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referring to the drawings , a hydraulic cylinder drive system 10 forms a constant delivery pump used to provide a pressurized supply of abrasive , compressible fluid material , typically cement , plaster , mortar or the like , from a reservoir or hopper 12 to an outlet 14 . material delivered to the outlet 14 is normally directed to a spray nozzle for distribution to a desired surface , such as a building wall . the system 10 includes a primary hydraulically driven pumping unit defined by a primary material cylinder 16 have a feed line 18 in communication within hopper 12 and an interior volume a at a head of the cylinder 16 . a first one - way check valve 20 is positioned in feed line 18 between hopper 12 and primary material cylinder 16 . the check valve 20 is a conventional mechanical design having a ball 22 movable between a stop 24 and a seat 26 . the check valve 20 allows flow of material from hopper 12 into material cylinder 16 through the line 18 , but blocks flow in the reverse direction . a primary piston unit 28 has a material piston adapter 30 with a material piston 32 movable within the interior of primary material cylinder 16 , and a hydraulic cylinder rod 34 with a second piston 36 opposite material piston 32 that is movable within an interior of primary hydraulic cylinder 38 . as will be appreciated , piston adapter 30 , hydraulic cylinder rod 34 , and pistons 32 , 36 move back and forth in sealed relationship within primary material cylinder 16 and primary hydraulic cylinder 38 . primary piston unit 28 has a particular stroke length as determined by the lengths of primary material cylinder 16 and primary hydraulic cylinder 38 . one end of primary hydraulic cylinder 38 is provided with a hydraulic line 40 connected to a primary hydraulic pump for supplying and returning hydraulic fluid relative to a source . flow of hydraulic fluid through feed line 40 is separately controlled . the system 10 further includes a secondary hydraulically driven pumping unit defined by a secondary material cylinder 42 having a feed line 44 in communication with an interior volume b at a head of cylinder 42 . the feed line 44 is further in communication with the line 18 extending from the primary material cylinder 16 . a second one - way check valve 46 is positioned in line 44 between primary material cylinder 16 and the secondary material cylinder 42 . the check valve 46 is a conventional design like check valve 20 having a ball 48 movable between a stop 50 and a seat 52 . the check valve 46 allows flow from line 18 into line 44 , the secondary material cylinder 42 and outlet 14 , but prevents flow back into line 18 . it is important to note that secondary material cylinder 42 has a length that is shorter than the length of primary material cylinder 16 , and that interior volume b of secondary material cylinder 42 is less than interior volume a of primary material cylinder 16 . interior diameters of the material cylinders 16 and 42 are substantially equal . a secondary piston unit 54 has a material piston adapter 56 with a material piston 58 movable within the interior of secondary material cylinder 42 , and a hydraulic cylinder rod 60 with a hydraulic cylinder piston 62 opposite material piston 58 that is movable within an interior of a secondary hydraulic cylinder 64 . piston adapter 56 , hydraulic cylinder rod 60 and pistons 58 , 62 move back and forth in sealed relationship within secondary material cylinder 42 and secondary hydraulic cylinder 64 . secondary piston unit 54 has a particular stroke length as determined by the length of secondary hydraulic cylinder 64 . it is a key feature of the invention that the stroke length of secondary piston unit 54 is less than the stroke length of primary piston unit 28 . secondary hydraulic cylinder 64 has a length which is shorter than the length of primary hydraulic cylinder 38 , and an interior volume which is less than the interior volume of primary hydraulic cylinder 38 . diameters of the hydraulic cylinder pistons 36 , 62 are substantially equal . one end of secondary hydraulic cylinder 64 is provided with a hydraulic line 66 connected to a primary hydraulic pump for supplying and returning hydraulic fluid relative to the source . a rod side of secondary hydraulic cylinder 64 is hydraulically connected with a rod side end of primary hydraulic cylinder 38 by means of a common line 68 . a further hydraulic line 70 is connected to line 68 and to a secondary hydraulic pump for supplying and returning hydraulic fluid relative to the rod side of hydraulic cylinders 38 , 64 . proximity sensors 72 a , 74 a are positioned adjacent the material cylinders 16 , 42 to detect the fully extended position of piston units 28 , 54 therein and signal a change in direction for both piston units . alternatively , proximity sensors 72 b , 74 b are positioned adjacent the hydraulic cylinders 38 , 64 to detect the fully extended position of piston units 28 , 54 therein and signal a change in direction for both piston units . detection of piston location and signaling direction change may be done by a means other than a proximity sensor , whether electrical , mechanical or hydraulic in nature . it is another key feature of the present invention that the diameter of the hydraulic cylinder rod 34 in primary hydraulic cylinder 38 is greater than the diameter of the hydraulic cylinder rod 60 of the secondary hydraulic cylinder 64 as will be fully appreciated below . operation of the system 10 as described above is as follows referring first to fig1 . material to be pumped is placed in the hopper 12 . a primary hydraulic pump is connected to the piston side of hydraulic cylinder 64 via line 66 causing secondary piston unit 54 to extend . the hydraulic connection 68 from the rod side of hydraulic cylinder 64 to the rod side of hydraulic cylinder 38 causes primary piston unit 28 to retract . the retraction of piston unit 28 causes material to be drawn into primary material cylinder 16 from the hopper 12 past ball 22 and seat 26 and through line 18 . at the full extension of piston unit 54 , the proximity sensor 74 a or 74 b signals a change in direction for stroking the piston units 28 , 54 . referring now to fig2 , the primary hydraulic pump flow changes from being directed to the piston side of hydraulic cylinder 64 to the piston side of hydraulic cylinder 38 . piston unit 28 extends causing approximately half the material within material cylinder 16 to be pumped out of the outlet 14 , while the other half is pumped into material cylinder 42 as piston unit 54 is retracted . retraction is caused due to the common line 68 from the rod side of hydraulic cylinder 38 to the rod side of hydraulic cylinder 64 . retraction is further assisted by the action of pumping material from material cylinder 16 to material cylinder 42 . the retraction of piston unit 54 causes material to be drawn into material cylinder 42 from material cylinder 16 past the ball 48 and seat 52 and through line 44 . at the full extension of piston unit 28 , the proximity sensor 72 a or 72 b signals the change in direction for the piston units 28 , 54 . the primary hydraulic pump flow changes from being directed to the piston side of hydraulic cylinder 38 to the piston side of hydraulic cylinder 64 . piston unit 54 extends causing its full volume of material in material cylinder 42 to be pumped out the outlet 14 . material is prevented from back flowing into line 18 by check valve 46 . the piston unit 28 is simultaneously retracted . the above steps are repeated to provide a substantially continuous flow of material to the outlet 14 . during operation , piston units 28 , 54 fully extend and retract on each alternating stroke with piston unit 28 having a longer stroke length than the piston unit 54 . the common line 68 establishes a master - slave relationship and allows for transfer of fluid between the hydraulic cylinders 38 , 64 upon reciprocation of piston units 28 , 54 . when pumping from material cylinder 16 , approximately one - half the volume is pumped into material cylinder 42 and the other half is pumped out to outlet 14 . when pumping from material cylinder 42 , its full volume is pumped out the outlet 14 . piston units 28 , 54 have an equal extension speed . hydraulic cylinders 38 , 64 have equal diameter pistons 36 , 62 . the piston units 28 , 54 are alternately driven by the same primary hydraulic pump . however , piston units 28 , 54 have an unequal retraction speed . each piston unit 28 or 54 must reach the fully retracted position at approximately the same time or before the other piston unit 28 or 54 is fully extended . the longer stroke piston unit 28 retracts at a faster speed than the piston unit 54 extends . piston unit 54 retracts at a slower speed than piston unit 28 extends . this is accomplished by the rods 34 , 60 having unequal rod diameters such that that the diameter of rod 34 is greater than the diameter of rod 60 . this is further accomplished by making the hydraulic cylinders 38 , 64 with equal rod - side volumes . retraction speed of the secondary piston unit 54 may be increased with the addition of material pressure being pumped from the primary piston unit 28 . the piston units 28 , 54 fully extend and fully retract on each alternate stroke due to the proximity sensors 72 a , 72 b , 74 a , 74 b which signal the change of direction of the stroking for piston units 28 , 54 upon their full extension . the secondary hydraulic pump supplies additional hydraulic oil between hydraulic cylinders 38 , 64 via lines 68 , 70 to ensure full retraction of piston units 28 , 54 occurs before the change of signal is actuated . material output rate is infinitely variable by controlling the primary pump flow delivered to hydraulic cylinders 38 , 64 . material is pumped at equal material pressure from both material cylinders 16 , 42 due to the fact that material cylinders 16 , 42 have equal bore diameters , hydraulic cylinders 38 , 64 have equal diameter pistons 36 , 62 and the hydraulic cylinders 38 , 64 are driven at the piston side by the same primary hydraulic pump . maximum material pressure is accurately limited by a corresponding maximum hydraulic pressure setting at the primary hydraulic pump . the present invention thus provides a positive displacement hydraulic cylinder drive system wherein a partial volume a and volume b of material are pumped on each alternating , unequal length stroke of coordinating piston units 28 , 54 to continuously pump material to the outlet 14 . in contrast with the prior art , the system 10 reduces the number of components required ( minimizing the number of check valves ), eliminates the need for complex drive systems and separate mechanical pressure limiting devices as encountered in mechanical systems , and allows a greater control of the maximum pressure of the material cylinders . it should be understood that the hydraulic system 10 can be either an open loop or a closed loop system . for the purpose of detecting and signaling change of direction of the piston units , the type , the amount and / or location of the proximity sensor may vary . also , the change in direction could be detected alternately using hydraulic pressure signals and correspondingly piloted valves . various alternatives and embodiments are contemplated as being within the scope of the following claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter regarded as the invention . | 5 |
the present invention provides a digital latching micro - regulator including a bi - stable latching valve for accurately controlling fluid flow on demand . the present invention will be described below relative to an illustrative embodiment . those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention may be implemented in a number of different applications and embodiments and is not specifically limited in its application to the particular embodiments depicted herein . the present invention provides a bi - stable latching valve for selectively blocking fluid flow through a channel . the valve is positioned in a channel to selectively block liquid flow through the channel . as shown in fig1 the bi - stable latching valve 10 of the present invention comprises a substrate 20 having an inlet port 22 and an outlet port 24 formed therein in fluid communication with a channel through which liquid flows . the substrate 20 is preferably formed of glass or plastic , though other materials may be used . the bi - stable latching valve 10 further includes a valve seat 30 cooperating with the substrate to define a valve chamber 26 in communication with the inlet port 22 and the outlet port 24 for containing a volume of fluid . the valve seat 30 selectively blocks the inlet port 22 to regulate the flow of fluid into the chamber 26 . the position of the valve seat 30 controls the fluid flow into the chamber 26 . the position of the valve seat 30 is controlled by an actuator assembly 50 . the actuator assembly can comprise any suitable structure for selectively operating or moving the valve seat 30 to block the inlet port 22 or the outlet port 24 . according to one embodiment , the actuator assembly includes a cantilever beam 40 hinged to the substrate 20 , an actuator 52 , and a latching mechanism 60 . the position of the valve seat 30 is determined by the position of the cantilever beam 40 . the valve seat 30 is connected to the cantilever beam 40 , which is in turn connected to the actuator 52 . the actuator 52 can comprise any suitable structure for moving the valve seat 30 between an open position for allowing fluid to enter or exit the chamber , and a closed position . examples of suitable actuators include mechanical , electrical , electromechanical , and magnetic devices . according to a preferred embodiment , the actuator 52 is a piezoelectric element . the cantilever beam 40 is hinged at a first end 41 to the glass substrate 20 and rotates about the fixed hinge under the control of the actuator 52 to move the valve seat 30 between the open and closed positions . when the cantilever beam 40 is lowered , the beam pushes the valve seat 30 into a closed position , thereby blocking the inlet port and preventing fluid flow into the chamber . when the cantilever beam 40 is raised , the valve 30 is moved to an open position to allow fluid flow through the chamber 26 . the cantilever beam 40 is driven by the piezoelectric element 52 , which selectively applies a driving force to the beam 40 . the bi - stable latching valve 10 further includes a latching mechanism 60 for selectively latching or holding the beam 40 in a selected position . the latching mechanism can include any suitable mechanical , electrical , electromechanical or magnetic structure suitable for latching the beam 40 . the latching mechanism 60 , according to a preferred embodiment , comprises a permanent magnet 62 and a permalloy element 46 disposed on a free end 44 of the beam 40 . the permanent magnet 62 is attached to the glass substrate 20 opposite the permalloy element 46 and is configured to attract the permalloy element 46 . the magnetic attraction between the permanent magnet and the permalloy element is effective to latch , i . e . to retain , the valve element in a closed position to prevent fluid flow through the bistable latching valve 10 . as shown in fig2 a and 2 b , the valve seat 30 is cylindrical in shape and includes a rim 38 about the circumference of the valve seat 30 , which defines the valve chamber 26 . the rim 38 cooperates with the glass substrate 20 to fluidly seal the valve chamber 26 . the valve chamber communicates with the inlet port 22 and the outlet port 24 . the valve seat 30 is preferably formed of a flexible material , such as silicone rubber , though one skilled the art will recognize that alternate materials may be used . the valve seat 30 further comprises a membrane portion 32 , a first protrusion 34 for contacting the cantilever beam 40 and second protrusion 36 for selectively blocking the inlet port 22 to prevent the flow of fluid through the valve chamber 26 , thereby blocking fluid flow through the associated channel . the second protrusion blocks the inlet port 22 when the cantilever beam depresses the valve seat 30 by pushing on the first protrusion 34 . one skilled in the art will recognize that the valve seat 30 is not limited to a cylindrical shape , and that any suitable shape may be utilized . the operation of the bi - stable latching valve 10 is illustrated in fig3 a - 3 b and fig4 a - 4 b . the bi - stable latching valve 10 switches between two stable states : an on state , which allows the flow of liquid through the valve chamber and an off state , which prevents the flow of liquid through the valve chamber . the state of the bi - stable latching valve 10 is controlled by the driving force on the cantilever beam 40 by the actuator 52 and the magnetic latching force created by the permanent magnet 62 on the beam free end . according to the illustrative embodiment , the bi - stable latching valve only requires power to switch between the two stable states and does not otherwise require power to operate . [ 0024 ] fig3 a illustrates the bi - stable latching valve 10 in an off state , where the second protrusion 36 of the valve seat 30 blocks the inlet port 22 so that fluid is prevented from flowing through the valve chamber 26 . in the off state , the latching mechanism 60 latches the cantilever beam 40 in the closed position by securing the permalloy element 46 to the permanent magnet 60 . as shown , when the attractive force of the magnet pulls the cantilever beam towards the magnet , causing the cantilever beam to push the valve into the closed position , such that the first protrusion blocks the inlet port . the valve maintains the closed position until activated . to open the bi - stable latching valve and allow fluid flow , a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element 52 using a controller ( not shown ). the applied voltage causes the piezoelectric element to compress , applying an opposite force on the cantilever beam in the direction away from the magnet . if the force generated is sufficient to overcome the magnetic attraction between the magnet and the permalloy , the magnet releases the permalloy element and the cantilever beam raises , pulling the valve seat 30 clear of the inlet port 22 . as shown in fig3 b , fluid flows through unobstructed inlet port 22 into the valve chamber and out of the valve chamber via the outlet port . the bi - stable latching valve 10 remains in the on state , as shown in fig4 a , until the controller subsequently actuates the piezoelectric element 52 by applying a second voltage . the second voltage causes the piezoelectric element to expand , which applies a driving force on the cantilever beam 40 , pushing the beam towards the magnet 60 . the lowered beam in turn applies a force to the valve seat 30 , which shifts into a closed position , blocking the inlet port . when the permalloy element 46 is brought close to the magnet 62 , a magnetic latching force generated by the magnet latches the beam 40 into the closed position until a subsequent actuation of the piezoelectric element 52 . the bi - stable latching valve 10 may be employed in a valve architecture to provide binary addressable flow control using digital latching . as shown in fig5 multiple bistable latching valves may be connected to channels 550 of specific flow conductance that vary according to a pre - determined ratio to provide a micro - regulator 500 . each bi - stable latching valve 10 can be set to an on or off state as described previously , allowing or blocking flow through its associated flow channel 550 . the bi - stable latching valves are selectively activated in various combinations to provide a number of discrete flow conductance states through the micro - regulator 500 . the net flow through the micro - regulator is therefore determined by the sum of the flows through the open bi - stable latching valves 10 . the number of discrete flow conductance states is determined by the number of bi - stable latching valves in the system and the flow conductance ratios between the channels . a typical example of a 4 - bit micro - regulator system is illustrated in fig5 . the individual channels 550 a , 550 b , 550 c and 550 d in the system have flow conductance ratios of 1 : 2 : 4 : 8 , thus providing 16 discrete net flow conductance states . for example , a first flow conductance state may be provided by opening all of the bi - stable latching valves 10 a - 10 d to allow flow through all of the channels 550 a , 550 b , 550 c and 550 d . a second flow conductance state is achieved by closing the first bi - stable latching valve 10 a , while leaving the remaining bi - stable latching valves 10 b , 10 c , 10 d open , allowing fluid flow through the channels 550 b , 550 c and 550 d only . a third conductance state is achieved by closing the first and second bi - stable latching valves 10 a , 10 b while leaving the remaining bi - stable latching valves 10 c , 10 d to allow flow through the associated channels 550 c and 550 d , and so on . this allows flow rates to be controlled to a 6 . 67 % precision . higher precision can be obtained by increasing the number of bits in the system — for example an 8 - bit system has 128 discrete states , achieving less than 1 % precision in the flow rate control . one skilled in the art will recognize that any suitable bi - stable valve for selectively blocking liquid flow through a channel may be used in the flow regulating system 500 of fig5 to provide variable flow resistance . the micro - regulator 500 may have any suitable number of channels arranged in any suitable configuration and having any suitable flow resistance to achieve a system having variable flow resistance , wherein the flow resistance depends on the state of the bi - stable valves . the manufacturing process for the bi - stable latching valve 10 of an illustrative embodiment of the present invention is efficient , economical and simplified . the valve seat 30 may be formed by surface micromachining of a substrate , followed by deposition of silicone rubber , the permalloy element 46 and polysilicon . the substrate 20 is etched to form a channel and then drilled to form the inlet port 22 and the outlet port 24 . the cantilever beam 40 may be attached and hinged to the glass substrate through means known in the art . the permalloy element may be bonded to the beam and the permanent magnet 62 may be bonded to the substrate through means known in the art . the piezoelectric element 52 or other actuator for driving the cantilever beam 40 may be attached to the beam through any suitable means . the present invention has been described relative to an illustrative embodiment . since certain changes may be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention , it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense . it is also to be understood that the following claims are to cover all generic and specific features of the invention described herein , and all statements of the scope of the invention which , as a matter of language , might be said to fall therebetween . | 8 |
fig1 is a top view showing , in stylized form , a mosfet power chip 10 having current and voltage sensing capabilities . for simplicity , bond pads and external connections are not shown . a major part 15 of the chip area is devoted to the main transistor switch , designated t 1 . a pair of smaller areas 17 and 18 are devoted to second and third transistors defining first and second current mirror transistors designated t 2 and t 3 . according to well known power mosfet practice , each of the transistors is actually implemented as a number of small mosfet cells 20 . in operation , the current mirror cells tend to carry more current per cell than the main transistor cells carry per cell . the reason for this is that the mirror region has a higher periphery - to - area ratio than the main transistor . the current through the peripheral cells can spread laterally beyond the cell boundaries and thus sees less ohmic resistance than the current through interior cells . for example , with a dual row of mirror cells and cell count ratio of 1000 : 1 , it is observed that the current ratio is about 700 : 1 . in the illustrative embodiment , main transistor t 1 has 10 , 000 cells , current mirror transistor t 2 has 10 cells , and current mirror transistor t 3 has two cells . in some applications , current mirror transistor t 3 might contain only one cell . fig2 is a circuit schematic of chip 10 . the cells in main transistor t 1 are connected in parallel with their gates in common , their sources in common , and their drains in common . similarly , each of current mirrors t 2 and t 3 , contains a plurality of cells connected in parallel . for the present application , the three transistors have their drains commonly connected to a node d and their gates commonly connected to a node g . transistors t 1 , t 2 , and t 3 have separate source nodes s 1 , s 2 , and s 3 . current mirrors in the prior art have had a problem with crosstalk . in order for a current mirror to provide a reliable signal , it is important that the mirror cells &# 39 ; sources be isolated from the main switch cells &# 39 ; sources . fig3 is a cross - sectional view showing portions of adjacent main transistor and current mirror cells , and the problem associated therewith . the chip is formed on an n + substrate 22 having a common drain connection 23 on the bottom side . an n - epitaxial (&# 34 ; epi &# 34 ;) layer 25 is deposited on the top side of the substrate . a cell 27 of the main transistor comprises a p / p + body 30 formed in epi layer 25 and an n + source region 32 formed within the perimeter of body 30 . the portion of body 30 adjacent the surface and between the source region and the n - epi defines a channel region 35 . a polysilicon gate 37 overlies the channel region and is separated from it by a thin layer 38 of gate oxide . a metal connection 39 connects source region 32 to a source node ( not shown ). the mirror cell is similarly configured , and primed reference numerals are used to show its corresponding elements . in operation , a potential applied to gate 37 causes inversion of the material in channel region 35 to provide a current path between source region 32 and drain 23 . however , the potential on the gate also causes an accumulation region 40 to form between cells . thus , main transistor channel region 35 , accumulation region 40 , and current mirror channel region 35 &# 39 ; provide a continuous path between main transistor source region 32 and current mirror transistor source region 32 &# 39 ;. while this would not be a problem between adjacent main cells , it can be a problem with current mirror cells and adjacent main cells . the resistance can be quite low and therefore can lead to crosstalk between the current mirror and the main switch , thus affecting the accuracy of the sensing . fig4 is a cross - sectional view showing the region between main transistor t 1 and current mirror t 2 according to the present invention . isolation is provided by a row of isolation cells 50 , each comprising a p / p + body 52 , formed in the same manner as p / p + bodies 30 and 30 &# 39 ;. however , the isolation cells are formed without an n + source . this is accomplished simply during the manufacturing process by blocking the n + diffusion in isolation cells 50 so that no source regions are formed . body 52 is preferably tied to the source potential . fig5 is a top plan view illustrating an alternative technique for isolating main transistor t 1 and the current mirror t 2 . instead of individual cells for isolation , a continuous guard ring 55 is used . guard ring 55 may have the same p / p + doping profile and width as isolation cells 50 , but it need not . in any event , it extends around the mirror cells , designated 57 , to isolate them from the main cells , designated 58 . if the mirror is at the edge of the active chip area , the guard ring need not extend all the way around . multiple guard rings can also be used . the guard ring ( s ) are preferably tied to the source potential . fig6 is a schematic illustrating circuit connections for sensing current , voltage , temperature , and power . the sensing entails measuring voltage drops across resistors connected to source nodes s 2 and s 3 . the resistors may be off the chip , or may be formed on the chip ( e . g . polysilicon ). current sensing is done in the manner of the prior art in that a resistor r 2 is connected between first current mirror source node s 2 and a common circuit node to which main transistor source node s 1 is connected . resistor r 2 is a relatively low value resistor , compared to the on - resistance of transistor t 2 , but still orders magnitude above the value of the power resistors that are necessary when current mirror techniques are not used . for current sensing , the current mirror should have enough cells to provide an adequate representation of the whole chip . the current flowing in main transistor t 1 is determined on the basis of the ratio , designated b 12 , of the current through main transistor t 1 to the current through current mirror transistor t 2 , the value of resistor r 2 , and the voltage appearing across resistor r 2 as follows : equation 1 follows from ohm &# 39 ; s law and equation 2 follows from the current mirror ratio , and substitution of equation 1 . voltage sensing is accomplished by connecting a resistor r 3 having a value substantially greater than the on - resistance of current mirror transistor t 3 . since current mirror transistor t 3 contains so few cells and therefore conducts so little current , with the high resistance in series , the voltage across resistor r 3 will , to a great degree of accuracy , be equal to the voltage on the drain of transistor t 3 and , hence , on the drain of main transistor t 1 . it should be noted that isolating the current mirror in the manner shown in fig4 is not always necessary , and indeed may be dispensed with in the voltage sensing application where so little current is flowing . thus , the voltages appearing across resistors r 2 and r 3 are representative of the current through main transistor t 1 and the voltage across main transistor t 1 . the temperature of the chip may be determined by calculating the on - resistance of the chip and correlating that value with the known temperature dependence of the on - resistance . the on - resistance is readily calculated as follows ; where the v d and i 1 are the voltage and current in the main transistor as determined on the basis of the current mirror sensings . for power mos devices , r on increases with temperature in a very well known way which may be approximated by the following equation : where r on ( t ) is the on - resistance at temperature t , r 25 is the on - resistance at 25 ° c ., and a is the temperature dependence coefficient . the parameter a varies based on the voltage rating of the device , but for a given device type is almost constant with at most slight variations due to processing tolerances . for example , for 900 volt devices , a = 0 . 01 /° c . equation 4 can be rearranged to yield temperature as a function of the measured value of r on and the parameters r 25 and a as follows : this may be illustrated with a specific example where the chip is characterized as follows : n 1 = 10 , 000 ; n 2 = 10 ; n 3 = 2 ; b 12 = 700 ; b 13 = 3000 r 25 = 0 . 5 ohm ; a = 0 . 01 /° c . where n l , n 2 , and n 3 are the numbers of cells in transistors t 1 , t 2 , and t 3 , respectively . assume that a load and power supply are connected to the common drain node d and that the external resistances are as follows : consider first a situation where the following voltages are measured across resistors r 2 and r 3 : the power being dissipated in the chip is given by the product of current and voltage , which at 65 ° c . equals 8 . 75 watts and at 125 ° c . equals 12 . 25 watts . note that in the examples , the on - resistances for the main transistor are 0 . 7 ohm at 65 ° c . and 1 ohm at 125 ° c . therefore , the on - resistances for transistor t 2 are 490 ohm and 700 ohm and those for transistor t 3 are 2100 ohm and 3000 ohm . the resistance values for r 2 and r 3 need only satisfy the requirements that r 2 be substantially less than the on - resistance of transistor t 2 and that r 3 be substantially greater than the on - resistance of t 3 . fig7 is a schematic illustrating circuit connections for sensing current , voltage , temperature , and power for an embodiment of the chip that contains a main transistor t 1 &# 39 ; and a single current mirror transistor t 2 &# 39 ;. as in the case of the embodiment of fig1 , and 6 , the main transistor and current mirror transistor have a common drain connection d &# 39 ;. the source s 1 &# 39 ; of main transistor t 1 &# 39 ; is connected to a common circuit node . the source node s 2 &# 39 ; of current mirror transistor t 2 &# 39 ; is coupled to the common circuit node through a resistor r 3 &# 39 ; and through the series connection of a low voltage analog switch sw and a resistor r 2 &# 39 ;. resistor r 2 &# 39 ; has a resistance substantially less than the on - resistance of transistor t 2 &# 39 ;. resistor r 3 &# 39 ; has a resistance substantially greater than the on - resistance of transistor t 2 &# 39 ;. when switch sw is open , source node s 2 &# 39 ; is coupled to the common node only through high value resistor r 3 &# 39 ;, in which case the voltage at the source node , designated v 3 &# 39 ;, is approximately equal to the voltage at drain node d &# 39 ;, as described above in connection with fig6 . when switch sw is closed , the resistance to ground is the parallel combination of resistors r 2 &# 39 ; and r 3 &# 39 ; which is approximately equal to the resistance of r 2 &# 39 ;. therefore , the voltage v 2 &# 39 ; at the switch provides a measure of the current flowing through current mirror transistor t 2 &# 39 ; and hence main transistor t 1 &# 39 ;. each of resistors r 2 &# 39 ; and r 3 &# 39 ; and switch sw can be a discrete component off the chip , or can be integrated on the chip . in conclusion , it can be seen that the present invention provides an improved current mirror construction for a power transistor wherein one or more current mirrors are integrated onto the same chip as the main transistor . suitable connections to the source node permit accurate current and voltage sensing , from which other valuable information ( temperature , power , on - resistance ) may be obtained . while the above is a complete description of the preferred embodiment in the present invention , various modifications , alternative constructions , and equivalents may be employed . therefore , the above description and illustrations should not be taken as limiting the scope of the present invention which is defined by the appended claims . | 7 |
the vehicle braking installation depicted in fig1 and noted overall by the reference 10 is designed in the form of a braking installation using external energy , connected to all the wheel brake cylinders , and of an emergency braking installation using muscle power , connected by two independent brake circuits i and ii to the front wheel brake cylinders of the vehicle . in fig1 the brake circuits are depicted diagrammatically using hydraulic circuitry symbols : the external - energy brake circuit has , as its external energy source for service braking , a hydraulic pump 12 the intake of which is connected to a hydraulic fluid supply tank 14 . the hydraulic pump 12 is driven by an electric motor 16 . the delivery side of the hydraulic pump 12 is connected to a hydraulic accumulator 18 which delivers brake fluid under pressure for service braking , it being possible for a pressure - limiting valve ( not depicted ) to be connected between the intake and delivery pipes of the hydraulic pump 12 to limit the maximum delivery pressure of the hydraulic pump 12 . wheel brake cylinders 20 are connected to the delivery pipe of the hydraulic pump 12 and to the hydraulic accumulator 18 via an inlet valve 22 allowing pressure in the cylinders 20 to increase . to drop the braking pressure in the wheel brake cylinders 22 [ sic ], an outlet valve 24 is provided which places the wheel brake cylinder 20 in communication with the supply tank 14 . any given braking pressure can thus be obtained in the wheel brake cylinders 20 using the inlet valve 22 and the outlet valve 24 , controlled appropriately by a computer ( not depicted ) which also controls the operation of the pump motor 16 and which receives signals that represent the pressure in the wheel brake cylinders , these signals being delivered by pressure sensors 26 , and signals representing the pressure in the hydraulic accumulator 18 , delivered by a pressure sensor 28 . in the event of failure of the braking installation using external energy , so to obtain emergency braking using muscle power , the brake circuits i and ii are connected independently of one another , each by means of a shut - off valve 30 , to a tandem master cylinder 32 on which the feed tank 14 is mounted and with which the brake master cylinder 32 communicates directly . the shut - off valve 30 is a twoway , two - position solenoid valve which is open in the position of rest , and which is also controlled by the computer . during operation in service braking mode using external energy , the shut - off valve 30 is closed , that is to say that , from the hydraulic point of view , the brake master cylinder 32 is isolated from the vehicle braking installation . during service braking using external energy , the brake master cylinder 32 acts as a sensor of the reference value for the hydraulic pressure in the wheel brake cylinders 20 , it being necessary for this pressure to be controlled by the computer . for this , the master cylinder 32 is equipped with a sensor 34 which senses the travel of the pedal 36 which actuates the master cylinder , and with a sensor 38 which detects actuation of this pedal 36 , a sensor 40 being connected to the primary brake circuit to detect the pressure in the master cylinder , the signals provided by the sensors 34 , 38 and 40 being delivered to the computer . as an alternative , provision could be made for the sensor 38 also to detect the force exerted by the driver of the vehicle on the pedal 36 . the vehicle braking installation 10 is actuated using the brake pedal 36 , which actuates a control rod 42 of the brake master cylinder 32 , this rod itself actuating a primary piston 44 sliding in a bore 45 formed inside the brake master cylinder 32 . upon a service braking action using external energy caused by actuation of the brake pedal 36 , the shut - off valves 30 are closed , and this means that brake fluid cannot be delivered from the master cylinder into the brake circuits i and ii . in order that the driver of the vehicle should , however , experience the usual sensation of actuating the brake pedal 36 , characterized by a given travel of the pedal 36 in relation with the pressure generated in the hydraulic circuit , and therefore with the feeling of slowing the vehicle down , a brake actuation simulator 46 is connected to the primary brake circuit i of the brake master cylinder 32 . as can best be seen in fig2 the brake actuation simulator 46 comprises a simulator body 48 in which there is formed a bore 49 where a simulator piston 50 can slide in a sealed manner . the body 48 may be arranged in the form of a cartridge to be screwed into the master cylinder or , as has been depicted in fig2 be of a single piece with the body of the master cylinder . the simulator piston 50 is subject to the action of a compression spring 52 which also bears on a cap 54 secured to the simulator body 48 , and within the bore 49 it delimits a simulation chamber 56 . the way in which the braking installation just described functions will now be explained briefly , assuming that all the components are operational . under this assumption , the shut - off valves 30 are energized by the computer each time the sensor 38 detects actuation of the brake pedal 36 , which means that these valves 30 prevent communication between the master cylinder and the rest of the braking installation . when the driver of the vehicle actuates the brake pedal 36 , the control rod 42 actuates the primary piston 44 of the master cylinder which then generates an increase in pressure in the primary working chamber 58 situated between the primary piston 44 and a secondary piston 60 itself also sliding in the bore 45 and delimiting therein a secondary working chamber 59 . this increase in pressure is communicated to the simulation chamber 56 and is exerted on the simulator piston 50 , which then moves against the action of the compression spring 52 . more specifically , and as can best be seen in fig2 and 3 , the secondary piston 60 is formed with a part 62 for sliding and guidance in the bore 45 , for example by means of two lands 64 and 66 fitted with sealing cups . the secondary piston 60 is also formed with a land 68 , of a diameter more or less equal to that of the bore 45 , and fitted with an o - ring seal 70 . the bore 45 is also formed , at the front end of the primary working chamber 58 , with a peripheral groove 72 , so that in the position of rest , the groove 72 lies facing the land 68 of the secondary piston 60 . the simulation chamber 56 also opens out into the bore 45 downstream of the groove 72 , via an opening 74 . when the pressure increases in the primary working chamber 58 , brake fluid can thus be delivered to the simulation chamber 56 , passing over the o - ring seal 70 and through the opening 74 . this then allows the primary piston 44 to move . the stroke 34 , actuation or force 38 and pressure 40 sensors then emit signals which are supplied to the computer which in turn controls the motor 16 of the pump 12 and the solenoid valves 22 and 24 in order to generate , within the wheel brake cylinders 20 , an increase in pressure which corresponds to the signals received from these sensors , and therefore a braking action which is in relation with the action of the driver of the vehicle on the brake pedal . when one of the components of the braking installation experiences a failure , this is detected by the computer which then commands the deenergizing of the shut - off valves 30 , which return to their position of rest depicted in fig1 and therefore allow communication between the master cylinder 32 and the rest of the braking installation . in this failure situation , when the driver of the vehicle actuates the brake pedal 36 , the control rod 42 actuates the primary piston 44 of the master cylinder which then generates an increase in pressure in the primary working chamber 58 situated between the primary piston 44 and the secondary piston 60 . as the shut - off valves 30 are then open , the pressure exerted on the secondary piston 60 generates on the latter a force which makes it move forward . in this movement , the land 68 moves and the o - ring seal 70 comes into contact with the bore 45 , thus closing the communication between the primary working chamber 58 and the simulation chamber 56 . the primary piston 60 then in turn causes an increase in pressure in the secondary working chamber 72 situated between it and the closed end of the bore 45 . this increase in pressure is then communicated to the wheel brake cylinders by the hydraulic circuits i and ii . it can therefore indeed be seen that in this failure situation , the simulation chamber is taken out of the circuit , which means that all of the brake fluid from the primary and secondary chambers of the master cylinder is used to effect emergency braking using muscle power . all of the muscle power of the driver of the vehicle is thus used for emergency braking without this power being dissipated into other devices such as the travel simulator 46 . the master cylinder is of a particularly simple design , which guarantees that it will be reliable and ensures a low manufacturing cost . fig4 and 5 respectively illustrate first and second alternative forms of a second embodiment of the invention . just like in the first embodiment , the simulation chamber 56 has an inlet orifice 74 which opens into the bore 45 , and means of selective communication are provided for connecting the simulation chamber 56 to the primary working chamber 58 when the secondary piston 60 is in its position of rest and for isolating the simulation chamber 56 from the primary working chamber 58 when the secondary piston 60 is moved away from its position of rest , that is to say if a component of the braking installation should fail . more specifically , these means of selective communication essentially comprise ( fig4 and 5 ) an axial hole 601 and a radial hole 603 , both made in the secondary piston 60 , and a plunger of elongate shape 80 which rests on a pin 90 passing across the bore 45 so as to remain stationary with respect to the bore 45 . the plunger 80 is mounted so that it can slide in the axial hole 601 of the secondary piston 60 , this axial hole having an inlet 602 which opens into the primary working chamber 58 . the radial hole 603 in the secondary piston 60 has an outlet 604 which permanently communicates with the simulation chamber 56 and which is selectively placed in communication with the inlet 602 of the axial hole 601 . finally , the plunger 80 interacts with the axial hole 601 to form , at least with it , a hydraulic valve that allows the outlet 604 of the radial hole 603 to be isolated from the inlet 602 of the axial hole 601 when the secondary piston 60 is moved away from its position of rest . in the first alternative form ( fig4 ), the plunger 80 has a blind axial hole 801 and a radial passage 802 which communicates with this blind axial hole 801 . the radial passage 802 , which forms a first seat for the hydraulic valve , is placed facing the radial hole 603 of the secondary piston 60 when this piston is in its position of rest . by contrast , when the secondary piston 60 is moved away from its position of rest , the radial passage 802 finds itself shut off by the axial hole 601 of the secondary piston 60 , which itself forms a second seat for the hydraulic valve , thus preventing brake fluid from flowing into the simulation chamber if a component of the braking installation should fail . in the second alternative form ( fig5 ), the inlet 602 of the axial hole 601 in the secondary piston 60 bears an annular seal 605 which forms a first seat for the hydraulic valve . thus , when the secondary piston 60 is moved away from its position of rest , the annular seal 605 is shut off by the plunger 80 which itself forms a second seat for the hydraulic valve , so that any flow of brake fluid into the simulation chamber is prevented if a component of the braking installation should fail . | 1 |
referring to fig1 and fig2 the die means 1 consists mainly of a holding ring 3 of a redrawing die 2 , a first spacer 4 , a holding ring 6 of a first ironing die 5 , a second spacer 7 , a holding ring 9 of a second ironing die 8 , a third spacer 10 , and a holding ring 12 of a third ironing die 11 . a numeral 13 denotes a nozzle for a cooling lubricant 14 , and 15 denotes a discharge hole for the cooling lubricant injected through the nozzle 13 . as shown in fig3 the die means 1 is placed on two pieces of rails 17 fixed on a housing 16 and pushed by a leaf spring 19 fixed on a cover 18 which is installed hingedly on the housing 16 , thus being supported at three points . a base plate 20 which is fixed on the housing 16 receives a stripper 21 having fingers ( not shown ) for stripping out an ironed can body from the punch 40 . a cylinder plate 23 is fixed on the housing 16 with a bolt 24 . there is formed an annular air cylinder 25 in the cylinder plate 23 along a flange 3a of the redrawing die holding ring 3 , and as shown in fig2 and fig4 an annular piston 26 with an o - ring 27 is enclosed in the air cylinder 25 so that it comes in contact with an end surface 3a &# 39 ; of the flange 3a . a pressure air is supplied to the air cylinder 25 through a hole 28 and a piping ( not illustrated ). the holding rings 3 , 6 , 9 , 2 and the spacers 4 , 7 , 10 are pushed and so fastened to the base plate 20 by the annular piston 26 . demounting or remounting of the holding rings or the spacers can be done far easily as compared with a conventional case wherein the fastening is done with bolts or the like , by opening the cover 18 and depressurizing the air cylinder 25 to release the annular piston 26 from pushing and fastening . a given length and a plurality of pins 29 extending axially ( 3 pieces in case of the drawing ) are fixed on the annular piston 26 . the function of the pins 29 will be described later . a cup holder 31 is fixed on the cylinder plate 23 with bolts 35 . as shown in fig1 and fig5 the cup holder 31 is of a short cylindrical form with a feed side a open , and its inside diameter is specified to be almost equal to an outside diameter of the drawn cup 32 to be held therein and redrawn . a numeral 33 denotes a nozzle for injecting a cooling lubricant 34 onto the outside of the sidewall portion of the drawn cup 32 . as will be apparent from fig1 and fig5 the outside 23a of the cylinder plate 23 on the feed side a of the drawn cup 32 is formed so as to be of the same plane as the outside 3b of the redrawing die holding ring 3 which is on the same plane as the outside 2a of the redrawing die 2 . the drawn cup 32 can therefore be fed smoothly . in case the outside 2a of the redrawing die and the outside 3b of the redrawing die holding ring are aligned with the end surface 3a &# 39 ; of the flange 3a so as to simplify the structure of the redrawing die holding ring 3 , since the drawn cup 32 will be afloat axially when it comes near the redrawing die 2 , the drawn cup 32 comes to bounce due to the pressures of the cooling lubricant injected through the nozzle 33 and of air blown out of a hole 42 of the punch 40 which will be described later , the center thereof is dislocated , and thus the drawn cup 32 tends to be crushed by a retainer pad 43 described later . however , such a trouble will not be caused in the case of this embodiment . then , the drawn cup 32 is guided by a cage 36 ( refer to fig1 ) to descend on gravity in the direction indicated by an arrow b , and after reaching the position indicated in fig1 and fig5 it is fed in the direction indicated by an arrow c by a shuttle 37 and placed on the redrawing die 2 . the punch 40 is fixed on the nose of the ram 41 , and the ram 41 is reciprocated axially by a crank mechanism ( not illustrated ). a hole 42 passes through the punch 40 and the ram 41 , and pressure air is blown out of the punch nose at all times through the hole 42 . the pressure air is so fed as to make the ironed can body easily come out of the punch 40 in the stripper 21 . a hollow cylindrical retainer pad 43 functions to prevent wrinkles from arising on the drawn cup 32 during redrawing and is specified to have the inside diameter slightly larger than the outside diameter of the punch 40 , and the outside diameter a little smaller than the inside diameter of the drawn cup 32 . the retainer pad 43 is fixed on a sliding portion 44a of an annular air cylinder 44 via its flange 43a . a supporting portion 44b of the annular air cylinder 44 is fixed on a support wing 45 , and the sliding portion 44a is adapted to be slidable along a bushing 46 of the supporting part 44b . the pressure air is supplied into the annular air cylinder 44 through a piping ( not illustrated ) by way of a hole 47 . the support wing 45 is reciprocated axially at a given timing by a cam mechanism ( not illustrated ) driven by a crank mechanism ( not illustrated ) which drives the ram 41 . the height of the pin 29 is specified so that the end surface 29a of the pin 29 will be engaged with the flange 43a of the retainer pad 43 , when the clearance between the outside surface 2a of the redrawing die 2 and the nose surface 43b of the retainer pad 43 is kept preferably at about ( 0 . 5 ˜ 0 . 9 )× t ( t being a thickness of the bottom of the drawn cup 32 ), thus leaving the above clearance not less than the above value . therefore , at the end of the redrawing step , the earings 32a ( fig5 ) of the drawn cup 32 will never be thinner than the value ( 0 . 5 ˜ 0 . 9 )× t or so , and thus the fragments mentioned above can be prevented from generating . further , with the height of the pin 29 as above , the above clearance will not develop greater than the thickness t of the bottom of the drawn cup 32 due to the engagement of the pin 29 with the flange 43a , and , therefore , the retainer pad 43 will be left powerful enough to suppress occurrence of the wrinkles . redrawing - ironing and particularly redrawing are carried out on the above apparatus as follows : first , the drawn cup 32 which have descended on gravity by way of the cage 36 shown in fig1 is placed on the redrawing die 2 by the shuttle 37 . at this point of time , the punch 40 and the nose of the retainer pad 43 are positioned rightward from the cup holder 31 so as not to prevent feeding of the drawn cup 32 , as shown in fig5 . subsequently , a support wing 45 goes leftward , the nose surface 43b of the retainer pad 43 comes in contact with the inside of the drawn cup 32 , and thus the inside is pushed under air pressure by the annular air cylinder 44 ( the state given in fig2 ). at this point of time , there is left a clearance of about ( 0 . 1 ˜ 0 . 5 )× t between the pin 29 and the flange 43a . the punch 42 then goes leftward to redraw , and at the point of time when the drawn cup ( not illustrated ) has passed the redrawing die 2 , the end surface 29a of the pin 29 is engaged with the flange 43a . the ironing process then ensues . the advantage that the pin 29 is fixed directly on the annular piston 26 is as follows : the die holding rings 3 , 6 , 9 , 12 and the spacers 4 , 7 , 10 are often replaced owing to wear and failure of the dies . however , a dimensional accuracy of the thickness of each holding ring and spacer is about 0 ˜+ 0 . 02 mm . therefore , a dispersion at about + 0 . 02 mm × 7 maximum ( 7 being a total number of the holding rings and spacers )=+ 0 . 14 mm will arise on overall thickness of the die means 1 . in case the pin 29 is fixed on the annular piston 26 , the dispersion will not affect the clearance between the outside surface 2a of the redrawing die and the nose surface 43b of the retainer pad when the pin 29 is engaged with the flange 43a . however , in case the pin 29 is fixed on the housing 16 , or the cylinder plate 23 , or the cup holder 31 , the above dispersion will be influential directly to the above clearance . since the thickness t of the bottom of the drawn cup 32 is usually about 0 . 3 ˜ 0 . 4 mm , if the above clearance is set at 0 . 3 mm × 0 . 5 = 0 . 15 mm to a specific die means 1 when the thickness t is 0 . 3 mm , then a replacement of the die means may cause the above clearance to be 0 . 15 mm - 0 . 14 mm = 0 . 01 mm owing to the above dispersion . when the clearance is such small as above , there may arise the trouble that the earings 32a of the drawn cup 32 are extended thin and broken into fragments . as described above , in case the die means is fastened by the annular piston , the die holding rings and spacers can be replaced very easily . further , in case the pin for preventing the clearance between the redrawing die and the retainer pad from being less than a given value is fixed on the annular piston , the above earings trouble will not be incurred from a fluctuation of an overall thickness of the die means due to the above replacement . | 1 |
referring to fig1 a preferred embodiment of an article removal alarm system 10 of the present invention includes a base unit 14 having an ultrasonic transmitter ( not shown in fig1 ) operative to transmit an ultrasonic signal through a meshed cover 16 . the ultrasonic signal will typically be transmitted continuously throughout the area surrounding the base unit 14 . mounted upon the base unit 14 may be a small notepad ( not shown ) or the like . the article removal system 10 also includes a portable unit 18 having a housing 22 adapted to hold a pen 23 or other writing instrument . in this regard the housing 22 defines a small circular aperture 24 through which protrudes a tip 26 of the pen 23 . the housing 22 includes a first compartment 30 in which is disposed the pen 23 ( shown in phantom ), and a second compartment 34 designed for enclosure of an ultrasonic receiver module 38 and battery 40 ( both also shown in phantom ). a cylindrical wire screen or mesh 44 , interposed between first and second sections 30 and 34 of the housing 22 , allows the ultrasonic signal transmitted by the base unit 14 to reach the ultrasonic receiver module 38 . when the pen 23 is not being used , the portable unit 18 may be placed within a receptacle 41 defined by the base unit 14 . alternately , the ultrasponic signal from the base unit 14 may reach the receiver module 38 through an end aperture ( not shown ) defined by housing 22 . the ultrasonic receiver module 38 includes a threshold circuit ( not shown ) operative to produce a predefined voltage output level when the detected ultrasonic signal from the base unit 14 falls below a predetermined level . in the exemplary embodiment this results in actuation of an audible alarm within the portable unit 18 , it being understood that other alarm indications ( e . g ., flashing light ) could also be provided . the threshold circuit is set to generate the predefined voltage output level , and hence trigger the audible alarm , upon movement of the portable unit 18 beyond a predetermined distance ( e . g ., 15 feet ) from the base unit 14 . because the signal transmitted by the base unit 14 is ultrasonic , movement of the portable unit 18 which causes it to become separated from the base unit 14 by a wall or door will also generally result in actuation of the audible alarm . hence , movement of the portable unit 18 immediately outside of a room within which is disposed the base unit 14 will tend to trigger the alarm . since it will typically be desired that users of the pen or other instrument within the portable unit 18 remain within the same room as the base unit 14 , the use of ultrasonic energy is seen to advantageously enable detection of movement of the portable unit out of an enclosed area . this contrasts with monitoring systems employing rf energy , which are relatively insensitive to movement of a monitored object beyond walls and doors . fig2 provides a block diagram of the ultrasonic receiver module 38 and an audible alarm unit 70 . the receiver module 38 includes an ultrasonic microphone 54 for generating an electrical signal in response to ultrasonic signal energy received from the base unit 14 . the electrical signal is amplified within an amplifier chain 58 , and provided to a threshold detector 62 . when the magnitude of the amplified electrical signal produced by the amplifier chain 58 falls below an adjustable threshold , the output of the threshold detector 62 changes to a predefined level . a delay filter 66 is designed to prevent spurious changes in the output of the threshold detector 62 , occurring in response to brief interruption of the received ultrasonic signal , from triggering an audible alarm unit 70 . after passing through the delay filter 66 , the filtered electrical signal is amplified by a second stage amplifier 68 prior to being supplied to the audible alarm unit 70 . as is indicated by fig2 the audible alarm unit 70 includes an active rc oscillator 74 designed to oscillate at a predefined frequency ( e . g ., 4 khz ) when the output of the threshold detector 62 changes to the requisite predefined level . an audio transducer 78 functions to generate an audible signal in response to oscillation of the active rc oscillator 74 . fig3 provides a detailed schematic representation of the receiver module 38 and audible alarm unit 70 . in the embodiment of fig3 the threshold detector 62 comprises an npn transistor q4 having a base terminal biased at approximately one - half of the available voltage supply . the resistance of a threshold adjustment resistor ( r adj ) may be adjusted in order to alter the threshold received signal level at which the alarm unit 70 is actuated . the collector of npn transistor q4 is operatively coupled to the base of a pnp transistor q5 used to implement the second stage amplifier 68 . as is indicated by fig3 the collector of the pnp transistor q5 drives one input of a first 80 of four nor gates ( 80 , 82 , 84 , 86 ) included within a standard 74hc02 integrated circuit ( i . c .) used to realize the active rc oscillator 74 . turning now to fig4 in an exemplary implementation the ultrasonic transmitter within the base unit 14 includes a crystal - controlled oscillator 90 tuned to oscillate at a predefined ultrasonic frequency ( e . g ., 40 khz ). the crystal - controlled oscillator 90 is coupled to a first port of a first nand gate 92 included within a standard 4 - input 74hc00 i . c . 94 . a pair of output nand gates ( 96 , 98 ) of the 4 - input 74hc00 i . c . 94 are seen to drive an ultrasonic transducer 99 responsible for transmitting the ultrasonic energy received by the portable unit 18 . referring now to fig5 in an alternately preferred embodiment of an article removal alarm system 100 of the present invention the base unit ultrasonic transmitter is included within a personal electronic device 110 . the personal electronic device 110 may comprise , for example , a personal digital assistant or the like having a user interface responsive to a user input utensil such a stylus . such a user interface could comprise , for example , a touch - sensitive or light - sensitive interface screen 112 . the ultrasonic transmitter may be realized as in fig4 but will transmit ultrasonic energy from within a housing 120 of the electronic device 110 through a meshed aperture 130 . the system 100 also includes a portable unit 140 having a housing 142 adapted to hold a stylus 152 or other user input utensil designed for utilization with the interface screen 112 . the housing 142 defines a small circular aperture 158 through which protrudes a tip 160 of the stylus 152 . the housing 142 includes a first compartment 170 in which is disposed the stylus 152 , and a second compartment 174 designed for enclosure of an ultrasonic receiver module 178 and battery 180 . a cylindrical wire screen or mesh 184 , interposed between first and second sections 142a and 142b of the housing 142 , allows the ultrasonic signal transmitted by the ultrasonic transmitter within the electronic device 110 to reach the ultrasonic receiver module 178 . the ultrasonic receiver module 178 is designed to operate in a manner substantially identical to that of the receiver module 38 ( fig1 and 2 ). that is , an audible alarm circuit within the portable unit 140 will generate an audible alarm when the ultrasonic energy received by the receiver module 178 falls below a predetermined threshold . the previous description of the preferred embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention . the various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art , and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without the use of inventive faculty . thus , the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein . | 6 |
it is explained about an embodiment of the present invention by referring to the drawings . fig1 is a schematic diagram of a general fluorescent x - ray analysis apparatus . in fig1 , a primary x - ray 6 from an x - ray generation unit 1 is irradiated to a sample 2 , and a fluorescent x - ray 7 deriving from an element in the sample is induced in the sample 2 and entered into an x - ray detector 3 . in the detector 3 , an electric signal by the x - ray occurs and , by the fact that this signal is converted in a waveform adjuster 4 into a waveform whose wave height is proportional to an energy , it becomes possible to measure an energy of the x - ray and its number ( intensity ). information of that energy and intensity is displayed as a spectrum 5 . fig2 is one explaining a calculation method of the detection lower limit in the present invention . in the present invention , a relation among the detection lower limit , the background intensity , the measurement time and the sensitivity is made one shown by an expression of fig2 . in other words , the detection lower limit is made one changing only by the measurement time , the background intensity and the sensitivity . fig3 is one in which one part of the spectrum 5 in fig1 has been enlarged . a solid line 8 denotes the spectrum of the sample whose concentration of cd is already known , and a peak 10 is a peak of cd . this solid line 8 is made a basic spectrum . first , the background intensity of cd is calculated . from a relation among that background intensity , a gross intensity and the concentration of cd , the sensitivity is calculated by an undermentioned expression ( 1 ). as one example of method of calculating the background intensity , although there is such a method that the x - ray intensity outside a base of the peak is calculated and , from an intensity information in its both sides , there is made a function that y = ax + b to thereby make its area integral into the background , there is no problem if it is other effective method . by the expression of fig2 , if the measurement time is appointed , it becomes possible to find the detection lower limit in the basic spectrum . in other words , it becomes possible to calculate the measurement time for achieving the necessary detection lower limit . a dotted line 9 in fig3 is a spectrum in a case where a coexisting element 11 of sb has been contained in a large amount . if a concentration of cd is the same as the sample whose cd concentration , the basic spectrum of which has been obtained , is already known , although an area intensity in which the background of a peak portion has been subtracted is equal in both , the area intensity of a background portion changes by an existence / nonexistence of sb 11 . if sb is contained in the large amount , the background in a position of an energy of cd increases . even in this case , by calculating the background intensity in a position of cd of the spectrum of the dotted line 9 , renewing the background intensity substituted to the expression of fig2 and , as to a value of the sensitivity , substituting that of the basic spectrum , it becomes possible to calculate the measurement time for achieving the necessary detection lower limit . fig4 is one in which a cd periphery between the spectrums in fig1 has been enlarged , and denotes the spectrum of the cd periphery when the sample size has changed . the solid line 8 is the sample whose concentration of cd is already known , and this is made the basic spectrum . it is constituted by the cd peak 10 and a scattered ray intensity portion 13 . an alternate long and short dash line 12 shows a cd peak 10 ′ and its scattered ray intensity 13 when the sample size became large . if the sample size becomes large from a state of the basic spectrum , even as to the sample of the same cd concentration , the intensity of the fluorescent x - ray of cd becomes large . in other words , the sensitivity coefficient becomes large . further , accompanying this , the intensity of the background in an energy position of cd and the intensity of the scattered ray in the cd periphery become large as well . if the concentration of cd in the sample is constant , when the sample size has changed , a ratio in which the fluorescent x - ray intensity of cd and the background intensity and the scattered ray intensity 13 in the position of cd change is constant in some degree . therefore , by measuring the ratio in which the scattered ray intensity 13 has changed , it becomes possible to calculate , similarly to the basic spectrum , the measurement time for achieving the necessary detection lower limit by multiplying that ratio by the sensitivity coefficient and the background intensity . in other words , even if the sample size has changed , it becomes possible to absorb a change in the detection lower limit due to that change by altering the measurement time . for example , if it is assumed that the scattered ray intensity of the periphery has become α times , since the background intensity becomes α times , and the sensitivity becomes α times , unless the measurement time is changed , the detection lower limit becomes reciprocal times of a square root of α with respect to the state of the basic spectrum . whereupon in order to make the detection lower limit constant , it becomes possible by making the measurement time into reciprocal times of α . further , in a system for keeping the detection lower limit constant with respect to the above change of the sample size , the detector 3 , which becomes possible to be caused to correspond also to a change of the intensity of the primary x - ray 6 in fig1 , in the fluorescent x - ray analysis apparatus in fig1 has generally a limit in the x - ray intensity obtainable in a unit time . therefore , in a case where , as the coexisting element in the sample , there exists high concentration one , in order to prevent its fluorescent x - ray from entering into the detector in a large quantity , there emerges a necessity for lowering an output of the x - ray tube 1 . if it is supposed that a ratio by which the output of the x - ray tube has been changed in order to prevent a change in the detection lower limit due to the lowering is β , it becomes possible to make the detection lower limit constant by making the measurement time into reciprocal times of β . | 6 |
the catheters employed in the practice of the present invention are most conveniently constructed as over - the - wire balloon catheters of conventional form for use in angioplasty , except that the balloon has a stepped compliance curve . however it should be understood that the present invention can be applied , in addition to over - the - wire catheters , to fixed - wire catheters , to shortened guide wire lumens or single operator exchange catheters , and to non over - the - wire balloon catheters . furthermore this invention can be used with balloon catheters intended for use in any and all vascular systems or cavities of the body . referring to fig1 - 5 , the process of the invention is illustrated by these figures . in fig1 a catheter 10 carrying a balloon 12 on the distal end thereof has been inserted over guide wire 13 into a vessel 14 and fed to a lesion 16 where it is used to predilate the lesion to a predetermined diameter , typically about 2 . 5 mm . in the process of the invention , balloon 12 is made of a high strength polymer , such as pet and has a stepped compliance curve , the predilation diameter is below the transition region on that curve and the desired final dilated diameter , typically 2 . 75 - 4 . 0 mm , lies on the portion of the curve above the transition region . after the predilation the balloon is deflated and the catheter 10 is removed from the vessel 14 . the next step is to deliver the stent to the lesion . in a first embodiment of the process , a separate stent delivery catheter of any conventional type is used to deliver the stent to the lesion , install the stent in place across the lesion , and further dilate the lesion to a larger diameter , typically 2 . 75 - 4 . 0 mm . the delivery catheter is then withdrawn to leave the stent 17 in place across the dilated lesion , as shown in fig2 . occasionally as indicated in fig2 the stent is not fully seated or can move somewhat after installation if the installation process is discontinued at this point . to assure that the stent is firmly seated in the lesion so that it cannot move and to additionally reduce occurances of restenosis and thrombus formation , in this embodiment of the inventive process , after the delivery catheter has been removed , catheter 10 is reinserted and expanded to a retouch pressure , typically above 9 atm and preferably in the range of 12 - 20 atm . alternatively , catheter 10 may be employed as a delivery catheter . in the specific embodiment illustrated in fig3 - 4 , an unexpanded stent 18 has been mounted on the catheter 10 over balloon 12 after catheter 10 has been used to predilate the lesion and has been removed from the lesion . catheter 10 is then reinserted into the vessel 14 and located across the lesion ( fig3 ). balloon 12 is then reinflated as shown in fig4 to expand and install the stent 18 and to dilate the lesion . the pressure employed is one which inflates the balloon to a diameter above the transition region and therefore the same balloon as used in predilation can be used to deliver the catheter and dilate the lesion . further , because the balloon 12 follows a low compliance curve above the transition region , the pressure can safely be increased above 12 atm so as to firmly seat stent 18 without having to undergo “ retouch .” typically the balloon 12 will be capable of inflation to at least as high as 20 atm . fig5 depicts the stent 18 in place after high pressure dilation . a similar result is obtained if the catheter 10 is used for predilation and for “ retouch ” but not for stent installation . it should be noted that the specific configuration of the stents 17 and 18 is not critical and two different configurations have been depicted merely to indicate that different configurations may be employed in either embodiment of the inventive installation process . the particular configurations employed may be reversed or another stent configuration , including balloon expandable stents and self - expandable stents , may be substituted without departing from the invention hereof . thus unlike the prior art methods for accomplishing the same sequences of predilation , stent delivery / dilation and high pressure seating or “ retouch ,” a separate catheter is not required to be used in the final high pressure seating step from the catheter used in the predilation step . this significantly reduces the cost of the procedure , since the catheter costs are a significant part of the overall cost of the procedure . the stepped compliance curve balloons should be made of a thermoplastic polymer material which has a high strength , and gives a low compliance balloon at pressures above about 15 atmospheres . for purposes of this application “ low compliance ” is considered to correspond to a diameter increase of no more than 0 . 1 mm per increased atmosphere of pressure , preferably less than 0 . 06 mm / atm . suitably the balloon polymer is poly ( ethylene terephthalate ) ( pet ) of initial intrinsic viscosity of at least 0 . 5 , more preferably 0 . 7 - 0 . 9 . other high strength polyester materials , such as poly ( ethylene napthalenedicarboxylate ) ( pen ), nylons such as nylon 11 or nylon 12 , thermoplastic polyimides and high strength engineering thermoplastic polyurethanes such as isoplast 301 sold by dow chemical co ., are considered suitable alternative materials . desirably the balloon is blown in a way which will give a wall strength of at least 18 , 000 psi , preferably greater than 20 , 000 psi . techniques for manufacturing balloons with such wall strengths are well known . after being blown , the balloon is provided with a stepped compliance curve by annealing the balloon for a short time after blowing at a pressure at or only slightly above ambient and at a temperature which causes the blown balloon to shrink . the process is described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 348 , 538 . however , the balloons of the invention are desirably constructed with a greater difference between the low pressure and high pressure linear regions of the compliance curve so that the transition between the two regions results in a step - up of diameter of the balloon of at least 0 . 4 mm . this is accomplished by blowing the balloon to the larger diameter and then shrinking to a greater extent than was done in the specific illustrative examples of u . s . pat . no . 5 , 348 , 538 . the amount of shrinkage is controlled by the pressure maintained in the balloon during annealing and the temperature and time of the annealing . for a balloon made from 0 . 74 intrinsic viscosity pet , the blowing pressure is suitably in the range 200 - 400 psi , and temperature is suitably in the range of 90 - 100 ° c ., and the annealing pressure is in the range of 0 - 20 , preferably 5 - 10 psi at 90 - 100 ° c . for 3 - 10 seconds . in a further aspect of the invention , the balloons employed in the inventive process are configured so that a first portion of the body of the balloon has a stepped compliance curve and the remainder of the balloon has an unstopped compliance curve , the low pressure regions of the compliance curves of both the first portion and the remainder portion ( s ) being generally collinear . by this means the length of the balloon which will expand and seat the stent will be smaller than the length which is used to accomplish predilation . since many stents are in the 7 - 10 mm length range whereas predilation balloons are desirably 15 - 20 mm or even longer , this shorter configuration for the portion which will step - up to a larger diameter (“ hyper - extend ”) is desirable so that the hyper - extension will not overlap tissue which is unreinforced by the stent . two balloons of this preferred configuration are shown , mounted on catheters , in fig6 and 8 . in fig6 the balloon 30 is shown in its fully expanded high pressure configuration , mounted on a catheter 28 . as shown schematically in fig7 this balloon is blown in a mold of the general shape of the balloon in fig6 and then the annealing step is performed on the enlarged portion 32 by dipping the balloon in the direction indicated by arrows 36 to level a in a bath of heated water or other suitable heated fluid while the balloon is pressurized at low pressure , for instance 0 - 10 psi , so that only portion 32 is annealed . after annealing portion 32 will be shrunken so that , the configuration of the balloon will be substantially linear and will expand generally linearly until pressurized above about 8 - 12 atm . at higher pressures , the portion 34 of balloon 30 will continue to expand along the same generally linear curve but portion 32 will rapidly expand until the balloon configuration is restored to shape shown in fig6 after which the expansion profile of portion 32 will level out again to a non - compliant curve but at a substantial increase in absolute diameter relative to the diameter of portion 34 . balloons of this configuration , have been used to produce compliance curves as shown in fig1 . it should be understood that while fig6 shows portion 32 of balloon 30 mounted distally on catheter 28 , balloon 30 may instead be mounted with portion 34 mounted distally without departing from the invention hereof . if the balloon of fig6 is used to deliver and install the stent , the catheter 28 will have to be backed up a short distance to center portion 32 under the stent after expansion of balloon 30 sufficiently to bring it into contact with the lesion but before the balloon portion 32 is fully expanded to fully dilate the lesion and set the stent . this can be accomplished by providing marker bands ( not shown ) on the portion of the catheter shaft under the balloon to indicate the proximal and distal boundries of portion 32 . in the alternate embodiment of fig8 the balloon 40 , mounted on catheter 38 , has a hyper - extensible portion 42 located centrally on the balloon body . the balloon is mounted on the catheter at balloon end regions 41 , 43 , located on opposite ends of the balloon body . therefore , after installation of the stent , the high pressure stent setting step can be performed immediately without repositioning the catheter and without risking damage to tissue unreinforced by the stent . this balloon is blown in a mold having a configuration which is substantially the shape shown in fig8 . to anneal and shrink portion 42 to the diameter of portions 44 , 46 , heating during annealing may be confined to the central portion 42 , suitably by heating with a hot air stream , using baffles to protect the end regions 44 , 46 from the air stream . alternatively , as shown schematically in fig9 the balloon 40 is dipped in the direction of arrows 47 to level a in a heated bath to fully immerse portions 42 and 46 , until portion 42 has reached the diameter of portion 44 . at this point portion 46 will be shrunk to a diameter less than portion 44 . balloon 40 is then dipped into a heated bath in the direction of arrows 49 to level b so that only portion 46 is immersed and then portion 46 is reblown to the diameters of portion 44 and shrunken portion 42 . this reblowing step may be accomplished either with the aid of a mold or by free - blowing . referring now to the graph shown in fig1 , in which pressure in atmospheres is plotted on the x - axis and balloon diameter in millimeters is plotted on the y - axis . the compliance curves of several balloons have been manufactured in accordance with 5 , 348 , 538 and useful in the practice of this invention have been plotted on this graph and compared to a conventional 3 . 5 mm angioplasty balloon q of the same pet material . the stepped compliance curve balloons , x , y and z , plotted on this graph had nominal diameters prior to being , shrunk of 3 . 0 , 3 . 5 and 4 . 0 millimeters , respectively . fig1 is a graph of the compliance curves of a balloon of the type shown as balloon 30 in fig6 . curve 11 a is the compliance curve of portion 32 of balloon 30 and curve 11 b is the compliance curve of the portion 34 of balloon 30 . the balloon was made from pet of 0 . 74 intrinsic viscosity and , after blowing had a body wall thickness of 0 . 0013 inches . portion 32 thereof was annealed by dipping in a 95 ° c . water bath for 5 seconds , while pressurized at 10 atm pressure , to shrink portion 32 to the diameter of portion 34 . the balloon was then mounted on a catheter and the compliance curve obtained by incrementally inflating the balloon until burst , measuring the diameter of both portions 32 and 34 at each incremental pressure . with regard to definitions , fig1 can be referred to for illustration of what is meant by “ generally linear ” with reference to the portions of curve 11 a between 3 and 10 atm and again between about 13 and 26 atm . curve 11 b is considered generally linear through out its entire length . “ generally collinear ” is considered to encompass divergences between two curves of no more than about 0 . 2 atm , preferably less than 0 . 15 mm divergence between the two curves . curves 11 a and 11 b are “ generally collinear ” in the range from 3 atm to about 10 atm . the invention may also be practiced by use of dual layer balloons such as described in co - pending u . s . application ser . no . 08 / 243 , 473 , filed may 16 , 1994 now u . s . pat . no . 5 , 447 , 497 as a continuation of now abandoned u . s . application ser . no . 07 / 927 , 062 , filed aug . 8 , 1992 , incorporated herein by reference , and in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 358 , 487 , incorporated herein by reference . suitably both balloons of the dual layer balloons are low compliance balloons designed with the outer balloon portion larger by at least 0 . 25 mm than the inner portion and the inner balloon designed to burst at a pressure below about 15 atm so that the compliance curve follows the inner balloon portion until it reaches burst diameter and then , after the inner balloon bursts , the outer balloon becomes inflated and can be expanded to a larger diameter than the burst diameter of the inner balloon . although the present invention has been described in terms of specific embodiments , it is anticipated that alterations and modifications thereof will no doubt be come apparent to those skilled in the art . it is therefore intended that the following claims be interpreted as covering all such alterations and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention . | 0 |
referring to fig1 - 3 , a portable cryogenic cooling apparatus is shown generally at 10 . a schematic of a pipe and instrument diagram is shown in fig3 for the embodiment shown in fig1 and 2 . the apparatus 10 includes a dolly 12 or similar type of wheeled platform having a plurality of sidewalls 14 arranged to provide an open ended side 16 in which a liquid cryogen tank 18 or vessel can be disposed . liquid nitrogen ( lin ), liquid carbon dioxide ( co 2 ) or liquid hydrogen can be stored in the tank 18 . by way of example only , lin will be referenced herein , but other cryogens such as for example liquid co 2 can be used as well . the tank 18 may be removably mounted to the dolly 12 . a forklift bracket 20 or stanchion is provided at an underside of the dolly 12 so that forklift arms ( not shown ) or tongs can be releasably engaged to the forklift brace to deposit the apparatus 10 in a compartment space 15 , truck or other container , and remove the apparatus from same . upon placement of the apparatus 10 in the truck or container , such as shown in fig5 , the dolly 12 can be moved upon wheels 22 or casters to a select position in the truck . a handle 26 extends from one of the sidewalls 14 to maneuver the dolly 12 . a heat exchanger 28 is mounted to the dolly such as for example above the tank 18 . the heat exchanger has one end of its coil 29 in communication with a pipe 31 to the lin in the tank 18 , while an opposite end of the coil extends to be in communication with an exhaust pipe 30 from the heat exchanger . the exhaust pipe 30 may be manufactured from a flexible material for example . at least one fan 32 is operatively associated with the heat exchanger 28 to draw the atmosphere in the space 15 across the heat exchanger coil for reducing the temperature of the space . a process logic controller ( plc ) 34 includes a human machine interface ( hmi ) 36 therein and a temperature control sensor 38 . a control valve 40 controls the amount of liquid nitrogen that is removed from the tank 18 to the coil of the heat exchanger 28 . the plc 34 interconnects the fans 32 , the temperature sensor 38 and the control valve 40 , as shown by broken lines 41 , to adjust the amount of nitrogen necessary to be removed from the tank 18 through the coil 29 of the heat exchanger 28 to meet the demands to reduce the temperature of the compartment space 15 . the tank 30 can , be way of example only , have a capacity of 200 liters ( approximately 53 gallons ). the exhaust pipe 30 can be manufactured from a flexible hose to vent nitrogen gas from the heat exchanger 28 to an area external from the compartment space 15 . an alarm ( not shown ) will signal a driver or user of the apparatus 10 , or for that matter anyone in the compartment space 15 , should for some reason nitrogen gas enter the compartment space and displace the breathable oxygen to a level insufficient to support life . the tank 18 can be filled either from a small liquid nitrogen delivery vehicle ( not shown ), or the user or customer of the apparatus 10 can use a small ( perhaps on - site ) cryogenic vessel having volume of for example 3 , 000 liters ( approximately 793 gallons ), mounted on a skid to top - up the tank . a pipe 54 is provided to introduce the liquid cryogen from the remote source ( not shown ) into the tank 18 . a battery pack 42 is self - contained and connected to the fans 32 and the controller 34 , as shown by broken lines 43 to provide power for the fans and the controller . the pack 42 may be removable mounted to the dolly 12 . the battery pack 42 may be of the rechargeable type or alternatively , the battery pack or the apparatus 10 may be connected directly to the vehicle electronics or work off a main power supply through an auxiliary socket ( not shown ). the total weight of the apparatus 10 may be for example approximately 150 kilograms ( approximately 331 pounds ), with the system manufactured from stainless steel and composite material such as carbon fiber . the apparatus 10 is a closed , indirect system for providing chilling or freezing to the products ( not shown ) in the compartment space 15 . that is , none of the liquid or gaseous nitrogen contacts the products , as said nitrogen gas is vented or exhausted external to the compartment space 15 . the tank 18 can be insulated with for example vacuum jacketing . the heat exchanger 28 may also include a heater 44 which , during maintenance , can be used to melt and remove condensate that has frozen to the coils of the heat exchanger . since the heater 44 , shown for example in fig3 , will draw too much power to run continuously , the heater is run only when condensate accumulating on the coil of heat exchanger 28 renders the heat exchanger inoperative or inefficient , or when the apparatus 10 is removed from the compartment space 15 . in order to fill the tank 18 with the liquid cryogen , air or other gas must be displaced or removed from within the tank . therefore , an exhaust line 60 or pipe having a valve therein is in communication with an interior of the tank 18 as shown in fig3 to remove displaced air in the tank therefrom . another line 62 or pipe is in communication with the line 60 which is connected to a pressure relief valve 56 which will open when the pressure of air or gas within the tank 18 reaches a certain limit . the lines 60 , 62 are connected to a line 64 or pipe which extends to and is in communication with a further line 68 or pipe to exhaust the cryogenic gas from the compartment space 15 . another line 57 or pipe branches off from the pipe 31 , and such line 37 has a pressure relief valve 58 . a line 66 or pipe extends from the pressure relief valve 58 and is in communication with the line 68 so that gas from the line 31 can ultimately also be exhausted from the compartment space 15 as shown in fig3 . the line 68 is in communication with the exhaust pipe 30 downstream of a valve 33 , which valve is disposed in the exhaust pipe 30 for exhausting the cryogenic gas from the heat exchanger 28 . referring to fig4 , another embodiment of the portable cryogenic cooling apparatus is shown generally at 100 . the apparatus 100 includes the elements described above with respect to the embodiment of fig1 and 2 , and also includes a hydrogen fuel cell 50 which is connected to the fans 32 , as shown by the broken lines 45 , to power same . hydrogen gas for the fuel cell 50 is provided from the liquid hydrogen in the tank 18 . a pipe 46 or conduit has one end 47 in fluid communication with the tank 18 , and an opposite end 48 in fluid communication with the fuel cell 50 . the fuel cell 50 reduces the load on the battery pack 42 . in fig5 , either one or both of the portable cryogenic cooling apparatus 10 , 100 can be moved or positioned by being rolled into a container or housing mounted to a truck . the container or housing may be movably mounted to the truck . in this manner of construction , a container may be removed from the truck , with the apparatus 10 , 100 disposed therein , and loaded aboard a ship or barge for transport to a remote location , or stored as is aboard the ship or barge . when the apparatus 10 , 100 is disposed within the container at the select position , wheel locks ( not shown ) on the dolly 12 are actuated and / or the apparatus is lashed with known gear to an underlying surface to prevent movement of the apparatus within the container . the portable cryogenic cooling apparatus embodiment 10 , 100 described herein can be removably disposed within a shipping or truck , container upon very short notice . the apparatus is closed , i . e . a closed , indirect cryogen system such that none of the cryogen , such as liquid nitrogen or carbon dioxide , contacts the product , such as food products that are being chilled or frozen , or electronic equipment that is cooled , by airflow 52 . the apparatus 10 , 100 can be lifted into the container or on to the vehicle by a forklift and then further wheeled into the container to a select position . exhaust from the apparatus 10 , 100 is vented through the vehicle &# 39 ; s rear door or through a port or hole provided in a side wall of the container . the apparatus 10 , 100 can be used in work spaces where cooling is required for personnel or computer equipment . the apparatus can also be used where temporary cooling or chilling is required for other sensitive equipment . the cryogen used with the apparatus can be liquid hydrogen . hydrogen gas can be used with the embodiment of fig4 to provide the necessary gas for the hydrogen fuel cell 50 to power the battery pack 42 for the fans 32 of the heat exchanger 28 . it will be understood that the embodiments described herein are merely exemplary , and that one skilled in the art may make variations and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . all such variations and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the invention as described and claimed herein . further , all embodiments disclosed are not necessarily in the alternative , as various embodiments of the invention may be combined to provide the desired result . | 5 |
as is the case with many inventions , the present invention for high - power surface emitting lasers and fabrication methods thereof is subject to a wide variety of embodiments . however , to ensure that one skilled in the art will fully understand and , in appropriate cases , be able to practice the present invention , certain preferred embodiments of the broader invention revealed herein are described below and shown in the accompanying drawing figures . with this in mind , and looking more particularly to the drawings , fig3 depicts steps in a process of hpsel production under the present invention with the removal of the growth substrate and its replacement with a conductive plate , such as a metal plate , which serves both as an electrode and as a structural support for the grown epitaxial structure of the laser . in the first stage , the epi structure of the surface emitting laser ( sel ) is grown on a substrate 30 . the structure should contain multiple quantum wells ( qw ) in a gain region 32 and a distributed bragg reflector ( dbr ) structure as a mirror stack 34 . under this structure , the composition of the layers and their thicknesses depend on the desired wavelength . as an example , qws for 850 nm are made with gaas and interleaved with algaas barrier layers . for 780 nm , both kinds of layers are made with algaas alloys having different percentages of al . still further , qws for 670 nm contain a gainp alloy with algainp barriers . of course , one skilled in the art may conceive of alternative materials and desired wavelengths that each would be well within the scope of the present invention . on top of the epi structure , one extra layer 36 is grown . in this case , it is made with alas and is used for the selective oxidation that follows . as one knowledgeable in the art will appreciate , the selective oxidation procedure is very well developed for the purpose of current confinement in conventional vcsel production . under this practice , a central area , which is also indicated at 36 , of the layer can be left as the only conductive portion while the layer &# 39 ; s peripheral parts 38 become dielectric . in a further step , a plate 42 , which ideally is relatively thick ( about 1 mm ) and formed from a conductive material , such as metal , is attached to the wafer by use of , for example , solder 40 as a conductive adhesive and by heating to an elevated temperature , such as about 300 ˜ 400 ° c . advantageously , that temperature range is low enough to keep the epi structure intact . after bonding to the metal plate 42 , the wafer is affected by a chemical and mechanical planarization ( cmp ) process during which the substrate 30 is significantly thinned and polished . preferably , the substrate remnant 44 will be reduced to or formed with a thickness of only some microns such that it will be sufficiently transparent to light emitted by the laser . an annular electrode 58 is deposited on the remnant 44 of the substrate 30 through a mask ( not shown ). under this construction , supplying voltage between electrodes 42 and 58 produces the current flow indicated in fig3 . only the central small part of the thick electrode 42 will produce current because the oxidation process described above insulates the peripheral parts 38 . the proposed design solves the problem of the absorption of laser light by the substrate because it eliminates the substrate from the structure . the metal plate 42 is used as a structural support for the epitaxial layers and as an electrode . this design has a further advantage compared to the prior art . the thick electrode 42 positioned in the vicinity of the dbr structure 34 can effectively dissipate the heat produced mainly in the dbr structure 34 thereby serve as a heat sink . in addition , the device shown in fig3 produces more favorable current distribution in the gain area than did the prior art . one can see in fig3 that the shape of the electrically pumped region of the gain area 32 , provided by the current flow , is annular as compared to the circular shape in fig1 . this is accomplished by a significantly reduced distance between electrodes 42 and 58 in the design of fig3 while the diameters of the annular electrodes 42 and 58 are close in both cases . fig4 shows a preferred sequence of steps in a process for producing a top - emitting hpsel when the substrate is not located on the path of generated light . the making of a small electrode positioned in the vicinity of the active medium is achieved by making a hole through the substrate and plating that hole with a metal . there , the epi structure of a sel with a desired wavelength is grown on a semi - insulating ( undoped ) substrate 30 . as compared to the design of fig3 , dbr layers 34 are grown below the gain structure 32 , and an additional etch - stop layer 60 ( usually alas ) is grown first in the epi structure . the annular electrode 58 is deposited on the gain layers 32 . then , a support layer 54 , which may be made with a polymeric material , such as apiezon w , is attached to the top of the epitaxial film . the substrate 30 is significantly thinned , such as by a cmp process , so that the thickness of its remnant 44 is about 150 μm . a hole 62 with a diameter preferably equal to the required diameter of the circular electrode is made through the thinned substrate by a selective etching procedure . after that , metal is deposited onto the bottom and side walls of the hole 62 to provide the ohmic contact with the sel structure . the hole is then filled with metal 64 with a plating process . a metal cylinder 64 provides the current supply to the sel structure from its top surface only because it is surrounded by the insulating substrate 44 . this design advantageously provides current confinement as well as the oxide layer 38 does in the design shown in fig3 . the electrical contact of electrode 64 is provided by attachment of the sel structure to the printed circuit board ( pcb ) 68 with conductive adhesive 66 , such as a solder . after that , the layer 54 as a mechanical support is not needed . therefore , it is removed with a solvent , such as trichloroethylene . fig5 depicts a process of secondary gain generation through optical pumping in the devices shown in fig3 and 4 . as compared to fig2 , the photons generated by current in the annular area 22 propagate both to the central and the peripheral parts of the quantum wells . therefore , due to optical pumping , they provide more uniform gain distribution in the area 20 than in prior art designs . this is illustrated in the inset of fig5 . with this , a higher efficiency of single - mode beam lasing can be achieved in the design according to the present invention . advantageously , the present inventors have further discovered that the problem of laser light absorption by the growth substrate can be solved in an alternative manner to the substrate removal process disclosed above . the growth substrate can be replaced with a plate made with semiconductor material , which will serve as a structural support and as a conductive material to provide the desired electrical gain activation . the electrode can be deposited on that new substrate . if the energy bandgap of the new substrate material is sufficiently broad , it will be transparent to laser light . gap is a good candidate for the material of the new or replacing substrate because it does not absorb light with a wavelength longer than 600 nm . as a result , it is transparent to the emission of all sels known to date . still further methods and structures for substrate replacement in hpsel design have been employed by the present inventors and are within the scope of the present invention . for example , fig6 demonstrates a further practice of the invention based on wafer fusion . this procedure is broadly used in making 1 . 3 ˜ 1 . 5 μm vcsels where ingaasp quantum wells structure are bonded to gaas / algaas dbr layers . recently , this process was successfully developed for the replacement of gaas with gap for a bottom - emitting vcsel . this process also can be used for making a short - wavelength hpsel . first , the epi structure of a sel with a desired wavelength is grown on the substrate 30 . as compared to the design of fig3 , dbr layers 34 are grown below the gain structure 32 and an additional oxide layer 36 is grown first in the epi structure . wafer fusion is carried out by placing new wafer 48 on atop the gain structure 32 in a pressure fixture and keeping them in a dry nitrogen atmosphere for a sufficient length of time , such as 2 hours , at an elevated temperature , such as about 500 - 600 ° c . after they are bonded together , the original substrate 30 is thinned , such as to a ˜ 10 μm thickness , by , for example , mechanical polishing and reactive ion etching . selective oxidation of the layer 36 is conducted to provide the current confinement . the electrode 46 is deposited on the remnant 44 of the original substrate , and the annular electrode 58 is deposited on the surface of new substrate 48 . still another contemplated way to replace the substrate is what may be called a lift - off technique , which is schematically presented in fig7 . the grown epi structure is similar to that shown in fig3 . however , the structure of fig7 additionally contains what may be called a released layer 50 ( usually alas ), which will be destroyed later during the actual lift - off procedure . after the aforedescribed oxidation to providing confinement of current from the peripheral parts 38 , the growth substrate 30 is replaced with a new substrate 48 . there are several ways to carry out the lift - off process that would be known to one of skill in the art . one such way is schematically depicted in fig7 for making a hpsel . first , a support layer 54 , which may be made with a polymeric material such as apiezon w , is attached to the top of the epitaxial film by use of adhesive 52 . a uniformly thin channel is formed between the epitaxial film and the substrate 30 by , for example , using hydrofluoric acid ( 10 %) to etch the release film 50 . internal tension of the support layer 54 due to heat curing causes compression under the film 50 thereby effectively lifting the edges and creating a concave curvature in the film 50 . in this way , gaseous products of the etching reaction can escape from the channel . the rest of the film 50 can then be etched away freeing the epitaxial film from the substrate 30 . the released epitaxial film is adhered to a new substrate 48 with adhesive 56 or direct optical contact via strong van der waals forces . the support layer 54 along with adhesive 52 is removed with a solvent , such as trichloroethylene . after the lifting - off procedure , the electrode 46 is deposited on the oxide layer , and the annular electrode 58 is deposited on the new substrate 48 . from the foregoing , it will be clear that the present invention has been shown and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments that merely exemplify the broader invention revealed herein . certainly , those skilled in the art can conceive of alternative embodiments . for instance , those with the major features of the invention in mind could conceive of or craft embodiments that incorporate those major features while not incorporating all of the features included in the preferred embodiments . accordingly , it will be clear that those with major features of the invention in mind could craft embodiments that incorporate those major features while not incorporating all of the features included in the preferred embodiments . therefore , the following claims are intended to define the scope of protection to be afforded the inventors . those claims shall be deemed to include equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention . it must be further noted that a plurality of the following claims may express certain elements as means for performing a specific function , at times without the recital of structure or material . as the law demands , these claims shall be construed to cover not only the corresponding structure and material expressly described in this specification but also equivalents thereof . | 7 |
fig1 shows the preferred embodiment of the driver alarm 11 -- of the invention as installed in an automobile 13 . the driver alarm 11 includes a pressure transducer 15 adapted to fit around the steering element , in this case a steering wheel 17 . the transducer 15 could be designed to fit along the gripping surface of a motorcycle handlebar or other steering element as well . the transducer 15 is attached by clips 18 that do not compress the transducer 15 . if the driver alarm 11 is incorporated into the vehicle as part of the original equipment , the transducer 15 could be partially inset into a channel ( not shown ) with integral retainers formed in the steering wheel 17 . the pressure transducer 15 is shown in cross section in fig2 . a center conductor 19 is surrounded by a compressible conductive foam 21 . the foam 21 is made from the same material used to protect static - sensitive electronic components during transport . surrounding the foam 21 is a flexible conductive shield 23 made in a manner known in the art for coaxial cable . a flexible , waterproof outer cover 25 protects and contains the other elements . while a coaxial configuration of the elements is shown , other configurations are possible , such as flat strip having two parallel conductors separated by a layer of the conductive foam 21 . compressing the foam 21 causes the resistance of the foam 21 between the points of compression to decrease . the electrical resistance of the transducer 15 , as measured between the center conductor 19 and the conductive shield 23 , will therefore vary with the amount by which the transducer 15 is compressed . the total change in resistance will in turn depend on both the magnitude of the pressure and the percentage of the total length of the transducer 15 that is gripped . the transducer 15 will have a maximum value of resistance when the steering wheel 17 is not being gripped . although a transducer using a variable resistance mechanism is disclosed , other methods known in the art for developing a variable pressure signal 27 , shown in fig3 are also acceptable . one such method is the use of a sealed air tube as shown in the gerger patent , in conjunction with a solid - state piezoresistive pressure transducer . another method is the use of a coaxial cable with an easily deformable solid or foam dielectric , the varying capacitance of the cable providing the pressure signal returning to fig1 the display means for the driver alarm is a display unit 29 attached to the steering wheel 17 . the unit 29 has a number of light emitting diodes ( led &# 39 ; s ) 31 that indicate the driver &# 39 ; s level of drowsiness as determined by the driver alarm 11 . the led &# 39 ; s 31 may be configured in a three color triad to simulate a stoplight as shown , or as a bar graph or other means as desired . as shown in fig3 the pressure signal 27 from the transducer 15 is sent to an analog - to - digital convertor ( a / d ) 33 , which digitizes the pressure signal 31 and transmits it to a control unit 35 via a data bus 37 . the data bus 37 contains circuitry that provides bidirectional serial communication between the elements on the steering wheel 17 and the control unit 35 . 1he data bus 17 also provides power to the components on the steering wheel 11 . when grounding is available on the steering wheel 17 , then a single wire such as the ` hot ` wire leading to the horn contacts ( not shown ) in the steering wheel 17 may be used in the data bus 37 . when a single wire is used , data is impressed over the battery voltage . the direct current power and the data signal , which is alternating current , are then separated at the receiving end of the data bus 37 before being used . the control unit 35 is the control means for the driver alarm 11 and includes a data interface 39 , a microcontroller 41 , and a power switch 43 that supplies power to the data interface 39 and microcontroller 41 . the data interface 39 converts data from the data bus &# 39 ; s serial format to the microcontroller &# 39 ; s parallel format and vice versa . the alarm means 45 for the driver alarm 11 is an electroacoustic transducer such as a buzzer . the alarm means 45 may be packaged in a box with the control unit 35 for convenience or physically separate to allow installation of the alarm means 45 in a desired location . a speed sensor 47 , of the type used in cruise control devices , measures vehicle speed . the speed sensor 47 develops a speed signal 49 that is used by the microcontroller 41 to determine when to bypass activation of the alarm . the speed signal 49 is a series of pulses , compatible with the logic levels in the microcontroller 41 , whose frequency is proportional to vehicle speed . the microcontroller 41 performs several functions . it monitors the signals from the pressure transducer 15 and the speed sensor 47 . it calculates the likelihood that the driver is falling asleep and activates the alarm means 45 . it also creates a display signal 51 , corresponding to an arbitrary scale of driver drowsiness , that is sent to the display unit 27 . drive electronics ( not shown ) in the display unit 29 decode the signal 51 and drive the appropriate led &# 39 ; s 31 . when the power switch 43 is turned on , the microcontroller 41 starts to measure the frequency of the speed signal 49 , determines the vehicle speed , and compares this value to a threshold value held in a nonvolatile memory ( not shown ), which may be located in the microcontroller 41 itself . while the vehicle speed is less than the threshold value , the alarm means 45 is disabled . this prevents the alarm from sounding if the car is parked or in city traffic . upon power up , the microcontroller 41 also begins measuring the signal from the pressure transducer 15 . during roughly the first fifteen seconds of operation , the microcontroller 41 keeps track of the highest and lowest measured pressure values . these values are stored in the microcontroller &# 39 ; s 41 memory registers for reference , and represent the highest and lowest normal values of hand grip pressure . these values allow the microcontroller 41 to set a baseline of operation and allow the driver alarm 11 to adjust itself to each individual driver . after the values are stored , the microcontroller 41 calculates an alarm point corresponding to a grip pressure at a safe margin below the lowest normal hand grip pressure value . if the hand grip pressure drops below this alarm point , the microcontroller 41 instantly activates the alarm means 45 . in addition , the microcontroller 41 can monitor the transient behavior of the pressure signal 27 , and determine the driver &# 39 ; s state of drowsiness in the same manner used in the art for monitoring steering wheel oscillations . the driver alarm 11 can thus respond to slow deterioration in driving response as well as a sudden loss of hand grip pressure . minor refinements to operation and setup of the driver alarm 11 are necessary when the device is installed as an add - on item rather than being designed into the car as original equipment . such things as setting the low speed threshold , and compensating for the value of the pressure signal 27 when there is no hand grip pressure , can be accomplished by means known in the art . the driver alarm 11 of the invention has several advantages over the prior art . the driver alarm operates with a minimum of interference with normal driving . because it adjusts to each driver &# 39 ; s particular gripping pressure , it does not require the driver to grip the wheel in an unusual manner , thus reducing fatigue . it can respond rapidly to a sudden loss of hand grip pressure , yet still respond to slow deterioration in driving response as the driver slowly becomes drowsy . the invention has been shown in only one embodiment . it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is not so limited , but is susceptible to various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit of the invention . | 6 |
fig1 shows in perspective view an egg carton 10 according to one embodiment of the invention . the carton 10 , having general overall dimensions of length l , width w and height h , is comprised of a lid 20 connected via a hinge 12 to a base tray 30 , the tray comprising a plurality of egg receiving cells 40 arranged in a matrix . the carton 10 is typically integrally molded from a sheet of polystyrene foam which is formed into an end product having the components described herein via conventional molding processes , e . g ., pressing a foam sheet between male and female dies to form shaped lid and base portions and then removing ( trimming ) any remaining portions of the sheet to form an integral carton . the formation and structure of components such as the hinge 12 , base locking nubs 14 , associated lid flap and locking apertures 16 , cells 40 and the like are shown and described in the prior art such as in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 012 , 583 and u . s . pat . no . 5 , 494 , 164 the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth herein . as shown in fig1 - 2 the lid 20 has a generally flat ( planar ) upper surface 21 and a peripheral sidewall 23 extending downwardly to a peripheral lower edge 25 that mates with a peripheral upper edge 27 of the base tray . the lid 20 top wall is molded to include a recessed trough 50 disposed at and along a centerline c 1 transverse to length l of the carton 10 . a pair of bosses 70 are provided , one at each end of the trough 50 , the bosses having a preselected contour , e . g ., size , shape , height p , geometry and / or configuration . the bosses are formed in the lid 20 as protrusions that extend axially a above the planar surface 21 of the lid 20 by a distance p ( see fig5 ) which is preferably a minimum of about 3 / 16 inches . the elongated trough 50 is disposed along the width w of the carton between the bosses 70 , and in the embodiment shown , the ends of the trough 50 terminate in the bosses 70 which , as shown , are disposed with their outermost edges 76 adjacent the lengthwise edges 22 of the lid 20 . the trough 50 is formed within the body of the lid 20 as a generally elongated rectangular depression within the body of the planar surface 21 having elongated continuous walls 51 that extend axially a downwardly and below the planar surface 21 by a distance t , ( see fig1 ), in the opposite axial direction from the upward axial distance of projection p of bosses 70 ( see fig5 ). the walls 51 of the trough 50 preferably extend axially downwardly toward the tray 30 a sufficient distance t to enable the walls 51 to reinforce the lid and / or to laterally engage and act as a barrier or wall to protect eggs that are deposited within those cells 136 , 138 that are immediately adjacent the lengthwise centerline c 1 ( or widthwise centerline c 2 if the trough is aligned along the length ) of the tray . thus by extending a sufficient distance t from the top 21 downwardly toward the tray 30 , the walls 51 can reinforce the lid ( increase the mechanical strength of the carton ), and in particular reinforce the bosses ( to facilitate stacking without undue movement of the cartons with respect to one another ) and / or engage and prevent eggs in the two rows of cells immediately adjacent the centerline ( c 1 ) from moving laterally within the tray 30 . as shown , the bosses 70 are disposed at and along about the centerline c 1 of the length of the carton 10 . alternatively , the bosses 70 and the trough 50 could be formed and disposed at and along about the centerline c 2 of the width w of the carton 10 , the location of such bosses 70 a being shown in schematic in fig2 . in such an embodiment , the trough 50 can be formed in and extend between bosses 70 a along the centerline c 2 of the width w . as shown the tray portion 30 of the carton 10 comprises a series of egg receiving cells 40 each formed to receive and accommodate a single egg . each of the cells 40 is formed with a side wall 139 ( see fig8 ) having an inner receiving surface 140 contoured to receive the ovoid shape of an egg . the side wall 139 extends upwardly to define an open top and , where there is an adjoining cell joins with the sidewall 139 of the adjoining cell 106 , with the two side walls 139 cooperatively defining a cell junction 142 ( see fig8 ). the cell junction 142 has generally at least one rounded shoulder which blends into a raised upper edge . the upper edge is flexible to respond to pressure applied by packaged eggs and provides protection therefor . preferably , the carton comprises an even number of cells ( for example 2 , 4 , 6 , 8 , 10 , 12 , etc .) serially interconnected either widthwise or lengthwise such that the bosses 70 or 70 a can be positioned at about the center line or point between two adjacent cells while simultaneously being disposed at about the centerline c 1 or c 2 of either the length l or width w of the carton 10 along which an even number of cells are serially interconnected in a straight sequence . in the embodiment shown in fig1 - 10 , the carton 10 comprises 6 rows of 4 cells extending along the width w , or 4 rows of 6 cells extending along the length l of the carton 10 . typical other cell matrix formats are 2 × 4 , 3 × 6 , 3 × 4 , 4 × 4 , 4 × 6 , 5 × 6 and 6 × 6 . by way of example only , the polystyrene foam 4 × 6 matrix carton shown in fig1 - 10 is designed to hold 24 extra large eggs , and is about 8 inches in width , about 11⅝ inches in length , and about 2¾ inches in height ; each boss is about 1 inch long and about ½ inch wide and about 3 / 16 inches deep ; the trough is about 5¾ inches long and about ¾ inches wide ( at the top end ) and about 1⅛ inches deep ; the base tray is about 1½ inches deep ; the lid is about 1½ inches deep ; and each cell ( at the top edge ) is about 1⅞ inches in length and 1⅞ in width . this is given by way of example only and is not meant to be limiting . as shown in fig6 , the carton 10 has corner cells 135 , exterior cells 138 and interior cells 136 , the exact positioning of which results in recesses 175 , 176 , 178 formed between the exterior surfaces of the cells 135 , 136 , 138 on the bottom face 90 of the carton 10 having configurations peculiar to the precise position of the various cells 135 , 136 , 138 . generally , the contour of the bottom outside cell surfaces 155 , 156 , 158 ( of cells 135 , 138 , 136 respectively ) are similar to each other such that the recesses 175 , 176 , 178 formed between adjacent cell outside surfaces 155 , 156 , 158 are similar in contour . the contour of the upper or outside surfaces of the bosses 70 , 70 a ( e . g ., the size , shape , height , width , depth and / or configuration of the bosses 70 or 70 a ) are selected and formed to be complementary to the contour of at least two of the recesses 175 , 176 , 178 such that each of the bosses 70 or 70 a can be readily inserted into a recess . preferably , the contour of the bosses 70 , 70 a are formed to be complementary to the contour of those recesses that are formed between the outside surfaces of two adjacent outside cells 138 , and more particularly the recesses 178 that are formed between the adjacent sidewall surfaces 158 a of two adjacent exterior cells 138 that are also disposed immediately adjacent or straddle the centerline c 1 of the length l ( or c 2 of the width w ) of the carton 10 along an outer lengthwise edge 13 ( or widthwise edge 17 ) of the tray 10 . fig2 shows this arrangement , where the arcuate sidewall contours 70 c of the bosses are aligned to engage the outer circular contours of the two adjacent exterior cell sidewalls 138 to resist longitudinal and lateral movement therebetween . in this embodiment , the four corners 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 ( see fig2 ) of the boss 70 provide four potential points of engagement with the adjacent cells 158 ( defining the recess 178 ) to effectively limit / resist both longitudinal and lateral movement between the stacked cartons . this is further illustrated in fig7 - 9 where the two bosses 70 ( or 70 a ) are formed and disposed in predetermined positions on the top surface 21 of the lid 20 that match and are complementary in position to the positions on the bottom 90 of the carton 10 of at least two recesses , such as recesses 178 a 1 and 178 a 2 . by such complementary positioning of at least two recesses 178 a 1 and 178 a 2 , the two bosses 70 ( or 70 a ) can be readily inserted into these two recesses such that one carton 10 u can be stacked on top of another 10 l carton ( as shown in fig7 ) rendering the two cartons aligned and resistant to lateral lat and / or longitudinal long movement relative to each other by virtue of the two separate bosses 178 a 1 , 178 a 2 being engaged or engageable against the bottom outside surfaces 158 a 1 , 158 a 2 of the adjacent cells 138 a 1 , 138 a 2 that form the recesses when the two stacked cartons 10 u , 10 l are moved laterally lat and / or longitudinally long relative to each other . in alternative embodiments , one or more additional bosses ( in addition to the pair show in fig1 ) may be provided to lie within other recesses , between either exterior or interior cell walls . alternatively , the pair of bosses may be provided not on a centerline . preferably at least two bosses are provided adjacent or along opposing side edges of the carton , either the lengthwise or widthwise edges . in one embodiment , a first pair of bosses is provided adjacent or along the lengthwise edges and a second pair of bosses is provided adjacent or along the widthwise edges . as shown in fig8 - 9 , the outside surface contour of the bosses 70 ( or 70 a ) is smooth and is preferably formed with sloped outer surfaces 70 c and / or smooth curvilinear or curved outer edges 70 d that are configured so as to readily slide against the bottom outside surfaces 158 , 158 a of the cells if and when the boss surfaces 70 c , 70 d may come into contact with the outside surfaces 158 , 158 a of the cells 178 , particularly when the bottom 90 of one carton 10 u is mechanically positioned above and lowered onto the top side of another carton 10 l . during such stacking and lowering process the user / operator ( and / or machine ) performing the stacking will attempt to mechanically align the bosses 70 ( or 70 a ) with the recesses 178 a 1 , 178 a 2 for insertion of the bosses 70 ( or 70 a ) within a pair of complementarily positioned recesses , 178 a 1 , 178 a 2 . such mechanical alignment by the user cannot be perfect and the sloped , curved and curvilinear surfaces 70 c , 70 d , 158 , 158 a serve to facilitate insertion of the bosses into the complementary recesses and thus result in better longitudinal and lateral alignment of two cartons 10 u , 10 l during the stacking process . the side wall 139 in each of the cells extends downwardly to a base wall 144 . in one embodiment , the base wall 144 is formed with a flat interior bottom surface 150 and a flat annular exterior bottom surface 152 , the annular surface 152 having a central raised button portion 154 defined therein ( see fig9 ). the raised button portion 154 may be formed by densifying the polystyrene material of the base wall 144 . the cells 135 , 136 , 138 are collectively formed such that the exterior bottom surfaces 152 of all of the cells 135 , 136 , 138 of one carton 10 u are substantially co - planar to form a substantially stable planar bottom surface pb ( see fig7 ), that can readily engage and mate with the flat planar top surface 21 of another carton 10 l when the one carton 10 l is mechanically stacked or deposited on top of another carton 10 u . by force of gravity g ( see fig9 ), the bottom surfaces 152 bear against top surface 21 to provide a degree of stability against lateral lat and longitudinal long movement due to friction between surface 21 and surfaces 152 . to provide further stability against lateral lat and / or longitudinal long movement , the bosses 70 ( or 70 a ) most preferably are formed with an outside upper surface contour that are complementary ( conform ) to the contour of the complementary recesses 178 a 1 , 178 a 2 into which the bosses are intended to be inserted . such complementary contouring of the bosses to the intended complementary recesses enables the bosses to project into and reside within the depth of the complementary recesses when the bottom surfaces 152 of the bases 144 of the cells 135 , 136 , 137 engage the top surface 21 . if and when a carton 10 u moves laterally lat or longitudinally long relative to carton 10 l , the outside surfaces 70 c , 70 d of the bosses will contact , engage and interfere with the bottom outside surfaces 158 , 158 a of the cells 178 thus preventing the upper stacked carton 10 u from moving or otherwise becoming not aligned on top of the lower disposed carton 10 l . as shown in fig7 - 9 , surfaces 70 c are formed to be complementary in contour to the surfaces 158 a , surfaces 70 c having a partial egg - shape similar to the partial egg - shape of surfaces 158 a . as shown in fig1 , in one embodiment a method and system is provided for stacking cartons 10 on the top planar surface 210 of a readily transportable pallet 200 ( typically via forklift or crane 300 ) without the necessity of enclosing the stacked cartons 10 , 10 l , 10 u within a container such as a box or cage or the like . as shown , the cartons 10 are stacked vertically in series in direct top 21 to bottom pb contact with each other , one on top of each other in collective depths of preferably 3 - 6 cartons . slip sheets 250 are preferably disposed between stacks of 3 - 6 cartons in vertical depth . the slip sheets 250 typically comprise a flexible sheet of paper , plastic or cloth that can be deposited on top of and extend across the top surfaces 21 of a horizontal layer of multiple side - by - side horizontally arranged cartons 400 , typically anywhere from about 2 to about 10 cartons horizontally across . as described above , the coplanar bottom surfaces 152 of the cartons 10 form a planar bottom surface pb which collectively among multiple cartons stacked at the same vertical level form a planar bottom pb 2 such that when multiple cartons 10 are deposited side - by - side 400 on a slip sheet 250 , the friction between pb 2 and the slip sheet 250 provides an additional stability against lateral lat and longitudinal long movement relative to the cartons on which they are stacked . in another embodiment , shown in fig1 , a stack 410 of cartons 10 is disposed on a pallet 412 and the stacked cartons are wrapped in plastic film 414 ( around the perimeter of the stack ). the film provides the only outer packaging supporting the stack of egg cartons on the pallet . the stackable egg cartons of the present invention can , if desired , also be packaged in existing standard master corrugated containers , such as one - half and full cases , plastic and wire baskets , and carts . for example : ( a ) a corrugated paper container ( case ), where a full case typically holds 30 - dozen 2 × 6 egg cartons , and a half case holds 15 - dozen 2 × 6 egg cartons ; ( b ) plastic and metal grid baskets where each basket ( a half case ) typically holds 15 - dozen 2 × 6 egg cartons ; ( c ) milk crates , where each crate typically holds between 12 - dozen jumbo 2 × 6 egg cartons ( for jumbo size eggs ) and 15 - dozen regular egg cartons , ( for medium , large and / or extra large eggs ); and ( d ) racks designed to be wheeled or slid into grocery store display cases , where each rack typically holds between 240 to 360 2 × 6 egg cartons . in another alternative embodiment shown in fig1 - 13 , an egg carton 10 ′ is the same as the egg carton 10 of fig1 , the only difference being the pair of bosses 70 ′ are moved outwardly along the centerline c 1 of the lid 20 ′. here the outer edges 76 ′ of the bosses 70 ′ reside beyond the lengthwise ( or alternating widthwise ) edges 22 ′ of the carton . as shown in fig1 - 13 , the bosses 70 ′ are supported by an outwardly angled portion 24 ′, extending away from the upper lid surface 21 ′, of the lid sidewall 23 ′. this angled support portion 24 ′ extends further toward the periphery of the adjacent egg carton cell bottoms 158 ′ to provide enhanced support and stability . here the more vertically disposed angled portion 24 ′ is disposed at a angle x of 172 ° with respect to the sidewall 23 ′. in various embodiments , the plastic egg carton is made of a thermoplastic which is foamed or unfoamed , and comprises one or more of polystyrene , polyester ( e . g ., polyethylene terephithlate ( pet ), polyolefin ( e . g ., polyethylene ( pe ), polypropylene ( pp )), and poly ( lactic acid ) ( pla ), including homopolymers , copolymers , mixtures and blends thereof , and including virgin and reclaimed materials . it is to be understood that the foregoing description is intended to illustrate and not limit the scope of the invention . | 8 |
an embodiment of the invention is illustrated and described herein . fig1 is a front view of an embodiment of housing 10 of a room pressure monitor 20 in a servicing position . housing 10 may be a polycarbonate , plastic , or other known material . housing 10 has an internal volume 35 shaped and sized to receive components 85 and has a front mounting flange ( or collar ) 15 used for positioning the housing 10 in a desired plane when mounted . attached by hinge 40 along a top portion of housing 10 is a display module 45 that supports an active electronic display 50 . the term “ display ” is used herein to refer to an active electrical component that responds to an electronic signal and provides a visual or other humanly perceptible output , and it may include printed circuit board elements , thin film transistors ( tft ), a liquid crystal display ( lcd ) or other desired type of input / output that may be interactive and communicate with components 85 either wirelessly or by a flex cable ( not shown ). the term “ display module ” is used herein to refer to the mechanical support structure to which the “ display ” is mounted . display 50 can attach to display module 45 by screws , spring clips or other such fasteners 55 such that display 50 can be replaced in the field by simply removing fasteners 55 and unplugging a flex cable , for example . if the display includes a circuit board separate from an output screen , each of these may be secured to the display module separately or the screen may be secured to the board with the board being secured to the display module , and each may be replaced separately as needed . because display 50 and display module 45 are independent of housing 10 , an advantage of an embodiment of the present invention is that a display 50 larger than housing 10 may be used . this overcomes a problem of prior art devices where all of the instrument constituents had to fit within the specialized fitting ( housing ), thus mandating the use of relatively large specialized enclosures and / or undersized displays . it is a further embodiment of the invention that display 50 remains functional while display module 45 is rotated about hinge 40 , in order to permit use while accessing internal housing 35 for field calibration , firmware upgrades , etc . accordingly , display module 45 can rotate approximately 180 ° from a lowermost operating position as shown in fig2 to an uppermost maintenance position as shown in fig1 . an intermediary of these two positions is shown in fig5 . a mechanism may be used to selectively restrain movement of display module 45 and / or to hold it in a selected position , for instance when accessing operating components 85 . such mechanisms may include a detent , ratchet , pin , friction joint , pressure cylinder or any other known mechanism for selectively restraining motion . in other embodiments display module 45 may be hinged on other locations of housing 10 or attached by a slide or swivel in order to provide access . additionally , hinge 40 can be coupled to a slide , swivel , or combinations thereof . mounting flange ( or collar ) 15 can be secured to practically any surface by glue , solder , nails , screws or the like , or it may be secured to a standard electrical rough - in box ( as shown in see fig5 ). collar 15 may have oversized openings 25 formed there through to accept screws 130 and provide a high degree of adjustment for positioning housing 10 relative to an affixing structure . as shown in fig1 , depressions 135 may be formed on the backside of module 45 that correspond to locations of the screws 130 so that when module 45 is in a lowermost shipping or operating position , heads of screws 130 do not interfere with module 45 , hinge 40 or cover 60 . hole 165 corresponds to hole 160 and may be used to fixedly connect module 45 to housing 10 during shipping , handling or installation . fig2 illustrates an embodiment of the invention when instrument 20 is assembled for shipping ( or in optional operating mode ). screw 170 is shown connecting holes 160 and 165 thereby joining module 45 with housing 10 for keeping pressure monitoring instrument 20 safe during packaging , shipping and / or use . fig3 represents the appearance of monitor 20 to an end user when cover plate 60 is attached . as shown , cover plate 60 installs over housing 10 and / or display module 45 and furnishes a clean , flush mounting with no visible fasteners . further , cover plate 60 protects against ingress / egress of gas , particles , or unwanted debris or other forms of contamination . attachment of the cover is illustrated in fig4 , which is a partial perspective view of an embodiment of the invention sectioned along a horizontal plane showing pawl 65 engagement with housing 10 . as shown , a cover plate 60 includes pawl 65 extending rearward from and generally perpendicular to a plane of the cover plate 60 . a receiving opening 70 is formed on housing 10 that is shaped and positioned to receive pawl 65 , such that movement of pawl 65 into opening 70 deflects pawl 65 causing it to snap into a flush or mated position . prior to engaging with housing 10 , pawl 65 may bypass display module 45 or pass through opening 75 formed in display module 45 in various embodiments . in the embodiment illustrated , two pawls 65 are formed on opposite sides of cover plate 60 and engage with a series of notches 80 formed in corresponding openings of housing 10 . as shown , cover plate 60 may be attached to housing 10 with display module 45 in an operating position by inserting pawl ( s ) 65 through the corresponding opening ( s ) 75 , 70 until pawl 65 engages the plurality of notches 80 in sequential order as the cover 60 is moved toward the housing 10 . as cover plate 60 is further urged toward display module 45 , pawl 65 will engage with the next notch in series 80 . ideally , the process continues until movement of the pawl 65 toward the housing 10 is restricted at an installed position when the first and second seals are seated and the cover plate 60 is secured against the instrument mounting surface ( item 150 of fig5 ) and cover plate 60 can be urged no closer to display module 45 . there is a spring action from the pawl 65 which secures cover plate 60 in place without need for additional fasteners . furthermore , the range of engagement of pawl 65 with series of notches 80 allows cover plate 60 to be held flush with a surface even if the installation of housing 10 and / or front mounting flange or collar 15 is not in a perfect plane parallel to mounting surface 150 . in an embodiment illustrated by fig4 , a seal such as gasket 110 is interposed between cover plate 60 and display 50 ( or optionally between the cover 60 and the display module 45 , not shown ) and another seal such as gasket 120 is interposed between cover plate 60 and a mounting surface 150 about a perimeter of the cover for protection against contamination ingress into the housing 10 . interposed gaskets 110 , 120 ensure protection against dust and water spray ingress to a degree sufficient to achieve an ingress protection rating such as ip 54 even if there is some unevenness in the mounting surface 150 . acceptable gaskets may include 35 durometer closed cell foam or molded elastomeric materials as are typically used in sealing applications . gasket 120 may further provide for correction of misalignment between housing collar 15 and mounting surface 150 by filling any space that may exist there between . since the display 50 may also function as a touch screen input device , the cover plate 60 includes a window aligned with the display 50 when in its installed position to allow for tactile contact with the display . typically the window is simply an opening , thus requiring gasket 110 to prevent the ingress of contaminants . however , one may appreciate that depending upon the functionality of the display 50 , in certain embodiments the window may be a transparent material that is permanently attached to and sealed against the cover 60 , thereby eliminating the need for gasket 110 . cover plate 60 may be formed of plastic , sheet metal , or other relatively flexible material . removal of plate 60 may be facilitated by a slight bending such that the pawl 65 is at least partially disengaged from the series of notches 80 and allows plate 60 to be removed from receiving opening 70 and / or display module opening 75 . as shown in fig4 , a user could push against the front of plate 60 with a thumb at the location of the arrow in fig4 to slightly bend cover plate 60 inward at that location , thereby rotating pawl 65 causing it to disengage and lift away from the series of notches 80 . grasping of cover plate 60 for removal may be facilitated by forming finger indentations 140 on the edge of the cover plate 60 or by slots formed for a tool such as a flat blade screwdriver . even if pawl 65 is not lifted completely away from series of notches 80 , any degree of disengagement of pawl 65 from the notches 80 would reduce the force necessary to pull cover plate 60 away from the surface 150 . since calibration of monitor 20 and operating components thereof may involve access to internal volume 35 , the present invention provides access to and optimal use of internal volume 35 . an embodiment of the invention therefore includes using wall ( s ) of housing 10 to serve as additional or optional paths for communicating with operating components 85 or display 50 . fig4 illustrates an embodiment where a subsurface channel ( s ) 90 is formed within a wall of housing 10 . subsurface channel 90 may be produced when fabricating housing 10 by known processes such as injection molding or by mechanical material removal such as drilling . as shown , subsurface channel 90 may be used as part of a flow path for delivery of measured room pressure to a sensor 85 or for additional wiring or other uses . in one embodiment , an input fluid connection 95 may be provided by forming a threaded hole 100 part - way through housing 10 from the rear portion . threaded hole 100 could be in fluid communication with subsurface channel 90 and may be supplied with working fluid via input fluid connection 95 . an outlet from subsurface channel 90 , optionally surrounded by a gasketed seal 115 , may further be formed to open into housing 10 and used for delivering working fluid to a pressure sensor 85 . because there is no flow requirement for such a pressure measuring working fluid , the size of subsurface channel 90 may be small . working fluid may be delivered to any location about housing 10 . consequently , the use for internal tubing is greatly reduced if not eliminated within internal volume 35 , thereby saving valuable interior space . in order to eliminate the need of having a custom fitting or losing operating components during installation of the custom fitting , an embodiment of the invention includes housing 10 connected to a universal electrical box , such as typically provided during building construction rough - in . as shown in fig5 , housing 10 may mount to an opening of a surface 150 and connect to a rough - in box 145 , such as a known double deep triple ganged box , by screws 130 that connect with screw receiving ports 155 on the box flange or by other means such as clips or ties . in this embodiment , the triple ganged box 145 provides anchoring support for instrument 20 as well as industry standard attachment points 147 for access to power , wiring and / or other components as necessary . unlike prior art devices where a surface mounted instrument is mounted within a specialized fitting , the device of fig5 can be installed into a readily available “ off the shelf ” roughed - in triple ganged box 145 . this allows the installer to run all of the wiring and plumbing during the construction rough - in phase without having to purchase and store the room pressure monitor in advance of final installation . this saves the unit from being lost or damaged on site . housing 10 is able to fit within a typical rough - in box 145 without restricting the size of display 50 . furthermore , the installation can be made flush to surface 150 with interior 35 sealed from the external environment in spite of some imprecision in the installation of rough - in box 145 due to the degrees of mounting freedom provided via screws 30 , 130 , oversized slots 25 , and gaskets 110 , 120 . a basic room pressure monitor may be designed for analog communication with other instruments and systems . in an analog installation , analog control signals are received from and sent to control hardware , and analog signals may operate a local display associated with the monitor . some time after installation of an analog room pressure monitor , the user or building owner may elect to install a digital communication network within the building to permit monitoring and control of the multiple sensors and equipment such as air flow control valves in the building . such digital communication networks are inherently more reliable and robust than analog communication systems . this modification necessitates upgrading the analog room pressure monitor to communicate over the digital network . such an upgrade may require the replacement of the room pressure monitor instrument , or if the instrument is so configured , by field installation of a digital communication board in the analog room pressure monitor and connection of that board to the digital communication network . fig6 illustrates certain elements of a room pressure monitor 200 according to the present invention , including the capability to communicate with other building system components according to a digital communication protocol over a digital communication network . the room pressure monitor 200 includes an electrical component board such as display board 202 and a connector board 204 that are electrically connected by a ribbon conductor 206 comprising a plurality of conductors 208 . the connector board 204 further connects to a digital communication board 210 through a pin / socket connector 212 , comprising pins on the digital communication board 210 received within sockets on the connector board 204 . although not illustrated in fig6 , the display board 202 includes analog and digital components for measuring and displaying the sensed room pressure and additional components ancillary thereto . in addition to providing electrical connectivity between the display board 202 and the digital communication board 210 , the connector board 204 includes power supply components for supplying power to the various elements of the room pressure monitor 200 . the connector board 204 further includes a connector 214 for connection to elements of the digital communication network . typically , the connector 214 comprises a three - pin connector : a first pin for carrying transmitted signals , a second pin for carrying received signals and a third ground pin . one skilled in the art will appreciate that conductors other than metal pins may be used to carry some or all of the signals described herein in certain embodiments , such as optical fiber signal conductors . in operation , pressure readings are supplied to the display board for processing and display . the pressure readings are also provided to the communication board 210 via the connector 212 . on the communication board the pressure values are properly formatted to the operative digital communication protocol or format . the digital communication output signal is then supplied to the connector 214 , via conductors of the connector 212 , the connector board 204 , the ribbon conductor 206 and the display board 202 . although the digital signal output connector 214 is present in the analog portion of the room pressure monitor , i . e ., on the connector board 204 , digital data communication does not begin until a digital communication board is plugged into the connector 212 and the board activated . one such digital protocol is know as bacnet , a data communication protocol developed for building automation and control networks under the auspices of the american society of heating , refrigeration and air - conditioning engineers ( ash rae ). another known digital protocol is the lonworks ® networking platform developed by the echelon corporation . according to one embodiment of the present invention , the room pressure monitor 200 may be provided with basic analog communication circuitry , i . e ., the display board 202 and the connector board 204 . the connector board 204 enables simple field connection of either a bacnet or lonworks ® communication board 210 to the connector 212 , i . e ., a communication board operative according to the bacnet protocol or a communication board operative according to the lonworks ® protocol . while the number and function of individual conductors within the connector 212 for proper functioning of bacnet and lonworks ® boards may be different , the present invention allows for a combination of those functionalities into the single connector 212 in order to preserve real estate on the connector board 204 . this may be accomplished in one embodiment by configuring the connector 212 with a sufficient number of pins such that while some pins perform the same function in both protocols , dissimilar functions can be accommodated on different pins so that some pins may remain unused by one protocol . furthermore , when a digital communication board 210 operative according to any selected protocol ( e . g ., bacnet and lonworks ®) is plugged into the connector 212 , a processor on the display board 202 may interrogate the digital communication board 210 via the ribbon conductor 206 and the connector board 204 . the processor recognizes that the communication board has been plugged into the connector and further determines the type of communication protocol operative on the communication board 210 . according to one embodiment , this may be accomplished automatically by measuring an electrical parameter value on the digital communication board 210 . the electrical parameter value may be determined from a component value such as a unique resistor value or by sensing a short circuit or a voltage value on the digital communication board 210 . different resistance values or voltages identify different digital communication protocols . according to another embodiment , this determination is accomplished with a user input that provides a protocol identifier via an i / o device . according to yet another embodiment , the processor determines the digital value ( a high or a low voltage ) on one or more pins of the connector 212 . these digital values are determined by the protocol operative on the digital communication board 210 . after the processor on the display board determines the operative digital communication protocol , the processor enables certain features of the operative communication protocol . for instance , the processor ensures that a unique identification code is appended to all lonworks ® communication signals and enables functions of the room pressure monitor that the communication protocol can accommodate . also , the display identifies the operative communication protocol under control of the processor on the display board . this single connector dual protocol functionality can be implemented not only on the connector 212 but also on the connector 214 so that the end user can access any available communication protocol via a single output connector , such as the common rs485 connector , typically provided at the rear of the instrument . furthermore , some or all input / output connectors may be color coded to facilitate rapid and error free field connection . this allows the user to add or change the protocol without the need to remove and rewire the room pressure monitor 200 . when the communication board is detected , the connector 212 is energized for activating and communicating with the digital communication board 210 . the outputs from the display board 202 , such as the room pressure reading , are supplied to the communication board 210 where the information is properly formatted according to the communication protocol associated with the communication board 210 . the analog outputs from the monitor may remain active after the digital communication board 210 has been plugged into the connector 212 . the external digital communication network will receive the digital data output signal from the instrument 200 and may also communicate to the instrument via the digital communications board 210 . for example , the network may interrogate the instrument 200 to determine the current value of pressure , temperature , relative humidity or other measured environmental parameter . the network may also read the measurement range of the instrument 200 , its serial number , alarm setpoint range , etc . if an alarm occurs , the alarm will be transmitted onto the network . the network supervisor can also write to the instrument 200 to reconfigure the unit remotely or to silence an alarm remotely . although the invention has been described with reference to the bacnet and lonworks ® digital communication protocols , those skilled in the art recognize that the teachings of the invention can be applied to other digital communication protocols and to other communication formats and hardware , such as optical communication over optical fibers . the features described herein simplify the installation and maintenance of surface mounting systems , such as room pressure monitors as sold by the assignee of the present invention . while various embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described herein , it will be obvious that such embodiments are provided by way of example only . for example , these features may be embodied in instruments other than room pressure monitors , such as a temperature sensor , a humidity sensor , security systems , or other systems . numerous variations , changes and substitutions may be made without departing from the invention herein . accordingly , it is intended that the invention be limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims . | 6 |
referring now to the drawings , wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views , fig1 and 2 show a yard hydrant 10 constructed in accordance with the present invention . a valve housing ( 11 ) adapted to be connected at one end to a source of fluid under pressure at the bottom threads ( 11 tb ). a valve housing ( 11 ) has a first portion ( 11 a ) with a first inside diameter , a second portion ( 11 b ) with a second inside diameter that is larger than the first inside diameter ( 11 a ) and a third portion ( 11 c ) between the first and second portions with a third inside diameter that is larger than the second inside diameter . still looking at fig1 and 2 , a standpipe ( 12 ) having an upper and lower end with the lower end secured to the other end of the valve housing ( 11 ) at the threaded top portion ( 11 tt ) of the valve housing ( 11 ). a flow pipe ( 13 ) is concentrically disposed within the standpipe ( 12 ) and is reciprocal therein . a valve body ( 14 ) is disposed inside of the valve housing ( 11 ), the valve body ( 14 ) being closed at the bottom end ( 14 x ) thereof and having an open interior ( 14 i ) in fluid communication at all times with the flow pipe ( 13 ). the valve body ( 14 ) has a port ( 14 p ) in fluid communication at all times with an interior of the third inside portion ( 11 c ) of the valve housing ( 11 ). the valve body ( 14 ) has a first body portion ( 14 a ) with a first outside diameter that will fit in close sliding relationship with the first inside diameter of the first portion ( 11 a ) of the valve housing ( 11 ). a second body portion ( 14 b ) has a second outside body diameter that will fit in close sliding relationship with the second inside diameter of the second housing portion ( 11 b ) of the valve housing ( 11 ). similarly , a third body portion ( 14 c ) that has approximately the same outside diameter as the second outside body diameter of the second body portion ( 14 b ) is provided so that the second ( 14 b ) and third ( 14 c ) body portions can slide in close sealing relationship with the second inside housing portion ( 11 b ). the valve body ( 14 ) also has a fourth body portion ( 14 d ) located between the second ( 14 b ) and third ( 14 c ) body portions . this fourth body portion ( 14 d ) has an outside diameter which is less than the outside diameter of the second ( 14 b ) and third ( 14 ) body portions of the valve body ( 14 ). the valve body ( 14 ) is operatively attached to one end of the flow pipe ( 13 ) and by selective reciprocation of the flow pipe ( 13 ) as shown in fig1 and 2 . the valve body ( 14 ) has a closed position shown in fig1 for preventing fluid communication between the source of fluid under pressure at threads ( 11 t ) and the flow pipe ( 13 ) when the first portion ( 14 a ) of the valve body ( 14 ) is in the first portion ( 11 a ) of the valve housing ( 11 ). fig2 shows the valve body ( 14 ) in an open position when the first portion ( 14 a ) of the valve body ( 14 ) is raised out of the first portion ( 11 a ) of the valve housing ( 11 ) to the third portion ( 11 c ) of the valve housing ( 11 ) to permit fluid communication from the source of fluid pressure to enter the third portion ( 11 c ) of the valve housing . from there to the fluid flows through port ( 14 p ) in valve body ( 14 ), from there to the open interior of the valve body ( 14 i ), from there to the open interior of the valve body ( 14 i ) and then on to the flow pipe ( 13 ). a hydrant head ( 16 ) operatively attached at one end thereof to the other end of the flow pipe ( 13 ) and in flow communication therewith . the hydrant head ( 16 ) has an outlet ( 16 b ) for directing flow from the flow pipe ( 13 ) from the hydrant inlet ( 16 a ) when the valve body ( 14 ) is in the open position thereof . the hydrant head ( 16 ) is slidably journalled on the upper end of the standpipe ( 12 ) as shown in fig1 and 2 so that movement of the hydrant head ( 16 ) in one direction acts to move the flow pipe ( 13 ) and valve body ( 14 ) to the open position to allow flow communication with the source of fluid under pressure as shown in fig2 and movement of the hydrant head ( 16 ) in the opposite direction acting to move the flow pipe ( 13 ) and valve body ( 14 ) to the closed position of the valve body to prevent fluid communication with the source of fluid under pressure is shown in fig1 . a drain port ( 11 d ) is in fluid communication with an inside part of the second portion ( 11 b ) of the valve housing ( 11 ) for permitting fluid communication between the inside of the valve housing ( 11 ) and the outside of the valve housing ( 11 ) when the valve body ( 14 ) is in the closed position of fig1 , thereby allowing fluid to drain from the hydrant head ( 16 ) and flow pipe ( 13 ) when the valve body ( 14 ) is closed . this is important to keep the water above the frost line from freezing in the wintertime . a shoulder ( 14 s ) on the second portion ( 14 b ) of the valve body ( 14 ) is in contact with a top portion ( 11 t ) of the first portion of the valve body ( 14 ) when the valve body ( 14 ) is in the closed position shown in fig1 . the first portion ( 14 a ) of the valve body ( 14 ) has two o - rings ( 14 as ) in respective annular grooves for sealing against a surface of the inside diameter of the first portion ( 11 a ) of the valve housing ( 11 ). the second portion ( 14 b ) of the valve body ( 14 ) has two o - rings ( 14 bs ) in respective annular grooves for sealing against a surface of the inside diameter of the second portion ( 11 b ) of the valve housing ( 11 ). looking again at fig1 and 2 , the yard hydrant ( 10 ) has a collar ( 17 ) rigidly fixed to the standpipe ( 12 ). a handle ( 18 ) is pivotally attached to the hydrant head ( 16 ) at pin ( 20 ). a link ( 19 ) is operatively pivotally attached at one end to a handle ( 18 ) at pin ( 21 ) and at another end thereof to the collar ( 17 ) at pin ( 22 ). the handle ( 18 ) has a first pivotal position ( fig1 ) corresponding to the closed position of the valve body ( 14 ) and a second pivotal position ( fig2 ) corresponding to the open position of the valve body ( 14 ). the handle ( 18 ) has a surface ( 18 c ) which is , when the valve is closed , in abutment with a surface ( 16 c ) on the hydrant head ( 16 ) for holding the handle ( 18 ) in the closed position shown in fig1 until the handle ( 18 ) is moved to the open position thereof as shown in fig2 . moving the handle ( 18 ) from the open position shown in fig2 to the closed position shown in fig1 causes the over center condition shown in fig1 to securely hold the handle ( 18 ) in the closed position until it is manually pivotally forced again towards the open position shown in fig2 . arrows shown in fig2 and 5 illustrate the flow of fluid such as water when the valve body ( 14 ) is in the raised / open position and the arrows in fig1 and 3 show the closed position of the valve but still allowing drainage of water from the hydrant head ( 16 ), flow pipe ( 13 ) and valve body ( 14 ) out through the drain hole ( 11 d ) to keep the hydrant from freezing in the wintertime when the hydrant is installed such that the valve housing ( 11 ) is in the ground below the frost line . in fig1 and 2 a locking hole ( 23 a ) in the hydrant head ( 16 ) aligns with a locking hole ( 23 b ) in the handle ( 18 ) in the closed position of fig1 , to permit a padlock or the like to pass through the aligned locking holes ( 23 a ) and ( 23 b ) if desired . obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . it is therefore to be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described . | 8 |
a portable data storage device which is an embodiment of the invention is shown schematically in fig1 . the portable storage device includes a housing 1 which has a usb interface 3 . the usb interface may be electrically coupled to a serial bus ( typically a usb socket ) of an external device , such as a host computer 5 . the usb interface 3 may be a usb plug integral with the housing 1 , and for insertion into a socket of the host 5 . alternatively , in other embodiments , the usb interface 3 may be a socket for receiving a plug of a usb cable . the portable storage device further includes a usb controller 7 which controls the usb interface 3 . in use , the host 5 transfers data to and fro between itself and the portable data storage device . data transferred to the usb interface 3 from host computer 5 passes through the usb controller 7 to a master control unit 9 in the form of data packets . similarly , the interface controller 7 is arranged to send data it receives from the master control unit 9 through the interface 3 . the data packets have sizes which are multiples of 512 bytes . the master control unit 9 is connected to a bus 10 , which may for example be an 8 - bit bus . the bus 10 is further connected to an slc - type nand flash memory 11 , and an mlc - type nand flash memory 13 . each of these two memories may include one or more physically - separate integrated circuits . the memories 11 , 13 are arranged in blocks of pages . typically , a physical page of data consists of 2048 bytes . typically , a block of data in the slc memory unit 11 consists of 64 pages and a block of data in mlc flash memory unit consists of 128 pages . additionally , the master control unit 9 is connected to each of the flash memories 11 , 13 by a respective set of control lines 15 . each set of control lines transmits control signals referred to here as enable , ale , write and read signals . when the master control unit 9 is to write data to memory , it enables one of the two memories 11 , 13 by sending an enable signal to it ( thus , at most one of the two memories 11 , 13 is enabled at any one time ). at the same time , the master control unit 9 sends the enabled memory an ale signal and write signal . the master control unit 9 then writes address data and data to be stored to the enabled memory via 8 - bit bus . the memory unit 11 , 13 which is enabled stores the data in the location indicated by address data . the memory unit 11 , 13 which is not enabled takes no action . similarly , when the memory control unit is to read data from one of the memories 11 , 13 , it enables that memory 11 , 13 by using one of the control lines to send an enable signal to that memory . it then uses the other control lines to send the enabled memory the ale signal and the read signal , and sends address data to the enabled memory using the 8 - bit bus . the enabled memory 11 , 13 transmits over the bus 10 the data at the physical location corresponding to the address data . the algorithm performed by the embodiment will now be described . for simplicity we will assume that the slc - type nand flash memory unit 11 and mlc - type nand flash memory unit 13 have different respective address mapping tables which respectively map physical addresses within the respective memories 11 , 13 to logical addresses . these address mapping tables are typically stored in ram ( not shown ) within the portable data storage device , and together constitute a single master mapping table . in a typical example , data received from , or to be transmitted to , the host 3 is arranged in logical pages of size 512 bytes . however , as mentioned above , typically a physical page of data consists of 2048 bytes . typically , a block of data in the slc memory unit 11 consists of 64 pages and a block of data in mlc flash memory unit consists of 128 pages . referring to fig2 , and in particular fig2 ( a ), when portable data storage device is plugged into the host 3 an initialisation process begins ( step 21 ), which initialises the master control unit 9 and usb controller unit 7 , and in which the host 3 determines the id of the flash and its location and capacity . after the initialisation process , the master control unit 9 is ready to receive an instruction ( data packet ) from the host 3 ( step 23 ). once an instruction is received from the host 3 , the master control unit 9 determines whether the packet received is a read packet or a write packet ( step 25 ). if the data packet is a read packet , the master control unit 9 performs a calculation ( step 26 ), based on the logical address specified by the packet , to determine which of the memories 11 , 13 corresponds to the logical address . it then reads the data from the determined memory 11 , 13 at the address specified by the respective address mapping table ( step 27 ), and the method then terminates until the next packet is received ( this is represented in fig2 as the box “ 5 ”, which feeds back to the step 23 ). if , alternatively , the data packet is a write packet , the master control unit 9 performs a calculation ( step 28 ) to determine which memory 11 , 13 to write the page 1 to . after the type of nand flash memory 11 , 13 is selected , the master control unit 9 recalls the corresponding address mapping table from ram ( step 29 ), and uses it to locate the physical address corresponding to the logical address . the master control unit then determines whether the page at that physical address is erased ( step 30 ). if not , the master control unit performs an operation in which a new block is selected , pages of the old block preceding the page corresponding to the logical address are copied to the new block , and the data in the write packet is written to the page of new block corresponding to logical address ( step 31 ). the method then passes to the part of the flow diagram shown in fig2 ( c ). in step 36 it is determined whether the page just written to is the last page of the new block . if so , the memory mapping address table is updated and the old block is erased ( step 37 ), and the method terminates . conversely , if in step 36 the determination is negative , the method monitors whether another write packet in respect of the consecutively following page arrives within a predetermined interval ( step 38 ). if so , then the data for that page is written to the same new block ( step 39 ), and the method then passes back to step 36 . if not , then in step 40 the master control unit 9 will copy the succeeding page of the old block to the new block and then pass to step 37 to update the mapping table and erase the old block . the method then again terminates . returning to fig2 ( a ), if in step 30 the determination is positive , then a write operation is performed ( step 32 ) using an slc or mlc command depending on what type of flash is being written into . in this operation , the master control unit 9 sends an enable control signal to the selected nand flash memory 11 , 13 to chip enable the nand flash memory 11 , 13 to prepare for a write operation . then , the master control unit 9 sends data specifying the physical address in the nand flash memory 11 , 13 and the data to be written there . after a page is written to the flash memory 11 , 13 , the master control unit 9 will monitor incoming write packets from the host 5 ( step 33 ). if no write packet is received within a given time , then a step is performed of programming the written data into the flash ( step 34 ). ( the writing step 32 means the data is in the flash memory , but without the programming step 34 the data will lost if there is a power down . following the programming step 34 , the data will be able to survive a power down ). if however , at step 33 it is determined that a new packet has been received , the method passes to the part of the flow diagram shown in fig2 ( b ). in step 45 it is determined whether the new packet is a write packet . if not , the method passes back to step 34 . or , if so , the method determines ( step 46 ) whether the write operation which was performed in step 32 was to the last part of the physical page . if so , in step 47 a new page is selected . in any case , the corresponding physical address for the new write packet is determined from the appropriate address mapping table in step 48 . in step 49 it is determined whether the page having this physical address is erased . if not , a step 51 is performed which is equivalent to step 31 of fig2 ( a ), and the method then passes to the steps of fig2 ( c ). or , if so , a write operation ( step 50 ) is performed ( equivalent to that of step 32 of fig2 ( a )), and the method passes back to step 33 . as described above , the master mapping table ( i . e . the two address mapping tables ) determines the mapping between logical addresses and physical addresses . as mentioned above , a large block of the slc memory 11 typically has 64 pages , whereas a large block of the mlc memory 13 has 128 pages . in this case , the master mapping table is such that a sequence of logical addresses corresponds to two blocks of the slc memory 11 , then to one block of the mlc memory 13 , then to two blocks of the slc memory and so on . thus , if data is written to the successive logical addresses , then the master control unit 9 enables the slc flash memory 11 and sends a block of data to the memory 11 , and then the master control unit 9 enables the mlc flash memory unit 13 and sends two blocks of data to the memory unit 13 . this process is repeated until all the desired blocks of data have been sent to the respective flash memory units . in summary , i . if the data is being written to the slc flash memory 11 , the master control unit 9 will write two blocks into the slc memory 11 before switching to the mlc memory 13 . ii . if the data is being written to the mlc memory 13 , the master control unit 9 only writes one block . upon determining that the page just written to is the last page of the block , the master control unit 9 will enable the slc flash memory 11 for the next write operation . when , in steps 31 and 51 a new physical block is associated with a set of logical addresses , this done such that if a given set of logical addresses previously corresponded to slc memory then that continues to be true , and if the given set of logical addresses previously corresponded to mlc memory then that continues to be true . in other words , each of the address mapping tables is updated independently , without logical addresses being swapped between them . although only a single embodiment of the invention has been described in detail , many variations are possible within the scope of the claims , as will be clear to a skilled reader . | 6 |
the present disclosure provides a washing method using ionic liquids ( ils ) for making toner , such as , toner comprising an acrylate or a polyester , such as , a toner made by an emulsion aggregation method , such as , a low melt toner . in an embodiment , a method for processing a plurality of toner particles is disclosed including ( a ) contacting a slurry containing the plurality of toner particles with a first ionic liquid ( il ), ( b ) removing the liquid in the slurry to form a first wetcake , ( c ) optionally dispersing the first wetcake with a dispersing solution containing water or an aqueous solution , where the dispersing solution contains a second il , ( d ) if step ( c ) is practice , removing the dispersing solution to form a second wetcake , ( e ) contacting the first or second wetcake with water or an aqueous solution , and ( f ) removing the water or aqueous solution to form a dry mass , where the dry mass includes a plurality of il - contacted toner particles , and where the processing steps remove surfactants and ions from superficial or surface layers of the plurality of toner particles . in embodiments , the il swells the surfaces of the toner particles . in an embodiment , if the il is used in step ( a ), then a second il may not be necessary . alternatively , if the il is used in step ( c ), then the first il may not be necessary . the first and second il may be the same or different . in embodiments , a method of making toner particles is disclosed including aggregating dispersions comprising one or more resins , and , optionally , with other reagents , such as , pigments , surfactants , coagulants , aggregants , waxes , base and so on , mixing the resulting aggregation with water , contacting the slurry with a first il , removing the liquid to form a first wetcake , optionally dispersing the first wetcake with a dispersing solution containing water or an aqueous solution , where the dispersing solution includes a second il , if a second il is used , removing the dispersing solution to form a second wetcake , contacting the first or second wetcake with water or an aqueous solution ; and removing the water or aqueous solution to form a dry mass , where the resulting dry mass contains one or more toner particles . in embodiments , a toner particle obtained by washing with an il is disclosed , where the resulting il - washed toner contains lower surface concentrations of surfactants , surface additives and / or ions compared to water - only washed toner particles , and where the t g , rheology and melt flow index ( mfi ) of the il - washed toner particle remains unchanged or is improved or enhanced compared to water - only washed toner particles . as used herein , the term , “ latex ,” means a natural or synthetic polymerized monomer that may be emulsified with a surfactant . in the application , use of the singular includes the plural unless specifically stated otherwise . in the application , use of , “ or ,” means , “ and / or ,” unless stated otherwise . furthermore , use of the term , “ including ,” as well as other forms , such as , “ includes ,” and , “ included ,” is not limiting . for the purposes of the instant disclosure , “ toner ,” “ developer ,” “ toner composition ,” and “ toner particles ,” can be used interchangeably , and any particular or specific use and meaning will be evident from the context of the sentence , paragraph and the like in which the word or phrase appears . for the purposes of the instant application , “ about ,” is meant to indicate a deviation of 20 % or less of a stated value or a mean value . in embodiments , toner compositions of the present disclosure possess enhanced electrical properties , and in embodiments , for extended time periods compared to toner compositions not treated with an il . the il - treated toner compositions of interest , for example , comprise an increase in triboelectric charging values , and an increase in a ( t ) ( i . e ., charging ability ). ils are solvents composed of ionized species in contrast to traditional organic or aqueous solvents which often are molecular nonionics . ils are implemented as green reagents or solvents to replace common volatile or more toxic organic compounds . ionic liquids can comprise an organic cation , for example , created by alkylation of a compound , including , but not limited to , imidazoles , pyrazoles , thiazoles , isothiazoles , azathiozoles , oxothiazoles , oxazines , oxazolines , oxazaboroles , dithiozoles , triazoles , selenozoles , oxaphospholes , pyrroles , boroles , furans , thiophens , phospholes , pentazoles , indoles , indolines , oxazoles , isoxazoles , isotriazoles , tetrazoles , benzofurans , dibenzofurans , benzothiophens , dibenzothiophens , thiadiazoles , pyridines , pyrimidines , pyrazines , pyridazines , piperazines , piperidines , morpholones , pyrans , annolines , phthalazines , quinazolines and quinoxalines , and combinations thereof . the anionic portion of an il can be composed of an inorganic or organic moiety and can comprise halogens , bx 4 − , pf 6 − , asf 6 − , sbf 6 − , no 2 − , no 3 − , so 4 2 − , br 4 − , substituted or unsubstituted carboranes , substituted or unsubstituted metallocarboranes , phosphates , phosphites , polyoxometallates , substituted or unsubstituted carboxylates , triflates and noncoordinating anions ; and where x is halide and r includes , but is not limited to , hydrogen , alkyl , substituted alkyl , cycloalkyl , substituted cycloalkyl , heteroalkyl , heterocycloalkyl , substituted heterocycloalkyl , aryl , substituted aryl , heteroaryl , substituted heteroaryl , alkoxy , aryloxy , acyl , silyl , boryl , phosphino , amino , thio , seleno and combinations thereof . altering the combination of cations and anions enables control of the il to optimize the washing / pollutant removal process of interest . ils have a more complex solvent behavior compared with traditional aqueous and organic solvents because ils are salts and not molecular , nonionic solvents . types of interactions between ils and solutes include , dispersion , π , − π , n − π , hydrogen bonding , dipolar and ionic / charge - charge . in an embodiment , the cation can be derived from an organic compound . the organic compound can be aliphatic , cyclic or both . examples of heterocyclic groups include , but are not limited to , imidazoles , pyrazoles , thiazoles , isothiazoles , azathiozoles , oxothiazoles , oxazines , oxazolines , oxazaboroles , dithiozoles , triazoles , selenozoles , oxaphospholes , pyrroles , boroles , furans , thiophens , phospholes , pentazoles , indoles , indolines , oxazoles , isoxazoles , isotriazoles , tetrazoles , benzofurans , dibenzofurans , benzothiophens , dibenzothiophens , thiadiazoles , pyridines , pyrimidines , pyrazines , pyridazines , piperazines , piperidines , morpholones , pyrans , annolines , phthalazines , quinazolines , quinoxalines , quinolines , pyrrolidines , isoquinolines and combinations thereof . the anionic portion of the ionic liquid can comprise , for example , at least one of the following groups : halogens , bx 4 − , pf 6 − , asf 6 − , sbf 6 − , no 2 − , no 3 − , so 4 2 − , br 4 − , substituted or unsubstituted carboranes , substituted or unsubstituted metallocarboranes , phosphates , phosphites , polyoxometallates , substituted or unsubstituted carboxylates , triflates and noncoordinating anions ; and where x is halide and r is at least one member selected from the group consisting of hydrogen , alkyl , substituted alkyl , cycloalkyl , substituted cycloalkyl , heteroalkyl , heterocycloalkyl , substituted heterocycloalkyl , aryl , substituted aryl , heteroaryl , substituted heteroaryl , alkoxy , aryloxy , acyl , silyl , boryl , phosphino , amino , thio , seleno and combinations thereof . in an embodiment , the il is the commercially available , 1 -( 4 - sulfobutyl )- 3 - methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate ( solvionic inc .). any resin may be utilized in forming a latex emulsion of the present disclosure . in embodiments , the resin may be a polyester resin , including the resins described in u . s . pat . nos . 6 , 593 , 049 and 6 , 756 , 176 , the disclosures of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety . in embodiments , the resins may include an amorphous resin , a crystalline resin , and / or a combination thereof , as described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 830 , 860 , the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in entirety . in embodiments , the toner particles can comprise acrylates , styrenes , styrene acrylates , styrene methacrylates , butadienes , isoprenes , acrylonitriles , acrylic acids , methacrylic acids , beta - carboxy ethyl acrylates , polyesters , a poly ( styrene - butadiene ), a poly ( methyl styrene - butadiene ), a poly ( methyl methacrylate - butadiene ), a poly ( ethyl methacrylate - butadiene ), a poly ( propyl methacrylate - butadiene ), a poly ( butyl methacrylate - butadiene ), a poly ( methyl acrylate - butadiene ), a poly ( ethyl acrylate - butadiene ), a poly ( propyl acrylate - butadiene ), a poly ( butyl acrylate - butadiene ), a poly ( styrene - isoprene ), a poly ( methyl styrene - isoprene ), a poly ( methyl methacrylate - isoprene ), a poly ( ethyl methacrylate - isoprene ), a poly ( propyl methacrylate - isoprene ), a poly ( butyl methacrylate - isoprene ), a poly ( methyl acrylate - isoprene ), a poly ( ethyl acrylate - isoprene ), a poly ( propyl acrylate - isoprene ), a poly ( butyl acrylate - isoprene ), a poly ( styrene - propyl acrylate ), a poly ( styrene - butyl acrylate ), a poly ( styrene - butadiene - acrylic acid ), a poly ( styrene - butadiene - methacrylic acid ), a poly ( styrene - butyl acrylate - acrylic acid ), a poly ( styrene - butyl acrylate - methacrylic acid ), a poly ( styrene - butyl acrylate - acrylonitrile ), a poly ( styrene - butyl acrylate - acrylonitrile - acrylic acid ) or combinations thereof . in embodiments , the resin may be a polyester resin formed by reacting a diol with a diacid in the presence of an optional catalyst . for forming a crystalline polyester , suitable organic diols include aliphatic diols with from about 2 to about 36 carbon atoms , such as , 1 , 2 - ethanediol , 1 , 3 - propanediol , 1 , 4 - butanediol , 1 , 5 - pentanediol , 2 , 2 - dimethylpropane - 1 , 3 - diol , 1 , 6 - hexanediol , 1 , 7 - heptanediol , 1 , 8 - octanediol , 1 , 9 - nonanediol , 1 , 10 - decanediol , 1 , 12 - dodecanediol and the like , including structural isomers . the diol may be , for example , selected in an amount of from about 40 to about 60 mole %, from about 42 to about 55 mole %, from about 45 to about 53 mole %, and a second diol can be selected in an amount of from about 0 . 1 to about 10 mole % and from about 1 to about 4 mole % of the resin . examples of organic diacids or diesters , including vinyl diacids or vinyl diesters , selected for preparing crystalline resins include oxalic acid , succinic acid , glutaric acid , adipic acid , suberic acid , azelaic acid , sebacic acid , fumaric acid , dimethyl fumarate , dimethyl itaconate , c is 1 , 4 - diacetoxy - 2 - butene , diethyl fumarate , diethyl maleate , phthalic acid , isophthalic acid , terephthalic acid , naphthalene - 2 , 6 - dicarboxylic acid , naphthalene - 2 , 7 - dicarboxylic acid , cyclohexane dicarboxylic acid , malonic acid and mesaconic acid , or a diester or anhydride thereof . the organic diacid may be selected in an amount of , for example , from about 40 to about 60 mole %, from about 42 to about 52 mole %, from about 45 to about 50 mole %, and a second diacid can be selected in an amount of from about 0 . 1 to about 10 mole % of the resin . examples of crystalline resins include polyesters , polyamides , polyimides , polyolefins , polyethylenes , polybutylenes , polyisobutyrates , ethylene - propylene copolymers , ethylene - vinyl acetate copolymers , polypropylenes , mixtures thereof , and the like . crystalline resins may be polyester based , such as , poly ( ethylene - adipate ), poly ( propylene - adipate ), poly ( butylene - adipate ), poly ( pentylene - adipate ), poly ( hexylene - adipate ), poly ( octylene - adipate ), poly ( ethylene - succinate ), poly ( propylene - succinate ), poly ( butylene - succinate ), poly ( pentylene - succinate ), poly ( hexylene - succinate ), poly ( octylene - succinate ), poly ( ethylene - sebacate ), polypropylene - sebacate ), poly ( butylene - sebacate ), poly ( pentylene - sebacate ), poly ( hexylene - sebacate ), poly ( octylene - sebacate ), poly ( decylene - sebacate ), poly ( decylene - decanoate ), poly ( ethylene - decanoate ), poly ( ethylene dodecanoate ), poly ( nonylene - sebacate ), poly ( nonylene - decanoate ), copoly ( ethylene - fumarate )- copoly ( ethylene - sebacate ), copoly ( ethylene - fumarate )- copoly ( ethylene - decanoate ), copoly ( ethylene - fumarate )- copoly ( ethylene - dodecanoate ), copoly ( 2 , 2 - dimethylpropane - 1 , 3 - diol - decanoate )- copoly ( nonylene - decanoate ), poly ( octylene - adipate ). examples of polyamides include poly ( ethylene - adipamide ), poly ( propylene - adipamide ), poly ( butylenes - adipamide ), poly ( pentylene - adipamide ), poly ( hexylene - adipamide ), poly ( octylene - adipamide ), poly ( ethylene - succinimide ), and poly ( propylene - sebecamide ). examples of polyimides include poly ( ethylene - adipimide ), poly ( propylene - adipimide ), poly ( butylene - adipimide ), poly ( pentylene - adipimide ), poly ( hexylene - adipimide ), poly ( octylene - adipimide ), poly ( ethylene - succinimide ), poly ( propylene - succinimide ) and poly ( butylene - succinimide ). the crystalline resin may be present , for example , in an amount of from about 1 to about 50 % by weight of the toner components , from about 5 to about 35 % by weight of the toner components . the crystalline resin can possess various melting points of , for example , from about 30 ° c . to about 120 ° c . or from about 50 ° c . to about 90 ° c . the crystalline resin may have a number average molecular weight ( m n ), as measured by gel permeation chromatography ( gpc ) of , for example , from about 1 , 000 to about 50 , 000 , from about 2 , 000 to about 25 , 000 , and a weight average molecular weight ( m w ) of , for example , from about 2 , 000 to about 100 , 000 , from about 3 , 000 to about 80 , 000 , as determined by gpc using , for example , polystyrene standards . the molecular weight distribution ( m w / m n ) of the crystalline resin may be , for example , from about 2 to about 6 or from about 3 to about 4 . examples of diols which may be utilized in generating an amorphous polyester include 1 , 2 - propanediol , 1 , 3 - propanediol , 1 , 2 - butanediol , 1 , 3 - butanediol , 1 , 4 - butanediol , pentanediol , hexanediol , 2 , 2 - dimethylpropanediol , 2 , 2 , 3 - trimethylhexanediol , heptanediol , dodecanediol , bis ( hydroxyethyl )- bisphenol a , bis ( 2 - hydroxypropyl )- bisphenol a , 1 , 4 - cyclohexanedimethanol , 1 , 3 - cyclohexanedimethanol , xylenedimethanol , cyclohexanediol , diethylene glycol , bis ( 2 - hydroxyethyl ) oxide , dipropylene glycol , dibutylene , and combinations thereof . the amount of organic diols selected can vary , and may be present , for example , in an amount from about 40 to about 60 mole % of the resin , from about 42 to about 55 mole % of the resin , and from about 45 to about 53 mole % of the resin . polycondensation catalysts which may be utilized in forming either the crystalline or amorphous polyesters include tetraalkyl titanates , dialkyltin oxides such as dibutyltin oxide , tetraalkyltins such as dibutyltin dilaurate , and dialkyltin oxide hydroxides such as butyltin oxide hydroxide , aluminum alkoxides , alkyl zinc , dialkyl zinc , zinc oxide , stannous oxide , or combinations thereof . such catalysts may be utilized in amounts of , for example , from about 0 . 01 mole % to about 5 mole % based on the starting diacid or diester used to generate the polyester resin . in embodiments , an unsaturated amorphous polyester resin may be utilized as a resin . examples of such resins include those disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 063 , 827 , the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety . unsaturated amorphous polyester resins include , but are not limited to , poly ( propoxylated bisphenol co - fumarate ), poly ( ethoxylated bisphenol co - fumarate ), poly ( butyloxylated bisphenol co - fumarate ), poly ( co - propoxylated bisphenol co - ethoxylated bisphenol co - fumarate ), poly ( 1 , 2 - propylene fumarate ), poly ( propoxylated bisphenol co - maleate ), poly ( ethoxylated bisphenol co - maleate ), poly ( butyloxylated bisphenol co - maleate ), poly ( co - propoxylated bisphenol co - ethoxylated bisphenol co - maleate ), poly ( 1 , 2 - propylene maleate ), poly ( propoxylated bisphenol co - itaconate ), poly ( ethoxylated bisphenol co - itaconate ), poly ( butyloxylated bisphenol co - itaconate ), poly ( co - propoxylated bisphenol co - ethoxylated bisphenol co - itaconate ), poly ( 1 , 2 - propylene itaconate ), and combinations thereof . an example of a linear propoxylated bisphenol a fumarate resin which may be utilized as a resin is available under the trade name sparii from resana s / a industrias quimicas , sao paulo brazil . other propoxylated bisphenol a fumarate resins that may be utilized and are commercially available include gtuf and fpesl - 2 from kao corporation , japan , and em181635 from reichhold , research triangle park , n . c ., and the like . suitable crystalline resins which may be utilized , optionally , in combination with an amorphous resin as described above , include those disclosed in u . s . patent application publication no . 2006 / 0222991 , the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety . in some embodiments , a suitable crystalline resin may include a resin formed of ethylene glycol and a mixture of dodecanedioic acid and fumaric acid co - monomers . the amorphous resin may be present , for example , in an amount of from about 30 to about 90 % by weight of the toner components , or from about 40 to about 80 % by weight of the toner components . in embodiments , the amorphous resin or combination of amorphous resins utilized in the latex may have a t g of from about 30 ° c . to about 80 ° c . or from about 35 ° c . to about 70 ° c . in embodiments , the combined resins utilized in the latex may have a melt viscosity of from about 10 to about 1 , 000 , 000 pas at about 130 ° c . or from about 50 to about 100 , 000 pas . one , two , or more resins may be used . in some embodiments , where two or more resins are used , the resins may be in any suitable ratio ( e . g ., weight ratio ) such as for instance of from about 1 % ( first resin )/ 99 % ( second resin ) to about 99 % ( first resin )/ 1 % ( second resin ) or from about 10 % ( first resin )/ 90 % ( second resin ) to about 90 % ( first resin )/ 10 % ( second resin ). where the resin includes an amorphous resin and a crystalline resin , the weight ratio of the two resins may be from about 99 % ( amorphous resin ): 1 % ( crystalline resin ), to about 1 % ( amorphous resin ): 99 % ( crystalline resin ). in embodiments , the resin may be pre - blended with a weak base or neutralizing agent . the base may be a solid , thereby eliminating the need to utilize a solution . in embodiments , the resin and the neutralizing agent may be simultaneously fed through a co - feeding process . in embodiments , the neutralizing agent may be used to neutralize acid groups in the resins , so a neutralizing agent herein may also be referred to as a , “ basic neutralization agent .” any suitable basic neutralization reagent may be used in accordance with the present disclosure . suitable basic neutralization agents may include both inorganic basic agents and organic basic agents . suitable basic agents may include ammonium hydroxide , potassium hydroxide , sodium hydroxide , sodium carbonate , sodium bicarbonate , lithium hydroxide , potassium carbonate , combinations thereof and the like . suitable basic agents may also include monocyclic compounds and polycyclic compounds having at least one nitrogen atom , such as , for example , secondary amines , which include aziridines , azetidines , piperazines , piperidines , pyridines , bipyridines , terpyridines , dihydropyridines , morpholines , n - alkylmorpholines , 1 , 4 - diazabicyclo [ 2 . 2 . 2 ] octanes , 1 , 8 - diazabicycloundecanes , 1 , 8 - diazabicycloundecenes , dimethylated pentylamines , trimethylated pentylamines , pyrimidines , pyrroles , pyrrolidines , pyrrolidinones , indoles , indolines , indanones , benzindazones , imidazoles , benzimidazoles , imidazolones , imidazolines , oxazoles , isoxazoles , oxazolines , oxadiazoles , thiadiazoles , carbazoles , quinolines , isoquinolines , naphthyridines , triazines , triazoles , tetrazoles , pyrazoles , pyrazolines and combinations thereof . the monocyclic and polycyclic compounds may be substituted , and at any carbon position on the ring . in embodiments , an emulsion formed in accordance with the present disclosure may also include water , ( e . g ., de - ionized water ( diw or row )), in amounts of from about 30 % to about 95 % or from about 30 % to about 60 %, at temperatures that melt or soften the resin , from about 40 ° c . to about 140 ° c ., or from about 60 ° c . to about 100 ° c . the basic agent may be utilized as a solid , such as , for example , sodium hydroxide flakes , so that it is present in an amount of from about 0 . 001 % by weight to about 50 % by weight of the resin , from about 0 . 01 % by weight to about 25 % by weight of the resin , or from about 0 . 1 % by weight to about 5 % by weight of the resin . as noted above , the basic neutralization agent may be added to a resin possessing acid groups . the addition of the basic neutralization agent may thus raise the ph of an emulsion including a resin possessing acid groups from about 5 to about 12 or from about 6 to about 11 . the neutralization of the acid groups may enhance formation of the emulsion . in embodiments , the process of the present disclosure may include a surfactant . one , two or more surfactants may be used . the surfactants may be selected from ionic surfactants and nonionic surfactants . anionic surfactants and cationic surfactants are encompassed by the term “ ionic surfactants .” in embodiments , the total amount of surfactant is present in an amount of from about 0 . 01 % to about 20 % by weight of the resin , from about 0 . 1 % to about 16 % by weight of the resin , or from about 1 % to about 14 % by weight of the resin . anionic surfactants which may be utilized include sulfates and sulfonates , sodium dodecylsulfate ( sds ), sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate , sodium dodecylnaphthalene sulfate , dialkyl benzenealkyl sulfates and sulfonates , acids such as abitic acid available from aldrich , neogen r ™, neogen sc ™ obtained from daiichi kogyo seiyaku , combinations thereof and the like . other suitable anionic surfactants include dowfax ™ 2a1 , an alkyldiphenyloxide disulfonate from the dow chemical company , and / or tayca power bn2060 from tayca corporation ( japan ), which are branched sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonates . combinations of these surfactants and any of the foregoing anionic surfactants may be utilized . examples of the cationic surfactants , which usually are positively charged , include , for example , alkylbenzyl dimethyl ammonium chloride , dialkyl benzenealkyl ammonium chloride , lauryl trimethyl ammonium chloride , alkylbenzyl methyl ammonium chloride , alkyl benzyl dimethyl ammonium bromide , benzalkonium chloride , cetyl pyridinium bromide , c 12 , c 15 , c 17 trimethyl ammonium bromides , halide salts of quaternized polyoxyethylalkylamines , dodecylbenzyl triethyl ammonium chloride , mirapol ™ and alkaquat ™, available from alkaril chemical company , sanizol ™ ( benzalkonium chloride ), available from kao chemicals , and the like , and mixtures thereof . examples of nonionic surfactants that may be utilized for the processes illustrated herein include , for example , polyacrylic acid , methalose , methyl cellulose , ethyl cellulose , propyl cellulose , hydroxy ethyl cellulose , carboxy methyl cellulose , polyoxyethylene cetyl ether , polyoxyethylene lauryl ether , polyoxyethylene octyl ether , polyoxyethylene octylphenyl ether , polyoxyethylene oleyl ether , polyoxyethylene sorbitan monolaurate , polyoxyethylene stearyl ether , polyoxyethylene nonylphenyl ether , dialkylphenoxy poly ( ethyleneoxy ) ethanol , available from rhone - poulenc as igepal ca - 210 ™, igepal ca - 520 ™, igepal ca - 720 ™, igepal co - 890 ™, igepal co - 720 ™, igepal co - 290 ™, igepal ca - 210 ™, antarox 890 ™ and antarox 897 ™. other examples of suitable nonionic surfactants may include a block copolymer of polyethylene oxide and polypropylene oxide , including those commercially available as synperonic pe / f , in embodiments synperonic pe / f 108 . combinations of these surfactants and any of the foregoing surfactants may be utilized . the process includes mixing a composition , optionally , at an elevated temperature , containing a resin and other optional reagents as known in the art and as a design choice to form a latex emulsion . more than one resin may be utilized in forming the emulsion . a polyester resin may be an amorphous resin , a crystalline resin or a combination thereof . in embodiments , the resin may be an amorphous resin and the elevated temperature may be a temperature above the t g of the amorphous resin . in embodiments , the resin may be a crystalline resin and the elevated temperature may be a temperature above the melting point of the crystalline resin . in embodiments , the resin may be a mixture of amorphous and crystalline resins and the temperature may be above the t g of the mixture . the elevated temperature may be from about 30 ° c . to about 300 ° c ., from about 50 ° c . to about 200 ° c ., or from about 70 ° c . to about 150 ° c . mixing may be conducted in an extruder , i . e ., a twin screw extruder , a kneader , such as , a haake mixer , a batch reactor or any other device capable of mixing viscous materials , if needed . stirring , although not necessary , may be utilized to enhance formation of the latex . any suitable stirring device may be utilized . in some embodiments , the stirring may be at from about 10 revolutions per minute ( rpm ) to about 5 , 000 rpm , from about 20 rpm to about 2 , 000 rpm , or from about 50 rpm to about 1 , 000 rpm . the stirring need not be at a constant speed , and may be varied . for example , as heating of the mixture becomes more uniform , the stirring rate may be increased or decreased . once the resin and optional reagents , such as , a neutralizing agent and surfactant , are mixed and melted if necessary , the mixture then may be contacted with a solvent , such as , water , to form a latex emulsion . water may be added to form a latex with a solids content of from about 5 % to about 50 % or from about 10 % to about 40 %. while higher water temperatures may accelerate the dissolution process , latexes can be formed at temperatures as low as room temperature . in embodiments , water temperatures may be from about 40 ° c . to about 110 ° c . or from about 50 ° c . to about 100 ° c . contact between the water and the resin mixture may be achieved in any suitable manner , such as in a vessel or continuous conduit , or in a packed bed . in some embodiments , as the resin mixture travels down the extruder , water may be added at subsequent port ( s ). this may be advantageous so that the transition from a water in oil to an oil in water emulsion may be gradual , ensuring that the materials continue to mix rather than phase separate , and to optimize emulsion formation in the extruder . in embodiments , the ports may inject preheated de - ionized water into the extruder at rates of from about 40 g / min to about 400 g / min or from about 100 g / min to about 200 g / min . the product exiting from the extruder may include a stream of latex that is collected in a steam - traced tank with gentle agitation before being discharged for storage and later use in the aggregation / coalescence process described below . the emulsified resin particles in the aqueous medium may have a size of about 1500 nm or less , such as from about 10 nm to about 1200 nm or from about 30 nm to about 1000 nm . the coarse content of the latex of the present disclosure may be from about 0 . 01 % by weight to about 1 % by weight or from about 0 . 1 % by weight to about 0 . 5 % by weight . the solids content of the latex of the present disclosure may be from about 5 % by weight to about 50 % by weight or from about 30 % by weight to about 40 % by weight . following emulsification , the emulsion may be cooled to room temperature , for example from about 20 ° c . to about 25 ° c . once the resin mixture has been contacted with water to form an emulsion as described above , the resulting latex then may be utilized to form a toner by any method within the purview of those skilled in the art . the latex emulsion may be contacted with a colorant , optionally in a dispersion , and other additives to form a toner by a suitable process , for example , by an aggregation and coalescence process . in embodiments , the optional additional ingredients of a toner composition including colorant , wax , and other additives , may be added before , during or after mixing the resin to form the latex emulsion of the present disclosure . the additional ingredients may be added before , during or after formation of the latex emulsion . various known suitable colorants , such as dyes , pigments , mixtures of dyes , mixtures of pigments , mixtures of dyes and pigments , and the like , may be included in the toner . in embodiments , the colorant may be included in an amount of , for example , from about 0 . 1 to about 35 % by weight of the toner , or from about 1 to about 15 % by weight of the toner , or from about 3 to about 10 % by weight of the toner , although the amount of colorant can be outside of those ranges . as examples of suitable colorants , mention may be made of carbon black like regal 330 ™ ( cabot ), carbon black 5250 and 5750 ( columbian chemicals ), sunsperse carbon black lhd 9303 ( sun chemicals ); magnetites , such as mobay magnetites mo8029 ™, mo8060 ™; columbian magnetites ; mapico blacks ™ and surface treated magnetites ; pfizer magnetites cb4799 ™, cb5300 ™, cb5600 ™, mcx6369 ™; bayer magnetites , bayferrox 8600 ™ 8610 ™; northern pigments magnetites , np604 ™, np608 ™; magnox magnetites tmb - 100 ™, or tmb - 104 ™; and the like . as colored pigments , there can be selected cyan , magenta , yellow , red , green , brown , blue or mixtures thereof . generally , cyan , magenta , or yellow pigments or dyes , or mixtures thereof , are used . the pigment or pigments can be used as water - based pigment dispersions . in general , suitable colorants may include paliogen violet 5100 and 5890 ( basf ), normandy magenta rd - 2400 ( paul uhirich ), permanent violet vt2645 ( paul uhlrich ), heliogen green l8730 ( basf ), argyle green xp - 111 - s ( paul uhlrich ), brilliant green toner gr 0991 ( paul uhlrich ), lithol scarlet d3700 ( basf ), toluidine red ( aldrich ), scarlet for thermoplast nsd ps pa ( ugine kuhlmann of canada ), lithol rubine toner ( paul uhlrich ), lithol scarlet 4440 ( basf ), nbd 3700 ( basf ), bon red c ( dominion color ), royal brilliant red rd - 8192 ( paul uhlrich ), oracet pink rf ( ciba geigy ), paliogen red 3340 and 3871k ( basf ), lithol fast scarlet l4300 ( basf ), heliogen blue d6840 , d7080 , k7090 , k6910 and l7020 ( basf ), sudan blue os ( basf ), neopen blue ff4012 ( basf ), pv fast blue b2g01 ( american hoechst ), irgalite blue bca ( ciba geigy ), paliogen blue 6470 ( basf ), sudan ii , iii and iv ( matheson , coleman , bell ), sudan orange ( aldrich ), sudan orange 220 ( basf ), paliogen orange 3040 ( basf ), ortho orange or 2673 ( paul uhlrich ), paliogen yellow 152 and 1560 ( basf ), lithol fast yellow 0991k ( basf ), paliotol yellow 1840 ( basf ), novaperm yellow fgl ( hoechst ), permanerit yellow ye 0305 ( paul uhlrich ), lumogen yellow d0790 ( basf ), sunsperse yellow yhd 6001 ( sun chemicals ), suco - gelb 1250 ( basf ), suco - yellow d1355 ( basf ), suco fast yellow d1165 , d1355 and d1351 ( basf ), hostaperm pink e ™ ( hoechst ), fanal pink d4830 ( basf ), cinquasia magenta ™ ( dupont ), paliogen black l9984 ( basf ), pigment black k801 ( basf ), levanyl black a - sf ( miles , bayer ), combinations thereof , and the like . other suitable water - based colorant dispersions include those commercially available from clariant , for example , hostafine yellow gr , hostafine black t and black ts , hostafine blue b2g , hostafine rubine f6b and magenta dry pigment such as toner magenta 6bvp2213 and toner magenta eo2 which may be dispersed in water and / or surfactant prior to use . specific examples of pigments include sunsperse bhd 6011x ( blue 15 type ), sunsperse bhd 9312h ( pigment blue 15 74160 ), sunsperse bhd 6000x ( pigment blue 15 : 3 74160 ), sunsperse ghd 9600x and ghd 6004x ( pigment green 7 74260 ), sunsperse qhd 6040x ( pigment red 122 73915 ), sunsperse rhd 9668x ( pigment red 185 12516 ), sunsperse rhd 9365x and 9504x ( pigment red 57 15850 : 1 , sunsperse yhd 6005x ( pigment yellow 83 21108 ), flexiverse yfd 4249 ( pigment yellow 17 21105 ), sunsperse yhd 6020x and 6045x ( pigment yellow 74 11741 ), sunsperse yhd 600x and 9604x ( pigment yellow 14 21095 ), flexiverse lfd 4343 and lfd 9736 ( pigment black 7 77226 ), aquatone , combinations thereof , and the like , as water based pigment dispersions from sun chemicals , heliogen blue l6900 , d6840 ™, d7080 ™, d7020 ™, pylam oil blue ™, pylam oil yellow ™, pigment blue 1 ™ available from paul uhlich & amp ; company , inc ., pigment violet 1 ™, pigment red 48 ™, lemon chrome yellow dcc 1026 ™, e . d . toluidine red ™ and bon red c ™ available from dominion color corporation , ltd ., toronto , ontario , novaperm yellow fgl ™, and the like . generally , colorants that can be selected are black , cyan , magenta , or yellow , and mixtures thereof . examples of magentas are 2 , 9 - dimethyl - substituted quinacridone and anthraquinone dye identified in the color index as ci 60710 , ci dispersed red 15 , diazo dye identified in the color index as ci 26050 , ci solvent red 19 , and the like . illustrative examples of cyans include copper tetra ( octadecyl sulfonamido ) phthalocyanine , x - copper phthalocyanine pigment listed in the color index as ci 74160 , ci pigment blue , pigment blue 15 : 3 , and anthrathrene blue , identified in the color index as ci 69810 , special blue x - 2137 , and the like . illustrative examples of yellows are diarylide yellow 3 , 3 - dichlorobenzidene acetoacetanilides , a monoazo pigment identified in the color index as ci 12700 , ci solvent yellow 16 , a nitrophenyl amine sulfonamide identified in the color index as foron yellow se / gln , ci dispersed yellow 33 2 , 5 - dimethoxy - 4 - sulfonanilide phenylazo - 4 ′- chloro - 2 , 5 - dimethoxy acetoacetanilide , and permanent yellow fgl . in embodiments , the colorant may include a pigment , a dye , combinations thereof , carbon black , magnetite , black , cyan , magenta , yellow , red , green , blue , brown , combinations thereof , in an amount sufficient to impart the desired color to the toner . it is to be understood that other useful colorants will be apparent based on the present disclosure . optionally , a wax also may be combined with the resin and a colorant in forming toner particles . the wax may be provided in a wax dispersion , which may include a single type of wax or a mixture of two or more different waxes . a single wax may be added to toner formulations , for example , to improve particular toner properties , such as , toner particle shape , presence and amount of wax on the toner particle surface , charging and / or fusing characteristics , gloss , stripping , offset properties and the like . alternatively , a combination of waxes can be added to provide multiple properties to the toner composition . when included , the wax may be present in an amount of , for example , from about 1 % by weight to about 25 % by weight of the toner particles or from about 5 % by weight to about 20 % by weight of the toner particles , although the amount of wax can be outside of those ranges . when a wax dispersion is used , the wax dispersion may include any of the various waxes conventionally used in emulsion aggregation toner compositions . waxes that may be selected include waxes having , for example , an average molecular weight of from about 500 to about 20 , 000 or from about 1 , 000 to about 10 , 000 . waxes that may be used include , for example , polyolefins such as polyethylene including linear polyethylene waxes and branched polyethylene waxes , polypropylene including linear polypropylene waxes and branched polypropylene waxes , polyethylene / amide , polyethylenetetrafluoroethylene , polyethylenetetrafluoroethylene / amide , and polybutene waxes such as commercially available from allied chemical and petrolite corporation , for example polywax ™ polyethylene waxes such as commercially available from baker petrolite , wax emulsions available from michaelman , inc . and the daniels products company , epolene n - 15 ™ commercially available from eastman chemical products , inc ., and viscol 550 - p ™, a low weight average molecular weight polypropylene available from sanyo kasei k . k . ; plant - based waxes , such as carnauba wax , rice wax , candelilla wax , sumacs wax and jojoba oil ; animal - based waxes , such as , beeswax ; mineral - based waxes and petroleum - based waxes , such as , montan wax , ozokerite , ceresin , paraffin wax , microcrystalline wax , such as , waxes derived from distillation of crude oil , silicone waxes , mercapto waxes , polyester waxes , urethane waxes ; modified polyolefin waxes ( such as , a carboxylic acid - terminated polyethylene wax or a carboxylic acid - terminated polypropylene wax ); fischer - tropsch wax ; ester waxes obtained from higher fatty acid and higher alcohol , such as , stearyl stearate and behenyl behenate ; ester waxes obtained from higher fatty acid and monovalent or multivalent lower alcohol , such as , butyl stearate , propyl oleate , glyceride monostearate , glyceride distearate , and pentaerythritol tetra behenate ; ester waxes obtained from higher fatty acid and multivalent alcohol multimers , such as , diethyleneglycol monostearate , dipropyleneglycol distearate , diglyceryl distearate , and triglyceryl tetrastearate ; sorbitan higher fatty acid ester waxes , such as , sorbitan monostearate , and cholesterol higher fatty acid ester waxes , such as , cholesteryl stearate . examples of functionalized waxes that may be used include , for example , amines , amides , for example aqua superslip 6550 ™, superslip 6530 ™ available from micro powder inc ., fluorinated waxes , for example polyfluo 190 ™, polyfluo 200 ™, polysilk 19 ™, polysilk 14 ™ available from micro powder inc ., mixed fluorinated , amide waxes , such as , aliphatic polar amide functionalized waxes ; aliphatic waxes consisting of esters of hydroxylated unsaturated fatty acids , for example , microspersion 19 ™ also available from micro powder inc ., imides , esters , quaternary amines , carboxylic acids or acrylic polymer emulsion , for example , joncryl 741υ , 89 ™, 130 ™, 537 ™, and 538 ™, all available from sc johnson wax , and chlorinated polypropylenes and polyethylenes available from allied chemical and petrolite corporation and sc johnson wax . mixtures and combinations of the foregoing waxes may also be used in embodiments . waxes may be included as , for example , fuser roll release agents . in embodiments , the waxes may be crystalline or non - crystalline . in embodiments , the wax may be incorporated into the toner in the form of an aqueous emulsion or dispersion of solid wax in water , where the solid wax particle size may be in the range of from about 100 to about 300 nm . in embodiments , toner particles may also contain other optional additives , as desired or required . for example , a toner may include positive or negative charge control agents , for example , in an amount of from about 0 . 1 to about 10 % by weight of the toner or from about 1 to about 3 % by weight of the toner . examples of suitable charge control agents include quaternary ammonium compounds inclusive of alkyl pyridinium halides ; bisulfates ; alkyl pyridinium compounds , including those disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 298 , 672 , the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety ; organic sulfate and sulfonate compositions , including those disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 338 , 390 , the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety ; cetyl pyridinium tetrafluoroborates ; distearyl dimethyl ammonium methyl sulfate ; aluminum salts such as bontron e84 ™ or e88 ™ ( orient chemical industries , ltd . ); combinations thereof , and the like . flow aid additives may be used , which additives are on the surface of the toner particles . examples of such additives include metal oxides , such as , titanium oxide , silicon oxide , aluminum oxides , cerium oxides , tin oxide , mixtures thereof , and the like ; colloidal and amorphous silicas , such as , aerosil ™, metal salts and metal salts of fatty acids inclusive of zinc stearate , calcium stearate , or long chain alcohols , such as , unilin 700 , and mixtures thereof . a silica may be applied to the toner surface for toner flow , tribo enhancement , admix control , improved development and transfer stability , and higher toner blocking temperature . tio 2 may be applied for improved relative humidity ( rh ) stability , tribo control and improved development and transfer stability . zinc stearate , calcium stearate and / or magnesium stearate may optionally also be used as an external additive for providing lubricating properties , developer conductivity , tribo enhancement , enabling higher toner charge and charge stability by increasing the number of contacts between toner and carrier particles . in embodiments , a commercially available zinc stearate known as zinc stearate l , obtained from ferro corporation , may be used . the external surface additives may be used with or without a coating . each of the external additives may be present in an amount of from about 0 . 1 % by weight to about 5 % by weight of the toner or from about 0 . 25 % by weight to about 3 % by weight of the toner , although the amount of additives can be outside of those ranges . in a related aspect , the toners may include , for example , from about 0 . 1 % by weight to about 5 % by weight titania , from about 0 . 1 % by weight to about 8 % by weight silica , and from about 0 . 1 % by weight to about 4 % by weight zinc stearate . suitable additives include those disclosed in u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 590 , 000 , 3 , 800 , 588 , and 6 , 214 , 507 , the disclosures of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety . the toner particles may be prepared by any method within the purview of one skilled in the art . although embodiments relating to toner particle production are described below with respect to an emulsion aggregation process , any suitable method of preparing toner particles may be used , including chemical processes , such as suspension and encapsulation processes disclosed in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 290 , 654 and 5 , 302 , 486 , the disclosures of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety . in embodiments , toner compositions and toner particles may be prepared by aggregation and coalescence processes in which smaller resin particles are aggregated to the appropriate toner particle size and then coalesced to achieve the final toner particle shape , size and morphology . a mixture may be prepared by adding a colorant and optionally a wax or other materials , which optionally also may be in a dispersion ( s ) including a surfactant , to the emulsion , which may be a mixture of two or more emulsions containing the resin . the ph of the resulting mixture may be adjusted by an acid such as , for example , acetic acid , nitric acid or the like . in one aspect , the ph of the mixture may be adjusted from about 2 to about 5 . additionally , the mixture may be homogenized . if the mixture is homogenized , homogenization may be accomplished by mixing at about 600 to about 6 , 000 rpm . homogenization may be accomplished by any suitable means , including , for example , an ika ultra turrax t50 probe homogenizer . following preparation of the above mixture , an aggregating agent may be added to the mixture . any suitable aggregating agent may be utilized to form a toner . suitable aggregating agents include , for example , aqueous solutions of a divalent cation or a multivalent cation material . the aggregating agent may be , for example , an inorganic cationic aggregating agent such as polyaluminum halides , such as , polyaluminum chloride ( pac ), or the corresponding bromide , fluoride , or iodide , polyaluminum silicates , such as , polyaluminum sulfosilicate ( pass ), or water soluble metal salts including aluminum chloride , aluminum nitrite , aluminum sulfate , potassium aluminum sulfate , calcium acetate , calcium chloride , calcium nitrite , calcium oxylate , calcium sulfate , magnesium acetate , magnesium nitrate , magnesium sulfate , zinc acetate , zinc nitrate , zinc sulfate , zinc chloride , zinc bromide , magnesium bromide , copper chloride , copper sulfate , and combinations thereof . in embodiments , the aggregating agent may be added to the mixture at a temperature that is below the t g of the resin . suitable examples of organic cationic aggregating agents include , for example , cationic surfactants as described above . other suitable aggregating agents also include , but are not limited to , tetraalkyl titinates , dialkyltin oxide , tetraalkyltin oxide hydroxide , dialkyltin oxide hydroxide , aluminum alkoxides , alkylzinc , dialkyl zinc , zinc oxides , stannous oxide , dibutyltin oxide , dibutyltin oxide hydroxide , tetraalkyl tin , combinations thereof and the like . where the aggregating agent is a polyion aggregating agent , the agent may have any desired number of ions present . for example , suitable polyaluminum compounds have from about 2 to about 13 or from about 3 to about 8 aluminum ions . the aggregating agent may be used in an amount of , for example , from about 0 . 1 % to about 10 % by weight , from about 0 . 2 % to about 8 % by weight or from about 0 . 5 % to about 5 % by weight , of the resin in the mixture . the particles may be permitted to aggregate until a predetermined desired particle size is obtained . samples may be taken during the growth process and analyzed , for example with a coulter counter , for average particle size . the aggregation thus may proceed by maintaining the elevated temperature , or slowly raising the temperature to , for example , from about 40 ° c . to about 100 ° c ., and holding the mixture at such temperature for a time of from about 0 . 5 hours to about 6 hours or from about hour 1 to about 5 hours , while maintaining stirring , to provide the aggregated particles . once the predetermined desired particle size is reached , the growth process is halted . the growth and shaping of the particles following addition of the aggregation agent may be accomplished under any suitable conditions . for example , the growth and shaping may be conducted under conditions where aggregation occurs separate from coalescence . for separate aggregation and coalescence , shearing conditions at an elevated temperature , for example of from about 40 ° c . to about 90 ° c . or from about 45 ° c . to about 80 ° c ., which may be below the t g of the resin , for example , can be practiced . once the desired final size of the toner particles is achieved , the ph of the mixture may be adjusted with a base to a value of from about 3 to about 10 or from about 5 to about 9 . the adjustment of the ph may be utilized to freeze , that is , to stop , toner particle growth . the base utilized to stop toner growth may include any suitable base such as , for example , alkali metal hydroxides , such as , for example , sodium hydroxide , potassium hydroxide , ammonium hydroxide , combinations thereof and the like . in a related aspect , ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid ( edta ) may be added to help adjust the ph to the desired values noted above . in embodiments , after aggregation , but prior to coalescence , a resin coating may be applied to the aggregated particles to form a shell thereover . any resin described above or as known in the art may be utilized as the shell . in embodiments , an amorphous polyester resin as described above may be included in the shell . in embodiments , the amorphous polyester resin may be combined with a different resin , and then added to the particles as a resin coating to form a shell . in embodiments , a crystalline polyester resin as described above or as known in the art may be used to form a shell . in embodiments , a crystalline resin may be utilized in combination with a different resin . multiple resins may be utilized in any suitable amounts , such as , a first amorphous polyester resin may be present in an amount of from about 20 % by weight to about 100 % by weight of the total shell resin or from about 30 % by weight to about 90 % by weight of the total shell resin . thus , a second resin may be present in the shell resin in an amount of from about 0 . 1 % by weight to about 80 % by weight of the total shell resin or from about 10 % by weight to about 70 % by weight of the shell resin . the shell resin may be applied to the aggregated particles by any method within the purview of those skilled in the art . in embodiments , the resins utilized to form the shell may be in an emulsion including any desired additive ( s ). the formation of the shell over the aggregated particles may occur while heating to a temperature of from about 30 ° c . to about 80 ° c . or from about 35 ° c . to about 70 ° c . the formation of the shell may take place for a period of time of from about 5 minutes to about 10 hours or from about 10 minutes to about 5 hours . following aggregation to the desired particle size and application of any optional shell , the particles then may be coalesced to a desired shape , the coalescence being achieved by , for example , heating the mixture to a temperature of from about 45 ° c . to about 100 ° c . or from about 55 ° c . to about 99 ° c ., which may be at or above the t g of the resins utilized to form the toner particles , and / or changing the stirring , for example to from about 100 rpm to about 1 , 000 rpm or from about 200 rpm to about 800 rpm . coalescence may be accomplished over a period of from about 0 . 01 to about 9 hours or from about 0 . 1 to about 4 hours . after aggregation and / or coalescence , the mixture may be cooled to room temperature , such as , from about 20 ° c . to about 25 ° c . the cooling may be rapid or slow , as desired . a suitable cooling method may include introducing cold water to a jacket around a reactor . after cooling , the toner particles optionally may be washed , for example , with water , and then dried . in various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure , wash fluid doped with an il is used to wash toner particles . washing removes undesired impurities such as , surfactants and residual metal ions retained on the toner particles from the formative processes . at the end of toner processing , before washing and drying , the overall pollutants , such as , surfactants and ions , are in the continuous aqueous phase ; are physically absorbed or adsorbed on the surface of the toner particles ; may be contained within the toner particles , although close to the particle surface ( superficial or surface layers ); or will be within and inside the toner particles . accordingly , the methods as disclosed herein provide an efficient washing process using ils as washing aid agents to remove as much of the pollutants as possible . ils of the present disclosure swell toner particle surfaces so that surface adsorbed and absorbed pollutants and those within superficial layers can be removed effectively , without the need for repeated water washes . ionic liquids often have slight a resin solubilizing or dissolving activity , while not wanting to be bound by theory , perhaps because of the ionic nature of ils , the acidic nature of some ils and so on . in any event , the il wash has a softening effect on the particles and enables a more thorough removal of pollutants from the particle surface , thereby , for example improving particle charge properties for imaging . in embodiments , methods according to the disclosure may be performed using any suitable horizontal filter press . in a related aspect , horizontal filtration systems such as those sold under the name larox pressure filter by larox corporation , jessup , md . and bethlehem tower filter by bethlehem corporation , easton , pa ., may be used . the resulting washed and dried toner particles can be formulated into a developer which can be used in an imaging device as known in the art . the following examples illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure . these examples are intended to be illustrative only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure . also , parts and percentages are by weight unless otherwise indicated . as used herein , “ room temperature ,” refers to a temperature of from about 20 ° c . to about 25 ° c . in a 20 gallon reactor , 14 parts latex a ( high molecular weight polyester amorphous latex at solids content 35 wt %) was combined with 14 parts latex b ( low molecular weight polyester amorphous latex at solids content 35 wt % made by solvent free process ), 4 . 7 parts latex c ( crystalline polyester latex at solids content 30 wt %), 5 . 8 parts wax ( at solids content 30 wt % with 2 . 5 pph tayca surfactant , based on the amount of dry pigment ), 6 . 7 parts cyan 15 : 3 pigment ( at solids content 17 wt % with 7 parts per hundred ( pph ) tayca surfactant based on the amount of dry pigment ) and 47 parts deionized water ( di ). the solution was adjusted to a ph of about 3 . 2 using 0 . 3m hno 3 . one part of a 10 % ( by weight ) aluminum sulphate solution in water was added under homogenization ( stirring ) at 2 , 000 rpm over a period of 5 minutes . the reactor then was stirred at about 50 rpm and was heated to about 48 ° c . to aggregate the toner particles . when the size of the toner particles reached 5 . 0 μm , a shell coating was added which consisted of 7 . 6 parts latex a , 7 . 6 parts latex b , 0 . 1 part dowfax surfactant and 100 parts di . the reaction was heated to 50 ° c . when the toner particle size reached 5 . 8 μm , the ph was adjusted to 5 . 0 using naoh . the reactor rpm then was decreased to 45 rpm followed by the addition of 0 . 7 parts edta versene 100 . the ph then was adjusted and maintained at 7 . 5 , and the toner was heated to 85 ° c . ( i . e ., the coalescence temperature ). when the coalescence temperature was reached , the ph was lowered to about 7 . 3 to allow for spheroidization ( coalescence ) of the toner . after about 1 . 5 to about 3 . 0 hours , when the desired circularity of about 0 . 964 was obtained , the toner was “ quenched ” to less than 45 ° c . through a heat exchanger . after cooling , the toner was washed ( see example 2 ), and then dried to a moisture content of below about 1 . 2 wt %. an acidic il , 1 -( 4 - sulfobutyl )- 3 - methylimidazolium hydrogen sulphate , was used in the wash . the il is non - corrosive , easily recyclable and hydrophilic . the il swells the particle surface so that pollutants in the superficial layers of the toner particle surface can be removed . meanwhile , the il also can function as an acid to enhance tribo tuning . to remove the mother liquor , water or water containing 0 . 2 wt % of 1 -( 4 - sulfobutyl )- 3 - methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate ( il ) were added to the slurry after cooling and wet sieving , and mixed for 40 minutes . the slurry then was pumped into a larox tank according to the manufacturer &# 39 ; s recommendations . after pressing under 2 bars , the liquid filtrate was removed and a wet cake was obtained . the wet cake was discharged and dispersed with 10 × di water based on the final dry toner under mixing for 40 minutes with ( 0 . 2 %) or without il . the slurry was pumped into the larox tank at a controlled rate and feed pumping pressure and de - watered before 11 × di water was pumped into the larox for dynamic washing . after dynamic washing , the toner cake was subjected to pressure at 8 bars followed by 600 seconds of air dry time . table 1 summarizes the results from the dynamic washing method in the presence ( cyan toner sample # 1 ) and absence ( comparison sample ) of il , 1 -( 4 - sulfobutyl )- 3 - methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate . the il - doped wash reduced residual surfactants and ions on the toner , which resulted in higher toner tribo . further , other toner properties showed no difference between the toner samples for t g , rheology or melt flow index , indicating that no agent residuals remain to effect potential negatives . it will be appreciated that several of the above - disclosed and other features and functions , or alternatives thereof , may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications . also various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives , modifications , variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art , which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims . unless specifically recited in a claim , steps or components of claims should not be implied or imported from the specification or any other claims as to any particular order , number , position , size , shape , angle , color or material . | 6 |
