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turning now to the preferred arrangement for the present invention , reference is made to the drawings to enable a more clear understanding of the invention . however , it is to be understood that the inventive features and concept may be manifested in other arrangements and that the scope of the invention is not limited to the embodiments described or illustrated . the scope of the invention is intended only to be limited by the scope of the claims that follow . this invention is focused on reducing corrosion in hydrocarbon pipelines and especially at the top or twelve o ′ clock position with long pipelines . for example , in a natural gas well , other gases are produced along with methane , ethane , propane , butane , pentane , hexane and other hydrocarbons . such other gases include water vapor , carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide and other known organic materials and impurities . as the natural gas is produced , it starts at the temperature of the formation from which it was produced . these temperatures are typically elevated compared to surface air temperatures and can be up to about 300 ° f . in the pipeline , the gases cool and some condense . water condenses below 212 ° f . and hexane and propane are more commonly liquids at temperatures slightly higher than room temperature . as these gases cool because of a cold pipe wall from conduction , condensates are formed . a problem area for condensates is at the very top of the line , in the twelve o ′ clock position , where one or more corrosive condensates tend to form and cause a considerable corrosion risk to the pipeline . in many cases , there is enough h 2 s , co 2 and organic acids in the gas space of the pipeline to create condensed fluids having a ph of as low as 3 . 0 , which is very acidic . the acidic nature can cause rapid corrosion in a carbon steel pipeline and may cause catastrophic breaching of the pipeline within a few months . so , to address the problem , the concept of the invention is to periodically or continuously inject a foam matrix carrying a corrosion inhibitor into the pipeline to mitigate top of the line corrosion . the selection of the foaming agent or surfactant , the foaming gas and the corrosion inhibitor is quite important . for example , focusing on the foaming gas , any oxygen containing gas , such as air , would not be acceptable considering that the pipeline is carrying hydrocarbons . the most preferred gas would be produced gases , most preferably hydrocarbon gases such as methane or ethane gases that are produced and collected at the well head as these are certainly compatible with other hydrocarbons ( will not degrade or cause harm to the hydrocarbons ) and is already at the wellhead and does not need to be purchased or shipped in . nitrogen is the next most logical choice as it is inexpensive , commonly used in the oil field , generally available onsite , and inert . carbon dioxide and oxygen are typically not preferred as the co 2 is one of the causes of corrosion and oxygen is a safety hazard around the hydrocarbons . the first step of the process for providing a corrosion inhibitor for a particular pipeline is to perform an analysis of the constituents of the hydrocarbon mixture that will be flowing in the pipeline during operation . the term “ hydrocarbon mixture ” in this sense includes the hydrocarbons , per se , along with water and the other impurities that are conveyed through the pipeline including gases that may be in the upper portion of the pipeline . the second step of the process is to create , in the lab or at a suitable test station , a test sample for predicting the suitability of a number of combinations of foaming agents and corrosion inhibitors along with foam breaking agents . while it is reasonable to ship samples of the hydrocarbon to the lab or test station , any dissolved gases and impurities are likely to have come out of solution by the time any predictive tests may be carried out . thus , at the end of the process , extended live tests at the pipeline are necessary to confirm the efficacy of the proposed solutions , make changes or , more hopefully , introduce adjustments to the injection rates of the foaming agent and corrosion inhibitors . turning next to making foam , there are a number of known foaming agents that when mixed with water and provided with a bubbling foaming gas may create foam . currently known foaming agents that have been tested are set forth in table 1 below although it is foreseeable that new foaming agents may be created in the future : however , each foaming agent will have a somewhat different performance when mixed with the hydrocarbon mixture that is flowing along the pipeline . the process of the present invention includes undertaking predictive tests with each available foaming agent with a lab created mixture of liquid that may include hydrocarbons , fresh or salt water and other impurities . few foaming agents have been found not to create sufficient foam to justify further study . those that are able to create a stable foam when mixed with the test liquid are then used in a second round of compatibility studies with corrosion inhibitors . there is a number of known corrosion inhibitors for use with carbon steels that mitigate corrosion . for the present invention , the corrosion inhibitors are generally recognized to inhibit corrosion depending upon their concentration in the foam formed with the test liquid . currently known corrosion inhibitors that have been used in testing are set forth in table 2 below although , like foaming agents , new corrosion inhibitors are likely to be created in the future : pursuant to the testing protocol of the present invention , it has been found that the foaming capability of foaming agents that were functional with the test liquids were altered such that more or less foam was measured as compared to the initial round of tests . moreover , the corrosion inhibitor concentration in the foam was not predictable to the inventors in that the only way to determine which foams would appear to provide the most capability to provide substantial or sufficient concentrations of corrosion inhibiting chemicals was by actually performing the tests with the test liquids . a representative example of the measurements one might develop as part of the efficacy assessment of the foaming agent and corrosion inhibitor is shown in fig1 where the clearly preferred choice for the hydrocarbons in the represented pipeline is hiw 85281 with didecyldimethylammonium bromide with distilled water . fig2 provides a similar efficacy assessment where the foaming agent is sles - 70 . one corrosion inhibitor performs better than the others and it is corseline in distilled water . it is interesting to see that the foaming agent sles - 70 performs better with seawater than it does with distilled water , but the best corrosion inhibitor uses distilled water . this shows the unpredictability of these various components when mixed with hydrocarbons . fig3 sets forth the performance of foaming agent dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid with the various corrosion inhibitors . several combinations show good performance where 3 - methoxyproplamine in de - ionized water . based on the concentration of the corrosion inhibiting materials in the foam and the volume of foam present after measured time durations , some initial calculations of how much foaming agent and corrosion inhibitors would provide adequate corrosion protection . based on the likely amounts of foaming agent and corrosion inhibitor that would be used , cost estimates are prepared for each suitable combination . the most economic solution would clearly be preferred , although it should be recognized that that the effectiveness of the most economic solution may be at least slightly different in the field . if a less economical alternative is substantially more capable of controlling corrosion , the cost of changing out the corrosion controlling solutions in the event that the most cost effective choice ends up being ineffective in a particular hydrocarbon solution in an active pipeline . for example , if the lowest cost solution comprises a foaming gas a1 , a foaming agent b1 , a corrosion inhibitor c1 along with a foam breaking agent d1 , and the second but more capable choice uses a1 , b1 and d1 along with a second choice inhibitor c2 , the cost of implementing this backup plan is more likely not very costly as compared with a backup plan that includes a second choice foaming agent b2 and a second choice foam breaking agent d2 where several changes need to be made . it should also be noted that the most cost effective solution may be the most capable solution and no second solution is readily apparent from the lab tests . as noted above , the final step is actual field demonstration of the prime solution with observations and measurements of effectiveness . a delivery system for injecting the foam carried corrosion inhibitor is provided at the pipeline as described below with suitable adjustment capability to provide a preferred performance of the selected solution for the particular pipeline . turning to fig4 of the present invention , a hydrocarbon pipeline carrying primarily gas is indicated with the number 10 . the pipeline has liquid phase in the bottom as indicated by the number 12 and a gas space 15 above the liquid phase . the foam matrix , containing the corrosion inhibitor , is indicated by the arrow 20 and includes an injection nozzle 21 in the wall of the pipeline delivering foam matrix 16 into the gas space of the pipeline 10 . foaming gas is provided from a gas source such as tank 23 through control valve 24 and check valve 25 to a mixing device 28 . mixing device 28 is also provided with foaming agent or surfactant agent from a storage device 33 via pump 34 and check valve 35 and corrosion inhibitor from storage device 43 via pump 44 and check valve 45 . mixing device 28 preferably includes vanes or a tortuous path so that the three components are likely to form a relatively homogeneous blend . injection nozzle 21 is preferably a converging / diverging nozzle which provides back pressure on the fluid flow so that foam may form when the pressure is let down on the diverging or expanding side of the nozzle . alternatively , nozzle 21 may include a fritted filter to create numerous micro - bubbles to form foam . optionally , other known bubbling technology may be employed to form the foam as the fluid enters the pipeline 10 . it should also be noted that storage device 33 includes water with the foaming agent and the two may be combined at the corrosion inhibiting system 20 or may be delivered pre - mixed to the corrosion inhibiting system 20 . at the end of the pipeline , the foam must to be broken as the foaming agents can impact the clean separation of oil , water and gas during production . if foam does not naturally break , it can be broken by addition of an antifoam agent selected for its compatibility with the other components of the system . the amounts of each of the foaming gas , foaming agent , corrosion inhibitor and foaming breaking agent may be independently adjusted to optimize performance for the pipeline 10 . such independent control may be accomplished by speed adjustments on the pumps , by control valves or other known flow regulating technology . finally , the scope of protection for this invention is not limited by the description set out above , but is only limited by the claims which follow . that scope of the invention is intended to include all equivalents of the subject matter of the claims . each and every claim is incorporated into the specification as an embodiment of the present invention . thus , the claims are part of the description and constitute a further description and are in addition to the preferred embodiments of the present invention . the discussion of any reference is not an admission that it is prior art to the present invention , especially any reference that may have a publication date after the priority date of this application .	1
since the most relevant prior art is devices produced by the assignee of the present invention , the following description is presented of the system used today , in order to better understand the improvements presented later . it should be understood that while the invention is presented in the form of improvements in an existing system , this is only for ease and clarity of description . the present invention , as claimed , has applicability to a wide range of systems , including some systems which may be designed to avoid some of the problems that exist with the present system . an exemplary configuration of existing laser printers is illustrated in a very simplified form in fig1 . a charged photosensitive member 2 is exposed to a light image from a scanning laser 4 controlled by a computer . a similar configuration is used in some copiers , with the scanning laser replaced by a lens focused on a document that is being copied . the areas of the photo - sensitive surface that are exposed to light acquire a different voltage than the parts that are not exposed to light , due to selective discharge of those areas . this voltage difference is used to selectively attract toner particles to parts of the surface , using a developer 3 , producing a toner image that corresponds to the exposure . the toner image is then transferred to an intermediate transfer member 6 , and from there to a printing medium 8 on an impression member 10 in the exemplary form of a roller . although the image could be transferred directly from the photo - sensitive member to the impression member , in some systems better results are achieved by using an intermediate transfer member , which can be heated , resulting in better transfer of the toner ( especially liquid toner ) to the printing media . of course , this drawing is very simplified . the printing media is held to the impression member by printing media grippers 12 . fig2 shows the impression member ( removed from the printer ), seen from one side , and fig3 a and 3b are close - up views of the impression member showing the grippers more clearly . during operation , the opening along the side of the impression member normally has a cover over it , with small openings for the grippers . this cover has been removed in fig2 a , and 3 b , to show a rod 304 ( or rods , optionally connected by a coupler 202 ) which controls the raising and lowering of the grippers . in fig3 a , grippers 12 are in a raised position , while in fig3 b grippers 12 are in a lowered position for holding the printing media . grippers 12 are optionally spring - loaded , and springs 302 are visible in fig3 a . once the media has been printed , grippers 12 are raised , and the printing media is removed from the impression member by a lifting mechanism , for example including suction elements such as suction cups 14 ( shown in fig1 ), and conveyed to an output tray . suction elements 14 may be active , i . e ., they are connected to a vacuum source , or they are passive , i . e ., a vacuum is formed when they are pressed against printing media 8 . generally , active suction elements are preferred . if there is a paper jam , or some other malfunction , and the grippers do not pick up the printing media , then toner will be transferred from the intermediate transfer member directly to the surface of the impression member . because the impression member , which has a metal surface , does not absorb toner as well as the printing media , some toner will remain on the intermediate transfer member . if the intermediate transfer member is not immediately cleaned off , then the toner may dry if it is liquid , or possibly melt if it is solid , which may cause permanent damage to the intermediate transfer member . to prevent this from happening , a piece of media , described herein as impression media or impression paper ( since it is generally of paper ) 9 , is sometimes permanently glued to the surface of the impression member at a point designated as 11 . the forward edge of the impression media is positioned underneath the printing media , i . e ., the forward edge does not extend past the edge 13 of the printing media that is held by the grippers . even if the impression member picks up no printing media , the impression paper surface will absorb all the toner from the intermediate transfer member , and the intermediate transfer member will not be damaged by dried toner . however , the impression paper can create its own problems . first there are the problems connected with gluing . inter alia , since there may be a slight difference in velocity between the impression roller and the intermediate transfer member ( in order to avoid buckling of the paper ), there is significant stress on the glue . therefore , the glue has to be strong . unfortunately , since paper misfeeds do occur , the impression paper must be removable . this mandates a weaker bond for the glue . furthermore , the area available for gluing is limited , in order not to interfere with the printable area of the print media and may sometimes intrude on this area slightly . additionally with time , the impression paper may slide along the impression roller in a direction opposite the direction of motion of the impression roller surface . the differences of height caused by the presence of glue under the impression paper cause poor or sometimes even an absence of transfer from the intermediate transfer member to the print media . if the impression media needs to be replaced , for example because it is worn or torn or because it has been printed on due to a paper misfeed , it can be difficult to remove the old impression paper completely . finally , the smooth surface of the impression paper creates a partial vacuum between the impression paper and the printing media , when the latter is picked up by suction elements to remove it from the impression member . this may cause the printing media to be picked up in an uncontrolled manner , especially if it is thin paper . fig4 shows an impression paper clamp 400 , as seen from below , according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention . here , “ above ” means in a direction away from the impression member when the impression paper clamp is installed , and “ below ” means toward the interior of the impression member when the impression paper clamp is installed . in describing the impression paper clamp , we use terms such as “ above ”, “ below ”, “ upper ”, “ lower ”, “ raised ”, “ lowered ”, “ top ” and “ bottom ” to refer to directions relative to the center of the impression member when the impression paper clamp is installed , even though these terms are only literally true when the impression member is oriented so that the impression paper clamp is uppermost . many of the features of the impression paper clamp shown in fig4 are designed to allow the impression paper clamp to be retrofitted to an existing impression member used in printers manufactured by hewlett - packard . some of these features optionally look quite different , or are absent entirely , in embodiments of the invention designed for use on different impression members , without departing from the teachings of the invention . impression paper clamp 400 comprises an upper portion 402 , in the form of a straight bar , and a lower portion . optionally , upper portion 402 clamps the impression paper directly against an integral part of the impression member , instead of against the lower portion , and in that case there is no need for a lower portion . the lower portion optionally includes a back section 406 , which fits into a slot in the impression member , and a number of teeth 408 , which press against upper portion 402 to hold the impression paper . the spaces between the teeth optionally allow the grippers to open through corresponding apertures in the impression paper , as shown in fig6 and 7 , to hold the printing media . the number of teeth and grippers is different for some embodiments of the invention than the number of teeth and grippers shown in the drawings , but generally there is still one space between the teeth for each gripper . the middle tooth optionally has a clearance hole 410 , for coupler 202 . similarly , back section 406 optionally has a clearance slot 412 for coupler 202 . two captive nut and bolt assemblies 414 can be tightened , through openings 416 ( not visible in fig4 since they are on the hidden top surface of upper portion 402 , but visible in fig5 a and 5b ), to bring upper portion 402 tightly against the lower portion , to hold the impression paper in place . the nuts and bolts need not be captive , but making them captive prevents them from being lost if they come loose , and prevents them from falling into the interior of the impression member and possibly causing damage or malfunction . optionally , the upper and lower portions of impression paper clamp 400 are held against each other by another mechanism , such as a spring or clip , and in some embodiments there is no mechanism for tightening impression paper clamp 400 . two attachment tabs 418 , with holes in them , optionally allow impression paper clamp 400 to be bolted down when it is installed in the impression member . fig5 a and 5b show impression paper clamp 400 installed in impression member 10 . fig5 a shows the grippers in a raised position , and fig5 b shows the grippers in a lowered position . upper portion 402 , one of the openings 416 , one attachment tab 418 , and four of the teeth 408 are visible , as well as printing paper clamps 12 . note that grippers 12 optionally fit into the spaces between teeth 408 . fig6 shows impression paper 600 held at one end by impression paper clamp 400 . trapezoidal apertures 602 in impression paper 600 optionally allow grippers 12 to go through impression paper 600 , and to hold the printing media in place . apertures 602 need not be trapezoidal , but are trapezoidal in this embodiment of the invention to match the shape of grippers in this design of the impression member . circular hole 604 , near the top margin of fig6 , optionally allows clearance for coupler 202 to move when the grippers are raised and lowered . hole 604 is optionally absent in some embodiments of the invention , for example if a mechanism other than coupler 202 is used to connect rods 304 or is no coupler is used or if coupler 202 does not need the clearance . in fig7 , a sheet of printing media 8 is shown held in place by grippers 12 , on top of impression paper 600 . fig8 a shows a bottom view of impression paper clamp 400 , not installed in the impression member , with impression paper 600 adjacent to it . impression paper 600 is shown aligned with impression paper clamp 400 , as it would be before being inserted . note that each of the holes 602 corresponds to one of the spaces between teeth 408 . two slots 802 in impression paper 600 , which are lined up with nut and bolt assemblies 414 . optionally , a different number of nut and bolt assemblies are used in the impression clamp , and optionally one slot 802 is formed in the impression paper , for each nut and bolt assembly . when impression paper 600 is inserted into impression paper clamp 400 , the bolts in the two assemblies 414 each go through its associated slot 802 . optionally , impression paper 600 lacks slots 802 , and is inserted into impression paper clamp 400 only far enough so that its leading edge touches the bolts . however , allowing the bolts to go through slots 802 makes it possible to push impression paper 600 further into impression paper clamp 400 , so that it can be held more firmly . optionally , slots 802 are replaced by bolt holes for the bolts to go through , and the bolts are disengaged from the nuts and raised above the impression paper until the impression paper is fully inserted , at which time the bolts are lowered through the bolt holes and engaged in the nuts . by using slots 802 instead of holes , the bolts can be kept engaged in the nuts while impression paper 600 is being inserted into impression paper clamp 400 . optionally , in embodiments of the invention where a mechanism other than the nut and bolt assemblies is used to tighten the impression paper clamp , or where there is no mechanism to tighten the impression paper clamp , impression paper 600 does not have slots 802 , or bolt holes . fig8 b shows impression paper 600 fully inserted into impression paper clamp 400 , which is seen from below as in fig8 a . note that trapezoidal apertures 602 are now aligned with the spaces between teeth 408 , and circular hole 604 is aligned with hole 410 in the middle tooth . slots 802 are no longer visible , as they are hidden by the lower portion of the impression paper clamp . although fig8 a and 8b show the paper brought adjacent to the impression paper clamp , and then inserted into the impression paper clamp , when the impression paper clamp is not mounted on the impression member , in actual operation , the impression paper is inserted into the impression paper clamp when the impression paper clamp is already mounted on the impression member . the two views of the dismounted mechanism are used to better illustrate the method of mounting the impression paper . fig9 shows a schematic cross - sectional view of impression member 10 , impression paper 600 , printing media 8 , and suction cup 14 . gripper 12 is in a raised position , so that suction cup 14 can pull printing media 8 off impression member 10 . impression paper 600 is held in place by impression paper clamp 400 . dashed lines show trapezoidal hole 602 in impression paper 600 . suction cup may pull the printing media from the impression roller at a distance , as shown or may come into contact with the printing media while it is still flat on the impression media . impression paper 600 is formed with apertures , such as narrow slits 900 or a pattern of small holes , beneath suction cup 14 . when suction cup 14 pulls printing media 8 away from impression paper 600 , a partial vacuum would be created between the smooth surfaces of printing media 8 and impression paper 600 . slits 900 allow air from the space between impression paper 600 and impression member 10 to flow into the space between impression paper 600 and printing media 8 , preventing a significant vacuum from forming , and allowing suction cup 14 to pull printing media 8 away from impression paper 600 and impression member 10 in a controlled , predictable manner . it should be noted that because grippers 12 are no longer holding printing media 8 and impression paper 600 down against impression member 10 , and because the other end of impression paper 600 ( opposite the end held by impression paper clamp 400 ) is free , and because impression paper 600 is somewhat stiff , impression paper 600 may not lie flat against impression member 10 , so there may be a space filled with air between impression member 600 and impression member 10 , which can flow through slits 900 . in other embodiments of the invention , not all these conditions are met , however , even if only some of the conditions are met , there may still be enough air flowing through slits 900 so that suction cups 14 pull media 8 off impression member 10 in a controlled manner . however , as indicated above , while single slits or single or multiple apertures can be used for releasing the vacuum formed , they have a tendency to become clogged with debris , such as paper fibers . thus , for this embodiment , the size of the apertures must be increased , for example greater than 0 . 1 mm and preferably larger , up to a size which interferes with the printing quality , which may be some larger fraction of a mm . in a preferred embodiment of this aspect of the invention , the apertures are slits that are formed in pairs . under these circumstances , the effect of lifting of the printing media is to lift the region between the slits . this allows air to enter the region between the printing media and the impression paper , releasing the vacuum . for this embodiment , the width of the slits is not a factor in the operational life of the impression paper and the slits are preferably made as thin as possible , for example 0 . 1 mm or less ( e . g ., 0 . 05 or 0 . 02 mm ). however , the invention is not limited to such thin slits , which may be difficult to manufacture . in general , it is desirable that the distance between slits be smaller than the size of suction cup 14 . at present a distance of about 7 mm is used . however , smaller distances can be used and more than two slits may be provided beneath each suction cup . furthermore , the length of the slits should be at least as long as the diameter of the suction cups , to aid in the lifting of the portion between the slits . however , this is not absolutely necessary . the one suction cup 14 shown in fig9 optionally represents two or more suction cups arranged in a direction perpendicular to the plane of fig9 . optionally , there are one or more slits 900 in the impression paper beneath each suction cup . in the system where the impression paper slits have been tested by the inventors , for example , there are four suction cups , and there are two slits beneath each suction cup , or a total of eight slits in the impression paper . slits 900 need not be used in conjunction with impression paper clamp 400 , but optionally could be used in impression paper that is attached to the impression member in a different way , for example by gluing . fig1 shows an outline of one end of a piece of impression paper 600 , the end that is held by the impression paper clamp , according to an embodiment of the invention that is being tested . six trapezoidal apertures 602 , circular hole 604 , two slots 802 , and eight slits 900 are visible . the width of slits 900 is exaggerated so that they are visible . in fact , the slits are only 0 . 1 mm wide , in this embodiment of the invention . as noted previously , the number , size and shape of any of these features may be different , and any of these features may not exist , in some embodiments of the invention , depending , among other factors , on the design of the impression member and the impression paper clamp . impression paper preferably has a number of desired characteristics . first , the impression paper should be strong enough so that it can stand the sliding forces induced on it , considering that it contains a series of cut - outs . second , it is desirable that the impression paper be smooth and of uniform thickness . this avoids texturing of the images printed on the printing media . third , it should absorb the ink from the intermediate transfer member , in case of a paper miss - feed . however , since the same impression roller may also be used for printing a second side of duplex , it should not offset ink from the first side , when an image is transferred to the second side from the ( hot ) intermediate transfer member . fourth , while it is desirable that the impression paper be stiff , it is also desirable that the paper conform to the curvature of the impression member . of course , in order to work , impression paper need not be optimized for all or even any of these parameters . it has been found that gardamatt art paper ( garda cartiere , italy ) provides a suitable impression paper , for various thicknesses from nominally 101 micrometers thickness ( gardamatt 115 ) to nominally 313 micrometers thickness ( gardamatt 300 ), although thicker paper (& gt ; 200 micrometers ) are sturdier . the smoothness of this paper veries between 20 ± 5 to 30 or 40 ± 10 or 20 for the thinner papers . however , the smoothness is not critical , so long as there is no texturing of the image . this paper is short fiber paper and is cut so that the stiffer direction is parallel to the axis of the impression roller . this allows the impression paper to conform to the impression roller . the invention has been described in the context of the best mode for carrying it out . it should be understood that not all features shown in the drawings or described in the associated text may be present in an actual device , in accordance with some embodiments of the invention . furthermore , variations on the method and apparatus shown are included within the scope of the invention , which is limited only by the claims . also , features of one embodiment may be provided in conjunction with features of a different embodiment of the invention . furthermore , it should be understood that not all of the embodiments of the invention solve all of the problems that are associated with the prior . it is contemplated that some problems of the prior art will be solved by other means or will not be solved at all . as used herein , the terms “ have ”, “ include ” and “ comprise ” or their conjugates mean “ including but not limited to .”	6
in this specification , the devices with the same symbol refer to the devices with substantially the same or similar function , structure , compound or application , but are not necessarily all the same . after reading this specification , persons skilled in the art can replace or alter some devices in the embodiments without departing the essence of the invention . accordingly , the embodiments herein are not used for limiting the scope of the invention . fig3 a demonstrates power controller 22 , which , as an example , is employed in power controller 18 of fig1 . power controller 22 has pulse width modulator 32 and gate - driving circuit 24 . pulse - width signal v pwm is generated according to compensation signal v com at compensation node com . for example , the higher the compensation signal v com , the longer the on time when pulse - width signal v pwm is asserted to make power switch 15 perform a short circuit , the more the electric energy stored in an inductive device , and the higher the power a corresponding power converter converts . gate - driving circuit 24 drives gate node gate of power switch 15 , generating gate signal v gate based on pulse - width signal v pwm and dimming signal v dim . it can be derived from the schematic of gate - driving circuit 24 that , when dimming signal is asserted , gate signal v gate at gate node gate is substantially in phase with pulse - width signal v pwm . gate - driving circuit 24 has driver 26 , which , as an example to compare with embodiments , has a driving force of 4 units to drive gate node gate . fig3 b shows dimming signal v dim , gate signal v gate , and current i in drained to the led chains from input node v in . as shown in fig3 b , when dimming signal v dim is asserted , driver 26 generates gate signal v gate , using its driving force of 4 units , such that power switch 15 is periodically turned on and off , and current i in vibrates within a certain range to power the led chains of fig1 . when dimming signal v dim is deasserted , driver 26 uses its driving force of 4 units to deassert gate signal v gate , whose voltage , as a result , drops quickly and stays around 0 volt , completely turning off power switch 15 . for power switch 15 is turned off , current i in decreases linearly over time and become 0 a eventually . fig4 a demonstrates power controller 30 , which in one embodiment of the invention replaces power controller 18 of fig1 . power controller 30 has pulse width modulator 32 and gate - driving circuit 34 . fig4 a share with fig3 a some common devices , which could be comprehensible to persons skilled in the art and will not be detailed in consideration of brevity . different to gate - driving circuit 24 of fig3 a having a single driver 26 , gate - driving circuit 34 of fig4 a includes two drivers 36 and 38 , having driving force of 1 unit and 3 units respectively . for instance , in one embodiment , the maximum pulling - down current that driver 36 can afford is 10 ma , and the maximum pulling - down current that driver 38 can afford is 30 ma , such that the driving force of driver 38 is three times that of driver 36 . in another embodiment , the pulling - down resistance of driver 36 is three times that of driver 38 to make the driving force of driver 38 three times that of driver 36 . when dimming signal v dim is asserted , gate signal v gate is substantially in phase with pulse - width signal v pwm , and drivers 36 and 38 together use driving force of 4 units in total to generate gate signal v gate . when signal v dim is deasserted , driver 38 is disabled , its output impedance becomes so large , and it drives no more the control gate of power switch 15 . thus , driver 36 alone deasserts gate signal v gate , using driving force of 1 unit . fig4 b shows waveforms of dimming signal v dim , gate signal v gate , and current i in drained to the led chains from input node v in , according to the embodiment of fig4 a . unlike the gate signal v gate in fig3 b , whose voltage , when dimming signal v dim switches to being asserted , drops quickly because of the driving force of 4 units , gate signal v gate in fig4 b drops relatively slower when dimming signal v dim switches to being asserted , because the driving force to pull down gate signal v gate is mere 1 unit . accordingly , current i in in fig4 b can hold for a short period of time and then , when gate signal v gate is surely deasserted to complete turn off power switch 15 , decreases linearly over time and become 0 a eventually . comparing with the waveform of current i in in fig3 b , current i in in fig4 b varies milder , especially when dimming signal v dim is switched to being deasserted . it can be derived from spectrum analysis that a signal that varies relatively milder will have stronger energy to its fundamental frequency and less energy to its harmonic frequencies . as aforementioned , audio noise might happen easily if the energy to the harmonic frequencies of a signal is large even though the fundamental frequency of the signal locates within a frequency range less audible to human . since power controller 30 of fig4 a renders relatively - less energy to harmonic frequencies , it is more - likely that power controller 30 can reduce the audio noise caused by harmonic frequencies . fig5 shows control method 40 adapted to power controller 22 of fig3 a or power controller 30 of fig4 a . control method 40 is used in power controller 30 in one embodiment of the invention . in step 42 , power controller 30 makes sure that operation voltage v cc is well prepared for power controller 30 to properly function . for example , in one embodiment , operation voltage v cc must exceed a certain level to be claimed as being well prepared . step 44 follows , where power controller 30 checks whether it should operate in a dimming - on period or a dimming - off period . for example , if dimming signal v dim is asserted , power controller 30 should operate in a dimming - on period and step 46 follows . in the contrary , if dimming signal v dim is deasserted , power controller 30 should operate in a dimming - off period and step 54 follows . in step 46 , for a predetermined number of subsequent switch cycles , the on time t on in each switch cycle is forced to be a predetermined minimum on time , independent to compensation signal v com at compensation node com . the time period for this predetermined number of subsequent switch cycles could be referred to as a soft - start time . in the meantime , current controller 20 in fig1 starts conducting and spreading current i in through led chains to illuminate . following step 46 is step 48 . in step 48 , power controller 30 controls on time t on of power switch 15 in a following switch cycle according to compensation signal v com , such that the led chains are powered to illuminate . step 50 follows . it can be found from the sequence with steps 44 , 46 and 48 , that step 46 likely provides a soft - start mechanism , which limits the power converted by the voltage - controlled stage during the soft - start time at the beginning of a dimming - on period . the power during the soft - start time is less than the power actually required by the current - controlled stage . after the soft - start time , as being in responsive to compensation signal v com , power controller 30 makes the voltage - controlled stage provide the power substantially required by the current - controlled stage for illuminating the led chains . in step 50 , power controller 30 again checks whether it should operate in a dimming - on period or a dimming - off period . for example , if dimming signal v dim is still asserted , power controller 30 should continuously operate in a dimming - on period and control method 40 proceeds back to step 48 . in the contrary , if dimming signal v pwm is deasserted , power controller 30 should switch to a dimming - off period and control method 40 proceeds to step 52 . step 52 is similar with step 46 . in step 52 , for another predetermined number of subsequent switch cycles , the on time t on in each switch cycle is forced by power controller 30 to be the predetermined minimum on time , independent to compensation signal v com at compensation node com . the time period for this predetermined number of the subsequent switch cycles in step 52 could be referred to as a soft - brake time . during the soft - brake time , current controller 20 in fig1 stops conducting and spreading current i in such that the led chains stop illuminating . following step 52 is step 54 . in step 54 , power controller 30 does not convert electric power and provide current to drive the led chains . in the meantime , the led chains are kept as not illuminating . for example , power controller 30 makes and keeps gate signal v gate deasserted , such that power switch 15 remains as turned off so no electric power is converted . it can be found from the sequence with steps 50 , 52 and 54 , that step 52 likely provides a soft - brake mechanism , which , before power conversion is complete stopped , keeps little but not zero power converted by the voltage - controlled stage during the soft - brake time at the beginning of a dimming - off period , in which no power is actually required as the led chains do not illuminate . after the soft - brake time , power controller 30 constantly turns off power switch 15 , stopping the electric power conversion in the voltage - control stage and current i in to the current - controlled stage . fig6 a shows some signal waveforms around the transition from a dimming - off period to a dimming - on period , while fig6 b does some signal waveforms around the transition from a dimming - on period to a dimming - off period according to control method 40 of fig5 . signal waveforms in each of fig6 a and 6b refer to , from top to bottom , dimming signal v dim , gate signal v gate , current i in , compensation signal v com , and voltage signal v as at current - sense node cs . at time t r in fig6 a , dimming signal v dim is switched to be asserted , such that a dimming - off period ends and a dimming - on period begins . soft - start time t ss , the period from time t r to time t es at the beginning of a dimming - on period , has four switch cycles . during soft - start time t ss , each on time of power switch 15 , as shown in fig6 a , is fixed to be the minimum on time predetermined by power controller 30 , even though compensation signal is demanding longer on time and more power . after time t es , the on time of power switch 15 is determined by compensation signal v com and might be as long as the maximum on time predetermined by power controller 30 . it can found in fig6 a that the power converted during soft - start time t ss is less than what compensation voltage v com corresponds to or demands . at time t f in fig6 b , dimming signal v dim is switched to be deasserted , such that a dimming - on period ends and a dimming - off period begins . soft - brake time t se , the period from time t f to time t se at the beginning of a dimming - off period , has four switch cycles . during soft - brake time t se , each on time of power switch 15 , as shown in fig6 b , is fixed to be the minimum on time predetermined by power controller 30 , even though the led chains stop illuminating and require no power . after time t se , power switch 15 is no more turned on , and gate signal v gate is constantly deasserted . it can found in fig6 b that the power converted during braking time t se is more than 0 , but less than what compensation voltage v com corresponds to or demands . fig7 shows some signal waveforms , including dimming signal v dim , gate signal v gate , compensation signal v com , current i in , around the transition from a dimming - off period to a dimming - on period while no soft - start mechanism is used . in comparison with current i in in fig7 , current i in in fig6 a , due to the introduction of the soft - start mechanism , rises relatively milder around the transition from a dimming - off period to a dimming - on period . accordingly , it is possible that current i in in fig6 a causes relatively less audio noise . similarly , by comparing with current i in in fig3 b , which employs no braking mechanism , current i in in fig6 b , due to the introduction of the soft - braking mechanism , falls relatively milder . accordingly , it is possible that current i in in fig6 b causes relatively less audio noise . during the soft - brake time , the led chains do not illuminate such that the power provided or converted by the voltage - controlled stage during the soft - brake time is not consumed , but stored at output node out . this stored power might make up for the lack during the following soft - start time when the voltage - controlled stage provides power less than that demanded by the led chains . accordingly , employing both the soft - start and soft - brake mechanisms in one embodiment might be beneficial in reducing variation of compensation signal v com . one power controller according to the invention might be configured to perform the soft - start and / or soft - brake mechanisms introduced in fig5 and , as well , the driving - force control introduced in fig4 a . another power controller according to the invention might be configured to perform only the soft - start and / or soft - brake mechanisms , but not the driving - force control . another power controller according to the invention might be configured to perform only the driving - force control , but not the soft - start and / or soft - brake mechanisms . it is not necessary that the on time of a power switch in each switch cycle during the soft - start time and the soft - brake time must be the minimum on time . in another embodiment , what is limited during the soft - start time and the soft - brake time is the peak value of voltage signal v cs , which corresponds to the peak current flowing through inductive device prm . in control method 96 shown in fig8 , voltage signal v cs for each switch cycle during a soft - brake time is forced to be at least a first predetermined value , as indicated by step 98 . similarly , voltage signal v cs for each switch cycle during a soft - start time is forced to be no more than a second predetermined value , as indicated by step 97 in fig8 . the first and second predetermined values are the same in one embodiment , while they might be different in another embodiment . in one embodiment , during a dimming - on period , regardless it is within a soft - start time or not , compensation node com will be charged or discharged according to the feedback voltage at feedback node fb . accordingly , compensation signal v com substantially corresponds to the power required by the led chains to illuminate . during a dimming - off time , nevertheless , compensation node com is isolated or stopped from being charged or discharged , such that compensation signal v com is substantially held or sustained by an external compensation capacitor . when switching to a following dimming - on period , as compensation signal v com substantially keeps its value as of the ending of the previous dimming - on period , a voltage - controlled stage can quickly provide the power actually required by the led chains . according to the aforementioned analysis , embodiments of the invention might render current i in with milder variation , resulting in reduced audio noise caused by harmonic frequencies . even though fig1 exemplifies an embodiment of the invention by way of booster topology , the invention is not limited to . for example , embodiments of the invention might be flyback converters , buck converters , buck - boosters , and the like . while the invention has been described by way of examples and in terms of preferred embodiments , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto . to the contrary , it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements ( as would be apparent to those skilled in the art ). therefore , the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements .	7
a process for production of a dynamic ram according to an embodiment of the present invention will first be explained . fig1 a to 1j are cross - sectional views of the process . as shown in fig1 a , a field oxide layer 3 having a thickness of about 6 , 000 å a is formed on a p - type silicon substrate 1 having a specific resistance of about 10 ohm - cm and having a p - type channel cut region 2 . specifically , this is achieved by the steps of forming a silicon nitride ( si 3 n 4 ) layer ( not shown ) on a ram element formation region 4 , implanting boron ions into the p - type silicon substrate 1 at an energy of 60 kev and to a dosage of 2 × 10 13 atoms per cm 2 using the silicon nitride layer as a mask , selectively oxidizing the substrate 1 using the silicon nitride layer as a mask , and then removing the silicon nitride layer . thus the ram element formation region 4 isolated by the field oxide layer 3 is formed . as shown in fig1 b , capacitor oxide layer 5 having a thickness of about 50 to 300 å a is formed on the p - type silicon substrate 1 of the ram element formation region 4 by a usual thermal oxidation process . as shown in fig1 c , a first polycrystalline silicon layer 6 having a thickness of about 500 to 700 å is formed on the obtained structure by a usual chemical vapor deposition ( cvd ) process . as shown in fig1 d , a first resist layer 29 having a thickness of about 10 , 000 å is formed on the first polycrystalline silicon layer 6 . then , the first resist layer 29 is patterned by photolithography on the ram element formation region so that an opening exposing an upper portion of a capacitor formation region 7 is formed . after that , using the resist layer 29 as a mask , first , boron ions ( b + ) are selectively implanted into the substrate 1 through the first polycrystalline silicon layer 6 and the capacitor oxide layer 5 at an energy of 200 kev and to a dosage of 1 × 10 13 atoms per cm 2 . subsequently arsenic ions ( as + ) are implanted at an energy of 150 kev and to a dosage of 5 × 10 13 atoms per cm 2 . thus , a boron region 9 and an arsenic region 10 are formed in the capacitor formation region 7 . in the ion implantation process , contaminants ( not shown ) contained in the implanting chamber may be introduced into the implanting surface by the knock - on phenomena . since the capacitor oxide layer 5 is not exposed to the implanting surface , it is not contaminated . a degenerated layer of the resist layer 29 is formed on the upper surface of the resist layer 8 by the impact of ions on the resist layer 29 . as shown in fig1 e , the first resist layer 29 is removed by a usual ashing process using oxygen gas plasma and a wet treatment using sulfuric acid ( h 2 so 4 ). subsequently , a wet etching process using hydrogen fluoride ( hf ) may be carried out to remove an extremely thin oxide layer which is likely to be formed on the surface of the polycrystalline layer during the implanting process . since the capacitor oxide layer 5 is not exposed to these processes , it is not contaminated and its thickness is not decreased . then , on the first polycrystalline silicon layer 6 , a second polycrystalline silicon layer 11 having a thickness of about 3 , 000 to 4 , 000 å is formed to ensure a sufficient thickness of polycrystalline silicon to make an electrode . impurities of phosphorus ions or the like are implanted into the second polycrystalline silicon layer 11 to give a low resistivity thereto . as shown in fig1 f , a resist layer 12 is formed on the second polycrystalline silicon layer 11 , and then is patterned by a usual photolithography process to leave just the portion directly above the arsenic region 10 and the part of the field oxide layer 3 ranging along the arsenic region 10 . the exposed part of the second polycrystalline silicon layer 11 is etched by a reactive ion etching ( rie ) process using the patterned resist layer 12 as a mask . subsequently , the exposed part of the first polycrystalline silicon layer 6 is etched by the same process . after that , the exposed part of the capacitor oxide layer 5 is etched by the rie process . in the rie process for the polycrystalline silicon layer and the capacitor oxide layer , a mixture of carbon tetra fluoride ( cf 4 ) and oxygen and trifluoromethane ( chf 3 ) are used , respectively , as an etching gas . the etching gas pressure is usually adjusted to about 0 . 01 to 0 . 1 torr , and the high frequency electric power is usually set to 0 . 2 to 0 . 3 watt / cm 2 . as shown in fig1 g , the second resist layer 12 is removed by a usual ashing process whereby a hi - c structure capacitor is realized . the hi - c structure capacitor consists of the arsenic region 10 , which , when activated , becomes an n + - type region and the boron region 9 , which , when activated , becomes a p + - type region ; the capacitor oxide layer 5 positioned above the p - n junction portion ; and a polycrystalline silicon capacitor electrode 13 composed of the first and second polycrystalline silicon layers 6 and 11 . after that , conventional production process are carried out . as shown in fig1 h , a gate oxide layer 14 having a thickness of about 300 to 500 å is formed on the exposed part of the p - type silicon substrate 1 by a usual thermal oxidation process . simultaneously , a second oxide layer 15 is formed over the polycrystalline silicon capacitor electrode 13 . on the obtained structure , a third polycrystalline silicon layer having a thickness of about 4 , 000 to 5 , 000 å is formed by the cvd process . after giving conductivity to the third polycrystalline silicon layer by implanting impurities thereto , the third polycrystalline silicon layer is patterned by the photolithography process to form a polysilicon gate electrode 16 on the gate oxide layer 14 . as shown in fig1 i , high concentration of arsenic ions are implanted into the p - type silicon substrate 1 through the exposed portion of the gate oxide layer 14 using the polycrystalline silicon gate electrode 16 and the polycrystalline silicon capacitor electrode 13 as a mask . after the ion implantation process , the required annealing is carried out so that an n + - type source region 17 and n + - type drain region 18 are formed in the p - type silicon substrate 1 . during the annealing process , the boron region 9 and the arsenic region 10 are activated to become p + - type and n + - type regions , respectively . as shown in fig1 j , on the obtained structure , a phospho - silicate glass ( psg ) layer 19 , for example , is formed by the cvd process . an electrode window is formed by etching the psg layer 19 and the gate oxide layer 14 using a photolithography process . then , an aluminum layer is formed over the obtained structure by vacuum evaporation or sputtering . the aluminum layer is patterned by the photolithography process to form aluminum wiring 20 on the psg layer 19 through the electrode window . the wiring 20 is electrically connected to the drain region 18 , the gate electrode 16 , and the capacitor electrode 13 . the connection of the aluminum wiring 20 to the gate electrode 16 and the capacitor electrode 13 is carried out at another region ( not shown ). thus after the formation of a protective insulating layer on the obtained structure , the production of a dynamic ram is completed . next , a process for production of an eeprom according to an embodiment of the present invention will be explained . fig2 a to 2i are cross - sectional views of the process . first , referring to fig2 a and 2b , the same processes as in fig1 a and 1b are carried out . then , as shown in fig2 c , a part of an oxide layer 5 is etched by a usual photolithography process to form an opening . as shown in fig2 d , a tunnel gate oxide layer 5a having a thickness of about 100 to 200 å is formed on the exposed p - type silicon substrate 1 . after that , on the obtained structure , a first polycrystalline silicon layer 6 having a thickness of 500 to 700 å is formed as shown in fig2 e . then , as shown in fig2 f , a resist layer 9 having an opening is formed on the polycrystalline silicon layer 6 , then arsenic ions are implanted into the p - type silicon substrate 1 through the polycrystalline silicon layer 6 and the tunnel gate oxide layer 5a to form an impurity region 21 for electron injection or discharge . as shown in fig2 g , a second polycrystalline silicon layer 11 having a thickness of about 3 , 000 to 5 , 000 å is formed on the first polycrystalline silicon layer 6 and an ion implantation process is carried out to give the layer 11a low resistivity . subsequently , a patterned resist layer ( not shown ) is formed over the polycrystalline silicon layers 10 and then the polycrystalline layer 6 and 10 are etched , with the resist layer used as a mask to form a preliminary pattern for forming the floating gate pattern . as shown in fig2 h , on the obtained structure , a second gate oxide layer 22 having a thickness of 400 to 700 å is formed by a usual thermal oxidation process . after that , a polycrystalline silicon layer 23 for a control electrode is formed on the second gate oxide layer 22 and an ion implantation process for rendering the layer 23 conductive is carried out . then , a patterned resist layer is formed on the polycrystalline silicon layer 23 above the impurity region 21 for electron injection or discharge . as shown in fig2 i , the polycrystalline silicon layer 23 for a control electrode , the second gate oxide layer 22 , the second polycrystalline silicon layer 11 , the first polycrystalline silicon layer 6 , and the oxide layer 5 are etched in turn by the rie process using the patterned resist layer 12 as a mask . the thus formed floating gate 11a consists of the first and the second polycrystalline silicon layers 11 and 6 . then , arsenic ions are implanted to the p - type silicon substrate 1 to form a source region 24 and a drain region 25 . thus , the eeprom can be obtained according to the present invention . fig3 is a cross - sectional view of an mis transistor according to another embodiment of the present invention . an impurity region 7 for adjusting the threshold voltage is formed by implantation of either boron , arsenic or phosphorus ion through the first polycrystalline silicon layer forming the lower layer of the polycrystalline silicon layer 11a and through a gate oxide layer 5 . in the present invention , the electrode material layer is not limited to polycrystalline silicon . refractory metals , such as molybdenum or tungsten and titanium or metal silicide of these metals , may also be used . the first layer electrode material may also be different from the second - layer electrode material . it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that there are many possible modifications and variations of the above described process . these modifications and variations do not depart from the scope of the invention .	8
[ 0033 ] fig1 shows a schematic diagram to show a property of an annealing method of a magneto - optical disc of the present invention . it shows a sectional view of a magneto - optical disc 3 at the stage where a step of laying on a magneto - optical disc substrate 1 comprising glass or plastic as a material a magnetic layer 2 which includes at least a domain wall displacement layer where the domain wall displaces , a memory layer which holds information as a recording magnetic domain and a switching layer provided between the domain wall displacement layer and the memory layer and having curie temperature lower than those layers has been completed . while any protective layer is still not formed at the stage of fig1 it does not matter whether the protective layer exists when annealing the disc . here , a character d denotes one of the information recording tracks , and the information track is an area which forms a recording magnetic domain to hold the information such as a user data etc . in general , this convex portion provided on the substrate is referred to as a land . magneto - optical disc of fig1 has a constitution in which the light beam for use of forming an anneal track enters from the back side of the substrate where the magnetic layer 2 is not formed . characters a and a ′ which make an information recording track d exist between them denote anneal tracks , which are formed by a laser annealing with a higher light intensity than that at writing an information on the information recording track d . in the present drawing , the anneal tracks a and a ′ serve also as the guide grooves to control the light beam at the center of the information recording track d in the reproduction step . in general , the concave portion provided on the substrate is referred to as a groove . in the present embodiment , the lands ( convex portions ) on the substrate 1 are taken as information recording tracks and the grooves ( concave portions ) as the anneal tracks , but the constitution of the magneto - optical disc is not limited to this . for example , a constitution wherein the lands ( convex portions ) are taken as the anneal tracks and the grooves ( concaves ) are taken as the information recording tracks is also allowable . the laser spots denoted by characters b and b ′ show the converged light beams when annealing anneal tracks a and a ′, which enter from the back of the substrate . in the drawing , the laser spots of b and b ′ are illustrated as if the two points were irradiated at the same time . this is to clarify that the directions of annealing magnetic fields applied to the two anneal tracks which are adjacent to the information recording track are different . characters c and c ′ show the polarities of applied magnetic fields in the case where the anneal tracks a and a ′ are annealed . in the present embodiment , the direction of the applied magnetic field is from one side of the substrate on which the magnetic layer 2 is provided to the other side of the substrate ( i . e ., the back side of the substrate ) when anneal track a is annealed , and the direction of the applied magnetic field is from the back side of the substrate to the side on which the magnetic layer 2 is provided when anneal track a ′ is annealed . in addition , the annealing magnetic fields at the adjacent anneal tracks with the information recording track d made to exist between them have opposed polarities . in order to form the anneal tracks by applying thus annealing magnetic fields perpendicular to the substrate surface , a device as shown in fig2 is suitable . a magneto - optical disc 100 , wherein a magnetic layer 2 is formed on a magneto - optical disc substrate 1 made of glass or plastic and further a protective layer 3 is formed , is held on a spindle motor with a magnetic chucking and the like , and is constituted such that it is rotatable against an axis of rotation . a laser light for forming the anneal track generated from a semiconductor laser light source 7 is changed to a parallel ray by a collimator lens 8 and passes through a beam splitter 9 and is converged by a condenser lens 6 . then a predetermined position of the magneto - optical disc 100 is irradiated with the converged laser light as a beam from the back . note that the condenser lens 6 is driven by a drive actuator 5 . on this occasion , the condenser lens 6 is constituted such that it is controlled by actuator 5 to move in a focusing direction and a tracking direction so that the laser light successively places a focus on the magnetic layer 2 . the condenser lens 6 also moves along the guide groove engraved on the magneto - optical disc . on the other hand , the reflected light which reflected from the surface of magneto - optical disc surface passes through a route in reverse to the incident light and arrives at the beam splitter 11 and is reflected at a right angle and passes through a λ / 2 plate 10 . this λ / 2 plate is a filter to rotate a the reflected light at 90 ° in the polarizing direction of the incident light . further , the reflected light enters the polarized beam splitter 11 and is put into two condenser lenses 12 by the polarity of the magneto - optical disc magnetization of the magneto - optical disc 100 . two pieces of photo sensors 13 detect the intensities of the incident lights which enter the sensors respectively . the detected resultants are amplified respectively by a differential amplification circuit 14 which differentially amplifies the signal converged and detected respectively according to the polarization direction and by a summing amplification circuit 15 which summing - amplifies the signal converged and detected respectively according to the polarization direction . a light magnetic signal and by a summing signal from the differential amplification circuit 14 and the summing amplification circuit 15 are synthesized and binarized by a digital circuit 200 and outputted to a controller 17 . in addition , the number of rotations of the magneto - optical disc , an annealing radius , an annealing sector information and so forth are inputted to controller 17 , and a signal to control an annealing power is outputted to a ld driver 16 . the ld driver 16 irradiates a laser to a substrate 1 under a predetermined condition according to that signal . further , the controller also controls a magnetic head driver 19 at the same time , and outputs a signal which controls the polarity of the annealing magnetization and the like . reference numeral 18 denotes a magnetic head to apply a magnetic field to a laser - irradiated portion of magneto - optical disc 1 when forming an anneal track , and sandwiches the magneto - optical disc 100 and is arranged in a manner that opposes to condenser lens 6 . magnetic head 18 is used to record information and to reproduce it . in the annealing , a semiconductor laser 7 irradiates the ld driver 16 with an anneal laser power and , at the same time , the magnetic head 18 is allowed to generate a perpendicular magnetic field of a polarity corresponding to a polarity signal of a magnetic field applied for annealing an anneal track ( hereinafter referred to as “ annealing applied magnetic field ”) by magnetic head driver 19 . the magnetic head 18 is constituted such that , coupled with an optical head , it moves in the radial direction of the magneto - optical disc 1 and , at the annealing step , applies a magnetic field successively to the laser - irradiated portion of the magneto - optical disc 3 to perform a desired annealing . however , means which reproduces the information from the reflected light from the magneto - optical disc is not necessarily required . such a means is utilized as means to detect a pre - format and the like and to reproduce a magneto - optical signal when controlling a timing to switch the polarity of the annealing applied magnetic field by the reflected light from the magneto - optical disc , or when checking whether a desired property develops in the information recording track or not after the annealing of the anneal track . in the case , a construction where a parameter such as a laser power according to the annealing , an applied magnetic field or the like is changed into a value relative to the recording or reproduction by the controller 17 is required . in the idea of the above described annealing method and the annealing means , the action of annealing the anneal track will be described by using fig3 a to 3 d . fig3 a shows an annealing power on / off signal which shows the start of the annealing , fig3 b shows an applied magnetic field polarity change timing signal which shows a timing to change the polarity of the applied magnetic field , fig3 c shows an applied magnetic field polarity control signal which controller 17 outputs to magnetic head driver 19 , and fig3 d shows a generated magnetic field of magnetic head 18 . an irradiating power of the laser is set to a desired annealing power by an annealing start command from controller 17 . although the annealing power is different depending on a property of the magneto - optical disc , but it is typically about two times that of the recording power . at the same time of the irradiation of the laser power , the annealing magnetic field is applied by the magnetic head 18 . on this occasion , the polarity of the applied annealing magnetic field is allowed to generate the magnetic field of the polarity corresponding to a polarity of the applied magnetic field control signal from the controller 17 . as described below , the absolute value of the magnetic field intensity is preferable to be larger than about 50 oe . in order to execute the property of the present invention , it is necessary to switch the polarity of the applied magnetic field at least more than one time for one cycle , and this switching timing is controlled by an applied magnetic field polarity change timing signal from the controller 17 . the applied magnetic field polarity change timing signal can be formed by counting a clock for rotation control of the spindle and can be also formed by detecting the reflected light such as a phase pit which causes a change of reflectivity embedded in advance in the anneal track of the magneto - optical disc as an applied magnetic field change timing . the later makes it possible to control the magneto - optical disc by higher position accuracy . since the switched portion of the polarity of the annealing applied magnetic field is considered to have adverse effect on the information recording track , the area where the polarity of the annealing applied magnetic field is switched is preferably the area where the adjacent information recording track is not an user data area , for example , preferably a header area which shows a sector position information and the like . further , an applied magnetic field polarity switching area may be specially provided . by these means and processes , it is possible to control the applied magnetic field to a predetermined magnitude and polarity in annealing the anneal tracks adjacent to both sides of the information recording track . examples of the applied magnetic field polarity change timing in a case where the magneto - optical disc is annealed by these means are shown in fig4 and 5 . in fig4 and 5 , reference numeral 41 denotes the anneal track , and reference numeral 42 denotes the information recording track . among the anneal tracks , the hatching portion shown by t has the applied magnetic field at the time of annealing in the upward direction to the plane of the drawing , and among the anneal tracks , the hatching portion shown by f has the applied magnetic field at the time of annealing in the downward direction to the plane of the drawing . in fig4 switching of the polarity of the annealing magnetic field is performed only when the magnetic field - applying means moves to the next anneal track and the switching is one time for one cycle of the anneal track . in contrast to this , in fig5 since the anneal track of one cycle is divided into four continuous magnetic areas , the switching of the polarity of the applied magnetic field is performed five times . the white portion 42 indicates the information recording track in fig5 . the figure shows that the polarities of the annealing magnetic fields in adjacent portions t and f of the recording tracks are reversed . the timing of switching the applied magnetic field is not limited to the above . the gist of the switching is adaptable not only to cav but also to format , of zone cav , clv and zone clv , assuming that the applied magnetic fields at the time of annealing anneal tracks adjacent to both sides of an information track have opposite polarities . the present invention was executed by the device described in fig2 . the device of fig2 applies an annealing magnetic field perpendicular to the magneto - optical disc surface . [ 0054 ] fig6 and 7 show properties in embodiments of the present invention and the comparative examples , as explained below . after completing the formation of the magnetic layer , the annealing of the anneal track was conducted by laser beam under various conditions . in fig6 the ordinate shows a jitter property . the jitter property is better as the value of the jitter property is smaller . the abscissas of fig6 shows applying methods of the magnetic field at the time of annealing the anneal track . described in order from the left side on the axis of the abscissa are the methods ( 1 ) wherein , as comparative example 1 , the applied magnetic fields at both of the anneal tracks adjacent to the information recording track were taken as − 300 oe and were applied to all the anneal tracks the annealing magnetic field of the same polarity at the same magnitude . ( 2 ) wherein , as comparative example 2 , the applied magnetic fields at both of the anneal tracks adjacent to the information recording track were taken as + 300 oe , which was the same as ( 1 ) in annealing magnetic field . ( 3 ) wherein , as comparative example 3 , the applied magnetic fields at both of the anneal tracks adjacent to the information recording track were taken as 0 oe , and the annealing magnetic field was not applied at the time of forming the anneal track . ( 4 ) wherein , as example 1 , the applied magnetic fields at both of the anneal tracks adjacent to the information recording track were inversed in polarity by one cycle interval , and the generated magnetic field was taken as ± 300 oe , which corresponds to fig4 . [ 0062 ] fig7 is the same as fig6 in axis of abscissas , and the axis of ordinates shows a aberration amount of the reproduction signal pulse width in relation to the regular pulse width in the reproduction signal . if the pulse width is near to “ 0 ”, it shows that it is near to the desired pulse width . table 1 shows annealing magnetic field applied conditions and reproduction properties . the pulse widths regarding the three types of the method for applying the annealing magnetic field were estimated . comparative examples 1 and 2 have large aberrations in the reproduction signal pulse width ( fig7 table 1 ). embodiment 1 has the most excellent performance among the four experiments even in pulse width . from the result of these experiments , it is evident that , in the case where the applied magnetic fields at both of the anneal tracks adjacent to the information recording track are inversed at intervals of every one cycle and the generated magnetic field is taken as ± 300 oe , the jitter property is excellent and the pulse width fluctuation is not generated , and it is the most suitable annealing condition among the above described conditions . in this way , the remanent magnetization at the boundary between the anneal track , where , though there is a deterioration of the magnetic property due to the laser annealing of the present invention , the magnetic property is not lost completely , and the information recording track is taken as a predetermined polarity by both of the adjacent anneal tracks which make the information recording track exist between them , so that the influence for the magnetic recording track in the information recording track is offset and the influence can be equalized . in this way , it is possible to provide the magneto - optical disc , which can obtain the reproduction signal of high quality , and further improve the recording density . the remanent magnetization at the time of the above described annealing has been confirmed not to be inversed by a recording power usually used and a recording magnetic field usually used . in fig8 is shown a schematic diagram to show a property of the second embodiment of the annealing method of a magneto - optical disc of the present invention . in the drawing , what is different from embodiment 1 is that a ring head is used , where the magnetic disc 18 , which applies the magnetic field at the time of annealing , can apply the annealing magnetic field in the in - plane direction of the face of the disc to a heated area on the recording medium . in this way , the magnetic field which is parallel to the magneto - optical disc surface can be applied to a heated annealing portion . in the case where the magnetic field is applied to the inside of the magneto - optical disc surface , there exist two directions parallel and perpendicular to the scanning direction of the light beam . in fig9 an example of the annealing applied magnetic field was shown , where the annealing applied magnetic field is in the in - plane direction to the face of the magneto - optical disc and parallel to the light beam scanning direction . in the case where the annealing magnetic field is applied in this direction , it is not necessary to consider the polarity of the magnetic field and it does not matter whether it is the same polarity or different . in fig1 , an example of the annealing applied magnetic field , where the annealing magnetic field is perpendicular in the plane of the face of magneto - optical disc , is shown . in the case of fig1 , when the annealing magnetic field of the reverse polarity is applied , it is necessary to certainly apply the annealing magnetic field of the same polarity since there is a risk of the magnetic field line loop of the remanent magnetization owned by the adjacent anneal tracks being multiplied on the information recording track . as shown in fig9 and 10 , in order to change the polarity of the generated magnetic field to the scanning direction of the light beam , the direction of the ring head of fig8 may be changed 90 °. as already described as above , in fig1 , although the annealing applied magnetic fields have the same polarity , the polarity of the applied magnetic field does not cause any specific problem in the case where the annealing applied magnetic fields are parallel to the light beam scanning direction . further , in the present embodiment , though the ring head was used in order to generate the magnetic field parallel to the magneto - optical disc surface , there is no limit to this , but it does not matter specifically whatever shape it has , provided the magnetic field parallel to the magneto - optical disc surface can be applied to the laser irradiated portion at the time of annealing . in this way , the remanent magnetization at the boundary between the anneal track , where , though there is a deterioration of the magnetic property due to the laser annealing of the present invention , the magnetic property is not lost completely , and the information recording track is directed to the direction of the inside of the magneto - optical disc surface , so that the influence can be reduced for the magnetic area of the perpendicular direction recorded in the information recording track , and it is further possible to equalize the influence . note that the remanent magnetization at the time of the above described annealing is confirmed not to be inversed by the usually used recording power and the recording magnetic field . as described above , the remanent magnetization at the boundary between the anneal track , where , though there is a deterioration of the magnetic property due to the laser annealing of the present invention , the magnetic property is not lost completely , and the information recording track is equalized and the influence of the remanent magnetization is taken as a predetermined polarity by both of the anneal tracks which make the information recording tracks exist between them , so that a bad influence on the information recording track can be offset , and the jitter property and the pulse width fluctuation can be improved . further , the remanent magnetization at the boundary between the anneal track and the information recording track is directed to the direction of the inside of the magneto - optical disc surface , so that the influence for the magnetic area in the perpendicular direction recorded in the information recording track can be equalized . in this way , the reproduction signal having higher quality than that of the conventional method can be obtained . furthermore , since the information recording track width can be made narrower than that of the conventional method , it is possible to further improve the recording density of the magneto - optical disc .	8
both the dl and meso configurations of compounds i and ii are preferred . they are conveniently prepared by the following scheme . ## str4 ## in words relative to the above scheme , it should be noted that the dl and s , s forms of 8 ( r 1 = ethyloxycarbonyl ; r 7 = methanesulfonate ) and their synthesis from the corresponding butadiene diepoxide are known . in the general scheme of the present invention , the transformation of dl - butadiene diepoxide ( 1 ) to dl - 8 is accomplished by treating 1 with a strong base , such as , a sodium alhoxide or aryloxide , for example , c 6 h 5 ch 2 ona , or the like , in the presence of the alcohol r 5 oh ( r 5 = alkyl , arylkyl ) at a temperature of from 25 ° to 100 ° c . for from 4 to 48 hours . meso - 2is conveniently prepared by treating the suitably protected trans - 2 - butene - 1 , 4 - diol with an oxidant , such as hydrogen peroxide , in formic acid at 40 ° to 60 ° c . for 1 to 6 hours followed by exposure to aqueous base , such as sodium hydrioxide , at 30 ° to 50 ° c . for 0 . 5 to 2 hours . in addition , d or l - 2 are prepared from diethyl d or l - tartrate in a sequence of four steps involving : acetonide formation utilizing the 2 , 3 - diol functionality , lithuim aluminum hydride reduction of the esters to the 1 , 4 - diol , benzl ether formation , and acetonide hydrolysis . the following transformations involving c - 2 and c - 3 are stereospecific . the transformation 2 to 3 is accomplished by treating 2 with an alkyl - or arylkylsulfonyl halide , such as methanesulfonyl chloride , benzenesulfonyl chloride , toluenesulfonyl chloride , or the like in a solvent , such as diethyl ether , thf , methylene chloride with triethylamine , pyridine or dmap , or the like , at a temperature of from 0 ° to 50 ° c . for from 1 to 24 hours . diazide 4 is obtained from 3 on heating with sodium azide in a solvent such as dimethylformamide ( dmf ), dimethyl sulfoxide , n - methyl pyrrolidinone , or the like , at a temperature of from 25 ° to 150 ° c . for from 4 to 48 hours . the reduction 4 to 5 is accomplished by treating 4 with a reducing agent such as lithium aluminum hydride , or the like , in a solvent such as diethyl ether tetrahydrofuran , dioxane , or the like , at a temperature of from 0 ° to 100 ° c . for from 1 to 4 hours . the n - acylation 5 to 6 is accomplished by treating 5 with the acylating agent of choice , and in a sequence and reaction ratio to achieve n - substituent patterns with r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , and r 4 , above defined , of choice according to acylation procedures well known in the art . representative acylating agents include : ethyl chloroformate , methyl chloroformate , acetic anhydride , acetic - formic anhydride , pivaoyl chloride , boc - on ([ 2 -( t - butoxycarbonyloxyimino )- 2 - phenylacetonitrile ]), or the like . the reaction 6 to 7 is typically accomplished by hydrogenation in the presence of a catalysis such as platinum or palladium or carbon in a solvent such ethanol under a pressure of 1 to 4 atmospheres of h 2 at a temperature of from 25 ° to 50 ° c . for from 1 to 6 hours . the transformation 7 to 8 is accomplished by treating 7 with an alkyl - or arylsulfonyl halide , such as methanesulfonyl chloride , benzenesulfonyl chloride , toluenesulfonyl chloride , or the like , in a solvent , such as pyridine or ether , thf , or methylene chloride in the presence of pyridine , et 3 n or dmap , or the like , at a temperature of from 0 ° to 50 ° c . for from 1 to 12 hours . with respect to radical r 6 of 8 , its precise identity depends on the sulfonating agent taken in reaction . the transformation 8 to 9 ## str5 ## is typically accomplished by treating 8 with potassium thioacetate , potassium ethyl xanthate , or the like , in a solvent such as dmf , dmso , n - methyl prrolidinone , ethanol , or the like , at a temperature of from 0 ° to 50 ° c . for from 1 to 12 hours . the deblocking transformation 9 to i is typically achieved by acid hydrolysis with i being isolated as the n - acid addition salt . mild hydrolysis conditions will convert 9 to the dithiol species leaving the n - acyl groups intact . removal of n - acyl functions in addition to conversion to the dithiol form is accomplished under harsher conditions , for example , on refluxing in concentrated aqueous hcl for 6 to 12 hours . conversion of i to the dithiane ii is accomplished by treating i in the presence of strong base in a solvent such as water , methanol , ethanol , isopropanol , or the like for from 1 to 12 hours at 0 ° to 25 ° c . suitable bases include aqueous naoh , naor , na 2 co 3 , or the like . a preferred scheme involves aqueous naoh in the presence of air . ( r = alkyl having 1 - 4 carbon atoms .) n - alkyl derivatives of i are readily prepared from ii by acylation using acetic anhydride or acetic - formic anhydride , or the like , in a solvent , such as pyridine or ether , thf , or methylene chloride in the presence of pyridine , et 3 n , or dmap , or the like , at 0 ° to 50 ° c . for from 1 to 12 hours followed by lithium aluminum hydride reduction . oxidation of the so derivatized i , as described above , then provides n - alkyl derivatives of ii . repetition of this sequence using a different acylating agent in step one allows the preparation of derivatized i and ii carrying two different n - alkyl groups . the compounds of the present invention are useful as antihypertensives . they may be administered orally , parenterally by injection or by rectal suppository . oral administration by tablet or capsule is preferred ; wherein the final dosage form is prepared according to well known practices to ensure timely dissolution and availability . typically the dose is from 0 . 1 to 10 mg per kg of body weight given 1 to 3 times per day . the exact dosage regimen will be at the routine discretion of clinician taking into account the medical and physical history of the subject . the compounds of the present invention also demonstrate an effect against the damaging effects of high energy , ionizing radiation in mammalian tissue . for humans the effective dosage range is 1 - 20 mg / kg body weight . the following examples illustrate , but do not limit the product , process , compositional or method of treatment aspects of the present invention . in the overall scheme for example 1 , the following abbreviations have been used : bzl for ch 2 c 6 h 5 ; ms for ch 3 so 2 ; and ac for ch 3 co . ## str6 ## dl - butadiene diepoxide ( 1 ) ( 49 . 8 g , 0 . 578 mol ) was added dropwise over 30 minutes at 55 °- 85 ° c . to a stirred solution of sodium ( 15 . 5 g , 0 . 674 mol ) in 348 g benzyl alcohol . after the reaction mixture had been stirred at room temperature for 20 hours , it was transferred to a separatory funnel with 500 ml diethyl ether and 1 l aqueous 1n sulfuric acid . the mixture was shaken well and the aqueous layer was removed . the ether extract was washed ( 1 × 500 ml water ), dried ( mgso 4 ) and concentrated . removal of the benzyl alcohol by high vacuum distillation left the diol 2 , 165 g ( 94 %), which was used in the next step without further purification . methanesulfonyl choride ( 185 g , 1 . 61 mol ) was added dropwise over 2 hours and 20 minutes to a stirred , ice - cold solution of threo - 1 , 4 - dibenzyloxy - 2 , 3 - butanediol ( 2 ) ( 163 g , 0 . 539 mol ) in 490 ml pyridine . after being stirred at room temperature for 20 hours , the reaction mixture was poured into 2 . 2 l of 3n aqueous hydrochloric acid . the majority of the aqueous phase was decanted from the oil that separated and was extracted ( 2 × 200 ml ) with chloroform . the oil was dissolved in 250 ml chloroform , separated from what water was present , and combined with the other chloroform extracts . drying ( mgso 4 ) and concentration left an oil which solidified on standing . recrystallization from ethanol gave 3 , 217 g ( 88 %). sodium azide ( 49 . 6 g , 0 . 763 mol ) was added to a solution of threo - 1 , 4 - dibenzyloxy - 2 , 3 - butanediol 2 , 3 - bismethanesulfonate ( 3 ) ( 100 g , 0 . 218 mol ) in 500 ml dimethylformamide . the mixture was heated to 100 ° c . and maintained at that temperature for 8 hours . after cooling to room temperature , the mixture was filtered and the majority of the dimethylformamide was removed under pressure . the residue was extracted with 500 ml diethyl ether . filtration through celite and concentration left crude 4 , 79 . 1 g ( 103 %), which was used in the next step without further purification . a solution of crude threo - 2 , 3 - diazido - 1 , 4 - dibenzyloxybutane ( 4 ) ( 79 . 1 g , max . theory 0 . 218 mol ) in 200 ml dry diethyl ether was added dropwise over 3 hours to a stirred suspension of lithium aluminum hydride ( 16 . 5 g , 0 . 435 mol ) in 1500 ml dry diethyl ether . after refluxing an additional hour , the mixture was cooled in ice and the excess lithium aluminum hydride was destroyed by cautiously adding water . the ether filtrate obtained after filtration through celite was dried ( mgso 4 ) and concentrated to leave 5 , 59 . 8 g ( 91 % from 3 ). the material was used in the next step without further purification . ethyl chloroformate ( 34 . 0 g , 0 . 314 mol ) was added dropwise over 25 minutes to a stirred , ice - cold mixture of threo - 2 , 3 - diamino - 1 , 4 - dibenzyloxybutane ( 5 ) ( 30 . 0 g , 0 . 100 mol ), 21 g sodium hydroxide , and 300 ml water . after 3 hours on ice , 30 ml of concentrated hydrochloric acid was added slowly and the mixture was extracted ( 3 × 200 ml ) with diethyl ether . drying ( mgso 4 ) and concentration left 6 , 44 . 0 g ( 99 %), which was used in the next step without further purification . a mixture of threo - n , n &# 39 ;- dicarbethoxy - 2 , 3 - diamino - 1 , 4 - dibenzyloxybutane ( 6 ) ( 44 . 0 g , 0 . 100 mol ), 400 ml absolute ethanol , 20 ml concentrated hydrochloric acid , and 2 . 0 g 10 % palladium on carbon was placed in a 1 l bomb and stirred under 40 psi hydrogen for 2 . 5 hours . after removal of the catalyst by filtration through celite , the filtrate was concentrated and the residue was twice taken up in 200 ml chloroform and concentrated to remove trace ethanol . crude 7 , 26 . 9 g ( 100 %), was left as a pale yellow oil and was used in the next step without further purification . methanesulfonyl chloride ( 34 . 4 g , 0 . 300 mol ) was added dropwise over 45 minutes to a stirred , ice - cold solution of threo - n , n &# 39 ;- dicarbethoxy - 2 , 3 - diamino - 1 , 4 - butanediol ( 7 ) ( 26 . 4 g , 0 . 100 mol ) in 130 ml pyridine . after having stirred in ice for 1 hour , 200 ml chloroform was added followed by 410 ml 4n aqueous hydrochloric acid . the mixture was transferred to a separatory funnel , the organic phase was separated , and the aqueous portion was extracted ( 2 × 100 ml ) with chloroform . the combined organic extracts were washed ( 2 × 50 ml ) with 1n aqueous hydrochloric acid and ( 1 × 100 ml ) brine , dried ( mgso 4 ), and concentrated to leave 38 g crude 8 . after triturating with 100 ml absolute ethanol and filtrating , the filter cake was washed with diethyl ether and dried in vacuo to leave 8 , 26 . 1 g ( 62 %), of sufficient purity to be used in the next step . a mixture of threo - n , n &# 39 ;- dicarbethoxy - 2 , 3 - diamino - 1 , 4 - butanediol 4 , 4 - bismethanesulfonate ( 8 ) ( 2 . 28 g , 5 . 43 mmol ) and potassium thioacetate ( 1 . 55 g , 13 . 6 mmol ) in 85 ml of dimethyl - formamide was stirred at room temperature for 15 hours . the majority of the dimethyl - formamide was removed under reduced pressure and the residue was taken up in 50 ml of water and extracted ( 3 × 40 ml ) with chloroform . the combined extracts were dried ( mgso 4 ) and concentrated to leave a residue which was chromatographed ( waters prep 500a , one silica cartridge , 30 % ethyl acetate / hexane ) to provide pure 9 , 1 . 45 g ( 70 %); m . p . 94 °- 97 ° c . a solution of threo - 1 , 2 - dimethylmercaptoethylene dicarbamic acid diethyl ester diacetate ( 9 ) ( 1 . 67 g , 4 . 39 mmol ) in 150 ml of concentrated hydrochloric acid was refluxed under nitrogen for 18 hours . the reaction mixture was evaporated to dryness under reduced pressure and trace water was removed azeotropically with benzene . the residue was recrystallized from methanol / benzene with charcoal treatment to provide 10 , 400 mg ( 41 %). a second crop of less pure material weighing 330 mg was obtained by concentrating the filtrate . a solution of threo - 1 , 2 - dimethylmercaptoethylene dicarbamic acid diethyl ester diacetate ( 9 ) ( 1 . 06 g , 2 . 79 mmol ) in 75 ml of saturated ethanolic hydrogen chloride was refluxed under nitrogen for 12 hours . the mixture was evaporated to dryness and trace ethanol was removed azeotropically with benzene . the residue was flash chromatographed ( 20 mm × 6 in bed of 0 . 040 - 0 . 063 mm silica gel , 1 % methanol / chloroform ) to provide pure 11 , 540 mg ( 65 %); m . p . 107 °- 109 ° c . air was bubbled through a stirred solution of threo - 1 , 2 - dimethylmercaptoethylene dicarbamic acid diethyl ester ( 11 ) ( 1 . 54 g , 5 . 23 mmol ) in 9 ml of 2n aqueous sodium hydroxide for 18 hours . the mixture was diluted with 400 ml of cold water and precipitate was collected by filtration to provide 980 mg of crude product . recrystallization from ethyl acetate / hexane gave pure 12 , 650 mg ( 42 %); m . p . 180 °- 182 ° c . following the foregoing example 1 and text , the compounds of example 2 , table 1 , are prepared by analogy . departures from established procedure are indicated under the heading &# 34 ; remarks &# 34 ;: table 1______________________________________no . compound remarks______________________________________iii ## str18 ## ( meso ) prepared from meso - 2 obtained by the trans hydroxylation of trans - 1 , 4 - dibenzyloxy - 2 - butene . iv ## str19 ## ( d ) prepared from d - 2 derived from d - diethyl tartrate as described in text . ## str20 ## ( l ) prepared from l - 2 derived from l - diethyl tartrate as described in text . vi ## str21 ## ( dl ) obtained by the substitution of acetic anhydride in step e . vii ## str22 ## ( dl ) obtained by the formulation of ii ( r . sup . 1 = h ) with acetic - formic anhydride followed by lithium aluminum hydride reduction . viii ## str23 ## ( dl ) obtained by the acetylation of the oxidized form of vii with acetic anhydride followed by lithium aluminum hydride reduction . ______________________________________ it is understood that the meso , d , and l isomers of compounds vi - viii are prepared by analogy . a dry solid pharmaceutical composition is prepared by mixing the following materials together in the proportions by weight specified : the dry composition is thoroughly blended , and tablets are punched from the resulting mixture , each tablet being of such size that it contains 100 mg of the active ingredient . other tablets are also prepared in a manner containing 10 , 25 , and 200 mg of active ingredient , respectively , by using an appropriate quantity by weight of the active in each case . a dry solid pharmaceutical composition is prepared by combining the following materials together in the weight proportions indicated below : the dried solid mixture is thoroughly mixed until uniform in composition . the powdered product is then used to fill soft elastic and hard - gelatin capsules so as to provide capsules containing 200 mg of the active ingredient .	2
the main feature of the current invention is that the more subtle side effects of gut acidity resulting from starch and / or sugar fermentation were previously unknown . the present invention reveals the link between the fermentation of starch and / or sugars in the gastro intestinal tract , low ph and a range of conditions including adverse behaviour , diarrhoea , skin disorders and infections of the hind gut associated with acidic conditions . there is significant variability between individual humans and between individual animals within any species in the efficiency and extent to which different sugars , starches , non - starch polysaccharides and other carbohydrates are digested in the acidic stomach and absorbed from the small intestine . particularly in young animals and humans and in aging humans and animals there may be deficiencies in the gut enzymes responsible for the break down of disaccharides , starches and / or non - starch polysaccharides . there can also be deficiencies in active absorption of sugars from the intestine . these abnormalities can lead to high levels of readily fermentable carbohydrate entering the hind gut . in addition , when there is a sudden change in diet involving the introduction of starch or other fermentable carbohydrate which has not previously been in the diet or which has been in the diet at very much lower amounts , the appropriate endogenous enzymes may not be present in sufficient quantities and / or active absorption mechanisms for simple sugars may not be developed to efficiently digest and absorb all readily fermentable carbohydrate . this may also lead to high levels of fermentable carbohydrate entering the hind gut . there can therefore be considerable variation between individuals in the nature and in the amount of fermentable substrate reaching the hind gut . it is known that some humans , and particularly children , develop adverse behaviour patterns following consumption of particular foods such as those containing sugars and or processed starch . it is also known that animals such as horses develop adverse behaviour such as eating their bedding , coprophagy , chewing wood , and being highly excitable when they consume high levels of cereal grain containing starch . piglets and other animals may develop behavioural problems of chewing tails and &# 34 ; boredom &# 34 ; when they are fed diets based on cereal grain for rapid growth rate and production . poultry can also develop adverse behavioural patterns such as vent pecking and cannibalism when on high grain diets . diarrhoea can be a major problem for all species as it leads to the loss of minerals and electrolytes . it is also a condition which is inconvenient and embarrassing for humans and / or for dogs which are kept indoors . the reason for chronic diarrhoea is often unknown in many situations where clinical disease conditions are not diagnosed . horses on high levels of grain or grazing lush green pasture are given daily doses of virginiamycin , or any other antibiotic compound with a similar or better effect on fermentation and digestion , formulated to reach and mix with the contents of the caecum in order to stop the animal from chewing the wooden rails of the stables and / or those surrounding the paddock and to make the animal easier to handle and more pleasant to ride . piglets are fed diets including virginiamycin , and / or any other antibiotic compound with or without clay and enzyme preparations in order reduce the incidence of tail biting . cattle entering a feedlot and given high levels of grain are fed the concentrate part of the diet containing virginiamycin , or any other antibiotic compound with a similar or better effect on fermentation and digestion , to improve their feeding behaviour and reduce signs of stress and reduce diarrhoea . children displaying hyperactivity and / or attention deficit disorder and / or another conditions or behavioural trait related to intake of a particular sugar , starch or other dietary ingredient containing fermentable carbohydrate are even thiopeptin , or any other antibiotic compound with a similar or better effect on fermentation and digestion , to control fermentation and digestion and restore normal behaviour . compounds such as exogenous enzyme preparations may be consumed with particular foods in order to assist their digestion prior to hind gut fermentation and acid formation . the use of antibiotic feed additives can also be included in order to provide further protection against acidic fermentation in the hind gut in conjunction with food and drinks specially prepared for children with particular problems associated with hyperactivity or other behavioural problems associated with the intake of readily fermentable carbohydrates . there are numerous recorded examples of skin conditions such as psoriasis which respond to changes in the amount and type of carbohydrate consumed . the fermentation and the subsequent acid build up which leads to these conditions are unknown subtle effects of sub - clinical hind gut acidosis . treatment of these conditions involves the administration of an effective antibiotic compound , such as virginiamycin , active against the gram positive bacteria which produce such acid . antibiotic treatment to control acidic fermentation can be used on its own or in conjunction with exogenous enzyme preparations . enzyme preparations may be effective on their own when used with specific feeds or in situations where specific digestive and absorptive deficiencies are known . infections of the hind gut such as wine dysentry can be controlled by preventing acidic conditions in the gut as a result of rapid fermentation of dietary carbohydrates . the use of enzymes to increase the efficiency and extent of starch and other carbohydrate digestion prior to the hind gut may be used as an alternative or an adjunct to the use of antibiotics and / or changing the form of carbohydrate portion of the diet in order to control these hind gut pathogens . the invention will now be described in greater detail by reference to specific examples . the horse was chosen as the primary example for the demonstration of the behavioural ap sects of this invention . the horse has a digestive system similar to many monogastric omnivores such as man , pigs , dogs , poultry etc . it has a hind out which is larger , in proportion to body size , than these other species . eighteen mature standardbred horses were selected on the basis that they showed no signs of lameness and that they had no obvious unusual behavioral characteristics . they were assigned at random to one of three treatment groups ( 6 per treatment ) summarised in table 1 . table 1______________________________________feed intake ( kg / d ) of horses fed hay alone , or hay with increasinglevels of grain - based pellet with or withoutthe addition of virginiamycin ( as founderguard ) week 1 week 2 week 3 week 4treatment group hay hay grain hay grain hay grain______________________________________hay only 8 8 8 8hay and grain 8 6 2 4 4 2 6hay and grain with 8 6 2 4 4 2 6founderguard______________________________________ * founderguard contains virginiamycin at a rate of 1 % and was administered to provide 5 g founderguard / 100 kg liveweight . the &# 34 ; grain &# 34 ; portion of the diet consisted of a pellet containing : wheat ( 72 %); soybean ( 15 %); lupin ( 10 %) and minerals / vitamins ( 3 %). the hay was fed in the long form ( not chaffed ). all animals ate all of the feed offered in two equal feeds in the morning and afternoon . for the week before the experiment started , all of the horses were observed daily when grazing as a single group to determine if there were any abnormal ( background ) behavioural patterns . the horses were then brought into a stable complex with a high overhead walk way from which all of the animals could be observed without being disturbed . behaviour was observed and quantified during a 1 hour session each morning before feeding and a 1 hour session each evening after feeding . every aspect of behaviour was accurately defined before the experiment started and each incident of every type of behaviour was recorded during the periods of observation . in addition to the observations while the animals were in their stalls they were exercised each day and examined for any signs of lameness . samples of faecal material were taken for analysis or ph . blood samples were also taken for measuring ph , blood gas concentrations and lactic acid . the animals were weighed each day . at the end of the experiment all animals were humanely slaughtered in order to take samples of the digestive tract . during this process the digestive tract was weighed . there were marked changes in the behaviour of horses fed increasing levels of grain without founderguard ( fig1 ). during the same time the behaviour of the horses maintained on hay only remained normal indicating that the development of abnormal behaviour was a result of change in diet rather than boredom at being housed in a stable . the behaviour of horses fed grain with founderguard was marginally , but not significantly different from those fed hay . in animals fed grain without founderguard there was a significant decreased in faecal ph with increasing levels of grain in the diet . the faecal ph of horses fed grain with founderguard was similar to those fed hay ( fig2 ). the incidence of adverse behaviour was closely related to faecal ph ( r 2 = 0 . 96 ) ( see fig3 ). with more acidic conditions in the hind gut as indicated by reduced faecal ph , there was a far greater incidence of adverse behaviour . when the horses were weighed each day they were also observed in the yards . all horses seen to be rearing and or kicking during the last week of feeding were identified as being in the group fed grain only . none of the animals fed grain with virginiamycin or hay on it &# 39 ; s own were observed to have this type of behaviour . although the animals fed grain consumed higher levels of digestible energy there was an average weight loss of around 7 kg compared to the horses fed only hay . this difference in liveweight was not statistically significant but the corresponding reduction in the weight of the gut of around 20 kg , in horses fed increasing levels of grain relative to hay , was highly significant . table 2 shows that it was not an empty gut feeling that caused hunger and / or boredom which initiated the abnormal behavioural patterns since both groups of horses which were fed grain had similar changes in the gut weight . table 2______________________________________summary of changes in liveweight of horses during the final 3 weeksof the experimental period and the weight of the gastrointestinal tractat the end of the experiment . grain grain + hay only fg * signif ( p ) ______________________________________average weight change ( kg / 21 d ) 0 . 7 - 7 . 0 - 7 . 5 0 . 2weight of gut ( kg ) 86 63 68 0 . 0002weight of gut as % of live weight 18 13 15 0 . 0001______________________________________ * fg = founderguard contains virginiamycin at a rate of 1 % and was administered to provide 5 g founderguard / 100 kg liveweight . many of the effects of feeding grain to horses are complicated by the fact that there is normally an increase in the amount of digestible energy intake , a reduction in the amount of bulk consumed and a different pattern of fermentation and digestion within the cut . the use of virginiamycin ( as founderguard ) allows us to demonstrate the effects of acid build up in the gut without any confounding factors such as the amount of energy available or the physical nature of the diet when changing from long fibrous roughage to grains or pelleted feed . the results of these studies therefore indicate that the adverse effects of behaviour changes , associated with feeding cereal grain were a direct effect of increased gut acidity due to fermentative digestion and that this problem can be overcome by controlling the build up of acidity in the hind gut . in this study the control of acidity was achieved using virginiamycin . similar effects can be expected with the use of appropriate exogenous enzyme preparations to enhance starch and sugar digestion and thereby reduce hind gut fermentation and the build up of acidity . the use of a combination of enzymes and antibiotic would also be efficacious . a thoroughbred gelding being fed grain supplements in preparation for a show riding event developed behavioural characteristics which made it very hard to handle and ride . before riding the horse it was necessary to lunge the animal for approximately 30 minutes to overcome its urge to buck the rider off . following administration of virginiamycin in the form of founderguard for 1 week it was then possible to ride the horse without any of the adverse behavioural effect such as bucking . the rider reported the horse to be more manageable and far easier to handle . experiments 1 and 2 show that behavioural changes associated with high grain diets in horses can be prevented or reversed through using virginiamycin as founderguard to control gut acidosis . this link between the use of virginiamycin and behavioural changes is completely novel . experiment 3 provides an example of how a number of riders have identified significant changes in the behaviour of horses following treatment with virginiamycin . two paddocks were leased for the experiment on a property in the black mountain area between armidale and guyra , nsw , australia . the rainfall in this area is normally reliable and this factor together with the high altitude 1250 m and the rich basaltic soils were considered to provide a good combination of conditions for the production of pasture with high levels of soluble carbohydrate . conditions for high carbohydrate levels characterised by warm clear days , which facilitate rapid photosynthesis during the day , followed by cold nights . the low night temperatures slow down the process of respiration and retard the break down of carbohydrates . good soil moisture and soil fertility are also important to achieve rapid growth and optimal photosynthetic activity . one paddock was approximately 25 ha and the other around 12 ha . twenty five mature female ponies were selected for the experiment and were identified with numbered tags secured around the neck with a strap and buckle . 20 ponies were selected on the basis of uniform size and signs of fatness ( rib cover and cresting of the neck ). ten of these animals were given founderguard ( 1 % virginiamycin ) at the rate of 5 g / 100 kg live weight by feeding them individually in a race . at the same time a rectal sample of faecal material was taken from each animal for assessment of consistency and for measurement of ph . subsamples were taken for analysis of dry matter , lactic acid and volatile fatty acid concentrations . these subsamples were placed in plastic bags in ice for transport to the laboratory and were then kept at - 20 ° c . prior to analysis . samples of pasture were taken by plucking grass and clover plants in a way which was designed to simulate grazing selection . these samples were also transported back to the laboratory in plastic bags in ice and then stored at - 20 ° c . prior to drying ( 55 ° c .) for analysis of dry matter and soluble carbohydrate content . this experimental period of daily treatment with founderguard and faecal and pasture sampling was continued for a further week . there was a significant ( p & lt ; 0 . 001 ) effect on faecal ph ( fig4 ) and faecal consistency ( fig5 ) as a result of treatment with founderguard . founderguard increased faecal ph by an average of 0 . 1 ph unit which is equivalent to a difference between treatments of 25 % in the concentration of h + ions in faecal material . the difference between treatment groups in the acidity of the faecal material was explained by differences in the concentrations of both lactic and volatile fatty acids ( vfa ). the concentrations of lactic acid . vfa and the proportions of the different acids are summarised in table 3 . there was twice the concentration of vfa in the faecal material of horses without founderguard ( p & lt ; 0 . 001 ). although there was around three times as much lactic acid in horses without founderguard this difference was not significantly different due to the considerable variation between horses in the concentration of lactic acid . there was a significant correlation between faecal ph and faecal consistency ( p & lt ; 0 . 01 ) r 2 = 0 . 151 . table 3______________________________________dry matter content , ph and concentrations of volatile fatty acids ( vfa ) and lactate in faecal samples taken on day 3 of the trial . control founderguard sign mean se mean se p______________________________________dry matter (%) 16 . 6 0 . 6 17 . 1 0 . 9 nslactate mmol / g dm 18 9 . 7 5 3 . 0 nsvfa mmol / g dm 551 37 . 0 257 25 . 6 * total acid 569 42 . 6 262 26 . 6 % acetate 78 0 . 9 75 2 . 3 ns % propionate 11 1 . 2 15 1 . 5 ns % butyrate 5 0 . 3 5 0 . 6 nsph ( day 3 ) 6 . 41 0 . 015 6 . 61 0 . 015 ______________________________________ the results show that even under conditions which would be considered normal the faecal ph can be lower than ideal and faecal consistency is related to reduced faecal ph . it is very interesting that under these conditions founderguard still has a highly significant effect on faecal ph through reducing the concentrations of acids . soluble carbohydrate and starch entering the hind gut will be rapidly fermented to produce of vfa and lactic acid . the accumulation of acids in the gut in turn increase the rate of flow of digesta and this brings more undigested carbohydrate into the hind gut for fermentation . this cycle is likely to cause chronic acidosis of the hind gut and a pattern of digestion which could be dangerous under conditions of rapidly rising levels of soluble carbohydrate in the diet . in this experiment the levels of soluble carbohydrate in both grasses and clover increased by around threefold in the space of 1 or 2 days and reached concentrations of around 30 % of dry matter . this sudden change in the composition of pasture species is similar to a sudden increase in the amount of starch fed as cereal grain . in horses consuming around 10 kg of pasture dry matter per day 30 % of soluble carbohydrate represents 3 kg of sugars which is equivalent to around 4 kg of barley or wheat . while it is likely that a lot of sugars are digested and absorbed prior to reaching the hind gut there is almost certainly incomplete digestion in the small intestine due to rapid passage of digesta during the intake of large quantities of fresh plant material . there is also likely to be limited capacity of enzyme systems for handling sugars in the small intestine when the dietary conditions change suddenly . the effect of founderguard on faecal ph and the concentration of acids in faecal material is a very interesting and important finding . it is possible that part of the effect of founderguard is to reduce the overall extent of fermentation and digestion but this has not been shown to be significant in monogastric or ruminant animals . the major effect of founderguard is more likely to be due to the specific action of virginiamycin in controlling proliferation of the gram positive lactic acid producing organisms in the hind gut . exogenous enzyme preparations may assist by improving digestion of carbohydrate in the small intestine and reduce the extent of acidic fermentation in the hind gut . in this way antibiotics and enzymes may be used independently or together . the aim of this study was to investigate behavioural changes in race horses on high grain diets with or without founderguard . this experiment introduces the link between faecal consistency , low ph and the control of both of these conditions with virginiamycin to prevent acid accumulation . sixteen trainers in the perth district agreed to select one horse from their stables for the trial . selection was on the basis of the horse being fed high levels of grain and considered to have some behavioural problems such as being difficult to handle , excitable and unpredictable . a placebo batch of founderguard was manufactured which was indistinguishable from the medicated product . the placebo and medicated product ( 1 % virginiamycin ) were packed into identical buckets and were labelled either with letters or numbered in a random way . the labelling code was not known by the person organising the trial who was provided with 16 pairs of buckets , each pair included placebo and active product . each trainer was given one bucket for a two week period and then the second bucket for a further two week period . neither the trainer nor the person organising the trial had any knowledge of which bucket contained the active founderguard ( 1 % virginiamycin ). trainers were asked to record any incident of tying up or any other abnormal development in the health and welfare of the animals involved in the trial . the behaviour of each horse was assessed prior to the start of the trial and at least once during each two week period by both trainer and the veterinarian conducting the trial . in addition the trainers , riders and strappers were asked if they observed any change in behaviour or any adverse effects when the horses were on either of the treatments . there were no veterinary problems or incidents of tying up recorded during the trial period in any of the horses . there was a very wide range in the behavioural idiosyncrasies of individual horses . the best measure was the overall opinion of trainers , veterinarian , riders and strappers as to whether behaviour had improved , got worse , or there was no change when founderguard was given , compared to when the placebo was administered . in cases where there was a range of opinions as to whether any change had taken place this was recorded as no chance . there was always better agreement and more uniformity in rankings involving improved behaviour than there was in assessments involving worse behaviour . ______________________________________response to founderguard number of horses______________________________________no change 5worse 2improved 9______________________________________ the data were analysed using a paired t - test by assigning values of 0 for no change - 1 worse and 1 for improved and were compared against 0 as the control behaviour on placebo . this analysis indicates a significant ( p = 0 . 029 ) improvement in behaviour and handling as a result of using founderguard . the effect of founderguard on behaviour is consistent with the observations of several prominent hack riders who have tried founderguard during the preparation of horses for competition . experiment 5 and 6 demonstrate the efficacy of virginiamycin in controlling diarrhoea in the dog . a golden retriever dog ( approx 43 kg ) with a long history of sporadic diarrhoea was used in an experiment over a period of 12 months . throughout the experimental period the dog was treated with ivermectin in the form of monthly chewable tablets ( merck sharp and dohme ) against heart worm . several dietary regimes and the use of virginiamycin were investigated as a means of controlling hind gut fermentation and the development of acidic conditions in the caecum and colon . pelleted or extruded dog food contains significant levels of cereal grain and starch , mainly in the form of wheat . tinned wet dog food also contains cereal grain . the dog was fed a diet based on either extruded pellets or a mixture of pellets and tinned food for a period of around 18 months prior to the start of the experimental period and faeces during this time were continually soft and unformed with occasional episodes of severe diarrhoea . an investigation of parasitic infection during an episode of diarrhoea indicated nil infection and this was ruled out as a cause of the diarrhoea . no veterinary explanation was available as to the cause of the soft unformed faeces and the episodes of diarrhoea . during the experimental period the diet was changed in a number of ways and treatment with virginiamycin was investigated as a means of controlling the diarrhoea through its effect on fermentation and hind gut acid concentration . the dietary regimes tested and the results are summarised in table 4 . table 4______________________________________dietary treatmentsand their effect on faecal consistency in a golden retriever______________________________________dogboiled rice faeces normally well formed . several incidents of mild diarrhoea . boiled rice faeces well formed and normal . no diarrhoea . and virginiamycinpelleted dog food faeces nearly always soft and unformed . numerous episodes of severe diarrhoea . pelleted dog faeces normally well formed and very rare incidentsfood with of mild diarrhoea . severe diarrhoea whenvirginiamycin virginiamycin accidentally excluded even for short periods . tinned dog food faeces normally soft . only occasional episodes of mild diarrhoea . tinned dog faeces well formed and normal . no diarrhoea . food withvirginiamycinboiled rice faeces normally well formed and normal . occasionaltinned dog food soft faeces and isolated incidents of mild diarrhoea . boiled rice faeces well formed and normal . no diarrhoea . and tinned dogfood withvirginiamycin______________________________________ the dog food were commercial products . the tinned dog food was ` chum ` and the pelleted / extruded dry feed was ` pal `. both products were supplied by uncle ben &# 39 ; s of australia ( kelly street wadonga , victoria 3690 australia ). each treatment was given until there was a clear change in faecal consistency . the treatments were repeated in a randomised design throughout the year . the results are summarised above . virginiamycin was given to a commercial kennel where there was a history of some dogs developing diarrhoea when they first arrived . a number of dogs were treated with virginiamycin at a dose rate of approximately 0 . 4 mg / kg liveweight per day when they developed diarrhoea on arrival at the kennel . these animals all returned to passing normal faeces within 48 hours after first treatment and treatment was stopped after three days . experiment 7 provides further evidence that starch passing undigested to the hind gut is the principle cause of the build up of acid and diarrhoea . piglets were fed diets based on either boiled rice or wheat with a protein supplement based on meat meal . all animals were fed the experimental diets for 4 weeks before being slaughtered at 8 weeks of age . samples of digesta were analysed for ph , dry matter and the concentrations of volatile fatty acids . the dry matter content and the ph of the faeces was significantly higher in the case of pigs fed diets based on boiled rice than those fed wheat - based diets . in this study , the piglets were also challenged with an articial infection of serpulina hyodysenteriae oral administration of the bacteria which produces swine dysentry . the results are summarised in fig6 . these show that there is a very good relationship between acidity in the gut ( ph ) and the dry matter content of the digesta . this relationship changes between diets but within each diet variation in ph explains between 80 and 90 % of the variation in dry matter content . the results also indicate that the difference between diets in the faecal dry matter content can largely be explained by the acidity of the digesta . the average concentration of volatile fatty acids in the colon of pigs fed wheat was 32 . 9 mmol / l compared to 12 . 7 mmol / l in those fed boiled rice . this is one of the major reasons for the difference in ph and dry matter content of digesta and faecal material between the two diets . the change in the source of carbohydrate from wheat to boiled rice prevented the establishment of swine dysentry disease . one of the main differences between wheat and rice is in the non - starch polysaccharides . wheat has much higher levels of non - starch polysaccharides than rice and this reduces the amount of carbohydrate digested and absorbed in the intestines . there is therefore more fermentation of carbohydrate in the large intestines ( hind gut ) and this leads to more accumulation of acids lower ph and lower dry matter content . the use of enzymes to overcome the adverse effects on starch digestion associated with cereal based diets such as wheat , barley and rye , prevents the development of acidic conditions in the hind gut and provides a new way of preventing hind gut diseases such as swine dysentry where the pathogens rely on an acidic environment to establish a competive advantage . experiment 8 provides evidence of the effect of a sudden chance in the source of dietary starch in the human diet on the incidence of diarrhoea . it is common for visitors to mexico to develop diarrhoea shortly after arrival from other countries . it is generally believed that this is a result of poor hygiene . two volunteers , one male and one female around 25 years of age and in perfect health entered mexico to visit merida ( yucatan ) on three separate occasions over period of 18 months from the dominican republic where they were semi - permanent residents . each visit lasted between 10 and 16 days . both the dominican republic and mexico are tropical countries and there is a similar standard of hygiene and standard of living . during each visit the subjects meticulously maintained similar standards of hygiene . when they were not directly responsible for food preparation themselves they ensured that standards of hygiene were in food preparation were to their normal standards . on each visit to mexico both subjects developed chronic diarrhoea for a period of at least one week after which time faecal consistency slowly returned to normal . the major difference in the diet of the subjects was in the source and amount of carbohydrate consumed . in the dominican republic the main source of dietary carbohydrate was wheat ( bread ) and root vegetables such as cassava and sweet potato . in mexico the main source of carbohydrate was maize ( tacos , tortillas etc ). in addition , carbohydrate made up a far greater proportion of the diet in mexico than it did in the dominican republic . it was concluded that the change to high levels of maize in the diet resulted in fermentable carbohydrate passing to the hindgut and that the diarrhoea was of an osmotic nature , from high levels of acid in the hind gut , rather than secretory diarrhoea from the establishment of pathogenic bacteria in the intestine . it is likely that this form of diarrhoea , resulting from excessive hind gut fermentation , can be controlled by antibiotic feed additives such as virginiamycin . exogenous enzyme preparations may also be effective in increasing the digestion of maize starch until the endogenous systems adapt . again antibiotic additives or enzymes can be used independently or together . the presence of β - glucans in cereal grain are known to be responsible for lower nutritive value of grains such as barley . the use of exogenous β - glucanase enzyme is described in this experiment to improve the digestion and absorption of starch before it reaches the hind gut in broiler chickens . broiler chickens were fed diets based on maize or barley grain to supply 60 % of the feed consumed . half of the chickens on each basal diet were given β - glucanase enzyme at a rate of 0 . 129 g enzyme premix per kg of diet dry matter . this was administered by mixing the enzyme into the diet . weight gain in chicks fed barley diets without β - glucanase enzyme were lower than those fed maize or barley with β - glucanase enzyme . the inclusion of β - glucanase enzyme in the barley diets significantly ( p & lt ; 0 . 001 ) improved the digestibility and absorption of starch ( table 5 ). table 5______________________________________pre - ileal digestion of starch (%) in broiler chicks fed diets based onmaize or barley grain with or without the inclusion of β - glucanaseenzyme at 0 or 0 . 129 g / kg dry feed ( from : m . almirall , j . brufau , e . esteve - garcia ( 1993 ) in : enzymes inanimal nutrition ( institut fur nutztierwissenschaften , zurich ) grain type β - glucanase enzyme pre - ileal starch digestion______________________________________maize 0 96maize 0 . 129 94barley 0 89barley 0 . 129 96______________________________________ bentonite , kaolinite , zeolite and other types of clays are able to bind ions reversible and can have a significant effect on ph during fermentation in the gastrointestinal tract . the ability of these clays to absorb ions means that their inclusion in a diet can reduce the osmolarity in the gastrointestinal tract . an experiment was conducted involving the inclusion of bentonite clay in the diets of lambs from weaning at 17 . 5 kg to slaughter at 37 kg . the basal diet consisted of 78 % barley , 16 % soybean 5 % wheat bran and 1 % minerals and vitamins . bentonite was given at a rate of 20kg / tonne of feed , replacing barley , and was administered by mixing with the diet . there was a consistently higher rumen ph in lambs given the diet containing bentonite . the results are summarised in table 6 . similar results are achieved with clays such as kaolinite and zeolites . table 6______________________________________rumen ph and ammonia concentrations of lambs given diets based onbarley with or without bentonite at a concentration of 2 kg / tonneof feed . ( from s . economides , e . georghiades andm . hadjipanayiotou ( 1987 ). effects of bentonite feeding on the pre - and post - weaning performance of chios ewes and lambs ari , cyprus ) parameter without bentonite with bentonite______________________________________rumen ph 5 . 97 5 . 72rumen ammonia ( mg / l ) 97 122______________________________________ the extrapolation of these findings to other species is logical since the same pattern of digestion and fermentation occurs in practically all animals including humans . there are parts of the digestive tract which are designed to support neutral ph and fermentation and there are other compartments which are designed for acid digestion . all species have the capacity for fermentation either prior to the acidic digestion or following acidic digestion and intestinal absorption . the invention therefore extends to any animal , including humans , where the fermentation of starch or sugar occurs in the gastro intestinal tract . in humans , pigs and horses , this fermentation occurs in the hind gut ( caecum and colon ). the present invention makes use of a method for the treatment or prophylaxis of adverse behaviour , diarrhoea , a skin disorder or an infection of the hind gut resulting from the accumulation of acid in the gastrointestinal tract of a human or an animal , said accumulation resulting from the fermentation of carbohydrate in the gastrointestinal tract of said human or animal , which method comprises administering to said human or animal an effective amount of an agent capable of preventing or controlling fermentative acidosis in the gastrointestinal tract .	0
the feed starch sugar solution usable in the present invention may be almost any substantially - ketose - free solution of aldoses derived from starch . such a feed solution results in a high - maltose fraction ; and with a maltose content of 90 %, typically 93 % or higher , in a high yield when subjected to the fractionation according to the present invention . for example , feed starch sugar solution may be a saccharified starch solution obtained by subjecting starch to the actions of starch - degrading enzymes , e . g ., α - and α - amylases , and starch - debranching enzyme , or may be an aqueous solution of a commercially - available starch sugar product having a maltose content of at least 70 %. the strongly - acidic cation exchange resin of alkali metal - or alkaline earth metal - form usable in the invention may be , for example , one or more members of styrene - divinylbenzene copolymer resins bearing sulphonyl groups of alkali metal - or alkaline earth metal - form , such as na + , k + , ca 2 + , or mg 2 + . commercially - available resins are , for example , &# 34 ; dowex 50wx2 &# 34 ;, &# 34 ; dowex 50wx4 &# 34 ;, and &# 34 ; dowex 50wx8 &# 34 ;, products of dow chemical company , midland , mich ., u . s . a ., &# 34 ; amberlite cg - 120 &# 34 ;, a product of rohm & amp ; haas company , philadelphia , pa . , u . s . a ., &# 34 ; xt - 1022e &# 34 ;, a product of tokyo chemical industries , kita - ku , tokyo , japan , and &# 34 ; diaion sk 1b &# 34 ;, &# 34 ; diaion sk 102 &# 34 ;, and &# 34 ; diaion sk 104 &# 34 ;, products of mitsubishi chemical industries limited , tokyo , japan . all of these resins have excellent fractionating capability to obtain the high - maltose fraction , and are highly heat - and abrasion - resitant . thus , they are advantageously useful for producing a high - purity maltose on an industrial - scale . in the process according to the present invention , a resin with a nominal particle size of about 0 . 01 - 0 . 5 mm is packed in one or more columns . the bed depth preferred in the invention is generally 7 m or longer . if two or more columns are used , they are cascaded to give a total bed depth of 7 m or longer . as to the column usable in the present invention , any column can be used regardless of its material , size , and shape so far as the objectives of the invention can be attained therewith . the column may be , for example , of glass , plastic or stainless steel , and its shape may be , for example , in cylindrical or square pillar form , but it should be designed to give the most effective laminar flow possible when the feed starch sugar solution is applied to the column packed with the resin . the following description concretely explains in detail the method of the present invention . one or more column ( s ) is packed with a strongly - acidic cation exchange resin of alkali metal - or alkaline earth metal - form , in an aqueous suspension , to give a total bed depth of 7 m or longer . while keeping the temperature in the column ( s ) at 45 °- 85 ° c ., the feed starch sugar solution , at a concentration of about 10 - 70 w / w %, in an amount of about 1 - 60 v / v % against the bed volume , is admitted into the column ( s ) and then charged upwards or downwards with water at a flow rate of about sv 0 . 1 - 2 . 0 to effect fractionation of the material starch sugar solution into a high - dextrin fraction , a high - dextrin .- maltose fraction , a high - maltose fraction , a high - maltose . glucose fraction , and a high - glucose fraction , in the given order . the high maltose - fraction is then recovered . although the eluted fractions are generally collected in about 1 - 20 v / v % against the bed volume , they may be distributed automatically into the fractions . when the feed starch sugar solution is admitted into the column prior to , after , or together with the previously obtained high - dextrin . maltose - and / or high - maltose . glucose - fractions , the amount of water required for substantial fractionation of the feed starch sugar solution can be sharply reduced , and the maltose constituent in the solution can be recovered in higher purity , higher concentration , and higher yield . preferably , the previously obtained high - dextrin . maltose fraction , the feed starch sugar solution , and the previoiusly obtained high - maltose . glucose fraction are applied successively to the column in the given order . although the high - maltose fraction thus obtained can be used intact , it may be , if necessary , treated further as follows . the high - maltose fraction may be subjected to conventional purification steps , e . g ., filtration , decolorization and / or deionization . then , the purified product is , for example , concentrated to obtain a syrup , or crystallized to obtain a mascuit which may be spray - dried into crystalline powder , or separated into mother liquor and maltose crystals of much higher purity . the high - purity maltose thus obtained is extremely useful in various applications , e . g ., for production of food products or pharmaceuticals . the feed starch sugar solutions used in this experiment were prepared from commercially - available starch sugar products as listed in table i , products of hayashibara company , limited , okayama , japan , by dissolving or diluting them in water to give respective concentrations of 45 w / w %. &# 34 ; dowex 50wx4 ( na + )&# 34 ;, a commercially - available strongly - acidic cation exchange resin of alkali metal - form , a product of dow chemical company , midland , mich ., u . s . a ., in an aqueous suspension , was packed in a jacketted stainless steel column , inside diameter , 5 . 4 cm , to give a bed depth of 10 m . while keeping the temperature in the column at 75 ° c ., each feed starch sugar solution listed in table i was admitted to the column in an amount of 5 v / v % against the bed volume , and fractionated by charging 75 ° c . hot water at a flow rate of sv 0 . 4 through the column and the high - maltose fraction , with a maltose content of 93 % or higher , was recovered . the results are given in table ii . the experimental results , as shown in table ii , confirm that when the maltose content in the feed starch sugar solution is 70 % or higher , a high - maltose fraction with a maltose content of 93 % or higher is easily obtainable in an extremely high yield , i . e . 80 % or higher , against the maltose constituent in the feed starch sugar solution . table i______________________________________ sugar composition (%) a b c d______________________________________maltrup 7 . 1 48 . 0 44 . 9malstar 3 . 2 66 . 0 30 . 8hm - 75 1 . 0 76 . 8 22 . 2sunmalt 4 . 3 85 . 0 10 . 7maltose h 0 . 6 91 . 5 7 . 9______________________________________ note : a is the material starch sugar solution ( trade name or registered trade mark ); b , glucose ; c , maltose ; and d , maltotriose and higher oligosaccharides . table ii______________________________________a b c d e______________________________________maltrup 48 . 0 132 . 2 44 . 2 controlmalstar 66 . 0 231 . 7 56 . 3 controlhm - 75 76 . 8 403 . 6 84 . 3 present inventionsunmalt 85 . 0 483 . 8 91 . 3 present inventionmaltose h 91 . 5 548 . 8 96 . 2 present invention______________________________________ note : a is the material starch sugar solution ( trade name or registered trade mark ); b , maltose content in the feed starch sugar solution (%); c , maltose yield in the highmaltose - fraction ( g ); d , maltose yield against the maltose constituent in the feed starch sugar solution (%); and e , remarks . similarly as in experiment 1 , the strongly - acidic cation exchange resin of alkali metal - form was packed in one or two columns to give respective total bed depths in the range of 1 - 20 m as in table iii . while keeping the temperature in the columns of different bed depths at 75 ° c ., 45 w / w % aqueous solution aliquots of &# 34 ; sunmalt &# 34 ;, a commercially - available starch sugar powder with a maltose content of 85 . 0 %, registered trade mark of hayashibara company , limited , okayama , japan , were admitted to the columns in an amount of 5 v / v % against the bed volume , and then fractionated by charging 75 ° c . hot water at a flow rate of sv 0 . 4 through the column and the high - maltose fraction , with a maltose content of 93 % or higher , was recovered . the results are given in table iii . the experimental results , as shown in table iii , confirm that when the bed depth is 7 m or longer , a high - maltose fraction with a maltose content of 93 % or higher is easily obtainable in an extremely high yield , i . e ., 80 % or higher , against the maltose constituent in the feed starch solution . table iii______________________________________a b c d e______________________________________1 1 114 . 5 30 . 1 56 . 93 1 343 . 5 102 . 1 64 . 25 1 572 . 5 192 . 9 72 . 87 1 801 . 5 324 . 9 87 . 610 1 1145 . 0 483 . 8 91 . 315 1 1715 . 5 739 . 3 93 . 020 2 . sup . 6 2290 . 0 994 . 1 93 . 8______________________________________ note : a is total bed depth ( m ); b , number of columns ; c , amount of the feed starch sugar solution applied ( ml ); d , maltose yield in the highmaltose fraction ( g ); e , maltose yield against the maltose constituent in the fee starch sugar solution (%); and . sup . 6 means two columns were cascaded . after packing , the strongly - acidic cation exchange resin of alkali metal - form in columns to give respective bed depths of 10 m , as in experiment 1 , feed starch sugar solution aliquots , prepared similarly as in experiment 2 , were applied thereto , and fractionated similarly as in experiment 1 , except that the columns were kept at different temperatures in the range of 35 °- 95 ° c . during the fractionation . the high - maltose fraction , with a maltose content of 93 % or higher , was recovered . the results are given in table iv . the experimental results , as shown in table iv , confirm that when the column is kept at a temperature in the range of 45 °- 85 ° c ., a high - maltose fraction with a maltose content of 93 % or higher is easily obtainable in an extremely high yield , i . e ., 80 % or higher , against the maltose constituent in the feed starch sugar solution with less browning . table iv______________________________________a b c d e______________________________________35 374 . 7 70 . 7 0 . 023 easy45 430 . 2 81 . 2 0 . 059 easy55 471 . 1 88 . 9 0 . 105 easy65 476 . 9 90 . 0 0 . 150 easy75 483 . 8 91 . 3 0 . 176 easy85 485 . 9 91 . 7 0 . 205 easy95 472 . 2 89 . 1 0 . 496 difficult______________________________________ note : a is the fractionation temperature (° c . ); b total yield of sugar constituents with a maltose content of 93 % or higher ( g ); c , maltose yiel against the maltose constituent in the feed starch sugar solution (%); d , colorization degree , obtained by measuring the absorbance of the highmaltose fraction in 10 cm cell ( a . sub . 420nm - a . sub . 720 nm ), and reducing the obtained value into that in 30 w / w % solution , and e , decolorization using 0 . 1 % activated carbon against sugar constituen ts . a feed starch sugar solution was prepared by diluting &# 34 ; hm - 75 &# 34 ;, trade name of a commercially - available starch sugar syrup with a maltose content of 76 . 8 %, a product of hayashibara company , limited , okayama , japan , in water to give a concentration of 45 w / w %. &# 34 ; xt - 1022e ( na + )&# 34 ;, a commercially - available strongly - acidic cation exchange resin of alkali metal - form , a product of tokyo chemical industries , kita - ku , tokyo , japan , in an aqueous suspension , was packed in four jacketted stainless steel columns , inside diameter , 5 . 4 cm , to give respective bed depths of 5 m , and the columns were cascaded to give a total bed depth of 20 m . while keeping the temperature in the columns at 55 ° c ., the feed starch sugar solution was admitted thereto in an amount of 5 v / v % against the bed volume , and then fractionated by charging 55 ° c . hot water at a flow rate of sv 0 . 13 through the columns and the high - maltose fraction , with a maltose content of 93 % or higher , was recovered . the high - maltose fraction contained 808 . 2 g maltose , and the yield was extremely high , i . e ., 84 . 3 %, against the maltose constituent in the feed starch sugar solution . a feed starch sugar solution was prepared by dissolving &# 34 ; sunmalt &# 34 ;, a commercially - available starch sugar powder with a maltose content of 85 . 0 %, registered trade mark of hayashibara company , limited , okayama , japan , in water to give a concentration of 60 w / w %. the resin , used in example 1 , was converted into k + - form in the usual way and packed in a jacketted stainless steel column , inside diameter , 2 . 2 cm , to give a bed depth of 10 m . while keeping the temperature in the column at 60 ° c ., the feed starch sugar solution was admitted thereto in an amount of 3 v / v % against the bed volume , and then fractionated by charging 60 ° c . hot water at a flow rate of sv 0 . 2 through the column and the high - maltose fraction , with a maltose content of 93 % or higher , was recovered . the high - maltose fraction contained 65 . 7 g maltose , and the yield was extremely high , i . e ., 88 . 3 % against the maltose constituent in the feed starch sugar solution . a feed starch sugar solution was prepared by dissolving &# 34 ; sunmalt &# 34 ;, a commercially - available starch sugar powder with a maltose content of 85 . 0 %, registered trade mark of hayashibara company , limited , okayama , japan , in water to give a concentration of 45 w / w %. &# 34 ; dowex 50wx4 ( mg 2 + )&# 34 ;, a commercially - available strongly - acidic cation exchange resin of alkaline earth metal - form , a product of dow chemical company , midland , mich ., u . s . a ., in an aqueous suspension , was packed in fresh columns of the same material and dimensions as used in example 1 to give a total bed depth of 15 m . while keeping the temperature in the columns at 75 ° c ., the feed starch sugar solution was applied thereto in an amount of 6 . 6 v / v % against the bed volume , and then fractionated by charging 75 ° c . hot water at a flow rate of sv 0 . 13 through the columns and the high - maltose fraction , with a maltose content of 93 % or higher , was recovered . the high - maltose fraction contained 913 . 7 g maltose , and the yield was extremely high , i . e ., 87 . 1 %, against the maltose constituent in the feed starch sugar solution . the first fractionation was carried out as follows . similarly as in example 1 , a feed starch sugar solution was applied to a column , and fractionated except that the feed starch sugar solution was applied to the column in an amount of 20 v / v % against the bed volume . the elution pattern is given in the drawing , where fractions a through e show a high - dextrin fraction , a high - dextrin . maltose fraction , a high - maltose fraction , a high - maltose . glucose fraction , and a high - glucose fraction respectively , and where the elution is effected in the given order . fraction c , the high - maltose fraction , was recovered , and fractions a and e were removed from the fractionation system . the additional fractionation was carried out as follows . fraction b , the feed starch sugar solution in an amount of about 10 v / v % against the bed volume , and fraction d were admitted into the column successively in the given order , and the column then charged with 75 ° c . hot water , as in example 3 , to effect fractionation . the high maltose fractions , with a maltose content of 94 %, were recovered . the additional fractionation was repeated up to 30 batches in total , and the averaged results per batch were calculated . on an average , one high - maltose fraction contained 1483 g maltose , and the yield was extremely high , i . e ., 93 . 3 %, against the maltose constituent in the feed starch sugar solution . a feed starch sugar solution was prepared by dissolving &# 34 ; maltose h &# 34 ;, trade name of a commercially - available starch sugar powder with a maltose content of 91 . 5 %, a product of hayashibara company , limited , okayama , japan , in water to give a concentration of 45 w / w %. &# 34 ; amberlite cg - 120 ( ca 2 + )&# 34 ;, a commercially - available strongly - acidic cation exchange resin of alkaline earth metal - form , a product of rohm & amp ; haas company , philadelphia , pa ., u . s . a ., was packed in fresh columns of the same material and dimensions as used in example 1 to give a total bed depth of 10 m . also , in this example , a dual - stage fractionation was carried out . the first fractionation was carried out as follows . while keeping the temperature in the columns at 80 ° c ., the feed starch sugar solution was applied thereto in an amount of 20 v / v % against the bed volume , and then fractinated by charging 80 ° c . hot water at a flow rate of sv 0 . 6 through the columns to obtain a similar elution pattern as in example 4 . similarly as in example 4 , fraction c , the high - maltose fraction , was harvested , and fractions a and e were removed from the fractionation system . the additional fractionation was carried out as follows . fraction b , the feed starch sugar solution in an amount of 10 v / v % against the bed volume , and fraction d , were admitted into the column successively in the given order , and the column then charged with 80 ° c . hot water at a flow rate of sv 0 . 6 to effect fractionation . the resultant high - maltose fractions , with a maltose content of 96 % or higher , was recovered . the additional fractionation was repeated up to 100 batches in total , and the averaged results per batch were calculated . on an average , one high - maltose fraction contained 1084 g maltose , and the yield was extremely high , i . e ., 95 %, against the maltose constituent in the feed starch sugar solution .	2
fig1 shows a turning machine . the headstock is designated by 1 . a turning carriage 2 bearing a cross - slide rest 3 which may be displaced perpendicularly thereto is arranged displaceably on an inclined base . the drive for displacing the cross - slide rest 3 in the direction of the arrow is designated by 4 . a tool revolver 5 is located on the cross - slide rest . two tool - holders 13 are fixed to the tool revolver 5 . one of the tool - holders 13 carries a turning tool 6 . the other tool - holder 13 bears a carrier bolt 7 . the turning chuck designated by 8 is enclosed by a ring magazine 9 . the ring magazine contains a number of storage places for clamping jaws 11 . the clamping jaws 11 are arranged in the ring magazine 9 so as to be radially displaceable in guides 12 . the clamping jaw guides of the turning chuck 8 are designated by 10 . when the cross - slide rest 3 is displaced , the carrier bolt 7 moves radially and perpendicularly to the chuck axis . the clamping jaws 11 are provided with holes 16 into which the carrier bolt 7 may be inserted by displacement of the turning carriage 2 . the subsequent displacement of the cross - slide rest 3 enables the change of clamping jaws between the magazine 9 and the chuck 11 to take place , if the corresponding guides 10 and 12 of the chuck 8 and magazine 9 are in alignment . the magazine 9 may be rotated about the chuck axis , but it does not have its own drive . as described in connection with fig2 it is turned into the suitable position for the change by the drive of the chuck 8 . as will be seen from fig2 the chuck axis 17 is mounted by means of a bearing 18 in a component 22 which is fixed to the machine . the component of the chuck 8 provided with guides 10 is securely connected to the chuck axis 17 via an intermediate ring 33 . an annular holding component 27 is fixed on the headstock 1 by rubber buffers 24 . rotatably mounted thereon by means of a swivelling ball bearing 26 is an annular component 25 which is securely connected to the magazine ring 9 containing the clamping jaw guides 12 . seals 28 and 29 ensure that the swivelling ball bearing 26 does not become dirty . a toothed ring 31 having backwardly directed teeth 35 is disposed on the inner rear periphery of the magazine ring 9 . there is also a toothed ring 32 with teeth 36 also pointing to the rear on the rearward outer periphery of the chuck body bearing the guides 10 . a ring cylinder body 21 , in which a ring piston 23 is rotatably mounted so as to be axially displaceable , is fixed to the headstock 1 . the cylinder chamber may be acted upon by hydraulic fluid via a line 38 . the ring piston 23 is constructed simultaneously as a toothed ring whose teeth 34 are directed towards the front and when the ring piston 23 is displaced to the right , these may engage with the teeth 35 and 36 of the toothed rings 31 , 32 . a sealing ring 30 ensures that the teeth 34 , 35 , 36 remain clean . on the other side a ring seal 37 ensures that no dirt reaches the teeth 34 , 35 , 36 . a spring 20 presses the ring piston 23 back from the toothed rings 31 , 32 if the cylinder chamber is pressureless . if the magazine ring 9 is to be moved into another changing position , hydraulic fluid is supplied to the pressure line 38 . in this way the teeth 34 , 35 , 36 engage with each other . the chuck is now slowly rotated until the magazine ring 9 has reached the required changing position . the teeth 34 , 35 , 36 remain engaged during the changing process . their purpose is not only to turn the magazine ring 9 with the chuck 8 , but they also have an indexing function , i . e ., they should ensure that the guides 10 of the chuck 8 and the guides 12 of the magazine ring 9 are in exact alignment . if another changing position is to be used between the magazine ring 9 and the chuck 8 , the cylinder chamber is emptied so that the ring cylinder 23 may move back . the teeth 34 , 35 , 36 then disengage . other guides 10 and 12 may then be aligned with each other in each case by rotating the chuck 8 relative to the magazine ring 9 . for exact alignment , the teeth 34 , 35 , 36 are then brought to engage again . it is necessary for the changing process for the magazine ring 9 and the chuck 8 to be brought into a rotating position in which the guides 10 and 12 , between which the displacement of the relevant clamping jaws 11 is to be effected , are aligned exactly parallel to the direction of displacement of the cross - slide rest 3 . fig2 shows how the tool - holder 13 , which carries the carrier bolt 7 , is secured to the tool revolver 5 . the tool revolver 5 is provided with a clamp piston 14 which engages in an undercut groove 15 of the tool - holder 13 . the clamp piston 14 thus pulls the tool - holder 13 against the tool revolver 5 . in the embodiment represented in fig3 and 4 , the turning carriage is designated by 102 and the cross - slide rest by 103 . the drive for the cross - slide rest 103 is designated by 104 . a tool revolver 105 which carries two tool - holders 113 is located on the cross - slide rest 103 . a turning tool 106 is located on one of the tool - holders 113 . the other tool - holder 113 carries a carrier bolt 107 directed towards the chuck 108 . the clamping jaws 111 are provided here with grooves 116 , into which the carrier bolt 107 can engage , extending transversely to the direction of displacement . in the case of the embodiment according to fig3 and 4 , bores ( such as 16 in fig2 ) could also be provided in place of the grooves . a holding plate 140 for a drum magazine 109 is fixed to the headstock by means of rubber buffers 124 . the drum magazine 109 is rotatable about the drum axis by means of a rotary drive 141 . the drum magazine has four guides 112 for the clamping jaws 111 . several clamping jaws 111 are arranged one behind the other in the guides 112 . the drum axis extends perpendicularly and radially to the chuck axis . by means of the suitable rotation of the drum magazine one guide 112 can be brought into alignment in each case with a corresponding guide 110 of the chuck 108 . for the changing procedure the carrier bolt 107 is brought by means of the displacement of the turning carriage 102 into the corresponding groove 116 of the clamping jaws 111 of the drum magazine 109 which are positioned next to the chuck 108 . then , by means of the displacement of the cross - slide rest 103 in the direction of the chuck 108 , the clamping jaws 111 are inserted into the guide 110 of the chuck 108 . the clamping jaws 111 in the drum magazine 109 are prestressed in the direction of the chuck 108 by springs 143 . a pressure component 142 , on which the spring 143 bears , rests on those clamping jaws 111 lying the furthest away from the chuck 108 . a separate spring mechanism is provided for each guide 112 . the indexing is also effected by means of a ring piston 123 in the case of the embodiment shown in fig3 and 4 . the ring piston 123 consists of a toothed ring having teeth 134 pointing towards the front . a further toothed ring 131 with teeth 135 pointing towards the rear is arranged , so as to be secured to the machine , on the holding plate 140 . a further toothed ring 132 , similarly with teeth 136 pointing towards the rear , is fixed to the rearward , outer periphery of the chuck 108 . when the ring piston 123 is actuated , the teeth 134 , 135 , 136 engage and fix the chuck 108 so that the selected guide 110 aligns exactly with the guide 112 of the drum magazine 109 which has been brought to the changing position . in fig5 the cross - slide rest 203 is arranged on the turning carriage 202 so as to be displaceable by means of a drive 204 . the cross - slide rest carries a tool revolver 205 with two tool - holders 213 . each tool - holder contains a carrier bolt 207a , 207b . a two - part rod magazine 209 is arranged on both sides of the chuck 208 . each part of the rod magazine 209 has two guides 212 which together form a pointed angle . the angle bisector of this angle extends parallel to the direction of displacement of the cross - slide rest 203 . each guide 212 contains several clamping jaws 212 arranged one behind the other with receiving grooves 216 for the carrier bolts 207a , 207b , extending transversely to the direction of displacement . each guide 212 is provided with a spring mechanism . this consists of a spring 243 which bears on a pressure part 242 . the clamping jaws 211 lying next to the chuck 208 are securely fixed in each groove 212 by a stopping mechanism which prevents the clamping jaws 211 being pushed out of the guide 212 by the spring mechanism . the stopping mechanism consists of a stopping bolt 244 which is pressed against the relevant clamping jaws by a spring 245 . the clamping jaws have a lateral stopping recess 246 for this purpose . the guide 210 of the chuck 208 in which the change is to take place or from which clamping jaws 211 are to be exchanged , must be brought into alignment with the relevant guide 212 of the rod magazine 209 by rotating the chuck 208 . by displacing the turning carriage 202 the relevant carrier bolt 207a , 207b is then inserted into the groove 216 of the clamping jaws lying next to the chuck 208 . in the present case , this is the carrier bolt 207a . this is co - ordinated with the left guide 212 . the carrier bolt 207b is co - ordinated with the right guide 212 . as the two guides 212 do not run parallel to the displacement direction of the cross - slide rest 203 , the carrier bolt 207a , 207b displaces when the cross - slide rest 203 in the relevant groove 216 of the chuck 211 is displaced . it will be seen from fig6 that the rod magazine 209 is fixed to the machine by means of rubber buffers 224 . the indexing mechanism here is similar to that of the embodiment of fig3 and 4 . a toothed ring 232 whose teeth 236 point towards the rear is fixed to the rearward periphery of the chuck 208 . a further toothed ring 231 having teeth 235 which also point towards the rear is attached to the rod magazine 209 . a ring cylinder 223 is arranged so as to be displaceable parallel to the chuck axis , in an annular cylinder component fixed to the machine . the ring cylinder 223 is constructed as a toothed ring having teeth 234 pointing to the front . if the cylinder chamber is acted upon with pressure fluid , the teeth 234 engage in the teeth 235 and 236 , producing indexing . a spring 239 ensures that the annular cylinder 223 is pressed back again when the cylinder chamber is relieved of pressure . a sealing ring 230 prevents the teeth 234 , 235 , 236 becoming dirty . to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates , these and many other such changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . the disclosures and the descriptions herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting .	8
in a television broadcast system , data representing an audio / video content as well as metadata and signalling data are transmitted by a management centre cg to a plurality of multimedia television broadcast receiver units stb . the audio and video stream is transmitted to the core of an mpeg channel , called a programme , according to the signalling in a pmt table ( program map table ) also transmitted by television broadcast . if the programme is encrypted , a confidential stream of control messages ( ecm ) containing the decryption keys is associated to the programme broadcast . the different channels , corresponding to different contents , and their metadata ( such as title , creation year , genre , names of main actors , etc . . . . ) are themselves identified by a set of signalling tables specified partly by the mpeg standard and partly by regional dvb and atsc standards , such as the sdt tables ( service description table ) and eit ( event information table ) also broadcast with the data stream , but in an asynchronous way . in the case of pay television , secure messages for management , control and updating ( emm ), for example transmission keys that encipher the aforementioned ecm stream , are transmitted in the televised data stream , in parallel with the programmes but in an asynchronous way . in particular , these messages allow the establishment of communication channels individually secured with each receiver . furthermore , it is also possible to update the software applied on the receiver units by transmitting with the data stream by television broadcast the updating data necessary to the latter . the stb user unit , also called a master device , receives the data stream and manages the access rights to this data . in order to visualize the data , this type of unit can dispose of several communication means such as an rgb or peritel output . in this case , the signals take an analog form and are protected by different technologies such as macrovision and cgms - a ( copy generation management system - analog ). these technologies do not use any authentication or verification mechanisms as described . another means of communication is disclosed in fig1 that represents wireless means such as wifi . the wifi in interface allows the transmission of the conditional access data towards a dtv television , for example in digital form . this digital form proves very attractive to ill - intentioned individuals and for this reason the data exchanged in the air is encrypted . other transmission forms with wires can be used such as ieee1394 , ethernet , usb , dvi and hdmi . in practice , data encryption rely on a key that is generated dynamically and allows the television set to decrypt this data for processing . if a personal computer that dialogues with the master device in order to store the data in plaintext , takes the place of the dtv television set , the encryption of the data to be transferred fails to provide any protection . for this reason a verification step has been added , namely verification based on the conformity of the certificate stored in each target device . a mutual authentication can be carried out on the basis of the certificate identifier . a key is then generated which serves to encrypt the exchanged data . according to the invention , the data constituting the verification tables ( s ) l 1 , l 2 . . . ln is placed in the data stream dt transmitted from the management centre to the master device . this data can be transmitted in different ways in order to produce the optimal compromise between bandwidth and data security , namely : emm messages : these messages are secure messages for the updating of rights or keys and can be intended for one unit , a group of units or all the units . they can thus contain elements of the verification list , in particular the positive list . this list can be contained in one or more emm messages according to its size . in association with updating software of the receiver by television broadcast , thus benefiting well known associated uploading security mechanisms , such as authentication of the updating and management of the version number by the receiver . data stream : content transmitted during service standby : the periods without diffusion are used , for example between 4 a . m . and 6 a . m . in the morning , to replace the audio / video content with verification lists . signalling table . these tables form part of the descriptive data of the content and can also contain the programme grid data . these tables can contain the verification list ( s ) such as described in this invention , for example in the case of the dvb standard in association with a given content by insertion in the eit table containing the programmes for 8 days and transmitted on a specific channel , with a large bandwidth . in the last two cases , it is necessary to provide mechanisms dedicated to protection of the verification lists , for example by means of specific keys known to the receivers . once received by the master device these lists are stored either in a silicon memory ( flash ) or on hard disk . they can be secured locally by a key pertaining to the user unit or the key of the certificate associated to this unit . as indicated above , these tables can define either the devices capable of processing the conditional access data ( positive list ) or on the contrary those prohibited from said processing ( negative list ). these lists can enumerate each identifier concerned or can define the identifier areas . therefore , if an apparatus is pirated and its identifier reproduced in numerous clones , identified by the anti - piracy control , it is necessary to exclude it from the authorized target devices . an important point in this invention is the flexibility brought by the verification indication . this indication is directly associated to the content and allows , with a minimal cost in terms of bandwidth , a decision to be made during diffusion as to whether a verification must be carried out with reference to one or several previously transmitted verification lists and allows the control of the corresponding version number . these verification indications can be transmitted in several ways in order to render them dissociated from a content at the time of its television broadcast , for example : in a control message ecm , when the content is encrypted ( pay television broadcast applications ). these messages present the advantage of being secured . directly in the description data of the content , such as the programme map table pmt ( program map table ) that describes the organization of the audio and video stream associated to the content . in the description tables of the content regularly transmitted with the latter , such as the eitp / f tables comprising information about the current content and the following contents on a television broadcast channel . in the last two cases , it is necessary to provide dedicated security mechanisms of the verification lists , for example by means of dedicated keys known to the receivers . if several tables are loaded into the master device , the verification indication will specify which table is to be used for verification . thus a content with a low value could specify a different verification table than a high value content . this is applied in particular in the case of a mixed receiver that processes free programmes as well as pay television broadcast programmes . furthermore , the verification indication also allows the identification of the version number of the list transmitted most recently , in order to avoid the possible filtering by the receiver of the new , more restrictive verification lists . this verification indication can define a security level . in a previous step , the master device receives a security list with a definition of list ( s ) to be used for each level . for example , a security level 3 means that for the hdcp protocol , the list hd 12 , version 2 . 23 is specified and for the dtcp protocol , the list dt 8 , version 1 . 17 is specified . for only one security level , the set of protocols as well as the desired version is sent . this intermediate list is preferably secured . according to one embodiment it is possible to transmit a particular list for a particular master device . this can be achieved in a point - to - point way or in diffusion mode with addressing of the related master device . this list takes into account the material environment , for example , of the interface type with target devices . it is not useful to store the identifiers pertaining to an interface type ( for example hdcp for hdmi ) when the only interface provided on this device is of the usb type . according to a different embodiment , the positive list can be limited solely to targets devices previously registered from a management centre , corresponding to target devices effectively connected to a particular master device . in the latter case , an initialization process allows the user to transmit the set of identifiers of his / her target devices . this process can be carried out in an automated way thanks to the feedback channel of the master device and the identifiers , whether they are the serial numbers or the identifier of the certificate , are transmitted to the management centre . a description of the technical capacity of the target devices can complete this data ( television set , computer , pvr with or without recorder , etc .). the transmission of this information can also be made via the telephone ( vocal server ) or the sending of a short message . this initialization process can advantageously use a web ( internet ) service for the registration of the user &# 39 ; s data . the management centre having a black list ( or negative ) will verify if the identifiers received by a user are comprised in this exclusion list and excludes these identifiers from the positive list transmitted to the master device . this verification can be made on the basis of a positive list that lists all the valid certificates . it is possible that the management centre will not able to use a reliable black ( or negative ) list , for example in the case of piracy on a large scale of the hdcp regulation . in this case , the identifiers received by a user must be controlled by an external control centre disposing of a list of valid identifiers . this control centre can pertain to the manufacturer , when the identifier transmitted by the user identifies the manufacturer of the equipment , or directly corresponds to the official certification authority such as one of the associations dtla for dtcp , svpla for svp , or llc for hdcp , responsible for the distribution of valid certificates to all the manufacturers implementing the standards controlled by said associations . furthermore , it is possible that the management centre does not know the exact data , such as the certificate , of a device target of a user . on the basis of the transmission of a material identifier , which could be the serial number of the device or any other indication allowing the identification of this device , the management centre then questions a control centre to obtain the certificate identifiers . this control centre can pertain to a manufacturer or group together several manufacturers , for example it can be the official certification authority such as one of the associations dtla for dtcp , svpla for svp , or llc for hdcp . the certificate of a device is generally directly connected to the communication layer . therefore , if a device contains several communication means such as usb and hdmi , it generally disposes of several certificates corresponding to different standards such as dtcp and hdcp . the verification can be executed on the active communication means for the transmission of the master device data to the target device or on all the certificates . in the case of a content that would be stored in the master device before its transfer towards the target device , the verification information is also stored in order to be able to be executed at the time of the subsequent transmission of the content . according to one embodiment of the invention , the verification in the positive and / or negative lists is carried out previously on the master device . the master device itself will verify the conformity of certificate ( s ) of its communication means . it is possible to verify an identification number that has no relation with the communication means , for example its serial number . according to the chosen operation method , when one means of communication is revoked , the master device is considered as revoked . in the case of a home network , the master device can be connected to a first target device such as a storage unit . verification is carried out by the master device in order to authorize the target device to transfer the data . parallel to the transfer of the data , the verification lists are also transmitted . the verification indication that is associated to the content can thus be carried out by this device that then becomes a master device . the process of the invention is thus noted on all the elements of a home network . this invention also covers a master device disposing of reception means for content ( s ) and reception means of the verification list ( s ) such as that described above . this device comprises verification means in conformity with a target device and storage means called lists . this device includes means for extracting a verification indication associated to the content and for carrying out a verification cycle of the target device on the basis of the verification indication and of the verification list ( s ) previously stored .	7
the invention requires that a server using the invention be configured with certain parameters . by way of example , the preferred embodiment requires that a policy be specified that specifies the number of discarded packets that must be detected before detection of a flood event will be performed . further , a minimum number of discarded packets and the relevant discard rate are also specified to declare a flood event . once a flood event has been declared , the policy specifies how often a flood monitor process will be executed and other parameters relating to the monitoring . in fig1 , step 102 represents the normal protocol stack processing operations . there are a number of checks performed by the stack for packets that should be discarded . illustrated are malformed packets , input queue overflow and a catch - all called other discards . when any such packet discard is performed by the stack , entry is made to step 104 where a packet discard counter is incremented . step 106 next determines if a flood event ( a monitoring operation initiated earlier ) is already in progress . if the answer is no , step 110 checks the packet discard counter to determine if the number of discards have exceeded a minimum threshold value x ( taken from system policy in the preferred embodiment ). if not , flood detection is not performed on this discard and processing is returned to stack operations at 102 . if the minimum number of discards x ( min ) is exceeded , then step 112 determines if this number of discards occurred within an interval t . t is also specified by policy in the preferred embodiment . if the answer to step 112 is no , then no flood attack is deemed to exist . in this case , step 122 resets the packet discard counter and an inbound packet counter and exits . at step 106 , if a flood event is already in progress , then step 108 collects and stores a set of information for analysis . by way of example , such information might be the prior hop address ( the mac address of the adapter at the preceding node , the protocol used for the last discarded packet , the reason for the discard , etc . in addition , step 108 initiates a trace of succeeding packets . in the preferred , packet information pertaining to the next one hundred packets is stored for later analysis . returning to step 112 , if the minimum number of discards have occurred in less than the interval t , then a flood attack might be occurring . to determine this , step 116 calculates the rate r of discards by dividing the number of discards x by the number of incoming packets received in the interval . at step 114 , if the rate r does not exceed a threshold y ( also set by policy in the preferred embodiment ), then no attack is in progress and the program resets the counters at step 122 and exits . on the other hand , an attack is deemed to be in progress if the threshold y is exceeded at step 114 . in this event , step 118 initiates a flood event by setting an appropriate marker and sends a report to the system console and error log . step 120 schedules the execution of the flood monitor process of fig2 . step 122 resets the packet discard and inbound packet counters and the program exits . once a flood event has been declared , a policy specifies how often a flood monitor process will be executed and other parameters relating to the monitoring . the preferred embodiment uses a one minute interval for monitoring , but this could also be specified by policy . once a flood event is activated by step 118 , the flood monitor of fig2 is entered later at a scheduled time . in the preferred embodiment , this interval is set at one minute . step 202 first determines if the packet discard count in the last interval ( one minute in the preferred embodiment ) is less than or equal to a minimum number of discards x ( min 2 ). in the preferred embodiment , x ( min ) equals x ( min 2 ); however , this is not a requirement and these two specified thresholds might differ in other embodiments . if the discards at step 202 is less than x ( min 2 ), then the flood attack is deemed to be over . step 204 deactivates the flood event by resetting the flood marker . step 212 analyzes and reports on the set of data collected in step 108 . this set is preferably the last discount count , the discard rate , and the most frequent discard mac address , protocol type and discard type . the counters are reset at 214 and the flood monitoring process is over . returning to step 202 , if x ( min 2 ) is exceeded , then step 206 determines if the rate of discards r in the last monitoring interval is less than one - half of the specified threshold y . if the answer is yes , then this is also used to indicate that the flooding attack is over . if the answer at 206 is no however , the attack is deemed still to be in progress . step 208 analyzes and reports on the same data as reported in step 212 . however , reporting here is done at intervals while the flood event is active . step 210 schedules the next flooding monitoring event so that the flood monitor of fig2 will be executed once again at the expiration of the monitoring interval . again , step 214 resets the counters and exits . eventually the flood will be deemed over either at step 202 or 206 and a final set of data analyzed and reported at step 212 . the invention is able to determine , in some cases , the most likely prior hop that is in the source of attack . once an interface flood event is raised , information about each discard received on the interface is collected . this data includes the prior hop source mac address ( if the interface type provides this information ). at intervals during the flood event and when the flood event ends , information about the flood characteristics is reported . this data includes the prior hop source mac address reported most frequently for the flood event discards . artisans in the field of this invention will quickly realize that the preferred and disclosed embodiment can have many minor variations that are within the intent and scope of the teaching . it is the intent of the inventor to encompass these variations to the extent possible in accordance with the state of the applicable relevant art in the field of the invention .	7
by way of introduction , newer prevacuum steam sterilizers use an evacuation cycle that is actually a combination of conditioning and evacuation . this combination compromises the use of a heat sink in its ability to separate air from steam . during this cycle , typically a one minute steam purge is initially conducted with the drain open . then a vacuum pulse and three additional steam and prevacuum pulses are conducted in a closed system . each pulse reaches a critical pressure . the heat transferred from the initial steam purge and subsequent pulses reduces the heat absorptive capabilities of a heat sink . therefore , the present invention employs a material that does not rely on a temperature difference between the steam and a part of the indicator , usually a heat sink , to collapse steam to separate air from it . the present invention employs a material that directly absorbs and / or adsorbs steam without requiring a change of state to liquid , but not air , due to its composition and , in some cases , steam , but not air , due to its structure . thus , any heating of the material during any part of the cycle does not compromise its ability to function . in fact , due to the composition and , in some cases structure of the material , the material has a capacity sufficient to separate air from steam during pre - sterilization cycles and the sterilization cycle itself . any regenerative capabilities of the material simply enhance its capacity . the material can be a desiccant , also called a drying agent and a dehydrating agent , or any other similar material . for example , the metal alumino - silicate crystals that are employed by the preferred embodiments of the present invention instead of a heat sink physically adsorb steam during each conditioning steam pulse . that steam is desorbed to some extent during each vacuum pulse , thereby regenerating the desiccant somewhat before the sterilization cycle is commenced . this desorption actually is aided by the temperature increase of the desiccant during the process . thus , unlike a heat sink , this class of materials can detect all steam - air problems since its utility can extend well into the sterilization portion of the cycle . in the construction of devices 10 , 100 and 200 , which are shown in fig1 through 6 , steam is constrained to follow a prescribed path . steam enters the device through a sealable opening into a receptacle containing a desiccant . the receptacle is designed to provide maximum contact between the steam and the desiccant , and it can define a torturous path to further this purpose . at the distal end of the receptacle is a small opening that provides communication between the receptacle and an air collecting chamber . the chamber contains an indicator . the indicator can be a typical known biological or chemical indicator , or it can be a combination indicator of known type . as is well known in the art , a chemical indicator includes a steam sensitive ink , which changes color upon exposure to steam . as is also well known in the art , a biological indicator includes microorganisms that will be destroyed during steam sterilization . a variety of chemical and biological indicators are commercially available . the top section of the device , which seals the air collecting chamber and covers the indicator , can be peeled or broken away to retrieve the indicator for record purposes . in use , a tab covering the entrance opening to the desiccant receptacle is removed and the device is , typically , placed in the coolest section of the sterilizer , usually over the drain , where air is likely to be present . during the evacuation portion of the cycle , air is withdrawn from the interstices of the desiccant , receptacle and air collecting chamber . entering the sterilization portion of the cycle , steam is forced into the desiccant receptacle where it selectively acts with the desiccant material . any air mixed with the steam is not retained by the desiccant , and is forced further through the receptacle in a progressive manner as areas of the desiccant becomes saturated . when the desiccant is totally saturated , the air and steam are forced into the air collecting chamber . here , if air is present , it will be forced to the end distal from the opening to the receptacle , and it will shield the indicator , thus preventing a uniform change that would show complete reaction with steam . upon completion of the sterilization cycle , the device is withdrawn from the sterilizer and a determination of the effectiveness of the cycle can be made . fig1 through 6 show the preferred embodiments of the indicator provided by the present invention . fig1 through 4 show an indicator 10 , which is typically placed within the chamber of a prevacuum type steam sterilizer ( not shown ) for the purpose of detecting and indicating inadequate air removal during evacuation , and introduction of air during evacuation through a leak or during the sterilization cycle . device 10 includes a top 12 , and a housing 18 , which includes a section 30 that is sealed along its perimeter to housing 18 . the assembly of housing 18 and section 30 is sealed along the perimeter of housing 18 to top 12 . device 10 includes an indicator strip 14 located beneath top 12 , and a grip section 16 , which forms a part of top 12 . referring to fig2 housing 18 defines desiccant receptacle 20 that is adapted to contain a desiccant 22 . housing 18 also defines a portal 24 which allows steam to enter housing 18 . a tab 26 is secured to the bottom of housing 18 over portal 24 . tab 26 maintains the integrity of the interior of housing 18 and desiccant 22 during shipping and storage of device 10 . section 28 , which is defined by housing 18 cooperates with section 16 of top 12 to provide a grip for device 10 . top 12 , including section 16 , is so secured to housing 18 as to permit a user to peel top 12 from housing 18 to gain access to indicator 14 . indicator 14 is , for discussion purposes , a chemical indicator . that is , indicator 14 includes steam sensitive ink . referring to fig3 section 30 is sealed to housing 18 to enclose receptacle 20 . section 30 also cooperates with top 12 to define an air collection chamber 34 , in which indicator 14 is located . desiccant 22 can be loaded into receptacle 20 prior to securing section 30 in place . alternately , desiccant 22 can be loaded into receptacle 20 through portal 24 after section 30 has been secured to housing 18 . air collection chamber 34 is in communication with receptacle 20 through a portal 32 , which is defined by section 30 . preferably , the components shown in fig4 are assembled together by securing section 30 to housing 18 , placing indicator strip 14 on top of section 30 , and securing top 12 to housing 18 . the preferred desiccant 22 for device 10 is crystalline metal alumino - silicates and , more specifically , na 86 [ alo 2 ) 86 ( sio 2 ) 106 ] x h 2 o , which has been activated for water adsorption by removing the water of hydration by heating . crystalline metal alumino silicates of the type preferred can be purchased from union carbide corporation , danbury , conn . the crystal structure of the metal alumino - silicates is a truncated octahedra joined in a cubic array , or honeycomb structure , with relatively large cavities . each cavity is connected with six adjacent cavities through apertures . the efficiency of this material for this application is the selective adsorption of water resulting from water &# 39 ; s unique molecular size and polarity , along with the uniform size and molecular dimensions of the crystal &# 39 ; s cavities , the extremely large surface area resulting from the honeycomb , and the high capacity for adsorption over a wide range of operating conditions including temperatures to over 600 ° f . additionally , the large volume of air within an aggregate of crystals offers a challenge to air removal during the evacuation portion of the steam sterilization cycle . the quantity of desiccant will vary with the application in a manner understood by those of ordinary skill in the art upon reference to manufacturers published information . the sizing of housing 18 will depend on the quantity of material it must contain . to use device 10 , tab 26 is removed from the bottom of housing 18 , and device 10 is placed in the chamber of a prevacuum steam sterilizer . during the newer pulsing prevacuum cycle , the initial steam purge forces some steam through portal 24 and into receptacle 20 , where absorbed and / or adsorbed by desiccant 22 located at proximal end 40 of receptacle 20 . following the initial steam purge , and each subsequent steam pulse cycle , during which steam is absorbed and / or adsorbed by desiccant 22 , an evacuation pulse is produced . during each evacuation pulse , adsorbed moisture can be desorbed to some extent and exits receptacle 20 through portal 24 . thus , desiccant 22 can be regenerated to some extent during each evacuation pulse . the initial steam purge and each subsequent steam pulse occurring during the conditioning - evacuation portion of the cycle increase the temperature of device 10 , including desiccant 22 . during the evacuation pulses , air exits desiccant 22 , through portal 24 , and air collecting chamber 34 , through portal 32 . as steam enters the sterilizer chamber , it is forced into device 10 through portal 24 . upon contacting desiccant 22 , the steam is absorbed and / or adsorbed , leaving any air present in the steam , even if the desiccant 22 is at the sterilization temperature . thus , unlike devices that rely on heat sinks to separate air from steam , the efficacy of device 10 extends throughout the sterilization cycle . as the steam front progresses from proximal end 40 of receptacle 20 to distal end 42 , it forces any accumulated air ahead of it through receptacle 20 . baffles 36 and 38 formed in sections 18 and 30 , respectively , define a tortuous path for steam traveling through receptacle 20 , and create turbulence in the steam . turbulence in the steam flow aids intimate contact between the steam and desiccant 22 . ultimately , the steam forces any accumulated air through portal 32 and into air collecting housing 34 . if air is not present in chamber 34 , which means the sterilization cycle was successful , the ink on chemical indicator will have changed color uniformly . otherwise , the color change will not be uniform . fig5 and 6 show devices 100 and 200 , which include alternative arrangements for providing access to air collecting chamber 34 and indicator strip 14 . elements shown in fig5 and 6 have been assigned the reference characters of the corresponding elements shown in fig1 through 4 . the housing 18 of each of devices 100 and 200 is made from a suitable plastic material . as is well - known to those in the art , a plastic material will exhibit lower tear and crack resistance to forces applied along the molecular orientation of the plastic than to forces applied perpendicular to the molecular orientation . the molecular orientation of housing 18 of each of devices 100 and 200 should be 90 ° to the longitudinal axis of housing 18 . the molecular orientation of top 12 of device 200 should also be 90 ° to the longitudinal axis of device 10 . a detente 46 is formed in the bottom surface of housing 18 of device 100 across its width . access to end 50 of strip 14 is gained by bending end 48 of top 12 and tab 28 of housing 18 upward , relative to the orientation of device 100 in fig5 thereby applying a focused stress along detente 46 , until a fracture occurs . top 12 of device 200 defines a pair of detentes 52 . detentes 52 facilitate tearing end 16 away from housing 18 and the remainder of top 12 to gain access to end 50 of strip 14 . the preferred method provided by the present invention employs devices 10 , 100 , or 200 during sterilization to indicate the effectiveness of the sterilization cycle .	8
the foregoing summary , as well as the following detailed description of certain embodiments of the present invention , will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings . as used herein , an element or step recited in the singular and preceded with the word “ a ” or “ an ” should be understood as not excluding plural said elements or steps , unless such exclusion is explicitly stated . furthermore , references to “ one embodiment ” of the present invention are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features . moreover , unless explicitly stated to the contrary , embodiments “ comprising ” or “ having ” an element or a plurality of elements having a particular property may include additional such elements not having that property . the invention provides a modified ald chamber featuring an exterior surfaced mounted and accessible oscillating crystal mass measuring device capable of measuring mass changes as little as 0 . 1 ng / cm 2 . an embodiment of the microbalance comprises a sealed qcm integrally molded with the chamber interior . this design contrasts with traditional ‘ fixture - on - a - stick ’ paradigms whereby microbalances , protruding into reaction chambers , alter normal laminar flow patterns , cause dead zones which are insufficiently purged , and ultimately produce distortions in deposition layer thickness . fixture - on - a - stick paradigms also prevent the ability to map the film simultaneously at several locations . instead , the invented paradigm provides improved temperature adjustment and pressure compensation while solving aforementioned problems associated with prior devices . the invented integrated oscillating crystal paradigm is suitable for use with other types of vapor deposition reactors . further , the invented system allows for mapping of a films at several locations across the film . piezoelectrics , and in particular quartz crystal microbalances have been used in conventional vacuum processes where thickness measurements are valuable , for example in thermal evaporation . qcm measurements provide an in situ method for measuring growth rates and nucleation phenomena , optimizing processing conditions , and elucidating surface reaction mechanisms . an embodiment of the invention is a piezoelectric microbalance integrated with an atomic layer deposition device . in an embodiment of the invention , a piezoelectric microbalance is removably integrated with an ald reaction chamber while simultaneously providing a low internal profile . this low profile provides a means to minimize disruption of reactor gas flow this invention envisions the piezoelectric microbalance , such as a qcm crystal , reversibly mounted to a reactor wall , lid , flange or floor of an enclosure defining the reaction chamber of the ald device . as such , the design provides a low internal profile , which is suitable to most reactor geometries . the design allows for thermal equilibration with the crystals and the workpiece being coated . generally , the materials used for these aspects of the system are tolerant at high temperatures ( e . g ., from about 300 to 450 ° c .). in specific embodiments of the invented ald / crystal microbalance system , the microbalance is recessed from the reactor space a distance of between about 1 . 0 mm and 2 . 0 mm . in another embodiment the microbalance is flush with the interior surface of the reactor . the invention allows for modification of the extent of protrusion or recession of the microbalance out of or within the interior surfaces of the walls of the same reaction chamber . as such , the microbalance can be reversibly set to various positions within the ald reaction environment . this allows users to tune the microbalance for optimal reading of the deposited film , depending on gas flow , temperature , reaction rate desired , etc . an embodiment of the invention is designated as numeral 8 in fig1 a . an oscillating crystal microbalance , such as a qcm unit 10 is shown reversibly attached , such as by male - female threaded interaction , to an ald reactor 12 . the ald reactor 12 facilitates vapor deposition of chemical moieties onto a workpiece 14 positioned within the ald reaction chamber 16 . the ald reaction chamber 16 is defined by a wall 18 integrally molded to a base 20 , the combination of which defines a side and bottom surface respectively of the reaction chamber . a top of the reaction chamber is defined by a removably attachable lid 22 , such that an inwardly facing surface 42 of the lid opposes an inwardly facing surface of the bottom surface of the reaction chamber . this inwardly facing surface 42 defines the ceiling of the reaction chamber . in an embodiment of the reaction chamber , the lid 22 is in pivotable communication with a lip defining the periphery formed by the upwardly extending wall 18 . reactants enter the ald reaction chamber 16 through a region of the bottom surface forming an aperture 24 . the reactants originate from a lower preprocessing chamber ( not shown ). optionally , the aperture is in fluid communication with a valve 25 to regulate flow of reactant from its preprocessing chamber to within the chamber 16 . the flow in the ald reaction chamber 16 from the upstream inlet 24 to a downstream outlet 26 , in a generally laminar flow pattern ( as shown by arrows ) which deposits material on all chamber surfaces , including the target workpiece 14 . the target workpiece 14 is supported by the base 20 and in a position to be directly opposed to the underside ( i . e , the inward directed surface ) 42 of the conductive lid 22 . the conductive lid 22 defines one or a plurality of apertures 28 adapted to slidably receive a first end of a hollow annular connector 80 . a myriad of connectors are available including the a standard bayonet nut coupling bayonet neill - concelman ( bnc ) connector , also known as the bayonet neill - concelman connector . a depending or mating end ( mating with lid ) of the connector is in close spatial relationship to a microbalance crystal 30 . in an embodiment of the invention , the crystal 30 is arranged such that the plane defined by the crystal is parallel to the workpiece 14 being coated . this position assures accurate monitoring of material thickness applied to the workpiece 14 during the deposition process while at the same time minimizing modification of the flow patterns within the ald reaction chamber 16 . location of the qcm unit 10 from the workpiece varies from about 1 mm to about 400 mm , and typically the distance is about 40 mm . an exact location is empirically determined , based on reactant type , gas flows , temperatures etc . location selection is made to minimize any impact on reactant flow gas patterns so as to enable accurate thickness monitoring . for a large area workpiece 14 one may utilize several qcm units 10 , while for a small substrate one utilizes a single qcm 10 substantially directly opposing the planar surface defining the workpiece 14 . the qcm units 10 are reversibly mounted to the lid 22 in a transverse configuration so that the distance “ d ” between the crystal and the workpiece 14 can be modified . generally , distances between about 1 and 40 millimeters ( mm ) are suitable distances for “ d ” to afford film growth on the crystal 30 that is similar ( or proportional to ) the growth rate on the opposing workpiece . as used herein , “ chamber - side ” or “ internal ” defines a surface adjacent to or in fluid communication with chamber 16 of the reactor . “ exterior ” or “ external ” descriptors refer to structures not in fluid communication with the reaction chamber . ambient conditions are construed herein as including atmospheric pressure , humidity and temperature . fig1 b depicts the mounting of a qcm unit 10 . each aperture 28 is adapted to slidably receive a disk - like piezoelectric planar disc 30 , as shown in fig1 c and 1 d , having a radially outer edge 32 and coated on the “ chamber - side ” 34 and “ exterior ” 36 surfaces with conductive layers 38 and 40 . the aperture 28 defines a plurality of grooves 48 circumscribing the periphery of the aperture 28 , each of said grooves adapted to receive an o - ring . at least two of the grooves are axially displaced from each other a distance to facilitate a frictional fit of a periphery of the planar disc 30 between o - rings nesting in said at least two of the grooves . more than two grooves can be provided so that several pairs of adjacent grooves can be chosen to removably position the disc 30 . this provides the adjustability of the distance “ d ” discussed supra between the disc 30 and the substrate . in an embodiment of the invention , the aperture 28 has the following structure , as shown in fig1 b . ( in this embodiment , as used herein surfaces parallel to the axis a of the aperture will be described as “ vertical ” and surfaces perpendicular to a longitudinal axis a of the aperture will be described as “ horizontal ” although other orientations for a are possible . ‘ up ” designates a vertical displacement directed towards the exterior to the chamber lid and “ out ” a radial displacement away from the axis . “ down ” and “ in ” are opposite to up and out .) a salient feature of the invention is that all electricity sources to the crystal are integrally formed with the ald body such as its sides , floor or ceiling . this obviates the need for wires to traverse the ald reaction chamber interior , which otherwise may disrupt film forming chemistries . for illustrative purposes only , the accompanying figures show the electricity sources molded with the ceiling or lid of the chamber . a medially facing , transversely extending surface 46 of the lid 22 extends axially ( in relation to line α - α ) and away from the chamber - side surface 42 of the lid 22 . a surface 51 , integrally molded with the transversely extending surface 46 extends laterally from the transversely extending surface 46 and defines a first annular groove 49 . this first annular groove 49 is adapted to frictionally receive a first o - ring 50 . the groove 49 is bordered on its laterally ( i . e . outer ) edge by a conductive ledge 52 . the piezoelectric planar disc 30 is positioned so that its reaction chamber - side surface 34 is in electrical contact with the ledge 52 . alternatively , the inferior face ( i . e ., the reaction side surface ) of the piezoelectric substrate 30 is in electrical contact with an electrically conductive spacer 63 or a plurality of washers , such as a washer . the washer ( s ) 63 in turn are supported by the conductive ledge 52 . these spacers provide additional means to vary the distance d of the piezoelectric substrate 30 from the workpiece 14 . a second retaining wall 54 extends axially from the conductive ledge 52 . the second retaining wall 54 borders a plateau 56 extending horizontally and laterally . the plateau 56 defines the bottom of a cylindrical cavity having an opening facing in a direction opposite the location of the ald chamber . the cavity is dimensioned to removably receive an o - ring compression sleeve 58 . in an embodiment of the invention , the sleeve 58 interacts with the cylindrical cavity in a male - female threaded configuration , or a snap fit configuration . the chamber - side conductive layer surface 38 of the piezoelectric disc 30 is supported by and in electrical contact with the conductive ledge 52 , or alternatively the electrically conductive spacer 63 . the conductive ledge 52 is integrally molded with the lid 22 and thus provides an electrical ground for the system . the chamber - side o - ring 50 contacts a peripheral edge of the chamber - side surface 34 of the piezoelectric disc 30 ( thereby establishing a gas tight seal upon downward compression of the piezoelectric disc 30 upon application of the compression sleeve 58 . the second ( i . e . exterior ) o - ring 60 adjacent to the peripheral edge 32 of the piezoelectric disc 30 provides uniform downward compression to the piezoelectric disc 30 . upon installation to the lid 22 , the exterior chamber - side extending tab 62 of the o - ring compression sleeve 58 provides axial , medially directed ( i . e . inwards ) mechanical pressure to the lid , thereby compressing to the o - rings to form a peripheral seal to both sides of the disc 30 . for example , as depicted in space in fig1 b , a downwardly directed force applied by the compression sleeve 58 toward the chamber on o - ring 60 engages radially the peripheral edge 32 of the piezoelectric disc 30 between the exterior o - ring 60 , the conductive ledge 52 and the chamber - side o - ring 50 , so as to provide a hermetic seal . as the seal is effected via compression of the disc between two reversibly deformable substrates , substrates other than o - rings are suitable , such as gaskets comprised of rubber , silicone , polymer and malleable metal , in the embodiment shown , the two o - rings provide a gas - tight seal and provide a means to maintain the reaction environment at a different pressure , temperature , and / or reactant concentration different than the environment external of the ald chamber . a gap 64 between the upper edge of the inward retaining wall 46 and chamber - side surface 34 of the piezoelectric disc 30 adjacent to the radially outer edge 32 , permits the efficient purge of the surfaces in the vicinity of the contact area between the piezoelectric disc 30 and the chamber - side o - ring 50 . preferrably , the length to height ratio ( l : h ) of the gap 64 is unity . however , a l : h ratio of between 1 : 1 and 10 : 1 is suitable . the system utilizes a resilient / spring electrode manufactured from a metal form having a center aperture therein . a ring in the central region thereof having a plurality of spokes emanating radially there are bent at an angle of about 45 ° from the horizontal . the ends of the spokes are rounded to permit contact with the external conductive surface 40 of the piezoelectric disc 30 without scratching the surface . the resilient / spring electrode 66 engages the exterior surface 36 of the piezoelectric disc 30 to establish electrical contact with the exterior conductive layer 40 of the piezoelectric disc 30 and thus provide power to oscillate the piezoelectric disc 30 . the frusto - conical shaped resilient / spring electrode 66 is fixedly attached to a coupler 68 with a threaded fastener 70 . the void space 72 between the threaded fastener 70 and exterior surface 36 of the piezoelectric disc 30 provides space for undampened oscillation of the piezoelectric disc 30 . the annular void space 74 between the radially inward wall 76 of the o - ring compression sleeve 58 and coupler 68 provides a gas flow path . the resilient / spring electrodes 66 can be in the form of a frusto - conical structure as shown in fig1 b or in the form of a cone or similar structure . the frusto - conical structure can comprise a webbing or sheeting , or a plurality of webs supported by a plurality of radially directed ribs anchored at their proximal ends to the connector when alternating current is provided through the resilient / spring electrode 66 between exterior surface 36 of the piezoelectric film and the conductive ledge 52 , the crystal oscillates transversely , in a direction perpendicular to the axis a , ( i . e ., side - to - side ) as shown by vertical double arrow in fig1 b . variation in qcm oscillation frequency is measured by instrumentation . the qcm unit 10 , as discussed hereinabove is an integral part of the ald reactor 12 as shown in fig1 a . it allows rapid replacement of the piezoelectric disc 30 . the resilient / spring electrode 66 is secured with a threaded fastener 70 to the base of the coupler 68 attached to an axial pin / post 76 of a shaft 78 with threaded fastener 70 . the shaft 78 is contained within a hollow annular connector 80 . the connector 80 is affixed to a mounting plate 82 which is in turn attached to the exterior surface 84 of the ald reactor 12 with mounting fasteners 86 . o - rings 88 provide a gas tight seal between a chamber - side facing surface 90 of the mounting plate 82 and the exterior surface of the ald reactor 24 . the gas - tight seal provides control of the reactor environment . balancing the pressure between the exterior surface 36 and chamber - side surface 34 of piezoelectric disc 30 is performed by two separate components , a pressure equalization means and a purge gas flow means . to equalize pressure on the qcm unit 10 , i . e ., to minimize the effect of a pressure differential between the chamber and the outside on the oscillation of the piezoelectric disc 30 , a channel 92 , integrally formed with the housing of the ald device , and terminates at a first end as an aperture 94 formed in a region of the chamber - side surface 42 of the lid . the aperture 94 serves as a means of egress of pressurized fluid applied to the top side of the crystal . the gas has slightly positive pressure relative to the ald chamber to ensure an inert gas flow always flows out from the exterior surface 36 of the crystal and toward the ald reaction chamber . this provides a means for impeding diffusion of chemicals back to the exterior surface of the crystal 36 ). the aperture 94 is positioned downstream of the deposition zone 98 . however , the aperture may be positioned anywhere along the surface of the reaction chamber so as to facilitate pressure equalization between the chamber side 34 and the exterior side 36 of the piezoelectric substrate 30 . a second end of the channel 92 terminates as an exhaust channel 100 which is hi fluid communication with the exterior surface 36 of the piezoelectric film 30 . in an embodiment of the invention , the channel 92 extends radially through the compression sleeve 58 to the annular void space 74 . this provides a pressure equalization conduit between the chamber - side surface 34 of the piezoelectric film 30 and the exterior surface 36 of the film . an embodiment of the invention comprises an angled channel 92 , whereby the channel extends from the ald chamber side at an angle β . in this embodiment , the angle is chosen to maximize the length of the purge gas channel 92 to prevent backwash of ald moieties to the exterior surface 36 of the crystals . to minimize reactant back - flow through the channel 92 , from the reaction chamber 16 to the annular void space 74 , the channel is charged with an inert gas stream . the inert gas is supplied from an exterior source via a coupler 101 such as a male - female or snap fit coupling . intermediate the coupler and the void space 74 , and in fluid communication therewith is positioned a conduit 102 . a proximal end is removably attached to the coupler 101 while a distal end 105 terminates at a point in close spatial relationship to a purge gas inlet channel 104 . positioned between the distal end 105 and the inlet channel 104 is a purge gas vestibule 103 adapted to receive the incoming purge gas . the vestibule 103 and inlet channel 104 are integrally molded with regions of the o - ring compression sleeve 58 and in fluid communication with each other . the inlet channel 104 extends radially through the compression sleeve 58 and terminates in the void space 74 defining the interior surfaces of the hollow annular connector 80 . in operation , an inert gas flows through the conduit 102 to inlet channel 104 to flow into annular void space 74 . the inert gas exits the annular void space though an exhaust channel 100 integrally molded with the compression sleeve 58 . preferably the exhaust channel is opposed to the inlet channel 104 . this provides a means for assuring thorough purging of the void space prior to the purge gas exiting the void space through the egress channel 100 . upon passing through the egress channel 100 , the gas flows through angled channel 92 and exits the channel via entry port 94 into the ald reaction chamber 16 . a low volume flow of gas prevents back - flow of reactants into the annular void space 74 and deposition onto the exterior surface 36 of the piezoelectric planar disc 30 . in another embodiment of the invention , as shown in fig1 e , an alternate pressure equalization means is illustrated . an exterior pressure equalization conduit 106 establishes fluid communication with the vertical connecting channel 103 , which intersects the inlet channel 104 passing into annular space 74 balancing the pressure between annular chamber 74 and carrier gas line 108 at the entry point 110 upstream of chemical reactant inlets 112 . compared to the effects of the internal pressure equalization conduit 92 depicted in fig1 a , the exterior pressure equalization conduit 106 prevents chemical precursor gases from diffusing to the back side ( i . e ., exterior surface 36 ) of the crystal where coating is undesired . also , the exterior routed conduit 106 provides a simplified fixture where the diagonal channel 92 for backside purge gas need not be drilled at a high angle , thereby simplifying ald chamber lid 22 fabrication . the externally - routed pressure equalization conduit further reduces flow disturbances from the backside purge gas near the workpiece . this is due to a single purge gas source 114 which provides a means for charging both sides of the crystal 30 at the same pressure and volume . the single purge gas source provides a means to for charging the exterior side 36 of the crystal , the interior side 34 of the crystal , and the ald reaction chamber with an inert gas all at the same pressures and volume . the inventors surmise that the external conduit scheme is better at maintaining matching pressure on both side of the crystal , compared to the heretofore described internally routed pressure equalization conduit scheme where the pressure behind the crystal is influenced by both the chamber pressure ( through 94 ) and the steady , externaly provided inert gas flow through 102 . in an embodiment of the invention , the piezoelectric disc 30 is a quartz crystal microbalance ( qcm ) sensor crystal . in another embodiment of the invention , the piezoelectric microbalance is a gapo 4 crystal . the small footprint on the external surface of the ald , approximately between 7 and 20 cm 2 and preferably about 16 cm 2 external to the ald reaction chamber and between 0 . 5 and 1 . 5 cm 2 , and preferably about 0 . 75 cm 2 on the internal surface of the ald chamber — further allows for installation of a plurality of microbalance crystals enabling in situ evaluation of film thickness uniformity profiles over a large expanse of the reactor . a myriad of crystal constituents are suitable for use in the invention . generally , high temperature ( e . g . approximately 50 - 450 ° c .) crystals are suitable , such that the crystals maintain their structural and electrochemical characteristics throughout the deposition temperatures utilized . at - cut crystals , it - cut crystals , fc - cut crystals , rc - cut crystals , sc ( stress compensated )- cut crystals , and super quartz crystals are suitable , among others . at - cut crystals and rc - cut crystals are preferred . also , the inventors found that typography of the crystals plays a role in their suitability . while a myriad of crystal typographies are suitable , polished crystals ( to a roughness of between 1 and 20 nm , are preferable . crystals with a roughness of approximately 5 nm are most preferable . in instances where unpolished crystals are utilized , sealing means other than o - rings are preferable , those sealing means including polymer washers , malleable metal washers , and reversibly deformable substrates , all discussed elsewhere herein . qcms or alternately gallium orthophosphate ( gapo 4 ) crystal microbalances are mass sensors capable of measuring mass fluctuations as low as 0 . 1 ng / cm 2 . based on the piezoelectric effect , the sensors utilize an alternating current applied to the crystal to induce a resonant oscillation at a frequency dependent upon on the crystal thickness . as mass is deposited on ( or removed from ) the surface of the quartz crystal , the frequency of oscillation changes . using the sauerbrey equation , stated below as equation 1 , the frequency change is correlated to a change in mass . δ ⁢ ⁢ m a = n q ⁢ ρ q π ⁢ ⁢ z ⁢ ⁢ f l ⁢ tan - 1 ⁡ [ z ⁢ ⁢ tan ⁡ ( π ⁢ ⁢ f u - f l f u ) ] equation ⁢ ⁢ 1 where f l frequency of loaded crystal ( hz ), f u — frequency of unloaded crystal , i . e . resonant frequency ( hz ), n q — frequency constant ( for at — cut quartz crystal , n q = 1 . 668 × 10 13 hz å ), δm — mass change ( g ), a is the piezoelectrically active crystal area ( area between electrodes , cm 2 ), ρ q is the density of piezoelectric , and where μ q is the shear modulus of piezoelectric ( for quartz μ q = 2 . 947 × 10 11 g / cm · s 2 ), μ f shear modulus of film ( varies units g / cm · s 2 ), and ρ f is the density of film ( g / cm 3 ) to illustrate the application of the integral qcm design , of the invention , a commercially available aluminum slab lid of an ald ( for example , a savannah 200 ald ( cambridge nanotech , inc ., cambridge , mass .) was modified to accommodate two oscillating crystal fixtures . compression seal sleeves and apertures were machined to appropriate dimensions to produce o - ring compression compatible with published o - ring specifications and qcm crystal thickness . electrical connection to the front of the gold plated qcm crystals is achieved through direct contact with the aluminum ald lid by means of edge 52 , which is in turn grounded to the connector shield by the feed through . electrical connection to the exterior surface of the qcm crystal was achieved with a resilient / spring retainer electrode modified and fitted on a connector shaft . the connector fixture was bolted onto the lid with mounting plate and fasteners were inserted in drilled and tapped holes . tightening of the fasteners compressed a kalrez o - ring in an annular groove , forming an airtight seal . markez 75 d high temperature o - rings on the exterior side of the qcm crystal are compressed by a compression sleeve / seal , as shown in fig1 a to ensure a vacuum - tight seal to the reaction chamber and uniform crystal compression . because qcm crystal interior / flow surface contacts are made directly to the machined medially or inwardly directed edge 38 , there is no need for the conductive epoxy that is required in the prior art ( elam et . al ., rev . sci . instr . 73 , 2981 - 2987 ( 2002 ). as such , the lip / o - ring seal combined with edge and chamber side o - ring allow for clean and rapid crystal exchange in addition to potentially longer crystal lifetimes production of al 2 o 3 in a modified ald reactor as discussed hereinabove was chosen to evaluate the performance of the integral qcm . measurements were carried out in a savannah 200 ald reactor ( cambridge nanotech , inc . ), adapted as discussed hereinabove , using trimethylaluminum ( tma ), and water ( 18 mω , milli - q system ) at a reaction temperature of 190 ° c . the pressure in the ald chamber was maintained at 300 mtorr — when no precursors were pulsing — by the continuous flow of ultra - high purity nitrogen ( 20 sccm ) and rough pumping ( adixen pascal 2500i , hingham , mass .). in continuous flow mode , the conventional ald pulse sequence was used ( t 1 - t 2 - t 3 - t 4 ) where t 1 is the pulse time for the tma , t 3 is the pulse time for h 2 o , and t 2 and t 4 correspond the tma and h 2 o purge times , respectively . all units are given in seconds . in some cases , quasi - static mode was employed to simulate the conditions required for conformally coating high aspect ratio samples . in this mode , the pneumatic valve that provides access to the pump was closed prior to precursor dosing and remained closed while the chemical precursors were allowed to diffuse . here , the timing sequence was [ t 1 - t 1 ′ ]- t 2 -[ t 3 - t 3 ′ ]- t 4 , where t 1 ′ and t 3 ′ refer to the exposure times for the tma and water , respectively . because even the shortest 15 ms pulses of tma and water saturate the relatively small reactor , ald al 2 o 3 was not a suitable choice to evaluate the capability of mapping film growth . instead , the zns ald was selected as it too has a known chemistry and reaction rate and the delivery of 1 % in n 2 h 2 s can be reduced to sub - saturating conditions through the use of a pressure regulator . during the deposition of zns , diethylzinc ( dez ) and h 2 s were maintained at room temperature while the ald chamber temperature set to 140 ° c . ( while 1 % h 2 s in n 2 is highly toxic , it is not flammable . the tool was modified for compatibility with the corrosive gas .) the h 2 s was delivered to the manifold through a 0 . 3 mm orifice ( lenox laser ) with a delivery pressure of − 710 torr gauge pressure . the pulsing sequence was similar to that for tma / h 2 o , where here t 1 = dez pulse time , t 3 is the h 2 s pulse time , and t 2 and t 4 are the purge times for the dez and h 2 s , respectively . a number of disadvantages of the “ fixture on a stick ” or standard straight line qcm probe are its limited utility to monitor routine depositions on sample coupons and devices . additionally , insertion of the probe in an ald reactor alters normal laminar flow patterns , causing dead zones , producing distortions in deposition layer thickness . due to the long equilibration times associated with convective heating and stainless steel construction , temperature - dependent studies or tasks as simple as ex situ sample exchange are burdensome and slow . as such , the “ fixture on a stick ” qcm is restricted to systematic and dedicated studies of ald processes . in contrast , for the design of the invention presented herein , the qcm crystal is mounted directly on the aluminum ald lid , providing rapid thermal equilibration . fig2 a shows the thermal equilibration time — the point at which the signal drift becomes less than a fraction of a monolayer ( a few ng / cm 2 )— for the qcm sensor at 190 ° c . the initial transient in the trace at time = 0 seconds corresponds to when , after samples were exchanged , the reactor lid was closed and the system pumped back down to vacuum . the qcm reached the reaction temperature in a matter of minutes and had sufficiently low baseline drift within approximately 20 minutes — the typical period used for sample warm - up and outgassing — thus introducing no additional delay in the process . the inset shows a zoomed portion of the qcm signal highlighting that the noise is less than 2 ng , with no obvious thermal drift over the 500 s time duration ( for reference , one ald cycle of al 2 o 3 cycles deposits ˜ 32 nm / cm 2 ). to further reduce thermal drift , two additional measures were taken to minimize temperature fluctuations and reduce the temperature sensitivity of the qcm sensor . tuning of the pid temperature controllers through the savannah ald software minimized reactor temperature fluctuations to less than ± 0 . 2 ° c . of the set point temperature . additionally , a fiber insulation pad was placed around the ald chamber and on top of the modified ald lid in order to reduce temperature fluctuations associated with changes in the room ambient . temperature effects may also be minimized by switching to a different sensor crystal with a lower temperature coefficient . fig2 b shows the temperature coefficient as a function of reactor temperature for three different commercially available sensor crystals . the right axis displays the calculation of apparent ald al 2 o 3 thickness change . rc ( colnatec , inc .) and at - cut ( inficon ) crystals were measured independently with the integral qcm , while the gapo 4 data is reproduced from published data ( elam et . al ., rev . sci . instr . 73 , 2981 - 2987 ( 2002 ), the entirety of which is incorporated by reference . a thermocouple was temporarily attached to the lid to accurately measure the temperature of the crystals . a ramp of the ald reactor temperature was executed while monitoring in the sensor frequency , and the temperature coefficients were calculated from the derivative of oscillation frequency versus temperature . an “ apparent al 2 o 3 thickness change ” is plotted on the right axis ( assuming an ald - al 2 o 3 density of 3 . 0 g / cm 3 ) for reference . in the temperature range between 150 and 225 ° c . the rc crystals outperform both the at - cut and the gapo 4 crystals as evidenced by the lower absolute values for the qcm temperature coefficient of the rc crystal in this temperature range . ( the design of the aperture and mounting structure permits quick replacement of the alternative crystals as the need arises .) the right axis displays the calculated apparent al 2 o 3 thickness change . because ald is not a “ line - of - sight ” deposition technique , the precursors can diffuse to every reactive site including the backside of the crystal unless preventative measures are taken . the wall - mounted integral qcm includes a backside purge of ultra - high purity n 2 to prevent growth on the backside of the sensor . to demonstrate the benefit of this active precursor diffusion barrier , al 2 o 3 was deposited using both standard pulse ( continuous flow ) mode and under quasi - static ( exposure mode ) conditions . as high vapor pressure and low molecular weight precursors , both tma and water test the limits of the precursor diffusion barrier strategy . both qcm ports were used : the “ inlet ” qcm port was positioned 2 in from the inlet and the “ outlet ” qcm port was positioned 6 in from the inlet . as the backside purge flow rate was varied , a total of 20 ald cycles were executed at each setting and the growth rate was determined by averaging the rate per step over the last 10 cycles . fig3 a and 3 b show the effects of backside purge rate on the deposition rate for quasi - static and continuous flow mode , respectively . fig3 a is a graph of the process under quasi - static growth conditions ( 0 . 015 second pulse with a 2 second exposure for both water and tma , each followed by a 20 second purge ). the growth rate for al 2 o 3 was determined as a function of the purge flow across the back of the qcm crystals . the left axis is the mass change in nanograms per cycle , while the growth rate of al 2 o 3 — calculated assuming a density of 3 . 0 g / cm 3 — is on the right axis . when the backside purge rate was reduced below 2 . 5 sccm , the growth rate nearly doubled indicating that deposition was occurring on both the front and back of the qcm crystal ( fig3 a ). the growth rate of the inlet qcm port maintained a growth rate of about 2 å / cycle , while the outlet qcm growth rate continued to increase to about 3 å / cycle . that is , in the low flow regime , the rate exceeded twice that expected for al 2 o 3 ald suggesting additional , non - self - limiting growth occurred in the space behind the qcm crystal — likely a result of precursor mixing due to insufficient purging of physisorbed reactants . a means for preventing this film accumulation prevents this from occurring . one such means is increasing the a backside purge rate . for example , of 2 . 75 sccm purge rate is suitable . while the backside purge flow has virtually no effect on the deposition rate under continuous flow conditions ( except under zero back purge flow condition , where the effect is small , fig3 b ( s 2 )), the effect of the backside purge rate during quasi - static conditions is substantial . fig3 b is a graph of the growth rate for al 2 o 3 , in continuous flow ( pulse ) mode . the rate is seen as a function of the purge flow rate over the back ( i . e ., exterior surface 36 ) of the qcm crystals . the timing for the tma / h 2 o cycles was 0 . 015 - 20 - 0 . 015 - 20 . the growth rate remained constant for purge rates & gt ; 0 . 2 sccm over the back of the qcm crystal . the backside purge gas is beneficial for accurate mass calibration . the invented design is such the flow through the entry port 94 does not disturb the normal precursor flow in the ald chamber . to verify that the backside purge gas did not perturb the deposition , a test was performed for 600 cycles of pt ald using ( trimethyl ) cyclopentadienylplatinum ( iv ) ( 99 %, strem ) and molecular oxygen . pt was selected due to its low vapor pressure , sensitivity to substrate cleanliness , and the fact that it provides a distinct change in the reactor appearance with only a few nanometers of film . the pulse sequence was 1 - 10 - 1 - 10 and the reactor temperature was 190 ° c . preventing backside ald is not only key to obtaining accurate mass calibration but also preferable to prevent wrap - around of conductive ald materials . conductive material deposited on the back of the qcm crystal will electrically short the two electrodes that drive the crystal oscillation , rendering it inoperable . fig4 shows the successful in situ qcm monitoring during pt ald using the backside purge . qcm data demonstrates the deposition of pt metal at 190 ° c . using alternating exposures to trimethyl ( methylcyclopentadienyl ) platinum ( iv ) and o 2 . the zoomed region from 0 to 7000 seconds shows the nucleation delay over a period of ˜ 150 cycles , while the region between 1 . 55 × 10 4 and 1 . 575 × 10 4 s highlights a mass gain of 83 . 33 ng / cycle . this corresponds to a growth rate of 0 . 4 å / cycle . fig4 highlights nucleation and steady - state growth . the nucleation region occurs in the first 10000 s and is highlighted in the inset on the bottom right . from this a nucleation delay over a period of ˜ 150 cycles was determined . the steady - state growth region is displayed in the upper left inset and demonstrates the ability of the qcm to resolve the individual steps of each half - reaction . using the bulk density of pt , the growth rate was calculated to be 0 . 4 å / cycle . positive - going transient features accompanying each o 2 exposure likely result from transient heating induced by the exothermic combustion of the organic ligands on the pt surface . a similar transient feature was observed previously during pt and ir ald , but in the negative mass direction . this difference in sign is depicted in fig2 b and also by noting that the earlier application used conventional at - cut sensors which have a temperature coefficient that is opposite in sign as compared to the rc sensors . in the integral wall - mounted qcm design , a lip and o - ring system provide electrical contact to the front of the qcm crystal ( see fig1 b ). a “ purge gap ” between the inner diameter of the lip and crystal has been included to reduce the propensity for dead ends — precursor - accessible portions of the reactor that experience insufficient sweep gas ( purge flow ). dead ends may act as a chemical precursor trap where gas phase mixing of reactants and / or products can occur , the result of which is non - uniform growth and powder formation . to evaluate the extent to which the invented design minimizes dead ends , both tma and water were overdosed by a factor of five , thereby magnifying any effects due to precursor mixing or otherwise non - self - limiting growth . in pure ald , half - reactions will be self - limiting such that introducing additional precursor into the reaction chamber will not increase the growth rate . deposition steps as a function of the number of pulses are shown in fig5 a - 5 d . these figures illustrate al 2 o 3 mass gain at 190 ° c . measured at the outlet using the pulse sequence x ( 0 . 015 - 8 )- y ( 0 . 015 - 8 ), where ( a ) x = 1 = y , ( b ) x = 5 , y = 1 , ( c ) x = 1 , y = 5 , and ( d ) x = 5 = y . each successive pulse was separated by an 8 s purge . the standard 1 : 1 pulse ratio of tma : h 2 o , depicted in fig5 a , yielded a growth rate of 1 . 1 å / cycle . fig5 b , c , and d show the mass deposited using pulse ratios of 5 : 1 , 1 : 5 , and 5 : 5 respectively . in all cases , multiple pulses did not increase the growth rate . furthermore , consecutively pulsing the tma precursor 100 times did not result in additional mass gain . the purge time following both tma and water pulses were also investigated to determine the minimum time required to efficiently remove all unreacted precursor from the reaction chamber . fig6 a and 6 b illustrate the al 2 o 3 growth rate dependence of purge time at 190 ° c . following each half reaction . in ( a ) the purge time following the tma dose was varied using the sequence 0 . 015 - x - 0 . 015 - 8 and in ( b ) the sequence 0 . 015 - 8 - 0 . 015 - y was used to evaluate the effect of h 2 o purge time . purge times are determined empirically . ( the purge time for the al 2 o 3 process at this temperature in an unmodified ald tool is eight seconds .) fig6 display plots of the growth rate versus purge time following a ) tma and b ) h 2 o . the plots show that the integrated qcms do not require additional purge time . the inlet and outlet qcm ports display similar trends ; for purge times greater than 1 s following tma , with the growth rate was maintained at 1 . 1 å / cycle . below one second , the growth rate increased rapidly , suggesting insufficient purging . similarly , at purge times greater than 2 s following a water pulse the growth rate was 1 . 1 å / cycle . at shorter purge times the growth rate increased . these results , in combination with the aforementioned multi - pulse study , indicate that the low profile design and lip and o - ring purge gap produce little to no disturbance to standard reactor operation . due to the small footprint of the integral wall - mounted qcm fixture , both inside and outside the tool , multiple qcm ports may be mounted on a single tool . multi - qcm capabilities provide the opportunity to map the mass deposition as a function of location within the reactor in real time . although ald is designed to produce uniform growth over a wide range of precursor exposures , temperatures , and purge conditions , trade - offs are frequently encountered . for example , higher deposition temperatures may result in better dielectric properties but at the cost of precursor thermal decomposition that results in an exposure - dependent growth rate . exposure - dependent nucleation rates , hot and cold spots , non - uniform flow under increased purge conditions , and precursor consumption by porous or high - surface area substrates can all lead to thickness non - uniformities during ald . typically , the process of identifying and rectifying these problems is laborious and time - consuming requiring many rounds of ald on wafers followed by ex situ thickness measurements . however , this process can be performed rapidly and easily using in situ multi - point mapping such as what are enabled with a multisensor configuration depicted in fig8 and 9 . roughly 23 ports could be packed onto the 30 cm diameter lid depicted in fig1 a . signals are processed by the same sqm - 160 thickness monitor . to evaluate the effectiveness of dual port capability , ald zns was used as a model system . like tma , dez rapidly and completely saturates the commercial ald chamber with even the shortest achievable dose ( 0 . 015 s ); however , the h 2 s dose pressure can be easily reduced to produce sub - saturating conditions by lowering the differential delivery pressure . this allows one to monitor the h 2 s wave front travel through the chamber as function of h 2 s dose time , as depicted in fig7 . the growth rate at the inlet qcm port showed saturation with just a 0 . 5 s h 2 s dose . this compares to an eight second h 2 s pulse required to reach saturating conditions at the outlet qcm port . this difference in the required h 2 s pulse time between the inlet and outlet qcm ports — which were intentionally exacerbated for illustrative purposes — highlights the benefit of dual port capabilities . fig7 illustrates zns growth rate near the inlet ( circles ) and outlet ( squares ). zns was deposited at 140 ° c . using diethylzinc and h 2 s with a pulsing sequence of 0 . 015 - 12 - x - 12 , where x is the h 2 s pulse time . an integral , wall - mounted qcm fixture with a low profile was designed to meet the specific needs of ald systems . the experiments demonstrated the use of the wall - mounted integral qcm design for in situ characterization of films comprised of a myriad of elements and compounds , including , but not limited to , al 2 o 3 , zns , and pt , the invented system is equally applicable for other physical and chemical vapor deposition tools , especially those with the capability to deposit upon and within modest aspect ratio features . several new design elements were incorporated : 1 ) compact electrical and purge gas connections on a single , small bolt - on fixture ; 2 ) the ability to integrate directly into a reactor wall , lid , or flange ; 3 ) a multiple o - ring seal and compression sleeve system that prevents ald on the back of the crystal and allowing rapid and simple crystal exchange ; 4 ) a low - profile lip and o - ring system that affords effective electrical contact to the front of the crystal without increasing the required purge time ; 5 ) a compact footprint that enables multi - point thickness mapping ; 6 ) superior thermal equilibration following sample exchange . when taken together , the design improves the accuracy of and significantly reduces the barrier to routine qcm measurements in a variety of ald tools . it is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative , and not restrictive . for example , the above - described embodiments ( and / or aspects thereof ) may be used in combination with each other . in addition , many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from its scope . while the dimensions and types of materials described herein are intended to define the parameters of the invention , they are by no means limiting , but are instead exemplary embodiments . for example , fig8 a - b are plan and elevated views , respectively , of multi - oscillating crystal configurations for a disk - shaped ald reactor lid geometry . fig9 is a schematic view of a multi - oscillating crystal configuration , wherein the crystals are arranged along a longintudinally extending region of a cylindrically - shaped ald reactor . many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description . the scope of the invention should , therefore , be determined with reference to the appended claims , along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled . in the appended claims , the terms “ including ” and “ in which ” are used as the plain - english equivalents of the terms “ comprising ” and “ wherein .” moreover , in the following claims , the terms “ first ,” “ second ,” and “ third ,” are used merely as labels , and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on their objects . further , the limitations of the following claims are not written in means - plus - function format and are not intended to be interpreted based on 35 u . s . c . § 112 , sixth paragraph , unless and until such claim limitations expressly use the phrase “ means for ” followed by a statement of function void of further structure . the present methods can involve any or all of the steps or conditions discussed above in various combinations , as desired . accordingly , it will be readily apparent to the skilled artisan that in some of the disclosed methods certain steps can be deleted or additional steps performed without affecting the viability of the methods . while the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment hereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that several changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .	2
