Split (3)

train · 25k rows

text stringlengths 1.55k 332k	label int64 0 8
referring now to fig1 , there is shown in plan view a conventional semiconductor wafer 10 upon which a plurality of semiconductor fuel cells 12 have been fabricated . a plurality of cells may be electrically interconnected on a wafer and provided with gases to form a power chip 15 . for simplicity , fuel cells 12 and chips 15 are not shown to scale in as much as it is contemplated that at least 80 million cells may be formed on a 4 ″ wafer . one such cell is shown in fragmented cross - section in fig2 . in its simplest form , each cell 12 consists of a substrate 14 , contacts 16 a and b , and a conductive polymer base 18 formed on both sides of a first layer 20 ( a ) of non - conductive layered polymer support structure 20 and in intimate contact with the metal electrical contacts . a conductive polymer 22 with embedded catalyst particles 28 on both sides of the central structure 20 forms a pem barrier separating the hydrogen gas on the left side from the oxygen gas on the right side . etched channels 50 b and 50 a respectively for admittance of the o 2 and h 2 gas and a heatsink lid 40 over the cell 12 is also shown in fig2 . fig3 a - 3 h are a series of schematic sectional views showing the relevant fabrication details of the pem barrier 30 in several steps . fig3 a shows the bottom of a power cell channel which has been etched into the semiconductor substrate 14 . it also shows the metal contacts 16 which are responsible for conveying the electrons out of the power cell 12 to the rest of the circuitry . these metal contact are deposited by well - known photolithographic processes in the metalization phase of the semiconductor fabrication process . fig3 b shows the conductive polymer base 18 as it has been applied to the structure . base 18 is in physical / electrical contact with the metal contacts 16 and has been adapted to attract the conductive polymer 22 of the step shown in fig3 a - 3 h . fig3 c shows the nonconductive polymer base 20 ( a ) as it has been applied to the structure . it is positioned between the two conductive polymer base sites 18 and is adapted to attract the nonconductive polymer 20 . fig3 d shows a polymer resist 21 as applied to the structure . resist 21 is responsible for repelling the polymers and preventing their growth in unwanted areas . fig3 e shows the first layer 20 b of nonconductive polymer as it has been grown on its base 20 a . this is the center material of the pem barrier . it helps support the thinner outer sides 22 when they are constructed . fig3 f shows the subsequent layers of nonconductive polymer 20 which are laid down , in a layer by layer fashion to form a vertical barrier . this vertical orientation allows for area amplification . fig3 g shows the first layer 22 a of conductive polymer grown on its base 18 . this is the outside wall material with catalyst of the pem barrier . fig3 h shows the subsequent layers of conductive polymer 22 laid down , in a layer by layer fashion on to the structure . fig2 shows the completed structure after removal of the polymer resist layer 21 and the addition of lid 40 and the pre - existing sidewalls 52 left out of fig3 a - 3 h for simplicity . this resist removal may not be necessary if layer 21 was originally the passivation layer of the final step in the semiconductor fabrication process . referring now to fig2 again further details of the elements forming the fuel cell 12 will be explained . the protein exchange membrane shown generally at 30 forms a barrier between the fuel h 2 and the oxidant o 2 . the pem barrier 30 is made up of three parts of two materials . there is the first outside wall 22 b , then the center 20 , and finally the second outside wall 22 c . it is constructed with a center piece 20 of the first material in contact with the two outside walls which are both made of the second material . the material 20 forming the center piece , is preferably an ionic polymer capable of passing the hydrogen ions ( protons ) through from the hydrogen side to the oxygen side . it is electrically nonconductive so that it does not , effectively , short out the power cell across the two contacts 16 a and 16 b . it may be made of nafion ® or of a material of similar characteristics . an external load 5 as shown in dotted lines may be coupled across the contacts to extract power . the second material 22 , forming the two outside walls , is also a similar ionic polymer capable of passing the hydrogen ions . in addition , it is doped with nano catalyst particles 28 ( shown by the dots ), such as , platinum / alloy catalyst and is also electrically conductive . by embedding the catalyst particles 28 into the polymer 22 , maximum intimate contact is achieved with the pem 30 . this intimate contact provides a readily available path which allows the ions to migrate freely towards the cathode electrode 16 b . catalysis is a surface effect . by suspending the catalytic particles 28 in the polymer 22 , effective use of the entire surface area is obtained . this will dramatically increase the system efficiency . by making the second material 22 electrically conductive , an electrode is produced . the proximity of the electrode to the catalytic reaction affects how well it collects electrons . this method allows the catalytic reaction to occur effectively within the electrode itself . this intimate contact provides a readily available path which allows the electrons to migrate freely towards the anode 16 a . this will allow for the successful collection of most of the free electrons . again , this will dramatically increase the system efficiency . in addition to the electrical and chemical / functional characteristics of the pem 30 described above , there are some important physical ones , that are described below : this self assembly process allows for the construction of a more optimum pem barrier . by design it will be more efficient . first , there is the matter of forming the separate hydrogen and oxygen path ways . this requires that the pem structure to be grown / formed so that it dissects the etched channel 50 fully into two separate channels 50 a , 50 b . this means that it may be patterned to grow in the center of the channel and firmly up against the walls of the ends of the power cell . it may also be grown to the height of the channel to allow it to come into contact with an adhesive 42 on the bottom of lid 40 . second , there is the matter of forming a gas tight seal . this requires that the pem structure 30 be bonded thoroughly to the base structures 18 and 20 a , the substrate 14 and the end walls ( not shown ) of the power cell and to an adhesive 42 which coats the lid 40 . by proper choice of the polymers , a chemical bond is formed between the materials they contact in the channel . in addition to this chemical bond , there is the physical sealing effect by applying the lid 40 down on top of the pem barrier . if the height of the pem 30 is controlled correctly , the pressure of the applied lid forms a mechanical “ 0 ring ” type of self seal . growing the pem 30 on the substrate 14 eliminates any fine registration issues when combining it with the lid 40 . there are no fine details on the lid that require targeting . turning now to fig4 , there is shown in simplified perspective an alternate embodiment of a pem barrier involving a casting / injecting process and structure . using mems machining methods three channels 60 a , 60 b and 60 c are etched into a semiconductor substrate 140 . the outside two channels 60 a and 60 c are separated from the middle channel 60 b by thin walls 70 a , 70 b . these walls have a plurality of thin slits s 1 - - - s n etched into them . the resultant tines t 1 - - - t n + 1 have a catalyst 280 deposited on them in the area of the slits . at the bottom of these thin walls 70 a , 70 b , on the side which makes up a wall of an outside channel 60 a , 60 c , a metal electrode 160 a , 160 b is deposited . a catalyst 280 is deposited on the tines after the electrodes 160 are in place . this allows the catalyst to be deposited so as to come into electrical contact and to cover to some degree , the respective electrodes 160 at their base . in addition , metal conductors 90 are deposited to connect to each electrode 160 , which then run up and out of the outside channels . a lid 400 is provided with an adhesive layer 420 which is used to bond the lid to the substrate 140 . in this way , three separate channels are formed in the substrate ; a hydrogen channel 60 a , a reaction channel 60 b , and an oxygen channel 60 c . in addition , the lid 400 has various strategically placed electrolyte injection ports or holes 500 . these holes 500 provide feed pathways that lead to an electrolyte membrane of polymer material ( not shown ) in the reaction channel 60 b only . first , the semiconductor fabrication process is formed including substrate machining and deposition of all electrical circuits . next , the lid 400 is machined and prepared with adhesive 420 . the lid 400 is bonded to the substrate 140 . then , the electrolyte ( not shown ) is injected into the structure . the thin walls 70 a , 70 b of the reaction channel 60 b serve to retain the electrolyte during its casting . the slits s 1 - - - s n allow the hydrogen and oxygen in the respective channels 60 a , 60 b access to the catalyst 280 and pem 300 . coating the tines t 1 - - - t 1 + n with a catalyst 280 in the area of the slits provides a point of reaction when the h 2 gas enters the slits . when the electrolyte is poured / injected into the reaction channel 60 b , it fills it up completely . the surface tension of the liquid electrolyte keeps it from pushing through the slits and into the gas channels , which would otherwise fill up as well . because there is some amount of pressure behind the application of the electrolyte , there will be a ballooning effect of the electrolyte &# 39 ; s surface as the pressure pushes it into the slits . this will cause the electrolyte to be in contact with the catalyst 280 which coats the sides of the slits s 1 - - - s n . once this contact is formed and the membrane ( electrolyte ) is hydrated , it will expand even further , ensuring good contact with the catalyst . the h 2 / o 2 gases are capable of diffusing into the ( very thin , i . e . 5 microns ) membrane , in the area of the catalyst . because it can be so thin it will produce a more efficient i . e . less resistance ( 12 r ) losses are low . this then puts the three components of the reaction in contact with each other . the electrodes 160 a and 160 b in electrical contact with the catalyst 280 is the fourth component and provides a path for the free electrons , through an external load ( not shown ), while the hydrogen ions pass through the electrolyte membrane to complete the reaction on the other side . referring now to the cross - sectional views of fig5 - 7 , various alternative configurations of the pem structure 30 of the invention will be described in detail . in fig5 , the central pem structure 20 is formed as a continuous nonconductive vertical element , and the electrode / catalyst 16 / 28 is a non - continuous element to which lead wires 90 are attached . fig6 is a view of an alternative pem structure in which the catalyst 28 is embedded in the non - conductive core 20 and the electrodes 16 are formed laterally adjacent the catalyst . lastly , in fig7 , the pem structure is similar to fig5 but the center core 201 is discontinuous . fig8 is a schematic block diagram showing some of the possible circuits that may be integrated along with a microcontroller onto the semiconductor wafer 10 to monitor and control multiple cells performance . several sensor circuits 80 , 82 , 84 and 86 are provided to perform certain functions . temperature circuit 80 provides the input to allow the micro processor 88 to define a thermal profile of the fuel cell 12 . voltage circuit 82 monitors the voltage at various levels of the configuration hierarchy or group of cells . this provides information regarding changes in the load . with this information , the processor 88 can adjust the system configuration to achieve / maintain the required performance . current circuit 84 performs a function similar to the voltage monitoring circuit 82 noted above . pressure circuit 86 monitors the pressure in the internal gas passages 50 a , 50 b . since the system &# 39 ; s performance is affected by this pressure , the microprocessor 88 can make adjustments to keep the system running at optimum performance based on these readings . an undefined circuit 81 is made available to provide a few spare inputs for the microprocessor 88 in anticipation of future functions . in addition , configuration circuit 94 can be used to control at least the v * i switches to be described in connection with fig9 . the output voltage and current capability is defined by the configuration of these switches . local circuitry 92 is provided as necessary to be dynamically programmed , such as the parameters of the monitoring circuits . these outputs can be used to effect that change . local subsystems 94 are used by the microprocessor 98 to control gas flow rate , defect isolation , and product removal . a local power circuit 96 is used to tap off some part of the electricity generated by the fuel cell 12 to power the onboard electronics . this power supply circuit 96 will have its own regulation and conditioning circuits . a two - wire communications i / f device 98 may be integrated onto the chip to provide the electrical interface between communicating devices and a power bus ( not shown ) that connects them . the microcontroller 8 is the heart of the integrated electronics subsystem . it is responsible for monitoring and controlling all designated system functions . in addition , it handles the communications protocol of any external communications . it is capable of “ in circuit programming ” so that its executive control program can be updated as required . it is capable of data storage and processing and is also capable of self / system diagnostics and security features . referring now to fig9 , further details of the invention are shown . in this embodiment , the individual power cells 12 1 , 12 2 - - - 12 n are formed on a wafer and wired in parallel across power buses 99 a and 99 b using transistor switches 97 which can be controlled from the microprocessor 88 of fig8 . switches 97 b and 97 a are negative and positive bus switches , respectively , whereas switch 97 c is a series switch and switches 97 d and 97 e are respective positive and negative parallel switches , respectively . this allows the individual cells or groups of cells ( power chip 15 ) to be wired in various configurations , i . e ., parallel or series . various voltages are created by wiring the cells in series . the current capacity can also be increased by wiring the cells in parallel . in general , the power profile of the power chip can be dynamically controlled to achieve or maintain a “ programmed ” specification . conversely , the chip can be configured at the time of fabrication to some static profile and , thus , eliminate the need for the power switches . by turning the switches on and off and by changing the polarity of wiring , one can produce both ac and dc power output . to implement a power management subsystem , feedback from the power generation process is required . circuitry can be formed directly on the chip to constantly measure the efficiencies of the processes . this feedback can be used to modify the control of the system in a closed loop fashion . this permits a maximum level of system efficiency to be dynamically maintained . some of these circuits are discussed next . the quality of the power generation process will vary as the demands on the system change over time . a knowledge of the realtime status of several operational parameters can help make decisions which will enable the system to self - adjust , in order to sustain optimum performance . the boundaries of these parameters are defined by the program . for example , it is possible to measure both the voltage and the current of an individual power cell or group of power cells . the power output can be monitored and , if a cell or group is not performing , it can be removed if necessary . this can be accomplished by the power switches 97 previously described . an average power level can also be maintained while moving the active “ loaded ” area around on the chip . this should give a better overall performance level due to no one area being on 100 % of the time . this duty cycle approach is especially applicable to surge demands . the concept here is to split the power into pieces for better cell utilization characteristics . it is expected that the thermal characteristics of the power chip will vary due to electrical loading and that this heat might have an adverse effect on power generation at the power cell level . adequate temperature sensing and an appropriate response to power cell utilization will minimize the damaging effects of a thermal build up . the lid 40 is the second piece of a two - piece “ power chip ” assembly . it is preferably made of metal to provide a mechanically rigid backing for the fragile semiconductor substrate 14 . this allows for easy handling and provides a stable foundation upon which to build “ power stacks ”, i . e ., a plurality of power chips 15 that are literally stacked on top of each other . the purpose being to build a physical unit with more power . fig1 illustrates how the fuel and oxidant / product channels 50 a ( and 50 b not shown ) may be etched into the surface of the substrate 14 . these troughs are three sided and may be closed and sealed on the top side . the lid 40 and adhesive 42 provides this function of forming a hermetic seal when bonded to the substrate 14 and completes the channels . a matrix of fuel supply and oxidant and product water removal channels is thereby formed at the surface of the substrate . the lid 40 provides a mechanically stable interface on which the input / output ports can be made . these are the gas supply and water removal ports . the design may encompass the size transition from the large outside world to the micrometer sized features on the substrate . this is accomplished by running the micrometer sized channels to a relatively much larger hole h . this larger hole will allow for less registration requirements between the lid and substrate . the large holes in the lid line up with the large holes in the substrate which have micrometer sized channels also machined into the substrate leading from the larger hole to the power cells . each wafer may have its own manifolds . this would require external connections for the fuel supply , oxidant and product removal . the external plumbing may require an automated docking system . fig1 and 12 illustrates one of many ways in which several cells 12 ( in this example three cells side - by - side can be formed on a wafer 14 to form a power chip 15 . power disks can be stacked vertically upon each other to form a vertical column with inlet ports , 50 hi , 50 oi coupled to sources of hydrogen and oxygen , respectively . the vertical column of wafers with power chips formed therein comprise a power stack ( 93 ). fig1 illustrates how stacking of a number of power discs 15 may be used to form power stacks ( 93 ) with appreciable power . the use of the word “ stacking ” is reasonable for it suggests the close proximity of the wafers , allowing for short electrical interconnects and minimal plumbing . in reality , the stacking actually refers to combining the electrical power of the wafers to form a more powerful unit . they need only to be electrically stacked to effect this combination . however , it is desirable to produce the most amount of power in the smallest space and with the highest efficiencies . when considering the shortest electrical interconnect ( power bussing ) alternatives , one should also consider the possibility of using two of the main manifolds as electrical power busses . this can be done by electrically isolating these manifold / electrical power buss segments and using them to convey the power from each wafer to the next . this reduces the big power wiring requirements and permits this function to be done in an automated fashion with the concomitant increased accuracy and reliability . a desirable manifold design would allow for power disc stacking . in this design the actual manifold 95 would be constructed in segments , each segment being an integral part of the lid 40 . as the discs are stacked a manifold ( tube ) is formed . this type of design would greatly reduce the external plumbing requirements . special end caps would complete the manifold at the ends of the power stack . in summary , one of the primary objects of this invention is to be able to mass produce a power chip 15 comprised of a wafer 10 containing multiple power cells 12 on each chip 15 utilizing quasi standard semiconductor processing methods . this process inherently supports very small features . these features ( power cells ), in turn , are expected to create very small amounts of power per cell . each cell will be designed to have the maximum power the material can support . to achieve any real substantially power , many millions will be fabricated on a single power chip 15 and many power chips fabricated on a “ power disc ” ( semiconductor wafer 10 ). this is why reasonable power output can be obtained from a single wafer . a 10 um × 10 um power cell would enable one million power cells per square centimeter . the final power cell topology will be determined by the physical properties of the constituent materials and their characteristics . the basic electro - chemical reaction of the solid polymer hydrogen fuel cell is most efficient at an operating temperature somewhere between 80 to 100 ° c . this is within the operating range of a common semiconductor substrate like silicon . however , if the wafers are stacked additional heatsinking may be required . since a cover is needed anyway , making the lid 40 into a heatsink for added margin makes sense . the fuel and oxidant / product channels are etched into the surface of the semiconductor substrate . these troughs are three - sided and may be closed and sealed on the top side . the lid 40 provides this function . it is coated with an adhesive to form a hermetic seal when bonded to the semiconductor substrate and completes the channels . this forms a matrix of fuel supply and oxidant and product water removal channels at the surface of the semiconductor substrate . the power cells two primary channels are themselves separated by the pem which is bonded to this same adhesive . thus , removing any fine grain critical alignment requirements . while this invention has been particularly shown and described with references to preferred embodiments thereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention encompassed by the appended claims . for example , while silicon because of its well - defined electrical and mechanical properties is the material of choice for the substrate 14 , other semiconductor materials may be substituted , therefore , such as gd , ge , or iii - v compounds such as gaas . alternatively , the substrate for the cell may be formed of an amorphous material such as glass or plastic , or phenolic ; in which case , the controls for the cells can be formed on a separate semiconductor die and electrically coupled to the cells to form a hybrid structure . the interface between the pem &# 39 ; s structure is preferably an assembled monolayer ( sam ) interface formed of gold , however , other metals such as silver or platinum , may be used in place thereof . likewise , although the pem is formed of many molecular chains , it preferably has a base with an affinity for gold so that it will bond to the gold sam feature . again , other pure metals such as platinum and silver may be substituted therefore .	7
referring now to fig1 through 8 of the drawings , one form of an improved multiple path vortex pump , embodying the invention in one form thereof , is generally indicated at 20 and comprises a cover member 22 ( which may be of sheet steel , for example ) having a top wall 24 and an annular side wall 26 . inlet opening 28 is formed in top wall 24 coaxial with a shaft 30 of a motor 32 . annular side wall 26 of cover member 22 engages annular side wall 34 of a top casing member 36 which may be formed of cast aluminum . inner portion 38 of top casing member 36 has a hub portion 40 formed thereon in which a bearing 42 for shaft 30 is seated . annular flange 44 depends from inner portion 38 of the top casing member 36 and engages motor 32 . impeller assembly 46 comprises a rotor disc 48 which may be formed of aluminum or other suitable material and which is secured to shaft 30 by a threaded fastener 50 . centrifugal impeller 51 comprising centrifugal impeller blades 52 is mounted on the top side 54 of disc 48 as viewed in fig1 . centrifugal impeller blades 52 are connected by an annular ring 56 , formed of relatively thin sheet metal such as aluminum , which has a central opening 58 communicating with centrifugal impeller blades 52 . it will be seen that inlet opening 28 in cover member 22 admits air or other gaseous or liquid medium to centrifugal impeller 51 , as shown by arrow 60 . a vortex impeller 62 comprises a plurality of vortex impeller blades 64 and is mounted on the bottom side of disc 48 adjacent its outer periphery 70 . it will be understood that the vortex impeller blade 64 may be at an angle with respect to disc 48 although they are arranged in a perpendicular relationship in the embodiment shown in fig1 . outer periphery 70 of disc 48 and the outer ends of centrifugal impeller blades 52 are spaced from the annular side wall 26 of cover member 20 and the annular side wall 34 of top casing member 36 ; and an exhaust plenum chamber 72 for the centrifugal impeller 51 is formed adjacent a baffle member 86 . bottom casing member 74 , which may also be formed of cast aluminum , is secured to top casing member 36 , for example as by threaded fasteners 76 . annular vortex impeller channel 78 is mutually formed in top and bottom casing members 36 , 74 . inner portion 38 of top casing member 36 is joined to annular side wall 34 by diametrically opposite bridging portions 80 . partitions 82 are integrally formed on and depend from bridging portions 80 of top casing member 36 . the partitions 82 extend into and across annular vortex channel 78 . these partitions 82 divide channel 78 into two part - annular vortex channel sections 84 of equal length ( fig3 ). baffle portions 86 are respectively integrally joined to bridging portions 80 and inner portion 38 of top casing member 36 and are respectively spaced from annular side wall 34 to define passages 88 communicating between centrifugal impeller exhaust plenum chamber 72 and vortex channel sections 84 . annular slots 90 respectively communicating with vortex channel section 84 are defined between inner portion 38 and annular side wall 34 of top casing member 36 , slots 90 extending between bridging portions 80 and baffle portions 86 . vortex impeller blades 64 extend through slots 90 into vortex channel sections 84 . annular grooves 92 are respectively formed in baffle portions 86 and bridging portions 80 , vortex impeller blades 64 extending into grooves 92 . it will thus be seen that blades 64 of vortex impeller 62 move along slots 90 and grooves 92 . passages 88 respectively communicate with vortex channel sections 84 adjacent one end thereof formed by a respective partition 82 . discharge openings 94 are formed in bottom casing member 74 respectively communicating with vortex channel sections 84 adjacent the other ends thereof defined by the respective partitions 82 remote from passages 88 . partitions 82 extend into openings 94 and have curved or scoop - shaped front surfaces 96 facing opposite the direction of impeller rotation , as shown by arrows 98 ( see fig7 ). annular manifold member 100 has an annular side wall 102 engaging the bottom casing member 74 and a re - entrant flange portion 104 engaging the annular flange 44 of top casing member 36 . discharge openings 94 communicate with manifold member 100 which thus forms exhaust plenum chamber 106 for the vortex impeller section . side wall 102 of manifold member 100 has exhaust opening 108 formed therein . it will be seen that with motor 32 rotating impeller assembly 46 in the direction shown by arrow 98 , air or other gaseous or liquid medium will be drawn into inlet opening 28 in cover member 22 by centrifugal impeller 51 and discharged into plenum chamber 72 . the air or other fluid medium under pressure in plenum chamber 72 flows through passages 88 into vortex channel sections 84 , as shown by arrows 110 in fig1 and a helical motion is imparted thereto in vortex channel sections 84 by vortex impeller 62 , as shown by arrows 112 . additional pressure is imparted to the air or other fluid medium in vortex channel sections 84 by vortex impeller 62 and upon reaching partitions 82 , the air or other gaseous or liquid medium is discharged into exhaust plenum chamber 106 through discharge openings 94 , as shown by arrows 114 , being finally exhausted from manifold 100 as shown by arrow 116 . referring now to fig9 a typical head - flow characteristic curve for a single path vortex impeller is shown at 118 and a typical head - flow characteristic curve for a single stage centrifugal impeller is shown at 120 . the characteristic shown at 122 is provided by an improved centrifugal double path vortex pump embodying the invention in one form , with an impeller diameter of 51 / 8 inches at speeds ranging from 16 , 400 to 18 , 400 r . p . m ., and with watts input to the impeller ( as distinguished from watts input to motor 32 ) varying from 930 to 1115 . maximum efficiency of approximately 35 percent was obtained at a flow rate of 56 c . f . m . with a head of 55 inches of water , a speed of 16 , 200 r . p . m ., and watts input of approximately 1050 . this may be contrasted with experience that has shown that an efficiency in the neighborhood of only about 23 percent under similar conditions would be expected with blower assemblies utilizing a single path vortex section . it will be understood that the multiple vortex channel vortex pump described above may be used alone in some applications without using a centrifugal impeller in conjunction therewith . referring to fig1 of the drawings , a typical head - flow characteristic curve for a single channel vortex pump is shown at 124 , and a typical curve for a double channel vortex impeller is shown at 126 . it is now believed that a double channel vortex pump is capable of providing a significant improvement in efficiency as compared to a single path vortex pump . fig1 shows a motor 130 and multiple path vortex pump 131 in a configuration that differs from the embodiment illustrated in fig1 . the direction in which the view of fig1 is taken is similar to the direction of fig1 relative to fig2 . fig1 shows fluid flow to the impeller after passing through motor 130 . by this arrangement , motor 130 is cooled by the fluid flowing through it . fluid flow for this pump arrangement differs from that illustrated in fig1 . fluid enters through openings located in the housing of motor 130 as shown by arrows 128 , 129 , and passes internal to motor 130 thereby cooling motor 130 . the fluid then enters through an opening in annular ring 136 , passes between centrifugal impeller blades 133 , and exits from centrifugal impeller blades 133 . fluid then enters annular vortex channel 141 by going around baffle or sealing member 140 at two diametrically spaced apart locations . the fluid is then moved by vortex impeller blades 135 to two partitions 138 ( one not shown ) where it is exhausted through exhaust openings 137 . it is also noted that a view taken in the direction of arrows 2 &# 39 ;-- 2 &# 39 ; on fig1 would show the location of partitions 138 in relation to other parts of fig1 to be substantially similar to the relationships of similar parts in fig2 . fig1 , as illustrated , shows the fluid entering the motor near the top of the motor housing but it will be understood that fluid could enter by way of openings at other locations of the motor housing . other structural details of series wound motor 130 are not described since they will be understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art . centrifugal impeller blades 133 extend to the outer diameter of rotor disc 132 . thus the centrifugal impeller blades 133 use the full diameter of the rotor ; and the longer the blades , the greater the flow created . vortex impeller blades 135 are located on the opposite side of rotor disc 132 from centrifugal impeller blades 133 . the vortex impeller blades 135 are positioned toward the outer periphery of rotor disc 132 , thereby allowing these blades to also benefit from the maximum diameter of the rotor since the greater the radius the greater the velocity of the blades . therefore by constructing the centrifugal blades on one side of the rotor and the vortex blades on the other side a more compact impeller is obtained and the disadvantage of having a smaller diameter for one set of blades , where the two different types of blades are on the same side of the rotor is overcome . a centrifugal - dual path pump unit similar to that shown in fig1 was used to obtain the data from which the curve 122 was plotted in fig9 . it will be understood that constructions such as those shown in fig1 may be used for a number of different applications . for example , when it is desired to use the construction of fig1 to establish low pressure or vacuum type conditions ( as may be encountered for example in vacuum cleaner applications ), the outlets from the vortex channels may be vented to atmosphere and the inlet side of the construction may be disposed in a chamber in which a desired low pressure condition is to be maintained . this chamber may be , for example , one that contains a suitable type of filter and / or bag that would accumulate dust or dirt that may be moved thereinto because of the low pressure conditions . on the other hand , the construction of fig1 may be utilized when desired in equipment with which it is desired to establish high pressure conditions . for example , in dispensing applications where a source of high pressure air is needed , the structure of fig1 may be arranged so that the discharge from the vortex outlets will flow into a tank or plenum , from which the high pressure fluid may then be diverted to spraying or other dispensing type apparatus . it will be understood that a single vortex path pump would only have one partition in the vortex channel and therefore only one discharge opening . applications requiring a higher head at essentially the same impeller r . p . m . might use two concentric vortex paths . or if the same head and flow is desired , by having two concentric vortex paths , a lower r . p . m . could be used thereby resulting in lower noise and longer drive motor bearing life . fig1 shows blades of a vortex impeller 144 that also has been made and tested . impeller 144 has curved or airfoil blades 145 on its periphery . this impeller 144 produced a higher head than one having straight vortex blades , but was approximately 2 percent less efficient . impeller 144 was constructed with 60 blades 145 equally spaced . the provision of dual 180 ° vortex paths reduces the effective length of the vortex paths by 1 / 2 as compared to a 360 ° single path , and provides a substantial increase in the flow rate capability and efficiency of a pump without a significant corresponding reduction in head capability . while a double path vortex pump has been shown and described , it will be understood that more than two vortex sections may be provided . improved multiple path vortex pumps embodying the present invention may be employed in vacuum cleaners as well as in compressor or evacuator applications . while multiple path vortex pumps embodying the invention may more commonly be used in air moving applications , it will be readily understood that they are suitable for moving other gaseous and liquid mediums . it will be further understood that although an electric motor has been shown as the drive means for the pump , other means could just as easily be utilized to rotate the pump impeller . it now will be understood that i have provided new and improved arrangements that may include at least one vortex channel in the form of a hollow toriodally shaped channel having a circumferential opening . vortex impeller blades extend into the vortex channel through the opening and impart a motion to fluid in the channel as the impeller rotates . in more preferred forms , partitions divide the channel into a plurality of sections , and an exhaust opening is provided adjacent each partition to exhaust the fluid as it approaches the partition . the partitions will have a slot cut therein just large enough to allow the vortex impeller blades to pass into a next adjacent section of the vortex channel . a baffle or seal extends for a short distance into each next adjacent section flush with the slot of such partition and forms a groove for the vortex impeller blades . preferably , this seal extends for at least an arcuate length equal to two vortex blades . the number of vortex blades may be 50 to 60 equally spaced blades . in other forms , fluid from a centrifugal impeller is exhausted around at least one baffle into the vortex channel as the vortex impeller blades move beyond a groove formed by a baffle , and the fluid in the vortex channel is moved until a partition is reached at which time the fluid is again exhausted . a centrifugal - vortex pump having one vortex channel has been tested . the single vortex channel pump had a higher head than a dual channel pump at low flow rates , but the single channel vortex head dropped off relatively rapidly for high flow rates . reviewing once again the curves illustrated in fig9 and 10 , it is noted that with constructions that embody the present invention in preferred forms , advantageous and beneficial results may be obtained . more specifically , such structures have operational characteristics that one ordinarily would not expect . for example , substantially the only difference in the constructions from which the test data was obtained for curves 122 and 121 , was that the construction corresponding to curve 122 included a dual path vortex channel ; whereas the construction corresponding to curve 121 involved a single channel , substantially 360 mechanical degree , vortex path . it will be noted , when these two curves are compared , that a head of only about 93 inches of water was obtained under no flow conditions for the dual path pump ; whereas a head of about 147 . 5 inches of water was obtained under no flow conditions for the single path pump . on the other hand , for head conditions of 30 inches of water , the dual path flow rate was about 75 cubic feet per minute ; whereas the single path flow rate was only about 40 cubic feet per minute . while it might be expected that the head for curve 121 would be greater than the head for curve 122 under no flow conditions it is believed that it is unexpected for the large improvement in flow characteristics for curve 122 at 30 inches of water head . more significantly , the head versus flow characteristics are significantly better at a flow rate of 50 cubic feet per minute as compared to what usually is considered to be minimally desirable for vacuum cleaner blowers . more specifically , in vacuum cleaner blower applications , an airflow of about 50 cubic feet per minute at 50 inches of water head is usually considered a minimum requirement . the data for curve 122 was obtained from a test of a system substantially as shown in fig1 . the data for curve 121 , on the other hand , was obtained by testing a centrifugally boosted single path vortex pump that was driven by a dynamometer in a manner to simulate the speed characteristics of the series motor used in the system from which data for curve 122 was derived . referring now to fig1 , it will be appreciated that the unexpected benefits that may be obtained from the present invention may also be utilized to advantage with vortex pump sections per se . it is again noted that the curves 124 , 126 in fig1 represent the performance of vortex pumps that are not combined with centrifugal type pumps . the curve 124 represents test data for the head - flow characteristics of a single channel vortex pump having the channel extending for substantially 360 °. the curve 126 , on the other hand , represents test data where the unit was constructed by utilizing my teachings of providing a dual path for a single impeller , with each path extending for approximately 180 mechanical degrees . it will be noted that under no flow conditions the dual path unit developed a head of approximately 68 inches of water as compared to a head of about 101 inches of water for the single path vortex unit . on the other hand , substantially improved and much greater flow rates were obtained for the dual path unit as compared to the single path unit at heads of less than about 50 inches of water . these results , it is believed , represent a significant advantage and should be well noted . in fig1 a centrifugal - dual path vortex pump system 200 is illustrated . in this system , a series motor 201 drives an impeller assembly 203 by means of the motor shaft 202 . the impeller assembly 203 in fig1 is inverted relative to the motor 201 as compared to the relationships between the motor and impeller assemblies shown in fig1 and 11 . the disc 215 carries impeller elements of both centrifugal and vortex type . cover plate 216 corresponds to , and functions similarly to cover plates 56 , 136 in fig1 respectively with the exception that cover plate 216 does not have a fluid passage opening . it will be noted that disc 215 is a single member as compared to a composite disc of the type shown in fig1 . in fig1 , fluid is admitted to the interior of the motor as represented by arrows 204 . the fluid then is admitted to the eye 206 of the centrifugal pump section and compressed by the centrifugal impeller blade elements 207 . the fluid subsequently is discharged at a first pressure region p l and flows into the vortex channels where the vortex impeller elements 208 further compress the fluid and establish a higher pressure region p h . because of the difference in pressures between the pressure regions p h and p l , running seal leakage losses occur as the pressures tend to equalize . this leakage occurs along the running seal regions 209 , 210 . with the arrangement shown in fig1 , this pressure equalization occurs at start - up of the system , and thereafter the pressure equalization takes place such that there is no continuing high pressure fluid leakage from the system . on the other hand , with the systems shown in fig1 and 11 similar pressure equalization causes continuing high pressure fluid losses from the system during operation . the high pressure fluid in the system of fig1 , is ultimately discharged in a direction as indicated by the arrows 211 ; but it should be noted that any suitable baffling arrangement may be used to control the direction and location of air flow from the system 200 . the above will now be restated in a somewhat different manner . initially , note the inversion of the vortex impeller blades relative to the centrifugal impeller blades as compared to the construction shown in fig1 and 11 . when a finite mass of fluid is discharged by the impeller blade elements 207 to the pressure region p l , and then moves into the higher pressure regions p h , at least some small portion of such finite mass of fluid will leak back to pressure regions p l along the running seal regions 209 , 210 . however , this leakage mass may not escape to atmosphere because of the location of sealing cover or plate 212 . the only other mode of escape for this small portion of the fluid would be for it to flow in a reversed direction relative to the arrows 213 ( along centrifugal blade elements 207 ) and back through the interior of the motor to atmosphere . thus , with the arrangement shown in fig1 , a relatively long and pressurized tortuous path would have to be followed by any fluid that would be escaping from the relatively high pressure regions p h . thus , after , operation has commenced for system 200 , fluid escaping from pressure regions p h to regions p l acutally increases the pressure in regions p l so that the actual pressure differential therebetween ( if any ) is relatively small . while there has been described above preferred embodiments of the invention , it will be understood that numerous changes may be made therein . for example , blade driving means of impeller assemblies may be in the form of a rotor member ( or assembly ) or disc with impeller blades on opposite sides thereof , and such disc may be of a composite structure of two separately manufactured impeller blade supports . alternatively , the impeller may be cast in one mold and then an annular cover added over the centrifugal blades . also , the impeller assembly of fig1 can be cast in one molding and then a flat plate or cover added over the centrifugal blades . the impeller assembly is enclosed in a casing or housing which also forms vortex paths or channels having exhaust or discharge openings therein . accordingly , 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 .	5
fig1 shows a turbocharger rolling bearing in a section taken along the shaft in an operative state after installation . the fractional part of the shaft 19 which is surrounded by both the inner rings 17 , 18 merges on a turbine - side into the turbine - side end et which is either itself a part of the turbocharger turbine or is configured to be connected to this . on the opposite end of the fractional part of the shaft 19 , the fractional part merges with the compressor - side end ek of the fractional part which can be a part of the compressor or be capable of being connected to this . the compressor ( not illustrated ) has the function of compressing the air sucked in by the piston of an engine . the energy required for this is delivered by a turbine ( likewise not illustrated ) which is driven in a hot housing by the exhaust gas stream and is transferred via the shaft 19 and also via the fractional part thereof in the turbocharger bearing . the fractional part comprises , in alternating order , from the compressor - side end ek to the turbine - side end et , non - contacting regions and radial elevations in the following sequence : non contacting region 9 , first radial elevation 5 , non - contacting region 10 , second radial elevation 6 , third radial elevation 7 , non - contacting region 11 , fourth radial elevation 8 and non - contacting region 12 . all the transitions are radially convex in shape and serve as assembly inclinations that form an angle of less than 30 degrees relative to the axis of rotation . this applies both to the transition between the first and the second radial elevation 6 , 7 and to the transitions between a non - contacting region 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 and the respective neighboring radial elevation 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 . in this way , the first elevation 5 and the radial narrowing 1 form the first operative press fit exactly as also the second elevation 6 and the second narrowing 2 form the second press fit . both press fits again form the base for the first inner ring 17 and assure its radial centering for an operation at very high speeds of rotation without any detrimental effect on the rolling elements 21 during their rolling motion in their raceways around the inner ring 17 so that they can no longer trigger a disturbing vibration . analogously , this also applies to the inner ring 18 that is centered through the third and the fourth press fits . the centering of the shaft 19 is realized during installation by the fact that the compressor - side end ek is inserted through the second inner ring 18 and then further through the first inner ring 17 . during this step , it is also possible for the temporary press fits to be formed before the operative position of the shaft 19 in the inner rings 17 , 18 is reached . the further the first press fit is arranged from the second press fit , respectively , the third press fit from the fourth press fit , the larger is the lever arm during radial centering so that centering can be effected with the lowest possible force . the length of the first lever arm t 1 is smaller than the axial width b 1 of the first inner ring 17 . in most cases , however , a shorter length is required to enable a passing - by of the temporary press fits one after the other during installation , that is to say , to make it possible to pass by as few as possible at the same time . this applies analogously to the length t 2 of the second lever arm between the third and the fourth press fit of the second inner ring 18 . in any case , it is still purposeful to provide at least one lever arm with a length of at least half the width of the respective inner ring 17 , 18 : in the example of embodiment of fig1 , the third and the fourth press fits are situated radially further outwards than the first and the second press fits . in particular , the first and the second radial narrowings 1 , 2 even have the same inner radius and , respectively , the first and the second radial elevations 5 , 6 have the same outer radius . analogously , this also applies to the radial narrowings 3 , 4 and the radial elevations 7 , 8 but , respectively , with larger same inner radii and larger and larger same outer radii . in this way , only two temporary press fits get formed during assembly of the shaft 19 , viz . when the first radial elevation 5 passes the second radial narrowing 2 and when the third radial elevation 7 passes the radial narrowing 3 . the assembly with the two temporary press fits is illustrated in the following fig2 to 7 which show the turbocharger rolling bearing of fig1 in six different assembly steps . fig2 to 7 show the turbocharger rolling bearing of fig1 in the assembly steps one to six . in the first assembly step of fig2 , the shaft 19 was pushed in between the first radial elevation 5 and the second radial narrowing 2 up to the incipient first temporary press fit 20 . the press - in force is further enhanced through the second temporary press fit 30 that gets formed between the third radial elevation 7 and the fourth radial narrowing , i . e . exists partially simultaneously with the first press fit , as shown in fig3 . in the following fig4 to 7 , further incipient press fits , 40 , 50 , 60 and 70 are shown which , however , are intended to become permanent i . e . they are provided for the operation of the rolling bearing as soon as the axial front end surface s of the second inner ring comes to abut against the axial surface a . the length l of the fractional part of the shaft 19 between the two ends ek and et is equal to the sum of the inner ring widths b 1 , b 2 because the two inner rings 17 , 18 abut against each other at the axial stop 72 . alternatively , the press fits can have the same dimensions i . e . the radial narrowings and the radial elevations possess the same inner radii and the same outer radii . in addition , it is also possible that all radial narrowings and also all radial elevations have different inner radii and different outer radii , so that no temporary press fits but only permanent press fits are formed . fig8 shows a schematic press - in force diagram for a conventional turbocharger bearing compared to the turbocharger bearing of fig1 . the curve g 1 has a linear dependence on the press - in length that is plotted against the length from 0 to l of the fractional part of the shaft 19 . the hatched area under the straight line g 1 corresponds to the press - in energy for a conventional cylindrical shaft which is pressed into a hollow cylindrical interior with axially non - variable respective inner and outer radii . the curve g 2 shows schematically the course of the press - in force as a function of the press - in length , which force rises shortly after l / 2 , at the first temporary press fit , to f 1 , to then rise further immediately thereafter by reason of the second temporary press fit to f 2 . for instance it can be assumed by approximation that the temporary press fits produce the same press - in force fo . thus , the following applies : further , by idealization , it is assumed for the sake of illustration , that the areas of the press fits approximate zero . a small press fit length results in a low press - in force . in practice , however , these will always form surface contacts which , in the graphical illustration of the curve g 2 , form linearly ascending or , respectively , declining flanks . idealized , these result in vertical flanks . the curve g 2 is divided into two sections . the smaller one represents the temporary press fits g 20 and g 30 which have to be overcome together with the press - in force fe = f 2 ; in the case of the temporary press fit g 20 , the press - in force fe = f 1 suffices . the hatched area situated under the curve g 2 corresponds to the energy which has to be provided for overcoming the temporary press fits g 20 and g 30 . at the end of the press - in path are situated , at short intervals , the operative , permanent press fits , i . e . their beginnings g 40 , g 50 , g 60 and g 70 that have to be overcome . for this purpose , the press - in force increases stepwise from fe = 0 to fe = f 4 . on the whole , the press - in energy of the curve g 2 is clearly lower compared to the press - in energy of the curve g 1 because the integral over the press - in length from 0 to l of g 2 turns out to be clearly higher . the permanent press fit 40 is the first operative press fit and the permanent press fit 50 is the second operative press fit . to summarize , the invention concerns a rolling bearing particularly a turbocharger rolling bearing , comprising a shaft comprising a first , radial elevation and a second , radial elevation and a first inner ring which can be fixed to the shaft , said first inner ring comprising at least one first radially outer rolling element raceway for the rolling elements to roll on , a first , radial narrowing and a second , radial narrowing , the first , radial elevation and the first , radial narrowing being provided for forming a first press fit , and , respectively , the second , radial elevation and the second , radial narrowing being provided for forming a second press fit . the aim of the invention is to provide a rolling bearing with an optimized press - in force for high speeds of rotation which also enables a simple centering of two inner rings . for this purpose , the shaft comprises a third , radial elevation and a fourth , radial elevation , and a second inner ring that can be fixed to the shaft comprises at least one second , radially outer rolling element raceway for the rolling elements to roll on , a third , radial narrowing and a fourth , radial narrowing , the third , radial elevation and the third , radial narrowing being provided for forming a third press fit , and , respectively , the fourth , radial elevation and the fourth , radial narrowing being provided for forming a fourth press fit .	8
as already mentioned , the present invention provides a method as well as a sampling module kit which is useful in thermal analysis of molten cast irons . by using the method and the kit as well as at least one of its components , it is possible to substantially increase the accuracy of such a thermal analysis , and to eliminate some sources of measurement variation and thus prediction error . accordingly , the method , the kit and the components of the invention should be attractive to use in industrial processes for manufacturing cast iron products , where the tolerance level regarding erroneous castings is very low . as disclosed herein , the term “ cooling curve ” refers to graphs representing the temperature as a function of time , which graphs have been recorded in the manner disclosed in wo 99 / 25888 and wo 92 / 06809 . the term “ sample vessel ” as disclosed herein refers to a small sample container which , when used for thermal analysis , is filled with a sample of molten metal . the temperature of the molten metal is then recorded in a suitable way . the walls of the sample vessel may be coated with a material which reduces the amount of structure - modifying agent in the melt in the immediate vicinity of the wall . examples of such sample vessels are given in wo 99 / 28726 and wo 96 / 23206 the term “ structure - modifying agent ” as disclosed herein , relates to compounds either promoting spheroidization or precipitation of the graphite present in the cast iron . suitable compounds can be chosen from the group of inoculating substances well - known in the art , and shape - modifying agents , such as magnesium , cerium and other rare earth metals . the relationship between the concentration of structure - modifying agents in molten cast irons and the graphite morphology of solidified cast irons have already been discussed in wo 92 / 06809 and wo 86 / 01755 . the present invention will be described with reference to the enclosed figures , in which : fig2 discloses a thermocouple holder , which is adapted for containing a thermocouple unit . details of the thermocouple unit are shown with broken lines ; fig3 shows a sampling unit adapted to be used together with , and to contain , a thermocouple holder and a thermocouple unit . details of a thermocouple holder and a thermocouple unit are shown with broken lines . in a first aspect , the present invention relates to a method for predicting the microstructure in which a certain cast iron melt will solidify . the method is based on a known procedure , where a sample of a certain cast iron melt is obtained in a sample vessel . then , cooling curves are recorded in the centre of the sample and in the vicinity of the sample vessel wall using two thermocouples . finally , the cooling curves are evaluated using pre - recorded calibration data in order to predict the microstructure . thermal analysis methods involving recording cooling curves require pre - determined and constant conditions . an essential feature of such methods is use of pre - determined calibration data . the results of determinations made under slightly different conditions compared to the conditions during the calibration cannot be trusted . a common reason for erroneous results is that at least one of the thermocouples has been in a different position compared to the position during the calibration measurements . the present method therefore comprises a step where the positions of the thermocouples are determined before recording the cooling curves . if the position of one of the thermocouples differs from the calibration position with more than a predetermined value , a fault signal is activated and the sampling procedure cannot be initiated until the fault has been rectified . the thermal analysis methods of wo 99 / 25888 and wo 92 / 06809 are all carried out within the temperature range 1100 – 1300 ° c . and with a tolerance of +/− 1 ° c . when measuring temperatures within the above disclosed range and precision , the exact location of the temperature - responsive means is extremely important . an erroneous localisation of the temperature - responsive means of 1 mm in a typical sample vessel such as those vessels disclosed in wo 99 / 28726 and wo 96 / 23206 , corresponds to an erroneous temperature measurement of 1 . 5 ° c . the most important temperature measurements are all carried out within a subrange or “ window ” of +/− 20 ° c . small differences (˜ 1 . 5 ° c .) regarding temperature measurements within this window may lead to very different predictions regarding the microstructure of the produced casting . moreover , as the desired subrange or window comprises as much as +/− 20 ° c . it is not possible for computer - based systems to detect erroneously located temperature responsive means by just monitoring the measured temperature . an erroneous reading can therefore effect the production of castings with production stop , or worse , faulty products , because the process control system receives faulty data . in case any products are produced out of specification without any indication by the process control system , it may lead to quality problems . it is therefore very important to be able to detect the exact location of the temperature - responsive means . there are several reasons why a temperature - responsive means could be erroneously located . there could be small particles in its way . alternatively , the temperature - responsive means could be bent and thus not be able to slide into the protective tube of the sample vessels normally used in these thermal analysis methods . there is no visual way to detect whether said means is in the correct position after mounting the sample vessel . finally , the sample vessel could have been damaged during transport or mounted in a wrong manner , which also results in an erroneous location . there are several ways of determining the position of the thermocouples . the positions can for example be determined mechanically , optically or magetically . in the methods of wo 99 / 25888 and wo 92 / 06809 , the thermocouples are moved from a resting position above the sample vessel to a measuring position in the cast iron melt . if position indication means are fixed to the thermocouples , or alternatively , to a protective tube completely surrounding the thermocouples it is possible determine the exact location of the thermocouple in the sample in relation the calibration position . as disclosed herein , the term “ position indication means ” is intended to mean anything detectable that can be joined to a specific part of the thermocouple . the position of the thermocouple can be mechanically detected if the position indication means physically contacts a detection sensor . the location can be optically detected if the position indication means affect a radiation beam between a radiation source and a radiation detector . likewise , the position can be magnetically detected if the position indication means affects or induces a magnetic field in the vicinity of the thermocouple . the position of the position indication means is preferably detected in a non - mechanical way , i . e . optical detection and magnetic detection are preferred . in case mechanic detection is used , there is a risk that wearing out of the detection equipment might hamper the results . in a second aspect , the present invention relates to a sampling module kit suitable for carrying out the method of the first aspect . this sampling module kit comprises three parts operating together , namely a thermocouple unit , a thermocouple holder and a sampling unit . the thermocouple unit 100 is shown in fig1 and comprises a ) a first thermocouple 102 ; b ) a second thermocouple 104 ; c ) a central part 106 joined to the first and second thermocouples 102 , 104 . the central part 106 also involves means 108 , 110 for connecting the first and second thermocouples 102 , 104 to a calculation means ; and d ) information transfer means 112 for transferring data relating to the two thermocouples 102 , 104 . the thermocouple unit 100 is adapted for recording cooling curves in the manners disclosed in wo 99 / 25888 and wo 92 / 06809 . the first thermocouple 102 is intended to record cooling curves in the centre of a sample of molten cast iron , whereas the second thermocouple 104 is intended to record cooling curves in a sample of molten cast iron adjacent to the wall of the sample vessel that is used during the analysis . the arrangement of the thermocouples on the central part 106 of the thermocouple unit is therefore adapted to a particular sample that is to be used during the thermal analysis . however , it is easy for the skilled person to design a thermocouple unit in such a way that one thermocouple can be centrally arranged while the other is located near the vessel wall for each given sample vessel . the thermocouples might for instance be welded together in such a way that the second thermocouple 104 ends at a longer distance from the central part 106 than the first thermocouple 102 . the central part 106 also has means 108 , 110 for connecting the thermocouples 102 , 104 to a calculation / computer means , for subsequent presentation and / or evaluation of the results , for instance using the technology disclosed in wo 99 / 25888 and wo 92 / 06809 . the first thermocouple 102 is adapted for recording cooling curves in the centre of a molten cast iron sample contained in a sample vessel , and the second thermocouple 104 is adapted for recording cooling curves in the cast iron sample adjacent to the sample vessel wall . accordingly , the arrangement of the thermocouples 102 , 104 on the central unit 106 is dependent on the design of the particular sample vessel that is used . it is easy for the skilled person to adapt the thermocouple arrangement of the thermocouple unit to a given sample vessel design . the thermocouple unit 100 comprises an information transfer means 112 , which preferably is located on the central part . the information transfer means 112 can be a magnetic memory means a printed bar code , or a radio frequency memory tag . the information transfer means contains calibration data relating to the thermocouples 102 , 104 . preferably , it also contains serial numbers etc rendering it possible to identify the individual thermocouples of the thermocouple unit , and to identify the calibration factors of these thermocouples to allow automatic correction in the software . during measurements , it is advantageous to protect the thermocouples against the hot cast iron melt . if the thermocouples are protected , it is possible to reuse them several times . typically , the thermocouples are inserted into one or two protective tubings . such protective tubings can either constitute an integral part of the sample vessel , or be put on as a separate fitting when the thermocouple unit is mounted in a thermocouple holder . such protective tubings are not shown in the figures of the present application . a thermocouple holder 200 according to the present invention is shown in fig2 . it comprises a cylindrical bushing 202 adapted to be fixed to the thermocouples 102 , 104 of the thermocouple unit 100 . the cylindrical bushing 202 also comprises position indication means 206 . the position indication means 206 shown in fig2 is a recess enabling free passage of a light beam ( optical detection ) when the thermocouples 102 , 104 of the thermocouple unit 100 are correctly positioned in the sample vessel . alternatively , the position indication means can be a permanent magnet ( magnetic detection ) or a rod ( mechanical detection ). as already mentioned the cylindrical bushing 202 is adapted to be fixed to the thermocouples 102 , 104 of the thermocouple unit 100 ( or optionally to protective tubes surrounding the thermocouples 102 , 104 ) by using suitable means 204 , such as screws . naturally , it is essential that the thermocouples 102 , 104 are fixed to the bushing 202 in a position corresponding to the position during the calibrations . the thermocouple holder 200 also comprises a head part 208 intended to house the central part 106 of the thermocouple holder . the head part has a means 210 , such as an opening , for giving access to the information transfer means 112 of the thermocouple unit . finally , the head part is also equipped with a fastening means 214 for attaching the thermocouple holder to the sampling unit . the cylindrical bushing 202 and the head part 208 are axially flexibly joined by a suitable means 212 , such as a spring . a sampling unit 300 is shown in fig3 . it comprises a housing 302 adapted for containing a thermocouple holder 200 equipped with a thermocouple unit . the unit further involves a means 304 for attaching a sample vessel 306 . this means 304 is specifically adapted for the sample vessel type used in a particular assay . examples of suitable sample vessels are given in wo 99 / 28726 and wo 96 / 23206 . the means 304 is located on an elongated part 322 intended to enclose the cylindrical bushing 202 of the thermocouple holder 200 . the sampling unit 300 has a means 308 for attaching the head part 208 of the thermocouple holder 200 inside the housing . this means 308 is adapted for being used together with the corresponding fastening means 214 on the head part 208 . the fastening mechanism is designed in such a way that it is easy to quickly change the thermocouple holder . it is easy for the skilled person to develop suitable fastening mechanisms . furthermore , the upper part 318 of the housing is pivotally mounted using one or more hinges 320 , in order facilitate exchanging the thermocouple holder 200 inside the hosing 302 . the sampling unit 300 comprises means 314 for reading the information in the information transfer means 112 of the thermocouple unit 100 and to send this identity and / or calibration factor information to a calculating / computer means . the reading means 314 can be a bar code reader a magnetic transducer , or a means for detecting signals from a radio frequency memory tag etc . the sampling unit 300 further comprises means 310 for moving the cylindrical bushing 202 of the thermocouple holder 200 , and thereby the thermocouples 102 , 104 of the thermocouple unit 100 , between a measuring position and a resting position . it is easy for the skilled person to design suitable means . the means can be controlled by a manual control means 316 , or alternatively it can be controlled automatically by the computer means . the elongated part 322 of the housing 302 also comprises means 312 for detecting whether the position indication means 206 of the cylindrical bushing 202 is in a position corresponding to the measurement position or not . in case the position indication means 206 of the bushing 202 is a recess , the detecting means can be a light source operating together with a light detector . in case the position indication means 206 is correctly positioned , there is a recess in the bushing 202 between the light source and the light detector , and the detector sends a positive signal . in case the position indication means is in another position , less or no light reaches the light detector and no positive signal is sent . the start of the thermal analysis is prevented , or in case it has already begun , it is interrupted . alternatively , detection means 312 can be for instance a magnet or a coil when the position is magnetically detected , or for example a switch mechanism when the position is mechanically detected .	6
throughout the following description , specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the invention . however , the invention may be practiced without these particulars . in other instances , well known elements have not been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the invention . accordingly , the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative , rather than a restrictive , sense . this invention provides displays capable of rendering images with high dynamic ranges . displays according to the invention comprise two light modulating stages . light passes through the stages in series to provide an image which has an increased dynamic range . fig1 illustrates schematically a display 10 according to a simple embodiment of the invention . the sizes of elements and distances between them in fig1 are not to scale . display 10 comprises a light source 12 . light source 12 may , for example , comprise a projection lamp such as an incandescent lamp or an arc lamp , a laser , or another suitable source of light . light source 12 may comprise an optical system comprising one or more mirrors , lenses or other optical elements which cooperate to deliver light to the rest of display 10 . in the illustrated embodiment , light from light source 12 is directed toward a first light modulator 16 . light source 12 preferably provides substantially uniform illumination of first light modulator 16 . light modulator 16 comprises an array of individually addressable elements . light modulator 16 may comprise , for example , a lcd ( liquid crystal display ), which is an example of a transmission - type light modulator or a dmd ( deformable mirror device ), which is an example of a reflection - type light modulator . display driver circuitry ( not shown in fig1 ) controls the elements of light modulator 16 according to data which defines an image being displayed . light which has been modulated by first light modulator 16 is imaged onto a rear - projection screen 23 by a suitable optical system 17 . light from a small area of first light modulator 16 is directed by optical system 17 to a corresponding area on rear - projection screen 23 . in the illustrated embodiment , optical system 17 comprises a lens having a focal length f . in general , the optical system 17 which images light modulated by first light modulator 16 onto rear - projection screen 23 may comprise one or more mirrors , lenses or other optical elements . such an optical system has the function of imaging light modulated by the first light modulator onto a second light modulator . in the illustrated embodiment , rear - projection screen 23 comprises a second light modulator 20 and a collimator 18 . a main function of collimator 18 is to cause light which passes through rear - projection screen 23 to be directed preferentially toward a viewing area . collimator 18 may comprise a fresnel lens , a holographic lens , or , in the alternative , another arrangement of one or more lenses and / or other optical elements which will guide light in the direction of a viewing area . in the illustrated embodiment , collimator 18 causes light to travel through the elements of second light modulator 20 in a direction which is generally normal to screen 23 . as light incident from collimator 18 travels through second light modulator 20 it is further modulated . the light then passes to a diffuser 22 which scatters the outgoing light through a range of directions so that a viewer located on an opposite side of diffuser 22 from first light modulator 16 can see light originating from the whole area of screen 23 . in general , diffuser 22 may scatter light to a different angular extent in the horizontal and vertical planes . diffuser 22 should be selected so that light modulated by second light modulator 20 is scattered through a range of angles such that the maximum scatter angle is at least equal to the angle subtended by screen 23 when viewed from a desired viewing location . rear - projection screen 23 may differ in area from first light modulator 16 . for example , rear - projection screen 23 may be larger in area than first light modulator 16 . where this is the case , optical system 17 expands the beam of light modulated by first light modulator 16 to illuminate a larger corresponding area on rear - projection screen 23 . second light modulator 20 may be of the same type as first light modulator 16 or a different type . where first and second light modulators 16 and 20 are both of types that polarize light , second light modulator 20 should , as much as is practical , be oriented so that its plane of polarization matches that of the light incident on it from first light modulator 16 . display 10 may be a color display . this may be achieved in various ways including : making one of first light modulator 16 and second light modulator 20 a color light modulator ; providing a plurality of different first light modulators 16 operating in parallel on different colors ; and , providing a mechanism for rapidly introducing different color filters into the light path ahead of second light modulator 20 . as an example of the first approach above , second light modulator 20 may comprise an lcd panel having a plurality of pixels each comprising a number of colored sub - pixels . for example , each pixel may comprise three sub - pixels , one associated with a red filter , one associated with a green filter and one associated with a blue filter . the filters may be integral with the lcd panel . as shown in fig1 a , light source 12 , first light modulator 16 and optical system 17 may all be parts of a digital video projector 37 located to project an image defined by a signal 38 a from a controller 39 onto the back side of rear - projection screen 23 . the elements of second light modulator 20 are controlled by a signal 38 b from controller 39 to provide an image to a viewer which has a high dynamic range . as shown in fig2 , a display 10 a according to the invention may comprise one or more additional light modulation stages 24 . each additional light modulation stage 24 comprises a collimator 25 , a light modulator 26 and an optical system 27 which focuses light from light modulator 26 onto either the next additional light modulation stage 24 or on collimator 18 . in device 10 a of fig2 there are two additional light modulation stages 24 . devices according to this embodiment of the invention may have one or more additional light modulation stages 24 . the luminance of any point on output diffuser 22 can be adjusted by controlling the amount of light passed on by corresponding elements of light modulators 16 , 20 and 26 . this control may be provided by a suitable control system ( not shown in fig2 ) connected to drive each of light modulators 16 , 20 and 26 . as noted above , light modulators 16 , 20 and 26 may all be of the same type or may be of two or more different types . fig3 illustrates a display 10 b according to an alternative embodiment of the invention which includes a first light modulator 16 a which comprises a deformable mirror device . a deformable mirror device is a “ binary ” device in the sense that each pixel may be either “ on ” or “ off ”. different apparent brightness levels may be produced by turning a pixel on and off rapidly . such devices are described , for example , in u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 441 , 791 and , 4 , 954 , 789 and are commonly used in digital video projectors . light source 12 and first light modulator 16 ( or 16 a ) may be the light source and modulator from a commercial digital video projector , for example . fig4 illustrates a front - projection - type display 10 c according to the invention . display 10 c comprises a screen 34 . a projector 37 projects an image 38 onto screen 34 . projector 37 comprises a suitable light source 12 , a first light modulator 16 and an optical system 17 suitable for projecting an image defined by first light modulator 16 onto screen 34 . projector 37 may comprise a commercially available display projector . screen 34 incorporates a second light modulator 36 . second light modulator 36 comprises a number of addressable elements which can be individually controlled to affect the luminance of a corresponding area of screen 34 . light modulator 36 may have any of various constructions . for example , light modulator 36 may comprise an array of lcd elements each having a controllable transmissivity located in front of a reflective backing . light projected by projector 37 passes through each lcd element and is reflected back through the lcd element by the reflective backing . the luminance at any point on screen 34 is determined by the intensity of light received at that point by projector 37 and the degree to which light modulator 36 ( e . g . the lcd element at that point ) absorbs light being transmitted through it . light modulator 36 could also comprise an array of elements having variable retro - reflection properties . the elements may be prismatic . such elements are described , for example , in whitehead , u . s . pat . no . 5 , 959 , 777 entitled passive high efficiency variable reflectivity image display device and , whitehead et al ., u . s . pat . no . 6 , 215 , 920 entitled electrophoretic , high index and phase transition control of total internal reflection in high efficiency variable reflectivity image displays . light modulator 36 could also comprise an array of electrophoretic display elements as described , for example , in albert et al ., u . s . pat . no . 6 , 172 , 798 entitled shutter mode microencapsulated electrophoretic display ; comiskey et al ., u . s . pat . no . 6 , 120 , 839 entitled electro - osmotic displays and materials for making the same ; jacobson , u . s . pat . no . 6 , 120 , 588 entitled : electronically addressable microencapsulated ink and display ; jacobson et al ., u . s . pat . no . 6 , 323 , 989 entitled electrophoretic displays using nanoparticles ; albert , u . s . pat . no . 6 , 300 , 932 entitled electrophoretic displays with luminescent particles and materials for making the same or , comiskey et al ., u . s . pat . no . 6 , 327 , 072 entitled microcell electrophoretic displays . as shown in fig6 a and 6b , screen 34 preferably comprises a lens element 40 which functions to direct light preferentially toward the eyes of viewers . in the illustrated embodiment , lens element 40 comprises a fresnel lens having a focal point substantially coincident with the apex of the cone of light originating from projector 37 . lens element 40 could comprise another kind of lens such as a holographic lens . lens element 40 incorporates scattering centers 45 which provide a desired degree of diffusion in the light reflected from screen 34 . in the illustrated embodiment , second light modulator 36 comprises a reflective lcd panel having a large number of pixels 42 backed by a reflective layer 43 and mounted on a backing 47 . where light modulator 36 comprises an array of elements having variable retro - reflection properties , the elements themselves could be designed to direct retro - reflected light preferentially in a direction of a viewing area in front of screen 34 . reflective layer 43 may be patterned to scatter light to either augment the effect of scattering centers 45 or replace scattering centers 45 . as shown in fig4 , a controller 39 provides data defining image 38 to each of first light modulator 16 and second light modulator 36 . controller 39 could comprise , for example , a computer equipped with a suitable display adapter . controller 39 may comprise image processing hardware to accelerate image processing steps . the luminance of any point on screen 34 is determined by the combined effect of the pixels in first light modulator 16 and second light modulator 36 which correspond to that point . there is minimum luminance at points for which corresponding pixels of the first and second light modulators are set to their “ darkest ” states . there is maximum luminance at points for which corresponding pixels of the first and second light modulators are set to their “ brightest ” states . other points have intermediate luminance values . the maximum luminance value might be , for example , on the order of 10 5 cd / m 2 . the minimum luminance value might be , for example on the order of 10 − 2 cd / m 2 . the cost of a light modulator and its associated control circuitry tends to increase with the number of addressable elements in the light modulator . in some embodiments of the invention one of the light modulators has a spatial resolution significantly higher than that of one or more other ones of the light modulators . when one or more of the light modulators are lower - resolution devices the cost of a display according to such embodiments of the invention may be reduced . in color displays comprising two or more light modulators , one of which is a color light modulator ( a combination of a plurality of monochrome light modulators may constitute a color light modulator as shown , for example , in fig6 ) and one of which is a higher - resolution light modulator , the higher - resolution light modulator should also be the color light modulator . in some embodiments the higher - resolution light modulator is imaged onto the lower - resolution light modulator . in other embodiments the lower - resolution light modulator is imaged onto the higher - resolution light modulator . fig5 illustrates one possible configuration of pixels in a display 10 as shown in fig1 . nine pixels 42 of a second light modulator 20 correspond to each pixel 44 of a first light modulator 16 . the number of pixels 42 of second light modulator 20 which correspond to each pixel 44 of first light modulator 16 may be varied as a matter of design choice . pixels 44 of the higher - resolution one of first and second light modulators 16 and 20 ( or 36 ) should be small enough to provide a desired overall resolution . in general there is a trade off between increasing resolution and increasing cost . in a typical display the higher - resolution light modulator will provide an array of pixels having at least a few hundred pixels in each direction and more typically over 1000 pixels in each direction . the size of pixels 42 of the lower - resolution one of the first and second light modulators determines the scale over which one can reliably go from maximum intensity to minimum intensity . consider , for example , fig5 a which depicts a situation where one wishes to display an image of a small maximum - luminance spot on a large minimum - luminance background . to obtain maximum luminance in a spot 47 , those pixels of each of the first and second light modulators which correspond to spot 47 should be set to their maximum - luminance values . where the pixels of one light modulator are lower in resolution than pixels of the other light modulator then some pixels of the lower - resolution light modulator will straddle the boundary of spot 47 . this is the case , for example , in fig5 a . outside of spot 47 there are two regions . in region 48 it is not possible to set the luminance to its minimum value because in that region the lower - resolution light modulator is set to its highest luminance value . in region 49 both of the light modulators can be set to their lowest - luminance values . if , for example , each of the first and second light modulators has a luminance range of 1 to 100 units , then region 47 might have a luminance of 100 × 100 = 10 , 000 units , region 48 would have a luminance of 100 × 1 = 100 units and region 49 would have a luminance of 1 × 1 = 1 units . as a result of having one of the light modulators lower in resolution than the other , each pixel of the lower - resolution light modulator corresponds to more than one pixel in the higher - resolution light modulator . it is not possible for points corresponding to any one pixel of the lower - resolution light modulator and different pixels of the higher - resolution light modulator to have luminance values at extremes of the device &# 39 ; s dynamic range . the maximum difference in luminance between such points is determined by the dynamic range provided by the higher - resolution light modulator . it is generally not a problem that a display is not capable of causing closely - spaced points to differ in luminance from one another by the full dynamic range of the display . the human eye has enough intrinsic scatter that it is incapable of appreciating large changes in luminance which occur over very short distances in any event . in a display according to the invention which includes both a lower - resolution spatial light modulator and a higher - resolution spatial light modulator , controller 39 may determine a value for each pixel of the lower - resolution spatial light modulator and adjust the signals which control the higher - resolution spatial light modulator to reduce artifacts which result from the fact that each pixel of the lower - resolution spatial light modulator is common to a plurality of pixels of the higher - resolution spatial light modulator . this may be done in any of a wide number of ways . for example , consider the case where each pixel of the lower - resolution spatial light modulator corresponds to a plurality of pixels of the higher - resolution spatial light modulator . image data specifying a desired image is supplied to the controller . the image data indicates a desired luminance for an image area corresponding to each of the pixels of the higher - resolution spatial light modulator . the controller may set the pixels of the lower - resolution light modulator to provide an approximation of the desired image . this could be accomplished , for example , by determining an average or weighted average of the desired luminance values for the image areas corresponding to each pixel of the lower - resolution light modulator . the controller may then set the pixels of the higher - resolution light modulator to cause the resulting image to approach the desired image . this could be done , for example , by dividing the desired luminance values by the known intensity of light incident from the lower - resolution light modulator on the corresponding pixels of the higher - resolution light modulator . processing to generate the signals for driving the light modulators may be performed on the fly by controller 39 , may be performed earlier by controller 39 or some other device and integrated into the image data or some processing may be performed earlier and controller 39 may perform final processing to generate the control signals . if the low - resolution pixels are too large then a viewer may be able to discern a halo around bright elements in an image . the low resolution pixels are preferably small enough that the appearance of bright patches on dark backgrounds or of dark spots on bright backgrounds is not unacceptably degraded . it is currently considered practical to provide in the range of about 8 to about 144 , more preferably about 9 to 36 , pixels on the higher - resolution light modulator for each pixel of the lower - resolution light modulator . the sizes of steps in which each of pixels 42 and 44 can adjust the luminance of point ( s ) on the image are not necessarily equal . the pixels of the lower - resolution light modulator may adjust light intensity in coarser steps than the pixels of the higher - resolution light modulator . for example , the lower - resolution light modulator may permit adjustment of light intensity for each pixel over an intensity range of 1 to 512 units in 8 steps while the higher - resolution light modulator may permit adjustment of the light intensity for each pixel over a similar range in 512 steps . while pixels 42 and 44 are both illustrated as being square in fig5 , this is not necessary . pixels 42 and / or 44 could be other shapes , such as rectangular , triangular , hexagonal , round , or oval . the pixels of the lower - resolution light modulator preferably emit light which is somewhat diffuse so that the light intensity varies reasonably smoothly as one traverses pixels of the lower - resolution light modulator . this is the case where the light from each of the pixels of the lower - resolution light modulator spreads into adjacent pixels , as shown in fig7 . as shown in fig7 a , the intensity profile of a pixel in the lower - resolution light modulator can often be approximated by gaussian spread function convolved with a rectangular profile having a width d 1 equal to the active width of the pixel . the spread function preferably has a full width at half maximum in the range of 0 . 3 × d 2 to 3 × d 2 , where d 2 is the center - to - center inter - pixel spacing , to yield the desired smoothly varying light intensity . typically d 1 is nearly equal to d 2 . in the embodiment of fig5 , each pixel 42 comprises three sub pixels 43 r , 43 g and 43 b ( for clarity fig5 omits sub pixels for some pixels 42 ). sub - pixels 43 r , 43 g and 43 b are independently addressable . they are respectively associated with red , green and blue color filters which are integrated into second light modulator 20 . various constructions of lcd panels which include a number of colored sub - pixels and are suitable for use in this invention are known in the art . for front projection - type displays ( for example the display 10 c of fig4 ), it is typically most practical for first light modulator 16 to comprise a high - resolution light modulator which provides color information and for light modulator 36 to comprise a monochrome light modulator . light modulator 36 preferably has reasonably small addressable elements so that the boundaries of its elements do not form a visually distracting pattern . for example , light modulator 36 may have the same number of addressable elements as projector 37 ( although each such element will typically have significantly larger dimensions than the corresponding element in light modulator 16 of projector 37 ). projector 37 may have any suitable construction . all that is required is that projector 37 be able to project light which has been spatially modulated to provide an image onto screen 34 . fig6 illustrates a display system 10 d according to a further alternative embodiment of the invention . system 10 d comprises a screen 34 which has an integrated light modulator 36 as described above with reference to fig4 . system 10 d comprises a projector 37 a which has separate light modulators 16 r , 16 g and 16 r for each of three colors . light modulated by each of light modulators 16 r , 16 g and 16 r is filtered by a corresponding one of three colored filters 47 r , 47 g and 47 b . the modulated light is projected onto screen 34 by optical systems 17 . a single light source 12 may supply light to all three light modulators 16 r , 16 g , and 16 b , or separate light sources ( not shown ) may be provided . as will be apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of the foregoing disclosure , many alterations and modifications are possible in the practice of this invention without departing from the spirit or scope thereof . for example : diffuser 22 and collimator 18 could be combined with one another ; diffuser 22 and collimator 18 could be reversed in order ; multiple cooperating elements could be provided to perform light diffusion and / or collimation ; the order in screen 23 of second light modulator 20 collimator 18 and diffuser 22 could be varied ; the signal 38 a driving first light modulator 16 may comprise the same data driving second light modulator 20 or may comprise different data . accordingly , the scope of the invention is to be construed in accordance with the substance defined by the following claims .	6
in an ofdm or ofdma system , in the presence of multipath diversity , all subcarriers will arrive at a given receiver with different amplitudes . in fact , some subcarriers may be completely lost because of significant fading effects . hence , the overall bit rate and capacity will be dominated by the few subcarriers with the smallest amplitudes ( even though most subcarriers may be detected without errors ). in order to attempt to counteract this disadvantage , most ofdm or ofdma systems employ channel coding . using coding across the subcarriers , enables errors of weak subcarriers to be corrected . the performance of the coded ofdm / ofdma system can be determined by the average received power rather than the power of the weakest subcarrier . in the described embodiment of the present invention , the average received power ( or channel gain ) of each subchannel ( user ) will be used as the quality metric to allocate the subcarriers . the subcarriers are allocated in such a way as to maximise the average power received for each subchannel without minimising the average received power in other subchannels . this ensures a fair approach to all users ( assuming for the moment each user is allocated one sub - channel ) resulting in similar per and ber performance across users under the same snr . although power level is used as the quality metric in the described embodiment , it will be readily appreciated that the present invention is applicable to any quality measurement . for example , power level , or sinr ( signal to interference and noise ratio ) could be used as a quality measurement as a basis for the allocation of subcarriers . other quality measurements can also be used . fig4 is a flow chart illustrating a method embodying the present invention . the method starts ( at step a ) by initialising data relating to subchannel power levels . for example , the initial level is set to zero . at step b , respective initial subcarriers are found for each subchannel . each initial subcarrier is found to find the best subcarrier gain for that user . the power level is updated to reflect the allocated subcarriers , and once a subcarrier is allocated it is no longer available for allocation to another subchannel . at step d , the subchannels are sorted in ascending order of power level so that the lowest power level subchannel is first on the list . in step e , additional subcarriers are allocated in the order of the subchannels as they appear on the sorted power level list , such that the lowest power level subchannel is allocated an additional subcarrier first . if all subcarriers are allocated ( step f ) then the process ends ( step g ) until the next channel change . if all subcarriers have not been allocated then steps d and e are repeated so that all of the subcarriers can be allocated in this way . p k represents the average received power for subchannel ( user ) k . n represents the usable subcarriers . h k , n represents the channel gain for subcarrier n and user k . in the following example , the number of subchannels ( users ) is 16 , the number of subcarriers is 768 and for the sake of simplicity it is assumed that each user is allocated one subchannel only . note that multiple subchannels may be allocated to particular users to give them a larger share of the available resources whilst maintaining a fair allocation of resources between subchannels . it will be readily appreciated that techniques embodying the invention can be applied to any number of users and subcarriers . a method embodying the present invention can be expressed as follows : set p k = 0 for all user k = 1 to 16 , n ={ 1 , 2 , 3 . . . , 768 } ( available subcarriers ) a ) find subcarrier n satisfying \| h k , n \|& gt ;=\| h k , j \| for all j ⊂ n b ) update p k and n with the n from a ) according to : a ) sort subchannels according to the subchannel that has less power . b ) for the found subchannel k , find subcarrier n satisfying : c ) update p k and n with the n from a ) according to : d ) go to the next in the short list , until all users are allocated another subcarrier this technique will be repeated at regular intervals to accommodate variation over time . although the invention is described with reference to a radio telecommunications system , it will be readily appreciated that the techniques and principles of the invention are applicable to other systems . in addition , although the techniques of the present invention are described with reference to the base station , it is not necessary that a base station carry out the subcarrier allocation . one or more , or even all , of the user terminals can handle the allocation of the subcarriers in a practical system . since the algorithm is deterministic , if all of the terminals have access to the same information on the channel , they could all implement the algorithm with the same result . in such a system , it is necessary that all of the terminals are provided with the relevant information concerning the channel , and this is particularly the case in those networks which use distributed control , with no base station . the information can be provided to each of the user terminals using the control channels available in the system . in the following , physical layer performance results are presented for the case of the enhanced coded ofdma system in terms of ber ( bit error rate ) and per ( packet error rate ) vs . snr ( signal to noise ratio ) graphs for the downlink case . similar performance gains can be achieved in the uplink if the channel does not change and the user receiver uses the same subcarriers to transmit . performance results have been obtained for a number of different modes for the channel mode e as specified . for each channel model , 2000 uncorrelated wideband rayleigh channels were generated in order to be convolved with the modulated data . in order to investigate the potential gains achieved by allocating very good subcarriers to one user a simple greedy algorithm that allocates the best subcarriers to one user without taking into account the other users was tried . fig5 and 6 present the ber and per performances of the coded ofdma system versus snr respectively . for these results mode 2 ( see table 2 ) was used and the packet size was 54 bytes . it can be seen that when the best subcarriers are allocated to one user the performance is significantly enhanced compared to the standard case where random subcarriers are allocated across the entire spectrum . this is due to two reasons . firstly , the average received power for this user ( in the 48 subcarriers ) is increased and secondly fewer carriers are in a fade and hence the convolutional code can correct more errors and performance is improved . it should be noted that the average power across the entire spectrum remains the same , but what changes is the power for the particular user subcarriers . however , as stated before , this is not the optimal solution since it may happen that the best subcarrier of a user is also the best subcarrier for another user who happens to have no other good subcarriers . this means that although the performance of user 1 has been enhanced , other users may suffer . fig7 and 8 present the ber and per performances of the coded ofdma system with the subcarrier allocation algorithm versus snr respectively for mode 2 . fig9 and 10 present the ber and per performances for mode 6 ( see table 2 ). it can be seen that the subcarrier allocation algorithm provides significant gains ( see table 1 ) and its performance is very close to the best subcarrier allocation case ( within 1 db ). moreover , as can be seen from fig1 the performance of all users is equally enhanced in contrast with the best subcarrier allocation algorithm . in order to obtain the throughput results , simulations were performed for all the transmission modes . fig1 shows per results with the subcarrier allocation algorithm for all the modes . as before , the gains are due to enhanced received power in the desirable subcarriers and enhanced performance due to less fading . this can be seen from fig1 and 14 which show respectively an example channel frequency response and how that can be seen at the receiver after the subcarrier allocation algorithm for the 48 subcarriers . the average gain due to the enhanced received power was measured to be 4 . 8 db ( over all channel realisations and users ). as stated before the rest of the gain is due to the resulting shape of the frequency response ( see fig1 ) which gives us a relatively flat channel . the physical layer modes ( table 2 ) with different coding and modulation schemes can be selected by a link adaptation scheme as explained in wp3 . the link adaptation mechanism enables the system to adapt the transmission mode to the radio link quality . fig1 and 16 show the link throughput in the proposed 4g system based on the per results and table 2 with and without the subcarrier allocation algorithm for the downlink case . it can be observed that throughput is significantly enhanced with the subcarrier allocation algorithm . the subcarrier allocation algorithm can achieve the maximum throughput ( 288 mbps ) for an snr value of 18 db for the downlink . table 3 summarises these throughput enhancements . for example at an snr value of 5 db the enhanced system can support up to 120 mbps instead of 30 mbps . this is due to the fact that mode 4 can now be used instead of mode 2 . similar improvements can be seen for other snr values . hence the performance gain achieved can be used either to reduce the transmit power , or to provide enhanced capacity for the same transmit power .	7