fig1 is an apparatus for measuring chromatic dispersion characteristic of optical fiber based on the pulse delaying method . the reference numeral 51 designates a laser pulse generating apparatus which generates nd - yag laser pulse in the wavelength of 1 . 06 μm . the laser pulse emitted from such apparatus is output toward an optical beam splitter 53 passing through a quartz fiber 52 for raman oscillation . by the raman oscillation in the quartz fiber 52 , the light output therefrom includes light in the wavelengths ranging from 1 μm to about 1 . 6 μm . the light in the wavelength of 1 . 3 μm among the output light is input , as the reference light , to a single mode fiber 54 for delaying the reference light signal and the light of other chromatics are input to a mono - chromatic meter 55 which can select the transmitting wavelength . the light in the wavelength selected by the mono - chromatic meter 55 is input to a single mode sample fiber 56 . the light output from the fibers 54 , 56 are converted to electrical signals by the photo - electric converters 57 , 58 , amplified by the amplifiers 59 , 60 and differences in incoming times of signals can be observed by a processing oscilloscope 61 . accordingly , a delay time of the light in the wavelength of 1 . 1 to 1 . 6 um to the reference light in the wavelength of 1 . 3 um can be measured by sequentially changing the transmitting wavelength in the mono - chromatic meter 55 and thereby the chromatic dispersion characteristic of sample fiber 56 can be obtained . in fig1 the numeral 62 designates a variable optical attenuator which can freely attenuate intensity of light passing through the sample fiber 56 ; 63 ( a - c ), an auto scanner controller , an auto scanner driver and controller for automatically controlling operations of mono - chromatic meter 55 and processing oscilloscope 61 ; 64 , a wavelength selection and transmitting filter which transmits only the light in the wavelength of 1 . 3 μm . in such an apparatus for measuring chromatic dispersion characteristic in optical fiber , the length of sample fiber 56 should be in the order of kilometer in order to obtain a significant difference of the delay times of optical signals moreover , it is necessary to delay the reference optical signal in the same degree for confirming the relation with the reference signal on the processing oscilloscope 61 . therefore , it is essential to almost accurately match the length of single mode fiber 54 for delaying the reference optical signal with the length of sample fiber 56 . improvement of the apparatus shown in fig1 may be made with respect to the following points : ( 1 ) if the fiber 52 for raman oscillation is too short , sufficient raman oscillation is not carried out . therefore , the chromatic dispersion of sample fiber 56 cannot be measured . however , if the fiber 52 for raman oscillation is too long , the optical pulse in the output side may be deformed by the internal chromatic dispersion and thereby a measuring error of chromatic dispersion of sample fiber 56 may be generated . ( 2 ) if the light in the wavelength of 1 . 06 μm output from the fiber 52 for raman oscillation is intensive , the raman oscillation is also generated within the sample fiber 56 and therefore a measuring error of chromatic dispersion may be generated . ( 3 ) for matching the reference optical signal with the output timing of the light emitted from the sample fiber 56 , the single mode fiber 54 is necessary in order to delay the reference optical signal . moreover , since the total length of single mode fiber 54 must be matched in high accuracy with the total length of sample fiber 56 , the manufacturing thereof is very difficult . a structure of the measuring apparatus having improved on these points is shown in fig2 . the laser pulse in the predetermined wavelength input to the optical fiber 2 for raman oscillation generates the forward scattered light by raman oscillation and is then transmitted to the output end side . at the output end face , the light in the predetermined wavelength is reflected by the wavelength selection and reflection film 3 and is then reversely transmitted in the optical fiber 2 for raman oscillation . therefore , the light in the predetermined wavelength is not emitted from the optical fiber 2 for raman oscillation . this also generates the backward scattered light by raman oscillation at the time of reverse transmission in the fiber 2 . the light in the wavelength other than the predetermined one , namely the light generated by the raman oscillation passes through the wavelength selection and reflection film 3 and enters the sample fiber 4 . this light generates chromatic dispersion within the sample fiber 4 and is then output from the output end face . accordingly , the light output from the sample fiber 4 encodes all light in the wavelengths generated by the raman oscillation and this light is output with a delay of output timing due to the chromatic dispersion . a delay time of the light ( optical pulse ) output from the sample fiber 4 can be measured as a function of the time of the optical pulse wavelength by the delay time measuring means 20 . thereby , the chromatic dispersion characteristic of sample fiber 4 can be obtained . fig2 will be explained hereunder in further detail . in fig2 the reference numeral 1 designates a mode - locked nd - yag laser pulse generator which generates the laser pulse in the wavelength of 1 . 06 μm . the laser pulse output therefrom is input to the optical fiber 2 for raman oscillation made of quartz glass . as shown schematically n fig4 the forward scattered light in the wavelength ranging from 1 . 1 μm to about 1 . 6 82 m is generated by the raman oscillation within the optical fiber 2 for raman oscillation . as shown in fig3 the output end face of optical fiber 2 for raman oscillation is coated with the wavelength selection and reflection film ( interference film ) 3 which reflects the light in the wavelength of 1 . 06 μm but transmits the light of other wavelengths . accordingly , the light obtained by the raman oscillation is output forward and only the light in the wavelength of 1 . 06 μm is reflected and is reversely transmitted within the fiber 2 . as a result , as shown in fig5 the backward scattered light in the wavelength from 1 . 1 μm to 1 . 6 μm is generated by the raman oscillation of the reversely transmitted light of 1 . 06 μm and the light obtained by the raman oscillation may be intensified . in this case , since it is essential for the wavelength selection and reflection film 3 to transmit the light generated by the raman oscillation , it may be replaced with a selection and reflection film that reflects a range of wavelengths , for example , all light in the wavelengths under 1 . 06 μm . the single mode sample fiber 4 , for example , to be used for optical communication is connected to the output end of optical fiber 2 for raman oscillation through an optical connector 11 . the sample fiber 4 is a single mode optical fiber in the light , for example , of 3 km and a delay time measuring means 20 for measuring the delay time of the output optical pulse signal as the function of wavelength of optical pulse is connected to the output end thereof . more specifically , the light output from the sample fiber 4 enters first the optical beam splitter 21 . a part of the light having passed the optical beam splitter ( for example , 10 % of the entire part ) passes through the wavelength selection transmitting filter 22 which allows transmission of only the light in the wavelength of 1 . 3 μm and enters the fiber 23 for transmitting the reference light , while the other greater part of light enters the mono - chromatic meter 24 which scans the wavelength of the transmitting light . the light in the wavelength selected to pass through the mono - chromatic meter 24 enters the fiber 25 for transmitting the light to be measured . the light output from the optical fibers 23 , 25 are respectively converted to electrical signals through the photo - electric converters 26 , 27 , amplified by the amplifiers 28 , 29 and are visually displayed on the processing oscilloscope 30 . accordingly , difference of incoming times of the light in the wavelength of 1 . 3 μm guided to the fiber 23 for transmitting the reference light and the light in respective wavelengths ranging from 1 . 1 to 1 . 6 μm can be detected . therefore , this structure requires only the very short length fibers 23 for transmitting the reference light and the fiber 25 for transmitting the light to be measured . it is also possible to employ the structure that the light output from the optical beam splitter 21 or mono - chromatic meter 24 is input in direct to the photo - electric converters 26 , 27 by omitting these fibers 23 , 25 . 31a , 31b and 31c designate respectively the autoscanner controller , autoscanner driver and controller for automatically controlling operations of monochromatic meter 24 and processing oscilloscope 30 . a delay time of light in each wavelength within the sample fiber 4 for the reference light in the wavelength of 1 . 3 μm may be measured as the function of wavelength by automatic scanning of the wavelength of the light passing through the mono - chromatic meter in the range from 1 . 1 μm to 1 . 6 μm . thereby , the chromatic dispersion characteristic of sample fiber 4 can be obtained . in this embodiment , the nd - yag laser beam in the wavelength of 1 . 06 μm has been used but the present invention does not limit the light source only to such laser beam and allows use of laser pulses in other wavelengths . as described previously , according to the apparatus for measurement of chromatic dispersion in an optical fiber shown in fig2 the laser pulse in the predetermined wavelength for causing the raman oscillation is reflected by the wavelength selection and reflection film and does not enter the sample fiber therefore , the sample fiber does not allow successive raman oscillation . in addition , the backward scattered light is generated within the optical fiber for raman oscillation with the laser pulse in the predetermined wavelength reflected by the waveform selection and reflection film . as a result , the raman oscillation beam having sufficient intensity can be generated only with a short length fiber and influence of chromatic dispersion in the fiber for raman oscillation can be lowered . accordingly , the chromatic dispersion characteristic of sample fiber can be measured very accurately . the light output from the sample fiber includes the light in various wavelengths generated by the raman oscillation and this light is output with delay of output time by the chromatic dispersion . therefore , it is no longer necessary to delay the optical pulse within the delay time measuring means and the apparatus can be more simply manufactured in comparison with a conventional apparatus . | 6 |
the present invention allows for proper connection of a coaxial cable to circuitry . the present invention allows for the concentricity of the coaxial cable connections to be maintained while the cable is affixed to a pcb , thus maintaining electrical characteristics of the connection . the present invention will also speed assembly time by making the antenna wire , formed from the coaxial cable , stay in the pcb during soldering . while the instant invention &# 39 ; s connections are not as inexpensive as un - terminated wire , the minor costs are recouped through improved assembly throughput and reduction in errors . the connection assemblies of the present invention can , in many embodiments , be formed by a low cost sheet metal stamping . the connection assemblies can be formed to mate with the end of the coaxial cable , either stripped or unstripped , and mate with a pcb with or without retention type contacts . in the various embodiments , the connections can be manufactured for less than us $ 0 . 01 , while a typical pcb connector is us $ 0 . 25 to us $ 0 . 50 , and another connector would be required on the antenna end to mate with it . ( all dollars amounts in u . s . dollars , circa 2004 ). the structure of a coaxial cable is illustrated in fig1 . the coaxial cable 100 has an outer jacket 101 that covers the underlying layers and acts to protect those underlying layers . immediately under the jacket layer 101 is a braided conductor layer 102 and can act as a shielding layer for signals traveling on the innermost conductor 104 . the innermost conductor 104 is separated from the braided conductor 102 by a core layer 103 , that electrically insulates the innermost and braided conductors . if the coaxial cable is “ unprepared ,” then the cable is cut so that each layer is accessible only through a cut end . if the cable is prepared , such as illustrated in fig1 , it has the layers stripped away in a stepped fashion , such that each layer is accessible laterally along the length of the cable . one embodiment of the connection assembly of the present invention is illustrated in fig2 . fig2 ( a ) illustrates the insulator body portion 202 of the connection assembly . that portion has cavity sections 210 that allow for other portions to be inserted . fig2 ( b ) illustrates a center connector node 204 , having cavity section 210 that is constructed to receive the innermost conductor 104 . the receiving end of the cavity section is fluted to facilitate the entry of the innermost conductor . the center connector node has a contact 215 that is electrically connected to the innermost conductor once it is introduced into the cavity . fig2 ( c ) illustrates the braid node 206 that has a similar structure as that of the center connector node . the braid node has a cavity 210 that is constructed to receive the stripped , braided portion of the prepared cable . the braid node also has a contact 215 that is electrically connected to the braided portion once it is introduced into the cavity . like the other node , the braid node has a fluted end of the cavity to facilitate entry of the braided portion . for proper connection to the prepared cable , the nodes 204 and 206 are inserted into cavities in the insulator body portion 202 , as illustrated in fig2 ( d ). thereafter , the prepared cable is inserted into the nodes and portion . the braided portion makes an electrically connection with one of the contacts and the innermost conductor makes an electrically connection with the other of the contacts . the cable with the connection assembly can then be brought to the circuitry , such as a pcb , where the contacts 215 are used to make an electrical connection between the circuitry and the cable . connection assembly facilitates this connection by having , for example , the contacts pass through holes in the pcb and then soldered to contact lines on the pcb . it should be noted that the connection assembly illustrated in fig2 is but one embodiment of the present invention . in one embodiment , both nodes , 204 and 206 , may be formed from sheet metal through a stamping process . the stamped shapes would be bent to form the shapes necessary to receive and connect to the innermost conductor and the braided conductor . the choice of the metal used for the nodes may be based on cost and ability to form a conductive connection . additionally , as illustrated in fig3 , the nodes may be formed from a single sheet or separately formed and attached to a common tab 308 . the connection assembly 300 has two nodes 304 and 306 , illustrated in fig3 ( a ), similar in form and function to that illustrated in fig2 . each node has a contact 310 that mates with a hole in a pcb used to receive that contact . the nodes 304 and 306 are attached to the breakaway tab 308 through “ mouse - bites ” or thin breakaway connections 309 . the number of breakaway connections is variable , depending on the material used to form the nodes and breakaway tab and how stiff the connection assembly needs to be to allow assembly . the connections to the tab 308 provide for the proper displacement of the contacts 310 from each other , as well as providing the proper fit for the prepared coaxial cable . fig3 ( b ) illustrates the connection assembly shown in fig3 ( a ) with the prepared coaxial cable 100 . the prepared cable is inserted into the connection assembly , where the breakaway tab 308 may be used to facilitate the entry of the prepared cable into the connection assembly . thereafter , as shown in fig3 ( c ), the breakaway tab 308 is separated from the nodes through the thin breakaway connections . the removal of the breakaway tab allows for the nodes 304 and 306 to be electrically isolated and the contacts 310 can then be used to make a connection to the proper circuitry . another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in fig4 ( a ). one key difference between this embodiment and the previously discussed embodiments is that the connection assembly maybe be used to facilitate a connection on an unprepared coaxial cable . this has a benefit in that prior to forming the connection , the cable need only be cut and stripping of the cable is not needed . this is additionally helpful in that the previously discussed embodiments require a degree of stripping of each layer , in order to be accommodated into the connection assembly . while there are many commercially known tools that can facilitate the precise stripping needed , it is still an extra step in the assembly process that can be obviated through the use of connection assemblies that mate with unprepared cables . the connection assembly illustrated in fig4 ( a ) is shown as it would be introduced to the unprepared cable 400 . a barrel portion 407 makes contact with the braided conductor of the cable and has a pointed edge 408 that assists in introducing that potion of the assembly into the cable . the barrel portion may achieve the physical connection through direct pressure of barrel portion into the cable end or through direct process with a twisting motion . the connection assembly also has a center portion 405 with a piercing center electrode 406 that is connected to the barrel portion 407 through a breakaway tab 410 . thus , at the same time barrel portion impinges on the braded conductor of the cable , the piercing center electrode makes contact with the centermost conductor of the cable . each of the barrel portion 407 and the center portion 405 has a contact 403 that engages a hole in the pcb . after the connections of the barrel portion and the piercing center electrode to their respective conductors have been made , the breakaway tab 410 is removed , as discussed with respect to fig3 . the cable can then be mounted to the pcb or other circuitry . another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in fig4 ( b ), which is a variation on the embodiment illustrated in fig4 ( a ). in this embodiment , the barrel portion 417 and the center portion 415 are attached to the breakaway tab 411 , and the piercing center electrode 416 and the contacts 413 remain the same as in the prior embodiment . in this embodiment , the barrel portion has pointed sections 418 that aid in introducing the barrel portion to the cable . also included are barbs 419 on the barrel portion that act to retain the barrel portion in the cable after it has been inserted . to assist in the formation of the contact , a tool may be used . one such tool is illustrated in fig5 , for the connection assembly discussed in the prior embodiment . it is noted that while the tool is illustrated as accommodating the connection assembly illustrated in fig4 , other tools having similar characteristics may be used with the connection assemblies of the other embodiments of the present invention . it should also be appreciated that several of the tools discussed below may be coupled together in the production process so that multiple cables may be prepared at the same time through automation . the tool 500 illustrated in fig5 has a slot portion 510 that receives the breakaway tab and a barrel cavity 520 that receives the central and barrel portions of the connection assembly . a slot 521 in the barrel cavity allows for the contacts of the connection assembly to be slidably received therein . the barrel cavity and slot portion are connected to the handle 450 through an extension 530 . the handle 540 may have grip portions 541 to assist the handle in being held and manipulated manually . fig5 ( b ) illustrates the introduction of a connection assembly 560 into the tool 500 . as discussed above , the breakaway tab is received in the slot portion and should allow the connection assembly to be received until a portion of the connection assembly sticks out beyond barrel cavity . the jacket of the cable can received between the barrel portion of the connection assembly 560 and the inner diameter of barrel cavity 520 once the barrel portion is forced into the unprepared cable . subsequently , after being introduced into the cable , the breakaway tab portion is removed to facilitate the isolated electrical connections . in addition , the present invention also seeks to provide retention of the contacts of the connection assembly once the contacts have been threaded through holes in a pcb . fig6 illustrates a cross - section of a pcb 610 , showing different types of contacts . the first contact is a straight contact 620 that passes through the pcb . the contact is then soldered or supplied with an electrical connection to the underside of the pcb to the predetermined circuitry . alternatively , the contact 630 can have a split portion 632 . the split portion is formed with a semi - pointed end that allows for the contact to pass through the through - hole in the pcb but resists having the split portion being pulled back through the through - hole . additionally , the contact 640 may have a bent portion 642 , that requires the connection assembly to be tipped or cantilevered with respect to the plane of the pcb to introduce the contact through a hole in the pcb . thereafter , the connection assembly is rotated and an addition contact is locked into place . the above - discussed configurations of the present invention have , in preferred embodiments , been discussed with respect to making contacts with circuitry via through - holes in a pcb , but the invention is not so limited . as would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art , the above discussed connection assemblies and methods would be applicable to surface mount techniques as well . it should also be understood that the present invention is also applicable to use with connections facilitated through wash away spacers or connectors . it would also be within the scope of the invention to implement the disclosed elements of the invention as a production tool , such that multiple connections to cables may be formed at the same time and multiple connections to the proper circuitry . the production and assembly may also be automated and may be used to increase efficiency of assembly . the present invention allows for proper connection of a coaxial cable to circuitry . the present invention allows for the concentricity of the coaxial cable connections to be maintained while the cable is affixed to a pcb , thus maintaining electrical characteristics of the connection . the present invention will also speed assembly time by making the antenna wire , formed from the coaxial cable , stay in the pcb during soldering . while the instant invention &# 39 ; s connections are not as inexpensive as un - terminated wire , the minor costs are recouped through improved assembly throughput and reduction in errors . although the invention has been described based upon these preferred embodiments , it would be apparent to those skilled in the art that certain modifications , variations , and alternative constructions would be apparent , while remaining within the spirit and scope of the invention . in order to determine the metes and bounds of the invention , therefore , reference should be made to the appended claims . | 7 |
[ 0010 ] fig1 shows a general view of a stereo camera system having a first camera 1 and a second camera 2 . both cameras are positioned in such a way that they image the same scene , but at a slightly different viewing angle . thus , both cameras ascertain images of the observed scene which they deliver via data lines 3 and 4 to an evaluation unit 5 . evaluation unit 5 is made up of several modules which , in the preferred exemplary embodiment , are designed as programs of a microprocessor or a plurality of microprocessors . for the detection of obstruction , each camera is provided with associated feature determining modules 6 and 7 , respectively , which ascertain at least one typical feature of the delivered image in each case . a comparison module 8 compares this at least one feature of the two images . if there are unacceptable deviations , if , in particular , the difference existing anyhow changes abruptly or if the deviation exceeds a predefined threshold , a fault signal is generated which is passed on to subsequent systems via data line 9 . in one exemplary embodiment , a delay element 10 is provided which generates a fault signal for other systems only when a certain number of comparing operations ascertain unacceptable differences between the two images , or if this result occurs with a certain frequency ( in the evaluation of sudden changes , when the change remains present over a certain length of time ). depending on the exemplary embodiment , primary or secondary image features are available as image features . an example of a primary image feature would be the comparison of the gray - scale values of individual pixels , a fault being detected when the difference in the gray - scale values in one or a predefined number of pixels changes abruptly , or when the difference exceeds a predefined threshold value . furthermore , the image difference may be ascertained by the determination of the correlation function of the images , an obstruction fault being detected in the case of a missing correlation , i . e . a corresponding pattern of the correlation function . this situation is determined with the aid of the magnitude and / or the form of the correlation function . secondary image features involve particularly the histograms of the gray - scale values of the two images , from which the fault signal is derived within the framework of the comparison operation , in the case of unacceptable differences . in this context , for instance , an abrupt change in the center of gravity of the histogram or in its shape , or the subsequently described feature vectors are evaluated . in the embodiment shown in the figure , the measurement of the image difference is performed via an extraction of image features . these image features are either the histograms of the gray - scale values of each respective image , or even a list of detected objects . the feature vectors obtained ( list of the objects , list of the gray - scale frequency , etc .) are then compared to one another in the comparing module and characterized by a measure of the difference . this measure of the difference is , in the simplest case , a distance measure between the two feature vectors or the scalar product of the two vectors . if this measure of difference of both image vectors and feature vectors exceeds a predefined threshold value which takes into consideration the image differences because of the different visual angles of the image sensors , an obstruction is detected . this detection is passed on , in a suitable manner , to the subsequent systems by the use of the generated signals together with the images . a typical situation in which obstruction is detected is the obstruction of one of the two cameras by a sufficiently large object . in this case , the image sensor system , or the image sensor system included in an overall system , signalizes a corresponding fault . the procedure described is not limited to the use of image sensor systems made up of two image sensors in a motor vehicle . rather , the procedure described , having the corresponding features , may also be used outside motor vehicle technology , and for systems having more than two cameras , in which the comparing of the images of each individual camera among one another is carried out . the assumption is only that the image sensors used record the same scene . | 7 |
with initial reference to fig4 , in the soil to be consolidated as the first step according to the method of the invention , generally referred to as t , there is provided a measurement device am in order to monitor the electrical resistivity of the soil in the predetermined volumes p thereof ( at least one volume ), before , after and preferably during the injections of expanding material . the expanding material , or an expanding resin , is the material preselected to consolidate the soil and is injected therein according to a known technique which is conventional in the field . in particular , the expanding resin is injected into the soil by means of suitable holes f which are provided at predetermined distances from each other . the resistivity is monitored within a significant volume v of the soil which it is desirable to consolidate , for example , under a foundation . the various single volumes are therefore portions of the significant volume . preferably , a type of resin used is a closed - cell polyurethane resin , both mono or multi - component , preferably having an expanding force greater than a minimum of 20 kpa and rate of reaction greater than a minimum of 15 seconds from the mixing of the product and under ambient temperature conditions of 25 ° c . for example , the measurement device of the electrical resistivity is a device for carrying out 3d tomography of electrical resistivity and includes electrodes e at the surface and / or in examination holes through the reference layer . the electrodes e are connected , for example , to a multi - channel georesistivity meter which allows a series of quadripolar measurements ( ab ; mn ) to be carried out by means of a progressive energization of an electrode pair ( ab ) and the resultant electrical potential to be determined at other pairs of poles ( mn ). the monitoring electrodes e are provided according to considered geometric configurations , in the region of the portions of soil to be consolidated . the electrodes , which are distributed at the surface or vertically at depth , are preferably arranged with constant spacing which is sufficient to ensure a correct coverage of all the soil being examined and which must contain the significant volume . according to a preferred example of the method of the invention , the electrodes e are positioned on the soil , remote , separated and spaced apart from the holes f which are intended for the injection tubes of the expanding resins in accordance with the desired precision and the geometrical extent being investigated . the measurements of resistivity are interpreted and processed in a suitable manner , including by means of methods and techniques which are known in the art . for example , the processing of the data progressively monitored is carried out by means of an electronic processor pc which is provided with processing software for the finite elements . an example of such software which is commercially available is a “ customized ” piece of software developed by geostudiastier s . r . l . ( livorno , italia ) on the basis of the software in collaboration with the americana ertlab ™ which is a 3d software for inversion of resistivity and induced polarization which represents an instrument for interpreting geoelectrical measurements . owing to a modelling algorithm using the hexahedral finite elements , ertlab is able to invert measurements which are acquired in contexts with complex topography . a group of inversion routines allows a robust and reliable interpretation of the land measurements , even in the presence of substantial levels of noise . the graphic environment of the software then allows a display of the results of the inversion by means of a complete series of graphic objects ( sections , iso - resistive surfaces , volumes , etc .). there is further provided a system for injection of the expanding resins . the injection system ( s ) can be provided on self - propelled means . the software has been modified suitably for the applicant with suitable routines capable of studying the electrical resistivity and in particular also receiving data of point - penetration resistance for the definition of the specific correlation of the site with the tomography of electrical resistivity . the pc for processing the data may be both positioned in the region of the soil to be consolidated , or remotely connected to the georesistivity meter , for example , by means of a wireless connection , preferably an internet connection . in a second step of the method of the invention , therefore , the device ap described above for the measurement of the electrical resistivity of the soil t to be consolidated carries out a first measurement thereof , for example , by means of monitoring before the injection . that measurement of the initial situation allows , by processing with mathematical algorithms simulating the data of electrical resistivity acquired , a tomography of the electrical resistivity to be obtained representative of the soil being investigated , owing to which it becomes possible to project in a considered manner the injections of expanding material . in particular , preferably what is projected is the number , the horizontal elevations ( x , y ) and vertical elevations ( z ) of the injection locations in the soil , the parameters of injection of the system , the type and characteristics of the products or the admixtures to be injected . all this can be obtained by means of the tomography of the initial electrical resistivity . there is further optionally carried out a penetrometric test before the injections for calibrating the geoelectric model of the site or for defining the local correlation of the site between the values of resistivity and those of mechanical resistance . therefore , with all the characteristics of the holes in the soil being established , as the third step of the method of the invention , those holes are produced in the soil , directed towards or positioned directly in the volumes of soil to be consolidated , in accordance with the anomalies measured such as , for example : cavities present , abnormal concentrations of interstitial water , excessively porous and poorly compacted volumes of soil , etc . the injection is carried out according to the prior art and , for example , injector tubes are preferably inserted in the above - mentioned holes f . according to another step of the method of the invention , the first step of the injection is therefore carried out . it is possible , as the first step of the injection , both to carry out a single injection in a single hole , and a plurality of injections in the sense of one injection for each of a plurality of holes , and a plurality of successive injections for each of a plurality of holes . the methods of injection are predetermined by the initial study of the soil in the second step of the method of the invention , and furthermore according to established sequences in accordance with the data which are periodically monitored and finalized in order to modify the chemico - physical characteristics of the lithologies to be consolidated , as set out below . according to a particular feature of the invention , the monitoring with the tomography of electrical resistivity geologically monitors the behaviour of the soil being examined before , during and after the injection operations so as to end the injection step at the appropriate time , as described below . in greater detail , during the injection step , and therefore the consolidation step , the monitoring system continues to measure in quasi - real time the variations of the electrical resistivity of the portions of soil involved in the treatment , allowing a continuous and direct comparison in situ , with the preceding readings being carried out and taken as a reference , in order to be able to calculate all the respective variations of the percentage of electrical resistivity . the data measured are processed using the software loaded in the pc described above . preferably , in an optional step there are also carried out directly on building sites graphic reconstructions ( tomography of the electrical resistivity ) in 4d ( x , y , z , t ) of the volumes of soil in the course of treatment according to the particular characteristics of the time . the graphic reconstruction on building sites is transmitted to the operators directly via images which are also volumetric on the pc so that the developments of the effects induced in the course of work of the injections in the soil are verified in a simple and intuitive manner by comparing the results with the images and the relevant measurements taken beforehand . the dedicated software is capable of extrapolating and graphically displaying the percentage variations of resistivity for each measurement taken at a specific location of the soil but at different times and in such a manner as to recognize any conditions of increase or decrease in the value of resistivity during the injections . on the basis of the comparisons between the measurements of electrical resistivity carried out at different and sequential times , an operator on the building site is in a position to correct and / or modify in the course of work the parameters of the project of the injection , by evaluating the last measurements carried out and intervening if necessary with subsequent injections which are more considered , acting on the operating parameters of the injection systems , such as : injection elevations , temperature , pressures , times , quantities of products injected , types of products of the injection , degree of any mixing , etc . therefore , there is substantially provided an injection step , which may or may not be interrupted , during which the mean electrical resistivity in the volume taken into consideration , or in a portion thereof which is selected , is always monitored . therefore , preferably according to the invention , there are displayed in the appropriate manner the values of resistivity of the soil and in particular the variation thereof : on the basis of the results measured , there is provision for carrying out the considered injections of the products required , in the measure and in the combinations specifically necessary for obtaining the effects sought which will be distributed geometrically in the soil both in accordance with the injection conditions and with the geolithological conditions of the medium in the consolidation step and which thereby will have to be constantly monitored by ert means . the injections ( or the injection ) will continue in that specific volume of soil which is a portion of the significant volume until the difference between the percentage variation of resistivity obtained in the last measurement carried out ( n ) and that at the stage carried out previously ( n − 1 ), demonstrates a tendency to settle at variations between ± 5 %, signifying that the consolidation has therefore reached its maximum level of improvement , in terms of the consolidation allowed by that soil . by way of example , fig3 shows a plurality of lines for showing the progressive development of a consolidation of the soil carried out by means of an injection of expanding resin . in particular , there have been examined the intermediate stages of percentage variation of resistivity δρ (%) mean within a cylindrical volume having a radius r = 0 . 5 m and having an axis of symmetry coincident with that of the two injections which are superimposed on the vertical axis . in that case , for example , the local result for a cohesive soil , the cylindrical volume having a variable radius ( r ) and having an axis of symmetry which is coincident with the vertical axis of injection ( z in ), shows mean percentage variations of electrical resistivity which decrease gradually if consideration is given to locations which are increasingly further away from the axis of injection , demonstrating that the most significant improvements are generally those closest to the injection location ( z in =− 1 . 50 m ), whilst , conversely , the variation decreases for locations which are increasingly further away . | 4 |
fig1 depicts a diagram of a partial floor plan 10 of a medical care facility . while the floor plan 10 used in the present disclosure is that of a medical care facility , it is understood that the present disclosure is not limited in geography to only medical care facilities , but may be any type of facility within which telemetry monitoring is implemented . these facilities may include a medical care facility such as a hospital or clinic , but may also include any other facilities implementing a telemetry system , including , but not limited to nursing homes , assisted living centers , or schools ; however , for the present disclosure the example of a medical care facility is used . the medical care facility includes a plurality of antennas 12 or other signal receiving devices that receive broadcasted telemetry signals from a remote unit ( not depicted ) worn by , or otherwise associated with , a patient or monitored subject 50 . the receiving range 14 of each of the plurality of antennas 12 defines a telemetry coverage area 16 . the receiving range 14 of each of the antennas 12 may be controlled or adjusted based on the antenna receiving strength or the transmission strength of the signals from the remote units . in an example , the same receiving range 14 may be achieved through the use of stronger antennas 12 and weaker transmission remote units as may be achieved through the use of weaker antennas 12 and stronger transmitting remote units . within the telemetry coverage area 16 , one or more of the antennas 12 receives a telemetry signal broadcasted by the remote unit ( not depicted ) associated with each of the patients . this telemetry signal may include measured physiological data , physiological data that is derived from the measured physiological data , or patient communications , such as patient initiated alarms or patient subjective physical assessments . the remote unit transmits a location signal that is used to identify the location of the patient within the medical care facility . the location signal may be one that is detected by one or more of the antennas 12 , in order to triangulate the remote unit associated with the patient . in an embodiment , at least three antennas receive a location signal for triangulation of the patient location ; however , this is not limiting on the number of antennas 12 distributed through the telemetry coverage area 16 or the overlap of the receiving ranges 14 of the plurality of antennas 12 . alternatively , the location signal may include information indicative of the location of the patient , such as positional coordinates as determined by a gps system within the remote unit . therefore , the location signal may either be indicative of the actual patient location , or may be a signal that is used to derive the location of the patient within the telemetry coverage area 16 . the telemetry coverage area 16 is defined by one or more antennas 12 which may be located on multiple floors within a medical care facility . as noted above , the telemetry coverage area 16 may have antennas 12 distributed to ensure overlap of the receiving ranges of multiple antennas 12 , which aids in patient triangulation . fig2 is a schematic diagram of a telemetry system 18 that may be implemented in a medical care facility . the telemetry system 18 includes the electrical hardware , software , and firmware components that operate the telemetry system 18 . a remote unit 20 is worn by , attached to , or otherwise associated with each of the patients ( not depicted ) that are being telemetrically monitored . the remote unit 20 transmits one or more signals that include telemetry and / or location information . these signals are received by the antenna 12 , of which a plurality are distributed throughout the medical care facility to define the telemetry coverage area 16 ( shown in fig1 ). however , for the sake of simplicity in fig2 , only a single antenna 12 is shown . each antenna 12 is associated with an amplifier 22 that amplifies the signal received from the remote unit 20 . although not depicted , the amplifier 22 may also include other forms of signal conditioning or processing , including , but not limited to , filtering and / or digitization . the signals from the amplifier 22 are transmitted to a remote closet 24 . the remote closet 24 collects all of the signals received by the plurality of antennas 12 in a defined area of the telemetry coverage area 16 . in one example , the medical care facility includes a telemetry coverage area 16 that expands to multiple floors of the medical care facility . in such an example , a remote closet 24 may be placed at each of the floors in order to collect and process the signals received by the antennas 12 on that floor . the remote closet 24 includes a multiplexer 26 that handles the transmission of the telemetry and location information for a plurality of remote units 20 transmitting to the remove closet 24 . the multiplexer 26 separates the lower frequency telemetry signals from the higher frequency location signals and directs the received signals for further processing . while the telemetry system 18 depicted in fig1 is a system that places the telemetry and location information on the same antenna 12 , this is not required , and instead of using the multiplexer 26 , separate antenna systems may be implemented to separately obtain the telemetry and location signals . from the multiplexer 26 , the telemetry information is provided to a telemetry remote hub 28 that prepares the telemetry information for transmission from the remote closet 24 to the main closet 30 that collects all of the information from the remote closets 24 distributed throughout the telemetry system 18 . the main closet 30 is centrally or otherwise conveniently located to receive the telemetry and location information from all of the remote closets 24 in the system 18 . the telemetry remote hub 28 may transmit the telemetry information to a telemetry base unit 32 in the main closet 30 that receives and processes the telemetry information . in an embodiment , the transmission of telemetry information from the telemetry remote hub 28 to the telemetry base unit 32 is performed by fiber optic transmission technology and the telemetry remote hub 28 and the telemetry base unit 32 perform the signal conditioning required for the optical fiber conversion necessary for the transmission . after the telemetry information is transmitted from the telemetry remote hub 28 to the telemetry base unit 32 , the telemetry base unit 32 processes the fiber optic signal to extract the telemetry information embedded thereon . the telemetry base unit 23 sends the telemetry information to a telemetry receiver 33 that receives the telemetry information and further directs the telemetry information to the telemetry server 40 . in the remote closet 24 , the separated location signals from the multiplexer 26 are provided to an access point 29 . the access point 29 measures the strength of the location signal from the base unit 20 received by one or more antenna 12 . in a telemetry system 18 wherein a plurality of antennas 12 are distributed throughout the telemetry coverage area , the signal strengths determined by the access point 29 can be used to triangulate the remote unit 20 as the varying signal strength from a plurality of antennas 12 may be used to determine the patient location with reference to each of the antennas receiving the location signal . the access point 29 of the remote closet 24 provides the location information , including the received signal strengths to the main closet 30 through any number of information transmission technologies , including wire , wireless , or fiber optic technologies . an access point ( ap ) controller 34 is connected to each of the access points 29 if a plurality of remote closets 24 exist in the telemetry system 18 . the ap controller 34 coordinates the transmission and reception of the location information from the access points 29 of each of the remote closets 24 . the location information is provided from the ap control 34 to a location services ( ls ) computer 36 . the ls computer includes computer readable code stored on a computer readable medium ( not depicted ) that embodies software as detailed further herein for calculating location information regarding a patient . software implemented by the ls computer 36 may also include software required to operate an advanced neural network ( ann ), as disclosed in embodiments herein . the ls computer 36 is further connected to a location database 38 that stores the location information from the ls computer 36 for later retrieval and reference by the software operating on the ls computer 36 in determining patient location information . the main closet 30 transmits both the telemetry information and the location information to a telemetry server 40 that coordinates the telemetry and location information with other patient , facility , and services information that is required for the operation of other features of the telemetry system 18 that are not central to the present disclosure . such additional telemetry system functionalities include patient medical history and electronic medical record ( emr ) access , clinical staff information , medical care facility availability , and facility capacity . the telemetry server 40 may also perform analysis of the received telemetry information , such as to process measured physiological data , derive additional physiological data from the measured physiological data , and / or apply institutional diagnostic rules such as to perform automatic or automated diagnostic tests . the telemetry server 40 transmits all of the telemetry information , and location information to the central station 42 . the central station 42 may otherwise be known as the telemetry command center , or “ war room .” the central station 42 is where one or more clinical staff are presented with the telemetry and location information for all of the patients currently under monitoring in the telemetry system . the telemetry information is presented to the clinical staff such that the clinical staff can remotely monitor the physiological condition of the telemetrically monitored patients depending upon changes in the monitored physiological condition of the remotely located patients , the clinical staff may electronically update a patient &# 39 ; s diagnosis or treatment regimen , or may initiate intervention by other clinical staff with the patient . in the event that physiological conditions indicate one or more alarm conditions , the clinical staff at the central station 42 may evaluate the alarm conditions and initiate the proper response based upon those conditions . while the above description of the telemetry system 18 has been made with respect to a large number of hardware components that operate software or firmware in order to form the functionality , data processing , and communication as disclosed above , it is understood to one of ordinary skill in the art that depending on the specific implementation of the telemetry system 18 individual components described herein may be combined into a single piece of hardware or may be implemented as a smaller module of a larger control system software . additionally , one of ordinary skill in the art would also recognize that the communication aspects disclosed herein are merely an exemplary embodiment and that the communication and data transmission would be modified to the specific needs of the telemetry system 18 implemented within a medical care facility . the telemetry system 18 can provide a cost effective and convenient way to monitor ambulatory patients . this benefits the patients as the ability of a recovering patient to move about the patient &# 39 ; s surroundings has been found to aid in recovery times ; however , while patients are recovering from illness or a medical procedure , they are at increased risk of being afflicted by a severe medical condition . examples of severe medical conditions include a heart attack or stroke . thus , these ambulatory patients still require constant monitoring . a problem arises if a telemetrically monitored patient moves outside of the telemetry coverage area 16 ( fig1 ), the telemetry system 18 both no longer receives the critical physiological data required to continuously monitor the patient , but also the location of the patient becomes unknown , putting the patient at risk of delayed clinician intervention or treatment , should the patient develop a serious medical condition . therefore , as disclosed further herein , the ls computer 36 may provide with the location information , a prediction if an ambulatory patient will move out of the telemetry coverage area 16 , thus causing telemetry signal dropout . alternatively , the prediction of patient destination may be created using a separate location prediction computer ( not depicted ). referring back to fig1 , the floor plan 10 of fig1 is also representative of an embodiment of the information displayed by a graphical display of the central station 42 . the central station 42 may present the patient location information graphically , such as using a floor plan representation , like fig1 , that indicates both the monitored patients and their potential destinations . alternatively , the central station 42 may present the patient location information and destination predictions in tabulative or textual formats . in still further embodiments , the destination prediction may only be presented as an alarm , when it is predicted that the probability of the patient leaving the telemetry coverage area 16 meets a predetermined threshold probability . in fig1 , a patient 50 is indicated by a graphical representation , such as an arrow , the arrow graphically represents both the location of the patient 50 within the floor plan 10 and also indicates the patient &# 39 ; s direction of travel . in alternative embodiments , it is understood that additional indications of other telemetrically monitored patients may be made on the same display . additionally , the patient speed may be indicated such as through the use of a tail ( not depicted ) or progressively fading indication of the patient 50 location at previous time intervals , such as two second intervals or one second intervals . as noted with respect to fig2 , a remote unit 20 is associated with the patient 50 . the remote unit 20 transmits its location information as picked up by one or more of the antennas 12 in the telemetry coverage area 16 . by monitoring this patient location information , the ls computer 36 can compute the patient &# 39 ; s location within the telemetry coverage area 16 , the speed that the patient is traveling , and the trajectory of the patient , or the direction the patient is traveling . the ls computer 36 records this information in a location database 38 for each of a plurality of monitored patients in the telemetry coverage area 16 . the data in a location database 38 includes not only current patients within the telemetry coverage area , but the location database 38 also stores the location information for previously telemetrically monitored patients in the telemetry coverage area 16 . computer 36 uses the previously recorded patient location information in the location database 38 to identify the instance rates of patients moving from a current location to a variety of destinations . these instance rates or probabilities may then be further detailed using artificial intelligence techniques such as artificial neural networks ( ann ) or fuzzy logic in order to correlate not only the patient location , but the calculated patient trajectory and speed to the previously recorded patient location information . ann or fuzzy logic implementations may be used to computer historical patient movement trends throughout the telemetry coverage area 16 . this allows for the destination predictions to be correlated to the location information presently received and computed for the monitored patient . therefore , the present telemetry system 18 provides improved prediction of patient destination using both currently measured and computed patient location information with historical patient movement trends obtained from the historical location information of other patients and / or the monitored patient in the same telemetry coverage area 16 . as noted above , the floor plan 10 of fig1 may represent an embodiment of the information presented by the central station 42 . in this example , a patient 50 is indicated as moving through the telemetry coverage area 16 in a hallway 52 . the location information transmitted by the remote unit 20 associated with the patient 50 received by the telemetry system 18 is used to determine the location , speed , and trajectory of the patient 50 . the ls computer 36 records the patient &# 39 ; s actual location and path in the location database 38 for reference in future destination determinations . the ls computer 36 also performs a current destination prediction . in this destination prediction , the ls computer 36 identifies by analyzing previous destinations of patients in the same telemetry coverage area 16 to determine historical patient movement trends and comprising these historical patient movement trends to the current received / measured / calculated location , trajectory , and speed of the patient 50 . in this example , the ls computer 36 identifies that there are five potential destinations of the patient 50 . these potential destinations are indicated on the floor plan 10 as destinations a , b , c , d , and e . the ls computer 36 further determinates a probability that the patient 50 will go to each of these destinations . as an example , the ls computer 36 may determine , based on the historical patient movement trends and the current location , trajectory , and speed of the patient 50 , that the following probabilities exist that the patient will move to each of the identified destinations : thus from the exemplary table above , it can be determined that the patient 50 has a 94 % probability of moving forward . the patient 50 also has a 60 % probability of moving to destination a , while only having a 22 % probability of moving outside of the telemetry coverage area 16 , to designated destination d . therefore , the patient 50 at the specified location , speed , and trajectory will be regarded as a 22 % risk for telemetry signal dropout based upon the patient leaving the telemetry coverage area 16 at destination d . the medical care facility may define its own alarm definitions for telemetry signal dropout risk as well as define the responses that are initiated by clinical staff at the central station 42 upon the meeting of these predefined probability criteria . some institutions may be highly risk adverse and therefore would desire to intervene any time the destination probability of the destination outside the telemetry coverage area 16 crosses a minimal threshold percentage . this threshold percentage may be relatively low , such as 10 - 20 % likelihood , or lower , based at the discretion of the medical care facility . alternatively , a progression of patient interactions may escalate as the probability that the patient will leave the telemetry coverage area 16 increases . these intervention escalations may begin with a page or other audible or textual alert that is sent to the remote unit 20 associated with the patient 50 . this may be escalated to the dispatch of clinical staff to the location of the patient 50 or to the patient &# 39 ; s predicted destination in order to intercept the patient 50 before the patient 50 leaves the telemetry coverage area 16 . it is further understood that in alternative embodiments some or all of these responses may be automated or automatedly initiated responses and do not require clinician action in order to initiate or carry out . the ls computer 36 ( fig2 ) may simplify the destination prediction by dividing the telemetry coverage area 16 into a plurality of destination areas . therefore , the ls computer 36 may more easily define historical patient movement trends through ann or fuzzy logic techniques . these or other data processing techniques may be used to process the large amount of stored patient location information . the division of the telemetry coverage area 16 into discrete destinations ( a , b , c , d , e ) help to identify a probability that the patient will enter one of these destinations . referring now to fig3 , it depicts the floor plan 10 with two different alternative locations , location 52 and location 54 , for the patient 50 to proceed from the location in fig1 . from both locations 52 and 54 , the patient 50 may move to the same five destinations a , b , c , d , and e . if the patient 50 moves to location 52 , as the patient 50 moves , the ls computer 36 continuously updates the destination prediction , taking into account the updated patient location , trajectory , and speed , as well as the historical patient movement trends stored in the location database 38 . in the present example , by the time the patient 50 moves to location 52 , the destination probabilities have changed to : by referencing the above table , it can be seen that as the patient 50 turned in the direction away from the telemetry coverage area 16 boundary and destination d , the probability that the patient would enter this destination is drastically reduced . the reduction in this destination probability of the destination d would be due to the fact that patients historically at location 52 on the trajectory and speed of patient 50 , rarely turn around and head out of the telemetry coverage zone 16 to destination d . however , in an alternative example , if the patient 50 moves from location in fig1 to location 54 depicted in fig2 , then as the patient moves between those two locations , the ls computer 36 will compute the new destination probabilities , such that by the time the patient 50 reaches location 54 , the destination probabilities are : by reference to the above table , it can be seen that by the time the patient 50 reaches location 54 , it becomes very likely that the patient 50 will leave the telemetry coverage area 16 and move to destination d . this escalation of the probability that the patient &# 39 ; s telemetry signal will be lost due to moving out of the telemetry coverage area 16 , may trigger an appropriate response from the clinical staff at the central station 42 . the clinical staff at central station 42 would dispatch clinical staff to location 54 or destination d in an attempt to first intercept the patient 50 before the patient leaves the telemetry coverage area 16 , or if the clinical staff response arrives too late , the patient 50 is recovered at or near destination d with minimal telemetry signal dropout . referring back to fig1 , if the patient 50 moves to destination d , both the patient &# 39 ; s telemetry signal and location signal would be lost . the patient would no longer appear on the floor plan 10 . in this instance , the ls computer 36 saves the patient location , trajectory , and speed at the time of the telemetry and location signal dropout . in an additional functionality of the ls computer 36 , the ls computer 36 uses patient location information stored in the location database 38 to additionally predict a destination outside of the telemetry coverage area 16 that the patient 50 may be most likely to be found . the patient location information used to determine probability of patient location outside of the telemetry coverage area 16 may be based upon reporting by clinical staff that find telemetry patients outside of the telemetry coverage area 16 . the reporting of clinical staff may be analyzed and compiled in order to determine probabilities of where patients leaving the telemetry coverage area 16 may be headed after signal dropout occurs . in fig1 , locations f and g represent two locations outside of the telemetry coverage area 16 that may be deemed as likely patient destinations outside of the telemetry coverage area 16 . locations f and g may be specific destinations of patients leaving the telemetry coverage area 16 due to features about these locations . for example , location f may be the site of a point of interest such as vending machines , or a fish tank that attract patients , while location g may be an outdoor park or sitting area . the ls computer 36 computes a probability determination for the likelihood that the patient leaving the telemetry coverage area 16 may be found at one of locations f or g . this probability may be similar to that previously calculated with respect to patient destination predictions . the calculated probability is transmitted to the central station 42 to be presented on a graphical display . thus , if the patient 50 leaves the telemetry coverage area 16 , the graphical display of the central station 42 may present an indication that there is a 25 % likelihood that the patient 50 is at destination f while there is a 50 % probability that the patient 50 is at destination g . the probabilities provided in this determination may or may not add up to 100 % due to rounding , or the consideration of other locations . for the sake of simplicity , in some embodiments , only those locations that are above a predetermined probability threshold are presented as likely options . alternatively , the system could present all the calculated probabilities . it is to be understood that the effectiveness of this type of location prediction outside of the telemetry coverage area 16 may be dependent upon a clinical staff reporting system , whereby the patient location information is collected that is indicative of where the clinical staff actually locate the patient 50 outside of the telemetry coverage area 16 . this type of reporting identifies the locations outside of the telemetry coverage area 16 where the patients are likely to go after telemetry signal dropout . in an additional aspect , the location database 38 keeps track of all interventions on patient movement . often , these are recorded by clinical staff after intervening on patient movement . if left unreported or unaccounted for , these interventions may skew the probabilities of the patients leaving the telemetry coverage area 16 , such as to under report the actual instance of patient signal dropout , in instances where no intervention is initiated . therefore , the ls computer 36 may credit an interaction as full or partial consideration that the patient left the telemetry coverage area . with respect to fig1 , in a still further embodiment , an exemplary table of destination probabilities presented by the central station 42 is : referring to the table above , based upon the location , trajectory , and speed of the patient 50 , and historical patient movement trends , the ls computer 36 may compute that the patient 50 is relatively unlikely to leave the telemetry coverage area 16 to go to destination d . in this instance , the patient 50 is likely to pass very close to the edge of the telemetry coverage area 16 and there is a potential for the patient to leave the telemetry coverage area 16 resulting in telemetry signal dropout . however , based upon the historical patient movement trends and the monitored patient location , trajectory , and speed , the ls computer 36 indicates to the clinical staff at the central station 42 a low probability that the patient will leave the telemetry coverage area 16 . therefore , no intervention , or a low intervention , may be initiated , thus conserving resources and not interrupting the ambulatory movement of the patient 50 or the current tasks being performed by clinicians . in embodiments of the telemetry system 18 , the ls computer 36 may further be communicatively coupled to a database of patient demographic information ( not depicted ), or alternatively , the location database 38 may also include patient demographic information that may be further used to increase the accuracy of the destination predictions of the telemetry system 18 . the stored demographic information may correlate the patient &# 39 ; s age , gender , or ethnicity with particular historical patient movement trends or behavior patterns . in one such example , referring to fig1 , if the patient 50 leaves the telemetry coverage area 16 by moving to destination d , if destination f represents a fish tank and destination g represents a sitting area or park , the ls computer 36 may determine that there is a correlation that patients below a certain age are more likely to go to location f , presumably to view the fish in the fish tank while patients above a certain age are move likely to be found at the sitting area g . in a still further embodiment of the telemetry system 18 , the location database 38 may also store the historical movement trends for each individual patient 50 separately from the group of all patients as a whole . thus , the ls computer 36 may use the specific movement history of each patient in order to more accurately predict where that patient is going . this additional personalized movement trend determination may help to reduce false positives , resulting in fewer interventions or intervention escalations , requiring the medical care facility resources and staff time . one such example of a personalized patient historical movement trend would be that if patient 50 every morning goes to location b for a particular treatment , therapy , or to visit another particular patient . despite the fact that the historical patient movement trends on a whole may indicate that a generic patient at the patient &# 39 ; s 50 location , trajectory , and speed is likely to leave the telemetry coverage area 16 and move to destination d , the probability of this particular patient 50 following that movement path is comparatively low . alternatively , the additional personalized movement trend determination may help to proactively warn clinicians of patients at greater risk of leaving the telemetry coverage area 16 than the general patient population . referring now to fig4 , fig4 depicts a floor plan 60 that is similar to the other figures , but depicts an alternative potential display presented by the central station 42 . if the destination predictions are presented by the central station 42 as merely numerical , textual or escalatory results , then the floor plan 60 of fig4 is a pictorial representation of the logic that may be used by the ls computer 36 in this embodiment . the floor plan 60 of fig4 is different from that depicted in fig1 in that the floor plan 10 of fig1 depicted only the nearest extrapolation of potential patient destination . therefore , in the embodiment of fig1 , the predictive capability of these destination predictions are limited to a next destination of the patient . however , additional warning time of potential telemetry signal dropout beyond a simple “ next destination ” may be provided in some embodiments . therefore , in the floor plan 60 of fig4 , additional destinations f - j are included in the floor plan 60 . these additional destinations extend from destination b and c in the original floor plan 10 . thus , the probability that the patient moves to any of destination f - j , would first require that the patient move through destination b or c . therefore , the probabilities of destinations f - j are a subset of the probability that the patient move to destinations b or c . in an embodiment of this patient destination prediction scheme , the destination probabilities may appear at : a feature of the embodiment of floor plan 60 is apparent from this example in that it may be noted that the patient 50 has a greater probability of leaving the telemetry coverage area 16 at destination j , causing telemetry and location signal dropout , than the much closer destination d . thus , clinical staff at the central station 42 are provided with a warning of a possibly counter intuitive destination prediction and may monitor the location of the patient 50 more closely , or provide the necessary intervention , or intervention escalation with respect to the more probable destination causing signal dropout . as stated previously , the embodiments of the floor plan 10 , 60 are merely exemplary as to the type of graphical presentation that may be made by the central station 42 to clinical staff . alternative to the graphical depiction of these figures , graphical indications that only focus on the possible patient point of departure from the telemetry coverage area 16 may be implemented . these embodiments may only track the location , speed , and trajectory of the patient 50 , while noting only those paths and probabilities that lead to telemetry signal dropout . alternatively , rather than specific patient vectors and discrete destination locations , a scatter plot or heat map or other type of graphical representation of probability may be used to graphically depict the likelihood that the patient 50 would move to a particular destination . finally , as mentioned above , the central station 42 may rather present the destination predictions in a more simplistic numeral or textural form such , as in the non - limiting example , the tables presented above , or may only be presented to the clinical staff at the central station 42 only upon meeting one or more probability thresholds for clinical staff intervention , or intervention escalation . this written description uses examples to disclose various embodiments , including the best mode , and also to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use these embodiments . the patentable scope is defined by the claims may extend to include other examples not explicitly listed that occur to those skilled in the art . such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims , or if they include equivalent elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims . various alternatives and embodiments are contemplated as being with in the scope of the following claims , particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter of the present disclosure . | 6 |
referring to fig3 a , a jacquard mechanism in accordance with the present invention is generally comprised of a fixed selector cam 1 , a movable selector cam 2 , and a driving mechanism adapted for driving the movable selector cam 2 . referring to fig1 the fixed selector cam 1 is mounted on the outside of the periphery of the cylinder of the circular knitting machine , having a plurality of tracks at the inner side 10 for the insertion of the needle butt 31 of the knitting needle 3 ( see also fig5 ). these tracks include a knitting track 4 for raising the knitting needle 3 to the knitting position and a welting track 5 for keeping the knitting needle 3 in the welting position . the knitting track 4 and the welting track 5 are recessed tracks formed in the inner side 10 of the fixed selector cam 1 . when a plurality of fixed cams 1 are arranged around the periphery of the cylinder of the circular knitting machine , the knitting tracks 4 and welting tracks 5 of the fixed cams 1 are respectively connected together . when the fixed cams 1 are moved relative to the cylinder of the circular knitting machine , the knitting needles 3 are moved up and down along the knitting tracks 4 or welting tracks 5 of the fixed cams 1 to push the thread through the fabric or to cast off a loop . the movable selector cam 2 moves vertically in a slot 11 at the outer side of the fixed selector cam 1 . fig3 a shows the movable selector cam 2 moved to the top side in the slot 11 of the fixed selector cam i . fig3 b shows the movable selector cam 2 moved to the bottom side in the slot 11 of the fixed selector cam 1 . when the movable selector cam 2 is moved in the slot 11 to a higher elevation above the position shown in fig3 b , a tucking track 6 is defined in the fixed selector cam 1 . the fixed selector cam 1 further comprises a vertical rail 110 disposed in the slot 11 for guiding the movement of the movable selector cam 2 . the movable selector cam 2 comprises a vertical sliding groove 23 at one side coupled to the vertical rail 110 of the fixed selector cam 1 , a sloping front surface 21 adapted for lifting the knitting needle 3 to the tucking position , a horizontal top surface 22 adapted for holding the knitting needle 3 in the tucking position as best seen in fig1 and 2 . when the movable selector cam 2 is lifted to the elevation of the tucking position , the horizontal top surface 22 and sloping front surface 21 of the movable selector cam 2 define with the projecting plate 12 of the fixed selector cam 1 a space for the butt 31 of the knitting needle 3 to pass . this space is the aforesaid tucking track 6 . referring to fig4 the fixed selector cam 1 and the movable selector cam 2 are arranged on a seat 13 , which is fixed to the frame of the circular knitting machine at a suitable location . the seat 13 is equipped with a driving mechanism for moving the movable selector cam 2 . this driving mechanism comprises a servo motor 8 , a cam wheel 80 coupled to the servo motor 8 , a crank 81 having one end coupled to the cam wheel 80 and an opposite end coupled to the movable selector cam 2 . through the control of a computer or digital controller , the servo motor 8 is turned to lift the movable selector cam 2 to the elevation of the tucking track 6 . a board 82 is coupled to the rear end of the output shaft of the servo motor 8 , having two wings 821 , 822 at two opposite ends spaced 180 ° from each other . a position detector 83 is installed in the back side of the servo motor 8 . when the cam wheel 80 is rotated through a half run , the wing 821 or 822 is moved to the position detector 83 , causing the position detector 83 to be induced . the position detector 83 can be a photoelectric element or any equivalent element adapted for detecting the position of the movable selector cam 2 . referring to fig5 when the jack 7 is not raised by the needle selector ( not shown ), the butts 71 , 72 of the jack 7 are spaced from the knitting control block 14 and tucking control block 15 , and the butt 31 of the knitting needle 3 is forced to move along the horizontal welting track 5 . on the contrary , when the jack 7 is raised by the needle selector to the tilted position shown in fig6 b , the upper butt 71 of the jack 7 is forced into engagement with the knitting control block 14 and lifted . when the jack 7 is lifted , the knitting needle 3 is simultaneously lifted to the knitting track 4 above the projecting plate 12 for further knitting operation . when the jack 7 is raised by the needle selector to the tilted position shown in fig7 b , the lower butt 72 of the jack 7 is forced into engagement with the tucking control block 15 and lifted . when the jack 7 is lifted by the tucking control block 15 , the movable selector cam 2 is simultaneously lifted to the position shown in fig3 a , and the butt 31 of the knitting needle 3 is simultaneously moved along the sloping front surface 21 and horizontal top surface 22 of the movable selector cam 2 into the tucking track 6 for tucking operation to finish the jacquard knitting action is completed . while only one embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described , it will be understood that various modifications and changes could be made thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention disclosed . | 3 |
the present invention is related to a light - emitting device capable of emitting a specified colored light , and particularly for a white colored led and the corresponding manufacturing method . in the following , the description will be mainly made for the white colored led . the specified colored led may be readily understood through the description for the white colored led since they are made in principle in a similar manner . in a preferred embodiment , the manufacturing method for a light - emitting device of a white colored light - emitting device ( led ) according to the present invention comprises the following steps . in appreciating the preferred embodiment , please refer directly to fig1 to 3 and 3 a . step 1 : forming a second mqw active layer over an upper side of a substrate , performed after a buffer layer is formed on said substrate , wherein the second mqw active layer is made of gan / ingan ( an alternating semiconductor layer structure familiar to those skilled in the art ), the substrate can be such as sapphire , silicon carbide ( sic ) and gallium nitride ( gan ) for the consideration that a gan based material is chosen thereon , wherein the second mqw active layer is chosen in terms of in dopant concentration so that a second light with a wavelength of 550 nm to 650 nm is emitted with the presence of an electric bias applied on the device . however , it does not mean the second light is excited directly by the applied voltage and it is actually excited by a first light , as will be described in more detailed through the following description . the buffer layer may be composed of some layers , such as a coarse grain nucleation layer made of gan and an undoped gan layer . the nucleation layer is a low temperature layer , i . e . formed under a low temperature condition , about 500 - 550 ° c . ; has a thickness of 200 - 400 å and will be referred to as an lt - gan layer herein . the undoped gan is a high temperature layer , formed under a temperature of 1020 - 1040 ° c . and has a thickness of 0 . 2 - 2 μm , and will be termed as an ht - gan layer . these buffer layers may be formed by molecular beam epitaxy ( mbe ), metal organic chemical vapor deposition ( mocvd ) and some other suitable technologies , currently in existence or set forth in the future . besides , the forming conditions of the second mqw active layer , gan layer and ingan layer may be chosen as long as the specific function , giving off a blue light , is achieved . in terms of forming technology , the gan and ingan layers in the mqw active layer may be produced through atomic layer epitaxy ( ale ) technology . step 2 : forming an n - gan based epitaxial layer over said second mqw active layer 12 , by such as mbe and mocvd . in forming such n - gan based epitaxial layer , the temperature is 1020 ° c .- 1040 ° c . and the formed thickness is 2 - 8 μm . step 3 : forming a first mqw layer over said n - gan based epitaxial layer , wherein said first mqw active layer emits a first light with a wavelength of 450 nm to 510 nm with the presence of the above - mentioned applied voltage . similar to the second mqw layer , the in concentration , process conditions and thickness of the first mqw layer are chosen so that the first mqw layer generates a first light with a wavelength of 450 nm - 510 nm . step 4 : forming a p - type distributed brag reflector ( dbr ) over said first mqw active layer . in a preferred embodiment of the present invention , the p - type dbr is algan / gan . the thickness is 0 . 1 - 0 . 5 μm and the process temperature is 960 - 1000 ° c . the reflectance of the dbr may be 50 - 80 %. step 5 : forming a p - gan based layer over said p - type dbr and etching away a portion of said n - gan layer , said first mqw active layer , said p - type dbr and said p - gan based layer whereby said n - gan layer has an exposing region and an n - type electrode may be disposed over said exposing region and a p - type electrode may be disposed over said p - gan layer . the p - gan based layer can be formed by such as mbe and mocvd , under the process conditions of a temperature of 1020 ° c .- 1040 ° c . and a thickness is 2 - 8 , m . on the other hand , the n - and p - type electrodes may each be formed by such as sputtering , vaporizing and e - gun technologies , and the adoptive electrode material may be well - conductive metal of all appropriate kinds , such as aluminum and copper , and may preferably have good light transparency ( to the light generated by the device ), such as thin ni / au layer . it is to be noted that although the formations of the electrodes 17 and 18 are absent from the recitation of this step and fig1 they are in effect successively formed . step 6 : coating a metal reflector over a bottom side of the substrate . the coating method may be such as sputtering , vaporizing and e - gun technologies . in undertaking the coating step , the bottom side of the substrate may be polished to a reduced thickness , 50 μm to 300 μm , and then coated with the metal reflector , from a larger thickness where the preceding 5 steps are executed . the metal reflector is made of a suitable metal so that a specified reflector , such as having a desired reflectivity , such as greater than 90 %, may be achieved and has a thickness of 50 å to 10 μm . in fig2 the light - emitting device 10 manufactured by the above - recited method of the present invention is shown . the device 10 comprises a resonant cavity structure 22 , a contact layer 16 , an n - type metal electrode 17 and a p - type metal electrode 18 , wherein said resonant cavity 22 formed in sequence by , from bottom to top , a metal reflector 19 , a substrate 10 ′, a buffer layer 11 , a second mqw active layer 12 , an n - gan based layer 13 , a first mqw active layer 14 and a p - type distributed bragg reflector ( dbr ) 15 , wherein the substrate 10 ′ may be such as sapphire , gallium nitride ( gan ) and silicon carbide ( sic ). the buffer layer 11 is provided as an intermediate layer of the substrate 10 ′ and the second mqw active layer 12 for some reasons , such as better lattice matching . as also described in the above , the buffer layer 11 may be composed of some layers . the contact layer 16 is a p - gan based layer and formed over said p - type dbr 15 for contact with a corresponding electrode 18 . the p - type metal electrode 18 is disposed over said p - gan layer 16 for electricity feed , while the n - type metal electrode 17 is disposed over an exposing region 13 a of the n - gan layer 13 . in fig3 and 3a , a particular example of the device depicted in fig2 is shown . as shown in fig3 the p - gan based layer 161 is heavily doped for better ohmic contact with the upper metal electrode and may be replaced by a p - ingan or a p - alingan layer . since the resonant cavity 22 is provided in the device 10 , the first light may move back and forth in the cavity 22 and excite the second mqw layer to generate the second light . therefore , the second light is generated not by the applied electric bias directly but by the first light that has been previously excited by the electric bias . in fact , the wavelengths of the first and the second lights may not be between 450 nm - 510 nm and between the 550 nm - 650 nm . the two lights , the first light and the second light , emitted by the two mqw active layers may be alternatively chosen as long as the two lights may mix into a white colored light . in addition to the above steps described in the preferred method embodiment , the method may add a step of coating a transparent contact layer ( tcl ) ( step 6 ′) with a suitable thickness over the contact layer , p - gan based layer 16 , succeeding to step 5 , as is defined as the second method embodiment according to the present invention with the other steps the same , and which is shown in fig5 . the second device embodiment according to the present invention corresponds to the second method embodiment , and which is provided schematically as fig6 . it is to be noted that the tcl 20 ′ is added in the device 20 and has a suitable thickness for compensating for the low mobility of the majority of carriers , holes , and uniformly spreading the electrical charges in the neighborhood of the p - type electrode to the entire contact layer , p - gan based layer 16 and thus promoting luminous efficiency of the device 20 . the so - called “ suitable thickness ” of the tcl 20 ′ means a thickness that may lead the tcl 20 ′ to be efficient in light extraction , which depends on the material adopted as the tcl 20 ′. the tcl 20 ′ comprises au / ni ( first formed with an au layer and then with a ni layer ) and other conductive and transparent materials ( transparent to a light having a wavelength ranging from 400 nm - 700 nm ). further , tcl 20 ′ may be a n - tcl or a p - tcl . for a specific device illustration , fig7 shows a particular example of the device of fig6 as the device 201 . as is with the p - gan based layer 371 of fig3 the p - gan based layer 161 is heavily doped for better ohmic contact with the upper metal electrode and may be replaced by a p - ingan or a p - alingan layer . further , the tcl may be subject to a surface treatment at its upper surface . the surface treatment is applied so as to minimize the portions of the generated light back into the light - emitting device . the surface treatment applied may be forming a roughened surface or particularly textured surface on the tcl surface . therefore , the third method embodiment , shown in fig8 according to the present invention is intended to cover this step , step 8 . the third device embodiment according to the present invention corresponds to the third method embodiment . the illustration for the particular textured surface is omitted in the drawings , but may be generally referenced to the label 21 in fig6 the second device embodiment of the present invention . the metal reflector is not the only choice for acting as the lower reflecting component for the resonant cavity . alternatively , an n - type dbr may be otherwise used as the lower reflecting component . the fourth to sixth embodiments of the present invention , an n - type dbr is used for the resonant cavity instead of the metal reflector used in the first three embodiments . in the fourth method embodiment shown in fig9 according to the present invention , step 1 a is included to form an n - type dbr over a substrate as the lower reflecting component and the step of formation of the metal reflector in the above embodiments is removed . at the time , the resonant cavity is bounded by the n - type dbr and the p - type dbr without a substrate disposed therein , which is otherwise adopted regime for the cavity structure . because the substrate is not layered in the resonant cavity , the substrate may be a material not transparent , such as silicon , in addition to the materials mentioned above for the substrate . the fourth device embodiment according to the present invention corresponds to the fourth method embodiment , and which is shown schematically as fig1 . further , fig1 and fig1 a are a particular example of the device of fig1 and provided herein for better understanding . in the case of n - type dbr used , the steps of forming a tcl and subjecting its surface to a surface treatment may also be added in the forming of the device , which are designated as the fifth and sixth method embodiments respectively , corresponding to fig1 and fig1 . the fifth and sixth device embodiments correspond to the fifth and sixth method embodiments . the former is shown in fig1 while the latter is omitted here for simplicity reason . the white colored led produced according to the present invention may be achieved by arranging the inventive light - emitting device with bonding wires for application of an electrical power and packaging the led , which is ordinary to those persons skilled in the art and will be omitted herein . with the white colored led provided by the present invention , a chromaticity diagram obtained therethrough is like the one shown in fig4 . when the first light generated by the first mqw active layer is set to have a wavelength of about 480 nm , and the second light generated by the second light a wavelength of about 580 nm , the points b ( corresponding to 480 nm ) and b ′ ( corresponding to 580 nm ) may connect into a line l 2 exactly crossing the white light area w . accordingly , the generated light resulted from mixing of the blue and yellow lights observed from the top of the p - gan based layer may exactly be deemed as a natural light . besides , formations of electrodes and the corresponding etching in the above - mentioned method embodiments are not detailedly given in the corresponding drawings and specification in the above method embodiments , yet they are necessary in providing the light - emitting device with exciting electricity and thus emitting lights , which is apparent to those skilled in the art . in fact , the electrodes are successively formed after the etching . in adding the electrodes , the p - type electrode may be directly or indirectly formed over the p - gan based layer by sputtering , vaporizing and e - gun technologies . however , the n - type electrode may not be directly provided on the entire n - gan based layer , which may violate the p - n junction structure . in this regard , an etching step , such as a dry etching , such as chlorine plasma etching , or other suitable etching technologies , may be conducted on a portion of the p - gan based layer , the p - type dbr and the first qwm layer so that a room of an exposing region of the n - gan based layer may be left for disposition of the n - type electrode . although the formation of electrodes and the accompanying etching can not be seen in the flowcharts in the drawings , they may be understood through , for example , the device structure 10 of fig2 . it is to be noted that it is easy for those skilled in the art to undertake a variation on the inventive structure with reference to the foregoing embodiments . for example , the layer number in the first and second qwm active layers may not be 2 but others and the corresponding emitted lights may mix into any color of light as long as its corresponding implementation may be put into effect . and thus , the light mixing may come in various ways and the mixed light may be some other colors . all these modifications are deemed within the spirit of the present invention provided the mechanism or principle of the white or other colored lights are similar . therefore , while the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of preferred embodiments , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto . on the contrary , it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures , and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures . | 7 |
the prepolymers of component a ) which are essential to the invention are obtained in a manner well known per se to the person skilled in the art by reacting monomeric , oligomeric or polyisocyanates a1 ) with isocyanate - reactive compounds a2 ) in suitable stoichiometry with optional use of catalysts and solvents . in this way , nco - functional prepolymers having urethane , allophanate , biuret and / or amide groups can be prepared . suitable polyisocyanates a1 ) are all aliphatic , cycloaliphatic , aromatic or araliphatic di - and triisocyanates known per se to the person skilled in the art , it being unimportant whether these were obtained by means of phosgenation or by phosgene - free processes . in addition , the relatively high molecular weight secondary products of monomeric di - and / or triisocyanates having a urethane , urea , carbodiimide , acylurea , isocyanurate , allophanate , biuret , oxadiazinetrione , uretdione or iminooxadiazinedione structure , which are well known per se to the person skilled in the art , can also be used , in each case individually or as any desired mixtures with one another . preferred monomeric di - or triisocyanates which can be used as component a1 ) are butylene diisocyanate , hexamethylene diisocyanate ( hdi ), isophorone diisocyanate ( ipdi ), trimethylhexamethylene diisocyanate ( tmdi ), and / or isocyanatomethyl - 1 , 8 - octane diisocyanate ( tin ). tin , tmdi and hdi are particularly preferred and hdi is very particularly preferred . oh - functional compounds having an oh functionality of , preferably , 1 . 9 to 2 . 01 , particularly preferably 2 . 0 , are used as isocyanate - reactive compounds a2 ) for the synthesis of the prepolymers . oligomeric or polymeric isocyanate - reactive compounds of the above mentioned functionality range are suitable for this purpose , such as low molecular weight short - chain aliphatic , araliphatic or cycloaliphatic diols , i . e . containing 2 to 20 carbon atoms . examples of such diols are ethylene glycol , diethylene glycol , triethylene glycol , tetraethylene glycol , dipropylene glycol , tripropylene glycol , 1 , 2 - propanediol , 1 , 3 - propanediol , 1 , 4 - butanediol , neopentyl glycol , 2 - ethyl - 2 - butylpropanediol , trimethylpentanediol , positional isomers of diethyloctanediol , 1 , 3 - butylene glycol , cyclohexanediol , 1 , 4 - cyclohexanedimethanol , 1 , 6 - hexanediol , 1 , 2 - and 1 , 4 - cyclohexanediol , hydrogenated bisphenol a ( 2 , 2 - bis ( 4 - hydroxycyclohexyl ) propane ), 2 , 2 - dimethyl - 3 - hydroxypropyl 2 , 2 - dimethyl - 3 - hydroxypropionate . relatively high molecular weight aliphatic and cycloaliphatic polyols of the abovementioned functionality range , such as polyesterpolyols , polyetherpolyols , polycarbonatepolyols , hydroxy - functional acrylic resins , hydroxy - functional polyurethanes , hydroxy - functional epoxy resins or corresponding hybrids , are also suitable . for example , the difunctional polyadducts of ethylene oxide , propylene oxide , tetrahydrofuran , butylene oxide , and their mixed adducts and graft products , and the polyetherpolyols obtained by condensation of dihydric alcohols or mixtures thereof and the polyetherpolyols obtained by alkoxylation of dihydric alcohols , may be mentioned as such polyetherpolyols . preferred difunctional polyetherpolyols are poly ( propylene oxides ), poly ( ethylene oxides ) and combinations thereof in the form of random or block copolymers and mixtures thereof having a number average molar mass between 200 and 18 , 000 g / mol , particularly preferably having a number average molar mass between 600 and 8000 g / mol and very particularly preferably having a number average molar mass between 1000 and 4500 g / mol . poly ( propylene oxides ) of the abovementioned functionality range having number average molar masses between 650 g / mol and 4500 g / mol , particularly preferably having number average molar masses between 1000 g / mol and 4100 g / mol and very particularly preferably having number average molar masses between 1900 g / mol and 2100 g / mol are particularly preferably used as a2 ). in the prepolymer synthesis , isocyanate according to a1 ) is reacted with alcohol according to a2 ) in stoichiometric amounts for the urethanization , a urethane group forming . suitable alcohols in this case for the reaction with said di -, tri - and polyisocyanates are all oligomeric or polymeric , primary or secondary , difunctional alcohols of the abovementioned type . with regard to the urethane prepolymers , these are preferably ethanediol , di -, tri - or tetraethylene glycol , 1 , 2 - propanediol , di -, tri -, tetrapropylene glycol , 1 , 3 - propanediol , 1 , 4 - butanediol , 1 , 3 - butanediol , 2 , 3 - butanediol , 1 , 5 - pentanediol , 1 , 6 - hexanediol , 2 , 2 - dimethyl - 1 , 3 - propanediol , 1 , 4 - dihydroxycyclohexane , 1 , 4 - dimethylolcyclohexane , 1 , 8 - octanediol , 1 , 10 - decanediol , 1 , 12 - dodecanediol , polyethylene glycol , polypropylene glycol , block polymers and / or copolymers of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide and / or other 1 - alkene oxides , poly ( thf ), polyester -, polycarbonate - and polyacrylatepolyols having number average molar masses of up to 10 , 000 g / mol and any desired mixtures thereof with one another . in the prepolymer synthesis , for allophanatization , first an isocyanate according to a1 ) is reacted with an alcohol according to a2 ) in a stoichiometric ratio to give a urethane , which is then reacted with a further isocyanate , an allophanate forming . in this case , all oligomeric or polymeric , primary or secondary , difunctional alcohols of the type described above are suitable as alcohols for the reaction with said di -, tri - or polyisocyanates to give urethane . for the further reaction to the allophanate , the monomeric di - or triisocyanates hdi , tmdi and tin are preferably added . preferred prepolymers are urethanes or allophanates obtained from aliphatic isocyanate - functional compounds and oligomeric or polymeric isocyanate - reactive compounds , the prepolymers having number average molar masses of 200 to 10 , 000 g / mol and nco functionalities of 1 . 9 to 5 . 0 . urethanes having nco functionalities of 1 . 9 to 2 . 1 and number average molar masses of 650 to 8200 g / mol , prepared from aliphatic isocyanate - functional compounds and oligomeric or polymeric polyols and allophanates having functionalities of greater than 2 . 0 to 3 . 2 or of 3 . 9 to 4 . 2 having number average molar masses of 650 to 8200 g / mol , prepared from aliphatic isocyanate - functional compounds and oligomeric or polymeric polyols or any desired mixtures thereof , are particularly preferred . urethanes having nco functionalities of 1 . 9 to 2 . 1 and number average molar masses of 1900 to 4100 g / mol , prepared from aliphatic isocyanate - functional compounds and oligomeric or polymeric polyols and allophanates having functionalities of greater than 2 . 0 to 3 . 2 or of 3 . 9 to 4 . 2 having number average molar masses of 1900 to 4100 g / mol , prepared from aliphatic isocyanate - functional compounds and oligomeric or polymeric polyols or any desired mixtures thereof , are very particularly preferred . the prepolymers described above preferably have residual contents of free monomeric isocyanate of less than 1 % by weight , particularly preferably less than 0 . 5 % by weight , very particularly preferably less than 0 . 2 % by weight . of course , component a ) may contain proportionately further isocyanates apart from the described prepolymers essential to the invention . aromatic , araliphatic , aliphatic and cycloaliphatic di -, tri - or polyisocyanates are suitable for this purpose . it is also possible to use mixtures of such di -, tri - or polyisocyanates . examples of suitable di -, tri - or polyisocyanates are butylene diisocyanate , hexamethylene diisocyanate ( hdi ), isophorone diisocyanate ( ipdi ), 1 , 8 - diisocyanato - 4 -( isocyanatomethyl ) octane , 2 , 2 , 4 - and / or 2 , 4 , 4 - trimethylhexamethylene diisocyanate ( tmdi ), the isomeric bis ( 4 , 4 ′- isocyanatocyclohexyl ) methanes and mixtures thereof having any desired isomer content , isocyanatomethyl - 1 , 8 - octane diisocyanate , 1 , 4 - cyclohexylene diisocyanate , the isomeric cyclohexanedimethylene diisocyanates , 1 , 4 - phenylene diisocyanate , 2 , 4 - and / or 2 , 6 - toluylene diisocyanate , 1 , 5 - naphthylene diisocyanate , 2 , 4 ′- or 4 , 4 ′- diphenylmethane diisocyanate , triphenylmethane 4 , 4 ′, 4 ″- triisocyanate or derivatives thereof having urethane , urea , carbodiimide , acyl urea , isocyanurate , allophanate , biuret , oxadiazinetrione , uretdione or iminooxadiazinedione structure and mixtures thereof . polyisocyanates based on oligomerized and / or derivatized diisocyanates , which were freed from excess diisocyanate by suitable processes , in particular those of hexamethylene diisocyanate , are preferred . the oligomeric isocyanurates , uretdiones and iminooxadiazinediones of hdi and mixtures thereof are particularly preferred . it is optionally also possible for the abovementioned isocyanate component a ) completely or proportionately to contain isocyanates , which are reacted completely or partly with blocking agents known to the person skilled in the art from coating technology . the following may be mentioned as an example of blocking agents : alcohols , lactams , oximes , malonic esters , alkyl acetoacetates , triazoles , phenols , imidazoles , pyrazoles and amines , such as , for example , butanone oxime , diisopropylamine , 1 , 2 , 4 - triazole , dimethyl - 1 , 2 , 4 - triazole , imidazole , diethyl malonate , ethyl acetoacetate , acetone oxime , 3 , 5 - dimethylpyrazole , ε - caprolactam , n - tert - butylbenzylamine , cyclopentanone carboxyethyl ester or any desired mixtures of these blocking agents . preferably exclusively the above - described prepolymers essential to the invention are used in a ). essentially all polyfunctional , isocyanate - reactive polyetherpolyols which preferably have on average at least 1 . 5 isocyanate - reactive groups per molecule can be used as component b ). isocyanate - reactive groups in the context of the present invention are preferably hydroxy compounds . suitable polyfunctional , isocyanate - reactive compounds of the abovementioned type are , for example , polyester -, polyether -, polycarbonate -, poly ( meth ) acrylate - and / or polyurethanepolyols , preferably hydroxy - functional polyetherpolyols . polyetherpolyols are optionally block polyadducts of cyclic ethers with oh - functional starter molecules . suitable cyclic ethers are , for example , styrene oxides , ethylene oxide , propylene oxide , tetrahydrofuran , butylene oxide , epichlorohydrin and any desired mixtures thereof . polyhydric alcohols having an oh functionality of 2 and primary or secondary amines and aminoalcohols can be used as starters . examples thereof are ethanediol , di -, tri -, tetraethylene glycol , 1 , 2 - propanediol , di -, tri - or tetrapropylene glycol , 1 , 3 - propanediol , 1 , 4 - butanediol , 1 , 3 - butanediol , 2 , 3 - butanediol , 1 , 5 - pentanediol , 1 , 6 - hexanediol , 2 , 2 - dimethyl - 1 , 3 - propanediol , 1 , 4 - dihydroxycyclohexane , 1 , 4 - dimethylolcyclohexane , 1 , 8 - octanediol , 1 , 10 - decanediol , 1 , 12 - dodecanediol , trimethylolpropane , glycerol or any desired mixtures thereof with one another . such polyetherpolyols preferably have number average molar masses of 500 to 8500 g / mol , particularly preferably of 1000 to 6500 g / mol and very particularly preferably of 1900 to 4500 g / mol . the oh functionality is preferably 1 . 5 to 4 . 0 , particularly preferably 1 . 8 to 3 . 0 . in addition , aliphatic , araliphatic or cycloaliphatic di -, tri - or polyfunctional alcohols having a low molecular weight , i . e . having molecular weights of less than 500 g / mol , and having short chains , i . e . containing 2 to 20 carbon atoms , are also present as constituents of component b ). the use of pure hydroxy - functional polyetherpolyols is preferred . preferred compounds of component b ) are polypropylene oxides ), poly ( ethylene oxides ) and combinations thereof in the form of random or block copolymers , and block copolymers of propylene oxide and / or ethylene oxide . the proportion of ethylene oxide , based on percent by weight of the total product , is preferably less than 55 %, particularly preferably either between 55 % and 45 % or less than 30 % and very particularly preferably less than 10 %. difunctional polyetherpolyols based on propylene oxide and ethylene oxide , having a proportion of ethylene oxide of less than 10 % by weight , based on the total mass of the parent polyether , and a number average molar mass between 2000 and 4200 g / mol , are used as very particularly preferred compounds of component b ). the components a ) and b ) are used in the preparation of the photopolymer formulation in an oh / nco ratio to one another of , typically , from 0 . 9 to 1 . 2 , preferably from 0 . 95 to 1 . 05 . in component c ), urethane acrylates and / or urethane methacrylates having at least one aromatic structural unit and a refractive index of greater than 1 . 50 at 405 nm are used . urethane ( meth ) acrylates are understood as meaning compounds having at least one acrylate or methacrylate group , which additionally have at least one urethane bond . it is known that such compounds can be obtained by reacting a hydroxy - functional ( meth ) acrylate with an isocyanate - functional compound . examples of isocyanates which can be used for this purpose are aromatic , araliphatic , aliphatic and cycloaliphatic di -, tri - or polyisocyanates . it is also possible to use mixtures of such di -, tri - or polyisocyanates . examples of suitable di -, tri - or polyisocyanates are butylene diisocyanate , hexamethylene diisocyanate ( hdi ), isophorone diisocyanate ( ipdi ), 1 , 8 - diisocyanato - 4 -( isocyanatomethyl ) octane , 2 , 2 , 4 - and / or 2 , 4 , 4 - trimethylhexamethylene diisocyanate , the isomeric bis ( 4 , 4 ′- isocyanatocyclohexyl ) methanes and mixtures thereof having any desired isomer content , isocyanatomethyl - 1 , 8 - octane diisocyanate , 1 , 4 - cyclohexylene diisocyanate , the isomeric cyclohexanedimethylene diisocyanates , 1 , 4 - phenylene diisocyanate , 2 , 4 - and / or 2 , 6 - toluylene diisocyanate , 1 , 5 - naphthylene diisocyanate , 2 , 4 ′- or 4 , 4 ′- diphenylmethane diisocyanate , 1 , 5 - naphthylene diisocyanate , triphenylmethane 4 , 4 ′, 4 ″- triisocyanate and tris ( p - isocyanatophenyl ) thiophosphate or derivatives thereof having a urethane , urea , carbodiimide , acylurea , isocyanurate , allophanate , biuret , oxadiazinetrione , uretdione or iminooxadiazinedione structure and mixtures thereof . aromatic di -, tri - or polyisocyanates are preferred . suitable hydroxy - functional acrylates or methacrylates for the preparation of urethane acrylates are , for example , compounds such as 2 - hydroxyethyl ( meth ) acrylate , polyethylene oxide mono ( meth ) acrylates , polypropylene oxide mono ( meth ) acrylates , polyalkylene oxide mono ( meth ) acrylates , polys - caprolactone ) mono ( meth ) acrylates , such as , for example , tone ® m100 ( dow , schwalbach , germany ), 2 - hydroxypropyl ( meth ) acrylate , 4 - hydroxybutyl ( meth ) acrylate , 3 - hydroxy - 2 , 2 - dimethylpropyl ( meth ) acrylate , hydroxypropyl ( meth ) acrylate , 2 - hydroxy - 3 - phenoxypropyl acrylate , the hydroxy - functional mono -, di - or tetraacrylates of polyhydric alcohols , such as trimethylolpropane , glycerol , pentaerythritol , dipentaerythritol , ethoxylated , propoxylated or alkoxylated trimethylolpropane , glycerol , pentaerythritol , dipentaerythritol or the industrial mixtures thereof . 2 - hydroxyethyl acrylate , hydroxypropyl acrylate , 4 - hydroxybutyl acrylate and poly ( c - caprolactone ) mono ( meth ) acrylates are preferred . in addition , are as isocyanate - reactive oligomeric or polymeric unsaturated compounds containing acrylate and / or methacrylate groups alone or in combination with the abovementioned monomeric compounds suitable . the epoxy ( meth ) acrylates known per se , containing hydroxyl groups and having oh contents of 20 to 300 mg koh / g or polyurethane ( meth ) acrylates containing hydroxyl groups and having oh contents of 20 to 300 mg koh / g or acrylated polyacrylates having oh contents of 20 to 300 mg koh / g or mixtures thereof with one another and mixtures with unsaturated polyesters containing hydroxyl groups and mixtures with polyester ( meth ) acrylates or mixtures of unsaturated polyesters containing hydroxyl groups with polyester ( meth ) acrylates can also be used . epoxy acrylates containing hydroxyl groups and having a defined hydroxy functionality are preferred . epoxy ( meth ) acrylates containing hydroxyl groups are based in particular on reaction products of acrylic acid and / or methacrylic acid with epoxides ( glycidyl compounds ) of monomeric , oligomeric or polymeric bisphenol a , bisphenol f , hexanediol and / or butanediol or the ethoxylated and / or propoxylated derivatives thereof . furthermore , epoxy acrylates having a defined functionality , as can be obtained from the known reaction of acrylic acid and / or methacrylic acid and glycidyl ( meth ) acrylate , are preferred . urethane ( meth ) acrylates of the abovementioned type , which have at least one aromatic structural unit , are preferably used . these urethane ( meth ) acrylates have refractive indices of , typically , greater than 1 . 50 , preferably greater than 1 . 55 and very particularly preferably greater than 1 . 58 at 405 nm . particularly preferred compounds to be used as component c ) are urethane acrylates and urethane methacrylates based on aromatic isocyanates and 2 - hydroxyethyl acrylate , hydroxypropyl acrylate , 4 - hydroxybutyl acrylate , polyethylene oxide mono ( meth ) acrylate , polypropylene oxide mono ( meth ) acrylate , polyalkylene oxide mono ( meth ) acrylate and poly ( s - caprolactone ) mono ( meth ) acrylates . in a very particularly preferred embodiment , the adducts of aromatic triisocyanates ( very particularly preferably tris ( 4 - phenylisocyanato ) thiophosphate or trimers of aromatic diisocyanates , such as toluene diisocyanate ) with hydroxyethyl acrylate , hydroxypropyl acrylate , 4 - hydroxybutyl acrylate are used as component c ). in a further very particularly preferred embodiment , adducts of 3 - thiomethylphenyl isocyanate with hydroxyethyl acrylate , hydroxypropyl acrylate , 4 - hydroxybutyl acrylate are used as component c . for example , inhibitors and antioxidants , as described , for example , in “ methoden der organischen chemie [ methods of organic chemistry ]” ( houben - weyl ), 4th edition , volume xiv / 1 , page 433 et seq ., georg thieme verlag , stuttgart 1961 , are suitable as compounds of the component d ). suitable classes of substances are , for example , phenols , such as , for example , 2 , 6 - di - tert - butyl - 4 - methylphenol , cresols , hydroquinones , benzyl alcohols , such as , for example , benzhydrol , optionally also quinones , such as , for example , 2 , 5 - di - tert - butylquinone , optionally also aromatic amines , such as diisopropylamine or phenothiazine . one or more photoinitiators are used as component e ). these are usually initiators which can be activated by actinic radiation and initiate polymerization of the corresponding polymerizable groups . photoinitiators are commercially distributed compounds known per se , a distinction being made between monomolecular ( type i ) and bimolecular ( type ii ) initiators . furthermore , depending on their chemical nature , these initiators are used for free radical , anionic ( or ), cationic ( or mixed ) forms for the abovementioned polymerizations . type ( ii ) initiators , such as the photoinitiator systems described in ep - a 0223587 and consisting of a mixture of an ammonium arylborate and one or more dyes , are used here . for example , tetrabutylammonium triphenylhexylborate , tetrabutylammonium tris -( 3 - fluorophenyl ) hexylborate and tetrabutylammonium tris -( 3 - chloro - 4 - methylphenyl ) hexylborate are suitable as ammonium arylborate . suitable dyes are , for example , new methylene blue , thionine , basic yellow , pinacynol chloride , rhodamin 6g , gallocyanine , ethyl violet , victoria blue r , celestine blue , quinaldine red , crystal violet , brilliant green , astrazon orange g , darrow red , pyronin y , basic red 29 , pyrillium i , cyanine and methylene blue , azure a ( cunningham et al ., radtech &# 39 ; 98 north america uv / eb conference proceedings , chicago , apr . 19 - 22 , 1998 ). preferred photo initiators e ) are mixtures of tetrabutylammonium tetrahexylborate , tetrabutylammonium triphenylhexylborate , tetrabutylammonium tris -( 3 - fluorophenyl ) hexylborate and tetrabutylammonium tris -( 3 - chloro - 4 - methylphenyl ) hexylborate ( component e1 )) with dyes , such as , for example , astrazon orange g , methylene blue , new methylene blue , azure a , pyrillium i , safranin o , cyanine , gallocyanine , brilliant green , crystal violet , ethyl violet and thionine ( component e2 )). the combination of one blue - sensitive , one green - sensitive and one red - sensitive dye ( e . g . astrazon orange g , ethyl violet and new methylene blue ) and one of the above mentioned borate salts is particularly preferred . optionally one or more catalysts may be used as compounds of component f ). these are catalysts for accelerating the urethane formation . known catalysts for this purpose are , for example , tin octanoate , zinc octanoate , dibutyltin dilaurate , dimethylbis [( 1 - oxoneodecyl ) oxy ] stannane , dimethyltin dicarboxylate , zirconium bis ( ethylhexanoate ), zirconium acetylacetonate or tertiary amines such as , for example , 1 , 4 - diazabicyclo [ 2 . 2 . 2 ] octane , diazabicyclononane , diazabicycloundecane , 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetramethylguanidine , 1 , 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 , 8 - hexahydro - 1 - methyl - 2h - pyrimido ( 1 , 2 - a ) pyrimidine . dibutyltin dilaurate , dimethylbis [( 1 - oxoneodecyl ) oxy ] stannane , dimethyltin dicarboxylate , 1 , 4 - diazabicyclo [ 2 . 2 . 2 ] octane , diazabicyclononane , diazabicycloundecane , 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetramethylguanidine , 1 , 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 , 8 - hexahydro - 1 - methyl - 2h - pyrimido ( 1 , 2 - a ) pyrimidine are preferred . for the printing application , it is important to use additives g ) in order to achieve a printable composition which also gives a satisfactory printed image . these may be , for example , additives customary in the area of coating technology , such as solvents , plasticizers , levelling agents , antifoams or adhesion promoters . preferably used plasticizers are liquids having good dissolving properties , low volatility and a high boiling point . surface active compounds , such as , for example , polydimethylsiloxanes , can be used as levelling agents . it may also be advantageous simultaneously to use a plurality of additives of one type . of course , it may also be advantageous to use a plurality of additives of a plurality of types . the photopolymer formulations according to the invention have , in component a ), preferably at least 10 % by weight , particularly preferably at least 15 % by weight and very particularly preferably at least 20 % by weight , based on the photopolymer formulations , of the unsaturated urethanes c ) essential to the invention , as writing monomers . the proportion of these writing monomers c ), based on the total formulation , is , however , preferably not more than 70 % by weight , particularly preferably not more than 50 % by weight . in addition to establishing a suitable viscosity adapted to the chosen printing process , the surface tension of the photopolymer formulation should also be adapted for achieving a good printed image , in order to ensure the levelling and the stability of the printed image . this is achieved , for example , by the addition of suitable additives for separation , defoaming or levelling . these can be checked in series experiments by experiments familiar to the person skilled in the art using polyester - modified polydimethylsiloxanes , fluorine - modified polymers , foam - destroying polysiloxanes , hydrophobic solids and emulsifiers , polyether - modified polymethylalkylsiloxane or nonionic polyacrylate copolymers and can be optimized in line with the printing press . in each case 0 . 001 to 0 . 2 % by weight of the three dyes e2 ), which are tailored in the absorption spectrum to the red , green and blue laser wavelengths preferably , the polyurethane compositions according to the invention comprise 15 to 30 % by weight of the component a ) in each case 0 . 01 to 0 . 2 % by weight of the three dyes e2 ), which are tailored in the absorption spectrum to the red , green and blue laser wavelengths the polyurethane compositions according to the invention particularly preferably comprise 17 to 30 % by weight of the component a ) in each case 0 . 03 to 0 . 1 % by weight of the three dyes e2 ), which are tailored in the absorption spectrum to the red , green and blue laser wavelengths the present invention furthermore relates to the article which is obtained by printing onto a transparent substrate as support layer ( i ) with the prepolymer - based polyurethane formulation essential to the invention . preferred materials or material composites of the support layer ( i ) are based on polycarbonate ( pc ), polyethylene terephthalate ( pet ), polybutylene terephthalate , polyethylene , polypropylene , cellulose acetate , cellulose hydrate , cellulose nitrate , cycloolefin polymers , polystyrene , polyepoxides , polysulfone , cellulose triacetate ( cta ), polyamide , polymethyl methacrylate , polyvinyl chloride , polyvinyl butyral or polydicyclopentadiene or mixtures thereof . in addition , material composites , such as film laminates or coextrudates , can be used as support film ( i ). examples of material composites are duplex and triplex films having a composition according to one of the schemes a / b , a / b / a or a / b / c , such as pc / pet , pet / pc / pet and pc / tpu ( tpu = thermoplastic polyurethane ). pc and pet are particularly preferably used as support film ( i ). transparent supports ( i ) which are optically clear , i . e . not hazy , are preferred . the haze is measureable via the haze value , which is less than 3 . 5 %, preferably less than 1 %, particularly preferably less than 0 . 3 %. the haze value describes the fraction of transmitted light which is scattered in a forward direction by the sample exposed to light . thus , it is a measure of the opacity or haze of transparent materials and quantifies material defects , particles , inhomogeneities or crystalline phase boundaries in the material or its surface which adversely affect the transparency . the method for measuring the haze is described in the standard astm d 1003 . the support ( i ) preferably has a birefringence which is not too high , i . e . typically a mean optical retardation of less than 1000 nm , preferably of less than 700 nm , particularly preferably of less than 300 nm . the retardation r is the mathematical product of birefringence δn and the thickness of the support d . the automatic and objective measurement of the retardation is effected using an imaging polarimeter , for example from ilis gmbh , stainmatic ® m3 / m model . the retardation is measured in perpendicular incidence . the retardation values stated for the support ( i ) are lateral mean values . the support ( i ), including possible coatings on one or both sides , typically has a thickness of 5 to 2000 μm , preferably 8 to 300 μm , particularly preferably 30 to 200 μm and in particular 125 to 175 μm or 30 to 45 μm . the photopolymer layers ( ii ) applied by printing preferably have a total layer thickness , based on all photopolymer layers applied in layer ( ii ), of not more than 200 μm , particularly preferably 3 to 100 μm , very particularly preferably 15 to 60 μm . in addition to the constituents ( i ) and ( ii ), the film composite may have one or more covering layers ( iii ) on the photopolymer layer ( ii ) in order to protect it from dirt and environmental influences . plastics films or film composite systems , but also clear coats , can be used for this purpose . the film materials analogous to the materials used in the support layer are preferably used as covering layers ( iii ), said film materials having a thickness of , typically , 5 to 200 μm , preferably 8 to 125 μm , particularly preferably 20 to 50 μm . covering layers ( iii ) having as smooth a surface as possible are preferred . the roughness determined according to din en iso 4288 “ geometrical product specifications ( gps )— surface texture . . . ”, test condition r3z front and back , is used as a measure . preferred roughnesses are in the range of less than or equal to 2 μm , preferably less than or equal to 0 . 5 μm . pe or pet films having a thickness of 20 to 60 μm are preferably used as covering layers ( iii ); a polyethylene film of 40 μm thickness is particularly preferably used . further protective layers , for example a lower lamination of the support film ( i ), may be used . the printing process according to the invention for the production of films and coatings and the recording of visual holograms is preferably carried out in such a way that the synthesis components of the polyurethane compositions according to the invention , with the exception of component a ) are homogeneously mixed with one another , and component a ) is admixed only immediately before the application to the substrate or in the mould . all pump systems which are known to the person skilled in the art and in particular transport independently of counter pressure , with little pulsation and precisely are suitable for transport and the necessary accuracy for the metering . accordingly , a diaphragm pump , gear pumps , eccentric screw pumps ( mohno pumps ), peristaltic pumps and piston pumps are preferred . gear pumps and eccentric screw pumps ( mohno pumps ) are particularly preferred . preferred metered amounts are in the range from 2 ml / min to 1000 ml / min , particularly preferably in the range from 2 ml / min to 100 ml / min all methods and apparatuses known per se to the person skilled in the art from mixing technology , such as , for example stirred tanks or both dynamic and static mixers , can be used for mixing . however , apparatuses without dead spaces or with only small dead spaces are preferred . furthermore , methods in which the mixing is effected within a very short time and with very vigorous mixing of the two components to be mixed are preferred . in particular , dynamic mixers , especially those in which the components come into contact with one another only in the mixer , are suitable for this purpose . the temperatures during this procedure are 0 to 100 ° c ., preferably 10 to 80 ° c ., particularly preferably 20 to 60 ° c . if necessary , devolatilization of the individual components or the total mixture under reduced pressure of , for example , 1 mbar can also be carried out . devolatilization , in particular after addition of the component a ), is preferred in order to prevent bubble formation by residual gases in the media obtainable . before admixing of the component a ), the mixtures can be stored as a storage - stable intermediate product , optionally over several months . after the admixing of the component a ) of the polyurethane compositions according to the invention , a clear , liquid formulation is obtained which , depending on composition , cures at room temperature within a few seconds to a few hours . the ratio and the type and reactivity of the synthesis components of the polyurethane compositions is preferably adjusted so that the curing after admixing of the component a ) occurs within minutes to one hour at room temperature . in a preferred embodiment , the curing is accelerated by heating the formulation after the admixing to temperatures between 30 and 180 ° c ., preferably 40 to 120 ° c ., particularly preferably 50 to 100 ° c . the abovementioned adjustment with regard to the curing behaviour is easily possible for a person skilled in the art in the form of routine experiments within the abovementioned quantity range of the components and the synthesis components available in each case for choice , and in particular the preferred synthesis components . the polyurethane compositions according to the invention have viscosities at 25 ° c . of , typically , 10 to 100 , 000 mpa · s , preferably 100 to 20 , 000 mpa · s , particularly preferably 200 to 10 , 000 mpa · s , especially preferably 500 to 5000 mpa · s , immediately after complete mixing of all the components , so that they have very good processing properties even in solvent - free form . in solution with suitable solvents , viscosities at 25 ° c . of below 10 , 000 mpa · s , preferably below 2000 mpa · s , particularly preferably below 500 mpa · s , can be established . polyurethane compositions of the abovementioned type which cure with a catalyst content of 0 . 004 % by weight to 0 . 1 % by weight at 80 ° c . in less than 6 minutes have proved to be advantageous ; concentrations between 0 . 01 % by weight and 0 . 08 % by weight are preferred and concentrations between 0 . 03 % by weight and 0 . 06 % by weight are particularly preferred . all respective customary printing processes known to the person skilled in the art , such as , in particular , knife coating , casting , printing , screen printing , spraying or inkjet printing , are suitable for application to a substrate . preferred application methods are screen printing and inkjet printing . in general , printing processes are understood as meaning procedures and working methods for duplicating two - dimensional originals . in older printing processes , the printing ink is transferred from an original by a printing press onto the material on which printing is to be effected ; newer printing processes use digital printing systems for this purpose . the first - mentioned printing processes are divided into printing plate production and print run in the production phases . depending on the peculiarity of the printing plate , a distinction is made between different printing processes . in relief printing , all printing parts are raised in a plane , are inked and release the printing ink to the print medium . in letterpress printing , the printing plate consists of letters and / or machine composition lines , stereotypes and electrotypes ; in indirect relief printing ( letterset printing ), the printing plate consists of a generally etched , curved metal plate ( wrap - around plate ); in flexographic printing ( flexography , formerly aniline printing , aniline rubber - plate printing , rubber - plate printing ), the printing plate consists of flexible rubber or plastic . in planographic printing , printing and nonprinting parts of the printing plate are virtually in a plane . the printing plate is chemically treated so that it accepts ink only in the printing parts . in gravure printing , low - viscosity ink is introduced into the printing wells , and the surface of the printing plate is cleaned again by a doctor blade , whereupon the impression is produced ( rotogravure [ intaglio printing ], intaglio line printing , siderography , etc .). in screen printing , the printing ink is pressed through a template ( stretched screen , for example comprising man made silk , on a printing frame ) by means of a squeegee onto the print medium . in pad printing or indirect gravure printing , the original is transferred with the aid of a pad ( comprising porous silicone rubber ) from one surface ( generally a gravure printing plate ) onto another , for example cups , ballpoint pens , and can therefore also be applied into the depression of a deformed print medium . in stamping , the individual printing plates are pressed onto the print medium . in frottage , the marble , granite or limestone plate engraved with text serves as a block . a moist paper was placed over this lithographic printing plate and then pressed with cloth into the wells of the engraved texts , after which the paper was brushed with a tusche , the wells remaining white and legible , and a negative copy forming . in pigmentography , in contrast to pigment printing , soft - ground etching and screen printing processes are to be included at the end as an independent graphic arts process . in the printing technique brought into being by a1 bernstein in the usa in the 70s as trace print , the individual printing plates are cut and pierced in the positive - negative process , it being possible to print very fine lines and dots , in contrast to pochoir . in the printing process , printing ink , coloured pigments , are brushed through the printing screen by hand and are then fixed . bubble - jet printers produce tiny ink drops with the aid of a heating element which heats the water in the ink . this results in the explosive formation of a tiny vapour bubble , which , through its pressure , presses an ink drop out of the nozzle . two systems are used here : lexmark and hp in the deskjet series employs flat nozzle elements which substantially consist of two plates . the plate facing the paper contains a tiny nozzle bore , and the vapour bubble forms opposite this bore ( sideshooter ). the process is very simple to produce and is therefore economical but has the disadvantage of a limited lifetime of the printing heads . exchangeable printing heads are used in all of them . in its printers , canon operates with a bubble - jet technique in which the nozzles are present at right angles to the heating elements ( edgeshooter ). the process is very similar to the piezo process , except that the expulsion pressure is generated not by a piezoelectric element but by a vapour bubble . the individual heating element operates at a frequency up to 10 khz . piezo printers utilize the piezoelectric effect in piezoelectric ceramic elements to deform under electrical voltage in order to press printing ink through a fine nozzle . the ink forms drops , the drop volume of which can be controlled via the magnitude of the applied electrical pulse . the operating frequency of a piezo crystal ranges up to 23 khz . in valve printers , individual valves which open when a drop is to leave the nozzle are mounted on the nozzles . the present invention furthermore relates to the use of the imprinted articles according to the invention for recording visual holograms , for the production of optical elements , images and displays and a method for recording holograms using the polyurethane compositions according to the invention , and the media or holographic films obtainable therefrom . with the polyurethane compositions according to the invention , holograms for optical applications in the entire visible range and in the near uv range ( 300 - 800 nm ) can be produced by appropriate exposure processes . visual holograms comprise all holograms which can be recorded by methods known to the person skilled in the art , including , inter alia , in - line ( gabor ) holograms , off - axis holograms , full - aperture transfer holograms , white light transmission holograms (“ rainbow holograms ”), denisyuk holograms , off - axis reflection holograms , edge - lit holograms and holographic stereograms ; reflection holograms , denisyuk holograms , transmission holograms are preferred . optical elements , such as lenses , mirrors , deflecting mirrors , filters , diffusion screens , diffraction elements , light conductors , waveguides , projection screens and / or masks are preferred . frequently , these optical elements show a frequency selectivity depending on how the holograms were exposed and which dimensions the hologram has . in addition , holographic images or displays , such as , for example , for personal portraits , biometric representations in security documents , or generally of images or image structures for advertising , security labels , trade mark protection , trade mark branding , labels , design elements , decorations , illustrations , reward cards , images and the like , and images which can represent digital data , inter alia also in combination with the products described above , can also be produced by means of the polyurethane compositions according to the invention . holographic images may give the impression of a three - dimensional image , but they can also represent image sequences , short films or a number of different objects , depending on the angle from which they are illuminated , with which light source ( including moving ones ) they are illuminated , etc . owing to this variety of design possibilities , holograms , in particular volume holograms , constitute an attractive technical solution for the abovementioned application . desmodur ® xp 2599 is an experimental product of bayer materialscience ag , leverkusen , germany , full allophanate of hexane diisocyanate on acclaim 4200 , nco content : 5 . 6 - 6 . 4 % polyol 1 ( acclaim ® 4200 ) is a polypropylene oxide having a number average molar mass of 4000 g / mol from bayer materialscience ag , leverkusen , germany . urethane acrylate 1 is an experimental product from bayer materialscience ag , leverkusen , germany , urethane acrylate based on 2 - hydroxyethyl acrylate and tris ( p - isocyanatophenyl ) thiophosphate . fomrez ® ul28 : urethanization catalyst , dimethylbis [( 1 - oxoneodecyl ) oxy ] stannane , commercial product of momentive performance chemicals , wilton , conn ., usa ( used as 10 % strength solution in n - ethylpyrrolidone ). cgi 909 is an experimental product marketed in 2009 by ciba inc ., basel , switzerland . new methylene blue ( zinc - free ): dye from sigma - aldrich chemie gmbh , steinheim , germany . ethyl violet : dye from mp biomedicals llc , solon , ohio , usa . byk 310 : silicone - based surface additive from byk - chemie gmbh , wesel , germany ( solution about 25 % strength in xylene ), number average molar mass about 2200 g / mol . measurement of the diffraction efficiency de and refractive index contrast δn : the media according to the invention which were produced in the experimental section and comparative media were tested with regard to their holographic properties by means of a measuring arrangement according to fig1 : the laminating film is peeled off the film composite , and the photopolymer material is then laminated with glass so that the substrate film faces outwards . the beam of an he — ne laser ( emission wavelength 633 nm ) was converted with the aid of the spatial filter ( sf ) and together with the collimation lens ( cl ) into a parallel homogenous beam . the final cross sections of the signal and reference beam are established by the iris diaphragms ( i ). the diameter of the iris diaphragm opening is 4 mm the polarization - dependent beam splitters ( pbs ) split the laser beam into two coherent equally polarized beams . via the λ / 2 plates , the power of the reference beam was adjusted to 0 . 5 mw and the power of the signal beam to 0 . 65 mw . the powers were determined using the semiconductor detectors ( d ) with sample removed . the angle of incidence ( a ) of the reference beam is 21 . 8 ° and the angle of incidence ( β ) of the signal beam is 41 . 8 °. at the location of the sample ( medium ), the interference field of the two overlapping beams produced a grating of light and dark strips which are perpendicular to the angle bisectors of the two beams incident on the sample ( reflection hologram ). the strip spacing in the medium is ˜ 225 nm ( refractive index of the medium assumed to be ˜ 1 . 49 ). both shutters ( s ) are opened for the exposure time t . thereafter , with shutters ( s ) closed , the medium was allowed a time of 5 minutes for diffusion of the still unpolymerized writing monomers . the holograms written were now read in the following manner . the shutter of the signal beam remained closed . the shutter of the reference beam was opened . the iris diaphragm of the reference beam was closed to a diameter of & lt ; 1 mm . this ensured that the beam was always completely in the previously written hologram for all angles ( ω ) of rotation of the medium . the turntable , under computer control , covered the angle range from ω = 0 ° to ω = 20 ° with an angle step width of 0 . 05 °. at each angle approached , the powers of the beam transmitted in the zeroth order were measured by means of the corresponding detector d and the powers of the beam diffracted in the first order were measured by means of the detector d . the diffraction efficiency η was obtained at each angle ω approached as the quotient of : p d is the power in the detector of the diffracted beam and p t is the power in the detector of the transmitted beam . by means of the method described above , the bragg curve ( it describes the diffraction efficiency η as a function of the angle ω of rotation of the written hologram ) was measured and was stored in a computer . in addition , the intensity transmitted in the zeroth order was also plotted against the angle ω of rotation and stored in a computer . the maximum diffraction efficiency ( de = η max ) of the hologram , i . e . its peak value , was determined . it may have been necessary for this purpose to change the position of the detector of the diffracted beam in order to determine this maximum value . the refractive index contrast δn and the thickness d of the photopolymer layer were now determined by means of the coupled wave theory ( cf . h . kogelnik , the bell system technical journal , volume 48 , november 1969 , number 9 page 2909 - page 2947 ) from the measured bragg curve and the variation of the transmitted intensity as a function of angle . the method is described below : according to kogelnik , the following is true for the bragg curve η /( ω ) of a reflection hologram : η = 1 1 + 1 - ( χ / φ ) 2 sinh 2 ( φ 2 - χ 2 ) φ is the grating thickness , χ is the detuning parameter and ψ is the angle of tilt of the refractive index grating which was written . α ′ and β ′ correspond to the angles of α and β during writing of the hologram , but in the medium . δθ is the angle detuning measured in the medium , i . e . the deviation from the angle α ′. δω is the angle detuning measured outside the medium , i . e . the deviation from the angle α . n is the average refractive index of the photopolymer and was set at 1 . 504 . the maximum diffraction efficiency ( de = η max ) is then obtained for χ = 0 , i . e . δω = 0 , as : the measured data of the diffraction efficiency , the theoretical bragg curve and the transmitted intensity are as shown in fig2 plotted against the centred angle rotation ω - α - shift . since , owing to geometric shrinkage and the change in the average refractive index during photopolymerization , the angle at which de is measured differs from α , the x axis is centred around this shift . the shift is typically 0 ° to 2 °. since de is known , the shape of the theoretical bragg curve according to kogelnik is determined only by the thickness d of the photopolymer layer . an is subsequently corrected via de for a given thickness d so that measurement and theory of de always agree . d is now adapted until the angle positions of the first secondary minima of the theoretical bragg curve agree with the angle positions of the first secondary maxima of the transmitted intensity and additionally the full width at half maximum ( fwhm ) for the theoretical bragg curve and the transmitted intensity agree . since the direction in which a reflection hologram concomitantly rotates on reconstruction by means of an ω scan , but the detector for the diffracted light can detect only a finite angle range , the bragg curve of broad holograms ( small d ) is not completely detected in an ω - scan , but only the central region ( with suitable detector positioning ). that shape of the transmitted intensity which is complementary to the bragg curve is therefore additionally used for adapting the layer thickness d . for a formulation , this procedure was possibly repeated several times with different exposure times t on different media in order to determine the average energy dose of the incident laser beam at which de reaches the saturation value during writing of the hologram . the average energy dose e is obtained as follows : the powers of the part - beams were adapted so that the same power density is achieved in the medium at the angles α and β used . 0 . 1 g of 2 , 6 - di - tert - butyl - 4 - methylphenol , 0 . 05 g dibutyltin dilaurate ( desmorapid z , bayer materialscience ag , leverkusen , germany ) and 213 . 07 g of a 27 % strength solution of tris ( p - isocyanatophenyl ) thiophosphate in ethyl acetate ( desmodur ® rfe , product of bayer materialscience ag , leverkusen , germany ) were initially introduced into a 500 ml round - bottomed flask and heated to 60 ° c . thereafter , 42 . 37 g of 2 - hydroxyethyl acrylate were added dropwise and the mixture was further kept at 60 ° c . until the isocyanate content had fallen below 0 . 1 %. thereafter , cooling was effected and the ethyl acetate was completely removed in vacuo . the product was obtained as a semicrystalline solid . for the production of the holographic media , the component c , the component d ( which may already have been predissolved in the component c ) and optionally the components g and f are dissolved in the component b , optionally at 60 ° c ., and thoroughly mixed . thereafter , the component e , in pure form or in dilute solution in nep , is weighed in in the dark or with suitable illumination and mixing is effected again . optionally , it is heated for not more than 10 minutes in a drying oven to 60 ° c . the mixture obtained can be devolatilized with stirring at & lt ; 10 mbar . the photopolymer formulation thus obtained is applied to the prepared screen for screen printing and then processed in a semiautomatic or fully automatic operation . for this purpose , the printing parameters , such as , for example , the squeegee speed , can be adapted to the printed image . the formulation is pressed through the template ( mesh ) by means of the squeegee onto the substrate to be printed on . thereafter , the screen is filled again by means of the flood squeegee and a new cycle is started . after the printing , the substrate is removed from the screen printing press and is dried . this can be carried out in the downstream tunnel drier or separately in a rack trolley or oven . the imprinted substrates are dried at about 80 ° c . and then covered with one of the abovementioned covering layers and packed in a light - tight packaging . the thickness d of the photopolymer layer is obtained from the coating parameters of the corresponding coating device which are known to the person skilled in the art . the following examples are mentioned for illustrating the method according to the invention but are not intended to be understood as being limiting . unless noted otherwise , all stated percentages of the photopolymers are based on percent by weight . 13 . 75 g of urethane acrylate 1 , then 0 . 028 g of fomrez ® ul 28 and 2 . 75 g of byk 310 and finally a solution of 0 . 825 g of cgi 909 , 0 . 028 g of new methylene blue , 0 . 028 g of ethyl violet and 0 . 028 g of astrazon orange g in 1 . 95 g of n - ethylpyrilidone were added stepwise in the dark to 26 . 1 g of polyol 1 and mixed so that a clear solution was obtained . thereafter , 9 . 45 g of desmodur ® xp 2599 were added at 30 ° c . and mixing was effected again . the liquid material obtained was then printed onto 175 μm thick polycarbonate film , dried for 10 minutes at 80 ° c . and laminated with a pe film . the above printable formulation was pressed through a screen comprising the fabric pes 80 / 55 pw ( vs - monoprint polyester ) on a semiautomatic screen printing press at - 80 p from esc . the open screen area in the case of this fabric is about 31 %. in the experiments , it was found that , in this set - up , a slower squeegee speed has produced a better printed image . however this must be viewed in isolation since this is dependent in each case on the entire interplay of the individual components ( squeegee rubber , squeegee angle , fabric type , etc .). it was also possible to produce functional patterns with a medium / faster squeegee speed with the at - 80 p . the following measured values for δn were obtained at the dose e : the values found for δn and the required dose show that the photopolymers according to the invention are very suitable as holographic media in the context of the above description . particularly good holographic media can be obtained if low squeegee speeds are set on a screen printing press . | 8 |
the present invention is based on the isolation of a mucin having a high molecular weight of 425 , 000 d from the sputum of a patient with cystic fibrosis . this protein may be responsible for the increased viscosity of the sputum since increasing its concentration results in a rise in viscosity . also , as in the case of the crude sputum , the viscosity of the purified mucin can be decreased by treatment with sulfhydryl reducing agents . similar results were also obtained with sputum obtained from patients suffering from pneumuccocal pneumonia , chronic bronchitis and the like . the biochemical effect of the reducing agents on sputum mucin viscosity is to split the molecule into a component which retains most of the carbohydrate and at least two small peptides having molecular weights of 65 , 000 daltons and 27 , 000 daltons . this structural change leads to a dramatic alteration of the rheological properties of the molecule . this alteration of the rheological properties of the molecule would allow the body to rid itself of the mucus secretions via the normal body processes . although we did find the use of sulfhydryl compounds to be very effective in reducing the mucus viscosity , the administration of sulfhydryl compounds to mammals has not proven to be a satisfactory method for treating mucin with sulfhydryl compounds to be administered either intravenously or orally . in particular , fairly large doses of the sulfhydryl compound must be given to compensate for the reaction of the free thiol with plasma and gastrointestinal proteins while enroute to the lungs and other organs where mucus impaction may have occurred . at the dosages which must be given , the sulfhydryl compounds can lead to toxic side effects . we have now discovered the problem which we encountered with the administration of sulfhydryl compounds to reduce mucin viscosity may be overcome by administering the compounds which are converted to sulfhydryl groups in vivo . suitable compounds include pharmaceutically acceptable thiosulfates , thiophosphates , disulfides and the like . the compounds which are suitable for use in the present invention are all characterized by containing a blocked sulfhydryl group wherein the blocking agent is removed in vivo to form a sulfhydryl group . suitable compounds include aminoalkylthiosulfuric acids , aminoalkylphosphorothioates , thiosulfatoalkylamines , phenalkylaminoalkylthiosulfuric acids , hydroxyalkylaminoalkylthiosulfuric acids , hydroxyaminoalkylphosphorothioates , alkoxyalkylaminoalkylthiosulfuric acids , cycloalkyloxyaminoalkylthiosulfuric acids , phenoxyalkylaminoalkylthiosulfuric acids , cycloalkylaminoalkylthiosulfuric acids , cycloalkylalkylaminoalkylphosphorothioates , cycloalkylalkylaminoalkyldisulfides , phenoxyalkylaminoethyldisulfides , hydroxyalkylaminoalkyldisulfides , alkylamidiniumthiosulfates , acetamidine derivatives containing a blocked sulfhydryl group , arylalkylamidiniumthiosulfates , aminoalkylaminoalkylphosphorothioates , quinolyloxyalkylaminoalkylthiosulfuric acids , pyridyloxyalkylaminoalkylthiosulfuric acids , phenoxy - and phenylthioalkylamidiniumthiosulfates , cycloalkylamidiniumthiosulfates , and the like . in general , any compound containing a blocked sulfhydryl group which is pharmaceutically acceptable may be employed in the present invention provided its blocked sulfhydryl group is converted to the free sulfhydryl group in vivo . the following compounds are preferred for use in the present invention : 6 . ch 3 ( ch 2 ) 9 nhch 2 ch 2 sso 3 h 7 . ch 3 ( ch 2 ) 9 nhch 2 ch 2 spo 3 h 2 of these compounds , ( 11 ) is particularly preferred . this compound has been designated wr 2721 in toxological tests conducted at the walter reed army medical center . this compound has been proposed as a novel antiradiation drug and is the subject of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 892 , 824 . in the treatment of the present invention , the compound containing the blocked sulfhydryl group is administered to the patient at a dosage rate sufficient to reduce the mucin viscosity . dosage rates ranging from 1 mg / kg / day to an excess of 100 mg / kg / day have proven satisfactory . dosage rates in the order of from 5 to 50 mg / kg / day are preferably employed . a particularly preferred dosage rate involves the administration of 5 mg / kg four times a day . the compound may be administered either orally or intravenously in conjunction with a suitable pharmaceutical carrier . intravenous administration may involve the use of physiological saline solutions which may or may not contain a sodium carboxy methyl cellulose and if desired tween 80 ®. obviously , simple physiological saline solutions may be employed ; water alone can be used , or the like . in the preferred method the compound is administered orally with a suitable solid carrier . if desired , adjuvants such as buffers and the like may be employed . it may be embodied in suitable tablet form , such as a wr 2721 containing tablet provided with an enteric coating , mr 2721 being present in major or minor amount . it may also be administered in a suitable capsule , of gelatin or the like . u . s . pat . no . 3 , 892 , 824 reports on the toxicity of the compounds falling within formula i above . animal studies conducted on these compounds revealed ld 50 &# 39 ; s ranging from 450 mg / kg up to 1 , 300 mg / kg . for the compound identified as wr 2721 no toxicity problems were encountered at regular doses of up to 100 mg / kg / day in these toxological tests . in tests on wr 2721 for its possible side effects , dosages were given to human volunteers at rates of up to 30 mg / kg / day without any adverse effects being noted . for this reason compound wr 2721 is the preferred compound in view of the extensive pharmaceutical tests in connection with its use as an antiradiation drug which have been performed to date . having generally described this invention , a further understanding can be obtained by reference to certain specific examples which are provided herein for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to be limiting unless otherwise specified . mdp was prepared by boiling wr 2721 in 1 m hcl under nitrogen for five minutes . the solution was neutralized with sodium bicarbonate . sputa were obtained by postural drainage from a 7 - year old male patient with a confirmed diagnosis of cystic fibrosis . samples were collected in jars containing 0 . 5 ml of injectable gentamycin sulfate . upon receipt the samples were added to 0 . 1 ml of a 1 m sodium azide solution and processed within 24 hours of collection . a 10 - ml aliquot of whole cystic fibrosis sputum was applied to a column ( 4 × 70 cm ) of biogel a5m ( biorad corporation , richmond , ca ) equilibrated with 0 . 01 m phosphate buffer ( ph 7 . 0 ) containing 0 . 1 m nacl and 1 mm sodium azide and eluted with the same buffer . the material appearing in the void volume was pooled and designated component i . after isolation on biogel a5m , component i was passed successively through 0 . 8 , 0 . 5 and 0 . 22μ filters ( millipore corporation , bedford , ma ) to eliminate any possible bacterial contamination . component i was concentrated to 5 ml by volume dialysis in tubing of 5 / 8 &# 34 ; diameter ( sga scientific , bloomfield , nj ) and added to a final concentration of 4 % sds . this sample was washed through an amicon xm100a filter ( amicon , lexington , ma ) under n 2 pressure with 500 ml of 0 . 01 m phosphate buffer ( ph 7 . 0 ) containing 0 . 1 m nacl and 4 % sds . the material retained by the filter was designated component ia and was reconcentrated by vacuum dialysis for use in subsequent experiments . sds - polyacrylamide gradient gel electrophoresis ( 5 - 16 % acrylamide ) was performed by the method of maizel , j . v . ( 1971 ) methods virol . 5 : 179 - 246 . gels were stained with either coomassie blue ; fairbanks , g ., t . l . steck , d . f . h . wallach , ( 1971 ) biochem . 10 : 2606 - 2617 ; or periodic acid - schiff reagent ; zacharias , r . j ., t . e . zell , j . h . morrison , j . j . woodlock , ( 1969 ) anal . biochem . 31 : 148 - 152 . sds - polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was performed on component ia . the major constituent of component ia has an apparent molecular weight of 425 kd . a number of other constituents , one of which ( 60 kd ) is the main contaminant , remain after the amicon - sds diafiltration . efforts to remove these contaminants have not been successful . following treatment of component ia with reducing agents gel electrophoresis revealed several new coomassie blue staining bands at 65 kd ( 65 , 000 daltons ) and 27 kd . these peptides were apparently split from the large molecular weight mucin ( 425 kd ) since pas staining of another gel revealed a pas positive band in the same area as the original mucin . the viscosity of crude sputum specimens before and after the addition of sulfhydryl agents was measured in a 0 . 2 ml pipette by determining the time required for 0 . 08 ml to run out . purified mucin samples were concentrated by vacuum dialysis and dialyzed against 0 . 01 m phosphate buffer ( ph 7 . 0 ) for several days . their viscosity was then measured using a beckman low - shear rotary viscometer ( model 250010 ). the viscosity of fibrinogen solutions of various concentrations was similarly measured . all viscometric studies were performed at room temperature . changes in viscosity with the addition of 5 mm dte were measured by adding 50 λ of a 500 mm aqueous solution of dte to 5 ml of sample . the relationship of protein concentration to viscosity is shown in fig1 for components i , ia and fibrinogen , a large molecular weight glycoprotein . the effect of 5 mm dte on whole sputum , component i and component ia is shown in fig2 . both purified mucin fractions behave like sputum with respect to viscosity changes upon addition of dte . changes in sputum viscosity upon the addition of various agents are shown in table i . of the sulfhydryl compounds tested , dte was the most efficacious in vitro . the oxidized forms of glutathione and lipoic acid were very much less active than their corresponding thiols , oxidized lipoic acid being totally ineffective in reducing sputum viscosity in vitro . since dte might be acting as a metal chelator , and as a result of early reports the high concentration of edta could reduce sputum viscosity , nonsulfhydryl chelators were assayed in this system and found to be without effect . addition of 5 mm mdp to cystic fibrosis sputum reduced the viscosity by 70 % in 15 minutes as shown in fig3 . the parent thiophosphate ( wr 2721 ) had no effect on sputum viscosity . table i______________________________________short - term viscosity changes ofwhole cystic fibrosis sputum1 mm agent minimum rel . timeadded viscosity * ( min . ) ______________________________________dte 21 % 10antabuse 50 % 10dimercaptosuccinate 50 % 15gsh 33 % 40gssg 67 % 15lipoate 100 % 60dihydrolipoate 36 % 10d - penicillamine 32 % 20wr 2721 30 % 15edta 100 % 60egta 100 % 60h . sub . 2 o . sub . 2 100 % 60______________________________________ * expressed as % of control viscosity . tissue concentrations of mdp were determined at various times after intraperitoneal and oral administration of wr 2721 to mice . lung and liver homogenates obtained by 5 minutes of hand douncing in 1 ml saline , or 1 mm thick tissue slices , were incubated with 1 mg / ml of wr 2721 at 37 ° c . aliquots were taken at various times for assessment of conversion to mdp . blood was obtained by retro - orbital puncture , the mice sacrificed with co 2 , and the lungs removed . the lung and liver homogenates ( 0 . 9 % in saline w / v ) and blood samples were treated with trichloroacetic acid to a final concentration of 10 %, and allowed to stand at 4 ° c . for ten minutes . samples were centrifuged at 3000 rpm for ten minutes and the supernatant neutralized with sodium bicarbonate . these neutralized supernatants were assayed for the presence of sulfhydryl groups by the method of ellman et al , ( 1959 ) arch . biochem . biophys . 82 : 70 - 77 . wr 2721 appears in the blood of mice as the free thiol after both oral and i . p . administration . the kinetics of appearance of mdp in the lungs of mice are similar to those for blood after oral ( not shown ) and i . p . administration . oral administration of wr 2721 leads to a rapid appearance of mdp in the blood and lungs , whereas parenteral administration is followed by a rise in mdp concentration 24 hours later . homogenates of mouse lung , liver and small intestine incubated with 1 mg / ml of wr 2721 converted all of the compound to mdp within 30 minutes ; thus , demonstrating in vivo conversion of wr 2721 to its active free thiol derivative , for the reduction of mucin viscosity . the administration of compounds containing protected sulfhydryl groups may be used in the treatment of any condition wherein excessive mucin viscosity is present . such conditions include cystic fibrosis , pneumonia , bronchitis , the common cold , mucin impaction of gastrointestinal tract , pancreas , liver , and the like . | 0 |
fig1 shows a schematic circuit diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a control device 1 according to the invention with a communications network 4 which , as well as controlling automatic manufacturing and monitoring processes , is also designed for controlling safety - critical processes in an automatic plant . a number of network subscribers 5 , 12 - 18 are connected to the communication master 2 via the communications network 4 . in a development of the invention , communication of the network subscribers 5 , 12 - 18 takes place via point - to - point connections to the communication master 2 . here , by appropriate routing of the communication telegrams , the communication master 2 establishes logical connections between the network subscribers 5 , 12 - 18 . some of the logical connections 21 are shown by way of example in fig1 . the communication master 2 therefore serves to control the data flow on the communications network 4 . although the control device 1 is used for controlling safety - critical processes , such as for example an emergency stop function of a machine when a light barrier is triggered , the communication master 2 itself does not have to be safe by design . in the example shown in fig1 , a subset of the network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , namely the network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 , are designed as safe network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 . the safe logic module 5 likewise constitutes a safe network subscriber . in operation , the logic module 5 communicates via the point - to - point connections 20 and therefore via the logical connections 21 with the safe network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 in order to control a safety - critical process . here , the safe network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 can , in particular , be input and / or output modules such as sensors and actuators for the safety - critical process . the safetybridge system , on which the exemplary embodiment shown in fig1 is preferably based , is based on the fact that , with the help of connections via any communications network 4 and with copy commands , a non - safe controller , that is to say the non - safe communication master 2 , enables the exchange of safe telegrams with safe i / o data between the network subscribers with safe inputs and / or outputs and the logic module 5 which processes the safe i / o data and itself can also have safe inputs and / or outputs . a safe point - to - point connection in the form of the logical connection 21 , on which safe telegrams can be transmitted in both directions , therefore exists between the logic module 5 and each safe network subscriber associated therewith . the network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 are linked to the logic module to form a group of safety - related network subscribers for controlling a safety - relevant application . in order now to parameterize the logic module 5 and therefore also the safety - relevant application , in response to a start command received via the communications network 4 , the logic module 5 transmits a read request to the communication master 2 . in particular here , it is of advantage when the communication master 2 is set up to transmit the start command to the logic module 5 via the communications network 4 to start the parameterization process . the parameterization process can therefore be easily started for one or more such logic modules when the system is powered up . furthermore , in response to the receipt of the read request , the communication master 2 is set up to transmit parameterization data to the logic module 5 . in a development of the invention , in order to transmit the parameter data , additional non - safe input and output bytes are now implemented on the logic module 5 , by means of which the parameterization data of the non - safe controller or the communication master 2 are transmitted to the logic module 5 with the help of a simple parameterization protocol . in addition , the communication master 2 can in particular be set up to transmit the parameterization data in a logical channel provided for the purpose which is represented by a predetermined data range of the telegrams transmitted via the communications network 4 . in the example shown in fig2 , a parameter channel 40 is provided as the logical channel . in particular , the parameterization data can contain the types of the network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 , which are connected by means of the respective point - to - point connections 20 or in accordance with the logical connections 21 to the logic module 5 , and the links of the network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 between one another , that is to say , therefore , the manner in which the safety - critical process is to be controlled . according to a development of the invention , the parameterization data are generated with the help of safe parameterizing / programming software which runs on a computer , for example . preferably , the parameter data are at least partially structured from device description files of the logic module and the safe i / o network subscribers . in the example shown in fig1 , a computer 7 , such as a pc for example , is connected to the communications network 4 for this purpose . the safe parameterizing / programming software is processed on this computer 7 and structures the parameter data for the safe i / o network subscribers , that is to say , in the exemplary embodiment shown in fig1 , for the network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 . alternatively or in addition , the computer 7 can also be connected directly to the communication master 2 as symbolized dashed in conjunction with fig1 . according to an advantageous embodiment of the invention , the parameterization data can be divided into segments and are stored as a data module in the non - safe controller or in the communication master 2 . the communication master 2 informs the logic module 5 that a data module with parameterization data is available and that the logic module 5 is to be started with these data . according to the invention , all further activities for the parameterization are now controlled by the data receiver , that is to say , here , the logic module 5 . the logic module 5 knows the structure of the parameterization data and transmits a data request in the form parameterreadrequest ( segment , offset , length ). this request is transmitted until the non - safe controller responds with the requested data in the form parameterreadresponse ( segment , offset , length , data , data ). in general , without being restricted to the exemplary embodiments , according to this development of the invention , the logic module 5 is therefore set up to detect how much parameterization data is to be requested and to transmit read requests to the communication master 2 until all parameterization data have been received . furthermore , for this purpose , it is of advantage when the communication master 2 is set up to divide up the parameterization data and to transmit them successively in a plurality of telegrams . in this way , there are no restrictions to the scope of the parameterization data . the respective recipient of the data ( safe logic module or also safe i / o network subscriber as explained below ) therefore transmits a read request until the corresponding read response is received thereby . this enables transmission to take place over any networks and combinations of networks . when the logic module 5 has read out all the required parameterization data from the non - safe controller , it starts processing the parameterized links . the parameterization data which the logic module 5 has read out of the non - safe controller or the communication master 2 also contain the parameters for the associated safe i / o network subscribers , that is to say , in the example shown in fig1 , the safe network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 associated with the logic module 5 . the logic module informs the associated safe i / o network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 of its parameterized state via parameter channels . thereupon , the safe i / o network subscribers , that is to say the network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 , for their part read out their parameters from the logic module 5 via the parameter channels with the help of the parameterization protocol . each safe logic module 5 and each safe i / o network subscriber changes into the parameterized state and starts processing after it has read all the required parameterization data . in order to transmit the parameter data to the i / o modules , the i / o ranges for the safe telegrams are extended by a parameter channel 41 , via which device and communications parameters are transmitted by the logic modules to the associated safe i / o network subscribers . accordingly , as shown in fig2 , a safe telegram 44 contains a data range 43 for safe messages and a parameter channel 41 . an exemplary embodiment for the parameterization of the logic module 5 is described below on the basis of the flow diagram shown in fig3 . the time axis of this flow diagram runs from top to bottom . the parameterization process begins when the system is powered on . the communication master 2 detects that a parameterization for a logic module 5 , for example in the form of a data module , is available and transmits a start command (“ start command ( parameter ready )”) to the logic module 5 ( step 31 ). according to a development which is not restricted to the exemplary embodiment , triggered by a system power - on or more generally an initialization of the logic module and / or in response to a start command received from the communication master 2 , the logic module 5 is furthermore set up to initially transmit a telegram to the communication master 2 with the state of the logic module as a diagnostic message ( step 32 , “ diagnostic message ( logic module stop )”). the initialization can also include a connection of the logic module to the communications network 4 . in the example shown in fig3 , after the receipt of the diagnostic message from the communication master 2 , a start command is transmitted to the logic module 5 ( step 33 ). in general , without restriction to the special exemplary embodiment shown , the communication master 2 can be set up to transmit a start command to a logic module 5 until the communication master 2 receives a read request . in response to “ parameter ready ” or , in general , to the start command , the logic module 5 starts to read out the parameters ( step 34 ), e . g . segment : 1 , offset : 0 , length : 2 ( command “ parameter read request ( 1 . 0 . 2 )”). in response thereto , the communication master 2 transmits the requested data ( step 35 ). these steps 34 , 35 are repeated until the last bytes of the parameterization data have been transmitted . in general , in a development of the invention , without being restricted to the special exemplary embodiment shown in fig3 , the logic module 5 is therefore set up to transmit with the read request a request of a particular part of the parameterization data . the communication master 2 is then set up accordingly to transmit the requested part of the parameterization data on this request . accordingly , in order to implement this protocol according to the invention , the non - safe controller , or the communication master 2 , must only have the capability of addressing the individual parameter bytes in the form parameter [ address ( segment + offset ), length ] and of copying them into the output range . this is usually the case , and integration into different controllers is therefore possible . the width of the parameter protocol can also be matched to the width of the consistency ranges of the non - safe controller . the processing of the protocol is shown schematically in fig2 . the parameter set 47 is subdivided into segments 48 , 49 and stored in the communication master 2 . for clarification , the different segments 48 , 49 are shown shaded differently . by way of example , in fig2 , the parameter set 47 is made up of only two segments 48 , 49 . naturally , however , more segments can also be provided . the read requests 45 received on the input side by the communication master 2 are processed by the communication master 2 to the effect that , from a particular segment 48 of the parameter set 47 stored in the communication master 2 specified in the read request 45 , a particular number of bytes 49 is read out , the position of which in the segment 48 is determined by an offset 50 which is likewise specified in the read request 45 . the bytes 50 are then transmitted on the output side to the logic module 5 via the parameter channel 40 in the above - mentioned form of a parameterreadresponse message 51 . according to a further development of the invention , when all the parameterization data have been transmitted , the logic module 5 carries out a consistency check of the transmitted data and thereupon transmits a diagnostic message to the communication master ( 2 ), step 36 . in the event of error - free transmission , the logic module 5 can start and transmit an appropriate message ( here : “ diagnostic message ( logic module run )”) to the communication master 2 as a diagnostic message . in the event of an error , an appropriate error message can be transmitted as a diagnostic message . a possible error , for example , is a lack of consistency in the transmitted data , which can be caused , for example , by a transmission error . a simple consistency check is a crc check of the received parameterization data by the safe logic module 5 . start commands ( step 37 ) and diagnostic messages ( step 38 ), which signal that currently no new parameterization data are to be called up by the logic module 5 and / or that the logic module 5 is in operation , can then also be transmitted during operation of the control device 1 in the provided data ranges of the transmitted telegrams . furthermore , the invention can also be extended to the effect that differentiated start commands are used . the usual start command signals to the logic module 5 that parameters are present and accordingly the above - mentioned processing is to be started in order to parameterize the logic module 5 . as explained with regard to the exemplary embodiment of fig3 , a reading - out of the parameters of the complete project from the non - safe controller or the communication master 2 is thereupon undertaken controlled by the logic module 5 . this is followed by a safe consistency check ( crc , plausibility ). if the parameterization data are free from errors , the processing starts . otherwise , an error message is generated by the logic module 5 as a diagnostic message . a further possibility is that the communication master is set up to generate a start command which signals that a parameter identifier is present . here , in a development of the invention , the logic module can be set up to read out the parameter identifier ( header or crc ) from the communication master 2 and to safely compare the parameter identifier with parameters retentively stored in the logic module . in the case of a positive comparison of the parameter identifier with the stored data , the logic module starts processing the parameterization data ; otherwise an error message is again preferably generated and transmitted to the communication master 2 . yet another possibility is a start command which signals that new parameters , in particular a complete project , are to be retentively stored in the logic module 5 . as a confirmation and for safety checking , the parameter identifier of the old previously retentively stored parameter set can be stored on the non - safe controller . the old parameter identifier ( header or crc ) is then first read out of the non - safe controller by the logic module 5 and the logic module undertakes a safe comparison with the retentively stored parameters . if the data are consistent , the logic module 5 erases its remanent memory ; otherwise the logic module 5 transmits an error message . if the data are consistent , the new parameters are read out of the non - safe controller by means of one or more read commands of the logic module . the new parameterization data read out are again checked for consistency , preferably with crc and a plausibility check . if the parameterization data are detected by the logic module 5 to be free from errors , these are or remain retentively stored . otherwise , an error message is again transmitted . yet another possible start command which can be output by the communication master 2 is a command to stop the processing . here , in response to the receipt of this start command , the logic module can be set up to stop the processing and to either restart it or to request new parameterization data . in the exemplary embodiment of the invention previously described , the communication master 2 constitutes the data source for the parameterization data of the logic module 5 . after receipt of the parameterization data , it is now also possible for the logic module 5 for its part to act as data source . here , according to a first embodiment of this development of the invention , the logic module 5 provides the associated safe network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 with the parameterization data intended for them . as soon as the safe logic module has read all parameters out of the non - safe controller , as a start command , it reports via the parameter channels to the associated safe network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 that parameters are ready for them . thereupon these read out their parameters from the logic module 5 in the manner described above . accordingly , in response to the receipt of a start command transmitted by the logic module 5 via the communications network 4 , the safe network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 which are associated with the logic module 5 for the control of a safety - related application , or at least one of these associated safe network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 , are set up to transmit a read request to the logic module 5 via the communications network 4 . for its part , in response to the receipt of the read request , the logic module 5 is set up to transmit parameterization data to the particular safe network subscriber 12 , 13 , 14 from which the read request was received . by way of example , the start command of the safe logic module 5 can therefore contain the message to the network subscriber that parameters are present and the processing is to be started . according to an embodiment of the invention , a reading - out of the parameters ( communications and device parameters ) of the safe logic module 5 and a safe check for consistency ( crc , plausibility ) are carried out as actions of the associated safe i / o network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 initiated thereby . if the check is free from errors , a change occurs in the parameterized state , and processing starts with the transmission of safe i / o data . otherwise , an error message is produced . a start command can also contain the instruction that the processing is to be stopped . in this case , in response to the receipt of such a start command , the safe network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 can be set up to change to the non - parameterized state and , by means of a read request , to request a transmission of safe replacement values from the logic module 5 . the invention also offers the advantage that the method for parameterization can be extended hierarchically . further logic modules can be assigned to a logic module 5 as subordinate i / o subscribers . the subordinate logic modules can then read out their parameters ( including the linking instructions ) from the superimposed logic module 5 . in this way , more safe i / o points and processing capacity are available to the user . from the user &# 39 ; s point of view , there is only one system , which is represented by the superimposed logic module . in particular , the reading - out from the superimposed logic module 5 can take place in the same way as the reading - out described above of the parameterization data from the communication master 2 by the logic module 5 . therefore , according to a development of the invention , as well as the logic module 5 , at least one further logic module is connected to the communications network 4 , wherein , in the manner according to the invention , the first logic module is parameterized by a start command of the communication master , at least one read request of the logic module , and a transmission of the parameterization data from the communication master 2 to the logic module 5 , and wherein the further logic module is parameterized in a corresponding manner in that , after receipt of the parameterization data , the logic module transmits a start command to the further logic module , in response to the receipt of the start command the further logic module transmits a read request to the first logic module , and in response to the receipt of the read request the first logic module transmits the parameterization data to the further logic module . in order to carry out this method hierarchically , in addition , the communication master 2 also transmits the parameterization data for the further logic module to the first logic module 5 . the schematic circuit diagram of fig4 shows an exemplary embodiment of this . as well as the logic module 5 , a further logic module 51 is connected to the communications network 4 . together with the network subscribers 16 , 17 , which are designed here as safe , the further logic module 51 is to control a further safety - related application . accordingly , together with the further logic module 51 , the i / o network subscribers 16 , 17 , like the i / o network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 together with the first logic module 5 , in each case form a logical group of modules for executing a safety - related function . the further logic module 51 communicates with the first logic module 5 via a logical connection 22 . the transmission of the start command from the first logic module 5 , the one or more read requests by the further logic module 51 , and the transmission of the parameterization data from the first logic module 5 to the further logic module 51 take place via this logical connection . in a further step , as described above , the respectively associated i / o network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 and 16 , 17 can then be parameterized in a corresponding manner via the logical connections 21 , 23 . in general , and as described above , the invention offers the following expansion possibilities and advantages : the processing of the protocol does not have to be carried out synchronously with the transmission cycle via the network . if , therefore , the protocol could not be processed in a timely manner by the next transmission cycle , then the old protocol data can be retransmitted . the control of the sequence of reading out the parameter data can be carried out by a safe subscriber as necessary according to the stipulations of safety technology . the copy routines , which are already provided for the safe messages , must only be marginally expanded , if at all , for the transmission of parameter data from the safe logic module to safe i / o network subscribers , such as for example the network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 , 16 , 17 according to fig4 and subordinate logic modules . the copy routines , with which the data transmitted from and to the i / o network subscribers are copied by the communication master 2 , are shown symbolically in fig2 and designated by the reference 52 . the receiver of the parameter data determines the timing of the transmission . as a result , for example , no time - controlled interrogations by the transmitter are necessary as to whether the receiver has already started or whether the connection between transmitter and receiver already exists . sub - systems automatically run up with the available i / o subscribers . i / o network subscribers which have been docked later can automatically be incorporated into the system . the person skilled in the art can see that the invention is not restricted to the exemplary embodiments shown in the figures . rather , the invention can be varied in many ways within the scope of the subject matter of the following claims . in the example shown in fig3 , two bytes of parameterization data are requested in each case . however , this length can be adapted to suit the data width available in a telegram . also , the number of bytes can be varied from telegram to telegram during the transmission of a data module , for example by an appropriate read request . the exemplary embodiment of fig3 therefore already provides that the read requirement contains the number of bytes requested . 31 - 38 method steps for parameterizing the logic module 5 | 7 |