in this invention , linear polyethylene glycol and 2 , 2 - bis ( hydroxymethyl ) propionic anhydride are used as starting materials . diethylenetriaminepentacetic acid ( dtpa ) is the chelator to stabilize gd . a . preparation of the first generation benzylidene protected chelate p - d 1 -( o 2 bn ) peg diol ( mw 4000 da , 9 . 2 g , 2 . 3 mmol , 1 eq ) and dmap ( 0 . 1670 g , 0 . 39 mmol ) are mixed in a round - bottom conical vial . the mixture is dissolved in a 25 ml of dcm and then the vial is filled with nitrogen gas . benzylidene - 2 , 2 - bis ( oxymethyl ) propionic anhydride ( 4 . 27 g ( 10 mmol )) is dissolved in another vial , and then slowly dripped into the reaction vial . after 24 hours of stirring and reacting in room temperature , 10 ml methanol is added and the reaction is kept for another 6 hours for removing the un - reacted benzylidene - 2 , 2 - bis ( oxymethyl ) propionic anhydride . an excessive amount of ethyl ether ( 700 ml ) is added and the mixture is stirred until white precipitates are released , and the yield rate is about 90 %. among the products , the d n is d 1 with the structure of ( i ) as follows : 1 h nmr ( 400 mhz , cdcl 3 ): δ 1 . 06 ( s , 6 ), 3 . 55 ( t , 6 ), 3 . 61 ( bs ), 3 . 68 ( t , 6 ), 4 . 32 ( t , 4 ), 4 . 64 ( d , 4 ), 5 . 43 ( s , 2 ), 7 . 28 ( m , 6 ), 7 . 42 ( m , 4 ). after the above product ( 11 . 8 g ) is dissolved in 40 ml of 1 : 2 ch 2 cl 2 / meoh solution , 1 . 18 g of pd / c is added , and the mixture is stirred for 24 hours under a hydrogen - saturated environment . when the reaction ends , pd / c is filtrated from dcm , and as described above , an excessive amount of ethyl ether 600 ( ml ) is added to release the white precipitates . the yield rate of the product after freeze - drying is approximately 90 %. 1 h nmr ( 400 mhz , cdcl 3 ): δ 1 . 08 ( s , 6 ), 3 . 67 ( bs ), 4 . 31 ( t , 4 ). p - d 1 - oh ( 2 . 0 g , 0 . 4618 mmol ) and diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid mono - n - hydroxysuccinimide ester ( dtpa - hsie ) ( 1 . 0871 g , 2 . 2 mmol ) are mixed in a 50 ml round - bottom conical vial and vacuum dried for 3 hours . anhydrous dmso ( 10 ml ) and triethylamine ( 224 μl ) are injected into the mixture and stirred for 48 hours at room temperature under saturated nitrogen gas . acetonitrile / acetone is used to release white residue ; the white solid product after centrifugation and freeze - drying is p - d 1 - dtpa . 1 h nmr ( 400 mhz , cdcl 3 ): δ 1 . 14 ( s , 6 ), 3 . 1 ( t , 16 ), 3 . 4 ( t , 16 ), 3 . 57 ( bs ), 3 . 75 ( s , 8 ), 3 . 8 ( s , 32 ). the principle of preparing the second generation p - d 2 -( o 2 bn ) product is approximately the same as that of the first generation . p - d 1 -( o 2 bn ) ( 95 . 6 g , 0 . 83 mmol , 1 equiv ) and dmap ( 0 . 326 g , 2 . 6 mmol , 3 . 2 equiv ) is mixed and then dissolved in 25 ml dcm . after benzylidene - 2 , 2 - bis ( oxymethyl ) propionic anhydride ( 13 . 3 mmol , 16 equiv , 5 . 69 g ) is added , the mixture is stirred at room temperature for 24 hours . un - reacted benzylidene - 2 , 2 - bis ( oxymethyl ) propionic anhydride is removed with 15 ml methanol . then ethyl ether is used to release the white precipitate at a yield rate of 80 % after freeze - drying . the product d n is d 2 with the structure ( ii ) as follows : 1 h nmr ( 400 mhz , cdcl 3 ): δ 1 . 03 ( s , 12 ), 1 . 26 ( s , 6 ), 3 . 63 ( bs ), 3 . 78 ( t , 4 ), 4 . 03 ( t , 4 ), 4 . 38 ( s , 8 ), 4 . 56 ( d , 8 ), 5 . 41 ( s , 4 ), 7 . 19 ( m , 12 ), 7 . 38 ( m , 8 ). the product ( 5 . 5 g ) from the above process is dissolved in 45 ml of 1 : 2 dcm / meoh solution . the de - protection procedure in step b . of example 1 is repeated , and the final yield rate is about 88 %. 1 h nmr ( 400 mhz , cdcl 3 ): δ 1 . 03 ( s , 12 ), 1 . 19 ( s , 6 ), 3 . 43 ( m , 8 ), 3 . 64 ( bs ), 4 . 08 ( m , 8 ), 4 . 40 ( d , 4 ). the method of synthesizing the second generation p - d 2 - dtpa is approximately the same as that of first generation . p - d 2 - oh ( 0 . 265 mmol , 1 . 3965 g ) and 1 . 2482 g ( 2 . 54 mmol ) dtpa - hsie is mixed in a 50 ml round bottom conical vial and vacuum dried for 4 hours . anhydrous dmso ( 10 ml ) and 350 μl triethylamine is injected into the mixture , and stirred for 48 hours at room temperature under saturated nitrogen gas . acetonitrile / acetone solution is used to release the white precipitate , and p - d 2 - dtpa is produced after centrifugation and freeze - drying . 1 h nmr ( 400 mhz , cdcl 3 ): δ 1 . 04 ( m ), 1 . 18 ( m ), 3 . 07 ( t , 16 ), 3 . 21 ( t , 16 ), 3 . 58 ( bs ), 3 . 68 ( m ), 3 . 79 ( d ), 4 . 21 ( bs ). the preparation process of the third generation p - d 3 -( o 2 bn ) is similar to that of the first and second generations . the product from step b . in example 2 ( 2 . 88 g , 0 . 40 mmol , 1 equiv ), benzylidene - 2 , 2 - bis ( oxymethyl ) propionic anhydride ( 5 . 48 g , 12 . 8 mmol , 32 equiv ), and dmap ( 0 . 3151 g , 2 . 57 mmol , 6 . 4 equiv ) are dissolved in 35 ml dcm at room temperature and reacted for 24 hours . the extracting procedure in step a . of example 2 is repeated , and the final product yield rate is about 89 %. the d n product is d 3 with the structure of ( iii ) as follows . 1 h nmr ( 400 mhz , cdcl 3 ): δ 0 . 89 ( s , 24 ), 1 . 16 ( s , 6 ), 1 . 17 ( s , 12 ), 3 . 57 ( t , 6 ), 3 . 67 ( bs ), 3 . 77 ( t , 3 ), 4 . 15 ( q , 6 ), 4 . 28 ( t , 3 ), 4 . 33 ( m , 16 ), 4 . 55 ( d , 16 ), 5 . 37 ( s , 8 ), 7 . 30 ( m , 24 ), 7 . 35 ( m , 16 ). the product ( 4 g ) from step a . is dissolved in the mixture of dcm and meoh ( 1 : 1 ). pd / c catalyst ( 0 . 4 g ) is added , and stirred for 24 hours under a hydrogen - saturated environment . white powder product ( 1 . 8 g ) is produced after filtering and freeze - drying . 1 h nmr ( 400 mhz , cdcl 3 ): δ 1 . 07 ( s , 24 ), 1 . 27 ( s , 6 ), 1 . 34 ( s , 12 ), 3 . 47 ( t ), 3 . 64 ( bs ), 3 . 76 ( m ), 4 . 26 ( m ), 4 . 32 ( dd , 10 ). the method of synthesizing the third generation p - d 3 - dtpa is the same as aforementioned . p - d 3 - oh ( 1 . 097 g , 0 . 1938 mmol ) and 1 . 814 g ( 3 . 6 mmol ) dtpa - hsie are mixed in a 50 ml round bottom conical vial and vacuum dried for 4 hours . anhydrous dmso ( 10 ml ) and 515 μl triethylamine are injected into the mixture , and stirred for 64 hours at room temperature under saturated nitrogen gas . after white precipitate is released by means of acetonitrile / acetone solution , the white solid product , p - d 3 - dtpa , is produced after centrifugation and freeze - drying . 1 h nmr ( 400 mhz , cdcl 3 ): δ 1 . 03 ( s ), 1 . 25 ( s ), 1 . 29 ( s ), 2 . 7 ( m ), 3 . 16 ( t ), 3 . 46 ( t ), 3 . 79 ( bs ), 3 . 80 ( m ), 3 . 97 ( bs ), 4 . 21 ( m ). in the p - d n - dtpa dendritic compounds of the first , second and third generation , the resonant frequency in nmr spectrum of the methyl on hydrogen is decreased as the generation extends . therefore , it is proved that the dendritic compound of p - d n - dtpa in the present example is the dendritic compound of the first , second and third generations . in addition , infrared spectrum can be applied to verify the structure of dtpa ; in other words , the original c — o bond of dtpa is disappeared at the peak of 1200 cm − 1 , and instead , the carbonyl peak is appeared between signals of 1638 and 1598 cm − 1 . as a result , it is proved that the dendritic compound in the present example possesses the dtpa to chelate gd . p - d 3 - dtpa ( 0 . 066 g , 0 . 005 mmol ) is dissolved in 10 ml water , and a 16 - time amount of gdcl 3 . 6h 2 o ( 0 . 031 g , 0 . 08 mmol ) is added . the ph value is adjusted in neutral ( ph7 ) by 0 . 1 n sodium hydroxide solution . the result of the reaction is verified by ftir and white solid product is produced after freeze - drying . by evaluating the effectiveness of the reacted dendritic compound p - d 3 - dtpa - gd 3 + of the third generation as an agent of enhancing image , it can be compared with the magnetizing relaxation of dtpa - gd ( magnevist ™) by directly comparing the magnetizing relaxation rate via nmr . the results of comparison are showed in table 1 in which r 1 and r 2 respectively represent vertical and horizontal relative relaxation times , and b 0 as the internal magnetic intensity of nmr . the greater volumes of r 1 and r 2 , the stronger image signal will be . therefore , table 1 is clearly indicated the chelating gd element of third generation dendritic compound provides a superior imaging result compared to dtpa - gd ( magnevist ™), and demonstrated distinct progress in nmr imaging . furthermore , conventional imaging agents require high concentration of gd to achieve the ideal image , and it is also a challenge to accumulate the imaging agent on a certain location . the dendritic compound in this invention provides a vivid and clear image with no need to accumulate the image agent on one position and this situation promotes a more suitable clinical application . in addition , each dendritic compound in the present invention contains protected oh functional groups , which extend to a higher generation and possesses the magnifying ability by times . therefore , compared to known imaging agents , a better imaging contrast is provided with the same amount . it is also known that chelator with small molecule weight penetrates vascular endothelial cells easily such that it disperses while circulating ; the dendritic compound is a high molecule carrier which decreases the possibility of being drained away during blood circulation . the “ core ” of the dendritic compound of the present invention is polyethylene glycol and its derivatives . polyethylene glycol , a bio - compatible polymer certified by the fda in the usa , is usually applied to biomedical polymers and can be eliminated spontaneously via circulation . therefore , the dendritic compound of the present invention can be an imaging agent with low toxicity .	0
melt film fibrillation nozzles described in the prior art differ from the fiber forming nozzles in the current disclosure in how the fibers are made and the starting melt geometry from which a fibrous web is produced . melt film fibrillation processes of the prior art start with a single phase polymer flow that is impinged by a separate working air stream . the polymer melt film tube is thinned to a polymer film from the shearing action of the air stream . the polymer stream and the working air streams are combined externally to the nozzle at the nozzle exit . the shearing action of the inner gas stream and the effect of the outer gas stream produces a multiplicity of fibers . in contrast , the process of the current disclosure utilizes a mixing chamber to produce a two - phase polymer - gas mixture within the fiber - forming nozzle . the two - phase flow under pressure is then uniformly distributed to and forced through a film forming channel of high length to width ratio . this two phase flow of polymer and working gas in the same narrow long channel within the spin nozzle before the nozzle exit is a novel feature of the disclosure . without being bound by theory , it is believed that in the long narrow channel , the higher viscosity polymer phase forms a film along both surfaces of the channel while the air separates and is forced through the center of the channel . the long narrow channel geometry and control of the magnitude and ratio of polymer melt and gas flows determine the thickness and other attributes of the polymer film . upon exiting the channel , these in combination with the aerodynamic forces of the gas jet cause the polymer film to disintegrate into a multitude of finer filaments . the thinner the polymer film upon exit from the film forming channel , the finer the ultimate fibers produced . thus , by varying the polymer flow rate and the gas velocity , it is possible to control film thickness and hence the fine fiber diameter . in one embodiment the mixing chamber is a two - phase chamber and the long narrow film forming channel has a converging conical geometry . heated pressurized air , together with a polymer melt under pressure are both injected into the two - phase chamber where the mixture combines to form a two - phase flow . the rotational two phase flow in the two - phase chamber is converted into an axial flow along the length of a narrow converging conical channel . as the converging flow geometry decreases flow area , the accelerating gas velocity in turn increases shearing forces on the polymer film as the polymer progresses along the channel tending to thin the polymer film . however , that same converging flow geometry reduces the wall area supporting the polymer film which tends to increase the film thickness . balancing these opposed effects offers unique control over the resulting fiber size and the fiber size distribution . the present disclosure relates to apparatus and methods for forming non - woven nanofibrous materials . the non - woven nanofibrous materials are formed from one or more thermoplastic polymers . generally suitable polymers include any polymers suitable for melt spinning . the melting temperature is generally from about 25 c to 400 c . nonlimiting examples of thermoplastic polymers include polypropylene and copolymers , polyethylene and copolymers , polyesters , polyamides , polystyrenes , biodegradable polymers including thermoplastic starch , pha , pla , pcl , plga , polyurethanes , and combinations thereof . preferred polymers are pcl , pla , plga and other biodegradable linear aliphatic polyesters . optionally , the polymer may contain additional materials to provide additional properties for the fiber . these may modify the physical properties of the resulting fiber such as elasticity , strength , thermal or chemical stability , appearance , liquid absorbency , surface properties , among others . a suitable hydrophilic melt additive may be added . optional materials may be present up to 50 % of the total polymer composition . it may be desired to use a mixture of lower and higher molecular weight polymers in a web . the lower molecular weight polymer will fibrillate easier which may result in fibers having different diameters . if the polymers will not blend , separate nozzles may be utilized for the different molecular weight polymers . the average fiber diameter of a significant number of fibers in the fine fiber layer of the web can be less than one micron and preferably from about 0 . 1 microns to 1 micron , more preferably from about 0 . 5 microns to about 0 . 9 microns . the basis weight of the fine fiber layer can be less than about 25 gsm , commonly from about 0 . 1 to about 15 gsm , preferably less than 10 gsm or 5 gsm . the fine fiber layer may have a basis weight in the range of from about 0 . 5 to about 3 gsm or from about 0 . 5 to about 1 . 5 gsm , depending upon use of the nonwoven web . current fiber spinning methods such as melt spinning , electrospinning , flash spinning , etc ., deposit fibers with a mass distribution centered on the fiber issuing orifice because the probability of fiber deposition is highest at the point of fiber generation . the conical pack of the current disclosure avoids this problem because fiber generation and deposition are distributed uniformly around the circumference of a circle . the result of deposition on a moving take - up device from a single nozzle is a nominally uniform mass profile across the width of the deposition circle . the laws of physics make it increasingly difficult to distribute mass uniformly from a single fiber generating nozzle as throughput increases . this is because more work , faster is required for distribution as throughput increases . this is not the case with the conical pack . because of the geometry the uniformity of fiber distribution is nominally independent of throughput . the nozzle of the current disclosure provides therefore a unique capability to make uniform webs from a single nozzle at high throughput . while current film fibrillation methods typically produce non - uniform non - woven fibrous web , a more uniform fibrous web may be desirable for application such as drug delivery or wound care . a uniform fibrous web may have more controllable and predictable drug or active agent release characteristics . web uniformity can be measured through several methods . ( see description of uniformity index ( ui ) in u . s . pat . no . 7 , 118 , 698 to armantrout et al ). example 21 deposits fibers with mass distribution centered on the fiber issuing orifice , such as other nonwoven processes ; however , the technology of this disclosure lends itself to the design of a fiber forming nozzle with a conical , hollow laydown wherein the fiber generation and deposition are distributed uniformly around the circumference of a circle ( see fig3 ). examples of uniformity metrics include low coefficient of variation of pore diameter , basis weight , air permeability , and / or thermal resistance . uniformity may also be evaluated by the hydrohead or other liquid barrier measurement of the web . the relative distribution of microfibers in the non - woven fibrous web depends on the application and the polymer used . certain thermoplastic polymers such as pcl offer greater compression resistance and elasticity retaining its original shape after compression . the table below compares the uniformity levels of non - woven materials produced with the method of the current disclosure to other nonwoven materials . the uniformity of the produced materials with the methods of the current disclosure approaches that of films . in a preferred embodiment the ui of the material produced is between 2 and 6 . a process for spinning polymer submicron fibers into non - woven webs without the use of solvents according to the present disclosure is shown in fig1 and consists of the following process steps : the two - phase method for spinning polymeric fibers without the use of solvents is shown in fig1 and consisted of the following process steps : polymer was heated and stirred in a reactor vessel 1 to the desired spinning temperature ( the polymer temperature ). the stirrer 2 was stopped and ambient air was fed through a pressurization line 3 to establish a head pressure 4 on the melted polymer ( the polymer pressure ). the valve 5 was opened and pressurized polymer was forced out of the reactor vessel 1 through the valve 5 and then through a filter 6 and into the nozzle 7 . heated , pressurized air was injected through ports 8 ( see fig2 , fig3 , fig4 , and fig5 ) into the mixing chamber 9 of the two phase flow nozzle creating a rotational flow 10 ( see fig4 ). heated polymer was injected into the two - phase chamber 9 through eight orifices 11 ( see fig6 , fig7 ) spaced at 45 degree locations around a cylindrical polymer feed tube 12 . the two - phasing air flow mixed with the polymer creating a two - phase flow which was then forced through a converging channel 13 . the decreasing area of the converging channel 13 forced an increase in air speed along the axis of the nozzle and transitioned the rotational flow in the two - phase chamber into a mainly axial flow as it exited the nozzle through the annular orifice 14 . it is believed that : the polymer is sheared by the accelerating gas flow within the converging channel creating polymeric film layers on both sides of the converging channel 13 . these polymeric film layers were sheared into fibers by the accelerated gas flow such that resulting fiber fineness corresponded to the thickness of the polymeric film . one aspect of the process is that the total volumetric polymer flow can be easily regulated by the number of polymer injection orifices 11 , thus creating a way to vary film thickness at the exit annular orifice 14 and hence fiber size . heated air carrying powder ( s ) was injected 15 ( see fig8 ) into the two - phase nozzle and forced into an annulus 16 such that this flow impinged upon and into 17 the two - phase flow of polymer and heated air while the polymer was still above its melt temperature . the combined flows then mixed and the powder ( s ) became attached to the fibers . in a preferred embodiment , the fibers are collected on a screen at a distance of approximately 12 - 28 in from the exit of the two - phase nozzle . in an alternate embodiment of the process , the solidified issued material is collected at a set distance from the exit of the two - phase nozzle , also referred to herein as the “ collection surface ”. the collector can be a stationary flat porous structure made from perforated metal sheet or rigid polymer . the collector can be coated with a friction - reducing coating such as a fluoropolymer resin , or it can be caused to vibrate in order to reduce the friction or drag between the collected material and the collection surface . the collection surface is preferably porous so that vacuum can be applied to the material as it is being collected to assist the pinning of the material to the collector . in one embodiment , the collection surface comprises a honeycomb material , which allows vacuum to be pulled on the collected material through the honeycomb material while providing sufficient rigidity not to deform as a result . the honeycomb can further have a layer of mesh covering it to collect the issued material . the collection surface can also be a component of the desired product itself . for instance , a preformed sheet can be the collection surface and a thin layer can be issued onto the collection surface to form a thin membrane on the surface of the preformed sheet . this can be useful for enhancing the surface properties of the sheet , such as printability , adhesion , porosity level , and so on . the preformed sheet can be a nonwoven or woven sheet , or a film . in this embodiment , the preformed sheet can even be a nonwoven sheet formed in the process of the disclosure itself , and subsequently fed through the process of the disclosure a second time , supported by the collection belt , as the collection surface . in another embodiment of the present disclosure , a preformed sheet can even be used in the process of the disclosure as the collection belt itself . the collection surface can alternatively comprise a flexible collection belt moving over a stationary cylindrical porous structure . the collection belt is preferably a smooth , porous material so that vacuum can be applied to the collected material through the cylindrical porous structure without causing holes to be formed in the collected material . the collection surface can alternatively further comprise a substrate such as a woven or a nonwoven fabric moving on the moving collection belt , such that the issued material is collected on the substrate rather than directly on the belt . this is especially useful when the material being collected is in the form of very fine particles . in one embodiment of the disclosure in which the material being issued comprises a polymeric fibrous material , the material collected on the collection surface is heated sufficiently to bond the material . this can be accomplished by maintaining the temperature of the atmosphere surrounding the collected material at a temperature sufficient to bond the collected material . the temperature of the material can be sufficient to cause a portion of the polymeric fibrous material to soften or become tacky so that it bonds to itself and the surrounding material as it is collected . a small portion of the polymer can be caused to soften or become tacky either by heating the issued material before it is collected sufficiently to melt a portion thereof , or by collecting the material and immediately thereafter , melting a portion of the collected material by way of the heated gas passing therethrough . in this way , the process of the disclosure can be used to make a self - bonded nonwoven product , wherein the temperature of the gas passing through the collected material is sufficient to melt or soften a small portion of the web but not so high as to melt a major portion of the web . various methods can be employed to secure or pin the material to the collection surface . according to one method , vacuum is applied to the collection surface from the side opposite the collection surface at a sufficient level to cause the material to be pinned to the collection surface . as an alternative to pinning the material by vacuum , the material can also be pinned to the collection surface by electrostatic force of attraction between the material and the collection surface , the collecting cylindrical structure , or the collection belt , as the case can be for a particular embodiment of the disclosure . this can be accomplished by creating either positive or negative ions in the gap between the nozzle and the collection surface while grounding the collection surface , so that the newly issued material picks up charged ions and thus the material becomes attracted to the collection surface . whether to create positive or negative ions in the gap between the nozzle and the collector is determined by what is found to more efficiently pin the material being issued . it has surprisingly been found that the uniformity index of the produced material improves with the application an electrical charge . in order to create positive or negative ions in the gap between the nozzle and the collection surface , and thus to positively or negatively charge the solidified issued material passing through the gap , one embodiment of the process of the present disclosure employs a charge - inducing element installed on the nozzle . the charge - inducing element can comprise pin ( s ), brushes , wire ( s ) or other element , wherein the element is made from a conductive material such as metal or a synthetic polymer impregnated with carbon . a voltage is applied to the charge - inducing element such that an electric current is generated in the charge - inducing element , creating a strong electric field in the vicinity of the charge - inducing element which ionizes the gas in the vicinity of the element thereby creating a corona . the amount of electrical current necessary to be generated in the charge - inducing element will vary depending on the specific material being processed , but the minimum is the level found to be necessary to sufficiently pin the material , and the maximum is the level just below the level at which arcing is observed between the charge - inducing element and the grounded collection belt . all documents cited 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 disclosure . a scanning electron microscope ( sem ) was used to take micrographs of polymer fibers . various magnifications were used and a scale watermark of 5 , 10 , 20 , or 100 microns was overlaid onto the sem image accordingly . the sem picture was imported into powerpoint ®, and an x and y axis was placed onto the picture and related to the micron scale using the line drawing tool . the resulting image was captured and imported into digitizelt © ( a software program used to digitize points within an image ). lengths ( in microns ) of the pictured axes were reported to the program relative to the micron scale overlaid onto the sem image , and two ( x , y ) data point . method used to determine the machine direction uniformity index . the md ui of a sheet is calculated according to the following procedure . a beta thickness and basis weight gauge ( quadrapac sensor by measurex infrand optics ) scans the sheet and takes a basis weight measurement every 0 . 2 inches ( 0 . 5 cm ) across the sheet in the cross direction ( cd ). the sheet then advances 0 . 42 inches ( 1 . 1 cm ) in the machine direction ( md ) and the gauge takes another row of basis weight measurements in the cd . in this way , the entire sheet is scanned , and the basis weight data is electronically stored in a tabular format . the rows and columns of the basis weight measurements in the table correspond to cd and md “ lanes ” of basis weight measurements , respectively . then each data point in column 1 is averaged with its adjacent data point in column 2 ; each data point in column 3 is averaged with its adjacent data point in column 4 ; and so on . effectively , this cuts the number of md lanes ( columns ) in half and simulates a spacing of 0 . 4 inch ( 1 cm ) between md lanes instead of 0 . 2 inch ( 0 . 5 cm ). in order to calculate the uniformity index ( ui ) in the machine direction (“ md ui ”), the ui is calculated for each column of the averaged data in the md . the ui for each column of data is calculated by first calculating the standard deviation of the basis weight and the mean basis weight for that column . the ui for the column is equal to the standard deviation of the basis weight divided by the square root of the mean basis weight , multiplied by 100 . finally , to calculate the overall machine direction uniformity index ( md ui ) of the sheet , all of the ui &# 39 ; s of each column are averaged to give one uniformity index . the units for uniformity index are ( ounces per square yd ) ½ . a stainless steel reactor vessel ( volume = 0 . 5 l ) was charged with 70 g of capa 6100 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ) and 30 g of capa 6500 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ). the polymer mixture was heated to 140 c and pressurized to 25 psig . the heated and pressurized polymer was forced through a 140 micron rated filter and then into the two - phase nozzle . heated air was injected into the two - phase chamber at 171 c and 40 psig . fibers were produced at a rate of 0 . 014 g / min . a microscope picture of the fibers produced is shown in fig9 . the fiber size distribution is shown in fig1 . a stainless steel reactor vessel ( volume = 0 . 5 l ) was charged with 70 g of capa 6100 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ) and 30 g of capa 6500 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ). the polymer mixture was heated to 160 c and pressurized to 40 psig . the heated and pressurized polymer was forced through a 140 micron rated filter and then into the two - phase nozzle . heated air was injected into the two - phase chamber at 181 c and 60 psig . fibers were produced at a rate of 0 . 31 g / min . a microscope picture of the fibers produced is shown in fig1 . the fiber size distribution is shown in fig1 . a stainless steel reactor vessel ( volume = 0 . 5 l ) was charged with 70 g of capa 6100 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ) and 30 g of capa 6500 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ). the polymer mixture was heated to 156 c and pressurized to 40 psig . the heated and pressurized polymer was forced through a 140 micron rated filter and then into the two - phase nozzle . heated air was injected into the two - phase chamber at 225 c and 60 psig . fibers were produced at a rate of 0 . 014 g / min . a sem of the fibers produced is shown in fig1 . the fiber size distribution is shown in fig1 . a stainless steel reactor vessel ( volume = 0 . 5 l ) was charged with 100 g of capa 6100 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 30 g of capa 6500 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 5 g of capa 6800 ( perstop ), and 0 . 5 g of cocamidopropyl betaine . the mixture was heated to 158 c and pressurized to 38 psig to make example 4 - 1 and the mixture was heated to 155 c and pressurized to 38 psig to make example 4 - 2 . the heated and pressurized mixture was forced through a 140 micron rated filter and then into the two - phase nozzle . heated air was injected into the two - phase chamber at 238 c and 40 psig for example 4 - 1 and heated air was injected into the two - phase chamber at 240 c and 40 psig for example 4 - 2 . a sem of example 4 - 1 as spun is shown in fig1 . a flow of air and kaolin powder at 81 c was impinged upon the primary two - phase flow , thereby attaching powder to the polymer mixture melt for example 4 - 1 ; and a flow of air and kaolin powder at 120 c impinged upon the primary two - phase flow , thereby attaching powder to the polymer mixture melt for example 4 - 2 . the production rates where : 0 . 77 g / min for example 4 - 1 and 0 . 81 g / min for example 4 - 2 . the samples as - spun were water washed in stirred beaker to induce some shear on the attached powder . the samples were then “ ashed ” to determine the amount of powder remaining on the samples . another set of the samples were heated in an oven to 55 c for 10 minutes and then subjected to water washing and “ ashed ” to determine the remaining amounts of powder . another set of samples were tested for blood clotting time . for reference , the control clotting time was 7 . 5 minutes , whereby the blood was brought to body temperature and allowed to clot without clotting agents present . a stainless steel reactor vessel ( volume = 0 . 5 l ) was charged with 105 g of capa 6100 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 45 g of capa 6500 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), and 0 . 5 g of cocamidopropyl betaine . the mixture was heated to 157 c and pressurized to 38 psig . the heated and pressurized mixture was forced through a 140 micron rated filter and then into the two - phase flow nozzle . heated air was injected into the two - phase chamber at 220 c and 38 psig . a flow of air and chitosan powder at 105 c impinged upon the primary two - phase flow , thereby attaching the powder to the polymer mixture melt . a sem of the fibers produced is shown in fig1 . the production rate was 1 . 72 g / min . the amount of attached chitosan powder was 10 . 1 % by weight . the blood clotting time was measured to be 4 . 5 minutes . an observation was that chitosan absorbed the blood very well and created a gel although the time to clot was lengthy . a stainless steel reactor vessel ( volume = 0 . 5 l ) was charged with 105 g of capa 6100 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 45 g of capa 6500 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), and 0 . 5 g of cocamidopropyl betaine . the mixture was heated to 154 c and pressurized to 37 - 38 psig . the heated and pressurized mixture was forced through a 140 micron rated filter and then into the two - phase nozzle . heated air was injected into the two - phase chamber at 218 c and 30 - 37 psig . a flow of air , chitosan powder , and kaolin powder at 76 c impinged upon the primary two - phase flow , thereby attaching the powders to the polymer mixture melt . the ratio of powders was : kaolin 75 % and chitosan 25 %. a sem of the collected fibers is shown in fig1 . the production rate was 0 . 7 - 0 . 88 g / min . the amount of attached powder ( chitosan and kaolin ) was 17 % by weight ; chitosan at 14 . 5 % and kaolin at 2 . 5 %. the sample was water washed and amount of attached kaolin after washing was 0 . 9 % and the amount of attached chitosan was found to be approximately unchanged at 14 . 5 %. air washing was observed to create a more “ open ” structure , thereby permitting the blood to flow more freely into the fibrous structure . also , it was observed that the blood began clotting immediately and wetted out the sample due to the chitosan . a stainless steel reactor vessel ( volume = 0 . 5 l ) was charged with 105 g of capa 6100 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 45 g of capa 6500 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), and 0 . 5 g of cocamidopropyl betaine . the mixture was heated to 154 c and pressurized to 40 psig . the heated and pressurized polymer was forced through a 140 micron rated filter and then into the two - phase nozzle . heated air was injected into the two - phase chamber at 228 c and 40 psig . a flow of air , ⅓ mol calcium peroxide powder , and ⅔ mol citric acid powder at 60 c was impinged upon the primary two - phase flow , thereby attaching the powders to the polymer mixture melt . the production rate was 0 . 71 g / min . the attachment of the powders to the fibers is shown in fig1 . the sample was saturated with water and the release rate of oxygen was measured ( see fig1 .) a stainless steel reactor vessel ( volume = 0 . 5 l ) was charged with 105 g of capa 6100 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 45 g of capa 6500 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), and 0 . 5 g of cocamidopropyl betaine . the mixture was heated to 152 c and pressurized to 40 psig . the heated and pressurized polymer was forced through a 140 micron rated filter and then into the two - phase nozzle . heated air was injected into the two - phase chamber at 212 c and 38 psig . a flow of air , reon powder , copper oxide powder , and chitosan powder at 350 c was impinged upon the primary two - phase flow , thereby attaching the powders to the polymer mixture melt . the weight ratio of the powders was : reon 25 %, copper oxide 25 %, and chitosan 50 %. a sem picture of the collected fibers is shown in fig2 . the production rate was 0 . 6 g / min . a stainless steel reactor vessel ( volume = 0 . 5 l ) was charged with 105 g of capa 6100 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 45 g of capa 6500 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), and 0 . 5 g of cocamidopropyl betaine . the mixture was heated to 154 c and pressurized to 40 psig . the heated and pressurized polymer was forced through a 140 micron rated filter and then into the two - phase flow nozzle . heated air was injected into the two - phase chamber at 228 c and 40 psig . a flow of air , ⅓ mol calcium peroxide powder , ⅔ mol citric acid powder , and chitosan powder at 60 c was impinged upon the primary two - phase flow , thereby attaching the powders to the polymer mixture melt . the weight ratio of the powders was : citric acid 51 %, calcium peroxide 19 %, and chitosan 25 %. a sem picture of the collected fibers is shown in fig2 . the production rate was 0 . 71 g / min . a stainless steel reactor vessel ( volume = 0 . 5 l ) was charged with 105 g of capa 6100 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 45 g of capa 6500 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), and 0 . 5 g of cocamidopropyl betaine . the mixture was heated to 152 c and pressurized to 40 psig . the heated and pressurized polymer was forced through a 140 micron rated filter and then into the two - phase flow nozzle . heated air was injected into the two - phase chamber at 212 c and 38 psig . a flow of air , reon powder , kaolin powder , and chitosan powder at 350 c impinged upon the primary two - phase flow , thereby attaching the powders to the polymer mixture melt . the weight ratio of the powders was : reon 40 %, kaolin 50 %, and chitosan 10 %. the production rate was 0 . 6 g / min . after the sample was formed , a flow of steam was vacuumed through the material . this technique made the reon powder sticky thus forming more of a bond between the powders and the fibers . a sem picture of the material is shown in fig2 . a stainless steel reactor vessel ( volume = 0 . 5 l ) was charged with 105 g of capa 6100 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 45 g of capa 6500 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), and 0 . 5 g of cocamidopropyl betaine . the mixture was heated to 152 c and pressurized to 40 psig . the heated and pressurized polymer was forced through a 140 micron rated filter and then into the two - phase nozzle . heated air was injected into the two - phase chamber at 212 c and 38 psig . a flow of air , reon powder , kaolin powder , and chitosan powder at 350 c was impinged upon the primary two - phase flow , thereby attaching the powders to the polymer mixture melt . the weight ratio of the powders was : reon 25 %, copper oxide 25 %, and chitosan 50 %. a sem picture of the collected fibers is shown in fig2 . the production rate was 0 . 6 g / min . a stainless steel reactor vessel ( volume = 0 . 5 l ) was charged with 100 g of capa 6100 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 30 g of capa 6500 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 5 g of capa 6800 ( perstop ), and 0 . 5 g of cocamidopropyl betaine . the mixture was heated to 156 c and pressurized to 50 psig . the heated and pressurized mixture was forced through a 140 micron rated filter and then into the two - phase nozzle . heated air was injected into the two - phase chamber at 197 c and 50 psig . a flow of heated air and kaolin powder was impinged upon the primary two - phase flow , thereby attaching powder to the polymer mixture melt . a sem picture of the collected fibers is shown in fig2 . the flowrate was 1 . 89 g / min . a stainless steel reactor vessel ( volume = 0 . 5 l ) was charged with 100 g of capa 6100 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 30 g of capa 6500 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 5 g of capa 6800 ( perstop ), and 0 . 5 g of cocamidopropyl betaine . the mixture was heated to 130 c and pressurized to 42 psig . the heated and pressurized mixture was forced through a 140 micron rated filter and then into the two - phase nozzle . heated air was injected into the two - phase chamber at 207 c and 38 psig . heated air was impinged onto the 2 phase flow at 400 c . a sem picture of the collected fibers is shown in fig2 . the flowrate of fibers was 0 . 33 g / min . a stainless steel reactor vessel ( volume = 0 . 5 l ) was charged with 50 g of natureworks ® pla polymer 6302d . the polymer was heated to 174 c and pressurized to 42 psig . the heated and pressurized polymer was forced through a 140 micron rated filter and then into the two - phase nozzle . heated air was injected into the two - phase chamber at 278 c and 50 psig . a flow of heated air at approximately 350 c and powder mixture impinged upon the primary two - phase flow , thereby attaching the powder mixture to the polymer mixture melt . the powder mixture was 95 % reon ™ and 2 . 5 % chrysal clear professional 2 . the free jet carrying the pla fibers and the attached reon ™ and chrysal clear professional 2 powder mixture impinged upon the stems of a bouquet of cut flowers . the flowers were rotated slowly under the free jet allowing the fibers and attached powders to form a layer of material for transporting the bouquet . the material covered the cut ends of the stems and a distance of about 6 cm along the stems from the cut ends toward the flowers . the bouquet of flowers with the material is shown in fig2 , 27 , and 28 . a stainless steel reactor vessel ( volume = 0 . 5 l ) was charged with 105 g of capa 6100 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 45 g of capa 6500 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), and 0 . 5 g of cocamidopropyl betaine . the mixture was heated to 150 c and pressurized to 40 psig . the heated and pressurized mixture was forced through a 140 micron rated filter and then into the two - phase nozzle as shown in fig2 . heated air was injected into the two - phase chamber at 210 c and 38 psig . flowrate was 0 . 6 g / min . the issuing fibers were impinged upon a rotating circular plastic drinking straw at a distance of about 8 to 10 inches . the fibers were allowed to collect for about 4 to 4 minutes resulting in the formation of a tubular structure as shown in fig2 . the structure would be useful as a tissue engineering scaffold . a stainless steel reactor vessel ( volume = 0 . 5 l ) was charged with 70 g of capa 6100 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 30 g of capa 6500 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 25 g of natureworks polylatic acid polymer ( pla grade 6302d ), and 2 . 5 g kaolin powder . the mixture was heated to 165 c and pressurized to 40 psig . the heated and pressurized mixture was forced through a 140 micron rated filter and then into the two - phase nozzle as shown in fig2 . heated air was injected into the two - phase chamber at 265 c and 50 psig . the fibers produced were collected on a screen 12 - 28 inches away . a stainless steel reactor vessel ( volume = 0 . 5 l ) was charged with 105 g of capa 6100 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 37 . 5 g of capa 6500 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 7 . 5 g of capa 6800 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), and 0 . 75 g of cocamidopropyl betaine . the mixture was heated to 150 c and pressurized to 50 psig . the heated and pressurized mixture was forced through a 140 micron rated filter and then into the two - phase nozzle as shown in fig2 . heated air was injected into the two - phase chamber at 232 c and 52 psig . the fibers produced were collected on a screen 12 - 28 inches away . a stainless steel reactor vessel ( volume = 0 . 5 l ) was charged with 105 g of capa 6100 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 37 . 5 g of capa 6500 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 7 . 5 g of capa 6800 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 0 . 75 g of cocamidopropyl betaine , and 1 . 5 g sodium percarbonate . the mixture was heated to 80 c and pressurized to 40 psig . the heated and pressurized mixture was forced through a 140 micron rated filter and then into the two - phase nozzle as shown in fig2 . heated air was injected into the two - phase chamber at 240 c and 50 psig . the fibers produced were collected on a screen 12 - 28 inches away . a sem picture of the fibers collected is shown in fig3 . a stainless steel reactor vessel ( volume = 0 . 5 l ) was charged with 25 g of capa 6100 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 25 g poly ( 2 - ethyl 2 oxazoline ) polymer , and 2 . 75 g kaolin powder . the mixture was heated to 154 c and pressurized to 32 psig . the heated and pressurized mixture was forced through a 140 micron rated filter and then into the two - phase nozzle as shown in fig2 . heated air was injected into the two - phase chamber at 243 c and 40 psig . the fibers produced were collected on a screen 12 - 28 inches away . a sem picture of the fibers collected is shown in fig3 . a stainless steel reactor vessel ( volume = 0 . 5 l ) was charged with 25 g of capa 6100 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 27 . 3 g of capa 6500 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 10 g poly ( 2 - ethyl 2 oxazoline ) polymer , and 5 g water . the mixture was heated to 151 c and pressurized to 32 psig . the heated and pressurized mixture was forced through a 140 micron rated filter and then into the two - phase nozzle as shown in fig2 . heated air was injected into the two - phase chamber at 222 c and 40 psig . the fibers produced were collected on a screen 12 - 28 inches away . a stainless steel reactor vessel ( volume = 0 . 5 l ) was charged with 105 g of capa 6100 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), 45 g of capa 6500 polycaprolactone polymer ( perstorp ), the mixture was heated to 160 c and pressurized to 60 psig . the heated and pressurized mixture was forced through a 140 micron rated filter and then into the two - phase nozzle as shown in fig3 . heated air was injected into the two - phase chamber at 245 c and 80 psig . the fiber flowrate was 0 . 141 g / min . the fibers produced were collected on a moving scrim of reemay ® as it passed over a vacuum box . the exit of the two - phase nozzle was 18 inches from the collecting surface . the machine - direction ( md ) uniformity of the collected sheet material was measured by weighing 0 . 5 inch squares in lanes in the md . three lanes were measured , each with 14 squares . the sample uniformity index , ui , was calculated to be 5 . 6 ( see definition of ui .)	3
other than in the operating examples , or where otherwise indicated , all numbers expressing quantities of ingredients and / or reaction conditions are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “ about ” which encompasses ± 10 %. “ keratinous substrate ” may be chosen from , for example , hair , eyelashes , lip , and eyebrows , as well as the stratum corneum of the skin and nails . “ polymers ” as defined herein , include homopolymers and copolymers formed from at least two different types of monomers . as used herein , the expression “ at least one ” means one or more and thus includes individual components as well as mixture / combinations . the “ wear ” of compositions as used herein , refers to the extent by which the color of the composition remains the same or substantially the same as at the time of application , as viewed by the naked eye , after a certain period or an extended period of time . wear properties may be evaluated by any method known in the art for evaluating such properties . for example , wear may be evaluated by a test involving the application of a composition to human hair , skin or lips and evaluating the color of the composition after a specified period of time . for example , the color of a composition may be evaluated immediately following application to hair , skin or lips and these characteristics may then be re - evaluated and compared after a certain amount of time . further , these characteristics may be evaluated with respect to other compositions , such as commercially available compositions . “ tackiness ” as used herein refers to the adhesion between two substances . for example , the more tackiness there is between two substances , the more adhesion there is between the substances . to quantify “ tackiness ,” it is useful to determine the “ work of adhesion ” as defined by iupac associated with the two substances . generally speaking , the work of adhesion measures the amount of work necessary to separate two substances . thus , the greater the work of adhesion associated with two substances , the greater the adhesion there is between the substances , meaning the greater the tackiness is between the two substances . work of adhesion and , thus , tackiness , can be quantified using acceptable techniques and methods generally used to measure adhesion , and is typically reported in units of force time ( for example , gram seconds (“ g s ”)). for example , the ta - xt2 from stable micro systems , ltd . can be used to determine adhesion following the procedures set forth in the ta - xt2 application study ( ref : mati / po . 25 ), revised january 2000 , the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference . according to this method , desirable values for work of adhesion for substantially non - tacky substances include less than about 0 . 5 g s , less than about 0 . 4 g s , less than about 0 . 3 g s and less than about 0 . 2 g s . as known in the art , other similar methods can be used on other similar analytical devices to determine adhesion . “ substituted ” as used herein , means comprising at least one substituent . non - limiting examples of substituents include atoms , such as oxygen atoms and nitrogen atoms , as well as functional groups , such as hydroxyl groups , ether groups , alkoxy groups , acyloxyalky groups , oxyalkylene groups , polyoxyalkylene groups , carboxylic acid groups , amine groups , acylamino groups , amide groups , halogen containing groups , ester groups , thiol groups , sulphonate groups , thiosulphate groups , siloxane groups , and polysiloxane groups . the substituent ( s ) may be further substituted . the composition according to the invention comprises at least one supramolecular polymer comprising a polyalkene - based supramolecular polymer . in particular , the polyalkene - based supramolecular polymer is obtained by a reaction , especially the condensation , of at least one polyalkene polymer functionalized with at least one reactive group , with at least one junction group functionalized with at least one reactive group capable of reacting with the reactive group ( s ) of the functionalized polyalkene polymer , said junction group being capable of forming at least three hydrogen bonds and preferably at least four hydrogen bonds , preferentially four hydrogen bonds . the terms “ polyalkene ” and “ polyolefin ” mean a polymer derived from the polymerization of at least one monomer of alkene type , comprising an ethylenic unsaturation , the said monomer possibly being pendent or in the main chain of the said polymer . the terms “ polyalkene ” and “ polyolefin ” are thus directed towards polymers that may or may not comprise a double bond . preferably , the supramolecular polymers used according to the invention are prepared from a polymer derived from the polymerization of an alkene comprising at least two ethylenic unsaturations . the supramolecular polymer according to the invention is capable of forming a supramolecular polymer chain or network , by ( self ) assembly of said polymer according to the invention with at least one other identical or different polymer according to the invention , each assembly involving at least one pair of paired junction groups , which may be identical or different , borne by each of the polymers according to the invention . for the purposes of the invention , the term “ junction group ” means any group comprising groups that donate or accept hydrogen bonds , and capable of forming at least three hydrogen bonds and preferably at least four hydrogen bonds , preferentially four hydrogen bonds , with an identical or different partner junction group . these junction groups may be lateral to the polymer backbone ( side branching ) and / or borne by the ends of the polymer backbone , and / or in the chain forming the polymer backbone . they may be distributed in a random or controlled manner . the polyalkene polymers are functionalized with at least one reactive group and preferably with at least two reactive groups . the functionalization preferably occurs at the chain ends . they are then referred to as telechelic polymers . the functionalization groups , or reactive groups , may be attached to the polyalkene polymer via linkers , preferably linear or branched c 1 - c 4 alkylene groups , or directly via a single bond . preferably , the functionalized polyalkene polymers have a number - average molecular mass ( mn ) of between 1000 and 8000 . even more preferably , they have a number - average molecular mass of between 1000 and 5000 , or even between 1500 and 4500 . even more preferably , they have a number - average molecular mass of between 2000 and 4000 . preferably , the functionalized polyalkene polymer , capable of forming all or part of the polymer backbone of the supramolecular polymer according to the invention ( preferably , it forms all of the backbone of the polymer ), is of formula ho — p — oh in which : p represents a homo - or copolymer that may be obtained by polymerization of one or more linear , cyclic and / or branched , polyunsaturated ( preferably diunsaturated ) c 2 - c 10 and preferably c 2 - c 4 alkenes . p preferably represents a homo - or copolymer that may be obtained by polymerization of one or more linear or branched , c 2 - c 4 diunsaturated alkenes . more preferably , p represents a polymer chosen from a polybutylene , a polybutadiene ( such as a 1 , 4 - polybutadiene or a 1 , 2 - polybutadiene ), a polyisoprene , a poly ( 1 , 3 - pentadiene ) and a polyisobutylene , and copolymers thereof . the preferred poly ( ethylene / butylenes ) are copolymers of 1 - butene and of ethylene . they may be represented schematically by the following sequence of units : [— ch 2 — ch 2 —] and [— ch 2 ch ( ch 2 — ch 3 )—]. according to a second preferred embodiment , p is a polybutadiene homopolymer , preferably chosen from a 1 , 4 - polybutadiene or a 1 , 2 - polybutadiene . the polybutadienes may be 1 , 4 - polybutadienes or 1 , 2 - polybutadienes , which may be represented schematically , respectively , by the following sequences of units : preferably , they are 1 , 2 - polybutadienes . preferably , p is a 1 , 2 - polybutadiene homopolymer . according to another embodiment , p is a polyisoprene . polyisoprenes may be represented schematically by the following sequences of units : a mixture of above units may obviously also be used , so as to form copolymers . the functionalized polyalkene polymers may be totally hydrogenated to avoid the risks of crosslinking . preferably , the functionalized polyalkene polymers used in the compositions according to the invention are hydrogenated . preferably , the polyalkene polymers are hydrogenated and functionalized with at least two oh reactive groups , which are preferably at the ends of the polymers . preferably , they have functionality as hydroxyl end groups of from 1 . 8 to 3 and preferably in the region of 2 . the polydienes containing hydroxyl end groups are especially defined , for example , in fr 2 782 723 . they may be chosen from polybutadiene , polyisoprene and poly ( 1 , 3 - pentadiene ) homopolymers and copolymers . mention will be made in particular of the hydroxylated polybutadienes sold by the company sartomer , for instance the krasol ® resins and the poly bd ® resins . preferably , they are hydrogenated dihydroxylated 1 , 2 - polybutadiene homopolymers , such as nisso - pb 1 , gi3000 , gi2000 and gi1000 sold by the company nisso , which may be represented schematically by the following formula : these polymers have the following number - average molecular masses : gi3000 of mn = 4700 , gi2000 of mn = 3300 and gi1000 of mn = 1500 . these values are measured by gpc according to the following protocol . determination of the number - average molecular mass mn , the weight - average molecular mass mw and the polydispersity index mw / mn in polystyrene equivalents . ps 6035000 - ps 3053000 - ps 915000 - ps 483000 - ps 184900 - ps 60450 - ps 19720 - ps 8450 - ps 3370 - ps 1260 - ps 580 inject 100 μl of each of the solutions into the calibration column . prepare a solution with a solids content of 0 . 5 % in thf ( tetrahydrofuran ). prepare the solution about 24 hours before injection . filter the solution through a millex fh filter ( 0 . 45 μm ). columns : pl rapid m ( batch 5m - poly - 008 - 15 ) from polymer labs pl - gel hts - d ( batch 5m - md - 72 - 2 ) from polymer labs pl - gel hts - f ( 10m - 2 - 169b - 25 ) from polymer labs pl - rapid - f ( 6m - 0l1 - 011 - 6 ) from polymer labs length : 150 mm — inside diameter : 7 . 5 mm pump : isocratic m1515 waters eluent : thf injection : 100 μl at 0 . 5 % am ( active material ) in the eluent detection : ri 64 mv ( waters 2424 refractometer ) the average molar masses are determined by plotting the calibration curve : log molar mass = f ( illusion volume at the top of the ri detection peak ) and using the empower option gpc software from waters . among the polyolefins with hydroxyl end groups , mention may be made preferentially of polyolefins , homopolymers or copolymers with α , ω - hydroxyl end groups , such as polyisobutylenes with α , ω - hydroxyl end groups ; and the copolymers of formula : where ( m + n ) is from 1 to 100 and 0 & lt ; n & lt ;( m + n ), more preferably ( m + n ) is from 5 to 50 and 0 & lt ; n & lt ;( m + n ); most preferably ( m + n ) is from 9 to 35 and 0 & lt ; n & lt ;( m + n ). in a preferred embodiment , the copolymers of the above formula are those sold by mitsubishi under the brand name polytail . the supramolecular polymers according to the invention also have in their structure at least one residue of a junction group capable of forming at least three hydrogen bonds and preferably at least four hydrogen bonds , said junction group being initially functionalized with at least one reactive group . unless otherwise mentioned , the term “ junction group ” means in the present description the group without its reactive function . the reactive groups are attached to the junction group via linkers l . l is a single bond or a saturated or unsaturated c 1 - c 20 divalent carbon - based group chosen in particular from a linear or branched c 11 - c 20 alkylene ; a c 5 - c 20 ( alkyl ) cycloalkylene alkylene ( preferably cyclohexylene methylene ), a c 11 - c 20 alkylene - biscycloalkylene ( preferably alkylene - biscyclohexylene ), a c 6 - c 20 ( alkyl ) arylene , and an alkylene - bisarylene ( preferably an alkylene - biphenylene ); the linker l possibly being substituted with at least one alkyl group and / or possibly comprising 1 to 4 n and / or o heteroatoms , especially in the form of an no 2 substituent . preferably , the linker is a group chosen from phenylene ; 1 , 4 - nitrophenylene ; 1 , 2 - ethylene ; 1 , 6 - hexylene ; 1 , 4 - butylene ; 1 , 6 -( 2 , 4 , 4 - trimethylhexylene ); 1 , 4 -( 4 - methylpentylene ); 1 , 5 -( 5 - methylhexylene ); 1 , 6 -( 6 - methylheptylene ); 1 , 5 -( 2 , 2 , 5 - trimethylhexylene ); 1 , 7 -( 3 , 7 - dimethyloctylene ); - isophorone -; 4 , 4 ′- methylene bis ( cyclohexylene ); tolylene ; 2 - methyl - 1 , 3 - phenylene ; 4 - methyl - 1 , 3 - phenylene ; and 4 , 4 - biphenylenemethylene . c 1 - c 20 alkylene such as —( ch 2 ) 2 —; —( ch 2 ) 6 —; — ch 2 ch ( ch 3 )— ch 2 — c ( ch 3 ) 2 — ch 2 — ch 2 —, and preferably , l is chosen from : - isophorone -; —( ch 2 ) 2 —; —( ch 2 ) 6 —; — ch 2 ch ( ch 3 )— ch 2 — c ( ch 3 ) 2 — ch 2 — ch 2 —; 4 , 4 ′- methylene biscyclohexylene ; and 2 - methyl - 1 , 3 - phenylene . according to one particularly preferred embodiment , the linker is an alkylcycloalkylene alkylene . preferably , according to this embodiment , the linker is an isophorone group . the term “ isophorone ” means the following group : the said reactive groups functionalizing the junction group must be capable of reacting with the — oh reactive group ( s ) borne by the functionalized polyalkene . reactive groups that may be mentioned include isocyanate (— n ═ c ═ o ) and thioisocyanate (— n ═ c ═ s ) groups . preferably , it is a group — n ═ c ═ o ( isocyanate ). the functionalized junction groups capable of forming at least three h bonds may comprise at least three identical or different functional groups , and preferably at least four functional groups , chosen from : the junction groups capable of forming at least three hydrogen bonds form a basic structural element comprising at least three groups , preferably at least four groups and more preferentially four functional groups capable of establishing hydrogen bonds . said basic structural elements capable of establishing hydrogen bonds may be represented schematically in the following manner : in which each of x 1 to x i is an hydrogen - bond accepting functional group ( identical or different ) and each of y 1 to y i is an hydrogen - bond donating functional group ( identical or different ). thus , each structural element should be able to establish hydrogen bonds with one or more partner structural elements , which are identical ( i . e . self - complementary ) or different , such that each pairing of two partner structural elements takes place by formation of at least three hydrogen bonds , preferably at least four hydrogen bonds and more preferentially four hydrogen bonds . a proton acceptor x will pair with a proton donor y . several possibilities are thus offered , for example pairing of : preferably , the junction groups may establish four hydrogen bonds with an identical ( or self - complementary ) partner group among which are two donor bonds ( for example preferably , the junction groups capable of forming at least four hydrogen bonds are chosen from : in this formula , r 1 , r 2 and r 3 have the following meanings : r 1 ( or r 1 and r 2 ) are single bonds constituting the point of attachment of the junction group to the linker capable of forming at least three ( preferably four ) hydrogen bonds to the rest of the graft . preferably , the said point of attachment is borne solely by r 1 , which is a single bond . r 2 represents a single bond or a divalent group chosen from a c 1 - c 6 alkylene or a monovalent group chosen from a hydrogen atom , or a linear or branched , saturated c 1 - c 10 monovalent hydrocarbon - based group , which may contain one or more heteroatoms such as o , s or n , these groups being optionally substituted with a hydroxyl , amino and / or thio group . preferably , r 2 may be a single bond or a monovalent group chosen from h , ch 2 oh , ( ch 2 ) 2 — oh and ch 3 . according to one particularly preferred embodiment , r 2 is h . r 3 represents a monovalent or divalent group , in particular , r 3 is chosen from a hydrogen atom or a linear or branched c 1 - c 10 saturated monovalent hydrocarbon - based group , which may contain one or more heteroatoms such as o , s or n , these groups being optionally substituted with a hydroxyl , amino and / or thio function . preferably , r 3 may be a monovalent group chosen from h , ch 2 oh , ( ch 2 ) 2 — oh and ch 3 . according to one particularly preferred embodiment , r 3 is a methyl group . according to one preferred embodiment , the junction groups are chosen from 2 - ureidopyrimidone and 6 - methyl - 2 - ureidopyrimidone . preferably , the preferred junction group is 6 - methyl - 2 - ureidopyrimidone . the junction groups , and especially the ureidopyrimidone junction groups , may be added directly or may be formed in situ during the process for preparing the supramolecular polymer . the first and second preparation methods described below illustrate these two alternatives , respectively . in particular , the functionalized junction groups capable of reacting with the functionalized polyalkene polymer to give the supramolecular polymer according to the invention are preferably of formula : c 1 - c 20 alkylene such as —( ch 2 ) 2 —; —( ch 2 ) 6 —; — ch 2 ch ( ch 2 )— ch 2 — c ( ch 2 ) 2 — ch 2 — ch 2 —, and preferably , l is chosen from : - isophorone -; —( ch 2 ) 6 —; and 4 , 4 ′- methylene biscyclohexylene . according to one particularly preferred embodiment , the junction group is of formula in one particularly preferred embodiment , the supramolecular polymer of the invention corresponds to the formula : l ′ and l ″ have , independently of each other , the following meaning : a single bond or a saturated or unsaturated c 1 - 20 divalent carbon - based group chosen in particular from a linear or branched c 1 - c 20 alkylene ; a c 5 - c 20 ( alkyl ) cycloalkylene alkylene ( preferably cyclohexylene methylene ); a c 11 - c 20 alkylene - biscycloalkylene ( preferably alkylene - biscyclohexylene ); a c 6 - c 20 ( alkyl ) arylene ; and an alkylene - bisarylene ( preferably an alkylene - biphenylene ); wherein one or both of l ′ and l ″ are possibly substituted with at least one alkyl group and / or possibly comprising 1 to 4 n and / or o heteroatoms , especially in the form of an no 2 substituent ; x and x ′═ o ; and p has the meaning given above for the functionalized polyalkene polymer . preferably , l ′ and l ″ each independently represent a saturated or unsaturated divalent c 1 - c 20 carbon - based group chosen in particular from a linear or branched c 1 - c 20 alkylene ; a c 5 - c 20 ( alkyl ) cycloalkylene ; an alkylene - biscycloalkylene ; and a c 6 - c 20 ( alkyl ) arylene . preferably , l ′ and l ″ each independently represent a group chosen from : - isophorone -; —( ch 2 ) 2 —; —( ch 2 ) 6 —; — ch 2 ch ( ch 3 )— ch 2 — c ( ch 3 ) 2 — ch 2 — ch 2 —; 4 , 4 ′- methylene biscyclohexylene ; and 2 - methyl - 1 , 3 - phenylene . preferably , p is hydrogenated and represents a polyethylene , a polybutylene , a polybutadiene , a polyisoprene , a poly ( 1 , 3 - pentadiene ), a polyisobutylene , or a copolymer thereof , especially a poly ( ethylene / butylene ). in one particularly preferred embodiment , the supramolecular polymer of the invention corresponds to the formula ( i ) below : wherein n can be an integer from 20 to 70 ; most preferably an integer from 30 to 40 . the polymer according to the invention may be prepared via the processes usually used by a person skilled in the art , especially for forming a urethane bond between the free oh functions of a polyalkene , and the isocyanate functions borne by the junction group . by way of non - limiting illustration , a first general preparation process consists in : optionally ensuring that the polymer to be functionalized does not comprise any residual water ; heating the said polymer comprising at least two reactive oh functions to a temperature that may be between 60 ° c . and 140 ° c . ; the hydroxyl number of the polymer possibly serving as a reference in order to measure the degree of progress of the reaction ; adding , preferably directly , the ureidopyrimidone junction group bearing the reactive functions , especially isocyanate such as those described in patent wo 2005 / 042 641 ; especially such as the junction groups having the cas numbers 32093 - 85 - 9 and 709028 - 42 - 2 ; optionally stirring the mixture , under a controlled atmosphere , at a temperature of about 90 - 130 ° c . ; for 1 to 24 hours ; optionally monitoring by infrared spectroscopy the disappearance of the characteristic isocyanate band ( between 2500 and 2800 cm − 1 ) so as to stop the reaction on total disappearance of the peak , and then allowing the final product to cool to room temperature . the reaction may also be monitored by assaying the hydroxyl functions ; it is also possible to add ethanol in order to ensure the total disappearance of the residual isocyanate functions . the reaction may be performed in the presence of a solvent , especially methyltetrahydrofuran , tetrahydrofuran , toluene , propylene carbonate or butyl acetate . it is also possible to add a conventional catalyst for forming a urethane bond . an example that may be mentioned is dibutyltin dilaurate . the polymer may finally be washed and dried , or even purified , according to the general knowledge of a person skilled in the art . according to the second preferred mode of preparation , the reaction may comprise the following steps : functionalization of the polymer , which has preferably been dried beforehand , with a diisocyanate according to the reaction scheme : the diisocyanate may optionally be in excess relative to the polymer . this first step may be performed in the presence of solvent , at a temperature of between 20 ° c . and 100 ° c . this first step may be followed by a period of stirring under a controlled atmosphere for 1 to 24 hours . the mixture may optionally be heated . the degree of progress of this first step may be monitored by assaying the hydroxyl functions . this second step may optionally be performed in the presence of a cosolvent such as toluene , butyl acetate or propylene carbonate . the reaction mixture may be heated to between 80 ° c . and 140 ° c . for a time ranging between 1 and 24 hours . the presence of a catalyst , especially dibutyltin dilaurate , may promote the production of the desired final product . the reaction may be monitored by infrared spectroscopy , by monitoring the disappearance of the characteristic peak of isocyanate between 2200 and 2300 cm − 1 . at the end of the reaction , ethanol may be added to the reaction medium in order to neutralize any residual isocyanate functions . the reaction mixture may be optionally filtered . the polymer may also be stripped directly in a cosmetic solvent . according to one particular mode , the said supramolecular polymer is dissolved in a hydrocarbon - based oil , which is preferably volatile , in particular isododecane . thus , the composition of the invention will comprise at least one hydrocarbon - based oil , which is preferably volatile , in particular at least isododecane , especially provided by the supramolecular polymer solution . in particular , the supramolecular polymer ( s ) may be present in a composition according to the invention in an amount ranging from about 1 % to about 60 % by weight , preferably from about 3 % to about 45 % by weight , more preferably from about 5 % to about 20 % by weight , based on the total weight of the composition . in another particular embodiment of the invention , a makeup composition is in the form of a lipstick and the supramolecular polymer ( s ) may be present therein in a content ranging from about 1 % to about 40 % by weight , preferably from about 3 % to about 30 % by weight , more preferably from about 5 % to about 15 % by weight , based on the total weight of the composition . hyperbranched polymers are molecular constructions having a branched structure , generally around a core . their structure generally lacks symmetry , the base units or monomers used to construct the hyperbranched polymer can be of diverse nature and their distribution is non - uniform . the branches of the polymer can be of different natures and lengths . the number of base units , or monomers , may be different depending on the different branching . while at the same time being asymmetrical , hyperbranched polymers can have : an extremely branched structure around a core ; successive generations or layers of branching ; a layer of end chains . hyperbranched polymers are polymers that are highly branched and contain large number of end groups . hyperbranched polymer usually contains a central core and the growth of the polymer emanates from this central core . the growth of the polymer is made possible by repeating units of single monomers or linear chains added onto the central core . the end unit of the single monomer or linear chain can be functionalized which can become junction points ( i . e ., linkage points ) for further growth of the polymer . the final form of the hyperbranched polymer exhibits a tree - like structure without any symmetry or regularity . the synthesis of hyperbranched polymer can be produced by single monomer methodology ( smm ) or double monomer methodology ( dmm ) ( gao and yan , 2004 ). for smm , polymerization involves an ab x , ab * or a latent ab x monomer through generally four different types of reaction mechanism : polycondensation of ab x monomers , self - condensing vinyl polymerization ( scvp ), self - condensation ring opening polymerization ( scrop ) and proton transfer polymerization ( ptp ). for dmm , a direct polymerization is possible with two types of monomers or monomer pairs , the most notable being the polymerization of “ a 2 + b n , n ≧ 2 ”, and the couple - monomer methodology ( cmm ) has also been used . there are several ways to characterize the topology of a hyperbranched polymer , such as , by its degree of branching and the wiener index . the degree of branching is defined as b = 2d /( 2d + l ) where d is the number of fully branched units and l is the number of partially reacted units ( holter et al ., 1997 ). for a completely linear polymer , b = 0 and for a fully branched hyperbranched polymer b = 1 . the wiener index states the sum of paths or branches between all pairs of non - hydrogen atoms in a molecule ( wiener , 1947 ). it is defined as ⁢ w = 1 2 ⁢ ∑ j = 1 n ⁢ ⁢ s ⁢ ⁢ ∑ i = 1 ns ⁢ ⁢ d i ⁢ ⁢ j where n is the degree of polymerization and d ij is the number of bonds separating site i and j of the molecule . for two polymers with equal number of molecular weight , the linear polymer will have a smaller wiener number than the hyperbranched polymer . an end group can be reacted with the hyperbranched polymer to obtain a particular functionality on the ends of chains . “ hyperbranched functional polymers ” refers to polymers comprising at least two , for example three , polymeric branches , forming either the main branch or a secondary branch , and each comprising at least one at least trifunctional branch point , which may be identical or different , and which is able to form at least two at least trifunctional branch points , different from and independent of one another . each branch point may be , for example , arranged in the interior of at least one chain . the branches may be , for example , connected to one another by a polyfunctional compound . as used herein , “ trifunctional branch point ” means the junction point ( i . e ., linkage point ) between three polymer branches , of which at least two branches may be different in chemical constitution and / or structure . for example , certain branches may be hydrophilic , i . e . may predominantly contain hydrophilic monomers , and other branches may be hydrophobic , i . e ., may predominantly contain hydrophobic monomers . further branches may additionally form a random polymer or a block polymer . as used herein , “ at least trifunctional branch ” means the junction points ( i . e ., linkage points ) between at least three polymeric branches , for example n polymeric branches ( wherein n = 3 or more ), of which n − 1 branches at least are different in chemical constitution and / or structure . as used herein , “ chain interior ” means the atoms situated within the polymeric chain , to the exclusion of the atoms forming the two ends of this chain . as used herein , “ main branch ” means the branch or polymeric sequence comprising the greatest percentage by weight of monomer ( s ). suitable hyperbranched functional polymers include , but are not limited to , hyperbranched polyols and hyperbranched polyacids . the at least one hyperbranched functional polymer may be present in the composition of the present invention in an amount ranging from about 0 . 1 to about 30 % by weight , more preferably from about 1 to about 20 % by weight , most preferably from about 2 to about 10 % by weight , relative to the total weight of the composition . according to the present invention , compositions comprising at least one hyperbranched polyol compound are provided . the at least one hyperbranched polyol compound of the present invention has at least two hydroxyl groups . preferably , the hyperbranched polyol has a hydroxyl number of at least 15 , more preferably of at least 50 , more preferably of at least 100 , and more preferably of at least about 150 . “ hydroxyl number ” or “ hydroxyl value ” which is sometimes also referred to as “ acetyl value ” is a number which indicates the extent to which a substance may be acetylated ; it is the number of milligrams of potassium hydroxide required for neutralization of the acetic acid liberated on saponifying 1 g of acetylated sample . according to preferred embodiments , the at least one hyperbranched polyol has a hydroxyl number between 50 and 250 , preferably between 75 and 225 , preferably between 100 and 200 , preferably between 125 and 175 , including all ranges and subranges therebetween such as 90 to 150 . in accordance with the present invention , “ hyperbranched polyol ” refers to dendrimers , hyperbranched macromolecules and other dendron - based architectures . hyperbranched polyols can generally be described as three - dimensional highly branched molecules having a tree - like structure . they are characterized by a great number of end groups , at least two of which are hydroxyl groups . the dendritic or “ tree - like ” structure preferably shows irregular non - symmetric branching from a central multifunctional core molecule leading to a compact globular or quasi - globular structure with a large number of end groups per molecule . suitable examples of hyperbranched polyols can be found in u . s . pat . no . 7 , 423 , 104 , and u . s . patent applications 2008 / 0207871 and 2008 / 0286152 , the entire contents of all of which are hereby incorporated by reference . other suitable examples include alcohol functional olefinic polymers such as those available from new phase technologies . for example , olefinic polymers can include a functionalized polyalphaolefin comprising the reaction product of admixing an alpha - olefin monomer having at least 10 carbon atoms and an unsaturated functionalizing compound . non - functionalized olefins that may be used in accordance with the present invention include , but are not limited to , 1 - decene , 1 - dodecene , 1 - tetradecene , 1 - hexadecene , 1 - octadecene , 1 - eicosene , as well as such commercial mixtures sold as alpha - olefins including those having mainly c10 - c13 , c20 - c24 chain lengths , c24 - c28 chain lengths and c30 and higher chain lengths . unsaturated functionalizing compounds useful with the present invention are chosen from alcohols , including olefinic alcohols such as allyl alcohol , 9 - decen - 1 - ol , 10 - undecylenyl alcohol , oleyl alcohol , and erucyl alcohol . the molar ratio of alpha - olefin monomer to unsaturated functionalizing compound can range from about 20 : 1 to 1 : 20 such as from about 10 : 1 to 1 : 10 or such as from about 8 : 1 to 1 : 2 . after the polymerization , the alcohol functional olefinic polymers preferably have molecular weights , determined using gel permeation chromatography procedure and a polystyrene standard , of from about 200 daltons to about 150 , 000 daltons , such as from about 400 daltons to about 80 , 000 daltons or such as from about 600 daltons to about 6 , 000 daltons . according to certain embodiments , the alcohol functional olefinic polymer has a dynamic viscosity ranging from 0 . 1 pa · s to 100 pa · s , such as from 0 . 1 pa · s to 50 pa · s , or such as from 0 . 1 pa · s to 10 pa · s at room temperature . according to particularly preferred embodiments of the present invention , the at least one hyperbranched polyol compound comprises a hydrophobic chain interior . preferably , the chain interior comprises one or more hydrocarbon groups , one or more silicon - based groups , or mixtures thereof . particularly preferred chain interiors comprise olefinic polymers or copolymers and / or silicone polymers or copolymers . suitable olefinic monomers include , but are not limited to , compounds having from about 2 to about 30 carbon atoms per molecule and having at least one olefinic double bond which are , for example , acyclic , cyclic , polycyclic , linear , branched , substituted , unsubstituted , functionalized or non - functionalized . for example , suitable monomers include ethylene , propylene , 1 - butene , 2 - butene , 3 - methyl - 1 - butene , and isobutylene . suitable silicone groups for inclusion into the interior chain include , but are not limited to , m , d , t , and / or q groups in accordance with commonly used silicon - related terminology ( m = monovalent ; d = divalent ; t = trivalent ; and q = quadvalent ). particularly preferred monomers are “ d ” groups such as dimethicone or substituted dimethicone groups . such groups can help form , for example , suitable dimethicone copolyols in accordance with the present invention . a preferred structure of the at least one hyperbranched polyol of the present invention is as follows : where x corresponds to hydroxyl functionality and r corresponds to a methyl group or an alkyl group preferably containing 2 - 30 atoms . according to preferred embodiments , the at least one hyperbranched polyol compound has a molecular weight ( mw ) between about 1 , 000 and about 25 , 000 , preferably between about 2 , 000 and about 22 , 000 , preferably between about 3 , 000 and about 20 , 000 , including all ranges and subranges therebetween such as about 4000 to about 5500 . according to preferred embodiments , the at least one hyperbranched polyol compound has a viscosity at 90 ° f . of between 0 . 01 pa · s and 10 pa · s , such as between 0 . 02 and 7 pa · s , and such as between 0 . 03 and 6 pa · s , including all ranges and subranges therebetween . the viscosity is determined using brookfield viscometer at 90 ° f . by astmd - 3236mod method . a particularly preferred at least one hyperbranched polyol compound for use in the present invention is c20 - c24 olefin / oleyl alcohol copolymer , commercially available from new phase technologies under the trade name performa v ™- 6175 . the at least one hyperbranched polyol compound may be present in the composition of the present invention in an amount ranging from about 1 to about 30 % by weight , more preferably from about 5 to about 25 % by weight , most preferably from about 10 to about 20 % by weight , relative to the total weight of the composition . according to the present invention , compositions comprising at least one hyperbranched polyacid compound are provided . the aforementioned “ hyperbranched polyol ” refers to the hyperbranched functional polymer wherein the functional groups are substituted with hydroxyl groups . similar definition applies to the term “ hyperbranched polyacid ” wherein the functional groups of the hyperbranched functional polymer are substituted with carboxylic acid groups . the at least one hyperbranched polyacid compound of the present invention has at least two carboxyl groups . preferably , the hyperbranched polyacid has a carboxyl number of at least 3 , more preferably of at least 10 , more preferably of at least 50 , and more preferably of at least about 150 . according to preferred embodiments , the at least one hyperbranched polyacid has a carboxyl number between 50 and 250 , preferably between 75 and 225 , preferably between 100 and 200 , preferably between 125 and 175 , including all ranges and subranges there between such as 90 to 150 . suitable examples of hyperbranched polyacids can be found in u . s . pat . no . 7 , 582 , 719 , and ep1367080 , the entire contents of all of which are hereby incorporated by reference . unsaturated functionalizing compounds useful with the present invention include , but are not limited to , carboxylic acids , carboxylic acid esters , amides , ethers , amines , phosphate esters , silanes and alcohols . examples of such carboxylic acids include , but are not limited to , 5 - hexenoic acid , 6 - heptenoic acid , 10 - undecylenic acid , 9 - decenoic acid , oleic acid , and erucic acid . also useful are esters of these acids with linear or branched - chain alcohols having from about 1 to about 10 carbon atoms , as well as triglycerides containing olefinic unsaturation in the fatty acid portion such as tall oil , fish oils , soybean oil , linseed oil , cottonseed oil and partially hydrogenated products of such oils . other useful materials include olefinic alcohols such as allyl alcohol , 9 - decen - 1 - ol , 10 - undecylenyl alcohol , oleyl alcohol , erucyl alcohol , acetic acid or formic acid esters of these alcohols , c1 - c4 alkyl ether derivatives of these alcohols and formamides or acetamides of unsaturated amines such as oleylamine , erucylamine , 10 - undecylenylamine and allylamine . a particularly preferred acid functional olefinic polymer is c30 + olefin / undecylenic acid copolymer available from new phase technologies under trade name performa v ™- 6112 . according to preferred embodiments , the at least one hyperbranched acid compound has a molecular weight ( mw ) between about 500 and about 25 , 000 , preferably between about 800 and about 10000 , preferably between about 1000 and about 8000 , including all ranges and subranges there between such as about 1000 to about 6000 . according to preferred embodiments , the at least one hyperbranched polyacid compound has a viscosity at 210 ° f . of between 0 . 01 pa · s and 10 pa · s , such as between 0 . 02 and 7 pa · s , and such as between 0 . 03 and 6 pa · s , including all ranges and subranges there between . the viscosity is determined using brookfield viscometer at 210 ° f . by astmd - 3236mod method . according to preferred embodiments , the at least one hyperbranched acid compound has an acid number between about 20 and about 400 mg / koh , more preferably between about 30 and about 300 mg / koh , and even more preferably between about 50 and about 100 mg / koh . the at least one hyperbranched polyacid compound is present in the composition of the present invention in an amount ranging from about 0 . 1 to about 20 % by weight , more preferably from about 0 . 2 to about 10 % by weight , most preferably from about 0 . 5 to about 5 % by weight , relative to the total weight of the composition . a composition according to the invention further comprises a fatty phase . this fatty phase may comprise oils , waxes and / or pasty compounds and / or silicone compounds as defined below . the fatty phase ranges from 1 % to 97 % by weight , especially 5 % to 95 % by weight or even 10 % to 90 % by weight , relative to the total weight of the composition . thus , a composition according to the invention may advantageously comprise one or more oils , which may be chosen especially from hydrocarbon - based oils and fluoro oils , and mixtures thereof . the oils may be of animal , plant , mineral or synthetic origin . the term “ oil ” means a water - immiscible non - aqueous compound that is liquid at room temperature ( 25 ° c .) and at atmospheric pressure ( 760 mmhg ). for the purposes of the invention , the term “ volatile oil ” means any oil that is capable of evaporating on contact with keratin materials in less than one hour , at room temperature and atmospheric pressure . volatile oils preferably have a non - zero vapour pressure , at room temperature and atmospheric pressure , ranging from 0 . 13 pa to 40 , 000 pa , in particular from 1 . 3 pa to 13 , 000 pa and more particularly from 1 . 3 pa to 1 , 300 pa . the term “ fluoro oil ” means an oil comprising at least one fluorine atom . the term “ hydrocarbon - based oil ” means an oil mainly containing hydrogen and carbon atoms . the oils may optionally comprise oxygen , nitrogen , sulfur and / or phosphorus atoms , for example in the form of hydroxyl or acid radicals . the volatile oils may be chosen from hydrocarbon - based oils containing from 8 to 16 carbon atoms , and especially c 8 - c 16 branched alkanes ( also known as isoparaffins ), for instance isododecane , isodecane and isohexadecane . the volatile hydrocarbon - based oil may also be a linear volatile alkane containing 7 to 17 carbon atoms , in particular 9 to 15 carbon atoms and more particularly 11 to 13 carbon atoms . mention may be made especially of n - nonadecane , n - decane , n - undecane , n - dodecane , n - tridecane , n - tetradecane , n - pentadecane and n - hexadecane , and mixtures thereof . hydrocarbon - based oils of animal origin , hydrocarbon - based oils of plant origin , such as phytostearyl esters , such as phytostearyl oleate , phytostearyl isostearate and lauroyl / octyldodecyl / phytostearyl glutamate ; triglycerides formed from fatty acid esters of glycerol , in particular whose fatty acids may have chain lengths ranging from c 4 to c 36 and especially from c 18 to c 36 , these oils possibly being linear or branched , and saturated or unsaturated ; these oils may especially be heptanoic or octanoic triglycerides , shea oil , alfalfa oil , poppy oil , pumpkin oil , millet oil , barley oil , quinoa oil , rye oil , candlenut oil , passionflower oil , shea butter oil , aloe oil , sweet almond oil , peach stone oil , groundnut oil , argan oil , avocado oil , baobab oil , borage oil , broccoli oil , calendula oil , camellina oil , carrot oil , safflower oil , hemp oil , rapeseed oil , cottonseed oil , coconut oil , marrow seed oil , wheatgerm oil , jojoba oil , lily oil , macadamia oil , corn oil , meadowfoam oil , st - john &# 39 ; s wort oil , monoi oil , hazelnut oil , apricot kernel oil , walnut oil , olive oil , evening primrose oil , palm oil , blackcurrant pip oil , kiwi seed oil , grape seed oil , pistachio oil , pumpkin oil , quinoa oil , musk rose oil , sesame oil , soybean oil , sunflower oil , castor oil and watermelon oil , and mixtures thereof , or alternatively caprylic / capric acid triglycerides , such as those sold by the company stearineries dubois or those sold under the names miglyol 810 ®, 812 ® and 818 ® by the company dynamit nobel , synthetic ethers containing from 10 to 40 carbon atoms ; synthetic esters , for instance the oils of formula r 1 coor 2 , in which r 1 represents a linear or branched fatty acid residue containing from 1 to 40 carbon atoms and r 2 represents a hydrocarbon - based chain , which is especially branched , containing from 1 to 40 carbon atoms , on condition that r 1 + r 2 ≧ 10 . the esters may be chosen especially from fatty acid esters of alcohols , for instance cetostearyl octanoate , isopropyl alcohol esters , such as isopropyl myristate , isopropyl palmitate , ethyl palmitate , 2 - ethylhexyl palmitate , isopropyl stearate , isopropyl isostearate , isostearyl isostearate , octyl stearate , hydroxylated esters , for instance isostearyl lactate , octyl hydroxystearate , diisopropyl adipate , heptanoates , and especially isostearyl heptanoate , alcohol or polyalcohol octanoates , decanoates or ricinoleates , for instance propylene glycol dioctanoate , cetyl octanoate , tridecyl octanoate , 2 - ethylhexyl 4 - diheptanoate , 2 - ethylhexyl palmitate , alkyl benzoates , polyethylene glycol diheptanoate , propylene glycol 2 - diethylhexanoate , and mixtures thereof , c 12 - c 15 alcohol benzoates , hexyl laurate , neopentanoic acid esters , for instance isodecyl neopentanoate , isotridecyl neopentanoate , isostearyl neopentanoate , octyldodecyl neopentanoate , isononanoic acid esters , for instance isononyl isononanoate , isotridecyl isononanoate , octyl isononanoate , hydroxylated esters , for instance isostearyl lactate and diisostearyl malate , polyol esters and pentaerythritol esters , for instance dipentaerythrityl tetrahydroxystearate / tetraisostearate , esters of diol dimers and of diacid dimers , copolymers of diol dimer and of diacid dimer and esters thereof , such as dilinoleyl diol dimer / dilinoleic dimer copolymers , and esters thereof , copolymers of polyols and of diacid dimers , and esters thereof , fatty alcohols that are liquid at room temperature , with a branched and / or unsaturated carbon - based chain containing from 12 to 26 carbon atoms , for instance 2 - octyldodecanol , isostearyl alcohol , oleyl alcohol , 2 - hexyldecanol , 2 - butyloctanol and 2 - undecylpentadecanol , c 12 - c 22 higher fatty acids , such as oleic acid , linoleic acid and linolenic acid , and mixtures thereof ; dialkyl carbonates , the two alkyl chains possibly being identical or different , such as dicaprylyl carbonate ; oils with a molar mass of between about 400 and about 10 , 000 g / mol , in particular about 650 to about 10 , 000 g / mol , in particular from about 750 to about 7 , 500 g / mol and more particularly ranging from about 1 , 000 to about 5 , 000 g / mol ; mention may be made especially , alone or as a mixture , of ( i ) lipophilic polymers such as polybutylenes , polyisobutylenes , for example hydrogenated polydecenes , vinylpyrrolidone copolymers , such as the vinylpyrrolidone / 1 - hexadecene copolymer , and polyvinylpyrrolidone ( pvp ) copolymers , such as the copolymers of a c 2 - c 30 alkene , such as c 3 - c 22 , and combinations thereof ; ( ii ) linear fatty acid esters containing a total carbon number ranging from 35 to 70 , for instance pentaerythrityl tetrapelargonate ; ( iii ) hydroxylated esters such as polyglyceryl - 2 triisostearate ; ( iv ) aromatic esters such as tridecyl trimellitate ; ( v ) esters of fatty alcohols or of branched c 24 - c 28 fatty acids , such as those described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 491 , 927 and pentaerythritol esters , and especially triisoarachidyl citrate , pentaerythrityl tetraisononanoate , glyceryl triisostearate , glyceryl 2 - tridecyltetradecanoate , pentaerythrityl tetraisostearate , poly ( 2 - glyceryl ) tetraisostearate or pentaerythrityl 2 - tetradecyltetradecanoate ; ( vi ) diol dimer esters and polyesters , such as esters of diol dimer and of fatty acid , and esters of diol dimer and of diacid . in particular , one or more oils according to the invention may be present in a composition according to the invention in a content ranging from 1 % to 90 % by weight , preferably ranging from 2 % to 75 % by weight or even from 3 % to 60 % by weight relative to the total weight of the composition . it is understood that the above - described weight percentage of oil takes into account the weight of oil used for the formulation of the associated supramolecular polymer , if present . for the purposes of the present invention , the term “ silicone oil ” means an oil comprising at least one silicon atom , and especially at least one si — o group . in particular , the volatile or non - volatile silicone oils that may be used in the invention preferably have a viscosity at 25 ° c . of less than 800 , 000 cst , preferably less than or equal to 600 , 000 cst and preferably less than or equal to 500 , 000 cst . the viscosity of these silicone oils may be measured according to standard astm d - 445 . the silicone oils that may be used according to the invention may be volatile or non - volatile or mixtures of volatile and non - volatile silicone oils . thus , a composition according to the invention or under consideration according to a process of the invention may contain a mixture of volatile and non - volatile silicone oils . in a preferred embodiment , the term “ volatile silicone oil ” means an oil that can evaporate on contact with the skin in less than one hour , at room temperature ( 25 ° c .) and atmospheric pressure . the volatile silicone oil is a volatile cosmetic oil , which is liquid at room temperature , especially having a non - zero vapour pressure , at room temperature and atmospheric pressure , in particular having a vapour pressure ranging from 0 . 13 pa to 40 , 000 pa ( 10 − 3 to 300 mmhg ), preferably ranging from 1 . 3 pa to 13 , 000 pa ( 0 . 01 to 100 mmhg ) and preferentially ranging from 1 . 3 pa to 1 , 300 pa ( 0 . 1 to 10 mmhg ). the term “ non - volatile silicone oil ” means an oil whose vapour pressure at room temperature and atmospheric pressure is non - zero and less than 0 . 02 mmhg ( 2 . 66 pa ) and better still less than 10 − 3 mmhg ( 0 . 13 pa ). in one embodiment of the present invention , compositions according to the invention comprise at least one volatile silicone oil . the volatile silicone oils that may be used in the invention may be chosen from silicone oils especially having a viscosity ≦ 8 centistokes ( cst ) ( 8 × 10 − 6 m 2 / s ). furthermore , the volatile silicone oil that may be used in the invention may preferably be chosen from silicone oils with a flash point ranging from 40 ° c . to 102 ° c ., preferably with a flash point of greater than 55 ° c . and less than or equal to 95 ° c ., and preferentially ranging from 65 ° c . to 95 ° c . volatile silicone oils that may be mentioned include : volatile linear or cyclic silicone oils , especially those with a viscosity ≦ 8 centistokes ( cst ) ( 8 × 10 − 6 m 2 / s at 25 ° c . ), and especially containing from 2 to 10 silicon atoms and in particular from 2 to 7 silicon atoms , these silicones optionally comprising alkyl or alkoxy groups containing from 1 to 10 carbon atoms . more particularly , the volatile silicone oils are non - cyclic and are chosen in particular from : a saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbon - based radical , containing from 1 to 10 carbon atoms and preferably from 1 to 6 carbon atoms , optionally substituted with one or more fluorine atoms or with one or more hydroxyl groups , or a hydroxyl group , one of the radicals r possibly being a phenyl group , n is an integer ranging from 0 to 8 , preferably ranging from 2 to 6 and better still ranging from 3 to 5 , further wherein none of the r groups in the silicone compound of formula ( d ) contain more than 15 carbon atoms ; a saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbon - based radical , containing from 1 to 10 carbon atoms , optionally substituted with one or more fluorine atoms or with one or more hydroxyl groups , or a hydroxyl group , one of the radicals r possibly being a phenyl group , x is an integer ranging from 0 to 8 , further wherein none of the r groups in the silicone compound of formula ( e ) or ( f ) contain more than 15 carbon atoms . preferably , for the compounds of formulae ( d ), ( e ) and ( f ), the ratio between the number of carbon atoms and the number of silicon atoms is between 2 . 25 and 4 . 33 . the silicones of formulae ( d ) to ( f ) may be prepared according to the known processes for synthesizing silicone compounds . among the silicones of formula ( d ) that may be mentioned are : the following disiloxanes : hexamethyldisiloxane ( surface tension = 15 . 9 mn / m ), sold especially under the name dc 200 fluid 0 . 65 cst by the company dow corning , 1 , 3 - di - tert - butyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetramethyldisiloxane ; 1 , 3 - dipropyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetramethyldisiloxane ; heptylpentamethyldisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 - triethyl - 3 , 3 , 3 - trimethyldisiloxane ; hexaethyldisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetramethyl - 1 , 3 - bis ( 2 - methylpropyl ) disiloxane ; pentamethyloctyldisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 - trimethyl - 3 , 3 , 3 - tris ( 1 - methylethyl ) disiloxane ; 1 - butyl - 3 - ethyl - 1 , 1 , 3 - trimethyl - 3 - propyldisiloxane ; pentamethylpentyldisiloxane ; 1 - butyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetramethyl - 3 -( 1 - methylethyl ) disiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetramethyl - 1 , 3 - bis ( 1 - methylpropyl ) disiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 3 - triethyl - 1 , 3 , 3 - tripropyldisiloxane ; 3 , 3 - dimethylbutyl ) pentamethyldisiloxane ; ( 3 - methylbutyl ) pentamethyldisiloxane ; ( 3 - methylpentyl ) pentamethyldisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 - triethyl - 3 , 3 - dimethyl - 3 - propyldisiloxane ; 1 -( 1 , 1 - dimethylethyl )- 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 , 3 - pentamethyldisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 - trimethyl - 3 , 3 , 3 - tripropyldisiloxane ; 1 , 3 - dimethyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetrakis ( 1 - methylethyl ) disiloxane ; 1 , 1 - dibutyl - 1 , 3 , 3 , 3 - tetramethyldisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetramethyl - 1 , 3 - bis ( 1 - methylethyl ) disiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 - tetramethyl - 3 , 3 - bis ( 1 - methylethyl ) disiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 - tetramethyl - 3 , 3 - dipropyldisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetramethyl - 1 , 3 - bis ( 3 - methylbutyl ) disiloxane ; butylpentamethyldisiloxane ; pentaethylmethyldisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetramethyl - 1 , 3 - dipentyldisiloxane ; 1 , 3 - dimethyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetrapropyldisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 - tetraethyl - 3 , 3 - dimethyldisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 - triethyl - 3 , 3 , 3 - tripropyldisiloxane ; 1 , 3 - dibutyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetramethyldisiloxane and hexylpentamethyldisiloxane ; the following trisiloxanes : octamethyltrisiloxane ( surface tension = 17 . 4 mn / m ), sold especially under the name dc 200 fluid 1 cst by the company dow corning , 3 - pentyl - 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 5 - heptamethyltrisiloxane ; 1 - hexyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 5 - heptamethyltrisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 , 5 , 5 - heptamethyl - 5 - octyltrisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 5 - heptamethyl - 3 - octyltrisiloxane , sold especially under the name silsoft 034 by the company osi ; 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 5 - heptamethyl - 3 - hexyltrisiloxane ( surface tension = 20 . 5 mn / m ), sold especially under the name dc 2 - 1731 by the company dow corning ; 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 , 5 , 5 - hexamethyl - 1 , 5 - dipropyltrisiloxane ; 3 -( 1 - ethylbutyl )- 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 5 - heptamethyltrisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 5 - heptamethyl - 3 -( 1 - methylpentyl ) trisiloxane ; 1 , 5 - diethyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 , 5 , 5 - hexamethyltrisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 5 - heptamethyl - 3 -( 1 - methylpropyl ) trisiloxane ; 3 -( 1 , 1 - dimethylethyl )- 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 5 - heptamethyltrisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 , 5 , 5 , 5 - hexamethyl - 3 , 3 - bis ( 1 - methylethyl ) trisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 , 5 , 5 - hexamethyl - 1 , 5 - bis ( 1 - methylpropyl ) trisiloxane ; 1 , 5 - bis ( 1 , 1 - dimethylethyl )- 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 , 5 , 5 - hexamethyltrisiloxane ; 3 -( 3 , 3 - dimethylbutyl )- 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 5 - heptamethyltrisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 5 - heptamethyl - 3 -( 3 - methylbutyl ) trisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 5 - heptamethyl - 3 -( 3 - methylpentyl ) trisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 5 - heptamethyl - 3 -( 2 - methylpropyl ) trisiloxane ; 1 - butyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 5 - heptamethyltrisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 5 - heptamethyl - 3 - propyltrisiloxane ; 3 - isohexyl - 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 5 - heptamethyltrisiloxane ; 1 , 3 , 5 - triethyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 5 - pentamethyltrisiloxane ; 3 - butyl - 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 5 - heptamethyltrisiloxane ; 3 - tert - pentyl - 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 5 - heptamethyltrisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 , 5 , 5 , 5 - hexamethyl - 3 , 3 - dipropyltrisiloxane ; 3 , 3 - diethyl - 1 , 1 , 1 , 5 , 5 , 5 - hexamethyltrisiloxane ; 1 , 5 - dibutyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 , 5 , 5 - hexamethyltrisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 , 5 , 5 , 5 - hexaethyl - 3 , 3 - dimethyltrisiloxane ; 3 , 3 - dibutyl - 1 , 1 , 1 , 5 , 5 , 5 - hexamethyltrisiloxane ; 3 - ethyl - 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 5 - heptamethyltrisiloxane ; 3 - heptyl - 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 5 - heptamethyltrisiloxane and 1 - ethyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 5 - heptamethyltrisiloxane ; the following tetrasiloxanes : decamethyltetrasiloxane ( surface tension = 18 mn / m ), sold especially under the name dc 200 fluid 1 . 5 cst by the company dow corning ; 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 7 , 7 - octamethyl - 1 , 7 - dipropyltetrasiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 , 5 , 7 , 7 , 7 - nonamethyl - 5 -( 1 - methylethyl ) tetrasiloxane ; 1 - butyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 7 , 7 , 7 - nonamethyltetrasiloxane ; 3 , 5 - diethyl - 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 7 , 7 , 7 - octamethyltetrasiloxane ; 1 , 3 , 5 , 7 - tetraethyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 7 , 7 - hexamethyltetrasiloxane ; 3 , 3 , 5 , 5 - tetraethyl - 1 , 1 , 1 , 7 , 7 , 7 - hexamethyltetrasiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 7 , 7 - nonamethyl - 7 - phenyltetrasiloxane ; 3 , 3 - diethyl - 1 , 1 , 1 , 5 , 5 , 7 , 7 , 7 - octamethyltetrasiloxane ; and 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 , 5 , 7 , 7 , 7 - nonamethyl - 5 - phenyltetrasiloxane ; the following pentasiloxanes : dodecamethylpentasiloxane ( surface tension = 18 . 7 mn / m ), sold especially under the name dc 200 fluid 2 cst by the company dow corning ; 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 7 , 7 , 9 , 9 - decamethyl - 1 , 9 - dipropylpentasiloxane ; 3 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 7 , 7 - hexaethyl - 1 , 1 , 1 , 9 , 9 , 9 - hexamethylpentasiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 , 5 , 7 , 7 , 9 , 9 , 9 - undecamethyl - 5 - phenylpentasiloxane ; 1 - butyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 7 , 7 , 9 , 9 , 9 - undecamethylpentasiloxane ; 3 , 3 - diethyl - 1 , 1 , 1 , 5 , 5 , 7 , 7 , 9 , 9 , 9 - decamethylpentasiloxane ; 1 , 3 , 5 , 7 , 9 - pentaethyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 7 , 9 , 9 - heptamethylpentasiloxane ; 3 , 5 , 7 - triethyl - 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 7 , 9 , 9 , 9 - nonamethylpentasiloxane and 1 , 1 , 1 - triethyl - 3 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 7 , 7 , 9 , 9 , 9 - nonamethylpentasiloxane ; the following hexasiloxanes : 1 - butyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 7 , 7 , 9 , 9 , 11 , 11 , 11 - tridecamethylhexasiloxane ; 3 , 5 , 7 , 9 - tetraethyl - 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 7 , 9 , 11 , 11 , 11 - decamethylhexasiloxane and tetradecamethylhexasiloxane . hexadecamethylheptasiloxane ; octadecamethyloctasiloxane ; eicosamethylnonasiloxane . among the silicones of formula ( e ) that may be mentioned are : the following tetrasiloxanes : 2 -[ 3 , 3 , 3 - trimethyl - 1 , 1 - bis [( trimethylsilyl ) oxy ] disiloxanyl ] ethyl ; 1 , 1 , 1 , 5 , 5 , 5 - hexamethyl - 3 -( 2 - methylpropyl )- 3 -[( trimethylsilyl ) oxy ] trisiloxane ; 3 -( 1 , 1 - dimethylethyl )- 1 , 1 , 1 , 5 , 5 , 5 - hexamethyl - 3 -[( trimethylsilyl ) oxy ] trisiloxane ; 3 - butyl - 1 , 1 , 1 , 5 , 5 , 5 - hexamethyl - 3 -[( trimethylsilyl ) oxy ] trisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 , 5 , 5 , 5 - hexamethyl - 3 - propyl - 3 -[( trimethylsilyl ) oxy ] trisiloxane ; 3 - ethyl - 1 , 1 , 1 , 5 , 5 , 5 - hexamethyl - 3 -[( trimethylsilyl ) oxy ] trisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 - triethyl - 3 , 5 , 5 , 5 - tetramethyl - 3 -( trimethylsiloxy ) trisiloxane ; 3 - methyl - 1 , 1 , 1 , 5 , 5 , 5 - hexamethyl - 3 -[ trimethylsilyl ) oxy ] trisiloxane ; 3 -[( dimethylphenylsilyl ) oxy ]- 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 5 - heptamethyltrisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 , 5 , 5 , 5 - hexamethyl - 3 -( 2 - methylpentyl )- 3 -[( trimethylsilyl ) oxy ] trisiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 , 5 , 5 , 5 - hexamethyl - 3 -( 4 - methylpentyl )- 3 -[( trimethylsilyl ) oxy ] trisiloxane ; 3 - hexyl - 1 , 1 , 1 , 5 , 5 , 5 - hexamethyl - 3 -[( trimethylsilyl ) oxy ] trisiloxane and 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 5 - heptamethyl - 3 -[( trimethylsilyl ) oxy ] trisiloxane ; among the silicones of formula ( f ), mention may be made of : 1 , 1 , 1 , 5 , 5 , 5 - hexamethyl - 3 , 3 - bis ( trimethylsiloxy ) trisiloxane . use may also be made of other volatile silicone oils chosen from : the following tetrasiloxanes : 2 , 2 , 8 , 8 - tetramethyl - 5 -[( pentamethyldisiloxanyl ) methyl ]- 3 , 7 - dioxa - 2 , 8 - disilanonane ; 2 , 2 , 5 , 8 , 8 - pentamethyl - 5 -[( trimethylsilyl ) methoxy ]- 4 , 6 - dioxa - 2 , 5 , 8 - trisilanonane ; 1 , 3 - dimethyl - 1 , 3 - bis [( trimethylsilyl ) methyl ]- 1 , 3 - disiloxanediol ; 3 - ethyl - 1 , 1 , 1 , 5 , 5 , 5 - hexamethyl - 3 -[ 3 -( trimethylsiloxy ) propyl ] trisiloxane and 1 , 1 , 1 , 5 , 5 , 5 - hexamethyl - 3 - phenyl - 3 -[( trimethylsilyl ) oxy ] trisiloxane ( dow 556 fluid ); the following pentasiloxanes : 2 , 2 , 7 , 7 , 9 , 9 , 11 , 11 , 16 , 16 - decamethyl - 3 , 8 , 10 , 15 - tetraoxa - 2 , 7 , 9 , 11 , 16 - pentasilaheptadecane and the tetrakis [( trimethylsilyl ) methyl ] ester of silicic acid ; the following hexasiloxanes : 3 , 5 - diethyl - 1 , 1 , 1 , 7 , 7 , 7 - hexamethyl - 3 , 5 - bis [( trimethylsilyl ) oxy ] tetrasiloxane and 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 7 , 7 , 7 - octamethyl - 3 , 5 - bis [( trimethylsilyl ) oxy ] tetrasiloxane ; the heptasiloxane : 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 7 , 7 , 7 - heptamethyl - 3 , 5 , 5 - tris [( trimethylsilyl ) oxy ] tetrasiloxane ; the following octasiloxanes : 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 9 , 9 , 9 - nonamethyl - 3 , 7 , 7 - tris [( trimethylsilyl ) oxy ] pentasiloxane ; 1 , 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 7 , 9 , 9 , 9 - nonamethyl - 3 , 5 , 7 - tris [( trimethylsilyl ) oxy ] pentasiloxane and 1 , 1 , 1 , 7 , 7 , 7 - hexamethyl - 3 , 3 , 5 , 5 - tetrakis [( trimethylsilyl ) oxy ] tetrasiloxane . volatile silicone oils that may more particularly be mentioned include decamethylcyclopentasiloxane sold especially under the name dc - 245 by the company dow corning , dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane sold especially under the name dc - 246 by the company dow corning , octamethyltrisiloxane sold especially under the name dc - 200 fluid 1 cst by the company dow corning , decamethyltetrasiloxane sold especially under the name dc - 200 fluid 1 . 5 cst by the company dow corning and dc - 200 fluid 5 cst sold by the company dow corning , octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane , heptamethylhexyltrisiloxane , heptamethylethyltrisiloxane , heptamethyloctyltrisiloxane and dodecamethylpentasiloxane , and mixtures thereof . it should be noted that , among the above - mentioned oils , the linear oils prove to be particularly advantageous . the non - volatile silicone oils that may be used in the invention may be chosen from silicone oils with a viscosity at 25 ° c . of greater than or equal to 9 centistokes ( cst ) ( 9 × 10 − 6 m 2 / s ) and less than 800 , 000 cst , preferably between 50 and 600 , 000 cst and preferably between 100 and 500 , 000 cst . the viscosity of this silicone oil may be measured according to standard astm d - 445 . among these silicone oils , two types of oil may be distinguished , according to whether or not they contain phenyl . representative examples of these non - volatile linear silicone oils that may be mentioned include polydimethylsiloxanes ( i . e ., pdms ); alkyl dimethicones ; vinyl methyl methicones ; and also silicones modified with optionally fluorinated aliphatic groups , or with functional groups such as hydroxyl , thiol and / or amine groups . pdmss comprising alkyl or alkoxy groups , which are pendent and / or at the end of the silicone chain , these groups each containing from 2 to 24 carbon atoms , pdmss comprising aliphatic groups , or functional groups such as hydroxyl , thiol and / or amine groups , polyalkylmethylsiloxanes optionally substituted with a fluorinated group , such as polymethyltrifluoropropyldimethylsiloxanes , polyalkylmethylsiloxanes substituted with functional groups such as hydroxyl , thiol and / or amine groups , polysiloxanes modified with fatty acids , fatty alcohols or polyoxyalkylenes , and mixtures thereof . according to one embodiment , a composition according to the invention contains at least one non - phenyl linear silicone oil . the non - phenyl linear silicone oil may be chosen especially from the silicones of formula : r 1 , r 2 , r 5 and r 6 are , together or separately , an alkyl radical containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms , r 3 and r 4 are , together or separately , an alkyl radical containing from 1 to 6 carbon atoms , a vinyl radical , an amine radical or a hydroxyl radical , x is an alkyl radical containing from 1 to 6 carbon atoms , a hydroxyl radical or an amine radical , n and p are integers chosen so as to have a fluid compound . as non - volatile silicone oils that may be used according to the invention , mention may be made of those for which : the substituents r 1 to r 6 and x represent a methyl group , and p and n are such that the viscosity is about 500 , 000 cst ( measured by brookfield viscometer using astmd - 445 method ), such as the product sold under the name se30 by the company general electric , the product sold under the name ak 500 , 000 by the company wacker , the product sold under the name mirasil dm 500 , 000 by the company bluestar , and the product sold under the name dow corning 200 fluid 500 , 000 cst by the company dow corning ( viscosity determined by brookfield viscometer using astmd - 445 method ), the substituents r 1 to r 6 and x represent a methyl group , and p and n are such that the viscosity is about 60 , 000 cst ( measured by brookfield viscometer using astmd - 445 method ), such as the product sold under the name dow corning 200 fluid 60 , 000 cs by the company dow corning , and the product sold under the name wacker belsil dm 60 , 000 by the company wacker , the substituents r 1 to r 6 and x represent a methyl group , and p and n are such that the viscosity is about 350 cst ( measured by brookfield viscometer using astmd - 445 method ), such as the product sold under the name dow corning 200 fluid 350 cs by the company dow corning , the substituents r 1 to r 6 represent a methyl group , the group x represents a hydroxyl group , and n and p are such that the viscosity is about 700 cst ( measured by brookfield viscometer using astmd - 445 method ), such as the product sold under the name baysilone fluid t0 . 7 by the company momentive . according to one embodiment variant , a composition according to the invention contains at least one phenyl silicone oil . representative examples of these non - volatile phenyl silicone oils that may be mentioned include those oils of formulae ii to vii described below . in which the groups r represent , independently of each other , a methyl or a phenyl , with the proviso that at least one group r represents a phenyl . preferably , in this formula , the phenyl silicone oil comprises at least three phenyl groups , for example at least four , at least five or at least six . in which the groups r represent , independently of each other , a methyl or a phenyl , with the proviso that at least one group r represents a phenyl . preferably , in this formula , the phenyl silicone oil comprises at least three phenyl groups , for example at least four or at least five . mixtures of these phenyl silicone oils may be used . examples that may be mentioned include mixtures of triphenyl , tetraphenyl or pentaphenyl organopolysiloxanes . in which me represents methyl , ph represents phenyl . such a phenyl silicone oil is especially manufactured by dow corning under the reference ph - 1555 hri or dow corning 555 cosmetic fluid ( chemical name : 1 , 3 , 5 - trimethyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 5 - pentaphenyltrisiloxane ; inci name : trimethyl pentaphenyl trisiloxane ). the reference dow corning 554 cosmetic fluid may also be used . in which me represents methyl , y is between 1 and 1 , 000 and x represents — ch 2 — ch ( ch 3 )( ph ). in which me is methyl and ph is phenyl , or ′ represents a group — osime 3 and y is 0 or ranges between 1 and 1000 , and z ranges between 1 and 1000 , such that compound ( vi ) is a non - volatile oil . according to a first embodiment , y ranges between 1 and 1000 . use may be made , for example , of trimethyl siloxyphenyl dimethicone , sold especially under the reference belsil pdm 1000 sold by the company wacker . according to a second embodiment , y is equal to 0 . use may be made , for example , of phenyl trimethylsiloxy trisiloxane , sold especially under the reference dow corning 556 cosmetic grade fluid . r 1 , r 2 , r 5 and r 6 are , together or separately , an alkyl radical containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms , r 3 and r 4 are , together or separately , an alkyl radical containing from 1 to 6 carbon atoms or an aryl radical , x is an alkyl radical containing from 1 to 6 carbon atoms , a hydroxyl radical or a vinyl radical , n and p being chosen so as to give the oil a weight - average molecular mass of less than 200 , 000 g / mol , preferably less than 150 , 000 g / mol and more preferably less than 100 , 000 g / mol . mixtures of the phenyl silicone oils corresponding to formulae ( ii ) to ( vii ) are also useful . the phenyl silicone oils that are most particularly suitable for use in the invention are those corresponding to formulae ( iii ), ( iv ) and ( vi ), especially to formula ( iv ) and ( vi ) hereinabove . more particularly , the phenyl silicone oils are chosen from phenyl trimethicones , phenyl dimethicones , phenyl - trimethylsiloxydiphenylsiloxanes , diphenyl dimethicones , diphenylmethyldiphenyltrisiloxanes and 2 - phenylethyl trimethylsiloxysilicates , and mixtures thereof . preferably , the weight - average molecular weight of the non - volatile phenyl silicone oil according to the invention ranges from 500 to 10 , 000 g / mol . the composition of the present invention contains at least one polyethylene wax . the polyethylene wax may be present in the composition of the present invention in an amount ranging from about 1 to about 25 % by weight , more preferably from about 2 to about 20 % by weight , most preferably from about 4 to about 15 % by weight , relative to the total weight of the composition . the cosmetic compositions of the present invention may also contain at least one cosmetically acceptable colorant such as a pigment or dyestuff . examples of suitable pigments include , but are not limited to , inorganic pigments , organic pigments , lakes , pearlescent pigments , iridescent or optically variable pigments , and mixtures thereof . a pigment should be understood to mean inorganic or organic , white or colored particles . said pigments may optionally be surface - treated within the scope of the present invention , including but not limited to , surface treatments with compounds such as silicones , perfluorinated compounds , lecithin , and amino acids . representative examples of inorganic pigments useful in the present invention include those selected from the group consisting of rutile or anatase titanium dioxide , coded in the color index under the reference ci 77 , 891 ; black , yellow , red and brown iron oxides , coded under references ci 77 , 499 , 77 , 492 and 77 , 491 ; manganese violet ( ci 77 , 742 ); ultramarine blue ( ci 77 , 007 ); chromium oxide ( ci 77 , 288 ); chromium hydrate ( ci 77 , 289 ); and ferric blue ( ci 77 , 510 ) and mixtures thereof . representative examples of organic pigments and lakes useful in the present invention include , but are not limited to , d & amp ; c red no . 19 ( ci 45 , 170 ), d & amp ; c red no . 9 ( ci 15 , 585 ), d & amp ; c red no . 21 ( ci 45 , 380 ), d & amp ; c orange no . 4 ( ci 15 , 510 ), d & amp ; c orange no . 5 ( ci 45 , 370 ), d & amp ; c red no . 27 ( ci 45 , 410 ), d & amp ; c red no . 13 ( ci 15 , 630 ), d & amp ; c red no . 7 ( ci 15 , 850 ), d & amp ; c red no . 6 ( ci 15 , 850 ), d & amp ; c yellow no . 5 ( ci 19 , 140 ), d & amp ; c red no . 36 ( ci 12 , 085 ), d & amp ; c orange no . 10 ( ci 45 , 425 ), d & amp ; c yellow no . 6 ( ci 15 , 985 ), d & amp ; c red no . 30 ( ci 73 , 360 ), d & amp ; c red no . 3 ( ci 45 , 430 ) and the dye or lakes based on cochineal carmine ( ci 75 , 570 ) and mixtures thereof . representative examples of pearlescent pigments useful in the present invention include those selected from the group consisting of the white pearlescent pigments such as mica coated with titanium oxide , mica coated with titanium dioxide , bismuth oxychloride , titanium oxychloride , colored pearlescent pigments such as titanium mica with iron oxides , titanium mica with ferric blue , chromium oxide and the like , titanium mica with an organic pigment of the above - mentioned type as well as those based on bismuth oxychloride and mixtures thereof . the precise amount and type of colorant employed in the compositions of the present invention will depend on the color , intensity and use of the cosmetic composition and , as a result , will be determined by those skilled in the art of cosmetic formulation . a composition according to the invention may also comprise at least one surfactant , which may be present in a proportion of from about 0 . 1 % to about 10 % by weight , especially from about 0 . 5 % to about 8 % by weight , or even from about 1 % to about 6 % by weight relative to the total weight of the composition . the surfactant may be chosen from amphoteric , anionic , cationic and nonionic , preferably nonionic , surfactants . mention may especially be made , alone or as a mixture , of : a ) nonionic surfactants with an hlb ( i . e ., hydrophilic - lipophilic balance ) of less than 8 at 25 ° c ., optionally combined with one or more nonionic surfactants with an hlb of greater than 8 at 25 ° c ., as mentioned below , for instance : saccharide esters and ethers such as sucrose stearates , sucrose cocoate and sorbitan stearate , and mixtures thereof ; fatty acid esters , especially of c 8 - c 24 and preferably of c 16 - c 22 fatty acids , and of polyol , especially of glycerol or sorbitol , such as glyceryl stearate , glyceryl laurate , polyglyceryl - 2 stearate , sorbitan tristearate and glyceryl ricinoleate ; lecithins , such as soybean lecithins ; oxyethylenated and / or oxypropylenated ethers ( which may comprise 1 to 150 oxyethylene and / or oxypropylene groups ) of fatty alcohols ( especially of c 8 - c 24 and preferably c 12 - c 18 fatty alcohols ) such as stearyl alcohol oxyethylene ether containing two oxyethylene units ( ctfa name : steareth - 2 ); silicone surfactants , for instance dimethicone copolyols and alkyldimethicone copolyols , for example the mixture of cyclomethicone / dimethicone copolyol sold under the name q2 - 3225c ® by the company dow corning ; b ) nonionic surfactants with an hlb of greater than or equal to 8 at 25 ° c ., for instance : saccharide esters and ethers such as the mixture of cetylstearyl glucoside and of cetyl and stearyl alcohols , for instance montanov 68 from seppic ; oxyethylenated and / or oxypropylenated glycerol ethers , which may comprise 1 to 150 oxyethylene and / or oxypropylene units ; oxyethylenated and / or oxypropylenated ethers ( which may comprise from 1 to 150 oxyethylene and / or oxypropylene units ) of fatty alcohols , especially of c 8 - c 24 and preferably of c 12 - c 18 fatty alcohols , such as stearyl alcohol oxyethylene ether containing 20 oxyethylene units ( ctfa name : steareth - 20 ), cetearyl alcohol oxyethylene ether containing 30 oxyethylene units ( ceteareth - 30 ) and the oxyethylene ether of the mixture of c 12 - c 15 fatty alcohols comprising seven oxyethylene units ( c 12 - 15 pareth - 7 ); esters of a fatty acid , especially of c 8 - c 24 and preferably of c 16 - c 22 fatty acids , and of polyethylene glycol ( or peg ) ( which may comprise 1 to 150 oxyethylene units ), such as peg - 50 stearate and peg - 40 monostearate ; esters of a fatty acid , especially of c 8 - c 24 and preferably of c 16 - c 22 fatty acids , and of oxyethylenated and / or oxypropylenated glycerol ethers ( which may comprise from 1 to 150 oxyethylene and / or oxypropylene units ), for instance glyceryl monostearate polyoxyethylenated with 200 oxyethylene units ; glyceryl stearate polyoxyethylenated with 30 oxyethylene units , glyceryl oleate polyoxyethylenated with 30 oxyethylene units , glyceryl cocoate polyoxyethylenated with 30 oxyethylene units , glyceryl isostearate polyoxyethylenated with 30 oxyethylene units and glyceryl laurate polyoxyethylenated with 30 oxyethylene units ; esters of a fatty acid , especially of c 8 - c 24 and preferably of c 16 - c 22 fatty acids , and of oxyethylenated and / or oxypropylenated sorbitol ethers ( which may comprise from 1 to 150 oxyethylene and / or oxypropylene units ), for instance polysorbate 20 and polysorbate 60 ; dimethicone copolyol , especially the product sold under the name q2 - 5220 ® from dow corning ; dimethicone copolyol benzoate , such as the products sold under the names finsolv slb 101 ® and 201 ® from finetex ; copolymers of propylene oxide and of ethylene oxide , also known as eo / po polycondensates , which are copolymers formed from polyethylene glycol and polypropylene glycol blocks , for instance polyethylene glycol / polypropylene glycol / polyethylene glycol triblock polycondensates . salts of c 16 - c 30 fatty acids , especially amine salts , such as triethanolamine stearate or 2 - amino - 2 - methylpropane - 1 , 3 - diol stearate ; polyoxyethylenated fatty acid salts , especially animated salts or salts of alkali metals , and mixtures thereof ; phosphoric esters and salts thereof , such as dea oleth - 10 phosphate ( crodafos n 10n from the company croda ) or monopotassium monocetyl phosphate ; sulfosuccinates such as disodium peg - 5 citrate lauryl sulfosuccinate and disodium ricinoleamido mea sulfosuccinate ; alkyl ether sulfates such as sodium lauryl ether sulfate ; isethionates ; acylglutamates such as disodium hydrogenated tallow glutamate ( amisoft hs21 r ® from ajinomoto ) and sodium stearoyl glutamate ( amisoft hs11 pf ® from ajinomoto ); soybean derivatives , for instance potassium soyate ; citrates , for instance glyceryl stearate citrate ; proline derivatives , for instance sodium palmitoyl proline or the mixture of sodium palmitoyl sarcosinate , magnesium palmitoyl glutamate , palmitic acid and palmitoyl proline ( sepifeel one from seppic ); lactylates , for instance sodium stearoyl lactylate ; sarcosinates , for instance sodium palmitoyl sarcosinate or the 75 / 25 mixture of stearoyl sarcosine and myristoyl sarcosine ; sulfonates , for instance sodium c 14 - 17 alkyl - sec - sulfonate ; glycinates , for instance sodium cocoyl glycinate . ammonium salts such as ( c 12 - 30 alkyl ) tri ( c 1 - 4 alkyl ) ammonium halides , for instance n , n , n - trimethyl - 1 - docosanaminium chloride ( or behentrimonium chloride ); e ) amphoteric surfactants , for instance n - acylamino acids , such as n - alkylaminoacetates and disodium cocoamphodiacetate , and amine oxides such as stearamine oxide . a makeup and / or care composition according to the invention may also comprise at least one agent usually used in cosmetics , chosen , for example , from : reducing agents ; thickeners ; film - forming agents that are especially hydrophobic , or are softeners , antifoams , moisturizers , or uv - screening agents ; ceramides ; cosmetic active agents ; peptizers ; fragrances ; proteins ; vitamins ; propellants ; hydrophilic or lipophilic , film - forming or non - film - forming polymers ; and lipophilic or hydrophilic gelling agents . the above additives are generally present in an amount for each of them of between 0 . 01 % and 10 % by weight relative to the total weight of the composition . a person skilled in the art will take care to select the constituents of the composition such that the advantageous properties associated with the invention are not , or are not substantially , adversely affected . the ready - to - use composition according to the disclosure can be in various forms , such as in the form of liquids , creams , gels , lotions or paste . the ready - to - use composition can comprise other compounds constituting the cosmetically acceptable medium . this cosmetically acceptable medium comprises water or a mixture of water and at least one cosmetically acceptable organic solvent . as examples of cosmetically acceptable organic solvents , non - limiting mentions can be made of alcohols such as ethyl alcohol , isopropyl alcohol , benzyl alcohol and phenylethyl alcohol , or glycols or glycol ethers such as , for example , ethylene glycol , propylene glycol , butylene glycol , hexylene glycol or dipropylene glycol , or ethers thereof such as , for example , monomethyl , monoethyl and monobutyl ethers of ethylene glycol or propylene glycol , such as , for example , monomethyl ethers of propylene glycol , butylene glycol , hexylene glycol or dipropylene glycol , as well as alkyl ethers of diethylene glycol , for example monoethyl ether or monobutyl ether of diethylene glycol . the composition of the present invention may be in any form , either liquid or non - liquid ( semi - solid , soft solid , solid , etc .). for example , it may be a paste , a solid , a gel , or a cream . it may be an emulsion , such as an oil - in - water or water - in - oil emulsion , a multiple emulsion , such as an oil - in - water - in - oil emulsion or a water - in - oil - in - water emulsion , or a solid , rigid or supple gel . the composition of the invention may , for example , comprise an external or continuous fatty phase . the composition can also be a molded composition or cast as a stick or a dish . lip compositions control control inci us example 1 example 2 example 1 c30 + olefin / undecylenic 17 0 4 . 25 acid copolymer ( performa v ™- 6112 ) supramolecular polymer of 8 . 75 8 . 75 8 . 75 formula ( i ) ( n = 30 - 40 ) red 7 pigment 6 6 6 isododecane qs qs qs polyethylene 500 0 9 . 71 7 . 29 polyethylene 400 0 7 . 29 5 . 46 tio2 4 . 3 4 . 3 4 . 3 all numerical values in the above table are weight percent active . all materials were mixed with moderate agitation at 80 degrees celsius until all waxes have melted and contents looked uniform . the mixture was then cooled to room temperature while mixing before pouring to suitable size containers for future testing . the formulations of the examples above were tested on forearm for rub test . they were also subjected to a texture test upon application on the lips . three subjects evaluated the formulations of control examples 1 and 2 and example 1 on the inner forearm on the same day . each formulation was applied with a lip gloss applicator for 5 strokes and allowed to dry for 10 minutes on forearm and then a drop of olive oil was added to each patch of test area and allowed to rest for 5 minutes before rubbing with kimwipe 5 times to measure color transfer . then a visual evaluation score was given to each kimwipe with a range between 1 and 5 where 5 represents high transfer of color and is undesirable and 1 represents no transfer of color and is highly desirable . three subjects evaluated the formulations of control examples 1 and 2 and example 1 on their lips on the same day . each formulation was applied with a lip gloss applicator for 5 strokes and allowed to dry for 10 minutes . sensorial evaluation was recorded based on the application of the product on the lips . the results above show that , the inventive formulation provided a creamy film texture and a comfortable feeling on the lip with the addition of two polyethylene waxes . at the same time , they provided high oil resistance . it is to be understood that the foregoing describes preferred embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as set forth in the claims .	0
referring now to fig1 of the drawings , wherein a preferred embodiment of the invention is represented in block diagram form , municipal waste materials are collected at a central collection site 10 , to which they are transported by various methods including , for example , using a trash collection truck 12 which deposits waste material in a temporary deposit area 14 . the waste materials thus collected may include articles of many various types , such as discarded paper and fabric goods derived from normal residental household waste . additionally such items as tires 16 , discarded household appliances 18 , and other materials such as scrap wood , plywood , corrugated paper board 20 or tin cans 22 may be included among the waste materials normally expected to be collected . because some of these materials are useful otherwise , but not useful as fuel , a first step in the process of disposal of such waste materials is to sort the materials , as indicated at 24 , removing magnetic materials to the extent possible by the use of magnets , and performing other sorting operations which do not form a part of the present invention . such sorting may need to be done manually , or may be performed mechanically , at least in part . the materials thus removed , indicated at 26 , may be handled as desired , and their disposal is not a part of the present invention . the waste materials 28 remaining after the sorting operation indicated at 24 are first treated according to the present invention by being reduced in size mechanically , as by being passed through a primary shredder 30 . it will be understood that such a primary shredder may be machinery of any construction capable of reducing such waste materials of assorted types into smaller pieces , but is called a shredder herein for the sake of convenient reference . one type of apparatus which is suitable for this purpose , with respect to most materials to be expected to be collected in municipal wastes , is described in rouse , et al ., u . s . pat . no . 4 , 560 , 112 , whereof the disclosure is hereby incorporated herein by reference . depending on the design of the primary shredder 30 , it may be desirable to pass the waste materials more than once through the primary shredder , or through two or more successive stages of similar machinery , the object being to reduce the size of large pieces of waste materials somewhat , to produce pieces small enough to settle closely together as a significantly denser quantity of coarsely shredded wastes 32 , having pieces of more uniform size whose maximum dimension is , for example , no more than 18 inches , but the majority of whose pieces have no dimensions greater than , for example , about 8 inches . such coarsely shredded wastes 32 may be handled easily as bulk materials , using conventional belt or pan conveyors , or bucket loaders , rather than handling individual pieces of waste material separately . the coarsely shredded wastes are transported from the primary shredder 30 , or from an accumulation of such coarsely shredded wastes in the vicinity of the primary shredder 30 , to the location of a burner 34 in which the coarsely shredded waste materials are to be consumed as combustion fuel , before any further processing of the materials is accomplished . however , the sorting operation described above may , optionally , be carried out after the collected waste materials 14 have been treated in the primary shredder 30 . an additional step of sorting may also be performed , after primary shredding has been performed , to remove additional non - combustible material which may have been separated from combustible material as a result of operation of the primary shredder 30 on the waste materials . because the coarsely shredded wastes 32 have been increased in density , relative to their density when collected , it is more economical to transport them by truck to the site of the burner 34 , as indicated at 36 , than if those materials had not been reduced to smaller sized pieces by the primary shredder 30 . the coarsely shredded wastes 32 are preferably delivered to a storage and feed bin 38 located closely adjacent the burner 34 . they are delivered from the storage and feed bin 38 ( see fig2 ) by a metering feed apparatus 40 , to a secondary size reduction apparatus 42 . the secondary size reducing apparatus is preferably of a type including a size - limiting screen member , for example , the granulator manufactured by cumberland engineering company , a division of leesona corp ., of attleboro , mass ., as its model 3250 granulator , or it may be of a design similar to that of the primary shredder 30 , but of smaller dimensions . the capacity of the secondary apparatus 42 is chosen so that it is capable of reducing the size of individual pieces of the coarsely shredded wastes 32 most economically in view of the fuel demands of the burner 34 . the secondary size reduction apparatus 42 is preferably of a design particularly adapted to reduce the size of pieces of coarsely shredded wastes of the predominant type of material available . as shown more particularly in flg . 2 , the metering feed apparatus 40 may include an upwardly inclined pan conveyor 41 to carry the coarsely shredded waste materials 32 upward from the collection bin 38 , while a pair of leveling screws 43 , located a predetermined distance above the upper end of the pan conveyor 41 , are rotated continuously so as to oppose the movement of the coarsely shredded waste materials 32 above a certain height relative to the pan conveyor 41 , to maintain the rate of delivery of coarsely shredded wastes 32 to the secondary size reducing apparatus 42 . coarsely shredded waste materials 32 are thus delivered to the secondary size reduction apparatus 42 at the rate established by the speed of the pan conveyor 41 . the objective of the secondary size reduction is to reduce the size of individual pieces of the coarsely shredded wastes 32 , so that the total surface area of the pieces is increased , promoting better combustion , and to make individual pieces small enough to be transported in a stream of gas . the coarsely shredded wastes 32 are thus transformed in the secondary size reduction apparatus 42 into waste - derived , prepared fuel 44 with substantially all of the pieces of the prepared fuel 44 having maximum dimensions less than a maximum size which is determined by the type of material and the type of burner . the prepared fuel 44 is transported in a stream of moving gas produced by a blower 45 , through a conduit system 46 arranged to deliver the waste - derived , prepared fuel 44 from the secondary size reduction apparatus 42 immediately and directly to the burner 34 . preferably , at least part of the stream of gas used to transport the prepared fuel 44 is made up of air drawn from an enclosure 47 at least partially covering the pan conveyor 41 and the secondary size reduction apparatus 42 . this helps to reduce the amount of dust which might otherwise be produced as a result of the operation of the pan conveyor 41 and secondary size reduction apparatus 42 . additionally , any odors produced by the prepared fuel 44 and coarsely shredded wastes 32 may be controlled thereby . similarly , portions of the stream of gas may be provided by drawing air into the blower 45 from the vicinity of other nearby odor - producing factories , etc ., as indicated schematically at 39 . the prepared fuel 44 would ordinarily be introduced into the stream of gas in a zone of low pressure developed in the conduit 46 as by a venturi nozzle arrangement located at 49 in fig2 or through a device such as , for example , the triple gate valve disclosed in rouse , et al ., u . s . pat . no . 4 , 561 , 467 . a secondary venturi nozzle effect is provided at 60 , downstream from the last point of introduction of any material into the stream of gas , by a slight constriction in the conduit 46 , which provides resistance against minor backpuffs from the burner 34 , to prevent disruption of the flow of materials included in the stream of gas and wastes being sent into the burner 34 . gaseous or liquid hazardous wastes which can be rendered harmless by exposure to sufficiently high temperature conditions of sufficient duration may be introduced into the stream of gas at this point , preferably through an injection nozzle 68 as shown in fig2 to be carried into the burner 34 to be rendered safe by such incineration , or they may be introduced in a zone of low pressure on the intake side of the blower 45 . the rate of introduction of such hazardous materials is preferably controlled , as by the valve 37 . solid or semi - solid hazardous wastes capable of being rendered harmless by incineration may be introduced by appropriately controllable apparatus designated as 55 , which delivers such materials to the secondary size reducing apparatus 42 in small quantities , so that it becomes a small part of the prepared fuel 44 . ideally , a pair of similar machines 42 are provided so that one can be used during repair or adjustment of the other , as shown schematically in fig3 with a split conduit or chute down from the feed conveyor 41 being provided and having a diverter gate 64 to permit selection of either shredder . appropriate sections of conduit 66 are provided , and cut - off valves 67 are provided below each of the machines 42 to isolate either of the secondary size reduction machines 42 during maintenance and repair work . the sections of conduit 66 , below the cutoff valves 67 , join each other in a &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; upstream of the conduit 46 . as shown in fig4 it may be desirable to introduce prepared fuel 44 into the conduit 46 by introducing it directly into the intake of a blower 61 , from the secondary size reducing machine 42 , which serves the purpose of positively accelerating motion of the prepared fuel 44 as it enters the conduit 46 , and also enhances the efficiency of operation of the secondary size reduction apparatus 42 as a result of the flow of the air through it into the blower 61 . the burner 34 may be a municipal waste incinerator adapted to produce heat useful for generating steam for municipal heat generation or for generation of electrical power . alternatively , the burner 34 may be the furnace of a lime kiln or a cement kiln producing clinker from which cement may be produced , in which case it may be desired to use such waste derived , prepared fuel 44 only as a supplement for a primary fuel 51 such as coal , oil , or gas , with quantities of the waste - derived , prepared fuel 44 used being limited to that which can be incorporated in the product of the cement or lime kiln without detriment to the quality of the product resulting from the ash produced by combustion of the waste - derived , prepared fuel 44 . the combustion process in the burner 34 is monitored by appropriate exhaust gas analyzing sensors and combustion zone temperature sensors indicated collectively as a combustion monitor 48 , which is connected to provide appropriate electrical indications of the observed conditions within the burner 34 to a feed control device 50 . such a feed control device 50 may be of known design , including programmable apparatus arranged to provide controlling electrical output signals to the metering feed apparatus 40 , as by electrically controlling the speed of operation of the pan conveyor 41 , in response to the conditions sensed by the combustion monitor 48 , so as to provide a proper rate of delivery of waste - derived , prepared fuel 44 to develop and maintain the required combustion temperature and fuel - air mixture required for complete and acceptably clean combustion of the waste - derived , prepared fuel 44 and any other fuel 51 used to fire the burner 34 , or to control the amount of useful heat output 52 produced by the burner 34 . the feed control apparatus 50 may also be connected electrically to control the feed apparatus 55 for introduction of solid or semi - solid hazardous waste materials into the secondary size reduction apparatus 42 . it can also be connected to operate the valve 37 or other feed controlling apparatus to regulate the delivery of liquid or gaseous hazardous wastes into the stream of gas used to deliver prepared fuel 44 to the burner 34 . additionally , sensors for detection of excessive pressure or temperatures are desirably provided in the conduit 46 adjacent the burner 34 , as at 65 , so as to transmit signals electrically to the feed control apparatus 50 so that feed can be stopped and the blower 45 shut down thereby in response to indications of backpuffing , explosions within the burner 34 , or other unsafe conditions thus detectable . an emergency shut - off valve 69 , preferably including provision for relieving dangerously excessive pressure from within the burner 34 , is provided at the point of entry of the conduit 46 into the burner 34 , and is controllably connected to the feed control apparatus 50 to be closed , interrupting the stream of material in the conduit 46 in response to detection of unsafe conditions by the sensor 65 . in order further to promote efficiency and completeness of combustion , a significant part of the stream of gas used to convey the prepared fuel 44 into the burner 34 is preferably heated gas . some of such heated gas may be provided by using a portion of the exhaust gas from the burner 34 , conducting it through a conduit 53 to the blower 45 . this heated gas preheats the prepared fuel 44 and permits the size of the stream of gas used to carry prepared fuel 44 to be larger than otherwise would be practical because of the cooling effect of too much air introduced from the atmosphere at ambient temperatures , given the requirement for high combustion temperatures required to produce cement and lime , and to break down certain chemical compounds which would otherwise be dangerous if allowed to become part of the ash residue which must be disposed of , either as a component of cement produced or to be disposed of as landfill . it will be understood by one skilled in the field that the temperature of the stream of gas must not be high enough to ignite the prepared fuel 44 prematurely , and that the oxygen required for combustion of the prepared fuel 44 is not available in the exhaust gases which might be recycled directly . it may , then , be necessary in some cases to utilize a heat exchanger 56 to extract heat from gases exhausted from the burner 34 to preheat air in order to provide enough oxygen to combine with the fuel of the burner 34 without cooling the combustion zone unduly . since the coarsely shredded wastes 32 are denser than the prepared fuel 44 , they are more accurately measureable and more easily metered during delivery into the secondary size reduction apparatus 42 than would be the prepared waste - derived fuel 44 whose smaller particle size typically results in lesser density and less uniformity because of the resiliency of paper and other fabric and fiber materials usually forming a large portion of metropolitan waste materials . by delivering the waste - derived , prepared fuel 44 immediately to the burner 34 after reduction to small particles in the secondary size reduction apparatus 42 , however , the responsiveness of the feed control system including the feed controller 50 and the metering feed apparatus 40 is made to be adequate , particularly in the case of a continuously fed and operated limestone kiln or cement kiln fired only secondarily by the use of waste - derived , prepared fuel 44 . the terms and expressions which have been employed in the foregoing specification are used therein as terms of description and not of 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 the scope of the invention is defined and limited only by the claims which follow .	5
fig1 illustrates the preferred embodiment of the invention . scan - compatible analog differential driver circuit 100 comprises differential driver 110 , programmable termination impedance network 120 , up - channel receiver 130 and lssd test mode control circuit 140 . differential driver 110 may be any differential driver circuit incorporating a digital - to - analog converter ( dac ) and having large dynamic gain . in the preferred embodiment , driver 110 is a high - speed ( e . g . 6 gbps or higher ) differential finite - impulse - response ( fir ) i / o driver with large dynamic gain as described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 680 , 681 , entitled high speed fir transmitter , by hsu et al ., the subject matter of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety . data inputs ap and an to differential driver 110 represent differential data inputs . programmable termination impedance network 120 sets the termination impedance at differential output nodes zp and zn . during digital scan test mode ( e . g . lssd testing ), programmable termination impedance network 120 skews the termination impedance at differential output nodes zp and zn in response to signals resctrl_p & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ; and resctrl_n & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ;. when the termination impedance is skewed at differential output nodes zp and zn , the differential output of driver 110 ( dop and don ) is skewed , and thus , up - channel receiver 130 is capable of detecting the full dynamic range of driver 110 . skewing the output termination impedance serves to covert dop and don into a common - mode signal . during normal operation , programmable termination impedance network 120 programs the termination impedance at output nodes zp and zn in response to signals resctrl_p & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ; and resctrl_n & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ; to the appropriate termination resistance for optimum transmission ( e . g . matched 50 ohm impedance at zp and zn ). up - channel receiver 130 may be any receiver circuit with voltage offset such that when inputs to the receiver are equal , the receiver reliably outputs a low voltage . alternatively , up - channel receiver 130 may incorporate hysteresis for improved noise immunity during up - channel signaling . up - channel signaling is well known in the art . for example , see u . s . patent application ser . no . 10 / 604025 , entitled data transceiver and method for equalizing the data eye of a differential input data signal , assigned to ibm corporation . in the preferred embodiment , up - channel receiver 130 is a differential receiver with a built - in offset voltage and hysteresis , and is capable of receiving signals transmitted up - channel ( i . e . in the opposite direction as the data being transmitted ). such receivers are incorporated in high speed serializer - deserializer ( serdes ) circuit designs for up - channel signaling , and thus , circuit area may be minimized when an up - channel receiver with hysteresis is already present in a design . up - channel receiver 130 is used to complete the observation path from the output of driver 110 to a srl or a primary output during digital scan - based testing . during normal operation , up - channel receiver 130 may sense a signal as low as 70 mv . however , there will be some ambiguity at these low levels . since digital scan - based test mode requires deterministic results of either a logic ‘ 1 ’ or ‘ 0 ’ without ‘ x ’ propagation , the area of ambiguity must be removed . this is accomplished by changing the characteristics of up - channel receiver 130 during test mode . when up - channel receiver 130 is placed in test mode by lssd_en , offset and gain characteristics of the receiver are changed such that the receiver now requires a 150 mv signal or the output will result in a ‘ 0 ’. this increased voltage offset (˜ 70 mv ) guarantees that when all dacs are turned off in driver 110 , there will be a logic ‘ 0 ’ output from up - channel receiver 130 at node z . additionally , by skewing the termination impedance at nodes zp and zn during test mode , the lsb of driver 110 can be observed as a logic ‘ 1 ’ at the output of up - channel receiver 130 . lssd test mode control block 140 enables scan - compatible driver circuit 100 of fig1 for digital testing by overriding the nominal control signals resctrl_p & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ; and resctrl_n & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ; and by overriding the nominal segment control vector seg_disable & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ;. by overriding the nominal control signals resctrl_p & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ; and resctrl_n & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ;, the output termination impedance at nodes zp and zn may be skewed , thus allowing observation of the lsb of the differential driver . by overriding the nominal segment control vector seg_disable & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ;, each segment of differential driver 110 may be tested one at a time , thus assuring the lsbs of the driver are effectively tested for faults . these signals are overridden in response to lssd_en . in the preferred embodiment , lssd_en signal is a primary input . a detailed description of the aforementioned signals follows . during digital test mode , up - channel receiver 130 is enabled for digital testing by lssd_en and powered on by pdwn . up - channel receiver 130 functions as an analog - to - digital converter ( adc ) and is capable of passing a digital value z , which represents the output of differential driver 110 , to a shift register latch (“ srl ”) which is observable during digital testing . during digital test mode , the termination impedance is skewed , thus enabling up - channel receiver 130 to detect the full dynamic range of differential driver 110 even though the least - significant - bits ( lsbs ) effect a much smaller change than up - channel receiver 130 could detect during normal operation . detecting the lsb of differential driver 110 enables the digital - to - analog converters ( dacs ) residing within differential driver 110 to be fully digitally modeled ( e . g . as a number of n - bit or gates ), thus enabling an automatic test pattern generator to generate test patterns for the entire dac circuit . if the termination impedance is not skewed , the voltage offset of up - channel receiver 130 will be much larger than the lsb of driver 110 , making the receiver &# 39 ; s interpretation of the output of driver 110 unreliable . by skewing the termination impedance , the lsb of the dac may be tested using a scan - based digital test methodology . during normal operation , up - channel receiver 130 is taken out of digital test mode by disabling lssd_en . additionally , up - channel receiver 130 may be powered down by activating pdwn or may remain powered on by leaving pdwn deactivated . fig2 illustrates in further detail differential driver 110 of fig1 . finite impulse response ( fir ) latches 210 store differential data inputs ap & lt ; 3 : 0 & gt ; and an & lt ; 3 : 0 & gt ; and present ap & lt ; 3 : 0 & gt ; and an & lt ; 3 : 0 & gt ; to driver logic 220 . xnor circuits 230 may invert ap & lt ; x : 0 & gt ; and an & lt ; x : 0 & gt ; in response to data polarity signal tx_polarity & lt ; 3 : 0 & gt ; or may disable ap & lt ; x : 0 & gt ; and an & lt ; x : 0 & gt ; in response to data disable signal tapdis 0 / 2 / 3 . buffer circuits 240 buffer the output of xnor circuits 230 . predriver circuits 250 amplify the differential data signals . each predriver circuit contains one or more preamplifiers (“ segments ”). as illustrated in fig2 , predriver circuit 250 a comprises one segment , predriver circuit 250 b comprises four segments , predriver circuit 250 c comprises two segments , and predriver circuit 250 d comprises one segment . if a differential data bit is preamplified by more than one segment , driver output stages 260 are paralled per segment for that differential data bit . as illustrated in fig2 , predriver circuit 250 b contains four segments , and therefore , driver 260 b will have four parallel differential inputs from each of the four segments contained in predriver circuit 250 b . each paralleled output stage has a separate predriver , driven from the same driver logic ( xnor circuits 220 and buffer circuits 240 ). the number of segments per differential data bit determines the drive strength for that differential data bit . the more segments , the higher the drive strength for the programmed current . any segment may be disabled via the seg_disable & lt ; x : 0 & gt ; signal . the output drive strength of output drivers 260 a - 260 d is set by current dac ( idac ) circuit 270 . idac circuit 270 comprises idacs 270 a - 270 d . the value of each idac 270 a - 270 d is set by tx_coeffx & lt ; x : 0 & gt ;. as illustrated in fig2 , the value of idac 270 a is determined by tx_coeff 3 & lt ; 3 : 0 & gt ;. the range of the current reference ( iref ) for each idac 270 a - 270 d is set by the output of power dac 280 , which is controlled by tx_power & lt ; 6 : 0 & gt ;. the differential output of drivers 260 a - 260 d are tied together at differential output nodes zp and zn to form the final pair of output signals , dop and don . during digital testing , signals tx_coeffx & lt ; n : 0 & gt ;, tapdiso / 2 / 3 , tx_power & lt ; 6 : 0 & gt ;, tx_polarity & lt ; 3 : 0 & gt ;, ap & lt ; 3 : 0 & gt ;, and an & lt ; 3 : 0 & gt ; are supplied from srls , thus making the differential driver digitally testable . fig3 illustrates in further detail programmable termination impedance network 120 of fig1 . programmable termination impedance network 300 , which corresponds to programmable termination impedance network 120 of fig1 , comprises programmable resistor circuits 310 and 320 . resistor circuit 310 comprises a number of resistor components 312 and number of transistor switches 314 , wherein one transistor of transistor switches 314 is electrically coupled in series with one resistor of resistor components 312 . resistor circuit 320 also comprises a number of resistor components 322 and number of transistor switches 324 , wherein one transistor of transistor switches 324 is electrically coupled in series with one resistor from resistor components 322 . when a particular resistor is switched into the resistor network by a transistor , that resistor component is electrically coupled in parallel with all other resistors that are also switched into the network . when a particular resistor is switched out of the resistor network , it is electrically isolated from the impedance network . in the preferred embodiment , resistor circuits 310 and 320 each comprise six resistors , the value of which are as follows : rp 1 = 53 . 65 ohms , rp 2 = 71 . 15 ohms , rp 3 = 144 . 35 ohms , rp 4 = 286 . 95 ohms , rp 5 = 554 ohms , and rp 6 = 3001 ohms , where : rn 1 = rp 1 , rn 2 = rp 2 , rn 3 = rp 3 , rn 4 = rp 4 , rn 5 = rp 5 , and rn 6 = rp 6 . in the preferred embodiment , transistor switches 314 and 324 comprise six p - fet transistors . resistor circuit 310 provides termination impedance to output node zp of differential driver 110 of fig1 and resistor circuit 320 provides termination impedance to output node zn of differential driver 110 of fig1 . control signal resctrl_p & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ; programs resistor circuit 310 and control signal resctrl_n & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ; programs resistor circuit 320 by either activating or deactivating the transistor electrically in series with a certain resistor . both resctrl_p and resctrl_n are determined by lssd test mode control block 140 of fig1 . resctrl_p and resctrl_n switch in or out resistor components within resistor circuits 310 and 320 , thus programming the termination impedance at nodes zp and zn , respectively . during digital scan test mode , the termination impedance provided by resistor circuits 310 and 320 is programmed so that the termination impedance of programmable termination impedance network 300 is skewed at nodes zp and zn . for example , the termination impedance at node zp , determined by those resistors in resistor circuit 310 which are switched in to the network by corresponding transistor switches 314 and those that are not , may be programmed to 54 ohms while the termination impedance at node zn is programmed to 554 ohms . this occurs when resctrl_p & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ;=“ 011111 ” and resctrl_n & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ;=“ 111101 ”. when the termination impedance is skewed in such a manner , the differential output of driver 110 in fig1 is converted to a common mode signal because the differential signal at node zn of the driver will be 10 × larger than the same signal at node zp , thus resulting in a differential - to - common mode gain of 5 ×. during normal operation , signals resctrl_p & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ; and resctrl_n & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ; program transistor switches 314 and 324 so that the output termination impedance at nodes zp and zn match . this occurs when resctrl_p & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ;= resctrl_n & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ;. for illustrative purposes , consider a differential driver that comprises a seven - bit dac where : the lsb of the 7 bit dac = 1 . 2v / 127 = 9 mv in terms of driver output differential amplitude at 50 ohms and 90 mv at 500 ohms . lsb of 4 / 5 / 6 bit dac = 19 mv of driver output differential amplitude at 50 ohms and 190 mv at 500 ohms . up - channel receiver 130 of fig1 is capable of detecting these amplitudes for a termination resistance of 500 ohms , but can not detect these amplitudes at 50 ohms , because the amplitude is less than the receiver &# 39 ; s offset voltage . as dacs are designed more precisely , the lsb will become smaller and more difficult to detect in a digital test framework . a number of resistor / transistor combinations as well as resistor values are possible and within the scope of the invention . fig4 illustrates in further detail up - channel receiver 400 , which corresponds to up - channel receiver 130 of fig1 . up - channel receiver 400 comprises a hysteresis comparator circuit 402 and a common level shifter 404 . common level shifter 404 provides transition from an analog power supply domain (“ vtt ”) to a digital power supply domain (“ vdd ”). level shifters are well known to those skilled in the art , and therefore , no further description is necessary . hysteresis comparator circuit 402 comprises reference current source 406 , first built - in offset voltage comparator 408 , second built - in offset voltage comparator 410 , differential amplifier circuit 412 , and output stage 414 . reference current source 406 comprises p - fet transistor tpl 2 and n - fet transistor t 1 and generates reference current ioref . current sources are well known to those skilled in the art , and therefore , no further description is necessary . first built - in offset voltage comparator 408 comprises p - fet transistors tel , tpl , and tnl . the comparator has a built - in offset voltage (“ vth −”). the value of vth − is dependent upon the ratio of tnl to tpl as well as the biasing current ibias . in general , the higher the ratio or higher the biasing current , the higher vth − becomes . as previously stated , this offset voltage provides improved noise immunity . without this offset voltage , a comparator would output a high when vinp & gt ; vinn , output a low when vinp & lt ; vinn , and output an unknown value when vinp = vinn . such a comparator has zero noise margin due to the fact that a minimal amount of noise triggers a response . first built - in offset voltage comparator 408 addresses low to high transitions at vinp and vinn . vinp corresponds to dop and vinn corresponds to don as illustrated in fig1 , where dop and don represent the differential output of differential driver 110 of fig1 . second built - in offset voltage comparator 410 comprises p - fet transistors ter , tpr , and tnr . the comparator has a built - in offset voltage (“ vth +”). the value of vth + is dependent upon the ratio of tnr to tpr as well as the biasing current ibias . in general , the higher the ratio or higher the biasing current , the higher vth + becomes . as previously stated , this offset voltage provides improved noise immunity . second built - in offset voltage comparator 410 addresses high to low transitions at the inputs vinp and vinn . differential amplifier circuit 412 comprises n - fet transistors tinp , tinn and tbias . output stage 414 comprises p - fet transistor tnr 2 , n - fet transistor t 2 , and inverter circuit 416 . transistors tnr 2 and t 2 supply an input signal to inverter circuit 416 and the inverter inverts that signal . differential amplifiers , output stages and inverters are all well known to those skilled in the art , and therefore , no further description is necessary . common level shifter 404 transitions the output of inverter circuit 416 from vtt to vdd and outputs a signal z . up - channel receiver 400 is either disabled , enabled during up - channel signaling ( e . g . while performing equalization ), or enabled during digital scan - based testing . the receiver is disabled when vbias is a logic ‘ 0 ’. vbias is an inverted version of the pdwn signal as illustrated in fig1 . when the pdwn signal is active ( i . e . logic ‘ 1 ’), vbias is pulled to ground and n - fet transistor tbias is turned off , which cuts off the tail bias current ibias , thus effectively disabling receiver 400 . when pdwn is deactive ( i . e . logic ‘ 0 ’), vbias is pulled to vdd and n - fet tbias is turned on , thus enabling receiver 400 . when up - channel receiver 400 is enabled during up - channel signaling , both first built - in offset voltage comparator 408 and second built - in offset voltage comparator 410 are enabled . first built - in offset voltage comparator 408 is enabled when lssd_en signal is deactive ( logic ‘ 0 ’). second built - in offset voltage comparator 410 is always enabled because the gate of p - fet transistor ter is tied to ground . in this mode , up - channel receiver 400 outputs a logic ‘ 1 ’ at z when vinp − vinn & gt ; vth +, outputs a logic ‘ 0 ’ when vinp − vinn & lt ; vth −, and remains in its previous state when vth −& lt ; vinp − vinn & lt ; vth +. first built - in offset voltage comparator 408 and second built - in offset voltage comparator 410 both have memory , which is desired for improving noise immunity , but not permitted during digital scan - based testing . when up - channel receiver 400 is enabled during digital scan - based testing , first built - in offset voltage comparator 408 is disabled and second built - in offset voltage comparator 410 is enabled . first built - in offset voltage comparator 408 is disabled when lssd_en signal is active ( logic ‘ 1 ’). by disabling first built - in offset voltage comparator 408 , hysteresis is turned off , thus satisfying the digital scan - based methodology requirement of not having memory . when first built - in offset voltage comparator 408 is disabled , second built - in offset voltage comparator 410 functions as a built - in offset - voltage comparator . therefore , up - channel receiver 400 outputs a logic ‘ 1 ’; if and only if vinp − vinn & gt ; vth +. due to process , temperature , and supply variation , vth + will vary with some range ( e . g . vth + _lower to vth + _upper ). for illustrative purposes , vth + _lower = 70 mv and vth + _upper = 150 mv . this variation in vth + is addressed by skewing the output termination impedance as previously described and as illustrated in fig3 . for illustrative purposes , the output termination impedance at node zp of fig1 is set to 500 ohms and the output termination impedance at node zn of fig1 is set to 50 ohms . thus : a ) when a logic ‘ 1 ’ is scanned in , if any bit of the differential driver idac is on , vinp − vinn will always be greater than vth + _upper and thus will always guarantee a logic “ 1 ” at up - channel receiver output z ; b ) when a logic “ 0 ” is scanned in , if any bit of the differential driver idac is on , vinp − vinn will always be less than vth + _lower and thus will always guarantee a logic “ 0 ” at up - channel receiver output z ; and c ) when all bits of the differential driver idac are off , regardless of scanning a logic ‘ 1 ’ or logic “ 0 ”, vinp − vinn is equal to zero ( and always less than vth + _lower ) and thus will always guarantee a logic ‘ 0 ’ at up - channel output z . therefore , the lsb of a differential driver is capable of being digitally tested in a repeatable , predictable , and reliable manner . alternatively , if up - channel signaling is not required , hysteresis is not needed and only second built - in offset voltage comparator 410 is required . fig5 illustrates in further detail lssd test mode control circuit 500 , which corresponds to lssd test mode control circuit 140 of fig1 . multiplexer circuits (“ mux ”) 502 , 504 , 510 and 512 are controlled by the lssd_en signal . when the scan - compatible analog differential driver circuit of the present invention is placed in digital test mode , lssd_en is active , thus enabling muxs 502 , 504 , 510 and 512 to select test signals for the purpose of digitally testing the driver circuit . during normal operation , lssd_en is deactive , thus enabling muxs 502 , 504 , 510 and 512 to select signals that correspond to normal functional operation of the driver circuit , which have been previously described . mux 502 selects either nominal_resctrl_p & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ; or hard - wired value ‘ 011111 ’ in response to lssd_en . mux 504 selects either nominal_resctrl_n & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ; or hard - wired value ‘ 111101 ’ in response to lssd_en . during normal operation , lssd_en is deactivate ( logic ‘ 0 ’) and mux 502 selects nominal_resctrl_p & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ; and mux 504 selects nominal_resctrl_n & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ;. as previously described , nominal_resctrl_p & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ; and nominal_resctrl_n & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ; program the output termination impedance so that the impedance matches at nodes zp and zn of fig1 . this occurs when nominal_resctrlp & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ;= nominal_resctrln & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ;. during digital scan - based testing , lssd_en is activate ( logic ‘ 1 ’). when lssd_en is active , mux 502 selects a hardwired value for resctrl_p & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ; and mux 504 selects a hardwired value for resctrl_n & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ;. in the preferred embodiment , when lssd_en is activate , resctrl_p & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ; is set to ‘ 011111 ’ and resctrl_n & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ; is set to ‘ 111101 ’. these values allow the output termination impedance of programmable termination network 120 of fig1 to be skewed in accordance with the present invention and as previously described . the values corresponding to resctrl_n / p & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ; may be supplied from any storage element which is accessible during digital testing ( i . e . embedded dram , fuses , rom , etc .) so long as those values do not switch during digital testing . switching of these signals can produce unpredictable test results . or circuits 506 and 508 are optional and allow leakage testing to be performed by setting resctrl_p & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ; and resctrl_n & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ; to lt which equals ‘ 111111 ’. leakage testing is well known in the art , and thus , is not discussed in further detail . mux 510 selects the drive strength signal to be supplied to power dac 280 of fig2 . during digital scan - based testing , the power to idac circuit 270 of fig2 is limited so as to not overpower the 3 k ohm resistor components rn 6 and rp 6 of fig3 . when lssd_en is active , mux 510 selects the hardwired value ‘ 0100000 ’ to be tx_power & lt ; 6 : 0 & gt ;. this value programs the idac circuit of the differential driver as illustrated in fig2 to a quarter of the normal operating power . during normal operation , mux 510 selects nominal_tx_power & lt ; 6 : 0 & gt ; to be tx_power & lt ; 6 : 0 & gt ;. mux 512 selects either nominal_seg_disable & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; or a decoded signal supplied from decoder 514 in response to lssd_en . during digital testing , only one segment of the differential driver may be tested during a test sequence ( e . g . load test patterns , run system clock , unload test results ). test patterns that represent which segment is to be tested during a test sequence are provided to decoder 514 from srls 516 during digital testing . decoder 514 may be any standard 3 to 8 decoder and decodes the signals provided by srls 516 . for a differential driver that contains eight segments , three srls ( i . e . 2 { circumflex over ( )} 3 2 { circumflex over ( )} 2 2 { circumflex over ( )} 1 ) supply test patterns to decoder 514 . these three inputs to decoder 514 enable the decoder to provide eight outputs to the differential driver when being tested , each output representing which one of eight segments within the differential driver will be activated during a particular test time . test patterns are loaded into the srls , or “ scanned in ”, each time a different segment is to be tested . for example , when 2 { circumflex over ( )} 3 2 { circumflex over ( )} 2 2 { circumflex over ( )} 1 = 0 0 0 , seg_disable & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ;=& lt ; 11111110 & gt ;; when 2 { circumflex over ( )} 3 2 { circumflex over ( )} 2 2 { circumflex over ( )} 1 = 0 0 1 , seg_disable & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ;=& lt ; 11111101 & gt ;; when 2 { circumflex over ( )} 3 2 { circumflex over ( )} 2 2 { circumflex over ( )} 1 = 0 1 0 , seg_disable & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ;=& lt ; 11111011 & gt ;; etc . ; and finally when 2 { circumflex over ( )} 3 2 { circumflex over ( )} 2 2 { circumflex over ( )} 1 = 1 1 1 , seg_disable & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ;=& lt ; 01111111 & gt ;. the decoded signal is selected by mux 512 and transmitted to the differential driver when lssd_en is active . during normal operation , mux 512 selects nominal_seg_disable & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ;. the number of srls required to provide test input to the decoder and the size of the decoder depend upon the number of segments contained within the differential driver . thus , any size decoder and number of srls for inputting test signals to the decoder are within the scope of this invention . or circuit 518 is optional and allows the differential driver to be placed in tristate mode when ts is active . placing a driver in tristate mode is well known in the art , and thus , is not discussed in further detail . logic circuit 520 either inhibits or gates nominal_pdwn signal depending upon the value of lssd_en . when in digital scan - based test mode , lssd_en is active and inverted to a logic ‘ 0 ’ at the input to logic circuit 520 , thus inhibiting nominal_pdwn and resulting in pdwn being a logic ‘ 0 ’. this assures that up - channel receiver 130 of fig1 remains powered on during digital testing as previously described and as illustrated in fig4 . during normal operation , the receiver may be powered down by activating the nominal_pdwn signal ( i . e . a logic ‘ 1 ’). lssd_en does not inhibit nominal_pdwn when lssd_en is deactivate . instead , logic circuit 520 gates nominal_pdwn when lssd_en is deactive . fig6 illustrates a method of digitally testing differential driver 110 of fig1 in accordance with the present invention . digital scan - based test mode is activated at 600 by activating the lssd_en signal illustrated in fig1 . in the preferred embodiment , this signal is a primary i / o signal that electrically configures the scan - compatible analog differential driver circuit 100 of fig1 for digital testing . the lssd_en signal adjusts the electrical properties of programmable termination impedance network 120 of fig1 at 610 by programming resctrl_p & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ; to ‘ 0111111 ’ and resctrl_n & lt ; 5 : 0 & gt ; to ‘ 111101 ’, thus skewing the output impedance of the programmable termination impedance network in accordance with the present invention and as previously described . the lssd_en signal also adjusts the offset voltage of up - channel receiver 130 of fig1 and selects a suitable power range for idac circuit 270 of fig2 at 620 in accordance with the present invention and as previously described . for illustrative purposes , the power to the idac circuit is set to a quarter of the normal operating power by setting tx_power & lt ; 6 : 0 & gt ; to ‘ 0100000 ’ as previously described and as illustrated in fig5 so as to not overpower the 3k ohm resistor components rn 6 and rp 6 of fig3 . the power range selectable by the lssd_en signal is dependent upon the configuration of the programmable termination impedance network and any range selected is within the scope of the invention . additionally , lssd_en also enables decoder 514 of fig5 at 630 . in accordance with the present invention and as previously described , the decoder activates only one segment of the differential driver during any one test sequence , thus preventing segment contention at the output of the differential driver under test . during digital scan - based testing , the decoder determines which segment is to be activated and activates that segment at 640 in accordance with the present invention and as previously described . the differential driver circuit is stimulated from srls ( e . g . lssd or gsm ) at 650 . during digital scan - based test modeling , the differential driver is modeled , for example as a number of n - bit or gates , and digital test patterns are automatically generated ( atpg ) for testing the components of the driver for stuck - at ‘ 1 ’ or ‘ 0 ’ faults . these test patterns provide stimulus to the driver circuit at 650 during digital scan testing . the stimulus represented by the tx_coeffx & lt ; x : 0 & gt ; signals , which are generated during atpg , are stored in srls and stimulate the differential driver circuit during digital scanbased testing . the four bits of differential data input signal ap & lt ; 3 : 0 & gt ; as illustrated in fig2 are supplied from srls . the four bits of differential data input signal an & lt ; 3 : 0 & gt ; as illustrated in fig2 are also supplied from srls . the input stimulation signals to the differential driver ( tx_coeffx & lt ; x : 0 & gt ;, ap & lt ; 3 : 0 & gt ;, an & lt ; 3 : 0 & gt ;, tx_polarity & lt ; 3 : 0 & gt ;, tapdiso / 2 / 3 , and seg_disable & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ;) will all be observed at the output z of up - channel receiver 130 of fig1 , which is connected to a srl . thus , the idacs comprising the differential driver are digitally testable and observable during digital scan testing at 660 . each segment is activated in accordance with the present invention and as previously described and tested until all segments have been tested or until a fail occurs at 670 . the lsb of the differential driver is stimulated and observed by stepping through each segment and testing each idac input bit . when testing is complete , digital test mode is deactivated at 680 by deactivating the lssd_en signal . when lssd_en is deactivate , the nominal values for resctrl_p / n , tx_power , and seg_disable as illustrated in fig5 are supplied to scan - compatible analog differential driver circuit 100 of fig1 in accordance with the present invention and as previously described . digital scan testing methodologies are well known in the art , in particular , the incorporation of a digital scan architecture into a design , the generation of patterns for testing the design , and the stimulation and observation of circuits within the design . in an alternate embodiment , up - channel receiver 130 of fig1 is capable of being powered down when not in use . when digital scan - based test mode is activated at 600 , nominal_pdwn signal as previously described and as illustrated in fig5 is inhibited by lssd_en . when lssd_en is active , pdwn is a logic ‘ 0 ’, thus ensuring that the receiver remains powered on during testing . after testing is complete and digital test mode is deactivated at 680 , nominal_pdwn is no longer inhibited by lssd_en and may be activated to power down the differential receiver . the description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed . many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art . the embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application , and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated .	6
with reference to fig1 , the majority of computer systems can be characterised as comprising : an application layer 1 comprising one or more applications , such as web browsers , word processors , administration tools ( e . g . anti - virus software ) and web servers , that provide an interface between individual users 2 and the rest of the computer system or automatically access the computer system themselves ; an operating system ( os ) 3 ; and a resource layer 4 including hardware such as modems , processors and memory devices . generally speaking , the control and management of the file system and resources is performed by the operating system . this is a piece of resident software on the computer system and provides an interface between the relatively high level commands and requests issued by the users and applications and the hardware specific commands required by the resources and file system to perform those requests . a mechanism by which this occurs is for each request from a user or application , the operating system issues one or more system calls . a system call is a low level command to which the system resources are directly responsive . consequently , it is within the operating system , at the system call level that the access control process of the present invention is preferably implemented . a schematic illustration in the form of a flow chart is illustrated in fig2 that represents a mode of operation of an access control system operating in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . the process is instigated by a system request 21 being issued by an application , either directly in response to a user operation or as part of one or more functions automatically executed by the application in question . an example of such a request would be to open a particular data file . the request is next compared to a defined permission set , step 22 , to determine if the user or application has the required permissions to access the requested data file . this permission set is predefined and definite , in the sense that a system request will either fall within the permission set or not . if the issued system request 21 does not fall within the predefined set of permissions , the request is denied , with a suitable warning or notification being preferably issued to the user . the set of permissions , or privileges , is preferably defined both in terms of the particular data items that an application can access and also the particular applications that a user is allowed to use . with respect to the second restriction , it will be appreciated that , as previously mentioned , an application may be responsive to both a direct command from a human operator or may be responsive to some other automatic process . an example of the latter occurrence would be the use of a internet dial up application to establish a connection with an internet server in response to an anti - virus software application running an automatic scheduled virus update procedure . in this instance , the operation of the dialup application occurs not in response to direct user demand , but in response to a request from the anti - virus software . consequently , a “ user ” can be both a human operator and another software application . the set of defined privileges may additionally be defined in terms of particular operations on data items that individual applications are allowed to perform , for example an application may have permission to read a particular data file but not to edit or delete it . the data files may be defined in terms of their own characteristics , for example all pdf files may be accessed by an identified pdf reader , or alternatively , the data files may be characterised in terms of their location , for example all data files of any type within an individual users home directory may be fully accessible by that user . this first stage , as explained above , follows known prior art techniques . however , in embodiments of the present invention additional steps are taken . if the system request does comply with the defined permission set it is subsequently determined , at step 23 , whether or not the request is deemed to be abnormal or unusual . to determine what is abnormal or unusual a system monitor 24 is provided . the system monitor is capable of learning the normal activity profile of a user . the learning process may occur over a fixed initial period during which the user is prompted after every system request to indicate whether this is a usual or unusual activity . however , a preferred mode of learning involves maintaining a continuously updated record of each user request and determining whether or not they are abnormal or unusual from various characteristics , such as the frequency with which a user makes a request , the data types most often accessed by the user , the time of day , and other such attributes . the precise learning model of the system monitor is not particularly germane to the present invention and is therefore not discussed in any further detail herein . if the system request is considered to be a normal request by the system monitor , the request is allowed and the desired operation of the computer system proceeds as expected . on the other hand , if the system monitor 24 determines that the system request is abnormal any one or combination of a number of conditions are applied that have to be satisfied for the execution of the system request to be completed . these conditions are referred to herein as benign responses . in the context of this specification , a benign response is one that impedes a suspected unauthorised operation but ultimately does not completely prevent it . an advantage of such benign responses is that they can be set to occur automatically safe in the knowledge that even if the response turns out to be a false alarm there are no significant or lasting detrimental effects . this is in comparison to prior art systems in which the responses tend to be much more drastic , e . g . the termination of a communication session . possible conditions , as represented at step 25 , include prompting the user for a password . the password may be the user &# 39 ; s conventional computer access password as used to initially log in to the computer system , or may be a further password that is used only when an abnormal system request is detected . it will be appreciated that other possible permutations of password authorisation may be applied , for example requesting a different predetermined password depending upon the level of “ abnormality ” determined by the system monitor or , for example , subsequent passwords may be requested depending upon the frequency of abnormal system requests being made over a given period of time . a further alternative may be that as part of the prompt for authorisation , a newly created password is presented to the user which must be entered in response to the prompt . preferably , the password is presented to the user as an image that whilst possible for a human operator to distinguish , is extremely difficult for a machine to detect . this approach , known generally as a reverse turing test , is designed to ensure the intervention of a human is required and to help prevent automatic password generating algorithms bypassing a predetermined password system . whilst not preventing an abnormal system request , by requesting a further password or other form of authorisation , a malicious user may be prevented or delayed from gaining access to the computer system , whereas the genuine authorised user is merely slightly inconvenienced . as an alternative , or in conjunction with asking for a password when an abnormal system request is made , other conditions , or benign responses , may be applied . for example , a time delay may be applied before the system request is actioned . for example , the user may be requested to wait 30 seconds before the system request is actioned . a variation to this may be that user is presented with the choice of allowing the delay to expire naturally , or entering a password as previously discussed to circumvent the delay . again , whilst this does not prevent a determined malicious user from gaining access to the computer system , in the case that the malicious user is in fact an automated virus , or other such similar software , the imposed delay may well be sufficient to hinder the virus from performing its design operation as the automated nature of virus software may not be capable of dealing with an unexpected time delay . in a further variation , the imposed time delay may be progressively increased for each subsequent abnormal system request in any given period of time . on completion of the re - authorisation process 25 and or completion of the system request itself , a “ learning ” process 26 is performed , in which the system monitor 24 is updated in an appropriate manner to reflect any changes in a users pattern or operation of the computer system . as touched upon above , the number of abnormal requests made in any given period of time may be taken into consideration when applying an appropriate response . an illustration of how this may be achieved is shown schematically in fig3 a to 3 c . fig3 a schematically illustrates the system requests issued by a user or application during for substantially equal time periods t 1 to t 4 . in the first time period t 1 , three system requests 30 are issued , referenced a to c . in the example shown , system request c is considered to be an abnormal request . fig3 b illustrates those system requests that are processed within any given time period and it will be seen that during the first time period t 1 system requests a and b , which are considered normal requests , are processed immediately . fig3 c schematically represents a buffer in which the abnormal requests are stored for a single predetermined time period . hence , in time period t 1 the abnormal system request c is stored in the buffer . in the subsequent time period t 2 three further system requests , d , e and f are issued , with system request e being considered an abnormal request . consequently request e is placed in the buffer , shown in fig3 c , whilst request d and f are processed immediately , together with request c which has now been retrieved from the buffer . in the example shown , only a single abnormal request per time period is retrieved from the buffer illustrated by fig3 c . at the next time period , t 3 , it will be seen from fig3 a that a large number of system requests have been issued , only one of which g is considered to be a normal request . the large number of abnormal system requests h to p may be issued due to the actions of a malicious user or malicious piece of software such as a virus . consequently , the large number of abnormal requests h to p are placed in the buffer , with only the abnormal request e from the previous time period t 2 and the normal request g being processed in the third time period t 3 . during the fourth time period , t 4 , no new system requests are issued and the single abnormal request h is retrieved from the buffer and processed , with the remaining abnormal requests i to p remaining in the buffer . the system may be arranged to provide a warning to an appropriate user if the number of abnormal requests in the buffer exceeds the predetermined number , as this would indicate attempted access to the computer system by a malicious user or piece of malicious software . even if no such warning was given , or no action taken in response to the warning , the restricted number of abnormal system requests that are processed from the buffer during each time period is likely to significantly hamper the operations of a malicious user , and in particular hamper the operation of a piece of malicious software . as mentioned previously , the most appropriate place to implement embodiments of the present invention is in the kernel of the computer operating system . the basic implementation in respect of a unix base computer system is described below by way of illustrative example only . the unix os has two modes — user mode and kernel mode . applications run as tasks in user mode . tasks on the unix operating system are represented by the process ( or thread ) abstraction . a running application may have one of more tasks associated with it . the operating system runs in kernel mode . tasks running in user mode are unprivileged and have no direct access to the system resources . the operating system running in kernel mode is privileged and can access system resources directly . the unprivileged application tasks get access to system resources ( such as files or network connections ) by the system call , also referred to herein as function requests , mechanism . to access a particular resource a task makes a system call . for example , to read from a file the task makes the “ read ” system call , to run another application the task calls the fork system call ( explained further below ) followed by the exec system call . these system calls cause the operating system kernel to carry out the corresponding system resource operations on behalf of the calling process . to implement embodiments of the present invention it is possible to add checks at the point where an application makes a system call so that a check can be made whether the requested operation fits within its normal use profile . an example of the operation of a unix operating system in accordance with embodiments of the present invention is illustrated in fig4 . fig4 schematically shows a segment within the flow of execution of the operating system , with individual processes shown as boxes and system calls as lines . matt is a computer user and is allowed to use frontpage for editing html ( web ) pages , but does not usually do so . when he attempts to run frontpage , the first system call is a fork . to process this command , the kernel creates an identical copy of the current process . the second call is an exec . to process this command , the kernel will copy the binary for frontpage into the second process , so that frontpage can run . according to embodiments of the present invention , the fork will succeed , but when the exec is attempted , the system will notice that matt does not unusually run frontpage , and jump out of processing the exec command , to running the response code . this will contain some policy configurable responses , for example popping up a window to ask for a password , logging , sending a message to an admin ( alert ), delaying , or delaying and asking for a password . depending on the result of the response , the system call that is waiting ( exec in this case ) will be allowed . a further example is illustrated in a similar manner in fig5 . matt usually uses excel , usually using it to read and write x 1 files in his home directory . at the end of each month he edits the payroll spreadsheet in a different directory . matt then attempts to read the payroll spreadsheet in the second week of the month . the process forks successfully and the exec system call is allowed , ( because matt usually uses excel ). however , when he tries to open the payroll file , the system intercepts the “ read ” system call , i . e . read ( payroll . xls ), and jumps out to run the response . depending on the reply from the response , the read will either return a handle to the file , or return an error . thus there is a need to examine calls ( and arguments ) to exec , read and write when controlling which applications a user uses on what data . this is in contrast to , and is advantageous over , other known approaches that need to examine all system calls . as embodiments of the present invention examine significantly fewer system calls , they provide more efficient implementations . processes have an attribute identifying the owner associated with them ( uid ). for interactive applications the owner will typically be the user who is currently running the application . server type applications are often run as the root user . the root user is a special user on unix and has access to all the system resources . typically , administration of the system is done using the root account . however , often server applications are run as root since they may need to carry out certain privileged operations . for the purposes of embodiments of the present invention it is important that we can distinguish between root when running as user doing administration versus root running a server program . the root server permission set is preferably more restrictive than the root administrator set . one mechanism for making this distinction according to embodiments of the present invention is described below . each process has an additional attribute associated with it via its ‘ task_struct ’ data structure . the ‘ task_struct ’ is a record of information about a particular process on the system and is held in the kernel . this attribute is simply 1 or 0 . processes that belong to an admin user of the system have this bit set to 1 . all other processes on the system have this bit set to 0 . when deciding which permission set / behaviour to apply to a particular process this extra attribute can be taken into account . in the kernel startup code ( pre - user space operation ) the attribute for all tasks is set to 0 . the bit is then turned on within the init kernel_thread prior to it invoking the init user space program . init is the first user space process and all other user space processes are forked / exec - ed from it . under unix , processes that are subsequently forked / exec - ed by init are controlled by the / etc / inittab file . this file is used to specify which processes should have the bit unset and which processes should have it left set . it is important to note that no method is provided to set the attribute to 1 after it has been set to 0 from userspace . it is only possible to unset the attribute or query its value from user space . the attribute value is inherited and its value preserved through fork / exec . so , with this new attribute the init program can launch new processes that are either admin processes or not by either unsetting or not unsetting the attribute . for example , processes , such as a web server running as root will have the attribute unset , marking it as a server process . even though a service may be running as root they cannot modify the attribute , as there is simply no mechanism to do this from user space . on the other hand , processes launched by a user from certain physical terminals will have the attribute marked as set , marking all processes launched from those terminals as a user doing administration . this allows it to determine whether somebody running as root entered the system via a legitimate route ( such as logging on via the system console ) or via a compromised web server , say . a schematic representation of a dataprocessor configured in accordance with embodiments of the present invention is shown in fig6 . requested function commands received at an input 31 of the dataprocessor are distributed to a main processing unit 32 , responsible for the execution of the function command , and to a function command monitor 33 . the function command monitor 33 determines if the requested function command conforms to a set of parameters , i . e . if the function command is abnormal or not . the set of parameters may be stored in a memory device 34 within the function command monitor 33 , as shown in fig6 , or may be stored elsewhere within the dataprocessor or remotely from the dataprocessor . the function command monitor 33 is coupled to a function command controller 35 , represented in fig6 as embedded within the main processing unit 32 . the function command controller 35 is configured to halt the execution of a function command by the main processing unit 32 in response to receiving a control signal from the function command monitor 33 . the function command controller is also configured to allow the resumption by the main processing unit 32 of the function command in response to one or more resumption conditions being satisfied , as previously discussed herein . the generation of user prompts and the management of time delays is also controlled by the function command controller .	6
[ 0029 ] fig1 a through 7 illustrate one preferred embodiment of the invention wherein hemispheroidal , parabolic , conical or other tapered bowl members 1 are provided with a central eyelet or bore 2 and may be mounted on a cylindrical and circular ring 3 , as shown in fig3 a through 4b , as well as fig5 . the bowl members 1 may be secured to the ring 3 spaced apart by an adhesive and are arranged to face in the same direction , as illustrated . the ring apparatus comprising bowl members 1 of the configuration shown in either fig1 a and 1b or 2 a and 2 b are secured spaced apart on ring 3 which may be mounted on an insulator 4 of the type shown in fig6 . [ 0030 ] fig7 shows the cleaning ring apparatus of the embodiment of fig1 a through 7 mounted on the insulator whereby the ring assembly may be constantly driven by available wind to scrape dirt off the surface of the insulator and keep it sufficiently clean to prevent electrical sparking . the cleaning ring apparatus shown in fig7 may be formed from electrical insulating type materials such as plastic , rubber , nylon and similar electrical insulating materials . the cleaning ring apparatus shown in fig7 can be secured on a porcelain insulator 4 or similar insulator used in electrical systems . as shown in fig8 a through 9b , hemispheroidal shaped bowl members or conical shaped bowl members 1 may be modified to include a peripheral edge 5 which facilitates scraping dirt off of an insulator , such as the insulator 4 , if these bowl members are substituted for the bowl members 1 of the type shown in fig1 a through 2b . the peripheral edges 5 formed on the hemispheroidal or conical shaped bowl members are indicated to be favorable for removing dirt from an insulator . referring to fig1 , 11 and 12 , another embodiment of the invention is illustrated wherein hemispheroidal bowl members 1 may be mounted on a ring 3 spaced apart by spherical beads 6 each having a central bore or eyelet . the beads 6 are provided to fix the distance between the bowl members 1 . fig1 illustrates a cleaning ring apparatus using spherical spacer beads 6 and hemispheroidal shaped bowl members 1 arranged to face in the same direction and held spaced apart by the beads 6 . as shown in fig1 , the beads 6 may also assume a cylindrical or cannular shape for maintaining the bowl members 1 spaced apart . another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in fig1 , wherein bowl members 1 are mounted on a modified ring 3 which includes circumferential ring - like protuberances formed thereon to secure the bowl members spaced apart , as shown . referring to fig1 , 15a and 15 b , a cylindrical or circular brush 8 may be mounted between bowl members 1 and supported on the ring 3 . the brushes 8 are provided with eyelets or bores so that they may be sleeved over the ring 3 spaced apart between the bowl members 1 as shown . the brushes 8 improve the speed with which an insulator may be cleaned by a cleaning ring apparatus in accordance with the invention . referring to fig1 , 17a and 17 b , another preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated wherein hemispheroidal bowl members 1 are supported spaced apart on the cleaning ring 3 and a scraper member 9 is supported between the bowl members . referring to fig1 a through 19b , another embodiment of the invention is illustrated wherein the bowl members 1 are formed integral with a ring 3 . still further , referring to fig2 and 21 , another embodiment of the invention is illustrated wherein the bowl members are formed integral with the ring and the ring is provided with a joint 10 which is secured by a connector 11 which may be bonded or welded to the cleaning ring to form it as a circular ring assembly . referring still further to fig2 , another embodiment of the invention is illustrated , which is different from the cleaning ring assemblies described above , wherein the bowl members 1 are not sleeved or threaded centrally on the ring 3 but are fixed to the ring radially outwardly on one side thereof , as illustrated . although preferred embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated herein , those skilled in the art will recognize that various substitutions and modifications may be made to the invention without departing from the scope and spirit of the appended claims .	1
the invention is further described in details by reference to examples , but the invention is not limited to the following embodiments . in this example , water - soluble polymer emulsion used for lithium - ion battery membrane was prepared through polymerization reaction generated by hydrophilic polymer polyvinyl alcohol ( pva ) 1750 and lipophilic monomer vinyl acetate ( vac )/ ethylacrylate ( ea )/ acrylonitrile ( an ) in water solution . the composing of copolymer was pva : vac : ea : an = 10 : 2 : 2 : 5 ( weight ratio , the same hereinafter ). the content of copolymer is 17 %. the product was white opaque emulsion . the polymer emulsion was prepared through following steps : 1000 g distilled water and 100 g polyvinyl alcohol ( pva ) 1750 were added to four - neck reaction vessel fixed condenser . the temperature of the reaction vessel was heated to 75 ° c . under stirring at 100 rpm . after 3 h , the material was transparent like can be regarded as dissolved finished . after natural cooling to 55 ° c ., 40 g mixture of lipophilic monomer vinyl acetate ( vac ) and ethyl acrylate ( 1 : 1 ) was added in one time . after stirring for 10 min , 0 . 5 g of water - soluble initiator ( ammonium peroxydisulphate ) was added . about 20 minutes later , the material was light blue . the color of the mixture changed into a white emulsion after 30 minutes . the reactive intermediate was obtained after 2 h copolymerization . the above reaction mixture and 50 g of lipophilic monomer acrylonitrile ( an ) were mixed . 1 . 5 g of initiator and 0 . 5 g weakly acidic lithium vinyl sulfonic acid were added . after 10 h reaction , polymer colloidal emulsion was obtained . 19 g of filler ( zirconium dioxide ) and 160 g of plasticizer ( benzyl alcohol ) were added to the polymer colloidal emulsion prepared according to step 1 . the mixture was grinded with a ball grinder for 5 h . the viscosity of the slurry at the temperature t slurry of 35 ° c . was 2500 mpa · s measured at the temperature of 20 . 6 ° c . and the relative humidity ( rh ) of 64 %. tape - casting equipment was used . polymer colloidal emulsion was coated on bopp plastic baseband . the microporous polymer membrane was obtained after the water and plasticizer of the bopp baseband coated the polymer colloidal emulsion was volatilized through the heated - air drying tunnel . the temperature of heated - air drying was 60 - 130 ° c ., preferably , 80 - 100 ° c . the reaction steps are basically the same as example 1 the only difference is that the lipophilic monomer ethyl acrylate ( ea ) was replaced by acrylamide ( am ). the composing of copolymer was pva : vac : am : an = 10 : 2 : 1 : 8 . the concrete preparation method of the polymer emulsion is as follows : all monomers were added in one time . the concentrations of materials were adjusted to about 13 %. initiator was added directly . the slurry experienced colorless - light blue - white emulsion process . the reaction rate was faster than example 1 . after 12 h reaction , polymer emulsion used for lithium batteries was obtained . the amount of filler is the same as example 1 . the materials are titanium dioxide and benzyl alcohol . the mixture was grinded with a ball grinder for 5 h . the viscosity of the slurry was kept at 2500 mpa · s by adjusting the solid content at the temperature t slurry of 35 ° c . in this example , polyvinyl alcohol 1788 ( pva ) was added to lipophilic monomer styrene ( st )/ butyl acrylate ( ba )/ acrylonitrile ( an ). water - soluble polymer emulsion used for lithium - ion battery membrane was prepared by ternary polymerization in aqueous phase . the composing of copolymer was pva : st : ba : an = 10 : 2 : 4 : 5 ( weight ratio , the same hereinafter ). the content of copolymer is 17 %. the product was white opaque emulsion . the polymer emulsion was prepared through following steps : 1000 g distilled water and 100 g polyvinyl alcohol ( pva ) 1788 were added to four - neck reaction vessel fixed condenser . the temperature of the reaction vessel was heated to 90 ° c . under stirring at 100 rpm . after 3 h , the material was transparent like can be regarded as dissolved finished . after natural cooling to 65 ° c ., styrene monomer and a little initiator were added . about 20 minutes later , the mixture became a white emulsion . in the meantime , butyl acrylate ( ba ) was added . the reaction was continued for 2 h . acrylonitrile monomer was added dropwisely to the above prepared emulsion ( the dropwise speed was controlled by peristaltic pump . the material was added to the emulsion during 5 h ). 1 . 5 g of initiator was replenished and the polymerization reaction was continued for 12 h to obtain polymer membrane emulsion used for lithium battery . 15 % of filler ( silicon dioxide ) and 100 % of plasticizer ( tributyl phosphate ) were added to the prepared polymer colloidal emulsion . the mixture was grinded with a ball grinder for 5 h . the viscosity of the slurry was kept at 2500 mpa · s by adjusting the solid content at the temperature t slurry of 35 ° c . in this example , polyvinyl alcohol 1788 ( pva ), hydrophilic monomer n - vinyl pyrrolidone ( nvp ), lipophilic monomer butyl acrylate ( ba ) and acrylonitrile ( an ) were used as materials for preparation of water - soluble polymer emulsion used for lithium battery membrane . the composing of copolymer was pva : nvp : ba : an = 10 : 2 : 4 : 5 ( weight ratio ). the polymer emulsion was prepared by one - step polymerization . the monomers and initiators were added simultaneously . the redox system of ammonium sulfite - potassium peroxydisulfate was used as initiator . the reaction temperature was 72 ° c . and the reaction time was 12 h . the concentration of copolymer is 19 . 5 %. the product was white colloidal emulsion . 15 % of filler ( silicon dioxide treated with 3 - aminopropyltriethoxysilane ) and 100 % of plasticizer ( tributyl phosphate ) were added to the prepared polymer colloidal emulsion . the viscosity of the slurry was kept at 2500 mpa · s by adjusting the solid content . in this example , pva , hydrophilic monomer lithium acrylate ( maali ) and lipophilic monomer acrylonitrile ( an ) were polymerized in aqueous phase to form water - soluble polymer emulsion used for lithium battery membrane . the composing of copolymer was pva : maali : an = 10 : 2 : 5 ( weight ratio ). the polymer emulsion was prepared through following steps : first , polyvinyl alcohol 1788 was dissolved in water at 50 ° c . lithium acrylate ( maali ) and acrylonitrile ( an ) were added in one time . the polymerization method is the same as foregoing example . after 12 h , polymerization reaction was completed . 30 % of filler ( aluminum oxide ) and 120 % of plasticizer ( triethyl phosphate ) were added to the prepared polymer colloidal emulsion . in order to improve the adhesiveness of membrane with bopp substrate , 35 % of oxidized polyethylene wax emulsion was added . the mixture was grinded with a ball grinder for 5 h . the viscosity of the slurry was kept at 2500 mpa · s by adjusting the solid content . in this example , aqueous polymer emulsion used for lithium battery membrane was obtained by graft polymerization of polyvinyl alcohol 1799 ( pva ), hydrophobic monomer vinyltriethoxysilane ( 151 )/ acrylonitrile ( an ) in aqueous phase . the composing of copolymer was pva : 151 : an = 10 : 4 : 5 ( weight ratio ). the polymer emulsion was prepared through following steps : 1000 g distilled water and 100 g polyvinyl alcohol ( pva ) 1799 were added to four - neck reaction vessel fixed condenser . the temperature of the reaction vessel was heated to 90 ° c . under stirring at 100 rpm . after 3 h , the material was transparent like can be regarded as dissolved finished . after natural cooling to 60 ° c ., 40 g of vinyltriethoxysilane 151 , 50 g of acrylonitrile ( an ) and 1 . 9 g of ammonium peroxydisulphate were added . the graft polymerization time was 12 h . the concentration of copolymer is 17 . 4 %. the product was white colloidal emulsion . the polymer colloidal emulsion is adjusted to be weakly acid by diluted hydrochloric acid . 20 % of filler ( silicon dioxide ) filler and 100 % of plasticizer ( triethyl phosphate ) was added . in order to improve the shrinkage performance of membrane , 30 % alkali free fiberglass ( micron - sized ) was attempted added . the fiberglass was sintered at temperature 500 ° c . before use , then natural cooling . the mixture was grinded with a ball grinder for 5 h . the viscosity of the slurry was kept at 2500 mpa · s by adjusting the solid content . the microporous polymer membranes prepared by example 1 - 6 were dried for 3 - 8 h in a vacuum at 90 ° c . the whole testing process was carried out in dry air atmosphere ( the relative humidity of dry air atmosphere was below 3 %). the membranes were taken out after 2 , 4 , 6 , 12 h dipping in electrolyte , respectively . the residual electrolyte on surface was blotted up by filter paper . the sample was weighed using analytical balance of 0 . 01 g accuracy . the weight difference before and after dipping in the electrolyte is the absorption amount . after 12 h dipping in electrolyte , the membranes were taken out and deposited for 3 h . the electrolyte conservation rate of water - soluble polymer membranes was determined ( the absorption amount to the weight difference of 12 h dipping ). the results of contrast experiment of example and pp membrane are shown in table 1 . the microporous polymer membrane prepared in example 6 was assembled into a lithium - ion battery . the battery was composed of the limn 2 o 4 cathode material , graphite anode materials , and electrolyte lipf 6 consisting of ethylene carbonate / diethyl carbonate . the battery is subject to a dod 100 % charge - discharge cycle under a condition of 1 c . the results of experiments showed that the capacity of battery remained over 75 % than initial capacity after 1500 charge - discharge cycle . the increase of internal resistance in battery was less than 10 %. as a contrast , the lithium - ion battery assembled by commercial microporous polypropylene film under the same conditions has the capacity about 75 % of initial capacity and the internal resistance increases more than 35 % after 400 cycles under the same condition . the lithium - ion battery assembled by microporous polymer membrane prepared in present invention has long cycle life and smaller battery polarization attributed to the microporous polymer membrane has excellent affinity with the polar electrolyte solution and excellent liquid retention property which is made from a high - polarity polymer material .	2
referring now to fig2 which illustrates a control system for the motor antenna of the present invention . the control system includes a battery b , a control circuit 10 , an ignition key 20 , a radio receiver 30 , a motor m , and an antenna 40 . the control circuit 10 controls the starting of the motor m and detects electric current and branch current of the motor m . based upon the result thus detected , the control circuit 10 stops the motor m . the control circuit 10 includes a + b terminal and an rx terminal which receives a + b voltage through a power switch 31 of the radio receiver 30 . the control circuit 10 further includes an acc terminal , an ig terminal , and a ground terminal e . fig1 is a circuit diagram showing the control circuit shown in fig2 in a more detail manner . the circuit of fig1 includes a relay rl1 which changes over and controls a relay contact s1 , a relay rl2 which changes over and controls a relay contact s2 , a transistor tr1 which controls the relay rl1 , and a transistor tr2 which controls the relay rl2 . the transistor tr1 is turned on when the ignition key 20 and the power switch 31 of the radio receiver 30 are turned on . the transistor tr1 excites the relay rl1 by way of the power from the rl terminal which is connected to the rx terminal or the acc terminal ; and when the relay rl1 is excited , the relay contact s1 is changed over from the point b to the point a . the relay rl2 is excited when the transistor tr2 is turned on ; and when the relay rl2 is excited , the relay contact s2 is changed over from the point b to the point a . a positive line from the battery b is connected to the point a of the relay contact s1 and the point a of the relay contact s2 . one terminal m1 of the motor m is connected to point c of the relay contact s1 , and the other terminal m2 of the motor m is connected to point c of the relay contact s2 . a positive characteristic thermistor rp1 , which possesses a positive resistance - temperature characteristics , is interposed between the point b of the relay contact s1 and the ground . another positive characteristic thermistor rp2 is interposed between the point b of the relay contact s2 and the ground . the relay contacts s1 and s2 are respectively changed over to the point b when the relays rl1 and rl2 are not excited . diodes d1 , d2 , d3 , and d4 are electric current blocking diodes , and these diodes control the current for exciting the relays which is supplied from the + b power source or the rl power source so that the relay exciting current does not flow into the other power sources . condenser c3 is provided in the circuit so that it supplies a power to the relay rl2 for a short period of time when the supply of the rl power is stopped . the electric current from the condenser c3 is blocked by the diodes d1 and d2 and flows only to the relay rl2 . the transistor tr3 starts to function when the voltage at both ends of the positive characteristic thermistor rp1 is higher than a predetermined level . the positive pulses , which are generated at the moment the relay rl1 is excited and the contact s1 is changed over from the point b to the point a , passes through the condenser c2 , and with this positive pulse the transistor tr3 is turned on and the transistor tr2 turns off . on the other hand , the negative pulses , which are generated at the moment the contact s1 is changed over from the point a to the point b , passes through the condenser c1 , and with this negative pulses the transistor tr4 is turned on and the transistor tr2 is turned off . a motor branch current amplifying and detecting circuit 11 includes an alternating current amplifier and a rectification circuit , and this circuit 11 amplifies the branch current generated at the both ends of the positive characteristic thermistor rp1 or rp2 and outputs a negative voltage element . the negative signals thus outputed are fed to the base of the transistor tr2 and also to the base of the transistor tr3 . the operation of the above embodiment will be explained in the below . first , when the antenna 40 is retracted and the ignition key 20 is not turned on , the voltage at the rl terminal is zero , and therefore , neither the relay s1 nor s2 are excited . thus , the relay contacts s1 and s2 are connected to the points b , respectively , and no current flows to the motor m . accordingly , the antenna 40 stays retracted . this is shown in fig3 ( 1 ). when the ignition key 20 is turned on and the switch 31 of the radio receiver 30 is switched on , the + b voltage is applied to the rx terminal . then , the transistor tr1 is turned on , and the relay rl1 is excited through the rl terminal and the diode d4 . as a result , the relay contact s1 is changed over from the point b to the point a , and an electric current flows to the motor m through the + b terminal , the relay contact s1 , the terminals m1 and m2 , the relay contact s2 , and the positive characteristic thermistor rp2 . thus , the antenna 40 is extended . this is shown in fig3 ( 2 ). when the antenna is fully extended , it is mechanically locked and an excess current flow through the motor m . thus , the voltage at the both ends of the positive characteristic thermistor rp2 is increased , and the transistor tr2 is turned on , and as a result the relay rl2 is excited . accordingly , the relay contact s2 is changed over from the point b to the point a , and the current flowing to the motor m is stopped . as a result , the extension of the antenna 40 is stopped . this is shown in fig3 ( 3 ). in this case , the relay contact s2 has been changed over to the point a , and a base current flows to the transistor tr2 through the points a and c of the relay contact s2 and the resistance r1 ; therefore , the relay rl2 is self - held . on the other hand , since the transistor tr1 stays turned on as long as the power switch 31 stays on , the relay rl1 is also kept excited , and as a result the relay rl1 is self - held . in other words , if the power switch 31 is on when the antenna has been fully extended , the antenna stays in the fully extended position . then , when the power switch 31 is turned off , the transistor tr1 is turned off and the relay rl1 turns off , and the relay contact s1 is changed over to the point b . as a result , as shown in fig3 ( 4 ), since the current flows in the direction from the terminal m2 to the terminal m1 of the motor m , the motor m reverses its direction of rotation , and the antenna 40 is retracted . when the antenna 40 is completely retracted , it is mechanically locked . then , the electric current in the motor m becomes very large , and the terminal voltage of the positive characteristic thermistor rp1 is increased . as a result , the transistor tr3 is turned on and drops the base electric potential of the transistor tr2 . the transistor tr2 is turned off , the relay rl2 is turned off , and the relay contact s2 is changed over to the point b . thus , the current flowing in the motor m is stopped , in other words , the antenna 40 is retracted . this is shown in fig3 ( 1 ). the circuits for the condensers c1 and c2 eliminate the malfunction , which is caused by a rush electric current which occurs when the motor m is started , as a timer . thus , with the condensers c1 and c2 , the motor m , which works to extend and retract the antenna , receives the signal which is opposite to the signal being received . as mentioned above , the antenna 40 is fully extended and then locked , and this control is brought by applying the changes ( increase ) in the terminal voltage of the positive characteristics to the base of the transistor tr2 , and by exciting the relay rl2 when the terminal voltage is increased over the predetermined level . on the other hand , the control to retract and then lock the antenna is brought by applying the changes ( increase ) in the terminal voltage of the positive characteristic thermistor rp1 to the base of the transistor tr3 , turning on the transistor tr3 when the terminal voltage becomes higher than the predetermined level , turning off the transistor tr2 , and then turning off the relay rl2 . further , when the motor antenna 40 is locked , the terminal voltage in the positive characteristic thermistors rp2 and rp1 is immediately increased . thus , it is possible to design a system such that only the increased amount of the voltage is applied to the base of each transistor . with this arrangement , the chances for the antenna to be influenced by the steady - state current is less likely , and the antenna is extended and retracted without failure . in the above embodiment , when the motor m is running , the branch current generated by the commutator is picked up by the positive characteristic thermistors rp1 and rp2 and detected and amplified by the motor branch current amplifying and detecting circuit 11 . as a result , a negative direct current is generated , and this negative direct current is applied to the bases of the transistors tr2 and tr3 . thus , when the motor m is running , it does not receive the direct current elements of the positive characteristic thermistors rp1 and rp2 . as a result , the functional errors caused by the changes in the load on the motor m which is derived from the deformation of the antenna 40 can be prevented . further , the functional errors caused by the increase in the motor current , which is generated when the load at the motor driving section is increased in the low ambient temperature , can be also prevented . since the above embodiment uses positive characteristic thermistors rp1 and rp2 , the control errors can be prevented . the possible control errors and the solution thereof will be explained below . the functional errors could occur in the mechanical system , and the motor m could stop with an excessive current which flows into the motor m . in this case , the excess current also flows into the positive characteristic thermistors rp1 and rp2 which are connected in series to the motor m . if the excess current flows into the motor m for a few minutes , heat is generated in the positive characteristics thermistor rp1 or rp2 , and as shown in fig4 the resistance level increases and the motor current can be restricted . further , since the terminal voltage at the positive characteristics thermistor rp1 or rp2 increases sharply , the transistors tr2 and tr1 function smoothly . thus , control errors can be prevented . when the control cannot be resumed smoothly due to the malfunction in the control circuit , etc ., it is impossible to block the motor current . however , since the current can be restricted by the positive characteristic thermistors , the motor m is prevented from burning out . instead of the positive characteristic thermistors rp1 and rp2 , a fixed resistance may be used in the present invention . in case that the ignition key 20 is turned off when the switch 31 of the radio receiver 30 is left on ( and the antenna 40 is left extended ), it is necessary to retract the antenna . to retract the antenna , in the conventional device , the power for the control circuit is directly taken from the battery b so that the control circuit is kept connected to the power source . as a result , a battery discharge caused by a dark current in the control circuit occurs occasionally , and also the semiconductor malfunctions when struck by the lightning . however , in the embodiment of the present invention , the power from the battery is used until the antenna is retracted , and once the antenna is retracted completely , the power supply from the battery is stopped . in order to smoothly accomplish such a power supply control , the control power source maintaining circuit ( which comprises the two diodes d1 and d2 and the large capacity condenser c3 ) is employed . more specifically , when the ignition key 20 is turned off while the antenna 40 is being retracted , the relay rl2 is being excited at this moment and the + b power from the battery b is supplied to the relay rl2 and the control circuit through the diode d1 so that the antenna 40 is kept retracting . when the antenna is completely retracted , the relay rl2 and the control circuit are disconnected from the + b power . on the other hand , when the ignition key 20 is turned off while the antenna is being extended by the electrical charge of the condenser c3 , although at this moment the relay rl2 is not being excited , the control circuit and the relay rl2 are instantly rendered to function . in other words , the contact s1 is changed over from the point a to the point b ; therefore , at this moment , the transistor tr4 is begun to be turned on by the condenser c1 , and the transistor tr4 successively begins to turn on , and then the relay rl2 momentarily functions . as a result , the contact s2 of the relay rl2 is changed over to the point a , and the + b power is supplied to the relay rl2 and the control circuit through the diode d1 until the antenna 40 is completely retracted . the above embodiment can be automatically controlled electronically without using mechanical limit switches , mechanical clutches , etc . as mentioned in detail in the above , according to the present invention , the control device for motor driven antenna for automobiles has a simple structure and a high motor antenna reliability , and is easy to design the overall size small .	7
