . it has been known that if the amount of the electrical discharge is reduced below a certain level , electrical discharge becomes unstable , and as a result , so - called sandy patches , that is , areas covered with minute black dots , appear in the resultant image . more specifically , a sandy patch means an image area covered with black dots , in an image outputted through a reversal development process , the positions of which correspond to the areas of the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 insufficiently charged because the amount of the electrical discharge caused by the charge roller 2 was too small . it has been known that the sandy patches are more apparent when the peak - to - peak voltage of the oscillating voltage applied to the charge roller 2 is small . thus , in order to maintain high image quality without sacrificing the length of the service lives of an image forming apparatus and a process cartridge , it is necessary that the photosensitive layer of the photosensitive drum 1 is thick enough to maintain the sharpness of a latent image , and the amount of electrical discharge is exact ; in other words , it is not small enough to cause the sandy patch traceable to the insufficiency in the amount of electrical discharge to appear , and yet not large enough to accelerate the deterioration of the photosensitive layer . as for the method for controlling the voltage applied to a contact charging member such as the charge roller 2 , a conventional method for keeping constant the amount of the current which flows from the charge roller 2 to the photosensitive drum 1 is employed . shown below are the results of the tests conducted to study the relationship between the shaved amount of the photosensitive material and the total amount of the charge current , and the relationship between the total amount of the current necessary to prevent the appearance of the sandy patches and the print count . fig3 shows the relationship between the shaved amount δd ( μm / print count ) of the photosensitive member and the total amount of the charge current i total per unit of time . it is evident from fig3 that the smaller the total amount of the charge current , the smaller the shaved amount of the photosensitive material . incidentally , a thickness d of the photosensitive layer represents the actual thickness of the photosensitive layer measured using a film thickness gauge ( permascope e - 1 : product of fischer ). fig4 shows the relationship between the print count and the total amount of the charge current total corresponding to the nonappearance of the sandy patches . it is evident from fig4 that there are changes in the total amount of the charge current in regions a and b . it may be thought that these changes , that is , the appearance of the sandy patches , are traceable to the charge roller 2 , and the thickness of the surface layer of the photosensitive drum 1 . the dominant cause of the charges in the region a is charge roller 2 . more specifically , as the print count increases , the charge roller 2 is contaminated with the external additive of the toner , the reversely charged toner , and paper dust , being changed in charging performance ; in other words , the total amount of the charge current per unit of time is reduced . in the region b , the dominant cause of the changes is the photosensitive member . more specifically , each time a printing cycle is repeated , the peripheral surface of the photosensitive member is shaved by a small amount ; the photosensitive layer , that is , the surface layer of the photosensitive member , becomes thinner . as the photosensitive layer becomes thinner , the impedance of the photosensitive member is reduced , increasing the voltage applied to the photosensitive drum when charging the photosensitive drum . as a result , it becomes easier for electric discharge to occur . consequently , the total amount of the charge current per unit of time decreases . as is evident from the above description , in order to extend the service life of the photosensitive member without sacrificing image quality , it is best to set the total amount of the charge current at the minimum value which does not deleteriously affect image quality . for the purpose , the charge current value must be set in consideration of both the condition of the charge roller 2 , and the thickness of the photosensitive layer of the photosensitive drum 1 . the condition of the charge roller 2 and the thickness of the photosensitive layer of the photosensitive drum 1 are dependent upon the characteristics of the various components in a cartridge , and the amount of their usage . thus , in this embodiment : ( 1 ) the process cartridge c is provided with the memory 22 , so that the amount of usage can be computed using a equation weighed by the length of time the charge bias is applied , and the length of time the photosensitive drum 1 is driven . hereinafter , the amount of usage obtained in the above described manner will be called “ drum usage data ”. ( 2 ) the threshold values pertaining to the drum usage data determined by the characteristics of the photosensitive drum 1 and charge roller 2 , and the coefficient pertaining to the drum usage data computing equation , are stored in the memory 22 . ( 3 ) the amount of the cartridge usage is computed based on the length of time the charge bias is applied , the length of time the photosensitive drum 1 is driven , which are measured by the image forming apparatus main assembly 100 , and the coefficient , and as the value of the thus obtained amount of the cartridge usage reaches the threshold value stored in the memory 22 , the charge current value is switched . with this control , it is possible to charge the photosensitive drum 1 using as small as an amount of charge current as possible without sacrificing image quality , regardless of the differences among cartridges , and also regardless of the print count . consequently , the service life of the photosensitive drum 1 can be extended . next , referring to fig5 and 6 , the memory controlling structure in this embodiment will be described . as shown in fig5 , the cartridge c side is provided with the memory 22 and communicating section 23 , whereas the apparatus main assembly side is provided with control section 24 which comprises a control portion 25 , a computing portion 26 , a photosensitive member rotation control portion 27 , a charge bias application time detecting portion 28 , and the like . fig6 shows the information stored in the memory 22 . although there are various kinds of information storable in the memory 22 , it is assumed that , in this embodiment , at least , the following information is stored : information a or the length of time the charge bias was applied ; information b or the length of time the photosensitive member was rotated ; coefficient φ pertaining to the drum usage amount computing equation ; and α ( information regarding timing ) or the threshold value pertaining to the drum usage amount computing equation . the threshold value and coefficient change depending on the sensitivity , the material , and the thickness at the time of production , of the photosensitive drum 1 , and the characteristics of the charge roller 2 , and therefore , values in accordance with these factors and characteristics are written into the memory 22 at the time of cartridge manufacture . the information in the memory 22 is rendered always transmittable between the memory 22 and the computing portion 26 of the control section 24 on the main assembly side . the computation is carried out based on the above listed information , and the results of the computation are compared to the stored data by the control portion 25 . next , the method for computing the drum usage data , in this embodiment will be described . the drum usage data d is computed by the computing portion 26 using the information b or data representing the cumulative length of time the photosensitive member was rotated , which is obtained from the photosensitive member rotation control portion 27 , the information a or the cumulative length of time the charge bias was applied , which is obtained from the charge bias application time detecting portion 28 , and a conversion equation : d = a +( b × φ ), which is weighted by the coefficient φ . the results are stored in the memory 22 of the process cartridge c . incidentally , the data regarding the length of the photosensitive member rotation time , and the data regarding the length of the charge bias application time , are continuously stored in the memory 22 , and the drum usage data are computed whenever the driving of the photosensitive drum 1 is stopped . next , referring to the flow chart in fig7 , the operation of the image formation apparatus in his embodiment will be described . first , the operation of the image forming apparatus is started ( start ), and each of the following steps s 101 – s 111 is carried out : s 101 : the power source of the image forming apparatus main assembly is turned on ; s 102 : a print - on signal is transmitted from the control portion 25 ; s 103 : the photosensitive member rotation time detecting section 27 begins to count the length of the photosensitive member rotation time ; s 104 : the charge bias application time detecting portion 28 begins to count the length of the charge bias application time ; s 105 : the cumulative length of the photosensitive member rotation time , and the cumulative length of the charge bias application time , which were read out of the memory 22 in the process cartridge c , are updated ; s 106 : the updated cumulative length of the photosensitive member rotation time is stored in the memory 22 of the process cartridge c ; s 107 : the updated cumulative length of the charge bias application time is stored in the memory 22 on the process cartridge c ; s 108 : the control portion 25 reads out the cumulative length of the photosensitive member rotation time , the cumulative length of the charge bias application time , and the coefficient pertaining to the drum usage amount data computing equation , from the memory 22 ; s 109 : the computing portion 26 computes the drum usage data from the cumulative lengths of the photosensitive member rotation time and charge bias application time ; s 110 : the control portion 25 determines whether or not the computed drum usage data reached the threshold value α ( information related to timing ) stored in the memory 22 . if the answer is “ yes ”, a step s 111 is taken , whereas if the answer is “ no ”, the sequence from s 105 to s 110 is repeated ; and s 111 : a switching signal is transmitted from the control portion 25 to the charge bias power source 29 illustrated in fig5 , to change the charge current value . in this embodiment , as the threshold value α is reached , the charge current value , which is 1400 μa is switched to 1250 μa . when the current value was controlled as shown by the above described flow chart , and the solid line in fig8 , the length of the service life of the photosensitive drum 1 , which used to be 13000 in terms of print count , could be extended to 17000 . in other words , according to the present invention , it becomes possible to use as small an amount of charge current as possible while maintaining image quality , so that the service life of the photosensitive drum 1 can be extended . although current switching is done only once in this embodiment , it may done in a plurality of steps depending on the characteristics of individual cartridges . further , the current value may be raised or lowered depending on the condition of each cartridge . also , two or more drum usage data threshold values may be used , although only one is used in this embodiment . the threshold value varies depending on various factors , for example , the difference in the manufacture lot , and therefore , the threshold value stored in each cartridge in this embodiment is selected to reflect these factors , so that image quality can be maintained regardless of differences among cartridges and the length of their usage . fig6 shows the information within the memory 22 when a plurality of drum usage data threshold values are used . at least the following kinds of information are stored in the memory 22 : information a or the length of time the charge bias was applied ; information b or the length of time the photosensitive member was rotated ; coefficient φ pertaining to the drum usage amount data computing equation ; and α 1 , α 2 , . . . α n an or the threshold values pertaining to the drum usage amount data computing equation , although there are various other kinds of information stored therein . the information in the memory 22 is rendered constantly transmittable between the memory 22 and the computing portion 26 within the control section 24 on the main assembly side . the results of the computation carried out based on these data are compared to the referential data by the control portion 25 . fig1 and 11 show the flow chart for switching the current value twice or more . the operation of the image forming apparatus is started ( start ), and the following steps s 201 – s 218 are carried out : s 201 : the power source of the image forming apparatus main assembly is turned on ; s 202 : a print - on signal is transmitted from the control portion 25 ; s 203 : the photosensitive member rotation time detecting section 27 begins to count the length of the photosensitive member rotation time ; s 204 : the charge bias application time detecting portion 28 begins to count the length of the charge bias application time ; s 205 : the cumulative length of the photosensitive member rotation time , and the cumulative length of the charge bias application time , which were read out of the memory 22 in the process cartridge c , are updated . s 206 : the updated cumulative length of the photosensitive member rotation time is stored in the memory 22 of the process cartridge c ; s 207 : the updated cumulative length of the charge bias application time is stored in the memory 22 of the process cartridge c ; s 208 : the control portion 25 read out the cumulative length of the photosensitive member rotation time , the cumulative length of the charge bias application time , and the coefficient pertaining to the drum usage amount data computing equation , from the memory 22 ; s 209 : the computing portion 26 computes the drum usage data from two parameters ( hereinafter , the steps s 202 – s 209 will be referred to as “ computation steps ”): s 210 : the control portion 25 determines whether or not the computed drum usage data reached the threshold value α stored in the memory 22 . if the answer is “ yes ”, a step s 211 is taken , whereas if the answer is “ no ”, the operation goes back to s 205 ; and s 211 : the bias designation in the bias table stored in advance in the control portion 25 is lowered by one unit of change , and a switching signal is transmitted from the control portion 25 to the charge bias power source 29 illustrated in fig5 , to change the charge current value ; s 212 : computation is carried out in the memory 22 , and also in the control section 24 on the main assembly side ; s 213 : the control portion 25 determines whether or not the computed drum usage data reached the threshold value α 2 stored in the memory 22 . if the answer is “ yes ”, the operation advances to s 214 , whereas if the answer is “ no ”, the operation returns to s 212 . s 214 : the bias designation in the bias table stored in advance in the control portion 25 is lowered by one unit of change , and a switching signal is transmitted from the control portion 25 to the charge bias power source 29 illustrated in fig5 , to change the charge current value ( hereinafter , the sequence s 212 – s 214 will be called “ processing sequence ”); s 215 : the processing sequence is repeated for ( n - 3 ) times ; s 216 : computation is carried out in the memory 22 , and in the control section 24 on the main assembly side ; s 217 : the control portion 25 determines whether or not the computed drum usage data reached the threshold value α n stored in the memory 22 . if the answer is “ yes ”, the operation advances to s 218 , whereas if the answer is “ no ”, the operation returns to s 216 ; s 218 : the bias designation in the bias table stored in advance in the control portion 25 is lowered by one unit of change , and a switching signal is transmitted from the control portion 25 to the charge bias power source 29 illustrated in fig5 , to change the charge current value . next , the second embodiment of the present invention will be described . the structures of the image forming apparatus and process cartridge in the second embodiment are the same as those in the first embodiment . therefore , their description will be omitted , and only their distinctive features will be described . in the first embodiment , the amount of the charge current was varied based on the cumulative length of the usage time of the photosensitive drum 1 as the process cartridge c usage data to be stored in the memory 22 in the process cartridge c , and two characteristic values , that is , the threshold value pertaining to the amount of the usage of the photosensitive drum 1 , and the coefficient . this embodiment is distinctive in that another characteristic value which represents the information regarding the sensitivity of the photosensitive drum 1 is employed in addition to the data relied upon in the first embodiment , and the dc voltage applied to charge the photosensitive drum 1 , and the dc voltage applied for development , are varied based on these data . it has been known that there is a tendency that the line width in a print produced when a developing device is in its early stage of usage ( when a relatively larger amount of toner is in the developing device ) is less than the line width in a print produced when the developing device is in an advanced stage of usage . fig1 shows the changes which occur to the actual width of a line in an image with a resolution of 600 dpi , the theoretical width of which corresponds to 4 dots , as a printing operation continues . following the solid line in the graph reveals that the actual line width keeps on increasing during the initial period of the operation , that is , while printing the first 1000 copies . although various causes are conceivable for this phenomenon , it may be listed as the primary cause that the amount of the toner charge , and the potential level v 1 of the photosensitive drum , are unstable in the initial period of the operation . in other words , since the potential level vl is affected by the selection of a sheet feeding mode , and the resultant latent image is faithfully reproduced , the line tends to become narrower in the initial period in which fluctuation in potential level vl is greater . further , there is a substantial amount of difference in the sensitivity of the drum , that is , the potential level vl , among the groups of process cartridge different in lot number . ( 1 ) the process cartridge c is provided with the memory , so that the drum usage data can be computed using an equation weighed by the length of time the charge bias is applied , and the length of time the photosensitive drum 1 is rotated . ( 2 ) the threshold values for the drum usage data determined by the characteristics of the photosensitive drum 1 and charge roller 2 , and the coefficients pertaining to the equation , and the information regarding the drum sensitivity , are stored in the memory . ( 3 ) dc bias for charge , and dc bias for development , are determined for each cartridge according to the information regarding its drum sensitivity . ( 4 ) thereafter , the amount of the cartridge usage ( drum usage ) is computed based on the length of time the charge bias is applied , the length of time the photosensitive drum 1 is driven , which are measured by the image forming apparatus main assembly , and the coefficient , and as the value of the thus obtained amount of the cartridge usage reaches the threshold value stored in the memory , the dc bias for charge and the dc bias for development are switched . with this control , it is possible to minimize the line width change which occurs in the initial period of a printing operation , and therefore , high quality is realized . next , referring to fig1 and 14 , the structure for controlling the memory in this embodiment will be described . as shown in fig1 , the cartridge c is provided with a memory 62 and a communicating portion 63 , whereas the apparatus main assembly side 100 is provided with control section 64 which comprises a drum sensitivity detecting means 60 , a control portion 65 , a computing portion 66 , a photosensitive member rotation control portion 67 , a charge bias application time detecting portion 68 , a sensitivity conversion table 70 , and the like . fig1 shows the information stored in the memory 62 . although there are various sorts of information storable in the memory 62 , at least the following sorts of information are stored in this embodiment : information a or the length of time the charge bias was applied ; information b or the length of time the photosensitive member was rotated ; coefficient φ for the drum usage amount computing equation ; β , γ or the threshold values for the equation for computing the length of drum usage ; and l . m . h or drum sensitivity threshold values . the threshold value and coefficient change depending on the sensitivity , material , and thickness at the time of operation , of the photosensitive drum 1 , and the characteristics of the charge roller 2 , and therefore , values in accordance with these factors and characteristics are written into the memory 62 at the time of cartridge manufacture . these types of information in the memory 62 are rendered always transmittable between the memory 62 and the computing portion 66 of the control section 64 on the main assembly side . the computation is carried out based on these types of information , and the results of the computation are compared to the stored data by the control portion 65 . next , the method for computing the drum usage data , in this embodiment will be described . the drum usage data d is computed by the computing portion 66 using the information b or data representing the cumulative length of time the photosensitive member was rotated , which is obtained from the photosensitive member rotation control portion 67 , the information a or the cumulative length of time the charge bias was applied , which is obtained from the charge bias application time detecting portion 68 , and a conversion equation weighted by a predetermined weighting coefficient φ = d − a +( b × φ ). the results are stored in the memory 62 of the process cartridge c . incidentally , the data regarding the length of the photosensitive member rotation time , and the data regarding the length of the charge bias application time , are continuously stored in the memory 62 , and the drum usage data are computed whenever the driving of the photosensitive drum 1 is stopped . in this embodiment , two threshold values β and γ are used , and their relationship is : β & lt ; γ . fig1 shows the relationship between the contrast potential level and line width . the contrast potential level means the absolute value of the difference between the potential level of the dc component of development bias , and the potential level vl of the drum . as is evident from fig1 , they show apparent correlation , and the ratio of the line width change per development dc bias of 10 v is 2 – 5 ( μm / 10 v ). therefore , all that is necessary in order to compensate for the line width affected by the sensitivity of the photosensitive drum 1 and the condition of the cartridge c is to control the contrast potential level . in this embodiment , a method for varying the development dc bias and charge dc bias is chosen as a means for varying the contrast potential level . as the process cartridge c is installed into the image forming apparatus l , the drum sensitivity detecting portion 60 within the control section of the main assembly reads out the sensitivity value in the memory 62 . in this embodiment , the drum sensitivity is divided into three ranges , l , m and h , depending on the potential level vl of each photosensitive drum at the time of shipment . the potential level ranges are : h ≧− 120 v ; m =− 120 to − 170 v ; and l ≦− 170 . the charge and development dc voltages are varied according to each of the three drum sensitivity ranges , with reference to the sensitivity conversion table 70 in the control portion 65 . based on the relationship in fig1 , the value of the unit ( step ) by which the development bias is varied is set to 20 v ( one unit ( step ) of change = 20 v ). in consideration of the fact that the increase in the fog caused by the bias variation must be prevented , it is necessary for both the charge bias and development bias to be varied by a predetermined unit of change , so that back contrast and development contrast remain constant . in this embodiment , in consideration of the values max and mini of the maximum and minimum densities , respectively , which can be inputted by a user , the unit ( step ) value by which the development and charge dc voltages are varied are set as follows : development dc voltage variation unit =− 20 v ; charge dc voltage variation unit =− 10v . as for the development dc voltage , when m =− 450 v , the values of l and m are rendered lower or higher than the value of m by a unit of ± 20 v , respectively . as for the charge dc voltage , when m =− 600 v , the values of l and h are rendered lower or higher than the value of the m by a unit of ± 10 v , respectively . the data regarding the length of the photosensitive member rotation time , and the data regarding the length of the charge bias application time , are to be continuously stored in the memory , and the drum usage data are to be computed whenever the driving of the photosensitive drum 1 is stopped . next , referring to the flow charts in fig1 , 17 and 18 , the operation of the image forming apparatus in this embodiment will be described . ( 1 ) a sequence from the step of turning on the power source on the main assembly to the computation step prior to the step of the image formation standby on will be described . this sequence is also to be carried out immediately after process - cartridge installation . the operation of the image forming apparatus is started ( start ). each of the following steps s 301 – s 313 is carried out : s 301 : the power source of the image forming apparatus main assembly is turned on ; s 302 : the photosensitive member rotation time detecting section 67 and the charge bias application time detecting portion 68 each begin to count the length of the photosensitive member rotation time and the length of the charge bias application time , respectively ; s 303 : the control portion 65 confirms the drum sensitivity information in the memory 62 ; s 304 : the control portion 65 confirms whether or not the drum sensitivity information is “ m ”; ( 1 - 1 ) case 1 : if “ m ”=“ yes ”, in s 304 : s 305 : the control portion 65 selects “ bias 1 ” and sends signals for varying development and charge biases to a development bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ) and a charge bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ), respectively ; s 306 : the development dc bias power source is set to − 450 v ; s 307 : the charge dc bias power source is set to − 600 v ; s 308 : the control portion 65 confirms the photosensitive member rotation time and charge bias application time ; s 309 : computation is carried out in memory 62 , and in the control section 64 on the main assembly side ; ( 1 - 2 ) case 2 : if “ m ”=“ no ”, in s 304 : s 310 : the control portion 65 confirms whether or not the drum sensitivity information is “ l ”; s 311 : if it is “ yes ”, the control portion 65 selects “ bias 2 ”, and sends signals for varying development and charge biases to a development bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ) and a charge bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ), respectively ; s 312 : the development dc bias power source is set to − 470 v ; s 313 : the charge dc bias power source is set to − 610 v ; s 308 : the control portion 65 confirms the photosensitive member rotation time and charge bias application time ; s 309 : computation is carried out in memory 62 , and in the control section 64 on the main assembly side ; ( 1 - 3 ) case 3 : if “ l ”=“ no ”, in s 310 : s 314 : the control portion 65 confirms whether or not the drum sensitivity information is “ h ”; s 315 : if it is “ yes ”, the control portion 65 selects “ bias 3 ”, and sends signals for varying development and charge biases to a development bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ) and a charge bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ), respectively , whereas if it is “ no ”, the operation returns to s 303 to reconfirm the drum sensitivity information ; s 316 : the development dc bias power source is set to − 430 v ; s 317 : the charge dc bias power source is set to − 590 v ; s 308 : the control portion 65 confirms the photosensitive member rotation time and charge bias application time ; s 309 : computation is carried out in memory 62 , and in the control section 64 on the main assembly side . ( 2 ) sequence from the computation step prior to the step of image formation standby on to the step of image formation standby on : ( 2 - 1 ) case 4 : if the condition : d & gt ; β is “ yes ”, in s 310 : s 311 : the control portion 65 confirms whether or not the condition : d & gt ; γ is satisfied , and if the answer is “ yes ”, the operation advances to s 312 ; s 312 : the control portion 65 selects “ bias 0 step up ”; s 313 : the control portion 65 selects “ image formation standby on ”. ( 2 - 2 ) case 5 : if the condition : d & gt ; γ is “ no ”, in s 311 : s 314 : the control portion 65 selects “ bias 1 step up ”, and sends signals for varying development and charge biases to a development bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ) and a charge bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ), respectively ; s 315 : the development dc bias power source raises the voltage by − 20 v ; s 316 : the charge dc bias power source raises the voltage by − 10 v ; s 313 : the control portion 65 selects “ the image formation standby on ”. ( 2 - 3 ) case 6 : if the condition : d & gt ; β is “ no ”, in s 310 : s 317 : the control portion 65 selects “ bias 2 step up ”, and sends signals for varying development and charge biases to a development bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ) and a charge bias application power control portion ( unillustrated ), respectively ; s 318 : the development dc bias power source raises the voltage by − 40 v ; s 319 : the charge dc bias power source raises the voltage by − 20 v ; s 313 : the control portion 65 selects “ image formation standby on ”. ( 3 ) sequence from the step of image formation standby on to the completion of the process condition change : s 313 : the control portion 65 selects “ image formation standby on ”; s 320 : computation is carried out in the memory 62 , and in the control section 64 of the main assembly ; s 321 : the control portion 65 determines whether or not the computed drum usage data is larger than the threshold value β stored in the memory . if the answer is “ yes ”, the operation advances to s 322 , whereas if the answer is “ no ”, the operation returns to s 320 , and the above described sequence is repeated ; s 322 : the control portion 65 determines whether or not the drum usage data is greater than the threshold value γ stored in the memory ; ( 3 - 1 ) case 7 : if the answer in s 322 is “ yes ”; s 323 : the control portion 65 selects “ bias 0 step down ”. ( 3 - 2 ) case 8 : if the answer in s 322 in “ no ”: s 324 : the control portion 65 selects “ bias 1 step down ”, and sends signals for varying development and charge biases to a development bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ) and a charge bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ), respectively ; s 325 : the development dc bias power source lowers the voltage by − 20 v ; s 326 : the charge dc bias power source lowers voltages by − 10 v ; s 327 : computation is carried out in memory 62 , and in the control section 64 of the main assembly ; s 328 : the control portion 65 determines whether or not the computed drum usage data is larger than the threshold value γ stored in the memory . if the answer is “ yes ”, the operation advances to s 329 , whereas if the answer is “ no ”, the operation returns to s 327 , and the above described sequence is repeated ; s 329 : the control portion 65 selects “ bias 1 step down ”, and sends signals for varying development and charge biases to a development bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ) and a charge bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ), respectively ; s 330 : the development dc bias power source lowers the voltage by − 20 v ; s 331 : the charge dc bias power source lowers the voltage by − 10 v ; referring to fig1 , the change in the line width which occurred as the result of control such as the one described above is represented by the single dot chain line . as is evident from fig1 , the changes in line width remained within an acceptable range of 180 – 190 μm , assuring image stability . as described above , the charge and development dc biases applied in the initial period of an image forming operation are adjusted for each cartridge , according to the drum sensitivity information and drum usage data , prior to the image formation standby step . thereafter , the biases are varied to proper levels in accordance with the characteristic value of each cartridge , during the operation , so that the line width remains stable . although two thresholds values were provided pertaining to the drum usage data , in this embodiment , three or more threshold values may be provided in consideration of the characteristics of the initial condition and structure of a cartridge . further , in this embodiment , the biases are lowered by a single unit of change during each control subsequence . however , it may be lowered by a plurality of units per control sub - sequence . further , in this embodiment , charge and development voltages are varied in potential level to control the image formation process . however , they may be varied in frequency . further , the amount of exposure may be varied . further , in this embodiment , the value computed with the use of the above described equation is used as the usage data . however , the value of print count or cumulative length of photosensitive member rotation time alone may be used as the usage data . next , the third embodiment of the present invention will be described . the structures of the image forming apparatus and process cartridge in this third embodiment are the same as those in the first and second embodiments . therefore , their description will be omitted , and only their distinctive features will be described . in the second embodiment , the amount of the charge and development dc voltage were varied on the basis of the drum usage amount as the usage data in the memory , and three characteristic values : the threshold value for the usage data , the coefficient , and the drum sensitivity information . however , in this embodiment , the drum usage amount threshold value record is used in addition to the above described information , which characterizes this embodiment . with the addition of the drum usage amount threshold value record , computation becomes unnecessary even prior to the step of “ image formation standby on ”, reducing the time before the first print can be produced . the three characteristic values : the threshold value for the usage , the coefficient , and the drum sensitivity information , are the same as those in the second embodiment , and therefore , their descriptions will be omitted here . fig1 shows the information within the memory 62 . although there are various types of information stored in the memory 62 , at least the following types of information are stored : information a or the length of time the charge bias was applied ; information b or the length of time the photosensitive member was rotated ; coefficient φ for the equation for computing the length of drum usage ; β , γ or the threshold values for the equation for computing the length of drum usage ; l . m . h or drum sensitivity threshold values ; and drum usage amount record β ; and drum usage amount record γ . these types of information in the memory 62 are rendered always transmittable between the memory 62 and the control section of the main assembly . the computation is carried out based on these types of information , and the results of the computation are compared to the stored data by the control portion 65 . next , referring to the flow charts in fig2 , 22 and 23 , the operation of the image forming apparatus in this embodiment will be described . ( 1 ) a sequence from the step turning on the power source on the main assembly to the step of confirming record β , which is to be also carried out immediately after process cartridge installation : the operation of the image forming apparatus is started ( start ), and each of the following steps s 401 – s 437 is carried out : s 401 : the power source of the image forming apparatus main assembly is turned on ; s 402 : the photosensitive member rotation time detecting section and the charge bias application time detecting portion each begin to count the length of the photosensitive member rotation time and the length of the charge bias application time , respectively ; s 403 : the control portion 65 confirms the drum sensitivity information in the memory 62 ; s 404 : the control portion 65 confirms whether or not the drum sensitivity information is “ m ”; ( 1 - 1 ) case 1 : if “ m ”=“ yes ”, in s 404 : s 405 ; the control portion 65 selects “ bias 1 ” and sends signals for varying development and charge biases to a development bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ) and a charge bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ), respectively ; s 406 : the development dc bias power source is set to − 450 v ; s 407 : the charge dc bias power source is set to − 600 v ; ( 1 - 2 ) case 2 : if “ m ”=“ no ”, in s 404 : s 410 : the control portion 65 confirms whether or not the drum sensitivity information is “ l ”; s 411 : if it is “ yes ”, the control portion 65 selects “ bias 2 ”, and sends signals for varying development and charge biases to a development bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ) and a charge bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ), respectively ; s 412 : the development dc bias power source is set to − 470 v ; s 413 : the charge dc bias power source is set to − 610 v ; ( 1 - 3 ) case 3 : if “ l ”=“ no ”, in s 410 : s 414 : the control portion 65 confirms whether or not the drum sensitivity information is “ h ”; s 415 : if it is “ yes ”, the control portion 65 selects “ bias 3 ”, and sends signals for varying development and charge biases to a development bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ) and a charge bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ), respectively , whereas it it is “ no ”, the operation returns to s 403 to reconfirm the drum sensitivity information ; s 416 : the development dc bias power source is set to − 430 v ; s 417 : the charge dc bias power source is set to − 590 v ; ( 2 ) sequence from the confirmation of the record β to the step of image formation standby on : s 418 : it is confirmed whether or not there is a record of “ d = β ”; ( 2 - 1 ) case 4 : if the answer in s 418 is “ yes ”; s 419 : it is confirmed by the control portion 65 whether or not there is a record of “ d = γ ”, and if the answer is “ yes , the operation advances to s 420 ; s 420 : the control portion 65 selects “ bias 0 step up ”; s 421 : the control portion 65 selects “ image formation standby on ”. ( 2 - 2 ) case 5 : if the answer in s 419 is “ no ”: s 422 : the control portion 65 selects “ bias 1 step up ”, and sends signals for varying development and charge biases to a development bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ) and a charge bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ), respectively ; s 423 : the development dc bias power source raises the voltage by − 20 v ; s 424 : the charge dc bias power source raises the voltage by − 10 v ; s 421 : the control portion 65 selects “ the image formation standby on ”. ( 2 - 3 ) case 6 : if the answer in s 418 is “ no ”: s 425 : the control portion 65 selects “ bias 2 step up ”, and sends signals for varying development and charge biases to a development bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ) and a charge bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ), respectively ; s 426 : the development dc bias power source raises the voltage by − 40 v ; s 427 : the charge dc bias power source raises the voltage by − 20 v ; s 421 : the control portion 65 selects “ image formation standby on ”. ( 3 ) sequence from the step of image formation standby on to the completion of the process condition change : s 421 : the control portion 65 selects “ image formation standby on ”; s 428 ; computation is carried out in the memory 62 , and in the control section 64 of the main assembly ; s 429 : the control portion 65 determines whether or not the computed drum usage data is larger than the threshold value β stored in the memory . if the answer is “ yes ”, the operation advances to s 430 , whereas if the answer is “ no ”, the operation returns to s 428 , and the above described sequence is repeated ; s 430 : the control portion 65 determines whether or not there is a record β ; ( 3 - 1 ) case 7 : if the answer in s 430 is “ no ”; s 432 : the control portion 65 records “ d = β ” in the memory 62 : s 433 : the control portion 65 selects “ bias 1 step down ”, and sends signals for varying development and charge biases to a development bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ) and a charge bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ), respectively ; s 434 : the development dc bias power source lowers the voltage by − 20 v ; s 435 : the charge dc bias power source lowers the voltage by − 10 v ; s 438 : computation is carried out in memory 62 , and in the control section 64 of the main assembly ; s 439 : the control portion 65 determines whether or not the computed drum usage data is larger than the threshold value γ stored in the memory . if the answer is “ yes ”, the operation advances to s 440 , whereas if the answer is “ no ”, the operation returns to s 438 , and the above described sequence is repeated ; s 440 : “ d = γ ” is recorded in the memory ; s 441 : the control portion 65 selects “ bias 1 step down ”, and sends signals for varying development and charge biases to a development bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ) and a charge bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ), respectively ; s 442 : the development dc bias power source lowers the voltage by − 20 v ; s 443 : the charge dc bias power source lowers the voltage by − 10 v ; s 431 ; the control portion 65 determines whether or not the computed drum usage data is larger than the threshold value γ stored in the memory . if the answer is “ yes ”, the operation advances of s 436 , whereas if the answer is “ no ”, the operation advances to s 438 ; ( 3 - 2 - 1 ) case 8 : if the answer in s 431 is “ no ”: s 438 : if the answer in s 431 is “ no ”, the computation is carried out in the memory 62 , and in the control section 64 of the main assembly ; s 439 : the control portion 65 determines whether or not the computed drum usage data is larger than the threshold value γ stored in the memory . if the answer is “ yes ”, the operation advances to s 440 , whereas if the answer is “ no ”, the operation returns to s 438 , and the above sequence is repeated ; s 440 : “ d = γ ” is recorded in the memory 62 ; s 441 : the control portion 65 selects “ bias 1 step down ”, and sends signals for varying development and charge biases to a development bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ) and a charge bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ), respectively ; s 442 : the development dc bias power source lowers the voltage by − 20 v ; s 443 : the charge dc bias power source lowers the voltage by − 10 v ; ( 3 - 2 - 2 ) case 9 : if the answer in s 431 is “ yes ”: s 436 ; the control portion 65 confirms whether or not there is a record β ; s 437 : if the answer in s 436 is “ yes ”, the control portion 65 selects “ bias 0 step down ”; ( 3 - 2 - 3 ) case 10 : if the answer in s 436 is “ no ”: s 440 : “ d = γ ” is recorded in the memory 62 ; s 441 : the control portion 65 selects “ bias 1 step down ”, and sends signals for varying development and charge biases to a development bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ) and a charge bias application power source control portion ( unillustrated ), respectively ; s 442 : the development dc bias power source lowers the voltage by − 20 v ; s 443 : the charge dc bias power source lowers the voltage by − 10 v ; as described above , with the provision of the drum usage amount record ( usage history ), the computation is unnecessary even prior to the step of “ image formation standby on ”, reducing the time before the first print can be produced while providing the same effects as those in the second embodiment . in this embodiment , two threshold values are provided pertaining to the drum usage data as in the second embodiment . however , three or more threshold values may be provided on the basis of the characteristics of a cartridge , for example , the initial condition of each cartridge , and cartridge structure . further , bias was lowered by a single unit of variation per sub - sequence . however , it may be raised or lowered by a plurality of units of variation . further , charge and development voltages were varied in potential level to adjust the processing condition . however , according to circumstances , charge and development voltages may be varied in frequency , or the amount of exposure may be varied . ( 1 ) cumulative length of the cartridge usage is computed from the length of the time the process cartridge c is driven in the image forming apparatus main assembly 100 , using an equation , and this cumulative length of the cartridge usage will be referred to as “ drum usage amount ”. ( 2 ) the process cartridge c is provided with a memory 22 , in which the aforementioned threshold value pertaining to the usage amount determined by the combined characteristics of the photosensitive drum 1 and charge roller 2 in each cartridge , and a coefficient pertaining to the aforementioned equation determined by the characteristics of the photosensitive drum 1 , are stored . ( 3 ) the cartridge usage amount is computed based on the length of the time the cartridge has been driven , which is measured by the image forming apparatus main assembly 100 and stored in the memory 22 , and the coefficient stored in the memory 22 , and the cumulative length of the cartridge usage is stored in the memory 13 on the main assembly side . the electrical current applied to the charge roller 2 is varied as the aforementioned value of the cumulative cartridge usage amount matches the threshold value stored in the memory 22 . incidentally , the number of the threshold values stored in the memory 22 of the cartridge c may be plural , and the value of the charge current may be switched twice or more . with the above described control , it is possible to satisfactorily charge the photosensitive drum 1 while keeping the charge current value as small as possible , and therefore , the service life of the photosensitive drum 1 is extended . next , referring to fig2 and 25 , the overall structure of the image formation system in this embodiment will be described . as shown in fig2 , the control section 24 on the main assembly side has a data storage memory 13 , a control portion 25 , a computing portion 26 , a photosensitive member rotation control portion 27 , a charge bias application time detecting portion 28 , a communicating portion 14 , and the like . the cartridge c has a memory 22 and a communicating portion 23 . referring to fig2 , a coefficient φ pertaining to the drum usage computation equation , a threshold value α pertaining to drum usage amount , and information x pertaining to cartridge characteristics ( hereinafter , “ id information ”), are stored in the memory 22 of the cartridge c . the id information is information for the image forming apparatus main assembly 100 to detect whether or not the cartridge c has been replaced . in other words , it may be any type of information as long as it provides the identity of each cartridge . more specifically , it is a serial number of the cartridge c or the like . the threshold value a and coefficient φ are stored in the memory 22 at the time of shipment . these values vary depending upon the sensitivity and material of the photosensitive drum , and the surface condition of the charge roller 2 , and the like . as the image forming apparatus main assembly 100 receives a print signal , the driving of the cartridge c is started by the photosensitive member rotation control portion 27 , to start an image formation process . at this point in operation , the drum usage amount is computed . the drum usage data d is computed by the computing portion 26 using the information b or the cumulative length of time the photosensitive member was rotated , which is obtained from the photosensitive member rotation control portion 27 , the information a or the cumulative length of time the charge bias was applied , which is obtained from the charge bias application time detecting portion 28 , and a conversion equation weighted by the coefficient φ read out of the memory 22 : d = a +( b × φ ). the results are cumulatively stored in the memory 13 within the apparatus main assembly 100 . the value of the cumulative stored drum usage amount is compared with the threshold value α in the memory 22 of the cartridge c . if the value of the drum usage amount d is greater than the value of α , a control signal is sent to the charge bias power source 29 from the control portion 25 to change the charge bias . as long as the id information x remains unaltered , the drum usage amount d continues to be cumulatively stored . when it is recognized that the id information x has been altered , it is assumed that the cartridge has been replaced , and the value of the drum usage amount d is reset . the data regarding the length of the photosensitive member rotation time , and the data regarding the length of the charge bias application time , are to be continuously stored in the memory , and the drum usage data are to be computed whenever the driving of the photosensitive drum 1 is stopped . next , referring to the flow chart in fig2 , the operation of the image forming apparatus in this embodiment will be described . the operation of the image forming apparatus is started ( start ), and each of the following steps s 101 – s 112 is carried out : s 101 : the power source of the image forming apparatus main assembly is turned on ; s 102 : the cartridge id information is checked to confirm whether or not the cartridge has been replaced ; s 103 : if the id has been changed , the value of the drum usage data is set to zero ; s 104 : a print signal is turned on ; s 105 : the photosensitive member rotation time detecting section 27 begins to count the length of the photosensitive member rotation time ; s 106 : the charge bias application time detecting portion 28 begins to count the length of the charge bias application time ; s 107 : the coefficient φ is read out of the memory 22 of the cartridge c ; s 108 : the drum usage amount d is computed in the computing portion 26 ; s 109 : the drum usage amount d is stored in the memory 13 of the apparatus main assembly 100 ; s 110 : the threshold value α is read out by the control portion 25 ; s 111 : the control portion 25 compares the drum usage data d with the threshold value α ; if the answer is “ yes ”, the operation advances of s 112 , whereas if the answer is “ no ”, the operation returns to s 104 to repeat the same sequence ; s 112 : a switching signal is transmitted from the control portion 25 to the charge bias power source 29 illustrated in fig2 , to change the charge current value . in this embodiment , as the threshold value α is reached , the charge current value , which is 1400 μa , is switched to 1250 μa . when the current value was controlled as shown by the above described flow chart , and the solid line in fig8 , as in the first embodiment , the length of the service life of the photosensitive drum 1 , which used to be 13000 in terms of print count , could be extended to 17000 . in other words , according to the present invention , it is possible to satisfactorily charge the photosensitive drum 1 for maintaining image quality , while using as small an amount of charge current as possible , and theretore , it is possible to extend the service life of the photosensitive drum 1 . although current switching is done only once in this embodiment , it may done in a plurality of steps depending upon the characteristics of individual cartridges . further , the current value may be raised or lowered depending upon the condition of each cartridge . also , two or more threshold values may be used pertaining to the drum usage data , although only one is used in this embodiment . fig2 shows the information stored within the memory 22 when a plurality of threshold values pertaining to the drum usage data are used . in this embodiment , at least the following kinds of information are stored in the memory 22 : the cartridge id information x , the coefficient φ for the drum usage amount computing equation , three threshold values α 1 , α 2 , α 3 pertaining to the drum usage amount , although there are various other kinds of information stored therein . these types of information are rendered continually transmittable between the memory 22 of the cartridge c and the computing portion 26 within the control section 24 on the main assembly side . the results of the computation carried out based on these types information are compared to the referential data by the control portion 25 . fig2 and 29 show the flow chart for switching the current value twice or more . the operation of the image forming apparatus is started ( start ), and each of the following steps s 201 – s 218 is carried out : s 201 : the power source of the image forming apparatus main assembly is turned on ; s 202 : the cartridge id information is checked to confirm whether or not the cartridge has been replaced ; s 203 : if the id has been changed , the value of the drum usage data is set to zero ; s 204 : a print signal is turned on ; s 205 : the photosensitive member rotation time detecting section 27 begins to count the length of the photosensitive member rotation time ; s 206 : the charge bias application time detecting portion 28 begins to count the length of the charge bias application time ; s 207 : the coefficient φ is read out of the memory 22 of the cartridge c ; s 208 : the drum usage amount d is computed in the computing portion 26 ; s 209 : the drum usage amount d is stored in the memory 13 of the apparatus main assembly 100 ; s 210 : the threshold value α is read out by the control portion 25 : s 211 : the control portion 25 compares the drum usage data d with the threshold value α 1 ; if the answer is “ yes ”, the operation advances of s 212 , whereas if the answer is “ no ”, the operation returns to s 204 ; s 212 : the selection of the bias level is lowered by one unit in the bias table stored in advance in the control portion 25 , and a switching signal is transmitted from the control portion 25 to the charge bias power source 29 illustrated in fig2 , to change the charge current value . after the charge bias value change , the operation goes to a ; in this embodiment , as the threshold value α is reached , the charge current value , which is 1400 μa , is switched to 1250 μa ; s 213 : computation is carried out in the memory 22 , and in the control section 24 on the main assembly side ; s 214 : the control portion 25 determines whether or not the computed drum usage data reached the threshold value α 2 , stored in the memory 22 . if the answer is “ yes ”, the operation advances to s 215 , whereas if the answer is “ no ”, the operation returns to s 213 . s 215 : the bias designation in the bias table stored in advance in the control portion 25 is lowered by one unit of change , and a switching signal is transmitted from the control portion 25 to the charge bias power source 29 illustrated in fig2 , to change the charge current value s 216 : computation is carried out in the memory 22 , and in the control section 24 on the main assembly side ; s 217 : the control portion 25 determines whether or not the computed drum usage data reached the threshold value α 3 , stored in the memory 22 . if the answer is “ yes ”, the operation advances to s 218 , whereas if the answer is “ no ”, the operation returns to s 216 . s 218 : the bias designation in the bias table stored in advance in the control portion 25 is lowered by one unit of change , and a switching signal is transmitted from the control portion 25 to the charge bias power source 29 illustrated in fig2 , to change the charge current value ; the above description was given pertaining to a case in which there were three threshold values at which the switching was to be made . however , there may be more than three threshold values at which the switching are to be made , as long as the switching is made within the scope of the present invention , which is obvious . next , the fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described . the structures of the image forming apparatus and process cartridge in this fifth embodiment are the same as those in the fourth embodiment . therefore , their description will be omitted , and only their distinctive features will be described . in the fourth embodiment , the amount of the charge current was varied based on the drum usage amount , as the usage data , in the memory 22 , and two characteristic values , that is , the coefficient pertaining to the drum usage amount computing equation and the threshold value pertaining to the usage data . this embodiment is distinctive in that additional information , which pertains to the characteristics of the photosensitive drum 1 , that is , the sensitivity of the photosensitive drum 1 , is employed in addition to the data relied upon in the fourth embodiment , and the dc voltage applied to charge the photosensitive drum 1 , and the dc voltage applied for development , are varied based on these data . as described before , it has been known that there is a tendency that the line width in a print produced when a developing device is in an early stage or usage ( when a relatively larger amount of toner is in the developing device ) is less than the line width in a print produced when the developing device is in an advanced stage of usage . fig1 shows the changes which occur to the actual width of a line in an image with a resolution of 600 dpi , the theoretical width of which corresponds to 4 dots , as a printing operation continues . following the solid line in the graph reveals that the actual line width keeps on increasing during the initial period of the operation , that is , while printing the first 1000 copies . although various causes are conceivable for this phenomenon , it may be listed as the primary cause that the amount of the toner charge , and the potential level v 1 of the photosensitive drum , are unstable in the initial period of the operation . in other words , since the potential level vl is affected by the selection of a sheet feeding mode , and the resultant latent image is faithfully reproduced , the line tends to become narrower in the initial period in which fluctuation in potential level vl is greater . further , there is a substantial amount of difference in the sensitivity of the drum , that is , the potential level vl , among the groups of process cartridge different in lot number . ( 1 ) the length of the time a given cartridge was driven in the image forming apparatus main assembly 100 is computed using an equation as it was in the fourth embodiment , and the obtained value referred to as “ drum usage amount ” as it was in the fourth embodiment . ( 2 ) the process cartridge is provided with a memory , in which threshold values pertaining to the drum usage data , determined by the characteristics of the photosensitive drum 1 and charge roller 2 , the coefficients pertaining to the equation , and the drum sensitivity , are stored in the memory . ( 3 ) the initial levels of dc bias for charge and dc bias for development , are determined for each cartridge according to its drum sensitivity . thereafter , the amount of the cartridge usage is computed based on the length of time the charge bias is applied , the length of time the photosensitive drum 1 is driven , which are measured by the image forming apparatus main assembly , and the coefficient , and as the value of the thus obtained amount of the cartridge usage reaches the threshold value stored in the memory , the dc bias for charge and the dc bias for development are switched . with this control , it is possible to minimize the line width change that occurs in the initial period of a printing operation , and therefore , high quality is realized . next , referring to fig3 and 31 , the structure for controlling the memory in this embodiment will be described . as shown in fig3 , the control section 64 on the main assembly side has data storage memory 13 , a control portion 65 , a computing portion 66 , a photosensitive member rotation control portion 67 , a charge bias application time detecting portion 68 , a communication portion 14 , whereas the cartridge c side has a memory 62 and a communicating portion 63 . fig3 shows the information stored in the memory 62 . although there are various types of information stored in the memory 62 , at least the following sorts of information are stored in this embodiment : coefficient φ pertaining to the equation for computing the length of drum usage , threshold values β and γ pertaining to the equation for computing the drum usage ; and drum sensitivity threshold values l . m . h , and also a cartridge identification information x as in the fourth embodiment . the threshold values β and γ , coefficient φ , and drum sensitivity are stored in the memory 62 at the time of shipment . these values are selected to be optimal for the characteristics of the photosensitive drum , and other components used in a given cartridge . these types of information in the memory 62 are rendered always transmittable between the communicating means 63 and 14 . the computation is carried out based on these types of information , and the results of the computation are compared to the stored data by the control portion 65 . as the cartridge c is inserted into the image forming apparatus main assembly 100 , the control portion 65 accesses the memory 62 , an reads the drum sensitivity value . in this embodiment , the drum sensitivity is divided into three ranges : h ≧− 120 v ; m =− 120 to − 170v ; and l ≦− 170 . based on this information , the control portion 65 sets the initial level of the bias applied by the development dc bias power source 71 . in this embodiment , it is set at − 510 v , − 490 v and − 470 v , when the drum sensitivity is in the ranges of l , m and h , correspondingly . as the apparatus main assembly 100 receives a print signal , the driving of the cartridge c is started by the photosensitive member rotation control portion 64 to start an image forming process . at this point in time , the drum usage amount is computed as follows , as in the first embodiment . the drum usage amount d is computed by the computing portion 66 using a weighted conversion equation : d = a +( b × φ ), wherein b stands for the cumulative data of the photosensitive member rotation time , which is obtained from the photosensitive member rotation control portion 67 ; a stands for the cumulative length of time the charge bias was applied , which is obtained from the charge bias application time detecting portion 68 , and φ stands for a weighting coefficient read out of the memory 22 . the results are cumulatively stored in the memory 13 within the apparatus main assembly 100 . the value of the cumulatively stored drum usage amount is compared with the threshold values β and γ in the memory 62 of the cartridge c . in this embodiment , the threshold value β is rendered smaller than the threshold value γ ( β & lt ; γ ). if the value of the drum usage amount d is greater than the value of β , the value of the development dc bias applied from the development dc bias power source 71 is lowered to 20 v through the control portion 65 . more specifically , when the drum sensitivity is in the range l , m and h , the development bias is switched to − 490 v , − 470 v and − 450 v , correspondingly . as the cartridge c is used more , the amount d of the usage of the photosensitive drum 1 increases . then , as the drum usage amount d becomes greater than threshold value γ , the value of the development bias applied from the development dc bias power source 71 is lowered by 20 v through the control portion 65 . more specifically , when the drum sensitivity is in the range l , m and h , the development bias is switched to − 470 v , − 450 v and − 430 v , correspondingly . the data regarding the length of the photosensitive member rotation time , and the data regarding the length of the charge bias application time , are continuously stored in the memory , and the drum usage