in the retail trade there are some standard wall systems that include a metal strip 11 that is typically positioned vertically on a wall surface 12 . the wall surface may be part of the building or it may be a free standing wall . the metal strip 11 is preferably a generally inverted u - shaped strip having a top surface 13 and a pair of side surfaces 14 and 15 that extend from the top surface . the strip 11 is secured to the wall surface by any suitable means including but not limited to nails , screws , adhesive , etc . the strip may be open at the end opposite the top surface 13 or there may be a rear surface ( not shown ) extending from the first side surface 14 to the second side surface 15 forming an enclosed preferably hollow strip . whether the strip has a rear surface or not when the strip is secured to the wall surface , the strip 11 is provided with an open interior section 17 for at least a portion of its length . the top surface 13 of the strip is provided with a plurality of slots 18 along the top surface in the region of the open interior section 17 . the slots are preferably generally rectangular in shape and have a top edge 19 a bottom edge 20 and a pair of side edges 21 and 22 . see fig6 . the slot extends from the top surface through the strip to the interior section 17 of the strip . the slots are used to support one or more brackets 30 that are hung from the strip . the brackets are used to support merchandise or shelves or other aspects of the display . as seen in fig7 , the bracket is preferably a generally flat plate of sheet metal , plastic or other suitable material . the overall shape of the bracket can vary depending on the aesthetics or other considerations . while a generally square bracket is shown in the figures that exact shape is not required under the present invention . the bracket 30 has a first side surface 31 and a second surface 32 there may be a top edge 33 a bottom edge 34 as well as a front edge 35 and a rear edge 36 is provided with one or more hook members 37 extending rearwardly from the surface of the edge . the hook members 37 are provided with a first section 38 extending rearwardly of the rear edge . the hook member 37 may be a separate member or it may be integrated with the edge of the plate . the first section 38 has a top edge 39 and a bottom edge 40 . adjacent to the first section 38 is a rear section 41 . the rear section is provided with a hook section 42 which extends downwardly toward the bottom surface 34 of the plate . the configuration of the hook member forms a recess area 43 formed by the rear edge of 36 of the plate the bottom edge 40 of the first section and the inner surface 44 of the hook section 42 . the plate is preferably provided with at least two of the hook members 37 . the hook member 37 is inserted into the slot 18 . bottom edge 20 of the slot is positioned within the recess 43 . the hook section 42 thereby prevents removal of the plate from the slot in the strip . in a preferred embodiment , the rear edge 36 of the plate may be provided with a stabilizing bar 50 . the stabilizing bar 50 has a first section 51 that has a top edge 52 and a bottom edge 53 . in the embodiment shown in the figures the top edge 52 is an extension of the top edge 33 of the plate 30 however it is not required to have that arrangement . the top edge 52 may be in the same plane as shown or it may be above or below the edge 33 . extending from the first section is a rear section 54 . the rear section may have a hook section 55 which also extends downwardly toward the bottom surface of the plate . the downward extension of the hook section 55 also forms a recess area 56 . the recess area is for receiving the bottom edge 20 of a slot . the stabilizing member 50 also has an upwardly extending strip 57 . when the plate is being installed onto the strip 11 , the upwardly extending member 57 is inserted through a slot 18 . the plate is pushed generally upward toward the slot &# 39 ; s top edge 19 . the hook sections 55 is then inserted into the slot 18 and the plate is moved downwardly so that the bottom edge 20 of the slot is retained in recess area 56 . the stabilizing bar 50 provides additional support to reduce the risk that the plate could be inadvertently removed from the strip . the front edge 35 of the plate is provided with an upper edge or arm section 60 and a lower edge or arm section 61 the upper and lower edge section 60 and 61 are separated by an entrance area 63 and an open area 62 . the open area 62 is generally circular and access to the open area 62 is through the entrance area 63 . the plate 31 has a body portion 64 and a pair of arm areas 65 and 66 . the first arm area 65 is formed generally by the top edge 33 upper section 60 and bottom arm edge 67 . the second arm area is formed generally by a top arm edge 60 , lower edge section 61 and bottom edge 34 . bottom arm edge 67 may have a first end 69 and a second end 70 . top arm edge 68 may have a first end 71 and a second end 72 . bottom arm edge 67 and top arm edge 68 are preferably the same length as seen in fig7 but can also be as seen in fig1 . the configuration of the arms , can vary in shape as desired the general outline or circumference of the open area 62 is shown by solid lines 73 and dotted lines 74 and 75 . the dotted lines 74 and 75 represent the extension of the circumference 73 of the open area 62 and form what has been designated as the base of tips 76 and 77 which tips extend into the open area 62 . the tips can have two sides each as seen on tip 76 there is a first side 76 a and a second side 76 b similarly for tip 77 there is a first side 77 a and a second side 77 b . preferably side 76 b and 77 b are generally parallel to each other . more preferably a line drawn from the base 76 c along the edge 76 b is parallel to a line drawn from the base 77 c along the edge 77 b . at least a portion of the edge 77 a is preferably parallel to at least a portion of the edge 76 a . the plate may also be provided with an orifice 78 for a plurality of plates to be secured together . when the plate 30 is secured in the strip 11 a second plate is secured to a corresponding strip 11 a a distance from the first strip 11 . the two strips 11 and 11 a are preferably parallel to each other . the plates are used to secure a rod 80 that extends from the first plate 30 to the second plate 30 a . the rod 80 may be any length and is preferably rectangular in cross section . the rod 80 has a top surface 81 and a bottom surface 82 and a pair of opposing side surfaces 83 and 84 . the distance form side surface 84 must be less that he distance from bottom arm edge 67 to top arm edge 68 so that the rod 80 may be inserted through the entrance area 63 into the open area 62 as seen in fig1 . when the rod is in position as seen in fig1 the rod 80 is rotated so that bottom surface 82 is moved toward sidewall 77 b of tip 77 . at the same time the top surface 81 is rotated toward tip sidewall 76 b . as seen in fig1 sidewall 84 of the rod 80 contacts tip side 77 b and side wall 83 contacts tip side 76 b . this provides a suitable arrangement for the rod in the bracket and makes it difficult for the rod to be inadvertently released from the bracket particularly when items are hung from the rod or a shelf is placed on the rod as the weight makes it difficult to rotate . although the rod has been depicted as a rectangular rod a triangular rod can also be used or other similar configurations where one edge of the rod can enter the opening but the size of the other edge when the rod is rotated makes it difficult to remove the rod from the opening because of its size . fig1 shows the bracket of the present invention where the rod has an arm 90 extending from the rod . the arm has an inverted “ u ” 91 at one end . the inverted “ u ” goes over the top surface of the rod 80 . a shelf 92 may be positioned over the arm . fig1 shows the arrangement slightly enlarged . fig1 - 17 show an alternative embodiment for the stabilizer 57 . in addition there is no hook to hold the bracket in the slot . in this arrangement there is a semicircular member 101 that enters one slot while the other member 102 has a stabilizer 103 extending upwardly . the length of this stabilizer is greater than the stabilizer in fig7 . the length of the stabilizer renders the need for a hook member on the bottom semi - circular member unnecessary . | 0 |
several embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the annexed drawings . in the drawings , the same or similar elements are denoted by the same reference numerals even though they are depicted in different drawings . in the following description , a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein has been omitted for conciseness . the embodiments of the present invention modifies a sum - product algorithm used for ldpc code decoding . in the following description , a decoding algorithm for an ldpc code according to the embodiments of the present invention will be referred to as “ modified sum - product algorithm .” in the modified sum - product algorithm according to the embodiments of the present invention , the check node message update process of equation ( 2 ), described in conjunction with the prior art , is modified into r mn ( j ) ≈ ( ∏ i = 1 d c - 1 sgn ( q i ) ) min i | q i | , i = 1 , 2 , … , d c - 1 equation ( 7 ) equation ( 7 ) is an expression where a correction factor is not considered in the check node message update process of the ‘ sum - product algorithm with correction factor ’. if the check node message update process is modified as shown in equation ( 7 ), the variable node message update process of equation ( 3 ), described in conjunction with the prior art , is modified into q mn ( j + 1 ) = q mn ( 0 ) + α n ( j ) ∑ i = 1 d v - 1 r i ( j ) , α n ( j ) = { 1 . 0 if | sgn ( q mn ( 0 ) ) + ∑ i = 0 d v - 1 sgn ( r i ( j ) ) | = d v + 1 f g if | sgn ( q mn ( 0 ) ) + ∑ i = 0 d v - 1 sgn ( r i ( j ) ) | & lt ; d v + 1 equation ( 8 ) in equation ( 8 ), sgn ( x ) is a function indicating a sign of a value x . herein , sgn ( x )= 1 for x & gt ; 0 , and sgn ( x )=− 1 for x & lt ; 0 . in addition , d v is the number of edges connected to a variable node n . in the invention , a regular ldpc code is considered in which the number of edges connected to all check nodes is identical to the number of edges connected to all variable nodes , so the d v is constant for all variable nodes . in addition , if a sign of a check node message applied to a variable node is identical to a sign of a channel reliability , equation ( 8 ) does not consider a weighting factor . however , if any one of the signs is different , equation ( 8 ) considers a weighting factor having a value smaller than 1 . here , the reason for considering a weighting factor smaller than 1 is to cancel out the influence of a check node message error generated through approximation of the check node message update process represented by equation ( 7 ) and to cancel out the influence of self - information fed back due to a short cycle which may exist on a factor graph defining an ldpc code . here , the “ cycle ” refers to a loop formed by several edges on a factor graph , and a cycle having a short length is called “ short cycle .” generally , it is known by those skilled in the art , that a short cycle has a negative effect on decoding of a code symbol for a corresponding node since a message output from a particular variable node is updated through as many iterative decoding processes as ½ of a cycle length and then applied to a corresponding variable node . such an example is illustrated in fig1 . [ 0064 ] fig1 illustrates an example of a short cycle having a length of 4 . in fig1 circles represent variable nodes , and blocks marked by a cross represent check nodes . connections between the first variable node and second check node , the second check node and third variable node , the first variable node and third check node , and the third check node and third variable node are shown by bold lines , representing a short cycle . in accordance with equation ( 7 ) and equation ( 8 ), the conventional llr update process of equation ( 4 ) is modified into l n ( j + 1 ) = l n ( 0 ) + α n ( j ) ∑ i = 0 d v - 1 r i ( j ) equation ( 9 ) performance improvement can be expected by canceling out the influence of self - information due to a possible short cycle , through the weighting factor of equation ( 8 ) and equation ( 9 ). since a check node message and channel reliability applied to a particular variable node represent the probability that the corresponding variable node would have a value of “ 0 ” or “ 1 ,” if signs thereof are not identical , it can be considered that an error has occurred in a transmission link or in a decoding process . in this case , therefore , it can be judged that a variable node message or llr obtained through the messages has lower reliability than a variable message or llr obtained when signs of all messages applied to the variable node are identical . therefore , if signs of all messages applied to a variable node are not identical , the corresponding variable mode message and llr value are multiplied by a weighting factor smaller than 1 . the value of the weighting factor can be set to an appropriate value through experiment . in the following description , a modified sum - product algorithm considering an adaptive weighting factor is referred to as a ‘ modified sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’. [ 0069 ] fig2 is a flow chart illustrating a ‘ modified sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’ for iterative decoding of an ldpc code according to an embodiment of the present invention . with reference to fig2 a description will now be made of a ‘ modified sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’ for iterative decoding of an ldpc code according to an embodiment of the present invention . in step 200 , an initialization process is performed . in the initialization process , an initial value of a variable node message on a factor graph representing an ldpc code structure is set . the initial value of the variable node message is defined as a channel reliability for a received code symbol corresponding to the variable node . since the ‘ modified sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’ performs its calculations in an llr domain , the channel reliability is determined by multiplying a received symbol by a signal - to - noise ratio ( snr ). accordingly , message initialization is performed on all variable nodes on the factor graph . after the initialization process , a check node message update process is performed in step 202 . in the check node message update process , a check node message is updated by using equation ( 7 ). in the update process of a check node message output to a variable node n , signs of all input messages except an input from a variable node n among messages applied to a check node are multiplied and then defined as a sign of an output message . in addition , a minimum value is selected among absolute values of the input messages , and defined as a size of the output message . in this way , message update is performed on all check nodes on the factor graph of fig1 . after the check node message update process , a variable node message update process is performed in step 204 . in the variable node message update process , a variable node message is updated by using equation ( 8 ). in the update process of the variable node message output to a check node n , all input messages except an input from a check node m among messages applied to a variable node are multiplied by a weighting factor and then the result values are added . a channel reliability is added to this sum ; the channel reliability has an initial value of the variable node message . if signs of all messages applied to a variable node and a sign of the channel reliability are all identical , a weighting factor is 1 . otherwise , the weighting factor has a value smaller than 1 . even in the variable node message update process of step 204 , message update is performed on all variable nodes on the factor graph of fig1 . thereafter , an llr update is performed in step 206 . in the llr update process , an llr value for a code symbol corresponding to a variable node is updated by using equation ( 9 ). in the llr update process , all messages applied to a variable node are multiplied by a weighting factor , and then , a value determined by summing up the result values is added to a channel reliability ( which is an initial value of a variable node message ). at this point , the value of the weighting factor is determined in the manner described in conjunction with step 204 . even in the llr update process , llr update is performed on all code symbols on the factor graph . thereafter , a hard decision process is performed in step 208 . in the hard decision process , if an llr value in a particular symbol of an ldpc code is larger than 0 , a binary value ‘ 0 ’ is decoded , and otherwise , if the llr value is smaller than 0 , a binary value ‘ 1 ’ is decoded . the decoded values are stored . a decoded codeword is obtained by performing a hard decision on all code symbols constituting one ldpc codeword . after performing the hard decision , the algorithm proceeds to step 210 . steps 210 and 214 provide a process of determining whether an error has occurred , through parity check . when hard decision for all code symbols of the ldpc code is completed , one codeword can be obtained from the hard decision results . when all parity check expressions defined by a parity check matrix are applied to the obtained codeword , decoding is stopped in step 212 if no error is detected in step 210 (“ yes ” path from decision step 210 ). further , the corresponding codeword is stored as a decoded codeword . in contrast , if an error is detected as a result of the parity check in step 210 (“ no ” path from decision step 210 ), the algorithm determines in step 214 whether decoding has been performed as many times as a predetermined maximum iteration number . if the decoding has not been performed as many times as the predetermined iteration number (“ no ” path from decision step 214 ), the algorithm increases a current iteration number by 1 in step 218 , and then proceeds to step 202 to continuously perform the iterative decoding . however , if an error is continuously detected even after the iterative decoding has been performed as many times as the predetermined iteration number in step 214 (“ yes ” path from decision step 214 ), the algorithm stops the decoding in step 216 . further , the algorithm declares the decoding failure and discards the corresponding codeword . [ 0076 ] fig3 a is a flow chart illustrating a process of updating a message in a particular check node according to an embodiment of the present invention . with reference fig3 a , a detailed description will now be made of a procedure for updating a message in a particular check node . in step 300 , messages applied from a particular variable node to a particular check node are rearranged . an index of a message received from a variable node n among the messages applied to a particular check node m is assigned as an initial index ( i = 0 ) of a new message index i . in step 302 , absolute values of all messages except a message with a message index i = 0 among the messages applied to a check node , are compared , and then a minimum value is selected from the compared values . in step 304 , signs of all messages except a message with a message index i = 0 among the messages applied to a check node are multiplied . thereafter , in step 306 , the minimum value selected in step 302 from the message absolute values is multiplied by the message sign calculated in step 304 to determine a final message transmitted from a particular check node m to a particular variable node n . therefore , fig3 a illustrates a process of calculating equation ( 7 ). [ 0078 ] fig3 b is a flow chart illustrating a process of updating a message in a variable node connected to the check node that performs the process of fig3 a , according to an embodiment of the present invention . with reference to fig3 a and 3b , a detailed description will be made of a process of updating a message in a variable node connected to a particular check node according to an embodiment of the present invention . in step 310 , messages applied from a particular check node to a particular variable node are rearranged . an index of a message received from a check node m among the messages applied to a particular variable node n is assigned as an initial index ( i = 0 ) of a new message index i . thereafter , in step 312 , a particular variable s is calculated by summing up signs of all messages applied to a particular variable node and a sign of an initial message value for the variable node . thereafter , in step 314 , an absolute value of the particular variable s calculated in step 312 is compared with a value determined by adding 1 to the number of all messages applied to the variable node . if the absolute value of the variable s is identical to the value determined by adding 1 to the number of messages applied to the variable node as a result of the comparison (“ yes ” path from decision step 314 ), the process proceeds to step 316 , and otherwise , the process proceeds to step 318 (“ no ” path from decision step 314 ). the determination of step 314 of whether the absolute value of the s is identical to the value determined by adding 1 to the number of messages applied to the variable node , is equivalent to determining whether signs of all messages received from the variable node and an initial value of a variable node message are all identical . if signs of all messages received from the variable node and an initial value of the variable node message are all identical as a result of the comparison , a value of a weighting factor for the variable node is set to 1 in step 316 (“ yes ” path from decision step 314 ). in contrast , if the absolute value of the s is not identical to the value determined by adding 1 to the number of messages applied to the variable node ( no ” path from decision step 314 ), i . e ., if any one of signs of all messages applied to the variable node and an initial value of the variable node message is different , then the value of a weighting factor for the variable node is set to a value smaller than a predetermined value 1 in step 318 . after step 316 or 318 , step 320 is performed . in step 320 , a message transmitted from a particular variable node n to a particular check node m is determined by using the weighting factor calculated in step 316 or 318 , the initial message for the particular variable node , and the sum of all messages except a message with a message index i = 0 among the check node messages applied to the particular variable node . thereafter , in step 322 , an llr message for a particular variable node n is calculated by using the weighting factor calculated in step 316 or 318 , an initial llr value for the particular variable node , and the sum of all check node messages applied to the particular variable node . a description will now be made of an exemplary structure of a processor for updating a message in each node according to an embodiment of the present invention . for simplicity , it will be assumed herein that the number of edges connected to check nodes and the number of edges connected to variable nodes are both 3 , though one skilled in the art can appreciate that this need not be the case ). a message update process in a particular check node m and a message update process in a particular variable node n are illustrated in fig4 a and 4b , respectively . in addition , a processor for each node in the message update process of fig4 a and a processor for each node in the message update process of fig4 b are illustrated in fig5 a and 5b , respectively . in fig5 a and 5b , since it is assumed that the number of edges connected to corresponding nodes is fixed to 3 , the numbers of input ports and output ports of a check node processor are both 3 , and the numbers of input ports and output ports of a variable node processor are both 4 by considering llr . for an actual regular ldpc code , the number of input / output ports of each node processor is determined according to d v and d c , the number of input edges of each node . an internal structure of the processor is so designed as to realize the ‘ modified sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’ proposed by an embodiment of the present invention . [ 0082 ] fig5 a illustrates an example of a hardware device that realizes equation ( 7 ) for calculating check node messages by handling input variable node messages . in fig5 a , absolute value calculators 500 each calculate an absolute value of a corresponding input variable node message . input variable calculators 502 each calculate a sign of the corresponding input variable node message . the absolute values calculated by the absolute value calculators 500 are provided to minimum value selectors 504 , and the minimum value selectors 504 each select a minimum value from their two inputs . multipliers 506 each multiply their two inputs by each other . specifically , output values of the input variable calculators 502 are provided in pairs to the three lower multipliers 506 . here , the reason that the number of the lower multipliers 506 each calculating a pair of output values of the input variable calculators 502 is 3 is because the number of edges connected to the check nodes is 3 . output signals of the three lower multipliers 506 , each of which multiplies a pair of the output values of the input variable calculators 502 , and output signals of the minimum value selectors 504 are provided to the three upper multipliers 506 . the three upper multipliers 506 generate output values rm 0 , rm 1 and rm 2 to be transmitted to corresponding variable nodes , by multiplying their two inputs . [ 0083 ] fig5 b illustrates an example of a hardware device that realizes equation ( 8 ) and equation ( 9 ) for calculating variable node messages and a new llr message by handling input check node messages and an input llr message . in fig5 b , three front adders 510 each add a pair of inputs from check nodes . four sign detectors 512 each calculate a sign of an llr value according to a corresponding input check node message or an initially received channel reliability . outputs of the sign detectors 512 are provided to an adder 514 , and the adder 514 adds up the signals provided from the sign detectors 512 . a value calculated by the adder 514 is provided to an absolute value calculator 516 . the absolute value calculator 516 then calculates an absolute value of the provided value . a comparator 518 compares an output of the absolute value calculator 516 with a fixed input value . the comparator 518 outputs a value of ‘ 1 ’ if the two input values are identical to each other , and otherwise , the comparator 518 outputs a value of ‘ 0 ’. an output value of the comparator 518 is provided to a selector 520 as a control signal . the selector 520 selects one of its two inputs ( 1 and f g ) according a value ( 0 or 1 ) of the control signal from the comparator 518 . the four multipliers 522 a - d can be divided into two groups . a first group includes multipliers receiving outputs of the three adders 510 a - c ( i . e ., multipliers 522 b - d ) each of which adds a pair of values received from the check nodes , and a second group includes a multiplier 522 a receiving a signal received from a first check node among the check nodes . there are provided a total of four multipliers . the four multipliers 522 a - d all receive an output of the selector 520 at their second input terminals . each of the multipliers 522 a - d multiplies their two input signals . the output values of the multipliers 522 a - d are provided to rear adders 510 d - g . the number of the rear adders 510 d - g is also 4 , and each read adder 510 d - g adds different values . specifically , of the four rear adders 510 d - g , three rear adders ( 510 e - g ) receive outputs of the three front adders 510 a - c ( through multipliers 522 b - d ) at their first input terminals , and commonly receive an initial value defined as a channel reliability of a received codeword at their second input terminals ( i ( 0 ) n ) the three rear adders 510 e - g each add their input values . the other rear adder 510 d receives an output of the second - group multiplier 522 a at its first input terminal and receives a signal output to the first check node at its second input terminal . thus , the other rear adder generates a value for determining an llr value by adding the output of the corresponding multiplier to the signal output to the first check node . a description will now be made of the simulation result of ldpc code decoding . the simulation was divided into simulation for an ldpc code having a short length and simulation for an ldpc code having a long length . first , the simulation for the ldpc code having a short length will be described . the simulation environment is given as follow . ( 1 ) a regular ldpc code is used in which the number of edges connected to a check node is fixed to 6 and the number of edges connected to a variable node is 3 on the factor graph . in addition , a short cycle having a length shorter than 6 is removed in the factor graph generation process . ( 2 ) the number of check nodes is 256 , and the number of variable nodes is 504 . ( 3 ) in the simulation , it is assumed that information bits constituting an ldpc code are all ‘ 0 ’ s . therefore , symbols of a transmission ldpc codeword are also all ‘ 0 ’ s . since the ldpc code is a linear code , the result obtained by the simulation does not lose generality . ( 4 ) bpsk ( binary phase shift keying ) demodulation scheme and channel environment are assumed as an awgn ( additive white gaussian noise ) transmission link . ( 5 ) it is assumed that a codeword completely decoded without arriving at the maximum iteration number has no error . the undetected error probability is , therefore , 0 . ( 6 ) a weighting factor f g smaller than 1 in the variable node message update process is set to 0 . 8 ( f g = 0 . 8 ). ( 7 ) a decoding performance criterion is set at a word error rate ( wer ) for energy per information bit ( eb / no ). ( 8 ) the maximum iteration number is set to 50 or 200 . the simulation result obtained under this environment is illustrated in fig6 . fig6 is a graph illustrating a comparison among word error rates when an ldpc code with a short length is decoded by using the proposed method , the conventional method , and the optimum method on the assumption that the maximum iteration number is set to 50 . in fig6 “ opt ” represents decoding performance by the optimum sum - product algorithm , “ with corr .” represents decoding performance by the ‘ sum - product algorithm with correction factor ’, and “ with weight ” represents decoding performance by the ‘ modified sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’ proposed by the invention . it can be understood from fig6 that the decoding performance by the ‘ modified sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’ proposed by an embodiment of the invention shows the most superior wer performance at a high signal - to - noise ratio . this is because the ldpc code with a short length has high probability that short cycles will exist on a randomly defined factor graph , and thus , in many cases , the influence of feedback self - information has a detrimental effect on decoding performance . generally , as to the influence of the cycle on the factor graph , the ldpc code with a short length has high occurrence probability of a short cycle , causing an increase in degradation probability of decoding performance . in contrast , if a length of an ldpc code is increased , occurrence probability of a short cycle is decreased , thus causing a decrease in the influence . in addition , even though there exists a short cycle , if the iteration number ( or the number of iterations ) is increased , the influence of the short cycle on decoding performance is also reduced . the ‘ modified sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’ proposed by an embodiment of the invention can consider a weighting factor smaller than 1 in a variable node message update process , and reduce the influence of self - information fed back by a short cycle existing on a factor graph by the weighting factor . accordingly , the proposed ‘ modified sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’ shows the most superior performance . therefore , the ‘ modified sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’ has low computational complexity and shows the most superior wer performance in decoding a randomly generated regular ldc code having a short length . [ 0097 ] fig7 is a graph illustrating a comparison among word error rates when an ldpc code with a short length is decoded by using by the proposed method , the conventional method , and the optimum method on the assumption that the maximum iteration number is set to 200 . it is noted in fig7 that a performance difference among the three methods is slight since a wer performance difference by a decoding result of the three methods for the ldpc code is smaller as compared with when the maximum iteration number is set to 50 . this is because an increase in the iteration number causes a decrease in the influence of a short cycle of the ldpc code . next , the simulation for the ldpc code having a long length will be described . the simulation environment is the same as above , except that the number of check nodes and the number of variable nodes of the ldpc code are 4986 and 9972 , respectively . decoding simulation is performed on an ldpc code with a long length by increasing the number of code symbols of a particular ldpc codeword to 9972 . in addition , a weighting factor smaller than 1 in the variable node message update process of the ‘ sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’ is also set to the value used in the simulation of the ldpc code having a short length . [ 0100 ] fig8 is a graph illustrating a comparison among word error rates when an ldpc code having a long length is decoded by using the proposed method , the conventional method and the optimum method on the assumption that the maximum iteration number is set to 50 . fig9 is a graph illustrating a comparison among word error rates when an ldpc code having a long length is decoded by using the proposed method , the conventional method and the optimum method on the assumption that the maximum iteration number is set to 200 . compared with an lpdc code with a short length , an ldpc code with a long length has low occurrence probability of a short cycle on a factor graph , so it has the slight influence of a short cycle on the decoding performance as compared with the ldpc code with a short length . therefore , it can be noted from fig8 that in the ldpc code with a long length , the optimum sum - product algorithm show the most superior decoding performance . next , the ‘ sum - product algorithm with correction factor ’, which is similar to the optimum sum - product algorithm , shows the second most superior decoding performance , and the proposed ‘ modified sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’ shows the worst decoding performance . this is because the weighting factor proposed by an embodiment of the invention cancels out not only the self - information due to the short cycle but also correct information . this has no influence on an ldpc code with a short length but causes degradation of decoding performance in an ldpc code with a long length . however , as illustrated in fig8 performance degradation by the ‘ sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’ is very slight , and has a difference of about 0 . 05 db at wer of 10 − 3 as compared with performance by the optimum sum - product algorithm . further , the performance difference by the ‘ sum - product algorithm with correction factor ’ is a negligible level of about 0 . 01 db . comparing fig8 with fig9 the increase in the maximum iteration number causes a reduction in a performance difference between them . as described above , the use of the proposed modified sum - product algorithm contributes to a reduction in computational complexity in the decoding process . in addition , the various embodiments of the present invention can obtain decoding performance which is superior or similar to decoding performance that can be obtained by using the optimum sum - product algorithm . while the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain 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 . | 7 |
the present invention will be described in detail with respect to its preferred embodiment which is a specimen holder for a transmission electron microscope . fig4 shows an isometric view of the complete in situ holder assembly 1 . assembly 1 is of a conventional design , which , as known to those skilled in the art , may take a variety of forms to accommodate various microscopes produced by various manufacturers . the mechanical needs of each device result in varying geometries of barrel 50 with respect to length , diameter and location of components . generally , assembly 1 is comprised a holder tip 2 which contains the e - cell 4 and the primary operative components of the assembly . holder tip 2 is supported and restrained at the appropriate location within the microscope by barrel 50 which may be designed with a variety of diameters and lengths . at least one o - ring 48 is disposed along the length of barrel 50 to seal the internal environment of the microscope from ambient air . a laser assembly 500 , or other electromagnetic radiation beam generator ( as shown in fig1 ) is disposed near the non - operative end of barrel 50 and is positioned to be located outside of the microscope environment when in use . a electromagnetic radiation source connection 80 and fluids connectors 82 are provided to supply laser irradiation and the in situ environment , in accordance with common practice of those skilled in the art . it is to be specifically noted that the laser may be substituted with any appropriate electromagnetic radiation beam generator , including x - rays and visible light . referring now to fig3 a and 3 b , specimen holder tip 2 includes e - cell 4 . lid 6 is slidably disposed on main body 12 of holder tip 2 . main body 12 is provided with a track 11 which is adapted to receive lid 6 and constrain its limited slidable displacement . displacement of lid 6 provides access to e - cell 4 on the underside of main body 12 . a travel limiting stop 20 is provided at one end of main body 12 to restrict the travel of lid 6 in the open , or loading position , as shown in fig5 . lid 6 may be slidably displaced from a position engaging stop 20 to a position engaging tangs 10 in the closed , or operative position , as illustrated in fig3 a and 3 b . tangs 10 receive and restrain lid 6 in the operative position , as will be more fully described below . travel of lid 6 in the closed position is further limited by travel stop 20 a . e - cell 4 is a cylindrical cavity , nominally 3 . 1 mm in diameter and 650 μm deep to accommodate a standard 3 mm diameter specimen disk . e - cell assembly 42 is placed within the cavity while in the open position as more fully described with reference to fig5 . once the e - cell 4 is loaded , lid 6 is displaced to the operative position . tangs 10 are resilient armatures having restraining profiles at the movable ends . tangs 10 may therefore be displaced inwardly by applying manual pressure in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of main body 12 . in order to relieve lid 6 from restraint by tangs 10 in the operative position , tangs 10 are depressed and lid 6 is slidably displaced ( to the right in fig3 a and 3 b ) to contact travel stop 20 . in order to engage lid 6 with tangs 10 for restraint in the operative position , lid 6 is merely slidably displaced ( to the left in fig3 a and 3 b ) until tangs 10 engage a locking interface provided on lid 6 ( not shown ). a clamping mechanism for more securely engaging lid 6 to main body 12 when in the operative position is provided by clamp 6 a which is slidably engaged with main body 12 along track 11 , as will be more fully described below . main body 12 is provided with a series of recesses and conduits to accommodate fluid conduits 22 which will not be described further as being within the ambit of one skilled in the art . fluid inlet and outlet conduits 22 a and 22 b , respectively , are a means for the environmental fluid to enter and exit e - cell 4 . although fig3 a and 3 b illustrate cylindrical fluid inlet and outlet conduits , one of skill in the art will recognize that other appropriately shaped conduits will serve the purpose of supplying fluid to the specimen . appropriate fluid connections are provided throughout holder assembly 1 to fluidly communicate with connectors 82 in a conventional manner . mirror retainer assembly 14 is utilized to receive and support minor 15 , which adapted to reflect the laser beam onto the specimen , as more fully discussed below . minor 15 is bonded to minor retainer 14 at a precise , preselected angle or may be dynamically adjustable by external control . minor retainer 14 is removably affixed to main body 12 by mounting screw 18 . referring now to fig3 , 5 and 9 , e - cell components 42 are assembled as a precisely sized unit having a particular height dimension to assist in maintaining a vacuum seal between lid 6 and main body 12 . main body 12 is provided with a mounting surface 100 disposed at the lower portion ( as shown in fig5 ) of e - cell cavity 101 . mounting surface 100 is further provided with an o - ring receiving recess 102 , as shown in fig9 , of conventional design . o - ring 44 a is located within this recess 102 . it is intended that the orifice within the e - cell components 42 provides clear access for a laser beam to engage the specimen , as will be described more fully below . the first of the e - cell assembly components , window frame 30 a , constructed of silicon , is mounted within the e - cell cavity 101 immediately adjacent mounting surface 100 and in sealing engagement with o - ring 44 a . window frame 30 a is provided with a orifice 31 which is sized and shaped in any one of a variety of geometric shapes and is preferably square in two dimensions and frustopyramidal in three dimensions , with the larger end facing the incoming laser beam . an electron and electromagnetic radiation transparent membrane may be deposited on the orifice 31 and window frame 30 a is presented as an integrated whole which is fluid impermeable . it is specifically noted that use of the membrane may be eliminated in certain applications to increase image resolution . spacer 36 b is mounted immediately adjacent window frame 30 a and is disposed having an orifice 36 c centrally located therein corresponding to orifice 31 of window frame 30 a . orifice 36 c is generally larger in dimension than orifice 31 . specimen 38 is mounted immediately adjacent to spacer 36 b and is typically a 3 mm diameter disk which has been appropriately thinned at the central point 82 for tem imaging and analysis . specimen 38 is optimally provided with an outer rim thickness of up to 200 μm . to obtain an electron transparent region , the specimen is thinned at the central region from a few nanometers to tens of nanometers . other types of specimens can be particles dispersed onto a grid or fib lamellae attached to a support structure . spacer 36 a and window frame 32 a are provided with orifices 36 d and 31 a , respectively , and are mounted similarly to the corresponding spacer 36 b and window frame 30 a . the total assembly height is optimally 650 μm which corresponds to the e - cell cavity 101 depth . spacers 36 a and 36 b act as thermal insulators and help obtain the desired fluid path length above and below the specimen , and further provide the interior space within the e - cell 4 which contains the environmental fluid , as supplied to e - cell cavity by fluid inlet conduit 22 a and evacuated by fluid outlet conduit 22 b in a conventional manner . e - cell cavity 101 is nominally designed to incorporate window frames having thicknesses ranging from about 75 μm to about 325 μm . the window membrane material must be electron transparent , able to withstand high temperature , pressure differentials in and around the chamber , and should not react with the fluid present within the chamber and may comprise , for example , silicon nitride , silicon oxide or amorphous silicon as dictated by user requirements . the thickness of window membranes 31 , 31 a is limited by the cell pressures desired within the e - cell 4 . in one preferred embodiment , window membranes 31 and 31 a are constructed from silicon nitride deposited on a silicon substrate using low - pressure vapor deposition techniques ( lpcvd ). it has been shown that a pair of 15 nm thick silicon nitride membranes are able to withstand a pressure differential of up to one atmosphere . diffused scattering of the electrons passing through the membrane increases with increasing thickness , degrading the attainable resolution . the thickness therefore should be minimized . e - cell assembly 4 is restrained within e - cell cavity 101 by the action of lid 6 . lid 6 is provided with an o - ring receiving recess 102 a , corresponding to recess 102 in main body 12 , for receiving and restraining o - ring 44 b . o - ring 44 b provides a sealing engagement between lid 6 and window frame 32 a . this sealing engagement , when lid 6 is in the operative position , causes e - cell 4 to be restrained as a unit within e - cell cavity 101 for imaging and analysis . additional sealing of the e - cell cavity is provided by o - ring 44 c , disposed between main body 12 and lid 6 . additionally , clamp 6 a is slidingly engaged with lid 6 to more securely depress lid 6 into engagement with e - cell 4 . clamp 6 a is provided with a wedge shaped armature 6 b which is interposed between lid 6 and main body 12 . once lid 6 is engaged with tangs 10 in the operative position , clamp 6 a is slidingly displaced along track 11 ( as shown in fig3 a ) such that armature 6 b is increasingly interposed between lid 6 and main body 12 and its increasing height causes lid 6 to be pressed more completely against main body 12 on the side opposite armature 6 b . this causes lid 6 to more fully compress o - rings 44 a , b and c . it is to be specifically noted that those skilled in the art may utilize any sealing methodology other than o - rings to provide an enclosed environment for the e - cell cavity 101 and other aspects of the holder assembly . this sealing mechanism provides the user with the flexibility of establishing a wide range of fluid lengths . the external height of the e - cell 4 is only 2 . 3 mm which is compatible with the objective pole pieces of most major commercially available tems . in certain embodiments , the thickness of the components of the e - cell 4 may be adjusted to achieve a particular fluid path length above and below the specimen . however , the total height of the e - cell assembly 4 should not exceed 650 μm +/− 25 μm . tables 1 and 2 illustrate two different configurations of the e - cell 4 components to achieve a path length of 250 μm and 10 μm respectively . this assembly is illustrated in fig6 and 7 . table 1 shows an e - cell 4 configuration for use with thin specimens . in this embodiment , the spacers are not utilized in the assembly . the fluid path length totally comprises the specimen thickness of 10 μm . table 2 shows an e - cell 4 configuration for use with thicker specimens . as illustrated , the fluid path length is 250 μm , corresponding to the combined height of the specimen 38 and the top and bottom spacers 36 a and 36 b . the major contributor to the relatively large fluid path length is the specimen 38 thickness . as illustrated in fig6 the fluid path length configuration is 10 μm and in fig7 the fluid path length configuration is 250 μm . the unique e - cell 4 sealing mechanism provides the user with the flexibility to choose the desired fluid path length ranging from the specimen thickness to 500 μm . a fluid path length can be selected based on the required specimen temperature and the acceptable image resolution . if a very high specimen temperature is desired , it is recommended to have a greater fluid path length to minimize the negative effects of radiation . the use of a laser in the present system allows for high precision , localized heating of the tem specimen . the laser optical components for this holder are illustrated in fig3 and 8 - 10 . a standard laser connector 80 , for example a sma 905 laser connector , is provided at the handle 54 of the holder body ( fig4 and 10 ). such laser connectors are well known in the art and therefore will not be explained in detail here . the desired laser 500 is connected to the holder using the sma connector 80 . the laser beam 70 then enters a collimator 78 . collimator 78 helps produce a parallel laser beam and prevents it from diverging as it travels along the length of the holder barrel towards the specimen tip 2 . the converging lens module 72 located at the holder tip 2 focuses the beam to a fine spot . referring specifically to fig3 a and 3 b , converging lens module 72 is illustrated , having a slidable lens body 72 a which is disposed within barrel 50 such that it may be displaced along the longitudinal axis of the holder assembly 1 or may be angularly displaced to permit translation of laser beam 70 across the face of specimen 38 . an actuation rod ( not shown ) is inserted in port 176 and controls the longitudinal movement of lens body 72 a . this movement changes the focus and / or position of the laser beam and therefore the beam diameter at the point of contact with specimen 38 . a fluid line conduit 175 is located within lens body 72 a to permit the displacement of lens body 72 a without interference with the passage of the environmental fluid into e - cell 4 . lens 174 is partially visible in fig3 b and comprises at least one movable element which is utilized to focus the laser beam . lens body 72 a is laterally displaced with respect to main body 12 and is resiliently affixed thereto by springs 177 . the small diameter laser beam 70 strikes the laser mirror 15 and is reflected to a precise location on the specimen 38 within e - cell 4 . depending on the wavelength of the electromagnetic radiation and the focal length of the converging lens , the focused beam spot size at the specimen can be varied from a few to hundreds of microns . the collimator 78 , converging lens module 72 and the mirror 15 are precisely aligned so that the laser beam 70 clears the window frame 30 a through orifice 31 and strikes the specimen in the vicinity of the center point 82 . the window membrane is transparent to the laser beam 70 and does not absorb or reflect it . as a result , a radial symmetric heating zone is generated on the specimen . this allows for uniform expansion of the specimen at high temperatures , thus minimizing specimen drift . the laser optics of the present invention , i . e ., collimator 78 , converging lens 72 and minor 15 , act together to precisely focus laser beam 70 onto the e - cell 4 to attain high specimen temperatures . the maximum temperature that can be attained on the specimen is limited largely by the material properties of the specimen and the laser 500 power , thus creating a potential for applications in an extraordinary range of fields . the inventors have found that less than 1 watt of laser energy was required to raise the specimen temperature to 2 , 000 ° c . an additional advantage of the presently described specimen laser spot heating is the speed in which the steady state specimen temperature is achieved . most specimen reactions occur instantly once a critical temperature is obtained . standard tem heating holders utilizing resistive heaters have a slow heating response time and it takes a considerable amount of time to reach a steady state specimen temperature . the laser optics utilized in the present holder achieves sub millisecond heating response times due to the small heating zone . as a result , steady state specimen temperature is achieved instantly . the laser beam 70 can easily be modulated to provide dynamic thermal cycling of the specimen between ambient and elevated temperatures . pulsed lasers can be attached to the holder to provide pulses of energy within a time frame as small as few nano seconds . in addition , the laser heating system of the present invention is adjustable so that it may be used with a wide variety of specimens . the spot size of laser beam 70 may be adjusted by longitudinal displacement of lens body 72 a . this allows the flexibility of changing the laser power density . for example , it is possible to first melt a 10 μm hole in the specimen at high laser power density , thus locating the laser beam position within the microscope . the laser beam size may be increased to obtain the desired specimen temperature in the vicinity of the hole . referring now to fig1 , the fluid flow assembly design has the provision of flowing up to four different gases simultaneously through the cell . the various gases are provided in conventional cylinders 205 which are each in fluid communication with mass flow controllers 207 . mass flow controllers regulate the flow of gas under either manual or computer - operated control . a gas mixing chamber 209 is provided which combines the selected gases into a uniform composite which may be flowed to the holder assembly 1 through supply line 210 . supply line 210 is affixed to the appropriate fluid connector 82 and subsequently to fluid supply conduit 22 a . the uniform gas mixture is then circulated into the e - cell 4 . the continuous flow of gas is maintained with the help of the pressure differential generated between the inlet and the outlet ports of the holder by turbo molecular pump 215 mounted externally and the internal pressure of gas cylinder 205 . this pump in combination with diaphragm pump 220 and mass flow controllers 207 continuously flow the gas or gas mixture to supply the appropriate pressure within e - cell 4 , by means of gas exhaust line 210 a and gas supply line 210 . the primary consideration given towards the design of the gas flow system is the attainable pressure within e - cell 4 . higher gas pressures can be achieved by switching off the differential pumps and maintaining a steady flow of gas into e - cell 4 . the pressure inside e - cell 4 may be varied by simultaneously pumping the cell and / or regulating the mass flow rate of the gases . gas flow regulation as well as adjustments to the laser power may be either manually or computer controlled utilizing a standard computerized interface such as labview , a program developed by national instruments . similarly , an external liquid circulation unit can be attached to the holder in a similar fashion to incorporate biological applications that require the flow of liquids through the cell . the terms and expressions which have been employed herein are used as terms of description and not as limitation , and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof , it being recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed . although particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated in the foregoing detailed description , it is to be further understood that the present invention is not to be limited to just the embodiments disclosed , but that they are capable of numerous rearrangements , modifications and substitutions . | 7 |
the present invention provides improvements over existing technology in use today in several ways . a preferred embodiment of the invention creates a microtitration zone which permits the accurate testing of a small fluid sample and prevents over sampling , while the integrated capillary provides a means to eliminate the problems associated with short sampling which frequently occurs in the current commercial products . the capillary also provides a means of absorbing the fluid sample from a non finger stick location . this permits the use of non traditional lancing systems . the small test pad used in this invention reduces the cost of the matrix employed and the quantity of expensive reagents needed to conduct an accurate assay using an oxidase and peroxidase chemistry . with a smaller test pad , a smaller sample volume is adequate . it should be noted also that an electrode based test system could be used with the basic structure and elements of this invention . the test strip is comprised of a test pad situated in a test pad holder . this holder provides a means for accurately positioning the test pad with respect to the optics system in the meter and for providing a means for blocking ambient light from affecting the analysis . the test pad is impregnated with the appropriate chemistry to permit a colormetric analysis of the analyte being tested and must therefore provide a stable absorbent substrate . if the system is developed with an electrode base system the function of the test pad holder is position the electrode contacts on the strip with those corresponding to the meter . the test pad can be made from various materials which will hold the test reagent in a dried form , including polyethersulphone ( gelman sciences supor 200d ), polysulphone ( memtec filtration asymmetric membrane ) and nylon ( pall biodyne ). the wicking layer can likewise be selected from various materials , including pall accuwick and whatman 41 , which provide a high enough capillary action to absorb the sample and spread it to the reaction matrix . the test strip of this invention provides a support for the test pad and the capillary peg contacting the test pad . the peg positively seats in the meter in a detent and is locked from rotation by a corresponding key in the test strip which fits into a slot in the meter test strip holder . the test strip holder is positioned to the optics block using pins on the optics block assuring proper alignment of the test strip . it also seals the optics area from ambient light and any excess blood contamination . these features are more fully disclosed in application ser . no . 08 / 960 , 866 filed oct . 30 , 1997 now u . s . pat . no . 5 , 872 , 713 , which is incorporated herein by reference . the signal producing system impregnated in the test pad matrix can be formed from different indicator systems such as 3 - methyl - 2 - benzothiazolinone hydrazone ( mbth ) and 8 - anilino - 1 - naphthalenessulfonate ( ans ) [ u . s . pat . no . 5 , 453 , 360 yu ], mbth and 3 - dimethylaminobenzoic acid ( dmab ) [ u . s . pat . no . 5 , 049 , 487 phillips et al . ], 3 - methyl - 2 - benzothiazolinone - hydrazone - sulfonate sodium salt ( mbths ) and - ethyl - n -( 3 - sulfopropyl ) aniline ( alps ) [ u . s . pat . no . 4 , 396 , 714 maeda et al .]. one skilled in the art could devise an alternate indicator system . the oxidase enzyme system contained in the reagent pad produces hydrogen peroxide which is a used to convert the indicator with the assistance of peroxidase which acts as the catalyst . in the most preferred embodiment the reagents are impregnated into a porous membrane by submerging the dry membrane into a reagent dip . excess fluid is wiped from the membrane surface and the membrane is gently dried in an oven . at this point , subsequent dipping and drying can be conducted . a preferred embodiment for a two dip process is : ______________________________________mbths & amp ; alps formulation final concentrations______________________________________a dip in citrate buffer , ph 7 0 . 1 m stock a dip edta 0 . 08 % mannitol 0 . 19 % gantrez - s95 0 . 53 % klucel 99 - ef 20 um crotein - spa 7 . 45 % enzyme reagents glucose oxidase 0 . 92 % peroxidase 0 . 54 % b dip in 70 % ethanol mbths 0 . 66 % alps 2 . 00 % sos 0 . 20 % ______________________________________ the color formed after applying the bodily fluid to the reagent test pad is proportional to the amount of analyte in the applied sample . the meter measures the change in reflectance due to the development of the specific color generated by the indicator . this is either used as the input to a function which relates reflectance to analyte level or to a table which correlates reflectance value to analyte level . the function or the table is stored within the meter system for it to produce and display a reading of the analyte level . while most meters in use today employ functions to convert reflectance readings to analyte concentration , this approach requires that the function be stable and well understood . the use of a look up table permits the storage of specific values for reflectance and their corresponding analyte levels . the meter uses this table and interpolates between the table values to give relatively accurate readings . this is achievable in a system such as that described by this invention as the table can quickly be generated for each reagent lot produced . the devices of this invention using a read once calibration chip or being fully disposable can use a lot specific look up table to convert reflectance reading to analyte levels . fig1 shows an elevation view of the un - embossed layers , wicking layer 5 and test matrix layer 4 between the die 17 formed from top plate 16 containing hole 18 and bottom plate 15 . fig2 shows an elevation view of the embossed or compressed layers , wicking layer 5 and test matrix layer 4 between the die 17 formed from top plate 16 containing hole 18 and bottom plate 15 . hole 18 in die plate 16 forms the microtitration pillow 21 in the wicking layer 5 and in test matrix layer 4 . the areas of the layers surrounding pillow 21 are compressed to make them essentially impervious to sample liqud flow , thus forming the microtitration volumetric area around pillow 21 . fig3 shows an exploded perspective view of the embossed or compressed layers , wicking 5 and test matrix 4 as formed between the die 17 formed from top plate 16 and bottom plate 15 . the assembly of a test strip 20 shown in fig4 a is accomplished as shown in fig4 b . in a preferred embodiment bottom or support member 6 which has the capillary peg 7 and capillary 10 integrally molded therein ( e . g ., by injection molding ) and constructed so that microtitration pocket 8 has breather holes 9 located within the microtitration pocket 8 . or capillary peg 7 can be formed as a separate element and assembled into support member 6 if desired . fig2 shows the formation of the microtitration pillow 21 in matrix 4 and wicking layer 5 . the microtitration pillow 21 is formed using die 17 formed from top plate 16 and bottom plate 15 . by using a die to form the pillows the spacing of the pillows 21 can be formed in the matrix 4 and wicking 5 so that they align with the microtitration pocket 8 . when the top layer 1 is assembled on bottom member 6 with test matrix layer 4 and wicking layer 5 properly positioned as shown between layers 1 and 6 . test matrix pad 4 is formed from a bibulous matrix which has been impregnated with a reagent system comprised of enzymes , indicators and blood separation agents and the wicking matrix pad 5 provides a means of spreading the sample over the test pad 4 . layers or pads 4 and 5 are preferably embossed or compressed prior to assembly with layers 1 and 6 . the holes 22 and 23 formed in the top layer 1 and alignment keys 11 and 12 formed in holder 6 provide a means of aligning the test strip assembly including pillow 21 and hole 18a to the microtitration pocket 8 . the breather holes 9 provide an escape path for trapped air in the assembly pillow 21 when wicking the sample up the capillary 10 and into pillow 21 . fig5 shows an additional preferred feature of the present invention where capillary peg 7 and capillary tube 10 are formed with a protruding collar 25 extending from capillary tube 10 to engage and further compress pillow 21 . this feature provides a seal between capillary tube 10 and the surface of wicking layer 5 , which better forces the sample flow from capillary tube 10 into the interior of wicking layer 5 to better distribute the sample throughout test matrix layer 4 and completely fill microtitration volume 8 and to better prevent sample from flowing between the surface of wicking layer 5 and the surface of the end of capillary peg 7 . | 8 |
preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings . referring to fig1 , a liquid cooling medium circulation system for an exposure apparatus , according to a first embodiment of the present invention , will be described . the reference numerals in fig1 similar to those referred to in the conventional structure shown in fig5 are assigned to corresponding elements . in this embodiment , a plurality of heat exhausting members 11 are used . generally , the liquid cooling medium circulation system of the exposure apparatus according to the first embodiment is arranged to cool , by means of a liquid - like cooling medium ( coolant ), the heat exhausting member which exhausts heat to cool the components housed inside an exposure apparatus such as shown in fig4 . a reservoir 16 is a container which is filled with a cooling medium ( coolant ) 15 . a supply pump 17 is a device which is provided at the upstream side of the heat exhausting members 11 , for supplying the cooling medium 15 from the reservoir 16 . a heating device 18 is a heater for heating the cooling medium 15 supplied thereto from the supply pump 17 . a temperature controller 21 is a device for controlling the heating temperature at the heater 18 so as to maintain the temperature of the cooling medium 15 at a predetermined temperature . jackets 13 are formed in the heat exhausting members 11 , and the cooling medium 15 is supplied thereto from the heater 18 . a pressure reducing pump 1 is provided at the downstream side of the heat exhausting members 11 . it is communicated with each jacket 13 to reduce the pressure inside the jacket 13 . a cooling device 19 is a device for exhausting heat out of the cooling medium 15 as supplied from the pressure reducing pump 1 . the circulation system 12 includes the components described above . the cooling medium 15 is temperature adjusted in a similar manner as has been described with reference to the conventional coolant circulation system shown in fig5 . the pressure at the suction port of the pressure reducing pump 1 corresponds to the remainder that remains when the head δph of the pressure reducing pump 1 is subtracted from the pressure loss δpr from the pressure reducing pump 1 to the reservoir 16 . thus , a negative pressure is reduced if the head generated by the pressure reducing pump 1 is larger than the pressure loss downstream of it . furthermore , if the pressure reducing pump 1 is disposed at a position higher than the reservoir 16 and when the height ( level ) difference therebetween is denoted by h , the liquid cooling medium density is denoted by ρ and the gravitational acceleration is denoted by g , the pressure is reduced by an amount corresponding to “ ρgh ”. however , in liquid medium pumping , there is a negative pressure limit ( vacuum limit ) depending on the vapor pressure of the liquid cooling medium at a used temperature thereof as well as the required npsh of the pump itself . if the level is lower than the negative pressure limit value , cavitation occurs and the cooling medium pumping is no more attainable . additionally , the components of the circulation system may be damages seriously . in consideration of this and in order to avoid cavitation , a pressure sensor 2 is provided to detect the pressure at the suction port of the pressure reducing pump 1 , where the pressure becomes lowest . in addition to this , a pressure - reducing - pump suction pressure adjusting means that comprises a back pressure adjusting valve 3 , disposed downstream of the pressure reducing pump 1 , is newly provided . more specifically , the pressure loss at the downstream side of the pressure reducing pump 1 is adjusted by means of the back pressure adjusting valve 3 to avoid the suction pressure to go beyond the negative pressure limit . alternatively , a pressure control system ( not shown ) that controls the back pressure adjusting valve 3 while using the pressure sensor 2 as an input and the back pressure adjusting valve 3 as an output , may be provided to assure that the suction pressure of the pressure reducing pump 1 is maintained at a predetermined constant pressure . the flow rate adjustment is carried out by using flow rate adjusting means that comprises a flow rate adjusting valve 4 and a flow rate sensor 5 which are disposed between the heat exhausting member 11 and the supply pump 17 . by disposing the flow rate adjusting valve 4 at the upstream side of the heat exhausting member 11 , a pressure rise corresponding to the pressure loss is prevented . where a plurality of heat exhausting members are used such as in the first embodiment , preferably each member should be provided with similar flow rate adjusting means . alternatively , a flow rate control system ( not shown ) that controls the flow rate adjusting valve 4 while using the flow rate sensor 5 as an input and the flow rate adjusting valve 4 as an output , may be provided to assure that the flow rate is maintained at a predetermined constant level . in accordance with the first embodiment described above , the pressure to be applied to the heat exhausting member 11 can be reduced by an amount corresponding to the sum of the pressure loss downstream of the pressure reducing pump 1 and the negative pressure limit . furthermore , with the provision of the suction pressure adjusting means for the pressure reducing pump 1 , any differences in height or in pipe pressure loss can be absorbed flexibly . for enhanced pressure reduction effect , the pressure reducing pump 1 should preferably be disposed downstream of and yet quite close to the heat exhausting member as much as possible . next , referring to fig2 , a liquid cooling medium circulation system for an exposure apparatus , according to a second embodiment of the present invention , will be described . similar reference numerals are assigned to the components of this embodiment corresponding to those of the first embodiment shown in fig1 . in this embodiment , the suction pressure adjusting means for the pressure reducing pump 1 comprises a pressure - reducing - pump revolution control system 6 that controls the revolution speed of the pressure reducing pump 1 while using the pressure sensor 2 as an input and the pressure reducing pump 1 as an output , to assure that the suction pressure of the pressure reducing pump 1 is maintained at a predetermined constant pressure . furthermore , the flow rate adjusting means comprises a supply pump revolution control system 7 that controls the revolution speed of the supply pump 17 while using the flow rate sensor 5 as an input and the supply pump 17 as an output , to assure that a predetermined constant flow rate is maintained . a similar pressure reducing effect is attainable with this embodiment , like the first embodiment . next , referring to fig3 , a liquid cooling medium circulation system for an exposure apparatus , according to a third embodiment of the present invention , will be described . similar reference numerals are assigned to the components of this embodiment corresponding to those of the first and embodiments shown in fig1 and 2 . in this embodiment , there is a bypass pipe 8 that extends without passing through the flow rate adjusting valves 4 and the heat exhausting members 11 . in addition to this , a shut - off valve 9 is provided at the downstream side of a branching point 8 a of the bypass pipe 8 and at the upstream side of the heat exhausting member 11 . furthermore , another shut - off valve 9 is provided at the upstream side of the junction point 8 b of the bypass pipe 8 and at the downstream side of the heat exhausting member 11 . also , a bypass flow rate adjusting valve 10 is provided along the bypass pipe 8 . where the flow rate adjustment is made manually by using the flow rate adjusting valve 4 and if the supply pump 17 is started before the adjustment is made , it is possible that the liquid medium flows at a flow rate more than a predetermined and the pressure goes beyond the withstand pressure . if the flow rate adjusting valve is restricted to prevent this , it leads to disadvantageous non - discharge operation of the supply pump 17 . in consideration of this , the bypass pipe 8 and the shut - off valve 9 are provided as a protecting means for the heat exhausting member 11 . in operation , while keeping the shut - off valve 9 closed , the supply pump 17 is started with the bypass pipe 8 , and a pseudo pressure loss of the heat exhausting member 11 is generated through the bypass flow rate adjusting valve 10 on the bypass pipe 8 . furthermore , after the flow rate adjustment , the shut - off valve 9 is opened and the flow rate adjusting valve 4 is opened while the bypass flow rate adjusting valve is restricted . by this , any problems due to the pressure rise in the initial flow rate adjustment are avoided . next , an embodiment of a device manufacturing method which uses an exposure apparatus described above , will be explained with reference to an example of semiconductor device manufacture . fig6 is a flow chart for explaining the overall procedure for semiconductor device manufacture . step 1 is a design process for designing a circuit of a semiconductor device . step 2 is a process for making a mask on the basis of the circuit pattern design . on the other hand , step 3 is a process for preparing a wafer by using a material such as silicon . step 4 is a wafer process which is called a pre - process wherein , by using the thus prepared mask and wafer , a circuit is formed on the wafer in practice , in accordance with lithography . step 5 subsequent to this is an assembling step which is called a post - process wherein the wafer having been processed at step 4 is formed into semiconductor chips . this step includes an assembling ( dicing and bonding ) process and a packaging ( chip sealing ) process . step 6 is an inspection step wherein an operation check , a durability check an so on , for the semiconductor devices produced by step 5 , are carried out . with these processes , semiconductor devices are produced , and finally they are shipped ( step 7 ). more specifically , the wafer process at step 4 described above includes : ( i ) an oxidation process for oxidizing the surface of a wafer ; ( ii ) a cvd process for forming an insulating film on the wafer surface ; ( iii ) an electrode forming process for forming electrodes upon the wafer by vapor deposition ; ( iv ) an ion implanting process for implanting ions to the wafer ; ( v ) a resist process for applying a resist ( photosensitive material ) to the wafer ; ( vi ) an exposure process for exposing the resist - coated wafer to light or patterned radiation , through the circuit pattern of the mask , by using the exposure apparatus described above ; ( vii ) a developing process for developing the exposed wafer ; ( viii ) an etching process for removing portions other than the developed resist image ; and ( ix ) a resist separation process for separating the resist material remaining on the wafer after being subjected to the etching process . by repeating these processes , circuit patterns are superposedly formed on the wafer . as described hereinbefore , the liquid cooling medium circulation system according to the embodiments of the present invention explained above may comprise a supply pump disposed upstream of a heat exhausting member , for supplying a cooling medium thereto from a reservoir , and a pressure reducing pump provided downstream of the heat exhausting member and being communicated with a jacket , to reduce the pressure in the jacket . with this arrangement , even for a heat exhausting member having a low withstand pressure , the flow rate of the cooling medium can be enlarged without causing a pressure increase and , as a result of it , a thermal influence can be reduced . hence , components housed inside the exposure apparatus , such as stages , for example , can be cooled while assuring a high throughput . 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 . this application claims priority from japanese patent application no . 308968 / 2005 filed oct . 24 , 2005 , for which is hereby incorporated by reference . | 6 |
according to the present invention , a polyamino - triazine , i . e ., a triazine having a plurality of substituted or unsubstituted amino groups attached , is reacted with formaldehyde to form the basic resin . numerous polyaminotriazines are suitable for use in the process , such as melamine ( 2 , 4 , 6 - triamino - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazine ), benzoguanamine , diallylmelamine , and mixtures of these and other such polyamino - triazines . the term formaldehyde includes not only formaldehyde itself but also compounds yielding formaldehyde , for instance , paraformaldehyde and the like . formaldehyde is generally preferred for use as the aldehyde component , usually in the form of an aqueous 30 to 45 percent solution since the resin preparation is generally carried out in an aqueous medium . the mole ratio of polyamino - triazine to formaldehyde is not particularly critical and may range from about 2 to about 7 depending on the particular polyamino - triazine employed and the characteristics desired in the final product . for the preferred system of melamine and formaldehyde , a ratio of 3 to 5 moles formaldehyde per mole of melamine has been found most suitable for the process of the invention . the condensation reactions of polyamino - triazines and formaldehyde are considerably influenced by ph , and the optimum ph range for the precipitation of macroporous resins has been determined to be from about 2 to about 5 . consequently , the use of a condensation - catalyzing acid in the process is recommended . catalysts such as formic acid , sulfuric acid , hydrochloric acid , and acetic acid may be employed . formic acid has proven to be most effective in the process and is the preferred catalyst . the amount of acid catalyst may range from about 0 . 01 to about 0 . 10 moles per mole of melamine , with 0 . 04 to 0 . 06 moles being the usual concentration . the use of an effective miscible organic porogen is essential to the preparation of macroporous resins having the desired characteristics of high adsorptivity and large surface area . the porogen should be inert and miscible with all of the reactants . during the condensation , it serves as an internal diluent to introduce the desired sponge - like macroporous structure into the finished resin . the porogen may be selected from organics such as alcohols , thiols , amides , ethers , esters , or mixtures thereof . the preferred porogen for the process of the invention is n - propanol , which is miscible with all of the initial reactants in the process and has an appropriate boiling point ( 97 °) which is above the normal polymerization temperature yet is low enough to allow eventual removal at the usual drying temperatures . the porogen may be present over a broad range of concentration in the reaction mixture , usually from about 5 to about 30 percent of the total volume . concentrations in the range of 16 to 20 volume percent have been found to result in the optimum adsorptivity in the product resin for the preferred melamine - formaldehyde system . other specific porogens useful in the process include ethoxyethanol and dimethylformamide . since the resin preparation is carried out in an aqueous medium , the total quantity of solids in the initial reaction mix is not critical and normally ranges from 30 to 55 percent by weight of the total mixture . a solids content of about 45 percent has been found to produce the most suitable resins with lower amounts resulting in a more friable resin and higher amounts reducing the porosity of the product . the monomers , catalyst , and porogen are all charged into an appropriately sized reaction kettle , usually of glass or stainless steel construction and equipped with conventional heating and agitation means . the ph of the reaction mix is in the range of 2 to 5 initially . the reaction mix is gradually heated and agitated until solution of the initial reactants is complete , then heating is continued until polymerization begins and a gel forms . this initial reaction may be carried out at temperatures ranging from about 65 ° c . to about 95 ° c ., preferably at from about 70 ° c . to about 85 ° c . the initial reaction time is dependent upon the temperature employed and on the rate of heat input into the reaction mixture . the average rate of temperature increase in the reaction mix is preferably maintained in the range of 0 . 5 ° to 5 ° c ./ min . until gelation . reaction times will increase as the initial temperature is reduced . at 75 ° c ., the reaction may continue for more than 30 minutes . the reaction can be conducted under pressure , which will affect the temperatures and times recited . after the initial reaction , the resin is cured at from ambient to 100 ° c . for about 2 to 20 hours . the cure time may be shortened by elevating the temperature to the higher end of the range . during the curing step , the condensation goes to completion and the degree of cross - linking increases . completion of curing can be determined by measurement of the resin stability to acid hydrolysis . during this step , the porogen is removed from the rigid polymer matrix by evaporation without substantial effect on the volume of the gelled resin . the miscible porogen may also be washed out with the aqueous phase either during or subsequent to the curing . the product resin is then crushed , ground to the desired particle size ( preferably less than about 2000 microns ) and washed . the resin has the physical appearance of chalk . characteristic materials will have a surface area of over 10 m 2 / g and up to about 1000 m 2 / g as measured by b . e . t . nitrogen multipoint analysis and a porosity of 0 . 2 to 1 . 0 as measured by heptane regain . resistance to oxidation , as measured by h 2 o 2 oxidation , is 100 percent at ambient temperatures for up to 5 hours . the typical resin has an adsorption capacity of over 200 kg / m 3 of color as cobalt chloroplatinate for paper pulp mill &# 34 ; e &# 34 ; effluent compared to conventional nonporous amino resin adsorptivity of less than 50 kg / m 3 . the finished resin may be further treated by known methods , for example , reaction with epichlorohydrin and / or amination , to provide materials having different characteristics . the resins of the invention have particular utility in removing organic materials from fluid media by adsorption . by virtue of the combination of polar surface and chemical composition , the resins are efficient in the removal of acidic high molecular weight solutes from aqueous solution . these solutes can be desorbed from the resin by a variety of means , including peroxide treatment , which gives them an advantage over phenol - formaldehyde materials of similar structure . a typical application is in the treatment of paper pulp mill effluent which contains color bodies in the form of condensed guiacylpropane type structures , with carbonyl and carboxyl groups as well as phenolic hydroxyl . such materials are effectively removed by contact with the macroporous resins of the invention . the resins also exhibit equilibrium adsorptive capacities for typical organic materials , i . e ., 85 to 90 percent removal in a 0 . 01 m p - nitrophenol solution and 70 percent removal in munitions plant red water effluent . 225 g of melamine , 536 ml of formaldehyde ( 37 percent , aqueous ), 240 ml of n - propanol and 12 ml of 88 percent formic acid were mixed in a jacketed resin kettle equipped with stirrer , condenser and thermometer . the mixture was stirred and heated to 80 ° c . until gelation occurred , after about 20 minutes . the temperature was held at about 80 ° c . for 16 hours to cure the resin . after cooling , the product was removed from the kettle , ground , and water washed . the resin was an opaque solid with a pore volume of 0 . 6 ml / g , a surface area of 160 m 2 / g and an adsorption capacity to paper pulp mill effluent of 280 kg / m 3 as cobalt chloroplatinate . 765 g of melamine , 1608 ml of formaldehyde ( 37 percent ), 720 ml of n - propanol and 36 ml of 88 percent formic acid were combined as in example 1 . the mixture was stirred and heated to 75 ° c . until gelation ( about 30 minutes ). heating was continued for an additional 12 hours at 80 ° c . after cooling , grinding and washing the product , resin was a white opaque solid with a pore volume of 0 . 74 ml / g , a surface area of 180 m 2 / g and an adsorption capacity to paper pulp mill effluent of 360 kg / m 3 as cobalt chloroplatinate . 44 . 3 g of melamine , 63 . 2 g of paraformaldehyde , 85 ml of water , 57 ml of n - propanol and 1 . 9 ml of 95 percent sulfuric acid were combined as in example 1 . the mixture was stirred and heated to 78 ° c . until gelation occurred . heating was continued at about 80 ° c . for an additional 16 hours after which the material was cooled , ground and washed . the product was then heated at 100 ° c . for an additional 48 hours . the resulting resin was a white opaque solid with a pore volume of 0 . 35 ml / g and an adsorption capacity for paper pulp mill effluent of 125 mg / m 3 as cobalt chloroplatinate . 63 g of melamine , 150 . 5 ml of formaldehyde ( 37 percent ), 25 ml of ethoxyethanol , 75 ml of water , and 3 . 35 ml of 88 percent formic acid were mixed as in example 1 . the mixture was agitated and heated to 80 ° c . until gelation occurred . heating was continued at 80 ° c . for an additional 23 hours . the material was cooled , ground and washed . the resin was an opaque solid with a surface area of 213 m 2 / g . 63 g of melamine , 150 . 5 ml of formaldehyde ( 37 percent ), 25 ml of dimethylformamide , 75 ml of water , and 3 . 35 ml of 88 percent formic acid were mixed and reacted as in example 4 . the resin produce was an opaque solid with a surface area of 211 m 2 / g . the macroporous resins of the invention were prepared on a larger scale , using a polymerization kettle with a capacity of 190 liters . the reactants were added in the following order with agitation -- 104 . 9 liter formaldehyde ( 37 percent , aqueous , methanol inhibited ), 44 . 1 kg melamine , 47 liter n - propanol , and 2 . 35 liter 88 percent formic acid . the contents of the kettle were heated gradually , with stirring . the stirrer was removed when the mixture reached about 65 ° c ., and heating was continued until gelation occurred . a mild exotherm then raised the temperature to 80 ° to 85 ° c . the kettle jacket temperature was then raised to about 85 ° c ., and this temperature was maintained for 4 hours . the resin product was then cooled , ground and washed . reaction conditions and product characteristics for several batches are shown in the following table . table i______________________________________ color gel time rate of heat surface area removalbatch ( min ) to gel (° c ./ min ) ( m . sup . 2 / g ) ( kg / m . sup . 3 ) ______________________________________1 25 2 . 4 * 3202 22 2 . 7 180 3003 18 3 . 3 220 2504 18 3 . 4 250 2655 16 3 . 7 245 2606 16 4 . 4 260 350______________________________________ (* not measured ) the resin prepared in example 1 was used in the decolorization of tannin - containing surface water . a stream of 600 apha surface water was passed through a 50 ml volume of the resin in a 1 - inch diameter column at a rate of 11 ml / minute . a total of 12 . 5 liters of water was decolorized to an average of 25 apha units with a maximum color of 75 apha units . a resin prepared as in example 1 was used in the decolorization of an naoh extract of a bleached sulfate paper pulp mill liquor , termed the &# 34 ; e &# 34 ; effluent . the caustic extract , having a total color of 5 , 355 apha units , was adjusted to ph 4 . the solution was then passed through 50 ml of resin in a 2 cm diameter glass column at the rate of 5 ml / minute ( 6 bed volumes / hour ). the column effluent was collected in aliquots , the ph was adjusted to 7 . 6 , and comparison was made with standards prepared from the feed solution to determine the percent of color removed . the run was terminated at the arbitrary point where color removal had dropped to 70 percent . for the resin of the invention , this occurred after a total color throughput of 350 kg / m 3 , expressed as cobalt chloroplatinate . three other commercially available adsorbent resins were tested in the same manner , and the results are shown in the following table . table ii______________________________________ kg / m . sup . 3 total color throughputresin to reach 70 % removal______________________________________example 1 350amberlite ® xad - 2 28amberlite ® xad - 7 120amberlite ® xad - 8 80______________________________________ ( amberlite resins are available from rohm and haas company ) | 2 |
the present invention is directed to topical compositions for the treatment of acne , which are preferably non - irritating , and methods for treating acne by inhibiting the growth of p . acnes using an extract of at least one of grape seed , green tea , and cranberry . the grape seed and green tea extracts are preferably prepared as dried powders , while cranberry juice concentrate may be used without drying . green tea extract is preferably prepared from the leaves of camellia sinensis . the tea leaves are collected and dried , and then cut , crushed , soaked , and extracted , preferably with a hydro - alcoholic solvent . the liquid extract is collected , and the alcohol is preferably removed under vacuum . a portion of the water may also be removed by vacuum . the extract may then be mixed with an appropriate carrier , and spray dried . the cranberry extract is preferably prepared from the berries of vaccinium macrocarpon . the whole berries are cold pressed to produce single strength juice . the juice is preferably then blended with an appropriate carrier , and spray dried . grape seed extract is preferably prepared from the seeds of vitis vinifera . the seeds are collected and dried , and then soaked and extracted , preferably with an alcohol solvent . the liquid extract is collected , and the alcohol is preferably removed under vacuum until the residue is dry . the extract is preferably applied in an appropriate carrier in an amount of from about 0 . 03 to about 1 percent based on the weight of the composition . the concentration may be varied , depending on whether the composition is left on the skin after application , or is removed , such as by rinsing or washing . preferably , a composition of the invention is applied 1 to 3 times a day . as a result of the efficacy of the compositions of the invention , they may be substantially free of prior art acne treatments , such as copper lanolate , ( 5 , 4b )- isothiazolo pyridine - 3 - one , vitamin a , vitamin a derivatives , and amphiphilic lipid vesicles . the compositions of the invention may also be used with prior art facial washes for deep cleansing , skin creams , lotions , sun screens , anti - aging creams and lotions , and moisturizers to add anti - acne benefits . in addition , the compositions of the invention may be used in combination with prior art acne treatments . an in - vitro assay of the effectiveness of grape seed , cranberry , and green tea extracts as inhibitors of the growth of p . acnes was performed in a reinforced , clostridium medium , inoculated with p . acnes . in each assay , one of a 1 , 3 - butylene glycol control and one or more extracts in 1 percent dmso was added to the inoculated growth medium to provide samples having extract concentrations of 1 , 0 . 5 , 0 . 125 , 0 . 063 , 0 . 032 , 0 . 016 , and 0 . 008 percent . each of the extract solutions was prepared as follows . a dried , acetone extract in the form of a dry powder in an amount of 35 percent by weight was mixed with 35 percent 1 , 3 - butylene glycol , and 30 percent water . a pressed , single - strength cranberry juice concentrate in an amount of 80 percent by weight , was mixed with 20 percent 1 , 3 - butylene glycol . a dried alcohol / water extract of green tea leaf in an amount of 35 percent by weight was mixed with 35 percent 1 , 3 - butylene glycol and 30 percent water . three mixtures containing grape seed extract were also tested . the grape seed / cranberry mixture contained 35 percent by weight of the dried grape seed extract , 50 percent of the cranberry juice concentrate , and 15 percent 1 , 3 - butylene glycol . the grape seed / green tea extract mixture contained 25 percent by weight of each of the dried grape seed and green tea extracts , 20 percent 1 , 3 - butylene glycol , and 30 percent water . the last mixture contained 25 percent by weight of each of the dried grape seed and green tea extracts , 20 percent of the cranberry juice concentrate , 10 percent 1 , 3 - butylene glycol , and 20 percent water . following inoculation and the addition of 0 . 03 ml of a control or extract solution , each 3 ml sample was incubated for 2 days at 37 ° c . a turbidity measurement and a plating count of a subcultures was performed to determine the efficacy of each extract solution and the control . the observed results were as follows . no inhibition was observed with the 1 , 3 - butylene glycol control solution . significant inhibition was observed in all samples containing with both the grape seed extract alone and the mixture of grape seed and green tea extracts . therefore , the minimum concentration required for inhibition of p . acnes by both the grape seed extract alone and the mixture of grape seed and green tea extracts is no more than 0 . 032 percent by weight . significant inhibition was observed in all samples of the mixture of grape seed extract and cranberry juice concentrate and the mixture of grape seed and green tea extracts with the cranberry juice concentrate at concentrations of at least 0 . 063 percent by weight . therefore , the minimum concentration of those mixtures required for the inhibition of p . acnes is no more than 0 . 063 percent by weight . substantial inhibition of p . acnes was observed in all samples of the green tea extract having a concentration of at least 0 . 125 percent by weight . therefore , the minimum concentration of green tea extract required for the inhibition of p . acnes is no more than 0 . 125 percent by weight . for the cranberry juice concentrate , the observed minimum concentration required to inhibit p . acnes was 1 percent by weight . accordingly , it will be appreciated that the present invention has been described with references to particular preferred embodiments that are now contemplated . however , the invention is not limited by the embodiments disclosed herein and it will be appreciated that numerous modifications and other embodiments may be devised by those skilled in the art . therefore , it is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications and embodiments that fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention . | 0 |
fig1 which illustrates a preferred embodiment of the lead of the present invention , shows a lead 10 originating at a connector portion 11 and terminating an electrode 12 . the connector portion 11 is of the type commonly referred to as pin form and is illustrative only , any connector configuration capable of efficiently making contact with a remote electrical device , such as a pulse generator , being sufficient . between the connector portion 11 and electrode 12 is a conductor 14 encased in an insulating material 15 which is generally inert to body fluids and tissues . the conductor 14 may be of any type known in the art and may comprise braided , coiled , tinsel wire or otherwise . again the particular construction and composition of the connector portion 11 , conductor 14 and insulating material 15 is known to the prior art in forms a part of the present invention only in combination with the electrode 12 . the electrode 12 is composed of a first arcuate pincer 17 whose free end is in spaced opposing relation to the free end of a second arcuate pincer 18 . in the embodiment of fig1 the pincer 17 and 18 are generally semi - circular and may comprise a single length of rod or wire bent at its midpoint in the configuration shown . the conductor 14 contacts the pincers 17 and 18 at the midpoint . electrical and mechanical connection is maintained by use of conductive epoxy at the contact point . in a preferred embodiment , the conductor and a section of wire near the midpoint are crimped together within a tubular crimping member 20 shown in section 1 . the remaining exposed areas of the terminus of conductor 14 and the midpoint is insulated by nonconductive adhesive material 23 . alternately , the conductor 14 may be welded to the member 20 to provide a strong electrical connection . the member 20 is shown in fig1 with an encapsulating sleeve 26 which extends over a portion of the insulating material 15 and to the insulating adhesive material 23 . this sleeve 26 may be of a material identical to that of the insulating material 15 and functions to insulate the crimping member 20 while providing a stress relief for the connection between the electrode 12 and the conductor 14 . also shown in fig1 are pincer insulating members 27 and 28 which extend from the sleeve 26 over the portion of the pincers 17 and 18 , respectively . these insulating members function to increase the current density at the interface between the electrode 12 and the body organ to which it is connected by reducing the effective conductive surface area of the electrode 12 . of course , in some situations current density control may not be critical or may be within an optimum range without insulating members 27 and 28 . therefore , it is to be understood that the insulating members 27 and 28 are optional on the construction of the electrode 12 , their use being dependent upon placement of the electrode and its intended use , among other things . the uninsulated free ends of the pincers 17 and 18 may terminate in cutting surfaces and may be dimensioned to pierce a fold of body tissue and to touch or overlap one another . referring now to fig2 there is depicted a preferred embodiment of the insertion tool 30 used in the attachment of the lead 10 of fig1 to a fold of a body organ . in fig3 a cross sectional view along the lines a -- a of the insertion tool of fig2 is depicted . the insertion tool 30 of fig2 and 3 may be of unitary construction preferably manufactured by injection molding of an insulating plastic material , such as an acetyl homopolymer or copolymer thermoplastic . insertion tool 30 comprises first means for securely gripping the first and second spaced organ engaging pincers 17 and 18 of the lead of fig1 and second means for applying compressive force on the first and second spaced organ engaging pincers 17 and 18 to mechanically deform them . the first mentioned means comprises the grooves 31 and 32 , respectively , located in the inner , opposite planer surfaces of the jaws 36 and 37 of the tool 30 . the second means includes the circular bores 33 and 34 extending through the jaws 36 and 37 which are engageable by the tip members or jaws of a forceps or other compression tool . a third means comprising stop member 35 is provided to limit the extent of deformation of the first and second pincers 17 and 18 in a manner to be described more completely hereinafter . as depicted in fig2 the insertion tool 30 is generally c - shaped having two first and second elongated portions or jaws 36 and 37 , respectively . an arcuate portion 38 joins the elongated portions 36 and 37 together . by reference to fig3 it will be noted that the insertion tool 30 is of a uniform thickness except at the free ends of the jaws 36 and 37 . at the free ends , the jaws 36 and 37 are tapered so that thickness reduces gradually to half that at the coupling portion 38 . the tapered surfaces 38 &# 39 ; of the jaws 36 and 37 provide a clearer view of the pincers 17 and 18 during the attachment procedure . it will be appreciated that the tapered surfaces 38 &# 39 ; may appear on both sides of the jaws 36 and 37 in other embodiments thereof . in the inner surfaces of the free ends of the first and second portions 36 and 37 there are located , as mentioned before , the grooves 31 and 32 , respectively . as shown in fig2 these grooves are arcuate and conform to the arc of the pincers 17 and 18 of the lead 10 . as shown in fig3 the arcuate grooves 31 and 32 have a predetermined width that is dimensioned to provide frictional engagement with the pincers 17 and 18 . the grooves 31 and 32 have a normal , relaxed , spacing apart that is slightly less than that of the outer surfaces of the first and second pincers 17 and 18 , so that the pincers are securely gripped by the tool 30 in their open position . the thickness of the insertion tool 30 is selected to provide an offset space for the stop member 35 and the gripping means 31 and 32 , and so that the sleeve 26 of the lead 10 may be accommodated in the space between the jaws 36 and 37 . in addition , the dimensions including the thickness of the insertion tool are designed to provide sufficient strength to conduct force exerted on the insertion tool 30 directly to the pincers 17 and 18 . referring now to fig4 there is shown in perspective a view of the lead 10 securely placed in the insertion tool 30 . as shown in fig4 the pincers 17 and 18 have been manually pressed into the grooves 31 and 32 , and the electrode 12 is supported by the insertion tool 30 . the portion of the lead 10 including the sleeve 26 remains loosely in the space between the jaws 36 and 37 and the conductor 15 exits from the insertion tool 30 along one side of the arcuate portion 38 . referring now to fig5 there is depicted a standard thoracic instrument such as a right angle forceps 40 ( mueller model ch - 1725 tonsil forceps , for example ) with its jaws 41 and 42 inserted into the holes 33 and 34 , respectively , of the insertion tool depicted in fig2 - 4 . the right angle forceps 40 may be used both to place the lead 10 into the grooves of the insertion tool and is intended to be used to exert force upon the pincers 17 and 18 to mechanically deform them about or through a fold of body tissue . the lead 10 is placed upon the insertion tool 30 by inserting the jaws of the forceps 40 into the two holes 33 and 34 and applying a slight opening pressure on the forceps 40 which in turn will spread the jaws 36 and 37 of the insertion tool 30 apart slightly . at this time , the lead 10 can be placed in the insertion tool 30 by visually aligning the pincers 17 and 18 with the grooves 31 and 32 , respectively . slowly releasing the pressure of the forceps 40 allows the insertion tool 30 to return to its free state . the lead 10 will now be held in place as shown in fig4 . when inserting the lead 10 into the insertion tool 30 , care should be taken to avoid damaging the silicone rubber insulation 27 and 28 , if any , of fig1 . to apply the lead to a fold of body tissue , the forceps jaws 41 and 42 are again inserted into the holes 33 and 34 of the insertion tool 30 . in fig5 a right angle forceps 40 is depicted . in the actual use of the device , a forceps should be selected that will give the best view and most comfortable angle of approach to the fold of body tissue selected for attachment to the lead 10 . as depicted in fig5 the forceps 40 is preferably inserted into the holes 33 and 34 from the side of the insertion tool 30 possessing the tapered surfaces 38 &# 39 ;, so that a clear view of the pincers 17 and 18 may be retained during insertion . light pressure should be exerted on the forceps 40 to prevent the insertion tool 30 from dropping off the jaws 41 and 42 . alternatively , if the forceps jaws 41 and 42 are tapered , the tool 30 may be pressed onto the tapered jaws in the manner depicted . while holding the folded body tissue , such as the atrial appendage of the heart with a convenient forceps or clamp , the surgeon is expected to slip the fold of tissue between the opened pincers 17 and 18 at the desired site of electrode placement . thereupon while holding the tissue in place , the surgeon closes the forceps 40 until a moderate force , resulting from the engagement of the stop member 35 with the portion 37 of the insertion tool 30 , is felt . at this point , the first and second pincers 17 and 18 should be fully closed and attached to the folded body tissue . the surgeon then reopens the forceps 40 to spread apart the jaws of the insertion tool 30 to remove it from the electrode 12 . the distal portion of the lead 10 should be inspected for proper closure of the pincers 17 and 18 . lead placement should now be complete and electrical measurements taken to insure that proper stimulation or sensing thresholds have been achieved . if thresholds are too high , the lead can be removed by inserting a closed forceps into the exposed portion of the electrode between the pincers 17 and 18 and then opening the forceps only enough to spread the pincers 17 and 18 far enough apart to withdraw the folded body tissues . the correct opening of the jaw pincers 17 and 18 may be measured by slipping the pincers 17 and 18 over the arcuate portion 38 of the insertion tool 30 . the lead must be adjusted to this dimension before attempting to re - insert it . while not shown in the drawings , a length of string may be attached to the arcuate portion 38 , so that the tool 30 may be withdrawn from the incision in case it slips off the jaws of the forceps . when the lead of the present invention is attached to the atrium or atrial appendage , the pincers will perforate the heart wall . inasmuch as these chambers are low pressure , there will be no excessive bleeding , the punctures being very analogous to those occurring in the prior art suturing techniques . when the electrode is applied to the ventricle , the thickness of the ventricle wall will prevent a perforation . again , wherever the electrode is to be placed there must be some penetration . the combination of the insertion tool 30 and the lead 10 provides more reliability and versatility for application of the lead 10 to body tissue . in the absence of the insertion tool 30 , the use of conventionally available forceps or surgical clip applicators , such as that depicted in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 777 , 538 has resulted in unreliable and difficult placement and attachment of the lead 10 to body tissue . slippage usually occurs between the applicating tool or forceps and the pincers 17 and 18 of the electrode 12 . in addition , either too little or too much force may be applied to the pincers 17 and 18 through use of the conventional instruments , resulting in unreliable attachments of the lead 10 . these and other advantages of the invention may be realized in alternate embodiments of the insertion tool . while not expressly depicted herein , it will be realized that the insertion tool 30 could take other shapes and forms that allow for the secure attachment of the electrode 12 to the applicator tool and for the application of force to the pincers 17 and 18 . for example , the outer surfaces of the insertion tool of fig2 could include arcuate ribs between which the forceps jaws 41 and 42 might be placed . in addition , the stop member 35 could take the shape of two members rising from both inner surfaces of the jaws 36 and 37 . obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . for example , while stress considerations indicate that an arcuate pincer configuration is most desirable , the pincers may be formed in any nonarcuate configuration capable of the deformation described herein . it is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise as is specifically described . | 0 |
the compressible carrier is generally designated 10 in fig1 . in fig1 the compressible carrier 10 is shown in is most compressed form . the compressible carrier 10 contains essentially seven subcomponents arranged in a regular pattern . these seven subcomponents are : the construction of the present invention will be described first followed by a description of the method of operation . there are eight side bar elements 11 associated with the compressible carrier 10 in the embodiment pictorially represented by fig1 . however , it should be noted at the outset that the compressible carrier 10 may have any number of side bar elements 11 including an odd number . the preferred embodiment is to produce a compressible carrier 10 with four sides , however , this does not preclude the creation of a compressible carrier 10 with any number of sides . the side bar elements 11 may be arranged to provide a compressible carrier 10 with either an even or odd number of overall sides . the side bar elements 11 are basically hollow parallelopipeds having openings at both of the longitudinal ends . provided on the outside surface of the side bar elements 11 are two tightening knobs 13 , one at each of the longitudinal ends . the tightening knobs 13 are simply knobs with screws attached thereto that penetrate the outside surface and protrude into the interior track of the side bar elements 11 . the interior track opens to the outside of the side bar elements 11 at each of the longitudinal ends . the interior track openings are shaped such that they can accept one end of a corner angle 12 . the corner angles 12 are rigid bars bent at ninety degrees along their length . however , any angular configuration of the corner angles 12 may be selected . each end of the corner angle 12 inserts into the interior track of a side bar element 11 . as a result , the placement of a corner angle 12 between two side bar elements 11 will juxtapose the two side bar elements 11 at ninety degrees relative to one another . the tightening knobs 13 are then tightened to hold the corner angles 12 in place . four of the side bar elements 11 are connected via corner angles 12 such that they form a square or rectangle . in this arrangement , the tightening knobs 13 all face outward from the periphery of the rectangle . two of these rectilinear members are required for the use of the compressible carrier 10 . the combination of side bar elements 11 and corner angles 12 create a structural member 20 . it can be seen that the compressible carrier 10 is essentially comprised of two structural members 20 , one atop the other . should the compressible carrier 10 be composed of a non - rectangular shape , as shown in fig5 the corner angles 12 will have to be pivoted in order for the whole structure to expand . pivot points 12a are provided on the corner joints of corner angles 12 so as to allow for the expansion of the side bar elements 11 and corner angles 12 in the various shapes that the compressible carrier 10 can assume . the rectilinear members , when the carrier 10 is collapsed , will rest one on top of the other . extending between these rectilinear members are vertical scissor elements 16 . the vertical scissor elements 16 are simply the combination of several flat bars connected in a zig zag pattern . due to the construction of the vertical scissor elements 16 , they may be expanded or collapsed thereby increasing or reducing the vertical height of the compressible cart 10 . one vertical scissor element 16 is associated with two side bar elements 11 , one located atop the other . the respective top and bottom side bar elements 11 may be open on one side to accommodate scissor element 16 as shown in fig2 and 9 . in fig2 and 6 , scissor elements 16 are shown to be provided on each side of carrier 10 for stability of the upper structural member 20 . it may also be possible to utilize telescoping bars 15 in the place of the vertical scissor elements 16 . however , clearly , the collapsibility is somewhat reduced . within the upper of the two side elements 11 , there is located a finite adjustment track 17 . the finite adjustment track 17 is simply a specifically designed slot in the construction material . the slot contains upwardly projecting recessions within which the top most portion of the vertical scissor elements 16 may be rigidly inserted . the top most portion of the vertical scissor elements 16 slide into the grooves provided by the finite adjustment track 17 to hold the vertical scissor elements 16 in place . by holding the top of the vertical scissor elements 16 stationary , the height of the compressible carrier 10 is held rigid . wheel and castor assemblies 14 are provided at the longitudinal ends of the side bar elements 11 . they are located on the bottom surface of the side bar elements 11 . the wheel and castor assemblies 14 allow for pivotal and for rolling motion of the compressible cart 10 . connecting the side bar elements 11 together , there is an additional feature , the telescoping base structural bars 15 . three base structural bars 15 extend from the inner surface of a side bar element 11 and extend to the side bar element 11 opposite . thus , the telescoping structural base bars 15 form a cross - hatch pattern across the base of the compressible carrier 10 . the telescoping structural base bars 15 are attached only to the side bar elements 11 located on the lower of the rectilinear members . three telescoping structural bars 15 is the preferred number , however , any number of these bars 15 may suffice . additionally , it may be possible to utilize scissor elements 16 in the lower structural member 20 as well . should the compressible carrier 10 have an odd number of sides , it will be necessary to provide telescoping structural bars 15 that can be pivotally mounted to the lower structural member 20 . thus , as the compressible carrier 10 is enlarged , the telescoping structural bars 15 will be able to compensate . the compressible carrier 10 may also be equipped with a carrying bag 2 that is placed within the volume defined by the cart 10 . the bag 2 could be suspended from the inner surfaces of each of the corner angles 12 and the side bar element 11 . the bag 2 would provide a carrier 10 that does not allow small items to fall out during movement . this adaptation may be of particular use in the grocery store . in order to increase the transportability of the carrier 10 , it is recommended that the apparatus 10 be composed of a lightweight material such as aluminum . it may be possible to construct the apparatus 10 of a rigid and strong plastic as well . however , it should be noted that the present invention is not limited to any particular material . a strap 18 is provided for the compressible carrier 10 so that the user may pull the cart behind him / her . the strap 18 is attached to the compressible carrier 10 on the lower of the two structural members 20 . the placement of the strap 18 in this location will provide the user with maximum leverage to pull the compressible carrier 10 . of course , the strap may also be attached to the upper structural member 20 if the need mandates such a design . removable hooks 19 are also provided on one of the sides of the compressible carrier 10 . these hooks 19 may be used to facilitate storage of the compressible carrier 10 . the hooks may be attachable either to the upper or the lower of the structural members 20 . one possible use of the hooks 19 is to allow the user to attach the compressible carrier 10 to the exterior of a shopping cart in a grocery store . the hooks 19 may alternately be used to mount the compressible carrier 10 to a wall in the user &# 39 ; s home . the hooks 19 are removable to prevent injury when the compressible carrier 10 is in use . the hooks 19 are simply screwed into the structural member 20 provided with the appropriately threaded female connective means 19 . the compressible carrier 10 may also be provided with electric motors 21 to automate the entire apparatus . the motors 21 would need to be placed in several locations . primarily , one motor 21 may be placed at each end of the side bar elements 11 . the placement of a motor 21 in each of these locations will allow extensible motion of the compressible carrier 10 in the lateral directions . the motors 21 could be provided with toothed gears 27 that would mesh with a toothed ridge 23 located on one of the sides of the corner angles 12 as shown in fig8 . clearly , with the addition of motors to the structure , it is no longer necessary to include the tightening knobs 13 . however , they may be provided to further enhance the structural rigidity of the compressible carrier 10 . alternative methods could be provided , and they will be obvious to those skilled in the art . in order to provide vertically extensible motion , additional motors 21 must accompany the vertical scissor elements 16 . ideally , a motor 21 should be placed at the midpoint between the ends of the vertical scissor elements 16 , as shown in fig9 . a cable 24 will extend from the ends of the vertical scissor elements 16 to a winding gear 25 attached to the shaft extending from the motor 21 . if the cable 24 is threaded as shown , namely , that the cable will pull equally on each end of the vertical scissor element 16 with each rotation , then the vertical scissor element 16 will extend evenly and smoothly . since motor 21 is attached to side bar element 11 in fig9 the tension of cables 24 pulling on each upper end of the vertical scissor element 16 will determine the height of upper side bar element 11 and hence of upper structural member 20 relative to the lower structural member 20 as motor 21 is operated . of course , the present invention is not limited solely to this particular arrangement . it will be obvious to those skilled in the art the possible alternative arrangements . a control panel 22 will need to be adapted to the compressible carrier 10 if the apparatus is motorized . the control panel 22 is described pictorially in fig7 . the control panel 22 would ideally contain enough switches to control all of the motions that the compressible carrier 10 can make . fig7 pictorially describes a control panel 22 having touch sensitive buttons 29 . these touch sensitive buttons correspond to each of the possible motions . each button would control and activate two of the motors 21 for the expanding or contracting of one the side bar elements 11 , each motor 21 being on each of the two corner angles 12 that control the movement of that side bar element 11 . fig1 shows the layout for the motors 21a - h for the side bar elements 11a - d . motors 21c and 21h would control the movement of sidebar 11a . the remaining side bar elements 11 would be controlled in a similar manner . the motors 21 that raise and lower would all operate at the same time so that the scissor elements 16 all move in unison . corner angles 12 could be constructed so as to be hollow for the purpose of accomodating the internal wiring that runs between the motors 21 and the control panel 22 . enough slack length should be provided to allow for the expansion of the whole structure 10 . the control panel 22 would also contain a battery 30 to power all of the motors 21 . fig1 shows a circuit diagram for motors 21 and control panel 22 . in order to expand the width of the compressible cart 10 , it is recommended that the cart 10 be reduced to its lowest height first . following this , the tightening knobs 13 are released to loosen the appropriate corner angles 12 . the sides can then be adjusted to suit the material to be carried . once the side bar elements 11 are properly adjusted , the tightening knobs 13 are tightened to keep the corner angles 12 fixed in place . the height of the carrier may now be adjusted . in order to raise the upper rectilinear member , simply grasp and pull . the vertical scissor elements 16 will expand thereby giving height to the compressible carrier 10 . the top most portion of each of the scissor elements is provided with a catch knob 32 that is permanently within its respective finite adjustment track 17 . by pushing the catch knob 32 into the recession of the finite adjustment track 17 , the vertical scissor element 16 is held in place . to release the vertical scissor element 16 , simply apply upwards pressure on the side bar elements 11 . this will dislodge the catch knob 32 from the recession and allow the cart 10 height to be reduced or increased . the vertical scissor elements 16 are rigidly held in place in the lower of the rectilinear members by rivets 34 . these rivets 34 allow flexible pivotal motion of the vertical scissor elements 16 . the operation of the compressible carrier 10 is significantly changed if motors 21 are added to the structure . for example , were it necessary to raise the height of the cart , the button 29 labeled &# 34 ; up &# 34 ; would be depressed until the appropriate height were achieved . were it necessary to extend on of the sides of the structural member 20 , ideally that particular side would need be given a name . the sides could be labeled &# 34 ; a &# 34 ;, &# 34 ; b &# 34 ;, &# 34 ; c &# 34 ;, and &# 34 ; d &# 34 ;. the touch sensitive buttons could be labeled , for example , &# 34 ; a in &# 34 ;, &# 34 ; a out &# 34 ;, etc . thus , by pressing &# 34 ; a in &# 34 ;, the cart side a would move inwards until it reached its inner most position . the opposite would be achieved by pressing the &# 34 ; a out &# 34 ; button 29 . thus , full motility is provided through the addition of motors to the compressible carrier 10 . an alternate form of the invention 100 is shown in fig1 , having a three tiered structure . it comprises a series of hollow , concentric , sliding tubes 101a that form the frame of the carrier 100 . the tubes 101a are preferably made of aluminum for a minimum of weight . for each tier 102a , 102b , 102c , there are two parallel tubes 101a . there are four corner angle tubes 101b . each tier 102a , b , c compresses in two dimensions . a vertical support 103 also comprises hollow , concentric , sliding tubes and compresses or expands the structure vertically as shown in fig1 a - 13c . pivot 106 allows handle 107 to be folded down . the scissor elements 104 are again present and are shown schematically in fig1 , 13b and 13c . they are connected to the bottom and top tiers 102c and 102a . on the lowest tier 102c , spaced in a parallel fashion , are a plurality of telescoping structural members 105 . these are similar to telescoping members 15 in the previous embodiment 10 . this embodiment 100 is simplified in that it lacks the motors 21 of previous embodiment 10 and relies on manual compression and expansion through the efforts of the user , but presents no difficulty due to the simplicity and lightness of the design . this removal of the motors serves to keep the weight of the carrier 100 to a minimum . the carrier 100 becomes truly portable due to its lightness and can be carried on board an aircraft when traveling . it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the sole embodiments described above , but encompass any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims . | 1 |
hereinafter reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of the present invention , examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described below . while the invention will be described in conjunction with exemplary embodiments , it will be understood that present description is not intended to limit the invention to those exemplary embodiments . on the contrary , the invention is intended to cover not only the exemplary embodiments , 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 . it is understood that the term “ vehicle ” or “ vehicular ” or other similar term as used herein is inclusive of motor vehicles in general such as passenger automobiles including sports utility vehicles ( suv ), buses , trucks , various commercial vehicles , watercraft including a variety of boats and ships , aircraft , and the like , and includes hybrid vehicles , electric vehicles , plug - in hybrid electric vehicles , hydrogen - powered vehicles and other alternative fuel vehicles ( e . g ., fuels derived from resources other than petroleum ). as referred to herein , a hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that has two or more sources of power , for example both gasoline - powered and electric - powered vehicles . the above and other features of the invention are discussed infra . first , the configuration and function of a resolver will be briefly described for a better understanding of the present invention . for vector control of a synchronous motor or an induction motor used in a hybrid electric vehicle ( hev ) or a pure electric vehicle ( ev ), it is necessary to set a coordinate system in synchronization with the flux position of the motor . to this end , it is necessary to read the absolute position of a rotor of the motor , and thus the resolver is used to detect the absolute position ( i . e ., rotation angle ) of the rotor . as such , each phase of the rotor is accurately measured by the resolver , and a resolver - to - digital converter ( rdc ), which includes a synchronous rectifier for rectifying the measurement value and a voltage control oscillator ( vco ) for outputting the rectified voltage at a desired oscillation frequency , transmits the measured phase of the rotor . therefore , to the illustrative embodiment of the present invention accurately controls the motor speed and the motor torque required for the operation of the hev or ev without unnecessary failures . differential signals ( s 1 - s 3 , s 2 - s 4 ) output from the resolver may have a frequency of about 10 khz and an ac voltage of about 1 to 4 v in a normal state . however , if outside this range , i . e ., in the event of a failure in input signals ( i . e ., excitation signals , ext +, ext −) or output signals ( i . e ., basic signals for measuring the speed , s 1 - s 3 , s 2 - s 4 ) of the resolver , a fault signal is generated by the rdc and this fault signal is transmitted to a cpu , thereby indicating to the cpu that a failure in the detection of the rotor position of the resolver has occurred . the present invention aims at ensuring the reliability of the hybrid function of a hybrid vehicle and the operation of an electric vehicle by estimating the current rotor position information from the motor speed and rotor position information at the previous sampling in the event of absence of motor rotor position information due to an ad conversion error in the rdc or due to noise . more specifically , a method for compensating for an abnormal output of a resolver for an environmentally friendly vehicle in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the to present invention will be described with reference to fig1 . in order to obtain a current motor position angle for compensation θ n [ rad ], a current motor position angle before compensation θ n , org is set as a current motor position angle θ n ( s 101 ). for reference , it should be noted that the reason the current motor position angle for compensation is expressed as θ n and the current motor position angle is also expressed as θ n is that they cannot be expressed in a different manner based on the programming flow of the software . next , a motor ( rotor ) position change δθ n [ rad ] between a current sampling [ n ] and a previous sampling [ n − 1 ] according to the output of the rdc is obtained based on the current motor position angle θ n . simultaneously , a motor ( rotor ) position change δθ n - 1 [ rad ] between the previous sampling [ n − 1 ] and the more previous sampling [ n − 2 ] is also obtained ( s 102 ). that is , the motor ( rotor ) position change δθ n [ rad ] between the current sampling [ n ] and the previous sampling [ n − 1 ] is obtained by subtracting the previous motor position angle θ n - 1 from the current motor position angle θ n . the motor ( rotor ) position change δθ n - 1 [ rad ] between the previous sampling [ n − 1 ] and the more previous sampling [ n − 2 ] is obtained by subtracting the more previous motor position angle θ n - 2 from the previous motor position angle θ n - 1 . these values may be obtained by periodically sampling the measurement signals of the motor position angle of the resolver output from the rdc . then , a variable a , i . e ., a difference between the position change δθ n [ rad ] between the current sampling [ n ] and the previous sampling [ n − 1 ] and the position change δθ n - 1 [ rad ] to between the previous sampling [ n − 1 ] and the more previous sampling [ n − 2 ] is calculated by the following formula 1 ( s 103 ): in formula 1 , the function “| |” is a function that outputs an absolute value of an input and the function of “ bound2pi ” is a function that limits the input to 0 to 2π ( rad ). here , when the sample period is taken at a given point in time , the difference between the motor ( rotor ) position changes δθ n [ rad ] and δθ n - 1 [ rad ], which indicate the position changes according to time , may be seen as a difference between the current sampling rate and the previous sampling rate , and this variable a may be expressed as an instantaneous acceleration change . next , the variable a calculated in the above manner is compared with a calibration variable k to determine whether to perform the compensation ( s 104 ). the calibration variable k is a constant that represents a physical limit . accordingly , when the instantaneous acceleration change , i . e ., the variable a is greater than the calibration variable k and smaller than 2π − k , the compensation for the motor rotor position is determined . in other words , if the variable a is greater than the calibration k and , at the same time , the variable a is smaller than 2π − k , it is determined that the motor rotor position information is omitted , and thus the compensation for the motor rotor position is determined . accordingly , the current motor position angle for compensation θ n [ rad ] is calculated by the to following formula 2 ( s 105 ): θ n = bound2pi ( δθ n - 1 + ω restold × t s ) [ formula 2 ] in formula 2 , ω restold is an estimated speed at the previous sampling ( e . g ., a position change at the previous sampling rate ), t s represents the control period ( us ), and the function “ bound2pi ” is a function that limits the current motor position angle for compensation to 0 to 2π ( rad ). as a result , the calibration value , i . e ., the current motor position angle for compensation θ n [ rad ] is a sum of the previous sampling position θ n - 1 and a position change ω restold at the previous sampling rate . therefore , the absence of the motor rotor position information is compensated with the current motor position angle for compensation θ n [ rad ] calculated by formula 2 , thereby continuously ensuring the current of the motor and the torque control performance . in more detail , as shown in fig2 a , when the motor rotor position information is omitted during a certain sampling during rdc output and , at the same time , a current ripple ( e . g ., 350 apk ) larger than an abnormal output command current ( e . g ., 312 apk ) of the resolver is generated at the corresponding period , the omitted motor rotor position information is compensated with the current motor position angle for compensation θ n [ rad ] calculated by formula 2 as shown in fig2 b , thereby continuously ensuring the current of the motor and the torque control performance . meanwhile , after the compensation for the omitted motor rotor position information with the current motor position angle for compensation θ n [ rad ] during the rdc output , new motor rotor position information is output at the next sampling period , and thus a process ( s 106 ) of assigning and storing the previous motor position angle θ n - 1 as the more previous motor position angle θ n - 2 , a process ( s 107 ) of assigning and storing the current motor position angle for compensation θ n as the previous motor position angle θ n - 1 and , at the same time , assigning and storing an estimated speed to ω rest [ rad / sec ] at the current sampling [ n ] as an estimated speed ω restold [ rad / sec ] at the previous sampling are performed based on the programming constructed in , e . g ., a computer readable medium . furthermore , the control logic of the present invention may be embodied as non - transitory computer readable media on a computer readable medium containing executable program instructions executed by a processor , controller or the like . examples of the computer readable mediums include , but are not limited to , rom , ram , compact disc ( cd )- roms , magnetic tapes , floppy disks , flash drives , smart cards and optical data storage devices . the computer readable recording medium can also be distributed in network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable media is stored and executed in a distributed fashion , e . g ., by a telematics server or a controller area network ( can ). advantageously , in the event of absence of the rotor position information due to an ad conversion error in the rdc or due to noise , the illustrative embodiment of the present invention accurately determines the current motor rotor position through the compensation method of the present invention , thereby ensuring the current of the motor and the torque control performance . moreover , according to the compensation method of the present invention , the reliability and stability of the motor / inverter system , the hybrid function of the hybrid vehicle , and the operation of the electric vehicle is increased , thereby reducing the costs for ensuring the reliability of the resolver signal . the invention has been described in detail with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof . however , it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention , the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents . | 6 |
fig1 illustrates the basic principle for determining the angle between longitudinal axis 1 of vehicle 2 and a curb , here depicted schematically as curbstone 3 . the angle between vehicle longitudinal axis 1 and curbstone 3 is here designated as γ . in the example of embodiment shown here , distance sensor 4 is located in the front right fender area of vehicle 2 . for easier understanding , a path coordinate x is illustrated . in an area “ left ” of x 1 the vehicle is moving straight ahead , and at x 1 it is turning to the left , which leads to a change in course . the reference number 5 designates the “ sensor track ” as vehicle 2 is being driven . as already mentioned , vehicle 2 is moving straight ahead in the area left of x 1 . in this area , sensor track 5 is also a straight line . the fact that the vehicle is moving straight ahead can be determined , for example , by steering sensors on the steerable wheels or on the steering shaft . the direction of the sensor track in the area left of x 1 , i . e ., when going straight , is hereinafter called the “ preset longitudinal direction ”. in determining angle γ , “ angle of sideways movement ” α and “ curb angle ” β subsequently become different . angle of sideways movement α is the angle between present longitudinal direction 1 of the vehicle and preset longitudinal direction 5 . curb angle β is hereinafter defined as the angle between preset longitudinal direction 5 and curb 3 . as can be seen from fig1 , angle γ is the sum of angles α and β . angle of sideways movement α is determined as follows . first , the sideways movement distance component s α is determined and results from a sideways movement of the vehicle 2 between two consecutive measuring points x m1 and x m2 diagonally to preset longitudinal direction 5 . the sideways movement distance component sa between two consecutive measuring points x m1 and x m2 is determined by measuring the path covered by vehicle 2 between the two measuring points x m1 and x m2 and the steering position of vehicle 2 in the area between the two measuring points x m1 and x m2 , as well as a preset movement model of vehicle 2 . the path covered by the vehicle between the two measuring points x m1 and x m2 can , for example , be measured by wheel revolution sensors ( such as abs sensors ). the steering position of the vehicle can be measured by steering angle sensors on the wheels or the steering column . angle of sideways movement α is obtained for the measuring interval [ x m1 , x m2 ] by trigonometric conversion from the path covered by the vehicle between the two measuring points x m1 and x m2 and sideways movement distance component s α . in the manner described above , sideways movement distance component s α and angle of sideways movement α a can each be determined for a large number of measuring intervals [ x mi , x mi + 1 ]. curb angle β is determined as follows . first , distance s 1 , s 2 between distance sensor 4 and curb 3 is determined with distance sensor 4 at measuring points x m1 and x m2 . then sideways movement distance component s α is subtracted from the difference s 2 − s 1 of the two distance measurements . this gives the “ curb distance component ” for the measurement interval [ x m1 , x m2 ]. the curb distance component is hereinafter called s β . curb angle β can be determined from the path covered by vehicle 2 in the measuring interval [ x m1 , x m2 ] and curb distance component s β by trigonometric conversion . the angle γ is the sum of α + β . because there may be distortions and measuring errors in measuring the distance from distance sensor 4 to curb 3 , curb angle β should be determined many times in succession . a mean curb angle β can then be formed from varyingly scattered curb angles β , for example , by finding the arithmetic mean . fig2 illustrates the basic principle for determining the distance of vehicle 2 , or more precisely , of the vehicle - affixed distance sensor 4 , from curb 3 . as vehicle 2 is driven past a parking gap , a distance measurement is performed by distance sensor 4 at regular intervals , i . e ., at a great number of measurement points x m1 . . . x mn . distance sensor 4 accordingly provides measurements s 1 , s 1 , . . . s n . in a parking process , the driver usually first drives by the parking gap , stops and backs into it . when driving by the parking gap , many drivers steer briefly to the right toward the parking gap and then drive forward again diagonally to the left . this kind of “ vehicle trajectory ” is shown by sensor track 5 in fig2 . to determine the present distance between sensor 4 and curb 3 , a single measurement of distance would theoretically be sufficient . as already explained , individual measurement results can be erroneous due to measurement errors or distortions . therefore , mean distance is therefore determined . the particular sideways movement distance component and the particular curb distance component ( see above ) are subtracted from several distance values s i . after subtraction , a mean value is formed from the values obtained . the previously calculated sideways movement distance components and the curb distance components are added to this mean value for the individual measurement intervals . this provides the present distance . since many measurements form the basis for the mean , the calculated distance value agrees more closely with the actual distance than would be the case with individual measurement . fig3 illustrates the basic principle for determining the effective length of a parking gap . the parking gap has a rear parking gap edge 6 , a front parking gap edge 7 and a lateral curb or parking gap edge 3 . as in fig2 , in the example of embodiment shown here , as the vehicle is driven by the parking gap , it is steered briefly to the right and then driven forward diagonally to the left , which can be seen by sensor track 5 or driven track 8 . if sensor track 5 or driven track 8 is laid out onto straight line 9 , this gives the parking gap length without taking into account the movement of the vehicle . it can be seen that the length of the parking gap without taking into account the movement of the vehicle , i . e ., distance 9 , is longer than the length of the parking gap taking into account the movement of the vehicle , i . e ., distance 10 . distance 10 corresponds to the effective length of the parking gap . effective parking gap length 10 can be determined by projecting the path covered , i . e ., by projecting driven track 8 or sensor track 5 onto curb 3 . this is achieved by computer by the path covered by the vehicle at the individual measurement intervals in the area of the parking gap being converted for each measurement interval , using in each case the previously determined angle between the longitudinal axis of the vehicle and the curb ( see above ), into an effective section of length and added over the individual measurement intervals . the position of rear parking gap end 6 and front parking gap end 7 can be determined by the distance signal supplied by the distance sensor which exhibits a positive jump if the distance sensor passes rear parking gap end 6 and a negative jump if distance sensor 4 passes front parking gap end 7 . therefore , the length of a parking gap is detected over the path the vehicle covers when passing the parking gap . by taking into account the mathematical vehicle model and the detected angle between the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and the curb , it is also possible to determine precisely the effective length of the parking gap when the vehicle is not driven on a parallel or straight path by the parking gap . by taking into account the movement of the vehicle , the exact position of a recognized parking gap relative to the vehicle can be calculated in the case of further movement of the vehicle . in summary , the following advantages are achieved with the invention : assisting the driver by indicating the length of the parking gap in the cockpit ; automatically determining a starting position for an automatic parking system ; precisely measuring a parking gap without steering movements or changes in speed having an effect on the measurement results ; simple cost - effective sensors can be used based on the availability of precise mathematical vehicle models ; computer expense is comparatively small relative to complex environment - detection algorithms ; and a distance sensor attached to the vehicle is sufficient for exact detection of a parking gap . the surroundings are scanned as the vehicle is moving . the foregoing disclosure has been set forth merely to illustrate the invention and is not intended to be limiting . since modifications of the disclosed embodiments incorporating the spirit and substance of the invention may occur to persons skilled in the art , the invention should be construed to include everything within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof . | 6 |
the following definitions and explanations provide background information pertaining to the technical field of the present invention , and are intended to facilitate the understanding of the present invention without limiting its scope : diacritic : a mark , such as the cedilla of facade or the acute accent of résumé , added to a letter to indicate a special phonetic value or distinguish words that are otherwise graphically identical . diacritical character : a character that comprises a diacritic or is otherwise unique to a language or set of languages such as , for example , the thorn character . diacritic chord : a set of keys pressed concurrently that are used to identify a diacritical character . fig1 portrays an exemplary overall environment in which a system , a computer program product , and an associated method (“ the system 10 ”) for producing language specific diacritics for many languages from a standard keyboard layout according to the present invention may be used . the diacritic chording system ( system 10 ) includes a software programming code or computer program product that is typically embedded within , or installed on a computer system 15 . alternatively , system 10 can be saved on a suitable storage medium such as a diskette , a cd , a hard drive , or like devices . system 10 may be installed in a keyboard driver 20 of the computer system 15 . in one embodiment , system 10 may be installed in the operating system 25 of the computer system 15 . in a further embodiment , system 10 may be installed in a keyboard 30 . in yet another embodiment , system 10 may be installed in any one or more of the operating system 25 , the keyboard driver 20 , or the keyboard 30 . characters generated by keyboard 30 are transmitted for display on a screen 35 either by the operating system 25 or an application 40 running on the computer system 15 . actions described herein as performed by the operating system 25 may be performed either by application 40 or by the operating system 25 . system 10 comprises a mechanism to detect simultaneous key - down events . system 10 intercepts key events from keyboard 30 . key - down events interpreted by system 10 as occurring concurrently are stored in a buffer . concurrent key - down events are interpreted by system 10 as a diacritic chord . system 10 interprets as a diacritic chord all key - down events that occur within a predetermined time threshold . the predetermined time threshold can be adjusted for a specific keyboard . typically , the predetermined time threshold is approximately 100 msec or less . fig2 illustrates an exemplary timeline 200 of key - down and key - up events in generating a letter “ a ” with a grave accent . timeline 200 comprises a timeline 205 for keyboard 30 , a timeline 210 for system 10 , a timeline 215 for operating system 25 , and an output timeline 220 for screen 35 . the operating system 25 represents the operating system 25 and any applications that “ draw ” characters on screen 35 . at t 1 225 , a user presses an “ a ” key . a key event representing the letter “ a ” is transmitted to system 10 . system 10 stores the key event in a queue in a buffer at t 2 230 . at t 3 235 , the user presses the “ q ” key while still holding down the “ a ” key . a key event representing the letter “ q ” is transmitted to system 10 . at t 4 240 , system 10 compares the two key events stored in the buffer to a table of diacritic chords representing diacritical characters , selects the appropriate symbol or character combination , and transmits a diacritical character “ à ” to the operating system 25 . the operating system 25 transmits the diacritical character “ à ” to screen 35 at t 5 245 . screen 35 displays the diacritical character “ à ” at t 5 250 . the key - down events at t 1 225 and t 3 235 are not necessarily simultaneous . rather , the key - down events at t 1 225 and t 3 235 are required by system 10 to occur within the predetermined time threshold , represented in fig2 as a threshold 255 . if system 10 receives a key - up event after the key - down event at t 1 225 and before the key - down event at t 3 235 , system 10 transmits a key event representing the letter “ a ” to the operating system 25 . if the key - down event at t 3 235 occurs after the threshold 255 has expired , system 10 sends a key event representing the letter “ a ” to the operating system 25 . in this manner , system 10 distinguishes between key events that construct a diacritic chord for forming a diacritical character and key events representing individual characters . the method of system 10 as represented by timeline 200 waits for a key - up event , the presence of key events in the buffer that represent a diacritic chord , or the expiration of the threshold 255 to transmit a character to screen 35 . fig3 illustrates a timeline 300 for one embodiment in which key events or characters are transmitted directly to screen 35 . when system 10 detects a diacritic chord for forming a diacritical character , system 10 transmits a backspace followed by the diacritical character . the backspace removes the previously transmitted character , replacing the previously transmitted character or characters with the diacritical character . timeline 300 comprises a timeline 305 for keyboard 30 , a timeline 310 for system 10 , a timeline 315 for operating system 25 , and an output timeline 320 for screen 35 . at t 1 325 , a user presses an “ a ” key . a key event representing the letter “ a ” is transmitted to system 10 . system 10 stores the key event in a queue in a buffer at t 2 330 and transmits the key event to the operating system 25 . at t 3 335 , the operating system 25 receives the key event . the operating system 25 transmits the character representing the key event to screen 35 at t 4 340 . at t 5 345 , the user presses the “ q ” key . a key event representing the letter “ q ” is transmitted to system 10 . at t 6 350 , system 10 stores the key event in the buffer and compares the key events stored in the buffer to a table of diacritic chords representing diacritical characters . if the key events stored in the buffer correspond to a diacritical character , system 10 selects the appropriate symbol or character combination ; in this example , system 10 transmits a backspace and a diacritical character “ à ” to the operating system 25 . the operating system 25 transmits the backspace and the diacritical character “ à ” to screen 35 at t 7 355 . the previously transmitted character is removed from screen 35 and the diacritical character “ à ” is displayed at t 8 360 . the key - down events at t 1 325 and t 5 345 are not necessarily simultaneous . rather , the key - down events at t 1 325 and t 5 345 are required by system 10 to occur within the predetermined time threshold , represented in fig3 as a threshold 365 . this embodiment allows transmission of a character directly to a screen 35 , reducing delays between the key - down event and appearance of the character on screen 35 . otherwise , a character does not appear on screen 35 until after threshold 365 has expired so that system 10 can determine if the key - down event is part of a diacritic chord representing a diacritic character . as most of the letters entered by a user are not diacritic characters , this embodiment provides a means for more quickly transmitting characters to screen 35 . as before , if system 10 receives a key - up event after the key - down event at t 1 325 and before the key - down event at t 5 345 , system 10 transmits a key event representing the letter “ a ” to the operating system 25 . if the key - down event at t 5 345 occurs after the threshold 365 , system 10 sends a key event representing the letter “ a ” to the operating system 25 . in this manner , system 10 distinguishes between key events that construct a diacritic chord for forming a diacritical character and key events representing individual characters . fig4 ( fig4 a , 4 b , 4 c , 4 d ) illustrates a table 400 of exemplary diacritic chords or key combinations that system 10 uses to form diacritical characters . most of the diacritical characters are formed using two keystrokes . a small proportion of diacritical characters are formed using three keystrokes . upper case diacritical characters are formed by adding the “ shift ” key to the diacritic chord listed in fig4 . system 10 consults the table 400 of diacritic chords illustrated by fig4 when a diacritic chord is detected in the buffer . if a match is found , system 10 emits the resulting diacritical character . otherwise , system 10 emits each character in the buffer individually . fig5 illustrates an exemplary keyboard 500 that comprises notations of the diacritical characters that may be formed by chording . for example , the key 505 for the number 6 is used in a diacritic chord to add a diacritic “^” to letters . a user can easily see by looking at the keyboard 500 that pressing a key 510 for the letter “ a ” and the key 505 for the number 6 in a diacritic chord generates a diacritical character “ â ”. the letter “ u ” with the diacritic ″ ( symbol 515 ) is placed between a key 520 for the number 8 and a key 525 for the number 9 to indicate that symbol 515 is formed when a user concurrently presses a key 530 for the letter “ u ”, the key 520 for the number 8 , and the key 525 for the number 9 . fig6 ( fig6 a , 6 b ) illustrates a method 600 of operation of system 10 for recognizing a diacritic chord and selecting a diacritical character corresponding to the diacritic chord . system 10 monitors keyboard 30 for key events at step 605 . when a key event occurs , system 10 determines whether the key event is a key - down event at decision step 610 . if the key event is a key - down event , system 10 determines at decision step 615 whether the character represented by the key - down event is part of a diacritic chord . if the character represented by the key - down event is not part of a diacritic chord , system 10 emits the key - down event at step 620 . at step 625 , system 10 continues with normal key processing and returns to step 605 . if at decision step 615 the character represented by the key event is part of a diacritic chord , system 10 stores the key in a queue in a buffer at step 630 and starts a timeout timer for that key . at decision step 635 , system 10 determines whether keys accumulated in the queue match a diacritic chord in the table 400 of diacritic chords . if a match is found , system 10 empties the queue in the buffer , emits a key - down event and key - up event corresponding to the diacritic character in the table 400 of diacritic chords ( step 640 ). system 10 proceeds to step 625 and processing continues as before . if no match is found at decision step 635 , system 10 proceeds to step 625 and processing continues as before . if a key - down event is not detected at decision step 610 , system 10 determines whether the key event is a key - up event at decision step 645 . if yes , system 10 determines whether the key represented by the key - up event is currently stored in the buffer at decision step 650 . if the key represented by the key - up event is stored in the buffer , system 10 emits the key - down and key - up events for that key at step 655 . at step 660 , system 10 removes the key from the queue in the buffer and stops the timeout timer for that key . system 10 proceeds to step 625 , and processing continues as before . if , at decision step 650 , system 10 finds that the key represented by the key - up event is not stored in the queue in the buffer , system 10 emits a key - up event at step 665 . system 10 proceeds to step 660 and processing continues as before . if , at decision step 645 , system 10 determines that the key event is not a key - up event , system 10 determines whether the timer timeout has occurred at decision step 670 . if the timer timeout has occurred , system 10 emits a key - down event for the key currently stored in the queue in the buffer and stops the timeout timer for that key at step 675 . system 10 proceeds to step 660 and processing continues as before . the character detection and transformation process of system 10 is implemented as procedures that run in different threads . a pseudocode for the character detection and transformation process is as follows : // if the buffer contains two or more key - down events a search is // found the events are removed from the buffer and a key - down // the normal key processing in their place . another copy of the // if a key - up is received and the corresponding key - down event another thread of the character detection and transformation process expires old key events : // if any timestamp of an event in the buffer is older than threshold // the event is removed from the buffer and sent to the normal key event it is to be understood that the specific embodiments of the invention that have been described are merely illustrative of certain applications of the principle of the present invention . numerous modifications may be made to the system and method for producing language specific diacritics for many languages from a standard keyboard layout described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . moreover , while the present invention is described for illustration purpose only in relation to diacritic symbols for latin - based languages or languages using a roman character set , it should be clear that the invention is applicable as well to , for example , any character set in which diacritic chords can be used to form additional characters . | 6 |
embodiments of the invention described herein differ from that prior art of u . s . pat . no . 6 , 446 , 907 ( the &# 39 ; 907 patent ) in the structure of the elements defining the asymmetric corner components of a drip pan apparatus 200 shown in fig7 - 12 . in other aspects , such as in materials of construction and function , in one embodiment , the drip pan apparatus 200 of this invention is like that described in said patent . accordingly , any item numbers found in fig7 - 12 which are the same as those in fig2 - 6 designate like components . moreover , the helicopter 10 of fig1 is similar in outward appearance to the “ m ” model black hawk ® helicopter and for that reason is used herein to illustrate an overall helicopter environment in which the new drip pan apparatus 200 of fig7 - 12 is used . turning to fig1 , there is shown therein a helicopter 10 representing generally for this invention a black hawk ® model “ m ” helicopter of the type made by the sikorsky aircraft company of stratford , conn ., and other helicopter air frames similar thereto . like the prior black hawk ® helicopter , the black hawk ® “ m ” model helicopter has a cabin 12 and an engine or turbine 14 which powers a rotor transmission 16 . shaft 18 transmits rotary motion to a rotor 20 while the transmission 16 is also connected by a drive element ( not shown ) to tail rotor 22 . like the black hawk ® helicopter , the black hawk ® model “ m ” helicopter has a fixed transmission access opening but designated 205 in fig1 . the “ m ” model embodies a variety of other differences from the prior black hawk ® helicopter of fig1 of the &# 39 ; 907 patent but in ways not relevant to this invention except as further described . turning now to fig7 , the drip pan apparatus 200 has application for use in a “ m ” model black hawk ® helicopter and other similar airframes having the fixed transmission access opening 205 defined by an air frame member 206 and a depending flexible skirt 207 attached thereto . skirt 207 , like skirt 26 of fig2 , is many times more flexible than air frame member 206 to which skirt 207 is attached . skirt 207 of the black hawk ® model “ m ” helicopter has two straight portions 208 , 209 and an expanded corner 210 therebetween , as well as a remaining periphery defined by straight sections and corners . note that skirt 207 , between straight portions 208 , 209 , forms two inwardly - facing convex curves 231 , 232 and an inwardly - facing concave curve 230 . the concave curve 230 is oriented inwardly at the corner 210 so that straight portions 208 , 209 flow into the curves 231 , 232 which are tangent to , or flow into , curve 230 . it will be appreciated that an extension of each straight portion 208 , 209 would intersect an extension of curve 230 at an angle greater than zero degrees . in this manner , the corner 210 of skirt 207 has been expanded outwardly of the location of the same corner of the prior skirt of the &# 39 ; 907 patent . in one embodiment of this invention , corner 210 is asymmetric to the other corners ( not shown ) of the skirt 207 , which other corners may remain in the same configuration . in other words , the corner 210 is defined by a shape that is different than the other corners of the skirt 207 . by contrast , in the access opening covered by the prior drip pans of the &# 39 ; 907 patent all four corners of the prior skirt were symmetrical . as is described below , the drip pan apparatus 200 sealingly cooperates with the skirt 207 , including the corner 210 , to cover access opening 205 to prevent fluid drippings from entering the cabin 12 of the model “ m ” black hawk ® helicopter 10 . to that end , and with continued reference to fig7 , the drip pan apparatus 200 includes a frame 215 having a corner structure 216 , a drip pan 220 having a new corner 221 , and an o - ring seal 222 . in use , the frame 215 is secured to air frame member 206 . as shown , rivets 201 or other fasteners may secure the frame 215 to the skirt 207 and air frame 206 through tabs 202 . a flexible sealing media ( not shown ), such as proseal ™ ( manufactured by prc desoto international , inc . of indianapolis , ind ., a ppg company ) or other sealant may be used to seal the frame 215 to skirt 207 when the frame 215 is secured to the air frame 206 . thereafter , drip pan 220 is inserted into the frame 215 in the position illustrated in fig7 and 8 , where seal member or o - ring 222 creates a peripheral seal between the drip pan 220 and frame 215 and provides continuous sealing during air frame flexure and without the disadvantage of any face seal in this regard . attachment members 50 releasably secure the drip pan 220 to the frame 215 similarly to the prior pan of the &# 39 ; 907 patent where elongated arm 52 with curved portions 54 selectively engage slots 56 . once the pan 220 is inserted into the frame 215 , a drain line 104 may be connected to pass drainage fluids from drain 100 . as set forth above , and with continued reference to fig7 , the frame 215 accommodates the outward expansion of the skirt 207 at corner 210 . in particular , as is described in more detail below , corner structure 216 of frame 215 has been expanded outwardly to match the outward expansion of the skirt 207 , as shown . in addition , the radius of the inwardly - facing frame corner represented at 242 has been significantly reduced to correspond to a relatively small radius of corner 221 of drip pan 220 . with reference to fig7 and 8 , the frame 215 comprises four straight sides or rails 247 a , 247 b , 247 c , 247 d connected by curved portions 249 a and 249 b , the corner structure 216 , and curved portion 249 c , respectively . the rails 247 a , 247 b , 247 c , 247 d ; the curved portions 249 a , 249 b , 249 c ; and the corner structure 216 collectively define the inwardly - facing peripheral surface 235 ( shown in fig7 ). each rail 247 a , 247 b , 247 c , 247 d has a respective width indicated by w 5 , w 6 , w 7 , w 8 ( labeled in fig8 ) measured from the inwardly - facing peripheral surface 235 to an outer periphery of the frame 215 . in one embodiment and with reference to fig7 , the width of the corner structure 216 varies to accommodate the expansion of the skirt 207 , specifically the curve 230 , at corner 210 . the variation in the width of the corner structure 216 is shown in fig8 and 9a . as shown , the width of the corner structure 216 transitions from the width w 7 of rail 247 c to width w 8 of rail 247 d . in one embodiment , at least a portion of the corner structure 216 is wider than either adjacent rail 247 c or rail 247 d . specifically , the width of the corner structure 216 at one location , for example at width w 9 or width w 11 may be greater than either width w 7 or width w 8 . by way of further example , as depicted in fig8 and 9a , the width of corner structure 216 may transition from width w 7 to width w 9 that is greater than width w 7 . the width of the corner structure 216 then decreases from width w 9 into an inwardly - facing frame corner 242 or width w 10 that is less than the width w 9 . further , the width of the corner structure 216 then increases to width w 11 before transitioning to a narrower width w 8 of rail 247 d . it will be appreciated that the width of the corner structure 216 may vary smoothly from w 7 to w 8 . furthermore , to provide improved access to the filter f ( shown in fig1 ), the opening defined by rails 247 a , 247 b , 247 c , 247 d may be shifted to the left in fig8 such that the respective width w 6 and width w 8 of rails 247 b and 247 d are not equal to one another . this transverse shift of the opening helps to accommodate removal of the filter which is generally located in the compartment above the drip pan apparatus 200 . it will be appreciated that widths w 5 , w 6 , w 7 , w 8 may not be equal to any of the widths w 1 , w 2 , w 3 , w 4 of fig3 . with regard to the pan 220 and with further reference to fig7 , the pan 220 has an outwardly - facing peripheral surface 239 , which has four straight sides 250 a , 250 b , 250 c , 250 d connected by corners 211 , 212 , 213 , and corner 221 . the outwardly - facing peripheral surface 239 conforms to the inwardly - facing peripheral surface 235 . as set forth above , the radius of the corner 242 is significantly reduced to correspond to the radius of the corner 221 of the pan 220 . as shown in fig7 and 8 , the corner 221 is developed about a much smaller radius than its other pan corners 211 - 213 . it will be appreciated that the variation of the radius configuration of the corner 221 from the corners 211 - 213 simplifies installation of the pan 220 by preventing incorrect installation since the pan 220 may be inserted into the frame 215 in only one orientation . additionally , in one embodiment , the drip pan 220 defines a plurality of access ports 223 - 226 and a filter access port 228 , which is provided with a removable port cover 229 having a view window 236 and frame 237 . once the drip pan 220 is secured to the frame 215 , the status of a filter or other component in or on the transmission may be viewed through the view window 236 . also , any one or more of the access covers 70 may be removed from its respective access port 223 - 226 such that routine maintenance and inspection of components within access opening 205 may be performed . in one embodiment , the drip pan apparatus 200 differs from that pan apparatus of the prior &# 39 ; 907 patent only in the area a as identified in fig8 . fig9 , 9 a , and 9 b illustrate area a of fig8 in greater detail . as shown in fig9 , the extra material provided by expansion of the pan 220 out to the smaller radius corner 221 allows port 228 to be moved out toward the corner 221 and more directly under ( when in use ) a filter compared to the prior art port 72 ( shown in phantom line ). thus positioned , the port 228 provides improved visual access to components on the transmission , such as the filter , and any indicator or “ bypass button ” thereon , indicating the operational status thereof . in other words , the indicator or button can be more easily viewed through filter access port 228 from more widely varied viewing positions than in the prior drip pan configuration . similarly , with respect to the prior art skirt and the new skirt 207 , the prior skirt is identified in phantom lines at 240 in fig9 a . in one embodiment of this invention , as described above , the new skirt 207 is expanded outwardly as shown in the solid lines at this corner to form 242 . the smaller radius corner 242 corresponds to small radius corner 221 of the pan 220 , shown in fig9 . fig9 b graphically illustrates the comparison of the new frame 215 and the respective orientations of the old skirt 26 designated 240 and the old prior art pan corner 245 ( both shown in phantom line ). with continued reference to fig9 b , in one embodiment , radius r 1 of the prior art pan corner 245 may be of greater length than the radius r 2 of corner 221 in the drip pan apparatus 200 , thereby allowing the filter access port 228 to be moved more directly in line with a filter . however , even though the radius of corner 221 is smaller , as shown in fig7 , the o - ring seal 222 situated between the outwardly - facing peripheral surface 239 and the inwardly - facing peripheral surface 235 unexpectedly seals the drip pan apparatus 200 and prevents egress of fluids from access opening 205 . with reference now to fig9 a , 10 , and 11 , in order for the frame 215 to cooperate with the skirt 207 and form a small radius at the corner 242 ( shown in fig7 ), the frame 215 may include an inner rim 218 and an outer rim 219 forming a trough 234 having a floor at 217 therebetween . preferably , the rim 218 at corner structure 216 is at least partially expanded outwardly from its position in the prior pan to accommodate skirt 207 and form the corner 242 . accordingly , trough 234 may vary in width “ l ” such that the width of corner structure 216 varies , as described above , as required about frame 215 to accommodate the concave curve 230 ( shown in fig7 ). furthermore , this corner structure at 216 will be appreciated by contrasting prior art fig5 and 6 with new fig1 and 11 . in fig1 and 11 , the frame 215 has been expanded at 217 to the length “ l ”. in prior fig5 and 6 , the frame was not so expanded . thus , skirt 207 ( at concave curve 230 ) has been moved significantly to the left as viewed in fig1 and 11 as compared to the prior frame . according to embodiments disclosed herein , a filter f ( fig1 ) can advantageously be removed or inserted in a direction along and parallel to an elongated filter axis 204 when the removable port cover 229 is removed from the pan 220 . if desired , in one embodiment , a trim ring ( not shown ) can be applied to aesthetically cover the frame 215 , leaving only drip pan 220 and the ports 223 - 226 , 228 clear for use or for overall removal of the drip pan 220 for access to the transmission 16 . moreover , and if desired , while o - ring 222 is shown in a simple , outwardly facing , parallel sided groove , other groove shapes capturing the o - ring 222 to the drip pan 220 ( or alternatively to frame 215 ) may be used . it will also be appreciated that the scale of the figures such as in fig1 and 11 may be changed , such that o - ring 222 is actually in more of an oval or circular cross - section , or more of a squared configuration than as shown in these figures , and more like , for example , the cross - sectional configuration of peripheral seal 238 in fig1 and 11 . with reference to fig7 and 12 , while the corners of the frame 215 and the pan 220 are drawn and referenced as being defined by radii , one skilled will appreciate that other shaped corners may be utilized . even so , the corner 221 and the corner 242 are cooperatively shaped . the remaining corners of the pan 211 - 213 cooperate with their respective other corners ( unlabeled ) of the frame 215 . the shape at the corner 221 is , however , different than the shape of the corners at 211 - 213 . thus , the pan 220 may be inserted into the frame 215 in only one orientation . the drip pan 220 otherwise performs the same sealing and access functions for the “ m ” model as in the prior black hawk ® helicopter without requiring air frame modifications and without utilizing face seals to seal any of the ports 223 - 226 and 228 or to form the seal between the drip pan 220 and the frame 215 . while the present invention has been illustrated by the description of embodiments thereof , and while the embodiments have been described in considerable detail , they are not intended to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail . additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those skilled in the art . the invention in its broader aspects is therefore not limited to the specific details and drawings shown and described . accordingly , departures may be made from such details without departing from the scope of the general inventive concept . | 8 |
fig1 illustrates the use of an adapter to permit transmission of baseband video and audio signals on twisted pairs of wires . a video transmitter or receiver 10 such as a vcr or tv camera includes an input / output for video signals 11 and a pair of inputs / outputs , 12 and 13 , for two channel audio signals . the video i / o 11 is electrically coupled to a standard coaxial cable 14 which is terminated by standard bnc plugs 15 and 16 . each audio l / o , 12 and 13 , is electrically coupled to a standard audio cable with wires 17 and 18 , terminated in standard phono plugs , 19 , 20 and 21 , 22 , respectively . an adapter 30 includes a first set of ports , 31 , 32 , 33 , which are standard receptacles for receiving and electrically engaging the plugs 16 , 20 , and 22 of the cables 14 , 17 and 18 . at the other end of the adapter is an output port , in this example a single modular jack 34 , which is adapted for receiving and electrically engaging a standard modular plug 35 . that is , the modular jack 34 includes at least three pairs of electrical pins , each pair coupled to one of the input ports , 31 - 33 . in this example , a standard 8 - pin modular jack is employed with the pin layout illustrated in fig2 . as shown , the first two pins ( 1 and 2 ) are used for audio channel &# 34 ; a &# 34 ;, while pins 3 and 6 are used for audio channel &# 34 ; b &# 34 ;. pins 7 and 8 are used for the video channel . pins 4 and 5 , normally used for voice transmission , are not used by the adapter . ( for an example of a standard 8 - pin modular jack , see , systimax ® premises distribution system components guide , at & amp ; t doc . no . 3726c , p . 3 - 10 , [ december 1990 ].) cord 36 , which can be a standard unshielded twisted pair cord containing at least three twisted pairs , includes a similar plug 37 at the end opposite to the plug 35 . the plug 37 mates with a modular jack 38 which is part of the information outlet 39 mounted to the wall of a building . this information outlet couples the video and two audio signals onto separate twisted pairs of a four - pair cable , 40 , which runs throughout the building . the information outlet 39 is a standard part of an at & amp ; t systimax ® premises distribution system . ( see , for example , components guide , cited above .) in order to permit the audio and video signals to be transmitted over the four twisted pairs which share a common sheath , the adapter 30 is constructed in accordance with the circuit schematic diagram of fig3 . port 31 , which receives the video channel signals , comprises , in this embodiment , a standard bnc female coaxial connector , but could be any suitable connector . the signal portion of the connector is coupled to one end of the primary winding of first transformer , t 1 , while the ground portion of the connector is coupled to one end of the secondary winding of transformer t 1 . the opposite ends of the windings are coupled to the appropriate pins ( 7 and 8 ) of the modular jack 34 . the ports 32 and 33 , in this example , comprise standard phone jacks . the signal portion of each jack is coupled to one end of the primary winding of an associated transformer , t 2 and t 3 , while the ground connection of each jack is coupled to the other end of the primary winding of its associated transformer . the secondary windings are coupled to the appropriate pins ( 6 , 3 , 2 and 1 ) of the modular jack 34 . as previously mentioned , pins 4 and 5 of modular jack 34 are not used in this embodiment . the transformers , t 1 - t 3 , have certain characteristics to produce low crosstalk between the audio and video signals . a high balance , i . e ., tight coupling between the two windings of the transformer , is required . in particular , it is desirable that the video transformer , t 1 , have a common mode rejection greater than 40 db for frequencies up to 50 mhz . the audio transformers should have a common mode rejection greater than 40 db for frequencies up to 100 khz . this high balance can be achieved , for example , by means of a &# 34 ; bifilar &# 34 ; winding arrangement wherein both primary and secondary windings are wound side by side around a magnetic core . such a winding minimizes leakage inductance and dc resistance differences between windings in order to allow for the high degree of balance . a flat frequency response for each transformer is also desirable : to accurately reproduce the video and audio signals at the output port ( 34 ) of the adapter . it is , therefore , recommended that the frequency response of the video transformer be within ± 0 . 5 db in the dc to 8 mhz frequency range , while the frequency response of the audio transformers be within ± 0 . 5 db in the 50 hz to 15 khz frequency range . it is further desirable for the transformers to exhibit low loss to ensure that the video and audio signals are not unduly attenuated . a loss of no greater than 0 . 5 db is desirable . in order to achieve such losses , a magnetic core material with a high permeability is recommended for each transformer . in this example a permeability of 20 , 000 was used , but in general a permeability of greater than 10 , 000 is desirable . fig4 and 5 illustrate one example of a physical embodiment of the adapter 30 . the bnc coaxial connector 31 includes a post 50 which mounts the connector onto a printed circuit board 51 by soldering four legs of the post into holes ( 61 - 64 of fig5 ) in the board . the signal portion of the contact is soldered in hole 65 . phono jacks 32 and 33 are mechanically attached to insulating blocks 52 and 53 , respectively , which are snapped into holes ( 66 , 67 and 68 , 69 , respectively ) in the circuit board . downwardly extending vertical posts ( not shown ) which are an integral part of the connectors 32 and 33 and couple the ground and signal portions to the board are soldered in holes 70 , 71 and 72 , 73 respectively , in the circuit board . it will be noted in regard to fig5 that each mounting position for the contacts includes the same array of nine holes so that the positions and types of contacts can be varied if desired . each connector is coupled to its associated transformer ( t 1 - t 3 ) by means of conductive leads , e . g ., 75 , formed on the bottom surface of the printed circuit board . each transformer , in turn , is coupled to its associated pins of modular jack 34 by conductive leads , e . g ., 76 , which are also deposited on the bottom surface of the printed circuit board . the pins of the modular jack 34 are soldered in their respective holes , e . g ., 77 . the circuit board 51 and the components mounted thereon are enclosed within a housing formed by two half - shells , 80 and 81 , mechanically attached by means of four posts ( 82 - 84 being visible ) fitted within corresponding holes ( 85 - 87 being visible ). it will be appreciated that it should be possible to also include voice signals on one of the twisted pairs within the same sheath as the pairs carrying the voice and audio signals in the cable ( 40 of fig1 ) various modifications of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art . all such variations which basically rely on the teachings through which the invention has advanced the art are properly considered within the scope of the invention . | 7 |
harvesting machine 10 , such as a combine , is supported on the ground by front and rear wheels 12 and 14 and hence follows the contours of the ground . harvesting machine 10 is controlled by an operator from operator &# 39 ; s cab 16 . the operator &# 39 ; s job consists of optimizing the intake of the crop while observing the speed and the acceptable losses . container 18 is located behind operator &# 39 ; s cab 16 into which the harvested and threshed crop is delivered in a combine , grain or other seeds in the container can be transferred to a trailer by means of outlet pipe 20 and unloading arrangement 21 ( see fig2 ). in addition , harvesting machine 10 contains housing 22 which accommodates intake device 25 , consisting of a threshing cylinder 24 , concave 26 , beater 28 , several straw walkers 30 , conveyor arrangement 32 , cleaning shoe 34 and blower 36 . the crop collected by an input device , not shown , such as a harvesting platform or a picker , is transported by feederhouse 38 to housing 22 and threshed , separated and cleaned by means of the aforementioned components . intake device 25 extends across the entire width of housing 22 . the intake device is charged with crop to be threshed across its entire width under normal conditions when operating on generally horizontal terrain . the concave is provided with openings , through which the threshed crop can be delivered to conveyor arrangement 32 in its forward region . crop that is separated by means of straw walkers 30 is thrown from the left end of straw walkers 30 in fig1 upon the forward , or at least the center region of conveyor arrangement 32 . conveyor arrangement 32 , as do conventional conveyor arrangements , transports the threshed crop , which is still mixed with impurities , straw , parts of hulls , etc ., from left to right in fig1 from intake device 25 to cleaning shoe 34 . the cleaning shoe consists of sieves which separate the useful crop from the impurities . an air flow , generated by blower 36 , is blown through cleaning shoe 34 and expels the generally lighter , useless components of the crop mixture out the rear end of harvesting machine 10 . the useful part of the crop , that is cleaned by cleaning shoe 34 is moved by an elevator , not shown , to container 18 . the crop material is temporarily stored in container 18 and in turn is unloaded therefrom . fig2 - 11 show conveyor system 40 according to the invention in various embodiments , arranged within container 18 . conveyor system 40 consists generally of conveyor arrangement 42 , linkage 44 and mount 46 . conveyor arrangement 42 is composed of several conveyor elements 48 , conveyor element carrier 50 and motor 52 , all of which are carried by the linkage 44 , and which can be moved from top - to - bottom , as seen in the fig1 and from bottom - to - top . in this embodiment , linkage 44 consists of three arms 54 , 54 &# 39 ; ( fig3 and 4 ) and 56 , one end of each is pivotally attached to mount 46 . the other end is pivotally attached to conveyor element carrier 50 . arms 54 , 54 &# 39 ; are configured identically and are arranged symmetrically about the axis of rotation of conveyor element carrier 50 . arm 56 is attached to carrier element 50 , offset to one side , to the left in fig2 in order to form a support against tipping of conveyor arrangement 42 . the result is a four - bar linkage that manipulates conveyor arrangement 42 in such a way that the plane traversed by conveyor elements 48 remains parallel to itself in every vertical position of conveyor arrangement 42 . however , this is not mandatory , and the various planes may be inclined to each other to a certain degree . arms 54 , 54 &# 39 ; and 56 are each configured as levers with two segments 58 , 58 &# 39 ;. segments 58 , 58 &# 39 ; are oriented at an angle of approximately 90 ° to each other . the length of both segments 58 , 58 &# 39 ; is slightly greater than the length of conveyor elements 48 , which corresponds to the radius of the circular surface traversed . so that , in both end positions of conveyor arrangement 42 , conveyor elements 48 do not come into contact with arms 54 , 54 &# 39 ; and 56 . arms 54 and 54 &# 39 ; provide support and sideways guidance for conveyor element carrier 50 , while arm 56 , which is offset thereto , provides parallel guidance for conveyor arrangement 42 . as can be seen in fig2 conveyor elements 48 with conveyor element carrier 50 move in a circular path about the attachment points of arms 54 , 54 &# 39 ; and 56 at mount 46 between the upper and lower end positions . mount 46 consists generally of plate 60 and three brackets 62 , 62 &# 39 ; and 64 are provided with holes that provide for the pivotal attachment of arms 54 , 54 &# 39 ; and 56 . the hole for arm 56 is located at a greater distance from wall 66 compared to the two other holes . in this embodiment , conveyor elements 48 are configured as rotor blades that are attached to and extend radially from conveyor element carrier 50 . this arrangement can be seen clearly in fig4 . a total of four conveyor elements 48 are provided , which traverse a circular plane during operation , as indicated in fig4 . conveyor elements 48 may be made from a rigid material , such as steel , aluminum , wood or the like ; or from a flexible material , that is sufficiently stiff , such as reinforced rubber , composite plastic rods or the like . for the sake of design simplicity , conveyor elements 48 are rigidly attached to conveyor element carrier 50 . it is possible , however , in the case of rigid conveyor elements 48 , to attach these to conveyor element carrier 50 so that they may pivot about their longitudinal axis , in order to vary their conveying efficiency . the length of conveyor elements 48 and therewith the radius , or the diameter of the circular surface traversed , are selected so that , if possible , the entire interior of container 18 is covered . in a further embodiment , not shown , conveyor elements 48 may be guided at their inner ends along a curved path so that they move in a radial direction during the rotation . by this means , a rectangular or square surface may be traversed . in addition , a plurality of overlapping conveyors 42 may be employed as illustrated in fig9 . in this embodiment , conveyor element carrier 50 is designed as carrier 68 , with journal 70 vertical thereto , which is free to rotate , and connected to motor 52 and disk 72 . conveyor elements 48 are attached to disk 72 by conventional means . carrier 68 extends generally parallel to the plane traversed by conveyor elements 48 . the carrier is equipped at its outer side with journals , bearings , joints or similar devices , that permit the attachment to pivot relative to arms 54 , 54 &# 39 ; and 56 . as can be seen in fig4 the attachment of arm 56 to carrier 68 provides the aforementioned offset and hence does not lie in line with the two other attachment points . in this embodiment , motor 52 is configured as a hydraulic motor that is supplied with pressurized oil from a pump through hoses , not shown . in the preferred embodiment , the hydraulic system of motor 52 is so arranged that its rotational speed , its operating pressure , and its direction of rotation may be varied . this can be accomplished by the use of appropriate control valves or by the use of variable displacement pumps . furthermore , control or regulation of the direction of rotation of motor 52 or the beginning of operation of the pump can be accomplished by a conventional mechanical linkage or an electrically operated control device , in particular a solenoid operated valve . the use of an electrically operated control device permits the application of an electric control circuit by means of which the operation of motor 52 can be controlled in relation to the degree of fill of container 18 or similar criteria . motor 52 is provided with a coupling , not shown , used to lock it against rotation to journal 70 . motor 52 itself , or its housing , is flanged and attached rigidly to carrier 68 , and hence moves up and down with conveyor elements 48 . between linkage 44 , arms 54 , 54 &# 39 ;, 56 , a control device may be provided that can either be controlled externally or operated with internal power . the control device controls the contact pressure of conveyor arrangement 42 upon the cone of repose of the crop deposit . under certain circumstances and with some types of crop such a control may be helpful or even necessary , if it is required to avoid either excessive penetration by the conveyor elements 48 into the crop deposit or insufficient penetration thereof . the control device may also be used to provide a contact pressure that varies with the height of the crop in container 18 , so that during an unloading operation the contact pressure is low when the container 18 is full , and increases the more conveyor arrangement 42 approaches the bottom . by this means compensation is provided for the reduced contact pressure caused by the diminishing height of the crop deposit and the volume of the crop deposit . the control device may be configured as a hydraulic , pneumatic or electric motor , which is operated depending on control signals . fig6 illustrates a control device comprising a hydraulic cylinder 100 . the control signals are generated by sensors that detect the height of the crop deposit , which may sense the height directly or react to the relative position of conveyor arrangement 42 . such a sensor is illustrated in fig1 . electronic sensor 102 detects the position of segment 58 by sensing arm 104 which is rotated relative to sensor 102 by pin 106 projecting from segment 58 . in another embodiment illustrated in fig7 the control device may be configured as a spring 108 , which substantially supports the weight of conveyor arrangement 42 so that it makes contact with the crop deposit with only a small fraction of its weight , but is still able to follow it closely . contact pressure varying with the height of the crop deposit can be obtained by selection of the spring characteristic and the arrangement of the spring . the spring may comprise a helical extension spring or a gas spring . fig8 discloses a system for changing the inclination of the conveyor arrangement . this is accomplished by adjusting the pivot point of segment 58 . the system comprises a bracket 110 having a downwardly depending tang 112 through which is positioned threaded screw 114 . by adjusting thumb nut 116 , the relationship of the pivot points are changed resulting in a change in inclination of the conveyor . fig5 shows conveyor arrangement 42 configured as a scraper chain conveyor , which corresponds in its general operation to the embodiments described above , but which differs in the details of conveyor elements 48 and conveyor element carrier 50 . this conveyor arrangement 42 includes frame 76 , two shafts 78 with sprockets 80 and endless chain drive 82 . frame 76 is configured as a tubular frame with two longitudinal carriers 84 , three transverse carriers 86 and two attachment plates 88 . the ends of longitudinal carriers 84 are each provided with a bearing , not shown , which rotatively support shafts 78 , and are spaced at a distance approximately equal to the length of shafts 78 . transverse carriers 86 extend between longitudinal carriers 84 and are rigidly connected thereto and provide torsional rigidity for frame 74 . attachment plate 88 is rigidly connected to the center of each longitudinal carrier 84 , and extends from these through the space between the two legs of chain drive 82 . the attachment plates 88 are provided with two bearings , that are pivotally coupled to support arms 54 &# 34 ; and 54 &# 39 ;&# 34 ;. the bearings are arranged above one another and form a four - bar linkage with the pivots of arms 54 &# 34 ;, 54 &# 39 ;&# 34 ; in mount 46 . the four - bar linkage permits the adjustment of the conveyor arrangement 42 in a plane parallel to itself . the frame 76 may also be equipped at one end with a deflector , not shown , extending horizontally below which the crop deposit is conveyed and which moves conveyor arrangement 42 upward by floatation . shafts 78 are rotatably supported from and extend across the width of longitudinal carriers 84 . one of the shafts is rigidly connected to motor 52 , such as by a chain , a bevel or face gear , a belt or by another coupling , and motor 52 itself is attached to frame 76 . sprockets 80 are rigidly attached , to the end regions of shafts 78 and engage chain drive 82 . motor 52 through a chain drive drives shaft 78 and associated sprocket 80 located on the right hand side of fig5 . sprocket 80 on the left hand side of fig5 is driven by chain drive 82 . chain drive 82 consists of at least two chains 90 having conveyor elements 48 &# 39 ; attached thereto and configured as blades . chains 90 are composed of conventional chain links 92 whose spaces are engaged by the teeth of sprocket 80 . conveyor elements 48 &# 39 ; are attached at each end to one chain link 92 on each of the chains and hence are carried along when chains 90 are driven . conveyor elements 48 &# 39 ; are flanged to reinforce and improve their conveying capacity . in addition , flanging conveyor element 48 &# 39 ; provides for a variation of the conveying performance when driving chain drive 82 in opposite directions . this or similar shaping of conveyor elements 48 &# 39 ; the conveying direction into components directed upward and forward , so that conveyor arrangement 42 is pushed upwards during the conveying and distribution process . in addition , conveyor elements 48 &# 39 ; may be provided with guiding or conveying attachments that are wedge - shaped or inclined , which transport the crop deposit to the side . the connection of conveyor elements 48 &# 39 ; to chains 90 may be rigid , as illustrated in fig5 or pivotal as illustrated in fig1 . the pivotal conveyor elements 48 &# 39 ; of fig1 are pivotally coupled to chain links 92 at pivot 120 . this provides conveying action in one direction of conveyor arrangement 42 , while in the other direction conveyor elements 48 &# 39 ; lie against the chain 90 , resulting in no build - up of crop deposit and minimizing conveying resistance . linkage 44 &# 39 ; is composed of arms 54 &# 34 ;, 54 &# 39 ;&# 34 ;, which are different from those of the first embodiment and which are arranged so that frame 76 is adjusted with chain drive 82 in planes that are parallel to each other . motor 52 and the control devices used with the first embodiment are also applicable to this embodiment . in both embodiments , conveyor system 40 will display the following characteristics : the relative position of conveyor arrangement 42 may be utilized as an indication of the degree of filling of container 18 whose signal may be transmitted to operator &# 39 ; s cab 16 by mechanical means , such as a rope pull , or electrically . a full signal may also be used to turn off the thresher or to turn on warning lights ; or a range of signals for different points of time or degrees of filling may be used . where a cover arrangement is provided for container 18 , conveyor arrangement 42 may be brought into contact with the cover arrangement in its upper end position and raise the cover for the time of the filling of the upper region . some or all of conveyor elements 48 and 48 &# 39 ; may be equipped with brushes , rubber strips or the like , which , for one , can provide excellent cleaning of the bottom of container 18 and , for another , avoid damage to it , when they come into contact at the end of the run . between motor 52 and conveyor elements 48 , 48 &# 39 ; an overload safety device may be used , such as a limited slip clutch , which may provide an advantage with crops that are difficult to move such as corn cob mixtures . the rotational speed of motor 52 may be lower during the filling process than during the unloading , since during filling the main requirement is for proper distribution , while during unloading proper guidance of the crop is important . during the filling process , 30 to 100 revolutions of journal 70 may be adequate . the description of the operation begins with the first embodiment and condition shown in fig2 . container 18 is empty , unloading arrangement 21 is turned off and crop is delivered to the container 18 through openings near its top , by means of a clean grain elevator , not shown . the crop deposit starts to accumulate at the bottom of container 18 . as soon as crop is delivered ; or at a later time determined by sensors and a control system ; or as soon as a control signal is given , motor 52 is supplied with hydraulic fluid under pressure so that it begins to turn . the starting point may also be controlled by a time delay relay . conveyor elements 48 are put into motion and traverse the circular plane illustrated in fig4 . while conveyor elements 48 are moved across the circular plane , they are in contact with the crop deposit upon which conveyor arrangement 42 is supported . conveyor elements 48 move part of the crop outward by means of centrifugal force , in order to form a flat surface . by this means , areas otherwise not accessible are filled . as more crop is delivered , the higher is the cone of repose , and the higher conveyor arrangement 42 moves upward , since it is either swimming upon the crop deposit or is raised by means of the control device . as soon as it has reached its upper end position , motor 52 is turned off either automatically or by a switch controlled manually ; harvesting machine 10 carrying container 18 is driven to an unloading point ; and the drive to unloading arrangement 21 activated so that the crop deposit can be extracted from container 18 . during the early part of the unloading process , motor 52 could continue to operate ; this energy consumption is , however , in most cases unnecessary , since the crop initially will flow towards the unloading arrangement by reason of its own weight . as soon as the remaining crop deposit no longer flows by itself to unloading arrangement 21 and / or a so - called bridging takes place , motor 52 is again activated and moves the crop deposit to unloading arrangement 21 . this process ends only when the crop deposit has been completely unloaded and conveyor arrangement 42 makes contact with the bottom of container 18 . it is particularly evident from fig2 that container 18 does not require any slope in the area covered by conveyor elements 48 ; slopes should be provided in those areas in which the crop deposit is not reached by conveyor elements 48 . | 0 |