in the following descriptions , the present invention will be explained with reference to various example embodiments ; nevertheless , these example embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention to any specific example , embodiment , environment , application , or particular implementation described herein . therefore , descriptions of these example embodiments are only provided for purpose of illustration rather than to limit the present invention . the invention is to cover all modifications , equivalents , and alternatives falling within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims . referring to fig1 and fig2 , a knee pad assembly 100 is shown . the assembly generally comprises a base 102 and a removable cover 104 . the base 102 fastens to the user &# 39 ; s knee using fastening straps 106 , such as the ratcheting adjustable straps as shown in these figures with ratcheted fastener 109 . an upper and a lower strap are shown but more or fewer straps are within the scope of the invention . the base 102 presents a forward facing cover receiving portion 108 . the cover 104 is disposed over the forward facing portion 108 of base 102 as indicated in these figures and secured via attachment means , in this example via corner hooks 110 disposed at the corners of base 102 . the assembled knee pad 100 is shown in fig2 . the knee pad base can be configured in short or long versions as appropriate for the particular application and a user &# 39 ; s desired level of coverage . the cover is correspondingly sized . the cover may be formed from any suitable material , including rubber and plastic , and formed in any suitable shape . in addition , the cover may fully or partially comprise multirole materials such as leather , cloth , plastic , fiber glass , foam , rubber , carbon fiber , composites , metal or any other material that is designed for the end user &# 39 ; s specific job requirements . a wide variety of cover attachments means are within the scope of the invention . such means include , but are not limited to hooks , snaps , clips , hook and loop components ( e . g . velcro fasteners ) on respective portions of the base and cover , and combinations of two or more different attachment means . the user &# 39 ; s ability to change covers on the knee pad bases allows for a single pair of knee pads to be adapted to a wide variety of surface types . the ability to change covers also provides the user with the option to replace individual worn covers , wash soiled covers , and / or use job specific covers as needed , avoiding the need to purchase a replacement or additional set of knee pads . referring to fig3 and 4 , another example embodiment of a knee pad assembly 200 is shown . the base 202 is provided with one or more front facing suspension components 212 , such as rubber or foam pads . in this example embodiment , base 202 is slideably engaged with pad 204 by straps 214 that are integrated into the corners of pad 204 . straps 214 secure the knee pad assembly 200 to a user by wrapping straps 214 securely around the back of the users knee . it should also be noted that straps 214 could also be integrated with base 202 and slide through corresponding openings ( not shown ) in pad 204 to also achieve the floating suspension effect . cords may also be used instead of straps . while secured , the back surface of pad 204 engages the suspension member 212 of base 202 , and slides on guide rails 216 , allowing pad 204 to float on suspension member 212 and remain aligned via guide rails 216 , without being fixably connected to base 202 . this allows pad 204 to move in toward the knee and out away from the knee , depending on the pressure exerted on the front surface of pad 204 while in use . this provides cushioned suspension for the knee while the improved knee pad assembly is in use . the spring force of the compression component 212 may be adapted to a desired range of cushioning or compression based upon a user &# 39 ; s weight , and / or the conditions of use of the knee pad , and / or the length of time of intended use . preferably a material with an ild ( indention load deflection ) of between 45 and 100 may be used . urethane and other foams may also be used with densities of weights between 1 and 10 pounds per square foot of material . the outer cover 204 may comprise a semi - rigid or a hard plastic shell ( or similar material ) that will compress one or more of the suspension components 212 and distribute the force over the cover 204 . the cover 204 cooperates with a plurality of integrated straps 214 , guide rails 216 and guide plate 218 to facilitate slideable engagement , and uniform alignment , of the cover to the base . this example embodiment also illustrates a tension / release mechanism or feature . when kneeling , compression placed on the cap 204 would compress suspension components 212 and release strap tension on straps 214 and when standing , compression would be released and strap tension would be allowed to return . the purpose is to release strap tension on the back of the worker &# 39 ; s leg , nerves and blood vessels while the worker is kneeling , yet maintain security of the knee pad when the worker is standing or walking . the cap 204 , straps 214 , suspension components 212 , guide rails 216 and guide plate 218 cooperate to achieve this feature , as well as providing a uniform alignment of the cap 204 with the base 202 , and providing extended comfort to the user . referring to fig5 and 6 , another embodiment of a knee pad assembly 300 is shown . the base 302 comprises a knee cup 304 and a suspension member 306 disposed on the outer front surface of the base . an outer cover or shell 308 is disposed over knee cup 304 and suspension member 306 by straps 310 . this arrangement allows force applied to the cover to compress the collapsible or suspension member towards the base to provide cushioning . the edges of the cover 308 slide toward the user &# 39 ; s knee along the outer perimeter surface of the base . when the pressure on the cover is released , the suspension member 306 expands to its original shape . in one variant , the suspension member 306 is partially collapsible in order to provide adequate support and air space while collapsible enough to provide desired cushioning . in addition open areas 312 in suspension member 306 allow additional cushioning and support for the knee . similar to the embodiments described and depicted in fig3 and 4 , the contact and cooperation between cover or shell 308 and suspension member 306 provides a floating type suspension for the knee while the knee pad 300 is strapped to a user by straps 310 . referring to fig7 , depicted is yet another exemplary embodiment where knee pad assembly 400 is comprised of base 402 , which is a partial shell that is disposed behind the user &# 39 ; s leg , such as on the calf and behind the knee , and cap 404 . for example , straps or a neoprene back of leg wrap 402 may be substituted for the base and straps described in the preceding examples . the cover 404 is then placed over the knee cap and restrained in place via tension members 418 , such as cords , on either side of the base spanning between the base and the cover . this arrangement promotes good pressure management on the user &# 39 ; s knee and leg . the cover 404 is shown with a honeycomb pattern 420 in a soft rubber material in order to enhance traction and provide cushioning for the user . a further feature illustrated in this example is the ratchet system 422 disposed on top of cover structure 404 and functionally connected to the tension members 418 . via the ratchet system 422 , the wearer has the ability to tighten or loosen strap pressure ( snugness ) of the knee pad . a dial 424 or other user actuator is provided to allow the user to actuate the ratchet system . referring to fig8 through 15 , depicted are various means to removeably attach a pad to a base . fig8 provides a base 502 with one or more sleeves or pockets 504 to receive the tongues 508 of cover 506 . the front receiving surface 510 of the base 502 and back surface 511 of cover 506 , may further be provided with a respective portion of a hook and loop fastener 512 to further secure the cover to the base . the cover 506 shown in this example is a generally rectangular and slightly curved semi - rigid board comprising a polyethylene material . however , the board can vary in size , shape and material as appropriate for the particular usage . referring to fig9 , an exemplar knee pad assembly is shown with another cover fastening means . an elastic hem 522 is provided around the perimeter 524 of the cover receiving surface 526 of the base 520 . the perimeter 528 of the cover 530 includes corresponding protruding tabs or projections 532 that are sized and shaped for being received in the elastic hem 522 . hook and loop 527 may also be used as shown in fig8 , and can further be used with all embodiment disclosed herein . referring to fig1 , a further embodiment of a knee pad assembly is shown . the base and cover is shown in fig9 . in addition , an overlay cover 534 is now provided . the overlay cover 534 is disposed over the cover 530 and then secured to the base with a plurality of reinforced strap loops 536 . the straps 538 used to secure the base to the knee region of the user are placed through the reinforced loops 536 of the overlay cover 534 to secure the cover and overlay in place . referring to fig1 , another embodiment of a knee pad assembly is shown . the cover or overlay 540 includes a plurality of elastic bands or cords 542 . the cords 542 can extend through the cover 540 for better securement . a tab 544 is provided at an approximate mid - point of each band 542 . the cover 540 is secured to the base 546 by inserting the tabs 544 into respective slots or pockets 548 in the base 546 . channels 550 in the outer perimeter surface 552 of the base 546 may be provided to further retain the bands in place . hook and loop fasteners 554 may further be provided on respective portions of the cover and base to further secure the cover to the base . fig1 illustrates a cord - lock means 562 for securing the cover 564 to the base 566 . raised corners 568 on the cover are inserted behind portions of the locking cord 570 . the locking cord or cords 570 are then tightened by pulling on cords 563 and retainer 562 is then used to maintain the tension in the retaining cord ( s ). fig1 through 15 illustrate other exemplar attachment embodiment means for a knee pad assembly . the cover or overlay 578 includes a plurality of elastic bands or cords 572 shown at the corners of the cover 578 . the cords can extend through the cover in a crossing pattern or “ x ” shape 574 for better securement , as shown in fig1 . a tab 576 is provided at an approximate mid - point of each band 572 . the cover 578 is secured to the base 580 by inserting the tabs 576 into respective slots or pockets 582 in the base at the corners thereof . the corner pockets may be raised to facilitate insertion and removal of the tabs . fig1 further illustrates that cover 578 may be used to secure pads used in previous embodiments to a base such as base 580 . note that the underlayment of pad 584 of fig1 includes a plurality of slots 586 for receiving the knee pad retaining straps 581 . the compressibility factor ( including material property and physical dimensions and shape ) of the collapsible or suspension members disclosed herein can be varied to accommodate different user weight ranges and to accommodate a user &# 39 ; s desired cushioning factor . the cover can be secured using a variety of means as discussed in this disclosure . alternatively , the cover may include straps that secure the assembly directly to the user &# 39 ; s knees , such as elastic cord or adjustable straps that extend behind the knee of the user . the collapsible or suspension members may comprise a wide variety of materials , including , springs , pen cell foam , closed cell foam , air bag , molded eva , soft 3d fabric ( spacer mesh ), a resilient honeycomb structure , rubber , or any combination of these or other materials . the cushioning factor can also be selected according to body weight or according to average time spent kneeling / hour . for example , body weight ranges of 80 to 150 lb , 150 to 225 lb , and over 225 lb ; kneeling 10 min ./ hour , 30 min ./ hour and 50 min ./ hour . however more or fewer ranges may be specified . features of the various embodiments discussed herein can be mixed and matched in any manner of additional embodiments that are all within the scope of the invention regardless of whether or not explicitly discussed herein . while the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments , it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments . it will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many modifications and equivalent arrangements can be made thereof without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure , such scope to be accorded the broadest interpretation of the appended claims so as to encompass all equivalent structures and products . moreover , features or aspects of various example embodiments may be mixed and matched ( even if such combination is not explicitly described herein ) without departing from the scope of the invention . for purposes of interpreting the claims for the present invention , it is expressly intended that the provisions of section 112 , sixth paragraph of 35 u . s . c . are not to be invoked unless the specific terms “ means for ” or “ step for ” are recited in a claim .	0
fig1 is a cross - sectional side view to show a laser printer as an example of an image forming device according to one embodiment of the invention . fig2 shows the laser printer shown in fig1 in which a process cartridge is attached to and detached from a main body casing as an example of a main body . fig3 is a perspective view of a drum shutter . a laser printer 1 includes a main body casing 2 and a sheet feed unit 3 , an image formation unit 4 , and a sheet discharge unit 5 provided in the main body casing 2 as shown in fig1 . the main body casing 2 has a substantially box shape and has an opening 6 formed through one side wall of the main body casing 2 . the main body casing 2 includes a front cover 7 configured to open and close the opening 6 . in a state where the front cover 7 is opened , a process cartridge 17 ( described later ) can be attached to or detached from the main body casing 2 . in the description to follow , the side where the front cover 7 is provided is “ front ” and the opposite side is “ rear .” the front in the sheet thickness direction in fig1 is the left and the back in the sheet thickness direction in fig1 is the right . the left and right direction ( side to side direction ) is synonymous with the width direction . the sheet feed unit 3 includes a sheet feed tray 9 , a sheet feed roller 10 , a sheet powder removing roller 12 , a pair of registration rollers 14 , and a sheet press plate 15 . the sheet feed roller 10 is configured to feed a sheet at the top of stack of sheets placed on the sheet press plate 15 one by one at one time . the sheet 8 fed by the sheet feed roller 10 passes through the sheet powder removing roller 12 and the registration rollers 14 and then is conveyed to a transfer position ( described later ) of the image forming unit 4 . the image forming unit 4 includes a scanner unit 16 , the process cartridge 17 , and a fixing unit 18 . the scanner unit 16 is provided in an upper portion of the main body casing 2 and includes a laser beam emission unit ( not shown ), a rotated polygon mirror 19 , a plurality of lenses 20 , and a plurality of reflecting mirrors 21 . a laser beam emitted from the laser beam emission unit based on image data is reflected on the polygon mirror 19 and then passes through the lenses 20 and reflected on the reflecting mirrors 21 . thereafter , the laser beam is scanned over the surface of a photoconductive drum 25 serving as an example of a rotation body ( described later ) of the process cartridge 17 , as indicated by the dashed line in fig1 . the process cartridge 17 is detachably attachable to the main body casing 2 and is placed below the scanner unit 16 in the main body casing 2 when the process cartridge 17 is attached to the main body casing 2 . the process cartridge 17 includes the drum cartridge 22 and the developer cartridge 31 . the developer cartridge 31 is detachably attachable to a cartridge storing portion 33 of the drum cartridge 22 . the drum cartridge 22 and the developer cartridge 31 are an example of a cartridge . the drum cartridge 22 has a substantially box shape as shown in fig3 . the drum cartridge 22 includes a drum frame 23 forming the contour of the drum cartridge . a roughly rear side half of the drum frame 23 is adopted as a drum storing portion 32 and a roughly front side half is adopted as the cartridge storing portion 33 . the drum storing portion 32 has a substantially box shape with an opening formed through both front and rear side faces and includes the photoconductive drum 25 , a scorotron charger 26 , and a transfer roller 27 . an opening formed through the rear face of the drum storing portion 32 is called a drum rear opening 77 and an opening formed through the front face of the drum storing portion 32 is called a drum front opening 63 . each of the drum rear opening 77 and the drum front opening 63 has a substantially rectangle relatively long in the width direction . the photoconductive drum 25 is relatively long in the width direction and is placed so that it is partially exposed from the drum frame 23 to the rear in the drum rear opening 77 . the portion exposed from the drum rear opening 77 in the photoconductive drum 25 is called a drum exposure portion 75 as an example of an exposure portion . the photoconductive drum 25 is rotatably supported on the drum frame 23 . the scorotron charger 26 is supported on the drum frame 23 with a spacing from the photoconductive drum 25 above the photoconductive drum 25 . the transfer roller 27 is placed facing the photoconductive drum 25 from below the photoconductive drum 25 and is rotatably supported on the drum frame 23 . the cartridge storing portion 33 is formed to have a closed - end frame with the upper face opened . a drum grip 24 extending to the front is formed in the upper end portion of the front end portion of the cartridge storing portion 33 . by grasping the drum grip 24 , the user can attach or detach the drum cartridge 22 to or from the main body casing 2 singly or as the process cartridge 17 with the developer cartridge 31 attached to the cartridge storing portion 33 . the drum front opening 63 of the drum storing portion 32 is exposed in the cartridge storing portion 33 , and the front portion of the photoconductive drum 25 is exposed to the inside of the cartridge storing portion 33 through the drum front opening 63 . the upper registration roller 14 of the paired registration rollers 14 described above is rotatably supported on the bottom of the cartridge storing portion 33 . the developer cartridge 31 is detachably attached to the drum cartridge 22 in the cartridge storing portion 33 . the developer cartridge 31 has a substantially box shape . the developer cartridge 31 includes a developing frame 28 as an example of a case forming the contour of the developer cartridge 31 . an opening ( called a developing opening 59 ) of almost the same shape as the drum front opening 63 is formed through the rear face of the developing frame 28 . the inside of the developing frame 28 is partitioned into a toner storage chamber 29 on the front and a developing chamber 30 on the rear . the toner storage chamber 29 and the developing chamber 30 communicate with each other . a developing grip 35 extending to the front is formed in the upper end portion of the front end portion of the developing frame 28 . by grasping the developing grip 35 , the user can attach or detach the developer cartridge 31 to or from the drum cartridge 22 . the developing chamber 30 includes a supply roller 36 , a developing roller 37 as an example of a developer carrier , and a layer thickness regulation blade 38 . the developing roller 37 is relatively long in the width direction and is placed so that the developing roller 37 is partially exposed from the developing frame 28 to the rear in the developing opening 59 . the portion exposed from the developing opening 59 in the developing roller 37 is called a developing exposure portion 76 as an example of an exposure portion . the developing opening 59 and the drum front opening 63 face each other in a state where the developer cartridge 31 is attached to the drum cartridge 22 . in this state , the developing roller 37 is in contact with the photoconductive drum 25 from the front in the developing exposure portion 76 . the developing roller 37 and the supply roller 36 are rotatably supported on the developing frame 28 . both end portions in the width direction of the rotation shaft of the developing roller 37 are exposed from both side walls in the width direction of the developing frame 28 . the layer thickness regulation blade 38 includes a plate spring member 45 formed like a thin plate and press contact rubber 46 provided in a lower end portion of the plate spring member 45 . an upper end portion of the plate spring member 45 is fixed to the developing frame 28 and the press contact rubber 46 presses the surface of the developing roller 37 by the elastic force of the plate spring member 45 . an agitator is rotatably provided in the toner storage chamber 29 . nonmagnetic single - component toner having positive electrostatic property as an example of a developer is stored in the toner storage chamber 29 . the toner in the toner accommodation chamber 29 is agitated by rotation of the agitator 40 and is released into the developing chamber 30 and is supplied to the supply roller 36 , as shown in fig1 . the toner supplied to the supply roller 36 is supplied to the developing roller 37 by rotation of the supply roller 36 . at this time , the toner is frictionally charged to the positive polarity between the supply roller 36 and the developing roller 37 . subsequently , the toner supplied to the developing roller 37 enters the nip between the press contact rubber 46 and the developing roller 37 with rotation of the developing roller 37 and is carried on the surface of the developing roller 37 as a thin layer while the layer thickness is regulated between the press contact rubber 46 and the developing roller 37 . the surface of the photoconductive drum 25 is positively charged uniformly by the scorotron charger 26 with rotation of the photoconductive drum 25 and then is exposed to light by a laser beam from the scanner unit 16 and an electrostatic latent image based on the image data is formed . next , when the toner carried on the surface of the developing roller 37 faces the photoconductive drum 25 and comes in contact therewith by rotation of the developing roller 37 , the toner is supplied to the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photoconductive drum 25 . accordingly , the electrostatic latent image is developed ( is made visible ) and the toner image is carried on the surface of the photoconductive drum 25 . the toner image is transferred onto the sheet 8 conveyed to the nip between the photoconductive drum 25 and the transfer roller 27 ( transfer position ). the sheet 8 onto which the toner image is transferred is conveyed to the fixing unit 18 . the fixing unit 18 is provided at the rear of the process cartridge 17 . the fixing unit 18 includes a heating roller 48 , a pressurization roller 49 pressed against the heating roller 48 from below , and a pair of conveying rollers 50 placed at the rear of them . in the fixing unit 18 , the toner transferred onto the sheet 8 at the transfer position is thermally fixed while the sheet 8 passes through the nip between the heating roller 48 and the pressurization roller 49 and then the sheet 8 is conveyed to the sheet discharge unit 5 by the pair of conveying rollers 50 . the sheet discharge unit 5 includes a sheet discharge path 51 , a sheet discharge roller 52 , and a sheet discharge tray 53 . the sheet 8 conveyed from the fixing unit 18 to the sheet discharge path 51 is conveyed from the sheet discharge path 51 to the sheet discharge roller 52 and is discharged onto the sheet discharge tray 53 by the sheet discharge roller 52 . in the main body casing 2 , a guide wall 39 extending substantially along the back and forth direction is provided slightly above the process cartridge 17 attached to the main body casing 2 . the lower face of the guide wall 39 is partitioned by a horizontal portion 41 and an inclined portion 42 . the inclined portion 42 is a slope extending downward to the slanting rear from the opening 6 to the inside of the main body casing 2 , and the front end corresponds to the upper end of the opening 6 . the horizontal portion 41 is a substantially horizontal plane extending from the rear end of the inclined portion 42 to the rear along the back and forth direction ( or slightly downward inclined ). a main body terminal 54 as an example of a first terminal is provided in the vicinity of the rear end of the horizontal portion 41 . the main body terminal 54 is formed of an electrical conductive plate spring having elasticity or the like and projects downward from the horizontal portion 41 . the main body terminal 54 is connected to a cpu ( not shown ) provided in the main body casing 2 . the drum cartridge 22 includes a drum cover 44 as an example of a cover member on the rear face of the drum frame 23 ( drum storing portion 32 ). the drum cover 44 is formed like a thin plate having a substantially inverted - j shape in the left sectional view , for example , as shown in fig3 . for the convenience of the description , the upper flat portion of the drum cover 44 is called as a flat portion 47 and the lower bent portion of the drum cover 44 is called as a bend portion 55 . the bend portion 55 is bent downward in a direction toward the rear face of the drum frame 23 ( namely , the front in fig3 ). in the drum cover 44 , a memory device 64 and a drum terminal 65 as an example of a second terminal electrically connected to the memory device 64 are provided on a side face on the opposite side to the side opposed to the rear face of the drum frame 23 ( namely , the rear face in fig3 ). the memory device 64 is memory for storing information concerning the drum cartridge 22 ( for example , drive condition of the photoconductive drum 25 , etc .,) in such a manner that the information can be read and can be written . the memory device 64 and the drum terminal 65 may be formed in one piece , i . e ., the drum terminal 65 may be integrated with the memory device 64 . the memory device 64 may be provided in the drum frame 23 rather than the drum cover 44 . in this case , the memory device 64 is electrically connected to the drum terminal 65 of the drum cover 44 by an electric wire or a plate . a swing shaft 56 extending in the width direction is inserted into the drum cover 44 . the drum cover 44 is supported in the rear end portion of the upper wall of the drum frame 23 through the swing shaft 56 and swingable around the swing shaft 56 ( see fig1 ). in particular , the drum cover 44 can move between a cover position ( an example of a first position ) and an exposure position ( an example of a second position ) described later . the swing shaft 56 is roughly at the center position in the up and down direction of the flat portion 47 ; hereinafter , in the flat portion 47 , the portion above the swing shaft 56 will be referred as an upper portion 57 and the portion below the swing shaft 56 will be referred as a lower portion 58 . when the drum cover 44 is positioned at the cover position , the lower end portion of the bend portion 55 abuts the rear end portion of the bottom wall of the drum frame 23 from the rear , and the drum cover 44 covers the drum rear opening 77 formed through the drum frame 23 and the drum exposure portion 75 exposed from the drum rear opening 77 from the rear , as indicated by the solid line in fig2 . at this time , the drum cover 44 is made upright roughly along the up and down direction so that the upper portion 57 projects upward to the slanting front from the upper wall of the drum frame 23 . the drum terminal 65 faces backward . on the other hand , when the drum cover 44 is positioned at the exposure position , the lower end portion of the bend portion 55 is away from the rear end portion of the bottom wall of the drum frame 23 to the rear and the drum cover 44 exposes the drum rear opening 77 and the drum exposure portion 75 to the rear , as shown in fig1 . the drum cover 44 is inclined roughly along the back and forth direction so that the flat portion 47 is almost along the upper wall of the drum frame 23 . when the drum cover 44 is positioned at the exposure position , the drum terminal 65 faces upward . thus , the drum cover 44 can move relative to the drum frame 23 . a spring 66 ( an example of an urging member ) is intervened between the rear end portion of the upper wall of the drum frame 23 and the upper portion 57 of the drum cover 44 for urging the upper portion 57 of the drum cover 44 so as to project upward from the upper wall of the drum frame 23 , as shown in fig2 . accordingly , the drum cover 44 is urged so as to position at the cover position normally ( namely , when the drum cartridge 22 is outside the main body casing 2 ). the drum cover 44 protects the drum exposure portion 75 of the photoconductive drum 25 in a state where it positions at the cover position . ( 3 ) attaching and detaching of process cartridge to and from main body casing the drum cartridge 22 including the drum cover 44 is attached to the main body casing 2 . for the convenience of the description , the description shows an example where the drum cartridge 22 to which the developer cartridge 31 is attached , namely , the process cartridge 17 is attached to the main body casing 2 , rather than the drum cartridge 22 is solely attached to the main body casing 2 . however , the drum cartridge 22 solely may also be attached to and detached from the main body casing 2 . the drum cover 44 is positioned at the cover position when attachment of the process cartridge 17 is started . first , the front cover 7 is opened for opening the opening 6 and the process cartridge 17 is inserted into the main body casing 2 from the front roughly along the horizontal direction . at this time , the upper portion 57 of the drum cover 44 at the cover position is opposed to the inclined portion 42 of the guide wall 39 with a spacing in the back and forth direction . thus , if the process cartridge 17 is continuously inserted into the main body casing 2 roughly along the horizontal direction , the upper portion 57 is abutted against the inclined portion 42 . accordingly , the drum cover 44 starts to swing toward the exposure position against the urging force of the spring 66 ( see the drum cover 44 indicated by the dotted line in fig2 ). if the process cartridge 17 is continuously inserted into the main body casing 2 roughly along the horizontal direction , the upper portion 57 is abutted against the horizontal portion 41 following the inclined portion 42 and the drum cover 44 swings to the exposure position ( see the drum cover 44 indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in fig2 ). since the horizontal portion 41 is a roughly horizontal plane as described above , the drum cover 44 is maintained at the exposure position while the upper portion 57 is abutted against the horizontal portion 41 . when inserting of the process cartridge 17 into the main body casing 2 stops , placing the process cartridge 17 in the main body casing 2 is complete as shown in fig1 . at this time , the drum cover 44 is positioned at the exposure position and thus the drum terminal 65 faces upward as described above and abuts the main body terminal 54 . accordingly , the drum terminal 65 and the main body terminal 54 are electrically connected , so that the cpu ( not shown ) and the memory device 64 provided in the main body casing 2 are electrically connected . in this state , the cpu ( not shown ) can read the information stored in the memory device 64 and can rewrite the information stored in the memory device 64 in response to the image formation operation . on the other hand , the front cover 7 is opened in a state where the process cartridge 17 is attached to the main body casing 2 , and the process cartridge 17 is drawn out to the front . accordingly , the drum terminal 65 is brought away from the main body terminal 54 and thereby electrically disconnected from the main body terminal 54 . the drum cover 44 is continuously at the exposure position as indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in fig2 in a state where the upper portion 57 is abutted against the horizontal portion 41 . when the process cartridge 17 is drawn out to the front and the upper portion 57 passes through the horizontal portion 41 and is abutted against the inclined portion 42 , the drum cover 44 starts to swing toward the cover position by the urging force of the spring 66 ( see the drum cover 44 indicated by the dotted line in fig2 ). when the upper portion 57 passes through the inclined portion 42 , the drum cover 44 swings to the cover position . when the process cartridge 17 is completely drawn out from the main body casing 2 , detaching the process cartridge 17 from the main body casing 2 is complete . as shown in fig1 , when the drum cover 44 is moved in one direction ( in particular , to the exposure position ) at the attachment completion position of the process cartridge 17 ( in particular , the drum cartridge 22 ) in the main body casing 2 , the drum terminal 65 provided on the drum cover 44 abuts the main body terminal 54 . then , the drum terminal 65 and the main body terminal 54 are electrically connected and information can be transferred between the memory device 64 and the cpu ( not shown ) provided in the main body casing 2 . when the drum terminal 65 abuts the main body terminal 54 , the abutment pressure received by the drum terminal 65 from the main body terminal 54 is received at the drum cover 44 , so that the abutment pressure can be prevented from acting directly on the drum frame 23 and the drum frame 23 can be prevented from moving from a predetermined attachment completion position . thus , shift of the attachment position of the process cartridge 17 ( drum cartridge 22 ) relative to the main body casing 2 can be prevented . consequently , positioning the process cartridge 17 to the main body casing 2 can be reliably executed without affecting connection of the main body terminal 54 and the drum terminal 65 . the drum cover 44 can move between the cover position for covering the drum exposure portion 75 of the photoconductive drum 25 ( see the solid line portion in fig2 ) and the exposure position for exposing the drum exposure portion 75 ( see fig1 ). thus , when the drum cover 44 is moved to the exposure position , a toner image can be transferred from the photoconductive drum 25 to a sheet 8 , and the sheet 8 with the toner image can pass through the drum rear opening 77 uncovered with the drum cover 44 . on the other hand , when the drum cover 44 is moved to the cover position , the drum exposure portion 75 can be protected ( see fig2 ). thus , the photoconductive drum 25 as a rotation body rotatably supported on the drum frame 23 is covered with the drum cover 44 at the cover position . when the drum cover 44 is positioned at the exposure position , the drum terminal 65 abuts the main body terminal 54 and thus information can be transferred between the memory device 64 and the cpu ( not shown ) in the main body casing 2 at the same time as the transfer operation described above , so that operability can be improved . a developing cover 60 may be provided as an example of a cover member in addition to or in place of the drum cover 44 . the developer cartridge 31 and the drum cartridge 22 when the developing cover 60 is provided will be discussed below . fig4 is a side view of the process cartridge in which the developer cartridge is attached to and detached from the drum cartridge . fig5 a shows the developing cover positioned at a cover position and fig5 b shows the developing cover positioned at an exposure position . the developing cover 60 is included in the developer cartridge 31 and is formed like a thin plate relatively long in an up and down direction and roughly rectangular in the front view , for example , as shown in fig5 a and 5b . the upper end portion and the lower end portion of the developing cover 60 are formed so as to project one step to both sides in the width direction . the portions projecting to both sides in the width direction in the upper end portion of the developing cover 60 are called upper projection portions 62 ( an example of a distal end portion ), and the portions projecting to both sides in the width direction in the lower end portion of the developing cover 60 are called lower projection portions 67 . in the developing cover 60 , a through hole 61 of almost the same shape as the developing opening 59 is formed at a position slightly shifted to the lower side from the center of the developing cover 60 in the up and down direction thereof . the developing cover 60 is slidably supported in the up and down direction by the rear end portions of both side walls in the width direction of the developing frame 28 . in particular , the portion of the developing cover 60 between the upper projection portions 62 and the lower projection portions 67 in the up and down direction is sandwiched between the rear end portions of both side walls in the width direction of the developing frame 28 . in this state , the developing cover 60 can move between a cover position described later and an exposure position above the cover position . when the developing cover 60 is positioned at the cover position , the developing opening 59 is covered with the upper portion above the through hole 61 in the developing cover 60 from the rear , as shown in fig5 a . accordingly , the developing exposure portion 76 is also covered with the developing cover 60 from the rear . that is , when the developing cover 60 is positioned at the cover position , the developing cover 60 covers the developing opening 59 formed through the developing frame 28 and the developing exposure portion 76 exposed from the developing opening 59 from the rear . the roughly lower half portion of the developing cover 60 projects downward from the developing frame 28 . when the developing cover 60 moves down to the cover position , the upper projection portions 62 abut the rear end portions of both side walls in the width direction of the developing frame 28 from above , so that the developing cover 60 is prevented from further moving from the cover position and dropping out from the developing frame 28 . the developing cover 60 is normally positioned at the cover position under its own weight . on the other hand , when the developing cover 60 is positioned at the exposure position , the developing opening 59 faces the through hole 61 in the back and forth direction and communicates with the through hole 61 as shown in fig5 b . accordingly , the developing exposure portion 76 is exposed to the front through the developing opening 59 and the through hole 61 . that is , when the developing cover 60 is positioned at the exposure position , the developing cover 60 exposes the developing exposure portion 76 to the rear . the roughly upper half portion of the developing cover 60 projects upward from the developing frame 28 . thus , when the developing cover 60 moves from the cover position to the exposure position , the developing cover 60 moves up ( an example of a first direction ) relative to the developing opening 59 ; when the developing cover 60 moves from the exposure position to the cover position , it moves down relative to the developing opening 59 . this means that the developing cover 60 can make a relative movement to the developing frame 28 containing the developing opening 59 . in the developing cover 60 , the above - described memory device 64 is provided above the through hole 61 on a side face on the opposite side to the side opposed to the developing opening 59 ( namely , the rear face in fig5 a and 5b ). the memory device 64 according to modified example 1 stores information concerning the developer cartridge 31 ( for example , the toner storage amount , etc .,). a developing terminal 68 as an example of a second terminal electrically connected to the memory device 64 is provided on the upper end face of the developing cover 60 . the memory device 64 and the developing terminal 68 may be formed in one piece . the memory device 64 may be provided in the developing frame 28 rather than the developing cover 60 . in this case , the memory device 64 is electrically connected to the developing terminal 68 of the developing cover 60 by an electric wire or a plate . as shown in fig4 , in the drum cartridge 22 , the upper end faces of both side walls of the cartridge storing portion 33 in the width direction thereof ( called guide rails 69 ) are formed so as to incline downward to the slanting rear . the rear end margins of the guide rails 69 are connected roughly to the center in the up and down direction of the front end margins of both side walls of the drum storing portion 32 in the width direction thereof . a concave portion 70 recessed downward to the slanting rear continuous from the rear end margin of the guide rail 69 is formed on both side walls of the drum storing portion 32 in the width direction thereof . each concave portion 70 pierces the corresponding width direction side wall in the drum storing portion 32 in the width direction . a guide groove 71 is formed on the width direction inner faces of both side walls of the drum cartridge 22 in the width direction thereof corresponding to the developing cover 60 . the guide grooves 71 are formed by notching the width direction inner faces of both side walls of the drum cartridge 22 in the width direction thereof from the upper end margins to the lower side . in particular , the groove bottom ( lower end face ) of each guide groove 71 is formed so that it extends like a circular arc from the rough center position in the back and forth direction of the corresponding guide rail 69 to the rear lower side ( this portion is called a circular arc groove bottom 73 ) and then extends to the rear roughly horizontally ( this portion is called a horizontal groove bottom 74 ). the direction in which the developer cartridge 31 is attached to and detached from the drum cartridge 22 is a direction crossing the horizontal direction ( see the thick arrow in fig4 ). the developer cartridge 31 with the developing cover 60 at the cover position ( see the solid line indication portion in fig4 ) is inserted into the cartridge storing portion 33 of the drum cartridge 22 downward to the slanting rear . at this time , first , the corresponding lower projection portions 67 are accepted in the guide grooves 71 . portions exposed from both side walls of the developing frame 28 in the width direction thereof in the rotation shaft of the developing roller 37 ( called exposure shafts 72 ) are placed in the corresponding guide rails 69 . in this state , if the developer cartridge 31 is inserted into the cartridge storing portion 33 , the lower projection portions 67 are guided along the guide grooves 71 ( in particular , the circular arc groove bottoms 73 ), the exposure shafts 72 are guided along the guide rails 69 , and the developer cartridge 31 moves downward to the slanting rear . when the lower projection portions 67 pass through the circular arc groove bottoms 73 and arrive at the horizontal groove bottoms 74 , the positions of the lower projection portions 67 in the up and down direction are fixed and it is made impossible for the developing cover 60 to further move down . thus , if the developer cartridge 31 ( in particular , the developing frame 28 ) is further moved down , the developing frame 28 moves down relative to the developing cover 60 of which the downward movement is regulated ( see the alternate long and short dash line portion in fig4 ). accordingly , the developing cover 60 moves up relative to the developing frame 28 and moves to the exposure position . when the exposure shafts 72 pass through the corresponding guide rails 69 and are fitted into the corresponding concave portions 70 , placing the developer cartridge 31 in the drum cartridge 22 is complete ( see the dotted line portion in fig4 ). at this time , the through hole 61 of the developing cover 60 at the exposure position , the developing opening 59 , and the drum front opening 63 face each other and the developing exposure portion 76 of the developing roller 37 comes in contact with the photoconductive drum 25 . the upper end portion of the developing cover 60 , in particular the developing terminal 68 projects upward from each upper wall of the drum frame 23 and the developing frame 28 . thus , if the drum cartridge 22 to which the developer cartridge 31 is attached , namely , the process cartridge 17 is attached to the main body casing 2 , the developing terminal 68 abuts the main body terminal 54 . accordingly , the cpu ( not shown ) provided in the main body casing 2 and the memory device 64 are electrically connected and the cpu ( not shown ) can read and rewrite the information stored in the memory device 64 as described above . if the process cartridge 17 is detached from the main body casing 2 , the developing terminal 68 is brought away from the main body terminal 54 and thereby electrically disconnected from the main body terminal 54 . on the other hand , when the developer cartridge 31 attached to the drum cartridge 22 is drawn out to the front , the developer cartridge 31 moves up to the slanting front . at this time , the lower projection portions 67 are guided along the guide grooves 71 ( in particular , the horizontal groove bottoms 74 ) and the exposure shafts 72 are placed out of the concave portions 70 and are guided along the guide rails 69 . the developing cover 60 cannot move up under its own weight ; whereas , the developing frame 28 moves up and thus the developing cover 60 moves down relative to the developing frame 28 and moves to the cover position . when the exposure shafts 72 are placed out of the guide rails 69 and the lower projection portions 67 are placed out of the guide grooves 71 ( in particular , the circular arc groove bottoms 73 ) and the developer cartridge 31 is completely drawn out from the cartridge storing portion 33 , detaching the developer cartridge 31 from the drum cartridge 22 is complete . in modified example 1 , the developing cover 60 can move between the cover position for covering the developing exposure portion 76 of the developing roller 37 ( see fig5 a ) and the exposure position for exposing the developing exposure portion 76 ( see fig5 b ). thus , if the developing cover 60 is moved to the exposure position , toner can be supplied from the developing exposure portion 76 to the photoconductive drum 25 ( see the dotted line portion in fig4 ) and if the developing cover 60 is moved to the cover position , the developing exposure portion 76 can be protected ( see the solid line portion in fig4 ). thus , the developing roller 37 as a rotation body rotatably supported on the developing frame 28 is covered with the developing cover 60 at the cover position . when the developing cover 60 is positioned at the exposure position , the developing terminal 68 abuts the main body terminal 54 and thus information can be transferred between the memory device 64 and the cpu ( not shown ) in the main body casing 2 at the same time as the toner supply described above , so that operability can be improved . in the embodiment described above , as the process cartridge 17 , the drum cartridge 22 and the developer cartridge 31 can be separated . however , the process cartridge 17 into which the drum cartridge 22 and the developer cartridge 31 are combined as one piece may be adopted as an example of a cartridge . in this case , the process cartridge 17 is provided with the drum cover 44 , but not with the developing cover 60 . as information concerning the process cartridge 17 , both the information concerning the drum cartridge 22 described above and the information concerning the developer cartridge 31 are stored in the memory device 64 of the drum cover 44 . in the embodiment described above , the toner storage chamber 29 and the developing chamber 30 are provided in the developing frame 28 of the developer cartridge 31 , but the portion corresponding to the toner storage chamber 29 may be attached to and detached from the developing frame 28 as a toner cartridge . the developer cartridge 31 may also be detachably attachable to the drum cartridge 22 in a state where the drum cartridge 22 is attached to the main body casing 2 . the photoconductive drum 25 , the scorotron charger 26 , and the transfer roller 27 may be provided in the main body casing 2 and the developer cartridge 31 may be detachably attachable to the main body casing 2 . in the embodiment described above , the monochrome laser printer 1 is illustrated ; however , for example , the image forming device can also be implemented as a color laser printer ( containing tandem type , intermediate transfer type ).	6
the closing part of the bottom closure herein is preferably covered by a cap , a free space being provided between the closing part and the cap so that the cap is only lifted when the packings are outside the range of the issuing solid . the advantage of this embodiment is that , first of all , the cylindrical sealing surfaces on the closing part are already completely covered by the cap before the bottom closure is opened , which prevents it from coming in contact with the issuing product , and second , the cap prevents the further discharge of the solid before the bottom closure is completely closed , so that the complete closing of the closure is not prevented by solid particles between the conical surfaces of the closing part and attachment opening . in this embodiment the closing part has preferably a bottom sealing surface , a central section widening conically upward which bears in the closed position on the conically widening attachement opening of the cylinder extension , and a conical top which engages the cap after the closure has been partly opened . in another preferred embodiment , the bottom closure contains a protective packing sleeve which is pressed by compression springs etc . from the bottom against the cylindrical , sealing surfaces of the closing part and moved completely during the opening of the closure over o - rings arranged in grooves in the upper straight section of the cylinder extension before the closing part has engaged the cap . in this embodiment , the o - rings provided for sealing do not come directly in contact with the solid , so that they cannot be destroyed by it or impaired in their function . in another embodiment , the o - rings are arranged in grooves which are provided in the central conical section of the closing part , these grooves narrowing preferably to the outside and thus preventing the o - rings from falling out . for cleaning the closing part and the surfaces of the closure on which the closing part bears can be provided a means for rinsing the closing part . this rinsing liquid can also be supplied through a line inside the control rod of the closing part and issue through openings in the conical region of the closing part . referring now to fig1 reactor 1 has a cylindrical extension 2 , a conical surface being provided at the point of transition from the reactor to the cylinder extension on which closing part 3 bears , thus sealing the reactor . closing part 3 can have a conically tapering bottom end , similar to the tapering section in fig2 . the closing part protrudes through a cylindrical extension into the interior of the reactor , approximately up to the level where the straight section of the reactor begins . the cylindrical extension of the closing part is terminated by a top which destroys during its opening any bridges and arches formed by solids within the reactor . the closing part is moved up by control rod 12 for opening the closure , and down for closing . according to fig2 the closing part can be covered by a cap 4 protruding into the interior of the reactor . in the closed state there is a free space between the closing part and the cap . only when the closing part is lifted so far that it engages the cap 4 does the discharge of the solid begin . when the bottom closure is closed , the cap already rests on the bottom of the reactor before the downward movement of the closing part 3 is completed . this has for its effect the prevention of adhesion of any solid during the last stage of the closing movement on the sealing surfaces , e . g . the conical section 7 of the closing part and the conical region of the attachment opening of the cylinder extension 2 , which adhesion could otherwise prevent complete closing . in the upper region of cylinder extension 2 are provided circular grooves in which are arranged o - rings . these o - rings are made of a suitable elastic , and possibly reinforced plastic , and ensure complete sealing . in order to prevent these o - rings from being damaged during the discharge of the solid , the protective packing sleeve 5 moves during the opening of the closure from the bottom over the o - rings 10 . the protective packing sleeve 5 is urged by compression spring 9 against the closing part 3 . the sleeve follows the closing part 3 so far that the o - rings are covered . ( in fig2 the protective packing sleeves and the compression springs are illustrated to be of shorter length ). the distance between the cap and the closing parts in the direction of the closing movement is therefore so great that the cap is only lifted when the protective packing sleeve has moved over the o - rings and the cap has also sealed the cylindrical sealing surface 6 on the closing part . the issuance of the solid thus starts only when the cylindrical sealing surface 6 on the closing part is also covered by the cap in such a way that the solid can not reach it . according to fig3 grooves 13 can be provided in the central conical region 7 of the closing part , and o - rings are arranged in these grooves . in this embodiment a particularly good seal is achieved . in order to prevent fouling of the o - rings 11 , a means for rinsing this region of the closing part is provided , where the rinsing liquid is supplied through a line which opens into the lower region of the reactor and directs through a plurality of openings , jets of a rinsing liquid toward the conical region 7 of the closing part when the closure is opened . the rinsing liquid can also be supplied through a line inside the control rod 12 and issue directly through openings inside the conical section 7 . particularly in bottom closures in extractors which are used for decaffeinating raw coffee , it is important to clean the sealing surfaces and the o - rings by rinsing , otherwise the operation of the closure would be impaired . suitable materials for the o - rings are , for example , reinforced or unreinforced polytetrafluoroethylene copolymers of vinylidene fluoride and hexafluoropropylene ( respectively , teflon and viton , trademarks of dupont ). the conical section 7 of the closing part can also contain metal sealing ring 14 in divided grooves . this type of seal is shown in fig4 . the gas - and liquid - tight bottom closure is suitable for a pressure of up to 400 bar . if teflon or viton are used for the o - rings , the admissible temperature is about 160 ° c . if metal seals 14 are used , the temperature may rise up to 325 ° c .	1
fig1 a shows a perspective view of a belleville washer . the washers are manufactured using materials , such as alloy steels , to meet specific material requirements . they should exhibit good fatigue life and minimum relaxation . a high alloy content material is commonly used as the spring steel . fig1 b identifies dimensions of belleville springs commonly used . spring 10 is shown in fig1 a and fig1 b . d 1 is the diameter of the opening , d 2 is the external diameter of the spring , t is the thickness of the spring material , d is the maximum deflection of the spring when it is compressed , and e is the overall thickness of the spring in the uncompressed state . d = e − t . the spring may contain special properties for corrosion or other properties and may be coated with a number of different materials such as phosphate , galvanizing , mechanical zinc plating and electroless nickel plating . it may also be coated with the coating to minimize friction , which is discussed further below . referring to fig2 a , spring stack 20 is shown in cross section , including springs 22 in series configuration on spring carriers 24 , which are guided by mandrel 26 . forces are applied to the springs through load ring 28 ( a ) and load base 28 ( b ). referring to the inset of fig2 a , spring carrier 24 is formed by sleeve 21 and circumferential flange 25 . fig2 b depicts spring stack 20 in the state of maximum compression . springs 22 have been deflected to the point where the cone is collapsed ( i . e ., deflected by the distance “ d ” of fig1 b ). spring carriers 24 are in contact on mandrel 26 . fig2 c shows a perspective view of the washers and spring carrier 24 of fig2 a and 2b . carrier 24 is formed from sleeve 21 and circumferential flange 25 on the outside surface of the sleeve . flange 25 allows the washers to be spaced at a selected location on carrier 24 , normally at an equal distance from each end of the sleeve . spring carrier 24 is adapted to fit slidably on mandrel 26 . the outside diameter of spring carrier 24 is adapted to fit in the inside diameter ( d 1 of fig1 b ) of belleville spring 22 . referring to fig3 a , belleville springs 32 on one side of mandrel 36 are shown in a partial cross - sectional view . spring carrier 34 is placed between mandrel 36 and springs 32 . spring carrier 34 includes sleeve 31 and circumferential flange 35 . in fig3 a , springs 32 are either in a relaxed state or in a compressed state less than maximum compression . fig3 b shows spring 32 in the state of maximum compression allowed when springs are employed on spring carrier 34 . spring carrier 34 has an axial dimension , as measured from flange 34 to an end of sleeve 31 , greater than the maximum deflection (“ d ” of fig1 b ) of spring 32 . when the apparatus is deployed on mandrel 36 and load is applied , spring carrier 34 may serve to limit the deflection and the load applied to springs 32 . this load - limiting feature may be selected over a broad range of load from zero deflection or the relaxed state to maximum deflection of the springs . the width of circumferential flange 35 may also be selected to maintain an optimum spacing of springs 32 . flange 35 serves primarily to control the placement of springs 32 on spring carrier 34 . it preferably has enough width to provide the needed mechanical strength of the flange . referring to fig4 a , springs 42 are deployed on mandrel 46 using spring carriers 44 . as seen more clearly in the center inset , spring carrier 44 is made up of sleeve 41 . the outside surface of sleeve 41 includes an annular recess 43 ( a ) extending axially from the upper end of sleeve 41 , and the inside surface of sleeve 41 includes an annular recess 43 ( b ) extending axially from the lower end of sleeve 41 . recesses 43 ( a ), 43 ( b ) define annular shoulders 47 ( a ), 47 ( b ), respectively , on the outside and inside surfaces , respectively , of sleeve 41 . consequently , the outside surface of sleeve 41 has a smaller diameter portion and a larger diameter portion that intersect at a shoulder 47 ( a ), and the inside surface of sleeve 41 has a smaller diameter portion and a larger diameter portion that intersect at a shoulder 47 ( b ). flange 45 extends radially outward from the larger diameter of the outside surface of sleeve 41 . the smaller diameter of the inside surface of sleeve 41 is sized to fit slidably over mandrel 46 and the larger diameter of the outside surface of sleeve 41 is sized to fit in the inside diameter of springs 42 . as previously described , spring carrier 44 has inside and outside surfaces of different diameter on each side of shoulders 47 ( a ) and 47 ( b ), which are placed at selected locations on the outside surface and inside surface , respectively , of carrier 44 . shoulder 47 ( a ) separates the larger and small diameter on the outside surface and shoulder 47 ( b ) separates the larger and smaller diameter on the inside surface of sleeve 41 . circumferential flange 45 may be used to facilitate placing springs 42 on carrier 44 . load ring 48 ( a ) and load base 48 ( b ) may be used to apply load to stack 40 . the outside diameter of one segment of carrier 44 is selected to fit in the inside diameter of another segment of carrier 44 . the carriers are disposed on mandrel 46 such that adjacent carriers overlap and thereby decrease lateral or bucking loads on mandrel 46 as springs 42 are compressed . overlapping of adjacent carriers creates rigidity to the stack of carriers and provides significant friction reduction in stack 40 as it is compressed and decompressed . a hysteresis curve for the compression and decompression will have significantly smaller area in the presence of overlapping carriers 44 than in the absence of such carriers . carriers 44 may be truncated so that an end carrier may allow the end spring to compress against load ring 48 ( a ) or load base block 48 ( b ). truncated carriers 49 ( upper inset and lower inset ) illustrate a preferred configuration of a spring carrier to be placed at the end of a stack . in fig4 b compressive load has been applied to deflect springs 42 to the point where adjacent springs carriers 44 are completely interlocked or overlapping and springs 42 have reached maximum deflection . spring carriers 44 have moved along their axis as each spring has been deflected a distance equal to the maximum deflection (“ d ” of fig1 b ). as discussed above with respect to fig3 a and 3b , the distance from an end of sleeve 41 to shoulder 47 ( a ) or 47 ( b ) may be less than the maximum deflection of spring 42 . in this case , when the apparatus is deployed on mandrel 46 and load is applied , then spring carrier 44 may serve to limit the deflection and the load applied to springs 42 . this load - limiting feature may be selected over a broad range of load from zero deflection or the relaxed state to maximum deflection of the springs . referring to fig4 c , a perspective view is shown of springs 42 on carriers 44 and mandrel 46 . sleeve 41 has shoulder 47 ( a ) on the outside surface and shoulder 47 ( b ) on the inside surface . circumferential flange 45 is placed at a selected position , preferably in the center of the larger diameter surface on the outside surface of sleeve 41 . shoulders 47 ( a ) and 47 ( b ) may be placed equal distances from the opposite ends of sleeve 41 . alternatively , the shoulders may be placed at different distances from the opposite ends of sleeve 41 . these distances will be shown in more detail in fig6 a . referring to fig5 spring stack 50 guided by cylinder 56 is shown . springs 52 are sized to fit the inside diameter of spring carriers 54 . the larger outside diameter of spring carrier 54 is sized to slidably fit inside cylinder 56 . spring carriers 54 are made of sleeve 51 ( see inset ) and have circumferential ledge 55 on the smaller diameter area of the inside surface . the inside surface of sleeve 51 includes an annular recess 53 ( a ) extending axially from the upper end of sleeve 51 , and the outside surface of sleeve 51 includes an annular recess 53 ( b ) extending axially from the lower end of sleeve 51 . recesses 53 ( a ), 53 ( b ) define annular shoulders 57 ( a ), 57 ( b ), respectively , on the inside and outside surfaces , respectively , of sleeve 51 . consequently , the inside surface of sleeve 51 has a smaller diameter portion and a larger diameter portion that intersect at a shoulder 57 ( a ), and the outside surface of sleeve 51 has a smaller diameter portion and a larger diameter portion that intersect at a shoulder 57 ( b ). flange 55 extends radially outward from the smaller diameter of the inside surface of sleeve 51 . load blocks 58 ( a ) and 58 ( b ) transmit force to the stack of springs 52 . overlapping spring carriers for use inside a cylinder guide or on a mandrel may be designed to provide complete interlocking or overlapping when springs reach maximum deflection or may be designed to provide load - limiting capabilities by selection of axial dimensions . fig6 a illustrates dimensions of overlapping carriers . as can be noted in the figure , for the carriers to be moved with the springs to maximum spring deflection ( d ) when the carriers are completely overlapping or interlocked , dimensions may be selected such that : where t is spring thickness , w is width of the circumferential ledge , c is the distance between the inside and outside shoulders , l is the overlap of the carriers at the initial deflection of the springs and r is the remaining overlap from the initial deflection of the springs . if we dimension the spring carrier so that r = 2d , then : the carriers then would move from the position shown in fig6 a to that shown in fig6 b ( completely overlapping ) if d and t are spring properties that will be supplied by the manufacturer of the selected spring . c and l are design options for the carriers , which will determine the value of w if the springs are to reach maximum deflection when the carriers are completely interlocked . if load - limiting of the springs is to be provided by the carriers , the value of r ( along the inside surface ) under no - load conditions may be decreased , for example . alternatively , dimensions of the carriers may be adjusted along the outside surface . preferably , the spring carriers disclosed herein are coated with an anti - friction coating . many such coatings are available . a suitable coating is provided by the kolene qpq process , which is a product of kolene corporation . another suitable process is the armorall process . other known friction - reducing coatings , polymers , oils or additives may be used . embodiments disclosed heretofore employed a guide for the springs , either a mandrel or a cylinder . in other embodiments , a guide is not employed and the carriers are placed such that overlapping of adjacent carriers is sufficient to form a rigid structure that prevents sidewise movement of springs or buckling of a stack of springs . fig7 a illustrates such a stack , stack 70 . springs 72 are deployed on spring carriers 74 . note the absence of a mandrel , but adjacent carriers overlap sufficiently to provide a rigid structure , preventing buckling of the stack of springs . overlapping may be provided by pre - loading springs or by adjusting carrier dimensions to allow sufficient overlapping a zero spring deflection . carriers 74 have inside and outside surfaces of different diameter on each side of shoulders , as explained above for fig4 a . circumferential flange 73 facilitates placing springs 72 on carriers 74 . end pieces 78 ( a ) and 78 ( b ) may be used to apply force to the stack and to confine lateral movement of the end pieces of the carriers . fig7 b shows stack 70 in the totally compressed state . stack 70 of fig7 is similar to stack 40 of fig4 , except a mandrel guide is not present in fig7 . fig5 shows a stack using a cylinder as a guide . of course , a stack can be formed using the guides of fig5 without a cylinder guide if carriers are initially overlapped . such a stack may have the guide and spring configuration of fig5 with load blocks at the ends of the stack and no cylinder guide outside . although the present disclosure has been described in detail , it should be understood that various changes , substitutions and alterations can be made thereto without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims .	5
as described above , the precise placement of electro - optical components is a critical issue . organic optical waveguides on electrical flexible substrates with electrical fine - pitch conductor technologies can be used as an alternative to build the interface between electrical circuits and optical data - transport - media ( e . g . fibres or other waveguides ). with the specific aim of create a path of easy integration of optics into it systems the use of cheap processes to build electro - optical “ flexible ” modules is a very powerful tool . typically , components are assembled to electrical flex - circuits while they &# 39 ; re still flat . only after assembly , the flex circuits are deformed to meet very special spatial requirements ( e . g . to “ re - orient ” optical components , pressure sensors , microphones , or just to tightly pack components into 3 - d like assemblies ). fig1 shows a typical flip - chip bonder installation for flat mounting and not belonging to the present invention . as shown , there is provided a substrate 130 upon which a flip - chip component 120 is to be installed . the flip - chip bonder itself comprises bond head 110 and x - y stage 140 . the substrate 130 is mounted on the x - y stage 140 , which is adapted to coarsely position the substrate in the x - y plane . the flip - chip component 120 meanwhile is held by bond head 110 . the bond head 110 is mounted for precise movement in the z - axes . as shown , the bond head is provided with airtight channels 111 which in use contain a partial vacuum , thereby retaining the flip - chip component in position on the die head . the bond head 110 and x - y stage 140 are moved so as to precisely align the substrate 130 and flip - chip component 120 in the desired relationship , and then the bond - head is moved in the z axis so as to bring the flip - chip component into contact with the substrate 130 such that optical apertures on the flip - chip component 130 are exactly aligned with corresponding apertures of the waveguides . the flip - chip component 120 is then bonded to the substrate 130 by any one of a number of standard techniques such as use of thermal curing glue , use of uv curing glue , use of rapidly curing glue etc . the bond head 110 then pressurises the channels 111 so as to release the flip - chip component and withdraws . a standard flip - chip bonder of the kind described above has the required precision to position optical components , and present the further advantage of being readily available and relatively inexpensive . the very high placement accuracy , inherent to flip - chip bonders is used to directly attach optical devices to the optical facet , or terminal of a waveguide or waveguide array and to use the flexible nature of flex - prints to orient the latter in a suitable way to be processed with standard equipment , that is connected to an electro - optical chip die ( e . g . a vcsel or a photodiode ) by means of a standard flip - chip bonder . the optical wave - guides are manufactured on either side of the substrate or fully embedded . the expression “ optical device ” electro - optical component such as for example a photodiode or vcsel , or a passive component such as a lens or mirror . unfortunately many optical components are intended for mounting in the z - y plane , i . e . at right angles to the plane of the substrate , so as to receive or transmit an optical signal arriving through a waveguide oriented in the plane of the substrate . embodiments described herein seek to exploit the intrinsic flexibility of flex - circuits , even before certain components have yet been assembled , i . e . to use the flexibility of the substrate to enable a simpler and higher throughput assembly operation . fig2 a , 2 b , 2 c , 2 d , 2 e and 2 f show an optical assembly and flip - chip bonder in different configurations in accordance with a first embodiment of this invention . as shown in fig2 a there is provided a rectangular , planar , flexible substrate 230 , comprising one or more waveguides 235 . the flexible substrate is provided with a reinforcing layer 231 . as shown , a u shaped section is cut out from the substrate 230 to leave a tongue 234 fixed to the substrate at one edge . to guarantee the terminal remain properly aligned ( i . e . no warping ) and increase the surface available for bonding , a further reinforcing section in the form of a piece of rigid pcb material 232 is added / left underneath the tongue portion 234 , but there is provided an un - reinforced , flexible portion 233 extending across the width of the tongue 234 . as a preliminary step , the x - y stage ( not shown ) positions the planar substrate 230 on the panel underneath the bond - head 260 , which as shown includes the optical component 250 . as shown , there is further provided a clamp element 240 , situated below the bond head 260 , which once the planar substrate 230 is correctly positioned with respect to the x - y plane starts to rise upwards towards the planar substrate 230 and bond head 260 in the z axis . as shown in fig2 b , the clamp element 240 , has risen upwards to the bond head 260 in the z axis so as to engage the planar substrate 230 and by the pressure exerted thereon has deformed at least a part of the flexible portion , so that the terminal 235 of the waveguide comprised therein is oriented away from the substrate 230 so as to expose the terminal 235 . in particular as shown the terminal 235 is positioned in a bonding plane 237 substantially parallel to the plane of the substrate 230 , and elevated above it . the x - y stage ( not shown ) is formed to permit the passage of the clamp , for example by the provision of an aperture of suitable dimensions . as shown , the clamp element 240 is shaped so to as to exactly conform to the outer contour of the flexible portion of the planar substrate in its deformed configuration , so as to ensure that the terminal 235 is precisely and securely positioned with respect to the x - y stage , and thereby the bond head 260 . to further avoid undesired deformations of the substrate , the x - y stage and / or the clamping element may be provided with gripping means such as an adhesive or high friction coating , suction cups or vacuum channels , similar to those provided in the bond head . according to an optional variation of the embodiment of fig2 , there may be provided a second clamp element . this second clamp element is preferably shaped so as to exactly conform to the inner contour of the flexible portion , of the planar substrate in its deformed configuration , that is , on the opposite side of the substrate to the first clamp element . by this means , any residual freedom for the terminal to stray from the required position is removed , so as to ensure that the terminal 235 ( not shown ) is precisely and securely positioned with respect to the x - y stage , and thereby the bond head 260 . where such a second clamp element is provided , it may advantageously be brought into contact with the substrate by sliding in sideways parallel the substrate , or more preferably by arriving obliquely from above so as to clear any components on the substrate surface . in certain embodiments , the x - y stage and / or the bond - head may also be able to correct angular errors with respect to the orientation of the planar substrate ( i . e . tilt and rotation ). as shown in fig2 c , once the terminal 235 ( not shown ) is correctly positioned with regard to x - and y and θ , t , and where appropriate tilt and rotation , the bond head positions the optical component in the z axis so as to placing the electro - optical component on the waveguide component by means of a flip - chip bonder so as to abut the terminal , as shown in fig2 d . the bond head is provided with airtight channels 261 which in use provide a partial vacuum , thereby retaining the flip - chip component in position on the die head as discussed above with respect to fig1 . it is at this stage that the electro - optical component is coupled to the terminal , as described in more detail hereafter . as shown in fig2 e , the bond head 260 then pressurises the channels 261 so as to release the optical component 250 and withdraws . meanwhile , the clamp element 240 is also withdrawn , so that the flexible portion so as to resume its position aligned with the plane of the substrate , as shown in fig2 f . this deformation preferably occurs due to the elasticity of the flexible substrate . fig2 f thus shows the optical assembly in its final form , with the optical component 250 positioned so as to receive an optical signal from a waveguide oriented in the plane of the substrate , and to transmit a signal away from that plane , for example at right angles thereto . it will be appreciated that the configuration of the substrate may be subject to many variations . for example , the reinforcing layer may be omitted altogether , or may take a different form to that described above . the reinforcing layer may include only the main section 231 , or the part reinforcing the tip of the tongue 232 . the reinforcing layer may be disposed on either or both sides of the flexible substrate . rather than comprising a cutout defining a tongue 234 as described above , the flexible portion may be a protuberance extending from the edge of the substrate , or indeed the whole width of the flexible substrate may constitute the flexible portion , in which case the deformation strep would involve the bending of the whole substrate across its width . fig3 is a flowchart of the steps of the process described with respect to fig2 a - 2 f . there is accordingly defined a method for fabricating an optical assembly comprising an optical component . as shown in fig3 , the method starts at step 300 , at which a planar substrate 230 comprising a waveguide portion 234 through which a waveguide extends is provided . the waveguide portion comprises a flexible portion 233 such that by deformation of at least a part of the flexible portion 233 , the substrate 230 may be arranged in an operational configuration with a terminal 235 of the waveguide positioned within the plane so as to interface an installed optical component in operation , and an installation configuration with the terminal of the waveguide oriented away from the substrate so as to expose the terminal 235 for installation of the optical component 250 . the method then proceeds to step 305 , at which the flexible portion 233 is deformed so as to adopt the installation configuration . the method then proceeds to step 310 at which the electro - optical component placed on the waveguide portion 234 by means of a flip - chip bonder 260 so as to abut the terminal 235 . the method then proceeds to step 315 at which the electro - optical component is coupled to the terminal , before finally proceeding to step 320 of deforming the flexible portion so as to adopt the operational configuration . as described with reference to fig2 a - 2 f , the waveguide portion preferably comprises a tongue fixed to the substrate at one edge , and wherein the flexible portion 233 extends across the width of the tongue . as described with reference to fig2 b , the installation configuration of the terminal 235 is preferably positioned in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the substrate . as described with reference to fig2 f , in the operational configuration the terminal is preferably positioned in a plane substantially orthogonal to the plane of the substrate . as described with reference to fig2 e and 2 f , the step of deforming the flexible portion so as to adopt the operational configuration preferably comprises allowing the flexible portion to elastically resume its original configuration . the step of coupling as described above with regard to fig2 d may be implemented using a variety of techniques . the term coupling includes the establishment of different types of relationship between the optical component 250 and the terminal and the waveguide portion 234 . these relationships may include the mechanical bonding of the optical component 250 to the terminal and / or the wave - guide portion 234 , the optical coupling of the optical component 250 to the terminal or terminals , and / or the electrical connection of electrical contacts of the optical component 250 to electrical contacts of the wave - guide portion 234 . electrical connections need only be formed where the optical component incorporates electrical circuitry . different coupling techniques may be envisaged in which two or more of the above kinds of coupling are achieved by the same process . a number of exemplary coupling strategies are described in more detail hereafter ; however the skilled person will appreciate that other approaches or different combinations of the described techniques may also be effective . fig4 a , 4 b , and 4 c show a first coupling technique . fig4 a , 4 b and 4 c show an expanded view of the elements of the optical assembly at the interface between the optical component 250 and the substrate 230 . in particular , the free end of the flexible portion 234 is shown in the installation configuration , together with the reinforcing part 232 . fig4 a further shows the waveguide 400 , and the terminal 235 . in fig4 a , the optical component 250 has not yet been brought into contact with the terminal 235 . the optical device and the bond - surface are prepared . the lower surface of the optical component 250 has been provided with a plurality of stand - off bumps 410 , which may comprise electrical contacts e . g . gold - stud - bumps and / or mechanical stand - offs . on the flexible substrate a fast curing glue ( e . g . photosensitive glue ) for the mechanical fixation is deposited . to reduce the impact of potential spill - over of this mechanical glue over the optical interface , an optically transparent glue is preferable . the contact material for the electrical contacts ( e . g . conductive epoxy ) is deposited by e . g . stencil printing . as shown , an electrically conductive glue 420 has been applied to the substrate 230 , in electrical contact with conductive tracks embedded in said substrate or disposed on the surface thereof . still further , an optically curable glue 430 has been applied to the substrate 230 and / or preferably to the reinforcing layer 232 . in fig4 b , the optical component 250 has been brought into contact with the substrate , or more precisely certain stand - off pumps 410 mounted the optical component 250 have been brought into contact with the substrate , thereby spacing the optical component itself at a precisely controlled distance from the terminal 235 . certain stand - off bumps 410 are in contact with optically curable glue 430 , and others are in contact with the electrically conductive glue 420 , so that certain stand - off bumps also form part of the electrical contact between the optical component 250 and the substrate 230 . at this stage the glues are cured . by exposure to suitable radiation such as ultra - violet light in the case of optically curable glues , or by exposure to heat in the case of thermally cured glues , or otherwise as appropriate . the optical component is now physically secured to the substrate , and the bond head 260 may withdrawn as described above . in fig4 c , an optical underfill 440 is injected between the electro - optical component 250 and the terminal 235 , in the cavity created by the stand - off bumps 410 . the optical underfill 440 is then cured . once cured , the optical underfill optically couples the optical component and the terminal 235 , and is thus preferably selected to have suitable transparency and refractive properties to ensure proper transmission of optical signals once cured . thus with respect to mechanical coupling , there are accordingly provided steps of applying a glue to the flexible portion in the vicinity of the terminal , wherein the step of placing the electro - optical component comprises bringing the electro - optical component into contact with the glue , and wherein in the step of coupling the electro - optical component to the terminal comprises the further step of physically securing the electro - optical component to the terminal by curing the glue . the glue is preferably substantially transparent , so that in the event of a spill of glue into the vicinity of the terminal , the glue will present a minimal interference to correct signal transmission . the glue is preferably optically curable , since this permits excellent control of the timing of the curing process , without exposing assembly to undesirable thermal or chemical environments . thus with respect to electrical coupling , there are accordingly provided steps of providing an interface surface of the electro - optical component with a plurality of stand - off bumps , and of applying an electrically conductive glue to the flexible portion in electrical connection with the terminal , wherein the step of placing the electro - optical component comprises bringing at least one of the stand - off bumps into contact with the electrically conductive glue , and wherein in the step of coupling the electro - optical component to the terminal comprises the further step of electrically connecting the electro - optical component to the terminal by curing the glue . the glue may be a solder , in which case a reflow or other processing method may be appropriate . this step need not be performed on the flip - chip bonder because mechanically the device may already be secured mechanically by the mechanical glue . thus with respect to optical coupling , there are accordingly provided steps of injecting and subsequent curing an optical underfill between the electro - optical component and the terminal . another approach to establishing electrical coupling may comprises the further steps of bringing at least one of the contacts in close proximity to a corresponding electrical contact on the terminal and depositing an electrically conductive material such as a conductive ink . the deposition of electrically conductive ink may advantageously be achieved by inkjet - printing . there may optionally be provided cleaning steps . these steps may advantageously be implemented after the mechanical securing of the optical component 250 to the substrate 230 , and before the optical interface is sealed by applying an optically transparent underfill material , which also further improves the mechanical attachment / stability . fig5 shows an expanded view of the elements of the optical assembly at the interface between the optical component 250 and the substrate 230 . in particular , the free end of the flexible portion 234 is shown in the installation configuration , together with the reinforcing part 232 . fig5 further shows the waveguide 400 , and the terminal 235 . in fig5 a , the optical component 250 has not yet been brought into contact with the terminal 235 . the optical device and the bond - surface are prepared . the lower surface of the optical component 250 has been provided with electrical conductor contacts 540 . the contact material for the electrical contacts ( e . g . conductive epoxy ) is deposited by e . g . stencil printing . the upper surface of the flexible substrate 230 has similarly been provided with electrical conductor contacts 520 . the contact material for the electrical contacts ( e . g . conductive epoxy ) are again deposited by e . g . stencils printing . on the flexible substrate a fast curing glue 530 ( e . g . photosensitive glue ) for the mechanical fixation is deposited . since this glue also fulfils the role of optical coupling agent , this material must also have suitable optical properties once cured . the fast curing glue may equally be provided either on the optical device or on the substrate or on both . in fig5 b , the optical component 250 has been brought to a precisely controlled distance from the terminal 235 , with the glue 530 sandwiched between the substrate and the optical component so as to substantially fill all of the space between the two elements . in fact it is only necessary that contact is made , and that a maximum distance , for example smaller than ˜ 50 microns ), is preferably not exceeded . the electrical contacts 540 and 520 are in close proximity , but may be separated by a bead of glue 530 squeezed from between the substrate and the optical component . at this stage the glues are cured , by exposure to suitable radiation such as ultra - violet light in the case of optically curable glues , or by exposure to heat in the case of thermally cured glues , or otherwise as appropriate . the optical component is now physically secured to the substrate , and the bond head 260 may be withdrawn as described above . the bead of glue 530 squeezed from between the substrate and the optical component may be excised by means of a laser or otherwise , so as to leave the electrical contacts 540 and 520 separated by a mere film of glue . in fig5 c , a connecting film of conductive ink or other electrically conductive material 550 is printed for example by means of an inkjet printer so as to brides the gap between electrical contacts 540 and 520 . fig6 shows parts of a flip - chip bonder adapted for carrying the steps of the method of fig3 . as shown , the flip - chip bonder comprises a bond head 260 comprising channels 261 as described above , and a lower clamp element 240 . the flip - chip bonder further comprises an x - y stage 610 , and an upper clamping element 620 . the x - y stage is moveable such that a planar substrate mounted thereon can be positioned in the x - y plane with respect to the other components , and is provide with an aperture for the passage of a lower clamp element 240 . an optional upper clamp element is articulated so as to move inward the other components being articulated so as to engage the surface of a substrate mounted on the x - y stage , that by trapping the substrate between the upper and lower clamp elements at least a part of a flexible portion deformation of the substrate may be arranged in an installation configuration with the terminal of the waveguide oriented away from the substrate so as to expose the terminal for installation of the optical component , whereupon the bond head 260 is adapted to descend in the z axis to bring an optical component into contact with the substrate . by withdrawing the bond head and upper and lower clamp elements , the flexible portion is allowed to resume its original configuration . the flip - chip bonder may additionally be provided with means for the injection or placement of glues or solders for coupling of the optical component to the substrate . the flip - chip bonder may additionally be provided with means for the curing of glues used in the coupling of the optical component to the substrate , such as ultra - violet lamps or heaters . as described above , a single optical assembly is formed from a given substrate , by coupling a single optical component thereto . it will be appreciated that a given assembly comprise a plurality of optical components , in which case a corresponding plurality of bond heads , or a specially adapted composite bond head , or a single bond head controlled so as to sequentially place each of the plurality of optical components will be required . it will furthermore be appreciated that a plurality of assemblies may be formed on the same substrate , for later separation , thereby making better use of the relatively large range of travel of the x - y stage . as shown in fig7 there is provided a substrate 730 bearing eight cut - out tongue portions 731 to 738 , ready for installation of optical components as described above . the eight cut - out tongue portions 731 to 738 are arranged in a 2 × 4 matrix . the x - y stage of the flip - chip bonder would preferably be adapted to mirror this configuration , in particular by being sufficiently large to support the entire substrate , and providing an aperture corresponding to each assembly for the passage of the lower clamp element 240 as described above . such a “ panel level assembly ” promises to be more efficient and allows for a higher assembly throughput . still further , the substrate of fig7 may constitute a continuous web . by further adaptations to the flip - chip bonder it is then possible to produce optical assemblies in a continuous process , rather than the batch process described heretofore . fig8 shows a flip - chip bonder adapted for continuous processing . the flexible waveguide is processed in sequence in different process stations . a continuous reel of flexible substrate 861 is provided . in the place of the x - y stage there is provided a conveyor belt 869 , which is provided with regularly spaced aperture for the passage of the lower clamp element 240 . material is drawn from this reel 861 through the various stages of the adapted flip - chip - bonder to produce complete a continuous stream of complete optical assemblies at the output . on leaving the reel , a particular section of substrate material first passes dispensing steps 863 and 862 which in accordance with the foregoing embodiments dispense optical glue for mechanical attachment and optical coupling and electrically conductive glue such as epoxy , respectively . the substrate material next arrives between the bond head 260 and the lower clamp 240 , whereupon the optical component is positioned and coupled as described above . a flash curing station 865 radiates the assembly with a suitable ( ultra - violet ) radiation to cure optically curable glues etc . as appropriate . the assembly is moved on to a further optical sealing polymer dispenser 866 which dispenses optical underfilling on the case of mechanical stand - offs in accordance with foregoing embodiments , and then cut from the continuous substrate web to form an individual assembly by cutter unit 867 . the assembly then passes through an oven 868 for thermal curing of thermally activated glues as appropriate , in particular for the applied optical polymer dispensed by dispenser 866 as well as any other curable glues , e . g . uv curable glues , to which no uv could be applied because they were masked by the components themselves at the earlier step . this approach makes it possible to manufacture flexible cables of any given length bearing optical and opto / electrical conversions at either ends of the cable . optical waveguide can be produced of pre - configured customised lengths onto a flexible tape or reel this approach can be highly efficient , since the rough - alignment requirements ( i . e . through the part - feeder ) is not very high and the fine - adjustments is done by the flip - chip bonder , which have usually usable path lengths in the order of 25 mm . by using butt - coupling as described above with regard to the second embodiment , directly to the waveguides with minimum distance between the optical components and the waveguides , it is very likely that the alignment accuracy can be relaxed from ˜ 5 μm to somewhere between 10 to 20 cm . according to further embodiments , a flip - chip bonder is used to mount optical components including electro - optical components a flexible substrate bearing waveguides by bending a part of the substrate out of its plane so as to expose the waveguide terminals , positioning the optical component on the exposed terminal , bonding it in place and then allowing the substrate to return to its plane . to facilitate this approach the flip - chip bonder may be adapted to incorporate one or more clamp elements to deform the substrate in the appropriate manner to correctly expose and position the terminal . the bonder x - y stage may be provided with an aperture to allow the passage of such clamp elements . a continuous reel process is also provided , capable of producing substrates or cables of any arbitrary length with optical components mounted at either end . the invention can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment , as embodied in the flip - chip bonder , an entirely software embodiment as embodied for example in software controlling the flip - chip bonder , or an embodiment containing both hardware and software elements . in a preferred embodiment , the invention is implemented in software , which includes but is not limited to firmware , resident software , microcode , etc . furthermore , the invention can take the form of a computer program product accessible from a computer - usable or computer - readable medium providing program code for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction execution system . for the purposes of this description , a computer - usable or computer readable medium can be any apparatus 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 medium can be an electronic , magnetic , optical , electromagnetic , infrared , or semiconductor system ( or apparatus or device ) or a propagation medium . examples of a computer - readable medium include a semiconductor or solid state memory , magnetic tape , a removable computer diskette , a random access memory ( ram ), a read - only memory ( rom ), a rigid magnetic disk and an optical disk . current examples of optical disks include compact disk - read only memory ( cd - rom ), compact disk - read / write ( cd - r / w ) and dvd . accordingly there is provided a computer program comprising instructions for controlling a flip - chip bonder so as to install an optical component in an optical assembly , said assembly comprising : a planar substrate - comprising a waveguide portion through which a waveguide extends , said waveguide portion . comprising a flexible portion such that by deformation of at least a part of the flexible portion , the substrate may be arranged in an operational configuration with a terminal of the waveguide oriented within the plane so as to interface an installed optical component in operation , and an installation configuration with the terminal of the waveguide oriented away from the substrate so as to expose the terminal for installation of the optical component , said computer program causing said flip - chip bonder suitably coupled to a computer executing said program to implement the steps of : placing the electro - optical component on the waveguide component by means of a flip - chip bonder so as to abut the terminal ; the computer may of course be embedded in the flip - chip , bonder , or be a stand alone computer coupled to the flip - chip bonder by any appropriate means , for example via an ethernet or wireless network connection , usb , bluetooth etc as appropriate . a data processing system suitable for storing and / or executing program code will include at least one processor coupled directly or indirectly to memory elements through a system bus . the memory elements can include local memory employed during actual execution of the program code , bulk storage , and cache memories which provide temporary storage of at least some program code in order to reduce the number of times code must be retrieved from bulk storage during execution . input / output or i / o devices ( including but not limited to keyboards , displays , pointing devices , etc .) can be coupled to the system either directly or through intervening i / o controllers . network adapters may also be coupled to the system to enable the data processing system to become coupled to other data processing systems or remote printers or storage devices through intervening private or public networks . modems , cable modem and ethernet cards are just a few of the currently available types of network adapters . the flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture , functionality , and operation of possible implementations of systems , methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention . in this regard , each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module , segment , or portion of code , which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function ( s ). it should also be noted that , in some alternative implementations , the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures . for example , two blocks shown in succession may , in fact , be implemented substantially concurrently , or the blocks may sometimes be implemented in the reverse order , depending upon the functionality involved . it will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and / or flowchart illustration , and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and / or flowchart illustration , can be implemented by special purpose hardware - based systems that perform the specified functions or acts , or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions . while particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described , it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that based upon the teachings herein , that changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention and its broader aspects . therefore , the appended claims are to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as are within the true sprit and scope of this invention . furthermore , it is to be understood that the invention is solely defined by the appended claims . it will be understood by those with skill in the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim element is intended , such intent will be explicitly recited in the claim , and in the absence of such recitation no such limitation is present . for non - limiting example , as an aid to understanding , the following appended claims contain usage of the introductory phrases “ at least one ” and “ one or more ” to introduce claim elements . however , the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim element by the indefinite articles “ a ” or “ an ” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim element to inventions containing only one such element , even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “ one or more ” or “ at least one ” and indefinite articles such as “ a ” or “ an ”; the same holds true for the use in the claims of definite articles .	8
it is noted that in the accompanying drawings , only main facilities are shown and accessory facilities are omitted . in the drawings , tanks , bulbs , pumps , blowers and heat exchangers are provided as required . further , two turbines are usually provided in pairs as each of a low pressure turbine , a medium pressure turbine and a high pressure turbine , but each pair of the turbines is also represented by a single reference numeral . as shown in fig1 , the carbon dioxide recovery type power generation system according to the present invention comprises a boiler 1 having a reheating unit 5 , a high pressure turbine 3 which is driven by steam of the boiler 1 , a medium pressure turbine 7 which is driven by steam discharged from the high pressure turbine 3 and heated by the reheating unit 5 , a low pressure turbine 8 which is driven by steam discharged from the medium pressure turbine 7 , and a generator 13 which generates electric power by the rotation of these turbines . the exhaust side of the low pressure turbine 8 is connected to the boiler 1 via a line 11 provided with a condenser 10 which condenses the exhaust , and an overhead condenser 25 which effects heat exchange between condensed water and recovered co 2 , in this sequence . further , on the combustion exhaust gas outlet side of the boiler 1 , a blasting blower 14 which pressurizes of a combustion exhaust gas , a cooler 15 which cools the combustion exhaust gas , and a co 2 absorption tower 18 which is filled with co 2 absorption liquid for absorbing and removing co 2 from the combustion exhaust gas are successively arranged in this sequence from the side of the boiler . it is noted that as the co 2 absorption liquid , an alkanolamine such as , for example , monoethanolamine , diethanolamine , triethanolamine , methyldiethanolamine , diisopropanolamine , diglycolamine , is preferred , and an aqueous solution of one of these compositions or an aqueous solution obtained by mixing two or more of these compositions can be used . the co 2 absorption tower 18 is installed in combination with a regeneration tower 24 which regenerates the loaded adsorption liquid with co 2 absorbed therein . these towers are connected by a line 20 which supplies the loaded absorption liquid to the regeneration tower 24 , and by a line 19 which supplies a reproduced adsorption liquid to the co 2 absorption tower 18 . a rich / lean solvent heat exchanger 23 which effects heat exchange between the line 20 and the line 19 is provided for the line 20 and the line 19 . further , a lean solvent cooler 33 which further cools the regenerated adsorption liquid is provided for the line 19 between the co 2 absorption tower 18 and the heat exchanger 23 . in the regeneration tower 24 , as shown in fig2 , a nozzle 56 for spraying the loaded adsorption liquid downward from the line 20 is provided . underneath the nozzle 56 , a lower filling section 52 filled with a filler is provided in order to make the sprayed loaded adsorption liquid easily brought into contact with steam . further , above the nozzle 56 , an upper filling section 51 filled with a filler is provided in order to remove adsorption liquid steam and mist . a first reboiler 41 for heating the loaded absorption liquid is provided for a bottom part of the regeneration tower 24 . the first reboiler 41 and the regeneration tower 24 are connected by a line 47 , which leads the loaded adsorption liquid stored in the tower bottom part to be heated by the first reboiler and then returns the heated absorption liquid again to the tower bottom part . further , the first reboiler 41 and the low pressure turbine 8 are connected by a line 44 which supplies steam extracted from the low pressure turbine 8 as a heating source of the first reboiler 41 . further , in the regeneration tower 24 , a liquid storage section 61 for storing the loaded adsorption liquid which flows down is provided between the nozzle 56 and the tower bottom part . thus , the lower filling section 52 is vertically divided into two parts which are positioned above and below the liquid storage section 61 . further , a second reboiler 42 for heating the loaded adsorption liquid is provided for a preceding stage of the first reboiler 41 . the second reboiler 42 and the regeneration tower 24 is connected by a line 48 , which leads the loaded adsorption liquid stored in the liquid storage section 61 to be heated by the second reboiler and then returns to the lower part of the liquid storage section 61 . further , the second reboiler 42 and the low pressure turbine 8 are connected by a line 45 which supplies , as a heating source of the second reboiler 42 , steam with a pressure lower than the pressure of the steam which is extracted to be supplied to the first reboiler 41 . it is noted that a nozzle 58 for spraying the heated loaded adsorption liquid downward is provided for the line 48 . further , a vent hole 62 for allowing co 2 gas ascending from the lower part of the tower to pass upward is provided for the liquid storage section 61 . above the vent hole 62 , there is provided a top plate 63 for preventing the loaded adsorption liquid , which flows down from the upper part of the tower , from passing to the lower part of the tower . further , a line 28 is provided for the co 2 gas outlet side of the tower top part of the regeneration tower 24 , the line 28 being successively provided with an overhead condenser 25 for effecting heat exchange between co 2 gas and condensed water , an overhead cooler 26 for cooling co 2 gas , and a separator 27 for separating water content from co 2 gas , in this sequence . in addition , a line 30 which supplies the water separated by the separator 27 again to the tower top part of the regeneration tower 24 is provided for the separator 27 . a nozzle 57 for spraying the reflux water downward is provided for the line 30 . with the above configuration , steam which is generated and heated to a high pressure and a high temperature ( of about 250 kg / cm 2 g , about 600 ° c .) by the boiler 1 is introduced into the high pressure turbine 3 via a line 2 to drive the high pressure turbine 3 . steam ( of about 40 kg / cm 2 g , about 300 ° c .) discharged from the high pressure turbine via a line 4 is heated by the reheating unit 5 in the boiler 1 . the steam discharged from the high pressure turbine which is reheated ( to about 600 ° c . ), is introduced into the intermediate pressure turbine 7 via a line 6 , to drive the medium pressure turbine 7 . steam ( of about 10 kg / cm 2 g ) discharged from the intermediate pressure turbine is introduced into the low pressure turbine 8 via a line 9 to drive the low pressure turbine 8 . in this way , the turbines are driven to enable the generator 13 to generate electric power . further , a part of the steam is extracted from the low pressure turbine and supplied via the line 44 to the first reboiler 41 provided for the tower bottom part . further , a part of steam with a pressure lower than the pressure of the steam supplied to the first reboiler is extracted from the low pressure turbine and supplied to the second reboiler 42 via the line 45 . the two kinds of extracted steam are respectively used to heat the loaded absorption liquid in the first reboiler 41 and the second reboiler 42 , so as to be condensed . further , the two kinds of extracted steam are pressurized by a reboiler condensate pump 32 , and then mixed with boiler feed water of the line 11 . thereby , the boiler feed water is heated up and transferred to the boiler 1 . here , the steam which is extracted to be supplied to the first reboiler 41 provided for the tower bottom part , preferably has a temperature which makes it possible to remove almost all co 2 from the loaded absorption liquid to regenerate the absorption liquid , and which for example preferably ranges from 130 to 160 ° c ., although the temperature may be different depending upon the kinds of co 2 absorption liquid . it is noted that the absolute pressure of the steam corresponding to this temperature ranges from 2 . 75 to 6 . 31 ata . further , the steam which is extracted to be supplied to the second reboiler 42 preferably has a temperature lower than the above described temperature , that is , an absolute pressure lower than the above described absolute pressure , in order to heat the loaded absorption liquid in stages . it is noted that when supplied into the regeneration tower 24 , the loaded absorption liquid is depressurized to release a part of co 2 and cooled ( for example , by a temperature about 20 ° c .). therefore , the lower limit value of the steam is preferably set to a temperature which makes it possible to effect heat exchange with the absorption liquid with the temperature when it is introduced into the tower ( for example , a temperature higher by about 10 ° c . compared with the temperature of the absorption liquid after it is introduced into the tower , or a temperature lower by about 10 ° c . compared with the temperature of the absorption liquid when it is supplied to the tower ), that is , preferably set to an absolute pressure corresponding to the steam temperature . the exhaust ( of about 0 . 05 ata , about 33 ° c .) of the low pressure turbine 8 is introduced into the condenser 10 via the line 11 and condensed . a boiler feed pump 12 makes the condensed water preheated through the overhead condenser 25 and then transferred to the boiler 1 as the boiler feed water . on the other hand , the boiler combustion exhaust gas containing co 2 discharged from the boiler 1 is first pressurized by the blasting blower 14 , and then transferred to the cooler 15 so as to be cooled by cooling water 16 . the cooled combustion exhaust gas is transferred to the co 2 absorption tower 18 , and cooling wastewater 17 is discharged to the outside of the system . in the co 2 absorption tower 18 , the combustion exhaust gas is brought into contact in counterflow with co 2 absorption liquid based on the alkanolamine , so that co 2 in the combustion exhaust gas is absorbed by the co 2 absorption liquid through a chemical reaction . the combustion exhaust gas 21 with co 2 removed therefrom is discharged from the tower top part to the outside of the system . the loaded absorption liquid ( rich absorption liquid ) with co 2 absorbed therein is pressurized by a rich solvent pump 22 via the line 20 connected to the tower bottom part , and heated by the rich / lean solvent heat exchanger 23 , and thereafter is supplied to the regeneration tower 24 . in the regeneration tower 24 , the loaded absorption liquid is sprayed from the nozzle 56 , and flows downward through the lower filling section 52 b so as to be stored in the liquid storage section 61 . then , the loaded absorption liquid in the liquid storage section 61 is extracted by the line 48 , and heated by the low pressure steam of the line 45 in the second reboiler 42 , and thereafter returned again to the regeneration tower 24 . the loaded absorption liquid thus heated is sprayed by the nozzle 58 , and a co 2 gas partially separated from the absorption liquid by the heating operation ascends upward in the tower as shown by a dotted line in fig2 , while the loaded absorption liquid still containing co 2 flows down in the tower . further , the loaded absorption liquid , which passes through the lower filling section 52 a and is stored in the tower bottom part , is extracted by the line 47 to be heated by the higher pressure steam of the line 44 in the first reboiler 41 , and thereafter is returned again to the tower bottom part . the residual co 2 is almost separated from the absorption liquid by this heating operation in the first reboiler 41 of the tower bottom part . the separated co 2 gas ascends in the tower in the same way as described above . the co 2 gas which ascends in the tower is discharged from the tower top part of the regeneration tower 24 . the discharged co 2 gas passes through the line 28 , to preheat the boiler feed water of the line 11 in the overhead condenser 25 , and is further cooled by the overhead cooler 26 . thereby , the water content in the co 2 gas is condensed . the condensed water is removed by the separator 27 . the high purity co 2 gas with water content removed therefrom is discharged to the outside of the power generation system , so as to be able to be used effectively for other applications . further , the condensed water separated by the separator 27 is refluxed by a condensed water circulation pump 29 into the regeneration tower 24 through the line 30 . the reflux water is sprayed by the nozzle 57 to wash co 2 gas ascending through the upper filling section 51 , thereby making it possible to prevent the amine compound contained in the co 2 gas from being discharged from the tower top part . on the other hand , almost all co 2 is separated from the loaded absorption liquid by the heating operation in the first reboiler of the tower bottom part , so that the absorption liquid is regenerated . the regenerated absorption liquid ( lean absorption liquid ) is extracted by the line 19 , and pressurized by a lean solvent pump 31 . then , the regenerated absorption liquid is cooled by the loaded absorption liquid in the rich / lean solvent heat exchanger 23 and is further cooled by the lean solvent cooler 33 so as subsequently to be supplied to the co 2 absorption tower 18 . thus , the co 2 absorption liquid can be used in circulation in the power generation system . in this way , high pressure steam is extracted from the low pressure turbine 8 as a heating source of the first reboiler 41 of the tower bottom part , and steam with a pressure lower than the pressure of the high pressure steam is extracted from the low pressure turbine 8 as a heating source of the second reboiler 42 between the nozzle 56 and the tower bottom part , as a result of which the loaded absorption liquid can be heated in stages by the steam extracted in the two stages . thus , instead of a part of the high pressure steam extracted from the low pressure turbine 8 , which part is to be supplied to the first reboiler 41 of the tower bottom part , steam with a lower pressure can be extracted from the low pressure turbine 8 , as a result of which output decrease of the low pressure turbine 8 can be suppressed as a whole and power generation output of the generator 13 can be improved . it is noted that in fig1 and fig2 , the reboiler is constituted in two stages by providing the second reboiler 42 between the nozzle 56 and the tower bottom part so as to extract steam from the low pressure turbine 8 in two stages . however , the reboiler provided for the regeneration tower 24 may be constituted in three or more stages to extract steam from the low pressure turbine 8 in three or more stages . in this case , the line which supplies the extracted steam to the reboiler is connected so as to make the pressure of supplied steam increased from the reboiler in the preceding stage of the regeneration tower 24 ( the tower top part side ) to the reboiler in the post stage of the regeneration tower 24 ( the tower bottom part side ). for example , as shown in fig3 , a liquid storage section 66 , a vent hole 67 and a top plate 68 are additionally provided between the nozzle 56 and the liquid storage section 61 , and a third reboiler 43 is also provided in the preceding stage of the second reboiler 42 , so that steam with a pressure further lower than the pressure of the steam supplied to the second reboiler 42 is extracted from the low pressure turbine 8 and is supplied to the third reboiler 43 via a line 46 . thereby , the loaded absorption liquid in the added liquid storage section 66 is heated by the third reboiler 43 via a line 49 . as a result , the loaded absorption liquid in the regeneration tower 24 can be heated in more stages . therefore , instead of a part of the high pressure steam supplied to the first reboiler 41 and the second reboiler 42 , the steam with further lower pressure is extracted from the low pressure turbine 8 , so that output decrease of the low pressure turbine 8 can be further suppressed . a rich absorption liquid with co 2 absorbed therein is regenerated by using a steam system consisting of the regeneration tower and the low pressure turbine shown in fig3 . the result is shown in table 1 . further , a result of the case where the steam system consisting of the conventional regeneration tower and the low pressure turbine shown in fig4 is used , is also shown in table 1 as a comparison example . as shown in table 1 , in the conventional system , it is necessary to supply high pressure steam of 3 . 6 ata to the reboiler of the tower bottom part at a rate of 417 ton / h , in order to make the rich absorption liquid of a predetermined amount heated to 120 ° c . and regenerated . as a result , the output of the low pressure turbine from which the steam is extracted , is lowered by 76 , 330 kw . on the other hand , in the system according to the present invention shown in fig3 , steam with a lower pressure of 2 . 73 ata and steam with a lower pressure of 3 . 16 ata are supplied to the third reboiler and the second reboiler at a rate of 107 ton / h and at a rate of 138 ton / h , respectively , so that even when the rate of the high pressure steam of 3 . 6 ata supplied to the first reboiler of the tower bottom part is reduced to 174 ton / h , the rich absorption liquid can be regenerated similarly to the conventional system . therefore , the total amount of heat supplied to the first to third reboilers is approximately equal to the amount of heat supplied to the reboiler of the tower bottom part in the conventional system , but the output of the low pressure turbine is lowered only by 73 , 756 kw . as a result , the turbine output can be improved by about 3 . 4 % in comparison with the conventional system .	8
a device 1 for injecting fuel which is under high pressure is described in greater detail below with reference to fig1 . as is apparent in fig1 , device 1 includes an electrodynamic actuator 30 , a needle 2 , and a fuel supply line 19 . a fuel under high pressure is supplied to device 1 via fuel supply line 19 . electrodynamic actuator 30 includes a first permanent magnet 4 , a second permanent magnet 6 , a spacer disk 5 , a movable coil 7 , and a casing 8 . spacer disk 5 is made of a magnetically conductive material , and is situated between first permanent magnet 4 and second permanent magnet 6 . movably situated coil 7 is situated at the outer periphery of first and second permanent magnets 4 , 6 and of spacer disk 5 . casing 8 is likewise made of a magnetically conductive material , and encloses coil 7 at the periphery as well as the two end faces of first permanent magnet 4 and second permanent magnet 6 in axial direction x - x . the two permanent magnets 4 , 6 are situated in such a way that the same poles face spacer disk 5 . permanent magnets 4 , 6 thus form a magnetic field over spacer disk 5 which extends radially outwardly toward casing 8 . when coil 7 is then supplied with current , coil 7 experiences a lorentz force which , depending on the current direction , acts in an opening or a closing direction of the needle ( i . e ., in axial direction x - x ). this causes coil 7 to move in the appropriate direction in each case . device 1 also includes a closing spring 3 which exerts a closing force on needle 2 . for this purpose , a spring washer 13 on which closing spring 3 is supported at one end is fastened to needle 2 . the other end of closing spring 3 is supported on a housing component 14 a . in addition , a pinhole disk 11 is fastened to needle 2 , at an end of needle 2 remote from spray holes 18 . spray holes 18 are provided in housing 14 and oriented at a predetermined angle with respect to axial direction x - x . movable coil 7 is connected to needle 2 via a connecting device 9 . connecting device 9 includes multiple fingers 10 which engage in openings 11 a in pinhole disk 11 . in addition , a tube 12 is provided which is guided through electrodynamic actuator 30 . tube 12 is used for conducting fuel from fuel supply line 19 . the fuel is led into a fuel chamber 16 , flowing between fingers 10 of connecting device 9 . this is indicated by arrows b in fig1 . arrow a characterizes the flow direction of the fuel into fuel supply line 19 . a rear portion of needle 2 as well as closing spring 3 are situated in fuel chamber 16 . in addition , an annular pressure chamber 15 is provided upstream from spray holes 18 . pressure chamber 15 is connected to fuel chamber 16 via a supply line channel 17 . thus , when needle 2 is opened , as indicated by arrow d in fig1 , fuel is able to flow from fuel chamber 16 into supply line channel 17 , as indicated by arrow c , and from there flows to pressure chamber 15 . device 1 according to the present invention functions as follows . fuel which is already under pressure is supplied , as indicated by arrow a , for fuel supply line 19 , and tube 12 is supplied to fuel chamber 16 . a connection to annular pressure chamber 15 is provided in fuel chamber 16 via supply line channel 17 . electrodynamic actuator 30 is activated if fuel is to be injected . for this purpose , coil 7 is supplied with current in such a way that the coil moves , as indicated by arrow e . thus , needle 2 also moves in the direction of arrow d , via connecting device 9 and fingers 10 . this causes needle 2 to be lifted off from valve seat 2 a , thus opening spray holes 18 and allowing fuel to be injected from the spray holes into a combustion chamber or an intake manifold . closing spring 3 is compressed by the motion of needle 2 . to conclude the injection , the current direction at movable coil 7 is reversed , causing the coil to move in the opposite direction . active closing of needle 2 is thus achieved , with the assistance of tensioned closing spring 3 in the closing operation . needle 2 is thus actively closed as a result of the fixed connection between movable coil 7 and needle 2 . the injection of fuel is thus concluded . according to the present invention , for an inwardly opening valve , needle 2 may thus be actively opened and closed , using an electrodynamic actuator 30 , by reversing the current direction at a movable coil 7 . very brief closing times may be achieved which are significantly shorter than closing times for electromagnetic actuators , for example . this is achieved with a compact design of device 1 as well as very cost - effective manufacturability of device 1 . by providing a plurality of spray holes 18 , large quantities of fuel may be injected , even with short opening times . in particular , a spray with very good distribution may thus be achieved . further preferred exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described in greater detail below with reference to fig2 and 3 . identical or functionally equivalent parts are denoted by the same reference numerals as in the first exemplary embodiment . fig2 shows a device 1 according to a second exemplary embodiment , except that , in contrast to the first exemplary embodiment , in the second exemplary embodiment the fuel is supplied to annular pressure chamber 15 via a central needle hole 21 and a transverse hole 22 . thus , fuel may be conducted through entire device 1 to annular pressure chamber 15 without large pressure losses . electrodynamic actuator 30 is centered over housing region 14 a on which tube 12 is supported , electrodynamic actuator 30 being fixed to tube 12 . fig3 shows a device 1 according to a third exemplary embodiment which essentially corresponds to the second exemplary embodiment . in contrast to the second exemplary embodiment , in the third exemplary embodiment no fuel chamber 16 is present . the fuel is conducted in the axial direction by fuel supply line 19 , through tube 12 and central through hole 21 as well as transverse holes 23 , to annular pressure chamber 15 . closing spring 3 is situated in tube 12 . in addition , tube 12 has a guide section 12 a , at the end facing needle 2 , on which needle 2 is guided . tube 12 itself is centered over a base region 8 a of casing 8 . a further transverse hole 22 also provided in needle 2 establishes a connection to a second pressure chamber 24 . this connecting hole 22 thus ensures that electrodynamic actuator 30 itself is situated in the fuel . as the result of using electrodynamic actuator 30 , device 1 described in the exemplary embodiments thus has characteristics which very closely approximate the characteristics of piezoelectric actuators . named in particular are a very short switching time and multiple injections during a cycle . devices 1 according to the present invention are nevertheless very compact and cost - effective .	5
in order that the invention may be fully understood , preferred embodiments thereof will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . the present invention comprises the random id code generation and circle path authentication . a random id code is generated at one point of a close circle of the transaction communication . the rid can travel through one direction and return to the original point in the circle or travel from two directions and meet at one point in the circle . at this point , the rids will be checked against each other . the two rids should be exactly the same . fig1 is the illustration of the network of system embodying the preferred embodiment of the present invention . fig1 shows the mobile terminal 100 , mobile wireless network 200 , user &# 39 ; s account server 300 , terminal 400 , terminal transaction server 500 , wire or wireless network 600 between 300 and 500 . fig1 also shows the path of the rid , which is generated in the account server , passed through a circle and sent back to the original account server . fig2 is a block diagram of the user account server 300 of fig1 . the account server consists a network interface 310 to the mobile wireless network 200 to communicate with the mobile terminal , a network interface 320 to the network 500 to communicate with transaction server , a random id generator 330 , a database 340 containing subscribed user account information , subscribed terminal account information , transaction records and all pending transaction and their rid , a module to verify the terminal &# 39 ; s account 340 when the terminal did not subscribed to it , a module to track and match all pending transactions &# 39 ; rid 350 . fig3 is a functionality block diagram of the transaction terminal 400 and the transaction server 500 . the terminal server consists of an interface between the transaction terminal and transaction server 510 , a network interface that communicates with the users &# 39 ; account server 520 ; a transaction request module 530 to pack the terminal account information , action request , and the user &# 39 ; s account information and send to the user account server , a module to locate the user &# 39 ; s account server 540 , a database 550 which save the transaction records , account server information and the terminal information . the transaction terminal consists of an interface to the terminal server 410 , a user interface with the user or the mobile terminal 420 , which can be a keyboard , an infrared or contactless ( rfid ) smart card reader , a barcode reader , a web page , and etc . the connection between the transaction terminal and the terminal server can be a network connection , through which the transaction server could manage multiple terminals or an internal bus if they &# 39 ; re physically built in the same machine . fig4 and fig5 show the flowchart of the preferred embodiment of the present invention . referring the network configuration of fig1 and 3 , the example sequences of the id authentication or payment charge method will be explained in detail . first , a person with a mobile communication tool , such as a mobile phone , subscribes to a service provide , such as his / her wireless carrier say verizon , or a third party who &# 39 ; s going to authenticate the person or authorize an action / transaction say direct a payment through debit or credit account . the service provider for payment can be a debit / credit account issuer like mbna or an essential account verifier such as visa international . in the case of id authentication for secure access , many times a private party which holds both the user and terminal account is involved . after subscription , the mobile terminal can interface with a transaction terminal when an authentication or authorization is needed . the account number and the service provider id ( if multiple service providers are available ) are passed to the transaction terminal . there are several ways to pass this information : ( b ) a barcode which contains both the account and server information is provided to the user as a label than can be sticked on the mobile or an image that can be display on a screen , the terminal can scan the barcode to get the information ; and / or ( c ) the information is saved in the mobile phone &# 39 ; s non - volatile memory , such as flash , and then can be passed to the terminal wirelessly ( infrared or near field rf ). after the transaction terminal receives the account information , it will send them to the transaction server . the transaction server may needs to locate the service provider from a third party if it doesn &# 39 ; t have the service provider &# 39 ; s information . the transaction server sends the user account information , terminal information and the action request to the account server . the account server will verify the user &# 39 ; s account information , check the terminal &# 39 ; s credibility , and verify the feasibility of the action request . if it &# 39 ; s an access request , the server will check if the user has the right of accessing the specified the resource . if it &# 39 ; s a payment request , the server will check if the account has enough balance or credit line for paying the request amount of money . after the server verifies every thing , it will generate a random id code . this rid code is the core element of the authentication process . this rid will be sent to the mobile terminal . the account serer also sends a transaction sequence number back to the transaction server referring the current transaction request . this sequence number can also be generated by the transaction server and sent to the account server with the action requestion . to prevent mishandling of a lost mobile terminal , the account server may require the user to key in a password to retrieve the rid . the password can be either sent back to the account server or handled internally inside the mobile terminal . there are numerous ways of detecting the mobile terminal lost or personation . they are not covered in this application . when a mobile terminal is determined as lost or misused , the account server will lock the account for any further action until contacting the user for clarification . the mobile wireless network can easily find out if there &# 39 ; s a personate mobile terminal if two different base stations ( not adjacent to each other ) report the presentation of the same terminal id ( such as the phone number ). another way to detect terminal personation is to send an id request to the terminal . the terminal should response back with the correct id and a random number . this random number is generated per id request . there could be multiple responses to one id request , but the random number should be the same . if for one id request , two different random numbers were received . the network can determine there &# 39 ; s a personate terminal . after received by the mobile terminal , the rid will be passed to the transaction terminal by method discussed before ( manual key in , rf , barcode , and etc .). when the transaction server receives the rid from the transaction terminal , it will pass it back to the account server with the original transaction sequence number . the server check if the received rid is exactly the same as that sent out for this transaction . if yes , the further action will be confirmed . and the server may also check the terminal who sent back the rid is the same one who initialized this transaction . the rid code can be sent to the mobile terminal by simple text message or through other protocols . the account server can also generate a 2d barcode image based on the rid which can be displayed on the mobile phone and scanned by a terminal . in addition to the rid information , the account server can optionally send the transaction terminal / server &# 39 ; s information to the mobile terminal for review . it &# 39 ; s better not to send any sensitive information . if the account server received a wrong rid or hasn &# 39 ; t received it in a certain period , say one minute , it may deny the transaction and lock the user &# 39 ; s account . alternatively the account server may recreates a new rid and then send it through the same path . after tried a specified times and failed , the server may deny the transaction and determine the user &# 39 ; s account may be stolen . the account may be locked until contacting the user for clarification . the key innovation of the present invention is the random id generation and circle verification procedure . fig6 shows the travel path of the rid . by sending the rid code through this circle , the account server verifies both the user who carries the mobile terminal and the transaction terminal , which directly interfaces with the mobile terminal and its user . as the rid is complete random and only used once , not even for a short period time , the eavesdropping of the whole process of the transaction is totally useless . beside the account server , the transaction server can also be used for generating and verifying rid . and the rid is still being transfer through the circle . fig7 shows a possible embodiment of pending transaction records and rids in the account server . the server will use these records to keep track of all pending transaction . the transaction server can keep these records if it generates the rids . it may be simpler to generate the transaction s / n at the same place the rid is generated . fig8 shows a way of passing rid reversely . the rid is generated in the account server and then sent to the transaction server and terminal . the user &# 39 ; s mobile phone passes the rid received from the terminal to the account server for verification . fig9 shows another alternative rid passing method of sending the rid to both directions . if the account server generates the rid , the rid will be sent to the transaction server and the mobile terminal . the transaction server will perform the rid verification instead of the account server . if the transaction server generates the rid , the rid will be sent to the account server and the mobile terminal . the account server performs the rid verification . there is a way of not using rid but still taking advantage of the mobile wireless network . the account server can call the mobile terminal and prompt confirmation of the ongoing transaction . this method demands human intervening and can not be fully implemented electronically . and there is sensitive transaction and account information sending to the mobile phone . even a special design of secured link may still be vulnerable to some eavesdropping practices . it is also inconvenient and not user friendly as the user has to confirm all the detail transaction information . there may be more than two servers involving a transaction . for example , the account server may request a third party , the mobile phone &# 39 ; s wireless carrier or a security service provider , to generate , send and verify the rid and return authentication to the account server . fig1 shows an example of online credit card payment : 1 . the e - commerce server prompts the buyer to input the credit card type and credit card number . based on the credit card type , the server will send a request to the specified credit card network , say visa network . this request will be first sent to the card issuer and then to visa &# 39 ; s account server ; 2 . visa account server verify the credit number and find out the associated mobile phone number to this credit card ( the visa card issuer , say mbna , or visa itself may keep this information ). the account server send an authentication request with the user &# 39 ; s mobile phone number and a request number to the user &# 39 ; s mobile network carrier , say verizon ; 3 . the mobile account server of verizon receives the request and generates a rid and sends the user &# 39 ; s mobile phone ; 4 . this rid will be input into the e - commerce web page and sent back to the visa account server ; 5 . visa account server send the rid and original request number back to the mobile account server ; 6 . the mobile account server check if the rid received matches to the one saved for the specified request number . if match , it send a authentication message back to the visa account server ; fig8 shows a possible implementation of a pending transaction table kept in the account server database for online credit card payment . the account server retrieves the original rid by looking after this table . there could be more columns in this table ; and the credit card issuer can verify and authenticate the user account before sending information to visa &# 39 ; s account server . it will send the authentication request to the mobile phone carrier . the mobile phone carrier can itself be a credit card issuer , so the whole verification and authentication processes can be done with its account server . definition list 1 term definition random id code a code that is generated randomly as a ( rid ) identification number passed to the mobile phone rid circle the rid travel through a circle path of originate authentication server , mobile , terminal and transaction server . by going through the circle , the account server verifies the elements on the whole path . the rid can travel from one direction and return to the start point . it also can travel on two direction from one point and meet at another point on the circle . transaction user interface of the transaction server terminal transaction the server which process the transaction request server coming from the terminal and send the request to the account server . account server the server which holds the user &# 39 ; s account information and mobile phone number . mobile terminal a mobile communication tool within a mobile wireless network . one skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment of the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting . it will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished . it embodiments have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from such principles . therefore , this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims .	6
this disclosure broadly relates to roof systems and methods of using such roof systems . various exemplary embodiments of the disclosure will now be described with particular reference to the drawings . embodiments of this disclosure may take on various modifications and alterations without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure . accordingly , it is to be understood that the embodiments of this disclosure are not to be limited to the following described exemplary embodiments , but is to be controlled by the limitations set forth in the claims and any equivalents thereof . an appreciation of various aspects of the invention will be gained through a discussion of the examples provided below . the following description should be read with reference to the drawings , in which like elements in different drawings are numbered in like fashion . the drawings , which are not necessarily to scale , depict selected illustrative embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure . although examples of construction , dimensions , and materials are illustrated for the various elements , those skilled in the art will recognize that many of the examples provided have suitable alternatives that may be utilized . unless otherwise indicated , all numbers expressing feature sizes , amounts , and physical properties used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “ about .” accordingly , unless indicated to the contrary , the numerical parameters set forth in the foregoing specification and attached claims are approximations that can vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by those skilled in the art utilizing the teachings disclosed herein . the recitation of numerical ranges by endpoints includes all numbers subsumed within that range ( e . g . 1 to 5 includes 1 , 1 . 5 , 2 , 2 . 75 , 3 , 3 . 80 , 4 , and 5 ) and any range within that range . as used in this specification and the appended claims , the singular forms “ a ,” “ an ,” and “ the ” encompass embodiments having plural referents , unless the content clearly dictates otherwise . for example , reference to “ a layer ” encompasses embodiments having one , two or more layers . as used in this specification and the appended claims , the term “ or ” is generally employed in its sense including “ and / or ” unless the content clearly dictates otherwise . the term “ polymer ” will be understood to include polymers , copolymers ( e . g ., polymers formed using two or more different monomers ), oligomers and combinations thereof , as well as polymers , oligomers , or copolymers that can be formed in a miscible blend . additionally , the terms “ attic ” and “ unconditioned space ” are used interchangeably herein . referring to fig1 , a traditional roof 10 generally includes one or more roof portions 12 extending between a soffit 14 and a roof peak or ridge 16 . roof 10 includes a protective covering 18 , such as concrete or clay tiles or asphalt shingles , on a roof board or deck 20 that covers an unconditioned space or attic 22 . attic 22 can serve as a buffer to a living space 24 below the attic . roof 10 can include vents 26 on the soffit and also vents on the roof ( not depicted ) and / or a ridge vent 28 . referring to fig2 , the roof system 110 according embodiments of this disclosure can include one or more roof portions 112 , each having a roof board or deck 120 , a soffit 114 having a soffit duct or vent 126 ( which vent 126 can include an air router ), a roof peak or ridge 116 , and a protective covering 118 , such as concrete or clay tiles or asphalt shingles , on deck 120 . roof system 110 further includes one or more passive or active roof management components . such components can include , for example , vent open / close components 130 on the top and / or bottom of the soffit vent 126 , one or more blowers or fans 132 ( such as , for example , variable speed / high pressure fans and can be used to effect movement of air , such as the pushing and / or pulling of various air movements ), one or more ridge air routing members or air routers 134 for routing air flow in the roof system 110 ( see fig1 a - 10f ), sensors or sensing members 136 , such as , for example , moisture , temperature , heat flow , impact , fire , and carbon monoxide sensors . in embodiments , sensors 136 can be moisture , temperature , heat flow , impact , fire , and carbon monoxide sensors . those skilled in the art will recognize that other sensors can be used without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure . in embodiments of roof system 110 , protective covering 118 can include roof system including one or more channels 119 running partially or fully from the soffit region to or near the ridge or peak of the roof , such as that described in pct international publication no . wo 2012 / 033816 a1 , entitled “ above - deck roof venting article ” and u . s . patent application no . 61 / 579 , 297 , entitled “ above - deck roof venting article ,” both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety . roof system 110 can further include one or more solar cells 138 and each of the roof system management components can , optionally , be solar - powered . air routers 134 can be or include one or more air ducts that run along , such as parallel , ridge 116 of roof system 110 . the cross section and / or shape of the ducts can vary with size and shape . the materials of air router 134 can be any of a number of materials , including , for example , lightweight , non - rusting metals and or various low - high temperature polymers , although those skilled in the art would recognize that other materials can be used . electric - actuated linear actuators can be included to create various valve ports of air router 134 . other methods of mechanical gating can be used in air router 134 are contemplated . output from software can close or open the respective gates to enable natural and or forced air flow through air router 134 . depending on climate zone location and secondary operations tied to roof system 110 , air router 134 can have multiple ports . the examples have been shown for four - way and six - way ports , although other air router 134 configurations , including more than six ports or less than four ports are contemplated . the roof system 110 of embodiments can include controls ( including , for example , hardware and / or software , not depicted ) to enable further optimization of the thermal energy management of a building and for controlling the roof system management components . for example , the temperature and relative humidity / dew point temperature of an unconditioned attic space can automatically effect air flow movement using roof system . likewise , structure ventilation could trigger air flow movements to mechanical devices or buffering heat / cold air . referring to fig3 a and 3b , in a first embodiment , radiant energy is depicted as impinging upon the right roof portion 112 of roof system 110 . positions 1 , 2 , 5 and 6 of air router 134 can be open ( see fig1 a ), which routes warmer air from both roof portions 112 of roof system 110 up to ridge 116 , such as through a channel or channels 119 included in at which point the warmer air exits . air router 134 generally extends along substantially the entire length of ridge 116 . referring to fig4 a and 4b , in a second embodiment , radiant energy is depicted as impinging upon the right roof portion 112 of roof system 110 . blower 132 on right roof portion 112 can be set to push soffit air and the blower 132 on left roof portion 112 can be set to pull warmer air . positions 2 and 5 of air router 134 can be open ( see fig1 b ). the warmer air is then routed from the warmer right roof portion to cooler left roof portion . referring to fig5 a and 5b , in a third embodiment , to transfer air to a cooler side of a roof using a below - deck solution , blower 132 on right roof portion 112 can be set to push soffit air and blower 132 on left roof portion 112 can be set to pull air . positions 2 and 4 of air router 134 can be open ( see fig1 c ). the air is then routed from the right roof portion 112 to the left roof portion 112 . the air is then pushed through channels 119 provided in or with protective covering 118 . referring to fig6 a and 6b , in a fourth embodiment , all positions of air router 134 can be closed ( see fig1 d ) and the right and left blowers 132 can be set to pull outside air using , for example , variable blower speed . this will cause air to be blown onto the roof system 110 through vents ( not depicted ) included in protective covering 118 . this configuration can be useful , for example , when it is desired to blow water , snow , or other debris ( such as leaves ) off of roof system 110 . referring to fig7 a and 7b , in a fifth embodiment , radiant energy is depicted as impinging upon the right roof portion 112 of roof system 110 . in this embodiment , positions 2 and 3 of air router 134 can be open ( see fig1 e ) the soffit ducts ( air routers ) and blowers / fans are controlled through the software for force air convection direction ( pushing or pulling ), natural convention in the soffit and attic areas , and balance system ventilation . the left and right blowers 132 can be set to re - circulate warmer air through the channel 119 included in or with the protective covering . the unconditioned space can be used as a buffer to store warm air or cool air depending on the season . referring to fig8 a and 8b , in a sixth embodiment , in a cold climate case , radiant energy is depicted as impinging upon the right roof portion 112 of roof system 110 . in this embodiment , positions 2 , 3 , 4 and 5 of air router 134 can be open ( see fig1 f ) and the soffit ducts ( air routers ) and blowers / fans are controlled through the software for force air convection direction ( pushing or pulling ), natural convention in the soffit and attic areas , and balance system ventilation . the left blower 132 can , optionally , be set to push soffit air and the right blower 132 can be set to push soffit air . new air is routed to flow into a home air make - up unit 140 and old air flows out of unit 140 . referring to fig9 a and 9b , in a seventh embodiment , in a warm climate case , radiant energy is depicted as impinging upon the right roof portion of roof . in this embodiment , positions 2 , 3 , 4 and 5 of air router 134 can be open ( see fig1 f ) and the soffit ducts ( air routers ) and blowers / fans are controlled through the software for force air convection direction ( pushing or pulling ), natural convention in the soffit and attic areas , and balance system ventilation . the left blower 132 can , optionally , be set to push soffit air and the right blower 132 can be set to push soffit air . new air is routed to flow into unit 140 and old air flows out of unit 140 . referring to fig1 a - 10f , the various air router 134 configurations are depicted schematically for each of the embodiments depicted and described with respect to fig3 - 9 . referring to fig1 a and 11b , a soffit duct ( air router ) is depicted . in a first configuration , the soffit duct can be open , by opening a first gate 140 , such as an electric - actuated “ air gate or linear actuator ,” to the channel 119 for air flow . it is depicted with open gates for natural convection in the bottom or closed gates for force convection through the respective blowers . in another embodiment , a second gate 142 , such as an electric - actuated “ side gate ,” can be open for below deck air flow management . referring to fig1 , in embodiments , a blower 144 can be located or positioned in attic 122 and in fluid ( air ) communication , such as through ductwork 146 , with air routers 134 and air gates 140 and , optionally , second air gates 142 to manage airflow by or within the roof system 10 , the environmental thermal loads of the roof system 10 , the temperature of conditioned and / or unconditioned spaces in a building , and the ventilation of the conditioned and / or unconditioned spaces in a building , such as , for example , as described above with respect to fig3 - 9 . to do so , blower 144 can be controlled to selectively push and / or pull air to or from air routers 134 and air gates 140 and , optionally , second air gates 142 — depending upon what result is desired . in embodiments , such as those depicted in fig3 - 9 and 11 , channels 119 , such as those included in above - deck protective covering , that extend up the slope of the deck mate or align with dedicated ports on air router 134 , such as the # 2 port ( right ) or # 5 port ( left ) of the air router 134 , as depicted in fig1 a - f . the embodiments of this invention should not be considered limited to the particular examples described herein , but rather should be understood to cover all aspects of the invention as fairly set out in the attached claims . various modifications , equivalent processes , as well as numerous structures to which the embodiments of this invention can be applicable will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art to which the embodiments of this invention are directed upon review of the instant specification .	5
fig1 a shows a concentrator and booster assembly generally designated by the reference numeral 10 . the concentrator assembly 10 comprises a concentrator unit 15 , a pressure booster 16 , a bos storage plenum 17 , and a monitor controller 18 . the concentrator assembly 10 is coupled to one or more panel mounted regulators 19 shown in fig1 b by a plurality of pneumatic and electric lines . it will be understood by those skilled in the art that each panel mounted regulator 19 is coupled to masks ( not shown ) which deliver product gas to the crew . as shown in fig1 a , the concentrator unit 15 comprises an air inlet 21 coupled to a filter 22 and a shut - off valve and regulator 23 . a differential pressure indicator 24 is coupled to the filter 22 and to a line 25 including a control relief valve 26 , and a flow restrictor 27 . a regulator control valve 28 with a vent 29 senses the pressure in the plenum 17 as more fully described below and is coupled to the flow restrictor 27 , the control relief valve 26 , and the regulator 23 . an electrical motor 30 drives a rotary valve 31 which alternately directs air to the two beds 32 of molecular sieve material . the outlets of the beds 32 are coupled to check valves 33 and a purge line 34 including a flow restrictor 36 ; the inlets of the beds 32 are alternately coupled to a purge vent 35 by the rotary valve 31 . the check valves 33 are coupled to the concentrator outlet 37 and to a pressure switch 38 . the concentrator outlet is coupled to a two - way bos - fill solenoid valve 41 , a line 40 , a three - way self - test solenoid valve 42 in the monitor controller 18 , and a three - way product - delivery solenoid valve 43 coupled to an outlet filter 45 ( seen in fig1 b ). the bos - fill solenoid valve 41 is coupled by a line 45 to two check valves 44 which admit product gas to the compression cylinder 46 of the pressure booster 16 . a compression piston 47 in the compression cylinder 46 is coupled by a rod 48 to a larger driver piston 49 in a driver cylinder 51 . the driver cylinder 51 alternately receives air from the rotary valve 31 by means of two lines 52 and 53 , one of which includes a check valve 54 and a vent line 56 coupled to a booster control valve 57 . two outlets 58 from the compression cylinder 46 are coupled to check valves 59 and to a booster outlet 61 . a pressure tap 62 from the booster outlet 61 is coupled to the booster control valve 57 and to the regulator control valve 28 . the booster outlet 61 is coupled to the plenum 17 , to a pressure relief valve 64 through a pressure tap 63 and through a conduit 97 , to the product - delivery solenoid valve 43 , and to a pressure indicator 87 in the panel mounted regulator 19 . the monitor controller 18 includes the self - test solenoid valve 42 which is coupled to an oxygen sensor 66 through a flow restrictor 67 and is vented to ambient through an absolute pressure regulator 68 and a vent 69 . a pressure transducer 70 is coupled to the cockpit 80 by means of a pressure sensing line 71 , and an air line 72 couples the self - test solenoid valve 42 to the inlet of the rotary valve 31 . the monitor controller 18 is coupled to a power source 73 , and to a calibration check switch 75 , a built - in - test ( bit ) switch 88 , a mode selection switch 89 and an on - off switch 86 located in the cockpit 80 ( fig1 b ). the monitor controller sends signals to a warning light 93 in the cockpit 80 which indicates both low oxygen and low pressure , and to the shut - off valve and regulator 23 , the motor 30 for the rotary valve 31 , the bos - fill solenoid valve 41 , and the product - delivery solenoid valve 43 . a more detailed description of the monitor controller 18 is given in conjunction with the description of fig4 - 7 . turning now to fig1 b , the panel mounted regulator 19 , the warning light 93 , and the calibration check switch 75 are all mounted in the cockpit 80 . the panel mounted regulator 19 includes the on - off switch 86 , the plenum pressure indicator 87 , the bit switch 88 with a bit light 91 , and a mode selection switch 89 . turning now to fig2 the oxygen sensor 66 in the monitor controller 18 is shown in greater detail . the oxygen sensor 66 includes a zirconia electrolyte element 76 comprising zro 2 - y 2 o 3 and having electrodes 77 attached to either side thereof . a hollow cap 78 having a diffusion hole 79 is mounted on the element 76 , and a heater 81 having leads 82 for attachment to a power source is mounted on the cap 78 . turning now to fig3 the pressure booster 16 is shown immediately adjacent to the molecular sieve filled plenum 17 . the plenum 17 is fitted with a conduit 97 for the removal of product gas as required and for connection to additional plenum volume at either adjacent or remote locations . as shown , the diameter of the driver piston 49 is greater than the diameter of the compression piston 47 to accomplish the compression of the product gas in the compression cylinder 46 by the air delivered to the driver cylinder 51 by the rotary valve . fig4 a and 4b show the monitor controller 18 and the connections to the panel mounted equipment in the cockpit 80 in greater detail . two or more regulators 19 may be provided and an on - off switch 86 on each regulator 19 is coupled to a network of relays and phasing capacitors 106 which in turn is coupled to a power converter 107 . the relays and phasing capacitors 106 are coupled to the shut off valve 23 and the motor 30 for the rotary valve 31 shown in fig1 . the power converter 107 provides + 5 volt and ± 15 volt power to various portions of the concentrator where needed . the on - off switch 86 is also coupled to a three - way solenoid controller 111 which in turn is coupled by a line 109 to the three - way solenoid valve 43 seen in fig1 . a built - in - test switch 88 is coupled to a self - test timer 112 having a time period of 20 seconds and a light 91 on the switch is coupled to a latch 133 . a mode selector switch 89 is coupled to a mode selection with delay 113 , which in turn is coupled to a reference o 2 level approximation circuit 114 . the level approximation circuit 114 is additionally coupled to the pressure transducer 70 which measures the pressure in the cockpit 80 through the sensing line 71 and develops a signal representative of aircraft cockpit altitude . the output of the pressure transducer 70 is also coupled to a high altitude detector 117 . the level approximation circuit 114 is coupled to a network of level comparators 118 which receives a signal from the oxygen sensor 66 through the signal conditioning circuit 121 . the oxygen sensor 66 receives either product gas or air through the three - way solenoid valve 42 and is vented to ambient through the regulator 68 . the oxygen sensor 66 includes the heater 81 which is powered through a heater controller 83 . the level comparator network 118 provides a control signal on line 120 to the two - way solenoid valve 41 which controls the filling of the plenum 17 , as well as a low oxygen signal on line 122 and a calibration signal on line 123 to a logic circuit 131 . the logic circuit 131 is coupled to the calibration check switch 75 through the calibration check timer 132 . the logic circuit 131 provides a warning signal on line 146 to the three - way solenoid controller 111 , to the warning light 93 in the cockpit , and to a latching circuit 133 . the latching circuit 133 has a first input 138 coupled to the output of an and gate 143 , a second input 139 coupled to the warning output 146 of the logic circuit 131 , a latch input 140 , and a negative latch input 141 . the output 142 of the latch 133 is coupled to the bit lights 91 in the cockpit . the inputs of the and gate 143 are coupled to the oscillator 136 , and the output of the or gate 144 and the inputs of the or gate 144 are coupled to the cal - check timer 132 and the self - test timer 112 . the output of the or gate 134 is also coupled to the three - way solenoid valve 42 . the self - test timer 112 is coupled to a power up circuit 137 which has inputs coupled to the power converter 107 . turning now to fig5 the curve 150 shows the minimum oxygen output requirements for the system in either , dilution mode ( less than 100 percent concentrator output ) or the 100 percent mode ( pure oxygen ) as a function of altitude . the curve 151 shows minimum oxygen concentration to the regulator as a function of altitude for a system output in the dilution mode which is maintained at an oxygen partial pressure ( po 2 ) of 330 mm hg . the curve 152 shows minimum oxygen concentration as a function of altitude for a system output in the 100 percent mode which is maintained at 263 mm hg po 2 . the curve 153 shows the maximum oxygen which may be delivered by the system in the dilution mode . fig6 shows the voltage output vo 2 of the oxygen sensor 66 as a function of time during the built - in - test . the voltage output curve 156 falls below the warning level 157 within the 20 second test period to show that the system is functioning properly . fig7 shows the voltage output vo 2 of the oxygen sensor as a function of time during a calibration check . the curve 156 falls below the warning level 157 and enters the calibration threshold between the limits 162 and 163 during the 2 minute test period . pressurized air is coupled to the inlet 21 , filtered to remove moisture and particulate matter in the filter 22 , pressure regulated by the regulator 23 , and ducted to the rotary valve 31 . the regulator 23 maintains the pressure of the air to the rotary valve 31 at one of two pressures , depending on whether or not the booster 16 is operating to pressurize the product gas in the plenum 17 as more fully explained below . the rotary valve 31 alternately feeds the pressurized air to the beds 32 of molecular sieve , and oxygen - enriched product gas passes through the check valves 33 to the concentrator outlet 37 . a portion of the product gas from one of the beds 32 passes through the flow restrictor 36 to back flush through the other bed in order to desorb nitrogen therefrom and vent the same to ambient through the purge vent 35 . the booster driving piston 49 is driven by air from the concentrator rotary valve 31 . referring to fig1 a when the rotary valve is charging molecular sieve bed 1 , air pressure from the line 53 forces the driver piston to the left . at the same time , the rotary valve allows the air on the other side of the piston 49 to escape through the valve 57 , the line 56 , and the purge vent 35 . at the same time , product gas from the valve 41 enters the compressor cylinder 46 through the right - hand inlet check valve 44 , and the compressor piston 47 compresses the product gas which flows through the left - hand outlet 58 , the check valve 59 , and the booster outlet 61 to the product gas storage plenum 17 . after completion of the stroke , the booster pump will delay the return stroke until the rotary valve 31 starts charging sieve bed 2 ; and air through line 52 and valve 54 will force the driver piston 49 to the right . this will compress another charge of product gas on the right side of compressor piston 47 . thus , each stroke of the piston 47 to the left or to the right compresses product gas and is a compression stroke . as long as the two - way solenoid valve 41 stays open , this process will continue until the plenum is fully charged . if the two - way solenoid valve 41 closes , no product gas will flow to the compressor cylinder 46 ; and no additional product gas will be stored in the plenum 17 . the maximum plenum pressure is limited by the pressure relief valve 64 and is determined by both the peak inlet air pressure and the ratio of the size of the driver piston 49 to the compressor piston 47 . when the maximum plenum pressure is reached , the pressure booster is automatically shut off to conserve inlet air which is not needed as long as the bos 17 remains fully charged . the booster is shut off by the increased plenum pressure in the lines 61 and 62 forcing the booster control valve 57 to a closed position , thus preventing the left side of the driver cylinder 51 from venting . the piston 49 then remains at the right side of the booster chamber until the plenum pressure drops , thus opening the shut - off valve 57 and resuming pressure cycling of the driver piston 49 . this arrangement insures that the plenum stays fully charged with pressurized gas . in actual practice , it has been found that increasing the pressure of the product gas in the molecular sieve filled plenum by a factor of approximately 5 increases the storage capacity of the plenum by a factor of approximately 3 . those skilled in the art will recognize that although the proportional storage capacity increase of the sieve filled plenum at increased pressure is not as great as the proportional capacity increase of a plenum at increased pressure without sieve , the total capacity of the sieve filled plenum at increased pressure is greater than the total capacity of a plenum without sieve at increased pressure . the regulator control valve 28 is mechanically linked to the booster control valve 57 ; and when the booster control valve 57 closes because the plenum 17 is fully charged , the regulator control valve 28 vents pressure regulator air pressure from line 25 to ambient through the vent 29 . the regulator control valve 28 is coupled to the shut - off valve and regulator 23 by the line 25 , and ordinarily , the pressure in the line 25 controls the operation of the regulator 23 . when the regulator control valve 28 closes the vent 29 , the pressure in the line 25 will build to about 30 psig at which point the pressure is relieved by the relief valve 26 . this allows the regulator 23 to regulate at about 55 psig . when control valve 28 opens the vent 29 to ambient , however , the regulator 23 will regulate at 25 psig . this operation provides product gas at the concentrator outlet 37 at slightly less than 55 psig for pressurizing by the booster 16 and storage in the plenum 17 , and reduces air consumption by the concentrator by reducing the concentrator bed inlet pressure to 25 psig when the plenum 17 is fully charged and at the same time shutting the booster off . the active element in the oxygen sensor , the zirconia electrolyte element 76 , is a solid state current limiting oxygen sensor which is commercially available ; but since the output of the element varies with temperature and pressure , modifications are necessary in order to obtain satisfactory performance in an aircraft environment . the heater 81 is used to maintain the element 76 at an operating temperature range of 400 ° c . to 600 ° c ., independent of ambient temperature and it has been determined that a temperature close to 600 ° c . is preferable , since the response of the sensor is faster at the higher temperature . the flowrate of product gas to the sensor 66 is controlled by the flow restrictor 67 to isolate the oxygen sensor 66 from sudden and periodic pressure variations which may exist at the concentrator outlet 37 . the absolute pressure regulator 68 is vented to ambient by the vent 69 and maintains a constant pressure at the sensor in order to avoid ambient pressure dependent fluctuation in the sensor output caused by changes in altitude . in operation , a voltage potential applied to the electrodes 77 causes oxygen ions to conduct through the element 76 to provide an electro chemical pumping of the oxygen ions , and a limiting current is developed through the element 76 which at a constant temperature is proportional to the net diffusion rate of oxygen molecules through the diffusion hole 79 . at the constant pressure which is maintained by the regulator 68 , the diffusion rate of oxygen molecules is a function of oxygen concentration of the gas from the valve 42 . the output current of the oxygen sensor 66 is processed to give a voltage which is a function of oxygen concentration in the product gas admitted to the sensor 66 from the concentrator outlet 37 . this voltage is compared by the level comparator 118 in the monitor controller 18 to reference levels to activate the control and warning signals . for example , a 93 percent o 2 reference voltage may be used to control the plenum filling two - way solenoid valve 41 . the solenoid valve 41 is energized to allow flow through the compressor 16 to the plenum 17 when the product gas oxygen concentration is above 93 percent . the warning light 93 is lit when the oxygen concentration is below the minimum value for pilot breathing requirements as measured by the sensor 66 , or when low pressure at the concentrator outlet 37 trips the switch 38 . the product - delivery valve 43 is de - energized to provide product gas to the crew from the plenum 17 in order to provide fail - safe operation in the event of electrical failure . the self - test solenoid valve 42 is ordinarily de - energized and conducts product gas from the concentrator output 37 to the oxygen sensor 66 . in order to test the operation of the oxygen sensor 66 , depression of the built - in - test button 88 or the calibration check switch 75 causes the solenoid valve 42 to admit air through the line 72 from the rotary valve 31 to the oxygen sensor 66 . once the test has been completed the self - test valve 42 is returned to its normal state allowing product gas to flow to the sensor 66 . whenever the concentrator product gas oxygen concentration is below required minimum levels , the oxygen monitor controller 18 activates the warning light 93 and de - energizes the three - way solenoid valve 43 to deliver breathing gas to the pilot from the stored gas in the bos 17 . the control scheme is fail safe in that the two - way valve 41 closes and the three - way valve 43 automatically provides flow to the pilot from the plenum 17 during emergency conditions , ( loss of electrical power , low oxygen , etc .). referring to fig4 two diluter demand breathing regulators 19 control and regulate the breathing gas supplied to the pilot &# 39 ; s mask . the regulators 19 are electrically connected to the oxygen concentrator assembly and the setting of the off - on switch 86 on the regulators control actuation of the system . with both switches 86 in the off position , the regulators are closed to maintain pressure in the plenum 17 , and the oxygen concentrator assembly is unpowered . switching either regulator to the on position applies power to the concentrator assembly through the relays 106 and the power converter 107 and allows the pilot with the on regulator to breathe from the plenum 17 until the composition of the concentrator product gas at the oxygen sensor 66 is above the appropriate levels for the dilution and 100 percent breathing modes described below . the monitor controller 18 then energizes the three - way solenoid valve 43 to provide breathing gas to the pilots directly from the oxygen concentrator . the system includes a low - pressure switch 38 coupled to the output of the concentrator which , through the controller , turns on the warning light 93 and provides breathing gas from the bos 17 in response to low pressure at the concentrator inlet 21 or a clogged inlet filter 22 . the product gas oxygen concentration is measured by the zirconia solid - state oxygen sensor shown in fig2 . the output of the oxygen sensor is processed by the signal conditioning circuit 121 and compared to the appropriate reference levels in the level comparators 118 and if appropriate to activate the warning signal and specific control functions . when the built - in - test ( bit ) is used for either the self - test or calibration check , the logic circuit 131 receives the low oxygen signal 122 and the calibration signal 123 from the level comparator 118 , and the latch circuit 133 latches the result at the end of the bit operation . the bit light 91 flashes during a test , and a warning signal on line 146 illuminates the warning light 93 if the unit fails the self - test or calibration check . the warning signal 146 goes to the off condition and the bit light 91 goes out when the unit passes the test . the output signal of the oxygen sensor 66 is processed by the signal conditioning circuit 121 to give a voltage as a function of the product gas oxygen concentration . this voltage is compared in the level comparator 118 to reference levels programmed into the level comparator 118 to activate the control and warning signals . a 93 percent oxygen reference voltage is used to regulate filling of the plenum by the two - way solenoid valve 41 . the solenoid valve 41 is energized by the control line 120 from the level comparator 118 to allow flow to the plenum 17 when the product gas oxygen concentration is above 93 percent . referring to fig5 control and warning levels are provided following the curves 152 and 151 . in the preferred embodiment , the minimum oxygen concentration to be delivered by the system in either the dilution or the 100 percent mode is 21 percent at sea level and 93 percent above 25 , 000 feet . between sea level and 25 , 000 feet , the curve 150 defines the minimum . the curve 153 defines the maximum oxygen concentration which may be delivered by the system in the dilution mode . the curve 152 is a plot of oxygen concentration vs . altitude for a constant oxygen partial pressure of 263 mm hg . it will be seen that the oxygen concentration levels defined by the curve 152 at all altitudes are greater than the oxygen concentration levels defined by the curve 150 at the same altitudes . accordingly , the curve 152 can be followed in order to deliver oxygen at a concentration which is always greater than the minimum shown by curve 150 . since the partial pressure of oxygen is the product of the oxygen concentration multiplied by the total pressure ( po 2 =% o 2 × p ), the % o 2 can be determined by dividing fixed po 2 signal by the cabin pressure signal derived from the pressure transducer 70 . this reference level limit is compared to the measured % o 2 level in the level comparators 118 ; and if the measured product is less than 263 mm hg , a low o 2 signal 122 is sent to the logic circuit 131 . the curve 151 is a plot of oxygen concentration vs . altitude for a constant oxygen partial pressure of 330 mm hg . this curve is used as a lower limit for oxygen concentration in product gas supplied to the panel regulator 19 when the system is operating in the dilution mode , and accordingly , the addition of air by the regulator to the breathing mixture will reduce the oxygen concentration of the gas actually delivered to the crew . it has been determined that the addition of air by the regulator will not reduce the oxygen concentration to a value below the minimum shown by the curve 150 . as in the explanation of system operation in the 100 percent mode given immediately above , the % o 2 value corresponding to 330 mm hg can be determined by dividing the fixed reference ppo 2 signal by the altitude signal derived from the pressure transducer 70 . this reference % o 2 level is compared to the measured % o 2 in the level comparator 118 ; and if the measured product is less than 330 mm hg ppo 2 , a low o 2 signal 122 is sent to the logic circuit 131 . in the dilution mode , below 23 , 000 feet cabin altitude the reference levels follow the 330 mm hg po 2 curve 151 or 90 percent oxygen curve 154 , whichever is less as shown in fig5 . above 23 , 000 feet , the 100 percent mode reference levels are used since the breathing regulators 19 automatically switch over to the 100 percent mode above 23 , 000 feet cabin altitude . in the 100 percent mode , the reference levels for warning and control follow the 263 mm hg curve 152 or 93 percent oxygen curve 155 whichever is less . product gas oxygen concentration below the appropriate reference levels given for the regulator operating mode ( dilution or 100 percent ) generates the low - oxygen signal 122 at the level comparator 118 . the logic circuit 131 detects this low - oxygen signal and generates the warning signal on line 146 . the warning signal activates the three - way solenoid controller 111 to de - energize the three - way solenoid valve 43 and light the warning lamp 93 . in this event breathing gas is provided to the crew from the bos plenum 17 . to summarize , the three - way solenoid valve 43 is deactivated to provide plenum gas to the crew members , and the warning signal 146 is activated when the concentrator output product composition drops below the level defined by the 263 mm hg po 2 curve 152 in fig5 when the breathing regulators are operated in the 100 percent mode . the plenum gas is provided to the crew members and the warning signal 146 is provided when the concentrator product gas composition falls below the level defined by the 330 mm hg po 2 curve 151 and 90 percent oxygen curve 154 below 23 , 000 feet altitude when the breathing regulators are operated in the dilution mode . the breathing regulators automatically switch over to the 100 percent mode above 23 , 000 feet as detected by the high altitude detector 117 independent of the position of the mode selection switch 89 . the oxygen monitor controller built - in test ( bit ) function provides the capability to conduct a system self - test for preflight and an oxygen sensor calibration check for oxygen level maintenance . the purpose of the system preflight self - test is to ensure that the monitor controller is operating and provides a low - oxygen warning signal and automatically switches over to the plenum when the concentrator product gas composition drops below the minimum levels . after the system has been on for a minimum 90 second warm - up time , a self - test can be initiated by momentarily pushing the bit switch 88 . simultaneously the self - test timer 112 is started , the three - way bit solenoid valve 42 is energized to allow air to flow through the sensor , and the bit light 91 flashes to indicate that a self - test is in progress . once the air reaches the oxygen sensor 66 the sensor output begins to drop approaching the warning level 157 . for the self - test regardless of whether the regulator is in the dilution or 100 percent mode , the mode selection with delay 113 signals the reference oxygen level approximation circuit 114 to provide the 263 mm hg po 2 warning level , v ref , to the level comparator . when the sensor output vo 2 drops below the warning level , the level comparator 118 provides a low - oxygen signal on line 122 to the logic circuit 131 . the logic circuit in turn initiates the following : a . sends a signal to the input 139 of latch 133 to stop the flashing of the bit light 91 indicating the test has been passed and momentarily activates flow from the bos 17 and turns on the warning light 93 in the cockpit indicating low oxygen ; c . uses the output of the self - test timer to the or gate 133 to de - energize the three - way self - test valve 42 allowing product gas to flow through the oxygen sensor 66 . the warning light 93 will be on briefly ( less than five seconds ) until the output 156 of the sensor 66 ( vo 2 ) increases to above the warning level in route to the value corresponding to the product gas oxygen concentration . upon initiating a self - test , if the output 156 of the sensor 66 does not drop below the warning level 157 within 20 seconds as shown on fig6 the self - test is considered as failed and the bit light 91 will remain on as controlled by the latch 133 shown in fig4 . a self - test is also initiated automatically at start - up by the power up circuit 137 which is activated by the power converter 107 and which provides a signal to the self - test timer 112 . this test follows the same steps as above except the bit light 91 is not energized unless the self - test fails . the oxygen sensor calibration check is based on an air calibration and when passed verifies that the oxygen sensor output is calibrated over the 20 - 95 percent range in oxygen concentration . this test is initiated by means of the calibration check switch 75 . upon initiating the check , the calibration check timer 132 generates a pulse to energize the three - way valve 42 in order to flow air through the oxygen sensor for two minutes and also to flash the bit light 91 via the oscillator 136 and latch 133 to indicate that a calibration check is in progress . if during the test the output 156 of the sensor falls to within the calibration threshold between the values 162 and 163 as shown on fig7 the cal signal on line 123 is activated and the sensor has passed the calibration check . after two minutes the calibration check timer 132 de - energizes the three - way valve 42 and allows the product gas to pass through the oxygen sensor 66 . the warning light 93 will be on from the end of the calibration check until the output of the sensor 66 increases above the 263 mm hg po 2 warning level at which time the warning light 93 will turn off and the test will be complete . if at the end of the two - minute calibration check the cal signal on line 123 is not detected by the logic circuit 131 ( thus meaning the output of the sensor 66 did not enter and remain within the calibration threshold ), the sensor has failed the calibration check and the warning light 93 will remain on . having thus described the invention , various alterations and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art , which modifications and alterations are intended to be within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims .	0
in our experiments carried out with the aim of extending the duration of the effect of carbamate , thiolcarbamate , chloroacetanilide and dichloroacetanilide herbicides , optionally combined with antidotes we have surprisingly found that the thio - and dithiophosphoric acid ester derivatives according to the invention prolong the action of said herbicides , increase their activity and improve their selectivity . in addition , we have found , that the action of the simultaneously used antidotes is also extended and their activity is increased . by using the thio - and dithiophosphoric acid ester derivatives according to the invention the duration of herbicidal effect can be optimalized , the doses of the herbicides employed can be reduced , their selectivity can be increased , and similar favorable effects can be achieved also when the compounds according to the invention are employed in association with antidotes . by employing the extenders according to the invention , the herbicidal compositions comprising carbamates , thiolcarbamates , chloroacetanilides and / or dichloroacetanilides as herbicidally active ingredient and optionally antidotes can be used more advantageously in maize , sunflower , cereals , soya , sugar beet , vegetables and fruits than the hitherto employed compositions containing the above - mentioned active ingredients and optionally antidotes . the extenders according to the invention are particularly effective in combination with s - ethyl bis -( 2 - methylpropyl )- carbamothioate , s - ethyl cyclohyxythyl - carbamothioate , s -( 2 , 3 - dichloroallyl )- diisopropylthio - carbamate , s - ethyl dipropylcarbamothioate , s - ethyl - n , n - hexamethylene - thiocarbamate , s - propyl - dipropylthiocarbamate , 2 - chloroallyl - diethyl - dithioarbamate , 1 - methylethyl - 3 - chlorophenylcarbamate , 4 - chloro - 2 - butinyl - 3 - chlorophenyl - carbamate , 2 - chloro - 2 , 6 - diethyl - n - methoxymethyl - acetanilide , 2 - chloro - 2 - methyl - 6 - ethyl - n - methoxyethyl - acetanilide , n - butoxymethyl - 2 - chloro - 2 , 6 - diethyl - acetanilide , n - chloroacetyl - n -( 2 , 6 - diethylphenyl )- glycine , 2 - chloro - n -( 1 , 6 - dimethylphenyl )- n -( methoxyethyl )- acetamide , n -( 2 - chloroethyl )- 2 , 6 - dinitro - n - propyl - 4 -( trifluoromethyl )- aniline , 2 - chloro - n -( 2 , 6 - dimethylphenyl )- n -( lh - pyrazol - l - yl - methyl )- acetamide , 2 - chloro - n -( 2 - ethyl , 6 - methylphenyl ) n -( 2 - methoxy - 1 - methylethyl )- acetamide , 2 - chloro - n -( 2 , 6 - diethylphenyl )- n -( 2 - propoxyethyl )- acetamide , 2 - chloro - n -( 1methylethyl )- n - phenyl - acetamide and n , n - diallylchloroacetanilide , and optionally antidotes . the compositions containing the compounds of formula ( i ) as extenders in combinations with the above - mentioned herbicides and optionally antidotes can be applied to the soil or the plants or incorporated into the soil prior to or after sowing , pre - or postemergently , depending on the properties of the herbicides present in the compositions . alternatively , the herbicides , antidotes and the compounds according to the invention may be formulated separately and can be employed simultaneously or subsequently , but the time interval between the application of the individual components should be minimalized . the dose of the compounds according to the invention and the mutual proportions of the various components may be varied within a wide range . the actual dose is a function of the chemical and physical properties of the herbicides , the cultivated plants , weeds , type of the soil , climatic factors and further similar conditions which are well known for those skilled in the art . in the combinations according to the invention the ratio of the herbicidally active component to the thio - or dithiophosphoric acid esters of the formula ( i ) generally is between 30 : 1 and 1 : 1 , preferably 10 : 1 and 3 : 1 , most preferably 6 : 1 and 5 : 1 . the quantity of the thio - or dithiophosphoric acid ester component in the first line depends on the microbial activity of the soil . generally it is employed in an amount of 0 . 1 to 8 . 0 kg , preferably 0 . 2 to 3 . 0 kg , most preferably 0 . 5 to 3 . 0 kg per hectare . in the combinations according to the invention the antidotes are generally used in the usual ratios related to the herbicides , but lower doses are also possible . the total active ingredient concentration in the compositions according to the invention is 0 . 1 to 95 % by mass , preferably 1 to 90 % by mass . from the concentrated compositions according to the invention the ready - to - use formulations are prepared by dilution . the formulation prepared by the admixture of the herbicides , the extenders according to the invention and optionally the antidotes directly prior to application ( e . g . tank mixtures ) which are , if desired , diluted , are also within the scope of the invention . the compositions containing the extender alone generally contain 0 . 1 to 95 % by mass , preferably 1 to 90 % by mass of active ingredient . the compositions according to the invention may be formulated as solid or liquid preparations conventionally used in the agriculture , depending on the physical and chemical properties of the active ingredient ( s ). the compositions contain the active ingredient ( s ) in association with acceptable , non - phytotoxic solid or liquid carriers and optionally surfactants . the compositions optionally contain further additives , which have a favorable influence on the activity , e . g . decrease the volatility of the active ingredients or facilitate the application . such additives include protecting colloids , thickening agents , adhesives , stabilizers and solid carriers with high adsorption capacity . the compositions according to the invention generally contain in addition to the above - defined amount of active active ingredient ( s ) 1 to 99 % by mass of solid or liquid carriers and optionally surfactants . as a carrier any non - phytotoxic inorganic or organic material of natural or synthetic origin may be employed . solid carriers include clays , natural or synthetic silicates , silicic acid , dolomite , kaoline , diatomaceous earth , flour of vegetable products , starch , etc . as a liquid carrier for example water , alcohols , esters , ketones , mineral oil fractions , aromatic , aliphatic or cyclic hydrocarbons , halogenated hydrocarbons , dimethyl sulfoxide , etc . can be employed . the surface active agents include emulsifying , dispersing and wetting agents , which are of ionic and / or non - ionic character . typical representatives of surfactants are the salts of ligninesulfonic acid , salts of phenol - and naphthalinesulfonic acids , polycondensation product of ethylene oxide with fatty alcohols or fatty acids or fatty acid amides , arlalkylsulfonates , substituted phenols , e . g . alkyl - and arylphenols . the solid compositions according to the invention may be finished as powders , dusting powders , granulates , etc ., while the liquid formulations include solutions , emulsifiable concentrates , emulsions , concentrated suspensions , wettable powders , sprays or pastes . the concentrated formulations may be diluted as desired , and are prepared in a conventional manner . the compositions according to the invention may be employed simultaneously with other plant protecting agents , e . g . herbicides , pesticides , fungicides , bactericides , and plant growth regulators . generally any plant protecting agent which is compatible with the chloroacetanilide , dichloroacetanilide , carbamate and thiolcarbamate herbicides is suitable for simultaneous application . according to the invention the formulations containing an effective amount of one or more herbicides of the carbamate , thiolcarbamate , chloroacetanilide and dichloroacetanilide type and optionally antidotes in association with the thio - and dithiophosphoric acid esters of the formula ( i ) are applied to the plants or the soil containing the seeds of the plants . alternatively , the herbicidally active ingredients and / or the antidotes and / or the extenders according to the invention may be formulated separately , and applied to the plants or to the soil either simultaneously or subsequently . the active ingredients are employed in an effective amount . the formulations are applied to the plants or the soil for example by spraying , dusting , vaporization , etc ., using conventional techniques . the invention is elucidated in more detail by the aid of the following non - limiting examples . 30 g of chloroacetic acid - n -( 2 - propenyl )- amide in 200 ml of acetonitrile are stirred with 40 g of 0 - ethyl - s - n - propyl - thiophosphoric acid potassium salt at room temperature for 12 hours . after stirring , the reaction mixture is refluxed for 3 hours . the salts precipitated upon cooling are eliminated from the solution , and the solvent is distilled off under reduced pressure . the residue is taken up in 100 ml of methylene chloride and washed with 30 ml of 1 n sodium hydroxide and subsequently 30 ml of water . the solvent is then distilled off on a bath of 40 ° to 50 ° c . to yield the title compound with a good yield . into a flask equipped with a stirrer , thermometer and dropping funnel there are added 25 . 5 g ( 0 . 1 mole ) of o , s - di - 2 - chloroethyl - dithiophosphoric acid , 17 . 3 g of diallyl - chloroacetamide and 100 ml of benzene . to the mixture 11 g of triethyl amine are slowly added , under vigorous stirring . a rapid reaction takes place , which results in the precipitation of the amine hydrochloride formed . when the addition is complete , the mixture is refluxed for 3 to 4 hours . the hydrochloride formed in the theoretical amount is eliminated by filtration . the filtrate is washed with 50 ml of a 20 % sodium hydroxide solution and subsequently with water . the solvent is distilled off in vacuum , and the title compound is obtained with a good yield . 18 . 4 g of o , s - diethyl - dithiophosphoric acid are dissolved in 50 ml of water , and the solution is neutralized with 6 . 8 g of potassium carbonate . in a flask equipped with a stirrer , thermometer and dropping funnel 17 . 3 g of diallyl chloroacetamide in 50 ml of acetone are added to the above solution dropwise , at 20 ° c . when the addition is complete , the mixture is stirred at 45 ° to 50 ° c . for 4 to 5 hours , whereupon it is poured into 500 ml of water and the precipitated oily product is separated . the aqueous phase is extracted with benzene twice , dried over sodium sulfate , and the solvent is distilled off . the title compound is obtained with a good yield . ______________________________________substituentsno . r r r &# 39 ; r &# 39 ; n . sub . d . sup . 25______________________________________1 methyl methyl propenyl propenyl 1 . 43382 n - propyl n - propyl propenyl propenyl 1 . 52423 propenyl propenyl propenyl propenyl 1 . 53984 2 - chloro - 2 - chloro - 4 - propyl 4 - propyl 1 . 5282 ethyl ethyl5 ethyl 3 - chloro - propenyl propenyl 1 . 5065 propyl6 ethyl i - propyl propenyl propenyl 1 . 51377 ethyl ethyl 2 - chloro - 2 - chloro - 1 . 5886 ethyl ethyl8 2 - chloro - 2 - chloro - ethyl n - propyl 1 . 5183 ethyl ethyl9 2 - chloro - 2 - chloro - n - propyl i - butyl 1 . 5344 ethyl ethyl10 2 - chloro - 3 - chloro - propenyl propenyl 1 . 5013 ethyl propyl______________________________________ in the biological tests the active substances according to examples 1 , 2 and 3 and the compound no . 10 were used in the following manner : 40 parts by weight of active ingredient are dissolved in a mixture of 32 parts by weight of xylene and 22 parts by weight of dichloromethane , and to the solution an emulsifying agent containing the mixture of 6 parts by weight of alkylarylsulfonic acid calcium and fatty acid - polyglycol ester is added . the solution is homogenized by stirring and is then filtered . an emulsion concentrate containing 40 % by weight of active ingredient is obtained . examination of the duration of activity and increase in herbicidal effect of chloroacetanilide herbicides when combined with the compounds of formula ( i ) test were carried out under foil preemergently , in pots of 12 cm diameter , on &# 34 ; chernosiom &# 34 ; brown forest soil containing 1 . 63 % of humus . ( 4 ) o , s - diethyl - s -( di - 2 - propenylamino )- dithiophosphoric acid ester ( product according to example 3 ) 200 g / ha ( 5 ) o , s - diethyl - s -( di - 2 - propenylamino )- dithiophosphoric acid ester ( product according to example 3 ) 500 g / ha ( 6 ) 2 - chloro - 2 &# 39 ;, 6 &# 39 ;- diethyl - n -( methoxymethyl )- acetanilide 1 kg / ha ( lasso )+ o , s - diethyl - s -( di - 2 - propenylamino )- dithiophosphoric acid ester ( product according to example 3 ) 500 g / ha ( 7 ) 2 - chloro - 2 &# 39 ;, 6 &# 39 ;- diethyl - n -( methoxymethyl )- acetanilide 2 kg / ha ( lasso )+ o , s - diethyl - s -( di - 2 - propenylamino )- dithiophosphoric acid ester ( product according to example 3 ) 200 g / ha the compositions were used as a tank mixture and applied to the pots in an amount of 220 lit / ha by spraying . as a test plant maize was used . into each pot 5 seeds were sown . as a weed wild millet ( panicum ssp ) was employed , since of the monocotyledonous weeds grown from seeds wild millet is the most resistent to herbicides . therefore , this test weed is excellently suitable for evaluation of the efficiency of a herbicidal agent or combination . of wild millet 20 seeds were sown into each pot . after spraying , the pots containing the cultivated plants and weeds , respectively were kept at 23 to 30 ° c ., the soil was calibrated to a water capacity of 70 to 80 % in order to increase the decomposition rate of herbicides . 15 and 30 days after sowing and spraying , the overground vegetable parts were removed and new seeds were sown without substantial admixture of the surface . in this way the activity increasing and herbicide action extending properties of the compounds according to the invention were tested under &# 34 ; provocative &# 34 ; conditions . evaluation was carried out on the 15th day . in the case of wild millet the killing ratio (%), in the case of maize the phytotoxicity ( ewrc scale ) were calculated . on the ewrc scale the score 1 means that there is no phytotoxicity , while the score 9 represents total weed killing . tests were carried out in four repetitions . ______________________________________effect of the active ingredients on the killing ratio ofwi1d millet ( panicium spp ) no . oftreatment killing in % of the control on theaccording to 30thexample 5 15th day 45th______________________________________1 0 0 02 0 0 03 13 0 04 0 0 05 0 0 06 100 100 677 100 100 100______________________________________ ______________________________________the effect of active ingredients on the injury of maize ( zea mays ) no . of treat - ment accord - phytotoxicity ( ewrc - scale ) on theing to 30thexample 5 15th day 45th______________________________________1 1 1 12 1 1 13 1 1 14 1 1 15 1 1 16 1 1 17 1 1 1______________________________________ the test results show that when employed alone both 2 - chloro - 2 &# 39 ;, 6 &# 39 ;- n -( methoxymethyl )- acetanilide and the product according to example 3 ( representing the compounds according to the invention ) are ineffective against wild millet . but their efficiency has surprisingly been increased , when the two compositions were employed together . while a 2 kg / ha dose of 2 - chloro - 2 &# 39 ;, 6 &# 39 ;- diethyl - n -( methoxymethyl )- acetanilide showed a slight effect against wild millet on the 15th day only , the test combinations resulted in a 67 to 100 % killing of wild millete even according to the evaluation performed on th 45th day . the increase of herbicidal activity had no injurious effect on maize . accordingly , it can be established that the compounds according to the invention when employed alone in the given doses could not control the most resistant monocotyledonous weed , wild millet . their combinations with chloroacetanilide herbicides ( which are ineffective or have only a slight effect alone ), however , are capable of an effective control of wild millet and show an increased duration of activity , i . e . a clear synergism is observed . examination of the extension of activity , the extent of the reduction of dose , the possibility of combination of antidotes in case of combinations of chloroacetanilide herbicides with the compounds of formula ( i ) the test conditions were identical with those described in example 5 . the following treatments were carried out : ( 20 ) alachlor 1 . 0 kg / ha + the product according to example 2 500 g / ha ( 21 ) acetochlor 1 . 0 kg / ha + the product according to example 2 500 g / ha ( 22 ) butachlor 2 . 0 kg / ha + the product according to example 2 500 g / ha ( 23 ) diethatyl 2 . 0 kg / ha + the product according to example 2 500 g / ha ( 24 ) dimethachlor 1 . 0 kg / ha + the product according to example 2 500 g / ha ( 25 ) pretylachlor 1 . 5 kg / ha + the product according to example 2 500 g / ha ( 26 ) propachlor 3 . 0 kg / ha + the product according to example 2 500 g / ha ( 27 ) methazachlor 1 . 5 kg / ha + the product according to example 2 500 g / ha ( 28 ) metholachlor 1 . 0 kg / ha + the product according to example 2 500 g / ha ______________________________________effect of the active ingredients on the killing ratio ofwild millet ( panicum spp ) no . oftreatments killing in % of the control on theaccording to 30thexample ( 5a ) 15th day 45th______________________________________ 1 0 0 0 2 15 0 0 3 0 0 0 4 26 0 0 5 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 9 0 0 010 37 0 011 6 0 012 16 0 013 0 0 014 0 0 015 0 0 016 0 0 017 0 0 018 17 0 019 0 0 020 100 84 5221 100 100 8122 100 17 4023 100 63 3924 100 100 8625 100 86 7726 100 100 8827 100 92 7128 100 88 7329 0 0 0______________________________________ the results set forth in the table show that the test herbicides were practically ineffective against wild millet ( panicum ssp .) when employed in the test doses alone . by combining the test herbicides with the compound according to example 2 of the instant invention their efficiency could considerably be improved . according to the evaluations carried out on the 15th day the herbicidal effect was 100 % in case of each combination , while even the results observed on the 45th day show that in spite of the lower doses employed , the activity was increased to an unexpected extent , which could not be foreseen on the basis of the individual activities of the components combined . the biological activity of acetochlor was examined alone and in combination with the product according to example 3 in maize . the test conditions were identical with those described in example 5 . the following treatments were carried out : ( 5 ) acetochlor 2 . 0 kg / ha + compound according to example 3 400 g / ha + n - dichloroacetyl - 1 - oxy - 4 - aza - spiro - 4 , 5 - decane 200 g / ha during evaluation the height of maize was measured to determine whether the compound according to example 3 reduced the toxic effect of acetochlor on maize or had any effect on the similar effect of antidote ( n - dichloroacetyl - 1 - oxa - 4 - aza - spirodecane ). ______________________________________effect of the active ingredients on the height of maizein % of the controlno . of alteration in height in maize culturetreatments on theaccording to 30thexample ( 5b ) 15th day 45th______________________________________1 100 100 1002 56 87 1003 124 115 1034 109 103 1015 116 109 1056 92 101 100______________________________________ the results show that the compounds according to the invention counterbalance the toxicity of acetochlor and increase the efficiency of the antidote tested . 2 &# 39 ;- methyl - 6 &# 39 ;- ethyl - n - ethoxymethyl - chloroacetanilide ( acetochlor ), 2 - chloro - n - isopropylacetanilide ( propachlor ) and 2 - chloro - 2 &# 39 ;, 6 &# 39 ;- diethyl - n -( methoxymethyl )- acetanilide as typical representatives of chloroacetanilide herbicides were combined with the compound according to example 3 and a herbicidally active urea derivative , chlorobromuron ( 3 -( 4 - bromo - 3 - chlorophenyl )- 1 - methoxy - 1 - methyl - urea ). the test conditions were identical with those described in example 5 , except that in addition to monocotyledonous weeds also dicotyledons ( amaranthus retroflexus ) were sown . ( 7 ) 2 &# 39 ;- methyl - 6 &# 39 ;- ethyl - n - ethoxymethyl - chloroacetanilide 2 . 0 kg / ha + 3 -( 3 - bromo - 3 - chlorophenyl )- 1 - methoxy - 1 - methyl - urea 1 . 5 kg / ha + compound according to example 3 1 . 0 kg / ha ( 8 ) 2 - chloro - n - isopropylacetanilide 4 kg / ha + 3 -( 4 - bromo - 3 - chlorophenyl )- 1 - methoxy - 1 - methyl - urea 1 . 5 kg / ha + compound according to example 3 1 . 0 kg / ha ( 11 ) 2 &# 39 ;- methyl - 6 &# 39 ;- ethyl - n - ethoxymethyl - chloroacetanilide 2 . 0 kg / ha + 3 -( 4 - bromo - 3 - chlorophenyl )- 1 - methoxy - 1 - methyl - urea 1 . 5 kg / ha + compound according to example 3 0 . 4 kg / ha ( 12 ) 2 - chloro - n - isopropylacetanilide 4 . 0 kg / ha + 3 -( 4 - bromo - 3 - chlorophenyl )- 1 - methoxy - 1 - methyl - urea 1 . 5 kg / ha + compound according to example 3 0 . 4 kg / ha the effect of the active ingredients on the killing rate of wild millet ( panicum ssp ) and amaranth ( amaranthus ssp ). ______________________________________no . of killing in % of the control on thetreatments 30thaccording to 15th day 45thexample ( 5c ) w . m . a . r . w . m . a . r w . m . a . r . ______________________________________1 0 0 0 0 0 02 26 67 0 37 0 03 0 51 0 19 0 04 15 60 0 23 0 05 0 82 0 19 0 06 11 0 0 0 0 07 100 100 100 81 62 588 76 100 57 83 41 549 83 100 61 78 50 5110 0 0 0 0 0 011 92 100 75 78 54 5312 59 100 43 81 29 6013 77 100 56 74 37 62______________________________________ w . m . = wild millet a . r . = amaranth from the results it can be concluded that the compounds according to the invention improve the duration and extent of activity of chloroacetanilide herbicides also in combination with herbicidally active urea derivatives . under similar conditions to those described in example 5 we examined the herbicidal activity of combinations of herbicidally active chloroacetanilides and triazines in association with the compound according to example 1 . as weeds wild millet ( panicum ssp ) and amaranth ( amaranthus ssp ) were employed . ( 9 ) 2 &# 39 ;- methyl - 6 &# 39 ;- ethyl - n - ethoxymethyl - chloroacetanilide 2 . 0 kg / ha + 2 - chloro - 4 - ethylamino - 6 - isopropylamino - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazine 1 . 0 kg / ha + compound according to example 1 1 . 0 kg / ha ( 10 ) 2 &# 39 ;- methyl - 6 &# 39 ;- ethyl - n - ethoxymethyl - chloroacetanilide 2 . 0 kg / ha + 2 - chloro - 4 - ethylamino - 6 - isopropylamino - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazine 1 . 0 kg / ha + compound according to example 1 0 . 4 kg / ha ( 11 ) 2 &# 39 ;- methyl - 6 &# 39 ;- ethyl - n - ethoxymethyl - chloroacetanilide 2 . 0 kg / ha + 2 - ethylamino - 4 - isopropylamino - 6 - methylthio - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazine 1 . 0 kg / ha + compound according to example 1 1 . 0 kg / ha ( 12 ) 2 &# 39 ;- methyl - 6 &# 39 ;- ethyl - n - ethoxymethyl - chloroacetanilide 2 . 0 kg / ha + 2 - ethylamino - 4 - isopropylamino - 6 - methylthio - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazine 1 . 0 kg / ha + compound according to example 1 0 . 4 kg / ha ( 13 ) 2 &# 39 ;- methyl - 6 &# 39 ;- ethyl - n - ethoxymethyl - chloroacetanilide 2 . 0 kg / ha + 2 , 4 - bis ( isopropylamino )- 6 - methoxy - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazine 1 . 0 kg / ha + compound according to example 1 1 . 0 kg / ha ( 14 ) 2 &# 39 ;- methyl - 6 &# 39 ;- ethyl - n - ethoxymethyl - chloroacetanilide 2 . 0 kg / ha + 2 , 4 - bis ( isopropylamino )- 6 - methoxy - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazine 1 . 0 kg / ha + compound according to example 1 0 . 4 kg / ha ( 15 ) 2 &# 39 ;- methyl - 6 &# 39 ;- ethyl - n - ethoxymethyl - chloroacetanilide 2 . 0 kg / ha + 2 -( 4 - chloro - 6 - ethylamino - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazine - 2 - ylamino )- 2 - methyl - propionitrile 1 . 0 kg / ha + compound according to example 1 1 . 0 kg / ha ( 16 ) 2 &# 39 ;- methyl - 6 &# 39 ;- ethyl - n - ethoxymethyl - chloroacetanilide 2 . 0 kg / ha + 2 -( 4 - chloro - 6 - ethylamino - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazine - 2 - ylamino )- 2 - methyl - propionitrile 1 . 0 kg / ha + compound according to example 1 0 . 4 kg / ha ______________________________________the effect of the active ingredients on killing rate (%) of wild millet ( panicum ssp ) and amaranth ( amaranthus ssp ) killing ratio (%) related to the controlno . of on thetreatments 30thaccording to 15th day 45thexample ( 5 d ) w . m . a . r . w . m . a . r . w . m . a . r . ______________________________________1 0 0 0 0 0 02 26 67 0 37 0 03 14 92 6 61 0 484 19 94 4 70 0 535 20 89 11 66 0 446 16 98 7 72 0 567 11 0 0 0 0 08 0 0 0 0 0 09 100 100 100 100 66 8710 100 100 87 100 59 7411 100 100 100 100 61 8112 100 100 80 95 54 7013 100 100 100 100 52 7714 100 100 79 92 46 7015 100 100 95 100 62 7916 100 100 76 96 57 71______________________________________ w . m . = wild millet a . r . = amaranth as the results set forth in the table above the compound according to example 1 increased the activity and extended the duration of activity of combinations containing chloroacetanilides ( 2 &# 39 ;- methyl - 6 &# 39 ;- ethyl - n - ethoxymethyl - chloroacetanilide ) and various triazines in the usual doses and mutual proportions . in this experiment the effect of the compound according to the invention on the duration of activity of thiolcarbamate herbicides and on their combinations with antidotes was tested . tests were carried out as described in example 5 , except that , as usual in case of thiolcarbamate herbicides , the compositions were admixed with the soil prior to sowing . ( 4 ) s - ethyl - dipropylthiocarbamate ( eptc ) 5 kg / ha + o , s - di - 2 - chloroethyl - s -( di - 2 - propenylamino )- dithiophosphoric acid ester 500 g / h ( compound according to example 2 ) ( 5 ) s - ethyl - dipropylthiocarbamate ( eptc ) 5 kg / ha + n - dichloroacetyl - 1 - oxa - 4 - azaspiro - 4 , 5 - dicane 350 g / ha ( ad - 67 )+ o , s - di - 2 - chloroethyl - s -( di - 2 - propenylamino )- dithiophosphoric acid ester 600 g / ha ( compound according to example 2 ) ( 6 ) n - dichloroacetyl - 1 - oxa - 4 - azaspiro - 4 , 5 - decane 350 g / ha ( ad - 67 )+ o , s - 2 - chloroethyl - s -( di - 2 - propenylamino )- dithiophosphoric acid ester 500 g / ha ( compound according to example 2 ) ( 8 ) o , s - di - 2 - chloroethyl - s -( di - propenylamino )- dithiophosphoric acid ester 500 g / ha ( compound according to example 2 ) ______________________________________the effect of active ingredients on the killing rate (%) of wild millet ( panicum ssp ) no . of killing rate in %- age of the controltreatments on theaccording to 30thexample 6 15th day 45th______________________________________1 0 0 02 100 0 03 100 0 04 100 100 905 100 97 806 0 0 07 0 0 08 0 0 0______________________________________ ______________________________________the effect of active ingredients on the extent of injuryof maize ( zea mays )- phytotoxicityno . of alteration in height in %- age of thetreatments controlaccording to 30thexample 6 15th day 45th______________________________________1 100 100 1002 69 100 1003 82 100 1004 94 100 1005 121 110 1066 134 118 1117 102 100 1008 129 120 108______________________________________ the results show that under the provocative conditions described in example 5 the test compound of formula ( i ) extended the duration of activity of s - ethyl - dipropyl - thiolcarbamate to three - fold of the activity observed when the herbicide was used either alone or in combination with the given antidote in the usual doses . it can be concluded , too , that the compound according to example 2 , selected as a representative of the compounds of formula ( i ), has no effect on the test weed when employed alone , in the given dose . it is highly surprising that the compound according to example 2 substantially extends the active period of thiolcarbamate herbicides even under provocative conditions ( acceleration of decomposition ). evaluation of the phytotoxicity studies shows that the test compound according to the invention reduces the undesired effect of thiolcarbamate herbicides on the cultivated plant testes ( maize ). the same effect was observed when the combinations were antidoted . it can further be concluded that compounds of formula ( i ) are not phytotoxic themselves . the antidotal activity of the compounds according to the invention as well as their effect on the efficiency of a known antidote were tested by measuring the height of maize treated , and calculating the change related to the control . it can be seen that eptc when used without any antidote decreased the height of maize by 31 % according to the evaluation performed on the 15th day . in case of antidoted eptc combinations the reduction in height was 18 % only . in case of later sowings ( evaluations carried out on the 30th and 45th days , respectively ) there was no change in height . the combination of eptc with the compound according to example 2 resulted in a further reduction of the decrease in height : the decrease was only 6 % according to the evaluation performed on the 15th day . when the antidoted eptc formulation and the active ingredient according to the invention were sprayed together on maize ( treatment no . 5 ), the height of the maize exceeded the height of the control . combined application of the test antidote and the active ingredient according to the invention resulted in a further increase in the growth of maize . from the results it can be concluded that the compounds according to the invention increase the efficiency of antidotes of herbicidally active thiolcarbamates ( n - dichloroacetyl - 1 - oxa - azaspiro - 4 , 5 - decane ; n , n - diallyl - 2 , 2 - dichloroacetamide ; 3 -( dichloroacetyl )- 2 , 2 - dimethyl - 1 , 3 - oxazolidine ). the results discusses in example 6 unambiguously prove that the active ingredients according to the invention on the one hand increase the activity of herbicidally active thiolcarbamates and extend the duration of their activity , on the other hand , improve the selectivity of said herbicides and their combinations with antidotes and extend the period within which said formulations can be used safely . in this example the herbicidal activity , and the effective doses of herbicidally active thiolcarbamates alone and in combination of compounds according to the invention were examined . the test conditions were identical with those described in examples 5 and 6 , except that the herbicidal activity and the duration of activity were examined . the compositions were thoroughly admixed with the soil prior to sowing . ______________________________________the effect of the active ingredients on the killingratio (%) of wild millet ( panicum ssp ) no . of killing rate in %- age of controltreatments on theaccording to 30thexample ( 6a ) 15th day 45th______________________________________1 0 0 02 100 11 03 75 0 04 10 7 05 63 0 06 100 0 07 66 0 08 100 100 869 100 77 5210 100 100 8111 100 80 6012 100 100 5413 100 83 5914 0 0 015 0 0 0______________________________________ the test results show that the duration of the activity of herbicidally active thiolcarbamates can be expanded and their dose can be reduced , if they are combined with the active ingredients according to the invention . the increase in the duration of herbicidal activity and the decrease of their effective dose were tested in case of thiolcarbamate herbicides , which need not be admixed with the soil prior to sowing in order to achieve the desired effect . unlike in the previous tests instead of wild millet ( panicum ssp ) wild oat ( avena fatua ) was used as a test plant , since the above - mentioned herbicides are particularly effective against wild oat , though they are active also against other monocotyledonous weeds . ______________________________________the effect of the compounds according to the invention onthe killing rate (%) of wild oat ( avena fatua ) no . of killing rate in %- age of the controltreatments on theaccording to 30thexample ( 6b ) 15th day 45th______________________________________ 1 0 0 0 2 79 0 0 3 31 0 0 4 83 5 0 5 42 0 0 6 67 0 0 7 22 0 0 8 71 0 0 9 26 0 010 88 11 011 41 0 012 100 100 6913 100 69 5114 100 100 10015 100 89 6616 100 100 9217 100 81 5918 100 100 7119 100 76 6120 100 100 10021 100 84 75______________________________________ examination of the thiolcarbamate herbicides shows that they are ineffective two weeks after the treatment . if , however , they are combined with compound no . 1 according to the invention , their activity lasts more than two - times as long as originally . in addition , their activity is also increased . decreasing the dose of the thiolcarbamate herbicides tested but combining them with the compound no . 1 , the death of wild oat is 100 % at the first evaluation even if the dose of the herbicide is decreased to half of its original amount . a more than 50 % death is observed even during the third evaluation ( 45th day ) when a combination was employed , while the herbicides alone , even in the complete original doses , were ineffective ( 0 %) 45 days after treatment . the test conditions were the same as in examples 5 and 6 , except that in addition to wild millet ( panicum ssp ) amaranth ( amaranthus ssp ) was used as a test weed . ( 9 ) s - ethyl - dipropylcarbamothioate 5 . 0 kg / ha + n - dichloroacetyl - 1 - oxa - 4 - azaspiro - 4 , 5 - decane 0 . 5 kg / ha + 2 - chloro - 4 - ethylamino - 6 - isopropylamino - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazine 1 . 5 kg / ha + compound according to example 3 1 . 0 kg / ha ( 10 ) s - ethyl - dipropylcarbamothioate 5 . 0 kg / ha + n - dichloroacetyl - 1 - oxa - 4 - azaspiro - 4 , 5 - decane 0 . 5 kg / ha + 2 - chloro - 4 - ethylamino - 6 - isopropylamino - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazine 0 . 75 kg / ha + compound according to example 3 1 . 0 kg / ha ( 11 ) s - ethyl - dipropylcarbamothioate 5 . 0 kg / ha + n - dichloroacetyl - 1 - oxa - 4 - azaspiro - 4 , 5 - decane 0 . 5 kg / ha + 2 -( 4 - chloro - 6 - ethylamino - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazine - 2 - yl - amino )- 2 - methyl - propionitrile 1 . 5 kg / ha + compound according to example 3 1 . 0 kg / ha ( 12 ) s - ethyl - dipropylcarbamothioate 5 . 0 kg / ha + n - dichloroacetyl - 1 - oxa - 4 - azaspiro - 4 , 5 - decane 0 . 5 kg / ha + 2 -( 4 - chloro - 6 - ethylamino - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazine - 2 - ylamino )- 2 - methyl - propionitrile 0 . 75 kg / ha + compound according to example 3 1 . 0 kg / ha ( 13 ) s - ethyl - diisobutyl - thiocarbamate 5 . 0 kg / ha + n , n - diallyl - 1 , 2 - dichloroacetamide 0 . 5 kg / ha + 2 - chloro - 4 - ethylamino - 6 - isopropylamino - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazine 1 . 5 kg / ha + compound according to example 3 1 . 0 kg / ha ( 14 ) s - ethyl - diisobutyl - thiolcarbamate 5 . 0 kg / ha + n , n - diallyl - 2 , 2 - dichloroacetamide 0 . 5 kg / ha + 2 - chloro - 4 - ethylamino - 6 - isopropylamino - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazine 0 . 75 kg / ha + compound according to example 3 1 . 0 kg / ha ( 15 ) s - ethyl - diisobutyl - thiolcarbamate 5 . 0 kg / ha + n , n - diallyl - 2 , 2 - dichloroacetamide 0 . 5 kg / ha + 2 -( 4 - chloro - 6 - ethylamino - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazine - 2 - yl - amino )- 2 - methylpropionitrile 1 . 5 kg / ha + compound according to example 3 1 . 0 kg / ha ( 16 ) s - ethyl - diisobutyl - thiolcarbamate 5 . 0 kg / ha + n , n - diallyl - 2 , 2 - dichloroacetamide 0 . 5 kg / ha + 2 -( 4 - chloro - 6 - ethylamino - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazine - 2 - yl - amino )- 2 - methylpropionitrile 0 . 75 kg / ha + compound according to example 3 1 . 0 kg / ha ______________________________________no . of killing rate in % age of the control on thetreatments 30thaccording to 15th day 45thexample ( 6c ) w . m . a . r . w . m . a . r . w . m . a . r . ______________________________________1 0 0 0 0 0 02 100 67 0 0 0 03 100 59 0 0 0 04 34 93 11 60 0 315 11 49 0 21 0 06 38 90 13 64 0 257 14 42 0 25 0 08 0 0 0 0 0 09 100 100 100 100 69 7810 100 100 100 100 57 7111 100 100 100 100 72 7612 100 100 100 100 51 6913 100 100 100 100 71 7414 100 100 100 100 56 6715 100 100 100 100 67 7016 100 100 100 100 41 56______________________________________ thiolcarbamate herbicides are often combined with herbicidally active triazine derivatives , to widen their activity spectrum . examination of the activity of the combinations containing herbicidally active thiolcarbamates , triazines and compounds according to the invention shows that the compound according to the invention extend the duration of activity and increase the activity of the test combinations . accordingly , compounds of the formula ( i ) excert their favourable effects not only in combination with thiolcarbamate herbicides alone but also if they are combined with various herbicidally active triazine derivatives . the effect of the compounds according to the invention on the duration and extent of herbicidal activity of various herbicidally active thiolcarbamates were examined . the test were carried out essentially as described in example 6 , except that as a cultivated plant 5 pieces of soya were cultivated in each pot . ______________________________________the effect of active ingredients on the killing rate (%) of wild millet ( panicum ssp ) no . of killing rate in % age of the control ontreatments theaccording to 30thexample 7 15th day 45th______________________________________1 0 0 02 23 0 03 8 00 04 95 64 405 74 53 296 97 73 557 66 41 30______________________________________ the results set forth in the above table show that 1 - methylethyl - 3 - chlorophenyl - carbamate alone is practically ineffective against wild oat in the test doses . the addition of the compound according to example 1 has considerably increased the herbicidal activity in each combination tested , and the combinations which contained the compounds according to the invention were considerably more effective even on the 45th day after treatment than those containing the above - mentioned carbamate derivative as a sole active ingredient on the 15th day . the effect of the above combinations on cultivated plants was tested on soya . injury rating was carried out on the basis of ewrc scale . 1 means that there was no injury observed , 9 stands for total killing . ______________________________________phytotoxicity on soya using the combinations according tothe inventionno . oftreatments phytotoxicity ( ewrc ) on theaccording to 30thexample 7 15th day 45th______________________________________1 1 1 12 2 1 13 1 1 14 2 1 15 1 1 16 1 1 17 1 1 1______________________________________ it can be seen that the combination of 1 - methylethyl - 3 - chlorophenyl - carbamate with the compound according to the invention resulted in no increase in phytotoxicity . the effect of the combinations of thiolcarbamate and chloroacetanilides with compounds of formula ( i ) was examined . though they are generally applied to the fields differently ( thiolcarbamates are to be incorporated into the soil while acetochlor should be sprayed on the surface ), a common feature of thiolcarbamates and acetochlor is that both should be antidoted to avoid the undesired injury of cultivated plants ( e . g . maize ). tests were carried out in pot having a diameter of 12 cm filled with meadow chernosiom soil , in 6 repetitions . the corns of maize ( 5 pieces into each pot ) were placed ia a depth of 8 cm measured from the top of the pots . corns were then covered with a 5 to 6 cm thick soil layer admixed with the seeds of various weeds ( cocksfoots weed , amaranth ). weeds were admixed with the soil in separate pots , each with 1 cm 3 of soil . the combinations tested were then sprayed on the pots as a tank mixture , in an amount of 220 lit ./ ha . after spraying , the soil was covered with a 2 to 3 cm thick fresh soil layer , and the water capacity of the soil was adjusted to 65 to 70 %. on the 20th day after treatment the degree of weed control and the injury of cultivated plants were examined . on the 20th day the test plants were eliminated , and new weed seeds were admixed with the upper 3 to 5 thick layer of soil . the degree of weed control was examined and the efficiency of weed control was examined on the 40th day . ( 8 ) treatment no . 2 + o , s - di - 2 - chloroethyl - s -( di - 2 - propenylamino )- dithiophosphoric acid ester ( compound according to example 2 ) 0 . 8 kg / ha ( 9 ) treatment no . 3 + o , s - di - 2 - chloroethyl - s -( di - 2 - propenylamino )- dithiophosphoric acid ester ( compound according to example 2 ) 0 . 8 kg / ha ( 10 ) treatment no . 4 + o , s - di - 2 - chloroethyl - s -( di - 2 - propenylamino )- dithiophosphoric acid ester ( compound according to example 2 ) 1 kg / ha ( 11 ) treatment no . 5 + o , s - di - 2 - chloroethyl - s -( di - 2 - propenylamino )- dithiophosphoric acid ester ( compound according to example 2 ) 1 kg / ha ( 12 ) treatment no . 6 + o , s - di - 2 - chloroethyl - s -( di - 2 - propenylamino )- dithiophosphoric acid ester ( compound according to example 2 ) 0 . 7 kg / ha ( 13 ) treatment no . 7 + o , s - di - 2 - chloroethyl - s -( di - 2 - propenylamino )- dithiophosphoric acid ester ( compound according to example 2 ) 0 . 7 kg / ha ______________________________________the effect of combinations on the killing rate ofcocksfoot weed ( echinochloa ssp ) and amaranth ( amaranthusssp ) killing in %- age of the control on the 20th 40thno . of daytreatments ec . am . ec . am . ______________________________________1 0 0 0 02 100 100 32 143 100 100 27 314 100 100 27 295 100 100 35 366 100 100 28 217 100 100 36 338 100 100 72 699 100 100 88 7410 100 100 79 7111 100 100 87 7812 100 100 64 7913 100 100 67 76______________________________________ ec = cocksfoot weed am = amaranth the killing rate was examined on the basis of green weight . killing rate (%) = green weight in % age of the control . ______________________________________effect of the combinations on the height of maize andthe ratio of malformation height of plant in %- age of the ratio ofno . of control malformationtreatments on the basis of the average of 6 × 5______________________________________ plants1 100 . 0 -- 2 94 . 5 13 86 . 6 -- 4 90 . 5 -- 5 93 . 8 -- 6 86 . 3 27 89 . 7 18 95 . 7 -- 9 93 . 6 -- 10 94 . 5 -- 11 96 . 9 -- 12 91 . 7 -- 13 93 . 2 1______________________________________ evaluation of the activity of antidoted combinations of various thiolcarbamates ( butylate , eptc , vernolate ) and acetochlor shows that they have no substantial phytotoxic effect on maize , if they are incorporated into the soil not too deeply . in addition , these combinations show an excellent herbicidal activity according to the evaluation carried out on the 20th day . the results of the second evaluation show , however , that their herbicidal activity considerably decreases as a function of time . on the 40th day they can control only 14 to 36 % of the weeds tested . on the other hand , when o , s - di - 2 - chloroethyl - s -( di - 2 - propenylamino )- dithiophosphoric acid ester according to the invention was added to the test combinations , they killed 64 to 88 % of the weeds at the time of second evaluation , too . moreover , the compound according to the invention did not increase the phytotoxicity of the test combinations .	0