data are computed whenever the driving of the photosensitive drum 1 is stopped . next , referring to the flow charts in fig3 , 33 and 34 , the operation of the image forming apparatus in this embodiment will be described . the operation of the image forming apparatus is started ( start ), and each of the following steps s 301 – s 344 is carried out : s 301 : the power source of the image forming apparatus main assembly is turned on ; s 302 : the control portion 65 confirms the drum sensitivity information in the memory 62 ; if the sensitivity is in the range l , m and h , the operation goes to s 304 , s 305 and s 306 , correspondingly ; s 304 : since the sensitivity is in the range l , the initial value of the development bias is set to − 510 v ; s 305 : since the sensitivity is in the range m , the initial value of the development bias is set to − 490 v ; s 306 : since the sensitivity is in the range h , the initial value of the development bias is set to − 470 v ; s 307 : the initial value of the development bias is set ; s 308 : the cartridge id information is checked to confirm whether or not the cartridge has been replaced ; s 309 : if the id has been changed , the drum usage amount data is reset to zero ; s 310 : the threshold values β and γ are read from the memory 62 ; s 311 : the drum usage amount data d is compared with the threshold value β ; if d & gt ; β , the operation advances to s 312 , whereas if not , the operation advances to s 325 ; s 312 : the drum usage amount data d is compared with the threshold value γ ; if d & gt ; γ , the operation advances to s 313 , whereas if not , the operation advances to s 314 ; s 313 : when the power source is on , and the drum usage amount data d satisfies : d & gt ; γ , the development bias is lowered by − 40 v , and the control operation is ended ; s 314 : when the power source is on , and the drum usage amount data d satisfies : γ & gt ; d & gt ; β , the development bias is lowered by − 20 v , and the operation advances of s 315 ; s 315 : the apparatus is readied for printing ; s 316 : a printing signal is turned on ; s 317 : the photosensitive member rotation time detecting section begins to count the length of the photosensitive member rotation time ; s 318 : the charge bias application time detecting portion begins to count the length of the charge bias application time ; s 319 : the coefficient φ is read from the memory 62 of the process cartridge c ; s 320 : the drum usage amount d is computed by the computing portion 66 ; s 321 : the drum usage amount d is stored in the memory 13 of the apparatus main assembly 100 ; s 322 : the threshold value γ is read by the control portion 65 ; s 323 : the control portion 65 compares the drum usage amount data d with the threshold value γ ; if the answer is “ yes ”, the operation advances of s 324 , whereas if the answers is “ no ”, the operation returns to s 316 ; s 324 : the development bias is lowered by − 20 v , and the control is ended ; s 325 : when the power source is on , and the drum usage amount d satisfies : d & gt ; γ , the operation advances to s 325 without changing the development bias ; s 326 – s 332 : ( this sequence is identical to the sequence s 316 – s 321 , and therefore , its description will be omitted ); s 333 : the threshold value β is read by the control portion 65 ; s 323 : the control portion 65 compares the drum usage amount data d with the threshold value β ; if the answer is “ yes ”, the operation advances to s 335 , whereas if the answer is “ no ”, the operation returns to s 327 ; s 335 : the development bias is lowered by − 20 v , and the operation advances to s 336 ; s 336 – s 341 : ( this sequence is identical to the sequence s 316 – s 321 , and therefore , its description will be omitted ); s 342 : the threshold value γ is read by the control portion 65 ; s 343 : the control portion 65 compares the drum usage amount data d with the threshold value γ ; if the answer is “ yes ”, the operation advances to s 344 , whereas if the answer is “ no ”, the operation returns to s 336 ; s 344 : the development bias is lowered by − 20 v , and the control is ended . referring to fig1 , the change in the line width which occurred as the result of control such as the one described above is represented by the single dot chain line . as is evident from fig1 , the changes in line width remained within an acceptable range of 180 – 190 μm , assuming image stability . as described above , the charge and development dc biases applied in the initial period of an image forming operation are adjusted for each cartridge , according to the drum sensitivity information and drum usage data , prior to the step of “ image formation standby on ”. thereafter , the biases are varied to proper levels in accordance with the characteristic value of each cartridge , during the operation , so that the line width remains stable . although two threshold values were provided pertaining to the drum usage data , in this embodiment , three or more threshold values may be provided in consideration of the characteristics of the initial condition and structure of a cartridge . further , in this embodiment , the biases were lowered by a single unit of change during each control subsequence . however , it may be lowered by a plurality of units per control subsequence . further , in this embodiment , development voltage is varied in potential level to control the image forming process . however , the charge dc voltage may be varied as the same time as the development voltage in order to maintain the contrast between the potential levels of the charge voltage and development voltage . further , the other factors , that is , the frequencies of the charge and development voltages , and the amount of exposure , may be altered to control the image forming process , which is obvious . while the invention has been described with reference to the structures disclosed herein , it is not confined to the details set forth and this application is intended to cover such modifications or changes as may come within the purposes of the improvements or the scope of the following claims . | 6 |
thus , in a first embodiment , the present invention provides novel strains of bacteria which have a 7α - dehydroxylase activity of less than 50 %, preferably less than 25 %, and a conjugated bile acid deconjugation activity of less than 50 %, preferably less than 25 %. the essential features of the strains according to the present invention are disclosed herein , specific strains having said features are disclosed herein . the present invention also provides a pharmaceutical composition for treating and / or preventing diseases associated with or caused by an altered metabolism of biliary acids , said composition comprising at least one bacteria strain according to the present invention . the essential features of the composition according to the present invention are disclosed herein ; specific embodiments of said composition are disclosed herein . in another embodiment , the present invention provides a method for treating and / or preventing diseases caused by or associated with an altered metabolism of biliary acids by administering to a patient in need thereof one or more strains of bacteria which have a 7α - dehydroxylase activity of less than 50 %, preferably less than 25 %, and a conjugated bile acid deconjugation activity of less than 50 %, preferably less than 25 %, or a pharmaceutical composition containing one or more such strains of bacteria . the essential features of said method are disclosed herein ; specific embodiments are disclosed herein . in the context of the present invention , the diseases associated with or caused by a metabolic disorder of the biliary acids include liver diseases and diseases of the digestive apparatus , such as blind loop syndrome , biliary gallstones , cirrhosis , chronic hepatopathies , acute hepatopathies , cystic fibrosis , intrahepatic cholestasis , intestinal inflammatory diseases , colonpathies , malabsorption . the present pharmaceutical compositions may also be used to prevent the onset of biliary gallstones in women during pregnancy or subsequent periods and in subjects undergoing weight - loss programs or diets . the 7α - dehydroxylase activity of the bacteria strain should be less then 50 %, preferably less than 25 %. the 7α - dehydroxylase activity values are those measured by the method described in example 1 below . specifically , the 10 7 cells of the strain in question are incubated at 37 ° c . for 48 hours , in 15 ml of the specific culture medium with the addition of 2 mg / ml of glycocholic acid ( gca ) or 2 mg / ml of taurocholic acid ( tca ), and then the amount of 7α - dehydroxylated product is measured . the percentage value for the 7α - dehydroxylase activity is calculated by the following formula : 7α - dehydroxylase activity =[( mass of 7α - dehydroxylated product after 48 hours of incubation )/( mass of gca or tca at the start of incubation )]× 100 . the 7α - dehydroxylase activity for any given strain is the higher of the numbers measured for gca and tca . based on the above , the bacteria strain to be administered should in addition have a conjugated bile acid deconjugation activity of less than 50 %, preferably less than 25 %. the ability to deconjugate bile acid is determined by using the same incubation procedure described for measuring the 7α - dehydroxylase activity followed by measuring the amount of deconjugated product formed . the deconjugation activity is calculated using the following formula : deconjugation activity =[( mass of gca or tca at the after 48 hours of incubation )/( mass of gca or tca at the start of incubation )]× 100 . the deconjugation activity for any given strain is the higher of the numbers measured for gca and tca . the bacteria strains of the present invention may be administered enterically . preferably , the bacteria strains of the present invention are administered orally . although a single bacteria strain may be administered , it is also possible to administer a mixture of two or more bacteria according to the present invention . although the exact dosage of bacteria to be administered will vary with the condition and size of the patient , the exact disease being treated , and the identity of the strains being administered , good results have been achieved by administering 10 3 to 10 13 cells of the bacteria / g , preferably 10 8 to 10 12 of the bacteria strain / g . to achieve the good effects of the present invention , it is preferred that the strain be administered in an amount and a concentration sufficient to result in the intestines of the patient being populated with an important amount thereof . thus , it is preferred that the strain be administered in a composition which contains 10 3 to 10 13 cells of the strain / g , preferably 10 8 to 10 12 cells of the strain / g and that the composition be administered in such a regimen so that the patient receives 100 mg to 100 g of the strain / day , preferably 1 g to 20 g of the strain / day , for a period of 1 to 365 days , preferably 3 to 60 days in case of therapy , or according to periodical cycles in case of prophylaxis . the bacteria strain may be administered in any form suitable for enteral administration , such as capsules , tablets , or liquids for oral administration or liquids for enteral administration . typically , the administration of the bacteria strain according to the present invention can be prescribed after the diagnosis of metabolic disorders of the biliary acids . however , in the case of the prophylaxis of biliary gallstones , the strain may be administered when the subject is determined to belong to an at - risk population , such as becoming pregnant or beginning a weight - loss program or diet . in addition , the present strain of bacteria may be administered after a patient has had their gallbladder removed . in a preferred embodiment , the coadministration of lactulose is provided when the disease being treated is cirrhosis . suitably , the lactulose is administered in an amount of 100 mg to 100 g / day , preferably 1 g to 20 g / day . in another preferred embodiment , the coadministration of bile acid - based preparations , such as ursodeoxycholic acid or tauroursodeoxycholic acid , is provided . suitably , the ursodeoxycholic or tauroursodeoxycholic acid is 7 ; administered in an amount of 10 to 3 , 000 mg / day , preferably 50 to 800 mg / day . the present invention finally provides novel pharmaceutical compositions for treating and / or preventing the metabolic disorders of the biliary acids which comprise ( a ) one or more strains of bacteria having a 7α - dehydroxylase activity of less than 50 %, preferably less than 25 %, and a bile acid deconjugation activity of less than 50 %, preferably less than 25 %, and ( b ) a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier . preferably , the present pharmaceutical compositions contain the strain ( s ) of bacteria in a concentration of 10 3 to 10 13 cells / g , preferably 10 8 to 10 12 cells / g . the pharmaceutically acceptable carrier may be any which is suitable for enteral administration and is compatible with the strain of bacteria , such as dextrose , calcium carbonate together with different additional substances such as starch , gelatin , vitamins , antioxidants , stains or taste - improving substances . as an optional component , the compositions of the invention may possibly contain a drug compatible with the bacteria employed and capable of potentiating the activity of the active ingredients present . anticholinergic drugs , antihistamines , adrenergic , antiulcer , antiacid , antidiarroic , and anti - inflammatory drugs , sedatives , antipyretis , choleretics antirheumatic agents , analgesic drugs , diuretics , antiseptic agents , antilipemic hepatoprotective drugs and drugs active on the gastrointestinal motility ( e . g ., trimebutine ) may be herein mentioned . when treating cirrhosis , it is preferred that the pharmaceutical composition further comprise lactulose . suitably , the composition will contain sufficient lactulose to result in the administration of 100 mg to 100 g / day , preferably 1 g to 20 g / day of lactulose . when treating biliary cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis , it is preferred that the pharmaceutical composition comprise bile acid - based preparations , such as ursodeoxycholic acid or tauroursodeoxycholic acid . suitably , the composition will contain sufficient bile acid preparation to result in the administration of 10 to 3 , 000 mg / day of such bile acid preparations , preferably 50 to 800 mg / day of ursodeoxycholic acid or tauroursodeoxycholic acid . other features of the invention will become apparent in the course of the following descriptions of exemplary embodiments which are given for illustration of the invention and are not intended to be limiting thereof . strains of the following species have been tested : streptococcus thermophilus , streptococcus faecium , lactobacillus acidophilus , lactobacillus bulgaricus , lactobacillus plantarum , bifidobacterium infantis . each strain ( 10 7 cfu ) was cultivated in duplicate in specific nutrient broths ( 15 ml ); “ cfu ” means “ colony forming units ”. preparation : dissolve 50 g / l in distilled water , sterilized at 121 ° c . for 15 preparation : dissolve 42 . 5 g / l in distilled water , sterilized at 121 ° c . for 15 bifidobacterium infantis was cultivated under anaerobic conditions since it is known that it is an anaerobic bacterium . after 24 hours of incubation at 37 ° c . to each tube was added an amount of bile salt equivalent to 30 mg in order to obtain a final concentration of 2 mg / ml . the bile acids employed are : glycocholic acid ( gca ) and taurocholic acid ( tca ), obtained from sigma chemicals . each bile acid was added separately to each series of bacterial cultures . after 48 hours of incubation , isopropanol , 3 ml , was added for 2 minutes . then it was centrifuged at 400 rpm for 15 minutes and the supernatant was collected ( 5 ml ). the supernatant was kept refrigerated at − 30 ° c . until it was analyzed . the percentage of conjugated bile salt present was determined by hplc ( high performance liquid chromatography ) utilizing a gilson apparatus equipped with a detector diode array mod 1000 and a spherisorb 5 μm ods 2 c18 reverse phase column , a mobile phase composed by methanol / buffered phosphate ( 20 mmol ), ph 2 . 5 in water / acetonitrile / water ( 150 : 60 : 20 : 20 by volume ), a fluid speed of 0 . 85 ml / min , at a wavelength of 205 nm ; 100 μl of the sample to be tested , dried under nitrogen , were extracted with 100 μl of the mobile phase containing as an internal standard 7α - oh - 12α - oh - dihydroxy - 58 - cholanic acid ( calbiochem u . s . a .) at a concentration of 2 mg / ml . the recovery percentage of the bile acid incubated with the bacterial cultures was calculated by the ratio of the area of the bile acid to be detected ( gca or tca ) to the area of the internal standard . when the quantity of the conjugated bile acid found in the bacterial cultures after 48 hours of incubation was less than 50 %, thin layer chromatography ( tlc ) was performed on silica 60 gel plates to detect the presence of ca and dca , using a mobile phase of cyclohexane / isopropanol / acetic acid ( 30 : 10 : 1 by volume ). on every plate , 20 μl of the alcoholic extract of the sample , 20 μl of a solution of ca and dca , and 20 μl of ca , 20 μl of dca , were spotted . the plates after development at room temperature , were treated with sulfuric acid and warmed at 145 ° c . until the appearance of the colored spots . the results of the deconjugation experiments ( table i ) show that 5 out of the 16 strains tested with gca were able to completely deconjugate the bile acid added to the culture , as previously reported in the literature and widely known to all researchers . surprisingly , ten strains were able to deconjugate gca but not completely , ranging from 9 to 90 percent ( table i ). there was no difference among aerobic and anaerobic bacteria . two strains , streptococcus thermophilus ys 52 and bifidobacterium infantis bi 6 do not have any deconjugating activity for gca . the strain ys 52 in addition does not attack the bile acid — taurine bond . only one out of the 16 strains tested was able to totally deconjugate the tca : the bifidobacterium infantis bi 6 . the results of the dehydroxylation experiments ( table ii ) show that only one ( bi 4 ) out of the 16 strains is able to completely dehydroxylate gca . six strains did not dehydroxylate at all : ys 52 ; sf 2 ; sf 4 ; la 3 ; la 10 ; and . * bi 6 . the other strains were able to dehydroxylate gca but not completely , ranging from 9 % to 90 %. as to tca , seven strains do not dehydroxylate it at all : ys 52 ; sf 3 ; la 3 ; la 10 ; lb 1 ; lb 7 ; and lb 77 . one strain , bi 6 , dehydroxylated tca completely ; the other strains dehydroxylated tca according to varying percentages . the following strains are on the contrary kept at the centro ricerche these results demonstrate that the majority of the strains tested by us have a low capability to deconjugate the bile acids and that there are strains that do not deconjugate at all . this observation is surprising in that it has not been known that the lactic acid bacteria deconjugated the biliary salts . furthermore , it is evident that the enzymes of the strains are selective for the specific bile acid bound on the side chain . in this study , the clearest example is offered by the bifidobacterium infantis bi 6 . this strain is not able to deconjugate the glycine - conjugated bile acid but is able to totally deconjugate the taurine - conjugated bile acid . some other strains ( lb 1 , lb 7 , lb 77 , and sf 3 ) are unable to deconjugate tca but are able to deconjugate gca to a certain extent . to conclude , strains have been discovered that have a weak or zero capability to deconjugate and dehydroxylate . three healthy volunteers were tested for their content of bile acids following treatment with a lactobacilli preparation containing 1 × 10 11 cells of streptococcus thermophilus ys 52 per gram for a daily total of 6 g for 28 days . before beginning the treatment and after 12 hours starvation , the subjects were intubated and the gallbladder bile , following stimulation with ceruletide , was collected and frozen at − 80 ° c . the gallbladder contraction was assessed by echography and the position of the tube , in the second portion of the duodenum was checked by rx ( fluoroscopy ). after a 4 week treatment , the subjects underwent a second intubation and collection of bile . the bile samples were then tested for their content of some bile acids as previously described . the results are shown in table iii . note : ( the bile acids are listed following the hydrophilic capacity order , that is in inverse relation to detergency ) this experiment is a confirmation of what is shown in example no . 1 , that is : a lower deconjugation in one of the primary bile acids if bacteria being the object of the present invention are administered . the achieved result is a longer maintenance of the primary bile acids in the enterohepatic circulation . the properties of the bile acids are reported in the note to table iii . thus , according to these results the administration of selected strains of bacteria can reduce the detergency property and therefore the cytolytic activity of the bile acids . fourteen patients with chronic hepatitis were treated with a bacterial preparation containing streptococcus thermophilus ys 46 and ys 48 ( two strains ), and lactobacillus bulgaricus lb 1 , lb 7 , and lb 77 ( three strains ). each strain had been brought to a concentration of 150 × 10 9 cells per gram before being mixed with the others , to prepare a mixture containing the same parts by weight of each strain . 6 grams per day of said mixture were administered for 28 days . liver enzymes were measured before and after the treatment , and the results are shown in table iv . obviously , numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . it is therefore to be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein . | 0 |
reference will now be made in detail to the specific embodiments of the invention , examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings . while the invention will be described in conjunction with the specific embodiments , it will be understood that they are not intended to limit the invention to those embodiments . on the contrary , the invention is intended to cover various alternatives , modifications and equivalents , which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims . in general , the invention described here allows n - bits of information to be stored on and read from an electrically alterable non - volatile memory ( eanvm ). this is accomplished by electrically varying the conductivity of the channel of a floating gate fet to be within any one of k n conductivity ranges where “ k ” represents the base of the numbering system being employed ( in a binary system , “ k ” equals 2 ). the conductivity range is then sensed and encoded . this forms the basis of an n - bit eanvm memory cell . the floating gate fet conductivity is electrically modified by using external programming hardware and algorithms which supply signals and voltages to the eanvm memory device . these external signals and voltages are then modified internal to the device to provide an internally controlled program / verify cycle which incrementally stores electrons on the floating gate until the desired conductivity range is achieved . for the purpose of illustration , the n - bit per cell descriptions will assume a binary system which stores 2 - bits per memory cell . fig1 is a generic schematic representation of a non - volatile floating gate memory cell 10 . it is not intended that this schematic drawing is in any way indicative of the device structure . it is used to illustrate the fact that this invention refers to an fet memory cell which uses an electrically isolated , or floating , gate 14 to store charged particles for the purpose of altering the voltage threshold and hence channel conductivity of the fet memory cell 10 . the fet memory cell 10 includes a control gate 12 which is used either to select the memory cell for reading or is used to cause electrons to be injected onto the floating gate 14 during the programming process . floating gate 14 is an electrically isolated structure which can indefinitely store electrons . the presence or absence of electrons on floating gate 14 alters the voltage threshold of the memory cell 10 and as a result alters the conductivity of its channel region . a drain region 16 of the fet is coupled to a source region 18 by a channel region 19 . when the floating gate 14 is fully erased and the control gate 12 has been selected , the channel region 19 is in the fully “ on ”, or high conductivity , state . when the floating gate 14 is fully programmed the channel region 19 is in the fully “ off ”, or low conductivity state . fig2 is a block diagram of a prior art conventional single - bit eanvm memory system 30 . the memory system 30 stores a single bit of information in an eanvm cell 32 . the cell 32 , as described in fig1 is selected for reading or writing when a row , or word , select signal is applied to a control gate terminal 34 . a source terminal 36 for the fet of the cell 32 is connected to a reference ground potential . a drain terminal 38 is connected through a pull - up device 39 to a voltage vpull - up at a terminal 40 . terminal 38 serves as the output terminal of the cell 32 . when the cell 32 stores a “ 0 ” bit , the channel of the fet is in a low conductivity , or high impedance , state so that the voltage at terminal 38 is pulled - up to the voltage level vpull - up on terminal 40 . when the cell 32 stores a “ 1 ” bit , the channel of the fet is in a high conductivity , or low impedance , state so that the voltage at terminal 38 is pulled - down by the ground potential at terminal 36 . for reading the value of the single - bit stored in the cell 32 , a sense amplifier 42 compares the voltage at terminal 38 with a reference voltage vref at terminal 43 . if a “ 0 ” is stored in the eanvm cell 32 , the cell will be in a low conductivity state and as a result the voltage at terminal 38 is above the reference voltage at terminal 43 . for a “ 0 ” stored in the cell 32 , the output terminal 44 of the sense amplifier 42 will be a low voltage which will be transmitted through an output buffer 46 to a terminal 48 and then coupled to the i / o terminal 50 as a logical “ 0 ”. if a “ 1 ” is stored on the eanvm cell 32 , the cell is in a high conductivity state and as a result the voltage at terminal 38 is below the reference voltage at terminal 43 . the output of the sense amplifier 42 will be a high voltage which will be transmitted to the i / o terminal 50 as a logical “ 1 ”. for writing the value of an information bit stored in the cell 32 , it is assumed that the cell 32 is in the erased , or fully “ on ”, state which corresponds to a logical “ 1 ”. the i / o terminal 50 is connected to the input terminal of an input latch / buffer 52 . the output of the input latch / buffer 52 is connected to an enable / disable terminal 54 of a program voltage switch 56 . the program voltage switch 56 provides a bit - line program voltage on a signal line 58 connected to terminal 38 . another output from the program voltage switch 56 is the word line program voltage on a signal line 62 , which is connected to the control gate 34 of the eanvm cell 32 . when a logical “ 0 ” is present at terminal 54 of the program voltage switch 56 from the output of input latch / buffer 52 and when the program voltage switch 56 is activated by a program pulse on a signal line 62 from a program pulse 66 , activated by a pgm / write signal , the program voltage switch 56 provides the program voltage vpp from a terminal 68 to the control gate 34 of the eanvm cell 32 . the program voltage switch 56 also biases the drain of the eanvm cell 32 to a voltage , typically between 8 to 9 volts , and the gate of the eanvm cell 32 to the program voltage vpp , typically 12 volts . under these conditions , electrons are injected onto the floating gate by a phenomenon known as hot electron injection . this programming procedure raises the voltage threshold of the eanvm cell which increases its source - drain impedance . this continues until the fet memory cell 32 is effectively turned off , which corresponds to a “ 0 ” state . when a “ 1 ” is present on terminal 54 from the output of the input latch / buffer 52 and when the pgm / write is enabled , the signal line 58 is driven low and programming is inhibited and the “ 1 ”, or erased , state is maintained . fig3 is a timing diagram of a prior - art single - bit eanvm cell 32 , as described in connection with fig2 . the timing diagram shows the change in voltage threshold of the eanvm cell 32 , as controlled by the word line and bit line programming voltages , which are illustratively shown as a single signal and which are both controlled by the pgm / write signal . the memory cell is being programmed from the fully erased “ 1 ” state to the fully programmed “ 0 ” state . for the duration of the pgm / write pulse , the bit and word line program voltages , which need not be the same , are respectively applied to the drain connected to the bit line terminal 38 and to the control gate 34 of the memory cell 32 . as electrons are injected onto the floating gate , the voltage threshold of the memory cell begins to increase . once the voltage threshold has been increased beyond a specific threshold value as indicated by the dashed horizontal line , the memory cell 32 is programmed to a “ 0 ” state . note that fowler - nordheim tunnelling can also be used instead of hot electron injection to place electrons on the floating gate . the multi - bit eanvm device described here functions with either memory cell programming technique . the prior art programming algorithms and circuits for either type of programming are designed to program a single - bit cell with as much margin as possible in as short a time as possible . for a single - bit memory cell , margin is defined as the additional voltage threshold needed to insure that the programmed cell will retain its stored value over time . fig4 is a timing diagram showing the bit line voltage at terminal 38 as a function of time during a memory read operation . in this . example , prior to time t 1 the bit line is charged to the vpull - up condition . note that it is also possible that the bit line may start at any other voltage level prier to time t 1 . at time t 1 the eanvm cell 32 is selected and , if the cell 32 is in the erased or “ 1 ” state , the cell 32 provides a low impedance path to ground . as a result , the bit line is pulled down to near the ground potential provided at terminal 36 in fig2 . if the eanvm cell 32 were in the “ 0 ” or fully programmed state , the bit line voltage would remain at the vpull - up voltage after time t 1 . the voltage on the bit - line terminal 38 and the reference voltage vref at terminal 43 are compared by the comparator 42 , whose buffered output drives i / o terminal 50 . when vref is greater than the bit line voltage , the output on i / o terminal 50 is a logical “ 1 ”. when vref is lower than the bit line voltage , the output on i / o terminal 50 is a logical “ 0 ”. fig5 is a block diagram of a multi - bit per cell eanvm system 100 which includes an m × n array of memory cells . the cells are typically shown as a floating gate fet , or eanvm , 102 , as described in connection with fig1 . the array uses similar addressing techniques , external control signals , and i / o circuits as are used with currently available single bit per cell eanvm devices such as eprom , eeprom , flash , etc . devices . row address signals are provided at input terminals 103 a and column address signals are provided at input terminals 103 b . each of the eanvm cells in a row of cells has its source connected to a ground reference potential and its drain connected to a column bit line , typically shown as 106 . each of the columns is connected to a pull - up device , as indicated by the block 105 . all of the control gates of a row are connected to a row select , or word , line , typically shown as 104 . rows are selected with a row select circuit 108 and columns are selected with a column select circuit 110 . sense amplifiers 112 are provided for each of the selected columns . decode / encode circuits 114 and n - bit input / output latches / buffers 116 are also provided . a pgm / write signal is provided at an input terminal 118 for activating a mode control circuit 120 and a timing circuit 122 . a significant feature of this n - bit per cell system 100 as compared to a single - bit per cell implementation is that the memory density is increased by a factor of n , where n is the number of bits which can be stored on an individual