the present invention is directed to a business method for generating advertising claims . the business method comprises the steps of : 1 ) determining the before use thickness of the stratum corneum ( sc ) on an area of a test subject &# 39 ; s skin by measuring the concentration profile of a raman - active material as a function of depth within the test area using confocal raman spectroscopy , then processing the data obtained to determine the before use thickness of the sc ; 2 ) providing the test subject with a personal care composition and instructions for use of the personal care composition ; 3 ) determining the after use thickness of the sc on an area of a test subject &# 39 ; s skin after the use of the personal care composition by measuring the concentration profile of a raman - active material as a function of depth within the test area using confocal raman spectroscopy , then processing the data obtained to determine the after use thickness of the sc ; and utilizing the before use thickness and the after use thickness to generate the advertising claims . the method may be utilized in locations including , but not limited to , stores ( specialty shops , mass stores , etc . ), doctor &# 39 ; s office , spas , etc . the method of the present invention may generate advertising claims in the form of before use and after use advertising claims . the thickness of the stratum cornuem ( sc ) may be determined using confocal raman spectroscopy ( crs ). the method of crs described herein is used to determine both the before use thickness and the after use thickness in generating advertising claims . crs uses a microscope system to focus laser light to a point . the light at the point of focus is of high intensity which is where the raman signal is generated from . measurements as a function of depth are carried out by moving the microscope objective lens so that it focuses the light at specific locations within the substrate of interest ( e . g . the sc ). it is possible to analyze any material as long as it is transparent enough to allow sufficient light to enter and leave from the depth of interest and it has a unique raman spectra . by moving the objective lens in small increments , a profile of raman spectra as a function of depth of the sc can be produced . the raman spectra contain peaks corresponding to the different functional groups of the chemicals present within the sample . the locations of these peaks are determined by the precise chemical structure of the components . once the peak locations for different components of the sample are known , ratioing of one component to the others present can be carried out . for instance , % water in skin can be calculated by ratioing the amount of water and protein as calculated from the areas under the curves in the part of the spectra corresponding to water and protein respectively , and applying a proportionality constant ( as detailed below ). any suitable commercially available crs equipment can be used . one example is a river diagnostics model 3510 confocal raman microspectroscopy system ( software version — rivericon v . 1 ). this has been designed for use as an in - vivo , non invasive skin analysis device , enabling qualitative and semi - quantitative analysis of molecular concentrations and concentration profiles within the skin . the system incorporates a ccd detector combined with a microscope objective lens to enable focusing of the laser light into the skin and collection of the returning signal . two ( 2 ) lasers are used — a 671 nm red laser for water profiling ( operating in the high wavenumber region from 2500 - 4000 cm − 1 ), and a 785 nm near ir laser for low wavenumber fingerprint region ( natural moisturizing factor ( nmf ) and other active ingredients measurement ). the peaks for the natural moisturizing factors are present in the low wavenumber fingerprint region which is the region about which this laser gives information . therefore , by measuring the fingerprint region , information about the natural moisturizing factors can be determined . profiles in the high wavenumber region may be measured using 1s acquisition times per spectra , and in the fingerprint region using 10s acquisitions per spectra . typically 2 or 3 μm spacings between spectra may be used . the top few hundred microns of the skin are transparent to the light from both the 671 nm and 785 nm lasers allowing profiling within the sc using this arrangement . the points forming the hydration profile as a function of depth within the sc are derived by the software using the raman spectra acquired for each depth value . the software may use the calculation method as outlined in peter caspers &# 39 ; ph . d . thesis (‘ in - vivo skin characterization by confocal raman spectroscopy ’, 2003 , erasmus university , rotterdam , the netherlands ). for example , as explained in this thesis , the area between 3350 - 3550 cm − 1 may be integrated for the water band [ water ], and 2910 - 2966 cm − 1 for the protein band [ protein ] ( a sample spectra showing the areas measured for water and protein is given in fig1 ). the percentage hydration may then be calculated for each depth with this formula : wherein r is a proportionality constant ( derivation of the proportionality constant is described in the peter caspers &# 39 ; ph . d . thesis noted above ). the procedure to determine percentage hydration is carried out automatically at each point of the spectra by the associated rivericon software and results in the formation of a hydration profile ( see fig2 ). a similar process may be followed when looking at different active species ( for example vitamins , and amino acids ), where a principal component analysis using well defined peak locations is used to calculate a profile for each of the ingredients of interest . again , this is carried out within the standard software provided with the equipment , and the data are outputted in the form of a profile for the ingredient of interest as a function of depth . in principle , anything which is raman - active can be measured within the skin using this technique . for a specific vibrational mode to be raman - active , there must be a change in the polarizability of the molecule caused by the vibration . it has already been shown in the literature that water and the amino acids which make up natural moisturizing factors ( nmf ) can be analyzed within the skin , along with cholesterol , lactic acid , and keratin . due to the complex structure of most ingredients of interest within skin care formulations , there will normally be some vibrations associated with any given molecule of interest which will be raman - active . in order for the molecules of interest to be measured in a raman profile they must fulfill two criteria : 1 ) they must have peaks which are sufficiently distinct from other components within the skin , and 2 ) the ingredient must be present in sufficient quantity to be detected . the absolute intensity of the peaks in a spectrum will be determined by how strong the change in polarizability is and will vary from compound to compound . peak location within the spectrum is determined by the functional groups present within the molecule . the method of data processing described herein is used to determine both the before use thickness and the after use thickness in generating advertising claims . the data points gathered are processed to be more readily usable . data points that make up each profile may be saved as a tab delimited text file and imported into a suitable mathematical software , for example matlab . in the exemplary system used , up to 8 profiles for any given site may be imported . the dataset ( containing all profiles ) may then be treated as a cloud of points through which a line of best fit is put . the mathematical model for the line of best fit may be based on the weibull model , although different models may be used ( e . g . polynomial regression ). the weibull distribution is widely used in reliability and life ( failure rate ) data analysis and as a biological growth model . the equation for the weibull model used here is given below . where a , b , c and d are variables determined during the optimization of the line of best fit by the mathematical software . a line of best fit based upon this model is fitted to the dataset ( see fig2 ), and using this equation different parameters of the skin can be determined ( for example , bottom of the sc , complete area under the curve from the surface to the base of the sc ). during the calculation of the line of best fit through the dataset , the determination of the leveling off point of the curve is also carried out . the leveling off point is determined using a gradient threshold on the weibull model . a value for the gradient threshold may be set by the operator during data analysis . the leveling off point is taken where the slope on the modeled curve matches the threshold set . this leveling off point corresponds to where the water rich living tissue of the epidermis meets the sc , e . g . the bottom of the sc . when analyzing an entire study , a subset of the data is chosen at random and analyzed using different gradient threshold values . the operator then determines the most accurate fit for the leveling off point and uses the corresponding gradient threshold value for analysis of the entire study . as discussed above , the operator makes this assessment by first looking for where the curve leveled off . this is done by eye , setting different gradients into the software and seeing the location of the resulting leveling off points . additionally , the operator may choose to run fingerprint profiles on a few locations at exactly the same points as the hydration profiles . this allows one to see the presence of nmf , which only starts to be expressed at the bottom of the sc . typically , the location where the nmf starts to be seen corresponds to where the operator finds the most accurate fit for the leveling off point in the hydration profiles . importantly , once a value is set for a given study , that value is then applied to the entire dataset . the need for operator choice for the gradient threshold arises from a number of factors . for example , the skin on different body parts has inherently different water profiles . also , the skin &# 39 ; s natural hydration state is strongly influenced by the time of year and associated weather conditions . it should be emphasized that once a value for the gradient threshold has been derived for the small subset of data from the entire study , that value is normally used for the entire analysis . typical values for the gradient threshold on volar forearm skin are between 0 . 4 and 1 . 0 , and this range may be used as a starting point when determining the appropriate value . an example data set fitted with the weibull model is shown in fig2 . it is also possible to use other mathematical operations to determine the leveling off point , such as the point at which the % hydration reaches a fixed percentage of the upper asymptote of the weibull model . as with the use of the gradient threshold , this provides a route to determining the location of the bottom of the sc . the term “ personal care composition ,” as used herein , refers to a product that is intended to have an effect on skin . the term includes cosmetic products , whose purpose is to improve the appearance of skin , as well as therapeutic treatments , whose purpose is to prevent or treat a skin disease ( these terms are not mutually exclusive ). also included are products which are not directly applied on the skin , e . g . nutraceuticals which are ingested by the user . the personal care composition of the present invention may be a skin care composition . the skin care composition may include moisturizing agents . non - limiting examples of skin - care compositions include leave - on products ( e . g . moisturizing creams , self - tanning products , tinted moisturizers , powders , foundations , conditioning wipes , etc .) and rinse - off products ( shower gels , in - shower moisturizers , foaming wipes , etc .). the advertising claims may be determined based on the before use thickness and after thickness . the before use and after use thickness indicate the effectiveness of a personal care composition . the effectiveness of a personal care composition is normally expressed as the change of a certain skin quality between the beginning and the end of the study . confocal raman spectroscopy may be used to quantify the change of concentration of a raman - active material within the skin . therefore , it may be used to determine the effectiveness of a personal care composition when a raman - active material can be linked the effect of the composition studied . for example , a change in skin hydration , which can be linked to the concentration of water within the skin , can be measured using the crs technique because water is a raman - active material . similarly , any raman - active materials that can be linked to the effectiveness of a personal care composition ( e . g . including , but not limited to , niacinamide , water , natural moisturizing factors ( nmf ), vitamins , cholesterol , ceramides , urea , urocanic acid , glycerin , amino acids , etc .) may also be used to quantify its effectiveness . for effectively quantifying the effectiveness of a personal care composition using confocal raman spectroscopy , it is important to take into account the change of thickness of the sc during the study . without wishing to being bound by theory , this may be because changes in the hydration state of the skin alter its thickness , or that certain skin actives ( e . g . including , but not limited to , niacinamide , water , natural moisturizing factors ( nmf ), vitamins , cholesterol , ceramides , urea , urocanic acid , glycerin , amino acids , etc .) may increase skin cells proliferation . therefore , it may not be appropriate to compare values obtained at the beginning and the end of the study at a constant depth ( e . g . 10 μm ). constant depth refers to an absolute distance from the surface of the sc , for example 10 um above . this is distinguishable from relative depth ( e . g . half way through the sc ), where thickness changes within the sc over the course of the treatment is taken into account . using this technique to derive information about changes in sc thickness from the shape of the profile enables one to determine relative depths . for actives delivered from the composition , it is normally important to know depth of penetration and % concentration as a function of depth . as such , it is important to reference any change in the quantity of a raman - active material % hydration changes to % depth . also , as the thickness of the sc may have changed , the parameter of total area under the curve from the surface to the bottom of the sc becomes important as a total hydration measure . wrongly considering the sc to be fixed in thickness throughout the study may lead to an incorrect interpretation of the data . the thickness of the sc at the beginning and then at the end of the study may be determined using the method described above which employs a crs technique . measuring the water concentration profile using crs and processing the data obtained is a good way to determine sc thickness . if the effect to be measured is skin hydration , then only one measure of the concentration profile at the beginning and at the end of the study needs to be performed , because the data generated for determining the sc thickness can also be used to determine the water content of the sc . there are different ways to express the effectiveness of a personal care composition using the data generated by crs and the sc thickness , of which two preferred examples are outlined here . first , a specific relative depth of the sc ( e . g . half - way ) may be selected , and the amounts of raman - active material ( e . g . water ) linked to the effect of the personal care composition ( e . g . skin hydration ) to be determined at this relative depth at the beginning and at the end of the study may be compared . an alternative way to express the effectiveness of the composition is to measure the area under the curve ( integrating ) between the skin surface and the end of sc ( e . g . as determined by crs , as described above ). dividing the value obtained for the surface area at the end of the treatment by the value obtained for the surface area at the beginning of the treatment gives a measure of the effectiveness of the composition in % of increase . this is a measure of increase in the total amount of ingredient x ( e . g . water for hydration measurements ) within the sc . for example , if the area under the curve at the start of the experiment is 1000 and the area after using the product is 1100 , the total water holding capacity of the sc has increased by 10 %. this method of quantifying the effect also works well for quantifying skin hydration . also , the total area under the curve for individual nmf &# 39 ; s could be linked to health of the skin ( as nmf &# 39 ; s are beneficial to the water holding capability of the sc and are readily washed out ). to demonstrate the effects of a single variable on skin hydration , a set of baseline spectra is recorded ( the site to be used is dry wiped to remove surface sebum before the measurements are taken via crs to provide a benchmark for the state of the individual &# 39 ; s sc before treatment ). petrolatum is then applied to the same area of the forearm 4 times over a 24 hour period with the aim of promoting skin hydration via occlusion . after 24 hours , the site is dry wiped to remove any surface contamination and a further set of profiles collected via crs ( fig3 ). this shows how the hydration level near the surface of the sc increased due to occlusion ( x = 0 to 5 μm ). also , the total area under the curve from the surface to the bottom of the sc has increased from 697 to 764 , an increase of approximately 10 %. in this study , two commercial moisturizing treatments (‘ a ’— olay ® quench , and ‘ b ’— jergens ® ultra healing ) were used . after an initial baseline reading via crs , the products were applied for 2 weeks followed by a 1 week regression period during which no product was applied to the sites examined . product application was 2 μl cm − 2 , twice daily , over sites on the volar forearms of 15 panelists . panelists did not use moisturizing products other than those provided by the study organizers on their forearms over the entire course of the study . the baseline profile for skin hydration at the beginning of the study ( no products applied ) is shown on fig4 . as shown , the baseline profile for both sites ‘ a ’ and ‘ b ’ were identical . the change in % hydration for the two moisturizing treatments ‘ a ’ and ‘ b ’ at the fixed depth of 10 μm data beneath the surface of the sc is given in fig5 . looking at the data in fig5 , treatment ‘ a ’ appears to be resulting in a dehydration of the sc at 2 weeks usage and after 1 week regression . however if the shape of the profile at each of these time points is examined , there is a clear difference for treatment ‘ a ’ after 2 weeks usage and 1 week regression . fig6 and 7 show a change in the skin thickness as the leveling off points for treatment ‘ a ’ and ‘ b ’ are different ( where as , at the start of the study — the baseline reading , fig4 , shows that the skin at all the sites is equivalent as the leveling off points are coincident ). therefore , measurement only of % hydration at a single depth beneath the surface of the sc is misleading , as treatment ‘ a ’ would have appeared to have lowered in % hydration at a fixed depth . use of the total area under the curve is calculated by taking into account the leveling off point via crs , ( e . g . total hydration level within the sc is shown in fig8 ). this shows a clear and statistically valid ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ) increase in the total hydration within the skin ( e . g . total hydration content within the sc ) for treatment ‘ a ’ which was not observed by examining the % hydration at a fixed depth ( the change shown corresponds to approximately a 10 % increase in area under the curve for product ‘ a ’). one skilled in statistics may recognize that “ p ” is a statistical term referring to the probability of the data being real , or having happened by chance . a “ p ” value of less than 0 . 05 means that there is a 95 % chance that the data is real , and has not happened by chance . all the data generated for this study were analyzed using a gradient threshold of 0 . 5 , as that value has been determined to be most representative of the leveling off point for the experiment . examples of potential advertising claims that may result from experiments discussed herein include , but are not limited to : “ increases the water holding capacity of your skin by x % after 2 weeks .” this claim would be appropriate when the area under the curve has increased by x % from before treatment to after treatment . another example of a potential advertising claim would be “ delivers ‘ ingredient x ’ to where it is needed in the skin .” this claim is related to measurements looking at the location of a specific actives or skin care ingredients within the sc . while particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described , it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . it is therefore intended to cover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications that are within the scope of this invention . all documents cited in the background , summary of the invention , and detailed description of the invention are , in relevant part , incorporated herein by reference ; the citation of any document is not to be construed as an admission that it is prior art with respect to the present invention . | 6 |
referring now to the drawings and more particularly to fig1 a cross - sectional schematic of a conventional plasma processing chamber 1 is shown . during the plasma etch process , a wafer 20 is placed on ring 30 which sits on a wafer holder 100 ( wafer holder 100 typically includes an electro - static chuck ). during plasma etching , charged particles 10 are generated by the electrodes 3 and 4 . further details of plasma processing chamber and plasma processing are well known in the art and are not included except where necessary to describe the present invention . the ring 30 may also be used as a focus ring which is well known in the art to focus the charged particles onto the surface of the wafer to enhance the uniformity of the etch process across the surface of the wafer and particularly at the edge of the wafer . the ring is generally made of quartz but other materials may be used such as silicon , y 2 o 3 , silicon carbide , al 2 o 3 or any suitable material that is compatible with plasma etch processing and are well known in the art . in a cross - sectional view of the ring ( fig2 ), the ring has an upper surface 50 and a lower surface 60 which underlies wafer 20 so that the edge portion of the wafer rests on surface 60 during the plasma processing . a gap 70 between the wafer and ring is approximately 500 μm to minimize scratching of the wafer during loading and unloading of the wafer onto the ring . [ 0028 ] fig3 illustrates , in cross - section , a first embodiment of the invention . a permanent magnet 40 is embedded in the ring . generally , it is preferred to have the magnet embedded within the ring to keep magnetic materials away from the plasma . the magnet may be also placed in a groove or channel 80 formed in the ring on either upper surface 50 ( fig4 a ) or bottom surface 55 ( fig4 b ) as one circular magnet or several pieces of magnet , provided that the magnet pieces form a complete circle . placing the magnet in a groove or channel structure facilitates disassembly of the ring for repair , cleaning or replacement purposes . to further illustrate the ring structure with the magnet encircling the ring , fig5 shows a top down view of the ring 30 with magnet 40 . wafer 20 is placed on ring 30 . now turning to the properties of the magnet , the optimal magnetic field strength is determined by the gyroradius of electrons being shorter than the distance to the wafer edge , effectively reflecting all electrons below a cutoff energy away from the wafer edge . in this embodiment , the ring is designed to reflect the charged particles away from the edge of the wafer . as shown in fig6 during the plasma etch process , the charged particle path 150 is normal to the wafer . the magnetic field 90 has lines of magnetic flux which form loops above and below the wafer surface near its edge , and intersect the wafer . it will be appreciated that this magnetic field arrangement serves as a magnetic mirror for deflecting charged particles traveling in a vertical path and incident on the edge of the wafer . as the particles approach the area of the magnetic field 90 , the particles are deflected in a path , 205 , in a manner such that the etching properties of the charged particles do not affect the edge of the wafer where the magnetic field is present . the position of the magnet relative to the wafer edge is determined by the magnetic field intensity of the magnet and its desired effect on the charged ions in a given plasma process . the magnetic field intensity should decrease rapidly with distance from the edge of the wafer so as not to affect the etching process more than approximately 3 mm from the edge of the wafer . for example , for an plasma etch process to etch deep trenches in silicon , the majority of plasma electrons exist at energies in the 1 - 5 ev range . choosing 20 ev for a maximum electron energy exclusion to ensure that electrons in this energy range are deflected would require a magnetic field intensity of 13 . 7g , 1 cm from the wafer edge , to reflect all electrons at this energy or lower . a stronger magnetic field strength intensity may be required when the plasma power is higher since under such conditions there will be higher energy particles . the magnetic field 90 also serves to deflect charged particles from the ring structure 30 . this reduces ring corrosion caused by the charged particles and extends the useful life of the ring and minimizes cost of operation of plasma etching . a magnet may advantageously be embedded in other structures , elsewhere in the plasma processing chamber , to prevent charged particle bombardment and thus extend the useful life of those structures . in particular , if a structure is of a consumable material , the magnetic field will reduce costs associated with the structure ( maintaining parts inventory , equipment downtime for parts replacement , etc .). even if the material is not sensitive to the etch process ( e . g ., quartz in a reactor for etching silicon ), the material is subject to corrosion , primarily by ion bombardment . [ 0033 ] fig7 shows another embodiment of the invention in which a shield ring 31 surrounds electrode 3 . ( a shield ring of silicon , for example , may be used in an oxide etch process .) a permanent magnet 41 is embedded in the ring and generates magnetic field 91 . field 91 serves to mitigate ion bombardment damage to the ring . if the shield ring is of a consumable material , the magnet 41 is advantageously in a groove ( see fig4 a and 4 b ), so that the magnet may be easily removed and transferred to another ring when replacement of the ring becomes necessary . [ 0034 ] fig8 illustrates another embodiment in which a guard ring 32 surrounds wafer holder 100 and electrode 4 ; permanent magnet 42 is embedded in the ring and generates magnetic field 92 . the magnetic field serves to prevent damage to the ring , significantly extending its useful life . [ 0035 ] fig9 illustrates a further embodiment in which a ring 33 is mounted close to the roof of chamber 1 . a permanent magnet 43 is embedded in the ring , generating a magnetic field 93 which protects both the ring and the chamber roof from charged particle bombardment , thereby reducing the erosion rate thereof . this may permit the roof itself to be made of a consumable material ( e . g . silicon ). it will be appreciated that a magnetic mirror may be used in or around a variety of other structures inside the plasma processing chamber ( e . g . the wafer chuck , confinement ring , baffle plate or gas distribution plate ), depending on the design of the particular chamber , to protect those structures from charged particle bombardment and thereby reduce the cost of consumable items in the chamber . in alternative embodiments of the invention , an electromagnet is used and can be turned on during the etch process . an electromagnet allows for tunability of the magnetic field intensity during the etch . when the magnet is used in focus ring 30 , this will permit additional control and optimization of the etch process . for example , magnetic deflection of particles near the wafer edge may be desired only during certain times in the etch process , or only during certain types of processes . it will be appreciated that an electromagnet may be used in any of the ring structures described above . while the present invention has been described in terms of specific embodiments , it is evident in view of the foregoing description that numerous alternatives , modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art . accordingly , the invention is intended to encompass all such alternatives , modifications and variations which fall within the scope and spirit of the invention and the following claims . | 7 |
although this invention is applicable to numerous and various types of sensors and external stimulus , it has been found particularly useful in the environment of accelerometers and acceleration , respectively . therefore , without limiting the applicability of the invention to accelerometers and acceleration , the invention will be described in such environment . in summary , the sensors of the present invention provide a general method of hardening various sensors with significant structural flexibility ( compared to their base structure ), particularly for application in devices that are susceptible to residual vibration as the result of shock or similar high acceleration loading . the method by which this is achieved is applicable to all such sensors , but is of particular importance for devices such as sensors and actuators that are desired to be light weight therefore structurally flexible or are required to be light weight or highly deformable ( flexible ) for their proper operation or to render them highly sensitive to the input to be measured such as for the case of almost all accelerometer based inertia measurement units ( imus ). in the context of the present inventions , hardening is meant to refer to the following functions : ( 1 ) provision of means to protect the moving parts and various mechanisms of the sensor from physical short term or permanent damage and / or ( 2 ) to minimize or effectively eliminate residual vibration of the components of the sensor that would require time to settle before the device could begin or resume its normal operation . the residual vibration is generally due to the elastic deformation of one or more movable components of the sensor and result in a certain amount of potential energy to be stored in these components during shock loading and would cause residual vibration until it is absorbed ( damped ) by passive or active means . the disclosed embodiments for mems accelerometers ( imus ) are general in design and are applicable to all basic elastic deformation based accelerometer designs , e . g ., all those based on torsional deformation , bending deformation , axial deformation and their various combinations . the basic operation of the various embodiments of the sensors of the present invention is based on locking one or more moving components of the sensor to a relatively rigid base structure of the accelerometer during the period ( s ) in which the accelerometer experiences shock loading . in an accelerometer , this moving component is referred to as a proof mass ( and / or other moving components of the accelerometer to which the proof mass is rigidly attached ). the locking or braking action of the moving component and the mechanism of its operation may be described to be basically : ( 1 ) active , i . e ., require externally powered actuation for its operation ; ( 2 ) passive , i . e ., require no external power and its operation is automatically triggered when the acceleration levels reach certain preset levels ; or ( 3 ) a combination of the aforementioned active and passive designs . in addition , the locking mechanism may have the means to lock the proof mass or the aforementioned moving component ( s ) to which it is rigidly attached , at a predetermined position corresponding to an acceleration offset , usually at a level close to the level at which the acceleration measurements have to be resumed following unlocking of the proof mass or the aforementioned moving component ( s ). the offset may be programmable into the sensor , in which case external power would generally be required to activate some actuation means to affect and / or vary the offset level . the offset may also be actively set or built into the sensor , in which case external power is not required to put it into effects in the following description , the aforementioned methods of hardening the sensors and the various embodiments of their application are described in terms of accelerometers ( imus ) in general , and those designed to be produced using mems ( microelectromechanical devices ) technology in particular . however , it can be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the disclosed methods are readily applicable to all devices such as various sensors and actuators with moving parts , particularly those constructed with flexible elements for their proper operation or for reasons such as to reduce weight ( mass or inertia ). the sensors and methods of the present invention are at least partly used to provide the means to lock or brake the primary moving components of various sensors that are subject to shock loading to protect them from damage during shock loading and where appropriate , to minimize residual vibration and settling time . referring now to fig1 a and 1 b , there is an accelerometer 100 shown schematically therein , which is intended to measure acceleration in the direction 101 . the accelerometer consists of a proof mass 102 which is rigidly attached to a relatively rigid base 106 ( plate ), a cantilever ( bending ) type of elastic element 103 with an equivalent spring rate k at the location of the proof mass 102 and in the direction of the acceleration 101 . the proof mass 102 ( with mass m ) is located a distance 104 ( with length l ) from the base 105 to which the elastic beam element 103 is rigidly attached . in most mems types of accelerometers , the displacing plate 106 forms one side of a capacitor while the other capacitor plate ( not shown ) is rigidly attached to the base 105 . this capacitor will then form the sensor that measures the elastic displacement of the proof mass due to the acceleration in the direction 101 . the basic mechanism of the aforementioned locking of the proof mass consists of locking a first locking mass 108 which is attached to the base 105 by spring 107 on one side and locking a second locking mass 109 and spring 110 on the opposite side of the proof mass base plate 106 . the second locking mass 109 is attached to a lever arm 111 , which is hinged to the base 105 by the rotational joint 113 . the spring 110 is attached to the base 105 on one end and to the lever arm 111 on the other . opposite to the second locking mass 109 is positioned a moment mass 112 which provides a moment about the hinge joint 113 . the moment mass 112 has a greater mass than that provided by the first locking mass 109 , thereby it tends to move the first locking mass 109 upwards due to the acceleration in the direction 101 . the spring rates of the springs 107 and 110 are selected such that at the desired acceleration levels the gap between the first and second locking masses 109 , 108 and the plate 106 begins to close . a spaced locking stop 114 is located along the plate 106 to limit the motion of the first and second locking masses 109 , 108 . as a result , when the acceleration in the direction 101 reaches the level , the first and second locking masses 109 , 108 close the aforementioned gap , and thereby hold the base 106 and the proof mass 102 stationary at its null point , as shown in fig1 b . in general , the springs 107 and 110 are preferably preloaded , i . e ., provide a preset force in the direction of providing the required gap between themselves and the base 106 , and as the acceleration level reaches the desired maximum level , they will begin to close the gap . those skilled in the art will appreciate that a number of variations of the design illustrated in fig1 a may also be utilized . for example , the first and second locking masses 109 , 108 may be actively operated by a toggle type of mechanism that “ switches ” the first and second locking masses 109 , 108 to their locking position as the desired acceleration level is reached . the elastic lever arm 106 may also be similarly locked in its null position if desired to further reduce residual vibration . a basic mechanism to lock the proof mass 102 and / or other moving components of an accelerometer is described above using an elastic beam type of accelerometer . the design , however , can be seen to be applicable to almost all accelerometer designs , particularly those constructed using mems technology , such as those employing a linear displacement , a ring type , and a torsional type of accelerometer . the disclosed devices are based on utilizing locking masses that are operated by preloaded springs and lever type or other similarly operated mechanisms , however , it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other mechanisms are possible for locking the moving components of accelerometers and other sensors . furthermore , the springs utilized in the disclosed devices are preferably preloaded to the desired level such that as a certain acceleration level is reached , they begin to limit the motion of the proof mass and bring it to its null position ( or toggle switch like mechanisms are activated to force the locking masses to bring the proof mass to its null position ). in the above description , the operation of the first and second locking masses 109 , 108 is passive , i . e ., does not require external power . similar operation may obviously be performed using external power to actively actuate the first and second locking masses 109 , 108 into their locking position . referring now to fig2 a , there is shown a variation of the device of fig1 a in which similar reference numerals denote similar features . the device of fig2 a differs from that of fig1 a in that the locking stop 114 can be fixed in a predetermined position other than the null position . for instance , the locking stop 114 can be fixed in a position corresponding to an acceleration , which is expected after the initial shock loading ( i . e ., after the initial high acceleration ). the stop plate 114 can be fixed in such a position , actively placed in such a position , or actuated into such position by an actuation means ( not shown ). furthermore , such position can be varied depending on the situation at hand . fig2 b illustrates the device of fig2 a in which the device experiences a high acceleration and the first and second locking masses 109 , 108 sandwich the plate 106 ( and the proof mass 102 therewith ) and the locking plate 114 therebetween to lock the proof mass 102 in the predetermined position . to facilitate the second locking mass &# 39 ; s 108 contact with the plate 106 and locking plate 114 , it is preferred that a pivoting joint be provided between the second locking mass 108 and the spring 107 . referring now to fig3 a and 3 b , an accelerometer is illustrated having a cantilevered proof mass 102 on a plate 106 . the means for locking the proof mass 102 during periods of high acceleration comprises a movable member 202 which is actively actuated into the locking position as - shown in fig3 b by an actuator 204 in response to a locking signal from a processor 206 . similarly , the movable member 202 is retracted from the locked position as shown in fig3 a by the actuator in response to an unlocking signal from the processor 206 . preferably , the processor bases its locking and unlocking signals on time from a particular event , such as the firing of a projectile . alternatively , the movable member can be biased into one of the locked or unlocked positions and be actuated into the other by the actuator 204 . the movable member preferably has a u - shaped mouth 208 with a tapered leading edge 210 to capture the plate 106 when it is to be locked . similar to the devices described with regard to fig1 a and 2 a , the device of fig3 a can lock the plate 106 and proof mass 102 in either a null position or any other predetermined position . referring now to fig3 c , there is shown a version of the accelerometer of fig3 a and 3 b in which a passive means for locking the proof mass in a null position during periods of high acceleration is employed . the accelerometer of fig3 c employs the same reference numerals for similar elements illustrated and described with regard to fig3 a and 3 b . in the accelerometer of fig3 c , the movable member 202 is connected to a movable shaft 212 which is retained to move in direction a , preferably , by bearings 214 . at an end 212 a of the movable shaft 212 is pinned a first link 216 at pivot point 217 . a second link 218 is connected to the first link at pivot point 220 . the second link 218 is further pinned to ground 105 at pivot point 222 . a locking mass 224 is connected at pivot point 220 at the intersection of the first and second links 216 , 218 . upon a high acceleration ( a ) in the direction of arrow 101 , the locking mass 224 travels in the direction of arrow b , which in turn results in the movable shaft 212 and movable member 202 connected thereto to move to the left into a locked position similar to that shown in fig3 b . a biasing means , such as a torsional spring ( not shown ) disposed at the intersection of the first and second links 216 , 218 , aids the movable member 202 in returning to the unlocked position when the acceleration returns to normal levels . referring now to fig4 there is illustrated a variation of the device of fig3 a in which like reference numerals denote like features . in the device of fig4 the movable member comprises first and second stops 302 , 304 which when moved together provide the same functionality as the movable member 202 of fig3 a . although not illustrated , the first and second stops 302 , 304 are actuated by an actuator in response to a locking and unlocking signal similar to that described above with regard to the device of fig3 a . however , the first and second stops 302 , 304 can also move independently to provide either a lower or upper stop for limiting the motion of the proof mass 102 in the lower or upper direction , respectively . similar to the devices described with regard to fig1 a , 2 a , and 3 a , the device of fig4 a can lock the plate 106 and proof mass 102 in either a null position or any other predetermined - position . furthermore , the first and second stops 302 , 304 can be positioned in any position along the length of travel of the plate 106 and proof mass 102 . referring now to fig5 there is illustrated a portion of the accelerometer of fig1 a in which the first and second locking masses 109 , 108 have fingers 402 projecting from a surface thereof which contact the plate 106 . the fingers 402 act to minimize contact areas and to thereby minimize sticking between the first and second locking masses 109 , 108 and the corresponding surfaces of the plate 106 . although shown with regard to the accelerometer of fig1 a , the devices of fig2 a , 3 a , and 4 can also utilize the fingers 402 to prevent sticking . furthermore , although the surfaces of the first and second locking masses 109 , 108 which engage the plate 106 have been shown to be flat , it will be appreciated that they can take any shape , such as convexly curved . additionally , the surfaces of the first and second locking masses 109 , 108 can be rigid , semi - rigid , or flexible such as an elastomer and may even be inflatable wherein the inflation facilitates the locking of the plate 106 . the flexibility and / or inflation of the first and second locking masses 109 , 108 can also be used to conform to a corresponding surface of the moving component to be locked . while there has been shown and described what is considered to be preferred embodiments of the invention , it will , of course , be understood that various modifications and changes in form or detail could readily be made without departing from the spirit of the invention . it is therefore intended that the invention be not limited to the exact forms described and illustrated , but should be constructed to cover all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appended claims . | 6 |
in the typical 4 - stroke combustion engine , the four strokes include the intake stroke , the compression stroke , the power stroke , and the exhaust stroke . as shown in fig1 the power strokes of the respective cylinders are arranged in a particular order according to crankshaft position . furthermore , in any engine having more than four cylinders , the power strokes of different cylinders will overlap . one engine cycle is comprised of 720 ° of crankshaft rotation during which each cylinder passes through each of its four strokes . curve 10 in fig1 shows approximate acceleration fluctuation during engine operation . an acceleration peak 11 occurs during the firing interval of cylinder no . 1 and other maximums in the acceleration curve occur approximately corresponding to each other properly firing cylinder . when a misfire occurs such that no significant power is created by a cylinder during its firing interval , the crankshaft decelerates as indicated at 12 . as described in the patents mentioned above , crankshaft - based misfire detectors have advantageously employed measured rotation intervals occurring at a frequency of about once per cylinder firing rather than attempting to measure instantaneous values as shown in fig1 . fig2 shows an apparatus for measuring velocity and obtaining corrected acceleration values according to the present invention . an engine rotation position sensing system includes a rotor 20 including vanes 21 , 22 , and 23 which rotate with a crankshaft 24 ( a 3 - vane rotor from a 6 - cylinder engine is shown in this example ). vanes 21 - 23 pass between a hall - effect sensor 25 and a permanent magnet 26 to generate a profile ignition pulse ( pip ) signal as crankshaft 24 rotates . vanes 21 - 23 are arranged to generate a rising edge in the pip signal at a predetermined position in relation to top dead center of each respective cylinder . the pip signal actually indicates the approach to top dead center of two engine cylinders , one of which is approaching a power stroke and one of which is approaching an intake stroke since it takes two full crankshaft rotations to complete an engine cycle . a cylinder identification ( cid ) sensor 27 is connected to a camshaft 28 for identifying which of the two cylinders is actually on its power stroke . camshaft 28 rotates once for every two rotations of crankshaft 24 . the resulting cid signal is preferably generated having a rising edge corresponding to the power stroke of cylinder no . 1 . a timer 30 receives the pip signal and the cid signal and measures elapsed time between predetermined engine position locations as determined by the pip and cid signals . the elapsed time δt i for each velocity measuring interval i is output from timer 30 to a velocity and acceleration calculator 31 . in a preferred embodiment , timer 30 and velocity and acceleration calculator 31 are implemented as part of a microcontroller with an associated memory 32 for storing correction factors , other data , and software instructions . an alternative embodiment of position sensing apparatus is shown in fig3 . a multi - toothed wheel 35 is mounted on an engine for rotation with the crankshaft . a plurality of teeth 36 are disposed along the periphery of wheel 35 at a predetermined angular spacing . teeth 36 are preferably comprised of a metal or other magnetically permeable material . a variable reluctance sensor 37 is disposed in a fixed location closely spaced to teeth 36 for sensing the passage of teeth past sensor 37 . a missing tooth location 38 is provided on wheel 35 to establish an absolute location reference , e . g . at 90 ° before top dead center of cylinder no . 1 . a cid signal ( not shown ) would also be utilized to differentiate between the two halves of the engine cycle . cid sensors other than a camshaft sensor could alternatively be utilized to resolve the ambiguity between the power stroke and the intake stroke , such as sensors responsive to ignition coil current or voltage . sensor 37 is connected to a timer 40 and interval former 41 to produce rotation intervals δt i . multi - toothed wheel 35 shown in fig3 could be mounted either at the front of an engine or at the rear near the flywheel . in fact , the flywheel itself can be used as a multi - toothed wheel since the periphery of a flywheel includes gear teeth for meshing with a starter motor . sensor 37 can be mounted either at the front or rear of the engine depending upon the location of multi - toothed wheel 35 . although mounting of the sensor near the flywheel or rear portion of the crankshaft potentially provides better performance for misfire detection , a mounting location is usually selected at the other end of the crankshaft for reasons of cost and convenience . fig4 shows a crankshaft 45 having a front end 46 and a back end 47 . front end 46 passes through a front engine plate 50 and has a toothed wheel 51 mounted thereto . a variable reluctance sensor 52 is mounted to front plate 50 for detecting rotation of toothed wheel 51 . back end 47 of crankshaft 45 passes through a rear engine plate 53 to a flywheel 54 that is mounted to back end 47 . crankshaft 45 is further enclosed within the engine which further includes a cylinder block assembly 55 and an oil pan assembly 56 , for example . crankshaft 45 exhibits greater inertia at its rear end 47 due to the attachment of the massive flywheel 54 . in contrast , the front end 46 of crankshaft 45 exhibits less inertia so that torsional oscillations are magnified at the front crankshaft section relative to the rear section of the crankshaft near the flywheel . furthermore , the torsional vibrations are less periodic ( i . e ., exhibit a greater range of frequency ) than oscillations at the flywheel . any torsional oscillations at the front of crankshaft 45 that are contained in data collected using crankshaft sensor 52 ( i . e ., at the front section of the crankshaft ) can be alleviated using the correction factors disclosed in copending application ser . no . 08 / 417 , 357now u . s . pat . 5 , 531 , 108 . even though the signal - to - noise ratio for accelerations as measured at the front of the engine are significantly improved , misfire detection capability may still be inadequate for difficult conditions such as simultaneous high engine speed and low engine load . better misfire detection capability is obtained overall using a crankshaft position sensor mounted at the flywheel , although flywheel acceleration measurements still benefit from using the torsional correction factors provided in the copending application . as described in copending application ser . no . 08 / 417 , 361 , a misfire detection capability similar to what would be obtained from crankshaft position measurements at the flywheel can be achieved while only requiring actual measurements to be made at the front of the crankshaft by employing a dynamic transformation that maps front - of - engine acceleration measurements to rear - of - engine accelerations . the transformation is a prediction of flywheel motion based on measurements taken at the front of the crankshaft . the relationship between these two quantities is nonlinear and therefore a nonlinear transform such as a neural network is used . the present invention provides improved techniques wherein : ( 1 ) system models are derived in a simplified manner ; ( 2 ) system models may be derived incorporating any system knowledge that is possessed concerning the system ; ( 3 ) compact system models are produced which can be implemented on - board a vehicle with a minimum of computing power ; and ( 4 ) the complexity of the system representation can be selected to appropriately trade - off between modeling accuracy and computational efficiency . as an end result of the invention , an improved misfire detector models and compensates for torsional fluctuations while producing an optimum threshold for misfire detection . a technique called non - linear autoregressive moving average with exogenous inputs ( narmax ) is preferably used for model generation . specifically , the present invention uses data collection as shown in fig5 . an engine 60 includes a crankshaft 61 projecting from either end of engine 60 and having a flywheel 62 mounted at the rear end thereof . a flywheel position sensor 63 is mounted in close proximity to flywheel 62 for providing flywheel position pulses to a data recorder 64 ( these position pulses may first be processed to obtain crankshaft rotation intervals as described in the previously mentioned patents ). a crankshaft position sensor 65 is mounted in close proximity to the front end of crankshaft 61 and provides position pulses to an engine control module ( ecm ) 66 . crankshaft position sensor 65 may be of the type shown in fig2 or fig3 for example . additional devices characterizing engine operating conditions include a mass air flow sensor 67 mounted in proximity to an engine air intake 68 . a mass air flow signal from sensor 67 is also input to recorder 64 . likewise , signals to or from ecm 66 are recorded in recorder 64 such as fuel pulse width as provided to a plurality of fuel injectors 70 , engine acceleration values calculated in ecm 66 such as deviant acceleration ( daccel ) and a k - coil signal identifying the intentional introduction of misfires by inhibiting ignition coil energizing signals . engine 60 is operated over a wide range of speeds and loads on a dynamometer and the corresponding sensor and ecm signals are recorded in recorder 64 for various patterns of intentionally introduced misfire as determined by the k - coil signal . fig6 shows a technique for generating a system model for monitoring performance of a system , such as an internal combustion engine . recorded data for input variables ( including measured and calculated variables ) are input to a model generator 71 , such as a narmax method . recorded data for output variables are also input to model generator 71 . as is known in the art , model generator 71 trains upon the recorded data in order to assume a configuration in which it can predict values for the output variables based on the input variables presented during training , resulting in a system model for performance monitoring . thus , the final model can be used as a substitute for actually measuring the output variables , thereby allowing deployment of production engines with fewer on - board sensors . the narmax method in particular is described in detail by leontaritis and billings , input - output parametric model for non - linear systems , int . j . control , 1985 , vol . 41 , no . 2 , pp . 303 - 328 and 329 - 324 . an application of narmax modeling in engine control systems is described by luh and rizzoni , identification of a nonlinear mimo internal combustion engine model , dsc - vol . 54 / de - vol . 76 , transportation systems , asme , 1994 , pages 141 - 174 . in a preferred embodiment , the data collected in fig5 is presented to model generator 71 wherein the output variable is selected to be comprised of velocity measurements obtained using the flywheel sensor . thus , a system model is produced which predicts the rotational motion measured at the flywheel based upon crankshaft rotation measured at the front end of the crankshaft ( and whatever other engine operating conditions that may become relevant as are revealed in the narmax results ). thus , a narmax method is applied to the recorded data which performs curve fitting of a plurality of functions in order to best predict the flywheel values . fig7 illustrates on - board deployment of a system model in production vehicles for performing misfire detection without requiring position measurements at the flywheel . production engine 75 includes a crankshaft 76 having a flywheel 77 mounted thereon . crankshaft rotation is sensed by a crankshaft position sensor 78 which provides an output signal to an ecm 80 . a mass airflow sensor 81 provides a mass airflow signal to ecm 80 . both the crankshaft position signal and the mass air flow signal are provided to a system model 82 . ecm 80 calculates a fuel pulse width signal which is provided to injectors 83 in engine 75 and to system model 82 . daccel values ( and / or rotation timings or velocities for selected event times ) are calculated in ecm 80 and are provided system model 82 . system model 82 generates a predicted flywheel acceleration daccel value that would be measured at the flywheel . this predicted rear daccel signal comprises the output of the system model for monitoring the occurrence of misfire . a preferred embodiment for training a model of a rear daccel signal is shown in fig8 . a narmax model generator 85 receives model inputs of crankshaft position , crankshaft speed , crankshaft acceleration , front daccel signal , mass air flow signal , and fuel pulse width signal . the desired model output signal supplied to model generator 85 is a filtered rear daccel signal that was likewise obtained as training data from a test engine . in order to improve accuracy of misfire detection , the rear daccel signal is filtered in order better approximate fully damped crankshaft position without any torsional oscillations . thus , even though crankshaft position as measured at the flywheel has a reduced influence from torsional oscillations , the small remaining torsional oscillations can be removed by processing the existing rear daccel signal in accordance with the previously mentioned u . s . pat . no . 5 , 531 , 108 , for example . in particular , torsional oscillations as seen at the rear flywheel are subtracted according to measured values for the oscillations which are determined during steady state operation of the test engine . alternatively , a simpler filter may be implemented by using the measured rear daccel signal upon occurrence of a misfire but a value of zero for the rear daccel value when there is no misfire . in any case , model generator 85 produces a narmax model of filtered rear daccel signal for use in on - board diagnostics . the present invention obtains further improvements in misfire detection by utilizing a second model generator to produce a model of acceleration deficit during the occurrence of misfire ( i . e ., what daccel value would be expected under current conditions if a misfire were actually to occur ). thus , as shown in fig9 a narmax model generator 86 receives model inputs of crankshaft position , crankshaft speed , crankshaft acceleration , front daccel signal , mass air flow signal , and fuel pulse width signal . the desired model output that is provided to model generator 86 consists of the output of the narmax model of filtered rear daccel signal as generated in fig8 but including only those values corresponding to event times with the occurrence of misfire ( i . e ., only those data points are taken from the recorded data that correspond to a value of k - coil indicating an induced misfire , e . g ., k - coil = 1 ). thus , an optimum threshold is produced for misfire detection . more generally , what happens in this invention is that model generator 85 in fig8 generates a model for a critical parameter used to track a particular condition and then model generator 86 in fig9 produces a model for creating a threshold useful as a performance indicator of the critical parameter . comparison of the model outputs indicates the level of performance . in the preferred embodiment involving misfire detection , model generator 86 produces a narmax model for generating an acceleration deficit value that would be expected to be seen if a misfire occurs assuming : ( 1 ) that respective engine operating conditions are present as determined at a selected event time ( i . e ., a particular cylinder firing rotation interval ), and ( 2 ) that an individual misfire has occurred in a respected cylinder of the engine at the selected event time . the value that would be predicted to be present in the event that a misfire has occurred is compared to the actual predicted value of daccel from the first model . the result of the comparison produces a misfire indication . fig1 shows a circuit for performing a comparison to produce a misfire indication . the synthesized rear daccel signal as produced by the system model from first model generator 85 is coupled to the inverting input of a comparator 90 . a predicted acceleration deficit on misfire is coupled to one input of a threshold adjustment potentiometer 91 . the output tap of potentiometer 91 is coupled to the non - inverting input of comparator 90 . the output of potentiometer 91 can be adjusted to provide a less sensitive or a more sensitive misfire indication , as shown . comparator 90 receives a nominal supply voltage of + 1 volt and is connected to a ground reference zero volts in order to produce a misfire indication having a voltage level of either + 1 or 0 volts . threshold adjustment potentiometer 91 scales the acceleration deficit on misfire value by a factor between 0 and 1 . a preferred value of 0 . 5 puts the threshold halfway between 0 ( representing a normal firing which would produce an extremely sensitive misfire detector ) and 1 ( representing the loss in acceleration that would accompany a misfire , which would produce a highly insensitive misfire detector ). fig1 shows a narmax generated model for producing a synthesized rear daccel signal based on test data derived from an actual test engine . thus , narmax curve fitting techniques produced a model wherein first , second , third , seventh , eighth , and ninth rotation intervals together with fuel pulse width and engine rpm &# 39 ; s are input to a computationally simple formula using multiplication and addition . likewise , a model for estimated acceleration deficit was derived as shown in fig1 which relies only on fuel pulse width as an input signal . rather than specific hardware circuits as shown in fig1 and 12 , the present invention could be implemented using computational software either in a stand alone microprocessor unit or within the engine control module if sufficient computing capacity is available . | 6 |
fig1 - 13 show a portable desk 10 . referring to fig1 and 2 , the desk 10 includes a carrying case 12 , which in this particular embodiment is made by adapting a watertight carrying case manufactured by pelican products , inc . of torrance , calif . the case 12 is mounted on a telescoping tripod stand 14 by means of a mounting bracket 16 ( see also fig8 and 9 ). the adapting kit also includes left and right side plates 18 , 20 , a support tray 22 , a foam insert 24 ( see fig5 ), and an electrical fitting 26 ( see fig1 ), as described in more detail below . referring to fig1 and 2 , the case 12 has a front wall 15 , a rear wall 17 , left and right side walls 19 , 21 , a top 23 , and a bottom wall 25 . the top 23 is pivotably connected relative to the bottom 25 by means of hinges 27 located on the rear wall 17 . referring to fig8 and 9 , the mounting bracket 16 is used to releasably secure the case 12 to the mounting stand 14 . as will be explained later , the mounting bracket 16 takes advantage of external webs or reinforcing ribs 48 , 50 that are part of the originally manufactured case 12 ( see fig1 ) to securely mount the bracket 16 onto the case 12 without piercing the body of the case , so the watertight feature of the case 12 is maintained . for cases with a design which does not include the use of external webs or reinforcing ribs 48 , 50 at locations that make it convenient to attach to the mounting bracket 16 , a suitable rib can be achieved by attaching a metal or plastic clip ( not shown ) to the case 12 . for example , clips that include projections similar to the ribs 48 , 50 on the case shown in fig1 could be adhered to the case . the bracket 16 has two parallel horizontal arms 28 , 30 interconnected by a rectangular mounting plate 32 and an end bar 34 at a first end of the horizontal arms 28 , 30 to form a substantially rectangular horizontal mounting surface 35 . two vertical mounting arms 36 , 38 project vertically from the second end of the horizontal arms 28 , 30 , respectively , for securing the mounting bracket 16 to the case 12 , as explained below . the vertical mounting arms 36 , 38 are secured to the horizontal arms 28 , 30 using two bolts each ( not shown ). alternately , the vertical mounting arms 36 , 38 can be secured with a single bolt and a pin in each arm 36 , 38 . the single bolt in each arm 36 , 38 is not fully tightened so as to allow the associated vertical mounting arm 36 , 38 to rotate and fold down ( when the associated pin is removed ) to permit a more compact storage of the bracket 16 . the pin ( not shown ) is installed to secure the vertical mounting arms 36 , 38 in the vertical position to allow them to be attached to a reinforcing rib 48 , 50 or clip ( not shown ). the folding feature of the bracket 16 allows it to fit inside the case 12 for storage and transportation the tripod stand 14 can be attached to a clamp , not shown , mounted on one of the available surfaces of the case 12 for the purposes of transportation and storage . as shown in fig8 , a flange 40 is bolted to the bottom side of the plate 32 . the flange 40 supports a projection that defines a cylindrical recess 46 having a vertical axis ( perpendicular to the plate 32 ). a wing nut thumbscrew 42 is threaded into the wall of the projection and can be threaded through , into the cylindrical recess 46 , in order to tighten onto a post 44 that is received in the recess 46 . the thickness or strength of plate 32 is chosen to ensure it can support the total weight of the case 12 and any of its contents . the plate 32 may be stiffened by adding a gusset ( not shown ) across the plate 32 and connected to the horizontal arms 28 , 30 . as best appreciated in fig1 and 8 , the vertical post 44 of the telescoping tripod stand 14 is received in the cylindrical recess 46 of the bolted flange 40 . the wing nut thumbscrew 42 is threaded in to secure the mounting plate 32 to the tripod stand 14 , as shown in fig8 . it should be noted that other types of support stands using a vertical post 44 could be substituted for the tripod stand 14 , if desired . for example , if the product is to be used on the top tubesheet of a chemical reactor or other vertical tube heat exchanger having a plurality of tubes , then the telescoping vertical post 44 a of fig1 a could be used . that vertical post 44 a has a diameter that allows it to fit into the vertical tube of the heat exchanger ( not shown ), and , a few inches from its lower end , it has a flange 45 that is larger than the inside diameter of the heat exchanger tube , which serves as a stop to prevent the post 44 a from going further into the reactor tube . fig1 b shows a vertical post 44 b with a sharply pointed bottom that allows it to be inserted into the ground . fig1 c shows a vertical post 44 c with a flat horizontal plate welded to the bottom . that flat plate could rest on the floor or the ground , and sandbags could be placed on top of it to provide greater stability , if desired . fig1 d shows a vertical post 44 d that includes a c - clamp for clamping to a shelf or other projection that might be available . fig1 e shows a vertical post 44 e that is welded to a horizontal projection having a square cross - section that is sized to be received in the receptacle of a trailer hitch . any of these alternatives could be received in the cylindrical recess 46 of the bracket 16 . furthermore , any of these alternative vertical posts 44 can be secured to the tripod stand 14 using a clamp or an elastic cord ( not shown ). referring now to fig1 , 8 , 9 , and 10 , the case 12 is set down onto the two horizontal arms 28 , 30 of the mounting bracket 16 , with the vertical mounting arms 36 , 38 projecting upwardly into the spaces defined between respective pairs of reinforcing webs 48 , 50 of the case 12 . as best seen in fig1 , horizontal through openings 52 have been drilled through the vertical inner webs 50 , and these openings 52 are aligned with respective through openings 54 ( see fig8 ) in the respective vertical mounting arms 36 , 38 . quick release pins 56 , 58 are inserted through the aligned sets of openings 52 , 54 to releasably secure the case 12 to the mounting bracket 16 . referring to fig1 , this embodiment includes a watertight electrical fitting 26 , which has been installed on the rear wall 17 of the case 12 . electrical items inside the case 12 , such as a laptop , a printer , an external hard drive , controllers , or any other items , can be plugged into this electrical fitting 26 on the inside of the case 12 . once in the field , a power supply source , such as an extension cord ( not shown ), is plugged into the electrical fitting 26 on the outside of the case 12 in order to power up any items that are plugged into the fitting 26 on the inside of the case 12 . note that the electrical fitting 26 is advantageously located on the rear wall of the case 10 , and projects rearwardly a shorter distance than the webs 48 , 50 , so it is protected by the reinforcing webs 48 , 50 even when the case 12 is set on the ground resting on the webs 48 , 50 . other watertight and ruggedized connectors with covers ( not shown ) can be located on the rear 17 or on the sides 19 , 21 of the case 12 . referring to fig2 and 4 , the desk 10 includes two side plates 18 , 20 , which are shown in the deployed position in fig2 and in the stowed position in fig3 . when in the stowed position , the side plates 18 , 20 help secure and protect the contents of the case 12 , which are located beneath the plates 18 , 20 . when deployed , as shown in fig2 , the side plates 18 , 20 extend outwardly to the sides of the open case 12 and may be used as work surfaces such as for a mouse for a laptop or for holding papers or other documents ( not shown ). clips such as the hinged clips used on a clipboard , may be added to the side plates 18 , 20 to assist in holding the papers onto the side plates 18 , 20 . of course , the side plates 18 , 20 may be custom designed to meet specific needs . for instance , instead of two side plates 18 , 20 , a single plate could be used which extends the full width of the case 12 ( or any portion thereof ), or the side plates may be omitted entirely if they are not needed , or if space or weight is an issue . fig4 and 7 show “ c ” channels 62 , 64 which are secured to the interior of the left side wall 19 of the case 12 , and which are used to guide and releasably hold the side plates 18 , 20 in place , either in the stowed or in the deployed positions . ( the same arrangement is on the interior of the right side wall 21 , with the channels on the right side wall lying directly opposite the corresponding channels on the left side wall ). as shown in fig4 , the plate 18 includes both a substantially flat horizontal plate or wing 63 and a second , substantially flat vertical plate 65 intersecting and secured to the horizontal plate 63 at one edge of the horizontal plate 63 . to remove or install the plate 18 , the user simply lifts the plate 18 such that the vertical plate 65 slides along the “ c ” channels 62 , 64 ; up for removing the plate 18 , or down for installing the plate 18 . the orientation of the horizontal plate 63 relative to the case 12 dictates whether the wing 63 projects inwardly ( is stowed ) or projects outwardly ( is deployed ). lifting the plate 18 , rotating it 180 degrees about the axis 66 ( see fig4 ) and lowering it back into the “ c ” channels 62 , 64 , changes the orientation of the plate 18 from the stowed position to the deployed position and vice versa . as shown in fig2 and 3 , the above explanation for the plate 18 is also applicable to the plate 20 , located on the right side wall 21 . many cases have tapered left and right side walls 19 . 21 , which are not exactly vertical when the bottom wall 25 is horizontal but instead are tapered outwardly slightly so that the left - to - right width of the case 12 is greater at the open edge than at the bottom wall 25 . in that case , the vertical plate 65 and horizontal plate 63 are not exactly 90 degrees from each other . instead , the angle is selected so that , when the vertical plate 65 is parallel to the respective left or right side wall 19 . 21 , the horizontal plate 63 will be horizontal ( parallel to the bottom wall 25 ) when the horizontal plate 63 is projecting outwardly ( in the position shown in fig4 .) of course , that means that , when the side plates are rotated 180 degrees and are again inserted into the c - channels 62 , with the horizontal plates 63 projecting inwardly , the horizontal plates 63 are canted slightly upwardly . the space below the inwardly - projecting horizontal plates 63 may be used to store a laptop or other equipment to float , with the rigid plates 63 providing protection for that equipment if the lid of the case were to become crushed . the plates 63 also provide a preload for items stored in the lid to prevent them from shifting when the case is closed and being moved . referring now to fig2 , 4 , and 5 , the support tray 22 is a substantially flat plate 22 defining “ u ” shaped recesses 68 on the left and right sides to enable a user to reach behind the plate 22 to pull the support tray 22 up from its stowed position ( shown in fig7 ) to its deployed position ( shown in fig2 and in phantom in fig7 ), as explained below . referring briefly to fig5 , there are two rods 70 , 72 extending the full width , and just beyond the side edges , of the plate 22 . these rods 70 , 72 are fastened to the bottom of the plate 22 near the front and rear edges respectively of the plate 22 . the rear rod 70 cooperates with rear brackets 74 secured to the side walls of the case 12 to provide both a height adjustment function and a pivotable support “ hinge ” function to the support tray 22 , as explained later . fig7 and 12 show one of the rear brackets 74 , which is a solid plate with an inverted , “ j ”- shaped groove 76 cut into the plate . similarly shaped front brackets 78 are secured to the side walls of the case 12 and cooperate with the front rod 72 to provide a height adjustment function to the support tray 22 . it may be appreciated that the front brackets 78 have the same inverted “ j ”- shaped groove 76 of the rear brackets 74 , but the top portion of the bracket has been omitted , which allows the rod 72 ( and therefore also the support tray 22 ) to be lifted up and away from the front brackets 78 , as shown in fig4 and 5 . the bottom 80 of the grooves 76 ( see fig1 ) in the brackets 74 , 78 provide the stops for the rods 70 , 72 , respectively , to support the support tray 22 in the lower , or stowed , position . the opposite end 82 of the grooves 76 in the brackets 74 , 78 provide the stops for the rods 70 , 72 respectively to support the support tray 22 in the upper , or deployed , position ( as shown in phantom in fig7 ). this support plate 22 , as shown in these figures , is substantially coplanar to the bottom portion 25 of the case 12 whether the plate 22 is in its lowered ( stowed ) position or in its upper ( deployed position ). when in the deployed position , the front of the support tray 22 may be pivoted upwardly , as shown in fig4 and 5 , as there is no upper portion of the front brackets 78 to prevent the front rod 72 from clearing the front brackets 78 . the rear rod 70 , on the other hand , is “ trapped ” in the groove 76 of the rear brackets 74 , such that the rear brackets 74 and the rear rod 72 together function as a pivotable hinge support for the support tray 22 . the user may reach behind the support tray 22 when it is in its lowered , stowed position by reaching through the “ u ”- shaped recesses 68 and raising the support tray 22 to its upper , deployed position . when in the deployed position , the support tray 22 , shown in phantom in fig7 , allows for air to circulate freely underneath the plate 22 so as to allow the circulating air to cool and devices which may be stowed inside the case 12 , including heat generating devices , such as power supplies . fig2 and 5 help illustrate how a laptop ( not shown ) may be secured to the support tray 22 . with the laptop resting on the support tray 22 , a wire or cable 86 extends across the laptop 84 at or near the intersection of the keyboard with the monitor . this same wire 86 is fed through small openings 88 , 90 in the support tray 22 and then the ends of the wire 86 are secured together on the back side of the support tray 22 . of course , this is but one example of how a laptop could be secured to the support tray 22 . other options may include the use of velcro ™ ( hook and loop ) fasteners , for instance . of course , other items may be supported on or secured to the support tray 22 instead of , or in addition to , a laptop . fig5 and 6 show a foam insert 24 which may be used to accommodate and protect any number of accessories , such as a portable printer ( not shown ), battery chargers 94 ( not shown ), and electrical switch boxes 96 ( not shown ). these accessories are stowed in the case 12 , in the space under the support tray 22 when the support tray 22 is in its lower , stowed , position . any and all of the accessories , as well as the laptop computer may be prewired to the electrical fitting 26 ( see fig1 ) inside the case 12 . when the desk 10 is to be used , an external power source , such as an extension cord , may be plugged into the electrical fitting 26 on the outside of the case 12 to power up all the devices already plugged into the same electrical fitting 26 inside the case 12 . in one embodiment , a plug - in 28 volt power supply and a voltage converter are provided inside the case 12 . in this instance a low voltage power source is all that is needed to plug into the outlet 26 to power the 28 volt power supply . this power supply and the voltage converter are then used to power the other accessories inside the case 12 , such as the printer and the computer . it should be noted that any openings drilled into the case 12 to fasten brackets , electrical fittings , or any other accessories , may be done so as to retain the watertight quality of the case 12 . for instance , they may be mounted using silicone sealant , or with properly applied o - rings , in order to prevent water migration into the case 12 . alternatively , it may be desirable not to pierce the shell of the case 12 at all , in order to maintain its original watertight status . in that case , any internal brackets may be adhered to the inner wall of the case 12 , if desired , secured in some other way , such as by vhb adhesive tape available from 3m , or omitted altogether . as was explained earlier , the external mounting brackets do not pierce the shell of the case 12 . fig1 is a plan view of an alternate support tray 22 * which may be used in the case 12 of fig2 , 4 , and 5 . the main difference between this tray 22 * and the original tray 22 is that is has only one of the “ u ”- shaped recesses 68 to provide access to lift the tray 22 to its deployed position . on the opposite end of the tray 22 , a couple of through openings 98 provide access for the user to insert his fingers to assist in lifting the tray 22 . smaller through openings 100 provide ventilation through the tray 22 while at the same time reducing the overall weight of the tray 22 . fig1 and 16 show another alternative embodiment of a support tray 22 ** which may be used in the case 12 of fig2 , 4 , and 5 . the main difference between this tray 22 ** and the tray 22 * described above is that is has an upper plate 102 and a lower plate 104 which are joined together by a plurality of side spacers 106 which are present only in the rear and sides of the tray 22 **. the upper and lower plates 102 , 104 form an elongated cavity 110 , with an open access on the front side , for storage of supplies , such as printer paper . a recess 108 along the front side of the tray 22 ** facilitates the removal of one or more sheets of paper from the cavity 110 . a plurality of openings 98 provide access for the fingers of a user to reach into the cavity 110 to help slide out any papers or other supplies which may be stowed in the tray 22 **. while the embodiment described above shows a simple means for adjusting the height of the case 12 and the height of the support tray 22 in the case 12 , various other mechanisms , including for instance a foot operated pneumatic pump , could be used to adjust these heights , and various known mechanisms could be used to mount accessories to the support tray 22 . it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the embodiments described above . | 0 |
turning to the drawings , wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements , the invention is illustrated as being implemented in a suitable environment . the following description is based on embodiments of the invention and should not be taken as limiting the invention with regard to alternative embodiments that are not explicitly described herein . aspects of the present invention may be practiced in the representative communications environment 100 of fig1 . here , a cable television provider supports numerous communications services . servers and other devices ( represented by the single device 104 ) reside at the cable provider &# 39 ; s “ head end ” 102 . these devices ( which are very complicated but are well known in the art ) provide television and other services via a cable infrastructure 106 to the homes of cable subscribers . the cable infrastructure 106 supports two - way traffic : in addition to programming coming “ down ” the cable 106 , commands go “ up ” to the head - end servers 104 . the cable 106 can also support inherently bi - directional services when the head - end servers 104 provide connection to , for example , the public switched telephone network , the internet , and to other services beyond those provided directly by the cable provider . a typical subscriber may have one or more devices connected , directly or indirectly , to the cable infrastructure 106 . a set - top box 108 generally receives television programs and provides a user interface ( e . g ., an interactive program guide ) for selecting and viewing content from the cable provider . a digital video recorder (“ dvr ”) ( not shown ) can store programming for later viewing . video content may be viewed on a television monitor 110 . in some situations , a laptop computer 112 accesses web - based services via the cable 106 . most users will have a telephone 114 which may be supported by the cable 106 , may be supported by a land line , or may be cellular . the environment 100 , though typical , is only representative . in general , a user may be supported by other communications media in addition to , or instead of , the cable 106 of fig1 . for example , a given user may also have a satellite television receiver , a cellular telephone , and a radio to pick up public broadcasts . in the present discussion , each member of a social group may have a unique communications set up . fig2 shows the major components of a representative set - top box 108 . the cable interface 200 receives programming from the cable infrastructure 106 , sends commands to the head - end servers 104 , and possibly supports bi - directional services . a processor 202 controls the operations of the set - top box 108 and , in particular , supports aspects of the present invention as illustrated in fig3 a and 3 b , discussed below . a monitor interface 204 drives the television monitor 110 of fig1 to deliver video programming . in some embodiments , the monitor interface 204 is also used by the user interface 206 to support a user &# 39 ; s interactions with the set - top box 108 . the method illustrated in fig3 a and 3 b includes many aspects of the present invention , including some optional aspects . in step 300 of fig3 a , content - consumption information is gathered from members of a group . the group may be , for example , a social network self - defined by its members . many types of content - consumption information are of interest here , and there may be many ways of gathering that information . as a first example , it is interesting to know exactly what each member of the group watches . this information may be gathered by the set - top box 108 when it monitors the commands sent through it to the cable servers 104 . also , the set - top box 108 may know when the television monitor 110 is powered on and powered off . also of interest is information of what a group member may want to watch but is not currently watching . for example , a group member probably only stores programming content on a dvr when that content is of interest to him . thus , scanning the contents stored on the dvr gives insight into that group member &# 39 ; s interests . for just one more example , if a group member posts a review of some content on - line , it may be assumed that the group member viewed the content . the nature of the review indicates whether or not the group member enjoyed the content . the above are only a few examples of the type of content - consumption information that may be interest for the present invention . different circumstances allow access to different types of information , and different users produce different information . privacy issues should , of course , be addressed . also , in a household with multiple members , it might not be possible to assign specific content - consumption information to a specific member of the household . these are all well known problems , and though they have not all been adequately solved , useful approaches are known that can be used by the present invention in step 300 of fig3 a to gather useful and appropriate information . in step 302 of fig3 a , the gathered content - consumption information is collected at a “ controller .” this controller may be at the head - end server 104 of fig1 , but it may also be located somewhere on the web . its specific implementation is not very relevant . simply put , it needs to collect the content - consumption information for the group members ( and know that the information it is collecting is relevant to this particular group ). this collection is contemplated to be an ongoing activity : the more content - consumption information gathered about the group members , and the longer the period over which such information is gathered , the more accurate can be the results produced by the controller based on this information . the primary result produced by the controller is a shared social program guide ( step 304 ). in some embodiments , the controller sifts through the enormous amount of available content ( available , for example , from the cable provider , from web - based providers , and stored by group members ) and , based on the gathered content - consumption information , selects content that may be of interest to all of the members of the social group . those selections are then presented in a shared social program guide . now is as good a time as any to note that any social network is a fluid concept . members come and go . as a simple example , in some embodiments the controller knows , from the gathered content - consumption information , which group members are actually currently watching television ( or are known to often watch television at this time ). the other ( non - participating ) group members may be irrelevant for now , and the controller may choose to ignore the content - consumption information gathered about those not - participating group members when it selects the content to put onto the shared social program guide . in any case , the controller sends its created shared social program guide to the devices ( probably the set - top boxes 108 ) of the participating group members in step 304 . the shared social program guide is presented to the participating group members in step 306 . interaction program guides are well known in the art , and the set - top box 108 may be safely assumed to know how to present such a guide . the program guide of the present invention is unique in that it does not give access to the universe of available content but rather to a subset of that content selected as potentially interesting to all members of the social network . any known or afterward - developed implementations of program guides can be used here . for example , a simple text menu of the selected content can be presented on the television monitor 110 , and a participating group member can interact with the guide via a standard television remote control . a more sophisticated guide can show previews or actual snippets of the content on the guide . the guide may even be presented to a participating group member &# 39 ; s laptop computer 112 or cellular telephone rather than to the television monitor 110 . the known art of interactive program guides is full of possibilities that may be used in conjunction with the present invention . in step 308 , participating group members interact with the shared social program guide as they would with a prior - art program guide . however , in some embodiments , the interaction of each group member is coordinated with all of the other participating group members . thus , one group member can highlight a selection and propose that the entire group watch it . in the simplest scenario , the selected content in then rendered to the devices of all of the participating group members in step 310 . to enhance social interactivity , the rendering is coordinated among the devices of the participating group members ( for example , all participating group members see the same frame of a video at the same instant ). a basic embodiment of the present invention is presented in steps 300 through 310 of fig3 a . using the present invention , the participating members of the group can socialize by watching a program in a concerted fashion , even though the group members may be dispersed throughout the world . note that for purposes of clarity in exposition , the content is “ viewed ” in the above description . as discussed earlier , aspects of the present invention may be applied to any deliverable content of any type , whether live or recorded . the steps of fig3 b present some options that , in some scenarios , can enhance the basic embodiment of fig3 a . note that the steps of fig3 b do not necessarily occur after the steps of fig3 a : in general , the steps of fig3 b , if used at all , are intermingled among the steps of fig3 a . step 312 of fig3 b emphasizes that the content - consumption information gathered in step 300 of fig3 a can include rating information generated by the group members . for example , the controller when creating the shared social program guide may choose to not include content that one group member has rated very poorly , even if other group members may be interested in watching it . ratings can be more general than “ good ” or “ bad ” and may include , for example , appropriateness criterion . if a group member wishes to participate with his children , then the controller may automatically tailor the shared social program guide appropriately . step 314 sets up a communications channel among the participating group members . for example , a voice telephony bridge is initiated so that the participating group members can discuss the content as they view it . along with this , the shared social program guide can display a list of the group members that are currently participating . the shared social program guide need not be controlled entirely by the controller . in step 316 , participating group members can alter the content on the guide . for example , while the participating group members are deciding what to watch , one group member may choose to delete from the guide a program that he really does not want to see , or another member can add a program that he has stored and that he believes the participating group members may be interested in . if the shared social program guide gets too big ( the original problem being addressed by the present invention ), then the users can trim it down to make their decision process easier . step 318 allows the participating group members to alter the rendering of the selected content , just as they would when viewing content in a non - social setting . thus , the rendering can be paused or backed up , and that command would apply to all of the participating devices so that the rendering stays coordinated . although not actually a part of the shared social program guide , it is understood that the information used to create this guide may be of significant value in targeting advertising to the group members . of course , using the information in this manner triggers concerns about privacy and “ general annoyance ” at advertisers . in view of the many possible embodiments to which the principles of the present invention may be applied , it should be recognized that the embodiments described herein with respect to the drawing figures are meant to be illustrative only and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention . for example , the methods of the present invention can be applied to any deliverable content , recorded or live , over any communications medium or any combination of communications media . therefore , the invention as described herein contemplates all such embodiments as may come within the scope of the following claims and equivalents thereof . | 6 |
the following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit application and uses . furthermore , there is no intention to be bound by any theory presented in the preceding background or summary or the following detailed description . fig1 shows a schematic view of a vehicle 1 having a display switch unit in a vehicle driver area 2 , which is marked by a circle . located in the vehicle driver area 2 are components and functions of the vehicle 1 in the interior 20 which are disposed in the operating range of the vehicle driver . this includes the new display switch unit as is explained in detail in the following figures . fig2 shows a schematic front view of a display switch unit 3 . the display switch unit 3 comprises a plastic body 4 , of which a front plastic region 5 can be seen here in the front view , in which switch symbols 11 are disposed , which represent a small selection of possible switch symbols which can be actuated with the aid of such a display switch unit 3 . for example , six switch symbols 23 to 28 are shown , where symbol 23 is an alphanumeric switch symbol and 24 is a switch symbol of a vehicle marker light , that is disposed in the front plastic region 5 of the plastic body 4 . in addition , a switch symbol for low beam is shown by the plastic switch symbol 25 and a high beam is shown by the plastic switch symbol 26 . finally , the plastic switch symbol 27 is also provided on this display switch unit 3 , which is provided for switching on the rear fog - lamp and the plastic switch symbol 28 that is provided for a fog light . in addition , this front view shows that on a lower edge side 17 of the plastic body 4 , two light - emitting diodes 21 and 22 are provided for each of the plastic switch symbols 23 to 28 , which are provided in addition to a backlight and by which means the plastic switch symbols 23 to 28 themselves are excited to light up in order to additionally add two different colors for the transparent plastic compound 32 surrounding the switch symbol 23 to 24 and in order to thereby signal the switching state of the respective switch symbol 23 to 28 . thus , for example , a green light - emitting diode 21 is provided for the switched - on state of a vehicle function and a red light - emitting diode 22 is provided for the switched - off state . the light - emitting diodes 21 and 22 couple their colored light via the lower edge side 17 in the rear plastic region of the plastic body 4 so that a front transparent plastic volume 12 surrounding the respective plastic switch symbols 23 to 28 is indirectly illuminated . fig3 shows a schematic front view of the display switch unit 3 with proximity sensors 13 of a first embodiment . the proximity sensors 13 are here designed as meander - shaped and provided as capacitance electrodes , where the capacitance changes at the instant at which an operating finger of the driver approaches the switch symbol and therefore the meander structure 18 . the proximity sensors 13 with their sensor structures 14 , which are here formed in meander shape as meander structures 19 , can adjust the capacitance , for example , of an oscillatory circuit as an operating finger of the driver approaches , in such a manner that the oscillatory circuit triggers a switching process . to this end , the meander structure 19 goes over into electrical connections 15 and 16 provided for each of these sensor structures 14 . fig4 shows a schematic plan view of the plastic body 4 having a plurality of regions , where only two regions can be seen here , i . e . a front plastic region 5 with a front side 7 and a rear region 6 with a rear side 10 of the plastic body 4 . the plastic body 4 has a depth t , where three - dimensional plastic switch symbols 23 to 28 are disposed in the front region , having a depth t which is less than the depth t of the plastic body 4 . on the rear side 9 of the front plastic region , the meander structure 19 shown in fig3 can be vapor - deposited or it is provided on a front side 8 of a rear plastic region 6 . as a result of the thin conductive coating , in this plan view only a thin separating line can be seen at the positions of the proximity sensors , at which the structured conductive coating of the respective sensor structure is provided . the rear plastic region 6 is potted with its front side 8 on the rear side 9 of the front plastic region 5 . in addition , it is also possible that the front plastic region 5 and the rear plastic region 6 are produced separately as sub - regions of the plastic body 4 and then , after applying the interposed sensor structure , glued onto one another with a transparent adhesive . fig5 shows a schematic perspective view of a plastic body 4 of the display switch unit 3 . however , neither the backlight source nor the positions of the colored light - emitting diodes are indicated , which illuminate the three - dimensional plastic switch symbols 11 disposed in the front plastic region 5 or the surrounding plastic . depending on the operating state , the readiness of the display switch unit 3 can be indicated by switching on or off the backlight source . when the backlight is switched on , light is coupled into the plastic volume 12 from the edge sides or from the rear side of the plastic body 4 , where light - sensitive particles of the plastic compound 34 of the plastic switch symbols 11 light up in color . as has already been mentioned above , the surrounding transparent plastic mass can be illuminated in color by corresponding light - emitting diodes in such a manner that the switching state of the individual plastic switch symbols 11 is indicated . in addition , fig5 shows the sensor structure 14 of the proximity sensors 13 , which are either applied as a thin wire structure or as transparent electrically conducting strips in meander form to the rear side 9 of the front plastic region 5 . if the front plastic region 5 and the rear plastic region 6 are prepared as separate plastic parts , they can be interconnected thanks to a plastic joint 41 of a transparent adhesive shown only in part here . from the lower edge side 17 of the plastic body 4 , the connections 15 and 16 to the sensor structures project in the area of the sensor structures 14 . these electrical connections 15 and 16 can be designed as plugs or as sockets and form contact surfaces on the lower edge side 17 , via which the sensor structures 14 are connected to corresponding sensor circuits . fig6 shows a schematic front view of a display switch unit 3 ′ with proximity sensors 13 ′ of another embodiment . components having the same functions as in the preceding figures are identified with the same reference numbers and not explained additionally . the sensor structure 14 ′ symbolized by lines can either comprise thin wires embedded between the rear and the front plastic region or they can be configured as transparent electrically conducting strips , which are structured on the rear side 9 of the front plastic region 5 . for each sensor structure 14 ′ this electrically conducting sensor structure 14 ′ goes over into electrical connections 29 and 30 on the lower edge side 17 of the rear plastic region 6 . these electrical connections 29 and 30 can comprise plug contacts or plug sockets , or surface - mountable contact surfaces . an electrically conducting transparent coating can , for example , comprise indium oxide or iron oxide . the structuring to form a sensor structure 14 ′ with straight vertical adjacent strips can be achieved by a selective etching method . if an operating finger of the driver approaches one of the plastic switch symbols and the display switch unit 3 ′ is in readiness , the strip structure 18 of the proximity sensors 13 ′ will experience a change in capacitance which can be used to electrically trigger a switching process in order to execute the functions associated with the plastic switch symbols when driving the vehicle . fig7 shows a schematic perspective view of a plastic body 4 ′ of the display switch unit 3 ′ in which it is again clear that the plastic switch symbols 11 are disposed three - dimensionally in a front plastic region 5 , which can be achieved , for example , by means of a doping process of the transparent plastic with the aid of light - sensitive nanoparticles and can be achieved by forming or casting corresponding three - dimensional plastic switch symbols 23 to 28 from a plastic compound 34 containing these light - sensitive particles . the prefabricated plastic switch symbols 11 can then be potted or inserted into the transparent plastic compound 32 of the front plastic region 5 . instead of potting , these plastic switch symbols can also be inserted or glued into prepared recesses in the front plastic region 5 . a transparent adhesive is again used when gluing in . the electrical connections 15 and 16 of this sensor structure 14 ′ are again provided on the connection regions for each individual plastic switch symbol 11 . fig8 shows a schematic view from below of a plastic body 4 ′ for a display switch unit 3 ′ with the positions for two light - emitting diodes 21 and 22 each , which illuminate the transparent undoped plastic compound 32 surrounding the plastic switch symbols 11 indirectly and in color . the switching state for each individual one of the switches of the plastic switch symbols 23 to 28 of the display switch unit 3 ′ can thus be symbolized with different display colors . for this purpose , the light - emitting diodes are arranged in pairs so that a total of three switching states can be shown , on the one hand the ready state , which makes the switch symbols light up by means of a corresponding backlight , and the switch - on state and switch - off state of each individual symbol , by indirectly illuminating the surrounding transparent plastic compound 32 by suitably colored illuminating light - emitting diodes 21 or 22 . fig9 shows a schematic perspective view of the plastic body 4 ′ according to fig8 . in this embodiment the light - emitting diodes 21 and 22 are disposed on the lower edge side 17 in the rear plastic region 6 and thus indirectly illuminate the transparent plastic of the front plastic region 5 and bathe this transparent plastic compound 32 in a colored light , which signals the switched - on state of the switch symbols 23 to 28 . while at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in the foregoing summary and detailed description , it should be appreciated that a vast number of variations exist . it should also be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments are only examples , and are not intended to limit the scope , applicability , or configuration in any way . rather , the foregoing summary and detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing an exemplary embodiment , it being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements described in an exemplary embodiment without departing from the scope as set forth in the appended claims and their legal equivalents . | 8 |
the multilayered polymeric material from which the containers are fabricated customarily will contain two layers , but for special applications may contain three or more layers . the inner layer of linear low density ethylene polymer will be thin and ordinarily will constitute not more than about 40 %, preferably less than about 20 %, and more especially less than about 15 % of the thickness of the multilayer polymeric material . the principal layer of linear high density ethylene material will constitute at least about 60 %, preferably more than about 80 %, and more especially more than about 85 % of the thickness of the multilayer polymeric material . where additional layers of other polymeric materials are included in the multilayer polymeric material , they will constitute less than about 10 % and preferably less than about 5 % of the thickness of the multilayer polymeric material . when such additional layers are included in the multilayer polymeric material , they may constitute the outer layer of the structure or may be positioned intermediate of the linear low density ethylene polymer and the linear high density ethylene polymer . where such additional polymeric layers are included , they ordinarily are included to improve the barrier properties of the container , or to improve the printability of the container &# 39 ; s exterior surface , or to improve the extrusion characteristics of the multilayer polymeric material . the multilayered polymeric materials employed in the invention customarily will be prepared by coextrusion techniques known in the art . to prepare blow molded containers , a parison containing the low density ethylene polymer on its interior surface will be extruded through an annular die and then blow molded . heavy sheet used to thermoform tubs and like containers ordinarily will be coextruded using flat sheet dies . the linear high density ethylene polymer ( s ) included in the principal layer of the multilayer polymeric material will have a density of at least about 0 . 94 gm / ml . it is preferred to employ ethylene polymers having densities of at least about 0 . 95 and more especially at least about 0 . 96 gm / ml as containers prepared from such resins have greater stiffness . for this reason , somewhat thinner containers can be employed with no loss of stiffness . the high density ethylene polymers should have a relatively high molecular weight as indirectly measured by melt index values . the melt index should be less than abut 5 . 0 gm / 10 min ., and preferably less than about 1 . 0 gm / 10 min . and more especially less than about 0 . 5 gm / 10 min . as measured by astm method 1238 - 70 , condition e . mixtures of two or more such high density polymers may be employed if desired . the linear high density ethylene polymers employed in the invention will have polymerized therein at least about 98 mol % ethylene with any comonomer polymerized therein being an alpha - monoolefin containing about 3 to 12 carbon atoms . such linear high density ethylene polymers are known and reported in the art and are commercially available from numerous commercial producers . such linear high density ethylene polymers are prepared by polymerizing ethylene , optionally in the presence of an alpha - monoolefin comonomer containing 3 to 12 carbon atoms , in the presence of certain metallic catalysts such as chromium catalysts , e . g ., cro 3 supported on silica - alumina supports , and the ziegler - natta catalysts , e . g ., ticl 3 employed in conjunction with certain aluminum alkyl cocatalysts . the requisite density and melt index desired in the polymer are obtained by proper control of polymerization conditions including temperature , pressure , comonomer concentration and the concentration of telogenating agents such as hydrogen . the linear low density ethylene polymer ( s ) included in the inner layer of the multilayer polymeric material will have a density of less than about 0 . 94 gm / ml , preferably in a range of about 0 . 91 about 0 . 93 gm / ml , and more especially in a range of about 0 . 91 to about 0 . 92 gm / ml . the linear , low density ethylene polymers will have a melt index of less than about 10 . 0 and preferably less than about 5 . 0 and , more especially , less than about 1 . 0 gm / 10 min ., as measured by astm method 1238 - 70 , condition e . it is desirable for the melt index to be close to the melt index of the linear high density ethylene polymer included in the multilayer polymeric material to facilitate the fabrication of such material by coextrusion methods . these polymers are ethyene copolymers having polymerized about 2 - 6 and preferably about 4 - 6 mol % of an alpha - monoolefin containing about 3 to 12 carbon atoms with the balance of the monomer polymerized therein being ethylene . the linear low density ethylene polymers employed in the present invention have long linear chains with controlled numbers of relatively short chain branches attached to the linear chains along their entire length . these side chains , or &# 34 ; branches &# 34 ;, are short and will contain from about 1 to 10 carbon atoms depending upon the particular alpha - monoolefin employed in the preparation of the polymer . the linear low density ethylene polymers differ structurally from low density ethylene polymers made by high pressure , free radical initiated polymerizations in having few , if any , long chain branches . the linear low density ethylene polymers are commerically available from multiple commercial sources . such polymers are prepared by copolymerizing ethylene with an alpha - monoolefin containing about 3 to 12 carbon atoms in the presence of certain metallic catalysts of the same general type employed to prepare the linear high density ethylene polymers discussed supra . the polymerization conditions employed in their preparation differ somewhat , and somewhat modified catalysts will be employed . one of the techniques to prepare such polymers involves copolymerizing ethylene and butene - 1 in the vapor phase in a fluidized bed process . by reason of the constraints imposed by carrying out the polymerization in the vapor phase , the ethylene polymers prepared by this process are limited to copolymers of ethylene and butene - 1 . by operating in solvent systems , copolymers can be prepared from alpha - monoolefin comonomers containing up to 12 carbon atoms . the preferred linear low density ethylene polymers for inclusion in the blends of the invention will be ethylene copolymers having polymerized therein at least one alpha - monoolefin comonomer containing 6 to 12 carbon atoms , and which optionally also will have butene - 1 copolymerized therein . where additional layers of polymers are employed in the containers of the invention , they will be employed to provide specific desired properties in the container . the additional layer can be provided on the outer surface of the container to improve surface glass and / or &# 34 ; printability &# 34 ;. ethylene copolymers having polymerized therein a polar comonomer , such as acrylic acid , are useful for this purpose . the additional layer also can be included to reduce the container &# 39 ; s vapor transmission properties . polymers having low vapor transmission properties are known in the art . in preparation of containers of the invention , it is preferred to employ a single species of the linear high density ethylene polymer and a single species of the linear low density ethylene polymer . in the preparation of blow molded containers , as is known in the art , a certain percentage of trim material is recovered and must be recycled to achieve low manufacturing costs . the trim scrap is collected and comminuted to small particles to prepare a recycle material which is referred to as &# 34 ; regrind &# 34 ;. since the &# 34 ; regrind &# 34 ; will consist predominantly of a linear high density ethylene polymer , reasonable quantities of &# 34 ; regrind &# 34 ; can be blended with virgin linear high density ethylene polymer without significantly adversely affecting the strength properties of the containers . each of the ethylene polymers employed in the containers of the invention may contain minor amounts of other components conventionally employed with ethylene polymers . specifically , the ethylene polymers can contain antioxidants , stabilizers , pigments , fillers , colorants and the like conventionally employed in such polymers to serve their customary function . significant concentrations of low cost inorganic pigments , such as calcium carbonate , can be included , either alone or in admixture with other colorants , in the linear high density ethylene polymer both to provide opacity and / or color in the container and to reduce the container &# 39 ; s cost . fig1 illustrates a bottle - type container 10 which includes a threaded finish portion 12 , a neck portion 14 , a shoulder portion 16 , a main body portion 18 and a bottom portion 20 . each of the neck portion , the shoulder portion , the main body portion and the bottom portion is fabricated from a bilayer polymeric material . as shown in fig2 the bilayer polymeric material includes a thin inner layer 22 , which constitutes about 10 % of the thickness of the wall and is a linear low density ethylene polymer and an outer layer 24 , which constitutes about 90 % of the thickness of the wall and is a linear high density ethylene polymer . fig3 illustrates a trilayer polymeric material that can be employed in fabricating a container of the type shown in fig1 . layers 22 and 24 are as previously described with the outer layer 26 being a very thin layer of an ionomer resin to provide improved barrier and printing properties . layer 22 and 26 each constitute about 10 % of the structure with layer 24 constituting about 80 % of the structure . fig4 illustrates a thermoformed tub - shaped container 30 of the type employed to package margarine . the walls and bottom are fabricated from a bilayer polymeric material , including a thin layer 32 which constitutes about 10 % of the wall &# 39 ; s thickness and is a linear low density ethylene polymer and an outer layer 34 , which constitutes about 90 % of the wall &# 39 ; s thickness and is a linear high density ethylene polymer . the following examples are set forth to illustrate more clearly the principle and practice of the invention to those skilled in the art . reported melt index values were determined by astm method 1238 - 70 , condition e . as a first run to demonstrate the principle of the invention , containers of oval cross - section having a 28 oz . capacity and used to package parson &# 39 ; s brand ammonia were prepared employing a single cavity extrusion blow molding machine . each container weighed about 50 grams . bilayer parisons were prepared on a bekum bmo - i blow molding machine equipped with a kautex coextrusion head . the die had an annular diameter of 0 . 740 inch . the die gap opening was set at 0 . 25 inch . a linear low density ethylene polymer having a density of 0 . 935 gm / ml and a melt index of 1 . 0 gm / 10 min . was employed to form the inner wall of the parison . this polymer was fed to the die head by a 11 / 4 inch welex extruder operated at a screw speed of 25 rpm with the melt temperature being maintained at 445 ° f . ( 229 ° c .). a linear high density ethylene polymer having a density of 0 . 953 gm / ml and a melt index of 0 . 25 gm / 10 min . was employed to form the outer wall of the parison . this polymer was fed to the die by a 11 / 4 inch welex extruder operated at a screw speed of 50 rpm with the melt temperature being maintained at 460 ° f . ( 238 ° c .). each extruder had an l / d ratio of 24 / 1 . the inner wall of the parison constituted about 33 % of the total parison thickness . as a control , otherwise identical containers were prepared solely from the linear high density ethylene polymer employed in part a . five of the blow molded containers of the invention prepared in part a and five of the prior art containers prepared in part b were tested for environmental stress crack resistance employing an unusually severe test procedure . in the test , each of the containers was filled with about three fluid ounces of an aqueous dishwashing product containing an anionic sulfonate surfactant . the containers were sealed and maintained at 140 ° f . the filled containers were examined on a daily basis for the first visible evidence of liquid leakage . in the first nine days of the test , three of the five prior art control containers prepared in part b failed the test and leaked . the test was continued for a total of 25 days . none of the containers of the invention prepared in part a showed any evidence of leakage . containers of circular cross - section having a 16 - oz . capacity were prepared employing a single cavity extrusion blow molding machine . each container weighed about 23 grams . bilayer parisons were prepared on a modified bekum bmo - 1 blow molding machine equipped with a kautex coextrusion head and 2 welex 11 / 4 inch satellite extruders . the die had an annular opening of 0 . 575 inch . the die gap was set at 0 . 25 inch . a linear low density polyethylene resin having a density of 0 . 926 gm / ml and a melt index of 1 . 0 gm / 10 min . was employed to form the inner wall of the parison . this polymer was fed to the die head by a 11 / 4 inch welex extruder operated at a screw speed of 10 rpm with the melt temperature maintained at 460 ° f . a linear high density polyethylene resin having a density of 0 . 953 gm / ml and melt index of 0 . 25 gm / 10 min . was employed to form the outer wall of the parison . this polymer was fed to the die by a 11 / 4 inch welex extruder operated at a screw speed of 70 rpm with the melt temperature maintained at 460 ° f . each extruder had an l / d ratio of 24 / 1 . the inner wall of the parison constituted about 12 % of the total thickness of the parison wall . as a control , otherwise identical containers were prepared solely from the linear high density polyethylene resin employed in part a . ten containers of the invention prepared in part a and ten of the prior art containers prepared in part b were subjected to a drop impact test . in the test , each container was filled to capacity with water and capped . each container then was dropped on its bottom from a height of 4 feet . each of the prior art containers cracked sufficiently so that water leakage was noted . none of the containers of the invention cracked in this test . test specimens were cut from center sections of the walls of the containers prepared in parts a and b for measurement of physical properties by astm procedures . one set of specimens was cut in the vertical plane , i . e ., along the axis of extrusion , while the second set was cut transversely thereto . each specimen was tested for elongation at break (%) and impact energy absorption ( ft . lbs / in . 2 ). the results are shown in table 1 . table 1______________________________________sample product of prior artproperty invention control______________________________________elongation at break , % vertical specimen 116 ± 17 60 ± 19transverse specimen 75 ± 36 66 ± 14impact energy absorption , ft . lbs / in .. sup . 2vertical specimen 302 ± 41 192 ± 66transverse specimen 199 ± 94 212 ± 60______________________________________ it will be noted that the properties of the containers of the invention are materially superior to the properties of the prior art containers . one gallon containers were prepared on a commercial blow molding machine . a bilayer parison was prepared in which the inner layer constituted 10 % of the structure &# 39 ; s thickness and was fabricated from a linear low density ethylene polymer having a density of 0 . 926 gm / ml and a melt index of 1 . 0 gm / 10 min . the outer layer was fabricated from a linear high density ethylene polymer having density of 0 . 953 gm / ml and a melt index of 0 . 25 gm / 10 min . the molding machine employed in this example was one used to manufacture a one - handled , one gallon container used to package hypochlorite bleach . the extrusion rate of the bilayered parison was adjusted so that the container weights were equivalent to those of the prior art containers made routinely on the same equipment . the containers of the invention molded well at commercially acceptable rates and in appearance were indistinguishable from the prior art containers manufactured on the same molding machine . while the articles herein described constitute preferred embodiments of the invention , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these articles and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined in the appended claims . | 1 |
it is common to utilize a flare stack for the disposal of waste combustible gas from chemical and industrial processes and particularly from oil refining . such stacks may be vertical , horizontal or inclined . the waste combustible gas is not usually continuously available but is intermittently supplied as it becomes necessary to dump such gas . it has also been common practice to supply purge gas intermittently to the flare stack when waste combustible gas is not being supplied so that air backflow in the stack is minimized , the purging of the stack by waste combustible gas or purge gas minimizing conditions favorable to an explosion within the stack . it is also necessary to take into account the failure of the purge gas supply . referring now more particularly to the drawings , a flare stack 10 is illustrated having a supply conduit 11 connected thereto for the supply of waste gas from a waste gas supply connection past a relief valve 12 . the waste gas is combustible and is derived from industrial operations and particularly from oil refineries . the flare stack 10 may be of any desired type , may have a fluidic seal 14 spaced downwardly from the top to permit free upward movement of gas but to provide a substantial obstacle to downflow in the stack 10 . a suitable form of seal for this purpose is shown in my u . s . pat . no . 3 , 730 , 673 . the flare stack preferably has a burner 15 on the top or discharge end for aiding in the admixture with the waste gas of air for combustion , and with or without steam , and may have a hollow cylindrical slotted wind shield 16 closed at the bottom to protect the pilots 17 and the burners 15 from the wind . suitable burners are shown in my prior u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 730 , 673 ; 3 , 797 , 991 ; 3 , 822 , 984 and 3 , 995 , 986 but the apparatus of the present invention is applicable to a wide range of burners . a purge gas supply connection 20 is provided which communicates through a strainer 21 and pressure regulator 22 to divided or branch connections 23 , 24 and 29 . the purge gas is usually an inert gas , a hydrocarbon gas or a combustible gas with an oxygen content too low to support combustion , or any other suitable gas with insufficient oxygen content for supporting combustion . the branch connection 23 has a solenoid control valve 25 therein and the branch 24 has a manually operable valve 26 therein . the branch connections 23 and 24 extend to a supply line 27 with a purge failure flow alarm 28 therein which is moved to a closed condition when there is no flow in the conduit 27 , as hereinafter pointed out . the branch connection 29 has a proportional control valve 31 responsive to wind speed and specific gravity , as hereinafter explained . the conduit 11 has a flow responsive switch 30 inserted therein , which may be of any desired type , but which is closed when there is gas flow through the conduit 11 and open if there is no flow . the stack 10 , preferably adjacent to its discharge end , has a wind speed responsive impeller 32 , preferably an anemometer , which drives a signal source 33 for supplying a wind speed signal for utilization as hereinafter explained . a source 34 of power is provided connected by a conductor 35 to the flow switch 30 and therethrough by a conductor 36 to the winding 37 of a relay . the power source 34 is also connected by a conductor 38 to the contact 39 actuated by the winding 37 , when energized by closing of the flow switch by waste gas flow , to a downward position to establish a circuit through conductor 40 to activate a signal light 41 at the indicating panel 42 to indicate that waste gas flow is occurring and that no purge is needed . if no waste gas flow is occurring so that the flow switch 30 is in an open position the winding 37 is deenergized and the contact 39 is in its upper position . power from the source 34 is available through conductor 38 , contact 39 , conductor 44 for the wind speed responsive signal source 33 , through conductor 45 , conductor 43 to the specific gravity meter 65 to be described , and conductor 58 to purge failure flow alarm 28 , through conductor 59 to purge failure light 60 . the conductor 45 is connected to a manual meter selector switch 46 , and to a wind speed signal and specific gravity converting unit 48 the selector switch 46 has a contact 49 which is connected by a conductor 47 through indicating meter 50 for making available a wind speed indication through a pointer needle 51 at an appropriate scale in miles or kilometers per hour when the contact 49 is directly connected to the meter 50 and to conductor 62 . the contact 49 of selector switch 46 can be connected to a conductor 61 for specific gravity . the purge gas may vary in its specific gravity with respect to air so that if it is lighter than air there is a tendency to rise more rapidly in the stack 10 . this makes it desirable to increase the flow for purge gas specific gravities less than one and to decrease the flow for specific gravities greater than one . in order to determine the specific gravity of the purge gas a specific gravity meter 65 is provided in a pipe 67 connected to the supply conduit 11 with a motor driven pump 66 drawing gas from the conduit 11 and returning the same to the conduit 11 through a return connection 68 . the specific gravity meter 65 and the pump 66 are activated by contact 39 and through conductor 43 when there is purge gas flow and shut off whenever there is waste gas flow . the meter 65 supplies a signal through a conductor 69 which is connected to the signal converting unit 48 to modify the purge gas delivery inversely to the specific gravity . the signal converting unit 48 modifies the windspeed signal and the specific gravity signal to provide a purge flow rate signal in standard volumetric units per hour in accordance with the formula s m is the modified signal in terms of purge gas flow k 1 is a constant dependent upon the dimensions and other characteristics of the components and takes into account a minimum wind velocity v n is the nth power of the wind velocity at the wind driven impeller 33 , and n ≃ 2 , k 2 is a correction constant dependent upon the dimensions and other characteristics of the components for specific gravity sg is the specific gravity of the purge gas as compared to air , and n 2 ≃ 1 , and k 3 is a correction constant dependent on the dimensions and other characteristics of the components the purge gas flow signal is available through a conductor 52 and the contact 49 when positioned to the right for activating an appropriate scale of the purge rate range . a conductor 54 also extends to the proportional control valve 31 with a signal from unit 48 so that the purge rate may set the proportional valve 26 . the conductor 44 also has a conductor 56 extending therefrom to an indicating lamp 57 which is illuminated when purge gas is required . a conductor 58 extends from the conductor 56 to the purge failure flow alarm 28 for controlling the indicating light 60 through conductor 59 from the alarm 28 . the indicating light 60 operates when there is purge failure at the same time that there is no flow of waste gas acting on the switch 30 and through the relay coil 37 and contact 39 . | 5 |
fig1 shows a diagram of the enhanced computer system where a central processing module 5 holds a processor 10 having a general cache memory 14 . communicating with the general cache 14 is an auxiliary mini - cache 14 i which supports the general cache and which operates through a bus interface circuit 8 to a system bus means 22 . the system bus means may operate as a single bus channel or as dual busses 22 a , 22 b . attached to the system bus means 22 is the main system memory 40 and a resource module block 30 which represents other modules on the system bus , such as peripheral controllers , other processors , i / o subsystem or other digital modules . fig2 shows a block diagram of the functional elements of the presently described mini - cache system architecture . the mini - cache 14 i shown in fig2 is seen to have an input from the system bus 22 which can be connected to main memory and / or other units such as i / o subsystem 30 . additionally , the output from the mini - cache is seen to be presented to the processor 10 through the general cache 14 . the mini - cache 14 i operates in a system which provides a number of modules developing different functions . fig2 shows the various functional blocks as the queue steering block 24 , the data queue block 26 q , the address register block 26a , the hit control block 27 , the invalidation block 28 , and the maintenance block 29 . the queue steering block 24 receives data blocks from memory 40 via bus interface 8 from the system bus 22 . steering block 24 also routes the data quene block 269 to general cache 14 or processor 10 directly , if no general cache is used . the steering block 24 also provides bidirectional connection with data queue block 26 q . if the mini - cache structure were not present or if the mini - cache were disabled by the maintenance subsystem 50 , then the processor 10 and the general cache memory 14 would connect directly to the system bus through a system bus interface 8 . this interface 8 would be typical to that described in a co - pending application ser . no . 963 , 304 entitled &# 34 ; dual bus interface transfer system for central processing module ,&# 34 ; now u . s . pat . no . 5 , 404 , 462 . on the other hand , if the mini - cache unit 14 i is present and enabled , then the mini - cache will interface to the system bus interface circuitry 8 . referring to fig2 the basic logical blocks which provide the functions for the mini - cache 14 i are shown in block diagram form . the data queue block 26 q is seen to contain four identical 60 - bit registers . these registers ( 15 sx ) are designated as 15 so , 15 s1 , 15 s2 , and 15 s3 . each of these registers can carry 60 bits of which there are 52 bits of data , 7 bits of parity upon the data and 1 bit indicating whether or not that particular data word is &# 34 ; corrupted &# 34 ; that is to say no longer usable because of errors or invalidation . the data queue block 26 q and the queue steering block 24 are present in the gate array chip logic whether the mini - cache 14 i is used or not . thus the mini - cache function comes virtually free of additive circuitry . the queue steering block 24 works to direct which one of the four data queue registers 15 sx is to be loaded with data from the system bus 22 . this block 24 also steers the output of the appropriate register 15 over to the processor 10 . the address register block 26 a is circuitry which is loaded by the current processor memory address in order to hold this particular address value either until a new address is loaded or until the mini - cache address is invalidated . the hit control block 27 is used to monitor the processor &# 39 ; s data address request and to compare this with the currently held address values in the address register block 26 a . if a true comparison or &# 34 ; match &# 34 ; occurs and if the chosen data queue register 15 is not marked as &# 34 ; corrupted &# 34 ;, then the hit control block 27 will specify that a mini - cache &# 34 ; hit &# 34 ; has occurred . this will cause the queue steering block 24 to select the appropriate data register from the data queue block 26 q and transfer this data immediately to the processor 10 . additionally , the hit control block 27 acts during the &# 34 ; hit &# 34 ; indication to prevent the system bus interface circuitry 8 ( fig1 ) from initiating a system bus memory operation . referring to fig2 the invalidation block 28 will monitor the system bus interface 8 to see if any main memory type operations may be in progress . these main memory operations may be initiated by any system resource module 30 such as another processor in the system , various system input / output modules and so on . if the system operation is an &# 34 ; invalidation type &# 34 ; of operation , that is to say an operation where data is being written to main memory thus to change old memory data , and if the invalidation block detects that the address value held in the address register 26 a is the same ( match ) as the address value presented on the system bus 22 , then this will constitute a &# 34 ; invalidation condition &# 34 ; occurring . the invalidation block then will mark the particular mini - cache address value in 26 a as being &# 34 ; invalid &# 34 ;. thus , no more mini - cache &# 34 ; hits &# 34 ; can occur for this particular address until a new address value from the forwarding processor is loaded into the mini - cache 14 i on some subsequent memory read operation . in fig2 the maintenance block 29 represents the final module of the mini - cache 14 i and includes a series of flip - flops which are set by the maintenance subsystem 50 . this block , being controlled by an external maintenance subsystem 50 , is configured for various mini - cache modes of operation . these modes of operation include : ( a1 ) enabled flip - flop - on :-- the mini - cache 14 i is operational when set by maintenance block 29 . in this condition , a mini - cache hit acts to prevent a system bus operation . ( a2 ) disabled flip - flop - off :-- the mini - cache 14 i is off - line , and no mini - cache operations occur . ( b1 ) data flip - flop - on :-- when set &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; in the maintenance block 29 by the maintenance subsystem 50 , the mini - cache allows &# 34 ; processor read data &# 34 ; commands to fill the data queue 26 q and to generate &# 34 ; hit &# 34 ; signals . ( b2 ) data flip - flop - off :-- when set &# 34 ; off &# 34 ; by maintenance subsystem 50 , the mini - cache 14 i will not respond to &# 34 ; processor read data &# 34 ; commands . ( c1 ) code flip - flop - on :-- when set &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; by the maintenance subsystem 50 , the mini - cache 14 1 permits &# 34 ; processor read code &# 34 ; commands to fill the data queue 26 q and to generate &# 34 ; hit &# 34 ; signals . ( c2 ) code flip - flop - off :-- when this ff is &# 34 ; off &# 34 ; the mini - cache 14 i will not respond to &# 34 ; processor read code &# 34 ; commands . the data flip - flop and the code flip - flop can be both set &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; concurrently or can be individually set &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; off &# 34 ; separately . it may be observed that the various components of mini - cache 14 i such as the data queue 26g , the address register 26a , the queue steering block 24 , are made of &# 34 ; normally required &# 34 ; logic even absent the concept of a mini - cache for present usage . the data queue 26 q receives , synchronizes and holds data captured from the system bus 22 for the use of the processor 10 . the address register 26a holds the current operating address and is useful and necessary for processor diagnostics and testing . the queue steering block 24 directs the stored data for transfer to the processor 10 . thus , the mini - cache is virtually provided free of additional hardware costs since most of its logic is generally already resident in one form or another . additionally , since this logic is primarily implemented in an application specific integrated circuit ( asic ) gate array , there is an abundant supply of design structure generally available at no extra cost . the mini - cache provides for an &# 34 ; error word marking &# 34 ; function . as the four memory words a , b , c , d are received by the mini - cache 14 i on the system bus 22 they are checked for several possible error conditions as follows : the word corruption error will be set by the system memory module 40 indicating that this particular word is corrupted . when either of these error conditions occur on the very first word received ( the actual word requested by the processor 10 ), then system level error recovery procedures will be put into place . however , if an error condition is detected upon any of the &# 34 ; remaining &# 34 ; three words , that is to say the look - ahead words , then no system procedures are enacted but the mini - cache 14 i will mark this word as &# 34 ; corrupted &# 34 ; within the data queue block 26 q . on subsequent &# 34 ; read &# 34 ; operations , if a word marked as &# 34 ; corrupted &# 34 ; is addressed as a mini - cache hit word , it is not sent back to the processor 10 even though it is a &# 34 ; hit &# 34 ; word . instead this word is treated as a &# 34 ; miss &# 34 ; condition and thereafter a system memory &# 34 ; read &# 34 ; is initiated on the bus while the mini - cache address is marked as invalid . if it is assumed that a system memory &# 34 ; read &# 34 ; operation ( and the necessary system bus protocols ) will consume 7 clock times , then the following table i hereinbelow indicates the possible relative performance improvements for memory access of data to a processor . the left hand column indicates the description of the architectural configuration , the middle column shows the &# 34 ; average &# 34 ; access time for the processor to get a data word while the last column shows the percent improvement over a straight access to data from main memory . table i______________________________________ access timeconfiguration average to % improvementdescription processor over main mem______________________________________main memory 7 clks 0 % general cache 2 . 2 clks 68 % general cache & amp ; 1 . 4 clks 79 % mini - cachemini - cache only 3 . 2 clks 53 % ______________________________________ the mini - cache architecture in fig2 of the present system can be used either as an addition to a standard general cache memory structure or alternatively can be used in structures without the standard general cache memory module . further under appropriate circumstances of the bus control used and with the proper design implementation , the mini - cache architecture may be almost free of added hardware material and costs . fig2 b shows a system which exclusively uses only the mini - cache 14 i in the system without any general cache memory . here the processor 10 communicates on an internal bus 12 to the mini - cache 14 i and communicates via the system bus 22 to the main system memory 40 . as seen in fig2 a , the mini - cache 14 i can be used as an enhancement to the general type of cache memory 14 so that the processor 10 will first communicate with the cache memory 14 after which it will communicate with the mini - cache 14 i and if neither of these two cache memories can fulfill the processor &# 39 ; s data request , then , of course , the processor will use system bus 22 in order to access the main system memory 40 . like the normal general cache memory , the mini - cache memory 14 i can provide to the processor 10 any required memory information without the need for system bus access when the required data is resident in the mini - cache memory . it may be noted that the normal or standard cache memory structures will reduce the memory access time for the processor up to 80 to 90 % of the time involved in memory access requests . the addition of the mini - cache 14 i will then work on reducing the remaining 10 %- 20 % of the memory access time required . thus the mini - cache 14 i enhances the performance of the standard cache memory 14 additionally by accelerating the &# 34 ; fill time &# 34 ; of the caching operations . for example in fig2 a , since the processor 10 in the central processing module 5 will be processing for several clock times ( perhaps 5 clock times on the average ) between executing memory accesses , this processing time provides a &# 34 ; window &# 34 ; for filling in the mini - cache 14 i behind the back of the processor while it is doing its normal processing functions . thus the mini - cache can be loaded during this time without interfering with the processor 10 . also , it may be noted that the system bus 22 shown in fig2 a , 2b and 5 are shared with other system modules , it may require several clock times on the average just to request system bus access , then to arbitrate the access to the bus and to be granted control of the bus ( bus control ). thus once control of bus resources is gained , it is well to utilize each request for data access in the most efficient manner possible . during the processing time , t p , ( fig6 ) and with the mini - cache memory 14 i being present and enabled , multiple memory words are accessed each time the system memory operation occurs . the bus protocol in the aforementioned a - 11 computer system provides bus operators which will read the specifically requested memory word plus three other words ( block of words ) around the requested word . these words are provided immediately on the system bus 22 ( one word per clock time ) after the requested word . the mini - cache 14 i immediately gives the requested word to the processor 10 and then stores the requested word plus the three extra words into the data queue 26 q of the mini - cache 14 i . the address for this &# 34 ; block of words &# 34 ; is also held in the address register 26 a of the mini - cache for future &# 34 ; hit &# 34 ; comparison purposes . fig3 a shows the 4 - word memory block on the system bus designated as word a , word b , word c , and word d . whether the processor receives a single word ( if the mini - cache 14 i is disabled or not present ) or the 4 - word block is received , the bus protocol in the presently described system requires the same number of clocks , except that there are specifically three additional clock times added to receive the three extra data words . however , these clock times are invisible to the processor 10 . the memory block ( containing the requested word ) is always received with the specifically requested word first in line . thus in fig3 a it will be seen that during the main memory cycle and after the normal memory cycle access time , ( the specific word requested being word a ,) then word a is the first received word by the processor 10 , but additionally on the next processing cycle , there are three clock times used in order to also receive word b , word c , and word d . as seen in fig3 b there are four data registers ( 15 sx ) designated 15 so , 15 s1 , 15 s2 and 15 s3 which are used to store data words in blocks of four words in the data queue 26 q ( of fig2 ). thus the data queue 26 q is seen in fig3 b holding the four word block received from main memory 40 as it is stored within the mini - cache 14 i . the lower two bits , of the address lines , control which of the four storage registers ( within the mini - cache ) into which a word is to be placed and held . thus if the lower address bits of the requested word are binary &# 34 ; 00 &# 34 ;, then the word is held in the register 15 so . if the lowest address bits are binary &# 34 ; 01 &# 34 ;, then the word will go to and reside in the register 15 s1 , etc . the processor 10 may have requested a memory word of any value on the lower two bits . this word is received from the main memory 40 first and then transferred to the processor 10 for immediate processing as well as being stored in the appropriate mini - cache register of 14 i . the &# 34 ; add - ons &# 34 ; or the following three words which come immediately from the main memory 40 on the following three clocks , will then be a binary count of the lower two address bits . if , for example , the requested memory word was addressed with the lowest 2 bits as &# 34 ; 00 &# 34 ;, then the return order would be &# 34 ; 00 &# 34 ;, &# 34 ; 01 &# 34 ;, &# 34 ; 10 &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; 11 &# 34 ;. this is a straight binary mod 2 count . if , however , the requested word was addressed with the lowest two bits being &# 34 ; 10 &# 34 ;, then the return order ( to the processor ) would be &# 34 ; 10 &# 34 ;, &# 34 ; 11 &# 34 ;, &# 34 ; 00 &# 34 ;, and &# 34 ; 01 &# 34 ;. again this is a mod 2 binary count . these words are then stored in their appropriate data queue register 15 sx in the mini - cache 14 i . fig3 b shows an example where the original processor &# 34 ; read &# 34 ; request was word &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; and this is placed at the lower address bits of &# 34 ; 01 &# 34 ;, in the register 15 s1 . in this example , the remaining three words from the memory 40 were placed into the mini - cache 14 i and placed at the binary address positions &# 34 ; 10 &# 34 ; ( word b ) at register 15 s2 , then address bits 11 ( word c ) at register 15 s3 , and then ( word d ) at address bits 00 in register 15 s0 . once the mini - cache 14 i has been filled from main memory 40 with a particular four word block , the block is marked as &# 34 ; valid &# 34 ; and the address of the currently stored block is held in an address module 26a in the mini - cache for future comparison when requests are made for data . the mini - cache address register , 26a , fig2 holds all of the address bits for the data block involved except the two lower bits . on the next and subsequent processor &# 34 ; read &# 34 ; operations and before a system bus memory operation has begun , the &# 34 ; address requested &# 34 ; by the processor 10 is compared with the block addresses held in the mini - cache address register 26 a . if a true comparison occurs , that is to say , the mini - cache has a &# 34 ; hit &# 34 ;, then the particular appropriate word ( of the four words held and stored ) is transferred immediately to the processor 10 and no system bus operation is begun . system bus request is prevented by a signal on line 27 c from the hit control block 27 of fig2 which prevents any system bus request to occur when a &# 34 ; hit &# 34 ; has occurred in the mini - cache 14 i . in the situation provided in fig2 a where a general cache memory structure is present in addition to the mini - cache structure , then the general cache memory 14 is always the first possible source of data to the processor 10 . however , if the general cache memory 14 operates under a &# 34 ; miss &# 34 ; condition , that is to say it does not currently hold the requested memory address , then the mini - cache 14 i will be the next possible source of data access for the processor before any requirement is initiated to the system bus 22 to access the main system memory 40 . throughout system operations , a memory block of four words is held in the data queue 26 q within the mini - cache registers 15 sx along with the block address which resides in the address register 26a of fig2 . here the four - word block is marked &# 34 ; valid &# 34 ; until one of two possible actions occur : ( a ) a &# 34 ; miss &# 34 ; occurs at the mini - cache 14 i for a requested processor memory read . under these conditions , a system main memory read cycle will occur which re - fills the mini - cache 14 i with the new data from the new address . the &# 34 ; new &# 34 ; address block 26ais now marked as &# 34 ; valid &# 34 ;. while the mini - cache 14 t is being filled with the new data words the requested word is also sent to the processor 10 . ( b ) an &# 34 ; invalidation type &# 34 ; operation occurs at the address held in the mini - cache address register 26 a . referring to fig2 indicating the mini - cache 14 i , the steering block 24 will be seen to connect to the general cache 14 or the processor interface . this interface receives signals from the processor 10 and the general cache memory 14 and will include the following signals : processor request address :-- used to compare address on bus with the address in register 26 a for possible mini - cache hits ; cmd - valid :-- indicates a valid address from the processor on bus 24 p and 14 p . cmd - type :-- indicates whether a valid data - read or a code - read from the processor is on bus 24 p and 14 p . cache - hit :-- indicates that the general cache memory 14 had a hit for this read operation . communication via bus 28 c to the invalidation block 28 from the system bus logic in interface 8 includes the following signals : sa - address - in :-- is the input address on the system bus a ( first system bus 22 a ). a - check - address :-- the system bus address is active and has a valid - invalidation type operation . sb - address - in :-- this is the same as the above signal except it is for the second system bus 22 b . b - check - address :-- this is the same valid - invalid operation as above but directed toward the second system bus , 22 b . mini - cache - hit :-- this is the output from the mini - cache 14 i to inhibit system bus memory requests . it goes to the system bus controller , in interface 8 . the functional elements of the mini - cache 14 i may be summarized as follows : address register block 26 a : ( i ) holds the current valid address blocks in the mini - cache ; and , ( ii ) compares this address value against the incoming address values from the processor 10 . a match or equality causes a mini - cache &# 34 ; hit &# 34 ; signal . this block holds a &# 34 ; valid &# 34 ; flip - flop in 26a ( fig2 ) which when set &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; indicates the block address is valid . it is set &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; when mini - cache 14 i has its data queue filled with a good block from memory 40 . this flip - flop can be reset to invalid by the invalidation block 28 . invalidation block 28 : ( i ) compares the address on the system bus 22 ( or busses ) for &# 34 ; write &# 34 ; operations with addresses residing in the address register 26 a ; and , ( ii ) if an equality or match occurs , this block marks the address register 26 a as &# 34 ; invalid &# 34 ;. hit control block 27 : ( i ) provides the mini - cache &# 34 ; hit &# 34 ; signal to a system bus controller in interface 8 to prevent system bus operation which might seek main memory access . the system bus interface 8 provides all the required bus protocols . queue steering block 24 : ( i ) monitors the processor &# 39 ; s read requests , the general code hits , and the processor addresses ; and , ( ii ) steers the appropriate register &# 39 ; s 15 sx data ( on a mini - cache hit signal ) to the processor and the general cache memory , 14 . maintenance block 29 : ( i ) allows all registers to be loaded ( by shifting in ) and read ( by shifting out ) to the maintenance subsystem 50 . thus the entire mini - cache unit can be tested in this fashion . as seen in fig2 this block connects to all the other block circuitry in the mini - cache 14 i to provide for testability and uses flip - flops ( settable from the subsystem 50 ) to set the operational mode . referring to fig7 there is seen a flow chart illustrating the use of the mini - cache in a computer system operation . in fig7 starting from the &# 34 ; idle &# 34 ; condition , there occurs a processor memory read request . a decision is made as to whether there is a general cache hit which , if indicated as &# 34 ; yes &# 34 ;, the general cache memory unit 14 will return data to the processor 10 and that cycle will be terminated . if there is no general cache hit , then the processor memory read request is directed to the mini - cache 14 i to see whether a hit occurs there . if a hit has occurred , then the mini - cache unit 14 i will steer data from the appropriate data queue 26 q and the register 15 sx to the processor 10 and the general cache unit 14 at which time the read request cycle will be terminated . it may be noted that the lowest 2 - bits of the address to the mini - cache will determine which register 15 sx data word ( of the four data words ) will be steered out . if there is no mini - cache 14 i hit , then the system bus controller will initiate a system bus read operation for the memory request . at this time , there is a wait for access to the main memory data block . when this becomes available the requested word will be sent to the processor 10 and to the general cache unit 14 . this word resided at the lowest 2 - bits of the requested address in the data queue block 26 q . subsequently , all four words are loaded into the mini - cache data queue 26 q . after this , the command block address is fed into the mini - cache address register 26 a and is marked as &# 34 ; valid &# 34 ; after which the read request cycle has now been ended . described herein has been an enhanced throughput computer - mini - cache system which can be functional on its own with a processor and main memory or which can be added to a general cache memory in a computer system in order to reduce the access time for processor - retrieval of memory data . the resulting improvement in processor performance enables substantially greater efficiency for computer system operations at very little cost in hardware or processing effort . while the basic concept of the architecture and usage of the described computer system with auxiliary mini - cache has been indicated it should be understood that other implementations and configurations could be possible using the same concept and as defined in the following claims . | 6 |
referring now to the drawings , fig1 shows a differential mechanism 10 located in a transmission case 12 , the differential being adapted to transmit rotating power to halfshafts 14 , 16 , which extend laterally to driven wheels located at the outboard ends of the halfshafts . a ring gear 18 of the differential 10 is secured by bolts 20 to the housing 22 , which is supported on the transmission case 12 by bearings 24 , 25 . a spindle , 26 secured to the differential housing 22 , supports bevel pinions , which rotate about axis 30 and revolve about axis 32 . side bevel gears 34 , 35 meshing with bevel gears 28 , 29 are secured to halfshafts 14 , 16 , respectively . the ptu 36 , enclosed in a ptu case 38 , is secured to transmission case 12 by bolts 40 . the ptu 36 includes a bevel gear 42 , supported by bearings 44 , 45 on the ptu case 38 ; a bevel gear 46 meshing with bevel gear 42 and supported by bearing 48 , 49 on ptu case 38 ; and a bolted connection 50 to a driveshaft 52 , which transmits power to a second set of wheels . fig1 and 3 show that a portion of the outer surface 54 of the ptu case 38 , adjacent and facing the transmission case 12 , defines a cavity bounded by the outer surface 54 . a cover 56 closes an opening where the cavity faces the transmission case 12 and seals the opening against flow of coolant from a coolant chamber 58 bounded by the outer surface 54 and the cover 56 . a series of bolts 60 secures cover 56 to the ptu case 38 . fig2 shows that the components of a motor vehicle located in the engine compartment include an engine 70 , transmission 72 , ptu 36 , engine exhaust pipe 74 and a catalytic converter 76 . each bolt 60 that connects the transmission case 12 to the ptu case 36 is fitted in one of the bolt holes 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 that extending through a mounting surface 86 , formed at the lateral face of the ptu case 36 adjacent the transmission case 12 . fig3 show an external spline 88 , which connects bevel pinion 42 and the differential housing 22 . mounting surface 86 is formed with a recess 90 that extends along the inner periphery of the mounting surface and is about 2 mm . deep . cover 56 , which is fitted into recess 90 , seals coolant against the ptu case 38 , thereby reducing risk of cross contamination between coolant and automatic transmission fluid or coolant and ptu fluid . an inlet port 92 and outlet port 94 allow coolant to enter and exit coolant chamber 58 . preferably inlet port 92 is located at a lower elevation than that of outlet port 94 and laterally spaced from the outlet port . preferably outlet port 94 is located at the higher elevation to allow trapped air to rise and leave the coolant chamber 58 . air trapped in chamber presents a risk of oxidation of both coolant and the aluminum alloy of which the ptu case 38 is formed . fig3 shows that the outer surface 54 of the ptu case 38 is formed with stiffening ribs located in chamber 58 and dividing the chamber into cavities , each cavity bounded by at least one rib and the lower surface of the chamber . the ribs are used to produce turbulent flow of coolant in chamber 58 , to direct coolant flow from the inlet 92 to the outlet 94 , and to increase the area through which heat is transferred from the outer surface 54 of the ptu case 38 to coolant flowing in chamber 58 . a narrow passage 96 having a relatively small cross sectional area formed in rib 98 , allows air to flow toward the outlet 94 and to flow across rib 98 . similar narrow passages 100 , 102 , each having a relatively small cross sectional area are formed in other ribs of the ptu case 38 to allow air to flow toward the outlet 94 . preferably the cross sectional area of passages 96 , 100 , 102 is small enough to limit coolant flow through the passages . coolant flows through chamber 58 from cavity - to - cavity through relatively large slots 104 , 105 , 106 , 107 formed in the ribs . preferably the cross sectional area of each slot 104 - 107 is larger than that of each passage 96 , 100 , 102 and is large enough to allow coolant to flow through the slots but without weakening the rib or substantially reducing stiffness of the ribs . cover 56 is formed with flow deflectors 108 , 109 , 110 , 111 , 112 which extend from cover 56 into chamber 58 , are located in a coolant flow path between inlet 92 and slots 104 - 107 such that the deflectors 108 - 111 cause coolant entering inlet 92 and exiting each slot to flow around the adjacent deflector rather than flowing directly into another of the slots 104 - 107 . deflectors 108 - 111 further produce turbulent coolant flow along the surface of the ribs in coolant chamber 58 . preferably cover 56 fit tight against the top of the webs of ptu case 38 to ensure that coolant flows as previously described and not just leak between cavities of chamber 58 that are separated by the ribs . machining slots 104 - 107 in the ribs is less desirable than drilling holes through the ribs . preferably the slots 104 - 107 are formed while casting the ptu case 38 of aluminum alloy . in accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes , the preferred embodiment has been described . however , it should be noted that the alternate embodiments can be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described . | 8 |
the diagrammatic representation of fig1 is a section through the front of a clothes dryer in the vicinity of a panel 10 facing the user . the panel 10 is an integral plastics moulding , which in the present embodiment is made from abs plastic . the dimensionally stable component has a front side 11 facing the user and which is provided with a smooth , glossy , closed surface 12 . at most points of the panel the standard material thickness of said panel 10 , i . e . the distance between the front surface 12 and rear surface 13 , is approximately 2 . 6 mm . with such a material thickness the panel material abs is opaque for visible light , so that components of the appliance , particularly components of an electronic control located behind the panel are not visible from the front . with such a material thickness the panel material is torsionally strong , so that the entire panel as a separate component is self - supporting and on installing the appliance can be fitted simply thereto , e . g . by using screws . with the panel is associated a display device 15 for optical user information . this display device comprises a light source 16 constructed as a light emitting diode and which is fitted to a printed circuit board 17 , which is connected to the panel by not shown fastening elements . in the area provided for the display device the panel 10 has a circular transillumination area 20 , where the panel material thickness is reduced compared with the standard material thickness 14 in such a way that the transillumination area is at least in parts of its surface transilluminatable by the light of the light source 16 positioned facing the panel back 13 . the transillumination area 20 is substantially formed by a reduced material thickness area in the panel 10 . it is surrounded by a circumferential web 18 projecting towards the light source 16 . in this embodiment , during the manufacture of the panel 10 by injection moulding , through suitable shaping of the mould a roughly circular recess was formed on whose base facing the front side 11 is formed a macroscopic structure in the form of channels 21 and intermediate raised portions 22 . the channels and raised portions have in each case a triangular cross - section . in the vicinity of the apex of the raised portions 22 facing the light source the material thickness is approximately 0 . 4 mm , whereas in the vicinity of the bottoms of the channels 21 facing the surface 12 it is only approximately 0 . 3 mm . these material thicknesses are so matched to the optical characteristics of the abs plastic used that the light of the light emitting diode 16 is weak in the vicinity of the raised portions 22 and strong in the vicinity of the channels 21 and from the outside in clearly visible manner transilluminates the panel material in the transillumination area 20 , so that from the front 11 it is possible for a user to see through the panel whether the light emitting diode 16 is switched on or off . therefore the reduced material thickness transillumination 20 has the function of an opal glass window constructed integrally with the surrounding panel material and whose structured surface facing the light source 16 produces a certain scattering action , so that it permits independently of the shape of the light source 16 a relatively uniform illumination of the entire transillumination area 20 . optionally an optically attractive banded structure can be detected within the illuminated area . the light emitting diode 16 serves as an optical state display for a function of the clothes dryer , which can e . g . be configured in such a way that the diode 16 lights up on switching an anti - creasing function or a storage dry function . an identically or analogously constructed display can e . g . also be provided for the start / stop function . other operating modes can also be displayed in the indicated manner . in order to permit for the user a clear association between the lighting up of a transillumination area 20 and an associated function of the appliance , on the front surface 12 of the panel 10 a marking 25 is applied by printing on . it comprises a closed ring 26 surrounding the transillumination area , as well as a symbol 27 , within the ring 26 , characterizing the corresponding function . this embodiment of the domestic electrical appliance is characterized by maximum operating comfort and this is assisted by the fact that in this embodiment the display device is combined in a sandwich structure with a capacitive operating device . the function indicated by the marking 25 can be switched on or off by the user by operating a capacitive sensor device . the sensor device comprises a sensor element 30 fitted to the back 13 of the panel 10 and which surrounds in annular manner the transillumination area 20 outside the web 18 , as well as a control 31 on the printed circuit board 17 . a possible construction of such a sensor element as well as its function are represented e . g . in ep 859 468 , whose content is by reference made into part of the content of the present application . a corresponding description also appears in the applicant &# 39 ; s de 201 19 700 . 6 , whose content is also made by reference into part of the content of the present description . typically the size of such a sensor element is roughly the same as a finger tip , e . g . it can have a side edge length or diameter between approximately 10 mm and approximately 25 mm . an elongated , pin - shaped contact part 32 extends from the printed circuit board 17 with the control 31 , to which it is electrically conductively connected by means of a flat contact , to a contact bank of the sensor element 30 . in this way the sensor element 30 is electrically conductively connected to the control 31 or printed circuit board 17 . the contact part can have an elastic construction , e . g . in the form of a metallic helical spring or compressible element of conductive , elastic plastic . the sensor element 30 is applied with the aid of a printing process , e . g . a suitable screen printing process , directly to the back 13 of the panel 10 . as an alternative to the use of a screen printing process with an electrically conductive material for the sensor element 30 , it is also possible to apply a metal foil - like part or platelet by bonding or in some other to the panel back 13 . metallized or metallic adhesive foils can also be used as sensor elements 30 . if a user now brings her finger into the vicinity of or on the area indicated by the marking 25 , in an electric circuit surrounding the sensor element a capacitance change occurs and is further processed by the control 31 for generating a switching signal . simultaneously with the switching on or off of the corresponding function , the light emitting diode 16 is switched on or off . alternative shapes and structures of transillumination areas are shown in fig2 and 3 . fig2 ( a ) shows a circular transillumination area 35 , where the low material thickness zone on the side to face the light source has a pyramidal structure with a plurality of directly adjacent quadrangular pyramids 36 . if the light source side of the transillumination area is produced by material abrasion , it is possible to produce the pyramidal structure in that in directs 37 , 38 perpendicular to one another are produced in directly juxtaposed manner channels having a v - shaped cross - section . if the structure is produced during injection moulding , for this purpose the corresponding part of the mould can have a circular area with a corresponding honeycomb structure . the pyramidal structure has a scattering effect , so that independently of the shape of the light source , the transillumination area appears substantially uniformly illuminated from the user side . the panel 40 shown in detail form in fig2 ( b ) has a rectangular transillumination area 41 formed by parallel v - shaped grooves and raised portions . the panel material thickness in the vicinity of the channel bottoms facing the front surface 42 of approximately 0 . 3 to 0 . 4 mm is sufficiently thin for there to be an adequate transparency here . in the vicinity of the tips of the raised portions on the back 43 , the material thickness of approximately 0 . 5 to 0 . 7 mm makes the material largely opaque . therefore when the light source is switched on , the transillumination area 41 has a banded pattern . fig2 ( c ) shows in exemplified manner a panel having a circular transillumination area 46 , where there are macroscopic surface structures in the form of concentric circles , which can e . g . be formed by rectangular or v - grooves . the hitherto shown examples of transillumination areas are preferably usable in conjunction with simple light sources in order to indicate the switching state of a function ( on or off ). in many appliances it is also desirable to display for an operating mode or an additional function associated values such as e . g . presetting times , remaining running times , degrees of moisture , temperatures , etc . in conventional appliances for this purpose use is frequently made of multisegment displays , e . g . lcd or led seven segment displays . a corresponding functionality can be provided when using the present invention . to this end fig3 diagrammatically shows a panel 50 having in its thickest areas a material thickness of approximately 2 . 6 mm . in a rectangular area 51 provided for a display device the material thickness is reduced to approximately 1 mm . within this area there is a further wall thickness reduction in order to create a transillumination area 60 in the form of a seven segment display . for this purpose channels 54 to 57 with a trapezoidal cross - section are formed on the bottom of the rectangular area , i . e . on the back 53 facing the front 52 . overall the channels form a configuration shaped like a rectangular eight and can in the same way as a seven segment display be considered as broken down into seven functionally separated partial channels or channel segments . with each of the channel segments is associated a group of light sources . for example , a row of three light emitting diodes 58 is shown , which are positioned a limited distance behind the back 53 in the vicinity of the cross - channel 55 at the top . if these light sources 58 light up , the emitted light essentially only occurs in the cross - channel 55 , which then lights up for the user on front 52 . in order to prevent a swamping out of the light in other segments , they can be shielded by suitable , not shown shields with respect to the light of light sources 58 . it is also e . g . possible to provide for the central cross - channel 57 a not shown row of three light emitting diodes . on the longitudinal channels 54 , 56 , which are in each case broken down into two partial channels , running perpendicular thereto are provided in each case two independently controllable groups of in each case three light emitting diodes which illuminate said partial channels . through a suitable control of the light sources associated with the channel segments , it is possible in the manner of a seven segment display to symbolize with the latter any random number and any random letter . normally a display device has several such seven segment transillumination areas in juxtaposed form , e . g . four such areas , in order to display clock times or time intervals , as well as optionally temperatures and the like . fig4 shows a greatly simplified variant of the panel 10 shown in fig1 . the panel 60 shown in fig4 has a smooth front side 61 . obviously , in accordance with fig1 , symbols or the like could be applied here . the panel 60 has a normal material thickness 14 , e . g . corresponding to that of fig1 . however , the transillumination area 63 is made thinner , as in fig1 , but does not have a structure . for this purpose a so - called light distributing plate 65 is provided and is , as is clearly shown in fig4 , embedded in the material of the panel 60 . the embedding of the light distributing plate 65 in the panel 60 can take place in numerous different ways , as described hereinbefore . in fig4 it is moulded in , using a so - called two - component process . the latter is known per se and consequently does not have to be described here . in this way the light distributing plate 65 , which can be made from a transparent plastic , e . g . an acrylic material , is embedded in fixed , non - detachable and non - movable form . instead of being moulded in a light distributing plate 65 could also be clipped in . this would be possible if the back - engagement in fig4 was reduced . with regards to the manufacturing costs of the panel , clipping in is less expensive , but an installation process is required . a first light guide 67 is positioned behind the light distributing plate 65 . light from a light emitting diode 66 is coupled into the light distributing plate 65 by means of a second light guide 68 and also the first light guide 67 . this is readily apparent to the expert from the drawing in conjunction with the above description and consequently requires no explanation here . as is intimated in fig4 , the first and second light guides 67 , 68 can be fixed to the printed circuit board 62 , e . g . by clamping or bonding in . once again much as in fig1 , on the panel 60 can be provided actuating devices , e . g . sensor elements , in the area surrounding the transillumination area 63 . they are not shown for reasons of simplicity . whereas in the preceding drawings fixed or immovable control devices in the form of a panel are shown , fig5 and 6 show movable control devices , namely rotary toggles . fig5 shows a rotary toggle 70 , which is located on the front of a standard panel 71 , which can e . g . be a glass ceramic hotplate . it is located on a rotary spindle 72 , which is connected to a switching device 73 positioned behind the panel 71 . by rotating the rotary toggle 70 an actuation takes place on the switching device 73 . a led 76 is located behind the panel 71 and emits light into a second light guide 78 . as can be seen in fig5 , the light guide 78 projects through the through opening 74 in panel 71 . in this area the second light guide 78 is circumferential , i . e . roughly cup - shaped . a first light guide 77 is connected in light - conducting manner to the second light guide 78 and has a limited spacing therefrom . as can be seen , the first light guide 77 is enclosed in the rotary toggle 70 . by its front end the light guide 77 projects into a transillumination area 75 on the front surface of the rotary toggle 70 . in the transillumination area 75 the material thickness of the front side is , according to the invention , much less than the otherwise provided standard material thickness . as a result of the circumferential construction of the second light guide 78 above the panel 71 , light is given off continuously in each rotation position . however , the first light guide 77 has a rod - shaped construction . in each rotation position it can take light from the second light guide 78 and deliver it in substantially punctiform manner in transillumination area 75 . the first light guide 77 is fixed in the rotary toggle 70 advantageously by sticking in with press fit or bonding in . fig6 shows a further rotary toggle 80 constituting a variant of the rotary toggle 70 in fig5 . by means of a through opening 84 in panel 81 the rotary toggle 80 is connected via rotary spindle 82 to the switching device 83 . here a led 86 is connected to a second light guide 88 , which projects e . g . in rod - like manner through the through opening 84 into the interior of the rotary toggle 80 . unlike in fig5 , the second light guide here is not constructed in a cup - shaped or circumferential manner . the second light guide 88 is connected to a first light guide 87 and couples light into the latter . towards the side of the rotary toggle 80 , the first light guide 87 is aligned with a lateral transillumination area 85 . in said transillumination area 85 once again the material thickness is reduced compared with the remaining standard material thickness in such a way that according to the invention the material is transparent and the transmitted light of the led 86 is emitted , as shown , to the outside . this variant of a rotary toggle 80 consequently brings about an emission of a light signal or the like in a single rotary position of the rotary toggle 80 . this is precisely the position in which the first light guide 87 by rotation coincides precisely with the first light guide 88 fixed to the panel 81 . numerous standpoints are involved in deciding for which particular use a rotary toggle 70 according to fig5 or a rotary toggle 80 according to fig6 is employed and there is no need to discuss this matter here . it is once again pointed out that the drawings are only to be understood diagrammatically , this particularly applying with regards to the sizes or thicknesses or the relative sizes . the invention illustrated in exemplified manner by embodiments can be used in order to provide randomly designed display devices for use in electrical or electrically controlled installations , apparatus or appliances and more particularly in domestic appliances . preferred fields of use are large domestic appliances , e . g . washing machines , dryers or dishwashers , which are conventionally provided with through , non - transparent plastic panels or control devices in the form of rotary toggles or the like . if they are modified in accordance with the invention inexpensive possibilities are provided for ensuring maximum flexibility with respect to the variant formation of the display devices . as a result of the invention it is possible for a single type of panel with prepared transillumination areas to be used for an entire appliance family with the most varied functionality finishes and then , as a function of the appliance finish or equipment , can be combined with suitable lighting devices . since the invention leads to panels with displays and closed surfaces , a maximum of operational reliability accompanied by an extremely pleasing appearance is made possible . | 6 |
referring to fig1 there is shown an exploded perspective view of a symmetrical light fixture 10 in accordance with the invention , to illustrate the manner in which the symmetrical light fixture is assembled . the symmetrical light fixture generally includes a u - shaped channel 12 , and a cover plate 14 , which together generally define a ballast / electronics housing ; a pair of side panels 16 ; and a pair of symmetrical end pieces 18 . in the assembled state , the end pieces 18 supportingly engage the opposing ends of the u - shaped channel 12 or housing and the opposing ends of the side panels 16 to form a generally trough shaped light fixture . in fig2 there is shown an exploded perspective of the asymmetrical light fixture 19 generally illustrating the components thereof , and the manner in which it is assembled . as with the symmetrical light fixture , the asymmetrical light fixture includes a u - shaped channel 12 which is substantially identical to , and interchangeable with , the u - shaped channel used in the symmetrical light fixtures shown in fig1 . the asymmetrical light fixture also comprises a cover plate 14 , and a side panel 16 , which are substantially identical to , and interchangeable with , the corresponding parts shown in fig1 for the symmetrical light fixture . the major difference between the asymmetrical light fixture and the symmetrical light fixture is that the asymmetrical light fixture has asymmetrical end pieces 20 , which are substantially truncated versions of the symmetrical end pieces 18 , and uses only one side panel 16 , instead of two . accordingly , the components of the light fixtures will be generally described with reference to the symmetric version , it being understood that such descriptions generally apply to the asymmetric version as well , the difference being apparent from reference to the drawings and this specification . the interior side of the symmetrical end piece 18 is shown in greater detail in fig3 . symmetrical end piece 18 includes a vertical end wall 22 which is generally symmetrical with respect to a vertical plane which is perpendicular to the vertical end wall . the end wall defines a plurality of recesses 24 , each of which is configured for receiving a fluorescent tube holder 25 ( fig1 ) with electrical contacts . symmetrical end piece 18 also includes a pair of opposing side walls 26 which are angled to extend upwardly and outwardly away from a base 28 . each of the side walls 26 includes a relatively thin upper portion 30 and a lower hook portion 31 which are configured to be engaged by portions of panels 16 to achieve secure attachment of panels 16 to end pieces 18 . each of the portions 30 of end pieces 18 include a boss 34 which projects from the inner side of the side wall and extends through an aperture 35 in rails 36 of side panels 16 to retain the ends of panels 16 to the end pieces 18 . extending from end wall 22 of symmetrical end piece 18 and from the base 28 is an upwardly opening u - shaped channel portion 38 for aligning u - shaped channel 12 with symmetrical end piece 18 . u - shaped channel portion 38 includes a pair of laterally spaced apart vertical walls 40 . u - shaped channel 38 also includes a pair of positioning tabs 41 for cooperatively engaging alignment / retainer tabs 42 on a ballast mounting bracket 43 . bracket 43 also includes an aperture 44 for attaching ballast 45 thereto . the symmetrical end pieces 18 are preferably formed from a durable thermoplastic material using an injection molding technique . the asymmetrical end pieces 20 are substantially truncated versions of the symmetrical end piece 18 . in particular , the asymmetrical end piece includes a vertical end wall 46 which is substantially a truncated version of the vertical end wall 22 . end wall 46 defines a pair of recesses 24 ( substantially identical to recesses in the vertical wall of the symmetrical end piece ) for receiving a fluorescent tube connector 25 having electrical contacts . the asymmetrical end piece 20 includes only one angled side wall 26 , which is substantially identical to the angled side walls of the symmetrical end piece . the asymmetrical end piece 20 also includes a u - shaped channel portion 38 , which is substantially identical to the u - shaped channel portion of the symmetrical end piece . referring to fig1 and 5 , u - shaped channel 12 is an upwardly opening elongate channel member having a horizontal base 48 and vertical walls 50 which extend upwardly from the opposing ends of the base 48 . the opposing ends of each of the vertical walls 50 include an extension 52 which extends longitudinally beyond the end of the base 48 . the extensions 52 have an upper edge which is coincident with the upper edge of the main portion of the vertical walls 50 , and a lower edge which is located between the upper edge and lower edge of the vertical walls . each of the extensions 52 is configured to be tightly received within a recessed area 53 defined by end piece 18 , such that u - shaped channel 12 is held to end piece 18 with sufficient force to facilitate assembly . after panels 16 are installed and locked into position by engagement between tabs 34 of end pieces 18 and aperture 35 , the spacing between the opposing and pieces becomes fixed and extensions 52 cannot be displaced relative to the recesses 53 , thus securely locking channel 12 between the end pieces 18 . the u - shaped channel 12 is preferably formed from metal sheets , such as steel or aluminum , using standard metal sheet cutting , stamping and shaping operations . however , other materials can be used to form the u - shaped channel . referring again to fig1 and 5 , side panels 16 each include an outer exposed wall 54 and a pair of rails 36 which project from the rear side of the side panel 16 and extend along a plane parallel to wall 54 adjacent the opposing lateral edges of panels 16 . the rails 36 are arranged in space apart parallel relationship to each other and extend along generally the entire length of the side panel 16 . at each end of each rail 36 an aperture 35 is defined . each aperture 35 is configured to engage a boss 34 of side wall portion 30 of end piece 18 or 20 . side panels 16 are preferably formed from sheets of metal such as steel or aluminum using standard metal cutting , stamping , and forming techniques . side panel 16 , however , can be made from other materials , such as extruded or injection molded plastics , extruded aluminum , etc . side panel 16 is connected to end piece 18 or 20 by aligning rails 36 with wall portion 30 and hook portion 31 in side wall 26 of end piece 18 or 20 , and urging the side panel and end piece together until bosses 34 project through notches 36 . referring to fig5 and 6 , cover plate 14 is an elongate panel which is sized and configured to serve as a snap - on closure for u - shaped channel 12 . u - shaped channel 12 and cover plate 14 together define a ballast / electronics housing , containing one or more ballasts , and associated electrical components and wiring . cover plate 14 includes resilient embossments 56 which are configured to resiliently engage notches 58 which are cut into the upper edges of vertical walls 50 of u - shaped channel 12 . cover plate 14 is preferably formed from metal sheets such as steel or aluminum using standard metal cutting , stamping and forming techniques . however , cover plate 14 can be made from other materials such as plastics which can be extruded or injection molded . cover plate 14 can be attached to u - shaped channel 12 by engaging the resilient embossments 56 on one side of the cover plate with a notch 58 on a first side of the u - shaped channel 12 and temporarily deforming the cover plate 14 on the second side of the cover plate to permit engagement of embossments 56 with notches 58 on the second side of the ballast / electronics housing . notches 58 are also configured to receive and retain a wire cover 59 to cover electrical wires which connect the ballast 45 with the electrical contacts on fluorescent tube connectors 25 . in order to minimize the amount of light which is absorbed by the surfaces of the light fixture and increase the amount of light available for illumination , reflector panels 57 can be mounted on the inside face of panels 16 in any suitable manner . the symmetrical light fixture can be assembled by connecting u - shaped channel 12 to a first symmetrical end piece 18 , as described above ; connecting one end of side panel 16 to the first symmetrical end piece 18 , as described above ; aligning the opposing , unconnected ends of the u - shaped channel 12 and side panel 16 with the u - shaped channel connector 38 and side walls 26 of a second symmetrical end piece 18 ; and urging the second symmetrical end piece toward the channel 12 and side panel 16 , as described above . it is contemplated that the fluorescent tube holders with electrical contacts will be pre - installed in recesses 24 , and that the ballast , other electronics and associated wiring will be pre - mounted in the u - shaped channel 12 . of course , appropriate wiring must be provided between the ballast and electronics in the ballast / electronics housing and the contacts in the fluorescent tube holder mounted in the symmetrical end pieces 18 . thereafter , cover plate 14 is mounted on u - shaped channel 12 as described above . the asymmetrical fixture is assembled in a substantially similar manner , except that only one side panel 16 is utilized . in the case of the symmetrical light fixture , the symmetrical end pieces 18 , ballast / electronics housing defined by u - shaped channel 12 , and the side panel 16 , together define a pair of elongate downlight apertures which are generally parallel to one another . in the case of the asymmetrical light fixture , only a single elongate downlight aperture is defined by the end pieces 20 , ballast / electronics housing defined by u - shaped channel 12 , and the side panel 16 . the downlight apertures can remain open if desired to provide a combination of upwardly directed light and downwardly direct light . alternatively , the downlight apertures can be covered with a shade to block substantially all of the downwardly directed light and reflect it back upwardly , or a light diffuser can be mounted into the downlight aperture to provide a combination of upwardly directed light and downwardly directed diffuse light . with reference to fig5 there is shown a shade 60 mounted in one of the downlight apertures 64 of a symmetrical light fixture 10 . the other downlight aperture 64 of the symmetrical fixture 62 has been left open . accordingly , the fixture 10 shown in fig5 can be used above an office partition panel to provide a combination of upwardly directed light with substantially no downwardly directed light on one side of the office partition panel and to provide direct downright on the other side of the office partition panel . the shade 60 is an elongate member having a length which is substantially equal to that of the downlight aperture 64 . shade 60 includes horizontal wall section 66 which substantially fills the gap between the channel 12 and side panel 16 defining aperture 64 . projecting upwardly at a right angle from one of the lateral edges of section 66 is a support leg 68 having a pair of connection apertures 69 through which fasteners 70 can extend through and into apertures 71 on the u - shaped channel to attach the shade 60 thereto . shade 60 can be removed from fixture 62 by simply removing fasteners 70 and allowing shade 60 to drop from the downlight aperture 64 . in fig2 there is shown a translucent , light diffusing baffle 76 . light diffusing baffle 76 has a shape and dimension which are substantially identical to that of opaque shade 60 . the primary difference between shade 60 and diffuser 76 being the materials used in the formation thereof . shade 60 can be formed of generally any suitable opaque material such as metal or an opaque plastic . the translucent , light diffusing baffle 76 can be formed of a translucent , light diffusing plastic material . shade 60 and diffuser 76 can be formed by extrusion or injection molding of a suitable plastic material . alternatively , shade 60 can be made from metal sheet material such as steel or aluminum using standard metal cutting , stamping and shaping techniques . as shown in fig7 the symmetrical light fixture 62 is well adapted for symmetrically mounting a light fixture above the top of an office partition panel 78 to provide direct and / or indirect ambient lighting to office areas on each side of the office partition panel . in particular , light fixture 62 is shown mounted on stanchions 80 which are connected to the top of the office panel 78 . in fig8 the symmetrical light fixture 62 is shown suspended from a ceiling using suspension means 82 . in fig9 an asymmetrical light fixture 84 is shown mounted to the outer skin or surface of an office partition panel 86 . fig7 - 9 illustrate preferred methods of mounting the symmetrical and asymmetrical fixtures . however , it is contemplated that the fixtures can be mounted in a variety of other ways , such as on top of book cases , file cabinets , architectural components , etc . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications to the preferred embodiment of the invention as described herein can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims . | 5 |
fig1 illustrates a network architecture for providing video interactive services to subscribers of a mobile telecommunications service . subscriber terminals are assumed to be terminals using the h . 324 protocol for setting up and controlling multimedia communication sessions . subscribers access the service via a gsm or umts circuit switched access network . control plane signalling is carried according to the isup protocol . in order to set up a multimedia session , a subscriber places a call to an in node . the in node comprises a service control point ( scp ) and a service switching point ( ssp ), as well as a media gateway ( mg ). the media gateway is illustrated in more detail in fig2 . the ssp recognises a multimedia session setup request , and suspends set - up of the session , whilst routing information is obtained from the scp . calls are then directed to a video gateway as will be described further below , and further directed by the video gateway to either an h . 323 network or to a packet switched server ( e . g . a streaming server ). the video gateway comprises a media gateway and a media gateway controller . the video gateway concept is introduced to make it possible to connect circuit switched ( cs ) based multimedia services to packet switched ( ps ) based multimedia services , e . g . enabling a video call from a cs based terminal implementing the h . 324 protocol to a ps based terminal implementing the h . 323 / sip protocol . this video gateway is referred to as a “ video interactive gateway ”. currently the video gateway is known to also contain video streaming gateway ( vsg ) capabilities enabling a cs based terminal to connect to ps based servers . in this case , the vsg interworks between for example isup + h . 245 and rtsp ( real time streaming protocol ) on the control plane , and between tdm and ip / rtp on the user plane . since this configuration uses normal cs bearers , e . g . 64 kbit / s unrestricted and normal cs control protocols ( isup ), it can be easily integrated with in - services as illustrated in fig1 . the in services platform contains capabilities to route cs calls based on various parameters , e . g . calling party location and current time . this allows called party number modifications based on these parameters . thus the in can forward a cs call to the vsg on the basis of various called party numbers . the vsg maps these numbers to urls , which represent different resources , e . g . video clips provided by streaming servers . this makes it possible to provide services such as the local weather forecast using video and audio media ( e . g . based on caller &# 39 ; s location ). the in services platform may contain functionality to itself initiate ( without prompting ) calls to one party or to several parties . this may happen for example based on time , subscriber movements , etc . thus the in node can make a connection between the served subscriber and a streaming server by the means described in the preceding paragraph . this makes it possible to provide push services such as wake - up calls providing business news , and advertisement videos when the served subscriber approaches a shop / restaurant . the in service logic residing in the ssp receives information about the nature of a call , e . g . a 3g - 324m call , from the scp with the help of isup and inap / cap ( intelligent network application part / camel application part ) signalling . this information is used by the in service logic to select video clips at a streaming server instead of voice announcements played by ssp / mg1 . thus the vsg is seen by the in as an intelligent peripheral ( ip ). the prior art in implementation is enhanced with the h . 223 de - multiplexing and multiplexing function in mg 1 . the h . 248 gateway control protocol already includes packages to detect h . 245 messages and pass information to the mgc . this enables the in service logic in the ssp to receive dtmf digits received in h . 245 uii messages in mg1 . the received dtmf digits are used by the in service to trigger appropriate actions in the service logic . this may include routing the call to different destinations , e . g . to normal video telephones or video streaming servers . these tools allow in - technology to create services and service groups , which can be illustrated to a user with the help of visual information . for example , the user can use the normal terminal keypad to change to another video clip / live video camera view whilst watching another video clip . the first video clip may contain audio - visual instructions about the availability of the other video clips . the selection of the appropriate video is controlled by the in - service by rerouting the call to another destination . this may involve usage of other service triggers , e . g . calling party location ( to select e . g . the nearest camera ) or calling party id ( to select e . g . the right language ). a detailed overview of the media gateway ( mg 1 ) of the in network is shown in fig2 . based on information about the call type , i . e . h . 324 in the h . 248 add message , and information that dtmf digit detection is requested , the controller within the mg links the h . 245 handlers and h . 223 multiplexers at the mg into the call , instead of linking - in the normal dtmf receiver . the h . 223 multiplexer demultiplexes the h . 324 user data stream into media streams and the h . 245 control stream . the latter are passed to the h . 245 handler . the h . 245 handler contains h . 245 decoder / encoder and statefull logic to control h . 245 signaling . i . e : when h . 245 userinputindication ( uii ) containing the dialed digit is received from a subscriber , the digit is passed up to the h . 248 handler . the mechanism to transfer detected digits in h . 248 is the same as for a normal voice call . the dtmf digits are passed by the ssp to the scp , the scp having the service logic which determines the appropriate actions . the h . 245 handler gathers data relevant to the mg from the h . 245 signaling between end - points , e . g . h . 223 mux configuration data is transferred in an h . 245 multiplexentrysend ( mes ) message in order to ensure that both end - points utilise the same multiplexing algorithm . h . 245 signaling is triggered and suppressed when needed , e . g . if in - services decides to reroute the call to a new destination whilst media channels are open to an old destination , the h . 245 handler must close the channels to the calling party prior to opening channels between the new destination and the calling party . one problem with the approach described above is that separated in and vsg architectures may create delays , e . g . h . 223 multiplexing in mg 1 . this problem may be solved by combining the in and vsg into a single node . this makes it possible for the in to utilize the same resources and the same h . 223 demultiplexer as the vsg , which are needed for vsg functions . this approach is illustrated in fig3 . a detailed overview of the mg of the combined in network / video gateway node is shown in fig4 . the architecture is the same as in the normal mg of the vig / vsg . the h . 223 multiplexer within the mg demultiplexes the h . 324 user data stream between media streams and the h . 245 control stream . demultiplexing happens according to the configuration parameters received from mgc . media streams are transferred to rtp handlers and further to an ip network . the h . 245 control stream including uii message is transferred via h . 248 to mgc . all this happens in the same way as in the normal vig / vsg . a detailed overview of the ssp / mgc of the combined in network / video gateway node is shown in fig5 . an h245 handler within the mgc decodes the h245 messages and extracts the h245 uii . these are passed via the a controller and inap stack from the mgc to the scp , which processes them as standard dtmf digits using the applicable service logic . the controller within the ssp / mgc contains logic to reroute the call based on the commands received from the scp , via inap . this involves establishing a new rtsp session . depending on the parameters on stream content ( session descriptor protocol , sdp ), the controller may need to reopen the channels towards the calling party with new codec parameters with the help of the h . 245 handler and modify the codec parameters in the mg . the architectures described here allow the in and internet streaming servers to be combined with the help of the vsg , to provide multimedia intelligence . fig6 illustrates a further embodiment of the present invention and which is implemented without the need for an intelligent network . in this embodiment , the relevant service logic previously contained in the ssp and scp is incorporated into the mgc of the video gateway . using the simple network management protocol ( snmp ), the operation of the mgc is controlled by an operation and maintenance ( o & amp ; m ) system . in a modification to this embodiment , for the streaming gateway scenario , the service logic may be decoupled from the video gateway , and relocated to a node located between the video gateway and the streaming servers . the signalling diagram of fig7 illustrates signalling associated with this modified embodiment . the new service node supports rtsp . in this embodiment , dtmf signals are extracted from the h . 245 control messages at the mgc of the video gateway , and are forwarded to the new service node as “ x - vig - dtmf ” elements of the rtsp message “ set parameter ”. the service node then identifies the appropriate addresses ( urls ) of the packet switched servers using the dtmf signals . this modification may also be applied in other scenarios apart from that of video streaming . consider for example the following scenarios : 1 ) a video gateway may be used for 3g - subscribers ( using 3g - 324m terminals ) to connect to ip - based video mail systems . in this scenario the 3g - subscriber can use dtmf signals ( i . e . transported as h . 245 uii ) to control video mail operations , e . g . to watch the next video message . the mgc within the video gateway communicates with a video mail system using h323 , which includes h . 245 , i . e . the video gateway is transparent to h . 245 uii messages . 2 ) the video gateway may interconnect h . 324 terminals to the ims ( ip multimedia system , as defined by 3gpp ). in this scenario the h . 324 subscriber could use dtmf to control ims services . thus the actual call could be truly interactive video end - to - end and dtmf could be used for example to control a multiparty video conference ( provided by ims ). it will be appreciated by the person of skill in the art that various modifications may be made to the above described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention . for example , the invention may be implemented without the need for a video gateway in the communication path . this might arise when the in controls calls between two h . 324 terminals . amr adaptive multi - rate codec camel customized applications for mobile network enhanced logic cap camel application part cs circuit switched dtmf dual tone multi - frequency gsm global system for mobile communications ims ip multimedia system in intelligent network inap intelligent network application part ip internet protocol isup isdn user part mg media gateway mgc media gateway controller pcm pulse code modulation ps packet switched rtsp real time streaming protocol scp service control point snmp simple network management protocol ssp service switching point tdm time division multiplexed umts universal mobile telecommunication service url universal resource locator vig video interactive gateway vsg video streaming gateway | 7 |