the present invention discloses a 2 × vdd - tolerant mixed - voltage i / o buffer , wherein the circuit thereof adopts transistors with a thinner gate oxide layer . refer to fig2 a diagram schematically showing the circuit of the mixed - voltage i / o buffer according to a first embodiment of the present invention . in fig2 , the mixed - voltage i / o buffer 20 comprises two nmos transistors 22 and 24 , a dynamic gate - controlled circuit 26 , an input circuit 30 , an output circuit 32 and a pre - driver circuit 34 . the dynamic gate - controlled circuit 26 is coupled to the gates of the two nmos transistor 22 and 24 , and externally coupled to a high - level voltage vddh . an i / o pad 28 is coupled to the dynamic gate - controlled circuit 26 and the drain of the nmos transistor 24 . the output circuit 32 is coupled to the input circuit 30 and the source of the nmos transistor 22 at node 1 , and is externally coupled to a low - level voltage vdd . the pre - driver circuit 34 is coupled to the output circuit 32 and the gate - controlled circuit 26 . according to an output - enable signal oe , the pre - driver circuit 34 outputs a pull - up signal pu to control a pull - up pmos transistor 322 , and outputs a pull - down signal pd to control a pull - down nmos transistor 324 of the output circuit 32 . the nmos transistor 22 is coupled to the nmos transistor 24 at node 2 . the input circuit 30 comprises a pmos transistor 302 and two inverters 304 and 306 . the drain of the pmos transistor 302 and the input the inverter 304 are coupled to node 1 . the output end of the inverter 304 is coupled to the gate of the pmos transistor 302 and the input end of the inverter 306 . in the output circuit 32 , the pull - up pmos transistor 322 is externally coupled to a low - level voltage vdd , and the pull - down nmos transistor 324 is grounded . refer to fig3 a diagram schematically showing the dynamic gate - controlled circuit according to the first embodiment of the present invention . in fig3 , the dynamic gate - controlled circuit 26 comprises a level shifter 36 , two coupled inverters 38 and 40 , a nmos transistor 42 , and a gate - tracking circuit 44 . a level shifter 36 is coupled to the pre - driver circuit 34 and receives a voltage signal pub output by the pre - driver circuit 34 and pulls up the voltage signal pub to be a voltage signal puh . the input end of the inverter 38 is coupled to the level shifter 36 , and the output end of the inverter 38 is coupled to a gate of the nmos transistor 42 and the inverter 40 . the gate - tracking circuit 44 further comprises two coupled pmos transistors 441 and 442 . the gate - tracking circuit 44 is coupled to the inverter 40 , the drain of the nmos transistor 42 , the gate of the nmos transistor 22 , the gate of the nmos transistor 24 , and the i / o pad 28 . the bulks of the pmos transistors 441 and 442 are coupled to the gate of the nmos transistor 24 to maintain the bulks at a high - level voltage lest current leakage occur . when the output - enable signal oe received by the pre - driver circuit 34 is a low - level voltage ( 0v ), the mixed - voltage i / o buffer 20 is in a receive mode , and the i / o pad 28 receives an input signal and transmits the signal to the input end din of the input circuit 30 . in the receive mode , the pre - driver circuit 34 turns off the pull - up pmos transistor 322 and the pull - down nmos transistor 324 of the output circuit 32 and outputs a 0v voltage signal pub to the dynamic gate - controlled circuit 26 , and the level shifter 36 of the dynamic gate - controlled circuit 26 transforms the voltage signal pub into a vdd - level voltage signal puh . thus , the gate of the nmos transistor 22 is biased at a voltage of vdd via the inverter 40 , and the nmos transistor 42 makes the gate of the nmos transistor 22 more stably biased at a voltage of vdd . consequently , the gate voltage of the nmos transistor 22 is always biased at vdd in the receive mode . the gate - tracking circuit 44 is coupled to the gate of the nmos 24 transistor , and the gate voltage of the nmos transistor 24 thus is dependent on the voltage of the i / o pad 28 in the receive mode . refer to table . 1 . when the i / o buffer 20 receives a 0v input signal in the receive mode , the gate of the nmos transistor 22 is biased at a voltage of vdd , and the gate of the nmos transistor 24 is also biased at the voltage of vdd ; node 1 and node 2 are discharged to 0v via the nmos transistors 22 and 24 , and a 0v input signal is transmitted from the i / o pad 28 to the input end din of the input circuit 30 . when the i / o buffer 20 receives a 2 × vdd input signal in the receive mode , the gate of the nmos transistor 22 is still biased at the voltage of vdd , but the gate of the nmos transistor 24 is biased at a voltage of 2 × vdd ; node 1 is biased at the voltage of vdd via the feedback operation of the pmos transistor 302 of the input circuit 30 and node 2 is biased at a voltage of ( 2 × vdd − δv ) to enable 1 × vdd input signal transmitted from the i / o pad 28 to the input end din of the input circuit 30 via the nmos transistors 22 and 24 . when the output - enable signal oe received by the pre - driver circuit 34 is a high - level voltage signal ( vdd ), the i / o buffer 20 is in a transmit mode , and an output signal is transmitted from the output end dout of the pre - driver circuit 34 to an output signal to the i / o pad 28 . when the output end dout of the pre - driver circuit 34 sends out a 0v output signal in the transmit mode , the pre - driver circuit 34 turns off the pull - up pmos transistor 322 of the output circuit 32 and turns on the pull - down nmos transistor 324 and then a 0v voltage signal pub is transmitted to the dynamic gate - controlled circuit 26 and transformed into a vdd voltage signal puh by the level shifter 36 of the dynamic gate - controlled circuit 26 . the gates of the nmos transistors 22 and 24 are biased at a voltage of vdd , as shown in table . 1 , to enable a 0v output signal transmitted from the output end dout of the pre - driver circuit 34 to the i / o pad 28 . when the output end dout of the pre - driver circuit 34 sends out a vdd output signal in the transmit mode , the pre - driver circuit 34 turns on the pull - up pmos transistor 322 of the output circuit 32 and turns off the pull - down nmos transistor 324 and then a vdd voltage signal pub is transmitted to the dynamic gate - controlled circuit 26 and transformed into a 2 × vdd voltage signal puh by the level shifter 36 of the dynamic gate - controlled circuit 26 . as shown in table . 1 , the gates of the nmos transistors 22 and 24 are biased at a voltage of 2 × vdd to enable a vdd output signal transmitted from the output end dout of the pre - driver circuit 34 to the i / o pad 28 . during the transition from receiving a 2 × vdd input signal to transmitting a 0v output signal in the mixed - voltage i / o buffer 20 , node 1 and node 2 are respectively at voltages of vdd and ( 2 × vdd − δv ) initially . during the transition , the pull - down signal pd generated by the pre - driver circuit 34 turns on the nmos transistor 324 of the output circuit 32 and the nmos transistor 22 is turned on when its source voltage is pulled down by the nmos transistor 324 . then , the nmos transistor 24 is turned on and the voltage at the i / o pad 28 is pulled down . the drain - source voltages vds of the nmos transistors 22 and 24 will not exceed the maximum voltage defined in a given fabrication process . therefore , no matter whether it is in the receive mode , in the transmit mode or during the transition from receiving a 2 × vdd input signal to transmitting a 0v output signal , the mixed - voltage i / o buffer 20 of the present invention is free from gate - oxide deterioration and hot - carrier degradation . refer to fig4 a diagram schematically showing the circuit of the mixed - voltage i / o buffer 50 according to a second embodiment of the present invention , wherein a voltage slew - rate control output circuit 52 replaces the output circuit 32 shown in fig2 . in fig4 , the mixed - voltage i / o buffer 50 of the present invention is a mixed - voltage i / o buffer with a voltage slew - rate control function and implemented with a voltage slew - rate control output circuit 52 , which has a plurality of parallel pull - up pmos transistors and a plurality of parallel pull - down nmos transistors . thereby , the mixed - voltage i / o buffer 50 improves the problem of the ground bounce effect . in summary , the present invention proposes a 2 × vdd - tolerant mixed - voltage i / o buffer . no matter whether it is in the receive mode , in the transmit mode or during the transition from receiving a 2 × vdd input signal to transmitting a 0v output signal , via two nmos transistors and a dynamic gate - controlled circuit , the mixed - voltage i / o buffer of the present invention is free from the problems of gate - oxide reliability , current leakage and hot - carrier degradation . further , the present invention incorporates a voltage slew - rate control output circuit in the mixed - voltage i / o buffer to realize a mixed - voltage i / o buffer with a voltage slew - rate control function . those described above are the embodiments to clarify the characteristics and technical thought of the present invention to enable the persons skilled in the art to understand , make and use the present invention . however , it is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention . any equivalent modification or variation according to the spirit of the present invention is to be also included within the scope of the present invention .	7
referring first to fig1 there is shown a simplified block diagram of the dual channel neuromuscular stimulator system of the present invention . the overall unit 10 has a pair of output jacks 12 and 14 which can be connected to suitable stimulation electrodes , such as medtronic conductive carbon electrodes # 3791 , 3793 , 3794 or 3795 , through normal plug - in cables such as medtronic # 3781 cable . the electrodes are affixed to the skin over the muscle and nerve tissue to be stimulated using neuromod ® tens electrode gel and tape patches for the selected carbon electrode . the circuitry providing the excitation at output jacks 12 and 14 is identical for channels 1 and 2 . each channel has a constant current output circuit 16 and 18 . individual patient adjusted amplitude controls 20 and 22 provide an adjustment of stimulation pulse amplitude which is accessible to the patient . additionally , a physician or clinician controlled amplitude limit adjustment 24 and 26 is also provided for each channel . the clinician controls are located under a protective cover in the device to limit their accessibility to the patient . the physician accessible limit controls 24 and 26 allow the physician to establish an upper limit for stimulation amplitude as well as allowing the patient adjusted amplitude controls 20 and 22 to be adjustable over the most desirable part of the range of operating amplitudes . the drive signals 28 and 30 to the output circuits 16 and 18 are provided by identical channel 1 and channel 2 pulse width circuits 32 and 34 . the pulse width circuits are driven by input signals 36 and 38 which are supplied respectively by a rate oscillator 40 and a phase inverter 42 which receives its input signal 44 from rate oscillator 40 . rate oscillator 40 has a physician controlled adjustment means 46 to alter the oscillation rate . in the preferred embodiment shown , the pulse rate is adjustable between 3 and 50 pulses per second . additional inputs to the pulse width circuits 32 and 34 are provided by pulse width ramp generation circuits 48 and 50 . the ramp circuits 48 and 50 are adjustable by clinician controlled ramp time adjustment means 52 and 54 , respectively . the pulse width ramp circuits 48 and 50 also receive inputs from a momentary &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; switch 56 which is also referred to herein as a &# 34 ; constant stimulation &# 34 ; actuating switch . further inputs to the pulse width ramp circuits 48 and 50 are provided through accessory jack 58 . the accessory jack may be connected to an external switch such as a physician controlled switch which may be used during calibration of the stimulator to apply pulses independent of the status of separate &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; off &# 34 ; time controls discussed below . signals controlling the pulse width ramp circuits from the treatment timer 60 and on / off cycler 62 are also passed through the accessory jack 58 as shown more fully in the detailed schematic of fig2 a through 2c . treatment timer 60 receives an input from a patient control 64 to set the length of the treatment time and shut down the operation of the stimulator after the selected treatment time has elapsed . the on / off cycler 62 provides for intermittent operation of the circuitry during a treatment to apply pulses in bursts having a predetermined time duration and to suppress the pulse output during a predetermined &# 34 ; off &# 34 ; time or rest interval as established by physician actuated adjustment controls 66 and 68 . the treatment timer provides for treatment time of 15 , 30 or 60 minutes or continuous operation while the on / off cycler provides alternative stimulation and resting intervals of 2 to 25 seconds and 2 to 50 seconds , respectively . referring now to fig2 a through 2c , there is shown a detailed schematic diagram of the dual channel neuromuscular stimulator system according to the present invention . the broken line boxes in fig2 a through 2c correspond generally to the similarly numbered boxes in the functional block diagram of fig1 . box 72 encloses power source circuitry not explicitly shown in fig1 . the details of construction and operation of the various block elements shown in fig1 and fig2 a through 2c is described below . the dosage timer 60 utilizes as the principal timing means a 14 - stage binary cmos counter u3 manufactured by fairchild and others as a model 4020 . the numbers at the outside of the box u3 denote the manufacturer &# 39 ; s pin designations for the various terminals and the lettering on the inside of the box indicates the functional description of the various u3 terminals utilized in dosage timer 60 . the three outputs from the counter u3 at pins 1 , 2 and 3 are from the 12th , 13th and 14th counter stages , respectively , and are connected to diodes cr4 , cr5 and cr6 . the input to u3 at terminal 10 is provided by a schmitt trigger circuit u2a utilizing one element of a schmitt trigger module such as a model 40106 unit manufactured by rca , national semiconductor and others which contains six schmitt triggers . the adjustable feedback resistor r3 and timing capacitor c3 operate to establish the frequency of schmitt trigger u2a as an oscillator to provide a clock signal to the input to u3 . in a preferred embodiment of the stimulator , the clock signal is selected to provide outputs at stages 12 , 13 and 14 of the binary counter at 15 , 30 and 60 minutes , respectively . by selecting the appropriate output from counter u3 , it is then possible to obtain a logic signal at either 15 , 30 or 60 minutes for use in terminating the treatment . the treatment timer is reset as the unit is initially powered up by the voltage divider comprised of capacitors c1 , diode cr1 and resistor r1 . when the &# 34 ; power on &# 34 ; switches s1 and / or s2 are closed , the + v voltage is applied to the various circuits to which it is connected and a regulated v1 voltage is developed across cr3 . in the preferred embodiment shown , s1 and s2 are included in the patient amplitude controls 20 and 22 , respectively . capacitor c2 is charged almost instantaneously through limiting resistor r2 and provides a filtering effect for the regulated voltage v1 across cr3 . when v1 is applied to c1 as either s1 or s2 is closed to energize the stimulator , c1 begins with no stored voltage so that the charging current passing from v1 to ground through cr1 and r1 develops a positive voltage across r1 to apply a reset signal to terminal 11 of u3 . after c1 is fully charged , the charging current drops to zero and thereby removes the reset signal to allow the input clock signal at terminal 10 of u3 to begin the counting operation . a reset signal can also be applied to the dosage counter u3 by conductor 76 which is connected to terminal 86 of a four - position slide switch 64 which provides the adjustment to select the desired treatment time . slide switch 64 has terminals 78 , 80 , 82 , 84 and 86 . in the first position , the movable conductive element 87 in the slide switch shorts terminals 78 and 80 together ; in the second position it shorts terminal 80 to 82 ; and , in a third position , shorts terminal 82 to 84 and finally , in the fourth position , shorts terminal 84 to terminal 86 . in the first position , a 15 - minute time interval is selected , in the second , a 30 - minute time interval , in the third , a 60 - minute time interval and , in the fourth position , because terminal 84 is connected to regulated supply at v1 , a positive voltage is connected to the reset input of timer u3 to cause the stimulator to operate in a continuous mode since the treatment timer counter has been disabled by application of constant voltage to its reset terminal . it is particularly convenient to have the continuous operating mode switch position available when the physician is adjusting the various physician controlled parameters of the stimulator to avoid having the stimulator shut off by the treatment timer 60 while adjustments are being made . in the schematic in fig2 a , terminals 78 and 80 are shown shorted together , representative of the switch being in position 1 selecting 15 - minute operation . the other switch positions for wiper 87 are shown in phantom or dotted line form in fig2 a . when the count in counter u3 reaches the 12th stage of the 14 - stage counter , a positive voltage is applied through cr4 to terminal 78 , through the switch contact to terminal 80 and through cr7 to the input at terminal 13 to the schmitt trigger oscillator u2a to stop operation of the oscillator after the desired time has been reached . this is done for the three time intervals of 15 , 30 and 60 minutes so that the &# 34 ; end of treatment command &# 34 ; signal will not be erroneously removed by the count advancing to the next stage in the 14 - stage binary counter u3 . the output signal from the selected 12th , 13th or 14th stage of the 14 - stage binary counter u3 is connected through diode cr10 and normally closed switch contact of accessory jack j5 to the remainder of the circuit where it is used , as described below , to disable the application of stimulation pulses by the circuitry after the desired treatment time has elapsed . the normally closed contact 90 in accessory jack j5 is opened when an accessory switch is used to bypass the treatment timer . in addition to the treatment timer reset pulse which is generated by c1 , cr1 and r1 when the system is powered up , a reset signal can also be applied to the treatment timer counter by switching the selector switch 64 to the fourth position to bridge contacts 84 and 86 and apply the voltage v1 directly to the reset input terminal 11 of the dosage timer . when the switch is set in this position , the stimulation circuit is in continuous operation at the selected pulse rate and at the selected on and off cycle time and the treatment time is not being measured by the counter u3 . of course , the resetting of counter u3 removes any positive output signals from the 12th , 13th and 14th binary stages to allow the schmitt trigger oscillator u2a to resume operation at the beginning of its timing cycle . in addition to the treatment timer 60 , the circuit 10 includes a cycle timer 62 , the details of which are shown in fig2 b . the cycle timer 62 establishes the &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; or stimulation and &# 34 ; off &# 34 ; or resting time intervals which alternate during the selected treatment time in accordance with clinician adjustable controls 66 and 68 which are variable resistors appearing in the circuit of the cycle timer 62 as shown in fig2 b . the variable resistor 66 is in the feedback circuit of schmitt trigger u2d in series with a calibration resistor r10 . in order to have schmitt trigger u2d operate as an oscillator , a capacitor c5 is connected from its input terminal 1 to ground . the output of the schmitt trigger oscillator u2d is passed through diode cr13 to terminal 10 of u4 which is the input to a 14 - stage binary counter of the same type as u3 . counter u4 is reset when a positive voltage is applied to reset terminal 11 . a reset signal is provided by the capacitor c1 resistor r4 voltage divider when the circuit is powered up . the output of u4 at the 14th stage of the binary counter at pin 3 is connected through diodes cr9 and or &# 39 ; ed with the end of treatment command signal from treatment timer 60 and the resultant signal is passed through resistor r43 to indicator circuit 70 . the signal is also provided , as indicated above , through j5 and resistor r43 and diode cr2 to inhibit generation of pulses when either the selected time for the treatment timer has elapsed or when the stimulator is in the &# 34 ; off &# 34 ; time interval . the &# 34 ; off &# 34 ; timer is mechanized in fig2 b utilizing schmitt trigger circuit u2b . the feedback resistors include a calibration resistor r7 and the physician controlled resistor 68 . capacitor c4 causes the circuit to oscillate in the same manner as the &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; timer , but at a slower rate to allow for the longer off intervals utilized in the preferred embodiment . the output signal of oscillator u2b at terminal 8 is connected through diode cr12 to the input to counter u4 . oscillators u2b and u2d do not operate at the same time . the circuitry comprised of diode cr14 , diode cr11 and schmitt trigger u2c operates as a toggle to enable either u2b or u2d to oscillate at any one time . u2c is connected as an inverter . when the stimulation device is in the &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; cycle , pin 3 of u4 is at a low voltage so that the u2d oscillator is operating as the binary counter u4 counts until the output of binary stage 14 at pin 3 switches to a high voltage . when that voltage switches , it shuts down the stimulator by feeding the positive voltage through cr9 and jack j5 in the same way that the end of treatment command from treatment timer 60 is fed . the high voltage at pin 3 of u4 feeds through cr14 to stop the operation of oscillator u2d . that high voltage is also conducted through resistor r44 to u2c which inverts it to remove the high logic signal that was conducted through cr11 to keep oscillator u2b stopped . thus , u2b starts to operate when u2d is shut down . by adjustment of the operating frequencies of u2d and u2b , the on and off times of the preferred embodiments shown can be adjusted over ranges of 2 to 25 and 2 to 50 seconds , respectively . the constant stimulation momentary on switch block 56 has a switch designated s3 in fig2 a . when switch s3 is actuated , it connects the cathode of cr8 to ground . this inhibits signals coming from jack j5 , preventing output circuit to turn off . the treatment timer 60 and the cycle timer 62 are inhibited from shutting the circuit off during the time that the momentary contact switch s3 is closed . the closure of switch s3 also applies a ground to the input of u2c which puts a high logic signal on the output of u2c to stop oscillator u2b . this operational feature allows oscillator u2d to keep running until u4 reaches the end of its time cycle so that when the pressure on the constant stimulation button s3 is removed , the cycle time is in the &# 34 ; off &# 34 ; position and at the beginning of the &# 34 ; off &# 34 ; cycle . this is an important operational feature because after continued stimulation under control of the constant stimulation switch has been applied to a muscle group , it is extremely desirable to allow the muscle to recover in a nonstimulated condition . allowing the &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; cycle timer to continue to run to bring the circuit back into the beginning of the &# 34 ; off &# 34 ; cycle during the time that constant stimulation is applied accomplishes this desirable objective in the preferred embodiment of the stimulator shown . it should also be noted that actuation of the constant stimulation button s3 does not reset the treatment timer 60 . the output signal at terminal 3 of counter u4 is connected through j5 to the cycler indicator lights 70 . the signal passes through resistor r5 to the base of npn transistor q1 which has its base connected to ground through resistor r41 . the collector of q1 is connected to the base of q2 through resistor r12 . a green light emitting diode cr15 is connected to the collector of q1 while a red led cr16 is connected to the collector of q2 . the anodes of cr15 and cr16 are connected through a current limiting resistor r11 to the unregulated supply voltage + v . the emitters of q1 and q2 are tied together and connected to the collector of npn transistor q9 which receives an input signal through r42 . either q1 or q2 is turned on , depending upon whether the output of u4 is in a high or low condition . q9 is turned on for each half cycle of the output of rate oscillator 40 . the leds thus operate to indicate whether the stimulation is &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; off &# 34 ;. during the &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; cycle or when s3 is pushed for constant stimulation , the red light of cr16 will come on . during the &# 34 ; off &# 34 ; cycle or once the treatment timer shuts the device down , the green light of cr15 comes on . since q9 is turned on and off at the rate of the rate oscillator , the light emitting diodes cr15 and cr16 are blinked at a rate corresponding to the rate of the oscillator and the power consumption to drive the indicators is substantially reduced . if the rate of oscillator 40 is set at a very low rate , the blinking is visible to the user &# 39 ; s eye . the signal from the output of timers u3 and u4 after passing through the normally closed contacts 90 of j5 is conducted through resistor r43 , cr2 , conductor 93 and resistor r16 to the base of npn transistor q3 . the base of q3 is connected to ground through r15 . the collector of q3 is connected through r22 to the base of q8 . the emitter of npn transistor q8 is connected to the regulated supply + v1 . the base of q8 is connected to the regulated supply + v1 through resistor r45 and the collector of q8 is connected through r23 to diodes cr26 and cr23 at the inputs of identical channel 1 and channel 2 ramp circuits 48 and 50 , respectively , as shown in fig2 c . the detailed circuitry of pulse width circuits 32 and 34 are also identical . accordingly , it is necessary only to describe the operation of the channel 1 output circuitry since the channel 2 output circuitry is essentially identical . when the u3 or u4 timers switch to a positive signal , that signal charges capacitor c9 of ramp circuit 48 rapidly through resistor r23 which has a low impedance . the positive voltage applied at noninverting input terminal 5 of u1c produces a positive voltage at the output terminal 7 of u1c which is connected through resistor r25 to the noninverting input of u1d in the channel 1 pulse width circuit . thus , when a positive voltage is applied to cr26 , a positive signal is applied at the input of pulse width circuit 32 which , as described below , turns off the channel 1 output . when the positive signal holding channel 1 off is removed from the anode of cr26 , capacitor c9 , which had been previously charged to a high logic signal , begins to discharge through the series combination of adjustable resistor 52 and fixed resistor r18 . since u1c is connected as a voltage follower , the positive output of u1c gradually diminishes . the diminishing ramp signal from the output of ramp circuit 48 is summed in the pulse width circuit 32 with a rate signal on conductor 36 produced by rate oscillator 40 , the operation of which is discussed below . the square wave rate signal on conductor 36 is passed through capacitor c10 to the wiper of variable resistor r38 and through resistor r27 to the noninverting input terminal 3 of u1d . a diode cr25 has its anode connected to ground and its cathode connected to pin 3 of u1d . the values of r38 , r27 and c10 are selected to give a time constant which , when applied to the square wave signal at the output of oscillator 40 , produces a nominal 225 microsecond pulse width for the output pulses . the pulse width of the drive signal on conductor 28 is inversely dependent upon the magnitude of the ramp input to u1d produced by the ramp circuit 48 . as the output of u1c follows c9 to zero , + v1 divides across r26 and r25 to ground through u1c to provide a fixed bias to pin 2 of u1d . the signal on conductor 28 is connected to the output circuit 16 of channel 1 . the signal is an increasing pulse width signal beginning from a very narrow signal when the positive voltage is removed from the anode of cr26 and increasing to the full nominal pulse width after the ramp signal at the output of the ramp circuit 48 decreases to zero in accordance with the setting of ramp adjustment control 52 . as the output of u1c follows c9 to zero , + v1 divides across r26 and r25 to ground through u1c to provide a fixed bias to pin 2 of u1d . the leading edge of the pulse occurs at intervals determined by the square wave signal produced by oscillator 40 so the leading edges of the drive pulses on conductor 28 occur at a fixed pulse rate . rate oscillator 40 is based on schmitt trigger u2e and its adjustable feedback resistors r13 and 46 and timing capacitor c6 . the drive signal to channel 1 is inverted by schmitt trigger u2f so that the identical drive circuitry of channels 1 and 2 is not in the &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; condition at the same time . this is necessary to avoid undesirable overloading of the power supply . cells bt1 , bt2 and bt3 provide the power for the device . capacitors c11 and c12 are large capacitors used to facilitate driving the output current . they are back - to - back to prevent damage due to improperly installed batteries . because the output circuits 16 and 18 are identical , only the channel 1 output circuit 16 is described in detail . the drive signal on conductor 28 is passed through a variable calibration resistor r28 , the physician amplitude control 24 and the drive signal for q4 is taken from the wiper of the patient adjustment amplitude control 20 . the winding of potentiometer or a variable resistor 20 is connected to the base of a grounded emitter open collector npn transistor q11 to provide temperature and base - emitter voltage compensation for q4 . the collector of q4 is connected to the base of pnp darlington transistor pair q5 which has its emitter connected to the + v supply . the darlington base junction is also connected to the positive supply through r33 . the collector of q5 is connected through the primary winding of isolation transformer t1 and a current measuring resistor r31 to ground . r31 has an extremely low resistance and serves as a current sensor to force q5 to drive a constant current in the primary of t1 . the current feedback is obtained as follows . the base - emitter voltage of q4 and q11 are matched so that the voltage from control 20 is applied to r31 to drive a current therein proportional to the setting of 20 . thus , the t1 primary current is fixed at a selected current . t1 acts as a current transformer to produce a constant current output for load impedance from 100 to 1 , 000 ohms . a flyback diode cr17 suppresses the inductive surge voltage across the primary winding of transformer t1 when q5 shuts off at the completion of a pulse . the secondary winding of transformer t1 is connected to output terminals 12 . zener diode cr19 is a safety diode to prevent the voltage across output terminals 12 rising to an excessive value if the output impedance across terminals 12 is extremely high due to a loose electrode or some similar kind of open circuit condition . diode cr18 is used to keep cr19 from forward conducting during the negative or biphasic portion of the pulse , thus maintaining a zero net dc output to the patient . the transformer produces a balanced biphasic rectangular waveform with a zero net dc component to minimize the possibility of skin rash developing from stimulation . the device is operated as follows . fresh , fully - recharged batteries bt1 , bt2 and bt3 are installed . both amplitude controls 20 and 22 are set with s1 and s2 in the off position and at minimum resistance and the clinician or physician operated amplitude limit controls 24 and 26 are set at initially 50 % of appropriate levels . these and other clinician controls are set to produce minimal muscle fatigue while comfortable to the patient . the on and off time controls are also preset . generally , on off - time of twice the on - time will avoid fatigue and a ramp time of approximately two seconds will produce a good , comfortable contraction . a selected pulse rate of 30 - 35 pulses per second will produce a fused contraction with minimal fatigue . if the amplitude settings of controls 24 and 26 are insufficient to produce an adequate muscle contraction , then they may be adjusted upward until a good contraction is achieved . after the clinician controls are initially adjusted , the cables and electrodes are connected at jacks 12 and 14 and the electrodes are attached to the patient . the treatment time switch 64 is set in the continuous position and the constant stimulation button s3 is depressed while the patient amplitude adjustments 20 and 22 are advanced to produce a fused , but comfortable , contraction . if an adequate contraction is not achieved , even when the amplitude knobs are set to their maximum setting , the controls are returned to the minimum setting and the physician amplitude controls 24 and 26 are advanced by another increment before the patient adjusted amplitude controls 20 and 22 are again adjusted . when an adequate contraction is achieved , the constant stimulation s3 is released and the treatment time switch is set for the desired time interval , allowing treatment to begin .	0
the present invention will now be more particularly described with reference to and as illustrated in the following figures : fig1 shows a cross - sectional view of a prior art laminated film as commonly used for flow - wrapping products , such as chocolate bars ; fig2 shows a cross - sectional view of a second prior art laminated film as used for wrapping stacks of tissue paper or trays of biscuits ; fig3 shows a cross - sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention where a metallic ink has been employed as a laser retardant material ; fig4 shows a cross - sectional view of a second embodiment of the present invention where an adhesive layer incorporates a laser retardant material ; fig5 shows a cross sectional view of a third embodiment of the present invention where a metallic ink has been laid onto a substrate along with non - metallic inks ; fig6 shows a plan view of a web of laminated material a fourth embodiment of the present invention ; fig7 shows a cross - sectional view of the web of laminated material through the dotted line marked x - x as illustrated in fig6 ; fig8 shows a plan view of a packaged product made using a portion of a web of material as shown in fig6 ; and fig9 shows a side view of a packaged product as illustrated in fig8 . with reference to fig3 , there is shown a laminated material 100 having five layers : a clear opp layer 102 ; an ink layer 104 ( which includes portions of metallic ink 106 ); an adhesive layer 108 ; a metallic foil layer 110 ; and a white opp layer 112 . the laminated material 100 is produced by bonding together the two separate webs of material by using adhesive . a first web of material 111 is formed by reverse printing the ink 104 which incorporates a number of portions having a metallic ink 106 onto the clear opp layer 102 . the second web 113 of material is formed by applying a metallic foil layer 110 to the white opp layer 112 by means of vacuum or vapour deposition ( however , the foil layer may simply be a foil which is bonded to the white opp by means of an adhesive ). the two webs 111 , 113 of material are then adhered to one another such that a layer of adhesive 108 binds the ink layer 104 to a position adjacent to and above the metallic foil layer 110 . a laser is used to produce offset scores or cuts in the first and second webs 111 , 113 of material . as can be seen in fig3 , the first laser 114 is able to penetrate the clear opp layer and the ink layer 104 . however , the power of the laser 114 is attenuated by a first portion of metallic ink 116 and whilst the path of the laser still continues to some degree through the adhesive layer 108 , it is unable to penetrate the metallic foil layer 110 . the second web 113 of material can be cut by the second laser 118 which is able to penetrate the white opp layer 112 and whilst the path of the laser is attenuated by the metallic foil layer 110 , it also passes to some extent through the adhesive layer 108 until it reaches a second portion of metallic ink 120 . the offset cuts ( denoted 122 and 124 ) formed by the first and second lasers ( 114 and 118 ) do not impair the sealing characteristics of the laminated material , but allows for the first and second webs to be peeled away from one another in the area between the cuts , if the adhesive layer 108 is a peelable and / or re - sealable adhesive . the laminated material 100 can be fed through a flow - wrap machine in order to produce packaging similar to that shown in fig8 and 9 ( which will be described in more detail later on ). the embodiment as shown in fig4 , is formed in a similar manner as to the laminated material shown in fig3 . however , rather than the laminated material having an ink layer 104 having portions of metallic ink , a laser - retardant material is placed within the adhesive layer . similar layers in fig3 will be denoted with the same reference numeral prime (‘) for fig4 . the laminated material 150 is formed having a clear opp layer 102 ′, and ink layer 104 ′, an adhesive layer 108 ′, a metallic foil layer 110 ′ and a white opp layer 112 ′. the ink layer 114 ′ does not contain any portions of metallic ink , but rather the adhesive layer 108 has a laser - retardant material 152 disposed therein . the laser - retardant material 152 may be any number of materials known to have laser - attenuating or retarding properties . for example , a laser - retardant material may simply be small metallic particles . as can be seen in fig4 , a first laser 154 is able to penetrate the clear opp layer 102 ′, the ink layer 104 ′ and whilst it passes through a laser - retardant particle 156 , the laser is ultimately prevented from passing further than the metallic foil layer 110 ′. a second laser 158 can pass through the white opp layer 112 ′, and whilst it is attenuated to some degree as it passes through the metallic foil layer 110 ′, it is ultimately prevented from passing further than through the laminated material by means of a metallic particle 160 . the metallic particles 156 , 160 , may be dispersed randomly or universally throughout the adhesive layer 108 ′. it will be apparent that if desired , using metallic particles which are uniformly dispersed throughout the adhesive layer 108 ′ will allow for the attenuation of the laser to the same degree as to that of the metallic foil layer 110 ′ depending on the concentration and how the metallic particles are dispersed throughout the adhesive layer . alternatively , the metallic particles may be placed in certain locations around the area intended to be cut by the laser so as to reduce costs of producing the material . with reference to fig5 , there is shown a further laminated material 200 again having a similar construction as to the materials 100 and 150 shown in fig3 and 4 . similar features in the laminated material 200 to those shown in the laminated materials of fig3 and fig4 are denoted with same reference numeral double prime (‘ ’). the laminated material 200 has a plurality of layers consisting of a clear opp layer 102 ″, an ink layer 104 ″, an adhesive layer 108 ″, a metallic foil layer 110 ″, and a white opp layer 112 ″. the adhesive layer 108 ″ does not contain any metallic particles as shown in fig4 , but in common with fig3 , it has portions of metallic ink 202 located within the ink layer 104 ″. during the print process of the ink layer onto the clear opp layer 102 ″, metallic ink 202 is layered on the clear opp layer 102 ″, along with non - metallic coloured ink 204 so as to produce the printed image seen on the outside of the laminated film . as in common with the laminated materials 100 and 150 as shown in fig3 and fig4 , the laminated material 200 is formed of two webs 111 ″, 113 ″ of material which are made prior to being bonded together by means of the adhesive layer 110 ″. also , the adhesive 108 ″ may be a re - sealable adhesive , so that after the offset cuts have been made , the two webs can be pulled apart from one another and resealed if necessary . in fig5 , a first laser 206 is shown to be able to penetrate the clear opp layer 102 ″, and is attenuated by a layer of metallic paint 208 and whilst the laser passes through the adhesive layer 108 ″, the metallic layer 110 ″ prevents further penetration . a second layer 210 penetrates the white opp layer 112 ″, and is attenuated by the metallic foil 110 ″ and passes through the adhesive 108 ″ and ultimately a metallic ink 212 prevents the laser from penetrating further through the laminated material . fig5 illustrates the feature that when applying the image to the clear opp layer 102 ″, a range of different inks ( metallic , non - metallic and coloured ) can be used so as to produce differential colour throughout the laminated material so as to provide the colours or images applied to a particular pack . the ease with which a metallic ink can be included in standard apparatus , so as to produce a laser - retardant layer , results in a laminated material which is thin and easy to produce using standard equipment , thus reducing the cost of producing the overall laminated material . with reference to fig6 and 7 , there are shown a continuous web of laminated material 300 which , after processing , is cut and run through a flow - wrap machine so as to flow - wrap a particular product , such as a chocolate bar . in common with earlier embodiments , the laminated material generally comprises an upper web 301 and a lower web 305 which are bonded together with adhesive . the continuous web 300 contains a number of “ v ” cut sections 302 which are areas that are processed by means of a laser prior to the material being used to wrap a given product . the “ v ” sections shown in fig6 with a solid line correspond to laser score lines 302 for the upper web 301 , whilst the dotted line corresponds to the lower score lines 303 for the lower web 305 . the web of laminated material 300 is formed of five layers : a clear opp layer 304 , an ink layer 306 ( which includes areas of metallic ink 308 , an adhesive layer 310 , a metallic foil layer 312 , and a white opp layer 314 . along either edge of the web , a permanent adhesive 316 is also provided beneath the white opp layer 314 . as in common with the laminated materials illustrated in fig3 - 5 , the laminated material shown in fig6 - 7 is formed by reverse printing an ink layer 306 to a clear opp layer 304 . the portions of the ink layer 306 incorporating metallic ink 308 correspond to the edges of the “ v ” portion 302 in the web of material 300 , as these are the areas which will be subjected to laser scoring . the ink layer 306 will be reverse printed onto the clear opp layer 102 and forms a first web which is bonded to a white opp layer 314 to which a metallic foil 312 has been applied . the two webs are adhered to one another by means of the adhesive layer 310 . in order to allow the laser scored “ v ” to form a re - sealable flap in the packaging when formed , the laminated material is adhered with permanent adhesive 318 throughout the majority of the material 300 . however , the areas between the offset cut ( between the “ v ”) will be formed with a re - sealable adhesive 330 , 332 so that once the offset cuts have been made , a re - sealable flap is formed within the material . the dotted lines shown in fig7 illustrate the cuts which will be made by the laser and the laser beam will penetrate the material in a similar manner as described with reference to fig3 - 5 . the addition of the permanent adhesive 316 along the edges of the material are used to bind the edges to themselves , when a product is placed centrally in the material during the packaging step so as to farm a thin seal as shown in fig9 . transverse bands 322 of permanent adhesive will also form the transverse sealed edges of the package when formed . with reference to fig8 and 9 , there is shown a pack 400 which has been formed from a section 320 of the material so as to encase a chocolate bar . the web 300 is formed around the product so as to encase it and the edges are bound to one another by means of the permanent adhesive 316 so as to form the “ fin ” 410 . transverse lines of permanent adhesive 322 are brought together so as to form the upper and lower sealing ends for 412 , 414 , and thus form a sealed pack . when the product is ready to be removed from the pack , the tip 416 of the “ v ” shaped score line 302 is lifted . the areas of re - sealable adhesive 330 , 332 allow the upper portion of the laminated material to be removed from the lower portion of the laminated material so as to form a flap and allow entry inside the package . if the entire product has not been consumed or removed , the flap can be re - adhered to the lower portion of the material so that the flap from a re - sealable flap . by removing the requirement to have two continuous metallic foil layers in the laminated material , the laminate can be formed much thinner and also at a reduced cost . the laminated material is also compatible with existing machinery , therefore removing the requirement to adapt or modify current flow - wrap machinery . the foregoing embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of protection afforded by the claims , but rather to describe examples how the invention may be put into practice .	1
in order to be able to crosslink by disulfide bridging , the modified mercaptoamino functionalities according to the invention need to be in reduced form , that is to say in thiol form (— sh ). it is thus when they are in this form that the modified collagenic peptides may be termed “ crosslinkable ”. this term reflects the ability of the modified collagenic peptides to self - crosslink spontaneously in the presence of atmospheric oxygen , at ambient temperature and optionally in the presence of auxiliary agents such as oxidizing agents . the mercaptoamino residues bearing crosslinking functions of free thiol type or precursors thereof in substituted thiol form are advantageously residues that are closely or remotely derived from cysteine or analogues thereof : cysteamine and homocysteine . it is interesting to note that these various mercaptoamino residues are of biological nature . in the present specification , two types of monovalent mercaptoamino residues or grafts are distinguished , namely those bearing directly crosslinkable thiol functions and those bearing mercapto functions that are precursors of said thiol functions . as regards the mercaptans that are thiol precursors , they define a first subfamily of modified collagenic peptides according to the invention characterized in that at least some of the mercaptoamino residues , grafted onto the carboxylic acids of the aspartic acids and glutamic acids , correspond to the general formula ( i ) below : x = 1 or 2 ; r 0 = h or ch 3 ; r 1 represents h or coor 3 with r 3 corresponding to a hydrocarbon - based radical of aliphatic , aromatic or alicyclic type , preferably alkyl , alkenyl , aryl , aralkyl , alkylaryl , aralkenyl or alkenylaryl type and even more preferably of methyl or ethyl type ; r 2 is an aliphatic and / or alicyclic and / or aromatic radical , preferably an alkyl or an acyl optionally containing sulfur and / or amino , and even more preferably r 2 corresponds to formula ( ii ) below : with y , r 00 and r 4 corresponding to the same definition as that given in the legend in formula ( i ) for x , r 0 and r 1 . more specifically , the grafted mercaptoamino residues of these collagenic peptides , that are not immediately crosslinkable , are chosen from the group of monovalent radicals comprising : these are grafts derived from cystine and thus comprising a disulfide bridge which may be reduced with known reducing agents such as mercaptans ( mercaptoethanol , mercaptoacetic acid , mercaptoethylamine , benzyl mercaptan , thioresol , dithiothreitol , etc .) and / or reductive salts ( nabh 4 , na 2 so 8 , etc .) and / or organic reducing agents ( phosphine ). these novel modified collagenic intermediates according to this first subfamily are stable and soluble in water and more generally in aqueous medium and / or in polar solvents . in addition , they are readily purifiable and isolable , which makes them products that are practical for packaging , storage and use . the second subfamily of modified collagenic peptides according to the invention combines those in which the carboxyls of the glutamic acids and aspartic acids have reacted with the amine functions of the mercaptoamino residues of formula ( i ) in which the substituent r 2 corresponds to hydrogen . the modified collagenic peptides according to the second subfamily may be prepared by reducing the collagenic peptides according to the first subfamily , using reducing agents such as those defined above . these reduced collagenic peptides are readily purifiable and isolable . since they are obtained in dry form after an isolation in acidic medium , these peptides are stable . finally , they are soluble in water and more generally in aqueous medium and / or in polar solvents and are easy to use . the mercaptoamino residues of these peptides containing free thiol functions are defined by formula ( ii ) below : in which r 1 may correspond to h or coor 3 , with x , r 1 , r 0 and r 3 as defined above , and also r 3 may represent hydrogen or a cation to form a salt with coo − , this cation preferably being na + , k + or li + , when a step of deprotection of the ester is provided . the graft thus used is derived directly from cysteine . collagenic peptides comprising such mercaptoamino residues containing thiol reactive functions have the characteristic of being crosslinkable within the meaning of the invention . the crosslinking is carried out by oxidizing the thiols to disulfide bridges , which makes it possible to obtain a chemically crosslinked three - dimensional collagenic network , which is insoluble in physiological media and entirely stable . this oxidation may be obtained , for example , with atmospheric oxygen in weakly basic medium , with aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution or with iodo derivatives ( iodine , betadine ). among the modified collagenic peptides in accordance with the invention , it is possible to isolate those which exist in crosslinked form and which compose a third subfamily of collagenic peptides comprising collagenic chains linked together via disulfide bridges , in which the constituent sulfur atoms belong to mercaptoamino residues grafted onto the aspartic acids and glutamic acids of the collagenic chains , exclusively via amide bonds . these crosslinked collagenic peptides of the third subfamily may be advantageously obtained from the modified collagenic peptides of the second subfamily . these crosslinked collagenic peptides are novel , stable products whose mechanical and biological qualities make them biomaterials of choice for producing medical or surgical articles such as implants , prostheses , dressings or artificial skin . since it is possible to vary the degree of substitution of the carboxylic moieties of the aspartic acids and glutamic acids , there is certain room for maneuver in choosing the appropriate mechanical quality and the appropriate rate of biodegradation . moreover , the crosslinked form which is of concern for these collagenic peptides belonging to the third subfamily described in the present specification , is reversible . specifically , it is possible to reduce the disulfide bridges using suitable reducing agents . examples of these reducing agents are given above . in accordance with the invention , the free carboxylic residues of the aspartic acid and glutamic acid monomers of the collagenic chain are mobilized for the grafting of crosslinking functionalities . however , the fact nevertheless remains that at least some of the other free functions of the collagenic chain , such as , for example , the amine functions lysine residues , may serve as sites of attachment for groups other than the mercaptoamino residues as defined above and which afford diverse and varied functionalities , that are useful in the intended applications . as a result , the collagenic peptides as defined above may comprise , according to one variant , grafts g attached to at least some of the free amine moieties of the collagenic chain , via amide bonds , g being an acyl comprising a hydrocarbon - based species , with the exclusion of the mercaptoamino residues , in particular those as defined above , this species optionally comprising hetero atoms ( advantageously o and / or n ) and preferably being chosen from alkyls and / or alkenyls and / or alicyclics and / or aromatics and even more preferably from groups comprising an optionally unsaturated alkyl chain , containing from 1 to 22 carbon ( s ) or corresponding to the formula ( iii ) below : r 6 = h or a linear or branched alkyl radical and preferably a methyl ; the number of repeating units n is chosen such that the molecular weight of the polymer chain is between 100 and 15000 , preferably between 200 and 8000 , and is , for example , about 4000 . this additional functionalization on the amine sites of the lysines may give the modified collagenic peptide a hydrophilic or hydrophobic nature , or even a surfactant nature , which allows the swelling , mechanical strength and degradation kinetics properties to be modified . it is also conceivable for this functionalization to have therapeutic aims by means of the attachment of an active principle . in addition to the collagenic product aspect taken as such , the present invention also relates to the production of modified collagenic peptides , and in particular those as defined above and even more particularly those belonging to the three subfamilies presented above . the invention thus relates to a process for obtaining a collagenic peptide modified by grafting free or substituted thiol functions borne by mercaptoamino residues . this process consists essentially in reacting the collagenic peptide in solution with at least one precursor of a mercaptoamino residue in which the thiol function and the possible carboxylic function are blocked , in the presence of at least one grafting agent preferably chosen from the group of products for activating carboxylic groups and even more preferably from carbodiimides . the production conditions are chosen such that the grafting of the mercaptoamino residue is carried out on the free carboxylic moieties of the aspartic acids and glutamic acids of the collagenic chain . this process is particularly novel and advantageous in that it can be performed in aqueous medium in which the starting materials and / or the intermediate products and / or the final modified collagens are at least partially dissolved . in practice , all the products contained in the aqueous reaction medium are dissolved therein , from the first to the last step . this synthesis in aqueous medium , in accordance with the invention , is particularly advantageous industrially , since it is very simple to carry out , inexpensive and nonpolluting . specifically , it is easy , for example , to remove the reagents ( e . g . by diafiltration ) and to recover the targeted modified collagen . the process according to the invention is all the more advantageous since it makes it possible to achieve high degrees of grafting of mercaptoamino residues ( e . g . 12 %). preferably , the mercaptoamino residues ( monovalent groups ) which are grafted onto the collagenic peptide are those as defined above , in particular in formulae ( i ), ( i . 1 ), ( i . 2 ) and ( i . 3 ). in practice , the collagenic peptides thus obtained correspond , for example , to the precursors as targeted above , of crosslinkable collagenic peptides . these precursors are included in the first subfamily of modified collagenic peptides according to the invention . in order to be able to react with the free carboxylic moieties of the collagenic peptide , the mercaptoamino graft has a free amine function capable of reacting with the coohs to form an amide bond . this precursor is , for example , a cysteine , a homocysteine or a cysteamine in which the thiol function and the possible carboxylic acid function is ( are ) correctly protected . an efficient means for protecting the thiol function is to choose as precursor for the mercaptoamino residue to be grafted , cystine , homocystine or cystamine , which comprise a disulfide bridge that stabilizes the mercapto function . another means for protecting said function which may be chosen is any conventional function for protecting thiols that is known in the prior art ( see , for example , “ greene : protecting groups in organic chemistry , wiley , 1975 ”). the possible cooh functions of the graft may themselves be protected with a protecting group or any other organic function which may provide an advantageous property of any nature ( pegs or hydrophobic or hydrophilic or charged groups ). according to one advantageous arrangement of the invention , the precursor of the mercaptoamino residue corresponds to a formula ( iv ) corresponding to formula ( i ) given above and in which the free valency is replaced with a substituent capable of reacting with the carboxylic functions of the aspartic acids and glutamic acids of the collagenic chain , this substituent preferably being hydrogen , such that the reactive function is a primary amine . the precursors of formula ( iv ) that are most especially preferred are cystamine ( i . 1 ), cystine dimethyl ester ( i . 2 ) and cystine diethyl ester ( i . 3 ), all three of which comprise a disulfide bridge that protects the thiol function . in practice , the grafting of the - mercaptoamino residue is carried out by dissolving the collagenic peptide and then the precursor of the mercaptoamino residue to be grafted in a suitable solvent . this solvent may be , for example , water ( preferably ) and / or an organic solvent , for instance dimethyl sulfoxide ( dmso ), n - methylpyrrolidone ( nmp ) or the like . the reaction conditions are chosen so as to prevent the activated collagen from reacting with the amines contained in its own skeleton . a coupling agent , such as a carbodiimide , is then added to the reaction solution and the grafting is left to proceed while stirring the medium for a few hours , at ambient temperature . the process according to the invention makes it possible to obtain collagenic peptides substituted with mercaptoamino residues that are precursors of the crosslinkable thiol residues . the peptides thus obtained are novel intermediate products that are stable and soluble in water . they may be isolated and purified , for example by dialysis or diafiltration and then lyophilization or by precipitation in organic medium and then drying . a subject of the present invention is also a process for preparing a crosslinkable collagenic peptide modified by grafting free thiol functions borne by mercaptoamino residues . this process is characterized in that it consists essentially : 1 . in reacting in solution the collagenic peptide with at least one precursor of a mercaptoamino residue whose thiol function and possible carboxylic function are blocked , in the presence of at least one grafting agent preferably chosen from the group comprising products that activate carboxylic groups , preferably carbodiimides , 2 . and in deprotecting ( conversion to thiols ) the mercapto functions of the mercaptoamino residues grafted onto the modified collagenic peptides obtained in step 1 . the crosslinkable collagenic peptides thus prepared correspond , for example to the products containing free thiol functions included in the second subfamily of modified collagenic peptides , as defined above . when the protection or masking of the mercapto functions is provided by a disulfide bridge ( that is to say when the graft precursors are , for example , cystamine or cystine ), the thiol function is regenerated by reduction . this reduction may be carried out using reducing agents such as mercaptans ( mercaptoethanol , mercaptoacetic acid , mercaptoethylamine , benzyl mercaptan , thiocresol , dithiothreitol , etc .) and / or reductive salts ( nabh 4 , na 2 so 3 , etc .) and / or organic reducing agents ( phosphine ). according to one preferred characteristic of the present invention , the protective disulfide bridge is reduced in basic aqueous medium using dithiothreitol . after this step , the thiolated collagen obtained is purified by dialysis / diafiltration and may be isolated , for example by lyophilization . the invention also relates to a process for preparing a crosslinked collagenic peptide , from a collagenic peptide modified by grafting free thiol functions borne by mercaptoamino residues . this process is characterized in that it consists , essentially : 1 . in reacting in solution the collagenic peptide with at least one precursor of a mercaptoamino residue whose thiol function and possible carboxylic function are blocked , in the presence of at least one grafting agent preferably chosen from the group comprising products that activate carboxylic groups , preferably carbodiimides , 2 . and in deprotecting ( conversion to thiols ) the mercapto functions of the mercaptoamino residues grafted onto the modified collagenic peptides obtained in step 1 , 3 . and in oxidizing the thiol functions of the crosslinkable modified collagenic peptide obtained in step 2 , so as to form intercatenary disulfide bridges . this oxidation may be carried out , for example , using atmospheric oxygen in weakly basic medium , or using aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution or iodo derivatives ( iodine , betadine ). the crosslinked collagenic peptides , as prepared by the above process , correspond in particular to the crosslinked products of the third subfamily of modified collagenic peptides as defined above . according to one advantageous characteristic which is intrinsic to the three processes described above , an additional step f is envisaged , this being a step of functionalization with grafts g that are different in nature from the grafts attached to the carboxylic functions of the aspartic acids and glutamic acids , this step f consisting essentially in carrying out an acylation of at least some of the free amine functions of the collagenic chain , so as to attach thereto grafts g comprising a hydrocarbon - based species , with the exclusion of mercaptoamino residues , in particular those as defined above , this species optionally comprising hetero atoms ( advantageously o and / or n ) and preferably being chosen from alkyls and / or alkenyls and / or alicyclics and / or aromatics , and even more preferably from groups comprising an optionally unsaturated alkyl chain or corresponding to formula ( iii ) below : r = h or ch 3 ; r 6 = h or a linear or branched alkyl radical and preferably a methyl ; z = 0 , 1 or 2 and n & gt ; 0 . in order to be able to react by acylation with the three amine functions of the residue of the collagenic chain , the precursors of the grafts g advantageously comprise at least one activatable carboxylic acid function . it is preferable for this acylation to proceed before the reaction of the free carboxylic functions of the collagenic chain with the precursor of the mercaptoamino graft ( i ). having said this , it is not excluded for this acylation also to take place on the thiolated collagenic peptides obtained from step 1 and / or on the crosslinked collagenic peptides obtained from step 3 ( e . g . directly on a crosslinked film , with removal of the reagents by simple washing ). the acylation and coupling reactions of amine functions with carboxylic sites belonging to proteins are known to those skilled in the field of protein biochemistry . for further details in this respect , reference will be made in particular to the following books : “ techniques in protein chemistry ” r . l . lundblad chap . 10 - 14 . “ chemistry of protein conjugation and cross - linking ” s . s . wong , boca raton , crc press , 1993 , chap . 2 . it is interesting to note that the reagents used for the chemical modifications performed according to the processes in accordance with the invention are either convertible into nontoxic products or readily removable by nondegrading processes such as , for example , dialysis . moreover , the invention offers the very appreciable possibility of controlling the kinetics and the degree of crosslinking of the collagen . another appreciable advantage of the present invention is that it allows the mechanical and biodegradation properties to be modified by controlling the number of mercaptoamino residues introduced per unit of mass of the collagen . it is also interesting to be able to functionalize the crosslinked or noncrosslinked collagenic chains with hydrophilic functions , for example . finally , it is important to point out that the products according to the invention may be sterilized by the conventional methods for sterilizing biological polymers . finally , the very good solubility of the novel noncrosslinked collagenic peptides according to the invention in aqueous medium must be stressed , these peptides having the characteristic of containing sulfur - containing crosslinking functions borne exclusively by the carboxyls of the aspartic acids and glutamic acids . as a result , the crosslinkable products according to the invention find immediate applications firstly in human medicine and secondly in the field of biology . in human medicine , they may implants , for ophthalmological implants , prostheses ( for example bone prostheses ), dressings in the form of films or felts , artificial tissues ( epidermis , blood vessels , ligaments or bone ), bioencapsulation systems ( microspheres or microcapsules ) allowing the controlled release of active principles in vivo , biocompatibilizing coatings for implantable medical articles , or suture threads . the crosslinkable collagenic products according to the invention may also be used in surgery , as adhesives and / or as sealing materials ( cements ). in biology , the materials according to the invention constitute excellent supports for two - dimensional cell cultures ( films ) and three - dimensional cell cultures ( felts ). the crosslinked collagen according to the invention may be used alone or as a mixture , for example with modified or unmodified biological polymers or synthetic polymers . for each of the abovementioned biomedical applications , it is essential to have available a crosslinked collagen which has determined and specific physicochemical , mechanical or biological properties . consequently , it is necessary to control fully the chemical modifications of the collagen , so as to be able to produce a wide range of crosslinkable collagens and thus to satisfy most of the constraints appearing during the development of the specifications for a given application . it emerges from the above description that the invention fully satisfies this need . other advantages and variants of the present invention will emerge clearly from the implementation examples given below . synthesis of a collagenic peptide ( 2nd subfamily ) in which the carboxylic acids are substituted with cysteine ethyl ester ( degree of substitution representing 0 . 8 % of the amino acids ) 25 g of atelocollagen ( types i + iii , extracted from calf skins , 1 . 3 mmol of cooh / g ) are placed in 2 . 5 l of water and the temperature of the medium is raised to 50 ° c . with stirring . the 1 % w / v solution thus obtained is filtered through a 0 . 22 μm filter . once the temperature has fallen to 30 ° c ., 46 . 5 g of cystine diethyl ester are added and the ph is adjusted to 4 . 2 . 0 . 6 g of 1 -( 3 - dimethylaminopropyl )- 3 - ethylcarbodiimide hcl is then added and the reaction is left to proceed for 2 h at 30 ° c . with stirring . the reaction medium is concentrated to 5 % w / v and dialyzed against water to remove the excess reagents and the reaction byproducts . the product obtained is a stable synthetic intermediate . it is a collagenic peptide ( 1st subfamily ) a fraction of the aspartic acids and glutamic acids of which are substituted with cystine diethyl ester . the degree of substitution is measured by assaying with nstb ( 2 - nitro - 5 - thiosulfobenzoate ), a reagent for disulfide bridges . this assay is described in : thannhauser t . w . et al ., analysis of disulfide bonds in peptides and proteins . methods in enzymology . jacoby w . b . and griffith o . xl new - york : academic press , 1987 . vol . 143 , 115 - 119 . [ s — s ]: 0 . 094 mmol / g of dry product ; i . e . 0 . 87 mol % of substituted amino acids . the product obtained may be isolated by lyophilization or may be reduced to give the corresponding thiol collagen . 7 . 6 g of glycine , 5 . 8 g of 1 , 4 - dithiothreitol and a sufficient amount of 4n naoh to reach a ph of 9 . 0 are added to the modified collagenic peptide dissolved at 5 % w / v in water , obtained in step i . the reaction medium is stirred for three hours at 35 ° c . at this stage , the solution is acidified to ph 2 with 6n hcl , dialyzed against 0 . 012n hcl to remove all trace of reagents and of reaction byproducts and then filtered through a 0 . 22 μm filter . the product thus purified is isolated by lyophilization . the degree of substitution is measured by an assay with 5 , 5 ′- dithiobis - 2 - nitrobenzoic acid ( dtnb ), a reagent which is specific for thiol functions . this assay is described in : “ ellman g . l ., tissue sulfhydryl groups , archives of biochemistry and biophysics , 1959 , 82 , 70 - 77 ”. [ sh ]: 0 . 091 mmol / g of dry product , i . e . 0 . 8 mol % of substituted amino acids . the entire synthesis may be performed aseptically so as to obtain in fine the product in the form of a sterile lyophilizate . synthesis of a collagenic peptide ( 2nd subfamily ) in which the carboxylic acids are substituted with cysteine ethyl ester ( degree of substitution representing 3 mol % of the amino acids ) example 1 is repeated , the only difference being that the amount of coupling agent is 2 . 9 g . [ sh ]: 0 . 347 mmol / g of dry product , i . e . 3 . 3 mol % of substituted amino acids . synthesis of a collagenic peptide ( 2nd subfamily ) in which the carboxylic acids are substituted with cysteine ethyl ester ( degree of substitution representing 7 mol % of the amino acids ) example 1 is repeated , the only difference being that the amount of coupling agent is 12 g . [ sh ]: 0 . 706 mmol / g of dry product , i . e . 7 mol % of substituted amino acids . synthesis of a gelatin ( 2nd subfamily ) in which the carboxylic acids are substituted with cysteine ethyl ester ( degree of substitution representing 5 mol % of the amino acids ) example 1 is repeated , replacing the atelocollagen with gelatin ( gelatin extracted from pig skins , 250 bloom , 1 mmol of cooh / g ). [ sh ]: 0 . 536 mmol / g of dry product , i . e . 5 . 2 mol % of substituted amino acids . synthesis of a collagenic peptide ( 2nd subfamily ) in which the carboxylic acids are substituted with cysteamine ( degree of substitution representing 3 mol % of the amino acids ) example 1 is repeated , replacing 46 . 5 g of cystine diethyl ester with 28 . 4 of cystamine . [ sh ]: 0 . 33 mmol / g of dry product , i . e . 3 . 0 mol % of substituted amino acids . synthesis of a collagenic peptide ( 2nd subfamily ) in which the amines are acetylated ( graft g ) and in which the carboxylic acids are substituted with cysteine ethyl ester ( degree of substitution representing 5 mol % of the amino acids ) 25 g of atelocollagen ( types i + iii , extracted from calf skins , 1 . 0 mmol of cooh / g ; 0 . 33 mol of ε - nh 2 / g ) are placed in 0 . 5 l of water and the temperature of the medium is raised to 50 ° c . with stirring . the 5 % w / v solution thus obtained is filtered through a 0 . 22 μm filter . after cooling the solution to 30 ° c ., 4 . 2 g of nahco 3 and a sufficient quantity of 4n naoh to adjust the ph to 8 . 5 are dissolved . 7 . 34 ml of acetic anhydride are then added slowly and sequentially , over 30 minutes with stirring at 30 ° c ., while maintaining the ph at 8 . 5 with 4n sodium hydroxide solution . the solution is then acidified slowly to ph 3 with 6n hcl and is dialyzed against water to remove the excess reagents . finally , the 1 % w / v medium is diluted with water and the synthesis is continued as described in example 1 ( coupling of cystine diethyl ester followed by reduction ). [ acetyl ] by assay of acetic acid ( boehringer kit ) after basic hydrolysis of the product : 0 . 30 mmol / g of dry product , i . e . 2 . 9 mol % of acetylated amino acids ( virtually total acetylation of the lysine residues ). [ sh ]: 0 . 53 mmol / g of product , i . e . 5 . 1 mol % of substituted amino acids . synthesis of a collagenic peptide ( 2nd subfamily ) in which the amines are substituted with peg ( graft g ) and in which the carboxylic acids are substituted with cysteine ethyl ester ( degree of substitution representing 5 mol % of the amino acids ) 10 g of atelocollagen ( types i + iii , extracted from calf skins , 1 . 3 mmol of cooh / g ; 0 . 33 mol of ε - nh 2 / g ) are placed in 0 . 5 l of water and the temperature of the medium is raised to 50 ° c . with stirring . the 2 % w / v solution thus obtained is filtered through a 0 . 22 μm filter . once the temperature has fallen to 30 ° c ., the ph is adjusted to 9 . 0 with 4n naoh . 5 g of methoxypolyethylene glycol propionic acid n - hydroxysuccinimidyl ester ( spa - peg ) of mw 5000 g / mol are then added and the reaction is left to proceed at 30 ° c . with stirring for 30 min , while maintaining the ph at 9 by adding 4n naoh . a further 5 g of spa - peg are added and the reaction medium is stirred for 30 min while maintaining the ph . the medium is then diluted to ½ with water to bring the collagen concentration to 1 % w / v . 18 . 5 g of cystine diethyl ester are added and the ph is adjusted to 4 . 2 . 2 . 2 g of 1 -( 3 - dimethylaminopropyl )- 3 - ethylcarbodiimide hcl are then added and the reaction is left to proceed for 2 h at 30 ° c . with stirring . the reaction medium is concentrated to 5 % w / v and dialyzed against water to remove the excess reagents and the reaction byproducts . 3 . 0 g of glycine , 2 . 3 g of 1 , 4 - dithiothreitol and a sufficient quantity of 4n naoh to reach a ph of 9 . 0 are added to the modified collagenic peptide dissolved at 5 % w / v in water . the reaction medium is stirred for 3 hours at 35 ° c . at this stage , the solution is acidified to ph 2 with 6n hcl , dialyzed against 0 . 012 n hcl to remove all trace of reagents and reaction byproducts and then filtered through a 0 . 22 μm filter . the product thus purified is isolated by lyophilization . the lyophilizate is extracted with 2 l of absolute ethanol , contracted with acetone and then dried under vacuum at 30 ° c . for 18 h . the absence of ungrafted polyethylene glycol is monitored by gel permeation chromatography , with refractometric detection . [ sh ]: 0 . 247 mmol / g of dry product , i . e . 4 . 5 mol % of substitution of the amino acids . [ peg ]: 0 . 8 mol % substitution of the amino acids , degree recalculated according to the amount of oh - proline assayed in the modified product / unmodified product . 250 mg of the collagenic peptide are placed in 5 g of water for injection and are stirred in a sealed flask for 15 min at 40 ° c . the ph measurements are carried out at 30 ° c . the ph adjustments are carried out using 1n naoh . a number of solubility examples are given in table 1 . 250 mg of lyophilizate are placed in 4 . 5 ml of 10 mm ph 7 . 4 phosphate - buffered saline ( pbs ) and the mixture is stirred in a sealed flask at 40 ° c . for 15 minutes . the ph is adjusted to 7 . 4 ± 0 . 1 with 1n naoh and the amount of pbs required to obtain a final collagenic peptide concentration of 50 g / l is added . the samples are placed at 37 ° c . 100 μl of a 1 % h 2 o 2 solution in pbs preheated to 37 ° c . are added to 900 μl of the collagenic peptide solution . the indications of table 2 show that the crosslinking by oxidation ( kinetics and degree ), under given conditions , depends on the modified collagenic peptide used . a solution containing 20 g / l of precursor collagenic peptide is prepared by dissolving lyophilizate in sterile water . in this example , 2 . 0 g of lyophilizate are dissolved in 98 g of sterile water . the mixture is stirred in a sealed container at 40 ° c . for 15 min in order to obtain complete dissolution . the ph of the solution is adjusted to 6 . 5 with 1n sodium hydroxide solution , at 25 ° c . the solution is stirred again at 40 ° c . for 10 min . the solution at 40 ° c . is filtered through membranes of porosity 0 . 45 μm and then membranes of porosity 0 . 2 μm . the final filtration is carried out over sterile molds ( polystyrene petri dishes may be used ). 40 . 0 g of filtered solution are run into two 12 × 12 cm 2 molds . the molds are closed . the solution is matured , which is reflected by a physical gelation , for 24 h at a temperature of 16 ° c .± 1 ° c . this temperature is necessarily less than the gel / sol transition temperature . the maturation is carried out in a chamber at controlled temperature , and the molds rest on a horizontal plate . after 24 h , the mold covers are removed and the gelled solutions are evaporated over 24 h , at the same temperature in a confined chamber , in the presence of desiccants ( typically sodium hydroxide pellets ). after 24 h , the films obtained are dry , clear and smooth . the dry films are crosslinked at 20 ° c ., by adding 30 g of 0 . 3 % hydrogen peroxide solution in an aqueous decimolar solution of ammonium acetate . the crosslinked film is removed and washed successively with 30 g of ph 7 . 4 phosphate buffer and 30 g of water . all the solutions used are sterile . the film is then left to dry under a laminar flow fume cupboard for 24 h . the dried films obtained contain a residual percentage of water of about 10 %. the films obtained are stable at room temperature . they remain stable and manipulable after 24 h in water or in a phosphate buffer . tensile mechanical properties of the films obtained according to example 10 the measurements of the mechanical properties of the films are carried out using a universal testing machine of dy34 type of the brand adamel lhomargy . the films are hydrated at ambient temperature in a phosphate buffered saline ( pbs , ph = 7 . 4 ) for 2 h . next , they are cut into 4 mm by 30 mm strips using a very sharp sample punch . the thickness is measured on the hydrated samples . the samples are mounted on a cardboard frame which helps to position them in the jaws . the sample of film is kept hydrated . the frame is cut just before the tensile test , which proceeds at a constant speed of 2 mm / min . the initial modulus and the breaking stress are calculated from the tensile curves using the sections of hydrated test pieces . the tensile properties of the films obtained according to the process described in example 10 depend on the modified collagenic peptide used , as shown in table 3 .	0
referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and first , particularly , to fig1 thereof , there is seen a particle separator 1 with a metallic layer 3 and two depressions 12 ( undulations or corrugations which span the cross section ) each having a respective inspection or maintenance opening 8 with a respective passage 9 to an interior 11 of a housing 4 of the particle separator 1 . each inspection opening 8 is provided with a casing 10 . an inlet opening 5 and an outlet opening 6 of the housing 4 define a central axis 7 , with respect to which the metallic layer 3 is oriented substantially perpendicularly . fig2 shows a similar particle separator 1 with a metallic layer 3 having an undulating form or shape in the housing 4 , as viewed from the inlet opening 5 . it can be seen in this view that the inspection openings 8 are disposed in the depressions 12 . in this case , the metallic layer 3 or the depression 12 extends to the housing 4 and the passage 9 of the inspection opening 8 is disposed on a level with ( in the same cross - sectional plane perpendicular to the central axis 7 as ) the depression 12 . in this case , too , the inspection openings 8 are each formed with a casing 10 which forms the passage and which projects into the interior 11 of the housing 4 . it can likewise be seen in the illustration that the metallic layer 3 is positioned between two housing parts of the housing and is connected thereto by using a welded connection . due to the complex shape of the metallic layer 3 , there is also a resulting complex profile of the welded connection in the circumferential direction with respect to the housing 4 . in any case , a complete and sealed connection of the metallic layer 3 in the interior 11 of the housing 4 is realized in this way . fig3 shows a particle separator 1 in a side view , wherein again the inlet opening 5 and the outlet opening 6 define the central axis 7 of the housing 4 . in this embodiment , the metallic layer 3 forms a depression 12 , on the left - hand side , at which an inspection opening 8 is provided . a further inspection opening 8 is also provided on the right - hand side . in such a configuration , the left - hand inspection opening 8 may be used , for example , for suction extraction or blowing - out of accumulated particles in the depression 12 . the right - hand inspection opening 8 may likewise be used for suction extraction or blowing - out . it is also possible , during an inspection of the particle separator 1 , for an ( air ) flow through the left - hand inspection opening 8 to the right - hand inspection opening 8 or vice versa to be used to entrain the accumulated particles . it is the case in this embodiment , too , that the inspection openings 8 are formed with a separate casing 10 . during operation , the inspection openings 8 are each provided with a cover 24 , so that the inspection openings 8 are closed off and no exhaust gas can escape from the particle separator 1 . fig4 shows a particle separator 1 in a configuration which is turned on its side , in such a way that the inspection opening 8 extends from the outside into the housing 4 to a depression 12 of the metallic layer 3 and accumulated particles can escape autonomously through a through - hole 13 in the metallic layer 3 . furthermore , a pressure setting device 25 , with which various tasks can be performed , is provided on the casing 10 of the inspection opening 8 . firstly , the exhaust gas flowing through the inlet opening 5 along the central axis 7 in the direction of the outlet opening 6 cannot escape in the normal situation , but can , in the case of a laden particle separator 1 , prevent an undesired excess pressure in the exhaust line by effecting an excess - pressure opening of the pressure setting device 25 . furthermore , it is possible by using the pressure setting device 25 for a compressed - air line , for example for the cleaning of the particle separator 1 during maintenance , to be connected without additional pressure setting devices , and without the possibility of the metallic layer 3 being damaged by excessively high pressure . fig5 also shows a particle separator 1 which is disposed transversely with respect to the gravitational field , in such a way that the exhaust gas passes through the inlet opening 5 along the central axis 7 and through the metallic layer 3 in the direction of the outlet opening 6 . the inspection opening 8 , which projects into the interior 11 of the housing 4 at the depression 12 , discharges particles , which are retained by the metallic layer 3 in the depression 12 , through the through - hole 13 and through the casing 10 into a particle reservoir 14 . it is ensured in this way that the particle separator 1 or the metallic layer 3 always remains fully permeable to the exhaust gas flowing in through the inlet opening 5 . at the same time , however , it is also not possible for the exhaust gas to escape from the particle separator 1 into the environment . fig6 shows a motor vehicle 17 which has an internal combustion engine 2 , a particle separator 1 , a turbocharger 21 and optionally an exhaust - gas purification unit 26 . an exhaust system 18 is composed of an exhaust - gas line 19 and an exhaust - gas recirculation line 20 . the displacement of the internal combustion engine 2 is supplied , on the left - hand side in the illustration , with supercharged exhaust gas , and on the other side exhaust gas flows out again in a flow direction 23 . a turbocompressor of the turbocharger 21 is protected against any relatively large particles in the exhaust system 18 by the particle separator 1 in the exhaust - gas recirculation line 20 . the particles may originate , for example , from a ( partially ) ceramic exhaust - gas purification unit 26 through which the exhaust gas has flowed through previously . the particle separator 1 thus protects all subsequent components ( disposed downstream ) against relatively large particles from the internal combustion engine 2 and portions of the exhaust line 19 situated upstream of the particle separator 1 . such components are , in particular , the turbocharger 21 and / or other exhaust - gas purification units and / or the coolers 22 ( or heat exchangers ), in particular in the exhaust - gas recirculation line 20 . the internal combustion engine 2 and the displacements thereof are thus also protected against damage by relatively large particles . fig6 shows an arbitrary technically expedient configuration of the particle separator 1 and does not constitute any limitation with regard to the exact configuration of the particle separator 1 . fig7 shows a multi - ply version of a metallic layer 3 , wherein a first ply 28 and a second ply 29 are disposed in direct areal contact with one another ( shown therein partially as an exploded illustration ). the first ply 28 , which is initially impinged upon by a flow , has openings 15 with a width 16 that is several times smaller than a width 16 of openings 15 in the subsequent second ply 29 . therefore , ( only ) the first ply performs the function of particle separation , whereas the second ply 29 serves ( merely ) as a ( rear - side ) support or partial abutment for the first ply 28 . in any case , the metallic layer 3 ( or in this case the first ply 28 ) has openings 15 with a width 16 which lies in a range of from 0 . 05 to 0 . 25 mm . fig8 shows a particle separator 1 in a plan view , in which the metallic layer 3 is , for simplicity , shown with a structure which visually does not correspond to a possible undulation . fig8 shows merely one of many possibilities for the configuration of a cross section 27 of the housing 4 or of the inlet opening 5 . it is likewise possible for the inlet opening 5 and the outlet opening 6 to have shapes which differ from one another and / or from some other cross section 27 of the housing 4 . in this case , too , an inspection opening 8 with a cover 24 is shown on the right - hand side . the invention thus at least partially solves the technical problems highlighted in conjunction with the prior art . there has been proposed , in particular , a particle separator which can be kept in a functional state without being dismounted and / or automatically always remains fully permeable .	5
referring to fig1 there is schematically illustrated a walker engaged in vigorous , aggressive walking , while holding in his or her hand a rhythm indicator and exerciser device 10 according to the present invention . in order to properly exercise the upper torso and , more particularly , the back , the chest , the shoulder and the arm muscles , and in order to establish proper balance and natural stride while engaging in aggressive walking , when the right leg , for example , is propelled forwardly the right arm is swung vigorously backward , pivoting around the shoulder , and the end of the backward swing of the arm corresponds substantially in real time to the end of the forward stroke of the right leg , and vice versa . each arm is therefore caused to be swung backward approximately to the limit permissible without undue strain and , subsequently and in synchronism with the motion of the legs , swung forward to at least a substantially horizontal position . by carrying a rhythm indicator and exerciser device 10 according to any one of the structures disclosed herein , and as illustrated at fig2 - 12 , an appropriate muted knocking sound is felt , rather than heard , by the walker at the end of the back swing of each arm , and again is felt , rather than heard , at the end of the forward swing of each arm . in this manner , at least two important results are achieved by the user of the invention . first , he or she is able to determine when sufficient swing of the arm has been achieved when an impact sound is dimly heard or felt at each end of the arm swing and , secondly , by proper synchronization of the impact muted sound heard , or impact shock felt , he or she is able to establish and maintain an appropriate rhythmic or cadence swinging of the arms coinciding appropriately with the cadence of the footsteps . as illustrated in detail in longitudinal section at fig2 each rhythm indicator and exerciser device 10 , in its simplest form , comprises a tubular cylindrical member 2 provided at each end with a stop member or closure wall 14 , a resilient cushion 15 being installed at each end of the tubular member 12 . the closure walls 14 prevent a weighted mass or metallic slug 16 , loosely disposed in the interior bore 18 of the tubular member 12 , from being thrown out of the tubular member 12 either by inertia or by gravity in any position of the tubular member . when the tubular member 12 , held in the hand of a person , is propelled in a direction along an arc of a circle and suddenly stopped , the weighted mass or slug 16 , by inertia , impacts against one of the resilient cushions 15 , and is caused to impact upon the other resilient cushion 15 as a result of the arm being swung in an opposite direction and of the sudden stopping of the motion of the arm . each time the weighted mass or slug 16 impacts upon a resilient cushion 15 , a somewhat muted knocking sound is emitted , and the impact is felt through the hand of the user indicating to the user that an appropriate amount of energy has been used for swinging the arm and that the motion of the arm has been stopped at the intended upward end of the swing arc . in the structure of fig2 the tubular member 12 is preferably metallic , although it may be made of a plastic material , and the end walls 14 are formed integrally by swaging the ends of the tubular member 12 , as shown at 19 , after cutting the tubular member to an appropriate length , introducing the weighted mass or slug 16 within the bore 18 in the tubular member 12 and disposing the resilient cushions 15 one at each end of the tubular member 12 . the ends of the tubular member 12 are swaged only to the appropriate amount necessary for holding the resilient cushions 15 , such that the end walls 14 are provided with an aperture 20 , preferably of a diameter less than the overall diameter of the weighted mass or slug 16 . the resilient cushions 15 are made of any appropriate rubber - like or elastomeric material , such as polypropylene and the like and are held in position under slight compression . preferably , the tubular member 12 has an outer diameter of about 25 mm to 50 mm , appropriate for enabling grasping the tubular member 12 in one hand , and has a length of , for example , 100 mm to 160 mm . whether made of metal or plastic , the tubular member 12 may be used as such or , preferably , it is disposed in a sleeve 22 , fig3 made of rubber or other convenient material such as polypropylene and the like provided on one side with indentations , as shown at 24 , to form a convenient , non - slipping hand grip . for the sake of convenience and for providing a good appearance a cap 25 , made of the same material as the grip sleeve 22 , is fastened on the other end of the tubular member 12 . although the sleeve 22 may be made of elastomeric material , it may be made of any convenient plastic material , even rigid plastic , as the elastomeric pads or cushions 15 provide appropriate absorption of the impact shocks at each end of the tubular member 12 . fig4 illustrates another example of structure for a rhythm indicator and exerciser device 10 according to the present invention , consisting of a tubular member 12 provided with an integral closure wall 14 at one end of the bore 18 in the tubular member 12 and with an open end . a resilient , rubber - like , or elastomeric , cushion or bumper 15 is disposed at the closed end 14 of the bore 18 and a second resilient or elastomeric cushion 26 is disposed at the open end of the bore 18 . a molded plastic tubular member or sleeve 22 provided with integrally mounted grip indentations 24 on one side is disposed over the tubular member 12 . the molded plastic tubular member or sleeve 22 has a end wall 28 holding the resilient cushion 26 at the open end of the tubular member bore 18 securely in position . a cap 25 may be placed over the other end of the assembly to cover up the end wall 14 of the tubular member 12 . the sleeve 22 may be made of rigid or elastomeric material . referring now to fig5 there is illustrated a further modification of a rhythm indicator and exerciser device 10 , according to the invention , comprising a tubular member 12 open at both ends , the weighted mass or slug 16 being freely disposed in the bore 18 of the tubular member 12 . a sleeve 30 made of molded elastomeric plastic is resiliently and frictionally disposed over the tubular member 12 . the sleeve 30 is open at an end and closed at the other and , as shown at 32 , such as to close one end of the bore 18 of the tubular member 12 . a grip sleeve 22 , provided with appropriate indentations 24 , and made also of elastomeric plastic material , is disposed over the sleeve 30 . the grip sleeve 22 is open at one end and has an end wall 28 at the other end closing the other open end of the bore 18 . in this manner , each time the weighted mass or slug 16 , freely disposed in the bore 18 , impacts upon an end wall 28 or 32 , the impact noise is substantially muted , hardly audible , but nevertheless can be felt through the hand holding the rhythm indicator and exerciser device 10 . both the outer sleeve 22 and the inner sleeve 30 , fitted over the tubular member 12 , are made of elastic , resilient and stretchable material such as rubber or an elastomeric plastic , such as polypropylene and the like , and each has an internal diameter less than , respectively , the outer diameter of the inner sleeve 30 and the outer diameter of the tubular member 12 , with the result that they must be stretched elastically in order to be passed over the respective member disposed within each sleeve , thus providing a sturdy assembly , with no risk of separation of the elements . in the structure of fig6 the tubular member 12 , open on both ends , is disposed in an elastic stretchable grip sleeve 22 providing a resilient end wall 28 for closing an end of the bore 18 in the tubular member 12 . the other end of the bore 18 is closed by a closure cap 34 made also of elastomeric material and providing a resilient end wall 36 for the other open end of the tubular member 12 . the closure cap 34 is elastically held in position over the sleeve 22 at the appropriate end by being provided with inwardly radially projecting annular portions 38 defining grooves 40 therebetween , and integral outwardly projecting annular portions 42 proximate the open end of the sleeve 22 interlock within the grooves 40 of the closure cap 34 . if so desired , the surfaces of the corresponding grooves 40 and projecting annular portions 38 and 42 may be coated with an appropriate solvent or adhesive for the material used , or the closure cap 34 may be heat - welded to the sleeve 22 , to form a permanent assembly . the structure of the rhythm indicator and exerciser device of fig7 - 8 is substantially the same as the structure of fig6 with the exception of the closure cap 34 being provided with a plurality of radial bores 44 , for example in two parallel circular rows , into which snap corresponding pin - like projections 46 peripherally integrally formed proximate the open end of the grip sleeve 22 . fig9 - 10 illustrate a further example of simple structure for a rhythm indicator and exerciser device 10 , consisting of a tubular member 12 encased in an elastomeric sleeve 48 having an end wall 50 closing an open end of the bore 18 in the tubular member 12 . the elastomeric sleeve 48 is open at its other end in the form of a stretchable mouth 52 through which the weighted mass or slug 16 can be slipped during assembly , as shown at fig9 . after the weighted mass or slug 16 has been slipped into the bore 18 of the tubular member 12 , the stretchable mouth 52 of the sleeve 48 is closed by any convenient means , for example by a tie 54 , such as to define another resilient wall 56 closing the other end of the bore 18 and preventing the weighted mass or slug 16 from escaping from within the tubular member 12 . instead of providing the bore 18 of the tubular member 12 with resilient closure end walls , the tubular member 12 may be provided with solid end walls 58 and 60 , fig1 and 12 , and the weighted mass or slug 16 provided at each end with an elastomeric pad or bumper 62 , such as to mute the sound of impact when hitting one of the solid end walls 58 or 60 , fig1 , or , alternatively , the solid metallic weighted mass or slug 16 may be coated with an elastomeric material , as shown at 64 at fig1 , the elastomeric material being preferably thicker , as shown at 66 , at both ends of the weighted mass or slug 16 . referring now to fig1 , a rhythm indicator and exerciser device 10 is illustrated as comprising a cylindrical tubular member 12 , preferably made of metal , a weighted mass or slug 16 being disposed in the tubular member bore 18 . a sleeve 22 , provided with finger - grip indentations 24 , is disposed around the tubular member 12 . each end of the bore 18 in the tubular member 12 is closed by an end cap 68 . each end cap 68 , made of rigid plastic or preferably metal , is in the form of a cylindrical tubular plug provided with an integral partition wall 70 . the internal surface of each end cap 68 , on one side of the partition wall 70 , is provided with an internal thread 72 engaged over a peripheral external thread 74 formed at each end of the tubular member 12 . an elastomeric cushion or pad 76 is bonded or otherwise fastened on one side of the partition wall 70 , such that when the weighted mass or slug 16 impacts upon an elastomeric cushion or pad 76 at each end of its travel within the bore 18 , a muted impact noise is emitted . however , if the user prefers to obtain an audible impact sound , by removing each end cap 68 , turning the end cap around such as to install each end cap 68 on the end of the tubular member 12 by threading the internal thread 78 formed on the inner surface of each end cap 68 on the other side of the partition wall 70 , the solid partition wall 70 , fig1 , is directly impacted by the weighted mass or slug 16 at the end of each stroke thereof , such as to emit an audible knocking sound . the structure of fig1 - 14 thus provides a convertible structure for the rhythm indicator and exerciser device of the invention , permitting the user to use the device , at will , in an audible or in a muted mode . a similar convertible feature may be provided by a slight modification of , for example , the structure of fig6 or fig7 . the modification consists simply , as shown at fig1 in closing each end of the bore 18 of the tubular member 12 , provided with a hand grip sleeve 22 , by a snap - on closure cap 34 made of resilient elastomeric material , with the result that each time the weighted mass or slug 16 impacts upon an elastomeric end wall 36 formed by the top of the snap - on elastomeric closure cap 34 , the impact shock is muted . an annular space 80 is provided between the end edges of the tubular member 12 and sleeve 22 . the user of the device is thus enabled , after removing the end caps 34 and inserting a metallic disk 82 against the bottom of each end cap 34 and reinstalling the end caps 34 in position , to convert the rhythm indicator and exerciser device 10 to one having a solid closure wall at each end , each formed by a metallic disk 82 at each end of the bore 18 of the tubular member 12 , fig1 . an audible knocking sound is thus obtained each time the weighted mass or slug 16 impacts upon the solid closure walls defined by the metallic disk 82 . the rhythm indicator and exerciser device 10 of fig1 - 16 is supplied to the user in the form of a kit , for example without the metallic disk 82 installed in position but supplied separately , with appropriate instructions for the user to effectuate conversions from the muted mode to the audible mode . the weighted mass or slug 16 may have any appropriate length as long as it is shorter than the overall length of the internal bore 18 of the tubular member 12 between the end walls so as to cause an impact sound to be faintly heard by the user , or felt by the hand of the user , when the weighted mass or slug 16 is forcibly projected such as to impact against a resilient end wall . it has been discovered that , in order for the impact shock to be heard faintly , or to be felt by the hand , the ratio of the overall length of the weighted mass or slug 16 to the total length of the internal bore 18 of the tubular member 12 between the end walls should preferably be at most 4 to 7 . for example , if the total length of the bore 18 of the tubular member 12 between the closure end walls is 90 mm ( about 3 . 5 inches ), the overall length of the weighted mass or slug 16 is preferably not more than 50 mm ( about 2 inches ). having thus described the present invention by way of examples of structure given for illustrative purposes only , modifications whereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art ,	0
to assist in understanding the present invention , an electrophotographic copier / duplicator in which the invention may be used will be briefly described . it will be understood , however , that the apparatus of the present invention can be used in other types of apparatus . referring now to the drawings in detail , an electrophotographic apparatus generally designated 10 in fig1 includes a charging station 12 which is effective to apply a uniform charge on a transparent photoconductor 14 . the photoconductor illustrated is an endless web trained about a plurality of rollers and driven in the direction indicated by the arrow 16 . photoconductor 14 has a first surface 18 on the exterior of the web and a second surface 20 on the inside or backside of the web . the web may comprise a layer of photoconductive material at or adjacent to surface 18 and a conductive backing or support layer . an information medium 22 , such as a document to be copied , is illuminated by radiation from flash lamps 24 , and the radiation is reflected from the document and projected by a lens 26 onto the surface 18 of the photoconductor . the radiation striking the charged photoconductor selectively dissipates portions of the charge to form an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor . as shown in fig2 the photoconductor has a plurality of image areas or film frames 28 that are spaced slightly from each other along the length of the web and are also spaced from the side edges of the web . the charge in the area outside the image areas is selectively erased by discharge lamps ( not shown ) in a conventional manner . thus an elongate non - image area 29 is provided along each side edge portion of the web . a magnetic brush development station 30 comprises a housing 31 having a reservoir for a supply of developer material 33 comprising , for example , toner particles and carrier particles . one or more magnetic development brushes are provided for transferring toner particles to the photoconductor for developing the latent image , two such brushes 35 and 37 being illustrated in the drawings . station 30 also includes a toner replenisher 39 which is adapted to furnish new toner to the reservoir beneath the brushes when a motor 41 is driven . as the latent image of document 22 on the photoconductor 14 passes through the development station , the latent image is developed by toner particles from the development station . the resulting toned image then travels past a post - development erase station comprising an erase lamp 32 located adjacent surface 20 of the photoconductor . lamp 32 effective to erase any undeveloped latent image that may remain on the photoconductor after it passes the development station . the erase lamp may also reduce electrical stress in the photoconductor . the toned image next reaches a transfer station 34 where it is transferred to a copy sheet of paper . the copy sheets are fed from a selected one or two paper supplies 36 or 38 . the copy sheet with the toned image thereon is delivered by a vacuum transport 40 to a fusing station 42 where the toner on the sheet is fused to the sheet by heat and pressure . the copy sheet is delivered either along a path 43 leading to a tray 44 or along a path 46 leading to another tray , a finishing apparatus , etc . after the photoconductor passes through transfer station 34 it is cleaned in a cleaning station 47 and is available for another cycle of operation . electrophotographic apparatus as generally described hereinbefore is disclosed in more detail in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 141 , 645 . reference is made to such patent for a more complete description of the apparatus and its operation . in order to control the electrophotographic process , it is known to provide one or more sample control areas 50 of toner in the non - image area 29 of the photoconductor . the control area can be formed by leaving such areas charged when the other parts of the photoconductor outside image areas 28 are discharged , and then exposing the areas to a predetermined level of irradiation . then toner is applied to the control areas by development station 30 . in this manner the density of toner in control areas 50 is directly related to the density of toner in image areas 28 . by way of example , five toned control areas 50 are shown adjacent each one of the image areas 28 on photoconductor 14 ; however , more or fewer control areas could be provided if desired . when multiple control areas for each image area are used for density measurement , the areas preferably are exposed to obtain different density levels of toner so that the electrophotographic process can be checked and controlled for various operating parameters . each of the control areas 50 can be approximately one inch square , for example , and are spaced from each other along the length of the photoconductor . as the control areas 50 pass under the erase lamp 32 , light rays from the lamp travel from the back side 20 of the photoconductor through the photoconductor and the control areas 50 on the front surface 18 of the photoconductor . a photodetector in the form of a small area photodiode 52 is provided closely adjacent the surface 18 of the photoconductor for receiving light rays passing through the control areas 50 as they are driven between the lamp 32 and the photodetector . the light - receiving portion of the photodetector preferably is relatively small or shielded so that at any one time it receives light rays passing through only one of the control areas 50 . preferably the photodetector receives rays directly from an area 50 instead of scattered light rays . a signal generated by the photodetector 52 is provided to a logic and control unit 54 of electrographic apparatus 10 . the logic and control unit is programmed to provide various feedback signals to portions of the apparatus in response to the signal received from the photodetector . for example , the control signal from the photodector can cause the logic and control unit to regulate a number of process parameters such as the voltage applied to the photoconductor 14 at the charging station 12 , the intensity level of lamps 24 at the exposure station to thereby control the exposure of the photoconductor and , when screens are used , to control the spacing of the screen relative to the photoconductor . in general , the signal from the photocodetector 52 can be used to control any process parameter that effects the density of the toned images on the photoconductor . a number of advantages are achieved by the present invention . first of all , the separate light source normally provided for on - line densitometers has been eliminated and light rays from the erase lamp utilized for the purpose of measuring density . secondly , the relatively large area light source comprising erase lamp 32 permits the use of a small area photodiode . as pointed out previously , the scattering of light rays in prior devices required the detector to be a relatively large area photodiode . also , the apparatus of this invention is less sensitive to the position of the photoconductor relative to the photodiode because it does not rely on the scattering principle used by prior apparatus . the invention has been described in detail with particular reference to a preferred embodiment thereof , but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention .	6
referring to the drawings , a lift mechanism 10 is shown attached to the body structure 12 of a sport utility vehicle ( suv ) 14 just inside of the rear cargo opening 16 . the vehicle 14 is equipped with a horizontally hinged lift gate 18 which fits over and closes the opening 16 . the suv 14 is equipped with a bumper 20 which is separated from the floor 22 of the cargo area by way of plastic sill trim 24 . the floor 22 may be equipped with storage compartment hatches 25 and / or foldaway seat mechanisms ( not shown ), all of which are conventional and known in the suv design art . the lift mechanism 10 is shown here lifting and stowing a conventional 4 - wheel , electric “ scooter ” 82 of the type having handlebar steering . such scooters are frequently used by people with limited ambulatory capability to move from place to place . of course , the lift mechanism 10 can be used to hoist , stow and / or deploy many different types of loads which fit wholly or partially into the cargo area of an suv or other transport vehicle . a typical scooter 82 is of such size to be stowable fully within the cargo compartment of the conventional full - sized suv 14 on the floor 22 and with the lift gate 18 fully closed . the weight of a typical scooter is on the order of 300 pounds . the lift mechanism 10 comprises a substantially l - shaped rigid steel boom 26 having a three - sided , partial box section defining an interior channel . the lower end of boom 26 is pivotally attached to an elongate channel bracket hereinafter referred to as a “ mast ” 28 . the mast 28 is also a three - sided , partial box - section element and , like boom 26 , made of 1020 or 1040 steel . it &# 39 ; s opposite parallel sides are far enough apart to allow the boom 26 to fit between them and be pinned in place , as shown in fig4 . the pivotal connection between boom 26 and mast 28 is provided by pin 30 , which fits into any of several holes 32 provided in the mast 28 , so that the lifting mechanism can be adjusted in size for any of several different vehicle designs . as best shown in fig4 , the mast 28 is provided with pivot pin brackets 34 and 36 which are welded to the back surface of the mast . the attachment structure further comprises a rigid , metal pintle plate 42 which is bolted to the d pillar 13 by way of a reinforcing plate 52 . it is to be understood that the reinforcing plate 52 may be customized to the particular vehicle . typically it is an elongate plate or beam having a substantially vertical orientation relative to the body of the vehicle 14 . while shown here attached to a d pillar , it may be attached to any body structure or to a custom crafted structure mounted within the vehicle . pintle 42 has vertical pins 38 and 40 which fit into the holes in brackets 34 and 36 . the pin and bracket arrangement 38 , 40 , 34 , 36 allows the boom 26 and mast 28 to pivot or swing relative to the side of the transport vehicle 14 to stow or deploy scooter 82 . a lock shown in fig7 can hold the mast in any of several angular positions as hereinafter described . to summarize , the lift mechanism comprises the rigid boom 26 , a mounting structure 42 , 52 attached to the vehicle body , and a mast structure 28 for pivotally attaching the boom 26 to the mounting structure 42 , 52 . the lift mechanism 10 further comprises a linear actuator 54 , here an electric ball - screw devise having an electric drive motor , which is connected into the electrical system of the transport vehicle 14 by way of a cable 60 . a suitable switch ( not shown ) is preferably provided . the extension shaft 62 of the actuator 54 is connected to a flange 65 at a midpoint on the rigid boom 26 by way of a block 64 and a pin which allows pivotal movement . the free end of the boom 26 is provided with parallel slots 69 and receives a slide block 70 which can be adjusted and locked at any desired point along the length of the slots 69 by suitable threaded fasteners . a release mechanism 72 depends from the slide block 70 as hereinafter described with reference to fig6 to collect and lift the scooter 82 at an attachment point which is at or near the load &# 39 ; s center of gravity . the length of the upper arm 68 of the boom 26 is such as to permit the mechanism 10 to be pivoted downwardly to either deploy or collect the scooter 82 . assuming the scooter 82 is being collected for stowage , the electric ball - screw actuator 54 is thereafter operated to raise the boom 26 to the position shown in fig2 so that the scooter 82 is lifted up off of the ground to a point which places the wheels just above the level of the bumper 20 and the sill 24 . thereafter , the lifting mechanism with the scooter depending therefrom is swung into the cargo area of the suv 14 as shown in fig3 . at this point , the lifting mechanism 26 is preferably locked in place and the lift gate 18 is closed . looking now to fig5 , an optional and / or alternative mechanism to provide a power assist for adjustment of the position of the slide block 70 along the upper arm 68 is shown . the mechanism includes another electric ball - screw linear actuator 76 having a drive motor 78 receiving dc power through a cable 80 . the actuator 76 has an extension rod 77 which is attached to the slide block 70 to push it out or pull it back along the slots 69 in the upper arm 68 . fig6 and 10 illustrate a preferred mechanism 12 , including a modified slide block 70 ′ for attaching the boom 26 to a tubular steel c - arm 84 which is removably attached by way of a mechanism 85 to the frame of the scooter 82 . the attachment mechanism 85 is a conventional socket with a conventional spring - loaded detent to allow the c - arm 84 to be removably attached in preparation for stowage . it is at or near the center of gravity of the scooter 82 for balance purposes as will be apparent to those skilled in the art . the attachment mechanism is shown to comprise the modified slide block 70 ′, the primary difference between the modified block 70 ′ and the standard block shown in fig5 being the presence of the conical cavity 84 opening to a side slot 86 . the cavity 84 receives the upper ball 88 of a two - part linkage comprising an upper eye 90 and a lower eye 92 , the lower eye 92 being threaded into a steel swivel ball 94 which provides a spherical bearing as hereinafter described . the ball 94 fits into a spherical cavity 96 in an aluminum block 98 , the interior cavity opening to both the top and side as shown for purposes of admitting the ball 94 to the side opening . a latch pin 100 prevents the ball 94 from exiting through the slide of the block 98 until such time as a release lever 104 is pushed to the left as shown in fig6 against the action of a bias spring 106 to move a plate 102 movably mounted on the back of a block 98 . this action pulls the pin 100 out of the cavity and permits the ball 94 to be released . it will be apparent from the foregoing that the lower block 98 is permanently attached to the c - arm 84 which in turn is temporarily and removably attached to the scooter 82 by means of the spring - loaded detent type attachment mechanism 85 . thereafter , the linear actuator associated with the arm 26 is operated to lower the arm until the length of the linkage 90 , 92 is sufficient to collect and attach the scooter 82 to the slide block 70 ′. at this point , the lift mechanism 10 is operated as described above to lift the scooter 82 above the bumper so that it may be swung into the cargo area of the suv as described . referring to fig7 , 8 and 9 , the mechanism for releasably locking the mast 28 in any of several angular positions about a vertical axis and relative to the pintle plate 42 will be described . the mechanism comprises a steel catch plate 102 having a semicircular end surface with tooth - like vertical slots 105 formed therein . the catch plate 102 is proposed between the brackets holding the pins 38 - 40 and is securely welded to the face of the pintle plate 42 . the mechanism further comprises a latch , including a hollow cylindrical metal tube attached to a key 108 which fits into the slots 104 in the catch plate 102 , as best shown in fig8 and 9 . a t - shaped anchor pin 110 fits between holes 112 and the sides of the mast 28 and extends into the hollow interior of the cylindrical element 106 . a spring 114 urges the cylinder 106 and the blade - like key 108 toward the catch plate 102 . a latch pin 116 , having cam lobes 118 formed thereon is pivotally mounted between slots 120 in the sides of the mast 28 so that rotation of the latch pin 116 , between the two positions shown in fig8 and 9 , causes the cam lobes 118 to engage the inside surface of the mast 28 , to slide the cylindrical element 106 and blade - type key 108 back along the axis of the t - shaped anchor pin 110 , between the released position shown in fig8 and the locked position shown in fig9 . it is apparent from these figures that , once the blade key 108 is withdrawn as shown in fig8 , the mast 28 can be swung about the vertical axis through the pins 38 to 40 in the desired position . the locking element 106 and blade key 108 can then be released in such a manner that the spring 114 urges them firmly into one of the slots 104 in the desired position . it is highly desirable to lock the mast 28 relative to the pintle plate 42 in either the stowed or deployed positions to prevent inadvertent rotation thereof while the linear actuators are being used and / or the transport vehicle 14 is being driven . while the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment , it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments but , on the contrary , is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims , which scope is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures as is permitted under the law .	8
a method for synthesizing a plurality of 2d face images of an image object based on a synthesized 3d head object of the image object are described hereinafter for addressing the foregoing problems . for purposes of brevity and clarity , the description of the invention is limited hereinafter to applications related to 2d face synthesis of image objects . this however does not preclude various embodiments of the invention from other applications of similar nature . the fundamental inventive principles of the embodiments of the invention are common throughout the various embodiments . exemplary embodiments of the invention described hereinafter are in accordance with fig1 to 6 of the drawings , in which like elements are numbered with like reference numerals . fig1 shows a two - dimensional ( 2d ) image 100 representation of a human subject to be inspected using face recognition . the 2d image 100 preferably captures a frontal view of the face of the human subject in which the majority of the facial features of the human subject are clearly visible . the facial features include one or more of the eyes , the nose and the mouth of the human subject . by clearly showing the facial features of the human subject in the 2d image 100 , the synthesizing of an accurate representation of a three - dimensional ( 3d ) head object of the human subject can then be performed subsequently . in addition , the 2d image 100 is preferably acquired using a device installed with either a charge - coupled device ( ccd ) or a complementary metal - oxide - semiconductor ( cmos ) sensor . examples of the device include digital cameras , webcams and camcorders . fig2 shows a 3d mesh 200 representing the face of a human subject . the 3d mesh 200 is a generic face model constructed from sampled data obtained from faces of human subjects representing a cross - section of a population . the 3d mesh 200 comprises vertices tessellated for providing the 3d mesh 200 . in addition , the 3d mesh 200 is provided with a plurality of predefined mesh reference points 202 in which the plurality of predefined mesh reference points 202 constitutes a portion of the vertices . the plurality of mesh reference points 202 comprises a first plurality of mesh reference points and a second plurality of mesh reference points . preferably , the first plurality of mesh reference points comprises a portion of the vertices defining left and upper contour portions , and left and right lower contour portions of the face of the human subject . the first plurality of mesh reference points are adjustable for performing global deformation of the 3d mesh 200 . separately , the second plurality of mesh reference points comprises a portion of the vertices around key facial features such as on the left and right eye center , the left and right nose lobe , and the left and right lip ends . the second plurality of mesh reference points are also adjustable for performing local deformation of the 3d mesh 200 . the markings 302 of the first plurality of mesh reference points and the second plurality of mesh reference points are as shown in fig3 . the 3d mesh 200 is then later adapted to the face of the human subject to be inspected using face recognition . from the 2d image 100 of fig1 , a plurality of feature portions of the face of the human subject is identified as shown in fig4 . the plurality of feature portions preferably comprises the eyes , the mouth and the nose of the face of the human subject . in addition , the plurality of feature portions is identified by locating the face of the human subject in the 2d image 100 . the face of the human subject is locatable in the 2d image 100 using methods well known in the art such as knowledge - based methods , feature invariant approaches , template matching methods and appearance - based methods . after the face is located in the 2d image 100 , a region 402 of the face is next identified in order to locate important facial features of the human subject . notably , the facial features correspond to the plurality of feature portions . the identified facial features contained in the region 402 are then detected using edge detection techniques well known in the art . the identified plurality of feature portions is then marked with a plurality of image reference points 404 using a feature extractor as shown in fig4 . specifically , each of the plurality of image reference points 404 has 3d coordinates . in order to obtain substantially accurate 3d coordinates of each of the plurality of image reference points 404 , the feature extractor requires prior training in which the feature extractor is taught how to identify and mark image reference points using training images that are manually labelled and are normalized at a fixed ocular distance . for example , by using an image in which there is a plurality of image feature points , each image feature point ( x , y ) is first extracted using multi - resolution 2d gabor wavelets that are taken in eight different scale resolution and from six different orientations to thereby produce a forty - eight dimensional feature vector . next , in order to improve the extraction resolution of the feature extractor around an image feature point ( x , y ), counter solutions around the region of the image feature point ( x , y ) are collected and the feature extractor is trained to reject the counter solutions . all extracted feature vectors ( also known as positive samples ) of a image feature point are then stored in a stack “ a ” while the feature vectors of counter solutions ( also known as negative samples ) are then stored in a corresponding stack “ b ”. this then produces a forty - eight dimensional feature vector and dimensionality reduction using principal component analysis ( pca ) is then required . thus , dimensionality reduction is performed for both the positive samples ( pca_a ) and the negative samples ( pca_b ). the separability between the positive samples and the negative samples is optimized using linear discriminant analysis ( lda ). the lda computation of the positive samples is performed using the positive samples and negative samples as training sets . two different sets , pca_a ( a ) and pca_a ( b ), are then created from the projection of the positive samples . the set pca_a ( a ) is assigned as class “ 0 ” and the set pca_a ( b ) is assigned as class “ 1 ”. the best linear discriminant is then defined using the fisher linear discriminant analysis on the basis of a two - class problem . the linear discriminant analysis of the set pca_a ( a ) is obtained by computing lda_a ( pca_a ( a )) since a “ 0 ” value must be generated . similarly , the linear discriminant analysis of the set pca_a ( b ) is obtained by computing lda_a ( pca_a ( b )) since a “ 1 ” value must be generated . the separability threshold present between the two classes is then estimated . separately , lda_b undergoes the same process as explained afore for lda_a . however , instead of using the sets , pca_a ( a ) and pca_a ( b ), the sets pca_b ( a ) and pca_b ( b ) are used . two scores are then obtained by subjecting an unknown feature vector , x , through the following two processes : the feature vector , x , is preferably accepted by the process lda_a ( pca_a ( x )) and is preferably rejected by the process lda_b ( pca_b ( x )). the proposition is that two discriminant functions are defined for each class using a decision rule being based on the statistical distribution of the projected data : set “ a ” and set “ b ” are defined as the “ feature ” and “ non - feature ” training sets respectively . further , four one - dimensional clusters are also defined : ga = g ( a ), fb = f ( b ), fa = f ( a ) and gb = f ( b ). the derivation of the mean , x , and standard deviation , σ , of each of the four one - dimensional clusters , fa , fb , ga and gb , are then computed . the mean and standard deviation of fa , fb , ga and gb are respectively expressed as ( x fa , σ fa ), ( x fb , σ fb ), ( x ga , σ ga ) and ( x gb , σ fb ). additionally , for a given vector y , the projections of the vector y using the two discriminant functions are obtained : the vector y is then classified as class “ a ” or “ b ” according to the pseudo - code , which is expressed as : preferably , the plurality of image reference points 404 in 3d are correlated with and estimated from the feature portions of the face in 2d space by a pre - determined function . in addition , as shown in fig4 , the plurality of image reference points 404 being marked on the 2d image 100 are preferably the left and right eyes center , nose tip , the left and right nose lobes , the left and upper contours , the left and right lower contours , the left and right lip ends and the chin tip contour . the head pose of the human subject in the 2d image 100 is estimated prior to deformation of the 3d mesh 200 . first , the 3d mesh 200 is rotated at an azimuth angle , and edges are extracted using an edge detection algorithm such as the canny edge detector . 3d mesh - edge maps are then computed for the 3d mesh 200 for azimuth angles ranging from − 90 degrees to + 90 degrees , in increments of 5 degrees . preferably , the 3d mesh - edge maps are computed only once and stored off - line in an image array . to estimate the head pose in the 2d image 100 , the edges of the 2d image 100 are extracted using the edge detection algorithm to obtain an image edge map ( not shown ) of the 2d image 100 . each of the 3d mesh - edge maps is compared to the image edge map to determine which pose results in the best overlap of the 3d mesh - edge maps . to compute the disparity between the 3d mesh - edge maps , the euclidean distance - transform ( dt ) of the image edge map is computed . for each pixel in the image edge map , the dt process assigns a number that represents the distance between that pixel and the nearest non - zero pixel of the image edge map . the value of the cost function , f , of each of the 3d mesh - edge maps is then computed . the cost function , f , which measures the disparity between the 3d mesh - edge maps and the image edge map is expressed as : where a em ≅{( i , j ): em ( i , j )= 1 } and n is the cardinality of set a em ( total number of nonzero pixels in the 3d mesh - edge map em ). f is the average distance - transform value at the nonzero pixels of the image edge map . the pose for which the corresponding 3d mesh - edge map results in the lowest value of f is the estimated head - pose for the 2d image 100 . once the pose of the human subject in the 2d image 100 is known , the 3d mesh 200 undergoes global deformation for spatially and dimensionally registering the 3d mesh 200 to the 2d image 100 . the deformation of the 3d mesh 200 is shown in fig5 . typically , an affine deformation model for the global deformation of the 3d mesh 200 is used and the plurality of image reference points is used to determine a solution for the affine parameters . a typical affine model used for the global deformation is expressed as : where ( x , y , z ) are the 3d coordinates of the vertices of the 3d mesh 200 , and subscript “ gb ” denotes global deformation . the affine model appropriately stretches or shrinks the 3d mesh 200 along the x and y axes and also takes into account the shearing occurring in the x - y plane . the affine deformation parameters are obtained by minimizing the re - projection error of the first plurality of mesh reference points on the rotated deformed 3d mesh 200 and the corresponding 2d locations in the 2d image 100 . the 2d projection ( x f , y f ) of the 3d feature points ( x f , y f , z f ) on the deformed 3d mesh 200 is expressed as : where r 12 is the matrix containing the top two rows of the rotation matrix corresponding to the estimated head pose for the 2d image 100 . by using the 3d coordinates of the plurality of image reference points , equation ( 9 ) can then be reformulated into a linear system of equations . the affine deformation parameters p =[ a 11 , a 12 , a 21 , a 22 , b 1 , b 2 ] t are then determinable by obtaining a least - squares ( ls ) solution of the linear system of equations . the 3d mesh 200 is globally deformed according to these parameters , thus ensuring that the 3d head object 600 created conforms with the approximate shape of the face of the human subject and the significant features are properly aligned . the 3d head object 600 is shown in fig6 . in addition , to more accurately adapt the 3d mesh 200 to the human subject &# 39 ; s face from the 2d image 100 , local deformations are introducible in the globally deformed 3d mesh 200 . local deformations of the 3d mesh 200 is performed via displacement of the second plurality of mesh reference points towards corresponding portions of the plurality of the image reference points 404 in 3d space . displacements of the second plurality of mesh reference points are perturbated to the vertices extending therebetween on the 3d mesh 200 . the perturbated displacements of the vertices are preferably estimated using a radial basis function . once the 3d mesh 200 is adapted and deformed according to the 2d image 100 , the texture of the human subject is extracted and mapped onto the 3d head object 600 for visualization . the 3d head object 600 with texture mapping being applied onto is then an approximate representation of the head object of the human subject in the 2d image 100 . lastly , a series of synthesized 2d images of the 3d head object 600 in various predefined orientations and poses in 3d space are captured for creating a database of synthesized 2d images 100 of the human subject . in addition , the 3d head object 600 is further manipulated such as viewing the 3d head object 600 in simulated lighting conditions with respect to different angles . the database then provides the basis for performing face recognition of the human subject under any conceivable conditions . face recognition is typically performed within acceptable error tolerances of a face recognition system . in the foregoing manner , a method for synthesizing a plurality of 2d face images of an image object based on a synthesized 3d head object of the image object is described according to embodiments of the invention for addressing at least one of the foregoing disadvantages . although a few embodiments of the invention are disclosed , it will be apparent to one skilled in the art in view of this disclosure that numerous changes and / or modification can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .	6
referring to the drawings and particularly fig1 and 2 , there is illustrated a tower packing element generally designated by the numeral 10 . packing element 10 may be formed of a variety of strip materials including , but not limited to , metal , plastic and ceramic . the details regarding the differences in forming the packing element 10 of different strip materials are beyond the scope of the present invention and are disclosed in detail in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 200 , 119 which is incorporated herein by reference . packing element 10 is formed in the combination of an arcuate portion 12 and a straight leg portion 14 . arcuate portion 12 has been chosen by example to be in the shape of a parabola having a free end 16 and a connection point 18 . straight leg portion 14 is tangentially attached to arcuate portion 12 at connection point 18 . this wide open shape of packing element 10 provides ready accessibility to liquids , gases , and contact with neighboring packing elements . further the shape of the packing element 10 provides an optimum number of packing element pieces per cubic foot of mass transfer tower , thereby optimizing performance . referring to fig4 there is diagrammatically illustrated the enhanced open features of the shape of packing element 10 . the length of straight leg portion 14 shown in fig4 is substantially equal to the length of cord 19 . however , it should be understood that in accordance with the present invention the length of the leg portion may vary in a range between about one half to one and a half times the length of the cord 19 . cord 19 is an imaginary line formed between connection point 18 and free end 16 of the arcuate portion 12 . as illustrated in fig1 and 2 , a plurality of slots generally designated by the numeral 20 are provided in packing element 10 for promoting uniform flow of liquids and gases through the packing element . slots 22 and 24 are located in arcuate portion 12 , and slots 26 , 28 , 30 , 32 , 34 and 36 are located in straight leg portion 14 . slots 22 , 26 , 30 and 34 are of different lengths . a plurality of tongues generally designated by the numeral 38 depend from slots 20 of the packing element 10 to increase and enhance the effectiveness of the surface area . this construction provides ready accessibility to liquid - gas traffic passing through the packed bed as well as to promote increased direct contact between adjacent packing elements . tongues 40 and 42 depend from the confines of slots 22 and 24 , respectively , in the arcuate portion 12 . tongues 44 , 46 , 48 , 50 , 52 and 54 depend from the confines of slots 26 , 28 , 30 , 32 , 34 and 36 , respectively , in the straight leg portion 14 . the lengths of tongues 38 shown in fig1 are substantially equal to the lengths of the respective slots 20 from which they depend . in other embodiments , the tongues 38 are longer or shorter than the slots 20 . additionally , the tongues can be straight or curved or a combination of a straight section and a curved section . although , tongues 38 are shown as depending into the center of packing element 10 , it should be understood that in accordance with the present invention selected tongues may extend upwardly away from the straight leg portion 14 . referring to fig3 there is illustrated angle a formed by the intersection of imaginary normal lines 56 and 58 . normal line 56 is perpendicular to tangent line 60 . line 60 is a line tangent to arcuate portion 12 at free end 16 . likewise , normal line 58 is perpendicular to tangent line 62 . line 62 is tangent to arcuate portion 12 at connection point 18 . the angle a is a critical parameter in the performance of the packing element to enhance the mass transfer properties of the packing element 10 . preferably the angle a is in the range between about 70 ° to 90 ° and most preferably in the range between about 75 ° to 85 °. the operation of the above described packing element 10 of the present invention constitutes a substantial improvement over known tongue - bearing packing elements , as for example slotted ring packings and variations thereof , some of which embody various diameter - height aspect ratios . with the prior art slotted rings , the tongues are confined to the inside of the rings and do not make significant contact with the neighboring pieces . the undesirable feature of positioning the tongues inside the slotted rings adversely affects the pressure drop and mass transfer . with the novel open ended randomly dumped packing elements 10 of the present invention , these adverse effects are overcome . as illustrated in fig2 the packing element 10 has two distinct rows of slots 20 and tongues 38 . the number of rows is selective and is based on the overall size of the packing element 10 . preferably , the width of slots 20 , for the largest to the smallest embodiment of the packing elements 10 , is substantially within the range of 1 . 00 to 0 . 10 inch . to ensure that the packing element 10 has both sufficient strength to withstand the long term pressure built up in a mass transfer tower , as well as , sufficient accessibility to liquid - gas flow , the surface area of the slots relative to the total surface area of the packing element 10 is preferably within the range between about 15 to 90 percent and most preferably within the range between 25 to 75 percent . referring to fig5 in order to provide added strength to the packing element 10 , there is illustrated stiffening grooves 72 in the surfaces 74 separating rows 64 , 66 , and 68 of slots 20 . the number of stiffening grooves 72 is dependent on the size and application of the packing element 10 . in order to promote the quality of irrigation by the liquid and thereby increase the mass transfer efficiency , a plurality of drip points 76 are provided on packing element 10 , as shown in fig5 . one method of forming drip points 76 is to serrate terminal free ends 78 of packing element 10 , as illustrated in fig5 . according to the provisions of the patent statutes , i have explained the principle , preferred construction , and mode of operation of my invention and have illustrated and described what i now consider to represent its best embodiments . however , it should be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described .	8
the following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the described embodiments or the application and uses of the described embodiments . as used herein , the word “ exemplary ” or “ illustrative ” means “ serving as an example , instance , or illustration .” any implementation described herein as “ exemplary ” or “ illustrative ” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations . all of the implementations described below are exemplary implementations provided to enable persons skilled in the art to make or use the invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention , which is defined by the claims . furthermore , there is no intention to be bound by any expressed or implied theory presented in the preceding technical field , background , brief summary or the following detailed description . referring now to fig2 - 4b , an illustrative embodiment of the composite sandwich shell edge joint , hereinafter joint , is generally indicated by reference numeral 1 . in some applications , the joint 1 may be applied as a skirt end joint on a composite cryotank 34 used for launch vehicles in the aerospace industry . however , it is to be understood that the joint 1 may be applicable to joining composite materials in any other type of structure and may serve as a minimum weight solution for a wide range of structures in various industries . the joint 1 may achieve greater efficiencies than conventional joints for weight - critical applications such as aerospace structures , for example and without limitation . the joint 1 may be an all - composite joint , thereby avoiding the manufacturing and stress problems rising from coefficient of thermal expansion mismatch in hybrid joints with metal rings attached to composite shells . as shown in fig2 , the composite cryotank 34 may include a generally cylindrical tank wall 35 and a tank dome 36 on the tank wall 35 . as shown in fig4 , the tank wall 35 may include a fluted core 37 . multiple joints 1 may be arranged in adjacent relationship to each other on the fluted core 37 and along the edge of the tank wall 35 . as illustrated in fig4 , each joint 1 may include a joint body 2 having an outboard tapered buildup pad 5 ; an inboard tapered buildup pad 6 ; and bridging plies 7 which connect the outboard tapered buildup pad 5 and the inboard tapered buildup pad 6 . an outboard facesheet 3 may be co - cured , co - bonded or bonded to the outboard tapered buildup pad 5 . an inboard facesheet 4 may be co - cured , co - bonded or bonded to the inboard tapered buildup pad 6 . as further shown in fig4 , a barrel nut 14 may extend through the barrel nut opening 13 and may be engaged by bolt 12 which is inserted into an opening in the bridging plies 7 . the barrel nut 14 may be a standard fastener type which is well - suited to incorporation in the joint 1 . the barrel nut 14 may be positioned so that the interfacing fastener centerline is nominally located on the center surface of the sandwich shell which is defined by the outboard facesheet 3 and the inboard facesheet 4 . this placement of the barrel nut 14 may minimize bending loads being introduced into the tank wall 35 by limiting loading to mainly tension loads transmitted through the barrel nut . in some applications , if needed , additional joint strength may be obtained by using custom barrel nuts with a larger surface area in bearing against the bridging plies 7 and facesheets 3 and 4 and / or with radiused comers at the ends of the cylindrical nut body of the barrel nut . the number of joints 1 , hence barrel nuts 14 , which are used in a given application can be determined by the tensile line load that each joint 1 must carry . the composite outboard tapered buildup pad 5 and inboard tapered buildup pad 6 of the joint body 2 may be configured to efficiently transfer load from the barrel nut 14 to the outboard facesheet 3 and the inboard facesheet 4 . fabrication methods may provide good clamp - up pressure to the film adhesive bondlines between the buildup pads 5 , 6 and facesheets 3 , 4 . a thin , uniform , bondline is stronger than a thick bondline or one with varying thickness across the bond . overall pad width of each buildup pad 5 , 6 , as shown in fig4 , may be chosen to minimize the unsupported length of the facesheet 3 , 4 between pads 5 , 6 . the width of the pads 5 , 6 at their interface to the bridging plies 7 may be chosen to provide sufficient area to meet the joint compressive line load requirements . pad , at right angles to the joint edge , may be dictated by the length of solid laminate required to transfer loads from the bridging plies 7 to the pads 5 , 6 plus the length of tapered flange required to shear load into the facesheets 3 , 4 without delamination . as shown in fig4 a , the extensions 3 a , 4 a of the facesheets 3 , 4 , respectively , past the bridging plies 7 may be chosen to match the fore - and - aft length 8 of the buildup pads 5 , 6 , so that there may be a minimal length of unsupported face sheet 3 , 4 between the bridging plies 7 and the pads 5 , 6 . each buildup pad 5 , 6 may be thickest in the area where the barrel nut 14 is installed and may taper toward the edges . the thin edges on the build - up pads 5 , 6 may reduce shear peaking to maximize attainable bonded joint strength . fluted cores , for example and without limitation , may be a good candidate for launch vehicle composite sandwich structures because of their suitability for pre - launch purging . fig4 b illustrates how the two tapering buildup pads 5 , 6 extending toward the bridging plies 7 form a natural plenum 9 for distributing flows between flutes 11 . in this instance , purge requirements may lead to extending the longitudinal flanges of the buildup pads 5 , 6 to increase the cross - sectional area of the plenum 9 they naturally form . depending on whether purge flows are to be immediately vented overboard or collected for disposal at some distance from the launch pad , venting cutouts ( not illustrated ) may be added to the skirt ends between barrel nut installations or a closeout channel 13 may be added over the component - to - component interface surface to seal off the plenum 9 . solid laminate may be required across the section in which each barrel nut 14 is installed . this may be obtained by placing the bridging plies 7 between the two buildup pads 5 , 6 . since the bridging plies 7 may pick up only a small fraction of the load transmitted through the barrel nut 14 , the joints between the bridging plies 7 and the buildup pads 5 , 6 may be less critical than the bonded joints between the buildup pads 5 , 6 and the facesheets 3 , 4 . fig5 provides a schematic process flow for a preferred method of making the fitting . since a full scale sandwich panel of the fitting may be in the neighborhood of 1 . 5 ″ thick , the fitting may consist of a couple of hundred specially orientated and shaped rectangular blanks . therefore , it is suggested that an ultrasonic cutout / pick and place machine that is commercially available be used to size and stack these laminate layers . a spacer insert is required when all the lower tapered plies are in place to support and define edge periphery during cure . once the insert is in place , the top tapered plies can be placed . to insure tight dimensional control the fitting is made in a compression picture frame die using relatively high cure pressures ( 100 to 500 psi ) to insure that the material squeezes down to the desired thickness and that the part is free from porosity . the fabrication process for the fittings used in the present disclosure composite sandwich shell edge joint is shown in fig5 and 7 . fig5 is a block diagram illustrating the process flow for the fabrication of the fittings . for instance , in the process steps 501 , 502 , 503 , 504 , and 505 , the forming tool , which includes the compactor tool 520 , the collar tool 550 and the cavity tool 570 , is first prepared by cleaning and applying a release coating . the prepreg tapes are then removed from the freezer and ultrasonically cut to variable rectangular sizes . this includes , as shown in fig6 , the outboard ply stack 530 , the bridge ply stack 540 and the inboard ply stack 560 . after a layer of peel ply is placed in the tool 570 , a first stack half of rectangular plies stack 560 is placed manually or by a stack machine . in the next process steps of 506 , 507 , 508 and 509 , a spacer of a collar tool 550 is inserted into the cavity tool 570 . a second stack half of rectangular plies , or the bridge ply stack 540 is then manually or automatically placed in the die . after a layer of a peel ply is placed on the laminate stack formed by the inboard ply stack 560 , the bridge ply stack 540 and the outboard ply stack 530 , the compactor tool 520 is then closed and the part is cured . in the final steps of 510 , 511 , 512 , 513 , 514 and 515 , the fitting after cured is removed from the tool and the periphery of the fitting is de - flashed . a co - bond / co - cure collar is then inserted while the peel ply is removed and a film adhesive layer is applied , the fittings are then inserted into a sandwich lay - up . it should be noted that steps 512 - 515 involve the mounting of the fittings into a sandwich lay - up . the various processing steps for forming the fitting are further shown in fig7 in six steps of 7 a , 7 b , 7 c , 7 d , 7 e and 7 f . for instance , 7 a shows the inboard ply stack is placed in the cavity tool 570 , 7 b shows the collar tool 550 is placed on top of inboard ply stack 560 , 7 c shows that the bridge ply stack 540 is placed in the pocket 552 of collar tool 550 , 7 d shows that the outboard ply stack 530 is placed in the cavity tool 570 , 7 e shows that the compactor tool 520 is placed on top of the outboard ply stack 530 and cured , and 7 f shows a cured fitting 580 removed from the tooling . fig8 is a block diagram illustrating the process flow for joining fittings to a composite sandwich shell edge . in general , the fittings must be supported by either hard or collapsible / expandable spacers . the major flow steps , as shown in fig9 , include placing the inner skin 902 , placing the flutes 904 and fitting / spacers 906 on the inner skin 902 , and then placing the outer skin 912 on the flutes 904 and spacers 906 . these steps are shown as steps 801 , 802 , 803 , 804 , 805 , 806 , 807 , 808 , 809 , and 810 in fig8 . on one side of the part , the fittings 906 can be co - bonded in place with adhesive , but on the other side the fittings must be initially placed with a release film and peel ply and secondarily bonded with film adhesive . the bonded side fitting must be temporarily removed after initial cure to allow for flute mandrel extraction . these steps are shown in fig8 by the steps of 811 , 812 , 813 and 814 . later they can be reinserted into the sandwich panel , with film adhesive , to facilitate a high temperature bond ( 250 ° or 350 ° f .). removable spacer tooling must be used to support fittings that are undergoing co - bond or bond . but solid spacer tools can be used when the fittings are subsequently removed to allow for flute mandrel removal . fittings can be located on sandwich panel skins using a laser projection system , tooling pins at the barrel nut locations , or a system where the spacers pin to the lay - up mandrel . in so doing , the fittings are bonded to the sandwich panel to exacting dimensions ( i . e ., ± 0 . 005 ″). moreover , unlike other metallic and composite end ring solutions , the fittings described in this disclosure require no mechanical fasteners to facilitate joining to sandwich panel face skins . these steps are represented in fig8 by steps 815 , 816 , 817 , 818 , 819 , 820 , 821 and 822 . fig9 a - 9f represent graphical representation of the process steps shown in fig8 . for instance , fig9 a shows an inner facesheet 902 is first laid up , and then wrapped flute mandrels 904 are placed on top . fig9 b shows that fittings 906 each with supporting , inflatable collars 908 and a release film 910 are then placed on top of the inner facesheet 902 . in the next step of the process shown in fig9 c , an outer facesheet 912 is laid up over the flutes 904 and the fittings 906 . fig9 d shows that fittings 906 and collars 908 are removed prior to the removal of the flute mandrels 914 . the process then continues in fig9 e wherein fittings 906 and supporting inflatable collars 908 are replaced into the cavities formed between the inner facesheet 902 and the outer facesheet 912 . the fittings 906 are bonded using film adhesive . in the final step of the process , shown in fig9 f , the inflatable collars 908 are removed to complete the skirt - end joint layup . as shown in fig1 , the mating side of the joint 1 may incorporate a male threaded fastener to engage the barrel nut 14 . a variety of conventional joint types may be suitable for the purpose . in some applications , for example , a finger ring 30 having “ mouse holes ” 31 may be used for tins purpose . the finger ring 30 may be fastened to each joint 1 by extending a bolt 28 through a bolt opening ( not shown ) in the finger ring 30 and inserting the bolt 28 into the barrel nut installed in the joint body 2 of the joint 1 . the opening in the cryotank skirt joint that allows the bolt to reach the barrel nut is shown as 38 in fig3 . referring next to fig1 and 12 , embodiments of the disclosure may be used in the context of a spacecraft manufacturing and service method 100 as shown in fig1 and a spacecraft 200 as shown in fig1 . during pre - production , exemplary method 100 may include specification and design 102 of the spacecraft 200 and material procurement 104 . during production , component and subassembly manufacturing 106 and system integration 108 of the spacecraft 200 takes place . thereafter , the spacecraft 200 may go through certification and delivery 110 in order to be placed in service 112 . while in service by a customer , the spacecraft 200 may be scheduled for routine maintenance and service 114 ( which may also include modification , reconfiguration , refurbishment , and so on ). each of the processes of method 100 may be performed or carried out by a system integrator , a third party , and / or an operator ( e . g ., a customer ). for the purposes of this description , a system integrator may include without limitation any number of aircraft manufacturers and major - system subcontractors ; a third party may include without limitation any number of vendors , subcontractors , and suppliers ; and an operator may be an airline , leasing company , military entity , service organization , and so on . as shown in fig1 , the spacecraft 200 produced by exemplary method 100 may include a structure 202 with a plurality of systems 204 and an interior 206 . examples of high - level systems 204 include one or more of a propulsion system 208 , an electrical system 210 , a hydraulic system 212 , and an environmental system 214 . any number of other systems may be included . although an aerospace example is shown , the principles of the invention may be applied to other industries , such as the automotive industry . the apparatus embodied herein may be employed during any one or more of the stages of the production and service method 100 . for example , components or subassemblies corresponding to production process 106 may be fabricated or manufactured in a manner similar to components or subassemblies produced while the spacecraft 200 is in service . also one or more apparatus embodiments may be utilized during the production stages 106 and 108 , for example , by substantially expediting assembly of or reducing the cost of a spacecraft 200 . similarly , one or more apparatus embodiments may be utilized while the spacecraft 200 is in service , for example and without limitation , to maintenance and service 114 . although the embodiments of this disclosure have been described with respect to certain exemplary embodiments , it is to be understood that the specific embodiments are for purposes of illustration and not limitation , as other variations will occur to those of skill in the art .	1
now referring to fig1 a preferred embodiment of the subject invention is shown as gas mixer and reactor 10 . gas mixer and reactor 10 basically comprises a metallic gas injector member 12 which is attached to a furnace 14 via flanges 16 and nut and bolt assemblies 18 , and tile member 20 which forms the inlet of furnace 14 . elongated gas flow chamber 22 is positioned within gas injector member 12 and communicates with gas supply manifold 24 on its inlet end and with tile member 20 on its outlet end . it is noted that elongated gas flow chamber 22 can have any convenient cross - sectional configuration such as for example oval , rectangular or square , but it is preferred that it have a circular cross - sectional configuration and comprise a cylindrical shape . therefore , elongated gas flow chamber 22 will hereinafter be described as having a generally circular cross - sectional area . gas supply manifold 24 is positioned around the first end of elongated gas flow chamber 22 and communicates with gas inlet port 26 . gas inlet port 26 basically comprises a cylindrical inlet member 28 with suitable connecting flange 30 . the internal end 32 of cylindrical member 28 extends to a point closely adjacent to the sidewall of elongated gas flow chamber 22 and is cut in a tapered manner as shown in the drawings to provide a baffle or is otherwise baffled to assure that gas passing through the inlet port 26 will uniformly fill the manifold 24 and pass into the interior of the elongated gas flow chamber 22 , radially , ( in an annular flow path as illustrated by arrows 34 .) it is noted that in some instances the baffle can be totally eliminated , if desired . three rows of apertures 36 , 38 and 40 are positioned about the outlet end of elongated gas flow chamber 22 . as shown , nozzle apertures 36 and 38 communicate with annular gas manifold 42 . gas inlet port 44 which is a similar configuration to gas inlet port 26 operatively communicates with annular gas manifold 42 . similarly , nozzle apertures 40 communicate with annular gas manifold 46 which in turn operatively communicates with gas inlet port 48 . as shown , nozzle apertures , 36 , 38 and 40 are angled toward the interior of tile member 20 . in a preferred embodiment nozzle apertures 36 , 38 and 40 are angled for impingement at the center line or axis of the reaction chamber 52 within tile member 20 . according to an alternate preferred embodiment , nozzles 36 , 38 ( and 40 , if desired ) are skewed in relation to one another and directed toward impingement at points 50 within tile member 20 . it should be noted that the subject invention can utilize any number of nozzle apertures such as 36 , 38 and 40 spaced relative to one another in any desired number of rows , but three rows of such nozzle apertures are shown together with the annular gas manifolds 42 and 46 for illustrative purposes only . tile member 20 basically comprises a short cylindrical reaction chamber 52 made from ceramic tile members 54 . inset annular step 56 is positioned at the outlet of reaction chamber 52 and extends inwardly in an annular manner to thereby form an outlet aperture 58 which is smaller in diameter than the interior of reaction chamber 52 . radiation shield 60 is positioned adjacent the inlet end of elongated gas flow chamber 22 and comprises a dish shaped member having a reflective surface which faces the interior of elongated gas flow chamber 22 . sight port 62 is positioned behind radiation shield 60 on the axis of elongated gas flow chamber 22 . pilot burner 64 extends through the sidewall of gas injector member 12 , radiation shield 60 , and to a point adjacent the midportion of elongated gas flow chamber 22 as shown in fig1 . furthermore , scanner mount 66 is positioned through the sidewall of gas injector member 12 and in alignment with suitable aperture means through radiation shield 60 . as shown in broken lines in fig1 a focal point between the projection of pilot burner 64 , sight port 62 , and scanner mount 66 exists at the end of elongated gas flow chamber 22 . the gas mixer and reactor 10 can be utilized to react various gaseous constituents in three basic modes of operation as illustrated in fig2 and 4 . the three basic modes of operation of gas mixer and reactor 10 will be illustrated in relation to the process of producing an atmosphere to be used in a kiln . in this process , air is preferably delivered to gas manifold 24 via gas inlet port 26 , the fuel gas is delivered to annular gas manifold 42 via gas inlet port 44 and an inert gas is delivered to gas manifold 46 via gas inlet port 48 . thus , fuel gas is delivered from nozzle apertures 36 and 38 while inert gas is delivered from nozzle apertures 40 . the first mode of operation is shown in fig2 which utilizes relatively high flow rates of all three gaseous streams , and nozzle apertures 36 , 38 and 40 are angled in such a manner as to converge on the centerline of the short cylindrical reaction chamber 52 , and within reaction chamber 52 . the fuel and air are delivered in ratios such that the desired atmosphere results upon combustion . inert gases may be employed to further control the resulting atmosphere . for example , atmospheres may be produced which are either free or high in hydrogen , carbon monoxide , oxygen or free carbon . as shown in fig2 the nozzle apertures 36 , 38 and 40 are directed into the reaction chamber 52 and impinge at the center line or axis of reaction chamber 52 as shown by arrows 33 . the air is introduced through gas port 24 and passes around the annular gas flow manifold 24 and then radially into the interior of elongated gas flow chamber 22 as shown by arrows 34 . the introduction of the air in a uniformly annular manner about the inner periphery of elongated gas flow chamber 22 results in a substantially parabolic velocity front 70 as depicted by flow arrows 71 in fig2 . this substantially parabolic velocity front passes through the elongated gas flow chamber 22 into the turbulent region 72 formed by impingement of the fuel gas and inert gas streams within reaction chamber 52 to form a uniform mixture depicted as 74 of air , inert gas and fuel gas which is ignited ( initially by the action of the pilot burner 64 not shown in fig2 ). it is noted that the action of inset annular step 56 on the gas mixture results in further turbulence and further admixing as combustion occurs and the combusting mixture of expanding gases 76 exit via outlet aperture 58 . in the second mode of operation as schematically depicted in fig3 the gas flow rates of all three streams are generally high as described in fig2 but nozzle apertures 36 and 38 and if desired , 40 , are skewed and directed toward points 50 which comprises the intersection between inset annular step 56 and the internal periphery of reaction chamber 52 . when operating in this mode the air is passed radially inwardly into the interior of elongated gas flow chamber 22 as described in relation to fig2 to form the substantially parabolic velocity front 70 . furthermore , the fuel gas passing from nozzle apertures 36 and 38 impinges upon points 50 to form areas of turbulence 78 . the nozzle apertures 40 can either be skewed to contact points 50 or merely aimed at the center line of reaction chamber 52 in a manner described above in relation to fig2 . as shown in fig3 nozzle apertures 40 are angled to impinge on the center line within reaction chamber 52 . the substantially parabolic velocity front of air 70 contacts the points of impingement and turbulence thereby created at 78 to form a uniform mixture of the air and fuel gas . the mixture is ignited initially by the action of pilot burner 64 to form the combusting mixture 76 which is passed into the kiln via aperture 58 . the third mode of operation is schematically illustrated in fig4 . in this mode of operation the gas flow rates from apertures 36 , 38 and 40 is relatively low . as shown , the flow rates of fuel gas and inert gas from nozzle apertures 36 , 38 and 40 are not of sufficient velocity to cause impingement either at the center line within reaction chamber 52 or at points 50 opposite the nozzle apertures . the flows from these nozzle apertures merely trails along the inner periphery of reaction chamber 52 with only a small amount of mixing occurring with the air stream until contact is made with inset annular step 56 . at this point turbulent areas 80 result to cause intimate admixture of the inert gas , fuel and air . the mixture is ignited and the combusting mixture 76 is passed from the thermal reaction zone via outlet aperture 58 . in this mode , with the low flow rates , it is many times necessary to maintain a constant pilot flame emitting from pilot burner 64 ( not shown in fig4 ). it is noted that in all three modes of operation as described above in relation to fig2 and 4 the interior of reaction zone 52 is readily viewable via sight port 62 ( fig1 ). in addition , since the gas flows are constantly passing from gas injection member 12 to the interior of the ceramically lined tile member 20 , and because of the relatively great distance from the metal parts within gas injector member 12 from reaction chamber 52 , thermal convection and heat deterioration of the metal parts within the gas injector member 12 are diminished . in addition , the orientation of elongated gas flow chamber 22 is such that the gases flowing therethrough provide a cooling effect for all metal parts . furthermore , elongated gas flow chamber 22 is so disposed as to be shielded from radiation . furthermore , very little corrosive action can occur to the metal parts within the gas injector member 12 since the mixing and combusting operations mainly occur within the tile member 20 . now referring to fig5 a process is schematically depicted illustrating the gas mixer and reactor of the subject invention as gas mixer and reactor 10d . in this embodiment , gas mixer and reactor 10d is utilized to control the atmosphere within kiln 250 . gas mixer and reactor 10d is schematically depicted but can have the basic configuration shown in fig1 . accordingly , air conduit 252 operatively communicates with gas inlet port 26d and has flow control valve 254 and flow rate sensor 256 operatively disposed therein . valve 254 communicates with the output of flow ratio controller 258 , and flow rate sensor 256 communicates with an input of flow ratio controller 258 as schematically depicted as fig5 . gas inlet port 44d is in communication with fuel gas conduit 260 . fuel gas conduit 260 has flow control valve 262 and flow rate sensor 264 operatively disposed therein . valve 262 is operatively connected to the output of temperature controller 266 and flow rate sensor 264 is operatively connected to an input of flow ratio controller 258 . inert gas inlet conduit 268 operatively communicates with gas inlet port 48d and has valve 270 disposed therein . valve 270 is operatively connected to the output of temperature controller 272 . the outlet 58d of gas mixer and reactor 10d communicates with the interior of furnace chamber 274 . the duct 276 which forms the outlet of furnace chamber 274 communicates with the interior of kiln 250 . temperature sensor probe 278 communicates with the interior of duct 276 and transmits an input to temperature controller 272 . in similar manner , temperature probe 280 communicates with the interior of kiln 250 and communicates an input to temperature controller 266 . in operation , gas mixer and reactor 10d is supplied with a light hydrocarbon fuel or natural gas via conduit 260 . this fuel is burned in such a way to produce atmospheres which can be either free of or high in hydrogen , carbon monoxide , oxygen and free carbon . an essentially neutral atmosphere exists at stoichiometric combustion conditions . with appropriate controls , firing rates can be varied to obtain desired time , composition , and temperature . moderation of the temperature within kiln 250 is obtained by introducing an inert gas through conduit 268 . the inert gas is introduced through conduit 268 in response to temperature controller 272 . this inert gas can comprise carbon dioxide , nitrogen , recycled products of combustion or any other inert gas which is non - deleterious to the kiln atmosphere . inert fluid conduit 282 operatively communicates with the interior of kiln 250 and has flow sensor 284 and flow control valve 286 operatively positioned therein . flow sensor 284 is operatively connected to the input of flow controller 288 and flow control valve 286 is operatively connected to the output of flow controller 288 . this arrangement will provide a constant uniform flow of an inert gas into the interior of kiln 250 . the inert gas can be the same type as passed through conduit 268 . thus temperature controller 272 can be preset at any suitable temperature and correlated with valve 270 to result in any desired temperature of the gases passing through duct 276 . likewise , temperature controller 266 can be correlated with valve 262 to cause increases and decreases in the kiln temperature as desired . as an example of suitable operation , when gas mixer and reactor 10d is employed to produce an atmosphere containing free carbon the air rate can be adjusted to 16 , 000 standard cu . ft . per hour with a methane rate of 3200 standard cu . ft . per hour ; and with the same air rate an oxygen free slightly reducing atmosphere is created by supplying methane at 1800 standard cu . ft . per hour . furthermore , with the same air rate a neutral atmosphere is provided by supplying methane at 1750 standard cu . ft . per hour . still furthermore , at the same air rate , a hydrogen free slightly oxidizing atmosphere is produced by supplying methane at a rate of 1700 standard cu . ft . per hour . furthermore , still at the same air rate , an oxygen rich atmosphere provided by supplying the methane at a rate of 875 standard cu . ft . per hour . in the operation of the process as depicted in fig5 the neutral condition is the highest inert temperature condition , the theoretical flame temperature being about 3725 ° f . inert gas can be injected via nozzle apertures 40 and gas inlet 48d to reduce the temperature . for example , at the stoichiometric rates cited ( 1750 standard cu . ft . per hour of methane and 16 , 000 standard cu . ft . per hour of air ) about 4990 standard cu . ft . per hour of co 2 will reduce the theoretical flame temperature about 1000 ° f . introduction of co 2 is done with 40 nozzle apertures each having a 7 / 32 inch diameter . it is noted that while the above invention has been described in relation to its preferred embodiments , it is to to be understood that various modifications thereof will be apparent to one skilled in the art from the study of this specification and it is intended to cover such modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims . for example , gas mixer and reactor can be utilized as either a natural or forced draft incinerator , for producing reducing gas for various operations such as smelting and metal working , heat treating and any other processes requiring hydrogen and / or carbon monoxide , and can be used in the production of carbon black and can be used to thermally decompose ammonia to produce hydrogen or with more oxygen to produce high purity nitrogen and in any indirect or direct heating operation and for boilers and many other combinations .	1
described herein are aspects of a camera which adaptively selects an optimal wavelength for observation of a vlsi device , by inserting an appropriate short pass filter in the optical path . the wavelength is optimized according to criteria such as maximizing the snr , or a combination of high snr and high resolution ( which biases the optimization towards shorter wavelengths ), so as to obtain the best emission image for a given device under test ( dut ). while previous art already describes the introduction of a wide - band filter in the optical path , it does not do so in an adaptive manner and with consideration to maximizing snr . since the optical signal from the vlsi device is very faint , such filters traditionally have a wide bandwidth , in order to allow more light in , and thus shorten the required exposure times . conversely , disclosed embodiments use a shortpass filter , since even though the total amount of light passing the filter is smaller , the high snr still gives shorter exposure times as it matches the specific emission wavelength of the dut and the applied voltage . in some embodiments , the system first needs to characterize the snr across the possible observation spectrum . since the hc photon emissions depend both on inherent characteristics of the dut and on operating parameters such as voltage and temperatures , the optimal filter selection can vary from device to device , and so it may not be practical to pre - determine it . described herein are aspects of a microscope which adaptively selects an optimal bandwidth for observation of a vlsi device , by inserting an appropriate filter in the optical path . the method includes steps to determine the best shortpass filter so as to obtain the best emission image from each specific dut at each specific applied voltage , e . g ., vdd . aspects of the invention incorporate a method for emission microscopy of a dut , utilizing an emission microscope having the camera whose embodiment is described in fig2 . the camera includes an electronic detector array [ 21 ] located within a thermal enclosure [ 22 ] and connected to a controller [ 23 ]. also within the thermal enclosure are a cold aperture [ 24 ], a filter selector wheel [ 25 ] with several short pass filters [ 25 a , 25 b . . . ]. the rest of the optical path includes a relay lens [ 26 ] and an objective lens [ 27 ]. the controller is also connected to the filter selector wheel [ 25 ]. a tester [ 28 ], e . g ., an automated testing equipment ( ate ), is used to supply the dut [ 29 ] with a stimulation signal to induce it to operate and change state . the ate stimulation signal includes a signal at a given voltage vdd . different voltages cause the emission to have different wavelengths , so the filter wheel is used to select the best short pass filter according to the emission . the camera in this embodiment uses an mct ( mercury cadmium telluride , hgcdte ) detector array since it has a favorable ( uniform and wide ) response across the short and medium ir spectrum , but other types of detectors ( e . g . ingaas , extended ingaas or insb ) can also be used . in the aspects of the invention described herein , when operating , the controller operates in one of two modes . “ characterization ” or calibration mode : in this mode the controller uses the tester to create a test signal which creates a robust emission from the dut . the controller then aggregates multiple measurements from the detector array ( enough to form a statistical base measurement ), comparing the times when the dut is both active and inactive , to find the noise floor level of the system . in finding this level , the controller can aggregate and compare measurements from multiple pixels . the controller repeats this process while using different short pass filters , and so can tabulate the snr for each filter and select the optimal filter . “ observation ” or test mode : in this mode the controller switches to the optimal filter , and uses the tester to run the real - life test vectors to observe the dut . in some embodiments , the objective lens [ 27 ] has a flat front surface and its index of refraction matches that of the substrate of the dut , so that it can be used in contact with the dut , increasing the numerical aperture of the camera . a lens like this is called a solid immersion lens ( sil ), and it can operate together with a standard collection objective lens . in some embodiments , the camera features several interchangeable objective lenses , typically mounted on a rotary turret . one of the objective lenses can be a macro lens , which by its nature is larger in diameter and requires a larger relay lens . in such a situation , it becomes advantageous to not use the relay lens configuration while using the macro lens , and so install the relay lens on a mount that allows it to be removed from the optical path . fig3 depicts an embodiment of this invention . the detector [ 32 ] and short pass filter selector [ 30 ] are unchanged from the previous embodiment . a turret [ 34 ] carries multiple objective lenses [ 34 a , 34 b , 34 c ]. one of the lenses [ 34 a ] is a macro lens and is larger than the other lenses which are micro lenses . the relay lens [ 33 ] is mounted on a pivot or slide which allows it to be moved to a position [ 33 a ] outside the optical path , which is done when the macro lens [ 34 a ] is in use . an aperture wheel [ 31 ] contains several cold apertures [ 31 a ] of different sizes , each matching one of the objective lenses . the optical axis [ 35 ] is indicated by the horizontal dashed line . the dut 39 is mounted onto a bench 36 . the bench 36 may include temperature control mechanism to maintain the dut at constant temperature during testing . such mechanism may include , for example , thermo - electric cooler ( tec ), spray cooler , etc . the dut received test signals ( vectors ), including voltage vdd , from a tester 38 ( e . g ., ate ). tester ate may be a standard testing equipment and is not part of the emission detection system . controller 37 is configured to control the operation of the emission tester . controller 37 may be programmed to operate the short pass filter selector 30 and the collection of emission signal from the optical detector 32 . fig4 illustrates a flow chart of a process according to one embodiment . in step 40 , an objective lens is selected from the available objective lenses . in one embodiment , this step includes the landing of a sil on the dut to collect emission form the area of interest . also , in some embodiments this step includes the selection of corresponding cold filter . in step 41 a first filter , among a plurality of short pass filters , is selected . in one embodiment , each short pass filter has a cut - off frequency at different wavelength , enabling coverage in the wavelengths from about 1200 nm to about 2200 nm . each short pass filter has an upper cut - off wavelength that practically eliminates any transmission above its cut off , thus avoiding noise above the selected cut off frequency . in an alternative embodiment , the short pass filters may be replaced by narrow - band filters , wherein each narrow - band filter has a bandwidth of about 100 nm , and the available filters are distributed to cover frequencies in the wavelengths from about 1200 nm to about 2200 nm . however , shortpass filters enable more signal to pass than bandpass filters , so it is preferable to use short pass filters . also , since the thermal background emission and its associated noise are both increasing with wavelength , using short pass filters instead of bandpass filters efficiently cuts off these deleterious effects , while enabling higher signal levels to pass at wavelengths lower than the cut off . according to one embodiment , four short pass filters are used . in one example the short pass filters used are sp1550 ( which is used to mimic an ingaas camera — i . e ., cuts off longer wavelengths that a standard ingaas sensor cannot detect , but any of the other detectors , such as hgcdte or extended ingaas can detect ), sp1800 , sp1900 , and sp2000 . each short pass filter transmits everything below the specified cut off , but blocks transmission above the specified cut off . for example , sp1800 transmits everything below , but blocks everything above 1800 nm , as shown in fig6 . since the detector itself only absorbs light above 900 nm , the system is effectively capturing light from 900 nm to 1800 nm in the example of sp1800 . in step 42 , a test vector is applied to the dut , while holding all parameters constant . importantly , the temperature of the dut and the voltage vdd should be held constant , while at step 43 emission signal is collected and stored . then , in step 44 it is determined whether there are more filters to test and , if so , the process reverts to step 41 wherein the next filter is selected . then , the same test vectors are applied to the dut and , while keeping all parameters constant , another set of emission signal is collected and stored . when at step 44 it is determined that all filters have been tested , the process proceeds to step 45 to determine the best filter to use for the actual emission testing of the dut . according to one embodiment , in this step the detected emission and noise are quantified against each of the filters used . in one specific embodiment this is done by plotting signal to noise ratio against wavelength . an example of such a plot is depicted in fig5 . in the example of fig5 , the test outlined above was repeated for all available filters and for different vdd ( each series of test having vdd held constant ). then , for the actual emission test , it is determined what filter to use according to the best snr and the voltage vdd that is going to be used in the emission test . in the example of fig5 , it is shown that a lower vdd results in shorter wavelength emission , so that a shorter wavelength filter may be used for the lower vdd , while a longer wavelength filter may be used for the higher vdd . on the other hand , other testing with different devices have shown that such behavior is not typical , and when testing devices which operate at the mv range , i . e ., below 1 volt , the behavior is reversed , i . e ., lower vdd produces emission and longer wavelengths , thus requiring a longer wavelength filter for best snr . therefore , this test should be performed for each new device tested . the standard emission test is then performed at step 46 using the appropriately selected shortpass filter . the present invention has been described in relation to particular examples , which are intended in all respects to be illustrative rather than restrictive . those skilled in the art will appreciate that many different combinations of hardware , software , and firmware will be suitable for practicing the present invention . moreover , other implementations of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein . it is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only , with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims .	6
diol components each containing a tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decanediol of formula ( 1 ) ( hereinafter may be referred to as “ adamantanediol ”) can be used as the diol components ( i ) constituting the polyesters of the present invention . in formula ( 1 ), n is 0 or a positive integer . the repetition number n is , for example , 0 or a positive integer of less than or equal to 10 , preferably 0 or a positive integer of less than or equal to 5 , and specifically preferably 0 or 1 . a functional group bonded to an adamantane skeleton is a hydroxyalkyl group or a hydroxyl group . the functional group is preferably bonded at a bridgehead position of the adamantane skeleton . carbon atoms constituting the ring ( carbon atoms at a bridgehead position or non - bridgehead position , especially carbon atoms at a bridgehead position ) in formula ( 1 ) may each have a substituent . such substituents include , but are not limited to , methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , butyl , pentyl , hexyl , decyl , and other alkyl groups ( e . g ., c 1 - c 10 alkyl groups , and preferably c 1 - c 4 alkyl groups ); cyclopentyl , cyclohexyl , and other cycloalkyl groups ; phenyl , naphthyl , and other aryl groups ; methoxy , ethoxy , isopropoxy , and other alkoxy groups ( e . g ., c 1 - c 4 alkoxy groups ); methoxycarbonyl , ethoxycarbonyl , isopropoxycarbonyl , and other alkoxycarbonyl groups ( e . g ., c 1 - c 4 alkoxy - carbonyl groups ); acetyl , propionyl , butyryl , benzoyl , and other acyl groups ; hydroxyl group ; carboxyl group ; nitro group ; substituted or unsubstituted amino groups ; halogen atoms ; and oxo group . of the adamantanediols of formula ( 1 ), preferred are tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - diol ( 1 , 3 - adamantanediol ), 5 , 7 - dimethyl - tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - diol ( 1 , 3 - dihydroxy - 5 , 7 - dimethyladamantane ) and other tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decanediols of formula ( 1a ) ( 1 , 3 - adamantanediols which may have a substituent ). among them , 5 , 7 - dimethyl - tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - diol is typically preferred . among the adamantanediols of formula ( 1 ), examples of adamantanediols , where n is a positive integer , include 1 , 3 - adamantanedimethanol [ 1 , 3 - bis ( hydroxymethyl ) adamantane ] and 1 , 3 - dimethyl - 5 , 7 - adamantanedimethanol [ 1 , 3 - dimethyl - 5 , 7 - bis ( hydroxymethyl ) adamantane ]. the adamantanediols of formula ( 1 ) can be prepared in the following manner . for example , an adamantanediol having two hydroxyl groups at the bridgehead positions of the adamantane ring can be obtained by oxidizing a corresponding adamantane ( an adamantane compound having hydrogen atoms bonded to at least two carbon atoms at bridgehead positions of an adamantane ring ) and thereby introducing two hydroxyl groups into the bridgehead positions of the adamantane ring . likewise , an adamantanediol of formula ( 1 ), where n is 1 , can be prepared by reducing a corresponding adamantane ( an adamantane compound having carboxyl groups bonded to at least two carbon atoms at bridgehead positions of an adamantane ring ) and thereby reducing the carboxyl groups in the adamantane ring into hydroxyl groups . the adamantane compound having carboxyl groups bonded to at least two carbon atoms at bridgehead positions of the adamantane ring can be obtained by carboxylating a corresponding adamantane ( an adamantane compound having hydrogen atoms bonded to at least two carbon atoms at bridgehead positions of an adamantane ring ) and thereby introducing two carboxyl groups into the bridgehead positions of the adamantane ring . the adamantanediol can be obtained by oxidation of the adamantane in accordance with known or conventional oxidation processes . in view of reaction yield and operability , the adamantanediol is preferably obtained by a process , in which the adamantane is oxidized with molecular oxygen by catalysis of an n - hydroxyimide compound ( refer to japanese unexamined patent application publication no . 9 - 327626 ). more specifically , two hydroxyl groups can be introduced into the bridgehead positions of the adamantane ring by bringing the adamantane into contact with oxygen in the presence of the n - hydroxyimide catalyst such as n - hydroxyphthalimide , and where necessary , a metallic promoter ( co - catalyst ) such as a cobalt compound ( e . g ., cobalt acetate or acetylacetonatocobalt ). in this process , the amount of the n - hydroxyimide catalyst is , for example , from about 0 . 000001 to about 1 mole , and preferably from about 0 . 00001 to about 0 . 5 mole , relative to 1 mole of the adamantane . the amount of the metallic promoter is , for example , from about 0 . 0001 to about 0 . 7 mole , and preferably from about 0 . 001 to about 0 . 5 mole , relative to 1 mole of the adamantane . as the oxygen , pure oxygen , oxygen diluted with an inert gas , or air can be used . the oxygen is often used in excess to the adamantane . a reaction can be performed in a solvent at a temperature of from about 0 ° c . to about 200 ° c . and preferably from about 30 ° c . to about 150 ° c . at atmospheric pressure or under a pressure ( under a load ). such solvents include , for example , acetic acid and other organic acids , acetonitrile and other nitrites , and dichloroethane and other halogenated hydrocarbons . the resulting adamantanediol can be separated and purified by conventional separation and purification means such as concentration , filtration , extraction , crystallization , recrystallization , distillation and column chromatography . each of the adamantanediols of formula ( 1 ) can be used alone or in combination in the present invention . other diol components can be used as the diol component ( i ) constituting the polyester of the present invention , in addition to , or instead of , the adamantanediols of formula ( 1 ). such other diol components include diols for use in materials for conventional polyesters , such as ethylene glycol , 1 , 3 - propanediol , 2 , 2 - dimethyl - 1 , 3 - propanediol , 1 , 4 - butanediol , 1 , 5 - pentanediol , 1 , 6 - hexanediol , and other aliphatic diols ; 1 , 4 - cyclohexanediol , 1 , 3 - cyclohexanediol , 1 , 2 - cyclohexanediol , 2 - methyl - 1 , 1 - cyclohexanediol , 1 , 1 ′- bicyclohexyl - 4 , 4 ′- diol , 4 , 4 ′- isopropylidenecyclohexanol , bicyclo [ 2 . 2 . 1 ] heptane - 2 , 3 - diol , bicyclo [ 2 . 2 . 1 ] heptane - 2 , 5 - diol , bicyclo [ 2 . 2 . 1 ] heptane - 2 , 6 - diol , bicyclo [ 4 . 4 . 0 ] decane - 1 , 6 - diol , bicyclo [ 4 . 4 . 0 ] decane - 2 , 7 - diol , 1 , 4 - cyclohexanedimethanol , 1 , 3 - cyclohexanedimethanol , 1 , 2 - cyclohexanedimethanol , 3 - methyl - bicyclo [ 2 . 2 . 1 ] heptane - 2 , 2 - dimethanol , bicyclo [ 2 . 2 . 1 ] heptane - 2 , 5 - dimethanol , bicyclo [ 2 . 2 . 1 ] heptane - 2 , 6 - dimethanol , tricyclo [ 5 . 2 . 1 . 0 2 , 6 ] decane - 4 , 8 - dimethanol , and other alicyclic diols ; hydroquinone , catechol , resorcin , naphthalenediol , xylylenediol , bisphenol a , an ethylene oxide adduct of bisphenol a , bisphenol s , an ethylene oxide adduct of bisphenol s , and other aromatic diols ; diethylene glycol , triethylene glycol , polyethylene glycol , dipropylene glycol , and other ether glycols . among them , 1 , 4 - cyclohexanedimethanol and other alicyclic diols are preferred . each of these diol components can be used alone or in combination . the proportion of the adamantanediols of formula ( 1 ) in the overall diol components constituting the polyester of the present invention can be freely selected and is generally from about 1 % to about 100 % by mole , preferably from about 5 % to about 100 % by mole , and more preferably from about 10 % to about 100 % by mole . when the dicarboxylic acid component containing the tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decanedicarboxylic acid of formula ( 2 ) is used as the dicarboxylic acid component ( ii ), the diol component ( i ) does not necessarily contain the adamantanediols of formula ( 1 ). dicarboxylic acid components each containing a tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decanedicarboxylic acid of formula ( 2 ) ( an adamantanedicarboxylic acid ; hereinafter may be referred to as “ adamantanedicarboxylic acid ”) can be used as the dicarboxylic acid component ( ii ) constituting the polyester of the present invention . in formula ( 2 ), m is 0 or a positive integer . the repetition number m is , for example , 0 or a positive integer of less than or equal to 10 , preferably 0 or a positive integer of less than or equal to 5 , and specifically preferably 0 or 1 . a functional group bonded to an adamantane skeleton is a carboxyalkyl group or a carboxyl group . the functional group is preferably bonded at a bridgehead position of the adamantane skeleton . the carbon atoms constituting the ring ( carbon atoms at bridgehead positions or non - bridgehead positions , especially carbon atoms at bridgehead positions ) in formula ( 2 ) may each have a substituent . such substituents include substituents similar to those which the carbon atoms constituting the adamantane ring in the compound of formula ( 1 ) may have . of the adamantanedicarboxylic acids of formula ( 2 ), preferred are tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - dicarboxylic acid ( 1 , 3 - adamantanedicarboxylic acid ), 5 , 7 - dimethyl - tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - dicarboxylic acid ( 1 , 3 - dicarboxy - 5 , 7 - dimethyladamantane ), and other tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decanedicarboxylic acids of formula ( 2a ) ( 1 , 3 - adamantanedicarboxylic acids which may have a substituent ). among them , 5 , 7 - dimethyl - tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - dicarboxylic acid is typically preferred . of the adamantanedicarboxylic acids of formula ( 2 ), examples of adamantanedicarboxylic acids , where m is a positive integer , include 1 , 3 - bis ( carboxymethyl ) adamantane and 1 , 3 - dimethyl - 5 , 7 - bis ( carboxymethyl ) adamantane . the adamantanedicarboxylic acids of formula ( 2 ) can be prepared in the following manner . for example , an adamantanedicarboxylic acid having two carboxyl groups at bridgehead positions of the adamantane ring can be obtained by carboxylating a corresponding adamantane ( an adamantane compound having hydrogen atoms bonded to at least two carbon atoms at bridgehead positions of an adamantane ring ) and thereby introducing two carboxyl groups into the bridgehead positions of the adamantane ring . alternatively , this compound can be obtained by oxidizing an adamantane compound having hydroxymethyl groups bonded to at least two carbon atoms at bridgehead positions of an adamantane ring . of the adamantanedicarboxylic acids of formula ( 2 ), an adamantanedicarboxylic acid , where m is 1 ( e . g ., 1 , 3 - bis ( carboxymethyl ) adamantane ), can be prepared by oxidizing an adamantane compound having hydroxyethyl groups bonded to at least two carbon atoms at bridgehead positions of an adamantane ring . the adamantanedicarboxylic acid can be obtained by oxidation of the corresponding adamantane in accordance with known or conventional oxidation processes . in view of reaction yield and operability , the adamantanedicarboxylic acid is preferably obtained by a process in which the adamantane is oxidized with molecular oxygen by catalysis of an n - hydroxyimide compound ( refer to japanese unexamined patent application publication no . 9 - 327626 ). the adamantane can be carboxylated in accordance with known or conventional carboxylation processes . preferably , the adamantane is carboxylated by a carboxylation process in which the adamantane is subjected to carboxylation reaction with oxygen and carbon monoxide by catalysis of an n - hydroxyimide compound , as disclosed in japanese unexamined patent application publication no . 11 - 239730 . this carboxylation process can efficiently introduce carboxyl groups into an adamantane ring and thereby yield the adamantanedicarboxylic acid . more specifically , two carboxyl groups can be introduced into the bridgehead positions of the adamantane ring by bringing the adamantane into contact with oxygen and carbon monoxide in the presence of the n - hydroxyimide catalyst such as n - hydroxyphthalimide , and where necessary a metallic promoter ( co - catalyst ) such as a cobalt compound ( e . g ., cobalt acetate or acetylacetonatocobalt ). in this process , the amount of the n - hydroxyimide catalyst is , for example , from about 0 . 000001 to about 1 mole , and preferably from about 0 . 00001 to about 0 . 5 mole , relative to 1 mole of the adamantane . the amount of the metallic promoter is , for example , from about 0 . 0001 to about 0 . 7 mole , and preferably from about 0 . 001 to about 0 . 5 mole , relative to 1 mole of the adamantane . as the oxygen and carbon monoxide , pure oxygen and carbon monoxide can be used . alternatively , oxygen and carbon monoxide diluted with an inert gas can be used . the oxygen can also be derived from air . the amounts of and the ratio of the oxygen to carbon monoxide are not specifically limited , and the oxygen and carbon monoxide can be used in excess relative to the adamantane . it is advantageous to use carbon monoxide in excess to the oxygen . a reaction can be performed in a solvent at a temperature of from about 0 ° c . to about 200 ° c ., and preferably from about 30 ° c . to about 150 ° c . at atmospheric pressure or under a pressure ( under a load ). such solvents include , for example , acetic acid and other organic acids , acetonitrile and other nitriles , and dichloroethane and other halogenated hydrocarbons . the prepared adamantanedicarboxylic acid can be separated and purified by conventional separation and purification means such as concentration , filtration , extraction , crystallization , recrystallization , distillation and column chromatography . each of the adamantanedicarboxylic acids of formula ( 2 ) can be used alone or in combination in the present invention . other dicarboxylic acid components can be used as the dicarboxylic acid component ( ii ) constituting the polyester of the present invention , in addition to , or instead of , the adamantanedicarboxylic acids of formula ( 2 ). such dicarboxylic acid components include those generally used in materials for polyesters , such as terephthalic acid , isophthalic acid , phthalic acid , 2 , 6 - naphthalenedicarboxylic acid , 4 , 4 ′- biphenyldicarboxylic acid , 4 , 4 ′- diphenyl ether dicarboxylic acid , 4 , 4 ′- diphenylmethanedicarboxylic acid , 4 , 4 ′- diphenyl sulfonedicarboxylic acid , 4 , 4 ′- diphenylisopropylidenedicarboxylic acid , 1 , 2 - diphenoxyethane - 4 ′, 4 ″- dicarboxylic acid , anthracenedicarboxylic acid , 2 , 5 - pyridinedicarboxylic acid , diphenyl ketone dicarboxylic acid , and other aromatic dicarboxylic acids ; oxalic acid , succinic acid , glutaric acid , adipic acid , azelaic acid , sebacic acid , and other aliphatic dicarboxylic acids ; 1 , 2 - cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid , 1 , 3 - cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid , 1 , 4 - cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid , and other cyclohexanedicarboxylic acids , and bicyclo [ 2 . 2 . 1 ] heptane - 2 , 3 - dicarboxylic acid , bicyclo [ 2 . 2 . 1 ] heptane - 2 , 5 - dicarboxylic acid , bicyclo [ 2 . 2 . 1 ] heptane - 2 , 6 - dicarboxylic acid , tricyclo [ 5 . 2 . 1 . 0 2 , 6 ] decane - 4 , 8 - dicarboxylic acid , and other alicyclic dicarboxylic acids . among them , alicyclic dicarboxylic acids are preferred . each of these dicarboxylic acid components can be used alone or in combination . there are cis - isomers and trans - isomers in the cyclohexanedicarboxylic acids . each of the cis - isomer and the trans - isomer can be used alone or in combination as a mixture . the molar ratio of the cis - isomer to the trans - isomer can appropriately be selected within a range from 0 : 100 to 100 : 0 . the ratio of the adamantanedicarboxylic acids of formula ( 2 ) in the total dicarboxylic acid components constituting the polyester of the present invention can freely be selected and is generally from about 1 % to about 100 % by mole , preferably from about 5 % to about 100 % by mole , and more preferably from about 10 % to about 100 % by mole . when the diol component containing the tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decanediol of formula ( 1 ) is used as the diol component ( i ), the dicarboxylic acid component does not necessarily comprise the adamantanedicarboxylic acids of formula ( 2 ). the polyester of the present invention is preferably a polyester which is free from a component having a polymerizable double bond as the dicarboxylic acid component . it is typically preferably a saturated polyester ( a thermoplastic polyester ) composed of a dicarboxylic acid component and a diol component each having no polymerizable double bond . the number average molecular weight of the polyester is , for example , from about 1000 to about 150000 and preferably from about 3000 to about 100000 . in order to yield satisfactory mechanical strength as a molded article , the reduced viscosity of the polyester of the present invention is preferably about 0 . 5 or more , as determined in a mixed solution of phenol and 1 , 1 , 2 , 2 - tetrachloroethane ( weight ratio : 4 : 6 ) in a concentration of 1 . 2 g / dl at a temperature of 35 ° c . the polyester of the present invention can be produced by polycondensation of a diol component containing the adamantanediol of formula ( 1 ) with a dicarboxylic acid component , which may include the adamantanedicarboxylic acid of formula ( 2 ), or a reactive derivative thereof . alternatively , it can be obtained by polycondensation of a diol component , which may include the adamantanediol of formula ( 1 ), with a dicarboxylic acid component containing the adamantanedicarboxylic acid of formula ( 2 ), or a reactive derivative thereof . such reactive derivatives of the dicarboxylic acid components include , for example , dicarboxylic esters , dicarboxylic anhydrides and dicarbonyl halides ( e . g ., dicarbonyl chlorides ). these dicarboxylic esters , dicarboxylic anhydrides , and dicarbonyl halides can be obtained from corresponding dicarboxylic acids in accordance with conventional techniques . the procedure of a general production process of a polyester can be applied to production of the polyester of the present invention . for example , when a free dicarboxylic acid or carboxylic anhydride is used as a starting material , the polyester can be produced by heating a diol component and the dicarboxylic acid or dicarboxylic anhydride in a reactor and distilling off water produced by action of a reaction out of the reaction system . this reaction does not always require a catalyst , but the use of a catalyst can accelerate the reaction . such catalysts include , but are not limited to , acetates , carbonates , hydroxides , and alkoxides of alkali metals , alkaline earth metals , zinc , titanium , cobalt , manganese , and other metals . a reaction temperature is from about 120 ° c . to about 300 ° c ., and preferably from about 160 ° c . to about 300 ° c . the reaction ( esterification reaction ) is generally performed at atmospheric pressure , but may be performed under a reduced pressure to enhance distilling - off of water and excessive diol component . the molar ratio of the diol component to the dicarboxylic acid or dicarboxylic anhydride may be about 1 , but the diol component may be used in excess to yield a high molecular weight polyester . when a dicarboxylic ester is used as a starting material , the polyester can be produced by placing the diol component , the dicarboxylic ester and a catalyst in a reactor and distilling off an alcohol produced by the reaction out of the reaction system . such dicarboxylic esters include , for example , methyl esters , ethyl esters , propyl esters , and butyl esters of dicarboxylic acids , of which methyl esters are typically preferred from the viewpoints of the easiness and cost of the reaction . the catalyst includes , but is not limited to , carboxylates , carbonates , hydroxides , alkoxides , and oxides of alkali metals , alkaline earth metals , zinc , lead , titanium , cobalt , manganese , tin , antimony , germanium , and other metals . a reaction temperature is from about 120 ° c . to about 300 ° c ., and preferably from about 160 ° c . to about 300 ° c . the reaction ( esterification reaction ) is generally performed at atmospheric pressure , but may be performed under a reduced pressure to enhance distilling - off of the alcohol . the molar ratio of the diol component to the dicarboxylic ester may be about 1 , but the diol component may be used in excess to yield a high molecular weight polyester . using a dicarbonyl chloride or another dicarbonyl halide as a starting material , the polyester can be obtained , for example , by ( a ) a process in which the diol component and the dicarbonyl halide are allowed to react at high temperatures in the absence of a solvent , and a produced hydrogen halide is distilled off ; or by ( b ) a process in which the diol component and the dicarbonyl halide are allowed to react at low temperatures in a solvent , and a produced hydrogen halide is distilled off or is neutralized with a basic substance . a reaction temperature can be appropriately selected within a range of from about 0 ° c . to about 280 ° c . solvents for use in the process ( b ) are not specifically limited , as far as they are inert toward the reaction . such solvents include , for example , dichloromethane , chloroform , 1 , 2 - dichloroethane , monochlorobenzene , trichlorobenzene , and other halogenated hydrocarbons ; benzene , toluene , xylene , and other aromatic hydrocarbons ; tetrahydrofuran , dioxane , dimethoxyethane , and other ethers ; acetone , ethyl methyl ketone , isobutyl methyl ketone , cyclohexanone , and other ketones ; ethyl acetate , butyl acetate , and other esters ; acetonitrile , and other nitrites ; n , n - dimethylformamide , n , n - dimethylacetamide , n - methyl - 2 - pyrrolidone , and other amides ; dimethyl sulfoxide , and other sulfoxides ; 1 , 3 - dimethyl - 2 - imidazoline , and other imidazolines ; and hexanemethylphosphoramide . the basic substance includes , but is not limited to , triethylamine , tributylamine , n , n - dimethylaniline , and other tertiary amines ; pyridine , α - picoline , β - picoline , γ - picoline , quinoline , and other basic nitrogen - containing heterocyclic compounds ; sodium hydroxide , potassium hydroxide , and other alkali metal hydroxides ; sodium acetate , sodium carbonate , sodium hydrogencarbonate , potassium acetate , potassium carbonate , and other alkali metal salts . some of the aforementioned solvents such as n - methyl - 2 - pyrrolidone also serve as the basic substance . the polyester formed by polymerization can be isolated by a conventional technique such as filtration , concentration , precipitation , crystallization , and cooling - solidification . the present invention will now be illustrated in further detail with reference to several examples below , which are not intended to limit the scope of the invention . in the following examples , the number average molecular weight ( mn ) and the molecular weight distribution ( mw / mn ) of the resulting polymer were determined by gel permeation chromatography ( gpc ). the melting point ( tm ) and the 5 % weight reduction temperature in nitrogen ( td 5 ) of the polymer were determined by differential scanning calorimetry ( dsc ) using a differential scanning calorimeter and thermogravimetric analysis - differential thermal analysis ( tg - dta ) using a thermobalance , respectively . in a 50 - ml flask , 1 . 96 g of 5 , 7 - dimethyl - tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - diol and 5 ml of dried n - methyl - 2 - pyrrolidone were placed . to the resulting mixture , a solution mixture of 2 . 09 g of 1 , 4 - cyclohexanedicarbonyl chloride [ cis / trans = 49 . 7 / 50 . 3 ] and 5 ml of dried n - methyl - 2 - pyrrolidone was added dropwise at room temperature over 15 minutes with stirring . after the completion of addition , the resulting mixture was allowed to react at 100 ° c . for 3 hours . after the completion of polymerization , the reaction mixture was added dropwise in small increments to 500 ml of methanol to precipitate a produced polymer . the precipitated polymer was filtrated , was rinsed , was dried in vacuo and thereby yielded 3 . 4 g of a white polyester . the resulting polymer had a number average molecular weight ( mn ) of 5380 , a molecular weight distribution ( mw / mn ) of 2 . 14 , a glass transition temperature ( tg ) of 159 . 7 ° c ., a melting point ( tm ) of 264 . 1 ° c . and a heat decomposition temperature of 420 . 2 ° c . the 1 h - nmr spectrum ( solvent : cdcl 3 ) of the above - prepared polymer is shown in fig1 . in a 50 - ml flask , 1 . 01 g of 5 , 7 - dimethyl - tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - diol , 0 . 73 g of 1 , 4 - cyclohexanedimethanol [ cis / trans = 27 . 1 / 72 . 9 ] and 5 ml of dried n - methyl - 2 - pyrrolidone were placed . to the resulting mixture , a solution mixture of 2 . 09 g of 1 , 4 - cyclohexanedicarbonyl chloride [ cis / trans = 49 . 7 / 50 . 3 ] and 5 ml of dried n - methyl - 2 - pyrrolidone was added dropwise at room temperature over 15 minutes with stirring . after the completion of addition , the resulting mixture was allowed to react at 100 ° c . for 3 hours . after the completion of polymerization , the reaction mixture was added dropwise in small increments to 500 ml of methanol to precipitate a produced polymer . the precipitated polymer was filtrated , was rinsed , was dried in vacuo and thereby yielded 2 . 6 g of a white polyester . the resulting polymer had a mn of 4860 , an mw / mn of 1 . 92 and a tg of 105 . 3 ° c . previously , 1 , 4 - cyclohexanedicarbonyl chloride was prepared by allowing 1 , 4 - cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid to react with thionyl chloride and purifying a reaction product by distillation . in a 50 - ml flask in an atmosphere of dried nitrogen gas , 2 . 09 g of the 1 , 4 - cyclohexanedicarbonyl chloride and 10 ml of dried monochlorobenzene were placed . to the resulting mixture , a solution mixture of 1 . 68 g of tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - diol and 5 ml of dried pyridine was added dropwise at room temperature over 5 minutes with stirring . after the completion of addition , the resulting mixture was allowed to react at 80 ° c . for 2 hours . after the completion of polymerization , the reaction mixture was added dropwise in small increments to 500 ml of methanol . the resulting polymer was filtrated , was rinsed with methanol , was dried in vacuo and thereby yielded a white polyester . the resulting polymer had a mn of 16000 , a mw / mn of 2 . 5 , a tg of 105 ° c . and a td 5 of 385 ° c . a polyester was prepared by performing a reaction in a similar manner as in example 3 , except that 1 . 96 g of 5 , 7 - dimethyl - tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - diol was used as the adamantanediol . the resulting polymer had an mn of 17000 , an mw / mn of 2 . 5 , a tg of 170 ° c . and a td 5 of 430 ° c . a polyester was prepared by performing a reaction in a similar manner as in example 3 , except that 1 . 83 g of adipoyl chloride and 1 . 96 g of 5 , 7 - dimethyl - tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - diol were used as the dicarboxylic acid component and the adamantanediol , respectively . the resulting polymer had an mn of 10000 , an mw / mn of 2 . 5 , a tg of 44 ° c . and a td 5 of 410 ° c . a polyester was prepared by performing a reaction in a similar manner as in example 3 , except that 2 . 21 g of bicyclo [ 2 . 2 . 1 ] heptane - 2 , 5 - dicarbonyl chloride and 1 . 96 g of 5 , 7 - dimethyl - tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - diol were used as the dicarboxylic acid component and the adamantanediol , respectively . the resulting polymer had an mn of 6000 , an mw / mn of 2 . 2 , a tg of 172 ° c . and a td 5 of 420 ° c . a polyester was prepared by performing a reaction in a similar manner as in example 3 , except that 2 . 61 g of tricyclo [ 5 . 2 . 1 . 0 2 , 6 ] decane - 4 , 8 - dicarbonyl chloride and 1 . 96 g of 5 , 7 - dimethyl - tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - diol were used as the dicarboxylic acid component and the adamantanediol , respectively . the resulting polymer had an mn of 5000 , an mw / mn of 2 . 2 , a tg of 135 ° c . and a td 5 of 360 ° c . previously , tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - dicarbonyl chloride was prepared by allowing tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - dicarboxylic acid to react with thionyl chloride and purifying a reaction product by distillation . in a 50 - ml flask in an atmosphere of dried nitrogen gas , 2 . 61 g of the tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - dicarbonyl chloride and 10 ml of dried monochlorobenzene were placed . to the resulting mixture , a solution mixture of 1 . 44 g of 1 , 4 - cyclohexanedimethanol and 5 ml of dried pyridine was added dropwise at room temperature over 5 minutes with stirring . after the completion of addition , the resulting mixture was allowed to react at 80 ° c . for 2 hours . after the completion of polymerization , the reaction mixture was added dropwise in small increments to 500 ml of methanol . the polymer had an mn of 29000 , an mw / mn of 2 . 5 , a tg of 74 ° c . and a td 5 of 410 ° c . a polyester was prepared by performing a reaction in a similar manner as in example 8 , except that 1 . 16 g of 1 , 4 - cyclohexanediol was used as the diol component . the resulting polymer had an mn of 5000 , an mw / mn of 2 . 3 , a tg of 49 ° c . and a td 5 of 340 ° c . a polyester was prepared by performing a reaction in a similar manner as in example 8 , except that 1 . 16 g of 1 , 2 - cyclohexanediol was used as the diol component . the resulting polymer had an mn of 5000 , an mw / mn of 2 . 2 , a tg of 114 ° c . and a td 5 of 350 ° c . a polyester was prepared by performing a reaction in a similar manner as in example 8 , except that 1 . 56 g of bicyclo [ 2 . 2 . 1 ] heptane - 2 , 5 - dimethanol was used as the diol component . the resulting polymer had an mn of 20000 , an mw / mn of 2 . 6 , a tg of 91 ° c . and a td 5 of 420 ° c . a polyester was prepared by performing a reaction in a similar manner as in example 8 , except that 1 . 96 g of tricyclo [ 5 . 2 . 1 . 0 2 , 6 ] decane - 4 , 8 - dimethanol was used as the diol component . the resulting polymer had an mn of 5000 , an mw / mn of 2 . 4 , a tg of 88 ° c . and a td 5 of 390 ° c . in a 200 - ml flask , 4 . 49 g of tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - dicarboxylic acid and 3 . 46 g of 1 , 4 - cyclohexanedimethanol were placed , and to the resulting mixture , 0 . 011 g of tetraisopropyl titanate was added under flow of dried nitrogen gas . the resulting mixture was gradually heated to 200 ° c . and was stirred for about 1 hour . the system was then evacuated , the mixture was gradually heated to 280 ° c . with stirring and a polymerization reaction was performed for 8 hours . after the completion of polymerization , the reaction mixture was dissolved in 100 ml of chloroform , was added dropwise in small increments to 1500 ml of methanol , the resulting polymer was filtrated and was rinsed with methanol , was dried in vacuo and thereby yielded a polyester . the resulting polymer had an mn of 49000 , an mw / mn of 2 . 5 , a tg of 77 ° c . and a td 5 of 410 ° c . in a three - neck flask equipped with a condenser and a stirrer , 4 . 49 g of tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - dicarboxylic acid and 3 . 46 g of 1 , 4 - cyclohexanedimethanol were placed . to the resulting mixture , 0 . 021 g of 1 - chloro - 3 - hydroxy - 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetra - n - butyldistannoxane was added under flow of dried nitrogen gas . the resulting mixture was heated to 200 ° c ., was stirred for about 1 hour and thereby yielded a homogenous mixture . additionally , 30 ml of decalin was added thereto and thereby yielded two - phase mixture . the resulting mixture was stirred under reflux of decalin for 60 hours to perform a polycondensation reaction . after the completion of the reaction , decalin was removed by flowing out , the reaction mixture was dissolved in 100 ml of chloroform , was added dropwise in small increments to 1500 ml of methanol , the resulting polymer was filtrated , was rinsed with methanol , was dried in vacuo and thereby yielded a white polyester . the polyester was stirred with methanol for 12 hours . the resulting white powdery polymer was separated by filtration , was dried at 60 ° c . under a reduced pressure and thereby yielded a polyester . the polymer had an mn of 14000 , an mw / mn of 2 . 3 , a tg of 73 ° c . and a td 5 of 410 ° c . a polyester was prepared by performing a reaction in a similar manner as in example 8 , except that 1 . 70 g of bicyclo [ 5 . 2 . 1 ] decane - 2 , 6 - diol was used as the diol component . the resulting polymer had an mn of 12000 , an mw / mn of 2 . 6 , a tg of 130 ° c . and a td 5 of 400 ° c . a polyester was prepared by performing a reaction in a similar manner as in example 13 , except that 5 . 05 g of 5 , 7 - dimethyltricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - dicarboxylic acid was used as the dicarboxylic acid component . the resulting polymer had an mn of 26000 , an mw / mn of 2 . 5 , a tg of 77 ° c . and a td 5 of 410 ° c . a polyester was prepared by performing a reaction in a similar manner as in example 13 , except that 4 . 09 g of bicyclo [ 4 . 4 . 0 ] decane - 1 , 6 - diol and 5 . 05 g of 5 , 7 - dimethyltricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - dicarboxylic acid were used as the diol component and the dicarboxylic acid component , respectively . the resulting polymer had an mn of 5000 , an mw / mn of 2 . 6 , a tg of 162 ° c . and a td 5 of 380 ° c . previously , tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - dicarbonyl chloride was prepared by allowing tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - dicarboxylic acid to react with thionyl chloride and purifying the reaction product by distillation . in a 50 - ml flask in an atmosphere of dried nitrogen gas , 2 . 61 g of the tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - dicarbonyl chloride and 10 ml of dried monochlorobenzene were placed . to the resulting mixture , a solution mixture of 1 . 68 g of tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - diol and 5 ml of dried pyridine was added dropwise at room temperature over 5 minutes with stirring . after the completion of addition , the resulting mixture was allowed to react at 80 ° c . for 2 hours . after the completion of polymerization , the reaction mixture was added dropwise in small increments to 500 ml of methanol . the resulting polymer was filtrated , was rinsed with methanol , was dried in vacuo and thereby yielded a white polyester . the polymer had an mn of 12000 , an mw / mn of 2 . 5 , a tg of 131 ° c . and a td 5 of 400 ° c . a polyester was prepared by performing a reaction in a similar manner as in example 18 , except that 1 . 96 g of 5 , 7 - dimethyl - tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - diol was used as the adamantanediol . the resulting polymer had an mn of 9000 , an mw / mn of 2 . 3 , a tg of 188 ° c . and a td 5 of 405 ° c . previously , 5 , 7 - dimethyltricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - dicarbonyl chloride was prepared by allowing 5 , 7 - dimethyltricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - dicarboxylic acid to react with thionyl chloride and purifying the reaction product by distillation . a polyester was prepared by performing a reaction in a similar manner as in example 18 , except that 2 . 89 g of the 5 , 7 - dimethyltricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - dicarbonyl chloride and 1 . 96 g of 5 , 7 - dimethyl - tricyclo [ 3 . 3 . 1 . 1 3 , 7 ] decane - 1 , 3 - diol were used as the dicarboxylic acid component and the diol component . the resulting polymer had an mn of 6000 , an mw / mn of 2 . 3 , a tg of 200 ° c . and a td 5 of 415 ° c . other embodiments and variations will be obvious to those skilled in the art , and this invention is not to be limited to the specific matters stated above .	2
hereinafter , the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail more specifically . six mm - ni system hydrogen storage alloys having a crystal structure of cacu 5 were prepared by the normal high - frequency melting - casting method by varying cobalt content as shown in table 1 below . these alloys no . 1 - 6 were then heat - treated for 6 hours at 1 , 000 ° c . in a vacuum , and mechanically pulverized to have an average particle diameter of 30 μm . table 1______________________________________ co contentno . composition ( atom %) ______________________________________1 mmni . sub . 3 . 55 co . sub . 0 . 75 mn . sub . 0 . 4 al . sub . 0 . 3 12 . 52 mmni . sub . 3 . 75 co . sub . 0 . 55 mn . sub . 0 . 4 al . sub . 0 . 3 9 . 23 mmni . sub . 3 . 75 co . sub . 0 . 35 mn . sub . 0 . 5 al . sub . 0 . 4 5 . 84 mmni . sub . 3 . 95 co . sub . 0 . 15 mn . sub . 0 . 5 al . sub . 0 . 4 2 . 55 mmni . sub . 4 . 0 co . sub . 0 . 05 mn . sub . 0 . 55 al . sub . 0 . 4 0 . 86 mmni . sub . 4 . 05 mn . sub . 0 . 55 al . sub . 0 . 4 0______________________________________ one litter of an alkaline aqueous solution of potassium hydroxide containing 40 g / l of dissolved lithium hydroxide and having a specific gravity of 1 . 30 was poured in a fluorocarbon resin container and heated up to 120 ° c . when the temperature of the alkaline aqueous solution reached 120 ° c ., 3 g of cobalt hydroxide was added to and mixed with the alkaline aqueous solution , and then 300 g of a pulverized hydrogen storage alloy was added thereto . while keeping at 120 ° c ., the alkaline aqueous solution was stirred every 10 minutes for about 30 seconds . after continuing the treatment for 5 hours , the powdered alloy was well rinsed with water until the ph of the water became 8 or lower , and then dried at 50 ° c . this process was applied to the powdered alloys no . 1 - 6 individually . as a result , the color of all the powdered alloys were changed from metallic into black . the compositions of these treated hydrogen storage alloy powders were analyzed . although it was impossible to determine the exact entire compositions of the alloys from the surfaces to the center because these samples were all in a powdery state , it was found that the blackened surface of the alloy powder is covered with a nickel - and cobalt - rich layer ( about 40 - 60 atom % of nickel metal and about 10 - 30 atom % of cobalt metal ), and that the concentrations of both nickel and cobalt gradually decreased in the direction of depth and finally reached the level in the original alloy compositions . it was also recognized from a comparison of the compositions of the alloys no . 1 - 6 that an alloy having a lower cobalt content formed the nickel - and cobalt - rich layer more effectively . the alloys no . 1 - 6 were used to prepare 6 surface - treated alloy powders and 6 untreated alloy powders . by using the total of 12 alloy powders thus prepared , 12 sealed - type nickel - metal hydride storage batteries were manufactured in the following manner , and the characteristics of these batteries were examined . each of the 12 alloy powders was mixed with water to form a paste . the paste was applied to a foamed nickel sheet ( nickel sponge metal ) with a porosity of 95 % and a thickness of 1 . 0 mm . the foamed nickel sheet with the paste was dried , pressed to a thickness of 0 . 35 mm , and cut into a predetermined size to formed a negative electrode . a well - known foamed nickel electrode was used as the positive electrode , and a hydrophilic polypropylene non - woven fabric was used as the separator . the negative and positive electrodes thus produced were stacked with the separator inbetween and coiled up to put the whole in an aa - size battery case . then , an electrolyte was prepared by dissolving 30 g / l of lithium hydroxide in a potassium hydroxide aqueous solution having a specific gravity of 1 . 30 . thus prepared electrolyte was poured in the battery case . then , a lid with a safety valve was attached to the opening of the battery case . the capacity of this battery is restricted by the positive electrode and its standard capacity is 1 , 200 mah . these 12 nickel - metal hydride storage batteries thus manufactured were subjected to 5 cycles of charge - discharge operations as an initial charge - discharge operation where charging is performed for 6 hours at room temperature with a current of 240 ma and discharging at room temperature with a current of 240 ma until the battery voltage drops to 1 . 0 v . after the initial charge - discharge operation , the following main battery characteristics were examined in these 12 alkaline storage batteries under the typical test conditions as described below : charge characteristic , discharge characteristic , cycle life characteristic and preservation characteristic . to check the charge characteristic , the battery inner pressure during a rapid charge operation was examined as follows . after a complete discharge , each of the batteries was charged for 1 . 5 hours at 20 ° c . with a current of 1 cma ( 1 , 200 ma ). during the charging operation , changes in the battery inner pressure were measured with a pressure sensor . the maximum battery voltage p max of each battery is shown in table 2 below . to check the discharge characteristic , the low - temperature high - rate discharge performance was examined as follows . after a complete charge at room temperature , each battery was discharged at 0 ° c . with 1 cma ( 1 , 200 ma ) until the battery voltage dropped to 1 . 0 v . table 2 shows the discharge capacity ratio c and the mean discharge voltage v i under the conditions where the standard discharge capacity at 20 ° c . and with a current of 240 ma is set at 100 %. to check the cycle life characteristic , number of cycles were counted under the following conditions . in order to clarify the negative electrode alloy characteristic , each battery was charged for 3 hours at 40 ° c . with a current of 600 ma and then discharged under the same temperature and current condition , until the battery voltage dropped to 1 . 0 v . this charge - discharge cycle was repeated until the discharge capacity decreased below 60 % of the initial discharge capacity . number of cycles of each battery is shown in table 2 . to check the preservation characteristic , each of the batteries in discharged state was left in the atmosphere of 65 ° c . in order to observe a decrease in the open - circuit voltage , along with the preservation period . the days until the drop of the open - circuit voltage to 0 . 81 v are shown in table 2 . table 2__________________________________________________________________________ internal pressure discharge high - tempco content p . sub . max characteristic life preserva - no . ( atom %) treatment ( kgf / cm . sup . 2 ) c (%) v . sub . i ( v ) ( cycle ) tion ( day ) __________________________________________________________________________1 12 . 5 none 5 . 4 85 1 . 16 320 78 treated 5 . 1 87 1 . 19 330 1052 9 . 2 none 7 . 7 82 1 . 14 285 75 treated 6 . 3 85 1 . 16 305 963 5 . 8 none 10 . 3 78 1 . 11 250 62 treated 6 . 8 84 1 . 15 290 844 2 . 5 none 12 . 3 75 1 . 09 180 47 treated 7 . 2 83 1 . 14 270 775 0 . 8 none 14 . 5 73 1 . 08 145 35 treated 7 . 8 82 1 . 13 265 686 0 none 15 . 8 70 1 . 03 90 29 treated 8 . 3 81 1 . 11 240 65__________________________________________________________________________ the results of these examinations indicate the following : as for the charge characteristic , although battery inner pressure increases with a decrease in cobalt content , the pressure increase can be restrained by applying the surface treatment . as a result of the surface treatment , the battery inner pressure was maintained at the target degree of 10 kgf / cm 2 or below , even in the alloy having a low cobalt content . as to the low - temperature high - rate discharge characteristic , although the capacity ratio and the mean discharge voltage both decrease with a decrease in cobalt content , these decreases can be restrained by applying the surface treatment . as a result of the surface treatment , the capacity ratio and the mean discharge voltage achieved the target degrees of over 80 % and 1 . 1 v , respectively , even in the alloy having a low cobalt content . as for the cycle life characteristic , although number of cycles decreases with a decrease in cobalt content , the decrease in the cycle number is restrained by applying the surface treatment . as a result of the surface treatment , the cycle number reached the target number of 200 or higher even in the alloy having a low cobalt content . the examination results of the discharge preservation test at 65 ° c . indicate that although a decrease in the open - circuit voltage is accelerated with decreasing cobalt content , which leads to a decrease in the preservation period , the preservation characteristic is improved by applying the surface treatment . as a result of the surface treatment , the target preservation period of 60 days was obtained even in the alloy having a low cobalt content . in conclusion , the examination results of the main battery characteristics indicated that by application of the surface treatment in accordance with the present invention , it is possible to suppress a decrease in the cycle life and preservation characteristics of the alkaline storage batteries derived from a low cobalt content of a hydrogen storage alloy used in the battery , thereby realizing alkaline storage batteries with satisfactory performance for practical use . furthermore , the surface treatment improves the rapid charge and high - rate discharge characteristics which are significant for the alkaline storage batteries . as discussed above , according to the present invention , it is possible to obtain a storage battery having satisfactory battery characteristics even if the hydrogen storage alloy having a low cobalt content is included in the batteries . then , the risk of possible ignition of the hydrogen storage alloy and the electrodes including the same , which becomes a serious problem during the manufacturing process , was examined . the ignitability of the alloys and the electrodes was examined by a fire exposure test under the following conditions . hydrogen storage alloy powders which had been dried to eliminate the influence of moisture and electrode plates were used as samples . each of these samples was placed on an inorganic heat - insulating board and exposed directly to a diffusion flame of a gas lighter for 10 seconds . the ease of ignition was assessed based on the time required for ignition and the subsequent burning state of a sample . first , the alloy compositions were examined . examination of the 12 alloy powders ( 6 treated alloy powders and 6 untreated alloy powders ) revealed that the non - treated alloy powders required 3 seconds for ignition , and therefore were evaluated as highly dangerous . on the other hand , of the 6 surface - treated alloy powders , 5 ignited within 3 to 10 seconds , and therefore were evaluated as moderately dangerous . then , the electrodes employing these 12 alloy powders respectively were evaluated in the same manner . none of these electrodes ignited within 10 seconds and their dangerousness was estimated as low . by putting the samples in contact with the diffusion flame for a longer time , it was found that the electrodes employing the surface - treated alloys have poor ignitability . in conclusion , it has become obvious that the surface treatment of the present invention is effective to reduce the danger of ignition which has been the objective of hydrogen storage alloys . six alloys no . 7 - 12 having the same compositions as the alloys no . 1 - 6 of the first embodiment , respectively , were prepared by the normal high - frequency melting - casting method and then powdered by the gas atomizing method as follows : each of the alloys no . 7 - 12 was heated to melt and dropped through a nozzle having a diameter of 2 mm . the molten alloy was sprayed with argon gas at an injection pressure of about 60 kgf / cm 2 while dropping , and powdered . the cooling rate of the gas atomizing method is considered to be 10 4 to 10 5 k / sec which is much higher than that of the high - frequency melting - casting method applied in the first embodiment . the alloy powders thus obtained were approximately spherical . powder particles having a diameter of 10 to 100 μm were selected , heat - treated for an hour at 900 ° c . in a vacuum , and used as samples . each of the hydrogen storage alloys no . 7 - 12 which were thus powdered was added together with cobalt hydroxide to a potassium hydroxide aqueous solution at a temperature of 120 ° c . having a specific gravity of 1 . 30 to provide the alloy powder with a surface treatment in the same manner as in the first embodiment . as a result of the surface treatment , the color of all the alloy powders was changed from metallic into black , like as in the first embodiment . it was observed that the blackened surfaces of the alloy powders were covered with nickel - and cobalt - rich layers and the concentration of both nickel and cobalt gradually decreased in the direction of depth until it reached the degree in the original alloy compositions . the six surface - treated alloy powders were used to produce hydrogen storage alloy electrodes , and then alkaline storage batteries were manufactured by employing these electrodes . the battery characteristics of the batteries thus manufactured were examined under the same conditions as in the first embodiment . the examination revealed that the powdering by the gas atomizing method enhanced the battery characteristics and the safety of the alloys although the same compositions and surface treatment conditions as those in the first embodiment were applied . the examination results of the battery characteristics are shown in table 3 . table 3______________________________________ battery charac - teristics internal pressure discharge life preser - co content p . sub . max characteristic ( cy - vationno . ( atom %) treatment kgf / cm . sup . 2 c (%) vi ( v ) cle ) ( day ) ______________________________________ 7 12 . 5 treated 5 . 6 88 1 . 20 350 125 8 9 . 2 treated 6 . 9 86 1 . 77 335 107 9 5 . 8 treated 7 . 3 85 1 . 16 330 9810 2 . 5 treated 7 . 5 83 1 . 14 300 8911 0 . 8 treated 8 . 1 83 1 . 14 285 8212 0 treated 8 . 8 82 1 . 12 265 78______________________________________ it is apparent from a comparison of the results shown in table 3 and table 2 that the batteries employing the allow powders that were prepared by the gas atomizing method have as good charge and discharge characteristics as those employing the alloy powders that were prepared by mechanical pulverization . as for the cycle life and high - temperature characteristics , the batteries with the alloy powders prepared by the gas atomizing method were much better than those with mechanically - pulverized alloy powders . the ignitability test was conducted on the alloy powders made from the alloys no . 7 - 12 and the electrode plates employing these alloy powders in the same manner as in the first embodiment . as a result , it was observed that none of the alloy powders ignited within 10 seconds , and their danger was regarded as low . the same results were obtained from the electrode plates . it was also turned out that the alloys no . 7 - 12 of the present embodiment were all safer than the alloys no . 1 - 6 of the first embodiment . the same test was conducted on the powders prepared by the roll quenching method and the centrifugal atomizing method both of which are categorized as the ultra - rapid quenching method like the gas atomizing method . as a result , these alloy powders had the same effects as those of alloys no . 7 - 12 obtained by the gas atomizing method . the surface treatment is also effective for an mm - ni type hydrogen alloy powder having a crystal structure of cacu 5 , particularly for the alloy containing cobalt at 15 atom % or less , prepared by the ultra - rapid quenching method at a cooling rate of 10 3 k / sec or higher . although the present invention has been described in terms of the presently preferred embodiments , it is to be understood that such disclosure is not to be interpreted as limiting . various alterations and modifications will no doubt become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains , after having read the above disclosure . accordingly , it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as covering all alterations and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention .	7