multi - bit memory cell . fig6 shows a binary system 150 for reading the state of an n - bit floating gate memory cell 102 , as described in connection with fig1 according to the invention , where n is the number of bits stored in the memory cell . for this example , n is set to 2 and one of four states of the memory cell must be detected . the four possible states being , ( 0 , 0 ), ( 0 , 1 ), ( 1 , 0 ), or ( 1 , 1 ). detecting which state is programmed requires a 3 - level sense amplifier 152 . this amplifier includes three sense amplifiers 154 , 156 , 158 each of which have their negative input terminals connected to the output terminal 168 of the memory cell 102 . sense amplifier 154 has a reference voltage ref 3 connected to its positive input terminal . sense amplifier 156 has a reference voltage ref 2 connected to its positive input terminal . sense amplifier 158 has a reference voltage ref 1 connected to its positive input terminal . the voltage references are set such as follows : vpull - up & gt ; ref 3 & gt ; ref 2 & gt ; ref 1 . the respective output signals s 3 , s 2 , s 1 of the three sense amplifiers drive an encode logic circuit 160 , which encodes the sensed signals s 3 , s 2 , s 1 into an appropriate 2 - bit data format . bit 0 is provided at an i / o terminal 162 and bit 1 is provided at an i / o terminal 164 . a truth table for the encode logic circuit 160 is as follows : during a read operation of an n - bit memory cell , the levels of the respective output signals s 3 , s 2 , s 1 of the sense amplifiers 154 , 156 , 158 are determined by the conductivity value to which the memory cell had been set during a programming operation . a fully erased eanvm cell 102 will be in its lowest threshold voltage state , or the highest conductivity state . consequently , all of the reference voltages will be higher than the bit line voltage at terminal 168 , resulting in a ( 1 , 1 ) state . a fully programmed eanvm cell 102 will be in its highest threshold voltage state , or its lowest conductivity state . consequently , all reference voltages will be lower than the bit line voltage at terminal 168 , resulting in a ( 0 , 0 ) state . the intermediate threshold states are encoded as is illustrated in the truth table for the logic circuit 160 . fig7 shows the bit line voltage as a function of time at terminal 168 , during a read cycle , for a binary 2 - bit per memory cell . for purposes of illustration , each of the four possible waveforms corresponding to the four possible programmed states of the memory cell are shown . during a read cycle only the waveform corresponding to the programmed state of the eanvm cell would occur . for example , assume the eanvm memory cell 102 has been programmed to a ( 1 , 0 ) state . prior to time t 1 , because the eanvm cell 102 has not yet been selected or activated , the bit line 106 is pulled - up to vpull - up . at time t 1 , the eanvm cell is selected using conventional memory address decoding techniques . because the eanvm cell has been programmed to a specific conductivity level by the charge on the floating gate , the bit line is pulled down to a specific voltage level corresponding to the amount of current that the cell can sink at this specific conductivity level . when this point is reached at time t 2 the bit line voltage stabilizes at a voltage level vref 3 between reference voltages ref 3 and ref 2 which correspond to a ( 1 , 0 ) state . when the eanvm cell 102 is de - selected , the bit line voltage will return to its pulled - up condition . similarly , the bit - line voltage stabilizes at vref 2 the 0 , 1 state for , or at zero volts for the 1 , 1 state . fig8 is a block diagram of an n - bit memory cell system 200 . for purposes of illustration a binary 2 - bit per cell system is shown . however , the concepts of the invention extend to systems where n is greater than 2 . it is also intended that the invention include any system where the eanvm memory cell has more than two states . for example , in a non - binary system , the memory states can be three or some other multiple of a non - binary system . some of the components of this system 200 are shown and described with the same reference numerals for the components of fig6 for the read mode of operation . it is intended that these same reference numerals identify the same components . the system 200 includes a memory cell 102 , as described in fig1 with a bit line output terminal 168 . for the read mode of operation , a 3 - level sense amplifier 152 with read reference voltages ref 1 , ref 2 , and ref 3 and an encoder 160 is provided . read data is provided at a bit i / o terminal 162 and at a bit 1 i / o terminal 164 . for the write mode of operation , a verify reference voltage select circuit 222 provides an analog voltage reference level signal x to one input terminal of an analog comparator 202 . the verify reference voltages are chosen so that as soon as the bit line voltage on bit line 106 is greater than the verify reference voltage the threshold of the eanvm cell 102 is set to the proper threshold corresponding to the memory state to which it is to be programmed . to this end the verify reference voltages vref 1 , vref 2 , vref 3 , and vref 4 are set such that vref 4 is above ref 3 , vref 3 is between ref 3 and ref 2 , vref 2 is between ref 1 and ref 2 , and vref 1 is below ref 1 . during a normal read operation , the bit line voltage will settle midway between the read reference voltages to insure that the memory contents will be read accurately . the verify reference voltage select circuit 222 is controlled by the 2 - output bits from a 2 - bit input latch / buffer circuit 224 , which receives binary input bits from the i / o terminals 162 and 164 . the y signal input terminal of the analog comparator 202 is connected to the bit line output terminal 168 of the multi - level memory cell 102 . the output signal from the analog comparator is provided on a signal line 204 as an enable / disable signal for the program voltage switch 220 . an output signal line 206 from the program voltage switch 220 provides the word line program voltage to the control gate of the eanvm cell 102 . another output signal line 106 constitutes the bit line and provides the bit - line programming voltage to the bit - line terminal 168 of eanvm cell 102 . after a program / verify timing circuit 208 is enabled by a pgm / write signal provided on a signal line 212 from a pgm / write terminal 214 , the timing circuit 208 provides a series of program / verify timing pulses to the program voltage switch 220 on a signal line 210 . the pulse widths are set to control the programming process so that the voltage threshold of the eanvm cell 102 is incrementally altered by controlling the injection of charge onto the floating gate of the eanvm cell . each programming cycle increases the voltage threshold and , as a result , decreases the conductance of the memory cell 102 . after each internal program cycle is complete , as indicated by signal line 210 going “ high ”, the program voltages are removed via the program voltage switch 220 and a verify cycle begins . the voltage threshold of memory cell 102 is then determined by using the comparator 202 to compare the bit line voltage at terminal 168 with the selected verify reference voltage from the verify reference voltage select circuit 222 . when the bit line voltage exceeds that supplied by the verify reference voltage select circuit 222 , the output signal 204 from the comparator 202 will then disable the program voltage switch 220 ending the programming cycle . for this embodiment of the invention , during a write operation , comparison of the current memory cell analog contents with the analog information to be programmed on the memory cell 102 is performed by the analog comparator 202 . the verify reference voltage select circuit 222 analog output voltage x is determined by decoding the output of the n - bit input latch / buffer 224 ( n = 2 in the illustrative form ). the y input signal to the analog comparator 202 is taken directly from the bit line terminal 168 . note that the 3 - level sense / encode circuits 152 , 160 , and reference voltage select circuit 222 may be completely independent as indicated in the drawing . alternatively , they may be coupled together to alternately time share common circuit components . this is possible because the 3 - level sense / encode circuits 152 and 160 are used in the read mode of operation while the verify reference voltage select circuit 222 is used only in the write / verify mode of operation . iv . basic write mode for a multi - bit per cell eanvm system in the write mode , a binary n - bit per cell eanvm system must be capable of electrically programming a memory cell to 2 n uniquely different threshold levels . in the two - bit per cell implementation , because it is assumed that the cell starts from the erased ( 1 , 1 ) state , it is only necessary to program three different thresholds ( vt 1 , vt 2 , and vt 3 ) which define the ( 0 , 1 ), ( 1 , 0 ), and ( 0 , 0 ) states . vt 1 is the threshold required such that in the read mode , the bit line voltage will fall between ref 1 and ref 2 . vt 2 is the threshold required such that in the read mode , the bit line voltage will fall between ref 2 and ref 3 . vt 3 is the threshold required such that in the read mode , the bit line voltage will be greater than ref 3 . fig9 illustrates the change in voltage threshold for a 4 - level , or 2 - bit eanvm cell as the floating gate is being charged from an erased ( 1 , 1 ) threshold state to any one of the three other possible states . in prior art single - bit memory cells where there are only two states , the design objective is to provide enough charge to the floating gate to insure that the cell &# 39 ; s voltage threshold is programmed as high as possible , as shown in fig3 . because there is no upper threshold limit in a single - bit per cell system , overprogramming the cell will not cause incorrect data to be stored on the memory cell . as will be appreciated from fig9 in an n - bit per cell system the memory cell must be charged to a point so that the voltage threshold is within a specific voltage threshold range . in this example , where the cell is being programmed to a ( 1 , 0 ) state , the proper threshold range is defined as being above a threshold level vt 2 and as being below a threshold level vt 3 . to accomplish this n - level programming it is necessary to add to or modify the prior art eanvm circuitry . fig8 shows the additional or modified circuits , including a reference voltage select , an n - bit latch / buffer , a program / verify timing circuit , and a comparator . the comparator can be either digital or analog . fig1 illustrates the voltage threshold of an eanvm cell as the floating gate is being erased from a ( 0 , 0 ) state . standard eanvm programming operating procedure calls for a memory cell to be erased prior to being programmed . this erasure can be performed at the byte , block , or chip level and can be performed by electrical , uv , or other means . in this type of system the cell would be completely erased to a ( 1 , 1 ) state prior to initiating a programming cycle . if a system has the capability to erase an individual memory cell , then it is not necessary to erase all of the cells of a group prior to initiating a programming operation . it is then possible to incrementally erase an individual memory cell , as necessary , to program the cell to the appropriate voltage threshold as is indicated by the waveforms labelled ( 1 , 0 ) and ( 0 , 1 ). fig1 is a timing diagram which illustrates how a 2 - bit eanvm cell of fig8 is programmed from an erased ( 1 , 1 ) state to a ( 1 , 0 ) state using the timing circuitry 208 to generate fixed length timing pulses . a low logic level state of the pgm / write signal on signal line 212 enables the timing circuit 208 . when enabled at time t 1 , the timing circuit 208 provides an internal fixed - width low level internal pgm timing pulse on signal line 210 to the program voltage switch 220 . for the duration of the low state of the internal pgm timing pulse , the bit line and word line program voltage outputs on lines , 106 and 206 will be raised to their respective programming voltage levels as shown in fig1 . during this programming process , charge is added to the floating gate of the memory cell 102 . when the internal pgm timing pulse from timing circuitry 208 switches to a high level , the programming voltages are removed and a verify cycle begins . for this example , verify reference voltage vref 3 is compared with the bit line voltage . this internally controlled program / verify cycle repeats itself until the bit line voltage on terminal 168 exceeds vref 3 . at this time , t 2 , the eanvm cell 102 is verified to have been programmed to a ( 1 , 0 ) state and programming is halted by the comparator 202 providing a disable signal on signal line 204 to the program voltage switch 220 . fig1 illustrates the bit line voltage of a 2 - bit per cell eanvm as it is being programmed from a fully erased , or fully “ on ”, state ( 1 , 1 ) to a partially “ off ” state ( 1 , 0 ) using fixed length program pulses . when the externally applied pgm / write pulse is applied at time t 1 , the program / verify timing circuit 208 first initiates a verify cycle to determine the current status of the memory cell 102 . this is indicated by the bit line voltage being pulled to a ground condition from , in this example , vpull - up . more generally , prior to time t 1 , the bit line voltage could be pre - set to any voltage level . once the cell has been determined to be at a condition below the verify reference voltage , vref 3 in this example , corresponding to the data to be programmed , the first program cycle is initiated . this is represented by the bit line voltage being pulled up to vprogram . after the first fixed length programming pulse ends , a verify cycle begins . this is represented by the bit line voltage being pulled down to a point midway between ground potential and - ref 1 . during each successive verify cycle the bit line voltage is observed to incrementally increase . this program / verify cycle continues until the bit - line voltage exceeds the selected verify reference voltage , in this case vref 3 , which indicates a memory state of ( 1 , 0 ), at time t 2 . fig1 illustrates how a 2 - bit eanvm cell is programmed from an erased ( 1 , 1 ) state to a ( 1 , 0 ) state using variable length programming pulses . the internal pgm pulses for this implementation start with a low state longer than for fixed - width implementation of fig1 and 12 . the low - state pulse widths grow progressively shorter as the memory cell approaches the appropriate voltage threshold . this approach requires more precise control than the fixed length approach . however , programming times can be greatly reduced on average . fig1 illustrates the bit line voltage of a 2 - bit per cell eanvm as it is being programmed from a fully erased , or fully “ on ”, state ( 1 , 1 ) to a partially “ off ” state ( 1 , 0 ) using variable length program pulses . when the externally applied pgm / write pulse goes to an active low level at time t 1 , the program / verify timing circuit 208 first initiates a verify cycle to determine the current status of the memory cell 102 . this is indicated by the bit line voltage being pulled to a ground condition from , in this example , vpull - up . although , prior to time t 1 , the bit line voltage could be pre - set to any voltage level . once the cell has been determined to be at a condition below the verify reference voltage corresponding to the data to be programmed , vref 3 in this example , the first program cycle is initiated . this is represented by the bit line voltage being pulled up to vprogram . after the first variable length programming pulse is over , another verify cycle begins . this is represented by the bit line voltage being pulled down to a point midway between ref 1 and ref 2 . during each successive verify cycle the bit line voltage is observed to incrementally increase . this program / verify cycle continues until the bit - line - voltage surpasses the selected verify reference voltage , in this case vref 3 which indicates a memory state of ( 1 , 0 ), at time t 2 . accordingly , the programming process for an n - bit per cell eanvm uses program / verify cycles , to incrementally program a cell . the durations of these cycles are determined by the timing circuit 208 . a key element of the system is to provide a programming scheme which provides for accurate programming of the memory cell 102 . this is accomplished by matching the pulse widths of the timing pulses of the timing circuitry 208 to the program time of the eanvm cell being used . as indicated in fig1 and 13 , a desired voltage threshold actually falls within a range of threshold voltages . if the program pulses are too long , then too much charge may be added to the floating gate of the memory cell 102 . this may result in an overshoot of the target voltage threshold , resulting in incorrect data being stored in the memory cell . the programming pulse width is set such that if the voltage threshold of the cell 102 after the ( n − 1 ) programming pulse is at a point just below the target voltage threshold , then the ( n ) th , or final , program pulse will not cause an overshoot resulting in an overprogrammed condition for a memory cell . fig8 may also use a digital comparator rather than the analog comparator 202 shown in fig8 . the digital comparator would use the encoded data from the encode circuitry 160 , which represents the current contents of the eanvm cell 102 , as the input to the comparator represent the a . the verify reference voltage select 222 would provide the voltage to be encoded with the input coming from the output of the n - bit input latch / buffer 224 , representing the data to be programmed . otherwise , the function of the comparator within the system remains the same . the foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description . they are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed , and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching . the embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application , to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated . it is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents . | 6 |
the preferred safety valve 1 may be inserted within a tubing string within the well bore casing 4 of a production well . the said safety valve 1 as shown in the following figures is herein described utilizing an arrangement of 3 blocking elements that provide a multitude of restriction levels to the upward well production ranging from a totally unengaged zero flow restriction level to a complete closure of a production flow conduit . the safety valve 1 as shown in fig1 is totally unengaged with all of the blocking elements in an unengaged ( stand by ) position . referring to fig6 , the entire preferred safety valve conduit system is shown . also shown are the blocking element activation , stabilizing , and halting units . the said combined conduit system 47 comprises 10 separate interconnected segments including ( 1 ) the down hole access bottom end conduit segment 5 a , ( 2 ) the center conduit segment 5 b , ( 3 ) the down hole access upper conduit segment 5 c , ( 4 ) the middle conduit segment 5 d , ( 5 ) the lower activation conduit segment 5 e , ( 6 ) the upper blocking element conduit segment 5 f , ( 7 ) the lower activation offset bypass conduit 5 g , ( 8 ) the center conduit upper offset bypass conduit 5 h , ( 9 ) the center conduit lower bypass conduit 5 i , and ( 10 ) the lower offset bypass conduit . also shown are the three segment conduit combinations : first are the segments 5 a , 5 c , and 5 d together forming the down hole access conduit 46 ; second are the segments 5 c , 5 g , and 5 h together forming the center bypass arrangement 6 ; and third is the entire safety valve conduit system 47 showing the communication of all of the said interconnected conduits . as shown , the said conduit 46 runs from the bottom 17 of the safety valve 1 to the top 16 of the safety valve 1 . this conduit 46 is in vertical communication with said production tubing string 2 b , coupled above and below the safety valve 1 . as shown , the said offset bypass conduit arrangement 6 , provides the connection and communication combination with the said conduit segments 5 a , 5 c , 5 e , and 5 f . the lower conduit segment 5 a is angularly and adjacently connected to and in communication with the lower offset by - pass conduit segment 10 b which is in communication with and vertically connected with the lower conduit segment 5 e center conduit which is vertically below and in communication with the center conduit segment 5 b which is in communication with and angularly and adjacently connected to and in communication with the upper offset bypass conduit segment 5 i . also shown directly above the center conduit segment 5 b at the angular confluence of the top bypass segment 5 h is the above vertically connected service conduit segment 5 f that is vertically in communication with the well bore service pipe access opening 2 a that is in vertical communication with the service tubing string 2 a that is extends upward to the surface platform 40 . referring to fig1 , the said offset bypass arrangement 6 is shown perpendicularly across from and parallel to the middle conduit segment 5 d that houses the middle blocking element 11 in the middle blocking element unengaged chamber 14 a . during normal operation , the formation flow is directed upwards through the production string conduit 2 b , into the bottom of the safety valve conduit segment , 5 a . once in the said lower safety valve conduit segment 5 a , flow continues to travel upwards where it strikes the base 11 e of the middle blocking element 11 . flow is then redirected adjacently through the said offset bypass conduit arrangement 6 and on into the safety valve top conduit segment 5 c as it continues upwards to the top of the safety valve 16 and into the production string 2 b as it travels upwards towards the surface . the said retrievable middle blocking element means 11 while in the said middle blocking element unengaged chamber 14 a does not obstruct normal flow operation . the said blocking element 11 , which is also shown in fig9 , is held in place within the middle blocking element unengaged chamber 14 a by a known elastic activation compression seating collar type arrangement comprising a blocking element belted slot 11 c adaptable to engage with a known pressure sensitive protruding retractable elastic compression collar 8 a projecting from the middle conduit inner wall of the safety valve middle conduit 5 d . the said compression collar 8 a is shown comprising known a ball 43 and bias spring 44 together adapting with conduit collar cavity 45 forming a known compression mechanism 42 . while this said type compression collar 42 is shown disposed in all of the stopping and activation collars shown and described herein , the safety valve 1 is not limited to this type of device . during normal operation , the upward flow hitting the base 11 e of the said blocking element 11 places an upward force on the said middle blocking element 11 . as long as the flow remains below the preset failure limit the said unengaged retractable communication activation retaining device 8 a effectively prevents the blocking element 11 from traveling upwards where it would halt production flow . as stated above , when the said blocking element 11 is in the unengaged position , flow is permitted to travel upwards through the bypass conduit arrangement 6 , into the down hole access conduit 5 c into the tubing string 2 b . as shown in fig2 , once the preset limit is surpassed , the excessive flow force placed on the middle blocking element base 11 e causes the said compressed spring and ball bias device 42 within the said activation collar 8 a to further compress from the said blocking element belted slot 15 b and into the collar cavity 45 of the said middle conduit 5 d of the said middle blocking element unengaged chamber 14 a thereby releasing the said middle blocking element 11 into the increased production stream of flow thus forcing the said middle blocking element 11 to hydraulically travel upward into the said down hole access conduit 5 c and into the said middle blocking element engaged chamber 14 b where it is immediately retained by the middle blocking element stopping collar 7 a which has a much higher preset setting than the said unengaged compression activation collar 8 a . upward flow is then totally restricted as the said blocking element 11 is securely in the engaged position within the engaged chamber 14 b . as also shown in fig2 , with the said middle blocking element 11 in the engaged position , the middle blocking element belted stabilizing slot 11 d is engaged with the middle blocking element activation collar 8 a . this will prevent the said blocking element 11 from falling down if there is a loss of upward flow pressure . at this point the well tubing string 2 b is blocked from all flow . this prevents blowouts , fires , and explosions on the surface of the production well because nothing can travel any further up the production string 2 b . after the well is stabilized and the operator desires to resume production , the said blocking element 11 may be either removed from the well or repositioned in the unengaged chamber 14 a . in order to remove the said blocking element 11 from the well , a known latch pulling device 20 b is adapted with and lowered by wireline , slick line , or the like into the safety valve 1 . once lowered into the safety valve down hole access conduit 5 c , the said attached latch 20 b abuts the said top side 11 b of the said middle blocking element 11 . then the said positioning tool latch 20 b is manipulated sideways so that it securely adapts with the middle blocking element top side catch 11 a . then the said latching device 20 b is pulled upwards along with the attached said middle blocking element means 11 with enough additional force for it to pass through the said middle compression stopping collar 7 a . it is then pulled to the surface so that the blocking element means 11 can be removed . once the said blocking element 11 is removed , the operator has complete unobstructed access to the tubing string 2 b . the said engaged middle blocking element means 11 can also be returned to the unengaged position . this can be achieved by lowering the said positioning latch member 20 it into the safety valve 1 so it abuts with the said middle blocking element top side 11 b and then further lowered within the said middle unengaged blocking chamber 14 a as it then places a downward force upon the said unengaged blocking chamber compression activation collar 8 a that is greater than the preset activation limit allowing the said blocking element means to securely seat within the said unengaged chamber 14 a . therefore the said latch 20 b must be of be of sufficient weight to allow it push the said blocking element 11 through the said middle blocking element engaged activation collar 8 a on its way to the said unengaged chamber 14 a . when these components are in securely place within the safety valve 1 the entire conduit is open and normal flow can resume . as shown in fig3 , the said middle blocking element 11 is housed within the middle blocking element unengaged chamber 14 a of the preferred safety valve 1 . during normal production flow the said middle blocking element 11 serves to divert the upward flow which is deflected by the middle blocking element base 11 e as it is directed into and upwards through the bypass arrangement 6 as it travels to the surface . the figure also shows the lower compression communication collar 8 b situated within the wall of the lower conduit 5 e in the lower blocking element unengaged chamber 15 a . the said elastic activation communication device 8 b comprising of the said ball and bias spring device 42 is shown in communication with and protruding from said the collar cavity 45 of the said lower blocking element unengaged chamber 15 a into the lower blocking element belted slot 10 c . the said activation communication collar 8 b is shown with the said ball and spring bias mechanism 42 within and in communication with the said lower blocking element activation belted slot 10 c of the lower blocking element 10 which is shown within the lower blocking element unengaged chamber 15 a housed within the lower conduit 5 e . the said lower blocking element 10 , which is shown in fig8 , is firmly held in place within the said unengaged chamber 15 a by the preset communication activation collar 8 b . the belted slot 10 c surrounding the said blocking element 10 abuts the said elastic flow sensitive ball and bias spring device 42 which is in communication with the said activation collar 8 b located in the inner wall of the lower conduit 5 e . the lower bypass conduit 5 g in communication with the adjacently adjoining safety valve down hole access bottom end conduit 5 a angularly directs tubing flow force directly against the activation plunger rod base 10 i which is at the terminus of the said bypass tubing conduit 5 g . during normal production , the said production flow force is transferred from the said plunger rod base 10 i to the belted slot 10 c of the lower blocking element 10 which is in communication with and held firmly in place by the said compression collar communication device 8 b which hold the said lower blocking element securely within the lower blocking element unengaged chamber 15 a . the blocking elements as shown in fig8 , 9 , 10 , and 17 all have the same belted slot configuration for activation and stabilization . while the said belted slots provide an ideal means for the purposes described herein , an alternative reversed blocking element might be desired for certain applications . as shown in fig1 , is a reversed blocking element with a ball and spring bias activation means 42 within the blocking element itself . as shown in fig4 , when the flow force exerted on the said plunger rod base 10 i exceeds the preset failure limit , the said excessive force transferred to the said protruding ball and bias spring device 42 causing the said ball 43 and bias spring 44 retract into the said collar cavity 45 of the lower communication activation collar 7 b of the lower blocking element unengaged chamber 15 a . this retraction movement removes the said ball 43 from the lower blocking element activation slot 10 c allowing the lower blocking element activation spring 10 g that is wrapped around the lower blocking element activation plunger rod 10 h to instantly expand . this vertical expansion combined with the additional upward flow force causes the said plunger rod 10 h to move upwards forcing the plunger rod follower disk 10 j to instantly transfer the said lower blocking element 10 from the said lower blocking element engaged chamber 15 a upwards into the said lower blocking element engaged chamber 15 b . once the said blocking element 10 enters the said engaged chamber 15 b , it is immediately halted by the said lower blocking element engaged chamber halting collar 7 b which has a much higher preset failure setting than that of the said lower blocking element activation collar 8 b . the said blocking element 10 is firmly and securely stabilized within the said engaged chamber 15 b by the said supporting plunger rod disk 10 j which is firmly held in place by the combined upward force provided by the said activation spring 10 g and upward flow emitted from said lower conduit bypass 5 i . this action halts all upward flow . a third blocking element 12 , is shown in fig8 . this upper blocking element 12 , as shown in fig1 , is housed within the upper blocking element unengaged chamber 12 h within the said conduit segment 5 f that is vertically above and in communication with the said center conduit segment 5 b and adjacently in communication with the said upper bypass conduit segment 5 h . during normal operation , the said upper blocking element 12 , is vertically positioned inverted within in the said upper blocking element unengaged chamber 12 h within the said conduit segment 5 f directly above the confluence of the said top bypass conduit segment 5 h and the said center conduit segment 5 b . here the said top side of upper blocking element 12 a serves to divert the normal upward flow proceeding from the center conduit 5 b into the upper bypass 5 f as it flows toward the surface . the said blocking element 12 is shown being held in place by a retractable compression catch 8 c . this said blocking element 12 is further held in place within the said upper blocking element unengaged chamber 12 h by the upper the blocking element positioning tool convex latch guide 19 a of the positioning tool 18 . the said latch guide 19 a is shown downwardly