fig1 illustrates the invention as the game evolves during play . it comprises a basic board 10 , with five sets of cards ; 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 and 7 ; arranged at the corners of a central square 11 . arranged about the center square 11 is a border comprised of a plurality of rectangular spaces 12 forming a pathway about the center square bounded by the center square and the outer edges of the game board . each rectangular area 12 emulate property with the exception of the spaces including the corner squares 13 through 20 which relate to special game functions . each property space includes a value for which a player may purchase the property , assuming it has not previously been purchased by another player . the property spaces are dimensioned so that a business establishment card representing a franchise or other business establishment or property may be placed over the terrain simulating portion of the space 21 when a card is purchased . ( for simplicity of this discussion the term franchise is used to represent franchises as well as all other forms of business ). typical cards are illustrated in fig3 and 4 . these cards are paid for advertisements by real businesses such as franchises and serve to tie the game into contemporary life . for instance , the franchises available via the business property cards 3 and 4 may represent local franchises such as fast food establishments , grocery or department store or service organizations such as gas stations . the business property cards 3 and 4 and vacation cards 5 identify actual entities because the game is constructed by starting with a basic board as illustrated in fig2 and developing sets of cards by selling card space as advertisements to real businesses . ideally , the game cards are advertising for a variety of contemporary , local business establishments so that the game may be played by emulating all of the local businesses familiar to the players to enhance the fantasy which occurs during play . in addition to the franchise cards illustrated in fig3 and 4 , the game includes mandatory service cards such as the service station cards illustrated in fig7 ; lottery cards are illustrated in fig5 which provide for easy cash if the person is lucky enough to land upon the proper square ; and vacation cards as illustrated in fig5 . service station cards , lottery cards and vacation cards are selected whenever a player lands on a designated square ; 18 , 19 and 13 respectively ; on the game board . the game is designed by selling the advertising advantage of being an integral part of the game to contemporary businesses such as franchises . this selling is for real value and not to be confused with the fantasy of play . business or franchise cards or spaces or prize coupons are then designed to incorporate the business into the basic game board design and game rules . the game rules are modified to incorporate the businesses purchasing advertising into the game as an integral part of the play . in one embodiment , the game board and rules are fixed but prize coupons and the franchise card sets may be changed to reflect different geographical areas or types of business or new advertisers . to play the game , players choose a car and matching realty signs . different colored cars are used as place mark tokens 22 by each player and realty signs 23 are colored to match a players car . the realty signs are used to mark vacant lots owned by the player by placing them over the lot value as illustrated in fig1 . players roll to see who will play first . actual play then follows around the board . when a player lands on an empty lot , the player can purchase it for the value printed on the board , unless it has already been purchased by a previous player . when a player purchases a lot , he places one of his realty signs on the turf section 21 of the rectangle 12 to assert his ownership . during their travels around the game board , players may land on the follows spaces : service station , lottery , and vacation spaces . players must pick the matching cards for above mentioned spaces , and follow their directions . there are also spaces marked casino , where players can try their luck . players may also be faced with landing on advertising agency or property tax spaces and not be so lucky . in the beginning of the game , the players purchase as many lots next to each other as possible . in one version of the game , the double space business or franchise cards must be purchased first . a player may purchase a single space business only when there are no double space cards available . during play , players may purchase or trade for lots to increase their economic advantage . after all of the vacant lots on any given street have been purchased , players can begin to buy businesses or franchises . there is no fee for players landing on opponents vacant lot but when a player lands on opponents business or franchise he must pay the amount printed on the card . after players have developed an entire street by building franchises or business on all the property on the side of the board , the price charged a player for landing on the property increases to the higher printed amount on the card . the combination of buying , trading , and selling plays a major part in winning the game and acquiring redeemable prize coupons authorized by contemporary businesses advertising through the game . 4 . 8 sets of 20 colored real estate signs . each set colored to match a game token 11 . prize coupons redeemable for real merchandise or actual services provided by one or more of the contemporary businesses incorporated into the game via franchise cards or advertising space on the game board . the preferred embodiment of the game is played according to the following rules : object of the game : to purchase as many vacant lots as possible and build franchises on the lots . the player ending up with the greatest net worth becomes the winner . equipment : playing board , two dice , player tokens , real estate signs , 12 franchises , 12 double franchises , lottery cards , service station cards , vacation cards , and play money . to start game : place game board face up on table , place face down on allotted spaces the following cards ; franchises , double franchises , service station , vacation and lottery . each player chooses a different colored token and their matching color real estate signs . players each receives $ 280 , 000 to start the game , ( 5 --$ 1 , 000 , 5 -$ 5 , 000 , 5 -$ 10 , 000 , 5 -$ 20 , 000 , 2 -$ 50 , 000 ). to start the game , players place their tokens on collect income . manifestdestiny can have up to 4 players . ( see alternative game play selections for partners , up to 8 players ) banker : players must choose a banker , the banker can also be a player . the player / banker must keep their money separate from the bank &# 39 ; s . bank : the bank collects all : service station , property tax , vacation , advertising agency , vacant lots , and franchise money . the bank pays out all lotteries , casinos , salaries , and 1 / 2 the price for default of vacant lots or franchises . select winner &# 39 ; s prize : prior to the game &# 39 ; s start , players select from the redeemable prize coupons authorized by the contemporary businesses participating in the game formation , those prize coupons to be awarded to the winner ( s ) of the game . this is done by taking a vote among the players . players can select two prizes , one for adults and one for children , depending on who wins the game . additional prize coupons may be selected as rewards for reaching certain goals during play . the additional prize coupons may be used as barter instruments along with lots , franchises and play money . to play : players throw dice to see who goes first , the highest roller goes first . play then follows to the left ( clockwise ). all tokens start on collect income , after each roll the players token remains on that space awaiting for their next turn . if a player rolls doubles , the players continues with their turn after their first roll . there is no limit on the number of doubles a player can throw in a row . more than one player can land on the same space . according to the space the players token lands on , the player may purchase the vacant lot , or gamble at the casino , pay the service station , pick a lottery card , pay the advertising agency pay for a vacation , pay property tax , and later purchase franchises after an entire street is purchased . each time a player passes or lands on collect income , they collect $ 20 , 000 . buying vacant lots : if a players token lands on a vacant lot , ( a vacant lot is a lot that has no real estate sign or franchise card on it ). a player may buy a vacant lot for the printed value . if a player does not wish to buy the lot , no other player can buy it . a player must land on a vacant lot in order to purchase it . players should try to purchase vacant lots that are next to each other . note : players must buy the double franchises available for purchase before they can buy the single franchises . the trading of lots will enable players to purchase the double lots required for the double franchises . trading vacant lots : for the best means to becoming the wealthiest player in the game . players should trade ownership of vacant lots , in an effort to own two lots which are next to each other . players must wait till their turn before they make any trades . landing on vacant lots : there is no fee for players landing on vacant lots , owner or unowned . players may purchase if unowned or build franchises on their lots . buying franchises : after an entire street of vacant lots has been purchased . players owning two lots together have the option to purchase the double franchise cards . players must pay the value printed on the back of the cards . after paying the bank for the double franchise cards , players place the cards on their vacant lots . players needing two vacant lots together can buy or trade with other players to obtain the desired property . after all of the double franchises have been purchased , players can buy the single franchises . players can only place franchises on those streets that are totally purchased . paying franchise fees : players landing on a space with a franchise on it , must pay the lower price printed on the franchise card if the street is not completely developed . if the street is completely developed , the entire street has franchises on it , owners then collect the higher price printed on the franchise cards . collect income : this space , 15 , is used as the starting space of the game . players also collect $ 20 , 000 every time they land on or pass this space . property tax : this square , 16 , has two sides , 24 and 25 , to land on . when a players token lands on these spaces , a player must pay $ 1 , 000 for each vacant lot and $ 2 , 000 for each franchise they own . service station : when players lands on this space , 18 , they must pick a service station card . if there is an amount to pay the player must pay it to the bank . if a card reads lose a turn the player must follow the demands . casinos : these squares , 14 and 17 , have two spaces each on either side of the board 26 and 27 , and 28 and 29 . when a players token lands on one of these spaces , the player calls out a number to the other players . then rolls both dice , and if the same number comes up the player had called : ( the player wins $ 100 , 000 ). if a player rolls doubles , win or lose they get to roll again ! there is no limit to the number of rolls a player can have . a player can win as much as their luck will allow . if a player rolled doubles to land on this space , they will continue with their turn . advertising agency : this square , 20 , has two sides to land on , 31 and 32 . when a players token lands on these spaces , the player must roll both dice and pay $ 1 , 000 times the numbers shown on the dice . lottery : when a players token lands on this space , 19 , the player picks a lottery card . the player collects the amount from the bank . vacation : when a players token lands on this space , 13 , the player must pick a vacation card and follow the demands . when a demand is to go around the board , players collect $ 20 , 000 for each time they pass collect income , and then return to vacation . selling lots : a player may sell vacant lots to any other player at any point during the game , as long as it is their turn to play . the price is whatever a player is willing to pay . lots must be vacant to sell . a player who has purchased a lot , replaces his real estate sign with the seller &# 39 ; s . selling franchises : a player may sell their franchises to any other player at any point during the game , as long as it is their turn to play . the price is whatever a player is willing to pay . franchises cannot be moved . players who purchase them replace their real estate signs or sign with the seller &# 39 ; s . defaulting for cash : players must default their franchises before they can default the lots , that they are on . default of franchises : any player can default on their franchises by removing the franchise card from the vacant lot , and returning it face down on the bottom of the appropriate pile . players then receive 1 / 2 of the printed value paid for the franchise . note : if it is a double franchise , players must purchase them first before they can continue to purchase single franchises . default on lots : any player may default on their lots by removing their real estate sign , and collecting 1 / 2 of its printed value , from the bank . that lot becomes available for purchase , if a player lands on it . bankrupt : a player must declare bankruptcy , when they owe more than the cash and the default value of all their vacant lots and franchises . a player must first default their franchises then their vacant lots . the player then combines their total cash , to pay either the bank or another player . now it is time for that player to sit and watch or become the banker . end of game : the game ends when one player is left will all the wealth , and the others are all bankrupt . the game may be played in a variety of ways , such as : 1 . play until there is one player remaining , and all others are bankrupt . 2 . play until the first player is bankrupt , then call for a set time for the game to end . then all players default their franchises and vacant lots back into cash . the player with the most money wins the game . 3 . play until the second player goes bankrupt , and the game ends there . then all players default their franchises and vacant lots back into cash . the player with the most money wins the game . 4 . play a time limit game of approximately one hour or more . with a rule change as follows : players can purchase a franchise as soon as they have a vacant lot to put it on . players can buy single or double franchises whichever they may choose . turn all franchises and vacant lots back into cash at the end of the time . the player with the most money wins . prize winner : regardless of the game play , the winner receives the chosen coupon ( s ), that were selected prior to the start of the game . players choose a car and matching realty sign . players roll to see who will go first and play then follows to the left . as players land on the empty lots , they can purchase them for the printed value . during their travels around the gameboard , players may land on the following spaces : service station , lottery , and vacation spaces , the players must pick the matching cards for above mentioned spaces , and follow their directions . there are also spaces marked casino , were players can try there luck . players may also be faced with landing on advertising agency or property tax spaces and pay the amounts . the object of the game is to land on vacant lots , and to purchase as many of those lots next to each other as possible . there is no fee for players landing on opponents vacant lots . after players have purchased all of the vacant lots on any given street , players can begin to buy the double franchises . only when there are no double space franchises available at any time during the game may a player purchase a single space franchise . it would be an advantage for players to purchase or trade for lots that are next to each other . when players land on opponents franchises they must pay the printed amount . after players have placed franchises , both double and single to complete the development of an entire street . the price then increases to the higher printed amount on the franchise cards . after playing the game a few times , players will discover , that the combination of buying , trading , and selling plays a major part in becoming the winner . players could then choose from the alternative game plays , to select the one that they would enjoy the most . actual equipment : 1 playing board , 2 dice , 8 player tokens , 4 sets of real estate signs , service station cards , vacation cards , lottery cards , 12 single franchises , 12 double franchises , redeemable prize coupons and play money with tray . after becoming familiar with manifestdestiny , try using these play selections , that affect both the length of the game as well as the game &# 39 ; s strategies . game play 1 : play until the first player is bankrupt , then call for a set time for the game to end . then all players default their franchises and vacant lots back into cash . the player with the most money wins the game . players will default their lots and franchises for the &# 34 ; full printed values &# 34 ;, at the end of game . game play 2 : play until the first player goes bankrupt , and that player becomes the banker . the game ends when a second player goes bankrupt . then all players default their franchises and vacant lots back into cash . the player with the most money wins the game . players will default their lots and franchises for the &# 34 ; full printed values &# 34 ;, at the end of game . speed game : play a time limit game , of approximately one hour or more . with the rule changes as follows : players can purchase a franchise as soon as they have a vacant lot to put it on . players can buy single or double franchises which ever they may choose . at the end of the time limit , then all players default their franchises and vacant lots back into cash . the player with the most money wins the game . players will default their lots and franchises for the &# 34 ; full printed values &# 34 ;, at the end of the game . partner game : a game with partners , can be played with 4 , 6 , or 8 players . to start , players choose partners , and one of the alternative game plays above . each player has their own token , and receives $ 500 , 000 . partners will use the same real estate signs . players should follow the selected game play rules . at the end of the game , partners will combine their , franchises , vacant lots , and money together . partners will default their franchises and vacant lots , back into cash . the partners with the most money , win the game . an alternate embodiment of the game is designed b incorporating the franchise or business cards directly as an integral part of the board design . in this embodiment , the double and single franchise cards 3 and 4 of fig1 are not used and the advertisements 42 are printed directly on the board . local contemporary businesses are embodied in this version by selling them the privilege of authorizing game prize coupons redeemable at their establishments . fig9 and 9a represent the front and back of a typical prize coupon . the front of the coupon contains an advertisement and identifies the merchandise or service premium for which the coupon may be redeemed . the back of the coupon provides space for pertinent data relating to the winner and other game players which both verifies the win and supplies information for creating a mailing list . irrespective of the form of play of the game , in the final analysis the goal of the players is to win the prize coupon and the appeal of the game to many is in the premiums redeemable with the coupon . thus each embodiment of the game requires a design effort where businesses are solicited for support . typically a business provides coupons or authorization to print coupons which are redeemable for merchandise or services provided by the business . for instance a fast food chain may purchase advertising space on the game board or game cards and local franchise owners of chain outlets may purchase the privilege of supplying coupons redeemable for a sandwich , fried potatoes , etc . at their specific establishment . thus the national chain provides an advertising base and local franchisees provide local advertisement with local reinforcement via the premium coupon all within the same media , the game . purchasing the advertising space on the board or game cards and the privilege of having premium coupons included in the game constitute a major element in game design . through the normal business activities required by the businesses to purchase the advertising and promotional benefits of the game from game manufacturers or sellers , the businesses are thus preselected . while preferred embodiments of this invention have been illustrated and described , variations and modifications may be apparent to those skilled in the art . therefore , i do not wish to be limited thereto and ask that the scope and breadth of this invention be determined from the claims which follow rather than the above description . | 0 |
as is shown schematically in fig1 , the arrangement for substrate illumination with a plurality of individual particle beams basically comprises a particle beam source 1 defining an optical axis 115 along which the entire particle beam column up to the substrate 91 has the following components : an illumination system 2 for illuminating a first multiple - format diaphragm array 41 in selectable illumination groups , a beam modulator system 3 for generating a plurality of particle beamlets 118 containing , in addition to a condenser system 31 - 32 , a group deflection system 35 and a multideflector system 5 cooperating with a multi - aperture diaphragm system 4 for individual deflection and shaping of the individual particle beamlets 118 . following the latter is a reduction system 6 for imaging the particle beamlets 118 transmitted by the multi - aperture diaphragm system 4 onto the substrate 91 moving on a substrate stage 9 . a substrate monitoring sensor arrangement 8 is provided directly above the substrate stage 9 for observing the structure patterns which are exposed on the substrate 91 by means of the particle beamlets 118 . the generation of an array of variably controllable particle beamlets 118 within the beam modulator system 3 is characterized in that a first multiple - format diaphragm array 41 and a second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 are arranged in two diaphragm planes and are outfitted in each instance with equivalent beam - shaping diaphragm groups 45 comprising arrays of small openings ( 5 to 20 μm ) associated with one another and , optionally , additional larger openings ( 30 to 200 μm ). the first multiple - format diaphragm array 41 is imaged on the second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 by a condenser system 31 - 32 ( preferably in a scale of 1 : 1 ). on their path through the condenser system 31 - 32 to the second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 , the particle beamlets 118 pass through at least one group deflection system 35 and at least one multibeam deflector array 51 and 52 of the multideflector system 5 in addition to the condenser system 31 - 32 . when the first multiple - format diaphragm array 41 is illuminated by an illumination group 117 installed in the illumination system 2 in the region of a beam - shaping diaphragm group 45 ( see fig7 a ), an array of particle beamlets 118 is generated and passes through the condenser system 31 - 32 and the collective group deflection system 35 on its path toward the second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 . an individual displacement ( deflection ) of every particle beamlet 118 lateral to the beam direction by means of deflection can be carried out by individually controllable electric fields in two coordinate directions within each of the multibeam deflector arrays 51 and 52 . the multibeam deflector arrays 51 and 52 are advisably arranged in the vicinity of one of the multiple - format diaphragm arrays 41 and / or 42 . following this at a distance of 10 % to 20 % of the distance to the next crossover 112 is the third multibeam deflector array 35 which serves as a precision positioning system for the individual positioning of the individual particle beamlets 118 on the substrate 9 . in this connection , it is necessary that at least one multibeam deflector array 51 is situated between the two multiple - format diaphragm arrays 41 and 42 . this multibeam deflector array 51 can be arranged optionally in the vicinity of either the first multiple - format diaphragm array 41 or the second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 . the positioning of a multibeam deflector array 51 and 52 , respectively , shown in fig1 , in the vicinity of the multiple - format diaphragm arrays 41 and 42 can accordingly also be modified in such a way that both of the multibeam deflector arrays 51 and 52 are arranged in the vicinity of the second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 , i . e ., one in front of it and the other behind it . in every case , a cropping of each particle beamlet 118 accordingly takes place at the location of the second multiple - format diaphragm array 41 depending on its actual individual displacement through the at least one multibeam deflector array 51 located between the multiple - format diaphragm arrays 41 and 42 . the use of the specially structured multibeam deflector arrays 51 and 52 , whose specific construction is shown in fig3 a , 4 a , 4 b and 5 , makes possible an additional individual position control of every particle beamlet 118 in the crossover 111 inside the array of the particle beamlets 118 , namely , regardless of their individual format size ( beam cross section ). the at least one multibeam deflector array 51 downstream of the second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 is responsible for this . a precision correction of the beam positions in the crossover 112 is carried out by another identically constructed multibeam deflector array 53 arranged downstream . the multi - stage group deflection system 35 in the area of the condenser system 31 - 32 serves to control particle beamlets 118 formed as a result of the selection of an illumination group 117 in the region of larger diaphragm apertures 44 ( 30 to 200 μm edge dimension ) of the multiple - format diaphragm array 41 ( see fig7 a ). by outfitting the diaphragm plates 43 of the multiple - format diaphragm arrays 41 and 42 with large - format diaphragm apertures 44 ( 30 to 200 μm ) in addition to the small - format ( 5 to 20 μm ) diaphragm apertures 44 , larger illumination surfaces can also be realized on the substrate 91 with the same exposure arrangement in order to expose large - area patterns on the substrate 91 in a time - saving manner . fig1 shows a first embodiment form of the invention in which the illumination is carried out — for the sake of simplicity — by means of an individual particle beam source 1 which comprises an adapting condenser 21 , an illumination group selector 22 having a beam deflection system for deflecting the particle beam 11 from the optical axis 115 , and a stigmator 23 . the function of the condenser 21 of the illumination system 2 is to image the beam output diaphragm 116 of the particle beam source 1 on a first multiple - format diaphragm array 41 and to generate a first intermediate image of the beam output 10 of the particle beam source 1 in the crossover 110 . depending on a structure pattern to be generated on the substrate 91 , an illumination group 117 for selective illumination of a diaphragm aperture 44 which is shaped in a definite manner or a beam - shaping diaphragm group 45 of the first multiple - format diaphragm array 41 is automatically selected and controlled in the illumination system 2 of the particle beam column which is characterized by a linear optical axis 115 from the beam outlet of the particle beam source 1 to the target on the substrate 91 to be exposed . this selection of the beam - shaping diaphragms is carried out by means of a suitable deflection of the particle beam 11 by means of the illumination group selector 22 . when using a first multiple - format diaphragm array 41 according to fig7 a , individual large variably shaped particle beams can be selected through large diaphragm apertures 44 and an array of smaller variable particle beamlets 118 can be selected through the beam - shaping diaphragm group 45 . further , when using a second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 according to fig7 b in which the diaphragm plate 43 does not have the same diaphragm apertures 44 as the first multiple - format diaphragm array 41 , other beam shape variants such as , e . g ., rhombuses , triangles , etc . ( principle of generation according to dd 241 500 a1 ) or special characters 46 ( fig7 b ) can also be generated as is described more fully referring to fig7 b . other variants for beam shaping of an individual particle beam cross section having a relatively large variable area by means of imaging two diaphragms on top of one another with a beam deflection system arranged therebetween are carried out in the manner already known from the prior art ( e . g ., u . s . pat . no . 6 , 175 , 122 b1 , u . s . pat . no . 6 , 614 , 035 b2 ). also , the generation and projection of special characters 46 ( see fig7 b ) or the imaging of parts thereof which are provided ( selected ) through one of the larger openings 44 in the first multiple - format diaphragm array 41 and a character 46 in the second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 are known . the stigmator 23 is provided for correcting possible astigmatism in the crossover 111 of the illumination system 2 . the principal innovation of the invention consists in the additional possibility of the beam cross section control of an array ( group ) of particle beamlets 118 by means of multibeam deflector arrays 51 , 52 in the vicinity of at least one of the multiple - format diaphragm arrays 41 and 42 so that variably shaped particle beamlets 118 of small beam cross - sectional area ( 5 to 20 μm ) can be generated in an individually controllable manner simultaneously or successively within the same particle beam column without a mechanical changing of diaphragms . the completely independent control of the size of the individual beam cross section in two coordinate directions lateral to the beam direction and the additional individual position deflection of every particle beamlet 118 on the substrate 91 make possible a substantially faster simultaneous exposure of a plurality of different structures of a chip design to be exposed on the substrate 91 . however , since a chip design to be exposed on the substrate 91 usually also contains some large structures or frequently recurring characters 46 , it is often advantageous to be able to select the most productive beam - shaping diaphragm group 45 ( see fig7 a , 7 b ) for the exposure of such structure regions without having to exchange one or both multiple - format diaphragm arrays 41 and 42 . this diaphragm selection initially takes place within the illumination system 2 by means of the illumination group selector 22 . when the first multiple - format diaphragm array 41 is illuminated by an illumination group 117 installed in the illumination system 2 in the region of a beam - shaping diaphragm group 45 ( see fig7 a ), an array of particle beams 118 is generated which passes at least one multibeam deflector array 51 , three collective group deflection systems 351 , 352 , and 353 , and a correction lens 33 in addition to the two condenser lenses 31 and 32 on its path through the condenser system 31 - 32 to the second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 . the at least one multibeam deflector array 51 , 52 makes possible an individual displacement of every individual particle beamlet 118 generated through the first multiple - format diaphragm array 41 in two coordinate directions as will be explained in more detail in the following with reference to fig3 a and 3 b and fig4 a and 4 b . a cropping of each particle beamlet 118 depending on its individual lateral displacement is carried out at the location of the second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 as is indicated in fig7 b by the heavier hatching of the partial beam cross section 47 in that the individual particle beamlets 118 are reduced to the average area of the partial beam cross section and respective diaphragm aperture of the multiple - format diaphragm array 42 . the use of specially structured multibeam deflector arrays 51 , 52 and possibly additional multibeam deflector arrays 53 or 54 , whose specific constructions are shown in fig3 b , 4 a , 4 b and 5 , make possible an additional individual position control of crossovers 111 and 112 for each particle beamlet 118 within the array of ( small - format ) particle beamlets 118 regardless of their individual format size . accordingly , after the particle beam 11 is split into particle beamlets 118 , a usually narrowly limited crossover 111 , 112 or 114 can be distributed into partial crossovers which no longer coincide spatially . further , notwithstanding this advantageously intended spatial distribution of individual partial crossovers , the term crossover 111 , 112 or 113 will continue to be used in the following to associate the position of the individual crossovers of an orthogonal plane to the optical axis 115 . a multi - stage group deflection system 35 in the area of the twofold condenser system 31 - 32 serves to control the particle beamlets 118 when an illumination group 117 in the area of larger diaphragm apertures 44 ( 30 to 200 μm ) of the multiple - format diaphragm array 41 is selected . when a three - stage group deflection system 35 is used , as is designated more exactly in fig1 , 2 , 8 and 9 by group deflection systems 351 to 353 , the middle deflection system 352 preferably makes it possible to control the beam cross section ( format size control ) or the selection of special diaphragm structures 46 ( fig7 b ) in the second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 , and deflection systems 351 and 353 are provided for blanking individual particle beamlets 118 so that these particle beamlets 118 either already impinge directly on the second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 or impinge on the aperture diaphragm 7 positioned in the crossover 113 farther along the beam path . since the multiple - format diaphragm arrays 41 and 42 are subjected to constant bombardment by the particle beam 11 and particle beamlets 118 , it can be advantageous to arrange a plurality of multiple - format diaphragm arrays 41 , 42 in such a way that they are displaceable lateral to the optical axis when required ( e . g ., because of wear or other design requirements ) as coupled , i . e ., etched on a chip , multiple - format diaphragm arrays ( 41 ′, 41 ″, . . . and 42 ′, 42 ″, . . . , respectively ) and are therefore exchangeable without having to readjust the particle beam column . a variant of this kind is shown by way of example in fig9 by exchangeable , identical multiple - format diaphragm arrays 41 ′ and 42 ′. further , a correction lens 33 can be provided in the beam modulator system 3 between the condenser lenses 31 and 32 . this correction lens 33 makes possible a highly accurate angular orientation of the image of the first multiple - format diaphragm array 41 at the location of the second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 to compensate for mechanical adjustment tolerances . the portion of the illumination control and multi - shape beam control described above is followed farther along the beam path of the particle beam column in direction of the substrate stage 9 by a reduction system 6 which carries out a reduced imaging of the second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 on the substrate 91 located on the substrate stage 9 by means of electromagnetic lenses 61 and 62 . apart from the two - stage reduction optics 61 - 62 shown in the drawing , optics with only one or with three lenses can also be used . the reduction system 6 is outfitted with diverse deflection systems for controlling the particle beam positions on the substrate 91 such as beam return system 63 , beam tracking 65 , micro beam deflection 66 and macro beam deflection 67 as well as stigmators 64 and 69 and a fast focusing lens 68 . the imaging scale for the reduced imaging of the second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 on the substrate 91 is typically 30 : 1 - 100 : 1 . a third multibeam deflector array 53 ( as precision positioning system for the position of every particle beamlet 118 on the substrate 91 ) is located at a distance of about 10 - 20 % of the distance between the second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 and the next crossover 112 . this precision positioning system 53 is identical in principle to the multibeam deflector arrays 51 and 52 , but has a different scaling factor . it permits a small individual position displacement of every particle beamlet 118 ( 5 to 20 μm ) lateral to the beam direction . the electronic control of the two respective deflector cell arrays 57 within each of the multibeam deflector arrays 51 , 52 and 53 is carried out by an individual calibrated coupling matrix which is generated and suitably further processed , according to fig6 , in order to impress on all of the particle beamlets 118 in the array an individual format size ( s xi , s yi ), an individual precision positioning ( sm xi , sm yi ) and an individual position of the crossover 112 . for this purpose , the actual parameters derived from the chip design to be exposed , the format size ( s xi , s yi ) and ( sm xi , sm yi ) and precision positioning , are converted in a digital coupling matrix computing unit 37 with suitable transformation coefficients and blanking signals for individual particle beamlets 118 into individual deflection values for every deflector ( electrode pair 573 ) of the total of six deflector cell arrays 57 . because of the closely adjacent structure of the deflector cell arrays 57 , the individual deflection values from the coupling matrix computing unit 37 are then converted into corrected deflection values in a crosstalk correction computing unit 38 with crosstalk coefficients which take into account the special structure of the deflector cell arrays 58 and are fed to a data multiplexer 39 . the data multiplexer 39 generates a high - speed data stream of deflection values to the individual demultiplexers 59 of the six individual deflector chips 55 ( see fig3 ). the entire procedure for calculating the individual corrected deflection values is carried out in the computing units 37 and 38 in real time for all of the multideflector arrays 51 , 52 and 53 ( pipeline structure ). a two - stage beam return system 63 and a two - stage stigmator 64 are arranged in the beam path in front of the first reduction stage ( lens 61 ). the beam return system 63 ensures that the particle beamlets 118 are deflected again to the optical axis 115 by the respective beam - shaping diaphragm group 45 being used , which should advisably be located outside the optical axis 115 , without influencing the position of the crossover 112 along the optical axis 115 . this serves to reduce aberrations . also , the stigmator 64 can help to reduce distortion . the reduced intermediate image 119 of the portions of the partial beam cross sections 47 which pass through the diaphragm apertures 44 and which were defined by the illumination area 117 through the first multiple - format diaphragm array 41 ( fig7 a ) and were changed individually by the group deflection systems 35 and the individual deflection systems of the multibeam deflector arrays 51 and 52 and the change in shape and size by the second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 are imaged once again in reduced manner on the substrate 91 by the second reduction stage ( lens 62 ). in so doing , the aperture diaphragm 7 defines the substrate aperture and serves as a blanking diaphragm for temporarily unused particle beamlets 118 . the beam position of the reduced image of the beam - shaping diaphragm group 45 being used can be positioned on the substrate 91 in the conventional manner by microbeam deflection 66 and macrobeam deflection 67 . further , according to the construction shown in fig1 , a deflection system 65 for beam tracking during the exposure of the substrate 91 on the continuously moving substrate stage 9 can be advantageous . a fast focusing lens 68 in cooperation with another stigmator 69 serves for continuous , exact focusing of the particle beamlets 118 on the substrate 91 based on the values measured by a height sensor 81 . typical unevenness of the substrate 91 and a possible deflection defocusing can be corrected in this way . the backscattering particle detector 82 serves to detect marks and for beam calibration . with the construction of the particle beam column according to fig1 remaining the same in other respects , fig2 shows another configuration of the multibeam deflector system 5 . in this example , all of the multibeam deflector arrays 51 are positioned in the vicinity of the multiple - format diaphragm array 42 . in so doing , the multibeam deflector array 51 arranged in front of the second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 provides for the beam deflection of the particle beamlets 118 to achieve an individually differing cropping of its cross sections through the multiple - format diaphragm array 42 . the multibeam deflector array 52 causes the inclinations of the individual particle beamlets 118 to be reset by amounts opposite to those by which they were deflected by means of the first multibeam deflector array 51 ( for purposes of the format cropping by the second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 ). the precision deflection of the individual particle beamlets 118 for their position on the substrate 91 is carried out by the third multibeam deflector array 53 in the form of a precision positioning array . fig8 shows the pupil beam path of another variant of a particle - optical imaging system for a multiform beam lithography system . as in the variant according to fig1 or fig2 , the illumination of the particle beam source 1 is determined through the beam outlet 110 and the outlet aperture diaphragm 116 . in this constructional variant , however , the condenser lens 21 of the illumination system 2 provides for a telecentric illumination of the first multiple - format diaphragm array 41 . the illumination group selector 22 serves for beam alignment and specific selection ( i . e ., spatially defined illumination ) of a determined beam - shaping diaphragm group 45 on the multiple - format diaphragm array 41 ( fig7 a ). the stigmator 23 is provided for correcting astigmatism that may possibly occur in the crossover 111 . as in the first variant , the condenser lens system 31 - 32 provides for a 1 : 1 imaging of the first multiple - format diaphragm array 41 on the second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 . the multibeam deflector arrays 51 and 52 make it possible to individually displace each of the particle beamlets 118 generated by the second multiple - format diaphragm array 41 within the array in two coordinate directions . a cropping of every particle beamlet 118 according to its individual displacement is carried out at the location of the second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 . as in the first variant , three other deflection systems 351 , 352 , 353 in the area of the condenser lens system 31 - 32 serve to control beam - shaping diaphragm groups 45 with large beam cross sections . also , lens 33 is again used for highly accurate angular orientation of the image of the first multiple - format diaphragm array 41 at the location of the second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 . in contrast to the first constructional variant according to fig1 , three - stage reduction optics ( 60 , 61 , 62 ) are used in fig8 . the lens 60 generates an intermediate image of the crossover 111 and provides for a continued telecentric beam path with respect to the second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 . the reduction system 6 further comprises lenses 61 and 62 , as was described with reference to the variants according to fig1 and 2 , and provides for the corresponding reduced imaging ( 30 : 1 to 100 : 1 ) of the second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 on the substrate 91 . both variants according to fig1 and fig8 use the same conventional positioning , measuring and correction systems . the main advantage of the variant according to fig8 over the constructions in fig1 and 2 is that the third multibeam deflector array 53 for individual precision positioning of the beamlets 118 on the substrate 91 can be constructed identical to the two multibeam deflector arrays 51 and 52 . this facilitates alignment processes . a principal advantage of the imaging variant shown in fig8 consists in the prevention of an intermediate image of the beam outlet 10 of the particle source 1 in front of the first multiple - format diaphragm array 41 , which occurs as a crossover 110 in the first variant ( according to fig1 ). since the total flow of particles is always higher in the illumination system 2 than in the following imaging stages , significant interactions take place in the crossover 110 of the particle beamlets 118 . such interactions can contribute to a disruptive energy expansion in the beam which causes additional chromatic errors in the subsequent lenses and accordingly ultimately impairs resolution . therefore , the arrangement of the particle columns described above with reference to fig8 is more advantageous in this respect than the variants according to fig1 and 2 . fig9 shows a modified variant of the particle beam column with telecentric illumination according to fig8 . instead of the three multibeam deflector arrays 51 to 53 which were originally provided in the beam modulator system 3 , four such multibeam deflector arrays 51 - 54 are provided . while the first multibeam deflector array 51 organizes the individual position control of the particle beamlets 118 in the crossover 111 to generate the least possible interaction between the individual particle beamlets 118 , the second multibeam deflector array 52 is provided for separate orientation of the individual particle beamlets 118 for cropping their format through the second multiple - format diaphragm array 42 . the third multibeam deflector array 53 causes the individual changes in direction of the particle beamlets 118 in the course of the format cropping to be reset , and the fourth multibeam deflector array 54 , as precision positioning array , again provides for the individual positioning of the particle beamlets 118 on the substrate 91 . in the following , the construction and operation of the multibeam deflector arrays 51 and 52 and precision positioning arrays 53 and 54 will be discussed in more detail . the latter are constructed so as to have substantially the same construction and operation at the multibeam deflector arrays 51 and 52 but are reduced by scaling . the multibeam deflector arrays 51 to 54 each have two deflector cell arrays 57 which are closely (& lt ; 1 mm ) adjacent to one another in the beam direction of the particle beamlets 118 and are oriented laterally substantially orthogonal to one another and substantially comprise a uniform arrangement of electrode pairs 573 and screen electrodes 574 . a 90 - degree arrangement of the electrode pairs 573 is shown in fig4 , and an enlarged section thereof is shown in fig5 . the deflector chip 55 in fig4 a must be imagined as flipped over the deflector chip 55 shown in fig4 b along the center of the drawing sheet such that the surfaces of the deflector chips 55 on which the electrodes 573 and 574 are arranged face one another . the control of the multibeam deflector arrays 51 , 52 , 53 , whose hardware embodiment is shown in fig3 a , is carried out by electronic computing units in a pipeline structure as is shown in fig6 . the coupling matrix , which has already been mentioned , ensures that all of the particle beamlets 118 in the beamlet array can have an individual cross - sectional size ( s xi , s yi ), an individual precision positioning ( sm xi , sm yi ), and an individual position in the crossover 112 . there are basically two position adjustments of interest for the individual position of the particle beamlets 118 in the crossover 112 : a ) exactly on the optical axis 115 — for exposure — or b ) as far away as possible from the optical axis 115 — for blanking the particle beamlet 118 at the outlet aperture diaphragm 7 . in order to determine the deflection values for the individual deflector cells 571 of a plurality of multibeam deflector arrays 51 , 52 , 53 ( and possibly 54 ) from the values for the individual format size ( s xi , s yi ) and the individual precision position ( sm xi , sm yi ) of every particle beamlet 118 by means of an individual coupling matrix and to then carry out a compensation of the crosstalk caused by deflector cells 571 adjacent in the plane , one or more digital computing units are required for implementing linear transformations consisting of multiplications and additions . dummy deflector cells 572 which are provided in the design of the deflector cell arrays 57 do away with the necessity of special handling of the particle beamlets 118 lying at the edge and in the corners of the particle beamlet array so that all deflection values can be calculated according to the same algorithm , although this algorithm relies on individual transformation coefficients or coupling coefficients . a high degree of parallelizability in the calculation and control electronics is ensured by the property of the design of the deflector cell arrays 57 whereby an outer row of passive deflector cells ( dummy deflector cells 572 ) is arranged around the active deflector cells 571 which each deflect a particle beamlet 118 . since the coupling coefficients depend on the actual alignment state of the deflector cell array 57 of the particle beamlets 118 , the transformations cannot be processed as part of an offline data processing , but rather must be carried out in real time during the exposure . for reasons of productivity , computing architectures which work in a purely sequential manner ( deflection value after deflection value , beamlet after beamlet ) cannot be used . computing blocks which operate in parallel and which , e . g ., are associated in each instance with a particle beamlet 118 or a row or column of particle beamlets 118 in a multibeam deflector system comprising three or four multibeam deflector arrays 51 to 54 are required in order to achieve sufficient throughput rates . further , by reducing the algorithm to sub - operations of addition and multiplication which are carried out in blocks working in parallel , it is possible to combine the calculation functions with those of data transfer so that pipeline structures or systolic processor arrays can be used . arrays of this kind can be realized in modern programmable logic circuits ( fpgas ) having very high scale integration which also provide the necessary bandwidth for input and output . after digital calculation of the individual deflection values for each deflector chip 55 , a digital - to - analog conversion must be carried out to provide the deflection potentials for the individual deflector cells 571 . since every deflector cell 571 comprises pairs of electrodes 573 and , therefore , requires two control voltages symmetric to a ground potential ( screen electrode 574 ), a total of 12n voltage potentials must be generated for controlling n particle beamlets 118 in six deflector planes ( i . e ., in three double deflector arrays with deflection directions x and y ) of the first and second multibeam deflector arrays 51 and 52 and the third multibeam deflector array 53 operating as precision positioning array . in implementing this circuit component , it is useful to use multichannel active components such as multi - da converters 58 with corresponding multi - operational amplifiers . as the quantity n of particle beamlets 118 to be controlled increases , the construction and connection technology for supplying the 12n voltages of dac boards located outside the electron - optical column in the vacuum region of the particle beam column becomes increasingly difficult . therefore , after n & gt ; 64 , instead of transferring the individual analog voltages separately , a preferred solution is to transfer the digital control values by multiplexing via a few serial high - speed connections with data rates of greater than 1 gigabyte / second into the vacuum region of the particle beam column . in this respect , the transfer can be realized by means of differential electric signals or optically by means of glass fibers or free space optics . the demultiplexing of the control data and d - a conversion thereof can then be carried out directly on each deflector chip 55 of the multibeam deflector system 5 . a control of the kind mentioned above is shown schematically in fig3 . two integrated demultiplexer chips 59 supply four integrated multi - da converters 85 on the right - hand and left - hand side , respectively , to control the deflector chip 55 which is positioned almost in the center . two independent deflector boards which are outfitted with identical electronics modules and each of which holds a deflector chip 55 and is supplied with separate control signals are used for two deflector cell arrays 57 arranged one on top of the other in order to realize individually the x - deflection and y - deflection of the separate particle beamlets 118 with pairs of electrodes 574 oriented orthogonally relative to one another in the two planes of the deflector cell arrays 57 situated one above the other . this circuit arrangement solves the problem of the signal feed and also satisfies the requirement for short setting times for the deflector cell arrays 57 through a compact construction and very short , low - capacitance control lines . as is shown in fig4 a and 4 b and in fig5 in specific constructions of the deflector chips 55 , deflector chip cutouts 56 are incorporated in the deflector cell array 57 , and these deflector chip cutouts 56 are associated with the beam - shaping diaphragm group 45 for small - format particle beamlets 118 ( 5 - 20 μm ) of the multiple - format diaphragm array 41 and have identically shaped or larger deflector plate cutouts 56 so that the individual particle beamlets 118 provided by the multiple - format diaphragm array 41 are not cropped but rather are deliberately influenced individually with respect to their beam direction . to this end , an individual deflector cell 571 comprising an electrode pair 573 and two screen electrodes 574 is associated with each individual diaphragm aperture 44 of the beam - shaping diaphragm group 45 of a multiple - format diaphragm array 41 or 42 as is shown schematically in fig5 and in an enlarged section from fig4 a . in this connection , each of the screen electrodes 574 which are located between the parallel - oriented electrode pairs 573 of two deflector cells 571 can simultaneously shield the two neighboring deflector cells 571 . in spite of the screen electrodes 574 , the fields of the individual deflector cells 571 on the multibeam deflector arrays 51 , 52 and the precision positioning array 53 act not only on the particle beamlet 118 passing through its associated individual deflector cell 571 but also on the adjacent particle beamlets 118 ( crosstalk ). this crosstalk is corrected in the following manner : when an 8 × 8 beam - shaping diaphragm group 45 is used in an advantageous manner , it has proven favorable , for example , to outfit the deflector chips 55 with 10 × 10 deflector cells 571 , 572 . in order to present the construction of optimized deflector cell arrays 57 in a simpler and clearer manner , the multibeam deflector arrays 51 and 52 shown in fig4 a and 4 b are arranged with a 6 × 6 deflector cell array 57 with 4 × 4 active deflector cells 571 within an outer frame of one dummy deflector cell 572 , no deflector plate cutout 56 being provided between the electrode pair 573 of the latter . accordingly , the 4 × 4 array of deflector cells 571 is supplemented in such a way that a dummy deflector cell 572 is located on all sides around the field of the sixteen deflector plate cutouts 56 . the following estimates for the crosstalk behavior of the deflector cell array 57 are given for a real 10 × 10 deflector cell array 57 using this scheme in the same way with an 8 × 8 array of active deflector cells 571 . disregarding the crosstalk for the time being , the voltages at the 10 × 10 deflector cells 571 are : the outer rows of the deflector cell array 57 are dummy deflectors 572 to which no voltage is applied , i . e . : u 0j 0 = u 9j 0 = u i0 0 = u i9 0 = 0 i , j = 0 . . . 9 . the actual deflector voltages for the active deflector cells 571 are : by inserting dummy deflectors 572 , every active deflector cell 571 “ sees ” the same surroundings . therefore , the “ active deflector cell array ” 57 comprises only the inner 8 × 8 active deflector cells 571 whose voltages must be corrected owing to crosstalk . let the corrected voltages be : since the outer frames around the active deflector cells 571 are dummy deflectors 572 , then : u 0j = u 9j = u i0 = u i9 = 0 i , j = 0 . . . 9 . the deflecting action of an individual deflector cell 571 is changed by the crosstalk due to the interfering effect of the other deflector cells 571 of the deflector cell array 57 . since the crosstalk effect is small , it can be considered as sufficient to allow for the interfering effect of the eight immediate neighbors of a deflector cell 571 in question . the simplest possibility for correcting crosstalk consists in applying a correcting voltage to the deflector cells 571 in question which compensate for the crosstalk effect of the voltages of the eight directly adjoining deflector cells 571 . 1 . the crosstalk effect on deflector cells 571 situated farther away ( outside of the eight immediate neighbors ) is disregarded . 2 . the fact that the correcting voltages applied to the deflector cell 571 in question are themselves subject to crosstalk ( second - order effect ) is disregarded . 3 . an inside deflector cell 571 is influenced exclusively by the crosstalk from its eight directly adjacent deflector cells 571 . every deflector cell 571 within a field of nine adjacent deflector cells 571 and 572 can be considered sufficiently defined by the exceptions mentioned above . the eight neighboring cells of a selected , inside deflector cell 571 are designated by the symbols lo , lm , lu , mo , mu , ro , rm , ru which identify the positions of the eight neighbors according to the following scheme : assuming that only the inner deflector cell 571 of the nine deflector cells 571 in question are controlled and causes the deflection “ 1 ” for “ its ” particle beamlet 118 , this gives a deflection of the following magnitude due to the crosstalk on the eight adjacent particle beamlets 118 : c lo , c lm , c lu , c mo , c mu , c ro , c rm , c ru . the quantities c lo , c lm , etc . are the crosstalk coefficients . in case of a deflector cell array 57 comprising uniform , structurally identical deflector cells 571 , 572 , these quantities are typically less than 5 %. in theory , they can be determined by suitable modeling or even empirically . it is further assumed that these coefficients are identical for all of the inner deflector cells 571 . let an inner deflector cell 571 in the 10 × 10 deflector cell array 57 considered above have the uncorrected control voltage u ij 0 . the corrected control voltage would then be : u ij = u ij 0 − c ru * u i − 1 , j − 1 0 − c mu * u i − 1 , j 0 − c lu * u i − 1 , j + 1 0 − c rm * u i , j − 1 0 *− c lm * u i , j + 1 0 − c ro * u i + 1 , j − 1 0 − c mo * u i + 1 , j 0 − c lo * u i + 1 , j + 1 0 i , j = 1 . . . 8 in this respect , it is not taken into account ( according to the first exception mentioned above ) that the correction of the control voltage of an adjacent deflector cell 571 also acts on the next deflector cell but one 571 or 572 due to the crosstalk ( higher - order effects are disregarded ). this appears allowable because the coefficients c lo , c lm , etc . are quantitatively less than 0 . 05 . while this invention has been particularly shown and described with references to preferred embodiments thereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention encompassed by the appended claims . | 7 |
referring now more specifically to the drawings , and to fig1 in particular , a golf cart accelerator pedal system 10 is shown , which includes a switch actuator 12 in accordance with the present invention . while the present switch actuator 12 is shown with respect to use in a gas powered golf cart , it should be understood that actuator 12 of the present invention can be used for other devices , and for switching apparatuses other than accelerator systems . use in a gas powered golf cart is merely a suitable , advantageous use of the invention . switch actuator 12 is shown disproportionately large in fig1 in comparison to other components of system 10 . actuator 12 is connected to a linkage train 14 including shafts 16 , 18 and 20 , and interconnecting gears and / or linkages depicted schematically by boxes 22 and 24 . a foot pedal 26 is provided connected to shaft 16 , for actuation of system 10 , by depressing or releasing foot pedal 26 . it should be understood that the components in accelerator pedal system 10 , such as shafts 16 , 18 , 20 and gears represented by boxes 22 and 24 and foot pedal 26 depict a suitable environment for use of the invention , and other linkage trains also can be used . switch actuator 12 includes a rotor 30 attached to shaft 20 , for rotation of rotor 30 by shaft 20 upon a user depressing pedal 26 , or releasing pedal 26 from a depressed position . rotor 30 is contained within a housing 32 , and is suitably mounted in housing 32 for rotation therein . rotor 30 rotates upon depressing pedal 26 , or upon releasing pedal 26 from a depressed position , and may rotate through only a relatively small arc less than a complete revolution of rotor 30 . rotor 30 is shaped to include one or more lobes or cams 34 , 36 , and as depicted in the drawings ( fig2 - 4 ) includes two cams 34 , 36 . one or more switches 40 having electrical leads 42 , 44 , 46 attached thereto are operated upon rotation of rotor 30 , via a switch button 48 housed in a switch casing 50 . one such switch 40 is shown in fig2 - 4 . a lever 60 operates switch button 48 , with switch button 48 being depressed or released by movement of lever 60 . lever 60 is caused to move against or away from switch button 48 upon rotation of rotor 30 , as will be described more fully hereinafter . lever 60 is a third class lever , having a first end 62 operatively positioned in association with switch 40 for depressing button 48 , and a second end 64 forming and defining with housing 12 a fulcrum 66 for lever 60 . a cam follower 68 is provided between first end 62 and second end 64 . cam follower 68 is operatively associated with cams 34 , 36 of rotor 30 . fulcrum 66 is created by a knob 70 of housing 32 disposed in an oblong opening 72 formed in lever 60 at second end 64 . knob 70 and opening 72 are operatively associated such that lever 60 can rotate about knob 70 in opening 72 . the shape of opening 72 is oriented with respect to rotor 30 such that opening 72 , and thus second end 64 of lever 60 , can slide slightly away from rotor 30 under conditions to be described subsequently herein . a biasing means in the nature of a spring 74 is provided to urge second end 64 of lever 60 toward rotor 30 . spring 74 is operatively connected between a boss 76 on lever 60 and a spring retainer 78 in housing 32 . a desirable “ at rest ” position for switch actuator 12 is shown in fig2 . lever 60 is moved by cam 36 to depress button 48 . to activate system 10 from the “ at rest ” position , foot pedal 26 is depressed , causing rotor 30 to rotate in a clockwise direction as depicted in fig3 . first end 62 of lever 60 falls away from button 48 as cam follower 68 slides past cam 36 . fig2 and 3 thus illustrate the desired positions when system 10 and actuator 12 thereof are operating within designed conditions . spring 74 urges second end 64 toward rotor 30 , such that knob 72 is engaged against a surface of opening 72 that is furthest from rotor 30 . under desired “ at rest ” conditions , first end 62 of lever 60 gently touches casing 50 of switch 40 , with switch button 48 being fully depressed . however , as illustrated in fig4 through various mispositionings or tolerance stack up , it is possible for casing 50 to be slightly mispositioned relative to first end 62 of lever 60 . the potential relative mispositioning of casing 50 , for example , is illustrated by the dashed line shown in fig4 indicated by numeral 80 . under this condition , as first end 62 of lever 60 bottoms out prematurely against casing 50 , rotor 30 continues to rotate , and the action of cam 36 would , absent the present invention , urge first end 62 of lever 60 more firmly against casing 50 . this condition could result in damage . however , as a result of the present invention , lever 60 adjusts such that opening 72 moves along knob 70 , to effectively absorb the over - force applied against cam follower 68 . lever 60 is allowed to pivot at the contact of end 62 against casing 50 . essentially , a fulcrum 90 is formed at first end 62 , as end 62 bottoms out against casing 50 and the biasing force of spring 74 is overcome . second end 64 moves laterally , as opening 72 is allowed to slide along knob 70 , until knob 70 contacts the area of opening 72 nearest rotor 30 , as shown in fig4 . the present invention compensates for tolerance stack - up or potential component mispositioning by allowing flexibility in the relative position of a lever fulcrum with respect to the force applied to the lever . in the present invention , a third class lever has force applied thereto intermediate first and second ends of the lever . the first end of the lever moves as a spring biased fulcrum is created at the second end . upon the lever first end encountering resistance to continued movement , continued application of force on the lever overcomes the spring biasing force , causing the fulcrum of the lever to occur at the first end , and allowing the second end of the lever to move . variations and modifications of the foregoing are within the scope of the present invention . it is understood that the invention disclosed and defined herein extends to all alternative combinations of two or more of the individual features mentioned , or evident from the text and / or drawings . all of these different combinations constitute various alternative aspects of the present invention . the embodiments described herein explain the best modes known for practicing the invention and will enable others skilled in the art to utilize the invention . the claims are to be construed to include alternative embodiments to the extent permitted by the prior art . various features of the invention are set forth in the following claims . | 8 |
referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and first , particularly , to fig1 thereof , there is seen an exemplary embodiment in which temporary guidance of successive sheets 1 takes place while a lower surface of a sheet 1 is in contact with a guiding element 2 formed as a rotating endless belt of a belt conveyor . the belt - type guiding element 2 winds around a first guide roller 3 which is connected with a non - illustrated drive shaft of a rotary drive as to be fixed against rotation . the guiding element 2 also winds around a freely rotatable second guide roller 4 located in axially parallel relation to the first guide roller 3 . the guiding element 2 rotates in the direction of an arrow indicated at a lower part of the guiding element 2 in fig1 . a suction chamber 5 which is disposed below an upper part or strand of the guiding element 2 is connected with a underpressure , negative pressure or vacuum source 20 . an underpressure can be created in the region of an inner surface of the upper part of the guiding element 2 through the use of the suction chamber 5 . in the present example the guiding element 2 is penetrated by suction openings 6 which are distributed over its length essentially in direct succession , so that an underpressure is created in a respective partial amount of the suction openings 6 while the partial amount of suction openings 6 passes over the suction chamber 5 during operation . in fig1 only two of the suction openings 6 distributed over the length of the guiding element 2 are illustrated . an outer surface of the belt - type guiding element 2 further includes a rib 7 extending over the entire length thereof and being penetrated by the suction openings 6 . an outer surface of the rib 7 facing away from the inner surface of the guiding element 2 is provided with a groove 8 oriented in the direction of rotation of the guiding element 2 . aperture cross sections of the suction openings 6 facing the outer surface of the rib are situated in the groove 8 . devices for feeding the sheets 1 to the guiding element 2 and for their positioning immediately above the guiding element 2 are not directly part of the subject of the present invention . the positioning takes place in such a way that side edges of the sheets 1 are oriented in the direction of rotation of the guiding element 2 . a possible field of application of the device according to the present invention is , for example , its use as a sheet brake between a chain delivery system and a delivery pile of a sheet - fed printing press . in this embodiment the chain delivery system first guides a respective sheet 1 , in accordance with the direction of an arrow indicated at the sheet 1 shown in fig1 into a position located directly above the guiding element 2 and then releases the sheet 1 in such a manner that , particularly in a trailing region of a respective sheet 1 , there is contact between the lower surface of the sheet and the guiding element 2 , due to the suction effect of the underpressure existing in the suction openings 6 . the contact is achieved by temporarily covering the aperture cross sections or mouth profiles of the suction openings 6 and as a result of the revolution of the guiding element , the suction openings 6 preceding each other counter to the direction of revolution successively face the lower surface of the sheet . upon the guidance of sheets 1 of thin paper , the configuration of the aperture cross sections of the suction openings 6 in the groove 8 has the effect of forming a crease or draw 16 in the respective sheet 1 in conformity with the profile of the groove 8 , as is seen in fig4 . this crease 16 has a favorable influence on the guiding characteristics of the device in multiple ways . first of all , with sheets of thin paper , this crease 16 has a stabilizing effect on the position of the sheet 1 in transverse direction with respect to the direction of rotation of the guiding element 2 , thus counteracting a shifting in the transverse direction . furthermore , as a result there is a tendency with sheets 1 of thin paper toward the suction effect exerted on the sheet 1 through the underpressure existing in the suction openings 6 being increased when a compressive force acts on the lower surface of the sheet , due to differences in static pressure in the vicinity of the sheet 1 . the tendencies toward an increase of the suction effect and thereby the holding force with which the sheet 1 is pressed onto the guiding element 2 under this suction effect are based on the fact that a release of a region of the sheet 1 from this crease 16 would result in an enlargement of the region of the lower surface of the sheet that was subjected to the underpressure in the suction openings 6 and would consequently result in an increase of the holding force . according to a further manner of using the device as a sheet brake , an additional favorable influence on the guiding characteristics of the guiding element 2 is provided by the fact that the crease 16 counteracts curling - up of the trailing edge of the sheet 1 which is subjected to the effect of air flow fields that are created , for example , by rotating gripper devices of a chain delivery system . the causes counteracting the curling are found on one hand in the already mentioned tendency toward an increase of the holding force in the case of increased static pressure on the lower surface of the sheet , and on the other hand in the stiffening effect of the crease 16 in the sheet which impedes bending around a bending edge extending transversely with respect to the groove 8 . the exemplary embodiment illustrated in fig1 can be modified into a second variant , particularly by providing a guiding element 2 &# 39 ; which is partially shown in fig2 and corresponds with the guiding element 2 of fig1 to the extent that it is also constructed as an endless rotating belt of a belt conveyor but differs from the guiding element 2 of fig1 in that only a single suction opening 6 is provided . a variant of such a construction can also be used as a sheet brake in the above - described relationship . therefore , it enables in particular the exclusive gripping of a region of the lower surface of the sheet 1 close to the trailing edge of the sheet 1 through the use of the guiding element 2 &# 39 ; during the rotation of the guiding element corresponding to a cycle of conveyance of the successive sheets in a suitable phase position to the chain delivery system . in the illustrated exemplary embodiment , the single suction opening 6 is placed within a cam 9 which is provided on the guiding element 2 &# 39 ; that is constructed as a belt of a belt conveyer . the cam 9 projects from the outer contour of the otherwise flat belt . this cam 9 , in the present exemplary embodiment , has a cross section corresponding to the rib 7 of fig1 and thus has a notch 10 corresponding to the groove 8 of fig1 . in this case , the notch 10 causes the formation of a crease 16 in the sheet 1 when the latter is subjected to the underpressure existing in the suction opening 6 . the groove 8 and the notch 10 , in the exemplary embodiments according to fig1 and 2 , are worked into the rib 7 and into the cam 9 in the form of a prism . this form , however , is not mandatory . the cross sections of the groove 8 and the cam 9 can also have a rounded or rectangular profile , for example . the guiding element 2 &# 39 ; which is partially illustrated in fig2 may be constructed with a plurality of cams 9 having respective suction openings 6 placed therein . in this embodiment the rotational speed of the guiding element 2 &# 39 ; which is constructed as a belt is selected in such a way that a respective one of the successive sheets 1 is gripped with a respective one of the successive cams 9 . in a second exemplary embodiment , a guiding element 2 &# 34 ; shown in fig3 and 4 is constructed as a rotor which rotates during operation around an axis of rotation 11 and has an outer cylindrical surface 12 which is concentric with the axis of rotation 11 . this outer cylindrical surface 12 is penetrated by suction openings 6 &# 39 ; disposed essentially directly one after the other along a circumferential line . the suction openings 6 &# 39 ;, in their entirety , form a row of suction openings extending over the circumference of the rotor . in the present exemplary embodiment the guiding element 2 &# 34 ; which is constructed as a rotor is formed of a disk 13 and a ring 14 fitted on the periphery of the disk 13 . the ring 14 is penetrated by the suction openings 6 &# 39 ; and is preferably made of material that is resistant to wear and tear . the disk 13 has open slits 15 which are worked into the disk 13 so as to be distributed over the circumference of the disk 13 in a radial outer diameter - region and oriented radially outwardly and towards one side surface of the disk 13 . each of the slits 15 communicates with a respective suction opening 6 &# 39 ;. in order to guide the sheets 1 in an upper region of the outer cylindrical surface 12 of the guiding element 2 &# 34 ; of such a construction , a non - illustrated suction chamber engages one side surface of the disk 13 that is interrupted by the slits 15 , i . e . in an upper section thereof including a radial extension of the slits 15 . the suction chamber is connected to an underpressure source . in order to achieve the rotation of the guiding element 2 &# 34 ; of such a construction , the disk 13 is connected with a drive shaft of a non - illustrated rotary drive in such a way as to be fixed against rotation . the suction openings 6 &# 39 ; open out in a radially outward direction in a groove 8 &# 39 ; formed in the ring 14 and are distributed over the circumference thereof . when a sheet 1 of thin paper is guided in the upper region of the outer cylindrical surface 12 of the guiding element 2 &# 34 ; during operational rotation of the guiding element 2 &# 34 ;, the above - described crease 16 is formed in the sheet 1 in a contact region between the outer cylindrical surface 12 and the sheet 1 . depending on the respective dimensions of the guiding elements 2 or 2 &# 39 ; or 2 &# 34 ; according to the illustrated exemplary embodiments , multiple suction openings 6 , 6 &# 39 ; or rows of suction openings that are spaced apart from each other in a direction transverse to the direction of rotation may open into a respective number of grooves 8 , 8 &# 39 ; or notches 10 . a strict orientation of the grooves 8 , 8 &# 39 ; or the notches 10 in the direction of rotation of the guiding elements 2 , 2 &# 39 ;, 2 &# 34 ; is not mandatory . the grooves 8 , 8 &# 39 ;, for example , may have a slightly sinusoidal arcuate shape and the notches 10 may be disposed obliquely to a certain extent with respect to the direction of rotation . preferably , a plurality of devices of the kind described herein is used for the guidance of sheets 1 , particularly in dependence on the format of the sheets 1 , whereby these devices are disposed at a distance from one another so as to be positioned transversely to the direction of rotation and be equally oriented to the direction of rotation of the respective guiding element 2 , 2 &# 39 ;, 2 &# 34 ;. although the subject of the present invention may preferably be used as a sheet brake , general sheet guidance can also be realized with devices of the kind described herein , and in a particularly advantageous way when secure sheet guidance at high sheet speed without lateral drifting of the sheets is to be ensured . | 1 |
the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings . fig1 of the accompanying drawings shows a circuit arrangement of a remote controller apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention . as fig1 shows , a remote controller apparatus 5 includes a microprocessor unit ( mpu ) 10 . the mpu 10 comprises a well - known central processing unit ( cpu ) 10a , a read - only memory ( rom ) 10b in which there is stored a control program of the remote controller apparatus , a random access memory ( ram ) for work area , an input / output ( i / o ) interface 10d , and a pulse code generating unit 10e which includes a ceramic vibrator , a frequency - dividing unit or the like , ( not shown ). there is provided a first input terminal ti1 to which there is input a code signal sa1 used when the remote controller apparatus 5 learns a control code from other audio - video apparatus through a connection cable ( not shown ). the mpu 10 is connected with a photo - diode ra which receives a coded infrared signal ra transmitted from other audio - video apparatus and which outputs a code signal sa2 . the remote controller apparatus 5 includes a second input terminal ti2 to which there is supplied a code signal sb1 via a cable connected to audio - video apparatus or the like ( not shown ). the code signal sb1 is input to the mpu 10 through the second input terminal ti2 . the mpu 10 is connected with a photo - diode rb which receives a coded infrared signal rb transmitted from other audio - video apparatus . a code signal sb2 from the photo - diode rb is input to the mpu 10 . the mpu 10 is connected with a keyboard 12 that is operated by the user to effect the function selecting operation such as power - on , power - off , channel selection , volume - up , volume - down or the like and on / off of the transmission of the coded infrared signal . further , the remote controller apparatus 5 includes a memory 14 which includes a lookup table ( conversion table ) that stores the code signals sa1 , sa2 or that in combination with the cpu 10a converts the code signals sb1 , sb2 into predetermined codes , as further indicated below . the mpu 10 has an output terminal to and a light emitting diode td connected thereto . from the output terminal to , there is supplied an output signal so corresponding to codes of the code signals sa1 , sa2 or code signals sb1 , sb2 . the output signal so is transmitted from the light emitting diode td as a coded infrared signal ta . the output signal so can be obtained when the memorized code signals sa1 , sa2 are read out or the conversion code read out from the memory 14 in response to the input code signals sb1 , sb2 under the control of the cpu 10a is coded in , for example , a pulse position modulation ( ppm ) fashion by the pulse code generating unit 10e and the coded conversion code is processed so as to have a predetermined level by the i / o interface 10d or the like . operation of the aforesaid arrangement , i . e ., operation that the remote controller apparatus of the present invention is used as a learning remote controller , a conversion remote controller and an ordinary remote controller will be described below . when the remote controller apparatus of the present invention is operated as the learning remote controller , initially , a learning operation instruction is supplied to the mpu 10 from the keyboard 12 . the code signal sa1 that energizes the other maker &# 39 ; s audio - video apparatus is supplied to the first input terminal ti1 through a cable ( not shown ) from the other maker &# 39 ; s audio - video apparatus that cannot be operated by the remote controller apparatus 5 . alternatively , the code signal sa2 output from the photo - diode ra when the photo - diode ra receives the coded infrared signal ra is supplied to the mpu 10 . when the power - on switch on the keyboard 12 is depressed , the mpu 10 stores in the designated write address of the memory 14 the other maker &# 39 ; s audio - video apparatus code signal sa1 or ppm code of the code signal sa2 as other maker &# 39 ; s audio - video apparatus power - on code . then , when the learning switch and the power - on switch are depressed , the mpu 10 reads the other maker &# 39 ; s audio - video apparatus power - on code from the memory 14 . the read - out code is converted into the output signal so of predetermined level by the i / o interface 10d . the output signal so is transmitted from the light emitting diode td , for example , as the coded infrared signal ta and other the maker &# 39 ; s audio - video apparatus that receives the coded infrared signal ta is energized . aside from the depression of a switch after the code signal is stored in the memory 14 , the aforesaid remote control operation can be automatically effected by a signal input from the apparatus . more specifically , the mpu 10 decodes the code signal sb1 input thereto through the input terminal ti2 from other maker &# 39 ; s audio - video apparatus or the code signal sb2 output from the photo - diode rb when the photo - diode rb receives the coded infrared signal rb . by way of example , the output signal so which results from reading the power - on code stored in the memory 14 after the other maker &# 39 ; s audio - video apparatus power - on instruction was identified may be transmitted to other the maker &# 39 ; s audio - video apparatus as the coded infrared signal ta to operate the other maker &# 39 ; s audio - video apparatus in a remote control fashion . the remote controller apparatus of the present invention is operated as a learning remote controller as described above . this remote controller apparatus can also be operated as a ordinary remote controller . in this latter case , the pulse code generating unit 10e derives a code signal corresponding to the operation that the power - on switch on the keyboard 12 is pushed . further , the output signal so is output through the i / o interface 10d , thereby effecting the remote control operation . when the remote controller apparatus of the present invention is operated as the conversion remote controller , a conversion operation command is supplied to the mpu from the keyboard 12 . then , from a first audio - video apparatus that can be operated under the control of the remote controller apparatus 5 , e . g ., a tv tuner , the code signal sb1 indicative of the power - on command for a monitor receiver serving as a second audio - video apparatus is supplied to the second input terminal ti2 via a cable ( not shown ). alternatively , in this case , instead of the code signal sb1 , the code signal sb2 that results from receiving the coded infrared signal rb by the photo - diode rb may be supplied to the mpu 10 . then , the mpu 10 decodes the ppm code of the monitor receiver power - on command and supplies the ppm code thus decoded to the memory 14 to thereby read the code that is stored in the memory 14 in advance . the read code is processed by the i / o interface 10d as the signal so of predetermined level . the output signal so is transmitted from the light emitting diode td as the coded infrared signal ta . then , the monitor receiver serving as the second audio - video apparatus that receives the coded infrared signal ta is energized , i . e ., the remote controller apparatus of the present invention is operated as the so - called conversion remote controller . an example that the remote controller apparatus 5 is operated when in use will be described below . fig2 shows a first example that the remote controller apparatus 5 is operated as the conversion remote controller when in use . in this case , the code signal input through the cable is converted and other audio - video apparatus is operated under the remote control of the coded infrared signal . the code signal sb1 output from an output connector 30a of an av apparatus 30 , e . g ., the code signal sb1 representative of the recording operation start command code that energizes a recording - side vtr of an av apparatus 32 when the av apparatus 30 is operated as a source - side vtr in the dubbing mode is supplied to the input terminal ti2 of the remote controller apparatus 5 via a cable 30b . the code signal sb1 is input to the mpu 10 . then , the code signal sb1 is converted under control of the mpu 10 by the conversion table stored in the memory 14 and the output signal so is transmitted to the av apparatus 32 as the coded infrared signal ta from the light emitting diode td . the coded infrared signal ta is received by a photo - diode 32a of the av apparatus 32 to energize the recording - side vtr of the av apparatus 32 so that the recording - side vtr starts the recording operation under the control of its mpu or the like . fig3 shows a second example that the remote controller apparatus 5 is operated as the conversion remote controller when in use . in that case , other audio - video apparatus are operated under the remote control by the coded infrared signal ta which results from converting the received coded infrared signal rb . as shown in fig3 a coded infrared signal rb transmitted from the photo - diode 40a of an av apparatus 40 such as a video cassette recorder ( vcr ) or the like is received by the photo - diode rb and the rest of arrangement and operation is similar to that of fig2 and therefore need not be described . incidentally , the av apparatus 40 can be similarly operated under the remote control of the remote controller apparatus 5 . fig4 shows a third example that the remote controller apparatus 5 of the present invention is operated as the conversion remote controller when in use . in that case , the received coded infrared signal is converted and other audio - video apparatus are operated under the remote control via the cable . as shown in fig4 in addition to the arrangement shown in fig3 the output terminal to of the remote controller apparatus 5 and an input terminal 52a of an av apparatus 52 are coupled together via a cable 52b . a rest of arrangement and operation is similar to that of fig3 . the av apparatus 40 can be similarly operated under the remote control of the remote controller apparatus 5 . the audio - video apparatus having the output terminal from which the remote control operation code signal is transmitted can be operated under the control of the remote apparatus 5 . in addition , the coded infrared signal transmitting unit or the audio - video apparatus operated under the control of other codes from a remote controller apparatus can be operated under the control of the remote controller apparatus 5 . fig5 shows an example that the remote controller apparatus 5 of the present invention is operated as the learning remote controller when in use . that is , a predetermined code signal is controlled in a remote control fashion by a coded infrared signal of a previously - stored code from the other maker &# 39 ; s audio - video apparatus . initially , the code signal sa1 for commands such as record , stop or the like is supplied to the remote controller apparatus 5 from the other maker &# 39 ; s audio - video apparatus 62 . in this case , an output terminal 62b of the recording - side vtr in dubbing mode through a cable 62c and then stored in the memory 14 when the corresponding switch on the keyboard 12 is turned on . after the code signal sa1 was stored in the memory 14 , the code signal sb1 representative of the record command , stop command or the like for the other maker &# 39 ; s audio - video apparatus 60 that is the recording - side vtr , in dubbing mode , is input to the input terminal ti2 of the remote controller apparatus 5 from the output terminal 60a of the source - side audio - video apparatus such as a vcr or the like through a cable 60b . then , the mpu 10 in the remote controller apparatus 5 decodes the code signal sb1 and understands that this code signal sb1 is the recording command or the stop command for the recording - side vtr of the other maker &# 39 ; s audio - video apparatus 62 . the mpu 10 reads the code , such as the recording command or the stop command for the recording - side vtr , stored in the memory 14 , and outputs signal so that is processed by the i / o interface 10d so that a predetermined level is transmitted from the light - emitting diode td as the coded infrared signal ta . this coded infrared signal ta is received by a photo - diode 62a of other maker &# 39 ; s audio - video apparatus 62 ( the record side vtr ) to thereby effect the recording or step instruction thereof under the control of an mpu ( not shown ) provided therein . that is , the remote controller apparatus of the present invention is operated as the learning remote controller . the source - side audio - video apparatus 60 is not limited to a vcr , an optical video disc player or the like may be used . fig6 shows an example that the remote controller apparatus 5 of the present invention is applied to other audio - video system . as shown in fig6 audio and video signals are input to an audio and video input terminal 70a of a television monitor 70 from an audio and video output terminal 73b of a television tuner apparatus 73 . the video signal might be an rf signal of 3 and 4 channels modulated to a radio frequency or might be a video signal of a base band . the television tuner apparatus 73 is provided with an antenna 74 . the television monitor 70 includes an infrared signal sensing unit 71 that receives an infrared signal from an infrared signal generating unit 72a of a remote controller 72 . the remote controller 72 generates various commands to control the television monitor 70 and the television tuner apparatus 73 . in the television tuner apparatus 73 , for example , the channel selection command , the selection of rf output of 3 ch / 4 ch and the adjustment of the output level of the audio signal from the television tuner apparatus 73 or the like are effected by the remote controller 72 . the television tuner apparatus 73 might be a tuner box that is commercially available on the market under the trade name of cable box . the command from the remote controller 72 might be an audio - video apparatus communication control command that is standardized as &# 34 ; sircs &# 34 ; ( sony infrared remote control system ). the sircs command sb1 input to the television monitor 70 is output from a communication command output terminal 70b of the television monitor 70 and then input to the cable input terminal ti2 of the remote controller apparatus 5 of the present invention . when the television monitor 70 and the television tuner apparatus 73 are made by different makers similarly to the aforesaid embodiment , the communication command input to the remote controller apparatus 5 , i . e ., &# 34 ; sircs &# 34 ; signal sb1 in this case must be converted into a communication command suitable for controlling the television tuner apparatus 73 . this conversion is carried out by the remote controller apparatus 5 . the communication command thus converted is output from the light - emitting diode td as the coded infrared signal ta and then received by the infrared signal sensing unit 73a of the television tuner apparatus 73 . therefore , according to this embodiment , the command from the remote controller 72 is transmitted to the television monitor 70 made by a certain maker and the television tuner apparatus 73 of the other maker is operated via the television monitor 70 and the remote controller apparatus 5 so that the user can enjoy the television program . fig7 shows an example of a further application of the present invention . as shown in fig7 a video cassette recorder 80 is combined in the aforesaid application shown in fig6 . in fig7 like parts corresponding to those of fig6 are marked with the same references and therefore need not be described in detail . as shown in fig7 the vcr 80 incorporates therein a system controller 81 that controls a mechanical function , a tape drive , cassette sorting , a head tracking or the like and a audio / video signal recording and reproducing circuit 82 . the sircs command signal is supplied to an input terminal 81a of the system controller 80 from a communication output terminal 70b of the television monitor 70 . also , the sircs command signal from an output terminal 81b is supplied to the communication input terminal ti2 of the remote controller apparatus 5 . the audio / video signal is supplied to the input terminal 82a of the recording and reproducing circuit 82 from the av output terminal 73b of the television tuner apparatus 73 . the audio / video signal might be a signal that is converted into the rf signal of 3 and 4 channels . according to the embodiment shown in fig7 by the command signal from the remote controller 72 , a combination of the television monitor 70 and the vcr 80 made by the same maker and the television tuner apparatus 73 made by the different maker can be controlled via the remote controller apparatus 5 . that is , while the av signal from the television tuner apparatus 73 made by a certain maker , e . g ., commercially available cable box , is being recorded by the vcr 80 made by different maker , such av signal can be monitored by the television monitor 70 . while the conversion table is made and stored in the memory 14 and the code signal is converted by using the learning function of the memory 14 in the remote controller apparatus 5 when a power switch of the apparatus is turned on as described above , if command codes of a plurality of makers are all stored in the memory 14 in advance , then the code conversion can be realized without the learning function . in other words , the code conversion table that can be made enough for tuners of all makers is stored in the memory 14 in advance before the remote controller apparatus 5 is shipped to the users . then , at the same time when the user bought the remote controller apparatus 5 , a board switch corresponding to the television tuner 73 might be set in the memory table of a predetermined maker . as described above , the remote controller apparatus 5 according to the present invention can be operated as the learning remote controller , the conversion remote controller or ordinary remote controller serving as the customary means . therefore , a plurality of audio - video apparatus can be controlled only by this remote controller apparatus 5 in a remote control fashion and this remote controller apparatus 5 can be operated more usefully . as is understood from the aforesaid description , according to the remote controller apparatus of the present invention , the input code is stored and the previously - stored code signal is output on the basis of the instruction . further , the conversion code corresponding to the code input thereto from the cable or infrared signal is read out from the memory , and the code signal thus read out is transmitted to the audio - video apparatus that is to be operated under the control of the remote controller apparatus . thus , the remote controller apparatus of the present invention can be simplified in structure . a plurality of different kinds of audio - video apparatus having different codes can be controlled by the single remote controller apparatus of the simplified arrangement in a remote control fashion , or this remote controller apparatus can be effectively utilized as the so - called learning remote controller , the conversion remote controller or ordinary remote controller . thus , the remote control apparatus of the present invention can be utilized more usefully . having described preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to those precise embodiments and that various changes and modifications could be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims . | 7 |
fig2 is a block diagram of a computer system suitable for the operation of embodiments of the present invention . a central processor unit ( cpu ) 202 is communicatively connected to a storage 204 and an input / output ( i / o ) interface 206 via a data bus 208 . the storage 204 can be any read / write storage device such as a random access memory ( ram ) or a non - volatile storage device . an example of a non - volatile storage device includes a disk or tape storage device . the i / o interface 206 is an interface to devices for the input or output of data , or for both input and output of data . examples of i / o devices connectable to i / o interface 206 include a keyboard , a mouse , a display ( such as a monitor ) and a network connection . fig3 is a schematic diagram of a general inter - orb protocol ( giop ) message 250 for use in embodiments of the present invention . the giop message 250 is structured as is well known in the art , with a giop header 252 and a giop message section including a giop message header 254 ( often referred to as the ‘ message header ’) and a giop message body 256 ( often referred to as the ‘ message body ’). collectively , the giop header 252 and the giop message header 254 can be used by a distribution mechanism to determine an appropriate target server for the giop message 250 . the message header 254 can include service context information , such as security information , and such information can be inserted into the message header 254 by an orb prior to transmission across an iiop network . whilst the message of fig3 and other messages in the preferred embodiments of the present invention are described as being convertible to and from a giop format , it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any format for inter - orb communications , such as a giop type format , could be used . fig4 is a schematic diagram of communication of an incoming message 304 from a client computer system 300 to a target server computer system 324 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the client computer system 300 includes client software 300 and an orb 300 ′. the client computer system 300 is communicatively connected to any number of other computer systems via an iiop ® protocol network 302 . the client computer system prepares a message 304 in giop format for dispatch over the iiop ® protocol network 302 via the orb 300 ′. message 304 can be any giop message , such as a request message , and includes a giop header 252 , a giop message header 254 and a giop message body 256 . the message 304 is directed to a distribution mechanism which comprises a first distribution mechanism component 310 and a plurality of second distribution mechanism components 310 ′. each of the plurality of second distribution mechanism components 310 ′ is associated with a target server 324 . the distribution mechanism 310 , 310 ′ provides a workload balancing facility between a set of target servers , of which target server 324 is a member . the distribution mechanism 310 , 310 ′ further provides communications facilities between the first distribution mechanism component 310 and the second distribution mechanism component 310 ′. the communications facilities between the components of the distribution mechanism 310 , 310 ′ can be any effective communications mechanism , such as an open or proprietary networking standard . for example , where the implementation - specific format of a message is a graph of java objects , the communications mechanism provided by the distribution mechanism 310 , 310 ′ can include serialization of java objects for communication over a suitable transport protocol . the distribution mechanism 310 , 310 ′ has associated an orb 306 , 354 comprising an external orb element 306 and an internal orb element 354 . the external orb element 306 is associated with the first distribution mechanism component 310 whilst the internal orb element 354 is associated with the target server 324 . in use , the external orb element 306 initially receives the message 304 , which is considered an incoming message 304 from the point of view of the distribution mechanism 310 , 310 ′. subsequently , the external orb element converts the giop header 252 and the message header 254 of the incoming message 304 into an implementation - specific format at step 308 . the first distribution mechanism component 310 is then able to access the giop header 252 and the message header 254 in order to determine an appropriate target server 324 to receive the incoming message 304 . subsequently , the first distribution mechanism component 310 communicates the incoming message 304 ( having headers 252 and 254 in implementation - specific format and a message body 256 in giop format ) to the appropriate target server 324 where it is initially received by the second distribution mechanism component 310 ′. subsequently , the incoming message 304 is received by the internal orb element 354 which converts the message body 256 into implementation - specific format at step 322 . at this point , the entire incoming message 304 is in implementation - specific format for use by the target server 324 . subsequently , the target server processes the incoming message 304 accordingly , which is provided entirely in the implementation - specific format . thus the orb 306 , 354 associated with the distribution mechanism 310 , 310 ′ is split between a first distribution mechanism component 310 and a plurality of second distribution mechanism components 310 ′ such that only the headers 252 , 254 of the incoming message need to be converted to implementation - specific format for use by the distribution mechanism 310 , 310 ′. the distribution mechanism 310 , 310 ′ itself manages communication of the incoming message 304 ( having headers 252 and 254 in implementation - specific format and a message body 256 in giop format ) using any communications mechanism between the first distribution mechanism component 310 and the second distribution mechanism component 310 ′. allowing the distribution mechanism 310 , 310 ′ to manage this communication to the target server 324 overcomes a need to convert the incoming message 304 into a giop format for this communication . furthermore , since the orb 306 , 354 is split between an external orb element 306 which undertakes conversion of the headers 252 , 254 only , and an internal orb element 354 which undertakes conversion of the message body 256 only , each part of the incoming message 304 is converted only once . thus , in this way , the message conversion requirement is reduced over that of the prior art . furthermore , since there is no requirement for the client 300 to communicate directly with the target server 324 , the network traffic requirements are reduced over those of the corba approach in the prior art and target server 324 and client 300 need not be accessible to each other . this also provides for the distribution mechanism 310 , 310 ′ to intervene to implement workload distribution functionality on a per - request basis since all requests are channeled through the distribution mechanism 310 , 310 ′. fig5 is a flowchart of a method of communication of an incoming message 304 from a client computer system 300 to a target server computer system 324 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . at step 402 , the external orb element 306 converts the giop header 252 and the message header 254 of the incoming message 304 to an implementation - specific format . at step 404 , the distribution mechanism 310 identifies a target server 324 for processing the incoming message 304 . at step 406 the target server 324 receives the incoming message 304 via the distribution mechanism 310 ′. at step 408 the internal orb element 354 associated with the target server 324 converts the message body 256 to the implementation - specific format . finally , at step 410 , the target server 324 is able to process the incoming message 304 which is provided entirely in the implementation - specific format . fig6 is a schematic diagram of communication of an outgoing message 642 from an originating server computer system 624 to a client computer system 600 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . many of the elements of fig6 are identical to those described above with respect to fig4 and these will not be repeated here . the originating server 624 is equivalent in many respects to the target server 324 of fig3 , except that in fig6 the originating server 624 acts as a source of an outgoing message 642 as opposed to a recipient of an incoming message 304 . the originating server 624 initially prepares a new outgoing message 642 in implementation - specific format at step 680 . for example , the outgoing message is a request message , and can have a giop header 252 , a message header 254 and a message body 256 , in implementation - specific format . subsequently , message body 256 of the outgoing message 642 is converted to giop format by the internal orb element 654 at step 682 before being provided to the distribution mechanism 610 ′, 610 . the distribution mechanism 610 forwards the outgoing message 642 ( with the headers 252 and 254 in implementation - specific format and the message body 256 in giop format ) to the external orb element 606 at steps 684 and 634 . subsequently , the external orb element 606 determines the target orb 600 ″ for this message at step 636 , and converts the giop header 252 and the message header 254 of the outgoing message 642 into giop format at step 638 . it is necessary for the headers 252 and 254 to be converted to giop format by the external orb element 606 because it is only at this stage that the insertion of appropriate service context information can take place into these headers 252 , 254 . finally , the external orb element sends the outgoing message 642 to the target orb 600 ″ of the client 600 over the iiop network 602 . fig7 is a flowchart of a method of communication of an outgoing message 642 from an originating server computer system 624 to a client computer system 600 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . at step 702 , the originating server 624 generates a new outgoing message 642 . at step 704 the internal orb element 654 converts the message body 256 of the outgoing message 642 into giop format . at step 706 the internal orb element 654 provides the outgoing message 642 with headers 252 and 254 in implementation - specific format and message body 256 in giop format to the distribution mechanism 610 , 610 ′. at step 708 the distribution mechanism forwards the outgoing message 642 to the external orb element 606 , which determines the target orb at step 710 and converts the message headers 252 , 254 to giop format at step 712 . finally , the external orb element 606 sends the outgoing message 642 entirely in giop format to the client 600 . fig8 is a schematic diagram of two - way communication between a client computer system 800 and a target server computer system 824 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . many of the elements of fig6 are identical to those described above with respect to fig4 and 6 , and these will not be repeated here . initially , an incoming message 804 in giop format originating from client 800 is received by external orb element 806 from the iiop network 802 . the external orb element 806 converts the giop header 252 and giop message header 254 of the incoming message 804 into implementation - specific format at step 808 . subsequently , the distribution mechanism 810 identifies an appropriate target server 824 for processing of the message at step 812 , and the incoming message 804 ( with headers 252 , 254 in implementation - specific format and message body in giop format ) is communicated to the target server 824 via the distribution mechanism 810 . subsequently , the internal orb element 854 converts the giop message body 256 of the incoming message 804 to the implementation - specific format at step 822 , and the target server 824 is able to process the incoming message 804 , now entirely in implementation - specific format , at step 826 . subsequently , the target server prepares an outgoing message 842 , such as a reply message , in implementation - specific format at step 880 . the internal orb element 854 converts the message body 256 of the outgoing message 842 into giop format at step 882 . the internal orb element then provides the outgoing message 842 ( with the headers 252 , 254 in implementation - specific format and the message body 256 in giop format ) to the distribution mechanism 810 , 810 ′ for forwarding to the external orb element 806 at steps 884 and 834 . subsequently , at step 836 the external orb element 806 determines a target orb 800 ″ for the outgoing message 842 and converts the giop header 252 and the message header 254 to giop format at step 838 . finally , at step 840 , the external orb element sends the outgoing message 842 , now entirely in giop format , to the client 800 across the iiop network 802 . in this way , the message conversion requirement is reduced over that of the prior art since each element of the incoming message 804 ( i . e . the giop header 252 , the message header 254 and the message body 256 ) is converted only once from giop format to implementation - specific format . similarly , each element of the outgoing message is also converted only once from implementation - specific format to giop format . furthermore , since there is no requirement for the client 800 to communicate directly with the target server 824 , the network traffic requirements are reduced over those of the corba approach in the prior art and target server 824 and client 800 need not be accessible to each other . this also provides for the distribution mechanism 810 , 810 ′ to intervene to implement workload distribution functionality on a per - request basis since all requests are channeled through the distribution mechanism 810 , 810 ′. | 6 |
the following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings . wherever possible , the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or similar elements . while embodiments of the disclosure may be described , modifications , adaptations , and other implementations are possible . for example , substitutions , additions , or modifications may be made to the elements illustrated in the drawings , and the methods described herein may be modified by substituting , reordering , or adding stages to the disclosed methods . accordingly , the following detailed description does not limit the disclosure . instead , the proper scope of the disclosure is defined by the appended claims . fig1 is a block diagram of a user device 100 comprising a processor 105 and a memory 110 . depending on the configuration and type of device , memory 110 may comprise , but is not limited to , volatile ( e . g . random access memory ( ram )), non - volatile ( e . g . read - only memory ( rom )), flash memory , or any combination thereof . memory 110 may store executable programs and related data components of various applications and modules for execution by user device 100 . memory 110 may be coupled to processor 105 for storing configuration data and operational parameters , such as commands that are recognized by processor 105 . user device 100 may comprise , for example , a desktop computer , a laptop computer , a personal digital assistant , a cellular telephone , a set - top box , a music player , a web pad , a tablet computer system , a game console , and / or another device with like capability . basic functionality of user device 100 may be provided by an operating system 115 contained in memory 100 . various programmed software applications may be executed by utilizing the computing resources in user device 100 . applications stored in memory 110 may be executed by processor 105 ( e . g ., a central processing unit or digital signal processor ) under the auspices of operating system 115 . for example , processor 105 may be configured to execute applications such as web browsing applications , email applications , instant messaging applications , and / or other applications capable of receiving and / or providing data . data provided as input to and generated as output from the application ( s ) may be stored in memory 110 and read by processor 105 from memory 110 as needed during the course of application program execution . input data may be data stored in memory 110 by a secondary application or other source , either internal or external to user device 100 , or possibly anticipated by the application and thus created with the application program at the time it was generated as a software application program . data may be received via any of a plurality of communication ports 120 ( a )-( c ) of user device 100 . communication ports 120 ( a )-( c ) may allow user device 100 to communicate with other devices , and may comprise components such as an ethernet network adapter , a modem , and / or a wireless network connectivity interface . for example , the wireless network connectivity interface may comprise one and / or more of a pci ( peripheral component interconnect ) card , usb ( universal serial bus ) interface , pcmcia ( personal computer memory card international association ) card , sdio ( secure digital input - output ) card , newcard , cardbus , a modem , a wireless radio transceiver , and / or the like . user device 100 may also receive data as user input via an input component 125 , such as a keyboard , a mouse , a pen , a stylus , a sound input device , a touch input device , a capture device , etc . a capture device may be operative to record user ( s ) and capture spoken words , motions and / or gestures , such as with a camera and / or microphone . the capture device may comprise any speech and / or motion detection device capable of detecting the speech and / or actions of the user ( s ). data generated by applications may be stored in memory 110 by the processor 105 during the course of application program execution . data may be provided to the user during application program execution by means of a display 130 . consistent with embodiments of this disclosure , display 130 may comprise an integrated display screen and / or an output port coupled to an external display screen . memory 110 may also comprise a platform library 140 . platform library 140 may comprise a collection of functionality useful to multiple applications , such as may be provided by an application programming interface ( api ) to a software development kit ( sdk ). these utilities may be accessed by applications as necessary so that each application does not have to contain these utilities thus allowing for memory consumption savings and a consistent user interface . furthermore , embodiments of this disclosure may be practiced in conjunction with a graphics library , other operating systems , or any other application program and is not limited to any particular application or system . the devices described with respect to the figures may have additional features or functionality . for example , user device 100 may also include additional data storage devices ( removable and / or non - removable ) such as , for example , magnetic disks , optical disks , or tape ( not shown ). user device 100 may store device and / or user - specific information in a data store 150 , such as a device profile and / or a plurality of user preferences . a device profile may comprise an indication of the current position of user device 100 and / or indications of the hardware , software , and security attributes that describe user device 100 . for instance , the device profile may represent hardware specifications of user device 100 , version and configuration information of various software program and hardware components installed on user device 100 , data transmission protocols enabled on user device 100 , version and usage information of various resources stored on user device 100 , and / or any other attributes associated with the state of user device 100 . the device profile may further comprise data indicating a date of last virus scan of user device 100 , a date of last access by an it representative , a date of last service by the it representative , and / or any other data indicating maintenance and usage of user device 100 . furthermore , the device profile may comprise indications of the past behavior of associated users , such as resources accessed , charges for resources accessed , and the inventory accessed from such resources . the user preferences may comprise a listing of factors that may affect the experience of the user . in particular , the user preferences may include indications of the user &# 39 ; s age , gender , bodily traits , preferred resource types , preferred resources , and combinations thereof . fig2 is a block diagram view of an operating environment 200 comprising user device 100 in communication with an application store 210 and a compliance server 220 via a network 240 . the application store 210 and compliance server 220 may comprise , for example , cloud - based solutions , server computers and / or any other system providing application distribution capability . for purposes of convenience , the application store 210 and compliance server 220 are referred to herein in the singular , although it is understood that a plurality of servers may be employed in the arrangements as descried herein . furthermore , in some embodiments , application store 210 and compliance server 220 may operate on the same server computer . the components executed on the application store 210 and / or the compliance server 220 , for example , may comprise various applications , services , processes , systems , engines , or functionality not disclosed in detail herein . the application store 210 may comprise a digital distribution platform for application software , often provided as a component of an operating system on a personal computer , smartphone , or tablet . application stores typically take the form of an online store , where users can browse through different categories and genres of applications ( e . g ., productivity , multimedia , games , etc . ), view information and reviews of then , purchase it ( if necessary ), and then download and install the application on their device . the compliance server may comprise a rules store 230 comprising a plurality of compliance rules that may be applicable to user device 100 . attempts by user device 100 to access various resources on user device 100 or located remotely , such as at application store 210 , may require user device 100 to be in compliance with one and / or more of the compliance rules . depending on the sensitivity of a given resource , different compliance rules may be necessary to ensure that the resource is adequately protected . some resources may only require ensuring that the proper user is requesting the resource . other resources may require compliance with more stringent authorization rules , such as determining whether an appropriate transport protocol is used ( i . e ., http and / or https ) by the requesting device , determining whether access to the resource is permitted for a specified duration or at a given time , determining whether the resource is accessed from a secured device , etc . the compliance server 220 may be operative to determine whether a pairing of the user device 100 and a specific user of user device 100 are authorized to communicate with various resources based at least in part on the compliance rules . in some embodiments , the compliance rules may comprise application white lists comprising a listing of applications allowed to be installed and / or executed on user device 100 . the compliance rules may comprise application black lists comprising a listing of applications forbidden to be installed and / or executed on user device 100 . furthermore , the compliance rules may comprise a list of functions , such as those provided by apis associated with operating system 115 and / or platform library 140 , that may be treated as protected functions . calls to these functions , such as calls to retrieve login credentials , may result in checks for compliance with the compliance rules . the network 240 may comprise , for example , any type of wired and / or wireless network such as a wireless local area network ( wlan ), a wireless wide area network ( wwan ), ethernet , fiber - optic network , and / or any other type of wired and / or wireless network now known or later developed . additionally , the network 110 may be or include the internet , intranets , extranets , microwave networks , satellite communications , cellular systems , pcs , infrared communications , global area networks , or other suitable networks , etc ., or any combination of such networks . fig3 is a flow chart setting forth the general stages involved in a method 300 consistent with embodiments of this disclosure for providing automated restricted software compliance . ways to implement the stages of method 300 will be described in greater detail below . for purposes of illustration , not limitation , method 300 is described with respect to user device 100 in communication with application store 210 and / or compliance server 220 . method 300 may begin at starting block 305 and proceed to stage 310 where user device 100 may receive a request to analyze an application . for example , user device 100 may attempt to install an application from application store 210 . a compliance rule may be triggered that may require the application to be analyzed prior to allowing the installation . for another example , a periodic scan may analyze a plurality of applications installed on user device 100 . the scan may analyze each application and / or some applications installed on user device 100 . for example , applications that have been previously analyzed and found to be in compliance with a plurality of compliance rules may not be re - scanned unless the app changes , such as being updated to a new version , and / or a new or updated compliance rule goes into effect . from stage 310 , method 300 may advance to stage 320 where user device 100 may determine whether the application comprises a restricted application or “ malware ”. as used herein , the terms malicious application and malware may comprise software used to disrupt computer or device operation , gather sensitive information , perform prohibited actions on user device 100 , or gain access to private computer systems . restricted software may encompass malware and / or applications controlled and / or blocked by an administrative or security policy . an application may be determined to comprise restricted software , for example , by determining that the application is on a pre - defined blacklist of applications , by determining which permissions the app seeks from the operating system 115 , as certain permissions are not normally required by and / or accessible to apps , and / or by comparing a data payload associated with the app with a plurality of profiles known to indicate that an app comprises restricted software . such data payloads may comprise , for example , a website address , author , title , email address , icon , text , user interface layout , function calls , and numerous other characteristics associated with applications . malware applications may also be identified according to static analysis of the application &# 39 ; s binary file , such as looking for suspicious function calls or patterns of data access , and / or dynamic analysis during execution of the application on the device and / or on a test , sandbox , and / or emulator environment . information about the application may be retrieved from remote sources such as compliance server 220 and / or from a 3 rd party service that tracks and identifies malicious applications . in some embodiments , user device 100 may provide information about the app to a remote source and receive a determination as to whether the app comprises a restricted application . if the application is determined to comprise restricted software at stage 320 , method 300 may advance to stage 325 where user device 100 may identify at least one action to be performed . for example , upon first identifying the application as restricted , user device 100 may identify a compliance rule associated with notifying the user . if the app continues to be executed or stored on user device 100 , or if the user persists in trying to install the app , further actions may be identified by the compliance rules . in some embodiments , these further actions may comprise escalations in their impact upon the user and / or the operation of user device 100 . the at least one action to be performed may be based at least in part upon a threat level associated with the triggered compliance rule . for example , a compliance rule may simply prevent operation of a restricted app with a low threat level while another compliance rule may require removal of a medium threat level restricted app and yet another compliance rule may delete sensitive data when a high threat level restricted app is detected . from stage 325 , method 300 may advance to stage 330 , where user device 100 may perform the identified action . for example , user device 100 may display a notification to a user that the application is restricted and suggest an appropriate course of action , such as uninstalling the app . user device 100 may notify the user that continuing to attempt to install , execute , or store the application on user device 100 may result in additional actions taken in accordance with a compliance rule . for example , if the app is not removed within 24 hours , access to network resources such as e - mail , web pages , etc . may be revoked . for other examples , data stored on user device may be removed and / or the device may be restored to a factory default state . further examples may comprise limiting access to other apps and / or hardware functionality on user device 100 until the restricted app is removed and / or disabled . in some embodiments , the compliance rules may cause the user device 100 to remove the malicious application automatically , without user intervention . if the application is determined not to comprise a restricted application at stage 320 , method 300 may advance to stage 340 , where user device 100 may designate the app as clean . such a designation may be used in periodic rescans of the apps to skip apps that are known to not comprise restricted software . in some embodiments , the clean designation may be revoked upon receiving a new compliance rule or if the app is updated . method 300 may then end at stage 355 . the embodiments and functionalities described herein may operate via a multitude of computing systems , including wired and wireless computing systems , mobile computing systems ( e . g ., mobile telephones , tablet or slate type computers , laptop computers , etc .). in addition , the embodiments and functionalities described herein may operate over distributed systems , where application functionality , memory , data storage and retrieval and various processing functions may be operated remotely from each other over a distributed computing network , such as the internet or an intranet . user interfaces and information of various types may be displayed via on - board computing device displays or via remote display units associated with one or more computing devices . for example user interfaces and information of various types may be displayed and interacted with on a wall surface onto which user interfaces and information of various types are projected . interaction with the multitude of computing systems with which embodiments of this disclosure may be practiced include , keystroke entry , touch screen entry , voice or other audio entry , gesture entry where an associated computing device is equipped with detection ( e . g ., camera ) functionality for capturing and interpreting user gestures for controlling the functionality of the computing device , and the like . the figures above and their associated descriptions provide a discussion of a variety of operating environments in which embodiments of this disclosure may be practiced . however , the devices and systems illustrated and discussed with respect to the figures are for purposes of example and illustration and are not limiting of a vast number of computing device configurations that may be utilized for practicing embodiments of this disclosure as described herein . the term computer readable media as used herein may include computer storage media . computer storage media may include volatile and nonvolatile , removable and non - removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information , such as computer readable instructions , data structures , program modules , or other data . system memory , removable storage , and non - removable storage are all computer storage media examples ( i . e ., memory storage .) computer storage media may include , but is not limited to , ram , rom , electrically erasable read - only memory ( eeprom ), flash memory or other memory technology , cd - rom , digital versatile disks ( dvd ) or other optical storage , magnetic cassettes , magnetic tape , magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices , or any other medium which can be used to store . the term computer readable media as used herein may also include communication media . communication media may be embodied by computer readable instructions , data structures , program modules , or other data in a modulated data signal , such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism , and includes any information delivery media . the term “ modulated data signal ” may describe a signal that has one or more characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal . by way of example , and not limitation , communication media may include wired media such as a wired network or direct - wired connection , and wireless media such as acoustic , radio frequency ( rf ), infrared , and other wireless media . a number of applications and data files may be used to perform processes and / or methods as described above . the aforementioned processes are examples , and a processing unit may perform other processes . other programming modules that may be used in accordance with embodiments of this disclosure may include electronic mail , calendar , and contacts applications , data processing applications , word processing applications , spreadsheet applications , database applications , slide presentation applications , drawing or computer - aided application programs , etc . generally , consistent with embodiments of this disclosure , program modules may include routines , programs , components , data structures , and other types of structures that may perform particular tasks or that may implement particular abstract data types . moreover , embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced with other computer system configurations , including hand - held devices , multiprocessor systems , microprocessor - based or programmable consumer electronics , minicomputers , mainframe computers , and the like . embodiments of this disclosure may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network . in a distributed computing environment , program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices . furthermore , embodiments of this disclosure may be practiced in an electrical circuit comprising discrete electronic elements , packaged or integrated electronic chips containing logic gates , a circuit utilizing a microprocessor , or on a single chip containing electronic elements or microprocessors . embodiments of this disclosure may also be practiced using other technologies capable of performing logical operations such as , for example , and , or , and not , including but not limited to mechanical , optical , fluidic , and quantum technologies . in addition , embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced within a general purpose computer or in any other circuits or systems . embodiments of this disclosure may , for example , be implemented as a computer process and / or method , a computing system , an apparatus , device , or appliance , and / or as an article of manufacture , such as a computer program product or computer readable media . the computer program product may be a computer storage media readable by a computer system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process . the computer program product may also be a propagated signal on a carrier readable by a computing system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process . accordingly , the present disclosure may be embodied in hardware and / or in software ( including firmware , resident software , micro - code , etc .). in other words , embodiments of the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product on a computer - usable or computer - readable storage medium having computer - usable or computer - readable program code embodied in the medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system . a computer - usable or computer - readable medium may be any medium that can contain , store , communicate , propagate , or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system , apparatus , or device . the computer - usable or computer - readable medium may be , for example but not limited to , an electronic , magnetic , optical , electromagnetic , infrared , or semiconductor system , apparatus , device , or propagation medium . more specific computer - readable medium examples ( a non - exhaustive list ), the computer - readable medium may include the following : an electrical connection having one or more wires , a portable computer diskette , a random access memory ( ram ), a read - only memory ( rom ), an erasable programmable read - only memory ( eprom or flash memory ), an optical fiber , and a portable compact disc read - only memory ( cd - rom ). note that the computer - usable or computer - readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed , as the program can be electronically captured , via , for instance , optical scanning of the paper or other medium , then compiled , interpreted , or otherwise processed in a suitable manner , if necessary , and then stored in a computer memory . embodiments of this disclosure may be practiced via a system - on - a - chip ( soc ) where each and / or many of the elements described above may be integrated onto a single integrated circuit . such an soc device may include one or more processing units , graphics units , communications units , system virtualization units and various application functionalities , all of which may be integrated ( or “ burned ”) onto the chip substrate as a single integrated circuit . when operating via an soc , the functionality , described herein , with respect to training and / or interacting with any element may operate via application - specific logic integrated with other components of the computing device / system on the single integrated circuit ( chip ). embodiments of this disclosure are described above with reference to block diagrams and / or operational illustrations of methods , systems , and computer program products according to embodiments of the disclosure . the functions / acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order as shown in any flowchart . for example , two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order , depending upon the functionality / acts involved . while certain embodiments have been described , other embodiments may exist . furthermore , although embodiments of the present disclosure have been described as being associated with data stored in memory and other storage mediums , data can also be stored on or read from other types of computer - readable media , such as secondary storage devices , like hard disks , floppy disks , or a cd - rom , a carrier wave from the internet , or other forms of ram or rom . further , the disclosed methods &# 39 ; stages may be modified in any manner , including by reordering stages and / or inserting or deleting stages , without departing from the disclosure . embodiments of the present disclosure , for example , are described above with reference to block diagrams and / or operational illustrations of methods , systems , and computer program products according to embodiments of the disclosure . the functions / acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order as shown in any flowchart . for example , two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order , depending upon the functionality / acts involved . while certain embodiments of the disclosure have been described , other embodiments may exist . furthermore , although embodiments of the present disclosure have been described as being associated with data stored in memory and other storage mediums , data can also be stored on or read from other types of computer - readable media , such as secondary storage devices , like hard disks , floppy disks , or a cd - rom , a carrier wave from the internet , or other forms of ram or rom . further , the disclosed methods &# 39 ; stages may be modified in any manner , including by reordering stages and / or inserting or deleting stages , without departing from the disclosure . all rights including copyrights in the code included herein are vested in and the property of the assignee . the assignee retains and reserves all rights in the code included herein , and grants permission to reproduce the material only in connection with reproduction of the granted patent and for no other purpose . while the specification includes examples , the disclosure &# 39 ; s scope is indicated by the following claims . furthermore , while the specification has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts , the claims are not limited to the features or acts described above . rather , the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example for embodiments of the disclosure . | 6 |
referring to fig1 a valve structure 20 is shown that includes a housing 22 . the housing 22 includes ports 22a and 22b through which a fluid flows as indicated by the arrows in fig1 . one side of the housing 22 ( adjacent the port 22a ) includes an insert 24 . the insert which may be of teflon or teflon coated steel , for example , is sealed to the housing 22 by means of an o - ring seal 26 . the material of the housing 22 may be of any suitable metal , for example , aluminum , and the o - ring material may be any suitable sealing material such as viton , for example . the housing 22 is secured to an upper housing part 28 by means of screws 30 . the housing parts 22 and 28 are sealed together by o - ring seal 32 . the valve structure 20 includes a movable valve member 34 . this valve member moves within a cavity 36 within the housing 22 and is driven by a movable stem member 38 . the stem member 38 engages a part of the movable valve member 34 , as will be described in more detail below , and extends upwardly into the upper valve housing 28 . the stem member 38 is positioned inside a bellows 40 and terminates at its upper end in a cap 42 positioned inside a flexible diaphragm 44 . the bellows 40 may be of thin metal , such as bronze , for example , while the diaphragm 42 may be of any suitable flexible material such as rubber , for example . fluid is admitted under pressure to conduit 46 which communicates with the upper surface of the diaphragm 44 , forcing the stem member 38 downwardly against the action of spring 48 . when pressure is removed from the conduit 46 , the spring 48 returns the stem member to its uppermost position , the same as shown in fig1 . the spring 48 is seated in a spring holder 50 which in turn is seated against a wall 52 forming a part of the upper housing 28 . the spring holder 50 is free to slide upwardly and downwardly within the upper housing 28 . by this arrangement shocks are absorbed in the spring 48 upon the actuation of the movable valve member 34 . in particular , as that movable valve member strikes the upper housing 28 on the side of the wall 52 opposite from that against which the spring holder bears , shocks transmitted through the wall 52 cause the holder 50 to move upwardly compressing the spring 48 , thereby to absorb the shock . the movable valve member 34 comprises a first block member 54 of aluminum , for example , which is free to slide within the housing cavity 36 by means of rollers 56 mounted thereto ( see also fig2 and 3 ) free to slide in channels 58 in opposing walls of the lower housing 22 . the first block member 54 includes an opening 60 through which the lower portion of the stem member 38 passes . the first block member 54 is shown in perspective view in fig7 . as noted from that figure , as well as fig1 the block member 54 includes a passage 62 therethrough . this block member is also formed on inside surfaces thereof with v - shaped inclined surfaces 64a and 64b . these inclined surfaces mate with corresponding inclined surfaces 66a and 66b of a second block member 68 . this second block member is a part of the movable valve member 34 as shown in fig1 . the block member 68 includes a cavity 70 at the upper end thereof which is adapted to receive enlarged end 38a of stem member 38 as shown in fig1 . the block member 68 includes a passage 72 therethrough which aligns with the passage 62 through the block member 54 . the two block members 54 and 68 are held together by springs 73 , pinned as at 75 ( fig2 and 8 ). with reference particularly to fig1 the block member 68 carries two parts 74 and 76 . the first part 74 is a fluid blocking structure and consists of a block of material , for example , teflon or teflon coated metal , which is secured to the block member 68 by a retaining ring 78 ( see also fig7 ). this part 74 of the block member 68 includes a sealing means such as an o - ring seal 80 on the face thereof adjacent the port 22a . that part of the insert surface 24 surrounding the port 22a and which is contacted by the o - ring seal 80 constitutes a first valve seating area . the part 74 blocks the valve port and prevents fluid from passing through the valve port . as shown in fig1 this position of the entire valve structure is in the valve &# 34 ; closed &# 34 ; position . refer now to fig4 of the drawings . this shows the valve structure in the valve &# 34 ; closed &# 34 ; position . in this position of the movable valve member 34 in which the o - ring 80 is seating against the surface of the insert 24 surrounding the valve port 22a , the stem member 38 is pulling upwardly directly against the block member 68 by virtue of the enlarged end 38a of the stem member 38 directly contacting one of the surfaces of the cavity 70 of that block member . thus the inclined surface 66b of the block member 68 is in direct contact with and urged against the inclined surface 64b of the block member 54 . the block member 54 is at its uppermost position in which its top surface bears against an insert 82 which is threaded into the wall 52 of the upper housing 28 . the threaded insert 82 determines the uppermost position of the movable valve member 34 and hence the block member 54 . suitable adjustment of the insert 82 results in appropriate positioning of the valve member 34 with respect to the valve port 22a . in the uppermost position of the block member 54 , and with the stem member 38 urging the block member 68 upwardly against the block member 54 as just explained , the block member 68 is displaced transversely to the left with respect to the valve structure orientation shown in fig1 and 4 . such transverse movement of the block member 68 causes the blocking part 74 thereof to impinge against the first valve seating area which is constituted by the surface of the insert 24 that surrounds the valve port 22a . in this fashion the o - ring 80 is forced against the valve seat constituted by this area of the surface of the insert 24 , thereby closing off the valve port 22a and preventing fluid flow therethrough . the force with which the o - ring is seated is determined by the upward force exerted by the stem member 38 urging the block member 68 upwardly which is translated by the engaged inclined surfaces 64b and 66b into a transverse force of the o - ring against the valve seat . this transverse force , ultimately dependent upon the force of the spring 48 which provides the upward bias of the shaft member 38 , is chosen sufficiently great to ensure an appropriate seal closing off the valve port 22a . referring again particularly to fig1 the second part 76 of the block member 68 is transversely movable within the block member by virtue of its being carried out within a cavity 84 therein . this part of the block member essentially constitutes a ring of material having an opening 86 therethrough which is in communication with the opening 72 through the remainder of the block member 68 . the part 76 includes a rim 76a thereon which engages a corresponding rim 68a , limiting the outward or leftward movement of the part 76 with reference to the orientation of parts as shown in fig1 . a spring 88 biases the part 76 in the leftward direction with reference to fig1 so that the part 76 bears against the adjacent surface of the insert 24 . an o - ring seal 90 is included in the part 76 forming a seal between that part and the adjacent surface of the insert 24 . in the position of the valve structure shown in fig1 the part 76 is positioned adjacent an upper section of the insert 24 which is termed herein a second wall portion of the valve structure . this second wall portion of the valve structure is designated 24a in fig1 . the surface of the insert 24 at the lower portion thereof designated 24b in fig1 is designated herein a first wall portion of the valve structure . as noted above , when the movable valve member 34 is in the position shown in fig1 and 4 , the valve structure is in the &# 34 ; valve closed &# 34 ; position with the part 74 blocking the valve port 22a . in this position of the valve structure , the block member 54 is in a first position . the o - rings 80 and 90 are seated against the adjacent surfaces of the insert 24 , the o - ring 90 seating with a light force determined by the force of the spring 88 while the o - ring 80 is seated with a greater force determined by the upward force exerted by spring 48 . assume now that the stem member 38 is moved downwardly so that the valve structure is to be placed within the &# 34 ; valve open &# 34 ; position . refer to fig1 and 5 together . fig5 shows the intermediate position of the valve structure in which the stem member 38 has moved downwardly . in the initial downward movement of the stem member 38 from the position of the valve structure shown in fig4 the enlarged end 38a of the stem member moves downwardly against a spring 92 contained within the cavity 70 of the block member 68 . this compression of the spring 92 and the biasing action of springs 73 ( fig8 ) cause relative longitudinal movement between the block members 54 and 68 , as well as transverse movement . in particular , the block members move relatively along the mating inclined surfaces 64b and 66b until the inclined surfaces 64a and 66a mate as shown in fig5 . thus the block member 68 moves to the right with respect to the orientation of parts shown in fig1 and 5 , moving the o - rings 80 and 90 out of engagement with the surface of the insert 24 . in the initial downward movement of the stem member 38 , the movement of parts is such that the block member 68 moves to the right and slightly downwardly until all inclined surfaces 64a , 66a , and 64b , 66b are engaging . further downward movement of the stem member causes downward movement of the blocks 54 and 68 together to the intermediate position shown in fig5 . the stem member 38 moves downwardly still further until an adjustable stop 94 positioned at the bottom of the block member 54 engages the bottom surface of the lower housing 22 . the stop 94 is adjusted for proper positioning of the valve parts with respect to the port 22a . a slight further downward movement of the stem member 38 causes a compression of the spring 92 urging the block member 68 slightly downwardly and to the left along the mating and engaging surfaces 64a and 66a . the block member 68 thus moves to the left as shown in fig6 until the o - ring 90 ( see fig1 ) is positioned against the portion of the insert 24 surrounding the valve port 22a and constituting a valve seat . in this position of the valve structure , the opening 86 through the part 76 is in fluid communication with the valve port 22a , and fluid can flow from the valve port and through this opening and through openings 72 and 62 outwardly through port 22b . the force with which the o - ring 90 seats against the valve seat is determined by the spring 88 . the force with which the o - ring 80 of the valve part 74 seats against the surface 24b of the insert 24 is determined by the downward force of the compressed spring 92 . it will be noted , then , that the valve part 74 seats in the two positions of the valve structure with different forces . in the upper position of the valve structure , shown in fig1 the seating force of the o - ring 80 is determined by the spring 48 ; in the lower position of the valve structure shown in fig6 the seating force of the o - ring 80 is determined by the spring 92 . in both positions of the valve structure , the seating force of the o - ring 90 is determined by the force of the spring 88 . in the lower most position of the valve structure as shown in fig6 a venting passage 100 provides for a venting of any trapped gases between the insert surface 24b and the surface of the blocking part 74 . it will be noted that the valve seat constituted by the surface of the insert 24 surrounding the valve port 22a is at all times protected by o - ring seals , i . e ., the o - ring 80 or the o - ring 90 . in all positions of the valve , i . e ., valve &# 34 ; open &# 34 ; and valve &# 34 ; closed &# 34 ;, the o - ring seals 80 and 90 are seated against surfaces of the insert 24 . thus the valve seat surrounding the port 22a as well as the o - ring seals are protected in all positions of the valve structure and the fluid passing through the valve is not permitted to harm these structures . fig9 to 11 show an alternative valve structure . reference numerals the same as those used in the preceding figures have been used in fig9 to 11 to designate components that are not changed . movable valve member 34 &# 39 ; is constituted by a first block member 102 that is shaped in the form of a yoke and which carries rollers 56 which move in channels 58 in lower valve housing 22 . the first block member 102 is shaped in the form of a yoke . a hole 104 is included in the top part of the yoke through which the lower portion of the stem member 38 passes . pins 106 attached to links 108 are pinned in corresponding holes 110 in the sides of the yoke - shaped block member 102 . the links 108 are similarly pinned to a part 112 . the part 112 carries o - ring seals 80 and 90 . positioned inside the yoke 102 is a block - shaped part 114 which includes slots 116 along the sides thereof that are aligned with the holes 110 in the yoke 102 . the part 114 also includes holes 120 in the sides thereof which are aligned with corresponding slots 122 in the yoke 102 . links 124 are pinned to the part 112 as are the links 108 and include pins 126 that are loosely received in the slots 122 in the yoke 102 . it will be noted that , with respect to the part 114 , the pins 106 are loosely received in the slots 116 , while the pins 126 are pinned within the holes 120 in that part . by this linkage of parts 102 , 114 and 112 , relative longitudinal movement between the yoke 102 and part 114 causes a corresponding transverse movement between the part 114 and the part 112 . refer again to fig9 and 10 . it will be noted that a spring 128 biases the yoke 102 and the part 114 away from each other . in the uppermost position of the movable valve member 34 &# 39 ; as shown in fig9 the stem member 38 is urging the part 114 upwardly , thereby compressing the spring 128 . in this position the yoke 102 is in its uppermost position within the housing 22 . the upward urging of the part 114 causes a corresponding urging to the left of the part 112 , by virtue of the links 124 which are urged toward a horizontal position from an inclined position . the force with which the o - ring 80 seats against the valve seat is determined by the upward force exerted by the stem member 38 . the force with which the o - ring 90 seats against the adjacent surface of the insert 24 is determined by the force of the spring 88 as in the embodiment of fig1 to 8 . as the stem member 38 is moved downwardly , initially the part 114 moves downwardly within the yoke 102 thereby moving the part 112 away from the insert 24 . thus the o - ring seals 80 and 90 move away from the insert 24 . further downward movement of the stem member 38 continues until the yoke 102 is seated against the bottom of the lower housing 22 . a slight further movement of the stem member 38 is permitted , compressing the spring 92 &# 39 ; and moving the part 114 slightly downwardly . in this case the link 108 is urged to its horizontal position , moving the part 112 toward the left to cause the o - ring seal to seat against the lower part of the insert 24 and the o - ring seal 90 to seat about the valve port 22a . again , the seating pressure of the o - ring seal 90 is determined by the spring 88 . the seating pressure of the o - ring seal 80 is determined by the compressive force of the spring 92 &# 39 ;. as will be noted , as in the case of the valve of fig1 to 8 , the structure of fig9 to 11 involve seating by the o - ring 80 at different pressures , while a uniform seating pressure is exerted by the o - ring seal 90 . again , the valve seat surrounding the port 22a is protected at all times by o - ring seals , and the o - rings seals are in turn protected at all time by virtue of their continuous contact with the insert 24 ( except for those times during which the valve is moving between its &# 34 ; open &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; closed &# 34 ; positions ). in the structures shown , only the port 22a is closed . although the valve parts 54 and 114 bear against the surface of the housing 22 adjacent the port 22b , in vacuum operations such an engagement of parts does not result in a seal . it will be appreciated that the above presently preferred embodiments of the invention are subject to modification . accordingly , the invention should be taken to be defined by the appended claims . | 5 |
a twelve key alphanumeric keyboard 20 in accordance with the principles relating to the present invention is shown in fig1 that resembles a standard telephone keypad but which enables a user to generate : each alphabetic character with two sequentially linked keystrokes and ; each numeric character with only one keystroke . the input of either a single keystroke or a linked pair of keystrokes is effected with a pause following either which is greater than the interval threshold utilized . this pause is recognized by a character - space recognizer , depicted as a char - space recognizer 30 in fig1 which utilizes either a set time value for the interval threshold utilized or a value generated by an adaptive predictive algorithm such as the one depicted in fig2 . a keystroke encoder 40 identifies the keys 10 , 15 stroked for a translator 50 which combines this identification with the recognition provided by the char - space recognizer 30 to generate the alphanumeric characters 12 , 11 represented on the keyboard 20 . to help the users type alphabetic characters 12 intuitively , ten sequentially linkable keys 10 are associated with the 26 alphabetic characters 12 as shown in fig1 wherein each of said alphabetic characters 12 is located between two sequentially linkable keys 10 and indicates that those two sequentially linkable keys 10 may be used in a linked sequence of keystrokes to generate that particular alphabetic character 12 . it is further preferred that the alphabetic character 12 immediately adjacent a particular sequentially linkable key 10 identifies the sequentially linkable key 10 which is stroked first in the linked pair of keystrokes generating that alphabetic character 12 . two function keys 15 having ‘*’ and ‘#’ symbols 13 directly thereupon are not utilized for the generation of either numeric characters 11 or alphabetic characters 12 and are reserved for the generation of functions . by means of illustrative example for the operation of the keyboard 20 depicted in fig1 the alphabetic character 12 ‘ a ’ is generated by first striking the key 10 with ‘ 1 ’ upon it and then the key 10 with ‘ 2 ’ upon the same in succession followed by a pause exceeding the threshold interval wherein the time elapsed between these two keystrokes is less than the threshold interval . similarly , the alphabetic character 12 ‘ b ’ is generated with the sequentially linked keystrokes 2 - 1 and the alphabetic character 12 ‘ e ’ is generated with the sequentially linked keystrokes 1 - 4 and the alphabetic character 12 ‘ f ’ is generated with the sequentially linked keystrokes 4 - 1 . during typing , each keystroke is encoded by the keystroke encoder 40 to the element series n e ( k ) that is then sent to the translator 50 . at the same time , the intervals between keystrokes are transmitted as interval space time series n s ( k ) to the char - space recognizer 30 . when an interval exceeds the threshold interval value the interval is recognized as a character - space , i . e . the space for a character , which is opposed to a full , blank , ‘ space ’ which is typically used between words , the recognizer 30 sends a segmentation signal s ( k ) to the translator 50 . based on the segmentation signal , the translator 50 generates a corresponding alphanumeric character 11 , 12 . there are two different methods which can be applied to implement the char - space recognizer 30 . one is a fixed interval threshold mode of recognition whereby the value of the interval threshold is set at a desired level . this mode of recognition will yield a segmentation signal when an interval between keystrokes exceeds the value given the set interval threshold . it is preferred that the set value of the interval threshold may be changed as desired . the second method traces the typer &# 39 ; s speed and automatically changes the value of the threshold interval utilized to adapt to the rate of typing . the char - space recognizer 30 in this case relies upon an adaptive predictive algorithm of the type depicted in fig2 . alternatively , the char - space recognizer 30 may simply rely upon a signal from a single function key 15 such as the one possessing ‘*’ thereupon which was reserved for generating a function . fig2 depicts a preferred layout for a keyboard 20 in accordance with the principles relating to the present invention in which six keys 10 , 15 are arranged in a hexagon . four sequentially linkable keys 10 are used for the generation of numeric characters 11 and two function keys 15 labeled ‘ cancel ’ and ‘ enter ’ are also provided . one keystroke is utilized to generate the numeric characters 11 ‘ 1 ’, ‘ 2 ’, ‘ 3 ’, and ‘ 4 ’. the numeric characters 11 shown in pairs between pairs of the four sequentially linkable keys 10 are generated in the manner described above for the alphabetic characters 12 shown between the sequentially linkable keys 10 depicted in fig1 . to generate the numeric character 11 ‘ 7 ’, for example , the sequentially linkable keys 10 labeled ‘ 1 ’ and ‘ 2 ’ are stroked in the linked sequence 1 - 2 and the numeric character 11 ‘ 8 ’ is generated with the linked sequence 2 - 1 . in the particular case depicted in fig2 the alternative mentioned above with regard to the char - space recognizer 30 is applicable ; a function key 15 , the one labeled ‘ enter ’, is relied upon for indicating completion of sequentially linked keystrokes as well as single keystrokes . however , the char - space recognizer 30 and the keystroke encoder 40 are virtually replaced by the function keys 15 labeled ‘ enter ’ and ‘ cancel ’ and only minimal microprocessor supplied memory , i . e . a register , is required for storage of keystrokes in addition to these two function keys 15 in order to produce the alphanumeric characters 11 , 12 output by the translator 50 in this case . the translator 50 is hence effectively reduced to the memory provided as governed by the ‘ enter ’ and ‘ cancel ’ function keys 15 which , respectively , cause transmission of the content of a register or clear the same . a seven key 10 , 15 keyboard 20 in accordance with the principles relating to the present invention is depicted in fig3 which is capable of generating alphanumeric characters 12 , 11 and is intended to enable the same ergonomically . six keys 10 , 15 in a hexagonal pattern surround a central ‘ space ’ key 10 each labeled with a frequently typed alphabetic character 12 followed by a punctuation symbol 13 . a space , as typically effected with a space bar on a full size standard keyboard , and the frequently typed alphabetic characters 12 ‘ a ’, ‘ n ’, ‘ e ’, ‘ t ’, ‘ i ’, and ‘ m ’ are each generated with a single keystroke followed by a pause exceeding the threshold interval utilized . the ‘ enter ’ and ‘ shift ’ functions are generated , as are the numeric characters 11 ‘ 1 ’, ‘ 2 ’, ‘ 3 ’, ‘ 4 ’ with a repeated keystroke of the key 10 , 15 adjacent to the pertinent label followed by a pause . the alphanumeric characters 12 , 11 seen between these keys 10 , 15 are generated by sequentially linked pairs of keystrokes in the manner described previously . each punctuation mark depicted on these keys 10 , 15 is generated with use of the shift function whereby the key 10 , 15 labeled n * is struck twice followed by a pause and then the key 10 , 15 bearing the punctuation symbol 13 desired is struck once followed by a pause . it is also noted that the two keys 10 , 15 bearing ‘ a & amp ;’ and ‘ n *’ serve , as demonstrated in this case , as both sequentially linkable keys 10 and function keys 15 , that the function is obtained by a variation of sequentially linked keystrokes , namely a repeated striking of the same key 10 , 15 followed by a pause . fig4 depicts a keyboard 20 in accordance with the principles relating to the present invention which resembles a standard telephone keypad with twelve keys 10 , 15 arranged in three columns and four rows with the numeric characters 11 ‘ 1 ’-‘ 0 ’ arranged in the conventional manner and the alphabetic characters 12 ‘ a ’-‘ z ’ arranged alphabetically on and between sequentially linkable keys 10 . the two function keys 15 bearing the ‘*’ and ‘#’ symbols 13 are not utilized for sequentially linked keystrokes . one function key 15 , that labeled by the ‘*’ symbol 13 , for example , is utilized for a mode change between : ( a ) the generation of numeric characters 11 in one mode effected with single keystrokes requiring neither sequentially linked keystrokes nor the function provided by a char - space recognizer 30 and ; ( b ) the generation of alphabetic characters 12 in the other mode . the alphabetic characters 12 shown on the sequentially linkable keys 10 ; ‘ a ’, ‘ c ’, ‘ e ’, ‘ k ’, ‘ m ’, ‘ o ’, ‘ u ’, ‘ w ’, and ‘ y ’ are generated with single keystrokes in the alphabetic character 12 generation mode . in the same mode the other alphabetic characters 12 , each found between a pair of sequentially linkable keys 10 , are generated by sequentially linked pairs of keystrokes followed by a pause . because only one alphabetic character 12 is utilized between each pair of such keys 10 the order in which the pair of keystrokes is made needn &# 39 ; t matter . in other words , a ‘ b ’ may be generated by the sequentially linked keystrokes 1 - 2 or 2 - 1 and the letter ‘ g ’ generated by 1 - 5 , 5 - 1 , 2 - 4 , or 4 - 2 . a space is generated with a single keystroke striking the key 10 labeled ‘ 0 spc ’ while in the alphabetic character 12 generation mode . furthermore , the lower case alphabetic characters 12 ‘ a ’, ‘ c ’, ‘ e ’, ‘ k ’, ‘ m ’, ‘ o ’, ‘ u ’, ‘ w ’, and ‘ y ’ may be generated with single keystrokes and the upper case alphabetic characters 12 ‘ a ’, ‘ c ’, ‘ e ’, ‘ k ’, ‘ m ’, ‘ o ’, ‘ u ’, ‘ w ’, and ‘ y ’ are generated with repeated keystrokes of the same keys 10 . the other alphabetic characters 12 depicted between the keys 10 may yield upper and lower cases by reversing the sequence of linked keystrokes . for example , a ‘ b ’ may be generated with the sequentially linked keystrokes 1 - 2 while ‘ b ’ may be generated with the sequentially linked keystrokes 2 - 1 and ‘ z ’ generated with the sequentially linked keystrokes 8 - 0 while ‘ z ’ is generated with the sequentially linked keystrokes 0 - 8 . a similar embodiment of the principles relating to the present invention is depicted in fig5 wherein twelve keys 10 , 15 are arranged in a offset diamond pattern of five rows and operation is essentially the same as that discussed above with reference to fig4 except for two differences . first , it is noted that the alphabetic characters 12 shown on the keys 10 are different ; ‘ a ’, ‘ n ’, ‘ e ’, ‘ c ’, ‘ t ’, ‘ i ’, ‘ m ’, ‘ s ’, and ‘ o ’ are generated by a single keystroke because these letters are most frequently typed . this arrangement requires memorization but the optimum typing speed is increased . an average of 1 . 65 keystrokes is achieved with this arrangement . secondly , this arrangement is specially suitable for physically impaired persons because the space between two keys 10 in fig5 is greater than utilized in the keyboard 20 depicted in fig4 . the alphabetic character 12 ‘ r ’, for example is generated with the linked keystrokes 1 - 3 and the alphabetic character 12 ‘ l ’ with 1 - 6 only . fig6 shows a keyboard 20 in accordance with the principles relating to the present invention similar to the keyboard 20 represented in fig4 with the alphabetic characters 12 generated in the same manner . thirteen punctuation symbols 13 have been added , however , which are generated by repeated sequentially linked keystrokes of the sequentially linked keys 10 bearing the numeric characters 11 ‘ 1 ’-‘ 9 ’. repeated stroking of the key 10 , 15 labeled ‘ 0 ’ effects a backstroke which effectively deletes the previous character entry . a single stroke of this same key 10 in the alphabetic character 12 generation mode effects a space . the alphabetic characters 12 are , as in fig4 noted to be arranged alphabetically to facilitate operation without memorization . it is further noted that both upper and lower case alphabetic character 12 generation is not facilitated by the keyboard 20 depicted in fig6 . fig7 shows a keyboard 20 in accordance with the principles relating to the present invention similar to the keyboard 20 represented in fig6 with the numeric characters 11 , alphabetic characters 12 , and punctuation symbols 13 generated in the same manner along with the space and backspace being effected in the same manner . the alphabetic characters 12 are arranged , however , in a manner intended to facilitate an increased efficiency in the number of keystrokes necessary for typing text wherein the most frequently typed alphabetic characters 12 are generated with a single keystroke . fig8 shows a keyboard 20 in accordance with the principles relating to the present invention similar in configuration to the keyboard 20 represented in fig5 but with the numeric characters 11 , alphabetic characters 12 , and punctuation symbols 13 along with the space and backspace functions being generated in the same manner as the keyboards 20 discussed immediately above and depicted in fig6 & amp ; 7 , further generating the same thirteen punctuation symbols 13 in the same manner . fig9 shows a keyboard 20 in accordance with the principles relating to the present invention similar in configuration to the standard telephone keypad possessing twelve keys 10 , 15 in three columns and four rows bearing the conventional numeric characters 11 ‘ 1 ’-‘ 0 ’ and the ‘*’ and ‘#’ symbols 13 . the alphabetic characters 12 , however , are alphabetically grouped in a zone comprising the upper six keys 10 , with the punctuation symbols 13 grouped in a lower zone including the keys 10 bearing the numeric characters 11 ‘ 7 ’-‘ 0 ’. this arrangement is considered superior in facilitating intuitive learning . two alphabetic characters 12 are depicted on a single sequentially linkable key 10 and between horizontally and vertically adjacent sequentially linkable keys 10 . the alphabetic character 12 shown as larger and lower on a key 10 in fig9 is generated with a single keystroke , the other alphabetic characters 12 being generated with a repeated striking of the same key 10 and the alphabetic characters 12 between keys 10 are each generated with a sequentially linked pair of keystrokes in the manner described in relation to the keyboards 20 depicted in fig1 . the single punctuation symbols 13 depicted between pairs of horizontally and vertically adjacent keys 10 are generated with sequentially linked pairs of keystrokes without regard for which key 10 is struck first . for the purpose of more clearly distinguishing between these two types of sequentially linked keystrokes the last type mentioned is considered to be a ‘ bi - directional ’ sequentially linked keystroke while the other , used to generate alphabetic characters 12 in this case , is considered to be a ‘ uni - directional ’ sequentially linked keystroke . the particular case associated with fig9 moreover , as mentioned above , utilizes only bi - directional sequentially linked keystrokes which are between horizontally or vertically adjacent keys 10 for the generation of punctuation symbols 13 . the sequentially linked keystrokes made utilizing these keys 10 may hence be considered , for the purpose of providing clear distinction , to be ‘ rectilinear ’ as opposed to ‘ diagonal ’ sequentially linked keystrokes made utilizing keys 10 , 15 which are diagonally adjacent one another as in the keyboards 20 depicted in fig4 , & amp ; 7 . the keyboards 20 possessing a ‘ diamond ’ configuration with offset rows of keys 10 , such as those depicted in fig3 , & amp ; 8 , are considered to provide sequentially linked keystrokes which are both ‘ rectilinear ’ and ‘ diagonal ’ with horizontal links between keys 10 in the same row , vertical links between keys 10 in alternate rows , i . e . the same column , and diagonal links between pairs of keys 10 in adjacent rows . fig1 shows a keyboard 20 in accordance with the principles relating to the present invention with keys 10 arranged in a diamond configuration similar the keyboards 20 depicted in fig4 , & amp ; 7 but with the numeric characters 11 , alphabetic characters 12 , and punctuation symbols 13 along with the space and backspace functions being generated in the same manner as the keyboards 20 discussed immediately above and depicted in fig9 except that diagonal as well as rectilinear sequentially linked keystrokes are utilized for the generation of alphabetic characters 12 and the punctuation symbols 13 . fig1 shows a keyboard 20 in accordance with the principles relating to the present invention similar in configuration to the standard telephone keypad possessing twelve keys 10 , 15 in three columns and four rows bearing the conventional numeric characters 11 ‘ 1 ’-‘ 0 ’ and the ‘*’ and ‘#’ symbols 13 further possessing 29 additional punctuation symbols 13 as well as a full complement of 26 alphabetic characters 12 arranged alphabetically . uni - directional rectilinear and diagonal sequentially linked keystrokes are utilized for most of the alphabetic characters 12 and all of the punctuation symbols 13 . single strokes in the numeric mode generate numeric characters 11 and single strokes in the alphabetic mode generate some alphabetic characters 12 . repeated keystrokes are used for generating a backspace only . fig1 shows a keyboard 20 which operates in the same manner except that the arrangement of keys 10 , 15 is in a diamond configuration with offset rows and the alphabetic characters 12 most frequently used in typing are generated by one keystroke in the alphabetic mode . fig1 shows a keyboard 20 similar to that depicted in fig1 possessing 28 punctuation symbols 13 as well as a full complement of 26 alphabetic characters 12 arranged alphabetically which are additional to the standard numeric keypad used on telephones . in contrast to the operation required of the keyboards 20 depicted in fig9 & amp ; 10 repeated sequentially linked keystrokes of the same key 10 are not utilized . furthermore , both the alphabetic and symbolic characters 12 , 13 are grouped in upper and lower zones , similar to the arrangement utilized in upon the keyboard 20 depicted in fig9 & amp ; 10 . fig1 shows a keyboard 20 similar to that depicted in fig1 with regard to operation except that the keys 10 , 15 are arranged in a diamond pattern with offset rows . fig1 shows a keyboard 20 in accordance with the principles relating to the present invention which provides the full editing features including direction of a cursor about text viewed on a display screen typically found on a ‘ notebook ’ type computer with only twelve keys 10 , 15 which are arranged in a diamond pattern with offset rows . the symbolic characters 13 each peripherally located adjacent a particular key 10 , 15 , are generated by repeated keystrokes of that key 10 , 15 ; the functions ‘ tab ’, ‘ ctrl ’, ‘ alt ’, ‘ backspace ’, ‘ function ’, ‘ enter ’, ‘ caps lock ’, and ‘ esc ’, along with two punctuation marks 13 , lateral to the keys 10 bearing ‘ a ’ and ‘ n ’. the key 10 , 15 labeled ↑ shift above a solid arrow directed upward effects an alteration between upper case and lower case alphabetic character 12 generation modes with a single keystroke and the same key 10 , 15 effects an upward cursor movement in an arrow , i . e . cursor movement , mode . the arrow mode may be implemented with a repeated keystroke of the key 10 , 15 labeled ‘ m ’ with ‘ del ’, i . e . delete , underneath and ‘ function ’ shown peripherally adjacent . the key 10 labeled simply ‘ 1 !’ might have an adjacent function indication such as ‘ cursor ’ to indicate arrow mode which would allow the last key 10 , 15 to enable another function with repeated keystrokes . the most salient aspect with regard to operation of the keyboard 20 depicted in fig1 , as opposed to the keyboards 20 depicted in the preceding figures and discussed above , is the ability to direct cursor movement upon a screen displaying text . while the size of the screen upon a ‘ notebook ’ type computer is typically of restricted size in comparison with that utilized on a ‘ laptop ’ type computer which , in turn , is relatively restricted in size in comparison with a full size monitor typically utilized for a ‘ desktop ’ computer , the ability to navigate the text being typed enables more effective editing , review , and other abilities associated with word processing which are considered fundamental regardless of screen size . in order particularly to accommodate operation by persons with restricted motor capabilities the basic capabilities of the keyboard 20 depicted in fig1 are retained with a keyboard 20 possessing only ten keys 10 , 15 as depicted in fig1 in which the two central most keys 10 , 15 have been removed . fig1 shows a keyboard 20 with the essential capabilities typical to ‘ laptop ’ type computers in which thirteen keys 10 , 15 are arranged in a diamond pattern of three offset rows including a function key 15 . the alphabetic characters 12 are grouped together on the left hand side with those most frequently typed generated with a single keystroke and the numeric characters 11 are grouped together on the right hand side . fig1 shows a keyboard 20 in accordance with the principles relating to the present invention which provides the essential features typically found on a ‘ laptop ’ type computer with 16 keys 10 , 15 including a function key 15 arranged in a horizontally extended diamond pattern of three offset rows . the alphabetic characters 12 are generated with respect to upper and lower cases not with different modes of operation but with either single or sequentially linked bi - directional pairs of keystrokes as indicated for lower case and repeated single or sequentially linked bi - directional pairs of keystrokes for upper case alphabetic characters 12 . for example , a single keystroke upon the key 10 labeled ‘ a ’ generates the alphabetic character 12 ‘ a ’ while a repeated keystroke of the same key 10 generates ‘ a ’ and the sequentially linked pairs of keystrokes striking the keys 10 , 15 labeled ‘ a ’ and ‘ e ’ or ‘ e ’ and then ‘ a ’ generate the alphabetic character 12 ‘ q ’ while the repeated sequentially linked pairs of keystrokes striking the keys 10 , 15 labeled ‘ e ’ and ‘ a ’ or ‘ a ’ and then ‘ e ’ generates the alphabetic character 12 ‘ q ’. it is further remarked that numeric characters 11 are generated with sequentially linked unidirectional pairs of keystrokes as are many punctuation symbols 13 as indicated . the keyboard depicted in fig1 is similar to the keyboard depicted in fig1 in operation and arrangement of the keys 10 , 15 except that the numeric characters 11 are grouped along the top row of keys 10 , 15 and the alphabetic characters 12 are alphabetically arranged as shown . the keyboard depicted in fig2 is similar to the keyboard depicted in fig1 in operation and arrangement of the keys 10 , 15 except that the alphabetic characters 12 are grouped together in a zone on the left hand side and the punctuation and other punctuation symbols 13 are grouped together in a zone on the right hand side and the ‘ shift ’ key 10 , 15 is utilized for alternating between lower case and upper case modes of alphabetic character 12 generation . it is additionally mentioned that the keyboards 20 depicted in fig1 - 20 may be arranged in a circular pattern if desired for accommodation of the utilization of a circulating indication of the keys 10 , 15 to be stroked by means of an external switch . such an arrangement and auxiliary device are considered to be useful particularly by people who possess relatively severe physical disabilities and is discussed in detail below with regard to fig2 . it is further considered that a more conventional type of telephonic device lacks a display screen altogether and no means of visual feedback of text input is available and therefore a backspace function , among others associated with word processing capabilities , is of little practicality . with this in mind it is considered that an embodiment of the principles relating to the present invention otherwise similar to many of the keyboards 20 discussed above would have the key 10 , 15 labeled ‘ 0 ’ and ‘ spc ’ which generates a ‘ 0 ’ with a single keystroke and a space with a repeated keystroke would be essential and a backspace would not be essential for the input of text though a backspace would provide of means of deleting the last known character in the case that it is recognized immediately as a mistake . it is also commented that in the case of a communication device in accordance with the principles relating to the present invention lacking a display screen that it may be preferred to utilize a particular key for character recognition rather than a fixed or variable threshold interval recognized by the char - space recognizer 30 . using a keyboard of a type similar to the twelve key 10 , 15 keypad typical of conventional telephones it is recommended in this case to use the key 10 labeled ‘ 0 ’ as a function key 15 wherein a single stroke generates the numeric character 11 ‘ 0 ’ and a repeated stroke effects the entry of keystrokes associated with the sending of a segmentation signal . for an embodiment of the principles relating to the present invention utilizing a fixed threshold interval in conjunction with a char - space recognizer 30 it is recommended that a plurality of fixed values be made available . fixed threshold intervals of approximately 180 msec , 240 msec , 300 msec , and 360 msec are suggested as representing appropriate values for faster to slower typing speeds . it is strongly recommended that the user be able to select one of a plurality of such values for a fixed threshold . it is next considered that both the symbols 14 and the method for formulation of alphabetic characters 12 associated with the morse code might be applied to the principles relating to the present invention with a keyboard 20 such as that depicted in fig2 . the six sequentially linkable keys 10 are preferably arranged in a hexagon with appropriate spacing to enable efficient typing by physically impaired persons . typing with the use of only one hand is , in particular , facilitated . the average number of keystrokes required for all the alphabetic characters 12 is reduced to 1 . 77 . it is further unnecessary to maintain the difference in the length of a tone as providing a distinction between the ‘ dots ’ and ‘ dashes ’ required of true morse code transmission . as further seen in fig2 , the small alphabetic characters 12 shown , ‘ a ’, ‘ n ’, ‘ e ’, ‘ t ’, ‘ i ’, and ‘ m ’, adjacent a key 10 are generated with a single keystroke and the other alphabetic characters 12 shown as larger are generated with a uni - directional sequentially linked pair of keystrokes . an intuitive learning of the morse code is facilitated by locating the alphabetic characters 12 generated in accordance with the single and paired uses of the six basic morse code symbols 14 borne by the six keys 10 . for example , a large ‘ b ’ is seen proximate the key 10 bearing a ‘ dash dot ’ and is oriented in a manner to point to the key 10 bearing ‘ dot dot ’, indicating that the sequentially linked pair of keystrokes dash dot — dot dot will generate the alphabetic character 12 ‘ b ’. the reverse sequence , dot dot — dash dot generates the alphabetic character 12 ‘ f ’. for purposes of training an audio feedback may be provided so that an operator may focus upon the sound and rhythm of the symbolic characters 14 utilized by morse code . aside from the keyboards 20 fig1 & amp ; 21 are similar in representing similar operational schematics for the generation of alphanumeric characters 12 , 11 and punctuation symbols 13 . in accordance with the schematic seen in fig2 , each keystroke is encoded by the dot - dash encoder 70 into the tone element series t ( k ) which is input into the translator 50 . simultaneously , pauses between single and sequentially linked pairs of keystrokes are input as inter - keystroke silent time series n s ( k ) to the char - space recognizer 30 and output as a segmentation signal s ( k ) to the translator 50 which generates the corresponding ascii character . the three methods of implementing the recognition of a character entry discussed above are still applicable . for persons with no or relatively moderate physical handicaps the method of recognition utilizing an adaptive predictive algorithm has proven to be very useful . those who cannot maintain a relatively steady pause between entries will benefit from the use of a function key 15 dedicated to the recognition required . fig2 depicts a keyboard 20 in accordance with the principles relating to the present invention which provides four operation modes : morse , number , arrow , and mouse . morse is preferred as the default mode which may be changed with selection of mode desired effected by stroking the function key 15 adjacent the appropriate label once with return to the default mode , morse , being effected by a subsequent single stroke of the same key 15 . the morse mode of operation further preferably includes the additional code , as shown , provided by international morse code . the numeric characters 11 and punctuation and other symbolic characters 13 thus added are generated with three sequentially linked keystrokes in a pattern indicated by the directional arrows seen interiorly adjacent to the additional numeric characters 11 and punctuation symbols 13 which are located along the top and bottom edges of the keyboard 20 in six groups each relating to one of the six keys 10 , 15 disposed in the interior hexagonal pattern . the upper left hand group corresponds to the central key 10 , 15 centrally labeled with the morse code symbol 14 ‘ dot dash ’ while the upper right hand group corresponds to the central key 10 , 15 centrally labeled with the morse code symbol 14 dash dot . as an example , a dollar sign , ‘$’ is generated with the sequentially linked keystrokes dot dash — dot dash — dot . in the number mode the numeric characters 11 and punctuation symbol 13 ‘.’, i . e . a period , shown above the morse code symbol 14 and on the left upon each of the six central keys 10 , 15 are generated by means of a single stroke of that key 10 , 15 and the punctuation symbols 13 shown above the morse code symbol 14 and on the right upon each of the six central keys 10 , 15 such as ‘$’ on the dot key 10 , 15 are generated with repeated keystrokes of that same key 10 , 15 . furthermore , in the number mode , other numeric characters 11 and symbolic characters 13 shown in radially oriented pairs extending outward from an alphabetic character 12 are generated by means of a single and repeated strokes of the keys 10 , 15 labeled with the morse code symbols 14 when preceded by stroking the key 15 labeled ‘ shift ’. the symbols 13 ‘,’ for a comma and ‘\’ for a backslash shown in fig2 , for example , are generated by means of a single keystrokes of the keys 10 , 15 labeled with the morse code symbols 14 dot and dash , respectively , when preceded by stroking the key 15 labeled ‘ shift . the numeric character 11 or symbolic character 13 on the right of the pair , e . g . ‘& lt ;’ or ‘|’, is generated in the number mode with the repeated keystrokes preceded by stroking the key labeled ‘ shift ’. the number mode provides a far more efficient operation for the entering of numerical data in comparison with the number of keystrokes required for true morse code transmission ; less than half the number of keystrokes are required . operation in a word processing or more general computer screen assisted environment is facilitated by the arrow and mouse modes which enable two different means of locating a cursor upon a screen for the purpose of editing text and activating functions available upon the screen . the essential functions provided by these modes are represented both below the morse code symbol on each of the six central keys 10 , 15 and radially interior to certain alphabetic characters 12 . a further function key 15 with the label ‘ morse ⇄ num ’ seen below enables temporary changes in mode which will enable savings in keystrokes required in many instances . for example , a period desired while in morse mode will require the three sequentially linked keystrokes dot dash — dot dot — dot but if the key 10 , 15 labeled ‘ morse ⇄ num ’ is first struck once a single stroke of the key 10 , 15 labeled ‘ dot dot ’ will generate a period . it is further preferred that this mode change revert immediately back to the morse operation mode after input of a single character in number mode . it is also considered that , as mentioned earlier , a circulating indicator utilized in conjunction with an external switch may be utilized . operation with this addition employs what is called a scanning strategy for circulation among the keys 10 , 15 by which each may be selected and stroked with an external switch . for the keyboard 20 depicted in fig2 it is suggested that two scanning cycles be utilized , one for the central six keys 10 , 15 , and another for the peripherally located function keys 15 . in this case an additional key 15 may be utilized to provide a function alternating operation of the scanning strategy between the two circulations . this will enable operation with only one external switch 33 . it is further suggested that the circulating indicator comprise the sequential lighting of a dwell indicators 17 , 19 as discussed in detail with regard to fig2 below . a scanning strategy such as this is considered to be of use particularly by users possessing a physical or neurological disability restricting motor coordination or otherwise adversely affecting the full use of even one hand . fig2 depicts an interface suggested for utilization of the keyboard 20 depicted in fig2 in accordance with the principles relating to the present invention . in the lower half of the interface depicted therein one may see a primary computer jack 35 comprising a functional linkage for a primary computer which is labeled ‘ to computer ’, a standard keyboard jack 36 comprising a functional linkage to a standard keyboard for concurrent use of another , standard computer type , keyboard which is labeled ‘ keyboard shared ’, and a morse keyboard jack 37 labeled ‘ morse code output ’ comprising a functional linkage for a keyboard 20 in accordance with the principles relating to the present invention , particularly a keyboard 20 such as that depicted in fig2 & amp ; 27 utilizing sequentially linkable keys 10 labeled with morse code symbols 14 . in the upper panel of the interface depicted in fig2 a recognition mode selector 31 is seen which enables selection of ‘ adaptive ’, ‘ manual ’ and ‘ fixed ’ modes . these modes utilize : ( 1 ) an adaptive predictive algorithm for automatic and adaptive setting of the value of the threshold interval utilized in character recognition ; ( 2 ) manual character recognition with the stroking of a given key 15 ; ( 3 ) setting of a fixed value for the threshold interval utilized with the interval selector 32 labeled ‘ min char - space ’ which is represented as a dial marked with values in seconds from 0 . 12 minimum to 5 maximum . in the same panel one may see a set of six functional linkages for an external switch 33 each labeled with a morse code symbol 14 with the label ‘ external switch ’ therebetween which enable control of the central six keys 10 , 15 in fig2 with the use of an external switch 33 which is intended to be used with a scanning strategy for selecting keystrokes as discussed below in further detail in relation to fig2 . further present in the upper panel of the interface depicted in fig2 is an annunciator 27 labeled ‘ dot - dash tone ’ below which are seen two control buttons 29 with ‘ volume ’ therebetween which enables audio feedback for the user . operation of the system in accordance with the principles relating to the present invention utilizing a keyboard 20 such as that depicted in fig2 and the interface depicted in fig2 may be pursued as follows . first a user selects one of the three modes of character recognition : adaptive , manual , or fixed . the manual mode is intended for persons who cannot utilize the other two modes and is facilitated by the key 15 labeled ‘ char - space ’ in fig2 wherein the stroking of the said key 15 in the manual mode causes generation of a segmentation signal as shown in fig2 in recognition of the previous keystroke ( s ) as a character . in the fixed mode users can select the threshold interval utilized in character recognition with the interval selector 32 depicted in the upper half of fig2 from among sixteen set values . in the adaptive mode the threshold interval automatically adapts to the user &# 39 ; s typing speed , however , an initial value must be selected for initialization of the adaptive predictive algorithm utilized . fig2 depicts a preferred adaptive predictive algorithm for utilization by the char - space recognizer 30 in adaptive character recognition in accordance with the principles relating to the present invention . in order to analyze a users ’ unstable inter - keystroke space time series , two least mean square ( lms ) predictors are used to predict the unit time period , ( i . e . the interval between keystrokes ), and the difference between link - space and character - space intervals . following is a description of the adaptive predictive algorithm suggested . the input signal of the unit - time - period lms predictor is given as x u ( k ) = f u ( n s ( k ) ) if n s ( k ) & lt ; n smax = f u ( n smax ) if n s ( k ) ≥ n smax ( 1 ) where n smax is the upper limit of n s ( k ); and the transfer function ƒ u (·) is defined by f u ( n s ( k ) ) = n s ( k ) if s ( k ) = a ‘ link space ’ = n s ( k ) / β ( k ) if s ( k ) = a ‘ character space ’ ( 2 ) where s ( k ) is the output of the character - space decision rule at iteration k , β ( k ) = r ( k ) if r ( k ) & lt ; β max = β max if r ( k ) ≥ β max wherein r ( k ) defined by equation ( 7 ) below is the predicted unstable inter - keystroke space ratio . then , the predicted unit time period u ( k ) at iteration k can be obtained from the output of the predictor , that is for the time - length - difference lms predictor , the input signal is given as x d ( k ) = f d ( n s ( k ) ) if n s ( k ) & lt ; n smax = f d ( n smax ) if n s ( k ) ≥ n smax ( 4 ) wherein the transfer function ƒ d (·) is defined by f d ( n s ( k ) ) = d ( k ) + u ( k ) - n s ( k ) if s ( k ) = a ‘ link - space ’ = n s ( k ) - u ( k ) if s ( k ) = a ‘ character - space ’ ( 5 ) where d ( k ) denotes the predicted difference between link - space and character - space intervals at iteration k and is given by the output of the predictor as follows according to u ( k ) at equation ( 3 ) and d ( k ) at equation ( 6 ), the unstable inter - keystroke space ratio can be predicted by and the adaptive threshold for inter - keystroke space time series at iteration k is expressed as the character - space decision rule is accordingly summarized as s ( k ) = a ‘ link space ’ if n s ( k ) ≤ h ( k ) = a ‘ character space ’ if n s ( k ) & gt ; h ( k ) . ( 9 ) as a result , h ( k ) is the adaptive threshold to distinguish between a ‘ link - space ’ and a ‘ character - space ’, and its value keeps updating by tracing the user &# 39 ; s speed using the adaptive predictive algorithm discussed above . an adaptive recognition method utilizing the adaptive predictive algorithm discussed above is considered superior to certain other methods previously proposed by the present applicant in certain journals : i . e . “ a morse - coded recognition system with lms and matching algorithms for persons with disabilities ”, ching - hsiang shih and ching - hsing luo , international journal of medical infornatics , vol . 44 : 193 , p . 202 , 1997 ; “ chinese morse code communication auxiliary system for the disabled ”, ching - hsing luo , ching - hsiang shih , and ching - tang shih , chinese journal of medical and biological engineering in taiwan , vol . 16 , no . 2 : 175 , p . 186 , 1996 ; “ adaptive morse - coded single - switch communication system for the disabled ”, ching - hsing luo and ching - hsiang shih , international journal of biomedical computing , 41 : 99 , p . 106 , 1996 . detailed descriptions may be found in the above referenced articles . it is generally considered that if a person can keep a stable typing speed normally the chance for incorrect recognition is very little for the adaptive or fixed recognition methods . use of a keyboard 20 in accordance with the principles relating to the present invention by someone able to maintain a stable typing speed is therefore considered to be of obvious practicality . for many disabled people , however , maintenance of a stable typing speed is often very difficult and fixed recognition becomes impractical . use of the adaptive recognition operation by a person so disabled has been shown , however , to be practical . following is a description of a case study performed through agency of the applicant . for the experiment , the six key 10 , 15 keyboard 20 depicted in fig2 was utilized to determine improvement in morse code test typing performance of a fifteen year old boy diagnosed as having mild - quadriparesis - athetoid cerebral palsy with noted fluctuating tone and predominate hypertonias of the bilateral upper limbs . the subject &# 39 ; s voluntary movements were accessible , but there was an initial delay before a movement was begun . his involuntary movement was presented with fast and writhing patterns , which were increased by excitement . the effort to make a voluntary movement partially disrupted his willed movement making it uncoordinated . the subject attended a special class for students with developmental disabilities at a junior high school . reports in his school cumulative records indicated that he showed a readiness for learning at the grade - three level , ( equivalent to grade level nine in north america ), so most of the time he attended a grade three class with normal students at the same school . in elementary school , he had been introduced to the computer and early learning software . learning to use a standard keyboard was tiring and unsuccessful due to his athetosis fine motor skills . long afterward , he received four months of morse code typing training with a single telegraph type switch using the thumb of his left hand . his mean typing rate was 3 . 39 words per minute ( wpm ) with an average 84 . 6 % recognition rate by an automatic recognition device . the training program using the keyboard 20 represented in fig2 was conducted eight months after his single - switch training . during the training period , an interactive training system with immediate morse alphabet and dot - dash tone feedback was employed to provide the subject with means for developing a stable and fast typing training . the training system was interfaced with the keyboard 20 . to provide typing rate training , the threshold interval could be set at 240 , 270 , 300 , 360 , 420 , or 480 milliseconds . the pause interval between two adjacent morse alphabetic characters had to be kept longer than the selected threshold interval so that the subject could learn to type both stable sequentially linked keystrokes and pause intervals . because of the poor coordination of the subject &# 39 ; s right hand he preferred practicing with his left hand only . before training the subject was given the layout of the keyboard as shown in fig2 and a half - hour practice lesson to become familiar with the six key 10 , 15 typing method as described above . the recording of baseline data was executed following the practice lesson . after that the training program began with a ten minute learning period in the use of the training system , followed by a six session training program . each session took one hour during which the subject practiced typing the 26 morse alphabetic characters 12 in ascending order and a 100 alphabetic character 12 sentence three times . the training program continued for three weeks . the present character - space interval for the adaptive recognition was set at 480 ms in the first session and reduced step by step to 240 ms in the final session . during the third session , the subject was encouraged to practice without looking at the keyboard 20 . he achieved intuitive typing with maximum comfort and ease after the fifth session . the tests were given during the baseline data recording period and one day after each training session . the 100 alphabetic character 12 sentence was used for the test . each test was repeated three times . the subject &# 39 ; s typing rate was calculated in wpm , with five alphabetic characters 12 considered as one word . the adaptive threshold char - space recognizer 30 as shown in fig2 was utilized to measure the recognition rate of the typing . each measurement was calculated as an average of the three repeated tests in each test period . fig2 shows the improvement in the subject &# 39 ; s typing rate versus training sessions . the subject &# 39 ; s typing rate increased gradually from a baseline 5 . 04 wpm to a final 8 . 4 wpm using the palm of his left hand . a speed drop at the third session occurred mainly because the subject tried at first to type without looking at the keyboard 20 . it was apparent that the subject had also improved in the rate of recognition which increased from a baseline of 97 . 7 % to a final 99 . 7 % as shown in fig2 . fig2 depicts a practice keyboard 20 similar in operation to the keyboard 20 depicted in fig2 with six centrally located keys 10 , 15 which , in contrast to the keys 10 , 15 depicted in fig2 , can be adjusted with regard to proximity with each other . each of the six centrally located keys 10 , 15 seen in fig2 can be radially displaced within a certain range as provided by slots 16 into which each key is slidably mounted . also , the central area 21 , as indicated by an oval dotted line , possesses a lower elevation or height with respect to the surrounding keyboard 20 which compensates for the height of the six central keys 10 , 15 so that the user need not lift their hands uncomfortably while typing . twelve additional function keys 15 are located in the upper corners and along the bottom of the keyboard 20 . an annunciator 27 is also located along the bottom in the middle and a lcd ( liquid crystal diode ) display 22 is seen in the middle of the top of the keyboard 20 and which is intended to be used in training when the keyboard 20 is not connected to a computer and monitor . the annunciator 27 provides the audio feedback mentioned above with regard to learning the morse code . a scanning strategy for circulation among all the keys 10 , 15 as mentioned earlier is similarly facilitated by the use of leds ( light emitting diodes ) as dwell indicators 17 , 19 each associated with one key 10 , 15 . each dwell indicator 17 , 19 indicates that , when lit , closing of an external switch will effect a stroking of that key . two circulation paths or scanning strategies are further recommended : circulation among the six central keys 10 , 15 with a dwell at each indicated by the central dwell indicators 17 each located on a radial axis associated with each of the central six keys 10 , 15 ; and circulation among the twelve function keys 15 with a dwell at each indicated by the peripheral dwell indicators 19 each located proximate one of the peripherally located function keys 15 . alternation between the two different circulation paths is effected with closing of the external switch when indicated by a path indicator 18 which is shown as an led located above the annunciator 27 which is lit in sequence during scanning in either circulation path . it is further noted with regard to the practice keyboard 20 depicted in fig2 that the lower left and right areas upon the same are free of keys . it is recommended that these areas comprise substantially smooth and uninterrupted surfaces to provide the user with a suitable platform 23 for resting the heel of their hands while typing . it is considered that the layout of the keys 10 , 15 in the manner depicted in fig2 and described above including the provision of these two platforms 23 and grouping of the keys 10 , 15 into central and peripheral dispositions achieves an ergonomic keyboard 20 in accordance with the principles relating to the present invention which is effective in combatting fatigue for many users . it is also emphasized that while the generation of alphanumeric characters 12 , 11 and punctuation symbols 13 in the manner described with the keyboard 20 depicted in fig2 is specifically intended for the keyboard depicted in fig2 many of the features described directly above in association with the keyboard depicted in fig2 may be applied to the keyboards 20 depicted in the other figures and discussed earlier . the use of dwell indicators 17 , 19 in conjunction with an external switching device is applicable to all the embodiments in accordance with the principles relating to the present invention as is the use of an lcd display 22 . the use of an annunciator 27 is considered to be especially applicable to those keyboards 20 utilizing six keys 10 , 15 labeled with morse symbols 14 . the ergonomic features pertaining to the keyboard 20 depicted in fig2 are further considered to be applicable to the other keyboards 20 discussed earlier . | 7 |