as shown in fig1 a - 6e , a water management system 10 is provided that in its broadest context includes a plurality of compressibly connectable liner sections for lining a ditch . the plurality of compressibly connectable liner sections is formed with corrugations . a plurality of corrugation couplers is formed in the corrugations for connecting the plurality of liner sections end - to - end . the plurality of corrugation couplers includes a monolithically formed succession of adjacent extended corrugations and foreshortened corrugations . the water management system also includes means for sealing abutting corrugation couplers . also included is a connector such as a threaded rivet for affixing adjoining corrugation couplers . an anchoring device insertable through the plurality of compressibly connectable liner sections is provided for securing the water management system in the ditch . the extended corrugations include a substantially triangular ridge having a rounded apex . the foreshortened corrugations include a substantially frustoconical ridge having a planar surface . a trough adjacently connects the extended corrugations and the foreshortened corrugations . wells may be formed in the troughs for positioning connectors such as threaded rivets . a means for sealing abutting corrugation couplers is mountable on the planar surface of the substantially frustoconical ridge . in one embodiment , the means for sealing abutting corrugation couplers is a compressibly resilient gasket for sealing the plurality of compressibly connectable liner sections . an adhesive is placed on the planar surface of the foreshortened corrugations . in one embodiment of the water management system , the slopes of opposing walls of the extended corrugations and of the foreshortened corrugations are substantially similar . the dimensions of opposing walls of the foreshortened corrugations would be substantially similar to the dimensions of opposing walls of the extended corrugations if not subtended by the planar surface of the foreshortened corrugations . the water management system also includes a variety of water and material diversion devices . in this description , to the extent that subscripts to the numerical designations include the lower case letter “ n ,” as in “ a - n ,” the letter “ n ” is intended to express a large number of repetitions of the element designated by that numerical reference and subscripts . the terms “ management ” and “ managing ” used in conjunction with the word “ water ” ( such as , “ managing water ,” “ water management ,” and similar variations of the terms ) contemplate that the apparatus and methods disclosed and claimed in this document may be used to hold and irrigate plant and planting materials so as to conserve water ; and that restrains growth of roots , shrubs and trees by confining growth within the apparatus and system disclosed and claimed in this document (“ water management system ”). the term “ water management system ” also contemplates and includes transporting fluids and materials within interconnected liner sections to specific points and areas . as shown in another embodiment , the water management system also may be used to route rain or undesirable water and materials away from land and structures . the term “ corrugation coupler ” or “ corrugation couplers ” means and refers to the new and useful apparatus disclosed and claimed in this document for snapping together and separating , or compressibly connecting and detaching , liner sections into a water management system . the corrugations formed in the liner sections are themselves the corrugation couplers . the corrugations themselves are formed for compressibly connecting and detaching the liner sections end to end , resulting in reduction of manufacturing complexity and ease of field assembly of a water management system . more specifically , as shown by cross - reference between fig1 a - 6e , a water management system 10 , as shown diagrammatically in fig2 , includes a plurality of compressibly connectable liner sections 12 a , b for lining a ditch 14 as further shown by cross - reference between fig6 a - 6c . the plurality of compressibly connectable liner sections 12 a , b is formed with corrugations 16 . a plurality of corrugation couplers 18 a - n as shown in fig6 a - 6b is formed in the corrugations 16 a - n for connecting the plurality of liner sections 12 a , b end - to - end . to achieve rapid , secure , repetitive connections , the plurality of corrugation couplers 18 a - n includes a succession of contiguous extended corrugations 20 a - n and foreshortened corrugations 22 a - n . thus , it will be apparent that each liner section 12 a - n includes a monolithically formed succession of corrugations of varying dimensions . as shown , corrugation couplers 18 a - n includes two adjacent corrugations 16 a - n , a leading corrugation 24 , and a trailing corrugation 26 . the leading corrugation 24 is formed with a substantially triangular cross - section 28 having a rounded apex 30 ( the “ extended corrugation ”); the trailing corrugation 26 is formed with a substantially frustoconical cross - section 32 having a height d 1 less than the height d 2 of the extended corrugation ( the “ foreshortened corrugation ”), as best shown in fig6 b . the walls 34 of the corrugations 16 a - n are substantially of uniform thickness throughout the length l 1 of a liner section 12 as best shown in fig6 c . as will be evident to one skilled in the art , the length l 2 of extended corrugations 20 a - n exceeds length l 3 of foreshortened corrugations 22 a - n throughout the length l 1 of liner sections 12 a - n , as shown by cross - reference between fig6 b - 6e . however , a mechanical advantage of the corrugation couplers 18 a - n is flexibility in altering the dimensions of the corrugation couplers 18 a - n during the manufacturing process , particularly the extended corrugations 20 a - n and the foreshortened corrugations 22 a - n , as dictated by the terrain conditions , size of the ditch 14 to be lined , and other varying conditions in which the water management system 10 will be installed , as well as other installation objectives . thus , although the general dimensions of the extended corrugations 20 a - n and foreshortened corrugations 22 a - n remain collectively substantially constant throughout the length l 2 of each liner section 12 a - n , the lengths l 2 and l 3 of the walls 34 of contiguous corrugations 16 a - n may be varied from application to application , and installation to installation , depending also on terrain conditions and flow geometries desired for a particular water management situation . as shown in fig6 b , except for heights d 1 and d 2 , other dimensions of the foreshortened corrugations 22 a - n may be substantially comparable to analogous dimensions of the extended corrugations 20 a - n . this , too , contributes a mechanical advantage to forming the corrugations 16 a - n during the manufacturing process : only the desired height d 2 of the foreshortened corrugations 22 a - n need be altered because the other dimensions will be similar to the extended corrugations 20 a - n . the height d 1 of the foreshortened corrugations 22 a - n may be adjusted prior to the manufacturing process that produces the desired liner sections 12 a - n . the planar surface 36 formed in the foreshortened corrugations 22 a - n by the truncating of the foreshortened corrugations 22 a - n also provides a surface on which to place an elastically deformable gasket 38 to help seal the connection between compressibly connected liner sections 12 a - n . as will be evident to one skilled in the art , the corrugation couplers 18 a - n also may be used in a variety of liner sections 12 a - n regardless of cross - sectional shape of the water management system 10 installed , including without limitation liner sections 12 a - n where cross - sections are substantially semi - circular , trapezoidal , square , oblong , or “ v ”- shaped . thus , liner sections 12 a - n may be manufactured in fewer “ standard ” lengths because one or more corrugation couplers 18 a - n may be removed or incised from a liner section 12 to link liner sections 12 a - n for a precise fit in a ditch 14 , regardless of the length of the ditch 14 . because the corrugation couplers 18 a - n are part of the corrugations 16 a - n common to a water management system 10 installation , much greater installation precision is achieved . as shown in fig1 a - 1b and 4 , the water management system 10 also includes in at least one embodiment opposing aprons 40 a - b . the opposing aprons 40 a - b extend from opposing sides 42 a , b of the compressibly connectable liner sections 12 a - n . the opposing aprons 40 a - b are useful in reducing erosion . opposing aprons 40 a , b also are useful in guiding installation of the anchoring device 44 . as shown best in fig4 , opposing aprons 40 a - b include , in one embodiment , a scribe line or indent 46 for guiding placement of an anchoring device 44 through the opposing aprons 40 a - b . the water management system 10 also includes in at least one embodiment , as shown by cross - reference between fig6 a - 6b , means for sealing 48 abutting corrugation couplers 18 a - n . in the embodiment shown in fig6 b , means for sealing 48 abutting corrugation couplers 18 a - n is mountable on the planar surface 36 of the substantially frustoconical ridge 50 . as shown , means for sealing 48 abutting corrugation couplers 18 a - n includes a compressibly resilient gasket 38 . in another embodiment means for sealing 48 abutting corrugation couplers 18 a - n includes an adhesive 52 to secure the compressibly resilient gasket 38 on the planar surface 36 . the adhesive 52 is shown in fig6 b diagrammatically as a rectangle on planar surface 36 . as also shown in fig6 b , the water management system 10 also includes a connector 54 such as a threaded rivet . the connector 54 is useful for affixing adjoining corrugation couplers 18 a - n . as also shown in the embodiment shown in fig4 , the water management system 10 also includes an anchoring device 44 insertable through the plurality of compressibly connectable liner sections 12 a - n , preferably the opposing aprons 40 a - b , for securing the water management system 10 in the ditch 14 . as shown in fig4 , the anchor is a rod . alternatively , the anchoring device 44 may be an earth 44 ′ anchor as described in u . s . patent application ser . no . 11 / 114 , 546 filed on apr . 26 , 2005 . in the embodiments shown in fig1 b and 5 a - 5 c , the water management system 10 further includes one or more diversion devices 56 a - n . a diversion device 56 a shown in the embodiment in fig1 b includes one or more removable caps 58 a - c located in one or more barrier ends 60 that may be formed or inserted in an end of a liner section 12 . the one or more removable caps 58 a - c located in one or more barrier ends 60 are formed to be easily removable from barrier end 60 by tapping with a light hammer or similar instrument . the holes remaining in the one or more barrier ends 60 permits movement and transport of water and other materials through an interconnected water management system that may be used for either , or both , fluid transportation alone , or fluid transportation through earth or similar materials placed in a water management system 10 used for landscaping purposes . in the embodiments shown diagrammatically in fig5 a - 5c , a diversion device 56 b includes a hub 62 shown diagrammatically in fig5 c . in the embodiment shown in fig5 a , a diversion device 56 c includes an angled unit 62 ′ connectable to the one or more liner sections 12 a - n for diverting fluid and material flow in different directions . as shown in fig5 b , diversion device 56 includes a tee - unit 62 ″. as will be evident to one skilled in the art , the diagrammatic representation of diversion devices 88 a - d are connectable to one or more liner sections 12 a - n to redirect flow through water management system 10 as desired and desirable . in yet another aspect of the water management system 10 , as shown perhaps best by cross - reference between fig6 b - 6d , a plurality of wells 64 a - n is provided . as shown , wells 64 a - n are shown in one embodiment as substantially tubular , and formed with an anterior opening 66 and a posterior recess 68 . in another embodiment , as also shown by cross - reference between fig6 b - 6d , substantially semi - circular channels 70 a - n , as shown best in fig6 c , are formed adjacent wells 64 a - n . in operation , connector 54 is inserted through wall 34 of liner sections 12 a , b to assist in connecting liner section 12 a to liner section 12 b as shown in fig6 e . wells 64 a - n provide the mechanical advantage of accommodating the head 72 of connector 54 a ( shown as a threaded rivet ) may infix . in addition , the semi - circular channels 70 a - n may also be formed as shown by cross - reference between fig6 c - 6d . the semi - circular channels 70 a - n provide a segmented annular ledge 74 a - n against which the lower surface 76 of the head 72 of connector 54 a comes in contact . the segmented annular ledge 74 a - n against which the lower surface 76 of the head 72 of connector 54 a comes in contact is shown diagrammatically by cross - hatched lines in fig6 d . the semi - circular configuration of the semi - circular channels 70 a - n also is shown in fig6 d . at least a portion of the head 72 of connector 54 a , as represented diagrammatically by the dimension p 1 in fig6 c , is held within semi - circular channels 70 a - b . as will be apparent to one skilled in the art , wells 64 a - n and semi - circular channels 70 a - n , either alone or in combination , provide the mechanical advantage of helping to secure connectors 54 a - n when installed in liner sections 12 a - n of water management system 10 . as also will become apparent to one skilled in the art , connectors 54 a - n may be installed in liner sections 12 a - n either from the top down ( namely , through liner section 12 a into liner section 12 b ), or bottom up ( namely , through liner section 12 b into liner section 12 a ), with or without the formation of wells 64 a - n or semi - circular channels 70 a - n . the water management system shown in drawing fig1 a through 6e includes at least one embodiment , but the embodiments are not intended to be exclusive , but merely illustrative of the disclosed but non - exclusive embodiments . claim elements and steps in this document have been numbered and / or lettered solely as an aid in readability and understanding . claim elements and steps have been numbered solely as an aid in readability and understanding . the numbering is not intended to , and should not be considered as intending to , indicate the ordering of elements and steps in the claims . means - plus - function clauses in the claims are intended to cover the structures described as performing the recited function that include not only structural equivalents , but also equivalent structures . thus , although a nail and screw may not be structural equivalents , in the environment of the subject matter of this document a nail and a screw may be equivalent structures .	4
reference is made to a commonly - owned u . s . pat . no . 6 , 001 , 077 , whose contents are hereby incorporated by reference . like the system described in that patent , the surgical smoke evacuation apparatus of the invention employs two independent filters in series in the suction path . the first filter is a viral pre - filter which is capable of filtering micro - organisms bigger than 0 . 02 microns in size . following the pre - filter is a charcoal filter that efficiently removes odors . a preferred embodiment 10 in accordance with the invention is illustrated in fig1 and comprises a main air - tight ( except for an air outlet ) housing 12 that provides a control panel and display 14 on the front side and in front an air inlet 16 for receiving a hose connector mounted at the end of a corrugated plastic vacuum hose 18 sufficiently strong to withstand the suction pressure . inside the housing 12 is provided a brushless dc blower or suction motor 20 available commercially from many suppliers and having an air inlet 22 and an air outlet 24 . in operation , an internal 2 - stage fan ( not shown ) develops a suitable suction at its air inlet 22 by discharging a powerful stream of air at its outlet 24 . the discharged air exits the housing via a mesh - covered louvered opening 26 at the housing bottom . standoffs 30 provide easy flow of the exhaust stream to the ambient . the speed of the motor 20 may be controlled in a known manner ( more on this below ). typically , the suction generated is inversely proportional to the air flow rate . it is desirable to maintain the air flow rate to ensure that the suction is sufficient to collect any smoke plume pollutants encountered . the vacuum hose 18 is connected at one end to the housing air inlet 16 , and at the opposite end to an external pre - filter 32 . preferably , the pre - filter 32 comprises a viral paper filter capable of filtering micro - organisms exceeding 0 . 02 microns , and is also available commercially from many suppliers . the viral paper filter is mounted inside a small housing 34 which is not meant to be opened and the housing and assembled filter 32 is easily removed and replaced by any user of the apparatus . to the air inlet side of the pre - filter 32 is connected a wand 36 via its air outlet and with the wand 36 having at its air inlet a mesh tip 38 which is positioned by the practitioner at the site where the smoke plume is generated . the wand is described in more detail in the referenced patent . fig2 and 6 show by arrows the air flow path . the suction motor 20 creates a large suction that pulls in at the wand 36 end via the mesh 38 outside air 80 including any smoke or plume in the vicinity . many of the pollutant particles are filtered out by the pre - filter 32 , and the suctioned air continues 82 through the hose 18 into the input 16 of the main filter housing 40 . the latter houses a replaceable charcoal filter 42 which is in the shape of a cylinder defining within the filter housing 40 an annular cylindrical outer channel 44 and on the charcoal interior an inner cylindrical channel 46 . the front end 48 of the filter is sealed off forcing the air to enter the outer channel 44 . the rear 50 of the outer channel is also sealed off forcing the air radially through the charcoal walls to the inner channel 46 which communicates with the motor inlet 22 . hence , all the air must flow through the walls of the charcoal filter 42 . after passing through the suction motor 20 the filtered air exits via the air output 26 . the front of the filter housing 40 can be removed to replace the filter unit 42 when desired . a feature of the invention is means for indicating or determining when the main filter 40 should be replaced . this is achieved by monitoring the air pressure at the inlet to the main filter 40 . in a preferred embodiment , a pressure tube 54 is mounted in the main filter housing 40 . the tube inlet 56 is positioned as shown in fig2 to receive a sample of the incoming air which has passed through the pre - filter 32 . the air pressure at that point , i . e ., at the input to the main filter 40 , is an indication of the degree of clogging of the main filter 40 . it is a straightforward task to measure that pressure for different levels of filter 40 clogging to determine the degree of clogging of the polluted filter . essentially this is a calibration task that provides the information for the user to decide when to replace the master filter 40 . in general , a conventional pressure transducer 56 ( fig6 ) measuring the air pressure , at that point generates a voltage that is approximately proportional to the pressure increase ( over ambient pressure , which is the pressure at the motor outlet ). it will be understood that , as the main filter clogs , the air flow reduces which increases the back pressure at the input to the main filter . for example , a higher pressure measurement will provide a higher voltage to trigger a signal that can be used to generate a tone from an annunciator ( not shown ) and / or turn on an indicator 60 on the front panel display 65 , for example a red light , warning the user to replace the master filter . this pressure voltage when calibrated thus determines the degree of pollution within the master filter for replacement . also , an early warning signal can be obtained by scaling this pressure voltage , and implementing the warning by means of another indicator , for example , signaling a yellow light indicator , to warn the user to have available or procure a stand - by replacement filter . in general , when the air pressure at the sample tube 54 has increased by , say , 40 % over the air pressure measured when a clean filter is present is a good time to replace the main filter to avoid the risk of incomplete removal of all possible pollutants . the transducer itself , not shown in fig2 but in fig6 may be located inside the filter housing 40 and an electrical wire used to connect the transducer to a control circuit 66 on a pcb within the evacuator housing 12 . alternatively , the air pressure pipe 54 can be extended through the outer channel 44 to the rear of the filter housing , and a flexible tube 62 connected to the pipe via a nipple 63 at the rear of the filter ( see fig3 ) can be used to convey the air pressure to the transducer 56 on the pcb . as an alternative , as illustrated in fig4 the air tube 54 can travel through the outer channel 44 to the outlet 63 for carrying the pressure at the main filter entrance to the pressure transducer 56 . as a further feature of the invention , means are provided to control the motor speed . this also can be accomplished with a second air tube 68 travelling through the outer channel 44 and having an inlet 69 at the main filter entrance and an outlet 70 for carrying the pressure via a flexible air hose 71 at the main filter exit to a second pressure transducer 72 in the main control 66 . alternatively , the first and second air tubes 54 , 68 can be combined into a single tube . the second pressure transducer 72 measures the pressure difference across the motor 20 , as the motor releases air into the ambient atmosphere , the exit pressure would be close to atmospheric pressure though , perhaps , a small discrepancy is expected . the pressure increasing rate is an almost linear decreasing offset function of the air mass flow . the voltage generated by the second pressure transducer 72 is utilized to control the motor speed in a conventional manner 73 for maintaining a constant air mass flow rate through the system . this ensures that collection of pollutants is optimized . rapid drop of the air flow rate can be used to trigger a signal to disable the motor for it means an undesirable clogging in the air flow path that is interfering with the pollution collection . the user at that point should discontinue or interrupt the procedure to determine the clogging point and to fix it . fig6 shows other elements of the control system which are straightforward for the person of ordinary skill in the art to implement , so it is deemed unnecessary to supply more than the minimum details . fig6 shows not only electrical components and their relationships , but also pneumatic relationships by the arrows indicating air flow as well as the signal flow . for example , an indicator 84 on the board can display speed , foot 86 represents a foot switch for activating the system , the wand symbol 88 underneath represents a possible on - off switch on the wand , and the remaining items are readily understood from their label . the main control system can be readily implemented by a conventional microcontroller suitably programmed to respond to the various inputs and to activate various outputs as required , or by a hard - wired digital circuit to supply the functions described . in summary , the filtration system of the invention provides a strong air suction flow rate able to capture the smoke plume before it escapes . the extended wand will easily reach to the surgical site . the in - line micro - filter provides the first defense to capture harmful bio - particles and prevent large particles from getting into the filtration system , as well as to keep clog away from the filter system and simultaneously maintain the required air flow rate . the large charcoal filter and the described radial flow path provides room and time for the polluted air to react with the active charcoal to remove any odors , leaving exhausting air as fresh as the unpolluted room air . in addition , the system provides high suction and high flow rate . the safety screen 38 at the wand entrance keeps large tissue particles out of the system . the external filter 32 in addition to trapping micro - organisms removes casual fluid . this external filter 32 is a single use filter , and can be easily installed or replaced for filter changes as it is completely enclosed in a plastic compartment to prevent health care personnel from potential contamination . the master filter 40 functions to absorb and purify the toxic gases and odors produced by the burning tissue . it accomplishes this with high quality activated carbon . the pressure sensors for monitoring the air flow path through the master filter achieve the highest efficiency and ensure its function . the filtration system can also be monitored by an operational timer as well as air flow pressure sensors . when it has been operated for a certain set period and / or the air flow pressure reaches a certain threshold level , the filtration system will trigger a warning light to tell the user that replacement of the master filter is in order . the filtration system will re - set its pressure level and timing counter system upon replacing the master filter . while , for best protection , when it is time to replace the master filter , the filtration system will stop functioning after the warning light is on . however , in the event of an emergency , an override switch 90 is provided to allow the system to continue functioning . the filtration system may continue its service for the last time as long as its power supply is not interrupted . this can also be implemented by incorporating a one - time use fuse on the master filter which allows only one use when the override switch is activated . the motor speed control is easily implemented with a known integrated circuit to control the motor speed and its function . while the invention has been described in connection with preferred embodiments , it will be understood that modifications thereof within the principles outlined above will be evident to those skilled in the art and thus the invention is not limited to the preferred embodiments but is intended to encompass such modifications .	1
compound 1 of the present invention is a known compound , and is produced by , for example , the method disclosed in international publication wo1999 / 008987 . the term “ treatment ” in the present invention means maintenance treatment for alleviating the symptoms and preventing the recurrence by improving a disease that presents both of detrusor overactivity and detrusor underactivity , especially , maintenance treatment for alleviating the symptoms and preventing the recurrence by ameliorating dhic . in the present specification , the phrase “ a treatment of dhic ” means a method of ameliorating a disease that presents both of detrusor overactivity during storage phase and detrusor impaired contractility during voiding phase . compound 1 of the present invention may be formed acid adduct salt , or base adduct salt . and the present include the present invention to the extent that the salt is a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof . specifically , it includes an acid adduct salt with an inorganic acid such as hydrochloric acid , hydrobromic acid , hydroiodic acid , sulfuric acid , nitric acid , or phosphoric acid etc . ; an acid adduct salt with an organic acid such as formic acid , acetic acid , propionic acid , oxalic acid , malonic acid , succinic acid , fumaric acid , maleic acid , lactic acid , malic acid , citric acid , tartaric acid , carbonic acid , picric acid , methansulfonic acid , p - toluenesulfonic acid , or glutamic acid etc . ; salt with an inorganic base such as sodium , potassium , magnesium , calcium , or aluminum etc . ; salt with an organic base such as methylamine , ethylamine , meglumine , or ethanolamine etc . ; salt with basic amino acid such as lysine , arginine , or ornithine ; ammonium salt etc . examples of the solvent of the solvate of compound 1 of the present invention include water , methanol , ethanol , isopropanol , acetonitrile , tetrahydrofuran , ethyl acetate , toluene , hexane , acetone , methyl ethyl ketone , and methyl isobutyl ketone etc . 3 -( 15 - hydroxypentadecyl )- 2 , 4 , 4 - trimethyl - 2 - cyclohexene - 1 - one , a salt thereof , or a solvate thereof of the present invention can be prepared into various dosage forms by using known preparation methods using a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier . the dosage form is not particularly limited , and examples thereof include oral agents such as tablets , coated tablets , pills , powdered drugs , granules , capsules , liquids , suspensions , or emulsions ; and parenteral agents such as injections or suppositories . in preparing tablets , examples of carrier include excipients such as lactose , sucrose , sodium chloride , glucose , urea , starch , calcium carbonate , kaolin , crystalline cellulose , or silicic acid ; binders such as water , ethanol , propanol , cornstarch , simple syrup , glucose solution , starch solution , gelatin solution , carboxymethylcellulose , shellac , methylcellulose , hydroxypropylcellulose , hydroxypropylmethylcellulose , potassium phosphate , or polyvinyl pyrrolidone ; disintegrants such as dry starch , sodium alginate , powdered agar , powdered laminaran , sodium hydrogencarbonate , calcium carbonate , polyoxyethylene sorbitan fatty acid ester , sodium lauryl sulfate , stearic acid monoglyceride , or lactose ; disintegration inhibitors such as sucrose , stearic acid , cacao butter , or hydrogenated oils ; absorbefacients such as quaternary ammonium salts or sodium lauryl sulfate ; moisturizers such as glycerin or starch ; adsorbents such as starch , lactose , kaolin , bentonite , or colloidal silicic acid ; and lubricants such as purified talc , stearate , boric acid powder , or polyethylene glycol . further , the tablets may be generally coated tablets such as sugar - coated tables , gelatin - coated tablets , enteric - coated tablets , film - coated tablets , double - coated tablets , or multi - coated tablets . in preparing pills , examples of the carrier include excipients such as glucose , lactose , starch , cacao butter , hardened vegetable oil , kaolin , or talc ; binders such as gum arabic powder , tragacanth powder , gelatin , or ethanol ; and disintegrators such as laminaran or agar . capsules are usually prepared in a standard method by blending the drug with one or more carriers as exemplified above , and encapsulating the mixture into hard gelatin capsules , soft capsules , etc . in preparing oral liquid formulations , an internal liquid medicine , a syrup , an elixir , or the like , may be prepared by a standard method using sweetening / flavoring agent , buffer , stabilizer , etc . in this case , examples of sweetening / flavoring agents include sucrose , wild orange peel , citric acid , and tartaric acid ; examples of buffers include sodium citrate ; and examples of stabilizers include tragacanth , gum arabic , and gelatin . in preparing suppositories , examples of usable carriers include polyethylene glycol , cacao butter , higher alcohols , esters of higher alcohols , gelatin , and semisynthetic glycerides . in preparing injections , the liquids , emulsions , and suspensions are preferably sterilized and rendered isotonic to the blood . examples of diluents for preparing such dosage forms include water , aqueous lactic acid solution , ethanol , propylene glycol , macrogols , ethoxylated isostearyl alcohol , polyoxyethylenated isostearyl alcohol , and polyoxyethylene sorbitan fatty acid ester . in this case , sodium chloride , glucose , or glycerin in an amount sufficient to prepare an isotonic solution may be added to the pharmaceutical formulation . further , general solubilizers , buffers , anesthetics , and the like , may also be added to the pharmaceutical formulation . additionally , coloring agents , preservatives , aromatics , flavors , sweetening agents , or other medicinal products may be incorporated , if necessary , into the pharmaceutical formulations . the method for administering the dhic ameliorating agent of the present invention is not particularly limited , and is suitably selected according to the dosage form thereof , the age , gender , and other conditions of the patient , the severity of the symptoms of the patient , and the like . for example , tablets , pills , powdered drugs , granules , capsules , liquids , suspensions , and emulsions are orally administered . the injections are intravenously administered singly , or as a mixture with a general infusion liquid such as liquid glucose or an amino acid liquid . further , as necessary , the injections are singly administered intra - arterially , intramuscularly , intradermally , subcutaneously , or intraperitoneally . the suppositories are intrarectally administered . the amount of the compound of the present invention or a salt thereof to be incorporated into each of the above dosage unit form depends on the symptoms of the target patient , or depends on the drug form ; however , the amount per dosage unit form is generally preferably about 0 . 005 to 1 , 000 mg , more preferably 1 to 800 mg , further preferably 5 to 500 mg for oral agents ; about 0 . 001 to 500 mg , more preferably 0 . 02 to 400 mg , further preferably 1 to 250 mg for injections ; and about 0 . 01 to 1 , 000 mg , more preferably 1 to 800 mg , further preferably 5 to 500 mg for suppositories . additionally , the daily dose for an adult of the drug to be administered with the above dosage form is generally about 0 . 005 to 5 , 000 mg , preferably 0 . 01 to 2 , 000 mg , more preferably 10 to 1600 mg , further preferably 20 to 800 mg , although such doses depend on the symptom , body weight , age , gender , etc ., of the patient . for each day , the daily dose is preferably taken at one time , or divided into two to four administrations . the present invention is more specifically described below in reference to the test examples ; however , the present invention is not limited to these examples . the models were produced by partial ligation ( φ1 . 57 mm ) of urethra in rats ( 9 weeks , female , sprague - dawley ). six weeks after preparation of the model , the rats were released the ligation . the next day , the intravesical pressure and the voided volume were measured under awake condition . and the detrusor contractility during voiding phase was evaluated by nomogram analysis using qmax and pdet . additionally , the detrusor overactivity , as index of overactive bladder , and the increase of residual urine volume , as index of underactive bladder , were evaluated . fig1 shows representative cystometry charts . in the dysuria model rat ( control ) compared to sham rat , there is the characteristics of detrusor hyperactivity with impaired contractility that are characterized by remarkable overactivity and increased residual urine volume ( table 1 ). through evaluation of detrusor contractility during voiding phase in refer to nomogram analysis which are used in clinical sites ( non - patent document 9 : urol clin north am , 17 , p 553 - 566 ( 1990 )), because the plot of control group is positioned in a position relatively close to the origin compared to it of sham group ( the distance from the origin : sham group 24 . 75 ± 3 . 14 , control group 4 . 24 ± 0 . 53 , p & lt ; 0 . 05 ), it is judged that reduction of detrusor contractility occurs in the rat dysuria model ( fig2 ). in the rat dysuria model from these findings , it is confirmed that the detrusor overactivity during storage phase and the reduction of detrusor contractility during voiding phase in nomogram analysis coexist in the body of the same individual which is clinical diagnostic index of dhic . it is found that the rat dysuria model is able to be evaluated as model of dhic . effects of ameliorating detrusor overactivity and detrusor impaired contractility in rat dysuria model that presents dhic the effect of 3 -( 15 - hydroxypentadecyl )- 2 , 4 , 4 - trimethyl - 2 - cyclohexene - 1 - one ( hereinafter referred to as “ compound 1 of the present invention ”) on dhic was evaluated . the dysuria models in this example were prepared in the same manner as in test example 1 . the test drugs ( vehicle : 6 % gelucire , compound 1 of the present invention 10 mg / kg ) were orally administered to each group after two weeks from the preparation of the models twice a day for four weeks . on the day of the final administration , the rats were released the ligation of urethra . the next day , the intravesical pressure and the voided volume were measured using cystometry under conscious condition . the detrusor overactivity , as an index of overactive bladder , and the increase of residual urine volume , as an index of underactive bladder , were evaluated . additionally , the detrusor contractility during voiding phase was evaluated by nomogram analysis using qmax and pdet . in comparison with the detrusor overactivity ( 1 . 73 ± 0 . 10 times / min ) and the residual urine volume ( 0 . 57 ± 0 . 06 ml ) in control group receiving vehicle ( 6 % gelucire ), detrusor overactivity ( 0 . 63 ± 0 . 14 times / min ) and residual urine volume ( 0 . 28 ± 0 . 13 ml ) in the group receiving compound 1 of the present invention were significantly improved ( table 1 ). additionally , from the result of evaluation using nomogram analysis , because the plot of compound 1 of the present invention group is positioned in a position relatively distant from the origin compared to it of control group ( the distance from the origin : 10 . 5 ± 2 . 3 , p & lt ; 0 . 05 ), it is judged that detrusor contractility is improved in compound 1 of the present invention group compared to control group ( fig2 ). in dhic model that detrusor overactivity and detrusor impaired contractility coexist , it is recognized that compound 1 of the present invention possesses effect for ameliorating both of detrusor overactivity and detrusor impaired contractility . effects of α1 - blocker ( tamsulosin ) on detrusor overactivity and detrusor underactivity / impaired contractility in rat dysuria model that presents dhic in the same manner as test example 1 , the rats were released the ligation of urethra at six weeks after the preparation of the model . the next day , the intravesical pressure and the voided volume were measured using cystometry under conscious condition . the detrusor overactivity , as an index of overactive bladder , and the increase of residual urine volume , as an index of underactive bladder , were evaluated . additionally , the detrusor contractility during voiding phase was evaluated by nomogram analysis using qmax and pdet . tamsulosin ( 3 μg / kg ) was administered intravenously to the dysuria rat at the evaluation ( six weeks after preparation of the model ). detrusor overactivity was significantly improved in tamsulosin ( 3 μg / kg ) group ( 0 . 68 ± 0 . 33 times / min ) than control group ( 1 . 73 ± 0 . 10 times / min ) ( table 1 ). however , tamsulosin ( 3 μg / kg ) has no effect on residual urine volume ( table 1 ) and detrusor contractility in nomogram analysis ( fig2 ). effects of α1 blocker ( tamsulosin ) on detrusor impaired contractility in rat underactive bladder model the effects of al blocker ( tamsulosin ) on underactive bladder were evaluated . the dysuria models in the present example were prepared by treating 10 - week - old female wistar rats with streptozotocin ( 65 mg / kg , i . p .). from four weeks after the preparation of the models , tamsulosin ( 1 μg / kg / hr ) was administered subcutaneously using osmotic pump . four weeks after the implant of osmotic pump , the intravesical pressure and the voided volume were measured using cystometry under urethane anesthesia condition . and the residual urine volume , as an index of underactive bladder , was evaluated . table 2 shows the results . in comparison with the sham group , significant increase of the residual urine volume , which is an index of underactive bladder , was observed in the control group ( eight weeks after the development of the disease in the models ). tamsulosin showed significant reduction on the increase of residual urine volume which was observed in the control group . the above results suggest that tamsulosin improves underactive bladder , that is , detrusor impaired contractility . although an α1blocker , which generally are used as dysuria - treating drug , has effect on underactive bladder ( comparative example 2 ) and are also reported effect for improving overactive bladder ( non - patent document 10 : j urol , 190 , p 1116 - 1122 ( 2013 )), the effect of tamsulosin was not observed in dysuria ( dhic ) that detrusor overactivity and detrusor impaired contractility coexist in the body of the same individual ( comparative example 1 ). on the other hand , compound 1 of the present invention shows effect for ameliorating both dysfunctions in dhic that detrusor overactivity and detrusor impaired contractility coexist ( test example 2 ). therefore , it is suggested that compound 1 of the present invention is a useful therapeutic agent for dhic ( test example 2 ).	0
turning now to the drawings , and particularly to fig2 , there is shown the components of a constant velocity joint used in practicing the present invention . like fig1 , an input shaft 21 is coupled to an output shaft 32 by means of the constant velocity joint . in the fig2 embodiment an outer housing or body 50 of particular configuration encloses the remaining conventional elements of the constant velocity joint . the body has races 23 , and the joint also includes an inner race 25 , also having races , drive balls 26 and a cage 28 . the inner race 25 has a splined opening to receive the splined end 31 of the output shaft 32 . thus , the shaft 32 can flex at any angle with respect to the input shaft 21 . the maximum angle which can be accommodated without interference is on the order of 40 degrees . the outer surface 52 of the body 50 is formed as a smooth spherical surface for purposes now to be described . in practicing the invention a semi - rigid plastic boot 60 is provided . the boot has a smooth internal spherical surface 62 which is sized to match the spherical outer surface of the body . by matching the outer surface is meant that when the boot 60 is snapped into place over the body 50 , a sliding fit is provided between the mating spherical surfaces so that one shaft can move angularly with respect to the other while the boot simply slides over the spherical surface of the body to maintain a seal . it can be appreciated from fig2 that the boot 62 is larger than a half sphere . if the boot were simply a half sphere , it would be truncated at about the phantom line 64 shown dashed in fig2 . however , it extends beyond that such that where truncated at 65 , the inner diameter of the opening 66 is smaller than the inner diameter of the boot . as a result , the boot itself will simply not fit onto the outside of the spherical body without being forced thereon . thus , after the joint is assembled , the boot is forced downwardly over the spherical housing which causes the opening 66 to expand sufficiently to fit over the outer diameter of the spherical housing . the boot is sufficiently elastic that the opening momentarily expands to allow the boot to actually pop or snap into place , to assume a rest position in which the surfaces of the two spheres match as shown in fig2 . it is locked fairly firmly in this position by the resilience of the plastic material which creates a force which tends to close the opening 66 and thus maintain the locked and conformed condition between the two elements . this sliding fit which is thus provided between the two spherical surfaces is adequate to maintain the internal workings of the joint clean . to enhance the sealing effect , wiper grooves 70 are provided near the open end 66 which tend to wipe debris off exposed portions of the body 50 as the boot moves over those portions during angular movement of the two shafts . we have found that over time plastic creep of the material of the boot tends to relax the gripping action at the opening 66 . to counteract the plastic creep from opening a gap between the end 65 of the boot and the spherical surface 52 of the housing , we position a retaining ring 72 over the plastic boot , near the truncated end . the retaining ring can be , for example , a simple steel ring which is heat treated , then split , then put into the position shown in fig2 . the original diameter of the ring 72 before heat treatment is smaller than the diameter shown in ring 72 , such that when it is split and forced into place a gap is provided between the ends of the steel ring which causes a continued compressive force around the end of the plastic boot , tending to continually resist the effects of plastic creep . other forms of mechanical retainer can also be used , but we currently prefer the snap ring because of its simplicity and rugged reliability . the shaft end of the boot is provided with a sliding fit over the outside of shaft 32 . the end portion of the shaft 32 which mates with the boot is a relatively smooth shaft section , and the boot has a cylindrical flange 80 having an inner surface 82 which closely fits over the shaft 32 . a series of grooves 84 are formed on the inside of the cylindrical surface to provide a series of wipers 85 which tend to scrape collected debris from the shaft , upon relative movement , thereby to prevent the introduction of contaminants into the housing via the shaft . referring briefly to fig3 and 4 , fig3 is similar to fig2 and is provided for reference . fig4 shows the condition when the output shaft 32 is flexed by about 40 degrees with respect to the input shaft 21 . it will be seen that the inside spherical surface 62 of the boot 60 continues to conform to the outer spherical surface 52 of the housing 50 during the entire angular movement of one shaft with respect to the other . the upper portion of the boot 62 covers a greater and greater section of the upper spherical portion , whereas the lower section of the boot slides to very near the tip . it is also noted that the angle of the internal cage has flexed to accommodate the angular motion of the shafts and keep the balls in the constant velocity plane . however , the important thing to note with respect to the present invention is the continued ability of the arrangement to prevent debris from entering . the close fitting nature of the boot , the fact it is of much harder and less flexible material than flexible boots of the past , and its close fitting nature all contribute to the extreme reliability of the arrangement , even in environmentally adverse conditions . while a variety of materials can be used for molding the plastic boot 50 , at this point we continue to prefer oil filled nylon . oil filled nylon resists moisture absorption , which is a significant characteristic for some applications . nylon of thicknesses approximately those illustrated in the drawings , on the order of 0 . 125 inches , can be formed with sufficient elasticity and flexibility to allow the boot to pop over the spherical surface of the housing . the nylon also retains its shape and thus has sufficient resilience to close the gap and closely fit about the spherical surface . the material is subject to plastic creep over time , and this is resisted by the snap ring or other external mechanical restraint . other forms of plastic , known to those skilled in the art , will also be found suitable for providing these characteristics . all references , including publications , patent applications , and patents , cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein . the use of the terms “ a ” and “ an ” and “ the ” and similar referents in the context of describing the invention ( especially in the context of the following claims ) is to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural , unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context . the terms “ comprising ,” “ having ,” “ including ,” and “ containing ” are to be construed as open - ended terms ( i . e ., meaning “ including , but not limited to ,”) unless otherwise noted . recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range , unless otherwise indicated herein , and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein . all methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context . the use of any and all examples , or exemplary language ( e . g ., “ such as ”) provided herein , is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed . no language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non - claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention . preferred embodiments of this invention are described herein , including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention . variations of those preferred embodiments may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description . the inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate , and the inventors intend for the invention to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein . accordingly , this invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law . moreover , any combination of the above - described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context .	8
1 . information retrieved means access and discovery of stored information . it requires the efficient retrieval of relevant information from ill - structured natural language - based documents . the effectiveness of a retrieval method is measured by both precision , or the proportion of relevant to non - relevant documents identified , and recall , or the percentage of relevant documents identified . 2 . information analysis is discovery and synthesis of stored information . it involves the detection of information patterns and trends and the construction of information patterns and trends and the construction of inferences concerning theses patterns and trends which produce knowledge . the present invention is known as spire ( spatial paradigm for information retrieval and exploration ). spire is a method of presenting information by relative relationships of content and context — that is , the “ relatedness ” of a plurality of documents to one another both by their sheer numbers and by their subject matter . it is comprised of a plurality of elements which define it &# 39 ; s usefulness as an information analysis tool . briefly , the elements are : a combination of an intuitive and attractive interface , well integrated with a powerful set of analytical tools ; a computationally efficient approach to both clustering and projection , essential for large document sets ; a three - dimensional visualization component to render stored information in a three - dimensional format ( known as themescapes ); and a unique interplay between the 2 - dimensional and 3 - dimensional visualization components . an essential first step in the transformation of natural language text to a visual form is to extract and structure information about the text — through a “ text processing engine ”. a text processing engine for information visualization requires : ( 1 ) the identification and extraction of essential descriptors or text features , ( 2 ) the efficient and flexible representation of documents in terms of these text features , and ( 3 ) subsequent support for information retrieval and visualization . there are a number of acceptable text engines currently available on the market or as research prototypes , such as the hecht nielson corporation &# 39 ; s matchplus or the national security agency &# 39 ; s acquaintance . the parameters typically measured by a text engine fall into one of three general types . first , ‘ frequency - based measures ’ on words , utilising only first order statistics . the presence and count of unique words in a document identifies those words as a feature set . the second type of feature is based on higher order statistics taken on the words or letter strings . here , the occurrence , frequency , and context of individual words are used to characterize a set of explicit or implicitly defined word classes . the third type of text feature is semantic — the association between words is not defined through analysis of the word corpus , as with statistical features , but is defined a priori using knowledge of the language . semantic approaches may utilize natural or quasi - natural language understanding algorithms . the second requirement of the text engine ( efficient and flexible representation of textual information ) is satisfied if identified text features are used as a shorthand representation of the original document . instead of complex and unwieldy strings of words , feature sets are the basis of document representation . volume reduction of information is required to make later computations possible . finally , the text engine must provide easy , intuitive access to the information contained within the corpus of documents through retrieval and visualization . to provide efficient retrieval , the text processing engine must pre - process documents and efficiently implement an indexing scheme for individual words or letter strings . information retrieval implies a query mechanism to support it — often a basic boolean search , or a high level query language , or the visual manipulation of spatialized text objects in a display . the process of the present invention can best be described with reference to a five - stage text visualization process . stage one the receipt of electronic versions of textual documents into the text engine described above is essentially independent of , but a required precursor for , the spire process . the documents are input as unprocessed documents — no key wording , no topic extraction , no predefined structure is necessary . in fact , the algorithms used to create a spatial representation of the documents presupposes the characteristics of natural language communication so that highly structured information ( e . g . tables and outlines ) cannot be adequately processed and will result in diminished results . stage two the analysis of natural language documents provides a characterization of the documents based on content . performed in the text engine , the analysis can be first order ( word counts and / or natural language understanding heuristics ) or higher order information captured by bayesian or neural nets . the required output is that each document must be converted to a high dimensional vector . a metric on the vector space , such as a euclidean distance measure or cosine measure , can be used to determine the similarity of any two documents in the collection . the output of this processing stage is a high dimensional vector or each document in the collection . stage three the document vectors must be grouped in the high dimensional metric space —“ clustering ”. in order to satisfy performance requirements for large document sets , clustering algorithms with a lower order of complexity are essential . the output of this stage is a partition set on the document collection with measures for each cluster of magnitude ( count ) dispersion . while it is believed that there are a number of different approaches to the clustering of information that will lead to acceptable results , applicants have determined to limit the document vectors to “ large ” ( more than 3 , 000 documents ) and “ small ” ( less than 3 , 000 documents ) data sets . for small data sets , readily available clustering algorithms have been used , with primary emphasis on k - means and complete linkage hierarchical clustering . for larger data sets , traditional clustering algorithms can not be used because of the exponential complexity of the clustering algorithms as the data set increases . applicants have therefore devised an alternative method for clustering in large problem sets known as “ fast divisive clustering ”. in this process , the user selects the desired number of clusters . no assistance is provided in selecting this number , but it should be heuristically based on knowledge of the data set , such as size , diversity , etc . after the number of seeds has been selected , the next step is to place seeds in the multi - dimensional document space . a sampling of the subspaces is performed to ensure that there is a reasonable distribution of the cluster seeds — that is , they are not too close to one another . then , the hyperspheres are defined around each cluster seed and assigned to all documents within a hypersphere to the corresponding cluster . iteratively , the center of mass is calculated yielding a new cluster centroid , and therefore a new location for the hypersphere and new document assignments . within a few iterations , locations for the cluster centroids will be determined , and the final document to cluster assignments are made . changes in distances between iterations should remain within a predefined threshold . ( i ) selecting the number of seeds , based on characteristics of the document collection ; ( ii ) placing seeds in hyperspace by sampling regions to ensure reasonable distribution of seeds ; ( iii ) identifying non - overlapping hyperspheres ( one for each cluster ) and assigning each document to a cluster based on which hypersphere the document is located within ; ( iv ) calculating a centroid coordinate — the center of the mass for each cluster ; and ( v ) repeating steps ( iii ) and ( iv ) until centroid movement is less than a prescribed threshold . stage four this stage requires the projection of the high dimensional document vectors and the cluster centroids produced in stage 3 into a 2 - dimensional representation ( fig1 ). the 2 - d planar representation of the documents and clusters is necessary for user viewing and interaction . because the number of dimensions is reduced from hundreds to two , a significant loss of information naturally results . some representational anomalies are produced by projection , causing documents to be placed with an associated error . the nature and quantity of this error are defining characteristics of the chosen projection . as with the clustering stage , compute time is important for large document sets . therefore , projection algorithms which are of a low order of complexity are vital . the product of this stage is a set of 2d coordinates , one coordinate pair ( 10 , 12 ) for each document . as with the clustering of stage three , multiple options or projection techniques are available . for relatively small data sets , applicants have chosen to use “ multi - dimensional scaling algorithm ”, or mds . the mds utilizes pairwise distances ( euclidean or cosine angle ) between all document pairs . the algorithm attempts to reserve the distances determined in the high - dimensional space when projecting to 2d space . in doing so , the discrepancy between pairwise distances in the high dimensional space and the 2d counterparts are represented as an error measure . the algorithm iteratively adjusts document positions in the 2d plane in order to minimize the associated error . the distance from every point to every other point is considered and weighed against a preset desired distance . every point influences every other point , making mds a computationally intensive algorithm . for larger data sets , mds is impractical due to the exponential order of complexity , and applicants have therefor developed a projection algorithm called “ anchored least stress ”. when starting with a fixed number of points ( cluster centroids which have been calculated in stage three ), the algorithm considers only the distance from a point to the various cluster centriods , not the distance to every other point . the document is placed so that its position reflects its similarity or dissimilarity to every cluster centroid . only a relatively small amount of initial calculation is required ; after that each document can be positioned using simple matrix operations , with a computational complexity on the order of the number of cluster centroids . with the centroids placed in the 2d plane , a vector is constructed for each document which contains the distances from the document to each cluster centroid in the high dimensional space . given the vector of hyperspace distances , a closed form solution can be constructed which rapidly produces the 2d coordinates of each document in the document collection . more specifically , if one begins with n cluster centroids cj ( the 2 - dimensional projection of the cluster centroids from high - dimensional space ), assume the coordinate system is such that the center of mass of all the cluster centroids is at the origin . let c - 1 = 1 n ⁢ ∑ j = 1 n ⁢ ⁢ c j1 ; c - 2 = 1 n ⁢ ∑ j = 1 n ⁢ ⁢ c j2 [ 1 ] the squared distance between each document i and each of the cluster centroids j ( as measured in the original high - dimensional space ) is d ij . there are m documents with unknown 2 - dimensional coordinates x i . for each document i and cluster j , we desire to have x i , such that d i = 1 n ⁢ ∑ j = 1 n ⁢ ⁢ d ij [ 4 ] w ij = i i · c j = i i1 c j1 + i i2 c j2 [ 5 ] if it is desired to force documents to be closer to the centroid of the cluster to which they belong , a weighted least squares approach may be utilized . let w e be an input weight — this is interpreted as the distance of a point from its own cluster centroid and is w e times more important than its distance from any other cluster . a matrix s j is defined to have 0 &# 39 ; s on the off - diagonal and 1 &# 39 ; s on the diagonal , except for the ( j , j ) th entry , which is equal to w e . the weighted solution for the position of the ith document , when that document is a member of the jth cluster , will be î i =( c t s j c ) − 1 c t s j y i [ 6 ] ( i ) performing an anchored least stress analysis on cluster centroid coordinates in hyperspace ; ( ii ) producing a vector for each document with distance measures from the document to each cluster centroid ; and ( iii ) constructing an operator matrix and multiply matrix by each vector in step ( ii ) to produce two - dimensional coordinate for each document . stage five the output of stage four ( a coordinate pair for each document and cluster centroid ) is displayed in a scatter plot yielding what applicants call the “ galaxies ” two - dimensional visualization . for this two - dimensional visualization , no further computation of the stage four results is required . a three - dimensional representation of the stage four results does require further commutation , and results in what applicant calls a thematic landscape , or “ themescapes ”. this 3d representation provides an intuitive visual measure and a spatial position in display space for dominant topics in a corpus of unstructured documents . themescapes solves the two most troublesome problems encountered with two - dimensional textual information analysis . that is , important subjects of the database are not easily or accurately discernable — the major topics are imprecisely displayed , if provided at all , and are not spatially organized to support the spatial organization of the 2d document display . secondly , documents are not readily associated with the main topics which they contain . similarly between documents is conveyed through proximity , but the relationship between documents and topics are intermediate . how close a particular document is associated with a topic or how a pair of documents are topically related are difficult or impossible to determine . first , identification of regional topics , or terms , and the set of documents which contain them must be identified . the gisting features of the text engine will identify the major topics of a corpus of documents . while commercially available text engines provide the gisting feature , such text engines fail to provide a local , spatial representation of the theme , a composite measure of theme , a quantitative measure of theme or document by document measure of theme . a clustering of the n - dimensional document vectors ( produced in stage three clustering ) will result , and the clusters 10 are projected into 2d space so that each document has an assigned x , y coordinate pair , as illustrated in fig1 . for each of these clusters , a set of terms which are both “ topical ” in nature , as measured by serial clustering , and maximally discriminating between clusters , as measured by the product of the frequency of the term within the documents of a particular cluster and the frequency of the term in all other . the general form of the topic equation is term value n , i = f term / cluster i * 1 / σ j f term n / cluster j [ 7 ] the terms derived using this equation are the terms which best discriminate clusters from one another . a number of terms or topics for each cluster are automatically and heuristically selected , with topic value , frequency , cluster size , desired number of terms per cluster and per document collection all considered in the selection process . each term or topic layer represents the distributed contribution of a single term / topic to the surface elevation of a “ theme scape ”. topic layer thickness may vary over the area of the simulated landscape based on the probability of finding a specified term within a document at each two dimensional coordinate . after all the individual layers have been computed , a composite layer is derived by summing each of the term layers . a topic layer is thickest where the density of documents that contain that term are highest . in areas where there are few documents of few documents that contain a given term , the topic layer is very thin . high ground on the theme scape represents regions where there is an alignment of terms in underlying documents — or a common theme among proximal documents . regions that are lower and less pronounced reflect documents that are more general in their content and less focused on a single theme . each region or cluster is then characterized by a set of terms or topics . associated with each tonic for each cluster is a document set . the document set is nothing more than the result of a boolean query with the topic as the keyword . the first stage of themescape construction is complete when both regional topics and their corresponding document sets are identified . the second stage of themescapes development , formation of the three - dimensional surface for individual topics identified above requires a smoothing filter be run over the x , y coordinates of the document display . this process is analogous to operations such as edge detection or feature enhancement in image processing . as illustrated in fig2 and 3 , individual points 22 along the x - axis indicate the location of a document in the topic &# 39 ; s document set . a smoothing function is run across each point creating a z coordinate associated with the term layer for each x , y pair , represented as surface 24 above the x - axis . the equation for calculating the y coordinate corresponding to each x coordinate will be of the form y x = σ n − m n + m d x + n * f ( x + n ), [ 8 ] d x + n = 1 for document present at coordinate x + n , else 0 the two dimensional calculation of a themescape as illustrated in fig3 utilizes a two dimensional grid of documents and a two dimensional smoothing function , producing a third dimension reflecting the probability of finding a document with the given topic in the given vicinity . finally , all individual topic themescapes are superpositioned . the individual elevations from each term layer are added together to form a single terrain corresponding to all topics . thus , z x , y = ∑ j = 1 # ⁢ ⁢ of ⁢ ⁢ cluster ⁢ ⁢ terms ⁢ ⁢ term ⁢ ⁢ layer ⁢ ⁢ j x , y [ 9 ] the result of this computation is a “ landscape ” that conveys large quantities of relevant information . the terrain simultaneously communicates the primary themes of an arbitrarily large collection of documents and a measure of their relative magnitude . spatial relationships defined by the landscape reveal the intricate interconnection of themes , the existence of information gaps or negative information . for example , fig4 illustrates a “ theme scape ” 40 of a database with 200 documents and 50 themes . in this data set , themes had relatively small document sets ( a low number of documents contained in each theme ), but high theme discrimination values ( the documents were clustered close to the theme location ). more prominent peaks are characteristics of the high discrimination values , as for example peak 42 representing “ nuclear weapons ” and peak 44 representing “ health physics ”. fig5 represents a database with the same number of documents and themes as in fig4 , however the themes have relatively large document sets and low theme discrimination values , as at peak 52 representing “ lasers ” and peak 54 representing “ genetics ”. therefore , the themescape function of the present invention can be summarized as follows : ( i ) receive n - dimensional context vector from text engine for each document and cluster documents in n - dimensional space ; ( ii ) for each such cluster , receive from text engine associated gisting terms or topics ; ( iv ) creating global keyword list by combining the topics for each cluster and eliminating common terms ( such as a , and , but , the ); ( v ) performing keyword query on topic , producing a list of documents associated with the topic ; ( vi ) identifying coordinates for all documents associated with the topic , producing a matrix of retrieved documents in the x , y display coordinates ; ( vii ) applying a smoothing function to each x , y pair , producing a z coordinate associated with the topic for each x , y pair ; and ( viii ) repeating steps ( v ) and ( vi ) for each term in the list identified in step ( vi ). it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to the methods disclosed herein for producing a three - dimensional representation of a database , without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention , and it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of the methods claimed herein to the extent they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents .	8
the drawing shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the fan wheel 1 shown here is cast from aluminum . a sheet stack 2 is cast in the hub of the fan wheel 1 . the surface of the sheet stack 2 is flush with the hub inner side of the fan wheel 1 . it is essential that the sheet stack 2 , comprised of magnetic sheets , forms part of the inner surface of the fan wheel hub to enable implementation of a strongest possible magnetic coupling with permanent magnets 4 mounted on a shaft 3 . the better the magnetic coupling between shaft and fan wheel , the better the run - up properties of the fan wheel 1 . in particular at rapid run - up of the shaft 3 , a correspondingly rapid run - up of the fan wheel is normally desirable . beneficial for the rapid run - up of the fan wheel is also a small own weight . in this respect , aluminum has also advantages compared to spherulitic steel that is oftentimes used to date . typically , the sheet stack assembly 2 accommodated in the fan hub can be , e . g ., riveted , welded or clamped . furthermore , the sheet stack assembly 2 may be made of several partial rings of sheet stacks to improve heat conduction in the fan hub . the sheet stack assembly 2 is provided on the hub inner side preferably with not shown essentially axially extending slots for receiving winding bars . these winding bars are part of a short - circuit winding . the short - circuit winding is complemented by the hub portions 5 and 6 , serving as short - circuit rings and manufactured , like the entire fan wheel 1 , of aluminum or a metal with similar material properties . the embedment of the sheet stack assembly 2 in the aluminum hub of the fan wheel 1 eliminates the need for a separate damper winding . the shaft 3 carries the permanent magnet assembly 4 either directly on its surface or via interposition of a steel ring 7 . interposition of the steel ring 7 has the advantage that the permanent magnet assembly 4 can be pre - fabricated before mounting to the shaft 3 . hereby , individual permanent magnets are glued onto the steel ring and subsequently bandaged about their outer circumference against centrifugal forces , as illustrated in the drawing by the bandage 8 . finally , the glued and bandaged permanent magnets are cast or impregnated in conventional manner against corrosion . the thus pre - fabricated steel ring 7 with permanent magnet assembly 4 is then shrunk , for example , onto the shaft 3 . the support of the fan wheel 1 by the shaft 3 is realized according to the drawing by two bearings 9 . conceivable is also the support via a double - row bearing or other common bearings . associated to the bearing support is further a not shown axial securement which is known per se . instead of a support on the shaft 3 , the fan wheel 1 may also be supported in a bearing plate or casing 12 . as aluminum has a greater thermal expansion coefficient than steel , normally used for rolling - contact bearings , a further steel ring 10 is provided for support of the fan wheel 1 upon the bearing 9 . a flange 11 additionally secures the steel ring 10 upon the fan wheel 1 . the further steel ring 10 has several functions . for one , the steel ring protects the bearing 9 against excessive pressure which the aluminum hub would exert upon the steel bearing 9 as a result of the different thermal expansion coefficients . further , the steel ring 10 holds with its flange 11 the aluminum fan wheel 1 , even when the aluminum expands to a greater extent in relation to the steel . finally , the steel ring 10 has also the advantage that steel has smaller heat conductivity than aluminum . as a consequence , the heat conduction is reduced , for example , from the short - circuit bars of the sheet stack 2 directly to the bearing 9 . in this way , a premature aging of the lubricants is prevented . instead of or in addition to the short - circuit cage or cages , the fan wheel hub may also be provided with reluctance gaps , so that the inductance coupling operates in accordance with the operating principle of the reluctance machine . the reluctance principle ensures in a wide range a slip - free run and thus a synchronous operation . the detachment moment of the reluctance coupling can be selected according to the demanded fan throughput . the manufacture of the fan wheel device shown in the drawing can be realized by , for example , casting one or more pre - fabricated sheet stacks without winding into the fan hub . the aluminum casting material encasing the sheet stack assembly replaces the otherwise required winding . dimensioning of the magnetic circuit is suitably realized in a way that inexpensive standardized sheet stacks can be used . the rough outer contour of the sheet stack 2 , held together , for example , by clamping grooves , ensures a good bond upon the aluminum cast . the slot openings for the short - circuit cage should be dimensioned comparably wide , so that the aluminum can penetrate radially into the slots also without a die - casting process . when the sheet stack 2 is further subdivided in several partial sheet stack rings , aluminum can penetrate more easily into the respective slots as the slots are correspondingly shortened and an inflow of aluminum from several sides is possible . in the context of manufacturing the fan wheel device , the sheet stack may be turned out at the inner diameter to remove aluminum residues and to adjust the required air gap . the single - piece manufacture of the damper winding and fan in a cast structure realizes a cost - efficient manufacturing process . casting of the sheet stack ensures very good electromagnetic properties of the fan wheel device in induction couplings .	7
the invention provides a unique system for overlaying base metals . the system is applicable to the overlay operations for metal surfaces used in petrochemical , offshore , refining , pulp , paper , and power generation industries . fig1 illustrates a prior art configuration for an electroslag conductive molten system , wherein flux is introduced through a forward flux tube as illustrated and the welding head contact jaw travel direction is illustrated . fig2 illustrates one embodiment of the invention , wherein base metal 10 is overlayed with a strip such as consumable overlay material 12 fed through feeding roller 14 . welding head 14 comprises forward contact jaw 16 and trailing contact jaw 18 , which are preferably cooled as described below . flux 20 is introduced into full flux bed 22 through forward flux tube 24 and trailing flux tube 26 into locations proximate to forward contact jaw 16 and trailing contact jaw 18 respectively . the electrified , molten slag bed 22 consumes overlay material 12 and generates overlay 28 and solid slag 30 . as shown in fig3 marks 32 in the surface of overlay 28 are created by the entrapment of gases within slag 30 . such marks are undesirable because they comprise discontinuities in the overlay material 12 surface in contact with corrosive , abrasive , or high temperature fluids . a cooling means such as coolant inlet 34 and coolant exit 36 permits circulation of a cooling liquid through welding head 14 which reduces warpage or other damage to welding head 14 . such cooling capability is particularly necessary in small diameter spaces such as pipe fittings and small diameter pipe interiors wherein excess heat from flux bed 22 is not easily dissipated . fig4 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention wherein the elements of the system are the same as in fig2 except that controller 34 regulates the distribution of flux 20 through trailing flux tube 26 . controller 34 can be automated to detect the deposition and travel rates and to integrate such controls with the flux rate through trailing flux tube 26 . alternatively , controller 34 can be monitored by an operator for changing variables of deposition rate , travel rate , travel movement , and flux flow through trailing flux tube 26 . the results are illustrated in fig5 wherein the surface of overlay material 12 does not have the discontinuities caused by entrapped gases . the introduction of controlled flux 20 quantities through trailing flux tube 26 provides the unique benefits of reducing splattering of flux 20 , of reducing the light generated by molten slag bed 22 which obscures visual observation of the welding operations , and of providing a continuous surface for overlay material 12 on base 10 as shown in fig5 . strip electrodes are available in different sizes and chemical compositions . popular strip electrode sizes are 60 mm × 0 . 5 mm , and 30 mm × 0 . 5 mm . six different electroslag strip - flux combinations were used to perform overlays on two different base materials . the base materials tested were carbon steel hic plate and 11 / 4 cr / 0 . 5 mo . the strip electrode materials included alloys identified as 316l , 317l , 347 , alloy 600 , alloy 625 , and alloy 400 . tests of these combinations were performed for bends , ultrasonic , liquid penetrant , hardness , overlay chemistry , corrosion ( g48 and astm 262 ), ferricyanide ( for alloy 400 ), and hydrogen disbonding . full assessments of forged 90 degree elbows were made from pipe overlayed with alloy 625 ( ernicrmo - 3 ) and the esso system taught by the invention . esso overlay fluxes such as that used with the invention typically contain large amounts of caf 2 to facilitate high electroconductivity of the molten pool . the esso fluxes are preferably free of gas yielding components such as caco 3 which would generate gas formation and prevent effective contact between the strip electrode and the molten slag , however the control of flux 20 through the trailing flux tube 26 overcomes many of such problems . the flux should preferably permit high speed overlay without significant dilution . conventional parameters for esso techniques operate in current ranges between 500 - 1000 amps , voltages between 25 - 30 volts , welding speeds between of inches per minute , and stick - out in ranges between 11 / 4 and 13 / 8 inches . because esso techniques are highly dependent on weld parameters , slight differences in these variables can significantly affect the overlay results . the particular welding parameters will influence the proper bead thickness , shape , penetration , ties - in and dilution . esso techniques are well suited for high deposition , low dilution overlays . when compared with submerged arc weld overlay techniques using 1 / 16 inch diameter filler metal , the esso technique was three hundred percent more productive with fifty percent reduction in dilution . an esso overlay pass of 11 / 4 inch width and 12 inches length yielded aproximately 0 . 75 lbs . of overlay deposited in 1 . 5 minutes at a welding speed of 8 inches per minute ( ipm ), yielding a deposition rate of 30 lbs . per hour ( by accounting for slag removal and cleanup operations between passes , the actual deposition rate would be approximately 20 lbs . per hour ). comparable factors for submerged arc weld overlay techniques yield approximately the same amount of overlay , however four passes are required at a welding speed of 11 ipm , for a deposition rate of 10 . 2 lbs . per hour ( and actual deposition rate of 5 lbs . per hour ). the esso process of the invention further requires significantly less time for slag removal , requiring only one pass instead of the four passes required for the removal of slag for submerged arc welding overlay techniques using filler material slag . operation of the invention was tested on interior pipe diameters as low as eight inches ( 200 mm ), and over uninterrupted pipe lengths up to twelve feet ( four meters ). in another application of the invention , a twelve inch diameter pipe was overlayed with one - layer and 2 - layer ernicrmo - 3 deposits , and then forged into 90 degree elbows . to accomplish an overlay for these dimensions , the strip was curved 90 degrees with a radius of one inch or less and was continuously fed toward the base material . the flux was delivered to the contact nozzle continuously without volume variations . the contact nozzles and the trailing jaw were water cooled , and the head was heat protected because of the small , confined space . in conventional esso techniques , a heavy layer of molten slag trails behind the esso head as the flux is introduced ahead of the head , and flux is not introduced behind the head because of the shallow marks caused by entrapped gases . to overcome these limitations , the present invention carefully controls the range of trailing flux 20 fed through trailing flux tube 26 within an effective distribution range . too much flux leads to overlay marks on the overlay surface . the effective amount of trailing flux covers the molten slag to the operators eye , retards splattering , facilitates smooth and continuous strip feeding due to proper cooling of the trailing jaw which is not directly exposed to the molten slag head , and prevents overlay deposit marks caused by trapped gases . the amount of flux 20 effective for these purposes depends on variables such as the flux composition , consumable material deposition rate , base metal , rate of deposition as welding head 14 moves relative to the base metal , and the base metal curvature . whereas hydrogen disbonding occurs in conventional processes , tests of the base material and overlay placed in accordance with the present invention revealed no measurable disbonding . the invention is particularly suitable for small pipe interior walls and inside of fittings and pipe with interior diameters as small as eight inches . the invention controls the flux rate in the trailing flux tube to efficiently control the overlay operations . although the invention has been described in terms of certain preferred embodiments , it will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that modifications and improvements can be made to the inventive concepts herein without departing from the scope of the invention . the embodiments shown herein are merely illustrative of the inventive concepts and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the invention .	1
referring now to the drawings , fig1 and 2 generally depict a first form of the two - component bracket and drive washer combination 10 according to the present invention in an exemplar environment of operation , wherein the two - component bracket and drive washer combination serves to locate a magnetic sensor 12 with respect to a reluctor 14 . in this regard , the magnetic sensor 12 has a sensor body 16 which includes a sensor tip 18 . the sensor tip 18 extends into a sensor port 20 of an engine block 22 and is spaced from the reluctor 14 a predetermined distance equal to an optimum air gap g which provides optimal sensing performance by the magnetic sensor of magnetic field variations as the reluctor spins . a two - component bracket 24 is composed of a main bracket component 26 and a reaction bracket component 28 . the main bracket component 26 is connected to the sensor body 16 , as for example in perpendicular relation analogous to a flag on a flag pole . the main and reaction bracket components 26 . 28 are located in side - by - side relation to each other and interconnected therebetween so as to be slidable in relation to each other along a longitudinal axis . the interconnection is achieved , for example , via elongate holes 30 in the main bracket component 26 which receive therethrough bent over tabs 32 of the reaction bracket component 28 , wherein the holes 30 are elongated along a longitudinal axis l . the main bracket component 26 is provided with a relatively large aperture 34 , wherein a drive wall 36 of the main bracket component is located on one side thereof . the reaction bracket component 28 has a reaction wall 38 located in the aperture 34 opposite the drive wall 36 . the drive and reaction walls 36 , 38 are oriented parallel to the longitudinal axis l , and mutually result in a collective opening 40 that is elongated along the longitudinal axis . a drive washer 42 has a knurled sidewall 44 , the knurling of which provides a plurality of teeth 46 having a predetermined pitch angle a ( see fig2 ). the teeth 46 of the sidewall 44 may be provided in any suitable form . such as for example splines , serrations , cutting ridges or cutting surfaces arranged along the pitch angle . a slight draft ( ie ., conical shape ) of the drive washer 42 is preferred to facilitate initial insertion of the drive washer into the collective opening 40 with respect to abutment with the drive and reaction walls 36 , 38 . the drive washer 42 and spacing between the drive and reaction walls 36 , 38 are dimensioned so that when the drive washer is inserted into the collective opening 40 , the drive and reaction walls tightly abut the teeth 46 of the drive washer . since the teeth 46 are hard in relation to the drive and reaction walls 36 , 38 , the teeth inscribe corresponding grooves into the smooth drive and reaction walls as the drive washer is pressed into the collective opening 40 along a transverse axis t . in this regard , it is preferred for the drive wall 36 to be softer than the reaction wall 38 ; for example , the drive wall may be composed of plastic while the driven wall may be composed of metal . preferably , the drive washer 42 is composed of a hard metal . the reaction bracket component 38 has an affixment hole 48 generally centrally positioned with respect to the aperture 34 and is secured to a non - movable article , such as for example a mounting surface 50 of the engine block 22 , via a bolt 52 passing through the affixment hole and threading into a threaded bore 54 at the mounting surface . the drive washer 42 has a central hole 56 through which the bolt 52 also passes . a flat disk washer 45 is preferably located between the head of the bolt 52 and the drive washer 42 . both the main bracket component 26 and the reaction bracket component 28 are restrained from rotating about the bolt 52 via the sensor body 16 being received into the sensor port 20 ; however , the drive washer 42 is freely rotatable about the bolt . the main bracket component 26 is freely movable along the longitudinal axis l , but is restrained from moving along the transverse axis t by tightening action of the bolt . the reaction bracket component is restrained from moving along both the longitudinal and transverse axes l . t by virtue of the bolt having a generally snug fit with respect to the affixment hole 48 and the tightening of the bolt . in operation , an installer places the sensor body 16 into the sensor port 20 such that the sensor tip 18 touches the surface of the reluctor 14 . the bolt 52 carrying the drive washer 42 is loosely threaded into the threaded bore 54 of the mounting surface until the teeth of the sidewall of the drive washer touch the drive and reaction walls 36 , 38 . the installer continues to thread the bolt 52 into the threaded bore 54 , thereby causing the drive washer 42 to be pressed into the collective opening 40 along the transverse axis t . referring now more particularly to fig2 as the bolt 52 is tightened , the teeth 46 of the drive washer 42 engage the smooth drive and reaction walls 36 , 38 , whereupon corresponding grooves 58 are inscribed thereinto . in this regard , as the drive washer 42 moves into the collective opening 40 , the drive washer rotates on the bolt 52 in response to the pitch angle a of the teeth 46 as the teeth cut into the reaction wall 38 . further in this regard , the drive wall 36 is caused to move along the pitch angle a of the teeth 46 and further to move in response to the rotation of the drive washer . accordingly , as the drive washer 42 moves along the transverse axis t , the main bracket component 26 moves along the longitudinal axis l in relation to the bolt 52 at twice the rate as that provided by the pitch angle alone . the distance of relative movement of the main bracket component 26 along the longitudinal axis l to provide the air gap , g , is determined by the depth of penetration of the drive washer 42 into the collective opening 40 along the transverse axis t and the pitch angle a of the teeth 46 , as will be discussed in greater detail hereinbelow . referring now to fig3 through 8 the second form of the two - component bracket and drive washer combination 10 ′, which is most preferred , will be detailed . for the sake of brevity , same numerals will designate same parts and primed numerals will designate analogous parts to those parts designated by numerals in fig1 and 2 , so that a fully repetitive description is obviated for a full understanding thereof . the two - component bracket 24 ′ is composed of a main bracket component 26 ′ and a reaction bracket component 28 ′ and the main bracket component is connected to the sensor body 16 . the main and reaction bracket components 26 ′, 28 ′ are interconnected by upper and lower overhangs 60 , 62 which interferingly engage the main bracket component 26 ′ with respect to the transverse axis t , yet allow slidable movement along the longitudinal axis l . a chamfer 64 of the main bracket component 26 ′ is preferably provided for interfacing with the lower overhang 62 . the reaction wall 38 ′ is formed at one side of the aperture 34 ′, wherein the drive wall 36 ′ is located on the other side thereof by virtue of a cut - away section 65 of the reaction bracket component 28 ′. the drive and reaction walls 36 ′, 38 ′ are oriented parallel to the longitudinal axis l , and mutually result in the collective opening 40 ′. the drive washer 42 is as described hereinabove . the drive washer 42 and spacing between the drive and reaction walls 36 ′, 38 ′ are dimensioned so that when the drive washer is inserted into the collective opening 40 ′, the drive and reaction walls tightly abut the teeth 46 of the drive washer . since the teeth 46 are hard in relation to the drive and reaction walls 36 ′, 38 ′, the teeth inscribe corresponding grooves into the smooth drive and reaction walls as the drive washer is pressed into the collective opening along a transverse axis t , as described hereinabove ; and the hardness relationships are as previously described . the affixment hole 48 ′ in the reaction bracket component 38 ′ receives the bolt 52 , as previously described . both the main bracket component 26 ′ and the reaction bracket component 28 ′ are restrained from rotating about the bolt 52 via the sensor body 16 being received into the sensor port 20 ( see fig5 ); however , the drive washer 42 is freely rotatable about the bolt . the main bracket component 26 ′ is freely movable along the longitudinal axis l , but is restrained from moving along the transverse axis t by tightening action of the bolt . the reaction bracket component 28 ′ is restrained from moving along both the longitudinal and transverse axes l , t by virtue of the bolt having a generally snug fit with respect to the affixment hole 48 and the tightening of the bolt . referring now to fig5 through 8 , operation will be described with respect to setting an air gap . as shown at fig5 an installer places the sensor body 16 into the sensor port 20 such that the sensor tip 18 touches the surface of the reluctor 14 . as shown at fig6 the bolt 52 carrying the drive washer 42 is loosely threaded into the threaded bore 54 of the mounting surface until the sidewall of the drive washer 42 touches the drive and reaction walls 36 ′, 38 ′. the installer continues to thread the bolt 52 into the threaded bore 54 , thereby causing the drive washer 42 to be pressed into the collective opening 40 ′ along the transverse axis t . as shown comparatively by reference to fig6 and 8 , as the bolt 52 is tightened , the teeth 46 of the drive washer 42 engage the smooth drive and reaction walls 36 ′, 38 ′, whereupon corresponding grooves 58 are inscribed thereinto . in this regard , as the drive washer 42 moves into the collective opening 40 ′, the drive washer rotates on the bolt 52 in response to the pitch angle a of the teeth 46 as the teeth cut into the reaction wall 38 ′. further in this regard , the drive wall 36 ′ is caused to move along the pitch angle a of the teeth 46 and further to move in response to the rotation of the drive washer . accordingly , as the drive washer 42 moves along the transverse axis t , the main bracket component 26 ′ moves along the longitudinal axis l in relation to the bolt 52 at twice the rate as that provided by the pitch angle alone . as shown by comparison between fig5 and 6 and fig7 and 8 , the distance of relative movement of the main bracket component 26 ′ along the longitudinal axis l is given by : 2 ( d tan ( a ))= g , wherein d is the depth of penetration of the drive washer 42 into the collective opening 40 ′ along the transverse axis t , a is the pitch angle of the teeth 46 , and g is the distance of movement of the main bracket component along the longitudinal axis l . now , should the magnetic sensor require servicing , it can be removed and re - installed , or a new magnetic sensor can be installed in its place , using the installation procedure outlined above . in each case , the optimum air gap will be precisely achieved automatically . in the case of re - installation , the original installation will have resulted in the drive washer and two - component bracket becoming lodged together so as to resist mutual separation . consequently , the magnetic sensor can be re - installed using the lodged drive washer and two - component bracket combination and yet the same air gap will pertain because the original relative position between the mounting bolt and the two - component bracket will be maintained . it should be noted that by the term “ smooth ” as used herein is meant that the surface is able to accept inscribing by the teeth as described hereinabove , whether or not the surface is actually physically smooth . indeed , it is sufficient for the teeth of the drive washer to engage the drive and reaction walls . by “ engage ” is meant the teeth of the drive washer inscribe the drive and reaction walls or follow wall teeth already present on the drive and reaction walls . to those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains , the above described preferred embodiments may be subject to change or modification . such change or modification can be carried out without departing from the scope of the invention , which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims .	8
fig1 illustrates the preferred embodiment of the deformable member of the present invention . a deformable member 10 is depicted in a curved formation to demonstrate its deformability , which allows it to conform to specific contour of the wound . examples of various shaped wounds and application of the present invention to those wounds are depicted in fig3 - 6 and 11 . deformable member 10 is comprised of distal side 15 facing away from the wound and proximal side 16 ( not shown ) facing the wound . deformable member 10 is further comprised of upper surface 13 not in contact with skin surrounding the wound , and lower surface 14 ( not shown ) in contact with said skin . various adhesives may be applied to lower surface 14 or upper surface 13 or preferably to both . the adhesive material may be covered by a strip or a film that can be peeled off at the time of use . when applied on surface 14 , adhesives will adhere the deformable member 10 to skin surrounding the wound . when applied to surface 13 , adhesives will adhere the deformable member 10 to dressing used in conjunction with it . it should be noted that in certain circumstances health care professionals may recommend the airing of the wound , i . e ., not covering the wound with any dressing . as such , the present invention may be used to simply protect the wound from physical contact with other foreign objects , e . g ., clothing or bed sheets . for patients allergic to medically approved adhesives , the deformable member can be provided without the application of adhesive or , alternatively , with application of adhesive only to surface 13 . in such circumstances , health care professionals must ensure to place dressing on deformable member 10 with sufficient and appropriate pressure so to keep deformable member 10 in place . regardless of its chosen size , deformable member 10 is always comprised of start 11 and end 12 . when positioned around a wound , start 11 and end 12 meet to completely circumscribe the wound . this is shown in fig3 - 6 . however , as depicted in fig1 , deformable member 10 does not always circumscribe the wound . for wounds positioned in logistically difficult body extremities , such as the elbow and knee , it may be desirable to cut the deformable member to several equal or varying desirable lengths and logistically position them around the wound . such manipulation can allow positioning of the dressing without contacting the wound . as manifested in fig1 , start 11 and end 12 are not in contact . fig3 - 6 and fig1 demonstrate another advantage and application of the present invention . as depicted in fig1 , the deformable member can be cut in various or equal desirable lengths and logistically placed around a wound . in addition to protecting the wound from contact , such application is useful for relieving pressure from pressure ulcers . fig2 a and 2b depict deformable member 20 , which is another embodiment of the deformable member of the present invention . deformable member 20 is different than deformable member 10 in that it consists of a plurality of grooves 31 , positioned in its distal side 25 . as shown in fig2 b , proximal side 26 of deformable member 20 does not have grooves 31 , and therefore does not mirror side 25 . the purpose of grooves 31 is to provide flexibility for material that cannot otherwise be constructed with sufficient flexibility to allow appropriate deformability for purposes of this invention . grooves 31 may be cut into deformable member 20 using standard techniques known in the art . as depicted in fig2 b , groove 31 consists of an angled side 32 and an angled side 33 , both having proximal and distal portions , where their proximal portions meet at a center 34 . each groove 31 is separated by a middle section 30 . it should be appreciated that fig2 b provides only an example of one embodiment of groove 31 . many other embodiments are possible , including one in which sides 31 and 32 are curved instead of angled . fig3 depicts the application of the deformable member of the present invention to wound 1 , which is situated on forearm 6 . deformable member 10 is shown for drawing convenience and it should be appreciated that deformable member 20 can also used for wound 1 and could have been depicted in fig3 . start 11 and end 12 are not visible in fig3 , as well as fig4 - 6 and 11 , because deformable member 10 has fully circumscribed wound 1 and start 11 and end 12 are in contact . when dressing 5 is used in conjunction with the present invention , deformable member 10 prevents it from contacting wound 1 by creating a plane higher than that of the wound for the dressing to rest on . as briefly described above , dressing 5 may be any dressing available to health care practitioner appropriate for treatment of wound 1 . dressing 5 may be comprised of adhesives along its longitudinal and / or its transverse lengths , so to facilitate its adherence to skin surrounding the wound and the present invention . alternatively , dressing 5 may be wrapped around the arm or other body parts on which wound 1 is situated . fig4 depicts deformable member 10 as it is used in conjunction with two proximately located wounds 1 and 1 a on forearm 6 . start 11 and end 12 are not in contact as deformable member 10 is wrapped around wounds 1 and 1 a in the shape of a figure eight . the space between start 11 and end 12 and side 15 and side 16 of deformable member 10 in fig4 is for illustration purposes only . to prevent exudate from flowing away from wounds 1 and 1 a , start 11 and end 12 would contact side 15 or side 16 . fig5 depicts deformable member 10 as it is used in conjunction with wound 2 , which is a long , narrow , oddly shaped laceration . other non - contact bandages are not conveniently able to circumscribe the length and shape of wound 2 . as discussed above , more than one non - contact bandage may have to be used . with the present invention , however , health care professional may continue to use dressing 5 with wound 2 . dressing 5 may be applied along its length , width , or in tandem with another dressing 5 or other dressings . the essential point is that health care professionals are able to protect this wound without resort to another size dressing or another non - contact bandage . fig6 depicts deformable member 10 as it is used with wound 3 , which is a much larger wound than wounds 1 and 2 . as shown , dressing 5 can still be used for wound 3 , whether it is applied at its width or length , or whether it is used in a tandem arrangement with more than one dressing 5 or another type of dressing . again , fig6 conveys the versatile application of the present invention to wounds of various shapes and sizes . fig7 - 9 depict various bridge members of the present invention for use with the deformable member . the bridge member may be used in wounds with large surface areas , such as wound 3 depicted in fig1 . it is anticipated that for certain large wounds the dressing used with the deformable member 10 may sink due to various reasons , including loss of tautness or pressure . positioning of one or more bridge members on deformable member 10 , as depicted in fig1 , is intended to prevent the dressing from sinking and touching wound 3 . the bridge member can have various shapes , such as bridge member 60 with a start 61 and an end 62 with straight edges , or bridge member 70 with a start 71 and an end 72 with curved edges . the precise shape of the bridge is unimportant , and it should be appreciated that various shapes will serve the intended purposes of the present invention . the bridge may be constructed from inexpensive medical grade rigid plastic polymers , or wood particularly condition for medical use . such material should be structurally designed to allow breakage at perforated portions 67 , 77 and 87 along the length of the bridge . medical grade adhesive can be applied to proximal surface 64 and proximal surface 74 , as that surface will come in contact with deformable member 10 . a thin layer of film or strip removable at time of use may cover the adhesive . the thin layer of film or strip should be perforated at the same locations as perforations 67 and 77 . in another embodiment , bridge members 60 and 70 may have adhesive on both sides to further secure them by adhering not only to deformable member 10 , but also to dressing 5 along their distal surface 63 and surface 73 . in this embodiment , a thin layer of film covering the adhesive is applied to both sides of the bridge member . alternatively , bridge members 60 and 70 may have no adhesive at all . in such circumstance , they attach to deformable member 10 by virtue of adhesive in place on deformable member 10 . fig9 depicts bridge member 80 , which is another embodiment of the bridge member of the present invention . bridge 80 is comprised of a plurality of indentations 85 , each indentation 85 separated from the adjacent indentation 85 by a flat section 86 . each indentation 85 is comprised of a bed 90 , a side 88 and a side 89 . width of bed 90 is slightly larger than width of surface 13 of deformable member 10 . fig1 demonstrates the application and positioning of bridge member 80 on deformable member 10 . as depicted , indentation 85 is positioned on surface 13 so that surface 13 is pressed against bed 90 . in addition , sides 15 and 16 are pressed against sides 88 and 89 . in short , deformable member 10 is snuggly placed in indentation 85 . to prevent bridge 80 from coming in contact with wound 3 , height of sides 88 and 89 are much less than the height of sides 15 and 16 , and preferably half . bridge member 80 does not need any adhesive on surface 84 . adhesive may be applied to surface 83 to further secure it to dressing 5 . adhesive may also be applied to surface 84 . fig1 depicts how bridges 60 and 70 are used in conjunction with deformable member 10 and for wound 3 . fig1 demonstrates that the deformable member may be cut into several equal or varying desirable lengths , instead of one length surrounding the wound area . such application may be useful for areas on which positioning of dressings is difficult , e . g ., the elbow and knee . fig1 also demonstrates the versatility of application of the present invention , as it could be used in conjunction with manifold dressings , including currently available non - contact dressings . as discussed above , fig1 also demonstrates the usefulness of the present invention in relieving pressure from pressure ulcers . fig1 depicts the stacked assembly of the deformable member of the present invention , wherein a second deformable member is positioned on the upper surface of a first deformable member . this embodiment may be used in certain situations where a greater protective height around the wound is preferable . the stacked assembly may comprise more than two deformable members . regardless of whether it is used in stacked formation , the thinness of the deformable member of the present invention is an important consideration for practicability and patient convenience . fig1 a and 14b depict the connector member of the present invention and its method of application . a connector member 100 is depicted to keep deformable member 10 wrapped around wound 104 . connector member 100 may be used in circumstances where it is desirable not to apply any adhesive to either surfaces of deformable member 10 . lack of adhesive provides the opportunity for start 11 and end 12 to move away from one another and create an opening 103 , as depicted in fig1 a . as can be appreciated , exudate from the wound , if any , can diffuse away from wound 104 through opening 103 and onto other body surface . as depicted in fig1 b , connector member 100 closes opening 103 by indirectly connecting start 11 and end 12 . connector member 100 is essentially a hollow body , which may be constructed from various materials available in the industry , including those used for construction of deformable member 10 . interior perimeters of start 101 and end 102 are designed to be slightly larger than that of exterior perimeters of start 11 and end 12 of deformable member 10 , allowing deformable member 10 to be inserted into connector member 100 . start 11 is inserted into start 101 , and end 12 is inserted into end 102 . interior perimeter of connector member 100 should be sufficiently small to keep start 11 and end 12 in position within it . connector member 100 can also connect two deformable members . in such circumstance , as depicted in fig1 b , deformable member 10 with start 11 inserted into connector member 100 is a separate deformable member than deformable member 10 with end 102 inserted into connector member 100 . as briefly discussed above , in circumstances where adhesive is not applied , deformable member 10 is held in position and around the wound by sufficient and proper pressure applied from the dressing , which may be wrapped around the body , e . g ., around a limb or abdomen , or attached to the body via adhesive . the method by which the dressing is attached to the body , however , is immaterial for the purpose of the present invention . fig1 a , 15b and 15 c depict various storage and dispensing apparatuses for the deformable member of the present invention . fig1 a shows dispenser box 200 in which the forms a coil 202 that is wound around a reel 201 . segment 203 is a portion of coil 202 that is led to outlet 204 . it can be pulled out from outlet 204 and cut to a desired length with scissors , or via a blade positioned at the upper or lower lip of outlet 204 . fig1 b demonstrates that dispenser 210 may have several outlets 214 , 215 and 216 , allowing it to contain several coils . the number of coils or outlets contained in dispenser 210 are examples provided for discussion purposes only and should not be viewed as a limitation . fig1 b merely represents that more than one coil and more than one outlet may be used . fig1 c depicts an alternative dispenser 220 , which does not comprise a box as in dispensers 200 and 210 . the drawings and descriptions disclosed here manifest that the present invention is deformable to conform to specific wound size and contour for protecting the wound from injurious contacts , including injury caused by adherence of dressing to wound . while the description contained herein contains many specificities , they should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present invention , but rather as exemplifications of its preferred embodiments . many other variations are possible . for example , the present invention may be used in wound management , post surgery and other medical applications on animals as well as humans . clearly , the other embodiments and modifications of the present invention will occur readily to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of these teachings . accordingly , the scope of the present invention is to be limited only by the following claims , which include all such embodiments and modifications when viewed in conjunction with the above specification and accompanying drawing .	0
referring now to the drawings , wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views , fig1 - 3 illustrate various embodiments of the system and method 10 of the present invention , or , more accurately , fig1 - 3 represent different “ modes ” in which the system and method 10 of the present invention may be utilized . as schematically illustrated in each of the various modes , a first person “ a ” speaks a first language “ l 1 ” and a second person “ b ” speaks a second language “ l 2 ” such that an interpreter , who speaks both languages l 1 and l 2 , is needed to facilitate communication between persons a and b or to otherwise interpret the communications between persons b and c ( both speaking the second language l 2 ) into the first language l 1 for the benefit of person a . the interpreter is shown to be remote from persons a , b and c . the interpreter may be an individual previously arranged by person a to provide interpretation services , or the interpreter may be a call center that employs , or contracts with , individual interpreters to whom calls are forwarded based on availability and the languages for which interpretation services are needed . the individual interpreter and / or call center having individual interpreters are hereinafter referred to , collectively and / or individually , as “ interpretation service provider ” or simply “ provider ” or “ interpreter ” unless otherwise designated . furthermore , with respect to each of the modes or embodiments of fig1 - 3 , person a is presumed to have a two - way rf communication device , such as a two - way radio , mobile telephone or some other device for wireless two - way communication ( hereinafter referred to as a “ 2 - way rf device 12 ”) for calling and communicating with the remote interpreter . preferably the 2 - way rf device 12 includes , or is adapted to cooperate with , a wireless personal area network ( wpan ) transceiver for reasons discussed later . as used herein , a wpan ( also commonly known or referred to as a “ scatter - net ,” “ piconet ” or “ multi - hop ad - hoc network ”) should be understood to include any wireless technology such as bluetooth , rf , zigbee or other currently known or later developed wireless technology for networking or interconnecting devices in relative close proximity to one another ( e . g ., typically less than ten meters ) to enable communication therebetween . continuing to refer to the modes or embodiments of fig1 - 3 , the system and method 10 further includes a wireless hands - free communicator 20 . the wireless hands - free communicator 20 preferably includes a speaker 22 , a microphone 24 , a user interface 26 , and a wpan transceiver for communication with the wpan transceiver of the 2 - way rf device 12 . the hands - free communicator 20 may be separate from the 2 - way rf device as illustrated in the drawing figures , or , alternatively , the hands - free communicator 20 and 2 - way rf device 12 may comprise a single integral unit ( not shown ). the microphone 24 is preferably a directional microphone to minimize signal - to - noise ratio and improve speech clarity . however , under certain conditions , an omni - directional microphone may be suitable to permit hearing in all directions . additionally , it may be desirable to provide both an omni - directional microphone and a directional microphone to enable person a to switch between hearing in all directions versus hearing primarily in only one direction as circumstances or surroundings dictate . the user interface 26 preferably includes or incorporates an on / off switch 30 , a call connect / disconnect feature 32 , and speaker volume control 34 and a speaker mute feature 36 . depending on the application and circumstances under which the system and method 10 is being used , the foregoing features may be actuated by hand or by voice . for hand actuation , push buttons or other suitable switches or dials , or pressure , heat or light sensitive pads or membranes or even non - contact sensors ( e . g ., infrared motion sensors , etc .) may be utilized to provide the foregoing features and functionalities . furthermore , as discussed below , the user interface 26 may be divided among separate components that together constitute the hands - free communicator 20 , such as , for example , the combination of the pendant and headset discussed below . depending on the circumstances under which the system and method 10 of the present invention is being used , the hands - free communicator 20 may take the form of a pendant 40 ( fig4 a - 4b ) to be worn or carried by person a . in a preferred embodiment , the pendant 40 includes a clip 42 for clipping onto person a &# 39 ; s clothing or over an arm or wristband , etc . additionally , the pendant embodiment may include velcro ® strips ( not shown ) for fastening the pendant to person a &# 39 ; s clothes , arm or wrist . the pendant 40 also preferably includes hooks , apertures or other supports 44 for receiving a lanyard 46 for hanging the pendant 40 from person a &# 39 ; s neck . it should be appreciated that the pendant 40 is particularly suited for use in situations in which persons a and b are in mobile indoor or outdoor situations , but may be equally suitable in any other setting , including , for example , in substantially stationary table - top or wall mounted applications . furthermore , the pendant 40 may incorporate a video camera to permit the interpreter to view persons b and / or c . additionally , the pendant 40 may include a video screen thereby permitting persons b and / or c to view the interpreter . in yet another embodiment of the hands - free communicator 20 as illustrated in fig5 , the hands - free communicator 20 may include and cooperate with a headset 50 . the headset 50 may incorporate one or more of the above - described features of the user interface 26 , for example the on / off switch , the call connect / disconnect feature , etc . the headset 50 also preferably includes a wpan transceiver 52 to enable wireless communication between the headset 50 and the pendant 40 . in the preferred embodiment , the headset 50 includes a behind - the - ear ( bte ) component 54 and a within - the - ear ( wte ) component 56 . the bte component 54 preferably houses the transceiver 52 and other electrical components required to communicate with the pendant 40 . in this manner , the voice communications are transmitted from the pendant 40 to the wireless transceiver 52 within the bte component 54 of the headset 50 , which then communicates the sound to the wte component 56 into the wearer &# 39 ; s ear via a flexible acoustical tube 58 . alternatively , rather than an acoustical tube , sound may be provided to the ear electrically via a wire and miniature speaker placed in the ear canal . the headset 50 is particularly adapted for use in applications or situations where person a wishes to listen in on the communications between person b and another person c without the knowledge of person b and / or person c or in environments where it would be difficult for person a to hear the interpreter over the broadcast speaker of the pendant 40 . like the pendant 40 , the headset 50 may also incorporate a video camera to permit the interpreter to view persons b and / or c . in yet another embodiment of the hands - free communicator 20 , a headset 60 ( fig9 ) may alone constitute the hands - free communicator 20 . in this embodiment , the headset 60 may be substantially identical to that of the headset 50 , except that the bte component of the headset 60 may also include the microphone 24 along with other desired features of the user interface 26 . as with the headset 50 , the headset 60 is particularly adapted for use in applications or situations where person a wishes to listen in on the communications between person b and another person c without the knowledge of person b and / or person c or in environments where it would be difficult for person a to hear the interpreter over the broadcast speaker of the pendant 40 . in yet another embodiment , a remote user headset 80 ( fig1 ) may be provided that is substantially identical to the headset 50 . a remote user headset 80 would be useful to facilitate two - way communications where person b is sufficiently remote from person a such that person b is unable to clearly hear the interpreter &# 39 ; s words through the speaker 22 on the pendant 40 or where noise prevents persons b from clearly hearing the interpreter through the speaker 22 of the pendant 40 . in use , the remote user headset 80 communicates with the hands - free communicator 20 of person a via rf communication . depending on the distances over which person a must communicate with person b , a transmitter may be necessary to extend the range of the rf communication . the transmitter may have a separate power supply and could reside in a vehicle , trailer or other facility . in yet another embodiment , a remote user pendant 90 ( fig1 ) may be utilized instead of a remote user headset 80 or in combination with a remote user headset 80 . the remote user pendent 90 is preferably substantially identical to the pendant 40 except that the remote user pendant 90 does not include a call initiation or call drop feature since it does not communicate directly with the 2 - way rf device 12 . instead , the remote user pendant 90 communicates with the hands - free communicator 20 of person a via rf communication . the remote user pendant 90 may include a wpan transceiver for communication with a headset 80 as previously described . as with the remote user headset 80 embodiment , a transmitter may be used to extend the range of the rf communication of the remote user pendant 90 . the transmitter may have a separate power supply and could reside in a vehicle , trailer or other facility . in the preferred system and method 10 , person a must first register to receive interpretation services from a provider 100 of the interpretation services . the provider 100 may be an individual interpreter , an entity having a pool of individual interpreters , or , for example , a wireless communication service provider ( such as verizon ®, sprint ®, t - mobile ®, at & amp ; t ®, etc .) that employs a pool of interpreters or which contracts with individuals or entities for interpretation services . as part of the preferred registration process , person a &# 39 ; s hands - free communicator 20 is activated by assigning a unique identifier to the hands - free communicator and associating that unique identifier with person a . this unique identifier is preferably a factory - set electronic serial number ( esn ) that is transmitted whenever the hands - free communicator initiates a call to the provider 100 thereby permitting the provider 100 to track usage of the system by person a . the step of registering the hands - free communicator 20 may be accomplished by person a contacting the provider telephonically to provide the esn and other relevant subscriber information such as person a &# 39 ; s name , billing address , etc . additionally , person a may enter the esn and relevant billing information through an interactive website . in addition , as part of the registration process , the hands - free communicator 20 may be preprogrammed to call a specific provider 100 based on person a &# 39 ; s state or country of residence or present location . also , as part of the registration process the unique identifier may be associated with person a &# 39 ; s designated language l 1 to more quickly identify and assign an individual interpreter upon receipt of a call from person a requesting interpretation services . after the initial registration , use of the system 10 is accomplished by commencing an initiation protocol . the initiation protocol preferably includes person a actuating the call connect feature via the user interface 26 . in a preferred embodiment , the call connect / disconnect feature 32 of the user interface 26 is preferably a one - touch push - button or the like , that , when actuated , automatically calls the provider 100 and / or terminates the call to the provider 100 . as previously discussed , rather than a push button , the call connect / disconnect feature 32 may instead be actuated by voice or by some other contact or contactless switch or sensor , whereby upon actuation , a signal is caused to be sent over the wpan established by the communication of the wpan transceivers of the 2 - way rf device 12 and the hands - free communicator 20 . this signal from the hands - free communicator 20 causes the 2 - way rf device 12 to dial and / or call the interpreter as preferably preprogrammed during the registration process or as automatically determined or routed as previously described . the above - described feature is hereinafter referred to as “ one - step actuation ” or a “ one - step call ” feature . upon receiving the call , the interpreter 100 preferably recites a greeting in language l 1 to let person a know that the call has been answered and that an interpreter 100 is connected . to complete the initiation protocol , person a identifies the languages l 2 for which interpretation services are required . if person a does not know the language being spoken for which he / she desires interpretation , a preferred system would enable person a to request a linguist to assist in identifying the language . once the language is identified , an appropriate interpreter 100 may be connected to the call . in the preferred embodiment , the initiation protocol also preferably identifies to the interpreter 100 in what mode ( as described below ) the system is to be used ( e . g ., two - way proximity communication mode 200 , observation mode 300 or two - way remote communication mode 400 ), so that the interpreter 100 knows whether or not to wait for verbal communication from person a , or whether the interpreter 100 will simply be repeating communications from persons b and c , for example . it should be appreciated that the identification of language l 2 to the interpreter 100 may have been previously specified or pre - arranged by person a prior to person a actually approaching person b ( as in the two - way proximity communication mode 200 ) or before person a is in position to begin intercepting communications between two foreign language speakers ( as in the observation mode 300 ), in which event , the initiation protocol is complete upon the interpreter 100 indicating he / she is connected and ready to begin interpretation services . fig1 , 6 and 7 schematically illustrate embodiments in which the system and method 10 is used to facilitate two - way communication in which person a , speaking language l 1 , desires to communicate with person b speaking language l 2 , and wherein persons a and b are in close proximity to one another . thus , this embodiment is hereinafter referred to as the “ two - way proximity communication mode 200 .” the two - way proximity communication mode 200 is particularly suited for travelers wishing to communicate with locals in their native or foreign language . another application particularly suited for this mode 200 is for law enforcement or medical personal having to interact with people that may not speak their language . still another application particularly suited for this mode 200 is for employers needing to speak with employees who may not speak the same language . for purposes of describing use of the system and method 10 in the connection with the two - way proximity communication mode 200 , it is presumed that person a has previously completed the initial registration . accordingly , as person a approaches person b , person a may begin the initiation protocol as previously described such that upon approaching person b , person a speaks aloud in language l 1 the question or statement that person a desires to be repeated in language l 2 to person b . person a &# 39 ; s statement in l 1 is received by the hands - free communicator 20 and is transmitted over the wpan to the 2 - way rf device 12 which , in turn , transmits the statement to the interpreter 100 via rf - communication . the interpreter 100 repeats person a &# 39 ; s statement in language l 2 into the interpreter &# 39 ; s telephone or other rf - communication device . the interpreter &# 39 ; s words in language l 2 are transmitted via rf - communication back to person a &# 39 ; s 2 - way rf device 12 , which , in turn , transmits the interpreter &# 39 ; s words to the hands - free communicator 20 where the words are broadcast through the speaker 22 to person b . the interpreter 100 then waits for person b &# 39 ; s response . person b responds in language l 2 . the response is received through the microphone 24 of the hands - free communicator 20 . the response is transmitted by the hands - free communicator 20 over the wpan and to the interpreter 100 over the wireless phone 12 via rf - communication as before . the interpreter 100 repeats person b &# 39 ; s response in language l 1 and the interpreter &# 39 ; s words are transmitted back to the 2 - way rf device 12 and hands - free communicator 20 where the interpreters words in language l 1 are broadcast to person a through the speaker 22 . this back - and - forth communication with the interpreter 100 continues until termination of the call by person a actuating the call disconnect . fig2 , 8 and 9 schematically illustrate an embodiment in which the system and method 10 is used to enable person a , speaking language l 1 , to listen in on , and understand communications between persons b and c speaking language l 2 without person b &# 39 ; s and / or person c &# 39 ; s knowledge . this mode or embodiment is hereinafter referred to as the “ observation mode 300 .” the observation mode 300 is particularly suitable for covert situations , such as , for example , when a military scout is positioned to observe foreign combatants who speak a different language . another application for which the observation mode 300 is particularly suited is when a law enforcement agent desires to listen in on a conversation between foreign speaking persons who may be plotting a terrorist attack or some other unlawful activity . for purposes of describing use of the system and method 10 in the connection with the observation mode 300 , it is presumed that person a has previously completed the initial registration . additionally , it is also presumed that person a has previously identified to the interpreter 100 the mode of operation of the system will be in the observation mode 300 such that upon person a actuating the call connect feature of the initiation protocol upon approaching person b and c , the interpreter 100 will simply begin providing interpretation services without waiting for person a to speak . it is also presumed that person a is wearing a headset 50 which cooperates with the pendant style hands - free communicator 40 , or , alternatively , person a is wearing a headset 60 that is itself the hands - free communicator 20 as previously described . thus , the process or method for the observation mode 300 is substantially the same as described for the two - way proximity communication mode 200 , except that rather than person a speaking , person a remains silent and the interpreter 100 repeats only the verbal communications overheard through the microphone 24 between persons b and c . the interpreter 100 continues to provide interpretation services until termination of the call by person a actuating the call disconnect feature 32 . it should be appreciated that to prevent the interpreter &# 39 ; s words from being heard by persons b and / or c , the external speaker 22 on the pendant style hands - free communicator 40 is muted and the interpreter &# 39 ; s words are transmitted to the headset 50 worn by person a , such that only person a is able to hear the interpreter . it should also be appreciated that if person a is wearing the hands - free communicator headset 60 there may be no external speaker to mute . fig3 and 10 schematically illustrate an embodiment in which the system and method 10 is used to facilitate two - way communication in which person a , speaking language l 1 , desires to communicate with person b and / or person c who are sufficiently remote from person a such that they are unable to clearly hear the interpreter &# 39 ; s words through the speaker 22 on the hands - free communicator 20 or where external noise prevents persons b and / or c from hearing the interpreter . this embodiment is hereinafter referred to as the “ two - way remote communication mode 400 .” for purposes of describing use of the system and method 10 in the connection with the two - way remote communication mode 400 , it is presumed that person a has previously completed the initial registration . accordingly , when person a desires to communicate with person b and / or c , person a begins the initiation protocol as previously described whereupon , person a speaks aloud in language l 1 the question or statement that person a desires to be repeated in language l 2 to persons b and / or c . it is also presumed that person a is wearing either a pendant style hands - free communicator 40 or a headset 50 which cooperates with the pendant style hands - free communicator 40 . it is also presumed that persons b and c are wearing the remote user headsets 80 . the process or method for the two - way remote communication mode 400 is substantially the same as described for the two - way proximity communication mode 200 , the only difference being that instead of or in addition to the interpreter &# 39 ; s voice being broadcast over the speaker 22 of the pendant 40 , the interpreter &# 39 ; s voice is wirelessly communicated to the remote user headsets 80 so that persons b and c can hear the interpreter &# 39 ; s voice at their remote locations . it should be appreciated that , in a preferred system and method in each of the foregoing modes of operation ( 200 , 300 , 400 ), because the voice of person a , the voice of the interpreter 100 and the voices of persons b , c etc . are all being communicated through the system 10 via rf signals , anyone having a hands - free communicator 20 is able to listen in on the conversation . the ability to listen in on a conversation would be of benefit to police , firefighters , emergency medical personal , military personnel , etc . for example , in an emergency situation involving a foreign speaking victim , the first responder to the emergency may initiate the interpretation services in two - way proximity communication mode 200 upon arriving at the scene . as other emergency personnel arrive later , they too will be able to hear the interpreted conversation between the first responder and the foreign speaking victim as soon as they enter the wpan of the first responder . in another example , if a military squad is positioned to covertly observe non - english speaking enemy personnel , the squad leader may initiate the interpretation services in observation mode 300 in order to listen to the interpreted speech of the enemy personnel . all the other members of the squad within the squad leader &# 39 ; s wpan will also be able to hear the interpreted speech of the enemy personnel . the foregoing description is presented to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention , and is provided in the context of a patent application and its requirements . various modifications to the preferred embodiment of the apparatus and the general principles and features of the system and methods described herein will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art . thus , the present invention is not to be limited to the embodiments of the apparatus , system and methods described above and illustrated in the drawing figures , but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the spirit of this disclosure and the appended claims .	7
fig1 shows an embodiment of an electrically controllable and electrically powered mortice lock assembly 20 . the lock assembly 20 includes a housing 22 with a side cover 24 and a face plate 26 . the lock assembly 20 is installed in a door with the housing 22 within a mortice void in the door and the face plate 26 adjacent to the non - hinged edge of the door , as is well understood by persons skilled in the art . a latch bolt 28 and an auxiliary bolt 30 pass through the faceplate 26 for engagement with a strike plate ( not shown ) in a door jamb , as is also well understood by persons skilled in the art . the lock assembly 20 also includes an opening 32 that receives a key cylinder assembly 33 therein ( as shown in fig2 ). the key cylinder assembly is retained within the opening 32 with a key cylinder retaining pin ( not shown ), as is also well understood by persons skilled in the art . the key cylinder assembly 33 includes a key cylinder cam 33 a ( as shown in fig2 ). after the key cylinder assembly 33 has been inserted into the opening 32 , and the key cylinder retaining pin inserted into the key cylinder assembly 33 , the key cylinder retaining pin is prevented from releasing its engagement with the key cylinder assembly 33 by engagement of the faceplate 26 with the housing 22 . for ease of description , the side of the lock assembly 20 shown in fig1 will be referred to as the first side and the opposite side as the second side . the edge near the faceplate 26 will be referred to as the front and its opposite edge the rear . the edge near the opening 32 will be referred to as the bottom and its opposite edge the top . the lock assembly 20 also includes a first hub 36 with a square cross section opening 38 therein , which is adapted to engage with a square cross section drive shaft ( not shown ) of a first external knob , lever or other handle ( not shown ). fig2 shows the lock assembly 20 with the side cover 24 of the housing 22 removed . the latch bolt 28 is connected to a latch bolt shaft 46 which is in turn connected to a latch bolt carriage 48 . the auxiliary bolt 30 is connected to an auxiliary bolt shaft 50 which is in turn connected to an auxiliary bolt carriage 52 . the latch bolt 28 and the auxiliary bolt 30 are biased toward a latching position , as shown in fig2 , by a latch spring 54 and an auxiliary latch spring 56 respectively . a carriage retraction arm 58 is pivotally mounted to the housing 22 by a shaft 60 and biased toward the position shown in fig2 by a spring 62 . the arm 58 can be moved to retract the latch bolt 28 and the auxiliary bolt 30 under certain conditions , in response to movement of the first or second handles or the key cylinder assembly , as will be described in more detail below . fig2 also shows a first electrically powered hub locker assembly comprising a first electrically powered solenoid 64 which is connected to a first motion transfer means 66 which is in turn connected to a first hub locker 68 . the first solenoid 64 is of the pull type and also includes a first biasing spring 70 . the first motion transfer means 66 includes a tab 66 a , the function of which will be described in more detail below . the lock assembly 20 also includes a second handle , a second hub and a second electrically powered hub locker assembly on its second side . the second electrically powered hub lock assembly comprises a second electrically powered solenoid which is connected to a second motion transfer means which is in turn connected to a second hub locker . the second electrically powered solenoid is also a pull type and includes a second biasing spring . fig2 also shows a first hub locking sensor 72 which is able to provide a signal indicative of the position of the first electrically powered hub locker assembly to allow remote signalling of the lock status of the first hub 36 to a remotely located controller or other internal control . a similar sensor is provided for the second electrically powered hub locker assembly . fig2 also shows a latch bolt sensor 74 and an auxiliary bolt sensor 76 , which similarly signal the position of the latch bolt 28 and the auxiliary bolt 30 respectively . other sensors ( not shown ) can also be added as desired to other mechanical facets of the lock assembly 20 , such as remotely signalling lock and / or door status or providing other internal control . the construction and operation of the first and second electrically powered hub locker assemblies are identical and are described in the applicant &# 39 ; s australian provisional patent application no . 2010903161 entitled “ a lock assembly ”, the relevant contents of which are incorporated herein by cross reference . briefly , placing a screw 78 through opening 80 configures the movement of the hub locker 68 in response to the movement of its associated solenoid 64 in one direction and placing the screw 78 through opening 82 configures the movement of the hub locker 68 in response to the movement of its associated solenoid 64 in another , opposite , direction . as the first solenoid 64 is of the pull type , it retracts when energised and then relies on the first biasing spring 70 to extend it when not energised . as shown in fig2 , when the first motion transfer means 66 of the first electrically powered hub locker assembly is configured with the screw 78 in the opening 80 , and the associated solenoid 64 is not energised , the first hub locker 68 is driven by the solenoid spring 70 towards the first hub 36 to an extended position ( as shown ) engaging with and preventing rotation of ( i . e . locking ) the first hub 36 . when the solenoid 64 is energised , the first hub locker 68 is driven away from the first hub 36 to a retracted position allowing rotation of ( i . e . unlocking ) the first hub 36 . this is a fail secure setting . when the first motion transfer means 66 is configured with the screw 78 in the opening 82 , and the solenoid 64 is not energised , the first hub locker 68 is driven by the solenoid spring 70 away from the first hub 36 to the retracted position allowing rotation of ( i . e . unlocking ) the first hub 36 . when the solenoid 64 is energised the first hub locker 68 is driven towards the first hub 36 to the advanced position engaging with and preventing rotation of ( i . e . locking ) the first hub 36 . this is a fail safe setting . fig3 shows the lock assembly 20 with the faceplate removed exposing a first adjustment port 84 and a second adjustment port 86 . the first adjustment port 84 is aligned with a first lockbar block 88 which has a first lockbar 90 therein . the first lockbar 90 can be positioned relative to the first lockbar block 88 in an extended position ( e . g . fig3 ) or a retracted position ( e . g . fig7 ). the first lockbar block 88 is carried on one end of a manual override slide 92 . the other end of the manual override slide 92 has a flange 94 which interacts with a lever 96 , which pivots about a shaft 98 . the lever 96 also interacts with key driven lever 100 , which pivots about a shaft 102 . a manual override sensor 103 is able to provide a signal indicative of the position of the manual override slide 92 . the second adjustment port 84 similarly provides across to a second lockbar within a second lockbar block . the above described components together form a manually driven assembly able to provide a key operated manual override function . as will be described in more detail below , the key operated manual override function is activated , with respect to the first side of the lock assembly 20 , by positioning the first lockbar 90 in the extended position and deactivated by positioning the first lockbar 90 in the retracted position . similarly , the second adjustment port 86 is aligned with a second lockbar block which has a second lockbar therein . the second lockbar can also be positioned relative to the second lockbar block in an extended position or a retracted position . the second lockbar block is carried on the same end of the manual override slide 92 as the first lockbar block 90 . the key operated manual override function is activated , with respect to the second side of the lock assembly 20 , by positioning the second lockbar in the extended position and deactivated by positioning the second lockbar in the retracted position . fig3 also shows a key cylinder retraction bar 104 . the key cylinder retraction bar 104 has a first end 106 connected to the carriage retraction arm 58 and a second end with a depending part 108 . as previously mentioned , fig3 shows the lock assembly 20 set to fail secure and with the first solenoid 64 de - energised allowing the solenoid spring 70 to drive the first hub locker 68 into locking engagement with the first hub 36 , preventing rotation of same . as a result , the first hub 36 can not be rotated to withdraw the bolts 28 and 30 and the lock assembly 20 is locked from the first side . fig3 also shows the manual override slide 92 positioned towards the upper edge of the lock assembly 20 ( hereafter the upper position ) and with the lock bar 90 in the extended position , but not pushing on the tab 66 a . the key driven lever 100 is sitting rotated anti - clockwise so not pushing on lever 96 which in turn is not pushing on the flange 94 of the manual override slide 92 . this allows the manual override slide 92 to remain in the upper position shown . referring to fig3 , the manual override slide 92 can be set to affect change only to the first , only to the second or to both of the first and second electrically powered hub locker assemblies of the lock assembly 20 , as will now be described . pushing a key cylinder retaining pin , or other suitable tool , through the first adjustment port 84 pushes the lock bar 90 into the extended position , adjacent to the tab 66 a of the first motion transfer means 66 . as a result , downward movement of the manual override slide 92 towards the bottom edge ( hereafter the lower position ) of the lock assembly 20 will also pull the tab 66 a , and thus the remainder of the first motion transfer means 66 , downwards and cause movement in the first hub locker 68 similar to that of the first solenoid 64 being retracted . however , if the lock bar 90 is pulled to the retracted position ( e . g . see fig7 ) then the lock bar tip 90 will no longer be adjacent to the tab 66 a and movement of the manual override slide 92 will not affect the first motion transfer means 66 or the first hub locker 68 ( see fig7 ). the lock bar 90 is able to pulled to the retracted position by use of a hook tool ( not shown ) that is inserted through the adjustment port 84 , into the lockbar 90 , and then withdrawn towards the front of the lock assembly 20 . fig4 shows the lock assembly 20 of fig2 after the depending part 108 of the key cylinder retraction bar 104 has been driven towards the bottom edge of the lock assembly 20 by rotation of the key cylinder cam 33 a of the key cylinder assembly 33 by a correct key . the resulting movement in the key cylinder retraction bar 104 pivots the carriage retraction arm 58 to withdraw the lock bolt 28 and the auxiliary bolt 30 . it will be appreciated that this action , known as key override unlatching , withdraws the bolts 28 and 30 for door opening but , importantly , it does not unlock the lock assembly 20 . accordingly , as soon as torque is removed from the key used to rotate the key cylinder cam 33 a , the springs 54 and 56 extend the bolts 28 and 30 respectively and return the lock to assembly 20 to the locked configuration shown in fig2 . fig5 shows the lock assembly 20 of fig2 modified to operate a key operated manual override function by the addition of a revised key cylinder cam 33 a that has an extension 33 b thereon . the key operated manual override function is shown activated , by the first lockbar block 90 being in the extended position . fig5 shows the key cylinder cam 33 a being rotated by a correct key to a position which causes the key driven lever 100 to pivot clockwise which in turn causes the lever 96 to pivot anti - clockwise and pull the manual override slide 92 downwards toward the bottom edge of the lock assembly 20 into the lower position . the manual override slide 92 carries the lockbar block 88 and lockbar 90 downwards allowing the lockbar 90 to pull the tab 66 a and thus the first motion transfer means 66 downwards . this in turn moves the first hub locker 68 to the retracted position . as a result , the first hub 36 is free to rotate and this rotation of the first hub 36 will retract the bolts 28 and 30 ( as shown in fig6 ) and the first side of the lock assembly 20 is unlocked . the manual override slide 92 will remain in the lower position shown , and thus keep the first side of the lock assembly 20 unlocked , until it is moved again by the correct key . the lock assembly 20 can be relocked by the use of the correct key ( see fig7 ) to rotate the key cylinder cam 33 a in a clockwise direction to pivot the key driven lever 100 in an anti - clockwise direction and reverse the previously described movements . once again , the manual override slide 92 will then remain in the upper position until further acted upon by the correct key . fig6 shows the lock assembly of fig5 after rotation of the first hub 36 has caused the carriage retraction arm 58 to withdraw the bolts 28 and 30 . fig7 shows the lock assembly 20 with the lockbar 90 pulled into the retracted position so that the lockbar 90 is no longer adjacent to the tab 66 a . as a result , the key operated manual override function is deactivated and movement of the manual override slide 92 will have no affect on the first motion transfer means 66 or the first hub locker 68 . fig8 shows the lock assembly 20 set to fail safe by the screw 78 being inserted within the opening 82 . the solenoid 64 is shown not energised and the first hub locker 68 is thus shown being driven by the first solenoid spring 70 to the retracted position , allowing rotation of the first hub 36 . in other words , the first side of the lock assembly 20 is to unlocked . the key operated manual override function is activated by the lockbar 90 being pushed into the extended position where it may engage the tab 66 a of the first motion transfer means 66 . fig9 shows the lock assembly 20 of fig8 after the key operated manual override function has been used to manually lock the first side of the lock assembly 20 . as shown , the key cylinder cam 33 a has been pivoted by the correct key such that the extension 33 a causes the key driven lever 100 to pivot in a clockwise direction causing the lever 96 to pivot in an anti - clockwise direction and in turn cause the manual override slide 92 to be driven downwards to the lower position . during this movement , the locking bar 90 abouts the tab 66 a and causes the first motion transfer means 66 to drive the first hub locker 68 from the retracted position to the extended position , preventing rotation of the first hub 36 . as a result , the first side of the lock assembly 20 is now locked . once again , the manual override slide 92 will remain in the lower position , and thus keeps the first side of the lock assembly 20 locked , until it is moved again by a correct key . the first side of the lock assembly 20 can be unlocked by use of a correct key to rotate the key cylinder cam 33 a clockwise and drive the key driven lever 100 anti - clockwise and the lever 96 clockwise . this movement reverses the previous actions . once again the manual override slide 92 will remain in the upper position until further acted upon by the correct key . the position of the manual overrides slide 92 shown also activates the manual override sensor 103 which can provide a signal to cause further action . for example , the signal can be used to cause the removal of any external electrical drive , control or power signal from operating one or more of the first and second solenoids or can provide a signal notifying a control centre that the manual key override function has been used . fig1 shows the lock assembly 20 with the electrically operated locking components set to fail secure , as per fig2 and fig3 , and with the first solenoid 64 energised and retracted so that the first side of the lock assembly 20 is unlocked . as shown , the manual override slide 92 is not affecting the lock assembly 20 . if an external party gains access to the lock assembly &# 39 ; s control system they may arrange for the lock assembly 20 to be left unlocked in order to gain unauthorised entry . in this situation , it is advantageous to be able to manually override this unlocked state and so secure the door . however , the manual override slide 92 as described so far cannot make any change to the state of the lock assembly 20 because the tab 66 a and thus the first motion transfer means 66 is already in the position that it would be driven to by downwards movement of the manual override slider 92 . fig1 shows a second embodiment of a lock assembly 20 ′ able to address the above situation by allowing for external electric control of the solenoids to be removed whilst leaving the hub locker 68 where the fail safe or fail secure configuration of the lock has positioned it . as a result , the lock assembly 20 ′ can be locked or unlocked using a key . in order to do so , the lock assembly 20 ′ includes a sensor 110 adapted to interact with an extended form of the key driven lever 100 . fig1 shows the lock assembly 20 ′ after the key cylinder cam 33 a has been rotated by the correct key to pivot the key driven lever 100 anti - clockwise . in this position , the sensor 110 sends a signal that the key operated manual override function is not in use . fig1 shows the lock assembly fig1 after the key cylinder cam 33 a has been pivoted rotated by the correct key to pivot the key driven lever 100 clockwise . as previously described , the resulting movement in the manual override slide 92 has no influence on the first motion transfer means 66 or the first hub locker 68 as the locking bar 90 is in the withdrawn position . however , the triggering of the switch 110 by the movement of the key driven lever 100 sends a signal to the controller that the power supply to the first solenoid 64 should be removed . when the lock assembly 20 is configured as fail secure as shown , removing power from the solenoid 64 allows the spring 70 to drive the first motion transfer means 66 to cause the first hub locker 68 to engage with , and prevent rotation of , the first hub 36 . this action locks the first side of the lock assembly 20 ′. if the lock assembly 20 was configured as fail safe , the reverse would occur and the spring 70 would drive the first hub locker 68 from the engaged position to the withdrawn position , thereby unlocking the first side of the lock assembly 20 ′. accordingly , the triggering of the switch 110 allows the lock state of the lock assembly 20 ′ to be ( manually ) reversed . fig1 shows a third embodiment of a lock assembly 20 ″ in which it is possible to remove external electric control to the first and / or second solenoids and also move the first hub locker 68 from the position it is placed in by the fail safe or fail secure setting of the lock assembly . accordingly , the correct key can be used to do one of locking or unlocking . fig1 shows the lock assembly 20 ″ after starting in a condition similar to that shown in fig8 ( i . e . set to fail safe , the solenoid 64 not energised and thus unlocked ) but that has now been acted upon by the key operated manual override function . when the correct key is used to pivot the key cylinder cam 33 a and thus pivot the key driven lever 100 in a clockwise direction , the sensor 110 triggers the removal of external control from the first solenoid 64 . the lockbar 90 is sitting in the extended position . as the manual override slide 92 is drawn downwards , the engagement between the lockbar 90 and the tab 66 a will cause the first motion transfer mechanism 66 to drive the first hub locker 68 into the extended position preventing rotation of the first hub 36 . as a result , the lock assembly 20 ″ is locked from the first side . if the lock assembly 20 ″ had instead been set to a fail secure , then the same movement of the manual override slide 92 would have instead unlocked the first hub 36 . accordingly , the sensor 110 is able to be used to disable remote electrical locking / unlocking , allowing the key operated manual override function to advantageously be used to independently invert the lock state as desired . the above described lock assemblies have electrically powered hub locker assemblies ( ie . locking / unlocking mechanisms ) and also include a manually driven assembly ( ie . key operated manual override function or mechanical locking / unlocking mechanism ). the mechanical mechanism can advantageously be used to change the state of the lock assembly or to prevent the electrical control system from changing the lock assembly &# 39 ; s lock / unlock state . the key operated manual override function can be used in three ways . firstly , the function can be used to only block or remove a remote signal from influencing the electrically powered hub locker assemblies ( eg . solenoids / motors etc ) so that : 1 ) if there is no remote signal at the time of manual overriding the state of the lock assembly does not change ; 2 ) if there is a remote signal at the time of manual overriding and the actuator has a biased position then the solenoid will revert to the biased position ; or 3 ) if there is a remote signal at the time of manual overriding and the actuator has two stable positions ( ie . no biased position ) then the state of the lock assembly does not change . alternatively , the function can physically change the position of the mechanical components that the electrically powered hub locker assemblies use to lock or unlock the lock regardless of a signal being applied or not being applied to the electrically powered hub locker assemblies . as a result , the above described lock assemblies , when set to operate as fail safe , are still able to be used to lock the door in the absence of power . this obviates the need for a security guard or a separate manual lock to secure the door until power is returned . further , when set to operate as fail secure , they are able to be used to unlock the door in the absence of power . this allows the normal operation of a door to continue in the absence of power . the lock assembly embodiments described above are advantageous in many applications such as : during the fitting out of a building when the door control / monitoring electrics are not yet installed or fully operational . if the lock assembly is set to fail safe ( ie . unlocked when no power ) then the manual override function can be used to lock the door after hours . if the lock is set to fail secure ( ie . locked when no power ) then the manual override system can be used to unlock the door during working hours ; changing the lock assembly &# 39 ; s status at any time when the power supply is interrupted , so the lock can still perform lock / unlock functions and keep a building &# 39 ; s activities going until the electrical systems are restored ; during normal powered operation , giving a manual override option ; providing a signal from within the lock assembly and sending it to the building monitoring system to show the manual key override function has been used during normal powered operation ; the remote electrical locking / unlocking of the lock assembly by an external signal powering the solenoid can be disabled internally in the lock by use of the key . thereafter the electrically powered hub locker assemblies are de - energised and adopt whatever position that the fail safe / fail secure settings encourage . at this time the override mechanism can either leave the electrically powered hub locker assemblies in this biased position or move it to its other position ; choosing whether or not the manual override function moves the hub locker or not at installation or at any time later without removing the lock from the door and whether the override mechanism removes external control from the solenoid or not is also switch selectable before installation or at any time after without removing the lock from the door ; and with the addition of an additional switch on the front edge of the lock assembly that is accessible once the door is open , the remote electrical locking / unlocking of the lock by an external signal can be disabled for as long as manual key control is desired without removing the lock from the door . although the invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments , it will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the invention can be embodied in many other forms . for example , the embodiments of lock assembly described above use independent first and second electrically powered hub locker assemblies for each side of the lock and a single manually driven assembly ( ie . key operated manual override function ) which can interact with each of the first and second electrically powered hub locker assemblies . in other embodiments ( not shown ) both of the hubs can be locked / unlocked by a single electrically powered hub locker assembly and / or independent first and second manually driven assemblies ( ie . key operated manual override functions ). in a further embodiment ( not shown ), the first and second adjustment ports are positioned s on the sides or the top , bottom or rear edges of the lock assembly , so as not to be accessible via removal of the face plate .	8
[ 0011 ] fig1 shows a disposable plastic blister package used for packaging a contact lens . more specifically , as seen in fig1 package 10 generally comprises support base 12 with recessed well area 14 for receiving and holding a contact lens ( not shown ). generally , the contact lens will be packaged along with an aqueous storage fluid , such as buffered saline solution , in well area 14 . package 10 may be molded from a material such as polypropylene , polystyrene , or similar plastic . base 12 includes a flange 15 having a top surface 16 . the flange 15 is present all around , that is surrounding , the well area 14 . as shown , the flange further comprises a raised seal volume 20 encircling the perimeter 28 , that is , following the contour , of well 14 in the top surface 16 . in use , a contact lens is deposited in well 14 with a quantity of aqueous storage fluid , lidstock is applied , so as to cover at least the raised seal volume 20 or substantially the entire top surface 16 , typically by heat - sealing the lidstock to the raised seal volume 20 , thereby hermetically sealing the contact lens in well 14 of package 10 . the shape of the package 10 , the base 12 , the well 14 , and the raised seal volume 20 can vary as long as the elements of the raised seal volume claimed below are present in the package 20 . [ 0012 ] fig2 shows an enlarged cross - section of a portion of the package 10 of fig1 along the line 2 - 2 , shown in fig1 . the raised seal volume 20 is shown comprising two linear sides , a first linear side 21 , and a second linear side 22 , which meet at a point or rounded point 23 which is the uppermost surface of the raised seal volume 20 . the first linear side 21 is located closer to the well 14 . the second linear side 22 is located further from the well 14 . the first linear side 21 meets the well 14 at corner 27 which defines the perimeter 28 . the corner may be rounded or sharp as desired . angle alpha shown at the base of linear side 21 is defined by the intersection of linear side 21 with the horizontal plane p as shown . typically horizontal plane p is parallel to the opening of the well when the package is resting on a flat surface . most packages provide supports 29 or other structures for this purpose . angle alpha is preferably from 125 to 170 degrees , more preferably from 135 to 165 degrees , and most preferably from 145 to 165 degrees , and even more preferably from 155 to 165 degrees . the second linear side 22 meets the top surface of the flange 16 at angle beta . however , if the flange 16 is not in the horizontal plane then angle beta is defined as the angle formed at the intersection of linear side 22 and the horizontal plane p . angle beta is preferably from 125 to 170 degrees , more preferably from 135 to 165 degrees , and most preferably from 145 to 165 degrees , and even more preferably from 155 to 165 . preferably , the linear sides have respective lengths d , e from 0 . 10 mm to 0 . 65 mm , more preferably from 0 . 14 mm to 0 . 45 mm , and most preferably from 0 . 18 mm to 0 . 25 mm . the preferred overall width a of the raised seal volume 20 is from 1 . 16 mm to 2 . 30 mm , more preferably from 1 . 22 mm to 1 . 85 mm , and most preferably from 1 . 34 mm to 1 . 56 mm . the preferred overall height b of the raised seal volume 20 is from 0 . 1 mm to 0 . 3 mm , more preferably from 0 . 12 mm to 0 . 24 mm , and most preferably from 0 . 14 mm to 0 . 16 mm . it is preferred that linear sides 21 and 22 and angles alpha and beta are mirror images of each other ; however that is not required as long as both linear sides are present as parts of the raised seal volume 20 , and as long as the angles are both within the ranges specified . lengths d and e and angles alpha and beta can vary and be different from one another , depending on location of raised seal volume 20 in relation to other features and considerations within the package . as shown , in the preferred embodiments , the flange extends away from the well past the seal volume as shown , but in alternative embodiments , the outside edge of the flange may not extend beyond the seal volume . [ 0015 ] fig3 and 4 show an alternative embodiment of the package of this invention . fig3 is a perspective plan view of the package and fig4 shows an enlarged cross - section of a portion of the package 10 of fig3 along the line 4 - 4 . fig3 and 4 show a package having a raised seal volume 20 that is located a distance c between the perimeter 28 of the well 14 and the surface of the raised seal volume 20 closest to the well 14 . note that c may vary in a package design , because it is not required that the raised seal volume follow the perimeter of the well exactly or even at all . preferably c is from 0 and 6 mm , more preferably from 1 to 5 mm and most preferably from 2 to 5 mm . additionally , the raised seal volume 20 as shown in fig3 and 4 has a rounded top surface 43 contiguous with and located between the linear sides 21 and 22 . the radius of the rounded surface 43 is preferably from 1 . 0 mm to 10 . 0 mm , more preferably from 1 . 5 mm to 6 . 0 mm , and most preferably from 2 . 0 mm to 5 . 0 mm . further the width f of the rounded surface 43 is preferably from 0 . 50 mm to 2 . 0 mm , more preferably from 0 . 50 mm to 1 . 5 mm , and most preferably from 0 . 50 mm to 1 . 0 mm . the other features of this embodiment are as described for the earlier embodiment , namely , the angles , lengths of the linear sides , the width of the heat seal , and the height of the seal volume . [ 0016 ] fig3 and 4 shows the preferred embodiment , because the distance c provides a space in which the melted plastic of the raised seal volume may flow and not create a rough surface that would be adjacent to , extend above , or flow into the well that may damage a contact lens as it is removed from the recessed well . however it may be possible in accordance with this invention , if the correct sealing conditions and materials are used , to locate the raised seal volume adjacent to the well by providing a large length d of side 21 . many other modifications and variations of the present invention are possible to one skilled in the field in the field in light of the teachings herein . it is therefore understood that , within the scope of the claims , the present invention can be practiced other than as herein specifically described .	1
setting of transmission power control offsets for hs - dpcch as an example from the umts specification , when the number of links involved for hs - dpcch coincides with the number of links for the channel , typically dpcch , or channels , such as dpcch and dpdch , to which the power offset relates is straight forward , at least as long as the links are served by the same base station . however , in soft handover situations or in situations where the links are served by different base station , prior art solution imposes problems . fig5 shows uplink channel structure of adch ( associated downlink control channel ). for high - speed communications an hs - dpcch ( high - speed dedicated physical control channel ) is included . hs - dpcch carries , e . g ., feedback information requesting retransmission or ( positively ) acknowledging successfully received transmissions & lt ;& lt ; harq - ack & gt ;& gt ; and channel quality information & lt ;& lt ; cqi & gt ;& gt ; destined for mac - hs protocol layer . in umts the harq - ack field of an hs - dsch sub - frame comprises 10 bits , and the cqi field 20 bits , the sub - frame being transmitted over three time slots . the hs - dpcch is multiplexed with other channels on adch . dpcch and dpdch are examples of ordinary channels multiplexed on adch , together with hs - dpcch . the adch can be in soft handover , like any ordinary dch . since downlink scheduling of hs - dsch relies on cqi feedback information , transmitted on hs - dpcch , downlink transmissions could be substantially deteriorated if transmission power of hs - dpcch is not appropriately adjusted in relation to other physical channels , such as dpdch and dpcch , multiplexed on adch . when the adch is communicating with more than one cell in a soft handover situation it is power controlled by outer loop and inner loop power control . the reference for β hs is either dpdch or dpcch , or both . in the uplink dpdch and dpcch are power controlled by the outer and inner loop . during soft handover , the fact that dpdch and dpcch perceive a diversity effect is considered in the inner and outer loop power control . the information on dpdch concerning outer loop power control is terminated in rnc . hs - dpcch is terminated in node b serving an entity of user equipment for consideration . consequently , according to prior art it is power controlled as if it would enjoy a diversity effect of multiple communications links corresponding to dpcch or dpdch when in soft handover , when it actually perceives no diversity gain , since it communicates over a single communications link . during soft handover there is consequently a great risk that channel quality of hs - dpcch seriously degrade , which jeopardizes both arq feedback and cqi information to the hs ( high speed ) scheduling entity and there is a great risk that no feedback information reaches node b for downlink scheduling and arq acknowledgments , which risks to deteriorate downlink performance substantially . an active set of a connection including an entity of user equipment comprises all radio base stations , rbses , involved in the connection , whereas a radio link set is a set of one or more radio links that has a common generation of tpc commands in the dl . often the active set and the radio link set are identical . in softer handover they are not . in softer handover there are a plurality of radio links of one single radio base station . fig4 illustrates an active set comprising three radio links involving user equipment & lt ;& lt ; ue & gt ;& gt ; and three radio base stations & lt ;& lt ; bs 2 & gt ;& gt ;, & lt ;& lt ; bs 3 & gt ;& gt ;, & lt ;& lt ; bs 4 & gt ;& gt ; during a soft handover . the radio base stations are controlled by different radio network controllers & lt ;& lt ; srnc & gt ;& gt ; & lt ;& lt ; drnc & gt ;& gt ; over iub interfaces . the serving rnc & lt ;& lt ; srnc & gt ;& gt ; is the rnc responsible for interconnecting to a core network over an iu interface . the drift rnc & lt ;& lt ; drnc & gt ;& gt ; assists the srnc during the soft handover as it controls two of the base stations & lt ;& lt ; bs 3 & gt ;& gt ;, & lt ;& lt ; bs 4 & gt ;& gt ; involved . the rncs & lt ;& lt ; srnc & gt ;& gt ;, & lt ;& lt ; drnc & gt ;& gt ; are interconnected over an iur interface . according to a first embodiment of the invention , for a connection the discriminating number of diversity branches for adch / dpcch / dpdch and hs - dpcch is considered when determining gain factor β hs , and β hs is updated whenever there is an increase in number of links in the active set or radio link set of the connection . when updating β hs , this is preferably made by increasing the constant power offset for the hs - dpcch during the time at which the dpdch relies on gains from macro - diversity . according to a second embodiment of the invention , repetition factors for hs - dpcch transmissions ( cqi and ack - nack repetition factors ) are updated . of course , increased repetition factors implies increased load of control signaling . preferably the repetition factors are not updated until uplink performance has deteriorated below a threshold . the uplink performance degradation is preferably detected from number of repeated transmission failures and retransmissions in the base station / node b . either common or disjoint one or more triggers are used for updating of different repetition factors . the repetition factors may interfere with cqi feedback cycle ( the frequency with which a ue reports cqi ). therefore the repetition factor updating is preferably coordinated with the cqi feedback cycle according to the invention . according to the first embodiment of the invention , parameters for adch are signaled to rbs in radio link reconfiguration and radio bearer setup messages in the radio bearer setup procedure . parameters related to cqi , such as δ cqi , cqi repetition factor and cqi feedback cycle , are signaled to ue in downlink hs - pdsch information message as measurement feedback info . parameters related to ack / nack , such as δ ack , δ nack and ack - nack repetition factor , are included as uplink dpch power control info fields . there are two modes of signaling according to the invention . the first mode adopts a synchronized procedure for parameter updating , and the second an unsynchronized procedure . according to the invention , a particular mode is preferably selected conditionally depending on the particular parameters . the first mode is required when cqi repetition factor , cqi feedback cycle or ack - nack repetition factors are to be changed , whereas both modes are applicable for changing of power offsets . preferably , parameter updating according to the second embodiment triggered from rbs will be signaled according to the first mode of signaling and parameter updating according to the first embodiment related to radio link set size updates will be signaled according to the second mode of signaling . fig6 depicts signaling triggered by rbs according to the first mode . parameter update , e . g . of cqi repetition factor , cqi feedback cycle and ack - nack repetition factor are triggered by radio base station & lt ;& lt ; rbs & gt ;& gt ; by sending of an rl parameter update indication & lt ;& lt ; r 1 & gt ;& gt ; to the controlling rnc . at rl reconfiguration prepare & lt ;& lt ; r 2 & gt ;& gt ; new values of repetition factors are sent to the rbs with the serving hs - dsch connection . with rl reconfiguration ready signal & lt ;& lt ; r 3 & gt ;& gt ;, new values are stored in rbs . activation time , in terms of cfn ( connection frame number ), is then calculated in rnc and sent to rbs & lt ;& lt ; r 4 & gt ;& gt ; in an rl reconfiguration commit signal . ( node b , rnc and ue uses cfn for dch and common transport channels frame transport references .) rnc sends & lt ;& lt ; r 5 & gt ;& gt ; the new one or more parameters , including activation time , in terms of cfn , to ue over rbs . at activation time & lt ;& lt ; r 6 & gt ;& gt ; the new parameters are in effect . a physical channel reconfiguration complete signal confirms / completes the physical channel reconfiguration . fig7 monitors signaling triggered by rnc according to the second mode . subsequent to triggering & lt ;& lt ; c 1 & gt ;& gt ; of updating of one or more transmission power control related parameters δ ack , δ nack and δ cqi , new parameters are sent to ue over rbs in physical channel reconfiguration signaling & lt ;& lt ; c 2 & gt ;& gt ;. ue confirms reception and parameter updating in physical channel reconfiguration complete signaling . according to the first mode , node b initiates parameter update preferably when detecting particular cqi error patterns of received cqi , each non - reliable cqi being logged as a cqi error event , if at least one updated parameter ( cqi repetition factor or ack - nack repetition factor ) differs from the existing parameters . during soft handover or diversity combining , if cqi repetition factor is greater than 1 errors in cqi after combining of diversity branches is considered for logging , not errors in individual cqis of the various diversity branches or repetitions of particular one or more cqis . preferred error patterns for triggering of hs - dpcch parameter change are listed in table 1 together with preferred parameter settings . in the table cqierrors refers to a predefined number of consecutive cqi error events , and cqierrorsabsent a predefined number of received consecutive one or more cqis in absence of cqi error event . n c — prev and n a — prev in table 1 refer to the ( existing ) cqi repetition factor the ( existing ) ack - nack repetition factor , respectively , applied when the parameter update was triggered by a detected error pattern in the first column of table 1 . if there are more than cqierrors consecutive cqi error events and if n c , the updated cqi repetition factor , differs from n c — prev , the cqi feedback cycle is updated if a repetition factor — feedback cycle consistency check indicates a conflict of the updated cqi repetition factor and existing cqi feedback cycle . in case the consistency check indicates a conflict , cqi feedback cycle is increased . preferably the updated cqi feedback cycle , measured in milliseconds , is set to 2 times the cqi repetition factor . preferably there is no corresponding decrease of cqi feedback cycle when cqi repetition factor is decreased as a cqi repetition factor decrease will generally not cause any cqi feedback cycle consistency problem . the invention , however , does not exclude a corresponding decrease of cqi feedback cycle . the procedure is illustrated schematically in a flow chart in fig8 . when the signaling message radio link parameter update indication has been sent to the rnc , counters of number of continuous cqi error events and number of continuous error free cqi arrivals are reset . subsequent to the reset of the counters , there is preferably an interrupt time duration during which the counters are not updated in order to provide some time for rnc to issue updates , without having to transmit several triggers . the interrupt time duration is controlled by a timer . updating of the counters is preferably continued at expiry of the interrupt time duration or at a cfn specified for the update . the counters are preferably reset at hs - dsch cell change , when the serving hs - dsch cell is changed . potential changes of ack - nack repetition factor is communicated with the entity scheduling the repetitions , facilitating future scheduling , as an increase of ack - nack repetition factor limits scheduling opportunities . according to the second mode , new power - offset factors are applied if the number of radio link sets is changed . preferably there are two different sets of power control related parameters ( δ ack , δ nack and δ cqi ,) applied depending on the number of radio link sets . during softer handover of hs - dpcch involving only one rbs , there is no need to trigger power offset factor update , since hs - dpcch of different radio links are combined according to maximum ratio combining . in summary , the second mode of the invention does not require coordination between ue and node b , but ue is updated and node b can then be informed thereof unsynchronized , whereas the first mode of the invention requires coordination / synchronization of ue and node b updates . in this patent application acronyms such as ue , rbs , rnc , hsdpa , hs - dpcch , hs - dpdch , hs - dsch , adch , are applied . however , the invention is not limited to systems with entities with these acronyms , but holds for all communications systems operating analogously . the invention is not intended to be limited only to the embodiments described in detail above . changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention . it covers all modifications within the scope of the following claims .	7
the apparatus of this invention is perhaps seen most clearly in fig1 and 5 . a platform 10 serves as the base support for the apparatus . on the left hand portion ( in the drawing ) of the platform are fixtures for mounting or for positioning wires whose insulation is to be cut and on the right hand portion of the platform is positioned a drive motor 12 . a center support 14 is vertically positioned through a slot in the platform at the mid portion thereof . stationary mounting shafts 16 are secured by end mounting brackets 18 and 72 secured to the ends of the platform 10 and a center bracket 13 . slide bearings 20 secured to each bottom corner of a base plate 22 slide on the shafts 16 . a fixture mounting plate 24 is secured to spacer blocks 26 which in turn are secured to the base plate 22 by any suitable means such as screws or welding . mounting pins 27 positioned in the top surface of the fixture mounting plate 24 facilitate the mounting of a fixture 28 . the fixture 28 has an end piece 30 with plural parallel wire notches 32 formed in the top surface thereof , each adapted to receive a separate coaxial cable or other wire whose insulation is to be selectively cut and / or stripped in accordance with this invention . thus by sliding the base plate 22 along the shafts 16 , the fixture 28 may be moved toward or away from the center support 14 . a detent 34 extending from the bottom side of the base plate 22 acts to engage notches 35 in the shaft 16 such that the base plate 22 when slid on the shaft 16 may lock into one or more separate positions , as will be described . in the case of coaxial cable , two such positions are selected , one for the insulation cut off point for the central conductor and one for the cut off point of the insulation surrounding the metal sheath . stops 36 are positioned on the shaft 16 to limit the movement of the base plate 22 . the upper portion of the center support 14 has a horizontal slot 40 formed therein adapted to receive a wire positioning plate 42 which is perhaps seen most clearly in fig6 . this plate 42 has a plurality of orifices 40 positioned immediately adjacent each other with a spacing corresponding to the spacing of the wire notches 32 . a cutter plate 44 positioned adjacent and parallel to the positioning plate 42 has a preselected array of cutting orifices 46 , corresponding in location to the orifices 40 , each of which may have a single slope or double slope surface forming an inner , ring - like cutting edge . in this manner , the cable or wires 50 , when positioned in the orifices 48 , are in alignment with and may pass through the respective cutting orifice 46 . the cutter plate 44 is slidably positioned with respect to positioning plate 42 by a slot 53 in the backface of a vertically positioned cutter mounting plate 60 . the plate 60 is slidably retained by a vertical slot in a u - shaped mounting bracket 52 secured to center support 14 and by a slot 55 formed by a head flange 54 secured to the top of center support 14 . the cutter plate 44 is secured as by screws in the slot 53 in the cutter mounting plate 60 . the lower end of the cutter mounting plate 60 is pivotally mounted at 62 to the center support 14 . the cutter mounting plate 60 also has secured thereto a bearing housing 64 , as by screws which , houses a spherical self - aligning bearing 66 as seen most clearly in fig2 . the end support 72 is secured to the right hand end of platform 10 and houses at the upper portion what may be described as a control panel 74 . the end of the shafts 16 are secured in the support 72 . the motor 12 is mounted on a movable motor plate 76 to which are attached bearings 78 , 79 which slide on the shafts 16 . the motor itself is mounted with the aid of a motor support guide 80 which is secured to the motor plate 76 . the motor has a motor drive shaft 82 having an axis of rotation 84 ( fig2 ). secured as by welding or a set screw ( not shown ) at the end of the motor shaft 82 in an offset manner is an orbiting shaft 86 ( having a bore to receive the motor shaft ) having an axis 88 which intersects the axis 84 of the motor shaft at a point 90 corresponding to the center of the spherical bearing 66 when the motor is in a neutral position as will be described . the orbiting shaft 86 which passes throughout the bearing 66 , when positioned at this manner , does not cause orbital motion of the bearing housing 64 or the cutter plate 44 . however , by moving the motor 12 along the axis of its drive shaft 82 in either direction , the axes 84 and 88 diverge by increasing amounts thereby causing orbital motion of the cutter plate 44 when the motor shaft rotates . to achieve the axial adjustment of the motor position 12 , a pivot rod 100 , pivoted as at 102 to the platform 10 , is positioned to slide a bar 104 attached to the motor plate 76 . a detent 105 on the block 109 engages recesses 33 in the block 109 to control the axial movement of the motor and hence the radius of the orbital motion of the cutter plate 44 to predetermined amounts . a handle 106 may be secured to the pivot rod 100 to facilitate this motion . as will be described in connection with fig8 the movement of this pivot rod or the axial position of the motor may be adjusted by a servo system ( not shown ). the position of the base plate 22 and hence the position of fixture 28 may be similarly driven . stop 107 limits the axial movement of the motor as a safety precaution . in operation , a cable 49 containing plural coaxial cables , for example , is opened manually so that the individual coaxial cables may each be placed in the wire notches 32 of the fixture 28 with each cable extending through the wire positioning notches 32 , the wire positioning orifices 48 and finally the cutting orifices 46 of the cutter plate 44 . next the motor 12 is energized causing the orbiting plate 44 to orbit about an axis generally parallel to the cables 50 . its initial position ( fig2 ), as determined by the position of the detent 105 , however , is such that the axes 84 and 86 of the respective orbiting shaft 86 and the motor shaft 82 coincide at the center point 90 of the bearing 66 . hence no significant orbital motion of plate 44 occurs and the orifices 46 remain concentrically positioned about the cables 50 . to cut through the outer layers of coaxial cables 50 to the center conductor , the pivot rod 100 is moved to the right of the drawing thereby causing the motor 12 to move to the left ( fig3 ) and causing the orbiting shaft 86 to slide through the bearing 66 until the detent 105 stops it . the spherical bearing 66 now is rotating at a point relatively close to the motor shaft 82 ( done because the maximum cut is made at this point and this reduces sideways forces on the motor shaft ) and the radius of the orbit is at a maximum . the edges of the cutting orifices 46 thus orbit as is seen in fig3 at 120 &# 39 ; to cut through most of the cable 50 except for the center conductor . the orbital motion also is depicted by the phantom lines 44 of fig6 . next the base plate 22 is moved to the right in the drawing ( fig4 ) such that the wires 50 extend through the cutting plate more . thus the cut may be made in the insulation over the metal sheath of the cable 50 at a point behind the first cut . the pivot rod 100 is moved to the left ( in the drawing ) causing the motor to move to the right and withdraw the orbiting shaft 46 past its axial center point until the detent 105 stops its motion and orbital motion 120 &# 34 ; of the cutting orifices 46 about the cable 50 again occurs because of the divergence of the axes 84 and 88 ( fig4 ). effecting the orbital motion 120 &# 34 ; from the end of the orbiting shaft , does not cause undo transverse strain on the motor bearings since the cut is relatively shallow at this point , the orbit being adjusted to have a relatively low radius sufficient only to cut the exterior insulation away from the metal sheath . with the multiple cutting orifices closely spaced , multiple conductor cables may be all cut at the same time which greatly facilitates connector assembly . following cutting , the fixture 28 may be removed from the cutting assembly simply by lifting the fixture from the pins 27 and withdrawing the wires from the cutting orfices 46 , leaving the insulation . this effectively removes the insulation from the wires . the adjustability of the orbit radius is particularly desirable since the apparatus may be used to cut many different sized and types of wire structures . adjustment of the orbit is relatively quick , easy and simple . an automated system for effecting the double cut on a wire or cable may be seen in fig8 . this system is seen to include the wire positioning plate 42 , the cutter plate 44 , the fixture assembly 28 , the bearing 66 , the bearing housing 64 , the orbiting shaft 86 , the motor shaft 82 , and the motor 12 &# 39 ;. wires 50 are illustrated as being in position with the wires extending through the cutter plate 44 . an additional motor 110 , which may be a stepping motor , is connected by a suitable mechanical linkage 112 to position the fixture plate 28 by acting directly on the base plate 22 ( fig1 ). the axial position of the motor 12 &# 39 ; is controlled by a stepping motor 114 which acts through a suitable mechanical linkage 116 to position the motor 12 &# 39 ; along its axis . the three motors 110 , 114 and 12 &# 39 ; operate under the control of what may be a microprocessor control sequencer 118 . such sequencers are of well known design and selectively actuate the motors to move or position the fixture plate 28 , the motor 12 &# 39 ; along its axis , and power the motor 12 &# 39 ; to rotate its shaft 82 . thus the orbital radius of the orifices is adjusted by axially positioning the motor 114 , the drive for effecting cutting by the orifices 46 is effected by the rotation of motor 12 &# 39 ; and the withdrawal and insertion of the wires is accomplished by the motor 110 . since programming techniques for achieving the operations are well known it is not believed necessary to describe a particular system for accomplishing this . alternatively a motor drive stepping switch may accomplish the same result , although , such is not quite as versatile . it should be pointed out , as may be seen in fig7 that the wire positioning plate 42 and the cutting plate 44 may be reversed i . e ., the cutter plate 44 will be fixedly positioned in the slot 40 while the wire positioning plate 42 is positioned in the mounting bracket 60 . from this it is apparent that the wires are orbited against the cutter edge . the use of the orbital motion extends the life of a cutting edge . the system is a quick , efficient and economical means for the mass stripping of wires and the like . with the system wires can be simultaneously circumferential cut in one or more places . the depth of each cut is readily adjustable .	8
referring to fig1 , a distributed system 100 includes a number of server computers 110 ( generally “ servers ”) communicate over a data network , here the internet 120 , with a number of client computers 130 ( generally “ clients ”). in one example , this system is used to host a multiplayer game in which each client computer hosts a different user , and each user controls one or more characters or other objects in the game . the server computers 110 receive information from the client computers 130 to update the state of the game , and distribute information back to the client computers 130 regarding relevant game state for each of the clients . various types of information are sent from the server to the clients . for example , control information is exchanged between a client and the servers regarding state of a user &# 39 ; s characters . state of the game is sent to the clients as needed . for example , when an object first enters the relevant environment of a user &# 39 ; s character , a server handling that object sends information about that object , for example as needed by the client to render the object . as the state of that object changes , the server sends updates for the objects state to clients . different types of information sent from the servers to the clients can have different delivery requirements . for example , some data sent from the server must be delivered reliably and in order to the client . for example , information related to control of a user &# 39 ; s character may fall in this category . other information is ephemeral . for example , information updating the state of an object is not delivered in time may be superseded by later state information about that object . some information may have an initial portion that must be sent in order , for example , an initial specification of an object , which later information can be ephemeral . referring to fig2 , at each of the servers 110 and clients 130 , a protocol engine implements a packet - based communication protocol for passing information between the clients and servers . in fig2 , a representative protocol engine 210 supports communication between one or more software modules executing at a client 130 and one or more servers 110 . the protocol engine is bi - directional supporting both communication from the servers to the client as well as communication from the client to the servers . for illustration , the discussion below focuses on server - to - client communication . the information passed from a server to the client is made up of messages ( or equivalent data structures or packets or interfaces that transfer equivalent information ). each such message 220 includes a payload 228 as well as a header 222 . the header has sequencing data 224 that is used by the protocol engine . this sequencing data 224 includes a triple of a channel identifier 225 ( abbreviated chan ), and ordering index 226 ( abbreviated ord ), and an ephemerality index 227 ( abbreviated eph ). before continuing with a description of the protocol engine 210 , logical properties of the transport of the messages 220 from server to client ( or back ) is discussed with reference to fig3 a . messages are delivered according to rules that depend on the ordering index and ephemerality index of the messages . the messages with different channel identifiers are delivered logically independently of one another . logically , messages are delivered reliably from one protocol engine to another , but possibly with variable delay due , for example , to delay in transit over the network , or due to retransmission of lost or corrupted messages . fig3 a shows a example of a series of messages 220 all with the same channel identifier . a first sequence of messages have eph = 1 , and ord incrementing starting at one . such messages , if delivered , are delivered in order to their destination . in the example , a message with ( ord , eph )=( 1 , 1 ) is sent followed by message ( 2 , 1 ). these messages arrive in order at the client and pass immediately through the protocol engine . the next two messages ( 3 , 1 ) and ( 4 , 1 ) are sent in order , but arrive our of order . the protocol engine buffers ( 4 , 1 ) until ( 3 , 1 ) arrives , at which time ( 3 , 1 ) and then ( 4 , 1 ) are delivered . similarly , ( 5 , 1 ), ( 6 , 1 ), and ( 7 , 1 ) are sent in order , but ( 5 , 1 ) is delayed , and therefore ( 6 , 1 ) and ( 7 , 1 ) are held at the protocol engine pending arrival of ( 5 , 1 ). for each particular channel identifier , the ephemerality index increments , with subsequences of one or more messages being sent for each ephemerality index . at the receiving protocol engine , once a message at a particular ephemerality index is received , messages for that channel identifier with lower ephemerality index that are pending delivery or are received later are not delivered from the protocol engine ( or alternatively , are optionally delivered ). in the example of fig3 a , after ( 7 , 1 ) is sent , the next message is ( 1 , 2 ), which represents an increment in the ephemerality index . when ( 1 , 2 ) is received at the client , ( 6 , 1 ) and ( 7 , 1 ) are pending delivery , and are discarded . message ( 5 , 1 ) arrives after ( 1 , 2 ) and is therefore discarded when it arrives . message ( 2 , 2 ) is sent and delivered in sequence after ( 1 , 2 ). messages ( 1 , 3 ), ( 1 , 4 ) and ( 1 , 5 ) are sent in sequence , but delivery of ( 1 , 3 ) is delayed . when message ( 1 , 5 ) arrives at the client , it is delivered immediately because it has a higher ephemerality index than previous messages , and has a ordering index of 1 . because the ordering index is 1 , there are no missing messages with the same ephemerality index that need to be waited for . when messages ( 1 , 3 ) and ( 1 , 4 ) arrive after ( 1 , 5 ), they are discarded . referring back to fig2 , the protocol engine 210 is implemented in two stages . an accumulation service 212 provides the interface that provides or accepts messages 220 that specific the channel identifier , ordering index , and ephemerality index . the accumulation service 212 is responsible , for example , for delaying delivery of messages that arrive out of order and discarding messages that arrive too later for delivery . transport of messages 220 makes use of one or more reliable datagram services 214 . in this version of the system , this reliable datagram service is layered on the unreliable user datagram protocol ( udp ). for each remote destination , a separate service 214 coordinates transmission , acknowledgment , and retransmission of packets for that destination . for outbound messages , the service fragments or aggregates messages 220 into transmission packets 240 and keeps track for each transmission which one ( or which set ) of the messages 220 are transported in the transmission packet . for example , a large payload 228 may have to be broken down into a number of different transmission packets 240 . conversely , a set of small payloads 228 may be aggregated into a single transmission packet . the association of messages 220 and transport packets 240 ( i . e ., between the triple ( chan , ord , eph ) and transport sequence number ) is maintained by the datagram service in a protocol state 216 of the protocol engine . the datagram service 214 implements reliable delivery of each transmission packets . each transmission packet 240 is assigned a different sequential sequence number 246 . if a transmission packet with a particular sequence number is not received at its destination , that sequence number is sent again . the sequence number may be sent again by retransmission of the entire transmission packet 240 . however , as an optimization to reduce communication , which is discussed further below , the datagram service 214 may omit the payload if there is no data that is needed at the destination , for example , because all the data that would be sent has a lower ephemerality index than already received at the destination . as a further optimization , rather than sending an empty payload in a separate transmission packet , the sequence number can be piggybacked in the header of another transmission packet being sent to the destination . therefore , each sequence number is ultimately accounted for at the destination , but some sequence number are finally received without their corresponding payloads . referring to fig3 b , in a series of messages corresponding to those shown in fig3 a , communication between the accumulation service 212 ( a ) and the datagram service 214 ( b ) at each of the server 110 and the client 130 are shown , as well as the communication between the datagram services 214 at the client and server . in fig3 b , the first message 220 ( 1 , 1 ) passes from the accumulation service to the datagram service , where in this example , the payload is fragmented into two separate datagrams , which are sent in order . in this example , these datagrams have sequential serial numbers ( not indicated in the figure ). the receiving datagram service acknowledges the receipt of the datagrams , for example , by sending dedicated acknowledgment packets or sending acknowledgements piggybacked in the headers of datagrams passing in the reverse direction . the following message ( 2 , 1 ) is illustrated as being sent in a single datagram . the message ( 3 , 1 ) is also shown as being sent in a single datagram , but the datagram does not reach its destination . the message ( 4 , 1 ) is also sent in a single datagram , and when the client datagram service receives the datagram , it send a negative acknowledgment for the datagram that carried the ( 3 , 1 ) message . the client datagram service passes the ( 4 , 1 ) message to the accumulation service , which holds the message pending receipt of the ( 3 , 1 ) message to allow in - order delivery . after receiving the negative acknowledgment ( or in some cases as a result of a timeout ) the server &# 39 ; s datagram service resends the datagram carrying the ( 3 , 1 ) message . when the client &# 39 ; s datagram service receives the datagram , it sends the ( 3 , 1 ) message to the accumulation service which then delivers ( 3 , 1 ) and ( 4 , 1 ) in order . therefore , from the point of view of the accumulation service , the ( 3 , 1 ) message was delayed , but the accumulation service does not need to deal with the retransmission aspects of the lower - level protocol . in some cases , the transmitting datagram service can determine that the payload for datagram that was transmitted but not successfully received does not contain any part of a message that is still needed at the receiving accumulation service , and therefore the entire payload of the datagram can be omitted , or a introduced above , the datagram can be “ sent ” as part of a header of another datagram passing to the client . in the example shown in fig3 b , messages ( 5 , 1 ), ( 6 , 1 ), and ( 7 , 1 ) are sent in order , each in a single transport datagram . the datagram carrying ( 5 , 1 ) is lost . by the time the sending datagram service has determined that the receiving datagram service did not receive the datagram carrying ( 5 , 1 ), the sending datagram service has already sent ( 2 , 1 ). therefore , rather than sending the payload for ( 5 , 1 ) again , only to have it dropped by the destination accumulation service , the sending datagram service effectively drops the payload for ( 5 , 1 ) before even sending it . similarly , in the example , message ( 1 , 3 ) is lost , and by the time the negative acknowledgement of ( 1 , 3 ) is received , the sending datagram service has already sent ( 1 , 5 ) and therefore the payload for ( 1 , 3 ) does not have to be sent . another aspect of the protocol engine is that for a particular channel of accumulation messages , different servers may provide the source of messages over time . for example , the server responsible for sending messages on a particular channel can migrate from server to server . at the receiving protocol engine , such migration corresponds to different datagram services receiving the transport packets . however , the accumulation service can be entirely or largely insensitive to such changes and can continue to deliver messages for that channel regardless of which server they came from . the communication approaches described above is applied , for example , in a multiplayer game system . referring to fig4 , each user 432 of the game interacts with a client system 430 hosted on a client computer 130 ( see fig1 , not shown in fig4 ) and controls a player 422 ( e . g ., players p 1 and p 2 controlled by 1 and 2 , respectively ) that exist in a virtual environment ( a “ world ”). a number of server computers 110 ( see fig1 , not shown in fig4 ) together host a server system . the server system accepts information from the client systems , for example , regarding each user &# 39 ; s manipulation of their respective player . the server system provides to each user information regarding other users &# 39 ; players and other dynamic events in the virtual environment . in this way , each client system is aware of relevant actions by other users &# 39 ; players and relevant dynamic events , such as motion of non - player elements such as doors etc . note that in alternative versions of the system , it is not necessary that each client system support only a single user or a single player under control of the user or users at that client system . as illustrated in fig4 , the virtual environment is partitioned into a number of blocks 410 , each associated with a different region of the environment . for example , in a three - dimensional environment , each block may be associated with a horizontal tile and the region above ( and below ) that tile . other , for example irregular , partitioning of the environment is also supported . fig4 shows two users 432 of a potentially very large number of users ( e . g ., 100 , 1000 , 10000 , 100000 , 1000000 , or more ). each of these users interact with the server system on which the virtual world is hosted . in the illustration , user 2 controls a player p 2 , which is located in block c of the environment , while user 1 controls player p 1 , which is located in a different block d of the environment . other dynamic elements 423 , illustrated as e 3 and e 4 are also present in blocks of the environment . much of the server handling of players and dynamic elements is similar , and for the sake of discussion below , the term “ entity ” is generally used to generically include players and dynamic elements . each player is associated with an area of interest ( aoi ) in the virtual world . for example , such an area of interest can be associated with the region of the environment that is potentially viewable by the player . for example , aoi 420 illustrated in fig4 is associated with player p 1 . information about the entities in the area of interest may be needed to render a graphical representation of the environment from the player &# 39 ; s perspective . note that each user and the server system are preconfigured ( or updated on an ongoing basis using another data distribution mechanism ) with data representing static elements of the environment , and therefore each user only requires information about the dynamic entities in its corresponding aoi in order to render an up - to - date version of the environment . note also that in fig4 , the aoi 420 is represented as a rectangle . other shapes , for example , dependent on characteristics of the virtual environment ( e . g ., presence of vision - obstructing barriers such as walls ) or characteristics of the player may affect the size or shape of the player &# 39 ; s aoi . note also that the aoi for a player can include multiple blocks of the environment . during play of the game , the server system receives information from the client systems related to their respective players . for example , in fig4 , the server system receives information related to player p 2 from client system 2 . this information includes position information that relates to where in the environment the player has moved under the control of user 2 , as well as other information about the state or characteristics of the player , such as whether the player has raised his arm , is running , etc . as the server system receives the information from users about their players , it sends that information back out to other users for whom that information is relevant . for example , in fig4 , the information received from client system 2 related to player p 2 is sent to client system 1 because player p 2 is in the aoi for player p 1 . the server system may also compute changes in dynamic elements 423 as a result of the information from the users , and information that characterize those changes is also sent to the users . for example , in fig4 , information related to dynamic elements e 3 and e 3 are sent to client system 1 because those elements are within the aoi for player p 1 . generally , for each entity in the environment the server system maintains a list of client systems that are to receive information about changes in position or state of the entity . these lists are determined from the regions of interest for the respective users &# 39 ; players . as players and dynamic elements move , the list of client systems for any particular entity changes over time . for example , if a user &# 39 ; s player moves far enough away from an entity such that the entity is no longer in the player &# 39 ; s aoi , the user &# 39 ; s client system no longer needs to receive information about that entity . similarly , if a user &# 39 ; s player approaches an entity such that the entity enters the player &# 39 ; s aoi , the user &# 39 ; s client system should begin to receive information about that entity . the server system communicates with the client systems using the communication approach described above . at each client system , a protocol engine 210 of a type described above provides a communication link to components of the server system typically hosted on multiple different server computers 110 . the protocol engine exchanges messages with a game engine 435 , which maintains data characterizing a portion of the virtual environment , and which interacts with the user 432 by accepting instructions that manipulate the user &# 39 ; s player in the virtual world . the game engine exchanges messages of the format of message 220 shown in fig2 . specifically , the messages include ( chan , ord , eph ) triples that are used to control ordering and ephemerality of inbound and outbound messages . referring to fig5 , multiple server computers 110 that host the server system each maintains information for one or more blocks 410 of the environment . each such server typically maintains multiple blocks . the association of blocks and servers is not necessarily “ geographic ” and the server system supports migration of blocks between servers , for example , for load balancing . in fig5 , server 2 maintains block d , in which player p 1 is found , as well as in which dynamic element e 3 , which is in player p 1 &# 39 ; s aoi , is found . player p 1 &# 39 ; s aoi includes part of block c , which is maintained by server 1 . player p 1 therefore has “ visibility ” to parts of the environment maintained on more than one server . during play , client system 1 receives information related to player p 2 from server 1 and information related to dynamic element e 3 from server 2 . as is discussed further below , if player p 2 were to move to block d ( and server 2 continues to be responsible for maintaining block d ), then server 2 would start to send information related to player p 2 to client system 1 , taking over from server 1 . for each entity in a block , the server maintaining that block has a data structure 520 that includes data encoding the current position and state of that entity . this data structure includes data used to identify and communicate with the client systems that are to received updates for that entity . for each entity in the environment and each such client system , the server system communicates information about that entity to the client system using the communication approach described above . in particular , for each entity , the server system uses multiple channels , include one channel for accumulated data , such as incremental state changes of entities , and one channel for ephemeral data , such as position updates for entities . for a particular entity , the server system keeps consistent channel identifiers for each entity independent of the block within which the entity is found or the server on which that block is maintained . that is , the channel identifiers do not change as entities move between servers . in fig5 , the two channel identifiers for entity e 3 are shown as e 3 : acc 522 for the accumulated data and e 3 : pos for the ephemeral ( positional ) data . the number of channel identifiers used for any particular entity is not necessarily limited to two in alternative versions of the system . the accumulated data channels are used , for example , to send incremental information that is used by the client to track the state of the entity . for example , when an entity enters a player &# 39 ; s aoi , the server begins by sending information to the user &# 39 ; s client system that is sufficient to add that entity to the data for the environment at the user . for example , details of the entities characteristics ( e . g ., type , clothing , etc .) are sent to the client system . this information is sent to the user using the accumulated channel . this data may span many messages , all of which are needed in order by the user in order to properly build and maintain the state of the entity . in terms of the communication approach described above , this information is sent in a series of one or more messages with sequentially increasing ord index values and a constant eph index value . further incremental changes to the state of the entity are sent on using this same channel identifier . for example , when a entity changes state , such as an arm position , incremental information is sent on that channel with further sequentially increasing ord values and constant eph value . for a particular entity at the server ( e . g ., entity e 3 ), different client systems typically have received different histories of the accumulated information , for example , because the entity has been in the corresponding players &# 39 ; aois for different durations . therefore , the data structure 520 includes a table 526 in which each record 528 identified one user and a corresponding ( ord , eph ) pair of the current message being sent to the user on the accumulated channel for that client system . note that different client systems not only in general have different current ord values , they also have different current eph values . when the entity enters a aoi for a particular user , the server system assigns an eph value to the accumulated communication session to be used with that client system . when the entity later leaves the aoi for that user , the client system is removed from the table 526 . if the entity later re - enters the aoi for that user , the server system begins by starting a new session with ord = 1 and a new eph index value that is greater ( taking into account wrapping of the finite - precision value ) than the old value used before the entity previously left the aoi . in this way , if any of the old messages from before the entity left the aoi are delivered after the new messages sent after the entity re - entered the aoi , the old messages will be discarded . this situation could happen , for example , if an entity exits and the very soon thereafter re - enters the aoi . in order to assign the eph values as the entity enters the aoi of different users , a global eph value 532 for the entity is used and incremented whenever a user is added to the table 526 . as an example , when server 2 is to send an update of the state of entity e 3 to client system 1 , it consults the data structure 520 associated with e 3 , and locates the record 528 for that client system . it construct a message with the ( chan , ord , eph ) header 540 using the chan identifier 522 for the accumulated channel and the ( ord , eph ) pair from the client system &# 39 ; s record 528 , and then increments the ord value in that record . ephemeral data uses a common eph index value 532 for all client systems . for example , when a position update is to be sent to all the client systems in the table 526 , the current eph index 532 is used with ord = 1 for all the messages , and then the eph index value is incremented . when an entity moves from one block to another , and the new block is on another server , the data structure 520 for that entity is passed to the new server . in this way , the communication sessions with client systems are continued using the next ord and / or eph values that would have been used had the entity remained in the previous block . from the point of view of the game engine 435 of the client system 430 , the specific server sending the messages for that entity is not significant and the updating of the entity information continues as if the entity had not changed servers . for example , when the entity changes servers , the communication session coordinated using the ord and eph indices persists . more specifically , the communication is handled by a different datagram service 214 ( see fig2 ) in the protocol engine 210 when the entity migrates to a different server , but the accumulation service 212 ( see fig2 ) continues to handle the communication without interruption . an entire block of the virtual environment can also migrate from server to server . when such a migration occurs , the data structures for all the entities in that block are passed to the new server . referring to fig6 an example of communication of information relates to an entity ( e . g ., player p 2 ) that is initially at server 1 and then migrates to server 2 . in the figure messages are labeled with two channel identifiers , “ pos ” being the ephemeral channel and “ acc ” being the accumulated channel for that entity . a label ( pos , 1 , 5 ), for example , corresponds to ( ord , eph )=( 1 , 5 ) on the ephemeral channel . fig6 illustrates messages for two different channel identifiers . initially , the accumulated channel uses eph = 17 and is currently at ord = 3 , while the ephemeral ( position ) channel is at eph = 5 . the first message illustrated in the figure is a position update message ( pos , 1 , 5 ) sent from server 1 to client 1 . this message is lost in transit ( retransmission is not illustrated in the figure ). the next messages ( pos , 1 , 6 ) and ( pos , 1 , 7 ) are both sent and reach the client , but ( pos , 1 , 7 ) arrives first . this message is delivered and used by the client to update the position of the entity . when the ( pos , 1 , 6 ) message arrives , it is discarded because it is older than the ( pos , 1 , 7 ) message . next a state update message ( acc , 3 , 17 ) is sent . this message is delayed relative to a later sent ( acc , 4 , 17 ) message . when the ( acc , 4 , 17 ) message arrives at the client , the ( acc , 3 , 17 ) and then the ( acc , 4 , 17 ) messages are used by the user in order to update the state of the entity . a position update message ( pos , 1 , 8 ) message is sent to the client from server 1 . after this update is sent , the entity migrates to server 2 from which a ( pos , 1 , 9 ) message is sent . in this example , this message arrives at the client before the ( pos , 1 , 8 ) message . therefore the ( pos , 1 , 8 ) message is discarded at the client . a state update message ( acc , 5 , 17 ) is sent from server 2 . note that the state information is preserved through the transition between servers , and when the client receives the ( acc , 5 , 17 ) message , it is passed to the user because the previous ( acc , 4 , 17 ) message was already delivered . a next state update message , ( acc , 6 , 17 ) is associated with the entity leaving the aoi for the client . later , the entity re - enters the aoi , and the server assigns a new eph index , eph = 30 . in the illustrated example of fig6 , the first accumulated message after the entity re - entered , ( acc , 1 , 30 ), arrives before the last accumulated message that was sent before the entity left the aoi . however , that earlier sent message has an earlier eph index , eph = 17 , and therefore this message is discarded at the client . not illustrated in fig6 are acknowledgements and retransmissions associated with lost datagrams . the retransmission approach described earlier is implemented such that the server that originally sent a message is responsible for completing the delivery of the message . for example , in fig6 , the relatively late delivery of ( pos , 1 , 8 ) could be due to an initial transmission packets for the message being lost , with the retransmission of the message ( possibly with an empty payload ) possibly occurring even after the entity has migrated to server 2 . communication from the clients to the server similarly make use of the communication approach described above , with one channel identifier being used for accumulated data , and a second identifier being used for ephemeral position data . when a player moves from server to server , the new server informs the client of the new destination to send the packets for that channel . the client migrates the communication with the server system to a new datagram service appropriate to the new server . any messages received from the client at the old server are forwarded within the server system from the old server to the new server in order to continue the protocol without interruption . it is to be understood that the foregoing description is intended to illustrate and not to limit the scope of the invention , which is defined by the scope of the appended claims . other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims .	7
the numerous innovative teachings of the present application will be described with particular reference to the presently preferred embodiment . however , it should be understood that this class of embodiments provides only a few examples of the many advantageous uses of the innovative teachings herein . in general , statements made in the specification of the present application do not necessarily delimit any of the various claimed inventions . moreover , some statements may apply to some inventive features but not to others . the presently preferred embodiment provides for the redirection of data through the generic system bus to any number of new optimized buses . the present invention identifies data types based on their source and destination addresses . the computing system , having a series of programmed traps , then diverts the data to the optimized bus for that type of data . in one embodiment , latency sensitive real time data is introduced to the system via the generic pci bus . a real time hub identifies the data as being latency sensitive , and a redirection mechanism identifies the data within the address range specified by the system as real time data , and the data is redirected and transferred via the real time link . data which is not identified as real time data is allowed to transfer by the generic pci system bus if it is not trapped by another specific redirection mechanism . in this manner , multiple optimized buses can be introduced to a computer system without changing the peripheral hardware . data transfers can be efficiently implemented without modifying the industry standards . peripherals will still be capable of introducing data in a manner common to other peripherals via the generic system bus . a “ bridge ” device is provided to connect a first bus to a second bus thereby allowing devices on different buses to talk with devices on the other bus . a device capable of taking control of the bus and arbitrate between requests performs ‘ bus mastering ’ which eliminates the need for the processor to coordinate the entire data transfer between devices . the presently preferred embodiment provides a diversion mechanism for diverting data from a conventional pci bus to the audio or video devices for which the data is intended . conventional personal computing systems generally utilize a memory mapped input / output configuration where data is passed from a generic multipurpose system bus ( i . e ., the pci bus ) to the cpu of the computing system . the cpu then passes the data to the appropriate device . for example , in video teleconferencing applications in conventional computing systems , the incoming video and audio data is placed in the pci bus and initially processed by the cpu to determine the appropriate hardware device to pass the data . the cpu then transfers the data to the device , such as the frame buffer , again over the pci bus . the bandwidth of the video data generally consumes a substantial portion of the bandwidth of the pci bus during each of these transfers . in accordance with the preferred embodiment , the diversion mechanism identifies data intended for video or audio applications and transfers the data to the appropriate device over a direct link to the device . in this manner , the number of high - bandwidth data transfers on the pci is reduced so that the bus can be utilized by other devices in the computing system . further , cpu processing load is decreased since it no longer is required to handle the transfer of the data from memory to the pci bus . fig1 illustrates one embodiment of the diversion mechanism 20 of the present invention in conjunction with the pci bus 22 and the . card bus 24 . the configuration shown in fig1 is a parallel configuration where the diversion mechanism 20 is connected in parallel to the pci bus 22 . the diversion mechanism 20 provides data to the appropriate device over a real - time link 26 . the diversion mechanism 20 intercepts data intended for the pci bus from the peripherals connected to the card bus 24 . as will be discussed below , the diversion mechanism determines which data to intercept based on the address associated with the data . the diversion mechanism then processes the data , and transfers the data to the appropriate device . conversely , data returned from a device within the computing system is converted and passed by the diversion mechanism 20 to the peripheral . fig2 illustrates one embodiment of the diversion mechanism of the present invention . a slave data interface 30 , a master interface 32 , translators 34 , 36 , 38 , and 40 , and control registers 42 are provided . control registers 42 are provided for tracking any state variables or values required by the diversion mechanism 20 to perform its operations . the pci bus generally supports full bus mastering . the slave interface 30 determines whether data from the card bus controller ( fig1 ) will be passed to the devices through the real time bus . the slave interface makes this determination by decoding the destination address associated with the data from the card bus . if the decoded destination address corresponds to a device accessible over the real time bus , and the data operation is a write transfer operation , then the slave interface initiates the data transfer process . conversely , the mater interface 32 passes data from the real time bus to the card bus . in burst mode , the pci bus transfers information by providing an initial address corresponding to multiple sets of data which will be transferred in a row . the translators 34 , 36 , 38 , and 40 all provide translations of data between the real time bus and the card bus . specifically , translator 34 converts addressed data from the card bus to raster data intended for the real time bus . translator 36 converts addressed data from the real time bus to addressed data intended for the card bus . translator 38 converts addressed data from the card bus to addressed data intended for the real time bus . translator 40 converts raster data from the real time bus to addressed data intended for the card bus . fig3 illustrates a conversion mechanism utilized by one embodiment of the diversion mechanism of the present invention to convert card bus data to the real time bus . data from the card bus controller 50 is converted either by conversion engine 52 or conversion engine 54 . conversion engine 52 converts addressed data from the card bus controller 50 to video or raster data to be placed on the real time bus . such conversion involves , for example , conversion of 32 bit addressed data to 16 bit raster data for use in the frame buffer of the video device of the computing system . conversion engine 54 converts addressed data from the card bus controller 50 to addresses data to be placed on the real time bus . such conversion involves , for example , conversion of 32 bit addressed data from the card bus to 16 bit data for use by a device on the real time bus . according to a disclosed class of innovative embodiments , there is provided a system for transferring data from a first bus to a device coupled to a second bus while bypassing said second bus , the system comprising a bridge device , coupled to said first and said second bus , for translating said data from a first data format associated with said first bus to a second data format associated with said second bus ; and a diversion mechanism monitoring said second bus to determine if said data should be diverted from said second bus to said device over a specialized bus adapted for said device . according to another disclosed class of innovative embodiments , there is provided a method for managing data in a computer system , comprising the steps of receiving data on a system bus ; monitoring at least a portion of said data as it passes over said bus ; if said monitored portion of said data meets a predetermined criteria , then diverting the corresponding data to a second data bus ; wherein said second data bus is optimized for the type of data diverted to it . as will be recognized by those skilled in the art , the innovative concepts described in the present application can be modified and varied over a tremendous range of applications , and accordingly the scope of patented subject matter is not limited by any of the specific exemplary teachings given , but is only defined by the issued claims .	6