abutting the upper blocking element concave conical base 12 g . a known traversing actuator controlling mechanism 33 is shown within a housing 34 engaged with the said positioning tool 18 as it extends downward into the upper conduit segment 5 f of the safety valve 1 and through the tubular opening sleeve 12 b of the unengaged upper blocking element 12 terminating just beyond the upper blocking element top side 12 a . various embodiments of the said actuator 33 are commonly found on all sorts of equipment that have traversing movements such as pumps , stitching machines , elevating equipment , and the like . likewise , the said actuator movements and powering of the said movements can be generated by a multitude of known means , with said power generating means being adapted to control the said movements . as shown , the said actuator is 33 is shown physically attached to the said positioning rod 18 a which extends from the said actuator housing 33 on the well &# 39 ; s surface side platform 40 to the top side of the said upper blocking element 12 of the safety valve 1 . the said actuator 33 controls all of the traversing up and down and sideward movements of the said positioning tool 18 . the said movements of the said actuator can be remotely controlled by variety of known electronic 27 and manual 37 devices . the actuators and powering choices can be made on a application type basis . the said positioning tool 18 is shown attached to the said traversing actuator 33 so that it can effectively position and reposition the said upper blocking element 12 from any position extending from the upper blocking element unengaged activation collar 8 c to the lower blocking element unengaged collar 8 b . the said actuator housing 34 can isolate all moving components within the actuator housing 34 from any of the harmful pressures or elements . as shown in fig3 , these components can also include the positioning tool actuator spring 35 , the said spring propulsion base 39 , and the said spring follower disk 36 all of which can be positioned within the said housing 34 . the said actuator 33 being housed within the positioning tool actuator housing 34 . as shown fig3 and 18 show the said positioning tool actuator 33 housed within the positioning tool actuator housing 34 positioned on the surface platform 40 , the said actuator 33 can be also be configured to be housed within the safety valve 1 itself . as stated above , since the said actuator 33 generates all traversing up and down and sideward movement of the said positioning tool 18 , likewise all maneuvering of the said upper blocking element 12 and latching means 20 are also controllable from above by the said actuator 33 as well . here the said positioning tool latch means 20 is shown adapted with and forming the downward end of the said positioning tool 18 as it protrudes from the upper blocking element top side 12 a of the said upper blocking element 12 . the said latch 20 and said positioning tool guide 19 a are shown adapted with the said positioning tool 18 in fig1 . the said upper blocking element 12 is shown in fig1 vertically inverted within the said upper blocking element unengaged chamber 12 h . as shown , the said conical latch guide 19 a of the said positioning tool 18 is concentrically inserted inside the corresponding tubular opening sleeve of the upper blocking element base 12 g with the said latch 20 and attached latch lifting pegs 20 a within the upper blocking element top side latch lifting peg housing slots 12 c . even though at times as is shown in fig1 , the positioning tool latch 20 and latch pegs may protrude slightly from the top side 12 a of the said upper blocking element 12 , no normal upward flow will be adversely affected . the said positioning tool 18 and said latching members are used in various repositioning the lower blocking element 10 being adaptable to push and pull the said lower blocking element 10 . to push the said lower blocking element 10 , the said positioning tool 18 is lowered to abut and then downwardly push the top side 10 b of the lower blocking element 10 into the unengaged chamber 15 a or any other point between the said lower blocking element engaged chamber 15 b the said unengaged chamber 15 a . to pull the lower blocking element 10 upward , the said positioning tool is lowered so that the positioning tool conical guide 19 a fits into the corresponding upper blocking element conical base 12 g as described above . it is then perpendicularly maneuvered sideways so that the positioning tool guide notch 19 b engages with the corresponding upper blocking element positioning guide slot 12 h which will firmly hold the two in place so that there can be no sideward slipping between the two during the said movements . then the positioning tool 18 is lowered to abut the top side of the lower blocking element 10 b and again is perpendicularly maneuvered sideways so that the positioning tool latch lifting pegs 20 a fit directly under the lower blocking element top side catch 10 a so that the said pegs can engage with the said tops catch 10 a to provide a lifting support to the said lower blocking element 10 . the said positioning tool 18 lifts the said upper blocking element 12 into another desired position within the said safety valve 1 . in order to release the said lower blocking element 10 , the said engagement procedure is reversed allowing the positioning tool to pull upper blocking element 12 upward into the said unengaged chamber 12 h . as shown in fig7 , the said blocking element 12 can also restrict flow as it can be vertically maneuvered by the positioning tool traversing actuator 33 up and down within the upper conduit 5 f and center conduit segment 5 b to be selectively positioned to restrict flow as a choking means or act as a fail safe tool in the event that another blocking element means somehow failed to properly engage as it can be manually lowered into the lower blocking element engaged chamber 15 b to completely halt upward production flow . as shown in fig3 , the preferred safety valve is attached to and in communication with two upper strings : the positioning and service tool rod string 2 a , and the down hole production flow tubing string 2 b . as described , flow travels up the production string 2 b . the purpose of the positioning tool rod service string 2 a above the safety valve conduit segment 5 f is to provide operators at the surface with access to maneuver safety valve blocking elements 10 and 12 , retractable catches , spring 27 , plunger rod 29 , and bypass - conduits located within or convenient to the conduit segment 5 e , 5 b and 5 f . however , the said service tubing string 2 a could be converted to an additional production string if so desired . as fig1 shows , some of the safety valve components , including bypass conduit segments 9 a and 9 b , blocking elements 10 and 11 , retractable catches 8 , 21 , and 36 , plunger rod 14 , spring 15 , seat 2 can be much the same and are also isolated from harmful well elements . as shown in fig5 , the upper blocking element 12 is in the process of vertically repositioning an engaged lower blocking element 10 from the lower blocking element engaged chamber 15 b to the lower blocking element unengaged chamber 15 a . the positioning tool rod conical notched guide 19 a is lowered into the upper blocking element concave conical slotted base 12 g and turned so that the said notched guide 19 a engages with the said upper blocking element slotted conical base 12 g . after the said engagement , the said positioning tool 18 pushes the said lower blocking element 10 into the said unengaged chamber 15 a so that it will engage the lower blocking element activation slot 10 c with the lower blocking element activation communication collar 8 b . at this point , the positioning rod can be turned so that the positioning tool latch pegs engage with the lower blocking element top side catch 10 a enabling the positioning tool 18 to pull the lower blocking element 10 to another position above the lower blocking element unengaged chamber 15 a . to move upward , the said positioning tool 18 is not turned to engage with the said lower blocking element catch 10 a leaving the upper blocking element 12 free . then the positioning tool 18 is then raised causing the positioning tool latch lifter pegs 20 b to upwardly engage with the top side lifter peg slots 12 c within the upper blocking element concentric tubular sleeve 12 b of the said blocking element 12 which provides the upward movement seating support of the said upper blocking element 12 and then continues pulling the said upper blocking element 12 into the upper blocking element unengaged blocking chamber 12 h and seating it with the upper blocking element activation collar 8 c thereby allowing the positioning tool 18 pull the upper blocking element 12 upward into the upper blocking element unengaged chamber 12 h . the safety valve 1 is then open for upward flow . fig1 shows the wireline blocking arrangement showing an unengaged wireline blocking element 13 within the middle blocking element unengaged chamber 14 a of the safety valve 1 positioned to provide safety for wireline work carried on down hole within the well conduit 2 b . the figure shows the slotted conical top side 13 a of the said blocking element 13 with a series of parallel , hollowed out slots 13 b arranged vertically within and surrounding the said concave conical top side 13 a of the said blocking element 13 . also shown within the said blocking element 13 is the concentric tubular sleeve 13 c that extends from the said blocking element 3 from top side 13 a to bottom side 13 d . this said sleeve 13 c is adaptable to provide vertical traversing movement of a wireline 3 within the said sleeve . shown in fig1 is the wireline adaptable concave , conical latching means 20 . the said latching means 20 which also serves to provide blockage of upward flow during the actual wireline work , is adaptable to position the said wireline blocking element 13 within the down hole access conduit 46 of the safety valve . shown in fig1 is the wireline blocking element 13 positioned within the unengaged middle blocking element unengaged chamber 14 a and is adapted with the middle blocking element engaged stopping collar 7 a . as stated above , the said latching means 20 , so positioned , serves to provide the blockage of normal upward flow during the wireline job . however , prior to starting the wireline job , if desired for added safety , the center conduit 5 b can be blocked off to further insure no passage of upward flow around the wireline blocking element . to achieve this blockage , the positioning tool rod 18 a lowers the upper blocking element into the lower blocking element engaged chamber 15 b and is securely held in place there by the lower blocking element engaged stopping collar 7 b thus preventing any upward flow through the bypass arrangement 6 . then the said wireline blocking element 13 with the top side 13 a up and wireline positioning latch 20 c are inserted respectively on a wireline and lowered into the well tubing string 2 b and into middle blocking element unengaged chamber 14 a of the safety valve where it is securely engaged with the middle blocking element activation collar 8 a . once all of the above equipment is positioned for wireline work as stated above , the desired wireline tasks can begin . however , if during the wireline work , there is a dangerous upward flow surge that exceeds the preset limit , then the said middle activation communication unit 8 a will elastically release the said blocking element 13 hydraulically into the stream of flow , as shown in fig1 . even though the wireline 3 is reciprocating up and down in the well , this increased flow is sufficient to cause the communication device 8 a to release the said blocking element 13 into said the stream of flow causing it to travel vertically upwards into the said middle blocking element engaged chamber 14 b immediately hitting and engaging with the said wireline conical latching unit 23 . when this happens , the increased upward force causes the said conical slots 13 b on the top male conical side 13 a of the said wireline blocking element means 13 to compress together forming a tight gripping force on the wireline 3 . if needed , an o - ring can be placed in a shown grooved slot 26 for an even tighter fit . the upper belted slot 13 j on the male conical top side 13 a of the wireline blocking element 13 is adapted to engage with the corresponding stabilizing collar 20 d of the said wireline latching unit 20 c . at this point the upward flow within the safety valve down hole access conduit 46 and the well tubing string is restricted along with the traversing wireline movement thus preventing a blowout . once it is deemed safe to continue down hole work , the surface control then can dispose the wireline 3 to pull the blocking equipment from the safety valve 1 by placing an upward pulling force greater than that of the said middle blocking element stopping collar to remove the wireline equipment and the said safety valve blocking equipment from the well . in order to resume down hole wireline work , the said safety valve wireline blocking equipment can be repositioned as described above . after the wireline job is completed , then the removed blocking element 11 can be reinserted into the safety valve 1 and reset in the unengaged chamber 14 a . if the said upper blocking element 12 is in the engaged position , then the said upper conduit positioning tool 18 and attached upper blocking element 12 can be raised and then securely reposition the upper blocking element 12 within said upper blocking element unengaged chamber 12 h . after these operations are completed , then upward flow can resume . the said wireline blocking system can also be adapted to provide safety for other types of applications such as pumping units , pipelines and the like . another embodiment 9 that could be cost effective for the low risk wells is the hydraulic only arrangement as shown in fig1 . shown is the preferred safety valve 1 with the bypass arrangement 6 opposite the middle blocking element unengaged housing chamber 14 a . this embodiment is shown excluding the said upper and lower blocking embodiments as shown and described above . however , the blocking and repositioning operations for the middle blocking element 11 and the wireline blocking element 13 of this embodiment function the much the same way as those previously described above and as shown in the previous figures . with this system , blocking and positioning procedures of the said middle blocking element 11 and said wireline blocking element 13 can be achieved as described above . even though some of the positioning and blocking means in other embodiments as described above are not included , this limited system 9 may be desired in low risk wells such as stripper wells and other low production wells . as shown in fig1 , the preferred invention can embody the above described wireline blocking system within a housing mandrel that has no bypass conduits . this unit will function exactly the same as the wireline blocking system previously described . however , this is a wireline only device that would be ideal for wireline companies to have for their own use ’. in conclusion , it is shown that the present invention and the embodiments disclosed herein and those covered by the associated claims are well adapted to carry out the objectives and ends set forth . certain changes can be made in the subject matter without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention . it is realized that changes are possible within the scope of this invention and it is to be understood as referring to all of the equivalent elements or steps , the following claims are intended to cover the invention as broadly as legally possible in whatever form it may be utilized . the drawings below show only a few of the many possible configurations of the preferred system and should not be construed to limit the scope of the invention . fig1 . partial sectional view of the preferred safety valve unengaged . fig2 . partial sectional view of the preferred safety valve with the hydraulic blocking element the engaged position . fig3 . partial sectional view showing the safety valve repositioning means repositioning the lower blocking element . fig4 . partial sectional drawing of the preferred safety valve mechanical blocking element in the engaged position . fig5 . partial sectional view of positioning tool repositioning lower blocking element means . fig6 . partial sectional view showing the positions of the preferred conduits , bypasses , stopping units , and activation devices . fig7 . partial sectional side view of safety valve showing the upper blocking element means in an engaged position fig8 a . end view of the upper blocking element fig1 . partial sectional side view of the preferred safety valve with a limited bypass arrangement . fig1 . partial sectional end view of safety valve limited bypass arrangement . fig1 . partial sectional detailed side view of unengaged wire line blocking unit fig1 . partial sectional detailed side view of engaged wire line safety arrangement fig1 . partial sectional side view of the wireline latching unit fig1 . partial sectional side view of the wireline blocking element fig1 . partial sectional side view of upper positioning tool with latch and guide . | 4 |
a curved plate 1 is provided , for example , with four holes 2 and has a reinforcing bead 3 which is attached to the outer side of the plate . in the illustrated exemplifying embodiment , three supports 4 , 5 , 6 extend angularly from the reinforcing bead 3 and have feet 7 , 8 , 9 which when the device is used on the body of a human being are fastened , for example , by plaster . as can be seen from fig2 the supports 4 , 5 , 6 extend radially from the plate 1 such that an arched angle greater than 180 ° is left free from supports . in this manner it is guaranteed that the catheter outlet opening is easily accessible from the free side ; since the plate 1 by the angular supports 4 to 6 are maintained a distance from the body surface , said supports having in addition a certain flexibility , the catheter outlet opening is accessible all - around . when being used , first the plate 1 is arranged , i . e . placed such that the concave side of the plate remains accessible in the most easy way .. then the supporting feet 7 to 9 are attached on the body surface for example by strips of plaster and the catheter is attached to the plate 1 . for this purpose , for example , two threads of surgical sewing material ( 3 × 0 silk ) are placed around the catheter and are knotted . the two free thread ends are passed through the holes 2 and are knotted at least twice on the rear side of the plate 1 . since the supporting device , as a result of the nature of its material , is slightly resilient , a semi - elastic fixing of the catheter is achieved ; there is also the possibility to protect the catheter outlet opening by a bandage ; the bandage can be exchanged without making necessary removal of the device for fixing the catheter . the catheter outlet opening at the body surface is not exposed to any compressive or tensile stress ; it is completely free to be accessible from all sides ; the device can without any difficulties be removed . the inventive device for fixing can in principle be used in all those cases where a body surface having rather the same level is available ; the main fields of application can for example be the fixing of suprapubic bladder catheters , nephrostomy catheters , pleuradrainages , central vein catheters , and oro - or nasotracheal tubes , particularly used for the artificial respiration of premature infants and babies . one can use as material for manufacturing the device for fixing , for example , a flexible synthetic material commonly used for medical throw - away apparatus which fulfills the requirements of hygiene and safety . | 8 |
in fig1 a reference cylinder 2 is coaxially and slidably fitted inside a guide cylinder 1 . on the inside of the reference cylinder 2 is fitted , also coaxially and slidably , a load application shaft 3 . to the load application shaft 3 is fixed an indenter 4 at the lower end thereof , and a load detector 5 , such as a load cell or stress - voltage transducer , in a higher position than the indenter 4 . a press member 6 is mounted on the top of the load application shaft 3 , a spring 7 being interposed between the external periphery of the press member 6 and a shoulder portion of the guide cylinder 1 . a datum plane 9 that comes in contact with a specimen 8 is provided at the lower end of the reference cylinder 2 . also , a stop means or stopper mechanism 10 is provided by a top surface of a reference cylinder 2 and the bottom surface of the press member 6 , these surfaces facing one another , for ultimate contact with one another as will be described presently , to regulate the axial movement of the load application shaft 3 relative to the reference cylinder 2 . the load application shaft 3 is normally pushed up by the spring 7 , so that its lower flange 11 is in contact with a receiving surface 12 at the lower end of the reference cylinder 2 . accordingly , the reference cylinder 2 also is pushed up by the spring 7 , thereby keeping its lower flange 13 in contact with a receiving surface 14 at the lower end of the guide cylinder 1 . so , the datum plane 9 at the lower end of the reference cylinder 2 is normally held slightly above the bottom plane or surface 1a of the guide cylinder 1 although fig1 shows these planes coinciding . in measuring the hardness of the specimen 8 , the guide cylinder 1 is first placed thereon , and then the press member 6 is pressed downward against the force of the spring 7 to lower the load application shaft 3 . therefore , the reference cylinder 2 carried on the lower flange 11 of the load application shaft 3 also descends until the datum plane 9 at the lower end thereof comes in contact with the upper surface of the specimen 8 . when the press member 6 is further depressed , the load application shaft 3 alone is lowered , and the indenter 4 at the lower end thereof contacts and , then , penetrates into the specimen 8 . but since the penetrating amount of the indenter 4 into the specimen 8 is limited by the stopper mechanism 10 , the indenter 4 is always permitted to penetrate therein only to a predetermined depth , making an indentation of a predetermined area , as explained above . namely , once the load application shaft 3 is pressed down through the press member 6 to the point where the stopper mechanism 10 functions , any additional load applied by further depression of the press member 6 is channelled through the stopper mechanism 10 to the reference cylinder 2 , and thence through the datum plane 9 at the lower end thereof to an area on the specimen surrounding the indentation , and which does not affect the hardness measurement . because the stopper mechanism 10 is located above the load detector 5 , the load detected thereby is that which has been used to penetrate the indenter 4 into the specimen 8 . by this means , hardness of the specimen 8 is simply determined as a function of the indenting force f measured by the load detector 5 , it is unnecessary to make the precise measurement of the area or depth of indentation which , as mentioned , is required in the use of conventional hardness testers of the indenting type . the maximum force detected by the load detector 5 is expressed as f 1 , which is reached at the moment when the indenter 4 has penetrated into the specimen 8 to the predetermined extent that is controlled by the stopper mechanism 10 . after that moment , the indenter 4 builds up a permanent strain in the specimen 8 , and therefore the penetration of the indenter 4 is kept at the predetermined level by the force f 2 , which is a little smaller than f 1 ( fig3 ). with this hardness tester , hardness h is determined as a function of the maximum value f 1 ; that is , h = f ( f 1 ). accordingly , a maximum value detector 5b is connected through an amplifier 5a to the load detector 5 , as illustrated in fig2 . further , an indicator 5c to indicate the hardness determined from this maximum value is connected to the maximum value detector 5b . the amplifier 5a , maximum value detector 5b and hardness indicator 5c are enclosed in a case not shown , and are attached to the press member 6 . fig3 shows how the output f of the load detector 5 , the output e 1 of the amplifier 5a , and the output e 2 of the maximum value detector 5b change with the lapse of time t during which hardness measurement is conducted . in this graph , t o indicates the point at which the indenter starts to penetrate into the specimen . before the point t o , the values of f , e 1 and e 2 are all negative , since the load detector 5 receives a tensile force under the influence of part of the weight of the load application shaft 3 and the weight of the reference cylinder 2 . fig4 is a vertical cross - sectional view of another hardness tester embodying this invention , in which similar reference numerals designate such parts as are similar to those in fig1 ; that is , the reference cylinder 2 is coaxially and slidably fitted in the guide cylinder 1 ; the load application shaft 3 is coaxially and slidably fitted in the reference cylinder 2 ; the load application shaft 3 has the indenter 4 at the lower end thereof ; and the load detector 5 , such as a load cell , is disposed at the top thereof . in this second embodiment , a press cylinder 15 is coaxially and slidably fitted outside the guide cylinder 1 , and a pivot 16 to transmit the pressing load is provided between the press member 6 , fixed to the top of said press cylinder 15 , and the upper end of the load application shaft 3 . a spring 17 is interposed between the lower end of the press cylinder 15 and a lower step or shoulder of the guide cylinder 1 , and another spring 19 between a spring shoe 18 in the guide cylinder 1 and an upper shoulder or step of the load application shaft 3 . to the lower end of the reference cylinder 2 is screwed a reference member 2a having the datum plane 9 that comes in contact with the specimen 8 . by means of this reference member 2a , the position of the datum plane 9 of the reference cylinder 2 can be adjusted . also , a contact - bar holder 20 is screwed and fixed with a nut 20a to the lower end of the guide cylinder 1 . two round contact bars 21 , which are to be placed on the specimen 8 , are horizontally fixed in grooves formed in the bottom surface of the contact - bar holder . the load application shaft 3 normally is pushed up by a spring 19 and , therefore , its lower flange 11 is in contact with the receiving surface 12 at the lower end of the reference cylinder 2 . consequently , the reference cylinder 2 is pushed up by the spring 19 , shaft 3 and flange 11 , whereby an intermediate step 22 of cylinder 2 is in contact with the lower end of the spring shoe 18 . therefore , the datum plane 9 is held above the lower surface of the contact bars 21 , as shown . in measuring the hardness of the specimen 8 , the contact bars 21 are first placed on the specimen 8 . by subsequently depressing the press member 6 against the force of the spring 17 , the load application shaft 3 is lowered . since the pressing load is transmitted through the pivot 16 , no detrimental rotating torque is imparted to the load application shaft 3 . as the load application shaft 3 descends , the reference cylinder 2 having its lower surface 12 resting on flange 11 , also goes down until its datum plane 9 comes in contact with the upper surface of the specimen 8 . when the press member 6 is further pressed down , the load application shaft 3 alone descends against the force of the spring 19 . ultimately , the indenter 4 at the lower end thereof contacts and , then , penetrates into the specimen 8 . but the penetrating amount of the indenter 4 into the specimen 8 is controlled to a predetermined value by means of the stopper mechanism 10 consisting of the upper end of the reference cylinder 2 and , facing this end , a shoulder or protruding part at the upper end of the load application shaft 3 . because the stopper mechanism 10 is located above the load detector 5 , the load detected by the load detector 5 is that which has been used to penetrate the indenter 4 into the specimen 8 . thus , hardness of the specimen 8 is determined as the function of the force measured by the load detector 5 , as in the case of the aforesaid first embodiment . fig5 shows the upper end of the guide cylinder 1 , in which a vertically extending slot 23 is formed so that a bolt 24 screwed through the press cylinder 15 is received thereby as illustrated in fig4 . by this means , the press cylinder 15 is prevented from rotating , while it is permitted to move up and down , with reference to the guide cylinder 1 . fig6 is a partial cross - section that shows a condition in which hardness of the external surface of a cylindrical specimen is being measured . by adjusting the position of the contact - bar holder 20 relative to the guide cylinder 1 by means of the nut 20a , the two contact bars 21 are brought into contact with the cylindrical specimen 8a , in parallel with the axis thereof . as a consequence , the hardness tester is mounted on the external surface of the cylindrical specimen 8a in such a manner as to insure stable measurement of hardness . fig7 is a partial cross - section showing a condition in which hardness of the internal surface of a cylindrical specimen is being measured . as in the case of fig6 the contact bars 21 are placed on the cylindrical specimen 8b in parallel with its axis , thereby insuring stable hardness measurement . fig8 is a cross - section looking in the direction of arrow viii in fig4 while fig9 is a sectional plan view looking in the direction of arrow ix in fig4 and 8 . as illustrated in these figures , a threaded bolt 25 screwed through the contact - bar holder 20 is fixed by a nut 26 , whereby the level of the lower end of said bolt 25 is adjustable with reference to the contact bars 21 . on account of this arrangement , the hardness tester can be held in a stable manner , even when hardness of the edge portion of the specimen 8c is measured , by means of the two contact bars 21 placed thereon and the one threaded bolt 25 erected on an anvil 27 . rubber rings 28 are fitted in grooves formed along the circumference of each contact bar 21 , so that they come into frictional contact with the surface of the specimen , on being deformed and withdrawn into said grooves , when the guide cylinder 1 is pressed during hardness measurement . also , a rubber piece 29 is fitted in an opening formed at the lower end of the threaded bolt 25 , so that it also becomes withdrawn into the opening and comes into frictional contact with the anvil 27 , just as the rubber rings 28 do , when the guide cylinder 1 is depressed . by their frictional contact , the hardness tester can be held on the specimen more stably . | 6 |