in a preferred form of the invention , the polyethylenes of the invention are derived from ethylene and up to 15 weight percent of 1 - hexene . preferably , the relation between the modulus and the dart impact strength complies with the formula : where “ e ” is the base napierian logarithm and m is the averaged modulus in psi and dis is the dart impact strength of the polymer in g / mil . advantageously , the polymer may have either one or combination of the following features : the density is from 0 . 915 to 0 . 927 g / ml , the mi is from 0 . 3 to 10 and cdbi is at least 75 %. most preferred is a dis is from 120 to 1000 g / mil , especially less than 800 and more than 150 g / mil . preferably the mw / mn by gpc is from 2 . 5 to 5 . 5 as to the process conditions , the overall conditions described in u . s . pat . no . 08 / 306 , 055 ( wo 96 / 08520 ), incorporated by reference herein , can be adopted . inventors believe that a combination of particular process conditions helps to make the polyethylene of the invention . in particular , it is thought desirable to use a catalyst system in which the metallocene has a pair of bridged cyclopentadienyl groups , preferably with the bridge consisting of a single carbon , germanium or silicon atom so as to provide an open site on the catalytically active cation . the activator may be methyl alumoxane as described in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 324 , 800 ; 5 , 580 , 939 ; and 5 , 633 , 394 , incorporated by reference herein , ( ep - 129368 ) or a noncoordinated anion as described in u . s . patent application ser . no . 08 / 133 , 480 , incorporated by reference herein , ( ep - 277004 ). it also thought desirable that there should be substantially no scavengers which may interfere with the reaction between the vinyl end unsaturation of polymers formed and the open active site on the cation . by the statement “ substantially no scavengers ” and “ substantial devoid or free of lewis acid scavengers ”, it is meant that there should be less than 100 ppm by weight of such scavengers present in the feed gas , or preferably , no intentionally added scavenger , e . g ., an aluminum alkyl scavenger , other than that which may be present on the support . the conditions optimal for the production of the polyethylene of the invention also require steady state polymerization conditions which are not likely to be provided by batch reactions in which the amounts of catalyst poisons can vary and where the concentration of the comonomer may vary in the production of the batch . overall continuous gas phase process for the polymerization of a polyethylene may thus comprise : continuously circulating a feed gas stream containing monomer and inerts to thereby fluidize and agitate a bed of polymer particles , adding metallocene catalyst to the bed and removing polymer particles in which : a ) the catalyst comprises at least one bridged bis cyclopentadienyl transition metal and an alumoxane activator on a common or separate porous support ; b ) the feed gas is substantially devoid of a lewis acidic scavenger and wherein any lewis acidic scavenger is preferably present in an amount less than 100 wt . ppm of the feed gas ; the temperature in the bed is no more than 20 ° c . less than the polymer melting temperature as determined by dsc , at a ethylene partial pressure in excess of 60 pounds per square inch absolute ( 414 kpaa ), and d ) the removed polymer particles have an ash content of transition metal of less than 500 wt . ppm , the mi is less than 10 , the mir is at least 35 with the polymer having substantially no detectable chain end unsaturation as determined by hnmr by the statement that the polymer has substantially no detectable end chain unsaturation , it is meant that the polymer has vinyl unsaturation of less than 0 . 1 vinyl groups per 1000 carbon atoms in the polymer , e . g ., less than 0 . 05 vinyl groups per 1000 carbon atoms , e . g ., 0 . 01 vinyl groups per 1000 carbon atoms or less . the process aims to provide the polyethylene of the invention throughout the use of a single catalyst and the process does not depend on the interaction of bridged and unbridged species . preferably the catalyst is substantially devoid of a metallocene having a pair of pi bonded ligands ( e . g ., cyclopentadienyl compounds ) which are not connected through a covalent bridge , in other words , no such metallocene is intentionally added to the catalyst , or preferably , no such metallocene can be identified in such catalyst , and the process uses substantially a single metallocene species comprising a pair of pi bonded ligands at least one of which has a structure with at least two cyclic fused rings ( e . g ., indenyl rings ). best results may be obtained by using a substantially single metallocene species comprising a monoatom silicon bridge connecting two polynuclear ligands pi bonded to the transition metal atom . the catalyst is preferably supported on silica with the catalyst homogeneously distributed in the silica pores . preferably , fairly small amounts of methyl alumoxane should be used , such as amounts giving an al to transition metal ratio of from 400 to 30 , and especially of from 200 to 50 . in order to obtain a desired melt index ratio , the molar ratio of ethylene and comonomer can be varied , as can concentration of the comonomer . control of the temperature can help control the mi . overall monomer partial pressures may be used which correspond to conventional practice for gas phase polymerization of lldpe . the parameters used in the claims and the examples are defined as follows melt index ratio : this is ratio of 121 over 12 as determined by astm d - 1238 . mw , mn and mw / mn : determined by gpc using a dri ( differential refraction index ) detector . gel permeation chromatography ( gpc ) is performed on a waters 150c gpc instrument with dri detectors . gpc columns are calibrated by running a series of narrow polystyrene standards . molecular weights of polymers other than polystyrenes are conventionally calculated by using mark houwink coefficients for the polymer in question . cdbi is determined as set out in column 7 and 8 of w09303093 as well as in wild et al , j . poly . sci ., poly . phys . ed ., vol . 20 , p . 441 ( 1982 ) and u . s . pat . no . 5 , 008 , 204 , which are incorporated by reference herein . scb ( short chain branching ): this was determined by hnmr ( hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance ) with data collected at 500 mhz . spectra were referenced by setting the polymer backbone signal to 1 . 347 ppm . methyl group contents in ethylene 1 - olefin copolymers were calculated from the hnmr spectrum using the following formula : where i ch3 is the normalized methyl signal area in the region between 0 . 88 and 1 . 05 ppm and i 0 . 5 - 2 . 1 ppm the area between 0 . 50 and 2 . 10 ppm . the amount of methyl groups will correspond to the number of short chain branches in the polymer assuming that the short chain branches contain 1 methyl (— ch 3 ) group and that all methyl groups are a result of short chain branching . the same nmr method can be used to determine vinyl end unsaturation . the “ averaged modulus ” is the sum of the 1 % secant modulus in the machine direction and in the transverse direction divided by two . granular bulk density : the granular polymer particles are poured via a ⅞ ′ diameter funnel into a fixed volume cylinder of 400 ml . the bulk density is measured as the weight of resin divided by 400 ml to give a value in g / ml . particle size : the particle size is measured by determining the weight of material collected on a series of u . s . standard sieves and determining the weight average particle size in micrometers based on the sieve series used . extractability : determined according to fda regulations 21cfr 177 . 1520 ( d ) ( 3 ) ( ii ). a solution of 1300 ml of 30 wt % alumoxane ( mao ) in toluene as determined by reference to the total al content , which may include unhydrolyzed tma was charged to a two gallon ( 7 . 57 liter ), jacketed glass - walled reactor , equipped with a helical ribbon blender and an auger - type shaft . 2080 ml of toluene was added and stirred . a suspension of 31 . 5 g dimethylsilyl - bis -( tetrahydroindenyl ) zirconium dichloride ( me 2 si ( h 4 ind ) 2 zrcl 2 ) in 320 ml of toluene purchased from albemarle labs , was cannulated to the reactor . an additional bottle of dry toluene ( 250 ml ) was used to rinse solid metallocene crystals into the reactor by cannula under nitrogen pressure . a color change from colorless to yellow / orange was noted upon addition of the metallocene to the mao solution . the mixture was allowed to stir at 69 ° f . ( 20 . 6 ° c .) for one hour , before being transferred to a four - liter erlenmeyer flask under nitrogen . silica ( 1040 g , davison ms 948 , 1 . 65 ml / g pore volume was charged to the reactor . half of the solution from the 4 liter erlenmeyer flask was then transferred back to the 2 gallon ( 7 . 57 liter ) stirred glass reactor . the reaction temperature rose from 70 ° f . ( 21 . 1 ° c .) to 100 ° f . ( 37 . 8 ° c .) in a five minute exotherm . the balance of the solution in the 4 liter erlenmeyer was subsequently added back to the glass reactor , and stirred twenty minutes . then , toluene was added ( 273 ml , 238 g ) to dilute the active catalyst slurry , and stirred an additional twenty - five minutes . antistat as - 990 , a surface modifier made from ethoxylated stearylamine sold by witco chemical corp . ( 7 g in 73 ml toluene ) was cannulated to the reactor and the slurry mixed for thirty minutes . removal of solvent commenced by reducing pressure to less than 18 inches of mercury ( 457 mmhg ) while feeding a small stream of nitrogen into the bottom of the reactor and raising the temperature from 74 ° f . ( 23 . 3 ° c .) to 142 ° f . ( 61 . 1 ° c .) over a period of one hour . then five additional hours of drying at 142 ° f . ( 61 . 1 ° c .) to 152 ° f . ( 66 . 7 ° c .) and vacuum which ranged from 5 inches to 22 inches hg ( 127 to 559 mmhg ) were used to dry the support and yield 1709 . 0 g of free - flowing active supported catalyst material . head space gas chromatograph ( hsgc ) measurements showed 13 , 000 weight parts per million ( 1 . 3 wt %) of residual toluene . a second drying step under stronger vacuum conditions , resulted in hsgc analysis measurement of residual toluene at 0 . 18 %. elemental analysis showed 0 . 40 % zr , 10 . 75 % al , 30 . 89 % si , 0 . 27 % cl , 9 . 26 % c , 2 . 05 % h ( all percentages shown herein are weight percent ). a solution of 1125 ml of 30 wt % alumoxane ( mao ) in toluene as determined by reference to the total al content which may include unhydrolyzed tma was charged to a two gallon ( 7 . 57 liter ), jacketed glass - walled reactor , equipped with a helical ribbon blender and an auger - type shaft . 1800 ml of toluene was added and stirred . a suspension of 30 . 8 g dimethylsilyl - bis -( tetrahydroindenyl ) zirconium dichloride ( me 2 si ( h 4 ind ) 2 zrcl 2 ) in 320 ml of toluene purchased from albemarle labs , was cannulated into the reactor . an additional 150 ml of toluene was used to rinse solid metallocene crystals into the reactor by cannula under nitrogen pressure . a color change from colorless to yellow / orange was noted upon addition of the metallocene to the mao solution . the mixture was allowed to stir at 69 ° f . ( 20 . 6 ° c .) for one hour , before being transferred to a four - liter erlenmeyer flask under nitrogen . silica ( 899 g , davison ms 948 , 1 . 65 ml / g pore volume , v .) was charged to the reactor . half of the solution from the 4 l erlenmeyer flask was then transferred back to the 2 gallon ( 7 . 57 liter ) stirred glass reactor . the reaction temperature rose from 70 ° f . ( 21 . 1 ° c .) to 100 ° f . ( 37 . 8 ° c .) in a five minute exotherm . the balance of the solution in the 4 liter erlenmeyer was subsequently added back to the glass reactor , and stirred twenty minutes . then , toluene was added ( 273 ml , 238 g ) to dilute the active catalyst slurry , and stirred an additional twenty - five minutes . antistat as - 990 was cannulated to the reactor and the slurry mixed for thirty minutes . removal of solvent commenced by reducing pressure to less than 18 inches of mercury ( 457 mmhg ) while feeding a small stream of nitrogen into the bottom of the reactor and raising the temperature from 74 ° f . ( 23 . 3 ° c .) to 142 ° f . ( 61 . 1 ° c .) over a period of one hour . then nine and a half additional hours of drying at 142 ° f . ( 61 . 1 ° c .) to 152 ° f . ( 66 . 7 ° c .) at a vacuum which ranged from 5 inches to 22 inches hg ( 177 to 559 mmhg ) were used to dry the support and yield 1291 . 4 g of free - flowing active supported catalyst material . the polymerization was conducted in a continuous gas phase fluidized bed reactor having a 16 . 5 inch ( 41 . 9 cm ) diameter with a bed height of approximately 12 feet ( 3 . 6 m ). the fluidized bed is made up of polymer granules . the gaseous feed streams of ethylene and hydrogen together with liquid comonomer were mixed together in a mixing tee arrangement and introduced below the reactor bed into the recycle gas line . the individual flow rates of ethylene , hydrogen and comonomer were controlled to maintain fixed composition targets . the ethylene concentration was controlled to maintain a constant ethylene partial pressure . the hydrogen was controlled to maintain a constant hydrogen to ethylene mole ratio . the concentration of all the gases were measured by an on - line gas chromatograph to ensure relatively constant composition in the recycle gas stream . the solid catalyst was injected directly into the fluidized bed using purified nitrogen as a carrier . its rate of injection was adjusted to maintain a constant production rate of the polymer . the reacting bed of growing polymer particles is maintained in a fluidized state by the continuous flow of the make up feed and recycle gas through the reaction zone . a superficial gas velocity of 1 - 3 ft / sec ( 0 . 3 to 0 . 9 m / sec ) was used to achieve this . the reactor was operated at a total pressure of 300 psig ( 2068 kpa gauge ). to maintain a constant reactor temperature , the temperature of the recycle gas is continuously adjusted up or down to accommodate any changes in the rate of heat generation due to the polymerization . the fluidized bed was maintained at a constant height by withdrawing a portion of the bed at a rate equal to the rate of formation of particulate product . the product is removed semi - continuously via a series of valves into a fixed volume chamber , which is simultaneously vented back to the reactor . this allows for highly efficient removal of the product , while at the same time recycling a large portion of the unreacted gases back to the reactor . this product is purged to remove entrained hydrocarbons and treated with a small stream of humidified nitrogen to deactivate any trace quantities of residual catalyst and cocatalyst . a larger number of further tests were performed with different samples made according to the invention in a similar manner and the results are shown in the drawing 1 . the function in the claim 1 is shown as a solid line . using the indications and guidance provided in the specification concerning catalyst selection , catalyst support and gas phase process operation it is possible to produce ethylene polymers as specified in the claims which are simultaneously optically clear ; relatively easy to make and to process and have a high strength as measured by the dart impact strength . the films can be used for heavy duty bags , shrink film , agricultural film , particularly which are down - gauged such as garbage and shopping bags with a thickness of from 0 . 5 to 7 mil . the films can be produced by blow extrusion , cast extrusion , co - extrusion and be incorporated also in laminated structures . | 8 |
fig1 is a diagrammatic showing of an injection blow molding machine having a stationary main frame 10 , portions of which are shown at the upper and lower parts of the figure , it being understood that this frame is usually of integral construction . in accordance with the usual type of blow molding machine , there is an indexing or rotating head 12 which rotates about an axis 14 with intermittent angular movement to shift core rods 16 angularly from one operational station to the next . the core rods 16 extend from different faces around the perimeter of the head 12 , and they move up and down with the head 12 to lift the core rods clear of the mold cavities when the molds are open to permit movement of the core rods to the next operational station . fig1 shows an injection station 18 with a mold made in two parts , including a fixed lower part 20 and a movable upper part 22 . the lower mold part 20 is secured to the frame 10 , and the upper mold part 22 is connected with a movable support 24 at the lower end of a piston rod 26 which is a part of a cylinder and piston motor 28 that opens and closes the injection mold . a mold cavity 30 receives the end portion of the core rod 16 and a plastic parison is injected into the cavity 20 and fills the space in the cavity around the core rod , as indicated by the plastic 32 . in conventional machines , the movable mold part 22 or the support 24 have guide means , and there is apparatus for injecting the plastic into the mold cavity 30 , but such apparatus is well known and no illustration or description of it is necessary for a complete understanding of this invention . as illustrated , the injection mold station 18 , and mold parts 20 & amp ; 22 , may be considered as a conventional machine , but it is illustrated in order to bring out the fact that the novel construction of a blow mold station 34 can also be used at the injection mold station 18 . at the blow mold station 34 , there is a fixed mold part 36 , and a movable mold part 38 which is moved toward and from the fixed part 36 to close and open the mold cavity 40 by a cylinder and piston motor 42 . this cylinder and piston motor is representative of motor - operated means for opening and closing the mold . a support 44 is attached to the upper mold part 38 as an integral part of the movable mold section and the motor 42 has a piston rod 46 which is secured to the support 44 . in the construction illustrated , the center of pressure in the cavity 40 is on the line x -- x . if the mold parts 36 and 38 were replaced by other mold parts having a longer cavity , the center of pressure might be shifted as far to the left as the line y -- y . the support for this longer mold would have a unit similar to the support 44 , but with the socket for the piston rod 46 in alignment with the line y -- y . the piston rod 46 would be screwed into this new connection for the new support , and the axis of the motor 42 would be shifted to the left to align with the line y -- y . such an adjustment is made possible with the construction shown in fig2 of flange 48 at the upper end of the motor 42 held between guides 50 and the main frame 10 of the blow molding apparatus . the guides 50 are clamped tightly against the flange 48 by bolts 52 . whenever the motor 42 is to be adjusted to a different position to accommodate a new mold , the bolts 52 are loosened enough to permit the flange 48 to slide along the guides 50 into the new position in alignment with the center of pressure of the new mold cavity . the bolts 52 are then tightened and the motor 42 becomes again an integral part of the blow molding machine . it will be understood that when a cavity of a new size is to be used , it is necessary to replace the mold shown in fig1 with another mold having the different size cavity . if the operating mechanism for opening and closing the mold is in a fixed position on the frame 10 , then every mold has to be designed so as to fit the apparatus of the machine that opens and closes the mold . with the present invention , the the mold designer has much greater choice of design because the motor - operated apparatus that opens and closes the mold can be adjusted to accommodate itself to centers of pressure at different distances from the axis of rotation of the rotating indexing head 12 . fig3 shows another way in which a blow molding machine can be constructed in order to accommodate different molds having their center of pressure along different lines with respect to the frame of the blow molding machine . in fig3 parts corresponding to those of fig1 are indicated by the same reference character with a letter &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; appended . in place of the piston rod 46 , there is a rod 46a which is connected by a pivot 56 at the lower end of a toggle 58 . the upper end of the toggle is connected to an adjustable plate 60 by a pivot connection 62 . a middle pivot 64 of the toggle is at the end of a piston rod 66 which is part of a motor 68 with a pivot connection 70 connecting the head end of the motor 68 to the adjustment plate 60 . the piston rod 66 is made in two parts connected together by a turnbuckle connector 72 which is used to adjust the stroke of the toggle to coincide with the stroke of the piston of the motor 68 . the turnbuckle 72 can be adjusted to bring the toggle to dead center at the end of the motor stroke or just beyond said center . the center of pressure of the mold cavity 40a is on the line x -- x in fig3 . if a new mold is placed on the machine and the center of pressure of the new mold cavity is on the line y -- y , then the toggle 58 must move into position along the line y -- y , and this is done by releasing clamps 72 , which hold the adjustment plate 60 in contact with a portion 10a of the main frame of the blow molding machine . guides , such as the guides 50 of fig2 can be used with the adjustment plate 60 , and the construction shown is representative of releasable means for holding the plate 60 in various adjusted positions to line up the toggle 58 with the line y -- y or any other line which passes through the center of pressure of a new mold which is mounted on the machine . fig5 shows another modification of the invention in which the blow molding machine is a modular machine with the separate operational stations connected with a main frame 76 by detachable fastening means which include spacers 78 . each modular station includes an integral frame 80 which connects with the main frame 76 at the spacers 78 . any conventional connecting means can be used , such as bolts extending through the spacers 78 and through the contiguous portions of the frames 76 and 80 . such constructions are used when a three - station machine must be capable of converting to a four - station machine or to a machine having even more than four stations for special work . the frame 80 has a table 82 , and mold parts are indicated by the same reference characters as in fig1 but with a &# 34 ; b &# 34 ; appended . the lower mold section 32b is connected with an intermediate structure 84 which is clamped to the table 82 by clamps 86 that bear against a flange 88 and that permit the flange 88 to slide along the table 82 to change the spacing of the mold from the main frame 76 . the cylinder and piston motor 42b is attached to the frame 80 by bolts 90 which hold the cylinder and piston motor at a fixed location with respect to the frame 80 . the center of pressure of the cavity 40b is on the line x -- x . the axis of the piston rod 46b is fixed ; and whenever a new mold is placed on the table 82 , it is adjusted to bring its center of pressure in line with the axis of the motor 42b . this may locate the cavity or cavities in the wrong position for receiving the core rod 16b which extends from the indexing head 12b . this problem is solved by shifting the frame 80 toward or from the main frame 76 with wider or narrower spacing blocks 78 between the frames . this modification shown in fig5 can only be used with modular machines where the frame for each operational station can be adjusted as to its spacing with the center main frame which carries the indexing head 12b . it will be understood that the various constructions for adjusting the mold at the blow station to accommodate changes in the center of pressure in different molds which may be used from time to time can also be used at any other operational station such as the injection station 18 described in fig1 . the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described , but changes and modifications can be made , and some features can be used in different combinations without departing from the invention as defined in the claims . | 1 |
fig1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a signal transmission system for executing a video signal transmitting method according to the present invention . in a video codec 1 of a sending portion , an original video signal is converted into a digital signal ( 4 ) in a video signal processing circuit after a video block is formed ( 3 ) in every horizontal scanning period . bit positions of the digital signal are rearranged . that is , bit positions are shuffled ( 5 ). a packet number , a destination , a parity bit for correction of an error of information in a header and the like are added as a header ( 6 ) to the shuffled signal . a packet block is formed with a plurality of packets , and an error correction code for correcting an error in longitudinal data in the packet block is also formed into a packet block and added ( 7 ). a packet loss priority information is added to a header portion of each packet ( 8 ), which becomes a sending signal . the sending signal reaches a receiving portion through a transmission line ( including a switch 9 ). in the receiving portion , after delay and jitter of a packet are absorbed first ( 11 ), a packet block formed on a sending side is reformed , and a video signal is recovered using a packet loss information from an exchange and an error correction code which has been formed into a packet block ( 12 ). thereafter , decomposition of the packet block and the packet are performed ( 13 ), which are added to a video codec 2 of the receiving portion . in the video codec 2 , an operation reverse to the operation in the video codec 1 of the sending portion is performed . that is , a header and a correction code are removed ( 14 ), and bit positions of a digital signal of video data are deshuffled to an original position ( 15 ) by an operation reverse to shuffling performed on a sending side . the deshuffled digital signal is converted into a receiving video signal through video decoding processing ( 16 ). fig2 shows a data format of a principal part in fig1 . a video block 10 obtained by dividing a series of video signals at a predetermined length is expressed with a series of video signals 0 to k including a video overhead portion included originally in a video signal and a parity bit or an error correction code , and a sampling period of an analog video signal and the number of bits of one sample are determined so that the number of bits of one video block becomes just l times ( l is an integer ) as large as the number of bits of an information field of a packet . an error correction code included originally in a video signal is excluded in consideration sometimes . next , video data 0 to k of the video block data 10 are shuffled ( 5 ), thereby to arrange them in an information field of l pieces of packets 30 - i ( i = 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . , l ). the shuffling may be made at random or classified depending on the significance of the data and the attached rules . when classification is made depending on the significance of the data , information expressing the significance of the data is added to a part of a header 22 as a packet loss priority information 23 in every packet . for example , when it is assumed that the number of bits of the header 22 is 6 , one bit is used for the packet loss priority information 23 . further , the shuffling is made in the same video block taking video regeneration after packet loss . then , one video block data contained in l pieces of packets after shuffling are formed in a packet block 31 in m lines × n columns , and error correction codes 21 for correcting longitudinal errors of a packet block are added in an ( m + 1 ) th column and thereafter . when error correction codes of a plurality of bits m &# 39 ; are added , a packet block size becomes ( m + m &# 39 ;) lines × n columns . a packet signal of a video signal thus formed is transmitted to a receiving portion through the exchange 9 , but a packet is abandoned sometimes due to restriction of traffic volume and delay of a packet in an exchange . when a packet is abandoned , information on a position of a packet to be abandoned is transmitted from an exchange to a receiving portion . when a packet is abandoned , an exchange determines a packet to be abandoned by the packet loss priority information 23 in the embodiment . in this case , a packet having a small influence on picture quality of a video , that is , having the high packet loss priority , such as a packet of lsb only is abandoned with priority . accordingly , when a packet loss information showing that a packet in which line has been lost is obtained from the transmission exchange 9 , the packet loss information is utilized as an internal code , and video data are recovered with a correction code 21 as an external code . in the present embodiment , a parity bit is used as the error correction code 21 . loss of a packet is made in a bursting manner in many cases , but burst errors up to an nth packet may be corrected by making a number n of columns of a packet block to 2 and more . fig3 shows a format showing an embodiment of a signal format in a video signal transmitting method according to the present invention . in fig3 concrete numeric values are given to the embodiment in fig2 . it is assumed that one line ( a horizontal scanning line ) of a video is one image block , and that a number of picture elements in 1 line is at 2 , 112 words ( 1 word is 1 byte = 8 bits ). this number of words is a value including a video overhead portion . ( it is assumed that a video overhead portion includes 16 words , and video data include 2 , 096 words .) on the other hand , when it is assumed that a packet length includes 72 words and a header portion includes 6 words , the information field length in the packet becomes 66 words . thus , a number l of packets required for information transmission of one video block becomes l = 2112 ÷ 66 = 32 packets . further , if it is assumed for example that maximum or average continuous number of packet loss generating in a bursting manner is 4 packets , it is desirable that packet block is formed in a packet block size of 8 line × 4 columns at n = 4 , m = 8 . when parity bits or error correction signals 21 are added by m &# 39 ;= 1 line , the packet block size becomes 9 lines × 4 columns eventually . that is , the total number l &# 39 ; of packets becomes 36 . accordingly , the total packet length when one video block ( 72 words × 36 packets = 2 , 112 words ) is formed into a packet becomes 2 , 112 + 66 × 4 ( error correction code )+ 6 × 32 [ header portion ]= 2 , 592 words . in this case , there is naturally no problem in forming a packet block composition in 36 lines × 1 column at n = 1 and m = 36 . it is possible to allocate 1 bit or 2 bits out of 6 bits of the header 22 to the packet loss priority information 23 . fig4 a and 4b show embodiments of the shuffling method . in either case , a video of one horizontal scanning line is taken as one video block similarly to the embodiment described above . fig4 a shows a case dispersed in a 1st to a 32nd packets in 32 picture element unit . fig4 b shows a case in which 8 bits from msb to lsb of one picture element are distributed bit no . by bit no . in 66 picture element unit . here , a 1st to a 4th columns form msbs , a 5th to an 8th columns form second bits , and a 29th to a 32nd columns form lsbs . fig5 shows a case in which a video signal is converted into a digital signal by conversion coding of discrete cosine transform ( dct ). in conversion by dct , a video signal is converted into a frequency in a unit of 8 lines × 8 picture elements , and data composed of from a dc component to a 64th higher harmonic component are obtained . when it is assumed that 8 lines &# 39 ; worth of data converted by dct are one video block formed into a packet , the total number of words becomes 2 , 112 words × 8 lines = 16 , 896 words assuming 1 line = 2 , 112 words . further , the number of converted blocks for forming into a packet becomes 16 , 894 + 64 converted data = 264 . a number l of packets becomes l = 16 , 896 ÷ 66 = 256 assuming that the number of words of an information field of one packet is 66 . this is formed as a packet block of m × n = 64 lines × 4 columns . when one line &# 39 ; s worth of longitudinal error correction code 21 , that is , 4 packets , are added thereto as an external code , the final number of packets becomes l &# 39 ;= 260 , which is transmitted as a packet block at n = 4 , m = 64 and m &# 39 ;= 1 . that is , since 264 pieces related to dc components only are generated first for 64 pieces of conversion coefficient values from converted dc components to higher - order high harmonic components , they are contained in a first to a fourth packets , conversion coefficient values with respect to the second high harmonic components are contained in a 5th to an 8th packet , thus forming a packet in a similar manner successively , and conversion coefficient values with respect to a 64th high harmonic components are contained in a 253rd to a 256th packets . in such a manner , packet blocks classified with frequency conversion degree are formed . here , since a dc value of a conversion coefficient is very effectual and important , a packet loss including a dc value causes sharp picture quality degradation when a video is regenerated . on the contrary , degradation is minor even if the 253rd to the 256th packets including the 64th order conversion coefficient value are lost . accordingly , it is possible to perform selective abandonment , that is , to abandon a packet including a higher - order coefficient value having little influence exerted on picture quality when packet abandonment is required in an exchange by entering packet loss priority information 41 showing an order that packet loss is allowed to occur in a part of the header portion 22 in transmission . it becomes possible to transmit information for selective loss to a packet transmission system by adding a number showing significance of data to a header portion in a codec of a transmitting portion . next , recovery of video data for a packet block in a receiving portion will be described . a packet loss information which is sent from an exchange only has a meaning of parity which can detect an error , and cannot designate a loss position of an erroneous bit in a packet . therefore , it has no ability of correction with this information only . fig6 a and 6b show a method of recovering a video signal when a parity code is added to an ( m + 1 ) th line . when a packet block consisting of 4 packets in 4 lines × 1 column at 1 line = 66 words is considered for the sake of simplicity , it can be detected that an information field in a third packet is erroneous if a packet loss information showing that a packet in a third line has been lost is input . in case a packet loss is produced , data in a lost packet are replaced with a fixed pattern sometimes in a receiving portion . in this case , it is considered that several bits among 66 pieces of data in one line of &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; are erroneous . as to this error , an error of data in a lost packet can be corrected by inspecting on a receiving side odd - even parity as an error correction code newly added in an ( m + 1 ) th line on a sending side . for example , it is found that data at ( the 3rd line , the 2nd column ) and at ( the 3rd line , the 3rd column ) are in error as shown in fig6 a , thus making it possible to recover data . that is , one error correction is made possible by using odd - even parity check code for both internal and external codes . in the case of fig6 a , however , when two lines of a packet in a third line and a packet in a fourth line are lost in succession , an inspection result showing no error is issued with a result of external code parity check only . thus , it becomes impossible to correct an error . in particular , in the case of an atm ( packet ) transmission line , it happens frequently that packets are abandoned in a bursting manner when circuit traffic starts to get higher , or packets are abandoned eventually by delay of packets for a long time . moreover , it is considered that such a phenomenon occurs much more frequently than random errors . in this case , it is desirable that a packet block having columns in the same number as the maximum number of packet loss that are generated in a bursting manner is formed as shown in fig6 b . in the case of fig6 b , it is possible to correct continuous errors in four packet portions at the maximum . as to a number of lines m , a proportion of a number of packets of error correction codes added as external codes becomes smaller as against the number of packets of video information when a number of lines gets larger . that is , redundancy gets smaller and transmitting efficiency is increased , but error correcting capability gets poorer . accordingly , it is required to determine setting of a number of lines m taking redundancy with error correction codes and error correcting capability into consideration . fig7 shows an example in which m = 4 lines and n = 4 columns , and 3 bits of error correction codes are added as an external code . in the figure , an internal code is parity showing packet loss similarly to fig6 a and 6b , and bch ( 7 , 4 ) code capable of one error detection and correction is used for an external code . bch ( 7 , 4 ) shows that data of 7 bits in total obtained by adding 3 bits of error correction bits to 4 bits of information bits are formed . thus , when a packet in a third line and a second column is corrected in accordance with an external code and errors are detected thereafter , it is found that a packet in a second line and a second column is also erroneous , thus making it possible to correct two errors . it is apparent that effects obtained by using reed solomon or other error correction codes in place of the bch code as an external code are exactly the same as described previously . when bursting errors due to packet loss occur very frequently and in many cases , it is naturally impossible to correct errors even in the cases of fig6 a and 6b and fig7 . even in this case , however , a packet block is composed of data at portions which just form breaks of video lines or conversion blocks , etc . of dct . accordingly , data correction is given up and imaginary data may be produced by performing interpolation with data in packets before and behind or utilizing peripheral blocks , thus making it possible to amend a video easily and to make picture degradation inconspicuous . | 7 |
fig2 shows a space vector pulse width modulation ( svpwm ) controller 210 for a neutral - point clamped ( npc ) inverter 220 . the controller take a reference voltage 211 as input . the outputs of the svpwm are space vector modulation signals a , b , and c 250 , where a , b , and c correspond to the three phase of the ac signal . the inverter is connected between a dc source 221 and an ac load 222 . the source can have n levels ( 0 , 1 , . . . , n − 1 ). in contrast to the prior art where the number of levels is generally 2 , the number of levels that can be specified for the inverter according to the embodiments can be arbitrary , e . g ., 5 , 7 or 25 . space vector pulse width modulation ( svpwm ) in 3 phase coordinate system the most commonly used coordinate system to represent a vector in a two dimensional , or three dimensional space is a cartesian coordinate system , where a vector v can be decomposed into the summation of vectors that are orthogonal to each others , i . e ., v ={ right arrow over ( v )} x + v y + v z . in a three - phase coordinate system , a 2 dimensional vector v is treated as summation of three vectors that have 2π / 3 angle separation : for simplicity , the 3 - phase representation of a vector can be denoted using a 3 - tuple ( q a , q b , q c ). as shown in fig3 , two important properties of the 3 - phase coordinate system serve as the basis for our invention . we realize that unlike the cartesian system , base vectors in the 3 - phase system are not orthogonal to each other . this implies that the representation of a given vector is not unique . we describe the redundancy in the system and how to exploit the redundancy in greater detail below . the two properties 301 - 302 respectively are fig3 shows the redundancy in the 3 - phase coordinate system . clearly , ( a + δ , b + δ , c + δ ) and ( a , b , c ) represent the same vector . equation ( 4 ) allows us to transform a 3 - phase representation of a vector to a cartesian representation . recognizing that we can see that the vector v = v x + iv y has the 3 - phase representation as the main objective for a space vector modulator is to generate a pulse width modulated vector signals that can closely approximate the desired space vector . additionally , it is possible to add additional features for signal conditioning we focus on the procedure for vector generation and pulse width calculation . an arbitrary space vector can be represented in a 3 - phase coordinate system . however , in an inverter , the modulator can only output discrete values . the range of the values are non - negative and has a limited range , where the range is determined by the number of levels , e . g ., the number of switches in the npc . for an n - level inverter , the permissable output vectors are is the nominal voltage across k , m , n are integers of the space vector , and { k , m , n }∈[ 0 , n − 1 ]. if we define a normalized vector v ref = v 0 / v c , then we can omit v c in the our analysis . fig4 shows permissible output vertices for a 5 level inverter . in fig4 , the output voltage v r does not fall on to any of the vertices and therefore , the modulator cannot output exactly v r . therefore , the modulator outputs an approximation of v r . a simple approximation is to find a vertex that is the closest to v r for each v r sample , i . e ., find a { tilde over ( v )} such that that is , we find the vertex that is closest to the true desired output vector . in the example shown in fig4 , p 2 401 appears to be the closest vector . this , however , results in an error in each sample and can product an output waveform that is not acceptable . a more sophisticated approach is approximate each output with three surrounding vertices . in the example in fig4 , the vertices are p 1 , p 2 and p 3 . within the sampling period , the modulator outputs three vectors for corresponding duty cycles , and hence the pulse width modulation . the objectives of the modulator design is to efficiently find the three ( losest ) vertices that surround the designed v r ( v ref ) 401 , and the corresponding duty cycles . we describe the search for vertices and computation of duty cycle below . the duty cycle the proportion of on time . as shown in fig3 , we try to find three vertices that are closest to v r and enclose v r . note that v r can be represented in a cartesian coordinate system as x = re ( v r ), and y = jm ( v r ). assume n →∞, it can be easily seen that all vertices can be represented by either ( k , m ,− m ), or ( k , m ,− m − 1 ). in the cartesian system , the vertices represent the following vertices respectively : we can determine a rectangular region 501 where v r is located . if the region is defined by the lower - left vertex of ( k , m ,− m ) and upper - right vertex ( k + 1 , m + 1 , m − 1 ), then k and m can be determined as if v r is in the rectangle , it falls within one of the six triangles shown in fig4 . the three closest vertices to v r are determined by testing δx and δy against these three boundary conditions . the table 600 in fig6 shows the corresponding vertices . to representing the modulation vector v r with the three space vectors determined following the procedure described above , pulse width modulation is used . in a given period t , the modulator outputs the three vectors v 1 , v 2 and v 3 for fractions of a period . the durations are t 1 , t 2 , and t 3 respectively . the complete fidelity is achieved by selecting the duty cycles such that the average voltage equals the desired output voltage . therefore , the following condition is satisfied : as shown in fig7 , if we define the error vector e i as the difference between a quantized vector v i and the true vector , combining equation ( 17 ) and equation ( 16 ), w i is the solution of the following linear equations where det ( p )= x 1 y 2 − x 1 y 3 − y 1 x 2 + y 1 x 3 + y 3 x 2 − y 2 x 3 is the determinant of square matrix p . the weights w i are real and non - negative . in practice , pulse width modulation is implemented in a clocked circuit with an oversampling rate of k . the clock frequency is k times the sampling frequency of v , or , the duration t is partitioned into k slices . in such as case , the weights are approximated as fig8 shows the steps of a method for generating space vector modulation signals ( a , b , e ) 250 for a multilevel inverter 220 . the signals are generated in the space vector pulse width modulation ( svpwm ) controller 210 . a reference voltage v ref 211 is determined 810 . if the waveform is sinusoidal , then the output is v ref = exp ( jwt ), where j represents an imaginary part , w represents an angular velocity − 2πf ) . . . , f is the frequency , and t is time . next , values of k and in for a vector ( k , m , m − 1 ) are determined 820 using equation ( 9 ) and ( 10 ). a triangle region where v ref belongs is determined 830 using equation ( 11 ), ( 12 ), and ( 13 ). the vertices ( k , m , n ), ( k + 1 , m , n ), and ( k , m , n − 1 ) that are closest to the reference voltage are output . the vertex ( k , m , n ) is adjusted 840 to ( k ′, m ′, n ′)=( k + d , m + d , n + d ) such that k ′, m ′ and n ′ are in a valid region [ 0 , n − 1 ], where n is a level of modulation in the inverter if it is not possible to determine whether the vertex ( k ′, m ′, n ′) is in a valid region , then the output signal ( k , m , n ) is clipped 850 for overmodulation , and the value that exceeds the maximal level of modulation n is replaced by n . the error vectors e i = e 1 , e 2 , and e 3 for each vertex and the weight w i of each vertex are determined 860 using equation ( 18 ) and ( 19 ). based on w i , the duty cycle of each set of output values can be determined , and the modulation signals ( a , b , c ) 250 can be output 870 . the steps of the method can be performed in a processor connected to memory and input / output interfaces as known in the art . we describe a svpwm - based 3 phase inverter by reviewing mathematical foundation of a 3 - phase coordinate system and vector representation in such a coordinate system . we show two important properties of the system , which serve as the basis of the method . by exploiting these two important properties , we provide a method to determine coefficients of the vector efficiently . the method determines the coefficients and modulation duty cycles in a single step and does not involve any complicated non - linear trigonometric functions . as a result , the method is extremely computation efficient . although the invention has been described by way of examples of preferred embodiments , it is to be understood that various other adaptations and modifications can be made within the spirit and scope of the invention . therefore , it is the object of the appended claims to cover all such variations and modifications as come within the true spirit and scope of the invention . | 7 |
now , referring to the drawings , fig1 fig2 and fig3 depict a typical eccentric planetary traction drive having an eccentric sun roller and three planetary rollers , at least one of which is a loading planetary roller . in this typical traction drive , the present invention of a wedge loading mechanism 1 is a planetary roller that acts as the loading roller in this typical eccentric planetary traction drive . the wedge loading mechanism 1 is located between a first raceway 2 , and a second raceway 3 . the wedge loading mechanism 1 comprises a supporting shaft 4 ( fig5 ), a rubber insert 5 , a bearing 6 , and a loading roller ring 7 . shaft 4 is fixed to the wedge loading mechanism 1 . the wedge loading mechanism 1 is positioned between and in contact with the first and second raceways 2 and 3 . in fig6 the tangential line oa at contact point a between the second raceway 3 and the wedge loading mechanism 1 lies at an angle of δ with respect to the tangential line ob at contact point b between the first raceway 2 and the wedge loading mechanism 1 . thus the two tangent lines form a converged wedge aob . raceway 2 is the driving member and the contact point b on raceway 2 has a tendency to move along the tangent line bo toward point o with respect to the contact point b on the loading roller ring 7 during the operation of the wedge mechanism 1 . a friction force f is thus generated at contact point b . the friction force tends to rotate the roller ring 7 , making the contact point a on the loading roller ring 7 move along the tangent line oa from point o with respect to the corresponding contact point a on the second raceway 3 . similarly , a friction force f at contact a is generated . the friction forces at contact points a and b both drives the loading roller ring 7 further into the converged wedge , making the loading roller ring 7 push firmly against the raceways at the contact points a and b and against the supporting shaft 4 . the friction forces f at contact points a and b are balanced by normal contact forces n at contact points a and b and a supporting force f 0 at supporting shaft 4 . the overall deflection , including surface and structural deflections , normal to the contact surface under normal load can be characterized by an effective stiffness at the contact . the effective stiffness at contact points a and b is denoted by k r and the effective stiffness at the contact area between the loading roller ring 7 and supporting shaft 4 is denoted by k s . thus as the loading roller ring 7 is driven by the friction forces f at contact points a and b into the converged wedge along oc , the normal contact forces n and supporting contact f 0 are estimated as : f 0 = k s · l ( 4 ) n = k r · l sin δ * 2 ( 5 ) is a mean value when δ is a variable that varies with l , that is , sin δ * 2 = 1 l ∫ 0 l sin δ 2 l ( 5a ) and where / is the distance that the center c of loading roller ring 7 ( not the center of the supporting shaft 4 ) moves along line oc under the friction forces at contact points a and b . fig7 is a chart showing the relationship between the stiffness ratio k s / k r and the wedge angle δ *. the operating friction coefficient at the contact is μ 0 , the friction force is expressed as f 0 2 n = μ 0 · cos δ 2 - sin δ 2 ( 7 ) this equation can be expressed in terms of effective stiffness k s and k r by substituting equations ( 4 ) and ( 5 ) into this equation . k s k r = 2 ( μ 0 cos δ 2 - sin δ 2 ) sin δ * 2 ( 8a ) in cases where variation in δ is small , then δ ∝ δ * and equation ( 8a ) becomes k s k r = μ 0 · sin δ - 2 sin 2 ( δ 2 ) ( 8 ) [ 0049 ] fig7 shows effective stiffness ratio k s / k r as a function of wedge angle δ for different operating friction coefficients μ 0 . a zero stiffness ratio at a non - zero wedge angle indicates no supporting force f 0 , which leads to the following condition negative stiffness ratio means direction change in force f 0 . in other words , shaft 4 is now pushing the loading roller ring 7 into the converged wedge . it can be appreciated that a traction drive with the current wedge loading mechanism 1 can be operated under any small wedge angle δ while still having the traction drive being operated at or close to the maximum available friction coefficient μ so long as the stiffness ratio is appropriately chosen . that is , k s k r = 2 ( μ 0 cos δ 2 - sin δ 2 ) sin δ * 2 ≤ μ sin δ - 2 sin 2 ( δ 2 ) ( 9 ) the proper support stiffness k s of the wedge loading mechanism 1 is achieved through rubber insert 5 ( fig5 ), bearing 6 , and shaft 4 . other means are also possible . for instance , the supporting shaft can be mounted to the traction drive through deflectable mounting devices such as springs , and / or washers . in this case , the loading roller ring 7 may take the form of a solid roller . the flexible support of the wedge loading mechanism 1 can also serve as a device to provide a necessary force pushing loading roller into the wedge contacts thus to improve system dynamic stability . with predetermined allowable travel range of the loading roller , the wedge loading mechanism 1 can also serve as an overload protecting device . when driving torque is at its maximum allowable level , the wedge loading mechanism 1 is pushed into the wedge toward the limit of the predetermined travel range . any additional increase in torque cannot further push the wedge loading mechanism 1 into the wedge , thus limiting the maximum available friction forces . under such conditions , slippage occurs at contacts between the wedge loading mechanism 1 and raceways 2 and 3 . while the above description describes various embodiments of the present invention , it will be clear that the present invention may be otherwise easily adapted to fit any configuration where a wedge mechanism for traction drives may be utilized . as various changes could be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention , it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense . | 5 |
in the circuit according to the present invention , the s - shaped correction signal condenser causes the horizontal deflection scanning signal to oscillate in accordance with an inductance value of the horizontal deflection circuit like in the conventional s - shaped correction signal circuit . therefore , the horizontal deflection current has an s - shaped characteristic , so that distortion of a screen image is decreased . in addition , in the present invention , it is possible to control the characteristic of the s - shaped correction signal by changing the capacitance of the correction condenser during a horizontal deflection scanning period . therefore , it is possible to enable a higher precision correction . furthermore , the capacitance of the correction condenser is implemented for independently controlling the correction signal during the front and rear portions of one horizontal scan period . in addition , it is possible to vary the interval of the scanning time by varying the capacitance . therefore , an s - shaped correction of the deflection signal is implemented for balancing the front and rear portions of the horizontal scanning signal . the non - spherical distortion which occurs during the horizontal scanning of the cathode ray tube is different in accordance with the position of the scanning beam in the vertical direction of the cathode ray tube . finally , the range of the non - spherical distortion which occurs in the left and right end portions of the horizontal scan is made wider toward the upper and lower edges of the cathode ray tube and is made narrower toward the center portion thereof . in the present invention , it is possible to decrease the distortion of the screen image which occurs due to the non - spherical distortion of the cathode ray tube by varying the interval of the time of the horizontal scanning period control at every vertical line position . fig3 illustrates a horizontal deflection circuit adapting a horizontal s - shaped correction signal circuit according to the present invention . in the drawing , hd denotes a horizontal driving signal generator , t r denotes a horizontal output transistor , d denotes a damper diode , c r denotes an oscillation condenser , l dy denotes a horizontal deflection coil , c s denotes a main correction condenser , fbt denotes a flyback transformer , and + b denotes a horizontal deflection circuit voltage . since the so far constituted horizontal deflection circuit is well known in the industry , detailed description of the operation thereof will be omitted , and description of the inventive adaptation will be given . as shown in fig3 the s - shaped correction condenser c s is connected in parallel with a front portion correction condenser c s1 and a rear portion correction condenser c s2 for changing the capacitance thereof and switches sw 1 and sw 2 for switching the condensers c s1 and c s2 , respectively . in addition , a discharging high resistance ( high resistance ; not shown ) is connected in parallel with the correction condensers c s1 and c s2 . each of the switches sw 1 and sw 2 is composed of a field effect transistor ( fet ) which is turned on and off in accordance with respective first and second control signals cs - c tl1 and cs - c tl2 generated by a timing pulse generator 11 . a wave form shaping unit 12 receives a flyback pulse signal from an auxiliary winding 13 of the flyback transformer fbt and outputs a shaped signal to the timing pulse generator 11 , which also receives a vertical parabola signal and a pair of control signals da - ct l1 and da - ct l2 . the operation of the horizontal deflection circuit shown in fig3 will now be explained with reference to fig4 . the construction and operation of the elements related to the timing pulse generator 11 will be described later . fig4 a illustrates a current flowing in the deflection yoke , fig4 b illustrates a first control signal cs - c tl1 , and fig4 c illustrates a second control signal cs - c tl2 . during the time interval t1 of the front portion of the horizontal scanning interval , the first control signal cs - c tl1 is outputted , and the switch sw 1 is turned on . in a predetermined time interval t2 in the rear portion , a second control signal csc tl2 is outputted , whereby the switch sw 2 is operated . therefore , during the time interval t1 of the front portion of the horizontal scanning interval , the correction condenser c s is connected in parallel with the front portion correction condenser c s1 . thereafter , the front correction s - shaped condenser c s1 is disconnected , and only the s - shaped condenser c s is connected . at the time t2 in the rear portion , the correction condenser c s is parallely connected with the rear portion correction condenser c s2 . fig5 illustrates the wave form of a voltage signal applied to the s - shaped signal correction condenser c s . in the present invention , in the time intervals t1 and t2 , the straight line characteristic is changed to the broken line characteristic . according to changing the straight line characteristics to the broken line characteristics in each the horizontal scanning interval , the capacitance of the s - shaped correction signal condenser is changed , and thus the oscillation frequency of the horizontal deflection signal l dy is changed . the characteristic of the correction condenser is changed by controlling the parallel connection of the correction c s1 and c s2 in the front and rear portions of the horizontal scan by controlling the time intervals of the first and second control signals cs - c tl1 , and cs - c tl2 , so that it is possible to correct the horizontal distortion of the image and obtain accuracy thereof . in particular , in the front and rear portions of the horizontal scanning interval , it is possible to implement a balanced s - shaped correction . turning back to the embodiment of fig3 the timing pulse generator 11 receives a saw tooth wave form signal as an fbt pulse from the auxiliary winding 13 of the flyback transformer fbt passes through the wave form shaping unit 12 , the vertical parabola wave signal which is used in the circuit of the cathode ray tube , and direct current control signals da - c tl1 and da - c tl2 outputted to externally connected elements such as a microcomputer , etc . as shown in fig6 the timing pulse generator 11 includes first and second direct current voltage adders 15 and 16 , first and second comparators 17 and 18 , and an inverting amplifier 19 . the first direct current voltage adder 15 receives the vertical parabola wave signal and first direct current control signal da - c tl1 . the second direct current voltage adder 16 receives the vertical parabola wave signal and second control direct current signal da - c tl2 . the comparator 17 receives the saw tooth wave form signal the polarity of which is inverted by the inverting amplifier 19 and an output signal from the first direct current voltage adder 15 , respectively , and outputs the first control signal cs - c tl1 . the second comparator 18 receives the saw tooth wave form signal and an output signal from the second direct current voltage adder 16 and outputs the second control signal cs - c tl2 , respectively . the operation of the timing pulse generator 11 will be explained with reference to fig7 a - 7d and 8a - 8d . in the drawings , the wave form shown in fig7 a corresponds to the input signals to the second comparator 18 and denotes the interrelationship between the vertical parabola wave form of one field and the saw tooth wave signal . here , the vertical parabola wave signal is combined with the direct current control signal da - c tl2 by the second direct current voltage adder 16 . in addition , the portion a denotes the value of the vertical parabola wave signal at the upper vertical screen position of the cathode ray tube , the portion b denotes the value of the vertical parabola wave signal at the center vertical screen position of the cathode ray tube , and the portion c denotes the value of the vertical parabola wave signal at the lower vertical screen position of the cathode ray tube . the wave form shown in fig7 b is an enlarged view of the wave form shown in fig7 a showing one horizontal scanning period . the values at the portions a , c and b of the wave form shown in fig7 a correspond to the vertical parabola wave . the second comparator 18 outputs second control signal cs - c tl2 when the value of the saw tooth wave exceeds the value of the vertical parabola wave signal . the wave form of the second control signal cs - c tl2 is shown in fig7 c and 7d and corresponds to the control signal of the rear portion of the horizontal scanning interval . at the portion b , which is the central vertical screen position of the cathode ray tube , since the value of the vertical parabola wave signal is increased , and the interval in which the value of the saw tooth wave exceeds the value of the vertical parabola wave signal , as shown in fig7 c , the output period of the control signal cs - c tl2 is shortened . in addition , at the upper vertical a and lower vertical position c of the cathode ray tube , since the value of the vertical parabola wave signal is decreased , and the interval in which the value of the saw tooth wave signal exceeds the value of the vertical parabola wave signal is decreased , as shown in fig7 d , the output interval of the control signal cs - c tl2 is extended . the wave form shown in fig8 a corresponds to the input signals to the first comparator 17 and denotes the interrelationship between the vertical parabola wave signal of one field and the saw tooth wave signal . here , the saw tooth wave signal is inverted by the inverting amplifier 19 , and the vertical parabola wave signal is combined with the direct current control signal da - c tl2 by the first direct current voltage adder 15 , respectively . in the drawing , the portions a &# 39 ;, b &# 39 ; and c &# 39 ; are the same as the portions a , b and c shown in fig7 a . the wave form shown in fig8 b is an enlarged view of the wave form shown in fig8 a for one horizontal scanning period . the first comparator 17 outputs the control signal cs - c tl1 when the value of the vertical parabola wave signal exceeds the value of the saw tooth wave signal , identically to the second comparator 18 . therefore , the output signal cs - c tl1 as shown in fig8 c and 8d becomes the control signals at the front portion of the horizontal scanning interval . fig9 illustrates the effects of the variations in the pulse widths of the first and second control signals cs - c tl1 and cs - c tl2 during a vertical scanning period on a screen 21 of the cathode ray tube . in the drawing , the arrows denote the pulse widths of the control signals cs - c tl1 and cs - c tl2 during a horizontal scanning period . as shown therein , the pulse widths of the control signals are wider at the upper and lower portions a and c of the screen 21 , and narrower at the central portion b of the same . the range of the non - spherical surface distortion which occurs in the left and right portions ( edges ) in the horizontal direction of the cathode ray tube screen is increased at the upper and lower portions ( edges ) of the cathode ray tube , and is more decreased toward the central portion . in addition , since the pulse widths for which the correction is performed is varied based on the range of the distortion , it is possible to implement a better correction . turning back to fig6 the values of the direct current control signals da - c tl1 and da - c tl2 are controlled by a microcomputer , etc ., as the values of the vertical parabola wave signal shown in fig7 b and 8b are increased , so that the pulse widths of the control signals from the first and second comparators 17 and 18 can be varied . therefore , the values of the first and second direct current control signals da - c tl1 and da - c tl2 are corrected , and thus the s - shape correction characteristic is adjusted . it is possible to variously modify the present invention , the first and second switching means for varying , for example , the number of the switchable correction condensers may be changed , and the interval of their switching may be changed . in addition , it is possible to control the correction width of the s - shape correction signal by using the direct current control signals da - c tl1 and da - c tl2 . furthermore , it is possible to adjust the horizontal scanning distortion over the vertical positions of the screen . in the present invention , the first and second direct current voltage adders 15 and 16 may be omitted . one of the direct current control signals da - c tl1 and da - c tl2 or the vertical parabola wave signal may be inputted into the first and second comparators 17 and 18 , for thus being compared with the value of the saw tooth wave signal . in addition , the signal value used for comparing with the value of the saw tooth wave signal may be a fixed value . in the s - shaped correction signal circuit in which a correction condenser is installed in the horizontal deflection circuit , it is possible to obtain a good accuracy correction effect and to variably adjust the correction . 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 recited in the accompanying claims . | 7 |
with reference to fig1 , the preferred embodiment of the present invention may be described . mems device 5 is constructed using ic / mems fabrication techniques , preferably successive selective deposition and etching using ultraviolet ( uv ) photolithography on a single crystal silicon wafer . electrical signals propagated into device 5 enter through one of bond pads 10 . each bond pad 10 is connected by wirebonding to electrical conductive paths 12 . bond pads 10 and conductive paths 12 may be constructed of metal , highly doped polysilicon , or other conductive materials . conductive paths 12 are , in turn , electrically connected to electrostatic comb - drive actuators 15 . as a result of this arrangement , a signal voltage applied at a bond pad 10 is propagated to one or more electrostatic comb - drive actuators 15 . in the preferred embodiment , device 5 comprises four electrostatic comb - drive actuators 15 . comb - drive actuators operate on the principle of electrostatic repulsion between two “ combs ” having interleaved fingers , with one comb being free to move . imparting charge to such a device causes the free - moving comb to move away from the fixed comb , the effect achieved being that of a microscale linear actuator . mems manufacturing facilities can construct such devices , such as the facilities maintained at sandia national laboratories in sandia , n . mex . such devices are used for a wide variety of applications in the optical communications field , such as in connection with switching elements in optical networks . as will be seen in fig1 , actuators 15 of the preferred embodiment each embody multiple sets of combs in order to achieve the depth of linear movement desired for this application . actuators 15 drive arms 20 , which are pivotally linked to both a corresponding actuator 15 and fiber yoke 25 . arms 20 move about on top of ground plane substrate 30 , which is preferably constructed of polysilicon . arms 20 have pin or flex joints 35 at each end to allow yoke 25 to move freely in the x - y plane above ground plane substrate 30 , including movement at non - orthogonal angles . electrical drive signals reach each of actuators 15 through the corresponding bond pads 10 and the corresponding conducting paths 12 . four different types of signals are employed in the preferred embodiment : up , down , left , and right . these signals are labeled “ u ,” “ d ,” “ l ,” “ r ,” respectively , in fig1 . a ground signal is also required , which is labeled as a down arrow in fig1 . ( note that while only a single ground signal is illustrated in fig1 for clarity , the preferred embodiment would include a ground line connected to each of actuators 15 .) each of the “ u ,” “ d ,” “ l ,” and “ r ” signals may preferably be coded as a voltage applied at the corresponding bond pad 10 . a “ u ” signal causes the activation of the appropriate actuator 15 such that the arm 20 oriented in the y - direction moves in the positive y - direction , that is , in an upward direction , thereby causing yoke 25 to deflect upward . a “ d ” signal causes the activation of that same actuator 15 as activated by the “ u ” signal , but in this case the corresponding arm 20 moves in the negative y - direction , that is , in a downward direction , thereby causing yoke 25 to deflect downward . an “ l ” signal causes the activation of each of the appropriate actuators 15 such that the arms 20 that are oriented in the x - direction move in the negative x - direction , that is , to the left , thereby causing yoke 25 to deflect to the left . it may be noted that this movement requires the leftward arm 20 to retract while the rightward arm 20 extends . conversely , a “ r ” signal causes the activation of each of these actuators 15 such that the arms 20 that are oriented in the x - direction move in the positive x - direction , that is , to the right , thereby causing yoke 25 to deflect to the right . it may be noted that this movement requires the leftward arm 20 to extend while the rightward arm 20 retracts . it may be seen from fig1 and the above description that yoke 25 may be moved about on substrate 30 to any x - y position within its range of motion by a combination of u , d , l , and r signals . for example , a simultaneous “ u ” and “ r ” signal will cause yoke 25 to deflect to the upper - right portion of substrate 30 . in this way , yoke 25 may be moved to any desired position by the proper combination of signals , just as may be performed with gimballed steering and pointing systems . in the preferred embodiment , both the y - axis and x - axis actuation is provided by a pair of actuators 15 oriented to move linearly in the y and x directions , respectively . in alternative embodiments , a different number of actuators 15 may be employed in either direction . for example , in one alternative embodiment the y - axis actuation is provided by a single actuator 15 oriented to move linearly in the y direction . a single actuator 15 was chosen for the y direction in this alternative embodiment due to space requirements in the initial fabrication process . the x - direction movement in this alternative embodiment is provided by two actuators 15 , despite the fact that only one actuator 15 is employed for movement in the y - direction . in still another alternative embodiment , only one actuator 15 may be employed in each of the y and x directions . in the preferred embodiment , each actuator 15 providing drive in the same linear direction is controlled together such that only a single set of “ u ,” “ d ,” “ l ,” and “ r ” drive signal inputs pads 10 is required . for example , only a single “ l ” signal is required in this arrangement to operate both actuators 15 that provide movement in the negative x - direction . alternatively , separate pads 10 and conducting paths 12 could be provided for the drive signals directed to each actuator . in still another embodiment , both combined drive signals and a separate drive signal line to each actuator 15 could be implemented in the same device , providing application flexibility to the designer seeking to integrate device 5 into a desired mechanism . the mems device 5 of fig1 is preferably fabricated as five layers of polycrystalline silicon ( polysilicon ) deposited to form the structural layers of the preferred embodiment , with silicon dioxide ( oxide ) used as the sacrificial material that is fully removed by etching as a final process step , thereby creating the gaps and spacing needed for moving elements to operate . one of these layers is preferably reserved for use as a ground plane to dissipate charge accumulation under moving structures under high potential . each layer of polysilicon and oxide is preferably deposited as a continuous thin film of material on the wafer , and then a uv - sensitive polymer photoresist is used to create a stencil through which the selected material was removed by etching . each layer is patterned by one or more optical masks that may be preferably created from cad artwork and are superimposed upon one other to generate the final working device 5 . it may be noted that while mems features are generally only a few microns along a minimum dimension , they may have very large aspect ratios , with , for example , lengths that exceed their height or width by a factor of 500 or more . although traditional ic fabrication processes such as the uv photolithography of the preferred embodiment are used in the fabrication of mems devices , the processes used in mems are generally larger in footprint , thickness , and pitch . this lower resolution requirement means that older equipment may be utilized in mems manufacturing . this equipment is generally operated much harder per cycle , however , than is required for ic fabrication in order to achieve the thicker , larger films and features . as a result , a preferred fabrication facility may be one that is outmoded for modern ic fabrication , and thus the equipment value may be less and the loss from equipment degradation correspondingly less related to the equipment &# 39 ; s value . thus the cost of producing device 5 may be further reduced relative to alternative technologies for beam steering . referring now to fig2 , fiber yoke 25 and a portion of arms 20 according to a preferred embodiment may be described in greater detail . yoke frame 60 is preferably of a roughly square shape and , like the other mems elements of device 5 , is fabricated from subsequent deposition of polysilicon films . yoke hole 65 is sized to receive an optical fiber ( not shown in fig2 for clarity ). the standard optical fiber outside diameter of 125 microns is employed in the preferred embodiment , such that the size of yoke hole 65 in the preferred embodiment is preferably about 130 microns to snugly receive the 125 micron fiber . arms 20 attach to yoke frame 60 at pivot joints 35 . these joints allow arms 20 to pivot in the x - y plane with respect to yoke frame 60 , thereby allowing yoke frame 60 to move freely within the x - y plane within a defined area passing over substrate 30 . referring now to fig3 , fiber yoke 25 and its related components may be seen in profile , showing the manner in which the polysilicon film layers are built up during the fabrication of device 5 . yoke hole 65 is shown in the center portion of fig3 , with the layered elements on either side being yoke frame 60 . the gaps in the polysilicon layers of yoke frame 60 are filled with silicon dioxide in the preferred embodiment . each layer of yoke frame 60 is preferably about two microns thick . a two - micron clearance 80 is preferably formed between the lower surface of yoke frame 60 and the upper surface of substrate 30 . this clearance allows fiber yoke 25 to glide over substrate 30 as it translates the optical fiber in the focal plane of the transmitter or receiver . as explained above , yoke 25 is drive by actuators 15 , which respond to signals that are sequenced and applied to the various actuators 15 to create the desired motion through the associated arms 20 . turning now to fig4 , the system package assembly for device 5 is shown in profile . device 5 has a substrate passage 100 formed at its center in order to allow the passage and deflection of optical fiber 110 . in the preferred embodiment , substrate passage 100 has a diameter of approximately 250 microns . substrate passage 100 is preferably formed by a standard chemical etching technique to a silicon oxide layer that serves as an etch stop . device 5 is preferably held in place by epoxy or other permanent means on the package or printed circuit board ( pcb ) 95 . substrate passage 100 in device 5 must be properly aligned with pcb passage 105 during attachment . fiber 110 is fed through pcb passage 105 , substrate passage 100 , and into yoke 25 ( not shown for clarity in fig4 ). fiber 110 may preferably be staked into place by means of epoxy or other permanent adhesive 115 at the bottom surface of pcb 95 . the components are sealed and protected by the application of a lid 120 , which may be formed of glass or another sufficiently strong and transparent material . lid 120 is sealed into place with sealing ring material 125 , which may in the preferred embodiment be an epoxy . the resulting assembly may then be mounted into the optical transmitter or receiver , with the fiber pigtail connected to a laser communications signal processor . it may be noted that while the preferred embodiment has been described for use with respect to a dedicated transmitter or receiver , the preferred embodiment may also be employed in a transceiver arrangement , where the same optical fiber is used to both send and receive optical signals . the present invention has been described with reference to certain preferred and alternative embodiments that are intended to be exemplary only and not limiting to the full scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims . | 6 |
in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment , reference is made to the accompanying drawings , which form a part of this application . the drawings show , by way of illustration , specific embodiments in 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 present invention . the following is a listing of the reference numbers included in the original drawings and the element that each reference number corresponds to and a brief description : 1 . light emitting element . the light emitting element 1 is mounted to the base member 5 in the preferred embodiment . 4 . switch . the switch 4 is coupled to the circuit 2 and is positioned on the first lateral side of the base member 5 , thereby allowing the switch 4 to be actuated by the thumb of the hand in the preferred embodiment . 5 . base member . the base member 5 is connected to the light emitting element 1 , and in the preferred embodiment the base member 5 has a top side , a first lateral side , a second lateral side , and a semi - cylindrically curved underside 6 . first strap . in the preferred embodiment , the first strap 6 is connected to the base member 5 such that the first strap 6 , together with the semi - cylindrically curved underside of the base member 5 , form a first loop , the first loop being sized to the index finger of a hand . 1 . light emitting element . the light emitting element 1 is mounted to the base member 5 in the preferred embodiment . 4 . switch . the switch 4 is coupled to the circuit 2 and is positioned on the first lateral side of the base member 5 , thereby allowing the switch 4 to be actuated by the thumb of the hand in the preferred embodiment . 5 . base member . the base member 5 is connected to the light emitting element 1 , and in the preferred embodiment the base member 5 has a top side , a first lateral side , a second lateral side , and a semi - cylindrically curved underside 6 . first strap . in the preferred embodiment , the first strap 6 is connected to the base member 5 such that the first strap 6 , together with the semi - cylindrically curved underside of the base member 5 , form a first loop , the first loop being sized to the index finger of a hand . 1 . light emitting element . the light emitting element 1 is mounted to the base member 5 in the preferred embodiment . 5 . base member . the base member 5 is connected to the light emitting element 1 , and in the preferred embodiment the base member 5 has a top side , a first lateral side , a second lateral side , and a semi - cylindrically curved underside 6 . first strap . in the preferred embodiment , the first strap 6 is connected to the base member 5 such that the first strap 6 , together with the semi - cylindrically curved underside of the base member 5 , form a first loop , the first loop being sized to fit the index finger of a hand . 7 . second strap . in the preferred embodiment , the second strap 7 is connected to the second lateral side of the base member 5 , such that the second strap 7 forms a second loop sized to fit the middle finger of a hand . 1 . light emitting element . the light emitting element 1 is mounted to the base member 5 in the preferred embodiment . 2 . circuit . in the preferred embodiment , the circuit 2 consists of a light emitting element 1 , a portable power supply 3 , and a switch 4 . 3 . portable power supply . in the preferred embodiment , the portable power supply 3 comprises a battery , is coupled to the circuit 2 , and is configured to provide electricity to the circuit 2 . the portable power supply 3 is connected to the light emitting element 1 on one side and to the switch 4 on the other side . 4 . switch . in the preferred embodiment , the switch 4 is coupled to the circuit 2 , and the switch 4 is connected to the light emitting element 1 on one side and to the portable power supply 3 on the other side . 3 . portable power supply . in the preferred embodiment , the portable power supply 3 is attached to a third strap 9 , which is configured to secure the portable power supply 3 to a wrist of the user , thereby allowing a larger portable power supply 3 to be utilized by the user . 9 . third strap . in the preferred embodiment , the third strap 9 secures the portable power supply 3 to a wrist of the user , thereby allowing a larger portable power supply 3 to be utilized by the user . 8 . first breakaway pin . in the preferred embodiment , the first breakaway pin 8 is coupled to a connection point between the base member 5 and the first strap 6 . 11 . second breakaway pin . in the preferred embodiment , the second breakaway pin 11 is coupled to a connection point between the base member 5 and the second strap 7 . disclaimer although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment , it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . | 5 |
preferred monophenolic compounds used in the instant invention are phenol , n - formyl - l - tyrosine , n - acetyl - l - tyrosine , l - tyrosine methyl ester , l - tyrosine ethyl ester , n - acetyl - l - tyrosine ethyl ester , and n - methyl - l - p - tyrosine . other monophenolic compounds useful in the present invention can be described in terms of the following formulas : ## str3 ## where r may be hydrogen , hydroxyl , cyclic or acyclic ( c 1 - 6 ) alkyl , ( c 2 - 6 ) alkenyl or c 2 - 6 alkynyl which include , of way of non - limiting examples , methyl , ethyl , cyclohexyl , 3 - pentenyl , and 2 - butynyl , heterocyclic ring system containing 3 - 10 carbon atoms and at least one number of n , o , or s atoms which include , of way of non - limiting examples , pyridine , pyrrolidine , piperidine , azole , oxazole , thiazole , furan , quinoline , halogen , ( c 1 - 6 ) alkoxy , carboxy and its salts , ( c 1 - 6 ) alkoxycarbonyl , carbamoyl , mono - and di -( c 1 - 6 ) alkylcarbamoyl , sulphamoyl , mono and di ( c 1 - 6 ) alkylamino , ( c 1 - 6 ) acyl , ureido , ( c 1 - 6 ) alkoxycarbonyl , ( c 1 - 6 ) alkoxyimino , ( c 1 - 6 ) alkylthio , arylthio , ( c 1 - 6 ) alkylsulphinyl , arylsulphinyl , ( c 1 - 6 ) alkylsulphonyl , or arylsulphonyl ; r &# 39 ; may be hydroxyl , ( c 1 - 6 ) alkoxy , ( c 1 - 6 ) alkyl , or heterocyclic ring system containing 3 - 10 carbon atoms and at least one member of n , o , or s atoms ; r &# 34 ; may be hydrogen and cyclic or acyclic ( c 1 - 6 ) alkyl ; and where r &# 39 ;&# 34 ; may be hydrogen , cyclic or acyclic ( c 1 - 6 ) alkyl , ( c 1 - 6 ) acyl , ( c 1 - 6 ) alkylsulphinyl , arylsulphinyl , ( c 1 - 6 ) alkylsulphonyl , or arylsulphonyl , or an amino protecting group such as , by way of non - limiting examples , t - butyl , 1 - methylcyclohexyl -, benzyl -, or ethylacetoacetyl . monophenol monooxygenase enzyme can be prepared from a number of sources including mushroom , potato , bran , mealworm , frog epidermis , and microorganisms . for use in the present invention , the enzyme need not be extensively purified . the enzyme may be prepared by homogenizing the enzyme source in ammonium sulfate ( 20 % of saturation ) to extract the enzyme . the enzyme extract is then partially purified by adding ammonium sulfate to 70 % of saturation to precipitate the monooxygenase . more extensive enzyme purifications are known ( podila , g . k ., biochem , biophys . res . commun . 141 : 697 ( 1986 )), incorporated herein by reference ). highly purified enzyme preparations may prove useful in the practice of the present invention and are within the scope of the present invention . in general , between about 1 u and about 10 u of enzyme ( one unit converts 1 umoles / hr under optimal conditions ) are added for each mg of monophenolic starting material . in principle , the monooxygenase enzyme requires the presence of a reducing agent to maintain the active , reduced form of the enzyme . vitamin c is one of a number of reducing agents which may be added to the reaction mixture of the present invention to maintain the active form of the monooxygenase enzyme . other such reducing agents include derivatives of vitamin c , sulfite and thiosulfate salts . in addition , these reducing agents can convert orthoanthraquinones back to the corresponding pyrocatecholic compounds and further enhance the yield of pyrocatecholic compounds . the metal ions used in the instant invention comprise iron ions , fe + 2 or fe + 3 , and other metal ions which can form complexes with pyrocatecholic compounds . such metal ions which may be used include mn + 2 , ni + 2 , co + 2 , al + 3 , and zn + 2 . the amount of metal ion added to the reaction mixture is generally from about 0 . 1 to 2 mole per mole of the pyrocatecholic compound generated . preferably , the amount of metal added is about 0 . 33 to 1 mole per mole of the pyrocatecholic compound generated . it has been discovered that the complexes between pyrocatecholic compounds and the metal ions form when the ph is from 4 to 11 , preferably from 6 to 10 . accordingly , the reaction in the instant invention is preferably carried out in a aqueous buffer solution suitable for maintaining such a ph . suitable buffer solutions include aqueous solutions of phosphate , borate , carbonate , triethanolamine - hcl and 2 - amino - 2 - hydroxymethyl - 1 , 3 - propanediol - hcl . the buffer concentration is generally 0 . 01m to 0 . 2m . the reaction temperature is in a range of 0 ° c . to 60 ° c ., preferably 4 ° c . to 50 ° c ., and most preferably , 10 ° c . to 45 ° c . the oxygen required for the operation of the method of the invention is , conveniently , supplied by atmospheric oxygen , although oxygen gas from other sources may be used . the oxygen may be mixed into the reaction mixture simply by vigorous agitation or bubbling into the reaction mixture . the method of the present invention can be conducted batchwise , in a series of reaction vessels or in a continuous manner . for instance , the monooxygenase enzyme can be covalently attached to a solid support such as agarose or sepharose ™ ( pharmacia lkb biotechnology , piscataway , n . j .) or immobilized onto membranes or cross - linked matrices such polyacrylamide by a number of known techniques ( e . g . wykes , nature , 230 : 187 ( 1970 ) and leadlay , p . f . the chemical society monograph for teachers no . 32 , 67 ( 1978 )). the monophenolic compound can then be passed over the enzyme - containing solid support in the presence of buffer , metal ions , reductants and oxygen and at an appropriate temperature . in addition , the method can also be conducted in a water miscible ( single phase ) or immiscible ( biphasic ) organic co - solvent system ( findeis , m . a . et al . ann . rep . in med . chem . 19 , 263 ( 1984 )). reaction times in a batchwise process are generally between about 1 hr . and about 10 hrs ., preferably between about 3 hrs . and about 5 hrs . appropriate residence times for a continuous process can be estimated from the batchwise data and optimized by normal experimentation . the pyrocatecholic product of the present invention can be isolated by standard chemical methods , including crystallization and chromatography , as the metal ion salt . the pyrocatecholic product can also be separated from the metal ions by a variety of methods , including , the addition of hydrogen sulfide . the method of the instant invention increases the yield of pyrocatecholic product and simplifies the manufacturing process . the method , thus , lowers the cost of manufacturing pyrocatecholic compounds . the instant invention will be illustrated substantially by the following non - limiting examples . an monooxygenase enzyme was prepared by homogenizing 50 grams of fresh mushrooms , 200 ml water and 20 gram ammonium sulfate in a waring blender . the homogenate was centrifuged at 4 ° c ., 10 , 000 × g for 30 minutes to remove debris , such as fiber . to the supernatant , 100 gram of ammonium sulfate were added and the supernatant was stirred at 4 ° c . for 12 hours to precipitate the monophenol monooxygenase enzyme . the precipitate was recovered by centrifugation ( as above ) to yield about 5 gram of a monophenol monooxygenase - containing preparation . a reaction mixture was formed by dissolving 0 . 5 gram of the monooxygenase enzyme preparation in 10 ml 0 . 1m phosphate buffer , ph 7 , and adding 0 . 045 gram l - tyrosine , 0 . 1 gram vitamin c , and 0 . 022 gram ferric chloride . the reaction mixture was placed in a 35 ° c . water bath ( shaking at 120 rpm ) for 3 hours . the results , in table 1 , show a significant increase in the yield of the product , l - dopa , using the method of the instant invention when compared with the method without adding ferric ion , when a reducing agent is added to this system the oaq is quickly reduced to pc . because the bioconversion reaction was stopped before reducing agent was used up , most of the compounds left in solution were mp and pc . table 1______________________________________ l - tyrosine l - dopa residual reactant ( mg ) ( mg ) l - tyrosine ( mg ) ______________________________________control ( no fe . sup .+ 3 ) 45 13 . 1 31 . 7the instant method 45 25 . 0 20 . 1______________________________________ examples 2 - 8 repeat the procedure in example 1 except l - tyrosine was replaced with the corresponding monophenolic compound listed in table 2 . the results , in table 2 , reveal that the yields of the corresponding pyrocatecholic products ( yield = 100 % x moles pyrophenolic / moles monophenolic in the starting mixture ) are about 3 % to 110 % higher than that of control . table 2______________________________________ percent increase ofexample monophenolic reactant yield (%) ______________________________________2 phenol 9 . 23 n - formyl - l - tyrosine 13 . 94 n - acetyl - l - tyrosine 3 . 65 l - tyrosine methyl ester 16 . 86 l - tyrosine ethyl ester 25 . 87 n - acetyl - l - tyrosine ethyl ester 106 . 48 n - methyl - l - p - tyrosine 64 . 1______________________________________ the procedure described in example 1 was followed except that monophenol monooxygenase was extracted from potato . the results are shown in table 3 , where the yield increasing effect of iron ion is again significant . table 3______________________________________ l - tyrosine l - dopa residual reactant ( mg ) ( mg ) l - tyrosine ( mg ) ______________________________________control ( no fe . sup .+ 3 ) 55 9 . 4 24 . 2the instant method 55 17 . 0 24 . 0______________________________________ the procedure described in example 1 was followed except that borate buffer ( 0 . 05m , ph 8 . 0 ) was used instead of phosphate buffer . the results are shown in table 4 . table 4______________________________________ l - tyrosine l - dopa residual reactant ( mg ) ( mg ) l - tyrosine ( mg ) ______________________________________control ( no fe . sup .+ 3 ) 60 18 . 8 33 . 5the instant method 60 23 . 9 25 . 4______________________________________ the procedure described in example 1 was followed except that carbonate buffer ( 0 . 05m , ph 7 . 0 ) was used instead of phosphate buffer . the results are shown in table 5 . table 5______________________________________ l - tyrosine l - dopa residual reactant ( mg ) ( mg ) l - tyrosine ( mg ) ______________________________________control ( no fe . sup .+ 3 ) 55 13 . 5 34 . 3the instant method 55 14 . 7 30 . 4______________________________________ the procedure described in example 1 was followed except that triethanolamine - hcl ( 0 . 05m , ph 7 . 0 ) buffer was used instead of phosphate buffer . the results are shown in table 6 . table 6______________________________________ l - tyrosine l - dopa residual reactant ( mg ) ( mg ) l - tyrosine ( mg ) ______________________________________control ( no fe . sup .+ 3 ) 55 12 . 4 33 . 3the instant method 55 15 . 3 31 . 6______________________________________ the procedure described in example 1 was followed except that tris ( hydroxymethyl ) aminomethane ( tris ) buffer ( 0 . 05m , ph 7 . 0 ) was used instead of phosphate buffer . the results are shown in table 7 . table 7______________________________________ l - tyrosine l - dopa residual reactant ( mg ) ( mg ) l - tyrosine ( mg ) ______________________________________control ( no fe . sup .+ 3 ) 55 17 . 8 32 . 2the instant method 55 20 . 6 30 . 5______________________________________ additional experiments using buffers such as acetic , citric , succinic and phthalate buffer have shown that as long as the ph was in the range of 4 to 11 , a complex between the iron ion and the pyrocatecholic products would form and stabilize the pyrocatecholic products . | 2 |
fig1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an implantable stimulation system 10 for alleviation of sexual dysfunction . as shown in fig1 , system 10 may include an implantable pressure sensor 12 , implantable stimulator 14 and external programmer 16 shown in conjunction with a patient 18 . pressure sensor 12 senses a pressure level of penis 22 on urethra 20 distal to bladder 24 , and transmits pressure information based on the sensed pressure level to at least one of stimulator 14 and programmer 16 by wireless telemetry . the sensed pressure level represents a level of tumescence of penis 22 , i . e ., a level of blood flow into the penis and a resulting level of engorgement . in this manner , pressure sensor 12 permits the erectile state of penis 22 to be monitored . sensor 12 , stimulator 14 or programmer 16 may record the pressure information . alternatively , or additionally , stimulator 14 or programmer 16 may generate adjustments to electrical stimulation parameters applied by the stimulator in response to the pressure information , permitting closed loop feedback of erectile state information during the course of sexual activity . in some embodiments , stimulator 14 or programmer 16 may generate adjustments to parameters in response to pressure information to support delivery of electrical stimulation to support distinct phases of sexual activity , and transition between such phases . for example , based on the pressure information obtained by sensor 12 , stimulator 14 or programmer 16 may adjust stimulation parameters to maintain a particular phase of sexual activity , transition from one phase to another , and transition from one phase to a cessation of sexual activity . examples of distinct phases of sexual activity include arousal , e . g ., desire , erection or lubrication , and orgasm or ejaculation . to support distinct phases of sexual activity and progression between phases , sensor 12 , stimulator 14 , and programmer 16 may be configured to operate in conjunction with stimulation devices and techniques described in u . s . patent application ser . no . 10 / 441 , 784 , to martin gerber , filed may 19 , 2003 , entitled “ treatment of sexual dysfunction by neurostimulation ,” the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference . fig2 is a side view illustrating implantable pressure sensor 12 implanted within urethra 20 and bladder 24 . as shown in fig1 and 2 , pressure sensor 12 includes a sensor housing 26 and a flexible tube 28 that extends from the housing . flexible tube 28 includes a closed end 32 and an open end ( not shown in fig1 ). sensor housing 26 contains a sensing element ( not shown in fig1 ) adjacent the open end of flexible tube 28 . sensor housing 26 further contains electronics to generate pressure information , and telemetry circuitry for transmission of the information . the sensing element senses the pressure level within flexible tube 28 . flexible tube 28 may contain a fluid , such as a gas or liquid . as further shown in fig1 and 2 , sensor housing 26 may reside within bladder 24 . sensor housing 26 may be temporarily or permanently attached to an inner wall 27 of bladder 24 , such has the mucosal lining , as will be described . alternatively , housing 26 may be implanted sub - mucosally . flexible tube 28 extends away from sensor housing 26 , out of bladder 24 and through urethra 20 . in this manner , flexible tube 28 is positioned to directly sense the pressure level exerted within urethra 20 inside of the shaft of the penis 22 . yet , flexible tube 28 may be sufficiently thin to avoid significant obstruction of urethra 20 or disruption of the function of other urinary or reproductive structures . as a further alternative , housing 26 may reside outside bladder 24 , in which case flexible tube 28 may extend into bladder 24 and through urethra 20 through a hole formed in the bladder . in this case , housing 26 may be surgically or laparoscopically implanted within the abdomen . tubes 28 may be surgically or laparoscopically guided through a hole in the wall of bladder 24 . a cystoscope may be used to grab tube 28 and pull it downward through urethra 20 . in some embodiments , housing 26 and its contents may be integrated with stimulator 14 , in which case flexible tube 28 extend from the stimulator housing and into bladder 24 , much like leads carrying stimulation or sense electrodes . with further reference to fig1 , implantable stimulator 14 includes an electrical lead 15 ( partially shown in fig1 ) carrying one or more electrodes that are placed at a nerve site within the pelvic floor . for example , the electrodes may be positioned to stimulate the prostate parasympathetic nerve , the cavernous nerve , the pudendal nerve , the sacral nerves to support and maintain an erection of penis 22 . in particular , electrical stimulation may be applied to increase penile tumescence , i . e ., blood flow into the penis 22 , that enables the patient to achieve an erection and participate in normal sexual activity . further , the level of stimulation may be modified based on closed - loop feedback from sensor 12 to maintain the tumescence of penis 22 at target level . in this manner , implantable stimulator 14 delivers stimulation therapy to the in order to achieve and maintain desired penile tumescence . at predetermined times , or at patient controlled instances , the external programmer 16 may program stimulator 14 to begin stimulation to achieve an erection . upon the completion of sexual activity or after a predetermined period of time , stimulator 14 may cease stimulation to allow the erection to subside . during the course of stimulation , stimulator 14 may adjust the stimulation delivered to the patient . for example , adjustment of stimulation parameters may be responsive to pressure information transmitted by implantable pressure sensor 12 . external programmer 16 or implantable stimulator 14 may adjust stimulation parameters , such as amplitude , pulse width , and pulse rate , based on pressure information received from implantable sensor 12 . in this manner , implantable stimulator 14 adjusts stimulation to either increase or reduce penile tumescence based on the actual pressure level sensed within urethra 20 . pressure sensor 12 may transmit pressure information periodically , e . g ., every few seconds , during the course of sexual activity . alternatively , each pressure measurement may be obtained by pressure sensor 12 in response to a request from stimulator 14 or programmer . in either case , stimulator 14 or programmer 16 may activate pressure sensor 12 , e . g ., by wireless telemetry , to commence sensing . in some embodiments , pressure sensor 12 may transmit pressure information when there is an abrupt change in sphincter pressure , e . g ., a pressure change that exceeds a predetermined rate threshold , which indicates sexual arousal . in this case , pressure sensor 12 may sense pressure levels at relatively long intervals , and then self - activate sensing at shorter intervals upon detection of the onset of sexual activity . external programmer 16 may be a small , battery - powered , portable device that may accompany the patient 18 throughout the day or only during sexual activity . programmer 16 may have a simple user interface , such as a button or keypad , and a display or lights . patient 18 may initiate an erection , i . e ., a voluntary increase in penile tumescence , via the user interface . in particular , in response to a command from the patient 18 , programmer 16 may activate stimulator 14 to deliver electrical stimulation therapy . in some embodiments , the length of time for an erection event may be determined by pressing a button a first time to initiate stimulation and a second time when the sexual activity is complete , or by a predetermined length of time permitted by programmer 16 or implantable stimulator 14 . in each case , programmer 16 causes implantable stimulator 14 to temporarily stimulate patient 18 to promote penile tumescence . implantable stimulator 14 may be constructed with a biocompatible housing , such as titanium or stainless steel , and surgically implanted at a site in patient 18 near the pelvis . the implantation site may be a subcutaneous location in the side of the lower abdomen or the side of the lower back . one or more electrical stimulation leads 15 are connected to implantable stimulator 14 and surgically or percutaneously tunneled to place one or more electrodes carried by a distal end of the lead at a desired nerve site , such as a prostate parasympathetic , pudendal , sacral , or cavernous nerve site . in the example of fig1 and 2 , sensor housing 26 of implantable pressure sensor 12 is attached to the inner wall 27 of bladder 24 . however , the attachment site for sensor housing 26 could be anywhere with access to urethra 20 . also , although a single tube 28 is illustrated for purposes of example , pressure sensor 12 may include multiple tubes or multiple sensors . with a relatively long flexible tube 28 , for example , sensor housing 26 could be positioned at a greater distance from the exit of bladder 24 . also , in some embodiments , sensor housing 26 may be attached within urethra 20 , e . g ., closer to the section of urethra 20 within penis 22 , although attachment of the sensor housing within bladder 24 may be desirable to avoid obstruction of the urethra . in other embodiments , sensor housing 26 could be surgically or laparoscopically implanted outside of bladder 24 . in this case , flexible tube 28 may be coupled to the sensor housing 26 and tunneled through a hole in the wall of bladder 24 and into urethra 20 , either by introduction of the tube through the urethra and upward into the bladder , or by introduction of the tube into the bladder and downward into the urethra . fig3 is an enlarged schematic diagram illustrating the side view of an implantable pressure sensor 12 with a flexible tube 28 residing within the penis 22 of a patient 18 . in the example of fig3 , sensor 12 and flexible tube 28 are surgically implanted within tissue of penis 22 . some patients may benefit from implantation of sensor 12 and tube 28 within penis 22 when bladder 24 or urethra 20 are not able to carry a device without obstruction or impaired urinary or sexual function . the corpus cavernosa penis 23 and corpus cavernosa urethrae 21 are structures that swell with blood during arousal and erection . therefore , placement of the sensor within or adjacent to corpus cavernosa penis 23 or corpus cavernosa urethrae 21 may provide accurate sensing of tumescence within penis 22 . as shown in fig3 , sensor housing 26 and flexible tube 28 are shown surgically implanted into one of the corpus cavernosa penis 23 segments of penis 22 . sensor housing 26 may simply lie within the tissue or be attached to the outer lining of corpus cavernosa penis 23 . sensor housing 26 may be attached by simple sutures or by any of a variety of fixation mechanisms , which will be described in greater detail herein in the context of attachment of the sensor housing within bladder 24 . once implanted , pressure sensor 12 does not readily move within the tissue . the flexible tube 28 may move with the body of the penis 22 as the penis changes position or expands . flexible tube 28 may vary in length depending on the size of penis 22 or the placement site of sensor housing 26 . in another embodiment , implantable sensor 12 may be surgically implanted into corpus cavernosum urethrae 21 . the corpus cavernosum urethrae 21 of penis 22 surrounds urethra 20 throughout the body of the penis . placement of the sensor 12 in corpus cavernosum urethrae 21 may enable tumescence sensing while further minimizing the impact of the sensor during sexual activity . in either case , implantation of sensor 12 within the body of penis 22 , rather than within urethra 20 , may present less risk of obstruction of urine flow . fig4 is an enlarged , cross - sectional side view of implantable pressure sensor 12 of fig1 and 2 . as shown in fig4 , sensor housing 26 receives an open end 34 of flexible tube 28 . a sensing element 36 is mounted within sensor housing 26 , at open end 34 , to sense a pressure level within fluid tube 28 . sensing element 36 may be coupled to a circuit board 38 within sensor housing 26 . circuit board 28 carries suitable electronics for processing signals generated by sensing element 36 . in particular , circuit board 28 may include circuitry that determines a tumescence level within penis 22 based on the sensed pressure level obtained from sensing element 36 . in the example of fig4 , flexible tube 28 is filled with a fluid to transduce the pressure on the tube to sensing element 36 . inward deformation of flexible tube 28 causes an elevation in the internal pressure of the tube . sensing element 36 senses the elevation in pressure at open end 34 of flexible tube 28 , and generates a pressure signal that represents the pressure level . although end 34 is referred to as “ open ,” it is sealed by sensing element 36 . consequently , deformation of flexible tube 28 causes a change in the tube volume , and hence pressure changes in the fluid 30 within the tube . flexible tube 28 may be formed from a variety of flexible materials , including polyurethane or silicone . the flexibility of tube 28 permits the tube to conform to contours within urethra 20 , or penis 22 , and deform in response to changes in penis 22 and pressure exerted on urethra 20 . in particular , a rise in penile tumescence results in exertion of pressure inward against the outer wall of urethra 20 . in turn , the inner wall of urethra 20 exerts pressure inward against the outer wall of flexible tube 28 , causing the wall of the tube to deform and compress inward , providing an indication of penile tumescence . sensing element 36 may include a strain gauge sensor , e . g ., formed by thin film deposition on a flexible membrane . circuit board 38 may include processing electronics to process signals generated by sensing element 36 , and generate pressure information based on the signals monitoring the pressure level of each tube . in addition , circuit board 38 may include telemetry circuitry for wireless telemetry with stimulator 14 , external programmer 16 , or both . sensing elements 36 , in some embodiments , may be constructed as a membrane that carries a resistive strain gauge or piezoelectric element selected to be effective as a pressure transducer . upon deformation of the membrane , in response to pressure levels within their respective tubes , sensing element 36 produces an electrical signal . when penile pressure increases , the flexible tube 28 deforms and the pressure inside the tube increases . the higher pressure forces the membrane within sensing element 36 to deform , thus producing an electrical signal change and enabling implanted pressure sensor 12 to measure pressure and , indirectly , penile tumescence . fluid 30 contained within the tube may be a liquid or gas , or a combination of liquid and gas . for example , flexible tube 28 could be filled with saline , distilled water , oxygen , air or any other biocompatible fluid . preferably , the fluid 30 within the tubes is generally non - compressible . fluid 30 tends to exhibit an elevation in pressure as the walls of tube 28 are deformed during engorgement of penis 22 . conversely , fluid 30 exhibits a reduction in pressure as penis 22 relaxes . in each case , the pressure level is transduced by sensing element 36 , and can be communicated to stimulator 14 , programmer 16 , or both for analysis or closed loop control of stimulation parameters flexible tube 28 may be provided with different dimensions selected for patients having different anatomical dimensions . in particular , implantable pressure sensor 12 may be constructed with a flexible tube 28 having different lengths of diameters . different tube lengths may be necessary given the distance between the attachment site of sensor housing 26 and urethra within penis 22 , either to ensure that flexible tube 28 reaches the distal urethra or does not extend too far down urethra 20 . it may also be important for tube 28 to remain within urethra 20 while the penis is both flaccid and erect . multiple diameters may also be necessary to allow tube 28 to be placed into both a large or narrow urethra 20 . the dimensions may be fixed for a given pressure sensor 12 , as a complete assembly . alternatively , tubes of different sizes may be attached to a pressure sensor housing 26 by a physician prior to implantation . in general , flexible tube 28 may have a length of less than approximately 9 cm and more preferably less than approximately 7 cm . in some embodiments , flexible tube 28 may have a length of approximately 0 . 5 cm to 3 cm . the lengths of tube 28 may vary according to the anatomy of the patient . in addition , tube 28 may have an outer diameter in a range of approximately 1 to 3 mm . the wall of tube 28 may be relatively thin to ensure sufficient deformation and conformability , yet thick enough to ensure structural integrity . as an example , the thickness of the wall of tube 28 may be in a range of approximately 0 . 1 mm to 0 . 3 mm . sensor housing 26 may be made from a biocompatible material such as titanium , stainless steel , or nitinol , or polymeric materials such as silicone or polyurethane . in general , sensor housing 26 contains no external openings , with the exception of the opening to receive flexible tube 28 , thereby protecting sensing element 26 and circuit board 38 from the environment within bladder 24 . the proximal , open end 34 of flexible tube 28 resides within sensor housing 26 while the distal , closed end 32 resides outside of the sensor housing . the opening in sensor housing 26 that receives open end 34 of flexible tube 28 may be sealed to prevent exposure of interior components . attaching implantable pressure sensor 12 to the mucosal lining of bladder 24 may be accomplished in a variety of ways , but preferably is completed in a manner that will not excessively injure bladder 24 . preferably , attachment should cause limited inflammation no adverse physiological modification , such as tissue infection or a loss in structural integrity of bladder 24 . however , it is desirable that implantable pressure sensor 12 also be attached securely to the attachment site in order to provide an extended period of measurement without prematurely loosening or detaching from the intended location . as an example , sensor housing 26 may contain a vacuum cavity 39 that permits a vacuum to be drawn by a vacuum channel 40 . the vacuum is created by a deployment device having a vacuum line in communication with vacuum channel 40 . the vacuum draws a portion 42 of the mucosal lining 44 of bladder 24 into vacuum cavity 39 . once the portion 42 of mucosal lining 44 is captured within vacuum cavity 39 , a fastening pin 46 is driven into the captured tissue to attach sensor housing 26 within bladder 24 . fastening pin 46 may be made from , for example , stainless steel , titanium , nitinol , or a high density polymer . the shaft of pin 46 may be smooth or rough , and the tip may be a sharp point to allow for easy penetration into tissue . fastening pin 46 may be driven into housing 26 and the portion 42 of mucosal lining 44 under pressure , or upon actuation by a push rod , administered by a deployment device . in some embodiments , fastening pin 46 may be manufactured from a degradable material that the breaks down over time , e . g . in the presence of urine , to release implantable pressure sensor 12 within a desired time period after attachment . in still another embodiment , implantable pressure sensor 12 may be attached without the use of a penetrating rod but with a spring - loaded clip to pinch trapped mucosal lining 44 within cavity 39 . a variety of other attachment mechanisms , such as pins , clips , barbs , sutures , helical screws , surgical adhesives , and the like may be used to attach sensor housing 26 to mucosal lining 44 of bladder 24 . similar attachment mechanisms may be used when implanting sensor 12 within the body of penis 22 , e . g ., within or adjacent to corpus cavernosa penis 23 and corpus cavernosa urethrae 21 . fig5 is functional block diagram illustrating various components of an exemplary implantable pressure sensor 12 . in the example of fig5 , implantable pressure sensor 12 includes a sensing element 36 , processor 48 , memory 50 , telemetry interface 52 , and power source 54 . sensor 36 transforms pressure levels produced by mechanical deformation from tube 28 into electrical signals representative of penile tumescence . the electrical signals may be amplified , filtered , and otherwise processed as appropriate by electronics within sensor 12 . in some embodiments , the signals may be converted to digital values and processed by processor 48 before being saved to memory 50 or sent to implantable stimulator 14 as pressure information via telemetry interface 52 . memory 50 stores instructions for execution by processor 48 and pressure information generated by sensing element 36 . pressure information may then be sent to implantable stimulator 14 or external programmer 16 for long - term storage and retrieval by a user . memory 50 may include separate memories for storing instructions and pressure information . in addition , processor 48 and memory 50 may implement loop recorder functionality in which processor 48 overwrites the oldest contents within the memory with new data as storage limits are met . in some embodiments , sensor 26 may be deployed purely as a diagnostic device to obtain and store penile tumescence measurements over a period of time . in particular , sensor 26 may be used to diagnose a patient &# 39 ; s condition in order to determine whether the patient suffers from erectile dysfunction , the degree the dysfunction , and whether electrical stimulation therapy may be desirable . in each case , sensor 26 is entirely ambulatory and requires little or no setup by the patient 18 . instead , sensor 26 simply accompanies patient 18 throughout his daily routine . loop recorder functionality may be especially desirable for monitoring of penile tumescence over an extended period of time . following implantation of stimulator 14 , sensor 26 may function as both a diagnostic device and a closed loop feedback device for the stimulator . processor 48 controls telemetry interface 52 to send pressure information to implantable stimulator 14 or programmer 16 on a continuous basis , at periodic intervals , or upon request from the implantable stimulator or programmer . wireless telemetry may be accomplished by radio frequency ( rf ) communication or proximal inductive interaction of pressure sensor 12 with stimulator 14 or programmer 16 . power source 54 delivers operating power to the components of implantable pressure sensor 12 . power source 54 may include a battery and a power generation circuit to produce the operating power . in some embodiments , the battery may be rechargeable to allow extended operation recharging may be accomplished through proximal inductive interaction between an external charger and an inductive charging coil within sensor 12 . in some embodiments , power requirements may be small enough to allow sensor 12 to utilize patient motion and implement a kinetic energy - scavenging device to trickle charge a rechargeable battery . in other embodiments , traditional batteries may be used for a limited period of time . as a further alternative , an external inductive power supply could transcutaneously power sensor 12 whenever pressure measurements are needed or desired . fig6 is a functional block diagram illustrating various components of an implantable stimulator 14 . in the example of fig6 , stimulator 14 includes a processor 56 , memory 58 , stimulation pulse generator 60 , telemetry interface 62 , and power source 64 . memory 58 stores instructions for execution by processor 56 , stimulation therapy data , and pressure information received from pressure sensor 12 via telemetry interface . pressure information is received from pressure sensor 12 and may be recorded for long - term storage and retrieval by a user , or adjustment of stimulation parameters , such as amplitude , pulse width or pulse rate . memory 58 may include a single memory , or separate memories for storing instructions , stimulation parameter sets , and pressure information . processor 56 controls stimulation pulse generator 60 to deliver electrical stimulation therapy via one or more leads 15 . processor 56 also controls telemetry interface 62 to send information to stimulator 14 , programmer 16 , or both , and optionally receive information . based on pressure information received from sensor 12 , processor 56 interprets the information and determines whether any therapy parameter adjustments should be made . for example , processor 56 may compare the pressure level to one or more thresholds , and then take action to adjust stimulation parameters based on the pressure level . information may be received from sensor 12 on a continuous basis , at periodic intervals , or upon request from stimulator 14 or external programmer 16 . alternatively , or additionally , pressure sensor 12 may transmit pressure information when there is an abrupt change in the pressure level , e . g ., at the onset of sexual arousal . processor 56 modifies parameter values stored in memory 58 in response to pressure information from sensor 12 , either independently or in response to programming changes from external programmer 16 . in other words , stimulator 14 may directly control its own parameters in response to information obtained from sensor 12 . alternatively , programmer 16 may direct the parameter adjustments . stimulation pulse generator 60 provides electrical stimulation according to the stored parameter values via a lead 15 implanted proximate to a nerve , such as a prostate parasympathetic nerve . processor 56 determines any parameter adjustments based on the pressure information obtained form sensor 12 , and loads the adjustments into memory 58 for use in delivery of stimulation . as an example , if the pressure information indicates an inadequate tumescence pressure during a desired erectile event , processor 56 may increase the amplitude , pulse width or pulse rate of the electrical stimulation applied by stimulation pulse generator 60 to increase stimulation intensity , and thereby increase penile tumescence . if tumescence pressure is adequate , processor 56 may implement a cycle of downward adjustments in stimulation intensity until tumescence pressure becomes inadequate , and then incrementally increase the stimulation upward until tumescence pressure is again adequate . in this way , processor 56 converges toward an optimum level of stimulation . although processor 56 is generally described in this example as adjusting stimulation parameters , it is noted that the adjustments may be generated by external programmer 16 , as mentioned above . stimulator 14 may deliver stimulation pulses with different parameters for different phases of sexual activity , such as arousal and ejaculation . for a first phase of arousal , stimulator 14 may deliver neurostimulation pulses at a frequency in the range of approximately 50 to 150 hz , and more preferably approximately 70 to 100 hz . each pulse for the first phase may have an amplitude in the range of approximately 1 to 10 volts , and more preferably approximately 2 to 5 volts , and a pulse width in the range of approximately 100 to 400 microseconds , and more preferably approximately 200 to 300 microseconds . the duration of the first phase of neurostimulation may depend on a detected transition to the second phase , which may be indicated by sensed tumescence . for a second phase of ejaculation , stimulator 14 may deliver neurostimulation pulses at a frequency in the range of approximately 1 to 5 hz , or in the range of approximately 25 to 35 hz . each pulse for the second phase may have an amplitude in the range of approximately 1 to 10 volts , and more preferably approximately 2 to 5 volts , and a pulse width in the range of approximately 200 to 700 microseconds , and more preferably approximately 400 to 500 microseconds . the adequacy of tumescence pressure is determined by reference to the pressure information obtained from sensor 12 . penile pressure may change due to a variety of factors , such as normal nervous activity or arousal . hence , for a given set of stimulation parameters , the efficacy of stimulation may vary in terms of tumescence pressure , due to changes in the physiological condition of the patient . for this reason , the continuous or periodic availability of pressure information from implantable sensor 12 is highly desirable in order to maintain an optimal level of stimulation in support of sexual activity . with the pressure information provided by sensor 12 , stimulator 14 is able to respond to changes in penile tumescence with dynamic adjustments in the stimulation parameters delivered to the patient 18 . in particular , processor 56 is able to adjust parameters in order to maintain erection of penis 22 and thereby avoid prematurely ceasing sexual activity . in some cases , the adjustment may be nearly instantaneous . if pressure sensor 12 indicates an abrupt change in tumescence pressure , stimulator 14 can quickly respond by more vigorously stimulating one or more selected nerve sites to increase penile tumescence . in general , if the tumescence of penis 22 is not reaching the target pressure , processor 56 may dynamically increase the level of therapy to be delivered . conversely , if the tumescence of penis 22 is consistently achieving target pressure , processor 56 may incrementally reduce stimulation , e . g ., to conserve power resources . as in the case of sensor 12 , wireless telemetry in stimulator 14 may be accomplished by radio frequency ( rf ) communication or proximal inductive interaction of pressure stimulator 14 with implantable pressure sensor 12 or external programmer 16 . accordingly , telemetry interface 62 may be similar to telemetry interface 52 . also , power source 64 of stimulator 14 may be constructed somewhat similarly to power source 54 . for example , power source 64 may be a rechargeable or non - rechargeable battery , or alternatively take the form of a transcutaneous inductive power interface . fig7 is a schematic diagram illustrating cystoscopic deployment of an implantable pressure sensor 12 via the urethra 20 using a deployment device 66 . pressure sensor 12 may be surgically implanted . however , cystoscopic implantation via urethra is generally more desirable in terms of patient trauma , recovery time , and infection risk . in the example of fig7 , deployment device 66 includes a distal head 68 , a delivery sheath 69 and a control handle 70 . deployment device 66 may be manufactured from disposable materials for single use applications or more durable materials for multiple applications capable of withstanding sterilization between patients . as shown in fig7 , distal head 68 includes a cavity 72 that retains sensor housing 26 of implantable pressure sensor 12 for delivery to a desired attachment site within bladder 24 . sensor housing 26 may be held within cavity 72 by a friction fit , vacuum pressure , or a mechanical attachment . in each case , once distal head 68 reaches the attachment site , sensor housing 26 may be detached . sheath 69 is attached to distal head 68 and is steerable to navigate urethra 20 and guide the distal head into position . in some embodiments , sheath 69 and distal head 68 may include cystoscopic viewing components to permit visualization of the attachment site . in other cases , external visualization techniques such as ultrasound may be used . sheath 68 may include one or more steering mechanisms , such as wires , shape memory components , or the like , to permit the distal region adjacent distal head 68 to turn abruptly for access to the mucosal lining of bladder 24 . a control handle 70 is attached to sheath 69 to aid the physician in manually maneuvering deployment device 66 throughout urethra 20 and bladder 24 . control handle 70 may have a one or more controls that enable the physician to contort sheath 69 and allow for deployment device 66 to attach pressure sensor housing 26 to the mucosal lining of bladder 24 and then release the sensor housing to complete implantation . a vacuum source 74 supplies negative pressure to a vacuum line within sheath 69 to draw tissue into the vacuum cavity defined by sensor housing 66 . a positive pressure source 76 supplies positive pressure to a drive a fastening pin into the tissue captured in the vacuum cavity . deployment device 66 enters patient urethra 20 to deliver pressure sensor 12 and implant it within bladder 24 . first , the physician must guide distal head 68 through the opening of urethra 20 in patient 18 . second , distal head 68 continues to glide up urethra 20 and into bladder 24 , for access to an appropriate site to attach pressure sensor 12 . using actuators built into control handle 70 , sheath 69 is bent to angle distal head 68 into position . again , sheath 69 may be steered using control wires , shape memory alloys or the like . as pressure sensor 12 is guided into place against the mucosal wall 44 of bladder 24 , a physician actuates control handle 70 to attach sensor 12 to mucosal wall 44 and then release the attached sensor . upon attachment , pressure sensor 12 is implanted within bladder 24 of patient 18 and deployment device 66 is free to exit the bladder . exemplary methods for attachment and release of sensor 12 , including the use of both vacuum pressure and positive pressure , will be described in greater detail below . although fig7 depicts cystoscopic deployment of pressure sensor 12 , surgical or laparoscopic implantation techniques alternatively may be used . fig8 is a schematic diagram illustrating retraction of deployment device 66 upon fixation of pressure sensor 12 within the urinary tract of patient 18 . once the sensor 12 is released , flexible tube 28 remains attached to sensor housing 26 . during removal of deployment device 66 , tube 28 maintains its position through the neck of bladder 24 . as deployment device 66 is removed , tube 28 passes through a guide channel formed in the deployment device . the guide channel ensures that flexible tube 28 remains pinned between distal head 68 and the wall of bladder 24 . as distal head 68 slides through urethra 20 , however , flexible tube 28 releases from deployment device 66 and is left in place within the urethra in the region of penis 22 . deployment device 66 may then be completely withdrawn past the remainder of urethra 20 . in the example of fig8 , flexible tube 28 is suspended by device housing 26 , which is attached to mucosal wall 44 , and is held in place by pressure exerted against the urethral wall by urinary sphincter 22 . in other embodiments , tube 28 may be kept in place using other techniques such as actively fixing tube 28 to the side of urethra 20 , e . g ., with sutures or other anchor mechanisms . in a preferred embodiment , sheath 69 and distal head 68 may be disposable . disposable devices that come into contact with patient 18 tissues and fluids greatly decrease the possibility of infection in implantable devices . control handle 70 does not come into contact with body fluids of patient 18 and may be used for multiple patients . in another embodiment , the entire deployment device 66 may be manufactured out of robust materials intended for multiple uses . the device would then need to be sterilizable between uses . in still a further embodiment , the features of distal head 68 may be incorporated into pressure sensor 12 . in this configuration , pressure sensor 12 may be larger in size but would include the necessary elements for attachment within the device . after attachment , the entire sensor would detach from sheath 69 , making removal of deployment device 66 easier on patient 18 . after the useful life of implantable pressure sensor 12 is complete or it is no longer needed within patient 18 , it can be removed from patient 18 in some manner . as an example , deployment device 66 may be reinserted into patient 18 , navigated into bladder 24 , and reattached to pressure sensor 12 . deployment device 66 may then be withdrawn from the bladder 24 and urethra 20 , explanting sensor 12 , including housing 26 and flexible tube 28 , from patient 18 . in another embodiment , as mentioned with respect to fig3 , the attachment method of pressure sensor 12 to bladder 24 may involve degradable materials , such as a biodegradable fixation pin . after a certain period of time exposed to urine in the bladder 24 , the fixation material may structurally degrade and allow pressure sensor 12 to be released from the mucosal wall 44 of bladder 24 . in some embodiments , sensor 12 may be sized sufficiently small to follow urine out of the bladder , urethra , and body during an urination event . in other embodiments , sensor housing 26 or tube 28 may carry a suture - like loop that can be hooked by a catheter with a hooking element to withdraw the entire assembly from patient 18 via urethra 20 . in still further embodiments , such a loop may be long enough to extend out of the urethra , so that the loop can be grabbed with an external device or the human hand to pull the sensor 12 out of the patient . fig9 is a cross - sectional side view of distal head 68 of deployment device 66 during deployment and fixation of pressure sensor 12 . in the example of fig9 , distal head 68 includes a vacuum line 78 and a positive pressure line 80 . vacuum line 78 is coupled to vacuum source 74 via a tube or lumen extending along the length of sheath 69 . similarly , positive pressure line 80 is coupled to positive pressure source 76 via a tube or lumen extending along the length of sheath 69 . vacuum line 78 is in fluid communication with vacuum cavity 39 , and permits the physician to draw a vacuum and thereby capture a portion 42 of mucosal lining 44 within the vacuum cavity . although vacuum line 78 is shown as being coupled laterally to vacuum cavity 39 , the vacuum line could access the vacuum cavity from another direction , such as the top of the vacuum cavity . positive pressure line 80 permits the physician to apply a pulse of high pressure fluid , such as a liquid or a gas , to drive fixation pin 46 into sensor housing 26 and through the portion 42 of mucosal lining 44 . pin 46 thereby fixes sensor housing 26 to mucosal lining 44 . in some embodiments , a membrane mounted over an opening of positive pressure line 80 may be punctured by pin 46 . flexible tube 28 resides within a channel of sheath 69 prior to detachment or sensor 12 from distal head 68 . once fixation pin 46 attaches sensor 12 to bladder 24 , vacuum line 78 is no longer needed . however , in some embodiments , vacuum line 78 may be used to detach pressure sensor 12 from distal head 68 of deployment device 66 . by terminating vacuum pressure , or briefly applying positive pressure through vacuum line 78 , for example , head 68 may separate from sensor 12 due to the force of the air pressure . in this manner , vacuum line 78 may aid in detachment of sensor 12 prior to withdrawal of deployment device 66 . as described previously in fig4 , fixation pin 46 punctures mucosal lining 44 for fixation of sensor 12 . while the force of this fixation may vary with patient 18 , deployment device 66 provides adequate force for delivery of pin 46 . in an exemplary embodiment , positive pressure line 80 is completely sealed and filled with a biocompatible fluid , such as water , saline solution or air . sealing the end of positive pressure line 80 is a head 82 on fixation pin 46 . head 82 is generally able to move within positive pressure line 80 much like a piston . force to push fixation pin 46 through the portion 42 of mucosal lining 44 captured in vacuum cavity 39 is created by application of a pulse of increased fluid pressure within positive pressure line 80 . for example , the physician may control positive pressure source 76 via control handle 70 . this simple delivery method may provide high levels of force , allow multiple curves and bends in sheath 69 , and enable a positive pressure line 80 of many shapes and sizes . in some embodiments , a membrane sealing line 80 may be punctured by pin 46 . in an alternative embodiment , a flexible , but generally incompressible , wire may placed within positive pressure line 80 and used to force fixation pin 46 through the captured portion 42 of mucosal lining 44 . this wire presents compressive force from control handle 70 directly to the head 82 of fixation nail 46 . this method may eliminate any safety risk of pressurized fluids entering patient 18 or , in some embodiments , permit retraction of pin 46 after an unsuccessful fixation attempt . the flexible wire may be attached to pin 46 and pulled back to remove the pin from capture mucosal tissue 42 . the flexible wire may be sheared from fixation nail 46 for detachment purposes as distal head 68 releases sensor 12 . this detachment may be facilitated by a shearing element or low shear stress of the wire . in fig9 , deployment device 66 illustrates flexible tube 28 on the same end of housing 26 as sheath 69 , while the fixation structures are located in the opposite , or distal end of distal head 68 . in some embodiments , it may be necessary for pressure sensor 12 to be deployed with tube 28 located at the distal end of head 68 and the fixation structures located near sheath 69 . in still other embodiments , the fixation structures and tube 28 may be located on the same end of pressure sensor 12 . in some embodiments , deployment device 66 may include a small endoscopic camera in the distal head 68 . the camera may enable the physician to better guide deployment device 66 through urethra 20 and to a desired attachment location of bladder 24 in less time with more accuracy . images may be displayed using video fed to a display monitor . fig1 is a cross - sectional bottom view of the deployment device 66 of fig9 before attachment of pressure sensor 12 . as shown in fig1 , distal head 68 includes proximal tube channel 84 to accommodate flexible tube 28 during placement of sensor 12 and distal tube channel 86 to accommodate the flexible tube during retraction of deployment device 66 . in addition , sheath 69 includes a sheath channel 88 to accommodate flexible tube 28 . channels 84 , 86 , 88 serve to retain tube 28 during delivery of sensor 12 to an attachment site . distal head 68 is rounded on both sides at the distal end to permit easier entry of deployment device into areas of patient 18 . head 68 may also be lubricated before delivery to facilitate ease of navigation . on the proximal end of head 68 , proximal tube channel 84 runs through the head for unimpeded removal of tube 28 during detachment of pressure sensor 12 . this channel may be u - shaped , e . g . closed on 3 sides . in some embodiments , proximal tube channel 84 may be an enclosed hole in which tube 28 resides and glides through upon deployment device 30 removal . sheath channel 88 is formed within sheath 69 to allow tube 28 to stay in place during delivery of pressure sensor 12 . in this embodiment , tube 28 is only partially retained within channel 88 . in some embodiments , sheath channel 88 may be deeper to allow tube 28 to lie completely within sheath 69 , whereas others may include a completely enclosed channel that tube 28 must glide out of after attachment . distal channel 86 in distal end of head housing 68 is not used by tube 28 before attachment . the purpose of this open channel is to allow tube 28 to glide through it while head 68 is removed from bladder 24 . as head 68 slides back past pressure sensor 12 , tube 28 will slide through channel 86 and head housing 68 will keep tube 28 between the wall of bladder 24 and head 68 until head 68 has been removed beyond sphincter 22 . tube 28 may then be ensured correct placing through sphincter 22 . some embodiments of tube 28 include multiple length and diameter combinations which would lead to modifications in channels 84 , 86 and 88 . these channels herein may be of different diameters or lengths to properly house tube 28 . one embodiment may include flexible housing channels to accommodate a wide variety of tube 28 dimensions . further embodiments of deployment device 30 may contain modified channel locations in head housing 68 . these locations may be needed to place tube 28 from different locations , particularly if fixing implantable sensor 12 at different sites within bladder 24 or urethra 20 . fig1 is a flow chart illustrating a technique for delivery of stimulation therapy based on closed loop feedback from an implantable pressure sensor . in the example of fig1 , implantable stimulator 14 makes use of information obtained from implantable pressure sensor 12 and external programmer 16 . a patient 18 activates stimulator ( 90 ) by entering a command via a user interface associated with external programmer 16 . the command indicates that the patient would like to commence sexual activity . in response to the command , programmer 16 activates stimulator 14 ( 90 ) to deliver stimulation therapy . during the course of stimulation therapy , sensor 12 senses the tumescence level of penis 22 ( 92 ), and transmits information indicative of the tumescence level to stimulator 14 , programmer 16 or both . the tumescence level correlates with a pressure level sensed by sensor 12 , either within urethra 20 or within the body of penis 22 . if stimulator 14 or programmer 16 determines that the tumescence level is below an applicable threshold ( 94 ), indicating an inadequate erectile state , one or more stimulation parameters are adjusted ( 96 ) to provide more vigorous stimulation . the adjustment may be made directly by stimulator 14 or in response to an adjustment command or reprogramming by programmer 16 . upon delivery of the adjusted stimulation ( 98 ), stimulator 14 or programmer 16 determines whether the patient 18 wants to sustain the erection ( 100 ), or whether sexual activity has terminated . patient 18 may terminate sexual activity by entry of a command via a user interface associated with programmer 16 . if sustained erection is desired , the process continues with tumescence sensing ( 92 ), threshold comparison ( 94 ), adjustment of stimulation parameters ( 96 ) and delivery of adjusted stimulation ( 98 ). in some embodiments , as mentioned previously , pressure sensor 12 may be used exclusively for monitoring pressure without providing feedback for stimulation therapy . in this case , pressure sensor 12 simply collects data and either stores it locally , or sends it to an external programmer . pressure may be measured continuously , intermittently or at the request of external programmer 16 . these embodiments may be used for disease diagnosis or condition monitoring and may allow a patient to avoid frequent clinic visits and uncomfortable procedures while acquiring more extensive and more accurate pressure data during sexual activity . although the invention has been generally described in conjunction with implantable neurostimulation devices , a tube - based tumescence sensor 12 may also be used with other implantable medical devices , implantable drug delivery devices , which may be configured to treat sexual dysfunction . in particular , tumescence levels sensed by a pressure sensor 12 may be used to trigger and control delivery of any of a variety of drugs capable of achieving arousal in a male or female patient . prostaglandin , alprostdil , tadalafil , sildenafil , vardenfil are examples of drugs that could be infused , e . g ., by intracavernous injection , to elicit an erection in a male patient . approximate dosages for some of the above drugs are : alprostdil — 10 to 250 micrograms , sildenafil — 10 to 250 micrograms , and apormorphine — 10 to 250 micrograms . the tumescence levels obtained by sensor 12 may be used to trigger drug delivery , control the rate of delivery of the drug , or control the overall amount of drug delivered to the patient , e . g ., to achieve and maintain an erection during a first phase of sexual activity . a suitable drug delivery system is described in the aforementioned pending application to gerber . various embodiments of the described invention may include processors that are realized by microprocessors , application - specific integrated circuits ( asic ), field - programmable gate array ( fpga ), or other equivalent integrated or discrete logic circuitry . the processor may also utilize several different types of storage methods to hold computer - readable instructions for the device operation and data storage . these memory or storage media may include a type of hard disk , random access memory ( ram ), or flash memory , e . g . compact flash or smart media . each storage option may be chosen depending on the embodiment of the invention . while the implantable stimulator and implantable pressure sensor may contain permanent memory , the patient or clinician programmer may contain a more portable removable memory type to enable easy data transfer for offline data analysis . many embodiments of the invention have been described . various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the claims . these and other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims . | 0 |
turning to the drawings , fig1 illustrates flexure joints 11 and 13 of the present invention . joint 11 is comprised of flexure 15 , structural node 17 , and structural connector 19 . node 17 is attached atop nonarticulating rigid member 20 . node 17 includes cavity 21 and connector 19 includes cavity 23 . flexure 15 is attached at its two ends , respectively , to base region 25 of cavity 21 and base region 27 of cavity 23 . cavity 21 includes curved surface 29 having radius of curvature r 1 . cavity 23 includes curved surface 31 also having radius of curvature r 1 . cavity 21 also includes base 33 and planar , parallel lateral sides , with only side 34 being shown . cavity 23 also includes planar , parallel lateral sides , with only side 36 being shown . node 17 and connector 19 include mating surfaces 37 . member 39 is fixedly attached to connector 19 . joint 13 is comprised of flexure 41 , node 17 , and connector 45 . node 17 also includes cavity 47 , and connector 45 includes cavity 49 . flexure 41 is attached at its two ends , respectively , to base region 51 of cavity 47 and base region 53 of cavity 49 . cavity 47 includes curved surface 55 having radius of curvature r 2 , base 57 , and planar , parallel lateral sides , with only side 59 being shown . cavity 49 includes curved surface 61 also having radius of curvature r 2 , as well as parallel lateral sides , with only side 63 being shown . node 17 and connector 45 include mating surfaces 65 . member 67 is fixedly attached to connector 45 . flexures 15 and 41 are composed of a resilient material such that after each is bent or otherwise deformed from its unstrained or neutral shape , i . e ., the flat shape shown in fig1 , each of them stores as potential energy the work expended to deform them , and thus tends to return to its undeformed , neutral shape . such resilient materials include spring steel , copper - beryllium alloy , unreinforced plastic , polymer fiber reinforced plastic , fiber glass reinforced plastic , carbon fiber reinforced plastic , and various shape memory alloys . the aforementioned materials are well known to those skilled in the mechanical and material arts , and any such material may be used depending upon the desired modulus and strain - to - failure properties , as will become readily apparent from the following discussion . near equiatomic nickel - titanium is an example of a shape memory alloy that may be used to form flexures 15 and 41 . the foregoing alloy , in addition to creating a restoring moment to enable self - deployment , permits the recovery of strains greater than the strain recovery for non - phase changing materials . moreover , near equiatomic nickel - titanium can affect the recovery rate of a single flexure or sequence the strain release for a set of flexures by means of either passive or active manipulation of the alloy &# 39 ; s phase . more particularly , near equiatomic nickel - titanium is capable of a solid state phase transformation between a high and low temperature phase where the latent energy of the transformation is either an addition or subtraction of thermal and / or mechanical energy to or from the alloy . the addition of mechanical energy alone can induce a transformation from the high to the low temperature phase , whereupon the alloy will exhibit a phenomenon known in the art as superelasticity . when in a superelastic state or a thermally and mechanically induced low - temperature state , the alloy can be deformed to a maximum recoverable strain higher than non - phase changing materials , and thus is more compliant . this response is desirable for the present invention because a greater maximum strain would permit flexure 15 to achieve a smaller bend radius for a given cross - section , and thus allow joint 11 to be more compact while having a lower mass . furthermore , the phase of near equiatomic nickel - titanium may be manipulated to retard the strain release of flexure 15 , i . e ., decrease the rate of its return to its neutral shape to a rate less than that of a flexure composed of a non - phase changing material , as well as coordinate the time when the strain release commences relative to other joints , to provide a degree of control over the deployment of member 39 that is not possible with flexures fabricated from non - phase changing materials . for example , phase manipulation may be used to sequence the respective strain release from a set of flexures , and thereby sequence their respective deployments . when the latent energy of the transformation is obtained from the surrounding environment , e . g ., from solar radiation , or transferred to the surrounding environment , e . g ., by conduction , radiation , or convection , the manipulation is considered passive . if this energy is obtained from , or transferred to , ancillary mechanical or thermal actuation systems , the manipulation is considered active . fig1 and 2 show members 39 and 67 in their deployed positions . fig2 also shows deployed members 69 and 71 . to collapse member 39 to facilitate storage and transportation , an external normal force f 1 is applied to it . when the counterclockwise moment about joint 11 created by force f 1 exceeds the restoring moment of flexure 15 , flexure 15 bends and member 39 rotates counterclockwise . the application of a normal force f 2 that exceeds the restoring moment of flexure 41 similarly causes flexure 41 to bend and member 67 to rotate clockwise about joint 13 . as shown in fig3 , mating surfaces 37 abut when member 39 is rotated to its fully collapsed position . this abutment limits the maximum rotation of member 39 to an angle α of 90 ° and , in combination with the radius of curvature r 1 of cavity surfaces 29 and 31 , limits the maximum strain realized in flexure 15 . the radius of curvature r 1 should be adjusted in view of the material used to fabricate flexure 15 to ensure that the design strain limit of flexure 15 is not exceeded . although surfaces 29 and 31 are described as being curved with a constant radius of curvature r 1 , the aforementioned surfaces may , in the alternative , be elliptical or arcuate , in order to provide the desired strain profile for flexure 15 as it bends . when member 39 is in its fully collapsed position , i . e ., at an angle α of 90 °, the work expended to rotate member 39 to this position is stored in flexure 15 . while member 39 is in its collapsed position , flexure 15 is applying a restorative moment tending to rotate member 39 back to its deployed position . thus , to maintain member 39 in its collapsed configuration , a fastening means ( not shown ) well known to those skilled in the mechanical arts , e . g ., a fastener or launch lock , restrains it . in essence , the fastening means serves to apply a normal force f 1 to member 39 sufficient to overcome the restorative moment of flexure 15 . upon release or disengagement of the fastening means , the restraining normal force f 1 is removed and the restorative moment stored in flexure 15 causes member 39 to return to its deployed position , i . e ., the neutral position shown in fig1 , without the aid of an external force . the corresponding elements of joint 13 cooperate in the same manner as described with respect to the elements of joint 11 in changing the deployed position of member 67 shown in fig1 and 2 to the collapsed configuration shown in fig3 and 4 , and will not be repeated for the sake of brevity . however , it is noteworthy that the shape of mating surfaces 65 is different than the shape of mating surfaces 37 due to the different locations of joints 11 and 13 on node 17 . flexures 15 and 41 are nested in node 17 to provide for a more compact profile when the structure is in its collapsed configuration than would be the case without such nesting . more particularly , bases 33 and 57 are separated by a nesting distance d . the width of the profile comprised of node 17 together with joints 11 and 13 decreases as the nesting distance d is increased . fig4 shows members 39 , 67 , 69 and 71 in their collapsed positions . members 69 and 71 are collapsible by means of joints 73 and 75 , respectively , which have corresponding elements cooperating in the manner previously described in detail with respect to joint 11 and member 39 . fig5 is a perspective view of flexure 15 , and shows that flexure 15 has a rectilinear cross - section . also shown is end 77 , which is attached to base region 27 of cavity 23 in connector 19 . alternatively , a joint of the present invention may incorporate arcuate flexure 79 , a perspective view of which is shown in fig6 . flexure 79 has an arcuate cross - section , which provides a restorative moment greater than that of a rectilinear flexure , such as flexure 15 , having a similar cross - section area . flexure 79 would thus be more stable than flexure 15 when the joint is in its deployed configuration . if joint 11 were to incorporate flexure 79 , end 81 would be attached to base region 27 . it is to be understood that the preceding is merely a detailed description of an embodiment of this invention , and that numerous changes to the disclosed embodiment can be made in accordance with the disclosure herein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention . the preceding description , therefore , is not meant to limit the scope of the invention . rather , the scope of the invention is to be determined only by the appended claims and their equivalents . | 8 |
turning now to fig1 which illustrates the overall view of the filter cleaning apparatus in a frontal view . the cleaning apparatus includes a completely enclosed chamber 1 that contains the filter to be cleaned and the instruments immediately involved in the cleaning process . the filter has been identified as f and has two ends . one end is open and the other end is closed . the closed end is identified as f 1 and is received in a freely rotating cup 20 which will be explained in more detail in fig2 . the other end f 2 is an open end and will be received on a cone - shaped driven element which will be explained in more detail with reference to fig3 below . as will be explained in the operation of the apparatus below , the chamber or cabinet 1 is under a negative pressure to suck off dust or dirt laden air through manifolds 3 into the bottom suction tube 2 . as will be explained in more detail below , there is a filter cleaning assembly carrying two air jets 7 a and 7 b . also on the cleaning apparatus there is mounted a control panel 5 which controls the overall operation of the apparatus . also fig1 illustrates a positive pressure blower 6 which will be explained in more detail below with reference to other figs . and in the operation of the apparatus . fig1 also shows a brush system at 4 which isolates the exterior of the apparatus from the interior in that only an upper plate 41 a passes through the brush system 4 as the upper plate 41 a reciprocates back and forth , again , as will be explained below . turning now to fig2 which shows the freely turning receiving cup 20 of fig1 in more detail . the freely turning cup 20 is supported on a freely turning plate 21 by way of screw threads 21 a . the freely turning plate 21 is supported on a back - up plate 22 which can slide on support shafts 24 . the back - up plate 22 is restrained in its movement by a second support plate 23 by way of air cylinder shafts or pistons 27 a and 27 b which are in a rigid connection with the first support plate 22 . the second support plate 23 can also slide on the support shafts 24 . the second support plate 23 also carries a sleeve 25 having an arresting handle 25 a thereon for the purpose of crudely adjusting a given length of filter first within the chamber 1 and the cup 20 and to thereafter make a fine adjustment by way of the air cylinders 26 a and 26 b and the piston shafts 27 a and 27 b , respectively . the receiving cup has an interior which has an inverted cone shape which will center the close end f 1 of the filter f to be cleaned therein once the air cylinders 26 a and 26 b make their fine adjustment . turning now to fig3 which shows the open end f 2 of the filter f and how the filter f is received on a cone - shaped element 35 . the cone - shaped element 35 is rotatably supported on a second support plate 31 which is supported within the cleaning chamber 1 and includes the support shafts 24 . the cone - shaped element 25 is mounted on a tapered ring 32 that rides in grooved idler wheels 33 which are attached to the second support plate 31 . the cone - shaped element 25 is rotated by way of a ring gear 32 a which is attached to the tapered ring 32 , making up the complete rotating assembly . the ring gear 32 itself is driven by an internal driving pinion 34 which is driven by a motor 38 mounted on the outside of the second support plate 31 which is outside the cleaning chamber 1 . when in operation , the inside of the filter f is under air pressure which is supplied through the internal passage 37 of the cone - shaped element 35 by way of an air hose or duct 36 . [ 0023 ] fig4 illustrates the inside and the outside of the cleaning chamber 1 . the outside of the cleaning chamber 1 shows a sliding carriage 41 . the carriage 41 has two sliding elements 43 ( only one is shown ) which slide in guides 44 which are mounted rigid with the housing . one of the guides 44 has mounted thereon a geared rack 45 which extends with guides 44 the full length of the housing . mounted on the carriage 41 is an electric motor 47 which has mounted on its driven shaft 47 a a pinion 46 which is in mesh with geared rack 45 . an operation of the motor 47 traverses the carriage along the full length and on the outside of the cleaning chamber . other ways can be employed to affect the traversing of the carriage along the outside of the cleaning chamber . in one embodiment a motor driven chain could be used to have the same moving effect . such a chain drive could be a reciprocating chain or a continuously running chain wherein the upper and lower runs alternatingly drive the carriage along . a different embodiment could involve a cable drive running on the same principle as was explained with the chain drive . however , a rack and pinion drive is preferred because of its reliability . continuing now with fig4 the inner cleaning chamber 1 is substantially sealed from the ambient atmosphere by way of two opposing brush elements 4 . extending through the brush elements 4 is an upper support plate 41 a which on the other side of the brush elements 4 is supported at an upper end of the carriage 41 and therefore moves along with the carriage 41 . the upper support plate 41 a has a parallelogram type element supported therefrom which in turn supports a lower support plate 41 b . the four arms of the parallelogram are indicated at 42 . the lower support plate 41 b has depending therefrom two air jets 7 a and 7 b which are oriented toward the filter f in opposite directions . the purpose of the parallelogram is to keep the air jets precisely at dead top center of the filters to be cleaned when different diameter filters are being used . the adjustment to a different size filter can simply be accomplished by using a ball chain 49 with its upper end fastened to the upper support plate 41 a and the lower end adjustably fastened to the lower support plate 41 b which has a forwardly opening slot 50 therein . when , for example , the lower support plate 41 b has to be raised because of a larger diameter filter to be cleaned , the ball chain 49 is slid out of the slot 50 on the lower support plate 41 b and the next higher ball or balls are re - engaged within the slot 50 and the air jets are now supported at a higher elevation while remaining dead center of the outer periphery of the filter . it is again reiterated that the forward part of fig4 including the filter cleaning mechanism are located within the completely enclosed chamber 1 and that this enclosed chamber is under negative air pressure . turning now to fig5 which shows a side view of the cleaning apparatus . like reference characters have been used to identify the same elements as were described in previous figs . the filter f is identified as being pleated and the depending supporting parallelogram type device of fig4 has been changed to a simplified support element . to this end , the upper support plate 41 a has now depending therefrom at a downward slant two plates 52 and 53 which are adjustable relative to each other so as to change their length by way of a bolt 54 passing through both plates and a wing nut 55 to keep the plates 52 and 53 in adjusted position depending upon the outer diameter if the filter f . depending on the length of the filter , a filter f with its closed end is first placed into the receiving cup 20 and a rough adjustment relative to the receiving cone 35 at the other end of the apparatus is made by way of the rough length adjustment 25 and 25 b . the control panel 5 will now give signals to activate the air cylinders 26 a and 26 b to properly seat the filter f with its open end on the cone 35 . as a next step , either the parallelogram type device is properly adjusted by using the ball chain 49 in its correct location to achieve a correct distance of the air jets 7 a and 7 b from the outer circumference of the filter , or as a different embodiment as shown in fig5 the plates 52 and 53 are adjusted relative to each other by way of the wing nut 55 , again to obtain the correct distance of the air jet 7 relative to the outer circumference of the filter . as a next step , the interior of the cleaning chamber 1 is set under negative pressure by way of the suction tube 2 and the interior of the filter f is set under positive pressure by way of the pressure hose 36 . all filters of this type to be cleaned are always dirty on the outside . as a next step , the motor 38 is activated for the rotation of the filter f . this may be in the form of a continuous rotation or incremental rotation depending on how soiled the filter is and what other material has been collected on the filter . next the lateral movement of the air jets is activated by way of the electric motor 47 . the lateral movement may be a continuous sweep back and forth across the filter f or it may be performed in a stepwise motion again depending on how soiled the filter is and again what other material has been collected on the filter . in a stepwise motion the air jets have a chance to momentarily dwell on any particular spot . the air jets are now activated and the operation begins all depending on the settings of the control panel 5 . it should be noted that in fig4 the air jets 7 a and 7 b are slanted downwardly but in opposite directions . in this manner , the air jets have a chance to direct their air streams downwardly but in a slanted mode to dig the dirt out of the pleats rather than blowing directly on top of the dirt . at the same time it should be noted that the internal air pressure within the filter prevents any dirt or dust from being pushed through the filter medium into the interior of the filter . | 1 |
referring to the accompanying drawings there is illustrated a de - rooting apparatus 10 that mounts upon a harvester vessel 12 as illustrated in fig4 . the de - rooting apparatus includes a jib 14 with two parallel jib arms 16 joined by cross members 18 . a lug 20 is mounted on the in - board or free end of each arm 16 . on the underside of each arm is a plate 22 that is pinned to the clevis on the piston rod of a cylinder 24 . the two cylinders 24 are lift cylinders for the jib and for the de - rooting apparatus as a whole . at the outboard of the jib is a hanger 26 . this includes two angle braces 28 converging downwardly from opposite sides of the jib at its free end . a center brace 30 slopes downwardly to below the end of the jib from the center cross - member 18 . these three braces 28 and 30 support a vertical sleeve 32 . sliding in the sleeve is a square tube 34 . a series of holes 36 in the tube and two pins 38 through the sleeve 32 pin the tube adjustably to the sleeve so that the overall length of the hanger 26 can be adjusted . at the bottom end of the tube 34 is a universal joint 40 . this includes two side plates 42 , connected to a yoke 44 by a lateral pin 46 to provide a lateral pitch axis 48 . a longitudinal pin 50 connects the yoke between two laterally extending plates 52 mounted on a base plate 54 . the longitudinal pin 50 has a fore - and - aft oriented roll axis 56 . a lug 58 is mounted on the tube 34 above the yoke 46 and a second lug 60 is mounted on a forward extension of pin 50 , below the lug 58 . these two lugs are linked by a pitch control means in the form of an hydraulic cylinder 62 that may be extended and contracted to control pitch movements about the lateral pitch axis 48 . carried on the base plate 54 are two rotors assemblies 64 . they are arranged side - by - side but converging slightly in the normal direction of travel . each rotor assembly includes a rotor frame 66 with a lateral head 68 and two depending side plates 70 . extending between the side plates is a rotor 72 including a rotor drum 74 and a series of rigid teeth 76 spaced uniformly over the drum surface to radiate from the drum surface . the drive means for the rotor is an hydraulic motor 78 connected to the outer end of the rotor drum at the outer end of the rotor frame 66 . the two motors are independently controllable and reversible . as illustrated most particularly in fig1 the two rotors of the two rotor assemblies have respective rotor axes 80 and 82 that intersect at an obtuse angle . the teeth 76 are flat plates uniformly distributed over the drum surface so that with the convergent drums , the plates will sweep substantially the complete surface being traversed as the rotors are advanced across the surface and simultaneously rotated . fig4 illustrates a vessel carrying the harvester . the vessel includes a superstructure 84 including an operator station with seating and the appropriate controls . the vessel may have mounted on it a harvester head 86 that extends into the water and serves to cut vegetation and to pick up floating vegetation from the surface of the water for delivery to a conveyor - bottom container 88 mounted amidships in the vessel . the vessel also includes an unloading conveyor 90 extending from the container to the rear of the vessel for off - loading the contents of the container . when the harvester head 86 is mounted on the vessel , the de - rooting apparatus 10 is dismounted and its hydraulic controls disconnected for connection to the harvester head . the hydraulic controls for the system are illustrated most particularly in fig6 . as illustrated , the system includes a motor 92 driving an hydraulic pump 94 . a set of controls 96 controls flow to the jib cylinders 24 through a line 98 . hydraulic lines 100 and 102 lead from the controls to the two hydraulic motors 78 for the rotors . lines 104 deliver hydraulic fluid to the pitch cylinder 62 . all of the hydraulic lines are equipped with quick release fittings 106 to enable the de - rooting head to be quickly disconnected when desired . the jib 14 is connected to the vessel by two pins 108 , aligned on a lateral jib axis 109 ( fig1 ) while the lift cylinders 24 are connected to the vessel by respective pins 110 . a similar quick disconnect mechanism is used for the harvester head 86 so that the harvester head and the de - rooter apparatus may be connected to the vessel alternatively . in use of the apparatus , the hanger length is adjusted to accommodate the water depth encountered . the jib lift cylinders act as jib control means to provide further adjustment that may be required during operation . when the de - rooter is lowered to the surface of the hydrosoil and the rotor is actuated , the teeth on the rotors sweep through the soil , loosening the soil and uprooting plants that are present . as the vessel advances , the rotors remain generally parallel to the adjacent hydrosoil surface due to the action of the rotor leveling means , including the roll axis pin 50 and the pitch axis pin 46 with pitch control cylinder 62 . in use , the rotor may encounter underwater obstacles . the free pivoting movement about the roll axis will allow the rotors to clear most such obstacles automatically . this also allows the rotor to follow the lateral contours of the hydrosoil . the pitch movements are controlled by the operator to match , insofar as possible , the contour of the hydrosoil in the direction of travel . where any area has been treated and there is quantity of floating vegetation to be collected , the de - rooter apparatus may be dismounted from the vessel and replaced with the harvester , including the pickup conveyor , for collection of this material . the exchange is quite simple , involving the release and reconnection of a set of pins and a set of quick release hydraulic couplings . while one embodiment of the present invention has been described in the foregoing , it is to be understood that other embodiments are possible within the scope of the invention . for example , the angle of convergence of the two rotors may vary widely , for example , between 120 ° and 180 ° ( aligned rotors ). the converging rotors arrangement is preferred because it provides improved tracking and allows each tooth to treat a wider swath of vegetation . the present invention in its various aspects is to be considered limited solely by the scope of the appended claims . | 0 |
fig1 is a longitudinal section of a preferably synthetic plastics holder 1 , wherein a detection element 2 diagrammatically shown is embedded . at the bottom of the holder there is pivotally provided a flap 3 at one end at 4 , which flap serves for clamping one of the ends of a band 6 . in the closed position of the flap 3 shown , this is secured by lugs 5 ( see also fig2 ). for the purpose of clamping the free end of the band 6 , the flap 3 is fitted adjacent the pivoted end with a boss 7 which , in the closed position of the flap 3 , extends to adjacent a rib 8 of the holder 1 opposite to boss 7 . in the opened position of the flap 3 , the band end can be passed freely between the boss 7 and the rib 8 and be pulled underneath the responder 2 and again be conducted at the other end of the responder through a slot 9 in the holder in outward direction . in closing the flap , the band is fixedly clamped between the boss 7 and the rib 8 . the other end of the band ( at the right - hand side in the drawing ) has a looped form and is passed around a pin 10 installed in the holder , said pin being preferably designed as a shear pin . the embodiment shown in fig3 deviates from the embodiment shown in fig2 in that the flap 3 is fitted with a cavity for receiving the responder 2 . the responder may again be embedded in the cavity of the flap 3 and consequently be integral with the flap , but , as shown in fig3 may also be provided with retaining lugs 11 , which are adapted to detachably retain through snap action a loose responder block . the free band end in this embodiment is conducted along the top of the responder 2 . in the embodiment shown in fig4 and 5 , the responder 2 is embedded in a cavity of the holder 1 or detachably installed therein as a responder block . both ends of the band 6 with associated flaps 40 , 41 , which again are adapted for coaction with corresponding lugs 42 , 43 , can be fastened . to this effect , both band ends are inserted via slots 44 , 45 in the holder , while said ends come to lie on the responder or the responder block . above the slots 44 and 45 , being provided at the opposite ends of the holder , there are provided transverse ribs 46 , 47 of the holder , which are hollow at the bottom . in said cavities fit correspondingly curved half - round end edges 48 of the otherwise flat flaps , as shown in fig5 . the flaps , as shown by arrows 49 , can be swivelled upwardly with their flat ends , while the curved end edges turn in the cavities of the ribs . the band ends , in the upwardly turned position of the flaps , are inserted in the holder and subsequently clamped with the free edge of the curved end edges of the flaps against the lower edge of the slots 44 and 45 by bringing the flaps in the position shown . in order to increase the clamping effect , the free edges of the curved end edges of the flaps may be fitted with teeth 50 , as shown in fig5 . when in this embodiment a loose responder block is employed , the first portions of the flaps are so long that in the closed position they partly lie on the responder block , as shown in fig4 . the maximum band pull force that can be exerted without loosening the band , is determined by the strength of the half - round end edges 48 . fig6 and 7 show a variant of fig4 and 5 , in which the rotary flaps have been replaced by substantially flat slides 60 , each having an end edge 61 bent at an angle slightly more than 90 °. the ribs 62 of the holder corresponding to the ribs 46 , 47 are now flat at the bottom and , together with the opposite lower edges of the slots 44 , form a slightly wedge - shaped space accommodating the slides . the bent edge 61 of each slide is adapted for coaction with an ascending portion 63 of the lower edges of the slots 44 for clamping the band ends . to this effect , the bent edges 61 may again be fitted with teeth 64 , as shown in fig7 . when the band pull force exceeds a given value , the slide passes the ascending portion 63 . fig8 shows a variant , in which instead of a slide 60 , as shown in fig7 there is employed a wedge 80 fitted at the bottom with teeth . the maximum band pull force is now determined by the ribs 62 designed as shear pins . in this embodiment , furthermore the responder block 2 is detachably retained in the appropriate cavity in the holder by retaining lugs 81 , which are comparable with the retaining lugs 11 of fig3 . fig9 finally shows a variant in which the band ends are each provided between and about three ribs 90 , 91 and 92 integral with the holder and designed as shear pins . it is observed that after the foregoing , various modifications are obvious to one skilled in the art . for instance , the responder could be placed e . g . in a different position in the holder . such modifications are deemed not to depart from the scope of the invention . | 0 |
the present invention is directed to a long lasting antimicrobial and antiviral barrier composition for topical application to the proximal anterior nares ( skin surface surrounding the opening of the nostrils ). the antimicrobial and antiviral composition of the present invention incorporates the use of one or more antiseptic solutions in combination with cocos nucifera ( coconut oil ), citrus sinensis ( orange oil ), and simmondsia chinensis ( jojoba ). in one preferred embodiment , the antiseptic solution is usp ethyl alcohol . in another preferred embodiment , the antiseptic solution is hydrogen peroxide . other alcohols and antiseptic agents are contemplated for use in the composition as the antiseptic solution , either alone or as a combination . the essential ingredients of the composition are present according to the following percentages by weight of the composition : the antimicrobial and antiviral composition of the present invention may further include the following additional ingredients , alone or in combination : lauric acid ; simmondsia chinensis ; d - limonene ; soy oil ; emu oil ; grapefruit seed extract ; glycine soja ; and a preservative such as sodium benzoate , benzalkonium chloride , bht , vitamin e . these additional ingredients of the composition may be present according to the following percentages by weight of the composition : a further embodiment of the composition has been proven to help alleviate the body &# 39 ; s immune - response to many allergens and pollutants . the following ingredients have been found to be effective in the composition when present according to the following percentages by weight of the composition : antiseptic solutions such as ethyl alcohol and hydrogen peroxide typically evaporate at a rapid rate . for this reason , when antiseptic solutions are used alone , they usually have little to no residual effect . the base oils of the composition , namely citrus sinensis , cocos nucifera , and simmondsia chinensis , are effective to trap the antiseptic solution in a pseudo - emulsion antiseptic that remains active for an extended period of time . this allows the composition to have a long lasting antimicrobial and antiviral protection . the base oils also provide antimicrobial , antiviral and antifungal properties . when the base oils are combined with the antiseptic solution , a synergistic effect is observed . for instance , the efficacy of any one of the base oils or the antiseptic solution , alone , does not exceed 99 . 99 % ( 4 log ). however , when all ingredients are combined in suitable ratios an unexpected removal efficiency rating ( efficacy ) of 99 . 99999 % ( 7 log ) or greater is achieved . this synergism is a key to the novelty of the composition , providing antimicrobial and antiviral kill levels that are significantly greater than those observed in connection with any of the ingredients individually or other known antimicrobials and antivirals . the following examples demonstrate various combinations of ingredients , which have been observed to yield antimicrobial and antiviral kill rates of 7 log or greater . in use , the antimicrobial and antiviral composition is applied to the skin surface surrounding the opening of the nostrils according to the following instructions : 1 ). shake the bottle ( containing the composition ) well to insure complete mixture of the ingredients . 2 ) apply approximately 4 drops of the composition to the cotton tip of a cotton swab so that the cotton tip is fully saturated with the composition . 3 ). place the thumb and index finger on the swab stem directly below the wetted cotton tip of the swab . prepare to apply the composition to the rim of each nostril just past the nasal opening . caution : do not extend the swab into the nasal canal any further than the short length of the cotton tip of the swab ( about 1 cm or 3 . 8 ″). the swab stem should never enter the nose . 4 ). carefully place only the cotton tip of the swab just inside of the nostril opening . using a gentle motion , make 3 or 4 circles to fully apply the composition to the rim of the nostril . repeat this step for the other nostril . 5 ). discard the swab . gently squeeze the nostrils together to ensure even distribution of the solution about the rim surrounding each nostril opening . in order to evaluate the antimicrobial efficacy of one sample of the composition when applied to the proximal external nares of human volunteers , the test study was conducted at bioscience laboratory , inc . in bozeman , mont . the results of the study are set forth below . this study was designed to evaluate the persistent antimicrobial efficacy of one ( 1 ) test product intended for prevention of airborne illness when applied within the proximal nares ( the first 0 . 25 ″ of a naris ) and one ( 1 ) control material . thirty ( 30 ) human subjects were evaluated in this study . twenty - five ( 25 ) human subjects were used to evaluate the test product , and five ( 5 ) human subjects were used to evaluate the control material ( sterile deionized water ). samples were taken from the proximal nares ( the first 0 . 25 ″ of the nostrilar canal ). baseline samples were collected a minimum of twenty - four ( 24 ) hours apart to allow recolonization of the normal flora . on the test day , the product was applied to each naris . each naris was apportioned on a sagittal plane into two ( 2 ) sample sites , medial and lateral . ten ( 10 ) samples each were taken for the two ( 2 ) hour ± fifteen ( 15 ) minutes and four ( 4 ) hour ± fifteen ( 15 ) minutes post - product exposures to the test product , and for the immediate ( within one [ 1 ] minute of application ) and four ( 4 ) hour ± fifteen ( 15 ) minutes post - product exposures to the control material . twenty ( 20 ) samples each were taken for the immediate ( within one [ 1 ] minute of application ), six ( 6 ) hour ± fifteen ( 15 ) minutes , eight ( 8 ) hour ± fifteen ( 15 ) minutes , and twelve ( 12 ) hour ± fifteen ( 15 ) minutes post - product exposures to the test product . a neutralization study was performed to assure the effectiveness of the neutralizers used in the diluting medium . the neutralization followed guidelines set forth in astm e 1054 - 02 , standard test methods for evaluation of inactivators of antimicrobial agents , except that the microorganism was added to the neutralizers prior to the addition of the test or comparison antiseptic . staphylococcus aureus ( atcc # 6538 ) was used as the challenge species in the neutralizer validation study . the neutralization study demonstrated that the antimicrobial activities of the test and reference products were effectively eliminated . no adverse events were observed during or following completion of this study . table i presents the statistical summary of the log 10 recovery values with relation to use of the test product . table ii presents the statistical summary of the log 10 recovery values with relation to use of the control material ( sterile deionized water ) while the composition of the present invention has been described and exemplified according to several preferred embodiments thereof , it is recognized that departures from the instant disclosure are fully contemplated within the spirit and scope of the invention which is not to be limited except as defined in the following claims as interpreted under the doctrine of equivalents . | 0 |
although this invention is applicable to numerous and various types of information offering systems , it has been found particularly useful in the environment of medical instrument sales . therefore , without limiting the applicability of the invention to medical instrument sales , the invention will be described in such environment . as shown in fig1 a preferred medical instrument sales system 1 of the present invention is illustrated . the system 1 comprises a maker - side system 2 for selling medical instruments and plural user systems 3 ( e . g ., systems for hospitals that are purchasers of medical instruments ) that are interconnected via a wide - area network , such as the internet 4 . the maker - side system 2 comprises plural personal computers 6 ( hereinafter referred to as “ pcs ”) and a server 7 connected to the local - area network 5 ( hereinafter referred to as “ lan ”), and an internet interface device 8 ( hereinafter referred to as “ internet i / f ”) that allows lan 5 to be connected to internet 4 . the maker - side system 2 can transmit and receive information to and from user systems 3 connected to internet 4 via the internet i / f 8 . user lans 9 constructed in the facilities of larger end users , such as hospitals or other facilities can be also connected to the maker - side system 2 via the internet 4 . multiple pc &# 39 ; s 6 are shown by way of example only and not to limit the spirit or scope of the present invention . those skilled in the art will realize that the maker - side system may consist of a single pc 6 connected via the internet 4 to the plural user systems 3 . as shown in fig2 the above - mentioned server 7 comprises a cpu 12 connected to the bus 11 , a data storage device 13 , a display i / f 14 , an input i / f 15 , a network interface 16 , and the like . the above - mentioned network i / f 16 is connected to lan 5 . the input i / f 15 is connected to a data input device 18 such as a keyboard and / or mouse , or an image scanner . the display i / f 14 is connected to the monitor 17 . in the data storage device 13 , are constructed a user file database 19 managing user information and a product file database 20 managing product informnation . cpu 12 controls a variety of processes : constructing these databases , as well as controlling the display i / f 14 , input i / f 15 , and network i / f 16 . in the situation where the maker - side system 2 consists of a single pc and not a lan , the pc &# 39 ; s cpu , storage device , interfaces , monitor , and data input devices provide the same function as the server 7 . as shown in fig3 the above - mentioned user file database 19 comprises plural user files 21 . preferably , on those user files 21 , are recorded , for each user , the user id code , password , user name ( including the position name and the qualification information such as doctor or nurse ), facility ( hospital ) name , section name , facility address , telephone number , e - mail address , facsimile number , career record , keywords ( related information , for example , techniques that he or she is interested in ), code of the used ( purchased ) product , configuration of the used ( purchased ) unit ( unit name and unit code ), name of the responsible sales person , file update history , and the like . among user data , user name ( including the position name and the qualification information such as doctor or nurse ), facility ( hospital ) name , section name , career record , keywords ( related information , for example , techniques that he or she is interested in ), and the like , are the user &# 39 ; s own peculiar data . as shown in fig4 the product file database 20 comprises plural product files 22 . preferably , on those user files , are recorded , for each product , the product name , product code , configuration of the used ( purchased ) unit ( unit name and unit code ), use ( or purchase ) user id code , field in which the product is used , keywords ( related information , for example , techniques that he or she is interested in ), product information , file update history , and the like . furthermore , the user file database 19 and the product file database 20 are preferably linked , such as through user id codes or used ( or purchased ) product id codes . in the case of user files 21 , the used ( purchased ) product code , configuration of the used ( purchased ) unit ( unit name and unit code ), and the like are updated , for example , when a user purchases a product . in the case of user files 22 , use ( or purchase ) user id code , and the like are updated , and the update history for each is rewritten . all pieces of information in the user file database 19 and the user file 21 can be updated as necessary . next , using the processing flow chart shown in fig5 how a user is registered as a member and how a user id code is issued are described . first , in step s 1 , the homepage 31 , as shown in fig6 prepared in the server 4 is opened on internet 4 via the internet i / f 8 . next , when a user accesses the homepage 31 in step s 2 , he or she will be permitted only to access the non - member users &# 39 ; page 32 , as shown in fig7 . for example , when the selection button 31 a for “ articulated instruments ” is pressed ( clicked ) among “ product information ” items displayed on the homepage 31 in fig6 the non - member users &# 39 ; page 32 shown in fig7 will be opened . if the user desires to transmit his or her request or opinion on products to the maker while reading the non - member users &# 39 ; page 32 shown in fig7 he or she should click one of the check boxes 32 a in the non - member users &# 39 ; page 32 next to a corresponding request , or input a comment into the blank space of the box “ others ,” and click the reply button 32 b . this allows the user to transmit his request or opinion to the maker side . on the other hand , clicking the return button 32 c returns the user to the homepage screen 31 shown in fig6 . next , returning to the flow chart shown in fig5 in step 4 , it is determined whether the user desires more detailed product information for members . when the user takes interest in a product on the non - member users &# 39 ; page 32 , or desires that more detailed information should be provided to read , he or she is required to become a member . in the next step , whether the user is a member or not is confirmed . first , when the user clicks the members &# 39 ; information button 32 d on the non - member users &# 39 ; page 32 shown in fig7 whether his or her user id code is registered or not will be determined in step s 5 . alternatively , even when the user checks one of the check boxes 32 a (“ want to purchase it ,” “ want to clinically use it ,” “ want to be explained ,” etc .) on the non - member users &# 39 ; page 32 , and presses the reply button 32 b , whether his or her id code is registered or not will be determined in step s 5 . if his or her id code is not registered , the member registration screen shown in fig8 will be displayed instead of the screen 32 shown in fig7 in step s 7 . if the user id code is registered in step s 5 , his or her id code will be input in step s 6 to jump to step s 71 shown in fig1 . this process is described below in detail . on the other hand , if the user does not desire to read members &# 39 ; information in the above - mentioned step s 4 , the process for step s 3 will be continued . next , if the user desires to register himself or herself as a member in step s 8 on the member registration screen 33 in fig8 displayed in step s 7 , he or she must select a registration manner in step s 9 . preferably , the user must decide to register himself or herself by e - mail or on the homepage 31 . if the user does not desire to register himself or herself , button 33 c is clicked and the process continues back to step s 3 . if “ e - mail ” is selected in step 9 by clicking the e - mail button 33 a , the maker will send an e - mail to the user to ask registration information ( user data ) necessary for the registration process in step s 10 . what the maker asks the user about is necessary to construct the user file 19 shown in fig3 . when the user receives the e - mail from the maker , he or she must answer all the questions that the maker asks . during this time period , the maker side waits for the user &# 39 ; s reply in step s 11 . after the e - mail from the user is received in step s 11 , it is determined whether all pieces of registration information ( user data ) necessary for the sales list is provided . here , this sales list includes the contents of lists prepared by salespersons for users having made contact with the maker via salespersons . therefore , even those users who are not registered for the present system can be checked . if registration information necessary for the sales list is insufficiently provided , required registration information will be asked of the user , for example , through an e - mail questionnaire in step s 14 . an e - mail from the user is waited for again in step s 15 . when an e - mail from the user is received in step s 15 , and that all pieces of registration information ( user data ) necessary for the sales list is provided is judged in step s 13 , the maker side will proceed to member registration in step s 15 , using the data input device 18 . on the other hand , if the user select the “ homepage ” alternative by clicking the homepage button 33 b in step s 9 , he or she will move from the member registration screen shown 33 in fig8 to a registration page on which the member registration process will be conducted in step s 12 . after the member registration process is conducted on the maker side in step s 16 , or on the homepage in step s 12 , the member user will be registered on the user file database in step s 12 , and a user file is prepared . a user id code is preferably given to this user file . preferably , the user id code is issued by e - mail to complete the member registration process . according to the flow chart shown in fig5 the member registration process is started on the homepage 32 shown in fig7 . however , it is also possible to display the user registration button on the homepage 31 displayed in step s 2 shown in fig5 and to jump from this page to the id code registration process starting from step s 8 . completing the member registration process as shown above , the user can access members &# 39 ; pages by inputting his or her user id code and password when accessing the homepage 31 ( see fig6 ), and obtain detailed information about products . next , how a user file 21 and product file 22 are updated , and how information about products is provided are described . first , as shown in fig9 when a responsible person from the maker - side accesses the maker - side system 2 , the maker - side system 2 will wait for an input for newly preparing a user file 21 or product file 22 in step 21 . if a file is newly prepared , the member registration process described in step s 11 in fig5 is carried out on the user files 21 in step s 22 . on the product files 22 , a new file is prepared , and the file update process and the product information offering process for member users are completed . on the other hand , if no file is newly prepared in step s 21 , an input will be waited for updating a user files 21 or product file 22 in step s 23 . if either file is updated , an input is waited for to judge whether a product file 22 should be updated or not in step s 24 . if the file to be updated is a product file 22 , the product code should be input in step s 25 to update a product file 22 in step 26 . on the other hand , if the file to be updated is not a product file , a user file 21 will be updated . for this , the user id code is input in step s 27 , the user file 21 is updated in step s 28 , and the file update process and the product information offering process for the member user are completed . if a product file 22 is updated in step s 26 , an input is waited for to judge whether updated product information should be sent to the member user by e - mail in step s 29 . if no updated product information is sent in step s 29 , the file update process and the product information offering process for member users are completed . on the other hand , if updated product information is sent , step s 33 will be taken . if it is determined that no user file 21 nor product file 22 should be updated , step s 30 will be taken . in step s 30 , an input is waited for to judge whether product information ( for example , about new products ) should be sent to member users by e - mail without updating any file . if no product information is sent in step s 30 , the file update process and the product information offering process for member users are completed . if in step s 30 , updated product information is sent , product information to be sent will be input in step s 31 , and step s 33 will be taken . in step s 33 , the member users &# 39 ; mail address extraction process as described below is carried out . and , in step s 34 , detailed product information based on user information peculiar to member users is , by e - mail , sent to those member users whose mail addresses have been extracted in step s 33 . as described above , the file update process and the product information offering process for member users are completed . detailed product information based on user information peculiar to member users is such information as prepared for each member user and based on one or more keywords consisting of the position information , qualification information ( doctor , nurse , etc ), and related information ( facility or hospital name , section name , career record , interesting techniques , etc ). next , the member users &# 39 ; mail address extraction process in the abovementioned step s 33 will be described using fig1 . first , if a keyword related to product information is input in step s 41 , product files including the input keyword can be retrieved in step s 42 . in the next step s 43 , user files 21 are extracted using the user ids included in retrieved product files . in the next step s 44 , an input is waited for to judge whether member users to whom information is sent should be limited or not . if member users to whom information is sent are limited , the member users &# 39 ; limitation process as described below will be carried out in step s 45 , and the member users &# 39 ; mail address extraction process will be completed . on the other hand , unless member users to whom information is sent are limited , the member users &# 39 ; mail address extraction process will be completed . next , the member users &# 39 ; limitation process in the above - mentioned step s 45 will be described in detail , using fig1 . first , in step s 51 , the purposes for which the product is used are input . in the next step s 52 , member users who belong to sections having the purposes input in step s 52 are taken , and their mail addresses are extracted . in step s 53 , the levels ( for example , doctor or nurse , or special member user who has participated in the product development ) of those member users to whom information should be sent are input . in the next step s 54 , member users are narrowed down according to the levels input in step s 53 , and their mail addresses are extracted again . in the next step s 55 , an input is waited for to judge whether those member users to whom information should be sent should be further limited . if they are further limited , step s 56 will be taken to input limitation items for further narrowing down and limiting member users to whom information should be sent . such limitation items consist of a variety of pieces of information including positions ( professor , assistant professor , etc ), career record , geographical region , etc . of those member users to whom information will be sent . on the other hand , if they are not limited , the process is completed . in step s 56 , if items are input to limit member users to whom information should be sent , member users are narrowed down according to the limitation items input in step s 57 , and their mail addresses are extracted again . thereafter , mail addresses of those member users to whom information should be sent are extracted , and product information based on specific user information will be sent , preferably by e - mail , to member users of those mail addresses extracted in step s 34 shown in fig9 . when a member user on the user system 3 receives such product information , he or she can examine such product information in step s 62 as shown in fig1 . when the member user sends back the examination results to the maker - side system 2 in the next step s 63 , practical sales activities such as selling of products can start . here , how the request of a member user on the user system 3 for product information ( for example , about new products ) is processed on the maker - side system 2 will be described using fig1 . when the maker - side system receives a user id code via the members &# 39 ; homepage on the homepage 31 in step s 71 , a user file 21 will be read out based on the received user id code , and user data will be extracted , in the next step s 72 . in the next step s 73 , product information is to be prepared according to the section that the member user belongs to , or related information ( keyword ) that he or she is interested in . next , in step s 74 , whether the member user desires to receive detailed information is read . if the member user desires to receive detailed information in this step s 74 , technique information will be added to product information in step s 75 , and step s 76 will be taken . on the other hand , if the member user does not desire to receive detailed information , step s 76 will be taken directly . in step s 76 , the disclosure extent of product information is limited according to the level ( for example , doctor or nurse ) of the member user . in the next step s 77 , disclosed information is prepared according to the disclosed scope limited in step s 76 . and , in step s 78 , disclosed information prepared in step s 77 is carried on the homepage ( members &# 39 ; page ) in step s 77 . this process provides member users with product information most suitable and satisfactory to him or her . an example of the member users &# 39 ; detailed information screen 34 is shown in fig1 . on the member users &# 39 ; detailed information screen 34 in fig1 , are shown detailed photographs and detailed specifications of a product are disclosed , as well as for what techniques or diseases it is used , examples of its use ( images , etc . ), examples of unit installation , and examples of facilities in which it is used . open information may be sent to member users by e - mail instead of being carried on the homepage ( members &# 39 ; page ). according to the present embodiment , the most appropriate product information corresponding to the section , level , etc . can be provided for member users on the user system 3 via internet 4 . therefore , not only the sales system and distribution route can be improved , but also expenses for business activities toward selling of products such as medical instruments can be reduced , and product costs can be prevented from increasing . the methods of the present invention are particularly suited to be carried out by a computer software program , such computer software program preferably containing modules corresponding to the individual steps of the methods . such software can of course be embodied in a computer - readable medium , such as an integrated chip or a peripheral device . while there has been shown and described what is considered to be preferred embodiments of the invention , it will , of course , be understood that various modifications and changes in form or detail could readily be made without departing from the spirit of the invention . it is therefore intended that the invention be not limited to the exact forms described and illustrated , but should be constructed to cover all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appended claims . | 6 |