the present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings , in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown . this invention may , however , be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiment set forth herein . rather , this embodiment is provided so that this application will be thorough and complete , and will fully convey the true scope of the invention to those skilled in the art . the apparatus of this invention is referred to generally in the figures and is intended to provide a convertible shoe . it should be understood that the present invention may be used in converting a pair of stilettos into a pair of flats instantly and vice versa , and should not be limited to the uses described herein . referring to the fig1 - 4 in general , in a non - limiting exemplary embodiment , the convertible shoe 10 may include a lightly padded and flexible sole 20 to facilitate a comfortable fit and steady footing and a removable heel 30 . produced in a variety of heights , the heel 30 may include a sliding and interlocking fitting 32 positioned on the top of the heel 30 and designed to accommodate a recessed female threaded fitting 37 located at the sole 15 of the shoe 10 . other interlocking mechanisms can be utilized to interlock the disjoined heel 30 to sole of shoe 10 . as such , the heel 30 may easily slid into place on the underside of the shoe 37 , locking in place and then easily released and removed after use . the heel 30 may be manufactured from a variety of materials included heavy duty acrylic , polished wood and leather . the apparatus 10 may further be produced in a wide variety of styles from canvas mules , to open toe and strappy sandals , to stylish pumps . as with traditional shoes , the apparatus 10 may be produced in a variety of sizes and colors . fig1 - 5 illustrates , the convertible shoe ( 10 ) of the present invention . the convertible shoe ( 10 ) of the present invention comprises a sole ( 12 ) having a lower surface with an opposite heel ( 15 ) and toe ends ( 20 ), and a pair of sides ( 25 ) extending between the heel ( 15 ) and toe ends ( 20 ) of the sole ( 15 ). the heel ( 15 ) of the sole ( 12 ) of the have a recessed portion ( 37 ) extending a pre - determined length thereon forming a channel ( 37 ) thereon . in the preferred embodiment , the channel ( 37 ) extends the length of the heel ( 15 ) of the sole ( 12 ). the convertible shoe ( 10 ) of the present invention further comprises the disjoined heel ( 30 ) having an upper surface with spline ( 32 ) raised above the upper surface extending the length of the channel ( 37 ). the spline ( 32 ) configured to securely engaged into the channel ( 37 ) wherein the heel ( ) is securely attached to the heel ( 15 ) lower surface of the sole ( 12 ). the shoe ( 10 ) of the present invention further comprises a first track of attaching elements ( 33 ) disposed adjacent and parallel to the spline ( 32 ) and a first track of mating elements ( 43 ) disposed adjacent and parallel to the channel ( 37 ) configured to securely engage with the first track of attaching elements ( 33 ) wherein the heel ( 15 ) of the sole ( 12 ) is securely attached to the disjoined heel ( 30 ). the shoe of the present invention further comprises a second track of attaching elements ( 34 ) disposed adjacent and parallel to the spline ( 32 ) opposite the first track of attaching elements ( 33 ) and on the opposite side of the spline ( 32 ). a second track of mating elements ( 44 ) is disposed adjacent and parallel to the channel ( 37 ) opposite the first track of mating elements ( 43 ) wherein the second track of mating elements ( 44 ) is configured to securely engage with the first track of attaching elements ( 33 ) wherein the heel ( 15 ) of the sole ( 12 ) is securely attached to the disjoined heel ( 30 ). in the illustrated embodiment depicted in fig5 , 5 a , and 5 b , the first and second track of attaching elements ( 33 , 34 ) are spring loaded ball bearings and the first and second track mating elements ( 43 , 44 ) are apertures . in use ad depicted in fig3 a , b , and c , as the spline of the disjoined heel ( 30 ) is slid into recessed portion ( 37 ), the spring loaded ball bearings is depressed and then released into the apertures ( 43 , 44 ) securing the attaching elements ( 33 , 34 ) in place . other fastening mechanisms can be utilized . additionally , the attaching elements and the mating elements can be reversed wherein attaching elements are adjacent to the channel and the mating elements are adjacent to the spline . in use the connection between the attaching elements and the mating elements provides an equal distribution of the weight of the user alleviating the stress upon the spline ( 32 ) interlocking connection . in a non - limiting exemplary embodiment , a handy storage pouch may be included for use in easily storing the heels 30 in a purse or tote . lightweight and portable , the heel 30 may be easily stored in the handy carrying pouch when not in use . the handy pouch may easily fit in any clutch , purse or attaché , providing effortless access whenever needed . there are several significant benefits and advantages associated with the convertible shoe 10 . as a non - limiting example , the apparatus 10 in fig1 - 4 may provide female users customizable footwear which may enable them to enjoy the striking fashion of high heel shoes , while also providing an instant reprieve for sore feet at the end of a long day or evening &# 39 ; s festivities . stylish stilettos boasting detachable heels , such footwear may provide females cushiony relief after long hours spent on their feet . a practical alternative to traversing a crowded dance floor or gravel parking lot with bare feet , the apparatus 10 may offer females a remarkably effective barrier between the foot and the hard ground surface area . eliminating the sore , achy feet associated with wearing high heels , the apparatus 10 may provide soothing relief after a day &# 39 ; s festivities . attractive in design , such comfortable footwear may add a striking touch to any ensemble . in use , the convertible shoe 10 would be simple and straightforward to use . first the user would purchase a pair of apparatus 10 in accordance to size and style . sliding the heel attachment to the bottom of each sole 15 as shown in fig3 a , b , and c allowing the user to transform the flats illustrated in fig1 into a pair of heeled shoes illustrated in fig2 for a night on the town with friends . at the end of the evening , the user would once again remove the heels from the bottom of her shoes , tossing the heels into their carrying pouch and dropping them into a purse or glove compartment for use when again needed . there has thus been outlined , rather broadly , the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood , and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated . it is noted the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the u . s . patent and trademark office and the public generally , especially the scientists , engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology , to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application . the abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application , which is measured by the claims , nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way . while the invention has been described with respect to certain specific embodiments , it will be appreciated that many modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention . it is intended , therefore , by the description hereinabove to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention . in particular , with respect to the above description , it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the present invention may include variations in size , materials , shape , form , function and manner of operation .	0
this description of the exemplary embodiments is intended to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings , which are to be considered part of the entire written description . in the description , relative terms such as “ lower ,” “ upper ,” “ horizontal ,” “ vertical ,”, “ above ,” “ below ,” “ up ,” “ down ,” “ top ” and “ bottom ” as well as derivative thereof ( e . g ., “ horizontally ,” “ downwardly ,” “ upwardly ,” etc .) should be construed to refer to the orientation as then described or as shown in the drawing under discussion . these relative terms are for convenience of description and do not require that the apparatus be constructed or operated in a particular orientation . terms concerning attachments , coupling and the like , such as “ connected ” and “ interconnected ,” refer to a relationship wherein structures are secured or attached to one another either directly or indirectly through intervening structures , as well as both movable or rigid attachments or relationships , unless expressly described otherwise . the invention relates to alignment of a line - of - sight communication link between a receiver and a transmitter , for example , a laser or microwave transmitter and receiver . the invention relates to a method and apparatus for line - of - sight alignment of a closed channel communications link for laser transmitted communications or microwave transmitted communications . fig3 discloses a transmitter ( 100 ) mounted on a base ( 100 a ), for example , a tripod . the transmitter output is in the form of a wireless communications signal transmitted by a laser or microwave carrier . the transmitter ( 100 ) is aligned with a distant or remote receiver ( 102 ) to establish line - of - sight communications with the receiver ( 102 ). according to the invention , a radiation emitting device , including , and not limited to a pen style , laser pointer ( 300 ) emanates a visible spectrum laser beam through a diffuser ( 302 ) that includes , and is not limited to , a lens or refraction element . to align the transmitter ( 100 ) with the receiver ( 102 ), an operator begins the process by manually pointing the laser pointer ( 300 ) toward a candidate target . a candidate target is a target that potentially could have the desired receiver ( 102 ). for example , the candidate target can be an equipment van ( 104 ) disclosed by fig1 , or a window ( 108 ) as disclosed by fig1 and 2 . the laser pointer ( 300 ) is a source of laser radiation that emanates from the laser pointer ( 300 ) and is incident on the diffuser ( 302 ) to nominally enlarge the beam spread . further , the beam is incident on a distant candidate target . the energy of the incident beam illuminates the candidate target with an enlarged diffused bright spot , and not merely a narrow bulls - eye point of illumination . according to the invention , fig3 further discloses a reflector ( 304 ) mounted on a receiver ( 102 ) intended to establish a communications link with the transmitter ( 100 ). according to an embodiment of the invention the reflector ( 304 ) is an unmodulated reflector of incident laser radiation . the reflector ( 304 ) reflects the incident laser radiation backward toward the source . at the source , the reflected radiation appears as a bright point of light within the boundary of the bright spot of illumination produced by the beam energy incident on the candidate target , i . e ., the equipment van ( 104 ) or window ( 108 ). according to an embodiment of the invention , the reflector ( 304 ) includes a retroreflector , which further includes , and is not limited to , a corner cube reflector . a further description of a retroreflector is disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 663 , 246 , incorporated herein by reference . the retroreflector reflects the incident radiation at an energy loss that is less than the energy loss of reflection from the ordinary and usual , non - mirror surfaces of the candidate target and the receiver ( 102 ) at the candidate target . the operator at the source observes the reflected radiation to appear as a bright point of light of higher intensity compared to the diffused bright spot of incident laser illumination . the appearance of the bright point of light is a visual cue that the laser output radiation is incident on the receiver ( 102 ) on which the reflector ( 304 ) is mounted . to more precisely align the transmitter ( 100 ) with the receiver ( 102 ), an operator adjusts the position of the laser pointer ( 300 ) by itself , while visually observing the bright spot of illumination to move over the candidate target , until it appears to be substantially concentric with the diffused bright spot of incident light . thereby , the laser pointer ( 300 ) will be pointing toward the center of the diffused bright spot of incident laser illumination , which coincides with the optimum alignment of the pointer ( 300 ) on the transmitter ( 100 ) and the reflector ( 304 ) on the receiver ( 102 ). when the laser pointer ( 300 ) is separate from the transmitter ( 100 ), the operator adjusts the position of the transmitter ( 100 ) to align with the reflected laser illumination , for optimum alignment of the transmitter ( 100 ) and the receiver ( 102 ). alternatively , the laser pointer ( 300 ) is mounted on the transmitter ( 100 ), such that the operator adjusts the positions of the transmitter ( 102 ) and the laser pointer ( 300 ) together , as a unit . consequently , the transmitter ( 102 ) and receiver ( 102 ) are in direct , line - of - sight alignment for exchanging line - of - sight communications . the correct receiver ( 102 ) has been confirmed , because reflected radiation from the reflector ( 304 ) distinguishes the correct receiver ( 102 ) from other receivers without reflectors . further , the line - of - sight alignment has been confirmed with the correct transmitter ( 100 ) that uses the reflected radiation . ambient conditions of high intensity ambient light can substantially reduce the intensity contrast of the reflected illumination compared to the overall incident illumination , making it harder for an operator to visually distinguish the diffused bright spot of laser illumination . according to a further embodiment of the invention , an optoelectronic transducer ( 306 ) detects the reflected radiation , i . e . reflected laser radiation , and produces an electrical voltage output that varies with the amplitude of the detected radiation . an optoelectronic transducer includes , and is not limited to , a known photodiode or other known photodetector . the voltage output of the transducer ( 306 ) activates an audible alarm ( 308 ) that varies in volume intensity with the amplitude of the detected radiation . the transducer ( 306 ) and alarm ( 308 ) are mounted with the laser pointer ( 300 ). the laser pointer ( 300 ) is either separate from the transmitter ( 100 ), or alternatively , is mounted on the transmitter ( 100 ) or is part of an assembly with the transmitter ( 100 ). according to a further embodiment of the invention , a modulated light source produces coherent laser radiation . with reference to fig4 , the modulated light source includes a shutter in the form of a chopping wheel ( 400 ). for example , the chopping wheel ( 400 ) is a solid disc that has one or more apertures ( 402 ) that are spaced apart angularly about a central axis of rotation of the chopping wheel ( 400 ). the chopping wheel ( 400 ) is mounted on a rotatable shaft ( 404 ), and is rotated , either manually by an operator , or by an electric motor ( 406 ) driving the shaft ( 404 ). a constant speed motor ( 406 ) or a variable speed motor ( 406 ) controls the rotational velocity of the chopping wheel ( 400 ). the chopping wheel ( 404 ) rotates in front of the emanating radiation from the source , i . e ., the laser pointer ( 300 ) and diffuser ( 302 ). the chopping wheel ( 400 ), rotates such that each of the apertures ( 402 ) momentarily intercepts at least a portion of the emanating radiation , which imposes amplitude modulation on the radiation , depending on the rotational velocity , the size of the apertures ( 402 ), the percentage of the beam that is intercepted by the apertures ( 402 ), and the spacing apart of the apertures ( 404 ). further , the apertures ( 402 ) are either along the edge of the chopping wheel ( 400 ), or are fully encircled by the chopping wheel . further , a chopping frequency is imposed by the wheel ( 400 ) and the one or more apertures ( 404 ), which alternately block and transmit the radiation . accordingly , the energy of the modulated , diffused laser beam illuminates a candidate target , and illuminates a receiver ( 102 ) located at the candidate target . the unmodulated reflector ( 304 ) at the receiver ( 102 ) reflects illumination back to the source , where the operator observes that the reflected illumination varies in amplitude in synchronization with the modulation imposed by rotation of the chopping wheel ( 400 ). further , the rotational velocity of the chopping wheel ( 400 ) is kept constant or is varied under the control of the operator . for example , the operator varies the rotational velocity , and further observes whether the reflected illumination exhibits an amplitude that varies in corresponding synchronization with the varied rotational velocity of the chopping wheel ( 400 ). thus , the operator verifies that the reflector ( 304 ) at the receiver ( 102 ) is reflecting the modulated radiation that originates from the correct source , the correct source being the laser ( 300 ). a battery powered laser pointer ( 300 ) is used as the laser ( 300 ). the chopping wheel ( 400 ) is a mechanical shutter that is rotated by hand or , alternatively , is rotated by a battery powered electric motor ( 406 ). thereby , the electronic requirements of the invention are simplified for low cost production and for simplified field use . fig5 discloses a broadband communications apparatus ( 500 ) having an external communications antenna ( 502 ) for transmitting and / or receiving wireless broadband communications signals . for example , the communications apparatus ( 500 ) includes , but is not limited to , a video broadcast uplink ( 500 a ), a closed circuit video network ( 500 b ) and a broadband base station ( 500 c ) for establishing wireless broadband communications . the video broadcast uplink ( 500 a ) provides video broadcast coverage of events , such as , sporting events , which are relayed by the communications antenna ( 502 ) to a communications satellite . the closed circuit video network ( 500 b ) establishes video conferencing communications , or point - to - point video surveillance communications . the broadband base station ( 500 c ) processes broadband signals , such as , video , internet and voice over internet protocol and transmits and receives the same via the communications antenna ( 502 ). the laser aligned transmitter or receiver ( 100 ) establishes wireless communications with the receiver or transceiver ( 102 ), in turn , transmitting such communications over a communications link ( 504 ) with the communications apparatus ( 500 ). the communications link ( 504 ) includes , but is not limited to , a network connection , a direct link by wire or optical cable and a wireless link . the wireless link typically is established via the antenna ( 502 ). although the invention has been described in terms of exemplary embodiments , it is not limited thereto . rather , the appended claims should be construed broadly , to include other variants and embodiments of the invention , which may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and range of equivalents of the invention .	7
the following detailed description is of the best presently contemplated mode of carrying out the invention . this description is not to be taken in a limiting sense , but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention since the scope of the invention best is defined by the appended claims . referring to fig1 there is shown a printer 9 employing the inventive mechanism 10 for adjusting the gap between a print head 11 and a platen 12 . the platen 12 is fixedly mounted to a frame 13 which also supports the other printer 9 components . the print head 11 is mounted on a carriage 14 which includes a cylindrical bearing 15 that surrounds a circular shaft 16 . the carriage 14 is driven along the shaft 16 by a motor 17 and belt 18 so as to transport the print head 11 across the page 19 being printed . although the invention is not so limited , the print head 11 may comprise a dot matrix print head of the type disclosed in the co - pending u . s . application , of peter wolfe et . al ser . no . 805 , 706 filed june 13 , 1977 , which is assigned to the same assignee as the present invention . the rear 14a of the carriage 14 is supported by rollers 20 that engage a bar 21 which is non - rigidly mounted to the frame 13 . as best evident in fig1 and 3 , the shaft 16 includes an integral , offset cylindrical spindle 16a , 16b at each end . the spindles 16a , 16b are coaxial and have a common axis 16c which is parallel to , but spaced from the axis of the shaft 16 . the spindles 16a , 16b are journal - mounted to the frame 13 by means of bearings 21a , 21b . the shaft 16 with its offset spindles 16a , 16b is the principal component of the inventive platen gap adjuster . by rotating the shaft 16 through a small angular amount about the spindle axis 16c , the offset axis of the shaft 16 will be displaced slightly in a lateral direction . since the shaft 16 engages the bearing 15 , such shaft 16 rotation will cause the carriage 14 and its print head 11 to be moved slightly toward or away from the platen 12 . such transverse movement in no way hinders the freedom of the carriage 11 to slide along the shaft 16 . at the rear of the carriage 14 , the slight transverse motion is accommodated by a commensurate slight movement of the bar 21 , the ends of which advantageously are pivotally mounted to the frame 13 by means of short pivot arms 22 . it will be appreciated that precise adjustment of the platen gap is accomplished by rotating the shaft 16 through fixed angles . this is accomplished by the cooperation of a lever arm 25 and a cam action knob 26 best shown in fig1 and 3 . one end 25a of the lever arm 25 is clamped to the spindle 16a . a thumb rest 25b is formed at the other end . a flat portion 25c ( fig2 ) of the lever arm 25 is biased into contact with a cam 26a on the knob 26 by means of a spring 27 . advantageously , the spring 27 is loosely coiled around the spindle 16a and has one end 27a affixed to the frame 13 and the other end 27b affixed to the lever arm 25 . the cam action knob 26 is mounted to the frame 13 by a shaft 26b . the circular base 26c of the knob 26 includes a set of angularly spaced detent holes 26e each at an equal radial distance from the shaft 26b . a rigid ball 28 , situated in an opening through the frame 13 , is caught between a leaf spring 29 on the outside of the frame 13 and one of the detent holes 26e . this arrangement maintains the cam action knob 26 in a fixed angular position , but allows rotation of that knob 26 through fixed angles corresponding to the distance between the detent holes 26e . the cam 26a is of eccentric , somewhat oval shape . it is an integral part of the knob 26 , and terminates in a knurled section 26d ( fig1 ) which serves as a finger grip for rotating the knob 26 . platen gap adjustment is accomplished by rotating the cam action knob 26 to a selected orientation between the extreme positions shown in solid and in phantom in fig2 . in the position shown in solid , the shaft 16 is oriented so that the print head 11 is closest to the platen 12 . as the knob 26 is rotated clockwise ( as viewed in fig2 ), the axis of the shaft 16 exhibits a horizontal component of motion to the left , thereby moving the print head 11 away from the platen 12 so as to increase the platen gap . precise gap adjustment is achieved . to aid the loading of paper 19 into the printer 9 , the lever arm 25 may be rotated away from the knob 26 , as to the position shown at 25 &# 34 ; in fig2 . this moves the print head 11 sufficiently far away from the platen 12 so as to permit insertion of the page 19 . at the same time , rotation of the lever arm 25 also moves a set of leaf spring fingers away from the platen 12 . these fingers 30 are used to urge the paper 19 against the platen 12 during printing . as shown in fig2 the fingers 30 are attached at their bottom end to a bar 31 which itself is mounted to an interconnection member 32 . the member 32 is pivotally mounted at one end 32a so that its other end 32b rides against the clamp portion 25a of the lever arm 25 . with this arrangement , when the lever arm 25 is moved to the extreme position 25 &# 34 ;, the fingers 30 will be spaced from the platen 12 so as to permit easy loading of the paper 19 . cylindrical bumpers 33 ( fig1 ) may be provided on the shaft 16 to aid in holding the page 19 against the platen 12 during printing . a pair of sprocket chains 34 are provided to advance the page 19 after each line has been printed . the chains 34 are driven by a motor 35 via a belt and pulley arrangement 36 .	1
referring to fig1 there is shown a system 10 for in vivo diagnosis of dermatological tissues . the system 10 may be embodied in a handheld head 32 as shown in fig1 a and schematically in fig3 . referring more particularly to fig1 there is shown a system 10 ( or instrument ) which contains optics of the type which are used in optical data storage heads which are used in recording and reading optical disks . light from a laser diode , contained in a laser and collimator assembly 12 , is collimated by a diffraction limited lens in the assembly 12 and is incident at an oblique angle on a beam splitter assembly 14 . refraction at this oblique angle causes the elliptical laser diode beam to become circular in cross - section . the circular beam passes through the beam splitter assembly 14 and a quarter wave plate 16 and is focused into the tissue 22 via a contact window 20 ( a glass window plate ) spaced from the sample , specimen or tissue 22 being examined , preferably by an optical contact liquid 21 . in the event the sample is viscus or liquid , it may be located in a sample well ( not shown ). the circular beam which passes through the beam splitter assembly 14 and the quarter wave plate 16 is focused into the sample by a precision focusing lens 18 , which suitably has a numerical aperture of 0 . 5 and a focal length of 4 . 3 millimeters . these dimensions and parameters are exemplary and demonstrate that the optical system 10 may be miniaturized so as to be adapted to be handheld . the quarter wave plate 16 converts the incident linear polarization from the laser in assembly 12 to circular polarization , i . e ., the quarter wave plate is oriented 45 ° to the incident polarization . in other words , the beam from plate 16 is circularly polarized . the focusing lens 18 is movable both in a direction along its optical axis and laterally as indicated by the arrows 24 and 25 , respectively . position mechanical actuators 34 ( fig1 a ) may be used for moving the lens 18 , and thereby control position of the focus spot of beam in the sample . these actuators 34 may be similar to those used in optical disk systems . the lens 18 may be mounted on a pair of such mechanical actuators . the actuators 34 provide lateral and vertical scanning of the focused laser beam in the tissue sample . the focusing lens 18 also collects scattered light reflected from the sample . the amount of coherent light scattered back into the detection system ( which includes lens 18 , plate 16 and assembly 14 ) depends upon local variations of the refractive index and the absorption in the immediate neighborhood of the focus spot . this coherent light may be defined as the component of the reflected light having a circular polarization orthogonal to the polarization of the beam focused into the tissue sample . the scattered light is incident to plate 16 and then to beam splitter assembly 14 . the plate 16 converts the coherent component of the scattered light into linear polarization , where beam splitter assembly 14 directs by reflection ( or filters ) the coherent light component of the scattered light at the beam splitting surface 15 in the beam splitter assembly 14 . the reflected light passes through a relay lens 26 . the light from relay lens 26 may be reflected from a pair of fold mirrors 28 ( see also fig1 a ). these fold mirrors 28 may be part of the beam splitter assembly 14 . the relay lens 26 may also be part of this assembly 14 . the scanned light from the focus spot is reflected from the fold mirrors 28 to a pinhole photodetector assembly 30 , which may also be considered part of the detection system . the fold mirrors 28 are used to make the instrument more compact . a prism assembly may alternatively be used , which is part of the beam splitting assembly 14 , and allows the samples to be placed face down . this orientation allows gravity to assist in maintaining the sample in a stable viewing position . maintaining a stable viewing position is also enhanced by the use of the window 20 as shown in fig1 . a top view of the instrument is illustrated in fig1 a . typical dimensions are given in fig1 a to illustrate the compacted size of the confocal imaging head 32 . the elements in the head 32 may be located on a single board to provide unitized construction . the height of the head may be approximately two inches from the base to the nominal focal point of the focusing lens 18 . by scanning using the mechanical actuators 34 successive lines may be scanned at successive depths to provide images of vertical sections ( i . e ., along a vertical plane through the tissue sample ). if desired the images may be formed from horizontal sections ( i . e ., along a horizontal plane through the tissue sample ) as the lines are scanned horizontally . by tilting the sample , sections at desired angles to the surface of the sample ( i . e ., along a tilted or non - perpendicular plane ) may be formed , such sections may also be formed by moving the lens 18 via actuator 34 as desired angles . referring to fig2 there is shown a block diagram of the data acquisition and analysis system which is part of the imaging system 10 provided by the invention . the confocal head 32 is the head shown in fig1 and 1a . the output 36 from the head 32 is the output from the pinhole detector assembly 30 . this output 36 is the confocal detector signal . signals are also provided from sensors 38 , namely a lateral position sensor and a vertical position sensor . these signals after amplification and filtering are acquired by a analog to digital converter of a digital i / o board 40 . this board 40 may also be on a board with a circuit which provides a digital to analog channel to drive the lateral motion actuator . the vertical scanning actuator is driven from a signal derived from a conventional signal generator 42 . the a to d , d to a and digital i / o board 40 is controlled and data is acquired via software in a personal computer 44 , such as a macintosh quadra 950 . conventional software packages may be used for image analysis and for driving a display 46 , which is shown by way of example as a 1472 by 1088 pixel display . referring to fig3 there is shown the confocal imaging head 32 contacted against the skin 48 of a subject specimen using a mineral oil as an optical index matching fluid , which is an optical contact liquid 21 ( fig1 ) for reducing undesired reflections of light from the surface of the skin . the force against the skin 48 will be limited to that required to press the skin against the contact window 20 of the head 32 . a laser beam 50 which may be relatively low power ( e . g ., 6 . 3 milliwatts of optical power ) is focused into the dermis of the specimen . the laser is operated at a wavelength capable of penetrating into the skin of the specimen , thus the skin may be considered transparent to the laser wavelength ( or in other words , the skin is permeable to electromagnetic radiation of specified frequencies ). the depth of focal point or spot 52 is varied from the surface of the stratum corneum to a few millimeters below the surface of stratum corneum . the nominal beam spot size may be , for example , 2 . 5 micrometers , full width half maximum . the laser spot is scanned laterally across the skin , for example at a rate of 3 to 10 hz . different laser wavelengths may be selectively used for different resolution . inasmuch as the energy delivered is proportional to the illuminating flux focused divided by the diameter of the spot , the scan length and the scan rate or frequency , the amount of incident flux is sufficiently low that damage to the specimen is avoided . the light scattered by the tissue is collected and the lights coherent component is re - imaged onto the pinhole aperture 54 of assembly 30 , as shown in fig1 and 1a . the pinhole 54 transmits the coherent light from the focal region of the incident beam 53 to the detector 55 ( of assembly 30 ) where it converts the light into an electrical signal . as the lens 18 scans laterally , the electrical signal is acquired by the computer and stored . each scan represents a one dimensional trace of the reflectivity and scattering cross section of the dermis at a given level below the surface of the skin 48 . a series of scans are made with the focal point positioned at progressively lower depths thereby providing a vertical cross section image of the skin which may be similar to a b - scan ultrasound image . as stated earlier , these scans may also be horizontal to provide a horizontal cross - section , or at an angle to provide an angular cross - section of the skin . from the foregoing description it will be apparent that there has been provided an embodiment of a confocal imaging system for dermatological pathology applications . variations and modifications of the herein described system and other applications for the invention will undoubtedly suggest themselves to those skilled in the art . accordingly , the foregoing description should be taken as illustrative and not in a limiting sense .	0
the invention is explained in greater detail in the following by reference to exemplary embodiments in the figures and is compared with a method according to the prior art . in one exemplary embodiment of the invention , a biological tissue is obtained from porcine pericardial tissue by mechanical removal of adhering foreign tissue and subsequent rinsing in isotonic saline solution ( fresenius - kabi ) for 20 hours . this tissue is subjected to decellularization with a detergent comprising a dpbs solution without calcium / magnesium ( lonza ; dpbs w / o ca ++/ mg ++; art . no . 17 - 512 ) and surfactin ( sigma - aldrich , surfactin from bacillus subtilis , art . no . s3523 ) in a concentration of 600 mg / l . the aforementioned exemplary embodiment according to the present invention is compared with two detergents according to the prior art . in the first example according to the prior art , the biological tissue is subjected to decellularization with a detergent containing sodium dodecyl sulfate ( sds ; sigma - aldrich , art . no . l3771 ) in a concentration of 5 g / l . the solvent used in this case as well is dpbs solution without calcium / magnesium ( lonza ; dpbs w / o ca ++/ mg ++; art . no . 17 - 512 ). in a second example according to the prior art , the biological tissue is subjected to decellularization with a detergent containing deoxycholic acid ( dca ; sigma - aldrich , art . no . d6750 ) in a concentration of 10 g / l . isotonic saline solution ( fresenius - kabi ) is used as the solvent in this case . fig1 shows the comparison of the dna content after decellularization between the exemplary embodiment according to the invention and the two examples according to the prior art . in fig1 , the dna content of the pericardial tissue after decellularization is plotted on the ordinate in % of the original dna content before decellularization . in each case , the dna content was plotted after the biological tissue had been in the respective washing solution for 1 hour , 3 hours , and 20 hours . the dna content is a direct measure of the removal of cellular components from the biological tissue . with the aid of the detergent for decellularization containing dca , the dna content is reduced to approximately 4 % after three hours . as is evident in fig1 , the dna content can be reduced to a similar value after 20 hours in the surfactin - containing detergent of the exemplary embodiment of the invention . the extent of decellularization of pericardial tissue achieved with surfactin within 20 hours corresponds to that of deoxycholic acid . the values of the dna content for the detergent containing sds are comparable in this case only to a limited extent , since sds induces a very pronounced structual change of proteins and massively impairs the dna detection method , with clearly visible decellularization . the serious advantages of the method according to the invention compared to decellularization processes according to the prior art are shown in fig2 through fig3 d . fig2 shows , on the ordinate ( enlarged scale , zero point not shown ), the shrinkage temperature of the decellularized tissue after treatment with the three aforementioned detergents as compared to the shrinkage temperature of the native tissue . due to the dominant portion of collagen in the extracellular matrix of pericardial tissue , the shrinkage temperature is the temperature at which the protein thermally denatures collagen , i . e . irreversibly changes the spatial structure thereof . as a result of the structural change of the collagen molecules , the tissue undergoes massive , irreversible structural changes , which become less pronounced , as is clearly visible , when the shrinkage temperature is reached . the shrinkage temperature was determined in experimentation by means of differential scanning calorimetry ( dsc ). in this method , the temperature of the sample to be measured is increased linearly over time and the flow of heat into or out of the sample is measured relative to a reference sample . if thermodynamic processes occur in the sample , e . g . the irreversible structural change of the collagen , a distinct peak forms at the shrinkage temperature in the thermogram that is measured . the level of the shrinkage temperature is a direct indicator of the stability of the spatial structure of the collagen molecules . the least possible change compared to the state in native tissue is therefore a direct indication , at the molecular level , of the markedly more gentle decellularization by surfactin . as is clearly evident in fig2 , the shrinkage temperature of the pericardial tissue after decellularization according to the exemplary embodiment of the invention is nearly identical to the shrinkage temperature of the untreated native pericardial tissue . the decellularization according to the two exemplary embodiments of the prior art with dca and sds , however , result in a shrinkage temperature that is markedly reduced , by 3 ° c . and 5 ° c ., respectively , and , therefore , to a markedly impaired tissue structure . the mechanical properties of the native biological tissue and the tissue after decellularization according to the invention are therefore very similar . with the aid of the method according to the invention , the decellularization therefore takes place in a very gentle method , as demonstrated . the different impairment of the tissue structure is also shown in the electron - microscopic images of the native tissue and the tissue after decellularization with the aforementioned detergents , wherein these images are shown in fig3 a - d . the images exhibit great similarity in the comparison of the native tissue in fig3 a with the decellularized tissue according to the aforementioned exemplary embodiment of the invention in fig3 b . both tissues show a plurality of collagen fibers and strands that are separated from one another . by comparison , the tissue shown in fig3 c and fig3 d is markedly changed after decellularization with the stated detergents according to the prior art . smaller collagen fibers , in particular , tend to attach themselves to one another in this case . as a result , the tissue structure is markedly changed and , in the electron - microscopic images , appears to be much more compact . fig4 shows the absorption of m86 antibodies on treated tissue . in the graph , two types of tissue are compared : native tissue , which has not been decellularized , and decellularized tissue . comparison values are contained on the right - hand side of the graph : m86 initial , nativ and decell give the absorption values for tissue that has not been treated with α - galactosidase . here , the native tissue demonstrates the highest value of α - gal epitopes . m86 initial specifies the absorption at which no absorption of the antibodies has taken place . this value constitutes the limit value for tissue on which α - gal epitopes are no longer present . from the comparison of m86 initial , nativ and decell , it can be seen that the decellularization already removes a significant quantity of α - gal epitopes ( comparison of decell and nativ ). however , it is also clear that a significant quantity of α - gal epitopes remain on the tissue ( comparison of decell and m86 initial ). the further absorption data shows the influence of the treatment with α - galactosidases on the concentration of α - gal epitopes on the surface of the tissue . the α - galactosidases of green coffee bean ( gcb , sigma aldrich ) at a concentration of 1 unit per ml could not remove all α - gal epitopes ( comparison of m86 initial and gcb * 5u ). however , due to the use of 1u of the α - galactosidase of green coffee bean , the concentration of α - gal epitopes on the surface is considerably reduced ( comparison of decell / nativ and gcb * 1u ). if the high concentration of 5 units per ml of the α - galactosidase of green coffee bean is used , practically all α - gal epitopes on the surface of the tissue can be removed ( comparison of m86 initial and gcb * 5u ). the extraordinary suitability of the α - galactosidase of cucumis melo ( cmg , cucumis melo galactosidase ) will be explained hereinafter on the basis of fig4 . if the comparatively low concentration of 1 unit per ml is used , all α - gal epitopes on the surface of the tissue can be removed ( comparison of m86 initial with cmg * 1u ). it has also been found that in the case of decellularized tissue just 1 / 10 of a unit is sufficient to remove practically all α - gal epitopes on the surface of the tissue ( comparison of m86 initial with cmg decell 0 . 1u ). in the case of native tissue approximately all α - gal epitopes on the surface of the tissue are removed at this extremely low concentration ( comparison of m86 initial with cmg native 0 . 1u ). it has thus been found that α - galactosidases of cucumis melo can remove α - gal epitopes on the surface of the tissue in a highly efficient manner , and moreover much better than α - galactosidases of green coffee bean . fig5 shows , in addition to the above data in fig4 , the relative performance of an α - galactosidase of aspergillus niger . again , the comparison values of m86 initial , native and decellularized are shown , wherein m86 initial again describes the value at which it is assumed that α - gal epitopes are no longer present on the surface of the tissue , whereas native and decellularized specify the values of tissue that has not been treated with α - galactosidase . native tissue at a concentration of 5 units / ml forms the basis . it can be seen , as already clear from fig4 , that the α - galactosidase of green coffee bean ( gcb ) is able to remove α - gal epitope on the surface of the tissue . by comparison , however , it can be seen that the acidic α - galactosidase of aspergillus niger ( an ) is hardly able at this concentration to remove α - gal epitopes on the surface of the tissue . hereinafter , an embodiment of an entire method for preparing biological tissue for implant applications according to the present proposal will be described in detail in 12 steps . in step 1 , a pericardium is removed from a pig in a slaughterhouse and is stored in a sterile isotonic sodium chloride solution ( 9 g / l ; fresenius - kabi ) at a temperature of 4 ° c . for 2 hours . the solution contains sodium chloride as well as penicillin and / or streptomycin to kill bacterial germs . in step 2 , the tissue is prepared , moist , in a sodium chloride solution ( 9 g / l ; fresenius - kabi ). that is , the layers of the pericardium are separated from one another , adhering fatty and connective tissue is carefully removed , and the tissue is cut to the size and shape for the desired application . after rinsing with a sodium chloride solution ( 9 g / l ; fresenius - kabi ) with slight movement of the tissue in step 3 , the tissue is decellularized in step 4 . the decellularization in step 4 takes place with a detergent comprising a buffer solution containing surfactin ( the structure of surfactin is depicted in fig6 ). in this exemplary embodiment of the invention , surfactin ( sigma - aldrich , surfactin from bacillus subtilis , art . no . s3523 ) having a concentration of 600 mg / l is dissolved in a dpbs phosphate buffer solution ( lonza ; dpbs w / o ca ++/ mg ++; art . no . 17 - 512 ). the tissue remains in this washing solution for 20 hours at 37 ° c . the tissue is then cleaned nearly entirely of cellular components located therein without substantially changing the structure of the collagen fibers . in step 5 the tissue is rinsed in 100 ml sodium chloride solution ( 9 g / l ; company fresenius - kabi ) at room temperature with slight movement . step 5 is repeated here in this exemplary embodiment of the invention 8 times for 10 minutes . the tissue is then treated in step 6 with α - galactosidase of cucumis melo with a concentration of 1 unit per ml ( 1 u / ml ) in dpbs at room temperature and a ph of 7 . 4 for 24 hours and is then rinsed with 200 ml dpbs . the rinsing process is repeated here six times . the α - galactosidase of cucumis melo was commercially obtained from sigma aldrich . in step 7 the tissue is rinsed for 10 minutes at 37 ° c . with 100 ml of a 70 % ethanol solution . in step 8 a further rinsing step in 100 ml sodium chloride solution ( 9 g / l ; company fresenius - kabi ) is performed with slight movement . in step 9 the collagen fibers are cross - linked with a cross - linking agent . in this exemplary embodiment of the invention the tissue is placed for 48 hours at a temperature of 4 ° c . in a solution containing glutaraldehyde ( company sigma - aldrich , product no . f5882 ) at ph 7 . 4 . the glutaraldehyde - containing solution consists of glutaraldehyde with a concentration of 6 g / l in dpbs without calcium and magnesium ( company lonza ; dpbs w / o ca ++/ mg ++; product no . 17 - 512 ). step 10 repeats step 9 at room temperature . step 10 is carried out for 14 days , wherein the solution is replaced every 48 hours . in step 11 the tissue is rinsed in this exemplary embodiment of the invention 6 times for 20 minutes at room temperature with slight movement with 100 ml sodium chloride solution ( 9 g / l ; company fresenius - kabi ). after a rinsing process in step 11 , the tissue can be stored in glutaraldehyde or processed further in step 12 the exemplary embodiment described here is intended to clarify the invention . the number and / or design of the rinsing steps ( in particular the concentration and composition of the solution for rinsing , or of the buffer solution ) can be varied by a person skilled in the art as he sees fit .	2
the objective of improved constancy of the deposition efficiency is achieved with the powder - spraying apparatus according to the invention by a ratio between internal and external currents being set specifically , and changing only within narrow limits when there are changes in a distance between an electrode and a work piece . at a typical nominal distance of 200 mm from the work piece , about 70 % of the current flows via the electrodes for an internal charging , and 30 % via an external electrode . in all the figures of the drawing , sub - features and integral parts that correspond to one another bear the same reference symbol in each case . referring now to the figures of the drawing in detail and first , particularly , to fig1 thereof , there is shown a front view and a side view of a ring 1 made of a high - resistance material . the high - resistance material used for the ring 1 and further high - resistance components — described below — may be , for example , a plastic which is filled with graphite , carbon black or other conductive materials . a number of needle - like internal high - voltage electrodes 2 are inserted into the ring 1 , distributed uniformly over its internal circumference . the ring 1 can be connected to a high - voltage source ( cascade ) 6 via a high - resistance rod 3 ( see fig2 and fig5 ). a connection point 11 for the rod 3 is located at a center of a ring portion located between two of the electrodes 2 . a needle - like external high - voltage electrode 5 is connected to the rod 3 at a connection point 12 via a high - resistance pin 4 . the current and voltage distribution which can be achieved with such a configuration is determined by the resistance values of the components 1 , 3 and 4 and the current / voltage characteristic of the gas discharge paths of the : for improved understanding , fig2 shows the complete electric equivalent circuit of the configuration shown in fig1 which is connected to the high - voltage cascade 6 . the cascade 6 is simulated by an ideal voltage source having a voltage u 0 and a resistance r i . the discharge paths for an internal charging 7 and an external charging 8 are given by their current / voltage characteristics . portions of the ring 1 located between the internal electrodes 2 are in each case simulated by resistances r 1 . the resistance of the rod 3 is divided by the connection point 12 for the pin 4 into resistances r 2 and r 3 . the rod 4 is simulated by the resistance r 4 . for the purpose of configuring the resistances , a simplification of the equivalent circuit is expedient , and this is shown in fig3 . a resistance r a combines the resistances r i and r 3 . the components that are relevant to the internal discharge have been combined , to a first approximation , by a resistance r b and a gas discharge path 9 . r c is equal to r 4 . associated typical current / voltage characteristics are illustrated by way of example in fig4 . the characteristic curve 10 applies to the internal discharge , and characteristic curves 11 and 12 apply to the external discharge at two different distances from the work piece . the distance in the case of characteristic curve 11 is smaller than in the case of characteristic curve 12 . the characteristic curves can be approximated using the below listed equations . the internal discharge − i i = c i ( u i − u i0 ) 2 , where c i and u i0 are characteristic variables that depend on a geometric construction of the gun , and depend in particular on the distance of the needle - electrode ring from the internal earth electrode . the external discharge − i a = c a ( u a − u a0 ) 2 , c a and u a0 are characteristic variables that depend both on the geometric construction of the gun but , to a significantly greater extent , on the distance between the gun and the work piece and also on a shape of the work piece . the result is therefore different characteristics for different positions of the work piece . the characteristic variables c i , u i0 , c a and u a0 can be determined from the geometric dimensions and the material characteristics , using a numerical field calculation . however , an experimental check is to be recommended . the influence of the quantity of powder delivered can be neglected here . the equivalent circuit is described by the following system of equations : u 0 = r a c a ( u a − u a0 ) 2 +( r a + r b ) c i ( u i − u i0 ) 2 + u i , u 0 = r a c i ( u i − u i0 ) 2 +( r a + r c ) c i ( u a − u a0 ) 2 + u a . using these equations , the values for the resistances can be optimized . the following guide values having emerged from an exemplary embodiment : for r c , it is true to a first approximation that the greater r c is , the greater is the edge effect . the resistance r 1 should lie in the range of about 10 mω to about 30 mω . this resistance prevents field strength peaks , and hence high currents , occurring in the event of direct contact between the powder and the internal needles . fig5 shows the powder - spraying apparatus disclosed in international patent application wo 98 / 24555 . the spray gun disclosed has a chamber 100 , into which a powder / air mixture pl can be introduced . the spray gun contains an earth electrode 20 , the needle - like internal high - voltage electrodes 2 disposed distributed on a metal ring 150 , and the at least one external high - voltage electrode 5 configured as a needle . the high - voltage source 6 configured as a high - voltage cascade supplies high voltage to the electrodes 5 , 2 via an electrical connection 30 and the ring 150 . the inventive features of fig1 are to replace equivalent features shown in fig5 for providing a better consistency in the delivery of the powder .	1
referring to the drawings , a conventional internal combustion engine 10 has been fragmentarily depicted in fig1 and 4 . the engine 10 includes a cylinder block 12 containing a combustion chamber or cylinder 14 therein , being one of any number of cylinders . associated with the cylinder block 12 is a cylinder head 16 . an inlet valve port 18 has a passage 20 connecting with the intake manifold ( not shown ) of the engine 10 . conventionally included is an inlet valve indicated generally by the reference numeral 22 . more specifically , the inlet valve 22 includes a head 24 having a beveled surface that effectively closes the inlet port 18 when the valve has moved sufficiently upwardly . the valve 22 further includes a stem 26 having a lash cap 28 mounted at its upper end . a retainer 36 maintains a coil spring 32 captive so that the valve 22 , that is , its head 24 , is biased upwardly into a closed or seated position when not forced open , all as will presently become manifest . connected to the crankshaft ( not shown ) in a conventional manner is a camshaft 34 . in this instance , the camshaft 34 is tubular , having a passage or bore 36 extending therethrough so that oil can be transmitted for lubricating purposes presently to be referred to . the foregoing has dealt with parts of a conventional engine . nonetheless , it has been thought important to show and describe sufficient parts of a conventional engine , such as that denoted generally by the reference numeral 10 , in order that the operation of my valve actuating apparatus , denoted generally by the reference numeral 40 , can better be understood . it will be appreciated that the apparatus 40 comprises a cam unit or eccentric assembly indicated by the reference numeral 42 , the cam unit 42 being fixedly carried on the camshaft 34 . the hollow configuration of the camshaft 34 has been referred to so it should now be noted that there is an oil hole or passage 44 provided in the cam unit 42 which hole or passage 44 connects with the bore 36 so that oil will be discharged radially outwardly through the hole 44 onto parts presently to be referred to . the cam unit 42 plays a very important role in realizing the objects of my invention . first , attention is called to the presence of a divorced base circle cam indicated by the reference numeral 46 , this cam 46 being centrally located on the unit 42 . actually , the sectional view appearing in fig3 extends through the centrally located base circle cam 46 . flanking the base circle cam 46 are two identical minor lobe cams 48 . the cam unit 42 additionally includes another pair of identical cams , these being major lobe cams that carry the reference numeral 50 . the base circle cam 46 has a profile or contour denoted generally by the reference numeral 56 , the profile 56 consisting of a base circle portion 56a which subtends an arc of slightly less than 180 camshaft degrees , a short sloping ramp portion 56b of only a few camshaft degrees inclining outwardly to an increased radius eccentric or divorce portion 56c differing in radius from the radius of the base circle portion 56a by about 0 . 010 inch ( or whatever the expected lash happens to be ) and also spanning an arc slightly less than 180 camshaft degrees , and an inwardly sloping ramp portion 56d extending over the same small camshaft angle as the portion 56b , the portion 56d decreasing in radius from the larger radius portion 56c back to the radius of the base circle portion 56a . in order for the eccentricity of the portion 56c to be noticed , an arc 57 having the same radius as the base circle portion 56a has been superimposed on fig3 that is , radially inwardly from the portion 56c by an amount equal to the lash to be compensated for . the profile for the minor lobe cams 48 , both of which are identically contoured , has been labeled 58 , being composed in each instance of a base circle portion 58a having a radius equal to that of the base circle portion 56a of the profile 56 on the cam 46 , the portion 58a spanning the same arc as the same base circle portion 56a , a ramp portion 58b of only a few degrees that increases in radius to a lobe portion 58c of somewhat larger radius and subtending an angle of approximately 15 degrees , and a sloping ramp portion 54d that decreases in radius from the lobe portion 58c back to the radius of the base circle portion 58a ( and the radius of the base circle portion 56a ). although configured differently , the profile , which has been indicated by the reference numeral 60 , for the cams 50 includes in each instance a base circle portion 60a embracing the same arc and having the same radius as the base circle portions 56a and 58a , a sloping ramp portion 60b extending over an arc of 20 degrees or so and increasing in radius to a lobe portion 60c subtending an arc of approximately 35 degrees , and a sloping ramp portion 60d that decreases in diameter back to the base circle portion 60a , the portion 60d extending over an angle generally equal to that of the portion 60b . at this time , attention is directed to a lower rocker arm denoted by the reference numeral 62 . the rocker arm 62 is formed with a ramp section 64 that curves upwardly from the right end , as can be seen from fig1 and 4 . integral with the underside of the right end of the rocker arm 62 is a rounded nub 66 that engages the lash cap 28 at the upper end of the valve stem 26 . the lower rocker arm 62 is mounted for pivotal movement on a shaft 67 providing a fixed axis ; the shaft may be tubular . the shaft 67 is clamped in place by reason of blocks 68 having hold - down bolts 70 extending downwardly therethrough into the head 16 . as will be discerned from fig4 there are two sets of blocks 68 , the lower rocker arm 62 being pivotally mounted on the shaft 67 between the two pairs of blocks 68 which prevent lateral shifting of the rocker arm 62 on the shaft 67 . it will be appreciated that the rocker arm 62 , which has the rounded nub 66 thereon , is instrumental in acting against the lash cap 28 so as to open and close the valve 22 . it will be observed that the shaft 67 has been shown as being quite short ; actually , it can extend the entire length of the head 16 so as to accommodate a rocker arm 62 for each of the inlet valves , say four if the engine is a four - cylinder one , since there is one inlet valve 22 for each cylinder or combustion chamber 14 . in practice , there is also an exhaust valve ( not shown ) for each cylinder or combustion chamber 14 . however , it is thought that showing but a single inlet valve 22 will be adequate for understanding the benefits to be derived from my invention . reference will now be made to an upper rocker arm 72 having a composite ramp or follower section indicated generally by the reference numeral 74 . in a sense , the ramp section 74 can be considered to possess a stepped configuration when viewed from the left end in fig4 . thus , there is a rib 76 that is centrally located , the rib 76 provides a central flat follower portion or working surface 78 that is engaged by the divorced base circle cam 46 . there are two flanking follower portions or working surfaces 80 , the portions 80 in each instance including a straight section 80a and a curved section 80b . the portions 80 , it will be understood , are engaged by the minor lobe cams 48 . still further , there are two outer follower portions or working surfaces 82 , each being composed of a straight section 82a and a curved section 82b . more will be said presently concerning the coaction of the cam unit 42 with the composite ramp section 74 , especially the interrelation of the profiles 56 , 58 and 60 with the follower portions 78 , 80 and 82 , respectively . it will be noted , though , that the left or free end of the upper rocker arm 72 is formed with an integral rounded pad 84 which bears against whatever portion of the ramp section 64 over which it is positioned . the end of the upper rocker arm 72 remote from the end thereof having the rounded pad 84 thereon is pivotally carried or mounted on a relatively short shaft 86 , the ends of the shaft 86 being mounted in parallel strips or arms 88 . the lower ends of the arms 88 are pivotal on a shaft 90 clamped in blocks 92 by means of hold - down bolts 94 that extend into the head 16 in much the same manner as do the earlier - mentioned bolts 70 . disposed between the arms 88 at the upper ends thereof is a shaft 96 having a sleeve 98 rotatably carried thereon . in this way , the sleeve 98 can oscillate or swivel about the shaft 96 . extending from the sleeve 98 is a threaded rod 100 that is radially received in the sleeve 98 , being held in place by lock nuts 102 . what will be termed an operating mechanism , which has been denoted generally by the reference numeral 110 , includes a rod 112 which is actually the extension of the threaded rod 100 . it is not believed necessary to show the extension 112 in any detail . however , it connects with a hydraulic servomechanism or hydraulic amplifier labeled 114 . there is still another rod 116 that links the hydraulic servo 114 to an accelerator pedal 118 that is pivotally attached or mounted at its lower ends to the floorboard 120 of a vehicle by means of a pivot pin 122 . biasing the accelerator pedal 118 in a clockwise direction , as viewed in fig1 is a coil spring 124 . thus , whereas the accelerator pedal 118 could be connected directly to the upper end of the parallel arms 88 via the sleeve 98 , it is better to have the foot pressure exerted on the pedal 118 amplified . actually , where my invention is incorporated into engines other than those installed on a vehicle , the arms 88 can be manually actuated . having presented the foregoing description , the manner in which my valve actuating apparatus operates should be readily understood . nevertheless , in order to assure a full appreciation of the benefits to be derived , several operating modes will be referred to . first , during deceleration , there is no need for fuel to be drawn into the combustion chamber 14 of the exemplary engine 10 . with my invention , this is achieved by removing foot pressure from the pedal 118 . this results in the hydraulic amplifier 114 pivoting the arms 88 in a clockwise direction beyond the phantom line position of fig1 ( or fig2 ) with the consequence that the upper rocker arm 72 is shifted or pulled sufficiently to the right so that only the base circle portions 56a , 58a and 60a of the cams 46 , 48 and 50 , respectively effectively engage the rocker arm 72 . ( when the amplifier 114 is not used , the direct linkage comprised of the links 112 , 116 would be employed .) as the camshaft 34 rotates , the base circle portion 56a and the eccentric or divorced portion 56c successively act against the flat portion 76 , the sloping or ramp portions 56b and 56d producing a smooth transition during each revolution . the point to be understood , though , is that the valve 22 remains closed during this operational mode , for the increased radius of the eccentric portion 56c only compensates for whatever clearance or lash exists . with the valve 22 closed , it is obvious that no fuel / air charge enters the combustion chamber 14 . with no fuel in the chamber 14 , there is no combustion and hence no exhaust gases and emissions . however , when the engine 10 is to operate in a low performance manner , such as when cruising , it follows that the accelerator 118 will be only slightly depressed by the vehicle driver . this illustratively produces the position of the arms 88 and the upper rocker arm 72 presented in solid outline in fig1 . under these circumstances , the two minor lobe cams become effectual , their profiles 58 bearing against the twin follower portions 80 on the rocker arm 72 . obviously , the amount of mixed fuel and air is throttled down more under these conditions than the conditions portrayed in fig2 . it will be appreciated that the amount of valve opening , the change from phantom to solid line position , has been exaggerated somewhat in order to avoid an overlap of solid and phantom lines in the drawing . however , with a small amount of valve opening , which is caused by the lobe portions 58c acting against the follower portions 80 , it will be appreciated that a venturi action results in which the velocity of the fuel / air charge entering the combustion chamber 14 via the port 18 is increased with an accompanying increase in turbulence , which contributes appreciably to more complete ignition due to atomization of the fuel / air mixture at the last possible opportunity prior to combustion . in a performance mode , however , the amount of fuel and air must be increased . this is achieved by forcing the valve 22 open to a greater extent . this is done in the exemplary case by depressing the accelerator pedal 118 so that the amplifier 114 pivots the arms 88 into their solid line position pictured in fig2 . in this situation , the lobe portions 60c act against the two outer follower portions 82 on the rocker arm 72 . since the lobe portions 60c extend a greater radial distance from the camshaft 34 than do the lobe portions 54c , it follows that the valve 22 will be forced open to a greater degree in fig2 than in fig1 . it will be appreciated that the profiles 56 , 58 and 60 , particularly the latter two , can be contoured or configured to coact with their respective follower surfaces 78 , 80 and 82 to produce various duration and lift patterns . it should also be understood that the economy and performance operational modes achieved with the cams 48 and 50 , as they have been profiled , can provide a myriad of transitional modes depending upon the specific position of the upper rocker arm 72 as determined by the position of the accelerator pedal 118 . in other words , the operator can readily effect small progressively smooth movements of the valve 22 that best suit the particular load imposed upon the engine 10 . the invention is best described in relation to a single inlet valve 22 . it will be recognized that there is an inlet valve 22 for each cylinder or combustion chamber 14 , and that there is a cam unit 42 for each chamber 14 . obviously , while not depicted , there is also an exhaust valve for each chamber 14 , the opening and closing of which is related to the opening and closing of the inlet valve 22 with which it coacts . conventional cam arrangements can be employed for the various exhaust valves , my invention being sufficiently versatile to permit this .	5
preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings . [ 0029 ] fig1 is a schematic sectional view showing a structure of a fuel cell according to a first embodiment of the present invention . the fuel cell includes at least a cell unit ( hereinafter , sometimes simply referred to as “ fuel cell body ”) 19 - 1 having an electrolyte / electrode joined member 30 and a fuel unit 19 - 2 in which fuel is stored . in fig1 the electrolyte / electrode joined member 30 has an oxidizer electrode 13 having a catalyst on the upper surface of an electrolyte membrane 11 and a fuel electrode 12 having a catalyst on the lower surface of the electrolyte membrane 11 . further , the electrolyte / electrode joined member 30 has spherical ( bead ) spacers 14 on the upper surface of the oxidizer electrode 13 and a separator 16 having a fuel flow path on the lower surface of the fuel electrode 12 . further , a housing 17 of the cell unit having the electrolyte / electrode joined member has holes 18 made on the oxidizer electrode side for taking in air , and an oxidizing gas / water permeable membrane 15 is provided between the housing 17 and the spherical spacers 14 . reference numeral 100 denotes a fuel and 101 denotes an electric power taking out terminal . as the electrolyte membrane 11 , there may be used a perfluorocarbon , non - perfluoro , hybrid ion - exchange membrane or the like . in particular , a perfluorosulfonic acid electrolyte membrane , a perfluorocarboxylic acid membrane , a styrene ( vinyl benzene ) membrane , a quaternary ammonium anion exchange membrane , and the like can be appropriately selected and used . further , a membrane formed of , for example , benzimidazole polymers coordinated with phosphoric acid and a membrane formed of polyacrylic acid impregnated with a concentrated potassium hydroxide solution are also effective as the electrolyte membrane . as commercial products , “ nafion ” of dupont , “ flemion ” of asahi glass , “ aciplex ” of asahi chemical , and the like are commercially available . the electrolyte membrane of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it is a polymer electrolyte membrane and has a high protonic conductivity , chemical and electrochemical stability , gas impermeability , and a mechanical strength . as the catalysts of the fuel electrode and the oxidizer electrode , there may preferably be used a platinum group metal such as platinum , rhodium , palladium , ruthenium , iridium , etc ., an iron group metal such as iron , cobalt , nickel , etc ., or an alloy thereof , and at least one of these metals is deposited to and fixed on the surfaces of the polymer membrane on both the electrode sides thereof by chemical plating or the like . these catalysts can be also fixed by coating or pressure - bonding metal powder on the surfaces of the membrane . further , there is also a method of dispersing the catalyst metal on surfaces of carbon particles in a microparticulate state and fixing the catalyst - carrying carbon particles on the surfaces of the polymer membrane . as described above , as to the types and the carrying amounts of the catalysts of the fuel electrode and the oxidizer electrode , and as to the method of carrying the catalysts , conventional techniques used to constitute a solid polymer type fuel cell , and conventional techniques used to constitute electrodes for water electrolysis using a solid polymer membrane may be as such employed . as the oxidizer electrode , there are used those materials having conductivity and gas permeability such as a porous metal thin film , a conductive carbon thin film , and the like . as the fuel electrode , there are used those conductors having gas permeability and a low resistance such as porous metal , conductive carbon , and the like . the fuel is brought into contact in a gaseous or liquid state with the fuel electrode . although the fuel may be continuously or intermittently supplied , it may be filled in a space on the fuel electrode side . although the oxidizer is supplied to the oxidizer electrode side through the gas permeable membrane from the atmosphere , an oxidizing gas storage unit may be provided to supply the oxidizer therefrom . next , the spherical spacers as a principal feature of the present invention will be explained . the spherical spacers have diameters of , for example , several micrometers to several tens of micrometers and the dispersion thereof represented in terms of standard deviation / average particle diameter is as small as several % to show a high dimensional accuracy . as the materials , those having an insulation property such as silica , resin , and the like are basically used . as such spherical spacers , for example , spherical spacers for use in a liquid crystal display may preferably be used . as a method of spraying the spacers , a wet spray method or a dry spray method may be used . for example , the wet spray method and dry spray method that are used to manufacture an ordinary liquid crystal display may be adopted . the spray density represented in terms of an occupied area ratio ranges from several % to 91 % that is attained by in - plane close packing . when the spacers are spherical beads having diameters of several micrometers to several tens of micrometers , it is possible to spray them in the number of several hundreds to several tens of thousands per 1 mm 2 . in particular , it is desirable to spray them in the number of about one to ten thousands per 1 mm 2 . further , the methods of providing the surface of the spacer with hydrophilicity are not particularly limited and include , for example , a method of covering the surface with a hydrophilic material and a method of irradiating the surface with an electron beam , uv ray , or the like in an appropriate atmosphere . the fuel cell of the present invention is advantageous in that the output density is high , and that the operating temperature is as low as 100 ° c . or less , whereby long - term durability is expectable and the handling is easy , and can therefore be utilized for portable equipments such as mobile phones , cameras , video cameras , notebook personal computers , and the like or as a mobile power supply . incidentally , it should be noted that the fuel cell of present invention is characterized in that the spherical spacers are disposed at least on the oxidizer electrode side , and no restriction is imposed on the design of the fuel cell such as selection of catalysts , a method of forming catalyst layers , structure of electrodes for current collection , selection of fuel , a method of supplying fuel and air , and the like . the present invention will be specifically described with reference to examples thereof . [ 0044 ] fig1 shows a sectional view of a fuel cell as a first example of the present invention . the fuel cell includes at least a cell unit ( fuel cell body ) 19 - 1 having an electrolyte / electrode joined member 30 , a fuel unit 19 - 2 for storing a fuel 100 , and power taking out terminals 101 . in fig1 the electrolyte / electrode joined member 30 includes an oxidizer electrode 13 having a catalyst on the upper surface of an electrolyte membrane 11 and a fuel electrode 12 having a catalyst on the lower surface thereof . the electrolyte membrane 11 is composed of , for example , a polymeric material having a protonic conductivity , specifically nafion ( trade name ; produced by dupont ). the oxidizer electrode 13 and the fuel electrode 12 are composed of , for example , carbon powder containing platinum microparticles . the electrolyte / electrode joined member 30 has spherical bead spacers 14 on the upper surface of the oxidizer electrode 13 and a separator 16 with a fuel flow path on the lower surface of the fuel electrode 12 . as the spherical bead spacers 14 , micropearl ( trade name ; produced by sekisui chemical co ., ltd .) having a particle diameter of 8 μm is used and uniformly sprayed on the electrolyte / electrode joined member 30 . about one thousand of spherical bead spacers are sprayed per 1 mm 2 using a spray method employed in an ordinary liquid crystal display manufacturing process . the separator 16 with the fuel flow path provided on the fuel electrode 12 side forms a flow path groove of several μm in width and several μm in depth and serves as a fuel supply passage . further , electrical conductivity is imparted to the fuel electrode 12 side to play a role as a current collector on the fuel electrode 12 side . a housing 17 of the cell unit 19 - 1 having the electrolyte / electrode joined member 30 is provided on the oxidizer electrode 13 side thereof with a plurality of holes 18 through which air is taken in and water is removed . an oxidizer gas / water permeable membrane 15 is provided between the housing 17 and the spherical spacers 14 . in this example , hydrogen is used as the fuel , oxygen is used as the oxidizer , and a hydrogen storage alloy is used as a material of the fuel storage unit . with the fuel cell of this example that generates an electric power through a reaction of hydrogen and oxygen when connected to an external electrical load , the use of the spherical spacers makes it possible to increase the space of the flow path on the oxidizer electrode side thereby smoothly supplying oxygen , and making the surface of the spacers more hydrophilic than the surface of the electrolyte / electrode joined member enables water to be effectively removed . further , the spherical spacers can reduce the area in which they come into contract with the electrolyte / electrode joined member . with these effects , a greater amount of power can be obtained as compared with a case when a conventional separator is used . [ 0051 ] fig2 shows a sectional view of a fuel cell as a second example of the present invention . the fuel cell includes at least a cell unit 29 - 1 having electrolyte / electrode joined members 40 , a fuel unit 29 - 2 for storing a fuel 200 , and power take - out terminals 201 . the stack fuel cell of this example is characterized in that electrodes are disposed such that the same kind of electrodes ( that is , fuel electrodes or oxidizer electrodes ) face each other , which eliminates the necessity of a separator for separating fuel from an oxidizer . that is , oxidizing gas flow paths for flowing an oxidizing gas containing oxygen flow are formed between the electrolyte / electrode joined members where positive electrodes face each other , and fuel gas flow paths for flowing a fuel gas containing hydrogen are formed between the electrolyte / electrode joined members where negative electrodes face each other . the spherical spacers as a principal feature of the present invention support each of the electrolyte / electrode joined members , and openings for flowing the gases therethrough are provided at the both ends of the stack in one direction . in fig2 as with fig1 for example , an uppermost electrolyte / electrode joined member 40 includes an oxidizer electrode 23 having a catalyst on the upper surface of an electrolyte membrane 21 and a fuel electrode 22 having a catalyst on the lower surface thereof . the electrolyte membrane 21 is composed of , for example , a polymeric material having a protonic conductivity , specifically , nafion ( trade name ; produced by dupont ). the oxidizer electrode 23 and the fuel electrode 22 are composed of , for example , carbon powder containing platinum microparticles . reference numeral 27 denotes a housing with through - holes . the uppermost electrolyte / electrode joined member 40 has spherical bead spacers 24 on the upper surface of the oxidizer electrode 23 and a fuel flow path 202 on the lower surface of the fuel electrode 22 . as the spherical bead spacers 24 , micropearl ( trade name ; produced by sekisui chemical co ., ltd .) having a particle diameter of 8 μm is used and uniformly sprayed on the electrolyte / electrode joined member 40 . outside the electrolyte / electrode joined members 40 located on the both ends in the stack direction , there are disposed oxygen / water permeable membranes , respectively . with the above arrangement , the oxidizer is supplied to the electrolyte / electrode joined members 40 and water generated therein is discharged therefrom . to supply the oxidizer to and to discharge water from the electrolyte / electrode joined members 40 located inside in the stack direction , oxidizer flow paths 203 , which are supported by spherical spacers 24 , are formed adjacent to the oxidizer electrodes 23 of the electrolyte / electrode joined members 40 , and an oxidizer flow path 203 , which is spatially connected to the oxidizer flow paths 203 , is located vertically on the left side of fig2 . as to the fuel , fuel flow paths 202 , which are supported by spherical spacers 24 , are formed adjacent to the fuel electrodes 22 of the electrolyte / electrode joined members 40 and connected to the fuel unit 29 - 2 . since the spacers are spherical , the contact area of the spacers with the electrolyte / electrode joined members is small , thus increasing the contact area of the oxidizing gas or the fuel gas with the electrolyte / electrode joined members . further , the electrolyte / electrode joined members are connected in series or parallel to each other so that a desired voltage and current can be obtained , by electrically connecting positive and negative electrodes through wiring ( not shown ). the fuel cell of the above - described structure can be produced as follows . first , a fuel electrode and an oxidizer electrode are formed on the opposite sides of an electrolyte membrane to form an electrolyte / electrode joined member . next , spherical spacers are interposed between the thus formed electrolyte / electrode joined members , and the electrolyte / electrode joined members are stacked , respectively . at that time , the electrolyte / electrode joined members are arranged such that the same kind of electrodes face each other . incidentally , since the fuel electrode and the oxidizer electrode have the same structure here , the direction of stack of each electrolyte / electrode joined member is not particularly limited . subsequently , gas supply flow paths to the thus stacked electrolyte / electrode joined members are disposed , respectively . oxidizer flow paths and fuel flow paths are fixed so as to supply respective gases . thereafter , the positive electrodes and negative electrodes of the electrolyte / electrode joined members are electrically connected in series and in parallel to each other through wiring ( not shown ). thus , the fuel cell shown in fig2 is formed . in the fuel cell , an oxidizing gas containing oxygen is supplied to the oxidizer electrode sides of the electrolyte / electrode joined members through the oxidizing gas flow paths , and a fuel gas containing hydrogen is supplied to the fuel electrode sides thereof through the fuel gas flow paths . thus , oxygen and hydrogen react with each other through the electrolyte membranes in the electrolyte / electrode joined members , thereby generating an electric power . since the electrolyte / electrode joined members are disposed such that the same kind of electrodes face each other , the oxidizing gas is supplied to adjacent electrolyte / electrode joined members through the same oxidizing gas flow path , or the fuel gas is supplied thereto through the same fuel gas flow path . further , since the electrolyte / electrode joined members are connected in series through wiring , a great electromotive force can be obtained . as described above , according to the fuel cell of the present example , since the electrolyte / electrode joined members are stacked such that the same kind of electrodes face each other , it is only necessary to alternately form either one of the oxidizing gas flow path and the fuel gas flow path between the electrolyte / electrode joined members , so that the distances between the electrolyte / electrode joined members can be reduced . as a result , the size in the stack direction of the fuel cell can be reduced . [ 0062 ] fig4 shows a schematic view of a digital camera using the fuel cell of the present invention . as described above with reference to fig1 a fuel cell 401 includes a cell unit having an electrolyte / electrode joined member and a fuel unit for storing a fuel , and holes formed in the surface of the fuel cell in fig4 are used to take in air therethrough . the fuel cell of the present invention is advantageous in that the output density is high ; the operating temperature is as low as 100 ° c . or less , whereby long - term durability is expectable ; it is suitable for miniaturization ; and the handling is easy , and can therefore be utilized for portable equipments such as mobile phones , cameras , video cameras , notebook personal computers , and the like or as a mobile power supply . accordingly , small electric equipments using the fuel cell of the present invention can be reduced in size / weight and can be used for a long period of time . that is , the fuel cell of the present invention can preferably be used in small portable electric equipments such as digital cameras , digital video cameras , small projectors , small printers , notebook personal computers , and the like . as described above , in the present invention , by using a plurality of spherical spacers , it is possible to reduce the contact area of the spacers with the electrolyte / electrode joined members , and when a gas is brought into contact with the positive or negative electrodes of the electrolyte / electrode joined members , the contact area of the joined members with the gas can be increased . further , since the oxidizing gas or the fuel gas can flow smoothly therethrough , the thickness of the stack of the electrolyte / electrode joined members can be reduced . further , when those spherical spacers that are employed in liquid crystal displays are used as such , those spherical members and production apparatuses thereof are easily available , so that production cost reduction can be realized . further , in the present invention , by using spherical spacers having more hydrophilic surfaces , it becomes possible to remove water generated at the oxidizer electrodes as a result of power generation from the surfaces of the electrolyte membranes . as a result , the oxidizer is smoothly supplied , whereby a good power generation efficiency can be maintained for a long period of time . further , according to the electrode stack structure of the present invention , since the electrolyte / electrode joined members are stacked such that the same kind of electrodes face each other , when , for example , a gas flow path is formed between the electrolyte / electrode joined members , the distance between the electrolyte / electrode joined members them can be reduced . as a result , the size of the stack of the electrolyte / electrode joined members can be reduced in the stack direction . further , since the electrolyte / electrode joined members are electrically connected in series by wiring , a great electromotive force can be obtained , and further when a gas is brought into contact with the positive or negative electrodes of the electrolyte / electrode joined members , the contact area of the gas with the joined members can be increased . accordingly , there can further be achieved an effect that the size of the stack of the electrolyte / electrode joined members can also be reduced in a direction perpendicular to the stack direction . further , there can be achieved an effect that small electric equipments using the fuel cell of the present invention can be reduced in size / weight and can be driven for a long period of time .	7