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 . fig3 shows architecture of a processor . the processor 300 may be a vliw type , comprising both mpu and dsp capabilities utilizing distributed register file clusters , which also referred to as a pacdsp . the processor 300 may comprise a plurality of clusters 302 each has various function units such as load / store unit or arithmetic unit . each function unit may further be associated with a dedicated private register file ( not shown ). an arithmetic unit ( au ) 306 is capable of processing simple mathematic operations , address calculation and program control . a program controller 310 controls the resource dispatch of processor 300 , assigning different types of instructions to corresponding function units . instruction associated data are transferred to the function units via a data memory interface unit ( dmiu ). instructions are sent via an instruction memory interface unit ( imiu ). fig4 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a debugging method , suitable for a board platform 100 using the processor 300 . contrary to a conventional sequential scan chain , the embodiment provides a batch processing method for efficiently executing a massive number of debugging instructions . specifically , a software debugging procedure , triggered by an interruption when necessary , is provided . the method requires less circuit area , and improves the debugging performance . intentional trigger points for debugging interruption may be provided . when the processor 300 detects the trigger points during normal program execution , an interruption is issued to enter the debugging mode . in fig4 , the processor 300 and the debugging interface 130 individually operate at different frequencies pclk and tck , each processing different steps . in step 400 , the processor 300 jumps to an entry point of a debugging program when triggered by a debugging interruption . the program counter and register contents at the moment are simultaneously stored for backup . a typical processor 300 may have a shadow register ( not shown ) backing up the interrupted register contents for further restore . in step 402 , the debugging program is initialized to perform various routing tests . in the embodiment , the debugging program is stored in the instruction memory 122 , and passed to the processor 300 by a prefetch 106 . contrary to the conventional scan chain using itr 104 , the debugging program of the embodiment is massively transferred to the processor 300 , significantly increasing the efficiency and performance . furthermore , the processor 300 is capable of simultaneously processing various types of instructions by various function units , thus the massive input of debugging instructions can take full advantage of the processor 300 . in step 404 , an execution result of the debugging program is stored in the main memory 120 . more specifically , the execution result is stored in the data memory 124 of the main memory 120 by the processor 300 over the dmiu . in step 406 , upon completion of the execution result storage , an access allowable flag is issued to notify the debugging interface 130 ( or an external host ) that an execution result is available and accessible in the data memory 124 . the access allowable flag may be represented by a state register with a specified value . for example , the debugging interface 130 recursively monitors the state register , and reacts immediately when the value of the register changes . in step 408 , the processor 300 enters a waiting loop to wait for a conclusion signal from the debugging interface 130 ( or the external host ) that indicates the conclusion of the debugging mode . in step 410 , when the conclusion signal is issued , the processor 300 returns to normal mode , and all the register contents are restored to the processor 300 . on the other hand , simultaneous to initialization of the debugging mode in step 400 , the debugging interface 130 enters a waiting state in step 412 , to wait for the execution result to be generated . when an access allowable flag is issued , the debugging interface 130 ( or the external host ) processes step 414 to read the execution result stored in the data memory 124 of main memory 120 via a direct path marked as jmiu in fig1 . when the execution result is fully output , a conclusion signal is issued in step 416 , directing the processor 300 to conclude the debugging mode . the debugging procedure thus completes . because the processor 300 triggers the debugging mode by an interruption , the interruption point can be accurately assigned to a specific program counter . before the debugging program begins , the processor 300 drains out previously queued instructions in the pipeline stages . contrary to conventional round by round instruction execution , the embodiment executes a batch of instructions by triggering one interruption , wherein the debugging program is referred to as a compiled form of the batch of instructions . in order to trace bugs , observation of the register contents of processor 300 is essential . thus , the debugging program may copy contents of the shadow register and the data registers to the memory as a part of the execution result . in some embodiments , the board platform 100 may be a development board coupled to an external host or a debugger 140 via a debugging interface 130 . the dtr 102 in the board platform 100 may also be used as a state register to indicate a status inside the board platform 100 . for example , the conclusion signal issued in step 416 may also be stored in the dtr 102 , thus the processor 300 keeps monitoring the dtr 102 after step 406 until the conclusion signal is detected , and exits the debugging mode after register contents are restored to the processor 300 from the shadow register . the processor 300 may be an arm instruction set processor , particularly a pacdsp , however the invention is not limited thereto . the main memory 120 in fig1 may comprise instruction memory 122 and data memory 124 . the instruction memory 122 is dedicated for storage of executable instructions , such as the debugging program . the execution result is put in the data memory 124 . the debugging mode is not limited to being triggered by an interruption . the processor 300 may issue the debugging interruption when the program counter satisfies a predetermined condition during normal program execution , or forcibly may be interrupted by the debugger 140 or an externally coupled host . in summary , the embodiment shows a software based method that does not require a scan chain of itr 104 , therefore , no more hardware modification is required , and the performance can be increased without extra cost . while the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of preferred embodiment , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto . 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 . | 6 |
in order to take advantage of all the features of the present invention , it is assumed that the providers of ip backbone services are ip multicast capable . similarly , it is assumed that cpe devices are able to join a multicast group using igmp . it is not a requirement that all routers in the backbone have multicast capabilities . it is possible to interconnect the cpe devices via a partially meshed or “ star - like ” multicast backbone , built using a mix of multicast routing protocols and tunnels to interconnect multicast islands . ip multicast is used to forward broadcast and multicast traffic and for ip address resolution , but not for forwarding of unicast traffic . referring now to fig1 a , we have shown the physical view or service provider &# 39 ; s view of a virtual private lan segment ( vpls ). the ip backbone 10 and cpe devices 11 , 12 , 13 and 14 are managed and typically owned by the service provider . cpe devices 11 - 14 are typically comprised of routers , whereas each pls is typically comprised of several ip capable devices such as end stations ( es 1 , es 2 , etc .) fig1 b is a diagram illustrating a logical view of the network of fig1 a or as would be seen from the customer &# 39 ; s perspective . whereas in fig1 a the cpe devices are visible from the provider &# 39 ; s perspective , lan segments are transparent to the customers as illustrated in fig1 b . similarly , cpe devices which are seen by the service provider are invisible to the customer . stateless tunnels or links are used in cpe ( customer premises equipment ) between connected sites . the remote tunnel endpoint address information is directly mapped into the link layer address . me - arp is used for ip address resolution inside a vpls . as a result , vpn connected ip devices will keep all relevant information about the destination tunnel endpoint and vpn membership in their own address resolution ( arp ) table . special unnumbered ip lan interfaces will generate the link layer address based on a configured vpn identifier and dynamically learned tunnel endpoints ( via me - arp ). again , as illustrated in fig1 a and 1 b , a vpls can span two or more sites , with all ip devices sharing the same ip subnet . the ip address and mask are chosen by the customer without any restrictions in relation to the provider or other customers . the cpe devices , managed by the provider , are transparent to the customer . this type of layer 2 vpn solution possesses the following benefits for the customer : flat ip subnet . the vpn can be seen as a vpls , with transparent support for broadcast protocols like dhcp / bootp ( dynamic host configuration protocol / bootstrap protocol ), netbios / ip etc ; and broadcast and multicast support . the customer can extend the vpn with their own routers and run any routing protocol over the vpn without any coordination with the provider . each vpls has a provider wide unique ip multicast address assigned . a uvip interface of a cpe device , shown at reference numerals 15 , 16 , 17 and 18 , configured for a particular vpls , will join the vpn &# 39 ; s multicast group by using igmp . all broadcast traffic is then encapsulated and forwarded to the vpn &# 39 ; s ip multicast address . there is therefore no need for a central database to keep track of all uvip interfaces joining a customer &# 39 ; s vpn . this is handled by the ip multicast membership . in order to forward ip unicast traffic , an enhanced version of proxy arp is used . the differences from the standard proxy arp are : a ) all arp requests matching the customers ip subnet are encapsulated and forwarded to all vpn members by sending them to the vpn &# 39 ; s ip multicast address . note : the cpe device cannot determine , if an ip device is connected to the local physical segment or not . b ) a forwarded arp request , after decapsulation , will replace the source hardware address ( mac , media - access - control or physical address ) not with the routers own interface mac address , but by a calculated address containing the tunnel source ip address , an interface unique vpn id ( e . g . vpn instance id ) and a cpe id ( to avoid loops in case of cpe redundancy ). the result of this “ multicast enhanced arp ” ( me - arp ) process is that the customers ip devices will keep all relevant information about the destination tunnel endpoint and vpn membership in their arp table . there is no overhead involved , if compared to a real physical ip subnet . each vpn has a unique identifier assigned . for vpls built of more than two physically separated sites this is a valid ip multicast address . as each vpn has a unique ip multicast id assigned , igmp and any multicast capable routing protocol ( dvmrp ( distance vector multicast routing protocol ), mospf ( multicast open shortest path first ), pim ( protocol independent multicast ), are used by a configured ip vpn interface connecting a physical segment to join the vpns multicast group . based on the vpls membership using ip multicast , there is no need for a central vpn membership database or protocol to distribute this information . it is enough to configure a new vpn member ( physical segment ) in the connecting cpe device . the following minimal information is configured per uvip ( unnumbered vpn ip ) interface : b ) ip network / mask . assigned by the customer from the client address ( ca ) space . this information is used to determine the correct vpn , based on either source or destination ip address . this is important to support multi - netting on the same physical interface with many vpns ; c ) tunnel ip address . this address from the provider address ( pa ) space is used to forward vpn traffic over the ip backbone to the correct tunnel end - point ( bound to a vpn interface ). the vpn identifier in each encapsulated packet can be used to identify the correct logical uvip interface inside the cpe device ; d ) mac calculation algorithm . this optional , but recommended , configuration parameter allows the support of different mac address calculation to prevent possible duplicates . referring now to fig2 a and 2 b , in the preferred embodiment of the invention , depending on the security requirements , three different encapsulation formats can be used : without security , with authentication only or with encryption . the encapsulated methods are based on ipsec tunnel mode [ rfc2401 . . . rfc2406 ]. the ip 2 header contains the ip source and destination address from the providers address space ( tunnel endpoint ip addresses or address as destination address ). the ip 1 header is the original ip packet header . in fig2 a , we have shown an ipsec ah encapsulation ( with authentication ). fig2 b shows an ipsec esp encapsulation ( with auth . privacy ). ip multicast and broadcast packets are encapsulated and tagged with the vpn multicast id in the spi field of the ipsec ah / esp header and forwarded to the vpn ip multicast address ( equal to vpn multicast id ). all active members of the vpns multicast group receive the encapsulated packet and forward it to the appropriate vpn &# 39 ; s uvip interface . referring now to fig3 we have shown an arp request / reply packet including ethernet transmission layer . in fig4 we have shown a block diagram of an ip backbone network and in fig5 we have shown a block diagram illustrating the transfer of packet information between a first and second end station , respectively . in operation , with reference to fig3 , 5 and 6 , end station a wants to send an ip packet to end station b on the same logical subnet but connected to different gateways . it is assumed , that the arp tables 80 and 81 from both end stations are empty . therefore end station a sends an arp request 50 to the ethernet broadcast address 51 . cpe a , configured with the proper vpn information , checks the source ip address 52 of the arp request packet 50 against its uvip interfaces configured on the physical interface . in case of a match , it encapsulates the whole , unmodified , arp request 50 into an ipsec packet 55 including the vpn identifier 56 ( equals assigned ip multicast address ) and forwards packet 55 to the vpn &# 39 ; s multicast address 57 using the configured local ip tunnel - endpoint 58 as source address . cpe a also adds a local arp entry for end station a in its arp table 72 for that uvip interface . ( cpe a will forward the arp request , even if end station b is connected to the same physical network ). all cpes joining the vpn will receive this encapsulated arp request , unpack it , and forward out the local uvip interface with the following modification to the original arp request 55 : replace the original hw source address 59 ( mac address from end station a ) with a calculated mac address containing the tunnel end - point ip address from cpe a (= source address from the received ipsec packet ) and an optional interface unique vpn id . this new hw source address 60 is replaced in the ethernet header as well as in the arp packet 61 . cpe b might add an entry to its arp table 83 for caching . end station b receives the arp request 62 and respond to it with a normal arp reply containing its physical hw mac address 64 as source in the ethernet header and in the arp reply packet 65 . an arp entry for end station a with the source mac address from the arp request is added on end station b . the arp table 81 of end station b now contains an entry for end station a with a constructed mac address containing the tunnel - endpoint ip address and vpn id . cpe b , configured to listen for constructed mac addresses , identifies the arp reply 63 from end station b by checking the source mac address 64 as well as the source ip address 66 ( part of vpn &# 39 ; s ip network ), encapsulate and forwards the arp reply 67 directly to the addressed tunnel endpoint ( extract tunnel endpoint ip address from destination mac address ). cpe a decapsulates the arp reply packet 67 , checks the destination or target ip address 68 and replaces the destination or target mac address 69 with the address found in its local arp cache , and sends the constructed arp reply 70 out to end station a on the local attached physical lan segment . in addition , the source mac address 71 ( in the ethernet header and arp packet ) is replaced with a constructed mac address 72 containing an optional interface locally unique vpn id and the ip address of cpe b ( where the arp reply came from ). if the arp table 82 from cpe a does not contain an entry for end station a , then cpe a will have to send an arp request out for end station a with end station b &# 39 ; s ip address before forwarding the arp reply packet out to end station a . finally , end station a receives the arp reply packet 70 and builds an entry in its arp table 80 with an entry for end station b and the mac address containing the remote tunnel endpoint ip address and vpn id . | 7 |
fig1 - 6 show the preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention designated generally by the numeral 10 in fig1 . amphibious marsh vehicle 10 includes a pair of spaced apart pontoons 11 , 12 connected by a rigid platform 13 that can be of welded steel construction , for example . the platform 13 can support the vehicle operator , other personnel , and equipment such as a backhoe , seismic equipment and the like . during use , the pontoons enable the vehicle 10 to float a distance above a water surface 14 as shown in fig3 designated by the arrow 15 . in fig3 a terrain surface 16 is also schematically illustrated for showing where the vehicle 10 engages the terrain surface 16 with its plurality of cleats 29 . each pontoon 11 , 12 is constructed in accordance with the sectional views of fig3 and 5 . each pontoon 11 , 12 has an interior 18 , an outer sidewall 19 and an inner sidewall 20 that is positioned next to the rigid platform 13 . each pontoon 11 , 12 also includes a top wall 21 and a bottom wall 22 . a pair of endless belts 23 , 24 are positioned to extend around each pontoon 11 , 12 . each endless belt can be of rubber , polymeric material , or metal ( e . g ., steel ) construction , for example . as shown in fig2 a plurality of plastic ( e . g ., u . h . m . w . polyethylene ) lugs 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 are fastened to each belt 23 , 24 . a plurality of cleats 29 are affixed to the belts 23 , 24 a shown in fig1 - 6 . a plurality of ( e . g ., steel or plastic ) runways 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 are provided upon upper and lower surfaces of pontoons 11 , 12 that are encircled by belts 23 , 24 as shown in fig1 and 2 , for example . the same runways 30 - 33 are provided on the bottom 22 of pontoon 11 , 12 as are provided on the top 21 surface as shown in fig1 and 3 . the runways 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 are comprised of plate members 34 , 35 and rail members 36 , 37 as shown in fig2 . bolts 38 , 39 and nuts 40 , 41 are used to form bolted connections through rails 36 , 37 and plates 34 , 35 as shown in fig2 . these bolted connections using bolts 38 , 39 and nuts 40 , 41 are used to attach the plate members 34 , 35 and rails 36 , 37 to the top surface 21 of each pontoon 11 , 12 . the rails 36 , 37 can be metal or plastic . the endless belts 23 , 24 and the attached cleats 29 travel through a curved path that is defined by the angle 42 indicated by the curved arrow 42 in fig4 . a hydraulic motor 43 can be used to power the endless belts 23 , 24 about the pontoons 11 , 12 . hydraulic motor 43 can be supplied with pressurized hydraulic fluid using hydraulic fluid hoses 44 . rotary bearings 45 , 46 are affixed to opposed sides of pontoons 11 , 12 as shown in fig5 for supporting a drive shaft 47 . drums 48 , 49 are mounted on drive shaft 47 and rotate therewith when hydraulic motor 43 is activated . each drum 48 , 49 includes a plurality of pin members 50 that engage the plurality of lugs 26 as shown in fig5 and 6 . each pin 50 includes a stud 51 having an externally threaded end 52 and a bushing 53 with a nut 54 . this construction can be seen in fig7 wherein arrow 55 shows that assembly of bushing 53 and nut 54 to stud 51 . idler wheels 56 are used for routing the endless belts 23 , 24 and their cleats 29 about the front end portion of the vehicle 10 as shown in fig1 . each idler wheel 56 includes a pair of spaced apart discs 57 , 58 mounted upon drive shaft 59 . fig8 - 12 show the preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention when used with a second version of the drive member . in fig8 - 12 , the drive member 60 is comprised of a pair of spaced apart discs 61 , 62 connected by a plurality of pins 63 . the drive member 60 cooperates with lugs 64 , 65 that are wider than the lugs 25 - 26 and 27 - 28 of the embodiment shown in fig1 - 7 . each lug 64 , 65 travels in a runway 66 . an idler member 67 is sized and shaped to receive the lugs 64 , 65 . the idler member 67 includes a pair of spaced apart discs 68 , 69 and a rotating drum 70 . shaft 71 is mounted in bearings , for example , to the pontoons 11 , 12 . each pin 63 can include a rod 72 having a bushing 73 thereon as shown if fig9 . the following is a list of suitable parts and materials for the various elements of the preferred embodiment of the present invention . ______________________________________part number description______________________________________10 amphibious marsh vehicle11 pontoon12 pontoon13 platform14 water level15 arrow16 terrain surface17 arrow18 interior19 outer sidewall20 inner sidewall21 top wall22 bottom wall23 endless belt24 endless belt25 plastic lug26 plastic lug27 plastic lug28 plastic iug29 cleat30 runway31 runway32 runway33 runway34 plate35 plate36 rail37 rail38 bolt39 bolt40 nut41 nut42 curved arrow43 hydraulic motor44 hydraulic fluid hose45 rotary bearing46 rotary bearing47 drive shaft48 drum49 drum50 pin51 stud52 externally threaded end53 bushing54 nut55 arrow56 idler wheel57 disk58 disk59 shaft60 drive member61 disk62 disk63 pin64 lug65 lug66 runway67 idler member68 disk69 disk70 rotating drum71 shaft72 rod73 bushing . sup . 73b bolted connection______________________________________ the foregoing embodiments are presented by way of example only ; the scope of the present invention is to be limited only by the following claims . | 1 |
fig1 shows a back isometric view of the sousaphone stand on a stadium stand supporting a sousaphone . fig2 shows a front perspective view of a tuba mounted in the stadium stand . fig3 shows a front perspective view of the sousaphone stand on a stadium stand supporting a sousaphone and fig4 shows a side perspective view of the sousaphone stand . from fig1 a sousaphone 10 is shown resting upon the stand . the stand has two sets of legs , 30 , 31 and 40 , 41 that are configured to slide on a central tube 20 . the two sets of legs are independently connected to the central tube 20 to allow the legs to be placed on different elevations whereby allowing the first set of legs 30 , 31 to be placed on the ground and the second set of legs to be placed on a bench seat 11 or similar raised platform that might be found in a stadium . while in some of the figures the legs are shown at different elevations they may also be placed on the same elevation or slightly offset in elevation to prone the stand in an off axis orientation . the sousaphone is placed on the stand where the upper curved tube of the sousaphone 10 rests in the cradle of the arc sector or “ v ” receivers 60 and 61 that are covered with padding 62 to cushion the sousaphone 10 . the padding can be a variety of different materials including but not limited to felt , cloth , rubbers , plastics or elastomeric . the arc padded sectors 60 and 61 are connected to a head 21 with arms 63 and 64 . while arc sector or “ v ” receivers are shown in fig1 to 3 , the head may be replaced with an elbow 73 that is connected to a single clamp as shown and described in fig4 to 5 . the cantilevered weight of the sousaphone 10 naturally rotates the sousaphone 10 in the arc sector or “ v ” receivers 60 and 61 such that the lower portion of the sousaphone 10 rests on pads 50 and 51 . the pads 50 and 51 are pivotable on pivot pads 52 and 53 and can slide 54 on a second set of legs 40 and 41 to allow the pads 50 and 51 to be placed at a location that provides protection of the instrument . the pivoting and sliding of the pads 52 and 53 allows for player customization to accommodate placement of the pads 52 and 53 . the first set of legs 30 and 31 are slidably connected to the central tube 20 with two independent dovetail tubular first upper collar slider 32 and first lower collar slider 33 . the first upper collar slider 32 is pivotably 35 connected to one end of each leg 30 and 31 , while the first lower collar slider 33 is pivotably 35 connected to leg brace ( s ) 34 that are then slidably 38 and pivotably 35 connected to an opposing end of each leg 30 and 31 . a tension screw 36 on each first upper and lower collar slider 32 and 33 secures each slider on the central tube 20 . the lower end of each leg 30 and 31 has a foot pad 37 to protect the surface where the stand is placed upon . the second set of legs 40 and 41 are slidably connected to the central tube 20 with two independent dovetail tubular second upper collar slider 42 and second lower collar slider 43 . the second upper collar slider 42 is pivotably 45 connected to one end of each leg 40 and 41 , while the second lower collar slider 43 is pivotably 45 connected to leg brace ( s ) 44 that are then slidably 48 and pivotably 45 connected to an opposing end of each leg 40 and 41 . a tension screw 46 on each first upper and lower collar slider 42 and 43 secures each slider on the central tube 20 . the lower end of each leg 40 and 41 has a foot pad 47 to protect the surface where the stand is placed upon . the collar sliders 32 , 33 , 38 , 42 , 43 , and 48 are configured with reverse facing dovetail edges having a wrap angle of less than 180 degrees of wrap on the central tube and the legs 30 , 31 , 40 and 41 that allows the collar sliders to slide past each other on the central tube 20 and or the legs 30 , 31 , 40 and 41 . in addition , because both the upper and lower collar sliders are independent , the angle of the leg 32 , 33 , 42 and 43 and or leg more brace ( s ) 34 and 44 are adjustable to alter the distance between the foot pads 37 , 47 and the central tube 20 . the central tube 20 has an internal extension tube 70 that can be adjusted in extension to raise or lower the height of the arc sector or “ v ” receiver 60 , 61 pads 62 . the extension tube 70 can further be removed , as shown in fig9 , for storage or transportation . the extension tube is securable in position on the central tube 20 with a tube clamp 69 that operates with a cam 72 on a lever to allow for quick clamping and releasing of the extension tube 70 . in fig2 , the bottom of the tuba 14 is placed onto the arc sector or “ v ” receivers 60 and the tube of the tuba 14 is secured in clamp 80 . fig5 to 7 show and describe the clamp in greater detail . fig5 shows a tubular clamp in an open configuration , fig6 shows the tubular clamp 80 from fig4 receiving a tube and fig7 shows a perspective view of the tubular clamp 80 from fig4 and 5 grasping a tube . this clamp 80 can be placed on the extension tube 70 to grasp the tube 12 of a musical instrument . the riser tube 75 is held with elbow 73 in position on the instrument stand . the position of the tubular clamp on the stand is adjustable and secured with screw clamp 92 . the tubular clamp 80 has a first arc sector or “ v ” receiver 81 and a second arc sector or “ v ” receiver 82 that grasps at least partially around the tube 12 of a musical instrument . the first arc sector or “ v ” receiver 81 pivots on a pivot axis 83 while the second arc sector or “ v ” receiver 82 pivots on a pivot axis 84 that extends through the body 91 of the tubular clamp 80 . the inside edges 93 limits the amount that the arc sector or “ v ” receivers will open . each arc sector or “ v ” receiver 81 and 82 is padded or cushioned 86 to both frictionally grip the instrument tube 12 and to prevent damage to the instrument tube 12 . when the instrument tube is pushed into the tubular clap 80 the arc sector or “ v ” receivers 81 and 82 will pivot until holes 89 engage into pins 88 that will hold the arc sector or “ v ” receivers 81 and 82 in a closed orientation as shown in fig7 . when release 85 is pulled back 87 the pins 88 will be pulled out of retentions holes 89 whereby releasing the arc sector or “ v ” receivers 81 and 82 and spring 94 will pull 90 the arc sector or “ v ” receivers 81 and 82 open to release the tube 12 . fig8 shows a top perspective view of the sousaphone stand that is shown in fig1 - 4 . this orientation of the stand represents the orientation where a performer will place the sousaphone into the stand . because of the weight and cost of a sousaphone performers must often support the weight of the instrument by placing the instrument on their legs as they rest on the stadium . using this instrument stand , a performer can place the instrument stand in a stadium and adjust the height of legs 30 , 31 and 40 , 41 to accommodate the geometry of the stadium seat or bleacher . the performer will loosen the cam clamp 72 to raise or lower the extension tube 70 from the central tube 20 and then tighten the tube clamp . the performer will then rest the upper tube of the sousaphone in the pads 62 of the arc sector or “ v ” receivers 60 and 61 that exist on the ends of arms 63 , 64 from head 21 . the sousaphone will then naturally rotate onto pads 50 and 51 that can also be adjustable on legs 30 and 31 to cushion the sousaphone . it is contemplated that to assist in positioning the extension tube 70 that a spring , gas filled strut or other similar lifting mechanism are can be incorporated into the central tube 20 to assist a performer to extend the extension tube 70 out of the center tube 20 as shown and described in fig1 . fig9 shows the collapsed pieces of the sousaphone stand ready for transportation . in this figure the central tube 20 including the cam clamp 72 , extension tube 70 , head 21 and the padded arc sector or “ v ” receiver musical instrument supports are separated from the leg assemblies . the leg assemblies will include the first leg set 30 , 31 , sliders and foot pads 37 . the leg assemblies also include the second leg set that are partially visible behind the first leg set 30 , 31 . the pads 50 and 51 are shown rotated against the pivoting sliders to minimize storage size . the slide collar 42 is shown removed from the central tube 20 . while fig9 shows the sousaphone stand , the tuba stand is disassembled in a similar manner . referring now to fig1 that shows an exploded view of the extension mechanism 39 . the extension / lift mechanism can be a variety of different mechanism . in fig6 it is shown as a compression spring . in this figure the lift / extension mechanism is shown and described as a strut . the strut shown is a gas filled extension mechanism that naturally exists in an extended orientation . pushing upon the two ends will compress the strut . various different forces and extension lengths are available . when using the strut in the embodiments shown , the strut must be stopped med stroke at the length desired by the user . one contemplated embodiment of the clamping mechanism is shown and described in fig1 . the strut 39 has end caps 53 and 55 that are installed with the tubes 34 and 26 . a set screw or stops 51 and 58 retain the end caps 53 and 55 within the tubes 34 and 26 . in one embodiment the end caps sit on the screws 51 and 58 . in another embodiment the screws 51 and 58 bind the end caps 53 and 55 to prevent the inner tube 34 from being accidentally removed from the outer tube 26 . a guide 54 exists in the middle of the strut 39 to reduce axial loading on the strut that could harm the seals of the strut 39 . the extension mechanism can be either inserted into the inner tube 34 or in the outer tube 26 . a securing means for securing a musical instrument is attached to the end of the upper tube 34 . the instrument securing means allows a performer to install a musical instrument such as a drum or other musical instrument onto the stand . various types of percussion musical instruments are shown in the figures . in this figure the securing means is a saddle 62 where a musical instrument is placed vertically into the securing means 60 . fig1 is an exploded view of the clamping mechanism 69 . referring briefly to fig1 , 3 , 4 , 8 and 9 the clamping mechanism 69 is shown where the lower tube 26 and the upper tube 34 intersect . the clamping mechanism is an extrusion 60 with a central hole 62 where the lower portion of the clamping mechanism 69 is secured to the lower or outer diameter tube 26 . the clamping mechanism is partially split into a lower portion that is secured to the lower tube 26 ( not shown ) and an upper section that can temporally hold the upper tube 34 ( not shown ) the split 63 separates these two section and allows separate flexibility for clamping the upper and lower parts of the clamping mechanism 69 . a screw 64 closes the lower portion of the clamping mechanism 69 on the lower tube . a separate screw 65 passes through the upper portion of the clamping mechanism 69 where it is threaded into as shoulder bolt 67 with a threaded hole that the screw 65 threads into . a nut 68 retains the shoulder bolt 67 on a cam arm . the cam arm 66 has an eccentric hole that allows the upper portion of the clamping apparatus / griping means to close the gap 61 onto an upper tube to prevent extension of the upper tube 34 ( not shown ). in fig1 the extendable stand is mounted with a vertically mounted on a bass drum . in each of the configurations the drum can be quickly removed from a performer &# 39 ; s body mounted carrier and installed onto the adjustable stand . in all of these configurations the base or legs 23 extend from the lower central tube 26 . the extension mechanism exists inside one of the tubes where it is secured or located with screws 58 and or 51 . in all of these figures the upper tube 34 is shown partially pushed out of the lower tube 26 . the amount of extension of the upper tube 34 out of the lower tube 26 is determined by the performer preference and an infinite number of different heights are adjustable . the force and extension length of the extension mechanism is variable based upon the type and weight of instrument that is being supported . in the preferred embodiment the force of the extension mechanism is selected to allow for minimal force by the user to raise or lower the musical instrument 79 and the weight of the musical instrument is sufficient to approximately equal the force from the extension mechanism . the strut can be fixed to the stand , or can be changeable . the clamping apparatus / griping means 69 grips the upper tube to prevent undesirable movement of the upper tube 70 while a performer is performing . the location of the tube 70 is quickly adjustable with the eccentric cam arm 66 . a securing means for securing a musical instrument 81 is attached to the end of the upper tube 70 . the instrument securing means 81 allows a performer to install a musical instrument 81 such as a drum or other musical instrument onto the stand . in some cases a support brace or bracket 71 is used to reduce the moment arm of the musical instrument on the stand . in the figures a further support arm 71 extends from the brace or bracket 70 to the drums 81 that is mounted . the inventor of this disclosure has also been awarded u . s . pat . nos . 