fig1 illustrates a schematic representation of one embodiment of a well system 10 comprising an air filter assembly 12 installed under a well cap 14 on top of a well casing 16 of a well 18 . a submersible pump 20 is installed in the well 18 below the water level to pump water from a water bearing aquifer 22 . a first end 24 of a drop pipe 26 is connected to the output 32 of the submersible pump 20 . a second end 28 of the drop pipe 26 , opposite the first end 24 , is connected to a pitless adapter 30 , which is connected to a discharge pipe 34 for distribution of water from the well . water flows from the submersible pump 20 through the drop pipe 26 and pitless adapter 30 into the discharge pipe 34 . the submersible pump 20 is preferably electrically powered and thus , includes a plurality of electrical wires 36 connected to the pump 20 that extend up through the well casing 16 and out through the well cap 14 for connection to an external electrical power source ( not shown ). in the well cap 14 , the wires 36 travel through a conduit box 38 into a conduit 40 which leads the wires underground for connection to the power source . fig2 shows an enlarged partial cross - sectional view of a top portion 42 of the well casing 16 that extends above the ground . the well casing 16 preferably having a circular sidewall 44 with an inner surface 46 and an outer surface 48 . the air filter assembly 12 is preferably installed under the well cap 14 within the top portion 42 of the well casing 16 . the air filter assembly 12 preferably includes a cylindrically shaped filter housing 50 with a filter cartridge 52 removably inserted within an opening 54 extending through the center of the filter housing 50 . the cylindrically shaped filter housing 50 comprises an outer sidewall 56 , a top surface 58 , a bottom surface 60 , and a doughnut shaped gasket 62 removably attached to the top surface 58 of the housing . the housing gasket 62 extends outwardly from the circular opening 54 past the outer sidewall 56 for sealing the housing 50 to the top of the well casing 16 . in addition , an o - ring seal 64 is formed around the outer sidewall 56 of the housing 50 for sealing the outer sidewall 56 housing against the inner surface 46 of the sidewall 44 of the well casing 16 . the housing gasket 62 attached to the top of the housing 50 preferably includes at least two relatively small openings 66 , 68 extending therethrough for receiving a relief valve 70 and the plurality of pump wires 36 . the relief valve 70 is sealed in the first opening 66 and functions by allowing airflow through the valve 70 once the filter cartridge 52 becomes clogged . as air flows through the relief valve 70 , an alarm 72 incorporated into the relief valve 70 emits an audio signal signifying that the filter cartridge 52 is clogged and should be to replaced . the second opening 68 allows the plurality of pump wires 36 to pass through the filter housing 50 and on to the conduit box 38 and conduit 240 for connection to the power source . both the first and second openings 66 , 68 may include grommets 74 , 76 to assure an airtight seal around the relief valve 70 and plurality of pump wires 36 that extend through the openings 66 , 68 in the housing gasket 62 . the filter cartridge 52 removably inserted within the opening 54 of the filter housing 50 is also preferably cylindrically shaped with an outer sidewall 78 , a top surface 80 , and a bottom surface 82 . a doughnut shaped gasket 84 is preferably removably attached to the top surface 80 of the cartridge 52 for sealing around the opening 54 extending through the housing 50 and allowing air to flow through the cartridge 52 . the cartridge gasket 84 preferably extends outwardly past the outer sidewall 78 for sealing against the housing gasket 62 . once the filter cartridge 52 is installed in the filter housing 50 , an airtight seal is formed between the cartridge gasket 84 and the housing gasket 62 . therefore , all air flowing into and out of the well must flow through the filter cartridge 52 . the cartridge gasket 84 may preferably include a relatively small opening 86 extending therethrough for receiving the plurality of pump wires 36 to pass through . the opening 86 may include a grommet 88 to assure an airtight seal around the plurality of pump wires 36 as they pass through the cartridge gasket 84 . the filter cartridge of the present invention is preferably a canister type filter element that is easily removable from the filter housing for replacement purposes . the filter cartridge is preferably made of special reinforced paper that won &# 39 ; t tear apart and won &# 39 ; t deteriorate and fall into the well . an example filter cartridge that may be used in the present invention is a pharmagard ™ v - ii series filter cartridge manufactured by seitz division of u . s . filter company , or equivalent . the gaskets are also preferably removable from the housing and cartridge , so that they don &# 39 ; t need to be replaced when the cartridge is replaced . the gaskets are preferably made of a neoprene rubber material that won &# 39 ; t deteriorate over time . the air filter assembly of the present invention is designed for use on well casings of various diameters . the type of gaskets used in the present invention may be of several different embodiments . in a first embodiment , gaskets of different diameters are used to fit different diameter well casings . in an alternate embodiment , an adjustable gasket may be used to fit on different diameter well casings . for example , the adjustable gasket could have a plurality of layers , like a roll of tape , that may be removed from the gasket or re - applied to the gasket to vary the diameter of the gasket . in this embodiment , the relief valve and pump wires are sealed between layers of the adjustable gasket . fig3 and 4 illustrate another embodiment of the present invention . fig3 is similar to fig1 except that the well system 90 includes a well seal 92 attached to the top of a well casing 94 instead of a well cap . the well system 90 comprises a submersible pump 96 and a drop pipe 98 connected to the output 100 of the pump 96 that extends up through the top of the well seal 92 to a discharge pipe ( not shown ). a well seal is typically used to cover the top of a well casing to prevent the entry of surface runoff into the well during flooding . a well seal differs from a well cap in that the well seal has a gasket to seal the top of the well casing , whereas a well cap does not include a gasket to seal the top of the well casing . a well seal typically includes a screened vent pipe that extends through the gasket to allow air to flow into and out of the well during changes in pressure . the screen is necessary to reduce contaminant entry into the well . a well seal also typically includes a conduit box and conduit that extends through the gasket to allow a plurality of electrical wires from the submersible pump to pass through for connection to an external power source . referring again to fig3 and 4 , an air filter 102 is preferably installed within a vent pipe 104 extending through the well seal 92 attached to the top of the well casing 94 . the vent pipe 104 allows air to flow into and out of the well 106 . fig4 shows an enlarged partial cross - sectional view of the top of the well casing 94 . the well seal 92 preferably includes a gasket 108 sandwiched between a bottom plate 110 and a top plate 112 . the well seal 92 further includes a conduit box 114 and a conduit 242 that allow a plurality of electrical wiring 116 from the submersible pump 96 to be connected to an external power source ( not shown ). the vent pipe 104 includes a screen 118 and the air filter 102 to remove dirt , dust , bacteria , gaseous chemicals , vocs , insects and other contaminants from entering the well . fig5 and 6 illustrate yet another embodiment of the present invention . fig5 illustrates a schematic representation of a commercial or municipal well system 120 that typically has a larger diameter well casing 122 than residential water wells . the well system 120 comprises an air filter assembly 124 installed within a branch pipe 126 extending from one side of the well casing 122 . similar to fig1 and 3 , a submersible pump 128 is installed in a well 130 below the water level to pump water from a water bearing aquifer 132 . a drop pipe 134 is connected to the output 136 of the submersible pump 128 and extends up through the well casing 122 to a discharge pipe 138 for distribution and use . the top of the well casing 122 is sealed around the drop pipe 134 . a plurality of electrical wires 140 connected to the pump 128 extend up through the well casing 122 for connection to an external electrical power source ( not shown ). fig6 shows an enlarged partial cross - sectional view of a top portion 142 of the well casing 122 that extends above ground level and includes a branch pipe 126 extending from an opening 144 on one side of the well casing 122 for allowing air to flow through the well . the air filter assembly 124 is installed within the branch pipe 126 . the drop pipe 134 extends through the top of the well casing 122 and is connected to the discharge pipe 138 . a well seal 146 seals the top of the well casing 122 around the drop pipe 134 . the branch pipe 126 includes a first section 148 with the air filter assembly 124 installed therein and a second section 150 with a fan assembly 152 installed therein for moving air through the well . the branch pipe 126 preferably includes a circular sidewall 154 with an inner surface 156 and an outer surface 158 . the air filter assembly 124 preferably includes a filter housing 160 with a filter cartridge 162 removably inserted within an opening 164 extending through the center of the filter housing 160 . the cylindrically shaped filter housing 160 preferably comprises an outer sidewall 166 , a top surface 168 , a bottom surface 170 , and a doughnut shaped gasket 172 removably attached to the top surface 168 of the housing 160 . the housing gasket 172 extends outwardly from the circular opening 164 past the outer sidewall 166 for sealing the housing 160 to the first section 148 of the branch pipe 126 . in addition , an o - ring seal 174 is formed around the outer sidewall 166 of the housing 160 for sealing against the inner surface 156 of the sidewall 154 of the branch pipe 126 . the housing gasket 172 preferably includes at least two relatively small openings 176 , 178 extending therethrough for receiving a relief valve 180 and the plurality of pump wires 140 . the relief valve 180 is sealed in the first opening 176 and functions by allowing airflow through the valve 180 once the filter cartridge 162 becomes clogged . as air flows through the relief valve 180 , an alarm 244 incorporated into the relief valve 180 emits an audio signal signifying that the filter cartridge 162 is clogged and should be to replaced . the second opening 178 allows the plurality of pump wires 140 to pass through the filter housing 160 for connection to the fan assembly 152 and a power source ( not shown ). both the first and second openings 176 , 178 may include grommets 182 , 184 to assure an airtight seal around the relief valve 180 and plurality of pump wires 140 . the filter cartridge 162 removably inserted within the opening 164 of the filter housing 160 is also preferably cylindrically shaped with an outer sidewall 186 , a top surface 188 , and a bottom surface 190 . a doughnut shaped gasket 192 is preferably removably attached to the top surface 188 of the cartridge 162 for sealing around the opening 164 extending through the housing 160 and allowing air to flow through the cartridge 162 . the cartridge gasket 192 extends outwardly past the outer sidewall 186 for sealing against the housing gasket 172 . once the filter cartridge 162 is installed in the filter housing 160 , an airtight seal is formed between the cartridge gasket 192 and the housing gasket 172 . therefore , all air flowing into and out of the well 106 must flow through the filter cartridge 162 . the cartridge gasket 192 may preferably include a relatively small opening 194 extending therethrough for allowing the plurality of pump wires 140 to pass through . the opening 194 may include a grommet 196 to assure an airtight seal around the plurality of pump wires 140 . fig7 and 8 illustrate still yet another embodiment of the present invention . fig7 illustrates a schematic representation of a monitoring well 198 that is typically drilled near underground storage tanks for monitoring ground water 246 for possible contaminants leaking from the underground storage tanks . the monitoring well 198 comprises an air filter assembly 200 installed under a well cap 202 on top of a well casing 204 . fig8 shows an enlarged partial cross - sectional view of a top portion 206 of the well casing 204 . the well casing 204 preferably includes a circular sidewall 206 with an inner surface 208 and an outer surface 210 . the air filter assembly 200 is preferably installed under the well cap 202 within the top portion 206 of the well casing 204 . the air filter assembly 200 preferably includes a filter housing 212 with a filter cartridge 214 removably inserted within an opening 216 extending through the center of the filter housing 212 . the filter housing 212 is preferably cylindrically shaped with an outer sidewall 218 , a top surface 220 , a bottom surface 222 , and a doughnut shaped gasket 224 removably attached to the top surface 220 of the housing 212 . the housing gasket 224 extends outwardly from the circular opening 216 past the outer sidewall 218 for sealing the housing 212 to the top of the well casing 204 . in addition , an o - ring seal 226 is formed around the outer sidewall 218 of the housing 212 for sealing the outer sidewall 218 against the inner surface 208 of the sidewall 206 of the well casing 204 . the housing gasket 224 attached to the top of the filter housing 212 preferably includes at least one relatively small opening 228 extending therethrough for receiving a relief valve 230 therein . the opening 228 may include a grommet 246 to assure an airtight seal around the relief valve 230 . the relief valve 230 allows airflow through the valve once the filter cartridge 214 becomes clogged . as air flows through the relief valve 230 , an alarm 244 incorporated within the relief valve 230 emits an audio signal signifying that the filter cartridge 214 is clogged and should be to replaced . the filter cartridge 214 removably inserted within the opening 216 of the filter housing 212 is also preferably cylindrically shaped with an outer sidewall 232 , a top surface 234 , and a bottom surface 236 . a doughnut shaped gasket 238 is preferably removably attached to the top surface 234 of the cartridge 214 for sealing around the opening 216 and allowing air to flow through the cartridge 214 . the cartridge gasket 238 extends outwardly past the outer sidewall 232 for sealing against the housing gasket 224 . once the filter cartridge 214 is installed in the filter housing 212 , an airtight seal is formed between the cartridge gasket 238 and the housing gasket 224 . the well cap 202 is positioned on top of the well casing 204 above the air filter assembly 200 . all air flowing into and out of the well must flow through the filter cartridge 214 . while the invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments , those skilled in the art will appreciate that certain substitutions , alterations and omissions may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention . accordingly , the foregoing description is meant to be exemplary only , and should not limit the scope of the invention set forth in the following claims . | 1 |
the following discussion is presented to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the invention . the general principles described herein may be applied to embodiments and applications other than those detailed below without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown , but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed or suggested herein . fig2 shows a block diagram of a typical graphics board 100 that utilizes an embodiment of the invention . as was the case with respect to fig1 , the graphics board 100 includes a graphics processor 105 connected to a ddr ram 106 . different from the prior art of fig1 , however , each of these components are driven by a pwm power supply 210 a , 210 b , and 210 c having respective pwm controllers 220 a , 220 b , and 220 c with integrated plls . the pwm controllers 220 are described below in conjunction with fig6 , and the plls are described below in conjunction with fig3 . the graphics processor 105 is driven by a single pwm power supply 210 a and the ddr ram 106 is driven by a pair of pwm power supplies 210 b and 210 c . in this embodiment , the pwm power supply 210 a is the master and the pwm power supplies 210 b and 210 c are the slaves , although any one of the supplies 210 a - 210 c can be the master with the remaining two supplies being the slaves . the master pwm controller 220 a generates a master pwm signal in a conventional manner , and the slave pwm controllers 210 b and 210 c each include an integrated pll ( not shown in fig2 ) that locks onto the master pwm signal and generates a respective slave pwm signal having the same frequency as the master pwm signal . by precisely synchronizing the pwm frequencies of the slave pwm power supplies 210 b and 210 c with the pwm frequency of the master pwm power supply 210 a , beat frequencies are virtually eliminated . the difference , however , between the plls of the controllers 220 a - 220 c and conventional plls is that they can have a relatively low loop bandwidth approximately 1 to 3 khz in this embodiment — without requiring an external filter element or variable - gain charge pump . furthermore , as discussed below in conjunction with fig3 - 6 , in some embodiments one can program the plls with the desired bandwidth , or can program the slave plls to generate slave pwm signals that have respective phase shifts with respect to the master pwm signal . fig3 is a block diagram of a pll 300 according to an embodiment of the invention . the plls of the pwm controllers 220 a - 220 c of fig2 can be the same as or similar to the pll 300 . but , the pll 300 can be used in virtually any application that calls for a pll . the pll 300 includes a phase frequency detector ( pfd ) 302 , an error - correction signal suppression circuit 321 , a conventional charge pump 310 , a conventional filter 361 , a conventional vco 312 , and an optional frequency divider circuit 313 . as discussed below , the suppression circuit 321 allows one to adjust the loop bandwidth of the pll 300 without the need for the filter 361 to incorporate a large capacitor or other filter element and without the need for the charge pump 310 to have multiple , switchable - output stages for gain control . generally , the pll 300 receives a reference signal 341 and produces an output signal 340 having a frequency that is the same as or that is a multiple of the frequency of the reference signal . furthermore , the reference and output signals are typically in phase with one another , although in one embodiment the divider circuit 313 can impart a predetermined phase shift to the output signal as discussed below in conjunction with fig5 . with the exception of the suppression circuit 321 , each part of the pll 300 will only be described in brief detail as plls are well known in the art . the pfd 302 detects a difference between the phases of the reference signal 341 and a feedback signal 342 , and generates a phase - error signal ( up or down ) that has a duration that is proportional to the phase difference . specifically , the phase - error signal activates the charge pump 310 so as to “ push ” the vco 312 in a direction that will cause the frequency of the output signal 340 to be in phase with the reference signal 341 and to have a frequency equal to n ( the divisor of the circuit 313 ) times the frequency of the reference signal . the “ direction ” of the push depends upon the direction of the phase difference . for example , if the pfd 302 determines that the feedback signal 342 leads the reference signal 341 ( feedback frequency higher than reference frequency ), then the pfd 302 will send a down pulse 306 to the charge pump 310 . the down pulse has a duration that is proportional to the phase difference and causes the vco 361 to reduce the frequency of the output signal 340 . if , however , the pfd 302 determines that the feedback signal 342 lags the reference signal 341 ( feedback frequency lower than reference frequency ), then the pfd 302 will send an up pulse 305 to the charge pump 310 . the up pulse has a duration that is proportional to the phase difference and causes the vco 312 to increase the frequency of the output signal 340 . the charge pump 310 generates a phase - correction pulse having a duration that is equal to that of the received up or down phase - error pulse , and the filter 361 , which is typically a capacitor ( not shown ) coupled in parallel to the output of the charge pump 310 , integrates the pulse to provide a control voltage . the vco 312 generates the output signal 340 having a frequency that is proportional to the level of the control voltage , and the divide circuit 313 generates the feedback signal 342 from the output signal 340 . as discussed below , the suppression circuit 321 allows the filter capacitor to be small enough for integration onto the chip that incorporates the pll 300 , and eliminates the need for the charge pump 310 to have an adjustable gain . the suppression circuit 321 , working in conjunction with other logic circuitry , decreases the loop bandwidth of the pll 300 by introducing programmable error - correction suppression into the loop . the suppression circuit 321 causes a decrease in loop bandwidth by enabling the pfd 341 to generate the error - correction signal only periodically . in one embodiment , the pfd 302 generates error - correction pulses , and the suppression circuit 321 suppresses a pre - determined number of the error - correction pulses . longer periods between successive enablements of the pfd 341 provides for a lower loop bandwidth , and vice versa . consequently , the loop has the highest bandwidth , and thus the pll 300 corrects phase errors at its fastest , when the pulse suppression circuit 321 does not suppress any pulses , i . e ., no error - correction pulses are eliminated . furthermore , because it is programmable , the suppression circuit 321 allows one to change the loop bandwidth without changing the values of the elements that compose the filter 261 , and allows one to set the loop bandwidth to a relatively low value without requiring large , external ( to the chip incorporating the pll 300 ) filter elements . specifically , in one embodiment , the suppression circuit 321 counts the cycles of the reference and feedback signals 341 and 342 ( these signals are virtually identical when the pll 300 is in lock ), and allows the pfd 302 to provide the error - correction signal to the charge pump 310 only every x cycles , where x is the count value with which the suppression circuit 321 is programmed . for example , where x = 5 , the charge pump 310 receives an error - correction signal up or down only once every five cycles of the signals 341 and 342 . as compared with no error - correction signals being suppressed , a suppression rate of x = 5 lowers the loop bandwidth by decreasing the number of error - correction pulses , and thus increases the time required for the pll 300 to correct for phase differences between the reference and feedback signals 341 and 342 . although the suppression rate x is described as being programmable so that one can select the desired loop bandwidth , the suppression circuit 321 may be designed such that the value of x is fixed . furthermore , where the value of x is programmable , one should analyze the loop transfer function of the pll 300 to insure that the programmed value of x does not cause the pll to become unstable . fig4 a is a schematic diagram of the ped 302 and the suppression circuit 321 of fig3 according to an embodiment of the invention . the ped 302 includes a phase - difference detect circuit 401 , enable multiplexers 403 and 405 , optional feed forward circuit 407 , and an optional lock - detect circuit 409 . the suppression circuit 321 includes a programmable counter 411 and a logic circuit 413 . each of these circuits is described in greater detail below . the phase - difference detect circuit 401 includes a pair of flip - flops 415 and 416 for detecting the respective edges — the rising edges in this embodiment — of the reference signal 341 and the feedback signal 342 , and a reset circuit 418 for resetting the flip - flops after they have detected the corresponding edges of both the reference 341 and feedback 342 signals more specifically , in response to the reference signal 341 transitioning from a logic - 0 to a logic - 1 ( rising edge ), the flip - flop 415 generates a logic - 1 for an intermediate - up signal ( iup ). likewise , in response to the feedback signal 342 transitioning from a logic - 0 to a logic - 1 , the flip - flop 416 generates a logic - 1 for an intermediate - down signal ( idown ). consequently , if iup transitions to logic - 1before idown transitions to logic - 1 , the feedback signal lags the reference signal by a phase difference that is proportional to the time difference between the logic - 1 transitions of iup and idown . conversely , if iup transitions to logic - 1 after idown , the feedback signal 342 leads the reference signal 341 by a phase difference that is proportional to the time difference between the logic - 1 transitions of iup and idown . moreover , if iup and idown transition to logic - 1 at the same time , the feedback signal 342 is in phase with the reference signal 341 for that cycle . as discussed above in conjunction with fig3 , the up and down signals provided by the multiplexers 403 and 405 control the charge pump 310 , which in turn controls the vco 312 , to force the feedback signal 342 to have the same phase and frequency as the reference signal 341 . the reset circuit 418 includes an and gate 417 that generates a reset signal 419 for resetting the flip - flops 415 and 416 after the lagging one of the pulses iup and idown transitions to a logic 1 . the flip - flops 415 and 416 , now reset , are then ready for the next logic - 0 - to - logic - 1 transitions of the reference signal 341 and the feedback signal 342 . because during reset there is a finite propagation delay through the and gate 417 , an optional or gate 421 , the flip flops 415 and 416 , and the inverters 422 a and 422 b , the durations of iup and idown at active logic - 1 levels are extended . if iup and idown were passed directly to the charge pump 310 ( fig3 ), then these extended durations would be passed to the charge pump as well . because it is sometimes desired to reduce or eliminate these extended durations , the pfd 302 may include the feed - forward circuits 407 and the multiplexers 403 and 405 to generate the signals up and down having reduced durations . the operation of the feed - forward circuits 407 is further discussed in commonly owned u . s . patent application ser . no . 60 , 359 , 270 , entitled phase detector and method for a shortening phase - error correction pulse , which is incorporated herein by reference . the suppression circuit 321 controls the loop bandwidth of the pll 300 ( fig3 ) by suppressing some of the error - correction pulses , thus reducing the bandwidth of the pll 300 . generally , the counter 411 is programmed with a count value and uses the reset signal from the and gate 417 as a clock signal . the counter 411 counts up or down from the count value for each reset pulse ( which has the same frequency as the reference signal 341 and the feedback signal 342 when the pll is in lock mode ) until the counter reaches a predetermined value such as zero . when the counter reaches the predetermined value , it enables the multiplexers 403 and 405 via the logic 413 to generate the signals up and down . the counter 411 then resets and begins the process again . an embodiment of the suppression circuit 321 is now described in detail . the counter 411 is ripple counter formed from three flip - flops ( not shown individually ). data is loaded into the flip - flops when a load signal 437 is high . the counter 411 counts down when a pulse is detected from the output of the and gate 417 until all flip - flop outputs are low . once the flip - flops have all transitioned to low , the load signal 437 resets the flip - flops and the process begins again . while loading the flip - flops , the multiplexers 403 and 405 are enabled . between loading cycles , however , the multiplexers 403 and 405 are disabled . because sometimes it is desirable to deactivate the suppression circuit 321 until the pll 300 locks the feedback signal 342 onto the reference signal 341 , the lock - detect circuit 409 may be included . for example , to decrease the capture time of the pll 300 — the capture time is the amount of time that the pll 300 requires to locate and lock onto the frequency of the reference signal — one may want the pll 300 to have maximum bandwidth during signal capture . including an adaptive frequency synthesizer ( not shown ) in the pll 300 is one way to reduce the pll &# 39 ; s capture time . the lock - detect circuit 409 combined with the suppression circuit 321 and a programmable loop filter resistor ( not shown ) with a variable value ( the resistor value is dependent upon the pfd gain for loop stability ) can be used to implement the adaptive frequency synthesizer . by deactivating the suppression circuit 321 during signal capture when the adaptive frequency synthesizer is required to change the vco frequency quickly , the pll can locate and lock onto the reference signal within a minimal amount of time . and , by activating the suppression circuit 321 during lock mode , the pll 300 can maintain the superior noise performance of a smaller loop bandwidth . during each cycle of the reference signal when the feedback signal is locked thereto , iup and idown will be the same virtually the entire cycle . therefore , the lock - detect circuit 409 effectively compares the percentage of time that iup and idown are the same to a predetermined threshold . if the measured percentage is greater than the threshold , then the lock - detect circuit 409 declares lock and enables the pulse suppression circuit 321 via a nand gate 430 . otherwise , the lock - detect circuit 409 disables the suppression circuit 321 until lock is achieved . still referring to fig4 a , as discussed above in conjunction with fig3 , the suppression circuit 321 allows the filter 361 to have a smaller capacitance that can be integrated onto a chip when the loop bandwidth of the pll 300 is at a point where conventional plls would require an external capacitor . furthermore , the suppression circuit 321 allows one to use a regular charge pump 310 , i . e ., a charge pump with a single output stage that is not constructed to have multiple , switchable - output stages for gain adjustment . this allows the charge pump 310 to produce a relatively high - valued error - correction pulse when operating and thus to have a relatively high signal - to - noise ratio . further , it often reduces the amount of layout space that would otherwise be required by an adjustable charge pump . fig4 b is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the pfd 302 and the suppression circuit 321 of fig3 . again , the pfd 302 includes a phase - difference detect circuit 401 , enable multiplexers 403 and 405 , optional feed forward circuit 407 , and an optional lock - detect circuit 409 . the suppression circuit 321 includes a programmable counter 411 , a logic circuit , and inverters 490 a and 490 b , which maintain the loop perturbations at a frequency high enough for the low - pass filter 261 ( fig3 ) to filter out . specifically , each error - correction pulse causes perturbations in the loop even if up and down are simultaneously active to indicate zero phase error . one cause of these perturbations is the turning on and off of the charge pump 310 ( fig3 ). when the feedback signal 342 is locked to the reference signal 341 and no error - correction pulses are suppressed , the perturbations have a fundamental frequency equal to the frequency of the reference signal . because the filter 261 typically has a cutoff frequency that is significantly lower than the frequency of the reference signal , the filter removes virtually all of the perturbations . but when the suppression circuit 321 suppresses error - correction pulses , then the perturbations have a lower fundamental frequency . but if the fundamental perturbation frequency is near or significantly below the cutoff frequency of the filter 261 , then the filter may pass some of the perturbation energy , which may cause jitter or other undesirable noise in the vco output signal 340 ( fig3 ). consequently , to maintain the fundamental frequency of the perturbations at a frequency high enough for filter 261 to remove the perturbations , the inverters 490 a and 490 b simultaneously generate up and down from the reset signal — which has the same frequency as the reference signal 341 when the pll 300 is in lock mode — when the circuit 321 is suppressing the error - correction pulses iup and idown from the flip - flops 415 and 416 . specifically , before the counter 411 reaches the predetermined value x , it tristates inverters 492 a and 492 b to uncouple iup an idown from the multiplexers 403 and 405 . at the same time , the inverters 490 a and 490 b couple the reset signal ( generated when both iup and idown are logic 1 ) to the multiplexers 403 and 405 , which simultaneously generate up and down equal to logic 1 for the duration of the reset signal . because up and down are active logic 1 for the same duration , the charge pump 310 imparts a net zero phase correction to the vco 312 . but because the charge pump is active , it does generate a perturbation . consequently , the inverters 490 a and 490 b allow the suppression circuit 321 to suppress error correction without suppressing perturbations . to avoid signal conflict at the multiplexors 403 and 405 , however , the counter 411 tristates the inverters 490 a and 490 b when it reaches the predetermine value x , and thus when it is not suppressing the error - correction pulses up and down . specifically , when the counter 411 reaches the predetermined suppression rate value , a dec_out signal 495 is generated . each inverter 490 a and 490 b is coupled to this signal and is held in tristate while the dec_out signal 495 is present . the dec_out signal 495 goes low after the counter 411 resets and the error - correction signal up or down has been generated . fig5 is schematic diagram of the frequency divider circuit 313 of fig3 according to an embodiment of the invention . the frequency divider 313 receives the output signal 340 as an input to a multiplexor 501 which provides pulses to a series of flip - flops 510 . each flip - flop in the series of flip - flops provides an input for the next flip - flop in the series . as a result , any one of the flip - flop outputs q1 - q6 ( selectable via a multiplexer 511 ) can be used as a frequency divider 313 output that is an exact 1 / n multiple of the output signal 340 . still referring to fig5 , another optional feature of the frequency divider circuit 313 is that it allows one to introduce a predetermined phase shift into the output signal 342 with respect to the reference signal 341 ( fig3 ). delay gates 520 generate signals ph 90 , ph 120 , ph 150 , ph 180 , and ph 210 , which all have a predetermined frequency and have phase shifts with respect to the output signal 340 of 90 , 120 , 150 , 180 , and 210 degrees , respectively . therefore , using a multiplexer 513 to select one of these signals as the feedback signal 342 introduces a corresponding phase shift into the output signal 340 . as discussed above in conjunction with fig2 and below in conjunction with fig6 , offsetting the phases of the slave pwm signals with respect to the master pwm signal may reduce ripple on the main power supply by staggering the times when the pwm supplies draw power from the main supply . in one altemative of this embodiment , the designer pre - selects the phase shifts , which do not change during operation of the pwm supplies . alternatively , the pwm supplies can monitor ripple on the main supply and dynamically shift the relative phases of the slave pwm signals so as to maintain a desired level of ripple on the main power supply . fig6 is a block diagram of one of the pwm controllers 220 a , 220 b , and 220 c of fig3 according to an embodiment of the invention . there are two modes in which the pwm controller 220 operates . in an independent mode , the pwm controller 220 does not lock the output signal 340 to the reference signal 341 or to any other reference . a master pwm controller , such as the pwm controller 220 a of fig2 , typically operates in the independent mode . in a pll - mode , the pll 300 of the pwm controller 220 synchronizes the output frequency 340 to the reference signal 341 received from the master pwm controller 220 a or from another source via the synchronization input 200 . the slave pwm controllers 220 b and 220 c of fig2 typically operate in pll - mode . when in pll - mode , an fs / synch input 601 receives the reference signal 341 from a master pwm controller . in fig2 , the pwm controller 220 a for the graphics processor 105 is an example of a master pwm controller , but , alternatively , some other pwm controller can be the master depending on the design of a particular system . most commercially available pwm controllers 220 make the pwm signal available on a pin , and thus can serve as a master . if not in pll - mode , a resistor 650 is connected between the fs / synch input 601 and either ground ( not shown ) or a power supply 652 . a voltage - to - current converter 651 converts the voltage that the resistor 650 generates at the input 601 into a current that the logic 600 converts into a vco control voltage on the line 602 . therefore , one selects a value for the resistor 650 that causes the vco 312 to generate an output signal 340 having the desired frequency . the pwm controller 220 can automatically determine which mode , independent mode or pll - mode , in which to operate . to make this determination , a reference - signal detector 619 , which may be part of the block logic 600 , senses pulses from a schmitt trigger 603 , which is connected to the fs / synch 601 terminal . if the pll mode is disabled ( default condition ) but the reference - signal detector 619 senses pulses for a first predetermined time , then the reference - signal detector 619 determines that a master reference signal is present at the input terminal 200 and enables the pll 300 via line 620 and a switch 660 . conversely , if the pll - mode is enabled and the reference - signal detector 619 senses pulses of the feedback signal 342 for a second predetermined time without simultaneously detecting pulses from the schmitt trigger 603 , the reference - signal detector 619 disables the pll 300 via line 620 and the switch 660 . the first and second predetermined times may be fixed or may be programmable . the detector 619 detects a signal by discharging a capacitor every time it detects an edge of the signal . in between edges the capacitor charges to a logic level that enables a counter ( not shown ). if the counter reaches a predetermined count value ( corresponding to the first or second predetermined time ), then the reference - signal detector 619 determines that the no signal is present . but as long as edges are present , the counter never reaches the predetermined count value . the reference - signal detector 619 includes at least two of these detect circuits , so there are at least two predetermined count values , a first one corresponding to the first predetermined time and a second one corresponding to the second predetermined time . these predetermined count values may be fixed or programmable . the block logic 600 also detects whether the value of the resistor 650 is either too high or too low , and , if the resistor is out of range , sets the vco 312 to generate a predetermined maximum ( resistor value too low ) or minimum ( resistor value to high ) frequency . the voltage - to - current converter 651 also includes a current limiter so that such an undervalued resistor 650 does not cause an over - current condition . while the pwm controller 220 operates in the pll ( slave ) mode , the pll 300 operates , as discussed above in conjunction with fig3 - 5 , to lock the feedback signal 342 to the reference signal 341 . the frequency divider circuit 313 provides one or more slave pwm signals — here two such signals pwm1 and pwm2 — to a conventional pwm ramp generator ( not shown ), which generate a corresponding number of ramps ( not shown ) for regulating the pwm supply 210 ( fig2 ). as discussed above in conjunction with fig5 , the frequencies of pwm1 and pwm2 are integer multiples — six in one in embodiment — of the frequency of the reference signal 341 . in addition , pwm1 and pwm2 may have predetermined phase shifts with respect to the reference signal 341 . furthermore , in one embodiment , the suppression circuit 321 is programmable to have a count value in the range of 32 - 1024 . moreover , the filter 361 or another portion of the pll 300 may include programmable resistance values that allow one to adjust the loop gain to maintain loop stability for a particular count value . fig7 is a wireless - area - network ( wan ) transmitter / receiver 700 that can incorporate the pll 300 of fig3 according to an embodiment of the invention . in addition to the pfd 302 , charge pump 310 , vco 312 , frequency divider 313 , suppression circuit 321 and the filter 361 ( omitted from fig7 for clarity ), the pll 300 includes a terminal 718 for receiving the reference signal and a local - oscillator ( lo ) distributor 720 for distributing the output of the vco 312 as an lo signal . in addition to the pll 300 , the transmitter / receiver 700 includes a transmitter 704 , and a receiver 706 . the transmitter 704 includes a mixer 722 that modulates the lo with a differential base - band data signal received from a computer ( not shown ) via data terminals 724 and 726 . the transmitter 704 then provides this modulated data signal to a transmit - terminal 728 for wireless transmission to a remote receiver ( not shown ). similarly , the receiver 706 receives a modulated data signal from a remote wireless transmitter ( not shown ) via a terminal 730 , and includes a mixer 732 that demodulates the received data signal with the lo signal and provides a differential demodulated data signal to the computer via the terminals 724 and 726 . the pll 300 is operable to synchronize the lo signal from the vco 312 to the reference signal received on terminal 718 . in one embodiment , the suppression circuit 321 is programmable to implement a count value of 0 - 7 . the transmitter / receiver also includes other circuits that are conventional , and that are thus omitted from fig7 for brevity . fig8 is a block diagram of a general - purpose computer system 820 that incorporates the graphics board 200 of fig2 according to an embodiment of the invention . the computer system 820 ( e . g ., personal or server ) includes one or more processing units 821 , system memory 822 , and a system bus 823 . the system bus 823 couples the various system components including the system memory 822 to the processing unit 821 . the system bus 823 may be any of several types of busses including a memory bus , a peripheral bus , and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures . the system memory 822 typically includes read - only memory ( rom ) 824 and random - access memory ( ram ) 825 . firmware 826 containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within the computer system 820 is also contained within the system memory 822 . the computer system 820 may further include a hard disk - drive system 827 that is also connected to the system bus 823 . additionally , optical drives ( not shown ), cd - rom drives ( not shown ), floppy drives ( not shown ) may be connected to the system bus 823 through respective drive controllers ( not shown ) as well . a user may enter commands and information into the computer system 820 through input devices such as a keyboard 840 and pointing device 842 . these input devices as well as others not shown are typically connected to the system bus 823 through a serial port interface 846 . other interfaces ( not shown ) include universal serial bus ( usb ) and parallel ports 840 . a monitor 847 or other type of display device may also be connected to the system bus 823 via an interface such as the graphics card 200 . | 7 |
in the following description , like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views . also , in the following description , it is to be understood that terms such as front , back , inside , outside , and the like are words of convenience and are not to be construed as limiting terms . terminology used in this patent is not meant to be limiting insofar as devices described herein , or portions thereof , may be attached or utilized in other orientations . it should be appreciated that any patent , publication , or other disclosure material , in whole or in part , that is said to be incorporated by reference herein is incorporated herein only to the extent that the incorporated material does not conflict with existing definitions , statements , or other disclosure material set forth in this disclosure . as such , and to the extent necessary , the disclosure as explicitly set forth herein supersedes any conflicting material incorporated herein by reference . fig1 shows a partial cross sectional view of automatic palletizer 200 , such as the alvey ® 910 palletizer sold by intelligrated located at 7901 innovation way , mason , ohio 45040 . palletizer 200 of the present example is a multi - story unit comprising upper level 202 for receiving and aligning a plurality of articles 40 and lower level 204 for discharging articles 40 as palletized load 20 via discharge conveyor 206 . a feed conveyor not shown feeds individual articles 40 into upper level 202 of palletizer 200 for palletizing . palletizer 200 comprises elevator 208 movable within elevator shaft 210 . elevator 208 is driven within elevator shaft 210 by elevator drive not shown that can be chain or hydraulic driven . in the present example , elevator 208 is centrally located within elevator shaft 210 and is configured to move vertically within elevator shaft 210 . in other versions , elevator 208 is offset within elevator shaft 210 . in still other versions , elevator 208 moves in other suitable directions e . g ., horizontally , obliquely , etc . within elevator shaft 210 . still other suitable configurations for elevator 208 and / or elevator shaft 210 will be apparent to one with ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein . elevator 208 is configured to receive pallet 28 and to move up and down as sequential layers of articles 40 are discharged from upper level 202 and stacked on top of pallet 28 to create palletized load 20 . as shown in fig1 , upper level 202 is separated from lower level 204 by a pair of movable doors 214 . in the present example , doors 214 are positioned at a top portion of elevator shaft 210 . doors 214 are nominally positioned in a closed position not shown to receive a layer of articles 40 thereon ( see fig6 ). once a layer of articles 40 is positioned on doors 214 , doors translate outwardly to an open position , as shown in fig1 and 8 , to discharge the layer of aligned articles 40 onto an empty pallet 28 or palletized load 20 located beneath doors 214 . wrap ring 216 is positioned within lower level 204 and is motor driven to rotate about elevator shaft 210 . wrap ring 216 is shown sectioned and includes a roll of pallet wrap 218 . accordingly , when actuated , wrap ring 216 is configured to wrap palletized load 20 by rotating around palletized load 20 as palletized load 20 is moved up and down in elevator shaft 210 . wrap ring 216 thereby wraps the sides of palletized load 20 with pallet wrap 218 to stabilize the outer columns of palletized load 20 . while wrap ring 216 of the present example includes a circular configuration , other suitable configurations for wrap ring 216 will be apparent to one with ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein . upper level 202 of automatic palletizer 200 further comprises stabilizer appliers 50 supported by framework 212 of automatic palletizer 200 and positioned above palletized load 20 to place at least one adhesive load stabilizer 100 onto a top surface of palletized load 20 . load stabilizers 100 thereby hold articles 40 of palletized load 20 together to thereby decrease stability issues within palletized load 20 . stabilizer appliers 50 can place load stabilizers 100 on the uppermost layer of articles 40 on palletized load 20 , or stabilizer appliers 50 can place load stabilizers 100 on top of each layer of articles 40 within palletized load 20 . alternatively , stabilizer appliers 50 can place load stabilizers 100 on a side surface of articles 40 of palletized load 20 . this can be in addition to or instead of using pallet wrap 218 . still other suitable configurations for stabilizer appliers 50 and / or load stabilizers will be apparent to one with ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein . fig2 is a fragmentary isometric view of load stabilizer 100 used to secure palletized load 20 for transit . load stabilizers 100 are operably configured to remain secured to palletized load 20 during transit , yet allow articles 40 on palletized load 20 to be easily separated when depalletized . as shown in fig2 , load stabilizer 100 comprises stabilizer sheet 102 and adhesive layer 104 attached thereto . stabilizer sheet 102 is non - adhesive . in some versions , stabilizer sheet 102 is a tearable or frangible material , such as paper . in other versions , stabilizer sheet 102 is formed from tyvek , plastic film , fibrous material , foam , elastomerics , or other suitable materials . stabilizer sheet 102 can be cut , perforated , or scored to provide lines of easy tearing in certain directions such as those found during depalletizing . adhesive layer 104 comprises a releasable adhesive such as the low tack adhesive used on post - it ® notes . load stabilizers 100 can be opaque , transparent , or translucent . adhesive layer 104 of load stabilizer 100 is positioned on release liner 105 . the portion of release liner 105 coupled to adhesive layer 104 is formed from a wax or other slick material to provide protection of adhesive layer 104 until release liner 105 is removed prior to the application of load stabilizer 100 to palletized load 20 . fig2 shows release liner 105 as elongated strip 106 to receive a plurality of load stabilizers 100 . alternatively , release liner 105 can be individual sheets applied to a single load stabilizer 100 . in the present example , load stabilizers 100 are spaced equally along the length of elongated strip 106 of release liner 105 for sequential feeding and release of a plurality of load stabilizers 100 . release liner 105 is perforated with rows of equally spaced holes 107 to engage drive pins not shown within stabilizer applier 50 for driving and control of release liner 105 . still other suitable configurations for load stabilizers will be apparent to one with ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein . fig3 shows a partial cross section of stabilizer applier assembly 50 . fig3 illustrates stabilizer applier assembly 50 as a motorized system that uses the above described elongated strip 106 configuration of release liner 105 to store and dispense load stabilizers 100 . stabilizer applier assembly 50 includes feeder configured to feed load stabilizers 100 to stabilizer applier 55 . arrows are provided to show the feed path of elongated strip 106 of release liner 105 and load stabilizers 100 through feeder 51 . in the present example , feeder 51 comprises feed roll 52 , idler pulley 53 , peel bar 54 , liner guide 57 , and drive pulley 58 positioned within exterior case 50 a . feed roll 52 is rotatably attached to exterior case 50 a and is configured to store a wrapped roll of elongated strip 106 of release liner 105 with load stabilizers 100 . elongated strip 106 is fed from feed roll 52 to wrap around idler pulley 53 , which is rotatably attached to exterior case 50 a . idler pulley 53 is positioned below feed roll 52 . idler pulley 53 is configured to contact and rotate with load stabilizer 100 side of elongated strip 106 . elongated strip 106 is then fed to peel bar 54 , which is fixed to exterior case 50 a . elongated strip 106 passes along a top surface of peel bar 54 and then bends 180 degrees around end 54 a of peel bar 54 . as elongated strip 106 bends around peel bar 54 , the stiffer load stabilizer 100 peels away from elongated strip 106 . when elongated strip 106 of release liner 105 pulls farther around peel bar 54 , more of load stabilizer 100 peels from liner 105 and hangs in the air , as shown in fig3 . stabilizer applier 55 is configured to receive load stabilizer 100 from feeder 51 . stabilizer applier 55 is disposed adjacent to peel bar 54 and comprises a vacuum pad 56 to receive the peeled load stabilizer 100 . with vacuum applied to vacuum pad 56 , load stabilizer 100 is held against vacuum pad 56 . in the present example , stabilizer applier 55 is movable to extend outwardly through opening 59 of exterior case 50 a to place load stabilizer 100 against palletized load 20 . stabilizer applier 55 is then retracted back within exterior case 50 a to receive the next load stabilizer 100 . stabilizer applier 55 is reciprocated up and down by a motor ( not shown ). other suitable configurations for operating stabilizer applier 55 will be apparent to one with ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein . once load stabilizer 100 is peeled from elongated strip 106 , elongated strip 106 passes around liner guide 57 and wraps around drive pulley 58 . accordingly , idler pulley 53 and liner guide 57 are positioned adjacent peel bar 54 to maintain the alignment of elongated strip 106 relative to peel bar 54 . drive pulley 58 is rotatably driven by a motor ( not shown ) to wrap elongated strip 106 around drive pulley 58 . drive pulley 58 includes a release liner engagement feature such as slot 58 a that is configured to engage with and pull on a free end of release liner 105 as drive pulley 58 rotates . accordingly , drive pulley 58 rotates to thereby rotate liner guide 57 , idler pulley 53 , and feed roll 52 to pull elongated strip 106 from feed roll 52 to drive pulley 58 . drive pulley 58 thereby wraps the empty elongated strip 106 onto drive pulley 58 . fig3 shows drive pulley 58 rotating in a clockwise direction , driven by a drive motor ( not shown ) located on a back side of the case 50 a . other configurations for stabilizer applier 50 will be apparent to one with ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein . fig4 is a top view of palletized load 20 showing top surface 26 of palletized load 20 . palletized load 20 includes a plurality of contact lines 27 a , 27 b , 27 c where two or more adjacent articles 40 contact each other . articles 40 contact at each of contact lines 27 a , 27 b , 27 c , and in this example , cross at intersection points 42 a , 42 b . each one of contact lines 27 a , 27 b , 27 c and intersection points 42 a , 42 b represent potential shift points that can allow articles 40 to separate or shift away from adjacent articles 40 of palletized load 20 under transit . this can destabilize palletized load 20 . fig5 is an isometric view of palletized load 20 , which comprises layers 22 , 24 , 26 of articles 40 stacked on top of pallet 28 . articles 40 of the present example are placed three wide and two long on each layer 22 , 24 , 26 . of course , other suitable combinations for layers 22 , 24 , 26 will be apparent to one with ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein . once a predetermined number of layers 22 , 24 , 26 of articles 40 have been received on palletized load 20 , stabilizer appliers 50 place load stabilizers 100 to one or more potential shift points of articles 40 of palletized load 20 to provide transit stability . for example , as shown in fig5 , a first stabilizer applier 50 is positioned above uppermost layer 26 of palletized load 20 and a second stabilizer applier 50 is shown with stabilizer applier 55 extended along axis z - z to apply load stabilizer 100 onto palletized load 20 . while fig5 shows two stabilizer appliers 50 , any suitable number of stabilizer appliers 50 can be used to apply any suitable number of load stabilizers 100 . fig5 further shows that load stabilizer 100 is sized to cover a portion of the top surface of palletized load 20 . in other versions , load stabilizer 100 is sized to cover an entire surface of palletized load 20 . fig1 , 7 , 8 , and 9 will now be referred to describe the operation of automatic palletizer 200 . turning to fig6 , an isometric view of upper level 202 of automatic palletizer 200 is shown with a plurality of articles 40 placed and aligned on top of doors 214 . while the number of articles 40 on a layer differs from fig1 - 5 , the operation of automatic palletizer 200 is the same . turning to fig7 , doors 214 over elevator shaft 210 ( fig1 ) are opened a sufficient amount to drop the central portion of articles 40 on top of palletized load 20 located just beneath doors 214 . in fig8 , doors 214 are fully opened and the remaining articles 40 have dropped on top of palletized load 20 . in this position , articles 40 are stabilized on top of palletized load 20 . with palletized load 20 paused in this position , one or more of stabilizer appliers 50 are actuated to place load stabilizers 100 ( fig1 ) onto palletized load 20 ( see fig5 ) while upper articles 40 are in upper level 202 of automatic palletizer 200 . turning to fig9 , palletized load 20 is dropped below doors 214 and into lower level 204 ( fig1 ) of automatic palletizer 200 and elevator 208 ( fig1 ) is paused . in another embodiment , load stabilizers 100 ( fig1 ) can be dropped down from upper level 202 to extend at least partly into lower level 204 ( fig1 ) to apply load stabilizers 100 ( fig1 ) onto palletized load 20 . doors 214 are then closed to receive another pallet 28 ( fig1 ) and / or layer of articles 40 ( fig9 ), as shown in fig1 . fig1 is a fragmentary isometric view of palletized load 20 being wrapped by wrap ring 216 . while palletized bags are shown , any article 40 may be palletized . once the desired amount of articles 40 and load stabilizers 100 ( fig1 ) are placed on palletized load 20 , elevator 218 moves downward as pallet wrap 208 is rotatably wrapped around palletized load 20 by wrap ring 216 . once palletized load 20 is wrapped , elevator 208 moves downward to align and move the stabilized palletized load 20 onto discharge conveyor 206 ( fig1 ). automatic palletizer 200 then repeats the process as many times as is necessary to palletize a delivery for transit . another example automatic palletizer 300 is shown in fig1 . automatic palletizer 300 is similar to automatic palletizer 200 ( fig1 ) in that automatic palletizer 300 comprises an upper level 302 and a lower level 304 separated by movable doors 314 . lower level 304 is similar to lower level 204 ( fig1 ) and is configured to discharge articles 40 as palletized load 20 via discharge conveyor 206 . upper level 302 is similar to upper level 202 and is configured to receive and align a plurality of articles 40 . accordingly , articles 40 are positioned on pallet 28 on elevator 308 within elevator shaft 310 , load stabilizers 100 ( fig1 ) are applied by stabilizer applier assemblies 350 , and palletized load 20 is wrapped with pallet wrap 318 by wrap ring 316 . stabilizer applier assemblies 350 are similar to stabilizer appliers 50 . alternatively , stabilizer applier assemblies 350 are mounted to a side surface of automatic palletizer 300 instead of framework 312 . stabilizer applier assemblies 350 are positioned within lower level 304 and extend laterally within elevator shaft 310 to apply load stabilizers 100 to palletized load 20 . as shown in fig1 , stabilizer applier assemblies 350 are coupled with a side surface of elevator shaft 310 by extendable arms 352 . when extendable arms 352 are in a retracted position , stabilizer applier assemblies 350 are retracted within elevator shaft 310 such that elevator 308 is free to move past stabilizer applier assemblies 350 . when extendable arms 352 are in an extended position , as shown in fig1 , stabilizer applier assemblies 350 are positioned above palletized load 20 such that stabilizer applier assemblies 350 are able to apply load stabilizers 100 to a top surface of palletized load 20 as described above . other suitable configurations for automatic palletizer 300 will be apparent to one with ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein . the foregoing description of an embodiment has been presented for purposes of illustration and description . it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed . obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings . the embodiment was chosen and described in order to best illustrate the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to best utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated . although only a limited number of embodiments of the invention are explained in detail , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its scope to the details of construction and arrangement of components set forth in the preceding description or illustrated in the drawings . the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways . also , specific terminology had been used for the sake of clarity . it is to be understood that each specific term includes all technical equivalents which operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose . it is intended that the scope of this provisional filing will be better defined by the claims submitted with a later non - provisional filing . | 1 |
an integrated transceiver and sensor are described . in one embodiment , the sensor comprises an acceleration sensor . the integrated transceiver and sensor can be incorporated in a device capable of transmitting and receiving communications . the sensor is capable of generating an acceleration profile from a physical , environmental , or other suitable input or event , and the acceleration profile can be used by the transceiver to generate a cryptographic key . in one embodiment , each of a plurality of devices capable of exchanging communications comprises an integrated transceiver and sensor . the devices , and thereby the integrated transceiver and sensor , can be subjected to a common physical , environmental , or other condition from which the sensor is capable of locally creating a data profile . the data profile can then be used to generate a key within the transceiver in each device . because of the common condition from which each local data profile is created , the keys generated in each transceiver will be identical to one another , for use in symmetrical data encoding and communications exchange between the devices . the invention can be more readily understood by reference to fig1 - 7 and the following description . while the invention is not necessarily limited to the specifically depicted application ( s ), the invention will be better appreciated using a discussion of exemplary embodiments in specific contexts . referring to fig1 , one embodiment of a device 100 is depicted . device 100 can transmit and / or receive communications and can comprise , for example , a mobile phone , a personal digital assistant ( pda ), a remote wireless transmitter , a media device such as a music or game player , or another suitable device . as depicted , device 100 comprises a transceiver 110 , a central processing unit ( cpu ) 120 , and memory 130 , although device 100 can comprise additional or fewer modules in other embodiments . for example , mobile phones and other devices typically comprise user interface features , which are not depicted in fig1 . transceiver 110 comprises transmission and reception circuitry and components ( not shown ) capable of facilitating communications . in other embodiments , transceiver 110 can comprise either a transmitter or a receiver , and corresponding circuitry and components , respectively , depending on device capabilities and functionality . the communications can be wired in one embodiment , or wireless , such as radio frequency ( rf ), infrared , and / or ultrasonic , in other embodiments . transceiver 110 further comprises an integrated sensor 112 . in one embodiment , sensor 112 comprises an acceleration sensor . in other embodiments , integrated sensor 112 comprises a microphone or other acoustic sensor , an infrared sensor , an ultrasonic sensor , a thermal sensor , or another suitable sensor or transducer . in use , integrated sensor 112 is configured to generate or otherwise transduce an electrical signal from a physical or environmental factor . for example , in an embodiment in which integrated sensor 112 comprises an acceleration sensor , applying a physical stimulus to device 100 such as shaking , vibration , or other movement can cause integrated sensor 112 to generate an electrical signal related at least in part to the physical stimulus . in an embodiment in which integrated sensor 112 comprises an acoustic sensor , sound or noise can cause integrated sensor 112 to generate an electrical signal related at least in part thereto . similarly , other types of sensors can generate electrical signals related at least in part to other types of input , stimulus , and / or conditions . transceiver 110 further comprises cryptographic key generation circuitry 114 . circuitry 114 is configured to create a cryptographic key from the electrical signal generated by integrated sensor 112 . the cryptographic key can be used to encode data to be transmitted by transceiver 110 and device 100 . integrated sensor 112 and circuitry 114 as part of transceiver 110 enable device 100 to generate a cryptographic key directly within transceiver 110 , without requiring a separate sensor or transducer external to transceiver 110 and requiring cpu 120 to generate the key . thus , no additional components are required within device 100 to facilitate the generation of cryptographic keys and the transmission of encrypted data . further , transceiver 110 is capable of independently encrypting data without requiring prior configuration . a plurality of devices 100 and 200 are depicted in fig2 . devices 100 and 200 , via transceivers 110 , are adapted to generate identical symmetrical cryptographic keys . the generated identical symmetrical cryptographic keys can then be used for the exchange of encoded data between devices 100 and 200 . in one embodiment , each device 100 and 200 comprises a transceiver 110 as described above with reference to fig1 . sensors 112 comprise three - dimensional accelerations sensors in the example embodiment to be described , although alternate sensors as previously described can be used in one or both of devices 100 and 200 . to generate identical symmetrical cryptographic keys , devices 100 and 200 are together subjected to a physical or environmental stimulus . for example , devices 100 and 200 comprising acceleration sensors can be held or placed together by a user and shaken or moved by hand , subjected to vibration generated by hand or by a machine , or otherwise subjected to a common external physical stimulus . in one embodiment , devices 100 and 200 comprise coupling means ( not shown ) for selectively and removably securing devices 100 and 200 together to further facilitate common physical input . coupling means can comprise , for example , one or more clips , bands , snaps , male and female couplers , magnets , slidably engageable couplers , interlocking couplers , friction couplers , and other similar devices . each sensor 112 independently generates an acceleration profile from the common stimulus . in one embodiment , an acceleration profile comprises a sequence of about 1 , 000 acceleration data points . in other embodiments , acceleration profiles can comprise a range of about 200 acceleration data points to about 100 , 000 data points . experimental results in one embodiment showed an average match of the acceleration profile of device 100 and the acceleration profile of device 200 to be about 95 %. each acceleration profile is stored within transceiver 110 in each of devices 100 and 200 in one embodiment . device 100 and device 200 can then accurately but independently generate identical symmetrical keys from the acceleration profiles because each device 100 and 200 , within transceiver 110 , uses the same algorithm for cryptographic key generation . this cryptographic key generation algorithm is described in more detail below . first , an assumption can be made that each acceleration profile has a common starting time . referring to fig3 , generation of the key can then be divided into two phases , a preprocessing phase 310 and a hash function phase 320 . during preprocessing phase 310 in one embodiment , the acceleration profile a is divided into a sequence of individual segments a i , whereby i = 1 . . . 25 and represents the i - th segment of acceleration sequence a . each individual segment a i comprises forty acceleration data points in one embodiment , such that the entire acceleration profile a does not have to be processed at once . generally , each a i is mapped to one key fragment k i and thus the symmetric cryptographic key k =( k 1 , . . . , k 25 ) is obtained by concatenating all of the k i together . the complexity of each segment a i can be reduced by comparing the segments a i with samples v , as depicted in fig4 . an objective here is to focus the main attributes of all segments a i to the key generation algorithm , to remove outlier components of the acceleration data , and to reduce memory resources for the implementation of the key generation algorithm . the samples v can be computed from a separate training set of acceleration data recorded while shaking devices 100 and 200 together or from an acceleration profile a stored in transceiver 110 . samples v m can now be regarded as either constant for all transceivers 110 when computed from the separate training set or variable when computed from the stored acceleration profile a , which means that the samples v m are computed again for each acceleration profile a . the samples are the eigenvectors of the recorded acceleration data and represent the main components of which the segments a i consist . comparing segments a i with the samples v m , where m = 1 . . . m , can produce m weight factors d for each segment a i . the weight factors d provide an indication of the similarity between the respective segment a i and samples v m . fig5 depicts different samples v m , where m = 5 . the higher the number of samples used for comparison , the more precise the segments can be represented . as the number of samples increases , however , so too do the required memory resources for the implementation of the key generation algorithm . experimental results in one embodiment have shown that five samples are sufficient to represent the segments a i to more than 95 % of the signal energy , although other numbers of samples can be used in other embodiments . a corresponding number of weight factors d m are then provided to the hash function phase . referring again to fig3 and 4 , five weight factors d m are provided to hash function 320 in an embodiment in which m = 5 . this reduces the calculation complexity by a factor of about eight . the objective of hash function 320 is to map similar weight factors d i to the same key fragment k i . to this end , similar weight factors d i of acceleration profile a are then combined into a fixed number of groups . four groups 610 , 620 , 630 , 640 are shown in the embodiment of fig6 , although more or fewer groups can be used in other embodiments . for example , the number of groups can range from about two to about fifteen or more in other embodiments . each group 610 - 640 can be assigned a number , for example 1 to 4 . then , the number of the group 610 - 640 in which the weight factor d . sub . i is combined is assigned to the key fragment k i . a symmetrical cryptographic key k can then be created by concatenating the key fragments k i to the key k =( k 1 , . . . , k 25 ), while maintaining the original order of d i . experimental results in one embodiment generated identical 13 - bit symmetrical keys independently in two devices 100 and 200 in 80 % of cases , although other results may occur in other embodiments . thus , one embodiment of the algorithm implemented by each device 100 and 200 begins with generating a data profile at step 710 in fig7 . the data profile , as described in more detail above , can comprise an acceleration profile , an acoustic profile , or some other suitable data profile . at step 720 , the data profile is divided into a series of segments . the segments are compared with samples to produce weight factors for each segment at step 730 . the weight factors are provided to the hash function and combined into groups at step 740 , and a number is assigned to each group at step 750 . a symmetrical cryptographic key can be generated from the numbers at 760 . in one embodiment , transceiver 110 , comprising integrated sensor 112 and key generation circuitry 114 , is adapted to implement steps 710 - 760 . devices 100 and 200 each comprising a transceiver 110 can vary according to embodiments of the invention . for example , device 100 can comprise a mobile phone , pda , or other handheld communication device , and device 200 a wireless headset , headphones , microphone , data storage device , or other accessory configured for use with device 100 . in another embodiment , device 100 can comprise a credit , debit , bank , or other financial or data card , and device 200 can comprise a key or other access device , such as a car key , office key , home key , keyless remote or other entry system , key fob , or another similar device . various combinations of any of the aforementioned devices are also possible in other embodiments . the relatively small , easy - to - handle size of the example devices mentioned facilitates simultaneous shaking or movement of devices 100 and 200 to generate identical symmetrical cryptographic keys . as previously described , devices 100 and 200 can also comprise coupling means to further aid in the generation of substantially similar acceleration profiles in each of devices 100 and 200 . the devices themselves can also be amenable to implementing embodiments of the invention , given their size , portability , store of potentially vulnerable data and information , and common use , as well as the impracticality of implementing other , more complex encryption and security techniques . in other embodiments , devices 100 and 200 and other similar optional devices comprise devices within a vehicle , aircraft , or other mobile structure . securing some or all of these communications through encryption as described herein can increase the safety and security of the vehicle or aircraft , such as by preventing tampering with communications related to vehicle safety systems and eavesdropping on personal wireless communications within or surrounding the vehicle . devices in vehicles for which encrypted communications may be desirable can include communication devices , such as a vehicle - mounted bluetooth or other personal wireless communication devices ; safety devices , such as tire pressure monitoring system components , airbag and passenger restraint system components , anti - lock braking and vehicle stability system components , and other components and systems ; entertainment devices and systems ; aeronautical communication and operating equipment ; a central processor and / or transceiver device which exchanges and manages communications with other vehicle systems and devices , and other automotive , aeronautic , vehicular , and related systems and components . accordingly , in one embodiment , each device for which encrypted communication is desired in a vehicle , aircraft , or other structure comprises an integrated transceiver and sensor , as described above . in an acceleration sensor embodiment , each sensor can independently generate an acceleration profile from movement of the vehicle . the movement can be , for example , acceleration of the vehicle , general movement , and / or deceleration . in another embodiment in which the sensor comprises a microphone or acoustic sensor , each individual sensor can independently generate a data profile from , for example , the sound of the engine , ambient noise , or other sound related to the operation or use of the vehicle . other types of data profiles can be generated in embodiments with other sensor types . identical symmetrical cryptographic keys can then be generated independently by each device as previously described herein . in other embodiments , such as those in which integrated sensors 112 in devices 100 and 200 comprise acoustic , infrared , ultrasonic , or other compatible sensors , devices 100 and 200 can comprise any of the aforementioned devices , as well as computers , laptops , appliances , telephones , cameras , and other devices . devices 100 and 200 , as well as additional devices , can be part of a home or office automation system , a personal area network ( pan ), or other configuration of devices and systems which communicate with one another and for which identical symmetrical or system - wide cryptographic key generation is needed or desired . thus , the present invention includes integrated data transceivers and sensors . the sensor is adapted to generate a data profile , such as an acceleration profile in an embodiment in which the sensor comprises an acceleration sensor , from which the transceiver is capable of generating a symmetrical cryptographic key from an acceleration profile generated by the sensor . the integrated data transceiver and sensor can comprise a single integrated circuit , reducing the overall complexity and cost of a device which includes the integrated data transceiver and sensor . although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein for purposes of description of an example embodiment , it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a wide variety of alternate and / or equivalent implementations calculated to achieve the same purposes may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of the present invention . those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the invention may be implemented in a very wide variety of embodiments . this application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the various embodiments discussed herein , including the disclosure information in the attached appendices . therefore , it is manifestly intended that this invention be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof . | 7 |
an interlock device 20 ( fig3 ) includes a housing 22 formed by opposing housing halves 46 , 48 , a toggle interlock mechanism 24 including an extendable pin 26 , a preassembled micro switch 28 , an electromechanical device 30 , and a lead frame 32 . the lead frame 32 has a plurality of conductors 72 , 74 , 76 , and 78 , all operably attached to the bottom half 46 of the housing 22 between the opposing halves 46 , 48 . when the extendable pin 26 is retracted ( fig9 ), the electromechanical device 30 operates the switch 28 . the lead frame conductors 72 , 74 , 76 , 78 form a terminal that operably interconnects the switch 28 and the electromechanical device 30 to a vehicle control circuit ( not shown ) for operating the electromechanical device and for signaling the vehicle control circuit that the extendable pin has been retracted . the present arrangement , including the lead frame , permits an efficient automated assembly , and further does this using mechanical forming and assembly operations that are controllable and relatively low - cost . thus , the present inventive concepts provide the advantages of reducing manufacturing and assembly costs while increasing the overall reliability and robustness of the interlock device . the housing bottom half 46 ( fig3 ) is a molded polymeric component that includes integral molded - in protrusions 50 adapted to matingly engage “ rosebud ” apertures 106 formed on the lead frame 32 . a plurality of the protrusions 50 and apertures 106 are formed on the housing half 46 and in the conductors 70 , 72 , 74 and 76 of the lead frame 32 , and also various features are formed in the housing to trap and retain the lead frame conductors 70 , 72 , 74 , 76 , so that each conductor is accurately located and retained in the housing 22 . this allows the lead frame 32 to be assembled as a unit by pressing the conductors 70 , 72 , 74 , 76 downwardly , such that tines on the “ rosebud ” apertures flex and bite into the protrusions 50 . this results in a simple assembly that can be easily automated , such as by using a strip advance mechanism and downward pressing plunger . ( see fig1 - 11 .) the electromechanical device 30 includes a coil ( not specifically shown ) and an extendable plunger 56 . conductors extend from the coil for energizing the coil to extend the plunger 56 , the conductors terminate in two contacts 54 adapted to telescopingly mate with contacts 90 , 92 on the lead frame , as discussed below . the plunger 56 is spring - loaded to be in a normally retracted position , and is operably interconnected to the driver 58 of the toggle interlock mechanism 24 by a magnet . the toggle mechanism 24 includes a t - shaped arrangement of interconnected links . it is operably supported in the cavity of housing halves 46 , 48 for movement between an overcenter interlock position ( fig8 ) and an unlocked retracted position ( fig9 ). as noted above , the lead frame 32 includes four conductors or branches 70 , 72 , 74 , 76 ( fig8 ). the first conductor 70 includes a male contact 80 and a female contact 82 ( also called connectors 82 , 86 ). the second conductor 72 further includes a male contact 84 and a female contact 86 . the third conductor 74 includes a male contact 88 and a female contact 90 . finally , the fourth conductor 76 includes female contact ends 92 and 94 . the first , second , and third input male contact ends 80 , 84 , and 88 are arranged and form a terminal shaped to receive a female plug of a wire harness from the main vehicle power train electrical system . the female contacts 82 , 86 , and 94 are arranged to receive and electrically connect to the male connectors 96 , 98 , 100 extending from the switch 28 . further , the female contacts 90 and 92 are configured and arranged to engage the contacts 54 that communicate electrical power to the electromechanical device 30 . up tabs 102 and 104 are formed on the third and fourth conductors 74 and 76 respectively to engage opposite ends of diodes that extend between the third and fourth conductors 74 and 76 . a plurality of apertures 106 with angled retainer tines are formed along the four conductors 70 , 72 , 74 , 76 to retain the branches accurately in place on housing protrusions 50 . the female contacts 82 , 86 , 90 , 92 , 94 are formed to mechanically retain corresponding male connectors . this may be but is not limited to , for example , a spade type of connector or terminal . the female contacts 82 , 86 , 90 , 92 and 94 are similar to each other , such that only the contact 94 need be shown and described . the contact 94 ( fig5 - 7 ) has a c - shaped cross section , and includes opposing sidewalls 120 with inwardly - formed downwardly - angled barbs 122 . the female contact 94 , including the barbs 122 , slidably engage and permit a telescoping engagement in a direction 101 by the male contact 96 , such that the switch 28 can be pressed into position and simultaneously electrically connected . however , the barbs 122 have a relatively sharp pointed tip that digs in and prevents removal of the male contact 96 from the female contact 94 once assembled . the housing bottom half 46 includes a c - shaped wall 124 that receives and supports the c - shaped female contact 94 , providing the support needed to prevent the c - shaped female contact from spreading apart . this maintains a pressure of the barbs 122 on the male contact 96 . this both provides an initial secure assembly , but also reduces warranty problems from connections coming loose and separating when in service . a method of assembly ( fig1 ) for the interlock device 20 may be as follows . a lead frame 32 is stamped into the desired configuration out of a single piece of electrically conductive material . this lead frame may be produced in continuous form as shown in fig1 . the lead frame 32 is then accurately positioned above the housing and then pressed mechanically down into housing 22 onto the housing protrusions 50 . lead frame barbed apertures 106 non - releasably engage and accurately position the lead frame 32 to the housing 22 . the electromechanical device 30 is then positioned in housing 22 , including telescopingly engaging the male contacts 54 into female contacts 90 and 92 . preassembled switch 28 with its associated switch contacts 96 , 98 , 100 is also pressed downward to telescopingly engage the male contacts 96 , 98 , 100 with the associated lead frame female contacts 82 , 86 , and 94 . the four conductors 70 , 72 , 74 , 76 are electrically separated by cutting the frangible tabs 60 , producing an operable interconnection between the lead frame 32 , electromechanical device 30 , switch 28 , and , when connected in a vehicle , to the vehicle control system ( not shown ). the toggle interlock mechanism 24 and retainer spring 44 are then positioned in housing 22 . finally , housing cover 48 is installed over the lower housing half 46 and securely affixed thereto , such as by snap - attachment , screws , adhesive , sonic welding , or other means . interlock device 20 is shown in its natural state ( fig8 ) with the extendable pin 26 engaging a pocket in the shift lever ( 7 ) to prevent the pawl of the shift lever ( 7 ) from being moved , such that the shift lever ( 7 ) cannot be moved out of its park position . in operation ( fig9 ), if the vehicle circuit shows that predetermined vehicle conditions are met , it actuates the coil of device 30 , thereby electromechanically extending the plunger 56 of electromechanical device 30 outward , which causes the toggle mechanism 24 to be driven from an inline position ( fig8 ) to an off - centered position ( fig9 ). the toggle mechanism 24 as it is being driven off - center , acts to retract the extendable pin 26 from any abutment surface or cavity . the extendable pin 26 may be used to prevent relative movement of any parts . in the illustrated arrangement , it is used to lock a vehicle shifter in a park position on its base until the brake is depressed by preventing a pawl on the shifter from being moved out of a park position . simultaneously when the pin 26 is retracted , the toggle mechanism depresses the switch 28 . thus , the switch 28 can be used to input data to the vehicle &# 39 ; s electrical control circuit . it is contemplated that the present interlock device 20 could be used in other automotive or non - automotive applications . for example , it is contemplated that device 20 could be used on hotel door locks , and other locking arrangements using an extendable pin . also , it is contemplated that the pin ( 26 ) of the interlock device ( 20 can engage an irregular surface having multiple locking locations , such that the lever or component being controlled could be held in any one of several different operative positions until predetermined conditions of the control circuit are met and the pin ( 26 ) is retracted . it is to be understood that variations and modifications can be made on the aforementioned structure without departing from the concept of the present invention , and further it is understood that such concepts are intended to be covered by the following claims unless these claims by their language expressly state otherwise . | 8 |
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 . fig1 is a diagram of a usb dock in accordance with an embodiment of the invention . in an embodiment , the usb dock 100 includes a microcontroller ( mcu ) 110 , a plurality of downstream ports 120 , and an upstream port 130 . the upstream port 130 is capable of coupling the usb dock 100 to a portable device 150 , such as a mobile phone , or a tablet pc . the downstream ports 120 are capable of coupling the usb dock 100 to other usb devices , such as a monitor , a keyboard , or a mouse that help to input or output information of the portable device being connected to the usb dock 100 . in an embodiment , the upstream port 130 is a usb micro a / b connector including a differential pair ( d + and d −), a vbus power pin , a ground ( gnd ) pin , and an otg id pin . the microcontroller 110 may detect the operating state of the portable device 150 according to the state of the otg id pin . for example , the microcontroller may know that the portable device 150 is in a working state ( such as a usb otg host mode ) when the state of the otg id pin is in a first state ( e . g . grounded ). in another embodiment , the upstream port 130 is compatible with the usb micro a / b interface which includes a differential pair ( d + and d −), a vbus power pin , a ground ( gnd ) pin , and an otg id pin . specifically , there are various types of usb connectors on the market , but all of them are equipped with the primary usb pins as described above . in a scenario in which when the user attaches the portable device 150 to the usb dock 100 , the usb dock 100 may enable the usb otg host mode on the portable device 150 to enable use of the usb accessories connected to downstream ports 120 of the usb dock 100 , and perform normal data transmission between the portable device 150 and usb accessories . it should be noted that the portable device 150 cannot be charged via the upstream port 130 in the usb otg host mode since the portable device 150 acts as a “ host ” in the usb otg host mode . when the portable device 150 issues a suspend command via the differential pair to the usb dock 100 , the microcontroller in the usb dock 100 may set the state of the otg id pin to a second state ( e . g . floating ) to force the portable device 150 to enter a usb device mode from the usb otg host mode , such that the usb dock 100 may charge the portable device 150 via the upstream port 130 . it should be noted that the portable device 150 may automatically enter a suspend state when the portable device 150 has been idle for a predetermined time period . alternatively , the portable device 150 may also enter the suspend state when the user manually turns off the power to the screen , but the invention is not limited thereto . upon entering the suspend state , the portable device 150 may issue a suspend command to the usb dock 100 . specifically , when the usb dock 100 receives the suspend command from the portable device 150 , the usb dock 100 may disconnect the differential pairs and then short the differential pairs , such that the portable device 150 may detect as if the upstream port 130 has been physically disconnected and re - plugged into the portable device 150 . then , the usb dock 100 may set the state of the otg id pin to a second state to force the portable device 150 to enter the usb device mode from the usb otg host mode . it should be noted that the usb dock 100 may provide various rapid - charging modes to charge the portable device 150 by setting the voltage of the differential pair when the portable device 150 is in the usb device mode . for example , the rapid - charging modes may be a power delivery mode defined in the usb battery charging specification v1 . 2 , an apple mode , or another rapid - charging mode , but the invention is not limited thereto . in an embodiment , the usb dock 100 further includes a button 140 which is a physical button and is configured to switch the usb operation mode of the portable device 150 via a gpio interface . for example , when the user demands to switch the portable device 150 back to the usb otg host mode from the usb device mode , the user may push the button 140 . then , the microcontroller 110 detects the button is pushed and notifies the portable device 150 to enter the usb otg host mode from the usb device mode by setting the state of the otg id pin to the first state ( e . g . grounded ) via the gpio interface . in an alternative embodiment , when the user demands to switch the portable device 150 back to the host mode from the usb device mode , the user may send a trigger signal by utilizing one of the peripheral devices connected to the usb dock 100 , such that the usb dock 100 may disconnect the differential pair to exit the usb device mode . then , the usb dock may activate the differential pair and set the state of the otg id pin to the first state to notify the portable device 150 to enter the usb otg host mode . in another alternative embodiment , instead of waiting for the portable device 150 to enter the suspend state , the usb dock 100 may actively force the portable device 150 to enter the suspend state from the working state by send a specific suspend command from a virtual endpoint which is pre - defined in the usb dock 100 . the specific suspend command may be triggered by the user pushing another button ( not shown in fig1 ). in one embodiment , the virtual endpoint is belonged to a virtual connected device which is coupled to a virtual port of the usb dock 100 . for example , the virtual endpoint is configured to emulate a keyboard and it is capable to send the suspend command to the portable device 150 . that is , this virtual endpoint is a pre - defined endpoint in the usb dock 100 for suspending the portable device 150 . in this way , it is no need to wait for the portable device automatically suspends . in other word , it also provides the flexibility for the user when user needs to charge the portable device anytime . in another embodiment , the specific suspend command may be triggered by the same button 140 which is mentioned previously . in this condition , the button 140 has multiple functions depend on the state of the portable device 150 . when the portable device 150 is in the otg host mode , the portable device is enter the suspend state when pushing the button 140 . when the portable device 150 is in the usb device mode , the portable device is toggled to switch from the usb device mode to the usb otg host mode when pushing the same button 140 . in view of the above , the usb dock 100 is capable of detecting the working state of the portable device 150 while the usb otg host mode is enabled . the usb dock 100 is also capable of controlling the portable device 150 to switch from the usb otg host mode to the usb charging mode by toggling the state of the usb otg id pin . in addition , the usb dock 100 is further capable of charging the portable device 100 from the upstream port 130 . the above - mentioned feature of the usb dock 100 is nontrivial since the feature is not defined in the usb specification . the present invention has specialized hardware and firmware functions that enable the above - mentioned features , allowing the portable device 150 to be rapidly charged when the user no longer needs to use the usb accessories and while the portable device 150 is still attached to the usb dock 100 . while the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the disclosed embodiments , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments . on 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 |
there are two contributions to the resistivity of the polysilicon , namely the resistance r g of the grains and the resistance r gb of the grain boundaries , as is shown schematically in fig1 . the total resistance is thus given by r p = r g + r gb . the temperature dependence of the grain resistance is known to be the temperature dependence of the grain boundary resistance is also known and can be written as these two temperature dependences means that the temperature dependence of the total resistance r p varies as , and therefore the change in total resistance with temperature can be written explicitly in general as ( 4 ) ## equ1 ## where φ b is the grain boundary barrier height . this is known to be proportional to the ratio of the trap density q t at the grain boundary to the bulk doping density n , i . e . ## equ2 ## in the general expression of equation 4 , it can be seen that polysilicon has a negative tcr because polysilicon has a large third term in the right hand side of equation 4 . that is , the large trap density q t implies a large value for φ b , and this large value of φ b produces a very large third term on the right side of equation 4 . note that a high bulk doping density n will produce a lower φ b , but , for the doping levels of most interest for polysilicon resistors ( e . g . 10 17 - 10 18 per cubic centimeter ) φ b is still significant . however , for any value of the doping density n , the tcr of a polysilicon resistor can be decreased by decreasing the third term of equation 4 . laser annealing changes the tcr in at least two ways . first , laser annealing increases the grain size . this decreases the number of grain boundaries , and therefore the contribution of r gb to the total resistance r p is reduced . this also means that the contribution of dr gb dt to dr p / dt is reduced , and therefore the tcr becomes closer to zero . secondly , laser annealing also tends to reduce the trap density q t at each grain boundary and thus lowers φ b and again decreases the negative component of the tcr . the present invention teaches use of both laser processing and hydrogen annealing to reduce the negative component of tcr in polysilicon resistors . a polysilicon resistor structure such as shown in fig2 in the as - deposited state will typically have a grain size of 500 angstroms . laser annealing is then applied at a modest energy density , e . g . 0 . 6 joules per square centimeter , to increase the grain size . in the presently preferred embodiment a 1 . 06 micron line from a neodymium : yag laser is used , using 150 nanosecond duration pulses at a pulse frequency of 10 kilohertz and a scan speed of six inches per second . this implies a power density in the neighborhood of 4 megawatts per square centimeter . in another sample embodiment of the invention a seven watt argon laser is operated clockwise , and a 100 micron spot from this laser is scanned at a velocity of 8 - 10 inches per second with a stepping interval of ten microns . other embodiments of laser annealing can be used , and are well known to those skilled in the art . subsequent to the laser annealing step , an ionic hydrogen anneal is applied . it should be noted that this is an atomic hydrogen anneal and not a molecular hydrogen anneal , that is , the hydrogen is preferably exposed to a plasma discharge which causes dissociation . the hydrogen ions diffuse readily into the polysilicon and bind to dangling bonds at the grain boundaries . this lowers the trap density q t at the grain boundaries , and therefore reduces the negative contribution to the tcr . however , hydrogen annealing alone is normally not sufficient to provide a zero or positive tcr in small - grain polysilicon . in the preferred embodiment of the present invention both laser annealing and ionic hydrogen passivation are used . this two step process has been shown to provide polysilicon resistors having a positive tcr . the conditions of hydrogen plasma passivation are not critical . however , in the present invention , passivation is performed at 300 ° c . and a mixture of 50 % hydrogen and 50 % nitrogen at a pressure of one torr . these gases are flowed at about 2000 standard cubic centimeters , and a power of about 600 watts is applied over an electrode area of about 350 - 400 square inches , with an electrode separation of about 2 . 5 inches . the polysilicon thickness used in fig4 and 6 is in the range of 400 - 500 nanometers , and the grain size of the polysilicon is in the range of 3 - 5 microns in annealed material . in a second embodiment of the invention , the hydrogen anneal is performed under the same conditions , except that the gas mixture contains only 10 % of hydrogen rather than 50 %. results measured for actual devices using these conditions are also shown separately plotted in fig4 , and 6 . for precision and data conversion applications , the 10 % hydrogen annealing conditions result in resistors having approximately zero tcr , as seen in fig4 and 6 . for these applications , it is desirable not to continue the hydrogen anneal too long , or the tcr will become positive . it should be noted that the processing steps used in practicing the present invention produce resistors having a lower bulk resistivity , and therefore a lower resistance for the same geometry and processing conditions , than the prior art methods . fig8 shows the dependence of resistance on laser annealing conditions for a sample device . it is also desirable to avoid high temperature steps in processing after the hydrogen passivation anneal since high temperature processing steps may permit some of the hydrogen to escape as molecular hydrogen . that is , it is not necessary to avoid subsequent high temperature steps entirely , but the time spent at high temperatures is preferably minimized . thus , for example , where a polysilicon resistor is covered by a multilevel oxide which must be reflowed , it is preferable to use a low temperature material for the multilevel oxide , such as the spin - on glass ocd or organic materials such as the dielectric polymer . alternatively , transient annealing can be used for reflow of the multilevel oxide . similarly , it is desirable to minimize the total time spent in such steps as contact sintering . however , the difficulty with high - temperature process steps is merely a very gradual escape of hydrogen from the passivated polysilicon . since this is a gradual and not a catastrophic degradation , the sensitivity to high - temperature steps is not extreme , and it is certainly not necessary to avoid high - temperatures altogether . it should be noted that hydrogen is not the only passivating species which can be used . however , any passivating species which is used should preferably exhibit electrical inactivity in silicon and good affinity for dangling bonds at grain boundaries . it is also not necessary to use a plasma reactor for the hydrogen passivation , but a custom apparatus could be used instead . uniformity of the plasma discharge is relatively unimportant , so that a configuration which included , e . g ., an arc across an input gas stream of hydrogen , with all slices positioned downstream at a distance less than the recombination distance for the atomic and ionic hydrogen that is generated , would suffice . fig3 shows a sample embodiment of the present invention in a polysilicon resistor in a bipolar integrated circuit . as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art , the present invention can be embodied in a tremendous variety of bipolar circuits , and is also useful in srams and in mos circuits generally . in particular , as current densities used in mos circuits increase , problems of thermal stability become more important . it should also be noted that laser annealing is not by any means necessary . the primary function of the laser annealing steps referred to above is merely to increase the grain size of the polysilicon , and this can be accomplished by other means . that is , any other transient annealing method , such as flash lamp or flip oven heating or electron beam annealing , can be used instead . it should be noted that the hydrogen passivation can also alternatively be accomplished by ion implantation of protons . optionally , the laser annealing step may be performed with a double - wave length illumination source . in this case , a short wavelength which is strongly absorbed by polysilicon ( e . g ., 1 . 06 microns ) is combined with a longer wavelength , such as 9 . 25 or 10 . 6 microns , which is unattenuated by the polysilicon but which is strongly absorbed by the underlying oxide . both of these longer lines are conveniently available from a co 2 laser . this double wavelength annealing provides a larger grain size in the annealed material . the power ratio of the two wavelengths is approximately 1 -- 1 , and should in any case be within an order of magnitude of 1 -- 1 . in this embodiment , the total energy density is preferably about 3 joules per square centimeter , and in the range between 0 . 1 to 6 joules per square centimeter . in a further aspect of the present invention , the dependence of resistance on temperature for resistors formed in monocrystalline silicon ( or other monocrystalline semiconductors ) can also be modified . to provide a zero - tcr resistor in semiconductor substrates , the resistor is preferably implanted rather than diffused . the implantation process itself will induce a significant amount of amorphization . before this amorphization is annealed out , a reactive gas such as fluorine , chlorine or oxygen is introduced to pin various defects and subgrain boundaries in the silicon . in this case , even after the resistor is annealed , the dr p / dt dependence will still contain a substantial contribution from φ b and therefore the positive tcr will be lowered . as will be apparent to those skilled in the art , the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above , and can be practiced in a wide range of modifications and variations . | 7 |
the present invention will be more specifically explained below with reference to examples . preparation of wild type lysc gene and mutant lysc gene from brevibacterium lactofermentum & lt ; 1 & gt ; preparation of wild type and mutant lysc &# 39 ; s and preparation of plasmids containing them a strain of brevibacterium lactofermentum atcc 13869 , and an l - lysine - producing mutant strain aj3445 ( ferm p - 1944 ) obtained from the atcc 13869 strain by a mutation treatment were used as chromosomal dna donors . the aj3445 strain had been subjected to mutation so that lysc was changed to involve substantial desensitization from concerted inhibition by lysine and threonine ( journal of biochemistry , 68 , 701 - 710 ( 1970 )). a dna fragment containing lysc was amplified from chromosomal dna in accordance with the pcr method ( polymerase chain reaction ; see white , t . j . et al ., trends genet ., 5 , 185 ( 1989 )). as for dna primers used for amplification , single strand dna &# 39 ; s of 23 - mer and 21 - mer having nucleotide sequences shown in seq id nos : 1 and 2 were synthesized in order to amplify a region of about 1 , 643 bp coding for lysc on the basis of a sequence known for corynebacterium glutamicum ( see molecular microbiology ( 1991 ), 5 ( 5 ), 1197 - 1204 ; and mol . gen . genet . ( 1990 ), 224 , 317 - 324 ). dna was synthesized in accordance with an ordinary method by using dna synthesizer model 380b produced by applied biosystems and using the phosphoamidite method ( see tetrahedron letters ( 1981 ), 22 , 1859 ). the gene was amplified by pcr by using dna thermal cycler model pj2000 produced by takara shuzo , and using taq dna polymerase in accordance with a method designated by the supplier . an amplified gene fragment of 1 , 643 kb was confirmed by agarose gel electrophoresis . after that , the fragment excised from the gel was purified in accordance with an ordinary method , and it was digested with restriction enzymes nrui ( produced by takara shuzo ) and ecori ( produced by takara shuzo ). phsg399 ( see takeshita , s . et al ., gene ( 1987 ), 61 , 63 - 74 ) was used as a cloning vector for the gene fragment . phsg399 was digested with restriction enzymes smai ( produced by takara shuzo ) and ecori , and it was ligated with the amplified lysc fragment . dna was ligated by using dna ligation kit ( produced by takara shuzo ) in accordance with a designated method . thus plasmids were prepared , in which the lysc fragments amplified from chromosomes of brevibacterium lactofermentum were ligated with phsg399 respectively . a plasmid comprising lysc from atcc 13869 ( wild type strain ) was designated as p399aky , and a plasmid comprising lysc from aj3463 ( l - lysine - producing bacterium ) was designated as p399ak9 . a dna fragment ( hereinafter referred to as “ brevi .- ori ”) having an ability to make a plasmid autonomously replicable in bacteria belonging to the genus corynebacterium was introduced into p399aky and p399ak9 respectively to prepare plasmids carrying lysc autonomously replicable in bacteria belonging to the genus corynebacterium . brevi .- ori was prepared from a plasmid vector phk4 containing brevi .- ori and autonomously replicable in cells of both escherichia coli and bacteria belonging to the genus corynebacterium . phk4 was constructed by digesting phc4 with kpni ( produced by takara shuzo ) and bamhi ( produced by takara shuzo ), extracting a brevi .- ori fragment , and ligating it with phsg298 having been also digested with kpni and bamhi ( see japanese patent laid - open no . 5 - 7491 ). phk4 gives kanamycin resistance to a host . escherichia coli harboring phk4 was designated as escherichia coli aj13136 , and deposited on aug . 1 , 1995 under a deposition number of ferm bp - 5186 in national institute of bioscience and human technology of agency of industrial science and technology of ministry of international trade and industry ( postal code : 305 , 1 - 3 , higashi 1 - chome , tsukuba - shi , ibaraki - ken , japan ). phk4 was digested with restriction enzymes kpni and bamhi , and cleaved edges were blunt - ended . blunt end formation was performed by using dna blunting kit ( produced by takara shuzo ) in accordance with a designated method . after the blunt end formation , a phosphorylated bamhi linker ( produced by takara shuzo ) was ligated to make modification so that the dna fragment corresponding to the brevi .- ori portion might be excised from phk4 by digestion with only bamhi . this plasmid was digested with bamhi , and the generated brevi .- ori dna fragment was ligated with p399aky and p399ak9 having been also digested with bamhi respectively to prepare plasmids each containing the lysc gene autonomously replicable in bacteria belonging to the genus corynebacterium . a plasmid containing the wild type lysc gene originating from p399aky was designated as p399akyb , and a plasmid containing the mutant lysc gene originating from p399ak9 was designated as p399ak9b . the process of construction of p399ak9b and p399akyb is shown in fig1 . a strain aj12691 obtained by introducing the mutant lysc plasmid p399ak9b into a wild type strain of brevibacterium lactofermentum ( aj12036 strain , ferm bp - 734 ) was deposited on apr . 10 , 1992 under a deposition number of ferm p - 12918 in national institute of bioscience and human technology of agency of industrial science and technology of ministry of international trade and industry ( postal code : 305 , 1 - 3 , higashi 1 - chome , tsukuba - shi , ibaraki - ken , japan ), transferred to international deposition based on the budapest treaty on feb . 10 , 1995 , and deposited under a deposition number of ferm bp - 4999 . & lt ; 2 & gt ; determination of nucleotide sequences of wild type lysc and mutant lysc from brevibacterium lactofermentum the plasmid p399aky containing the wild type lysc and the plasmid p399ak9 containing the mutant lysc were prepared from the respective transformants to determine nucleotide sequences of the wild type and mutant lysc &# 39 ; s . nucleotide sequence determination was performed in accordance with a method of sanger et al . ( for example , f . sanger et al ., proc . natl . acad . sci ., 74 , 5463 ( 1977 )). the nucleotide sequence of wild type lysc encoded by p399aky is shown in seq id no : 3 in sequence listing . on the other hand , the nucleotide sequence of mutant lysc encoded by p399ak9 had only mutation of one nucleotide such that 1051th g was changed into a in seq id no : 3 as compared with wild type lysc . it is known that lysc of corynebacterium glutamicum has two subunits ( α , β ) encoded in an identical reading frame on an identical dna strand ( see kalinowski , j . et al ., molecular microbiology ( 1991 ) 5 ( 5 ), 1197 - 1204 ). judging from homology , it is assumed that the gene sequenced herein also has two subunits ( α , β ) encoded in an identical reading frame on an identical dna strand . an amino acid sequence of the β - subunit of the wild type ak protein deduced from the nucleotide sequence of dna is shown in seq id no : 4 together with the dna sequence . only the amino acid sequence is shown in seq id no : 5 . an amino acid sequence of the β - subunit of the wild type ak protein deduced from the nucleotide sequence of dna is shown in seq id no : 6 together with dna . only the amino acid sequence is shown in seq id no : 7 . in each of the subunits , gtg is used as an initiation codon , and a corresponding amino acid is represented by methionine . however , this representation refers to methionine , valine , or formylmethionine . on the other hand , mutation on the sequence of mutant lysc means occurrence of amino acid residue substitution such that a 279th alanine residue of the α - subunit is changed into a threonine residue , and a 30th alanine residue of the β - subunit is changed into a threonine residue in the amino acid sequence of the wild type ak protein ( seq id nos : 5 , 7 ). a wild type strain of brevibacterium lactofermentum atcc 13869 was used as a chromosomal dna donor . chromosomal dna was prepared from the atcc 13869 strain in accordance with an ordinary method . a dna fragment containing dapb was amplified from the chromosomal dna in accordance with pcr . as for dna primers used for amplification , dna &# 39 ; s of 23 - mers having nucleotide sequences depicted in seq id nos : 8 and 9 in sequence listing respectively were synthesized in order to amplify a region of about 2 . 0 kb coding for ddpr on the basis of a sequence known for brevibacterium lactofermentum ( see journal of bacteriology , 157 ( 9 ), 2743 - 2749 ( 1993 )). synthesis of dna and pcr were performed in the same manner as described in example 1 . pcr - script ( produced by invitrogen ) was used as a cloning vector for the amplified gene fragment of 2 , 001 bp , which was ligated with the amplified dapb fragment . thus a plasmid was constructed , in which the dapb fragment of 2 , 001 bp amplified from chromosome of brevibacterium lactofermentum was ligated with pcr - script . the plasmid obtained as described above , which had dapb originating from atcc 13869 , was designated as pcrdapb . a transformant strain aj13107 obtained by introducing pcrdapb into e . coli jm109 strain has been internationally deposited since may 26 , 1995 under a deposition number of ferm bp - 5114 in national institute of bioscience and human technology of agency of industrial science and technology of ministry of international trade and industry ( postal code : 305 , 1 - 3 , higashi 1 - chome , tsukuba - shi , ibaraki - ken , japan ) based on the budapest treaty . a fragment of 1 , 101 bp containing a structural gene of ddpr was extracted by digesting pcrdapb with ecorv and sphi . this fragment was ligated with phsg399 having been digested with hincii and sphi to prepare a plasmid . the prepared plasmid was designated as p399dpr . brevi .- ori was introduced into the prepared p399dpr to construct a plasmid carrying dapb autonomously replicable in coryneform bacteria . phk4 was digested with a restriction enzyme kpni ( produced by takara shuzo ), and cleaved edges were blunt - ended . blunt end formation was performed by using dna blunting kit ( produced by takara shuzo ) in accordance with a designated method . after the blunt end formation , a phosphorylated bamhi linker ( produced by takara shuzo ) was ligated to make modification so that the dna fragment corresponding to the brevi .- ori portion might be excised from phk4 by digestion with only bamhi . this plasmid was digested with bamhi , and the generated brevi .- ori dna fragment was ligated with p399dpr having been also digested with bamhi to prepare a plasmid containing dapb autonomously replicable in coryneform bacteria . the prepared plasmid was designated as pdprb . the process of construction of pdprb is shown in fig2 . plasmid dna was prepared from the aj13107 strain harboring p399dpr , and its nucleotide sequence was determined in the same manner as described in example 1 . a determined nucleotide sequence and an amino acid sequence deduced from the nucleotide sequence are shown in seq id no : 10 . only the amino acid sequence is shown in seq id no : 11 . a wild type strain of brevibacterium lactofermentum atcc 13869 was used as a chromosomal dna donor . chromosomal dna was prepared from the atcc 13869 strain in accordance with an ordinary method . a dna fragment containing dapa was amplified from the chromosomal dna in accordance with pcr . as for dna primers used for amplification , dna &# 39 ; s of 20 - mers having nucleotide sequences shown in seq id nos : 12 and 13 in sequence listing respectively were synthesized in order to amplify a region of about 1 . 5 kb coding for ddps on the basis of a sequence known for corynebacterium glutamicum ( see nucleic acids research , 18 ( 21 ), 6421 ( 1990 ); embl accession no . x53993 ). synthesis of dna and pcr were performed in the same manner as described in example 1 . pcr1000 ( produced by invitrogen , see bio / technology , 9 , 657 - 663 ( 1991 )) was used as a cloning vector for the amplified gene fragment of 1 , 411 bp , which was ligated with the amplified dapa fragment . ligation of dna was performed by using dna ligation kit ( produced by takara shuzo ) in accordance with - a designated method . thus a plasmid was constructed , in which the dapa fragment of 1 , 411 bp amplified from chromosome of brevibacterium lactofermentum was ligated with pcr1000 . the plasmid obtained as described above , which had dapa originating from atcc 13869 , was designated as pcrdapa . a transformant strain aj13106 obtained by introducing pcrdapa into e . coli jm109 strain has been internationally deposited since may 26 , 1995 under a deposition number of ferm bp - 5113 in national institute of bioscience and human technology of agency of industrial science and technology of ministry of international trade and industry ( postal code : 305 , 1 - 3 , higashi 1 - chome , tsukuba - shi , ibaraki - ken , japan ) based on the budapest treaty . brevi .- ori was introduced into the prepared pcrdapa to construct a plasmid carrying dapa autonomously replicable in coryneform bacteria . phk4 was digested with restriction enzymes kpni and bamhi ( produced by takara shuzo ), and cleaved edges were blunt - ended . blunt end formation was performed by using dna blunting kit ( produced by takara shuzo ) in accordance with a designated method . after the blunt end formation , a phosphorylated smai linker ( produced by takara shuzo ) was ligated to make modification so that the dna fragment corresponding to the brevi .- ori portion might be excised from phk4 by digestion with only smai . this plasmid was digested with smai , and the generated brevi .- ori dna fragment was ligated with pcrdapa having been also digested with smai to prepare a plasmid containing dapa autonomously replicable in coryneform bacteria . this plasmid was designated as pdpsb . the process of construction of pdpsb ( km r ) is shown in fig3 . plasmid dna was prepared from the aj13106 strain harboring pcrdapa , and its nucleotide sequence was determined in the same manner as described in example 1 . a determined nucleotide sequence and an amino acid sequence deduced from the nucleotide sequence are shown in seq id no : 14 . only the amino acid sequence is shown in seq id no : 15 . a wild type strain of brevibacterium lactofermentum atcc 13869 was used as a chromosomal dna donor . chromosomal dna was prepared from the atcc 13869 strain in accordance with an ordinary method . a dna fragment containing args , lysa , and a promoter of an operon containing them was amplified from the chromosomal dna in accordance with pcr . as for dna primers used for amplification , synthetic dna &# 39 ; s of 23 - mers having nucleotide sequences depicted in seq id nos : 16 and 17 in sequence listing respectively were used in order to amplify a region of about 3 . 6 kb coding for arginyl - trna synthase and ddc on the basis of a sequence known for corynebacterium glutamicum ( see molecular microbiology , 4 ( 11 ), 1819 - 1830 ( 1990 ); molecular and general genetics , 212 , 112 - 119 ( 1988 )). synthesis of dna and pcr were performed in the same manner as described in example 1 . phsg399 was used as a cloning vector for the amplified gene fragment of 3 , 579 bp . phsg399 was digested with a restriction enzyme smai ( produced by takara shuzo ), which was ligated with the dna fragment containing amplified lysa . a plasmid obtained as described above , which had lysa originating from atcc 13869 , was designated as p399lysa . a dna fragment containing lysa was extracted by digesting p399lysa with kpni ( produced by takara shuzo ) and bamhi ( produced by takara shuzo ). this dna fragment was ligated with phsg299 having been digested with kpni and bamhi . an obtained plasmid was designated as p299lysa . the process of construction of p299lysa is shown in fig4 . brevi .- ori was introduced into the obtained p299lysa to construct a plasmid carrying lysa autonomously replicable in coryneform bacteria . phk4 was digested with restriction enzymes kpni and bamhi , and cleaved edges were blunt - ended . blunt end formation was performed by using dna blunting kit ( produced by takara shuzo ) in accordance with a designated method . after the blunt end formation , a phosphorylated kpni linker ( produced by takara shuzo ) was ligated to make modification so that the dna fragment corresponding to the brevi .- ori portion might be excised from phk4 by digestion with only kpni . this plasmid was digested with kpni , and the generated brevi .- ori dna fragment was ligated with p299lysa having been also digested with kni to prepare a plasmid containing lysa autonomously replicable in coryneform bacteria . the prepared plasmid was designated as plysab . the process of construction of plysab is shown in fig5 . plasmid dna of p299lysa was prepared , and its nucleotide sequence was determined in the same manner as described in example 1 . a determined nucleotide sequence and an amino acid sequence deduced to be encoded by the nucleotide sequence are shown in seq id no : 18 . concerning the nucleotide sequence , an amino acid sequence encoded by args and an amino acid sequence encoded by lysa are shown in seq id nos : 19 and 20 respectively . a ddh gene was obtained by amplifying the ddh gene from chromosomal dna of brevibacterium lactofermentum atcc 13869 in accordance with the pcr method by using two oligonucleotide primers ( seq id nos : 21 , 22 ) prepared on the basis of a known nucleotide sequence of a ddh gene of corynebacterium glutamicum ( ishino , s . et al ., nucleic acids res ., 15 , 3917 ( 1987 )). an obtained amplified dna fragment was digested with ecot22i and avai , and cleaved edges were blunt - ended . after that , the fragment was inserted into a smai site of pmw119 to obtain a plasmid pddh . next , pddh was digested with sali and ecori , followed by blunt end formation . after that , an obtained fragment was ligated with puc18 having been digested with smai . a plasmid thus obtained was designated as puc18ddh . brevi .- ori was introduced into puc18ddh to construct a plasmid carrying ddh autonomously replicable in coryneform bacteria . phk4 was digested with restriction enzymes kpni and bamhi , and cleaved edges were blunt - ended . blunt end formation was performed by using dna blunting kit ( produced by takara shuzo ) in accordance with a designated method . after the blunt end formation , a phosphorylated psti linker ( produced by takara shuzo ) was ligated so that it was inserted into a psti site of phsg299 . a plasmid constructed as described above was designated as ppk4 . next , puc18ddh was digested with xbai and kpni , and a generated fragment was ligated with ppk4 having been digested with kpni and xbai . thus a plasmid containing ddh autonomously replicable in coryneform bacteria was constructed . this plasmid was designated as ppk4d . the process of construction of ppk4d is shown in fig6 . a plasmid comprising mutant lysc , dapa , and replication origin of coryneform bacteria was constructed from the plasmid pcrdapa comprising dapa and the plasmid p399ak9b comprising mutant lysc and brevi .- ori . p399ak9b was completely degraded with sali , and then it was blunt - ended , with which an ecori linker was ligated to construct a plasmid in which the sali site was modified into an ecori site . the obtained plasmid was designated as p399ak9bse . the mutant lysc and brevi .- ori were excised as one fragment by partially degrading p399ak9bse with ecori . this fragment was ligated with pcrdapa having been digested with ecori . an obtained plasmid was designated as pcrcab . this plasmid is autonomously replicable in e . coli and coryneform bacteria , and it gives kanamycin resistance to a host , the plasmid comprising a combination of mutant lysc and dapa . the process of construction of pcrcab is shown in fig7 . a plasmid comprising mutant lysc and dapb was constructed from the plasmid p399ak9 having mutant lysc and the plasmid p399dpr having dapb . a fragment of 1 , 101 bp containing a structural gene of ddpr was extracted by digesting p399dpr with ecorv and sphi . this fragment was ligated with p399ak9 having been digested with sali and then blunt - ended and having been further digested with sphi to construct a plasmid comprising a combination of mutant lysc and dapb . this plasmid was designated as p399akddpr . next , brevi .- ori was introduced into the obtained p399akddpr . the plasmid phk4 containing brevi .- ori was digested with a restriction enzyme kpni ( produced by takara shuzo ), and cleaved edges were blunt - ended . blunt end formation was performed by using dna blunting kit ( produced by takara shuzo ) in accordance with a designated method . after the blunt end formation , a phosphorylated bamhi linker ( produced by takara shuzo ) was ligated to make modification so that the dna fragment corresponding to the brevi .- ori portion might be excised from phk4 by digestion with only bamhi . this plasmid was digested with bamhi , and the generated brevi .- ori dna fragment was ligated with p399akddpr having been also digested with bamhi to construct a plasmid containing mutant lysc and dapb autonomously replicable in coryneform bacteria . the constructed plasmid was designated as pcb . the process of construction of pcb is shown in fig8 . the plasmid pcrdapa comprising dapa was digested with kpni and ecori to extract a dna fragment containing dapa which was ligated with the vector plasmid phsg399 having been digested with kpni and ecori . an obtained plasmid was designated as p399dps . on the other hand , the plasmid pcrdapb comprising dapb was digested with sacii and ecori to extract a dna fragment of 2 . 0 kb containing a region coding for ddpr which was ligated with p399dps having been digested with sacii and ecori to construct a plasmid comprising a combination of dapa and dapb . the obtained plasmid was designated as p399ab . next , brevi .- ori was introduced into p399ab . phk4 containing brevi .- ori was digested with a restriction enzyme bamhi ( produced by takara shuzo ), and cleaved edges were blunt - ended . blunt end formation was performed by using dna blunting kit ( produced by takara shuzo ) in accordance with a designated method . after the blunt end formation , a phosphorylated kpni linker ( produced by takara shuzo ) was ligated to make modification so that the dna fragment corresponding to the brevi .- ori portion might be excised from phk4 by digestion with only kpni . this plasmid was digested with kpni , and the generated brevi .- ori dna fragment was ligated with p399ab having been also digested with kpni to construct a plasmid containing dapa and dapb autonomously replicable in coryneform bacteria . the constructed plasmid was designated as pab . the process of construction of pab is shown in fig9 . the plasmid puc18ddh comprising ddh was digested with ecori and xbai to extract a dna fragment containing ddh . this ddh fragment was ligated with the plasmid p399lysa comprising lysa having been digested with bamhi and xbai with cleaved edges having been blunt - ended after the digestion . an obtained plasmid was designated as p399dl . the process of construction of p399dl is shown in fig1 . next , brevi .- ori was introduced into p399dl . phk4 was digested with xbai and bamhi , and cleaved edges were blunt - ended . after the blunt end formation , a phosphorylated xbai linker was ligated to make modification so that the dna fragment corresponding to the brevi .- ori portion might be excised from phk4 by digestion with only xbai . this plasmid was digested with xbai , and the generated brevi .- ori dna fragment was ligated with p399dl having been also digested with xbai to construct a plasmid containing ddh and lysa autonomously replicable in coryneform bacteria . the constructed plasmid was designated as pdl . the process of construction of pdl is shown in fig1 . p399dps was degraded with ecori and sphi to form blunt ends followed by extraction of a dapa gene fragment . this fragment was ligated with the p399ak9 having been digested with sali and blunt - ended to construct a plasmid p399ca in which mutant lysc and dapa co - existed . the plasmid pcrdapb comprising dapb was digested with ecori and blunt - ended , followed by digestion with saci to extract a dna fragment of 2 . 0 kb comprising dapb . the plasmid p399ca comprising dapa and mutant lysc was digested with spei and blunt - ended , which was thereafter digested with saci and ligated with the extracted dapb fragment to obtain a plasmid comprising mutant lysc , dapa , and dapb . this plasmid was designated as p399cab . next , brevi .- ori was introduced into p399cab . the plasmid phk4 comprising brevi .- ori was digested with a restriction enzyme bamhi ( produced by takara shuzo ), and cleaved edges were blunt - ended . blunt end formation was performed by using dna blunting kit ( produced by takara shuzo ) in accordance with a designated method . after the blunt end formation , a phosphorylated kpni linker ( produced by takara shuzo ) was ligated to make modification so that the dna fragment corresponding to the brevi .- ori portion might be excised from phk4 by digestion with only kpni . this plasmid was digested with kpni , and the generated brevi .- ori dna fragment was ligated with p399cab having been also digested with kpni to construct a plasmid comprising a combination of mutant lysc , dapa , and dapb autonomously replicable in coryneform bacteria . the constructed plasmid was designated as pcab . the process of construction of pcab is shown in fig1 . construction of plasmid comprising combination of mutant lysc , dapa , dapb , and lysa the plasmid p299lysa comprising lysa was digested with kpni and bamhi and blunt - ended , and then a lysa gene fragment was extracted . this fragment was ligated with pcab having been digested with hpai ( produced by takara shuzo ) and blunt - ended to construct a plasmid comprising a combination of mutant lysc , dapa , dapb , and lysa autonomously replicable in coryneform bacteria . the constructed plasmid was designated as pcabl . the process of construction of pcabl is shown in fig1 . it is noted that the lysa gene fragment is inserted into a hpai site in a dna fragment containing the dapb gene in pcabl , however , the hpai site is located upstream from a promoter for the dapb gene ( nucleotide numbers 611 to 616 in seq id no : 10 ), and the dapb gene is not decoupled . construction of plasmid comprising combination of mutant lysc , dapa , dapb , ddh , and lysa phsg299 was digested with xbai and kpni , which was ligated with p399dl comprising ddh and lysa having been digested with xbai and kpni . a constructed plasmid was designated as p299dl . p299dl was digested with xbai and kpni and blunt - ended . after the blunt end formation , a dna fragment comprising ddh and lysa was extracted . this dna fragment was ligated with the plasmid pcab comprising the combination of mutant lysc , dapa , and dapb having been digested with hpai and blunt - ended to construct a plasmid comprising a combination of mutant lysc , dapa , dapb , lysa and ddh autonomously replicable in coryneform bacteria . the constructed plasmid was designated as pcabdl . the process of construction of pcabdl is shown in fig1 . introduction of plasmids comprising genes for l - lysine biosynthesis into l - lysine - producing bacterium of brevibacterium lactofermentum the plasmids comprising the genes for l - lysine biosynthesis constructed as described above , namely p399ak9b ( cm r ), pdpsb ( km r ), pdprb ( cm r ), plysab ( cm r ), ppk4d ( cm r ), pcrcab ( km r ), pab ( cm r ), pcb ( cm r ), pdl ( cm r ), pcab ( cm r ), pcabl ( cm r ), and pcabdl ( cm r ) were introduced into an l - lysine - producing bacterium aj11082 ( nrrl b - 11470 ) of brevibacterium lactofermentum respectively . aj11082 strain has a property of aec resistance . the plasmids were introduced in accordance with an electric pulse method ( sugimoto et al ., japanese patent laid - open no . 2 - 207791 ). transformants were selected based on drug resistance markers possessed by the respective plasmids . transformants were selected on a complete medium containing 5 μg / ml of chloramphenicol when a plasmid comprising a chloramphenicol resistance gene was introduced , or transformants were selected on a complete medium containing 25 μg / ml of kanamycin when a plasmid comprising a kanamycin resistance gene was introduced . each of the transformants obtained in example 13 was cultivated in an l - lysine - producing medium to evaluate its l - lysine productivity . the l - lysine - producing medium had the following composition . the following components other than calcium carbonate ( per 1 l ) were dissolved to make adjustment at ph 8 . 0 with koh . the medium was sterilized at 115 ° c . for 15 minutes , to which calcium carbonate ( 50 g ) having been separately sterilized in hot air in a dry state was thereafter added . glucose 100 g ( nh 4 ) 2 so 4 55 g kh 2 po 4 1 g mgso 4 . 7h 2 o 1 g biotin 500 μg thiamin 2000 μg feso 4 . 7h 2 o 0 . 01 g mnso 4 . 7h 2 o 0 . 01 g nicotinamide 5 mg protein hydrolysate ( mamenou ) 30 ml calcium carbonate 50 g each of the various types of the transformants and the parent strain was inoculated to the medium having the composition described above to perform cultivation at 31 . 5 ° c . with reciprocating shaking . the amount of produced l - lysine after 40 or 72 hours of cultivation , and the growth after 72 hours ( od 562 ) are shown in table 1 . in the table , lysc * represents mutant lysc . the growth was quantitatively determined by measuring od at 560 nm after 101 - fold dilution . as shown in table 1 , when mutant lysc , dapa , or dapb was enhanced singly , the amount of produced l - lysine was larger than or equivalent to that produced by the parent strain after 72 hours of cultivation , however , the amount of produced l - lysine was smaller than that produced by the parent strain after 40 hours of cultivation . namely , the l - lysine - producing speed was lowered in cultivation for a short period . similarly , when mutant lysc and dapa , or dapa and dapb were enhanced in combination , the amount of produced l - lysine was larger than that produced by the parent strain after 72 hours of cultivation , however , the amount of produced l - lysine was smaller than that produced by the parent strain after 40 hours of cultivation . thus the l - lysine - producing speed was lowered . on the other hand , when lysa or ddh was enhanced singly , or when lysa and ddh were enhanced in combination , the amount of produced l - lysine was larger than that produced by the parent strain after 40 hours of cultivation , however , the amount of produced l - lysine was consequently smaller than that produced by the parent strain after the long period of cultivation because of decrease in growth . on the contrary , in the case of the strain in which dapb was enhanced together with mutant lysc , the growth was improved , the l - lysine - producing speed was successfully restored in the short period of cultivation , and the accumulated amount of l - lysine was also improved in the long period of cultivation . in the case of the strain in which three of mutant lysc , dapa , and dapb were simultaneously enhanced , the l - lysine productivity was further improved . both of the l - lysine - producing speed and the amount of accumulated l - lysine were improved in a stepwise manner by successively enhancing lysa and ddh . according to the present invention , the l - lysine - producing ability of coryneform bacteria can be improved , and the growth speed can be also improved . the l - lysine - producing speed can be improved , and the productivity can be also improved in coryneform l - lysine - producing bacteria by enhancing dapb together with mutant lysc . the l - lysine - producing speed and the productivity can be further improved by successively enhancing dapa , lysa , and ddh in addition to the aforementioned genes . gtaactgtca gcacgtagat cgaaaggtgc acaaag gtg gcc ctg gtc gta cag 234 aaa tat ggc ggt tcc tcg ctt gag agt gcg gaa cgc att aga aac gtc 282 lys tyr gly gly ser ser leu glu ser ala glu arg ile arg asn val gct gaa cgg atc gtt gcc acc aag aag gct gga aat gat gtc gtg gtt 330 gtc tgc tcc gca atg gga gac acc acg gat gaa ctt cta gaa ctt gca 378 gcg gca gtg aat ccc gtt ccg cca gct cgt gaa atg gat atg ctc ctg 426 act gct ggt gag cgt att tct aac gct ctc gtc gcc atg gct att gag 474 thr ala gly glu arg ile ser asn ala leu val ala met ala ile glu tcc ctt ggc gca gaa gct caa tct ttc act ggc tct cag gct ggt gtg 522 ctc acc acc gag cgc cac gga aac gca cgc att gtt gac gtc aca ccg 570 leu thr thr glu arg his gly asn ala arg ile val asp val thr pro ggt cgt gtg cgt gaa gca ctc gat gag ggc aag atc tgc att gtt gct 618 ggt ttt cag ggt gtt aat aaa gaa acc cgc gat gtc acc acg ttg ggt 666 gly phe gln gly val asn lys glu thr arg asp val thr thr leu gly cgt ggt ggt tct gac acc act gca gtt gcg ttg gca gct gct ttg aac 714 gct gat gtg tgt gag att tac tcg gac gtt gac ggt gtg tat acc gct 762 gac ccg cgc atc gtt cct aat gca cag aag ctg gaa aag ctc agc ttc 810 asp pro arg ile val pro asn ala gln lys leu glu lys leu ser phe gaa gaa atg ctg gaa ctt gct gct gtt ggc tcc aag att ttg gtg ctg 858 cgc agt gtt gaa tac gct cgt gca ttc aat gtg cca ctt cgc gta cgc 906 tcg tct tat agt aat gat ccc ggc act ttg att gcc ggc tct atg gag 954 ser ser tyr ser asn asp pro gly thr leu ile ala gly ser met glu gat att cct gtg gaa gaa gca gtc ctt acc ggt gtc gca acc gac aag 1002 tcc gaa gcc aaa gta acc gtt ctg ggt att tcc gat aag cca ggc gag 1050 ser glu ala lys val thr val leu gly ile ser asp lys pro gly glu gct gcc aag gtt ttc cgt gcg ttg gct gat gca gaa atc aac att gac 1098 atg gtt ctg cag aac gtc tcc tct gtg gaa gac ggc acc acc gac atc 1146 met val leu gln asn val ser ser val glu asp gly thr thr asp ile acg ttc acc tgc cct cgc gct gac gga cgc cgt gcg atg gag atc ttg 1194 thr phe thr cys pro arg ala asp gly arg arg ala met glu ile leu aag aag ctt cag gtt cag ggc aac tgg acc aat gtg ctt tac gac gac 1242 cag gtc ggc aaa gtc tcc ctc gtg ggt gct ggc atg aag tct cac cca 1290 ggt gtt acc gca gag ttc atg gaa gct ctg cgc gat gtc aac gtg aac 1338 gly val thr ala glu phe met glu ala leu arg asp val asn val asn atc gaa ttg att tcc acc tct gag atc cgc att tcc gtg ctg atc cgt 1386 gaa gat gat ctg gat gct gct gca cgt gca ttg cat gag cag ttc cag 1434 ctg ggc ggc gaa gac gaa gcc gtc gtt tat gca ggc acc gga cgc taa 1482 glu met asp met leu leu thr ala gly glu arg ile ser asn ala leu val ala met ala ile glu ser leu gly ala glu ala gln ser phe thr gly ser gln ala gly val leu thr thr glu arg his gly asn ala arg lys ile cys ile val ala gly phe gln gly val asn lys glu thr arg asp gly val tyr thr ala asp pro arg ile val pro asn ala gln lys ser lys ile leu val leu arg ser val glu tyr ala arg ala phe asn ile ala gly ser met glu asp ile pro val glu glu ala val leu thr ser asp lys pro gly glu ala ala lys val phe arg ala leu ala asp arg ala met glu ile leu lys lys leu gln val gln gly asn trp thr gly met lys ser his pro gly val thr ala glu phe met glu ala leu cct gtg gaa gaa gca gtc ctt acc ggt gtc gca acc gac aag tcc gaa 1008 gcc aaa gta acc gtt ctg ggt att tcc gat aag cca ggc gag gct gcc 1056 ala lys val thr val leu gly ile ser asp lys pro gly glu ala ala aag gtt ttc cgt gcg ttg gct gat gca gaa atc aac att gac atg gtt 1104 lys val phe arg ala leu ala asp ala glu ile asn ile asp met val ctg cag aac gtc tcc tct gtg gaa gac ggc acc acc gac atc acg ttc 1152 leu gln asn val ser ser val glu asp gly thr thr asp ile thr phe acc tgc cct cgc gct gac gga cgc cgt gcg atg gag atc ttg aag aag 1200 thr cys pro arg ala asp gly arg arg ala met glu ile leu lys lys ctt cag gtt cag ggc aac tgg acc aat gtg ctt tac gac gac cag gtc 1248 ggc aaa gtc tcc ctc gtg ggt gct ggc atg aag tct cac cca ggt gtt 1296 acc gca gag ttc atg gaa gct ctg cgc gat gtc aac gtg aac atc gaa 1344 thr ala glu phe met glu ala leu arg asp val asn val asn ile glu ttg att tcc acc tct gag atc cgc att tcc gtg ctg atc cgt gaa gat 1392 gat ctg gat gct gct gca cgt gca ttg cat gag cag ttc cag ctg ggc 1440 ggc gaa gac gaa gcc gtc gtt tat gca ggc acc gga cgc taaagttttaa 1490 lys val thr val leu gly ile ser asp lys pro gly glu ala ala lys cys pro arg ala asp gly arg arg ala met glu ile leu lys lys leu aggagcata atg gga atc aag gtt ggc gtt ctc gga gcc aaa ggc cgt 768 gtt ggt caa act att gtg gca gca gtc aat gag tcc gac gat ctg gag 816 val gly gln thr ile val ala ala val asn glu ser asp asp leu glu ctt gtt gca gag atc ggc gtc gac gat gat ttg agc ctt ctg gta gac 864 aac ggc gct gaa gtt gtc gtt gac ttc acc act cct aac gct gtg atg 912 ggc aac ctg gag ttc tgc atc aac aac ggc att tct gcg gtt gtt gga 960 acc acg ggc ttc gat gat gct cgt ttg gag cag gtt cgc gcc tgg ctt 1008 thr thr gly phe asp asp ala arg leu glu gln val arg ala trp leu gaa gga aaa gac aat gtc ggt gtt ctg atc gca cct aac ttt gct atc 1056 glu gly lys asp asn val gly val leu ile ala pro asn phe ala ile tct gcg gtg ttg acc atg gtc ttt tcc aag cag gct gcc cgc ttc ttc 1104 gaa tca gct gaa gtt att gag ctg cac cac ccc aac aag ctg gat gca 1152 glu ser ala glu val ile glu leu his his pro asn lys leu asp ala cct tca ggc acc gcg atc cac act gct cag ggc att gct gcg gca cgc 1200 aaa gaa gca ggc atg gac gca cag cca gat gcg acc gag cag gca ctt 1248 gag ggt tcc cgt ggc gca agc gta gat gga atc cca gtt cac gca gtc 1296 cgc atg tcc ggc atg gtt gct cac gag caa gtt atc ttt ggc acc cag 1344 arg met ser gly met val ala his glu gln val ile phe gly thr gln ggt cag acc ttg acc atc aag cag gac tcc tat gat cgc aac tca ttt 1392 gly gln thr leu thr ile lys gln asp ser tyr asp arg asn ser phe gca cca ggt gtc ttg gtg ggt gtg cgc aac att gca cag cac cca ggc 1440 cta gtc gta gga ctt gag cat tac cta ggc ctg taaaggctca tttcagcagc 1493 glu val val val asp phe thr thr pro asn ala val met gly asn leu phe asp asp ala arg leu glu gln val arg ala trp leu glu gly lys leu thr met val phe ser lys gln ala ala arg phe phe glu ser ala glu val ile glu leu his his pro asn lys leu asp ala pro ser gly leu thr ile lys gln asp ser tyr asp arg asn ser phe ala pro gly cttgaactct atg agc aca ggt tta aca gct aag acc gga gta gag cac 349 ttc ggc acc gtt gga gta gca atg gtt act cca ttc acg gaa tcc gga 397 gac atc gat atc gct gct ggc cgc gaa gtc gcg gct tat ttg gtt gat 445 aag ggc ttg gat tct ttg gtt ctc gcg ggc acc act ggt gaa tcc cca 493 acg aca acc gcc gct gaa aaa cta gaa ctg ctc aag gcc gtt cgt gag 541 gaa gtt ggg gat cgg gcg aac gtc atc gcc ggt gtc gga acc aac aac 589 acg cgg aca tct gtg gaa ctt gcg gaa gct gct gct tct gct ggc gca 637 gac ggc ctt tta gtt gta act cct tat tac tcc aag ccg agc caa gag 685 asp gly leu leu val val thr pro tyr tyr ser lys pro ser gln glu gga ttg ctg gcg cac ttc ggt gca att gct gca gca aca gag gtt cca 733 att tgt ctc tat gac att cct ggt cgg tca ggt att cca att gag tct 781 gat acc atg aga cgc ctg agt gaa tta cct acg att ttg gcg gtc aag 829 asp thr met arg arg leu ser glu leu pro thr ile leu ala val lys gac gcc aag ggt gac ctc gtt gca gcc acg tca ttg atc aaa gaa acg 877 gga ctt gcc tgg tat tca ggc gat gac cca cta aac ctt gtt tgg ctt 925 gct ttg ggc gga tca ggt ttc att tcc gta att gga cat gca gcc ccc 973 aca gca tta cgt gag ttg tac aca agc ttc gag gaa ggc gac ctc gtc 1021 thr ala leu arg glu leu tyr thr ser phe glu glu gly asp leu val cgt gcg cgg gaa atc aac gcc aaa cta tca ccg ctg gta gct gcc caa 1069 arg ala arg glu ile asn ala lys leu ser pro leu val ala ala gln ggt cgc ttg ggt gga gtc agc ttg gca aaa gct gct ctg cgt ctg cag 1117 ggc atc aac gta gga gat cct cga ctt cca att atg gct cca aat gag 1165 gly ile asn val gly asp pro arg leu pro ile met ala pro asn glu cag gaa ctt gag gct ctc cga gaa gac atg aaa aaa gct gga gtt cta 1213 met ser thr gly leu thr ala lys thr gly val glu his phe gly thr val gly val ala met val thr pro phe thr glu ser gly asp ile asp ala his phe gly ala ile ala ala ala thr glu val pro ile cys leu arg arg leu ser glu leu pro thr ile leu ala val lys asp ala lys arg glu leu tyr thr ser phe glu glu gly asp leu val arg ala arg glu ile asn ala lys leu ser pro leu val ala ala gln gly arg leu val gly asp pro arg leu pro ile met ala pro asn glu gln glu leu aca cca gct gat ctc gca aca ttg att aaa gag acc gcg gta gag gtt 583 ttg acc tcc cgc gag ctc gat act tct gtt ctt ccg gag cag gta gtt 631 gtg gag cgt ccg cgt aac cca gag cac ggc gat tac gcc acc aac att 679 val glu arg pro arg asn pro glu his gly asp tyr ala thr asn ile gca ttg cag gtg gct aaa aag gtc ggt cag aac cct cgg gat ttg gct 727 acc tgg ctg gca gag gca ttg gct gca gat gac gcc att gat tct gct 775 gaa att gct ggc cca ggc ttt ttg aac att cgc ctt gct gca gca gca 823 cag ggt gaa att gtg gcc aag att ctg gca cag ggc gag act ttc gga 871 aac tcc gat cac ctt tcc cac ttg gac gtg aac ctc gag ttc gtt tct 919 gca aac cca acc gga cct att cac ctt ggc gga acc cgc tgg gct gcc 967 gtg ggt gac tct ttg ggt cgt gtg ctg gag gct tcc ggc gcg aaa gtg 1015 acc cgc gaa tac tac ttc aac gat cac ggt cgc cag atc gat cgt ttc 1063 thr arg glu tyr tyr phe asn asp his gly arg gln ile asp arg phe gct ttg tcc ctt ctt gca gcg gcg aag ggc gag cca acg cca gaa gac 1111 ggt tat ggc ggc gaa tac att aag gaa att gcg gag gca atc gtc gaa 1159 aag cat cct gaa gcg ttg gct ttg gag cct gcc gca acc cag gag ctt 1207 ttc cgc gct gaa ggc gtg gag atg atg ttc gag cac atc aaa tct tcc 1255 phe arg ala glu gly val glu met met phe glu his ile lys ser ser ctg cat gag ttc ggc acc gat ttc gat gtc tac tac cac gag aac tcc 1303 leu his glu phe gly thr asp phe asp val tyr tyr his glu asn ser ctg ttc gag tcc ggt gcg gtg gac aag gcc gtg cag gtg ctg aag gac 1351 aac ggc aac ctg tac gaa aac gag ggc gct tgg tgg ctg cgt tcc acc 1399 gaa ttc ggc gat gac aaa gac cgc gtg gtg atc aag tct gac ggc gac 1447 gca gcc tac atc gct ggc gat atc gcg tac gtg gct gat aag ttc tcc 1495 cgc gga cac aac cta aac atc tac atg ttg ggt gct gac cac cat ggt 1543 tac atc gcg cgc ctg aag gca gcg gcg gcg gca ctt ggc tac aag cca 1591 gaa ggc gtt gaa gtc ctg att ggc cag atg gtg aac ctg ctt cgc gac 1639 ggc aag gca gtg cgt atg tcc aag cgt gca ggc acc gtg gtc acc cta 1687 gat gac ctc gtt gaa gca atc ggc atc gat gcg gcg cgt tac tcc ctg 1735 atc cgt tcc tcc gtg gat tct tcc ctg gat atc gat ctc ggc ctg tgg 1783 gaa tcc cag tcc tcc gac aac cct gtg tac tac gtg cag tac gga cac 1831 gct cgt ctg tgc tcc atc gcg cgc aag gca gag acc ttg ggt gtc acc 1879 ala arg leu cys ser ile ala arg lys ala glu thr leu gly val thr gag gaa ggc gca gac cta tct cta ctg acc cac gac cgc gaa ggc gat 1927 ctc atc cgc aca ctc gga gag ttc cca gca gtg gtg aag gct gcc gct 1975 leu ile arg thr leu gly glu phe pro ala val val lys ala ala ala gac cta cgt gaa cca cac cgc att gcc cgc tat gct gag gaa tta gct 2023 gga act ttc cac cgc ttc tac gat tcc tgc cac atc ctt cca aag gtt 2071 gly thr phe his arg phe tyr asp ser cys his ile leu pro lys val gat gag gat acg gca cca atc cac aca gca cgt ctg gca ctt gca gca 2119 gca acc cgc cag acc ctc gct aac gcc ctg cac ctg gtt ggc gtt tcc 2167 gca ccg gag aag atg taaca atg gct aca gtt gaa aat ttc aat gaa 2214 ctt ccc gca cac gta tgg cca cgc aat gcc gtg cgc caa gaa gac ggc 2262 leu pro ala his val trp pro arg asn ala val arg gln glu asp gly gtt gtc acc gtc gct ggt gtg cct ctg cct gac ctc gct gaa gaa tac 2310 gga acc cca ctg ttc gta gtc gac gag gac gat ttc cgt tcc cgc tgt 2358 gly thr pro leu phe val val asp glu asp asp phe arg ser arg cys cgc gac atg gct acc gca ttc ggt gga cca ggc aat gtg cac tac gca 2406 arg asp met ala thr ala phe gly gly pro gly asn val his tyr ala tct aaa gcg ttc ctg acc aag acc att gca cgt tgg gtt gat gaa gag 2454 ser lys ala phe leu thr lys thr ile ala arg trp val asp glu glu ggg ctg gca ctg gac att gca tcc atc aac gaa ctg ggc att gcc ctg 2502 gcc gct ggt ttc ccc gcc agc cgt atc acc gcg cac ggc aac aac aaa 2550 ala ala gly phe pro ala ser arg ile thr ala his gly asn asn lys ggc gta gag ttc ctg cgc gcg ttg gtt caa aac ggt gtg gga cac gtg 2598 gtg ctg gac tcc gca cag gaa cta gaa ctg ttg gat tac gtt gcc gct 2646 ggt gaa ggc aag att cag gac gtg ttg atc cgc gta aag cca ggc atc 2694 gaa gca cac acc cac gag ttc atc gcc act agc cac gaa gac cag aag 2742 ttc gga ttc tcc ctg gca tcc ggt tcc gca ttc gaa gca gca aaa gcc 2790 gcc aac aac gca gaa aac ctg aac ctg gtt ggc ctg cac tgc cac gtt 2838 ggt tcc cag gtg ttc gac gcc gaa ggc ttc aag ctg gca gca gaa cgc 2886 gly ser gln val phe asp ala glu gly phe lys leu ala ala glu arg gtg ttg ggc ctg tac tca cag atc cac agc gaa ctg ggc gtt gcc ctt 2934 cct gaa ctg gat ctc ggt ggc gga tac ggc att gcc tat acc gca gct 2982 gaa gaa cca ctc aac gtc gca gaa gtt gcc tcc gac ctg ctc acc gca 3030 gtc gga aaa atg gca gcg gaa cta ggc atc gac gca cca acc gtg ctt 3078 val gly lys met ala ala glu leu gly ile asp ala pro thr val leu gtt gag ccc ggc cgc gct atc gca ggc ccc tcc acc gtg acc atc tac 3126 gaa gtc ggc acc acc aaa gac gtc cac gta gac gac gac aaa acc cgc 3174 cgt tac atc gcc gtg gac gga ggc atg tcc gac aac atc cgc cca gca 3222 arg tyr ile ala val asp gly gly met ser asp asn ile arg pro ala ctc tac ggc tcc gaa tac gac gcc cgc gta gta tcc cgc ttc gcc gaa 3270 gga gac cca gta agc acc cgc atc gtg ggc tcc cac tgc gaa tcc ggc 3318 gly asp pro val ser thr arg ile val gly ser his cys glu ser gly gat atc ctg atc aac gat gaa atc tac cca tct gac atc acc agc ggc 3366 gac ttc ctt gca ctc gca gcc acc ggc gca tac tgc tac gcc atg agc 3414 tcc cgc tac aac gcc ttc aca cgg ccc gcc gtc gtg tcc gtc cgc gct 3462 ggc agc tcc cgc ctc atg ctg cgc cgc gaa acg ctc gac gac atc ctc 3510 val val glu arg pro arg asn pro glu his gly asp tyr ala thr asn ile ala leu gln val ala lys lys val gly gln asn pro arg asp leu ser ala asn pro thr gly pro ile his leu gly gly thr arg trp ala val thr arg glu tyr tyr phe asn asp his gly arg gln ile asp arg leu phe arg ala glu gly val glu met met phe glu his ile lys ser ser leu his glu phe gly thr asp phe asp val tyr tyr his glu asn ser arg gly his asn leu asn ile tyr met leu gly ala asp his his his ala arg leu cys ser ile ala arg lys ala glu thr leu gly val asp leu ile arg thr leu gly glu phe pro ala val val lys ala ala ala gly thr phe his arg phe tyr asp ser cys his ile leu pro lys met ala thr val glu asn phe asn glu leu pro ala his val trp pro gly gly pro gly asn val his tyr ala ser lys ala phe leu thr lys arg ile thr ala his gly asn asn lys gly val glu phe leu arg ala val leu ile arg val lys pro gly ile glu ala his thr his glu phe ile ala thr ser his glu asp gln lys phe gly phe ser leu ala ser asn leu val gly leu his cys his val gly ser gln val phe asp ala glu gly phe lys leu ala ala glu arg val leu gly leu tyr ser gln ala gly pro ser thr val thr ile tyr glu val gly thr thr lys asp gly met ser asp asn ile arg pro ala leu tyr gly ser glu tyr asp atg acc aac atc cgc gta gct atc gtg ggc tac gga aac ctg gga cgc 108 agc gtc gaa aag ctt att gcc aag cag ccc gac atg gac ctt gta gga 156 ser val glu lys leu ile ala lys gln pro asp met asp leu val gly atc ttc tcg cgc cgg gcc acc ctc gac aca aag acg cca gtc ttt gat 204 ile phe ser arg arg ala thr leu asp thr lys thr pro val phe asp tgc atg ggc tcc gcc acc gac atc cct gag cag gca cca aag ttc gcg 300 cys met gly ser ala thr asp ile pro glu gln ala pro lys phe ala cag ttc gcc tgc acc gta gac acc tac gac aac cac cgc gac atc cca 348 gln phe ala cys thr val asp thr tyr asp asn his arg asp ile pro cgc cac cgc cag gtc atg aac gaa gcc gcc acc gca gcc ggc aac gtt 396 gca ctg gtc tct acc ggc tgg gat cca gga atg ttc tcc atc aac cgc 444 ala leu val ser thr gly trp asp pro gly met phe ser ile asn arg gtc tac gca gcg gca gtc tta gcc gag cac cag cag cac acc ttc tgg 492 ggc cca ggt ttg tca cag ggc cac tcc gat gct ttg cga cgc atc cct 540 ggc gtt caa aag gca gtc cag tac acc ctc cca tcc gaa gac gcc ctg 588 gly val gln lys ala val gln tyr thr leu pro ser glu asp ala leu gaa aag gcc cgc cgc ggc gaa gcc ggc gac ctt acc gga aag caa acc 636 cac aag cgc caa tgc ttc gtg gtt gcc gac gcg gcc gat cac gag cgc 684 atc gaa aac gac atc cgc acc atg cct gat tac ttc gtt ggc tac gaa 732 ile glu asn asp ile arg thr met pro asp tyr phe val gly tyr glu gtc gaa gtc aac ttc atc gac gaa gca acc ttc gac tcc gag cac acc 780 ggc atg cca cac ggt ggc cac gtg att acc acc ggc gac acc ggt ggc 828 ttc aac cac acc gtg gaa tac atc ctc aag ctg gac cga aac cca gat 876 phe asn his thr val glu tyr ile leu lys leu asp arg asn pro asp ttc acc gct tcc tca cag atc gct ttc ggt cgc gca gct cac cgc atg 924 aag cag cag ggc caa agc gga gct ttc acc gtc ctc gaa gtt gct cca 972 lys gln gln gly gln ser gly ala phe thr val leu glu val ala pro tac ctg ctc tcc cca gag aac ttg gac gat ctg atc gca cgc gac gtc 1020 tyr leu leu ser pro glu asn leu asp asp leu ile ala arg asp val ser val glu lys leu ile ala lys gln pro asp met asp leu val gly ile phe ser arg arg ala thr leu asp thr lys thr pro val phe asp cys met gly ser ala thr asp ile pro glu gln ala pro lys phe ala gln phe ala cys thr val asp thr tyr asp asn his arg asp ile pro ala leu val ser thr gly trp asp pro gly met phe ser ile asn arg gly val gln lys ala val gln tyr thr leu pro ser glu asp ala leu ile glu asn asp ile arg thr met pro asp tyr phe val gly tyr glu phe asn his thr val glu tyr ile leu lys leu asp arg asn pro asp lys gln gln gly gln ser gly ala phe thr val leu glu val ala pro tyr leu leu ser pro glu asn leu asp asp leu ile ala arg asp val | 2 |
referring to fig1 , the preferred embodiment of a system for implementing a message transaction method according to this invention includes sending and receiving mobile communication devices 1 , 3 . the sending and receiving mobile communication devices 1 , 3 establish a connection therebetween through a conventional communication exchange system 2 . the communication exchange system 2 allocates an appropriate channel for establishing the connection between the sending and receiving mobile communication devices 1 , 3 , and handles transmission of communication signals between the sending and receiving mobile communication devices 1 , 3 . the sending mobile communication device 1 includes a control module 10 , a memory module 14 , an input module 122 , a communication module 13 , and a timer 16 . the memory module 14 is connected electrically to the control module 10 , and stores a program 140 to be executed by the control module 10 for performing steps associated with the message transaction method , in a manner that will be described hereinafter . the sending mobile communication device 1 is configured with a lookup table 142 that is stored in the memory module 14 thereof . in this embodiment , the lookup table 142 , as shown in table i , maps a set of relations between ringing response signal intervals and corresponding messages . the memory module 14 further stores a contact list 141 that maps a relation between the name of the user of the receiving mobile communication device 3 and a corresponding identification code of the receiving mobile communication device 3 , such as a phone number . it is noted that the lookup table 142 configured in the sending mobile communication device 1 includes the identification code of the receiving mobile communication device 3 so that the lookup table 142 can correspond with the receiving mobile communication device 3 . the input module 122 is connected electrically to the control module 10 , and is operable so as to generate control signals , such as for enabling selection of a desired one of the relations in the lookup table 142 by the control module 10 . in this embodiment , the input module 122 may be a touchpad or a keypad . the communication module 13 is connected electrically to and controlled by the control module 10 , and is operable so as to send a connection request and so as to subsequently receive a ringing response signal . the timer 16 is connected electrically to and controlled by the control module 10 , and is operable so as to count an elapsed time starting from receipt of the ringing response signal . the communication module 13 is further operable so as to send a disconnection request when the elapsed time counted by the timer 16 corresponds to the ringing response signal interval in the desired relation selected by the control module 10 . the sending mobile communication device 1 further includes a display 11 that is connected electrically to and controlled by the control module 10 , and that is operable so as to show a main menu and submenus for selection by the user of the sending mobile communication device 1 . the sending mobile communication device 1 further includes a transceiver module 17 that is connected electrically to and controlled by the control module 10 , and that is operable so as to transmit the lookup table 142 . in this embodiment , the transceiver module 17 is a wireless transceiver module that complies with a bluetooth or an infrared data association ( irda ) specification . in an alternative embodiment , the transceiver module 17 is a wired transceiver module . the receiving mobile communication device 3 includes a control module 30 , a memory module 34 , a communication module 33 , and a timer 36 . the memory module 34 is connected electrically to the control module 30 , and stores a program 340 to be executed by the control module 30 for performing steps associated with the message transaction method , in a manner that will be described hereinafter . the receiving mobile communication device 3 is established with a lookup table 342 that is stored in the memory module 34 thereof and that is identical to that of the sending mobile communication device 1 . the memory module 34 further stores a contact list 341 that maps a relation between the name of the user of the sending mobile communication device 1 and a corresponding identification code of the sending mobile communication device 1 , such as a phone number . it is noted that the lookup table 342 established in the receiving mobile communication device 3 , as shown in table ii , includes the identification code of the sending mobile communication device 1 so that the lookup table 342 can correspond with the sending mobile communication device 1 . the communication module 33 is connected electrically to and controlled by the control module 30 , and is operable so as to receive the connection request from the communication module 13 of the sending mobile communication device 1 , so as to generate the ringing response signal to be sent to the sending mobile communication device 1 in response to the connection request , and so as to detect the disconnection request from the communication module 13 of the sending mobile communication device 1 . the timer 36 is connected electrically to and controlled by the control module 30 , and is operable so as to count an elapsed time starting from generation of the ringing response signal , and so as to stop counting the elapsed time in response to the disconnection request . upon detection of receipt of the disconnection request , the control module 30 is configured so as to compare the elapsed time counted by the timer 36 with the lookup table 342 established in the receiving mobile communication device 3 . the receiving mobile communication device 3 further includes a message output unit in the form of a display 31 that is connected electrically to and controlled by the control module 30 of the receiving mobile communication device 3 so as to provide the corresponding message of a matching relation to the user of the receiving mobile communication device 3 via a text output if the control module 30 finds the matching relation in the lookup table 342 . the receiving mobile communication device 3 further includes a speaker 321 that is connected electrically to and controlled by the control module 30 , and that is operable so as to produce an audible call alert . the control module 30 is further operable so as to compare an identification code of the sending mobile communication device 1 in the connection request with the contact list 341 . when a matching identification code is found in the contact list 341 , the control module 30 disables operation of the speaker 321 of the receiving mobile communication device 3 . on the other hand , when the matching identification code is not found in the contact list 341 , the control module 30 processes the connection request as an incoming voice call and controls the speaker 321 to produce the audible call alert . in this case , the control module 30 does not compare the elapsed time counted by the timer 36 with the lookup table 342 . the control module 30 is further operable so as to determine if the elapsed time counted by the timer 36 has reached a predetermined threshold . if the predetermined threshold has not yet been reached , the timer 36 continues the counting of the elapsed time . on the other hand , if the predetermined threshold was reached , the control module 30 processes the connection request as an incoming voice call . in this case , the control module 30 does not compare the elapsed time counted by the timer 36 with the lookup table 342 . the receiving mobile communication device 3 further includes a transceiver module 37 that is connected electrically to and controlled by the control module 30 , and that is operable so as to receive the lookup table 142 from the transceiver module 17 of the sending mobile communication device 1 , thereby establishing the lookup table 342 in the receiving mobile communication device 3 . in this embodiment , the transceiver module 37 is a wireless transceiver module that complies with a bluetooth or an infrared data association ( irda ) specification . in an alternative embodiment , the transceiver module 37 is a wired transceiver module . the preferred embodiment of the message transaction method to be implemented using the aforementioned system according to this invention includes the steps , which are performed by the sending mobile communication device 1 , shown in fig2 a to 2d . in step 21 , the sending mobile communication device 1 is turned on . in step 22 , the display 11 shows a main menu that allows selection of different operating modes of the sending mobile communication device 1 . in step 23 , if the input module 122 is operated to generate a control signal such that a telephone operating mode is selected , the flow proceeds to step 24 . otherwise , the flow proceeds to step 25 . in step 24 , the display 11 shows a phonebook . at this time , the user of the sending mobile communication device 1 may proceed to make an outgoing voice call using the phonebook in a conventional manner . thereafter , the flow goes back to step 22 . in step 25 , if the input module 122 is operated to generate a control signal such that a short message service ( sms ) operating mode is selected , the flow proceeds to step 26 . otherwise , the flow proceeds to step 27 . in step 26 , the display 11 shows a sms screen for entering a short message . at this time , the user may proceed to create and send a short message using the phonebook in a conventional manner . thereafter , the flow goes back to step 22 . in step 27 , if the input module 122 is operated to generate a control signal such that a ring message operating mode is selected , the flow proceeds to step 28 . otherwise , the flow goes back to step 22 . in step 28 , the display 11 shows a submenu that allows selection between a “ contact list ” and a “ lookup table ”. in step 29 , if the input module 122 is operated to generate a control signal such that the “ contact list ” is selected , the flow proceeds to step 30 . otherwise , the flow proceeds to step 31 . in step 30 , the display 11 shows the contact list 141 stored in the memory module 14 . at this time , the user of the sending mobile communication device 1 may proceed to add , edit , or delete a relation from the contact list 141 . thereafter , the flow goes back to step 28 . in step 31 , if the input module 122 is operated to generate a control signal such that the “ lookup table ” is selected , the flow proceeds to step 32 . otherwise , the flow goes back to step 28 . in step 32 , the display 11 shows a submenu that allows selection between “ configure the lookup table ” and “ send a ring message ”. in step 33 , if the input module 122 is operated to generate a control signal such that the “ configure the lookup table ” option is selected , the flow proceeds to step 34 . otherwise , the flow proceeds to step 39 . in step 34 , the display module 11 shows a submenu that allows selection between “ edit the lookup table ” and “ synchronize the lookup table ”. in step 35 , if the input module 122 is operated to generate a control signal such that the “ edit the lookup table ” option is selected , the flow proceeds to step 36 . otherwise , the flow proceeds to step 37 . in step 36 , the display 11 shows the lookup table 142 stored in the memory module 14 . at this time , the user of the sending mobile communication device 1 may proceed to edit and save the lookup table 142 . thereafter , the flow goes back to step 34 . in step 37 , if the input module 122 is operated to generate a control signal such that the “ synchronize the lookup table ” option is selected , the flow proceeds to step 38 . otherwise , the flow goes back to step 34 . in step 38 , the transceiver module 17 of the sending mobile communication device transmits the lookup table 142 to the receiving mobile communication device 3 . thereafter , the flow goes back to step 34 . in step 39 , if the input module 122 is operated to generate a control signal such that the “ send a ring message ” option is selected , the flow proceeds to step 40 . otherwise , the flow goes back to step 32 . in step 40 , the display 11 shows the lookup table 142 . in step 41 , the input module 122 is operated to generate a control signal to enable selection of a desired relation in the lookup table 142 by the control module 10 . in step 42 , the communication module 13 sends a connection request to the receiving mobile communication device 3 . in step 43 , if the communication module 13 receives a busy signal from the receiving mobile communication device 3 , the flow proceeds to step 44 . otherwise , the flow proceeds to step 45 . in step 44 , the communication module 13 sends a disconnection request to the receiving mobile communication device 3 . thereafter , the flow goes back to step 40 . in step 45 , if the communication module 13 receives a ringing response signal from the receiving mobile communication device 3 , the flow proceeds to step 46 . otherwise , the flow goes back to step 43 . in step 46 , the timer 16 counts an elapsed time starting from the receipt of the ringing response signal . in step 47 , when the elapsed time counted by the timer 16 corresponds to the ringing signal interval in the desired relation selected in step 41 , the flow proceeds to step 48 . otherwise , the flow goes back to step 46 . in step 48 , the communication module 13 sends a disconnection request to the receiving mobile communication device 3 . thereafter , the flow goes back to step 22 . the preferred embodiment of the message transaction method further includes the steps , which are performed by the receiving mobile communication device 3 , shown in fig2 e and 2f . in step 49 , the lookup table 342 is established in the receiving mobile communication device 3 . that is , the transceiver module 37 receives the lookup table 142 transmitted in step 38 . in step 50 , the communication device 33 detects receipt of the connection request from the sending mobile communication device 1 . in step 51 , if the communication device 33 detects the connection request , the flow proceeds to step 52 . otherwise , the flow goes back to step 50 . in step 52 , the control module 30 compares the identification code of the sending mobile communication device 1 in the connection request with the contact list 341 . in step 53 , when the control module 30 finds a matching identification code in the contact list 341 , the flow proceeds to step 55 . otherwise , the flow proceeds to step 54 . in step 54 , the control module 30 processes the connection request as an incoming voice call in a conventional manner . thereafter , the flow goes back to step 50 . in step 55 , the control module 30 disables operation of the speaker 321 . that is , the receiving mobile communication device 3 operates in a silent mode . in step 56 , the communication module 33 generates the ringing response signal to be sent to the sending mobile communication device 1 in response to the connection request . in step 57 , the timer 36 counts an elapsed time starting from generation of the ringing response signal . in step 58 , if the control module 30 determines that the elapsed time counted by the timer 36 has reached a predetermined threshold , the flow proceeds to step 59 . otherwise , the flow proceeds to step 60 . in step 59 , the control module 30 processes the connection request as an incoming voice call . thereafter , the flow goes back to step 50 . in step 60 , the communication module 33 detects receipt of a disconnection request from the sending mobile communication device 1 . in step 61 , upon detection of the disconnection request , the flow proceeds to step 62 . otherwise , the flow goes back to step 58 . in step 62 , the control module 30 accepts the disconnection request . in step 63 , the timer 36 stops counting the elapsed time . in step 64 , the control module 30 compares the elapsed time counted by the timer 36 with the lookup table 342 in the memory module 34 . in step 65 , if the control module 30 finds a matching relation in the lookup table 342 , the flow proceeds to step 66 . otherwise , the flow goes back to step 50 . in step 66 , the display 31 shows the corresponding message of the matching relation found in step 65 to the user of the receiving mobile communication device 3 . thereafter , the flow goes back to step 50 . it should be noted herein that the corresponding messages in the lookup table 342 are not limited to text form and may be audio files so that messages are provided to the user of the receiving mobile communication device 3 via an audio output in other embodiment of this invention . from the above description , the message transaction method of this invention translates different intervals of ringing signals into messages using a lookup table . as such , the messages can be sent from the sending mobile communication device 1 to the receiving mobile communication device 3 without incurring any costs on the subscriber of the sending mobile communication device 1 . furthermore , the message transaction method of this invention is implemented as a program that is installed in the sending and receiving mobile communication devices 1 , 3 , and requires no additional hardware to be installed in the sending and receiving mobile communication devices 1 , 3 . while the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment , it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements . | 7 |
the preferred embodiment of the stapler of the present invention is illustrated by way of example herein , with the stapler being capable of containing and alternately , selectively dispensing three different staple sizes . as mentioned above , the stapler of the present invention differs from previously known staplers in two principal aspects . first , the stapler of the present invention has a magazine which includes multiple cassettes for holding staples of different sizes -- three cassettes in the example illustrated herein . second , the stapler of the present invention includes a selector mechanism for selecting which of the multiple staple sizes is to be driven . these two aspects will be shown in considerable detail , with other more conventional components and conventional aspects of the stapler of the present invention being shown in much less detail . referring first to fig1 through 3 , a first staple guide member 60 is illustrated . the first staple guide member 60 includes two flat , parallel support rails 62 and 64 which extend upwardly from a base member 66 . the support rails 62 and 64 are of a height which will support staples of a first size ( such as , for example , one - quarter inch high staples ) thereon . note the configuration of the support rails 62 and 64 at the end illustrated on the right side thereof in fig1 . the support rails 62 and 64 have a curved notch located at the right end and the bottom thereof , which curved notch is indicated generally by the reference numeral 68 . the curved notch 68 will be used to provide clearance for the portion of the selector mechanism ( not illustrated in fig1 through 3 ) which selectively will allow staples located on the first staple guide member 60 to extend from the right side of the support rails 62 and 64 , or , alternately , will urge staples located on the first staple guide member 60 to the left away from the right side of the support rails 62 and 64 . projecting outwardly from the sides of the base member 66 of the first staple guide member 60 are a plurality of rectangular projections 70 , which will be used to facilitate mounting the first staple guide member 60 in a magazine housing ( not illustrated in fig1 through 3 ). centrally located in the base member 66 at the end of the first staple guide member 60 opposite the curved notch 68 is an aperture 72 , which will be used be used to facilitate securing a first staple feeding mechanism ( not illustrated in fig1 through 3 ). referring next to fig4 through 6 , a second staple guide member 74 is illustrated . the second staple guide member 74 includes two flat , parallel support rails 76 and 78 which extend upwardly from a base member 80 . the support rails 76 and 78 are of a height which will support staples of a second size ( such as , for example , three - eighth inch high staples ) thereon . note the configuration of the support rails 76 and 78 at the end illustrated on the right side thereof in fig1 . the support rails 76 and 78 have a curved notch located at the right end and the bottom thereof , which curved notch is indicated generally by the reference numeral 82 . the curved notch 82 will be used to provide clearance for the portion of the selector mechanism ( not illustrated in fig1 through 3 ) which selectively will allow staples located on the second staple guide member 74 to extend from the right side of the support rails 76 and 78 , or , alternately , will urge staples located on the second staple guide member 74 to the left away from the right side of the support rails 76 and 78 . projecting outwardly from the sides of the base member 80 of the second staple guide member 74 are a plurality of rectangular projections 84 , which will be used to facilitate mounting the second staple guide member 74 in a magazine housing ( not illustrated in fig4 through 6 ). centrally located in the base member 80 at the end of the second staple guide member 74 opposite the curved notch 82 is an aperture 86 , which will be used be used to facilitate securing a second staple feeding mechanism ( not illustrated in fig4 through 6 ). referring now to fig7 through 9 , a third staple guide member 88 is illustrated . the third staple guide member 88 includes two flat , parallel support rails 90 and 92 which extend upwardly from a base member 94 . the support rails 90 and 92 are of a height which will support staples of a first size ( such as , for example , three - quarter inch high staples ) thereon . note the configuration of the support rails 90 and 92 at the end illustrated on the right side thereof in fig1 . the support rails 90 and 92 have a curved notch located at the right end and the bottom thereof , which curved notch is indicated generally by the reference numeral 96 . the curved notch 96 will be used to provide clearance for the portion of the selector mechanism ( not illustrated in fig1 through 3 ) which selectively will allow staples located on the third staple guide member 88 to extend from the right side of the support rails 90 and 92 , or , alternately , will urge staples located on the third staple guide member 88 to the left away from the right side of the support rails 90 and 92 . projecting outwardly from the sides of the base member 94 of the third staple guide member 88 are a plurality of rectangular projections 98 , which will be used to facilitate mounting the third staple guide member 88 in a magazine housing ( not illustrated in fig7 through 9 ). centrally located in the base member 94 at the end of the third staple guide member 88 opposite the curved notch 96 is an aperture 100 , which will be used be used to facilitate securing a third staple feeding mechanism ( not illustrated in fig7 through 9 ). referring to fig1 through 13 , a first camming element 102 is illustrated , which first camming element 102 is the part of the staple selector mechanism which will be used in conjunction with staples of the first size located on the first staple guide member 60 ( fig1 through 3 ). the first camming element 102 includes a pair of spaced apart , relatively thin cylindrical members 104 and 106 having a single shaft 108 extending therebetween . the thicknesses of the cylindrical members 104 and 106 are identical . the shaft 108 is eccentrically located between the cylindrical members 104 and 106 so that rotation of the cylindrical members 104 and 106 will move the shaft 108 laterally back and forth . the shaft 108 is located slightly to one side of the central axis of the cylindrical members 104 and 106 , as best shown in fig1 . centrally located on the side of the cylindrical member 104 opposite the side from which the shaft 108 extends is a rectangular projection 110 . centrally located in the rectangular projection 110 is a tapped aperture 112 . centrally located on the side of the cylindrical member 106 opposite the side from which the shaft 108 extends is a rectangular projection 114 . centrally located in the rectangular projection 114 is a tapped aperture 116 . the heights of the rectangular projections 110 and 114 are equal . referring to fig1 through 17 , a second camming element 118 is illustrated , which second camming element 118 is the part of the staple selector mechanism which will be used in conjunction with staples of the second size located on the second staple guide member 74 ( fig4 through 6 ). the second camming element 118 includes a pair of spaced apart , relatively thin cylindrical members 120 and 122 having two spaced apart shafts 124 and 126 extending therebetween . the thicknesses of the cylindrical members 120 and 122 are identical , and are identical to the thicknesses of cylindrical members 104 and 106 in the first camming element 102 ( fig1 ). the shafts 124 and 126 are eccentrically located between the cylindrical members 120 and 122 so that rotation of the cylindrical members 120 and 122 will move the shafts 124 and 126 laterally back and forth . the shafts 124 and 126 are both located on the same halves of the cylindrical members 120 and 122 and slightly to one side of the central axis thereof , as best shown in fig1 . the lengths of the shafts 124 and 126 are identical to the length of the shaft 108 in the first camming element 102 ( fig1 ). centrally located on the side of the cylindrical member 120 opposite the side from which the shafts 124 and 126 extend is a rectangular projection 128 . centrally located in the rectangular projection 128 is a tapped aperture 130 . centrally located on the side of the cylindrical member 122 opposite the side from which the shafts 124 and 126 extend is a rectangular projection 132 . centrally located in the rectangular projection 132 is a tapped aperture 134 . the heights of the rectangular projections 128 and 132 are equal , and are greater than the heights of the rectangular projections 110 and 114 of the first camming element 102 ( fig1 ). referring now to fig1 through 21 , a third camming element 136 is illustrated , which third camming element 136 is the part of the staple selector mechanism which will be used in conjunction with staples of the third size located on the third staple guide member 88 ( fig7 through 9 ). the third camming element 136 includes a pair of spaced apart , relatively thin cylindrical members 138 and 140 having a single shaft 142 extending therebetween . the thicknesses of the cylindrical members 138 and 140 are identical , and are greater than the thicknesses of the cylindrical members 104 and 106 in the first camming element 102 ( fig1 ), and the thicknesses of the cylindrical members 120 and 122 in the second camming element 118 ( fig1 ). the shaft 142 is eccentrically located between the cylindrical members 138 and 140 so that rotation of the cylindrical members 138 and 140 will move the shaft laterally back and forth . the shaft 142 is located slightly to one side of the central axis of the cylindrical members 138 and 140 , as best shown in fig2 . the length of the shaft 142 is identical to the length of the shaft 108 in the first camming element 102 ( fig1 ), and the lengths of the shafts 124 and 126 in the second camming element 118 ( figs . 14 and 17 ). centrally located on the side of the cylindrical member 138 opposite the side from which the shaft 142 extends is a rectangular projection 144 . centrally located in the rectangular projection 144 is a tapped aperture 146 . centrally located on the side of the cylindrical member 140 opposite the side from which the shaft 142 extends is a rectangular projection 148 . centrally located in the rectangular projection 148 is a tapped aperture 150 . the heights of the rectangular projections 144 and 148 are equal , and are identical to the heights of the rectangular projections 110 and 114 of the first camming element 102 ( fig1 ). the heights of the rectangular projections 144 and 148 are less than the heights of the rectangular projections 128 and 132 of the second camming element 118 ( fig1 ). referring next to fig2 and 23 , a first gear member 152 is illustrated . the first gear member 152 has a rectangular aperture 154 located therein , which rectangular aperture 154 is for placement onto one of the rectangular projections 110 or 114 of the first camming element 102 illustrated in fig1 through 13 . the height of the rectangular projections 110 and 114 are equal to the thickness of the first gear member 152 . note that two of the first gear members 152 will be used in conjunction with the first camming element 102 . referring now to fig2 and 25 , a second gear member 156 is illustrated . the second gear member 156 includes a first gear element 158 and a second gear element 160 , which are coaxial and adjacent each other . the first gear element 158 is of the same diameter and has the same pitch and number of gear teeth as the first gear member 152 ( fig2 and 23 ). the first gear element 158 is smaller in diameter than the second gear element 160 . the second gear member 156 has a rectangular aperture 162 located therein , which rectangular aperture 162 is for placement onto one of the rectangular projections 128 or 132 of the second camming element 118 illustrated in fig1 through 17 . the second gear member 156 will be mounted onto one of the rectangular projections 128 or 132 of the second camming element 118 with the first gear element 158 located adjacent one of the cylindrical members 120 and 122 , respectively . the height of the rectangular projections 128 and 132 are greater than the thickness of the second gear member 156 . note that two of the second gear members 156 will be used in conjunction with the second camming element 118 . referring next to fig2 and 27 , a third gear member 164 is illustrated . the third gear member 164 is of the same diameter and has the same pitch and number of gear teeth as the second gear element 160 of the second gear member 156 ( fig2 and 25 ). the third gear member 164 has a rectangular aperture 166 located therein , which rectangular aperture 166 is for placement onto one of the rectangular projections 144 or 148 of the third camming element 136 illustrated in fig1 through 21 . the height of the rectangular projections 144 and 148 are equal to the thickness of the third gear member 164 . note that two of the third gear members 164 will be used in conjunction with the third camming element 136 . referring to fig2 and 29 , a staple size selector knob 168 is illustrated which has a greater diameter cylindrical portion 170 and a smaller diameter cylindrical portion 172 . the greater diameter cylindrical portion 170 of the staple size selector knob 168 has a cylindrical recess 174 located axially therein , with a smaller diameter aperture 176 extending through the rest of the greater diameter cylindrical portion 170 of the staple size selector knob 168 and the entire smaller diameter cylindrical portion 172 of the staple size selector knob 168 . located in the smaller diameter cylindrical portion 172 of the staple size selector knob 168 around the aperture 176 is a rectangular aperture 178 . the rectangular aperture 178 is for placement onto the distal end of one of the rectangular projections 144 and 148 of the second camming element 118 ( fig1 through 17 ) after installation of the second gear member 156 ( fig2 and 25 ) onto one of the rectangular projections 144 and 148 . also shown in fig2 is a screw 180 for installation through the cylindrical recess 174 into the aperture 176 in the staple size selector knob 168 to retain the staple size selector knob 168 on the second camming element 118 . referring now to fig3 through 33 , a first driving blade guide member 182 is illustrated ( note that the first driving blade guide member extends further upward from the portion illustrated in the figures ). the first driving blade guide member 182 has an inner side , best shown in fig3 , which will face a driving blade ( not shown in fig3 through 33 ). horizontally located in the first driving blade guide member 182 on the inner side thereof is a laterally extending notch 184 , which will function to limit rotation of the first camming element 102 ( fig1 through 13 ). located on the bottom of the first driving blade guide member 182 and facing the inner side of the first driving blade guide member 182 is a laterally extending beveled edge 186 . mounted onto the outer side of the first driving blade guide member 182 ( best illustrated in fig3 ) is a spring member 188 , which extends below the laterally extending beveled edge 186 of the first driving blade guide member 182 . the spring member 188 will serve a dual function : first , to act as a blade guide when staples of either the first size or the third size are to be dispensed , and second , to inhibit rotation of the second camming element 118 ( fig1 through 17 ) when staples of the second size are to be dispensed . completing the construction of the first driving blade guide member 182 are two threaded apertures 190 and 192 located in one side thereof , and two threaded apertures 194 and 196 located in the other side thereof . referring next to fig3 through 36 , a second driving blade guide member 198 is illustrated . the second driving blade guide member 198 has an inner side , best shown in fig3 , which will face a driving blade ( not shown in fig3 through 36 ). horizontally located in the second driving blade guide member 198 on the inner side thereof is a laterally extending notch 200 , which will function to limit rotation of the third camming element 136 ( fig1 through 21 ). completing the construction of the second driving blade guide member 198 are two threaded apertures 202 and 204 located in one side thereof , and two threaded apertures 206 and 208 located in the other side thereof . referring next to fig3 and 38 , the installation of a number of the components described above into a magazine housing 210 is illustrated . the magazine housing 210 is essentially u - shaped in cross - section , with the u being inverted with the open side being on the bottom in the views depicted in fig3 and 38 . the first staple guide member 60 illustrated in fig1 through 3 , the second staple guide member 74 illustrated in fig4 through 6 , and the third staple guide member 88 illustrated in fig7 through 9 ( all shown in dotted lines ) are installed into the magazine housing 210 . the installation of the staple guide members 60 , 74 , and 88 is facilitated by a plurality of rectangular apertures 212 located in the sides of the magazine housing 210 . the rectangular projections 70 , 84 , and 98 in the staple guide members 60 , 74 , and 88 , respectively , fit into the rectangular apertures 212 in the magazine housing 210 to retain the staple guide members 60 , 74 , and 88 , respectively , in place within the magazine housing 210 . thus , it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the staple guide members 60 , 74 , and 88 are oriented in a vertical array , atop each other . the first camming element 102 illustrated in fig1 through 13 , the second camming element 118 illustrated in fig1 through 17 , and the third camming element 136 illustrated in fig1 through 21 are rotatably mounted in the magazine housing 210 . the side of the magazine housing 210 illustrated in fig3 contains three circular apertures 214 , 216 , and 218 therein . the side of the magazine housing 210 illustrated in fig3 contains three circular apertures 220 , 222 , and 224 therein . the circular apertures 214 and 220 are disposed adjacent the curved notch 68 ( fig1 ) in the first staple guide member 60 , the circular apertures 216 and 222 are disposed adjacent the curved notch 82 ( fig4 ) in the second staple guide member 74 , and the circular apertures 218 and 224 are disposed adjacent the curved notch 96 ( fig7 ) in the third staple guide member 88 . the first camming element 102 illustrated in fig1 through 13 is installed with the cylindrical member 104 being rotatably mounted in the circular aperture 214 , and with the cylindrical member 106 being rotatably mounted in the circular aperture 220 . the second camming element 118 illustrated in fig1 through 17 is installed with the cylindrical member 120 being rotatably mounted in the circular aperture 216 , and with the cylindrical member 122 being rotatably mounted in the circular aperture 222 . the third camming element 136 illustrated in fig1 through 21 is installed with the cylindrical member 138 being rotatably mounted in the circular aperture 218 , and with the cylindrical member 140 being rotatably mounted in the circular aperture 224 . also mounted in the magazine housing 210 are the first driving blade guide member 182 ( fig3 through 33 ) and the second driving blade guide member 198 ( fig3 through 36 ). the right side of the magazine housing 210 as illustrated in fig3 contains four countersunk apertures 226 , 228 , 230 , and 232 located therein . the left side of the magazine housing 210 as illustrated in fig3 contains four countersunk apertures 234 , 236 , 238 , and 240 located therein . referring now to fig3 in addition to fig3 and 38 , the first driving blade guide member 182 ( fig3 through 33 ) is retained in the magazine housing 210 by flathead bolts 242 , 244 , 246 , and 248 , which are inserted through the countersunk apertures 226 , 228 , 234 , and 236 , respectively , in the magazine housing 210 , and then are screwed into the threaded apertures 190 , 192 , 194 , and 196 ( fig3 and 33 ), respectively , in the first driving blade guide member 182 . the second driving blade guide member 198 ( fig3 through 36 ) is retained in the magazine housing 210 by flathead bolts 250 , 252 , 254 , and 256 , which are inserted through the countersunk apertures 230 , 232 , 238 , and 240 , respectively , in the magazine housing 210 , and then are screwed into the threaded apertures 202 , 204 , 206 , and 208 ( fig3 and 36 ), respectively , in the second driving blade guide member 198 . referring to fig3 and 40 in addition to fig2 and 38 , the installation of the first gear members 152 ( fig2 and 23 ), the second gear members 156 ( fig2 and 25 ), the third gear members 164 ( fig2 and 27 ), and the staple size selector knob 168 ( fig2 and 29 ) is illustrated . the rectangular aperture 154 in one of the first gear members 152 is placed over the rectangular projection 110 on the first camming element 102 , with a bolt 258 being screwed into the tapped aperture 112 ( fig1 ) to retain the one first gear member 152 in place adjacent the cylindrical member 104 . the rectangular aperture 154 in another of the first gear members 152 is placed over the rectangular projection 114 on the first camming element 102 , with a bolt 260 being screwed into the tapped aperture 116 ( fig1 ) to retain the other first gear member 152 in place adjacent the cylindrical member 106 . the rectangular aperture 162 in one of the second gear members 156 is placed over the rectangular projection 128 on the second camming element 118 , with the first gear element 158 being located adjacent the cylindrical member 120 . the rectangular projection 128 extends from the rectangular aperture 162 in the one second gear member 156 . the first gear element 158 of the second gear member 156 adjacent the cylindrical member 120 engages the first gear member 152 adjacent the cylindrical member 104 . the rectangular aperture 178 ( fig2 ) of one of the staple size selector knobs 168 is then placed over the rectangular projection 128 on the second camming element 118 , and the bolt 180 ( fig2 ) is screwed into the tapped aperture 130 ( fig1 ) to retain both the one staple size selector knob 168 and the one second gear member 156 in place . the rectangular aperture 162 in the other of the second gear members 156 is placed over the rectangular projection 132 on the second camming element 118 , with the first gear element 158 being located adjacent the cylindrical member 122 . the rectangular projection 132 extends from the rectangular aperture 162 in the other second gear member 156 . the first gear element 158 of the second gear member 156 adjacent the cylindrical member 122 engages the first gear member 152 adjacent the cylindrical member 106 . the rectangular aperture 178 ( fig2 ) of the other of the staple size selector knobs 168 is then placed over the rectangular projection 132 on the second camming element 118 , and the bolt 180 ( fig2 ) is screwed into the tapped aperture 134 ( fig1 ) to retain both the other staple size selector knob 168 and the other second gear member 156 in place . the rectangular aperture 166 in one of the third gear members 164 is placed over the rectangular projection 144 on the third camming element 136 . the second gear element 160 of the second gear member 156 adjacent the cylindrical member 120 engages the third gear member 164 adjacent the cylindrical member 138 . a bolt 262 is screwed into the tapped aperture 146 ( fig1 ) to retain the one third gear member 164 in place adjacent the cylindrical member 138 . the rectangular aperture 166 in the other of the third gear members 164 is placed over the rectangular projection 148 on the third camming element 136 . the second gear element 160 of the second gear member 156 adjacent the cylindrical member 122 engages the third gear member 164 adjacent the cylindrical member 140 . a bolt 264 is screwed into the tapped aperture 150 ( fig2 ) to retain the other third gear member 164 in place adjacent the cylindrical member 140 . accordingly , it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the camming elements 102 , 118 , and 136 will rotate together . when one of the staple size selector knobs 168 is used to rotate the second camming element 118 a specific angular amount in a first direction , both the first camming element 102 and the third camming element 136 will rotate the same angular amount , but in the opposite direction . referring next to fig4 , a cross - sectional view of the assembly illustrated in fig3 is illustrated . it will be appreciated from fig4 that the rotation of the first camming element 102 is a clockwise direction ( as seen in fig4 ) is limited by contact by the shaft 108 of the first camming element 102 with the laterally extending notch 184 in the first driving blade guide member 182 to the position illustrated in fig4 . however , the first camming element 102 is free to rotate 180 degrees in a counterclockwise direction from the position illustrated in fig4 . similarly , it will be appreciated that the rotation of the third camming element 136 in a counterclockwise direction ( as seen in fig4 ) is limited by contact by the shaft 142 of the third camming element 136 with the laterally extending notch 200 in the second driving blade guide member 198 to a position 180 degrees clockwise from the position illustrated in fig4 . however , the third camming element 136 is also free to rotate 180 degrees in a counterclockwise direction from the position illustrated in fig4 . finally , it will be appreciated that the second camming element 118 is also free to rotate 180 degrees from the position illustrated in fig4 , but in a clockwise direction . additionally , when the second camming element 118 rotates 90 degrees clockwise from the position illustrated in fig4 , further rotation in either direction will be inhibited , but not prevented , by contact of the bend in the spring member 188 with the shafts 142 and 144 of the second camming element 118 . a series of staples of a first size 266 is illustrated as stored in the first staple guide member 60 . the series of staples of the first size 266 is urged to the right as illustrated in fig4 by a first spring biased staple feeding mechanism 268 , which is of conventional design , and which is retained in the aperture 72 in the first staple guide member 60 . note that the first camming element 102 allows the series of staples of the first size 266 to extend to the right adjacent the first driving blade guide member 182 , with one staple of the series of staples of the first size 266 being over the right edge of the first staple guide member 60 . a series of staples of a second size 270 is illustrated as stored in the second staple guide member 74 . the series of staples of the second size 270 is urged to the right as illustrated in fig4 by a second spring biased staple feeding mechanism 272 , which is also of conventional design , and which is retained in the aperture 86 in the second staple guide member 74 . note that the second camming element 118 urges the series of staples of the second size 270 to the left away from the first driving blade guide member 182 and the second driving blade guide member 198 , with no staple of the series of staples of the second size 270 being over ( or even near ) the right edge of the second staple guide member 74 . a series of staples of a third size 274 is illustrated as stored in the third staple guide member 88 . the series of staples of the third size 274 is urged to the right as illustrated in fig4 by a third spring biased staple feeding mechanism 276 , which is also of conventional design , and which is retained in the aperture 100 in the third staple guide member 88 . note that the third camming element 136 urges the series of staples of the third size 274 to the left away from the second driving blade guide member 198 , with no staple of the series of staples of the third size 274 being over ( or even near ) the right edge of the third staple guide member 88 . note also in fig4 the presence of the lower portion of a driving blade 278 . the driving blade 278 will travel from the position illustrated in fig4 in a downward direction adjacent the first driving blade guide member 182 and the second driving blade guide member 198 , until the bottom edge of the driving blade 278 reaches the bottom of the second driving blade guide member 198 and the magazine housing 210 . in this travel , any staple located in a passageway adjacent the first driving blade guide member 182 and / or the second driving blade guide member 198 will be driven from the device . thus , in the position illustrated in fig4 , the right - most staple in the series of staples of the first size 266 will be driven . referring now to fig4 through 44 in addition to fig4 , the three relative positions of the camming elements 102 , 118 , and 136 are illustrated . the position illustrated in fig4 is the same as the - one illustrated in fig4 , in which the series of staples of the first size 266 are located to the right adjacent the first driving blade guide member 182 . in this position , the right - most one of the series of staples of the first size 266 will be driven , while the series of staples of the second size 270 and the series of staples of the third size 274 are located to the left and will not be driven . in the position illustrated in fig4 , the series of staples of the second size 270 will be located to the right adjacent the first driving blade guide member 182 and the second driving blade guide member 198 . in this position , the right - most one of the series of staples of the second size 270 will be driven , while the series of staples of the first size 266 and the series of staples of the third size 274 will be located to the left and will not be driven . finally , in the position illustrated in fig4 , the series of staples of the third size 274 will be located to the right adjacent the second driving blade guide member 198 . in this position , the right - most one of the series of staples of the third size 274 will be driven , while the series of staples of the first size 266 and the series of staples of the second size 270 will be located to the left and will not be driven . referring now to fig4 , the conventional components of the stapler of the present invention are illustrated in schematic form . note that a cover may be disposed to conceal a number of the various components mounted on the magazine housing 210 . the left side of the magazine housing 210 as illustrated in fig4 is pivotally mounted to a base 280 at the left side of the base . located near the right side of the base 280 is an anvil 282 having recesses therein to cause clinching of staples urged into the anvil 282 . in the preferred embodiment , a biasing member 284 urges the magazine housing 210 pivotally away from the base 280 . a driving element 286 is used to drive the driving blade 278 in a downward direction to cause the device to staple a stack of paper 288 . the driving element 286 may be either a flat member which may be driven by the hand of a user , or , alternately , it may be an electromechanical driving mechanism . both such mechanisms are conventional in the art . in the preferred embodiment , a biasing member 290 urges the driving element 286 upwardly to bias the driving blade 278 to a position above the uppermost of the staples contained in the magazine housing 210 when the driving element 286 is not actuated . it may therefore be appreciated from the above detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention that it teaches a stapler which is capable of selectively dispensing a plurality of different staple sizes without requiring staples of different sizes to be unloaded from the stapler , or loaded into the stapler . the stapler of the present invention is also capable of dispensing a wide range of different staple sizes , thereby eliminating the requirement that an office have multiple different staplers for different stapling applications . in addition , a plurality of different size staples are storable in distinct locations in the stapler of the present invention , with each of these distinct locations being independently accessible to allow the particular size of staples accommodated therein to be conveniently reloaded . the particular size of staples to be dispensed by the stapler of the present invention is selectable from among the plurality of sizes of staples stored therein in a simple and easy to accomplish manner . the driving force used to operate the stapler of the present invention may either be the hand of a user in a manual application , or an electromechanically driven mechanism in a power operated application . the stapler of the present invention is quite compact in view of the fact that it contains multiple different sizes of staples , thereby presenting a device which has application either on a desktop where space is at a premium , or in other similar locations . the stapler of the present invention is of fabrication which is both durable and long lasting , and it requires little or no maintenance to be provided by its user throughout its operating lifetime . in order to enhance the market appeal of the stapler of the present invention , it is of inexpensive construction to thereby afford it the broadest possible market . finally , all of the aforesaid advantages and objectives of the present invention are achieved without incurring any substantial relative disadvantage . although an exemplary embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described with reference to particular embodiments and applications thereof , it will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art that a number of changes , modifications , or alterations to the invention as described herein may be made , none of which depart from the spirit or scope of the present invention . all such changes , modifications , and alterations should therefore be seen as being within the scope of the present invention . | 1 |