cryptographic operations such as public key infrastructure ( pki ) related techniques are gaining wider acceptance , and some public key techniques ( such as , for example , rivest , shamir , adelmen ( rsa )) are in the public domain . these and related technologies can be used to provide a user or client with a one stop shopping subscription provisioning experience , thereby simplifying or streamlining the subscription registration process . for example , referring to fig1 and fig2 , a client or user accesses a web page of a content provider that provides a location - specific service to which the client wants to subscribe . for example , the client accesses the web page from a personal computer ( pc ) of the client . through the services of the web page , the client personalizes the service subscription by selecting parameters that satisfy preferences or rules of use of the client . for example , parameters are entered or selected indicating that the content provider may query a mobile phone service provider of the client for the location of the client every morning at 8 o &# 39 ; clock . of course , these suggested parameters are exemplary only . any other criteria might be used to place constraints on information made available to the content provider . when the client is satisfied that all the subscription defining parameters have been correctly selected or entered , the client submits the subscription request to the content provider for processing . for example , a server of the content provider processes this subscription and generates a page stating all the details ( including , among other things , the identity of the client , the mobile identification number ( min ) of a mobile device of the client , the constraints specified , subscription duration or end date , etc .). software running on the pc of the client then cryptographically signs the generated document with a private key of the client , and optionally encrypts the result with a public key of the mobile service provider &# 39 ; s request processing entity ( rpe ). the result of the encryption is a binary string . the binary string is made available to the content provider server as a “ service token ” that is bound to the identity of the client . alternatively , if the signed document is not encrypted , the signed document itself becomes the token . if a well - defined format is used for interactions between a client and a content provider server during a subscription session , signing and encryption processes can be carried out using an message digest 5 ( md 5 ) or a secure hash algorithm - 1 ( sha - 1 ) hash of the document that contains the information of interest . the subscription here binds the three parties , namely , the subscriber or client , the content provider application and the rpe together very closely , i . e ., the subscription cannot be reused by the content provider application to query user location from a different rpe so long as the rpe verifies the token . referring to fig1 and fig2 , a method 110 for subscribing to a service in a distributed architecture includes , for example , a client making a subscription request 114 , a content provider server generating a page including subscription information 118 , the client signing the information 122 , the client optionally encrypting the information 126 , for example , with a public key of a request processing entity ( rpe ), thereby generating a service token , and the client transmitting the service token to the content provider 130 . alternatively , the token is generated from the signed document without encryption 126 . the client making a subscription request 114 includes selecting or entering parameters describing the subscription . the selections or entries imply a grant of permission , when necessary , to access information about the client . for example , the selections or entries imply a grant of permission for a mobile communications service provider to honor requests for location information about the client from the content provider . the selections or entries may also place limits on that grant of permission . for example , the permission may grant access to information once a day , or during a particular time period each day , or only monday through friday or any combination of these restrictions or others . the granularity of the location information may also be restricted , for example , to give only the city or zip code in which the user is located rather than exact latitude and longitude coordinates . the content provider server generating 118 a page including subscription information can include , for example , the generation of a summary web page or email message . the web page or email message includes a statement of the selected or entered parameters . additionally , the web page or email may include an explicit statement of the permissions implied by the selections or entries . preferably , the information in the web page or email is in a format readily decoded and understood by the request processing entity . for example , a widely published format such as extensible markup language ( xml ) should be used in conjunction with , for instance , a well - defined document type definition ( dtd ). the client signing 122 the information includes , for example , the addition of a digital signature of the client to a copy of , for example , the web page or email . for example , in a public key encryption environment the copy of the web page or email may be encrypted with a private key of the client . if a receiving entity is able to decrypt the encrypted information using a published public key of the client , the receiving entity is assured that the client was the one that encrypted the information and therefore , in a sense , signed the document . as those of skill in the art will understand , the signature encryption referred to here is different than the additional and optional encryption 126 . the client optionally encrypting 126 the information or signed document with a public key of a request processing entity ( rpe ) is a security measure . encryption prevents unauthorized entities from viewing the contents to the document . only the request processing entity has access to the private key that is required to decrypt the information . the encryption creates a token of authorization . alternatively , a token is generated without encrypting the signed document . the client transmits 130 the token to the content provider to use as a kind of letter of introduction . for example , the first time the content provider attempts to make a delivery of the content called for in the subscription ( e . g ., weather information for the client &# 39 ; s location ), a server 214 of the content provider makes a request to an rpe 218 of the mobile communications service provider . for instance , the content provider requests the location of the client ( i . e ., the location of a mobile device of the client ). the request includes the transmission 134 of the token . if the token is encrypted , the rpe attempts to decrypt 138 the token . in either case , the rpe attempts to verify the client signature 142 . if the rpe is able to decrypt 138 an encrypted token ( for example , by using a private key of the rpe or mobile communications service provider ), the rpe is assured that the token was meant to be used in a transaction with the rpe ( and not for some other entity ) and that the associated document has not experienced tampering . if the token is encrypted to verify the signature 142 of the client , the rpe may , for example , attempt to decrypt the document using a public key of the client . if the rpe is able to decrypt the document using the public key of the client , the rpe is assured that the client “ signed ” the document and therefore authorized or validated the information in the document . the rpe then validates 146 the request by checking the request against the constraints described in the decrypted document . if the request falls within the constraints , the rpe 218 processes 150 the request . for example , the rpe 218 may update a database or directory 222 with the client subscription information . if the database 222 is updated , then subsequent requests can be verified via a database query or dip and typically will not require the decrypting of the token and signature verification . whether or not the rpe 218 updates a database , the rpe 218 processes the decrypted and validated request and generates a response . for example , the rpe 218 instructs components of a system 226 of the mobile communications service provider to retrieve 154 requested information , such as , for example , a current location of the mobile device of the client . when the mobile device is located the rpe 218 transmits 158 the location information of the client to the content provider 214 . when the content provider receives the requested information ( e . g ., location information ) the server of the content provider can then transmit 162 ( e . g ., push ) content ( e . g ., location - specific weather information ) to the mobile device 230 of the client . if the rpe 218 does not record 150 the subscription information , for example , by updating client records in the database or directory 222 , subsequent requests are handled in much the same way . if the rpe 218 does record information about the subscription and permissions associated therewith , sequential requests can be handled a bit more efficiently . for example , future location requests 234 are made without the token . instead , the request simply includes the mobile identification number min identifying the mobile device 230 of the client . the rpe 218 validates 238 the request by , for example , performing a database query or dip to compare the request against recorded permission or subscription constraints . if the request is valid , the rpe 218 processes the request and transmits 242 the requested information ( e . g ., client location ) to the content provider 214 and again the content provider server 214 transmits 162 the subscribed for content back to the mobile device 230 of the client . as an alternative or addition to the public key / private key technique describe above , the client may sign a one - way hash of the document , then use a “ digital envelope ” to securely transmit a symmetrically encrypted document and the hash to the content provider . when the content provider server makes a query for the target client or subscriber , the content provider simply forwards a copy of the client agreement ( if a hash were used above ), along with the service token . note again that the content provider server is incapable of decrypting the token . as an additional alternative , a technique similar in concept to that of “ dual signatures ” employed in set ( secure electronic transactions ) may be used if the client wishes to personalize the service on other parameters with which the rpe is not concerned while simultaneously constraining rpe location fixes in ways such that the content provider server does not need to be aware . however , this feature does incur significant overhead and is generally not required by typical clients . in electronic commerce architectures , this technique is used to enable a client to make an offer to a merchant , with payment instructions to his bank if the offer is accepted , while ensuring that the merchant does not see payment instructions , and the bank is unaware of the terms of the negotiated offer between the merchant and the client . the process , however , simultaneously ensures that the agreed - upon price is paid . while the above procedure works , it is not as computationally efficient as some other techniques . for example , some improvements may be obtained by using keyed hashes instead of public key cryptography . this is especially important if one wants mobile handsets to be able to handle crypto - related processing ( they might not have the processing capabilities to handle public - key signatures and encryption ). however , the subscriber is required to perform cryptographic operations only once per service ( at subscription time ), so if all subscriptions were handled over web interfaces by pcs , this may not be a significant issue . if keyed hashes were used , the rpe would need to have the key used by the end - user when the hash function is applied to the negotiated profile ( i . e . ; the subscription description page ). once the content provider obtains the signed token , it would be used in a manner similar to the above described transactions between the content provider server and the rpe . the content provider server also includes , with the request , the text that was included in the keyed hash so that the rpe may re - compute the hash with the key associated with the target subscriber . ( this may require that the rpe make a secure directory access to determine a given subscriber &# 39 ; s key as registered with the system ). this re - computed hash may then be used for verification . it should be noted that , in the embodiments described above , the client or target subscriber should be provided means to sign “ limited - time ” subscription tokens only because in these embodiments there is no easy way to guarantee that servers would pass on tokens that constrain their existing access further . for example , if high - granularity location ( say in terms of latitude and longitude ) were made available to the content provider , then at some point the client might find this level of tracking too invasive . the client might want to reduce the granularity or position information resolution , which the rpe provides the content provider . for example , instead of describing the client &# 39 ; s location within a square mile , the client may wish the rpe to only provide the content provider with the name of a nearest city . however , the above - described embodiments do not provide a means to easily revoke the high granularity permission previously granted . therefore , in cases where greater security is required , one may need to support “ authorization revocation lists ” similar in concept to certificate revocation lists ( crls ) in use today to enforce the revocation of authorization tokens . however , with carefully constraint specification , and by issuing limited time tokens , clients can ensure that the scheme is not abused even in the general case . however , when complex constraints are used , the constraints should be independently verifiable by the rpe . for example , if an rpe can not verify the age of stock data , then the constraints should not or cannot include a requirement that the rpe provide the content provider with stock data that is , for example , no more than 15 minutes old . referring to fig3 , an authentication , authorization and accounting ( aaa ) infrastructure 310 may be used to support the above operations . note that a network of aaa servers and brokers is likely to be in place to support network access control for roaming mobile nodes . it is anticipated that in such a system , all mobile nodes 314 will be configured with network access identifiers ( nais ) and secret keys . the nai is , for example , of the form — user @ example . com —. here — example . com — is referred to as the user &# 39 ; s realm , or home domain . when a mobile node 314 connects to a foreign agent 318 in a visited network , the mobile node 314 will send a registration request that contains the nai of the mobile node 314 and an authentication extension computed with the use of a secret or private key of the mobile node 314 . the realm portion is used to route the request back to a home aaa server 322 , which validates the authenticity of the request and returns the result . note that the request may travel through a network of brokers 326 before it reaches the home aaa server 322 . when the home aaa server 322 returns a successful authorization to the broker network 326 , it is in effect promising to pay for the services rendered to the mobile node 314 . also , when the foreign agent 318 subsequently sends accounting records through the network 310 , the foreign agent 318 will look to the broker 326 for final settlement of charges . the broker network 326 is , therefore , in the business of maintaining large numbers of pairwise business relationships with both home and visited carriers ; the broker network 326 serves as the nexus for billing and settlement . this infrastructure can also be used to facilitate third party service subscriptions similar to those described above . for example , referring to fig4 the mobile node or device 314 is registered with a content provider 414 using the same nai and credentials that it uses for network access . however , in this case , the registration is at the layer of session initiation protocol ( sip ) or hyper text transfer protocol ( http ) rather than the network layer . the content provider 414 can use the same broker network 326 to authenticate the user , and later to send accounting records for services delivered . this enables the content provider 414 to get paid and the user ( not shown , but associated with the mobile device 314 ) to be billed for these services ; the home network , which contains the home aaa server 322 , may be paid a percentage or portion of the transaction fees . at the algorithm level , the aaa infrastructure 310 could be used to distribute secret keys for use between the mobile node 314 and the content provider 414 as well as for use between the content provider 414 and the rpe 218 of the home mobile service provider . this would obviate the need for potentially expensive public key cryptographic operations throughout the network . however , even if public keys are used , the aaa infrastructure 310 could be used to distribute those keys or public key certificates for them . the invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments . modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding the specification . it is intended that all such modifications and alterations are included insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or equivalents thereof .	7
according to the invention , the reactive constituents are reacted with one another in a vacuum in an evacuatable container , the container being evacuated to a first vacuum value , and the first vacuum value being chosen so that the reaction continues and is not stopped , and the pressure in the container due to the gasses forming during the reaction is then allowed to increase with a specified pressure difference up to a second vacuum value . this step is repeated cyclically by repeated , controlled opening and closing of the valve to the vacuum pump , with a specified number of cycles in a specified time , after which the reaction is stopped by drying in a vacuum . consequently , the evolution of carbon dioxide and of steam can be slowed down and controlled . the term “ pendulum vacuum ” was coined for this process . the characteristic data and parameters of the pendulum vacuum , such as the pressure difference , the first and second vacuum value and the number of cycles and the time span in which the cycles take place , optionally also the maximum of the stirrer load , can be specified . with the specification of these parameters essential for the course of the reaction , independently of different raw material qualities , all further production batches of a product can be run fully automatically and these data can be established in a product - specific manner for each product and can be specified for the further production . this is particularly important for automated computer - controlled operation . an advantage of the method according to the invention is that water forming in the reaction — depending on the vapor pressure at the chosen vacuum values — or the solvent introduced evaporates in the course of the reactive granulation as a result of the choice of the vacuum range and the chosen pressure difference and as a result of the number of cycles in a predetermined time in the reduced vacuum and thus does not influence the reaction in a secondary process . as a result , specific and readily controllable reactions are permitted and an uncontrollable chain reaction is avoided . owing to the slowed down and controlled reaction with a pendulum vacuum , a direct sequence of reaction cycles can take place without intermediate drying , whereupon , after the end of the specified number of cycles , within a predetermined time span , the granules can be dried and can be comminuted to the desired particle size . in the present application , “ vacuum ” is understood as meaning a state of space having a pressure reduced relative to the ambient air . it is important that the pressure increase to the second vacuum value does not take place up to the atmospheric pressure which prevails at the location . the second vacuum value should be at least 10 % below the ambient pressure prevailing in each case at the location . the following examples for vacuum values relate to an ambient pressure of 1 bar . the pressure difference between the first and second vacuum value should be from 200 to 700 mbar , preferably from 300 to 500 mbar , and a controlled reaction should take place cyclically in a vacuum range of from 200 to 900 mbar . the first vacuum value is chosen so that a portion of the amount of liquid required for starting the reaction remains behind in the reaction container after the first evacuation to the first vacuum value and hence sufficient moisture is present for the continuation of the reaction after reevacuation to the first vacuum value . the pressure increase up to the second vacuum value is established as a function of the reactivity of the reactive constituents and the amount of carbon dioxide and steam forming as a result of the reaction . for precise control of the course of the reaction , the parameters of the method , i . e . the first and the second vacuum value and also the pressure difference , can be varied from cycle to cycle . the reaction taking place in cycles can also be repeated after the additional introduction of solids or liquids without intermediate drying . for carrying out the automated method , the evacuatable container , for example a drum or a vessel , is loaded with the starting materials containing the reactive constituents , the amount of liquid required for starting the reaction is added and the program is started , which can run under automatic control , for example according to the predetermined values of the parameters ; first vacuum value of 500 mbar , second vacuum value of 800 mbar , pressure difference of 300 mbar , maximum number of cycles of 4 in a maximum duration of reaction of 5 min . the reaction is stopped after the first maximum is reached , i . e . either the number of cycles or the duration of the method . the reaction can be stopped by vacuum drying . thereafter , the further process steps , for example admixing of further ingredients , further granulation , final drying , comminution , sieving and emptying , are actuated . it is possible to use various types of vacuum pumps , such as rotary vane , liquid ring or screw rotor pumps , having a nominal suction capacity adapted to the container size , which pumps should be capable of reaching a final pressure of 0 . 1 mbar and of evacuating the empty container in from 30 sec to two min to 10 mbar . in the case of a reactive granulation , the method according to the invention can be used independently of the temperature and method by which the reaction is started . the temperature at which the method according to the invention is carried out is not critical . it is possible to work at room temperature ( 20 ° c .) or at an elevated product temperature of , for example , from 40 to 80 ° c . the liquid which serves as granulating liquid can either be applied to one of the reactants , such as the edible organic acids or the alkaline effervescent constituents eliminating carbon dioxide , before the second reactant is added , or can be introduced directly into a mixture of the effervescent components . the introduction of the liquid can be effected , as described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 824 , 664 , by aspiration in a vacuum . if the raw material of one or both reactants has a higher proportion of residual moisture , the cycles take place more rapidly , over reaction or over granulation being prevented according to the method according to the invention , which is not only time - controlled , by the predetermined number of cycles . at relatively low residual moisture content , the cycles take place more slowly , but in this case the required reaction and granulation are nevertheless achieved by the maximum specified duration of the method . apart from polar solvents , binder solutions in water , alcohols or mixtures thereof can also be used as liquids for effervescent granules , such as , for example , polyvinylpyrrolidones , polyethylene glycol or hydroxypropylmethylcellulose , sugar solutions or solutions of sugar alcohols or colloids . furthermore , it is possible to use reactive solutions , such as , for example , solutions of organic acids in water or water / ethanol , or of acidic salts of the edible organic acids or of the alkaline salts thereof . the reactive constituents in the case of effervescent granules include at least one acidic effervescent component , i . e . a solid , organic acid and / or the salts thereof , and at least one alkaline effervescent component eliminating carbon dioxide . the organic acid is preferably edible . it is also possible to react with one another a plurality of different organic acids and / or salts thereof and / or effervescent components eliminating carbon dioxide . furthermore , in certain embodiments of the invention , other components , for example magnesium oxide , may be present as reactive constituents . the method according to the invention is furthermore suitable for the production of effervescent granules , in which the liberation of water from hydrates of the reactive constituents on heating is utilized for the granulation . “ hydrate ” is understood as meaning the chemical compounds of organic or inorganic substances with h2o , the h2o not being a constituent of complex compounds . the bound h2o is also designated as water of crystallization or water of hydration . it is also possible to use for this purpose water - containing organic acids , such as , for example , citric acid monohydrate or water - containing sodium carbonate , which , with increasing temperature , release water which is required for the reactive granulation . this process is known as “ difficult to control in order to achieve reproducible results ” ( lachman & amp ; lieberman : pharmaceutical dosage forms , 1980 ; page 233 ). by means of the method according to the invention , on the other hand , it is possible to carry out a readily controllable and reproducible process in which a number of up to 100 cycles , optionally even more than 100 cycles , of the pendulum vacuum between two specified vacuum values takes place in a certain time or up to warming - up of the material to a temperature of from 30 to 80 ° c ., with a result that a part of the water ( the amount is dependent on the vapor pressure of the water at the chosen temperature and the chosen vacuum value ) and a part of the carbon dioxide is extracted by suction in the repeating cycles and the process can no longer be influenced in an uncontrolled manner . the method according to the invention can be used for the production of a very wide range of effervescent granules and of effervescent tablets which can be produced from these effervescent granules , for example : granules comprising pharmaceutical active substances which react with the acidic effervescent components or the alkaline effervescent components , granules comprising pharmaceutical active substances which do not react with the effervescent components used but are granulated together with the effervescent base , effervescent base granules which , after granulation , are mixed with pharmaceutical active substances suitable for effervescent tablets and optionally excipients , neutral substances and flavors . the examples of suitable groups of active substances are : analgesics , antipyretics , antihistamines , antiallergic agents , antibiotics , antidiabetic agents , oncolytic agents , expectorants , electrolyte preparations , laxatives , vitamins , phytopharmaceuticals , cardiovascular agents , antidiarrhoeal agents , diuretics and agents for stimulating blood flow . in a further embodiment it was found that , by an additional increase of the carbon dioxide partial pressure , not related to the reaction , in the reaction container , at least a part of the residual moisture still adhering to the effervescent crystals after vacuum drying can be “ deactivated ” and the effervescent system thus made more stable during storage . usually , the residual moisture content is in the range of from 0 . 01 to 1 % by weight , in particular in the range of from about 0 . 1 to 0 . 8 % by weight , depending on the effervescent system . in the case of particularly reactive systems , the additional introduction of carbon dioxide proved to be advantageous for making the process of the reactive granulation even better controllable . surprisingly , it was found that this simultaneously led to stabilization of the granules in the context of reduced sensitivity to the remaining residual moisture , which could be checked using our own special measuring instruments , on the basis of the liberation of carbon dioxide from the prepared product . this discovery is utilized in a further embodiment of the method according to the invention by the additional introduction of carbon dioxide in the pendulum process and / or during the subsequent final drying . the advantageous effect mentioned is achieved by allowing additional carbon dioxide gas to flow from an external source into the reaction container with stirring after application of a vacuum in the course of the reaction granulation of effervescent systems , such as , for example , in the cyclic reaction granulation according to the invention under a pendulum vacuum , but especially in the course of the final drying of effervescent systems produced in this manner . in this way , in the reaction granulation , in the course of the cycle and in the final drying of the systems , the increased carbon dioxide partial pressure can lead to a further reduction of the reaction so that — owing to the inflowing carbon dioxide during the reaction granulation — the number of cycles should be typically increased and optionally up to ten times more cycles should take place than in the case of a reaction procedure without external feeding of carbon dioxide . by means of our own measuring instruments especially developed for this purpose , with the aid of which the tiniest amounts of gas of the order of magnitude of microliters can be exactly measured and documented , it is possible to analyze effervescent systems , regardless of the method of their production , for their reactivity by the residual moisture . on the basis of such measurements it can be shown that the use of the additional increase in carbon dioxide partial pressure actually leads to a significantly improved stability of the effervescent systems . in a further embodiment , the carbon dioxide partial pressure prevailing in the container is increased — either additionally or for the first time — after the end of the reaction granulation by repeated implosion of carbon dioxide gas into the reaction container . by means of this measure , it is possible to surround or to saturate the effervescent particles with carbon dioxide to such an extent that , even on prolonged storage of the effervescent granules , a carbon dioxide microatmosphere is evidently retained and effectively inhibits or suppresses further reaction of the acidic and alkaline components with one another . it is known that numerous pharmaceutical active substances , such as , for example , acetylsalicylic acid or acetylcysteine , are very sensitive to residual moisture content in effervescent formulations because , for example , in the case of acetylsalicylic acid , free acetic acid forms through hydrolysis and in turn can initiate a secondary chain reaction . however , it is precisely such a chain reaction that can be substantially reduced owing to the stability - improving measure according to the invention through increasing the carbon dioxide partial pressure . it is a further advantage of this measure that it is applicable not only to a specific method of effervescent production , such as , for example , the reaction granulation by the pendulum vacuum method according to the invention , but very generally to any desired particulate effervescent systems , such as effervescent powders and effervescent granules , regardless of the method of their production . anhydrous sodium bicarbonate and citric acid monohydrate are loaded into a heatable vacuum granulator in a ratio corresponding to the desired ph and are mixed for 5 min until homogeneity is achieved . as the temperature increases , the reaction is started by the water liberated from the citric acid monohydrate . for the reaction , a pendulum vacuum with two preselected vacuum values , e . g . 550 and 900 mbar , is chosen , evacuation being effected to 550 mbar and the valve to the vacuum pump being closed . the reaction results in a pressure increase to 900 mbar . at this value , the valve is opened again , the vessel is evacuated again to 550 mbar and this process is repeated several times . after a duration of reaction of from 20 to 40 min or after a temperature of from 40 to 60 ° c . has been reached , the pendulum vacuum is cut off and the granules are vacuum - dried with full pump power . production of effervescent granules which can be used for a very wide range of pharmaceutical active substances and / or active substance combinations , inter alia vitamins and trace elements , the effervescent granules comminuted to the desired particle size being mixed with the appropriate active substances and sweeteners and optionally flavors and fillers . the granules either can be filled into sachets or , if required , lubricants can be added and said granules can be pressed to give tablets . a vacuum granulator having a heatable jacket is loaded with 31 . 78 parts by weight of citric acid , which is heated to 50 ° c . with stirring . on reaching the temperature , 0 . 16 parts by weight of water is added with stirring and distributed for 5 min . thereafter , 12 . 3 parts by weight of sodium bicarbonate are added , the stirrer and the pendulum vacuum for controlling the reaction are switched on at the predetermined first vacuum value = 450 mbar , second vacuum value = 850 mbar and the number of 4 cycles ( pendulum ) within 4 min at the most . after the end of the fourth cycle ( pendulum ), e . g . after 3½ min , but no later than after the elapse of 4 min and independently of whether 4 cycles were actually achieved in this time , the program is switched off and full vacuum is applied for drying the granules . the dried granules are sieved to the desired particle size and can , if required , be used as effervescent based granules . for fully automatic operation , the characteristic data determined for the product , i . e . vacuum range , first and second vacuum value , pressure difference , number of cycles and duration of the pendulum vacuum , can be set , with the result that the method can take place stepwise after respectively reaching the set values . the following are introduced into a vacuum granulator having a heatable jacket : 31 . 4 parts by weight of citric acid , 5 . 9 parts by weight of magnesium carbonate and optionally sweeteners . heating to 50 ° c . is effected with stirring . thereafter , 0 . 9 parts by weight of water is added with stirring and the program is switched on . the reaction takes place with a pendulum vacuum at the predetermined values between 500 and 900 mbar and with 5 cycles in not more than 9 min . depending on the reactivity of the acid and of the carbonate , the pendulum vacuum is switched off either after the 5th cycle or after the maximum specified time of 9 min depending on which of the two specified maxima is reached first . thereafter , 4 . 4 parts by weight of potassium bicarbonate , 3 . 0 parts by weight of magnesium oxide and 1 . 0 part by weight of citric acid are admixed and 0 . 55 part by weight of a citric acid solution in 50 % ethanol is added to the mixture with stirring . the reaction takes place under a second , predetermined pendulum vacuum between 450 and 750 mbar with 2 cycles in 5 min at the most . after the 2nd cycle or after 5 min the pendulum vacuum is switched off and the product is dried under full vacuum with slow stirring . after sieving to the desired particle size , a flavor can be mixed with the granules obtained , and the granules can be either filled into sachets or pressed to give tablets . the method according to ep - b - 0 076 340 ( prior art ) was compared with the method according to the invention . citric acid , ascorbic acid and sweeteners were heated to 50 ° c . in a vacuum granulator . thereafter , sodium bicarbonate was admixed and evacuation to 10 mbar was effected . 21 ml of water were then added and the reaction was started . the pressure increased to 1 bar in 30 sec , and the granules became very plastic and adhered to the stirrer , with the result that the stirrer was virtually blocked . the product was then dried by means of a vacuum to 20 mbar in 15 min . after a further addition of 21 ml of water , the reaction was started again and the pressure increased to 1 bar in 45 sec , and the granules became very plastic and spherical agglomerates some of them large , formed . addition of sodium carbonate and subsequent drying were carried out , the product drying only slowly and it being possible to reach only 17 mbar in 25 min . citric acid , ascorbic acid and sweeteners were heated to 50 ° c . in the same vacuum granulator . thereafter , sodium bicarbonate was admixed and 21 ml of water were added . a pendulum vacuum was then switched on , fixed between a first vacuum value of 500 mbar and a second vacuum value of 900 mbar . 3 cycles were carried out in 65 sec . the material was slightly lumpy and only somewhat plastic and could be readily mixed by the stirrer without resulting in blockage or the formation of lumps . the addition of sodium carbonate and subsequent drying were then carried out , during which 15 mbar were reached in 17 min . the method according to the invention is substantially shorter and the granulation takes place in a substantially more controlled and uniform manner ( overreaction is prevented ). according to the method of ep - b - 0 076 340 an additional method step comprising drying , further addition of liquid and a further complete reaction procedure , are necessary in order to obtain a product equivalent to the method according to the invention , i . e . a stable product . as a result of the additional method step comprising a second granulation with drying , the method according to the prior art takes substantially longer and the critical granulation reaction has to be carried out a second time , a nonuniform structure of the granules resulting through the formation of spherical agglomerates , some of which are large . this example was carried out according to example 4 b ) but with an increase in the carbon dioxide partial pressure , as described below . citric acid , ascorbic acid , sweeteners and sodium bicarbonate were heated in a vacuum granulator with pendulum vacuum and with aspiration of carbon dioxide during the cycles until 50 ° c . were reached , evacuation being effected to 200 mbar in each cycle and then a pressure increase to 800 mbar being effected . after addition of 21 ml of water , a further 10 cycles were carried out with inflow of carbon dioxide . after addition of sodium carbonate , the granules were dried by means of a vacuum , a further 20 cycles being carried out with inflow of carbon dioxide during the final drying . on checking the stability to storage after one week , these granules showed values improved by 30 % compared with the control sample produced according to example 4 b ).	8
the present invention as discussed hereinbefore relates to a method and apparatus to improve a subject &# 39 ; s learning ability by utilizing a computer / kiosk system and reducing the social the element from the intervention . the method provides a plurality of content type in terms of training skill levels , subject or subject &# 39 ; s known individual &# 39 ; s avatar or picture , voice , topics of interest and / or content of the subject &# 39 ; s interest . this plurality differs from each other in the form of animated content , and in the amount of audio processing applied to the speech commands and / or information . the method also selects from the plurality of content type based on the needs and training skill level to be presented to the subject that is associated with , or corresponds to , the subject &# 39 ; s ability . the method is presented to the subject on a computer and interacts with the subject via input / output devices like camera , touch screen , id card , mouse , keyboard , joystick , fingerprint scanner , paper scanner , motion detector , or any body movement detecting device on the computer . the method utilizes the information from the input devices to calculate the needs of the subject and change the type , quality , method , color , audio and / or visual presentation delivered to the subject . the method further presents as a trial , an audio / visual commands / information from a set of animation and speech commands / information from the selected skill level . the speech command directs the subject to manipulate at least one of the pluralities of graphical components . if the subject correctly manipulates the graphical components , the method presents another trial . if the subject incorrectly manipulates the graphical components , the method presents another trial without giving any discouraging message . as the subject correctly manipulates the graphical components , new audio / visual command / information from the set of animation and speech command / information from the library gets delivered to the subject based on the skill and needs of the subject . and , as the subject incorrectly manipulates the graphical components , the complexity of the trial using audio / visual commands / information is decreased and the entertaining animated content increased . the method is also an attention span measuring tool . the tool measures the subject &# 39 ; s attention span utilizing a motion detector and reads an eye movement using a video camera . based on the historical attention span of the object , before the expiration of the attention span the method changes the content type delivered to the subject from educational content to the entertaining content of the subject &# 39 ; s interest . once the attention is gained , the method delivers new audio / visual command / information from the set of animation and speech command / information from the library to the subject . in another aspect , the present invention provides a method to improve the cognitive processing system of a subject . the method provides a plurality of stimulus sets , with each of the plurality of stimulus sets having a plurality of command / information sentences . the method also provides a plurality of target graphical images and animation , each of the animation associated with a different one of the plurality of command / information sentences . the method further provides a plurality of distracter images that are not associated with the plurality of command / information sentences . the method then presents to the subject one of the plurality of command / information sentences from one of the plurality of stimulus sets to the subject , the presented sentence modified acoustically , and presents to the subject a target graphical image , from the plurality of target graphical images , that is associated with the presented command / information sentence . along with the presented target graphical image the method presents a plurality of distracter images . the subject is then required to distinguish between the presented target graphical image , and the presented plurality of distracter images by selecting the target graphical image associated with the presented command / information sentence . upon successful completion of the one or multiple trials , the subject will be awarded by some object , toy , food , or item of interest . in yet another aspect , the present invention provides an adaptive method to improve a subject &# 39 ; s willingness to learn the offered topic . the method according to the present invention utilizes a computer to process and present animated content with sound to the subject . this method utilizes the world wide web network or the local area network to retrieve animated content from the content storage server . the method displays a plurality of animated images on the computer , the graphical images associated with information and / or some activities related to the topic of interest for the subject . the method associates in pairs the plurality of animated images with particular activity and / or events such that two different animated images are associated with a particular activity and / or event . upon the subject &# 39 ; s selection of any of the plurality of animated images , its associated activity and / or event is presented . the method then requires the user to discriminate between the presented activities and / or events by sequentially selecting two different graphical images from among the plurality of graphical images , that are associated with the particular activities and / or event . the audio command / information is modified by stretching them in the time domain by varying amounts to make easy to understand for the object . as the subject correctly remembers the activities and / or event at one skill level , the amount of stretching applied to the audio command / information is reduced . in addition , as the subject correctly remembers the activities and / or events , the number of animated image pairs presented to the subject increases , requiring the subject to better train his / her understanding on the activity . this 3d animated interactive individualized therapeutic learning technology for autistic students will effectively utilize realistic colorful 2d / 3d animation with individualized attractive audio effect for intervention . this technology driven approach utilizes various interventions and approaches to measure the effectiveness on different child with asd . the key technology used is an application delivering educational animation inside a touch screen kiosk system with camera / s that tracks eye and body movement of the student to achieve bidirectional activities . teachers set up the individualized training plan and can track the development progress and help the student to communicate better to develop independent daily living skills . this learning tool utilizes the artificial intelligence to help students with learning disabilities and may help improve their social behavior ( because the student is not dealing with individual where they have to make eye contact ). this technique utilizes the technology to provide consistent training for extended hours in the same environment . by using the repetitive activities with the student using the kiosk based system , teachers can collect the data of the behaviors and response from variety of content like different colors , animation , instructions , audio - music and special effects . in the general education field , the technology is widely utilized but in the area of autism the technology is underutilized . the model of a social learning pal not only teaches social skills but also helps the researchers collect data for further analytical purposes for the betterment of the students , the families and the teachers . this dual purpose technological solution is utilized in the following settings : schools providing education to students with asd research institutes doing research on autism hospitals and home for parents according to another aspect , the method is implemented in three phases comprising phase i , phase ii and phase iii . the key activity during phase i is collecting , populating and verifying subjects &# 39 ; profiles . all the master data for the institute providing this training to the subject is also populated during this phase . students &# 39 ; profile development process is done in three steps . a . personal info such as name , parent name , date of birth , picture etc . b . collect photographs of family members and individuals known to the subject for various activities c . contact info such as email id , telephone , mobile , residential address 2 . input students profile — the info gathered in step 1 is fed in the database . 3 . verifying profiles — the data fed in the database is verified by the authorities . a . name , contact , introduction , web address , e - mail addresses b . name and details of support , teaching staff 2 . input institute profile — the info gathered is fed in the database . in phase ii , the right activities for the students are selected based on their profile by experts . once the activities are selected , based on the available and collected profile customization of the activity is programmed and configured . selecting activity process analyzes the profile and selects the suitable activities for the subject . selected activity is assigned and programmed in the system to the student after reviewing the individual &# 39 ; s profile . a . capturing customization data — during this stage customized data like pictures of familiar people of the students for the activity —‘ identifying familiar people ’, are captured and finalized . b . compose and assign — the trainer administrator or teacher composes and customizes selected activities and assigns it to right student . phase iii is the final stage of the implementation where the subject carry out the activities assigned and programmed . their performance , progress and acceptance are tracked and analyzed . following steps are followed as part of the implementation : 1 . operational setup — this includes the installation and set up of required hardware / software . 3 . tracking — progress and performance of students is automatically tracked by the application . 5 . analysis and documentation — the information related to progress and performance of students will be analyzed and the results documented . similarly the feedback received is also be analyzed and the outcome of this analysis is documented . referring to fig1 is a system diagram comprising a computer system 100 for executing training for the brain development disorder in a subject , according to the present invention . the computer system 100 contains a computer having a cpu , memory ( not shown ), hard disk ( not shown ) and cd rom drive ( not shown ), attached to a touch screen monitor . the monitor provides visual prompting and feedback to the subject during execution of the computer program . also the monitor captures the response from the user using touch screen technology . attached to the computer are a keyboard , speakers , a mouse , and headphones . the speakers and the headphones provide auditory prompting and feedback to the subject during execution of the computer program . the touch screen is used to navigate through the computer program , and to select particular responses after visual or auditory prompting by the computer program . in some cases mouse is used for the above purpose . the keyboard allows an instructor to enter alpha numeric information about the subject into the computer . although a number of different computer platforms are applicable to the present invention , embodiments of the present invention execute on either ibm compatible computers or macintosh computers . the finger print scanner 800 validates the subject ( student ) 200 and based on the identity of the subject load the profile of user in the computer program . the camera 300 tracks the activities of the subject and records the video for further analysis . the motion detector 350 detects the motion of the subject . the printer 400 prints the printable rewards and the result of the subject &# 39 ; s progress . a printer 400 is shown connected to the computer 100 to illustrate that a subject can print out reports and rewards associated with the computer program of the present invention . vending machine 500 b delivers the physical object based reward to the subject based on the learning program in a computer program . lan / wan option i 600 connects the computer system to the data center 900 using wireless network and the lan / wan option ii 700 uses wired network . the computer network allows information such as animated content , test scores , game statistics , and other subject information to flow from and to the subject &# 39 ; s computer 100 , to a server in the data center 900 . data center 900 contains storage unit 1000 and artificial intelligent processing unit 1100 . the storage unit 1000 has two servers database server 1200 and media server 1300 . these servers are utilized to store the media used by the computer program . this media includes audio , video and text based media for training artificial intelligence unit 1100 has two servers , web server 1400 and application server 1500 . web server 1400 delivers training content to the subject using the internet or lan / wan network . the application server 1500 generates deliverable content for the web server using the animated audio and video media delivered by the storage unit . now referring to fig2 , is a method of training the subject 200 and the trainer administrator 220 are involved 3300 with various phases of the method . the profile development 3400 phase of the present invention is managed by the trainer administrator 220 . trainer administrator creates the profile of the subject in terms of their likings , disliking , nature , gender , age and family background . the phase ii of the proposed method is the activity appropriation analysis 3500 . this is done by the trainer administrator . based on the profile and subject &# 39 ; s knowledge proficiency on the topic , trainer administrator creates a lesson plan using the library of the offered activities . based on the lesson plan developed by the trainer administrator , the next phase would be to activity customization 3600 for the subject using the library of objects and audio visual components to develop customized activity . the activity assignment 3700 phase assigns the assignment activity to the subject for implementation . in this phase the subject is scheduled for training using the assigned activities in an activity module form . multiple activities are assigned in an activity module form to the subject for scheduled delivery on a daily basis . the trainer administrator reviews the information on a computer and can upload configuration and control information pertaining to a particular subject . the activity implementation 3800 phase is the actual execution of the planed activity under the supervision of the trainer administrator . in the activity implementation phase 3800 , subject uses the proposed software program on a daily basis for a planed fix time . based on the programmed profile and assigned assignment , the subject goes to the next level of complexity and type of the activity . once all the activity assigned are successfully completed based on the programmed parameters , the subject gets graduated for the assigned activity module . throughout the activity implementation 3800 phase , the trainer administrator manages and monitors the progress of the subject using the opposed computer program . this phase is the activity managing and monitoring phase 3900 . the result analysis 4000 and activity reassignment and adjustment 4100 get the subject to the final result 4200 . referring to fig3 is a system data flow diagram that illustrates the data flowing between the student subject and the proposed apparatus for training . student 200 sends the finger print information to the fingerprint scanner 800 . the finger print scanner 800 sends the captured data to the cpu . the cpu is connected to the data center 900 through internet 150 . using the internet connection cpu sends request to the web server 1400 in the data center 900 for the user validation . request from the web server 1400 send request to the application server 1500 which sends request to the database server 1200 for user validation . upon the successful validation of the user , the message gets delivered to the cpu . the delivered message from the cpu gets displayed on the touch screen monitor 380 . based on the configuration of the activity assigned to the subject , content gets delivered to the touch screen monitor 380 by the web server 1400 and the media server 1300 . camera 300 monitors the movement of the subject ( student ) 200 and the motion gets recorded in to the cpu which gets transferred and stored to the server 1300 . upon completion of the activity , cpu gets request from the application server 1500 to deliver the reward to the subject . based on the request received from the application server 1500 , the request to the printer 400 or object based reward system or object based reward system gets transferred for the reward delivery to the subject . referring to fig4 is a workflow diagram that illustrates the step by step work flow . step 1 is the authentication 110 using the login screen or using biometric technology . the date gets transmitted to web server 1400 and application server 1500 using the internet 150 . upon successful authentication of step 2 , the assigned activity with the assigned training and entertaining content 210 starts delivering to the subject . the subject &# 39 ; s ( student ) input using the input devices like touch screen , keyboard and mouse along with the movement of the subject using the camera is captured 310 and delivered to the web server 1400 and application server 1500 in the step 3 . in step 4 , based on the input 410 collected from the subject , the response , more content , report , result , animated customized content is delivered . home environment 610 and school environment 510 shows the same activity and activity modules are accessed from the different location using the different hardware device using internet 150 . if the subject is using the system from the home environment 610 where the object based reward system as illustrated in the fig3 is not available , the subject will have an ability to print the credit for reward using any printer connected or save the credit proof for the future claim with the trainer administrator for their reward . reference is then invited to fig5 - a that illustrates the prototype of a kiosk based apparatus . the kiosk system comprise of cpu , touch screen monitor , camera , fingerprint scanner , network interface card , printer and machine for the delivery of the physical object for the reward delivery mechanism . the kiosk system has an open slot in the front for the delivery of the reward . in the back of the apparatus there is a window for loading and unloading the physical object for the reward . referring to fig5 - b that illustrates the prototype of the kiosk system with delivery machine connected through the rs - 232 port . the kiosk system is connected through the rs - 232 port to the delivery machine with a reward delivery window . the reward delivery machine has object loading window in the back of the cabinet similar to the fig5 - a . for a large size user group , this type of the model is used where more objects like toys , candy , food or any tangible item based on the liking of the subject is stored and displayed . based on the likings of the subject ( student ), trainer administrator load these tangible items in the delivery machine , which is delivered to the subject upon meeting the performance criteria set by the trainer administrator . based on the settings set by the trainer administrator , the subject selects the desired item from the delivery machine as a reward . in some case , based on the trainer administrator &# 39 ; s set preferences the item is visible or not visible to the subject where trainer administrator wants to keep the reward surprise to the subject . the system of the present invention also uses the printer and delivery system connected to the network . based on the parameters set by the trainer administrator , the system prints the printable reward on the attached printer . reference is then made to fig6 that illustrates the flow diagram of an activity module management process . user swipe the figure on the finger print scanning device or id card or login using the login id and password using the graphical user interface delivered on a touch screen monitor . trainer administrator has created and saved users profile in the database for validation . upon successful validation the activity modules gets loaded on the users screen . first activity module gets loaded from the list of the activities modules assigned to the subject by the trainer administrator . first check is to see if there is a need of delivering training material related to the loaded activity module . if the training material is configured by the trainer administrator , the animated training material using the audio visual effect gets delivered . this training material is customized for the subject based on the profile and customized content programmed for the subject . after completion of the training module , the trial based activity from the activity list for the selected module gets delivered to the subject . after the delivery of the content , system waits for the response from the subject . while waiting , the system monitors the subject &# 39 ; s movement using the video motion detector . if the user has moved from his place and if this is the first activity in this session , system asks subject if there is an interest in reviewing the training material again . if the response is no or is there is no response from the user , system will deliver some entertaining content to the subject . at the end of the entertaining content , the next module gets loaded for the next delivery . if the user requests for the training material , the training material for the active activity module gets loaded . if this is not the first activity and motion gets detected after the delivery of the activity without any response , the new attention span gets registered . when the response to the activity is received and before going to the next activity , attention span gets checked . if the attention span of the subject is reached in this session , the entertaining content gets delivered to the subject and the session time gets reset for the delivery of the next activity . after delivery of the activity , if the subject is idle for over 30 seconds without any movement , the next activity in the module gets delivered . if there are 5 skips in the current session , the entertaining content gets delivered to grab the attention of the subject . when the last activity gets delivered to the user , the system loads the next activity module from the assigned modules . if all modules are delivered successfully , the system delivers visual , printed or object based reward to the object . upon successful completion of the activity module the system will sent notifications to all the individuals involved with the training including training administrators by email , text or instant messenger tool . system utilizes off - the - shelf instant messaging technology customized and integrated to this system for instant notification of rewards . reference is then made to fig7 that illustrates the flow diagram of activity management and skill level management process for the activity module . after the successful login to the system , the first activity module from the assigned modules gets loaded . the default first skill level for the current activity module is used to deliver the first activity from the activity module . if the answer is incorrect , the incorrect count gets incremented by one till it reaches to the maximum incorrect allowed for the current activity module . once it reaches the maximum allowed incorrect answers for the current module , system changes the skill level to one skill level down for the module . the incorrect activity gets added for the next round of the activity for the same skill level . if the answer is correct , the correct count for this activity gets incremented till it reaches to the passing count for this activity . when it reaches to the passing count , the activity gets removed from the current activity module for the current level . if this is the last activity for this round , next activity round gets loaded . after end of the each activity round , the activity round score is checked against the no training needed count . if the activity round score is greater than no training needed count , the training content delivery is skipped . after end of the each activity , if continue is not selected by the subject , after 1 minute entertaining customized animation is delivered to get the attention of the subject . when the activity round is finished with all activities successfully removed from the current skill level and maximum passing skill level is reached , the reward is delivered to the subject . reference is then made to fig8 that illustrates the method of customization of sound for lower level skill . the instructional and informative educational audio gets stored in the database in pieces like touch 2100 , the 2200 and ball 2300 . for level iii the voice will be the natural voice which will have each word separated by 0 . 06 seconds . the blank 2150 indicates default separation of 0 . 06 seconds between two words . for the lower level complexity of level ii and level i , additional blank 2500 and blank 2700 are inserted to make the information easy to understand for the subject . these additional blank ( 2500 and 2700 ) are of 0 . 1 seconds . fig8 illustrates level iii and level ii examples . fig8 illustrates , by utilizing this method the original time span for the “ touch the ball ” will get extended from the 1 . 10 seconds to 1 . 40 seconds . reference is then made to fig9 that illustrates pictorial presentation of some of the sample activities . listed screens show activities of label objects , label me , help me , distance training , follow me , put me , give me , touch and show , follow sound and tag me . referring to fig1 that illustrates the utilization of the system and how the same subject uses the same activity modules from different locations by utilizing different hardware . the subject 200 uses the same database server 1200 and media server 1300 to get the training from different locations and populate the data in a centralized place in a data center 900 . fig1 illustrates a sample activity “ touch and show ” title screen . based on the subject &# 39 ; s skill level when the activity gets loaded , the first screen shows the activity title screen . for the level i , activity and the training is automatically loaded in full screen and subject would not have to click on the options shown in the fig1 . for the level ii and level iii users the ‘ title screen ’ as shown in the fig1 will be displayed . the subject has to click or touch on the ‘ play ’ button to start the activity . fig1 illustrates teaching instructions on training to the subject for the topic of training for a sample activity “ touch and show ”. before the activity begins , the animated training is provided to the subject using the audio visual presentation of the topic of training fig1 illustrates teaching instructions examples ; screen 1 illustrates how different parts of the face are shown to the subject . the audio instructions are delivered in the screen 1 to the subject along with the visual instructions using text . screen 2 illustrates how the body part is highlighted and audio instruction “ look at the head ” is delivered to the subject . screen 3 illustrates the nose highlighted with arrow , the audio “ look at the nose ” and visual instructions delivered to the subject . screen 4 , screen 5 and screen 6 illustrates other body parts for training fig1 illustrates activity training instructions on how to carry on the activity using the computer and touch screen monitor for a sample activity “ touch and show ”. screen 7 illustrates where the directions are displayed with audio “ look for the direction here ” with text based instruction . screen 8 , 9 , 10 and 11 illustrates instructions on how to respond to the activity . these instructions are delivered using visual and audio presentation to the object using text on the screen . fig1 - b illustrates activity training instructions screens on how to carry on the activity using the computer and touch screen monitor for a sample activity “ touch and show ”. these instructions are delivered to the subject using different model of visual presentation with audio delivered in an animated video form where the example of the actual user is visually shown playing and following instructions and responding to the activity . in this method of the training , the example shows the child playing the activity and following instructions . fig1 illustrates the sample activity “ touch and show ”. screen 1 illustrate the questions asked to the subject and screen 2 shows how the correct answer is recognized by encouraging animation with audio visual effect . screen 3 illustrates how the incorrect answer is ignored and the next activity is delivered without any negative response from the training . in the example , the instruction to carry out the first activity — touch the head — is shown at the bottom . as shown in fig1 when the subject responds correctly —( a ) an animation cheering the player is played and ( b ) the score points are incremented by a preset value . if the student is unable to finish the activity successfully then an audio message is played . the procedure to carry out the second or remaining number of activities stays same as that of the first activity . fig1 portrays procedure to carry out the second activity — touch the nose . the instructions for remaining activities in this example are — touch the eye , touch the ear , touch the mouth . reference is then invited to fig1 that illustrates example of attempts taken by the subject to complete the sample activity “ touch and show ”. a student successfully completes an activity , if — 1 ) all activities in the module are mastered or 2 ) the completion criteria are met . an activity is mastered if the criteria as set by the instructor are satisfied . in the example , there are 5 numbers of activities . each activity is mastered upon 3 times correct responses provided by the subject . table 1 illustrates few sample cases . each column from the second column onwards illustrates an attempt . first column contain the number of activity . the attempts and activities in a row form a case . the outcome in each case is shown in the last column . if there are 3 consecutive correct responses to an activity , it is removed from the assigned activity list on subsequent attempts . table 1 illustrates sample cases where assigned activities are five and the number correct response expected from the subject for each activity is three . after three successful correct answers the activity gets removed from the activity module . as can be seen from the first row of the table since there are 3 consecutive correct responses to activity 1 , this activity is removed from 4 th attempt onwards . same is the case with activity 5 . the outcome for all the cases is put in the outcome column . reference is then invited to fig1 that illustrates how the score is tracked for the successful completion of the assigned module to the subject . in all , there would be as many attempts as required to master all the 5 assigned activities . an average in percentage of these attempts is recorded . this is the activity average score . the completion criteria include three factors — factor 1 : number of mastered attempts to be tracked , factor 2 : passing activity average in percentage , factor 3 : qualifying completion average in percentage . the example assumes the value for factor 1 is 3 and that for factor 2 is 50 and factor 3 is 80 . referring to fig1 illustrates the reward screen at the end of the activity module . the score points or rewards achieved are presented displayed in a graphical form . fig4 show ‘ reward screens ’ under various situations . the accompanying animation explains the rewards obtained for each successful activity . in this example , the subject gets one pizza slice for each correct response . since the activities 2 , 4 and 5 are successfully completed , the cumulative count is 3 . the replay button starts the activity all over again . the training button replays the training part once again . fig1 - a illustrates an example of how the activity gets customized by the trainer administrator based on the student &# 39 ; s likings each activity module can be customized to suit an individual &# 39 ; s preferences and needs . for example if the subject has an affinity for sports tennis , the background can be set to that of a tennis court . fig1 illustrates different backgrounds with different object for the same activity . once the student has mastered the activity in the existing set up , the set up can be changed by the trainer administrator . this method is utilized to assess student &# 39 ; s performance in diverse environment . for example , the model character in this activity module can be —( a ) the preset picture of a character , ( b ) subject themselves or ( c ) one of subject &# 39 ; s favorite person . fig1 - b illustrates an example of an activity where the image in the activity is replaced by the system with the image or photo of the computer generated character or actual picture of the person based on the subject &# 39 ; s likings . reference is then invited to fig1 and fig2 that illustrates the step by step actions performed by the subject to complete the assigned activity on the kiosk based touch screen system . step 1 illustrates the subject sitting in front of the kiosk system . step 2 illustrates the subject validating the access to the system using finger print scanning device . step 3 shows the introductory entertaining animated content with audio is delivered to the subject . step 4 to step 14 illustrates the training material delivered to the subject using the visual and audio presentation of the content . step 15 to 17 illustrates the actual activity attended by the subject and step 18 illustrates the animated result score presented to the subject . the embodiments of the invention and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non - limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description . it should be noted that the features illustrated in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale . descriptions of well - known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments of the invention . the examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments of the invention may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments of the invention . accordingly , the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments of the invention . it is thus possible by way of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus to improve a subject &# 39 ; s learning ability by utilizing a computer / kiosk system and reducing the social the element from the intervention . the method provides consistency in the environment at different locations of home , school , hospital , or any place where the computer or kiosk system is installed and delivers repeated educational material customized or personalized for the subject .	6
the following examples are illustrative of the invention only and are not intended to imply any limitation or restriction thereof . example 1 describes the test method used to evaluate acids which may be used to form the amine salts before polymerization . the other examples describe the production of polyamine adducts and the performance of such adducts as wet strength additives when applied to cellulosic substrates . the fundamental discovery underlying this invention is that halide ions react much more rapidly with epihalohydrin than do anions derived from other strong acids . this example describes a method by which the various anions can be compared under readily reproducible conditions . it is based on the fact that the reaction between the epihalohydrin and the anion releases hydroxyl ions which therefore raise the ph of the reaction mixture . the extent to which the ph rises is therefore an indication of the extent of the reaction ; the rapidity with which the ph rises is indicative of the rate of the forward reaction . saturated solutions in deionized water at 25 ° c . of the sodium salts of each of the anions to be evaluated were prepared and 20 ml . of each solution were added to separate vials and 0 . 067 gram of ar epichlorohydrin was added to each . each vial was capped and shaken vigorously . the ph of each was taken at the indicated time intervals . the results are set forth in table 1 . table 1______________________________________ ph at indicated timesalt solution 0 sec . 10 sec . 10 min . 18 hrs . ______________________________________sodium chloride 6 . 41 9 . 05 -- 9 . 33sodium sulfate 6 . 35 6 . 37 6 . 58 7 . 71______________________________________ the very rapid increase in ph shown by the sodium chloride solution / epichlorohydrin mixture is indicative of the extent of the interference of this reaction with the polyamine / epihalohydrin reaction in the process of the prior art . conversely , the non - halide salts show a very much slower byproduct reaction . this example describes the production of a wet - strength resin by the process of the invention . a flask was fitted with an addition funnel , a thermometer , a stirrer and a nitrogen inlet tube . the flask was charged with 222 . 4 grams ( 2 . 0 moles ) of flash - distilled n - methyldiallylamine and 200 ml . of deionized water . to the flask were added 204 . 1 grams of 50 % by weight aqueous solution of 96 % sulfuric acid . the addition was done at 10 °- 15 ° c . after all the acid had been added 14 . 3 grams of deionized water were added along with 1 - 2 drops of 96 % sulfuric acid to adjust the ph to 3 . 5 . the flask and contents were then nitrogen purged to remove air . to this amine salt solution were added 10 . 0 grams of 50 % aqueous ammonium persulfate solution and while blanketing with nitrogen throughout , the temperature was raised to 50 ° c . the reaction became strongly exothermic and for a brief period , after about 90 minutes , the temperature rose to 90 ° c . before being controlled and reduced to 60 ° c . where it remained for the rest of the polymerization . after two hours , the solution had become very viscous and orange in color . a further 4 . 00 grams of the 50 % ammonium persulfate solution were added to finish off the reaction . after six hours of stirring under a nitrogen blanket the reaction was shut down and a viscous organic resin solution remained . analysis of this solution showed that a conversion ( monomer to polymer ) of 96 . 8 % had been achieved . a charge of 43 . 3 grams ( 0 . 10 monomer unit equivalent ) of the poly ( n - methyldiallylamine ) sulphate salt prepared above was placed in a flask and 65 . 4 grams of water and 4 . 50 grams of 10 % aqueous sodium hydroxide were added to raise the ph to 8 . 42 . the temperature of the mixture was 10 ° c . the dropwise addition of 9 . 25 grams ( 0 . 10 mole ) of epichlorohydrin to the stirred polyamine was begun . the stirred reaction mixture was initially maintained at 10 ° c . for 15 minutes after which the temperature was allowed to rise to 50 ° c . during the reaction at 50 ° c . until the time the reaction was killed , the mixture became more viscous and the ph slowly dropped . a total of 20 equiv . % of 10 % sodium hydroxide was added incrementally to maintain the reaction ph above 7 . after 200 minutes the reaction was killed by addition of 0 . 80 gram of 96 % sulphuric acid with stirring and cooling . the resulting polymer adduct had a gardner viscosity of e - and a ph at 25 ° c . of 2 . 31 . two further polymeric adducts according to the invention were prepared by essentially the same process as is set forth above in example 2 . for purposes of comparison a polymeric adduct was prepared according to the prior art , i . e ., using the hydrochloride salt of the amine produced by an otherwise similar method . the results obtained are set forth in table ii below . table ii__________________________________________________________________________summary of examples 2 - 4 epihalohydrin polymeric adduct polymer adduct ratio added ph at % gardner resin epi % example identification e / a . sup . ( 1 ) naoh . sup . ( 2 ) 25 ° c . solids viscosity yield conv . dcp . sup . ( 3 ) note__________________________________________________________________________2 poly ( n - methyldi - allylamine . 1 . 0 0 . 31 2 . 31 16 . 43 e . sup .- 97 . 9 % 96 . 4 % 1 . 25 a h . sub . 2 so . sub . 4 salt )/ epi3 poly ( n - methyldi - allylamine . 0 . 8 0 . 26 2 . 33 16 . 76 e 99 . 5 % 97 . 6 % 0 . 96 a h . sub . 2 so . sub . 4 salt )/ epi4 poly ( n - methyldi - allylamine / 1 . 0 0 . 26 2 . 85 20 . 43 n 99 . 2 % 95 . 8 % 1 . 48 b diallylamine h . sub . 2 so . sub . 4 salt )/ epi . sup . ( 4 ) comparative poly ( n - methyldi - diallylamine . 0 . 8 0 . 26 2 . 0 15 . 45 e / e . sup .+ 91 . 4 % 91 . 2 % 3 . 07 c hcl salt )- epi__________________________________________________________________________ . sup . ( 1 ) ratio of equivalents of epihalohydrin to amine monomer unit equivalents . . sup . ( 2 ) equivalents per monomer unit equivalent of amine . . sup . ( 3 ) weight percent of dichloropropanol in the final reaction mixture adjusted to 25 % by weight of total solids . . sup . ( 4 ) nmethyldiallylamine / diallylamine are in a 1 : 1 molar ratio . a polyamine obtained in 96 . 8 % conversion from monomer after 6 hours . ( 56 . 4 % in 1 . 0 hour ). b polyamine obtained in 97 . 8 % conversion from monomers after 6 hours . c polyamine obtained in only 84 . 8 % conversion from monomer after 72 hours polyamine therefore contained 15 . 2 % of unconverted monomer . the data given in table ii clearly show that the process of the invention gives much better results by comparison with the prior art process in that : 1 . the formation of the polymer proceeds much more quickly and reaches a higher monomer to polymer conversion level ; 2 . the efficiency with which the epichlorohydrin is incorporated into the polymeric adduct is greater ; and 3 . the amount of dichloropropanol by - product obtained is more than halved . this example shows the cured and uncured wet tensile strengths obtained when the polymeric adducts of examples 2 to 4 are applied to a cellulosic substrate in the manner described in example 6 and compares them with the values obtained using the comparative adduct described in table ii . table iii______________________________________cured and uncuredwet tensile strengths in g / cm . uncured cured application level application level kg / metric ton kg / metric tonexample 2 . 5 5 . 0 7 . 5 2 . 5 5 . 0 7 . 5______________________________________2 430 593 697 523 664 7733 371 532 629 447 593 6704 307 416 557 379 500 602compara - 384 500 609 447 561 682tive______________________________________ this table shows that the effect of changing the salt carries through to the wet - strengths obtained . this efficiency difference is perhaps attributable at least in part to the presence of the larger proportion of unreacted monomer in the polyamine adduct prepared using the polyamine chloride salt . note that example 4 was prepared using an amine copolymer and therefore , is not strictly comparable with the other data reported in this table . this example sets forth a comparison of wet strength resins in which the amine prepolymer is produced ( a ) in the form of the chloride salt ( the prior art ); and ( b ) in the form of the nitrate salt ( the invention ). a reaction vessel was charged with 222 . 4 g ( 2 . 0 moles ) of flash - distilled n - methyldiallylamine , 200 g of deionized water and 219 . 4 g of 36 % concentrated hydrochloric acid . this produced a solution with a ph of 3 . 5 and an amine hydrochloride salt concentration of 45 . 0 % by weight . the addition was preformed at 10 °- 15 ° c . with the hydrochloric acid being added dropwise with good stirring and cooling to maintain the temperature in the above range . the two phase reaction mixture cleared rapidly as the ph dropped below about 6 to 7 . a nitrogen purge was introduced and the system was left overnight at 0 °- 22 ° c . to the above reaction mixture was added , in one charge , 5 . 00 g of ammonium persulfate (&# 34 ; aps &# 34 ;) solids in the form of 11 . 5 g of a 45 % aqueous solution . the nitrogen purge was continued while the reaction vessel was heated to 50 ° c ., with continued stirring , over a period of 30 minutes . at about 45 ° c . the reaction became exothermic and air jet cooling was initiated to maintain the temperature at about 50 ° c . at 0 . 75 hr . an increase in viscosity was noted and at 2 . 5 hrs . the exotherm subsided and gentle heating was initiated to maintain the reaction temperature . the reaction was continued under nitrogen , with stirring , at 50 ° c . for a further 21 / 2 days after which a solution containing 44 . 85 % total solids , ( 44 . 10 % in terms of monomer - derived solids ), having a ph of 1 . 52 and a gardner viscosity of e / e + was obtained . the process is summarized in table iv . a reaction vessel was charged with 33 . 37 g ( 0 . 10 amine monomer unit equivalents ) of the amine prepolymer solution prepared above . the total solids charged ( theory ) was 14 . 966 g . in addition 4 . 50 g . ( 0 . 01125 equivalent ) of a 10 % aqueous sodium hydroxide solution and 67 . 86 g . of water were charged into the vessel . the resultant ph was 8 . 35 the reaction commenced at 10 ° c . when 7 . 40 g . ( 0 . 08 mole ) of epichlorohydrin was added over a 1 minute period with stirring . over the next hour the temperature rose to 50 ° c ., the solution first became turbid and then cleared and the ph dropped to below 7 . 80 . at intervals during the reaction dropwise additions of 2 . 0 g . amounts of 10 % aqueous sodium hydroxide were made to maintain the ph above 7 . after a little more than three hours the gardner viscosity had risen to f / g and the reaction was killed , ( i . e . short - stopped ) by addition of 0 . 50 g . of 96 % sulphuric acid with continued stirring and cooling . the properties of the final solution are set forth in detail in table v below . a reaction vessel was charged with 111 . 18 g . ( 1 . 00 mole ) of n - methyldiallylamine , 90 . 0 g . ( 1 . 00 equivalent of hydrogen ion ) of 70 % ar nitric acid and 147 . 18 g . of deionized water . the initial ph at 25 ° c . was 4 . 55 . this amine salt solution was then polymerized using a solution of 2 . 25 g . of ar ammonium persulfate in 2 . 25 g . of deionized water at a temperature of 60 ° c . the formation of the amine salt and the polymerization technique followed substantially the same procedures as were outlined in the corresponding description of the preparation of resin a with the difference that the polymerization reaction was complete after 10 hours . the process is summarized in table iv . the gardner viscosity of the prepolymer after adjustment to 45 % total solids by addition of water was e / e + and the ph at 25 ° c . was 1 . 34 . a reaction vessel was charged with 39 . 21 g . ( 0 . 100 amine monomer unit equivalent ) of the amine prepolymer salt produced as described above . to the same vessel were added 75 . 6 g . of deionized water and 4 . 50 g . ( 0 . 01125 equivalent ) of 10 % aqueous sodium hydroxide solution . this solution then was clear and had a ph of 8 . 37 . the reaction was begun by addition of 7 . 40 g . ( 0 . 08 mole ) of epichlorohydrin over a 1 minute period to the above reaction mixture at 10 ° c . the reaction was continued in the manner described above in relation to the preparation of polymer a . the properties of the final polymer b are set forth in table v below . table iv______________________________________poly ( amine salt ) syntheses polymer salt prepared poly ( n - methyldi - poly ( n - methyldi - allylamine allylamine hcl salt ) hno . sub . 3 salt ) ______________________________________reaction parameters andconditions employed . sup . ( 1 ) amine salt charged moles 2 . 00 1 . 00 ( nh . sub . 4 ). sub . 2 s . sub . 2 o . sub . 8 g / amine salt , 5 . 00 2 . 25molestemp . c .°/ time , hrs . 50 ° c ./ 72 hrs . 60 ° c ./ 10 hrs . run conc . % 45 % 50 % m / p conversion , % . sup . ( 2 ) 84 . 8 % 93 . 1 % aqueous poly ( amine salt ) solution propertiessolution conc . % 44 . 85 % 45 . 10 % gardner viscosity e / e . sup .+ e / e . sup .+ solution ph 1 . 52 1 . 34monomer unit equiv . wt ., gms . . sup . ( 3 ) 333 . 65 g . 392 . 07 g . ______________________________________ . sup . ( 1 ) stirred 4necked round bottomed flask , n . sub . 2 blanketed throughout . . sup . ( 2 ) determined gravimetrically , via double precipitation of resin from a . r . acetone . . sup . ( 3 ) grams aqueous resin solution obtained divided by amine salt mole ( equivalents ) charged . table v______________________________________epichlorohydrinations of poly ( amine salts ) polymer salt employed poly ( n - methyldi - poly ( n - methyldi - allylamine allylamine hcl salt ) hno . sub . 3 salt ) ( polymer a ) ( polymer b ) ______________________________________reaction parameters andconditions employednaoh , eq . % ( 1 ) 22 . 5 25 . 0ph range at ° c . 8 . 35 - 7 . 11 8 . 37 - 6 . 31e / a ( 2 ) 0 . 80 0 . 80conc ., % 20 % 20 % temp . c ° ( 3 ) 10 ° c .→ 10 ° c .→ 50 ° c . 50 ° c .` kill ` viscositygardner ( 4 ) f / g hreaction time . hrs . 3 : 05 3 : 30resin ( epi adduct ) solution propertiesresin yield % ( 5 ) 91 . 0 % 101 . 3 % conc ., % 15 . 39 % 17 . 34 % gardner viscosity ( 4 ) d . sup .+ / e . sup .- e . sup .+ / f . sup .- solution ph 2 . 00 2 . 07 % dcp at t . s . found ( 6 ) 2 . 04 % 0 . 72 % epi conv ., % ( 7 ) 61 . 9 % 89 . 3 % ______________________________________ ( 1 ) an initial addition of 11 . 25 equivalent % of 10 % naoh raised the solution ph from 1 . 5 to 8 . 3 - 8 . 4 ; thereafter , incremental addition was maintained as needed to build solution viscosity . ( 2 ) moles epi / amine monomer unit equivalent charged . ( 3 ) initial 10 ° c . temp . ; gradual rise to viscosity building temp . to 50 ° c . ( 4 ) at room temperature . ( 5 ) ( determined solids / theoretical solids ) × 100 . ( 6 ) via g . l . c . analysis resin solution . ( 7 ) based on determination of dcp ( dichloropropanol ). epi conversion (%) = 100 -? ## str4 ## ## str5 ## a pulp of 50 / 50 bleached softwood and hardwood kraft with canadian standard freeness of about 450 and a ph of 7 . 0 was treated with the appropriate amount of resin and the treated pulp was made into a 8 inch square handsheet . the press consistency was 36 . 1 % and the paper sheet was dried at 95 ° c . to a moisture level of 4 . 1 % using a drum rotation speed of 2 minutes per revolution . to measured aliquot samples of the above pulp slurry were added , with stirring , measured amounts of the appropriate resin . prior to addition to the pulp slurry the polymers were activated by the addition , over several seconds , of 7 . 0 meq . of 25 % aqueous sodium hydroxide per gram of resin solids ; the resin concentration was pre - adjusted to 3 . 0 % solids with deionized water . the activated mixture was stirred throughout the naoh addition and then for 1 . 0 minute at room temperature before being finally diluted to 1 . 2 % concentration by addition of more deionized water . the wet tensile strengths of polymers a and b are compared in table vi . the cured samples had been subjected to heating at 90 ° c . for 15 minutes . the uncured samples were tested straight from the paper - production operation . both were wetted before testing on an instron tensile tester . table vi______________________________________wet strength of papers testedpolymers a and bat different addition levels addition uncured tensile cured tensile level in strength in strength in kg / metric g / cm ( average g / cm ( averagepolymer ton of 4 ) of 4 ) ______________________________________a ( prior art ) 2 . 5 329 482 5 . 0 443 666 7 . 5 518 747b ( invention ) 2 . 5 411 639 5 . 0 529 830 7 . 5 647 1023______________________________________ from this it can be seen that the wet tensile strength of the polymer b produced using the nitrate salt is very much more effective than that produced using the chloride salt . moreover , comparison of the results in tables iv and v shows that it is produced very much more efficiently with fewer by - products . the above examples are for illustration only and are not intended to imply any limitation of the invention . it will be appreciated that many minor variations and additions might be made without changing the essential nature of the invention . it is intended that all such variations and additions shall be embraced within the purview of this invention .	3
referring now to the drawings , fig1 - 5 describe the toilet device of the present invention in which the toilet device is made of resistant plastic material , basically formed of three elements that , once integrated , form a single unit : a grid ( 1 ), one or more trays ( 2 ) and an upright structure ( 3 ). the grid ( 1 ) is described as follows : grid ( 1 ) is engaged over tray ( 2 ) that is located on the floor . grid ( 1 ) has several orifices ( 4 ) through which the dog &# 39 ; s urine will drain , being deposited on tray ( 2 ). on the side of grid ( 1 ), there is a picker ( 5 ), being characterized in that a “ half - moon ”- shaped orifice facilitates the manual removal of grid ( 1 ) when engaged in tray ( 2 ). grid ( 1 ) further has cuts ( 6 ) throughout its side structure , said cuts being used to allow drainage of the urine falling over the side of grid ( 1 ) on the side of tray ( 2 ) towards its center . the tray ( 2 ) is described as follows : tray ( 2 ) is a concave part having cavities . the cavities are arranged in two directions : from the base to the surface [ base - surface ] ( 7 ) and from the surface to the base [ surface - base ] ( 8 ). in other words cavities ( 7 ) are arranged in a first direction where the open end of the cavities faces upward toward the place where the grid ( 1 ) is to be located and the bottom end is closed . the other set of cavities ( 8 ) faces in a second direction ( opposite the first direction ) with the opening being located downward and the top portion being closed and facing upward toward where the grid ( 1 ) will be placed . the tray cavities allow the connection of two or more trays . this connection , obtained by engaging the cavities of different trays , increases the area the toilet occupies . the connection among the trays ( 2 ) will occur when the base - surface cavity ( 7 ) of a tray is engaged in the surface - base cavity ( 8 ) of another tray . this connection of two or more trays may be used for large dogs or simply when a larger toilet is desired . an important aspect to be considered is the side closure ( 9 ) found in the base - surface cavity ( 7 ). this closure prevents the urine that occasionally drains on this portion of the tray from falling on the floor . thus , the urine fall on the base - surface cavity ( 7 ) and drains to the tray by means of slots ( 10 ) in tray ( 2 ). further regarding tray ( 2 ), the . openings ( 11 ) found in the surface - base cavity ( 8 ) must be emphasized . these openings allow the engagement of two trays , since they are required to allow the side closures ( 9 ) of the base - surface cavities ( 7 ) to pass . internally , in one of the sides , the tray has reinforcements ( 12 ) that impart increased strength to the assembly when connecting two trays . the upright structure ( 3 ) is another element of the toilet device of the present invention . the upright structure ( 3 ) is a part engaged in the back of two engaged trays . this structure ( 3 ) is also made of plastic material having an embossed hydrant drawing ( 13 ) in its central portion . the upright structure is to be used by male dogs so that they have a structural reference when lifting their hind limb to urinate . like this , the dog urinates towards the wall . the urine tends to hit the structure , draining to the base ( 14 ) of the same . said base ( 14 ) is protruded at a specific tilting that will direct the urine into tray ( 2 ). it is understood that the upright structure ( 3 ) is an optional feature of the present invention for used by male dogs .	0
the present invention is generally applicable to components that operate within environments characterized by relatively high temperatures , and are therefore subjected to severe thermal stresses and thermal cycling . notable examples of such components include the high and low pressure turbine nozzles and blades , shrouds , combustor liners and augmentor hardware of gas turbine engines . an example of a high pressure turbine blade 10 is shown in fig1 . the blade 10 generally includes an airfoil 12 against which hot combustion gases are directed during operation of the gas turbine engine , and whose surface is therefore subjected to severe attack by oxidation , corrosion and erosion . the airfoil 12 is anchored to a turbine disk ( not shown ) with a dovetail 14 formed on a root section 16 of the blade 10 . cooling holes 18 are present in the airfoil 12 through which bleed air is forced to transfer heat from the blade 10 . while the advantages of this invention will be described with reference to the high pressure turbine blade 10 shown in fig1 , the teachings of this invention are generally applicable to any component on which a tbc system may be used to protect the component from its environment . represented in fig2 is a thermal barrier coating ( tbc ) system 20 that includes an overlay bond coat 24 and a thermal - insulating ceramic layer , or tbc , on a superalloy substrate 22 that is typically the base material of the blade 10 in fig1 . suitable materials for the substrate 22 ( and therefore the blade 10 ) include equiaxed , directionally - solidified and single - crystal nickel and cobalt - base superalloys . the bond coat 24 adheres the ceramic layer 26 to the substrate 22 through the growth of an alumina scale 28 when the bond coat 24 is exposed to an oxidizing atmosphere , such as during high temperature exposures in air and deposition of the ceramic layer 26 . as shown , the ceramic layer 26 has a strain - tolerant grain structure of columnar grains 30 achieved by depositing the ceramic layer 26 using physical vapor deposition techniques known in the art , such as ebpvd . a preferred material for the ceramic layer 26 is an yttria - stabilized zirconia ( ysz ), a preferred composition being about 4 to about 8 weight percent yttria , though other ceramic materials could be used , such as yttria , nonstabilized zirconia , or zirconia stabilized by magnesia , ceria , scandia or other oxides . the ceramic layer 26 is deposited to a thickness that is sufficient to provide the required thermal protection for the underlying substrate 22 and blade 10 , generally on the order of about 75 to about 300 micrometers . as an overlay coating , little interdiffusion occurs between the bond coat 24 and the substrate 22 during deposition as well as any subsequent heat treatments ( if employed ). according to a preferred aspect of the invention , the bond coat 24 is formulated in accordance with commonly assigned u . s . pat . no . 6 , 153 , 313 to rigney et al , and u . s . pat . no . 6 , 291 , 084 to darolia et al ., and therefore contains beta - phase nial intermetallic , zirconium and optionally chromium or another element disclosed in rigney et al . or darolia et al . for example , the bond coat 24 may contain , in atomic percent , about 30 % to about 60 % aluminum , about 0 . 1 % to about 1 . 2 % zirconium , optionally up to about 15 % chromium , the balance essentially nickel . a thickness of about 50 micrometers is suitable for the bond coat 24 to protect the underlying substrate 22 and provide an adequate supply of aluminum for oxide formation , though thicknesses of about 10 to about 125 micrometers are believed to be acceptable . the bond coat 24 is represented in fig2 as having been deposited and processed in accordance with this invention so that any precipitates 40 within the bond coat 24 are located primarily within the grains 32 of the bond coat 24 , but largely absent from the grain boundaries 34 that intersect the surface 36 of the bond coat 24 . in contrast , fig3 represents the overlay bond coat 24 as it would appear if deposited and processed in accordance with conventional practice , e . g ,, in an as - deposited condition without any additional treatment provided by the present invention . the type of microstructure represented in fig3 is typical of nial overlay coatings deposited by pvd , such as ebpvd . in fig3 , the bond coat 24 is characterized by grains 42 that extend through the bond coat 24 , from the surface 36 of the bond coat 24 to the surface 38 of the substrate 22 , such that the grains 42 are generally columnar with a larger aspect ratio than the grains 32 depicted in fig2 . as also represented , the grains 42 have grain boundaries 44 that intersect the surface 36 of the bond coat 24 . the grain boundaries 44 that are open to the bond coat surface 36 are shown as being decorated with precipitates 40 formed during deposition of the bond coat 24 as would result from the presence of zirconium or another alloying constituent within the nial material . as discussed below , the microstructure depicted in fig2 is more resistant to oxidation than the microstructure depicted in fig3 , with the result that a tbc ( the ceramic layer 26 in fig2 ) deposited on the bond coat 24 of fig2 is more resistant to spallation . during an investigation leading to this invention , a study of tbc spallation mechanisms on nial bond overlay coats alloyed with zirconium ( nial ( zr )) indicated that spallation typically initiated by either delamination of the oxide scale ( e . g ., scale 28 in fig2 ) from the bond coat or by delamination of the tbc ( e . g ., ceramic layer 26 in fig2 ) from the oxide scale . notably , rumpling of the oxide scale , as occurs in diffusion aluminide bond coats , was not observed . this difference was theorized as being the result of improved creep resistance or yield strength of the nial ( zr ) material , and / or the differences in the coating grain structure resulting from the different processing methods used to form overlay and diffusion coatings . while various properties of coating , including microhardness , strength and plasticity , are known to be effected by microstructure , it is believed that the influence that microstructure might have on oxidation , which leads to tbc spallation , has not . the effect of grain structure was investigated , initially by altering the temperature at which nial ( zr ) overlay bond coats were deposited by ebpvd . in the investigation , forty - one superalloy specimens were coated with a tbc system of the type shown in fig2 . the superalloys was ren é n5 with a nominal composition in weight percent of ni - 7 . 5co - 7 . 0cr - 6 . 5ta - 6 . 2al - 5 . 0w - 3 . 0re - 1 . 5mo - 0 . 15hf - 0 . 05c - 0 . 004b - 0 . 01y . the bond coats were nial overlay coatings containing , by weight , about 22 % aluminum , about 4 to about 7 % chromium , and about 1 % zirconium , the balance nickel and incidental impurities . the bond coats were deposited by ebpvd at deposition ( substrate ) temperatures of either about 500 ° c . or about 1000 ° c . and above . the ceramic topcoats were zirconia stabilized by about 7 weight percent yttria ( 7 % ysz ), and all were deposited by ebpvd . the specimens were furnace cycle tested ( fct ) at 2125 ° f . ( about 1160 ° c .) at one - hour cycles within an oxidizing atmosphere , until tbc spallation occurred . significant scatter in cycles to spallation was observed for the specimens , ranging from less than fifty cycles to about 1100 cycles . the spalled specimens were examined using scanning electron microscopy ( sem ) to determine their coating microstructures . a number of microstructural features were quantified , including grain morphology . it was observed that columnar grains ( similar to that represented in fig3 ) were typically present in coatings deposited at substrate temperatures of about 500 ° c ., while equiaxed microstructures ( similar to that represented in fig2 ) were present in specimens whose deposition temperatures were about 1000 ° c . and above . the equiaxed specimens had a smaller average aspect ratio and exhibited little texture , indicating that the nial ( zr ) overlay coatings had undergone recrystallization during deposition . specimens with equiaxed grain structures were consistently found to exhibit significantly better resistance to spallation ( above 600 cycles to spallation ) than specimens with columnar grain structures . in addition to grain morphology , a low state of residual stress in the grains was also associated with improved resistance to spallation . average intragrain misorientation ( amis ) levels were measured by orientation imaging microscopy ( oim ) using a scanning electron microscope ( sem ) and evaluating backscattered electron patterns over a number of test points covering several grains . low residual stress , or strain , levels , corresponding to measured amis of less than about 0 . 7 degrees , were typically found for the fully recrystallized overlay coatings that were associated with significantly improved spallation resistance . in view of the above results , an additional number of specimens were prepared essentially identically to the original specimens , but with all of the nial ( zr ) overlay bond coats being deposited at a temperature in the range of about 900 ° c . to about 1000 ° c ., yielding recrystallized equiaxed grain structures . the specimens were evaluated using the same fct conditions as before , with the result that the additional specimens were again consistently found to exhibit significantly better resistance to spallation than the original specimens as a whole , averaging about 560 cycles to spallation as compared to an average of about 81 cycles for specimens in the previous investigation . examination of the specimens evidenced that they exhibited significantly better oxidation resistance than coatings deposited at lower temperatures . from the above results , it was theorized that deposition ( substrate ) temperatures on the order of about 900 ° c . and higher , particularly 1000 ° c . and higher , cause bulk recrystallization during coating deposition , yielding an equiaxed nial overlay coating that is more resistant to oxidation than an as - deposited nial overlay coating having columnar grains . further examination of specimens having columnar and equiaxed microstructures showed that a large number of zirconium - rich precipitates decorated the grain boundaries of the columnar nial ( zr ) coatings ( deposited below about 870 ° c . ), as represented in fig3 . fig4 is a pre - fct scanned image of a specimen having a columnar microstructure , with zr - rich particles being clearly evident in the grain boundaries ( referred to as leaders ) open to the coating surface . in contrast , zirconium - rich precipitates within the equiaxed nial ( zr ) coatings ( e . g ., deposited at about 1000 ° c . and higher ) were located primarily within the grains and not the grain boundaries , particularly the leader boundaries open to the coating surface , as represented in fig2 . for the columnar coatings , it appeared the zr - rich precipitates in the leader boundaries were very detrimental to the oxidation resistance of the coatings , presumably because of accelerated oxidation at the leader boundaries . increased oxide growth rates corresponded to depletion of aluminum and zirconium in the surrounding matrix , resulting in the formation of spinel - type oxides and other oxides that are not adherent to the bond coat . a specimen processed in accordance with the above to have an nial overlay with a columnar microstructure ( as a result of being deposited at a temperature of about 870 ° c . ), was exposed to an oxidizing atmosphere for about one hundred - twenty hours at a temperature of about 2150 ° f . ( about 1180 ° c .). upon examination , it was determined that oxidation had occurred via the leader boundaries , allowing for accelerated oxidation through the coating thickness fig5 is a scanned image of a specimen processed in accordance with the above to have an nial overlay with a columnar microstructure as a result of being deposited at a temperature of about 870 ° c ., and after exposure to an oxidizing atmosphere for about one hundred - twenty hours at a temperature of about 2150 ° f . ( about 1180 ° c .). from fig5 , it can be seen that oxidation occurred via the leader boundaries , allowing for accelerated oxidation through the coating thickness . from the above , it was concluded that the oxidation resistance of an nial overlay bond coat , and therefore the spallation resistance of a tbc deposited on the bond coat , could be achieved by eliminating grain boundaries ( leaders ) that are open to the coating surface and by eliminating decorated with zr - rich precipitates . the investigations into the effects of deposition temperature indicated that this object could be at least partially accomplished through the use of deposition temperatures above 1000 ° c ., possibly as low as about 900 ° c ., but preferably above 1050 ° c ., at which recrystallization of nial coatings occurs during deposition by pvd processes . the upper limit for deposition temperatures required to produce the desired equiaxed microstructure is generally limited by superalloy gamma - prime solutioning and melting temperatures , necessitating tight control of the process temperature . it was theorized that similar improvements in oxidation resistance of nial overlay coatings might also be achieved with coatings deposited at lower substrate temperatures , but then caused to recrystallize by suitable post - deposition processing . for example , recrystallization can be induced by a surface mechanical treatment that introduces cold working into the bond coat , so that at least the surface if not the entire overlay coating undergoes recrystallization when sufficiently heated to drive the recrystallization process . for this purpose , sufficiently intense peening is believed to be necessary , followed by a heat treatment at a temperature of about 1000 ° c ., such as about 980 ° c . to about 1020 ° c . for a duration of about 0 . 5 to about 4 hours in an inert or otherwise low - oxygen atmosphere . recrystallization is expected to be dependent on peening intensity ( cold working ), such that a sufficient peening intensity would be critical to achieving improved oxidation resistance by way of recrystallization . for this reason , shot peening with full surface coverage and an intensity of at least 6a is believed to be necessary to produce an nial overlay coating having equiaxed grains . notably , previous uses of peening to densify overlay coatings and close leader boundaries would not result in the recrystallization effect sought by the present invention . while shot peening is a particularly suitable cold and warm working technique because it can be readily controlled and characterized in terms of stresses distribution , it is foreseeable that other cold working techniques could be used . an additional benefit to producing equiaxed microstructures through post - deposition processing is the potential to reduce the quantity of zr - rich precipitates within the coating . specifically , it is believed that a post - deposition heat treatment at temperatures of about 980 ° c . or more in a low - oxygen atmosphere ( less than 10 − 3 torr ) should result in the dissolution of at least some of the zr - rich precipitates , thereby further reducing the likelihood that such precipitates will be present at the leader boundaries . it is further believed that the remaining precipitates 40 will be reduced in size during the heat treating step . while the invention has been described in terms of a preferred embodiment , it is apparent that other forms could be adopted by one skilled in the art . therefore , the scope of the invention is to be limited only by the following claims .	2