7 , 438 , 266 , 7 , 588 , 228 , 7 , 703 , 725 and 7 , 718 , 878 that may disclose tripod type stands . it is distinguished over the prior art in general , and these patents in particular by an adjustable musical instrument stand with independently adjustable legs 23 which comprises a longitudinal extensible upright portion 26 of telescoping tubular members , a plurality of collar members 69 slidably mounted on the upright portion 26 which are longitudinally adjustable relative to one another and to the upright portion 26 for selective positioning . the lift mechanism further creates additional improvement and user performance features that were not obvious and are novel over the inventors &# 39 ; prior patents . fig1 shows a top perspective view of a compound lift mechanism , fig1 shows a detailed view of a compound lift mechanism , fig1 shows a perspective view of the compound lift in a retracted condition with a top mounted speaker , and fig1 shows a perspective view of the compound lift in an extended condition with a top mounted speaker . in fig1 and 14 a second or compound lift member 76 is mounted aside the lower central tube 26 . the parallel structure of the lower central tube with the compound lift member 76 provides additional stability when the parallel members are clamped . releasing the lower clamping mechanism 69 allows the internal extension / lift mechanism rod 98 , as shown and described in fig1 , pushes upon connecting elbow 73 to extend as the guides 54 slide along the outrigger lift tube 76 . a second extension / lift mechanism 70 is exists within the outrigger lift tube 76 to provide a second lift to further extend the lift height of the stand by releasing upper clamping mechanism 74 . in fig1 a speaker 99 is mounted to the top of the stand and shown in a lowered condition . in fig1 one of the legs 23 is shown slightly displaced to show an adjustment for placement of the stand on an uneven surface . fig1 also shows the speaker more fully elevated with both the first stage extension tube 98 and the second stage extension tube 70 released and extended . once the tubes are extended to the desired extension , clamps 68 and 74 are secured . these clamps 68 and 74 are shown and described in more detail with fig1 herein . fig1 shows an elevated front view of the amplifier stand , and fig1 shows an upper front perspective view of the amplifier stand . the base of the amplifier stand is essentially the same four legged structure shown and described in the previous figures where there are two front supporting legs 30 , 31 and two separate supporting legs 40 , 41 . the legs are supported through sliding supporting brackets 35 , 38 and support arms 34 , 44 . the legs slide and are supported on a rear central tube 119 that is connected to a front tube 120 . in addition to the supporting legs , two supporting arms are pivotable connected 111 , 121 to the stand . the right arm , sections 112 and 114 are connected 111 on one side while left arm sections 122 and 124 are connected 121 on the opposing side of the rear central front tube 119 . the ends of the arms 115 and 125 contact and support the rear of the amplifier 100 . the length of the arms are individually adjustable with locking members 113 and 123 . the bottom of the amplifier 100 is supported on pads 56 that extend from arms 57 and connector 59 that is supported on the front tube 120 . a mechanical lift or extension mechanism is located within the rear central tube 119 . the height of the pivoting location 111 and 112 of the left 122 / 124 and right arm 112 / 114 sections is essentially fixed , based upon the height of the collar 118 . the tube 98 extends from the collar 118 position . as the lift mechanism lifts the tube 98 the head 110 is also moved along with the front tube that moves the supporting pads 56 . as the supporting pads 56 are raised , the position of the pads 56 , relative to the fixed position of the collar 118 , forces the amplifier 100 to rotate from an initial 0 degree to a final approximately 45 degree position . the amplifier 100 can be stopped at any desired position between 0 and 45 degrees . while 0 and 45 degrees are specifically identified in this disclosure , greater and lesser angles are contemplated . this articulation is shows and described in more detail in other figures shown in this disclosure . the back of the speaker can rest on a rear supporting feature 117 where the speaker is supported on the supporting pads 56 and on the rear supporting feature 117 that can be a pad or cushion that lifts with the front tube 120 . the angle of the speaker is altered by changing the position of the legs on the central tube 119 . fig1 shows a side view of the amplifier stand at an approximately 0 degree angle and fig2 shows a side view of the amplifier stand at an approximately 45 degree angle . from these two figures it is shown that as the tube 98 extends the lift from the bottom of the amplifier 100 causes the ( fixed length ) arms 112 , 114 to pivot at 111 on slider 116 to alter the angle of the amplifier 100 on the stand . fig2 shows a view of the amplifier stand in a collapsed configuration to allow the stand to be stored or transported in a smaller configuration . essentially the legs and supports arms fold inward thereby providing a smaller packaged size . thus , specific embodiments of a stand have been disclosed . it should be apparent , however , to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein . the inventive subject matter , therefore , is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims . | 5 |
referring now to the drawings , and in particular to fig1 and 2 , eye simulator 2 of the present invention includes an enclosure or block 4 , made of any suitable material including , but not limited to , plastic , metal , glass , or wood , that functions as the &# 34 ; eyeball &# 34 ; and is mounted inside the patient simulator mannequin &# 39 ; s head or skull 6 in any suitable manner . one example of a mounting structure can include internal mounting plate 8 and a suitable fastener , such as screws or bolts 34 . eye block 4 is painted and rounded on front portion 10 to form the shape and appearance of a natural looking artificial eye . alternate shapes and constructions of eye blocks can be utilized and made to appear as a human eye when viewed from the front , as further described herein below . for example , as shown in fig7 an eye block 40 may include open sides 48 . other shapes and constructions of eye blocks are considered within the scope of the invention . eyelid 12 is a rounded cover , of any suitable material including plastic , vinyl , metal or other material , made to appear skin - like and sized to fit over rounded portion 10 of eye block 4 . eyelid 12 rotates about pins 14 ( one on each side with only one shown in the figs .) to rotate from a fully down position , covering the eye pupil as shown in fig1 to a fully up position , exposing the eye pupil through aperture 16 ( described below ) in eye block 4 , as shown in fig2 . eyelid 12 is preferably biased in the closed position by a suitable mechanism , such as spring 32 , and can be driven into the open position by suitable means , such as conventional solenoid 30 , under control of the simulation computer 42 , shown in fig7 . preferably eyelid 12 will be biased in the closed position and driven into the open position by the computer as shown , but could alternately be biased into the open position and driven closed ( not shown ). the eyelids 12 can also be manually opened such as by a student during an exam of the simulated patient . alternately , as shown in fig7 eyelid 12 can be attached to eye block 40 with open sides 48 by suitable support members such as 58 , one member 58 being on each side of eye block 40 ( only one member 58 shown ). other shaped eye blocks may require variations on attachment of eyelid 12 , as further described hereinbelow , and , which are considered within the scope of the invention . a standard sensing device , such as microswitch 38 , is used by the simulation computer 42 to sense whether eyelid 12 is open or closed . microswitch 38 can be located in any suitable location , such as attached to spring mechanism 32 , as shown in fig1 , and 7 . spring mechanism 32 can be made of housing 50 , internal spring 52 , plunger 54 , and internal base plate 56 . internal spring 52 presses against base plate 56 which is attached to plunger 54 . spring mechanism 32 can be attached to eye block 4 by using bracket 36 to position spring 32 such that plunger 54 impinges eyelid 12 to bias eyelid 12 into the closed position covering opening 16 . bracket 36 can be attached to eye block 4 by any suitable fastener including one of bolts 34 ( not shown ). referring now to fig3 and 4 , a conventional electrical circuit ( not shown ) is mounted on circuit board 18 which is mounted in eye block 4 and used , under computer control 42 , to control the liquid crystal display ( lcd ) 20 for simulation of a patient &# 39 ; s pupil . liquid crystal display ( lcd ) 20 forms concentric rings 22 and is mounted to circuit board 18 and electrically connected via a suitable manner such as a plurality of contacts 21 . lcd display 20 is positioned in eye block 4 to form the iris and pupil of the artificial eye . the front of eye block 4 has an optical or transparent window , such as aperture 16 that is sized to allow a suitable portion of lcd display 20 to be viewed . the center of the lcd display 20 contains a small optical or transparent window such as aperture 24 that allows light to pass through lcd display 20 . a suitable light sensitive device , such as phototransistor 26 , is mounted behind lcd display 20 on circuit board 18 to detect the presence of light that passes through aperture 24 in the center of lcd display 20 . lcd display 20 has a reflective grey background 28 , and aperture 24 in the center . since eye block 4 is mounted enclosed in skull 6 of a patient simulator which is essentially void of light internally , the center aperture 24 will appear black . similar to an lcd wrist watch display , lcd concentric rings 22 are clear when deactivated and appear black when activated . when deactivated , concentric rings 22 are clear and thus allow grey background 28 of display 20 to be visible . when the individual lcd concentric rings 22 in lcd display 20 are enabled electronically , their appearance changes from clear to black . referring now to fig5 and 6 , concentric rings 22 are activated starting from the ring near the center of the iris closest to the pupil and proceed sequentially radially concentrically outward , and are deactivated starting at the outermost ring and proceed sequentially radially concentrically inward . the number of activated rings 23 is dependent upon and proportional to the brightness of the light contacting phototransistor 26 , and according to computer control 42 as input from trainer control 44 to simulate various physiological conditions . in a real patient with normal function , when the eyelid is closed , the pupil is dilated because there is little light applied to the eye . when open , a real eye &# 39 ; s pupil is constricted by an amount that is dependent upon and proportional to , among other physiological factors , the amount of light applied to the eye . in eye simulator 2 , when eyelid 12 is closed , most of the inner rings of lcd concentric rings 22 will be enabled 23 and black , simulating the pupil being large or dilated , as shown in fig5 . when eyelid 12 is open and light is applied , phototransistor 26 will detect the light through aperture 24 , and the simulation computer 42 and computer program will cause lcd display 20 to sequentially turn off or deactivate several of the outermost activated rings 23 of lcd display 20 , thereby reducing the number of activated rings 23 , as shown in fig6 . lcd display 20 will appear as a pupil that is constricting as the rings of lcd concentric rings 22 are deactivated displaying grey lcd background 28 as rings 22 change from black to clear . when the light is removed , the process is reversed and , as the inner rings of lcd concentric rings 22 are activated and change from clear to black , the artificial eye appears to dilate . by using simulation computer 42 , and computer program 44 controlled by trainer 46 , as shown in fig7 to vary the speed and amount of concentric ring activation and deactivation , or constriction , normal and abnormal eye responses , including responses to various levels of patient neurologic dysfunction and responses to various drugs , can be simulated . using a patient simulator mannequin with eye response , the student can learn how to use pupil dilation to assess the patient &# 39 ; s condition . referring now to fig7 the computer program 44 , that controls computer 42 , includes mathematical software models of human physiological reaction to various stimuli , such as light reaching the eye and drug reaction , and various levels of neurological functioning ranging from normal to abnormal , whether caused by trauma , drugs , or diseases . the parameters needed by the mathematical models used in computer program 44 are controlled by input from the physician trainer 46 . the physician trainer 46 can thus input any of a multitude of training scenarios for the student trainee . the above description is given for one eye simulator 2 but is duplicated in each eye of the patient simulator and connected to the simulation computer 42 . the simulation computer program 44 , upon input from trainer 46 , controls each eye individually to simulate dysfunction on the right or left side only . the simulation computer 42 can blink eyelids 12 when the patient is conscious , or close the eyelids when unconscious . the student can manually open one or both eyelids to test either one or both pupils to light stimuli . the simulation computer 42 can program each eye to react in a multitude of responses such as constrict abnormally , exhibit no constriction , or be fully constricted or dilated to simulate various stages of neurological dysfunction , or the correct response to various drugs that may be in the patient , all at the direction of computer program 44 and input from trainer 46 . referring to fig8 a preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated , and includes both a left and right simulated eye . simulated eyeballs 100 and 102 are covered by simulated eyelids 104 and 106 , which can have simulated eyelashes 103 and 105 . referring also to fig9 eyelids 104 and 106 pivot about shafts 108 and 110 , respectively . in the open position , simulated eyelids 104 and 106 expose apertures 112 and 114 , respectively . the front portions 116 and 118 , respectively , of simulated eyeballs 100 and 102 , are shaped and made to appear similar to the front of a real eye . behind apertures 112 and 114 are mounted displays 20 , as described herein above . simulated eyeballs 100 and 102 can be attached by suitable brackets 120 and 122 to mounting plate 124 , and can include other mounting brackets such as 121 and 123 . referring to fig1 , simulated eyeball 102 is illustrated upside down to show one embodiment of associated linkage as described herein . eyeball 100 is not separately illustrated as it is a mirror image of eyeball 102 . eyelid 106 rotates about shaft 110 at apertures 125 ( as shown in fig8 and 9 ), to open and close eyelid 106 over the front portion 118 of eyeball 102 , thereby selectively exposing or covering aperture 114 . ( only one aperture 125 is visible in fig1 ). rotation of eyelid 106 can be accomplished manually by the user , or under computer control . a motor or solenoid 126 , under computer control , rotates plate 128 to linearly move linkage bar 130 . linkage bar 130 is attached to bracket 132 . bracket 132 is attached to eyelid 106 at flanges 133 and 134 . thus , rotational movement of plate 128 is translated to linear movement in bar 130 , bracket 132 , and flanges 133 and 134 . the offset mounting position of bracket 132 on flanges 133 and 134 , in relation to apertures 125 , creates a fulcrum at apertures 125 . hence , the linear movement of flanges 133 and 134 causes eyelid 106 to rotate about shaft 110 at apertures 125 , and to selectively cover and uncover the front portion 118 of eyeball 102 , and thereby covering and uncovering aperture 114 . behind aperture 114 can be mounted display 20 , as described herein above , and not specifically illustrated in fig8 - 10 . and yet another alternate embodiment of this invention would be a mechanical shutter that opens and closes electromechanically that replaces the liquid crystal display . the mechanical shutter would be a plurality of thin , sliding plates , much like a camera shutter , that together form a closed position that could be disposed about an artificial iris having a large aperture representing an enlarged pupil , with the mechanical shutter having a colored surface the same color as the iris in a closed position , which allows it to open , exposing a black surface beneath that represents the pupil . the plates could be spring - loaded in a closed or open position and electrical motors could be connected to the plates to pull them in a pivotal or slidable direction to create what appears to be a roughly circular aperture that is variable in radius , representing the iris contraction and pupil opening . it is another embodiment of the invention that the iris / pupil display can be represented by an elastic membrane or diaphragm that has a central aperture that could be electromechanically opened and closed by radial connectors that pull away from the membrane center to enlarge the circular opening through the use of electrical motors . for example , a latex member having a small opening cut through it could be pulled radially in several directions at the same time by one or more electrical motors , exposing a roughly circular opening , behind which could be a black surface representing the pupil . the latex or elastic material could be painted the color of the iris and disposed in the location of the iris beneath a simulated eyeball to provide the effect of an opening and closing pupil by contraction of the iris . again , the electrical motors would be controlled by computer so that the activities of the iris and pupil would be in conjunction with the particular medical problems that are driven by the computer program . referring to fig1 , neurological function model 200 ( used to control the simulation computer together with input from the instructor ) is essentially a software model of human physiological reaction to various stimuli , such as light reaching the eye and drug reaction , and various levels of neurological functioning ranging from normal to abnormal , whether caused by trauma , drugs , or diseases . the simulated eye &# 39 ; s responses to the various inputs can be determined by the neurological function model 200 . alternately , the responses can be predetermined by the instructor , or by a combination of the instructor and the model . the overall function of neurological model 200 includes input from the light sensors , discussed herein above , of the amount of light applied in each eye ( 100 and 102 ). the light stimulus data is presented to &# 34 ; brain &# 34 ; model 200 via simulated second cranial nerves 202 and 203 . if the second cranial nerve is impaired for an eye ( 202 or 203 ), the light stimulus from that eye is ignored . the instructor controls the second cranial nerve state for each eye . the light stimulus from each eye that reaches the brain model 200 are combined to simulate consensual response , which for a bright light applied to either eye causes constriction of both eyes . model 200 combines light stimulus and pain stimulus 204 to form a desired pupil reaction . pain stimulus 204 can also be used to open the eyelids 104 and 106 depending on the state of the patient . pupil ( constriction and dilation , and eyelid responses are further affected by drugs 206 , neurological impairment 208 , and physiological effects 210 including blood pressure , hypoxia , and the like . in the absence of abnormal events , normal eyelid motion such as closing when the simulated patient falls asleep , or blinking spontaneously when awake can be simulated . the simulated eyelid response is affected by drug input 206 , neurological impairment 208 , and physiological effects 210 . other eyelid responses , such as eyelid flutter during seizures , can also be simulated . the computed responses from model 200 , based upon all the model &# 39 ; s inputs , for the pupils and the eyelids are transmitted back to the eyes ( 100 and 102 ) and eyelids ( 104 and 106 ) via simulation of the third cranial nerves 212 and 213 . if the third cranial nerve ( 212 or 213 ) is damaged for an eye , the muscle commands transmitted back to the eye and eyelid are ignored . the instructor controls the state of the third cranial nerve ( 212 and 213 ) for each eye . pupil constriction or dilation commands and / or eyelid motion commands are transmitted via the third cranial nerve ( 212 or 213 ) and are used to change the size of the pupil , and / or to change the position of the eyelid . the pupil and eyelid responses are affected by simulated neuro - muscular blockade ( nmb ) drugs ( 206 ) that can prevent the &# 34 ; muscles &# 34 ; of the pupil or eyelid from responding to their associated commands . eye tracking that is performed during neurological assessment can also be simulated . referring to fig1 , the simulated eye of the present invention can be mounted to a two - way gimbal to provide rotational movement of the simulated eyeball . the eyeball can then track , or rotate in the direction of the applied light . referring to fig1 , the light sensor mounted behind the simulated pupil of the eye block 221 can be replaced with a more elaborate sensor 220 , such as a ccd camera chip , that can sense position as well as light level . alternately , as illustrated in fig1 , additional light sensors could be positioned left 222 , right 224 , above 226 , and below 228 , the simulated eye 221 . the light image on the sensor 220 or the differential light sensed by the individual sensors ( 222 , 224 , 226 , and 228 ) allow the computer to determine the direction of the source of applied light . appropriate &# 34 ; muscle &# 34 ; commands are sent via simulated nerve pathways resulting in motor commands to move the individual eyeball mechanisms right , left , up , and down , accordingly . motions of the simulated eye can be used to determine simulated neurological dysfunction , seizures , rem sleep , and other simulated conditions to be assessed by a trainee . as defined in the pupil and eyelid function description herein above , drugs , impairment , and physiological parameters would also effect eye tracking functions . the instant invention has been shown and described herein in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment . it is recognized , however , that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art . | 6 |
method 10 of the present invention generally includes determining the magnitude of the astigmatic error of a patient based on patient factors and surgeon factors . patient factors ( 12 ) include ( i ) the mean sphere equivalent ( mse ) of the implant , ( ii ) the k - reading for the steepest meridian ( k 1 ) and axis ( a 1 ) and the k - reading for the flattest meridian ( k 2 ) and axis ( a 2 ), ( iii ) anterior chamber depth ( acd ) or effective lens position ( elp ) and ( iv ) the manifest refraction of the whole eye ( in the case of calculating ocular astigmatism ). surgeon factors ( 14 ) include incision size and location ( incision ) and the surgically induced refractive change ( sirc ) typical for the individual surgeon . both patient factors 12 and surgeon factors 14 are analyzed at step 16 using a power vector analysis . step 16 may use any of a variety of mathematical formulas well - known in the art , one suitable formula will now be discussed . the sphero - cylindrical prescription ( s , c and α ), either in optometric convention (− cyl format ) or in ophthalmologic convention (+ cyl format ), can be described by m , j 0 and j 45 as following : m = s + c 2 ; j 0 = - c 2 cos ( 2 α ) ; j 45 = - c 2 sin ( 2 α ) ; b = m 2 + j 0 2 + j 45 2 ( 1 ) where b is called the blur strength . it &# 39 ; s the equivalent dioptric defocus at the plane of the least confusion . the refractive error in power vector format can be converted back to the sphero - cylindrical format . since the optometric (− cyl format ) and ophthalmologic (+ cyl format ) conventions are easily interchangeable , the conversion from m , j 0 and j 45 to the optometric (− cyl format ) convention is presented in equation ( 2 ). the cylinder axis in clinical prescription is usually falling between 0 ° and 180 °. to get the axis within the legitimate range , four different conditions can be encountered , shown in equation ( 2 ). the current corneal incision procedure of cataract surgery causes both the flattening and the steepening of the corneal surface at meridians associated with the incision locations . this creates a measurable cylinder power change and cylindrical axis shift in post - operative refraction . surgically induced astigmatic change should be taken into account in predicting the post - operative astigmatism and then it is possible to use a toric implant to neutralize the astigmatism in the whole eye . using the equation ( 1 ), the corneal refractive error , s cornea , c cornea and α cornea , and the surgically induced refractive change ( sirc ), s sirc ′, c sirc ′ and α sirc ′, can be converted into power vectors . for simplicity , the power vector of corneal refractive error is denoted as ( m , j 0 , j 45 ) and the power vector of sirc is denoted as ( m ′, j 0 ′, j 45 ′). the power vector for the predicted post - operative corneal refractive error is the sum of cornea and sirc power vectors . rx cornea =( m , j 0 , j 45 ); rx sirc ′=( m ′, j 0 ′, j 45 ′) rx xcyl = rx cornea + rx sirc ′=( m + m ′, j 0 + j 0 ′, j 45 + j 45 ′) ( 3 ) in the case of the whole eye , the refractive error of the whole eye is s eye , c eye and α eye and therefore the equations can be rewritten as : rx eye =( m , j 0 , j 45 ); rx sirc ′=( m ′, j 0 ′, j 45 ′) rx xcyl = rx eye + rx sirc ′=( m + m ′, j 0 + j 0 ′, j 45 + j 45 ′) the predicted post - operative corneal / ocular vector can be converted to conventional sphero - cylindrical format by using equation ( 2 ). the conversion results are labeled as s xcyl , c xcyl and α xcyl , for the reason that they are the results of cross - cylinder calculation . for toric implant selection , the focus will be on the cylindrical components c xcyl and α xcyl . at the corneal plane , a toric correction with c xcyl and α xcyl are required . however , the toric correction needed at the implant plane is different from that at corneal plane due to the power transfer property from the corneal plane to the implant plane . the toric implant has the cylinder power and cylindrical axis described by equation ( 4 ). where cf is conversion factor between the corneal plane and the implant plane . from the calculated values c implant and α implant , the appropriate toric implant model can be selected and the selected implant will be placed at the meridian indicated by α implant . the vector analysis contemplated in step 16 results in calculated post - operative corneal / ocular astigmatism 18 , which takes into account both patient factors 12 and surgeon factors 14 . if the implant is an intraocular lens ( iol ), the predicted cylindrical error calculated at step 18 at the corneal plane is translated into a required cylindrical error at the implant plane at step 20 . in the following discussion , the general rule is that the power of optical component is denoted by “ p ” and the vergence by “ l ”. we define p cornea as the power of cornea at certain meridian , p implant as the power of the implant , p implant ′ as the equivalent power of the implant at the corneal plane , l cornea as the vergence immediately after the corneal plane , l implant as the vergence at the first principal plane of the implant , l implant ′ as the vergence at the second principal plane of the implant , n as the refractive index of aqueous humor , and d is the distance between the cornea and the first principal plane of the implant . generally , the l cornea is equal to the sum of vergence of spectacle correction at the corneal plane and the power of the cornea . where the l rx is the vergence of spectacle correction at the corneal plane . for emmetropic eye after cataract surgery , the l rx is equal to zero . in the following discussion , if not specifically mentioned , we consider the l cornea the same as the p cornea . as shown in fig2 , in the top illustration , the implant is physically placed at the implant plane . in the bottom illustration , the implant is virtually placed at the corneal plane . the first principal plane of the implant at the implant plane is denoted as fp , the second principal plane of the implant at the implant plane is denoted as sp . in both scenarios , the vergence should be the same before vitreous chamber ( i . e . at sp plane ). by equating the vergence calculated from two difference scenarios , the relationship can be found to decide the desired implant power at implant plane . more specifically , the desired implant at implant plane will be a function of the vergence immediately after the cornea ( l cornea ), the desired implant power at the corneal plane ( p implant ′), the distance between the second principal plane of the cornea ( close to the anterior corneal surface ) and the first principal plane of the implant ( d ) and refractive index of aqueous ( n ). in the discussion of toric value calculation , d and n can be fixed as constants . p iol = f ( l cornea , p implant ′, d , n )= f d , n ( l cornea , p implant ′) ( 6 ) from the second virtual optical setup , considering the location shift of implant , the vergence at the sp plane is : l implant ′ = p implant ′ + l cornea 1 - d n ( p implant ′ + l cornea ) ( 8 ) l cornea 1 - d n l cornea + p implant = p implant ′ + l cornea 1 - d n ( p implant ′ + l cornea ) ( 9 ) the equation ( 10 ) calculates the equivalent implant at the corneal plane for a given implant at the implant plane . the equation ( 11 ) computes the desired implant power at the implant plane according to the required optical power at corneal plane . the desired toric value can be obtained by taking the difference between maximum and minimum powers . assuming that the optical axial length is al o , the required implant power at the corneal plane can be calculated as for example , patient has k - reading k 1 = 42 . 75 d × 120 °, k 2 = 44 . 75 d × 30 °. assume that there &# 39 ; s no induced astigmatism by surgeon , the emmetropic eye has axial length 23 . 65 mm , d = 5 . 20 mm and n = 1 . 336 . the required implant powers at the corneal plane are 13 . 74 d × 120 ° and 11 . 74 d × 30 °. putting these values into equation ( 11 ), the implant powers at implant plane are 21 . 13 d × 120 ° and 18 . 22 × 30 °. compared the toric value of the cornea 2 . 00 d , the implant should have toric value − 2 . 91 d , which gives a conversion factor of 1 . 46 . equation ( 11 ) includes both l cornea and p implant ′, therefore , it must be determined which variable affect the calculation of spherical and cylindrical powers most and could the effects of these two factors on toric values be constant by differentiating the equation ( 11 ). dp implant = ∂ p implant ∂ p implant ′ dp implant ′ + ∂ p implant ∂ l cornea d l cornea ( 13 ) cyl implant = ∂ p implant ∂ p implant ′ cyl implant ′ + ∂ p implant ∂ l cornea cyl cornea ( 14 ) c 1 = ∂ p implant ∂ p implant ′ , c 2 = ∂ p implant ∂ l cornea ( 15 ) where dp implant can be considered as the change of spherical power due to choosing different meridians and therefore can be treated as the cylindrical power of the implant , similarly , the dp implant ′ can be treated as the cylindrical power of the implant at the corneal plane , the dl cornea as the cylindrical power of the cornea . intuitively , the equation ( 14 ) means that the cylindrical power of the implant is a function of its power at the corneal plane and the cylindrical power of the cornea , which is shown by equation ( 15 ). if the coefficients before dp implant ′ ( cyl implant ′) and dl cornea ( cyl cornea ), ∂ p implant ∂ p iμμ πλ av ′ and ( 16 ) ∂ p implant ∂ l cornea ( 17 ) are constants , the equation ( 14 ) would be a linear equation . however , these two coefficients are usually not constants , but the functions of p implant ′ and l cornea . c 1 = ∂ p implant ∂ p implant ′ = 1 ( 1 - d n ( p implant ′ + l cornea ) ) 2 ( 18 ) c 2 = ∂ p implant ∂ l cornea = 1 ( 1 - d n ( p implant ′ + l cornea ) ) 2 - 1 ( 1 - d n l cornea ) 2 ( 19 ) in equation ( 15 ), the desired iol cylinder value ( cyl iol ′) at corneal plane is equal to c xcyl , and the corneal cylinder ( cyl cornea , including surgical induced astigmatism ) is equal to the refractive error to be corrected , − c xcyl . cyl implant =( c 1 − c 2 )* c xcyl = cf * c xcyl ( 20 ) the cf = c 1 − c 2 is highly dependent on d and corneal k values . for corneal powers within the normal range of 35 d - 55 d , the conversion factor ( cf ) can be calculated with equation ( 18 ) and ( 19 ) by fixing d to be the mean value of each region of interest . for 0 mm ≦ d & lt ; 0 . 25 mm , cf = 1 . 00 ; for 0 . 25 mm ≦ d & lt ; 0 . 75 mm , cf = 1 . 02 - 1 . 04 ; for 0 . 75 mm ≦ d & lt ; 1 . 25 mm , cf = 1 . 05 - 1 . 09 ; for 1 . 25 mm ≦ d & lt ; 1 . 75 mm , cf = 1 . 08 - 1 . 14 ; for 1 . 75 mm ≦ d & lt ; 2 . 25 mm , cf = 1 . 11 - 1 . 19 ; for 2 . 25 mm ≦ d & lt ; 2 . 75 mm , cf = 1 . 15 - 1 . 24 ; for 2 . 75 mm ≦ d & lt ; 3 . 25 mm , cf = 1 . 18 - 1 . 30 ; for 3 . 25 mm ≦ d & lt ; 3 . 75 mm , cf = 1 . 21 - 1 . 37 ; for 3 . 75 mm ≦ d & lt ; 4 . 25 mm , cf = 1 . 25 - 1 . 43 ; for 4 . 25 mm ≦ d & lt ; 4 . 75 mm , cf = 1 . 29 - 1 . 51 ; for 4 . 75 mm ≦ d ≦ 5 . 25 mm , cf = 1 . 32 - 1 . 59 ; for 5 . 25 mm & lt ; d ≦ 5 . 75 mm , cf = 1 . 37 - 1 . 67 ; for 5 . 75 mm & lt ; d ≦ 6 . 25 mm , cf = 1 . 41 - 1 . 76 ; for 6 . 25 mm & lt ; d ≦ 6 . 75 mm , cf = 1 . 45 - 1 . 86 ; for 6 . 75 mm & lt ; d ≦ 7 . 25 mm , cf = 1 . 50 - 1 . 97 . for implants , such as refractive implants , that are to be located near or in the cornea , power transfer step 20 is not necessary . once the required power of the implant is determined at step 18 and / or step 20 , this calculated power can be used to select the appropriate lens model and report the lens model to the operator in steps 22 and 24 , respectively . the lens power calculation and axial placement may also be reported to the operator in steps 26 and 28 , respectively . the present invention therefore , provides an accurate method for calculating the required power of a toric implant by using both the measured pre - operative corneal / ocular astigmatism and the predicted surgically - induced astigmatism . this description is given for purposes of illustration and explanation . it will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art that changes and modifications may be made to the invention described above without departing from its scope or spirit . | 0 |