a device 1 shown in fig1 supports a transport device according to german patent 43 26 309 c1 as loading and unloading device 2 . of course , instead of this arrangement , it is also possible to use devices with a different flow of operations for loading and unloading a semiconductor processing machine 3 . an adjustable base plate 4 ( fig2 ) which is movable between two planes 5 , 6 located one above the other serves as a receiving element for the loading and unloading device 2 . plane 5 is situated at an ergonomically advantageous height for charging the loading and unloading device 2 , in which a transport container 8 in the form of a smif box can be deposited , as object to be charged , on a plate part 7 serving as interface . in plane 6 , which serves as charging plane , the smif pod is opened automatically and a magazine 9 is moved to a transfer height 11 by an elevator 10 . a gripper 12 grasps the magazine 9 and transports it into the semiconductor processing machine 3 by means of a linear movement . the magazine 9 is removed from the semiconductor processing machine 3 in a corresponding manner by the reverse sequence of steps . a closing element 13 which is coupled with the housing opens and closes the semiconductor processing machine 3 . in so doing , it is ensured that the air flow inside the semiconductor processing machine 3 remains unperturbed and access for charging or taking out the magazine 9 is guaranteed . depending on the air flow in the semiconductor processing machine 3 , an air flow generated by a filter - ventilator unit 14 can act in the direction of the semiconductor processing machine 3 or can reinforce an air flow directed out of the semiconductor processing machine 3 . the device 1 can be coupled with the semiconductor processing machine 3 by detachable coupling elements 15 or coupling can be effected in a solution corresponding to fig1 to 13 . according to fig2 the adjustable base plate 4 which is screwed to a fastening plate 41 is attached to a vertically movable lift 16 which is driven by an electric stepper motor 17 for traveling between two planes 5 , 6 situated one above the other . the rotational movement of the stepper motor 17 is transmitted via a toothed belt , not shown , to a threaded spindle 18 and is transformed into a linear movement . in the event of power outage or emergency shutdown , a voltage - independent motor brake directly connected with the stepper motor 17 acts via an emergency cutoff switch , not shown , to ensure active safety . in addition , two pneumatic springs 19 , one of which is visible in the drawing , compensate for the mass of the structural component parts moved in the vertical direction . a safety hoop 20 constructed according to german patent application 44 21 828 . 1 forms another measure for increasing safety , in particular for preventing injury to operators . an object present between the elevator 16 and the safety hoop 20 , owing to the force acting on the safety hoop 20 , causes a break in an otherwise closed circuit and consequently causes the stepper motor 17 to be switched off immediately . the lift remains in the position occupied at that instant and is held by the action of the pneumatic springs 19 . the device 1 is enclosed by a casing 21 forming a container system which also receives , among others , the control electronics which are not shown here . with the aid of rollers 22 , the entire device can be transported easily , a prerequisite for fast coupling to and uncoupling from the semiconductor processing machine . the device is set down on adjustable feet 23 , or a solution according to fig1 can be used . in the enclosed state shown in fig3 in which the plate part 7 is located in the plane 6 serving as charging plane , the entire device is enclosed so as to ensure clean room conditions in the interior . as will be seen from fig4 the enclosure is formed by a stationary outer part , housing 24 , and an inner part , housing 25 , which encloses the receiving element and the loading and unloading device 2 and can be moved out in a telescoping manner in order to charge the semiconductor processing machine 3 . this housing design ensures the required clean room conditions during charging or in retrofitting the semiconductor processing machine with smif technology . the range of movement of the device 1 can be expanded by means of a solution according to fig5 and 6 in which other processing locations located adjacent to one another can be serviced in addition to planes 5 , 6 which are located one above the other . instead of the adjustable base plate 4 for receiving the loading and unloading device 2 , a unit 26 capable of executing a linear movement in the horizontal direction is arranged on the fastening plate 41 shown in fig2 . the adjustable base plate 4 is fastened to this unit 26 by means of corresponding mechanical fastening elements ( not shown ). the unit 26 is formed by a u - shaped base body for holding a stepper motor 27 with spindle drive , not shown , and a guide coupled thereto . the stepper motor 27 is monitored for each step via an encoder and is monitored in both end positions by electronic end position couplers . the loading and unloading device 2 to be placed on , which is held by fastening elements 28 , is connected with the electronic control unit by a trailing cable 29 . the loading and unloading device 2 can be changed quickly in a mechanical construction of the adjustable base plate 4 with a place - finding or relocating device 30 . in the view shown in fig6 the construction according to fig5 is enclosed by housings 31 , 32 , corresponding in principle to the enclosure shown in fig4 . the housing 32 is moved relative to housing 31 in a telescoping manner for adjusting height . a movable closing element 33 , e . g ., a door , sliding flap or roll - type shutter , ensures that the inner clean room of the loading and unloading device 2 also remains closed during lateral movement . further , the solution according to the invention makes it possible , by means of vertical adjustment of the receiving plate 4 , to move toward other planes in addition to planes 5 , 6 which , as shown in fig1 are located one above the other . fig7 shows an example in which the semiconductor processing machine 3 can be charged in an additional plane 34 . the magazine 9 can be transported into the semiconductor processing machine 3 from plane 6 to transfer height 11 and from plane 34 to another transfer height 35 . moreover , with the loading and unloading device 2 it is possible to deposit the magazine 9 in various positions 36 , 37 proceeding from planes 6 and 34 or in other positions when using devices with an operating flow other than that corresponding to the transport device according to german patent 43 26 309 c1 . the enclosure for the loading and unloading devices 2 is described in more detail with reference to fig8 to 11 . these loading and unloading devices 2 have a filter - blower / ventilator unit 14 integrated in their rear wall remote of the semiconductor processing machine 3 and , as was already mentioned , can be adjusted vertically and / or displaced transversely to the semiconductor processing machine 3 , these loading and unloading devices 2 being mechanically connected in a stationary manner via an adjustable base plate 4 . as is already known from fig4 the enclosure shown in fig8 has the stationary housing 24 in which the vertically adjustable housing 25 of the loading and unloading device is integrated . the housing 25 is preferably formed by four plastic plates which are anti - static and thus conform to clean room requirements , these plates being mounted in a stationary manner at two side walls and at the upper and lower sides of the loading and unloading device 2 . an enclosure of this kind is suitable for single - tier charging of semiconductor processing machines with self - closing charging opening . the two housings 24 , 25 are completely open at their front side facing the semiconductor processing machine 3 . due to the relocating device which will be described more fully with reference to the drawings , the distance between all adjacent wall parts vertical to the semiconductor processing machine 3 is to be produced in such a way that mechanical contact is ruled out during vertical displacement but clean room conditions remain intact . the two housings have bore holes 38 , 39 in their rear walls to ensure the suction process or ventilation process also when the vertically displaceable housing 25 penetrates into the stationary housing 24 . the housing 25 is closed at the bottom by a bottom plate 40 having holes 41 for the purpose of reducing a vertical flow with a throttling action / nozzle action along the front side of the semiconductor processing machine 3 when the vertically displaceable housing 25 penetrates into or is moved out of the stationary housing 24 and so as to ensure overpressure or a pressure difference in the mini - clean room relative to the outside atmosphere or semiconductor processing machine 3 . further , means , not shown , are provided for automatically switching off or switching on the filter - blower / ventilator unit 14 during movement into or out of plane 5 in which the loading and unloading device 2 is charged with a smif box . according to fig9 a shield 43 which extends parallel to the front wall of the semiconductor processing machine 3 and closes the charging opening 42 during movement of the loading and unloading device 2 in plane 5 is provided in addition for single - tier charging of semiconductor processing machines 3 which do not have a closure for a charging opening 42 . in addition to the solution according to fig9 two shields 45 extending parallel to the front wall of the semiconductor processing machine 3 are connected with the housing 25 in a stationary manner in fig1 for two - tier charging of semiconductor processing machines not having a closure for a charging opening 44 . the construction serves for charging parallel to the front wall of the semiconductor processing machine 3 in two different planes located one above the other as shown in fig7 . the shields 45 are so constructed that the part of the opening 44 of the semiconductor processing machine not charged is always closed . finally , for single - tier charging in two or more adjacent loading or unloading stations in a semiconductor processing machine 3 not having any closure for a charging opening 46 , a shield 47 , according to fig1 , is fastened in a stationary manner to housing 25 and parallel to the front wall of the semiconductor processing machine 3 . during movement of the loading and unloading device 2 in plane 5 , this shield 47 always closes the portion of the charging opening 46 not being charged . instead of the shield connected with the loading and unloading device 2 in a stationary manner for closing the charging openings , movable covers such as roller shutters corresponding to clean room requirements can also be used . solutions providing sliding doors in the semiconductor processing machine which are coupled with the movement of the loading and unloading device can also be used . according to fig1 , a flat bottom plate 48 which holds the device 1 with loading and unloading device 2 , serves as a coupling member and is adjusted relative to the semiconductor processing machine 3 is connected by screws to the floor in front of the semiconductor processing machine 3 . elements suitable for relocating the aligned position for the device in a reproducible , positive - locking manner are located in the bottom plate 48 . the device 1 can be advanced or withdrawn together with the loading and unloading device 2 in the tilted state on rollers 49 in the manner of a hand truck . according to fig1 , semispherical - cap supporting screws 51 are adjustable in the vertical direction for coupling in a base frame 50 in the region of the base of the device 1 . these semispherical - cap supporting screws 51 are placed in the elements located in the bottom plate 48 , namely , the cone 52 , prism 53 and plane 54 , for a positive locking orientation in conformity to coordinates . the bottom plate 48 is screwed to the floor via screws 55 in conformity to coordinates with respect to the semiconductor processing machine 3 . the front edge 56 of the bottom plate 48 is constructed in such a way that it serves as a pre - orientation ( estimate ) for running up the rollers 49 and the device is lowered proceeding from this location after it has been moved up in the manner of a hand truck . the supporting screws 51 locate the shaped elements 52 , 53 and 54 of the bottom plate 48 automatically . the static stability of the device 1 is preferably achieved by means of an adjustable permanent magnet 57 which is fastened to the base frame 50 cardanically or by gimbals . in the operating position of the device 1 , the permanent magnet 57 is switched to maximum holding power externally via an adjusting lever 58 . in this way , a frictional engagement with the bottom plate 48 is ensured along with high stability . depending on the dimensions of the semiconductor wafer used , the adapters shown in fig1 to 17 are suitable for attachment to the plate part 7 and to directly receive a magazine 9 as object to be charged . according to fig1 and 15 , a contact rail 61 for 4 &# 34 ;- magazines and a contact rail 62 for 6 &# 34 ;- magazines are located on a base plate 59 adjacent to a guide rail 60 , this base plate 7 corresponding to the dimensions of the plate part 7 in length , width and height . an angle 63 which is arranged below the base plate 59 and supported via an articulation 64 at one side and by a spring 65 is actuated by lateral magazine walls 66 or 67 of deposited magazines via a lowerable element 68 which is guided through the base plate 59 . magazine wall 66 is associated with a magazine of smaller dimensions ( 4 &# 34 ;) and magazine wall 67 is associated with a magazine of larger dimensions ( 6 &# 34 ;). in both magazines , the magazine walls 66 , 67 are connected , according to the semi standard , by connecting crosspieces 69 , 70 , a so - called h - bar . the connection crosspieces 69 , 70 are the elements of the magazine serving to fasten it to the base plate 59 . sensors 72 which can also be constructed as switches are actuated in the plate part 7 via an anvil 71 by actuating the angle 63 . among other functions , the sensors 72 serve to signal the attached state . the arrangement of such sensors is shown , for instance , in german patent 43 26 308 c1 , in which they have the additional function of initiating supply and discharge of gas . the spring 65 prevents actuation of the sensors 72 in the plate part 7 in the unloaded state . the spring 65 is so dimensioned that a full or empty magazine reliably actuates the sensors 72 . two support surfaces 68 must be actuated at the same time for reliable detection of the deposited state . a construction of the adapter according to fig1 and 17 is provided for magazines having still greater dimensions ( 8 &# 34 ;). a guide rail 74 and a contact rail 75 are arranged on a base plate 73 . at the same time , lowerable elements 78 which are guided through a base plate 73 are actuated at the same time by the side walls 76 of a magazine deposited between the guide rail 74 and the contact rail 75 with its crosspiece 77 connecting the side walls 76 . as in fig1 , the magazine is not shown in its entirety for the sake of simplicity . the support surfaces 78 are connected with a movable strip 80 via crosspieces 79 so that actuating pins 81 which are fastened in a springing manner at the strip 80 can press the sensors provided in the plate part 7 . while the foregoing description and drawings represent the preferred embodiments of the present invention , it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present invention .	7
referring now to fig1 , there is illustrated a conventional fuel nozzle assembly generally designated 10 for a gas turbine . generally , the fuel nozzle assembly includes a subassembly 11 and a surrounding air inlet conditioner 13 . subassembly 11 includes a central tube 12 and a pair of concentric tubes 14 and 16 defining discrete annular fuel passages 18 and 20 respectively between tubes 12 and 14 and tubes 14 and 16 . the central tube 12 supplies diffusion gas to the combustion zone downstream , not shown , of the fuel nozzle assembly 10 . arranged about the outer tube 16 and forming part of subassembly 11 , there are provided a plurality of vanes 22 circumferentially spaced one from the other . the vanes 22 include outer premix holes 24 supplied with gaseous fuel from the passage 20 and a plurality of inner premix gas supply holes 26 supplied with gaseous fuel from passage 18 . as best seen in fig2 and 3 , each vane 22 has a pair of outer and inner plenums 28 and 29 , respectively , confined between opposite side walls 30 and 31 of the vane . it will be appreciated that the holes 24 and 26 lie in communication with the outer and inner plenums 28 , 29 , respectively . as illustrated in fig2 , the conventional outer premix gas supply holes 24 include a pair of radially spaced holes 32 through one wall 30 of the vane 22 and a single hole 34 through the opposite side wall 31 of the vane . downstream portions 36 of the vanes are twisted to impart a swirl to the flow of premixed air and gaseous fuel flowing between the subassembly 11 and the inlet flow conditioner 13 , the gaseous fuel being supplied to the air stream via the outer and inner premix fuel holes 24 and 26 , respectively . as noted previously , it is sometimes necessary to retune the nozzle injector assemblies because of dynamic concerns . to accomplish the foregoing , and particularly to provide resized fuel supply holes in the vanes , for example to provide smaller diameter holes in lieu of the existing gas supply holes 32 and 34 in the side walls 30 and 31 , respectively , of the vanes , the inlet flow conditioner 13 which surrounds the vanes and other portions of the nozzle subassembly is removed . the inlet flow conditioner is preferably cut into two semi - circular pieces and discarded . by removing the inlet flow conditioner 13 , the outer premix holes 24 in the vanes 22 are exposed . the exposed outer premix holes are initially enlarged by an electro - discharge machining process to form a pair of holes through each of side walls 30 and 31 . for example a pair of holes 38 and 40 are formed through side walls 30 of each vane and a pair of holes 42 and 44 are formed through side walls 31 of each vane . using electro - machining processes enables the aligned holes 38 , 42 to be formed in one pass . similarly , the aligned holes 40 , 44 may form in one pass . consequently , the existing pair of holes 32 on one vane wall 30 are enlarged by electro - discharge machining and the existing single hole 34 in the opposite vane wall 31 is likewise enlarged . the second hole 42 in the opposite wall 31 of the vane 22 is formed by passing the electro - discharge machining tool through the hole 38 in the first wall in the aforementioned single pass . in this manner , a pair of holes in each wall is formed in alignment with a pair of holes in the opposite wall , and the holes 38 , 40 , 42 and 44 are larger than the existing holes 32 and 34 . the holes 38 , 40 , 42 and 44 thus formed are then reamed preferably by hand using a carbide reamer and reaming guide to meet the required diameter for installation of plugs . thus , the four enlarged holes in each vane , there being 10 vanes in the illustrated preferred embodiment , are each hand reamed to provide a slightly larger diameter hole . the hole diameters are preferably identical . after reaming the holes to remove burrs and cleaning the holes , for example , with acetone , the holes are degreased , e . g ., in a solution of metal medic 7705 or equivalent , for approximately 30 minutes at 160 ° f . the vanes are rinsed , for example , by submergence in a warm water bath for about 10 minutes , air - dried , preferably using compressed air to remove the water from the holes an then oven - dried , for example , at temperatures between 1850 ° f .- 1875 ° f . for approximately 30 to 60 minutes . after cleaning the holes with acetone , the holes are ready to receive plugs . the plugs 50 , 52 , 54 , 56 are secured preferably by brazing , to the walls of the vanes . thus , after cleaning the plugs with acetone , each plug is installed into a reamed hole to lie flush with the vane surface . a small bead of brazed alloy paste is applied around the braze plugs . to complete the brazing process , the nozzle assembly is placed in a furnace which is then evacuated , e . g ., to a vacuum of 5 × 10 − 4 torr or better . to braze the plugs to the vane walls , the furnace is ramped up to about 1675 ° f .- 1725 ° f . at a rate of approximately 30 ° f . per minute and held for 25 to 35 minutes . the temperature is then increased to a range of 1825 ° f .- 1875 ° f . and held for 10 to 15 minutes . preferably , when the temperature exceeds 1700 ° f ., 100 - 300 microns of argon are added . the assemblies are then fast - cooled with the argon within the furnace to 175 ° f . or below and removed from the furnace . the nozzle assemblies may then be tested for leaks . for example , a pressure test fixture , not shown , may be applied to the nozzle assembly to apply approximately 50 pounds per square inch of pressure which is held for five minutes . water is then applied to the braze joints , or the assembly is immersed in a water tank , to check for bubbles which would indicate leaks . assuming the absence of leaks , the nozzle assemblies are dried and the plugs are rebrazed . for example , the assemblies are again disposed in a furnace which is then evacuated to a vacuum of about 5 × 10 − 4 torr or better . to complete the furnace brazing , the furnace is ramped up to a temperature of between 1675 ° f .- 1725 ° f . at a rate of 30 ° f . per minute and held for 25 to 35 minutes . the temperature is then increased to a range between 1825 ° f .- 1875 ° f . and held for 10 to 15 minutes . as the temperature exceeds 1700 ° f ., 100 - 300 microns of argon are added and the nozzle assemblies are fast - cooled with the argon to about 175 ° f . or below . upon removal of the assemblies from the furnace , the assemblies are leak tested are once again similarly as above noted . the assemblies are then tempered . for example , the assemblies are again placed in a furnace , and the furnace is evacuated to a vacuum of 5 × 10 − 4 torr or better . the assemblies are heated to approximately 1050 ° f .- 1125 ° f . for about four hours . the assemblies are then cooled in the furnace to below 200 ° f . before removing from the furnace . finally , holes are now formed in the walls of the vanes , particularly through the brazed plugs . it will be appreciated that the new holes formed through the plugs may be larger in area e . g . diameter relative to the existing holes 32 and 34 . typically , however , the new holes are provided with a smaller area e . g . a smaller diameter , relative to the existing holes 32 and 34 . preferably , using electro - discharge machining methods are used to form holes through plugs 52 , 54 , 56 and 58 of a smaller size , e . g ., a smaller diameter than the original existing size , e . g ., diameters , of the holes . thus , holes 60 , 62 and 64 are formed through respective plugs 52 , 54 and 56 . note particularly that a smaller sized diameter hole is not formed through plug 58 . accordingly , holes 60 , 62 are formed through plugs 52 , 54 , respectively in side wall 30 while hole 64 is formed through plug 56 in side wall 31 . the brazed plug 58 seals the previously formed opening 44 formed by the edm process in side wall 31 . also note that the openings through the one side wall 30 are angled preferably about 5 ° relative to a tangent through the openings . the opening 64 through the opposite side wall 31 lies on the tangent and is not angled . following the formation of the smaller diameter holes by the edm process , the assemblies are degreased , rinsed , air - dried and dried in an oven similarly as previously described . the old but preferably a new inlet flow conditioner 13 is then cleaned and weld prepped for attachment to the returned fuel nozzle assembly . for example , the two halves of the new inlet flow conditioner are welded along a horizontal line of symmetry as well as circumferentially . typical welding procedures are followed including inspection and fluorescent penetration inspection . while the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment , it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment , but on the contrary , is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims .	5
in the following detailed description , a plurality of specific details , such as numbers of charge pump stages and input and output voltages , are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments described herein . the details discussed in connection with the preferred embodiments should not be understood to limit the present invention . furthermore , for ease of understanding , certain method steps are delineated as separate steps ; however , these steps should not be construed as necessarily distinct nor order dependent in their performance . a single stage 100 of a charge pump according to one embodiment is illustrated in fig1 . the stage 100 includes two mosfets , m 1 and m 2 . each of the transistors m 1 , m 2 have four terminals , commonly identified as gate 110 , source 120 , drain 140 , and body 130 . the body of the transistors m 1 , m 2 is of opposite type to both that of the source 120 and drain 140 materials , which are usually implanted , as well as opposite in type to that of the field - induced channel . the gate 110 of each transistor m 1 , m 2 is isolated from the induced surface charge layer and the body 130 by a thin - layer insulator , typically an oxide , that forms a ‘ mos ’ ( metal - oxide - semiconductor ) capacitative junction on the order of 1 - 2 ff per μm 2 . charge may be accumulated on the opposite sides of the insulating oxide layer of the mos sandwich . the input signal is connected across two terminals , also called input nodes , as represented by fig1 . one of these nodes is designated as ground and the other is designated as the source signal node vs . the source is an alternating polarity signal , so the source node vs will alternate between two levels that are nominally equal and opposite in polarity about the ground ( or neutral ) node at a frequency peculiar to the origin of the source . the body 130 a of the first nmos transistor , m 1 , is connected to ground . its drain 140 a and source 120 a are connected together . its gate 130 a is connected to the input signal node vs . the transistor m 1 , by virtue of the intrinsic diode - capacitance junction , captures charge on the accumulation surface layer at the semiconductor - oxide interface . the charge accumulates as result of applied potential and the intrinsic mos gate - to - body capacitance . the potential across the mos capacitance will be switched in polarity by the alternating potential of the signal from the source vs and force the charge to flow from the accumulation layer and onto the drain and source nodes 140 a , 120 a . this mos capacitance is therefore called the “ pumping ” transfer capacitance , which may be more correctly defined as a “ pumping transcapacitance ” since it is a mos transistor used in a capacitive charge - transfer mode rather than a trans - resistance ( transistor ) mode . the body terminal 130 b of the second nmos transistor , m 2 , is connected to the joined drain and source nodes 140 a , 120 a of the first nmos transistor m 1 . the drain and source terminals 140 b , 120 b of transistor m 2 are connected together . the gate terminal 110 b is connected to ground . the body of transistor m 2 , as well as all others , must be isolated from other transistors by means of an implanted or diffused well or by other means . the topology of the transistor m 2 reacts to the “ pumping action ” of the first nmos transistor m 1 . as result of the intrinsic diode - capacitance junction of the nmos device , the diode action of both transistors m 1 , m 2 prevents the charge from flowing backwards , and the mos capacitance of the transistor m 2 therefore accumulates the charge that is pumped by transistor m 1 . the nmos device and intrinsic gate - body capacitance of transistor m 2 is therefore called the “ accumulation transcapacitance .” as discussed above , fig1 illustrates a single stage 100 of a charge pump . a four stage charge pump is illustrated in fig2 . the two transistors m 1 and m 2 of fig1 comprise what will be defined as the first stage 100 of the charge pump , with output node being that of the joined drain and source nodes 140 b , 120 b of transistor m 2 . the body terminal 130 c of the next transistor in the sequence , m 3 ( the first transistor of the second stage 200 ), is connected to the output drain and source terminals 140 b , 120 b of transistor m 2 of the first stage 100 . the gate terminal 110 c of transistor m 3 is connected to the input signal node vs . the drain and source terminals 140 c , 120 c of transistor m 3 are connected together , and form a next - stage “ pumping transcapacitance ” in the same manner as that of the capacitor m 1 of the first stage 100 . the body terminal 130 d of the next transistor ( m 4 ) in the second stage is connected to the joined drain and source terminals 140 c , 120 c of transistor m 3 . the drain and source terminals 140 d , 120 d of m 4 are connected together . the gate terminal 110 d of transistor m 4 is connected to ground . the intrinsic diode - capacitance action of the nmos device m 4 forms the second - stage “ accumulation transcapacitance .” the two transistors m 3 and m 4 thereby comprise what can be defined as the second stage of the charge pump , with output at the joined drain and source nodes 140 d , 120 d of transistor m 4 . connection of the transistors in successive stages 300 , 400 ( and as many additional stages as desired ) is continued in the same manner , with joined drain and source nodes of each transistor in the sequence connected to the body of the next transistor , and gates alternately connected to ground and input signal , as shown in fig2 . this results in the formation of a sequence , or plurality , of stages , connected as described above , with exception only of the first transistor , as represented by m 1 and the last transistor , as represented by m 8 . the first transistor is connected as described above . the joined drain and source nodes of the last transistor m 8 are directed to a load capacitance cl . because the stages are successive and sequential , the potential from one stage adds to the next stage . fig2 is a construct that represents four stages , made up of transistors m 1 , m 2 , m 3 , m 4 , m 5 , m 6 , m 7 , and m 8 , respectively . transistors m 1 , m 3 , m 5 and m 7 are the “ pumping transcapacitances ,” and transistors m 2 , m 4 , m 6 , and m 8 are the “ accumulation transcapacitances .” ideally , each stage adds a potential of twice the amplitude of the signal . for fig2 , the difference between the output nodes is then ideally eight times the voltage amplitude of the input ac signal . the charge pump topology can have as many stages as desired , to produce an ideal output voltage that is 2 * n higher than the input source amplitude , where n is the number of stages . if the intrinsic diode - capacitance mos transistor junction is not ideal ( which will be the case in a practical circuit ), then the 2 * n amplitude multiplication factor is reduced . gate thresholds must also be exceeded , which also reduces the multiplication factor . but as long as the multiplication factor is greater than unity , the charge is accumulating and usable energy is stored on the capacitance across the output . the output of the charge pump is directed to a storage capacitance placed across the output nodes , such as indicated by capacitance cl in fig2 . this storage capacitance can then serve as a transient power source for an integrated circuit load , which in fig2 is represented by the resistor r 1 in parallel with the capacitance cl . the substrate - to - well capacitance can also be used as a storage capacitance , for which the circuit will then be of the form of a three - dimensional charge accumulation construct . for an nmos charge pump such as that shown in fig2 , the polarity at the output will be positive relative to ground . if the construct were designed in terms of pmos transistors , the output would be negative relative to ground . if both constructs are used , as in a cmos ( complementary mos ) version , the output nodes would then be of opposite polarities and would be taken in push - pull between the outputs . for the cmos version the technology would have to be of triple - well form , otherwise one of the polarities would be shorted out by the substrate . the functionality of the topology has been verified by simulation using state - of - the - art mos models ( level - 49 ) for both nmos and cmos versions , at input signal frequencies as high as 1 . 0 ghz . the performance of the topology is represented by the plot 300 of fig3 , which is a plot of voltage vs . time for a plurality of charge pumps with varying mos transcapacitance areas . fig3 indicates that , for the 4 - stage example shown in fig2 , the output voltage level is at a single polarity and is several times the amplitude of the input source . for the curve 310 representing the largest mos transcapacitance area , the output voltage is approximately 8 . 5 volts for an input voltage of 3 . 0 volts . this is a multiplication factor of 8 . 5 / 2 . 3 ≈ 2 . 8 ( as compared to an ideal multiplication factor of 2 * n = 8 for a four stage charge pump ). although one aspect of inventive charge pump described herein is that collateral capacitances and diodes are not required , the invention should not be understood to preclude the use of other components to enhance or modify the charge pump output . for example , as shown in fig4 , collateral capacitances may be included in the charge pump stages . in the example of fig4 , a capacitance of a size equal to that of the mos capacitance is deployed across each of the mos transcapacitances ( i . e ., across the body and gate terminals of each transistor ). when this construct is extended to a multiple stage topology , such as a four stage charge pump of the form illustrated in fig3 , it results in an enhancement of the voltage output as reflected by fig5 . obviously , numerous other modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above descriptions . it is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein .	7
fig1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a packaging 10 according to the invention . packaging 10 comprises carrier 16 , means 20 for removable attachment of disc 18 to carrier 16 , and foldable or removable portion 12 of carrier 16 in the form of a reply card 12 that is removable from the remainder of carrier 16 , preferably using a frangible connections such as perforations 14 . carrier 16 , which may be a standard sized postcard piece , houses or otherwise supports the optical disc 18 . in the embodiment shown , portion 32 of carrier 16 comprises cut - out 34 , which may be rectangular or of any other shape suitable for accommodating support , viewing , and any other desirable functions with regard to disc 18 , and which may be die cut or provided by any other suitable means consistent with the purposes described herein . in the embodiment shown , cut - out 34 is located substantially in the middle of support portion 32 of carrier 16 and is provided with a translucent covering 30 such as plastic film , or blister packaging , which may be vacu - formed and / or applied to portion 32 and / or other portion ( s ) of carrier 16 using adhesive or other attachment means or device . translucent covering 30 restrains or holds optical disc 18 in place on carrier 16 and is one of many suitable means that may be employed in removably attaching optical disc 18 to carrier 16 . any type of translucent film or other covering 30 consistent with the purposes suggested herein is suitable for use in implementing the invention . for example , translucent films may be provided using ultra - thin polymer sheets of 0 . 02 mm thickness or less . a wide variety of such films and other coverings , including a wide variety of blister packs , are now available commercially ; doubtless others will hereafter be developed . in the embodiment shown in fig1 , foldable reply portion 12 of carrier 16 further comprises indicia 42 printed or otherwise provided thereon . indicia 42 can comprise pre - addressed delivery information suitable for , for example , facilitating early return of reply portion 12 . for example , indicia 42 can comprise suitably - adapted delivery and return address fields , locators for affixing postage , pre - paid postage markings , etc . as shown in fig2 , carrier 16 can comprise a foldable tab 22 , for providing viewing access to or means for removal of optical disc 18 from packaging 10 . tab 22 can for example be provided with frangible means of preventing it from deployment until desired . as will be clear to those skilled in the relevant arts , access to optical disc 18 can be provided in other ways . for example , optical disc 18 may be accessed by ripping a plastic layering or other covering 30 holding such disc in place . while less convenient for the user , this option can in some cases be more economical from the standpoint of production costs . in order to ensure that the weight of packaging 10 is sufficiently low to qualify for postcard mailing rates , carrier 16 can be composed of two layers of light stock paper and one layer of ultra - thin plastic covering ; and reply portion 12 can comprises a single layer of light stock paper . a wide variety of construction variations are suitable for use in implementing the invention , and will occur immediately to those skilled in the relevant arts once they have been made familiar with this disclosure . fig3 - 4 show another embodiment of a packaging 10 according to the invention . in the embodiment shown , packaging 10 comprises a carrier 16 adapted to support optical disc 18 by housing it inside translucent cover 30 in the form of a blister pack or vacu - formed plastic seal . carrier 16 comprises one solid side made of stock paper and one side comprising a blister pack 30 front , preferably made of a plastic or other light , strong , translucent material , which can have substantially the same dimensions as carrier 16 , and therefore cover all or a large portion of one side of carrier 16 . blister pack 30 houses optical disc 18 , and restrains or holds it in place and is one means for removably attaching optical disc 18 to carrier 16 . the back of carrier 16 can comprise a perforation , of any size or shape that allows for safe passage through the post system without snagging or damaging packaging 10 , for access to and / or removal of optical disc 18 . access to optical disc 18 need not be solely through a perforation . for example , optical disc 18 may be accessed by ripping the plastic layering holding such disc in place . while less convenient for the user , this option can be more economical from the standpoint of production costs . fig5 - 9 show another embodiment of a packaging 10 according to the invention . packaging 10 comprises a carrier 16 which houses or otherwise supports an optical disc 18 . carrier 16 comprises one side that may be substantially solid and one side with a rectangular cutout 34 , preferably in the middle , said rectangle housing a plastic layer covering 30 , preferably a vacu - form plastic . as shown in fig8 , such plastic layer comprises an integrally - formed interference - fit retainer in the form of hub 20 . layer 30 holds optical disc 18 in place . as shown in fig9 , when both sides 32 , 12 of carrier 16 are closed or sealed , by any means known in the art , there is a taper or bevel from the edges of postcard piece 16 to the edges of optical disc 18 , such that the front side 32 of packaging 10 has tapered edges . such tapering helps packaging 10 to pass through the post system without being snagged or damaged during handling . the back of carrier 16 can comprise a perforation or tear strip 52 ( see e . g ., fig1 ) or other frangible device of any size , shape , or configuration that allows for safe passage through the post system without snagging or damaging packaging 10 and access to optical disc 18 . optionally , optical disc 18 may be accessed by simply ripping the plastic layering 30 holding optical disc 18 in place . optionally , a reply card 12 may be removably attached , for example as a flap or other folded portion via a perforation , to the back of carrier 16 . packaging 10 according to such embodiments can comprise two layers of light stock paper and one layer of a plastic material . fig1 - 13 show another embodiment of a packaging 10 according to the invention . packaging 10 comprises a standard - sized postcard carrier piece 16 which houses or otherwise supports an optical disc 18 . carrier 16 comprises one side 12 that may be substantially solid and one side 32 with a cutout 34 having a size slightly smaller than optical disc 18 . as shown in fig1 , the at least substantially solid side 32 of carrier 16 comprises attached thereto an interference - fit retaining device such as concave hub 40 . optical disc 18 is held in place , or restrained , on carrier 16 by concave hub 40 . although concave hub 40 is shown as restraining optical disc 18 , other means for removably attaching optical disc 18 to carrier 16 are contemplated , as disclosed , for example , herein , in connection with other embodiments of the invention . the two sides of carrier 16 may adhered or otherwise fastened together using any suitable adhesive or fastener , such as for example , any type of glue , staple , or other fastener consistent with the purposes for which the disc 18 is to be packaged . the back of carrier 16 can comprise a perforation or other frangible device 52 , of any size or shape that allows for safe passage through the post system without snagging or damaging packaging 10 , for access to optical disc 18 . other means of accessing optical disc 18 will be apparent to those of skill in the art . packaging 10 according to this embodiment comprises , in addition to concave hub 40 , two layers of light stock paper . fig1 shows a plan view of an embodiment of a packaging 10 according to the invention , comprising a carrier 16 having a plurality ( at least two ) of tabs 50 and an optional protective layer 52 , 30 , wherein such layer may be made of plastic or any other suitable opaque or translucent material . tabs 50 on carrier 16 may be attached to plastic layer 52 or may be attached directly to carrier 16 . tabs 50 are preferably frangible , and may be made of any suitable material , and preferably are flexibly rigid to allow deformation under adequate force . optionally , tabs 50 may be rigid and substantially inflexible prior to fracture . tabs 50 may be attached at any location ( s ) along a cutout 34 provided in carrier 16 . tabs 50 provide a means of removably attaching optical disc 18 to carrier 16 ; and may be frangible or may restrain optical disc 18 by , for example , folding over a portion of optical disc 18 or by being suitably sized to frictionally engage optical disc 18 or engage it by interference . optical disc 18 may be removed from carrier 16 by , for example , being snapped off from the restraints of tabs 50 . protective layer 52 may be a clear or colored translucent plastic layer that allows a user to see through carrier 16 , or may be opaque . such plastic layer may be a blister pack or it may be vacu - sealed to carrier 16 . alternatively , the packaging shown in fig1 may not have a protective layer 52 . fig1 a shows optical disc 18 removed from packaging 10 and fig1 b shows optical disc 18 secured within packaging 10 and protected by a clear plastic protective layer 52 . in another embodiment of packaging 10 according to the invention , optical disc 18 may be removably attached to carrier 16 by brads or other deformable fasteners that are attached to , or project through , carrier 16 and project through the hub 20 of optical disc 18 to restrain it on carrier 16 . in different embodiments , removable attachment can be provided , for example , by one or more of a brad , hub , vacu - form , blister pack , a pocket , any other attachment means known in the art , or a combination thereof . in embodiments with vacu - form or blister pack , removable attachment can be provided by the breaking of one or more sections of a packaging . fig1 shows an embodiment of a packaging 10 according to the invention , wherein such packaging is particularly suitable to housing an optical or non - optical transaction card such as a loyalty , gift , or redemption card . referring to fig1 a , packaging 10 comprises a carrier 16 having foldably - connected front side 32 and back side 12 , and sealing / opening portion 52 . the front side 32 of carrier 16 comprises concave hub 20 , as described with respect to fig1 , 5 - 9 , for holding optical disc 18 . although concave hub 20 is shown , any other embodiments of means for removably attaching optical disc 18 to carrier 16 may be used separately or in combination , such as for example using brads , tabs , suitable glue , vacu - form , blister pack , or just a plastic window . the foldable connections of this and various other embodiments can be achieved by any means known in the art , such as for example perforations 14 , folds , and / or scored lines in the carrier stock . such connection means may be frangible but preferably are sufficiently rigid to allow for movement while remaining attached . referring to fig1 b , when packaging 10 is fully assembled , third foldable portion 52 may be removably or permanently adhered , attached or otherwise secured to foldable portion 12 , or alternatively to other portion ( s ) of carrier 16 , by any means known in the art , such as via tape , glue or the like , or via mechanical means such as a tab and groove ( not shown ) or magnetic means ( not shown ). other means for closing packaging 10 will be apparent to those of skill in the art . the specific shape and size of third foldable portion 52 allows for many variations to be selected while remaining within the scope of the present invention . referring to fig1 c , packaging 10 may be assembled by folding foldable portion 12 on top of the front side of carrier 16 ( and optical disc 18 housed therein ) as well as attached foldable portion 32 , and then folding foldable portion 52 over the back side of carrier 16 and attaching first foldable portion 12 such that third foldable portion 52 is secured to foldable portion 12 or alternatively to the back side of carrier 16 . the orientation of third portion 52 with respect to the other foldable portions in order to fold or unfold packaging 10 , as well as the sequence in which packaging 10 may be folded , may be varied as will be apparent to those skilled in the art . further referring to fig1 c , when packaging 10 is open , foldable portion 17 may be folded back such that a portion of optical disc 18 is exposed . the exposed portion of disc 18 can be used on a transactional basis . thus , whereas packaging 10 shown in fig1 may be suitable for a variety of uses , it is particularly suitable to house optical disc 18 having a bar code , a magnetic stripe , a smart chip , an rfid , or any other means of storing value or information thereon , such that disc 18 may be used with a compatible device / reader , such as by swiping through a magnetic reader or passed by an rfid reader or ready by other suitable means without any need to remove such disc from packaging 10 . fig1 is a plan view of an embodiment of a postcard - type packaging 10 according to the invention . referring to fig1 a , packaging 10 comprises carrier 16 which comprises foldable portion 17 . preferably , the size of carrier 16 is substantially the same as that of a postcard ( although many other shapes and sizes are within the scope of this invention ) and preferably carrier 16 has postage and address indicia commonly found on post cards . carrier 16 comprises die cut rectangle ( or a rectangle or other opening shaped to accommodate optical disc 18 , whether made by means of a die cut or by any other means known in the art ), which houses optical disc 18 and which is preferably located in the right or left hand side of carrier 16 . optical disc 18 may be secured within such housing by any means known in the art , such as for example , brads , suitable glue , a hub , or tabs , or it may be secured by means of a vacu - form layer or a blister pack . foldable portion 17 is connected to carrier 16 by any means known in the art , such as for example perforations 14 , folds , or scored lines . such connection means may be frangible but preferably are sufficiently rigid to allow for movement while remaining attached . foldable portion 17 comprises a translucent window 19 , 30 having a size and shape suitable to accommodate optical disc 18 , wherein window 19 preferably is slightly larger than the housing located on carrier 16 . optionally and preferably window 19 comprises a protective layer , such as clear or colored plastic or any other suitable material . preferably , such material is transparent so that one may see optical disc 18 through packaging 10 . alternatively , such material may be non - transparent , such as cloth , and may be used as a special touch for marketing or promotional activities . foldable portion 17 preferably is connected adjacent to the side of carrier 16 that is closest to the housing and is appropriately sized to fold over carrier 16 such that window 19 , 30 overlaps at least a portion of the housing and covers at least a portion , but preferably all , of optical disc 18 , for example as shown in fig1 b . foldable portion 17 may comprise means 58 to adhere to carrier 16 , or the means may be a separate member . such means may be via tape , glue or other adhesive , or may be mechanical such as a tab and groove ( not shown ) or magnetic means ( not shown ) or via a vacu - form or blister pack . additionally , such means 58 may perimetrically adhere to reply card 12 , not simply along one edge as shown . in an alternative embodiment , foldable portion 17 may not have a window 19 , 30 and may be made of a non - transparent material , such that optical disc 18 will not be seen once foldable portion 17 is secured to carrier 16 . in an alternative embodiment ( not shown ), foldable portion 17 instead may be made entirely or substantially of transparent material that allows one to see optical disc 18 after foldable portion 17 is secured to carrier 16 . fig1 - 19 are plan views of embodiments of envelope - type packaging according to the invention . each of the embodiments may be of any size , and are preferably the size of optical disc 18 , optical disc 18 preferably being the size of a regular credit card . as with all embodiments disclosed herein , such packaging may be postcard - sized . as will be further described below , with reference to specific figures , packaging envelopes may have a clear portion , optionally made of plastic , that allows optical disc 18 to be visible through the packaging when located therein . as with all embodiments disclosed herein , any of the envelope - type packaging embodiments may further comprise means for removably attaching optical disc 18 , such as concave hub 20 , 40 , an adhesive , brads , suitable glue , vacu - form , or blister packs . as with all embodiments disclosed herein , envelope - type packaging embodiments can be folded , preferably along perforated , scored or otherwise marked lines 14 that ease or guide folding . referring to fig1 a , packaging 10 comprises carrier 16 having a front side and a back side . optical disc 18 is housed on the front side of carrier 16 and may be secured to carrier 16 by any means known in the art , including those disclosed herein . carrier 16 optionally may comprise a protective layer , such as a clear plastic layer , that at least partially , and preferably completely , covers optical disc 18 . packaging 10 further comprises first foldable portions 61 and 62 and second foldable portions 63 and 64 . portion 63 comprises an opening , such as a slot , and portion 64 comprises a tab , both of a size and shape sufficiently compatible to allow closure . preferably , packaging 10 is assembled by folding portions 61 and 62 onto the back side of carrier 16 and then folding portions 63 and 64 over portions 61 and 62 such that the tab of portion 64 is engaged in the slot of portion 63 . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other closure mechanisms are within the scope of this invention . fig1 b shows the front view of an embodiment of assembled packaging , with optical disc 18 seen through such packaging . referring to fig1 a , packaging 10 comprises carrier 16 having a front side and a back side . optical disc 18 is housed on the back side of carrier 16 and may be secured to carrier 16 by any means known in the art , including those disclosed herein . carrier 16 optionally may comprise a protective layer , such as a clear plastic layer , that at least partially , and preferably completely , covers optical disc 18 . packaging 10 further comprises foldable portions 71 and 72 and portion 73 . portion 73 comprises a window 19 , 30 having a size and shape suitable to accommodate optical disc 18 . foldable portion 71 comprises an opening means 52 , such as a ripping seam that allows a user to open packaging 10 after it has been closed using an adhesive or other means for closing such packaging . it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that any other securing means known in the art , such as adhesive or mechanical means , are within the scope of this invention . preferably , packaging 10 is assembled by folding the back side of carrier 16 ( together with optical disc 18 housed therein ) onto portion 73 such that optical disc 18 may be lined up with window 19 to be at least partially visible through it . foldable portion 71 may then be folded onto the front side of carrier 16 , and foldable portion 72 may be folded on top of foldable portion 71 . the securing means comprised in foldable portion 72 allow closure of packaging 10 . it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that many possible variations to the folding sequence disclosed herein are within the scope of this invention . fig1 b shows the back view of an embodiment of assembled packaging and fig1 c shows the front view of such packaging with optical disc 18 seen through such packaging . referring to fig1 a , packaging 10 comprises carrier 16 having a front side and a back side . optical disc 18 is housed on the front side of carrier 16 and may be secured to carrier 16 by any means known in the art , including those disclosed herein . carrier 16 optionally may comprise a protective layer , such as a clear plastic layer , that at least partially , and preferably completely , covers optical disc 18 . packaging 10 further comprises foldable portions 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , and 86 . foldable portion 82 comprises a front side and a back side and an opening , such as a slot , on the front side thereof and foldable portion 86 comprises a tab , wherein the opening and the tab are of a size and shape sufficiently compatible to allow closure . preferably , packaging 10 is assembled by folding the back side of carrier 16 ( and optical disc 18 housed therein ) onto foldable portion 81 , which is then folded onto foldable portion 82 such that the back side of carrier 16 is at least partially touching the back side of foldable portion 82 . as shown in fig1 b , foldable portions 83 and 84 are then folded over the front side of carrier 16 , foldable portion 85 is folded over foldable portions 83 and 84 , and foldable portion 86 is folded over the front side of foldable portion 82 such that the tab of portion 86 engages in the slot 67 of portion 82 thereby closing packaging 10 as shown in fig1 c . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many other folding sequences and closing mechanisms are encompassed within the scope of this invention . in various embodiments packaging 10 according to the invention may be provided with one or more extra foldable portions allowing for additional advertising or marketing or other informational material to be included in package 10 . it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that alternative embodiments of the present invention may comprise a plurality of additional foldable or insertable sections providing for increased potential to include advertising , educational , or other material with or as part of packaging 10 . although the folding sequence may change with each additional foldable or insertable section , such sequences will be apparent to one of skill in the art . fig2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a packaging according to the invention , wherein the packaging is particularly suitable to charitable causes and other applications . packaging 10 comprises a carrier 16 housing optical disc 18 by any means disclosed herein , a reply card 12 having a front side and a back side , wherein the front side has address and postage indicia 42 such as those found on a return envelope for example . reply card 12 further comprises a flap 91 . reply card 12 may be removably attached to carrier 16 via , for example a perforation 14 such as shown for example in fig1 . packaging 10 further comprises a pocket 90 such as , for example , a concertina flap , wherein pocket 90 may be affixed to the back side of reply card 12 . packaging 10 may be closed by folding flap 91 of reply card 12 over pocket 90 and securing flap 91 by any means known in the art , such as for example a resealable tab , or any adhesive , mechanical or other suitable means . pocket 90 may , as will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts , be used for delivery and / or return of objects such as cards 18 , currency , and other documents or items . for example , the packaging shown in fig2 enables a recipient of the packaging to detach carrier 16 , with optical disc 18 therein , insert a donation into pocket 90 , secure flap 91 and send such donation to the addressee named on reply card 12 . such packaging allows an attractive option for soliciting donations , where optical disc 18 may offer interactive materials regarding the charity and its causes . such packaging also offers an easy means for the recipient of a donation request to mail such donation back to the charity . it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that in addition to money or other financial instruments for making a donation , pocket 90 may contain many other materials , such as marketing materials , business cards , additional optical discs , etc , and that packaging illustrated by fig2 may be used for a variety of different uses that are within the scope of this invention . packaging 10 according to the invention can be produced automatically , such as for example on an assembly line . packaging 10 also can be produced by hand and can be a self - mailer , wherein a consumer places an optical disc 18 into packaging 10 and seals such packaging . packaging 10 according to the invention may come in many different sizes , including those of a postcard and is suitable for both optical and non - optical objects , such as for example cards . this scope of this invention encompasses a great variety of means for attaching an optical disc to packaging , including for example , brads , tabs , suitable glue , vacu - form , blister pack , or using a plastic window to cover an optical disc such that the disc moves freely within the window . it will be understood that the specification is illustrative of the present invention and that other embodiments within the spirit and scope of the invention will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art . while the foregoing invention has been described in some detail for purposes of clarity and understanding , it will be appreciated by those skilled in the relevant arts , once they have been made familiar with this disclosure , that various changes in form and detail can be made without departing from the true scope of the invention in the appended claims . the invention is therefore not to be limited to the exact components or details of methodology or construction set forth above . except to the extent necessary or inherent in the processes themselves , no particular order to steps or stages of methods or processes described in this disclosure , including the figures , is intended or implied . in many cases the order of process steps may be varied without changing the purpose , effect , or import of the methods described .	1
fig1 shows a data recording camera in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention wherein the data to be recorded is viewable through the viewfinder of the camera . as shown in fig1 the data recording camera of this embodiment is a single lens reflex camera with a focal plane shutter 1 having a viewfinder system comprising a quick return mirror 2 , a focusing plate 3 , a condenser lens 4 , a pentagonal prism 5 and an eyepiece 6 . a film f is supported in the focal plane by a film pressure plate 7 . the data recording means employed in this embodiment comprises a data carrying disc 10 carrying thereon data representing characters such as numerals or letters , a light source 11 for illuminating the data carrying disc 10 , a focusing lens 12 for projecting an image of the data representing characters onto the film f , and a prism 13 functioning as an optical path changing means to reflect the image - wise light from the data representing characters toward the film f . the data carrying disc 10 may be made by attaching a data carrying film on a disc or by directly embossing or printing data on a disc . the light source 11 is surrounded by a light shielding member 14 having an opening 14a facing the data carrying disc 10 so that almost all the light emitted from the light source 11 is directed toward the data carrying disc 10 . the prism 13 is movable up and down between its inoperative position and operative position , as will be described in greater detail hereinafter . in its operative position , the prism 13 is positioned within the optical path of the light from the objective lens ( not shown ) of the camera and reflects the image - wise light from said focusing lens 12 toward the film f so that the image of the data representing characters is focused on the film f , preferably in a marginal portion thereof , to be photographically recorded thereon . in its inoperative position , the prism 13 is retracted from the optical path of the objective lens of the camera . the prism 13 is normally positioned in its inoperative position and is moved to it operative position after the shutter is released . then the prism 13 is returned to its inoperative position when the shutter is charged . specifically in this embodiment , the prism 13 is returned to its inoperative position in response to a shutter charge or film wind - up operation of the camera . the light source 11 is lit to illuminate the data carrying disc 10 to photographically record the image of the data representing characters carried thereon , while the prism 13 is in its operative position . thus , in the data recording camera of this embodiment , the data are recorded on the film f after the shutter 1 is released . accordingly , the exposure time of the film or the light value of the data representing characters for recording the data may be determined relative only to the sensitivity of the film f loaded in the camera without being affected by the shutter speed . in this embodiment , the light source 11 is lit for a length of time determined by the sensitivity of the film f . the data carrying disc 10 carries thereon pairs of identical data representing characters such as numerals 10a and 10b , each pair of which are diametrically opposed to each other . the disc 10 is operable from outside of the camera to selectively position a set of desired characters between the light source 11 and the focusing lens 12 so that the desired data is recorded on the film f . when one set of characters 10a is positioned between the light source 11 and the focusing lens 12 , the corresponding set of characters 10b is automatically positioned between said focusing plate 3 and the condenser lens 4 of the viewfinder system of the camera . accordingly , the same data as those recorded on the film f can be viewed through the viewfinder . although , in the above embodiment , the data carrying means is shown as a single disc for the convenience of illustration , it may consist of a plurality of discs which can be selectively operated so as to provide any desired combination of characters . now , referring to fig2 an example of a mechanism for moving the prism 13 up and down will be described in detail . as shown in fig2 the prism 13 is held by a support 20 and moved up and down together therewith in a plane parallel to the film f . the support 20 has a stud pin 21 slidably engaged with a forked end 23a of a first arm 23 of a three - armed lever 22 . the three - armed lever 22 having three arms 23 , 24 and 25 is rotatable and urged in the clockwise direction by a tension spring 22a . the free end 24a of the second arm 24 is engaged with the first end 26a of a rotatable straight lever 26 to prevent the clockwise rotation of the three - armed lever 22 . the straight lever 26 is urged by a spring 27 in the clockwise direction in a plane perpendicular to the plane in which the three - armed lever 22 rotates . the clockwise rotation of the lever 26 is limited by a stopper pin 27a , and when the lever 26 is engaged with the stopper pin 27a , the first end 26a thereof is caused to engage with the free end 24a of the second arm 24 of the three armed lever 22 . the second end 26b of the straight lever 26 is positioned above a shutter charge gear 28 . the shutter charge gear 28 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction to charge the trailing curtain tc of the focal plane shutter and is rotated in the clockwise direction when the trailing curtain tc runs to close the aperture . the upper surface of the gear 28 is provided with a fixed pin 28a which engages with the second end 26b of the straight lever 26 upon rotation of gear 28 . accordingly , when the trailing curtain tc has run to close the aperture and the gear 28 is rotated in the clockwise direction , the fixed pin 28a pushes the second end of the straight lever 26 to cause the lever 26 to rotate in the counterclockwise direction overcoming the force of the spring 27 . when the lever 26 rotates in the counterclockwise direction , the first end 26a thereof is removed from engagement with the free end 24a of the second arm 24 of the three - armed lever 22 thereby permitting the clockwise rotation of the lever 22 . then the lever 22 rotates in the clockwise direction by means of the force of the spring 22a to move the prism 13 downward together with the support 20 by way of the engagement between the stud pin 21 and the forked end 23a of the lever 22 . thus , the prism 13 is moved downward to its operative position when the trailing curtain tc of the focal plane shutter has run to close the aperture . to the free end 25a of the third arm 25 of the three - armed lever 22 is rotatably connected a slidable lever 29 at one end 29a thereof . the slidable lever 29 is slidably guided by means of a pair of fixed pins 30 received in a pair of elongated openings 31 formed in the lever 29 . on the other end of the lever 29 is a projection 29b which is adapted to be engaged with a bar 32 which is moved leftward in response to the film wind - up movement of a film wind - up lever ( not shown ) in the camera . the slidable lever 29 is pulled rightward when the three - armed lever 22 rotates in the clockwise direction and is held in the right side position until the bar 32 moves leftward upon operation of the film wind - up lever . when the bar 32 moves leftward , the bar 32 pushes the projection 29b of the slidable lever 29 to cause the lever 29 to slide leftward thereby pulling the third arm 25 of the three - armed lever 22 overcoming the force of the spring 22a . accordingly , the lever 22 rotates in the counterclockwise direction and moves the prism 13 upward . simultaneously with the leftward movement of the slidable member 29 , said gear 28 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction to charge the trailing curtain tc . accordingly , the straight lever 26 is permitted to rotate in the clockwise direction by the force of the spring 27 and is brought into engagement with the second arm 24 of the lever 22 again . thus , the prism 13 is moved to its inoperative position when the film is wound up . the light source 11 may be manually energized while the prism 13 is in its operative position or may be automatically energized when the prism 13 is moved to its operative position . in the latter case , it is preferable to provide a switch means to make the data recording means inoperative when the data is not desired to be recorded . another example of a mechanism for moving the prism 13 up and down employing an electromagnetic means is shown in fig3 and 4 . in this example , the prism 13 is held by a support 33 formed of a nonmagnetic material and is moved up and down together therewith . the support 33 is slidably accommodated in the opening 34a formed in an iron core 34 of a solenoid 35 . a coil 35a is wound around the core 34 . the coil 35a is connected to an electric source ( not shown ) through a switching means having a pair of contacts 36a and 36b . the support 33 has an enlarged peripheral flange 33a formed on the upper end thereof . to the lower face of the flange 33a is secured an annular iron ring 33b . the support 33 is urged upward by a pair of springs 37 and its upward movement is limited by means of the engagement between the upper face of the enlarged flange 33a and a stationary stopper member 38 in the camera body . when the coil 35a is not energized , the support 33 is held in its upper position by the force of the springs 37 where the prism 13 is positioned in its inoperative position retracted from the optical path of the objective lens of the camera as shown in fig3 . when the coil 35a is energized by way of the contacts 36a and 36b of the switch means put into contact with each other , the iron ring 33b is attracted to the iron core 34 by an electromagnetic force large enough to overcome the force of the springs 37 to move the support 33 downward thereby moving the prism 13 to its operative position as shown in fig4 . the switch means 36 is closed when the trailing curtain of the focal plane shutter runs as will be described hereinbelow . similarly to fig2 on the upper surface of the shutter charge gear 39 is a fixed pin 39a . the pin 39a pushes an end 40a of a lever 40 which is rotatably supported adjacent to the gear 39 to rotate the lever 40 in the counterclockwise direction , when the gear 39 is rotated in the clockwise direction upon running of the trailing curtain of the focal plane shutter . when the lever 40 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction , the other end 40b thereof pushes the contact 36b of the switch means 36 so that the contacts 36a and 36b are put into contact with each other . thus , the coil 35a is energized and the prism 13 is moved to its operative position . when the gear 39 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction to charge the shutter again , the contact 36b returns to its original position by the resilience thereof to open the switch 36 . thus , the coil 35a is deenergized and the prism 13 is returned to its inoperative position by the force of the springs 37 . in this embodiment , the coil 35a remains energized until the film wind - up lever is wound up . therefore , it is preferable to provide an additional switch means to stop the supply of the electric current to the coil 35a when recording of the data is finished or in response to deenergization of the light source 11 to save the consumption of electric power .	6
embodiments of the invention are discussed in detail below . in describing embodiments , specific terminology is employed for the sake of clarity . however , the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific terminology so selected . while specific exemplary embodiments are discussed , it should be understood that this is done for illustration purposes only . a person skilled in the relevant art will recognize that other components and configurations can be used without parting from the spirit and scope of the invention . embodiments of the present invention provide a system and method for the analysis of afm data . an exemplary embodiment of the invention is described below in the analysis of the elasticity of a material . however , the system and method can also be applied in different types of analyses . the method can be performed via a software program , such as a computer readable medium storing program instructions to cause a computer to carry out the various processes . an afm such as that shown in fig1 can be used to gather data used in an elasticity analysis . the afm is operated in an indentation mode . in the indentation mode , a head of the microscope 10 is moved towards and away from the sample in a direction substantially perpendicular to the surface of the sample being measured . the piezoelectric controllers position the afm at a precise location along the x and y - axes . the x and y - axes define the plane of the surface of the sample . once the afm is in the desired position , the piezoelectric controllers then move the cantilever 12 along the z - axis towards the surface of the sample 16 . as the tip 14 on the cantilever 12 is moved toward the surface of the sample 16 , the cantilever 12 deflects in response to various forces on it ., as the cantilever 12 engages the sample , the tip 14 of the cantilever 12 may begin to penetrate the surface of the sample 16 , to a degree that depends on the hardness of the sample . this penetration causes an indentation in the sample . the cantilever continues to moves towards the sample until a selected distance is reached . the cantilever then begins to move away from the sample . as the cantilever moves , the deflection of the cantilever tip and the cantilever position are measured . the afm is then moved to another position in the x , y plane and the process is repeated . the measured data can then be used to determine the depth of the indentation and the elasticity of the sample . for example , assume that the surface of the sample is very hard . in that case , the tip does not penetrate into the sample . once the tip comes into contact with the surface of the material , for every unit the cantilever moves down , the cantilever tip deflects one unit up . however , in a softer sample , the tip indents the surface of the sample and is not deflected upward a distance equal to the downward movement of the cantilever . the difference in the deflection of the cantilever in these two cases can be used to determine the depth of the indentation in the soft sample . this information can be used to determine the elasticity of the sample . a series of measurements is made as the cantilever moves along the z axis with the afm held at the same point on the x and y axes . the measurements include the deflection of the cantilever tip and the force applied to the cantilever as the cantilever is moved downward towards the sample surface and away from the sample surface . these data are then stored in a file , such as a computer readable file stored in a database or other computer readable memory . the data file may include a header which identifies the file and the parameters of the measurement , such as information regarding the afm , the cantilever , voltage range , etc . following the header is the payload . the payload includes the measurements of the deflection of the cantilever tip and the force applied to the cantilever . the payload is typically a list of numbers . the exact format of the data file depends on the afm and software version used to create it and may vary . this data can be used to generate a force curve for the measured point on the sample . once the data are gathered , the task of analyzing the data and extracting useful information begins . in an exemplary embodiment of the invention , a software program for analyzing the afm data is provided . a flow chart illustrating a process for analyzing the data is shown in fig2 . the software provides a graphical user interface ( gui ) intensive computational tool that automates the reconstruction , analysis , and interpretation of afm data . an example of a gui that can be displayed to a user of the software package is shown in fig3 . the gui 37 is one of the initial screens presented to the user . this interface prompts the user for information about the afm parameters and the analysis to be performed , per step 28 . buttons 38 - 40 allow the user to select the type of analysis to be performed . in the example shown , the user can select from a force - distance curve analysis , a force - volume analysis , and a lateral force analysis . additionally , various menus can also be provided to allow the user to input information regarding the parameters of the test . for example , the gui 37 can include fields 42 , 44 to allow the user to select from the different types of afms used to gather the data and the software used to store the data in the file . fields 42 , 44 may include drop down menus that allow the user to select from the various supported afms and software . the user can also input the type of tip used for the test via menu 46 . depending on the type of tip selected , different input fields 48 - 50 are activated . for example , in fig3 the user has selected a pyramidal tip . accordingly , the field 48 for inputting a vertex inclination of the tip is activated . additional fields may be provided to enter the spring constant of the cantilever as well as the vertex inclination , tip radius , cone angle , etc . the user clicks button 51 when they are finished entering information . once the user has completed inputting information , the afm data file is read , based at least in part on the analysis selected by the user and the other parameters input by the user , per step 29 . the afm data file is automatically parsed to locate the data that are relevant to the requested analysis . based on the type of afm used to collect the data and the type of software used to create the data file , it can be determined where in the data file the relevant information is stored . for example , a data file created using a di / veeco afm with version 4 . 3 software creates a data file having a particular format . the user has previously input this information via gui 37 . with the knowledge of the type of data file , the format of the file can be determined and the relevant information can be easily located . the data file is then read to extract this information . once the data are read from the file , the deflection of the tip and force versus the z position of the cantilever can be determined , plotted and displayed to the user per step 30 . an exemplary gui 52 for this purpose is shown in fig4 and 5 . force can be calculated based on the deflection of the cantilever and the stiffness of the cantilever using hooke &# 39 ; s law , f =− kz , where f is the force , k is the stiffness of the cantilever , and z is the distance the cantilever is deflected . an example of a force curve is shown in window 54 of gui 52 . the force curve includes two partially overlapping curves , an extend curve 56 and a retract curve 58 . the extend curve 56 represents the measurements taken as the cantilever tip moves towards the sample . as can be seen in fig4 , initially there is no deflection of the cantilever tip as the tip has yet to contact the surface of the sample . this is represented as the flat portion 56 a of curve 56 . as the tip approaches the surface of the sample , the cantilever begins to deflect and the curve 56 begins to move towards the upper left of the figure , represented by inclined portion 56 b . note that as the tip approaches the sample , the distance z decreases and the curve 56 moves from right to left . the retract curve 58 represents the measurements as the cantilever tip moves away from the sample . as the cantilever tip is withdrawn from the sample , the force exerted on the cantilever and the deflection of the cantilever decreases , while the distance z increases . in the example shown , the force exerted on the cantilever continues to decrease until the tip is disengaged from the surface of the sample and the retract curve 58 correspondingly flattens out at portion 58 a , as shown in fig4 . in an ideal representation , the extend curve 56 and retract curve 58 would largely overlap . however , due to the nonlinearities inherent in the afm piezoelectronics , characteristics of the sample and environmental conditions , the extend curve 56 and retract curve 58 may be offset , as shown in fig4 . gui 52 also provides an interface for the user to access additional functionality . for example , the user can use gui 52 to change an area of the curves being analyzed . slide bars 60 , 61 can be used to vary the upper and lower bounds of the data to be analyzed . also , buttons or other selection features can be provided to allow the user to access other data processing functions . actuating button 62 provides access to several data - smoothing algorithms , which can also include user definable parameters . actuating button 63 provides curve rotation options for the correction of overall slant of the data set . data smoothing may entail using polynomial curve - fitting algorithms with a user - specified number of terms , or application of another smoothing routine such as a box or gaussian filter , with a user - specified fitting order . data rotation may entail prompting the user to select two distinct points on a portion of the curve that should be horizontal , calculating the deviation from horizontal , and rotating the entire curve by the calculated angle . actuating button 63 initiates the creation of new gui controls for selection of the horizontal points . the data represented in curves 56 , 58 can be used to determine the elasticity of the sample . depressing elasticity button 64 in gui 52 can start the process . one of the initial steps in the elasticity analysis is to estimate the point at which the tip initially contacts the sample , the initial contact point ( step 31 ). the analysis is then based on that estimated initial contact point . in the past , this estimation was done visually by a user making a guess of the point on the curves 56 , 58 where the contact point should be . this is typically in the vicinity of the curve where it begins to incline . obviously , the visual method can lead to errors and differences between analyses of the same data performed by different users . moreover , an error in selecting the contact point results in an error that is propagated throughout the elasticity analysis . thus , embodiments of the present invention automatically select a contact point and then modify the selection by minimizing the residual error associated with it . one process for estimating the initial contact point is discussed below . as mentioned above , data points are read from the afm data file in step 28 . once the data points are read , the mean of a subset of points is calculated from the non - contact end of the data . the subset is continually expanded to include the next data point in the series . as the subset is expanded , the extent to which each newly included point deviates from the previous subset is calculated . the first point at which ten consecutive , newly included data values differ from the previous subset by a user - specified number of standard deviations is selected as an initial estimate of the contact point . in addition to receiving user input to define the number of standard deviations , user input may define the number of consecutive data points that must differ by the speficied standard deviation . of course , other selection criteria may be used without departing from the scope of the invention . the user can select the data set to be evaluated via gui 52 . window 65 in gui 52 provides a menu via which the user can select from available data sets . the data sets include the data points making up the extend curve 56 , that is the z position versus the deflection of the cantilever as the microscope head of the afm is moved towards the sample , the data points making up the retract curve 58 , or a mean of the two curves 56 , 58 . the estimated initial contact point 67 is then displayed in window 54 of gui 52 ( fig5 ). once the initial contact point is estimated , the depth of the indentation of the cantilever tip into the sample is determined in step 32 . in the described embodiment , this is done by comparing a force curve for the measured sample with the force curve of an ideal sample . alternatively , it may be done by comparing a force curve to data curves representing real , hard materials . the ideal sample is a theoretical hard material into which the tip of the cantilever does not penetrate . thus in the ideal sample case the cantilever deflects linearly with the position of the microscope head as the head is moved along the z - axis . an example of a force curve for an ideal sample , called here an ideal curve , is shown in fig5 . the ideal curve 70 has a slope of one and extends linearly from the current estimate of the initial contact point 67 . the difference between the measured cantilever deflection represented in curves 56 , 58 and that represented by the ideal curve 70 is the amount of indentation of the tip 14 into the sample 16 . window 72 in gui 52 provides a visual representation of the calculation of the indentation depth . the amount of deflection at any point along the z - axis is determined by the difference between the ideal curve 70 and the user selected measured curve 74 , which is one of the extend curve 56 , retract curve 58 or the mean of the two . the vertical lines between curves 70 and 74 represent the calculated indentation depth . thus , the indentation depth of the tip can be determined at a plurality of points as the cantilever is moved along the z - axis . the calculated indentation depth is then used to determine the elasticity of the sample . this can be done by calculating young &# 39 ; s modulus based on the calculated indentation depths . the indentation depths are fit using nonlinear algorithms to any one of several models of classical contact mechanics per step 33 . exactly which model of contact mechanics is selected depends on the user - selected shape of the contact probe . for instance , for a spherical tip , the sample indentations are fit to a hertzian model . this also allows the user to correct for thin or unbonded samples . for a pyramidal tip , the indentation depths are fit to a bilodeau model and for a conical tip the sample indentation depths are fit to a sneddon model . the equations for the hertz , bilodeau , and sneddon models , respectively , are reproduced below : δ uncorrected =[ 3 f ( 1 − v 2 )/ 4 e { square root }{ square root over ( r )}] 2 / 3 δ 4 - sided =[( π / 2 ) f ( 1 − v 2 )/ e tan α ] 1 / 2 where f = force , v = poisson &# 39 ; s ratio for the sample , e = young &# 39 ; s modulus , r = tip radius , and α = tip angle . the above equations are solved for e which gives the young &# 39 ; s modulus for the sample . in step 34 , residual errors are then determined . the residual error represents the deviation of the actual data from what the data would be in the selected model of contact mechanics . for example , if a sneddon model is selected , the equation for the sneddon model produces a curve comprised of data points representing indentation depth . the actual indentation depth calculated in step 32 may or may not lie on the sneddon curve . the difference between the actual indentation depth and the model is the residual error . the error can be calculated using a number of known methods , for example , the sum of squares method . the error for each of the data points is combined together to obtain the total residual error . the amount of residual error depends largely on the estimated initial contact point . an analysis performed at other contact point may produce a better result . therefore a process for reducing or minimizing the residual error is performed in step 35 . in an exemplary embodiment , the steps 31 - 35 are repeated using new values for the initial contact point until the residual errors are minimized or reduced . the new values of the initial contact point are constrained to the curve of interest , that is the curve 56 , 58 or mean thereof used in the calculating the indentation depth in step 33 . in the described example , the initial contact point is changed simply by sliding it along the curve of interest . for example , fifty data points to the left of the initially estimated contact point 67 and fifty data points to the right of the initially estimated contact point can be used as subsequent guesses for the initial contact point . these points need not be consecutive nor uniformly spaced . for calculation efficiency , adaptive step sizing may be used , with the spacing of guesses decreasing in the neighborhood of error minima . the process continues to step 32 and a new indentation depth is computed using an ideal curve extending from the new initial contact point . for each guess of the initial contact point , indentation depths are recomputed and new nonlinear fits are performed per step 33 . the residual errors for the newly calculated indentation depths are then compared with each other . the contact point that provides the lowest residual error is selected . then , the computed versus predicted errors and results using the selected contact point can be plotted and displayed to a user . additionally , the results may be archived as shown in the flow chart of fig2 . in fig5 , gui 52 includes four windows displaying graphs 76 - 79 representing the results of the analysis . fig6 is a blown up view of these graphs . graph 76 illustrates the indentation depth versus the 95 % confidence interval for the theoretical ( modeled ) curve . the inset 76 a shows a portion of the indentation curve in relation to the theoretical curve and 95 % confidence interval of the theoretical curve . graph 77 illustrates the point - by - point error of the actual force curve versus the theoretical force curve for the contact point having minimized - error . graph 78 illustrates the “ best - fit ” value of the elasticity modulus of the sample for the contact point having minimized - error . horizontal data in graph 78 suggests a stable fit . deviations from horizontal may prompt analyses of different subsets of data , or modifications of the analysis parameters . graph 79 is a plot of elasticity modulus overlaying the sum - of - squared error for all points evaluated as candidate contact points . final calculations are based on the point corresponding to the minimized error ( vertical dashed line ). the discontinuity in the slope of the error curve reflects the use of adaptive step - sizes , whereby data are sampled more finely in the region of the minimum . this optimizes accuracy and speed of calculation . the results of the analysis can also be displayed , manipulated and stored in numerical and textual form . gui 52 provides buttons or other means for accessing this functionality . the results of the analysis can be stored to a text file as shown in fig7 . the result can be displayed to the user within the gui environment . the user may examine the descriptive statistics of a group of data , the details of a single analysis or other information . the user may also reconstruct the analysis using previously stored parameters . additionally , the results of the analysis can be stored in spreadsheet form . for example , fig8 shows the results output to an excel spreadsheet . the results are automatically linked to the spreadsheet . each set of results is stored along with a thumbnail sketch of the data curves for subsequent retrieval and evaluation , as shown in the flowchart of fig2 . each of the results of the analysis along with the parameters of the analysis can be stored . each parameter and result can be assigned to its own field in the spreadsheet . in the example shown , the tip shape , curve analyzed , stiffness , etc . are each displayed in a field of the spreadsheet . this allows the data to be both easily viewed and manipulated . although a process for determining the elasticity of a sample is discussed above , the model of contact mechanics can be solved for any value . for example , the process can be used for calibration of the cantilever using materials with known properties . in this case the young &# 39 ; s modulus is know . the appropriate equation for the contact mechanics is then solved for the tip parameters . accordingly , embodiments of the invention provide a computational tool that automates the reconstruction , analysis , and interpretation of afm data . at the press of a button a user can determine the elasticity of a measured sample . the tedious and time consuming task of manual and algorithmic analysis is eliminated and large numbers of data sets can be analyzed quickly . the embodiments illustrated and discussed in this specification are intended only to teach those skilled in the art the best way known to the inventors to make and use the invention . nothing in this specification should be considered as limiting the scope of the present invention . all examples presented are representative and non - limiting . the above - described embodiments of the invention may be modified or varied , without departing from the invention , as appreciated by those skilled in the art in light of the above teachings . it is therefore to be understood that , within the scope of the claims and their equivalents , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described . for example , the claims refer to a second gui for purposes of clarity . the second gui may be the same as , different from or a partially redrawn antecedent gui .	8
alkyl , alkenyl , alkynyl , aryl , heteroaryl ( e . g ., pyridinyl ), cyclyl , heterocyclyl mentioned above include both substituted and unsubstituted moieties . the term “ substituted ” refers to one or more substituents ( which may be the same or different ), each replacing a hydrogen atom . examples of substituents include , but are not limited to , halogen , hydroxyl , amino , alkylamino , arylamino , dialkylamino , diarylamino , cyano , nitro , mercapto , alkylcarbonyl , carbamido , carbamyl , carboxyl , thioureido , thiocyanato , sulfoamido , c 1 ˜ c 6 alkyl , c 1 ˜ c 6 alkenyl , c 1 ˜ c 6 alkoxy , aryl , heteroaryl , cyclyl , heterocyclyl , wherein alkyl , alkenyl , alkoxy , aryl , heteroaryl , cyclyl , and heterocyclyl are optionally substituted with c 1 ˜ c 6 alkyl , aryl , heteroaryl , halogen , hydroxyl , amino , mercapto , cyano , or nitro . as used herein , the term “ alkyl ” refers to a straight - chained or branched hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 12 carbon atoms . the term “ lower alkyl ” refers to a c1 - c6 alkyl chain . examples of alkyl groups include methyl , ethyl , n - propyl , isopropyl , tert - butyl , and n - pentyl . alkyl groups may be optionally substituted with one or more substituents . the term “ alkenyl ” refers to an unsaturated hydrocarbon chain that may be a straight chain or branched chain , containing 2 to 12 carbon atoms and at least one carbon - carbon double bond . alkenyl groups may be optionally substituted with one or more substituents . the term “ alkynyl ” refers to an unsaturated hydrocarbon chain that may be a straight chain or branched chain , containing the 2 to 12 carbon atoms and at least one carbon - carbon triple bond . alkynyl groups may be optionally substituted with one or more substituents . the sp 2 or sp carbons of an alkenyl group and an alkynyl group , respectively , may optionally be the point of attachment of the alkenyl or alkynyl groups . the term “ cyclyl ” refers to a hydrocarbon 3 - 8 membered monocyclic or 7 - 14 membered bicyclic ring system having at least one non - aromatic ring which may optionally have some degree of saturation . cyclyl groups may be optionally substituted with one or more substituents . in one embodiment , 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , or 4 atoms of each ring of a cyclyl group may be substituted by a substituent . representative examples of cyclyl group include cyclopropyl , cyclopentyl , cyclohexyl , cyclobutyl , cycloheptyl , cyclooctyl , cyclononyl , cyclodecyl , cyclohexenyl , bicyclo [ 2 . 2 . 1 ] hept - 2 - enyl , dihydronaphthalenyl , benzocyclopentyl , cyclopentenyl , cyclopentadienyl , cyclohexenyl , cyclohexadienyl , cycloheptenyl , cycloheptadienyl , cycloheptatrienyl , cyclooctenyl , cyclooctadienyl , cyclooctatrienyl , cyclooctatetraenyl , cyclononenyl , cyclononadienyl , cyclodecenyl , cyclodecadienyl and the like . the term “ aryl ” refers to a hydrocarbon ring system having at least one aromatic ring . typically , a monocyclic aryl will have from 5 to 8 carbon atom ring members ; a bicyclic ary will have from 7 to 14 carbon atom ring members , and a tricyclic aryl will have 11 - 14 carbon atom ring members . examples of aryl moieties include , but are not limited to , phenyl , naphthyl , anthracenyl , fluorenyl , indenyl , azulenyl , pyrenyl , and the like . the term “ heterocyclyl ” refers to a nonaromatic 3 - 8 membered monocyclic , 7 - 12 membered bicyclic , or 10 - 14 membered tricyclic ring system comprising 1 - 3 heteroatoms if monocyclic , 1 - 6 heteroatoms if bicyclic , or 1 - 9 heteroatoms if tricyclic , said heteroatoms selected from o , n , s , b , p or si , wherein the nonaromatic ring system may have some degree of saturation . heterocyclyl groups may be optionally substituted with one or more substituents . in one embodiment , 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , or 4 atoms of each ring of a heterocyclyl group may be substituted by a substituent . representative heterocyclyl groups include piperidinyl , piperazinyl , 2 - oxopiperazinyl , 2 - oxopiperidinyl , 2 - oxopyrrolidinyl , 4 - piperidonyl , tetrahydropyranyl , tetrahydrothiopyranyl , tetrahydrothiopyranyl sulfone , morpholinyl , thiomorpholinyl , thiomorpholinyl sulfoxide , thiomorpholinyl sulfone , 1 , 3 - dioxolane , tetrahydrofuranyl , tetrahydrothienyl , thiirenyl , thiadiazirinyl , dioxazolyl , 1 , 3 - oxathiolyl , 1 , 3 - dioxolyl , 1 , 3 - dithiolyl , oxathiazinyl , dioxazinyl , dithiazinyl , oxadiazinyl , thiadiazinyl , oxazinyl , thiazinyl , 1 , 4 - oxathiin , 1 , 4 - dioxin , 1 , 4 - dithiin , 1h - pyranyl , oxathiepinyl , 5h - 1 , 4 - dioxepinyl , 5h - 1 , 4 - dithiepinyl , 6h - isoxazolo [ 2 , 3 - d ] 1 , 2 , 4 - oxadiazolyl , 7ah - oxazolo [ 3 , 2 - d ] 1 , 2 , 4 - oxadiazolyl , and the like . the term “ heteroaryl ” refers to a hydrocarbon ring system having at least one aromatic ring which contains at least one heteroatom such as o , n , or s . typically , a moncyclic heteroaryl has 5 - 8 ring members , a bicyclic heteroaryl has 7 - 12 ring members , and a tricyclic heteroaryl has 11 - 14 membered tricyclic ring system having 1 - 4 ring heteroatoms if monocyclic , 1 - 6 heteroatoms if bicyclic , or 1 - 9 heteroatoms if tricyclic , said heteroatoms selected from o , n , or s , and the remainder ring atoms being carbon ( with appropriate hydrogen atoms unless otherwise indicated ). heteroaryl groups may be optionally substituted with one or more substituents . in one embodiment , 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , or 4 atoms of each ring of a heteroaryl group may be substituted by a substituent . examples of heteroaryl groups include pyridyl , 1 - oxo - pyridyl , furanyl , benzo [ 1 , 3 ] dioxolyl , benzo [ 1 , 4 ] dioxinyl , thienyl , pyrrolyl , oxazolyl , oxadiazolyl , imidazolyl thiazolyl , isoxazolyl , quinolinyl , pyrazolyl , isothiazolyl , pyridazinyl , pyrimidinyl , pyrazinyl , triazinyl , triazolyl , thiadiazolyl , isoquinolinyl , indazolyl , benzoxazolyl , benzofuryl , indolizinyl , imidazopyridyl , tetrazolyl , benzimidazolyl , benzothiazolyl , benzothiadiazolyl , benzoxadiazolyl , indolyl , tetrahydroindolyl , azaindolyl , imidazopyridyl , quinazolinyl , purinyl , pyrrolo [ 2 , 3 ] pyrimidinyl , pyrazolo [ 3 , 4 ] pyrimidinyl , and benzo ( b ) thienyl , 3h - thiazolo [ 2 , 3 - c ][ 1 , 2 , 4 ] thiadiazolyl , imidazo [ 1 , 2 - d ]- 1 , 2 , 4 - thiadiazolyl , imidazo [ 2 , 1 - b ]- 1 , 3 , 4 - thiadiazolyl , 1h , 2h - furo [ 3 , 4 - d ]- 1 , 2 , 3 - thiadiazolyl , 1h - pyrazolo [ 5 , 1 - c ]- 1 , 2 , 4 - triazolyl , pyrrolo [ 3 , 4 - d ]- 1 , 2 , 3 - triazolyl , cyclopentatriazolyl , 3h - pyrrolo [ 3 , 4 - c ] isoxazolyl , 1h , 3h - pyrrolo [ 1 , 2 - c ] oxazolyl , pyrrolo [ 2 , 1b ] oxazolyl , and the like . examples of heteroaryl moieties include , but are not limited to , furyl , fluorenyl , pyrrolyl , thienyl , oxazolyl , imidazolyl , thiazolyl , pyridinyl , pyrimidinyl , quinazolinyl , and indolyl . the compounds of this invention include the compounds themselves , as well as their salts , solvate , clathrate , hydrate , polymorph , or prodrugs , if applicable . as used herein , the term “ pharmaceutically acceptable salt ,” is a salt formed from , for example , an acid and a basic group of a compound of any one of the formulae disclosed herein . illustrative salts include , but are not limited , to sulfate , citrate , acetate , oxalate , chloride , bromide , iodide , nitrate , bisulfate , phosphate , acid phosphate , isonicotinate , lactate , salicylate , acid citrate , tartrate , oleate , tannate , pantothenate , bitartrate , ascorbate , succinate , maleate , besylate , gentisinate , fumarate , gluconate , glucaronate , saccharate , formate , benzoate , glutamate , methanesulfonate , ethanesulfonate , benzenesulfonate , p - toluenesulfonate , and pamoate ( i . e ., 1 , 1 ′- methylene - bis -( 2 - hydroxy - 3 - naphthoate )) salts . the term “ pharmaceutically acceptable salt ” also refers to a salt prepared from a compound of any one of the formulae disclosed herein having an acidic functional group , such as a carboxylic acid functional group , and a pharmaceutically acceptable inorganic or organic base . suitable bases include , but are not limited to , hydroxides of alkali metals such as sodium , potassium , and lithium ; hydroxides of alkaline earth metal such as calcium and magnesium ; hydroxides of other metals , such as aluminum and zinc ; ammonia , and organic amines , such as unsubstituted or hydroxy - substituted mono -, di -, or trialkylamines ; dicyclohexylamine ; tributyl amine ; pyridine ; n - methyl , n - ethylamine ; diethylamine ; triethylamine ; mono -, bis -, or tris -( 2 - hydroxy - lower alkyl amines ), such as mono -, bis -, or tris -( 2 - hydroxyethyl ) amine , 2 - hydroxy - tert - butylamine , or tris -( hydroxymethyl ) methylamine , n , n ,- di - lower alkyl - n -( hydroxy lower alkyl )- amines , such as n , n - dimethyl - n -( 2 - hydroxyethyl ) amine , or tri -( 2 - hydroxyethyl ) amine ; n - methyl - d - glucamine ; and amino acids such as arginine , lysine , and the like . the term “ pharmaceutically acceptable salt ” also refers to a salt prepared from a compound of any one of the formulae disclosed herein having a basic functional group , such as an amino functional group , and a pharmaceutically acceptable inorganic or organic acid . suitable acids include hydrogen sulfate , citric acid , acetic acid , oxalic acid , hydrochloric acid ( hcl ), hydrogen bromide ( hbr ), hydrogen iodide ( hi ), nitric acid , hydrogen bisulfide , phosphoric acid , lactic acid , salicylic acid , tartaric acid , bitartratic acid , ascorbic acid , succinic acid , maleic acid , besylic acid , fumaric acid , gluconic acid , glucaronic acid , formic acid , benzoic acid , glutamic acid , methanesulfonic acid , ethanesulfonic acid , benzenesulfonic acid , and p - toluenesulfonic acid . as used herein , the term “ polymorph ” means solid crystalline forms of a compound of the present invention or complex thereof . different polymorphs of the same compound can exhibit different physical , chemical and / or spectroscopic properties . different physical properties include , but are not limited to stability ( e . g ., to heat or light ), compressibility and density ( important in formulation and product manufacturing ), and dissolution rates ( which can affect bioavailability ). differences in stability can result from changes in chemical reactivity ( e . g ., differential oxidation , such that a dosage form discolors more rapidly when comprised of one polymorph than when comprised of another polymorph ) or mechanical characteristics ( e . g ., tablets crumble on storage as a kinetically favored polymorph converts to thermodynamically more stable polymorph ) or both ( e . g ., tablets of one polymorph are more susceptible to breakdown at high humidity ). different physical properties of polymorphs can affect their processing . for example , one polymorph might be more likely to form solvates or might be more difficult to filter or wash free of impurities than another due to , for example , the shape or size distribution of particles of it . as used herein , the term “ hydrate ” means a compound of the present invention or a salt thereof , which further includes a stoichiometric or non - stoichiometric amount of water bound by non - covalent intermolecular forces . as used herein , the term “ clathrate ” means a compound of the present invention or a salt thereof in the form of a crystal lattice that contains spaces ( e . g ., channels ) that have a guest molecule ( e . g ., a solvent or water ) trapped within . as used herein and unless otherwise indicated , the term “ prodrug ” means a derivative of a compound that can hydrolyze , oxidize , or otherwise react under biological conditions ( in vitro or in vivo ) to provide a compound of this invention . prodrugs may only become active upon such reaction under biological conditions , or they may have activity in their unreacted forms . examples of prodrugs contemplated in this invention include , but are not limited to , analogs or derivatives of compounds of any one of the formulae disclosed herein that comprise biohydrolyzable moieties such as biohydrolyzable amides , biohydrolyzable esters , biohydrolyzable carbamates , biohydrolyzable carbonates , biohydrolyzable ureides , and biohydrolyzable phosphate analogues . other examples of prodrugs include derivatives of compounds of any one of the formulae disclosed herein that comprise — no , — no 2 , — ono , or — ono 2 moieties . prodrugs can typically be prepared using well - known methods , such as those described by 1 b urger &# 39 ; s m edicinal c hemistry and d rug d iscovery ( 1995 ) 172 - 178 , 949 - 982 ( manfred e . wolff ed ., 5 th ed ). as used herein and unless otherwise indicated , the terms “ biohydrolyzable amide ”, “ biohydrolyzable ester ”, “ biohydrolyzable carbamate ”, “ biohydrolyzable carbonate ”, “ biohydrolyzable ureide ” and “ biohydrolyzable phosphate analogue ” mean an amide , ester , carbamate , carbonate , ureide , or phosphate analogue , respectively , that either : 1 ) does not destroy the biological activity of the compound and confers upon that compound advantageous properties in vivo , such as uptake , duration of action , or onset of action ; or 2 ) is itself biologically inactive but is converted in vivo to a biologically active compound . examples of biohydrolyzable amides include , but are not limited to , lower alkyl amides , α - amino acid amides , alkoxyacyl amides , and alkylaminoalkylcarbonyl amides . examples of biohydrolyzable esters include , but are not limited to , lower alkyl esters , alkoxyacyloxy esters , alkyl acylamino alkyl esters , and choline esters . examples of biohydrolyzable carbamates include , but are not limited to , lower alkylamines , substituted ethylenediamines , aminoacids , hydroxyalkylamines , heterocyclic and heteroaromatic amines , and polyether amines . as used herein , the terms “ animal ”, “ subject ” and “ patient ”, include , but are not limited to , a cow , monkey , horse , sheep , pig , chicken , turkey , quail , cat , dog , mouse , rat , rabbit , guinea pig and human ( preferably , a human ). as used herein , the term “ a subject in need thereof ” refers to a subject suffering from an autoimmune or inflammatory disorder or who has a predisposition ( e . g ., a genetic predisposition ) to develop an autoimmune or inflammatory disorder . in addition , subjects that have had an autoimmune or inflammatory disorder that is in remission may be in need of treatment with one or more compounds of the invention , or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt , solvate , clathrate , hydrate , polymorph , or prodrug thereof , to prevent a relapse of the autoimmune or inflammatory disorder . the compounds described above can be prepared by methods well known in the art , as well as by the synthetic routes disclosed herein and described in u . s . pat . nos . 6 , 693 , 097 , 6 , 660 , 733 , 6 , 858 , 606 and in u . s . provisional application no . 60 / 626 , 609 , the entire teaching of each of these patents and patent application are incorporated herein by reference . for example , a pyrimidine compound ( e . g ., compounds 1 - 27 ) can be prepared by using 2 , 4 , 6 - trichloro - pyrimidine as a starting material . the three chloro groups can be displaced by various substitutes . more specifically , first chloro group ( e . g ., at position 6 ) can react with , e . g ., morpholine , to form a morpholinyl pyrimidine . 2 - aryl and 2 - alkylpyrimidinde dichloro compounds can also be prepared by reacting an amidine with a malonic ester followed by treatment with phosphorous oxychloride . second chloro group can be replaced by reacting with a nucleophile , such as an alcohol in the presence of base , e . g ., sodium hydride . in other examples , a compound of formula ( i ), wherein y is ch 2 ( e . g ., compound 1 , 3 - 5 , 11 , 14 , and 27 ), can be prepared by reacting the pyrimidine chloride with a grignard reagent , an organotin reagent , an organocopper reagent , an organoboric acid , or an organozinc reagent in the presence of an organopalladium compound as a catalyst . isomeric forms may be produced . the desired isomeric product can be separated from others by , e . g ., high performance liquid chromatography . third chloro group undergoes a displacement reaction with , e . g ., hydrazine , and the primary amine of the coupled hydrazine moiety further reacts with an aldehyde , e . g ., indole - 3 - carboxaldehyde to form a hydrazone linkage . thus , a pyrimidine compound of this invention is obtained . if preferred , other types of linkages can be prepared by similar reactions . sensitive moieties on a pyrimidinyl intermediate and a nucleophile can be protected prior to coupling . for suitable protecting groups , see , e . g ., greene ( 1981 ) protective groups in organic synthesis , john wiley & amp ; sons , inc ., new york , the entire teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference . a pyrimidine compound of this invention can be further purified by flash column chromatography , high performance liquid chromatography , or crystallization . the compounds and compositions described herein are useful to treat and prevent any inflammatory and immune disorders . in particular , the compounds of the invention are useful in inhibiting the production of il - 12 , il - 23 and / or il - 27 . il - 12 and il - 27 produce inf - γ which further augments the production of il - 12 and causes the differentiation of naïve t cells into t h 1 lymphocytes which have been implicated in the pathogenic processes of many autoimmune and inflammatory disorders . il - 23 has been shown to stimulate the differentiation of activated cd4 + t cells into th il - 17 cells which produce il - 17 , another cytokine that has been implicated in the pathogenic processes of many autoimmune and inflammatory disorders . thus , in one aspect , the present invention provides a method of treating or preventing autoimmune or inflammatory disorders by inhibiting the production of il - 12 , il - 27 and / or il - 23 in a subject by administering to the subject in need thereof an effective amount of a compound of any of the formulae herein , or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt , solvate , clathrate , hydrate , polymorph , or prodrug thereof . without wishing to be bound by any theory , since one of the functions of il - 12 and il - 27 is induction of inf - γ expression from t and nk cells which promotes the development of th1 t lymphocyte type , the compounds of the invention can be used to inhibit the differentiation of naïve t cells into th1 lymphocytes and / or inhibit the proliferation of th1 cells . therefore , in another aspect , the invention features a method of inhibiting the proliferation and / or development of th1 cells in a subject in need thereof by administering to the subject an effective amount of a compound of any of the formulae herein , or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt , solvate , clathrate , hydrate , polymorph , or prodrug thereof . without wishing to be bound by any theory , since one of the functions of il - 23 is to promote the differentiation of activated cd4 + t cells to th il - 17 lymphocyte type which produces the pro - inflammatory cytokine il - 17 , the compounds of the invention can be used to inhibit the differentiation of activated cd4 + t cells into th il - 17 lymphocytes and / or inhibit the proliferation of th il - 17 lymphocytes . therefore , in another aspect , the invention features a method of inhibiting the proliferation and / or development of th il - 17 lymphocytes in a subject in need thereof by administering to the subject an effective amount of a compound of any of the formulae herein , or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt , solvate , clathrate , hydrate , polymorph , or prodrug thereof . the term “ inflammatory disorders ” includes any inflammatory disease , disorder or condition caused , exasperated or mediated by il - 12 , il - 23 , il - 27 and / or il - 17 production . such inflammatory disorders may include , without limitation , asthma , adult respiratory distress syndrome , systemic lupus erythematosus , inflammatory bowel disease ( including crohn &# 39 ; s disease and ulcerative colitis ), multiple sclerosis , insulin - dependent diabetes mellitus , autoimmune arthritis ( including rheumatoid arthritis , juvenile rheumatoid arthritis , psoriatic arthritis ), inflammatory pulmonary syndrome , pemphigus vulgaris , idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura , autoimmune meningitis , myasthenia gravis , autoimmune thyroiditis , dermatitis ( including atopic dermatitis and eczematous dermatitis ), psoriasis , sjogren &# 39 ; s syndrome ( including keratoconjunctivitis sicca secondary to sjogren &# 39 ; s syndrome ), alopecia areata , allergic responses due to arthropod bite reactions , aphthous ulcer , iritis , conjunctivitis , keratoconjunctivitis , cutaneous lupus erythematosus , scleroderma , vaginitis , proctitis , drug eruptions ( such as stevens - johnson syndrome ), leprosy reversal reactions , erythema nodosum leprosum , autoimmune uveitis , allergic encephalomyelitis , aplastic anemia , pure red cell anemia , idiopathic thrombocytopenia , polychondritis , wegener &# 39 ; s granulomatosis , chronic active hepatitis , graves ophthalmopathy , primary biliary cirrhosis , uveitis posterior and interstitial lung fibrosis . “ inflammatory disorders ” expressly include acute inflammatory disorders . examples of acute inflammatory disorders include graft versus host disease , transplant rejection , septic shock , endotoxemia , lyme arthritis , infectious meningitis ( e . g ., viral , bacterial , lyme disease - associated ), an acute episode of asthma and acute episodes of an immune disease . “ inflammatory disorders ” expressly include chronic inflammatory disorders . nonlimiting examples of chronic inflammatory disorder include asthma , rubella arthritis , and chronic autoimmune diseases , such as systemic lupus erythematosus , psoriasis , inflammatory bowel disease , including crohn &# 39 ; s disease and ulcerative colitis , multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis . the term “ immune disorders ” or “ autoimmune disorders ” includes any immune disease , disorder or condition caused , exasperated or mediated by il - 12 , il - 23 and / or il - 27 production . such immune diseases may include , without limitation , rheumatoid arthritis , juvenile rheumatoid arthritis , systemic onset juvenile rheumatoid arthritis , psoriatic arthritis , ankylosing spondilitis , gastric ulcer , seronegative arthropathies , osteoarthritis , inflammatory bowel disease , ulcerative colitis , systemic lupus erythematosis , antiphospholipid syndrome , iridocyclitis / uveitis / optic neuritis , idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis , systemic vasculitis / wegener &# 39 ; s granulomatosis , sarcoidosis , orchitis / vasectomy reversal procedures , allergic / atopic diseases , asthma , allergic rhinitis , eczema , allergic contact dermatitis , allergic conjunctivitis , hypersensitivity pneumonitis , transplants , organ transplant rejection , graft - versus - host disease , systemic inflammatory response syndrome , sepsis syndrome , gram positive sepsis , gram negative sepsis , culture negative sepsis , fungal sepsis , neutropenic fever , urosepsis , meningococcemia , trauma / hemorrhage , burns , ionizing radiation exposure , acute pancreatitis , adult respiratory distress syndrome , rheumatoid arthritis , alcohol - induced hepatitis , chronic inflammatory pathologies , sarcoidosis , crohn &# 39 ; s pathology , sickle cell anemia , diabetes , nephrosis , atopic diseases , hypersensitity reactions , allergic rhinitis , hay fever , perennial rhinitis , conjunctivitis , endometriosis , asthma , urticaria , systemic anaphalaxis , dermatitis , pernicious anemia , hemolytic disesease , thrombocytopenia , graft rejection of any organ or tissue , kidney translplant rejection , heart transplant rejection , liver transplant rejection , pancreas transplant rejection , lung transplant rejection , bone marrow transplant ( bmt ) rejection , skin allograft rejection , cartilage transplant rejection , bone graft rejection , small bowel transplant rejection , fetal thymus implant rejection , parathyroid transplant rejection , xenograft rejection of any organ or tissue , allograft rejection , anti - receptor hypersensitivity reactions , graves disease , raynoud &# 39 ; s disease , type b insulin - resistant diabetes , asthma , myasthenia gravis , antibody - meditated cytotoxicity , type iii hypersensitivity reactions , systemic lupus erythematosus , poems syndrome ( polyneuropathy , organomegaly , endocrinopathy , monoclonal gammopathy , and skin changes syndrome ), polyneuropathy , organomegaly , endocrinopathy , monoclonal gammopathy , skin changes syndrome , antiphospholipid syndrome , pemphigus , scleroderma , mixed connective tissue disease , idiopathic addison &# 39 ; s disease , diabetes mellitus , chronic active hepatitis , primary billiary cirrhosis , vitiligo , vasculitis , post - mi cardiotomy syndrome , type iv hypersensitivity , contact dermatitis , hypersensitivity pneumonitis , allograft rejection , granulomas due to intracellular organisms , drug sensitivity , metabolic / idiopathic , wilson &# 39 ; s disease , hemachromatosis , alpha - 1 - antitrypsin deficiency , diabetic retinopathy , hashimoto &# 39 ; s thyroiditis , osteoporosis , hypothalamic - pituitary - adrenal axis evaluation , primary biliary cirrhosis , thyroiditis , encephalomyelitis , cachexia , cystic fibrosis , neonatal chronic lung disease , chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ( copd ), familial hematophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis , dermatologic conditions , psoriasis , alopecia , nephrotic syndrome , nephritis , glomerular nephritis , acute renal failure , hemodialysis , uremia , toxicity , preeclampsia , okt3 therapy , anti - cd3 therapy , cytokine therapy , chemotherapy , radiation therapy ( e . g ., including but not limited toasthenia , anemia , cachexia , and the like ), chronic salicylate intoxication , and the like . see , e . g ., the merck manual , 12th - 17th editions , merck & amp ; company , rahway , n . j . ( 1972 , 1977 , 1982 , 1987 , 1992 , 1999 ), pharmacotherapy handbook , wells et al ., eds ., second edition , appleton and lange , stamford , conn . ( 1998 , 2000 ), each entirely incorporated by reference . the compounds and compositions described herein are useful to treat and prevent inflammatory disorders and immune disorders . the method involves administering an effective amount of a compound of the invention , or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt , solvate , clathrate , hydrate , polymorph , or prodrug thereof , to a subject in need of treatment for an inflammatory or autoimmune disorder . in preferred embodiments , treatment according to the invention provides a reduction in or prevention of at least one symptom or manifestation of an il - 12 -, il - 23 -, il - 27 , or il - 17 - related disorder ( e . g ., inflammatory disorder or immune diseases ), as determined in vivo or in vitro of at least about 10 %, more preferably 20 %, 30 %, 40 %, 50 %, 60 %, 70 %, 80 %, 90 %, 95 %, 98 % or 99 %. as used herein , the term “ effective amount ” refers to an amount of a compound of this invention which is sufficient to reduce or ameliorate the severity , duration , progression , or onset of an inflammatory disorder or immune disorder , or one or more symptom thereof , prevent the advancement of an inflammatory disorder or immune disorder , cause the regression of an inflammatory disorder or immune disorder , prevent the recurrence , development , onset or progression of a symptom associated with an inflammatory disorder or immune disorder , or enhance or improve the prophylactic or therapeutic effect ( s ) of another therapy . an effective amount of the pyrimidine compound of this invention can range from about 0 . 001 mg / kg to about 1000 mg / kg . effective doses will also vary , as recognized by those skilled in the art , depending on the disorder treated , route of administration , excipient usage , the age and sex of the subject , and the possibility of co - usage with other therapeutic treatments such as use of other agents . also within the scope of this invention is a pharmaceutical composition that contains one or more pyrimidine compounds of this invention and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier . to practice the method of the present invention , a pyrimidine compound , as a component of a pharmaceutical composition , can be administered orally , parenterally , by inhalation spray , topically , rectally , nasally , buccally , vaginally or via an implanted reservoir . the term “ parenteral ” as used herein includes subcutaneous , intracutaneous , intravenous , intramuscular , intraarticular , intraarterial , intrasynovial , intrasternal , intrathecal , intralesional and intracranial injection or infusion techniques . a sterile injectable composition , for example , a sterile injectable aqueous or oleaginous suspension , can be formulated according to techniques known in the art using suitable dispersing or wetting agents ( such as , for example , tween 80 ) and suspending agents . the sterile injectable preparation can also be a sterile injectable solution or suspension in a non - toxic parenterally acceptable diluent or solvent , for example , as a solution in 1 , 3 - butanediol . among the acceptable vehicles and solvents that can be employed are mannitol , water , ringer &# 39 ; s solution and isotonic sodium chloride solution . in addition , sterile , fixed oils are conventionally employed as a solvent or suspending medium ( e . g ., synthetic mono - or diglycerides ). fatty acids , such as oleic acid and its glyceride derivatives are useful in the preparation of injectables , as are natural pharmaceutically - acceptable oils , such as olive oil or castor oil , especially in their polyoxyethylated versions . these oil solutions or suspensions can also contain a long - chain alcohol diluent or dispersant , or carboxymethyl cellulose or similar dispersing agents . other commonly used surfactants such as tweens or spans or other similar emulsifying agents or bioavailability enhancers which are commonly used in the manufacture of pharmaceutically acceptable solid , liquid , or other dosage forms can also be used for the purposes of formulation . a composition for oral administration can be any orally acceptable dosage form including , but not limited to , capsules , tablets , emulsions and aqueous suspensions , dispersions and solutions . in the case of tablets for oral use , carriers which are commonly used include lactose and corn starch . lubricating agents , such as magnesium stearate , are also typically added . for oral administration in a capsule form , useful diluents include lactose and dried corn starch . when aqueous suspensions or emulsions are administered orally , the active ingredient can be suspended or dissolved in an oily phase combined with emulsifying or suspending agents . if desired , certain sweetening , flavoring , or coloring agents can be added . a nasal aerosol or inhalation composition can be prepared according to techniques well - known in the art of pharmaceutical formulation and can be prepared as solutions in saline , employing benzyl alcohol or other suitable preservatives , absorption promoters to enhance bioavailability , fluorocarbons , and / or other solubilizing or dispersing agents known in the art . a pyridine compound of this invention can also be administered in the form of suppositories for rectal administration . the carrier in the pharmaceutical composition must be “ acceptable ” in the sense of being compatible with the active ingredient of the formulation ( and preferably , capable of stabilizing it ) and not deleterious to the subject to be treated . for example , solubilizing agents such as cyclodextrins , which form specific , more soluble complexes with the compounds of this invention , or one or more solubilizing agents , can be utilized as pharmaceutical excipients for delivery of the pyrimidine compounds . examples of other carriers include colloidal silicon dioxide , magnesium stearate , cellulose , sodium lauryl sulfate , and d & amp ; c yellow # 10 . the biological activities of a pyrimidine compound can be evaluated by a number of cell - based assays . one of such assays can be conducted using cells from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells ( pbmc ) or human monocytic cell line ( thp - 1 ). the cells are stimulated with a combination of human interferon - γ ( ifnγ ) and lipopolysaccharide or a combination of ifnγ and staphylococcus aureus cowan i ( sac ) in the presence of a test compound . the level of inhibition of il - 12 production can be measured by determining the amount of p70 by using a sandwich elisa assay with anti - human il - 12 antibodies . ic 50 of the test compound can then be determined . specifically , pbmc or thp - 1 cells are incubated with the test compound . cell viability is assessed using the bioreduction of mts [ 3 -( 4 , 5 - dimethylthiazol - 2 - yl )- 5 -( 3 - carboxymethoxyphenyl )- 2 -( 4 - sulfophenyl )- 2h - tetrazolium ] ( promega , madison , wis .). the level of inhibition of il - 23 inhibition by a compound of the invention can be measured by a similar assay in which human peripheral blood mononuclear cells ( pbmc ) or human monocytic cell line ( thp - 1 ) are stimulated with a combination of human interferon - γ ( ifnγ ) and lipopolysaccharide ( lps ) or a combination of ifnγ and staphylococcus aureus cowan i ( sac ) in the presence of a test compound . the level of inhibition of il - 23 production can be measured by determining the amount of p19 by using a sandwich elisa assay with antibodies the recognize p19 subunit of il - 23 . ic 50 of the test compound can then be determined . one such assay is disclosed herein in example 30 . the following specific embodiments are to be construed as merely illustrative , and not limitative of the remainder of the disclosure in any way whatsoever . all of the patents , patent applications , and publications cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety . to a solution of 3 -( 3 , 4 - dimethoxyphenyl )- propyl iodide ( 1 . 224 g , 4 . 0 mmol ) in 20 ml dry thf , highly active zinc ( suspension in thf , rieke metal from aldrich , 5 . 2 ml 0 . 05 g / ml , 4 . 0 mmol ) was added to obtain a mixture . the mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight . 2 , 4 - dichloro - 6 - morpholinopyrimidine ( 0 . 932 g , 4 . 0 mmol ) and trans - benzyl -( chloro )- bis -( triphenylphosphine ) palladium ( ii ) ( 0 . 03 g , 0 . 04 mmol ) were added to the mixture , and stirred at 60 ° c . for 2 days . after routine workup , 4 - chloro - 2 -[ 3 -( 3 , 4 - dimethoxyphenyl ) propyl ]- 6 - morpholinopyrimidine ( 0 . 34 g , 0 . 90 mmol , 22 . 4 %) was separated from 2 - chloro - 4 -[ 3 -( 3 , 4 - dimethoxyphenyl ) propyl ]- 6 - morpholinopyrimidine ( 0 . 45 g , 1 . 19 mmol , 30 %) by flash chromatography purification . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ( ppm ): 6 . 70 - 6 . 80 ( m , 3h ); 6 . 32 ( s , 1h ); 3 . 87 ( s , 3h ); 3 . 85 ( s , 3h ); 3 . 73 - 3 . 78 ( m , 4h ); 3 . 60 - 3 . 64 ( m , 4h ); 2 . 76 ( d , j = 7 . 8 hz , 2h ); 2 . 63 ( d , j = 7 . 5 hz , 2h ); and 2 . 01 - 2 . 12 ( m , 2h ). further , 4 - chloro - 2 -[ 3 -( 3 , 4 - dimethoxyphenyl ) propyl ]- 6 - morpholinopyrimidine ( 0 . 34 g , 0 . 90 mmol ) was reacted with hydrazine ( 0 . 29 g , 9 mmol ) to obtain 2 -[ 3 -( 3 , 4 - dimethoxyphenyl ) propyl ]- 4 - hydrazino - 6 - morpholinopyrimidine as a white solid ( 0 . 30 g , 0 . 80 mmol , 89 %). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ( ppm ): 6 . 73 - 6 . 80 ( m , 3h ); 5 . 88 ( s , 1h ); 5 . 74 ( s , 1h ); 3 . 87 ( s , 3h ); 3 . 85 ( s , 3h ); 3 . 76 - 3 . 79 ( m , 4h ); 3 . 69 ( d , j = 0 . 6 hz , 2h ); 3 . 56 - 3 . 60 ( m , 4h ); 2 . 64 ( d , j = 7 . 5 hz , 4h ); and 2 . 00 - 2 . 15 ( m , 2h ). a 5 ml methanol solution containing 2 -[ 3 -( 3 , 4 - dimethoxyphenyl )- propyl ]- 4 - hydrazino - 6 - morpholinopyrimidine ( 0 . 177 g , 0 . 50 mmol ), indole - 3 - carboxaldehyde ( 0 . 073 g , 0 . 50 mmol ), and acoh ( 20 mg , cat .) was stirred at 70 ° c . for 4 hours . solvent was removed and the crude residue was purified using flash chromatography to give compound 1 as a light brown solid ( 0 . 21 g , 0 . 42 mmol , 84 %). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ( ppm ): 8 . 57 ( br s , 1h ); 8 . 45 ( br s , 1h ); 8 . 29 - 8 . 32 ( m , 1h ); 8 . 00 ( s , 1h ); 7 . 39 - 7 . 43 ( m , 2h ); 7 . 23 - 7 . 34 ( m , 2h ); 6 . 74 - 6 . 80 ( m , 3h ); 6 . 30 ( s , 1h ); 3 . 86 ( s , 3h ); 3 . 85 ( s , 3h ); 3 . 78 - 3 . 84 ( m , 4h ); 3 . 67 - 3 . 70 ( m , 4h ); 2 . 63 - 2 . 71 ( m , 4h ), and 2 . 03 - 2 . 13 ( m , 2h ). to a solution of 2 , 4 , 6 - trichloro pyrimidine ( 25 g , 136 mmol ) in ch 2 cl 2 ( 500 ml ) at − 78 ° c ., morpholine ( 11 . 89 ml , 136 mmol ) was slowly added , followed by dipea ( 25 ml , 143 mmol ). the obtained reaction mixture was stirred at − 78 ° c . for 5 h , and then warmed up to room temperature . the reaction mixture was washed with water . the obtained organic phase was dried over na 2 so 4 . the solvent was removed under reduced pressure . the crued residue , 2 , 4 - dichloro - 6 -( morpholin - 4 - yl ) pyrimidine , was recrystallized from etoac to give white crystals ( 24 . 7 g , 77 %) 15 g . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ( ppm ): 6 . 40 ( s , 1h ); and 4 . 0 - 3 . 5 ( m , 8h ). to a solution of n - butanol ( 0 . 633 g , 8 . 54 mmol ) in anhydrous dmf ( 50 ml ) at 0 ° c . under the n 2 , nah ( 0 . 307 g , 12 . 8 mmol ) was added quickly . the obtained suspension was stirred for 0 . 5 h at 0 ° c . 2 , 4 - dichloro - 6 -( morpholin - 4 - yl ) pyrimidine ( 2 g , 8 . 54 mmol ) was added to the suspension . after the suspension was warmed to room temperature and stirred for 12 h , the reaction mixture was quenched with ice / brine and extracted with 200 ml etoac . the extract was washed with brine , and dried over na 2 so 4 . the solvent was removed under reduced pressure . the crude residue was purified using flash chromatography ( silica ; etoac / hexane : 1 / 6 ) to yield 1 . 4 g of 2 - n - butoxy - 4 - chloro - 6 -( morpholin - 4 - yl ) pyrimidine ( white solid , 60 %). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ( ppm ): 6 . 20 ( s , 1h ); 4 . 26 ( t , j = 6 . 6 hz , 2h ); 3 . 78 - 3 . 70 ( m , 4h ); 3 . 66 - 3 . 56 ( m , 4h ); 1 . 80 - 1 . 68 ( m , 2h ); 1 . 54 - 1 . 40 ( m , 2h ); and 0 . 96 ( t , j = 6 . 9 , 3h ). to a solution of 2 - n - butoxy - 4 - chloro - 6 -( morpholin - 4 - yl ) pyrimidine ( 1 . 38 g , 5 . 1 mmol ) in dioxane ( 50 ml ), anhydrous hydrazine ( 1 . 6 ml , 50 mmol ) was added . the obtained reaction mixture was heated to 95 ° c ., and stirred for 12 h under n 2 . after cooling to room temperature , the reaction mixture was quenched with ice - brine and extracted with etoac ( 200 ml ). the organic extract was washed with brine , water , and dried over na 2 so 4 . the solvent was removed under reduced pressure . the crude residue was recrystallized from methanol to obtain 2 - n - butoxy - 4 - hydrazino - 6 -( morpholin - 4 - yl ) pyrimidine as white crystals ( 1 . 10 g , 81 %). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ( ppm ): 5 . 89 ( br s , 1h ), 5 . 49 ( s , 1h ), 4 . 26 ( t , j = 6 . 6 , 2h ), 3 . 84 - 3 . 78 ( m , 6h ), 3 . 62 - 3 . 47 ( m , 4h ), 1 . 82 - 1 . 67 ( m , 2h ), 1 . 55 - 1 . 42 ( m , 2h ), and 0 . 96 ( t , j = 6 . 9 , 3h ); to a solution of 2 - n - butoxy - 4 - hydrazino - 6 -( morpholin - 4 - yl ) pyrimidine ( 200 mg , 0 . 748 mmol ) in meoh ( 20 ml ), indole - 3 - carboxaldehyde ( 108 . 6 mg , 0 . 748 mmol ) and acetic acid ( a drop ) were added sequentially . the obtained reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 12 h . white precipitate was formed , collected , and washed with 2 ml methanol to give 200 g of compound 2 ( 68 %). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ( ppm ): 8 . 36 ( br s , 1h ), 8 . 30 ( dd , j = 6 . 6 , 1 . 8 , 1h ), 8 . 05 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 00 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 44 - 7 . 40 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 33 - 7 . 24 ( m , 2h ), 6 . 13 ( s , 1h ), 4 . 26 ( t , 2h , j = 6 . 6 ), 3 . 84 - 3 . 78 ( m , 4h ), 3 . 70 - 3 . 64 ( m , 4h ), 1 . 80 - 1 . 70 ( m , 2h ), 1 . 54 - 1 . 42 ( m , 2h ), and 0 . 96 ( t , j = 6 . 9 , 3h ); a mixture of 4 - ethoxy - 4 - oxo - butylzinc bromide ( 50 ml 0 . 5m in thf , 25 mmol ), 2 , 4 - dichloro - 6 - morpholinopyrimidine ( 4 . 68 g , 20 . 0 mmol ) and trans - benzyl ( chloro ) bis ( triphenylphosphine ) palladium ( ii ) ( 0 . 15 g , 0 . 2 mmol ) in thf ( total volume 80 ml ) was stirred at 60 ° c . for 2 days . after routine workup , flash chromatography purification was performed to obtain 4 - chloro - 2 -( 4 - ethoxy - 4 - oxo - butyl )- 6 - morpholinopyrimidine as a white solid ( 2 . 073 g , 6 . 60 mmol , 33 . 0 %). to a solution of 4 - chloro - 2 -( 4 - ethoxy - 4 - oxo - butyl )- 6 - morpholinopyrimidine ( 1 . 108 g , 3 . 54 mmol ) in 50 ml thf at − 78 ° c ., a diisobutylaluminum hydride ( dibal ) solution ( 4 . 72 ml 1 . 5 m in toluene , 7 . 08 mmol ) was slowly added . after addition , the obtained reaction mixture was warmed up slowly to 0 ° c . and kept at 0 ° c . for 10 min . after routine workup , flash chromatography was performed to obtain 4 - chloro - 2 -( 4 - hydroxybutyl )- 6 - morpholinopyrimidine ( 0 . 76 g , 2 . 80 mmol , 79 %) as light yellow solid . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ( ppm ): 6 . 33 ( s , 1h ), 3 . 76 - 3 . 79 ( m , 4h ); 3 . 61 - 3 . 68 ( m , 6h ); 2 . 76 ( t , j = 7 . 8 hz , 2h ); 1 . 81 - 1 . 91 ( m , 2h ); and 1 . 60 - 1 . 74 ( m , 3h ). following the typical procedure , 4 - chloro - 2 -( 4 - hydroxybutyl )- 6 - morpholinopyrimidine ( 0 . 542 g , 2 . 00 mmol , 1 . 00 equiv .) was reacted with hydrazine and indole - 3 - carboxaldehyde to give compound 3 as an off - white solid ( 0 . 75 g , 1 . 90 mmol , 95 %). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ), δ ( ppm ): 11 . 47 ( s , 1h ); 10 . 64 ( s , 1h ); 8 . 25 ( s , 1h ); 8 . 18 ( d , j = 6 . 6 hz , 1h ); 7 . 71 ( s , 1h ); 7 . 43 ( d , j = 8 . 4 hz , 1h ); 7 . 17 - 7 . 20 ( m , 2h ); 6 . 16 ( s , 1h ), 4 . 37 ( t , j = 4 . 8 hz , 1h ); 3 . 72 ( br s , 4h ); 3 . 55 ( br s , 4h ); 3 . 41 - 3 . 45 ( m , 2h ); 2 . 49 - 2 . 54 ( m , 2h ), 1 . 66 - 1 . 76 ( m 2h ); and 1 . 42 - 1 . 53 ( m 2h ). compound 4 was prepared in a similar manner as described in example 1 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ), δ ( ppm ): 11 . 46 ( s , 1h ); 10 . 64 ( s , 1h ); 8 . 25 ( s , 1h ); 8 . 18 ( d , j = 6 . 6 hz , 1h ); 7 . 71 ( s , 1h ); 7 . 43 ( d , j = 6 . 0 hz , 7 . 5 hz , 1h ); 7 . 16 - 7 . 19 ( m , 2h ); 6 . 15 ( s , 1h ), 4 . 58 ( t , j = 5 . 1 hz , 1h ); 4 . 00 ( dd , j = 11 . 4 hz , 4 . 5 hz , 2h ); 3 . 64 - 3 . 72 ( m , 6h ); 3 . 54 ( br s , 4h ); 2 . 50 - 2 . 59 ( m , 2h ); 1 . 80 - 1 . 94 ( m , 3h ), and 1 . 33 ( d , j = 9 . 6 hz , 1h ). following the procedure for the synthesis of n -( 2 -( 4 - hydroxybutyl )- 6 - morpholin - 4 - yl - pyrimidin - 4 - yl )- n ′-( 1h - indol - 3 - ylmethylene )- hydrazine ( compound 3 ), 4 - chloro - 2 -( 3 - hydroxypropyl )- 6 - morpholinopyrimidine ( 0 . 81 g , 3 . 15 mmol ) was synthesized , methylated with sodium hydride ( 0 . 48 g , 6 . 30 mmol ) for 10 min , and mei ( 0 . 895 g , 6 . 30 mmol ) for 5 h in 30 ml thf at 0 ° c . to give 4 - chloro - 2 -( 3 - methoxypropyl )- 6 - morpholinopyrimidine as colorless viscous oil ( 0 . 792 g , 3 . 03 mmol , 96 %). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ( ppm ): 6 . 32 ( s , 1h ), 3 . 75 - 3 . 79 ( m , 4h ); 3 . 61 - 3 . 64 ( m , 4h ); 3 . 44 ( t , j = 6 . 6 hz , 2h ); 3 . 34 ( s , 3h ); 2 . 78 ( t , j = 7 . 8 hz , 2h ); and 2 . 00 - 2 . 09 ( m , 2h ). following the typical procedure , 4 - chloro - 2 -( 3 - methoxypropyl )- 6 - morpholinopyrimidine ( 0 . 783 g , 3 . 00 mmol ) was treated with hydrazine and indole - 3 - carboxaldehyde sequentially to yield 0 . 89 g of compound 5 ( 2 . 26 mmol , 75 %). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ), δ ( ppm ): 11 . 46 ( s , 1h ); 10 . 64 ( s , 1h ); 8 . 26 ( s , 1h ); 8 . 17 - 8 . 20 ( m , 1h ); 7 . 72 ( d , j = 2 . 4 hz , 1h ); 7 . 43 ( dd , j = 6 . 0 hz , 2 . 4 hz , 1h ); 7 . 15 - 7 . 21 ( m , 2h ); 6 . 16 ( s , 1h ), 3 . 70 - 3 . 73 ( m , 4h ); 3 . 52 - 3 . 56 ( m , 4h ); 3 . 37 ( t , j = 6 . 9 hz , 2h ); 3 . 23 ( s , 3h ); 2 . 50 - 2 . 57 ( m , 2h ), and 1 . 88 - 1 . 97 ( m , 2h ). compound 6 was prepared in a similar manner as described in example 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ), δ ( ppm ): 11 . 48 ( s , 1h ); 10 . 68 ( s , 1h ); 8 . 26 ( s , 1h ); 8 . 15 - 8 . 18 ( m , 1h ); 7 . 73 ( d , j = 2 . 1 hz , 1h ); 7 . 42 - 7 . 44 ( m , 1h ); 7 . 16 - 7 . 20 ( m , 2h ); 6 . 04 ( s , 1h ), 4 . 53 ( t , j = 5 . 1 hz , 1h ); 3 . 65 - 3 . 71 ( m , 4h ); 3 . 48 - 3 . 56 ( m , 6h ); 3 . 06 ( t , j = 7 . 2 hz , 2h ), and 1 . 76 - 1 . 85 ( m , 2h ). compound 7 was prepared in a similar manner as described in example 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ), δ ( ppm ): 11 . 34 ( s , 1h ); 10 . 48 ( s , 1h ); 8 . 45 ( d , j = 7 . 8 hz , 1h ); 8 . 25 ( s , 1h ); 7 . 64 ( d , j = 2 . 7 hz , 1h ); 7 . 40 ( d , j = 8 . 1 hz , 1h ); 7 . 05 - 7 . 19 ( m , 2h ); 6 . 08 ( s , 1h ), 4 . 60 ( t , j = 5 . 1 hz , 1h ); 3 . 50 - 3 . 68 ( m , 10h ); 3 . 20 - 3 . 30 ( m , 2h ); and 1 . 78 - 1 . 86 ( m , 2h ). compound 8 was prepared in a similar manner as described in example 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ( ppm ): 8 . 38 ( br s , 1h ); 8 . 30 ( dd , j = 7 . 2 , 1 . 8 , 1h ), 8 . 02 ( br s , 1h ); 8 . 00 ( s , 1h ); 7 . 44 - 7 . 41 ( m , 2h ); 7 . 32 - 7 . 26 ( m , 2h ); 6 . 14 ( s , 1h ); 4 . 51 - 4 . 42 ( m , 2h ); 4 . 22 - 4 . 12 ( m , 2h ); 3 . 96 - 3 . 91 ( m , 1h ); 3 . 84 - 3 . 79 ( m , 4h ); 3 . 70 - 3 . 64 ( m , 4h ); 1 . 47 ( s , 3h ); and 1 . 38 ( s , 3h ). compound 9 was prepared in a similar manner as described in example 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ( ppm ): 8 . 43 ( bs , 1h ); 8 . 30 ( d , j = 7 . 5 hz 1h ); 8 . 2 ( bs , 1h ); 8 . 02 ( d , j = 2 . 7 hz , 1h ); 7 . 46 - 7 . 40 ( m , 2h ); 7 . 30 - 7 . 26 ( m , 2h ); 6 . 82 ( d , j = 1 hz , 3h ); 4 . 45 ( d , j = 3 . 6 hz , 1h ); 4 . 45 ( t , j = 5 . 2 hz , 2h ); 3 . 87 ( d , j = 3 . 9 hz , 3h ); 3 . 86 ( d , j = 3 . 9 hz , 3h ); 3 . 81 ( s , 4h ); 3 . 67 ( s , 4h ); and 3 . 04 ( t , j = 5 . 0 hz , 2h ). compound 10 was prepared in a similar manner as described in example 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ( ppm ): 9 . 3 ( bs , 1h ); 8 . 66 ( s , 1h ); 8 . 55 - 8 . 53 ( m , 1h ); 8 . 28 - 8 . 26 ( m , 1h ); 8 . 04 ( s , 1h ); 7 . 62 - 7 . 57 ( m , 1h ); 7 . 41 - 7 . 10 ( m , 6h ); 6 . 08 ( s , 1h ); 4 . 64 ( t , j = 6 . 6 hz , 2h ); 3 . 76 ( s , 4h ); 3 . 62 ( s , 4h ); and 3 . 26 ( t , j = 6 . 6 hz , 2h ). compound 11 was prepared in a similar manner as described in example 1 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ), δ ( ppm ): 11 . 47 ( s , 1h ); 10 . 65 ( s , 1h ); 8 . 50 ( d , j = 4 . 5 hz , 1h ); 8 . 26 ( s , 1h ); 8 . 20 - 8 . 18 ( m , 1h ); 7 . 72 - 7 . 68 ( m , 2h ); 7 . 45 - 7 . 42 ( m , 1h ); 7 . 29 - 7 . 18 ( m , 4h ); 6 . 17 ( s , 1h ); 3 . 73 ( s , 4h ); 3 . 5 ( s , 4h ); 2 . 79 ( t , j = 7 . 5 hz , 2h ); 2 - 58 - 2 . 51 ( m , 2h ); and 2 . 18 - 2 . 06 ( m , 2h ). compound 12 was prepared in a similar manner as described in example 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), λ ( ppm ): 8 . 55 - 8 . 48 ( m , 2h ); 7 . 71 ( s , 1h ); 7 . 65 - 7 . 55 ( m , 1h ); 7 . 49 - 7 . 42 ( m , 2h ); 7 . 30 - 7 . 15 ( m , 4h ); 6 . 08 ( s , 1h ); 4 . 64 ( t , j = 6 . 6 hz , 2h ); 3 . 81 - 3 . 75 ( m , 4h ); 3 . 64 - 3 . 61 ( m , 4h ); 3 . 25 ( t , j = 7 . 0 hz , 2h ); and 2 . 38 ( s , 3h ). compound 13 was prepared in a similar manner as described in example 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ( ppm ): 8 . 58 - 8 . 50 ( m , 1h ); 8 . 43 ( s , 1h ); 7 . 95 ( s , 1h ); 7 . 64 - 7 . 58 ( m , 2h ); 7 . 30 - 7 . 25 ( m , 1h ); 7 . 18 - 7 . 05 ( m , 3h ); 6 . 07 ( s , 1h ); 4 . 65 ( t , j = 6 . 9 hz , 2h ); 3 . 80 - 3 . 76 ( m , 4h ); 3 . 64 - 3 . 61 ( m , 4h ); 3 . 26 ( t , j = 6 . 9 hz , 2h ); 2 . 40 ( q , j = 7 . 6 hz , 2h ); and 1 . 45 ( t , j = 7 . 6 hz , 3h ). compound 14 was prepared in a similar manner as described in example 1 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ( ppm ): 9 . 6 ( bs , 1h ); 8 . 53 ( d , j = 4 . 5 hz , 1h ); 7 . 76 ( s , 1h ); 7 . 56 ( t , j = 6 hz , 1h ); 7 . 49 - 7 . 47 ( m , 2h ); 7 . 28 ( m , 1h ); 7 . 18 - 7 . 06 ( m , 3h ); 6 . 26 ( s , 1h ); 3 . 81 - 3 . 79 ( m , 4h ); 3 . 69 - 3 . 67 ( m , 4h ); 2 . 89 ( t , j = 7 . 8 hz , 2h ); 2 . 71 ( t , j = 7 . 5 hz , 2h ); 2 . 39 ( s , 3h ); and 2 . 22 ( t , j = 7 . 5 hz , 2h ). compound 15 was prepared in a similar manner as described in example 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ( ppm ): 8 . 56 ( bs , 1h ), 7 . 66 - 7 . 46 ( m , 4h ), 7 . 32 - 7 . 26 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 16 - 7 . 14 ( m , 2h ), 6 . 44 ( s , 1h ), 4 . 69 ( t , j = 6 . 9 hz , 2h ), 3 . 80 - 3 . 77 ( m , 4h ), 3 . 63 - 3 . 60 ( m , 4h ), 3 . 31 ( t , j = 6 . 9 hz , 2h ), 2 . 39 ( s , 3h ). compound 16 was prepared in a similar manner as described in example 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ( ppm ): 9 . 35 ( bs , 1h ); 8 . 54 ( dd , j = 0 . 9 , 4 . 2 hz , 1h ); 8 . 33 ( d , j = 7 . 5 hz , 1h ); 7 . 93 ( s , 1h ); 7 . 58 ( t , j = 7 . 2 hz , 1h ); 7 . 36 - 7 . 33 ( m , 2h ); 7 . 27 - 7 . 120 ( m , 4h ); 6 . 49 ( s , 1h ); 4 . 68 ( t , j = 7 . 2 hz , 2h ); 3 . 76 - 3 . 73 ( m , 4h ); 3 . 60 - 3 - 57 ( m , 4h ); 3 . 50 ( s , 3h ); and 3 . 33 - 3 . 28 ( t , j = 7 . 0 hz , 2h ). compound 17 was prepared in a similar manner as described in example 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ( ppm ): 8 . 56 - 8 . 53 ( m , 1h ); 8 . 45 ( s , 1h ); 7 . 62 - 7 . 50 ( m , 3h ); 7 . 38 - 7 . 26 ( m , 3h ); 7 . 18 - 7 . 10 ( m , 1h ); 6 . 17 ( s , 1h ); 4 . 68 ( t , j = 6 . 9 hz , 2h ); 3 . 80 - 3 . 76 ( m , 4h ); 3 . 67 - 3 . 64 ( m , 4h ); 3 . 29 ( t , j = 6 . 9 hz , 2h ); and 2 . 41 ( s , 3h ). compound 18 was prepared in a similar manner as described in example 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ), δ ( ppm ): 11 . 82 ( bs , 1h ); 8 . 81 ( s , 1h ); 8 . 50 ( d , j = 4 . 5 hz , 1h ); 8 . 04 ( d , j = 6 . 9 hz , 1h ); 7 . 93 ( s , 1h ); 7 . 72 ( t , j = 6 . 9 hz , 1h ); 7 . 49 ( d , j = 6 . 9 hz , 1h ); 7 . 33 ( d , j = 7 . 8 hz , 1h ); 7 . 30 - 7 . 18 ( m , 3h ); 6 . 22 ( s , 1h ); 4 . 57 ( t , j = 6 . 3 hz , 2h ); 3 . 67 ( s , 4h ); 3 . 56 ( s , 4h ); and 3 . 15 ( t , j = 6 . 3 hz , 2h ). compound 19 was prepared in a similar manner as described in example 2 . 1 h nmr : ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ( ppm ): 9 . 20 ( br s , 1h ); 8 . 30 ( br s , 1h ); 8 . 29 ( t , j = 3 . 3 hz , 1h ); 8 . 18 - 8 . 12 ( m , 2h ); 7 . 44 - 7 . 41 ( m , 2h ); 7 . 26 - 7 . 18 ( m , 5h ); 6 . 08 ( s , 1h ); 4 . 66 ( t , j = 4 . 8 hz , 2h ); 4 . 29 ( t , j = 5 . 0 hz , 2h ); 3 . 80 - 3 . 76 ( m , 4h ); and 3 . 67 - 3 . 62 ( m , 4h ). compound 20 was prepared in a similar manner as described in example 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ( ppm ): 8 . 55 ( s , 1h ); 8 . 34 ( br s , 1h ); 8 . 30 - 8 . 23 ( m , 1h ); 7 . 78 ( s , 1h ); 7 . 50 - 7 . 47 ( m , 2h ); 7 . 32 - 7 . 24 ( m , 1h ); 7 . 20 - 7 . 17 ( m , 3h ); 6 . 14 ( s , 1h ); 4 . 66 ( t , j = 5 . 0 hz , 2h ); 4 . 35 ( t , j = 4 . 8 hz , 2h ); 3 . 83 - 3 . 80 ( m , 4h ); 3 . 68 - 3 . 65 ( m , 4h ); and 2 . 40 ( s , 3h ). compound 21 was prepared in a similar manner as described in example 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ppm : 8 . 41 ( bs , 1h ), 8 . 33 - 8 . 30 ( m , 1h ), 8 . 19 ( bs , 1h ), 7 . 95 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 41 - 7 . 37 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 29 - 7 . 25 ( m , 2h ), 5 . 96 ( s , 1h ), 4 . 65 ( t , j = 4 hz , 1h ), 3 . 83 - 3 . 80 ( m , 4h ), 3 . 65 - 3 . 62 ( m , 4h ), 3 . 36 ( dd , j = 6 . 3 , 13 . 5 hz , 2h ), 1 . 60 - 1 . 55 ( m , 2h ), 1 . 35 - 1 . 33 ( m , 4h ), 0 . 92 - 0 . 87 ( m , 3h ). to a solution of 3 - hydroxypyridine ( 950 mg , 10 mmol ) in anhydrous thf ( 50 ml ) at 0 ° c . under the nitrogen protection was added nah ( 60 % in oil ) ( 480 mg , 12 mmol ). the suspension was stirred for 0 . 5 h at 0 ° c ., and 2 , 4 , 6 - trichloropyrimidine ( 1 . 84 g , 10 mmol ) was added . after the mixture warmed to room temperature and stirred for 2 h , the reaction was quenched by ice brine and extracted with etoac ( 300 ml ). the organic phase was washed with brine , dried ( na 2 so 4 ), filtered , evaporated in vacuo . the cure product was purified by flash chromatography on a column of silica gel ( etoac - hexane , 1 : 7 ). the product ( 1 . 80 g , 7 . 4 mmol ) in ch 2 cl 2 ( 150 ml ) at 0 ° c . was added slowly morpholine ( 2 . 5 g , 28 mmol ). the reaction mixture was stirred at 0 ° c . for 1 h and another 1 h at room temperature . the mixture was washed with water . the organic phase was dried ( na 2 so 4 ), filtered and evaporated in vacuo and presented three isomers . the isomers was separated by flash chromatography on a column of silica gel ( etoac - hexane , 1 : 7 and 1 : 3 ) to obtain 4 -[ 6 - chloro - 2 -( pyridin - 3 - yloxy )- pyrimidin - 4 - yl ]- morpholine ( 320 mg , 14 . 7 %). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ( ppm ): 8 . 51 ( d , 1h , j = 2 . 7 hz ), 8 . 44 ( dd , 1h , j = 1 . 5 , j = 3 . 3 hz ), 7 . 53 - 7 . 49 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 34 - 7 . 3 ( m , 1h ), 6 . 25 ( s , 1h ), 3 . 71 - 3 . 67 ( m , 4h ), 3 . 51 - 3 . 48 ( m , 4h ). to a solution of 4 -[ 6 - chloro - 2 -( pyridin - 3 - yloxy )- pyrimidin - 4 - yl ]- morpholine ( 295 mg , 1 mmol ) in thf ( 10 ml ) was added anhydrous hydrazine ( 0 . 320 ml , 10 mmol ) under the nitrogen protection . the mixture was heated at 70 ° c . for 15 min . after cooling to room temperature , the reaction mixture was quenched by ice brine and extracted with etoac ( 100 ml ). the organic phase was washed with brine ( 10 ml ) and water ( 10 ml × 2 ), dried ( na 2 so 4 ), filtered , evaporated , and purified by flash chromatography on a column of silica gel ( ch 2 cl 2 and ch 2 cl 2 - meoh , 95 : 5 ) and to give [ 6 - morpholin - 4 - yl - 2 -( pyridin - 3 - yloxy )- pyrimidin - 4 - yl ]- hydrazine ( 180 mg ) in 62 % yield . m / z ( m + 1 ) 289 . 2 to a solution of [ 6 - morpholin - 4 - yl - 2 -( pyridin - 3 - yloxy )- pyrimidin - 4 - yl ]- hydrazine ( 180 mg ) ( 145 mg , 0 . 5 mmol ) and m - tolylaldehyde ( 72 mg , 0 . 6 mmol ) in meoh ( 10 ml ) was added acetic acid ( 1 drop ). the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 12 h and white solid was precipitated . the resulting precipitate was collected by filtration and washed with little amount of metanol and to give 125 mg of compound 22 in 64 % yield . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ( ppm ): 8 . 71 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 57 ( d , 1h , j = 2 . 4 hz ), 8 . 44 ( dd , 1h , j = 1 . 5 , 3 . 2 hz ), 7 . 78 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 56 - 7 . 52 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 46 - 7 . 43 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 34 - 7 . 26 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 17 ( d , 1h , j = 8 . 1 hz ), 6 . 17 ( s , 1h ), 3 . 76 - 3 . 73 ( m , 4h ), 3 . 57 - 3 . 54 ( m , 4h ), 2 . 38 ( s , 3h ). benzamidine hydrochloride ( 7 . 06 g , 0 . 045 mol ) and dimethyl methylmalonate ( 6 . 0 g , 0 . 041 mol ) were dissolved in methanol ( 100 ml ). sodium methoxide ( 21 . 5 ml , 0 . 099 mol , 25 wt % solution in methanol ) was added and the solution was stirred at room temperature for 18 h . the volume of solvent was redcued to approximately 50 ml under reduced pressure , then poured onto ice water . this solution was neutralized with hoac which produced a white precipitate . this precipitate was collected and dried to produce a white solid ( 6 . 1 g , 74 %). 1 h nmr ( dmso - d 6 ) δ ( ppm ) 1 . 68 ( s , 3h ), 7 . 70 - 7 . 87 ( m , 3h ), 8 . 21 ( d , j = 8 . 4 hz ). 5 - methyl - 2 - phenyl - pyrimidine - 4 , 6 - diol ( 3 . 3 g , 0 . 016 mol ) and pocl 3 were heated to 60 c for 3 hrs . the solution was allowed to cool to room temperature then poured onto ice . the resultant white precipitate was filtered and dried to produce the desired compound as a white solid ( 810 mg , 21 %). 1 h nmr ( dmso - d 6 ) δ ( ppm ) 2 . 40 ( s , 3h ), 7 . 51 - 7 . 56 ( m , 3h ), 8 . 23 ( d , 8 . 4 hz ). 4 , 6 - dichloro - 5 - methyl - 2 - phenylpyrimidine ( 2 . 5 g , 0 . 010 mol ) and morpholine ( 2 . 93 g , 0 . 031 mol ) were dissolved in thf ( 50 ml ) and heated to reflux for 3 hrs . the solution was allowed to cool then etoac ( 100 ml ) and water ( 100 ml ) were added . the etoac layer was washed with water ( 3 × 100 ml ), dried over mgso 4 , filtered and solvent was removed under reduced pressure . the resultant solid was used without further purification ( 2 . 66 g , 92 %). 4 -( 6 - chloro - 5 - methyl - 2 - phenylpyrimidin - 4 - yl ) morpholine ( 439 mg , 1 . 51 mmol ) was dissolved in thf ( 50 ml ). hydrazine ( 0 . 25 ml , 7 . 96 mmol ) was added and the solution was heated to reflux for 18 hrs . the reaction was allowed to cool the solvent was removed under reduced pressure . etoac ( 100 ml ) and water ( 100 ml ) were added . the etoac layer was washed with water ( 3 × 100 ml ), dried over mgso 4 , filtered and solvent was removed under reduced pressure to produce a white solid ( 374 mg ). this solid was redissolved in thf ( 50 ml ) and m - tolualdehyde ( 157 mg , 1 . 31 mmol ) was added . the solution was heated to reflux for 4 hrs then allowed to cool . solvent was removed under reduced pressure then etoac ( 100 ml ) and water ( 100 ml ) were added . the etoac layer was washed with water ( 3 × 100 ml ), dried over mgso 4 , filtered and solvent was removed under reduced pressure . the crude product was purified by silcagel column chromatography , eluting with 25 % etoac / hexane to produce the pure desired product as a yellow solid ( 313 mg , 53 %). 1 h nmr ( dmso - d 6 ) δ ( ppm ) 2 . 26 ( s , 3h ), 2 . 36 ( s , 3h ), 3 . 35 ( m , 4h ), 3 . 75 - 3 . 78 ( m , 4h ), 7 . 20 ( d , j = 6 . 9 hz ), 7 . 33 ( t , j = 6 . 9 hz ), 7 . 47 - 7 . 52 ( m , 5h ), 8 . 19 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 35 - 8 . 38 ( m , 2h ), 10 . 60 ( s , 1h ). compound 24 was prepared in a similar manner as described in example 23 . 1 h - nmr ( dmso - d 6 ) δ 2 . 36 ( s , 3h ), 2 . 76 ( s , 4h ), 4 . 07 ( s , 4h ), 6 . 36 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 19 ( d , j = 8 . 1 hz ), 7 . 32 ( t , j = 8 . 1 hz ), 7 . 47 - 7 . 57 ( m , 5h ), 8 . 09 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 30 - 8 . 31 ( m , 1h ), 11 . 02 ( s , 1h ). to a solution of 2 -( pyridin - 3 - yloxy )- ethanol ( 3 . 48 g , 25 mmol ) in 40 ml of anhydrous thf at room temperature under the n 2 , 2 , 4 , 6 - trichloro pyrimidine ( 4 . 56 g , 25 mmol ) was added followed by portionwise addition of nah ( 60 % suspension in oil , 1 . 1 g , 27 . 5 mmol ). after 30 min of stirring reaction was quenched with water , water layer extracted with etoac , combined organic solutions washed with brine and dried over mgso 4 . purification using flash chromatography ( silica ; dichloromethane / acetone / methanol : 3 / 1 / 0 . 1 ) afforded mixture of 4 , 6 - dichloro - 2 - and 2 , 6 - dichloro - 4 -[ 2 -( pyridin - 3 - yloxy )- ethoxy ]- pyrimidines ( 3 . 72 g , 52 %), ( nmr ratio 1 : 1 . 2 ) as an oil . to a solution of the above mixture ( 3 . 72 g , 13 mmol ) in 20 ml of 1 , 4 - dioxane was added dipea ( 2 . 49 ml , 14 . 3 mmol ), followed by 2 , 3 - dimethyl - 5 - amino - indole ( 2 . 08 g , 13 mmol ) and a mixture was refluxed for 1 hour . solvent was removed under reduced pressure and reaction mixture was separated using column chromatography ( silica ; dichloromethane / acetone / methanol : 3 / 1 / 0 . 1 ) to afford { 6 - chloro - 2 -[ 2 -( pyridin - 3 - yloxy )- ethoxy ]- pyrimidin - 4 - yl }- amine ( 2 . 07 g , 39 %). an mixture of { 4 - chloro - 6 -[ 2 -( pyridin - 3 - yloxy )- ethoxy ]- pyrimidin - 4 - yl }- amine and { 2 - chloro - 6 -[ 2 -( pyridin - 3 - yloxy )- ethoxy ]- pyrimidin - 4 - yl }- amine ( 2 . 5 g , 47 %) was also obtained and used in another reaction . a solution of { 6 - chloro - 2 -[ 2 -( pyridin - 3 - yloxy )- ethoxy ]- pyrimidin - 4 - yl }- amine ( 2 . 07 g , 5 . 05 mmol ) and morpholine ( 1 . 32 ml , 15 . 15 mmol ) in 1 , 4 - dioxane was heated at 110 ° c . for 24 hours . solvent was removed under reduced pressure and reaction mixture was purified using flash chromatography ( silica ; dichloromethane / acetone / methanol : 3 / 1 / 0 . 1 ) to afford compound 25 ( 2 g , 86 %) as a colorless solid . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ( ppm ): 8 . 34 ( br s , 1h ), 8 . 23 ( dd , 1h , j = 3 . 6 , 2 . 1 ), 7 . 96 ( brs , 1h ), 7 . 34 - 7 . 21 ( m , 4h ), 6 . 98 ( dd , 1h , j = 8 . 4 , 1 . 8 hz ), 6 . 60 ( brs , 1h ), 5 . 36 ( s , 1h ), 4 . 65 ( t , 2h , j = 5 . 1 hz ), 4 . 34 ( t , 2h , j = 5 . 1 hz ), 3 . 66 ( m , 4h ), 3 . 42 ( m , 4h ), 2 . 37 ( s , 3h ), and 2 . 20 ( s , 3h ). reaction of a mixture of { 4 - chloro - 6 -[ 2 -( pyridin - 3 - yloxy )- ethoxy ]- pyrimidin - 4 - yl }- amine and { 2 - chloro - 6 -[ 2 -( pyridin - 3 - yloxy )- ethoxy ]- pyrimidin - 4 - yl }- amine ( 2 . 5 g , 47 %) and ( 2 . 5 g , 6 . 1 mmol ) with morpholine was carried out as described in example 24 . purification by flash chromatography and recrystallization from ether - pentane gave 0 . 3 g of compound 26 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ( ppm ): 8 . 36 ( br s , 1h ), 8 . 24 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 85 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 70 ( brs , 1h ), 7 . 26 - 7 . 14 ( m , 4h ), 6 . 78 ( brs , 1h ), 5 . 42 ( s , 1h ), 4 . 68 ( t , 2h , j = 5 . 1 ), 4 . 31 ( t , 2h , j = 5 . 1 ), 3 . 70 ( m , 4h ), 3 . 54 ( m , 4h ), 2 . 35 ( s , 3h ), and 2 . 18 ( s , 3h ). compound 27 was prepared in a similar manner as described in example 1 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ), δ ( ppm ): 8 . 22 ( s , 1h ); 7 . 69 ( s , 1h ); 8 . 07 ( s , 1h ); 7 . 47 ( m , 2h ); 7 . 28 ( t , j = 7 . 5 hz , 1h ); 7 . 17 ( d , j = 7 . 5 hz , 1h ); 6 . 23 ( s , 1h ); 4 . 13 ( q , j = 7 . 2 hz , 2h ); 3 . 78 - 3 . 81 ( m , 4h ); 3 . 62 - 3 . 65 ( m , 4h ); 2 . 98 ( t , j = 7 . 2 hz , 2h ); 2 . 77 ( t , j = 7 . 2 hz , 2h ); 2 . 39 ( s , 3h ); 1 . 24 ( t , j = 7 . 2 hz , 3h ). reagents . staphylococcus aureus cowan i ( sac ) was obtained from calbiochem ( la jolla , calif . ), and lipopolysaccharide ( lps , serratia marscencens ) was obtained from sigma ( st . louis , mo .). human and mouse recombinant ifnγ were purchased from boehringer mannheim ( mannheim , germany ) and pharmingen ( san diego , calif . ), respectively . human in vitro assay . human pbmc were isolated by centrifugation using ficoll - paque ( pharmacia biotech , uppsala , sweden ) and prepared in rpmi medium supplemented with 10 % fetal calf serum ( fcs ), 100 u / ml penicillin , and 100 μg / ml streptomycin . pbmc were plated in wells of a 96 - well plate at a concentration of 5 × 10 5 cells / well , and primed by adding ifnγ ( 30 u / ml ) for 22 h and stimulated by adding lps ( 1 μg / ml ), or by adding ifnγ ( 100 u / ml ) and then stimulated by adding sac ( 0 . 01 %). a test pyrimidine compound was dissolved in dmso , and added to wells of the 96 - well plate . the final dmso concentration was adjusted to 0 . 25 % in all cultures , including the compound - free control . human thp - 1 cells were plated in wells , primed by adding ifnγ ( 100 u / ml ) for 22 h and stimulated by adding sac ( 0 . 025 %) in the presence of different concentrations of the pyrimidine compound . cell - free supernatants were taken 18 h later for measurement of cytokines . cell viability was assessed using the bioreduction of mts . cell survival was estimated by determining the ratio of the absorbance in compound - treated groups versus compound - free control . the supernatant was assayed for the amount of il - 12p40 , il - 12p70 , or il - 10 by using a sandwich elisa with anti - human antibodies , i . e ., a human il - 12 p40 elisa kit from r & amp ; d systems ( berkeley , calif . ), and a human il - 12 p70 or il - 10 elisa kit from endogen ( cambridge , mass .). assays were based on the manufacturer &# 39 ; s instructions . murine in vitro assay . balb / c mice ( taconic , germantown , n . y .) were immunized with mycobacterium tuberculosis h37ra ( difco , detroit , mich .). the splenocytes were harvested 5 days and prepared in rpmi medium supplemented with 10 % fcs and antibiotics in a flat bottom 96 - well plate with 1 × 10 6 cells / well . the splenocytes were then stimulated with a combination of ifnγ ( 60 ng / ml ) and sac ( 0 . 025 %) [ or lps ( 20 μg / ml )] in the presence of a test compound . cell - free supernatants were taken 24 h later for the measurement of cytokines . the preparation of compound and the assessment of cell viability were carried out as described above . mouse il - 12 p70 , il - 10 , il - 1β , and tnfα were measured using elisa kits from endogen , according to the manufacturer &# 39 ; s instructions . the biological activities of pyrimidine compounds were tested on human pbmc or thp - 1 cells . many of the compounds have ic 50 values of 5 μm or less . unexpectedly , some of the test compounds have ic 50 values as low as 1 nm . treatment of adjuvant arthritis in rats : adjuvant arthritis ( aa ) was induced in female lewis rats by the intracutaneous injection ( base of the tail ) of 0 . 1 ml of a 10 mg / ml bacterial suspension made from ground , heat - killed mycobacterium tuberculosis h37ra suspended in incomplete freund &# 39 ; s adjuvant . rats were given a test compound orally once a day for 12 days , starting the day following the induction . the development of polyarthritis was monitored daily by macroscopic inspection and assignment of an arthritis index to each animal , during the critical period ( days 10 to 25 post - immunization ). the intensity of polyarthritis was scored according to the following scheme : ( a ) grade each paw from 0 to 3 based on erythema , swelling , and deformity of the joints : 0 for no erythema or swelling ; 0 . 5 if swelling is detectable in at least one joint ; 1 for mild swelling and erythema ; 2 for swelling and erythema of both tarsus and carpus ; and 3 for ankylosis and bony deformity . maximum score for all 4 paws was thus 12 . ( b ) grade for other parts of the body : for each ear , 0 . 5 for redness and another 0 . 5 if knots are present ; 1 for connective tissue swelling ( saddle nose ); and 1 for the presence of knots or kinks in the tail . the highest possible arthritic index was 16 . experiments with the aa model were repeated four times . oral administration of pyrimidine compounds of this invention ( e . g ., compound 12 ) reproducibly reduced the arthritic score and delayed the development of polyarthritis in a dose - dependent manner . the arthritis score used in this model was a reflection of the inflammatory state of the structures monitored and the results therefore show the ability of the test compound to provide relief for this aspect of the pathology . treatment of crohn &# 39 ; s disease in dinitrobenzene sulfonic acid - induced inflammatory bowel syndrome model rats : wistar derived male or female rats weighing 200 ± 20 g and fasted for 24 hours were used . distal colitis was induced by intra - colonic instillation of 2 , 4 - dinitrobenzene sulfonic acid ( dnbs , 25 mg in 0 . 5 ml ethanol 30 %) after which air ( 2 ml ) was gently injected through the cannula to ensure that the solution remained in the colon . a test compound and / or vehicle was administered orally 24 and 2 hours before dnbs instillation and then daily for 5 days . one control group was similarly treated with vehicle alone while the other is treated with vehicle plus dnbs . the animals were sacrificed 24 hours after the final dose of test compound administration and each colon was removed and weighed . colon - to - body weight ratio was then calculated for each animal according to the formula : colon ( g )/ bw × 100 . the “ net ” increase in ratio of vehicle - control + dnbs group relative to vehicle - control group was used as a base for comparison with test substance treated groups and expressed as “% deduction .” pyrimidine compounds of this invention ( e . g ., compound 12 ) reproducibly had about 30 % deduction . a 30 % or more reduction in colon - to - body weight ratio , relative to the vehicle treated control group , was considered significant . rats treated with test substance orally showed a marked reduction in the inflammatory response . these experiments were repeated three times and the effects were reproducible . treatment of crohn &# 39 ; s disease in cd4 + cd45rb high t cell - reconstituted scid colitis model mice : spleen cells were prepared from normal female balb / c mice . for cell purification , the following anti - mouse antibodies were used to label non - cd4 + t cells : b220 ( ra3 - 6b2 ), cd11b ( m1 / 70 ), and cd8α ( 53 - 6 . 72 ). all antibodies were obtained from biosource ( camarillo , calif .). m450 anti - rat igg - coated magnetic beads ( dynal , oslo , norway ) were used to bind the antibodies and negative selection was accomplished using an mpc - 1 magnetic concentrator . the enriched cd4 + cells were then labeled for cell sorting with fitc - conjugated cd45rb ( 16a , pharmingen , san diego , calif .) and pe - conjugated cd4 ( ct - cd4 , caltag , burlingame , calif .). cd4 + cd45rb high cells were operationally defined as the upper 40 % of cd45rb - staining cd4 + cells and sorted under sterile conditions by flow cytometry . harvested cells were resuspended at 4 × 10 6 / ml in pbs and injected 100 μl intraperitoneally into female c . b - 17 scid mice . pyrimidine compounds of this invention ( e . g ., compound 12 ) and / or vehicle was orally administered once a day , 5 days per week , starting the day following the transfer . the transplanted scid mice were weighed weekly and their clinical condition was monitored . colon tissue samples were fixed in 10 % buffered formalin and embedded in paraffin . sections ( 4 μm ) collected from ascending , transverse , and descending colon were cut and stained with hematoxylin and eosin . the severity of colitis was determined based on histological examination of the distal colon sections , whereby the extent of colonic inflammation was graded on a scale of 0 - 3 in each of four criteria : crypt elongation , cell infiltration , depletion of goblet cells , and the number of crypt abscesses . lp lymphocytes were isolated from freshly obtained colonic specimens . after removal of payer &# 39 ; s patches , the colon was washed in ca / mg - free hbss , cut into 0 . 5 cm pieces and incubated twice in hbss containing edta ( 0 . 75 mm ), dtt ( 1 mm ), and antibiotics ( amphotericin 2 . 5 μg / ml , gentamicin 50 μg / ml from sigma ) at 37 ° c . for 15 min . next , the tissue was digested further in rpmi containing 0 . 5 mg / ml collagenase d , 0 . 01 mg / ml dnase i ( boehringer manheim ), and antibiotics at 37 ° c . lp cells were then layered on a 40 - 100 % percoll gradient ( pharmacia , uppsala , sweden ), and lymphocyte - enriched populations were isolated from the cells at the 40 - 100 % interface . to measure cytokine production , 48 - well plates were coated with 10 μg / ml murine anti - cd3ε antibody ( 145 - 2c11 ) in carbonate buffer ( ph 9 . 6 ) overnight at 4 ° c . 5 × 10 5 lp cells were then cultured in 0 . 5 ml of complete medium in precoated wells in the presence of 1 μg / ml soluble anti - cd28 antibody ( 37 . 51 ). purified antibodies were obtained from pharmingen . culture supernatants were removed after 48 h and assayed for cytokine production . murine ifnγ was measured using an elisa kit from endogen ( cambridge , mass . ), according to the manufacturer &# 39 ; s instructions . histological analysis showed that oral administration of pyrimidine compounds of this invention ( e . g ., compound 12 ) reduced colonic inflammation as compared to vehicle control . the suppressive effect was dose - dependent with a substantial reduction at a dose of 10 mg / kg . the calculated colon - to - body weight ratio was consistent with the histological score , showing attenuation by treatment with the test compound . furthermore , analysis of cytokines from lp cells in response to anti - cd3 antibody and anti - cd28 antibody demonstrated that lp cells from vehicle control produced an augmented level of ifnγ and treatment with test substance greatly diminished the production . these results clearly demonstrated the potential of the test substance in treatment of inflammatory bowel disease represented by crohn &# 39 ; s disease . the compounds of the invention inhibit the expression of p40 that is a subunit of both il - 12 and il - 23 . therefore , inhibition of il - 23 in addition to il - 12 is expected . in order to confirm the hypothesis , an assay was established to specifically detect il - 23 using polyclonal antibodies recognizing p19 ( r & amp ; d systems , mn ), an il - 23 specific subunit . a 96 - well plate was coated with the antibodies at 1 μg / ml , and after washing incubated with the supernatants of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells ( pbmc ). the culture was stimulated with 1 μg / ml of liposaccharide ( lps ) ( fig2 ) or 0 . 025 % of s . aureus cowan i ( sac ) ( fig1 ) in the presence of test compound after ifn - γ priming . the captured il - 23 was then detected by a biotinylated goat anti - human p40 antibody that binds to p40 subunit of human il - 12 and il - 23 as a monomer or in the context of the respective heterodimer ( part 840099 of product dy1240 from r & amp ; d systems ). the plate was developed by incubation with streptavidin - hrp and then substrate solution ( r & amp ; d systems cat # dy999 ). recombinant il - 23 ( r & amp ; d systems ) was added as standard in the assay . the estimated detection range is from 0 . 1 to 10 ng / ml , and 1 ng / ml recombinant il - 12 heterodimer ( cell sciences , ma ) and p40 monomer ( r & amp ; d systems ) were under detection limit . to compare with the inhibition of il - 23 , the supernatant was also analyzed for il - 12 heterodimer and total p40 proteins using il - 12 specific elisa kit ( cell sciences ) and p40 elisa kit ( r & amp ; d systems ) respectively . il - 23 was significantly induced in ifn - γ / sac and ifn - γ / lps - stimulated human pbmc , and was inhibited by compound 12 in a dose - dependent manner . the inhibitory activity of compound 12 against il - 23 was comparable to that against p40 and slightly lower than that against il - 12 . gene expression of peripheral blood mononuclear cells after treatment with a compound of the invention changes in gene expression patterns of peripheral blood mononuclear cells ( pbmc ) are studied using a gene chip microarrays ( affymetrix , inc .). pbmc are stimulated with ifnγ plus sac , then dosed with 0 . 1 , 1 . 0 , 10 , 100 , or 1000 nm of a compound of the invention for 3 h . control pbmc are stimulated with ifγ alone and ifnγ plus sac . changes in gene expression patterns between the control samples and the samples dosed with a compound of the invention are compared . in order to know the kinetics in the expression , pbmc with ifnγ / sac are further studied at different time points ( 20 min , 1 . 5 h , 3 h , 6 h , and 16 h ) after the addition of the stimulus . in addition , pbmc preparations can be fractionated into t - cell enriched and monocyte - macrophage enriched populations , in order to distinguish the effects of a compound of the invention on these cell populations , following ifnγ / sac stimulation . genes preferentially expressed in monocyte / macrophage cells include first and foremost , those encoding the p40 subunit of il - 12 and il - 23 , as well as the p35 subunit of il - 12 . the expression of ebi3 is induced after stimulation with ifnγ / sac , and is expected to be dose - dependently inhibited by a compound of the invention because il - 27 is a heterodimer formed from subunits ebi3 and p28 , and ebi3 shares 27 % amino acid sequence homology with il - 12 p40 and p28 is a protein related to the p35 subunit of il - 12 . all of the features disclosed in this specification may be combined in any combination . each feature disclosed in this specification may be replaced by an alternative feature serving the same , equivalent , or similar purpose . thus , unless expressly stated otherwise , each feature disclosed is only an example of a generic series of equivalent or similar features . from the above description , one skilled in the art can easily ascertain the essential characteristics of the present invention , and without departing from the spirit and scope thereof , can make various changes and modifications of the invention to adapt it to various usages and conditions . for example , compounds structurally analogous a pyrimidine compound described in the specification also can be made , screened for their inhibiting il - 12 activities , and used to practice this invention . thus , other embodiments are also within the claims .	0
the present invention includes a standardized sample that may be used for evaluation and calibration of scatterometry equipment . as shown in fig3 , a representative embodiment of the standardized sample 300 has a square or rectangular shape that is conveniently described using x and y cartesian coordinates . standardized sample 300 is typically subdivided into four equal - sized quadrants ( labeled 1 through 4 in fig3 ). each quadrant is a square 1 . 24 cm by 1 . 24 cm making the entire standardized sample 2 . 5 cm square . each of these dimensions may be varied to suit the needs of particular applications . each quadrant is further subdivided into five blocks - an inner block and four outer blocks . in fig3 , the inner blocks are labeled by their quadrant number followed by the letter e ( 1 e , 2 e , 3 e and 4 e ). the outer blocks are labeled with their quadrant number followed by one of the letters a through d ( e . g ., 1 a or 3 b ). as shown more clearly in fig4 , the four outer blocks in each quadrant are grouped into two pairs : a vertically oriented pair including blocks a and c and a horizontally oriented pair including blocks b and d . for this particular example , the vertically oriented blocks ( a and c ) are 0 . 4 cm long in the x dimension and 0 . 8 cm long in the y dimension . the horizontally oriented blocks ( b and d ) are 0 . 8 cm long in the x dimension and 0 . 4 cm long in the y dimension . the inner block ( e ) is 0 . 4 cm by 0 . 4 cm . each quadrant is divided into a series of panels as shown in fig5 . the outer blocks a through d include six panels . the inner block e includes four panels . each of these panels is further subdivided into a series of test regions . as shown in fig6 , each of the panels within the outer blocks a through d includes five test areas . this gives each outer block a total of thirty test regions . each of the panels within the inner block e includes four test regions giving inner block e a total of sixteen test regions . each test regions includes the foreground pattern 700 shown in fig7 . the foreground pattern includes is a series of thirteen square gratings 702 . each grating 702 has a different size . for the particular example shown this includes 25 μm , 30 μm , 35 μm , 40 μm , 45 μm , 50 μm , 55 μm , 60 μm , 70 μm , 80 μm , 100 μm , 120 μm , and 140 μm gratings 702 . the size of each grating is printed to the grating &# 39 ; s left . for the example being described , the printing is 10 μm tall and is spaced 20 μm from the associated grating . the foreground pattern 700 also includes an alignment marker 704 . the alignment marker 704 is a 100 μm by 100 μm box that includes a pair of crossed , perpendicular lines . fig8 shows a representative implementation of a quadrant 302 with the foreground pattern 700 repeated in each test region . the same pitch is used for each of the thirteen gratings 702 within a given test region . a single pitch is also used for each of the test regions included in a given panel . this means , for example that each of the gratings within the four test regions of the first panel of the inner block has a 1000 nm pitch . the pitches used within each panel ( and each included test region and grating ) are summarized in the following table : panel 1 panel 2 panel 3 panel 4 panel 5 panel 6 1e 1000 nm 800 nm 700 nm 600 nm n / a 2e 500 nm 400 nm 300 nm 200 nm 3e 500 nm 400 nm 300 nm 200 nm 4e 1000 nm 800 nm 700 nm 600 nm 1a 1500 nm 1400 nm 1200 nm 1000 nm 900 nm 800 nm . . . 1d 2a 1500 nm 1400 nm 1200 nm 1000 nm 900 nm 800 nm . . . 2d 3a 700 nm 600 nm 500 nm 400 nm 300 nm 200 nm . . . 3d 4a 700 nm 600 nm 500 nm 400 nm 300 nm 200 nm . . . 4d as shown in this table , a wide range of pitches are included starting at 200 nm and extending to 1500 nm . as discussed , the same pitch is used for each grating within a given panel . the line size and line spacing is not , however , held constant within any panel . instead , the panels are configured so that each test area has a different line space and line size . for the first panel of the inner block e this means that the test regions have line spaces of 1 : 1 , 1 : 2 , 1 : 3 and 1 : 5 , respectively . the line spaces and line sizes used within each test region of each panel are summarized in the following table : test test test test test region region region region region 1 2 3 4 5 1b , 1c , l : s = 1 : 1 l : s = 1 : 2 l : s = 1 : 3 l : s = 1 : 4 l : s = 1 : 5 2b , 2c 1a , 1d , l : s = 5 : 1 l : s = 4 : 1 l : s = 3 : 1 l : s = 2 : 1 l : s = 1 : 1 2a , 2d 3b , 3c , l : s = 1 : 6 l : s = 1 : 7 l : s = 1 : 8 l : s = 1 : 10 film stack 4b , 4c 1a , 1d , l : s = 10 : 1 l : s = 8 : 1 l : s = 7 : 1 l : s = 6 : 1 film stack 2a , 2d 1e , 2e , l : s = 1 : 1 l : s = 1 : 2 l : s = 1 : 3 l : s = 1 : 5 n / a 3e , 4e as shown in this table , blocks b and c ( in all quadrants ) may be described as light fields . in these blocks line sizes are greater than , or equal to line spacings . blocks a and d ( in all quadrants ) are dark fields - line spacings are greater than , or equal to line sizes . this subdivision ( of blocks into light and dark fields ) splits the vertically oriented pair of blocks ( a and c ) into a conjugate pair including one light and one dark field . each test region in either of these blocks ( a or c ) is a negative image of the same test region in the block &# 39 ; s pair ( a or c ). in this context , negative image is meant to describe the situation where the line spacing a test region matches the line size of a second region ( and the line size within the first test region matches the line spacing within the second ). the horizontally oriented pair of blocks ( b and d ) is similarly split into a conjugate pair of one light and one dark field and test regions in either of these blocks ( b or d ) are negative images of the same test region in the block &# 39 ; s pair ( b or d ). as described , each test region includes the foreground pattern shown in fig7 . the panels within inner block e also include a background pattern . as shown in fig9 , the background pattern for the panels in inner blocks e 1 and e 3 is a 2 μm grid with a line width of 0 . 4 μm . fig1 shows the background pattern for inner blocks e 2 and e 4 . that background pattern is a grid of holes spaced at 1 μm . each hole has a diameter of 0 . 2 μm . standardized sample 300 is created by etching the surface of a dielectric film to create foreground patterns 700 . depending on the particular application , a wide range of different film stacks may be used for this purpose . one of these is labeled a in fig1 . as shown , film stack a includes a number of layers . the first ( lowermost ) of these ( layer 0 ) is a silicon substrate . the substrate is followed by a 100a oxide layer ( layer 1 ), a 500a nitride layer ( layer 2 ), and 4000a oxide layer ( layer 3 ). the etching process stops at the bottom of the uppermost layer ( layer 3 ). film stack a is intended to be easily etchable . the nitride layer ( layer 2 ) provides a robust stop for the etching process ( since it etches slowly ). the 100a oxide layer ( layer 1 ) ensures that the nitride layer ( layer 2 ) is not deposited directly on the silicon substrate ( layer 0 ). a second possible film stack is labeled b in fig1 . as shown , film stack b includes two layers . the first of these ( layer 0 ) is a silicon substrate . the substrate is followed by a 4000 a oxide ( layer 1 ). this combination ( ox / si ) is used to represent a dielectric etch . the etching process stops at the bottom of the uppermost layer ( layer 1 ). film stack b is intended to provide a simplified system for characterizing scatterometer performance . the use of two layers means that unnecessary variables and unknowns are eliminated . in some cases , it is possible that the etching process used to create film stack b will extend beyond the bottom of the uppermost layer ( layer 1 ). fig1 shows a film stack c that exhibits “ roughing ” of this type . to account for this , the scatterometry model used for film stack c is modified to include an effective medium at the bottom of the trenches formed during the etch process . fig1 shows a film stack d intended to model deep trenches . as shown , film stack d includes two layers . the first of these ( layer 0 ) is a silicon substrate . the substrate is followed by a 15000 a oxide ( layer 1 ). this combination ( ox / si ) is used to represent a dielectric etch . the etching process stops midway through the uppermost layer ( layer 1 ). the use of a thick , partially etched layer makes film stack d an effective model for deep trenches . fig1 shows a film stack e that includes three layers . the first of these ( layer 0 ) is a silicon substrate . the substrate is followed by a 100 a oxide layer ( layer 1 ), and a 1500 a nitride layer ( layer 2 ). this combination ( nitride / ox / si ) is used to represent nitride / ox / si . the etching process stops midway through the substrate layer ( layer 0 ). film stacks a , b , d and e are relatively simple and include a limited number of layers . to accurately model real - world samples , it is often necessary to include more layers . at the same time , it is generally desirable to avoid the tendency of many layer materials to age or change in response to exposure to light . fig1 shows a film stack f intended to address both of these objectives . film stack f includes a total of five layers . the first of these ( layer 0 ) is a silicon substrate . the substrate is followed by a 20 a oxide layer ( layer 1 ), a 2000 a poly - si layer ( layer 2 ), an inorganic arc ( sioxny ) layer at 193 / 248 nm ( layer 3 ) and a 3000 a oxide layer ( layer 4 ). the etching process stops at the bottom of the uppermost layer ( layer 4 ). layer 4 is intended to provide an inorganic substitute for an organic resist layer . the oxide used in this layer closely models the dielectric response of resist and is stable over time and exposure to light . layer 3 is , similarly intended to provide an inorganic and stable substitute for an organic arc ( anti - reflective coating ). fig1 a through 17 e show simulated spectral response curves for film stack f . the first figure in this series ( fig1 a ) shows the type of response that would be exhibited by film stack f during inspection by a reflectometer . each of the following figures is similar , except that the responses correspond to inspection by spectral ellipsometer . in particular , these curves correspond to the response curve of a broadband rotating compensator ellipsometer ( rce ) of the type disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 877 , 859 , incorporated herein by reference . in the case of fig1 b , the dc signal generated by a spectral ellipsometer is shown . fig1 c and 17 d show the sine of the two and four omega signals , respectively . fig1 e shows the cosine of the four omega signal . fig1 shows an un - etched , or pre - etched version of film stack f . un - etched portions of the film stack can be used to ascertain the dielectric properties of the film stack independently from the diffractive qualities of the gratings within the standardized sample . un - etched portions ( or entirely un - etched film stacks ) may also be used for calibration of ellipsometers and reflectometers . fig1 a through 19 d show simulated spectral response curves for the un - etched version of film stack f . the first figure in this series ( fig1 a ) shows the type of response that would be exhibited by the un - etched film stack f during inspection by a reflectometer . each of the following figures is similar , except that the responses correspond to inspection by spectral ellipsometer ( rce ). in the case of fig1 b , the dc signal generated by an off - axis spectral ellipsometer is shown . fig1 c and 19 d are calculations of the conventional ellipsometric parameters tan ( psi ) and cosine ( delta ) respectively . fig2 shows a second example of a film stack that is both stable and relatively complex . as shown , film stack g includes a total of four layers . the first of these ( layer 0 ) is a silicon substrate . the substrate is followed by a 20 a oxide layer ( layer 1 ), a 2000 a poly - si layer ( layer 2 ), and an inorganic arc ( sioxny ) layer at 193 / 248 nm ( layer 3 ). the etching process stops at the bottom of the top two layers ( layers 2 and 3 ). as described for film stack f , layer 3 is intended to provide an inorganic and stable substitute for an organic arc ( anti - reflective coating ). fig2 a through 21 e show simulated spectral response curves for film stack g . the first figure in this series ( fig2 a ) shows the type of response that would be exhibited by film stack g during inspection by a reflectometer . each of the following figures is similar , except that the responses correspond to inspection by spectral ellipsometer ( rce ). in the case of fig2 b , the dc signal generated by a spectral ellipsometer is shown . fig2 c and 21 d show the sine of the two and four omega signals , respectively . fig2 e shows the cosine of the four omega signal . fig2 shows an un - etched , or pre - etched version of film stack g . un - etched portions of the film stack can be used to ascertain the dielectric properties of the film stack independently from the diffractive qualities of the gratings within the standardized sample . un - etched portions ( or entirely un - etched film stacks ) may also be used for calibration of ellipsometers and reflectometers . fig2 a through 23 d show simulated spectral response curves for the un - etched version of film stack g . the first figure in this series ( fig2 a ) shows the type of response that would be exhibited by the un - etched film stack g during inspection by a reflectometer . each of the following figures is similar , except that the responses correspond to inspection by spectral ellipsometer ( rce ). in the case of fig2 b , the dc signal generated by an off - axis spectral ellipsometer is shown . fig2 c and 23 d show the calculation of tan ( psi ) and cos ( delta ) ellipsometric parameters . fig2 shows a third example of a stable film stack . as shown , film stack h includes a total of three layers . the first of these ( layer 0 ) is a silicon substrate . the substrate is followed by a 20 a oxide layer ( layer 1 ), and a 2000 a poly - si layer ( layer 2 ). this combination ( poly - si / ox / si ) is used to represent poly / ox / si . the etching process stops at the bottom of the uppermost layer ( layer 2 ). fig2 shows an un - etched , or pre - etched version of film stack h . un - etched portions of the film stack can be used to ascertain the dielectric properties of the film stack independently from the diffractive qualities of the gratings within the standardized sample . un - etched portions ( or entirely un - etched film stacks ) may also be used for calibration of ellipsometers and reflectometers . film stacks f , g and h are examples of a more generalized method for creating stabilized reference film stacks for use in standardized samples and other test samples . stabilized reference film stacks mimic the dielectric properties of production film stacks without having the tendency to age or change dielectric response when exposed to optical radiation . to create a stabilized reference film stack , the layers within a production film stack are subdivided into two categories . first category layers are the layers that tend to age or change optical response when exposed to optical radiation ( chiefly uv radiation ). typically , organic anti - reflective coatings , and organic photo - resistive layers are sensitive to uv radiation and are placed in the first category . second category layers are the layers within the production film stack that are relatively impervious to aging . inorganic layers are commonly included in this category . an effective layer is then defined for each layer included in the first category . each effective layer is designed to mimic , as closely as possible , the optical response that is exhibited by the corresponding layer in the first category . at the same time , the materials used for the effective layers are selected to be relatively impervious to aging . each effective layer may include one or more materials in one or more layers . the use of multiple materials and layers is required when the desired combination of optical response and age - resistance is not available or practical using a single material . in general , it should be appreciated that the process of defining effective layers is not perfect and that it is generally not possible to exactly match the dielectric response of the layers in the first category using substitute materials . at the same time it is generally possible to closely approximate the response of first category layers while greatly decreasingly the tendency for the resulting layers to age . in many cases , the effective layers are selected by substituting an inorganic compound for an aging - prone organic compound . this is particularly true for organic anti - reflective coatings and organic photo resist materials . the effective layers defined for organic anti - reflective coatings are typically fabricated using silicon oxide nitride ( sion ). the effective layers for organic photo resist layers are typically fabricated using silicon dioxide ( sio 2 ). the following tables list organic photo - resist materials and organic anti - reflective coatings for which replacement by inorganic materials may be appropriate : photo resist materials manufacturer apex - e ™ shipley company uviihs ™, uviii ™ uv ™ 82 , uv ™ 86 , uv ™ 110 , uv ™ 113 , uv ™ 135 , uv ™ 210 epic ™- s7 ultra - i 123 az ® exp 5888 , 5690s , 5200p , 5400p az electronic materia az ® dtf ™ 11 pfr ® ix1060g , pfr ® ix1010g jsr microelectronics eiris , krf , arf series tdmr , tdqr - iq , tdur - p / n series tokyo ohka kogyo co ., ltd sumiresist series sumitomo chemical once effective layers have been defined , the stabilized film stack may be constructed as a combination that includes the effective layers and replicates the layers from the second category . the overall result mimics the dielectric response of the production film stack without having the tendency to change over time . in general , it should be appreciated that the use of the term “ production ” is not intended to be limiting . this same method may be used to create stabilized reference film stacks that model the optical response of prototype or proposed film stacks .	6
fig1 and 1a show side views of first and second embodiments of a mobile crop baler 10 which includes a bale - receiving - structure 20 for weighing crop bales 5 . these two embodiments are now described in more detail . as seen in fig1 to 3 , the first embodiment of the electronic scale for weighing bales includes a mobile crop baler 10 which traverses a field of crops to be baled , such as hay , and produces crop bales 5 at the rear end 11 of the baler . the bales are successively pushed onto a bale chute platform 30 attached to the rear end 11 of the baler . a first pair of load cells 41 , 42 are mounted on the rear end of the baler in spaced relation to each other , one on each side of the rear end 11 of the baler , transversely to the longitudinal axis of the baler 10 . as best seen in fig3 ., the bale chute platform 30 is attached to the pair of load cells 41 , 42 by a pivotable connection which includes a unitary transverse member 45 having depending supports 46 , 47 to which is rotatably mounted bar 100 secured by bolted angle iron supports 48 , 49 to and supporting bale chute platform 30 at its inboard end nearest the baler 10 . other types pivotable connections may be used , may be used to connect the bale chute platform to the load cells . for example , heavy eyelets may be welded to the underside of the load cell casings and the mounting bar 100 may be rotatably supported in the eyelets and secured at its outer ends to bale chute platform 30 by the bolted angle iron supports 48 , 49 . the outboard end of the bale chute platform 30 is supported by a tether 70 secured to load cell 43 affixed to beam 50 which extends rearwardly from the rear end 11 of baler 10 . the tether 70 is a chain or similar lanyard which is of adjustable length to vary the angle of the bale chute platform 30 , and , therefore , the rate at which the bales are weighed . also , tether 70 acts as a constraint to the travel of the outboard end of the bale chute platform 30 about its pivotable connection to the baler . when , as frequently happens in the field , the underside of the bale chute platform contacts a berm and forces the bale chute platform upwardly relative to the longitudinal axis of the baler 10 , the platform 30 , by virtue of its pivotable connection 100 , 46 , 47 to load cells 41 , 42 and its tethered connection 70 to load cell 43 , is enabled to first swing its outboard end up against the pressure of shock absorber 60 until the berm is traversed and then swing its outboard end back to its lowered position restrained and supported by the limited length of tether 70 . thus , damage to the load cells 41 , 42 , 43 , which would otherwise have occurred through a rigid non - pivotable connection , is prevented . optional bale support pipes 110 mounted to the bale - receiving - structure 20 help to hold the bale on the bale chute platform 30 while it is being weighed . the next bale , and gravity by virtue of the vertical angel of the platform 30 set by tether 70 , push the weighed bale rearwardly until it hits optional pyramid 120 mounted to platform 30 which kicks the bale 5 one quarter turn counterclockwise causing it to fall into the space 22 between the bale chute platform 30 and the bale chute member 21 and to stand upright in the crop row being baled in the field for subsequent pick up . support pipes 110 , or a similar member , may be needed especially in retrofitting existing dale chute platforms to include the present invention . the weight of bale 5 causes a downward displacement of platform 30 which stresses the load cells 41 , 42 , and 43 that are connected to platform 30 . the amount of stress that is applied to each load cell causes a proportional amount of deflection to occur within the load cell . each load cell then produces an output voltage (&# 34 ; load cell output voltage &# 34 ;) corresponding to the proportional amount of deflection that occurs . referring to fig4 load cell wires 91 , 92 , and 93 are each connected to the outputs of load cells 41 , 42 , and 43 respectively through quick disconnects 130 , and the load cell wires are then connected to a bell box 90 so that each of the load cell output voltages are transmitted to a central location . load cell wires 91 , 92 , and 93 are connected together in parallel to a common junction in the bell box 90 . commoning the load cell outputs in parallel produces a voltage value that reflects the average amount of deflection that occurred in all of the load cells (&# 34 ; average load cell voltage &# 34 ;) from the weight of a bale 5 . the average load cell voltage is transmitted to the digital indicator 140 via bell box wire 95 connected from the output of the bell box 90 to the digital indicator 140 . the digital indicator receives and samples a number of average load cell voltages for a given bale 5 over a predetermined time period . the average value of the number of voltages sampled over the time period is then computed , and this average value is defined as the weight voltage . the digital indicator 140 then correlates the weight voltage to a corresponding actual bale weight , and the actual weight of the bale is displayed by the indicator 140 . as shown in fig4 the connectors 130 may be inserted between the load cells and the bell box wire 95 and between the bell box and the digital indicator 140 so that the load cells and digital indicator 140 can be quickly and conveniently disconnected and reconnected to allow the operator to remove the bale chute platform and electronic scale components for re - rigging another mobile baler 10 or for hilly road travel . referring to fig1 the electronic scale 20 has other features that allow it to more accurately weigh bales . one such feature is a shock absorbing spring 60 or similar structure , such as a shock absorber , mounted between the beam 50 and platform 30 to absorb shock and dampen vibrations and oscillations of the bale - receiving - structure 20 . another such feature is the use of chains 80 as shown in fig1 and 3 which support the platform 30 to the baler 10 during rigging and de - rigging or in the event of a failure . referring now to fig5 the digital indicator 140 is shown mounted in the cab of the baler 10 . the bell box output wire 95 connects to the digital indicator 140 . the digital indicator 140 allows the operator to monitor the actual weights of the bales . as in well known in the art , the operator may then manually change the bale pressure adjuster 160 by rotating knob 161 to increase or decrease the bale pressure so that the actual weight of the bale is adjusted to a predetermined bale weight . alternatively , the bale density and weight can be controlled by an automatic feedback controller 150 which automatically monitors and maintains the actual weight of the bale at the desired weight level . the automatic feedback controller 141 includes a circuit coupled to the digital indicator 140 , such as , a conventional microprocessor driven digital computer , which compares the bale weight voltage ( i . e . the voltage that reflects the actual weight of the bale ) to a voltage that represents the desired weight level (&# 34 ; desired weight voltage &# 34 ;). after the voltages are compared , an error signal is determined and a correction signal is transmitted through controller wire 145 to bale pressure adjuster 160 to effect the necessary change in bale density to reduce the error signal to zero . the automatic feedback controller 141 therefore controls the bale pressure adjuster 160 to either automatically increase or decrease the bale density as needed to maintain the actual weight of the bale at a desired level . the actual weight of the bale is continuously adjusted so long as error signals are detected . the electronic scale of the present invention significantly improves the accuracy of weighed bales . this system can continuously maintain accuracy to within two pounds of desired weight when moving and to within 1 pound of desired weight when stationary . this is a significant improvement over prior art systems whose accuracy is only about ± 20 pounds of desired weight . fig1 a and 3a show the second embodiment of the electronic scale of the present invention for weighing bales . the second embodiment incorporates all of the features of the first embodiment , but there are two main differences . one difference is that the second embodiment makes use of four load cells instead of just three load cells . as shown in fig3 a , the fourth load cell 44 is shown to be mounted to a beam 55 , and the beam 55 is mounted to the left side of the bale chute 11 . in fig4 when a fourth load cell 44 is used , an additional load cell wire 94 would connect from the output of load cell 44 to the common junction in bell box 90 . the use of this fourth load cell 44 allows for the more accurate weighing of the bales on scale 20 since there is one more additional load cell that detects the weight of the bale . the second difference is that beams 50 and 55 are mounted at the top of the rear end 11 of baler 10 instead of at the bottom . the advantage of placing these two beams at an elevated position is that platform 30 can then pivot to a greater extent in very hilly terrain which reduces the risk of damage to scale components when traversing large berms or of damaging the bale - receiving - structure by avoiding having platform 30 hitting the elevated beams 50 and 55 . other than these two main differences , the second embodiment encompasses all of the advantages and features of the first embodiment . the foregoing description of a preferred embodiment and best mode of the invention known to applicant at the time of filing the application has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description . it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed , and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in the light of the above teaching . the embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated . it is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto .	6
some other objects , features and advantages of the present invention will appeal from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof , taken together with the attached drawings in which : fig1 is a plan view of a diaper embodying the present invention , before folding ; fig2 is a perspective view of the diaper of fig1 after folding and stitching ; fig3 is a section taken at 3 -- 3 of fig 2 ; fig5 is a plan view of a second diaper embodying the present invention , before folding ; fig6 is a simplified transverse sectional view illustrating the folding of a conventional birdseye woven diaper ; fig7 is a simplified transverse sectional view illustrating the folding of a birdseye woven diaper embodying the present invention ; fig8 - 10 are simplified sectional views illustrating the folding of other diapers embodying the present invention . referring now to fig1 - 3 , there is shown a multi - panel diaper , generally designated 10 , made from a woven fabric blank 8 . the fabric of the blank is woven in a 50 inch width from 24 / 1 ( i . e ., 24 ne , single ply ) cotton filling yarns and randomly alternating s and z twist 31 / 1 ( i . e ., 31 ne , single ply ) cotton warp yarns . the direction of the warp and filling yarns is as indicated in fig1 and 2 . across its transverse width , the fabric of blank 8 includes several different zones of different weave . zones 12 and 24 are woven double ply in a plain weave . zones 14 , 16 , 18 , 20 and 22 are woven single ply in a 2 / 2 ( or alternatively a 3 . 1 or a 3 / 2 ) twill weave . the other construction details of the different zones are as follows : ______________________________________ no . of warp no . of fillingzone yarns / inch yarns / inch width of zone______________________________________12 49 ( per ply ) 19 ( per ply ) 6 . 2 in . 14 66 38 9 . 6 in . 16 98 38 1 . 5 in . 18 66 38 13 . 1 in . 20 98 38 9 . 6 in . 22 66 38 6 . 2 in . 24 49 ( per ply ) 19 ( per ply ) 6 . 2 in . ______________________________________ after weaving , the fabric is bleached and dried , as is conventional , to provide a blank 48 inches wide . the bleached and dried blank 8 is then folded , as shown in fig2 and 3 , forming a center panel ( about 51 / 2 in . wide and generally designated 50 ) including zones 12 and 24 and part of zones 14 , 18 and 22 , and two side sections ( each about 41 / 2 in . wide and generally designated 52 and 54 , respectively ) one of which includes zones 16 and part of zones 14 and 18 and the other of which includes zones 22 and part of zones 18 and 22 . the folded blank is stitched along lines 26 and 28 , thus securing the various panels together . as will be seen , zones 16 and 20 act as wear strips along the diaper edges . after cutting to 21 inch lengths ( the typical length of a diaper ) the transverse cut edges are secured by overedge stitching , as shown at 30 and 32 in fig2 completing the prefolded diaper . the advantages of the diaper of fig1 through 3 can best be appreciated by comparison to the conventional diaper , generally designated 100 , shown in fig4 . the overall weights of the fabrics of diaper 100 and diaper 10 are about the same , about 3 . 8 to 3 . 9 yards per pound without starch . diaper 100 is made from fabric woven double ply . the top ply has 54 warp yarns / inch ; the bottom ply has 36 warp yarns / inch ; and there are 29 filling yarns per inch in each ply . the double - ply fabric thus has a total of 90 warp yarns and 58 filling yarns per inch . the width of the diaper blank after bleaching and drying is 36 inches and the blank is folded so that the center panel 150 of the diaper includes three superposed blank layers ( a total of six plies ) while each of the two side panels 152 , 154 includes two superposed blank layers ( a total of four plies ). the total thread count per square inch in central panel 150 thus is 444 , [( 3 ( 54 + 29 ))+( 3 ( 36 + 29 ))], while that in each of the side panels 152 , 154 is 296 . [( 2 ( 54 + 29 ))+( 2 ( 36 + 29 ))]. it thus will be seen that the total thread count per square inch in the central panel is fifty ( 50 ) percent greater than that in the side sections ; and , since the total width of the side panels is about 41 / 2 inches while that of the center section is about 51 / 2 inches , about fifty ( 50 ) percent of the total diaper weight is in the center panel . in diaper 10 of the present invention , center panel 50 includes five superposed blank layers ( a total of seven plies ), as follows : ______________________________________blank layer thread count per in .. sup . 2______________________________________14 66 + 38 = 10412 2 ( 49 + 19 ) = 13422 66 + 38 = 10424 2 ( 49 + 19 ) = 13418 66 + 38 = 104 total ( center panel 50 ) 580______________________________________ ______________________________________blank layer thread count per in .. sup . 2______________________________________14 or 22 66 + 38 = 10418 66 + 38 = 104 total ( side panels 50 , 52 ) 208______________________________________ since each side panel 50 , 54 is about 41 / 2 inches wide while center panel 50 is about 51 / 2 inches wide , a little over 60 % of the total weight of diaper 10 is in the center panel . it thus will be seen that diaper 10 has both a greater percentage of its total weight and a higher total thread count per square inch in its center panel than does diaper 100 . strike - through tests show also that diaper 10 has significantly better absorbency than does diaper 100 . such tests are conducted by cutting 4 inch diameter samples from the center panels of the respective diapers , placing the samples over a funnel , and then applying 40 milliliters of water ( typically from a calibrated burrett ) to the sample over the funnel . the total amount of water that passes ( i . e ., &# 34 ; strikes &# 34 ;) through the cut - out samples is collected and measured . it has been found that an average of 8 . 75 milliliters ( of the total 40 ml . applied from the burrett ) strikes through cut - out samples from diaper 10 , while about twice as much ( an average of 17 . 0 ml . of the total 40 ml . applied ) strikes through the cut - out samples from the conventional diaper 100 . based on these tests , the diaper 10 constructed in accord with the present invention is expected to be about 50 % more absorbent than a conventional diaper such as diaper 100 . the diaper 10 of the present invention is also more economical to manufacture . the two diapers , and the fabrics from which the respective diaper blanks are made , have about the same overall weight . however , because the diaper fabric of the present invention requires only 38 filling yarns per inch , as contrasted with the 58 filling yarns per inch of the conventional diaper fabric , the production rate of fabric for diaper 10 is about 50 % greater than that of fabric for conventional diaper 100 . in other embodiments of the invention , other thread counts and weaves may be employed . the following are exemplary . a single layer diaper fabric having a thread count of 78 warp yarns per inch and 35 filling yarns per inch may be woven from 31 / 1 warp yarns and 27 / 1 filling yarns . if such a fabric is woven 50 inches wide , dried to provide a blank of 48 inch width and than folded as shown in fig2 and 3 , the resulting diaper will have a total thread count of 565 threads per square inch in its center panel ( which is 5 blank layers thick ) and 226 threads per square inch in its two side panels . such a diaper will have about the same total weight as diaper 100 , but can be made at an approximately 55 % higher production rate . diaper fabric having the five - zone construction shown in fig5 was woven in a 50 inch width from 27 / 1 cotton filling yarn and a 50 / 50 mixture of randomly alternating s and z twist 31 / 1 cotton warp yarns . all zones were woven single ply , 34 picks per inch ; and the various zones had the following additional construction details : ______________________________________ no . of warps approx . widthzone weave yarns / inch of zone______________________________________70 2 / 1 twill 72 161 / 2 in . 72 cord 96 11 / 2 in . 74 2 / 1 twill 72 14 inches76 cord 96 11 / 2 in . 78 2 / 1 twill 72 161 / 2 in . ______________________________________ after bleaching , the fabric was dried to provide a 48 inch wide blank ; and the blank was folded and stitched in the manner shown in fig2 and 3 to secure the blank layers together , and cut to 21 inch lengths . overedge stitching was applied to the cut ends , as shown in fig3 . zones 72 and 76 formed wear strips along the diaper &# 39 ; s side edges . the resulting diaper had a total thread count of 212 per square inch in its side panels ( both of which are two blank layers thick , and one of which includes portions of zones 70 and 74 and the other of which includes portions of zones 74 and 78 ) and 530 per square inch in its center panel ( which is five blank layers thick and includes portions of zones 70 , 74 and 78 ). the production rate for the fabric from which the diaper is made is about 50 percent greater than that of the conventional fabric for diaper 100 . diaper fabric of zoned construction , including seven zones of the same respective widths as zones 12 through 24 of diaper 10 was woven in a 50 inch width using 27 / 1 cotton filling yarns and 31 / 1 cotton warp yarns . other construction details of the various zones ( identified by the same number as the corresponding zones of diaper 10 but adding a differentiating prime , are as follows : ______________________________________ no . of warp no . of fillingzone yarns / inch yarns / inch weave______________________________________12 &# 39 ; 51 ( per ply ) 17 ( per ply ) plain , double ply14 &# 39 ; 62 33 3 / 1 twill16 &# 39 ; 82 33 3 / 1 twill18 &# 39 ; 62 33 3 / 1 twill20 &# 39 ; 82 33 3 / 1 twill22 &# 39 ; 62 33 3 / 1 twill24 &# 39 ; 51 ( per ply ) 17 ( per ply ) plain , double ply______________________________________ after bleaching , the fabric was dried at a 48 inch width , and the resulting blank was folded as in fig2 and stitched along the seam lines corresponding to lines 26 and 28 to secure the blank layers together . after cutting to 21 inch lengths , the cut edges were secured by overedge stitching , in the manner shown in fig3 . the resulting diaper had good absorbency values and a production rate over 50 % greater than that of diaper 10 . a diaper fabric was woven in the same manner as the diaper of example iii , except that the zones corresponding to zones 12 &# 39 ;, 18 &# 39 ; and 24 &# 39 ; were woven in a honeycomb weave construction . the resulting diaper had good absorbency . a diaper fabric was woven , 50 inches wide in a single layer 2 / 2 broken twill weave ; and the fabric was then bleached , dried , folded , cut and stitched in the same manner as described with reference to diaper 10 . the resulting diaper had good absorbency . two diaper fabrics were produced in a 50 inch width using 15 / 1 cotton filling yarns and 31 / 1 cotton warp yarns . one fabric was woven in a 3 - float birdseye weave ; the other in a 3 - float diamond weave . both weaves were produced using approximately 56 warp yarns per inch and 22 filling yarns per inch . after bleaching , the fabrics were dried at 48 inch wide ; and the resulting blanks were folded and stitched as in fig2 and then cut to 21 inch length and overedge stitched along the cut edges as shown in fig 3 . diapers made from the diamond weave fabric are expected to have better integrity than those from the birdseye weave . both diaper fabrics have a greater production rate than conventional birdseye diapers , and can be expected to have significantly better absorbency than a conventional birdseye diaper . a conventional birdseye diaper typically is made from a single ply fabric , woven with 31 / 1 warp yarns ( 56 yarns per inch ) and 12 / 1 filling yarns ( 28 yarns per inch ) and folded ( as shown in fig6 ) so as to produce a central panel 650 that is 3 blank layers thick and side panels 652 and 654 each of which is two blank layers thick . diaper fabric was produced in a 44 inch width , using 11 . 3 / 1 cotton filling yarns and 31 / 1 cotton warp yarns to produce a 3 - float birdseye weave having approximately 50 warp yarns per inch and 28 filling yarns per inch . after bleaching , the fabric was dried to provide a 42 inch wide blank that was then folded as shown in fig7 to provide a diaper having a center panel 750 that is 4 blank layers thick and side panels 752 , 754 that are each 2 blank layers thick . the folded blanks were stitched along lines 726 , 728 to secure the folded layers together , and then cut to 21 inch lengths . the cut edges were seamed by overedge stitching , in the same manner as shown in fig3 with respect to diaper 10 . strike - through testing showed that the diaper of example viii was about 30 percent more absorbent ( an average strike - through of 15 . 5 milliliters of water as compared to 22 milliliters ) in its center panel than a conventional birdseye diaper . as will be apparent , diaper fabrics made in accord with the present invention may be folded in several ways other than as shown in , for example , fig2 and 7 . fig8 and 9 illustrate two further ways that 50 inch wide ( dried to 48 inch ) fabric may be folded . as is evident , the diapers shown in each of fig8 - 9 include center panels that are 5 blank layers thick ( there are a total of 7 plies in the center panel of the diaper of fig8 in which , as in diaper 10 , the end zones are woven double - layer ) and side panels that are 2 blank layers thick . fig1 illustrates another way in which 44 inch wide ( dried to 42 inch wide ) birdseye woven fabric may be folded to provide , as in the diaper of fig7 four blank layers in the center panel and two blank layers in each of the side panels .	0
fig1 diagrammatically shows a rotary tubular actuator 100 designed to drive in rotation a winding tube 1 on which an apron 2 for closing an opening 0 can be wound to various extents . the tube 1 is driven by the actuator 100 in rotation about an axis of revolution x - x that is disposed horizontally at the top of the opening . for example , the opening o is an opening provided in the walls of a building . the actuator 100 , the tube 1 , and the apron 2 then form a motor - driven roller blind . the actuator 100 comprises a stationary cylindrical tube 101 in which a motor - and - gearbox unit 102 is mounted that is made up of an electric motor 103 , a first gearbox stage 104 , a spring brake 105 , a second gearbox stage 106 , and an outlet shaft 107 that projects at one end 101 a of the tube 101 , and that drives a wheel - ring 3 that is constrained to rotate with the tube 1 . the winding tube 1 turns about the axis x - x and about the stationary tube 101 by means of two pivot couplings . a bearing - ring 4 mounted on the outside periphery of the tube 101 in the vicinity of its end 101 b opposite from the end 101 a forms the first pivot coupling . the second pivot coupling is installed at the other end of the tube 1 and is not shown . the actuator 100 further comprises a fastening part 109 that projects from the end 101 e and that makes it possible to fasten the actuator 100 to a frame 5 . said fastening part 109 is , in addition , designed to close off the tube 101 and to support a control module 108 for controlling the power supply to the motor 103 . said control module is powered via a mains power supply cable 6 . while the tubular actuator 100 is operating , the motor - and - gearbox unit 102 drives in rotation the shaft 107 which , in turn , drives in rotation the tube 1 via the wheel - ring 3 . for example , when the actuator 100 is installed in a roller blind case , the shaft 103 rotating causes the opening o to be opened and to be closed in alternation . the apron 2 thus moves vertically in the opening o , between an opening high position and a closure low position . fig2 to 4 more particularly show the structure of the spring brake 105 in a first embodiment of the invention . as shown in fig1 , a rotor of the motor 103 drives an epicyclic gear train of the first gearbox stage 104 . the cylinder 110 of the epicyclic train that carries three planet gears also forms an inlet part of the brake 105 . the brake 105 includes a helical spring 130 having its turns centered on an axis x 130 that coincides with the axis x - x when the brake 105 is in place , as shown in fig1 . said spring is mounted in tight - fitting manner inside a bore 141 in a friction part 140 . in other words , the outside envelope 131 of the spring 130 , which envelope is defined by the outside generator lines of its turns , bears against the radial surface of the bore 141 , thereby tending to secure together the spring 130 and the part 140 by friction . each end of the spring 130 forms a tab 132 a , 132 b extending radially towards the axis x 130 and towards the inside of the spring , from its turns . the inlet part 110 is provided with two protuberances or “ teeth ” 111 a and 111 b that fit into the helical spring 130 . each protuberance 111 a or 111 b has a face 113 a or 113 b suitable for being in contact respectively with a surface 133 a of a first tab 132 a forming the first end of the spring or with a surface 133 b of the second tab 132 b forming the second end of the spring . the surface 133 a is disposed in a manner such that action on said surface causes the spring to be moved in rotation about the axis x 130 in a direction that is opposite from the direction of rotation of the spring if the action is exerted on the surface 133 b . action by one of the teeth 111 a or 111 b on a surface 133 a or 133 b tends to release the brake , i . e . to move one of the tabs 132 a or 132 b in a manner such that the radial stress between the outside envelope 131 of the helical spring 130 and the friction surface of the bore 141 decreases . this action from one of the teeth 111 a or 111 b tends to contract the spring 130 radially about the axis x - x , so that its outside envelope moves away from the surface of the bore 141 . the part 110 thus makes it possible to act on the spring 130 to reduce the contact force between the spring and the friction surface of the bore 141 . the spring can then turn about the axis x 130 that coincides with the central axis x 105 of the brake 105 , itself coinciding with the axis x - x when the actuator 100 is in the assembled configuration shown in fig1 . a direction or a dimension is said to be “ axial ” when it extends or is measured parallel to the axis x 105 . a direction is said to be radial when it is perpendicular to and intersects the axis x 105 . an outlet part 120 of the brake 105 is situated in register with the inlet part 110 . the outlet part is provided with two lugs 121 a , 121 c also fitting into the helical spring 130 . the lug 121 a is provided with two recesses or setbacks 122 a , 122 b disposed on either side of said lug . each recess 122 a or 122 b is designed to receive a respective one of the tabs 132 a , 132 b of the spring and is defined partially by a surface 124 a , 124 b suitable for being in contact with a surface 134 a , 134 b of a tab 132 a , 132 b . the surfaces 134 a and 134 b are opposite from respective ones of the surfaces 133 a and 133 b . action on one of the surfaces 134 a , 134 b tends to move the tabs 132 a and 132 b apart , thereby causing the turns of the spring 130 to expand radially relative to the axis x 130 and increasing the contact force between the spring 130 and the friction surface of the bore 141 . this results in actuating the brake , i . e . in blocking or in strongly braking the rotation of the spring 130 relative to the part 140 . thus , the radial stress between the outside envelope 131 of the helical spring and the friction surface 141 increases , thereby holding the part 120 stationary or braking it strongly about the axes x 105 and x 130 . in order to enable the brake to operate , it is necessary to have angular clearance between the teeth 111 a and 111 b of the inlet part 110 and the tabs 132 a and 132 b of the spring . similarly , angular clearance is also necessary between the lug 121 a and the tabs 132 a and 132 b of the spring . the width of the lug 121 a is designed for this purpose . in addition , the axial length l 111 or l 121 of the portions 111 a , 111 b , and 121 a is slightly greater than the axial length l 130 of the spring . the outlet part 120 is also provided with a set of teeth 129 forming the interface with the second gearbox stage 106 . the necessary centering of the outlet part 120 relative to the inlet part 110 is achieved by a shaft 118 projecting axially relative to the inlet part , on the same side as the outlet part 120 . said shaft 118 serves as guide means for guiding the outlet part , by means of a bore 128 provided through the center of said outlet part . as appears more particularly from fig3 to 4 , the load l constituted by the apron 2 can be considered as being secured to the outlet part 120 , via the elements 1 , 3 , 106 , and 107 , as indicated by the vertical dashed line in fig3 and 4 . the weight of the load l exerts torque c l on the outlet part 120 that tends to cause it to turn about the axis x 105 , in the clockwise direction in fig3 and 4 . reference x 120 designates the central axis of the outlet part 120 , which axis coincides with the axis x 105 when the brake is in the assembled configuration . while the load l is being raised , and as shown diagrammatically in fig3 , rotation of the outlet part 120 in the clockwise direction in fig3 , which rotation is normally induced by the torque c l , is blocked by the inlet part 110 . the inlet part 110 is driven in rotation in the counterclockwise direction in fig3 by torque c m generated by the motor and weighted by the efficiency of the first gearbox stage 104 . the two protuberances 111 a and 111 b of the inlet part 110 pivot about the coinciding axes x 105 and x - x until one of the protuberances 111 a or 111 b is in contact with a face 123 a or 123 b of the lug 121 a of the outlet part . whereupon , the other protuberance 111 b or 111 a also enters into contact with one of the faces 123 c or 123 d of the second lug 121 c of the outlet part . therefore , the drive torque c m is transmitted to the outlet part via two sets of contact surfaces , formed between the faces 113 a and 113 d and the faces 123 a and 123 d that are diametrically opposite each other about the axis x 105 and about the axis x 120 of the outlet part , thereby causing the radial component of the resultant of the torque c m exerted on the outlet part 120 to be reduced or eliminated . the drive torque c m is of opposite direction to the load torque c l . the faces 123 a and 123 d constitute the contact surfaces of the outlet part 120 . the balance of the forces to which the outlet part 120 is subjected is shown in fig3 . the load torque c l is balanced by forces f 1a and f 1b resulting respectively from the surface 113 a of the tooth 111 a and the surface 123 a of the lug 121 a bearing against each other , and from the surface 113 d of the tooth 111 b and the surface 123 d of the lug 121 c bearing against each other . these two forces f 1a and f 1b express in terms of forces the drive torque c m necessary for overcoming the load torque c l . since the two forces f 1a and f 1b are of substantially the same magnitude and are substantially symmetrical about the central axis x 120 of the outlet part , the radial component of the resultant of the torque c m of the outlet part 120 is negligible , or even zero . it should be noted that the shaft 118 of the inlet part making it possible to center the outlet part is not in contact with the bore 128 of the outlet part in this configuration , due to the fact that the radial component of the above - mentioned resultant is negligible . in order to raise the load , the torque c m must be greater than the sum of the load torque c l and of the drag torque of the brake spring due to the residual friction between the outside envelope 131 of the spring and the friction surface of the bore 141 . at start - up , the torque c m to be exerted must be larger because , in order to release the brake 105 , it is necessary to overcome a static friction force . thus , the protuberance 111 a acts on one of the tabs of the spring , which tab is , in this example , the tab 132 a , received in the recess 122 a , as soon as the lug 121 a is driven in rotation . while the load l is being lowered , and as shown diagrammatically in fig4 , the outlet part rotating in the clockwise direction in fig4 is not stopped by the inlet part but by the spring 130 . thus , the load torque c l presses the lug 121 a against one of the tabs 132 a or 132 b , namely the tab 132 a in this example . the effect of this is to expand the turns of the spring 130 radially and to activate the brake 105 , as explained above . the torque c l exerted by the lug 121 a on the surface 134 a of the tab 132 a is weighted by the efficiency of the second gearbox stage 106 . the tab 132 a is engaged in the recess 122 a . the drive torque c m is in the same direction as the load torque c l . the balance of the forces of the outlet part is shown in fig4 . the load torque c l is balanced by two forces f 2a and f 2b . the first force f 2a corresponds to the reaction of the face 134 a of the tab 132 a of the spring 130 against the bearing face 124 a of the recess 122 a . since said first force f 2a does not make it possible to compensate for the load torque c l fully , the outlet part 120 tends to move perpendicularly to the axis x 105 , relative to the preceding bearing configuration , until the outlet part comes into contact with its guide means formed by the shaft 118 that is secured to or integral with the inlet part 110 . the bore 128 for guiding the outlet part thus comes into contact with the shaft 118 , then generating the second radial force f 2b making it possible to balance the load torque c l . said second force f 2b generates friction during the downward movement of the load . this friction brakes the load and is added to the braking torque of the spring . it thus contributes to the reactivity of the brake . the response time of the brake is faster than the response time of a brake for which said friction does not exist . it should be noted that , for this embodiment , the inlet part 110 is itself centered relative to the friction part 140 by means of a cylindrical web whose envelope surface ( not shown ) co - operates with the bore 141 in the friction part . therefore , the preceding force f 2b induces an equivalent force ( not shown ) between the inlet part 110 and the friction part 140 . said equivalent force participates in the secondary braking torque and contributes to the reactivity of the brake . in order to make it possible to lower the load , it is necessary to release the brake . for this purpose , the drive torque c m drives the protuberances 111 a and 111 b of the inlet part 110 in rotation , the protuberance 111 b being driven by said drive torque until it comes into abutment against the face 133 b of the tab 132 b of the spring 130 . by this action , the spring 130 is relaxed and the outlet part 120 can turn , by means of the load torque c l . the parts 110 and 120 are then not in direct contact . if the direction of winding of the load is reversed , operation is identical . operation of the brake is thus symmetrical , which makes it easier for it to be installed because the performance of the brake is the same , regardless of the raising direction of the actuator , i . e . regardless of the direction of the drive torque c m that serves to raise the screen 2 . fig5 shows a conventional prior art spring brake , and more particularly how it behaves during raising . the portions of the brake that are shown in fig5 and that are analogous to the portions of the brake 105 bear like references minus 100 . for that type of brake , the outlet part is not designed to balance the load torque during raising . the outlet part 20 is provided with one lug 21 a only . during raising , operation is similar to operation of the brake 105 in the configuration shown in fig3 . the drive torque c m drives a protuberance 11 a in rotation until said protuberance comes into contact with one face 33 a of a tab 32 a of the spring 30 . the opposite face 34 a of the tab is in abutment against a face 23 a of the lug 21 a of the outlet part 20 by means of the load torque c l . therefore , the drive torque c m is transmitted to the outlet part 20 via the tab 32 a of the spring 30 . in the embodiment of the invention that is described above with reference to fig1 to 4 , the drive torque is transmitted directly to the outlet part 120 by contact between one face 113 a of the inlet part 110 and one face 123 a of the outlet part 120 , the spring tab then being retracted into the recess 122 a provided for this purpose . this makes it possible to achieve better torque transmission and to stress the parts less . in the brake shown in fig5 , the load torque cl is not sufficiently taken up by a tab 32 a of the spring to balance said torque , and therefore induces a radial force on the outlet part 20 . that radial force causes the outlet part to move until it is in contact with its guide means that are formed by the bore 41 in the friction part 40 . the outlet part 20 has a cylindrical web whose envelope surface 25 makes it possible to perform the guiding in the bore 41 . thus , the load torque is balanced firstly by a force f ′ 1a corresponding to the lug 21 a bearing against the tab 32 a of the spring 30 and secondly by a force f ′ 1b , resulting from the outlet part 20 bearing against the bore 41 in the friction part 40 . given that , during raising , the outlet part 20 has a relative speed relative to the friction part 40 , said force f ′ 1b generates friction during the load - raising movement . in order to lift the load l , the drive torque c m must therefore be greater than the sum of the load torque c l , of said friction , and , on start - up , of the torque necessary to release the brake . therefore , said friction adversely affects the dimensioning of the motor because said motor must be more powerful in order to compensate for the additional friction resulting from the force f ′ 1b . for lowering the load , operation is analogous to the operation shown in fig3 for the brake of the invention . balancing of the forces is , however , more similar to the balancing shown in fig5 . the load is braked by the braking torque of the spring 30 and by the friction with the guide means formed by the bore 41 in the outlet part . fig4 and 5 show two different guide means for guiding the outlet part 20 or 120 . in fig4 , the outlet part 120 is guided relative to the inlet part 110 . the inlet part 110 is also centered relative to the friction part 140 . in fig5 , the outlet part 20 is guided relative to the friction part 40 that is stationary . tests have shown that the brake 105 behaves better in the fig4 situation . the centering of the outlet part relative to the inlet part makes it possible to reduce the vibration of the brake . fig6 to 11 show a second embodiment of the brake . the operating principle is close to the first embodiment . the references of these parts are analogous to the references of the first embodiment , plus 100 . the outlet of the epicyclic gear train of the first gearbox stage 104 drives in rotation a part 210 forming the inlet of the brake 105 . the inlet part 210 is provided with a polygonal shaft 219 designed to receive and to transmit torque coming from the gearbox stage 104 . the brake 105 includes a helical spring 230 whose turns are centered on an axis x 230 that coincides with the axis x - x when the brake 105 is in place as shown in fig1 . the axes x 230 and x - x coincide with the central axis x 105 of the brake 105 when an actuator 100 incorporating the brake 105 of this second embodiment is in the assembled configuration . the spring 230 is mounted in tight - fitting manner inside a bore 241 in a friction part 240 . in other words , the outside envelope 231 of the spring 230 , which envelope is defined by the outside generator lines of its turns , bears against the radial surface of the bore 241 , thereby tending to secure together the spring 230 and the part 240 by friction . each end of the spring 230 forms a tab 232 a , 232 b extending radially towards the axis x 230 and towards the inside the spring , from its turns . the inlet part 210 is provided with a protuberance or “ tooth ” 211 a that fits into the helical spring 230 , between the tabs 232 a and 232 b . said tooth 211 a has two faces 213 a , 213 b suitable for being in contact respectively with a surface 233 a of a first tab 232 a forming the first end of the spring and with a surface 233 b of the second tab 232 b forming the second end of the spring . the surface 233 a is disposed in a manner such that action on said surface causes the spring to be moved in rotation about the axis x 230 in a direction that is opposite from the direction of rotation of the spring if the action is exerted on the surface 233 b . action by the tooth 211 a on a surface 233 a or 233 b tends to release the brake , i . e . to drive the tab 232 a or 232 b in rotation about the axes x 230 and x 105 , in a direction such that the radial stress between the outside envelope 231 of the spring 230 and the friction surface of the bore 241 decreases . action from the tooth 211 a on one of the faces 233 a or 233 b tends to contract the spring 230 radially about the axis x - x , so that its outside envelope moves away from the surface of the bore 241 . the part 210 thus makes it possible to act on the spring 230 to reduce the contact force between the spring and the friction surface of the bore 241 . an outlet part 220 of the brake 105 is situated in register with the inlet part 210 . the outlet part is provided with two lugs 221 a , 221 b also fitting into the helical spring 230 . each lug is provided with a recess or a setback 222 a , 222 b designed to receive a respective one of the tabs 232 a , 232 b of the spring 230 . each recess 222 a , 222 b is defined partially by a surface 224 a , 224 b suitable for being in contact with a surface 234 a , 234 b of a tab 232 a , 232 b . the surfaces 234 a and 234 b are opposite from respective ones of the surfaces 233 a and 233 b . action on one of the surfaces 234 a , 234 b tends to move the tabs 232 a and 232 b towards each other , thereby causing the turns of the spring 230 to expand radially relative to the axis x 230 and increasing the contact force between the outside envelope 231 of the spring 230 and the friction surface of the bore 241 . this results in actuating the brake , i . e . in blocking or in strongly braking the rotation of the spring 230 relative to the part 240 . thus , the radial stress between the outside envelope 231 of the helical spring and the friction surface 241 increases . in addition , each lug 221 a , 221 b of the outlet part 220 is provided with a projecting portion 226 a , 226 b extending axially towards the inlet part and suitable for being received in respective ones of banana - shaped slots 216 c , 216 d in the inlet part 210 , once the brake 105 is assembled . said projecting portions 226 a and 226 b are dimensioned and disposed in a manner such that their faces 227 a , 227 b are in contact with respective ones of inside faces 217 c , 217 d defining the corresponding slots 216 c , 216 d when the face 213 b , 213 a of the tooth 211 a of the inlet part 210 is in contact with the face 223 b , 223 a of a lug 221 b , 221 a of the outlet part 220 . fig8 and 10 show the two possible configurations for the brake 105 . the dimensioning of the slots 216 c , 216 d is such that , outside the two preceding configurations , the projecting portions 226 a , 226 b do not come into abutment against any inside surface of the slot . in order to enable the brake to operate , it is necessary to have angular clearance between the tooth 211 a of the inlet part 210 and the tabs 232 a and 232 b of the spring . similarly , angular clearance is also necessary between the lugs 221 a and 221 b and the tabs 232 a and 232 b of the spring . the width of the tooth 211 a is designed for this purpose . in addition , the axial length l 211 or l 221 of the portions 211 a , 221 a , and 221 b is slightly greater than the axial length l 230 of the spring . the necessary centering of the outlet part 220 relative to the inlet part 210 is achieved by a shaft 270 . said shaft is engaged in a centered bore 218 of the inlet part 210 . a portion of the shaft 270 projects from the same side as the outlet part 220 . fig8 to 11 show how the brake 105 operates . fig8 and 9 correspond to the screen being wound on the shaft 1 in the clockwise direction in said figures . fig8 shows the load being raised , while fig9 shows the load being lowered . fig1 and 11 correspond to the screen being wound on the shaft 1 in the counterclockwise direction in these figures . fig1 shows the load being raised while fig1 shows it being lowered . firstly , operation of the brake is explained relative to the first screen - winding configuration , i . e . to winding in the clockwise direction in fig8 and 9 . by default , the weight of the load l exerts torque c l on the part 220 that presses one of the lugs 221 a or 221 b , namely the lug 221 b in this example , against one of the tabs 232 a or 232 b , namely the tab 232 b in this example , as shown in fig9 . the effect of this is to expand the turns of the spring 230 radially and to activate the brake 105 , as explained above . the torque c l exerted by the lug 221 b on the surface 234 b of the tab 232 b is weighted by the efficiency of the second gearbox stage 106 . this torque is shown by a vector associated with the lug 221 b . the tab 232 b is then engaged in the recess 224 b . while the load l is being raised , and as shown in fig8 , the inlet part 210 is driven in rotation by torque c m generated by the motor and weighted by the efficiency of the first gearbox stage 104 . the protuberance 211 a of the inlet part then turns until it is in contact with the lug 221 b of the outlet part , at the interface between the surfaces 213 b and 223 b . in order to raise the load , the torque c m must then be greater than the sum of the torque c l and of drag torque of the brake spring due to the residual friction between the outside envelope of the spring and the friction surface of the bore 241 . the torque c m is represented by a vector in dashed lines associated with the inlet part . at start - up , the torque c m to be exerted must be larger because , in order to release the brake 105 , it is necessary to overcome a static friction force . in order to release the brake 105 , the protuberance 211 a acts on the tab 232 b received in the recess 222 b whenever the lug 221 b is driven in rotation . the drive torque c m is transmitted from the inlet part 210 to the outlet part 220 by double contact . on one side , the face 213 b of the protuberance 211 a bears against the face 223 b of the lug 221 b . and , diametrically opposite , the inside face 217 c of the slot 216 c bears against the face 227 a of the projecting portion 226 a . thus , the load torque c l is balanced by efforts f 1a and f 1b resulting from the bearing between the portions 211 a and 221 b , on one side , and 216 c and 226 a , on the other side . since these two forces are of substantially the same magnitude and are substantially symmetrical about the central axis x 105 of the brake 105 and about the axis x 220 of the outlet part , the radial component of the resultant of the torque c m on the outlet part is negligible , or indeed zero . the faces 223 b and 227 a constitute contact surfaces of the outlet part . while the load l is being lowered , as shown diagrammatically in fig9 , the outlet part 220 is not stopped by the inlet part 210 but rather it is stopped by the spring 230 . thus , the load torque c l presses the lug 221 b against one of the tabs 232 a or 232 b , namely the tab 232 b in this example . the effect of this is to cause the turns of the spring 230 to expand radially and to activate the brake 105 , as explained above . the torque c l exerted by the lug 221 b on the surface 234 b of the tab 232 b is weighted by the efficiency of the second gearbox stage 106 . the tab 232 b is engaged in the recess 222 b . the drive torque c m is in the same direction as the load torque c l . the balance of the forces is then different from the balance during raising . the load torque c l is balanced by forces f 2a and f 2b . the first force f 2a corresponds to the reaction of the spring that blocks the load at the interface between the face 234 b of the tab 232 b of the spring 230 and the bearing face 224 b of the recess 222 b of the lug 221 b of the outlet part . since the first force f 2a does not make it possible to compensate for the load torque c l , the outlet part 220 tends to pivot relative to the preceding bearing configuration until the outlet part is in contact with its guide means formed by the shaft 270 that is secured to or integral with the inlet part 210 . the bore 228 for guiding the outlet part 220 relative to the shaft 270 thus comes into contact with the shaft 270 , thereby generating the second force f 2b making it possible to balance the load torque c l . this force is radial relative to the axis x 220 . this force f 2b generates friction while the load l is moving downwards . this friction brakes the load and is added to the braking torque of the spring . it therefore contributes to the reactivity of the brake . its response time is faster than the response time of a brake for which such friction does not exist . it should be noted that , for this embodiment , the inlet part 210 is itself centered relative to the friction part 240 by means of a cylindrical web whose envelope surface ( not shown ) co - operates with the bore 241 of the friction part . therefore , the preceding force f 2b then induces an equivalent force ( not shown ) between the inlet part 210 and the friction part 240 . this equivalent force participates in the secondary braking torque contributing to the reactivity of the brake . in order to enable the load to be lowered , it is necessary to release the brake . for this purpose , the drive torque c m drives a protuberance 211 a on the inlet part in rotation until it comes to bear against the face 233 a of the tab 232 a of the spring 230 . by this action , the spring 230 is relaxed and the outlet part 220 can turn , by means of the load torque c l , since the parts 210 and 220 are then not in direct contact . operation of the brake in the second winding configuration is shown in fig1 and 11 . during raising , and as shown in fig1 , the load torque c l is balanced by the forces f 1a and f 1b resulting firstly from the contact between the face 213 a of the tooth 211 a and the face 223 a of the lug 221 a , and secondly from the contact between the inside face 217 d of the slot 216 d , and the face 227 b of the projecting portion 226 b . since these forces f 1a and f 2a are balanced , the radial component of the resultant of the torque c m on the outlet part 220 is negligible . the motor must thus deliver drive torque that is greater than the load torque c l to which only the drag torque of the brake is added , which drag torque results from the friction between the spring 230 and the friction part 240 . there is little or no secondary braking torque generated by the friction between the outlet part 220 and its guide shaft 270 . the faces 223 a and 227 b constitute the contact surfaces of the outlet part . during lowering , the load torque c l is balanced by the forces f 2a and f 2b . the first force f 2a corresponds to the reaction of the spring 230 blocking the load l at the interface between the face 234 a of the tab 232 a of the spring 230 and the bearing face 224 a of the recess 222 a in the lug 221 a . the second force f 2b corresponds to a localized force at the guide shaft 270 of the outlet part 220 , while the parts 210 and 220 are not in direct contact . this friction generates a radial force braking the load . thus , the brake reacts rapidly because the secondary braking torque no longer becomes negligible . the two embodiments describe a brake spring whose ends are folded over towards the inside of the spring . naturally , said ends can be folded over towards the outside of said spring . another variant consists in folding over the ends parallel to the central axis of the spring . the tabs then extend axially on either side of the spring , while extending away from the center of the spring . in addition , the spring brake does not specifically have to be received between two gearbox stages . it can be disposed at the outlet of the motor or at the outlet of the gearbox .	5