in the following description , reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof , and which is shown , by way of illustration , an embodiment of the present invention . it is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention . [ 0034 ] fig1 is a laser system block diagram . the present invention is directed to the calibration of an sgdbr laser controller 100 ( hereinafter referred to as a “ controller ”). the controller 100 monitors a multi - section , widely tunable sgdbr laser &# 39 ; s 102 ( hereinafter referred to as a “ laser ”) gain section voltage 104 , temperature 106 , and wavelength locker 108 signals . the wavelength locker signal 108 is produced from an external reference 110 ( a wavelength locker , alternatively referred to as an “ fp etalon ”). the laser 102 generally has a first or front mirror section ( sometimes referred to herein as “ fm ”), a second or back mirror section ( sometimes referred to herein as “ bm ”), a gain section for light generation ( sometimes referred to herein as “ gn ”), and a phase section provided to tune the output wavelength of the laser ( sometimes referred to herein as “ ph ”) each controlled with current inputs 112 . additionally , other sections may be incorporated onto the laser diode including , but not limited to a semiconductor optical amplifier , a modulator , or some other well - known component that may be fabricated on the same substrate as the laser . as shown in fig1 the controller 100 adjusts each section &# 39 ; s current ( with inputs 102 ) and the laser &# 39 ; s temperature to maintain a fixed optical output 114 power and wavelength . the laser &# 39 ; s temperature is adjusted with a thermoelectric cooler 116 ( or “ tec ”), or some other well known cooling mechanism or method . the laser 102 is controlled to generate optical output 114 at a substantially continuous power - level . the controller 100 interfaces to a host ( not shown ) over a system interface 118 , which is typically a serial or parallel interface . the host commands the operation of the controller 100 and may be a personal computer , workstation , or some other well - known device capable of sending commands to the controller 100 through the system interface 118 . the controller 100 regulates the laser &# 39 ; s optical output 114 power and wavelength . the controller 100 operates in one of the following control modes , each of which shall be described in more detail hereinbelow : b . power and wavelength control using open loop control &# 39 ; s fixed operating points as the initial operating points and regulating the optical power and wavelength to a reference , c . gain voltage control using open loop control &# 39 ; s fixed operating points as the initial operating points and regulating the laser mirror alignment with the cavity mode , and d . power , wavelength , and gain voltage control using open loop control &# 39 ; s fixed operating points as the initial operating points . as shown in fig2 in an open loop control mode , the controller 100 sets the laser optical output 114 power and wavelength by setting the laser section ( bm , ph , gn , fm and soa ) currents 112 from values in a look up table . it regulates the laser &# 39 ; s temperature to a fixed value by sending control code to the tec 116 . the look - up table values are generated by a calibration routine . the values are fixed over the lifetime of the laser 100 . the choice of the operating currents 112 , the current sources , and the temperature regulator guarantees maximum stability of the optical output 114 wavelength and power over the laser operating lifetime and ambient environmental conditions . in some embodiments of the invention , the controller can be implemented with “ open loop ” controller hardware as described above , however feedback is provided ( e . g . to control the mirror alignment ). thus , the controller operates in a closed loop with respect one or more of the laser control parameters ( e . g ., mirrors , gain , or phase ). control loops for power and / or wavelength control can also be applied . in addition , temperature regulation also can be operated under a closed loop control . as such , there is often no clear distinction between open and closed loop operation of the controller . the laser operating points are typically determined by one of three calibration routines , incremental , mirror reflectivity peak , or a two - dimensional mirror scan . incremental calibration steps and locks the laser to each international telecommunications union ( itu ) wavelength channel using a calibrated wavelength locker as a reference . it steps to the next channel by adjusting the phase current and locking the mirrors to the cavity mode with gain voltage control , which shall be discussed in further detail hereinbelow . once at the channel , the laser wavelength is locked to the channel by adjusting the phase current using wavelength control and the laser power to a predetermined set point by adjusting the gain current with power control . the process of incremental calibration starts with the first and second mirrors aligned at mirror reflectivity peak 0 and then steps to locate the next lower channel . at each cavity mode , the phase current is reset to its initial value and the search is continued . at the end of each mirror tuning range , the mirror currents are reset to the next mirror reflectivity peak . once the wavelength wraps around , the process is repeated at mirror reflectivity peak 0 by searching for the next upper channel . the process is as follows : mirror reflectivity peak calibration determines the mirror reflectivity peaks , generates the mirror tuning efficiency curves , and uses the curves to set the mirror currents for each channel . the process is as follows : locate the gain voltage minima , which is the corresponding mirror reflectivity peak ; and a two - dimensional mirror scan calibration of the present invention ( as may be employed for a small form factor tla ) determines the laser currents for operation at each itu channel and the power and wavelength and mirror control surfaces and operating points at each itu channel the calibration procedure for the small form factor tla and laser involves the following steps : a . conduct two - dimensional mirror current scan with power leveling and wavelength locking as shown in fig3 the controller 100 includes current sources 300 which drive each of the laser &# 39 ; s phase , mirror , amplifier , and gain sections . the current sources 300 are comprised of a voltage reference 302 , individual 16 - bit digital - to - analog converters 304 ( dacs ), and voltage - to - current ( vi ) converter 306 . the dacs 304 connect to a digital signal processor ( dsp ) synchronous serial port ( ssp ) 308 through a programmable - logic device 310 ( pld ). the pld 310 provides a logic interface between the dsp ssp 308 and the dacs 300 . each vi converter 306 translates the corresponding dac 304 voltage output to a proportional current that drives a corresponding laser section . as depicted in fig4 a modified howland current source ( mhcs ) can be used as the voltage - to - current converter 306 . a current mirror 400 , such as that shown in fig5 is preferably added to the output stage of the amplifier 402 to increase the drive current beyond that of the amplifier 402 alone . a filter stage 404 was added at the load 406 to reduce noise . the current mirror 400 inverts the output of the amplifier 402 , which requires the source , v in , at the inverting node of the amplifier 402 . the current mirror 400 operates at a fixed gain that is determined , primarily , by the ratio of the resistors 500 in the emitter leads of the transistor 502 . a resistor - capacitor ( rc ) compensation network 504 is added to insure stability of the amplifier 402 and current mirror 400 . the gain of the current is variable up to a maximum ratio . the maximum ratio is determined by the additional drift introduced by heating of the transistor 502 and sense resistor 506 and the maximum thermal loss that can be sustained by the transistor 502 and sense resistor 506 . if additional gain is required , an additional q mo & amp ; r mo section can be added to the mirror 400 . as shown in fig6 the power and wavelength controller 100 uses open loop control and feedback 600 from an external wavelength locker 602 ( fp etalon ) reference to lock the laser optical output power and wavelength to the reference . power and wavelength control compensates for drift in the controller current sources 300 and the laser 102 operating points over time and temperature . the power and wavelength controls may operate independently or interdependently . the least complex control algorithm is where the controls operate independently . each control algorithm induces changes in one current or temperature independent of the other . the control algorithms are classical proportional , integral control routines . for example , the following algorithm can be applied : in most cases , gain current is used on four - section devices , and amplifier current is used on five - section devices . current to the semiconductor optical amplifier ( soa ) instead of current to the gain section can be used in all cases concerning power control or power leveling when an amplifier section is present on the laser chip . gain voltage control ( see section 7 ) may be used in either case . however , when gain voltage control is combined with gain current - based power control , power control must be interrupted ( i . e . gain current held constant ) during acquisition of a gain voltage control surface . the independent control algorithm is slower and in its response to changes in the optical power output and optical wavelength . the mirrors and cavity mode become misaligned as the control algorithm adjusts the gain and phase currents from their predefined values . the quality of the optical output may be reduced as a result of decreased side mode suppression ratio . additionally , the probability of a mode hop ( wavelength shift ) is increased as the mirrors and cavity mode become misaligned . the interdependent control algorithm induces primary changes in one current or temperature and corrects for secondary changes in the other currents with an adaptive filter or estimator . this compensates for wavelength shifts or power changes and mirror misalignment induced when the control adjusts its primary variable . using an interdependent power and wavelength control algorithm as follows : wavelength is stabilized by adjusting the phase current ( i ph ) by an adaptive filter ; and wavelength is adjusted by the phase current ( i ph ) or the carrier temperature power is stabilized by adjusting the gain current ( i gn ) by an adaptive filter ; and the interdependent controls provide more robust , stable , and faster convergence of the power and wavelength to its reference value . gain voltage control uses feedback from the laser gain section voltage to keep the mirrors aligned with the cavity mode . it aligns the mirrors by minimizing the laser gain section voltage . the laser gain section voltage minimum is where the cavity loss is a minimum , roughly corresponding to maximum optical power output , wavelength stability , and side mode suppression ratio . more specifically , the gain voltage minimum corresponds to the minimum loss condition when parasitic electrical effects are accounted for , but gain spectrum effects offset the minimum from mode center in a characteristic fashion . additional output power may be achieved using certain techniques , such as by misaligning the front mirror , however , in such a case , other characteristics may suffer , such as the side mode suppression ratio . gain voltage control can be implemented in the dsp using a numerical minima search or a least mean squares ( lms ) quadratic estimator . alternately , gain voltage control can be implemented in analog circuitry using a phase locker circuit ( pl ). a digital signal processor ( alternatively referred to as a “ dsp ”) may be used to implement the gain voltage control , as shown in fig7 . the dsp dithers the laser mirror currents 700 , 702 and monitors the laser gain section voltage 704 . it uses a numerical algorithm to align the mirrors by locating the minima of the laser gain section voltage . use three data points ( mirror current , gain voltage ) and estimate the slope of the gain voltage curve with respect to the mirror current , step toward the gain voltage minima and calculate the next data point , use the new data point and the two best points to re - estimate the slope of the gain voltage curve , continue the above step process , continually searching for the gain voltage minima . the minima search algorithm may be susceptible to wandering around the gain voltage minima due to noise in the sampled gain voltage signal . the wandering is reflected as drift and noise on the optical signal . the lms estimator reduces the wander and noise by using an array of data points to estimate the gain voltage surface , in effect , filtering the noise . the lms estimator converges to the gain voltage minima faster and smoother than the minima search . for fixed phase and gain section currents , the gain section voltage can be modeled using a causal volterra series expansion over 2 input signals , the front mirror and back mirror currents . for dithering signals in the sub - 100 khz regime , the analog circuitry and the device itself allow a memoryless model , so a 5 - tap adaptive quadratic filter model will suffice . the lms estimator can then be achieved using either of two classic adaptive filter update algorithms : a standard gradient descent adaptation ( lms or block lms algorithm ) or a recursive least squares adaptation ( rls algorithm — based on newton &# 39 ; s method ). the rls algorithm approach is used to achieve faster convergence of adaptive linear filters when the signals driving the system do not have sufficient spectral flatness to allow a rapid gradient descent however , in the case of adaptive linear filters , the gradient descent approach converges just as fast as the rls approach when white noise can be used to drive the system . recently published results indicate that comparable rates of convergence can be achieved with adaptive quadratic filters if a minor filter structure modification is used and ( pseudo ) gaussian white noise can be used to drive the system . there are two advantages of this lms estimator approach . first , an initial tapvector can be stored along with the four drive currents in the laser calibration table in flash memory ( resulting in much faster convergence ). second , the adaptation step size can be reduced as the system converges , reducing steady - state misadjustment in the mirror section currents . because of the aforementioned gain spectrum effects , the optimum setpoints for the mirror currents are actually offset from the gain voltage minimum . therefore , the objective is not to converge to the minimum , but to use an lms estimator to sense where the minimum would be based on the measured gain voltage surface in the vicinity of the operating point . the control system adjusts the mirror currents to operate at a calibrated current offset from the estimate of the minimum . an exemplary lms estimator can use five independent data points to determine the surface . the lms algorithm : dithers the mirror currents in a linearly independent fashion about the operating point where , collects the gain and phase current at the mirror current when the power and wavelength are within control tolerance ; runs the lms estimator over the data set ( at least five independent points ); resets the mirror operating point to the distance from the inflection points on the surface . the lms algorithm continually operates in the background and the five - parameter fit to the quadratic control surface is : r · ( f + s 2  r ) 2 + n · ( b + m 2  n ) 2 + c - s 2 4 · r - m 2 4 · n   simplify → r · f 2 + s · f + n · b 2 + m · b + c the parameters r and n define the surface curvature for the front and back mirror currents respectively . the parameters s and m define the offset of the surface extremum . the parameter c defines the offset of the surface . the independent variables f and b are the front mirror current and the back mirror current the result maps the quadratic surface of the gain current or phase current . the extremums are at : f = - s 2  r b = - m 2  n ( r s n m c ) = ( sffff sfff sffbb sffb sff sfff sff sfbb sfb sf sffbb sfbb sbbbb sbbb sbb sffb sfb sbbb sbb sb sff sf sbb sb n ) - 1 · ( szff szf szbb szb sz ) where s denotes a summation over the data points of the terms multiplied together and z is the current of the surface . the distance is the df and db from the extremums . the above technique is preferably used with the gain voltage surface . furthermore , since in the wavelength - locked case there is a significant cross term ( f * b ) in the gain voltage surface , a much simpler fit can be performed independently on the front and back mirror dither using three fitting parameters , and the resulting extremum is calculated . the digital algorithms implemented in the dsp are limited in speed and accuracy by the analog to digital converter ( adc ) and digital to analog converter ( dac ) as well as the signal to noise ratio ( snr ) of the circuit . an analog gain voltage control is set out in fig8 . the analog phase locker &# 39 ; s speed and accuracy is limited substantially only by the snr of the circuit . the analog phase locker ( pl ) is a high speed , analog - locking loop . it can be realized by a phase lock loop ( ppl ) or rf dither locker . the pl works with the open loop control circuit . the output of the pl adds to the output of the open loop control current sources . for example , the gain voltage 800 can be applied to separate pl circuits 802 a , 802 b of the controller 100 . as shown in fig9 an exemplary pl 802 uses a high frequency narrowband stimulus 900 to dither the mirror current the pl 802 measures the gain voltage ( v g ) 902 with a tuned , narrowband amplifier 904 and extracts the phase difference between stimulus and measured signal with a phase comparator 906 . the pl 802 also drives an error amplifier that adjusts the mirror current to the gain voltage minima and is sampled by an adc 908 . the pl error amplifier output is measured by the dsp . the dsp adjusts the mirror current values in the open loop control lookup table to reduce the error to zero . the dsp effectively operates as an integrator function . [ 0144 ] fig1 illustrates the combined operation of analog gain voltage control circuits to correct the outputs to the two mirrors from the open loop digital controller . the digital memory / dsp 1000 can set a first approximation current and voltage from a lookup table . the analog correction circuits 802 a , 802 b can provide feedback and correction signals to the device as described previously , and the digital controller then monitors the correction signals 1002 , 1004 and readjusts the currents and voltages to have the feedback currents from the analog correction portions approach zero . this allows for correction of the laser controller over the life of the sgdbr laser , and accounts for changes in operating temperatures and conditions as well as changes in the operation of the sgdbr laser internal components . gain and phase current control , such as that shown in fig1 , uses the extremum point ( the maximum or minimum value of a function ) of the gain voltage surface ( as proxy for the gain and phase current surfaces ) to keep the mirrors aligned with the cavity mode . it aligns the mirrors by operating the mirror currents at a substantially fixed distance from the control surface extremums . the distance and extremums are determined during calibration . the mirror operating point corresponds to best - cost function that maximizes the optical power output , wavelength and power stability , and side mode suppression ratio . gain and phase current control operates in conjunction with power and wavelength control . gain and phase current control can be implemented in the dsp using a least mean squares ( lms ) quadratic surface estimator , such as that previously described . the dsp dithers the laser mirror currents while operating under power and wavelength control and records the gain and phase currents when the control loops are within tolerance . it can estimate a fit to the gain voltage surface as a function of the front and back mirror currents . alternately , it can estimate a five - parameter fit to the quadratic control surface for the gain current and the phase current as a function of the front and back mirror currents . it sets the mirror currents at a distance from the surface extremums . the power , wavelength , and gain voltage controller 100 operates the power and wavelength control and gain voltage control simultaneously . the foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of the invention 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 . many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching . it is not intended that the scope of the invention be limited by this detailed description . this concludes the description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention . the foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention 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 . many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching . it is intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description , but rather by the claims appended hereto .	7
reference will now be made in detail to the following exemplary embodiments , which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings , wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout . the exemplary embodiments may be embodied in various forms without being limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth herein . descriptions of well - known parts are omitted for clarity . referring now to fig1 , there is a perspective view of the lintel lift apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment . the lintel lift apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment may include a lintel lift that can be utilized for repairing old lintels or installing new garage or doorway lintels . the lintel lift apparatus 100 according to the exemplary embodiment may include a pair of support columns 110 and a cambered angle iron lintel 120 that spans between the pair of support columns 110 . the pair of vertical support columns 110 may either anchor the apparatus to the floor with foot plates or may be fastened to the existing frame . referring now to fig2 , there is a perspective view of the horizontal lintel and adjustment mechanism according to an exemplary embodiment . the rolled angle iron lintel 120 may have a substantially shaped “ l ” shaped cross section comprising a vertical flange 221 and a horizontal flange 223 arranged at approximately a 90 degree angle . the angle iron lintel 120 may be rolled or arched convexly giving it a camber , such that the end portions of the vertical flange 221 are lower than the center portion of the vertical flange 221 . similarly , the end portions of the horizontal flange 223 are lower than the center portion of the horizontal flange 223 . with further reference to fig2 , the exemplary embodiment may also include a cover , which may include a horizontal cover 224 , and a vertical cover 225 . in practice , the angle iron lintel 120 is affixed to an existing lintel 222 . as shown in fig2 , the existing lintel 222 is shown with a center cutout portion so as to not obscure the horizontal flange 223 , however the existing lintel 222 is typically one continuous horizontal structure . to repair the existing lintel 222 , the angle iron lintel 120 is disposed such that a center portion of the horizontal flange 223 comes into contact with , or is disposed as close as possible to , a center portion of the existing lintel 222 . when configured in this manner , there may be a gap between the end portions of the horizontal flange 223 and the respective end portions of the existing lintel 222 , as shown in fig2 . disposed at either end of the horizontal flange 223 , lift bolts 330 may be coupled and locked with the aforementioned horizontal flange 223 . the lift bolts 330 are raised so as to engage the end portions of the horizontal flange 223 . the lift bolts 330 raise the end portions of the horizontal flange 223 so that the end portions of the horizontal flange 223 come into contact with the end portions of the existing lintel 222 , thereby raising and supporting the end portions of the existing lintel 222 . during this process , the horizontal flange 223 may become substantially horizontal such that the end portions of the horizontal flange 223 may not be lower than the center portion of the horizontal flange 223 . likewise , the end portions of the vertical flange 221 may also be raised so that the end portions of the vertical flange 221 may not be lower than the center portion of the vertical flange 221 . fig5 shows a cross sectional view of the lifting bolt 330 according to an exemplary embodiment . referring now to fig3 , there is an illustrated cross sectional view of the lintel lift apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment . each lift bolt 330 may pass through an aperture 331 in the horizontal flange 223 and continue through a lift nut 332 , situated beneath the horizontal flange . now referring to fig4 , there is a cad cross sectional view of the lifting bolt 330 and lintel lift apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment . the lifting nut 330 may terminate in the vertical support column 110 . rotating the nut 332 raises or lowers the lifting bolt 330 , thereby causing the horizontal flange 223 to raise or lower . in operation , the lintel lift apparatus may be used post - construction to retrofit an existing lintel and mason bricks or may be used in the initial construction and installation of mason bricks . during a retrofit , the rolled angle iron lintel 120 may face outwardly and the masonry may be disposed between the vertical flange 221 and the exterior of the existing wall . the pair of vertical support columns 110 may be fastened to the existing doorway frame . the horizontal flange 223 may rest atop the pair of vertical support columns 110 . lift bolts 330 may be disposed at either end of the horizontal flange 223 , and may be coupled and locked with the aforementioned horizontal flange 223 . each lift bolt 330 may pass through apertures 331 in the horizontal flange and continue through a lift nut 332 , situated beneath the horizontal flange 223 , and terminate in the vertical support column 110 . rotating the nut 332 raises the lifting bolt 330 , thereby causing the horizontal flange 223 to raise and engage the sagging existing lintel 222 and mason bricks located above the existing lintel 222 . once the lintel system is in place , the sagging existing lintel 222 and bricks located above it are stabilized against future settlement . during the initial construction and installation , the rolled angle iron lintel 120 may be installed with the lintel facing inwardly . the vertical support columns 110 may be erected and the lift bolts 330 may be installed . next , cables may be installed that link the lift bolts 330 , disposed atop the vertical support column 110 , with turnbuckles , which may be temporarily attached to eyebolts disposed at the bottom of each vertical support column 110 . the cables can be tightened and the lintel camber angle may be flattened for the addition of bricks . thereafter , the cables and bolts can be removed and covers can be applied to the columns . referring now to fig6 and 7 , there is a close - up view of the covers 600 attached to the lintel lift system and a rear exploded view of the lintel lift system covers , respectfully , according to an exemplary embodiment . the covers may be made of vinyl , or an alternative material may be used . the cover may include three pieces 601 , 602 , and 603 that are adapted to attach via a snap fit to the vertical support columns , the angle iron lintel 120 , and the corner where the vertical support column and horizontal flange of the lintel join , respectively . the covers are designed to cover parts of the lintel lift system that remain exposed after using the lintel system in a retrofit or new construction . each of the cover pieces includes an edge portion that is sized to press fit on to the angle iron lintel 120 or the vertical support column 110 . as shown in fig7 , the cover pieces may also include notches that allow the cover pieces to fit together . for example , lintel cover piece 602 may include a notch on the horizontal portion of the cover piece that is configured to receive an upper portion of the vertical support column cover piece 601 . similarly , the corner cover piece 603 may also include a notch that is configured to engage a portion of the vertical support column cover piece 601 . corner cover piece 603 may also include a notch that is configured to engage the vertical portion of cover piece 602 . although the inventive concepts of the present disclosure have been described and illustrated with respect to exemplary embodiments thereof , it is not limited to the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the inventive concepts .	5
an embodiment of an electrode lead for use with the circuit and method in accordance with the principles of the present invention is shown in fig1 , which is a view looking directly at the distal tip ( greatly enlarged ) of the cardiac lead . as can be seen in fig1 , the lead tip has a number of electrode dots distributed thereon , including a centrally disposed electrode dot 1 and a number of other electrode dots arranged relative to the centrally disposed electrode dot 1 . in the embodiment of fig1 , six other electrode dots 2 - 7 are shown , for a total of seven electrode dots in the embodiment of fig1 . in the embodiment of fig1 , the electrode dots 2 - 7 are shown as being annularly arranged around the centrally disposed electrode dot 1 , however , other locations are possible . the axes shown in fig1 are in arbitrary units and are solely for the purpose of providing a guide as to the relative placement of the electrode dots 1 - 7 . each electrode dot will have a diameter of approximately 0 . 5 mm . the lead tip shown in fig1 is at the distal end of a flexible , implantable electrode lead ( schematically shown in fig2 ), having an opposite end with a plug adapted to be fitted into a cardiac assist device , such as a pacemaker , cardioverter or defibrillator . the lead will contain respective conductors for the electrode dots 1 - 7 , each conductor being insulated from the others and the entire lead being jacketed in an insulating sheath , as is standard . the surface of the electrode tip surrounding the respective electrode dots 1 - 7 is composed of insulating material , so that the electrode dots are electrically insulated from each other . in practice , a unipolar signal is obtained from each of the electrode dots 1 - 7 , i . e ., seven unipolar signals are obtained . these unipolar signals can be analyzed by time offsets ( shifts ) differences between the respective unipolar signals from any two of the electrode dots . the reasons why these time effects exist is as follows . the depolarization of heart cells can be considered as being represented by a propagating wavefront . if the wavefront is assumed to be propagating from right to left in fig1 , with the respective unipolar signals from the electrode dots 1 - 7 being sampled as the wavefront propagates , the wavefront will arrive later at electrode dot 5 , for example , than at electrode dot 1 , because the distance between the electrode dots is not negligible relative to the propagation speed of the wavefront and the sampling frequency . there will be no offset , for example , between arrival at the wavefront at electrode dots 3 and 7 , or arrival of the wavefront at electrode dots 4 and 6 . as an example , assume that the unipolar signal from electrode dot 5 is offset or shifted 1 ms ( or 5 samples , if the sampling frequencies is 5 khz ) compared to the unipolar signal from electrode dot 1 . the respective waveforms of the unipolar signals from electrode dots 1 and 5 are basically the same in appearance , but as a generalized statement the unipolar signal from the electrode dot 5 will be shifted by 5 samples relative to the unipolar signal from the electrode dot 1 . therefore , the time difference between a sample at a given time t in the unipolar signal obtained from the electrode dot 5 , and a sample at time t − 5 in the unipolar signal obtained from dot 1 , will be 0 . if the wavefront comes from a different direction , however , and the difference between the samples at these times in the two unipolar signals is calculated , the difference signal will not be 0 . thus , for every combination of pairs of electrode dots and direction of propagation of the wavefront , there is a time delay associated with that combination , corresponding to a distinct number of samples . in other words , if it is necessary to delay ( shift ) one of the unipolar signals by this distinct number of samples before creating a bipolar signal with another unipolar signal , a minimum signal is obtained . the number of samples by which it is necessary to shift one of the unipolar signals relative to the other is determined by calculating the correlation between these two unipolar signals for different time shifts . shifting one of the signals by the aforementioned distinct number of samples will yield the highest correlation result . since the calculation of the correlation includes several multiplications , which is time consuming as well as imposing processor demands , alternatively the sum of the absolute differences between the two signals can be calculated . a shift of one signal relative to the other by the aforementioned distinct number of samples will generate the smallest sum of absolute differences . in order to use the difference signals as an analysis tool for identifying cardiac abnormalities , it must be identified which delay , for a given pair of dots , occurs as a result of normal sinus rhythm , wherein the wavefront is propagating from a specific direction most of the time . if and when fibrillation occurs , due to the chaotic electrical activity of the cardiac tissue , the wavefront will propagate from different directions , and the departure of the delay from the delay which has been identified as representing normal sinus rhythm can be used as an indicator of the onset of fibrillation . in general , the procedure for analyzing the unipolar signals from a pair of electrode dots is as follows . the delay associated with a pair of electrode dots during normal sinus rhythm is identified , such as by correlation or another suitable technique . this delay can be denoted as delay . during operation of the cardiac assist device , a delayed difference signal is continuously calculated , such as x 1 ( t )− x 2 ( t − d ), instead of the undelayed difference signal x 1 ( t )− x 2 ( t ), wherein x 1 and x 2 represent the respective unipolar signals from two electrode dots in the pair under consideration . if the delayed difference signal , with appropriate filtering , if necessary , is larger than a threshold value , an episode of non - sinus rhythm is assumed to exist . the threshold value can be a predetermined value or can be adapted as data are accumulated . as noted above , what is really being detected using the electrode lead shown in fig1 is whether the propagating wavefront is arriving from a direction different from that which occurs during normal sinus rhythm . this change in direction , in addition to arising from an episode of fibrillation , could arise due to a premature ventricular contraction ( pvc ), or due to slight dislodgement of the lead . as explained below , by appropriate filtering and / or decision algorithms , the false detection of a pvc as ventricular - fibrillation can be eliminated . the probability of lead dislodgement becomes negligible after a period of time following implantation . it is recommended to periodically reinitialize the delay factor , i . e . to re - identify the delay associated with normal sinus rhythm at predetermined intervals , or when the delayed difference signal has slowly changed by more than a predetermined percentage . the basic components of an implantable cardiac assist device in accordance with the invention are shown in fig2 . the implantable cardiac assist device can be a pacemaker , a cardioverter or a defibrillator , for example . the implantable cardiac assist device has an input stage including amplifiers and filters , to which respective conductors , together forming a cardiac lead , from the electrode dots 1 - 7 are supplied . the unipolar signals from the electrode dots 1 - 7 are supplied to a heart beat identification stage as well as to main circuitry in the cardiac assist device . the functioning of the heartbeat identification stage will be described below , in several embodiments . the main circuitry is whatever type of circuitry is appropriate for the cardiac assist device , and can include pacing logic if the device is a pacemaker , or defibrillation circuitry if the device is a defibrillator . the appropriate cardiac assist therapy is generated in a known manner by the main circuitry and is delivered to the patient either through the aforementioned electrode lead or another appropriately designed electrode lead . the main circuitry , therefore , is conventional , except that it responds to a heartbeat identification signal produced in accordance with the invention . the main circuitry is also in communication with a telemetry unit , which wirelessly communicates with an external programmer in a known manner for reading out patient data and for making changes in the operating parameters of the implantable cardiac assist device , as needed . based on the unipolar signals from dots 1 , 2 , 3 and 4 , the time difference between dots 1 and 2 , dots 1 and 3 and dots 1 and 4 as a function of time is calculated using correlation . a portion of a predetermined length , i . e ., the window length , of the signals from dot 1 and dot 2 is selected . the window length may be one second , for example . the correlation between the two signal portions of the respective unipolar signals is then calculated and stored . the signal from dot 2 is then shifted by one sample compared to the signal from dot 1 , and the correlation is again calculated and stored . the window is then shifted two samples from the original position , and a new correlation is calculated and stored . this process is repeated for a predetermined number of shifts of the window , both positive and negative . the shift producing the highest correlation is the delay between the two dots in question . as described above , alternatively the sum of squares of the signal differences can be used , in order to avoid the time and complications associated with correlation calculations . in this alternative embodiment , a minimum should be sought . as time progresses , the process is repeated , so that a plot of the time difference compared to the center dot arises as a function of time . this is shown in fig4 . the same algorithm as described above was used for determining the time difference between dots 1 and 3 and dots 1 and 4 . as can be seen in fig4 , the time delay or time difference is constant during normal sinus rhythm and varies during fibrillation . a varying time difference between a pair of dots is thus a major indication of fibrillation . the time difference signal , after filtering , differentiation or some other manipulation , can be employed in combination with a threshold level to detect fibrillation . an embodiment of the heartbeat identification stage of fig2 is shown in fig5 . in this embodiment , signals obtained from the electrode dot lead are supplied to a qrs detector . these signals are supplied from the qrs detector to a pattern recognition unit as well as to a template collector . the template collector , through the main circuitry and the telemetry link , is in communication with the external programmer . signals from the electrode dot lead continuously arrive via the qrs detector at the template collector and are fed into a shift register . via the telemetry link , a physician who is monitoring the heart activity can freeze the contents of the shift register when a representative beat of the type which is intended to be stored as a template is present . otherwise , the signals proceed through the shift register and are not stored or prevented from entering said shift register . when the physician recognizes a signal displayed at the programmer of the type which the physician wishes to store , the physician operates the programmer to cause that signal to be stored in the template memory . as an example , input signals from the electrode dots 1 - 7 obtained during the occurrence of a pvc are shown in fig6 . the pvc occurs in the middle of fig6 . fig7 shows the detector pulses from the output of the qrs detector for the signals shown in fig6 . there are no distinguishable patterns which are visually apparent from fig7 , but if pulses from the signals from the electrode dots 1 - 7 are obtained and analyzed as described above , reliable detection can be made as shown in fig8 and 9 . the detector pulse pattern for the fourth beat in the signals shown in fig6 is shown in fig8 . the pulse pattern for the next beat ( the fifth beat ), which is a normal beat , is shown in fig9 . when analyzed in this manner , the difference is readily apparent . details of an embodiment for the pattern recognition block of fig5 are shown in fig1 . the input signals in 1 - in 7 are the pulses of the type shown in fig8 and 9 . these pulses are respectively supplied to shift register 1 - shift register 7 and the outputs of these shift registers are supplied to a reshaping unit . the pattern recognition unit is also supplied with two further inputs in 8 and in 9 , which respectively represent the qrs template and the pvc template , stored in the template memory . the clock signal ( not shown ) for operating these shift registers is the same as was used to generate the stored templates , i . e ., the clock signal that was used to feed the signals from the qrs detector to the template collector . this is necessary so that a direct correspondence will exist between the now - detected signals and the stored templates . the output of the reshaping unit is supplied to each of two dot product forming stages (“ dot product ” meaning the vector dot product ). these dot product forming stages are respectively are supplied with the qrs and pvc templates . by forming the respective dot product of these templates , in vector form , with the vector formed by the inputs in 1 - in 7 in the reshaping unit , an indication of whether normal qrs activity is present or whether a pvc is present is obtained . instead of using a dot product , other possible techniques are convolution and cross - correlation . fig1 shows representative signals in the circuit shown in fig1 . the top signal is one of the input signals to the qrs detector , the middle signal is the output of the qrs level detector , and the bottom signal is the output of the pvc level detector . although modifications and changes may be suggested by those skilled in the art , it is the intention of the inventors to embody within the patent warranted hereon all changes and modifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope of their contribution to the art .	8
in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments , reference is made to the accompanying drawings , which form a part hereof , and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced . it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention . the following detailed description , therefore , is not to be taken in a limiting sense , and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims . [ 0018 ] fig1 shows a simplified representation of a side view of a motion detection device 1 suitable for tracking the movement of a human finger 7 pressed against a surface 5 of a transparent stud 3 . a motion detection device like that shown in fig1 is described in detail in the above - incorporated u . s . pat . no . 6 , 057 , 540 ( the &# 39 ; 540 patent ). the operation of motion detection device 1 is also summarized below . when the tip 6 of finger 7 is pressed against surface 5 , the ridges of skin and any other micro texture features are visible in the plane of surface 5 , just as if they were a part of surface 5 . lens 8 focuses light from those features onto an array of photo detectors , which is part of movement sensor 9 . movement sensor 9 automatically acquires and tracks any suitable image . when tracking an image , movement sensor 9 produces incremental ( x , y ) signals . lifting fingertip 6 away from surface 5 produces a loss of tracking . this condition is detected within motion detector 9 , and in one embodiment , the production of incremental ( x , y ) signals ceases . this has the effect of leaving the position of the screen pointer unchanged at whatever location it currently occupies , and is exactly the same as when a user of a mouse removes his hand from the mouse . when fingertip 6 is subsequently replaced on surface 5 , motion detector 9 appreciates that an image has been acquired , and , in one embodiment , treats that acquisition as though a reset has been performed . that is , until there has been new motion subsequent to the new acquisition , the incremental coordinates ( x , y ) will have the value ( 0 , 0 ). this leaves the existing position of the screen pointer undisturbed until such time as it is deliberately moved by the motion of fingertip 6 , and corresponds exactly to a mouse user &# 39 ; s placement of his hand back on the mouse without moving it . an led 2 , which is an ir led in one embodiment , emits light that is projected by lens 4 onto a region 5 that is part of a work surface 6 to be imaged for navigation . in one embodiment , motion sensor 9 is an integrated circuit ( ic ) having an array of photo detectors , memory , and arithmetic circuits arranged to implement image correlation and tracking functions described herein and in the incorporated patents . an image of the illuminated region 6 is projected through an optical window ( which may be transparent stud 3 itself ) to a package ( not shown ) of integrated circuit 9 and onto the array of photo detectors . lens 8 aids in the projection of the image onto the photo detectors . one preferred optical navigation technique used by motion detection device 1 involves optically detecting motion by directly imaging as an array of pixels the various particular optical features visible at surface 5 , much as human vision is believed to do . ir light reflected from a textured work surface pressed against surface 5 is focused onto a suitable array ( e . g ., 16 × 16 or 24 × 24 ) of photo detectors . the responses of the individual photo detectors are digitized to a suitable resolution and stored as a frame into corresponding locations within an array of memory . [ 0023 ] fig2 shows an electrical block diagram illustrating major components of motion detection device 1 . motion detection device 1 includes light source 2 , lenses 4 and 8 , and motion sensor 9 . motion sensor 9 includes light sensitive current sources 148 a - 148 c ( collectively referred to as current sources 148 ), electronic shutter 150 having a first plurality of switches 151 a - 151 c ( collectively referred to as switches 151 ) and a second plurality of switches 153 a - 153 c ( collectively referred to as switches 153 ). motion sensor 9 also includes a plurality of sense capacitors 154 a - 154 c ( collectively referred to as sense capacitors 154 ), multiplexer 156 , amplifier 157 , analog to digital ( a / d ) converter 158 , correlator 160 , system controller 162 , shutter controller 164 , and light controller 166 . in an alternative embodiment , only a single lens 8 is used , rather than two lenses 4 and 8 . the operation of motion sensor 9 is primarily controlled by system controller 162 , which is coupled to multiplexer 156 , a / d converter 158 , correlator 160 , shutter controller 164 , and light controller 166 . in operation , according to one embodiment , light source 2 emits light that is projected by lens 4 or to surface 6 , which is a fingertip in one form of the invention . in an alternative embodiment , screen pointer device 1 takes the form of an optical mouse , and surface 6 is a suitable surface for an optical mouse , such as a desktop . light source 2 is controlled by signals from light controller 166 . reflected light from surface 6 is directed by lens 8 to light sensitive current sources 148 . current sources 148 represent an array of photo detectors , and are also referred to as photo detectors 148 . photo detectors 148 each provide a current that varies in magnitude based upon the intensity of light incident on the photo detectors 148 . shutter switches 151 and 153 are controlled by a shutter signal from shutter controller 164 . electronic shutter 150 is “ open ” when switches 151 are open and switches 153 are closed , and electronic shutter 150 is “ closed ” when switches 153 are open . when shutter switches 151 are open and shutter switches 153 are closed ( i . e ., electronic shutter 150 is open ), charge accumulates on sense capacitors 154 , creating a voltage that is related to the intensity of light incident on photo detectors 148 . when shutter switches 153 are opened ( i . e ., electronic shutter 150 is closed ), no further charge accumulates or is lost from sense capacitors 154 . multiplexer 156 connects each sense capacitor 154 in turn to amplifier 157 and a / d converter 158 , to amplify and convert the voltage from each sense capacitor 154 to a digital value . sense capacitors 154 are then discharged by closing switches 151 and 153 . after discharging sense capacitors 154 , switches 151 are opened so that the charging process can be repeated . based on the level of voltage from sense capacitors 154 , a / d converter 158 generates a digital value of a suitable resolution ( e . g ., one to eight bits ) indicative of the level of voltage . the digital values for the array of photo detectors 148 represent a digital image or digital representation of the portion of fingertip 6 positioned over surface 5 of optical pointing device 1 . the digital values are stored as a frame into corresponding locations within an array of memory within correlator 160 . in one embodiment , each pixel in a frame corresponds to one of the photo detectors 148 . the overall size of the array of photo detectors 148 is preferably large enough to receive an image having several features ( e . g ., ridges in the whorls of skin ). in this way , images of such spatial features produce translated patterns of pixel information as fingertip 6 moves . the number of photo detectors 148 in the array and the frame rate at which their contents are digitized and captured cooperate to influence how fast fingertip 6 can be moved across photo detectors 148 and still be tracked . tracking is accomplished by correlator 160 by comparing a newly captured sample frame with a previously captured reference frame to ascertain the direction and amount of movement . in one embodiment , the entire content of one of the frames is shifted by correlator 160 by a distance of one pixel successively in each of the eight directions allowed by a one pixel offset trial shift ( one over , one over and one down , one down , one up , one up and one over , one over in the other direction , etc .). that adds up to eight trials . also , since there might not have been any motion , a ninth trial “ null shift ” is also used . after each trial shift , those portions of the frames that overlap each other are subtracted by correlator 160 on a pixel by pixel basis , and the resulting differences are preferably squared and then summed to form a measure of similarity ( correlation ) within that region of overlap . larger trial shifts are possible , of course ( e . g ., two over and one down ), but at some point the attendant complexity ruins the advantage , and it is preferable to simply have a sufficiently high frame rate with small trial shifts . the trial shift with the least difference ( greatest correlation ) can be taken as an indication of the motion between the two frames . that is , it provides raw movement information that may be scaled and or accumulated to provide display pointer movement information ( δx and δy ) of a convenient granularity and at a suitable rate of information exchange . correlator 160 automatically detects when fingertip 6 has been removed from surface 5 , by sensing that all or a majority of the pixels in the image have become essentially uniform . in addition to providing digital images to correlator 160 , aid converter 158 also outputs digital image data to shutter controller 164 . shutter controller 164 , helps to ensure that successive images have a similar exposure , and helps to prevent the digital values from becoming saturated to one value . controller 164 checks the values of digital image data and determines whether there are too many minimum values or too many maximum values . if there are too many minimum values , controller 164 increases the charge accumulation time of electronic shutter 150 . if there are too many maximum values , controller 164 decreases the charge accumulation time of electronic shutter 150 . in operation , images should be acquired at a rate sufficient that successive images differ in distance by no more that perhaps a quarter of the width of the array , or 4 pixels for a 16 × 16 array of photo detectors 148 . experiments show that a finger speed of 50 mm / sec is not unreasonable , which corresponds to a speed at the array of 800 pixels per second . to meet a requirement of not moving more than four pixels per cycle , a measurement rate of 200 samples per second is needed . this rate is quite practical , and it may be desirable to operate at several times this rate . [ 0031 ] fig3 is a timing diagram illustrating phases of a frame period 300 according to one embodiment of the present invention . a frame period represents the time provided for capturing an entire frame of image data , and for analyzing the image data to determine movement information . image data need not be captured every frame period . for example , when motion sensor 9 is in a low power mode , an image may only be captured every 10 or 12 frame periods . in one embodiment , when motion sensor 9 is in a fall power mode , an image is captured every frame period . frame period 300 includes three phases — an integration phase 302 , an analog to digital ( a / d ) conversion phase 304 , and an image processing phase 306 . during integration phase 302 , light is “ collected ” by photo detectors 148 , and charge accumulates on sense capacitors 154 as described above . during a / el conversion phase 304 , the collected charge from sense capacitors 154 is converted into digital data by a / d converter 304 as described above . during image processing phase 306 , correlator 160 processes the digital image data and generates incremental movement signals ( δx , δy ) as described above . in previous image sensors , in high power mode , the light source 2 typically remained on for all frame periods , and in low power mode , the light source 2 was typically turned on only during frame periods when images were captured . regardless of which mode the sensor was in , for each frame period that an image was captured , the light source remained on for that entire frame period . however , light is only needed for a small portion of frame period 300 . light is only needed during a portion of integration phase 302 when electronic shutter 150 is open , allowing light to be collected . power is unnecessarily consumed by leaving light source 2 on for an entire frame period 300 . in one embodiment of motion sensor 9 , light source 2 is controlled by shutter signal 308 from shutter controller 164 . shutter signal 308 is shown in fig3 below frame period 300 . as shown in fig2 shutter controller 164 is coupled to electronic shutter 150 and light controller 166 . when shutter signal 308 goes high , the high signal causes light controller 166 to turn on light source 2 . the high shutter signal 308 also causes electronic shutter 150 to open , thereby allowing charge to accumulate on sense capacitors 154 . when shutter signal 308 goes low , the low signal causes light controller 166 to turn off light source 2 , and causes electronic shutter 150 to close . therefore , light source 2 is only on during a portion of integration period 302 , rather than during the entire frame period 300 as in previous motion sensors . as described above , the time that electronic shutter 150 is open is varied based on how bright or dark the captured images are . likewise , the time that light source 2 is on is varied to be on as long as the electronic shutter 150 is open . the time that electronic shutter 150 is open and light source 2 is on is based on the length of time that shutter signal 308 remains high . during the period of time in integration period 302 prier to shutter signal 308 going high , sense capacitors 154 are reset or pre - charged to a desired starting value . the time that electronic shutter 150 is open is typically substantially less than the time it takes to setup and process one image frame ( i . e ., a frame period ). in one embodiment , a frame period 300 is over 10 , 000 clock cycles , whereas the electronic shutter 150 may only be open for 1 or 2 clock cycles of a frame period 300 . thus , a 10 , 000 to 1 reduction in the amount of current used for illumination may be obtained for each frame period 300 by only turning light source 2 on during the time electronic shutter 150 is open . power is saved regardless of whether motion sensor 9 is in a full power mode , or a low power mode . as described above in the background of the invention section , in some existing optical motion sensors , an undesirable switch from the low power mode to a full power mode can be caused by noise or reasonably slow drift motions . in one form of the invention , motion sensor 9 implements a process for avoiding this undesirable switch to full power mode , which includes time averaging motion values . fig4 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a process 400 implemented by motion sensor 9 for reducing power consumption by avoiding such an undesirable switch to full power mode . to simplify the explanation , process 400 is described in the context of one - dimensional movement ( i . e ., movement in an x direction ). process 400 begins with motion sensor 9 in a low power mode . in step 402 , a frame of image data is captured by motion sensor 9 . in step 404 , the captured frame is correlated with a previous frame by correlator 160 . based on the correlation , correlator 160 determines δx in step 406 , which represents the amount of the movement . in step 408 , motion sensor 9 updates a stored current accumulated δx value by adding the δx determined in step 406 to the stored current accumulated δx value . motion sensor 9 then stores the updated value . in step 410 , motion sensor 9 determines whether the current accumulated δx value ( as updated in step 408 ) is greater than a threshold value . in one embodiment , the threshold value is 1 , representing a one pixel movement per frame . if the current accumulated δx value is not greater than the threshold value , motion sensor 9 reduces the current accumulated δx by a decay factor in step 412 and stores the reduced value . in one embodiment , the decay factor is 0 . 5 . in alternative embodiments , other decay factors are used . after reducing the current accumulated δx by the decay factor , motion sensor 9 remains in a low power mode , and jumps to step 402 to repeat the process . if the current accumulated δx value is greater than the threshold value in step 410 , the δx motion data determined in step 406 is reported in step 414 . in step 416 , motion sensor 9 enters a full power mode . to further explain process 400 , an example with movement values will described . assume that there has been no motion detected for a long period , and then a first movement occurs that is a one - half pixel movement . thus , in step 406 , correlator 160 determines that δx = 0 . 5 . in step 408 , 0 . 5 is added to the current accumulated δx value ( which is about 0 since there has been no movement for a while ). thus , the updated current accumulated δx value is 0 . 5 . since the current accumulated δx value is not greater than 1 ( step 410 ), motion sensor 9 reduces the current accumulated δx to 0 . 25 ( 0 . 5 × decay factor of 0 . 5 ) in step 412 , and motion sensor 9 remains in a low power mode . process 400 is then repeated , beginning at step 402 . assuming that the next δx calculated in step 406 is also 0 . 5 , the current accumulated δx as updated in step 408 will be 0 . 75 ( 0 . 25 + the new δx value of 0 . 5 ). since the current accumulated δx value ( 0 . 75 ) is not greater than 1 ( step 410 ), motion sensor 9 reduces the current accumulated δx value to 0 . 375 ( 0 . 75 × decay factor of 0 . 5 ) in step 412 , and motion sensor 9 remains in a low power mode . process 400 is again repeated . assuming that the next δx calculated in step 406 is 1 . 0 , the current accumulated δx as updated in step 408 will be 1 . 375 ( 0 . 375 + the new δx value of 1 . 0 ). since the current accumulated δx value ( 1 . 375 ) is greater than 1 ( step 410 ), motion sensor 9 reports the motion ( step 414 ) and enters a fall power mode ( step 416 ). process 400 maintains the motion accuracy of motion sensor 9 , but effectively reduces the sensitivity of motion sensor 9 to go into a full power mode when small amounts of motion are reported . power savings are obtained by remaining in low power mode in the presence of noise , vibrations , or slow drift motions that caused previous motion sensors to switch to full power mode . by time averaging motion reports , motions far in the past are “ forgotten ”, and only , current motions have a significant effect in determining whether motion sensor 9 will enter full power mode . when motion stops , the current accumulated δx value continues to decay each frame period to zero . if motion reports are oscillating back and forth , for example , between + 1 and − 1 pixels , the time averaging feature works to cancel out this type of noise . although the power savings techniques described herein are described in the context of a finger pointing device , the techniques are also applicable to an optical desktop mouse implementation . it will be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art that functions performed by motion sensor 9 may be implemented in hardware , software , firmware , or any combination thereof . the implementation may be via a microprocessor , programmable logic device , or state machine . components of the present invention may reside in software on one or more computer - readable mediums . the term computer - readable medium as used herein is defined to include any kind of memory , volatile or non - volatile , such as floppy disks , hard disks , cd - roms , flash memory , read - only memory ( rom ), and random access memory . although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein for purposes of description of the preferred embodiment , it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a wide variety of alternate and / or equivalent implementations may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of the present invention . those with skill in the chemical , mechanical , electromechanical , electrical , and computer arts will readily appreciate that the present invention may be implemented in a very wide variety of embodiments . this application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the preferred embodiments discussed herein . therefore , it is manifestly intended that this invention be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof .	8
fig1 is a diagram showing an inkjet printer . according to this embodiment , the printer comprises a roller 1 used to support a receiving medium 2 , such as a sheet of paper or a transparency , and move it along the carriage 3 . the carriage includes a carrier 5 to which four printheads 4 a , 4 b , 4 c and 4 d have been fitted . each printhead contains its own color , in this case cyan ( c ), magenta ( m ), yellow ( y ) and black ( k ) respectively . the printheads are heated using heating elements 9 , which have been fitted to the rear of each printhead 4 and to the carrier 5 . the temperature of the printheads is maintained at the correct level by the application of a central control unit 10 ( controller ). the roller 1 may rotate around its own axis as indicated by arrow a . in this manner , the receiving medium may be moved in the sub - scanning direction ( often referred to as the x direction ) relative to the carrier 5 , and therefore also relative to the printheads 4 . the carriage 3 may be moved in reciprocation using suitable drive mechanisms ( not shown ) in a direction indicated by double arrow b , parallel to roller 1 . to this end , the carrier 5 is moved across the guide rods 6 and 7 . this direction is generally referred to as the main scanning direction or y direction . in this manner , the receiving medium may be fully scanned by the printheads 4 . according to the embodiment as shown in fig1 , each printhead 4 comprises a number of internal ink chambers ( not shown ), each with its own exit opening ( nozzle ) 8 . the nozzles in this embodiment form one row per printhead perpendicular to the axis of roller 1 ( i . e ., the row extends in the sub - scanning direction ). in a practical embodiment of an inkjet printer , the number of ink chambers per printhead will be many times greater and the nozzles will be arranged over two or more rows . each ink chamber includes a piezo - electric converter ( not shown ) that may generate a pressure wave in the ink chamber so that an ink drop is ejected from the nozzle of the associated chamber in the direction of the receiving medium . the converters may be actuated image - wise via an associated electrical drive circuit ( not shown ) by application of the central control unit 10 . in this manner , an image made up of ink drops may be formed on receiving medium 2 . if a receiving medium is printed using such a printer where ink drops are ejected from ink chambers , the receiving medium , or some of it , is imaginarily split into fixed locations that form a regular field of pixel rows and pixel columns . according to one embodiment , the pixel rows are perpendicular to the pixel columns . the individual locations thus produced may each be provided with one or more ink drops . the number of locations per unit of length in directions parallel to the pixel rows and pixel columns is referred to as the resolution of the printed image , for example indicated as 400 × 600 d . p . i . (“ dots per inch ”). by actuating a row of printhead nozzles of the inkjet printer , image - wise , when it is moved relative to the receiving medium as the carrier 5 moves , an image , or some of it , made up of ink drops is formed on the receiving medium , or at least formed in a strip as wide as the length of the nozzle row . fig2 is a diagram showing an inkjet printhead 4 in which the present invention may be applied . this printhead comprises a carrier 21 having a surface 21 a on which two piezo - electric converters 24 a and 24 b have been fitted . these converters may be actuated by imposing electrical pulses via electrodes 25 a and 25 b respectively . the carrier furthermore comprises support elements 21 b which are involved in carrying the compliant foil 26 onto which the ink chamber structure is fitted . this foil is fitted to the tops 29 a and 29 b of the piezo - electric converters . in this schematic embodiment , only two ink chambers 27 a and 27 b have been shown for the ink chamber structure , separated by the deformable wall 22 . the ink chambers open into nozzles 8 a and 8 b . the chambers are closed by plate 23 , said plate comprising an inlet opening 23 a which may be used for feeding ink into the chambers . fig3 is a diagram showing a different embodiment of an inkjet printhead in which the present invention has been embodied . the diagram shows a cross - section of the inkjet printhead 40 . in this embodiment , the printhead comprises a carrier 31 on which the converters 34 a and 34 b have been placed , as well as the support elements 31 b . the carrier has a thickness y of 1 mm and has been made from thomit 600 , a ceramic aluminium and oxide containing material originating from ceramtec from marktredwitz ( germany ). elements 31 and 34 are multi - layer piezo - electric ( generally applied pzt material ) elements with a height x of 650 μm and a thickness m of 85 μm . onto this has been fitted the compliant foil 36 , which in this embodiment is a 10 μm thick upilex polyamide foil ( e modulus 9 gpa ). the ink chambers 37 a and 37 b are shown having a width l of 200 μm and a height z of 140 μm . these chambers are milled into a 2 mm thick carbon plate 33 producing inner walls 32 having a thickness k of 140 μm . as these walls are made from carbon , they may deform in a direction parallel to direction d as indicated . the chosen thickness k , together with the wall configuration as a component of plate 33 mean that they will deform relatively easily if the pressure inside a chamber changes . if , for example , piezo - electric converter 34 a is actuated , then the adjacent chamber 37 b will be subject to a volume change by pressure waves generated as a result of this chamber being stretched in direction c as indicated ( in which the piezo - electric elements extend ). however , actuation also increases the pressure inside chamber 37 a , causing the wall 32 to deform towards chamber 37 b . the selected configuration is such that it induces a volume change in chamber 37 b , which is ( virtually ) fully compensated by the above - mentioned volume change of chamber 37 b as a result of the chamber being stretched . as such , chamber 37 b will not be subject to a net volume change due to actuation of converter 34 a . practice has also shown that , in this embodiment , the radial diameters in chamber 37 b do not change when converter 34 a is actuated . this , in essence , prevents the occurrence of pressure waves in chamber 37 b , so that cross - talk can be forced back even further . in one embodiment , where a more rigid material is selected for the wall , this will need to be made thinner and / or configured differently so that it retains adequate deformability . the construction of the wall will also depend on whether full power closure will exist or not between the piezo - electric converters via carrier element 31 . if there is no full power closure , then actuation of the converter which corresponds to a certain chamber will induce a volume change in an adjacent chamber that increases as the power closure deteriorates . to compensate for this volume change , the wall will therefore need to deform to a greater extent upon actuation .	1
the modern train moves along a set of parallel railroad tracks with a locomotive and a series of cars attached to the locomotive . beneath the tracks are a plurality of the railroad ties that rest perpendicular to the railroad tracks and support the railroad tracks . this system of train travel has existed from the beginning of train travel . because trains are typically loud and tend to travel throughout the night , trains often move in very remote locations . because trains are large cumbersome structures it is important to be able to periodically inspect the connections between cars as well as the general condition of the undercarriage of the train . the train cars are typically assembled using a set of knuckles and hasps that connect the cars . with this type of system the cars can be disconnected if desired . it is imperative that the integrity of the connections means ( knuckles and hasps ) and the train &# 39 ; s undercarriage be inspected periodically . the failure of the connection means may lead to the derailment of a train with its attendant costs . in the prior art the train would need to be stopped in order to allow humans to visually inspect the undercarriage for defects . this is cumbersome and results in delays in train travel and moving goods and people from location to location . this system incorporates a series of items that will allow the undercarriage of a train to be inspected periodically without the need to stop the train for a visual inspection . a container 5 with the components of this device is secured to the ties 2 of a railroad track 1 and is designed to be portable ; the container 5 may also be buried . the train will roll over the railroad tracks 1 , which are perpendicular to the ties 2 . as the trains move over the container a series of high resolution photographs are taken of the train &# 39 ; s undercarriage . the system is activated using a predetermined means 50 in the software that will detect the presence of a train . the system will remain active as long as it is required to capture the images and the system will automatically turn the system “ off ” using a preset in the software 40 for that purpose . during the normal operation is system is not operational until the presence of a train is detected by the activation means 50 . the presence of a train may be detected using a laser system that will detect the presence of a train . within the container are the following components : camera 10 , mirror 15 , lighting means 20 , a slit 30 , which is in the range of 1 - 5 pixels wide and is provided so that the images of the undercarriage of a train car can be gathered . the camera images will be collected through the slit as the image of the undercarriage is reflected off the mirror 15 that is in the container 5 . in order to insure a clear image , a piece of anti - glare glass 25 is placed over the slit 30 and the lighting around the area is carefully monitored and controlled . the camera 10 is capable of capturing high resolution images at rapid speeds in a variety of lighting or environmental conditions to include low lighting , dim lighting , and complete darkness . additionally the speed of the camera frame speed is controlled and adjusted in real time by the software from data that is collected from the linear speed detection device 60 and the control board 65 that collects the speed data and then adjusts the frame speed of the camera 10 . the mirror 15 is provided to insure that the image of the undercarriage of the train car is clearly represented and to prevent damage to the camera within the container . as the trains roll over the device on the tracks , a series of fragmented images are taken of the undercarriage of the train . these images are in the range of 1 - 5 pixels , with a preferential pixel width of 2 pixels . each of the images are collected individually and sent to a server . the individual images that are captured are then reassembled to present a clear picture of the train undercarriage . at a certain preset , probably the length of a train car , in the software control the set points at which images are reassembled into a picture of the individual train car . the individual train cars can then be reassembled by the software into a complete train and the images transferred 45 . the software 40 is likely to have a preset at the individual train car so that the pixels can be reassembled into an individual train car and the view of the entire train once reassembled by the software can then be transferred to a remote location and then reassembled and viewed . the software will allow the images of the entire train to be forwarded to a remote location , if needed . the lighting means 20 can be adjusted both in terms of intensity and direction to obtain the best possible images as the area above the slit 30 is illuminated . the lighting means is necessary to insure an appropriate discernible image can be captured and reproduced . the lighting means 20 is illuminated in such a way that it minimizes the likelihood of shadows covering the inspected areas of the trains undercarriage . many different types of lighting means may be used but considerations for the lighting means should include the ability to quickly and brightly illuminate the area . the choice of led lighting is probably an ideal means to illuminate although different means may be used . software 40 is provided to control the activation and deactivation of the system , the lighting means including the intensity and direction of the lighting means as well as the image capture and image transfer 45 . after the fragmented pictures of the undercarriage of a train car are gathered , the images are reassembled to provide a high resolution image . end points are established by the software to gather a finite amount of information . the software also provides an alarm 70 in the event that a preset anomaly is detected , such as a foreign object in the undercarriage of the train car or damage to any of the components of the undercarriage including the coupling or knuckle of the train car . while the description of this invention is set forth in this application , modifications may be made to the invention without departing from the spirit of the invention .	7
the following discussion provides example embodiments of the inventive subject matter . although each embodiment represents a single combination of inventive elements , the inventive subject matter is considered to include all possible combinations of the disclosed elements . thus if one embodiment comprises elements a , b , and c , and a second embodiment comprises elements b and d , then the inventive subject matter is also considered to include other remaining combinations of a , b , c , or d , even if not explicitly disclosed . fig1 shows an exploded view of a handleset assembly 100 and a door 200 . handleset assembly 100 comprises a handleset 101 , a deadbolt cylinder 102 , a deadbolt assembly 103 , a latch - bolt assembly 104 , a spindle 105 , a mounting plate 106 , assembly screws 107 , a face plate 108 , a first collar 109 , a first washer 110 , a turn - piece 111 , a second collar 112 , a second washer 113 , a handle 115 ( with a set screw 114 ), a washer 116 , a handleset screw 117 , and a cover 118 . handleset assembly 100 has a concealed crew design , in which assembly screws 107 are hidden once assembly 100 is installed on door 200 . each of the components of assembly 100 will now be described in more detail . fig2 shows a perspective view of door 200 . door 200 has a first major surface 201 , a second major surface 202 , and a first minor surface 203 ( e . g ., an edge surface ). surface 203 has a first blind - hole 204 ( e . g ., a first edge bore ) and a second blind - hole 205 ( e . g ., a first edge bore ). blind - hole 204 is sized and dimensioned to receive deadbolt assembly 103 and blind - hole 205 is sized and dimensioned to receive latch - bolt assembly 104 . door 200 also has a first cross through - hole 206 ( e . g ., a cross bore ) that perpendicularly intersects with blind - hole 204 and a second cross through - hole 207 ( e . g ., a cross bore ) that perpendicularly intersects with blind - hole 207 . first cross through - hole 206 is sized and dimensioned to receive deadbolt cylinder 102 . second cross through - hole 207 is sized and dimensioned to receive a chassis member 302 on handleset 101 . in addition , door 200 has a third through - hole 208 sized and dimensioned to receive handleset assembly screw 117 . fig3 shows a rear perspective view of handleset 101 . handleset 101 has an opening 301 sized and dimensioned to receive deadbolt cylinder 102 . handleset 101 also has a chassis member 302 . chassis member 302 has a spindle hole 306 that is sized and dimensioned to receive , and mechanically engage , spindle 105 . chassis member 302 also has two threaded screw holes 307 , which are sized and dimensioned to mate with assembly screws 107 . handleset 101 additionally comprises a thumb - piece 303 that actuates chassis member 302 and spindle 105 . more specifically , pressing thumb - piece 101 down causes spindle 105 to rotate . finally , handleset 101 has a handle 304 for opening door 200 , and a threaded opening 305 for fastening handle 304 to door 200 . fig4 a shows a rear perspective view of deadbolt cylinder 102 . fig4 b shows a front perspective view of deadbolt cylinder 102 . deadbolt cylinder 102 has a key hole 401 that is sized and dimensioned to receive a key . deadbolt cylinder 102 also has a cylindrical housing 402 that houses a locking mechanism configured to rotate tail piece 404 when a key is inserted into key hole 401 and rotated . tail piece 404 extends from the rear of cylindrical housing 402 and has a cross section that mechanically engages opening 603 in stem 600 . cylindrical housing 402 has an annular flange 403 that is sized and dimensioned to stop deadbolt cylinder 102 from being inserted completely through opening 301 . cylindrical housing 402 has a cylindrical shape , however non - cylindrical shapes are also contemplated . fig5 a shows an exploded rear perspective view of mounting plate 106 . the upper end of mounting plate 106 comprises a rotatable stem 600 that is inserted into opening 501 and held in place with clip 502 . chimney housing 503 houses a catch 504 , spring 505 , and set screw 506 . ball 504 is sized and dimensioned to engage indentations in the surface of stem 600 . adjusting set screw 506 will increase or decrease the force of ball 504 against stem 600 . the lower end of mounting plate 106 comprises a rotatable spindle through - hole 700 that is inserted into opening 507 and held in place by clip 508 . clip 508 also hold torsion spring 509 and cover bracket 510 to the rear surface of mounting plate 106 . the spring constant and torsional resistance of spring 509 can be selected ( or replaced with a different spring ) depending on the configuration for handle 115 ( e . g ., knob vs . lever ). spring 509 provides a resistance to the rotation of spindle through - hole 700 . spindle through - hole 700 has an opening that is sized and dimensioned to receive spindle 105 . spindle through - hole 700 has to opposing set screws 511 that engage two opposing grooves on spindle 105 ( e . g ., groove 901 ). fig5 b shows a front perspective view of mounting plate 106 . the upper end of mounting plate 106 has two assembly screw holes 512 on opposite sides of stem 600 . the lower end of mounting plate 106 has two set screws 513 on opposite sides of spindle through - hole 700 . assembly screw holes 5512 and 513 are sized and dimensioned to receive assembly screws 107 . fig5 c shows a rear perspective view of mounting plate in 106 . fig5 d shows a rear plan view of mounting plate 106 . fig5 e shows a front plan view of mounting plate 106 . fig5 f shows a side view of mounting plate 106 . fig5 g shows a close - up top , rear , perspective view of mounting plate 106 . set screw 506 can be adjusted from this angle to increase or decrease the force on ball 504 . fig6 a shows a rear perspective view of stem 600 . fig6 b shows a front perspective view of stem 600 . fig6 c shows a side view of stem 600 . stem 600 is an elongated member with a longitudinal axis of rotation . stem 600 has an annular flange 601 that is sized and dimensioned to stop stem 600 from completely passing through opening 501 in mounting plate 106 . stem 600 also has a radial groove 602 sized and dimensioned to receive ball 504 . ball 504 travels around groove 602 as stem 600 rotates . stem 600 has an opening 603 through its center . opening 603 has a cross section that is sized and dimensioned to receive , and mechanically engage with , tail piece 404 on deadbolt cylinder 102 . when a user inserts a key in key hole 401 and rotates the key , tail piece 404 rotates , which rotates stem 600 and turn - piece 111 . fig6 d shows a rear plan view of stem 600 . stem 600 has four longitudinal grooves 604 that are spaced apart by a radial distance ( e . g ., 90 degrees ). as stem 600 rotates 360 degrees , ball 504 travels around groove 602 and snaps into each of the plurality of longitudinal grooves 604 every 90 degrees . when ball 504 falls into grooves 604 , stem 600 latches in place . grooves 604 help turn - piece 111 and stem 600 to stay in their open position and closed position without wobbling or play or sagging over time . fig6 e shows a front plan view of the stem 600 . the front end of stem 600 has a cross sectional shape that mechanically engages opening 1000 in turn - piece 111 ( see fig1 ) so that stem 600 and turn - piece 111 rotate together . turn - piece 111 also has a set screw 111 a to rigidly fasten turn - piece 111 to stem 600 . fig7 a shows a front perspective view of the spindle through - hole 700 . spindle through - hole 700 is sized and dimensioned to fit inside of , and removably couple with , opening 507 . spindle through - hole 700 is held in place by clip 508 . spindle through - hole 700 also has an opening 701 extending longitudinally from the front end to the back end . opening 701 is sized and dimensioned to receive a spindle . spindle through - hole 700 has a threaded opening 702 extending radially through the cylindrical body of spindle - hole 700 . opening 702 is sized and dimensioned to receive a set screw . tightening a set screw in opening 702 when a spindle is disposed in opening 701 locks the spindle in place and helps to prevent lever sag and wobble . fig7 b shows a rear perspective view of the spindle through - hole 700 . the rear end of spindle through - hole 700 has a groove extending radially through the cylindrical body of spindle - hole 700 . fig7 c shows a side view of the spindle through - hole 700 . fig7 d shows a front plan view of the spindle through - hole 700 . fig7 e shows a rear plan view of the spindle through - hole 700 . fig8 a shows an exploded front perspective view of the mounting plate 106 and faceplate 108 . fig8 b is an exploded rear perspective view of the mounting plate 106 and faceplate 108 . these exploded views show the order in which the components are assembled to construct mounting plate 106 and faceplate 108 . fig8 c shows a rear perspective view of the mounting plate 106 coupled with faceplate 108 in an assembled state . fig8 d shows a side view of the mounting plate 106 and faceplate 108 . fig9 shows an exploded view of the spindle 105 . spindle 105 has a first elongated member 901 rotatably coupled with a second elongated member 902 . elongated member 901 has two opposing longitudinal grooves 903 ( the second groove is not visible from the perspective of fig9 ). grooves 903 are sized and dimensioned to engage with set screws on handle 115 and spindle through - hole 700 . spring - loaded ball catch 905 ( e . g ., detent ) is spaced apart from protrusions 903 by a distance that is substantially equal to , or slightly larger than , the length of spindle through - hole 700 . ball catch 905 retracts in a flush position when spindle 105 is inserted into through - hole 700 . protrusions 903 are sized and dimensioned to prevent spindle 105 from being inserted further into through - hole 700 . protrusions 903 and ball catch 905 straddle through - hole 700 and keep spindle in place ( e . g ., on mounting plate 106 ) during assembly . fig1 shows a rear plan view of turn - piece 111 . turn - piece 111 has an opening 1000 that is sized and dimensioned to mechanically engage the end of stem 600 . from a methods perspective , the inventive subject matter includes a method of installing a concealed screw handleset . in one aspect , the concealed screw handleset comprises a faceplate having a first opening and a second opening spaced apart by a first distance ; a mounting plate having a first threaded hole and a second threaded hole spaced apart by a second distance that is substantially equal to the first distance ; a rotatable stem extending from the center of the first threaded hole and having a first longitudinal groove ; a spindle through - hole sized disposed in the center of the second threaded hole and sized and dimensioned to receive a spindle ; a first collar sized and dimensioned to fit in the first opening of the faceplate and having threads that mate with the first threaded hole ; and a second collar sized and dimensioned to fit in the second opening of the faceplate and having threads that mate with the first threaded hole . the method comprises the steps of : ( i ) installing the mounting plate onto a first major surface of a door such that the rotatable stem and spindle through - hole are aligned with a first through - hole and a second through - hole , respectively , on the door ; ( ii ) fastening the faceplate to the mounting plate and to the first major surface of the door by ( a ) aligning the first opening and second opening of the faceplate with the first threaded hole and second threaded hole , respectively , of the mounting plate ; ( b ) inserting the first collar through the first opening of the faceplate from an outward facing surface of the faceplate , and threading the first collar to the first threaded hole of the mounting plate ; and ( c ) inserting the second collar through the second opening of the faceplate from the outward facing surface of the faceplate , and threading the second collar to the second threaded hole of the mounting plate . in some embodiments , the step of installing the mounting plate onto a first major surface of a door comprises : ( i ) inserting a tailpiece of a deadbolt cylinder into a key hole in the center of the rotatable stem of the mounting plate from a second major surface of the door ; ( ii ) fastening the deadbolt cylinder to the mounting plate with one or more assembly screws ; ( iii ) inserting the spindle into the spindle through - hole ; ( iv ) placing a chassis member of a handleset onto an end of the spindle from the second major surface of the door ; and ( v ) fastening the chassis member to the mounting plate with one or more assembly screws . in another aspect of some embodiments , the method further comprises the steps of : ( i ) attaching a turn - piece to the stem from the outside surface of the faceplate , wherein the turn - piece is sized and dimensioned to completely cover the first collar ; and ( ii ) attaching a handle to an end of the spindle from the first major surface of the door , wherein the handle is sized and dimensioned to completely cover the second collar . as used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow , the meaning of “ a ,” “ an ,” and “ the ” includes plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise . also , as used in the description herein , the meaning of “ in ” includes “ in ” and “ on ” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise . also , as used herein , and unless the context dictates otherwise , the term “ coupled to ” is intended to include both direct coupling ( in which two elements that are coupled to each other contact each other ) and indirect coupling ( in which at least one additional element is located between the two elements ). therefore , the terms “ coupled to ” and “ coupled with ” are used synonymously . thus , specific compositions and methods of concealed screw handleset assembly have been disclosed . it should be apparent , however , to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those already described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein . the inventive subject matter , therefore , is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the disclosure . moreover , in interpreting the disclosure all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context . in particular the terms “ comprises ” and “ comprising ” should be interpreted as referring to the elements , components , or steps in a non - exclusive manner , indicating that the referenced elements , components , or steps can be present , or utilized , or combined with other elements , components , or steps that are not expressly referenced .	4