the following definitions and explanations provide background information pertaining to the technical field of the present invention , and are intended to facilitate the understanding of the present invention without limiting its scope : child ( also daughter ): from graph theory , a node pointed to by a path from a parent crawler : a program that automatically explores the world wide web by retrieving a document and recursively retrieving some or all the documents that are linked to it . depth ( level ) of a node : the number of nodes from the root to the node in its tree . distance measure : a numeric metric between 0 and 1 ( inclusive ) that measures how similar two trees are . the lower is the distance measure , the more similar are the two trees . if the distance measure between two trees is below a user - defined threshold , the two trees are considered similar . otherwise , they are considered dissimilar . dtd ( document type definition ) defines a schema of a semi - structured document such as sgml ( standard generalized markup language ), html , or xml documents . flatten : to remove structure , especially from an entity with implicit tree structure , in order to achieve a simple collection of leaves hit : a response to a search query on the www . the response is a document found by the search engine that contains key words or other attributes relevant to the search query . html ( hypertext markup language ): a standard language for attaching presentation and linking attributes to informational content within documents . during a document authoring stage , html . “ tags ” are embedded within the informational content of the document . when the web document ( or “ html document ”) is subsequently transmitted by a web server to a web browser , the tags are interpreted by the browser and used to parse and display the document . in addition to specifying how the web browser is to display the document , html tags can be used to create hyperlinks to other web documents . internet : a collection of interconnected public and private computer networks that are linked together with routers by a set of standards protocols to form a global , distributed network . keyword : a string that spells out the name of a concept . label of a node : the name of the node . it is one of the keywords specified by the user . label path : a label path is the concatenation of the names of the nodes in the path . markup language : a method of adding information to the text indicating the logical components of a document , or instructions for layout of the text on the page or other information which can be interpreted by some automatic system . path : the sequence of nodes encountered in the route between any two nodes ( inclusive ). schema : a set of grammatical rules that define the allowed structure and syntax of a document . dtd is a specific type of schema , which is used to define xml documents . search engine : a remotely accessible world wide web tool that allows users to conduct keyword searches for information on the internet . seed set : an initial set of documents found by a search . semi - structured : implying a loose schema , or not conforming to a fixed schema . server : a software program or a computer that responds to requests from a web browser by returning (“ serving ”) web documents . subpath : path a is a subpath of path b if the sequence of nodes of a is part of the sequence of nodes of b . tags : codes ( as in html or xml ) that give instructions for formatting or action . tree : a hierarchical structure which is made up by nodes . nodes are connected by edges from one node ( parent ) to another ( child ). a single node at apex of the tree is known as the root node , while the terminus of a path in the opposite direction is a leaf . url ( uniform resource locator ): a unique address that fully specifies the location of a content object on the internet . the general format of a url is protocol :// server - address / path / filename . web browser : a software program that allows users to request and read hypertext documents . the browser gives some means of viewing the contents of web documents and of navigating from one document to another . web document or page : a collection of data available on the world wide web and identified by a url . in the simplest , most common case , a web page is a file written in html and stored on a web server . it is possible for the server to generate pages dynamically in response to a request from the user . a web page can be in any format that the browser or a helper application can display . the format is transmitted as part of the headers of the response as a mime type , e . g . “ text / html ”, “ image / gif ”. an html web page will typically refer to other web pages and internet resources by including hypertext links . web site : a database or other collection of inter - linked hypertext documents (“ web documents ” or “ web pages ”) and associated data entities , which is accessible via a computer network , and which forms part of a larger , distributed informational system such as the www . in general , a web site corresponds to a particular internet domain name , and includes the content of a particular organization . other types of web sites may include , for example , a hypertext database of a corporate “ intranet ” ( i . e ., an internal network which uses standard internet protocols ), or a site of a hypertext system that uses document retrieval protocols other than those of the www . world wide web ( www , also web ): an internet client — server hypertext distributed information retrieval system . xlink ( xml linking language ): an xml syntax that allows the specification of hyperlinks within xml documents . the xlink framework makes it possible to target a specific section of a document and adds other options to make linking easier . xml : extensible markup language . a standard , semi - structured language used for web documents . during a document authoring stage , xml “ tags ” are embedded within the informational content of the document . these tags are not predefined and can be interpreted by different applications for different purposes , such as exchange of data , visual display . for example , when the web document ( or “ xml document ”) is subsequently transmitted by a web server to a web browser , the tags are interpreted by the browser and used to parse and display the document . in addition to specifying how the web browser is to display the document , xml tags can be used to create hyperlinks to other web documents . xpointer ( xml pointer language ): an xml syntax that allows the specification of hyperlinks within xml documents . xpointer enables internal xml structures to be referenced rather than referencing the entire page . the syntax is appended to a url from another page to point to an element inside an xml document . fig1 portrays the overall environment in which a schema discovery system 10 for semi - structured documents according to the present invention may be used . the system 10 includes a software or computer program product which is typically embedded within , or installed on a host server 15 . alternatively , the system 10 can be saved on a suitable storage medium such as a diskette , a cd , a hard drive , or like devices . while the system 10 will be described in connection with the www , the system 10 can be used with a stand - alone repository of terms that may have been derived from the www and / or other sources . the cloud - like communication network 20 is comprised of communication lines and switches connecting servers such as servers 25 , 27 , to gateways such as gateway 30 . the servers 25 , 27 and the gateway 30 provide the communication access to the www internet . users , such as remote internet users are represented by a variety of computers such as computers 35 , 37 , 39 , and can query the host server 15 for the desired information . the host server 15 is connected to the network 20 via a communications link such as a telephone , cable , or satellite link . the servers 25 , 27 can be connected via high speed internet network lines 44 , 46 to other computers and gateways . the servers 25 , 27 provide access to stored information such as hypertext or web documents indicated generally at 50 , 55 , and 60 . the hypertext documents 50 , 55 , 60 most likely include embedded hypertext link to other locally stored pages , and hypertext links 70 , 72 , 74 , 76 to other webs sites or documents 55 , 60 that are stored by various web servers such as the server 27 . fig2 illustrates a high - level architecture showing the system 10 used in the context of an internet environment . the system 10 resides between the user and the semi - structured documents available for search on the www 20 . documents judged to fall into a given category by the system will be made available to the user for their perusal and possible use . as a specific example , a user employs a browser or a user interface ( ui ) 140 to enter a search query that is transmitted to a search service provider 100 . in turn , the search service provider 100 , accesses the system 10 . the system automatically searches the semi - structured documents on the www 20 . the search results will be sent to the user via the search service provider 100 . the search results may include a list of urls and associated brief abstracts describing the nature of the resources found . in the first step , a document classification system will be described in more detail with further reference to fig3 . raw html files 300 may be searched for , selected or downloaded and stored according to criteria representing resumes such as keywords such as “ resume ”, “ job application ”, “ job search ”, or a combination of words and phrases such as “ job experience ”, “ university education ” etc . the schematic structures 305 are extracted from the html files by determining common keywords , and section titles in the html files 300 . the html files may hierarchically refer to other files and point to other locations , thus the files may need flattening to incorporate elements from several locations into one file . keywords are also extracted from the html files which will be used to subsequently determine the dtd . the html files are rewritten into xml format . keywords identify important concepts in the html documents . the schematic structures of markup documents are extracted and represented as sets of ordered trees with nodes labeled by a set of keywords input from the user . reordering rules are used to reconfigure the trees so that its structure resembles the semantic structures of the html documents more closely . at step 310 ordered trees are mapped to sets of label paths , therefore ignoring ordering and repetitive information . the assumption is that choosing an imprecise representation helps to reveal common patterns . the technique is to incrementally explore label paths of increasing length which are analyzed by constraint rules to discover frequent label paths at step 315 , for example , as described in the copending u . s . patent application ser . no . 09 / 531 , 019 . an exemplary tree 400 is shown in fig4 a where the zero level is the html identifier , followed by the objective label describing the type of job the individual is looking for , and further illustrating the applicant &# 39 ; s educational qualifications such as date , degree , and organizations . an illustration of another common sequence or tree 410 is also shown in fig4 b , where the contact information is the starting information , and education is highlighted in the sequence of education , degree , date , and organization . fig4 c illustrates yet another common configuration or tree 420 , in which the contact information is the starting information and education is highlighted in the sequence of education , organization , degree and date . a possible tree ordering is shown in fig5 which illustrates how the data in fig4 a through 4c may generate several trees t 1 , t 2 , t 3 , and different label paths p 1 , p 2 , p 3 , p 4 , p 5 , p 6 . while it may be relatively easy for a human to find equivalencies among small number of these label paths p 1 , p 2 , p 3 , p 4 , p 5 , p 6 , it is significantly more difficult to do so for a large number of label paths . the present invention addresses the solution to the problem of automating the analysis of equivalencies in the label paths . returning to fig3 the method 300 uses a set of constraints at step 315 to analyze the label paths to determine the most frequent path or paths . prevalent patterns among the trees are label paths that occur frequently among all the html documents . a constraint mechanism for users may be introduced to specify restriction on the forms of schematic structures in the common schema . this helps to reduce the search space and to filter out noise . the set of frequent label paths satisfying the constraints are discovered by finding the most common label paths among the trees at depths of 1 or more , and then reordering the label paths and searching again for common label paths of increasing length . the task is to minimize searching in a simple heuristic . by using constraints to limit the search space the problem of searching may be greatly simplified . an example of two simple constraints that can be used to limit the search space is the following : ( 1 ) a keyword cannot appear more than once along a label path , and ( 2 ) the set of keywords is divided into two sets : title keywords and content keywords . title keywords can for example be the title of a resume , and hence can only occur as first level nodes in the tree . content keywords describe the content of title keywords and hence can only occur at a depth of greater than one in the tree . these simple constraints can significantly reduce the analytical computer processing time . for example , the label paths in the tree 400 of fig4 a of length 5 are : html . objective . education . degree . organization , and the label paths in the tree 410 of fig4 b of length 5 are : with reference to fig3 the method 300 identifies and unifies similar subtree structures at step 320 . since the documents share similar but inexact schematic structures , there are repetitive structures among the common tree structures discovered . these repetitive subtrees are identified by a notion of distance measure . subtrees that are similar have small distance measure and are subsequently merged together by flattening their structures up to certain depth , and by combining the flattened nodes into one level . in a fifth step , once the common label paths 325 have been found , a majority schema describing the xml documents has been determined . the majority schema is translated into an xml dtd 330 by a number of heuristics that can recover information lost in the discovery process , such as order among sibling elements , number of occurrences of an element in another element . minority schematic structures in the html documents are filtered out by the majority schema ( and hence its name ) which are not described in the dtd , resulting in a more concise dtd . an example of an xml dtd schema extracted from an experimental run of the schema on 380 resume documents downloaded from the www in html form is as follows : it is to be understood that the specific embodiments of the present invention that have been described are merely illustrative of certain applications of the principle of the present invention . numerous modifications may be made to the computation scheme of the xml dtd schema described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . for example , while the present invention is described for illustration purpose in relation to the www , it should be clear that the invention is applicable as well to databases and other tables with indexed entries . also , while the present invention is described for illustration purpose only in relation to the resume documents , it should be clear that the invention is applicable as well to various other profiles or structured document types . | 8 |
we now present a traceable private key public component generation process which allows deriving public components which offer a significantly improved decryption speed . previously , we noted that the components γ ( i ) can be computed using the recursive formula eq . ( 3 ); this operation is typically feasible in the broadcasting center , but not in a receiver . we can furthermore note that , working in a usual security configuration of 2 80 operations , the elements of a public component γ ( i ) have all a length of 160 bits . this new method works as follows : in the key generation process described previously , the step 1 is replaced by 1 ′ we compute the i - th fast boneh - franklin traceable private key public component as being the following 2k - valued vector over z / qz : γ ( i ) =( 1 , i mod q , i 2 mod q , . . . , i 2k − 1 mod q ). ( 12 ) the method presented below results in rather small exponent sizes which can drastically speed up the ciphertext decryption in the receiver : re - writing ( 11 ) as we can transform , for instance for l = 2 20 , 2k + 1 modular exponentiations with 160 - bit exponents by 2k modular exponentiations with 20 - bit exponents and one 160 - bit exponentiation . this is more than a 7 - times speedup . according a particular embodiment of the invention , q is higher than 2 127 in order to avoid generic attacks against the discrete logarithm problem . a further advantage of this method is that a receiver can compute the public component of the decryption key without the need to evaluate the recursive formula of eq . ( 3 ). in practical scenarios , there might be a situation where an attacker might have 2k secret components θ i at his disposal . this part of the invention describes specifically how to the system can be protected in such a case . we start by describing an attack that might occur in practice and allow the attacker to derive every private key in the system . let us suppose than an adversary has managed to get 2k private elements θ i , for 1 ≦ s ≦ 2k . the vectors in r / − ={ γ ( 1 ) , γ ( 2 ) , . . . , γ ( l ) } are assumed to be public . then , we can rewrite eq . ( 9 ) over z / qz as with ω j = r j / σr j α j ; note that the ω j are unknown coefficients to an adversary . however , with 2k private elements , we have a system of 2k linear equations with 2k variables with a single solution revealing the values of ω j to the adversary using a simple gaussian reduction . from those coefficients , the adversary can compute any other private key θ i , in the system not only the adversary will be able to create many untraceable combinations of keys , but he will be also able to distribute newly derived keys so that innocent users ( whose keys were a priori never compromised ) will be accused of treachery . we now present a traceable key generation process which allows deriving traceable keys resistant to pirates able to gather 2k keys or more . this new method works as follows : 1 ″ we compute the i - th fast boneh - franklin public component of the traceable private key as being the following 2k - valued vector over z / qz : γ ( i ) =( 1 , ζ 2 mod q , . . . , ζ 2k − mod q ). ( 14 ) where ζ ∈ r z / qz is drawn independently and uniformly at random for each γ ( i ) . in tamper - proof memory and hence the abovementioned public component becomes secret . a possible variant would consist in deriving ζ from i by processing i and / or additional information with a cryptographically secure pseudo - random function ( or permutation ) parametered by a secret key . to encrypt a message m ∈ g q , the standard boneh - franklin encryption procedure requires to generate a random value a er z / qz and the ciphertext is defined as being the ( 2k + 1 )- valued vector in most practical situations , the message m consists in a symmetric session key k , which is then used to encrypt some content , since m is of limited length ( no more than 20 bytes , usually ). furthermore , one possibly needs a hash function mapping a group element to a symmetric key . we propose to bypass these intermediate steps and to use one of the two following possible variants to encrypt any type of message faster than the standard boneh - franklin scheme , but keeping the same tracing and security properties . 1 . to encrypt a message m ∈{ 0 , 1 }* ( i . e ., a bitstring of arbitrary length ), we first generate a random value a ∈ r z / qz and the ciphertext is defined as being the ( 2k + 1 )- valued vector ( m ⊕ prf ( n , y a ), h 1 a , . . . , h 2k a ) ( 17 ) where prf (., .) denotes a cryptographically secure pseudo - random function . for instance , it can be hmac - sha1 , hmac - sha256 or a block cipher evaluated on a counter and where y a is considered as being the symmetric key and n is a nonce value ( e . g ., a counter incremented sufficiently many times to generate enough key stream ). here , the xor operation ⊕ could be replaced by any group law . 2 . to encrypt a message m ∈{ 0 , 1 }*, we first generate a random value a ∈ r z / qz and the ciphertext is defined as being the ( 2k + 1 )- valued vector ( e ( m , y a ), h 1 a , . . . , h 2k a ) ( 18 ) where e (., .) is a block cipher or any symmetric encryption scheme based on a block cipher , and where y a is considered as being the key . a possible variant would consist in mapping the y a value to a key using a hash function . another possible variant is an encryption scheme e (.,.) requiring additional information , like an initial vector . in pay - tv systems , the use of traceable asymmetric keys is an advantage in terms of fighting against piracy . the pay - tv receiver ( or the security module thereof ) is loaded with a private key i . e ., the public component γ ( i ) and the secret component θ i . each pay - tv receiver , such as a set top - box , multimedia device or wireless portable device ( dvb - h ), comprises at least one private key . the secret component is preferably stored in a secure container such as a sim card , smartcard of any type of tamper - proof memory . in a practical example , a video / audio data packet pspacket will be encrypted in the following way , assuming we are working with a multiplicative group and hmac - sha256 as the function prf ( see formula ( 17 )): compute h 1 a , h 2 a , . . . h 2k a using 2k last elements of the public key ( see formula ( 8 )), compute y a using the first element of the public key , divide the pspacket into chunk packets of 256 bits possibly remaining a residual packet of less than 256 bits , for each chunk , computing the hmac - sha256 of the index with y a as key , the index being updated for each chunk , and applying an xor function ( or any group operation ) with the respective chunk in case that a residual chunk exists , adjusting the hmac - sha256 value by extracting the number of bit corresponding to the number of bits of the residual chunk before applying the xor function . transmitting to the receiver , the result values after the xor function and the h 1 a , h 2 a , . . . , h 2k a in the receiver side , the received values h 1 a , h 2 a , . . . , h 2k a are considered as 2k values i . e . ρ 1 , ρ 2 , . . . ρ 2k . in order to extract the audio / video data pspacket , the following steps will be executed : using the γ ( i ) public component of the private key , and θ i is the secret component of the private key , executing the same hmac - sha256 operation as made on the sender side , by defining an index in the same way as defined during the encryption operation . in this way , the broadcasting center can send a global , encrypted version of audio / video packet to all receivers ; those receivers decrypt the packets using their own private key . a pirate willing to implement an unofficial ( unlawful ) receiver will necessarily have to embed a unique private key ( or a mix of several private keys ) in order to decrypt the packets . having such a rogue receiver in hands , the pay - tv operator can then recover the pirate private key ( s ) and possibly revoke it ( them ) using another mechanism and / or possibly take legal or any other action against the person having purchased the original ( broken ) receiver ( s ), provided such a link exists . instead of mixing the packets with hmac result , the packets are encrypted with a standard symmetric encryption scheme using a key k , this key being used at the mixing step with the hmac result . according to another embodiment , the encrypted packet is obtained by encrypting the said packet with a symmetric encryption scheme using the y a value as a key ( e . g . tdes in cbc mode ). according to an alternative embodiment , a hashing function is first applied to the y a value before being used as a key . this is preferably the case when the size of the y a value is different than the size of the symmetric encryption scheme key . another possible field of application concerns the protection of software against piracy . we may assume that a software is sold together with a hardware dongle containing a different private key for every package . this dongle is able to decrypt a global ciphertext contained in the software and getting a piece of information which is necessary to the use of the software . if a pirate is willing to clone dongles and sell them , he must embed at least a private key . getting such a pirate dongle in hands , the software seller can then recover the involved private key ( s ) and take legal or any other action against the person having purchased the original ( broken ) dongle ( s ), provided such a link exists . a . fiat and m . naor , “ broadcast encryption ”, crypto &# 39 ; 93 , lecture notes in computer science 773 , pp . 480 - 491 , springer - verlag , 1994 . b . chor , a . fiat and m . naor , “ tracing traitors ”, crypto &# 39 ; 94 , lecture notes in computer science 839 , pp . 257 - 270 , springer - verlag , 1994 . j . lotspiech , d . naor and m . naor , “ method for broadcast encryption and key revocation of stateless receivers ”, u . s . pat . no . 7 , 039 , 803 . j . lotspiech , d . naor and m . naor , “ method for tracing traitor receivers in a broadcast encryption system ”, u . s . pat . no . 7 , 010 , 125 . a . kiayias and s . pehlivanoglu , “ pirate evolution : how to make the most of your traitor keys ”, crypto &# 39 ; 07 , lecture notes in computer sciences 4622 , pp . 448 - 465 , springer - verlag , 2007 . d . boneh and m . franklin , “ an efficient public - key traitor tracing scheme ”, crypto ∝ 99 , lecture notes in computer sciences 1666 , pp . 338 - 353 , springer - verlag , 1999 . | 7 |
the device which will be described enables the transmission of a calling signal from a telephone exchange towards a subscriber who is connected to it by a carrier connection . fig1 shows a fairly general case of use of such a connection . various lines leave the telephone exchange in the direction of telephone subscribers . two inlets 3 and 4 have been shown . one ( 3 ) is connected by a physical connection i . e . a pair of electric conductors 5 to a telephone subscriber connected at 6 . this is the most usual connection method . both directions of the telephone channel occupy the voice band of 300 - 3400 hz on the pair 5 . the other inlet 4 is connected to a subscriber connected at 7 by means of a carrier connection using as the propagation medium the pair of conductors 5 already used as a physical connection between the inlet 3 and the subscriber connected at 6 . the two directions of the telephone channel connected to the inlet 4 occupy distinct frequency bands on the pair 5 which are above the voice band already occupied by the telephone channel connected to the inlet 3 . in the example described , the transmission direction of the telephone channel connected to the inlet 4 whose origin is the telephone exchange 1 and whose destination is the subscriber connected at 7 has its frequency transposed in the carrier connection by means of a carrier frequency whose transposition is 48 khz , the other direction having its frequency transposed by means of a carrier frequency whose transposition is 24 khz . the carrier connection shows itself by the presence of filter circuits 8 and 9 at the ends of that section of the pair 5 which the connection follows . the filter circuits 8 and 9 separate the telephone channels from said pair , and the modulation devices 10 and 11 ensure the frequency transpositions required for both directions of transmission of the telephone channel connected to the inlet 4 . the telephone exchange 1 sends calling signals towards the subscribers from both of the inlets 3 and 4 . these signals are identical for all the inlets and are constituted by an ac voltage of about 80 volts at a low frequency of 161 / 3 or 25 or 50 hz . in the case of a physical connection between the telephone exchange and a subscriber , the calling signal is transmitted by the pair of conductors without any appreciable loss and activates a bell placed at the subscriber end . in the case of a carrier connection between the subscriber and the exchange , the calling signal must be frequency transposed in order not to be mistaken for a calling signal associated with the telephone channel transmitted in the voice band on the pair of conductors which act as the propagation medium for the carrier connection . this frequency transposition makes it impossible for the exchange to transmit the power necessary for driving the bell at the subscriber end . this power must therefore be supplied by means of an auxiliary supply , for example by means of batteries disposed at the subscriber end of the carrier connection . the transmission and reception circuits shown in fig2 and 3 allow : firstly , the conversion of the calling signal sent from the telephone exchange into a signal which can be transmitted by a carrier connection , and secondly , the detection of this latter signal and its use to generate a calling signal at the subscriber end and having the same frequency and voltage characteristics as that sent from the telephone exchange . fig2 shows the diagram of a transmission circuit as well as its disposition in relation to modulation equipment for the carrier connection . the modulation equipment 10 of the carrier connection is of a known type . it has been very summarily illustrated to show its interconnections with the transmission circuit . it is composed mainly of : two filter circuits 12 and 13 for separating the two transmission directions of the telephone channel ; a modulator 15 in the send direction ; and a detection circuit 14 in the receive direction disposed between the filter circuits 12 and 13 and providing the necessary frequency transpositions ; and an oscillator 17 connected to the modulator 15 and supplying to the latter a carrier frequency . in the transmission direction from the telephone exchange towards the subscriber , the available signals on the inlet 4 in the 300 - 3400 hz voice band are directed by the filter circuit 12 towards the input of the modulator 15 where they are frequency transposed by means of a 48 khz carrier wave supplied by the oscillator 17 . at the output of the modulator 15 , they are recombined with the signals of the other transmission direction by the filter circuit 13 . at the output of the modulation equipment 10 they are injected by means of another filter circuit ( 8 fig1 ) on the pair of conductors ( 5 fig1 ) used as the propagation medium of the carrier connection . in the transmission direction going from the subscriber to the telephone exchange , the signals coming from the subscriber ( connected at 7 fig1 ) which have been frequency transposed by means of a carrier wave at 24 khz in the modulation equipment ( 11 fig1 ) situated at the subscriber end reach the modulation equipment 10 via filter circuit 13 . the latter circuit directs them towards the detection circuit 14 in order to recuperate the 300 - 3400 hz voice band . at the output of the detection circuit 14 , these signals are applied to the filter circuit 12 at the output of the modulation equipment 10 towards the inlet 4 of the telephone exchange 1 . the modulation equipment 10 also comprises a blocking circuit 18 disposed between the filter circuit 12 and the modulator 15 and controlled from the detection circuit 14 to inhibit the access of low - frequency signals to the modulator 15 when there is no 24 khz carrier wave , the latter existing only when the carrier connected subscriber set is off hook . the presence of this blocking circuit 18 is justified by the great difference in level which exists between the transmission and the calling signals sent from the telephone exchange 1 . when a calling signal is sent from the telephone exchange 1 via the inlet 4 , the blocking circuit 18 operates and the modulator 15 which does not receive any signal from the filter circuit 12 , transmits a pure sine wave constituted by the carrier wave supplied by the oscillator 17 . the transmission circuit of the calling signal proper is shown in fig2 surrounded by a rectangle in dotted lines 20 . it comprises mainly : the frequency doubler circuit is formed by a full wave rectifying diode bridge 21 , 22 , 23 and 24 whose ac input is connected in parallel with the input - output of the modulation equipment 10 at the inlet 4 via a series circuit with a resistor 25 and a capacitor 26 . the capacitor 26 blocks a possible dc component and allows the rectification threshold to be fixed about the average zero value of the calling signal sent from the telephone exchange 1 . the resistor 25 enables the calling signal emission circuit to be given a high input impedance so as not to weaken the level of the transmission signals at the input of the modulation equipment 10 . the rectangular shaping circuit is constituted by a component with a voltage threshold , here , a zener diode 28 connected in series with the input of the optical coupler and the rectified output of the diode bridge 21 , 22 , 23 and 24 . it determines the operation threshold of the optical coupler and enables it to be made insensitive to low - level signals . a resistor 29 and a capacitor 30 are also connected in parallel to the rectified output of the diode bridge 21 , 22 , 23 and 24 and are used to prevent the transmission of interference signals by the optical coupler . the light emitting diode 27 of the optical coupler is connected in series with the zener diode 28 to the rectified output of the diode bridge 21 , 22 , 23 and 24 . its output is connected to a control input for the modulation equipment 10 which makes it possible to block or not to block the oscillator 17 which supplies the 48 khz carrier wave used for frequency transposition of the transmission signals in the carrier connection of the telephone line coming from the inlet 4 . in co - operation with the filter circuit 12 of the modulation equipment 10 , it isolates the exchange equipment from the line equipment to which a calling signal is applied . the operation of the calling signal transmission circuit is as follows . when there is no calling signal , the signals available on the inlet 4 of the telephone exchange 1 have an amplitude which is insufficient to unblock the zener diode 28 ; the optical coupler does not transmit any signal and its output allows the oscillator 17 to function permanently . when there is a calling signal , the blocking circuit 18 placed at the input of the modulator 15 operates due to the fact that the subscriber has not gone offhook : the result of this is that the modulator 15 transmits integrally the signal which it receives from the oscillator 17 . when there is a signal , the calling signal rectified by the diode bridge 21 , 22 , 23 and 24 and put in rectangular form by the zener diode 28 , gives rise at the output of the optical coupler to a rectangular voltage having a double frequency , which is used to block and unblock the oscillator 17 . the result of this is the emission from the output of the filter circuit 13 of the modulation equipment , of the 48 khz carrier wave interrupted at a frequency twice that of the calling signal present on the inlet 4 of the telephone exchange . the waveforms a , b , c and d in fig4 illustrate the form , as a function of time , of the signals available at various points of the transmission circuit which has just been described . waveform a represents a calling signal such as it appears on the inlet 4 of the telephone exchange . it is an ac voltage at a low frequency of 50 hz with an amplitude of 80 volts . waveform b shows the form of the signal obtained on the rectified output of the diode bridge 21 , 22 , 23 and 24 when a calling signal is applied to the inlet 4 . it is a rectified sine wave , the straight line δ representing the threshold of the zener diode 28 . waveform c shows the form of the signal obtained at the output of the optical coupler when a calling signal is applied to the inlet 4 . it is an assymmetrical rectangular signal whose transition instants correspond to the blocking and unblocking instants of the zener diode 28 . its frequency is twice that of the calling signal sent from the telephone exchange 1 . waveform d shows the form of the signal transmitted to line by the modulation equipment 10 when a calling signal is applied to the inlet 4 . this signal is the signal of the oscillator 17 interrupted by the signal represented by waveform c . fig3 shows the diagram of the calling signal receiver circuit as well as its disposition in relation to the modulation equipment ( 11 fig1 ) placed at the subscriber end of the carrier connection . the modulation equipment 11 shown in fig3 is of the same type as the modulation equipment 10 shown in fig2 . it likewise comprises : two filter circuits 30 and 31 for separating the two directions of the transmission , a modulator 33 and a detection circuit 32 , disposed between the filter circuits 30 and 31 and ensuring the necessary frequency transpositions and an oscillator 35 connected to the modulator 33 . the operation of this modulation equipment 11 will not be given in detail , since it is similar to that already described with respect to the modulation equipment 10 . the calling signal receiver circuit is shown in fig3 surrounded by a dotted line 40 . it comprises mainly : the divide by two frequency divider 42 is connected to the output of the detection amplifier 32 of the modulation equipment 11 . it is provided for example by means of a bistable flip - flop . when a calling signal is applied to the inlet 4 of the telephone exchange 1 , the divider 42 provides a symmetrical rectangular signal having the same frequency as the calling signal and a mark - space ratio of one , this ratio improving efficiency . this device also enables distorsion to be eliminated which the line 5 may add to the signal generated by the modulation equipment 10 situated at the exchange ( graph d , fig4 ), and consequently to the signal detected at the subscriber end ( waveform e , fig4 ). the divider 42 also includes a blocking control 43 enabling the switch to be neutralized . the voltage multiplier is formed from a frequency changer and two rectifying and filtering circuits . the frequency changer includes a transformer 44 with a secondary winding whose centre tap provides the multiplied voltage . the primary winding of the transformer 44 constitutes the load of an amplifier 45 with complementary transistors which operates in class c and to where there is applied a high - frequency rectangular 12 khz signal coming from a divide by 2 circuit 52 . the amplifier 45 is fed by two symmetrical voltages + v , - v supplied by a power supply which is in general provided by means of storage batteries disposed at the subscriber end of the carrier connection . the relatively high frequency of 12 khz at which the amplifier 45 operates enables the use of a transformer 44 with a light - weight ferrite core with small bulk . two full wave rectifying circuits each formed by pairs of diodes 46 , 47 or 48 , 49 are connected to the secondary winding with a centre tap of the transformer 44 . the diode pairs are disposed in series and in opposition at the end of the secondary winding and connected by their junction point to the centre tap of the secondary winding by a filtering capacitor 50 or 51 . the diodes 46 , 47 of one of the rectifying circuits are disposed in the opposite direction to those 48 , 49 of the other so as to obtain at their outputs voltages of opposite signs . the operation frequency of 12 khz used for driving the frequency changer is obtained from the 24 khz frequency used as a transposition carrier frequency in the carrier connection for transmission of the signals originating at the subscriber end ( connected at 7 fig1 ) and whose destination is the inlet ( 4 fig1 ) of the telephone exchange . this 24 khz frequency is sampled in the modulation equipment 11 at the output of the oscillator 35 and subjected to a divide by two circuit 52 . this frequency divider circuit 52 can be formed by a bistable flip - flop . it includes a blocking control unit 53 which is used for blocking the frequency changer when the carrier - connected subscriber goes off - hook . the switch is formed by means of two complementary transistors 54 and 55 . the one , 54 , of pnp type , has its collector connected to the junction point of the anodes of the diodes 48 and 49 and its emitter connected via the earth to one of the conductors 56 of the line connecting the modulation equipment 11 to the subscriber connected at 7 . since the other conductor 57 of this line is connected to the centre tap of the secondary winding of the transformer 44 , it enables ; when it is conductive , the positive polarization of the conductor 57 in relation to the conductor 56 . the other transistor 55 of npn type has its collector connected to the junction points of the cathodes of the diodes 46 and 47 and its emitter connected , like the previous one , to one of the conductors 56 of the line connecting the modulation equipment 11 to the subscriber connected at 7 . it enables , when it is conductive , the negative polarization of the conductor 57 in relation to the conductor 56 . the bases of the two preceding transistors 54 and 55 are connected to the output of a pre - amplifier with complementary transistors whose input is connected via a resistor and a capacitor disposed in series , to the output of the frequency divider circuit 42 . waveforms e and f in fig4 illustrate the waveforms as a function of time of the signals available at various points of the reception circuit which has just been described . the waveform e represents the form of the signal obtained at the output of the detection amplifier 32 when a calling signal is applied to the inlet 4 of the telephone exchange 1 . it is an assymmetrical rectangular signal at twice the frequency of the calling signal and having the same form as the rectangular signal coming from the optical coupler in the signal transmission circuit , this signal being represented by the waveform c . however , as we have seen previously , this waveform may be deformed because of the distorsions caused by the line ( 5 fig1 ). the waveform f represents the form of the signal obtained at the output of the frequency divider circuit 42 placed after the circuit 32 . it is a symmetrical rectangular signal having the same frequency as the calling signal sent from the telephone exchange . this rectangular signal is also found , but with a very much greater amplitude ( 60 volts ) on the conductors 56 and 57 of the line connecting the modulation equipment 11 to the subscriber connected at 7 ( fig3 ). the blocking control units of the frequency divider circuits 42 and 52 ( fig3 ) of the calling signal receiver circuit are used to block the frequency changer and the switch when the subscriber connected at 7 is off - hook . the idle consumption of the calling signal receiver circuit is very low , since it is reduced to the consumption of the detection circuit and of the frequency dividers which can be formed by c . mos circuits and to that of the transistors in the blocked state of the various amplifiers and of the switch . the calling signal generated by the signal receiver circuit has a frequency which is determined by that sent out by the telephone exchange . it can be adjusted precisely to the same level as the calling signal emitted by the exchange by an appropriate choice of the turns ratio of the transformer 44 . the device which has just been described was described within the scope of an application in which it is used to transmit the calling signal sent from a telephone exchange via a carrier connection . but it is quite evident that it can be used more generally for the transmission to one end of a carrier connection of a high - voltage low - frequency signal in response to a low - frequency signal applied to the other end . likewise , without going beyond the scope of the invention , some dispositions can be modified or some means can be replaced by equivalent means . | 7 |
in one embodiment the dyes of the invention serve as probes for continuous monitoring of renal function , especially for critically ill patients and kidney transplant patients . in another embodiment , the dyes of the invention are useful for dynamic hepatic function monitoring , especially for critically ill patients and liver transplant patients . in another embodiment , the dyes of the invention are useful for real - time determination of cardiac function , especially in patients with cardiac diseases . in another embodiment , the dyes of the invention are useful for monitoring organ perfusion , especially for critically ill , cancer , and organ transplant patients . in another embodiment , the dyes are useful for assessing the functional status of tumors and for monitoring tumor perfusion , such as in renal or hepatic cancer patients . the novel dyes of the present invention are prepared according to the methods well known in the art , as illustrated in general in fig1 - 7 and described for specific compounds in examples 1 - 11 . in one embodiment , the novel compounds , also called tracers , of the present invention have the formula 1 , wherein r 3 , r 4 , r 5 , r 6 and r 7 , and y 1 are independently selected from the group consisting of — h , c1 - c5 alkoxyl , c1 - c5 polyalkoxyalkyl , c1 - c10 polyhydroxyalkyl , c5 - c20 polyhydroxyaryl , mono - and disaccharides , nitro , hydrophilic peptides , arylpolysulfonates , c1 - c5 alkyl , c1 - c10 aryl , — so 3 t , — co 2 t , — oh , —( ch 2 ) a so 3 t , —( ch 2 ) a oso 3 t , —( ch 2 ) a nhso 3 t , —( ch 2 ) a co 2 ( ch 2 ) b so 3 t , —( ch 2 ) a oco ( ch 2 ) b so 3 t , — ch 2 ( ch 2 — o — ch 2 ) c — ch 2 — oh , —( ch 2 ) d — co 2 t , — ch 2 —( ch 2 — o — ch 2 ) e — ch 2 — co 2 t , —( ch 2 ) f — nh 2 , — ch 2 —( ch 2 — o — ch 2 ) g — ch 2 — nh 2 , —( ch 2 ) h — n ( r a )—( ch 2 ) i — co 2 t , and —( ch 2 ) j — n ( r b )— ch 2 —( ch 2 — o — ch 2 ) k — ch 2 — co 2 t ; w 1 is selected from the group consisting of — cr c r d , — o —, — nr c , — s —, and — se ; a , b , d , f , h , i , and j independently vary from 1 - 5 ; c , e , g , and k independently vary from 1 - 20 ; r a , r b , r c , and r d are defined in the same manner as y 1 ; t is a negative charge . in another embodiment , the novel compounds of the present invention have the general formula 2 , wherein r 8 , r 9 , r 10 , r 11 , r 12 , r 13 , r 14 , and y 2 are independently selected from the group consisting of — h , c1 - c5 alkoxyl , c1 - c5 polyalkoxyalkyl , c1 - c10 polyhydroxyalkyl , c5 - c20 polyhydroxyaryl , mono - and disaccharides , nitro , hydrophilic peptides , arylpolysulfonates , c1 - c5 alkyl , c1 - c10 aryl , — so 3 t , — co 2 t , — oh , —( ch 2 ) a so 3 t , —( ch 2 ) a oso 3 t , —( ch 2 ) a nhso 3 t , —( ch 2 ) a co 2 ( ch 2 ) b so 3 t , —( ch 2 ) a oco ( ch 2 ) b so 3 t , — ch 2 ( ch 2 — o — ch 2 ) c — ch 2 — oh , —( ch 2 ) d — co 2 t , — ch 2 —( ch 2 — o — ch 2 ) e — ch 2 — co 2 t , —( ch 2 ) f — nh 2 , — ch 2 —( ch 2 — o — ch 2 ) g — ch 2 — nh 2 , —( ch 2 ) h — n ( r a )—( ch 2 ) i — co 2 t , and —( ch 2 ) j — n ( r b )— ch 2 —( ch 2 — o — ch 2 ) k — ch 2 — co 2 t ; w 2 is selected from the group consisting of — cr c r d , — o —, — nr c , — s —, and — se ; a , b , d , f , h , i , and j independently vary from 1 - 5 ; c , e , g , and k independently vary from 1 - 20 ; r a , r b , r c , and r d are defined in the same manner as y 2 ; t is a negative charge . in another embodiment , the novel compositions of the present invention have the general formula 3 , wherein r 15 , r 16 , r 17 , r 18 , r 19 , r 20 , r 21 , r 22 , r 23 , y 3 , and z 3 are independently selected from the group consisting of — h , c1 - c5 alkoxyl , c1 - c5 polyalkoxyalkyl , c1 - c10 polyhydroxyalkyl , c5 - c20 polyhydroxyaryl , mono - and disaccharides , nitro , hydrophilic peptides , arylpolysulfonates , c1 - c5 alkyl , c1 - c10 aryl , — so 3 t , — co 2 t , — oh , —( ch 2 ) a so 3 t , —( ch 2 ) a oso 3 t , —( ch 2 ) a nhso 3 t , —( ch 2 ) a co 2 ( ch 2 ) b so 3 t , —( ch 2 ) a oco ( ch 2 ) b so 3 t , — ch 2 ( ch 2 — o — ch 2 ) c — ch 2 — oh , —( ch 2 ) d — co 2 t , — ch 2 —( ch 2 — o — ch 2 ) e — ch 2 — co 2 t , —( ch 2 ) f — nh 2 , — ch 2 —( ch 2 — o — ch 2 ) g — ch 2 — nh 2 , —( ch 2 ) h — n ( r a )—( ch 2 ) i — co 2 t , and —( ch 2 ) j — n ( r b )— ch 2 —( ch 2 — o — ch 2 ) k — ch 2 — co 2 t ; w 3 and x 3 are selected from the group consisting of — cr c r d , — o —, — nr c , — s —, and — se ; v 3 is a single bond or is selected from the group consisting of — o —, — s —, — se —, and — nr a ; a , b , d , f , h , i , and j independently vary from 1 - 5 ; c , e , g , and k independently vary from 1 - 50 ; a 3 and b 3 vary from 0 to 5 ; r a , r b , r c , and r d are defined in the same manner as y 3 ; t is either h or a negative charge . in another embodiment , the novel compounds of the present invention have the general formula 4 , wherein r 24 , r 25 , r 26 , r 27 , r 28 , r 29 , r 30 , r 31 , r 32 , r 33 , r 34 , r 35 , r 36 , y 4 , and z 4 are independently selected from the group consisting of — h , c1 - c5 alkoxyl , c1 - c5 polyalkoxyalkyl , c1 - c10 polyhydroxyalkyl , c5 - c20 polyhydroxyaryl , mono - and disaccharides , nitro , hydrophilic peptides , arylpolysulfonates , c1 - c5 alkyl , c1 - c10 aryl , — so 3 t , — co 2 t , — oh , —( ch 2 ) a so 3 t , —( ch 2 ) a oso 3 t , —( ch 2 ) a nhso 3 t , —( ch 2 ) a co 2 ( ch 2 ) b so 3 t , —( ch 2 ) a oco ( ch 2 ) b so 3 t , — ch 2 ( ch 2 — o — ch 2 ) c — ch 2 — oh , —( ch 2 ) d — co 2 t , — ch 2 —( ch 2 — o — ch 2 ) e — ch 2 — co 2 t , —( ch 2 ) f — nh 2 , — ch 2 —( ch 2 — o — ch 2 ) g — ch 2 — nh 2 , —( ch 2 ) h — n ( r a )—( ch 2 ) i — co 2 t , and —( ch 2 ) j — n ( r b )— ch 2 —( ch 2 — o — ch 2 ) k — ch 2 — co 2 t ; w 4 and x 4 are selected from the group consisting of — cr c r d , — o —, — nr c , — s —, and — se ; v 4 is a single bond or is selected from the group consisting of — o —, — s —, — se —, and — nr a ; a 4 and b 4 vary from 0 to 5 ; a , b , d , f , h , i , and j independently vary from 1 - 5 ; c , e , g , and k independently vary from 1 - 50 ; r a , r b , r c , and r d are defined in the same manner as y 4 ; t is either h or a negative charge . in another embodiment , the novel compounds of the present invention have the general formula 5 , wherein r 37 , r 38 , r 39 , r 40 , r 41 , r 42 , r 43 , r 44 , r 45 , y 5 , and z 5 are independently selected from the group consisting of — h , c1 - c5 alkoxyl , c1 - c5 polyalkoxyalkyl , c1 - c10 polyhydroxyalkyl , c5 - c20 polyhydroxyaryl , mono - and disaccharides , nitro , hydrophilic peptides , arylpolysulfonates , c1 - c5 alkyl , c1 - c10 aryl , — so 3 t , — co 2 t , — oh , —( ch 2 ) a so 3 t , —( ch 2 ) a oso 3 t , —( ch 2 ) a nhso 3 t , —( ch 2 ) a co 2 ( ch 2 ) b so 3 t , —( ch 2 ) a oco ( ch 2 ) b so 3 t , — ch 2 ( ch 2 — o — ch 2 ) c — ch 2 — oh , —( ch 2 ) d — co 2 t , — ch 2 —( ch 2 — o — ch 2 ) e — ch 2 — co 2 t , —( ch 2 ) f — nh 2 , — ch 2 —( ch 2 — o — ch 2 ) g — ch 2 — nh 2 , —( ch 2 ) h — n ( r a )—( ch 2 ) i — co 2 t , and —( ch 2 ) j — n ( r b )— ch 2 —( ch 2 — o — ch 2 ) k — ch 2 — co 2 t ; w 5 and x 5 are selected from the group consisting of — cr c r d , — o —, — nr c , — s —, and — se ; v 5 is a single bond or is selected from the group consisting of — o —, — s —, — se —, and — nr a d 5 is a single or a double bond ; a 5 , b 5 and e 5 may be the same or different and are selected from the group consisting of — o —, — s —, — nr a , — cr c r d , cr c , and alkyl ; a 5 , b 5 , d 5 , and e 5 may together form a 6 or 7 membered carbocyclic ring or a 6 or 7 membered heterocyclic ring optionally containing one or more oxygen , nitrogen , or sulfur atom ; a , b , d , f , h , i , and j independently vary from 1 - 5 ; c , e , g , and k independently vary from 1 - 50 ; a 5 and b 5 vary from 0 to 5 ; r a , r b , r c , and r d are defined in the same manner as y 5 ; t is either h or a negative charge . in yet another embodiment , the novel compounds of the present invention have the general formula 6 , wherein r 46 , r 47 , r 48 , r 49 , r 50 , r 51 , r 52 , r 53 , r 54 , r 55 , r 56 , r 57 , r 58 , y 6 , and z 6 are independently selected from the group consisting of — h , c1 - c5 alkoxyl , c1 - c5 polyalkoxyalkyl , c1 - c10 polyhydroxyalkyl , c5 - c20 polyhydroxyaryl , mono - and disaccharides , nitro , hydrophilic peptides , arylpolysulfonates , c1 - c5 alkyl , c1 - c10 aryl , — so 3 t , — co 2 t , — oh , —( ch 2 ) a so 3 t , —( ch 2 ) a oso 3 t , —( ch 2 ) a nhso 3 t , —( ch 2 ) a co 2 ( ch 2 ) b so 3 t , —( ch 2 ) a oco ( ch 2 ) b so 3 t , — ch 2 ( ch 2 — o — ch 2 ) c — ch 2 — oh , —( ch 2 ) d — co 2 t , — ch 2 —( ch 2 — o — ch 2 ) e — ch 2 — co 2 t , —( ch 2 ) f — nh 2 , — ch 2 —( ch 2 — o — ch 2 ) g — ch 2 — nh 2 , —( ch 2 ) h — n ( r a )—( ch 2 ) i — co 2 t , and —( ch 2 ) j — n ( r b )— ch 2 —( ch 2 — o — ch 2 ) k — ch 2 — co 2 t ; w 6 and x 6 are selected from the group consisting of — cr c r d , — o —, — nr c , — s —, and — se ; v 6 is a single bond or is selected from the group consisting of — o —, — s —, — se —, and — nr a ; d 6 is a single or a double bond ; a 6 , b 6 and e 6 may be the same or different and are selected from the group consisting of — o —, — s —, — nr a , — cr c r d , cr c , and alkyl ; a 6 , b 6 , d 6 , and e 6 may together form a 6 or 7 membered carbocyclic ring or a 6 or 7 membered heterocyclic ring optionally containing one or more oxygen , nitrogen , or sulfur atom ; a , b , d , f , h , i , and j independently vary from 1 - 5 ; c , e , g , and k independently vary from 1 - 50 ; a 5 and b 5 vary from 0 to 5 ; r a , r b , r c , and r d are defined in the same manner as y 6 ; t is either h or a negative charge . the compounds of the invention can be formulated into diagnostic and therapeutic compositions for enteral or parenteral administration . these compositions contain an effective amount of the dye along with conventional pharmaceutical carriers and excipients appropriate for the type of administration contemplated . for example , parenteral formulations advantageously contain the inventive agent in a sterile aqueous solution or suspension . parenteral compositions may be injected directly or mixed with a large volume parenteral composition for systemic administration . such solutions also may contain pharmaceutically acceptable buffers and , optionally , electrolytes such as sodium chloride . formulations for enteral administration may vary widely , as is well known in the art . in general , such formulations are liquids , which include an effective amount of the inventive agent in aqueous solution or suspension . such enteral compositions may optionally include buffers , surfactants , thixotropic agents , and the like . compositions for oral administration may also contain flavoring agents and other ingredients for enhancing their organoleptic qualities . the compositions are administered in doses effective to achieve the desired effect or result . the dosage of the tracers may vary according to the clinical procedure contemplated and generally ranges from 1 picomolar to 100 millimolar . the compositions may be administered to a patient , typically a warm - blooded animal either systemically or locally to the organ or tissue to be imaged , and the patient then subject to the imaging procedure . the tracers may be administered to the patient by any suitable method , including intravenous , intraperitoneal , or subcutaneous injection or infusion , oral administration , transdermal absorption through the skin , aerosols , or by inhalation . the detection of the tracers is achieved by optical fluorescence , absorbance , or light scattering methods known in the art ( muller et al . eds ., medical optical tomography , spie volume is11 , 1993 , which is expressly incorporated herein by reference ) using invasive or non - invasive probes such as endoscopes , catheters , ear clips , hand bands , surface coils , finger probes , and the like . physiological function is correlated with the clearance profiles and rates of these agents from body fluids ( r . b . dorshow et al ., non - invasive fluorescence detection of hepatic and renal function , bull . am . phys . soc . 1997 , 42 , 681 , which is expressly incorporated by reference herein ). the inventive composition may be administered for imaging by more than one modality . as one example , the composition may be used for imaging by optical imaging alone , by nuclear imaging alone , or by both optical and nuclear imaging modalities when a radioactive isotope is included in the chemical formula , such as replacing a halogen atom with a radioactive halogen , and / or including a radioactive metal ion such as tc 99 , in 111 , etc . as another example , the composition may be used for imaging by optical imaging alone , by magnetic resonance ( mr ) alone , or by both optical and mr modalities when a paramagnetic metal ion such as gadolinium or manganese is included in the chemical formula . it will also be appreciated that the inventive compositions may be administered with other contrast agents or media used to enhance an image from a non - optical modality . these include agents for enhancing an image obtained by modalities including but not limited to mr , ultrasound ( us ), x - ray , positron emission tomography ( pet ), computed tomography ( ct ), single photon emission computed tomography ( spect ), optoacoustic ( e . g . u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 840 , 023 and 5 , 977 , 538 which are expressly incorporated by reference herein in their entirety ), etc . both optical and non - optical agents may be formulated as a single composition ( that is , one composition containing one , two , or more components , for example , an optical agent and a mr agent ), or may be formulated as separate compositions . the inventive optical imaging contrast agent and the non - optical contrast agent are administered in doses effective to achieve the desired enhancement , diagnosis , therapy , etc ., as known to one skilled in the art . the inventive compositions , either alone or combined with a contrast agent , may be administered to a patient , typically a warm - blooded animal , systemically or locally to the organ or tissue to be imaged . the patient is then imaged by optical imaging and / or by another modality . as one example of this embodiment , the inventive compounds may be added to contrast media compositions . as another example , the inventive compositions may be co - administered with contrast media , either simultaneously or within the same diagnostic and / or therapeutic procedure ( for example , administering the inventive composition and administering a contrast agent then performing optical imaging followed by another imaging modality , or administering the inventive composition and administering a contrast agent then performing another imaging modality followed by optical imaging , or administering the inventive composition and optical imaging , then administering a contrast agent and mr , us , ct , etc . imaging , or administering a contrast agent and imaging by mr , us , ct , etc ., then administering the inventive composition and optical imaging , or administering the inventive composition and a contrast agent , and simultaneously imaging by an optical modality and mr , us , ct , etc .). as another example , an optical imaging agent may be added as an additive or excipient for a non - optical imaging modality . in this embodiment , the optically active component , such as the dyes disclosed herein , could be added as a buffering agent to control ph or as a chelate to improve formulation stability , etc . in mr contrast media , ct contrast media , x - ray contrast media , us contrast media , etc . the mr , ct , x - ray , us contrast media would then also function as an optical imaging agent . the information obtained from the modality using the non - optical contrast agent is useful in combination with the image obtained using the optical contrast agent . in one embodiment , the agents may be formulated as micelles , liposomes , microcapsules , or other microparticles . these formulations may enhance delivery , and localization of the inventive compounds to / at the desired organ or site . the target specificity of these formulations can be enhanced by using suitable targeting molecules such as peptides , saccharides , fatty acids , etc . preparation and loading of these are well known in the art . as one example , liposomes may be prepared from dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine ( dppc ) or egg phosphatidylcholine ( pc ) because this lipid has a low heat transition . liposomes are made using standard procedures as known to one skilled in the art ( e . g ., braun - falco et al ., ( eds . ), griesbach conference , liposome dermatics , springer - verlag , berlin ( 1992 )). polycaprolactone , poly ( glycolic ) acid , poly ( lactic ) acid , polyanhydride or lipids may be formulated as microspheres . as an illustrative example , the optical agent may be mixed with polyvinyl alcohol ( pva ), the mixture then dried and coated with ethylene vinyl acetate , then cooled again with pva . in a liposome , the optical agent may be within one or both lipid bilayers , in the aqueous between the bilayers , or with the center or core . liposomes may be modified with other molecules and lipids to form a cationic liposome . liposomes may also be modified with lipids to render their surface more hydrophilic which increases their circulation time in the bloodstream . the thus - modified liposome has been termed a “ stealth ” liposome , or a long - lived liposome , as described in u . s . pat . nos . 6 , 277403 ; 6 , 610 , 322 ; 5 , 631 , 018 ; 5 , 395 , 619 ; and 6 , 258 , 378 , each of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein in its entirety , and in stealth liposomes , lasic and martin ( eds .) 1995 , crc press , london . encapsulation methods include detergent dialysis , freeze drying , film forming , injection , as known to one skilled in the art and disclosed in , for example , u . s . pat . no . 6 , 406 , 713 which is expressly incorporated by reference herein in its entirety . the agent formulated in liposomes , microcapsules , etc . may be administered by any of the routes previously described . in a formulation applied topically , the optical agent is slowly released over time . in an injectable formulation , the liposome capsule circulates in the bloodstream and is delivered to a desired site . as another example , microparticles such as ultra small iron oxide particles ( uspio ) and other metallic particles such as silver or gold particles coated with or attached ( covalently or non - covalently ) with the inventive compounds may be used for optical imaging and / or mri . such particles are known to one skilled in the art as disclosed in , for example , u . s . pat . no . 5 , 492 , 814 and journal of biomedical optics 8 ( 3 ), 472 - 478 ( july 2003 ) which are expressly incorporated by reference herein in their entirety . organ function can be assessed either by the differences in the manner in which the normal and impaired cells remove the tracer from the bloodstream , by measuring the rate or accumulation of these tracers in the organs or tissues , or by obtaining tomographic images of the organs or tissues . blood pool clearance may be measured non - invasively from convenient surface capillaries such as those found in an ear lobe or a finger , for example , using an ear clip or finger clip sensor , or may be measured invasively using an endovascular catheter . accumulation of the tracer within the cells of interest can be assessed in a similar fashion . the clearance of the tracer dyes may be determined by selecting excitation wavelengths and filters for the emitted photons . the concentration - time curves may be analyzed in real time by a microprocessor . in order to demonstrate feasibility of the inventive compounds to monitor organ function , a non - invasive absorbance or fluorescence detection system to monitor the signal emanating from the vasculature infused with the compounds is used . indole derivatives , such as those of formulas 1 - 6 , fluoresce at a wavelength between 350 nm and 1300 nm when excited at the appropriate wavelength as is known to , or readily determined by , one skilled in the art . in addition to the noninvasive techniques , a modified pulmonary artery catheter can be used to make the necessary measurements ( r . b . dorshow , j . e . bugaj , s . a . achilefu , r . rajagopalan , and a . h . combs , monitoring physiological function by detection of exogenous fluorescent contrast agents , in optical diagnostics of biological fluids iv , a . priezzhev and t . asakura , editors , procedings of spie 1999 , 3599 , 2 - 8 , which is expressly incorporated by reference herein ). currently , pulmonary artery catheters measure only intravascular pressures , cardiac output and other derived measures of blood flow . critically ill patients are managed using these parameters , but rely on intermittent blood sampling and testing for assessment of renal function . these laboratory parameters represent discontinuous data and are frequently misleading in many patient populations . yet , importantly , they are relied upon heavily for patient assessment , treatment decisions , and drug dosing . the modified pulmonary artery catheter incorporates an optical sensor into the tip of a standard pulmonary artery catheter . this wavelength specific optical sensor can monitor the renal function specific elimination of an optically detectable chemical entity . thus , by a method analogous to a dye dilution curve , real - time renal function can be monitored by the disappearance of the optically detected compound . modification of a standard pulmonary artery catheter only requires making the fiber optic sensor wavelength specific , as is known to one skilled in this art . catheters that incorporate fiber optic technology for measuring mixed venous oxygen saturation currently exist . the present invention may be used for rapid bedside evaluation of renal function and also to monitor the efficiency of hemodialysis . the invention is further demonstrated by the following examples . since many modifications , variations , and changes in detail may be made to the described embodiments , it is intended that all matter in the foregoing description and shown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense . synthesis of indole disulfonate ( fig1 , compound 5 , y 7 ═ so 3 − ; x 7 ═ h ; n = 1 ) a mixture of 3 - methyl - 2 - butanone ( 25 . 2 ml ), and p - hydrazinobenzenesulfonic acid ( 15 g ) in acetic acid ( 45 ml ) was heated at 110 ° c . for 3 hours . after reaction , the mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature and ethyl acetate ( 100 ml ) was added to precipitate the product , which was filtered and washed with ethyl acetate ( 100 ml ). the intermediate compound , 2 , 3 , 3 - trimethylindolenium - 5 - sulfonate ( fig1 , compound 3 ) was obtained as a pink powder in 80 % yield . a portion of compound 3 ( 9 . 2 g ) in methanol ( 115 ml ) was carefully added to a solution of koh in isopropanol ( 100 ml ). a yellow potassium salt of the sulfonate was obtained in 85 % yield after vacuum - drying for 12 hours . a portion of the 2 , 3 , 3 - trimethylindolenium - 5 - sulfonate potassium salt ( 4 g ) and 1 , 3 - propanesultone ( 2 . 1 g ) was heated in dichlorobenzene ( 40 ml ) at 110 ° c . for 12 hours . the mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature and the resulting precipitate was filtered and washed with isopropanol . the resulting pink powder was dried under vacuum to give 97 % of the desired compound . other compounds prepared by a similar method described above include polyhydroxyl indoles such as synthesis of indole disulfonate ( fig1 , compound 5 , y 7 ═ so 3 − ; x 7 ═ h ; n = 2 ) this compound was prepared by the same procedure described in example 1 , except that 1 , 4 - butanesultone was used in place of 1 , 3 - propanesultone . synthesis of benzoindole disulfonate ( fig2 , compound 8 , y 7 , y 8 ═ so 3 − ; x 7 ═ h ; n = 2 ) this compound was prepared by the same procedure described in example 1 , except that hydrazinonaphthalenedisulfonic acid was used in place of hydrazinobenzenesulfonic acid . other compounds prepared by a similar method include polyhydroxyindoles such as : synthesis of benzoindole disulfonate ( fig2 , compound 8 , y 7 , y 8 ═ so 3 − ; x 7 — oh ; n = 4 ) this compound was prepared by the same procedure described in example 1 , except that 3 - hydroxymethyl - 4 - hydroxyl - 2 - butanone was used in place of 3 - methyl - 2 - butanone . a mixture of 1 , 1 , 2 - trimethyl -[ 1h ]- benz [ e ] indole ( 9 . 1 g , 43 . 58 mmoles ) and 3 - bromopropanoic acid ( 10 . 0 g , 65 . 37 mmoles ) in 1 , 2 - dichlorobenzene ( 40 ml ) was heated at 110 ° c . for 12 hours . the solution was cooled to room temperature and the red residue obtained was filtered and washed with acetonitrile : diethyl ether ( 1 : 1 ) mixture . the solid obtained was dried under vacuum to give 10 g ( 64 %) of light brown powder . a portion of this solid ( 6 . 0 g ; 16 . 56 mmoles ), glutaconaldehyde dianil monohydrochloride ( 2 . 36 g , 8 . 28 mmoles ) and sodium acetate trihydrate ( 2 . 93 g , 21 . 53 mmoles ) in ethanol ( 150 ml ) were refluxed for 90 minutes . after evaporating the solvent , 40 ml of 2 n aqueous hcl was added to the residue and the mixture was centrifuged and the supernatant was decanted . this procedure was repeated until the supernatant became nearly colorless . about 5 ml of water : acetonitrile ( 3 : 2 ) mixture was added to the solid residue and lyophilized to obtain 2 g of dark green flakes . the purity of the compound was established with 1 h - nmr and liquid chromatography / mass spectrometry ( lc / ms ). a mixture of 2 , 2 , 3 - trimethyl -[ 1h ]- benz [ e ] indole ( 20 g , 95 . 6 mmoles ) and 6 - bromohexanoic acid ( 28 . 1 g , 144 . 1 mmoles ) in 1 , 2 - dichlorobenzene ( 250 ml ) was heated at 110 c for 12 hours . the green solution was cooled to room temperature and the brown solid precipitate formed was collected by filtration . after washing the solid with 1 , 2 - dichlorobenzene and diethyl ether , the brown powder obtained ( 24 g , 64 %) was dried under vacuum at room temperature . a portion of this solid ( 4 . 0 g ; 9 . 8 mmoles ), glutaconaldehyde dianil monohydrochloride ( 1 . 4 g , 5 mmoles ) and sodium acetate trihydrate ( 1 . 8 g , 12 . 9 mmoles ) in ethanol ( 80 ml ) were refluxed for 1 hour . after evaporating the solvent , 20 ml of a 2 n aqueous hcl was added to the residue and the mixture was centrifuged and the supernatant was decanted . this procedure was repeated until the supernatant became nearly colorless . about 5 ml of water : acetonitrile ( 3 : 2 ) mixture was added to the solid residue and lyophilized to obtain about 2 g of dark green flakes . the purity of the compound was established with 1 h - nmr , hplc , and lc - ms . synthesis of polyhydroxyindole sulfonate ( fig3 , compound 13 , y 7 , y 8 ═ o 3 − ; x 7 ═ oh ; n = 2 ) phosphorus oxychloride ( 37 ml , 0 . 4 mole ) was added dropwise with stirring to a cooled (− 2 ° c .) mixture of dimethylformamide ( dmf , 0 . 5 mole , 40 ml ) and dichloromethane ( dcm , 40 ml ), followed by the addition of acetone ( 5 . 8 g , 0 . 1 mole ). the ice bath was removed and the solution refluxed for 3 hours . after cooling to room temperature , the product was either partitioned in water / dcm , separated and dried , or was purified by fractional distillation . nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectral analyses showed that the desired intermediate , 10 , was obtained . reaction of the intermediate with 2 equivalents of 2 , 2 , 3 - trimethyl -[ h ]- benz [ e ] indolesulfonate - n - propanoic acid and 2 equivalents of sodium acetate trihydrate in ethanol gave a blue - green solution after 1 . 5 hours at reflux . further functionalization of the dye with bis ( isopropylidene ) acetal protected monosaccharide is effected by the method described in the literature ( j . h . flanagan , c . v . owens , s . e . romero , et al ., near infrared heavy - atom - modified fluorescent dyes for base - calling in dna - sequencing application using temporal discrimination . anal . chem ., 1998 , 70 ( 13 ), 2676 - 2684 ). synthesis of polyhydroxyindole sulfonate ( fig4 , compound 16 , y 7 , y 8 ═ so 3 − ; x 7 ═ h ; n = 1 ) preparation of this compound was readily accomplished by the same procedure described in example 6 using p - hydroxybenzenesulfonic acid in the place of the monosaccharide , and benzoindole instead of indole derivatives . synthesis of polyhydroxyindole sulfonate ( fig5 , compound 20 , y 7 , y 8 ═ h ; x 7 ═ oh ; n = 1 ) the hydroxyindole compound was readily prepared by a literature method ( p . l . southwick , j . g . cairns , l . a . ernst , and a . s . waggoner , one pot fischer synthesis of ( 2 , 3 , 3 - trimethyl - 3 - h - indol - 5 - yl )- acetic acid derivatives as intermediates for fluorescent biolabels , org . prep . proced . int . briefs , 1988 , 20 ( 3 ), 279 - 284 ). reaction of p - carboxymethylphenylhydrazine hydrochloride ( 30 mmol , 1 equiv .) and 1 , 1 - bis ( hydroxymethyl ) propanone ( 45 mmol , 1 . 5 equiv .) in acetic acid ( 50 ml ) at room temperature for 30 minutes and at reflux for 1 gave ( 3 , 3 - dihydroxymethyl2 - methyl - 3 - h - indol - 5 - yl )- acetic acid as a solid residue . the intermediate 2 - chloro - 1 - formyl - 3 - hydroxymethylenecyclo - hexane was prepared as described in the literature ( g . a . reynolds and k . h . drexhage , stable heptamethine pyrylium dyes that absorb in the infrared . j . org . chem ., 1977 , 42 ( 5 ), 885 - 888 ). equal volumes ( 40 ml each ) of dimethylformamide ( dmf ) and dichloromethane were mixed and the solution was cooled to − 10 ° c . in acetone - dry ice bath . under argon atmosphere , phosphorus oxychloride ( 40 ml ) in dichloromethane was added dropwise to the cool dmf solution , followed by the addition of 10 g of cyclohexanone . the resulting solution was allowed to warm up to room temperature and heated at reflux for 6 hours . after cooling to room temperature , the mixture was poured into ice - cold water and stored at 4 ° c . for 12 hours . a yellow powder was obtained . condensation of a portion of this cyclic dialdehyde ( 1 equivalent ) with the indole intermediate ( 2 equivalents ) was carried out as described in example 5 . further , the functionalization of the dye with bis ( isopropylidene ) acetal protected monosaccharide was effected by the method described in the literature ( j . h . flanagan , c . v . owens , s . e . romero , et al ., near infrared heavy - atom - modified fluorescent dyes for base - calling in dna - sequencing application using temporal discrimination . anal . chem ., 1998 , 70 ( 13 ), 2676 - 2684 ). synthesis of polyhydroxylbenzoindole sulfonate ( fig6 , compound 22 , y 7 , y 8 ═ h ; x 7 ═ oh ; n = 1 ) a similar method described in example 8 was used to prepare this compound by replacing the indole with benzoindole derivatives . synthesis of rigid heteroatomic indole sulfonate ( fig7 , compound 27 , y 7 , y 8 , x 7 ═ h ; n = 1 ) starting with 3 - oxo - 4 - cyclohexenone , this heteroatomic hydrophilic dye was readily prepared as described in example 8 . a laser of appropriate wavelength for excitation of the dye chromophore was directed into one end of a fiber optic bundle and the other end was positioned a few millimeters from the ear of a rat . a second fiber optic bundle was also positioned near the same ear to detect the emitted fluorescent light , and the other end was directed into the optics and electronics for data collection . an interference filter ( if ) in the collection optics train was used to select emitted fluorescent light of the appropriate wavelength for the dye chromophore . sprague - dawley or fischer 344 rats were anesthetized with urethane administered via intraperitoneal injection at a dose of 1 . 35 g / kg body weight . after the animals had achieved the desired plane of anesthesia , a 21 gauge butterfly with 12 ″ tubing was placed in the lateral tail vein of each animal and flushed with heparinized saline . the animals were placed onto a heating pad and kept warm throughout the entire study . the lobe of the left ear was affixed to a glass microscope slide to reduce movement and vibration . incident laser light delivered from the fiber optic was centered on the affixed ear . data acquisition was then initiated , and a background reading of fluorescence was obtained prior to administration of the test agent . the compound was administered to the animal through a bolus injection in the lateral tail vein . the dose was typically 0 . 05 to 20 μmole / kg of body weight . the fluorescence signal rapidly increased to a peak value , then decayed as a function of time as the conjugate cleared from the bloodstream . this procedure was repeated with several dye - peptide conjugates in normal and tumored rats . representative profiles are shown in fig6 - 10 . while the invention has been disclosed by reference to the details of preferred embodiments of the invention , it is to be understood that the disclosure is intended in an illustrative rather than in a limiting sense , as it is contemplated that modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art , within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims . | 0 |
set forth below is a description of what are believed to be the preferred embodiments and / or best examples of the invention claimed . future and present alternatives and modifications to the preferred embodiments are contemplated . any alternatives or modifications which make insubstantial changes in function , in purpose , in structure , or in result are intended to be covered by the claims of this patent . referring first to the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in fig1 , a detailed description of this example follows , it being recognized that various other examples may be provided that are within the principles of the invention and intended to be covered by the claims . in the preferred example , lattice boom 2 may be attached to the mobile crane &# 39 ; s revolving upper frame or base 1 by two pivot pins 3 , which form the bottom boom pivot point , and at the top by pendent cables 4 , spreader bar 5 , live mast 6 , multi - part cable 7 and gantry 8 . cable 7 may be spooled in and out by one of the crane &# 39 ; s winches and may be used to raise and lower the lattice boom assembly . hydraulic spotter 9 may be attached to the crane &# 39 ; s revolving upper frame 1 by pivot pins 10 , allowing spotter 9 to be raised and lowered by cable 11 , which is carried by the boom &# 39 ; s top sheaves 12 , located at the tip of the lattice boom 2 . cable 11 may also be spooled in and out by one of the crane &# 39 ; s winches . three - axis boom box 14 may be attached to the top of the lattice boom 2 by pin 13 , and may be fitted with rubber springs . pin 13 may be used to allow the boom box to rotate in the “ z ” axis ( allowing the pile lead &# 39 ; s bottom end to be extended or retracted by the hydraulic spotter ). boom box slider 15 may be attached to boom box 14 . slider 15 may be mounted on two sets of pivot pins ( not shown in the drawings ), allowing the slider to rotate in both the “ x ” ( horizontal ) and “ y ” ( vertical ) axes . most known boom boxes do not allow the slider to pivot in the “ y ” axis . boom box slider 15 restrains the rear flange of pile lead 16 but allows the pile lead to slide in a generally vertical plane ( raised and lowered in relationship to the ground ). cable 17 may run between two sheave blocks , one of which may be attached to boom box slider 15 , while the other may be attached to pile lead 16 . cable 17 may be carried by top sheaves 12 , which may be located at the tip of the lattice boom 2 and may be spooled in and out by one of the crane &# 39 ; s winches . spooling in the cable raises pile lead 16 . hydraulic spotter 9 may be equipped with an extendable stinger 18 , which may be moved in and out by a hydraulic cylinder , for example . outer steering arm 19 may be attached to stinger 18 . arm 19 may be pivoted in the “ y ” axis by two hydraulic cylinders . bottom slider 20 may be attached to steering arm 19 , and may be used to restrain the rear flange of pile lead 16 , allowing the pile lead to slide in a generally vertical plane ( raised and lowered in relationship to the ground ). bottom slider 20 may also be permitted to pivot in the “ x ” and “ z ” plane on outer steering arm 19 . the “ y ” plane of the bottom slider may be the only plane that is hydraulically controlled . the pile lead may be raised and lowered by cable 17 or may remain stationary . the spotter assembly , including the lower slider , may be raised and lowered in relationship to the pile lead by cable 11 . the hydraulic spotter may also be swung from side to side ( e . g ., by two hydraulic cylinders ), allowing the crane &# 39 ; s operator to position the bottom of the pile lead to either side of the crane &# 39 ; s centerline . as spotter 9 is swung ( in the “ y ” plane ), the outer steering arm must also be rotated in the “ y ” plane ( in the opposite direction and equal in degrees ) in order to keep the pile lead &# 39 ; s front face at a constant 90 degrees to the crane and boom &# 39 ; s centerline . a more detailed description of hydraulic spotter 9 and boom box 14 with rubber springs is provided below . diesel hammer 22 and pile guide 23 may each be attached to the front face of pile lead 16 by sliders 21 . a two - part steel cable 24 may run between a sheave block attached to the top slider of diesel hammer 22 , and top sheave assembly 25 located at the top of pile lead 16 . the cable may be spooled in ad out by one of the crane &# 39 ; s winches . spooling in the cable raises diesel hammer 22 . still referring to fig1 , diesel hammer 22 is shown , together with anvil 23 driving pile 26 into the ground . the operator may spool out cable 24 as the hammer drives the pile . referring to fig2 , pile lead 16 and diesel hammer 22 may be fully swung to one side of the crane &# 39 ; s centerline by spotter 9 . as shown , boom box slider 15 has pivoted on boom box 14 , while bottom slider 20 has also pivoted on outer steering arm 19 as the spotter was swung . fig3 shows pile lead 16 and a cfa drill attachment . the only attachment changes required when changing from pile driving to cfa drilling are the sheave assembly 25 attached to the top of pile lead 16 , sheave block 27 ( six part line ) and hydrostatic - driven reduction drive box 28 . drive box 28 may be attached to pile lead 16 by sliders 29 . cfa auger 30 may be attached to drive box 28 . auger guide 31 may be attached to the pile lead and may be used to guide the auger into the ground , thus preventing the auger from wandering . an auger cleaner ( not shown ) may be attached close to the auger guide ( or may constitute part of the guide ) and may be used to clean the auger &# 39 ; s flights . when cfa drilling , the spotter &# 39 ; s operation may be as described above . preferably , the pile lead &# 39 ; s angle is generally close to the vertical position as shown in fig3 . cable 24 may be spooled out as the auger screws itself into the ground . spooling in pulls the auger and material , contained in the auger &# 39 ; s flights , out of the ground . the auger may be reversed when out of the ground to throw off any remaining material not removed by the auger cleaner . as mentioned before , the spotter may be physically attached to the crane and to the bottom of the pile lead . it is preferably designed to take full reactive torque when cfa drilling . it may be seen that when drive box 28 is towards the top of its travel , as shown in fig3 , the reactive torque transmitted to the pile lead will twist the pile lead to a greater degree than when it is towards the bottom of the pile lead , closer to the spotter . fortunately , reactive torque is generally lower when the drive box is towards the top of the pile lead , and generally increases as the auger is screwed deeper into the ground . known standard boom boxes only pivot in the “ x ” and “ z ” planes , and such two - axis boom boxes will transmit reactive force to the crane &# 39 ; s boom . a three - axis boom box ( x , y and z ) with rubber springs and electronic position sensor , which forms a preferred embodiment of the present invention , prevents reactive forces from damaging the crane &# 39 ; s boom . rubber springs ( e . g ., rectangular convolution type ) such as those manufactured by timbren are preferably progressive in rate and allow the reactive force to rotate the boom box by a few degrees without overloading the crane &# 39 ; s boom . various rubber grades may be selected to control the amount of force transmitted to the boom . in some conditions , the rubber springs may be removed , allowing the boom box free , unrestricted movement in all directions . this is not generally recommended as it makes assembly ( rigging ) and disassembly tricky , as the boom box may flop over on its side . the rubber springs are also beneficial in dampening reactive torque spikes when cfa drilling . they may have a rated capacity ranging from 6 , 000 to 110 , 000 lbs . force , for example . for cfa drilling , a timbren a300 - 75 progressive rate rubber spring with a rated capacity of 45 , 000 lbs . and a bump load capacity of 110 , 000 lbs . may be selected , for example . the electronic position sensor preferably monitors the deflection in the rubber springs in both the clockwise ( cw ) and counterclockwise ( ccw ) directions . the ecm may be programmed to monitor the position of the sensor . as pile lead deflection increases to a programmable set point , the ecm preferably energizes the hydraulic valve for the spotter &# 39 ; s outer - steering arm 19 . the outer - steering arm rotates the pile lead in the opposite direction to the reactive force , rotating boom box 14 and returning the electronic sensor to its null ( 0 ) position . programming and rubber spring selection may be fine - tuned for various auger diameters , maximum auger lengths , and varying soil types and drive box powers ( maximum output torque ). returning to fig1 and 2 , it may be seen that when driving piles at an acute angle ( front or sideways ), the diesel hammer may be positioned in front of the vertical centerline of pile lead 16 . when operating ( fig2 ) for long periods of time , hydraulic drift in the spotter &# 39 ; s hydraulic system ( cylinders and valves ) can cause the pile lead to be rotated by the offset weight of the hammer , anvil and to some degree , the pile . this will transmit torque into the crane &# 39 ; s boom when using a standard two - axis boom box . with a three - axis boom box of the preferred embodiment , fitted with rubber springs , and the electronic position sensor , the ecm can compensate for hydraulic drift and any other outside force that tends to influence the pile lead assembly . until now , it has been up to the skill of the operator , gained through many years of experience , which has compensated for reactive and outside forces by using the hydraulic spotter and crane &# 39 ; s controls . even the most experienced operator has no way of knowing how much stress is being transmitted to the boom during pile driving or cfa drilling . exceeding the boom &# 39 ; s structural load limits can result in boom failure . fig4 a - 4d show the boom box assembly 14 that attaches to the pile lead assembly . pivot bushings 32 may be attached to the upper frame of boom box 33 . pivot bushings 32 may be attached to the top pivot pin ( not shown ) of the crane &# 39 ; s lattice boom , allowing rotation of the boom box in the “ z ” axis . rotation in the “ z ” axis is typical when extending or retracting stinger 18 of spotter 9 . upper frame 33 may be attached to lower frame 34 by two in - line pivot pins 35 , allowing the lower frame to pivot in the “ y ” axis in relation to the upper frame , thereby reducing any side loading and twisting to the crane &# 39 ; s boom . pivoting slider 15 , which allows the pile lead 16 to be raised and lowered , may be attached to the lower frame 34 by pivot pin 36 , allowing rotation in the “ x ” axis . it may be seen , now , that boom box 14 functions as a universal joint . lower frame 34 has an extended arm 37 , to which a pivoting spring seat 38 may be attached using a pivot pin 39 . spring seat 38 may be sandwiched between two hollow rubber springs 40 that are attached to upper frame 33 . an electronic position sensor 41 may be attached between upper frame 33 and lower frame 34 . fig5 a - 5b show boom box assembly 14 with pivoting slider 15 offset ninety degrees to the centerline of the crane / boom and tilted 14 degrees ( maximum deflection ) from the crane &# 39 ; s centerline . this amount of deflection would generally never be reached by the preferred embodiment of the invention described here due to the operation of the electronic control system . a preferred distance between the spherical joints of position sensor 41 at zero deflection was found to be 16 inches . the sensor &# 39 ; s output voltage at 16 inches was determined to be 2 . 5 volts . at maximum ccw deflection the sensor may be extended to 18 inches ( 4 . 5 volt max .). at maximum cw deflection , the sensor was found to measure 14 inches ( 0 . 5 volts min .). rubber springs 40 provide a dampened and controlled movement , allowing the position sensor to accurately provide a feedback signal to the fcm . spring - seat 38 pivots on pivot pin 39 , keeping the forces on the rubber spring in - line with the spring &# 39 ; s centerline . if extended arm 37 were allowed to push directly on the rubber spring , the spring would be unevenly loaded ( a wedge would be formed ), pushing the spring out of alignment and causing overloading to one side . as mentioned before , the springs may be removed , allowing the boom box to function as an unrestricted universal joint . alternatively , the spring rate may be changed to increase or decrease the amount of force transmitted to the crane &# 39 ; s boom . it is also possible to fit a high and a low rate spring set when torque requirements are greater in one direction , such as during cfa drilling . further , it is possible to operate with one spring , allowing free movement in one direction and restricted movement in the other . it can be seen that this design innovation , using removable rubber springs of various compressive rates , offers considerable adjustability in operation . the springs can also be removed and substituted with mechanical spacers ( stops ), thereby converting the boom box into a standard two - axis unit . referring now to fig6 a - 6c , the spotter &# 39 ; s mainframe 42 may be attached to the crane &# 39 ; s revolving mainframe , shown in fig1 , by two pivot pins 43 . a cable may be used to raise and lower the outer end of the spotter , located at the furthest end from the crane , allowing the spotter to pivot on pins 43 . outer box 44 may be attached to the spotter &# 39 ; s mainframe 42 ; box 44 may be allowed to pivot on pivot pin 45 , allowing the two hydraulic cylinders 46 to swing the outer box from side to side . mounted inside outer box 44 is stinger 18 , which may be attached to hydraulic cylinder 47 . hydraulic cylinder 47 may also be attached to mainframe 42 and may be used to extend or retract the stinger . outer steering arm 19 may be attached to stinger 18 , and may be pivoted around pin 48 by using , for example , two hydraulic cylinders 49 . pivoting of the outer steering arm (“ y ” axis ) may be accomplished under the complete control of the ecm and may constitute the only function over which the operator generally has no or only limited direct control . limited direct control allows the operator control over the “ y ” axis movement of the pile lead and may be limited to a few degrees by measuring the deflection of the upper boom box rubber springs via position sensor 41 . programming of the ecm together with rubber spring rates , determines the actual “ y ” axis movement allowed . direct control of the “ y ” axis movement of the pile lead by the operator may be allowed ( by ecm programming ) if the upper boom box is configured without the two rubber springs , and thus acts as a universal joint . bottom slider 20 may be attached to the outer steering arm 19 using double pivot link 50 . slider 20 may be attached to the bottom of the pile lead . double pivot link 50 may be attached to the outer steering arm using , for example , two pivot pins 51 , and may be attached to bottom slider 20 using pivot pin 52 . this allows unrestricted movement in the “ x ” and “ z ” axis while still allowing powered movement in the “ y ” axis via outer steering arm 19 . two electronic position sensors may be used in the spotter . the “ master ” position sensor 53 may be attached between mainframe 42 and outer box 44 , and may be used to monitor the outer box &# 39 ; s swing angle to the left and to the right , as controlled by the operator . “ slave ” position sensor 54 may be attached to stinger 18 and outer steering arm 19 , and may be used to monitor the angular position of the automatically pivoted outer steering arm , whose movement is controlled by the ecm . referring now to fig7 a - 7b , the spotter assembly is shown in a fully extended , straight - ahead position , along the centerline of the crane and boom , with bottom slider &# 39 ; s 20 front face positioned parallel to the front face of the spotter &# 39 ; s mainframe 42 ( 90 degrees to the crane and boom &# 39 ; s centerline ). shown at the top of fig7 is the spotter assembly fully swung to the right ( 45 degrees ) and fully retracted . the ecm has maintained the bottom slider &# 39 ; s 20 front face parallel to the front face of the spotter &# 39 ; s mainframe ( both have turned 45 degrees , but in opposite directions ). the centerline of the pile lead may be positioned parallel to the centerline of the crane . in the straight - ahead position , sensors 53 and 54 preferably measure , for example , 16 inches between their attached spherical ball joints . in the preferred embodiment this was found to equal a reference voltage , supplied by both of the sensors to the ecm , of 2 . 5 volts . if the outer steering arm is not in the straight - ahead position , the voltage may be slightly more or less than 2 . 5 volts . the ecm ray be used to energize the electro / hydraulic system and supply hydraulic oil to hydraulic cylinders 49 , which may be used to rotate outer steering arm 19 in the correct direction until ( e . g .) 2 . 5 volts are reached . when the crane &# 39 ; s operator swings the spotter to the left or right , the position sensor &# 39 ; s 53 (“ master ”) length may be decreased ( e . g ., swing left , 0 . 5 volts min .) or increased ( e . g ., swing right 4 . 5 volts max .). the ecm may be designed to always turn outer steering arm 19 so that position sensor 54 matches the same voltage as position sensor 53 . this works due to the fact that sensor 53 is positioned to the left of the spotter &# 39 ; s centerline , while sensor 54 is positioned to the right of the centerline . when the spotter is fully swung to the left , position sensors 53 and 54 , in the preferred embodiment described here , measure 14 inches in length , and when the spotter is fully swung to the right , position sensors 53 and 54 measure 18 inches in length . as mentioned above , external forces and / or hydraulic drift in cylinders 49 due to hydraulic circuit leakage may cause outer steering arm 19 to rotate , changing the length of position sensor 54 , which will result in a change in voltage output . in this event , the ecm may be used to signal the hydraulic control valve to supply correction oil to hydraulic cylinders 49 , thereby returning the outer steering arm to the correct position . referring back to fig5 a - 5b , the ecm monitors position sensor 41 , which is mounted in boom box 14 . the voltage output of sensor 41 may be used to correct twist in the pile lead assembly , which may be caused by offset loads or drilling torque . deflection of the rubber springs may change the sensor &# 39 ; s length , so that its voltage output changes from 2 . 5 volts . using proper programming , the ecm may be caused to compare the input from sensor 41 to the input from sensor 54 , and then to turn outer steering arm 19 in the correct direction until sensor 41 is again at ( e . g .) 2 . 5 volts , when boom box 14 is being used as a universal joint , with no rubber springs , position sensor &# 39 ; s 41 input to the ecm may be ignored , allowing position sensor 54 to monitor the position of outer steering arm 19 . the ecm may be programmed to accommodate all of the various setups . setups may be electronically displayed on a touch screen located in front of the crane &# 39 ; s operator ; readouts from the various sensors may be displayed on this screen as well , or on an alternative screen . other sensors may be added to monitor auger speed , hydraulic drive pressure ( auger torque ), boom angle , cable - tension , winch position ( depth of drilling or pile driving depth ), etc ., as desired . angles may be displayed on the screen , in real time , from all three position sensors . referring back to fig7 a - 7b , it may be useful to attach to the spotter &# 39 ; s mainframe 42 a spring retractable hose reel 55 with two hydraulic hoses 56 for supplying hydraulic oil for the cylinders 49 , and one electrical cable 57 for position sensor 54 . the hoses and electrical cable may be molded together and attached to the outer end of stinger 18 . the reel may be wrapped several times , against spring tension , with the molded cable assembly . extending the stinger pulls the hose assembly , rotating reel 55 and further tensioning the hose reel &# 39 ; s tension spring . thus , the tensioned spring may be caused to pull on the hose assembly when stinger 18 is retracted , keeping the hose assembly tensioned . the ecm program may be programmed to perform an automatic setup of the three position sensors . the calibration mode , preferably password - protected , may be selected on the touch screen when setting up or rigging the crane , pile lead , spotter and boom box . boom box sensor 41 may be attached to its electrical cable before the boom box is attached to the crane &# 39 ; s boom tip . referring back to fig5 a - 5b , rubber springs 39 may be employed to retain position sensor 41 in the zero deflection position which , in the preferred embodiment , should theoretically be 2 . 5 volts . due to rubber spring compression , as affected by age , electrical on the position sensor , and normal wear on the mechanical components , reference voltages may shift . zero or the straight - ahead position , as an example , may have shifted from 2 . 5 volts to 2 . 3 volts . a mechanical lock pin ( not shown ) may be inserted between upper frame 33 and lower frame 34 to establish the correct alignment or straight - ahead position . in the calibration mode , the actual voltage may be stored in the memory of the ecm . position sensors 53 and 54 attached to spotter 9 may also be tested in the calibration mode . referring to fig1 , the spotter may be suspended by cable 11 before being attached to pile lead assembly 16 . the crane &# 39 ; s operator may swing the spotter fully to the left and hold this position for 5 seconds , as displayed on the touch screen . the spotter may then fully swing the spotter to the right and again hold this position for 5 seconds . the ecm may be programmed to calculate the center point of the minimum and maximum voltage from position sensor 53 and store this value into memory . this is the straight - ahead position . calibration of position sensor 54 , which monitors the position of outer steering arm 19 , is identical to position sensor 53 . in the calibration mode , the ecm may be programmed to allow the operator direct control of the outer steering arm , allowing it to be swung fully to the left and right . the ecm may also be programmed to monitor the position of all the sensors and to warn the crane &# 39 ; s operator of out - of - limits operation . the fault may be shown on the operator &# 39 ; s screen . some faults may be displayed as warnings , while other faults may result in the shut down of the system until repairs are made to correct the problem . it will be appreciated that one or more pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders may be used in place of the rubber springs . the hydraulic cylinder option would be more viable , as the cylinder &# 39 ; s size would be relatively small and generally hydraulic oil is readily available from the crane . the cylinders could be single or double acting and in both cases the air / oil flow could be restricted in and out of both cylinders to provide dampening . at least one accumulator could be used to provide a rising rate similar to the rubber springs . another option when using air or hydraulic cylinders would be to set the cylinder &# 39 ; s control pressure ( air or oil pressure ) to a fixed pressure setting ( no rising rate or accumulators ( s )), thereby limiting the amount of induced torque applied to the cranes boom to a constant fixed value . rubber springs may be preferred , however , as maintenance and cost will likely be lower than cylinders requiring air / hydraulic control systems . the present invention could also be adapted for use with a stationary crane such as one mounted to a pedestal . even devices not typically termed “ cranes ” could be used with the present invention . for example , a hydraulic excavator could be fitted with a spotter and a boom box , rather than using a crane . an excavator boom may be fabricated out of steel plates and may be manufactured in various shapes . further , a “ lattice boom ” need not be used with the present invention . while lattice booms are generally constructed from alloy hollow section tubing or angle steel and are triangulated in construction , the boom structure could also consist of a tubular or boxed section which may not be termed a “ lattice boom ” in common industry usage . the above description is not intended to limit the meaning of the words used in the following claims that define the invention . other systems , methods , features , and advantages of the present invention will be , or will become , apparent to one having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the foregoing drawings , written description and claims , and persons of ordinary skill in the art will understand that a variety of other designs still falling within the scope of the following claims may be envisioned and used . it is contemplated that these or other future modifications in structure , function or result will exist that are not substantial changes and that all such insubstantial changes in what is claimed are intended to be covered by the claims . | 4 |
the present invention provides a high yield method of pre paring soluble dietary fiber with a low viscosity . ( i ) removing starch and protein from corn hulls ; ( ii ) extracting starch - and protein - removed the corn hulls with an alkaline solution , and filtering the alkaline extract through a filter cloth ; ( iii ) treating the filtrate of step ( ii ) with cellulase and cellobiase ; ( iv ) treating the solution reacted with enzyme of step ( iii ) with an adsorbent , and then filtering it through a membrane filter ; and ( v ) purifying the filtrate . as desired , to further improve the transparency and filterability , step ( iii ) further comprises a step of treatment with xylanase . preferably , before the to enzymatic reaction , the alkaline extract is further desalted and decolorized with an ion exchange resin . the corn hulls used in the present invention are commercially available . as long as the corn hulls are commercially available , all corn hulls can be used without considering their quality level . in the present invention , the generally known methods for removing starch and protein can be used . for example , in the enzymatic method , the corn hulls can be treated with a starch degrading enzyme such as amylase and glucoamylase , and protease . treatment with the starch degrading enzyme and the protease can be done simultaneously or sequentially . in the invention , after removal of starch and protein from corn hulls , the resultant can be filtered through a filter cloth , thereby increasing the recovery rate of corn hulls . to extract hemicellulose , which constitutes 70 % or more of corn hulls , the corn hulls are stirred with the addition of an alkaline solution at a high temperature . the alkaline solution can be naoh , or a mixture of naoh and ca ( oh ) 2 . when only the sodium hydroxide is used , a higher yield , a higher content of dietary fiber , and more advantages in the preparation process can be expected compared to using sodium hydroxide and calcium hydroxide together . in considering the efficient extraction of hemicellulose , it is preferable to use sodium hydroxide at a low concentration . the maximal recovery rate of the extract can be reached by filtering the extract with a filter cloth after alkaline extraction . after neutralizing the extract with acid , the resultant solution is simultaneously treated with cellulase and cellobiase , or cellulase , cellobiase and xylanase . the addition of cellulase , cellobiase , and xylanase makes the extract less viscous , more transparent , and more filterable , thereby making the production process more advantageous . in addition , when the alkaline extract is treated by desalting and decolorization with a cation or anion exchange resin before the enzyme treatment , it is possible to reduce the amount of the enzyme which is required in the following step to produce the same quality of soluble dietary fiber . the solution obtained from the enzyme reaction is treated with an adsorbent such as activated carbon , filtered by membrane filtration , treated with an ion exchange resin , concentrated , and dried , to produce the water - soluble dietary fiber . the preparing method of the soluble dietary fiber from corn hulls is more specifically described in the following . corn hulls obtained from corn starch production are dried to about 5 % of water content . the dried corn hulls are mixed with distilled water in the amount of 10 to 20 times , preferably 15 times by weight of the corn hulls , and the ph is adjusted to ph 5 . 8 to 6 . 0 by the addition of a 3 to 5 % naoh standard solution . after the resultant solution is heated by stirring in a water bath so that the temperature of the solution is 90 to 100 ° c ., the solution is stirred for 1 to 5 hours with the addition of alpha - amylase in the amount of 0 . 05 to 5 %, preferably 0 . 1 to 3 % to the dried corn hulls , and then filtered through a filter cloth , and the corn hulls are then sufficiently washed with water . the alpha - amylase , for example termamyl ( novo nordisk ltd . ), is preferably heat - resistant . the filter cloth can be a generally used one that is made from polyester and polyamide with an internal pore size of 36 to 100 , and preferably 44 to 53 micrometers . destarched corn hulls are then suspended in distilled water in the same ratio as above , and the ph of the solution is adjusted to ph 7 . 0 by the addition of a sodium hydroxide solution . after the resultant solution is heated by stirring in a water bath so that the temperature of the solution is 45 to 55 ° c ., it is stirred for 1 to 5 hours with the addition of protease in the amount of 0 . 05 to 5 %, preferably 0 . 2 to 2 %, filtered through the filter cloth , and washed by the same method as above , to obtain starch - and protein - removed corn hulls . the proteases include fungi enzymes such as flavourzyme derived from asperfillus oryzae , alkalase derived from bacillus licheniformis , and the like . when filtration is performed with the filter cloth , the recovery rate of corn hulls is higher than with centrifugation , which is shown in example 1 . the hemicellulose is extracted from the starch - and protein - removed corn hulls with an alkaline solution . the corn hulls filtered can be used directly , or after being dried to some extent . the resultant corn hulls can be mixed with a sodium hydroxide solution at a low concentration of 0 . 1 to 3 %, preferably 0 . 5 to 0 . 7 % in the amount of 15 to 25 times , preferably 20 to 25 times by weight of the corn hulls . then the hemicellulose is extracted by heating the mixture in a water bath , and stirring at 70 to 90 ° c . for 1 to 5 hours . the resultant is then cooled to room temperature , and filtered by vacuum filtration with a filter cloth to is produce the extract . the same type of filter cloth as used in the first step can be used . as shown in example 3 , when filtering with a filter cloth , the recovery rate and transparency of the alkaline extract increases , thereby improving the filterability and final yield in the following process , compared to centrifugation . after preparing the alkaline extract , the solution can be directly treated with enzymes such as cellulose , cellobiase , and xylanase , etc . however , before the enzyme treatment , the alkaline extract can be further desalted and decolorized with an ion exchange resin . this case has advantages in that a smaller amount of enzymes is required in the enzyme reaction , and it results in a higher yield than with direct enzyme treatment without desalting and decolorization . the ion exchange resin which is generally used for preparation of starch sweetner can be used in the desalting and decolorizing step . as examples , a strongly acidic cation exchange resin or a weakly basic anion exchange resin can be used . the ion exchange resins can be added in the amount of 1 to 10 times , and preferably 4 times the volume of the dried corn hulls . for example , a cation exchange resin including the strongly acidic styrene resin sk1b can be used , and the anion exchange resin s that can be used include a strongly basic cl - type and a weakly basic oh - type styrene resin . the ph of the alkaline extract , or the desalted and decolorized alkaline extract , is adjusted to ph 4 . 0 to 5 . 5 , preferably 4 . 7 to 5 . 0 , which is optimum for enzymes . then the temperature of the resultant solution is adjusted to an appropriate temperature for the active enzymes by heating it in a water bath , and it is treated with cellulase and cellobiase while stirring . preferably , xylanase may be used for treatment together with the cellulase and cellobiase , thereby obtaining an enzyme hydrolysate with an improved filterability , low viscosity , and high transparency . in regard to the preferred dosage content of the enzymes , when the alkaline extract is directly treated with enzymes , the dosage of cellulase and cellobiase are the same , at 0 . 1 to 5 %, preferably 0 . 1 to 3 %, respectively . when the amount of the enzymes is lower , it is difficult to perform the following processes , such as the filtering step . when the amount of the enzymes is higher , the reaction time is reduced , but the production costs increase . when the alkaline extract is treated with enzymes after a desalting and decolorizing step , 10 to 90 parts by weight of cellobiase to 100 parts by weight of cellulase can produce a final product with a quality level equivalent to that of an enzyme reaction on an alkaline extract lacking the desalting and decolorizing step . the content of cellulase can be 0 . 1 to 5 wt % to weight of lo dried corn hulls . the cellobiase can be used in the amount of 0 . 1 to 5 wt %, preferably 0 . 1 to 3 wt %, to weight of the dried corn hulls . the enzyme reaction mixture is treated with an adsorbent , and then filtered . the adsorbents include activated carbon , an adsorbing resin such as polystyrene , and the like . to obtain a transparent extract , the filtration process can be performed with a membrane filter with a pore size of 0 . 5 micrometer or less , and preferably 0 . 45 to 0 . 2 micrometer or less . the final purification of the extract can be performed by desalting and decolorizing with an ion exchange resin which is generally used in the preparation process of dietary fiber . for example , the ion exchange resins include a strongly acidic cation exchange resin , a weakly basic anion exchange resin , and a mixed ion exchange resin . the mixed resin can be a mixture of an activated strongly acidic cation exchange resin and a strongly basic anion exchange resin , in the volume ratio of 1 : 2 . for example , the cation exchange resins include a strongly acidic styrene resin sk1b , and the anion exchange resins include a strongly basic cl - type styrene resin and a weakly basic oh - type styrene resin . the finally purified enzyme hydrolysate is concentrated to a 10 % solution under vacuum , and is then freeze - dried or spray - dried to produce powder . the employment of the third step in the preparation process for the dietary fiber can omit the purification process with the cation exchange resin or to anion exchange resin , resulting in simplifying the preparation process . the following examples are intended only to illustrate the invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention as defined by the claims . dried corn hulls ( 2 . 8 % of water content ) were added to distilled water in the amount of 15 times by weight of the dried corn hulls , and the ph was adjusted to 5 . 8 with 1n naoh while mixing with a mechanical stirrer . the mixture was heated in a 95 ° c . water bath , reacted for 2 hours with the addition of heat - resistant alpha - amylase ( novo nordisk ltd ., termamyl 120 ls , denmark ) in the amount of 2 . 0 % to the dried corn hulls , filtered by a polyester filter cloth ( samsung canvas , 55 - 5528 , korea ), and washed with distilled water . the destarched corn hulls were added to distilled water in the amount of 15 times by weight of the dried corn hulls , and the ph was adjusted to 7 . 0 with 1n naoh while mixing with a mechanical stirrer . the mixture was reacted with the addition of protease ( novo nordisk ltd ., flavourzyme , denmark ) in the amount of 2 . 0 % to the dried corn hulls for 2 hours in a 50 ° c . water bath , filtered by a polyester filter cloth ( samsung canvas , 55 - 5528 , korea ), and washed with distilled water . the resultant was dried in an oven at 50 ° c ., to produce starch - and protein - removed corn hulls . the yield of corn hulls is shown in table 1 . the same method as in example 1 was used , except that instead of flavourzyme , alkalase ( novo nordisk ltd ., alkalase , denmark ) in the amount of 2 . 0 % to the dried corn hulls was reacted for 2 h ours in a 55 ° c . water bath , to produce starch - and protein - removed corn hulls . the yield of corn hulls is shown in table 1 . the same method as in example 1 was used , except that after the treatment of alpha - amylase and protease , the resultant solution was centrifuged at 3 , 000 rpm instead of filtering with the filter cloth , to produce starch - and protein - removed corn hulls . the yield of corn hulls is shown in table 1 . 37 g of starch - and protein - remvoed corn hulls prepared according to example 1 were mixed with 1 l of a 0 . 5 % naoh solution , and stirred in an 80 ° c . water bath for 3 hours , and filtered through a filter cloth to produce a primary alkaline extract . the yield and transparency as measured with a spectrophotometer are shown in table 2 the corn hulls obtained in comparative example 1 were treated with an alkaline solution as in example 3 , and then they were centrifuged instead of filtered , to produce an alkaline extract . the yield and transparency as measured with a spectrophotometer are shown in table 2 . the results show that the yield and transparency with vacuum filtration are higher than with the centrifugation method . the ph of 1 . 2 l of the primary extract obtained in example 3 ( 27 . 7 g of solid content ) was adjusted to ph 4 . 8 by the addition of 10 % hcl , and cellulase ( novo nordisk ltd , celluclast , denmark ) and cellobiase ( novo nordisk ltd ., to novozyme 188 , denmark ) were added in the amount of 3 % by weight of the dried corn hulls in a 50 ° c . water bath . then , the viscosity , filterability , and transparency of the resultant solution were measured , and the results are shown in table 3 . to compare the results , the above process was repeated , except that only 3 . 0 % by weight of the cellulase was used . in addition , the ph of the same primary extract as above was adjusted to ph 4 . 8 by the addition of 10 % hcl , and cellulase ( novo nordisk ltd , celluclast , denmark ), cellobiase ( novo nordisk ltd ., novozyme 188 , denmark ), and xylanase ( biocatalyst co ., depot 333p , uk ) in the amount of 3 % by weight of the dried corn hulls were added simultaneously to the extract , reacted in a 60 ° c . water bath for 3 hours . then , the viscosity , the filterability , and the transparency of the resultant solution were measured , and the results are shown in table 3 . 2 . 5 g of activated carbon ( norit co ., kb - b , holland ) were added to an enzyme hydrolysate of three enzymes , it was heated to 95 ° c . for 30 seconds , and cooled to room temperature . the resultant was primarily filtered into filter paper ( advantec co ., toyo 5a , japan ), and then secondly into filter paper ( whatman international ltd ., gf / b , uk ) in a glass filter under vacuum . then , the resultant was filtered through a membrane with a pore size of 0 . 45 micrometers ( gelman co ., metricel , usa ) and a membrane with a pore size of 0 . 2 micrometers ( gelman co ., super - 200 , usa ). the obtained filtrate was treated with a strongly acidic cation exchange resin ( samyang co ., sk - 1b , korea ), a weakly basic and strongly basic anion exchange resin ( samyang co ., wa 30 ; pa 408 , korea ), and a resin mixture ( strongly acidic cation exchange resin and strongly basic anion exchange resin in the ratio of 1 : 2 ) at each step , it was stirred in a 40 ° c . water bath for 1 . 5 hours , filtered , and desalted and decolorized . finally , the resultant was concentrated with a vacuum evaporator ( eyela , ne - 1v , japan ), so that the concentration of the soluble dietary fiber was measured to be 10 % ( w / w ). the final yield of soluble dietary fiber to raw corn hulls was 23 . 1 %. as a result of measurement of the fiber with a prosky - aoac method , the content of soluble dietary fiber was 91 . 9 %, and the results of typical analysis are shown in table 4 . to perform the desalting and decolorizing process , the ph of 1 . 2 l of primary extract obtained in example 3 ( 27 . 7 g of solid content ) was adjusted to ph 6 . 0 by adding 10 % hcl , and 200 ml of the strongly acidic cation exchange resin ( samyang co ., sk - 1b , korea ) and the weakly basic anion exchange resin ( samyang co ., wa 30 , korea ) were added sequentially , it was stirred in a 40 ° c . water bath for 1 . 5 hours , and then filtered . the ph of the resultant solution was adjusted to ph 4 . 8 , cellulase ( novo nordisk ltd , celluclast , denmark ) and cellobiase ( novo nordisk ltd ., novozyme 188 , denmark ) were added in the amount of 2 % and 0 . 4 % by weight of the dried corn hulls respectively , and it was reacted for 3 hours in a 50 ° c . water bath . then , the viscosity , the filterability , and the transparency of the resultant solution were measured , and the results are shown in table 5 . to compare the results , the above process was repeated , except that only 2 . 0 % of the cellulase was used . in addition , the ph of the same primary extract as above was adjusted to ph 6 . 0 , and then it was desalted and decolorized according to the method as mentioned above . then , the ph of the resultant solution was adjusted to 4 . 8 , cellulase ( novo nordisk ltd , celluclast , denmark ), cellobiase ( novo nordisk ltd ., novozyme 188 , denmark ), and xylanase ( biocatalyst co ., depol 333p , uk ) were added simultaneously in the amount of 2 . 0 %, 0 . 4 %, and 2 . 0 % by weight of the dried corn hulls respectively , and it was reacted in a 55 ° c . water bath for 3 hours . then , the viscosity , the filterability , and the transparency of the resultant solution were measured , and the results are shown in table 5 . 2 . 5 g of the activated carbon ( norit co ., kb - b , holland ) were added to an hydrolysate of three enzymes , it was heated to 95 ° c . for 30 seconds , and cooled to room temperature . the resultant was primarily filtered into filter paper ( advantec co ., toyo 5a , japan ), and then secondly into filter paper ( whatman international ltd ., gf / b , uk ) in a glass filter under vacuum . then , the resultant was filtered into a membrane with a pore size of 0 . 45 micrometers ( gelman co ., metricel , usa ) and a membrane with a pore size of 0 . 2 micrometers ( gelman co ., super - 200 , usa ). the obtained filtrate was added to 200 ml of a resin mixture of a strongly acidic cation exchange resin ( samyang co ., sk - 1b , korea ) and a weakly basic anion exchange resin ( samyang co ., wa 30 ; pa 408 , korea ) in the volume ratio of 1 : 2 , and stirred in a 40 ° c . water bath for 1 . 5 hours to complete the final purification process . finally , the resultant solution was concentrated with a vacuum evaporator ( eyela , ne - 1v , japan ), so that the concentration of the soluble dietary fiber was measured be to 10 % ( w / w ). the final yield of soluble dietary fiber to raw corn hulls was 24 . 5 %. as a result of measurement of the fiber with a prosky - aoac method , the content of soluble dietary fiber was 92 . 1 %, and the results of typical analysis are shown in table 6 . this example was produced according to the same method of example 4 , except that xylanase derived from aspergillus niger ( novo nordisk ltd ., shearzyme 500 l , denmark ) was used instead of xylanse . the final yield of dietary fiber to raw corn hulls was 20 . 4 %, and the content of dietary fiber was 90 . 7 %. 200 g of corn hulls ( 5 . 7 % of water content ) were mixed with distilled water so that the final concentration was 8 %, 1n naoh solution was added while mixing with an a mechanical stirrer , to a ph of 5 . 8 . the mixture was heated in a 95 ° c . water bath , reacted with the addition of the heat - resistant alpha - amylase of example 1 in the amount of 1 . 0 % ( v / w ) to the dried corn hulls , for 2 hours , and filtered with a filter cloth . the destarched corn hulls were added to 3 . 0 l of distilled water , and the ph was adjusted to 7 . 0 with 1n naoh solution . the mixture was reacted with protease ( novo nordisk ltd ., flavourzyme , denmark ) in the amount of 1 . 0 ( w / w ) % to the dried corn hulls for 3 hours in a 50 ° c . water bath , filtered with a filter cloth , and dried in an oven at 50 ° c ., to produce starch - and protein - removed corn hulls . the yield of corn hulls was 74 . 0 %. to perform alkaline extraction , the starch - and protein - removed corn hulls were mixed with 3 l of a 0 . 5 % naoh solution , and stirred in a 40 ° c . water bath for 24 hours and filtered through a filter cloth to produce a primary alkaline extract . the ph of the primary extract was adjusted to ph 4 . 8 by addition of 10 % of hcl , and cellulase ( novo nordisk ltd , celluclast , denmark ) and cellobiase ( novo nordisk ltd ., novozyme 188 , denmark ) in the amount of 1 . 0 % by weight of the dried corn hulls were respectively added , and reacted in a 50 ° c . water bath for 5 hours . after the reaction , 10 % ( w / w ) of the activated carbon ( norit co ., kb - b , holland ) to corn hulls was added to the hydrolysate of three enzymes , it was heated to 95 ° c . for 30 seconds , and cooled to room temperature . the resultant was finally filtered with a membrane with a pore size of 0 . 45 micrometers ( gelman co ., metricel , usa ). as in the method of example 3 , the desalting and decolorizing steps were performed with three steps of ion exchange resin treatment . the resultant solution was concentrated so that the final concentration was 10 % ( w / w ), and then the final yield of soluble dietary fiber to the raw dried corn hulls was calculated . as a result , the yield was 21 . 5 %, and the content of the fiber was 86 . 4 %. according to the method of example 1 , 300 g of corn hulls were added to distilled water in the amount of 15 times by weight of the corn hulls , and then starch and protein were removed with enzyme sequentially . the yield of starch - and protein - removed corn hulls was 68 . 6 %. alkaline extraction was performed on the corn hulls with 5 l of 0 . 5 % naoh , and then the resultant solution was divided into two groups . 5 % of cellulase and 5 % ( v / w ) of cellobiase to the dried corn hulls were added to one group , and reacted at 50 ° c . for 5 hours . 5 % ( v / w ) of cellulase , 5 % ( v / w ) of cellobiase , and 5 % ( v / w ) of xylanase to the dried corn hulls were added simultaneously to the other group and reacted at 60 ° c . for 5 hours . the two groups were treated according to the purification process as above . then , the concentrations of dietary fiber solution were adjusted to 5 % ( w / w ) at room temperature , and the viscosities were measured . as a result , with the treatment of cellulase and cellobiase , the viscosity was 10 . 0 cps . with the treatment of cellulase , cellobiase , and xylanase , the viscosity was 9 . 0 cps . for reference , arabic gum ( msc co ., no . 10308 , korea ), which is usually used as an emulsion stabilizer for food , had a viscosity of 6 . 7 cps . after the starch and protein were removed from the corn hulls according to the method of example 1 , the resultant was divided into two groups . one group was treated with 0 . 5 % of an alkaline mixture which included naoh and ca ( oh ) 2 in the same ratio in the amount of 20 times by weight of corn hulls . the other group was treated with 0 . 5 % of a naoh solution in the same amount , and reacted at 80 ° c . for 3 hours . as disclosed in example 4 , the resultant solutions were treated with the three kinds of enzymes in the amount of 3 % respectively , reacted , purified , and the yield was calculated . as a result , in the case of treatment with naoh and ca ( oh ) 2 , the yield was 15 . 1 %, and the content of dietary fiber was 72 . 7 %. in the case of treatment with naoh , the yield was 20 . 1 %, and the content of dietary fiber was 84 . 3 %. after the starch and protein were removed from the corn hulls according to the method of example 1 , the resultant was divided into three groups . the groups were treated with a 0 . 1 %, 0 . 5 %, and 1 . 0 % naoh solution in the amount of 20 times by weight of corn hulls , respectively . as disclosed in example 4 , the resultant solutions were treated with the three kinds of enzymes in the amount of 3 % respectively , reacted , purified , and the yield was calculated . as a result , when treating with 0 . 1 %, 0 . 5 %, and 1 . 0 % naoh , the yields were 3 . 3 %, 30 . 0 %, and 33 . 4 %, respectively . however , the treatment with 1 . 0 % naoh caused the formation of salt in a relatively large amount during neutralizing process , resulting in a high load during the purification process . after the starch and protein were removed from the corn hulls according to the method of example 1 , the resultant was divided into three groups . the groups were treated with a 0 . 5 % naoh solution in the amount of 20 times by weight of corn hulls for 1 , 3 , and 10 hours , respectively . as disclosed in example 4 , the resultant solutions were treated with the three kinds of enzymes in the amount of 3 % respectively , reacted , purified , and the yield was calculated . as a result , when treatment time was 1 , 3 , and 10 hours , the yields were 24 . 9 %, 27 . 9 %, and 26 . 7 %, respectively . after the starch and protein were removed from the corn hulls according to the method of example 1 , the resultant was divided into three groups . the groups were treated with a 0 . 5 % naoh solution in the amount of 20 times by weight of corn hulls for 3 hours at 40 , 60 , and 80 ° c ., respectively . as disclosed in example 4 , the resultant solutions were treated with the three kinds of enzymes in the amount of 3 % respectively , reacted , purified , and the yield was calculated . as a result , when treatment temperature was 40 , 60 , and 80 ° c ., the yields were 8 . 5 %, 15 . 4 %, and 21 . 7 %, respectively . lecithin powder ( central soya co ., centrolex d , usa ), arabic gum ( msc co ., 10308 , korea ), and two kinds of dietary fiber extracted from corn hulls at 2 % ( w / w ) respectively were added to a mixture of soy bean oil and distilled water , emulsified with a homogenizer at 20 , 000 rpm for 5 minutes , and the viscosity of the emulsion was measured . as a result , the viscosity was 23 cps for lecithin powder , 35 cps for arabic gum , 55 cps for dietary fiber obtained by treating with cellulase and cellobiase , and 50 cps for dietary fiber obtained by treating with cellulase , cellobiase , and xylanse . in addition , the state of emulsion in a 100 ml mass cylinder was investigated . as a result , all the samples showed good emulsion stability . after 10 days , a lower aqueous layer separation occurred for all the samples . after 30 days , a lower aqueous layer completely separated from the upper oil layer for the sample including lecithin , but the emulsion of the samples including arabic gum and dietary fiber extracted from corn hulls kept comparatively stable . | 0 |
referring now to fig1 of the accompanying drawings which set forth the present invention in greater detail and in which like numerals designate like features , a high pressure mixing and spray nozzle apparatus is generally comprised of a pressure / back pressure module 12 , an expulsion chamber module 14 , an accelerator module 16 , each module having a secondary component inlet ( 20 , 24 and 56 , respectively ), a diversion member 6 , and a diversion control valve 4 . a primary component , usually water under pressure , is introduced to the nozzle apparatus in the direction of the flow 8 . module 12 is termed pressure / back pressure due to the fluid mechanics action involved within module 12 . in particular , the primary component is a pressurized fluid that is received within module 12 that has its flow restricted downstream by the narrower outlet end of module 12 . this restriction creates a backpressure on incoming fluid . as best shown in fig2 the pressure / back pressure module 12 contains a secondary component inlet 20 for introducing a small amount of air which circumferentially surrounds the flow of the primary component fluid through the feedline . the pressure / back pressure module 12 also provides a pressure inlet / outlet 22 for diversion of excess pressure to the accelerator module 16 . the secondary component inlet 24 of the expulsion chamber 14 provides a unidirectional fluid jet orifice 30 . fluid jet orifice 30 , in combination with inlet 30 , provides a means of pushing ( or driving ) the fluid through module 14 , hence the term expulsion chamber module . the diameter of the unidirectional orifice 30 may be sized according to the viscosity of fluids to be used . the secondary component inlet 24 can be formed in a circular orifice 30 , as shown in fig2 and 3 . in another embodiment , the unidirectional jet orifice 30 can also consist of two adjacent circular outlets as best shown in fig6 and 8 , this embodiment allows for the introduction of an additional secondary component through another secondary component inlet 24 &# 39 ; and another unidirectional jet orifice 30 &# 39 ;. the secondary component inlet 24 is mounted on the expulsion chamber module 14 which is larger in diameter than the fluid line of the pressure / back pressure module 12 feeding it . the inner boundary of expulsion chamber module 14 is cylindrical in shape proceeding to a hemispheric - shaped portion 50 and an outlet which is of a significantly smaller diameter than the main portion of the expulsion chamber module 14 . the hemispheric - shaped portion 50 serves to develop a linearly compressed shock - type wave , the import of which is discussed herein . the accelerator module 16 contains a secondary component inlet 56 and a pressure inlet / outlet 28 which is operably coupled to the diversion member 6 . the accelerator module 16 also contains an inner member 52 which includes , in one embodiment , a plurality of radially oriented circular openings 26 located along the length of the inner member 52 ( see fig4 ). inlet 56 and inner member 52 provide a means for compressing and sharpening the wave as it leaves expulsion chamber module 14 to increase the velocity and range of the oncoming fluid , hence to term accelerator module . in another embodiment best shown in fig7 the inner member 52 may contain a plurality of slit shaped openings 54 instead of circular openings 26 . the slit shaped openings 54 are angular cuts made on the wall of inner member 52 , commencing with a series of slit shaped openings 54 cut at a predetermined angle with the wall of inner member 52 . subsequent series of slits 54 that are cut along the direction of the fluid flow are then cut having an angle with the wall of the inner that is lesser than the angle made with the wall of the inner member 52 of the previous series of slits 54 . as shown in fig7 and within the cross - section area of the inner wall member 52 , the slits 54 are angular cuts that are formed by a cut having the outer surface of inner wall 52 cut slightly upstream of the inner terminating end of the slit 54 on the inner wall surface of inner wall member 52 . this decrease in angle sharpens and accelerates the fluid waveform as it passes through the accelerator module 16 . the accelerator module 16 further comprises a circumferential wall 72 , as shown in fig2 and 7 . the circumferential wall 72 serves to separate the secondary component inlet 56 from the pressure inlet / outlet 28 . in the pressure / back pressure module 12 , a small amount of air surrounds the flow of fluid by 360 degrees , adding momentum and pressure directionally into the expulsion chamber module 14 . if the desired pressure level is exceeded the pressure can be diverted out of the pressure / back pressure module 12 and into the accelerator module 16 . the secondary component inlet 24 of the expulsion chamber module 12 aid in pushing the fluid through the expulsion chamber module 14 and towards the accelerator module 16 . the unidirectional orifice 30 is centrally located to allow acceleration of the fluid and may be larger for use with a solid fluid and smaller for use with a gas or liquid fluid . the unidirectional orifice 30 may also be eccentrically located , but directed at an angle toward the center line , to prevent clogging in the expulsion chamber module 14 when heavier materials are used . the unidirectional orifice 30 may be formed in a delta - wing shape 32 to further dampen any wave action around the secondary component inlet 24 by directing the fluid linearly through the expulsion chamber module 14 . the expulsion chamber module 14 is larger in diameter than the fluid line feeding it from the pressure / back pressure module 12 . the required diameter of the expulsion chamber module 14 increases in relation to the increase in desired fluid volume and pressure . this increase in volume and decrease in pressure creates a draw from the secondary component inlet 24 . the expulsion chamber module &# 39 ; s 14 hemispherically - shaped portion 50 reduces a bell - shaped shock - type wave into a linearly compressed wave . the hemispherically - shaped portion 50 also limits the perpendicular lines of force thereby allowing directional acceleration through the expulsion chamber module 14 . as the fluid enters the expulsion chamber module 14 from the pressure / back pressure module 12 the fluid waveforms tend to diverge outward . simultaneously , the fluid input from the unidirectional orifice 30 produces waveforms which tend to converge as they enter the expulsion chamber 14 . these converging waveforms serve to offset and compress the angle of the diverging waveforms produced by the pressure / back pressure module 12 , thereby producing a linearly compressed waveform . the outwardly expanding forces of the linearly compressed waveform further accelerates the fluid flow . the accelerator module 16 is pressurized through the input 56 , providing a unidirectional flow . the accelerator module 16 compresses and accelerates the mixture leaving the expulsion chamber module 14 , further sharpening the wave leaving the expulsion chamber module 14 and increasing the velocity and range of the final output . the accelerator module 16 utilizes pressure and vacuum to draw the shock wave through the hemispherically - shaped portion 50 of the expulsion chamber module 14 . the inner member 52 of the accelerator module 16 contains plurality of slits 54 or openings 26 which create a reduction in friction against the fluid flow which and accelerates the fluid flow . the decrease in angle of the slits 54 or openings 26 serves to further sharpen and accelerate the final output . each module performs the same function of sharpening and accelerating the nozzle output , but each produces different results . therefore the modules can be used separately or in any combination which will produce the desired result for the required application . depending on the amount of back pressure required , back pressure from any module can be diverted to any other module . each module can also accommodate a gas , liquid , or solid fluid depending on the distinct needs and requirements of the function to be performed . further , the primary and secondary components may be varied to suit different situations . for example , for some fire - fighting situations , water would be the primary component with a dry chemical flame retardant being a secondary component and carbon dioxide being another secondary component . it will be understood that although the secondary components introduced in the pressure / back pressure module or the accelerator module are usually in gaseous form , such as air , liquid and solid fluids may likewise be introduced . while the invention has been particularly shown and described in reference to the preferred embodiments thereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that changes in form and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . | 1 |
referring to fig2 a temperature sensor is shown which includes resistors r1 and r t , along with processing circuitry for amplifying the output of the sensor , and correcting circuitry for measuring errors present in the processing circuit and for compensating for the measured errors so as to develop a corrected sensor output signal . the ability of the illustrated system to measure and compensate for such errors is due in part to the structure of the illustrated system and in part to a software program to be described later . referring again to the resistors r1 and r t , the resistor r1 is preferably a metal film resistor having a one percent tolerance and a temperature coefficient of 50 ppm ( parts per million ). the resistor r t has a resistance which varies with temperature . for example , the value of the resistor rt may be approximately 1580 ohms at a temperature of - 40 ° centigrade , and about 3100 ohms at a temperature of + 150 ° centigrade . the resistors r1 and r t are coupled as shown in series between a dc supply voltage + v and ground to develop at their junction ( node 18 ) a sensor output signal v t that varies as a function of temperature . it is this signal v t which is to be amplified , processed and corrected as described later herein to provide a sensor signal with high resolution and high accuracy . the illustrated system is designed to accommodate a plurality of sensors , as illustrated by the inclusion of resistors 20 and 22 which are connected in series with each other and in parallel with resistors r1 and r t . the resistor 20 may be similar to or identical to the resistor r1 and the resistor 22 may be similar to or identical to the resistor r t so as to develop an additional sensor output signal v t1 at the juncture of resistors 20 and 22 ( node 24 ). the remainder of the circuitry shown in fig2 essentially comprises circuitry to amplify the output of a selected sensor and to compensate for any errors which are introduced . in parallel with the sensor comprising resistors r1 and r t is a voltage divider made up of resistors r2 and r3 which are connected in series with each other to develop a reference voltage ( v of ) at their juncture ( node 26 ). the resistors r2 and r3 may be of the same type as the resistor r1 described earlier . the reference voltage developed at the node 26 is a voltage against which the sensor voltage v t ( and other sensor voltages v t1 , etc .) will be compared to develop an amplified sensor output signal . to amplify a selected sensor output signal , an amplifier 28 is included which has a first input terminal 30 coupled to receive the reference signal v of . a second input terminal 32 is coupled to the output of a switch which preferably takes the form of a multiplexer 34 which has multiple inputs . referring again to the amplifier 28 , it includes an output terminal 36 at which an amplified signal v o ( n ) is developed . referring to the multiplexer 34 , its multiple inputs are shown as including a first input designated as h and additional inputs which are designated as a through g . each of the inputs a - g receives a different sensor output signal . as will be discussed in more detail later , the input designated h is selected and used for calibration purposes when the processing circuit is in a calibration mode . when an operational mode is in effect , a selected one of the inputs a - g is amplified and corrected under the control of a programmed microprocessor 40 . more specifically , the microprocessor 40 is programmed to enable the multiplexer 34 via an address bus 42 so as to cause the multiplexer 34 to couple its channel h input to the output terminal 38 when the processing circuit is in a calibration mode during which errors in the processing circuit are detected . when the processing circuit is in the operational mode , a selected one of the other channel inputs a - g becomes coupled to the output terminal 38 , and the selected channel input becomes amplified by amplifier 28 and further processed to compensate for any errors detected during the calibration mode . it is preferred to include a protective impedance network between the output of each sensor and the input to the multiplexer 34 to protect against voltage spikes and the like . in this embodiment , the protective impedance network between the multiplexer and the node 24 is shown as a resistor 44 . likewise , a resistor 46 is coupled the channel a input to the multiplexer 34 and the node 18 . for reasons which will be described later , another resistor 4 is coupled between the node 26 and the input 30 to the amplifier 28 . preferably , the resistors 44 , 46 and 48 are of substantially equal values . referring again to the amplifier 28 , its output ( node 36 ) is coupled to an input of an a / d converter 50 which accepts the analog input from node 36 , converts it to a digital value , and inputs it to the microprocessor 40 in the conventional manner . although the a / d converter 50 is illustrated as being a separate item from the microprocessor 40 , the a / d converter 50 may be included in the microprocessor 40 . there are two further inputs to the converter 50 . one is the reference voltage v of which is coupled to an input of the converter 50 via a line 52 . the other input to the converter 50 is the signal which appears on the output terminal 38 of the multiplexer 34 . this input is coupled to the converter 50 via a lead 54 and the voltage thereon is referred to herein as v t ( n ). the voltage v t ( n ) will correspond to the signal on the one input h or a - g which is selected by the microprocessor to be coupled through the multiplexer 34 . before describing the operation of the system shown in fig2 and how it compensates for errors , it is appropriate to first discuss some of the errors that arise in such a system and which of those errors are compensated for in the illustrated embodiment . one type of error which arises in any such system is the error which is associated with the accuracy of the sensor itself . this type of error is not treated by the present system . contact and wiring resistant errors are also errors which are not corrected by the present system . on the other hand , an error which is corrected by the present system is referred to as &# 34 ; offset resistor ratio error &# 34 ; ( referred to later as dk3 ) and is created by the tolerances associated with the resistors r2 and r3 . this error gives rise to an offset voltage error in v of and is corrected as described below . &# 34 ; amplifier offset error &# 34 ; is an error which is created by the offset voltage associated with the amplifier 28 , and this error is also corrected as described later . bias current error arising from bias currents from the input pins of the amplifier 28 is another form of error which is corrected as described later . another error which is corrected is that due to leakage current through the multiplexer 34 . this leakage has two distinct components . one such leakage occurs between each input pin of the multiplexer and ground and may be approximately 1 microampere . the other component is due to leakage between input pins and is also in the range of about 1 microampere . finally , the gain error associated with amplifier 28 is another error which is corrected by the present system . having described the type of errors the present system corrects for , reference is now made to fig3 which depicts equations 1 - 4 which are mathematical expressions useful in describing some of the errors discussed above and in describing the type of correction which takes place as described later . referring first to equation 1 , v o ( n ) corrected indicates a sensor output voltage which has been amplified at terminal 36 , measured , and compensated for by multiplying the measured voltage at terminal 36 by a factor a and combining the result with a correction factor b . a and b are corrective factors which are calculated by the microprocessor 40 in response to measurements made during a calibration cycle . once the calibration cycle is completed , a sensor output voltage is present on the terminal 36 , is measured , and is then corrected by use of the factors a and b as illustrated by equation 1 . the corrective factor a is defined by equation 2 in which gvi is the ideal voltage gain of the amplifier 28 and dk2 is the gain error as defined by equation 3 . in equation 3 , v o ( x ) indicates any voltage appearing at the node 36 other than a voltage due to channel h being coupled through the multiplexer to its output terminal 38 . in other words , v o ( x ) is any amplified sensor output voltage . c off is a measure of the amplifier offset error plus leakage effects . the calculation of the c off is described later . v t ( x ) is a voltage which appears on the lead 54 at the same time that the voltage v o ( x ) appears on the lead 36 . v of is the reference voltage shown at the node 26 in fig2 and v ofi is the ideal reference voltage which would be developed by resistors r2 and r3 in the case where the ratio of r 2 and r 3 has its ideal value . the additive corrective factor b is defined by equation 4 where dk3 is the error in the ratio of the resistances of r2 and r3 . the other factors in equation 4 have already been defined . some of the factors such as gvi , v ofi and the like are constants which are preferably included in the memory of the microprocessor 40 . the variables such as v t ( x ) and v o ( x ) are variables which are sensed by the a / d converter 50 , digitized , and input to the microprocessor 40 for use in calculating the corrective factors a and b . having described the types of errors which the present system corrects and having briefly described , in connection with the equations shown in fig3 the nature of the corrections , the corrective method which is employed will now be described in more detail by way of the flow charts shown in fig4 and 5 and the structure which is shown in fig2 . the flow chart shown in fig4 illustrates a software program which is stored in the microprocessor 40 . this particular program constitutes a calibrate routine by which the a / d converter 50 senses and digitizes selective signals developed by the processing circuit and transfers the digitized information to the microprocessor 40 . the microprocessor 40 uses the information received from the converter 50 to calculate the corrective factors a and b ( see equations 2 and 4 ). the system then goes into its operational mode to initiate a correction routine during which the output of a selective sensor is amplified , the amplified signal is sensed and digitized by the converter 50 , and the microprocessor 40 combines the corrective factors a and b with the measured output of the amplifier 28 to provide a corrected output signal as shown by equation 1 . that output signal may be stored in the microprocessor &# 39 ; s memory for further use or may be coupled to an output port ( not shown ) for transmission to other circuitry as required . referring now to fig4 the calibrate routine begins with an instruction 54 which causes the multiplexer 34 to connect its channel h input terminal to its output terminal 38 . this is accomplished by the microprocessor 40 sending the appropriate address to the multiplexer 34 via the bus 42 . as a consequence of this action , the input lead 32 of the amplifier 28 receives the channel h signal which comprises the reference voltage v of plus any voltage drops across the resistor 48 due to leakage currents . the same signal is applied to the other input terminal 30 of the amplifier 28 . in addition , the same signal is applied as an input to the converter 50 via the lead 54 . the other two inputs to the converter 50 are the amplified output of the amplifier 28 and the reference voltage which is coupled to the converter via the lead 52 . referring again to fig4 the next step of the calibration routine , as indicated by instruction 56 , causes the microprocessor to store the digitized values of the signals v of , v o ( h ), and v t ( h ) [ v o ( h ) is the value of v o ( n ) when channel h is selected and v t ( h ) is the value of v t ( n ) when the channel h is selected ]. next , instruction 58 causes the microprocessor to filter the signals v of and v o ( h ) to reduce system noise and quantizing error . such filtering is preferably accomplished by the conventional technique of taking a rolling average which uses a time constant much lager than the sample time of v of and v o ( h ). next , instruction 60 causes the microprocessor to calculate dk3 which is the error in the ratio of the resistances of r2 and r3 . the microprocessor computes the value of this error by subtracting from v of ( the reference voltage ) the stored value of the ideal reference voltage v ofi which would be developed in the case where r2 and r3 would have their ideal values . the calculated value of dk3 is used later to compute the value of the corrective factor b . the next instruction 62 causes the microprocessor to calculate the value of c off which is a measure of the offset of the amplifier 28 times its gain plus leakage effects . as shown , the value of c off is calculated by subtracting the filtered value of v of ( measured per instruction 56 and filtered per instruction 58 ) from the filtered value of v o ( h ) ( also measured per instruction 56 and filtered per instruction 58 ). the calculated value of c off will be used later to compute the gain error of the amplifier 28 and also to compute the value of the corrective factors a and b . instruction 64 now causes the microprocessor to select any other sensor channel a - g . the channel which is selected is identified as ( x ). this causes the multiplexer 34 to couple one of the channel inputs a - g to its output terminal 38 so that the output of the amplifier 36 , now identified v o ( x ), is an amplified sensor signal as opposed to an output resulting from the calibration mode of operation . with the sensor channel ( x ) now selected , the next instruction 66 causes the microprocessor to measure the values of v o ( x ) ( the signal now at mode 36 ) and v t ( x ) ( the signal now on lead 54 ). the measured values are then filtered ( as by the rolling average method mentioned above ) per instruction 68 . at this point , the microprocessor has sufficient information , either measured in accordance with the previous instructions or stored in its memory , to calculate the value of dk2 which is the value of the gain error associated with the amplifier 28 . instruction 70 causes this calculation to occur as expressed by equation 3 of fig3 . proceeding to instruction 72 , the microprocessor 40 calculates the value of the multiplier corrective factor a in accordance with equation 2 of fig3 . next , instruction 74 causes the microprocessor to calculate the value of the additive corrective factor b as set forth in equation 4 . note that in equation 4 the term &# 34 ; dk2 &# 34 ; ( the gain error ) becomes multiplied times dk3 ( the error in the offset voltage v of resulting from the tolerances in r2 and r3 ). this is the cross product term that has been referred to hereinabove . thus , the additive factor b will compensate for errors due to the cross products of gain error and offset error . referring back to fig4 the next instruction 56 causes the microprocessor to save the calculated values for a and for b so that they may be used in the correction routine which will now be described . referring to fig5 the illustrated flow chart depicts the steps used by the microprocessor to correct the measured value of an amplified sensor output signal on one of the channels a - g so as to compensate for the above mentioned errors in the processing circuit . first , instruction 78 causes the microprocessor to enable the multiplexer 34 to select a channel n which will be one of the channels a - g requiring measurement . next , instruction 80 causes the microprocessor to measure the signal at the output of amplifier 28 . the measured value of that signal is then multiplied times the corrective factor a which was calculated by the calibrate routine shown in fig4 . the result of that multiplication is then , per instruction 84 , added to the corrective factor b which was also calculated during the calibrate routine . thus , the execution of instructions 82 and 84 have corrected the measured value of the output of amplitude 28 in accordance with equation 1 ( fig3 ). the corrected result is then saved by the microprocessor as required by the next instruction 86 . the system as thus far described has gone once through its calibrate routine and once through its correction routine . next , the system may execute its calibrate routine again or it may select a different sensor output signal to process . the frequency with which the calibrate routine is used will depend on the environment and other factors associated with a particular application . suffice it to say that the microprocessor 40 may be programmed to execute the calibrate routine only so often as it is desired to update the information needed to calculate the corrective factors a and b . to illustrate the extent to which errors are corrected by the embodiment shown in fig2 reference is now made to fig6 , and 8 . in fig6 the theoretically worst case errors are shown for the case in which the error correction scheme is not utilized ( i . e ., the correction routine is disabled ). note that the total error varies from about 7 . 5 degrees to about 13 degrees as the temperature of the sensor varies between - 40 ° c . and + 150 ° c . this excludes errors in the sensor itself . turning now to fig7 which depicts the theoretically worst case errors for the case in which the correction routine is used , one can see that the errors have been substantially reduced . over the temperature range of - 40 ° c . to + 150 ° c ., the errors vary only between about 1 . 9 degrees and 2 . 3 degrees . the tracking errors between channels have also been substantially reduced as indicated by fig8 . over the temperature range of - 40 ° c . to + 150 ° c ., the theoretically worst case errors vary from about 1 . 5 degrees to about 1 . 8 degrees . having described the preferred embodiment of the invention , its advantages will be apparent . high resolution is achieved by virtue of having an amplified sensor output signal , and high accuracy is achieved because the errors commonly encountered with the amplifier and its associated circuitry are automatically compensated for . further , the system is capable of amplifying and processing a number of different sensor channels such that the channels track with each other because each channel is subject to the same amplification and error correction . although the invention has been described in terms of its preferred embodiment , it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many alterations and variations made be made without departing from the invention . for example , the illustrated temperature sensors may be replaced by other types of sensors which develop output signals representative of a measured variable . other examples of changes will be apparent . accordingly , it is intended that all such alterations and variations be considered as within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims . | 6 |
as required , detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein ; however , it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms . the figures are not necessarily to scale ; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components . therefore , specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting , but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention . evaluating the real world fuel consumption of a vehicle is one method of developing algorithms for low - cost routing and distance - to - empty . this calculation enables vehicle features that can result in significant fuel and travel time savings . with advances in digital systems , there is an explosion of inputs available to electronic vehicle features that can influence emissions , energy consumption and travel time . making use of this data will eventually result in cost savings for a consumer . traffic simulation tools help in replicating real life traffic and driver behavior . different scenarios can be analyzed to understand the most important influencers on real world fuel economy . the energy consumption under different traffic and road conditions can also be evaluated using traffic simulation . the illustrative embodiment reflect development of software modules for embedded and cloud - based applications that receives inputs such as driver characteristics , road topology , vehicle characteristics , weather , traffic , etc . and output energy consumption for route optimization and distance to empty computations . this can also enable applications on embedded platforms such as sync , mobile platforms such as smart phones and in web - based applications in the cloud . the illustrative embodiments enable vehicle features that can eliminate range anxiety by presenting real - world estimates of distance to empty and also ensure the best fuel economy by presenting low energy routes . the illustrative embodiments include a laboratory method of computing real - world fuel consumption from external data available in digital formats . the external data available in digital formats is used as an input into a traffic simulator called vissim2 , which can generate realistic drive cycles . drive cycles are then input into a powertrain simulation to compute energy along a specific route for a specific vehicle . the energies for the entire set of vehicles are statistically analyzed for average energy consumption and the expectation interval energy consumption along the route . a method of computing energy from drive cycles called modefrontier is introduced and makes the energy consumption analysis much simpler and more suitable for embedded processors and cloud - based applications . four dimensional energy tables are populated with energy values using cvsp , with the dimensions being vehicle weight , speed , road gradient and accessory loads . actual road gradient and vehicle acceleration from the vissim drive cycle are combined into a singled variable for use in the tables . throughout any simulated drive only the speed and vehicle acceleration vary , so the table was divided into sub - tables for each accessory load and vehicle weight . a cubic spline surface was created in the speed and road gradient dimensions for each sub - table to more accurately estimate the fuel consumption . scvsp was also used to compute the maximum acceleration the vehicle is capable of at a specific weight , road gradient and speed . this was passed into vissim manually as an acceleration - velocity curve . if this curve was incorrect the accelerations would be either too large for the vehicle to achieve or never large enough to represent maximum vehicle acceleration . vissim is a simulation package that can analyze private and public transport operations under constraints such as lane configuration , traffic composition , traffic signals , public transportation stops , etc ., thus making it a useful tool for the evaluation of various alternatives based on transportation engineering and planning measures of effectiveness . vissim can be applied as a useful tool in a variety of transportation problem settings . the following list provides a selective overview of previous applications of vissim : evaluation and optimization of traffic operations in a combined network of coordinated and actuated traffic signals . feasibility and traffic impact studies of integrating light rail into urban street networks . easy comparison of design alternatives including signalized and stop sign controlled intersections , roundabouts and grade separated interchanges . capacity and operations analysis of complex station layouts for light rail and bus systems . with its built - in dynamic assignment model , vissim can answer route choice dependent questions such as the impacts of variable message signs or the potential for traffic diversion into neighborhoods for networks up to the size of medium sized cities . modeling and simulating flows of pedestrians — in streets and buildings — allow for a wide range of new applications . vissim can also simulate and visualize the interactions between road traffic and pedestrians . the traffic simulator is a microscopic traffic flow simulation model including the car following and lane change logic . the signal state generator is a signal control software pooling detector information from the traffic simulator on a discrete time step basis ( down to 1 / 10 of a second ). it then determines the signal status for the following time step and returns this information to the traffic simulator . the accuracy of a traffic simulation model is mainly dependent on the quality of the vehicle modeling , e . g . the methodology of moving vehicles through the network . in contrast to less complex models using constant speeds and deterministic car following logic , vissim uses a psycho - physical driver behavior model . the basic concept of this model is that the driver of a faster moving vehicle starts to decelerate as he reaches his individual perception threshold when approaching a slower moving vehicle . since he cannot precisely determine the speed of the other vehicle , his speed will fall below that vehicle &# 39 ; s speed until he starts to slightly accelerate again after reaching another perception threshold . this results in an iterative process of acceleration and deceleration . stochastic distributions of speed and spacing thresholds replicate individual driver behavior characteristics . vissim &# 39 ; s traffic simulator not only allows drivers on multiple lane roadways to react to preceding vehicles ( 4 by default ), but also neighboring vehicles on the adjacent travel lanes are taken into account . the alertness of drivers approaching a traffic signal is increased within 100 meters of a stop line . rules to define the relationship between vehicles in adjacent travel lanes the ability of the simulator to depict real life traffic scenarios and driving behavior is extremely useful in understanding the different road or traffic or driver characteristics that affect the energy consumption of a battery electric vehicle . scvsp is the corporate standard tool for vehicle performance and fuel economy modeling and simulation . among its main features are : used on ford vehicle programs to set performance & amp ; fuel economy targets . model architecture and subsystem interfaces allow interchange subsystem and component models based on vehicle hardware . a global bus enables the communication between the vehicle system control ( vsc ) and vehicle components . includes extensive set of component models that have been developed over the years and are validated with test data . includes extensive vehicle and component parameter database . these parameters can be calibrated and optimized to improve vehicle performance . supported by company - wide processes to generate vehicle and component parameter data for new programs . includes standard test management and report generating capabilities that allow design engineers understand the behavior of components , subsystems and the vehicle . in order to have a on - line capability to predict the distance to empty in bevs , scvsp energy usage results are computed in advance and recorded in a table as shown below . each entry in the table is the work needed for locomotion in wh / mile for a given speed , acceleration , ground grade , accessory load and vehicle weight . the vehicle weight was simplified and parameterized by the number of passengers in the vehicle assuming 150 lbs for a passenger . the work is provided at the battery terminals as well as at the wheels the former value includes parasitic losses in the powertrain but not parasitic losses in the battery . in the calculation the large table is reduced to separate 2 - dimensional sub - tables for a specific accload and number of passengers . the sub - tables have two variables remaining , % grade and vehspeed , that are the only variables that change during a single drive cycle . the sub - tables are further reduced to a cubic spline surface dimensioned by % grade and vehicle speed . the values computed by scvsp become the corner nodes for each value in the table . these cubic - spline surfaces are then used to estimate the power from the drive cycle , with vehicle acceleration and actual road grade combined into the single % grade value . scvsp was also used to compute the maximum acceleration verses time as an input into vissim . scvsp simulations of the three epa cycles demonstrate the extremes of maximum accelerations imposed by the scvsp model of the vehicle . it is necessary that vissim and scvsp have the same acceleration limits or vissim will generate accelerations that can not be achieved by the vehicle . the lower bound of acceleration ( maximum deceleration ) was − 0 . 85 at zero mph , varying linearly to − 0 . 75 at 80 mph ; theoretically it may be possible to have greater decelerations . fig1 shows an illustrative example of a fuel efficiency testing process . in this illustrative embodiment , a road network model is first established 201 . in at least one example , the model is established in a vissim environment . next , a plurality of scenarios are setup under which testing conditions can be performed on the road model 203 . multiple replications of the scenarios are run to establish baseline results 204 , providing aggregate data with a high degree of accuracy . for each relevant virtual vehicle in a given scenario , speed , acceleration , distance traveled , etc . are obtained 205 , and this data is fed into calculation software 207 . fuel consumption for that vehicle is then calculated based on the inputs 208 . from this data , total energy consumption can then be determined 209 . after a given scenario is completed , the process can advance to a next scenario 211 . fig2 shows an illustrative example of a road network modeling process . the road network under consideration is set - up in the traffic simulator . the geometry 301 and length of the road 303 , number of lanes 305 , vehicle flows 307 , vehicle compositions 309 , desired speeds 311 , traffic signal data 313 , the driver model 315 , etc . are some of the inputs that may need to be set - up before running the simulation . additional inputs may be added to the simulator as desired , and not all of the previously mentioned inputs need to be used . fig3 shows an illustrative example of a scenario setup process . in this illustrative example , a particular scenario is selected for initialization 401 . road characteristics may be input 403 if desired . for example , without limitation , gradient 405 and / or number of lanes 407 may be adjusted . also , in this embodiment , traffic characteristics 409 may be input for the scenario . this may include , but are not limited to , a vehicle flow rate 411 and a vehicle mix 413 . further , in this illustrative embodiment , driver characteristics may be input 415 to represent certain driving behaviors . these characteristics may include , but are not limited to , driver speeds 417 and cruise control usage data 419 . also , in this example , weather data may be input for the scenario 421 . this data may include , but is not limited to , visibility adjustments 423 and temperature adjustments 425 . fig4 shows an illustrative example of an energy consumption determination process . the parameters used to calculate the energy consumed by a particular battery electric vehicle during a simulation run may include : speed 503 , acceleration 505 , distance travelled 507 , accessory loads and number of passengers . vissim can output the speed , acceleration and distance travelled by all the vehicles in the simulation at every instant ( every second in this case ). the number of passengers is fixed at one and the accessory loads are assumed to remain fixed throughout the simulation run . it should be noted that the accessory loads affect only the eventual energy consumption and not the drive cycle . using the energy tables from scvsp the outputs from vissim are processed in matlab ( or c - code on board the vehicle ) 509 to get the energy consumption by the battery electric vehicles in a given scenario 511 . the acceleration / deceleration values from vissim are mapped into corresponding gradient values and thereby taking into account the regenerative ability of a battery electric vehicle during braking 513 . a matlab / c code calculates the energy consumed at each and every time instant for each electric vehicle and sums them to give the total energy consumption 515 . regenerative capability of a battery electric vehicle is considered in the energy tables . the models used by the traffic simulator are stochastic in nature . hence , for a given scenario and a particular simulation run , each of the battery electric vehicles will have a different drive cycle and therefore different energy usage . a characteristic of a particular simulation is the statistical variance of the energy utilization of large samples of vehicle . the sample size can be determined by plotting the variance ( or standard deviation ) verses sample size and observing the point at which the variance approaches a steady state . based this analysis 120 vehicles was selected as a reasonable sample size . it was observed that , in this example , variation in standard deviation is negligible once the sample size is more than 120 . hence , averaging the energy values of 120 vehicles for each scenario would provide good statistics . in order to get a sample size of at least 120 vehicles , the simulation needs to be run multiple times depending on the scenario being tested . for example , assuming the flow to be 2000 vehicle per hour with 2 % battery electric vehicles and a simulation time of one hour , at least 4 simulation runs need to be performed to get a good sample of 120 vehicles . it should be noted that in a particular run , only those vehicles are chosen which traverse the whole road length . vehicles which are unable to complete the whole trip are excluded from the energy calculations . presenting the mean energy consumed in a given scenario is not enough . it is important to know the variation in the values . hence , the mean energy values are associated with a ‘ confidence interval ’. a confidence interval is a range of numbers relevant to the parameter of interest . for example , a 95 % confidence interval means that if we repeatedly draw samples of a given size n from a certain population and we construct a confidence interval for each sample , then 95 % of these intervals on average will contain the true value of the unknown parameter as an interior point . it is incorrect to interpret a 95 % confidence interval to mean that there is a 95 % chance that the interval contains the true value of the unknown parameter as an interior point . this is because there is one value of the unknown parameter , and the confidence interval either contains this value or does not contain it . thus , confidence intervals should not be interpreted as probabilities but should rather be interpreted in the context of repeated sampling . through testing , it can be seen that gradient has a prominent effect on the energy consumption of a battery electric vehicle . there is a rapid increase in the energy values as we move from a gradient of − 4 % to 4 %. this is because , the vehicle needs more energy to climb uphill ( positive gradient ) and it can gain energy through regenerative braking while going downhill ( negative gradient ). relatively , congestion doesn &# 39 ; t seem to have a big effect on the energy usage . there is a slight reduction in energy as the flow conditions approach a congested scenario . this effect is directly related to the decrease in the speeds for congested flows . also , speed of the vehicles has a big impact on the energy consumption . a vehicle travelling at around 100 km / hr will consume about 30 % more energy than a vehicle travelling at around 80 km / hr . also , the number of lanes on the freeway doesn &# 39 ; t seem to have an effect on the overall energy consumption . it can be seen that the vehicles travelling in cruise control use significantly lower energy than the vehicles travelling without cruise . the fluctuations in acceleration / deceleration and hence the speed results in higher energy consumption for vehicles which are not using cruise control . the drop in energy consumption with increase in flow values is directly related to the drop in speeds as the flow conditions become congested . it should also be noted that the energy consumption and its variation remains fixed across different flow values when the cruise control is set to 80 km / hr . but , in the case of cruise control at 100 km / hr , there is a larger statistical variance in energy usage ( dotted lines diverge ) as the flow values increase . this is because at high flows , the vehicles are unable to maintain a cruise speed of 100 km / hr due to the increase in flow density . but , the vehicles seem to maintain a cruise speed of 80 km / hr even when the traffic flow increases . the effect of accessory loads is comparable to the effect of flow conditions . for example , a vehicle travelling in a congested road ( 6000 vehicles per hour ) and a hot weather ( 2000 w accessory load ) uses almost the same energy as that used by a vehicle travelling in free flow ( 2000 vehicles per hour ) and a cold weather ( 800 w accessory load ). for a given accessory load the energy usage is the lowest for a residential road and highest for a freeway , mainly because of low speeds and stop - go nature of traffic on a residential road . in fact , the energy usage per mile with 400 w accessory load is more than halved from a freeway to a residential road . but , the travel time on a residential road is almost four times that on a freeway . this shows a trade - off between travel times and energy usage . increase in the accessory loads has very little impact on the energy usage on a freeway where high speed is the primary driver of energy consumed . on the other hand , the accessory loads drastically affect the energy usage on a residential road to such an extent that , the energy used per mile with 2000 w accessory load is almost the same as that on an urban road . the energy consumption results from various scenarios across different road types have been analyzed to understand the various factors that affect energy consumption of a battery electric vehicle . the results show that road gradient has a very significant effect on the energy usage across all the three road types — freeway , urban roads and residential roads . accessory loads have a strong effect across different road types . the results show that at very high accessory loads the energy usage on a residential road is equal to the energy used on an urban road , although there is a difference in the desired speeds on these road types . the speed of the vehicles also has a prominent effect on the energy usage . cruise control on freeways helps in reducing the energy cost . also , significant energy gains are possible in stop - go traffic scenarios because of regenerative braking in a battery electric vehicle . hence , urban roads with traffic signals and residential roads are likely to be preferred over freeways to achieve lower energy consumption . but , it should be noted that there is a trade - off here , between energy consumed and travel times . the results can be used to develop cost functions that can evaluate the total energy consumed along various possible routes between an origin and destination and finally give the customer the minimum energy route . one way of using the results in the cost function is through the use of energy look - up tables and polynomial curve fitting . for example , any route can be broken up into segments which have the same characteristic , ( either road type or gradient or speed limits etc ) and each segment can be assigned a cost which is equal to the energy consumed by the vehicle to travel that segment . adding up the costs across all the segments will give the overall cost to travel that particular route . this can be done for all possible routes between two locations and the final output could be the route which uses the lowest amount of energy . energies on different segments can be calculated by fitting a polynomial curve to available data . accessory loads can be related to the weather and temperature conditions . hence , overall , accessory loads will have a significant effect in deciding which road type to choose while making a certain trip . there is hardly any change in the energy consumption of a battery electric vehicle when the % of heavy goods vehicles is increase from 4 % to 10 %. a significant change in energy consumption ‘ might ’ occur when the % of heavy goods vehicles is increased to an even higher value . while exemplary embodiments are described above , it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention . rather , the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation , and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . additionally , the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the invention . | 6 |
the present invention is related , in part , to a lubricating oil composition . more particularly , the present invention relates to a low phosphorus lubricating oil composition employing a mixture of zinc dithiophosphates containing a zinc primary dialkyl dithiophosphate , a zinc secondary dialkyl dithiophosphate and a zinc diaryl dithiophosphate wherein the respective ratio , based on the phosphorus content , of the zinc primary dialkyl dithiophosphate to zinc secondary dialkyl dithiophosphate is from about 2 : 1 to about 1 : 2 and the ratio of the mixture of zinc primary dialkyl dithiophosphate and zinc secondary dialkyl dithiophosphate to zinc diaryl dithiophosphate is from about 6 : 1 to 1 : 1 and wherein the lubricating oil composition has less than about 0 . 06 wt % total phosphorus content , based on the total weight of the lubricating oil composition . the low phosphorus lubricating oil composition of the present invention is effective in lead corrosion control when used as a lubricating oil in internal combustion engines . each of these components in the claimed composition will be described in detail herein . however , prior to such a description , the following terms will first be defined . the term “ alkyl ” refers to both straight - and branched - chain alkyl groups . the term “ aryl ” refers to a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic group , such as the phenyl , tolyl , xylyl , ethylphenyl and cumenyl groups . the term “ low phosphorus ” refers to the phosphorus content of the lubricating oil composition of the present invention . the phosphorus content is in the range of about 0 . 005 weight percent to about 0 . 06 weight percent based on the total weight of the lubricating oil composition . the term “ total phosphorus ” refers to the total amount of phosphorus in the lubricant composition regardless of whether such phosphorus is present as part of an oil - soluble , phosphorus - containing , anti - wear compound or in the form of a contaminant in the lubricant composition such as residual phosphorus remaining due to the presence of p 2 s 5 used to prepare metal dihydrocarbyl dithiophosphates . in either event , the amount of phosphorus permitted in the lubricant composition is independent of source . preferably , however , the phosphorus is part of a lubricant additive . the lubricating oil composition of the present invention will employ , in part , a mixture of zinc dithiophosphates . the zinc dithiophosphates are independently characterized by formula i : wherein each r is independently a group containing from about 1 to about 30 carbon atoms . the r groups in the dithiophosphate can independently be about c 1 to about c 13 primary alkyl , about c 3 to about c 13 secondary alkyl , and about c 6 to about c 30 aryl group . preferably , the r groups in the dithiophosphate can independently be about c 3 to about c 10 primary alkyl , about c 3 to about c 8 secondary alkyl , and about c 6 to about c 24 aryl group . more preferably , the r groups in the dithiophosphate can independently be about c 6 to about c 8 primary alkyl , about c 3 to about c 6 secondary alkyl , and about c 6 to about c 20 aryl group . the r groups may be a substantially hydrocarbon group . by “ substantially hydrocarbon ” is meant hydrocarbons that contain substituent groups such as ether , ester , nitro , or halogen which do not materially affect the hydrocarbon character of the group . the r group of the zinc dithiophosphate may be derived , for example , from a primary alcohol such as methanol , ethanol , propanol , butanol , pentanol , hexanol , heptanol , octanol , nonanol , decanol , dodecanol , octadecanol , propenol , butenol , 2 - ethylhexanol : a secondary alcohol such as isopropyl alcohol , secondary butyl alcohol , isobutanol , 3 - methylbutan - 2 - ol , 2 - pentanol , 4 - methyl - 2 - pentanol , 2 - hexanol , 3 - hexanol , amyl alcohol , an aryl alcohol such as phenol , substituted phenol ( particularly alkylphenol such as butylphenol , octylphenol , nonylphenol , dodecylphenol ), disubstituted phenol . preferably the r group will be independently a primary alkyl , a secondary alkyl or an aryl group . for the present invention it is contemplated that the mixture of a zinc primary dialkyl dithiophosphate , a zinc secondary dialkyl dithiophosphate and a zinc diaryl dithiophosphate will be in a respective ratio , based on the phosphorus content , in the lubricating oil composition of the present invention . the ratio of zinc primary dialkyl dithiophosphate to zinc secondary dialkyl dithiophosphate will be from about 2 : 1 to about 1 : 2 and the ratio of the mixture of zinc primary dialkyl dithiophosphate and zinc secondary dialkyl dithiophosphate to zinc diaryl dithiophosphate is from about 6 : 1 to about 1 : 1 . preferably , the respective ratio , based on the phosphorus content , of zinc primary dialkyl dithiophosphate to zinc secondary dialkyl dithiophosphate is a range from about 3 : 2 to about 2 : 3 , more preferably about 1 : 1 . preferably , the respective ratio , based on the phosphorus content , of the mixture of zinc primary dialkyl dithiophosphate and zinc secondary dialkyl dithiophosphate to zinc diaryl dithiophosphate is a range from about 4 : 1 to about 1 : 1 , more preferably about 2 : 1 . most preferably , the respective ratio , based on the phosphorus content , of the mixture of zinc primary dialkyl dithiophosphate to zinc secondary dialkyl dithiophosphate to zinc diaryl dithiophosphate is 1 : 1 : 1 . many of the zinc dithiophosphates useful in the present invention are available commercially . however , zinc dithiophosphates are widely known in the art and a skilled artisan can readily synthesize such compounds for the purposes of the present invention . typically , zinc dithiophosphates can be made by initial reaction of phosphorous pentasulfide and an alcohol or phenol or mixtures of alcohols and / or phenols such as those illustrated above for the r group . the reaction involves four moles of the alcohol or phenol per mole of phosphorous pentasulfide , and may be carried out within the temperature range from about 50 ° c . to about 200 ° c . thus , the preparation of o , o - di - n - hexyl phosphorodithioic acid , for example , involves the reaction of phosphorous pentasulfide with four moles of n - hexyl alcohol at about 100 ° c . for about two hours . hydrogen sulfide is liberated and the residue is phosphorodithioic acid . the preparation of the metal salt of this acid may be affected by reaction with either zinc oxide or zinc hydroxide to yield the zinc dithiophosphate . simply mixing and heating these two reactants is sufficient to cause the reaction to take place and the resulting product is sufficiently pure for the purposes of the present invention . patents describing the synthesis of such zinc dithiophosphates include u . s . pat . nos . 2 , 680 , 123 ; 3 , 000 , 822 ; 3 , 151 , 075 ; 3 , 385 , 791 ; 4 , 377 , 527 ; 4 , 495 , 075 and 4 , 778 , 906 . each of these patents is incorporated herein by reference in their entirety . the mixture of zinc dithiophosphates of the present invention is typically added to a base oil in sufficient amounts to provide lead corrosion control in internal combustion engines . generally , the lubricating oil composition of the present invention will contain a major amount of base oil of lubricating viscosity and a minor amount of the mixture of zinc dithiophosphates of the present invention . base oil as used herein is defined as a base stock or blend of base stocks which is a lubricant component that is produced by each manufacturer to the same specifications ( independent of feed source or manufacturer &# 39 ; s location ); that meets the same manufacturer &# 39 ; s specification ; and that is identified by a unique formula , product identification number , or both . base stocks may be manufactured using a variety of different processes including but not limited to distillation , solvent refining , hydrogen processing , oligomerization , esterification , and rerefining . refined stock shall be substantially free from materials introduced through manufacturing , contamination , or previous use . the base oil of this invention may be any natural or synthetic lubricating base oil fraction particularly those having a kinematic viscosity at 100 ° centigrade (° c .) and about 4 centistokes ( cst ) to about 20 cst . hydrocarbon synthetic oils may include , for example , oils prepared from the polymerization of ethylene , polyalphaolefin or pao , or from hydrocarbon synthesis procedures using carbon monoxide and hydrogen gases such as in a fisher - tropsch process . a preferred base oil is one that comprised little , if any , heavy fraction ; e . g ., little , if any , tube oil fraction of viscosity about 20 cst or higher at about 100 ° c . oils used as the base oil will be selected or blended depending on the desired end use and the additives in the finished oil to give the desired of engine oil , e . g . a lubricating oil composition having an sae viscosity grade of 0w , 0w - 20 , 0w - 30 , 0w - 40 , 0w - 50 , 0w - 60 , 5w , 5w - 20 , 5w - 30 , 5w - 40 , 5w - 50 , 5w - 60 , 10w , 10w - 20 , 10w - 20 , 10w - 30 , 10w - 40 , 10w - 50 , 15w , 15w - 20 , 15w - 30 , 15w - 40 . the base oil may be derived from natural lubricating oils , synthetic lubricating oils or mixtures thereof . suitable base oil includes base stocks obtained by isomerization of synthetic wax and slack wax , as well as hydrocrackate base stocks produced by hydrocracking ( rather than solvent extracting ) the aromatic and polar components of the crude . suitable base oils include those in all api categories , i , ii , iii , iv and v as defined in api publication 1509 , 14th edition , addendum i , december 1998 . saturates levels and viscosity indices for group i , ii and iii base oils are listed in table i . group iv base oils are polyalphaolefins ( pao ). group v base oils include all other base oils not included in group i , ii , iii , or iv . group iii base oils are preferred . all others not included in groups i , ii , iii , or iv natural lubricating oils may include animal oils , vegetable oils ( e . g ., rapeseed oils , castor oils and lard oil ), petroleum oils , mineral oils , and oils derived from coal or shale . synthetic oils may include hydrocarbon oils and halo - substituted hydrocarbon oils such as polymerized and inter - polymerized olefins , alkylbenzenes , polyphenyls , alkylated diphenyl ethers , alkylated diphenyl sulfides , as well as their derivatives , analogues and homologues thereof , interpolymers , copolymers and derivatives thereof wherein the terminal hydroxyl groups have been modified by esterification , etherification , etc . another suitable class of synthetic lubricating oils comprises the esters of dicarboxylic acids with a variety of alcohols . esters useful as synthetic oils also include those made from about c 5 to about c 12 monocarboxylic acids and polyols and polyol ethers . tri - alkyl phosphate ester oils such as those exemplified by tri - n - butyl phosphate and tri - iso - butyl phosphate are also suitable for use as base oils . silicon - based oils ( such as the polyalkyl -, polyaryl -, polyalkoxy -, or polyaryloxy - siloxane oils and silicate oils ) comprise another useful class of synthetic lubricating oils . other synthetic lubricating oils include esters of phosphorus - containing acids , polymeric tetrahydrofurans , polyalphaolefins , and the like . the base oil may be derived from unrefined , refined , rerefined oils , or mixtures thereof . unrefined oils are obtained directly from a natural source or synthetic source ( e . g ., coal , shale , or tar sand bitumen ) without further purification or treatment . examples of unrefined oils include a shale oil obtained directly from a retorting operation , a petroleum oil obtained directly from distillation , or an ester oil obtained directly from an esterification process , each of which may then be used without further treatment . refined oils are similar to the unrefined oils except that refined oils have been treated in one or more purification steps to improve one or more properties . suitable purification techniques include distillation , hydrocracking , hydrotreating , dewaxing , solvent extraction , acid or base extraction , filtration , and percolation , all of which are known to those skilled in the art . rerefined oils are obtained by treating used oils in processes similar to those used to obtain the refined oils . these rerefined oils are also known as reclaimed or reprocessed oils and often are additionally processed by techniques for removal of spent additives and oil breakdown products . base oil derived from the hydroisomerization of wax may also be used , either alone or in combination with the aforesaid natural and / or synthetic base oil . such wax isomerate oil is produced by the hydroisomerization of natural or synthetic waxes or mixtures thereof over a hydroisomerization catalyst . it is preferred to use a major amount of base oil in the lubricating oil composition of the present invention . a major amount of base oil as defined herein comprises about 40 wt % or more . preferred amounts of base oil comprise about 40 wt % to about 97 wt %, preferably greater than about 50 wt % to about 97 wt %, more preferably about 60 wt % to about 97 wt % and most preferably about 80 wt % to about 95 wt % of the lubricating oil composition . ( when weight percent is used herein , it is referring to weight percent of the lubricating oil unless otherwise specified . the amount of the mixture of zinc dithiophosphates employed in the lubricating oil composition of the present invention will be in a minor amount compared to the base oil of lubricating viscosity . generally , it will be in an amount from about 0 . 1 wt % to about 1 . 5 wt %, preferably from about 0 . 3 wt % to about 1 . 2 wt % and more preferably from about 0 . 5 wt % to about 1 . 0 wt %, based on the total weight of the lubricating oil composition . the lubricating oil composition of the present invention will contain from about 0 . 05 wt % to about 1 . 2 wt %, preferably from about 0 . 1 wt % to about 0 . 7 wt %, and more preferably from about 0 . 2 wt % to about 0 . 5 wt % of a zinc primary dialkyl dithiophosphate , based on the total weight of the lubricating oil composition . the lubricating oil composition of the present invention will contain from about 0 . 05 wt % to about 1 . 2 wt %, preferably from about 0 . 1 wt % to about 0 . 7 wt %, and more preferably from about 0 . 2 wt % to about 0 . 5 wt % of a zinc secondary dialkyl dithiophosphate , based on the total weight of the lubricating oil composition . the lubricating oil composition of the present invention will contain from about 0 . 02 wt % to about 0 . 7 wt %, preferably from about 0 . 05 wt % to about 0 . 5 wt %, and more preferably from about 0 . 1 wt % to about 0 . 3 wt % of a zinc primary diaryl dithiophosphate , based on the total weight of the lubricating oil composition . in a preferred embodiment , the lubricating oil composition of the present invention will have a phosphorus content preferably less than about 0 . 05 wt %, based on the total weight of the lubricating oil composition . in another embodiment , the lubricating oil composition of the present invention will further have a sulfur content less than about 0 . 5 wt % and , preferably less than about 0 . 2 wt %, based on the total weight of the lubricating oil composition and the total sulfated ash content in the lubricating oil composition of the present invention is less than about 1 . 2 wt %, preferably , less than about 1 . 0 wt %, and more preferably less than about 0 . 8 wt %, based on the total weight of the lubricating oil composition . the following additive components are examples of components that can be favorably employed in combination with the lubricating additive of the present invention . these examples of additives are provided to illustrate the present invention , but they are not intended to limit it . ( a ) detergents are additives designed to hold the acid - neutralizing compounds in solution in the oil . they are usually alkaline and react with the strong acids ( sulfuric and nitric ) which form during the combustion of the fuel and which would cause corrosion to the engine parts if left unchecked . examples are carboxylates , sulfurized or unsulfurized alkyl or alkenyl phenates , alkyl or alkenyl aromatic sulfonates , sulfurized or unsulfurized metal salts of multi - hydroxy alkyl or alkenyl aromatic compounds , alkyl or alkenyl hydroxy aromatic sulfonates , sulfurized or unsulfurized alkyl or alkenyl naphthenates , metal salts of alkanoic acids , metal salts of an alkyl or alkenyl multiacids and chemical and physical mixtures thereof . ( b ) dispersants are additives that keep soot and combustion products in suspension in the body of the oil and therefore prevent deposition as sludge or lacquer . typically , the ashless dispersants are nitrogen - containing dispersants formed by reacting alkenyl succinic acid anhydride with an amine . examples are alkenyl succinimides , alkenyl succinimides modified with other organic compounds , e . g ., ethylene carbonating post - treatment and alkenyl succinimides modified with boric acid , polysuccinimides , alkenyl succinic ester . ( c ) oxidation inhibitors : 1 ) phenol type ( phenolic ) oxidation inhibitors : 4 , 4 ′- methylenebis ( 2 , 6 - di - tert - butylphenol ), 4 , 4 ′- bis ( 2 , 6 - di - tert - butylphenol ), 4 , 4 ′- bis ( 2 - methyl - 6 - tert - butylphenol ), 2 , 2 ′- methylenebis ( 4 - methyl - 6tert - butyl - phenol , 4 , 4 ′- butyldienebis ( 3 - methyl - 6 - tert - butylphenol ), 4 , 4 ′- isopropylidenebis ( 2 , 6 - di - tert - butylphenol ), 2 , 2 ′- methylenebis ( 4 - methyl - 6 - nonylphenol ), 2 , 2 ′ isobutyldiene - bis ( 4 , 6 - dimethylphenol ), 2 , 2 ′- methylenebis ( 4 - methyl - 6 - cyclohexylphenol ), 2 , 6 - di - tert - butyl - 4 - methylphenol , 2 , 6 - di - tert - butyl - 4 - ethylphenol , 2 , 4 - dimethyl - 6 - tert - butyl - phenol , 2 , 6 - di - tert - α - dimethylamino - p - cresol , 2 , 6 - di - tert - 4 ( n , n ′ dimethylaminomethylphenol ), 4 , 4 ′- thiobis ( 2 - methyl - 6 - tert - butylphenol ), 2 , 2 ′- thiobis ( 4 - methyl - 6 - tert - butylphenol ), bis ( 3 - methyl - 4hydroxy - 5 - tert - butylbenzyl )- sulfide and bis ( 3 , 5 - di - tert - butyl - 4 - hydroxybenzyl ). 2 ) diphenylamine type oxidation inhibitor : alkylated diphenylamine , phenyl - α - naphthylamine and alkylated α - naphthylamine . 3 ) other types : metal dithiocarbamate ( e . g ., zinc dithiocarbamate ) and methylenebis ( dibutyldithiocarbamate ). ( d ) rust inhibitors ( anti - rust agents ) 1 ) nonionic polyoxyethylene surface active agents : polyoxyethylene lauryl ether , polyoxyethylene higher alcohol ether , polyoxyethylene nonylphenyl ether , polyoxyethylene octylphenyl ether , polyoxyethylene octyl stearyl ether , polyoxyethylene oleyl ether , polyoxyethylene sorbitol monostearate , polyoxyethylene sorbitol mono - oleate and polyethylene glycol monooleate . 2 ) other compounds : stearic acid and other fatty acids , dicarboxylic acids , metal soaps , fatty acid amine salts , metal salts of heavy sulfonic acid , partial carboxylic acid ester of polyhydric alcohol and phosphoric ester . ( e ) demulsifiers : addition product of alkylphenol and ethyleneoxide , polyoxyethylene alkyl ether and polyoxyethylene sorbitane ester . ( f ) extreme pressure agents ( ep agents ): sulfurized oils , diphenyl sulfide , methyl trichlorostearate , chlorinated naphthalene , benzyl iodide , fluoroalkylpolysiloxane and lead naphthenate . ( g ) friction modifiers : fatty alcohol , fatty acid , amine , borated ester and other esters . ( h ) multifunctional additives : sulfurized oxymolybdenum dithiocarbamate , sulfurized oxymolybdenum organo phosphorodithioate , oxymolybdenum monoglyceride , oxymolybdenum diethylate amide , amine - molybdenum complex compound and sulfur - containing molybdenum complex compound . ( i ) viscosity index improvers ( vii ): polymethacrylate type polymers , ethylene - propylene copolymers , styrene - isoprene copolymers , hydrogenated styrene - isoprene copolymers , hydrogenated star - branched polyisoprene , polyisobutylene , hydrogenated star - branched styrene - isoprene copolymer and dispersant type viscosity index improvers . ( j ) pour point depressants : polymethyl methacrylates , alkylmethacrylates and dialkyl fumarate - vinyl acetate copolymers . ( k ) foam inhibitors : alkyl methacrylate polymers and dimethyl silicone polymers . the present invention will be further illustrated by the following examples , which set forth particularly advantageous method embodiments . while the examples are provided to illustrate the present invention , they are not intended to limit it . the low phosphorus lubricating oil composition of the present invention was prepared by blending a 0 . 78 wt % mixture of zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - ethyl - 1 - hexyl ) dithiophosphate ( 0 . 24 wt %, primary ), zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - butyl / 4 - methyl - 2 - pentyl ) dithiophosphate ( 0 . 15 wt %, secondary ) and zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( dodecylphenyl ) dithiophosphate ( 0 . 39 wt %, aryl ) with a group ii base oil of lubricating viscosity . the ratio of zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - ethyl - 1 - hexyl ) dithiophosphate to zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - butyl / 4 - methyl - 2 - pentyl ) dithiophosphate was about 1 : 1 , based on the phosphorus content . the ratio of the mixture of zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - ethyl - 1 - hexyl ) dithiophosphate and zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - butyl / 4 - methyl - 2 - pentyl ) dithiophosphate to zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( dodecylphenyl ) dithiophosphate was about 2 : 1 , based on the phosphorus content . the resulting ratio of the three - way mixture of zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - ethyl - 1 - hexyl ) dithiophosphate to zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - butyl / 4 - methyl - 2phenyl ) dithiophosphate to zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( dodecylphenyl ) dithiophosphate was 1 : 1 : 1 , based on the phosphorus content . the wt % of phosphorus in the prepared lubricating oil composition was less than about 0 . 06 wt % based on the total weight of the lubricating oil composition . further , the sulfur content and sulfated ash content 0 . 2 wt % and 0 . 8 wt % balance of the lubricating oil composition containing a 1200 molecular weight ( mw ) isobutylene bis - succinimide dispersant , a 2300 mw isobutylene bis - succinimide dispersant , a neutral sulfonate detergent , an overbased calcium phenate , a molybdenum oxidation inhibitor , diphenylamine oxidation inhibitor , a phenolic oxidation inhibitor , anti - foam agent , pour point depressant and a viscosity index improver to complete the 100 wt % lubricating oil composition . comparative example a was prepared according to example 1 except only about 1 . 16 wt % aryl zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( dodecylphenyl ) dithiophosphate was added , instead of the mixture of zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - ethyl - 1 - hexyl ) dithiophosphate , zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - butyl / 4 - methyl - 2pentyl ) dithiophosphate and zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( dodecylphenyl ) dithiophosphate . comparative example b was prepared according to example 1 except only about 0 . 46 wt % zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - butyl / 4 - methyl - 2 - pentyl ) dithiophosphate was added , instead of the mixture of zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - ethyl - 1 - hexyl ) dithiophosphate , zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - butyl / 4 - methyl - 2 - pentyl ) dithiophosphate and zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( dodecylphenyl ) dithiophosphate . comparative example c was prepared according to example 1 except only about 0 . 71 wt % zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - ethyl - 1 - hexyl ) dithiophosphate , zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - butyl / 4 - methyl - 2 - pentyl ) dithiophosphate and zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( dodecylphenyl ) dithiophosphate . comparative example d was prepared according example 1 except about 0 . 81 wt % of a mixture of zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - butyl / 4 - methyl - 2 - pentyl ) dithiophosphate and zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( dodecylphenyl ) dithiophosphate in about a 1 : 1 ratio were added , instead of the mixture of zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - ethyl1 - hexyl ) dithiophosphate , zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - butyl / 4 - methyl - 2pentyl ) dithiophosphate and zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( dodecylphenyl ) dithiophosphate . comparative example e was prepared according to example 1 except about 0 . 94 wt % of a mixture of zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - ethyl - 1 - hexyl ) dithiophosphate and zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( dodecylphenyl ) dithiophosphate in about a 1 : 1 ratio were added , instead of the mixture of zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - ethyl - 1 - hexyl ) dithiophosphate , zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - butyl / 4 - methyl - 2 - pentyl ) dithiophosphate and zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( dodecylphenyl ) dithiophosphate . comparative example f was prepared according to example 1 except about 0 . 59 wt % of a mixture of zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - ethyl - 1 - hexyl ) dithiophosphate and zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - butyl / 4 - methyl - 2 - pentyl ) dithiophosphate in about a 1 : 1 ratio were added , instead of the mixture of zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - ethyl - 1 - hexyl ) dithiophosphate , zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( 2 - butyl / 4 - methyl - 2pentyl ) dithiophosphate and zinc bis ( o , o ′- di -( dodecylphenyl ) dithiophosphate . each formulation according to example 1 and comparative example a - f were tested for lead corrosion using the high temperature corrosion bench test ( htcbt )( astm d6594 ) which is an industry standard bench test to measure corrosion performance of a motor oil . briefly , four metal specimens of copper , lead , tin , and phosphor bronze are immersed in a measured amount of engine oil . the oil , at an elevated temperature , is blown with air for a period of time . when the test is completed , the lead specimen and the stressed oil are examined to detect corrosion and corrosion products , respectively . a reference oil is tested with each group of tests to verify test acceptability . these results demonstrate that the low phosphorus lubricating oil composition of the present invention ( example 1 ) containing a mixture of zinc primary dialkyl dithiophosphate , zinc secondary dialkyl dithiophosphate and zinc diaryl dithiophosphate in a 1 : 1 : 1 ratio , and wherein the phosphorus content of the lubricating oil composition is less than 0 . 06 wt %, provides excellent lead corrosion performance when compared to the comparative examples not having a mixture of all three dithiophosphates . the amount of lead corrosion is significantly reduced by the lubricating oil composition of the present invention . | 2 |
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