the present invention provides compositions and methods of using the compositions for the therapeutic treatment of pain . specifically , the present invention comprises a composition of an analgesic / antipyretic either with or without an analgesic adjunct and either with or without an antihistamine , where said composition is in the form of a liquid , solid or gel / cream . as used herein , the term “ analgesic / antipyretic ” refers to a compound or compounds that are effective in treating pain ( analgesic ) and are also effective at reducing fever ( antipyretic ). in another embodiment of the present invention , the compositions may comprise an analgesic / antipyretic from one or more of the group consisting of acetaminophen , buprenorphine , butorphanol , codeine , dextropropoxyphene , dihydrocodeine , fentanyl , diamorphine ( heroin ), hydrocodone , hydromorphone , ketobemidone , morphine , nalbuphine , oxycodone , oxymorphone , pentazocine , pethidine , tramadol , diflunisal , ethenzamide , aminophenazone , metamizole , phenazone , phenacetin , ziconotide , tetrahydrocannabinol , acetylsalicylic acid , choline salicylate , magnesium salicylate , sodium salicylate , ibuprofen , naproxen and ketoprofen . in another embodiment of the present invention , the compositions may comprise an analgesic adjunct from one or more of the group consisting of s (+)- ketamine , metoclopramide , ciramadol , sulfentanil , caffeine and remifentanil . the compositions of the present invention may be administered to the patient for oral use and may be in the form of an elixir , syrup and / or suspension according to an individual patient &# 39 ; s preferences . in another embodiment of the present invention , the compositions may further comprise a flavorant . in certain embodiments of the invention , the compositions of the claimed invention may be administered to the patient as a tablet , gel , cream or gel capsules . in another embodiment of the present invention , the compositions may be substantially free of other added active ingredients . the other added active ingredient may comprise an antihistamine , such as one or more of the group consisting of diphenhydramine , cyproheptadine hydrochloride , brompheneramine , hydroxyzine , chloropheniramine , pyrilamine maleate , pyrilamine tannate , acepromazine , aceprometazine , alimemazine , alimemazine tartrate , amoxydramine camsilate , antazoline chlorhydrate , antazoline mesilate , antazoline phosphate , astemizole , azatadine dimaleate , azelastine hydrochloride , bamipine hydrochloride , benactyzine hydrochloride , bretylium tosilate , bromazine hydrochloride , brompheniramine maleate , buclizine dihydrochloride , bufexamac , carbinoxamine maleate acid , cetiedil citrate , cetirizine dihydrochloride , chlorcyclizine hydrochloride , chlorphenamine maleate , chlorphenoxamine hydrochloride , chlorprothixene hydrochloride , cinnarizine , clemastine fumarate , clemizole hexachlorophenate , clemizole penicilline , clemizole undecylenate , clocinizine dihydrochloride , clofedanol , clofenetamine hydrochloride , cyclizine hydrochloride , dexchlorpheniramine maleate , di ( acefylline ) diphenhydramine , difencloxazine , dimelazine hydrochloride , dimenhydrinate , dimethoxanate hydrochloride , cimetotiazine mesilate , diphenhydramine hydrochloride , diphenhydramine mesilate , diphenylpyraline hydrochloride , diproqualone camsilate , dixyrazine , doxylamine succinate , eprozinol dihydrochloride , etodroxizine dimaleate , etybenzatropine bromhydrate , etybenzatropine hydrochloride , etymemazine hydrochloride , fenethazine hydrochloride , fenoxazoline hydrochloride , fenpentadiol , flunarizine hydrochloride , flupentixol decanoate , flupentixol dihydrochloride , histapyrrodine hydrochloride , hydroxyzine dihydrochloride , hydroxyzine embonate , indoramine hydrochloride , isothipendyl hydrochloride , ketotifene fumarate , levocabastine hydrochloride , levomepromazine , levomepromazine hydrochloride , levomepromazine embonate , levomepromazine maleate , loratadine , maprotiline hydrochloride , maprotiline mesilate , maprotiline resinate , meclozine hydrochloride , mecysteine hydrochloride , medifoxamine fumarate , mefenidramium metilsulfate , mepyramine maleate , mequitazine , methaqualone , methdilazine hydrochloride , metixene hydrochloride , mizolastine , moxisylyte hydrochloride , niaprazine , orphenadrine hydrochloride , oxaflumazine disuccinate , oxatomide , oxolamine benzilate , oxolamine citrate , oxomemazine , oxomemazine hydrochloride , parathiazine teoclate , perimetazine , pheniramine maleate , phenoxybenzamine hydrochloride , phenyltoloxamine , phenyltoloxamine citrate , pimethixene , pipotiazine , pipretecol dihydrochloride , pizotifene malate , prednazoline , profenamine hydrochloride , promethazine , promethazine hydrochloride , promethazine embonate , promethazine polyvinylbenzene - metacrylate , propiomazine , terfenadine , thenalidine tartrate , thenyldiamine hydrochloride , thiazinamium metilsulfate , thonzylamine hydrochloride , tripelennamine hydrochloride , triprolidine hydrochloride , and tymazoline hydrochloride , and combinations thereof . in another embodiment , the compositions of the present invention may comprise one or more of about 1 mg to 1500 mg of an analgesic / antipyretic , 1 mg to 200 mg of an analgesic adjunct and 1 mg to 200 mg of an antihistamine . in certain embodiments of the invention , the compositions may comprise from about 435 mg to 1 , 338 mg of an analgesic / antipyretic . in certain embodiments of the invention , the analgesic adjunct is caffeine . in certain embodiments of the invention , the antihistamine is diphenhydramine citrate . in other embodiments of the invention , the antihistamine is either diphenhydramine hydrochloride or pyrliamine maleate . in another embodiment of the present invention , the compositions may be administered to a patient to treat and / or alleviate the occurrence or negative effects from one or more of the group consisting of chronic pain and acute pain . in certain embodiments of the invention , the compositions of the invention are dissolved in solvents containing one or more buffering salts . examples of these buffers include , but are not limited to , calcium carbonate , magnesium oxide , magnesium carbonate , aluminum hydroxide and sodium hydroxide . the use of one or more of these salts causes the analgesic / antipyretic , analgesic adjunct and antihistamine compounds to stay in solution . in other embodiments of the invention , the compositions of the invention comprise simethicone . simethicone is an orally administered anti - foaming agent used to reduce bloating , discomfort or pain caused by excessive gas . in certain embodiments of the invention , the compositions of the invention comprise a diuretic agent . in some embodiments of the invention , the diuretic agent is pamabrom , which is a 1 : 1 mixture of 2 - amino - 2 - methyl - 1 - propanol and 8 - bromotheophyllinate . in another embodiment of the present invention , the compositions may be administered to a patient to treat and / or alleviate the occurrence or negative effects of headaches . compositions of the invention are formulated as a liquid in order to facilitate efficient absorption particularly by older individuals . other objectives , features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following specific examples . the specific examples , while indicating specific embodiments of the invention , are provided by way of illustration only . accordingly , the present invention also includes those various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention that may become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description . the invention will be further illustrated by the following non - limiting examples . the products listed below exemplify certain of the products in accordance with the claimed invention . in the products listed below , only the primary active ingredients , i . e ., analgesic / antipyretic , analgesic adjunct or antihistamine is listed . it would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the listed product formulations could contain inert ingredients such as buffers , fillers and other inactive ingredients . while specific embodiments of the present invention have been described , other and further modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention . all further and other modifications and changes are included that come within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims . the disclosures of all publications cited above are expressly incorporated by reference in their entireties to the same extent as if each were incorporated by reference individually .	0
referring to the drawings in detail , wherein like numerals indicate like elements , fig1 is a block diagram of the electrical circuitry used in practicing the present invention and is designated generally as 10 . it will be assumed for purposes of the following discussion that a standard eight channel punched tape is used to program the sequence of operations of a plurality of audio - visual devices during a performance . however , it should be understood that punched tapes provided with more or less than eight channels may also be used with the present invention . each line of a punched tape is called a cue , and a line contains varying combinations of perforations in the eight channels . thus , the first , third , fifth and seventh channels may be punched , or the second , fourth , sixth and eighth channels may be punched , and so forth . a tape reader 12 in the programmer senses the perforations in each cue electro - optically . the tape reader includes a stepping motor for stepping the punched tape through the reader . the tape may be stepped through the reader at a rate as high as 80 cues per second , but to preserve the life of the reader a maximum scan rate of 60 cues per second is preferred . in the normal mode of operation , the reader will advance the tape a single cue at a time and read a cue in response to a manually initiated command . on the other hand , in the automatic mode of operation , known as the high speed mode , the reader will advance and read the tape at a rate of 20 or 60 cues per second in response to a timing circuit 11 in the programmer . in either of the high speed modes , that is , at the 20 or 60 cue per second rates , the reader will automatically stop when it encounters a hole punched in the eighth channel of a cue if no other channels of the cue are punched . the programmer is provided with eight output terminals , each terminal corresponding to a channel on the punched tape . in fig1 the eight output terminals of the tape reader are indicated generally by line 16 . the master clock 14 generates a series of pulses which are derived from the same timing circuit 11 used to control the rate of advance of the tape reader . the series of pulses on line 18 , connected to the output of the master clock 14 , determines the rate at which the tape reader output signals on lines 16 are encoded in the high speed modes . in the preferred embodiment , the master clock 14 generates a series of pulses which have amplitudes of approximately 23 volts . for a scan rate of 20 cues per second , the pulses are &# 34 ; low &# 34 ; for approximately 30 milliseconds and &# 34 ; high &# 34 ; for approximately 20 milliseconds . for a scan rate of 60 cues per second , the pulses are low for approximately 10 milliseconds and high for approximately 6 milliseconds . the pulse repetition frequency of the pulses on line 18 determines the rate at which the tape reader output signals are encoded . a keyboard 13 is provided in the programmer so that the input signals from tape reader 12 may be overridden when so desired . keyboard 13 has eight keys which correspond to the eight channels in the tape . the operator can override any or all of these channels by depressing the appropriate key . if no tape is fed to the tape reader , the input signal to the herein disclosed invention can be derived solely from the keyboard 13 . it should be noted that in such a situation the timing pulse input to the tape reader 12 will still be transmitted as an output signal thru line 16 . the output signals from tape reader 12 and keyboard 13 are fed into a channel register 15 in the programmer thru lines 16 and 17 respectively . the channel register performs an &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; function on these two signals with the resulting ( eight channel ) signal transmitted thru line 19 . in the preferred embodiment of the invention described herein , the channel register output signals on lines 19 and the master clock pulses on line 18 are fed to a voltage isolation circuit 20 which provides voltage isolation and noise immunity . additionally , voltage isolation circuit 20 provides the voltage levels required to operate the logic circuitry described hereinafter . more specifically circuit 20 comprises nine identical voltage isolation devices ( not shown ), each of which may be a til 111 integrated circuit comprising a light emitting diode and a photo - transistor , although it should be understood that other voltage isolation devices may also be suitable for use in the present invention . each voltage isolation device is provided with a light emitting diode which is connected to one of the nine lines comprising lines 19 and line 18 . the output of each voltage isolation device is taken off the collector of the photo - transistor , and the nine outputs are indicated generally by lines 24 , 26 and 28 in fig1 . the outputs of the voltage isolation devices which are connected to five of the line 19 outputs which correspond to the first five channels on the tape , are indicated generally by line 24 . the outputs of the voltage isolation devices which are connected to the remaining three line 19 outputs which correspond to the remaining three channels on the tape , are indicated by line 26 . and the output of the voltage isolation device which is connected to the output of the master clock 14 by means of line 18 is indicated by line 28 . at the output of a voltage isolation device , i . e ., the collector of the photo - transistor , a negative going pulse will appear in response to a negative going pulse at the input of the voltage isolation device , i . e ., at the light emitting diode . in the preferred embodiment , fig1 the programmer generates a negative going pulse having an amplitude of approximately 24 volts on one of the lines 19 when a hole appears in the tape channel corresponding to that line . this pulse appears at the input to the voltage isolation device . in response to this input pulse , the voltage isolation device generates a negative going pulse between approximately five volts and zero volts . the five volts and zero volts levels are chosen to operate the logic circuitry described hereinafter . as will become evident from the description of the gating circuit 50 which follows , each of the five lines 24 , which correspond to the first five channels of the tape , is electrically connected to the inputs of eight nor gate in gating circuit 50 , fig2 and 3 . to prevent undue loading of the voltage isolation devices , the lines 24 are connected to a buffer circuit 30 which , in turn , is connected to gating circuit 50 . the buffer circuit 30 includes five identical and gates , one of which is shown in detail in fig5 and is designated by the numeral 32 . referring to fig5 each and gate 32 is provided with two input terminals x and y . the y - input terminal is connected to a five volt supply , and the x - input terminal is connected to one of the lines 24 . further , the x - input terminal is connected to a five volt supply through resistor r1 , and the output terminal z is connected to the same five volt supply through the resistor r2 . in the preferred embodiment , r1 is 6800 ohms and r2 is 4700 ohms . when the associated photo - transistor in voltage isolation circuit 20 is &# 34 ; off &# 34 ;, no current flows through r1 and a five volt signal appears at the x - input terminal and the z - output terminal remains at the five volt level . when the photo - transistor is &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; a negative going pulse having an amplitude of five volts appears at the x - input terminal , and the z - output terminal is driven to the zero volt level . the output of the voltage isolation device which is connected to the master clock output line 18 is designated , as previously mentioned , by line 28 . line 28 is connected to the input of signal shaping circuit 31 . preferably , circuit 31 is the same circuit shown in fig5 with a low resistance ( not shown ), such as 47 ohms , added in series between the output of the voltage isolation device on line 28 and the junction of the x - input terminal and the resistor r1 . the purpose of signal shaping circuit 31 is to sharpen the edges of the pulses appearing on line 28 to reliably trigger the one shot circuit 34 . the output of the signal shaping circuit 31 controls the operation of the one shot circuit 34 . the one shot circuit 34 , in the preferred embodiment , is a sn74123n integrated circuit which is connected to provide a positive going 6 millisecond pulse in response to the negative going edge of the input trigger signal . the output pulse from the one shot 34 controls the rate at which encoder 36 encodes the signals appearing on the three lines 26 which are connected to the output of voltage isolation circuit 20 . the output of one shot circuit 34 is connected to a differentiator circuit 35 , shown in fig7 which differentiates and inverts the leading edge of the 6 millisecond output pulse . the differentiator circuit 35 is a conventional circuit , and its operation is well - known in the art . accordingly , further description of differentiator circuit 35 is not necessary in disclosing the present invention . in the preferred embodiment , encoder 36 is a sn7442n bcd encoder . the encoder 36 receives the signals appearing on lines 26 and , in response to the output of differentiator circuit 35 , encodes the signals into eight output signals , each output signal appearing on one of the eight lines indicated generally in fig1 by the numeral 38 . referring to fig6 there is shown a block diagram of encoder 36 having three inputs 6 , 7 and 8 , corresponding to the three lines 26 , and eight outputs 678 , 78 , 68 , 8 , 67 , 7 , 6 , and 0 , corresponding to the eight output lines 38 . as mentioned previously , each cue of the punched tape is divided into eight channels . all eight channels are scanned by the tape reader 12 , and each of the programmer output lines 19 corresponds to one of the eight channels of a cue . each of the eight lines 19 is connected to voltage isolation circuit 20 . the five output lines 24 of voltage isolation circuit 20 correspond to the first five channels on the punched tape , and the three output lines 26 of current isolation circuit 20 correspond to the last three channels on the tape . for ease of reference , the first five channels on the tape are identified by the numbers 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 and 5 , and the last three channels on the tape are identified by the numbers 6 , 7 and 8 . thus , in fig6 line 26 represents the three outputs of voltage isolation circuit 20 which correspond to the last three channels , 6 , 7 and 8 , on the tape . the encoder 36 combines the three lines 26 none , one , two and three at a time by conventional logic circuitry . consequently , the encoder 36 has eight output lines , indicated generally as 38 , each output line corresponding to a different combination of the three input lines 26 . stated otherwise , each of the eight output lines 38 of encoder 36 corresponds to a different combination of the last three channels on the punched tape . for example , if none of the last three channels of a cue are punched , there will be no input on lines 6 , 7 and 8 . when the output pulse from differentiator circuit 35 triggers the encoder 36 , an output signal appears on output line 0 while the other seven output lines carry no output signals . this indicates that the last three channels on the cue have been examined and none contain a punched hole . suppose , as a further example , that channels 6 and 7 are punched but channel 8 is not . an output signal will then appear on output line 67 , and the other seven output lines of encoder 36 will carry no output signals . this indicates that only channels 6 and 7 of the last three channels on the cue have been punched . the foregoing analysis may be repeated for each combination of punched holes in the last three channels of a cue , channels 6 , 7 and 8 . in the preceding description of the invention , it has been shown that the three lines 26 , corresponding to the last three channels on a cue , are connected to encoder 36 , while the five lines 24 , corresponding to the first five channels of a cue , are connected to buffer circuit 30 , fig1 . buffer circuit 30 includes five and gates 32 fig5 each and gate 32 being connected to one of the five lines 24 . additionally , it has been shown that line 28 is connected to signal shaping circuit 31 which controls the operation of a one shot circuit 34 which , in turn , controls the rate at which encoder 36 encodes the signals appearing on the three lines 26 . each of the five and gates 32 which are connected to the five lines 24 generates an output signal on one of five lines indicated generally as 40 in fig1 . lines 40 from buffer circuit 30 and the eight output lines 38 from encoder 36 are connected to gating circuit 50 . referring to fig2 the gating circuit 50 is shown in further detail . using the system of notation adopted in the preceding portion of the description of the invention , the five output lines 40 of buffer circuit 30 correspond to the first five channels of a cue , channels 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 and 5 , and the eight output lines 38 from encoder 36 correspond to the eight possible combinations of the last three channels on a cue , namely , 678 , 78 , 68 , 8 , 67 , 7 , 6 and 0 . each of the eight lines 38 is fed to nor gate and one shot circuits 52 , 54 , 56 , 58 and 90 . nor gate and one shot circuits 52 , 54 , 56 , 58 and 90 are identical circuits , each circuit comprising a nor gate connected in series with a one shot device . the one shot device may be a sn74123n integrated circuit , or any other suitable one shot device . as shown in fig2 the one line of the five lines 40 which corresponds to channel 1 on the tape is connected to nor gate and one shot 52 , the line corresponding to channel 2 on the tape is connected to nor gate and one shot circuit 54 , and the other lines corresponding to channels 3 , 4 and 5 of the tape are connected , respectively , to nor gate and one shot circuits 56 , 58 , and 90 . each possible combination of the last three channels on a cue , as represented by the eight lines 38 , is combined with each of the first five channels on the cue , represented by the five lines 40 , to generate five sets of output lines a , b , c , d , and e , designated generally as 92 . each of the five sets of output lines a , b , c , d and e itself includes eight output lines so that the total number of output lines 92 is forty . each of the forty output lines 92 carries a control signal for controlling one audio - visual device in accordance with the program on the tape and , accordingly , the capacity of the programmer is expanded from eight to forty channels . referring to fig3 the nor gate and one shot circuit 52 fig2 is shown in further detail . since circuits 52 , 54 , 56 , 58 and 90 are identical , the following description of circuit 52 applies to circuits 54 , 56 , 58 and 90 as well . in fig3 the one line of the five output lines 40 of buffer circuit 30 which corresponds to the first channel on the tape is designated as 1 . the eight output lines 38 from encoder 36 are designated as 0 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 67 , 68 , 78 , and 678 in accordance with the notation previously adopted . each of the eight lines 38 is connected to one of the nor gates 100 , 102 , 104 , 106 , 108 , 110 , 112 , and 114 which are identical and are indicated generally as 200 . each of the nor gates 200 is connected in series to one of eight one shot devices 116 , 118 , 120 , 122 , 124 , 126 , 128 , and 130 , which are identical and are designated generally as 300 . since each series connection of one of the nor gates 200 to one of the one shot devices 300 is identical in fig3 for purposes of discussion it suffices to describe the operation of one such connection and , in particular , the connection of nor gate 100 to one shot device 116 . if the first channel of a cue is punched , a low signal , that is , a zero volt signal , will appear on line 1 at the input to nor gate 100 . the nor gate 100 , however , will not generate an output signal unless , in addition , none of the last three channels of a cue are punched . conversely , if the last three channels of a cue are empty , a low signal will appear on line 0 , but unless the first channel of the same cue is punched , nor gate 100 will generate no output signal . only when the last three channels of a cue are empty and , in addition , the first channel of the same cue is punched , will nor gate 100 generate an output signal . further , given the latter conditions , nor gate 100 will generate an output signal despite the condition of channels 2 , 3 , 4 and 5 of the cue . the output signal generated by nor gate 100 will trigger the one shot device 116 , and an output pulse will appear at the line labeled 01 in fig3 . the numerical label 01 also identifies one of a plurality of audio - visual devices which is activated by the foregoing circuitry when none of the last three channels on a cue , and at least the first channel of the first five channels of the cue , are perforated . the foregoing analysis may be repeated for each of the nor gates 200 and each of the nor gate and one shot circuits 52 , 54 , 56 , 58 and 90 . each of the one shot circuits referred to in the preceding description must be reset when power is initially applied to the system to avoid triggering an audio - visual device by a transient spike . referring to fig1 there is shown a reset circuit 42 which is connected to gating circuit 50 by line 44 . the reset circuit 42 generates a negative going pulse of approximately 5 volts amplitude to the reset terminals of one shot circuits 52 , 54 , 56 , 58 , 90 and 34 . referring to fig8 the reset circuit 42 includes an oscillator circuit 43 and driver circuit 45 . the oscillator circuit 43 is a conventional circuit which generates a positive going pulse of approximately 35 milliseconds duration . the output of the oscillator circuit 43 drives driver circuit 45 which comprises identical pairs of and gates connected in series with transistors . the driver circuit 45 may be a sn75452p integrated circuit or any other suitable driver circuit . reset circuit 42 is provided with two output channels , 47 and 49 , rather than a single output channel in order to avoid unduly loading the driver circuit 45 . thus , using twin and gate and transistor pairs in driver circuit 45 , each of the one shot circuits 52 , 54 , 56 , 58 , 90 and 34 will be reliably reset . when the power is initially applied to the system , the reset circuit 42 resets each one shot circuit . thereafter , the one shot circuits are controlled in accordance with the circuitry described above . the 40 output lines 92 from gating circuit 50 are connected to relay circuit 94 , as shown in fig1 . relay circuit 94 contains 40 identical relay devices 96 which are shown in detail in fig4 . a transistor 98 is switched on and off by the signal appearing on the one line of the forty lines 92 which is connected to the transistor base . in the preferred embodiment the transistor 98 is a 2n2102 transistor although other suitable transistors may also be used . a solenoid 99 is connected in the collector circuit of the transistor 98 , and the current flow through the solenoid controls the operation of a switch 101 which is connected to one of a plurality of audio - visual devices . the operation of each of the relay devices 96 connected to each of the lines 92 is identical . in operation , the programmer senses those channels of a cue that have been perforated and generates an output signal on each line 16 which is associated with a perforated channel . the signals corresponding to the last three channels of the cue are encoded by encoder 36 which generates the encoded signals on lines 38 . the signals appearing on lines 40 , at the input to gating circuit 50 , correspond to the first five channels on the tape , and the signals on line 40 are combined with the signals on line 38 to produce an array of 40 different output signals on the forty output lines 92 from gating circuit 50 . each of the lines 92 controls a relay device 96 which , in turn , controls the state of an audio - visual device . thus , although standard eight hole punch tape is used to supply information to a programmer which controls the sequence of operations of a plurality of audio - visual devices during a performance , as many as forty such audio - visual devices may be controlled by the standard eight hole tape . although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described above , various modifications may be made within the spirit and scope of the present invention . for example , although standard eight hole punch tape has been specified in conjunction with the invention , it may readily be appreciated that other tapes provided with more or less channels may also be used , the invention being modified accordingly by a person having ordinary skill in the art . similarly , although a particular relay device 96 has been described for operating an audio - visual device in response to the signals generated on lines 92 , any other momentary closure device may also be suitable for this purpose . further , although voltage logic levels of zero and five volts have been referred to in describing the preferred embodiment of the invention , other voltage logic levels may also be used if other logic circuitry is employed . the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and , accordingly , reference should be made to the appended claims , rather than to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope of the invention .	6
it will be apparent from the foregoing that numerous highly advantageous features have been provided in a single cover structure , e . g : 2 . reelless storage to avoid rollers , hand - cranks and like mechanisms adjacent the pool ; 3 . blower - powered inflation and deflation for deployment or storage , again easing operation ; 4 . endwise free deployment , to avoid guide ropes , chains and like mechanisms alongside the pool ; 5 . low cost materials ; conventional plastic and lightweight metal components are used in a low assembly cost manner ; 6 . integral solar heating effect , useful per se or in a pool cover situation ; 7 . solar radiation concentration for improved heating results at various sun angles ; 10 . energy efficiency in keeping pool heat in and adding thereto when sun exposed . these and like features and advantages of the invention enumerated above and to become apparent as the description proceeds will be better understood from a consideration of the attached drawings in which fig1 - 5 depict an embodiment of the invention most highly adapted to swimming pool cover and heat applications ; and fig6 and 7 an embodiment useful for transitory water and gas heating e . g . in a rooftop installation . turning now to the drawings in detail , in fig1 a rectangular swimming pool 10 having perimetrical coping 12 and diving board 14 is provided with a cover 16 according to the invention . the cover 16 is shown deployed , extended in pool water body 18 covering position , with reversible air blower 20 , at pool edge margin 22 communicating with inflated ribs 40 through flanged fitting 26 , flexible hose coupling 28 and manifold 30 ; the manifold and blower being coaxial with each other and parallel with the axis l of the furling locus of the cover at the inner pool edge margin 32 just within the pool coping 12 . the outer pool edge margin 22 at and just beyond coping 12 may likewise locate the furling locus of cover . with reference now particularly to fig2 and 3 , the cover 16 alone is depicted for greater clarity of understanding of the cover assembly and its operation . initially , and proceeding directly from the position shown in fig1 the position shown in fig3 is of the cover 16 extended , while in fig2 that same cover has been retracted . before going into the details of the extension and self - retraction operation , the cover 16 assembly will be described . cover 16 comprises a sheet material base 34 which is water resistant sufficiently for continual water contact , tough to be resistant to puncturing and rupture , chemically inert so as to not affect pool water chemistry or be affected by pool water chemicals , weathering resistant against uv and ozone degradation , heat resistant at least within the range of solar heating temperatures , air and liquid impervious , dimensionally stable , heat transfer capable , flexible , lightweight and low in cost . base sheet material 34 is typically a calenderable thermoplastic such as polyolefin plastic e . g . vinyl or rubber - styrene polymer , of a thickness of from about 20 to 65 mils , or more or less , providing the enumerated characteristics are preserved . the base sheet material 34 may be and preferably is laminated to a lightweight metal layer 36 e . g . light aluminum sheet or heavy foil for example 15 to 100 mils in thickness , and thus the base sheet material 34 comprises both a metal layer 36 and a plastic layer as will be explained in more detail hereinafter . secured to the base sheet material 34 for purposes of self - retraction of the cover is a plurality of nomally coiled , longitudinally extended parallel and laterally spaced spring steel members , termed spring fingers 38 herein , which extend normal to the locus having the axis l and thus continually bias the cover sheet material into furled position about the locus . see fig2 . the cover 16 self - retraction capability or function is a response to the tendency of the spring fingers 38 to coil , and exists at all times in the cover , resulting in furling , unless an opposite and at least equal or overbalancing force is then being currently applied . for the purpose of applying such a force , the present cover 16 has , surmounting the base sheet material 34 , a series of hollow , alternately inflatable and collapsible , semi - cylindrical , longitudinally extended ribs 40 which are shown in parallel , extending normal to the cover furling locus at l and in paired , opposed relation to the spring fingers 38 centered therebelow . see fig4 . as such , the ribs 40 are arranged and adapted , upon inflation by blower 20 to unroll the cover 16 against the resiliently urged force of spring fingers 38 to flatten the cover into pool 18 covering position as in fig7 . the ribs 40 provide the further advantage of trapping insulative air above the pool surface ( and base sheet 34 ) to enhance heat loss protection provided by the cover 16 . in operation and as shown in fig3 air enters grilled opening 42 of the reversible blower 20 , is pressurized therein and passed through fitting 26 , hose coupling 28 and into manifold 30 and past relief valve 44 thereon and into the ribs 40 , progressively filling them and correspondingly unrolling the cover 16 against the force of spring fingers 38 . reversal of blower 20 exhausts air from the ribs 40 ultimately back through grilled opening 42 of the blower , collapsing the ribs , and permitting the spring fingers 38 to reroll the cover 16 about its locus at l , to the position of fig2 . with reference now to fig4 and 5 in particular , details of the cover 16 construction are shown . the base sheet material 34 or sheet underlayer 34a having laminated thereto an overlayer 46 comprising light aluminum sheet 36 laid in strips 48 defining therebetween sealing rows 50 wherein the flanges 52 of rib 40 are overlaid on one another and sealed ( by solvent , heat or dielectrically ) or otherwise air - tightly secured to each other and to the underlayer sheet 34a . as noted above , prior to laminating the ribs 40 in place , and the aluminum sheet strips 48 to the plastic underlayer 34a , the spring finger 38 is positioned between the plastic underlayer and the metal overlayer , and secured as necessary for assembly of the cover 16 . in solar heating embodiments the aluminum sheet strip 48 is preferably matte black or otherwise rendered preferentially heat absorptive . of course , the base sheet underlayer 34a may likewise be black . the use of a good heat transfer material such as a metal , and particularly aluminum , is an advantage in maximizing heat transfer to the water located at w confined in the conduit c partly defined by the base sheet material 34 and partly by the pool 18 walls . a further advantage in the use of metal strips 48 as an overlayer derives from the greater longevity of metallic materials in sun - exposed situations , as compared with plastic film , e . g . at 34a . this attribute of metals is even more highly important when considering the solar radiation concentration feature provided by the ribs 40 in accordance with the invention . thus , and with reference to fig4 and 5 , the ribs 40 have solar radiation transparent walls 40a and are suitably made of vinyl or acrylic plastic . a &# 34 ; greenhouse &# 34 ; effect obtains in the space s confined by the ribs 40 . ribs 40 are desirably athwart the sun &# 39 ; s rays to act as solar radiation concentrators and for this purpose are formed to define a a plurality of transversely disposed ( relative to the sun ), semi - cylindrical lens structures to present an array of arcuate lenses 54 to the incident solar radiation deflecting and guiding incident energy toward corregations 48a defined by parallel undulations in the overlayer strip 48 . the lens effect of ribs 40 not only concentrates solar radiation during the optimum part of the day , but increases the effectiveness of received radiation as the sun &# 39 ; s rays angle of incidence varies during the day , in effect extending the optimum period of operation . since most pools have not been laid out with an eye toward efficiency in using the solar radiations , it is desirable to provide a multitude of lens structures 54 to usefully capture as much of the sun &# 39 ; s energy as reasonably possible , given the various orientations of existing pool installations and the periodic cycling of the earth relative to the sun . additionally the cover can be custom created for a given pool to optimize the orientations of the lens structure 54 for an installation , the manifold 30 being positioned to permit such optimum orientation , at the side , end or center , etc ., of the cover 16 . the lens structures 54 are preferably formed of vinyl , acrylic or like plastic which is solar radiation tolerant , and undulantly formable into arcuate shapes securable between the strips 48 as by heat sealing , solvent welding or dielectrically . it will now always be desired to cover , even occasionally , a swimming pool surface , although the water heating effect is wanted . in such situations an alternative form of the invention , shown in fig6 and 7 may be employed . with reference to fig6 and 7 wherein like parts to fig1 - 5 have like numerals essentially , the embodiment shown in these figures defines the conduit c for water w to be heated with channel members 60 sized and arranged to convey water , be it pool water or other domestic or industrial use water , past the underlayer 34a and in heat transferring relation with overlayer strip 48 . it will be observed that a u - shaped channel 62 formed by plastic , metal or like channel member 60 is abutted to the base sheet 34 and secured there to provide conduit c for water w , keeping the water in heat transfer contact with the laminate of underlayer 34a and overlayer strip 48 comprising the base sheet material . since the water in conduit c is thus confined by the channel members 60 , the water supply may be located remotely to the cover 16 . advantageously the cover 16 may be located on a rooftop for maximum solar radiation exposure , for use in repetitive heating of pool water , or in once - through heating of domestic hot water supply . the base sheet underlayer 34 may be omitted where the corrugated overlayer 48 is adequately noncorrosive for direct water contact , particularly in rooftop or other essentially stationary installations where the retraction and reeling features are not required . other fluids may be confined in the conduit for other , and specific heating purposes e . g . heating of air for tobacco curing barns . in these and like embodiments , the cover 16 functions essentially solely as a solar powered heater while the ease of retraction and extension enables ready deployment when needed and easy storage at other times , the cover being thus protected from unnecessary exposure to the elements and more long - lived as a result .	0
referring to fig1 a rivet 1 according to the first aspect of the invention is shown . the rivet comprises a tubular wall 2 surrounding an axial bore 3 which extends from a tail end region 4 to a head end region 5 of the tubular wall . the head end portion is provided with a head flange 6 extending outwardly from the tubular wall . the axial bore 3 comprises two portions of different diameter . a first portion 7 of lesser diameter extends from the tail end portion to the head end portion of the rivet . a second portion 8 of greater diameter extends from the head end region towards the tail end portion . the first and second portions of the bore meet at a step 9 . turning to fig2 the rivet 1 can be seen in position in a hole 13 in a workpiece 12 . the flange 6 presents an abutment surface 11 to the workpiece 12 . since the joint between the rivet and the workpiece is intended to be watertight , the abutment surface 11 is preferably coated with a sealant 10 , such as a polymer . in fig3 the assembly of fig2 is shown together with dies 15 , 20 that will cause the rivet 1 to deform . a first die 15 , comprises a base 16 and a projection 17 . the projection 17 has similar external dimensions to the first portion 7 of the axial bore and pauses therethrough , such that the base 16 of the die is in contact with the flange 6 . the projection also passes into a bore 22 in a second die 20 . the bore 22 in the second die has similar dimensions to the second portion 7 of the axial bore . the second die 20 also comprises an abutment surface 21 which rests on the tail end portion 4 of the rivet . once in position , the dies are moved together relative to one another , as indicated by the arrows in fig4 . the compression forces acting on the tubular wall 2 cause the wall to collapse in the region of the second portion of the axial bore forming a fold 24 , trapping the workpiece 12 between the fold 24 and the flange 6 ( fig5 ). such a rivet set in this way is shown in fig6 . the extent of the deformation bulge 24 is preferably limited by means ( not shown ) restricting the distance that the dies 15 , 20 can move toward one another . this will prevent oversetting of the rivet . in an alternative embodiment , shown in fig7 the tubular wall 2 of the rivet 1 may be provided with a third portion 30 of diameter greater than that of the second portion 8 . the third portion 30 extends from the tail end portion 4 of the bore , to join the first portion 7 at a step 31 , the first portion now forming an intermediate part of the axial bore 3 . fig8 shows the modified rivet in position in a hole 13 in a workpiece 12 . in setting such a modified rivet , a modified second die 20 &# 39 ; is used ( fig9 ). the die 20 &# 39 ; is again provided with a base 22 through which the projection of the first die extends , and has a similar diameter to that of the first region 7 of the axial bore 3 . whereas in the previous embodiment the abutment surface 21 was only in contact with an end surface of the tail end portion 4 , the abutment surface 21 &# 39 ; the present embodiment is in the form of a further projection or boss 25 . the boss 25 has an external surface of similar dimensions to the diameter of the third portion 30 of the axial bore 3 , and an internal diameter of similar dimensions to the first portion 7 of the axial bore . the boss 25 can thus extend between the tubular wall 2 in the region of the third portion 30 and the projection 17 of the first die 15 . however , the boss 25 does not extend as far as - the step 31 joining the first and third portions of the axial bore of the rivet , but leaves a gap 26 , between the abutment surface 21 &# 39 ; and the step 31 . when the dies are moved together relative to one another ( fig1 ), the tubular wall 2 in the region of the third portion of the axial bore is weakest and deforms first , to form an external ridge 34 in the rivet . the ridge will continue to form until the face 21 &# 39 ; of the boss 25 abuts the step 31 in the tubular wall . further relative movement of the dies will cause the tubular wall in the region of the second portion of the axial bore to deform , as described in the previous embodiment ( fig1 ), by virtue of compression forces from the die 20 being transmitted via the face 31 on wall 2 . the fully set rivet is shown in fig1 . the ridge 34 may be used to attach a tube 40 , or such like to the rivet , as shown in fig1 . it will be understood that by varying the shape of the second die 20 &# 39 ;, and in particular the shape of the boss 25 , a variety of shaped tail end portions can be formed , such as , for example , the flared flange 35 shown in fig1 .	5
it should be noted at the outset , that the preferred embodiment of the present invention shall be described in reference to a solid state sensor that is selectively tuned to detect the presence of a halogen gas contained within the sample atmosphere to the exclusion of other gases or vapors , including water vapor , that are capable of reacting with the sensing element to produce a troublesome interference signal that could block or otherwise mask the signal of primary interest . it should be clear , however , that the invention is not restricted by the disclosure and the invention has a broader application than that herein described . referring now to fig1 the present sensing apparatus , which is generally referenced 10 , is shown housed within a hand held probe 12 . the probe includes a housing 13 , which encloses the sensing device 10 , and a hollow &# 34 ; sniffer &# 34 ; tube 14 of elongated construction . although not shown , a suction producing means is further provided that is operatively connected to the probe and which is arranged to draw a relatively low velocity stream of test atmosphere through the sniffer tube past sensing element 16 as depicted by the arrows . in operation , the open end of the sniffer tube is directed into an area containing the subject atmosphere to be tested and a sample of the atmosphere pulled into the housing with a minimum amount of turbulence where it is allowed to quietly blanket the sensor . sensing device 10 , which is contained within housing 13 , includes a cylindrical solid state sensing element 16 that is contained within a shield 17 of substantially cylindrical form . an elongated electrode 15 is coaxially aligned within the sensing element and extends outwardly from the element beyond the two end faces of the shield . the upper extended end of the electrode , as viewed in fig1 is arranged to support a semicircular flow deflector 30 within entrance region 11 through which the sniffer tube 14 discharges a sample flow into the housing 13 . the outer surface of the deflector is contoured to generally complement the interior wall of the housing within the entrance region to establish an annular entrance into the housing through which a test sample is admitted . the deflector , in operation , protects the thermally sensitive components of the sensing apparatus from direct impingement by the incoming flow stream thereby insuring that the operating temperature of the detecting system remains relatively stable during the test period . as will be explained in greater detail below , the ability to maintain stable conditions at the surface of the sensing device plays an important role in the ability of the present device to selectively discern the presence of one reactive gas or vapor in the presence of one or more other reactive constituents . the opposite or lower extended end of the electrode is passed through the transversely extended bottom wall 24 of the housing and is secured by any suitable means therein to support the electrode and thus the sensing element assembly , in axial alignment within the housing . the lower end of the electrode , that passes downwardly through the wall , is electrically connected to the negative side of a biasing battery 25 , the function of which will be explained below . a heating coil 20 , formed of a single piece of platinum wire , is spirally would about the outer surface of shield 17 . in assembly , the turns of the coil are securely seated within a helical groove 19 formed in the shield to provide for a uniform spacing between turns . the terminal ends 22 , 23 of the coil are turned downwardly and brought through the bottom wall 24 of the housing . the ends of the coil are connected over a d . c . power supply in the form of battery 21 which provides power by which the coil is energized . the temperature produced at the outer surface of the shield is a function , among other things , of the number of turns per inch of the coil and the power output of the battery . as can be seen by varying one or both of these parameters , the operating temperature at the surface of the sensing device can be conveniently controlled . an electrical detecting circuit made up of previously noted biasing battery 25 and ammeter 27 is connected between the lower terminal 22 of the heating coil , which represents electrical ground in the electrical system , and the electrode 15 . a biasing potential is thus placed over the heater coil and the electrode . the shield is formed of a selected material that will prevent current from flowing in the circuit until such time as an electron flow is established through the shield . preferably , in the illustrated embodiment of the invention , the solid state sensing element 16 is formed of a metal salt , generally selected from a class of materials including sodium silicate and lithium silicate which contain alkali metal ions . the solid state sensing element 16 is fabricated by first placing an anhydrous salt of the selected material in a crucible and heating the material to about 1200 ° c . for thirty minutes . the material is removed from the crucible and allowed to cool at room temperature . upon cooling , the material , which is now in a hard ceramic form , is ground to a fine powder in a grinding jar , ballmill , or the like . next , elongated wire electrode 15 is supported in axial alignment within the shield 17 and the prepared powder tamped into the cylinder so that it contacts both the inner wall of the cylinder and the outer wall of the electrode to completely fill the void therebetween . sufficient pressure is applied to the powder to produce a high strength mechanical bond between the adjacent particles and the surrounding components thus providing for a relatively unitized homogeneous three element structure . the shield 17 is preferably formed of aluminum oxide which is substantially devoid of alkali metal ions and which exhibits good operating characteristics at elevated temperatures . in practice , helical groove 19 can be formed in the outer wall of the shield by any suitable forming or machining operation to a depth sufficient to securely support the heating coil in assembly to prevent unwanted slippage thereof and further strengthen the assembly . in operation , the shield 17 functions as an electrical barrier in the biasing network to block the flow of current between the heating coil wire and the electrode at ambient temperatures . accordingly , the electrode is held by the biasing battery at a relatively high negative potential , that is , a potential below the ground potential maintained at terminal 22 . accordingly , positive ions contained in sensing element 16 are drawn or otherwise attracted toward the electrode and become aligned therewith within the central core of the element . this condition is schematically depicted in fig2 . negative ions that might be present in the atmosphere adjacent the shield are prevented from moving across the depletion boundary and thus remain outside the shield . as can be seen , reverse biasing of the electrode tends to hold the positive and negative ions on opposite sides of the shield in an electrically balanced condition . this equilibrium is maintained until some unbalancing force is introduced into the system . by energizing the heated coil the outer surface of the shield is heated to a desired temperature within a predetermined range wherein a gas or vapor of a given constituent of primary interest is ionized . heating the shield also causes it to act as an ion control screen to selectively pass ions of the given gas or vapor of interest while effectively preventing the element from reacting with other constituents which may be present in the surrounding atmosphere . as a result , a great deal of the troublesome interference that has heretofore been encountered in this type of solid state sensing device is eliminated to provide for a more reliable and dependable piece of equipment that can be effectively utilized in a broader range of applications . by way of example , the present device is ideally well suited for detecting the presence of halogen gases in an air atmosphere also containing water vapor . in this application , the heating coil is formed of platinum wire which acts as a catalyst in the halogen ionization process to speed up the reaction and provide for lower operating temperatures . the surface temperature , in this case , is brought to a stable temperature somewhere within a range of between 750 ° c . and 850 ° c . to achieve this desired operating temperature a 0 . 006 inch diameter heater wire wound to between 30 and 40 turns per inch is employed which is energized using a 5 volt source of d . c . power . the electrode is biased to a negative 3 . 65 volts using a battery connected in the circuitry as described above while the wall thickness of the aluminum oxide shield is maintained at between 0 . 09 and 0 . 10 inches . under these conditions it has been found that the presence of a halogen gas can be accurately detected in an atmosphere containing water vapor that is brought into operative communication with the presence sensor without producing interference signals which have heretofore caused a great deal of difficulty in this particular application . as can be seen , the sensor of the present invention , because of its simplicity , can be conveniently constructed with very little expense on a mass production basis . the device is compact , light and portable and , because of its selectivity , ideally suited for detecting the presence of halogen gases in a wide range of applications . while this invention has been described with reference to the structure disclosed herein , it is not confined to the specific details as set forth and the application is intended to cover such modifications or changes as may come within the scope of the following claims .	7
as illustrated in fig1 , the present invention is a thin - film solar cell , indicated generally at 10 . the thin - film solar 10 cell has a flexible metallic substrate 12 preferably constructed from an aluminum ( al ) material or a stainless steel material and a semiconductor absorber layer 14 deposited on the flexible metallic substrate 12 . the surface of the flexible metallic substrate 12 can be polished ( to benefit the film structure of the absorber layer 14 and morphology ) or it may be textured ( to increase the path length of the reflected light ). a chromium adhesion layer , although not always required , can be added to increase adhesion , i . e ., a chromium adhesion layer between approximately 100 å and 400 å . furthermore , the flexible metallic substrate 12 can be thin and flexible , i . e ., approximately 25 μm to approximately 100 μm , in order that the thin - film solar cell 10 is lightweight , or the flexible metallic substrate 12 can be thick and rigid to improve handling of the thin - film solar cell 10 . in an embodiment of the present invention , the semiconductor absorber layer 14 is a deposition of high quality cu ( in , ga ) se 2 ( cigs ) thin films providing the fabrication of a high efficiency thin - film solar cell 10 . example processes of deposition of the semiconductor absorber layer 14 are described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 436 , 204 and u . s . pat . no . 5 , 441 , 897 , which are assigned to the same assignee of the present application and are hereby herein incorporated by reference . it should be noted that the deposition of the cigs thin film 14 onto the flexible metallic substrate 12 can be by any of a variety of common techniques including , but not limited to , evaporation , sputtering electrodeposition , chemical vapor deposition , etc . while the deposition of the cigs thin film 14 has been demonstrated before on other metal foil substrates such as titanium and molybdenum , the fundamental hurdle for the deposition of cigs thin films 14 onto the aluminum substrate 12 is that the aluminum in the aluminum substrate 12 reacts with the selenium in the cigs thin film 14 to form al 2 se 3 ( an unstable compound in air ). furthermore , at high temperatures , the aluminum within the aluminum substrate 12 alloys with the copper , indium , and gallium in the cigs thin film 14 . with the reaction between the aluminum and the copper and the alloy of aluminum with the copper , indium , and gallium , the aluminum substrate 12 would be essentially consumed during the deposition of the cigs thin film 14 on the aluminum substrate 12 . a requirement for a properly functioning thin - film solar cell 10 is that the substrate be inert to the film deposited on the substrate . in order to overcome the consumption of the aluminum substrate 12 with the cigs thin film 14 during deposition of the cigs thin film 14 onto the aluminum substrate 12 , the inventors of the present application discovered that a layer of suitable back metal contact ( i . e ., conductive metal layer ) 16 can be deposited on one or both surfaces of the aluminum substrate 12 between the aluminum substrate 12 and the cigs thin film 14 . the back metal contact layer 16 protects and isolates the aluminum substrate 12 from the fluxes of the selenium in the cigs thin film 14 during the deposition of the cigs thin film 14 onto the aluminum substrate 12 . preferably , the back metal contact layer 16 is constructed from a molybdenum ( mo ) material . the molybdenum back metal contact layer 16 preferably has a thickness between approximately 0 . 1 μm and approximately 1 . 0 μm although having a molybdenum back metal contact layer 16 with a thickness less than approximately 0 . 1 μm and greater than approximately 1 . 0 μm is within the scope of the present invention . furthermore , it should be noted that other back metal contact layers 16 besides a molybdenum back metal contact layer 16 can be used including , but not limited to , a molybdenum / gold combination , nickel , graphite , etc ., ( all which have been commonly employed in conventional solar cells ). in addition , as illustrated in fig2 , when depositing the cigs thin film 14 , a seed layer 18 of in2se3 or ( in , ga ) 2se3 can be deposited on the molybdenum back metal contact layer 16 which also adds protection of the aluminum substrate 12 from the cigs thin film 14 . the seed layer 18 of in2se3 is then followed by the cigs thin film 14 deposition scheme as described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 436 , 204 and u . s . pat . no . 5 , 441 , 897 , for instance . while the molybdenum back metal contact layer 14 is sufficient to protect the aluminum substrate 12 , the in2se3 seed layer 18 is an added protection at the start of the cigs thin film 16 deposition , but will end up reacting with the copper , indium , gallium , and selenium fluxes during the cigs thin film 14 growth , and is accounted for in the final cigs thin film 14 composition . in a variation of the above - described cigs thin film 14 deposition scheme , as illustrated in fig3 , 4 , and 5 , an insulation layer 20 of one or more oxides of silicon ( sio x ), and / or al 2 o 3 ( preferred ) can be deposited on the aluminum substrate 12 followed by the molybdenum back metal contact layer 16 . the insulation layer 20 serves as an additional protection for the aluminum substrate 12 with the molybdenum back contact layer 16 . the primary function , however , of the thin insulation layer 20 is to allow the use of cigs thin films 14 on the aluminum substrates 12 , in monolithically integrated modules , based on cigs solar cells . in this configuration , the aluminum substrate 12 must be electrically isolated from the molybdenum back metal contact layer 16 in order to accomplish the monolithic interconnect of individual solar cells into a module . in monolithic interconnect cigs modules , the aluminum substrate 12 serves as the substrate and the one or more oxides of silicon ( sio x ), and / or al 2 o 3 insulation layer 20 serves as an electric isolation between the aluminum substrate 12 and the molybdenum back metal contact layer 16 . the molybdenum back contact metal layer is the back contact and the cigs thin film 14 is the absorber . therefore , the thin - film solar cell 10 of the present invention can be constructed in at least the following two variations : 1 . al / mo / cigs / cds / zno . this structure is for a single , stand - alone thin - film solar cell 10 . 2 . al /( al 2 o 3 and / or sio x )/ mo / cigs / cds / zno )). this structure is necessary for monolithic interconnected modules made up of several thin - film solar cells 10 and can be used for the single , stand - alone thin - film solar cell 10 . in yet another embodiment of the thin - film solar cell 10 of the present invention , the al 2 o 3 insulation layer 20 can be deposited on the aluminum substrate 12 by any of a variety of common techniques including , but not limited to , evaporation , sputtering electrodeposition , chemical vapor deposition , etc . in still another embodiment of the thin - film solar cell 10 , the al 2 o 3 insulation layer 20 can be constructed by anodizing the aluminum substrate 12 . the anodization essentially converts the surfaces of the aluminum substrate 12 to al 2 o 3 by electrolytic means . it should be noted that in this embodiment , the adhesion layer between the aluminum substrate 12 and alumina , as described above , is not necessary . to complete the construction of the thin - film solar cell 10 , the cigs can be paired with a ii – vi film 22 to form a photoactive heterojunction . in an embodiment of the present invention , the ii – vi film 22 is constructed from cadmium sulfide ( cds ) although constructing the ii – vi films 22 from other materials including , but not limited to , cadmium zinc sulfide ( cdzns ), zinc selenide ( znse ), etc ., are within the scope of the present invention . a transparent conducting oxide ( tco ) layer 23 for collection of current is applied to the ii – vi film . preferably , the transparent conducting oxide layer 23 is constructed from zinc oxide ( zno ) although constructing the transparent conducting oxide layer 23 from other materials is within the scope of the present invention . a suitable grid contact 24 or other suitable collector is deposited on the upper surface of the tco layer 23 when forming a stand - alone thin - film solar cell 10 . the grid contact 24 can be formed from various materials but should have high electrical conductivity and form a good ohmic contact with the underlying tco 23 . in an embodiment of the present invention , the grid contact 24 is constructed from a metal material , although constructing the grid contact 24 from other materials including , but not limited to , aluminum , indium , chromium , or molybdenum , with an additional conductive metal overlayment , such as copper , silver , nickel , etc ., is within the scope of the present invention . furthermore , one or more anti - reflective coatings ( not shown ) can be applied to the grid contact 24 to improve the thin - film solar cell &# 39 ; s 10 collection of incident light . as understood by a person skilled in the art , any suitable anti - reflective coating is within the scope of the present invention . the thin - film solar cell 10 is singular in nature and has variable size , ranging from approximately 1 - cm 2 to approximately 100 - cm 2 or even larger . in order to series connect singular thin - film solar cells 10 , the thin - film solar cells 10 must be separated by cutting or slitting the flexible metallic substrate 12 and then reconnecting the grid contact 24 of one thin - film solar cell 10 to the flexible metallic substrate 12 of another thin - film solar cell 10 . in the monolithic integration , the monolithic integrated scheme can be followed to connect the thin - film solar cells 10 . the thin - film solar cell 10 of the present invention provides a great advantage over conventional solar cells . the thin - film solar cell 10 with the flexible metallic substrate 12 , as described herein , is lighter , less space consuming , and less expensive than using glass or other metallic substrates . lightness and size are especially useful in space applications where these criteria are important factors . furthermore , the thin - film solar cell 10 of the present invention can be rolled and / or folded , depending on the desires of the user . the foregoing exemplary descriptions and the illustrative preferred embodiments of the present invention have been explained in the drawings and described in detail , with varying modifications and alternative embodiments being taught . while the invention has been so shown , described and illustrated , it should be understood by those skilled in the art that equivalent changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention , and that the scope of the present invention is to be limited only to the claims except as precluded by the prior art . moreover , the invention as disclosed herein , may be suitably practiced in the absence of the specific elements which are disclosed herein .	7
the following description assumes , for simplicity and purely by way of example , that fets referred to are mosfets and a supply voltage + vdd is 5 . 0 volts . the fets are n - channel mosfets . p - channel mosfets are specifically identified . the multi - port sram core array shown in fig1 consists of four differential read ports with indirect data access via gated , bit line pull - down transistors and one single - ended write - only port with local bit line inversion to give pseudo - differential write access . the multi - port sram core array shown in fig1 has a five - port storage element ( core cell ) and includes one write port and four differential read ports with indirect data access . the multi - port sram core array has a core cell 10 which includes two inverter latches 11 and 12 . each of the inverter latches 11 and 12 has a cmos ( complementary metal oxide semiconductor ) inverter . the input and the output terminals of the inverter latch 11 are connected to the output and the input terminals of the inverter latch 12 , respectively . the source of a fet 14 is connected to the drain of a fet 16 and the source of a fet 18 is connected to the drain of a fet 20 . similarly , the source of a fet 22 is connected to the drain of a fet 24 and the source of a fet 26 is connected to the drain of a - fet 28 . the source of a fet 30 is connected to the drain of a fet 32 and the source of a fet 34 is connected to the drain of a fet 36 . the source of a fet 38 is connected to the drain of a fet 40 and the source of a fet 42 is connected to the drain of a fet 44 . the output terminal of the inverter latch 11 and the input terminal of the inverter latch 12 are connected to the gates of the fets 16 , 24 , 32 and 40 and the drain of a fet 46 . the input terminal of the inverter latch 11 and the output terminal of the inverter latch 12 are connected to the gates of the fets 20 , 28 , 36 and 44 and the drain of a fet 48 whose source is connected to the drain of a fet 50 . the sources of the fets 16 , 20 , 24 , 28 , 32 , 36 , 40 , 44 and 50 are connected to the ground terminal . the gates of the fets 46 and 48 are connected to a line 52 on which a write word line signal wlw is present . the gate of the fet 50 and the source of the fet 46 are connected to a line 54 on which a write bit line signal blw representing data &# 34 ; zero &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; one &# 34 ; is present . a line 56 on which a word line read signal wlra is present is connected to the gates of the fets 14 and 18 . a line 58 on which a word line read signal wlrb is present is connected to the gates of the fets 22 and 26 . a line 60 on which a word line read signal wlrc is present is connected to the gates of the fets 30 and 34 . a line 62 on which a word line read signal wlrd is present is connected to the gates of the fets 38 and 42 . the drains of the fets 18 , 26 , 34 and 42 are connected to bit lines 64 , 66 , 68 and 70 , respectively , on which read bit line signals blra , blrb , blrc and blrd are present . the drains of the fets 14 , 22 , 30 and 38 are connected to bit lines 72 , 74 , 76 and 78 , respectively , on which read bit line signals blrna , blrnb , blrnc and blrnd are present . the bit lines 64 and 72 , 66 and 74 , 68 and 76 , 70 and 78 are pairs of bit lines and on the respective pairs , the read bit line signals blra and blrna , blrb and blrnb , blrc and blrnc , and blrd and blrnd are which are differential signals are present . fig2 shows a detail of the core cell 10 of the multi - port sram core array . the core cell 10 is a well known sram storage element which includes two cmos inverters . in fig2 the drains of a p - channel fet 80 ( a load device ) and an n - channel fet 82 ( a drive device ), which define one cmos inverter , are connected to the gates of a p - channel fet 84 ( a load device ) and an n - channel fet 86 ( a drive device ), which define the other cmos inverter . similarly , the drains of the fets 84 and 86 are connected to the gates of the fets 80 and 82 . the sources of the fets 80 and 84 are connected to the voltage terminal of the supply voltage + vdd ( 5 . 0 volts ). the sources of the fets 82 and 86 are connected to the ground terminal . the junction of the drains of the fets 80 and 82 defines node cn . the junction of the drains of the fets 84 and 86 defines node c . nodes cn and c are data input and output terminals of the core cell 10 . fig3 ( a )- 3 ( d ) are timing charts which illustrates the operation of the multi - port sram core array shown in fig1 and 2 . operation of the multi - port sram core array will now be described with reference to fig1 and 3 ( a )- 3 ( d ). the write access port of the embodiment multi - port sram core array is single - ended . a single - ended write port is desirable to reduce write power and may eliminate , for example , 50 % of the write bit lines from the core array as compared to traditional differential writes . the fet 46 provides the traditional single - ended n - channel access to node c , resulting in high - speed write access for writing data &# 34 ; zero &# 34 ;. the fet 46 is easily margined for high - speed writing against the weak p - channel pull - up fet 84 since it is in common - source mode . however , the fet 46 has insufficient drive to write data &# 34 ; one &# 34 ; into the core cell 10 ( i . e ., node c &# 34 ; high &# 34 ;), since it would be in the source - follower pull - up mode ( by the fet 86 ) where drive capability is significantly reduced . marginlug of the n - channel pull - down fet 86 in the core cell 10 versus the fet 46 is not feasible for high - speed write access . to achieve the high - speed write to data &# 34 ; one &# 34 ;, a pseudo bit line inversion is applied through the fets 48 and 50 to pull node cn towards ground , when both the write bit line signal blw on the line 54 and the write word line signal wlw on the line 52 are &# 34 ; high &# 34 ;. the fet 48 acts as the write access device , while the fet 50 gates the pull - down of node cn , when the write bit line signal blw on the line 54 contains data &# 34 ; one &# 34 ;. in spite of the weak p - channel pull - up in the core cell 10 , since the fets 48 and 50 connected in series thereto are in common - source mode , the core cell 10 write speed is improved . in the embodiment multi - port sram core array , when data &# 34 ; zero &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; one &# 34 ; is required to be written into the core cell 10 , the write word line signal wlw on the line 52 is &# 34 ; high &# 34 ;. in a case of data &# 34 ; zero &# 34 ;, the write bit line signal blw on the line 54 is &# 34 ; low &# 34 ;. in response to &# 34 ; high &# 34 ; at the write word line signal wlw , the fet 46 becomes conductive and node c is pulled - down to &# 34 ; low &# 34 ; through the on fet 46 . in response to the pull - down at node c , node cn is pulled - up by the fet 80 . therefore , the fet 86 becomes on , causing node c to maintain &# 34 ; low &# 34 ;. in a case of data &# 34 ; one &# 34 ;, the write bit line signal blw on the line 54 is &# 34 ; high &# 34 ;. in response to &# 34 ; high &# 34 ; at the write word line signal wlw and the write bit line signal blw , the fets 48 and 50 become conductive and node cn is pulled - down towards the ground level (&# 34 ; low &# 34 ;). in response to the pull - down at node cn , node c is pulled - up by the fet 84 . therefore , the fet 82 becomes on , causing node cn to maintain &# 34 ; low &# 34 ;. the read access port of this embodiment of the multi - port sram core array is differential . the indirect read data access scheme consists of the fets 14 , 16 , 18 and 20 . it supports a large number of parallel read ports without incurring the stability problems of traditional pass - transistor access cells , since there is never any direct access from the read bit lines ( on which a differential read bit line signals blr and blrn are present ) to the data storage nodes ( c and cn ). thus , the cell is inherently stable under all read conditions and need only be margined to meet the write access and soft - error immunity criteria . while the core cell 10 stores data &# 34 ; zero &# 34 ;, nodes cn and c are &# 34 ; high &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; low &# 34 ;, respectively . while the word line read signal wlra on the line 56 , for example , is &# 34 ; high &# 34 ;, the fets 18 and 14 are gated . in response to &# 34 ; high &# 34 ; at node cn , the fets 20 and 18 become on and the bit line 64 is pulled - down by the on fets 20 and 18 , with the result that the read bit line signal blra becomes &# 34 ; low &# 34 ;. because node c is &# 34 ; low &# 34 ;, the fets 16 and 14 are off and the read bit line signal blrna on the line 72 is &# 34 ; high &# 34 ;. hence , by the gating and pull - down functions of the fets , data &# 34 ; zero &# 34 ; is read . similarly , while the word line read signal wlrb on the line 58 is &# 34 ; high &# 34 ;, the fets 26 and 22 are gated . in response to &# 34 ; high &# 34 ; at node cn , the fets 28 and 26 become conductive and the bit line 66 is pulled - down by the on fets 28 and 26 , with the result that the read bit line signal blrb becomes &# 34 ; low &# 34 ;. because node c is &# 34 ; low &# 34 ;, the fets 24 and 22 are nonconductive and the read bit line signal blrnb on the line 74 is &# 34 ; high &# 34 ;. hence , differential data &# 34 ; zero &# 34 ; is read between the bit lines 66 and 74 . while the core cell 10 stores data &# 34 ; one &# 34 ;, nodes cn and c are &# 34 ; low &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; high &# 34 ;, respectively . while the word line read signal wlra on the line 56 , for example , is &# 34 ; high &# 34 ;, the fets 18 and 14 are gated . in response to &# 34 ; high &# 34 ; at node c , the fets 16 and 14 become on and the bit line 72 is pulled - down , with the result that the read bit line signal blrna becomes &# 34 ; low &# 34 ;. because node cn is &# 34 ; low &# 34 ;, the fets 20 and 18 are off and the read bit line signal blra on the line 64 is &# 34 ; high &# 34 ;. hence , by the gating and pull - down functions of the fets , data &# 34 ; one &# 34 ; is read . similarly , while the word line read signal wlrb on the line 58 is &# 34 ; high &# 34 ;, the fets 26 and 22 are gated . in response to &# 34 ; high &# 34 ; at node c , the fets 24 and 22 become conductive and the bit line 74 is pulled - down , with the result that the read bit line signal blrnb becomes &# 34 ; low &# 34 ;. because node cn is &# 34 ; low &# 34 ;, the fets 28 and 26 are nonconductive and the read bit line signal blrb on the line 66 is &# 34 ; high &# 34 ;. hence , differential data &# 34 ; one &# 34 ; is read between the bit lines 74 and 66 . although particular embodiment of the present invention have been described in detail , it should be appreciated that numerous variations , modifications , and adaptations may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the claims .	6
while the term “ traffic surveillance ” is used herein , it may also refer to other traffic applications , such as “ traffic monitoring ”, etc . the invention discussed here may be applied to the case of more than three radars . a doppler - vision - radar traffic surveillance system is shown in fig2 where 1 — the sensor system which may include a sensor suite / recording device or apparatus , 2 — a target tracking device , 3 — a first moving doppler radar motion ray , 4 — a second moving doppler radar motion ray , and 5 — a radar direction ray connecting the sensor apparatus 1 to a moving vehicle 6 . fig3 shows the layout of the sensor apparatus 1 where 7 — a first moving doppler radar , 8 — a second moving doppler radar , 9 — a fixed or stationary doppler radar , 10 — a data processing device , such as a computer , laptop , personal computer , pda or other such device , and 11 — data recording device , such as a hard drive , a flash drive or other such device . the functional flow chart of the system is shown in fig4 . in the following , we will describe the functional blocks . doppler radars illustrated in this patent are continuous wave ( cw ) radars . analog - to - digital conversion ( adc ) may be performed in 101 , 102 and 103 to convert analog signals to digital signals . if digital signals are directly available from the radars , this adc step may be skipped . assume the current time is k in discrete time . the doppler frequencies of the moving vehicle p , 6 in fig3 , induced by both moving doppler radars may be given by ( steps 104 and 106 in fig4 ) f d k 1 = k 1 [ ν tk cos ( φ tk )+ ν r1k cos ( θ r1k )] ( 1 ) f d k 2 = k 2 [ ν tk cos ( φ tk )+ ν r2k cos ( θ r2k )]. ( 2 ) where k 1 and k 2 may be doppler conversion constants for the first and second moving doppler radars ( 7 and 8 in fig3 ), and θ r1k , θ r2k and θ tk are depicted in fig3 without time index k . a fixed doppler radar 9 may be used to sense the moving vehicle motion ( step 105 in fig4 ) where k 3 may be the doppler conversion constant for the fixed doppler radar ( 9 in fig3 ). in steps 107 and 108 of fig4 , since all three radars 7 , 8 , 9 may be located together and assuming that the distance from the sensor suite to the moving vehicle 6 may be much larger than the distance between radars 7 , 8 , 9 , the following doppler differences may be obtained as where the impact of the moving vehicle may have been removed . eqs . ( 4 ) and ( 5 ) may actually recover the substantially independent motion doppler signals of the first and second moving doppler radars 7 , 8 , except for the conversion constants . in step 109 , the doppler ratio may be calculated as in step 110 , the doppler vector of moving radar two may be scaled as 6 . subtract the doppler vector of moving radar one from the scaled doppler vector in step 111 , the doppler vector of moving radar one may be subtracted from the scaled doppler vector of moving radar two in step 112 of fig4 , the direction vector n k pointing to the moving vehicle perpendicular to ν r12k may be found , and a pointing direction angle α k ( step 113 in fig4 ) may be calculated . this pointing direction angle is the los angle of the moving vehicle . λ 1 = k 3 ν tk cos ( δ k ), λ 2 = k 3 ν tk sin ( δ k ). ( 11 ) by modeling the vehicle &# 39 ; s kinematics with a constant velocity model and the road structure with a straight line model ( step 115 in fig4 ), eq . ( 11 ) may become we may assume that the vehicles may follow the road lane markings and the vehicle &# 39 ; s heading angle ( λ k in fig5 ) may reflect the road structure which may be learnt from the traffic flow ( step 114 in fig4 ). with a collection of n doppler frequencies of the fixed doppler radar , a least square approach may be used to calculate { circumflex over ( λ )} 1 and { circumflex over ( λ )} 2 using eq . ( 10 ). the road structure may be calculated by ( steps 114 of fig4 ) note : a different moving vehicle heading direction may result in different signs of angles in eq . ( 9 ). once the road structure { circumflex over ( δ )} is learnt , accurate vehicle speed { circumflex over ( ν )} tk may be calculated from ( step 116 in fig4 ) f d k 3 = k 3 ν tk cos ({ circumflex over ( α )} k −{ circumflex over ( δ )} k ). ( 14 ) once the pointing direction angle , { circumflex over ( α )} k , is known , the target tracking device ( 2 in fig2 and step 117 in fig4 ) may continuously point to the vehicle to maintain continuous surveillance . each vehicle &# 39 ; s speed { circumflex over ( ν )} tk and direction angle { circumflex over ( α )} k are continuously recorded in the data recording device ( 11 in fig3 and step 118 in fig4 ). fig5 shows the motion pattern of two moving doppler radars whose motion vectors , ν r1k and ν r2k , are defined by angles , θ 1 and θ 2 , along the radar motion rays , 3 and 4 . fig5 also shows the relationship between the scaled motion vector , ν r2k and its perpendicular vector , ν r12k , and the relationship between the perpendicular vector and the moving vehicle direction vector , n k , and the vehicle los angle , α k . note : this patent application is in reference to the following patent applications of both inventors : application numbers 12255081 and 12266227 . patent applications 12255081 is for 3d imaging where it uses three radars and one video camera and requires the sensor suite to move with a known motion . patent applications 12266227 requires also three radars and a video camera and precise registration between the radars and the camera is needed . this patent application is also in reference to the following patent application of the first inventor : application number 12333735 , where it also requires three radars and one video camera and a fusion algorithm of radar and video signals is presented . this invention uses only three radars and no cameras , but recovers the same information as a camera .	6
the invention is now described within the context of one or more embodiments , although the description is intended to be illustrative of the invention as a whole , and is not to be construed as limiting the invention to the embodiments shown . it is appreciated that various modifications may occur to those skilled in the art that , while not specifically shown herein , are nevertheless within the true spirit and scope of the invention . as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art , aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system , method or computer program product . accordingly , aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment , an entirely software embodiment ( including firmware , resident software , micro - code , etc .) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “ circuit ,” “ module ” or “ system .” furthermore , aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium ( s ) having computer readable program code embodied thereon . any combination of one or more computer readable medium ( s ) may be utilized . the computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium . a computer readable storage medium may be , for example , but not limited to , an electronic , magnetic , optical , electromagnetic , infrared , or semiconductor system , apparatus , or device , or any suitable combination of the foregoing . more specific examples ( a non - exhaustive list ) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following : an electrical connection having one or more wires , a portable computer diskette , a hard disk , a random access memory ( ram ), a read - only memory ( rom ), an erasable programmable read - only memory ( eprom or flash memory ), an optical fiber , a portable compact disc read - only memory ( cd - rom ), an optical data storage device , a magnetic data storage device , or any suitable combination of the foregoing . in the context of this document , a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain , or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system , apparatus , or device . a computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein , for example , in baseband or as part of a carrier wave . such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms , including , but not limited to , electro - magnetic , optical , or any suitable combination thereof . a computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate , propagate , or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system , apparatus , or device . program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium , including but not limited to wireless , wireline , optical fiber cable , rf , etc ., or any suitable combination of the foregoing . computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages , including an object oriented programming language such as java , smalltalk , c ++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages , such as the “ c ” programming language or similar programming languages . the program code may execute entirely on the user &# 39 ; s computer , partly on the user &# 39 ; s computer , as a stand - alone software package , partly on the user &# 39 ; s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server . in the latter scenario , the remote computer may be connected to the user &# 39 ; s computer through any type of network , including a local area network ( lan ) or a wide area network ( wan ), or the connection may be made to an external computer ( for example , through the internet using an internet service provider ). aspects of the present invention are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods , apparatus ( systems ) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention . it will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams , and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams , can be implemented by computer program instructions . these computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer , special purpose computer , or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine , such that the instructions , which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus , create means for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks . these computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer , other programmable data processing apparatus , or other devices to function in a particular manner , such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function / act specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks . the computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer , other programmable data processing apparatus , or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer , other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks . reference is now made to fig1 which is a simplified conceptual illustration of a system for managing mid - dialog session initiation protocol ( sip ) messages , constructed and operative in accordance with an embodiment of the invention . in the system of fig1 , a sip application server 100 is configured with a sip container 102 and a sip application 104 . beyond their known configurations in the art with respect to managing and processing sip - related transactions relating to sip application sessions , sip sessions and sip dialogs , sip application server 100 , sip container 102 , and sip application 104 are preferably configured to operate as described hereinbelow . sip container 102 preferably includes an incoming message processor 106 and an unknown message processor 108 . incoming message processor 106 is preferably configured to determine whether a sip message that is received by sip container 102 , such as from a sip user agent client ( uac ), is a mid - dialog sip message and , if so , whether the mid - dialog sip message is associated with a sip session / dialog that is managed by sip container 102 . unknown message processor 108 is preferably configured such that if the mid - dialog sip message is not associated with a pre - existing sip session / dialog that is managed by sip container 102 , then unknown message processor 108 creates a new sip session and associates the new sip session with the mid - dialog sip message . unknown message processor 108 identifies that sip application 104 is associated with the mid - dialog sip message , such as using an application identifier included in the mid - dialog sip message , and provides the mid - dialog sip message in the context of the new sip session to sip application 104 via a callback to sip application 104 , where this callback is preferably an out - of - sip - protocol callback . if unknown message processor 108 receives an acknowledgement from sip application 104 that sip application 104 will accept the mid - dialog sip message for normal sip processing , sip container 102 provides the mid - dialog sip message in the context of the new sip session to sip application 104 via another callback to sip application 104 , where this callback is preferably a normal , in - sip - protocol callback . sip application 104 preferably includes a non - sip message processor 110 and a sip session / dialog reconstructor 112 . non - sip message processor 110 preferably includes a non - sip api configured to receive the out - of - sip - protocol callback from sip container 102 that includes the mid - dialog sip message in the context of the new sip session . sip session / dialog reconstructor 112 is preferably configured to decide whether it is able to accept the mid - dialog sip message for normal sip processing , which may require successfully reconstructing some or all of the state information of the original sip session / dialog associated with the mid - dialog sip message . if sip session / dialog reconstructor 112 decides that it is able to accept the mid - dialog sip message for normal sip processing , then non - sip message processor 110 sends an out - of - sip - protocol acknowledgement to sip container 102 indicating that sip application 104 will accept the mid - dialog sip message for normal sip processing . any of the elements shown in fig1 are preferably implemented by one or more computers , such as computer 114 , in computer hardware and / or in computer software embodied in a non - transitory , computer - readable medium in accordance with conventional techniques . reference is now made to fig2 a , which is a simplified flowchart illustration of an exemplary method of operation of sip container 102 of the system of fig1 , operative in accordance with an embodiment of the invention . in the method of fig2 a , a mid - dialog sip message is received ( step 200 ), such as where the mid - dialog sip message is sent from a sip user agent client ( uac ) and where the recipient of the mid - dialog sip message is a sip container . if the mid - dialog sip message is not associated with a sip session / dialog that is managed by the recipient ( step 202 ), a new sip session is created and associated with the mid - dialog sip message ( step 204 ). the sip application that is associated with the mid - dialog sip message is identified ( step 206 ), such as using an application identifier included in the mid - dialog sip message . the mid - dialog sip message is provided to the identified sip application in the context of the new sip session via a callback ( step 208 ), where this callback is preferably an out - of - sip - protocol callback . if an acknowledgement is received from the sip application accepting the mid - dialog sip message for normal sip processing ( step 210 ), then the mid - dialog sip message is provided to the identified sip application in the context of the new sip session via another callback ( step 212 ), where this callback is preferably a normal , in - sip - protocol callback . reference is now made to fig2 b , which is a simplified flowchart illustration of an exemplary method of operation of sip container 102 of the system of fig1 , operative in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the invention . the method of fig2 b is substantially similar to the method of fig2 a with the notable exception that steps 204 - 212 are performed only if the mid - dialog sip message is associated with a cluster , such as of sip containers and / or sip application servers , that is known to the recipient of the mid - dialog sip message ( step 214 ), such as where the recipient of the mid - dialog sip message is part of a backup cluster for the cluster associated with the mid - dialog sip message . reference is now made to fig3 , which is a simplified flowchart illustration of an exemplary method of operation of sip application 104 of the system of fig1 , operative in accordance with an embodiment of the invention . in the method of fig3 , an out - of - sip - protocol callback is received by a sip application , such as from a sip container , where the callback includes a mid - dialog sip message in the context of the new sip session ( step 300 ). a determination is made whether the mid - dialog sip message can be accepted for normal sip processing ( step 302 ), which may require successfully reconstructing some or all of the state information of the original sip session / dialog associated with the mid - dialog sip message . if the sip application decides that it is able to accept the mid - dialog sip message for normal sip processing ( step 304 ), then an out - of - sip - protocol acknowledgement is sent to the requestor indicating that the sip application will accept the mid - dialog sip message for normal sip processing ( step 306 ). referring now to fig4 , block diagram 400 illustrates an exemplary hardware implementation of a computing system in accordance with which one or more components / methodologies of the invention ( e . g ., components / methodologies described in the context of fig1 - 3 ) may be implemented , according to an embodiment of the invention . as shown , the techniques for controlling access to at least one resource may be implemented in accordance with a processor 410 , a memory 412 , i / o devices 414 , and a network interface 416 , coupled via a computer bus 418 or alternate connection arrangement . it is to be appreciated that the term “ processor ” as used herein is intended to include any processing device , such as , for example , one that includes a cpu ( central processing unit ) and / or other processing circuitry . it is also to be understood that the term “ processor ” may refer to more than one processing device and that various elements associated with a processing device may be shared by other processing devices . the term “ memory ” as used herein is intended to include memory associated with a processor or cpu , such as , for example , ram , rom , a fixed memory device ( e . g ., hard drive ), a removable memory device ( e . g ., diskette ), flash memory , etc . such memory may be considered a computer readable storage medium . in addition , the phrase “ input / output devices ” or “ i / o devices ” as used herein is intended to include , for example , one or more input devices ( e . g ., keyboard , mouse , scanner , etc .) for entering data to the processing unit , and / or one or more output devices ( e . g ., speaker , display , printer , etc .) for presenting results associated with the processing unit . the flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture , functionality , and operation of possible implementations of systems , methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the invention . in this regard , each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module , segment , or portion of code , which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function ( s ). it should also be noted that , in some alternative implementations , the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures . 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 involved . it will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and / or flowchart illustration , and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and / or flowchart illustration , can be implemented by special purpose hardware - based systems that perform the specified functions or acts , or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions . it will be appreciated that any of the elements described hereinabove may be implemented as a computer program product embodied in a computer - readable medium , such as in the form of computer program instructions stored on magnetic or optical storage media or embedded within computer hardware , and may be executed by or otherwise accessible to a computer ( not shown ). while the methods and apparatus herein may or may not have been described with reference to specific computer hardware or software , it is appreciated that the methods and apparatus described herein may be readily implemented in computer hardware or software using conventional techniques . while the invention has been described with reference to one or more specific embodiments , the description is intended to be illustrative of the invention as a whole and is not to be construed as limiting the invention to the embodiments shown . it is appreciated that various modifications may occur to those skilled in the art that , while not specifically shown herein , are nevertheless within the true spirit and scope of the invention .	7
reference will now be made to the drawings to describe the present invention in detail . fig1 - 5 illustrate an lga socket 100 in accordance to a preferred embodiment of the present invention , which is generally used for connecting a cpu 3 to a pcb 4 . the lga socket 100 includes an insulative housing 1 having a plurality of terminals 2 received therein . the cpu 3 and the pcb 4 both define a plurality of pads 30 , 40 . referring to fig1 and 2 , the insulative housing 1 made of insulative material and having a planar structure . the insulative housing 1 includes a top surface 10 , a bottom surface 11 opposite thereto and defines a plurality of passageways 12 extending from the top surface 10 to the bottom surface 11 and arranged in rows . each passageway 12 has a receiving hole 120 and a retaining solt 121 communicating with the receiving hole 120 and located at one side of the receiving hole 120 . the retaining solt 121 is used to retain the terminals 2 in the insulative housing 1 and has a plurality of inclined guiding surface 122 for guiding the terminal 2 attached to the insulative housing 1 . the passageways 12 located in the longitudinal row are designated as a passageway group ( not labeled ) which includes seven passageways 12 which are marked with t 1 to t 7 one by one . the housing 1 is divided into two areas respectively marked with a and b . the passageways t 1 to t 3 of a passageway group belongs to area a , and the passageways t 4 to t 7 belongs to area b . the guiding surface 122 of the passageways t 1 to t 3 in area a are located at the top surface 10 for guiding the terminals 2 attached to the insulative housing 1 in an up to down direction . while the guiding surface 122 of the passageways t 4 to t 7 in area b are located at the bottom surface 11 of the insulative housing 1 for guiding the terminals 2 into the insulative housing 1 in a down to up direction . the pitch p 1 of the retaining solt 121 in area a is larger than the pitch p 2 of the retaining solt 121 s in area b . the distance between the retaining solt 121 of the passageway t 3 in area a and the retaining solt 121 of the passageway t 4 in area b is equal to the pitch p 1 . referring to fig3 to fig5 , the terminal 2 stamped from metallic material includes a base portion 20 , a pair of elastic arms bending from a middle portion of the base portion 20 , a holding portion 23 and a guiding portion 24 respectively extending from opposite ends of the base portion 20 in a vertical direction . the pair of elastic arms includes an upper arm 25 extending upwardly from the base portion 20 and a lower arm 26 extending downwardly from the base portion 20 . the upper arm 25 has a first arm portion 250 extending upwardly from the base portion 20 and a first extending portion 251 extending obliquely from an end of the first arm portion 250 . the first extending portion 251 extends beyond the top surface 10 of the insulative housing 1 . the lower arm 26 has a lower arm portion 260 extending downwardly from the base portion 20 and a second extending portion 261 extending obliquely from an end of the lower arm portion 260 and beyond the bottom surface 11 of the insulative housing 1 . the length of the first arm portion 250 is the same with that of the second first arm portion 260 . a first contacting portion 220 is arc shaped and formed at free end of the first extending portion 251 for contacting with the pad 30 of the cpu 3 . a second contacting portion 221 is also arc shaped and formed at free end of the second extending portion 261 for contacting with the pad 40 of the pcb 4 . the holding portion 23 extending vertically from two sides of the base portion 20 can match with the retaining solt 121 of the insulative housing 1 to retain the terminal 2 therein . the base portion 20 , the holding portion 23 and the guiding portion 24 are disposed in a same vertical plane . the terminals 2 received in the insulative housing 1 are also arranged in different rows either in the transversal direction or in the longitudinal . the terminals in the longitudinal row are designated as a terminal group and include two types of terminals 2 which are arranged side by side and have an identical structure . each group has seven terminals numbered one by one with s 1 to s 7 from left to right . the terminals s 1 to s 7 can be divided into two types according to the assembling direction thereof . the terminals s 1 to s 3 are received in the passageways t 1 to t 3 in area a one by one and attached to the insulative housing 1 from a top surface 10 . the terminals s 4 to s 7 received in the passageways t 4 to t 7 one by one and attached to the isulative housing 11 from the bottom surface 11 . the holding portions 23 of the terminals s 1 to s 3 extend upwardly from the base portions 20 , and the guiding portions 24 of the terminals s 1 to s 3 extend downwardly from the base portions 20 for guiding the terminals s 1 to s 3 into the passageways t 1 to t 3 . the length of the first extending portion 251 of the terminals s 1 to s 3 is longer than the length of the second extending portion 261 of the same terminal 2 . the lengths of the first extending portions 251 of the terminals s 1 to s 3 are reduced gradually one by one from left to right . the lengths of the second extending portions 261 of terminals s 1 to s 3 are the same from left to right . because the pitch p 1 of area a is the same , a pitch p 4 between the first contacting portions 220 of the adjacent terminals 2 in the left portion is the same , a pitch p 3 between the second contacting portions 221 of the adjacent terminals 2 in the left portion is also the same . the pitch p 4 is smaller than the pitch p 3 , and the difference between the pitch p 3 and the pitch p 4 is equal to the difference between the pitch p 1 and the pitch p 2 . that is to say that p 3 minus p 4 equal to p 1 minus p 2 . while the holding portions 23 of the terminals s 4 to s 7 all extend downwardly from the base portions 20 . the guiding portions 24 of the terminals s 4 to s 7 extend upwardly from the base portions 20 for guiding the terminals s 4 to s 7 into the passageways t 4 to t 7 from the bottom surface 11 . the lengths of the first extending portion 251 and the second extending portion 261 of the terminal s 4 are equal . the length of the first extending portion 251 of the terminals s 5 to s 7 is shorter than the length of the second extending portion 261 of the same terminals s 5 to s 7 . the lengths of the first extending portions 251 of the terminals s 4 to s 7 are the same , and the lengths of the second extending portions 261 of the terminals s 4 to s 7 are increased one by one from left to right . because the pitch p 2 of the passageways 12 in b area is the same , the pitch between the adjacent first contacting portions 220 of the terminals s 4 to s 7 is the same , and the pitch between the adjacent second contacting portions 221 of the terminals s 4 to s 7 is also the same . in addition , the lengths of the first extending portions 251 of the terminals s 1 to s 4 are respectively equal to the lengths of the second extending portions 261 of the terminals s 7 to s 4 . the lengths of the second extending portions 261 of the terminals si to s 4 are respectively equal to the lengths of the first extending portions 251 of the terminals s 7 to s 4 . so that the lengths of the first extending portions 251 of the terminals s 1 to s 4 in the same terminal group are reduced one by one from left to right , the lengths of the second extending portions 261 of the terminals s 4 to s 7 in the same terminal group are increased one by one from left to right . because the pitch p 2 between the retaining solt 121 of the passageways t 4 to t 7 is shorter than the pitch p 1 between the retaining solt 121 of the passageways t 1 to t 4 , the first contacting portions 220 of the terminals s 4 to s 1 are gradually and closely arranged and the second contacting portions 221 of the terminals s 4 to s 7 are gradually diffusely after the terminals s 1 - s 7 secured to the isulative housing 1 . by the pitch compensation of the passageways t 4 to t 7 , the pitch of the first contacting portions 220 of the terminals s 4 to s 7 and the pitch of the second contacting portions 221 of the terminals s 4 to s 7 are respectively equal to the pitch p 4 and the pitch p 3 , which is also described as p 4 = p 3 + p 2 − p 1 . so the pitches of the first contacting portions 220 of all the terminals s 1 to s 7 are the same and equal to the pitch p 4 , and the pitches of the second contacting portions 221 of the terminals s 1 to s 7 are also the same and equals to the pitch p 3 . then , the lga socket 100 can electrically connect the cpu 3 and the pcb 4 with different pad pitches . the lga socket 100 can electrically connect the cpu 3 having fine pad pitches and the pcb 4 having coarse pad pitches . in addition , the lga socket 100 achieves the electrical connection between the cpu 3 and the pcb 4 through the first contacting portions 220 abutting against the pads 30 of the cpu 3 and the second contacting portions 221 abutting against the pads 40 of the pcb 4 rather than solder balls also reducing the height of the lga socket 100 . it is also can be seen that the top and lower arms 250 , 260 of the central terminals s 4 of the terminals s 1 - s 7 extend from the base portion 20 with the same length , and the top and lower arms 250 , 260 of the terminals s 1 , s 2 , s 3 , s 5 , s 6 , s 7 extend from the base portion 20 with different lengths . furthermore , the terminals s 1 , s 2 , s 3 are essentially similar to the terminals s 7 , s 6 , s 5 , respectively . therefore , the manufacture process of the terminals is also facilitated . while the preferred embodiments in accordance with the present invention has been shown and described , equivalent modifications and changes known to persons skilled in the art according to the spirit of the present invention are considered within the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims .	7
reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the invention , examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings . while the invention will be described in conjunction with the preferred embodiments , it will be understood that they are not intended to limit the invention to these embodiments . on the contrary , the invention is intended to cover alternatives , modifications and equivalents , which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims . furthermore , in the following detailed description of the present invention , numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention . however , it will be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details . in other instances , well - known methods , procedures , components , and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the present invention . some portions of the detailed descriptions which follow are presented in terms of procedures , logic blocks , processing , and other symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory . these descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art . a procedure , logic block , process , etc ., is here , and generally , conceived to be a self - consistent sequence of steps or instructions leading to a desired result . the steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities . usually , though not necessarily , these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored , transferred , combined , compared , and otherwise manipulated in a computer system . it has proven convenient at times , principally for reasons of common usage , to refer to these signals as bits , bytes , values , elements , symbols , characters , terms , numbers , or the like . it should be borne in mind , however , that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities . unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussions , it is appreciated that throughout the present invention , discussions utilizing terms such as “ receiving ” or “ assembling ” or “ combining ” or “ forwarding ” or “ identifying ” the like , refer to the action and processes of a computer system ( e . g ., process 300 of fig3 ), or similar electronic computing device , that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical ( electronic ) quantities within the computer system &# 39 ; s registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage , transmission or display devices . fig2 is a block diagram of graphics computer system 200 upon which the embodiments of the present invention can be implemented . computer system 200 exemplifies a computer - controlled graphics systems for generating complex or three - dimensional images . computer system 200 comprises a bus or other communication means 210 for communicating information , and a processor 202 coupled with bus 210 for processing information . computer system 200 further comprises a random access memory ( ram ) or other dynamic storage device 201 ( main memory 201 ) coupled to bus 210 for storing information and instructions to be executed by processor 202 . main memory 201 also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions by processor 202 . data storage device 207 is coupled to bus 210 and is used for storing information and instructions . furthermore , signal input / output ( i / o ) communication device 208 is used to couple computer system 200 onto , for example , a network . computer system 200 can also be coupled via bus 210 to an alphanumeric input device 222 , including alphanumeric and other keys , which is used for communicating information and command selections to processor 202 . another type of user input device is mouse 223 ( or a like device such as a trackball or cursor direction keys ) which is used for communicating direction information and command selections to processor 202 and for controlling cursor movement on display device 221 . this input device typically has two degrees of freedom in two axes , a first axis ( e . g ., x ) and a second axis ( e . g ., y ), which allows the device to specify positions in a plane . in accordance with the present invention , also coupled to bus 210 is graphics subsystem 211 . processor 202 provides graphics subsystem 211 with graphics data such as drawing commands , coordinate vertex data , and other data related to an object &# 39 ; s geometric position , color , and surface parameters . in general , graphics subsystem 211 processes the graphical data , converts the graphical data into a screen coordinate system , generates pixel data ( e . g ., color , shading , texture ) based on the primitives ( e . g ., points , lines , and polygons including triangles and quadrangles , as well as polygon meshes , strips and the like ), and performs blending , anti - aliasing , and other functions . the resulting data are stored in framebuffer 230 . a display subsystem ( not shown ) reads framebuffer 230 and displays the image on display device 221 . fig3 is a flowchart of the steps in a process 300 for generating a graphics image using a triangle - based database in a quad - based graphics system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . process 300 can be implemented via computer - readable program instructions stored in a memory unit ( e . g ., main memory 201 and / or data storage device 207 ) and executed by processor 202 and graphics subsystem 211 of computer system 200 ( fig2 ). the present invention is described in a context wherein triangle primitives are opportunistically combined to form quadrangle primitives . however , it is appreciated that the method of the present invention can be extrapolated to other geometric shapes , including geometric shapes that may not be currently in use in the field of computer graphics . in step 310 , the objects to be used to render a scene are described as a collection of vertices . in the present embodiment , these objects can consist of points , lines , triangles ( including triangle fans , meshes , and strips ), and quadrangles ( including quad strips ). with regard to the present embodiment of the present invention , connected triangles ( including triangle fans , meshes and strips ) are of particular interest . the vertices can be represented using world coordinates ( e . g ., x , y , z , w ) or surface normal coordinates ( e . g ., n x , n y , n z ). triangle fans , meshes and strips and quad strips are known in the art . in step 315 , the vertices are transformed in order to project the objects from three - dimensional space into two - dimensional ( screen ) space . alternatively , the vertices are represented in window space and transformed at a later time into screen space . in step 320 of fig3 , the vertices are accumulated and used to form primitives . graphics subsystem 211 , using a known system of graphics instructions ( such as opengl by silicon graphics , inc ., of mountain view , calif . ), can be instructed to assemble a triangle primitive using a particular set of vertices . accordingly , when these vertices are received by graphics subsystem 211 , they are assembled into a primitive describing a triangle . similarly , other vertices are subsequently received and used to form primitives , including additional triangle primitives . connected triangles are formed when two triangle primitives share a side ( that is , they share two vertices ). for example , graphics subsystem 211 receives three vertices and assembles them into a first triangle primitive . a fourth vertex is received by graphics subsystem 211 and paired with two of the vertices from the first triangle primitive to form a second triangle primitive . that is , two of the vertices previously received from the object database can be reused to form another triangle in combination with a new vertex . thus , triangles are individually formed , and so each triangle can be separately processed . connected triangles can be combined into a set of primitives such as a triangle strip , a triangle fan , or a triangle mesh . as will be seen , in accordance with the present invention , connected triangles can be opportunistically combined to form quadrangles , and each quadrangle formed by pairing connected triangles can be processed at once as a single quadrangle ( instead of consecutively as two triangles ). in step 330 , if connected triangles ( e . g ., triangle fans , strips and meshes ) are present , then process 300 proceeds to step 335 ; otherwise , process 300 proceeds directly to step 350 . in step 335 , for connected triangles , the surface ( front or back ) that is to be displayed is identified for each triangle . this information is needed in order to determine whether one of the triangles folds over and obscures the other triangle or a portion thereof ( see fig4 d ). if the front face of one of the connected triangles is to be displayed , and the back face of the other of the connected triangles is to be displayed , this would indicate that one of the connected triangles is folded over and partially obscuring , or possibly entirely obscuring , the other triangle . in step 340 , if the surfaces to be displayed are determined to be equal for the connected triangles ( that is , the same face of each of the connected triangles will be displayed ), then process 300 proceeds to step 345 . otherwise , process 300 proceeds directly to step 350 . thus , if different surfaces are to be displayed , then the connected triangles are not opportunistically combined into quadrangles as described in step 345 . in step 345 , if the same surface ( front or back ) of the connected triangles will be shown , the triangles may be combined ( paired ) to form a quadrangle ( see fig4 b ). however , in accordance with the present invention , connected triangles do not have to be paired and , under certain circumstances , will not be . for example , if the downstream portion of graphics subsystem 211 is idle or otherwise ready to process a triangle , a triangle can be launched immediately for subsequent processing . also , in the case in which an odd number of triangle primitives is being used , it will be necessary to process at least one triangle individually . conversely , if the downstream portion of graphics subsystem 211 is busy or otherwise not ready to process a triangle , then that triangle may not be launched . in this case , connected triangles can be combined to form quadrangles in accordance with the present invention . in step 350 , the primitives ( points , lines , triangles , quadrangles , etc .) formed in the preceding steps of process 300 are launched . individual triangles can be individually launched . similarly , connected triangles can be launched individually if they will be displaying different faces ( e . g ., one triangle partially overlaps or obscures the other triangle ; see step 340 ). connected triangles can also be launched individually if , as described above , the downstream portion of the graphics subsystem is idle or otherwise ready . connected triangles paired to form quadrangles ( from step 345 ) can also be launched in step 350 . in this latter case , the connected triangles are processed as a single quadrangle instead of as two triangles . consequently , in accordance with the present invention , instead of processing three edges and three vertices twice ( for a total of six edges and six vertices ), only four edges and four vertices are processed . thus , by combining two connected triangles to form a single quadrangle , the amount of processing can be reduced by up to one - half . connected triangles can be processed with the efficiency of quadrangles without reformulating the triangle - based object database to a quad - based one . the present invention therefore more fully utilizes the capabilities of a quad - based rendering system when processing triangle - based databases , with resultant improvements in processing performance and efficiency . these improvements include , but are not limited to , locality of reference for texture , color and depth accesses to and from memory . buffering and / or caching requirements for these data can be reduced . in summary , in the present embodiment of the present invention , connected triangles ( including triangle fans , meshes , and strips ) can be opportunistically paired to form quadrangle primitives , which can be launched and processed as quadrangles ( instead of as two triangles ) in accordance with the present invention . fig4 a , 4b , 4 c and 4 d illustrate exemplary triangle primitives and quadrangle primitives in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . fig4 a illustrates an exemplary triangle primitive 410 having vertices 411 , 412 and 413 . fig4 b illustrates the case in which adjacent triangles are combined to form a quadrangle in accordance with the present invention . triangle primitive 410 is formed first , with vertices 411 , 412 and 413 . a fourth vertex 414 is added , and a second triangle primitive 420 is formed by reusing vertices 412 and 413 with vertex 414 . in the case in which triangle primitives 410 and 420 are combined , a quadrangle primitive 430 ( with vertices 411 , 412 , 413 and 414 ) is formed . as described above in conjunction with fig3 , quadrangle primitive 430 is processed as a single entity in accordance with the present invention . in the case in which adjacent triangles are paired to form a quadrangle , it may be necessary to indicate flat shading or flat lighting of the resultant quadrangle in a manner different than that used for a case of a quadrangle - based display list . in the present embodiment , flat shading or flat lighting attributes are associated with the third and fourth vertices of the formed quadrangle ( e . g ., vertices 413 and 414 of quadrangle 430 ). vertex 413 is thus used for flat shading or lighting for triangle primitive 410 , and vertex 414 is used for the same for triangle primitive 420 . in contrast , an opengl - compliant quad or quad strip database relies solely on the attributes of the final vertex of each quad , for flat shading and / or lighting . it is appreciated that , in other embodiments , different techniques may be used to indicate flat shading and lighting , and other characteristics may differentiate the treatment of quads versus paired triangles . fig4 c illustrates the case in which two adjacent triangles ( 410 and 440 ) are not combined in accordance with the present invention . triangle primitive 410 is formed first , with vertices 411 , 412 and 413 . a fourth vertex 415 is added , and a second triangle primitive 440 is formed by reusing vertices 412 and 413 with vertex 415 . however , although adjacent , triangle primitives 410 and 440 are not combined . as explained above , for various reasons triangle primitive 410 may be processed individually , separately from triangle primitive 440 . subsequently , a fifth vertex 416 is added , and a third triangle primitive 450 is formed by reusing vertices 413 and 415 with vertex 416 . in the case in which triangle primitives 440 and 450 are combined in accordance with the present invention , a quadrangle primitive 460 ( with vertices 412 , 413 , 415 and 416 ) is formed . as described in conjunction with fig3 , quadrangle primitive 460 is processed as a single entity in accordance with the present invention . fig4 d illustrates the case in which adjacent triangles overlap . triangle primitive 470 is formed first , with vertices 491 , 492 and 493 . a fourth vertex 494 is added , and a second triangle primitive 480 is formed by reusing vertices 492 and 493 with vertex 494 . however , in this case , the front surface of triangle primitive 470 will be displayed , the back surface of triangle primitive 480 will be displayed , and triangle primitive 480 partially obscures triangle primitive 470 . thus , in the present embodiment , adjacent triangle primitives 470 and 480 would not be combined to form a quadrangle . the two triangle primitives 470 and 480 would be processed individually and in order , so that triangle primitive 480 would correctly obscure triangle primitive 470 . in another embodiment , triangle primitives 470 and 480 can be rendered at the same time . in that embodiment , one triangle primitive ( e . g ., 480 ) is given priority over the other ( e . g ., 470 ) so that they will be correctly displayed , with triangle primitive 480 partly obscuring triangle primitive 470 . in summary , the present invention provides a method and system that can more efficiently process connected - triangle - based databases such as those used in computer graphics . in particular , the present invention provides a method and system that can be used to enhance a quad - based rendering system . the present invention opportunistically combines connected triangle primitives ( including triangle fans , meshes , and strips ) to form a quadrangle primitive . the quadrangle primitive can be launched and processed instead of consecutively launching and processing individual triangle primitives . consequently , in the case of two connected triangles , instead of processing three edges and three vertices twice ( for a total of six edges and six vertices ), only four edges and four vertices are processed . thus , by processing connected triangles as a quadrangle in accordance with the present invention , the amount of primitives can be reduced by up to one - half . connected triangles can be processed with the efficiency of quadrangles without reformulating the triangle - based object database to a quad - based one . the present invention therefore more fully utilizes the capabilities of a quad - based rendering system when processing connected - triangle - based databases , with resultant improvements in processing performance and efficiency . the preferred embodiment of the present invention , method and apparatus for rendering a quadrangle primitive , is thus described . while the present invention has been described in particular embodiments , it should be appreciated that the present invention should not be construed as limited by such embodiments , but rather construed according to the following claims .	6
in the following detailed description , a method and apparatus according to the present invention will be described in conjunction with its application to a casino environment , thus incorporating wagers , payouts , etc . those of ordinary skill in the art will readily comprehend alternative applications of the present invention outside a casino environment , and the invention is not meant to be limited to the described application . for example , the game may be embodied in a video game that is played for entertainment purposes against a computer or the like . alternatively , players may play the game without wagers in a head - to - head format with one player acting as a dealer , with the players simply keeping track of wins and losses . with reference to fig1 triple hand poker according to the present invention may be played on a blackjack style or poker style table with a dealer also acting as a banker in the house banked version . typically , a standard 52 - card deck of playing cards is used . the playing surface or table layout 10 includes a playing area 12 for each player , each with three primary wager areas for high 14 , mid 16 and low 18 . the playing area 12 also includes two secondary wager areas for a copy wager 20 and a pair wager 22 . three card hand areas are provided for each player for a high hand 24 , mid hand 26 , and low hand 28 . a dealer area 30 similarly contains three card hand areas for a high hand 32 , mid hand 34 and low hand 36 . rules and payoffs are displayed at 38 . in a preferred operating mode , to play the game , each player places three equal compulsory wagers at wager areas 14 , 16 and 18 . each player may also place optional wagers at either or both secondary wager areas 20 , 22 . each player and the dealer receive five cards in rotation . in this context , by dealing only five cards to each player and the dealer , up to seven players may play the game at one time . each player and the dealer then create three hands with the five cards being two hands of two cards each and one hand of one card . the players &# 39 ; two - card high hands are placed at hand area 24 , the two - card mid hands are placed at hand area 26 , and the one - card low hands are placed at hand area 28 . after all players have acted , the dealer cards are exposed and set into three similar hands of two cards , two cards and one card and placed respectively at card hand areas 32 , 34 and 36 . in the operating embodiment , the high hand must be better than the mid hand , and the mid hand must be better than the low hand for all players and the dealer . the exact method of dealer hand set depends on the version in operation , which can be set according to casino - specific rules . for example , in one playing embodiment , only pairs and high cards have rank value . in this embodiment , a preferred standard house way of setting hands is provided according to predetermined hand - forming rules as follows : ( 1 ) with a hand of two pair , the high hand is a high pair , the mid hand is a low pair , and the low hand is an odd card ; ( 2 ) with a hand of one pair , the high hand is a pair , the mid hand contains a high card and a low card , and the low hand is an odd card ; and ( 3 ) with a hand of no pair , the high hand is a highest card and a lowest card , the mid hand is a second highest card and a second lowest card , and the low hand is a third highest card . in an alternative “ no pair ” forming rule , ( 3 ) the high hand is a highest card and a second lowest card , the mid hand is a second highest card and a lowest card , and the low hand is a third highest card . this provides a simple fixed house way capable of being implemented by any dealer . additionally , the player perception is that the house is restricted in playing strategy . in another playing embodiment , a two - card straight flush , a two - card straight and a two - card flush also have rank value . with these additional hands , the manner of setting the dealer hands can be varied significantly according to house rules . in either playing mode , a rule may be established that pairs in the dealer hands are never split . the dealer then evaluates each player hand in rotation . the respective dealer and player high hands 24 , 32 are compared , the mid hands 26 , 34 are compared , and the low hands 28 , 36 are compared . each wager at wager areas 14 , 16 and 18 independently either wins a fixed payout ( such as 1 to 1 ) or loses based on the specific comparison . the comparison is made based on poker combinations and rules inasmuch as such rules are applicable with hands of two cards , two cards and one card , respectively . the payout may be altered either in the player &# 39 ; s favor or the casino &# 39 ; s favor , and the invention is not meant to be limited to the described example . in an alternative playing mode , the three primary wager areas 14 , 16 and 18 are replaced with a single wager area , wherein if the player wins two or three of the hands , then the wager wins a payout of , for example , 1 to 1 . if the player loses two or three of the hands , then the wager is lost . in the event of an exact same hand , for example , a hand having an equal poker rank , this specific hand is regarded as a copy , and house rules apply accordingly . preferably , the house wins a copy hand wager . the rules for resolving copy hands can be altered , however , to modify the casino house advantage . for example , although the house may win one copy , the player may win two - or three - copy hands . odds above 1 to 1 could apply in this instance . another example is that the house wins a copy on an exact nominated hand ( e . g ., low ) but the player wins a copy on either of the other exact nominated hands ( in this case , high and mid ). if a player places one or more secondary proposition wagers , these wagers are paid appropriately during the dealer &# 39 ; s evaluation of each player &# 39 ; s hands . a copy proposition wager at secondary wager area 20 wins an appropriate payoff upon the occurrence of a copy hand between the player and the dealer . the payoff may be increased as the number of copy hands increases , providing different payoffs , or there may be a composite payoff . similar rules apply with respect to the pair proposition wager at wager area 22 . the pair proposition wager wins a payoff upon the occurrence of a pair in one of the two two - card player hands . the payoff may increase as the total poker rank increases , or the wager may be awarded a composite payoff . dealer hand pairs etc . may also be incorporated into the pair proposition wager . in yet another operating mode , there are additional competition wagers that may be placed by the players . a hand not being played by a player is designated as an empty hand or dragon hand , and a player may also wager on the dragon hand against the dealer hand . with fewer cards used , there is the possibility of a minimum of two dragon hands . alternatively , the dealer may have as many as three hands that the players can wager against . thus , a first competition wager option is that all players may bet against the dealer hand on any hand that does not have a designated player . a second competition wager option is that the player hand is bet against any hand that does not have a designated player , with these hands deemed to be dealer hands for this purpose . as would be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art , the invention can be embodied in a wide variety and forms of media such as , but not limited to , single player slot video machines , multi - player slot video machines , electronic games and devices , lottery terminals , scratch - card formats , software , as well as in - flight , home and internet entertainment . in addition , the invention can be readily implemented as a computer program product ( e . g ., floppy disk , compact disk , etc .) comprising a computer readable medium having control logic recorded therein to implement the features of the invention as described in relation to the other preferred embodiments . control logic can be loaded into the memory of a computer and executed by a central processing unit ( cpu ) to perform the operations described herein . in this context , referring to fig2 a block diagram is illustrated showing the components of an apparatus configured for playing the game according to the invention . the apparatus includes a display 40 , a player interface 42 , and circuitry 44 for effecting game play and including structure for receiving wagers , dealing hands and resolving wagers according to the game rules . that is , a processing circuit 44 is programmed to effect game play according to the rules of the game , enabling players to selectively form high , mid and low hands and automatically forming dealer hands according to hand - forming rules . the system resolves competition wagers based on a comparison of the player high , mid and low hands with the respective dealer hands , and resolves proposition wagers according to game rules . the triple hand game according to the present invention enables a number of advantages not previously recognized in existing games . the incidence of pushes , which occurs often in conventional double hand poker , has been eliminated . the calculation and collection of commission has been eliminated , thereby also eliminating the associated errors and collection problems . the house way may be set to eliminate any variation and subsequent potential dealer error . an alternative house way allowing variation from standard set in certain situations offers only minimal opportunity for strategy variation and subsequent potential dealer error . the simplicity of hand setting also enables ease of player and dealer acceptance . the wager embodiment of three wagers is attractive to players . this creates more wagers on the table and a higher payoff frequency , although one of the payoff situations is an overall player loss . the proposition wagers of copy and pair both have sufficient frequency to appear to be accessible and allow rewarding odds payoffs . the extra wager options on additional hands is beneficial where there is a low player table occupancy . while the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments , it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments , but on the contrary , is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims .	0
referring to the drawings , and specifically to fig1 the apparatus of the invention will be described . the apparatus has a filament pay - off device 10 , a coating material applicator , a low - pressure air applicator 14 , an air - material mixer 16 , a centering die 18 , a material collector 20 , a coating die 22 , and a filament take - up device 24 . the term “ filament ” is used herein for all strand materials whether a single filament or a cord formed of many filaments . the filaments may be steel , organic , or any other strand material . while the embodiments herein described primarily relate to the manufacture of steel cord for reinforcing various articles , the apparatus of the invention has utility in coating all sorts of filaments other than the filament used in the production of the reinforcement materials . the filament pay - off device 10 includes a spool 26 on which the filament to be coated is stored . the spool 26 is mounted on a spindle ( not illustrated ) to permit free rotation of the spool 26 . operatively associated with the spool 26 is a brake 28 that restrains the rotation of the spool 26 as the filament 2 is being pulled from the spool 26 so as to prevent entanglements . the filament 2 travels about pulleys 30 as it travels to the coating apparatus . at any point 32 along the filament path , depending upon the end use of the coated filament or the initial state of the filament 2 on the pay - off device 10 , conventional wire cabling apparatus , such as twisting , bunching , or stranding machines , may be employed . thus , many filaments 2 of similar or different sizes may be cabled to the desired wire structure by conventional cabling equipment prior to the coating . alternatively , if the coating apparatus is located in an organic filament manufacturing plant , the pay - off device 10 may be eliminated and the filament may be formed immediately prior to the coating operation . in all instances , conventional forming , twisting , and cabling operations can be used in add to or in substitution of the pay - off device 10 . the term “ flowable material ” is used herein for the general class of coating materials applied by the method and apparatus of the invention . while the specific embodiments herein described refer to viscous oil that carry active ingredients to improve the tire durability , other flowable coating materials are contemplated as being within the general class of materials which can be applied by the method and apparatus of the invention . these materials include those which are initially flowable but later hardened by curing or thermosetting the material and also coating materials which may include up to about 90 % by weight of solvent or water to render them flowable and later reversible by driving the solvent or water from the material . in the manufacture of tire steel cords , several different materials can be applied using the method and apparatus of the invention . these include rubber process oil with viscosity up to 2000 sus , corrosion inhibitor such as calcium salts and the wire - bonding agent such as cobalt salts . the flowable material is provided by the material applicator 12 , which may be described as a positive displacement delivery system . the flowable material applicator 12 has a chute 34 by which the material is supplied to the applicator 12 , a material reservoir 36 in which the material is stored , and a positive displacement pump 38 which delivers the flowable material to the air material mixer 16 . an additional control device ( not illustrated ) may be associated with the positive displacement pump 38 to control the actual amount of flowable material delivered . an exact amount of flowable material is delivered through the tube 40 to the air material mixer 16 . if it is desired that the flowable material be mixed with solvent or water , both the coating material and the solvent may be fed into the applicator 12 via the chute 34 . the reservoir 36 may also be provided with a mixing apparatus 42 having associated therewith a separate control . when using temperature sensitive flowable materials , the reservoir 36 may be provided with a temperature control means 44 by which the temperature of the material in the reservoir 34 can be controlled . the fluid material applicator 12 may be a constant volume material ejector , an intermeshing multi - screw pump , or a gear pump , all having some or all of the features described above . since the coating thickness is less than 2 μm , at a regular wire process speed the amount of flowable material needed from a material applicator is about 0 . 06 cc / second or less . under this situation , a stable flow rate of viscous material is not obtainable from a conventional fluid material applicator , resulting in poor coating uniformity on the filament 2 . to overcome this difficulty , compressed air is combined with the flowable material . the air applicator 14 supplies compressed air to the mixer 16 through the air tube 46 . the needed air pressure is controlled by device 48 . compressed air provides two major functions . first , the air that is introduced in to the mixer 16 crushes the flowable material into numerous tiny droplets so that the flowable material is uniformly dispersed through the material dispenser tube 52 toward the filament 2 without generating a hazardous mist . secondly , the higher air pressure at the end of the delivery tube forces the flowable material onto the filament 2 , and toward any interior strands of filament 2 , thereby improving the coating penetration . as already noted , flowable material via tube 40 and compressed air via air tube 46 are delivered to the air material mixer 16 . the material is crushed by the compressed air and is delivered to the coating chamber 50 by means of the material dispenser tube 52 . coating of the filament 2 occurs within the coating chamber 50 . the coating chamber 50 has a top entrance bore 54 and a bottom exit hole 56 . the coating chamber 50 houses the centering die 18 , the material collector 20 , and the coating die 22 . a sealing attachment 58 is located beneath the coating chamber 50 and operates with the chamber components to execute the desired coating . the major function and specification of each component will be best understood by reference to the following description . referring to fig1 and 2 , the coating chamber 50 , commences with the entrance bore 54 and terminates with the exit hole 56 at the bottom . centering die 18 is located below the entrance bore 54 and the coating die 22 is located above the exit hole 56 . the size of the entrance bore 54 is determined by the size of the centering die 18 . to permit removal of the centering die 18 for replacement or general maintenance , the entrance bore 54 is slightly larger than the centering die 18 . additionally , as illustrated in fig1 to hold the centering die in position within the chamber 50 , the size of the centering die is larger than the size of the main portion of the chamber 50 . however , in a different variation , the centering die 18 may be larger than the entrance bore 54 , so that the centering die 18 stays in place at the top of the chamber 50 without any additional external support . the size of the main portion of the chamber 50 is determined by the size requirements of the coating die 22 . in the illustrated embodiment , the chamber 50 is slightly larger in size than that of the coating die 22 so that the coating die 22 can be easily slide in or out of the chamber 56 when die replacement or a general maintenance is needed . the exit hole 56 has a diameter less than that of the coating die 22 so that the coating die 22 stays at the bottom of the chamber 50 without additional support . located above the coating die 22 is the funnel - shaped material collector 20 . the material collector 20 has a converging interior wall 60 that interconnects with the underneath coating die 22 . the interior wall 60 defines a cavity into which stray coating material can be collected . preferably , the cavity will hold about 1 . 0 cc of material . the collected material then drips down to the coating die 22 to continue coating the filament 2 . in a different embodiment , both the material collector 20 and the coating die 22 may be replaced with just a single coating die with a flared opening in order to collect any stray coating material . along the wall of the coating chamber 50 there is one or more inclined through - holes 62 , allowing the material dispenser tube 52 to slide into the coating chamber 50 . the tube 52 defines an angle a with filament 2 . angle α can be any value between 10 ° and 90 °. in a specific embodiment , the angle α is about 45 °. as seen in fig1 the end of the material dispenser tube 52 is located close to the material collector 22 and the moving filament 2 so that the flowable material is directed onto the filament 2 and any stray material will collect in the material collector 22 . the coating chamber 50 is set inside a support frame 64 . in order to prevent material from leaking from the bottom of the coating chamber 50 , the sealing attachment 58 is inserted between the coating chamber 50 and the support frame 64 . at the center of the sealing attachment 58 , there is an exit hole 66 with a diameter equal or smaller than the overall diameter of the coated filament 4 . the sealing attachment 58 is shaped to form a spherical cone with the hole 66 at the apex , thereby forming an open area 68 . in one embodiment , the area 68 is defined about 120 - degree angle bisected by the longitudinal centerline of the attachment 58 . the spherical cone configuration , and the open area 68 , can be preformed before inserting the sealing attachment 58 into position . the configuration can also be formed on a flat piece of sealing attachment 58 by a skillful practice of tightening the screws 70 . the sealing attachment 58 provides two functions . first , there is a chance that the coating material may accumulate at the exit hole 66 and then the accumulation will start to drip downwards . due to the presence of the sealing attachment 58 , the leaking drops are retained in the area 68 around the coated filament 4 , so that a coating of 100 % efficiency is obtained . second , it is possible , but not desired , that some of the tiny flowable material droplets inside the mixer 16 may combine into big droplets on the wire surface , potentially degrading the coating uniformity . to improve the coating uniformity , the sealing attachment 58 smears or smoothes out those big droplets by rubbing the surface of moving coated filament 4 . the sealing attachment 58 is preferably formed of resilience elastomeric material such as rubber with a preferred thickness of about 1 - 2 mm . in fig2 the support frame 64 is shown in side view to indicate the needed alignment of the centering die 18 , and the coating die 22 . additionally , a housing 72 may be positioned with the support frame 64 to house the coating chamber 50 and maintain the chamber in a vertical orientation . below the base of the support frame 64 is a take - up pulley 74 . as illustrated in fig1 the pulley 74 preferably has a v - groove in which the coated filament 4 travels . due to the interaction between the surface of the pulley 74 and the coated filament 4 , the coating is further pushed into the filament 4 and any remaining excess spots of coating are smoothed out . to prevent a build up of coating and any possible contamination on the pulley 74 , a shield 76 may be added to the side of the support frame 64 that will wipe off any excess coating . the shield 76 can be formed of any type of cleaning paper . a set of guide rollers 78 are mounted on top of the support frame 64 to pre - align the filament 2 prior to the filament 2 entering the centering die 18 . the support frame 64 is also connected to a linear drive 80 for the take - up spool 82 . linear drive 80 travels back and forth along the axis 84 in association with the rotation of the take - up spool 82 during the take - up operation to evenly spool the coated filament 4 onto the take - up spool 82 . the spool 82 may be a conventional spool on which coated filaments are conventionally stored or shipped . the spool 82 is mounted on a spindle ( not illustrated ) for rotation . operatively connected to the spool 82 is a spool driver 86 that drives the spool 82 and pulls the filament 2 from the spool 26 of the pay - off device 10 . filament 2 is unwound from the pay - off spool 26 , passing over any necessary pulleys 30 to prevent the filament 2 from becoming entangled . the illustrated filament 2 may be cabled or otherwise formed prior to passing over the last pulley 30 and passing between the guide rollers 78 . the filament 2 is guided into the coating apparatus by the guide rollers 78 and passes through the centering die 18 . a flowable material containing an oil - based , water - based , or organic based coating material to be applied to the filament 2 is stored in the reservoir 36 at a flowable temperature . the flowable material passes through tube 40 and into the air material mixer 16 . compressed air is also delivered to the mixer 16 via air tube 46 at a desired pressure ; the pressure being selected by controls 48 . the specific air pressure is closely controlled . the air pressure must be high enough to mix the flowable material in the mixer and force the flowable material down to any central core or strands of the filament 2 , but still low enough to prevent the formation of a mist . to avoid forming a mist , the air pressure must be controlled in accordance to the viscosity of the flowable material . for an oil - based material of 500 sus viscosity , the air pressure is preferable controlled at 2 - 3 psi . the mixed flowable material and compressed air is delivered by the dispenser tube 52 and is deposited onto the surface of the filament 2 just before the filament enters the material collector 20 and the coating die 22 . coating material that misses the filament 2 is collected by material collector 20 , and then either drips down to the coating die 22 or accumulates inside the cavity of the collector 20 . normally the stray material that is collected by the material collector 20 quickly drips down to the coating die 22 with the help of the moving filament 2 . the specific amount of the coating material to be applied to the filament 2 is accurately metered . if there is an excess of flowable material , the material may drip from the hole 66 . also , too great an excess of flowable material of the coated filament 4 may also result in the dripping of the flowable material from the take up spool 82 causing problems in handling the spools 82 . for these reasons , the material applicator 12 is provided with controls . however , if the coating layer is thicker than desired , the control is thereafter adjusted to reduce the amount of material being delivered . conversely , if the coating layer proves to be insufficient , the control is adjusted so as to accumulate a tiny pool of flowable material inside collector 20 for an extra short - term dip coating before the filament 2 passes through the coating die 22 . additionally , if it is believed that at the initial coating act , the actual coating thickness may be slightly less than what is expected and desired , the operator can pre - spray flowable material into material collector 20 for 10 - 20 seconds before the coating start to generate a short - term dip pool . after passing through the coating die 22 , the coated filament 4 passes through the chamber exit hole 56 and into the open area 68 and then through the exit hole 66 in the sealing attachment 58 . the provision of the sealing attachment 58 with the open area 68 provides the filaments 4 with a surprisingly uniform coating thickness along the wire . conversely , when the open area 68 is not present , coating thickness of lower uniformity is found . after passing through the attachment exit hole 66 , the coated filament 4 travels over the take up pulley 74 and is wound onto the take - up spool 82 . to maintain even winding of the coated filament 4 on the take - up spool 82 , as needed , the coating apparatus , by means of the linear drive 80 travels along the axis 84 . the operation and function of the take - up device 24 was described earlier . however , the speed at which the take - up device 24 was driven was not mentioned . the speed is not limited in any way by the method of the invention . the pay - off device 10 and the take - up device 24 themselves solely limit the speed of coating when applying any of the coating materials mentioned herein . when the pay - off device 10 is eliminated and conventional cabling operations are substituted therefore , the speed at which the driver 84 drives the take - up device 24 is solely limited by the take - up device 24 itself . the method of the invention has been successfully used with filaments in a wide range of sizes . the method and apparatus of the invention can also coat cords of rectangular cross - sections and of other cross - sections so long as the coating die 22 can be provided in geometrically similar shapes . coating materials of various types have been successfully applied to filaments of various sizes in accordance with the method of this invention by the apparatus above , the coating materials having a viscosity from about 100 - 2000 sus . for the manufacture of cords used in reinforcing tires , metallic cords are treated to improve the ability of the cored to adhere to rubber and increase the corrosion resistance of the cord . a surprising characteristic of all steel cords coated in accordance with the apparatus and method of the present invention is the coating uniformity and the continuity . the continuity and uniformity of thin coatings applied from solution permits a reliance upon a single coat of the viscous material , something atypical in this industry . the flowable material contains a soluble bonding agent and / or corrosion inhibitor . the deposit of the flowable material results in improved wire adhesion , improve cable fatigue resistance and wire corrosion resistance . the treated filaments are then contacted with vulcanizable rubber compositions to form metal reinforced rubber plies . these plies may be used to manufacturer tires and also other rubber articles such as conveyor belts , hoses , and the like . the metallic cord to be coated according to the present invention may be steel , zinc - plated steel or brass - plated steel . preferably , the metallic cord is brass plated steel . the steel substrate may be derived from those known to those skilled in the art . for example , the steel used for wire may be conventional tire cord rod including aisi grades 1070 , 1080 , 1090 and 1095 . the steel may additionally contain varying levels of carbon and microalloying elements such as cr , b , ni and co . the term “ cord ” means one or more of a reinforcing element , formed by one or more filaments or wires which may or may not be twisted or otherwise formed . therefore , cords using the present invention may comprise from one ( monofilament ) to multiple filaments . the number of total filaments or wires in the cord may range from 1 to 134 . preferably , the number of filaments or wires per cord ranges from 1 to 49 . the number of cord constructions which can be treated according to the present invention are numerous . representative examples of such cord constructions include 2 ×, 3 ×, 4 ×, 5 ×, 6 ×, 7 ×, 8 ×, 11 ×, 12 ×, 27 ×, 1 + 2 , 1 + 3 , 1 + 4 , 1 + 5 , 1 + 6 , 1 + 7 , 1 + 8 , 1 + 14 , 1 + 15 , 1 + 16 , 1 + 17 , 1 + 18 , 1 + 19 , 1 + 20 , 1 + 26 , 2 + 1 , 2 + 2 , 2 + 5 , 2 + 6 , 2 + 7 , 2 + 8 , 2 + 9 , 2 + 10 , 2 / 2 , 2 / 3 , 2 / 4 , 2 / 5 , 2 / 6 , 3 + 1 , 3 + 2 , 3 + 3 , 3 + 4 , 3 × 4 , 3 + 6 , 3 × 7 , 3 + 9 , 3 / 9 , 3 + 9 + 15 , 4 + 3 , 4 × 4 , 5 / 8 / 14 , 7 × 2 , 7 × 3 , 7 × 4 , 7 × 7 , 7 × 12 , 7 × 19 , 5 + 1 , 6 + 1 , 7 + 1 , 8 + 1 , 11 + 1 , 12 + 1 , 2 + 7 + 1 , 1 + 4 + 1 , 1 + 5 + 1 , 1 + 6 + 1 , 1 + 7 + 1 , 1 + 8 + 1 , 1 + 14 + 1 , 1 + 15 + 1 , 1 + 16 + 1 , 1 + 17 + 1 , 1 + 18 + 1 , 1 + 19 + 1 , 1 + 20 + 1 , 2 + 2 + 8 , 2 + 6 + 1 , 2 + 7 + 1 , 2 + 8 + 1 , 2 + 9 + 1 , 2 + 10 + 1 , 2 + 2 + 8 + 1 , 3 + 9 + 15 + 1 , 27 + 1 , 1 + 26 + 1 , 7 × 2 + 1 , 3 + 9 + 1 , 3 / 9 + 1 , 7 × 12 + 1 and 7 × 19 + 1 . the filaments in the cord constructions may be preformed , waved or crimped . the preferred cord constructions include 2 ×, 3 ×, 1 + 5 , 1 + 6 , 1 + 18 , 2 + 7 , 3 + 2 , 3 + 3 and 3 / 9 + 1 . the diameter of an individual wire or filament that is encapsulated or used in a cord that is encapsulated may range from about 0 . 08 to 0 . 5 mm . preferably , the diameter ranges from 0 . 15 to 0 . 42 mm . the tensile strength of the steel filaments in the cord should be at least 3040 mpa −( 1200 × d ) when d is the diameter of the filament . preferably , the tensile strength of each filament ranges from about 3040 —( 1200 × d ) to 4400 mpa —( 2000 × d ). the flowable material is applied to the filament 2 in an amount equal to what is needed to form a coat of 1 - 2 μm or less in thickness . while there have been described above the principles of this invention in connection with specific apparatus , it is to be clearly understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation to the scope of the invention .	8
it is believed that one skilled in the art can , based on the description herein , utilize the present invention to its fullest extent . the following specific embodiments are , therefore , to be construed as merely illustrative , and not limitative of the remainder of the disclosure in any way whatsoever . a compound of the present invention can be tested for farnesyl transferase inhibiting activity by testing said compound in a farnesyl transferase in vitro assay , such as the assay described below . unless defined otherwise , all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs . also , all publications , patent applications , patents , and other references mentioned herein are incorporated by reference . farnesyl transferase activity is assayed by [ 3 h ] farnesylation of recombinant human h - ras protein wild type , using microplate and filtration method . incubation mixture contains , in a total volume of 25 μl : 50 mm tris hcl ( ph 7 . 5 ), 5 mm dithiothreitol , 20 μm zncl 2 , 40 mm mgcl 2 , 0 . 6 μm [ 3 h ] farnesyl pyrophosphate ( 22 . 3 ci / mmol ), 4 μm h - ras and 10 μg of farnesyl transferase from human brain cytosol . test compounds are added in adequate solvent and incubations start by addition of farnesyl transferase . after approximately 60 minutes at approximately 37 ° c ., the reaction is stopped by addition of 100 μl of 10 % hcl in ethanol and allowed to incubate approximately 15 minutes at approximately 37 ° c ., then 150 μl of absolute ethanol are added and incubation mixture is filtered on unifilter gf / b microplates and washed 6 times with ethanol . after addition of 50 μl of microscint 0 , plates were counted on a packard top count scintillation counter . geranylgeranyl transferase activity is assayed by the same method , but using 4 μm human recombinant h - ras cvll type , 0 . 6 μm [ 3 h ] geranylgeranyl - pyrophosphate ( 19 . 3 ci / mmmol ) and 100 μg of geranylgeranyl transferase from human brain . the following is a description of the synthesis of compounds 1 , 4 , 9 . compounds 2 , 3 , 5 - 8 , 10 - 20 can be prepared in an analogous manner by a person of ordinary skill in the art using appropriate starting materials . compounds 21 , 28 , 29 , and 30 were prepared using the reactions summarized in reaction scheme i . compound 22 was prepared using the reactions summarized in reaction schemes ii and iv . compounds 25 , 26 , and 27 were prepared using the reactions summarized in reaction scheme v . compound 31 may be prepared using the reactions summarized in scheme iii . other compounds of the invention can be prepared in an analogous manner by a person of ordinary skill in the art using appropriate starting materials . the compounds of the invention were prepared using standard solution phase methodologies , e . g ., as described in greenstein , et al ., chemistry of the amino acids , vols . 1 - 3 ( j . wiley , new york ( 1961 )); and m . bodanszky , et al ., the practice of peptide synthesis ( springer - verlag , 1984 )). the condensation reactions were carried out in an inert organic solvent , e . g ., dimethylformide , dichloromethane , tetrahydrofuran , benzene or acetonitrile , using a suitable mild condensing agent , e . g ., 1 -( 3 - dimethylaminopropyl )- 3 - ethylcarbodiimide - hcl ( edc ), 0 - benzotriazol - 1 - yl - n , n , n ′, n ′- tetramethyluronium hexafluorophosphate ( hbtu ), and optionally a catalyst , e . g ., 1 - hydroxybenzotriazole ( hobt ). the reaction temperature was maintained below room temperature (− 15 ° c . to room temperature ) in order to minimize side reactions . cyclic disulfide formation was carried out under high dilute condition using various oxidizing agents ( e . g . oxygen , iodine , immobilized oxidizing agent like ekathioxt resin , ( ekagen corp ., menlo park , calif ., etc . )), in various solvents ( e . g . water , alcohol , acetonitrile , tetrahydrofuran ( thf ), acetic acid , chloroform , etc .). see , e . g ., b . kamber , et al ., helv . chim . acta , 63 ( 96 ): 899 ( 1980 ). compounds where r 8 , together with r 9 , forms ch 2 ch 2 can be made according to the methods of williams , et al ., j ., med . chem . 39 ( 7 ): 1346 ( 1996 ), e . g ., by starting with protected cysteine . 2 - alkylpiperazines were synthesized similarly according to the procedure described in org . prep . proc . int . 1990 , 22 , 761 - 768 . replacement of hydroxyl group by protected sulfur were carried out by mitsunobu reactions . ( synthesis 1981 , 1 ; tet . lett . 1981 , 3119 etc .) the protected cysteinal was prepared according to the procedure put forth by o . p . goel , et al ., ( org . syn . 1988 , 67 , 69 - 75 ). the reductive alkylation can be accomplished with various agents , e . g . sodium triacetoxyborohydride , ( na ( oac ) 3 bh ), sodium cyanoborohydride or pyridine - borane complex , in solvents such as dichloromethane , dichloroethane , methanol or dimethylformamide , etc . the intermediate and final products were isolated and purified by standard methods , eg ., column chromatography or hplc . to an ice - cooled solution of n - t - butoxycarbonyl - l - cysteine ( 8 . 0 g ) and n , o - dimethylhydroxylamine hydrochloride ( 7 . 1 g ) in 80 ml dimethylformide was added 4 . 2 ml diethylcyanophosphonate and 14 . 7 ml diisopropylethylamine , and after stirring at 0 ° c . for about 1 hour , the reaction mixture was allowed to room temperature overnight . volatile substances were removed in vacuo to dryness , and the residue was partitioned between ethylacetate and water . ethylacetate layer was washed with aqueous nahco 3 , water , and dried ( mgso 4 ). solvent was evaporated in vacuo to dryness , and the residue was chromatographed on silica gel ( 165 g ) using chcl 3 as an eluant . appropriate fractions were pooled , and solvent was removed in vacuo to dryness . white foam 8 . 08 g tlc ( silica gel : chcl 3 / acetone = 9 : 1 r f = 0 . 58 ). to an ice - cooled solution of n - t - butoxycarbonyl s - trityl - l - cysteinyl - n , o - dimethylamide ( 0 . 85 g ) in 20 ml tetrahydrofuran ( thf ) was added dropwise 3 ml 1 . 0 m liah 4 in thf under nitrogen atmosphere . after the mixture was stirred for about 30 minutes at 0 ° c ., 1m khso 4 was slowly added , and the resulting emulsion was filtered through diatomaceous earth pad and further washed with ethylacetate . after drying over anhydrous mgso 4 , the solvent was removed in vacuo to dryness resulting in 0 . 7 g of the above - titled compound tlc ( silica gel ; chcl 3 / acetone = 4 : 1 ; r f = 0 . 88 ). to an ice - cooled solution of n - t - butoxycarbonyl - l - 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 - tetrahydro - 3 ( s )- isoquinoline ( 2 . 77 g ) and l - methionine methylester hydrochloride ( 2 . 0 g ), 1 - hydroxybenzotriazole ( hobt ) ( 1 . 37 g ) and o - benzotriazol - 1 - yl - n , n , n ′, n ′- tetramethyl - uronium hexafluorophosphate ( hbtu ) ( 3 . 87 g ) in 30 ml dimethylformide was added 4 . 9 ml diisopropylethylamine ( diea ). after stirring at 0 ° c . for about 30 minutes , the reaction mixture was allowed to room temperature overnight . volatile substances were evaporated in vacuo to dryness , and the residue was partitioned between etoac and water . etoac layer was washed with aqueous nahco 3 , water , and dried ( mgso 4 ). solvent was evaporated in vacuo to dryness . it was treated is with 50 % trifluoracetic acid in chloroform ( 40 ml ) containing 4 . 8 ml triethylsilane for about 1 hour , and volatile substances were removed in vacuo to dryness . trace of trifluoroacetic acid ( tfa ) was further evaporated with toluene . to the above l - 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 - tetrahydro - 3 ( s )- isoquinolinecarbonyl methionine methylester tfa salt ( 2 . 2 g ) in dichloromethane ( 20 ml ) cooled to 0 ° c . was added 1 . 2 ml diea followed by a solution of hobt ( 0 . 7 g ), n - t - butoxycarbonyl - s - acetamidomethyl penicillin ( 1 . 6 g ) in dmf ( 3 ml ), and edc ( 1 . 2 g ). the mixture was stirred at 0 ° c . for about 30 minutes aryl then allowed to room temperature overnight . volatile substances were removed in vacuo to dryness . the residue was partitioned between etoac and water . ethylacetate layer woks washed with aqueous nahco 3 , water , and then dried ( mgso 4 ). solvent was evaporated in vacuo to dryness to yield 3 . 3 g orange solid . n - t - butoxycarbonyl - s - acetamidomethyl - penicillaminyl - 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 - tetrahydro - 3 [ s ]- isoquinolinecarbonyl methionine methylester ( 3 . 3 g ) was treated with 50 % tfa in ch 2 cl 2 ( 20 ml ) containing 1 ml triethylsilane for about 30 minutes volatile substances were removed in vacuo to dryness . trace of tfa was ; removed by co - evaporation with toluene several times . the tfa salt was dissolved in chcl 3 ( 30 ml ), treated with excess triethylamine , washed with water , dried ( mgso 4 ), and solvent : was evaporated in vacuo to give free base . to a solution of 2 ( r )- t - butoxycarbonylamino - 3 - triphenyl methyl - mercapto - propanal ( 0 . 7 g ) and l -[ s - acetamido methylpenicillaminyl - 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 - tetrahydro - 3 ( s )- isoquinolinecarbonyl methionine methylester ( 0 . 43 g ) in ch 2 cl 2 ( 20 ml ) containing 1 % acetic acid was added triacetoxysodiumborohydride na ( oac ) 3 bh ( 360 mg ) in one portion . after stirring for about 2 hours , the mixture was washed with water , 5 % aqueous nahco 3 , water , and then dried ( mgso 4 ). the solvent was evaporated in vacuo to dryness , and the residue was chromatographed on silica gel ( 50 g ) using chcl 3 / acetone ( 19 : 1 to 9 : 1 ) as eluants . appropriate fractions were pooled and solvents were removed in vacuo to dryness resulting in a white foam ( 390 mg ) of the above title compound . tlc ( silica gel ; chcl 3 / acetone = 4 : 1 ; r f = 0 . 4 ). to a solution of n -[ 2 ( r )-( t - butoxycarbonyl ) amino - 3 - triphenylmethylmercaptopropyll - l -[ s - acetamidomethyl - penicillaminyl ]- 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 - tetrahydro - 3 ( s )- isoquinoline carbonyl methionine methylester ( 500 mg ) in 50 ml 90 % aqueous meoh was added dropwise a solution of iodine ( 250 mg ) in methanol ( meoh ) ( 10 ml ). after stirring for about 1 hour , most of methanol was removed in vacuo to a small volume , diluted with water , and extracted with ethylacetate . the ethylacetate extract was washed with water , aqueous na 2 s 2 o 3 , water , and then dried ( mgso 4 ) . the solvent was evaporated in vacuo to dryness resulting in 400 mg of the above title compound . crude n -[ 2 ( r )-( t - butoxycarbonyl ) amino - 3 - mercaptopropyl ]- l - penicillaminyl ]- 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 - tetrahydro - 3 ( s )- isoquinoline carbonyl methionine methylester cyclic disulfide ( 400 mg ) was treated with 90 % trif luoroacetic acid ( tfa ) in water tfa / h 2 o ( 9 : 1 ) ( 10 ml ) for about 30 minutes volatile substances were removed in vacuo to dryness , and a trace of tfa was evaporated with toluene several times and triturated with hexane , decanted , and then dried . crude product was subjected to preparative high performance liquid chromatography ( hplc ) using c 18 column and 0 . 19 tfa and ch 3 cn as mobile phase . appropriate fractions were pooled , and solvents were removed giving the above title compound as a white solid ( 78 mg ). m / e = 541 . 1 . to a solution of n -[ 2 ( r )-( t - butoxycarbonyl )- amino - 3 - triphenylmethylmercaptopropyl ]- l -[ s - acetamidomethyl penicillaminyl ]- 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 - tetrahydro - 3 ( s )- isoquinolinecarbonyl methionine methylester ( example i e ))( 500 mg ) in 10 meoh ( 50 ml ) was added 2 ml 2 n - naoh . after 30 minutes , most of meoh was removed in vacuo to a small volume , diluted with water , acidified with 5 % aqueous citric acid , and extracted with ethylacetate . the ethylacetate extract was then dried ( mgso 4 ). solvent was evaporated in vacuo to dryness . the residue was treated with 50 % tfa in ch 2 cl 2 containing triethylsilane ( et 3 sih ) ( 0 . 5 ml ) for about 40 minutes volatile substances were removed in dryness , and a trace of tfa was evaporated with toluene and then dried . crude product was purified by preparative hplc giving the above titled compound ( 100 mg ) as a white solid . m / e = 600 . 2 to an ice - cooled solution of n -[ t - butoxycarbonyl )- s - acetamidomethyl penicillamine ( bachem california , torrance , is calif .) ( 0 . 64 g ), 2 , 3 - dimethylaniline ( 0 . 25 g ), hydroxybenzotriazole ( 0 . 41 g ) in dimethylformide ( dmf )/ ch 2 cl 2 ( 1 : 1 , 20 ml ) was added 1 -( 3 - dimethylaminopropyl )- 3 - ethylcarbodiimide ( edc ) ( 0 . 57 g ). the mixture was stirred at . 0 - 5 ° c . for about 30 minutes and then the temperature was slowly allowed to room temperature overnight . after evaporation of the solvents , the residue was partitioned between ethyl acetate ( etoac ) and water . etoac extracz was washed with aqueous nahco 3 , water , and then dried ( mgso 4 ). the solvent was evaporated in vacuo to dryness . the residue was chromatographed on silica gel ( 40 g ) using chcl 3 / acetone = 19 : 1 as eluants , appropriate fractions were pooled , and solvents were removed in vacuo to dryness giving 350 mg of the above titled compound tlc ( silica gel : chcl 3 / acetone = 4 : 1 , r f − 0 . 77 ). [ n - t - butoxycarbonyl - s - acetamidomethyl ]- penicillaminyl - 2 , 3 - dimethylanilide was treated with 50 % tfa in ch 2 cl 2 ( 20 ml ) for about 30 minutes volatile substances were removed in vacto to dryness . trace of tfa was removed by co - evaporation with toluene several times . the tfa salt was dissolved in chcl 3 ( 30 ml ), treated with excess triethylamine , washed with water , dried ( mgso 4 ), and solvent was evaporated in vacuo to give free base . to a stirred solution of 2 ( r )- t - butoxycarbonylamino - 3 - triphenylmethylmercaptopropanal ( 0 . 5 g ; example 1b ) and l -[ s - acetamidomethylpenicillaminyl - 2 , 3 - dimethylanilide tfa salt ( 0 . 3 g ) in meoh containing 1 % acetic acid ( hoac ) ( 10 ml ) was added portionwise nacnbh 3 ( 100 mg ). the mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight . most of the solvent was evaporated in vacuo to a small volume , which was partitioned between etoac and water . etoac layer was further washed with aqueous nahco 3 , water , and then dried ( mgso 4 ). after evaporation of solvent , the residue was chromatographed on silica gel ( 30 g ) using chcl 3 - acetone ( 19 : 1 to 9 : 1 ) as eluants . appropriate fractions were pooled , and solvents were evaporated in vacuo to dryness giving 360 mg of the above titled compound . tlc ( silica gel : chcl 3 / acetone = 9 : 1 , r f = 0 . 13 . to a stirred solution of n -[ 2 ( r )-( t - butoxycarbonyl ) amino - 3 - triphenylmethylmercaptopropyl ]- l -[ s - acetamidomethyl penicillaminyl ]- 2 , 3 - dimethylamilide ( 350 mng ) in 50 ml 90 % meoh in water was added a solution of iodine ( 250 mg ) in meoh ( 5 ml ). after 1 hour , most of the solvent was evaporated in vacua to a small volume , diluted with water , extracted with etoac . etoac layer was washed with aqueous na 2 s 2 o 3 , water , then dried ( mgso 4 ) solvent was removed in vacuo to dryness ( 220 mg ), treated with 90 % aqueous tfa ( ml ) for about 30 minutes , andi volatile substances were removed in vacuo to dryness . crude product was purified by preparative hplc giving 62 mg of the above titled compound as a white solid . m / e = 340 . 2 . synthesis of 1 -[ 2 ( r )- amino - 3 - mercaptopropyl ]- 2 ( s )- 2 - mercaptoethyl )- 4 -( 1 - naphthoyl )- piperazine - 1 , 2 - cyclodisulfide , ( compound 28 ), 1 -[ 2 ( r ) - amino - 3 - mercaptopropyl ]- 2 ( s )- 2 - mercaptoethyl )- 4 -( 1 - naphthoyl ) - piperazine , ( compound 30 ), and bis - 1 , 1 ′- 2 , 2 ′-[ 2 ( r )- amino - 3 - mercaptouropyl ]- 2 ( s )-[ 2 - mercaptoethyl )- 4 -( 1 - naphthoyl )- piperazine - tetrasulfide , ( compound 29 ) to an ice - cooled solution of boc - aspartic acid β - benzyl ester ( 10 g ), hydroxybenzotriazole ( hobt , 4 . 2 g ), and n - benzylglycine ethyl ester ( 6 . 4 g ) in 80 ml ch 2 cl 2 was added a cold solution of dicyclohexylcarbodiimide ( dcc , 7 . 1 g ) in 20 ml ch 2 cl 2 . the reaction was stirred for about 1 hour at 0 - 5 ° c ., then overnight at room temperature . trhe precipitate was filtered of f and the filtrate was evaporated in vacua to dryness . the residue was partitioned between ethyl acetate and water . the organic layer was washed with 100 ml aqueous nahco 3 , water , then dried ( mgso 4 ). solvent was removed in vacuo to dryness to give 16 g . tlc ( silica gel : chcl 3 / acetone = 9 : 1 , r f = 0 . 55 ). this was treated with 50 % trifluoroacetic acid in chcl 3 ( 40 ml ) for about 1 hour and the volatile substances were removed in vacuo to dryness . the residue was partitioned between ethyl acetate and saturated aqueous nahco 3 . the organic layer was then dried ( mgso 4 ) and the solvent was evaporated in vacuo to give 10 g . tlc ( silica gel , chcl 3 / acetone = 9 : 1 , r f = 0 . 14 ). to an ice - cooled solution of the product from step a ( 9 . 73 g ) in 200 ml tetrahydrofuran ( thf ) was added portion wise a 50 % mineral dispersion of lithium aluminum hydride ( 12 . 5 g ) under a nitrogen atmosphere . the reaction mixture was refluxed overnight . after cooling in an ice bath , saturated aqueous na 2 so 4 was added dropwise to decompose excess lah and the white slurry in thf was filtered through a diatomaceous earth pad . the filtrate was concentrated in vacuo to dryness and the residue was dissolved in dichloromethane ( 55 mg ), treated with di - tert - butyl dicarbonate ( 5 . 9 g ), and stirred for about 1 hour . aqueous saturated nahco 3 ( 25 ml ) was added and stirred for about 2 hours . the organic layer was washed with saturated sodium chloride and dried ( mgso 4 ). after evaporation of solvent , the residue was chromatographed on silica gel ( 160g ) using chcl 3 / meoh ( 19 : 1 ) as eluent . appropriate fractions were pooled , and solvents were removed in vacuo to dryness , to give 8 . 7 g of a glass . tlc ( silica gel : chcl 3 / meoh = 9 : 1 , r f = 0 . 56 ). the product from step b ( 8 . 7 g ) was dissolved in ethanol ( 35ml ) treated with pd ( oh ) 2 - charcoal ( 0 . 8 g ) and acetic acid ( 3 ml ). hydrogenation was carried out under 30 p . s . i overnight . the reaction mixture was filtered through a diatomaceous earth pad and the solvent was removed in vacuid to dryness . to a solution of the product from step c ( 8 . 4 g ) in acetonitrile ( 40 ml ) was added 110 ml 1n aqueous naoh followed by a solution of 1 - naphthoyl chloride ( 5 . 14 g ) in acetonitrile ( 20 ml ). after about 3 hours stirring , most of the acetonitrile was removed in vacuo and the remaining mixture was extracted with chloroform . it was dried ( mgso 4 ) and the solvent was removed in vacuo to dryness , to give 8 . 12 g . of product . tlc ( silica gel : chcl 3 / meoh = 9 : 1 , r f = 0 . 64 ). to an ice - cooled solution of triphenylphosphine ( 0 . 53 g ) in 5 ml dry thf was added dropwise a solution of diethylazodicarboxylate ( dead , 0 . 25 g ) in 2 ml thf . after stirring at 0 - 5 ° c . for about 30 minutes , a solution of the product from step d ( 0 . 4 g ) and triphenylmercaptan ( 0 . 55 g ) in 10 ml thf was added dropwise . the mixture was stirred at 0 - 5 ° c . for about 1 hour and room temperature for about 1 hour . the solvent was evaporated in vacuo to dryness and the residue was chromatographed on silica gel ( 40 g ) using chcl 3 as eluent . appropriate fractions were pooled and the solvent was removed in vacuo to dryness , to give a pale yellow foam 420 mg . mass spec ( electrospray ) 665 . 2 ( 643 + 23 ( sodium )). tlc ( silica gel : chcl 3 / acetone = 9 : 1 r f = 0 . 53 ) to a stirred solution of the product from step e ( 2 . 2 g ) in 30 ml ch 2 cl 2 was added 10 ml trifluoroacetic acid ( tfa ). the mixture was stirred for about 30 minutes . volatile substances were removed in vacuo to dryness . the residue was dissolved in chcl 3 ( 50 ml ) and treated with excess triethylamine ( 4 ml ). the mixture was washed with water , then dried ( mgso 4 ) and volatile substances were removed in vacuo to dryness , to give a pale yellow glass , 2 . 1 g ; tlc ( silica gel ; chcl 3 / meoh = 9 : 1 , r f = 0 . 63 ) to a solution of the product from step f ( 0 . 9 g ) and 2 ( r )- n - tert - butoxycarbonylamino - 3 - triphenylmethylthiopropanal ( 1 . 2 g ) prepared according to the procedure of o . p . goel , et al ., ( org . syn . 1988 , 67 , 69 - 75 ), in ch 2 cl 2 ( 20 ml ) containing 1 % acetic acid , was added 4 g of molecular sieves 4 å followed by portion wise addition of na ( oac ) 3 bh ( 1 g ) over a 30 minutes period . after stirring for about 2 hours , the mixture was filtered and the filtrate was washed with water , 5 % aqueous nahco 3 , water , and then dried ( mgso 4 ). the solvent was evaporated in vacuo to dryness , and the residue was chromatographed on silica gel ( 60 g ) using chcl 3 as an eluent . appropriate fractions were pooled and solvent was removed in vacuo to dryness , to give 0 . 6 g white foam . tlc ( silica gel , chcl 3 / acetone = 9 : 1 ; r f = 0 . 55 ); mass spec ( electro spray ) 974 . 3 . to a stirred solution of the product from step g ( 0 . 7 g ) in chcl 3 / ch 3 oh ( 1 : 3 , 60 ml ) was added a solution of iodine in methanol ( 0 . 2 g in 5 ml ). after stirring for about 40 minutes most of the solvents were removed in vacuo to dryness and the residue was partitioned between ethyl acetate ( 30 ml ) and 5 % aqueous na 2 s 2 o 3 the organic layer was washed with water , then dried ( mgso 4 ). after evaporation of solvent the residue was treated with 50 % trifluoroacetic acid in dichloromethane ( 10 ml ) for about 30 minutes . volatile substances were removed in vacuo to dryness and the residue was triturated with ether and filtered . the crude product was subjected to preparative high performance liquid chromatography ( hplc ) using a c 18 column and 0 . 1 % aqueous tfa and ch 3 cn as the mobile phase . earlier fractions ( retention = 5 minutes , ch 3 cn / 0 . 1 % aqueous tfa = 50 : 50 , elution rate = 1 ml / min ) gave the white solid 1 , 2 cyclodisulfide ; mass . spec . ( electrospray ) 388 . 1 . later fractions ( retention time = 7 . 2 minutes using the same isocratic conditions ) gave the dimer ; mass spec . ( electrospray )= 775 . 1 the ratio of cyclic disulfide and dimeric tetrasulfide was about 4 to 1 . alternative cyclization of compound 30 using immobilized oxidizing resin ( ekathiox ™ resin ) or air the product from step g ( 450 mg ) was treated for about 30 minutes with 50 % tfa in ch 2 cl 2 ( 10 ml ) containing 1 ml triethylsilane . volatile substances were then removed in vacuo to dryness . the residue was triturated with ether , filtered , then dried , resulting in 280 mg of 1 -[ 2 ( r )- amino - 3 - mercaptopropyl ]- 2 ( s )-( 2 - mercaptoethyl )- 4 -( 1 - naphthoyl )- piperazine , ( compound 30 ). mass spec ( electrospray ) 390 . 3 100 mg of the product from step a ) was dissolved in 10 ml aqueous ch 3 cn ( h 2 o / ch 3 cn = 7 . 3 ), and treated with 3 g of ekathiox ™ resin ( 0 . 34 mmoles / gm ). the mixture was stirred at room temperature for about 6 hours . the mixture was then filtered , the resin washed with aqueous methanol ( 1 : 3 ), and most of the organic solvent was removed in vacuum to a small volume . the concentrate was subjected to preparative hplc using 0 . 1 % aqueous tfa and ch 3 cn as mobile phase . appropriate fractions were pooled and most of the solvents removed in vacuo to small volume . the concentrate was then lyophilized . alternatively , the solution of 1 -[ 2 ( r )- amino - 3 - mercaptopropyl ]- 2 ( s )-( 2 - mercaptoethyl )- 4 -( 1 - naphthoyl )- piperazine ( compound 30 ) in aqueous ch 3 cn was stirred with air in ph 6 - 8 range . in both instances the reaction mixture showed a distribution of the cyclic disulfide and the tetrasulfide dimer in the ratio of about 4 to 1 . it is to be understood that while the invention has been described in conjunction with the detailed description thereof , that the foregoing description is intended to illustrate and not limit the scope of the invention , which is defined by the scope of the appended claims . other aspects , advantages , and modifications are within the claims .	2
in fig1 there is illustrated , in exploded view , a touch pad housing 12 affixed to a touch workpad 10 , shown in a broken away manner and in part only . the housing 12 forms a rectangular shaped recessed window 14 within which is housed a touch overlay 16 or template . the touch overlay 16 can be one of the myriad of configurations , diagrams or patterns designed to emulate input devices , including , but not limited to , a keyboard , a phone keypad , a calculator , a remote control device and any other similar input station . for illustration purposes only , the touch overlay 16 in fig1 is a keyboard . the touch workpad 10 , dependent on the touch overlay 16 installed and registered to the housing 12 , is responsive to directed signals sent as a result of touch stimulation of a selected key or character or area of the overlay , and functions with a computer system to act as an input in compliance with the selected overlay . the overlay or template 16 is generally transparent , excepting , for example , for an outline of the input device depicted on the overlay . however , the overlay 16 can be coded with opaque sectors or areas of the overlay in such a way that when the overlay is installed in the touch pad housing 12 , the coded portions , whether transparent or opaque or some other degree of transparency , are aligned with sensor , scanner or detector interface devices 20 . devices 20 are shown in fig4 as exemplary and schematically and only on one side of an overlay , but in fact are positioned to be in alignment with exemplary apertures 21 of fig1 and 3 , which devices 20 preferably optically read the overlay and send signals which identify the overlay to the system software . the apertures 21 could be juxtaposed to the sensors 20 in any of a myriad of patterns disposed in selected areas of the overlay 16 . in the alternative , the overlay 16 could have other indicia , including bar codes , at similar locations as those apertures 21 shown in fig1 or cutouts incorporated along the boundary edge or edges of the overlay which cutouts or indicia represent , e . g ., a six bit binary code . the binary code may contain a first part which contains emulation information and a second part which contain an overlay number code which the system software is able to use for special functions . see tables v and vi for more specifics of the binary codes transmitted . therefore it is appreciated that a variety of coding , either magnetic , optical or physical may be sensed by mode or identification sensors . the overlay 16 is interchangeable and preferably generally flexible and consists of a suitable durable plastic material . as presented the edges , or other suitable aspects of the overlay 16 contain transparent or opaque apertures or sectors , such as circles , that in combination define a binary code which represents the unique overlay 16 . any overlay not identifiable by the interface device 20 passes the binary code on through interface 64 of fig5 to the host computer and cpu 74 for local identification . translation , once identified , could then occur for the application - specific overlay . the input device 20 could also detect the change of overlays and send a signal to the host device to launch or terminate the application required by the overlay . for example , the calculator overlay , when installed would launch the calculator program . likewise , if the overlay were a scientific calculator , the calculator would run in the scientific mode . also , simply , any application program could be terminated by removing the overlay from the input device or workpad 10 . fig2 and 3 , respectively , depict overlays 17 and 19 which illustrate , for example , for overlay 17 , a phone keypad , and for overlay 19 , a remote control pad . referring more specifically to fig5 a touch workpad 10 , is shown . the workpad 10 and its assembly comprises the housing 12 having the rectangular recessed window 14 which surrounds the edges of the exemplary rectangular touch overlay 16 . the sensors / detectors 20 , for example , optically detect and produce sensor signals as a function of the coding read from the selected overlay 16 . these sensor signals accordingly identify and pass through interface 64 information of a recognized overlay layout , which is provided to a pc interface 66 of fig6 and with the necessary intelligence and logic to correspond the information of digitized signals with a program or application 82 operational in the personal computer of fig6 . a wired stylus , not illustrated but of a general and well known configuration , is attached to the touch pad 10 with a switch mounted on the side . the switch is wire ored with a center button of the touch pad and is used to allow the operator to change the operating mode of the stylus . since the stylus requires pressure for detection , the button is used to provide a trail for the stylus tip as it travels on the touch pad . the touch pad 10 , as previously described , contains sensors / detectors 20 , typically six , to detect the presence of an overlay . a finger of a user acts as a stylus to touch areas on the overlay for certain applications . the touch pad 10 , in one preferred embodiment , contains five buttons , with three located at the bottom area of the touch pad controller and one each on , optional , joystick knobs . workpad cable 28 is the connecting link between the workpad 10 and the computer system of fig6 with which the user is communicating . the workpad cable 28 provides power to the workpad 10 as well as to energize , for operation , the pressure sensitive x - y coordinate array disposed below or as a part of the overlay 16 and to transmit touch signals to operate the overlay in finger touch . as discussed in connection with fig5 the touch workpad 10 communicates with the personal computer of fig6 via cable 28 . vertical x ( x1 , x2 , x3 , x4 , . . . xn ) and horizontal y ( y1 , y2 , y3 , y4 , . . . yn ) conductors cover the entirety of the surface over which the overlay is disposed . this provides for the generation of signals even from areas on each overlay which are outside of the depicted outline for the selected input device and its configuration , such as a keyboard array of keys , illustrated in fig1 . the vertical x conductors are connected through the x bus 38 and the horizontal y conductors are connected through the y bus 40 to the wire selection multiplexer 42 , respectively . the touch pad 10 is a pressure sensitive array of horizontal and vertical lines . the considered horizontal resolution is , for example , 256 lines and the vertical resolution is , for example , 200 lines . output of the touch pad 10 is an analog voltage for each of the axis . the top left corner of the touch pad is location 0 . 0 . the bottom left is , for example , location 0 . 199 . the top right location is , for example , location 255 . 0 . the bottom right location is , for example , location 255 . 199 . the wire selection multiplexer 42 is connected through the mode multiplexer 50 to the pressure sensitive measurement device 52 which is used for finger touch detection . the wire selection multiplexer 42 can also be connected through the mode multiplexer 50 to the oscillator driver 54 and can be used to drive the x bus 38 and the y bus 40 for other detection operations . for certain applications , such as selecting items from a list , finger sensing methods have been found more convenient . the output of the capacitance measurement device 52 is connected through the analog - to - digital converter 56 to the workpad bus 58 . the workpad bus 58 is connected via workpad interface 64 to the cable 28 which connects to a pc interface 66 in the personal computer of fig6 . the pc interface 66 communicates to the main system bus 68 . if an overlay 16 is not known to the interface 64 , it passes the transmitted identifying binary code to the host computer for local identification . the interface 64 can also detect a change in overlays and sends a signal to terminate the current application or launch the application required by the overlay , e . g ., a calculator overlay launches the calculator program . also , the application program of element 82 can be terminated by the removal of an overlay 16 from the touch pad housing 12 . the system , in its illustrated embodiment , uses a motorola 68hc705cb input - micro controller 90 , or equivalent , to transfer messages from the input devices , e . g ., touch pad 10 , to the system processor 74 and to perform other system functions . a system input controller ( sic ) 90 is located in the i / o space and is accessible at the addresses decoded and defined by a general purpose input / output ( gpi0 ) 1 of a control program ( cp ) 1 application specific integrated circuit ( asic ). all i / o transfers to and from the sic 90 are 8 bits . the system functions the system input controller 90 performs include a system reset , where a power - on reset resets the sic 90 which resets the cp / 1 . input data from i / o controllers will be sent to the system of fig6 via an asynchronous serial data message which consists of the device type , the device number , and input data . the input device data messages will be received and decoded by the sic 90 . the personal computer includes standard devices such as a cpu 74 , rom 76 , disk storage 78 , a memory 80 which stores operating system 81 and exemplary application programs 82 , keyboard 84 and standard display 86 , as schematically illustrated in fig6 . each respective application program of the myriad of application programs in the applications box 82 can , in accordance with the principles of this invention , be operational and functional directly from the output signals of the work pad 12 which are configured to each respective and specific application program or a series of programs corresponding or coded to a specific overlay pattern or patterns . in each case the coding for a particular coordinate location is not hard coded or fixed to a particular meaning . the coding for each overlay is known to the application running at the time , or to another identifiable application , and each application uses a particular code as necessary for its own use . all of the work pad 12 or digitizer data is passed to the identified application regardless of what overlay code current overlaid on the work pad 12 . in this manner the software can relate to routines within the application or elsewhere which relate to the specific overlay . although the cpu 74 can be a 376 , preferably it has been modified to start and run in 32 bit mode . joysticks or other pointing type devices are also optionally installed . any standard display 86 is typically a crt . the wire selection multiplexer 42 and the mode multiplexer 50 connect selected patterns of a plurality of the horizontal and vertical conductors from the overlay 16 to either the capacitance measurement device 52 or the 40 kilohertz oscillator driver 54 , in response to control signals applied over the control inputs 60 and 62 from the bus 58 by a control processor of the pc interface 66 . during finger touch operations , the capacitance measuring device 52 has its input coupled through the mode multiplexer 50 and the wire selection multiplexer 42 to selected single conductors in the horizontal and vertical conductor array in the overlay 16 in response to control signals from the pc interface 66 . the output of the pressure measurement device 52 is converted to digital values by the aid converter 56 and is supplied over the bus 58 to the pc interface 66 . the pc interface 66 executes a sequence of stored program instructions to detect the horizontal array conductor pair and the vertical array conductor pair disposed below the overlay 16 at the location being touched by the operator &# 39 ; s finger and coordinated with the applicable program in box 82 in correspondence to the overlay 16 . regarding transfers from the sic 90 to the system , where the bios presents the data to software via software interrupts , when an input controller has data or a message for the system processor 74 , the sic 90 , will signal the processor 74 by pulling a10 pin low on the cp / 1 . the cp / 1 will then trigger the irq of an exemplary 376 cpu - processor 74 . during the interrupt acknowledge cycle of a 376 processor the cp / 1 will place on the processor bus 68 the address of the interrupt routine responding to analog interrupt 0 ( ai0 ). the sequence to respond to an interrupt generated by the sic 90 starts with sic 90 providing a single byte indicating the number of timer ticks since the last interrupt service and the number of the io device messages to be transferred . the format of the first byte is as illustrated in table i , below : table 1______________________________________bits 7 - 4 bits 3 - 0______________________________________number of io device messages number of timer ticks since last service ( 0 - 15 ) ( 0 - 15 ) ______________________________________ additional data is transferred based on the number of io device messages . a transfer sequence from the sic 90 to the system is , for example , as illustrated in table ii , as follows : table ii______________________________________ valuebyte # ( hex ) description______________________________________0 21 2 io device messages , 1 timer tick since last service1 02 2 bytes for first io device message2 12 byte # 1 : message identifier ( joystick # 1 ) 3 80 byte # 2 joystick position information ( up position ) 4 04 4 bytes for second io device message5 04 byte # 1 : message identifier ( coordinate / touchpad # 0 ) 6 01 byte # 2 : button 0 depressed7 64 byte # 3 : x coordinate ( 64 ) 8 32 byte # 4 : y coordinate ( 32 ) ______________________________________ if the timer is disabled , the timer tick value will be 0 . any additional io device messages received during the transfer of the current information will be sent on to the next interrupt sequence . interrupts occur on 50 ms internals . once a message has started , no more than 3 milli - seconds between successive bytes is preferably allowed . if this time is exceeded , the entire message is considered invalid and must be discarded . the 3 ms time is from the end of the stop bit to the beginning of the next start bit . this prevents system lock - up in the event of an io controller malfunction or cable problem . the 3 ms time is 1 . 5 times the nominal time to transfer one byte of information over the serial bus . the following table iii describes the io device message transferred by the sic 90 to the system bios for the touch pad overlay on touch pad 10 . this information is passed to the application software 82 via a software interrupt through control of the cpu 74 . table iii______________________________________device byte 0 byte 1 ( device id ) byte bytetype count ( bits 4 - 7 ) ( bits 0 - 3 ) byte 2 3 4______________________________________touchpad 2 device 5 overlay n / a n / aoverlay number codemessage in chain ( 0 - 63 ) ______________________________________ the following table iv describes sic 90 output messages , including the message type , structure , and data to be transferred to the sic 90 by the 376 processor 74 . table iv______________________________________ byte 0 high lowsystem message nibble nibble byte 1______________________________________timer interrupt enable f = disable 0 n / a 0 = enablenv - memory address segment # 1 address ( 0 - 255 ) nv - memory write 0 2 data written to nvramnv - memory read 0 3 data read from nvramps / 2 output 0 4 output data ( ps / 2 ) serial output 0 5 output data ( serial ) system reset f f n / a______________________________________ notes : 1 . segment number is 0 or 1 ; and 2 . the address of nvram will automatically be incremented after each nvra read or write . ( for example , a 5 byte read of nvram data can be accomplished by doing an address cycle followed by 5 nvram read cycles .) the sic 90 will also be responsible for providing the inter - integrated circuit ( i 2 c ) serial interface or synchronous two - wire bus to the system processor 74 . the first byte sent to the sic 90 will be of message type 1 . the upper nibble , or half byte , of write / read messages to the sic 90 will contain the segment number for the memory nvram 92 , as illustrated in fig6 . the default nvram for the system is 512 bytes long so the current design will only allow values 0 , and 1 in the upper nibble . a 0 indicates the address field will be a byte in the range 0 - 255 . whereas a 1 in the upper nibble indicates the address written is in the range 256 - 511 . the next byte sent to the sic 90 is an 8 bit address for the nvram 92 read / write cycle . this address is the byte in the 256 byte segment that the data will be read from or written to the memory 92 . additional commands can be sent ( message type 2 & amp ; 3 ) to write and read the nvram 92 . after each write or read cycle , the sic 90 will automatically increment the address for the next nvram 92 write or read cycle . a new address command ( message type 1 ) can be sent at any time to load a new address to the sic 90 . the hc05 controller of sic 90 keeps the system processor 74 on hold , ready = 1 , while processing any nvram 92 operation . the nvram 92 operations will slow the system down and , but for the data types to be stored , this will not result in unreasonable or unsatisfactory operation . there can be a multitude of input messages to the system of fig6 generated by external input control devices . the first byte is a byte count . the second byte is a device id . the device id contains two parts . the high nibble is a device number of the io chain and the low nibble is the identifier for the device . additional bytes may or may not be sent depending on the device type . a checksum is always the last byte . device messages use the following format , as illustrated in table v . table v______________________________________byte count id (#/ type ) byte 0 ... byte n - 1 checksum______________________________________ the checksum is a value which forces the sum of the entire message packet to be zero when all bytes of the message are added using an 8 bit checksum and ignoring any carry . messages are only sent when a change from a previously reported state has occurred . this keeps message transmissions to a minimum . below in table vi is a typical example of a message packet for the touch pad . table vi______________________________________byte # value ( hex ) description______________________________________0 03 byte count ( 3 ) 1 04 id : touchpad code2 01 byte 0 : button info3 10 byte 1 : x coordinate4 20 byte 2 : y coordinate5 c8 checksum______________________________________ there are optionally two digital joysticks , not illustrated , on each touch pad and are supported as device type 2 . each joystick has a unique chain number . the left joystick is odd , ( 1 , 3 , 5 , 7 , 9 , etc .) and the right joystick is even ( 0 , 2 , 4 , 6 , 8 , etc .). each joystick is reported independently and has a fixed length message . the joysticks in the touch pad only have one button . any other button is always reported as zero . the touch pad 10 is supported as a device type 4 . the first byte following the id is used to report button information . the next byte is used to report the absolute x position . the absolute y position is next in sequence . the absolute x and y values are each 1 byte and are limited to a range of 0 - 255 . this is a fixed length message . the touch pad 10 is an absolute coordinate device and uses the following byte to respond for the buttons , as illustrated in table vii . table vii______________________________________bit 7bit 6 bit 5 bit 4 bit 3 bit 2 bit 1 bit 0______________________________________0 0 0 0 0 right center left______________________________________ touchpad overlays 16 are reported in the preferred embodiment as device type 5 . touchpad overlays 16 are sensed using a 6 bit sensor in the touch pad 10 . when an overlay change is sensed by interface 64 of the touch pad 10 , a message is generated . all overlay codes are application dependent and the application of application program 82 recognizes the codes of each overlay 16 . this message is a fixed length message . although the present invention and its advantages have been described in detail , it should be understood that various changes , substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims .	6
referring to fig3 there is shown one example of data block with a 4 × 4 size . in practice , in the case of a data block with an n × n size , where n ≧ 2 , there are four differences between the actual positions of the present and previous data , namely , 1 , n - 1 , -( n - 1 ) and n . the four differences are repeatedly produced , in the order 1 , n - 1 , n , -( n - 1 ), -( n - 1 ), 1 , n - 1 , n - 1 , n - 1 , m , . . . the rule of the differences being produced as mentioned above can be summarized as follows . secondly , n - 1 and -( n - 1 ) are in turn produced with the number of times being incremented by one . that is , n - 1 is once , -( n - 1 ) is twice , n - 1 is three times and -( n - 1 ) is four times . thirdly , if any one of n - 1 and -( n - 1 ) is produced ( n - 1 ) times with the number of times being incremented by one , then they are produced with the number of times being decremented by one . for example , n - 1 is produced ( n - 1 ) times if n is an even number , whereas -( n - 1 ) is produced ( n - 1 ) times if n is an odd number . fourthly , 1 and n are in turn inserted once before and after n - 1 or -( n - 1 ) is produced . then , only one of 1 and n is repeated about the time that n - 1 or -( n - 1 ) is produced ( n1 ) times . namely , 1 is repeated if n is an even number , whereas n is repeated if it is an odd number . referring to fig4 there is a block diagram of a scanning format conversion circuit which is constructed on the basis of the above - mentioned rule in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . as shown in this drawing , the scanning format conversion circuit comprises an up / down counting circuit 100 , a down counting circuit 101 , first to third selection circuits 102 - 104 , a comparison circuit 105 , a phase change circuit 106 , and an accumulation circuit 107 . the operation of the scanning format conversion circuit with the above - mentioned construction in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention will hereinafter be described in detail with reference to fig4 . the up / down counting circuit 100 is adapted to perform an up counting operation from 1 to n - 1 and then a down counting operation from n - 1 to 1 . the up / down counting circuit 100 is loaded with 1 at its initial state and then controlled in response to a carry signal from the down counting circuit 101 in such a manner that it holds its count until the carry signal is generated from the down counting circuit 101 . the down counting circuit 101 is loaded with an output value from the up / down counting circuit 100 . then , the down counting circuit 101 performs a down counting operation from the loaded value to 0 . the down counting circuit 101 generates the carry signal at the moment that its count becomes 0 , and then applies the generated carry signal to the up / down counting circuit 100 . the first selection circuit 102 is adapted to input the carry signal from the down counting circuit 101 as its selection control signal . the first selection circuit 102 selects in turn n - 1 and -( n - 1 ) in response to the carry signal from the down counting circuit 101 . the second selection circuit 103 is adapted to input the carry signal from the down counting circuit 101 as its selection control signal . the second selection circuit 103 selects in turn 1 and n in response to the carry signal from the down counting circuit 101 . the third selection circuit 104 is adapted to input the carry signal from the down counting circuit 101 as its selection control signal . the third selection circuit 104 selects one of output signals from the first and second selection circuits 102 and 103 in response to the carry signal from the down counting circuit 101 . the comparison circuit 105 is adapted to compare the output value from the up / down counting circuit 100 with n - 1 . the phase change circuit 106 is adapted to change an output phase of the second selection circuit 103 in response to an output signal from the comparison circuit 105 so that only one of 1 and n can be repeatedly selected by the second selection circuit 103 about the time that n - 1 or -( n - 1 ) is selected ( n - 1 ) times by the first selection circuit 102 while 1 and n are in turn selected by the second selection circuit 103 . the accumulation circuit 107 is adapted to accumulate an output signal from the third selection circuit 104 to generate an address output signal . referring to fig5 there is shown a detailed circuit diagram of the scanning format conversion circuit in fig4 in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention . as shown in this drawing , the up / down counting circuit 100 is provided with an up / down counter ( udc ) 11 for performing the up / down counting operations . the down counting circuit 101 is provided with a down counter ( dc ) 12 for performing the down counting operation . the first selection circuit 102 includes a first toggle flip - flop ( tff ) 16 and a first multiplexer ( mux ) 13 . the second selection circuit 103 includes a second toggle flip - flop 17 and a second multiplexer 14 . the third selection circuit 104 is provided with a third multiplexer 15 . the comparison circuit 105 is provided with a comparator 19 . the phase change circuit 106 includes first to fourth latch circuits ( lc &# 39 ; s ) 21 - 24 and an rs flip - flop ( rsff ) 18 . the accumulation circuit 107 includes fifth and sixth latch circuits 25 and 26 and an accumulator 20 . the operation of the scanning format conversion circuit with the above - mentioned construction in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention will hereinafter be described in more detail with reference to fig5 . first , a reference clock signal clk is applied to the up / down counter 11 , the down counter 12 and the latch circuits 21 , 22 , 24 , 25 and 26 , and a start signal clr is applied to the up / down counter 11 , the down counter 12 and the first and second toggle flip - flops 16 and 17 . upon receiving the reference clock signal clk and the start signal clr , the up / down counter 11 performs the up counting operation from 1 to n - 1 . then , the up / down counter 11 performs the down counting operation from n - 1 to 1 in response to an output signal from the rs flip - flop 18 at the moment that its count becomes n - 1 . the down counter 12 is loaded with an output value from the up / down counter 11 . then , the down counter 12 performs the down counting operation from the loaded value to 0 . the down counter 12 generates the carry signal at the moment that its count becomes 0 , the carry signal being enabled to 1 . in other words , upon receiving the start signal clr , the up / down counter 11 is loaded with 1 to perform the up counting operation . at this time , the up / down counter 11 is enable by the output signal or the carry signal from the down counter 12 . as a result , the up / down counter 11 holds its count until the output signal from the down counter 12 becomes 1 . namely , the up / down counter 11 holds its output value until the down counter 12 ends its down counting operation for the previous values . the down counter 12 is load - enabled when its output signal becomes 1 . as a result , the down counter 12 is loaded with the output value from the up / down counter 11 . for example , in the case where the output value from the up / down counter 11 is 2 , the down counter 12 performs the down counting operation from 1 to 0 . upon counting 0 , the down counter 12 transfers the carry signal to the up / down counter 11 to enable it . the carry signal from the down counter 12 is also applied as a load enable signal to the down counter 12 . as a result , new values are counted by both the up / down counter 11 and the down counter 12 . as compared with the up / down counter 11 , the down counter 12 generates its output at an interval corresponding to the loaded value . for example , if the loaded value is 2 , then 2 and 1 are counted between 0 and 0 , resulting in the interval being 2 . also , if the loaded value is 3 , then 3 , 2 and 1 are counted between 0 and 0 , resulting in the interval being 3 . the first toggle flip - flop 16 generates repeatedly 1 and 0 in response to the output signal or the carry signal from the down counter 12 . then , the first toggle flip - flop 16 applies its output signal t1 as a selection control signal sel to the first multiplexer 13 . the first multiplexer 13 outputs n - 1 when the output signal t1 from the first toggle flip - flop 16 is 1 and -( n - 1 ) when the output signal t1 from the first toggle flip - flop 16 is 0 . at this time , because the down counter 12 generates its output at an interval corresponding to the loaded value , the first multiplexer 13 generates n - 1 or -( n - 1 ) at the corresponding interval . the comparator 19 compares the output value from the up / down counter 11 with n - 1 . if the output value from the up / down counter 11 is the same as n - 1 as a result of the comparison , the comparator outputs 1 , thereby causing the rs flip - flop 18 to output 1 . the output value from the rs flip - flop 18 is latched into the third latch circuit 23 at the moment that the up / down counter 11 starts the down counting operation , namely , the second latch circuit 22 outputs 1 and the comparator 19 outputs 0 . an output signal d2 from the fourth latch circuit 24 is obtained by delaying an output signal d1 from the third latch circuit 23 by one clock cycle . the output signals d1 and d2 from the third and fourth latch circuits 23 and 24 are exclusive - nored and then anded with the start signal clr . the resultant signal d3 is applied to a reset terminal of the second toggle flip - flop 17 . as a result , the second toggle flip - flop 17 is reset by the signal d3 when the up / down counter 11 starts the down counting operation again . upon being reset , the second toggle flip - flop 17 generates repeatedly 1 and 0 again from the beginning . unlike the first toggle flip - flop 16 , the second toggle flip - flop 17 does not receive only the carry signal from the down counter 12 as its clock . namely , the second toggle flip - flop 17 receives as the clock the result obtained by exclusive - oring a least significant bit ( lsb ) of n and the carry signal from the down counter 12 . this reason is to operate the circuit normally regardless of whether n is an odd or even number . in other words , in the case where n is an odd number , 1 must not be repeated but n must be repeated at the moment that the up / down counter 11 starts the down counting operation , as seen from the above - mentioned rule . for this reason , it is advantageous to invert a waveform of an output signal t2 from the second toggle flip - flop 17 . in the case where n is an even number , the second multiplexer 14 outputs 1 when the output signal t2 from the second toggle flip - flop 17 is 1 and n when the output signal t2 from the second toggle flip - flop 17 is 0 . if n is an odd number , the second multiplexer 14 generates its output value in the opposite manner to the case where n is an even number , i . e . the second multiplexer 14 outputs n when the output signal t2 is 1 and outputs 1 when the output signal t2 is 0 . the third multiplexer 15 receives the carry signal from the down counting circuit 101 as its selection control signal . the third multiplexer 15 selects one of output values mux1 and mux2 from the first and second multiplexers 13 and 14 in response to the carry signal from the down counter 12 . an output value mux3 from the third multiplexer 15 is latched into the fifth latch circuit 25 and then added with an output value from the sixth latch circuit 26 by the accumulator 20 . in result , the accumulator 20 sends its output signal as an address output signal adout through the sixth latch circuit 26 . as apparent from the above description , according to the present invention , the scanning format conversion circuit is provided with the pure logic circuit to convert the progressive scanning format into the zig - zag scanning format and vice versa , thereby simplifying the implementation of asic . therefore , the scanning format conversion circuit can perform the scanning format conversion operation regardless of a block size as compared with the conventional one in which a rom size is varied as the block size is varied . although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes , those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications , additions and substitutions are possible , without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims .	7
referring now to the fig .&# 39 ; s 1 - 5 , one preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in an exploded view . in this embodiment the invention includes a reel housing 1 which includes a threaded stud 5 and a mounting flange 1 a . a spool 2 is mounted on stud 5 and rotates on a pair of inner and outer bushings 6 . in one preferred embodiment bushings 6 are self - lubricated , or made of a low friction material such as a teflon ®. doing so eliminates the need to lubricate the spool , increasing its usability in the field . spool 2 includes an inner flange 2 a , a middle flange 2 b , and an outer flange 2 c . inner flange 2 a and middle flange 2 b define a first line spool portion 2 d . middle flange 2 b and outer flange 2 c define a second line spool portion 2 e . a braking surface 2 f is provided on the peripheral surface of outer flange 2 c . a handle knob 3 is mounted on spool 2 by pin 4 . a first washer 8 and a spring washer 9 are mounted on stud 5 , and the whole rotating assembly is retained on stud 5 by a retaining nut 7 . in operation the reel is mounted on a rod at flange mounting flange 1 a in typical fashion . a first fly line is wound onto first line spool portion 2 d , and a second fly line is wound onto second line spool portion 2 e . one of the lines is threaded through the line guides of the fishing rod for use in a normal fashion , while the other is retained on the spool by a resilient line retainer 10 . if the conditions arise that require the use of the different line on the other spool , the first line is rewound onto the first line spool portion 2 d . the retainer 10 is moved from the line on the second line spool portion to the line on the first line spool portion , and the other fly line is extended and threaded through the line guides for use . it is often the case when fly fishing that the momentum of the fly line as it is thrown can result in an over spinning of the spool and cause tangling of the line . this is referred to as backlash . in this embodiment of the invention retaining nut 7 and spring washer 9 cooperate to preload a frictional force on spool to limit the over spinning of the spool . nut 7 is adjustable to provide a continuously variable range of adjustment as required for different line weights and rods . in addition to the preloading provided by the retaining nut and spring washer , the spool in includes an angles shoulder portion 2 f that serves as a “ braking surface .” as the line is thrown , the user &# 39 ; s heel of the user &# 39 ; s hand is gently pushed against shoulder 2 f to slow the spinning spool , and in that way to accurately place the lure at the desired position . the angle and position of the braking shoulder 2 f is such that the user can conveniently brake or slow the spinning spool with the heel of his hand while holding the rod in the normal fashion . in one preferred embodiment the reel housing and spool assembly are manufactured in a lightweight , non - corroding metal such as aluminum or titanium , permitting the reel to be used in salt water environments without danger of corroding . however , the invention is not limited to any particular material of construction , and could be made of other metallic or polymeric materials . in another aspect of this embodiment of the invention , the reel housing and spool flanges are drilled with numerous holes to further lighten the assembly and increase the sensitivity of the fly rod and reel , although the invention is not so limited . in another preferred embodiment as shown in fig6 - 10 , the reel operated in a similar manner . this embodiment differs in the design of the shaft and retainers used to mount the spool onto the shaft . referring to fig6 shaft 16 is mounted on reel housing 14 by means of washer 13 and shaft retaining nut 11 . spool 15 is mounted on shaft 16 by means of respective inner and outer bushings 3 a and 3 b . d - hole washer 17 , spring washer 18 , tension control washer 12 and spool retaining nut 19 . the tension on tension control washer 12 is adjusted by means of turning spool retaining nut 19 to tighten or loosen tension control washer 12 on shaft 16 . tension is transmitted from tension control washer 12 to spool 15 through tension spring 18 . spool retaining nut 19 can be adjusted to provide any level of spool rotation resistance desired . this embodiment also differs from the first preferred embodiment in that a pair of spool turning knobs 20 a and 20 b are provided , as opposed to a single knob . having described the invention by reference of several preferred embodiments , it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that the illustrated embodiments could be varied in detail and arrangement without departing from the scope of the claims .	0