the present invention will now be explained in details based on drawings illustrating embodiments thereof . fig1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an essential part of the sewing machine with an uncurling device according to the present invention . as illustrated in the drawing , an uncurling device 1 is attached to a front surface of a sewing bed b of an overlock sewing machine by means of a stationary supporting plate 2 and an operational supporting plate 3 . a needle plate 4 is provided in a bridging manner on an upper surface on one end portion ( left end portion ) of the sewing bed b while a cross plate c is provided around the needle plate 4 . sewing by using the overlock sewing machine is performed by pinching an upper fabric w 1 and a lower fabric w 2 that are fed onto the cross plate c in a vertically overlapped manner ( see fig2 fig5 and fig6 ) between the needle plate 4 and a presser plate 5 , and while applying feeding force in a direction as indicated by the hollow arrow in the drawing , edge hems of both fabrics w 1 , w 2 are overedge - chain stitched by synergistic motions of a needle and a looper ( not shown ). the stationary supporting plate 2 is fixed to extend along the front surface of the sewing bed b by means of three fixing screws each located in the center and on the right and left thereof , and a supporting protrusion 20 and a stopper protrusion 21 are provided on both lateral sides thereof to protrude frontward . the operational supporting plate 3 is arranged in that one end thereof is pivotally supported by means of a hinge shaft 22 at a tip end portion of the supporting protrusion 20 and is attached to be swingable in a substantially horizontal plane around the hinge shaft 22 . thus , the operational supporting plate 3 may assume either an operational position with the other end abutting against the stopper protrusion 21 so as to be substantially parallel to the stationary supporting plate 2 as illustrated by the solid line in the drawing or a retracted position in which the operational supporting plate 3 is opened so as to be substantially orthogonal to the stationary supporting plate 2 when not in use as illustrated by the two - dot chain line in the drawing . it should be noted that the operational supporting plate 3 in the operational position is arranged in that the other end is engaged with and restrained by a hinge spring 23 fixed to an upper surface of the stopper protrusion 21 , and for moving to the retracted position , a pulling force in a frontward direction is applied to the other end of the operational supporting plate 3 for disengaging the engagement with the hinge spring 23 . the uncurling device 1 is arranged in that it comprises a fixed plate 10 fixed to a front surface of the operational supporting plate 3 through clamping by a pair of laterally arranged fixing screws , a suction tube 11 integrally formed along a rear surface of the fixed plate 10 , and a separating plate 12 connectedly provided at one end portion ( left end portion ) of the suction tube 11 . fig2 is a partial cutaway front view of an essential part of the uncurling device 1 , fig3 a plan view thereof , and fig4 is a transverse sectional view along line iv — iv of fig2 . as illustrated in these drawings , the suction tube 11 that is fixedly provided on the rear surface of the fixed plate 10 is a cylindrical body having a rectangular section with a narrow width in vertical directions and with a wide width in front and rear directions . the separating plate 12 is connectedly provided at the one end portion of the suction tube 11 to divide across substantially its center in the vertical directions , and an air - intake 13 that is open to form a rectangular section is formed across the upper surface and the lower surface of the separating plate 12 . a connecting tube 14 with a circular section is integrally connected to the other end portion ( right end portion ) of the suction tube 11 wherein this connecting tube 14 is connected to ejector e through air - supplying hose 6 as illustrated in fig1 . the ejector e is a conventionally known mechanical element for ejecting gas ( air ) through an incorporated nozzle and for vacuuming the air by actions of the blowing air , wherein the blowing air is ejected through the incorporated nozzle of the ejector connected to an air - supplying source ( not shown ) through an air - supplying pipe 7 with a regulator r interposed halfway thereof and by supplying air whose amount is adjusted by the regulator r . in the suction tube 1 connected to the ejector e through the air - supplying hose 6 and the connecting tube 14 , ambient air is sucked through the air - intake 13 in accordance with the ejecting air from the ejector e , this sucked air is introduced into the ejector e through the connecting tube 14 and the air - supplying hose 6 and finally exhausted together with the ejecting air through an exhaust hose 8 . the air - intake 13 of the suction tube 11 has its opening in a span from the upper surface to the lower surface of the separating plate 12 such that sucked air as generated in the above manner flows along these upper and lower surfaces of the separating plate 12 before it is sucked by the suction tube 11 . the flow rate of sucked air can be adjusted by the regulator r for adjusting the flow rate of air that is fed through the air - supplying pipe 7 with a predetermined pressure , and this regulator r performs actions of an adjustor for the flow rate of sucked air . if it should be possible to employ an air - suction source such as a suction pump or the like , it is also possible to employ an arrangement in which the air - supplying hose 6 is connected to the vacuum source for making the hose directly perform the air suction . in this case , adjustments in the flow rate of sucked air can be performed directly by adjusting outputs of the vacuum source . in this manner , the tip end portion of the suction tube 11 is located on a front side of the needle drop point placed at an overlapping portion of the needle plate 4 and presser plate 5 when the operational supporting plate 3 is restrained in the operational position as illustrated in fig1 . the separating plate 12 connectedly arranged at the tip end of the suction tube 11 is positioned with a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the cross plate c at the tip end of the sewing bed b so as to be substantially parallel thereto . an action piece 12 a inclining with the tip end facing forward ( frontward when seen from the front side of the sewing machine ) is integrally formed with such a separating plate 12 in an protruding manner as illustrated in fig1 and fig3 two guide tips 15 each with tapered surfaces being formed on both sides in width directions so as to be thin at respective tip ends thereof are attached to both upper and lower surfaces of the acting piece 12 a . therefore , the acting piece 12 a has a predetermined overall thickness but with its thickness decreasing toward the tip end as illustrated in fig2 . a guide lever 16 is disposed in front of the separating plate 12 . this guide lever 16 is attached with its base portion being screw - fastened to a front edge of the fixed plate 10 and is arranged so as to extend somewhat forward along the front edge of the acting piece 12 a at a position just below the lower surface of the separating plate 12 and bent at its intermediate portion in a bridging manner as to extend along the front edge of the cross plate c . in the uncurling device 1 of the above - described arrangement , the upper and lower fabrics w 1 , w 2 that are fed to the needle drop point in the above - described manner are set with the lower fabric w 2 being placed on the guide lever 16 and passed below the separating plate 12 and with the upper fabric w 1 being placed on the separating plate 12 while respective edge hems thereof are made to face the air - intake 13 of the suction tube 11 . when feeding force is applied to the upper and lower fabrics w 1 , w 2 while suction of air is performed by the suction tube 11 , the upper fabric w 1 and lower fabric w 2 are separated to above and below the separating plate 12 respectively while the feeding is proceeding , and they are repeatedly overlapped at a rear side of the separating plate 12 to be pinch - held by the needle plate 4 and the presser plate 5 to be ready for overedge - chain stitching . it should be noted that the separating plate 12 is provided with the action piece 12 a inclining in a forward direction and being decreased in its thickness at its tip end by means of the guide tips 15 , such that separating of the upper fabric w 1 and lower fabric w 2 while the feeding can be favorably performed by these actions . fig5 and fig6 are views for explaining operations of the uncurling device 1 with the tip end portion of the suction tube 11 enlarged . it may be that outside curls as illustrated in fig5 or inside curls as illustrated in fig6 are formed at the edge hems of upper and lower fabrics w 1 , w 2 as set in the above - described manner , and while the fabrics w 1 , w 2 are separated to above and below the separating plate 12 , a flow of sucked air is generated above and below the separating plate 12 that is directed into the air - intake 13 of the suction tube 11 . this flow of sucked air acting over the curls straightens the curls while it is sucked into the air - intake 13 as represented by the two - dot chain line in the drawings . it should be noted that the inside curls at the edge hems of the upper fabric w 1 and lower fabric w 2 as illustrated in fig6 are straightened in an auxiliary manner by being mounted on the guide tips 15 that are attached to both surfaces of the action piece 12 a of the separating plate 12 as to increase in its thickness toward the rear thereof , while an outside curl at the edge hem of the lower fabric w 2 as illustrated in fig5 is straightened in an auxiliary manner by being mounted on the guide lever 16 disposed frontward of the separating plate 12 . it should be noted that while only the guide lever 16 for guiding the lower surface of the lower fabric w 2 is provided in the above - described embodiment , it is also possible to provide another guide lever in front of the separating plate 12 to be provided at a somewhat above the upper surface of the separating plate 12 in a bridging manner for guiding the upper surface of the upper fabric w 1 in a similar fashion . the flow rate of air sucked into the suction tube 11 is suitably adjustable by operating the regulator r , wherein such adjustments may be differently performed depend on the types and thicknesses of the upper and lower fabrics w 1 , w 2 to thereby enabling appropriate uncurling by the actions of sucked air . it should also be noted it is also possible to employ an arrangement in which operations of the regulator r are performed by an appropriate actuator for performing operations in accordance with set values for the types and thicknesses of the fabrics to thus adjust flow rate of sucked air automatically . as this invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit of essential characteristics thereof , the present embodiment is therefore illustrative and not restrictive , since the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the description preceding them , and all changes that fall within metes and bounds of the claims , or equivalences of such metes and bounds thereof are therefore intended to be embraced by the claims .	3
in one aspect , the present disclosure relates to a fusion protein comprising a human il - 1 receptor antagonist ( il - 1ra ) and a human immunoglobulin hybrid fc fragment ( hybrid fc ) ( refer to fig1 ). in one embodiment , the il - 1ra of the present disclosure is a whole protein , which is linked to hybrid fc through a linker . in one embodiment , the linker which may be used for the present disclosure includes a synthetic linker , which for example consists of glycine and serine amino acids . in one embodiment , the linker is composed of ggs . the hybrid fc includes from n - terminal to c - terminal , a hinge region , ch2 domain and ch3 domain . in one embodiment , the hinge region includes a region from igd , ch2 domain includes regions derived at least from human igd and igg4 , and ch3 domain include a region derived at least from human igg4 ch3 domain . interleukin - 1 , together with tnf - alpha , acts as a crucial inflammatory mediator in amplifying an inflammatory response in the development of autoimmune inflammatory disease . also il - 1 recruits neutrophils to inflammatory sites and activates macrophages , and activates the growth and differentiation of t and b cells . il - 1 receptor antagonist ( il - 1ra ) is a protein naturally found in body that suppresses the il - 1 activity via competitively binding of il - 1 to its receptor . conventionally , fc derived from igg1 has been used for the generation of fusion protein with il - 1ra . however , as described hereinbefore , it caused adcc ( antibody dependent cell - mediated cytotoxicity ) and cdc ( complement - dependent cytotoxicity ) which may cause safety concern . the fusion protein of the present disclosure contains a hybrid fc which comprises fc region selected from igg4 and igd . the characteristics of the subclasses of igg and igd are described in table 1 below . the hybrid fc of the present disclosure has an favorable conformation resulted from the flexibility of the hinge region derived from igd and also a reduced side effect due to the lack of fc gamma receptor binding region , which acts as a receptor for fc present in neutrophils . igg4 does not have an effector function such as cdc and thus is able to reduce the unwanted immune responses and also shows an increased half - life and stability resulted from the excellent ability to bind fcrn which is related to recycling of proteins in cells . with regard to half - lives in cells , igg1 , igg2 and igg4 have a half - life of 21 days compared to other immunoglobulines which have a relatively short half - life of less than a week . the fusion protein of the present disclosure comprising fc selected from igd and igg4 shows a favorable efficacy in activity and an increased half - life while having a reduced side effect . also the il - 1 receptor antagonist - hybrid fc fusion protein , which was produced in mammalian cells such as cho cells , has a reduced immunogenicity due to glycosylation and absence of abnormal amino acids in contrast to anakinra which are normally produced in escherichia coli . the present disclosure is further explained in more detail with reference to the following examples . these examples , however , should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present invention in any manner . for cloning , dna fragment encoding human il - 1ra was codon optimized and synthesized in several fragments as indicated below and combined into a full length hil - 1ra dna by sewing pcr . a dna encoding il - 1 receptor antagonist - hybrid fc fusion protein ( il - 1ra - hyfc ) was generated by pcr - combining dna encoding hybrid fc ( hyfc ) was provided by genexine ( korea ) and dna fragment with hil - 1ra prepared above . for the construction of plasmid , pad15 vector , containing expression cassette for beta - lactamase and dihydrofolate reductase ( dhfr ), was used . both the vector and the dna fragment encoding il1 - ra - hyfc as prepared above were digested with ecori and xbai and purified , which were then ligated to obtain a final construct , il - 1ra - hyfc / pad15 . the ligated product was then transformed into dh5 alpha competent cells and the transformed cells were selected on a plate containing ampicillin . the selected colonies were then used for the dna sequencing analysis for confirmation . [ sequences of regions of il - 1 ra genes synthesized for the construction of plasmid ] the sequences f - 1 to f - 5 encoding part of hil - 1ra indicated as above are disclosed as seq id nos : 1 to 5 , respectively . the entire sequences of final il - 1 ra synthesized are indicated as below , which is disclosed as seq id no : 7 . the amino acid sequence of the present il - 1 receptor antagonist - hybrid fc fusion protein is disclosed as seq id no : 7 . fig2 shows a map of the plasmid il - 1ra - hyfc / pad15 constructed herein having 6610 bps in size . the plasmid constructed in example 1 was transfected into a mammalian cell line cho dg44 to confirm the expression of fusion protein . specifically 4 × 10 5 cho dg44 cells were seeded on to a 6 well culture plate . one day after , culture media was changed with fresh media ( minimum essential medium alpha ). the dna and liposomal mixture , pei ( polyethylenimine ) and expression plasmid , il - 1ra - hyfc / pad15 , were then added into the culture media of cho dg44 cells as prepared above . the culture media were replaced with fresh one , after 12 hours . the cho dg44 cells expressing il1ra - hyfc fusion protein were selected based on the hypoxanthine ( ht ) system . cho dg44 cells transfected with a vector , il1ra - hyfc / pad15 , were screened with media lacking ht at 24 hours after the transfection . the media were replaced with fresh one every 3 - 4 days until colonies were formed , the colonies were picked and transferred into new plates . fig3 is a result of western blot analysis with anti - il1ra antibody to confirm the expression of il1ra - hyfc fusion protein in the selected cells . fig3 shows that the cells selected as above successfully expressed and secreted the protein into media as shown in lane 2 , and 4 . however , the control cells did not produce the protein ( lane 1 , and 3 ). the clones expressing il1ra - hyfc fusion protein were incubated in fresh media for 24 hours , the media of which were then collected and the number of cells was counted . the unit cell production of protein was determined by elisa quantitation kit ( bethyl lab ., inc ., e80 - 104 ). the unit cell productivity of protein ( pg / cell / day ) by was determined dividing the amount of proteins calculated from elisa quantitation by the total number of cells . as indicated in fig4 , the representative cell lines selected based on the ht system as above , expressed the fusion protein with varying productivity ( pg / cell / day ). the proteins expressed were confirmed by western blot with anti - il1ra antibody ( abcam , usa ). the proteins of culture supernatant of the selected clones were separated on 12 % sds - page , then transferred on to the nitrocellulose membrane . the il1ra - hyfc and il1ra protein was detected with anti - il1ra antibody . results are shown in fig5 . the fusion protein , expressed in each of the cell lines , has a molecular weight of about 55 kda . when it was compared to hil - 1ra , its molecular weight has increased 30 kda due to the fusion with the hybrid fc . the supernatant containing il1ra - hyfc fusion protein obtained from suspension cell culture was filtered through a cellulose filter ( pore size 0 . 2 μm ) to remove impurities and the filtrated protein were stored at 4 ° c . or on ice . il1ra - hyfc protein was purified by affinity chromatography . mobile phase was prepared by loading the mabselect sure ( ge ) into column , a type of antibody affinity column resin which is labeled with protein a . first of all , buffer a which is used for equilibrating column and composed of 50 mm nah 2 po 4 ( ph8 . 0 ) and 0 . 1m nacl was prepared . then buffer b for elution of bound proteins under acidic condition was composed of 50 mm nah 2 po 4 ( ph8 . 0 ) and 0 . 1m nacl ( ph3 . 0 ). further , buffer c for elution of proteins that remained after the elution with buffer b was composed of 0 . 5m arginine ( ph3 . 0 ) and 0 . 1m nacl . the last buffer d for cip was composed of 0 . 5n naoh . each line of the chromatography system ( akta purifier , ge healthcare ) was washed with each of buffer a ˜ d as prepared above and then the antibody affinity chromatography column which was loaded with 20 ml of mabselect sure was equipped with the chromatography system , the column was equilibrated with 10 cv ( column volume ). after confirming of the equilibration , the supernatant contained il1ra - hyfc fusion protein was loaded onto the column for purification . the bound proteins were eluted using buffer b and collected as an aliquot of 3 ml . the purified proteins were electrophoresed on a 12 % sds - page ( sodium dodecyl - sulfate poly acrylamide gel electrophoresis under reducing condition and confirmed the bands corresponding to 50 kda . and then the fusion protein was quantitated using bradford protein assay ( fig6 and 7 ). fig6 indicates the chromatogram of the antibody affinity column chromatography as above , and shows that the eluted fusion proteins using buffer b are present in peaks numbered from 30 to 40 . as shown in fig7 a , the purified protein sample was analyzed as quantitative and qualitative using 12 % sds - page . the results show that the purified fusion protein which exists in 50 kda position was obtained almost from eluted peak fraction . the purity was confirmed to be at least 95 %. fig7 b shows that band position of the fusion protein was confirmed in 150 kda by using 12 % sds - page under non reducing condition , due to the dimer formation of the fusion protein through disulfide bonds . protein solution obtained from the antibody affinity column chromatography was prepared in 50 mm tris - hcl ( ph8 . 0 ) using 1m tirs - hcl ( ph8 . 0 ) and incubated at rt for 30 min . then two volumes of 50 mm tris - hcl ( ph8 . 0 ) solution were added to the protein preparation to reduce the nacl concentration for loading onto the anion exchange chromatography column . equilibration buffer a of 50 mm tris - hcl ( ph8 . 0 ) and elution buffer b 50 mm tris - hcl ( ph8 . 0 ) of 1m nacl was added to fill the anion exchange resin ( akta purifier , q hp , ge ) and the protein prepared as above was loaded on the anion exchange column . dimers and multimers of il - 1 receptor antagonist - hybrid fc fusion protein were eluted with buffer b using a nacl concentration gradient . the dimers were present in the peaks eluting around 300 mm of nacl ( fig8 a , peak 1 ) and heterogeneous mixture of dimers and multimers are present in the peaks eluting nacl concentration above 500 mm ( fig8 a , peak 2 ). proteins from peaks 1 and 2 show sds - page analysis under non - reducing condition as shown in fig8 . for mobile phase of hydroxyapatite column ( chttm ceramic hydroxyapatite , bio - rad ), 10 mm na 2 hpo 4 ( ph6 . 5 ) was used as column equilibration buffer , for elution , 10 mm na 2 hpo 4 ( ph6 . 5 ), 2m nacl and 500 mm na 2 hpo 4 ( ph6 . 5 ) were used . dimer fraction from the anion exchange column was diluted with the equilibration buffer in 5 times volume before loaded onto the hydroxyapatite column . a gradient of increasing nacl concentration and na 2 hpo 4 concentration was applied to the column to obtain il - 1 receptor antagonist hybrid fc fusion proteins in a highly purified form . peaks were eluted at each of the nacl concentrations below 1m and 2m , obtain only the peak below 1m nacl was taken for further analysis where the majority of proteins are present in dimer ( fig9 a ). fig9 b shows the result of sds - page analysis of the peaks from the hydroxyapatite column purification under non reducing condition to confirm the proteins contained in each peaks . the purified proteins were quantified using bradford method and concentrated using ultrafiltration . native gel electrophoresis , western blot , isoelectric focusing , and size exclusion hplc ( se - hplc ) were performed to characterize the protein purified as above . results are shown in fig1 to 12 . as shown in fig1 a , in the non - denaturing electrophoresis using 10 % polyacrylamide gel , il1ra - hyfc fusion proteins was confirmed to be present as dimer by the 150 kda band position judged by the molecular weight marker ( ge healthcare , amersham ™ hmw calibration kit for native electrophoresis ). in addition , as shown in fig1 b , il - 1ra - hyfc fusion proteins were confirmed in the western blot analysis using anti - hil - 1ra antibody . theoretical value of isoelectric point of il - 1ra - hyfc fusion protein is 6 . 01 . in the experiment , the value was in the range from pi 5 . 3 to 6 . 0 at the beginning of the purification and became close to the one value as the purification progressed . this indicates the increasing homogeneity in the form . twenty μl of sample was loaded onto a sec hplc column ( g3000swxl , 5 micron , 7 . 8 * 300 , tsk , agilent ) in the mobile phase of 50 mm sodium phosphate ( ph7 . 5 ) and 50 mm nacl . then , a peak was eluted at retention time of 7 . 6 ( purity 99 . 9 %). the peak is indicated the presence of highly purified proteins . to compare the binding affinity of the il1ra - hyfc fusion protein and hil - 1ra fused with fc from igg1 to hil - 1 ri , surface plasmon resonance ( spr ) value was measured using biacore ( ge healthcare ). cm5 chip set up to biacore and then pbs ( phosphate buffered saline , pbs ) was flowed into the cm5 chip . after the confirming that the baseline of the graph remained constant , 1 - ethyl - 3 - dimethylaminopropyl carbodiimide ( edc )/ n - hydroxy succinimide ( nhs ) was add to the chip to activate the amine group . next , the il1ra - hyfc fusion protein or hil - 1ra fused with fc from igg1 was introduced to the chip to fix the proteins via covalent linkage with the activated amine group followed by additional fixation using ethanol amine . then hil - 1ri protein was introduced into the chip to measure the resonance unit ( ru ), which represent the binding affinity . from this results dissociation constant ( kd ) was calculated . as indicated in fig1 , the il1ra - hyfc fusion protein has a dissociation constant of 186 pm in comparison to the control which has a dissociation constant of 1 . 02 nm . the results indicate that the present protein has better affinity than that of the control . to test the effect of the il1ra - hyfc fusion protein on suppressing an immune response , the suppression of t cell proliferation and the secretion of inflammatory cytokines were measured . for the former , peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from blood . after the pbmc was diluted with rpmi - 1640 medium as the concentration of 1 × 10 5 cells / ml , the cells were stimulated with 100 ng / ml of lps ( lipopolysaccharide ) or 1 μg / ml of anti - cd3 antibody for 3 days in the absence or in the presence of various concentrations of the il1ra - hyfc fusion proteins . during the last 18 hours of the stimulation period at day 3 , the cells were incubated in the presence of 1 mci [ 3 h ] thymidine ( nen , boston , ma ., usa ). after the cells were then transferred onto a nitrocellulose membrane followed by washing , the amount of radioactivity remained on the membrane was measured . to measure the amount of inflammatory cytokines secreted , pbmc were isolated from blood . after the pbmc was diluted with rpmi - 1640 medium as the concentration of 1 × 10 6 cells / ml , then the pbmc was stimulated with 100 ng / ml of lps for 48 hours in the absence or presence of the present fusion protein in various concentrations . after 48 hours , the media was collected and the levels of interleukin - 17 , tnf - alpha ( tumor necrosis factor - alpha ), rankl ( receptor activator of nuclear factor k - b ligand ) and vegf ( vascular endothelial growth factor ) were measured using elisa . fig1 presents that the il1ra - hyfc fusion protein suppress the immune response in human t cell or pbmc . as shown in fig1 , when the fusion protein was treated , we confirmed that t cell proliferation was effectively suppressed in the presence of the fusion protein . also the fusion protein was effectively suppressed the inflammatory cytokines and cytokines which is involved in osteoclasia . healthy female balb / c mice in 6 weeks of age were treated with anakinra , a commercially available il - 1 receptor antagonist , or with the present fusion protein each at 5 mg / kg of dosage via intraperitoneal . at 0 , 0 . 05 , 0 . 5 , 2 , 4 , 6 , 8 , 24 , 30 , and 48 hours after the injection , blood samples were collected from each of the mice and the levels of anakinra or the fusion protein were measured using elisa . 100 μl of affinity purified human igg capture antibody ( bethyl laboratories , inc ., a80 - 104a - 6 ) diluted with coating buffer was added to each well of plate and the plate was incubated at rt for 1 hour . then the plate was washed 5 times with tbst ( tris - buffered saline tween - 20 ) and 200 μl of blocking buffer containing 1 % bsa ( bovine serum albumin ) was added to each well . the plate was incubated for 30 min at rt and then washed 5 times with tbst . 100 μl of standard solution in two fold serial dilution from 500 pg / ml to 0 pg / ml or the blood samples appropriately diluted were added to each well and incubated 1 hour at rt . after the incubation , the plate was washed 5 times with tbst and 400 ng / ml of biotin conjugated anti - hil - 1ra polyclonal detection antibody was added to each well and the plate was incubated for 1 hour at 20 - 25 ° c . the plate was then washed 5 times with tbst and incubated with 100 μl of streptavidin hrp conjugated antibody diluted at a ratio of 1 : 50000 for 1 hour at 20 - 25 ° c . then the plate was washed 5 times with tbst and 100 μl of tmb substrate was added to each well and the plate was incubated in the dark for 15 min at rt . the reaction was terminated by adding 100 μl of stop buffer and the absorbance was measured in a plate reader at 450 nm . the concentration of the protein was calculated as ng / ml by multiplying the value obtained from elisa by dilution factor . fig1 presents the pharmacokinetic data using the fusion protein or anakinra which is commercially available in europe . as shown in fig1 , the fusion protein remains longer period of time in the blood than that of anakinra . ( 1 ) blocking of the hil - 1beta signal transduction pathway by the present fusion protein luciferase assay was performed to measure the effect of the fusion protein on blocking the hil - 1beta signal transduction pathway . human il - 1beta activates nfkb by binding to hil - 1 receptor 1 through signal transduction . to confirm that , cells expressing hil - 1 receptor 1 were transfected with a luciferase vector having a nfkb binding site . then the cells treated with hil - 1beta followed by measuring the luciferase expression as the results of nfkb activation . here , the addition of il - 1 ra blocks the luciferase expression by competitive binding to hil - 1 receptor 1 with hil - 1beta . thus the function of the fusion protein in cells was tested on the basis of this scheme . hela cells ( 2 × 10 4 ) were seeded in each well of 48 well plate at 24 hours prior to transfection . next day , the cells were co - transfected with a firefly luciferase plasmid having a nfkb binding site and a renilla luciferase plasmid having cmv promoter which is used to normalize the result . three hours after the transfection , cells were replaced with fresh media and stabilized for 24 hours . the varying concentrations of hil - 1β were treated alone or co - treated with hil - 1ra ( r & amp ; d systems ) or with anti il1 ra - hyfc fusion protein for 6 hours . after that the media was removed and the cells were washed with pbs . after complete removal of pbs , luminescence was measured using dual - luciferase reporter assay system ( promega , e1960 ) according to the manufacturer &# 39 ; s instruction . as shown in fig1 and 17 , media from the cells that were not treated with any protein and treated with hilra alone was used as a negative control , and media from the cells treated with hil - 1β was used as a positive control . fig1 shows that the fusion protein obtained from various cell lines which express the fusion protein exerts comparable or better effect of blocking the signal transduction than that of commercially available hil1ra . also fig1 shows that the blocking effect was increased by using the concentrated media derived from cells expressing the fusion protein . ( 2 ) comparison of blocking effect of anakinra , hil - 1ri - hybrid fc fusion protein and the present fusion protein on the signal transduction via hil - 1β commercially available anakinra protein or hil - 1ri hybrid fc fusion protein which bind to hil - 1β and the present fusion protein was used to compare their effect on suppressing the transduction signaling via hil - 1β . hela cells ( 2 × 10 4 ) were seeded in each well of 48 well plate at 24 hours prior to transfection . next day , the cells were co - transfected with a firefly luciferase plasmid having a nfkb binding site and a renilla luciferase plasmid having cmv promoter which is used to normalize the result . three hours after the transfection , cells were replaced with fresh media and stabilized for 24 hours . the varying concentrations of hil - 1β were treated alone or co - treated with anakinra protein or with hil - 1ri hybrid fc fusion protein which bind to hil - 1β or with the present fusion protein for 6 hours . after that the medium was removed and the cells were washed with pbs . after complete removal of pbs , the luminescence was measured using dual - luciferase reporter assay system ( promega , e1960 ) as instructed . as shown in fig1 and 19 , the results indicate that the present fusion protein has better effect on blocking the signal transduction than that of hil - 1ri hybrid fc control . also fig1 shows that the present fusion protein exerts a better blocking effect compared to that of commercially available hil - 1 ra in cells . the level of il - 8 was measured using elisa to compare the effect of the present fusion protein on inhibiting il - 8 secretion with the effect of anakinra and hil1ra fused to igg1 fc . hela cells ( 2 × 10 4 ) were seeded in each well of 48 well plate at 24 hours prior to transfection . then the hil - 1β were treated alone or co - treated with anakinra or with hil1ra fused to igg1 fc or with the present fusion protein at various concentrations for 24 hours . after the incubation , the media were collected and the amount of il - 8 was measured in each medium using duoset elisa development quantitation kit ( r & amp ; d systems ., inc ., dy208 ) according to the manufacturer &# 39 ; s instruction . 100 μl of coating antibody diluted with coating buffer was added to each well of 96 well plate and the plate was incubated at rt . then the plate was washed 3 times with tbst and 300 μl of blocking buffer containing 1 % bsa was added to each well and the plate was incubated for 1 hour at rt . the plate was then washed 3 times with tbst and 100 μl of standard solution in two fold serial dilution from 500 pg / ml to 0 pg / ml or the diluted sample were added to each well and the plate was incubated for 2 hour at rt . after the incubation , the plate was washed 3 times with tbst and 100 μl of biotin conjugated anti - hil - 8 detection antibody was added to each well and the plate was incubated for 2 hours . the plate was then washed 3 times with tbst and incubated with 100 μl of streptavidin hrp conjugated antibody at a ratio of 1 : 200 for 20 min at rt . then the plate was washed 3 times with tbst and 100 μl of tmb substrate was added to each well and incubated in the dark for 20 min at rt . the reaction was terminated by adding 50 μl of stop solution and the absorbance was measured in a plate reader at 450 nm . the concentration of il - 8 was calculated as ng / ml by multiplying the value obtained from elisa by dilution factor . fig2 and 21 show that the present fusion protein has blocking effect of the il - 8 production , a proinflammatory cytokine , by blocking hil - 1beta in cells . here anakinra and il - 1ra fused to igg1 fc were used for comparison . as shown in fig2 , when co - treated with hil - 1beta the present fusion protein exerted a better blocking activity of il - 8 secretion than that of commercially available anakinra . also fig2 shows that the present fusion protein has better blocking activity than that of the il - 1ra fused to igg1 fc . determination of the effect of the present fusion protein on suppressing arthritis using collagen - induced arthritis mouse model six weeks old dba - 1 mouse was treated with100 mg of bovine type ii collagen ( cii ) and complete freund &# 39 ; s adjuvant ( cfa ) ( arthrogen - cia , redmond , wash ., usa ) by subcutaneous injection into the part of the tail for inducing arthritis . after 2 weeks , 100 mg cii and incomplete freund &# 39 ; s adjuvant ( difco , detroit , mich .) were injected into the hind limb . to test the effect of anakinra and the present hil1ra - hyfc fusion protein on progressing arthritis , from the second week after the first collagen injection , the mice was treated with various concentrations of anakinra or the present hil1ra - hyfc fusion protein every other day for 4 weeks by peritoneal injection . to evaluation of the effect on arthritis two independent persons performed the evaluation 3 times a week for 7 weeks after the first injection on the four limbs . the evaluation was rated on a scale of 0 - 4 and the averaged values were used . fig2 shows the effect of the present fusion protein on the arthritis in a collagen induced arthritis mouse model . here negative control mouse was not treated with the protein and the positive control mouse was treated with il - 1ra , anakinra . as shown in fig2 ( a ) and ( b ), the present fusion protein successfully suppressed the development of arthritis at the lower concentration than that of hil - 1ra . the various singular / plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity . although a few embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown and described , it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention , the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents .	2
preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . as used herein “ flow rate ” means volumetric flow rate . particle size , expressed in microns , should be understood as aerodynamic diameter , as conventionally used in the art . fig1 shows a preferred embodiment as including a pm10 separating device 10 , an acceleration tube 12 , a collection tube 14 and a housing 16 surrounding the acceleration tube 12 and collection tube 14 . the housing 16 has a side - wall nozzle 18 through which a major portion of the sampled ambient air is drawn by a large volume suction device , e . g ., the suction side of an air pump 20 with volumetric flow control . the fine particle cut 22 , i . e ., 2 - 3 microns and smaller , is separated and collected in a fine particulate collector , e . g ., filter and filter holder 24 . a small volume suction device , e . g ., the inlet side of air pump 26 with volumetric flow control , draws a minor portion of the sampled ambient air , containing coarse fraction 28 of the particulate matter , through the collection nozzle 14 , whereby the coarse fraction 28 is separated and collected by a coarse particulate collector , e . g ., filter and filter housing 30 . the separating device 10 is preferably a high volume pm10 which removes particulates larger than 10 microns , such as one of models te - 6070 , te - 6070d , te - 6070v and te - 6070dv marketed by tisch environmental , inc . fig2 shows design details , inclusive of features important in the context of the intended manner of operation . as seen in fig2 , the acceleration tube 12 includes an inlet straight cylinder section 32 of constant inside diameter d 7 , a conical section 33 , and an outlet straight cylinder section 34 of constant inside diameter d 1 , all integrally joined . the inlet straight cylinder section 32 connects to the tisch pm10 separating device 10 at an angle α and connects to the conical section 33 at an angle 6 . the conical section 33 connects at its downstream ( smaller ) end to the outlet straight cylinder section 34 at an angle β . angles α , β and δ are preferably 45 ° or less , more preferably 20 - 45 °, to minimize turbulence and thereby provide a more precise cut point , preferably at pm2 . 5 , to better enable determination of compliance with the aforementioned u . s . e . p . a . standard . the collection tube 14 includes an inlet straight cylinder section 35 with a constant inside diameter ( i . d .) d 2 , and joined thereto at an angle α 1 , a conical section 36 . the conical section 36 tapers from i . d . d 2 to i . d . d 3 where it is joined to a coarse particulate collector , which in the embodiment depicted in fig1 and 2 is shown as filter 30 . as shown in fig2 the collection tube 35 is axially - aligned with the acceleration tube 33 , along a central axis 40 . the angle α 1 is not critical but is suitably 20 - 45 °, preferably approximately 45 °. while the particulate collectors 24 and 30 have been described as filters , any suitable conventional collector , e . g ., an electroprecipitator , could be used . the experiments described here employed a pm10 inlet commercially available from tisch ( pm10 hi - vol sampler , tisch environmental , cleaveland , ohio ), followed by a single round nozzle virtual impactor in the form of an acceleration tube 12 axially aligned with a collection tube 14 as shown in fig2 . the virtual impactor was operated with an intake flow rate of 1000 liters / minute ( lpm ). particles smaller than 10 μm in aerodynamic diameter were drawn through the virtual impactor and accelerated in passage through acceleration tube 12 , which was designed to have a theoretical 50 % cut point at about 2 . 5 μm for an intake flow rate of 1000 lpm . the acceleration nozzle jet was 1 . 4 cm in diameter ( i . d . )( d 1 = 1 . 4 cm ), whereas the collection nozzle was 2 cm in i . d . ( d 2 = 2 cm ). the two nozzles were separated by a gap of 2 cm ( d 4 ). the diameter of the cylindrical housing 16 ( d 5 ) was 10 cm . the straight cylinder inlet section 32 had an i . d . ( d 7 ) of 5 cm and a length ( d 6 ) of 5 cm ( d 6 can be up to 20 cm ). the conical section 33 had a length d 8 of 4 . 5 cm and the outlet straight cylinder section 34 had a length d 9 of 1 . 5 cm . the side - wall nozzle 18 had an i . d . ( d 10 ) of 5 cm and was aligned on a nozzle axis 42 intersecting central axis 40 at an angle of approximately 90 °. side - wall nozzle 18 was connected to an inlet 46 ( i . d . 5 cm ) and 45 ° plenum 47 of filter housing 24 . d 11 was 1 . 5 cm . for the collection tube 14 the inlet straight cylinder section extended 5 cm from support 44 ( d 12 = 5 cm ) and the conical section 36 extended therefrom at a 45 ° angle to join to the inlet side of filter housing 30 . the 50 % cut point can be estimated from the stokes number , st , defined as ( hinds , 1999 ): st = ρ p ⁢ u i ⁢ d p 2 ⁢ c c 9 ⁢ μ ⁢ ⁢ d 0 ( 1 ) where d p , ρ p , c c are the particle diameter , density and slip correction , μ is the air viscosity ( 1 . 81 × 10 − 4 g / cm · sec ), u i is the velocity through the acceleration jet , and d 0 is the inside diameter of the acceleration nozzle ( d 0 = d 1 = 1 . 4 cm ). the st corresponding to 10 μm particles is 0 . 30 , based on the nozzle dimensions and the flow rate , which is close to the value typically corresponding to the 50 % cut point of round - nozzle impactors ( marple and liu , 1974 ). coarse - mode particles ( 2 . 5 - 10 μm ) travel in an approximately straight path ( 28 in fig1 ) due to their inertia , cross the deflected air streamlines ( 22 in fig1 ) and are drawn through the collection nozzle 18 ( minor flow ). particles smaller than the cut point of the virtual impactor ( here 2 . 5μ ) are diverted along the major flow path 28 . the minor flow rate can vary from 3 - 10 % of the intake flow rate , depending on desired exposure concentration level and / or exposure flow rate needed . the pressure drop across the major flow path of the virtual impactor was 40 inches h 2 o . the performance of the apparatus shown in fig1 and 2 and its components were tested using a variety of different technologies and ambient aerosols . several continuous and semi - continuous particle measurement instruments were used to measure aerosol characteristics before and after enrichment . first , concentration enrichment as a function of particle size was determined by measuring the concentrations upstream and downstream of the virtual impactor by means of the tsi aerodynamic particle sizer ( aps tsi model 3320 ). tests were conducted at minor flow rates of 40 and 60 lpm , and the concentration enrichment factors , plotted in fig3 and 4 , were based on averages of repeated tests . for each configuration , at least 10 measurements upstream and downstream of the virtual impactor were taken . following the aps characterization , the sampler was evaluated in collocation with a modified micro - orifice uniform deposit impactor ( moudi , msp corporation , minneapolis , minn .) and a r & amp ; p partisol dichotomous sampler at the facilities of the university of southern california , in downtown los angeles in the field tests , the coarse speciation sampler operated at a total flow rate of 1 , 000 lpm and with a minor flow rate adjusted to 100 lpm . the ideal enrichment factor corresponding to this minor - to - total flow ratio would thus be 10 . the 100 lpm of minor flow were drawn into 90 mm filters 30 ( 2 μm , ptfe , gelman , ann arbor , mich .) whereas the 900 lpm of the major flow were drawn through 8 × 10 teflon coated glass fibre filters 24 ( 2 μm , ptfe , gelman , ann arbor , mich .). the moudi sampled at 30 lpm and was modified ( from its original 8 - stage configuration ) to include only 2 stages , collecting size - segregated particles in aerodynamic diameter ranges of 0 - 2 . 5 and 2 . 5 - 10 , respectively . 4 . 7 cm ptfe filters were used as impaction substrates in coarse pm moudi stages . the partisol sampled at 16 . 7 lpm total flow , of which 1 . 67 lpm and 15 lpm were diverted into 47 mm teflon filters for the minor and major flow collections , respectively . particle mass , sulfate , nitrate concentrations , as well as concentrations of trace elements and metals were determined for both ambient and concentrated aerosols measured by the three samplers . only mass measurements were conducted for the moudi , whereas mass , inorganic on and trace element concentrations were determined for both the coarse pm speciation sampler and the partisol . the sampling periods varied from 3 to 12 hours depending on the observed pm level . to determine particle mass concentrations , the ptfe filters of the moudi , partisol and tisch samplers were pre - weighed and post - weighed using a microbalance ( mt 5 , mettler - toledo inc ., highstown , n . j . ; sartorius microbalance mc - 5 , sartorius ag , goettingen , germany ) in a room with controlled temperature of 21 - 24 ° c . and relative humidity of 40 - 50 %. filters were weighed twice in order to increase precision . in case of a difference of more than 3 μg between consecutive weighings , the filter was weighed a third time or reweighed until two consecutive weighings differed by less than 3 μg . fifteen out of 21 pairs of ptfe filter samples collected by the tisch and partisol samplers were then analyzed by means of x - ray fluorescence ( xrf ) to determine concentrations of selected elements and metals . the remaining 6 pairs of coarse , as well as fine pm samples , were extracted with 0 . 15 ml of ethanol and 5 ml of ultrapure water . ethanol was used in order to wet the hydrophobic teflon filter . the samples were sonicated for 15 minutes and analyzed for sulfate and nitrate ions by means of ion chromatography ( ic ). samples that were lower than three times the lower limits of detection ( lad ) of either xrf or ic were excluded . coarse pm mass concentration data determined by tisch , moudi and partisol are shown in table 1 . in all subsequent tables and figures , the coarse particle concentration are in μg / m 3 and have been normalized to the intake flows of the tisch , moud i and partisol samplers , i . e ., at 1000 , 30 and 16 . 7 lpm , and not to the minor flows of the virtual impactors for the tisch and partisol . very good overall agreement can be seen among the three samplers , with the somewhat lower concentrations measured by tisch ( by roughly 10 %) being probably due to cutpoint differences between its virtual impactors and those of the moudi and partisol . the results of comparing coarse particulate nitrate and sulfate concentations collected by the tisch and partisol are shown in fig5 and 6 and tables 2 - 3 . the sulphate - based concentrations for both pm2 . 5 and coarse pm agree quite well , with the slightly smaller coarse pm measured by the tisch again being due to cutpoint differences , as sulfate and nitrate in los angeles have a significant mass fraction ( i . e ., 30 - 40 %) in the 1 - 3 μm range ( geller et al . 2004 ). hence , a small cutpoint difference may result in substantial differences in the concentrations measured by the 2 samplers . the pm10 concentrations also agree well between the two samplers , whereas for nitrate the coarse concentrations measured by the tisch appear to be smaller by about 30 %. the higher pm2 . 5 nitrate concentrations and the overall good agreement based on pm10 nitrate suggest that some of that difference may be due to cutpoint differences . however , it is likely that some of it may be related to higher losses of nitrate by volatilization in the tisch sampler . this is because the filter face velocity in the coarse pm collector of the tisch sampler is more than one order of magnitude higher compared to that of the partisol . the tisch and partisol comparison based on coarse pm concentrations of trace elements and metals is shown in fig7 and summarized in table 4 . the following metals and elements were selected based on their relative high amounts in the coarse mode relative to the fine mode pm : al , si , ca , k , fe , cu , and na . other elements were detected in the tisch but not the partisol sampler , given its much lower sampling flow rate , thus comparisons cannot be made for these elements based on insufficient data points . as in the previous cases where we report mass , sulfate and nitrate concentrations , the coarse pm concentrations of tisch and partisol are normalized to the intake flow of the samplers and not to the minor flows . the much higher ( i . e ., close to 1 ) tisch - partisol ratios obtained for the seven trace elements and metals indicate an overall excellent agreement between the two samplers for coarse pm . the overall correlation coefficient between the tisch - partisol data was r 2 = 0 . 89 as shown in fig7 , thereby indicating a high degree of correlation between the trace element and metal concentrations obtained with these two samplers . the much better agreement observed for these species compared to coarse pm nitrate ( and to a lesser extent sulfate ) is very likely due to the larger size distribution of these metals within the coarse mode compared to nitrate and sulphate . in that case , small differences in the cutpoints of the tisch and partisol virtual impactors would not result in substantial difference in the coarse mode measurements of species that are partitioned in sizes that are appreciably larger ( i . e ., & gt ; 3 μm ) than the cutpoints of the two samplers . the fact that these elements are also non - labile species , thus not prone to sampling artifacts related to losses of volatile compounds , further contributes to better agreement between tisch and partisol . the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof . the present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive , the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description , and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein .	6
referring initially to fig1 there is shown a catamaran 1 with a main body 2 suspended above the independently moveable hulls 3 . the gunnels on the near side are omitted to fully expose the cabin 4 and the hull locating arrangement for the visible hull . the hull locating arrangement comprises a back hull locating linkage 6 and a front hull locating linkage 7 . the front locating linkage shown includes a leading arm 8 rotatably connected to the body 2 by pivot 9 such as bearings or bushings and rotatably connected to the hull 3 by pivot 10 . this provides lateral , longitudinal and roll constraints to the motion of the hull relative to the body . although it can also provide a yaw constraint , the use of a second lateral constraint at a longitudinally spaced position ( i . e . the back locating linkage ) generally provides most of the yaw reaction . a front support means 11 ( such as a spring damper unit or one or more hydraulic cylinders ) is provided , packaged inside a suspension tower 12 which can be located in the gunnels or in the cabin structure for example . the front support means is connected to the body by pivot 13 and to the leading arm by pivot 14 . the distance of the connection point 14 of the front support cylinder 11 along the leading arm determines a mechanical advantage on the support cylinder and can be used for many beneficial reasons such as to reduce the total length of the cylinder ( or other support means ) to reduce the height of the suspension tower 12 and to improve the ratio of buckling strength versus weight of the cylinder 11 . fig2 shows the back hull locating linkage 6 in more detail with the body omitted for clarity . although in the figures the back hull locating linkage is shown substantially vertical with respect to the body at ride height , the linkage can be inclined to suit the packaging of the vessel , however this increases any longitudinal component of the rear support force acting on both the body and the hull and resolved through the leading arm . this rear locating linkage 6 is variable in length between the body pivot 21 and the hull pivot 22 and as shown in fig2 includes a sliding frame made up of two laterally spaced sliding members 24 and 25 . the sliding members are shown as cylindrical devices , but as the upper and lower pivots 21 and 22 reduce or remove the bending moment about laterally extending axes ( such as the pivot axes of the pivots ) the sliding members can be wider in section in a lateral direction than in a longitudinal direction . each sliding member has two parts , one of which slides inside the other telescopically . the outer part 26 is shown connected to the body and the inner part connected to the hull although the frame can be used inverted so that the inner part 27 is connected to the body . preferably bushings or bearings are used in pairs between the inner and outer parts of the sliding frame . for ease of maintenance these can be split shell bushes in the outer parts , although using a bush or bearing in the opposite end of each part from the pivots improves bearing spacing which can be beneficial . as with the front hull locating linkage , one or more support means is used to provide support to the vessel body . in fig2 the back support means is two hydraulic cylinders 28 and 29 which are connected either directly between the body and the hull or indirectly by being connected between the inner and outer parts of the sliding frame . the support means may comprise a supporting spring and a damper such as a hydraulic or pneumatic support cylinder and a shock absorber , or part of an interconnected suspension system such as those shown in the applicant &# 39 ; s previously mentioned international patent applications , details of which are incorporated herein by reference . the stroke of the suspension system ( the vertical travel of the hull relative to the body ) together with the lack of mechanical advantage ( or lever ratio ) of the back hull locating linkage 6 and back support cylinders 28 and 29 can require the top of the linkage to be housed above the deck of the body , such as in a suspension tower 30 which is preferably tied or integrated into the gunnels or the cabin or other superstructure as shown in fig1 . alternatively or additionally the lower ends of the sliding frame and support means can be recessed into wells 34 or cut - outs in the hulls as shown in fig2 . such a well can be sealed from the buoyant volume of the hull and to prevent water from collecting in the well 34 a vent 35 or other means of drainage can be provided as shown . alternatively , the support means such as cylinders 28 and 29 can be located in one or more of the sliding members 24 and 25 , in which case it is possible to use a single sliding member which penetrates the hull and is sealed by a flexible membrane between the sliding member and the hull . a large stroke of the variable length arm arrangement with no mechanical advantage as shown in the rear linkage can require the support cylinders to be larger than hydraulically necessary to avoid the mechanical risk of buckling . this is particularly necessary when the cylinders are free to rotate at both ends , so a more efficient solution is to fix the ends of the cylinders to the outer and inner parts of the sliding frame . in this case alignment is especially important , so preferably the force of each support cylinder 28 , 29 is aligned with a plane defined by the sliding axes of the laterally spaced sliding members 24 , 25 as shown in fig2 . preferably the outer parts 26 of sliding members 24 and 25 are laterally connected by a beam 41 as shown in fig3 and the inner parts 27 are connected by a beam 42 to improve the rigidity of the sliding frame and reduce variations in alignment of the inner and outer parts . the operation and life of the sliding frame can be improved by minimising such misalignment and by minimising the side load on the bearings between the inner and outer parts through keeping the line of action of the total force from the support means as close to the pivot axes of the sliding frame as possible . where the width of the back hull locating linkage is limited and two support cylinders are used , the support cylinders can be positioned on either side of the plane defined by the axes of the two sliding members as shown in fig3 . as discussed with respect to fig2 , the support cylinders of the arrangement shown in fig3 can be rigidly fixed between the inner and outer parts of the sliding frame even when the support cylinders are not in line with the sliding members , as long as the axes of both cylinders and both sliding members are parallel . fig4 to 7 show the range of displacements possible between the hulls and the body . the suspension is fully compressed in fig4 and fully extended in fig5 . in fig6 the suspension is in a full pitch in the hull nose up direction and similarly in fig7 hull nose down full pitch travel is shown . when the left and right hulls of the catamaran pitch in opposite directions , a warp mode ( not shown ) is possible . in fig8 , the inner 27 and outer 26 parts of the laterally spaced sliding members 24 and 25 are not concentric . a lower - mid beam 43 braces between the lower ends of the outer parts 26 and locates bushings 46 around the inner parts 27 . similarly an upper - mid beam 44 braces between the upper ends of the inner parts 27 and locates bushings 45 around the outer parts 26 . this arrangement can increase the torsional rigidity of the sliding members by forming an upper frame and a lower frame and can improve serviceability by placing all the bushings in more easily accessible locations . the upper ( or outer ) frame comprises the outer parts 26 , the lower - mid beam 43 and the upper beam 41 between the tops of the outer members . the lower ( or inner ) frame comprises the inner parts 27 , the upper - mid beam 44 and the lower beam 42 between the bottoms of the inner members . as with the arrangement shown in fig3 , the support rams 28 and 29 can be mounted directly between the upper beam 41 and the lower beam 42 in any arrangement desired such as the longitudinal spacing shown in fig3 or the lateral spacing shown in fig8 . fig9 to 11 show another preferred arrangement of sliding linkage , again shown towards the back of the hull as a back hull locating linkage ( although again it could be used towards the front of the hull if desired ). the lower end is again shown recessed into a well 34 in the hull in fig9 . the laterally spaced sliding members ( 24 , 25 ) are now nesting u - section beams in place of the concentric tubes shown in fig2 and 3 or the pairs of adjacent tubes shown in fig8 . the outer parts 26 of each sliding member are fixed to each other by the top beam 41 , plus a lower brace 47 and two diagonal braces 48 on each side ( ie front and back ) forming an outer frame 49 . the pivots ( bushings or bearings ) 21 between the outer frame and the body form the body end pivot axis . the hull end pivot axis is formed by bushings or bearings between the inner parts 27 and the mount brackets 40 . in fig9 the sliding linkage is shown in the compressed position with part of the hull shown , but the body omitted for clarity . cover plates 50 are shown between the outer parts 26 and fill much of the rectangular outer frame which they contribute to forming . the cover plates 50 can be used to add stiffness to the rectangular outer frame in place of or in addition to the diagonal braces 48 and / or as shields to simply to protect the hydraulic components from direct exposure to the elements and / or to provide a barrier to deflect water flowing over the top of the hull ( for example to provide some protection of an engine air intake if the engine is located in or on the back of the hull ). additionally or alternatively , similar cover plates can be provided between the inner parts 27 to fill some or all of the rectangular frame they form . in fig1 and 11 the locating linkage is shown in the fully extended position , with the hull omitted for clarity and the cover plates omitted to reveal the support rams 28 and 29 and an optional compression stop tube 55 and compression stop resilient elements 56 . while it is possible to package compression and rebound travel limit stops within the u - shaped vertical beams of the inner and outer frames , it can be more space efficient to package one or both functions separately . the inner parts 27 of each sliding member are fixed to each other by the lower beam 42 , plus mid brace 58 and diagonal braces 59 forming an inner frame 60 . bearing covers 61 on the outer frame 49 shield roller bearings 62 visible in the sectional view of fig1 . the roller bearings 62 are mounted to the outer frame 49 and bear on the inner frame 60 ( or a bearing surface fixed to the inner frame ). similarly roller bearings 64 are mounted to the inner frame and bear on the outer frame 49 ( or a bearing surface fixed thereto ). the roller bearings 62 and 64 resolve lateral and roll forces between the hull and the body . similarly roller bearings are provided on the front and back of the inner and outer frames ( such as under bearing covers 65 on the outer frame ) to resolve bending loads in the locating linkage in a plane perpendicular to the pivot axes of the linkage pivots 21 and 22 . alternatively , some or all of the roller bearings forming the sliding mechanism between the inner and outer frames can be replaced by sliding bearings and any or all can be adjustable to ensure correct alignment and correct for wear . in the example shown in fig1 , the joints 70 connecting the cylinder portions 71 of each of the rams 28 and 29 to the top beam 41 are shown as a pair of annular bushings 73 around a pin 72 . in each case one bushing is between the top of the cylinder body and the top beam , the other bushing is between the top beam and a washer held on the pin by a nut . the lower ends of the rams ( ie the rod ends 77 on the ends of rods 78 ) can be connected to part of the inner frame such as the lower beam 42 or to mounts adjacent to the frame mounts 79 . the mounting axis of the rod ends 77 does not need to be aligned with the joint axis of the frame mounts 40 which form the hull pivots 22 . if the braces 58 and 59 are omitted from one side of the lower frame as shown , then support brackets can be added between the lower brace 47 on the outer frame and the lower ends of the cylinder portions 71 to prevent or limit relative motion and protect against buckling of the rams 28 and 29 . the cross - section of fig1 ( cut through the locating linkage of fig1 ) is cut through the pivot axes of the body pivots 21 and the hull pivots 22 , the locating linkage being substantially symmetrical about this plane . the centre - lines of the rams 28 and 29 also lie in this plane and the roller bearings are symmetrical about this plane , ie if the sliding axes of the sliding mechanism between the inner and outer frames are assumed to be though the centroid axes of the outer and / or inner u - shaped beams 26 , 27 , then in the illustrated example the rams are parallel with the sliding axes and lie in the same plane as the sliding axes and the pivot axes . the inner and outer frames can be complex to manufacture to suitable bearing tolerances ( due to distortion if welded together for example ) and it can be difficult to machine the desired surfaces to the correct tolerances once the frames are assembled , so fig1 and 13 show a modified construction of the arrangement from fig9 to 11 whereby the bearings and planar running surfaces of the inner and outer frames are replaced by rods and cylindrical bushings . the arrangement combines elements of the arrangements from fig2 and fig9 to 11 with additional modifications . a pair of rods or tubes 85 are positioned in each side of the inner frame 60 , between pairs of side beams 89 . each pair of rods is fixed to an upper plate 87 at their top end and to a lower plate at their lower end . the upper plates 87 are fixed to the upper ends of the side beams 89 . the lower plates 88 are fixed to the lower beams 42 on the front and back of the frame . the front and back of the inner frame each include a lower beam 42 , an upper beam 57 , two side beams 89 and two diagonal braces 59 and these components can be fixed together into a front and a back assembly prior to mounting of the running surfaces ( of the rods ). the advantage of this construction is that the alignment of each rod in a pair of rods is easily achieved by the machining of the plates 87 and 88 and that the alignment of the two pairs of rods within the inner frame can be assured through the fixing of the plates to the front and back assemblies of the inner frame after the front and back assemblies have been welded or otherwise fixed together . bearing or bushing blocks 90 can be fixed to the u - shaped beams of the outer frame 49 after the outer frame has been assembled . the outer frame can include additional bracing as shown in fig9 to 11 . the outer and / or inner frames can again include covers to brace between the beams of the frames and provide protection and water deflection as previously discussed . the bearing or bushing blocks 90 preferably utilise sliding bushing material sleeves such as ptfe coated shells and can be split to allow replacement of the sliding bushings . providing the bushings for both adjacent rods of a pair in a single block 90 ( or split block that fits around both rods ) again allows for the blocks to be machined accurately prior to fitting to the outer frame . each pair of rods 85 with the upper and lower bushing blocks 90 tied together by the u - shaped beams 26 of the outer frame are similar in function to the outer parts 26 and inner parts 27 of the laterally spaced sliding members 24 and 25 in fig2 , so each pair of rods and bushing blocks could be referred to as one of the laterally spaced sliding members . although not shown , compression stops can be provided in the locating linkage , for example , by placing resilient stops inside the top corners of the outer frame attached to the u - shaped beams 26 and 41 . such stops can act on the upper plates 87 for the rods or on brackets attached to the upper plates . alternatively the compression stops between the inner and outer frames can be attached to the upper plates 87 of the inner frame and act on the top beam 41 of the outer frame . the upper plates 87 can be stepped to allow the compression stops to be packaged adjacent to the rods 85 to reduce the dead length in the locating linkage . similarly rebound stops ( not shown ) can be provided , for example on brackets attached to the u - shaped beams 26 of the outer frame just above the upper of the bushing blocks 90 , to contact the underside of the upper plates 87 of the inner frame . the cross - section of fig1 ( cut through the locating linkage of fig1 ) is cut through the pivot axes of the body and hull pivots ( not shown ) in a similar manner to fig1 and again the locating linkage is substantially symmetrical about this plane and as is preferable , the centre - lines of the rams 28 and 29 also lie in this plane . if the sliding axes of the sliding mechanism between the inner and outer frames are defined as being half way between the primary axis of each rod 85 in a pair forming part of the laterally spaced sliding members 24 and 25 , then in the illustrated example the rams are parallel with and lie in the same plane as the sliding axes . the arrangements shown in fig9 to 13 provide lower forces in the bearings of the sliding mechanism than offsetting the centre lines of the rams from the plane through the pivot axes of body and hull pivots 21 and 22 . fig1 shows a diagrammatic side view of the arrangement of fig9 to 11 . however in any arrangement of the present invention it can be beneficial to maintain a small load on at least some of the bearings in one direction around the static equilibrium point of the vessel at ride height . to this end the centre - line 91 of the rams ( and therefore , when the end joints are positioned on the centre - line to minimise bending loads in the rams , the line of action of the rams ) can be angled slightly relative to the plane 92 through the pivot axes of body and hull pivots 21 and 22 as shown in fig1 . the angle ( as shown by the arrow 93 ) can be up to 30 degrees at mid stroke or ride height , but is preferably less , for example 20 degrees , 10 degrees , 5 degrees or as in fig1 substantially zero . where the plane through the pivot axes of the body and hull pivots is significantly inclined ( and it can be up to 40 degrees from perpendicular to the body ) the angle of the ram line of action is preferably not greater than another 15 degrees in the same direction , but can be up to 30 degrees back towards perpendicular to the body . the rods 78 can be joined to the lower frame by joints 77 at any position on the inner frame , but preferably near the lower beam 42 as shown . the cylinder portions of the rams can be joined to the body ( not shown ) or to a bracket or other structure attached to or forming part of the outer frame 49 as illustrated . alternatively or additionally , to maintain a small load on at least some of the bearings in one direction around the static equilibrium point of the vessel at ride height , the line of action or centre - line 91 of the rams can be offset from the plane 92 through the pivot axes of body and hull pivots 21 and 22 as shown by the arrow 94 in fig1 . the offset 94 is preferably less than 5 percent of the length of the hull , but can be up to 10 percent of the length of the hull where the hull is relatively short ( compared to the length of the vessel , as for example in the case of a hull on a quadmaran ). offsets between zero and 5 percent of the length of the hull are also beneficial , for example 1 percent or 2 percent of the length of the hull . alternatively or additionally the offset 94 is preferably less than 25 percent of the distance between the pivot axes of body and hull pivots 21 and 22 when the locating linkage is at mid stroke or ride height . again offsets between zero and 25 percent of the distance between the pivot axes of body and hull pivots 21 and 22 when the locating linkage is at mid stroke or ride height can be beneficial , such as 5 and 10 percent . even if the line of action or centre - line 91 of the rams is angled or offset from the plane through the sliding axes and / or from the plane through the body and hull pivots 21 and 22 , preferably the rams are packaged within the arrangement of inner and outer frames . the advantages of this are many , including : frames can be braced and covered to shield the rams from direct exposure to the elements and direct water flowing over the hulls away from engine components ; low bending loads in the locating linkage , reducing required weight ; single load path ( in side view ) for the locating linkage so suspension geometry loads and support loads all flow through the same reinforced points on the body or the hulls ; packing of the suspension geometry and support components in the same area , minimising the number of intrusions into the body or hulls ; and low preload forces on the bearings or bushings of the sliding mechanism between the inner and outer frames , allowing a low running friction of the mechanism allowing the locating linkage to vary in length . it should be understood that the sliding arm can be applied to different geometries of hull locating arrangement . for example , the sliding arm can be used in the front locating linkage and a trailing arm could then be used in the rear locating linkage . alternatively the front leading arm could be replaced with a trailing arm or other suspension geometry . another alternative for example is to use a pair of sliding arms , one being substantially vertical relative to the body and using a body mount with substantially no rotation so that the vertical sliding arm provides longitudinal location of the hull , the other sliding arm remaining pivoted to the body to permit pitch motions of the hull relative to the body . hydraulic rams 28 , 29 have been shown in the figures to support the body of the vessel , but other forms of linear actuator and / or spring could be used . for example a coil or air spring can be used with a linear damper ( or shock absorber ) and the spring seat can even be adjusted as is known in automotive suspension systems to adjust for example the roll attitude of the body above the hulls . modifications and variations as would be apparent to a skilled addressee are deemed to be within the scope of the present invention .	1
a preferred embodiment of the present invention and variations thereon will be described in detail with reference to the drawings , in which like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout . we start by describing a baseline clustered processor model that has been commonly used in earlier studies . such a model is shown in fig1 as 100 , with four clusters 102 ( individually designated 102 - 1 , 102 - 2 , 102 - 3 , and 102 - 4 ). upstream from the four clusters 102 are an instruction cache 104 , a branch predictor 106 , an instruction fetch cache 108 , a steering register rename unit 110 , and a reorder buffer 112 . within each cluster 102 are an issue queue 114 , a register file 116 , and functional units 118 . downstream from the clusters 102 are a load / store queue ( lsq ) 120 and a data cache 122 . the branch predictor 106 and instruction cache 104 are centralized structures , just as in a conventional processor . at the time of register renaming in the steering register rename unit 110 , each instruction gets assigned to a specific cluster . each cluster 102 has its own issue queue 114 , register file 116 , a set of functional units 118 , and its own local bypass network . bypassing of results within a cluster does not take additional cycles ( in other words , dependent instructions in the same cluster can issue in successive cycles ). however , if the consuming instruction is not in the same cluster as the producer , it has to wait additional cycles until the result is communicated across the two clusters . a conventional clustered processor distributes only the register file 116 , issue queue 114 , and the functional units 118 among the clusters 102 . the data cache 122 is centrally located . an alternative organization distributes the cache among the clusters , thereby making the design more scalable , but also increasing the implementation complexity . since both organizations are attractive design options , we evaluate the effect of dynamic tuning on both organizations . in the traditional clustered designs , once loads and stores are ready , they are inserted into a centralized load - store queue ( lsq ) 120 . from here , stores are sent to the centralized l1 cache when they commit and loads are issued when they are known to not conflict with earlier stores . the lsq is centralized because a load in any cluster could conflict with an earlier store from any of the other clusters . for the aggressive processor models that we are studying , the cache has to service a number of requests every cycle . an efficient way to implement a high bandwidth cache is to make it word - interleaved . for a 4 - way word - interleaved cache , the data array is split into four banks and each bank can service one request every cycle . data with word addresses of the form 4n are stored in bank 0 , of the form 4n + 1 are stored in bank 1 , and so on . such an organization supports a maximum bandwidth of four and helps minimize conflicts to a bank . in a processor with a centralized cache , the load latency depends on the distance between the centralized cache and the cluster issuing the load . in our study , we assume that the centralized lsq and cache are co - located with cluster 102 - 1 . hence , a load issuing from cluster 102 - 1 does not experience any communication cost . a load issuing from cluster 102 - 2 takes one cycle to send the address to the lsq and cache and another cycle to get the data back ( assuming that each hop between clusters takes a cycle ). similarly , cluster 102 - 3 experiences a total communication cost of four cycles for each load . this is in addition to the few cycles required to perform the cache ram look - up . steering heuristics will now be discussed . a clustered design allows a faster clock , but incurs a noticeable ipc degradation because of inter - cluster communication and load imbalance . minimizing these penalties with smart instruction steering has been the focus of many recent studies . we use an effective steering heuristic that steers an instruction ( and its destination register ) to the cluster that produces most of its operands . in the event of a tie or under circumstances where an imbalance in issue queue occupancy is seen , instructions are steered to the least loaded cluster . by picking an appropriate threshold to detect load imbalance , such an algorithm can also approximate other proposed steering heuristics like mod_n and first_fit . the former minimizes load imbalance by steering n instructions to one cluster , then steering to its neighbor . the latter minimizes communication by filling up one cluster before steering instructions to its neighbor . we empirically determined the optimal threshold value for load balance . further , our steering heuristic also uses a criticality predictor to give a higher priority to the cluster that produces the critical source operand . thus , our heuristic represents the state - of - the - art in steering mechanisms . in a highly clustered processor , the centralized cache can be a major bottleneck , as it has to support a high bandwidth , and its average distance to the requesting clusters increases . hence , a distributed cache model represents an attractive design option . for an n - cluster system , we assume that the l1 cache is broken into n word - interleaved banks . each bank is associated with its own cluster . the lsq is also split across the different clusters . the example in fig2 shows an organization with four clusters . the processor model 200 of fig2 differs from the processor model 100 of fig1 in that each cluster 202 includes a distributed lsq 220 and a distributed data cache 222 . also , a bank predictor 209 is provided . because the various banks are word - interleaved , they cache mutually exclusive data and do not require any cache coherence protocol between them . the goal of the steering mechanism is to steer a load or store to the cluster that caches the corresponding memory address . we discuss the additional steering complexities arising from the distributed nature of the cache below . the l2 cache continues to be co - located with cluster 1 ( 202 - 1 ), and a miss in any of the l1 cache banks other than that associated with this cluster incurs additional latency depending on the number of hops . as process technologies shrink and the number of clusters is increased , attention must be paid to the communication delays and interconnect topology between clusters . cross - cluster communication occurs at the front - end as well as when communicating register values across clusters or when accessing the cache . since the former occurs in every cycle , we assume a separate network for this purpose and model non - uniform dispatch latencies as well as the additional latency in communicating a branch mispredict back to the front - end . since the latter two ( cache and register - to - register communication ) involve data transfer to / from registers , we assume that the same ( separate ) network is used . in the preferred embodiment , we focus on a ring interconnect because of its low implementation complexity . each cluster is directly connected to two other clusters . we assume two unidirectional rings , implying that a 16 - cluster system has 32 total links ( allowing 32 total transfers in a cycle ), with the maximum number of hops between any two nodes being 8 . below , as part of our sensitivity analysis , we also show results for a grid interconnect , which has a higher implementation cost but higher performance . the clusters are laid out in a two - dimensional array . each cluster is directly connected to up to four other clusters . for 16 clusters , there are 48 total links , with the maximum number of hops being 6 , thus reducing the overall communication cost . our simulator is based on simplescalar - 3 . 0 for the alpha axp instruction set . the simulator has been modified to represent a microarchitecture resembling the alpha 21264 . the register update unit ( ruu ) is decomposed into issue queues , physical register files , and the reorder buffer ( rob ). the issue queue and the physical register file are further split into integer and floating - point . thus , each cluster in our study is itself decomposed into an integer and floating - point cluster . the memory hierarchy is also modeled in detail ( including word - interleaved access , bus and port contention , writeback buffers , etc ). this base processor structure was modified to model the clustered microarchitecture . to represent a wire - delay constrained processor at future technologies , each cluster core was assumed to have one functional unit of each type , 30 physical registers ( int and fp , each ), and 15 issue queue entries ( int and fp , each ). as many instructions can issue in a cycle as the number of available functional units . we assume that each hop on the interconnect takes a single cycle . while we did not model a trace cache , we assumed that instructions could be fetched from up to two basic blocks at a time . the important simulation parameters are summarized in table 1 below . our study focuses on wire - limited technologies of the future and we pick latencies according to projections for 0 . 035μ . we used cacti - 3 . 0 to estimate access times for the cache organizations . with simplescalar , we simulated cache organizations with different size and port parameters ( and hence different latencies ) to determine the best base cases . these parameters are summarized in table 2 below . the centralized cache yielded best performance for a 4 - way word - interleaved 32 kb cache . such a cache has a bandwidth of four accesses per cycle and an access time of six cycles . the best decentralized cache organization has a single - ported four - cycle 16 kb bank in each cluster . as a benchmark set , we used four spec2k integer programs , three spec2k fp programs , and two programs from the ucla mediabench . the details on these programs are listed in table 3 below . the programs represent a mix of various program types , including high and low ipc codes , and those limited by memory , branch mispredictions , etc . most of these programs were fast forwarded through the first two billion instructions and simulated in detail to warm the various processor structures before measurements were taken . while we are simulating an aggressive processor model , not all our benchmark programs have a high ipc . note that an aggressive processor design is motivated by the need to run high ipc codes and by the need to support multiple threads . in both cases , the quick completion of a single low - ipc thread is still important — hence the need to include such programs in the benchmark set . for brevity , we focus our initial analysis on the 16 - cluster model with the centralized cache and the ring interconnect . fig3 shows the effect of statically using a fixed subset of clusters for a program . increasing the number of clusters increases the average distance of a load / store instruction from the centralized cache and the worst - case inter - cluster bypass delay , thereby greatly affecting the overall communication cost . assuming zero inter - cluster communication cost for loads and stores improved performance by 31 %, while assuming zero cost for register - to - register communication improved performance by 11 %, indicating that increased load / store latency dominates the communication overhead . this latency could be reduced by steering load / store instructions to the cluster closest to the cache , but this would increase load imbalance and register communication . the average latency for inter - cluster register communication in the 16 - cluster system was 4 . 1 cycles . at the same time , using more clusters also provides the program with more functional units , registers , and issue queue entries , thus allowing it to dispatch a larger window of in - flight instructions . depending on which of these two conflicting forces dominates , performance either improves or worsens as the number of clusters is increased . programs with distant ilp , like djpeg ( jpeg decoding from mediabench ), swim , mgrid , and galgel ( loop - based floating - point programs from spec2k ) benefit from using many resources . on the other hand , most integer programs with low branch prediction accuracies can not exploit a large window of in - flight instructions . hence , increasing the resources only degrades performance because of the additional communication cost . this is a phenomenon hitherto unobserved in a clustered processor ( partly because very few studies have looked at more than four clusters and partly because earlier studies assumed no communication cost in accessing a centralized cache ). our goal is to tune the hardware to the program &# 39 ; s requirements by dynamically allocating clusters to the program . this can be achieved by modifying the steering heuristic to disallow instruction dispatch to the disabled clusters . in other words , disabling is equivalent to not assigning any new instructions to the cluster . instructions already assigned to the disabled clusters are allowed to complete , resulting in a natural draining of the cluster . at the start of each program phase , we run each configuration option for an interval and record the ipcs . we then pick the configuration with the highest ipc and use it until the next phase change is detected . such a mechanism is heavily reliant on the program &# 39 ; s ability to sustain uniform performance over a number of intervals . we found that floating - point programs generally show this behavior , while the integer programs show a lot more variability . while earlier studies have assumed fixed interval lengths , we found that this would result in very poor performance for a number of programs . hence , picking an appropriate interval length is fundamental to the success of a configuration selection algorithm ( and can be universally applied to the configuration of other aspects of the processor in addition to the number of clusters ). to study the variability of program behavior over different intervals , we ran each of the programs for billions of instructions to generate a trace of various statistics at regular 10k instruction intervals . we used three metrics to define a program phase — ipc , branch frequency , and frequency of memory references . at the start of each program phase , the statistics collected during the first interval were used as reference . for each ensuing interval , if the three metrics for that interval were similar to the reference points , the interval was termed ‘ stable ’. if any of the three metrics was significantly different , we declared the interval as ‘ unstable ’ and began a new program phase . this analysis was done for many interval lengths . the instability factor for an interval length is the percentage of intervals that were considered ‘ unstable ’, i . e ., the frequency of the occurrence of a phase change . in our study , we found that it was sufficient to only explore a limited subset of the possible configurations ( 2 , 4 , 8 , and 16 clusters ) as they covered most of the interesting cases . an instability factor of 5 % ensures that less than 15 % of the intervals are in sub - optimal configurations . table 4 below shows the smallest interval length that affords an acceptable instability factor of less than 5 % for each of our programs . as can be seen , the interval lengths that emerge as the best vary from 10k to 40m . we also show the instability factor for a fixed interval length of 10k instructions . clearly , this interval length works poorly for a number of programs and would result in quite unacceptable performance . most programs usually show consistent behavior across intervals for a coarse enough interval length , making interval - based schemes very robust and universally applicable . even a program like parser , whose behavior varies dramatically based on the input data , has a low instability factor for a large 40m instruction interval . in order to arrive at the optimal instruction interval length at run - time , we use a simple algorithm . we start with the minimum instruction interval . if the instability factor is too high , we double the size of the interval and repeat this until we either experience a low instability factor or reach a pre - specified limit ( say , a billion instructions ). if we reach the limit , we cease to employ the selection algorithm and pick the configuration that was picked most often . once we pick an interval length , we need not remain at that interval length forever . the program might move from one large macrophase to another that might have a completely different optimal instruction interval . to deal with this , we can continue to hierarchically build phase detection algorithms . an algorithm that inspects statistics at a coarse granularity ( say , every 100 billion instructions ) could trigger the detection of a new macrophase , at which point , we would restart the selection algorithm with a 10k interval length and find the optimal interval length all over again . for completeness , in the code listing below , we describe our algorithm that selects the interval length , detects phases , and selects the best configuration at run - time . at the start of a phase , the statistics collected in the first interval serve as a reference point against which to compare future statistics and detect a phase change . the branch and memory reference frequencies are microarchitecture - independent parameters and can be used to detect phase changes even during the exploration process . after exploration , the best performing configuration is picked and its ipc is also used as a reference . a phase change is signaled if either the number of branches , the number of memory references , or the ipc differs significantly from the reference point . occasionally , there is a slight change in ipc characteristics during an interval ( perhaps caused by a burst of branch mispredicts or cache misses ), after which , behavior returns to that of the previous phase . to discourage needless explorations in this scenario , we tolerate some noise in the ipc measurements ( with the num ipc variations parameter ). in addition , if phase changes are frequent , the instability variable is incremented and eventually , the interval length is doubled . differs from that in the reference point by more than 10 %) num_ipc_variations = 0 ; ( this indicates the number of times there was a stable_state = false ; ( this is set only after all configs are explored ) this entire process of run - time reconfiguration can be implemented in software with support from hardware event counters . a low - overhead software routine ( like that used for software tlb miss handling ) that inspects various hardware counters before making a decision on the subsequent configuration is invoked at every interval . the algorithm amounts to about 100 assembly instructions , only a small fraction of which are executed at each invocation . even for the minimum interval length of 10k instructions , this amounts to an overhead of much less than 1 %. implementing the selection algorithm in software allows greater flexibility and opens up the possibility for application - specific algorithms . algorithms at higher levels that detect changes in macrophases have an even lower overhead . since the algorithm runs entirely in software , most program - specific state resides in memory as opposed to hardware registers . hence , apart from the event counters , no additional state has to be saved and restored on a context switch . results will now be presented . in fig4 , the third bar illustrates the impact of using the interval - based selection mechanism with exploration at the start of each program phase . as reference points , the first two bars show the static organizations with four and 16 clusters . we see that in almost all cases , the dynamic scheme does a very good job in approximating the performance of the best static organization . for floating - point programs with little instability ( galgel , mgrid , swim ), the dynamic scheme easily matches the hardware to the program &# 39 ; s requirements . for the integer programs , in most cases , there is an initial unstable period when the interval size is inappropriate . consistent with our earlier analysis , the interval size is increased until it settles at one that allows an instability factor of less than 5 %. in parser , the simulation interval was not long enough to allow the dynamic scheme to settle at the required 40m instruction interval . in djpeg , it takes a number of intervals for the interval size to be large enough ( 1 . 28m instructions ) to allow a small instability factor . further , since the interval length is large , many opportunities for reconfiguration are missed . there are small phases within each interval where the ilp characteristics are different . for these two reasons , the dynamic scheme falls short of the performance of the fixed static organization with 16 clusters for djpeg . in the case of gzip , there are a number of prolonged phases , some with distant ilp characteristics , and others with low amounts of distant ilp . since the dynamic scheme picks the best configuration at any time , its performance is better than even the best static fixed organization . on average , 8 . 3 of the 16 clusters were disabled at any time across the benchmark set . in the absence of any other workload , this produces a great savings in leakage energy , provided the supply voltage to these unused clusters can be turned off . likewise , for a multi - threaded workload , even after optimizing single - thread performance , more than eight clusters still remain for use by the other threads . overall , the dynamic interval - based scheme with exploration performs about 11 % better than the best static fixed organization . it is also very robust — it applies to every program in our benchmark set as there is usually a coarse enough interval length such that behavior across those intervals is fairly consistent . however , the downside is the inability to target relatively short phases . we experimented with smaller initial interval lengths , but found that the dynamic scheme encountered great instability at these small interval lengths , and hence , the interval lengths were increased to a larger value just as before . this is caused by the fact that measurements become noisier as the interval size is reduced and it is harder to detect the same program metrics across intervals and accordingly identify the best configuration for any phase . to alleviate these problems , we attempted an alternative interval - based scheme . instead of exploring various configurations at the start of each program phase , we used a 16 - cluster configuration for an interval and based on the degree of available distant ilp , we selected either a four or 16 - cluster configuration for subsequent intervals until the next phase change ( our earlier results indicate that these are the two most meaningful configurations and cover most cases ). an instruction is marked as distant if it is at least 120 instructions younger than the oldest instruction in the rob . at the time of issue , the instruction sets a bit in its rob entry if it is distant . at the time of commit , this bit is used to increment the ‘ degree of distant ilp ’. since each cluster has 30 physical registers , four clusters are enough to support about 120 in - flight instructions . if the number of distant instructions issued in an interval exceeds a certain threshold , it indicates that 16 clusters would be required to exploit the available distant ilp . in our experiments , we use a threshold value of 160 for an interval length of 1000 . because there is no exploration phase , the hardware reacts quickly to a program phase change and reconfiguration at a finer granularity becomes meaningful . hence , we focus on small fixed instruction intervals and do not attempt to increase the interval length at run - time . however , since the decision is based on program metrics instead of exploration , some accuracy is compromised . further , the smaller the interval length , the faster the reaction to a phase change , but the noisier the measurements , resulting in some incorrect decisions . fig4 also shows results for such a mechanism for three different fixed interval lengths . an interval length of 1k instructions provides the best trade - off between accuracy and fast reactions to phase changes . overall , it shows the same 11 % improvement over the best static base case . however , in a program like djpeg , it does much better ( 21 %) than the interval - based scheme with exploration because of its ability to target small phases with different requirements . unfortunately , it takes a performance hit in programs like galgel and gzip because the small interval - length and the noisy measurements result in frequent phase changes and inaccurate decision - making . one of the primary reasons for this is the fact that the basic blocks executed in successive 1000 instruction intervals are not always the same . as a result , frequent phase changes are signaled and each new phase change results in an interval with 16 clusters , to help determine the distant ilp . to alleviate this problem , we examine a fine - grain reconfiguration scheme at basic block boundaries . to allow reconfiguration at a fine granularity , we look upon every branch as a potential phase change . we need to determine if a branch is followed by a high degree of distant ilp , in which case , dispatch should continue freely , else , dispatch should be limited to only the first four clusters . exploring various configurations is not a feasible option as there are likely to be many neighboring branches in different stages of exploration resulting in noisy measurements for each branch . hence , until we have enough information , we assume dispatch to 16 clusters and compute the distant ilp characteristics following every branch . this is used to update a reconfiguration table so that when the same branch is later encountered , it is able to pick the right number of clusters . if we encounter a branch with no entry in the table , we assume a 16 - cluster organization so that we can determine its degree of distant ilp . assuming that four clusters can support roughly 120 instructions , to determine if a branch is followed by distant ilp , we need to identify how many of the 360 committed instructions following a branch were distant when they issued . accordingly , either four or 16 clusters would be appropriate . to effect this computation , we keep track of the distant ilp nature of the 360 last committed instructions . a single counter can be updated by the instructions entering and leaving this queue of 360 instructions so that a running count of the distant ilp can be maintained . when a branch happens to be the oldest of these 360 instructions , its degree of distant ilp is indicated by the value in the counter . there is likely to still be some interference from neighboring branches . to make the mechanism more robust , we sample the behavior for a number of instances of the same branch before creating an entry for it in the reconfiguration table . further , we can fine - tune the granularity of reconfiguration by attempting changes only for specific branches . for example , we found that best performance was achieved when we attempted changes for only every fifth branch . we also show results for a mechanism that attempts changes only at subroutine calls and returns . we formalize the algorithm below : the downside of the approach just described is the fact that initial measurements dictate future behavior . the nature of the code following a branch could change over the course of the program . it might not always be easy to detect such a change , especially if only four clusters are being used and the degree of distant ilp is not evident . to deal with this situation , we flush the reconfiguration table at periodic intervals . we found that re - constructing the table every 10m instructions resulted in negligible overheads . in fig5 , in addition to the base cases and the interval - based scheme with exploration , we show ipcs for two fine - grained reconfiguration schemes . the first attempts reconfiguration at every 5th branch and creates an entry in the table after collecting 10 samples for each branch . to eliminate effects from aliasing , we use a large 16k - entry table , though , in almost all cases , a much smaller table works as well . the second scheme attempts changes at every subroutine call and return and uses three samples . the figure indicates that the ability to quickly react to phase changes results in improved performance in programs like djpeg , cjpeg , crafty , parser , and vpr . the maximum number of changes between configurations was observed for crafty ( 1 . 5 million ). unlike in the interval - based schemes with no exploration , instability is not caused by noisy measurements . however , gzip fails to match the performance achieved by the interval - based scheme . this is because the nature of the code following a branch changes over the course of the program . hence , our policy of using initial measurements to pick a configuration for the future is not always accurate . the same behavior is observed to a lesser extent in galgel . overall , the fine - grained schemes yield a 15 % improvement over the base cases , compared to the 11 % improvements seen with the interval - based schemes . from these results , we conclude that interval - based schemes with exploration are easy to implement , robust , and provide most of the speedups possible . because of their tendency to pick a coarse interval length , a number of reconfiguration opportunities are missed . choosing a small interval length is not the solution to this because of noisy measurements across successive small intervals . to allow fine - grained reconfigurations , we pick basic block boundaries as reconfiguration points and use initial measurements to predict future behavior . except for gzip , such an approach does not trade off much accuracy and the hardware is able to quickly adapt to the program &# 39 ; s needs . however , to get this additional 4 % improvement , we have to invest some non - trivial amount of hardware — a table to keep track of the predictions and logic to maintain the distant ilp metric . the decentralized cache model will now be described , first with regard to the clustered lsq implementation . in the decentralized cache model , if an effective address is known when a memory instruction is renamed , then it can be directed to the cluster that caches the corresponding data . however , the effective address is generally not known at rename time , requiring that we predict the bank that this memory operation is going to access . based on this prediction , the instruction is sent to one of the clusters . once the effective address is computed , appropriate recovery action has to be taken in the case of a bank misprediction . if the operation is a load , recovery is simple — the effective address is sent to the correct cluster , where memory conflicts are resolved in the lsq , data is fetched from the cache bank , and returned to the requesting cluster . if the memory operation is a store , the misdirection could result in correctness problems . a load in a different cluster could have proceeded while being unaware of the existence of a mis - directed store to the same address . to deal with this problem , we adopt the following policy . while renaming , a store whose effective address is unknown is assigned to a particular cluster ( where its effective address is computed ), but at the same time , a dummy slot is also created in the other clusters . subsequent loads behind the dummy slot in other clusters are prevented from proceeding because there is an earlier store with an unresolved address that could potentially cause conflicts . once the effective address is computed , the information is broadcast to all the clusters and the dummy slots in all the lsqs except one are removed . the broadcast increases the traffic on the interconnect for register and cache data ( which we model ). regarding the bank prediction , earlier work had proposed the use of branch - predictor - like tables to predict the bank accessed by a load or store . in our simulations , we use a two - level bank predictor with 1024 entries in the first level and 4096 entries in the second . regarding the steering heuristics , in a processor with a decentralized cache , the steering heuristic has to handle three data dependences for each load or store — the two source operands and the bank that caches the data . since the transfer of cache data involves two communications ( the address and the data ), performance is maximized when a load or store is steered to the cluster that is predicted to cache the corresponding data ( note that unlike in the centralized cache model , doing so does not increase load imbalance as the cache is not at a single location ). even so , frequent bank mispredictions and the increased traffic from store address broadcasts seriously impact performance . ignoring these effects improved performance by 29 %. at the same time , favoring the dependence from the cache bank results in increased register communication . assuming free register communication improved performance by 27 %. thus , register and cache traffic contribute equally to the communication bottleneck in such a system . so far , our results have assumed a clustered processor with a centralized cache . hence , reconfiguration is only a matter of allowing the steering heuristic to dispatch to a subset of the total clusters . with a decentralized cache , each cluster has a cache bank associated with it . data is allocated to these cache banks in a word - interleaved manner . in going from 16 to four clusters , the number of cache banks and hence , the mapping of data to physical cache lines changes . to fix this problem , the least complex solution is to stall the processor while the l1 data cache is flushed to l2 . fortunately , the bank predictor need not be flushed . with 16 clusters , the bank predictor produces a 4 - bit prediction . when four clusters are used , the two lower order bits of the prediction indicate the correct bank . because the indexing of data to physical cache locations changes , reconfiguration is not as seamless as in the centralized cache model . every reconfiguration requires a stall of the processor and a cache flush . hence , the fine - grained reconfiguration schemes from the earlier section do not apply . fig6 shows ipcs for the base cases and the interval - based mechanisms . the third bar shows the scheme with exploration and a minimum interval length of 10k instructions . the fourth and fifth bars show interval - based schemes with no exploration and the use of distant ilp metrics to pick the best configuration . the simulation parameters for the decentralized cache are summarized in table 2 . we find that the results trend is similar to that seen before for the centralized cache model . except in the case of djpeg , there is no benefit from reconfiguring using shorter intervals . overall , the interval - based scheme with exploration yielded a 10 % speedup over the base cases . since the dynamic scheme attempts to minimize reconfigurations , cache flushes are kept to a minimum . vpr encountered the maximum number of writebacks due to flushes ( 400k ), which resulted in a 1 % ipc slowdown . overall , these flushes resulted in a 0 . 3 % ipc degradation . our results have shown that the communication - parallelism trade - off greatly affects the scalability of different programs as the number of clusters is increased for two important cache organizations . in this section , we confirm the applicability of our dynamic reconfiguration algorithms to other meaningful base cases . some of the key parameters that affect the degree of communication and the degree of distant ilp are the choice of interconnect between the clusters , the latency of communication across a hop , the number of functional units in each cluster , and the number of instructions that can be supported by each cluster ( the number of registers and issue queue entries per cluster ). fig7 shows the effect of using a grid interconnect with a centralized cache model . because of the better connectivity , the communication is less of a bottleneck and the performance of the 16 - cluster organization is 8 % better than that of the 4 - cluster system . for brevity , we only show results with the interval - based scheme with exploration . the trend is as seen before , but because the communication penalty is not as pronounced , the overall improvement over the best base case is only 7 %. the use of fine - grained reconfiguration techniques yields qualitatively similar results as with the ring interconnect . we also studied the sensitivity of the results to the sizes of various resources within a cluster . we studied the effect of using fewer ( 10 issue queue entries and 20 registers per cluster ) and more resources ( 20 issue queue entries and 40 registers per cluster ). when there are few resources per cluster , more clusters are required , on average , to exploit the available parallelism . hence , the 16 - cluster system is a favorable base case and the improvement of the interval - based dynamic mechanism relative to it is only 8 %. when there are more resources per cluster , using a few clusters for low - ilp phases is highly beneficial . as a result , the improvement over the 16 - cluster base is 13 %. doubling the cost of communication across each hop results in a highly communication - bound 16 - cluster system . by employing the dynamic mechanism and using fewer clusters for low - ilp phases , a 23 % performance improvement was seen . these results are qualitatively similar to the improvements seen with the interval - based schemes in the earlier subsections , indicating that the dynamically tunable design can help improve performance significantly across a wide range of processor parameters . thus , the communication - parallelism trade - off and its management are likely to be important in most processors of the future . while a preferred embodiment and variations thereon have been described above , those skilled in the art who have reviewed the present disclosure will readily appreciate that other embodiments can be realized within the scope of the present invention . for example , numerical values are illustrative rather than limiting , as are the specifics of the algorithms used . therefore , the present invention should be construed as limited only by the appended claims .	8