one of the future directions of digital subscriber line ( dsl ) networks is fat - pipe technology , where more than one telephone line is utilized to a customer to provide faster data transmission . if this technology obtains attention and starts to grow , one potential limiting problem would be the number of available lines . on the other hand , there are a lot of customers who are only using voice - band communication and there is a potential resource ( high frequency band ) on the corresponding line , which is not being used . a method is proposed so that one may use a bunch of lines in the fat - pipe transmission through the bridged - taps , some of which may have been used by other customers for low - frequency band voice or plain old telephone service ( pots ) signal . using suitable filters , one low - stop filter in the fat - pipe customer &# 39 ; s line , and one high - stop filter in the pots signal customer &# 39 ; s line , to provide security for both customers , one can take advantage of the lines that are not being used by the telephone customers . this will provide an optimal usage of the frequency resources of the telephone lines , when necessary . this technique will require a low - pass filter and a high - pass filter to be installed on each shared line . the low - pass filter should be placed on the line where it reaches the customer that is assigned for the pots signal , and the high - pass filter should be placed on the line where it reaches the customer that is assigned for the dsl signal . the high - pass filter should stop the frequency components outside the dsl frequency band ( usually above 10 khz ) and will provide security for pots signal customer by preventing the dsl customer who is using the same line , from having access to the low - frequency pots signal . the low - pass filter should stop the frequency components higher than the voice - band and will similarly provide security for the dsl customer by preventing the pots signal customer from having access to the high - speed digital data . the filters must be activated if a line is shared between dsl and pots signal customers . the ideal low - pass and high - pass filters for this purpose are given in fig1 ( a ) and ( b ) respectively . the cutoff frequency f c can be anything between the maximum voice frequency band ( around 4 khz ) and minimum data frequency band ( it varies for different dsl service types and is usually above 10 khz ). in practice , one can use realizable filters such as butterworth or chebychev filters . this method can also be used to improve the quality of the received signal by assigning the dsl service and telephone service through different lines . in other words one can optimally assign the dsl service independently from the line that has already been assigned for the customer &# 39 ; s regular phone service . the following example illustrates how this can improve the quality of the dsl service in a neighborhood . example 1 : consider the customers shown in fig2 . assume that customer # 1 would like to improve the performance of his dsl service through a fat - pipe consisting of three lines . assume also that lines # 2 , # 3 and # 4 are accessible for this customer through the bridged - tap ( in the real world there are several lines accessible through the bridged - taps ) but that none of these lines are idle . in other words , other customers are using all accessible lines for this customer . assuming that some of these accessible lines are assigned for pots signal , and that no dsl service is given to the corresponding customers , the dsl customer can use some of these lines to provide a fat - pipe type of dsl service for faster data transmission . if there are several lines accessible for dsl service , one can choose the lines with minimum interaction to minimize the interference between the lines . the choice of lines can also be made based on minimizing the interaction between the fat - pipe lines and the lines that have already been assigned for dsl service in the neighborhood . the interaction between different lines can be identified through various tests or trouble reports . in this example , assume that line # 2 has strong crosscoupling with lines # 1 , # 3 , # 4 and / or the existing dsl lines in the neighborhood . in this case , the best choice for the fat - pipe lines would be line # 1 , # 3 and # 4 . after the fat - pipe lines are chosen , the high - pass and low - pass filters must be used to protect the security of the customers by preventing others from having access to their signal . all shared lines that are included in the fat - pipe must go through a high - pass filter in the fat - pipe customer &# 39 ; s end and through a low - pass filter in the pots signal customers &# 39 ; end . in this example , lines # 3 and # 4 will have high - pass filters in customer # 1 &# 39 ; s end , and will have low - pass filters at customer # 3 and customer # 4 &# 39 ; s end , as shown in the figure . example 2 : consider three customers in a neighborhood shown in fig3 . customer # 1 has only the regular phone service while customer # 2 and customer # 3 both have dsl service as well . due to the strong crosscoupling between line # 2 and line # 3 which are assigned for customer # 2 and customer # 3 respectively , the snr of the signal on these two lines are significantly low , which can also affect the data - rate that is assigned for these lines . assume also that the crosscoupling between line # 1 and line # 2 is very weak and that line # 1 is available for customer # 3 through a bridged - tap . this means that by assigning line # 1 for the dsl service of customer # 3 , the crosstalk interference between the dsl services of customer # 2 and customer # 3 will drop significantly , which will improve the snr of the transmitted and received signals for both customers . to achieve this in a secure manner , a low - pass filter is required to be set on line # 1 at point a , where the pots signal is delivered to customer # 1 , and a high - pass filter is required to be set on the same line at point b , where the broad - band signal is delivered to customer # 3 . this will assure customers that their signal will not be accessible by another customer . in other words , the pots signal going to customer # 1 will be filtered out from customer # 3 using the high - pass filter , and the digital data transferred to customer # 3 will be removed from the signal going to customer # 1 , using the low - pass filter . one can optimize the performance by defining a performance index which can be minimized . this is shown in the next example . example 3 : consider a system consisting of one pots customer and three dsl customers ( who are in fact pots customers as well ) in a neighborhood shown in fig4 with the following line availability through bridged - taps : lines # 1 , 2 , 3 are available to dsl customer # 1 and , line # 1 provides pots for this customer . lines # 2 , 3 , 4 are available to dsl customer # 2 and , line # 2 provides pots for this customer . lines # 3 , 4 , 5 are available to dsl customer # 3 and , line # 3 provides pots fro this customer . lines # 1 , 4 , 5 are available to the pots customer and , line # 4 provides pots for this customer . assume also that the following near end crosstalk ( next ) transfer function matrix at customer premise equipment ( cpe ) side , between all 5 lines , at the point where the corresponding bridged - taps for these customers are located , is given as follows : n d = [ 0 2 . 3 n 0 1 . 4 n 0 0 . 3 n 0 0 . 1 n 0 2 . 3 n 0 0 1 . 8 n 0 0 . 8 n 0 0 . 4 n 0 1 . 4 n 0 1 . 8 n 0 0 0 . 2 n 0 0 . 5 n 0 0 . 3 n 0 0 . 8 n 0 0 . 2 n 0 0 0 . 7 n 0 0 . 1 n 0 0 . 4 n 0 0 . 5 n 0 0 . 7 n 0 0 ] , and f denotes frequency ( hz ). it is to be noted that in practice , next transfer functions contain zeros or points where the magnitude drops sharply , but for simplicity and without loss of generality , we have considered the structure given in the above matrix . for this simple example , there are 10 possible ways to assign the lines to the dsl customers , which are given as follows : case 1 : lines # 1 , 2 , 3 are assigned to the dsl service of customers # 1 , 2 , 3 , respectively . case 2 : lines # 1 , 2 , 4 are assigned to the dsl service of customers # 1 , 2 , 3 , respectively . case 3 : lines # 1 , 2 , 5 are assigned to the dsl service of customers # 1 , 2 , 3 , respectively . case 4 : lines # 1 , 3 , 4 are assigned to the dsl service of customers # 1 , 2 , 3 , respectively . case 5 : lines # 1 , 3 , 5 are assigned to the dsl service of customers # 1 , 2 , 3 , respectively . case 6 : lines # i , 4 , 5 are assigned to the dsl service of customers # 1 , 2 , 3 , respectively . case 7 : lines # 2 , 3 , 4 are assigned to the dsl service of customers # 1 , 2 , 3 , respectively . case 8 : lines # 2 , 3 , 5 are assigned to the dsl service of customers # 1 , 2 , 3 , respectively . case 9 : lines # 2 , 4 , 5 are assigned to the dsl service of customers # 1 , 2 , 3 , respectively . case 10 : lines # 3 , 4 , 5 are assigned to the dsl service of customers # 1 , 2 , 3 , respectively . remark 1 : there are 4 other cases , which are in fact equivalent to some of the cases above , since the order in which the lines are assigned to the customers is not relevant . for example , assigning lines # 1 , 4 , 3 to dsl customers # 1 , 2 , 3 is similar to case 4 , assigning lines # 2 , 4 , 3 or # 3 , 2 , 4 to the dsl services is similar to case 7 , and assigning lines # 3 , 2 , 5 to the dsl services is similar to case 8 . to guarantee a secure signal transmission , a high - pass and a low - pass filter are required for the lines in all cases , except for case 1 , where the pots and dsl service are provided through the same transmission line . assume now that the following minimization problem is to be solved : min l 1 , l 2 , l 3 { ∫ 0 ∞ ( k dn · u dsl , up * ( f ) · n dsl , dn * · ( f ) · w dn ( f ) · n dn ( f ) · u dsl , up ( f ) + k up · u dsl , dn * ( f ) · n dsl , up * · ( f ) · w up ( f ) · n up ( f ) · u dsl , dn ( f ) ) df } , ( 1 ) where l 1 ε { 1 , 2 , 3 }, l 2 ε { 2 , 3 , 4 }, l 3 ε { 3 , 4 , 5 } denote the line assigned to dsl customers # 1 , 2 , 3 respectively and l i ≠ l j for distinct values of i , j . the supscript * denotes conjugate transpose of the matrix . u dsl , up and u dsl , dn represent the transmitted dsl signals in the upstream and downstream directions respectively as follows : u dsl , up : = [ u dsl , up , 1 u dsl , up , 2 u dsl , up , 3 ] , u dsl , dn : = [ u dsl , dn , 1 u dsl , dn , 2 u dsl , dn , 3 ] , and n dsl , up and n dsl , dn represent the next transfer matrix between lines assigned to dsl customers in the upstream ( central office or co side ) and downstream ( cpe side ) directions respectively , as follows : n dsl , up : = [ 0 n up ( l 1 , l 2 ) n up ( l 1 , l 3 ) n up ( l 2 , l 1 ) 0 n up ( l 2 , l 3 ) n up ( l 3 , l 1 ) n up ( l 3 , l 2 ) 0 ] , n dsl , dn : = [ 0 n dn ( l 1 , l 2 ) n dn ( l 1 , l 3 ) n dn ( l 2 , l 1 ) 0 n dn ( l 2 , l 3 ) n dn ( l 3 , l 1 ) n dn ( l 3 , l 2 ) 0 ] , in this case , the terms w up ( f ) and w dn ( f ) represent a weighting matrix which can be used to prioritize different dsl customers if necessary , and k up and k dn represent the relative importance of crosscoupling in the upstream and downstream directions respectively . it is to be noted that the terms n dn ( f ). u dsl , up ( f ) and n up ( f ). u dsl , dn ( f ) represent crosscoupling noise in the downstream and upstream directions respectively . this implies that the integrand in the performance index is the weighted crosscoupling power in the dsl network . assume now that for this example k dn = 1 , k up = 0 and that w dn ( f ) is a 3 × 3 identity matrix between f 1 = 4 khz and f 2 = 80 khz , and zero elsewhere . this implies that we are only concerned with downstream cross - coupling and that all lines are equally weighted in terms of cross - coupling noise . assume also that all dsl customers have basic access dsl , where the transmitted signal power is given by : u dsl , up , 1 2 = u dsl , up , 2 2 = u dsl , up , 3 2 = 5 × 2 . 5 2 9 × 135 × 2 80000 × ( sin ( π f 80000 ) π f 80000 ) 2 × 1 1 + ( f 80000 ) 4 where f denotes the frequency in hz . in this case , the minimization problem ( 1 ) can be simplified to become : min q { ∫ 4000 80000 c q u dsl , up , 1 ( f ) · n 0 · ( f ) 2 f } , where the index q = 1 , . . . , 10 corresponds to the previous listed 10 different possible cases which arises for this example . in this case , the values of c 1 to c 10 , can be determined to be given by : case 1 : c 1 = [ 1 1 1 ] [ 0 2 . 3 1 . 4 2 . 3 0 1 . 8 1 . 4 1 . 8 0 ] 2 [ 1 1 1 ] = ( 2 . 3 + 1 . 4 ) 2 + ( 2 . 3 + 1 . 8 ) 2 + ( 1 . 4 + 1 . 8 ) 2 = 40 . 74 case 2 : c 1 = [ 1 1 1 ] [ 0 2 . 3 0 . 3 2 . 3 0 0 . 8 0 . 3 0 . 8 0 ] 2 [ 1 1 1 ] = ( 2 . 3 + 0 . 3 ) 2 + ( 2 . 3 + 0 . 8 ) 2 + ( 0 . 3 + 0 . 8 ) 2 = 17 . 58 case 3 : c 1 = [ 1 1 1 ] [ 0 2 . 3 0 . 1 2 . 3 0 0 . 4 0 . 1 0 . 4 0 ] 2 [ 1 1 1 ] = ( 2 . 3 + 0 . 1 ) 2 + ( 2 . 3 + 0 . 4 ) 2 + ( 0 . 1 + 0 . 4 ) 2 = 13 . 30 case 4 : c 1 = [ 1 1 1 ] [ 0 1 . 4 0 . 3 1 . 4 0 0 . 2 0 . 3 0 . 2 0 ] 2 [ 1 1 1 ] = ( 1 . 4 + 0 . 3 ) 2 + ( 1 . 4 + 0 . 2 ) 2 + ( 0 . 3 + 0 . 2 ) 2 = 5 . 70 case 5 : c 1 = [ 1 1 1 ] [ 0 1 . 4 0 . 1 1 . 4 0 0 . 5 0 . 1 0 . 5 0 ] 2 [ 1 1 1 ] = ( 1 . 4 + 0 . 1 ) 2 + ( 1 . 4 + 0 . 5 ) 2 + ( 0 . 1 + 0 . 5 ) 2 = 6 . 22 case 6 : c 1 = [ 1 1 1 ] [ 0 0 . 3 0 . 1 0 . 3 0 0 . 7 0 . 1 0 . 7 0 ] 2 [ 1 1 1 ] = ( 0 . 3 + 0 . 1 ) 2 + ( 0 . 3 + 0 . 7 ) 2 + ( 0 . 1 + 0 . 7 ) 2 = 1 . 80 case 7 : c 1 = [ 1 1 1 ] [ 0 1 . 8 0 . 8 1 . 8 0 0 . 2 0 . 8 0 . 2 0 ] 2 [ 1 1 1 ] = ( 1 . 8 + 0 . 8 ) 2 + ( 1 . 8 + 0 . 2 ) 2 + ( 0 . 8 + 0 . 2 ) 2 = 11 . 76 case 8 : c 1 = [ 1 1 1 ] [ 0 1 . 8 0 . 4 1 . 8 0 0 . 5 0 . 4 0 . 5 0 ] 2 [ 1 1 1 ] = ( 1 . 8 + 0 . 4 ) 2 + ( 1 . 8 + 0 . 5 ) 2 + ( 0 . 4 + 0 . 5 ) 2 = 10 . 94 case 9 : c 1 = [ 1 1 1 ] [ 0 0 . 8 0 . 4 0 . 8 0 0 . 7 0 . 4 0 . 7 0 ] 2 [ 1 1 1 ] = ( 0 . 8 + 0 . 4 ) 2 + ( 0 . 8 + 0 . 7 ) 2 + ( 0 . 4 + 0 . 7 ) 2 = 4 . 90 case 10 : c 1 = [ 1 1 1 ] [ 0 0 . 2 0 . 5 0 . 2 0 0 . 7 0 . 5 0 . 7 0 ] 2 [ 1 1 1 ] = ( 0 . 2 + 0 . 5 ) 2 + ( 0 . 2 + 0 . 7 ) 2 + ( 0 . 5 + 0 . 7 ) 2 = 2 . 74 this implies that the minimum value of the performance index given by ( 1 ) for this example corresponds to case 6 , where lines # 1 , 4 , 5 are assigned to customers # 1 , 2 , 3 respectively . in other words , the optimal values for l 1 , l 2 and l 3 in ( 1 ) are given by l 1 = 1 , l 2 = 4 , l 3 = 5 . in this case it can be seen that the performance index ( which represents the energy of the crosscoupling noise ) for case 6 is more than 22 times smaller than that of case 1 , where the pots and dsl services are provided through the same line . for comparison , the signal to noise ration ( snr ) of the downstream data using the optimal line assignment ( case 6 ) and without using the optimal line assignment ( case 1 ), assuming that all transmission lines are 6 km long with 26 gauge twisted pairs , and that ideal high - pass and low - pass filters of fig1 are used for secure signal transmission , are given in fig5 . remark 2 : in the examples studied , a relatively small number of lines and dsl customers is considered for simplicity . in actual practice , however , there can be as many as 100 lines in a cable , about 10 percent of which have dsl services assigned to them , and all lines are usually available for all customers in the neighborhood . thus , the number of different combinations of size 10 ( the number of dsl customers in the neighborhood ) from a set of size 100 ( the number of lines available to all dsl customers ) would be which makes the determination of the optimal line allocation unrealistic to compute . to avoid such an excessive amount of computation , one can however check a subset of lines in the binder , which will then provide a sub - optimal solution for the line assignment problem . remark 3 : one can minimize the function defined in equation ( 1 ) in a general way , regardless of the dsl service - type , by choosing weighting matrices that are identity in a “ reasonable ” fixed frequency range such as f 1 = 4 khz and f 2 = 1 . 5 mhz and zero elsewhere , and by setting u dsl , dn , k = u dsl , up , k = 1 , k = 1 , . . . , m . this will simplify the optimization problem and since the next transfer functions are more or less uniform ( in terms of strength ) in all frequency ranges , it will result in a sub - optimal solution to the noise reduction problem . remark 4 : it is to be noted that using the proposed method , one can also use a single line to provide services for more than two customers . the only constraint required is that the frequency band of different customers who are sharing a line must be distinct . in this case , low - pass , band - pass and high - pass filters will be required to guarantee a secure signal transmission for all customers by preventing each customer from having access to the signal in the frequency band of the other customers &# 39 ; service . this procedure can be used to assign very high speed dsl service to customers who are very close to the co and lower speed service for customers who are not too close , assuming that the corresponding line is proven to have weaker interaction with other lines in the network . remark 5 : a similar idea can be used to minimize far end crosstalk ( fext ) effect in the relatively short lines or where fext affects the received signal . however , the effect of next is usually dominant in lines longer than 1000 ft . | 7 |
the link chain embodying the invention is composed of interconnected links , each of which is of identical construction and which preferably are of integral molded plastic construction . each link 10 has a hook end 12 and a post end 14 , the post end of each link capable of being interconnected to the hook end of an adjacent link to form a chain of intended length . each link includes a central portion 16 extending across the width of the link and joining sides portions 18 and 20 . an arm 22 outwardly extends from central portion 16 beyond the confronting ends of side portions 18 and 20 and to which is affixed a transversely extending post 24 which is of cylindrical cross - section and which has oppositely extending post ends . the hook end 12 of the link includes first and second curved end portions 26 and 28 which are transversely spaced by an intermediate gap 30 . the end portions 26 and 28 are joined to respective side portions 18 and 20 and are also joined to central portion 16 by a web 32 . the outer surfaces of end portion 26 and 28 are cylindrical as are the inner surfaces of the end portions against which portions of post 24 of an adjacent link is in rotatable engagement when the links are interconnected . the central portion 16 includes a tooth 34 formed by beveled surfaces 36 and 38 . a similar tooth 40 is provided on the opposite surface of the link formed by beveled surfaces 42 and 44 . the tooth 34 of each link is in alignment with the tooth 40 of that link , and is symmetrically disposed about a plane extending through the central portion 16 orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the link . each side portion 18 and 20 includes beveled surfaces 46 and 48 which form an outwardly extending v - shaped side for mating with a v - pulley which can be employed to drive or guide the interconnected links . the beveled surfaces on each side portion are cut away at the hook end as shown by reference numeral 50 and at the post end as shown by reference numeral 52 such that effectively continuous beveled surfaces are provided for mating with a v - pulley . the extended ends 53 serve as stops to limit the maximum angular movement between adjacent links . the post 24 of each link is adapted to be disposed and retained within the end portions 26 and 28 of an adjacent link , as illustrated in fig7 . the post is retained within the end portions by detents 29 , and the post and associated end portions provide a journal bearing for relative rotation between the thus connected links . the openings 55 are mold holes for mold tooling employed in forming the detents in the illustrated embodiment . the tooth 34 and tooth 40 are each disposed midway between the axis of rotation of post 24 and axis of rotation of end portions 26 and 28 . the links 10 are symmetrical about a central longitudinal plane such that either the top or bottom of the interconnected links can be driven . the pivot axis of the post end is substantially coincident with the pivot axis of the hook end of a mated link . the chain formed of interconnected links 10 an be positively driven by an associated sprocket as shown in fig8 and 9 . a sprocket wheel 60 is rotatable on a shaft 62 and includes a plurality of recesses 64 regularly spaced about the periphery of the sprocket wheel and adapted to mate with either tooth 34 or tooth 40 , depending on the orientation of the links , for driving of the links of the chain . a curved transverse groove 66 is provided in the periphery of sprocket wheel 60 midway between adjacent sprocket recesses 64 to provide clearance for the pivotably interconnected ends of the links . the link chain composed of interconnected links 10 can also be driven by a v - pulley as illustrated in fig1 and 11 . the v - pulley 70 is rotatable on a shaft 72 and includes a peripheral pair of confronting flanges 74 which are outwardly tapered to provide the well known v - pulley configuration . the taper of the v - pulley flanges is adapted to mate with the taper of side surfaces 46 or 48 of links 10 . as shown in fig2 , another link generally designated 67 of a multiple link chain embodying the present invention is driven by teeth received into recesses provided therefor on the link . the link 67 is substantially identical to that described above except that the central teeth thereof are removed , and are replaced by at least one recess generally designated 49 that is formed integrally by walls 51 that extend between the sides of the link 67 . the recess 49 of the link 67 is preferably formed at an off - center location as defined between the pivot axes . the walls 51 are so inclined that the recess 49 is adapted for mating with a drive tooth of a sprocket wheel , not shown . an embodiment is shown in fig1 - 21 which is especially suited to use in in a conveyor chain . referring to fig1 - 16 , the conveyor link is composed of an array of link portions , each of which is substantially similar to the link described above in connection with the description of fig1 - 11 . each link portion includes a hook end 12a and a post end 14a , a central portion 16a extending across the width of the link portion and joining side portions 18a and 20a . each central portion 16a includes a tooth 34a formed by beveled surfaces 36a and 38a . a similar tooth 40a is provided on the opposite surface of the link portion and formed by beveled surfaces 42a and 44a . the teeth 34a and 40a are in alignment such that either the top or bottom of the interconnected links can be driven or mated with an associated sprocket . the hook end includes confronting raised arcuate portions 80 and 82 which defines a recess 84 into which the post end of an adjacent link is seated for rotatable engagement about the pivot axis of the mated links . as seen in fig1 , the link portions are joined together by intermediate sections 92 which form a continuation of the teeth 40a . the link portions are also interconnected by web portions 90 provided between the adjacent link portions . the links are mated with adjacent links by insertion of the post ends 14a into the confronting hook ends 12a of an adjacent link , as illustrated in fig1 . with one link generally perpendicular to the other link , the post ends 14a are guided into the recesses 84 of the respective hook ends , and the link is then pivoted into collinear arrangement with the mated link . thus , the links are readily interconnected by sliding the post end of a first link into the confronting hook end of a second link and then rotating the links into position . detachment of the links is accomplished by the reverse procedure , namely , downward rotation of one link and sliding removal of the mated ends . the mated links can rotate relative to each other over a substantial extent without disengagement . in the illustrated embodiment , the mated links can have a maximum angular orientation of about 115 °, as shown in fig1 , before the post ends will begin to disengage from the hook ends . the link portions of each link are joined together with webs 90 provided between adjacent hook ends , and by webs 92 in alignment between adjacent teeth 40a . as best seen in the bottom view of fig1 , the intermediate webs 92 and the teeth 40a form an effectively continuous tooth 86 across the width of the link . the webs 92 each have a surface 94 in alignment with the surfaces 44a . the webs 90 have a beveled surface 96 for added strength . lateral extensions 21 beyond the link sides can be provided to maintain spacing between laterally adjacent links in an assembled belt , or spacing from support structures . the conveyor links can be formed of any convenient length and width to suit intended requirements . the conveyor links can be fabricated in multiples of a given width such that a conveyor of an intended overall width can be built up by an array of interleaved links . for example , as shown in fig2 , two conveyor links 110 and 112 , each having six portions 113 are laterally adjacent to a link 114 having three link portions . these links are mated to links 116 and 118 , each of six link portions , and link 120 of three link portions in an interleaved manner , as illustrated , to provide a wide conveyor belt which retains its lateral rigidity because of the interleaved connection of the multiple width links . the interconnected conveyor links are driven by an associated sprocket wheel as shown in fig1 and 20 , similarly as described above . the sprocket wheel 60a is affixed to a square shaft 62a and includes a plurality of recesses 64a regularly spaced about the periphery of the sprocket wheel and adapted to mate with tooth 34a or 40a . a curved transverse groove 66a is provided in the periphery of the sprocket wheel midway between sprocket recesses 64a to provide clearance for the interconnected link ends . at least two spaced sprocket wheels are employed on a common shaft to drive the conveyor chain . typically , one sprocket wheel is fixed to its driving shaft , and the other wheel is axially moveable on the shaft to accommodate movement due to thermal expansion and contraction of the links . additional sprocket wheels can be employed across the width of the conveyor link to provide intended driving force . for some purposes , a sprocket wheel can be provided for each link portion of a conveyor link . as seen in fig2 , the webs 90 , 92 of the link portions define a plurality of teeth receiving recesses , and one or more teeth 97 of a sprocket wheel 99 are receivable therein to drive the confronting surfaces 94 of the several links . the extensions 21 ( fig1 ) can also be employed for this purpose . the link portions of each link of the conveyor chain can thereby be driven at one or more of the recesses of the several link portions by one or more teeth of a sprocket wheel . as evident from fig2 , the interconnected links have longitudinal parallel channels 98 , which extend along the length of the interconnected links such that a conveyor transfer comb can be inserted within these channels for transfer of a product onto or off of the conveyor . the comb 100 includes a plurality of parallel fingers 102 , each being disposed within a longitudinal channel 98 and with its top surface substantially coplanar with the top surface of the links , as shown in fig1 and 21 . an embodiment is shown in fig2 - 29 of a link of a link chain specially suited for use with a v - pulley . referring to fig2 - 29 , the link 126 includes a hook end 128 and a post end 130 . a central portion 132 extends across the width of the link and joining side portions 134 , and 136 . each post end 130 includes an arm 138 and a post 141 having opposing ends 140 integrally formed therewith and tranversely extending across the link 126 . the hook ends 128 each have arcuate walls 142 . as best seen in fig2 , 29 , the sides 134 , 136 are each planar and so oriented as to define a link cross - section that is generally trapezoidal . it will be appreciated that the non - parallel sides of the trapezoidal cross - section defined by the sides 134 , 136 define a body configuration adapted for mating with a v - pulley , not shown . a link chain composed of a plurality of identical links 126 is driven by friction on the sides of the &# 34 ; v &# 34 ; surfaces of the links , preferably employing neither teeth nor recesses . the links of the embodiments described above are each preferably formed as a unitary structure by plastic molding . any suitable plastic material can be employed which provides the requisite structural and environmental properties for the intended purpose . the invention is not to be limited to what has been particularly shown and described except as indicated in the appended claims . | 8 |
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