this disclosure describes submersible pump housings with seal bleed ports . features , systems , and methods associated with submersible pump housings with seal bleed ports represent possible implementations and are included for illustration purposes and should not be construed as limiting . moreover , it will be understood that different implementations can include all or different subsets of aspects described below . furthermore , the aspects described below may be included in any order , and numbers and / or letters placed before various aspects are done for ease of reading and in no way imply an order , or level of importance to their associated aspects . fig1 shows a section of an example electric submersible pump ( esp ) 100 of the centrifugal type . the illustrated section shows a base - end portion of the centrifugal esp 100 . an impeller region 102 inside the pump housing generates high thrust pressure as the impeller accelerates fluid radially outward and axially upward , or toward a wellhead of an esp installation . at the periphery of the pump housing , the fluid in the interior high pressure compartment 104 that includes the impeller region 102 extends to a location at which the end seal 106 is situated to seal off the high thrust pressure and highly mobilized fluid from flowing out to the exterior of the pump housing or from flowing out to the next component in a stack of components . in the example centrifugal esp 100 with seal bleed ports 108 , the end seals 106 are inboard of the threaded end regions 110 of the pump housing in order to contain the high pressure compartment 104 and prevent the threaded end region 110 from participating in the interior high pressure compartment ( s ) of the esp 100 . this arrangement of having the end seals 106 inboard of the threads 110 increases the maximum pressure rating of the pump housing , because the threaded end regions 110 of conventional pumps are subject to increased stresses over the non - threaded regions of conventional pump housings when subjected to interior pump pressures . in fig1 , the bleed ports 108 or vent ports are located just outboard of the end seal 106 to provide a leak path for fluid that seeps or blows by the end seal 106 . the terms “ port ” and “ hole ” as used herein , are used representatively to mean a fluid path , passageway , port , hole , lumen , channel , vent , etc ., enabling the movement of fluid from one location to another . the vent ports do not have to be “ holes ,” such as a round , straight passages as drilled by a bit . for example , the term bleed ports 108 can mean a vent passage that is a milled castellation ( s ) in the end face of either the housing or end cap ( base or head ). in an implementation , the vent passage , leak path , or seal bleed ports 112 may be located outboard of the threaded end region 110 , instead of just outboard of the end seal 106 as seal bleed ports 108 are . locating the bleed ports 112 outboard of the threads 110 utilizes the threads 110 to dissipate leakage fluid pressure and minimize jetting velocity of fluid that has escaped the end seal 106 . the term “ outboard ” or “ outboard of ” as used herein , means “ outside ” or “ on the other side of ” a designated feature that is closer to , or more “ inboard ,” to the pump &# 39 ; s high thrust pressure compartments or to the fluids being accelerated by the pump . correspondingly , “ inboard ,” as used herein , means “ inside of ,” in first contact with , or in closer contact with the high thrust pressure generated by the pump than a designated feature that is therefore more “ outboard .” fig2 shows an example centrifugal esp 200 with cutaway housing 202 . the illustrated section shows a head - end portion of the example centrifugal esp 200 . the example centrifugal esp 200 includes one or more impeller regions 204 in a high thrust pressure compartment . an end seal 206 is positioned inboard of one or more fluid bleed ports 208 . the end seal 206 is also positioned inboard of a threaded end region 210 . the illustrated bleed ports 208 are radially - directed to form a leak path from outboard of the end seal 206 to the exterior of the housing 202 . in this manner , an internal pressure differential caused by the pumping action of the example centrifugal esp 200 is sealed off from the end threads 210 , and the hoop stresses in the same threaded region 210 are significantly reduced to enable a higher maximum pressure rating for the overall housing 202 of the example centrifugal esp 200 . any fluid leakage that does seep past the end seal 206 on account of the high pressure that is inboard of the end seal 206 is allowed to escape the housing 202 without building up at the threaded region 210 . the bleed ports 208 form a leak path that is situated from inside to outside the housing 202 just outboard of the end seal 206 . the leak path can be implemented so that a very small leakage of fluid past the end seal 206 does not pressure the space or volume that may exist between the end seal 206 and the contact face between the head ( or the base ) and the centrifugal pump housing 202 . if this volume is pressured , then the same undesired stress state that exists in conventional housings occurs . in an implementation , the leak path can be created by drilling small radial holes in the housing 202 just downstream ( outboard ) of the end seal ( s ) 206 . in an implementation , the seal bleed ports 214 may be located to form a leak path outboard of the threaded end region 210 , instead of just outboard of the end seal 206 as seal bleed ports 208 are . locating the bleed ports 214 outboard of the threads 210 utilizes the threads 210 to dissipate leakage fluid pressure and minimize jetting velocity of fluid that has escaped the end seal 206 . the head - end of compression ring ( cr ) style pumps also requires a bleed path , such as port 212 , for weepage that may occur past the compression ring - to - head seal . fig3 shows a centrifugal pump housing 302 with inboard seal 306 , bleed port 308 , and an example housing lockplate protector 310 . the lockplate protector 310 covering the bleed port 308 shown in fig3 can be used to protect the well casing from any damage due to fluid leaking from the radial bleed port 308 in the housing 302 . the lockplate protector 310 can be a standard lockplate except that the housing - facing side of the lockplate can be stepped to allow bleed fluid to be deflected axially along the housing 302 rather radially toward the bore of the well casing . in an implementation , an example submersible pump includes a housing , an interior compartment of the housing for fluid at high thrust pressure , a threaded end region of the housing , an inboard end seal to seal off the threaded end region from the interior compartment , and at least one bleed port or hole outboard of the end seal for allowing leakage of fluid from the interior compartment past the end seal to escape radially from the end seal through the housing . the example submersible pump may comprise a centrifugal electric submersible pump ( esp ) for the oil and gas industries . the housing may comprise a diffuser of the centrifugal esp . the inboard end seal protects the threads to increase the pressure rating of the housing . the at least one bleed port can relieve a pressure between the end seal and a contact face between the submersible pump housing and a head or a base connecting to the submersible pump . a lockplate protector over the bleed port can protect a well casing from the leakage of fluid from the interior compartment past the end seal . the lockplate protector can be stepped to deflect fluid axially along the housing instead of radially toward a bore of the well casing . when the submersible pump is a compression ring ( cr ) style pump , a leak port can be used for weepage past a compression ring - to - head seal . a centrifugal esp may operate at temperatures of up to approximately 149 degree celsius and pressures of up to approximately 6 , 000 pounds per square inch or approximately 41 megapascals in a downhole environment of up to approximately 12 , 000 feet or 3 . 7 kilometers deep . the centrifugal esp can use up to approximately 1000 horsepower or 750 kilowatts of power and has a speed of rotation of a rotor of up to approximately 4000 revolutions per minute . even in such harsh conditions , the end seal protects the threaded end region from the fluid at high thrust pressure in the interior compartment of the centrifugal esp . in an implementation , a centrifugal pump housing includes a diffuser for directing high thrust fluid accelerated by an impeller , an end seal inboard of each threaded end of the centrifugal pump housing , and at least one leak port outboard of each end seal to relieve a fluid seeping from inside the centrifugal pump housing past each end seal . each leak port can relieve a pressure between a respective end seal and a contact face between the centrifugal pump housing and a head or a base . a lockplate protector can be used over the leak port . the lockplate protector protects the well casing from a fluid leaking from the leak port . the lockplate protector can be stepped to deflect fluid axially along the centrifugal pump housing instead of allowing the fluid to escape radially toward a bore of the well casing . fig4 shows an example method 400 of increasing the pressure rating of a submersible pump housing . in an implementation , the submersible pump can be a centrifugal esp . in the flow diagram , operations are shown in individual blocks . at block 402 , an end seal is located inboard of the threaded portion of a submersible pump housing to seal internal pressure from the threaded portion . at block 404 , radial bleed ports are located outboard of the end seal to relieve pressure of small blow - by or seepage past the end seal . the example method enables an internal pressure differential of the submersible pump to be sealed from the end threads , and the hoop stresses in the threaded region of the housing to be significantly reduced , achieving a higher pressure rating for the example submersible pump housing . although only a few example embodiments have been described in detail above , those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the example embodiments without materially departing from the subject matter . accordingly , all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure as defined in the following claims . in the claims , means - plus - function clauses are intended to cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function and not only structural equivalents , but also equivalent structures . it is the express intention of the applicant not to invoke 35 u . s . c . § 112 , paragraph 6 for any limitations of any of the claims herein , except for those in which the claim expressly uses the words ‘ means for ’ together with an associated function .	8
according to the invention , fig1 very schematically illustrates a polarization system for enhancing the nuclear polarization of the nuclei of a liquid solution 1 over its thermodynamic value . this enhances the nmr signal . this system comprises a polarization source 3 , a sample of the liquid solution 1 that is to be studied and a polarization transfer means 5 . it will be noted that the liquid solution 1 needs to have nuclei 7 that have a nonzero nuclear spin , for example nuclei of the 1 h hydrogen isotope , 13 c carbon isotope or the like . any polarization source which contains nuclei 9 that have highly polarized identical spins ( p greater than 0 . 01 ) and that are highly concentrated ( concentration c above 0 . 01 mol / l ) are conceivable . thus , this polarization source 3 may consist of a rare gas that has been polarized by optical pumping and is chosen from the following collection of gases : xenon ( xe ), helium ( he ), neon ( ne ), krypton ( kr ) or mixtures thereof . advantageously , the polarization source 3 contains xenon ( xe - 129 ) or helium ( he - 3 ) polarized by a laser or hyperpolarized , these being the only two spin ½ rare gases , and therefore gases in respect of which polarizations higher than 1 % can be readily obtained . it will be noted that the polarization source 3 may also result from the addition of para - hydrogen to a carbon - carbon double bond or the prepolarization of a sample using the low temperature nuclear dynamic polarization process . to simplify the description , in that which follows we shall consider a polarization source 3 containing laser - polarized xenon - 129 ( hereinafter termed xenon ) 9 and a liquid solution 1 containing nuclei of hydrogen - 1 isotope 7 ( that is to say 1 h protons ). in that which follows , in order to describe the physical processes involved in mathematical terms , we shall consider a system made up of n xenon nuclei i k and one proton s . thus , for any proton 7 in the solution 1 , there is a dipolar interaction 11 between each xenon i k 9 and this proton 7 . the hamilton operator which describes this interaction is : where μ 0 is the magnetic permeability of vacuum ( μ 0 = 4π10 − 7 s . i . ), f ( θ , φ ) is a function dependent on the orientation ( θ , φ ) of the internuclear vector i k s with respect to the axis of the magnetic field b 0 . however , because of brownian motion in the liquid phase , the orientation of the internuclear vector varies . that means that this dipolar interaction averages out to zero . hence , this interaction contributes only through the relaxation ( the effect on the width of the resonance line ). however , in order for the brownian motion to be effective in averaging out this interaction , the internuclear vector between the xenon 9 and the proton 7 needs to be capable of adopting all directions in space . the relative diffusion of the xenon 9 and of the molecule bearing the proton 7 ( 1 h ) during the acquisition time therefore defines a sphere around the proton 7 within which sphere the average of the intermolecular dipolar interaction is zero . there therefore remains a contribution from distant xenon atoms 9 . the dipolar contribution from a distant xenon atom is dependent on the distance r between the xenon 9 and the proton and decays with ( 1 / r 3 ). the contribution experienced by the proton s is in fact the sum of all the individual contributions of each xenon : in practice , since the xenon concentration is high it is possible to adopt a continuous model and replace the discrete sum with an integration over the entire volume of the sample ; their compensates for the decay in ( 1 / r 3 ) of the dipolar contribution . two types of phenomenon may then arise . in the first , we are interested only in the proton and we can therefore factor into equation ( 5 ) the contributions of each xenon and ultimately adopt the average value of the i k . from the point of view of the proton s , this all amounts to there being an additional magnetic field contribution parallel to b 0 . this additional magnetic field b is created by all of the xenon atoms together and is experienced by the proton . the other type of phenomenon occurs when the protons and the xenons are excited simultaneously . when this happens , the same equation ( 5 ) shows that there is coupling between the two spin systems . the existence of this average dipolar coupling ( equation 5 ) implies that there is coupling between the nuclear spin system of the proton 7 and the spin system of the xenon 9 . this coupling is now coherent because it directly influences , for example , the resonant frequency of the protons 7 through the field b rather than mainly their line width . in fact , the greater the amount of xenon 9 and the greater the polarization of this xenon 9 , the more significant this dipolar contribution will be . this phenomenon is described as the dipolar field created by the entire polarization source 3 on the protons 9 . this dipolar field is dependent upon the geometry of the container of the polarization source 3 . the value of this magnetic field created by this magnetizing of the xenon 9 via the dipolar interaction is : where m xe is the magnetization of the xenon 9 per unit volume . this is expressed as : where c is the concentration of the xenon 9 in mol / l − 1 , n is avogadro &# 39 ; s number and − ½ ≦ ζ ≦ 1 is a factor dependent on the geometry of the sample , and which has , for example , been fully tabulated for samples of ellipsoidal shape . under the polarization and concentration conditions described in the invention , the magnetization associated with this xenon 9 is very strong , several times that of the protons 7 of water placed in a 14 t magnetic field at ambient temperature . the field b ( equation 6 ) may actually be of the order of several 10 − 7 t . however , since the hamilton operator associated with this dipolar coupling ( equation 5 ) between the spin systems of the polarization source 3 ( xenons ) and of the liquid solution 1 ( protons ) switches with the zeeman - hamilton operator , it is necessary to resort to a sequence of pulses to ensure that , as a result of this coupling , the magnetization of the protons 7 and that of the xenon 9 are very closely linked and polarization transfer can take place . this is achieved in the invention by means of a coherence transfer of the hartmann - hahn type [ see document 1 ]. thus , according to the invention , a polarization transfer of the hartmann - hahn type is performed between the polarization source 3 ( xenon ) and the nuclei 7 ( protons ) of the liquid solution 1 via the coherent coupling resulting from the long - range dipolar field created by the polarization source 3 and experienced by the protons . specifically , the polarization transfer means 5 comprises a first irradiation means ( for example obtained using a first coil ) and a second irradiation means ( for example obtained using a second coil ). the first irradiation means generates a first irradiation 13 that is continuous or composite in a radiofrequency field of amplitude ω 1 s / γ s and of which the frequency ω 0 s / 2π , more commonly termed ω 0 s , is close to the resonant frequency ω s of the spins of the nuclei 7 in the magnetic field b 0 and the second irradiation means generates a second continuous or composite irradiation 15 in a radiofrequency field of amplitude ω 1 1 / γ 1 and of which the frequency ω 0 1 / 2π , more commonly termed ω 0 1 , is close to the resonant frequency ω 1 of the spins of the nuclei 9 of the polarization source 3 in the magnetic field b 0 . it is preferable for the differences \| ω 0 s − ω s \| and \| ω 0 1 − ω 1 \| to remain less than 10 6 rad . s − 1 respectively and preferable for them to be below 10 ω 1 s and 10 ω 1 1 , respectively . thus , the polarization transfer is performed by applying the continuous or composite first irradiation 13 in a radiofrequency field to the spins of the nuclei 7 of the liquid solution 1 and by applying the continuous or composite second irradiation 15 in a radiofrequency field to the spins of the nuclei 9 of the polarization source 3 . in order to make sure that the dipolar interaction does not switch with the zeeman - hamilton operator , it is advantageous for the first and second irradiations 13 and 15 to exhibit a mutual difference in amplitude \| ω 1 1 − ω 1 s \| of less than 10 times the amplitude of the dipolar coupling δ between the spins of the nuclei of the polarization source 3 and those of the liquid solution 1 : by way of example , the first and second irradiations 13 and 15 may differ in amplitude from one another by less than one times the amplitude of the dipolar field created by the polarization source 3 and experienced by the spins of the nuclei 7 of the liquid solution 1 . specifically , continuous irradiations 13 , 15 or series of composite pulses affecting protons 7 of the liquid solution 1 and xenons 9 of the polarization source 3 mean that the effective fields in the double rotating frame and felt by the xenons 9 and the proton 7 ( frame rotating at ω 0 1 in the case of the proton 7 and rotating at ω 0 s in the case of the xenon 9 ) best coincide ; the scale being the dipolar coupling δ between the xenon 9 and the proton 7 . thus , under these conditions , the dipolar interaction no longer switches with these zeeman - hamilton operators : in the double rotating frame with the axes oz aligned with the effective fields . the system therefore evolves under the effect of the dipolar coupling δ . furthermore , given that the polarization source 3 contains a great many xenon atoms 9 , a statistical process emerges and means that the spin temperatures of the xenon 9 and of the protons 7 which have recoupled in the rotating frame will converge toward the same value . this results in a cooling of the spin system of the protons 7 and therefore in an increase in the polarization thereof and therefore in their magnetization , which is therefore accompanied by a gain in signal . in fact , the conditions defined here correspond to an extension of the hartmann - hahn conditions [ see document 1 ]. these conditions are actually : \| ω 0 s = ω s \|, \| ω 0 1 = ω 1 \| and \| ω 1 1 = ω 1 s \|. they correspond to the cases of continuous irradiation . thus , the invention consists in transferring polarization from the xenon to the protons using the dipolar coupling there is between these . to do that , it is therefore necessary to contrive to obtain an effective hamilton operator in the double rotating frame which is dipolar coupling . since , in fact , the portion of interest is the type i z s z portion of this interaction ( equation 5 ), the dipolar recoupling conditions are in fact similar to those required for performing a transfer of magnetization of the heteronuclear hartmann - hahn type where it is the interactions through the chemical bonds that provide the coupling between the two baths . this last scenario has been the subject of many studies [ see document 3 ]. the major differences between these two types of transfer are the amplitude of the coupling which here is far weaker than the scalar coupling encountered in an nh or ch pair ( in excess of 90 hz ) and its highly non localized nature , since all the xenons have to be taken into consideration . through the similarity in form of the coupling hamilton operator , all the hartmann - hahn transfer sequences that use composite irradiations can be employed . sequences of the waltz - 16 , mlev - 16 , waltz - 8 , dipsi - 2 , dipsi - 2 - + -, mlev - 17 , shr - 1 , mgs - 1 , mgs - 2 type or even sequences based on adiabatic pulses may thus be used to good effect [ see document 3 ]. however , it will be observed that all the composite or multi - pulsed sequences in which there is no effective field are less effective than those which have an effective field . that is because in the former instance , the contribution of the dipolar energy will not be insignificant , because the effect of imperfections in the pulses in creating the effective hamilton operator will very quickly become significant by comparison with δ and finally because , for heteronuclear coupling , an isotropic transfer is 50 % slower than a transfer using an effective field [ see document 3 ]. the major benefit of using these sequences of multiple pulses is their ability to tolerate the effects associated with the discrepancy between the frequency of their radiation 13 , which is ω 0 1 ( or ω 0 s in the case of the irradiation 15 ) and the resonant frequency of the spin 7 , which is ω 1 ( or ω s in the case of the spin 9 ). this offers the ability to polarize all the protons of a molecule simultaneously . thus , the principle of the invention is to use a highly polarized and highly concentrated source 3 in order to have strong dipolar coupling between the spins of the nuclei 7 and 9 . this , by virtue of irradiations under hartmann - hahn conditions , makes it possible to lower the spin temperature of the irradiated nuclei 7 . under these conditions , it is clear that this method can be applied to any type of nuclear spin whatsoever . the major difference according to the isotope used will be the efficiency of the transfer and therefore the extent to which the signal obtained is enhanced . indeed , dipolar coupling δ ( equation 8 ) is proportional to the gyromagnetic ratio of the nucleus 7 to which transfer is made ( for example the proton ). in consequence , this coupling is , for example , four times weaker if the transfer is to 13 c rather than to 1 h . likewise , recourse to paramagnetic systems or to quadrupole nuclei is possible . still according to the expression of δ , it is clearly evident that , for the same concentration c and polarization p in a polarized nuclear system , the gyromagnetic ratio of this polarized isotope becomes the most significant factor when increasing δ and therefore facilitating the obtaining of hartmann - hahn conditions so as to increase the transfer rate and ultimately increase the signal gain . thus , helium 3 he becomes especially beneficial because its gyromagnetic ratio is 2 . 75 times higher than that of xenon - 129 . let us finally note that , in this method , there is nothing to dictate that the polarization source 3 ( for example the xenon ) and the liquid solution 1 ( for example containing the proton ) have to be closely mixed , because what causes the transfer is the coupling between the two spin systems which is brought about by the strong magnetization of the source which creates the average dipolar field which is itself experienced by the spins of the liquid solution 1 . it is therefore possible to conceive of compartmentalizing the polarization source 3 and the liquid solution 1 that is to be studied . indeed , the transfer principle involves using the dipolar field created by the source 3 of polarized nuclear spins in order to create coupling between the spin system of the source 3 and that of another species 7 ( contained in the liquid solution ) and thus succeed in transferring polarization . in practical terms , this dipolar field exists not only within the volume containing the polarization source 3 but extends to the outside simply as a result of the laws of magnetostatic theory . as a result , the system of polarized nuclear spins 7 ( xenon - 129 , helium - 3 or the like ) can be in a different compartment from the sample containing the liquid solution that is to be studied 1 . specifically , fig2 a and 2b very schematically show that the polarization source 3 can be physically separated from the liquid solution 1 . advantageously , the distance separating the polarization source 3 from the liquid solution 1 may correspond to a few nanometers and preferably be less than ten millimeters . however , because of this separation the dipolar field δ will decrease , the factor ζ ( equation 8 ) tending toward zero for the two samples as a function of the inverse of the cube of the distance separating them . thus , it is advantageous in the present state of the art to optimize the geometry and not exceed a separation of 10 millimeters . thus , the polarization system according to the invention may comprise a container 20 comprising a first compartment 23 containing the polarization source 3 and a second compartment 25 containing the liquid solution 1 . by way of example , the first and second compartments 23 , 25 may be two separate capillary tubes , which is a geometry which , for example , allowed w . s . warren et al . to observe multiple intermolecular coherences obtained through the dipolar field effect [ see document 4 ]. for example , fig2 b shows that the first compartment 23 may be positioned around the second compartment 25 . by way of example , a sample of the liquid solution 1 may be placed in a small central tube and the polarization source 3 may be placed in a second tube surrounding the first tube . in what follows , in order to have an expression for the signal gain of a proton in a liquid solution , we shall consider a model made up of n xenon atoms i k and one proton s . thus , at thermal equilibrium , the density matrix is given by : where tr ( a ) corresponds to the trace of the operator a , β l = h / kt is the inverse temperature of the system and where weak polarization at this temperature t is accepted . h corresponds to the zeeman - hamilton operator in the field b 0 considered : under these conditions , the signal from the xenon after a 90 ° pulse along an axis oy ( which transforms σ th to σ ′ th ) is proportional to : when the xenon is polarized by optical pumping , the xenon spin density matrix is : where σ ′ pol is the density matrix after the 90 ° pulse along oy . if the measured signal gain factor is denoted k xe , the inverse spin temperature of the polarized xenon can be deduced : it will be noted that throughout the hartmann - hahn transfer and for a short period of time ( typically representing a factor of 0 . 3 at most ) by comparison with the relaxation time along a “ spin lock ” field ( t 1ρ ), the energy of the spin system is constant . however , because of the dipolar coupling , the spin systems or spin baths of the xenon and of the proton will tend toward the same temperature in the double rotating field . by accepting that the irradiations are applied in this frame at resonance \| ω 0 1 − ω 1 \|=\| ω 0 s − ω s \|= 0 , the zeeman - hamilton operator { tilde over ( h )}= ω 1 1 σ k 1 z k + ω 1 s s z is assumed to be large by comparison with the dipolar interaction which means that the contribution of dipolar energy is negligible . thus , the energy is given by the following formula : where σ i and σ f are the density matrices at the start and end of irradiation . by using equation ( 13 ) and using β ′ pol to denote the inverse spin temperature of the xenon defined with respect to the amplitude of the radiofrequency field ( ω 1 1 ), it is possible to deduce the energy at the start : the value of β ′ pol is calculated below using the conservation of energy : at the end of spin lock , the energy calculation shows , according to the spin temperature model , that : where the hartmann - hahn condition ω 1 1 = ω 1 s has been used , and where β ′ f is the inverse spin temperature in the rotating fields in the steady state . this can be used to deduce the inverse spin temperature : thus , in the laboratory frame , when the radiofrequency irradiations are stopped and the changes in magnetization of the xenon and of the proton are therefore decorrelated : this can therefore be used to deduce the expected proton signal gain k h : the above calculation is performed for one proton and n xenons . by immediate extension for the case of a dilute system of protons 7 , n can be considered to be the ratio the xenon concentration to the proton concentration . according to equation ( 22 ), the polarization transfer will be effective if the magnetization of the xenon , through its number n of atoms ( by comparison with the number of protons ) and its level of polarization k xe is very high by comparison with that of the proton . the polarizations achieved for xenon can be as high as 70 %, namely k xe ≈ 50 000 for an 11 . 7 t magnetic field b 0 , so the expected signal gain for the protons can be as high as k h ≈ 12 000 when the ratio n between the number of xenon atoms and the number of proton atoms is large by comparison with 1 . equation ( 22 ) immediately shows , that under these same conditions , k h reaches the order of 6000 if there are as many xenons as there are protons , and rapidly tends toward 0 if there are more protons than there are xenons . the proposed solution is therefore particularly useful for weakly concentrated samples . obviously , by using helium - 3 instead of xenon - 129 it will be possible to enjoy a higher level of polarization ( up to 80 %) and especially a higher gyromagnetic ratio , and the signal gain will therefore also be improved . let us , however , note that for industrial embodiments in which the polarized gas is dissolved in the liquid solution , the poor solubility of helium by comparison with that of xenon makes it difficult to obtain very strong specific magnetization . this restriction disappears when the transfer is performed from polarized gas present in a compartment separate from the one containing the liquid solution ( see fig2 a ). however , it is important to point out that the above calculation is a thermodynamic calculation which defines the level of enhancement of the signal of a proton for a time that is relatively long by comparison with the transfer time but short ( a factor of 0 . 3 at most ) by comparison with the relaxation times t 1ρ in the rotating frame . in fact , for an interaction - free model , the relaxation time of xenon in the rotating frame needs to be of the order of the longitudinal relaxation time t 1 of xenon and therefore of the order of several minutes . by contrast , between t 1ρ for the protons and the inverse of the dipolar coupling 1 / δ , it is impossible to resolve their relative values . the maximum proton signal gain will therefore be reached only if the polarization transfer rate characterized by the dipolar coupling δ is large by comparison with the relaxation along the effective field 1 / t 1ρ . finally , the level of enhancement in signal k h observed is dependent on numerous factors or constraints , such as the quality with which the hartmann - hahn conditions are set , the inhomogeneity of the radiofrequency fields , the precision in the irradiation frequencies , and the type of continuous or composite irradiations used in order to allow the dipolar coupling to take effect . as far as implementing this approach is concerned , because of the way in which the polarization of the proton is prepared it is general and can therefore , advantageously once k h exceeds 1 , replace the delay in returning to thermodynamic equilibrium which precedes any sequence of pulses . in practical terms , it can be combined with any approach able to increase the polarization and therefore the signal of a dilute spin system . it is thus possible to combine a return to thermodynamic equilibrium followed by a polarization transfer using the method described here in order also to enjoy thermal polarization . it is even possible , following this polarization transfer , to supplement this with a second transfer using the scalar coupling between nuclei of one and the same molecule in order to polarize these nuclei . the benefit of such an approach if considering , for example , a 15 n — h system , lies in the more effective transfer in the case of xenon to the proton ( γ n / γ h = 0 . 1 ) resulting from a higher δ , and the good efficiency of the inept - transfers from the proton to nitrogen - 15 . let us finally note that the use of composite sequences for the hartmann - hahn transfer opens the way to improving the polarization of all the protons at once . from an industrial implementation standpoint , since the polarization transfer on the one hand and the relaxation on the other hand will lead to a reduction in the polarization of the xenon , it is necessary to anticipate renewing part of the polarization source between transfers so as to achieve a steady state , thus opening the way to use of this method combined with any one - dimensional , two - dimensional , three - dimensional or more liquid - state nmr sequence . in the present state of the art , a transfer such as this is conceivable only if the dipolar coupling δ between the nuclei of the polarization source and those of the solution is greater than 0 . 1 hz . it is , however , preferable for it to be higher than 1 hz . reference will now be made to fig3 to 8 which illustrate one example according to the invention for enhancing an nmr signal of a liquid solution over that obtained from thermodynamic equilibrium , using strongly polarized xenon . the experimental choices which have been taken in order to make it possible to achieve the results set out here are based on the technical constraints of the equipment used , which is designed to polarize a small amount of xenon - 129 . specifically , according to the invention , it is preferable for the two radiofrequency fields 13 , 15 applied to the proton 7 and xenon 9 channels to be identical to within d so that transfer can occur effectively . as a result , the ability to employ this polarization transfer method is dependent upon the magnitude of the dipolar coupling d . these constraints are particularly tight since , given the equipment used , the irradiations 13 and 15 are created by two distinct coils and are therefore created under conditions in which the effects of inhomogeneity of the radiofrequency fields are at their maximum . in addition , a hartmann - hahn - type transfer has never been described using such a weak scalar coupling between two spin species [ see document 3 ]. by way of comparison , scalar couplings through the bonds which , in liquid phase , provide this type of transfer between the spins of different isotopes generally exceed 90 hz . it is therefore essential to maximize the dipolar coupling δ , that is to say the polarization of the nuclei of the source and the concentration thereof . this is because the choice of polarization source is set by the equipment and it is not possible , by choosing another nucleus , to alter the gyromagnetic ratio γ 1 . the choices made therefore consisted in maximizing the product cp by increasing the amount of xenon in the optical pumping cell ( but not excessively , as to do so would have a detrimental effect on p ), using 129 xe - enriched xenon , minimizing the volume of the sample and using a solvent in which the solubility of xenon is very great . specifically , in order to attain the conditions required to allow a hartmann - hahn - type polarization transfer , use is preferably made of 129 xe - enriched xenon ( containing more than 96 % of 129 xe ) and conditions that ensure good production of polarized gas . by way of example , it is possible to use xenon partial pressures in excess of 40 torr during optical pumping in order to maximize the amount of polarized xenon and therefore the magnetization of the xenon . fig3 very schematically illustrates that , after optical pumping 31 , the xenon 9 is condensed in a tube 33 immersed in a liquid - nitrogen - cooled solenoid 35 . the xenon 9 contained in this tube 33 is therefore heated in the leakage field of the superconductor magnet 36 of the nmr spectrometer . it is then condensed in a tube 37 containing the liquid test solution 1 , this tube 37 having been degassed beforehand . in order to maximize the magnetization per unit volume which in fact defines the amplitude of the dipolar coupling between the two spin systems , it is preferable to use a shortened thick - walled nmr tube 37 , for example a tube 37 with an outside diameter of 5 mm , a wall thickness of 1 . 4 mm and an overall length of 150 mm . to begin with , the tube 37 contains a solution of 3 , 3 - diethoxy - 1 - propyne dissolved in deuterated ( 99 %) cyclohexane prepared at ambient temperature . typically , the pressure inside this tube 37 just after the addition of the polarization source 3 ( that is to say the gaseous xenon 9 ) is of the order of eight atmospheres . the tube 37 is then profusely agitated in order to dissolve the xenon 9 , then placed back inside the magnet 36 of the nmr spectrometer . by way of example , the nmr spectrometer may be of the bruker drx500 type equipped with a bruker broadband inverse probe . in this case , the 1 h channel and the xenon - 129 ( hereinafter termed xenon ) channel use two different coils 41 and 43 respectively . there is therefore no correlation in the inhomogeneities of the radiofrequency fields created by these two coils 41 and 43 . the first coil generates the first irradiation 13 on the proton nuclei 7 and the second coil generates the second irradiation 15 on the xenon nuclei 9 . it will be noted that the fact that there is strong magnetization of the laser - polarized xenon 9 per unit volume causes a frequency shift ( equation 8 ) of the proton 7 in this tube 37 ( considered to be an infinite cylinder ) as expressed by the following equation : in this example we can expect a shift of 6 . 3 hz for a xenon concentration of 1 mol / l − 1 and a polarization of 15 %. hence , fig4 shows a sequence 50 of pulses using the proton h channel 51 and the xenon channel 53 . this sequence 50 is used to measure the dipolar coupling between the xenon 9 and the protons 7 . thus , a series of n proton spectra 57 is acquired . each spectrum 57 is acquired following excitation of the magnetization of the protons by a pulse 56 on the proton channel 51 . once each spectrum has been acquired , a pulse 55 at angle θ is applied to the xenon channel 53 to reduce the magnetization of the xenon by a factor cos θ . once the xenon 9 has been added , the nmr tube 37 has been placed in the magnet 36 of the nmr spectrometer and the spatial homogeneity of the magnet has been optimized by deuterium resonance , any field locking is eliminated so that there is no compensation for the modification of the magnetization of the xenon 9 . next , a series of one - dimensional spectra on the proton channel following the sequence of pulses 50 is recorded , effecting a pulse 55 at angle θ (& lt ; 90 °) on the xenon channel 53 between acquisitions . it will be noted that a variation in the resonant frequency of each of the proton peaks ( identical variation for all ) is obtained through the series of spectra . in parallel with this , a variation in the intensity of the proton signal 57 is observed . this is the result of the combined action of an excessively short recovery time between each proton acquisition and of the variable spinoe effect that follows from the reduction in the magnetization of the xenon . it is thanks to this effect that the sign of the polarization of the xenon can be determined absolutely . in effect , fig5 illustrates the variation in resonant frequency of the protons as a function of the number of pulses applied to the xenon . the dipolar coupling determined is equal to − 3 . 05 ± 0 . 05 hz for negative polarization 61 of the xenon and 4 . 32 ± 0 . 10 hz for positive polarization 63 , respectively . an estimate of the product cp ( see equation 23 ) can be deduced from the adjusted ( δ cos n - 1 θ + b ) curve where δ is the initial frequency shift resulting from the dipolar coupling , θ is the xenon pulse angle , n is the number of the proton spectrum and b is the proton resonant frequency limit value . by comparing the laser - polarized xenon signal with the signal from xenon at thermodynamic equilibrium , it is possible to deduce that , in this example , the polarization of the dissolved xenon is 9 . 6 %. by way of example and in order to illustrate the existence of a dipolar field created by a polarization source present in one compartment and experienced by protons in another compartment , a sealed cylindrical capillary tube 1 . 1 mm in external diameter chiefly containing deuterated benzene was inserted into the previous tube . this is the configuration of fig2 b where the capillary tube corresponds to the compartment 25 . the external compartment 23 contained a solution , the solvent for which was perdeuterated cyclohexane and 0 . 7 % chloroform ( purity 99 %, analysis grade by merck ). impurities present in trace form yield various fine lines with shorter 1 h relaxation times . the same experimental procedure was used as before ( addition of xenon that has been negatively polarized to a level of 6 . 4 %, agitation , adjustment of homogeneity , stopping the locking of the field b 0 , and starting the sequence 50 ). the map 70 of fig6 corresponds to a sub - portion of the two - dimensional spectrum obtained . the horizontal dimension corresponds to the proton resonant frequency dimension and the vertical dimension corresponds to the series of spectra . this map is depicted in the form of a series of level curves . distinct behavior in the vertical dimension can be clearly seen on peaks 71 , 73 and 74 when these are compared with a constant frequency illustrated by the two dotted lines 75 and 76 . the plot of the left - hand peak 71 sees an increase in frequency during the experiment , while the plot of the right - hand pair 73 and 74 sees a decrease in frequency . likewise , the intensity of the peak 71 increases throughout the experiment while the reduction in magnetization of the polarized xenon leads to a weaker spinoe effect and therefore to an increase in the proton signal because t xe & lt ; 0 . determining the maximum frequency of these peaks for each spectrum and adjusting using the above procedure leads to a dipolar coupling δ of 5 . 4 ± 0 . 3 hz for the peaks ( of the peak 71 type ) corresponding to the compartment 23 in which the xenon is dissolved and of the order of − 1 . 2 ± 0 . 5 hz for the peaks ( of the peaks 73 and 74 type ) of the internal compartment 25 . a quick magnetostatic calculation clearly demonstrates that the magnetic field created by the polarized xenon in the internal cylinder ( compartment 23 , the compartment in which there is no xenon ) has to be of opposite sign to the magnetic field in the external cylinder ( compartment 25 ). with dipolar coupling of the order of 2 to 4 hz between the xenons and the protons and the use of two distinct coils 41 and 43 to create the two irradiations 13 and 15 , a hartmann - hahn coherence transfer can take place effectively only if the difference in amplitude of the radiofrequency fields \| ω 1 1 − ω 1 s \| is typically below this value . as the radiofrequency fields are known to be inhomogeneous , and when use is being made of a conventional probe wherein the two , proton and xenon , channels correspond to different coils 41 and 43 , where there is therefore no correlation of the inhomogeneities of the radiofrequency field , it is inadvisable to use strong radiofrequency fields in which the inhomogeneities would be far greater than the dipolar coupling . under these circumstances , it is preferable to resort to the simplest hartmann - hahn transfer sequence with low - power continuous irradiation . in effect , fig7 illustrates a pulse sequence used to observe the transfer of polarization from the xenon 9 to the protons 7 using the average dipolar coupling . the spin lock 85 on the xenon channel 53 is between two pulses 87 and 89 of 90 ° and opposite phase ( x and − x ) intended to place the magnetization of the xenon 9 in the transverse plane initially and along the static field at the end of the mixing time t m . the spin lock 85 is applied simultaneously to the proton channel 51 and to the xenon channel 53 with exactly the same radiofrequency field amplitude \| ω 1 1 − ω 1 s \|= 0 . the proton signal 88 is detected after the spin lock 85 . in addition , simply reversing the phase of the irradiation by 180 ° in the middle of the irradiation time is also performed in order partially to compensate for the effects of the inhomogeneity of the radiofrequency fields . in this example , it is preferable to use low - amplitude radiofrequency fields so that the inhomogeneity is of the order of the dipolar coupling measured . measuring the amplitude of the xenon ( or proton ) radiofrequency field consists , in the known way , of nutating the magnetization of the xenon ( or of the proton ) followed by a purge gradient and a read pulse . in order to avoid any artefact in the measurement , irradiation of increasing duration is applied simultaneously to both proton and xenon channels 51 and 53 . thus , it is possible to determine the hartmann - hahn conditions , \| ω 1 1 = ω 1 s \|, to within 1 hz . by way of example , it is possible to employ a radiofrequency field in which the field inhomogeneity ( line width at half - height ) is of the order of 1 . 8 hz , and in which the field amplitude \| ω 1 1 / 2π \| is 46 . 87 hz for maximum probability . by using the sequence of fig7 , with irradiation applied for t m = 800 ms , the proton spectra 91 and 93 shown in fig8 are obtained with xenon polarizations of opposite sign . in effect , fig8 shows a first spectrum 90 corresponding to the thermal signal of a proton , a second spectrum 91 obtained with negative polarization of the xenon with respect to the thermodynamic polarization and after use of the excitation method described above ( see fig7 ), and a third spectrum 93 obtained with positive polarization of the xenon with respect to the thermodynamic polarization and use of the excitation method described above ( see fig7 ). the proton signals 91 and 93 obtained correspond respectively to 0 . 40 times and to − 1 . 85 times the thermal signal 90 of this same proton . thanks to the xenon magnetization measured before these spectra were acquired , it is possible to estimate a xenon - proton dipolar coupling δ of 2 . 9 hz and − 2 . 1 hz respectively . as an alternative , it is conceivable to replace the spin lock 85 with a sequence of composite pulses , it being possible for the irradiations to be caused by probes with a single dual - tuned or triple - tuned coil , that is to say wherein the coils 41 and 43 are identical . 1 h , 129 xe dual - tuning would provide very good correlation between the radiofrequency fields because the same coil would be used to create the excitation field . it will be noted that the implementation involving two pulses of 90 ° on the xenon bounding the irradiations to hartmann - hahn conditions , can easily be included in the recoupling sequence . immediate extension of the methods of adiabatic demagnetization in the rotating frame for which there is adiabatic rotation of the magnetization of the xenon , followed by adiabatic reduction in the amplitude of the radiofrequency field ( so as to satisfy the hartmann - hahn conditions by virtue of another irradiation of the proton ) followed by a return of the magnetization of the xenon in accordance with b 0 through a further adiabatic rotation is entirely feasible . let us finally note that it is also possible , in order to enhance the proton signal , to make use of the magnetization thereof at thermodynamic equilibrium ( equation 3 ) via a pulse on the proton channel preceding the spin lock 85 . the phase of this pulse is obviously dependent on the sign of the xenon polarization . 1 . s . r . hartmann and e . i . hahn , nuclear double resonance in the rotating frame . phys , rev ., ( 1962 ) 128 2042 - 2053 . 2 . m . g . schwendinger , j . quant , j . schleucher , s . j . glaser and c . griesinger , broadband heteronuclear hartmann - hahn sequences . j . magn . reson . a , ( 1994 ) 111 115 - 120 . 3 . s . j . glaser and j . j . quant , homonuclear and heteronuclear hartmann - hahn transfer in isotropic liquids , in adv . magn . opt . reson ., w . s . warren , editor . ( 1996 ), academic press inc . : san diego , p . 59 - 252 . 4 . w . richter , s . lee , w . s . warren and q . he , imaging with intermolecular multiple - quantum coherences in solution nuclear magnetic resonance . science , ( 1995 ) 267 654 - 657 . 5 . h . w . long , h . c . gaede , j . shore , l . reven , c . r . bowers , j . kritzenberger , t . pietrass , a . pines , p . tang and j . a . reimer , high - field cross polarization nmr from laser - polarized xenon to a polymer surface . j . am . chem . soc ., ( 1993 ) 115 8491 - 8492 . 6 . j . smith , l . j . smith , k . knagge , e . macnamara and d . raftery , hyperpolarized xenon - mediated cross - polarization to material surfaces observed at room temperature and above . j . am . chem . soc ., ( 2001 ) 123 2927 - 2928 .	6
refer first to fig1 , which illustrates an exemplary mobile - payment and online ordering transaction system and network that includes user equipment ( e . g ., a consumer computing device or mobile device ) 102 linked to a network 104 ( e . g ., a cellular telephone network , the internet , or any wide - area network or combination of networks capable of supporting point - to - point data transfer and communication ) of various interconnected devices to support wired , wireless , or any two - way communication . throughout this disclosure , the term device 102 may be referred to as “ mobile device 102 ” for exemplary purposes , but such references are not meant to preclude the use of any consumer computing device as the device 102 . the network 104 connects various devices , including a transaction server 106 , one or more merchant systems ( e . g ., pos terminals or online pos portals ) 108 and related components , a payment server 110 , one or more third - party online ordering servers 111 , an item data - management server 117 , a promotion - management server 119 , one or more delivery providers 121 . one or more third - party online ordering aggregator services 131 , 141 , and a third - party payment gateway 151 and server 152 associated therewith utilizing , again , wired , wireless , or any two - way communications . for clarity , a distinction is drawn in the figure between the third - party payment processor 151 , which may be an account - issuing institution or a payment - processing institution , for example , and the server 152 controlled by this party in processing transactions as herein described . in the ensuing discussion , however , the payment gateway 151 and the server 152 are referred to somewhat interchangeably as the context warrants . each merchant system 103 may be associated with a merchant who offers goods or services for sale to the user possessing the device 102 . in one embodiment , the merchant system 108 is a pos system ( e . g ., an electronic cash register ) that includes or connects to a code reader or scanner ( hereafter “ reader ”) 112 among other components . the merchant system 108 may also include beacon hardware 114 , as part of the scanner 112 or as another connected or unconnected device , that transmits a bluetooth or ble signal containing an identifier known to the transaction server 106 and associated within the transaction system with the location of merchant system 108 . the reader 112 , may be capable of reading and / or decoding , for example , a barcode , a radiofrequency identification ( rfd ) code , or a bar code or “ quick response ” ( qr ) code , and / or receiving signals , such as nfc signals , bluetooth signals , ble signals , ibeacon signals , audio signals , or infrared signals . in addition , the reader 112 may be mobile , or physically associated with the merchant system 108 . the payment server 110 may be operated by a payment - processing entity responsible for authenticating , processing , and / or actually performing the payment transaction . for example , a so - called “ direct ” payment processor represents the financial - processing backend provider to credit - card issuers and payment services such as paypal . an “ indirect ” payment processor is an independent entity processing transactions for multiple payment services and maintains its own records and data . the third - party server 111 may be in communication with the merchant system 108 and / or authorized by the merchant 108 to accept orders on the merchant &# 39 ; s behalf the third - party online ordering aggregator services 131 , 141 may each have business relationships with the merchant 108 and are authorized to accept online orders on behalf of the merchant . in one implementation , the merchant 108 and / or online ordering providers 111 , 131 , 141 do not offer a delivery service and the transaction server 106 may communicate with a server of the delivery provider 121 to arrange delivery of the items ordered from the merchant 108 to a specified delivery address at a specified time designated by the user . the third - party payment gateway 151 and associated server 152 process transactions made by the usersing the payment instrument registered with transaction server 106 at physical and online points of sale . the transaction server 106 may be configured to communicate via secure application programming interfaces to the server 152 of third - party payment gateway 151 , such as a bank server , information concerning the payment instrument registered by the user with the transaction server 106 , and to receive in response information concerning the locations ( either by address or by latitude / longitude data obtained via a pos system 108 ), merchants , amounts , and / or items associated with transactions by the usersing that payment instrument referring to fig2 a , in various embodiments , the mobile device 102 includes a conventional display 202 , a user interface 204 , a processor 206 , and a memory 208 , and one or more transmitter / receivers 209 capable of transmitting and / or receiving signals such as cellular signals , wireless signals , radiofrequency signals , nfc signals , bluetooth signals , ibeacon signals , audio signals , or infrared signals . the memory 208 includes an operating system ( os ) 210 , such as google android , nokia symbian , blackberry rim or microsoft windows mobile , and a code process 212 that implements the device - side functions as further described below . the mobile device 102 alone may not require a network to be used in the context of the present invention . in addition , additional transactional information may be embedded in the code process 212 for transmission through the network 104 for later processing on a back - end server ( e . g ., the payment server 110 ). as used herein , the term “ mobile device ” used for transacting a mobile payment refers to a “ smart phone ” or tablet with advanced computing ability that , generally , facilitates bi - directional communication and data transfer using a mobile telecommunication network , and is capable of executing locally stored applications and / or payment transactions . mobile devices include , for example , iphones ( available from apple inc ., cupertino , calif . ), blackberry devices ( available from research in motion , waterloo , ontario , canada ), or any smart phones equipped with the android platform ( available from google inc ., mountain view , calif . ), tablets , such as the ipad and kindle fire , and personal digital assistants ( pdas ). referring to fig2 b , in some embodiments , the transaction server 106 includes a processor 222 , a memory 224 having an operating system 226 , a code payment process 228 , a service application 230 , a web - server block 236 , and a storage device 238 . the code payment process 228 implements the server - side functions of facilitating secure mobile payments as further described below and in , for example , u . s . pat . nos . 8 , 639 , 619 , 8 , 694 , 438 , and 8 , 838 , 501 , which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties . the service application 230 , integrating a code - generation module 232 with a communication module 234 , generates a unique user identifier and communication with a consumer device 102 , such as a mobile device . more specifically , the code - generation module 232 may generate a unique code tied to the information received from the user via the communication module 234 ; the generated code may then be transmitted back to the consumer device or mobile device 102 via the communication module 234 . the code - generation module 232 functions similarly to a conventional code - generator that converts the input information into a form that can be readily read or executed by a machine . the communication module 234 may be a conventional component ( e . g ., a network interface of transceivers designed to provide communications with a network , such as the internet and / or any other land - based or wireless telecommunications network or system , and , through the network , with a consumer &# 39 ; s device 102 . to enable the handling of requests from the mobile device 102 , the memory 224 contains a web - server block 236 , which can be a conventional web server application executed by the processor 222 . the transaction server 106 may include a database 240 that resides in the storage device 238 and / or an external mass - storage device 242 accessible to the transaction server 106 . the database 240 includes user , merchant , third - party online ordering service , third - party online ordering aggregator service , and delivery service partitions ( or separate databases ). the user database stores , for example , a record of each registered user and payment information for the user , e . g ., a code , signal and / or a token associated with each user record . the readable code may be a mature code ( e . g ., displayable as a qr code or a bar code ), a seed code that can generate a mature code later , or an authentication token . in one embodiment , the readable code is unchangeable . in another embodiment , the readable code is reset periodically ( e . g ., in a predetermined period of time ), or upon request or manual intervention , for security purposes or upon receiving a request from the user . the merchant partition ( or database ) may include records each specifying a merchant , goods sold by the merchant , a geolocation of and , as described below , a current wait time for order preparation received from the pos system of the specified merchant ( or from a web server via a script , or from an ordering server via an api call that allows the transaction server 106 to receive wait - time data ). likewise , the partitions ( or databases ) of the third - party online ordering service , third - party online ordering aggregator service , and delivery service may include records specifying third - parties authorized by the merchant to accept orders on the merchant &# 39 ; s behalf , third - party online ordering aggregator services having business relationships with various merchants and authorized to accept online orders on behalf of the merchant , and delivery providers , respectively . the server 106 also includes a geolocation application 244 . as used herein , the term “ geolocation ” refers generally to an approximate terrestrial location , whether expressed in terms of gps coordinates , a cellular location , an address , etc . as explained in greater detail below , geolocation application 244 computes expected travel times between a user geolocation and a merchant &# 39 ; s order pickup site . geolocation application 244 may communicate with third - party mapping and / or traffic - monitoring services in computing travel times . referring to fig2 b , in some embodiments , the transaction server 106 , a processor 222 , a memory 224 having an operating system 226 , a code payment process 228 , a service application 230 , and a web - serer block 236 and a storage device 238 . the code payment process 228 implements the server - side functions of facilitating secure mobile payments as further described below . the service application 230 , integrating a code - generation module 232 with a communication module 234 , generates a unique user identifier and communication with the mobile device 102 . more specifically , the code - generation module 232 may generate a unique code tied to the information received from the user via the communication module 234 ; the generated code may then be transmitted back to the mobile device 102 via the communication module 234 . the code - generation module 232 functions similarly to a conventional code - generator that converts the input information into a form that can be readily read or executed by a machine . the communication module 234 may be a conventional component ( e . g ., a network interface or transceiver ) designed to provide communications with a network , such as the internet and / or any other land - based or wireless telecommunications network or system , and , through the network , with the mobile device 102 . to enable the handling of requests from the mobile device 102 , the memory 224 contains a web - server block 236 , which can be a conventional web server application executed by the processor 222 . the transaction server 106 may implement the functions of payment and identity - management servers 108 , 115 and may include a user database 240 that resides in the storage device 238 and / or an external mass - storage device 242 ; the user database 240 stores , for example , a record of each registered user and a readable code or signal associated with each user record . the readable code may be a mature code ( e . g ., a qr code or a bar code ), a seed code that can generate a mature code later , or an authentication token . in one embodiment , the readable code is unchangeable . in another embodiment , the readable code is reset periodically ( e . g ., in a predetermined period of time ) for security purposes or upon receiving a request from the user . the user database 240 ( or another similar database ) also stores a record for each user containing user demographic information , and such user records can be relationally associated with other information concerning the user in the user database 240 or other server databases , including for example , records containing transaction data , item data , and promotional data . for example , the user database may include records for each transaction initiated by a user via the transaction server 106 at a merchant system 108 , including for example , the date , time , location , and amount of each transaction . the user database may include records identifying each item purchased on connection with each transaction initiated by a user via the transaction server 106 at a merchant system 108 . these records are associated with the user record for a registered user and directly or indirectly with the identifying and demographic information for the user and / or the readable code or signal associated with each user record . the transaction server 106 may implement the functionality of item data - management server 117 and may include an item - data database 250 that resides in the storage device 238 and / or an external mass - storage device 242 accessible to the item data - management server 115 , the payment and identity - management server 115 ; and may also implement the functionality of the promotion - management server 119 . the item data - management server 117 may function to apply labels to records associated with item data stored in connection or association with user records , either based on rules , logic , or algorithms created previously within the server and / or manual instructions to the server to apply such labels , for example , through a web - based gui presented by the item data - management server 117 or promotion - management server 119 . the item data - management server 117 may also function to apply labels to item data received from merchant systems 108 in bulk , and thereby create rules for the automated application of labels to item data contained in transaction data received in future transactions . the item data - management server 117 may also function to apply labels based on predictive or machine - learning algorithms applied to item data received from merchant pos systems 108 ( for example , the item data - management server 117 may be configured to determine automatically that the description of an item within a merchant system containing some form of the word “ coca - cola ” should be labeled as “ coke ”). the item - data database 250 may store , for example , records of individual items purchased by users in pos transactions via the transaction server 106 . the item - data database 250 may also store , for example , records identifying all items sold by a given merchant , along with the descriptions or identifiers or codes used within such merchant system 108 to refer to or identify each item . the item - data database 250 may also store information concerning labels available within the transaction server 106 to identify individual items and associations between transaction system labels and individual items . the transaction server 106 may include a promotion - management server 119 and may include a promotions database 260 that resides in the storage device 238 and / or an external mass - storage device 242 accessible to the promotion - management server 119 . the promotion - management server 119 may function to present a web - based gui for the creation of promotional oilers and campaigns , including for example , redemption rules and distribution criteria , to distribute promotional offers to user devices associated with users according to said criteria , and to apply redemption rules to transaction and item data received from merchant pos systems 108 in connection with requested transactions . the promotion database 260 stores , for example , a record of each promotion designed and created by a promotion sponsor , including for example , information concerning the criteria for identifying recipients of the offer , criteria for the redemption of the offer by eligible recipients , the nature or amount of the promotional offer , and promotion sponsor information . these records may be relationally associated with user records contained in the user database 240 . the transaction server 106 , the payment and identity - management server 115 , item data - management server 117 , and promotion - management server 119 may be individual server devices or combinations of devices or may be implemented as a single server device , as noted above , or in a combination of devices . user accounts . the transaction server 106 described herein , in one embodiment , permits users to establish accounts with the transaction system by providing information including at least : ( i ) some addressable information of the user , such as an email address , ip address , device identifier , phone number , or the like ; and ( ii ) sonic financial account information , such as a debit or credit card account number , a prepaid credit card account number , a bank account number , or the like . upon establishing an account , the transaction system assigns a user an identification token , which may be encoded or represented in the form of a bar code , qr code or other pattern that can be read or scanned by an optical scanner , either from the display of a computing or mobile device or a printed paper or card , which may be an alphanumeric code , or which may be encoded or represented as data that can be communicated to pos terminal system by a computing or mobile device using a proximity wireless communication technology , such as nfc , bluetooth , or ibeacon technology , or an alphanumeric that may be communicated to a pos terminal or entered into an online pos , or a combination of these methods . the identification token is associated in the transaction server 106 with the user &# 39 ; s information , including the at least some addressable identification information and financial account information , and stored in the user database 240 . the user may initiate a purchase transaction at a merchant system 108 ( such as a pos terminal or online pos ) by presenting , displaying , or communicating the user identification token to the merchant , for example , via a reader or scanner 112 in connection with a merchant pos terminal 108 . the merchant seeks authorization of the purchase transaction by communicating , over established , existing networks 104 , information to the transaction server 106 including at least the transaction amount and user identification token . the merchant also may submit information including a merchant identification token assigned by the transaction server 106 . the transaction server 106 may in turn submit a charge to a financial account associated with the user identification token using known methods for processing electronic transactions , including through a payment processor 110 . the transaction server 106 makes or facilitates payment to the merchant . user payment transactions , in various embodiments , payment transactions in accordance herewith may include or consist of three phases : an activation phase , a registration phase , and a use phase . in the activation phase , the user first provides identifying information to the transaction system / management server 106 using , for example , a mobile device 102 . the code - generation module 232 of the transaction server 106 then generates a unique user identifier tied to an account created for the user ; the user &# 39 ; s account , in turn , may be represented by a record in a user database 260 maintained by the transaction server 106 . the user record includes , for example , the transmitted user information and / or generated user identifier , as well as other information ( name , address , wireless phone number , etc .) uniquely identifying the user ; the user record may be part of , or include a pointer to , the user &# 39 ; s financial account information . in some embodiments , the unique user identifier is a seed code utilized to generate a unique mature code ( e . g ., a qr code or other codes ) that can be captured by , for example , a merchant &# 39 ; s pos terminal 108 , in one embodiment , the generated unique mature code is stored in the database 260 and successively transmitted to the user &# 39 ; s mobile device 102 via , for example , wireless cell phone communication , ultrasound , bluetooth , near - field communication , internet , or a mobile application . in another embodiment , the unique mature code is directly sent to the mobile device 102 without being stored in the database 260 . this unique mature code may be later presented to the merchant system 108 when the user purchases goods or services , as further described below . because the mature qr code maps to the user &# 39 ; s identity information stored in the database 260 only and contains no information about any user &# 39 ; s payment tokens ( e . g ., credit or debit card information ) or payment instrument data , hacking the management server 106 alone cannot provide sufficient information to conduct a fraudulent payment . additionally , the unique identifier may be used as a seed to generate a multitude of qr codes all of which can be decoded back to a single unique qr code , allowing for new qr codes to be generated and pushed to the mobile device 102 on a periodic , per - transaction or time - out basis ; the same key , generated with respect to the unique qr code , can be used to validate any of these additional qr codes . in addition , the qr code may be reset upon receiving a request from the user , for example , at the beginning of each transaction ; this further prevents a fraudulent use of the qr code . although the discussion herein focuses on qr codes for purposes of illustration , the present invention is not limited to any particular form of code . in addition , any suitable mechanism for representing and transferring the code derived from a seed code may be used . for example , ultrasound , bluetooth , nfc or other communication media besides visual representation and automated recognition may be used and are within the scope of the current invention , in the registration phase , the user registers a payment instrument ( e . g ., a credit card , debit card , a bank account , or a pre - loaded payment card ) to her user account . in a representative transaction flow , the user first issues a registration request to the transaction server 106 using the mobile device 102 or a web application . the transaction server 106 responds to the request with a registration form ( e . g ., in the form of a web page ), which is displayed on the device 102 in a manner that permits the user to enter information identifying the payment instrument to be registered . in one embodiment , the registration form includes a client - side script that directly submits the data entered by the user to a third - party payment processor &# 39 ; s gateway over , for example , a secure socket layer ( ssl ) connection . the user - entered data is stored in or by the third - party payment gateway 151 , which also generates a “ redirect ” uniform resource locator ( url ) that includes the internet address of the transaction server 106 and a token that identifies the payment instrument , but which does not identify the user . when the user submits the entered registration data , the client - side script causes a request for the redirect url also to be transmitted to the gateway 151 . when the redirect url arrives at the mobile device 102 and is processed by the user &# 39 ; s browser , it redirects the browser back to the management server 106 without displaying any content , thus creating the impression that the user has never left the management server site . in another representative transaction flow , the user transmits information about the payment instrument to the management server 106 using the mobile device 102 . the management server 106 encrypts the received information with a one - way key and passes the encrypted data to the third - party payment gateway 151 . the third - party gateway 151 , which is the only party having the key to decrypt the data in the transaction , generates a token that identifies the registered payment instrument . the generated token is transmitted back to the management server 106 and stored therein for transacting future payments . because the data including a user &# 39 ; s identity and payment instrument are separately stored in the management server 106 and the third - party payment gateway 151 , respectively , unauthorized access to any one of the records therein is insufficient to initiate a payment transaction under the user &# 39 ; s name ; this , again , ensures the security of the mobile payment . in various embodiments , the token generated by the third - party payment gateway 151 is transmitted to the transaction server 106 . the transaction server 106 associates the token with the user &# 39 ; s account record and stores it in the database 260 as a payment identifier . upon receiving a payment request from the user , the transaction server 106 uses the stored token to initiate the payment transaction through the third - party payment gateway 320 , against the payment instrument previously submitted , without ever having knowledge or possession of the payment - instrument data itself . since the payment - instrument data is not stored and cannot be obtained by the management server 106 , this approach , again , prevents fraudulent payments . in the use phase , the management server 106 executes the instructions of the code payment process 222 and transmits a qr code to the user &# 39 ; s mobile device 102 for presentation to a merchant ; as noted above , the qr code may be revised periodically for security purposes , and is typically generated using encryption based on user - specific information in the database 260 . a payment transaction is initiated when the user presents the qr code stored in the mobile device 102 to the merchant system 108 . the merchant system 108 may scan the code using , e . g ., a pos integrated scanner , and thereupon transmits the scanned data along with the payment amount to the management server 106 . the merchant system 108 may also communicate to the management server 106 , along with the scanned data or in a separate communication , information concerning item data for the transaction , which may include for example , an identification of individual items purchased by the user in that transaction the identification of items within the item data may include textual descriptions used within the merchant system 108 to identify items , codes used to identify items , and / or labels used by the management server 106 to identify items . at the time of the payment transaction , neither the merchant 108 nor the user has access to the underlying payment instrument ; the qr code merely identifies the user . further , in the case of a qr code that resets , even an image of the presented qr code may not be used again for future payments ( as the user would by then have a new qr code ). in various embodiments , upon receiving the qr code and payment amount and / or item data from the merchant system 108 , the management server 106 decodes the qr code and matches the information therein to the user &# 39 ; s record stored in the database 260 . the management server 106 then retrieves the stored payment token associated with the user &# 39 ; s account and passes the token and the amount to be charged to the third - party gateway 151 for authorizing a payment . the third - party payment gateway 151 authorizes and processes ( or rejects ) the payment request against the payment instrument corresponding to the token , and creates an associated transaction identifier or rejection code . the created identifier or code may be sent to the management server 106 for re - transmission to the merchant system 108 , or may instead be sent directly to the merchant system 108 to complete the transaction . where the created identifier is first handled by the management server 106 before transmittal to the merchant system 108 , the management server 106 may generate and provide additional information ( e . g ., tracking information ) to the merchant system 108 to enable a closed - loop environment of consumer information e . g ., effectiveness of advertisement , consumer demographics , and referral information . again , because none of the user &# 39 ; s mobile device 102 , the merchant system 108 , the management server 106 , or the third - party gateway 151 possesses both user identity information and the underlying payment instrument , this triple - blind payment system provides high security for the user &# 39 ; s identity and privacy ; accordingly , the possibility of financial losses for the customer is minimized during an m - payment transaction in accordance herewith . mapping item data . in various embodiments , upon receiving the qr code and payment amount and item data from the merchant system 108 , the transaction system or management server 106 may store item data for the transaction in association with user record , either in a user database 240 , or in a separate item - data database 250 . an exemplary item record includes information concerning item data received by the transaction system from a merchant pos device integrated with the transaction system . the transaction server 106 , for example , using the item data - management server 117 , identifies within the item - data database 250 any associations created between the description of identifiers of individual items received in the item data from the merchant system 108 as part of the transaction and applies and stores with such item data the appropriate label established within the transaction server 106 . for example , upon receiving a transaction request for the purchase of a bag of potato chips and a soft drink , the item data - management server 117 may store the item data within a record within item - data database 250 . associate the data with a user record contained within user database 240 , and may further associate with each item within the item data one or more labels used in the transaction server 106 based on associations created for each item description , as explained below . alternatively , the item data - management server 117 may apply matching , machine - learning or other conventional algorithms , or a rule , to identify an appropriate label or labels based on the nature of the description contained in the item data received from merchant system 108 . for example , a description of a bag of potato chips used within merchant system 108 ( such as , “ chips , bbq large ”) may have been previously associated with transaction system labels for “ chips ,” “ barbeque chips ,” “ gluten - free ,” “ snacks ,” or with a specific brand identifier such as “ lays .” the item data - management server 117 applies rules for the association of labels established within the transaction server 106 by a merchant or third - party user of the system , or an administrator of the system , in the manner described below . the item data - management server 117 may also apply conventional algorithms and logic for selecting a label or labels to associate with item data based on similarities between an available label and the description of the item received from the merchant system 108 . for example , the item data - management server 117 may apply algorithms to determine that a description containing the word “ chips ” should be labeled with at least “ chips .” the present invention , in various embodiments , provides a number of ways to establish associations between labels in the transaction server 106 and item data descriptions used within a given merchant system 108 in order to enable the transaction system to apply labels upon the receipt of transaction data and item data . as discussed above , item data may be provided to the transaction server 106 by the merchant system 108 with each transaction and stored by the transaction server 106 , for example , in item - data database 250 . such data can be associated not only with the user identification or code for the transaction , but also with the merchant identifier or code submitted with the transaction request , such that all of the item data associated with an individual merchant , whenever and however received from the merchant system 108 , can be recalled from item - data database 250 based on a given merchant identifier . in another embodiment , rather than receiving item data from the merchant payment system in each transaction , the transaction server 106 may receive and store all item data stored within a merchant system 108 in a single communication . for example , a merchant may “ seed ” the item data within the transaction system by entering a “ test ” transaction within the merchant system 108 containing every unique individual item identifier , descriptor , or code from the merchant &# 39 ; s inventory or menu , along with a merchant identifier assigned by the transaction server 106 . ( the merchant can then refund the test transaction so that no actual charge or payment is created within the transaction server 106 .) in another embodiment , rather than receiving and labeling item data from the merchant payment system in each transaction , the transaction server 106 may receive and store all item data stored within a merchant system 108 in a single communication . for example , a merchant may “ seed ” the item data within the transaction system by entering a “ test ” transaction within the merchant system 108 containing every unique individual item identifier , descriptor , or code from the merchant &# 39 ; s inventory or menu . the transaction server 106 can then display the list of items and identifiers or descriptors to the merchant via a gui web interface , for example , via the promotion - management server 117 . ( the merchant can then refund the test transaction so that no actual charge or payment is created within the transaction server 106 .) using the web - based gui , the merchant can tag or label an item ( or several items ) as , for example , “ fish tacos ” to be eligible for a future “$ 2 off fish tacos ” promotion distributed to its customers , and / or to tag or label items “ chips ” or with a specific third - party brand such as “ lays ” in order to enable third parties to target future consumer promotional rewards at such items . after receiving item data from merchant system 108 , however , and whenever it is received , the transaction server 106 can display the list of items and identifiers or descriptors to the merchant via a gui web interface — for example , via the promotion - management server 119 . the promotion - management server 119 is configured to access item data received from merchant payment system 108 and stored within the transaction server 106 and to present a list of unique item descriptions via a web - based gui to a merchant or other party with appropriate permissions to access data via transaction server 106 . using the web - based gui , the merchant or other party would then be able to tag or label an item ( or several items ) as “ fish tacos ” to be eligible for a future “$ 2 off fish tacos ” promotion distributed to its customers , and / or to tag or label items “ chips ” or with a specific third - party brand such as “ lays ” in order to enable third parties to target future consumer promotional rewards at such items . as another example , a merchant may label all salad items displayed in the gui by the promotion management server 119 as “ salad ” and all of the soup items displayed in the gui by the promotion management server 119 as “ soup .” establishment of promotional offers and campaigns . in various embodiments , the transaction server 106 for example , via the promotion - management server 119 — in addition to providing a web - based gui or other interface for merchants to label data , can provide a ewe - based gui or other interface for patties to design promotional campaigns comprising a promotional offer redeemable at a point of sale ( i . e ., $ 2 off of soup ), criteria for selecting recipients of the redeemable promotional offer ( i . e ., users that have never purchased soup at merchant &# 39 ; s locations ), and / or criteria for redemption of the promotional offer ( i . e ., good only on friday ). the promotion - management server 119 may create a promotional offer record to be stored in a promotions database 260 identifying information about the created promotion , such as the amount of the promotion , the identity of the party funding the promotion ( in this example the retail merchant ), information concerning the locations and times at which the promotion may be redeemed , and identifying the items for which the promotion will apply , using labels previously established in the transaction system by the merchant or another party and associated with one or more inventory or menu items as identified within the merchant system 108 ( in this example , “ soup ”). the promotion - management server 119 may have access to user information within the transaction system , for example , user records stored within a user database 240 and to the transaction data and item data associated with each user . upon the entry of criteria for selecting recipients of a promotional offer by a merchant or other party , the promotion - management server 119 may produce a list of user recipients with criteria matching the entered criteria , for example , users who have purchased any items labeled “ soup ” within the last 30 days at any of the locations of a particular merchant . alternatively , a third - party might seek a list of eligible recipients who have not purchased items labeled “ coke ” within the last 30 days at any merchant location . users identified as eligible recipients may be identified anonymously , by category , or using user information such as name , email address , phone number , or mobile device id . a promotion sponsor may select all or some of eligible recipients to receive an offer . in some embodiments , the promotion sponsor may establish the promotion with additional criteria to the redemption of the promotion by the promotion recipient . for example , the promotion may be designated such that it may only be redeemed by a recipient after the recipient has purchased five of an identified requisite item ( such as an item labeled “ coke ”), or when the recipient has , in the same transaction , purchased another specified item . the promotion sponsor may also include limitations on redemption of a promotion tied to activity other than activity of the receiving consumer . for example , the promotion sponsor may restrict a promotion to a set number of redemptions each day , to a certain time period of a day , or to become redeemable only after some other condition has been achieved , such as the 100th transaction of a day . distribution of promotions , campaigns and / or offers . upon the establishment of a promotional offer by a promotion sponsor via the transaction server 106 and / or promotion - management server 119 , a notice may be sent to a recipient user based on information stored in association with a user record for the user , such as an email address , phone number , or mobile device identifier . in various embodiments , the notification is directed to a software application executing on a mobile consumer device 102 , which software application can be used to display or transmit a consumer identifier , in the form of a qr code or nfc or ble communication , to a merchant point of sale system 108 at a retail location . the notification can inform the user that a promotional offer will be applied to her next purchase meeting the specified redemption criteria , or can require an action by the user in order to activate the promotion offer within the transaction server 106 , such as clicking a link to a url that directs the transaction server 106 , and / or the promotion - management server 119 , to activate the promotional offer for that user . the promotion - management server 119 can also store data in association with a promotional record concerning the identity of users who “ claimed ” the promotion and the timing of such claims . application / redemption of rewards / promotions . upon creation of a promotion record or records by a promotion - management server 119 , which may include information concerning the identified eligible recipients , the promotion records may be relationally associated with user records contained in the user database 240 for the eligible recipients by updating the user records to reflect the availability of the promotional offer . this association can be created by a promotion - management server 119 upon creation of the promotional offer record or upon “ claiming ” of the promotion offer by a recipient user in response to a notification . following the association by the transaction server 106 of a promotional offer with a receiving user &# 39 ; s transaction - system account ( i . e ., a user identification token ), the receiving user can present a user identification token provided to the user by the transaction server 106 at a merchant &# 39 ; s pos or online payment system 108 to initiate payment for a purchase transaction . upon presentation of the user identification token , such as by scanning a qr code on the display of a mobile device 102 at an optical scanner 112 in connection with merchant system 108 , the merchant communicates the user identification token , transaction amount , and any other information to the transaction server 106 , as in a standard transaction system transaction , over existing , established networks such as network 104 . in response to receiving a transaction request , the transaction server 106 queries the user record associated with the user token received in the transaction data to determine whether any available promotions are associated with the user record and , if so , whether the received transaction data and item data meet the criteria established in the promotion record for the application of the specified reward , as part of this process , the transaction server 106 — for example , via item data - management server 117 — may cause item data received in the transaction request to be stored and / or associated with labels based on rules established previously by the merchant or another party as described herein , such labels are then available to the transaction system to determine whether item data received in the transaction request from merchant system 108 satisfy criteria specified in any available promotion record for the application of a promotion . for example , when the transaction server 106 receives a transaction request from a merchant for the purchase of items identified in item data , the transaction server 106 may create a transaction record and associate an item in the item data with the label “ soup .” the transaction server 106 identifies , based on the user identifier received in the transaction data , that the user has received a promotional offer for $ 2 off of any item labeled “ soup ” within the transaction server 106 purchased at particular merchant locations . transaction server 106 then identifies that the item data in the transaction request from merchant system 108 and stored in the resulting transaction record meets the criteria for application of the identified reward because there is an item associated with the label “ soup ,” and the merchant location identified in the transaction data matches the location criteria specified in the promotion record . the promotional offer amount in a promotion record associated with the receiving user &# 39 ; s account in the transaction server 106 , for which transaction and / or item data in a current transaction satisfies promotion criteria , may then be applied automatically by the transaction server 106 to the transaction amount . the transaction server 106 recognizes the association of a promotion amount prior to retrieving a user &# 39 ; s financial instrument token and submitting the token and transaction to a payment - processing server 110 . the transaction server 106 stores the transaction information and stores information identifying the redemption of the promotion . the transaction server 106 returns a message to the merchant system 108 approving the transaction . this approval message need not notify the merchant that any promotional offer , whether sponsored by the retail merchant or a third - party , was redeemed and applied as part of the transaction . in this way , the transaction system of the present invention enables the redemption of promotional rewards targeted to users based on item - level data , and payment for the retail transaction , simply through the user &# 39 ; s presentation of an identifier to the merchant retail pos system 108 , in a single step . the transaction server 106 also generates a receipt message to the user , which may be communicated via email , sms , or notification directly to a software application executing on the consumer mobile device 102 , for example , the software application used to communicate the user identifier assigned by the transaction system to the merchant system 108 . the receipt notification informs that user that a promotional offer was applied and that the transaction amount paid or to be paid by the user was reduced by the amount of the applied promotional offer . these receipt notification messages may be customized by the promotion sponsor or retail merchant . payment facilitation . the transaction server 106 may facilitate payment of the transaction amount by the transaction server 106 to a financial account associated with the merchant system 108 . if the promotional offer was sponsored by the retail merchant at which the transaction took place , the payment to the merchant financial account by the transaction server 106 may be for amount of the retail transaction less the amount of the promotional offer redeemed . if the redeemed promotion was sponsored by a party other than the retail merchant submitting the transaction request , the payment to the merchant financial account may be for the full amount of the transaction , without subtraction of the amount of the promotional offer . the transaction server 106 may then create a second transfer of funds , this time in the form of a debit to the financial account associated with the party that sponsored the redeemed promotional offer , as identified in connection with the promotion record for the redeemed offer . the transaction server 106 may further submit a charge to the user &# 39 ; s associated financial account , by submitting a user &# 39 ; s financial instrument token to a payment processor server 110 in the manner disclosed above , for the transaction amount minus the amount of the redeemed promotional offer . the transaction server 106 provides digital receipts or messages to the receiving user concerning the transaction , for example , by communication to an application on the user &# 39 ; s computing or mobile device 102 integrated with the transaction server 106 and / or using addressable information associated with the user &# 39 ; s account , such as an email address . the message to the receiving user may identify the balance remaining on the digital gift card associated with the user &# 39 ; s transaction system account . in this way , the transaction server 106 receives payment , from the user and in some cases a third - party promotion sponsor , equal to the amount that the transaction server 106 transfers to the financial account associated with the retail merchant system 108 that initiated the transaction request . earning rewards . in various embodiments , the transaction system of the present invention permits the promotions described herein to be distributed and associated with eligible recipient user accounts dynamically , for example , upon the completion of the user of a qualifying purchase of a specified item . as an example , the promotional campaign and offer created by a promotion sponsor may condition the receipt of a promotion upon the future purchase by any user of any “ coke ” item . upon the purchase of a “ coke ” item , the promotion delivered to the user presents the user with $ 2 off the next purchase of “ chips .” in this example , the promotion - management server 119 may create a promotion record upon input through a web - based gui or other interface fro the promotion sponsor reflecting the criteria for the delivery of the promotional offer to eligible recipients . however , because the delivery of the promotion is conditioned upon a future purchase , no eligible recipients are identified for the promotion . the promotion may be delivered dynamically to eligible recipients in various manners consistent with the present invention . for example , the transaction server 106 , upon the receipt of transaction data from a merchant system 108 may determine whether the transaction data and / or item data received matches the criteria to trigger delivery of any promotional offers stored in a promotions database 260 . alternatively , the user record may be updated with received transactional information in the ordinary course as described herein , and the promotion - management server 119 may update its query on connection with the created promotion to identify eligible recipients and deliver promotional offer notifications as receipt eligibility criteria are satisfied in future transactions . data reporting and analytics . the transaction server 106 may provide a further benefit in that the recorded transaction information may be analyzed , individually or in the aggregate , to identify trends in consumer behavior associated with the receipt and redemption of any given promotion , or with respect to any given item contained within a merchant payment system , such as the average amount spent by users when earning or redeeming item - level promotions , additional items purchased along with a promoted item , and / or purchases of the promoted item within a period of time following the redemption of the promotion . such information may be combined with other information within the transaction server 106 concerning user purchasing behaviors , and communicated to purchasing or receiving users , or to merchants , suppliers , or manufacturers in communication with the transaction server 106 , for a variety of purposes apparent to those of skill in the art . importantly , as a result of consistent use of labels to define items in item - level promotions , the economics of a promotion are normalized across merchants and a degree of success can be assessed for the campaign as a whole by aggregating merchant - level success rates . moreover , success can be assessed consistently across merchants . for example , by comparing success rates among merchants , it may be determined that consumers in warm climates are unexpectedly more responsive to a promotion seemingly unrelated to outdoor temperature . such insights may be more easily exploited than explained , which is often the case with analytically driven assessments . normalized comparisons provide “ apples - to - apples ” comparisons for metrics such as consumer responsiveness , the effect of different price points or promotion levels , etc . with merchants segmented geographically , by type , by prestige , or any other suitable criterion . messaging . in certain embodiments , the transaction server 106 may be configured to deliver a message to a recipient of a promotion by delivering a message to an app installed and / or executing on a consumer mobile device 102 , or by email to a consumer promotion recipient who is a registered user of the transaction system or through other means such as text or sms message . the messaging by the transaction server 106 may be configured by the promotion sponsor via a gui used to establish and distribute a promotional offer , and may be configured to be triggered and delivered to a consumer registered with the transaction system upon satisfaction of certain criteria , including , for example , location criteria . for example , the merchant system 108 , in addition to or in connection with optical scanner 112 , may additionally include a transmitter 118 ( i . e ., a beacon ) communicating an identifier via bluetooth , ble , radio frequency , or similar proximity wireless communication . the transmitter 118 need not be connected to or part of merchant system 108 . upon detection of a signal from transmitter 118 , a software app executing or installed on a consumer mobile device 102 can communicate the identifier over an existing network to the transaction server 106 indicating that the consumer mobile device 102 is in proximity to a particular merchant location with which the transmitter 118 is associated in the memory of transaction server 106 . the communication may also include a user code or token identifying the user to the transaction server 106 . alternatively , the communication from consumer mobile device 102 to transaction server 106 used to trigger a promotion marketing communication may utilize means other than a communication from a bluetooth or btu , transmitter 118 , such as cps data from the consumer mobile device 102 , to indicate the location of the consumer near a retail merchant location at which a promotion may be redeemed . upon receipt of that communication , the transaction server 106 , through the promotion - management server 119 , may match the user identifier in the user database 240 , and match the merchant location within the promotions database 260 and / or item - data . database 250 , to determine whether the user is the recipient of any promotions that may be redeemed for items ( such as a “ coke ”) sold at the merchant location associated with the identified transmitter 118 . if a promotion is identified , the transaction server 106 may communicate a message to be displayed on a consumer mobile device 102 notifying the user that the user may redeem a promotion for a specified item by using a software app on consumer mobile device 102 to initiate a transaction at the retail merchant &# 39 ; s pos in communication with the transaction server 106 . for example , such a message may inform a user : “ pay here with the [ xyz ] app and save $ 2 on any coke product ;” or “ buy a coke here with the [ xyz ] app and get a free bag of chips .” where there are multiple matches for messages that may be delivered to a promotion recipient , the transaction server 106 may arbitrate between available messages , including for example , by giving priority to a message of a promotion sponsor that has paid a premium fee to the system provider , by randomly selecting a message , or by selecting a message that the consumer recipient has not yet received in lieu of delivering a repeat message to the consumer . the transaction server 106 may retain data on messages delivered to registered users in this fashion , including the timing and content of messaging , in order to determine , based on a user &# 39 ; s purchasing transaction history , whether the messaging and promotions are effective at influencing consumer behavior . error correction . in connection with the digital receipts generated by transaction server 106 and communicated to a user following a transaction , for example , at a consumer mobile device 102 , the system may also provide a consumer - interactive feature to permit the user to identify any apparent errors in the redemption or application of promotions to the items purchased by the user . for example , the receipt for a transaction may permit the user to click on an item in the receipt via , e . g ., an embedded html interface , or through a native interface generated within a software app executing on consumer mobile device 102 , the transaction server 106 may then query the user database 240 to identify any promotions available to that user , and display to the user a list of such promotions . by selecting one of the displayed promotions , the user can request that the transaction server 106 apply the selected promotion to an item . to the extent that the provider of transaction server 106 identifies that the consumer is correct and an available promotion was mistakenly not applied to a purchased item , the transaction server 106 can apply the promotion retroactively and prior to the submission of a charge to the user &# 39 ; s registered payment instrument via a payment processor . item - level ordering . the transaction server 106 may provide content data , such as merchant information , location information , menu or available item information , pricing information , and / or nutritional information , to an app running on the user &# 39 ; s device 102 to enable the app to display a listing of merchants near the user &# 39 ; s location , or some other specified location , at which the user can create an order using the app in communication with the transaction server 106 . the list may be classified for display to the user in a variety of forms , including , for example , by type of goods available , nature of the retail merchant , location , price range , user reviews , popularity , the user &# 39 ; s past orders or other user data stored in the transaction server 106 concerning the user , or other criteria stored by or available to the transaction server 106 . the transaction server 106 may also provide information to an app identifying menu items and / or items available for purchase or order at each merchant , for example , through the use of expanding windows or new windows when the user selects or clicks on one of the merchants displayed in the list view . the transaction system 106 may acquire menu , item , pricing , nutritional , or other information concerning the goods and services offered by a merchant through various forms of communication to servers of the retail merchant or affiliated with the retail merchant that store such information and / or make the information available to consumers via web applications of the merchant or others . for example , menu information for a merchant may be stored on servers of third - party ordering aggregators , which work with multiple unaffiliated services , or on servers of a provider of a proprietary , merchant - branded website or ordering mobile app . information may be obtained by the transaction server 106 through communication to such servers , either through publicly accessible apis or through dedicated communications designed specifically for each third - party and authorized and permitted by such party . menu information may also be publicly available from a number of public - facing websites . details of an exemplary system are described , for example , in the &# 39 ; 835 application mentioned above . generally , those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that all parameters , dimensions , materials , and configurations described herein are meant to be exemplary and that the actual parameters , dimensions , materials , and / or configurations will depend upon the specific application or applications for which the inventive teachings is / are used . those skilled in the art will recognize , or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation , many equivalents to the specific inventive embodiments described herein . it is , therefore , to be understood that the foregoing embodiments are presented by way of example only and that , within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereto , inventive embodiments may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described and claimed . inventive embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to each individual feature , system , article , material , kit , and / or method described herein . in addition , any combination of two or more such features , systems , articles , materials , kits , and / or methods , if such features , systems , articles , materials , kits , and / or methods are not mutually inconsistent , is included within the inventive scope of the present disclosure . as used herein , the term “ or ” is intended to mean an inclusive “ or ” rather than an exclusive “ or .” that is , unless specified otherwise , or clear from context , “ x employs a or b ” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations . that is , if x employs a ; x employs b ; or x employs both a and b , then “ x employs a or b ” is satisfied under any of the foregoing instances . moreover , articles “ a ” and “ an ” as used in the subject specification and annexed drawings should generally be construed to mean “ one or more ” unless specified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form , in addition , the terms like “ user equipment ,” “ mobile station ,” “ mobile ,” “ communication device ,” “ access terminal ,” “ terminal ,” “ handset ,” and similar terminology , refer to a wireless device ( e . g ., cellular phone , smart phone , computer , pda , set - top box , internet protocol television ( ptv ), electronic gaming device , printer , and so forth ) utilized by a user of a wireless communication service to receive or convey data , control , voice , video , sound , gaming , or substantially any data - stream or signaling - stream . the foregoing terms are utilized interchangeably in the subject specification and related drawings . the terms “ component ,” “ system ,” “ platform ,” “ module ,” and the like refer broadly to a computer - related entity or an entity related to an operational machine with one or more specific functionalities . such entities can be hardware , a combination of hardware and software , software , or software in execution . for example , a component may be , but is not limited to being , a process running on a processor , a processor , an object , an executable , a thread of execution , a program , and / or a computer . by way of illustration , both an application running on a server and the server can be a component . one or more components may reside within a process and / or thread of execution and a . component may be localized on one computer and / or distributed between two or more computers . also , these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon . the components may communicate via local and / or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets ( e . g ., data from one component interacting with another component in a local system , distributed system , and / or across a network such as the internet with other systems via the signal ). the processing unit that executes commands and instructions may be a general purpose computer , but may utilize any of a wide variety of other technologies including a special purpose computer , a microcomputer , minicomputer , mainframe computer , programmed microprocessor , micro - controller , peripheral integrated circuit element , a csic ( customer - specific integrated circuit ), asic ( application - specific integrated circuit ), a logic circuit , a digital signal processor , a programmable logic device , such as an fpga ( field - programmable gate array ), pld ( programmable logic device ), pla ( programmable logic array ), rfid processor , smart chip , or any other device or arrangement of devices that is capable of implementing the steps of the processes of the invention . various implementations of the systems and techniques described here can be realized in digital electronic circuitry , integrated circuitry , specially designed asics ( application specific integrated circuits ), computer hardware , firmware , software , and / or combinations thereof . these various implementations can include implementation in one or more computer programs that are executable and / or interpretable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor , which may be special or general purpose , coupled to receive data and instructions from , and to transmit data and instructions to , a storage system , at least one input device , and at least one output device . these computer programs ( also known as programs , software , software applications or code ) include machine instructions for a programmable processor , and can be implemented in a high - level procedural and / or object - oriented programming language , and / or in assembly / machine language . as used herein , the terms “ machine - readable medium ” “ computer - readable medium ” refers to any computer program product , apparatus and / or device ( e . g ., magnetic discs , optical disks , memory , programmable logic devices ( plds )) used to provide machine instructions and / or data to a programmable processor , including a machine - readable medium that receives machine instructions as a machine - readable signal . the term “ machine - readable signal ” refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and / or data to a programmable processor . the mobile device 102 acts as a gateway for transmitting the user &# 39 ; s data to the network 104 . the mobile device 102 can support multiple communication channels for exchanging multimedia and other data with the servers 106 , 110 and other devices using a wi - fi lan ( e . g ., ieee 802 . 11 standard ) for internet access , a short - range bluetooth wireless connection for point - to - point access , and / or an nfc channel for close - proximity access . the storage devices 238 , 242 may include computer storage media in the form of volatile and / or nonvolatile memory such as read only memory ( rom ) and random access memory ( ram ). a basic input / output system ( bios ), containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements , such as during start - up , is typically stored in rom . ram typically contains data and / or program modules that are immediately accessible to and / or presently being operated on by processing unit . the data or program modules may include an operating system , application programs , other program modules , and program data . the operating system may be or include a variety of operating systems such as microsoft windows operating system , the unix operating system , the linux operating system , the xenix operating system , the ibm aix operating system , the hewlett packard ux operating system , the novell netware operating system , the sun microsystems solaris operating system , the os / 2 operating system , the beos operating system , the macintosh operating system , the apache operating system , an openstep operating system or another operating system of platform . the storage devices 238 , 242 may also include other removable / nonremovable , volatile / nonvolatile computer storage media . for example , a hard disk drive may read or write to nonremovable , nonvolatile magnetic media . a magnetic disk drive may read from or writes to a removable , nonvolatile magnetic disk , and an optical disk drive may read from or write to a removable , nonvolatile optical disk such as a cd - rom or other optical media . other removable / nonremovable , volatile / nonvolatile computer storage media that can be used in the exemplary operating environment include , but are not limited to , magnetic tape cassettes , flash memory cards , digital versatile disks , digital video tape , solid state ram , solid state rom , and the like . the storage media are typically connected to the system bus through a removable or non - removable memory interface . the foregoing description does not represent an exhaustive list of all possible implementations consistent with this disclosure or of all possible variations of the implementations described . a number of implementations have been described . nevertheless , it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the systems , devices , methods and techniques described herein . for example , various forms of the flows shown above may be used , with steps re - ordered , added , or removed . accordingly , other implementations are within the scope of the following claims . the terms and expressions employed herein are used as terms and expressions of description and not of limitation , and there is no intention , in the use of such terms and expressions , of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof . in addition , having described certain embodiments of the invention , it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that other embodiments incorporating the concepts disclosed herein may be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . accordingly , the described embodiments are to be considered in all respects as only illustrative and not restrictive .	6
fig3 illustrates an exemplary data processing system 10 according to the present invention . the data processing system 10 includes digital circuitry 11 , in this example data processing circuitry in the form of an application specific integrated circuit ( asic ), which communicates with a plurality of peripheral circuitries 33 , 35 , 37 and 39 via respective busses 41 , 43 , 45 and 47 , which busses cross the external pin boundary 31 of the asic 11 . as the following description will demonstrate to workers in the art , the nature an quantity of peripheral circuitries 33 , 35 , 37 and 39 , as well as their interconnection with digital circuitry 11 and with one another , do not represent critical elements of the present invention . the nature , quantity and connection of the peripheral circuitries in the system 10 of fig3 can be as varied as necessary to realize any desired system application heretofore or hereafter conceivable , without departing from the scope of the present invention . the asic 11 includes a core 13 which primarily includes data processing circuitry such as , for example , a microprocessor , a digital signal processor or a micro - controller . the core 13 is connected to support logic modules 15 , 17 , 19 and 21 via respective busses 23 , 25 , 27 and 29 . the logic modules 15 , 17 , 19 and 21 can be suitably customized for interfacing with respective peripherals 33 , 35 , 37 and 39 via busses 41 , 43 , 45 and 47 at the pin boundary 31 of the asic device 11 . the input / output signals from core 13 , as carried on busses 23 , 25 , 27 and 29 , may often be unavailable for external access at the busses 41 , 43 , 45 and 47 on the external pin boundary 31 . in order to provide external access to the input / output signals carried on busses 23 , 25 , 27 and 29 for emulation and testing purposes , the core 13 is provided with parallel signature analysis circuitry 49 . the parallel signature analysis circuitry 49 has a serial scan input and a serial scan output respectively connected to test data input ( tdi ) and test data output ( tdo ) pins at the pin boundary 31 . the tdi and tdo pins are provided for connection to an external test controller from which serial test data inputs are received and to which serial test data outputs are provided . fig4 illustrates the parallel signature analysis ( or psa ) circuitry 49 in more detail . in fig4 selected signals , for example from one or more of busses 23 , 25 , 27 and 29 , are provided as inputs ind0 , ind1 . . . ind15 of psa circuitry 49 . the signal at ind0 is qualified by and gate 51 for input to the master stage mlat0 of shift register latch srl0 , and is also qualified by and gate 53 for input to the slave stage slat0 of srl0 . the signal at ind1 is qualified for input to the master and slave stages of srl1 by respective and gates 55 and 57 , and the signal at ind15 is qualified for input to the master and slave phases of srl15 by respective and gates 59 and 61 . the input structure for signals ind2 - ind4 is omitted from fig4 but is preferably identical to the input structure associated with signals ind0 , ind1 and signal tm0 is used to select whether the signals at ind0 - ind15 are input to the master or slave stage of the associated srl . by operation of invertor 65 and the inverting input 67 of and gate 51 , ind0 - ind15 are input to the respective master stages when the signal tm0 is low . thus , when signal tm0 is low , signals at ind0 , ind1 . . . ind15 are passed through the respective and gates 51 , 55 . . . 59 for input to respective exclusive - or gates 71 , 73 . . . 75 . the signals ind0 , ind1 . . . ind15 are qualified at respective and gates 53 , 57 . . . 61 by the output of and gate 63 whose inputs are tm0 and a scan signal inverted by inverting input 69 of and gate 63 . the scan signal of fig4 is logic one when scanning data through srl0 - srl19 , and is otherwise logic zero . thus , the signals at ind0 - ind15 cannot be qualified for input to their respective slave latch stages when data is being scanned through srl0 - srl19 ( i . e ., when the scan clock of fig4 is active ). this use of the scan signal to qualify inputs to the slave latch stages is important because the slave latch stages are clocked by the slave clock lst during scanning operations , and thus inputs from ind0 , ind1 . . . indl15 must not be applied to exclusive - or gates 77 , 79 . . . 81 during scanning operations . because the scan signal is a logic 1 when scanning , and gates 53 , 57 . . . 61 apply logic 0 to the inputs of exclusive - or gates 77 , 79 . . . 81 by virtue of the low output issued from and gate 63 in response to the inversion of the scan signal at inverting input 69 . exclusive - or gates 77 , 79 . . . 81 each have on input connected to the data output of the respective master latch stage immediately upstream thereof . exclusive - or gate 71 has an input connected to a feedback signal fb , and exclusive - or gate 73 has an input connected to the data output of the slave latch stage immediately upstream thereof , namely slat0 . the data output of slat0 is also connected to the scan input ( si ) of master latch stage mlat1 of srl1 . exclusive - or gate 75 has an input connected to the data output of the slave stage slat14 of srl14 ( not shown ), and the data output of slat14 is also connected to the scan input of mlat15 . although srl &# 39 ; s 2 - 14 are not shown , the inputs to the master and slave latch stages thereof are preferably developed in the manner disclosed with respect to srl0 , srl1 and srl15 . the feedback signal fb can be developed by combining the data outputs of srl16 - srl19 for the psa operation desired , as is well known in the art . for example , the feedback signal fb could be obtained by exclusive - oring the outputs of srl16 , srl17 , srl18 and srl19 . as one example of operation of the psa circuitry 49 , the clock signals mtl , lst and the scan clock can be gated active throughout the core 13 . thereafter , the scan clock and the slave clock lst can be gated active and a predetermined seed value can then be scanned into srl0 - srl19 , as is well known in the art . after the seed value has been established in srl0 - srl19 , all clocks can again be gated off , and tm0 can be taken to a logic 0 level , thereby qualifying inputs ind0 , ind1 . . . ind15 at and gates 51 , 55 . . . 59 while also driving low the outputs of and gates 53 , 57 . . . 61 . thereafter , the master clock lmt and the slave clock lst can be gated on for a desired number of master / slave clock cycles , during which exclusive - or gates 71 , 73 . . . 75 and srl0 , srl1 . . . srl15 operate in the same manner as the conventional parallel signature analyzer of fig1 to capture and compress the signals ind0 - ind15 . the low outputs of and gates 53 , 57 . . . 61 cause the respective exclusive - or gates 77 , 79 . . . 81 to pass the respective data outputs of the master latch stages directly to the respective data inputs of the slave latch stages . thus , in the above - described operation , each of the signals ind0 - ind15 is sampled on each master clock pulse and compressed into a parallel signature , as in fig1 . when the desired number of master / slave clock cycles have occurred , the master clock lmt and the slave clock lst can again be gated inactive . thereafter , the scan clock and the slave clock lst can be gated active and the contents of srl0 - srl19 can be scanned out to the tester for comparison to the expected signature . thereafter , the scan clock and the slave clock lst can be gated inactive , and the core logic can be reset to the same logic state that it was in immediately before the previous compression process was performed . thereafter , tm0 can be taken high to qualify ind0 , ind1 . . . ind15 at respective and gates 53 , 57 . . . 61 , while driving low the outputs of and gates 51 , 55 . . . 59 . thereafter , the master clock lmt and the slave clock lst can be gated active for the same number of cycles as before , whereby each of the signals ind0 - ind15 is sampled and compressed on the slave pulse of each master / slave clock cycle . the data sampling and data compression are accomplished in the same manner as previously done when sampling on the master clock pulses , except in this instance the slave latch stages perform the function that was performed by the master latch stages in the previous iteration and the master latch stages in this instance perform the same function performed by the slave latch stages in the previous iteration . when the master clock lmt and the slave clock lst are gated inactive at the end of the desired sampling period , the scan clock and the slave clock lst con be gated active to scan out the contents of srl0 - srl19 for comparison to the expected signature . the above - described operation thus provides , in two iterations of sampling and compression , a signature of signals ind0 - ind15 as sampled on the master clock lmt ( first iteration ), and a signature of the signals ind0 - ind15 as sampled on the slave clock lst ( second iteration ). because the core logic is reset before the second iteration to the same state that it was in immediately prior to the first iteration , any signals is sampled on the master clock during any desired time period under any desired operating conditions ( first iteration ) can also be sampled on the slave clock during the same time period and under the same operating conditions ( second iteration ). fig6 shows how node a from fig2 would be sampled ( assuming falling edge clocking of all latches ) on both the master clock lmt and the slave clock lst in the embodiment of fig4 . as shown in fig6 the transitioning of node a is captured by the slave clock sampling of fig4 . it should also be noted that it may not be necessary to provide every targeted signal of core 13 as a data input to psa circuitry 49 . for example , busses 23 , 25 , 27 and 29 of fig3 may represent many more than 16 signals , yet the psa circuitry 49 of fig4 could accommodate all of them if the signals are suitably combined to produce the signals ind0 - ind15 . for example , if the signals are independent of one another , then they could be suitably exclusive - ored to produce ind0 - ind15 , sad if the signals are dependent upon one another , then they could be suitably multiplexed to produce ind0 - ind15 . in this manner , it is possible to obtain compressed data signatures of runny more than 16 signals using the 16 - input psa circuitry 49 of fig4 although additional iterations would be necessary if the targeted signals were multiplexed to produce ind0 - ind15 . fig5 illustrates another exemplary embodiment 49a of the psa circuitry of fig3 . in fig5 srl0 - srl19 are not shown divided into a master latch stage and a slave latch stage because , in this embodiment , the data output of each master latch stage is directly connected to the data input of the associated slave latch stage . in the embodiment ; of fig5 latches 83 , 85 . . . 87 are used in conjunction with multiplexers 89 , 91 . . . 93 and multiplexer 95 to permit the psa circuitry 49a to sample and compress signals ind0 - ind15 on any desired clock of a multiple phase clock system . if signals ind0 - ind15 are to be sampled on master clock lmt , then control signal tmy is taken low , whereby the respective signals ind0 - ind15 are applied to exclusive - or gates 71 , 73 . . . 75 and are sampled and compressed on the master clock . however , if it is desired to sample signals ind0 - ind15 on slave clock lst or any one of a plurality of clocks lst1 - lstx , which may represent the slave clock delayed by respective amounts of time , then tmy is set to logic 1 whereby the data outputs of latches 83 , 85 . . . 87 are connected to exclusive - or gates 71 , 73 . . . 75 . the clock selected for sampling is output from multiplexer 95 in response to multiplexer control signals tm0 - tmx . the latches 83 , 85 . . . 87 then sample signals ind0 - ind15 on the clock selected by multiplexer 95 , and the sampled signals are then available to be applied via multiplexers 89 , 91 . . . 93 to exclusive - or gates 71 , 73 . . . 75 . the signals sampled by latches 83 , 85 . . . 87 are then compressed into the data signature on the next pulse of master clock lmt . as discussed above with respect to fig4 the signals ind0 - ind15 can be sampled and compressed for any desired re , tuber of master / slave clock cycles and with the core logic set to a known , desired state immediately before sampling and compression , and this process can be repeated for as many iterations as necessary to obtain sampling on as many clocks as desired . the combining of signals to produce ind0 - ind15 , as described above with respect to fig4 is equally applicable to the fig5 embodiment . referring again to fig3 workers in the art will readily recognize that the psa circuitry 49 is applicable to virtually any digital circuitry which utilizes multiple clock phases , and thus could be provided in logic modules 15 , 17 , 19 , 21 or in peripherals circuitries 33 , 35 , 37 and 39 . moreover , the asic device 11 is merely provided as an example of digital circuitry according to the present invention . workers in the art will readily recognize that the digital data processing circuitry 11 of fig3 could take other forms , for example digital data processing circuitry 11 could be a plurality of separate integrated circuits provided on a circuit board or , as another example , digital data processing circuitry 11 could be a plurality of printed circuit boards each including a plurality of integrated circuits . the present invention provides an advancement in all digital circuitry which utilizes multiple clock phases , and is entirely independent of the manner in which such digital circuitry is physically realized . although , exemplary embodiments of the present ; invention are described above , this description does not limit the scope of the invention , which can be practiced in a variety of embodiments .	6
the present invention will be described with respect to the blockage , detection , and conversion of x - rays . however , one skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention is equally applicable for the detection and conversion of other high frequency electromagnetic energy . the present invention will be described with respect to a “ third generation ” ct scanner , but is equally applicable with other ct systems . referring to fig1 and 2 , a computed tomography ( ct ) imaging system 10 is shown as including a gantry 12 representative of a “ third generation ” ct scanner . gantry 12 has an x - ray source 14 that projects a beam of x - rays 16 toward a detector array 18 on the opposite side of the gantry 12 . detector array 18 is formed by a plurality of detectors 20 which together sense the projected x - rays that pass through a medical patient 22 . each detector 20 produces an electrical signal that represents the intensity of an impinging x - ray beam and hence the attenuated beam as it passes through the patient 22 . during a scan to acquire x - ray projection data , gantry 12 and the components mounted thereon rotate about a center of rotation 24 . rotation of gantry 12 and the operation of x - ray source 14 are governed by a control mechanism 26 of ct system 10 . control mechanism 26 includes an x - ray controller 28 that provides power and timing signals to an x - ray source 14 and a gantry motor controller 30 that controls the rotational speed and position of gantry 12 . a data acquisition system ( das ) 32 in control mechanism 26 samples analog data from detectors 20 and converts the data to digital signals for subsequent processing . an image reconstructor 34 receives sampled and digitized x - ray data from das 32 and performs high speed reconstruction . the reconstructed image is applied as an input to a computer 36 which stores the image in a mass storage device 38 . computer 36 also receives commands and scanning parameters from an operator via console 40 that has a keyboard . an associated cathode ray tube display 42 allows the operator to observe the reconstructed image and other data from computer 36 . the operator supplied commands and parameters are used by computer 36 to provide control signals and information to das 32 , x - ray controller 28 and gantry motor controller 30 . in addition , computer 36 operates a table motor controller 44 which controls a motorized table 46 to position patient 22 and gantry 12 . particularly , table 46 moves portions of patient 22 through a gantry opening 48 . referring to fig3 , a collimator assembly 50 having a pair of collimator mandrels 52 and 54 that are constructed to collimate x - rays projected toward a patient and detector assembly or array . each collimator mandrel 52 , 54 is designed to be rotated along a lengthwise axis by pivot assemblies 56 . as will be described in greater detail below , collimator mandrel 52 is rotated clockwise and collimator mandrel 54 is rotated counterclockwise to define the width of the aperture 58 that is formed between the pair of mandrels . however , one skilled in the art would readily recognize that other rotational orientations are possible and contemplated to achieve a desired aperture shape and / or width . x - rays are projected from an x - ray tube toward the collimator assembly 50 . the mandrels 52 , 54 are positioned relative to one another to define an aperture size tailored to the specific ct study to be carried out . in this regard , each mandrel is designed and constructed of material to block or prevent passage of those x - rays that are not passed through aperture 58 . as such , each mandrel 52 , 54 has a complexly - shaped outer layer 60 , 62 of attenuating material . that is , each outer layer extends circumferentially around a rod 64 , 66 of base material and a non - constant diameter . the rods 64 , 66 form a solid and rigid base for the layers of attenuating material . preferably , the rods are constructed of steel , but other materials are possible . the attenuating layers may be fabricated from tungsten or other attenuating epoxy or alloy . as shown , each rod 64 , 66 has a circular or constant diameter . in contrast , each mandrel , as a result of the non - circular attenuating layer , has a complex shape . this complexity in shape allows the collimator assembly to provide a more variable aperture size without a change in the collimator assembly itself . simply , in one preferred embodiment , the mandrels 52 and 54 have oblong or egg - like cross - sectional shapes that extends the entire length of rods 64 and 66 , respectively . however , the manufacturing process described herein allows for other mandrel shapes as well as varying attenuating layer thickness along the length of the rods . referring now to fig4 , a side view of the collimator assembly 50 illustrates a first or minimum aperture size that can be achieved by dynamically controlling the rotation of the mandrels 52 and 54 . in the relative position illustrated , each mandrel has been rotated to maximize the amount of attenuating material 60 , 62 axially positioned between each rod 64 , 66 . as a result , the size of aperture 58 is affected to control the expanse and coverage of x - ray beams 16 projected toward the patient ( not shown ) and detector assembly 18 . in fig5 , the collimator assembly 50 is shown with a maximum aperture size . to achieve a maximum in the size of aperture 58 , eccentrics 56 rotate each mandrel 52 and 54 such that the thinnest amount of attenuating material is positioned adjacent the x - ray path through the aperture 58 . as a result , more of the x - ray beam is allowed pass through the collimator assembly unaltered by mandrels 52 and 54 . eccentric assemblies 56 may be rotated mechanically by a user or , preferably , by a controller mechanism that is electronically controlled to rotate the mandrels based on a desired aperture size . further , while fig5 illustrates rotation of both mandrels compared to that shown in fig3 , one mandrel may be rotated while the other mandrel remains stationary . additionally , since each mandrel may be rotated independently by eccentrics 56 , one mandrel may be rotated more than the other mandrel . as a result , the number of aperture sizes that is possible is a function of the degree change in attenuating material thickness around each rod . moreover , one mandrel may have a layer of attenuating material that is dimensionally different from the layer of attenuating material around the other mandrel . in this regard , the number of aperture sizes available is increased . fig6 is a side view similar to that of fig4 but illustrates a second or maximum aperture size that is achieved as a result of the relative rotation of both mandrels 52 and 54 . the position of each rod 64 and 66 remains fixed , but each mandrel is caused to rotate along a lengthwise axis through the center of the rod . as a result , the thickness of the attenuating layer placed in the x - ray path is variably controlled to fit the particulars of the ct study . as is shown , aperture 58 has a much larger size in fig6 than in fig4 ; therefore , the x - ray path therebetween is much larger which allows for greater coverage in the z - direction on detector 18 . the collimator mandrel profile illustrated in fig3 - 6 represents one embodiment of the shape each collimator mandrel may have . however , as will be described , the manufacturing process disclosed herein is capable of constructing other - shaped mandrels than that illustrated in fig3 - 6 . for example , the mandrels could be constructed to have lobes or other geometrical shapes to achieve the desired aperture shape . shown in fig7 is a cross - sectional view illustrating the construction of a collimator mandrel in accordance with the present invention . the construction process begins with the formation of a cylindrically or other shaped rod 68 of base material having a constant cross - section . the rod 68 is constructed to have an eccentric pivot 70 on each end to support rotation of the mandrel once assembled and fit in the ct system . as noted above , the rod is preferably constructed of a solid , rigid material , i . e . steel , that is designed to receive and support a layer of attenuating material , such as tungsten , lead , a high atomic weight alloy , or epoxy laden with high atomic weight material . rod 68 is placed is a cast 72 that envelops the rod . the cast 72 envelopes the rod such that a void 74 is created circumferentially around the outer surface of the rod 68 between the inner surface of cast . the void defines the dimensions , thickness , and shape of a layer of attenuating material to be deposited or otherwise formed to the outer surface of the rod . in the example illustrated in fig7 , a highly attenuative epoxy or resin is deposited in void 74 and is allowed to cure . once cured , the cast is removed and a tapered layer of attenuating material affixed to the outer surface of the rod results . however , use of a cast and the filling of a void between the cast and rod illustrates only one technique for forming a complexly shaped mandrel . for example , a thin layer of tungsten or other attenuative layer could be vapor or chemically deposited about the rod in a controlled manner such that a non - circular cross - sectioned or other complex shaped mandrel is constructed . in another embodiment , a thin layer of attenuating material could be sealed against the rod or core material using adhesive , glues and other intermediaries . further , given the cast layer provides the x - ray attenuation , other attenuating materials other than tungsten may be used . as a result , the non - tungsten layer with improved machineability could be sealed against the rod and machined to provide the desired complex shape . referring now to fig8 , package / baggage inspection system 100 includes a rotatable gantry 102 having an opening 104 therein through which packages or pieces of baggage may pass . the rotatable gantry 102 houses a high frequency electromagnetic energy source 106 as well as a detector assembly 108 having scintillator arrays comprised of scintillator cells . a conveyor system 110 is also provided and includes a conveyor belt 112 supported by structure 114 to automatically and continuously pass packages or baggage pieces 116 through opening 104 to be scanned . objects 116 are fed through opening 104 by conveyor belt 112 , imaging data is then acquired , and the conveyor belt 112 removes the packages 116 from opening 104 in a controlled and continuous manner . as a result , postal inspectors , baggage handlers , and other security personnel may non - invasively inspect the contents of packages 116 for explosives , knives , guns , contraband , and the like . therefore , in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention , a method of manufacturing a collimator mandrel for a ct imaging system includes the steps of forming a core of base material and applying a tapered layer of attenuating material to the core . in accordance with another embodiment of the invention , a ct collimator mandrel comprises a solid core positioned within a layer of attenuating material . the mandrel is formed by shaping a bulk of supporting material into a core and positioning the core in a cast such that a non - uniform void is created between an outer surface of the core and an inner surface of the cast . the mandrel is further formed by injecting attenuating material into the void and removing the cast upon curing of the attenuating material . according to yet another embodiment , a process of constructing a mandrel for a ct imaging system is provided and includes the steps of forming a solid cylindrical rod of first material and depositing a layer of second material designed to substantially block x - rays on the cylindrical rod . the present invention has been described in terms of the preferred embodiment , and it is recognized that equivalents , alternatives , and modifications , aside from those expressly stated , are possible and within the scope of the appending claims .	6
according to certain embodiments of the invention , the refrigeration system may be a two stage joule - thomson system with a closed loop precool circuit and either an open loop or a closed loop primary circuit . a typical refrigerant for the primary circuit would be r - 508 b , and a typical refrigerant for the precool circuit would be r - 410 a . in the ablation mode , the system may be capable of performing tissue ablation at or below minus 70 . degree . c . while in contact with the tissue and circulating blood . in the mapping mode , the system may be capable of mapping by stunning the tissue at a temperature between minus 10 . degree . c . and minus 18 . degree . c . while in contact with the tissue and circulating blood . these performance levels may be achieved while maintaining the catheter tip pressure at or below a sub - diastolic pressure of 14 psia . as shown in fig1 , one embodiment of the apparatus 10 of the present invention is an open loop system using a pressure bottle for the refrigerant source . such a system can include a primary refrigerant supply bottle 200 , a primary refrigerant fluid controller 208 , a catheter 300 , a primary refrigerant recovery bottle 512 , a secondary refrigerant compressor 100 , a precool heat exchanger 114 , and various sensors . in certain embodiments , all but the catheter 300 and the precool heat exchanger 114 may be located in a cooling console housing . the precool heat exchanger 114 is connected to the console by flexible lines 121 , 221 . pressure of the refrigerant in the primary refrigerant supply bottle 200 is monitored by a primary refrigerant supply pressure sensor 202 . output of primary refrigerant from the supply bottle 200 is regulated by a pressure regulator 204 , which , in certain embodiments , can receive refrigerant from the bottle 200 at a pressure above 350 psia and regulate it to less than 350 psia . a primary refrigerant relief valve 206 is provided to prevent over pressurization of the primary system downstream of the pressure regulator 204 , for example , above 400 psia . the flow rate of primary refrigerant is controlled by the fluid controller 208 , which can be either a pressure controller or a flow controller . a feedback loop may be provided to control the operation of the fluid controller 208 . the feedback signal for the fluid controller 208 can come from a pressure sensor 310 or a flow sensor 311 , on the effluent side of the catheter 300 , discussed below . a primary refrigerant high pressure sensor 210 is provided downstream of the fluid controller 208 , to monitor the primary refrigerant pressure applied to the precool heat exchanger 114 . the high pressure side 212 of the primary loop passes through the primary side of the cooling coil of the precool heat exchanger 114 , then connects to a quick connect fitting 304 on the precool heat exchanger 114 . similarly , the low side quick connect fitting 304 on the precool heat exchanger 114 is connected to the low pressure side 412 of the primary loop , which passes back through the housing of the precool heat exchanger 114 , without passing through the cooling coil , and then through the flow sensor 311 . the catheter tip pressure sensor 310 monitors catheter effluent pressure in the tip of the catheter 300 . the control system maintains catheter tip pressure at a sub - diastolic level at all times . the low pressure side 412 of the primary loop can be connected to the inlet 402 of a vacuum pump 400 . a primary refrigerant low pressure sensor 410 monitors pressure in the low side 412 of the primary loop downstream of the precool heat exchanger 114 . the outlet 404 of the vacuum pump 400 can be connected to the inlet 502 of a recovery pump 500 . a 3 way , solenoid operated , recovery valve 506 is located between the vacuum pump 400 and the recovery pump 500 . the outlet 504 of the recovery pump 500 is connected to the primary refrigerant recovery bottle 512 via a check valve 508 . a primary refrigerant recovery pressure sensor 510 monitors the pressure in the recovery bottle 512 . a 2 way , solenoid operated , bypass valve 406 is located in a bypass loop 407 between the low side 412 of the primary loop upstream of the vacuum pump 400 and the high side 212 of the primary loop downstream of the fluid controller 208 . a solenoid operated bypass loop vent valve 408 is connected to the bypass loop 407 . in the catheter 300 , the high pressure primary refrigerant flows through an impedance device such as a capillary tube 306 , then expands into the distal portion of the catheter 300 , where the resultant cooling is applied to surrounding tissues . a catheter tip temperature sensor 307 , such as a thermocouple , monitors the temperature of the distal portion of the catheter 300 . a catheter return line 308 returns the effluent refrigerant from the catheter 300 to the precool heat exchanger 114 . the high and low pressure sides of the catheter 300 are connected to the heat exchanger quick connects 304 by a pair of catheter quick connects 302 . as an alternative to pairs of quick connects 302 , 304 , coaxial quick connects can be used . in either case , the quick connects may carry both refrigerant flow and electrical signals . in the precool loop , compressed secondary refrigerant is supplied by a precool compressor 100 . an after cooler 106 can be connected to the outlet 104 of the precool compressor 100 to cool and condense the secondary refrigerant . an oil separator 108 can be connected in the high side 117 of the precool loop , with an oil return line 110 returning oil to the precool compressor 100 . a high pressure precooler pressure sensor 112 senses pressure in the high side 117 of the precool loop . the high side 117 of the precool loop is connected to an impedance device such as a capillary tube 116 within the housing of the precool heat exchanger 114 . high pressure secondary refrigerant flows through the capillary tube 116 , then expands into the secondary side of the cooling coil of the precool heat exchanger 114 , where it cools the high pressure primary refrigerant . the effluent of the secondary side of the precool heat exchanger 114 returns via the low side 118 of the precool loop to the inlet 102 of the precool compressor 100 . a low pressure precooler pressure sensor 120 senses pressure in the low side 118 of the precool loop . instead of using primary refrigerant supply and return bottles , the apparatus can use one or more primary compressors in a closed loop system . fig2 shows a second embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention , with a single compressor system . this embodiment would be appropriate in applications where the high side and low side pressures can be adequately controlled with a single compressor . in the apparatus 10 ′ of this type of system , the low side 622 of the primary loop conducts the effluent of the catheter 300 to the inlet 602 of a primary refrigerant compressor 600 . the compressor 600 compresses the primary refrigerant , and returns it from the compressor outlet 604 via the high side 612 of the primary loop to the primary side of the precool heat exchanger 114 . a primary refrigerant high pressure sensor 614 is provided in the high side 612 of the primary loop , to monitor the primary refrigerant pressure applied to the precool heat exchanger 114 . a primary refrigerant high pressure flow sensor 312 can be provided in the high side 612 of the primary loop . a primary refrigerant low pressure sensor 610 monitors pressure in the low side 622 of the primary loop downstream of the precool heat exchanger 114 . a primary loop filter 608 can be provided in the low side 622 of the primary loop . a 2 way , solenoid operated , primary refrigerant charge valve 626 and a primary refrigerant reservoir 628 can be provided in the low side 622 of the primary loop . a high pressure after - cooler 605 can be provided downstream of the primary refrigerant compressor 600 . as further shown in fig2 , a 2 way , solenoid operated , primary loop bypass valve 606 is located in a bypass loop 607 between the low side 622 of the primary loop upstream of the compressor 600 and the high side 612 of the primary loop downstream of the compressor 600 . opening of the primary loop bypass valve 606 can facilitate startup of the primary compressor 600 . a precool loop filter 101 can be provided in the low side 118 of the precool loop . further , a 2 way , solenoid operated , precool loop bypass valve 111 is located in a bypass loop 119 between the low side 118 of the precool loop upstream of the compressor 100 and the high side 117 of the precool loop downstream of the compressor 100 . opening of the precool loop bypass valve 111 can facilitate startup of the precool compressor 100 . a purification system 900 can be provided for removing contaminants from the primary refrigerant and the secondary refrigerant . solenoid operated 3 way purification valves 609 , 611 are provided in the high side and low side , respectively , of the primary loop , for selectively directing the primary refrigerant through the purification system 900 . similarly , solenoid operated 3 way purification valves 115 , 113 are provided in the high side and low side , respectively , of the precool loop , for selectively directing the secondary refrigerant through the purification system 900 . the remainder of the precool loop , the precool heat exchanger 114 , and the catheter 300 are the same as discussed above for the first embodiment . in applications where separate low side and high side pressure control is required , but where a closed loop system is desired , a two compressor primary system may be used . fig3 shows a third embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention , with a dual compressor system . in the apparatus 10 ″ of this type of system , the low side 622 of the primary loop conducts the effluent of the catheter 300 to the inlet 616 of a low side primary refrigerant compressor 618 . the low side compressor 618 compresses the primary refrigerant , and provides it via its outlet 620 to the inlet 602 of a high side primary refrigerant compressor 600 . a low pressure after - cooler 623 can be provided downstream of the low side compressor 618 . the high side compressor 600 further compresses the primary refrigerant to a higher pressure and returns it via its outlet 604 and via the high side 612 of the primary loop to the primary side of the precool heat exchanger 114 . a primary refrigerant high pressure sensor 614 is provided in the high side 612 of the primary loop , to monitor the high side primary refrigerant pressure upstream of the precool heat exchanger 114 . a primary refrigerant low pressure sensor 610 monitors pressure in the low side 622 of the primary loop downstream of the precool heat exchanger 114 . a primary refrigerant intermediate pressure sensor 624 monitors pressure between the outlet 620 of the low side compressor 618 and the inlet 602 of the high side compressor 600 . the high side compressor 600 and the low side compressor 618 are separately controlled , using feedback from the catheter tip pressure sensor 310 and / or the flow sensors 311 , 312 . as further shown in fig3 , a 3 way , solenoid operated , bypass valve 606 ′ is located in a bypass loop 607 between the low side 622 of the primary loop upstream of the low side compressor 618 and the high side 612 of the primary loop downstream of the high side compressor 600 . a third port is connected between the high side and low side compressors . the precool loop , the precool heat exchanger 114 , and the catheter 300 are the same as discussed above for the first and second embodiments . fig4 shows a control diagram which would be suitable for use with the apparatus shown in fig1 . a computerized automatic control system 700 is connected to the various sensors and control devices to sense and control the operation of the system , and to provide safety measures , such as shut down schemes . more specifically , on the sensing side , the low pressure precool sensor 120 inputs low side precool pressure pa , the high pressure precool sensor 112 inputs high side precool pressure pb , the primary supply pressure sensor 202 inputs supply bottle pressure p 1 , the primary recovery pressure sensor 510 inputs recovery bottle pressure p 2 , the high pressure primary sensor 210 inputs high side primary pressure p 3 , the low pressure primary sensor 410 inputs low side primary pressure p 4 , the catheter tip pressure sensor 310 inputs catheter tip pressure p 5 , the temperature sensor 307 inputs catheter tip temperature t , and the flow sensor 311 inputs primary refrigerant flow rate f . further , on the control side , the control system 700 energizes the normally closed bypass valve 406 to open it , energizes the normally open vent valve 408 to close it , and energizes the recovery valve 506 to connect the vacuum pump outlet 404 to the recovery pump inlet 502 . finally , the control system 700 provides a pressure set point spp or flow rate set point spf to the fluid controller 208 , depending upon whether it is a pressure controller or a flow controller . fig5 shows a control diagram which would be suitable for use with the apparatus shown in fig2 or fig3 . a computerized automatic control system 700 is connected to the various sensors and control devices to sense and control the operation of the system , and to provide safety measures , such as shut down schemes . more specifically , on the sensing side , the low pressure precool sensor 120 inputs low side precool pressure pa , the high pressure precool sensor 112 inputs high side precool pressure pb , the high pressure primary sensor 614 inputs high side primary pressure p 3 , the low pressure primary sensor 610 inputs low side primary pressure p 4 , the catheter tip pressure sensor 310 inputs catheter tip pressure p 5 , the temperature sensor 307 inputs catheter tip temperature t , and the flow sensors 311 , 312 input primary refrigerant flow rate f . further , on the control side , the control system 700 energizes the normally closed primary loop bypass valve 606 , 606 ′ to open it , and the control system 700 energizes the normally closed precool loop bypass valve 111 to open it . the control system 700 also energizes the primary loop purification valves 609 , 611 to selectively purify the primary refrigerant , and the control system 700 energizes the precool loop purification valves 113 , 115 to selectively purify the secondary refrigerant . finally , the control system 700 provides a minimum high side pressure set point pl 2 to the controller 601 of the primary compressor 600 in the system shown in fig2 . alternatively , in the system shown in fig3 , the control system 700 provides a minimum high side pressure set point pl 2 b to the controller 601 of the high side primary compressor 600 , and the control system 700 provides a maximum low side pressure set point pl 2 a to the controller 619 of the low side primary compressor 618 . a numeric digital display , or a graphical display similar to that shown in fig6 , is provided on the cooling console to assist the operator in monitoring and operating the system . for example , on a single graphical display , graphs can be shown of catheter tip temperature t , high side primary pressure p 3 , low side primary pressure p 4 , and primary flow rate f , all versus time . further , on the same display , the operator can position a vertical cursor at a selected time , resulting in the tabular display of the instantaneous values of t , p 3 , p 4 , and f , as well as the average , maximum , and minimum values of these parameters . the present invention will now be further illustrated by describing a typical operational sequence of the open loop embodiment , showing how the control system 700 operates the remainder of the components to start up the system , to provide the desired refrigeration power , and to provide system safety . the system can be operated in the mapping mode , where the cold tip temperature might be maintained at minus 10 c ., or in the ablation mode , where the cold tip temperature might be maintained at minus 65 c . paragraphs are keyed to the corresponding blocks in the flow diagram shown in fig7 . suggested exemplary pressure limits used below could be pl 1 = 160 psia ; pl 2 = 400 psia ; pl 3 = 500 psia ; pl 4 = 700 psia ; pl 5 = 600 psia ; pl 6 = 5 psia ; pl 7 = diastolic pressure ; pl 8 = 375 psia ; and pl 9 = 5 psia . temperature limits , flow limits , procedure times , and procedure types are set by the operator according to the procedure being performed . perform self tests ( block 802 ) of the control system circuitry and connecting circuitry to the sensors and controllers to insure circuit integrity . read and store supply cylinder pressure p 1 , primary low pressure p 4 , and catheter tip pressure p 5 ( block 804 ). at this time , p 4 and p 5 are at atmospheric pressure . if p 1 is less than pressure limit pl 2 ( block 808 ), display a message to replace the supply cylinder ( block 810 ), and prevent further operation . if p 1 is greater than pl 2 , but less than pressure limit pl 3 , display a message to replace the supply cylinder soon , but allow operation to continue . read precool charge pressure pb and recovery cylinder pressure p 2 ( block 806 ). if pb is less than pressure limit pl 1 ( block 808 ), display a message to service the precool loop ( block 810 ), and prevent further operation . if p 2 is greater than pressure limit pl 4 ( block 808 ), display a message to replace the recovery cylinder ( block 810 ), and prevent further operation . if p 2 is less than pl 4 , but greater than pressure limit pl 5 , display a message to replace the recovery cylinder soon , but allow operation to continue . energize the bypass loop vent valve 408 ( block 812 ). the vent valve 408 is a normally open two way solenoid valve open to the atmosphere . when energized , the vent valve 408 is closed . start the precool compressor 100 ( block 814 ). display a message to attach the catheter 300 to the console quick connects 304 ( block 816 ). wait for the physician to attach the catheter 300 , press either the ablation mode key or the mapping mode key , and press the start key ( block 818 ). read the catheter tip temperature t and the catheter tip pressure p 5 . at this time , t is the patient &# 39 ; s body temperature and p 5 is atmospheric pressure . energize the bypass loop valve 406 , while leaving the recovery valve 506 deenergized ( block 820 ). the bypass valve 406 is a normally closed 2 way solenoid valve . energizing the bypass valve 406 opens the bypass loop . the recovery valve 506 is a three way solenoid valve that , when not energized , opens the outlet of the vacuum pump 400 to atmosphere . start the vacuum pump 400 ( block 822 ). these actions will pull a vacuum in the piping between the outlet of the fluid controller 208 and the inlet of the vacuum pump 400 , including the high and low pressure sides of the catheter 300 . monitor p 3 , p 4 , and p 5 ( block 824 ), until all three are less than pressure limit pl 6 ( block 826 ). energize the recovery valve 506 and the recovery pump 500 ( block 828 ). when energized , the recovery valve 506 connects the outlet of the vacuum pump 400 to the inlet of the recovery pump 500 . de - energize the bypass valve 406 , allowing it to close ( block 830 ). send either a pressure set point spp ( if a pressure controller is used ) or a flow rate set point spf ( if a flow controller is used ) to the fluid controller 208 ( block 832 ). where a pressure controller is used , the pressure set point spp is at a pressure which will achieve the desired refrigerant flow rate , in the absence of plugs or leaks . the value of the set point is determined according to whether the physician has selected the mapping mode or the ablation mode . these actions start the flow of primary refrigerant through the catheter 300 and maintain the refrigerant flow rate at the desired level . continuously monitor and display procedure time and catheter tip temperature t ( block 834 ). continuously monitor and display all pressures and flow rates f ( block 836 ). if catheter tip pressure p 5 exceeds pressure limit pl 7 , start the shutdown sequence ( block 840 ). pressure limit pl 7 is a pressure above which the low pressure side of the catheter 300 is not considered safe . if f falls below flow limit fl 1 , and catheter tip temperature t is less than temperature limit tl 1 , start the shutdown sequence ( block 840 ). flow limit fl 1 is a minimum flow rate below which it is determined that a leak or a plug has occurred in the catheter 300 . fl 1 can be expressed as a percentage of the flow rate set point spf . temperature limit tl 1 is a temperature limit factored into this decision step to prevent premature shutdowns before the catheter 300 reaches a steady state at the designed level of refrigeration power . so , if catheter tip temperature t has not yet gone below tl 1 , a low flow rate will not cause a shutdown . if p 3 exceeds pressure limit pl 8 , and f is less than flow limit fl 2 , start the shutdown sequence ( block 840 ). pl 8 is a maximum safe pressure for the high side of the primary system . flow limit fl 2 is a minimum flow rate below which it is determined that a plug has occurred in the catheter 300 , when pl 8 is exceeded . fl 2 can be expressed as a percentage of the flow rate set point spf . if p 4 is less than pressure limit pl 9 , and f is less than flow limit fl 3 , start the shutdown sequence ( block 840 ). pl 9 is a pressure below which it is determined that a plug has occurred in the catheter 300 , when flow is below fl 3 . fl 3 can be expressed as a percentage of the flow rate set point spf . an exemplary shutdown sequence will now be described . send a signal to the fluid controller 208 to stop the primary refrigerant flow ( block 840 ). energize the bypass valve 406 to open the bypass loop ( block 842 ). shut off the precool compressor 100 ( block 844 ). continue running the vacuum pump 400 to pull a vacuum between the outlet of the fluid controller 208 and the inlet of the vacuum pump 400 ( block 846 ). monitor primary high side pressure p 3 , primary low side pressure p 4 , and catheter tip pressure p 5 ( block 848 ) until all three are less than the original primary low side pressure which was read in block 804 at the beginning of the procedure ( block 850 ). then , de - energize the recovery pump 500 , recovery valve 506 , vent valve 408 , bypass valve 406 , and vacuum pump 400 ( block 852 ). display a message suggesting the removal of the catheter 300 , and update a log of all system data ( block 854 ). similar operational procedures , safety checks , and shutdown procedures would be used for the closed loop primary system shown in fig2 or fig3 , except that the primary compressor 600 or compressors 600 , 618 would provide the necessary primary refrigerant flow rate in place of the supply and recovery cylinders , the fluid controller , and the vacuum and recovery pumps . as with the open loop system , the closed loop system can be operated in the mapping mode , where the cold tip temperature might be maintained at minus 10 c ., or in the ablation mode , where the cold tip temperature might be maintained at minus 65 c . as a first option to achieve the desired cold tip temperature , the precool bypass valve 111 can be adjusted to control the liquid fraction resulting after expansion of the secondary refrigerant , thereby adjusting the refrigeration capacity . under this option , primary refrigerant high and low pressures are kept constant . as a second option , or in combination with the first option , primary refrigerant flow rate can be by means of operating controllers 601 , 619 on the primary compressors 600 , 618 to maintain a high pressure set point spp which will achieve the desired flow rate , resulting in the desired cold tip temperature . a service mode is possible , for purification of the primary and secondary refrigerants . in the service mode , the normally open bypass valves 111 , 606 are energized to close . the primary loop purification valves 609 , 611 are selectively aligned with the purification system 900 to purify the primary refrigerant , or the precool loop purification valves 113 , 115 are selectively aligned with the purification system 900 to purify the secondary refrigerant . in either the mapping mode or the ablation mode , the desired cold tip temperature control option is input into the control system 700 . further , the type of catheter is input into the control system 700 . the normally closed charge valve 626 is energized as necessary to build up the primary loop charge pressure . if excessive charging is required , the operator is advised . further , if precool loop charge pressure is below a desired level , the operator is advised . when shutdown is required , the primary loop high side purification valve 609 is closed , and the primary loop compressors 600 , 618 continue to run , to draw a vacuum in the catheter 300 . when the desired vacuum is achieved , the primary loop low side purification valve 611 is closed . this isolates the primary loop from the catheter 300 , and the disposable catheter 300 can be removed . referring to fig8 , a system for performing cryoablation procedures is shown and generally designated 910 . as shown , the system 910 includes a cryoablation catheter 912 and a primary fluid source 914 . preferably , the primary fluid is nitrous oxide ( n 2 o ) and is held in source 914 at a pressure of around 750 psig . fig8 also shows that the system 910 includes a console 916 and that the console 916 is connected in fluid communication with the primary fluid source 914 via a fluid line 918 . console 916 is also connected in fluid communication with the catheter 912 via a fluid line 920 . further , the console 916 is shown to include a precooler 922 , an exhaust unit 924 , and a computer 926 . in detail , the components of the catheter 912 will be best appreciated with reference to fig9 . there , it will be seen that the catheter 912 includes a catheter tube 928 that has a closed distal end 930 and an open proximal end 932 . also included as part of the catheter 912 , are a supply tube 934 that has a distal end 936 and a proximal end 938 , and a capillary tube 940 that has a distal end 942 and a proximal end 944 . as shown , the distal end 936 of supply tube 934 is connected with the proximal end 944 of the capillary tube 940 to establish a supply line 946 . specifically , supply line 946 is defined by the lumen 948 of supply tube 934 and the lumen 950 of capillary tube 940 . it is an important aspect of the system 910 that the diameter ( i . e . cross section ) of the supply tube 934 is greater than the diameter ( i . e . cross section ) of the capillary tube 940 . the consequence of this difference is that the supply tube 934 presents much less impedance to fluid flow than does the capillary tube 940 . in turn , this causes a much greater pressure drop for fluid flow through the capillary tube 940 . as will be seen , this pressure differential is used to advantage for the system 910 . still referring to fig9 , it is seen that the supply line 946 established by the supply tube 934 and capillary tube 940 , is positioned coaxially in the lumen 952 of the catheter tube 928 . further , the distal end 942 of the capillary tube 940 ( i . e . also the distal end of the supply line 946 ) is displaced from the distal end 930 of catheter tube 928 to create an expansion chamber 954 in the tip section 956 of the catheter 912 . additionally , the placement of the supply line 946 in the lumen 952 establishes a return line 958 in the catheter 912 that is located between the supply line 946 and the wall of the catheter tube 928 . optionally , a sensor 960 can be mounted in expansion chamber 954 ( tip section 956 ). this sensor 960 may be either a temperature sensor or a pressure sensor , or it may include both a temperature and pressure sensor . in any event , if used , the sensor 960 can be of a type well known in the art for detecting the desired measurement . although fig9 shows both a pressure sensor 962 and a valve 964 positioned at the proximal end 938 of the supply tube 934 , this is only exemplary as the sensor 962 and valve 964 may actually be positioned elsewhere . the import here is that a pressure sensor 962 is provided to monitor a working fluid pressure , “ p w ,” on a fluid refrigerant ( e . g . n 2 o ). in turn , this pressure “ p w ” is controlled by a valve 964 as it enters the inlet 966 of the supply line 946 . further , fig9 shows that a pressure sensor 968 is provided to monitor a return pressure “ p r ” on the fluid refrigerant as it exits from the outlet 970 of the return line 958 . fig1 indicates that the various sensors mentioned above are somehow electronically connected to the computer 926 in console 916 . more specifically , the sensors 960 , 962 and 968 can be connected to computer 926 in any of several ways , all known in the pertinent art . further , fig1 indicates that the computer 926 is operationally connected with the valve 964 . the consequence of this is that the computer 926 can be used to control operation of the valve 964 , and thus the working pressure “ p w ”, in accordance with preprogrammed instructions , using measurements obtained by the sensors 960 , 962 and 968 ( individually or collectively ). a schematic of various components for system 910 is presented in fig1 which indicates that a compressor 972 is incorporated as an integral part of the precooler 922 . more specifically , the compressor 972 is used to compress a secondary fluid refrigerant ( e . g . freon ) into its liquid phase for subsequent cooling of the primary refrigerant in the precooler 922 . for purposes of the present invention , the secondary fluid refrigerant will have a normal boiling point that is at a temperature sufficiently low to take the primary fluid refrigerant to a sub - cool condition ( i . e . below a temperature where the primary fluid refrigerant will be fully saturated ). for the present invention , wherein the primary fluid refrigerant is nitrous oxide , the temperature is preferably around minus forty degrees centigrade ( t sc =− 40 ° c .). the operation of system 910 will be best appreciated by cross referencing fig1 with fig1 . during this cross referencing , recognize that the alphabetical points ( a , b , c , d and e ), shown relative to the curve 974 in fig1 , are correspondingly shown on the schematic for system 910 in fig1 . further , appreciate that curve 974 , which is plotted for variations of pressure ( p ) and temperature ( t ), represents the fully saturated condition for the primary fluid refrigerant ( e . g . nitrous oxide ). accordingly , the area 976 represents the liquid phase of the refrigerant , and area 978 represents the gaseous phase of the refrigerant . point a ( fig1 and fig1 ) represents the primary fluid refrigerant as it is drawn from the fluid source 914 , or its back up source 914 ′. preferably , point a corresponds to ambient temperature ( i . e . room temperature ) and a pressure greater than around 700 psig . after leaving the fluid source 914 , the pressure on the refrigerant is lowered to a working pressure “ p w ” that is around 400 psig . this change is controlled by the regulator valve 964 , is monitored by the sensor 962 , and is represented in fig1 as the change from point a to point b . the condition at point b corresponds to the condition of the primary refrigerant as it enters the precooler 922 . in the precooler 922 , the primary refrigerant is cooled to a sub - cool temperature “ t sc ” ( e . g . − 40 ° c .) that is determined by the boiling point of the secondary refrigerant in the precooler 922 . in fig1 this cooling is represented by the transition from point b to point c . note that in this transition , as the primary fluid refrigerant passes through the precooler 922 , it changes from a gaseous state ( area 978 ) into a liquid state ( area 976 ). point c in fig1 represents the condition of the primary fluid refrigerant as it enters the supply line 946 of cryocatheter 12 at the proximal end 938 of supply tube 934 . specifically , the pressure on the primary fluid refrigerant at this point c is the working pressure “ p w ”, and the temperature is the sub - cool temperature “ t sc ”. as the primary fluid refrigerant passes through the supply line 946 of catheter 12 , its condition changes from the indications of point c , to those of point d . specifically , for the present invention , point d is identified by a temperature of around minus eighty eight degrees centigrade (− 88 ° c .) and an outlet pressure “ p o ” that is close to 15 psia . further , as indicated in fig1 , point d identifies the conditions of the primary fluid refrigerant after it has boiled in the tip section 956 as it is leaving the supply line 946 and entering the return line 958 of the catheter 12 . the exhaust unit 924 of the catheter 912 is used to evacuate the primary fluid refrigerant from the expansion chamber 954 of tip section 956 after the primary refrigerant has boiled . during this evacuation , the conditions of the primary refrigerant change from point d to point e . specifically , the conditions at point e are such that the temperature of the refrigerant is an ambient temperature ( i . e . room temperature ) and it has a return pressure “ p r ”, measured by the sensor 968 , that is slightly less than “ p o ”. for the transition from point d to point e , the main purpose of the exhaust unit 924 is to help maintain the outlet pressure “ p o ” in the tip section 956 as near to one atmosphere pressure as possible . earlier it was mentioned that the mass flow rate of the primary fluid refrigerant as it passes through the catheter 912 has an effect on the operation of the catheter 912 . essentially this effect is shown in fig1 . there it will be seen that for relatively low mass flow rates ( e . g . below point f on curve 980 shown in fig1 ), increases in the mass flow rate of the refrigerant will cause lower temperatures . refrigerant flow in this range is said to be “ refrigeration limited .” on the other hand , for relatively high mass flow rates ( i . e . above point f ), increases in the mass flow rate actually cause the temperature of the refrigerant to rise . flow in this range is said to be “ surface area limited .” because the system 910 is most efficient at the lowest temperature for the refrigerant , operation at point f is preferred . accordingly , by monitoring the temperature of the refrigerant in the tip section 956 , “ t t ”, variations of t t can be used to control the mass flow rate of the refrigerant , to thereby control the refrigeration potential of the catheter 912 . in operation , the variables mentioned above ( p w , p o , p r , and t t ) can be determined as needed . system 910 then manipulates the regulator valve 964 , in response to whatever variables are being used , to vary the working pressure “ p w ” of the primary fluid refrigerant as it enters the supply line 946 . in this way , variations in “ p w ” can be used to control “ p o ” and , consequently , the refrigeration potential of the catheter 912 . while the particular invention as herein shown and disclosed in detail is fully capable of obtaining the objects and providing the advantages herein before stated , it is to be understood that it is merely illustrative of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention and that no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown other than as described in the appended claims .	0
when referred to herein , the terminology “ wireless transmit / receive unit ( wtru )” includes but is not limited to a user equipment ( ue ), a mobile station , a fixed or mobile subscriber unit , mobile station ( ms ), a pager , a cellular telephone , a personal digital assistant ( pda ), a computer , or any other type of user device capable of operating in a wireless environment . when referred to herein , the terminology “ base station ” includes but is not limited to a node - b , a site controller , an access point ( ap ), or any other type of interfacing device capable of operating in a wireless environment . the subject matter disclosed herein may be applicable to all realizations of the muros / vamos concept . they are applicable to , for example , approaches that use : ( 1 ) oscs multiplexed signals by means of modulation , including qpsk modulation ; ( 2 ) signals relying on interference - cancelling receivers which employ , for example , downlink advanced receiver performance ( darp ) technology ; and ( 3 ) a combination of osc and signals relying on interference - cancelling receivers . additionally , although examples may be provided indicating a particular modulation type , the principles described herein may equally be applied to other modulation types , including gmsk ( guassian minimum shift keying ), 8 - phase shift keying ( 8 - psk ), 16 - quadrature amplitude modulation ( qam ), 32 - qam , and other modulation types . variable sacch misalignments may be used to improve the sacch allocation in geran multiframes . for example , variable sacch misalignments may be used in scenarios involving multiplexing with a muros / vamos capable wtru or a legacy wtru . according to this method , the sacch occurrences for muros / vamos multiplexed users may be misaligned or shifted to provide the opportunity to exclusively use the full timeslot resource for a single user . alternatively , the sacch occurrences may be misaligned or shifted to provide a transmission opportunity to achieve better control channel decoding performance . the following examples apply to both the full rate and half rate scenarios . fig2 shows a transmission scenario using a variable misalignment of control data on the facch or sacch in the context of muros / vamos . fig2 shows a bs 200 in communication with a first wtru 202 and a second wtru 204 . the first wtru 202 performs 206 a resource assignment , registration , or other set up procedure as described above . the second wtru 204 performs 208 a similar procedure . performance of the set up procedures 206 , 208 may involve communication of signals from the bs 200 to the wtrus 202 , 204 as described above , the signals indicating a relationship between the wtrus and identifiers that will correspond to the wtrus 202 , 204 in subsequent sacch / facch transmissions . the first wtru 202 receives data 210 from the bs 200 on a first osc in a timeslot . the second wtru 204 receives data 212 from the bs 200 on a second osc in the timeslot . the bs 200 generates a facch or sacch transmission as described above and sends the transmission 214 , 216 to both the first wtru 202 and the second wtru 204 . fig3 is a diagram of an example osc multiframe misalignment . in this example , the mapping of sacch and the idle frame occurrences may be swapped for the muros / vamos capable wtru . referring to fig3 , a first wtru may use a first osc multiframe 310 when using muros / vamos resources . a second wtru may use an osc multiframe 320 when using the same muros / vamos resource . in the first osc multiframe , the sacch frame is in slot 12 and the idle frame is in slot 25 . in the second osc multiframe 320 , the sacch frame and the idle frame are swapped such that the sacch frame is in slot 25 and the idle frame is in slot 12 . this swapping of the sacch and idle frames allows both wtrus to decode the sacch and allow muros / vamos operation in weak signal and / or strong interference conditions . fig4 is a diagram of an example sacch transmission scenario 400 . based on the osc multiframe misalignment described above , transmission of the sacch to the first wtru may be performed using the full power per timeslot , or a more robust modulation type such as gmsk . the bs 410 informs the muros / vamos capable wtrus 420 , 430 , for example , during the channel assignment phase , that a sacch frame and idle frame are swapped in the multiframe configuration 440 . the bs 410 then sends a sacch frame in each of the two osc frames in every multiframe 450 , one for the first wtru 460 and another one for the second wtru 470 . it is important to realize that , when doing so , the bs may choose to transmit a gmsk burst during the sacch frame with higher power as opposed to a qpsk burst since one of the wtrus always assumes that this frame is an idle one . in the event that two muros / vamos capable wtrus are multiplexed in the same timeslot , both of them must be notified by the network about the applied sacch / idle configuration . when a legacy wtru is assigned to use muros / vamos resources along with a muros / vamos - capable wtru , the legacy wtru must use the legacy multi - frame format ( sacch in frame 13 ), whereas the muros / vamos - capable wtru uses the modified format ( sacch in frame 26 ). fig5 is an example of a full rate multiframe misalignment scenario 500 in a wireless communication system with legacy wtrus and muros / vamos - capable wtrus . referring to fig5 , wtru1 510 and wtru2 520 are two wtrus paired on a channel multiframe , where wtru1 510 is a legacy wtru and wtru2 520 is a muros / vamos - capable wtru . as shown in fig5 , the sacch frame for wtru1 510 is shifted forward to frame 14 , and the sacch frame for wtru2 520 is shifted to frame 25 . the depicted frame shift of the sacch is for illustration only and it is understood that the shift is variable . additionally , the number of frames of the shift may change from multiframe to multiframe . fig6 is an example of a multiframe misalignment that may be adapted for a half rate scenario applying similar principles as described above . an alternative method of improving the sacch performance includes applying a power offset in the transmit power level of the sacch frames when compared to the tch frames . the power offset may be configurable , or a fixed rule - based power offset compared to either one or more reference frames . in yet another alternate method , the sacch performance may be improved by modifying a radio link failure criterion used in legacy gsm networks such that the radio link failure criterion does not rely on the associated control channels , or at least , not exclusively . for example , an rlt criterion may be used as a threshold for the number of rlt failures before a call is dropped . in this example , the rlt criterion may be modified to check against missed sacch decodings and / or link quality , such as bit error rate ( ber ) or other representative quality measures , as observed on the traffic channel . the rlt criterion may be relaxed through increasing the rlt value for wtrus operating in muros / vamos environments . in another embodiment , stealing flags may be used to indicate resource sharing among oscs assigned to different wtrus for control channel transmission . fig7 is a flow diagram of a method 700 for a wtru to receive a facch on a sub - channel reserved for another wtru . the wtru receives 701 a frame . the frame may be a voice frame or a facch control frame . the wtru analyzes 702 the frame to check if stealing flags are set to indicate a facch transmission . if the stealing flags are not set , the wtru does not decode 704 for a facch transmission . if the stealing flags are set to indicate a facch transmission , then the wtru decodes 708 the facch transmission on sub - channels of one or more wtrus with which it is multiplexed . alternatively , the wtru may decode the facch transmission on its own sub - channel as well as the sub - channel of one or more other wtrus . in another alternative , resource stealing from the other osc may be used to convey the associated control channel ( sacch or facch ) to a wtru . stealing flags may indicate not only the presence of the facch , but also which osc the facch is carried on . for example , where qpsk or 16 - qam is used , the two stealing flag bits may indicate an osc based on the following organization : “ 00 ” indicates a speech frame ; “ 01 ” indicates a facch on a first osc ; and “ 11 ” indicates a facch on a second osc . the specific code points may of course be changed as their meanings are implementation details . alternatively , rules may be defined to determine when a facch for a first wtru may be carried on the osc allocated for a second wtru . for example , the first wtru may search for a facch addressed to it by decoding a second wtru &# 39 ; s osc at every nth occurrence or according to a pre - determined assignment pattern . a wtru may decode sacch transmissions on the other osc to determine if a message for it is carried there when multi - frame structures for individual wtrus or groups of wtrus are offset compared to those corresponding to other oscs . an identifier indicating a recipient wtru of a sacch or facch message may be realized in layer one , layer two , or layer three messages , used individually or in combination . for example , a portion of an identifier may be carried in layer two , while another portion of the identifier may be carried in layer three . as a more specific example , a stealing flag may indicate the presence of the facch to a wtru , and / or indicate a sub - channel on which the facch should be received . the facch message itself may then also include an indicator according to any of the embodiments described above that identifies the wtru as the recipient . fig8 is a flow diagram of an example approach to sending control information targeted at a wtru in the context of osc using layer one parameters . in the dl , a bs transmits system information messages to wtrus over the majority of the sacch lifetime . in most instances , the layer three information included in the system information message is the same for all of the wtrus multiplexed on a same timeslot using osc . however , there are also two layer one parameters ( the timing advance ( ta ) and the power command ( pc )) that are sent in lapdm frames used for sacch . these two parameters are appended as two octets by layer one onto the lapdm frames for sacch . therefore , although the layer three contents of the system information messages may be the same for multiple wtrus multiplexed onto a timeslot , the layer one parameters may be different for the different wtrus . fig8 shows layer one parameters sent to the wtrus in an osc pair in alternating sacch frames . the first wtru 802 performs 806 a resource assignment , registration , or other set up procedure to coordinate communications with the bs 800 . the second wtru 804 performs 808 a similar procedure . performance 806 , 808 of the set up procedures may involve the transmission of signals from the bs 800 to the wtrus 802 , 804 for coordinating the reception and interpretation of layer one parameters as described in further detail below . for example , the set up procedures may involve data transmitted from the bs 800 to the wtrus 802 , 804 indicating that sacch frames will include layer one parameters for the two wtrus 802 , 804 on an alternating basis . the first wtru 802 receives data 810 from the bs 800 on a first osc in a timeslot . the second wtru 804 receives data 812 from the bs 800 on a second osc in the timeslot . the bs 800 generates a first sacch transmission containing layer one parameters such as the ta and pc parameters as described above , with the intended recipient being the first wtru , and the frame is received 814 by the first wtru 802 . the first wtru 802 processes 816 the control data in the frame including the layer one parameters and reacts accordingly . the second wtru may or may not also receive and process the first sacch frame ( not depicted ), though it will be configured to ignore the layer one parameters included in the frame . the bs 800 generates the next sacch frame to contain layer one parameters intended for the second wtru 804 and transmits 818 the second sacch frame . the second sacch frame is received and the layer one parameters are processed 820 by the second wtru 804 , and the second wtru 804 reacts accordingly . the second sacch frame may or may not be received and processed by the first wtru ( not depicted ), but the first wtru 802 may be configured to ignore the layer one parameters included in the frame . this method may then continue , with alternating sacch transmissions including layer one parameters for the two wtrus 802 , 804 . in addition to alternating sacch transmissions as shown in fig8 , the sacch transmissions may be sent according to various other orders and transmission patterns . as shown in fig8 , the rules for associations between the orders of the sacch and the intended recipients may be signaled during a set up procedure as described in fig8 . alternatively , the rules may be derived implicitly based on known parameters . further , a rule associating a particular sacch occurrence with either a single wtru or group may be used . for example , a first wtru may decode the sacch at predetermined occurrences , but will disregard the layer one parameters received at these occurrences because they are intended for a second wtru . the first wtru also decodes the sacch at other predetermined occurrences , but does act on the layer one parameters received at these other occurrences . the sets of predetermined occurrences may or may not overlap . fig9 is a diagram of an example multiframe format 900 using a common sacch addressed to more than one wtru using a muros / vamos timeslot . the multiframe 900 includes 26 frames , some of which are control channel frames 910 . each frame is divided into 8 timeslots , and each timeslot may be divided into a plurality of sub - channels , for example a first osc 920 and a second osc 930 . in a first example , information specific to a particular wtru , such as layer one information containing ta and pc , may be multiplexed in several occurrences of the control channel frame 910 . since only a single sacch or facch is required , the number of channel bits available is doubled for increased channel coding . alternatively , the same number of channel coded bits may be achieved using a more robust modulation type such as gmsk . it is possible to apply this method to interlace or schedule either exclusively , or a combination of a certain number of individual sacchs addressed to a wtru , with a certain number of common sacchs addressed to more than one wtru , for example using a first osc 920 for wtru1 and a second osc 930 for wtru2 . alternatively , a repeated sacch and / or repeated facch feature 810 may be used in conjunction with muros / vamos operation . alternatively , a higher number of occurrences per multi - frame ( or time period ) than in legacy gsm speech multiframes is used for the associated control channels 910 in conjunction with muros / vamos operation . the increased number of transmission opportunities may in turn be used to provide more decoding opportunities to the wtru ( and therefore , increase the chance not to meet the radio link timeout criteria ), or to increase the channel coding and improve upon decoding robustness . in yet another alternative , incremental - redundancy , repetition and / or chase combining methods may be used for the associated control channels when used in conjunction with muros / vamos mode of operation . these may be employed upon successive occurrences of sacch or facch . fig1 is a functional block diagram of a wtru 1000 and a bs 1050 configured in accordance with the methods described above . the wtru 1000 includes a processor 1001 in communication with a receiver 1002 , transmitter 1003 , and antenna 1004 . the processor 1001 may be configured to process misaligned or shifted facch and sacch messages as described above . the bs 1050 includes a processor 1051 in communication with a receiver 1052 , transmitter 1053 , antenna 1054 , and a channel allocator 1055 . the channel allocator 1055 may be part of the processor 1051 , or it may be a separate unit in communication with the processor 1051 . the channel allocator 1055 may be configured to generate misaligned or shifted facch and sacch messages as described above . the wtru 1000 may include additional transmitters and receivers ( not depicted ) in communication with the processor 1001 and antenna 1004 for use in multi - mode operation , as well as other components described above . the wtru 1000 may include additional optional components ( not depicted ) such as a display , keypad , microphone , speaker , or other components . although features and elements are described above in particular combinations , each feature or element can be used alone without the other features and elements or in various combinations with or without other features and elements . the methods or flow charts provided herein may be implemented in a computer program , software , or firmware incorporated in a computer - readable storage medium for execution by a general purpose computer or a processor . examples of computer - readable storage mediums include a read only memory ( rom ), a random access memory ( ram ), a register , cache memory , semiconductor memory devices , magnetic media such as internal hard disks and removable disks , magneto - optical media , and optical media such as cd - rom disks , and digital versatile disks ( dvds ). suitable processors include , by way of example , a general purpose processor , a special purpose processor , a conventional processor , a digital signal processor ( dsp ), a plurality of microprocessors , one or more microprocessors in association with a dsp core , a controller , a microcontroller , application specific integrated circuits ( asics ), field programmable gate arrays ( fpgas ) circuits , any other type of integrated circuit ( ic ), and / or a state machine . a processor in association with software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in a wireless transmit receive unit ( wtru ), user equipment ( ue ), terminal , base station , radio network controller ( rnc ), or any host computer . the wtru may be used in conjunction with modules , implemented in hardware and / or software , such as a camera , a video camera module , a videophone , a speakerphone , a vibration device , a speaker , a microphone , a television transceiver , a hands free headset , a keyboard , a bluetooth ® module , a frequency modulated ( fm ) radio unit , a liquid crystal display ( lcd ) display unit , an organic light - emitting diode ( oled ) display unit , a digital music player , a media player , a video game player module , an internet browser , and / or any wireless local area network ( wlan ) or ultra wide band ( uwb ) module .	7
with reference to the drawing , fig1 and 3 are views of an embodiment of the self - contained weighing system , indicated generally at 10 and constructed according to the teaching of the present invention . fig1 shows a top view of weighing system 10 , while fig2 and 3 are side views of system 10 taken along lines 2 -- 2 and 3 -- 3 , respectively . self - contained weighing system 10 is enclosed in a housing having generally two portions 12 and 14 . housing portion 12 houses a load cell 16 and printed circuit ( pc ) boards 18 , 20 and 22 containing digital circuitry , analog circuitry and a power supply , respectively . additionally , precaution is taken for overheating , electromagnetic and radio frequency noise using heat sinks , heat spreaders , and shielding devices , which are not shown in the drawing . the load cell 16 includes a top force supporting surface 24 which extends beyond the top surface of load cell 16 and a bottom force supporting surface 25 which extends beyond the bottom surface of load cell 16 . surface 24 includes a concavity 26 for receiving a protruding element of an aircraft or vehicle ( not shown ) designed and constructed for this purpose . the concavity 26 is generally spherical . a locating pin 28 is mounted to housing portion 12 directly opposing concavity 26 and is insertable into a hydraulic lift jack ( not shown ), which may be used to elevate the weighing system and the object supported thereon . self - contained weighing system 10 may be constructed with load cells of varying weight capacities , anywhere from , for example , five thousand pounds to two hundred thousand pounds . preferably , load cell 16 is manufactured by general electrodynamics corporation of arlington , tex . a transducer is coupled to weight supporting surface 24 and detects the change in resistance in the material due to stress caused by force on surface 24 . housing portion 12 further includes a top portion 30 and a bottom portion 32 ; the two portions are held firmly together with fasteners 34 , such as bolts . housing portion 14 is coupled to housing portion 12 and encloses the rest of the components of self - contained weighing system 10 , including a rechargeable battery 36 , a 16 × 1 alphanumeric liquid crystal display ( lcd ) 38 , and an lcd driver pc board 40 . lcd 38 , such as one manufactured by densitron , displays the weight of the object being weighed and the unit of measurement , as well as system status messages , such as low battery and recharge battery . additionally , lcd 38 may display error messages in association with the operation of system 10 . lcd 38 may be mounted in a tiltable assembly ( not shown ) so that the angle of viewing may be varied . a keyboard 42 is mounted on housing portion 14 and contains three depressible keys 44 , 46 and 48 . the keys 44 , 46 and 48 are associated with specific functions such as zero , power on / off , and unit of measurement , respectively . also mounted on the housing portion 14 are two receptacles 50 and 52 for recharging battery 36 and for connecting a portable terminal ( shown in fig4 ) to weighing system 10 , respectively . the function of the portable terminal will be discussed in detail below . it is to be noted that the positions of lcd 38 , keyboard 42 and receptacles 50 and 52 on housing portion 14 may differ from those shown in fig1 - 3 without departing from the teachings of the present invention . to allow cables to pass between housing portions 12 and 14 , two through holes 54 and 56 are drilled in the wall adjoining the two portions . self - contained weighing system 10 may also be used in crane weighing and lifting applications . in such applications , system 10 would include coupling members such as threaded assemblies in place of surface 24 , concavity 26 and locating pin 28 . constructed in this fashion , system 10 may be coupled between the crane and a load to measure the load weight . an annunciator ( not shown ) for overload alarm may be coupled to system 10 to sound an audible alarm . the annunciator may be coupled to system 10 through receptacle 52 . in another embodiment of the present invention , a plurality of self - contained weighing system 10 may be coupled to a platform to form a weighing scale . each self - contained weighing system 10 may be connected to a central display and / or computing unit ( not shown ) through receptacle 52 for a collective display of weights measured . referring to fig4 which provides an overview of the circuitry in system 10 , the differential output of a transducer 60 is coupled to one input of a four - to - one differential analog multiplexer ( mux ) 62 via lines 64 . transducer 60 produces differential load signals having amplitudes proportional to the weight of the object being measured . preferably , transducer 60 is of an electrical bridge type strain gage . analog mux 62 receives two other differential inputs : analog zero and analog max , which are voltage levels used during autocalibration to be discussed below . analog mux 62 is further coupled to a microprocessor 66 , preferably sc80c451 manufactured by signetics corporation , via lines 68 and 70 . analog mux 62 selects one of the three differential signals on its inputs , and outputs the selected signal on an output 72 depending on the state of control signals on lines 68 and 70 . output 72 of analog mux 62 is connected to circuit components in an amplifier section 74 , the details of which will be discussed below in conjunction with fig5 . the output of amplifier section 74 is coupled to an analog to digital ( a / d ) converter 76 , which converts the analog signal received at its input to a digital signal at its output . preferably , a / d converter 76 is model cs5501 or cs5503 manufactured by crystal semiconductor corporation of austin , tex . the output of a / d converter 76 is connected to microprocessor 66 . a memory 78 , including a rom ( read - only memory ), a ram ( random access memory ) and an eeprom ( electrically erasable and programmable read - only memory ), is coupled to microprocessor 66 for storage . microprocessor 66 also has internal ram ( not shown ). in addition , microprocessor 66 may possess features common to most microprocessor devices , such as input / output ( i / o ) ports , registers , buffers , an arithmetic logic unit ( alu ) and the like . an internal uart ( universal asynchronous receiver and transmitter ) 80 in microprocessor 66 is coupled to an rs232c level shifter 82 , which may be coupled to a portable terminal 84 through receptacle 52 ( shown in fig3 ). portable terminal 84 is used during a calibration step as part of the manufacturing process , and may or may not include real computing capability . portable terminal 84 includes a display screen and a plurality of keys . microprocessor 66 is further coupled to display 38 and keyboard 42 , both shown in fig3 to provide an interface to a human operator . a battery 86 supplies 12 volts of electrical power to self - contained weighing system 10 . the positive node of battery 86 is coupled to an emitter of a transistor 88 . a base of transistor 88 is connected to a drain of a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor ( mosfet ) 90 . the base of transistor 88 is also connected to an input port of microprocessor 66 via line 92 , on which a signal on / off is delivered from the base of transistor 88 to microprocessor 66 . mosfet 90 is controlled by an on enable signal on line 94 generated by microprocessor 66 . one input of a comparator 96 is coupled to a collector of transistor 88 through a resistor 98 . comparator 96 compares the voltage level of battery 86 with a reference voltage source ref coupled to another input of comparator 96 , and produces at least one battery status signal on line 99 . line 99 is connected to an input port of microprocessor 66 . the details of this battery status signal producing section will be discussed in connection with fig7 below . referring to fig5 where like numerals refer to like elements in fig4 transducer 60 comprises strain gages 100 to 106 connected in an electrical bridge circuit which provide an analog load signal on lines 108 and 110 indicating the load applied on load cell 16 . excitation to the electrical bridge circuit is provided on lines 112 and 114 having positive six volts and approximately negative 5 . 4 volts , respectively . transducer 60 compensates for variations in ambient temperature by incorporating materials in the electrical bridge circuit that effectively cancel the temperature effects . such techniques for temperature compensation provide an accurate compensated load signal and are well known in the art . the analog load signal on lines 108 and 110 from transducer 60 are connected to an input of analog mux 62 . the other inputs of analog mux 62 are connected to a resistor circuit which provides differential analog zero and analog max voltages . the resistor circuit includes resistor 116 coupled between a positive six - volt source and a node 118 . node 118 is connected to a resistor 120 and three inputs of analog mux 62 . resistor 120 is coupled to a node 122 , which is also connected to an input of analog mux 62 . node 122 is further coupled to a variable resistor 124 through a resistor 126 . variable resistor 124 is further coupled to a negative six - volt source through a diode 128 . the anode of diode 128 is also connected to excitation line 114 of transducer 60 . constructed in this manner , the second set of inputs to analog mux 62 is the voltage level at node 118 , and the third set of inputs to analog mux 62 receives the differential voltage across resistor 120 . note that the fourth set of inputs of analog mux 62 is not used in this embodiment . analog mux 62 receives two control inputs mux0 and mux1 from microprocessor 66 , which determine which set of inputs is to be provided at the output lines 130 and 132 . output lines 130 and 132 of analog mux 62 are coupled to switches 136 and 138 . switches 136 and 138 are capable of switching rapidly between a first position and a second position . in the first position , switches 136 and 138 connect lines 130 and 132 to a capacitor 134 , while in the second position , the switches connect capacitor 134 in parallel with a capacitor 140 . one terminal of capacitor 140 is connected to ground . constructed in this fashion , one half of the charge accumulated on capacitor 134 is transferred to capacitor 140 each time switches 136 and 138 are moved to the second position , until approximately all of the charges on capacitor 134 are transferred to capacitor 140 , where it becomes ground referenced . capacitor 140 is further coupled to a non - inverting input of an operational amplifier 142 through resistors 144 . the inverting input of operational amplifier 142 is connected to ground through a resistor 146 , and is further coupled to its output through a resistor 148 and a capacitor 150 connected in parallel . preferably , operational amplifier 142 has a gain of approximately 12 . 5 , but it is adjustable through changing the resistance values of resistors 146 and 148 . the output of operational amplifier 142 is coupled to a non - inverting input of a second operational amplifier 152 , having a gain of approximately 4 . 8 , through a resistor 154 . the gain of operational amplifier 152 may be adjusted by varying the resistance values of resistors 178 and 182 . a unity gain operational amplifier 156 is coupled to the non - inverting input of second operational amplifier 152 through a resistor 158 . operational amplifier 156 has a feedback circuit consisting of a capacitor 160 and a resistor 162 connected in parallel to its inverting input . a resistor 164 is connected between the inverting input of operational amplifier 156 and a positive 2 . 5 - volt source ( shown in fig7 ). also connected to the 2 . 5 - volt source are three resistors 166 , 168 and 170 connected in series to ground . of these , resistor 168 is a variable resistor which is coupled to a non - inverting input of operational amplifier 156 . the non - inverting input of operational amplifier 156 is also coupled to ground through a capacitor 172 . the output of operational amplifier 152 is coupled to its inverting input through a capacitor 174 . coupled in parallel to capacitor 174 are serially connected variable resistor 176 and resistor 178 . variable resistor 176 is also coupled to the input ( analog in ) of a / d converter 76 via line 180 . a resistor 182 is connected in series between capacitor 174 , series resistors 176 , 178 and ground . a / d converter 76 is operable to receive the analog signal on line 180 , convert the analog signal to a digital signal , and provide it as an output ( digital out ) on line 184 to microprocessor 66 . in addition , a / d converter 76 receives and supplies a plurality of control signals from and to microprocessor 66 on lines 186 . a clock signal clk is provided as a synchronizing signal to a / d converter 76 on line 188 , the generation of which is to be discussed below . in fig6 microprocessor 66 receives , on line 184 , the digital signal , from a / d converter 76 , indicative of the weight applied to load cell 16 . a plurality of control signals , including sc1 , sc2 and cal on lines 190 to 194 , is transmitted between a / d converter 76 and microprocessor 66 . signals sc1 and sc2 control the type of calibration to be performed by a / d converter 76 on an active edge of signal cal . other control signals may be transmitted between a / d converter 76 and microprocessor 66 as required , but will not be enumerated herein . a / d converter 76 also receives two voltage levels , positive 2 . 5 volts on line 196 and ground on line 198 , as reference voltages during calibration . the functions of a / d converter 76 will be more apparent in the discussion below . an oscillator buffer ( not shown ) internal to microprocessor 66 is coupled to a ceramic or crystal oscillating resonator 200 on lines 202 and 204 . the resonator is preferably 1 . 8432 mhz and is coupled to ground between two capacitors 206 and 208 . the output of oscillator buffer on line 202 is connected to a clock input 210 of a data flip - flop 212 . a data input d of data flip - flop 212 is connected to its inverted output q via line 214 . a non - inverted output q of data flip - flop 212 is connected to a / d converter 76 as a clock signal clk on line 188 . in effect , the frequency of resonator 200 is divided by two by data flip - flop 212 , so that clock signal clk has a frequency of 0 . 9216 mhz microprocessor 66 is coupled to keyboard 42 having three keys in the form of switches 216 , 218 and 220 . switches 216 , 218 and 220 enable a user to reset system 10 , to turn system 10 on and off , and to toggle between measurement units pounds and kilograms , respectively . switch 218 is additionally connected via line 92 to transistor 88 ( fig4 ). note that keyboard 42 may include other additional functions as deemed necessary without departing from the teachings of the present invention . the discharged condition of battery 86 is monitored by comparator circuit 96 , which includes operational amplifiers 222 and 224 coupled to battery 86 through a resistor network . non - inverting inputs of operational amplifiers 222 and 224 are connected to an output of another operation amplifier 226 . an inverting input of operational amplifier 226 is coupled to its output through a resistor 228 . a non - inverting input of operational amplifier 226 is connected to a node 230 , which is connected to resistors 232 and 234 . resistor 234 is connected to ground at the terminal not connected to node 230 . coupled in parallel with resistors 232 and 234 are a capacitor 236 and a zener diode 238 . the parallel resistors , capacitor 236 and zener diode 238 are coupled to positive six volts through a resistor 240 . a capacitor 242 is further connected between both non - inverting inputs of operational amplifiers 222 and 224 and ground . the inverting inputs of operational amplifiers 222 and 224 are connected to two nodes between series connected resistors 244 , 246 , 248 and 250 , which are coupled in that order between positive six volts and ground . the inverting input of operational amplifier 222 is connected to a node 252 between resistors 246 and 248 , and the inverting input of operational amplifier 224 is connected to a node 254 between resistors 248 and 250 . a capacitor 256 is coupled in parallel with resistors 246 , 248 and 250 . resistor 244 is a variable resistor with its third terminal connected to positive six volts . operational amplifiers 222 and 224 provide two outputs , on lines 258 and 260 , indicating two battery discharge conditions : recharge and low battery , respectively . both signals are received by microprocessor 66 . signal low battery indicates that the charge stored in battery 86 has fallen below a first predetermined level , preferably 11 . 4 volts . signal recharge indicates that battery 86 should be recharged immediately since the charge stored therein has fallen below a second predetermined level less than the first predetermined level , preferably 11 . 1 volts . microprocessor 66 is also adapted to receive dip switch 262 settings configured to indicate the weight capacity of the load cell . as described previously , in the instant embodiment load cell 16 may have weight capacities with maximum weight varying from , for example , five thousand pounds to two hundred thousand pounds . the weight capacity , as indicated by dip switches 262 , allows microprocessor 66 to adjust the full range of the load signal to the full capacity of load cell 16 . referring to fig7 battery 86 is connected to an emitter of a transistor 270 . a base of transistor 270 is coupled to its emitter through a resistor 272 . the base of transistor 270 is further coupled to a drain of an n - channel mosfet 274 through a resistor 276 . an anode of a diode 278 is further connected to the drain of mosfet 274 and is connected to on / off switch 218 at its cathode . a source of mosfet 274 is connected to ground , and a gate thereof is coupled to ground through a resistor 280 . a signal on enable is transmitted on line 94 from microprocessor 66 and is received by the gate of mosfet 274 . positive six volts and negative six volts are available at nodes 282 and 284 , respectively . to provide the various voltage levels required to operate the analog and digital circuits in system 10 , a power supply 286 and a precision voltage reference 288 are each coupled to node 282 to generate a five - volt voltage level and a 2 . 5 - volt voltage level , respectively . a virtual ground circuit 300 is coupled to battery 86 to establish a virtual ground voltage level for system 10 . an inverting input of an operational amplifier 302 is coupled to positive six volts at node 282 through a resistor 304 and to negative six volts at node 284 through a resistor 306 . a non - inverting input of operational amplifier 302 is coupled to ground through a resistor 308 . the output of operational amplifier 302 is connected to the base of a transistor 310 through a resistor 312 . the base of transistor 310 is further coupled to node 284 through a resistor 314 . the emitter of transistor 310 is connected directly to node 284 . the collector of transistor 310 is coupled to node 282 through a resistor 316 , and is further coupled to a base of a transistor 318 through a resistor 320 . the emitter of transistor 318 is connected to ground and the collector thereof is connected to node 284 . in operation of the present invention , please refer to the flowcharts describing a program executed in microprocessor 66 shown in fig8 to 14 . as self - contained weighing system 10 is turned on by depressing on / off key 46 ( fig3 ), it closes switch 218 ( fig6 ) to ground and generates a low signal , which turns on transistor 270 ( fig7 ) and connects battery 86 to power supplies 286 and 288 supplying electrical power to the circuits of system 10 . microprocessor 66 is thus powered up , and generates the on enable signal . the on enable signal is received by mosfet 274 , turning it on . a current thus flows from the base of transistor 270 to the drain of mosfet 274 , which keeps transistor 270 on , even when on / off key 46 is released . referring to fig8 a power - on initialize routine 330 is shown . after microprocessor 66 is powered on , the i / o ports ( not shown ) for transmitting and receiving data from various points in system 10 , such as display 38 , keyboard 42 , rs232c level shifter 82 , a / d converter 82 , and memory 78 , are set up and initialized , as shown in block 332 . thereafter in block 334 , microprocessor 66 tests lcd display 38 by transmitting numerals 111 . . . 1 , 222 . . . 2 , through 999 . . . 9 to it , so that a human operator may visually check its operation . next in block 336 , a character is transmitted to portable terminal 84 through internal uart 80 and rs232c level shifter 82 , and a predetermined amount of time is set to wait for a response from portable terminal 84 as shown in block 338 . in block 340 , it is determined whether the character transmitted is echoed back as an acknowledge from portable terminal 84 . if so , portable terminal 84 is connected to system 10 , and a calibrate routine 342 is executed ; if not , the program proceeds to a foreground task 343 , to be discussed below . note that portable terminal 84 is used for calibrating system 10 during manufacturing , and that it is not used during actual weighing . proceeding to fig9 calibrate routine begins in block 344 , and a menu is displayed on the screen of portable terminal 84 prompting the user to select either load cell calibration or examination of the inputs of analog mux 62 . if the user chooses to examine the analog mux inputs in response to block 346 , a new menu is displayed providing choices a , b and c . choices a , b and c represent the load signal from transducer 60 , analog zero or analog max . in block 348 , it is determined whether choice a has been chosen . if so , the program proceeds to block 350 , where microprocessor 66 provides analog mux 62 select signals mux0 = 0 and mux1 = 0 in order to select the actual load signal from transducer 60 . in block 352 , the load signal , after being processed by amplifier section 74 and converted to a digital signal by a / d converter 76 , is received by microprocessor 66 and displayed as shown in block 354 . thereafter , in block 356 it is determined whether another character has been received from portable terminal 84 , whereupon the program returns to block 346 . otherwise , the code represented in blocks 352 and 354 is executed until a new character is received . analog mux input choices b and c are selected and executed in a similar fashion to choice a . if it is not choice c that is selected , but choice b as shown in block 358 , then microprocessor 66 selects analog zero by providing mux0 = 0 and mux1 = 1 , as shown i block 360 . as such , the voltage level at node 118 ( fig5 ) is produced at the output of analog mux 62 . in blocks 362 and 364 , analog zero is received by microprocessor 66 and displayed on portable terminal 84 . similarly , choice c or analog max is chosen and selected in blocks 368 , 370 , and the differential voltage between nodes 118 and 122 is converted into a digital signal and received by microprocessor 66 . after a choice is made , it is determined whether a new character has been received from portable terminal 84 , as shown in blocks 366 and 376 . if , in block 346 , the user chooses to calibrate the load cell , calibrate load cell routine 378 is executed . as shown in fig1 , calibrate load cell routine begins at block 380 . in block 382 , an a / d converter self calibration is performed . a / d converter 76 may be calibrated by providing voltage levels it may use as a zero scale point and a full scale point . a slope factor is calculated from the zero and full scale points , which represents the gain slope for the input to output transfer function of a / d converter 76 . in self calibration , a / d converter 76 is commanded by microprocessor 66 via signals sc1 , sc2 and cal on lines 190 to 194 to use voltage values lines 196 and 198 ( fig6 ) for the full scale point and the zero scale point , respectively . the self calibration is done internally by a / d converter 76 , and will not be discussed in detail herein . subsequent to a / d self calibration , the user is prompted in block 384 to apply a known load to load cell 16 and to enter the load weight value . the user may choose to do so or to exit , as shown in block 386 . typically , at least thirteen known loads are weighed in succession to collect thirteen sets of data consisting of a weight value and a weight signal as received by microprocessor 66 . the known loads may be weighed in any order , but the data may be sorted by a sort task ( not shown ) and stored in memory 78 in ascending or descending order . after enough data are gathered , the user may choose to exit in block 386 and microprocessor 66 proceeds to compute coefficients of at least two polynomials which fit the data , as shown in blocks 388 through 394 . because of characteristics associated with the response of load cell 16 to different load weights in a broad range , the data for load weights below five thousand pounds are curve fitted to one polynomial , while data for load weights above five thousand pounds are curve fitted to a second polynomial . the coefficients are computed and stored in memory 78 . the least square polynomial algorithm is based on a set of techniques collectively known as singular value decomposition . a book numerical recipes in c , the art of scientific computing by press et al . may be consulted for a discussion on this subject . subsequently , an auto calibration routine is called in block 396 and the program returns to foreground mode in block 398 . the details of auto calibration will be discussed in conjunction with fig1 below . it is important to note that the above routines related to portable terminal 84 are executed during calibration in the manufacturing process of the self - contained weighing system 10 and that system 10 is entirely self - contained during actual weighing . referring to fig1 , foreground task 400 weighs a load applied to load cell 16 ( fig2 ). the foreground task also determines whether auto calibration is required ( block 402 ). system 10 preferably performs auto calibration every 9 . 5 minutes to ensure accuracy of the system . auto calibration allows a / d converter 76 to compensate for system gain and offset errors . in auto calibration , instead of using a positive 2 . 5 volts level and ground as full and zero scale points , voltage values present on the analog in pin of a / d converter 76 is used for both scale points . if an auto calibration is needed , system 10 proceeds to auto calibration 404 . refer to fig1 , auto calibration begins in block 406 and begins by selecting analog zero as the output of analog mux 62 shown in block 408 . in order for the analog zero signal to stabilize and propagate properly to a / d converter 76 , program execution waits approximately one second in block 410 before proceeding on to block 412 . a / d converter 76 is commanded by microprocessor 66 via signals sc1 , sc2 and cal on lines 190 to 194 ( fig6 ) to receive the zero scale point . in block 414 and 416 , analog max is selected as the output of analog mux 62 and allowed to propagate and stabilize . a / d converter 76 then receives the analog max signal as the full scale point in block 418 . from the zero and full scale point values , a slope factor representing the gain slope for the input to output transfer function of the converter is calculated . the slope factor is saved and later used to calculate the digital output of a / d converter 76 during measurement conversions . in block 420 and 422 , the load signal from transducer 60 is selected and provided as input to a / d converter 76 , the program exits ( block 424 ) and returns to the foreground task in fig1 . in block 428 , microprocessor 66 collects the load signal from the output digital out of a / d converter 76 . a range comparison of the digital load signal is made in block 430 . if this digital load signal is all ones , then the load signal is out of range and is invalid . similarly , if the digital load signal is all zeros , then the load signal is also out of range and is equally invalid . if the load signal is out of range , an appropriate message is displayed on lcd 38 , shown in block 432 , and program execution returns to block 402 . if the digital load signal is valid , then a weight value is calculated in block 434 . a calculate weight routine is shown in fig1 and begins in block 440 . in block 441 , the polynomial is solved by plugging in the signal load from a / d converter 76 and using the set of coefficients for either weight less than or greater than five thousand pounds . this yields an error factor which may be added to or subtracted from the load signal to generate an accurate load signal which has compensated for the nonlinearity of load cell 16 and circuit electronics , as shown in block 442 . it is important to note that although the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes the least square polynomial algorithm , other mathematical techniques may also be employed , such as non - linear regression algorithms . in block 443 , the setting of dip switch 262 is received by microprocessor 66 , and in block 444 the corresponding maximum load factor is obtained from a look - up table 446 . look up table 446 may be arranged as shown . the left most column of look - up table 446 is the logic levels of dip switch 262 , each representing load cell types ; the middle column represents the maximum load capacities for each load cell type ; and the last column is the maximum load factor for each load cell type . the load signal value is divided by the maximum load factor to adjust the range of the load signal to the range of the weight capacity . the resultant number is the weight of the load being measured . the calculate weight routine ends here and returns to the foreground task in block 450 . after a weight value has been obtained from the calculate weight routine , a tare value , obtained during zeroing , which will be discussed below , is subtracted from the presently obtained weight value . the tare value represents any weight system 10 may have measured in addition to the load being applied . such weight may be the weight of any extraneous objects , such as jigs used during measurement . after block 460 , a unit flag is tested to determine whether a pound or a kilogram representation is desired on the display , and the weight value is adjusted accordingly , shown in blocks 462 and 464 . the resultant weight value is displayed on lcd 38 , as shown in block 466 . at this time , keys 44 , 46 and 48 on keyboard 42 ( fig3 ) are monitored in block 468 . if any one of keys 44 to 48 is depressed , a keyboard routine 470 is executed . the keyboard routine is shown in fig1 and begins in block 476 . the key depressed is first debounced in block 478 . in blocks 480 , 482 and 484 each key is tested to determine which key or keys are depressed . if the key depressed is zero key 46 , then execution advances to block 486 , where the load signal value is verified to be within predetermined limits . in block 488 , motion caused by external forces are detected by comparing a previously obtained load signal value to a load signal value presently obtained . if the comparison yielded a difference of more than a predetermined setpoint , motion is detected , and a motion error message is displayed , as shown in block 490 . if no motion is detected , the load signal is computed to obtain a tare value and saved , as shown in blocks 492 and 494 . the program returns to foreground task in block 496 . if the key depressed is on / off key 44 , then microprocessor 66 proceeds to shut down the system by disabling the on enable signal to mosfet 274 until there is no power , as shown in blocks 498 and 500 . the self - contained weighing system 10 is then shut down . if the key depressed is lb / kg key 46 , the unit flag is simply toggled , where in one state the desired unit is pounds and in the other it is kilograms , as shown in block 502 . the program proceeds to foreground task in block 496 . in summary , self - contained weighing system 10 may be operated without any external display screen , computing unit , or cable . the weight of an aircraft or heavy vehicle may be measured simply by placing one or more self - contained systems 10 at various weigh points of the load . the total weight of the load may then be computed by summing the weights displayed by system 10 . system 10 provides a weight calculation based on a least square polynomial computed by curve fitting a data set of weight values and weight signals . this weight computation provides an accurate weight measurement . in addition , errors caused by temperature variation , motion , and zero drifting are eliminated . although the present invention has been described in detail , it should be understood that various changes , substitutions and alterations can be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims .	6

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