the present invention provides a method and apparatus for depositing a relatively large mass of material upon a dielectric substrate and the resulting deposition product . the general apparatus for carrying out this deposition is shown in fig1 and includes a first electrode 5 , a dielectric substrate 1 closely proximate to or in contact with a second electrode 3 , also herein referred to as a deposition electrode . the volume between the dielectric substrate 1 and the first electrode 5 comprises a deposition zone into which aerosol particles are introduced . this is indicated by the horizontal arrow of fig1 . an alternating electric field ( the deposition field ), indicated by the vertical arrow in fig1 is created within the deposition zone by first electrode 5 , second electrode 3 in combination with an alternating voltage source , shown in fig1 as comprising batteries 9 and 11 and switch 7 wherein the polarity of the field generating voltage is determined by the position of switch 7 . however , any suitable means for generating an alternating voltage is contemplated to be within the scope of the invention . charged particles from the aerosol within the deposition zone are electrostatically attracted to the substrate 1 thereby forming a deposit 15 as shown in fig2 . the deposit is incrementally formed from groups of particles deposited from each cycle of the alternating field thereby forming a deposit with a relatively larger mass than is possible if a static electric field were to be used . the process of forming the deposit may be terminated by removal of the alternating field . the completed deposit is shown in fig3 as deposited on the dielectric substrate 1 . the aerosol particles may comprise a dry powder or droplets of a liquid . in one particular embodiment of this invention , the particles comprise a pharmaceutical , for example , albuterol . the pharmaceutical deposits made from deposited pharmaceutical particles may , for example , form a dosage used in a dry powder inhaler . in a second embodiment of this invention , the particles comprise a carrier coated with a biologically active agent . an example of a bioactive agent coated carrier is a gold particle ( the carrier ) coated by fragments of dna ( the bioactive agent ). such particles are used for gene therapy . the prior examples are intended to exemplify the applications of the invention , and not intended to limit the scope of it . the aerosol gas may comprise air or any other suitable gas or gas mixture . for some applications where it is desired to control precisely the environment to which the particles are exposed , and / or to control ion emission characteristics ( discussed subsequently ), pure nitrogen , or nearly pure nitrogen mixed with a small percentage of another gas , e . g . carbon dioxide , is preferred . basic components of an aerosol generator include means for continuously metering particles , and means for dispersing the particles to form an aerosol . a number of aerosol generators have been described in the literature and are commercially available . the most common method of dispersing a dry powder to form an aerosol is to feed the powder into a high velocity air stream . shear forces then break up agglomerated particles . one common powder feed method employs a suction force generated when an air stream is expanded through a venturi to lift particles from a slowly moving substrate . powder particles are then deagglomerated by the strong shear force encountered as they pass through the venturi . other methods include fluidized beds containing relatively large balls together with a chain powder feed to the bed , sucking powder from interstices into a metering gear feed , using a metering blade to scrape compacted powder into a high velocity air stream , and feeding compacted powder into a rotating brush that carries powder into a high velocity air stream . a krypton 85 radioactive source may be introduced into the aerosol stream to equilibrate any residual charge on the powder . alpha particles from the source provide a bipolar source of ions that are attracted to charged powder resulting in the formation of a weakly charged bipolar powder cloud . non - invasive aerosol concentration ( and mass density for aerosols of known particle size and specific density ) may be determined optically by using right angle scattering , optical absorption , phase - doppler anemometry , or near forward scattering . a few commercially available instruments permit the simultaneous determination of both concentration and particle size distribution . particles may be charged within or outside of the deposition zone . one contemplated method of charging particles is triboelectric charging . triboelectric charging occurs when the particles are made to come in contact with dissimilar materials and may be used with the particles are from a dry powder . triboelectric charging is well known and widely used as a means to charge toner particles in photocopying and electrophotographic electronic printing processes . generally , triboelectric charging of particles takes place outside of the deposition zone . a parameter that characterizes the efficacy of particle charging is the charge - to - mass ratio of particles . this parameter is important as it determines the amount of force that can be applied to the particle from an electric field , and therefore , the maximum velocity that particles can achieve during deposition . this , in turn , sets an upper bound to the deposition rate that can be achieved . charge - to - mass ratios of 1 μc to 50 μc per gram are achievable when triboelectrically charging 1 μm to 10 μm diameter particles . such charge - to - mass ratios are documented for pharmaceuticals by pletcher et al in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 714 , 007 . however , other particle charging methods may achieve charge - to - mass ratios at least ten times greater than is possible with triboelectric charging . accordingly , it is preferred to use such a method to maximize thee velocity of the particles when under influence of the deposition field and the rate at which it is possible to form the deposit . generally these methods for applying higher amounts of charge o the particles utilize an ion source to generate an abundance of ions of both or either positive and negative polarities . some of the negative polarity ions may be electrons . as particles from the aerosol pass in front of the ion source ( the charging zone ), ions of one polarity are accelerated away from the ion source by an electric field through which the particles travel . ions that impact the particles attach to the particles . ions continue to impact the particles until the local electric fields from the ions attached to the particles generate a local electric field of sufficient magnitude to repel the oncoming ions . fig5 and 6 illustrate two approaches for generating charging ions as well as the means for providing an accelerating field . in fig5 ions are generated using corona wire 35 . ions are accelerated through an open mesh screen 39 from an electric field created between open mesh screen 39 and electrode 25 . housing 37 may be slightly pressurized to prevent the migration of aerosol particles into the corona cavity . alternatively , the corona source may consist of one or more corona points at the location of corona wire 35 . aerosol enters the charging zone through channel 23 . particles are charged by corona generated ions that pass through the apertures of screen 39 . such a particle charging method is known . a derivative of this method is described by pressman et al in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 977 , 323 . as shown in fig5 , electrode 25 is the previously described deposition electrode and open mesh screen is the first electrode of the previously described deposition zone . likewise , substrate 33 is the previously described dielectric substrate . thus , in this exemplary configuration , the charging zone and deposition zone are the same and the particles are simultaneously charged and made to deposit . a particle trajectory is shown by path 41 . an alternate particle charging method using an ion source employs a silent electric discharge ( sed ) charge generator . the construction and operation of this class of device is described by d . landheer and e . b . devitts , photographic science and engineering , 27 , no . 5 , 189 - 192 , september / october , 1993 and also in u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 379 , 969 , 4 , 514 , 781 , 4 , 734 , 722 , 4 , 626 , 876 and 4 , 875 , 060 . in the exemplary implementation illustrated in fig6 , a cylindrical glass core 43 supports four glass coated tungsten wires 45 equally spaced about its surface . the assembly is closely wound with a fine wire 47 in the form of a spiral . a typical generator unit , available from delphax systems , canton , mass ., consists of a 1 cm diameter pyrex glass rod supporting four glass clad 0 . 018 cm diameter tungsten wires . the assembly is spiral wound with 0 . 005 cm diameter tungsten wire at a pitch of about 40 turns per cm . only one glass coated tungsten wire is activated at any time . the other three wires are spares that may be rotated into the active position if the original active wire becomes contaminated . in fig6 , the active wire is that wire closest to the opening in channel 23 . ions and electrons are generated in the region adjacent the glass coated wire when a potential of about 2300vacpp at a frequency of about 120 khz is applied between the tungsten wire core and the spiral wound tungsten wire . ions and electrons are withdrawn from the active region by an electric field created between spiral winding 47 and electrode 25 . as in fig5 , in the exemplary configuration of fig6 and 7 , the aerosol particles are simultaneously charged and made to deposit . other ion sources exist that may be suitable for charging particles . for example , it is possible to generate ions with x - rays or other ionizing radiation ( e . g . from a radioactive source ). when particles are charged with an ion source , any means for making available ions of both or either positive and negative polarity ions is meant to be within the scope of the invention . another means for charging particles particularly applicable to liquid droplets is described by kelly in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 255 , 777 . in this approach , charged droplets are formed by an electrostatic atomizing device . although , the charge - to - mass ratio of such particles cited by kelly is not as high as can be achieved when charging particles with an ion source , it is comparable to that achievable by triboelectric charging and may be both preferable in some applications of the invention and is , in any case , suitable for use with the present invention . the above cited configurations are not meant to imply any limitations in configuration . rather they are meant to serve as examples of possible configurations contemplated by the invention . therefore , for example , although particle charging with ion sources is shown and discussed wherein particles are charged within the deposition zone , charging of particles with ion sources outside of the deposition zone is also contemplated . all possible combinations of system configuration made possible by the present disclosure are contemplated to be within the scope of the invention . the alternating deposition field preferably has a frequency between 1 hz and 10 khz , and most preferably , frequency between 10 hz and 1000 hz , and a magnitude of between 1 kv / cm and 10 kv / cm . other frequencies and magnitudes are possible , depending upon the system configuration . for example , a higher deposition field magnitude is possible , generally up to 30 kv / cm — the breakdown potential of air and other gases , but not preferred because it may lead to unexpected sparking . lower deposition field magnitudes are not preferred because the velocity of the aerosol particles in response to the applied field becomes too low . likewise , an alternating frequency below 1 hz generally is not preferred for most applications because it is anticipated that charge buildup on the dielectric substrate may substantially diminish the magnitude of the deposition field over periods of a second or more . however , there may be applications where this is not the case . frequencies of 10 khz and higher generally are not preferred because it is believed that the charged particles will not have sufficient time to travel through the deposition zone and form the deposition . however , for systems with very small deposition zones , this may not be a factor . the waveform of the deposition field preferably is rectangular . however , it has been found that triangular and sinusoidal waveforms also are effective in forming deposits , although generally less so . the waveform has a duty cycle , which is defined in terms of a preferred field direction . the duty cycle is the percentage of time that the deposition field is in the preferred field direction . the preferred field direction either may be positive or negative with respect to the deposition electrode depending upon the characteristics of a particular system configuration . the duty cycle preferably is greater than 50 % and most preferably 90 %. the preferred field direction is that which maximizes the deposition rate . as previously described , the deposition field is formed between a first electrode and a second , deposition electrode . the first electrode may or may not be an element of an ion emitter . in some configurations of the invention use of an ion emitter in the deposition zone is advantageous in that it helps to discharge the deposited charged particles thereby preventing the buildup of a field from the deposited charged particles that repels the further deposition of particles from the aerosol . this is particularly advantageous when the duty cycle is greater than 50 %. of course , an ion emitter is required in the deposition zone if the aerosol particles are to be charged within the deposition zone . however , it is also possible to control the charging of the particles , synchronously with or asynchronously to the alternation of the deposition field such that the buildup of a particle repelling field from the deposit is minimized . the dielectric substrate is closely proximate to and preferably in contact with the deposition electrode . by closely proximate is meant that the separation between the dielectric substrate and the deposition electrode is less than the thickness of the dielectric substrate . in this way , the charged aerosol particles are directed to land on the dielectric substrate in an area determined by the contact or closely proximate area of the deposition electrode . thus , it is possible to control the location and size of the deposit . the substrate for the deposit may consist of a dielectric material , such as vinyl film , or an electrically conducting material such as aluminum foil . as previously mentioned , as unipolar charged powder is deposited upon the surface of a dielectric , a large electrical potential is formed which generates an electric field that opposes the deposition field and deposition is thus self - limiting at rather low masses . if unipolar charged powder is deposited on the surface of an electrical conductor , then again a surface potential will be built up but of a lower magnitude than that of a corresponding insulating substrate . the ratio of the surface voltage of a deposit on an insulating layer to that of a deposit on the surface of a conducting layer is roughly equal to ratio of the relative thickness of the dielectric plus the thickness of the deposited powder and the thickness of the deposited powder layer . the use of alternating deposition to form bipolar layers through the use of ac aerosol charging and ac deposition fields allows larger masses to be deposited onto the surfaces of conductors . the dielectric substrate may be any material and have any structure suitable to its other functions . for example , it may be a packaging medium , such as a tablet , capsule or tublet , or the blister of a plastic or metal foil blister package . the dielectric substrate may also be a pharmaceutical carrier , for example , a pill or capsule . it may be any edible material , including chocolate . alternatively , it may be simply a carrier of the deposit for carrying it to another location for further processing . we have found with the present invention that it is possible to deposit substantially all of the aerosol particles that pass through the deposition zone under conditions where the flow rate of the aerosol is below a maximum . this maximum flow rate is determined primarily by the magnitude of the deposition field , the charge - to - mass ratio of the charged particles , and their diameters . the capability to deposit substantially all of the aerosol particles has been demonstrated for relatively large mass deposits , much larger than is possible using prior art systems that electrostatically create deposits . for example , we have deposited several milligrams of lactose power into a blister of a blister pack of 6 mm diameter . a particular advantage of the present invention is that there are no limits related to charge - to - mass ratio of the charged particles nor the amount of charge laid down on a substrate as there are with prior art systems . the use of an alternating deposition field enables deposition of charge of either polarity on the combination of substrate and deposit , whether the charge is carried by ions or charged particles . the net deposited charge may be therefore neutralized if necessary . as such , the limits to the mass of the deposit become mechanical in nature rather than electrical . the ability to deposit substantially all of the aerosol particles that pass through the deposition zone provides a new method for controlling the mass of the deposit . in this method the mass flow of the aerosol particles that pass into and out of the deposition zone is measured over time by means of sensors 60 , 62 located upstream and downstream of the deposition zone . the results could be recorded for manufacturing control records and adjustments in flow rate , etc ., made as need be to maintain a desired deposition amount . as previously mentioned there are various known means for measuring the velocity of an aerosol . in combination , these means enable the measurement of the mass flow rate . the integration of the mass flow rate over time gives the total mass . accordingly , the mass of a deposit may be controlled by measuring the mass flow of aerosol particles into the deposition zone and upon reaching a desired deposit mass , removing the presence of the alternating deposition field . in circumstances wherein a portion of the total aerosol is not deposited as it passes through the deposition zone , a second measuring instrument may be positioned immediately after the deposition zone . the difference between the two measurements represents the total mass deposited from the aerosol as it passes the deposition zone . the deposit may be controlled by removing the presence of the alternating deposition field as described previously . even in cases wherein substantially all of the aerosol particles are deposited in the deposition area , the existence of a second measuring instrument provides confirmation of the actual mass deposited , and is of particular interest in applications where the reliability of the mass deposited is of commercial interest such as pharmaceutical dosages . the mass of deposits formed by the present invention is relatively larger than deposits that can be formed with prior art methods that electrostatically create deposits . on the other hand , they may be much smaller than masses conveniently created using prior art methods that mechanically weigh or otherwise mechanically measure or control the mass . as such , the present invention provides a unique means to address a hitherto unaddressed need . the details of the invention may be further examined by considering fig5 . here , an aerosol generator 17 forms an air borne particle dispersion that is carried by enclosed channel 19 to aerosol concentration monitoring station 21 . channel 23 then carries the aerosol through a region where charging device 31 charges the powder . an electrostatic field is provided between the charging device 31 and deposition electrode 25 . deposition electrode 25 corresponds to electrode 3 shown in fig1 . a dielectric substrate 27 shown here as a blister pack pocket that collects charged particles deflected by the electrostatic field . a second concentration monitoring station 29 is employed to determine how much of the particles have been removed from the aerosol . under conditions whereby essentially all of the particles are removed from the air stream , this second concentration monitor may not be required . the air stream then moves into collector 30 . this collector might consist of a filter or an electrostatic precipitator or both . alternately , the air may be recirculated through the aerosol generator . a filling device was set up according to the schematic of fig6 . the channel was fabricated of ¼ - inch thick polycarbonate sheet . the channel width was 40 - mm and its height was 6 - mm . a blister pack pocket , formed of 6 - mil polyvinyl chloride , having a depth of 4 - mm and a diameter of 6 - mm was supported on a circular electrode 25 having a diameter of 4 - mm . the charge source , consisting of glass core rod 43 , spiral wire electrode 47 and four glass coated wire 45 spaced at intervals around the periphery of the core rod , was obtained from delphax systems , canton , mass . delphax customers employ these rods in discharging ( erasing ) latent images on delphax high - speed printer drums . spiral winding 47 was maintained at ground potential and glass coated tungsten wire 45 was excited using 2300 volt peak - to - peak ac at a frequency of 120 khz . a trek high voltage amplifier was employed to provide square wave switching of deposition electrode 25 at a frequency of 35 hertz . the output voltage was switched between + 5 kv and − 5 kv . the duty cycle was set so that negative charges were extracted for 10 % of the square wave period leaving positive charge extraction to occur over 90 % of the duty cycle . an aerosol consisting of lactose powder , having a particle size in the range of about 3 to about 7 microns , was suspended in a flowing stream of nitrogen gas . the lactose was aerosolized by the turbulent action of pressurized nitrogen in a wright dust feed aerosolizer manufactured by bgi inc ., waltham , mass . the aerosol concentration was about 1 microgram / cm 3 and the channel flow velocity was adjusted to 30 cm / sec . charging and deposition potentials were applied for a period of two minutes during aerosol flow . a well - defined mass of powder , measured and found to be 1 mg , was formed at the bottom of the blister pack pocket . no powder deposition was found at the blister pack walls or on the bottom of the channel . subsequent experimental runs established that the mass deposited was proportional to the deposition time over the time intervals of ½ to 5 minutes . with the present invention , it is also possible to multiplex the operation of two or more deposition zones served from a single aerosol source by configuring deposition zones along the aerosol path and selectively applying an alternating deposition field at one deposition zone at a time . aerosol particles passing into a deposition zone where no alternating deposition field exists simply pass through the deposition zone whereupon they can pass into a next deposition zone . although various embodiments which incorporate the teachings of the present invention have been shown and described in detail herein , many other varied embodiments that still incorporate these teachings may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . for example , the aerosol particles may comprise carrier particles which may comprise inert substrates including biocompatible metal particles coated with a bioactive agent .	1
referring to fig1 and 2 , an exercise apparatus is shown employing a seating assembly in the form of a couch 10 having a pair of side structures , namely arms 12 and 14 . couch 10 has a back 16 with a front and rear face . couch 10 also has a seating area 18 between the arms 12 and 14 . next to arm 14 is a case 20 shown containing an adjustable weight in the form of a header 22 supporting a rod 24 . a selectable number of weight plates 26 are shown stacked on rod 24 . a cable c is shown mounted inside case 20 to follow a routing that will be described presently . cable c is at times referred to as an engagement means , and weight 26 is also referred to as an exercise means . while shown adjacent arm 14 , in other embodiments the case can be mounted adjacent arm 12 . while this case is rectangular , in other embodiments the case can be cylindrical , a polygonal prism , a frustrum of an ovoid , etc . also , case 20 can be finished with an appropriate wood or plastic laminate or may be made of a fine wood that can be finished appropriately . a handle 28 connected to one end of cable c is shown protruding inwardly from the inside face of arm 12 in fig2 . in fig1 the handle 28 has been detached from the cable and an arm cover 31 is shown concealing the opening for the cable in arm 12 . another handle ( to be described presently ) and is associated with arm 14 . referring to fig3 , and 5 , a header is shown as a rectangular palette 22 having on its right and left edges two pairs of wheels 30 . wheels 30 roll within the pair of tracks 32 , which are channels mounted on opposing inside faces of case 20 . a rod 24 is shown angled slightly upwardly out from header 22 for the purpose of holding a stack of weight plates 26 . a door 34 is shown hingedly attached to one corner of case 20 . in other embodiments door of the case can be positioned on various sides and can be hinged in various ways . mounted opposite door 34 , inside case 20 is a vertical support beam 36 running the full height of the inside of case 20 . mounted near the top , on opposite sides of beam 36 , are a pair of upper pulleys 38 . mounted on opposite sides near the bottom of support beam 36 , are a pair of lower transition pulleys 40 . transition pulleys 40 are mounted adjacent a pair of openings 42 along the bottom of the wall of case 20 , opposite door 34 . journaled on the back of header 22 , opposite rod 24 is a reversing pulley 44 , used for a purpose to be described presently . while shown on the back of the header , this reversing pulley can be positioned on the front , top edge or elsewhere in other embodiments . referring to fig6 and 7 , previously mentioned couch arm 14 is shown with its outside covering and padding removed , as well as one of its side panels , to reveal the mechanism inside the arm . the cap 42 is shown removed for illustrative purposes . arm 14 is shown containing an internal beam 49 supporting an upper pulley 50 , and a lower pulley 48 . two stretches of cable c passing through the arm are shown as follows : stretch c 1 is shown passing through arm 14 to continue along the bottom of the couch . stretch c 2 is shown passing under lower pulley 48 and over upper pulley 50 to pass through hole 52 before terminating in a cable loop 54 . loop 54 is secured by means of u - bolt 56 that squeezes the end of the cable against the plate 58 using nuts 60 . with loop 54 secured in this fashion , it cannot be drawn into the arm 14 and lost . for this purpose , a u - shaped stop 62 is mounted on the bolt / axle 64 of upper pulley 50 . accordingly , the hardware 56 / 58 cannot pass through the stop 62 and therefore loop 54 will remain exposed . thus , handle 66 may be attached to loop 54 by using the clasp 68 at the inside end of the handle . previously mentioned handle 28 ( fig2 ) is constructed and attached to cable c 1 in the same way . referring to fig8 and 9 , cable c is shown routed over previously mentioned pulleys 38 , 40 , 44 , 48 and 50 . in fig8 pulleys 38 and 40 are shown mounted on vertical beam 36 , while pulleys 48 and 50 are mounted on beam 49 inside one couch arm . in the opposite couch arm , vertical beam 70 is shown supporting an upper pulley 72 and a lower pulley 74 . accordingly , beam 70 and its pulleys are structured in a manner similar to beam 49 and pulleys 48 and 50 . in fig8 cable c is shown traveling over and to the outside of pulley 72 before passing under lower pulley 74 . thereafter , cable c passes through the couch ( underneath the seating area 18 of the couch 10 of fig1 ) to follow stretch c 1 . see also fig6 . stretch c 2 is shown , as before , passing over pulley 50 and under pulley 48 . in fig9 stretches c 1 and c 2 are shown passing under pulleys 40 and rising to pass over the top of upper pulleys 38 . thereafter , stretches c 1 and c 2 join in a bight that passes under reversing pulley 44 , which can lift the weight header 22 . pulley 44 is shown on the back of header 22 , but in other embodiments can be positioned at the front , the top edge , etc . to facilitate an understanding of the principles associated with the foregoing apparatus , its operation will now be briefly described . the door 34 may be opened to expose the header 22 ( fig1 and 2 ). the user can then place an appropriate number of weight plates 26 on the rod 24 of header 22 . handles 28 and 66 may be stored on hooks ( not shown ) on the back of door 34 . accordingly , door 34 functions as a means of storing exercise accessories , namely , handles 28 and 66 . the covers 31 on arms 12 and 14 may be removed to expose the loops on the ends of cable c . in fig6 the handle 66 is shown with its clasp 68 adjacent to loop 54 . the clasp 68 can be opened and hooked around loop 54 in a conventional manner . handle 28 ( fig8 and 9 ) can be installed in a similar manner . the user can then stand near or sit anywhere on couch 10 . for example , the user can sit next to one of the arms 12 or 14 to use one of the ends of cable c . alternatively , the user can sit centrally on seating area 18 of couch 10 and pull on both ends of cable c , simultaneously . referring to fig8 and 9 , when user pulls on handle 66 , stretch c 2 of cable c is pulled over pulley 50 and under pulleys 40 and 48 . consequently , stretch c 2 of cable c is pulled over the top of one of the pulleys 38 to shorten the bight that is located between pulleys 38 and under reversing pulley 44 . referring to fig3 and 5 , header 22 rises while its rollers 30 ride in the tracks 32 . if handle 28 ( fig9 ) is pulled ( instead of or simultaneously with handle 66 ) stretch c 1 of cable c is pulled over pulley 72 and under pulleys 74 and 40 . as a result , cable c is pulled over the top of one of the pulleys 38 to shorten the bight that is located between pulleys 38 and under reversing pulley 44 , to lift weight header 22 . fig9 illustrates an additional feature for alternate embodiments . specifically , a line 76 is shown tied at point 77 along the stretch c 1 of cable c . line 76 is shown traveling past the arm area containing pulleys 72 and 74 . in this embodiment line 76 emerges to the outside of the couch arm ( arm 12 of fig2 ). line 76 is shown coupled to a leg exercising accessory 78 such as a leg bracelet or strap . thus , a user may slip a foot into the accessory 78 . since the line 76 emerges at a relatively low elevation , the user can readily exercise a leg by pulling with the leg on line 76 . the cable c can then lift the adjustable weight in a fashion similar to that described in connection with the pulling of handle 28 . referring to fig1 , previously mentioned couch 10 is shown again with arms 12 and 14 and seating area 18 . the previously mentioned cables loops and handles located at or in couch 10 are the same as before . the previously illustrated case is shown herein as alternate case 120 , which has been spaced from arm 14 by an intervening , rectangular end table 180 . the case 120 contains the same mechanism as before , except reversed , right to left . corresponding components have a reference numeral that was increased by one hundred over the correspondent . accordingly , weight header 122 is shown mounted with its rod 124 pointing toward couch 10 . as a clear variation over the embodiment of fig2 reversing pulley 144 is shown on the same side as the rod 124 . pulleys 138 and 140 are shown mounted to the outside of case 120 . cable stretches c 1 and c 2 pass through end table 180 to pass under pulleys 140 and over pulleys 138 , before joining in the bight located between pulleys 138 and under reversing pulley 144 . routed in this fashion , the cable c can lift the adjustable weight in essentially the same manner as with the other embodiment . the exposed faces of case 120 are closed . one can gain access to header 122 and rod 124 for the purpose of adding weights , by lifting the top 182 of end table 180 . no wall exists at the intersection between table 180 and case 120 . therefore , the user can add or remove weights from rod 124 through end table 180 . it will be appreciated that still other modifications may be implemented with respect to the above described , preferred embodiments . in some embodiments the adjustable weight may be formed from a horizontal stack of weight plates that may be connected by a pin to a vertical rod depending from a header . in other embodiments , the weights may be replaced with springs , elastomeric cords or other devices that can be stretched or deformed to provide muscle resistance to the exerciser . the couch may have various , aesthetically pleasing shapes and design features in other embodiments . while the ends of the cables are shown connected to handles , other grasping devices can be used such as pulling bars , cloth loops etc . while a loop and clasp is shown for connecting the handle to the cable end , in other embodiments the handle may be permanently attached from alternate fastening means . in other embodiments , the reversing pulley on the header can be mounted on a different elevation or can be mounted along the top edge of the header . in still other embodiments , the header can be an open frame made of various components that are fastened together by bolts , welding , etc . the size , dimensions and shape of the couch and the adjacent case can be altered depending upon the desired seating capacity , weight capacity , pulling range , aesthetic considerations , etc . obviously , many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . it is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described .	8
as illustrated in the drawings , the composite bend 10 of the invention comprises a bent pipe 11 , a frame 12 , a plurality of ceramic wear liners 13 and a cover plate 14 which is secured to frame 12 and in conjuction with frame 12 provides a pressure tight and leak proof housing and rigid holder for keeping liners 13 in place and for preventing expansion of pipe 11 when worn . generally speaking , the composite elbow 10 of the invention is intended to be used in pipe lines having an inside diameter in the range of from about two inches to about eight inches and of relatively thin wall thickness . the bent pipe 11 is also intended to be relatively soft and ductile and will normally be formed of non - heat treated , mild steel . pipe 11 is thus adapted to be bent into the appropriate radius as illustrated and is formed with tangential end sections 11 &# 39 ; of appropriate length for being joined to other portions of the piping system in which the bend 10 of the invention is used such as by use of sleeve or flange couplings or welding . the bent portion of pipe 11 is of uniform bend . while the relatively soft and ductile type material is desirable for bending , it will also be immediately appreciated that when a band made of such material is employed to transfer abrasive material that the inner surface of the outer bend will be subject to abrasive attack and will gradually wear away in use to form an opening through which the abrasive material , unless otherwise contained , will be discharged into the space surrounding the location of the bend . the composite bend 10 of the invention is intended to provide a relatively long life wear surface , once such an opening forms in the outer bend of pipe 11 , and is also intended to provide a pressure tight and leak proof housing around such opening once it forms in service . referring back to the drawings , frame 12 consists of a series of metal side and end strips which are welded together and also welded to the surface of pipe 11 so as to circumscribe an area substantially exceeding the area in the outer bend portion 15 of pipe 11 in which an opening is typically formed by abrasive attack of the material being transferred through pipe 11 . the strip members of frame 12 may be typically attached together and to pipe 11 by light fillet weld and may generally follow the construction of the frame previously described in my prior u . s . pat . no . 4 , 130 , 300 . however , unlike the construction and method of prior pat . no . 4 , 130 , 300 , frame 12 in the present invention , when initially installed , will surround an uninterrupted continuous outer bend surface portion of pipe 11 and without an opening being preformed in pipe 11 as in the construction of the prior patent . this step of forming an opening in pipe 11 is thus avoided by the construction of the present invention . however , the size of the anticipated opening due to wear can be predicted from experience with the particular size pipe , radius of bend and material transferred and the area circumscribed by frame 12 can be defined accordingly . after frame 12 has been attached to pipe 11 , the relatively short half cylinder - shaped ceramic wear liners 13 are positioned in place on the outer bend portion 15 and are designed to rest together in a snug fit on their mating end surfaces and also to fit against the inner end rim surfaces 17 , 18 of frame 12 in a keystone - type arrangement . the respective ceramic wear liners 13 are also designed so as to be relatively shorth length with no curvature in the long direction and with a cross - sectional curvature to slip - fit and substantially match the outside surface curvature of the pipe . thus , each liner touches the pipe only in a middle portion of the liner . use of compound liner curvature is avoided and minimal gap space between the liners and the outer pipe surface is achieved . the outer flat bottom surfaces 30 of the respective wear liners rest on the respective inner side support surfaces 19 of frame 12 and frame 12 is formed to minimize the gap there . the ends 16 of liners 13 are angled or mitered to effect this snug - fit arrangement as illustrated at points 20 , 21 and 22 in fig6 . one of the advantages of the invention is that ceramic wear plates of the kind required for the invention are available from existing commercial sources according to the requirements of the invention . such wear liners are composed of a ceramic material processed at elevated temperatures and are fabricated to the desired shape and size and are available with longitudinal curvature . a substantially pure , high density , alumina ceramic is an especially suitable material for use in fabrication of the wear liners 13 . such a material is marketed by a . p . green refractories company of mexico , mo . the optimum liner inner diameter d , thickness t and length l illustrated in fig4 will vary depending upon the pipe diameter in which the liners are used . a representative liner for the present invention when applied to a pipe bend of 48 inch radius was 5 / 8 inches thick , 4 inches long and had an inner diameter of 4 1 / 2 inches . twenty such liners were used . the tangential sections 11 &# 39 ; were 4 1 / 2 inches long in the example given for each end of pipe 11 to facilitate appropriate coupling attachments . a suitably formed steel cover plate 14 is put into place on top of the liners 13 with the outer edges thereof resting on and welded or otherwise secured to frame 12 so as to provide a leak proof , pressure tight , steel housing with the appropriately curved top surface 23 of the liners 13 substantially conforming to the inner surface of cover plate 14 and the bottom surface 24 of the liners 13 being appropriately curved to substantially conform to the cross - sectional curvature of pipe 11 as best illustrated in fig5 , and 7 and in a slip - fit - like relation . as further illustrated in fig7 and 8 , once the bend is installed , the inner surface of pipe 11 at the outer bend portion will be subject to the maximum abrasive attack and ultimately will form an opening of substantial length and width when fully worn , as indicated by brackets 26 and 27 in fig3 and 8 . however , it will be noticed here that the projected width 27 and projected length 26 of the opening formed by the abrasive attack will provide an area of substantially less area than the contact area of the inner surface 21 of the ceramic liners 13 . further , by reason of the snug - fitting relation of the ceramic liners 13 being retained by the cover plate 14 , an essentially leak proof and pressure tight construction is provided without requiring the introduction of an epoxy or other bonding agent between the individual ceramic liners 13 as has been required in prior art practices . also , by prefitting pipe 11 with the frame , cover and liner arrangement of the invention prior to use and without forming an opening and by utilizing the relatively short liners as described minimal gap space is produced between the liners and the outer surface of the pipe opposite the inner surfaces of the liners mounted thereon . thus , a very practical abrasion resistant bend for small diameter pipelines has been achieved .	5
in the following description , reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof , and which is shown , by way of illustration , an embodiment of the present invention . it is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention . fig1 is a laser system block diagram . the present invention is directed to the calibration of an sgdbr laser controller 100 ( hereinafter referred to as a “ controller ”). the controller 100 monitors a multi - section , widely tunable sgdbr laser &# 39 ; s 102 ( hereinafter referred to as a “ aser ”) gain section voltage 104 , temperature 106 , and wavelength locker 108 signals . the wavelength locker signal 108 is produced from an external reference 110 ( a wavelength locker , alternatively referred to as an “ fp etalon ”). the laser 102 generally has a first or front mirror section ( sometimes referred to herein as “ fm ”), a second or back mirror section ( sometimes referred to herein as “ bm ”), a gain section for light generation ( sometimes referred to herein as “ gn ”), and a phase section provided to tune the output wavelength of the laser ( sometimes referred to herein as “ ph ”) each controlled with current inputs 112 . additionally , other sections may be incorporated onto the laser diode including , but not limited to a semiconductor optical amplifier , a modulator , or some other well - known component that may be fabricated on the same substrate as the laser . as shown in fig1 , the controller 100 adjusts each section &# 39 ; s current ( with inputs 102 ) and the laser &# 39 ; s temperature to maintain a fixed optical output 114 power and wavelength . the laser &# 39 ; s temperature is adjusted with a thermo - electric cooler 116 ( or “ tec ”), or some other well known cooling mechanism or method . the laser 102 is controlled to generate optical output 114 at a substantially continuous power - level . the controller 100 interfaces to a host ( not shown ) over a system interface 118 , which is typically a serial or parallel interface . the host commands the operation of the controller 100 and may be a personal computer , workstation , or some other well - known device capable of sending commands to the controller 100 through the system interface 118 . the controller 100 regulates the laser &# 39 ; s optical output 114 power and wavelength . the controller 100 operates in one of the following control modes , each of which shall be described in more detail hereinbelow : b . power and wavelength control using open loop control &# 39 ; s fixed operating points as the initial operating points and regulating the optical power and wavelength to a reference , c . gain voltage control using open loop controls fixed operating points as the initial operating points and regulating the laser mirror alignment with the cavity mode , and d . power , wavelength , and gain voltage control using open loop controls fixed operating points as the initial operating points . as shown in fig2 , in an open loop control mode , the controller 100 sets the laser optical output 114 power and wavelength by setting the laser section ( bm , ph , gn , fm and soa ) currents 112 from values in a look up table . it regulates the laser &# 39 ; s temperature to a fixed value by sending control code to the tec 116 . the look - up table values are generated by a calibration routine . the values are fixed over the lifetime of the laser 100 . the choice of the operating currents 112 , the current sources , and the temperature regulator guarantees maximum stability of the optical output 114 wavelength and power over the laser operating lifetime and ambient environmental conditions . in some embodiments of the invention , the controller can be implemented with “ open loop ” controller hardware as described above , however feedback is provided ( e . g . to control the mirror alignment ). thus , the controller operates in a closed loop with respect one or more of the laser control parameters ( e . g ., mirrors , gain , or phase ). control loops for power and / or wavelength control can also be applied . in addition , temperature regulation also can be operated under a closed loop control . as such , there is often no dear distinction between open and closed loop operation of the controller . the laser operating points are typically determined by one of three calibration routines : incremental calibration steps and locks the laser to each international telecommunications union ( itu ) wavelength channel using a calibrated wavelength locker as a reference 110 . see fig1 . it steps to the next channel by adjusting the phase current and locking the mirrors to the cavity mode with gain voltage control which shall be discussed in further detail hereinbelow . once at the channel the laser wavelength is locked to the channel by adjusting the phase current using wavelength control and the laser power to a predetermined set point by adjusting the gain current with power control . the process of incremental calibration starts with the first and second mirrors aligned at mirror reflectivity peak 0 and then steps to locate the next lower channel . at each cavity mode , the phase current is reset to its initial value and the search is continued . at the end of each mirror tuning range , the mirror currents are reset to the next mirror reflectivity peak , once the wavelength wraps around , the process is repeated at mirror reflectivity peak 0 by searching for the next upper channel . the process is as follows : set gain current at nominal operational current set mirrors at next reflectivity peak until ( end of mirror tuning range ) set phase current at minimum operational current ; and lock mirrors to cavity mode until ( passes cavity mode ) lock power and wavelength at channel and align mirrors record channel and currents ; and step to next channel with mirrors locked to phase mirror reflectivity peak calibration determines the mirror reflectivity peaks , generates the mirror tuning efficiency curves , and uses the curves to set the mirror currents for each channel . the process is as follows : sweep mirror with cavity mode aligned to mirror locate the gain voltage minima , which is the corresponding mirror reflectivity peak ; and record the currents set mirrors to channel using mirror tuning efficiency curve align phase section to the mirrors lock wavelength to channel using wavelength control lock power to set point using power control record the channel and current a two - dimensional mirror scan calibration of the present invention ( as may be employed for a small form factor tla ) determines the laser currents for operation at each itu channel and the power and wavelength and mirror control surfaces and operating points at each itu channel . the calibration procedure for the small form factor tla and laser involves the following steps : a . conduct two - dimensional mirror current scan with power leveling and wavelength locking applied to the tla 300 as set out in fig2 and fig3 , the two - dimensional scan steps the mirror currents over their operating range while the controller locks the gain current to a constant optical power and the phase current to an itu channel . the controller power and wavelength feedback is from a calibrated locker 302 and coupler / attenuator 304 . the locker 302 calibration value is fixed over the sweep . for example , the following procedure can be applied . a computer 306 ( e . g ., a pc ) sends over the interface 118 ( e . g ., a parallel interface ) to the tla 300 , the front mirror and back mirror currents , stepping them over their operating ranges . at each step , the tla 300 attempts to lock the optical power and optical wavelength to their setpoints using the gain and phase currents . also at each step , the tla 300 responds over the interface 118 to the computer 306 with the status of the gain and phase current control the gain and phase currents and the power 308 and wavelength 310 voltages ( the locker reference and etalon signals ). the resulting set of values is the two - dimensional scan data . as depicted in fig4 , the computer 306 uses the two - dimensional scan data to determine the operating regions . generally , the operating regions are the front and back mirror current regions of the two - dimensional scan data where the optical power and wavelength remain locked to a channel the computer 306 determines the center of an operating region , sets the tla 300 at that point , and measures the channel number at that point from a channel detector 400 . the computer 306 generates a table of channel numbers and operating currents and boundaries of the operating regions , representing a two - dimensional control surface for the laser . however , in some embodiments of the invention operating regions are not simply detected by looking for boundaries where wavelength and power are not locked . for example , for some channels etalon and reference signals , as measured by the locker 302 , will remain locked over the entire map except for those points where cavity mode hops ( not supermode hops ) occur . this occurs because the cavity mode spacing , detuned off the bragg wavelength ( i . e . off of perfect mirror alignment ), is typically slightly less than the locker channel spacing ( e . g ., 50 or 100 ghz ). instead , a more sophisticated channel detection technique can be employed which searches for “ cusps ” ( regions of discontinuity , such as indicated by discontinuity in first derivative ) of the phase or gain ( or amplifier ) current surface or gain voltage surface of the two - dimensional scan data . this approach will detect both cavity - mode hops and supermode hops which completely bound the operating region of each channel . furthermore , embodiments of the invention can also include an operating point fixup process . using this process , the computer 306 performs a more accurate recentering of the operating point within the mode after reineasuring mode boundaries with the locker etalon and reference target values that have been adjusted on a per channel basis to m ze wavelength and power errot . as shown in the block diagram of fig5 , using the two - dimensional control surface scan the computer 306 sets the tla 300 at a channel , using the operating point currents as determined above . it sets the power and wavelength control setpoints for that channel and the tla 300 relocks to the channel . the locker power and wavelength calibration is known at each channel . it generates the gain and phase current control surfaces about the operating point the tla responds with the channel : status of control , gain , phase , and mirror currents and the control surfaces . the computer 306 records the calibrated gain , phase , and mirror operating currents at the calibrated optical power and wavelength setpoints and the center of the control surfaces . in other words , the control surface extremum is returned . in operation , however , the gain voltage control surface can be used to control the laser as described hereafter . the computer 306 then takes the control surface data for each channel and generates a corresponding lookup table . the lookup table can then be programmed into the controller 100 of the tla 300 . as shown in fig6 , the controller 100 includes current sources 600 which drive each of the laser &# 39 ; s phase , mirror , amplifier , and gain sections . the current sources 600 are comprised of a voltage reference 602 , individual 16 - bit digital - to - analog converters 604 ( dacs ), and voltage - to - current ( vi ) converter 606 . the dacs 604 connect to a digital signal processor ( dsp ) synchronous serial port ( ssp ) 608 through a programmable - logic device 610 ( pld ). the pld 610 provides a logic interface between the dsp ssp 608 and the dacs 600 . each vi converter 606 translates the corresponding dac 604 voltage output to a proportional current that drives a corresponding laser section . as depicted in fig7 , a modified howland current source mhcs ) can be used as the voltage - to - current converter 606 . a current mirror 700 , such as that shown in fig8 , is preferably added to the output stage of the amplifier 702 to increase the drive current beyond that of the amplifier 702 alone . a filter stage 704 was added at the load 706 to reduce noise . the current mirror 700 inverts the output of the amplifier 702 , which requires the source , v in , at the inverting node of the amplifier 702 . the current mirror 700 operates at a fixed gain that is determined , primely , by the ratio of the resistors 800 in the emitter leads of the transistor 802 . a resistor - capacitor ( rc ) compensation network 804 is added to insure stability of the amplifier 702 and current mirror 700 . the gain of the current is variable up to a maximum ratio . the maximum ratio is determined by the additional drift introduced by heating of the transistor 802 and sense resistor 806 and the maximum thermal loss that can be sustained by the transistor 802 and sense resistor 806 . if additional gain is requited , an additional q mo & amp ; r mo section can be added to the mirror 700 . as shown in fig9 , the power and wavelength controller 100 uses open loop control and feedback 900 from an external wavelength locker 902 ( fp etalon ) reference to lock the laser optical output power and wavelength to the reference . power and wavelength control compensates for drift in the controller current sources 600 and the laser 102 operating points over time and temperature . the power and wavelength controls may operate independently or interdependently . the least complex control algorithm is where the controls operate independently . each control algorithm induces changes in one current or temperature independent of the other . the control algorithms are classical proportional , integral control routines . for example , the following algorithm can be applied : gain current ( ign ), or current to a soa ( if integrated into the laser ). in most cases , gain current is used on four - section devices , and amplifier current is used on five - section devices . current to the semiconductor optical amplifier ( soa ) instead of current to the gain section can be used in all cases concerning power control or power leveling when an amplifier section is present on the laser chip . gain voltage control ( see section 7 ) may be used in either case . however , when gain voltage control is combined with gain current - based power control , power control must be interrupted ( i . e . gain current held constant ) during acquisition of a gain voltage control surface . the independent control algorithm is slower and in its response to changes in the optical power output and optical wavelength . the mirrors and cavity mode become misaligned as the control algorithm adjusts the gain and phase currents from their predefined values . the quality of the optical output may be reduced as a result of decreased side mode suppression ratio . additionally , the probability of a mode hop ( wavelength shift ) is increased as the mirrors and cavity mode become misaligned . the interdependent control algorithm induces primary changes in one current or temperature and corrects for secondary changes in the other currents with an adaptive filter or estimator . this compensates for wavelength shifts or power changes and mirror misaligment induced when the control adjusts its primary variable . using an interdependent power and wavelength control algorithm as follows : wavelength is stabilized by adjusting the phase current ( i ph ) by an adaptive filter ; and mirror currents are realigned by a fixed estimator , wavelength is adjusted by the phase current ( i ph ) or the carrier temperature power is stabilized by adjusting the gain current ( i gn ) by an adaptive filter ; and mirror currents are realigned by a fixed estimator . the interdependent controls provide more robust , stable , and faster convergence of the power and wavelength to its reference value . gain voltage control uses feedback from the laser gain section voltage to keep the mirrors aligned with the cavity mode . it aligns the mirrors by minimizing the laser gain section voltage . the laser gain section voltage minimum is where the cavity loss is a minimum , roughly corresponding to maximum optical power output , wavelength stability , and side mode suppression ratio . more specifically , the gain voltage minimum corresponds to the minimum loss condition when parasitic electrical effects are accounted for , but gain spectrum effects offset the minimum from mode center in a characteristic fashion . additional output power may be achieved using certain techniques , such as by misaligning the front mirror , however , in such a case , other characteristics may suffer , such as the side mode suppression ratio . gain - voltage control can be implemented in the dsp using a numerical minima search or a least mean squares ( lms ) quadratic estimator . alternately , gain voltage control can be implemented in analog circuitry using a phase locker circuit ( pl ). a digital signal processor ( alternatively referred to as a “ dsp ”) may be used to implement the gain voltage control , as shown in fig1 . the dsp dithers the laser mirror currents 1000 , 1002 and monitors the laser gain section voltage 1004 . it uses a numerical algorithm to align the mirrors by locating the minima of the laser gain section voltage . use three data points ( mirror current , gain voltage ) and estimate the slope of the gain voltage curve with respect to the mirror current , step toward the gain voltage minima and calculate the next data point , use the new data point and the two best points to re - estimate the slope of the gain voltage curve , continue the above step process , continually searching for the gain voltage minima . the minima search algorithm may be susceptible to wandering around the gain voltage minima due to noise in the sampled gain voltage signal . the wandering is reflected as drift and noise on the optical signal the lms estimator reduces the wander and noise by using an array of data points to estimate the gain voltage surface , in effect , filtering the noise . the lms estimator converges to the gain voltage minima faster and smoother than the minima search for fixed phase and gain section currents , the gain section voltage can be modeled using a causal volterra series expansion over 2 input signals , the front mirror and back mirror currents . for dithering signals in the sub - 100 khz regime , the analog circuitry and the device itself allow a memoryless model , so a 5 - tap adaptive quadratic filter model will suffice . the lms estimator can then be achieved using either of two classic adaptive filter update algorithms : a standard gradient descent adaptation ( ms or block lms algorithm ) or a recursive least squares adaptation ( rls algorithm — based on newton &# 39 ; s method ). the rls algorithm approach is used to achieve faster convergence of adaptive linear filters when the signals driving the system do not have sufficient spectral flatness to allow a rapid gradient descent . however , in the case of adaptive linear filters , the gradient descent approach converges just as fast as the rls approach when white noise can be used to drive the system . recently published results indicate that comparable rates of convergence can be achieved with adaptive quadratic filters if a minor filter structure modification is used and ( pseudo ) gaussian white noise can be used to drive the system . there are two advantages of this lms estimator approach . first , an initial tap - vector can be stored along with the four drive currents in the laser calibration table in flash memory ( resulting in much faster convergence ). second , the adaptation step size can be reduced as the system converges , reducing steady - state misadjustment in the mirror section currents . because of the aforementioned gain spectrum effects , the optimum setpoints for the mirror currents are actually offset from the gain voltage minimum . therefore , the objective is not to converge to the minimum , but to use an lms estimator to sense where the minimum would be based on the measured gain voltage surface in the vicinity of the operating point the control system adjusts the mirror currents to operate at a calibrated current offset from the estimate of the minimum . an exemplary lms estimator can use five independent data points to determine the surface . the lms algorithm : dithers the mirror currents in a linearly independent fashion about the operating point where , a point lies in each quadrant ; and the step size is less than the power and wavelength accuracy ; collects the gain and phase current at the mirror current when the power and wavelength are within control tolerance ; runs the lms estimator over the data set ( at least five independent points ); resets the mirror operating point to the distance from the inflection points on the surface . the lms algorithm continually operates in the background and the five - parameter fit to the quadratic control surface is : r · ( f + s 2 ⁢ r ) 2 + n · ( b + m 2 ⁢ n ) 2 + c - s 2 4 · r - m 2 4 · n ⁢ ⁢ simplify → r · f 2 + s · f + n · b 2 + m · b + c the parameters r and n define the surface curvature for the front and back mirror currents respectively . the parameters s and m define the offset of the surface extremum . the parameter c defines the offset of the surface . the independent variables f and b are the front mirror current and the back mirror current the result maps the quadratic surface of the gain current or phase current . the extremums are at : f = - s 2 ⁢ r ⁢ ⁢ b = - m 2 ⁢ n ( r s n m c ) = ( sffff sfff sffbb sffb sff sfff sff sfbb sfb sf sffbb sfbb sbbbb sbbb sbb sffb sfb sbbb sbb sb sff sf sbb sb n ) - 1 · ( szff szf szbb szb sz ) where s denotes a summation over the data points of the terms multiplied together and z is the current of the surface . the distance is the df and db from the extremums . the above technique is preferably used with the gain voltage surface . in general , there is a significant cross term ( f * b ) in the gain voltage surface , which goes to zero in the wavelength - locked case . in this case , therefore , a much simpler fit can be performed independently on the front and back mirror dither using three fitting parameters , and the resulting extremum is calculated . the digital algorithms implemented in the dsp are limited in speed and accuracy by the analog to digital converter ( adc ) and digital to analog converter ( dac ) as well as the signal to noise ratio ( snr ) of the circuit an analog gain voltage control is set out in fig1 . the analog phase locker &# 39 ; s speed and accuracy is limited substantially only by the snr of the circuit . the analog phase locker ( pl ) is a high speed , analog locking loop . it can be realized by a phase lock loop ( ppl ) or rf dither locker . the pl works with the open loop control circuit . the output of the pl adds to the output of the open loop control current sources . for example , the gain voltage 1100 can be applied to separate pl circuits 1102 a , 1102 b of the controller 100 . as shown in fig1 , an exemplary pl 1102 uses a high frequency narrowband stimulus 1200 to dither the mirror current . the pl 1102 measures the gain voltage ( v g ) 1202 with a tuned , narrowband amplifier 1204 and extracts the phase difference between stimulus and measured signal with a phase comparator 1206 . the pl 1102 also drives an error amplifier that adjusts the mirror current to the gain voltage minima and is sampled by an adc 1208 . the pl error amplifier output is measured by the dsp . the dsp adjusts the mirror current values in the open loop control lookup table to reduce the error to zero . the dsp effectively operates as an integrator function . fig1 illustrates the combined operation of analog gain voltage control circuits to correct the outputs to the two mirrors from the open loop digital controller . the digital memory / dsp 1300 can set a first approximation current and voltage from a lookup table . the analog correction circuits 1102 a , 1102 b can provide feedback and correction signals to the device as described previously , and the digital controller then monitors the correction signals 1302 , 1304 and readjusts the currents and voltages to have the feedback currents from the analog correction portions approach zero . this allows for correction of the laser controller over the life of the sgdbr laser , and accounts for changes in operating temperatures and conditions as well as changes in the operation of the sgdbr laser internal components . gain and phase current control such as that shown in fig1 , uses the extremum point ( the maximum or minimum value of a function ) of the gain voltage surface ( as proxy for the gain and phase current surfaces ) to keep the mirrors aligned with the cavity mode . it aligns the mirrors by operating the mirror currents at a fixed distance from the control surface extremums . the distance and extremums are determined during calibration . the mirror operating point corresponds to best - cost function that maximizes the optical power output , wavelength and power stability , and side mode suppression ratio . gain and phase current control operates in conjunction with power and wavelength control . gain and phase current control can be implemented in the dsp using a least mean squares ( lms ) quadratic surface estimator , such as that previously described . the dsp dithers the laser mirror currents while operating under power and wavelength control and records the gain and phase currents when the control loops are within tolerance . it can estimate a fit to the gain voltage surface as a function of the front and back mirror currents . alternately , it can estimate a five - parameter fit to the quadratic control surface for the gain current and the phase current as a function of the front and back mirror currents . it sets the mirror currents at a distance from the surface extremums . the power , wavelength , and gain voltage controller 100 operates the power and wavelength control and gain voltage control simultaneously . the foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of the invention 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 . many modifications and variations ate possible in light of the above teaching . it is not intended that the scope of the invention be limited by this detailed description . this concludes the description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention . the foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention 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 . many modifications and variations ate possible in light of the above teaching . it is intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description , but rather by the claims appended hereto .	7
the preferred embodiments of the present invention provide significant advantages of ultrasonic differential time of flight ( tof ) measurement techniques in a fluid medium over methods of the prior art as will become evident from the following detailed description . referring to fig2 , there is a mixer based measurement circuit of the present invention for measuring differential time of flight ( δt ) of ultrasonic signals in a fluid medium . here and in the following discussion , some circuit functions may be realized in hardware , software , or a combination of hardware and software as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art having access to the instant specification . this circuit advantageously converts ultrasonic transducer signals to a lower intermediate frequency ( if ), thereby permitting a lower analog to digital converter ( adc ) sampling rate . referring back to fig1 , signal r 12 is the ultrasonic signal produced by transducer ut 1 and received from transducer ut 2 as given by equation 4 likewise , signal r 21 is the ultrasonic signal produced by transducer ut 2 and received from transducer ut 1 as given by equation 5 . the center frequency of the transmitting transducer is f c , and f ( t ) is the envelope of the received signal . r 12 = f ( t ) sin ( 2π f c t ) [ 4 ] r 21 = f ( t + δt ) sin ( 2π f c ( t + δt )) [ 5 ] the receiver transducer 200 of fig2 preferably receives the signals of equations [ 4 ] and [ 5 ] alternately so that transducer ut 1 transmits when transducer ut 2 receives , and transducer ut 2 transmits when transducer ut 1 receives . the received signals are amplified by programmable gain amplifier ( pga ) 202 and applied to mixer circuits 204 and 206 . mixer circuit 204 multiplies the received signal by the modulating signal sin ( 2π ( f c + δf ) t ) and applies the resulting in phase signal to low pass filter ( lpf ) 208 . mixer circuit 206 multiplies the received signal by the modulating signal cos ( 2π ( fc + δf ) t ) and applies the resulting quadrature signal to low pass filter ( lpf ) 210 . here , δf is a frequency error term of the mixer frequency with respect to the transducer center frequency . the output signals from in phase mixer 204 are given by equations [ 6 ] and [ 7 ]. the output signals from quadrature mixer 206 are given by equations [ 8 ] and [ 9 ]. r i 12 ( t )= f ( t ) sin ( 2 πf c t ) sin ( 2π ( f c + δf ) t ) [ 6 ] r i 21 ( t )= f ( t + δt ) sin ( 2π f c ( t + δt )) sin ( 2π ( f c + δf ) t ) [ 7 ] r q 12 ( t )= f ( t ) sin ( 2 πf c t ) cos ( 2π ( f c + δf ) t ) [ 8 ] r q 21 ( t )= f ( t + δt ) sin ( 2 πf c ( t + δt )) cos ( 2π ( f c + δf ) t ) [ 9 ] the output signals from lpf 208 are given by equations [ 10 ] and [ 11 ]. the output signals from lpf 210 are given by equations [ 12 ] and [ 13 ]. here , the signal pair of equations [ 11 ] and [ 13 ] is not a delayed version of the signal pair of equations [ 10 ] and [ 12 ]. by way of contrast , the received signal of equation [ 5 ] is a delayed version of the signal of equation [ 4 ]. { tilde over ( r )} i 12 ( t )= f ( t ) sin ( 2 πδft ) [ 10 ] { tilde over ( r )} i 21 ( t )= f ( t + δt ) sin ( 2π ( f c δt + δft )) [ 11 ] { tilde over ( r )} q 12 ( t )= f ( t ) cos ( 2 πδft ) [ 12 ] { tilde over ( r )} q 21 ( t )= f ( t + δt ) cos ( 2π ( f c δt + δft )) [ 13 ] analog to digital converter ( adc ) 212 converts the analog signals from lpf 208 ( equations [ 10 ] and [ 11 ]) to digital signals and applies them to signal processing circuit 216 likewise , adc 214 converts the analog signals from lpf 210 ( equations [ 12 ] and [ 13 ]) to digital signals and applies them to signal processing circuit 216 . processing circuit 216 is preferably a digital signal processor and estimates the differential tof ( 60 according to equation [ 14 ]. referring now to fig3 a , there is a circuit diagram of an ultrasonic intermediate frequency ( if ) sampling based receiver of the present invention for measuring fluid flow differential time of flight ( δt ) of ultrasonic signals in a fluid medium . here and in the following discussion , the same reference numerals are used to indicate substantially the same circuit elements . the receiver transducer 200 of fig3 a preferably receives the signals of equations [ 4 ] and [ 5 ] alternately so that transducer ut 1 transmits when transducer ut 2 receives , and transducer ut 2 transmits when transducer ut 1 receives . the received signals are amplified by programmable gain amplifier ( pga ) 202 and applied to anti aliasing filter 300 . the output signal from anti aliasing filter 300 is then applied to analog - to - digital converter ( adc ) 302 . this embodiment of the present invention advantageously samples the received signal from anti aliasing filter 300 at an intermediate frequency ( if ) so that adc 302 may sample at a lower frequency as given by equation [ 15 ]. the corresponding sample time is given by equation [ 16 ]. here , k is an integer indicating the sampling frequency , and n is an integer indicating the n th sample . adc 302 preferably alternately produces the sample signals of equations [ 17 ] and [ 18 ] at a sampling rate determined by equations [ 15 ] and [ 16 ]. equations [ 17 ] and [ 18 ] are simplified and rewritten as equations [ 19 ] and [ 20 ]. for k even and n = 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , r 12 ( n ) is given by equations [ 19 ] through [ 22 ], respectively . the pattern of equations [ 19 ] through [ 22 ] repeats for larger n . r 12 ( 0 )= f ( t samp 0 + t off ) sin ( 2π f c t off ) [ 19 ] r 12 ( 1 )= f ( t samp 1 + t off ) cos ( 2π f c t off ) [ 20 ] r 12 ( 2 )=− f ( t samp 2 + t off ) sin ( 2π f c t off ) [ 21 ] r 12 ( 3 )=− f ( t samp 3 + t off ) cos ( 2π f c t off ) [ 22 ] for k odd and n = 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , r 12 ( n ) is given by equations [ 23 ] through [ 26 ], respectively . the pattern of equations [ 23 ] through [ 26 ] repeats for larger n . r 12 ( 0 )= f ( t samp 0 + t off ) sin ( 2π f c t off ) [ 23 ] r 12 ( 1 )=− f ( t samp 1 + t off ) cos ( 2π f c t off ) [ 24 ] r 12 ( 2 )=− f ( t samp 2 + t off ) sin ( 2π f c t off ) [ 25 ] r 12 ( 3 )= f ( t samp 3 + t off ) cos ( 2π f c t off ) [ 26 ] similarly , for k even and n = 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , r 21 ( n ) is given by equations [ 27 ] through [ 30 ], respectively . the pattern of equations [ 27 ] through [ 30 ] repeats for larger n . r 21 ( 0 )= f ( t samp 0 + t off + δt ) sin ( 2π f c ( t off + δt )) [ 27 ] r 21 ( 1 )= f ( t samp 1 + t off + δt ) cos ( 2π f c ( t off + δt )) [ 28 ] r 21 ( 2 )=− f ( t samp 2 + t off + δt ) sin ( 2π f c ( t off + δt )) [ 29 ] r 21 ( 3 )=− f ( t samp 3 + t off + δt ) cos ( 2π f c ( t off + δt )) [ 30 ] likewise , for k odd and n = 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , r 21 ( n ) is given by equations [ 31 ] through [ 34 ], respectively . the pattern of equations [ 31 ] through [ 34 ] repeats for larger n . r 21 ( 0 )= f ( t samp 0 + t off + δt ) sin ( 2π f c ( t off + δt )) [ 31 ] r 21 ( 1 )=− f ( t samp 1 + t off + δt ) cos ( 2π f c ( t off + δt )) [ 32 ] r 21 ( 2 )=− f ( t samp 2 + t off + δt ) sin ( 2π f c ( t off + δt )) [ 33 ] r 21 ( 3 )=− f ( t samp 3 + t off + δt ) cos ( 2π f c ( t off + δt )) [ 34 ] the sine terms for r 12 and k even are collected from equations [ 19 ], [ 21 ], and repeated n in equation [ 35 ]. the cosine terms for r 12 and k even are collected from equations [ 20 ], [ 22 ], and repeated n in equation [ 36 ]. r keven 12 ( n )={ f ( t samp 0 + t off ),− f ( t samp 2 + t off ), . . . } sin ( 2π f c t off ) [ 35 ] r keven 12 ( n )={ f ( t samp 1 + t off ),− f ( t samp 3 + t off ), . . . } cos ( 2π f c t off ) [ 36 ] similarly , the sine terms for r 21 and k even are collected from equations [ 27 ], [ 29 ], and repeated n in equation [ 37 ]. the cosine terms for r 12 and k even are collected from equations [ 28 ], [ 30 ], and repeated n in equation [ 38 ]. r keven 21 ( n )={ f ( t samp 0 + t off δt ),− f ( t samp 2 + t off + δt ), . . . } sin ( 2π f c ( t off + δt )) [ 37 ] r keven 21 ( n )={ f ( t samp 1 + t off δt ),− f ( t samp 3 + t off + δt ), . . . } cos ( 2π f c ( t off + δt )) [ 38 ] comparing the sine terms of equation [ 35 ] with those of equation [ 37 ] and the cosine terms of equation [ 36 ] with those of equation [ 38 ], the sampling functions differ in time by offset δt . the cosine terms of equations [ 36 ] through [ 38 ], therefore , are interpolated to match the timing of the sine terms in equations [ 39 ] and [ 42 ], respectively . r keven , sin 12 ( n )={ f ( t samp 0 + t off ),− f ( t samp 2 + t off ), . . . } sin ( 2π f c t off ) [ 39 ] r keven , cos 12 , int ( n )={ { tilde over ( f )} ( t samp 0 + t off ),− { tilde over ( f )} ( t samp 2 + t off ), . . . } cos ( 2π f c t off ) [ 40 ] r keven , sin 21 ( n )={ f ( t samp 0 + t off ),− f ( t samp 2 + t off ), . . . } sin ( 2π f c t off ) [ 41 ] r keven , cos 21 , int ( n )={ { tilde over ( f )} ( t samp 0 + t off + δt ),− { tilde over ( f )} ( t samp 2 + t off + δt ), . . . } cos ( 2π f c t off ) [ 42 ] referring to fig3 b , there is a signal processing circuit 304 to perform the foregoing calculations in equations [ 39 ] through [ 42 ]. sine terms from adc 302 are applied to sum circuit 310 where they are accumulated and applied to processing circuit 312 . cosine terms from adc 302 are interpolated by block 306 and applied to sum circuit 308 . sum circuit 308 accumulates the cosine terms and applies them to processing circuit 312 . processing circuit 312 estimates the differential tof ( δt ) according to equation [ 43 ]. estimation accuracy of the differential tof ( δt ) of equation [ 43 ] relies on the fact that the summed f sampling coefficients of equations [ 39 ] through [ 42 ] are close to each other in time . of course , for increasing δt , the estimation error also increases . transmitting a larger number of pulses from each transducer reduces the variation of the summed f sampling coefficients by increasing signal duration and , therefore , improves accuracy . at least a 1 % measurement accuracy is desirable . a most demanding condition for this measurement is assumed for a differential tof of approximately 3 ns . this corresponds to a 6 cm transducer spacing and a 5 cm / s flow rate . a 1 % error for this condition requires an error of less than 30 ps for a 6σ measurement . fig4 is graph illustrating farrow cubic interpolation that may be used with the circuit of fig3 b as in equations [ 40 ] and [ 42 ]. this and other interpolation techniques are disclosed by erup et al ., “ interpolation in digital modems — part ii : implementation and performance ”, ieee trans . on communications , vol . 41 , no . 6 , 998 - 1008 ( june 1993 ). the principle of farrow cubic interpolation is given by equation [ 44 ]. here , λ is the interpolation factor and k is the output sample index . to is the time between output samples and ti is the time between input samples . in a preferred embodiment of the present invention , λ is ½ . if the adc sampling frequency is taken as 4 / 3 ( 1 . 733 mhz ) or ⅘ ( 1 . 04 mhz ) of the transducer excitation frequency , it is only necessary to interpolate the summed cosine ( q channel ) terms . according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention , this may be accomplished by dividing a 5 . 2 mhz clock by 4 to produce the 1 . 3 mhz excitation frequency . the same 5 . 2 mhz clock may be divided by 3 to produce a 1 . 733 mhz sampling frequency or by 5 to produce a 1 . 04 mhz sampling frequency . both the excitation frequency and the sampling frequency , therefore , are advantageously synchronized . although some variation of sampling frequency with respect to excitation frequency is possible , the sampling frequency is preferably constrained to +/− 5 % of the target sampling frequency . each x (.) term of equation [ 44 ] represents a sampled input f (.) from equations [ 36 ] and [ 38 ]. these input terms are used to interpolate output terms y ( k ) or { tilde over ( f )}(.) terms of equations [ 40 ] and [ 42 ], respectively . these interpolated terms are time shifted so that they are aligned with the summed sine ( i channel ) terms . thus , the superscripts of the interpolated terms are changed to match the summed cosine terms . fig5 a is diagram showing the pulse excitation signal applied to a transmitting transducer as 1 , 10 , or 20 pulses for transmission to receiving transducer . fig5 b is graph showing the signal at the receiving transducer in response to 1 , 10 , and 20 pulses at a transmitting transducer . preferred embodiments of the present invention utilize transducers with a center frequency ( f c ) of 1 . 3 mhz . however , other transducers and different center frequencies may also be used . the diagram illustrates the resonance of a transmitting transducer in response to 1 , 10 , and 20 input pulses . in each case , the envelope of the resonant signal rises to a peak amplitude corresponding to the duration of the pulses . after this the envelope of each signal decays as in a typical rlc circuit . for example , 20 pulses at 1 . 3 mhz have a duration of t = 20 / 1 . 3e6 = 15 . 4 μs . a 10 pulse excitation signal has a duration of t = 10 / 1 . 3e6 = 7 . 7 μs . several simulations are given at fig6 - 9 for various numbers of input pulses to demonstrate the accuracy of the measurement system of fig3 a for a transducer center frequency ( f c ) of 1 . 3 mhz . results for 15 different conditions are summarized at the table in fig1 . referring now to fig6 , there is graph showing accuracy of the measurement circuit of fig3 a compared to zero crossing and cross correlation measurement techniques . the vertical scale is root mean squared ( rms ) error of the differential tof estimation as a function of noise . simulations show less than 1 % rms for all if sampling except 1 . 04 mhz sampling and 20 pulse transmission at 5 ns δt and 1 . 733 mhz sampling and 1 pulse transmission at 5 ns δt . other simulations , however , show low tolerance to noise . if sampling at 1 . 04 mhz sampling and 20 pulse transmission at 100 ns δt and 1 . 733 mhz sampling and 20 pulse transmission at 100 ns δt maintain less than 1 % rms error to 40 dbnv / sqrt ( hz ). referring now to fig7 , there is graph showing accuracy of the measurement circuit of fig3 a compared to zero crossing and cross correlation measurement techniques with different numbers of adc bits and different numbers of transducer excitation pulses . the vertical scale is root mean squared ( rms ) error of the differential tof estimation as a function of noise . all if sampling simulations are at 1 . 733 mhz . the greatest noise tolerance is 20 pulse transmission at either 5 ns or 100 ns δt . both maintain less than 1 % rms error to 40 dbnv / sqrt ( hz ). referring now to fig8 , there is graph showing accuracy of the measurement circuit of fig3 a for a 12 - bit adc having positive sampling frequency misalignment with respect to the optimal adc sampling frequency accuracy of the measurement circuit of fig3 a compared to zero crossing and cross correlation measurement techniques . the vertical scale is root mean squared ( rms ) error of the differential tof estimation as a function of noise . all if sampling simulations compare results of a desired 1 . 733 mhz sampling frequency with positive sampling frequency errors of 0 . 2 %, 1 %, and 5 %. referring now to fig9 , there is graph showing accuracy of the measurement circuit of fig3 a for a 12 - bit adc having negative sampling frequency misalignment with respect to the optimal adc sampling frequency accuracy of the measurement circuit of fig3 a compared to zero crossing and cross correlation measurement techniques . the vertical scale is root mean squared ( rms ) error of the differential tof estimation as a function of noise . all if sampling simulations compare results of a desired 1 . 733 mhz sampling frequency with negative sampling frequency errors of − 0 . 2 % and − 1 %. fig1 is a table summarizing accuracy of the measurement circuit of fig3 a for various conditions . these conditions include variation of adc sampling frequency , number of adc bits , differential tof ( δt ), and number of transducer pulses . still further , while numerous examples have thus been provided , one skilled in the art should recognize that various modifications , substitutions , or alterations may be made to the described embodiments while still falling within the inventive scope as defined by the following claims . other combinations will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art having access to the instant specification .	6
in this description of embodiments , similar reference numbers are used to indicate similar features throughout the embodiments . fig1 shows a first embodiment of a contact lens 1 on an eye with upper eyelid 2 and lower eyelid 3 . contact lens 1 has an optical zone with a central optical zone 4 and a presbyopia correcting further optical zone 5 radially outside the central optical zone . around the further optical zone 5 , contact lens 1 has a ramped ridge 6 which has several friction areas 7 on the ridge below the further optical zone 5 . fig2 shows an example of a friction area according to the invention , in which a sem picture is shown of a friction area which has a sinusoid surface with an amplitude of at least 2 . 5 μm and a wavelength of about 70 μm in both the x - and y - directions . the sinusoids in this embodiment have sub - μm form accuracy with a surface finish on the order of 100 nm . these types of sinusoidal surfaces can be machined using a single point diamond tool with a commercial fast tool servo on a diamond turning machine . for example machining could be performed with a precitech nanoform 200 or contamac diatop diamond turning machine . in these types of machines , the work piece is mounted on the spindle of the machine tool and rotates clockwise . a fast tool servo system is mounted on the tool slide and is oriented so that its stroke is parallel to the z - axis , perpendicular to the face of the work piece . a single point diamond cutting tool is mounted in the fast tool servo , and the height of the cutting edge is carefully set so that it cuts to the center of the work piece . to machine the surface of the work piece , the machine spindle ( the c - axis ) rotates the work piece clockwise , and the motion of the x - axis moves the diamond tool relative to the work piece such that the tool travels from right to left relative to the work piece , from the outer edge toward the center of rotation . the stroke of the fast tool servo is slaved to the c - axis and the x - axis , both of which contain high resolution encoders that constantly read the angular orientation of the machine spindle , θ , and the distance of the diamond tool tip from the axis of rotation of the machine spindle , r . in other words , the fast tool servo is programmed so that its stroke is a function of the encoder readings , θ and r . and the tool path is three dimensional ( 3d ) corrected . a desired form of the surface machined by the fast tool servo is given by eq . ( 1 ), where the amplitude , a , is 2 . 5 μm , and the wavelength , λ , is 70 μm . in eq . ( 1 ), x and y lie in the work piece coordinate system . r and θ lie in the machine tool coordinate system , where r corresponds to the x - axis of the machine tool and θ corresponds to the c - axis of the machine tool to produce a desired form of the machined work piece surface , the fast tool servo preferably is programmed to account for the finite nose radius of the cutting tool . characteristics of a slip off resistance surface structure according to the invention are : knurled but not rough in a sense that the structured surface could irritate the sensitive membrane at the inside of the eyelid . height and width of the structure is variable to give maximum slip off resistance structure could be raised or recessed size and place could be anywhere on the lens , outside the optical zone . the size width and structure of the knurled surface could be varied for different locations . for instance at the bottom part less resistance and at a higher part ( direction top of the lens ) more resistance to have a controlled movement or stabilisation . the structure could be in the shape of a so called lotus texture . so it has a self cleaning micro texture to reduce deposits on the structured area . structure could be manufactured either on the lens or on a optical mould insert used for cast moulding or spin casting . structure could be manufactured by means of : single point diamond turning laser ablation edm ( electric discharge machining ) micro sandblasting the surface structure is not limited to a sinoid surface but could be of any type suitable to increase the slip - off resistance needed to help the lens translating or rotation stabilisation during the eye movement when the eye changes to downward gaze . characteristic of a bifocal lens with stabilisation according to the invention , additional to what already has been disclosed in ep0858613a1 ( procornea ): distance part continuous in the lower part circular between 1 and 2 . 2 mm below centre . at the lower part of the peripheral stabilisation a recess with a depth near to the level off the distance part to avoid the build up off a tear meniscus who could disturb the vision quality . the lens could be a toric lens , toric multifocal , toric bifocal . fig4 shows a further embodiment of a contact lens 1 on an eye with upper eyelid 2 and lower eyelid 3 . contact lens 1 has an optical zone with a central optical zone 4 and a presbyopia correcting further optical zone 5 radially outside the central optical zone . at the lower portion , outside the further optical zone 5 in the outer radial area , contact lens 1 has a ramped ridge 6 which has several friction areas 7 on the ridge below the further optical zone 5 . this contact lens is further provided with two additional elevated areas 8 that preferably are dome - shaped and smoothly extend from the surface of the contact lens 1 . these areas are situated on the upper half of the contact lens 1 . fig5 shows another embodiment of a contact lens 1 according to the invention . this contact lens 1 has two ridges 9 , 9 ′ at both sides of a mirror line through contact lens 1 . these two ridges extend concentrically over a least part of the circumference of the contact lens , outside the optical zone . at the lower part where the ridges start , friction areas 10 , 10 ′ are provided . the space between the two ridges 9 allows eye fluid to leave the lens and not build up in the optical areas 4 , 5 . in cross section , the ridges 9 , 9 ′ preferably have a smooth , continuous slope . fig6 shows another embodiment of a contact lens 1 with a fully circumferential ridge 11 . on this ridge , several friction areas 12 are provided . fig7 shows a cross section through the lens of fig6 . the contact lens 1 has a concave inner surface 13 which during wearing floats on an the eye , and an outer surface 14 . in this cross section the ridge 6 is indicated . in this embodiment the contact lens is not prismatic : at the optical area side of the ridge , the ridge slopes downward and the contact lens has its normal thickness . in a prismatic lens , the thickness of the contact lens would from the top of the ridge would decrease slowly until the current thickness would be reached at the other side ( where numeral 1 is placed ) of the lens . in this fig7 it is furthermore indicated that the height of the ridge is maximal at the lower side of the contact lens , and slowly decreases to about zero at the upper side ( where numeral 1 is placed ). in fig8 a detail of the ridge - part of fig7 is shown . this ridge 6 has a smooth , continuous contour and smoothly extends from the general outer surface 14 of the contact lens 1 . clearly shown is the friction area 7 in cross section , showing the wavelets which were here made in the surface of the ridge , at a location which is radially away from the optical zone . with a so called soft contact lens which has a diameter larger then the iris of an eye , the ridge is not situated at the edge of the contact lens , but more radially towards the centre of the contact lens , as is shown in this fig8 . furthermore , this figure shows that the amplitude of the micro undulations is very small , in the range of about 1 - 5 micron , and preferably 2 - 3 micron . its wavelength is about 40 - 200 micron , preferably 60 - 80 micron . then slope preferably is continuous in order to prevent dirt to build up and to avoid irritation of the eye . fig9 shows a cross section of a contact lens 1 generally according to the contact lens of fig5 , which has an interruption 15 in the ridge 6 centrally below the central optical zone 4 . fig1 shows a contact lens according to the invention which has a ridge 6 and friction areas 16 having a two - dimensional sinusoid profile . examples of such a profile are shown in fig1 and 14 . fig1 shows a cross section through a contact lens 1 of fig1 with a ridge 6 . in fig1 alternative friction areas 20 and 21 are shown . friction area 20 has a profile of substantially parallel waves which run perpendicular to the radial direction , substantially in circumferential direction . friction area 21 has a profile which is at an angle with respect to the radial direction and the circumferential direction . this placement allows the eyelid to properly position the lens both in radial position and in height on the eye . fig1 - 14 show various embodiments of a wave pattern according to the invention and used in fig1 . in these figures , the waves are substantially parallel waves . these waves are in fig1 below the general surface and in a fully sinusoid pattern . in fig1 the waves are above the general surface of the contact lens , and between each wave 24 there is a flat region . it will also be obvious after the above that further embodiments are within the scope of protection of the appended claims being obvious combinations with prior art techniques and the disclosure of this patent .	6
the invention provides a foot pedal musical effects device for providing new and varied sound effects in a compact foot - operable package to allow a musician to vary the effects in a creative and expressive manner during the course of a performance . the device modulates an audio input signal according to one or more presets and varied position of a foot treadle . fig1 illustrates one embodiment of a foot - operated effects pedal that provides a stable platform for foot - controlled operation , while also accommodating other controls in a compact package . as illustrated the effects pedal 100 includes an electronic housing 105 adapted to contain related electronic circuitry and an optional internal power source ( not shown ). the housing 105 provides a top surface 115 that generally faces the musician during use ( i . e ., it &# 39 ; s the top of the housing when placed on the floor ). the pedal 100 also includes a foot - operated treadle 110 disposed along the top surface 115 and pivotally coupled to the housing 105 . one or more manual controls 120 and / or displays are also disposed on the top surface 115 . additionally , the electronics housing 105 may contain one or more connectors 125 to accommodate signal input and output as well as external power . as illustrated , the treadle 110 is constructed having a unique ‘ i ’ shape well adapted to accommodate the control knobs 120 , without extending the dimensions of the housing . additionally , due to the placement and depth of the treadle 110 , a user &# 39 ; s foot can operate the treadle 110 without interfering with the control knobs 120 . that is , as the treadle 110 is pivoted up and down about a pivot point , a foot placed on top of the treadle 110 will not interfere with the control knobs 120 . such a configuration of the treadle 110 conserves a considerable amount of space thereby allowing for a more compact pedal 100 . there is no reason why the treadle 110 is limited to an ‘ i ’ shape . other shapes could also work such as a squared ‘ c ’ shape or even a ‘ t ’ shape . preferably , the treadle 110 provides a longitudinal support member adapted for alignment with the longitudinal axis , or length of a user &# 39 ; s foot . it is the longitudinal support member that is adapted to pivot back and forth above the housing 105 . generally , at least a portion of the longitudinal member is substantially narrower than a user &# 39 ; s foot to accommodate for placement of the control knobs . to provide stabilization for a foot placed upon the treadle 110 , a lateral support member is fixedly attached to the longitudinal member . thus , the lateral support can be the horizontal component of an i , square c , or t ; whereas , the longitudinal member can be the vertical member of each shape . the invention relates to especially - shaped treadle adapted to accommodate top - mounted controls in this manner . fig2 illustrates a plan , or top view of the pedal 100 of fig1 , showing an exemplary layout of control knobs . the top surface 115 of the housing 105 contains a mode - selection control 122 , that can be rotated to different positions to select a desired operating mode of the device 100 . other controls include a modulation depth control switch 123 , a pan ratio control switch 124 , a chop ratio or duty - cycle control switch 126 and a chop frequency control switch 127 . the control knobs 122 , 123 , 124 , 126 , and 127 can be used to pre - set one or more of the desired feature ; whereas , the treadle 110 can be used to continuously vary other features during play . in some embodiments , the pedal 100 includes one or more switches 131 , 132 for selecting whether the desired feature is controlled according to the presets or by the treadle 110 , thereby providing additional flexibility to the user . in some embodiments , the pedal 100 also includes a display providing the user with feedback as to one or more of the features of the pedal . it can be clearly seen that the controls 122 , 123 , 124 , 126 , 127 , 131 , 132 are “ nestled ” within the overall space occupied by the foot treadle 110 . additionally , the depth of the treadle 110 and / or its placement above the top surface 115 ensure that an operator &# 39 ; s foot will not interfere with the controls either . the space - saving of this design is by no means insignificant . for example , if the control knobs 122 , 123 , 124 , 126 , 127 and switches 131 , 132 and lcd screen 130 were to be accommodated outside of the treadle area , the overall size of the pedal 100 would be substantially larger , making it more cumbersome , heavier , and very likely more expensive . usually , foot pedals like the chopper are placed on boards with other pedals , so if one is oversized , the whole board has to be made bigger to accommodate it , or there is less space available for other pedals . many traveling musicians try to reduce the size and weight of the equipment they carry around , and the design of the chopper allows that . as shown in fig2 , the lcd read - out screen or display 130 allows for monitoring and control of features such as the modulation frequency . in some embodiments , the display 130 can be adjusted to read the frequency of either the chop wave or the sine wave ( tremolo or pan rate ), or both . generally , the device provides at least two oscillating waves . a first wave can be a square wave providing a capability for modulating an audio signal between two amplitude states , such as an “ on ” state and an “ off ” state . by the nature of the square wave , the audio signal is repeatedly switched or modulated between the two amplitude states at a variable and selectable rate . the modulation between the on and off states is referred to herein as a “ chopped ” effect . the rate at which the signal varies between the two states is the modulation frequency , referred to herein as a “ chop frequency .” a second wave can be a sine wave providing a capability for modulating an audio signal between two amplitude states in a continuous and varied manner , as according to a sine wave . although square and sine waves are described herein , it is conceivable that other wave forms , such as saw - tooth , triangular may also be used . the input signal can be an electrical audio signal from an electrified instrument , such as an electric guitar . alternatively , or in addition , the input signal can be obtained from any instrument or source providing an electrical signal , such as a keyboard , or even a signal from an acoustic source , such as that provided by a vocal microphone or instrument transducer . as shown in fig3 , a chopper device 200 includes an audio input 210 for receiving an incoming or input musical signal from an external musical source . the device 200 processes the received signal using an internal modulator 205 resulting in the chopped effect , and provides an outgoing , or output “ chopped ” signal at an audio output 215 . the modulator 205 is controllable by one or more controls 222 , 224 , 226 . for example , a chop rate can be adjusted using a chop - rate preset switch 222 . alternatively the chop rate can be adjusted using a foot - operated treadle 224 . in some embodiments , a duty - cycle control preset 226 is also provided to adjust the duty cycle defined by the on - off periods . as described in more detail below , the audio signals can be mono or stereo . in some embodiments , the device 200 includes a bypass switch 225 to selectively pass the received audio input signal through the device to the audio output 215 substantially unaffected . in operation , the device 200 generates the chopped signal by modulating the input signal between on and off states . the modulation can be accomplished using analog circuitry , digital circuitry , or a combination of both analog and digital circuitry . in addition to modulating the signal , other signal - conditioning circuitry can be included . for example , the device 200 can provide impedance matching between different audio sources . alternatively , or in addition , the device 200 can include filters to selectively alter the processed signal . still further , this device 200 can be combined with one or more other effects , such as echo , distortion , chorus , phaser , flanger , wah , harmonizer , etc . when adjusting the chop frequency using the chop - rate preset control 222 , the treadle 224 can be used as an on - off ( i . e ., bypass ) switch . in a stereophonic application , the chopped signal can be set to oscillate between the two channels . this feature is referred to as “ panning ” as the audio output signal varies between the channels in a manner as controlled by panning controls . another adjustment can be provided for changing the duty cycle , or ratio of “ on ” time to “ off ” time . such variability in duty cycle allows for an emphasis of the “ chop ” resulting in the generation of some unique sound effects . referring again to fig2 , the mode selector switch 122 provides for selection among different modes of operation . for example , the different modes produce different respective sound effects , such as chop , blend , shake and stir modes described in more detail below . in ‘ chop ’ mode , the audio signal is chopped ( turned on and off ) at a rate set either by the pre - set knob 127 or by the variable foot treadle 110 allowing the user to change the chop frequency at will ( i . e ., “ on the fly ”) during the course of a performance . when used in stereo , the chopped sound can be configured together with a pan between left and right channels . by combining one or more of the chop and pan modulations with the pedal - adjusted variable frequency , ground breaking new effects are produced . another feature of the chop mode referred to above is the adjustable ‘ duty cycle .’ the duty - cycle adjust changes the ratio of ‘ on ’ time to ‘ off ’ time thereby determining the nature of the resulting sound . a short ‘ on ’ time makes a dramatic chop sound whereas balancing the durations of the on and off periods to be similar , the effect is more melodic . a typical stereo chop - mode waveform captured from an actual oscilloscope trace is illustrated in fig4 a . the top trace represents the left audio output signal channel ; whereas , the bottom trace represents the right audio output signal . as shown , the left channel may be off at one instant of time , while the right channel is on . conversely , the left channel may be on at another instant of time , while the right channel is off . in this manner , the sound can be chopped between the two channels of a stereo output , resulting in sound coming from only one of the two channels at any give instance of time . as the duration of the on and off periods are about equal , it is said that the duty cycle is about 50 %. another similarly - captured stereo chop - mode waveform is provided in fig4 b illustrating a different duty cycle . the resulting waveform can be produced by adjusting the ratio control 126 towards one direction giving an unequal duty cycle . thus , as shown , one channel may have an on signal applied for one time period , whereas the other channel has a corresponding on signal a shorter time period . in some embodiments , the duty cycle is pre - settable between 0 % and 100 %. in other embodiments , the duty cycle is variable . as further illustrated in fig4 c , the audio output signal includes on and off states corresponding to on and off amplitude , or signal levels . the on signal level ( a on ) can be the natural signal level of the received musical signal . the off signal level ( a off ) typically represents a lower signal level . in some embodiments , the off signal corresponds to a substantially zero signal level . in practical systems , it is difficult to achieve a zero signal level as there usually remains some residual noise due to the electronics of the device as well as other external factors . nevertheless , the off level may be substantially imperceptible to a listener . as also shown in this figure , a chop period can be defined as the time between the beginning of one on signal and the beginning of the next adjacent on signal . a chop rate can be defined as the inverse of the chop period ( i . e ., 1 / t period ). the electronic circuitry used to cause the musical signal to be turned on and off repeatedly can either be “ analog ” ( i . e ., the musical signal is turned on and off by means of circuitry directly in the signal path ), or “ digital ,” where the analog musical signal is first converted to a digital signal by means of an analog - to - digital ( a - d ) converter . thus , in a digital application , the bit stream is processed to achieve the on / off effect at the rate and duty cycle as set by the user . the chopped digital signal can then be converted back to an analog signal using a digital - to - analog ( d - a ) converter , thus giving the same chopped effect . for analog embodiments , the on - off effect can be generated as shown in fig5 . the device 300 includes a modulator 305 receiving an audio signal at its audio input 310 and providing a modulated audio output at its audio output 315 . the modulator can include an amplitude - adjusting circuit 330 receiving the audio input signal and adapted to adjust its amplitude between at least two different levels ( e . g ., on and off ), providing a modulated audio output signal . the amplitude - adjusting circuit 330 receives a control input from an oscillating or timing circuit 335 . the timing circuit 335 , in turn , is adjustable according to one or more user - adjustable controls . for example , the timing circuit 335 receives a first input from a duty - cycle adjust 336 and a second input from a frequency adjust 322 . a chopped effect can be produced by the modulator repetitively attenuating ( i . e ., decreasing ) and then un - attenuating ( i . e ., increasing ) the electrical level of the audio input signal by the same amount . this can be achieved by actively reducing and then increasing the impedance to signal ground seen by the signal . alternatively , or in addition , the on - off effect can be achieved by increasing and then decreasing the impedance in the signal path , by repetitively reducing and then increasing electrical gain in the signal path , or by a combination of increasing and then decreasing the impedance and gain in the signal path . the repetition rate for the signal attenuation can be controlled by one of many possible oscillator circuits 322 . duty cycle , defined by “ on time ” and “ off time ” ( signal / no signal time intervals ), is controlled by means of the position of the duty cycle control knob 326 . duty cycle is determined by the ratio of on / off time periods in the timing signal generated by the oscillator and applied to the variable attenuation circuitry . as described above , the output signal may be mono or stereo . if stereo , the effect can be panned or “ chopped ” from one channel to another in various ways . for example , two stereo outputs ( i . e ., channel 1 and channel 2 ) can be chopped alternately , with each being substantially 180 ° out of phase with the other . in this manner , the sound can be chopped between the two channels , resulting in sound coming from one of the two channels at any give instance of time . alternatively or in addition , the input signal may be split and applied to two or more variable rate attenuation circuits , the output of the attenuation circuits being summed in parallel , or applied to two variable rate attenuation circuits in series . one embodiment of such a configuration is illustrated in fig6 . the device 400 includes a modulator 405 receiving an audio signal at its audio input 410 and providing a modulated audio output at its audio output 415 . the modulator 405 includes a first amplitude - adjusting circuit 430 controlled by a first timing circuit 435 and a second amplitude - adjusting circuit 440 controlled by a second timing circuit 445 . the input signal is split and applied to both amplitude - adjusting circuits 430 , 440 in parallel . the output of the second amplitude - adjusting circuit 440 is routed through an audio phase shifter 450 and combined with the output of the first amplitude adjusting circuit 430 in a signal combiner 460 . the multiple chopped or amplitude modulated audio signals can be summed or combined in various ratios and phase relationships to produce various ‘ delay emulation ’ effects by varying the settings of the respective amplitude - adjusting circuits 430 , 440 and / or timing circuits 435 , 445 . such variability includes varying the relative phase of one or more of the audio signals before recombining with the other signals . in some embodiments , the device includes an operational mode referred to as a “ blend ” mode . this is one form of ‘ delay ( echo ) emulation ’. in blend mode , the two waves are combined . when used in stereo , the sound produced is similar to that which is produced by a ‘ delay ’ pedal but with the absence of a repeated note , the pedal can achieve the melodic effect of a delay pedal but without the limitation of a repeated note hanging on . the sound produced is melodic in context and can be pulsating and rhythmic . a typical stereo blend - mode waveform captured from an actual oscilloscope trace is illustrated in fig7 . once again , the top trace represents the left audio output signal and the bottom trace represents the right audio output signal of a stereo output . as shown , the left channel may be off at one instant of time , while the right channel is on . however , the transition between off and on states is smooth providing some overlap . that is , as the amplitude of one channel is decreasing , the amplitude of the other channel is increasing . as illustrated , this panning effect can be controlled by a sine wave . additionally , each of the channels is also chopped . as illustrated , the chop rate is substantially faster than the pan rate , such that several chop periods are represented within each one period of the pan cycle . thus , in the blend mode , the chopped effect can be allocated to the left and right channels and panned at the same time . additionally , the chop duty cycle ( ratio ) adjustment can be adjusted or varied to add to the drama by making the chops shorter . in some embodiments , the chopped signal can be subsequently fed into one or more other effects , such as an auto - wah or synth - wah envelope filter to produce even more interesting effects . in some embodiments , the device is can operate in what is referred to as a “ shake ” mode . in this mode , the outputs of the different amplitude - adjusting circuits ( e . g ., the square and sine waves ) are combined out of phase with respect to each other to provide a melodic and complex sound that captures the creative imagination . it is akin to a series of echoes with different time intervals , totally unique and never - before - heard in a sound effect . the chop frequency and pan frequency can be set to produce extremely rhythmic patterns and can be followed by other event - triggered effects to create new sounds . an alternative embodiment of the device is adapted to apply an audio signal to two consecutive variable attenuation or gain stages and sum the outputs in parallel with at least one signal is phase shifted with respect to the other is illustrated in fig8 . the result , depending upon the actual settings , is an on - off rhythm sound pattern . the device 500 includes a modulator 505 receiving an audio signal at its audio input 510 and providing a modulated audio output at its audio output 515 . the modulator 505 includes a first amplitude - adjusting circuit 530 controlled by a first timing circuit 535 and a second amplitude - adjusting circuit 540 controlled by a second timing circuit 545 . the input signal applied only to the first amplitude - adjusting circuits 530 . the input to the second amplitude - adjusting circuit 540 is provided by the output of the first amplitude - adjusting circuit 530 . the output of the second amplitude - adjusting circuit 540 is routed through an audio phase shifter 550 and combined with the output of the first amplitude adjusting circuit 530 in a signal combiner 560 . an exemplary shake mode delay emulation waveform captured from an actual oscilloscope trace is illustrated in fig9 . as illustrated , the device 500 inserts partial amplitude out of phase chop on signals into the chop off period at a slower pan rate in the left channel and adds two in phase chop signals in the right channel . a degree of randomness is achieved by allowing the two oscillators 535 , 545 to run unsynchronized with respect to one another . in some embodiments , the two oscillators can be synchronized with respect to each other . in a digital embodiment of the chopper pedal , the different waveform patterns can be defined by programming on and off times and phases by means of software . as in the analog version , both the chop and pan frequencies can be varied , thus creating either random or predetermined intervals , but in addition , the on times and off times can be programmed to specific patterns whether the effect is used in mono or stereo . for example , the on periods could be programmed to be : slow - slow - slow - pause - quick - quick , or any other pattern the user wants to create . using these effects , an instrument , such as the guitar , can be turned into a pattern generator creating funky and rhythmic stereo sounds hitherto never achieved by means of a foot - pedal or a rack - mounted effects unit intended for electrical musical instruments . although a foot pedal configuration is described herein , the device can also be packaged in any one of a various number of alternative configurations . for example , the device can be configured in a rack - mounted configuration for studio or stage use . in rack mounted applications , the pedal feature is either not used or effected by means of a separate pedal controller , such as a midi - controller or a simple device similar to a volume pedal . alternatively , the device can be configured as a self - contained , stand - alone device , such as a floor - mounted option with a pedal provided on top of the housing for placement at the performer &# 39 ; s feet . in some embodiments , as cross - sectionally illustrated in fig1 a and b , the pedal action is provided by a pivoting member or treadle 110 shown in up and down positions , respectively . the pedal 100 includes a treadle 110 pivotally attached to an electronics housing 105 at a pivot 155 . thus , the treadle 110 can be pivoted between a full up position as shown in fig1 a and a full down position as shown in fig1 b . advantageously , the treadle 110 does not interfere with the control knobs and switches 122 , 124 , 128 . the treadle is coupled to internal circuitry 160 through a linkage 150 . thus , the position of the pedal as communicated to the internal circuitry 160 through the linkage 150 , can be used to control one or more features provided by the device 100 . in operation , movement of the treadle 110 varies a control parameter in the electronic circuitry according to the position of the treadle . the linkage 150 between the treadle and the electronic circuitry can be any suitable linkage , such as a mechanical linkage as shown or an optical linkage . thus , the linkage 150 provides a particular control signal to the electronics depending on the position of the treadle 110 . preferably , the treadle 110 provides a neutral mechanical bias allowing the it to remain , without the application of additional force , in the position last set . it is conceivable , however , that in other embodiments the treadle can be biased in a preferred position ( e . g ., full open ). the chop rates and pan rates ( frequencies ) can be simultaneously adjusted by means of the same treadle 110 by the performer &# 39 ; s foot without the performer having to remove hands from the instrument . it is believed to be the first time such a foot pedal has been designed to manipulate multiple modulation parameters ( i . e ., two separate oscillating waves ) in this way . in an exemplary embodiment of a stereophonic device , the chopped signal can also be panned between left and right channels alternately at a rate or in a manner set by the pedal 100 . the pan rate can be varied over a frequency range from a relatively slow pan of about 0 . 3 hz , to much faster pan rates of 15 hz or even greater . the pan frequency can be controlled ( in a continuously variable manner ) by the user &# 39 ; s foot allowing the user to play continuously with a tremolo and / or pan effect rate without using hands . in a stereo system , this foot - operated adjustment is believed to be unique . in some embodiments , additional features , such as a visible display 130 ( fig2 ) are provided to display one or more settings of the device 100 . for example , the display 130 can identify the oscillator frequency in order to facilitate control of one or more of the device parameters . any of a number of conventional circuits can be provided to determine the oscillator frequency . for example , a detection circuit that triggers of the oscillator output , e . g ., at its rising edge , uses the trigger points to determines the corresponding frequency . the frequency , once determined , can be displayed in terms of hz ( bits of cycles per second ), or cpm ( chops per minute ). when the device is synchronized using a midi signal , the display 130 can be configured to show the midi sync rate ( e . g ., in beats per minute ). for lcd displays , the foot pedal allows for the display to be back - illuminated , if required . in some embodiments , the chop frequency can be synchronized using an external signal or trigger such as that provided by a midi signal . such synchronization can be applied to analog , digital , and mixed analog and digital embodiments . the midi synchronization is achieved by allowing the midi timing signal to trigger the first ( e . g ., square wave ) oscillator so that it can be synchronized with an external beat or signal provided from an external source by means of a connecting cable . the timing signal can be connected directly to the oscillator in order to achieve synchronization with the internal timing source being disconnected in the presence of the external sync signal . midi has been used before to time events and to provide a sync signal , but this is the first time it has been used to synchronize an oscillating frequency in a foot pedal . an exemplary schematic diagram illustrating the interconnections of the control switches is illustrated in fig1 . an audio input signal is received at an audio input 170 . the signal is routed through a bypass switch 175 that can be operated to direct the input signal through the device 100 or directly to an audio output 180 . the input audio signal , if not bypassed , is routed to one or more modulators 190 ′, 190 ″, each modulator being controlled by a respective oscillator 195 ′, 195 ″. the output of each of the oscillators 195 ′, 195 ″ is routed to a display unit 130 . the output of each of the modulators 190 ′, 190 ″ is routed to an interconnection circuit 197 that routs the signals , as determined by the selected mode , to the audio output 180 . for example , the interconnection circuit may include a phase offset and / or a signal combiner . the first modulator 190 ′ is controlled by a chop rate input . the chop rate can be obtained from an external midi signal or from settings of the device 100 as determined by a first midi control switch 185 ′. a first pedal / preset switch 131 selects whether the chop rate control is obtained from the treadle 110 or from the manual preset 127 . the second modulator is similarly controlled by a pan / tremolo rate input . the pan / tremolo rate can be obtained form an external midi signal or from settings of the device 100 as determined by a second midi control switch 185 ″. a second pedal preset switch 132 selects whether the pan / tremolo rate control is obtained from the treadle 110 or from the manual preset 124 . additionally , the first oscillator 195 ′ receives an input from a chop ratio preset 126 and the second oscillator 195 ″ receives an input from a modulation depth preset 123 . while this invention has been particularly shown and described with references to preferred embodiments thereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention encompassed by the appended claims .	6
other than in the operating examples , or where otherwise indicated , all numbers expressing quantities of ingredients or reaction conditions used herein are to be understood as modified in all instances by the term &# 34 ; about &# 34 ;. it has now been found that the requirements stated above are satisfied to a high degree by zwitterionic polymers consisting essentially of : ( a ) from 30 to 70 mole % of monomers containing quanternary ammonium groups and corresponding to the following formula : wherein r 1 and r 2 are hydrogen or methyl groups , z is an oxygen atom or an -- nh -- group , n is a number from 2 to 5 , and a . sup . (-) is a chloride , bromide , methoxysulfate or ethoxysulfate anion ; ( b ) from 10 to 30 mole % of monomeric carboxylic acids corresponding to the following formula : in which r 3 and r 4 are hydrogen or methyl groups ; ( c ) from 10 to 30 mole % of monomeric esters corresponding to the following formula : in which r 5 and r 6 are hydrogen or methyl groups and r 7 is a methyl or ethyl group ; and ( d ) from 0 to 40 mole % of monomers containing tertiary amino groups and corresponding to the following formula : in which r 8 and r 9 are hydrogen or methyl groups and r 10 and r 11 are hydrogen or c 1 - c 4 alkyl groups or , together with the nitrogen atom , form a piperidine , piperazine , pyrrolidine or morpholine ring , z is an oxygen atom or an -- nh -- group , and n is a number from 2 to 5 . the zwitterionic polymers according to the invention are readily soluble in water and in aqueous solutions of anionic , cationic , ampholytic , zwitterionic and nonionic surfactants and retain their favorable hair - softening and hair - setting properties in aqueous solutions of anionic surfactants , even in the event of prolonged storage . by virtue of the properties mentioned , the zwitterionic polymers according to the invention are suitable as a setting and hair - softening component in aqueous hair - washing and hair - care preparations . such preparations include shampoos , rinses , setting lotions , setting gels and also aqueous colorants , permanent - wave preparations or permanent - wave setting preparations . the zwitterionic polymers according to the invention are prepared from monomers corresponding to formulae ( i ), ( ii ), ( iii ), and , optionally , ( iv ) by known polymerization processes in aqueous - alcoholic solution . a radical - forming compound , such as for example potassium or ammonium peroxysulfate , tert .- butyl hydroperoxide , azobis ( cyanopentanoic acid ) or , preferably , azoisobutyonitrile , is added in small quantities as initiator . the preparation of two copolymers according to the invention is described in the examples . suitable monomers corresponding to formula ( i ) include derivatives of acrylic acid , methacrylic acid , crotonic acid or 2 - methyl crotonic acid . particularly suitable monomers containing quaternary ammonium groups include methacryloxyethyl trimethyl ammonium methosulfate or methacrylamidopropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride . suitable monomeric carboxylic acids corresponding to formula ( ii ) include acrylic acid , methacrylic acid , crotonic acid and 2 - methyl crotonic acid . acrylic acid or methacrylic acid is preferred . suitable monomeric esters corresponding to formula ( iii ) include the methyl and ethyl esters of acrylic acid , methacrylic acid , crotonic acid and 2 - methyl crotonic acid . the methyl esters of acrylic or methacrylic acid are preferred . suitable monomers containing tertiary amino groups corresponding to formula ( iv ) are preferably acrylic and methacrylic acid derivatives including dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate , dimethylaminopropyl methacrylamide , 2 - tert .- butylaminoethyl methacrylate or dimethylaminoneopentyl acrylate . the most preferred zwitterionic polymers corresponding to the aforementioned formulas consist essentially of : as indicated above , component a ( maptac ) may be present at a level of from 30 to 70 mole %, most preferably 30 to 65 mole %. component b ( aa or maa ) is present at a level of from 10 to 30 mole %, most preferably 15 to 25 mole %. component c ( ma or mma ) is present at a level of from 10 to 30 mole %, most preferably 15 to 25 % mole %. component d ( dmaema ) may be present at a level of 0 to 40 mole percent , and , when included , is present at a level of at least 1 mole %, most preferably 30 to 35 mole %. the properties of the zwitterionic polymers may be modified to obtain an improved hair softening effect through the proportion of component ( d ), i . e ., monomers corresponding to formula ( iv ). by contrast , zwitterionic polymers containing a particularly high proportion of component ( a ), i . e . monomers corresponding to formula ( i ), have a particularly pronounced setting , style - holding effect . where component ( d ) is used , it is employed at a level effective to impart minimally hair softening properties to the composition . it is particularly preferred to use at least one zwitterionic polymer according to the invention in aqueous preparations containing at least one anionic surfactant . accordingly , one preferred embodiment of the invention is a water - based hair shampoo which is characterized in that it contains from 0 . 1 to 10 % by weight of a zwitterionic polymer according to the invention and from 5 to 25 % by weight of an anionic surfactant . suitable anionic surfactants in hair treatment preparations according to the invention are any anionic surface - active compounds suitable for use on the human body . these compounds are characterized by a water - solubilizing , anionic group such as , for example , a carboxylate , sulfate , sulfonate or phosphate group , and a lipophilic alkyl group containing from 10 to 22 carbon atoms . in addition , glycol or polyglycol ether groups , ester , ether and amide groups and also hydroxyl groups may be present in the molecule . examples of suitable anionic surfactants are the sodium , potassium , ammonium , mono -, di - and tri - alkanolammonium salts containing 2 or 3 carbon atoms in the alkanol group of : ether carboxylic acids corresponding to the formula r 1 -- o --( ch 2 -- ch 2 o ) x -- ch 2 -- cooh , in which r 1 is a linear c 10 - c 22 alkyl group and x is 0 or 1 to 10 ; acyl sarcosines containing from 10 to 18 carbon atoms in the acyl group ; acyl taurides containing from 10 to 18 carbon atoms in the acyl group ; acylisethionates containing from 10 to 18 carbon atoms in the acyl group ; sulfosuccinic acid mono - and dialkyl esters containing from 8 to 18 carbon atoms in the alkyl group and sulfosuccinic acid monalkyl polyoxyethyl esters containing from 8 to 18 carbon atoms in the alkyl group and from 1 to 6 oxyethyl groups ; alpha - sulfofatty acid methyl esters of c 12 - c 18 fatty acids ; alkyl sulfates and alkyl polyglycol ether sulfates corresponding to the formula r 1 -- o ( ch 2 -- ch 2 o ) x -- oso 3 h , in which r 1 is a preferably linear c 10 - c 18 alkyl group and x is 0 or 1 to 12 . alkyl sulfates and alkyl polyglycol ether sulfates containing from 10 to 18 carbon atoms in the alkyl group and up to 12 glycol ether groups in the molecule are particularly preferred . in addition to the anionic surfactants mentioned , the hair shampoo formulations according to the invention may contain any of the auxiliaries and additives normally used for this purpose in the usual quantities . such auxiliaries and additives are , in particular , nonionic , amphoteric and zwitterionic surfactants . nonionic surfactants are , above all , the adducts of from 2 to 20 moles ethylene oxide with preferably linear c 12 - c 18 alcohols , with alkylphenols containing from 8 to 15 carbon atoms in the alkyl group , with c 12 - c 18 fatty acids , with fatty acid partial glycerides , with fatty acid sorbitan partial esters , with fatty acid alkanolamides and with methyl glucoside fatty acid esters . other suitable nonionic surfactants are alkyl ( oligo ) glucosides , alkylamine oxide surfactants and fatty acid alkanolamines . examples of amphoteric surfactants are alkyl ( c 8 - c 18 )- trimethyl - ammonioglycinate or acyl ( c 8 - c 18 )- aminopropyl trimethyl - ammonioglycinate . certain cationic surfactants compatible with anionic surfactants may also be present in the hair shampoos according to the invention . examples of such cationic surfactants are disclosed in german patent document no . 3442175 . in addition to the zwitterionic surfactants , the aqueous hair - washing and hair - care preparations according to the invention may also contain any of the auxiliaries and additives normally used for the particular application envisaged . in the case of hair rinses , such auxiliaries and additives include cationic surfactants , more especially surface - active quaternary ammonium salts , c 12 - c 22 fatty alcohols , fatty acid partial glycerides , cosmetic oil and fatty components and water - soluble polymers having a thickening effect ; for setting lotions and setting gels , they include cationic surfactants , cationic , nonionic or anionic polymers and lower alcohols . hair dyes generally contain substantive dyes or oxidation dye precursors , anionic or nonionic surfactants , ammonia or alkanolamines and , optionally , antioxidants . permanent - wave setting preparations generally contain an oxidizing agent such as h 2 o 2 , h 2 o 2 adducts , or potassium bromate , and also include anionic or nonionic surfactants . the zwitterionic polymers according to the invention are present in the aqueous hair - washing and hair - care preparations mentioned above in a quantity of from 0 . 1 to 10 % by weight , and more preferably from 0 . 1 to 2 % by weight . the following examples are intended to illustrate the invention without limiting it in any way . preparation of a copolymer of 3 moles maptac , 1 mole acrylic acid and 1 mole methyl methacrylate : 2 . 4 kg methyl methacrylate ( mma ) and 16 . 0 kg ispropanol were introduced into a reactor equipped with an impeller stirrer , a heating system , a cooling system , a reflux and head condenser and a thermometer and 0 . 1 kg azoisobutyronitrile was dissolved therein with stirring . 31 kg of a 50 % by weight aqueous solution of methacrylamidopropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride ( maptac ), 1 . 7 kg acrylic acid ( aa ) and 47 . 2 kg water were then added . the mixture was adjusted to ph 7 . 0 with approximately 1 . 6 kg ammonia solution ( 25 % by weight in water ). the contents of the reactor were then stirred for 30 minutes at a jacket temperature of 65 ° c ., resulting in slight heating . the mixture was then heated to 80 ° c . and stirred for another 2 hours . on completion of the reaction , 20 kg water were added and the same quantity distilled off again under normal pressure ( 1 bar ) in the form of an azeotrope . after cooling to 30 ° c ., the polymer solution had the following characteristic data : ______________________________________ph value 6 . 8dried acetone precipitate 125 % of the theoreticalspecific viscosity 0 . 65 ( 1 % in 1n nano . sub . 3 solution ) ______________________________________ preparation of a copolymer of 2 moles maptac , 1 mole acrylic acid , 1 mole methyl methacrylate and 2 moles dmaema : 2 . 1 kg methyl methacrylate and 16 . 0 kg isopropanol were introduced into a reactor equipped with an impeller stirrer , a heating system , a cooling system , a reflux and head condenser and a thermometer and 0 . 1 kg azoisbutyronitrile was dissolved therein with stirring . 18 . 3 kg of a 50 % by weight aqueous solution of methacrylamidopropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride ( maptac ), 6 . 5 kg dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate ( dmaema ) and 52 . 9 kg water were then added . after the careful addition of 1 . 5 kg acrylic acid , the mixture was adjusted to ph 7 . 0 with approximately 2 . 6 kg dilute sulfuric acid ( 30 % by weight in water ) and heated to 65 ° c . after stirring for 30 minutes at that temperature , resulting in slight heating , the mixture was heated to 80 ° c . and stirred for another 2 hours . 20 kg water were then added and the same quantity distilled off again under normal pressure ( 1 bar ) in the form of an azeotrope . after cooling to 30 ° c ., the polymer solution showed the following characteristic data : ______________________________________ph value 6 . 9dried acetone precipitate 145 % of the theoreticalspecific viscosity 0 . 65 ( 1 % in 1n nano . sub . 3 solution ) ______________________________________ the following examples illustrate the composition of various hair - care products prepared by forming aqueous dispersions of the listed compositions by techniques well known in the art . all of these products are considered effective for their indicated purposes . ______________________________________3 . hair shampoo % by weight______________________________________fatty alcohol ( c . sub . 12 - 14 ) poly ( 3 eo ) 30glycolether sulfate , na salt , 28 % aqueous solutioncoconut acyl ( c . sub . 12 - 18 )- aminopropyl 20dimethyl glycine , 30 % aqueous solutioncopolymer solution example 1 ( approx . 20 %) 5water adjust to 100 % ______________________________________ ______________________________________4 . hair rinse % by weight______________________________________fatty alcohol ( c . sub . 12 - 14 ) poly ( 3 eo ) 5glycol ether sulfate , na salt , 28 % aqueous solutioncopolymer solution example 2 ( approx . 20 %) 2water adjust to 100 % ______________________________________ ______________________________________5 . hair rinse % by weight______________________________________n --( 2 - hydroxyhexadecyl - 1 -)- n , n -- dimethyl - 4 ( 2 - hydroxyethyl )- ammonium chloride , 28 % aqueous solutioncopolymer solution example 2 ( approx . 20 %) 5water adjust to 100 % ______________________________________ ______________________________________6 . hair setting gel % by weight______________________________________n --( 2 - hydroxyhexadecyl - 1 -)- n , n -- 0 . 2dimethyl - n --( 2 - hydroxyethyl )- ammonium chloride , 28 % aqueoussolutionisopropanol 15 . 0copolymer solution example 2 ( approx . 20 %) 6 . 0water adjust to 100 % ______________________________________ ______________________________________7 . hair setting lotion % by weight______________________________________polyvinylpyrrolidone - polyvinyl 1 . 4acetate copolymer ( 60 : 40 ) copolymer solution example 1 ( approx . 20 %) 4 . 0ethanol 20 . 0water adjust to 100 % ______________________________________ ______________________________________8 . hair dye % by weight______________________________________tallow fatty alcohol ( c . sub . 16 - 18 ) 8 . 0fatty alcohol ( c . sub . 12 - 14 ) poly ( 3 eo ) glycol 20 . 0ether sulfate , na salt , 28 % aqueoussolutioncopolymer solution example 1 ( approx . 20 %) 2 . 5oxidation dye precursors 2 . 0water adjust to 100 % ______________________________________ ______________________________________9 . permanent - wave setting preparation % by weight______________________________________potassium bromate 5 . 0fatty alcohol ( c . sub . 12 - 14 ) poly ( 3 eo ) glycol 5 . 0ether sulfate , na salt , 28 % aqueoussolutioncitric acid sufficient to adjust to a ph of 4copolymer solution example 2 ( approx . 20 %) 1 . 5water adjust to 100 % ______________________________________ it is to be understood that the above described embodiments of the invention are illustrative only and that modifications throughout may occur to those skilled in the art .	2
a perspective view of an exemplary trap 100 for crawling pests in accordance with the present invention is shown in fig1 . the trap 100 is suitable for trapping crawling pests such as arachnids , crawling insects such as ants and cockroaches , and the like . the trap 100 may also be used for trapping crawling pests that also have the ability to fly , such as wasps , stink bugs , or the like . the trap 100 has particular advantages for trapping pests that may have unpleasant defense mechanisms , such as stingers , biting mandibles , foul odor or the like , because the entrapped pests may be discarded without the user risking contact with the pest . the trap 100 includes a pair of parallel wall portions 102 that are elastically urged apart to define an entrapment region between the wall portions 102 . entrapment panels , for example , adhesive panels 130 , are releasably retained on the facing sides 101 of the wall portions 102 . refer also to an exploded view of the trap 100 shown in fig2 . the trap 100 includes first and second wall portions 102 . the wall portions 102 each define a recessed bed 103 with gently sloped ramps 104 , 104 ′ providing ready access to the recessed bed 103 from all sides . in this embodiment , the wall portions 102 are generally rectangular with rounded corners . tubular receivers 106 extend away from two corners of the facing sides 101 of each wall portion 102 . tubular posts 108 extend away from the facing sides 101 of the other two corners . the tubular receivers 106 define an aperture 107 that is sized and positioned to slidably receive a corresponding tubular post 108 from the facing wall portion 102 . in fig1 , for example , the tubular receivers 106 extend upwardly from the forward corners of the first or lower wall portion 102 , and the tubular posts 108 extend upwardly from the rear corners of the lower wall portion 102 . the tubular posts 108 for the second or upper wall portion 102 extend downwardly to engage the tubular receivers 108 of the lower wall portion 102 , and the tubular receivers 106 receive the tubular posts 108 from the lower wall portion 102 . the tubular posts 108 are sized and configured to be inserted into corresponding tubular receivers 106 . in this embodiment , the tubular receivers 106 include an inner rim 106 ′ at the distal end , and the tubular posts 108 include an outer rim 108 ′ at the distal end . the inwardly and outwardly disposed rims 106 ′, 108 ′ are sized such that the tubular posts 108 may be inserted into the tubular receivers 106 of another wall portion 102 with an interference fit , such that the wall portions 102 will releasably snap together . as seen in fig2 , a coil spring or other biasing element 120 is disposed in the aperture 107 in the tubular receiver 106 , and is configured to bias the upper and lower wall portions 102 apart . an annular recess 109 is defined in the wall portions 102 concentric with the corresponding tubular posts 108 . the annular recess 109 is sized to slidably receive the corresponding tubular receiver 106 on the other wall portion 102 . refer now also to fig3 , which shows a section view of the trap 100 through section 3 - 3 indicated in fig1 . the recessed bed 103 defined in each of the wall portions 102 receives a disposable adhesive panel 130 . the adhesive panels 130 are sized and configured to fit in the corresponding recessed bed 103 , and are retained on the recessed bed 103 by edge retainers 114 . at least a portion of the inwardly facing surface of the adhesive panels 130 is covered with an adhesive that is formulated to entrap crawling pests , such that pests crawling onto the adhesive portions become fixed to the adhesive panel 130 and are unable to escape . each wall portion 102 is substantially rigid . in a current embodiment , the rigidity is conveniently achieved in a lightweight and inexpensive construction by forming the wall portions 102 with a honeycomb structure , although other construction is clearly contemplated . for example , the wall portions 102 may be formed from a rigid polymeric foam or from a natural material such as wood . referring again to fig1 and 2 , each wall portion 102 includes a centrally located aperture 112 having a flexible plate 110 cantilevered along one edge of the aperture 112 such that the flexible plate 110 can be flexed inwardly , as indicated by arrow 90 . the operation of the trap 100 can now be appreciated . the wall portions 102 are typically assembled when the user obtains the trap 100 . upper and lower disposable adhesive panels 130 are placed into the recessed bed 103 of each wall portion 102 , and are retained on the bed 103 by edge retainers 114 . the trap 100 is then placed in a desired location . it should be appreciated that the trap 100 is accessible from all four sides , by the gently sloping ramps 104 . additionally , the trap 100 in this embodiment is reversible ( invertible ), and therefore the trap 100 may be flipped when one adhesive panel 130 becomes suitably filled with pests . the flat outer surfaces of wall portions 102 facilitate placement on any flat surface , for example , on a floor or counter . the entrapment region defined by the adhesive panels 130 is in the relatively narrow region between the wall portions 102 . therefore the traps 100 are unlikely to become inadvertently stuck to unintended parties , such as household pets , young children , or unwary travelers in an area containing the trap 100 . when the trap 100 is sufficiently full of pests , and typically after flipping the trap 100 to allow the second adhesive panel 130 to entrap pests 95 , the user may simply step on or otherwise urge the wall portions 102 together , which is indicated by arrows 92 in the sectional end view shown in fig4 . as the wall portions 102 are urged together against the elastic force of the springs 120 , the tubular receivers 106 are received into the corresponding annular recess 109 , and the tubular posts 108 are received into the corresponding tubular receiver 106 , to allow the inner surfaces of the adhesive panels 130 to contact each other and become adhered . the pests 95 that have become stuck to the adhesive panels 130 will thereby be crushed and / or enclosed between the panels 130 . when the closing force is removed , the wall portions 102 will separate due to the biasing force of the springs 120 . the separation of the wall portions 102 is limited by the interference between the rims 106 ′, 108 ′. at least one of the adhesive panels 130 will release from the corresponding wall portion 102 due to the adhesive attachment to the opposing adhesive panel 130 . as illustrated in the side view of fig5 , the user may then depress the appropriate flexible plate 110 from the recess 112 ( fig1 ) through the wall portion 102 to release the adhesive panels 130 , which may then be dropped directly into a suitable repository . therefore , the adhesive panels 130 in this embodiment may be removed and disposed of without the user directly touching the panels 130 . of particular note , the trap 100 allows the user to effectively crush , or otherwise immobilize , encapsulate , or enclose the pests prior to handling the trap 100 . for example , by stepping on the trap 100 , any threat from the pests ( for example , with a stinger , venom , or the like ) can be substantially neutralized , and the user does not need to worry that one or more of the trapped pests may still be active . as a further safety advantage , the user does not need to handle the adhesive panels 130 directly after stepping on the trap 100 . rather , the user may simply hold the trap 100 by the wall portions 102 wall away from the adhesive panels 130 over a receptacle , and depress one or both of the flexible plates 110 to release the panels 130 , which will drop into the receptacle . to reset the trap 100 , the user simply replaces the adhesive panels 130 in the recessed beds 130 , such that they are retained by the edge retainers 114 . the trap 100 may then be positioned in the same , or a different location . in a current embodiment of the trap 100 , the entrapment region defined between the adhesive panels 130 is between about 0 . 3 inch and 2 . 0 inch , and more preferably between 0 . 4 inch and 1 . 0 inch . one advantage of the currently preferred embodiment of the trap , as described above , is that the two wall portions 102 are identical , and the simple design requires only three unique parts , the wall portions 102 , the springs 120 , and the disposable adhesive panels 130 . although this elegant design is not necessary for the present invention , it will be readily apparent this construction provides for low manufacturing costs . in particular , the wall portions 102 each have two tubular receivers 106 and two tubular posts 108 that are symmetrically disposed on the wall portions 102 . the wall portions 102 may therefore be aligned such that the tubular receivers 106 for one wall portion align with the tubular posts 108 of the other wall portion 102 . although the disclosed trap 100 shown in fig1 is symmetric about the long axis of the wall portion 102 , it will be readily apparent that the trap may alternatively be constructed to be symmetric about the short axis , or even about the diagonal axis . it is also contemplated that the wall portions 102 do not need to be rectangular . for example , the wall portions ( and associated adhesive panels 130 ) may be formed with a circular , triangular , or polygonal plan form . advantageously , the wall portions may include symmetrically disposed receivers and posts arranged such that the wall portions are identical . alternatively , the wall portions may be not be identical . for example , it is contemplated that a trap in accordance with the present invention may be constructed with a generally triangular plan form , with tubular receivers formed on one wall portion , and tubular posts formed on the opposing wall portion . a plan view of an embodiment of an adhesive panel 130 suitable for use with the present invention is shown in fig6 a . in this embodiment the adhesive panel 130 includes a generally star - shaped adhesive portion 132 disposed on the panel 130 , wherein other portions of the panel 130 are not adhesive . although it is also contemplated that the adhesive panel may be substantially or completely covered with an adhesive , the current shape of the adhesive portion 132 is intended to provide a relatively larger perimeter 134 for the size of the adhesive panel 130 . in particular , a crawling pest entering the adhesive portion 132 becomes stuck relatively quickly . therefore the interior of the adhesive portion 132 is relatively inaccessible to crawling arthropods , and therefore ineffective for trapping crawling pests . pests trapped near the perimeter 134 not only block the adhesive portion 132 to subsequent crawling pests , but they may also deter other pests that are very near the trapped pest from entering the trap 100 . for the present invention it is preferred to provide a shaped adhesive portion 132 that provides a relatively large perimeter 134 length relative to the area of the adhesive panel 130 . a generally star - shaped pattern for the adhesive portion 132 provides a relatively large perimeter 134 , while also widely separating the adhesive elements near the outer perimeter of the panel 130 . therefore , pests are more able to enter deeply into the trap 100 before becoming stuck to the adhesive portion 132 . other exemplary large perimeter patterns for the adhesive portions 132 ′, 132 ″ are illustrated in fig6 b and 6c . on adhesive panel 130 ′, an adhesive pattern 132 ′ comprising an array of transverse triangles are applied to the panel 130 ′. on adhesive panel 130 ″, a zigzag pattern of adhesive 132 ″ is applied to the panel 130 ″. it is also contemplated that the adhesive for the adhesive panels 130 , or the panels 130 themselves , may be provided with a natural or synthetic attractant to lure a target insect or other pest into the trap . although the trap 100 described above was constructed using reusable polymeric wall portions 102 with disposable and replaceable panels 130 , a crushable , fully disposable trap 200 for crawling arthropods is shown in fig7 - 9 . in this alternative construction upper and lower adhesive panel portions are incorporated into a stiff but crushable open fiberboard or cardboard trap . this fully disposable embodiment , the trap 200 may be set out to entrap the target pest , for example , spiders , and then stepped on or otherwise crushed to encapsulate the trapped pests , thereby protecting the user from potential danger from recently - trapped pests . in fig7 the fully disposable trap 200 defines upper and lower panels 202 , each having a large perimeter adhesive pattern 232 defining non - adhesive pathways deep into the trap 200 . the adhesive pattern 232 is defined on the inwardly - facing surfaces of the panels 202 , the opposed surfaces thereby defined facing beds to define an entrapment region therebetween . the disposable trap 200 is invertible , similar to the trap 100 discussed above . in this exemplary embodiment , the adhesive portions 232 are patterned to correspond approximately to the adhesive portion 132 shown in fig6 a . it will be readily apparent that other patterns , for example those shown in fig6 b and 6c , may alternatively be used . the upper and lower panels 202 are joined and held in approximately parallel orientation by four spaced apart perimeter posts 206 , 208 ( two visible in fig7 ). therefore , the interior of the trap 200 is accessible from all sides . in this embodiment , two diagonally opposed posts 208 ( one visible ) further define opposed flap portions 208 ′ that extend from the center portion of the post 208 , and are configured to bend outwardly ( e . g ., by the user pinching the tab portions 208 ′. the tab portions 208 ′ thereby provide outwardly - extending tabs to facilitate placement and moving the trap 200 during use ( for example , flipping the trap over ), allowing the user to keep their fingers away from the interior of the trap 200 . the tab portions 208 ′ also aid in maintaining the trap 200 in the open position shown in fig7 . in a current embodiment , the trap 200 is formed from a flat panel of a stiff paperboard , although it is contemplated that other materials , such as a thin polymeric panel , may alternatively be used . paperboard ( and most thin polymeric panels ) will typically have a stiffness such that the posts 206 , 208 easily maintain the upper and lower panels 202 in the desired spaced - apart relation . in addition , the posts have an inherent elasticity in bending , such that the posts 206 , 208 will flex to elastically bias the upper and lower panels 202 apart . fig8 shows the trap 200 prior to assembly by the user , in plan - form . the flat panel 201 includes the upper and lower panels 202 , and the posts 206 , 208 . the posts 206 , 208 are scored or perforated 207 along the edges joining the upper and lower panels 202 , to facilitate folding the trap 200 . the side entryways for the trap 200 are defined by the corresponding apertures 214 . in addition , scoring or perforations 205 are optionally provided approximately on a midline of the posts 206 , 208 ( including the tab portions 208 ′). the perforations 205 facilitate the upper and lower panels 202 coming together in approximate alignment when the trap is crushed . the upper and lower panels 202 are provided with respective patterned adhesive portions 232 . it is contemplated that , for packaging , the adhesive portions 232 may be overlaid with a protective , peel - away strip ( not shown ) that would be removed by the user when initially setting up the trap 200 . an end flap 210 with an adhesive strip 212 extends from one end and is configured to fold over the opposite panel to assemble the trap 200 . therefore , to set up the trap 200 the user simply chooses a suitable location for the trap , and folds along the perforations 207 on either end of the posts 206 , 208 to define the approximately rectangular trap volume . the peel - away strips ( if present ) are removed to expose the adhesive portions 232 , and to expose the adhesive strip 212 . the adhesive strip 212 is pressed against the outer surface of the corresponding panel 202 . the user may then pinch the tab portions 208 ′ to define the outwardly - extending grips . fig9 shows the trap 200 crushed after use , which may be accomplished by simply stepping on the trap . the tab portions 206 , 208 extend outwardly , and the trapped pests are safely encapsulated between the upper and lower panels 202 , facilitating safe disposal of the trap 200 .	0
embodiments described herein include a pump that may be used to extract useful work from pressure transients within a pneumatic tire . certain embodiments include , but are not limited to , impulse - driven diaphragm pumps . these pressure transients may occur , for example , when the vehicle on which the tires are mounted passes over bumps in the road as a natural consequence of driving . thus , for example , one side of a diaphragm is exposed to the instantaneous pressure in the tire cavity , and the other side of the diaphragm is maintained at an average pressure . when the transient exceeds the average pressure , the pump may extract useful work from the gas . certain embodiments described herein include a miniature diaphragm pump that provides air into a pneumatic tire of a vehicle , where a force for driving the pump , and thus inflating the tire , is obtained from tire pressure transients that result from the vehicle passing over bumps in the road . embodiments of the present invention include a pump installed through the wall or rim of a tire . thus , for example and without limitation , certain embodiments provide a pump placed through the wheel of a pneumatic tire . other certain embodiments provide a pump placed through the rubber portion of the tire . the pump may be on the inside of the tire , on outside of the tire , or partially or completely within the wall of the tire . certain other embodiments provide the pump within a valve stem . for example and without limitation , fig1 is a cross - sectional view of a pneumatic tire 1 having an interior tire cavity volume 4 in an ambient environment 5 . tire 1 is installed on a wheel rim 3 and includes a pump 10 installed in a valve stem 105 . in various embodiments , pump 10 may be located within volume 4 , on the outside of tire 1 in ambient environment 5 , within valve stem 105 , or within tire 1 or rim 3 . fig2 is a schematic of a first embodiment pump 10 as installed within a tire cavity 4 . for illustrative purposes , a portion of the wall or wheel of the tire is shown as tire t . as shown in fig2 , pump 10 includes an air inlet 100 , an outer housing 101 , a threaded mounting stem 105 , a first one - way valve 110 , a second one - way valve 111 , a first chamber 142 , a first diaphragm 140 , a second chamber 120 , a second diaphragm 130 having an opening 160 , a coupling rod 135 , a sintered insert 125 , a spring 150 , an opening 160 , and a cover 170 having an opening 171 . one - way valves 110 and 111 are configured to provide a flow of air from the exterior of the tire to the interior of the tire . in one embodiment , air inlet 100 is in fluid communication with ambient air of environment 5 , and opening 171 is in fluid communication with volume 4 . a cap ( not shown ) may be present to prevent the ingress of dust , mud , or other contamination from entering pump 10 . first chamber 142 is bounded by housing 101 , first diaphragm 140 , first one - way valve 110 and second one - way valve 111 . second chamber 120 is bounded by housing 101 , first diaphragm 140 , second diaphragm 130 , and coupling rod 135 which connects the first and second diaphragms , and has sintered insert 125 to provided restricted fluid communication between the second chamber and the interior of tire t , and thus allow the pressure within chamber 120 to be approximately the average tire pressure . spring 150 , located between housing 101 and second diaphragm 130 , provides a restoring force for the second diaphragm after a pump stroke . cover 170 provides mechanical protection to diaphragm 130 . threaded mounting stem 105 is used for affixing the assembly inside the tire cavity . stem 105 may pass , for example , through the wheel wall of tire t such that inlet 100 is exposed to the outside ambient air . one - way valves 110 and valve 111 permit ambient air flow into pump 10 . sintered insert 125 permits the very slow equilibration of air pressure between chamber 120 and the tire cavity , permitting the permeation of air through it , with a high resistance to flow . chamber 120 is thus maintained at a pressure equal to the long - term average of the tire cavity pressure . in certain embodiments , the volume of second chamber 120 is larger than the volume of first chamber 142 . first chamber 142 confines a small volume of air between one - way valves 110 and 111 . first diaphragm 140 is connected to second diaphragm 130 through coupling rod 135 , and thus motion of the second diaphragm towards the first diaphragm and the action of one - way valves 110 and 111 compresses air within first chamber 142 and will provide the compressed air into tire t . diaphragm 130 is preferably constructed from a lightweight metal sheet attached to a flexible metal seal around the perimeter and then to housing 101 . fig3 is a schematic of a second embodiment pump 10 as installed outside of a tire cavity . pump 10 of fig3 is generally similar to the pump of fig2 , except as further detailed below . where possible , similar elements are identified with identical reference numerals in the depiction of the embodiments of fig1 , 2 and 3 . pump 10 of fig3 is intended installation on the wheel outside the cavity of tire t , and includes a mechanical connection 106 to a passage leading to the tire cavity , and opening 175 provides pumped air which is injected into the tire . front cover 170 is a mechanical part of housing 101 and is strong enough to withstand the tire pressure . in an alternative embodiment , chamber 120 of fig2 or fig3 may not include insert 125 and is sealed permanently at a predetermined desired average tire pressure . the following is an example of the use of pump 10 to replace air which naturally leaks from a pneumatic tire over time . in general , pump 10 includes two coupled diaphragms , such as diaphragms 130 and 140 , which amplify pressure transients in the tire to pump ambient air into the tire . more specifically , transient pressures resulting from driving over bumps in the road under normal conditions will result in transient pressures which may be used to pump air into the tire . in certain embodiments , chamber 120 is maintained at the average tire pressure by permitting only a very restricted communication of air to the cavity volume through sintered insert 125 , which may be a sintered insert or similar device of microscopic porosity and thus presents a high - impedance path to air flow . insert 125 thus allows the gradual equilibration of air between the tire and chamber 120 over time periods greater than the pressure transients , but less than the time over significant pressure is lost from the tire . the time period for equilibration may thus be on the order of hours or days . diaphragm 130 is in fluid communication with the interior of the tire , and experiences transients in tire pressure . the coupling of the relatively larger diaphragm 130 to the smaller diaphragm 140 amplifies the pressure , resulting in a higher pressure in chamber 142 , which may then be injected in to the tire through one - way valve 111 . once the air passes through one - way valve 111 and diaphragm 130 moves towards the original position , the pressure in chamber 142 drops below atmospheric pressure , one - way valve 111 closes and one - way valve 110 opens , refilling chamber 142 with ambient air . as described herein , pump 10 may be operated from transient pressures in the tire . as a example of the use of pump 10 , assume that each time the vehicle passes over a bump in the road , the tire pressure experiences a transient increase of pressure due to the compression of the rubber , increasing in pressure from a pressure p ( tire ) to a pressure { p ( tire )+ δp } where the transient increase is δp . if the pressure inside of chamber 120 is the average tire pressure p ( tire ), then the pressure difference of δp acting on the area of diaphragm 130 creates a force . the force will displace diaphragm 130 which , through the coupling action coupling rod 135 will displace diaphragm 140 , thus increasing the pressure of air within chamber 142 . the following examples are illustrate designs and uses of pump 10 , and are not meant to limit the scope of the present invention . a typical automobile tire contains approximately 30 liters of air at stp ( standard temperature and atmospheric pressure ), and at a pressure of 30 psig . it is not unreasonable that approximately 3 % of the volume escapes from the tire per month , resulting in a loss of approximately 1 liter of air and 1 psi of tire pressure . larger pumps may be designed for use in larger tires , as are used on trucks and heavy equipment . as a numerical example , if the tire rubber is temporarily displaced inwards by 1 cm over a contact footprint of 30 cm 2 , the tire cavity volume will be decreased by 0 . 3 %, with a resulting instantaneous pressure increase of approximately δp = 0 . 1 psig over a substantial area of diaphragm 130 . if the tire encounters a bump in the road every 100 feet , there will be on the order of 30 pump strokes per mile . in 1000 miles of driving there will be 30 , 000 pump strokes . if each pump stroke injects 30 cubic millimeters of air , this will create a total injection of total 1 liter of air pumped into the tire . pump 10 may be sealed , with only one small hole on the inner tire cavity side , and one on the outer air - inlet side . pump 10 may , for example , be threaded into a hole either inside the tire , or on the outside rim . installation inside the tire cavity would reduce exposure to weather , dirt , mechanical impact and tampering . the assembly could also be manufactured as an integrated unit to be incorporated into the structure of a wheel , communicating with the tire cavity through an air passage . in this way , the assembly could be located at a smaller radius of rotation , leading to less centrifugal force acting on the components . fig4 a - 4d illustrate the use of pump 10 to provide air to a tire resulting from pressure transients , where fig4 a is a rest state for pump 10 , fig4 b shows the compression of air in sealed chamber , fig4 c shows the pumping of the compressed air into the tire , and fig4 d shows an intake of ambient air after pumping . in fig4 a - 4d , the pressure within chamber 130 is the average tire pressure , p ( ave ), where fig4 a illustrates a rest state for pump 10 , fig4 b and 4c illustrate consecutive states during pumping , and fig4 d illustrates the recovery of the pump . the tire pressure p ( tire ) is illustrated as varying from the average tire pressure of p ( ave ) in fig4 a to an increased pressure p ( tire )={ p ( ave )+ δp } in fig4 b and 4c , back to the average pressure in fig4 d . more specifically , in fig4 a , the tire pressure p ( tire ) is at the average tire pressure of p ( ave ), and one - way valves 110 and 111 are closed . in fig4 b , a pressure transient in the tire to p ( tire )={ p ( ave )+ δp } results in a pressure differential of δp acting on diaphragm 130 . the resulting displacement of diaphragm 130 is coupled to diaphragm 140 through coupling rod 135 . one - way valves 110 and 111 remain closed , and the pressure within chamber 142 increases . in fig4 c , diaphragm 130 is displaced further . eventually , the pressure within chamber 142 increases from atmospheric pressure to a pressure greater than p ( tire )={ p ( ave )+ δp }. one - way valve 111 then opens , as illustrated in fig4 c , and air is pumped into the tire . in fig4 d , the tire pressure has returned to p ( tire )= p ( ave ). spring 150 forces diaphragm 130 back to the position shown in fig4 a . one - way valve 111 closes and , when the pressure within chamber 142 drops below ambient pressure , one - way valve 110 opens , drawing in ambient air . when the next pressure transient occurs in the tire , the cycle then repeats from the configuration shown in fig4 a . pump 10 , or a device having equivalent functionality , enable the use of transient pressure impulses generated by the passage of the tire over a naturally - occurring road bump , to inject a small volume of outside air into the tire cavity each time the wheel passes over a bump . although each injection amount is small , this action repeated over many thousands of impulses will inject sufficient air into the tire to overcome gradual loss of pressure . a separate device ( not shown ) essentially of the form of a pressure - regulating tire inflation valve stem , may release excess pressure once the desired working pressure has been achieved . in this way , considerations of specific pressure settings do not have to be incorporated into the design of the automatic inflator . reference throughout this specification to “ certain embodiments ,” “ one embodiment ” or “ an embodiment ” means that a particular feature , structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention . thus , appearances of the phrases “ in one embodiment ” or “ in an embodiment ” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment . furthermore , the particular features , structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner , as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from this disclosure , in one or more embodiments . similarly , it should be appreciated that in the above description of exemplary embodiments of the invention , various features of the invention are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment , figure , or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects . this method of disclosure , however , is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed invention requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim . rather , as the following claims reflect , inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment . thus , the claims following the detailed description are hereby expressly incorporated into this detailed description , with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this invention . thus , while there has been described what is believed to be the preferred embodiments of the invention , those skilled in the art will recognize that other and further modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention , and it is intended to claim all such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the invention . for example , any formulas given above are merely representative of procedures that may be used . functionality may be added or deleted from the block diagrams and operations may be interchanged among functional blocks . steps may be added or deleted to methods described within the scope of the present invention .	1
while the present invention retains utility within a wide variety of photographic devices , such as video cameras for example , and may be embodied in several different forms , it is advantageously employed in connection with an electronic still camera . though this is the form of the preferred embodiment and will be described as such , this embodiment should be considered illustrative and not restrictive . as previously discussed , electronic imaging cameras conventionally record color images by using an image sensing array comprising a predetermined number of discrete image sensing elements or pixels arranged in a two - dimensional array in which the image sensing elements respond to incident illumination to provide an electronic information signal corresponding to the intensity of the incident illumination . such image sensing arrays may be charge coupled devices (&# 34 ; ccd &# 34 ;) of the frame transfer type . it is well known to sense color images using a single two - dimensional ccd array by filtering the illumination incident to the image sensing array so that different groups of the image sensing elements arranged in well - known patterns across the image sensing array receive different wavelengths for colored illumination . thus , each color of illumination is sampled by each group of image sensing elements , and thereafter interpolated to provide color values corresponding to the other groups of image sensing elements . the full color image is therefore estimated or interpolated between the different groups of image sensing elements or pixels to fill in all colors for each image sensing element or pixel . conventional types of interpolation provide images with objectionable aliasing artifacts such as color fringes near sharp edges . an example of how a sharp edge in a sample to be recorded can create color fringes , when the image of the subject is reconstructed using conventional interpolation methods , will be discussed herein . as previously described , a typical ccd arrangement includes color filter stripes thereon such that individual stripes of pixels measure an intensity of light for only a single color . fig1 a shows a typical arrangement of a ccd using color stripes , where individual pixels are marked by r , g , or b representing red , green , and blue colors . numerical designations associated with the color , i . e ., r 1 , g 1 , and b 1 , together are referred to a triplet . in order to illustrate the invention , an example is shown for each step . the example is of an image having a sharp contrast such as a sharp white - to - black transition . the example begins in fig1 b where a light intensity level is shown graphically for a white - to - black transition in an image . keys to fig1 b is as follows : the solid line represents the edge transition in the original continuous image of the scene before sampling , the circle represents an original red sample , the triangle represents an original green sample , and the square represents an original blue sample . it can be seen from the illustration that for the original continuous image the falloff during the transition is substantially vertical . this indicates a sharp transition . a slope in the falloff would be indicative of a more gradual , or less sharp , transition . fig2 a again shows a pixel layout of the pixels of 1a , but now the pixels have gone through the step of interpolation . in the preferred embodiment , this is a linear interpolation , as will be later hereinafter described . the convention used is that a capital letter represents original raw data and a lower case represents interpolated data . therefore , the colors interpolated between r 1 and r 2 are shown as r 1 &# 39 ; and r 1 &# 34 ;. using linear interpolation , r 1 &# 39 ; contains 2 / 3of the intensity of r 1 , and 1 / 3of the intensity of r 2 . likewise , r 1 &# 34 ; contains 1 / 3the intensity of r 1 and 2 / 3the intensity of r 2 . by linearly interpolating values throughout for red , green , and blue , the colors can be broken into three color planes such that there now exists triplets for each individual pixel location , where previously there only existed raw data in one color for each location . continuing the example , fig2 b shows the step of linear interpolation on the white - to - black transition shown in fig1 b . as shown in fig1 b , the lines indicate paths of the linear interpolation where the circles , triangles , and squares represent original red , green , and blue samples and the x &# 39 ; s represent interpolated values . fig2 b illustrates how the interpolation tends to blur the sharp transition previously seen in the image by interpolating where the dashed line represents red , the dotted line represents green , and the solid line represents blue . the slope of the line is indicative of a less sharp transition , thus blurring the image . fig2 b also illustrates how the interpolation tends to create color fringe artifacts . in the original white - to - black transition the red , green , and blue intensity transitioned at the same spatial location while it can be seen in fig2 b that the red signal after interpolation initiates transition before the green which initiates transition before the blue . an image reconstructed from the data represented in fig2 b would show a pronounced white - to - cyan - to - purple - to - blue - to - black color fringe . a next step is to create two difference signals at each location . the color fringe artifact at a white - to - black transition in the scene produced by interpolation within color planes would appear as a sudden rise in a color difference signal followed by a corresponding sudden fall or as a sudden fall followed by a sudden rise . it is this rapid increase and decrease in the difference between the colors which is a characteristic of objectionable color fringing , and is not simply a sudden rise in the difference between colors , which is indicative of a change from one color to a different color . thus , it is unlikely that a real scene would result in the creation of such a color spike , and it is not desirable to create such a color spike as a result of a method of interpolation chosen . fig3 illustrates the aforementioned color spikes in the color difference signals , where in the preferred embodiment , the difference signals are performed by subtracting the intensity of green from the intensity of red and subtracting the intensity of green from the intensity of blue , that is r - g and b - g . one skilled in the art will realize that the actual choice of colors that determine the difference signals is somewhat arbitrary . consistency after the choice is made is of primary importance . therefore , other color difference signals can be chosen without detriment to the invention . fig3 ( i ) graphically illustrates the results of the difference signal for r - g , for the signal shown in fig2 b . fig3 ( iii ) graphically illustrates b - g . various methods can now be employed to remove the color aberration . in the preferred embodiment , a median filter is employed , such as that previously described and incorporated herein by reference . simply stated , the median filter takes a series of pixels , such as those shown in fig3 ( ii ), and replaces the pixel value at the center of the filter region with the median value of all the pixels within the region . though various numbers of pixels can be used , in the preferred embodiment , the median filter uses nine pixels and returns the median value of the nine pixels . therefore , as the filter is worked horizontally across the signal , it can be seen that unless the spike is longer than one half the filter length , the spike in the signal will be essentially eliminated . fig4 illustrates the results of passing the median filter across the difference signals , where 4 ( i ) corresponds to the r - g difference signal shown in 3 ( i ), and 4 ( ii ) corresponds to the b - g difference signal shown in 3 ( iii ), where these signals can now be referred to as ( r - g )&# 39 ; and ( b - g )&# 39 ;, respectively . the differences are now flat and the reconstructed colors will now remain substantially constant with respect to each other before , during and after the color transition . reference is again made to fig1 b as an example of this . a next step is shown in fig5 where the pixels are reconstructed from original raw rgb data and filtered ( r - g )&# 39 ; and ( b - g )&# 39 ; difference signals . the colors are restored using the following relationships : these relationships illustrate the properties of preserving the original sampled values and extracting detail at every pixel regardless of its original color . the detail extracting property is accomplished by removing the sudden spikes in the color difference signals which effectively produce local color samenesses , so in regions of sharp edge transitions , when the original sampled pixels values change in response to edge transitions , the reconstructed missing color values are made to follow the original values . this property injects the detail information into all three channels . fig5 illustrates the reconstruction , where now instead of having diagonal lines showing the transition between colors , illustrating loss of sharpness and color fringing , now the circle representing red , the triangle representing green , and the square representing blue at the transition points are located in a substantially identical location such that the sharpness is retained and color fringes are avoided . in order to display the resulting image on most commercially available cathode ray tubes ( crt ) and most commercially available printers , a square pixel must now be attained . since some ccd &# 39 ; s , and specifically that of the preferred embodiment , has rectangular pixels , generally having a 2 : 1 aspect ratio , a way of solving this problem is to average two neighboring pixels , r 1 and r 1 &# 39 ;, for example , to form a single square pixel at that location . fig6 a shows pixels values from an rgb striped sensor with 2 : 1 aspect ratio rectangular pixels after reconstruction from original sampled color values and median filtered color difference signals . fig6 b shows pixel values on a square grid after averaging neighboring values . this would take an image resolution that has one million pixels , for example , and create an image that is displayable to a user having 500 , 000 three color pixels . an alternative method of creating square pixels is optionally used in the preferred embodiment . rather than averaging horizontally , the pixels are interpolated vertically , as is shown in fig6 c . in fig6 c ( i ), an original line of rgb data is shown , and in fig6 c ( iii ) a second line of rgb data is shown , separated by fig6 c ( ii ) which is an interpolated line of rgb data . the interpolation between these lines can be as simple as nearest neighbor interpolation , which , in essence , duplicates a previous line to create a new line . the preferred methods include linear interpolation , bi - cubic convolution interpolation , or frequency domain interpolation , such as fourier , dct , wavelet , et cetera . the interpolated line ( ii ) creates additional pixels available for display . thus , in the one million pixel example , two million three - color pixels would now be available . that is , if the color reconstructed image was 1600 × 600 × 3 where the three represents the three color planes , interpolation would result in 1600 × 1200 × 3 pixels being available . in contrast to the prior art method of beginning and ending with square pixels , the method of the invention does not , per se , result in square pixels . the pixel geometry has actually not changed . the method works since output devices do not actually know the geometry of the pixels coming into the device , but instead simply displays according to an electronic signal . therefore , rectangular pixels are displayed either separated by an interpolated line which carries color information that makes the transition between the rectangular pixels or effectively formed into squares by averaging . this serves to eliminate the distortion that would otherwise result and simulates having a square pixel geometry . fig7 illustrates a characterization of the relative frequency response of the human visual system at a normal print viewing distance . this characterization has been made by psychovisual studies of subjects responses to periodic lightness gratings at various frequencies of cycles per degree of visual subtense . for use in pixel geometry optimization of a sensor for an electronic still camera , the frequencies are expressed as cycles per millimeter given a normal twelve inch print viewing distance . a characterization of the relative frequency response of the human visual system in cycles per degree of visual subtense is given by the following equation : the relationship between cycles per degree of visual subtense and cycles per millimeter given a particular viewing distance d in inches , is given by : it is generally true that the spatial reproduction of the image of a scene captured by an electronic still camera involves magnification . the sensors are generally quite small relative to crt displays or print renderings of the images captured by electronic still cameras . characterization of the frequency response of the elements of such a system for calculation of a sharpness figure of merit which includes the response of the human visual system necessarily includes a nominal magnification factor . fig8 shows the frequency responses in print referred cycles per millimeter of a representative lens , pixel , and antialiasing filter given a representative magnification factor of ten . the representative frequency responses are given by the following equations : ## equ1 ## where l ( f ) is the lens frequency response in cycles per millimeter f , given a magnification m , and a characteristic blur distance b , at the sensor plane . p ( f ) is the pixel response given m and sensor pixel width p . and , aa ( f ) is the anti - aliasing response for m and a two spot separation distance aa at the sensor plane . in the representative example of fig8 ; m = 10 , b = 0 . 01 mm ., p = 0 . 006 mm ., and aa = 0 . 009 mm . in the preferred embodiment , the sensor is fabricated with rectangular pixels of aspect ratio 2 : 1 ( height : width ) with striped color filters oriented along the major axis of the pixels . this design , optimized for maximal and balanced sharpness with reduced color artifacts , allows for convenient dual resolution modes . as previously described , the process of forming pixel values suitable for display on a device with a square raster involves either reducing the number of pixel values by a factor of two in the direction normal to the major axis of the rectangular pixels , hereinafter referred to as the horizontal direction , or alternatively increasing the number of pixel values by a factor of two in the direction along the direction of the major axis of the pixels hereinafter referred to as the vertical direction . while those skilled in the art will recognize that there are many techniques for resampling including convolution based and frequency based techniques , for illustrative purposes pairwise neighbor averaging horizontally and pairwise linear interpolation vertically are given as examples . furthermore , those skilled in the art will recognize that aspect ratios other than 2 : 1 and corresponding resampling factors other than 2 or one half can be employed without departing from the spirit of the invention . fig9 shows the frequency responses of horizontal averaging and vertical interpolation for representative geometries of m = 10 , p = 0 . 006 mm . for horizontal averaging , and p = 0 . 012 mm . for vertical interpolation . the representative frequency responses are given by the following equations : where av ( f ), the horizontal averaging frequency response , is the fourier transform of two delta functions scaled to 0 . 5 area spaced one pixel apart in the sensor plane . this models the frequency response of the pairwise averaging process . the model of linear interpolation for a fixed upsampling factor of two is given by one half of the transform of a unit delta function centered at the origin since every other line of data is untouched , plus one half of the transform of a pair of scaled delta functions spaced one pixel apart at the sensor plane since each interpolated line is formed from equal parts of the neighboring lines . the associated frequency response for this representative interpolation is i ( f ). analysis of the frequency responses of the component parts of an electronic still camera allows invocation of the convenient property of characterization of a system by cascading the responses of the components frequency by frequency . that is , the net system response at a single frequency is given by multiplying the responses of the components each with the others at that frequency . this process is repeated for each frequency of interest . to evaluate sharpness , the characteristics of the human visual system must be considered . figures of sharpness merit for the frequency response of imaging systems are well known in the art . for instance , extensive work has been published on cmt acutance , amt acutance , and sqf . a sharpness figure of merit is given below which is used in the representative example of fig1 . ## equ2 ## where r ( f ) is the net system response , and f is in print refereed cycles per millimeter . the limits of integration in the figure of merit span the range of greatest visual sensitivity as shown in fig7 . fig1 shows the relationship between sharpness s in the horizontal and vertical directions for both resolution cases , and pixel geometry . it can be seen in fig1 , that in the preferred embodiment of rgb striped color filters with two spot anti - aliasing , median filter color recovery and dual resolution capability the sharpness in the horizontal and vertical directions is most closely balanced with rectangular pixels . furthermore , it can be seen that balance is struck in the case of horizontal averaging at an aspect ratio slightly greater than 2 : 1 , and in the case of vertical interpolation , at an aspect ratio slightly less than 2 : 1 . in the preferred embodiment the aspect ratio of the sensor pixels is 2 : 1 such that balance is substantially achieved in each resolution mode . the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof . the present embodiments are , therefore , to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive , the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description , and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein .	7
a group of keyless evidence lockers stacked in an array or bank 10 is shown in fig1 and 2 . in one representative embodiment , the four evidence lockers 12 are stacked randomly ; although , the invention is not limited to such an arrangement . the evidence lockers 12 share a frame 14 that includes a top panel 16 , a base panel 18 , and a pair of side panels 20 and 22 . the frame members may be fastened together in a conventional manner , such as welding , or formed as an integrated unit in a conventional manner . each evidence locker 12 defines a storage cell 24 having a front opening 26 and a rear opening 28 . the openings 26 , 28 are defined by the aforementioned side panels 20 , 22 and a cell lower panel 30 and a cell upper panel 32 . the cell lower panel 30 effectively defines the cell upper panel for the below adjacent evidence locker 12 . similarly , the cell upper panel effectively defines the cell lower panel for the above adjacent evidence locker 12 . the front opening 26 may be closed by a door 34 connected to side panel 22 using hinges 36 . in the illustrated example , the doors 34 of each evidence locker 12 are pulled open about side panel 20 or 22 depending on what side of the bank the door 34 is located . the rear opening 28 is closed by a rear door 38 that in the illustrated embodiment is coupled to the side panel 22 , but is understood that the rear door 38 could be connected to the opposite side panel 20 . each front door 34 has a stiffener bracket 40 that includes two slots 42 ( a ), 42 ( b ) for locking points ( not shown ) of a lock mechanism 44 to engage when the door 34 is locked . fig3 through 5 show a keyless , multipoint locking mechanism 44 according to one embodiment of the invention . the locking mechanism 44 has a housing 46 that is integrated into the locker center divider 21 or may also be integrated into a lock mount bracket 23 when a center divider is not provided or when the door locks adjacent one of the side panels . an inner slide 48 is connected to the housing 46 and allowed to slide vertically within the interior of the housing 46 . the housing 46 also has an outer frame member 50 through which a pushbutton 52 extends . the pushbutton 52 is associated with an actuator member 54 that extends into a keyhole shaped opening 55 in the inner slide 48 . opening 55 includes a slot portion 55 ( a ) and a circular portion 55 ( b ). the actuator member 54 has a larger diameter portion 56 and a smaller diameter portion 58 . the smaller diameter portion 58 is concentric with the larger diameter portion 56 and therefore effectively forms a ring . the larger diameter portion 56 of the actuator member 54 provides a seat for the boundary of the keyhole shaped opening 55 formed in the inner slide 48 when the inner slide 48 is in a retracted position and the smaller diameter portion 58 , or ring , provides a seat for the boundary of the keyhole shaped opening 55 when the inner slide 48 is in an extended position , as will be described . a spring latch 60 interconnects the pushbutton 52 with the actuator member 54 . the spring latch 60 includes a compression spring 62 . when the inner slide 48 is in a retracted position , the compression spring 62 is extended . more particularly , the spring latch 60 includes a circlip 63 that is coupled to the pushbutton 52 and therefore linked with the actuator member 54 . when the pushbutton 52 is depressed , the spring 62 is compressed between the circlip 63 and the plate 64 . the inner slide 48 and pushbutton 52 are both biased towards the extended position . when the pushbutton is depressed it causes the smaller diameter portion 58 of the actuator member 54 to enter into the keyhole shaped opening 55 of the inner slide 48 , which in turn allows the inner slide 48 to move to its extended position . the larger diameter portion 56 of actuator member 54 is bigger than the smaller portion of the keyhole shaped slot 55 ( a ) which in turn keeps the push button depressed . when the inner slide 48 is forced back to its retracted position the larger diameter portion 56 lines up with the circular portion 55 ( b ) of the keyhole shaped opening 55 allowing pushbutton 52 to return to its extended position the locking mechanism 44 also includes a pair of locking points , which in the illustrated embodiment include a pair of locking members in the form of locking bolts 66 and 68 . locking bolt 66 is mounted on a guide pin 70 and is retained by a pair of frame members 72 and 74 in a manner that allows the locking bolt 66 to slide linearly . similarly , locking bolt 68 is mounted on a guide pin 76 and retained by the pair of frame members 72 , 74 in a manner that allows the locking bolt 68 to slide linearly . each locking bolt 66 , 68 has a guide channel 78 , 80 , respectively , that defines a path along which the respective guide pins 70 , 76 travel . the locking bolts 66 , 68 are biased toward an extended position via an extension spring 82 that urges the inner slide 48 toward the extended or locked position . the extension spring 82 is interconnected between the housing 46 and the inner slide 48 . when the inner slide 48 is in the retracted position , the extension spring 82 is extended . likewise , movement of the inner slide 48 to the extended position compresses the extension spring 82 , which biases the inner slide 48 toward the extended position . a rear release cam assembly 84 is used to place the inner slide 48 in the retracted position , which also results in the extension of the pushbutton 52 and the retraction of the locking bolts 66 , 68 . the cam assembly 84 includes a cam member 86 that is coupled to the inner slide 48 by a clevis pin 88 . the clevis pin 88 extends through a compression spring 90 that is sandwiched between the inside surface of the front frame member 50 and the cam member 86 . a lever arm 92 is pinned to the cam member 86 and is used to retract the inner slide 48 and extend pushbutton 52 . the lever arm 92 is of sufficient length to extend to the rear opening 28 of the storage cell 24 . thus , a property clerk can move the locking mechanism 44 to its unlocked position by pulling on arm 92 to rotate the cam member 86 upward , which resets the door 34 to its unlocked state . operation of the locking mechanism 44 will now be described in a series of steps . for purposes of description , the steps will begin with opening of the evidence locker 12 to place evidence therein and conclude with the unlocking of the evidence locker 12 by a property clerk without use of a key . first , an officer , court official , or other authorized evidence handler chooses an empty , unlocked evidence locker 12 . the locking mechanism 44 is in an unlocked position characterized by the pushbutton 52 being an extended position and the locking bolts 66 and 68 being in retracted positions . the positions of the pushbutton 52 and the bolts 66 , 68 is a function of the position of the inner slide 48 being forced into a retracted position by cam member 86 . once the evidence is placed into the storage cell 24 of the evidence locker , the door 34 is closed and the pushbutton 52 is depressed to lock the door 34 to the locker frame 14 . when the pushbutton 52 is depressed , the actuator member 54 moves linearly away from the front frame member 50 . the larger diameter portion 56 of the actuator member 54 moves through the opening in the inner slide 48 until the boundary of the opening seats in the ring or smaller diameter portion 58 of the actuator member . the change in diameter of the actuator member 54 allows the bias of spring 82 to force the inner slide 48 from a retracted position to an extended position . in this regard , the guide pins 70 , 76 , which are connected to the inner slide 48 , effectively move closer to the actuator member 54 by a distance equal to the distance between the center of the circular diameter portion 55 ( b ) of the keyhole shaped opening 55 and the center of the slot portion 55 ( a ) of the keyhole shaped opening 55 . this movement of the guide pins 70 , 76 allows the bolts 66 , 68 to move transversely with the movement of the inner slide 48 , by operation of movement of the guide pins 70 , 76 along guide channels 78 , 80 , respectively . this transverse movement of the locking bolts 66 , 68 forces the locking bolts 66 , 68 into engagement with corresponding slots in the stiffener bracket 40 on the door 34 thereby locking the door 34 closed . moreover , since the pushbutton 52 is retracted , further depressing of the pushbutton 52 has no impact on the locking mechanism 44 . in other words , the locking mechanism 44 cannot be unlocked by depressing pushbutton 52 . the front door 34 can only be unlocked by a property office or similar authorized personnel using the lever arm 92 that is accessible only through the rear opening 28 , as described above . the lever arm 92 effectively resets the locking mechanism 44 by retracting the locking bolts 66 , 68 and extending the pushbutton 52 by moving the inner slide 48 from its extended position to its retracted position . it should be noted that the terms “ extended ” and “ retracted ” relative to the position of the inner slide 48 correspond to the position of the locking bolts 66 , 68 rather than the position of the inner slide 48 . in this regard , the “ retracted ” position of the inner slide 48 is , in effect , the first or unlocked position and the “ extended ” position of the inner slide 48 is , in effect , the second or locked position . one skilled in the art will appreciate that the locking bolts 66 , 68 extend into dedicated slots 42 ( a ), 42 ( b ) in the stiffener bracket 40 on the door 34 and that the lock mechanism is securely mounted to the locker frame 14 . the locking bolts 66 , 68 thus prevent the door 34 from being pulled away from the locker frame 14 . the locker frame has an integral stop 93 that holds the door 34 flush with the face of the cabinet and it keeps the door 34 being pushed into the frame . it will be appreciated that the door 34 has a handle 95 that can be used as a door pull for grasping the door 34 and pulling it open . fig6 through 8 show a keyed locking mechanism 100 according to an alternate embodiment of the invention . the keyed locking mechanism is similar to the locking mechanism 44 described above , but requires a key for unlocking rather than a rear panel accessible lever arm as in the embodiment of fig3 through 5 . the locking mechanism 100 has a housing 102 that includes a front frame member 104 . the front frame member includes a tube lock 106 and an opening 108 that can house a tube lock for an alternate handed lock . openings 106 , 108 correspond to the same openings 94 , 96 of the front frame member 50 of the previously described keyless locking mechanism 44 . thus , for locking mechanism 100 , one of the openings is used as a keyhole 106 and the other is used for the alternate handed lock . in this regard , the same housing can be used for both keyless and keyed embodiments . the housing 102 is designed to be integrated into a center divider or other locker frame member . an inner slide 112 is connected to the housing 102 and allowed to slide vertically within the interior of the housing 102 . a pushbutton 114 extends through an opening 115 in the front frame member 104 centrally between the keyhole 106 and extra 103 . the pushbutton 114 is associated with an actuator member 116 that extends into an opening 117 in the inner slide 112 . the actuator member 116 has a larger diameter portion 118 and a smaller diameter portion 120 . the smaller diameter portion 120 is concentric with the larger diameter portion 118 and therefore effectively forms a ring . the larger diameter portion of the actuator member 116 provides a seat for the boundary of the opening 117 formed in the inner slide 112 when the inner slide 112 is in a retracted position and the smaller diameter portion of the actuator member 116 , or ring , provides a seat for the boundary of the opening 117 when the inner slide 112 is in an extended position , as will be described . a spring latch 122 interconnects the pushbutton 114 with the actuator member 116 . the spring latch 122 includes a compression spring 124 . when the inner slide 112 is in a retracted position , the compression spring 124 is extended . more particularly , the spring latch 122 includes a circlip 125 that is coupled to the pushbutton 114 . when the pushbutton 114 is depressed , the spring 124 is compressed between the circlip 125 and plate 126 . the inner slide 112 and the pushbutton 114 are both biased towards the extended position . when the pushbutton is depressed it causes the smaller diameter portion of the actuator member 116 to enter into the keyhole shaped opening of the inner slide 112 , which allows the inner slide 112 to move to its extended position . the larger diameter portion of the actuator member 116 keeps the pushbutton in the depressed position . when the inner slide 112 is forced back to its retracted position , the larger diameter portion of the actuator member 116 lines up with the larger portion of the opening 117 thereby allowing the pushbutton 114 to return to its extended position . the locking mechanism 100 also includes a pair of locking points , which in the illustrated embodiment include a pair of locking members or bolts 128 and 130 . locking bolt 128 is mounted on a guide pin 132 and is retained by a pair of frame members 134 and 136 in a manner that allows the bolt 128 to slide linearly . similarly , locking bolt 130 is mounted on a guide pin 138 and retained by the pair of frame members 140 , 142 in a manner that allows that bolt 130 to slide linearly . each locking bolt 128 , 130 has a guide channel 144 , 146 , respectively , that defines a path along which the respective guide pins 132 , 138 travel . the locking bolts 128 , 130 are biased toward an extended position when the inner slide 112 is in the extended or locked position by operation of an extension spring 148 . the extension spring 148 is interconnected between the housing 102 and the inner slide 112 , and is compressed when the inner slide 112 is in the extended position so as to bias the inner slide 112 toward the extended position . the keylock assembly 110 includes a lock tube 150 that houses a barrel 152 that is linked with a cam assembly 154 . when the appropriate key is inserted into the barrel 152 and rotated , the cam member assembly 154 returns the inner slide 112 to its unlocked position which retracts the bolts 128 , 130 and extends the pushbutton 114 . in this regard , a key inserted into barrel 152 and rotated imparts functionality similar to the lever arm described above . it will be appreciated that the locking bolts described herein may take the form of flanges , pins , or other shaped locking points and , as such , the present invention is not limited to a particular shape or geometry for the locking bolts . the present invention has been described with respect to an evidence locker but it is understood that the invention may also be applicable with other types of lockable storage compartments or containers . additionally , while keyless and keyed evidence lockers have been described and shown , it is understood that the invention is also applicable with lockers and the like that may be unlocked electronically using a keypad , key - fob , or other type of electronic device . various alternatives and embodiments are contemplated as being within the scope of the following claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter regarded as the invention .	8
before explaining the present invention in detail , it is important to understand that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the apparatus illustrated and described herein . the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in a variety of ways . it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology that is employed herein is the for the purpose of description and not of limitation . referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numerals indicate the same parts or steps throughout the several views . fig1 shows an exploded view of the three - wedge double block isolation chamber 100 of the present invention . fig1 depicts the isolation chamber 100 with flow - through wedge assembly 102 therein . fig2 depicts an alternate blind wedge assembly 104 . the three - wedge double block isolation chamber 100 includes a body 108 with chamber 109 therein . chamber 109 is sized and configured to receive a wedge assembly such as flow - through wedge assembly 102 or blind wedge assembly 104 as required . a cover such as cover 2 ( or cover 12 ) can be secured to body 108 to retain wedge assembly 102 ( or 104 ) within chamber 109 . an inlet flange 106 and an outlet flange 110 are secured to body 108 to allow three - wedge double block isolation chamber 100 to be installed in a pipeline . inlet flange 106 and outlet flange 110 are bolted to opposing pipeline flanges through bolt holes 113 and 113 ′ respectively . inlet flange 106 and outlet flange 110 retain the pipeline in substantial alignment even when the wedge assemblies are removed from body 108 . inlet flange 106 includes an inlet orifice 107 to allow fluid to enter body 108 so that the pipeline is in fluid communication with chamber 109 . fig3 depicts body 108 from a side view to which inlet flange 106 and outlet flange 110 are secured . fig4 depicts body 108 from a top view with cover 2 and flow - through wedge assembly 102 removed . the top surface 115 of body 108 is substantially flat to receive top cover 2 ( or 12 ). a plurality of holes , collectively 114 , are drilled and tapped into top surface 115 of body 108 in order to receive a plurality of bolts , collectively 10 ( fig1 ), for the purpose of securing cover 2 onto top surface 115 of body 108 . with cover 2 ( or 12 ) removed , chamber 109 is open and extends into body 108 . a groove 116 may be cut into top surface 115 of body 108 for the purpose of receiving a seal 9 ( fig1 ) which substantially encircles chamber 109 . referring next to fig5 , a cutaway view of body 108 with inlet flange 106 and outlet flange 110 secured thereon . in the preferred embodiment , inlet flange 106 and outlet flange 110 are molded integrally with body 108 . as shown in fig5 , inlet orifice 107 of inlet flange 106 extends into chamber 109 through inlet 120 such that chamber 109 is in fluid communication with the pipeline to which inlet flange 106 is attached . also , as shown , outlet orifice 111 extends from an outlet 122 in chamber 109 through body 108 and outlet flange 110 . in this way , chamber 109 is in fluid communication with the pipeline to which outlet flange 110 is secured . a drain 124 may be drilled through body 108 into chamber 109 to allow any fluid which may be present in chamber 109 to be released to atmosphere . drain 124 may be fitted with a valve or a pressure release valve as required to seal chamber 109 during flow - through or metering operation . when blind wedge assembly 104 is installed in chamber 109 , drain 124 may be opened so as to provide an escape for any fluid which may leak into chamber 109 . fig6 is a cross - sectional view depicting chamber 109 of body 108 . in the preferred embodiment , chamber 109 includes a squared - bottom surface 126 . fig7 depicts an alternate embodiment where chamber 109 includes a radius - bottom surface 128 . the bottom surface of chamber 109 may be squared as in the preferred embodiment of fig6 for ease of manufacture or may alternately be radiused as in 128 of fig7 so as to match the radius of the wedge assembly inserted therein . fig8 depicts inlet flange 106 from an end view , including bolt holes 113 , inlet orifice 107 , and inlet face 117 . inlet face 117 provides a sealing surface with a pipeline flange bolted thereto . outlet flange 110 includes an outlet orifice 111 to allow fluid to exit body 108 so that chamber 109 is in fluid communication with the pipeline . an outlet face 118 provides a sealing surface with an outlet pipeline flange bolted thereto . thus , the three - wedge double block isolation chamber may be instilled in - line on a pipeline . referring back to fig1 , wedge assembly 102 is inserted into chamber 109 of body 108 . in the embodiment of fig1 , isolation chamber 100 is depicted with a flow - through wedge assembly 102 positioned therein . in its preferred embodiment , flow - through wedge assembly 102 can be configured in a 2 ″ or 3 ″ configuration matching the size of the pipeline into which isolation chamber 100 is installed . however , wedge assembly 102 can be configured to fit any pipeline i . d . as other suitable configurations are contemplated without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . flow - through wedge assembly 102 includes , generally , a flow - through force wedge 3 positioned between a pair of flow - through wedges 4 and 4 ′, a pair of spring seals 5 and 5 ′, and a cover 2 capable of being secured onto the top 115 of body 108 by a plurality of screws , collectively 10 and washers 11 . ten such screws 10 and washers 11 are depicted in fig1 for the purpose of exemplification . referencing fig1 in combination with fig1 , 19 , and 20 , an upstream wedge 4 includes a seal 5 installed in channel 134 or upstream surface 135 is inserted into chamber 109 adjacent inlet 120 concentric with inlet orifice 107 . upstream wedge 4 includes a central orifice 136 of a diameter substantially equal to the diameter of inlet orifice 107 ( and the i . d . of the pipeline ). downstream wedge 4 ′ is substantially identical to upstream wedge 4 but is inserted into chamber 109 such that seal 5 ′ positioned on downstream surface 139 is adjacent outlet 122 . downstream wedge 4 ′ including a downstream seal 5 ′ is positioned in chamber 109 adjacent outlet flange 110 concentric with outlet orifice 111 within outlet flange 110 . both upstream wedge 4 and downstream wedge 4 ′ include a taper on their interior surfaces which mate the taper of flow - through force wedge 3 which is inserted between upstream wedge 4 and downstream wedge 4 ′. specially , downstream surface of wedge 4 includes a taper which mates the taper on upstream surface 140 of flow - through force wedge 3 and upstream surface of wedge 4 ′ includes a taper which mates the taper on downstream surface 142 of flow - through force wedge 3 . flow - through force wedge 3 is depicted in fig2 - 23 . in the preferred embodiment , a taper of 3 ° has been deemed particularly suitable , however , other tapers are contemplated . an orifice 144 in flow - through force wedge 3 is preferably concentric with those in upstream wedge 4 and downstream wedge 4 ′ to allow an unimpeded flow of liquid from inlet passage 107 past inlet 120 through chamber 109 past outlet 122 and out through outlet passage 111 . flow - through force wedge 3 includes holes 146 and 146 ′ to receive dowel pins 6 and 6 ′ ( and dowel springs 7 and 7 ′) respectively . force wedge 3 may also include a hole 148 drilled and tapped therein to receive a bolt extending through cover 2 . flow - through force wedge 3 includes a taper which mates the taper of upstream wedge 4 on its downstream face 137 and downstream wedge 4 ′ on its upstream face 138 such that when flow - through force wedge 3 is pressed firmly in chamber 109 between upstream flow - through wedge 4 and downstream flow - through 4 ′ a seal is obtained between seal 5 and inlet 120 inside chamber 109 and seal 5 ′ in outlet 122 inside chamber 109 . a pair of dowel pins 6 and 6 ′ which each include a dowel spring 7 and 7 ′ surrounding dowel pins 6 and 6 ′ respectively are positioned in holes 146 and 146 ′ in flow - through force wedge 3 between flow - through force wedge 3 and cover 2 when flow - through valve 102 is inserted into chamber 109 . dowel pins 6 and 6 ′ force and retain flow - through force wedge 3 between upstream 4 and downstream wedge 4 ′ such that the holes in upstream wedge 4 , flow - through force wedge 3 , and downstream wedge 4 ′ remain concentric . the upper surface of body 108 may include locator pins 8 and 8 ′ thereon for accurately locating cover 2 onto body 108 . a seal 9 may be positioned between cover 2 and body 108 . seal 9 is shown in detail in fig2 and 25 and is preferably constructed of an elastomeric material and available commercially . seal 9 is positioned in channel 114 ( fig1 , and 5 ). fig1 and 17 depict cover 2 which retains flow - through wedge assembly 102 within chamber 109 . cover 2 includes a plurality of bolt holes , collectively 130 , drilled therethrough to receive bolts 10 of fig1 . cover 2 also includes holes 132 and 132 ′ drilled partially therethrough to receive locator pins 8 and 8 ′ respectively . referring back to fig1 , bolts 10 and washers 11 are inserted to retain cover 2 onto body 108 so as to provide an upper surface which forces dowel pins 6 and 6 ′ and thereby flow - through force wedge 3 into concentric arrangement with upstream flow - through wedge 4 and downstream flow - through wedge 4 ′ as described above . three - wedge double block isolation chamber 100 of the present invention also includes a blind wedge assembly 104 ( fig2 ) which is interchangeable with flow - through valve assembly 102 ( fig1 ) when it is desirous to prevent the flow of fluid through the pipeline and specifically through isolation chamber 109 . blind wedge assembly 104 includes , generally , blind force wedge 13 , upstream blind wedge 14 , downstream blind wedge 14 ′, compression bar 12 and force bolt 15 . when interchanged with flow - through wedge 102 , blind wedge 104 is inserted into chamber 109 of body 108 such that blind force wedge 13 is positioned between upstream block wedge 14 and downstream blind wedge 14 ′. upstream blind wedge 14 is depicted in fig1 - 13 and includes a channel 150 to receive seal 16 ( fig2 ) therein . seal 16 is the same type of seal as seal 5 depicted in fig2 and 27 and described above with regard to flow - through wedge assembly 102 . upstream block wedge is solid to prevent the flow of fluid . upstream blind wedge 14 is positioned in chamber 109 such that upstream surface 152 including seal 16 is adjacent inlet 120 such that upstream blind wedge 14 blocks the flow of liquid from entering chamber 109 through inlet 120 . likewise , downstream blind wedge 14 ′ is positioned in chamber 109 adjacent outlet 122 and includes a seal 16 ′ so as to block the flow of liquid to / from outlet 122 . downstream blind wedge 14 ′ is substantially identical to upstream wedge 14 but is inserted into chamber 109 such that seal 16 ′ is positioned against outlet 122 . blind force wedge 13 is shown in fig1 and 15 . blind force wedge 13 is positioned between upstream blind wedge 14 and downstream blind wedge 14 ′ and provides pressure to upstream blind wedge 14 and downstream blind wedge 14 ′ to retain a tight seal between inlet 120 and outlet 122 , respectively , thereby effectively blocking the flow of liquid through isolation chamber 100 . both upstream blind wedge 14 and downstream blind wedge 14 ′ include a tapered surface which mates a taper on the faces of blind force wedge 13 . specifically , downstream surface of block wedge 14 includes a taper which mates the taper on upstream surface 160 of blind force wedge 13 , and upstream surface of wedge 14 ′ includes a taper which mates the taper on downstream surface 162 of blind force wedge 13 . a taper of 3 ° has been found particularly suitable for the preferred embodiment , however , other suitable tapers are contemplated . blind wedge assembly 104 is secured in chamber 109 by compression bar 12 . compression bar 12 is shown in greater detail in fig9 and 10 . compression bar 12 includes a plurality of holes 164 drilled therethrough to receive bolts and washers ( such as bolts 10 and washers 11 of fig1 ) which are screwed into holes 114 of body 108 . compression bar 12 also includes holes 166 and 166 ′ to receive locator pins 8 and 8 ′ of body 108 . a central hole 168 is drilled and tapped in compression bar 12 to receive a force rod 15 ( fig2 ). as can be seen in fig9 and 10 , a cutout 170 and 170 ′ on each side of compression bar 12 . in addition , compression bar 12 includes an arched portion 172 therein . the purpose of cutouts 170 and 170 ′ and arched portion 172 is so that compression bar 12 does not seal against body 108 . since chamber 109 is not sealed , in the event that upstream block wedge 14 or downstream bock wedge 14 ′ were to leak , fluid would enter chamber 109 and exit around compression bar 12 into the atmosphere rather than through the other seal . as a result , fluid would not leak past the secured seal . upon assembly , blind wedge assembly 104 is inserted into chamber 109 of body 108 such that compression bar 12 is secured to the top of body 108 using bolts 10 and washers 11 . force rod 15 is threaded through compression bar 12 to force blind force wedge 13 between upstream blind wedge 14 and downstream blind wedge 14 ′. this , in turn , forces upstream surface 152 of upstream wedge 14 against inlet 120 of chamber 109 and downstream surface 150 of downstream wedge 14 ′ against outlet 122 of chamber 109 . as an alternative , the flow - through wedge assembly of fig1 may be replaced with a meter wedge assembly in chamber 109 . the meter wedge assembly includes a flow - through wedge with a bore diameter that is smaller than the i . d . of the pipeline and inlet orifice 107 . the bore diameter of the meter wedge assembly is known . either the pipeline or isolation chamber 100 are fitted with instrumentation ( known in the art ) to measure the line pressure before the meter wedge assembly and after the meter wedge assembly in order to obtain the pressure drop . from this , known standards are consulted ( such as api standards for differential pressure equations ) in order to determine the liquid flow rate through isolation chamber 100 . while the invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity , it is manifest that many changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure . it is understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiment set forth herein for purposes of exemplification , but is to be limited only by the scope of the attached claim or claims , including the full range of equivalency to which each element thereof is entitled .	5
the instrument rest of the present invention is a unique style of stand for guitars or other instruments that uses a different concept from all other stands of today . the instrument rest of the present invention is a holder or rest for guitars and other instruments . the instrument rest of the present invention is designed so that a musician can rest the bottom of an instrument on / in the rest , while resting the neck and / or headstock backwards against another object ( such as an amplifier , speaker , chairs or even just a bare wall ). the instrument rest of the present invention is preferably made of either a molded polyurethane foam , ester # 3 , urethane foam , # 1570bl , or some similar but not always chemically the same as , yet providing a similar working effect of , a foam type material , and may consist of several different compounds all together . the instrument rest of the present invention is designed to hold a wide range of instruments no matter the shape , size or weight ( electric guitars , box guitars , bass guitars , violins , horns , etc .). factors such as color , density , texture and actual dimensions will be determined upon manufacture and will be influenced by the type of instrument for which the rest is designed . the instrument rest of the present invention will eliminate the sense of insecurity and inconvenience of contemporary stands , by allowing the musician to rest his or her instrument in places not allowed by contemporary stands ( on top of amps , behind or beside amps , behind doors , on shelves — just about anywhere where conventional stands will not fit , the instrument rest of the present invention will ). the instrument rest of the present invention will accommodate instruments that do not fit properly in contemporary stands . the instrument rest of the present invention is preferably of one - piece construction , and is preferably compact and lightweight . the uniqueness of the design of the instrument rest of the present invention allows for better weight support , superb balancing , and convenience of placement for an instrument . the instrument rest of the present invention can be carried in most standard guitar cases , without damaging the instrument . the instrument rest of the present invention will protect the finish of the instrument , by virtue of its design . the instrument rest of the present invention can be made in extreme color variations , and in unique designs . when using the instrument rest of the present invention , usually the instrument must be leaned against another object — the instrument rest of the present invention is usually not designed to solely support the instrument ( it usually does not make the instrument free - standing — though some light guitar - like instruments will stand up in the instrument rest of the present invention with no other support ). the instrument rest of the present invention provides a lean - anywhere resting place . the instrument rest of the present invention frees up valuable floor space . the instrument rest of the present invention is compact , lightweight and durable . the instrument rest of the present invention is preferably colorful and stylish , with a leather - like feel ( when made with molded urethane foam , for example ). cords will never tangle on the instrument rest of the present invention . no assembly is required for standard models of the instrument rest of the present invention . the strap pin locations will vary in location , size , and number . as used herein , “ guitar - like instrument ” refers to stringed musical instruments such as electric guitars , box guitars , bass guitars , banjoes , mandolins , fiddles , violins , but excluding free - standing instruments such as harps . the following is a list of parts and materials suitable for use in the present invention : 10 instrument rest of the preferred embodiment of the present invention 10 a - 10 n and 10 p - 10 v are instrument rests of alternative embodiments of the present invention 35 instrument rest of an alternative embodiment of the present invention 45 instrument rest of an alternative embodiment of the present invention 55 instrument rest of an alternative embodiment of the present invention 70 neck rest pad of the preferred embodiment of the present invention ( can be compressed between amp 61 and speaker 62 ) 71 compression holes in neck rest pad 70 ( will vary in size and quantity ) 87 strap of neck rest pad 85 ( preferably nylon or velcro brand hook - and - loop fastener material ) 90 headstock rest pad of the preferred embodiment of the present invention 95 headstock rest pad of an alternative embodiment of the present invention 110 freestanding guitar rest of an alternative embodiment of the present invention ( it cradles more of the guitar than a standard rest 10 ) 135 instrument rest of an alternative embodiment of the present invention 145 instrument rest of an alternative embodiment of the present invention 210 instrument rest of an alternative embodiment of the present invention 223 raised rear of rest body to provide upright support 310 instrument rest of an alternative embodiment of the present invention 323 raised rear of rest body to provide upright support 410 instrument rest of an alternative embodiment of the present invention 431 tripod holes preferably completely through the body 420 to allow rest 410 to be slipped onto a conventional forked tripod stand 66 510 instrument rest of an alternative embodiment of the present invention 531 strap ( nylon , e . g .) for connecting the left and right pieces of body 520 610 instrument rest of an alternative embodiment of the present invention 631 strap ( nylon , e . g .) for connecting the left and right pieces of body 520 710 instrument rest of an alternative embodiment of the present invention 810 instrument rest of an alternative embodiment of the present invention 910 instrument rest of an alternative embodiment of the present invention this product may optionally have an exterior coating applied depending upon the type of foam used by the manufacturer . the coatings may vary from a urethane to a synthetic cloth type material depending on coatings market technology . the following are exemplary values for the following dimensions of the rest when used with a standard electric guitar : f — 15 - 20 degrees ( chosen to allow the instrument to rest in a backwards position , against another object ) the following are exemplary values for the following dimensions of the rest when used with a standard large box guitar : all measurements disclosed herein are at standard temperature and pressure , at sea level on earth , unless indicated otherwise . the foregoing embodiments are presented by way of example only ; the scope of the present invention is to be limited only by the following claims .	6
fig1 is a bubble - pack - scrim laminated blanket assembly having polyethylene layers 112 , 114 , 116 and 118 and scrim layer 126 with nylon tapes 124 laminated between layers 112 and 114 . adhered to outer layer 112 is a metallized pet layer 12 . fig1 and 16 represent the embodiment of fig1 but , additionally , having an aluminum foil layer 122 laminated to layer 112 in fig1 and to layer 118 , via a polyethylene layer 136 in fig1 . the following numerals denote the same materials throughout the drawings , as follows : 12 — 48 gauge aluminum metallized polyester ( pet ) film ; 14 — adhesive ; 16 — 1 . 2 ml polyethylene film ; 18 — 2 . 0 ml polyethylene film ( bubbled ); 20 — 1 . 2 ml ethylene vinyl acetate - polyethylene film ; 22 — 2 . 0 ml polyethylene film ; 24 — aluminum foil ; 26 — polyester scrim ; fr denotes 18 % w / w antimony oxide fire retardant ; w denotes presence of tio 2 pigment ( white ). the bubble pack layer is preferably of a thickness selected from 0 . 5 cm to 1 . 25 cm . the other polyethylene layers are each of a thickness , preferably , selected from 1 to 6 mls . the fire retardant material of use in the preferred embodiments was antimony oxide at a concentration selected from 10 - 20 % w / w . insulation material no . 1 was a prior art commercial single bubble pack assembly of a white polyethylene film ( 1 . 2 mil ) laminated to a polyethylene bubble ( 2 . 0 mil ) on one side and aluminum foil ( 0 . 275 mil ) on the other . insulation material no . 2 was a metallized polymeric material of use in the practise of the invention in the form of a bubble pack as for material no . 1 but with the aluminum foil substituted with metallized aluminum on polyethylene terephthalate ( pet ) film ( 48 gauge ) adhered to the polyethylene bubble . a blow torch was located about 10 - 15 cm away from the insulation material ( 5 cm × 10 cm square ) and directed at each of the aluminum surfaces . material no . 1 started to burn immediately and continued burning until all organic material was gone . flame and smoke were extensive . for material no . 2 , where the flame was directly located , a hole was produced . however , the flame did not spread outwards of the hole or continue to burn the material . flame and smoke were minimal . single bubble metallized material reacts better to the flame , that is the material burned where the flame was situated but did not continue to burn . clearly , this test shows the advance of the metallized insulation material according to the invention over its prior art aluminum foil counterpart . this example illustrates the testing of the bubble - pack assembly shown in fig1 — being commonly known as a metallized - double bubble - white poly ( fr ) in accordance with nfpa 286 standard methods of fire tests for evaluating contribution of wall and ceiling interior finish to room fire growth . the test material was mounted on the lhs , rear , rhs walls to a height of the test room as well as the ceiling of the test room . the sample did not spread flames to the ceiling during the 40 kw exposure . the flames did not spread to the extremities of the walls during the 160 kw exposure . the sample did not exhibit flashover conditions during the test . nfpa 286 does not publish pass / fail criteria . this specimen did meet the criteria set forth in the 2003 ibc section 803 . 2 . 1 . the test was performed by intertek testing services na , inc ., elmendorf , tex ., 78112 - 984 ; u . s . a . this method is used to evaluate the flammability characteristics of finish wall and ceiling coverings when such materials constitute the exposed interior surfaces of buildings . the test method does not apply to fabric covered less then ceiling height partitions used in open building interiors . freestanding panel furniture systems include all freestanding panels that provide visual and / or acoustical separation and are intended to be used to divide space and may support components to form complete work stations . demountable , relocatable , full - height partitions include demountable , relocatable , full - height partitions that fill the space between the finished floor and the finished ceiling . this fire test measures certain fire performance characteristics of finish wall and ceiling covering materials in an enclosure under specified fire exposure conditions . it determines the extent to which the finish covering materials may contribute to fire growth in a room and the potential for fire spread beyond the room under the particular conditions simulated . the test indicates the maximum extent of fire growth in a room , the rate of heat release , and if they occur , the time to flashover and the time to flame extension beyond the doorway following flashover . a calibration test is run within 30 days of testing any material as specified in the standard . all instrumentation is zeroed , spanned and calibrated prior to testing . the specimen is installed and the diffusion burner is placed . the collection hood exhaust duct blower is turned on and an initial flow is established . the gas sampling pump is turned on and the flow rate is adjusted . when all instruments are reading steady state conditions , the computer data acquisition system and video equipment is started . ambient data is taken then the burner is ignited at a fuel flow rate that is known to produce 40 kw of heat output . this level is maintained for five minutes at which time the fuel flow is increased to the 160 kw level for a 10 - minute period . during the burn period , all temperature , heat release and heat flux data is being recorded every 6 seconds . at the end of the fifteen minute burn period , the burner is shut off and all instrument readings are stopped . post test observations are made and this concludes the test . all damage was documented after the test was over , using descriptions , photographs and drawings , as was appropriate . digital color photographs and dv video taping were both used to record and documents the test . care was taken to position the photographic equipment so as to not interfere with the smooth flow of air into the test room . the test specimen was a metallized / double bubble / white poly ( fr ) insulation . each panel measured approximately 4 ft . wide × 8 ft . tall × ⅛ in . thick . each panel was white in color . the insulation was positioned using metal c studs every 2 ft . o . c . with the flat side of the stud facing the interior of the room . the insulation was attached to the c studs using screws and washers . all joints and corners in the room were sealed to an airtight condition using gypsum drywall joint compound and / or ceramic fiber insulation . the data acquisition system was started and allowed to collect ambient data prior to igniting the burner and establishing a gas flow equivalent to 40 kw for the first 5 minutes and 160 kw for the next 10 minutes . events during the test are described below : the specimen began to melt at 4 ft . above the specimen . the specimen began to melt away at 6 ft . from the test corner . the specimen was completely melted on the top portions along all three walls . on the lower lhs wall , the specimen was still intact and appeared to have no visible damage . the lower rear wall appeared to have melting 4 ft . from the test corner , with the specimen intact from 4 - 8 ft from the test corner . the lower rhs wall was melted 4 ft . from the test corner and appeared intact from 4 ft . to the doorway . the specimen on the ceiling panels was observed to have been 100 % melted . the sample submitted , installed , and tested as described in this report displayed low levels of heat release , and upper level temperatures . the sample did not spread flames to the ceiling during the 40 kw exposure . the flames did not spread to the extremities of the 12 - foot walls during the 106 kw exposure . the sample did not exhibit flashover conditions during the test . nfpa 286 does not publish pass / fail criteria . one must consult the codes to determine pass fail . this specimen did meet the criteria set forth in the 2003 ibc section 803 . 2 . 1 . the test described under example 1 was repeated but with a metallized double bubble / white poly not containing fire retardant as shown in fig2 . the sample did not spread flames to ceiling during the 40 kw exposure . the flames did spread to the extremities of the walls during the 106 kw exposure . the sample did not exhibit flashover conditions during the test . nfpa 286 does not publish pass / fail criteria . however , this specimen did not meet the criteria set forth in the 2003 ibc section 803 . 2 . 1 . flame spread at 2 ft . horizontally at 4 ft . above the test burner . flames on the lhs wall reached 10 ft . from the test corner . the specimen was 100 % melted from the c studs along all the walls . the gypsum board behind the specimen was flame bleached and charred in the test corner . along the rear wall , the bottom of the wall was charred the length of the wall . on the rhs wall , 5 ft . of specimen was still intact near the doorway . the insulation on the lhs wall was melted completely with the exception of a small 2 ft . section attached to the c stud near the doorway . the insulation on the ceiling was 100 % melted exposing the c studs . the sample submitted , installed , and tested as described in this report displayed low levels of heat release , and upper level temperatures . the sample did not spread flames to the ceiling during the 40 kw exposure . the flames did spread to the extremities of the 12 - foot walls during the 160 kw exposure . the sample did not exhibit flashover conditions during the test . nfpa 286 does not publish pass / fail criteria . one must consult the codes to determine pass - fail . this specimen did not meet the very strict criteria set forth in the 2003 ibc section 803 . 2 . 1 . examples 3 - 6 underwent tests carried out in accordance with test standard method astme84 - 05 for surface burning characteristics of building materials , ( also published under the following designations ansi 2 . 5 ; nfpa 255 ; ubc 8 - 1 ( 42 - 1 ); and ul723 ). the method is for determining the comparative surface burning behaviour of building materials . this test is applicable to exposed surfaces , such as ceilings or walls , provided that the material or assembly of materials , by its own structural quality or the manner in which it is tested and intended for use , is capable of supporting itself in position or being supported during the test period . the purpose of the method is to determine the relative burning behaviour of the material by observing the flame spread along the specimen . flame spread and smoke density developed are reported . however , there is not necessarily a relationship between these two measurements . it should be noted that the use of supporting materials on the underside of the test specimen may lower the flame spread index from that which might be obtained if the specimen could be tested without such support . this method may not be appropriate for obtaining comparative surface burning behaviour of some cellular plastic materials . testing of materials that melt , drip , or delaminate to such a degree that the continuity of the flame front is destroyed , results in low flame spread indices that do not relate directly to indices obtained by testing materials that remain in place . table 1 gives detailed observations for the experiments conducted in examples 3 to 15 . the test specimen consisted of ( 3 ) 8 ft . long × 24 in . wide × 1 . 398 in . thick 17 . 50 lbs metallized / double bubble / white poly ( no - fr ) reflective insulation , assembly of fig2 secured to 1 . 75 in . wide × 1 in . thick , aluminum frames using ¾ in . long , self - drilling , hex head screws and washers . the nominal thickness of the reflective insulation was 5 / 16 in . thick . the white poly was facing the flames during the test . the specimen was self - supporting and was placed directly on the inner ledges of the tunnel . the test results , computed on the basis of observed flame front advance and electronic smoke density measurements were as follows . this metallized - double bubble - white poly having no fire - retardant assembly of fig2 was most acceptable in this e84 - 05 test to permit use in class a buildings . during the test , the specimen was observed to behave in the following manner : the white poly facer began to melt at 0 : 05 ( min : sec ). the specimen ignited at 0 : 07 ( min : sec ). the insulation began to fall from the aluminum frames at 0 : 08 ( min . sec .). the test continued for the 10 : 00 duration . after the test burners were turned off , a 60 second after flame was observed . after the test the specimen was observed to be damaged as follows : the specimen was consumed from 0 ft .- 9 ft . the white poly facer was melted from 19 ft .- 24 ft . this embodiment is a repeat of example 3 , but with a metallized / single bubble / white poly ( no - fr ) reflective insulation assembly as shown in fig3 substituted for the material described in example 3 . the specimen consisted of ( 3 ) 8 ft . long × 24 in . wide × 1 . 100 in . thick 16 . 60 lbs metallized / single bubble / white poly ( no - fr ) reflective insulation , secured to 1 . 75 in . wide × 1 in . thick , aluminum frames using ¾ in . long , self - drilling , hex head screws and washers . the nominal thickness of the reflective insulation was 3 / 16 in . thick . the white poly was facing the test burners . the specimen was self - supporting and was placed directly on the inner ledges of the tunnel . during the test , the specimen was observed to behave in the following manner : the poly facer began to melt at 0 : 03 ( min / sec ). the poly facer ignited at 0 : 06 ( min : sec ). the insulation began to fall from the aluminum frames at 0 : 07 ( min : sec ). the insulation ignited on the floor of the apparatus at 0 : 07 ( min : sec ). the test continued for the 10 : 00 duration . after the test the specimen was observed to be damaged as follows : the insulation was consumed from 0 ft .- 20 ft . the poly facer was melted from 20 ft .- 24 ft . the polyethylene bubbles were melted from 20 ft . to 24 ft . this embodiment is a repeat of example 3 , but with a metallized / double bubble / metallized ( no fr ) reflective insulation substituted for the material described in example 3 . the specimen consisted of ( 3 ) 8 ft . long × 24 in . wide × 1 . 230 in . thick 17 . 40 lbs metallized / double bubble / metallized no fr reflective insulation assembly of fig4 , secured to 1 . 75 in . wide × 1 in . thick , aluminum frames using ¾ in . long , self - drilling , hex head screws and washers . the nominal thickness of the reflective insulation was 5 / 16 in . thick . the specimen was self - supporting and was placed directly on the inner ledges of the tunnel . during the test , the specimen was observed to behave in the following manner : the metallized insulation began to melt at 0 : 06 ( min : sec ). the metallized insulation began to fall from the aluminum frame at 0 : 10 ( min . sec .). the metallized insulation ignited at 0 : 11 ( min . sec ). the test continued for the 10 : 00 duration . after the test burners were turned off , a 19 second after flame was observed . after the test , the specimen was observed to be damaged as follows : the metallized insulation was consumed from 0 ft .- 16 ft . the polyethylene bubbles were melted from 16 ft .- 24 ft . light discoloration was observed to the metallized facer from 16 ft .- 24 ft . this metallized - double bubble - metallized assembly of fig4 met the e84 standard for building reflective insulation . this embodiment is a repeat of example 5 , but with a metallized / double bubble / metallized ( fr ) reflective insulation assembly as seen in fig5 substituted for the material described in example 5 , fig4 . the specimen consisted of ( 3 ) 8 ft . long × 24 in . wide × 1 . 325 in . thick 17 . 70 lbs metallized / double bubble / metallized ( fr ) reflective insulation assembly , secured to 1 . 75 in . wide × 1 in . thick , aluminum frames using ¾ in . long , self - drilling , hex head screws and washers . the nominal thickness of the reflective insulation was 5 / 16 in . thick . during the test , the specimen was observed to behave in the following manner : the metallized facer began to melt at 0 : 04 ( min : sec .). the specimen ignited at 0 : 06 ( min : sec .). the metallized insulation began to fall from the aluminum frames at 0 : 11 ( min : sec ). the floor of the apparatus ignited at 6 : 41 ( min : sec ). the test continued for the 10 : 00 duration . after the test burners were turned off , a 60 second after flame was observed . after the test the specimen was observed to be damaged as follows : the insulation was consumed from 0 ft .- 16 ft . the polyethylene bubbles were melted from 16 ft .- 24 ft . light discoloration was observed to the metallized facer from 16 ft .- 24 ft . the metallized - double bubble - metallized ( fr ) reflective insulation assembly of fig5 passed this astm e84 - 05 test for class a building insulation . in the following embodiments examples 7 - 9 , less stringent astm e84 test conditions were employed . an aluminum foil - single bubble - aluminum foil / poly with polyester scrim reflective insulation assembly , without a fire - retardant was stapled to three 2 × 8 ft . wood frames with l - bars spaced every 5 feet o . c . was tested . the reflective insulation was secured to the l - bars by using self - drilling screws . aluminum foil - single bubble - aluminum foil with fire - retardant reflective insulation assembly was stapled to ( 3 ) 2 × 8 ft . wood frames , l - bar cross members on 5 ft . centers , stapled to wood on sides and screwed to l - bar . the sample was self - supporting . this assembly as shown in fig7 , failed this e84 test conditions for building insulations , for having a flame spread index of 55 and a smoke developed index of 30 . aluminum foil - single bubble - white poly ( fr ) as shown in fig8 was attached to nominal 2 × 2 wood frames with l - bar cross members spaced every 5 ft . o . c . the sample was self - supporting . the specimen had a flame speed index of 65 and a smoke developed index of 75 to not be acceptable as class a building material . the following embodiments describe astm 84 - 05e1 surface burning characteristics of building materials . the following modified astm e84 - 05e1 test was designed to determine the relative surface burning characteristics of materials under specific test conditions . results are again expressed in terms of flame spread index ( fsi ) and smoke developed ( sd ). the tunnel was preheated to 150 ° f ., as measured by the floor - embedded thermocouple located 23 . 25 feet downstream of the burner ports , and allowed to cool to 105 ° f ., as measured by the floor - embedded thermocouple located 13 ft . from the burners . at this time , the tunnel lid was raised and the test sample placed along the ledges of the tunnel so as to form a continuous ceiling 24 ft . long , 12 inches . above the floor . the lid was then lowered into place . upon ignition of the gas burners , the flame spread distance was observed and recorded every 15 seconds . flame spread distance versus time is plotted ignoring any flame front recessions . if the area under the curve ( a ) is less than or equal to 97 . 5 min .- ft ., fsi = 0 . 515 a ; if greater , fsi = 4900 /( 195 - a ). smoke developed is determined by comparing the area under the obscuration curve for the test sample to that of inorganic reinforced cement board and red oak , arbitrarily established as 0 and 100 , respectively . the reflective insulation was a metallized - double bubble - metallized assembly with fire - retardant , as shown in fig9 . the material had a very acceptable ofsi and 85 sd . the sample began to ignite and propagate flame immediately upon exposure to the test flame . maximum amounts of smoke developed were recorded during the early states of the test . the test conditions were as for example 10 but carried out with a metallized / bubble / single bubble , white ( fr ) as shown in fig1 , substituted for the material of example 10 . the white face was exposed to the flame source . the material had a very acceptable 0 fsi and 65 ds . the sample began to ignite and propagate flame immediately upon exposure to the test flame . maximum amounts of smoke developed were recorded during the early states of the test . the test conditions were as for example 10 but carried out with a metallized - single bubble as shown in fig1 , substitute for the material of example 10 . the test material had a very accept 0 fsi and 30 sd . the sample began to ignite and propagate flame immediately upon exposure to the test flame . maximum amounts of smoke developed were recorded during the early states of the test . the test conditions were as for examples 7 - 9 , with a self - supporting aluminum foil - single bubble containing fine retardant as shown in fig1 . an unacceptable fsi of 30 and a sdi of 65 was observed . the test was conducted under astm e84 - 00a conditions in jan . 22 , 2002 , with layers of aluminum foil - double bubble - aluminum foil , according to the prior art as shown in fig1 . the specimen consisted of a 24 ″ wide × 24 ′ long × 5 / 16 ″ thick ( nominal ) 3 . 06 lbs sheet of reflective insulation - foil / double pe bubble / foil . the specimen was tested with a ⅛ ″ wide × 24 ′ long second of the foil facer removed from the center to expose the core material directly to the flames . during the test , the specimen was observed to behave in the following manner : steady ignition began at 0 : 35 ( min : sec ). flaming drops began to fall from the specimen at 0 : 45 and a floor flame began burning at 0 : 46 . the test continued for the 10 : 00 duration . upon completion of the test , the methane test burners were turned off and an after flame continued to burn for 0 : 19 . after the test , the specimen was observed to be damaged in the following manner : the specimen was slightly burned through from 1 ft . to 3 ft . the pe bubble was melted from 0 ft . to 24 ft . and the foil facer had a black discoloration on it from 2 ft . to 24 ft . the sample was supported on ¼ ″ steel rods and 2 ″ galvanized hexagonal wire mesh id not meet the criteria see for this e84 - 00a test for a building insulation . during the test , the specimen was observed to behave in the following manner : steady ignition began at 0 : 54 ( min : sec ). flaming drops began to fall from the specimen at 0 : 58 and a floor flame began burning at 1 : 03 . the test continued for the 10 : 00 duration . after the test , the specimen was observed to be damaged as follows : the foil was 80 % consumed from 1 ft . to 3 ft . and lightly discoloured from 3 ft . to 24 ft . the bubble core was melted / collapsed from 0 ft . to 24 ft . although the results were an improvement over example 14 material , they were still not satisfactory . standard surface emittance ( reflectivity ) tests ( astm c 1371 - 04a —“ standard test method for determination of emittance of materials near room temperature using portable emissometers ”) with the embodiments shown in fig3 and fig1 gave a measured emittance of 0 . 30 ( 65 % reflectance ) for the dull surface of the metallized coated pet material and a value of 0 . 06 ( 96 % reflectance ) for the shiny surface . the 0 . 5 ml thick nitrocellulose solvent based lacquer coated metallized coated pet surface also gave an acceptable reflectance of 96 %. the test specimen was a self - supporting rfoil reflective insulation , metallized / double bubble / white poly ( m / db / polyethylene )- non - fr product of ( 3 ) 8 - ft . long × 24 in . wide × 1 . 2450 in . thick , radiant barrier secured to galvanized metal frames using hex head screws . the white polyethylene was exposed to flame with air gap toward the tunnel lid . conditioning ( 73 ° f . & amp ; 50 % r . h . ): 18 days specimen width ( in ): 24 specimen length ( ft ): 24 specimen thickness : 1 . 2450 in . material weight : n / a oz ./ sq . yd total specimen weight : 16 . 7 lbs . adhesive or coating application rate : n / a the reflective insulation began to melt at 0 : 05 ( min : sec ). the reflective insulation ignited at 0 : 07 ( min : sec ). flaming drops were observed at 0 : 08 ( min : sec ). the floor of the apparatus ignited at 0 : 10 ( min : sec ). the test continued for the 10 : 00 duration . after the test burners were turned off , a 60 second afterflame was observed . after the test the specimen was observed to be damaged as follows . the reflective insulation was consumed from 0 ft .- 5 ft . the reflective insulation was melted from 5 ft .- 24 ft . the specimen was a rfoil ( white poly / single bubbled / metallized ), nominal 5 / 16 inches thick . metal 2 in .× 4 in . c studs were placed every two feet on the walls and ceiling with the flat side of the stud facing the wall . the specimen was attached to the flat surfaces of the c studs using screws and washers spaced no closer than 2 ft . o . c . all joints and corners in the room were sealed to an airtight condition using gypsum drywall joint compound and / or ceramic fiber insulation . at an ambient temperature of 49 ° f . with a relative humidity of 82 %, the thermocouples and other instrumentation were positioned in accordance with the standard and their outputs verified after connection too the data acquisition system . the data acquisition system was started and allowed to collect ambient data prior to igniting the burner and establishing a gas flow equivalent to 40 kw for the first 5 minutes and 160 kw for the next 10 minutes . events during the test are described below : the specimen began to melt 2 ft . from the test burner / flames began to reach 6 ft . along the rhs wall / the lhs along the back wall , the specimen was flame bleached approximately 8 ft . above the test burner . the panels were melted 4 ft . horizontally along the wall . the top panel along the wall was completed melted . the remaining sections were still in tact along the c - studs . the top panel along the lhs wall , was completely melted approximately 11 . 5 ft . from the room corner . the remainder of the panels were intact but slightly melted and showed some discoloration . the specimen along the rhs wall was flame bleached to the ceiling and melted horizontally 3 - 4 ft . from the rest corner . the top panel along the rhs wall was completely melted extending the entire length of the wall . the remaining panels were intact and slightly discolored . the ceiling panels were completely melted extending the entire length of the room . the sample displayed low levels of heat release and upper level temperatures . the sample did not spread flames to the ceiling during the 40kw exposure . the flames did not spread to the extremities of the 12 - foot walls during the 160 kw exposure . the sample did not exhibit flashover conditions during the test . this example describes the test and results of measuring the emittance of an aluminum metallized pet containing 15 % w / w antimony oxide fire - retardant reflective insulation film having a nitrocellulose coating of 0 . 3 g / m 2 , according to the invention . the test protocol was in accordance with astmc 1371 - 04a “ standard test method for determination of emittance of materials near room temperature using portable emissometers ”. the results were obtained using a model ae emissometer manufactured by devices and services company of dallas , tex . the emissometer is powered to provide a warm - up time prior to use . a warm - up time of one hour is conditioned laboratory has been found to be acceptable . calibration at high and low emittance was performed after the warm - up period . test specimens were placed in good contact with the thermal sink that was part of the apparatus . a drop of distilled water between the test specimen and the thermal sink improved the thermal contact . the measurement head of the emissometer was placed on the test specimen and held in place for 90 seconds for each measurement . the apparatus provided emittance to two decimal places . the emissometer was calibrated prior to use and calibration was verified at the end of testing . the reported emittance is the average of three measurements . the 95 % reproducibility as stated in section 10 of astm c 1371 - 04a is 0 . 019 units . the result shows the acceptable emittance property of the test material , according to the invention . this example describes the test and results of measuring the corrosivity of the metallized pet fire - retardant reflective insulation film as used in example 19 . the test protocol was in accordance with “ astm d3310 - 00 “ standard test method for determining of corrosivity of adhesive materials ”. samples of the metallized film ( sample 2a ) one embedded in adhesive and one without adhesive , were placed in a screw can jar with an inert cap liner . the caps were tightened and the jars placed in a forced draft circulating oven at 71 ± 2 ° c . these samples were used as controls . a second set of samples , one embedded in adhesive and one without adhesive , were placed in a similar jar each with a small open jar half filled with distilled water . the second jars were also tightly closed and placed in the oven . the samples were removed and examined after intervals of 1 , 3 and 7 days in the oven . a series of experiments were conducted to develop a fire resistant reflective insulation material meeting class a and class i flame resistant standards . the following series of tests consisted of locating the flame of a blowtorch at a distance of about 10 - 20 cm away from 1 m × 1 m sample film and observing whether the burnt with a flame and disintegrated in its entirety , or merely melted at a localized spot without a flame . whenever an exposed polymer film face was present in the sample the blowtorch was directed on that surface because it is the polymer surface that is exposed to the interior of the walls and ceiling of a building and which surface is generally , initially , subject to a fire within the building . 1 . ( single bubble ) aluminum foil ( 2 . 75 mil ) adhesive polyethylene film ( 1 . 2 mil ) polyethylene bubble ( 2 mil ) polyethylene film ( 2 mil ) 2 . ( double bubble ) aluminum foil ( 2 . 75 mil ) adhesive polyethylene film ( 1 . 2 mil ) polyethylene bubble ( 2 mil ) eva ( 1 . 2 mil ) polyethylene bubble ( 2 mil ) polyethylene film ( 1 . 2 mil ) 3 . ( single bubble ) aluminum foil ( 2 . 75 mil ) adhesive polyethylene film ( 1 . 2 mil ) polyethylene bubble ( 2 . 0 mil ) polyethylene film ( 1 . 2 mil ) adhesive aluminum foil ( 2 . 75 mil ) 4 . ( double bubble ) aluminum foil ( 2 . 75 mil ) adhesive polyethylene film ( 1 . 2 mil ) polyethylene bubble ( 2 . 0 mil ) eva ( 1 . 2 mil ) polyethylene bubble ( 2 . 0 mil ) polyethylene film ( 1 . 2 mil ) adhesive aluminum foil ( 2 . 75 mil ) the above tests were repeated with various amounts ( 5 - 20 % w / w ) of various fr ( fire retardant ) compounds present in each of the polymer films . the above tests under series a and series b were repeated on the same samples but with heavier gauge aluminum foil ranging up to 5 . 00 mil . in all of the above tests , the product failed as determined by the total disintegration with a burning flame in less than 10 seconds . it was , initially , believed that the inadequacy of the product in satisfying the regulatory burn test was due , solely , to the polymer , and that the foil had no part in the destruction of the product . accordingly , because of the financial cost and inconvenience in preparing such foil products for testing , a series of tests were subsequently conducted on polymer films in the absence of an aluminum foil layer , while varying the nature and amounts of fr compounds in the polymer . analogous films to those of series a and series b without an aluminum foil layer were subjected to the blowtorch test . most surprisingly , the blowtorch flame caused the film to merely melt at the localized spot to create a typical 8 - 10 cm hole — with no burning . the size of the hole did not increase unless the torch was re - directed . these observations and surprising results showed the tests to be highly successful . the films of series d — test 1 were then adhesively laminated with aluminum foil to provide reflective products and tested . the products having a foil backing with the blowtorch directed on the polymer surface , lit - up extensively , burnt and disintegrated . samples of the foil - backed films of test 2 were then delaminated by peeling to remove the foil and tested . that the presence of the aluminum foil in the sample product causes the product to fail the burn test . the reason for this is not known . a series of burn tests with analogous products to those samples in series a and series c but having the adhesive bonded foil layer substituted with a 2 mil metallized pet ( polyethylene terephthate ), metallized polyethylene , or polypropylene layer were tested . the samples did not burn , flame or disintegrate , but merely incurred the typical 8 - 10 cm hole . that a metallized polymer layer is , most surprisingly , superior to and aluminum foil adhered layer in reflective polymer insulation , and satisfies the class a and class i standards . although this disclosure has described and illustrated certain preferred embodiments of the invention , it is to be understood that the invention is not restricted to those particular embodiments . rather , the invention includes all embodiments , which are functional or mechanical equivalence of the specific embodiments and features that have been described and illustrated .	8
fig1 shows a diagrammatic and somewhat simplified perspective view of an outlet nozzle 1 which is produced according to the present invention . according to a preferred embodiment , the outlet nozzle 1 is of the type which is used in rocket motors for conducting the combustion gases out of a combustion chamber ( not shown ) belonging to the rocket motor . the present invention is preferably intended for use in rocket motors of the type which are driven with a liquid fuel , for example liquid hydrogen . the method by which such rocket motors operate is known per se , and is therefore not described in detail here . the outlet nozzle 1 is of the type which is cooled with the aid of a cooling medium , which is preferably also used as motor fuel in the particular rocket motor . the present invention is not , however , limited to outlet nozzles of this type , but can also be used in those cases in which the cooling medium is dumped after it has been used for cooling . the outlet nozzle 1 is manufactured with an outer shape which conforms in general with those of the prior art , that is to say substantially bell - shaped . furthermore , the outlet nozzle 1 according to the present invention is made up of two walls , more precisely an inner wall 2 and an outer wall 3 , which encloses the inner wall 2 . the inner wall 2 and the outer wall 3 are separated by special distancing elements or spacers 4 . these distancing elements 4 are configured according to a first embodiment of the present invention such that a number of longitudinal grooves are first configured , preferably by milling , in the inner wall 2 . the distancing elements 4 are thereby formed as a number of protruding elements 4 extending substantially at right - angles out from the inner wall 2 and to the outer wall 3 , that is to say in the radial direction in relation to an imaginary axis of symmetry through the outlet nozzle 1 . according to the following description , the method according to the present invention is based upon the distancing elements 4 being joined together by laser - welding . according to one embodiment , the distancing elements 4 are joined together against the outer wall 3 . a number of cooling ducts 5 are thereby formed , extending substantially in parallel in the longitudinal direction of the outlet nozzle 1 from the inlet end 6 of the outlet nozzle 1 to its outlet end 7 . in fig1 such a cooling duct 5 is illustrated by dashed lines , which indicate the distancing elements which constitute the limits of the cooling duct 5 in the lateral direction . the materials which are used for the inner wall 2 , the outer wall 3 and the distancing elements 4 constitute weldable materials , preferably stainless steel of the type 347 or a286 . alternatively , nickel - based alloys can be used . examples of such materials are inco600 , inco625 and hastaloy x . according to further variants , cobalt - based alloys of the type haynes 188 and haynes 230 can also be used in the present invention . fig2 is a perspective view of a portion of the wall structure of the outlet nozzle 1 , which wall structure substantially constitutes an inner wall 2 , an outer wall 3 and a number of distancing elements 4 , which are configured as protruding elements by milling of the inner wall 2 . according to the present invention , the wall structure is joined together by means of laser - welding of the distancing elements 4 against the outer wall 3 , whereupon a number of substantially parallel and somewhat recessed grooves 8 appear on the outside of the outer wall 3 . moreover , the abovementioned , substantially parallel cooling ducts 5 are in this case formed , through which a suitable cooling medium is intended to flow during running of the particular rocket motor . in the laser - welding , a nd : yag laser is preferably used , but other types of welding apparatus , for example a co 2 laser , can also be used according to the present invention . it can be seen from fig2 that a weld joint 9 is formed along each section in which the respective distancing element 4 is joined together with the outer wall 3 . as the result of precise coordination of the welding method and the dimensions of the components making up the wall structure , a substantially t - shaped and softly rounded shape is obtained in the respective weld joint 9 on the inside of the respective cooling duct 5 , which in turn yields a number of advantageous properties of the completed outlet nozzle , for example good cooling properties , high strength and simplicity of manufacture . a cross section through the wall of the outlet nozzle 1 , according to the first embodiment , can be seen in detail in fig3 . the cross section of the above - described weld joints 9 is illustrated in fig3 by dashed lines . the present invention is based upon laser - welding being carried out such that the outer wall 3 is joined together with the respective distancing element 4 . it is assumed that the distancing element 4 has a predetermined thickness t 1 , which according to this embodiment is on the order of magnitude of 0 . 4 to 1 . 5 mm . the outer wall 3 further has a predetermined thickness t 2 , which is also on the order of magnitude of 0 . 4 to 1 . 5 mm . through precise coordination of , inter alia , the dimensions of the two walls , 2 and 3 , and the distancing elements 4 , according to the present invention a weld joint 9 is obtained having the abovementioned t - shape , in which a soft rounding 10 of the inner wall in the respective cooling duct 5 is obtained . through laser - welding , a radius r of this rounded seam 10 on the order of magnitude of t 1min & lt ; r & lt ; t 1max is obtained , which with the above - stated dimensions corresponds to a radius r within the range 0 . 4 to 1 . 5 mm . a depth t 3 of the joint in relation to the top side of the outer wall 3 is further obtained . this depth t 3 is maximally on the order of magnitude of 0 . 3 × t 2 , which corresponds to the range 0 . 12 to 0 . 45 mm . in fig4 it is shown how an outlet nozzle can be manufactured by use of a second embodiment of the present invention , according to which an inner wall 2 ′ and an outer wall 3 are used . the outer wall 3 is of the same type as in the abovementioned embodiment , but the inner wall 2 ′ is not configured with any milled - out ducts or the equivalent . in this second embodiment , a number of separate distancing elements 4 ′ are instead used , which are fixed to the inner wall 2 ′ prior to execution of the laser - welding operation . these distancing elements 4 ′ are thereby used as demarcation of a number of cooling ducts 5 ′, through which the particular cooling medium can flow . according to this second embodiment , the laser - welding is carried out on both the outside and the inside of the wall structure . a number of weld joints , 9 and 9 ′, are thereby obtained , extending on both sides of the completed wall structure . as in fig3 , these weld joints , 9 and 9 ′, are illustrated in fig4 by dashed lines . the weld joints , 9 and 9 ′, have the same substantially t - shaped cross section as in the abovementioned first embodiment . the advantage with the second embodiment is that no milling is required of the inner wall 2 ′, thereby affording time and material savings . in this embodiment , the distancing elements 4 ′ must instead be fixed in a suitable manner between the inner wall 2 ′ and the outer wall 3 , after which welding is realized on both sides of the wall structure . in fig5 , a portion of an outlet nozzle 1 according to the present invention is shown , more precisely a portion of the inner wall 2 with associated distancing elements . where this structure has been manufactured according to the abovementioned first embodiment , these distancing elements are configured by milling . according to fig5 , the distancing elements are divided into a first set of distancing elements 4 a and a second set of distancing elements 4 b , in which the second set is positioned somewhat displaced in the longitudinal direction of the outlet nozzle . this produces a distribution and control of the cooling medium flow in a first cooling duct 5 a , which is divided into a second cooling duct 5 b and a third cooling duct 5 c . a host of advantages are offered by the present invention . above all , it can be stated that the method according to the present invention provides very good flexibility in the configuration of an outlet nozzle . for example , the cross - sectional shape of the respective cooling duct 5 can readily be varied by altering parameters such as depth and width in the abovementioned milling of the inner wall 2 . the outlet nozzle can thus be easily dimensioned in a manner which is adjusted according to the thermal load upon the outlet nozzle , which load normally varies along the longitudinal direction of the outlet nozzle . this results , in turn , in an increased working life for such an outlet nozzle . furthermore , no increase in weight is obtained in the various weld joints which are formed between the respective distancing elements 4 , the inner wall 2 ′ and the outer wall 3 . a further advantage thereof is that any defective weld joint is relatively simple to repair . in addition , very favourable flow ratios of the cooling medium are obtained by virtue of the rounded shape of the weld joints , 9 and 9 ′. the present invention is not limited to the illustrative embodiments described above and shown in the drawings , but can be varied within the scope of the following claims . for example , the present invention can be used irrespective of whether the outlet nozzle is round in shape or is configured as a polygon .	5
an indoor unit according to the invention is shown in fig1 . the component parts as those of the present preferred embodiment are designated by the same reference numbers as the corresponding parts of the conventional embodiment of fig8 - 12 , but a detailed description of those parts will be omitted . the indoor unit comprises a front case 10 having a front intake opening 11 and an outlet opening 13 , and a rear case 50 housing a heat - exchanger 51 , a fan 55 , and a motor 53 . a motor mounting plate 52 , shown in fig7 comprises bearing members 59 ( only one being shown ) mounted on the rear case 50 for supporting couple of shafts 57 , which are formed on both ends of the motor 53 . further , once a shaft 57 is placed in its bearing member 59 , a bracket 61 is attached to the bearing member 59 by bolts or similar functional fastening means , bracket covers the shaft 57 . furthermore , a plate 54 is provided on the upper surface of the bracket 61 . the plate 54 carries a wire holding member 60 and a collecting panel 62 for installing the wire 56 and various circuit parts 58 . next , in the lower portion of the motor holding plate 52 , or adjacent to the outlet opening 13 , an electrical components mounting board 67 is provided , and placed on a supporting member 68 . the upper edge of the supporting member 68 , or the edge adjacent to the plate 54 slopes upwards . lips 72 are formed on upper edge of the supporting member 68 , while a gripping member 74 is provided on the lower edge thereof . the gripping member 74 grips the front area of the mounting board 67 and the upper portion of the gripping member 74 can flexibly move in front and rear directions . if the board 67 is supported beneath the lips 72 and held by the gripping member 74 , the board 67 can not move in front and rear directions . when the gripping member 74 is pulled toward the lower wall of the rear case 50 , the mounting board 67 can be easily disassembled from the supporting member 68 . a protuberance 76 is uprightly mounted in the supporting member 68 . the mounting board 67 has a slot 78 which allows the introduction of the protuberance 76 . as the board 67 is placed in the supporting member 68 , while being restricted by the lips 72 and the gripping member 74 , the protuberance 76 can be inserted into the slot 78 . thus , the lips 72 and the gripping member 74 prevent the board from moving in a frontwards or backwards direction , or sideways along the side wall of the rear case 50 , and the protuberance 76 and the slot 78 restrict the movement of the board 67 in right or left directions , or sideways along the shaft extending direction . in addition , the board 67 provides a plurality of lamps 69 comprised of l . e . d . in the central portion of the board 67 , for displaying the operation condition . the display of the lamp 69 can be seen through the visual window 12 formed on the front case 10 ( fig1 ). users can identify the condition of the operation . further , adjacent to the central upper edge of the board 67 , an operation switching component 71 is provided , for selecting the automatic mode -- controlled by the remote controller , or the manual mode , for the operation of the indoor unit . that is , the front case 10 can be opened and the switching component 71 can be moved in a right or left direction , i . e . to select the automatic or manual mode . in the indoor unit built as described , the upper edge of the supporting member 68 slopes upward . further , in the respective upper front and rear areas of the supporting member 68 , a gripping member 74 and lips 72 are formed . thus , the gripping member 74 and lips 72 retain the board 67 . further , the slot 78 receives the protuberance 76 when the board 67 is placed on the supporting member 68 . in other words , by means of a gripping member 74 and lips 72 , which are formed on the front and rear wall of the supporting member 68 respectively , the board 67 can not move in front or rear directions . when the protuberance 76 is inserted through the slot 78 , the board 67 is no longer able to move in left or right directions . further , since the upper wall of the supporting member 68 slopes upward , the controlabilty is simple . that is , with the body hung on the wall , and the supporting member 68 , mounted at the rear surface of the grill member 20 , is slopedly shaped , the handling is easy . on the right side of the motor mounting plate 52 i . e . the inner side wall of the rear case 50 , a couple of opposing recesses 82 are provided . the recesses 82 secure the circuit board 84 , which has various electronic components , parallel to the side wall of the rear case 50 . an auxiliary or top intake opening 11a is provided in the upper portion of the rear case 50 ( fig1 and 3 ), through which the air is introduced into the heat - exchanger 51 . further , a couple of filter guiding members 24 , 26 protrude toward the front case 10 , so that the filter 22 can extend upward toward the opening 11a ( fig2 and 3 ). the outer surface of the filter 22 slides on the outer filter guiding member 24 , while the inner surface of the filter 22 slides on the inner filter guiding member 26 . a long the filter guiding members 24 , 26 , the upper edge of the filter 22 is guided to the inner upper surface of the front case 10 and finally reaches the inner upper surface 50a of the rear case 50 , which finishes the installation of the filter . the grill member arranged on the front case 10 is provided as shown in fig5 . a couple of brackets 44 are integrally formed by injection molding on both upper side ends of the grill member 20 . in the front case 10 a couple of openings 36 , for accessing the bracket 44 of the grill member 20 , are provided . further , another couple of brackets 34 are also integrally formed by injection molding on the inner portion of respective openings 36 . brackets 44 , 34 have respective openings 42 , 32 . both openings 42 , 32 are linked by a pin 38 having an enlargement 40 on the leading portion . once the pin 38 is inserted , the pin 38 can not fall out freely . furthermore , a protrusion 46 is provided on the side surface of the bracket 44 of the grill member 20 , i . e . opposite to the bracket 34 of the front case 10 . a supporting member 48 is provided in the access opening 36 of the front case 10 . the protrusion 46 rests on the supporting member 48 when opening the grill member 20 , and as a consequence , the grill member 20 can not be closed freely or by a mere lightly applied force . the brackets 44 , 34 are assembled as shown in fig6 . the bracket 44 of the grill member 20 is inserted into the opening 36 of the front case 10 . in this condition , the right side of the bracket 44 of the grill member 20 contacts the left side of the bracket 34 of the front case 10 . after aligning the openings 42 , 32 the pin 38 is inserted . when the enlargement 40 of the pin 38 inserted into the openings 42 , 32 , the enlargement 40 is squeezed smaller . after the enlargement 40 of the pin 38 passes through openings 42 , 32 , the enlargement 40 swells back to the natural shape , thereby preventing the pin from slipping out freely . therefore , by use of a pin 38 , the bracket 44 of the grill member 20 is attached to the bracket 34 of the front case 10 in a hinged condition . during the air intake process through the intake opening 11 , dust or foreign materials are collected in the filter 22 ( fig3 ). when a certain amount of dust has gathered in the filter 22 , the grill member 20 can be swung upward about the pin 38 , whereupon the bracket 44 of the grill member 20 passes through the opening 36 . after the opening of the grill member 20 , the supporting member 48 of the front case 10 is elastically deformed by the protrusion 46 on the bracket 44 . next , the protrusion 46 is supported on the supporting member 48 . in this condition , the user &# 39 ; s hand which is holding the grill member 20 , is released . that is , since the protrusion 46 is resisting on the supporting member 48 , the grill member cannot be closed freely . with the grill member 20 in the open condition , the filter 22 is removed from the grill member 20 and dust is swept off the filter 22 . the cleaned filter 22 is reinstalled into the grill member 20 . as a downward force is applied to the grill member 20 , the protrusion 46 pushes past the supporting member 48 and re - enters the access opening . finally , the grill member 20 is closed . as shown in fig4 a platform 15 is formed on the rear upper edge of the front case 10 , while an overlapping member 73 is formed on the front upper edge of the rear case 50 . that is , the front case 10 is assembled with the rear case 50 in such a condition that the overlapping member 73 rests on the platform 15 . further , a plurality of ribs 86 are provided on the under - surface of the overlapping member 73 to support the platform 15 . that is , the overlapping member 73 is placed on the platform 15 and the ribs 86 support the underside of the platform 15 . as the rear case 51 approaches the front case 10 in a horizontal manner , the ribs 86 and the overlapping member 73 receive the platform 15 in a slot formed therebetween . in an assembled condition , when an external force f is applied to the upper portion of the rear case 50 , the platform 15 deflects with the overlapping member 73 without creating a gap between the platform 15 and the overlapping member 73 . further , if the external force f1 is applied to the upper portion of the front case 10 , the ribs 86 support the platform 15 to prevent the creation of a substantial gap between the platform 15 and the overlapping member 73 . according to the structure of the indoor unit of an air conditioner , this invention has a variety of advantages as follows . since the indoor air is drawn in through the intake opening , formed on the front and rear portion of the indoor unit , heat - exchange efficiency can be increased . further , the air can be drawn on a diverging surface so that noise generated from the intake process is reduced . furthermore , formed on the inside of the front case are the guiding members , between which the filter can easily be mounted to the rear surface of the grill member is greater conformance to the opening formed therein . this leads to increased efficiency of the air cleaning process . because the circuit board can be placed on the upper portion of the bracket covering the motor , various circuit parts and wires can be mounted on the upper surface of the board . as a result there is no need to maintain additional space for installation of the components , thus the indoor unit is more compact . further , the electrical components mounting board which includes a lamp displaying the operation condition of the indoor unit , and operating switching components for selecting the automatic or manual modes , is placed on the sloped supporting member , so an additional box for receiving the mounting board is not needed . furthermore , respective brackets are integrally formed on the front and rear case by injection molding , and a pin having a neck is inserted into the openings of the respective brackets . thus the front case is assembled with the rear case in a hinging manner , consequently achieving quick assembly and reducing the number of components . finally , a plurality of ribs are integrally provided under the overlapping member of the rear case and upon which the platform of the front case can rest . therefore , upon the application of an external force to the front case cannot form a gap between the front and rear cases .	5
the initial steps in preparing the slurries of this invention comprise forming a slurry of inorganic oxide particles and then milling and separating particles from the slurry under conditions and in a manner sufficient to create a dispersion comprising particles having a particle size distribution suitable for chemical mechanical polishing , e . g ., polishing silica dielectric layers . typically , the final slurry has a particle size distribution which is essentially less than one micron . inorganic oxides suitable for preparing the slurry include precipitated inorganic oxides and inorganic oxide gels . it is preferable that the inorganic oxide is soluble . slightly soluble inorganic oxides can be used as well if the heating steps described later below are appropriately adjusted to alter the abrasivity of the selected inorganic oxide at the ph conditions needed to solubilize that inorganic oxide . the initial inorganic oxide slurries are referred to herein as “ parent inorganic oxides ,” “ parent particles ” or “ parent dispersions ”. amorphous silica gels are particularly suitable parent inorganic oxides . the dispersion can also be prepared from mixed inorganic oxides including sio 2 · al 2 o 3 , mgo · sio 2 · al 2 o 3 . mixed inorganic oxides are prepared by conventional blending or cogelling procedures . in embodiments comprising gels , the dispersions are derived from porous inorganic oxide gels such as , but not limited to , gels comprising sio 2 , al 2 o 3 , alpo 4 , mgo , tio 2 , and zro 2 . the gels can be hydrogels , aerogels , or xerogels . a hydrogel is also known as an aquagel which is formed in water and as a result its pores are filled with water . a xerogel is a hydrogel with the water removed . an aerogel is a type of xerogel from which the liquid has been removed in such a way as to minimize any collapse or change in the gel &# 39 ; s structure as the water is removed . silica gels commercially available as syloid ® grade gels , e . g ., grades 74 , 221 , 234 , 244 , w300 , and genesis ™ silica gels are suitable parent inorganic oxides . methods of preparing inorganic oxide gels are well known in the art . for example , a silica gel is prepared by mixing an aqueous solution of an alkali metal silicate ( e . g ., sodium silicate ) with a strong acid such as nitric or sulfuric acid , the mixing being done under suitable conditions of agitation to form a clear silica sol which sets into a hydrogel , i . e ., macrogel , in less than about one - half hour . the resulting gel is then washed . the concentration of inorganic oxide , i . e ., sio 2 , formed in the hydrogel is usually in the range of about 10 and about 50 , preferably between about 20 and about 35 , and most preferably between about 30 and about 35 weight percent , with the ph of that gel being from about 1 to about 9 , preferably 1 to about 4 . a wide range of mixing temperatures can be employed , this range being typically from about 20 to about 50 ° c . the newly formed hydrogels are washed simply by immersion in a continuously moving stream of water which leaches out the undesirable salts , leaving about 99 . 5 weight percent or more pure inorganic oxide behind . the porosity of preferred parent silica gels can vary and is affected by the ph , temperature , and duration of the water used to wash the gel . silica gel washed at 65 - 90 ° c . at ph &# 39 ; s of 8 - 9 for 15 - 36 hours will usually have surface areas ( sa ) of 250 - 400 and form aerogels with pore volumes ( pv ) of 1 . 4 to 1 . 7 cc / gm . silica gel washed at ph &# 39 ; s of 3 - 5 at 50 - 65 ° c . for 15 - 25 hours will have sa &# 39 ; s of 700 - 850 and form aerogels with pv &# 39 ; s of 0 . 6 - 1 . 3 . these measurements are generated by n 2 porosity analysis . methods for preparing other inorganic oxide gels such as alumina and mixed inorganic oxide gels such as silica / alumina cogels are also well known in the art . methods for preparing such gels are disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 226 , 743 , the contents of which are incorporated by reference . fumed inorganic oxides such as silicas and aluminas can also be chosen as the parent inorganic oxide . the production of fumed silicas and aluminas is a well - documented process and involves the hydrolysis of suitable feedstock vapor , such as silicon tetrachloride or aluminum chloride , in a flame of hydrogen and oxygen . once an inorganic oxide is selected for the parent dispersion , an dispersing medium for the slurry of the selected inorganic oxide is chosen . the slurry can be prepared using residual water in inorganic oxide gels which have been drained , but not yet dried , and to which additional water is added . in another embodiment , dried inorganic oxides , e . g ., xerogels , are dispersed in water . in general , the parent dispersion should be in a state that can be wet milled . the size of the parent particles only needs to be sufficient such that the mill being used can produce a dispersion having the desired particle size distribution . in most embodiments , the parent dispersion has a median particle size approximately in the range of 10 to 40 microns . in embodiments prepared from a drained inorganic oxide gel , the drained gel may first be broken up into gel chunks and premilled to produce a dispersion of particles in the range of 10 to 40 microns . the parent dispersion is then milled . the milling is conducted “ wet ”, i . e ., in liquid media chosen as the dispersing medium . the general milling conditions can vary depending on the feed material , residence time , impeller speeds , and milling media particle size . suitable conditions and residence times are described in the examples . these conditions can be varied to obtain the particular particle size distribution , typically below one micron . the techniques for selecting and modifying these conditions are known to those skilled in the art . the milling equipment used to mill the parent inorganic oxide particles should be of the type capable of severely milling materials through mechanical action . such mills are commercially available , with hammer and sand mills being particularly suitable for this purpose . hammer mills impart the necessary mechanical action through high speed metal blades , and sand mills impart the action through rapidly churning media such as zirconia or sand beads . impact mills can also be used . both impact mills and hammer mills reduce particle size by impact of the inorganic oxide with metal blades . the milled slurry is then centrifuged to separate the dispersion into a supernatant phase , which comprises the particles of the final product , and a settled phase , which comprises larger particles which we usually remove to prepare the final abrasive slurry . the supernatant phase is removed from the settled phase , e . g ., by decanting , with the supernatant being further processed according to the invention . conventional centrifuges can be used for this phase separation . a commercially available centrifuge suitable for this invention is identified in the examples below . in some instances , it may be preferable to centrifuge the supernatant two , three or more times to further remove large particles remaining after the initial centrifuge . the particles of the slurry recovered from the milling and centrifuging are porous . silica gel slurries recovered from these steps typically have pore volumes similar to that of the parent inorganic oxide . the porosity of particles recovered from milling and centrifuging of other parent inorganic oxides depends on the inorganic oxide and how it is made . for example , slurries prepared from parent precipitated and fumed inorganic oxides have pore volumes less than that of the parent inorganic oxide . the centrifuged slurry then is thermally treated under conditions sufficient to alter and adjust the distribution of inorganic oxide within the pore structure of the particles , thereby altering the hardness or abrasiveness of the particles . as indicated earlier , it is believed that in heating conditions such as those in an autoclave , inorganic oxide , e . g ., silica , preferentially dissolves from sharply convex surfaces , i . e ., those found around the edges ( rims ) of pores , and redeposits at sharply concave surfaces , such as those at the juncture of ultimate particles which form the pores of the inorganic oxide particles . it is believed that repositioning inorganic oxide to these junctures strengthens the particle structure and as a result creates a harder and more abrasive particle . treating the centrifuged slurry in an autoclave is one method of thermal treatment that can be used to make the inventive slurry . by “ autoclave ” it is meant a pressure reactor which allows for heating of the slurry above the ambient pressure boiling point of the slurry &# 39 ; s solution phase . for aqueous slurries , this temperature is about 100 ° c . the ph of the slurry is adjusted before it is placed in the autoclave and depends on the inorganic oxide selected for the slurry . the ph is adjusted so as to optimize the solubility of the inorganic oxide , thereby decreasing the residence time in the autoclave . however , the ph should not be such that the amount of inorganic oxide solubilized results in unwanted agglomeration and precipitation of secondary inorganic oxide particles when the slurry is cooled to ambient temperature . for example , slurries of silica can be adjusted to a ph of 8 - 10 prior to thermal treatment and depends on the substrate which will be planarized by the final slurry . the autoclave conditions used depend on the desired hardness and the type of inorganic oxide selected for the slurry . it has been found that the more severe the autoclave conditions used , e . g ., higher temperature and / or longer residence time in the autoclave , the harder the particles become , thereby increasing the abrasiveness of the particles . for water based slurries , the temperature employed for the autoclave should at least be 100 ° c . when preparing silica - based abrasive slurries for polishing dielectric silicon layers , the slurry can be heated at 120 - 180 ° c . for 20 - 30 hours . in general , silica embodiments become unstable at temperatures higher than 200 ° c . and should be avoided if surfactants cannot be added to the desired abrasive slurry to reduce the instability . likewise , heating the inorganic oxide to temperatures below 100 ° c . require longer heating times to affect redeposition of the inorganic oxide . as indicated earlier , the abrasiveness of the particles increases and the bet surface area measured for the particles is reduced as heating severity increases . as mentioned earlier , it is believed that the surface area reduction is caused when inorganic oxide dissolves and repositions to the junctures between ultimate particles . the data in the examples below show that pore volume and surface area are reduced after autoclaving , and it is believed that the repositioning occurs at the expense of pore volume and the surface area associated with the pores lost . particles having bet surface areas less than 120 m 2 / g and preferably less than 60 m 2 / g can be prepared according to this invention . the pore volume of these particles is typically in the range of 0 . 2 to 0 . 6 cc / g , as measured by nitrogen porosimetry at 0 . 967 p / po . accordingly , a method for imparting a desired abrasivity for a selected inorganic oxide slurry can be carried out by first identifying an abrasivity or abrasivities as determined by a polishing rate ( s ) of a substrate , e . g ., a silica substrate . bet surface area for those particles are also determined . then once an abrasivity or polishing rate has been selected for a substrate to be worked upon one can reproduce a suitable slurry by preparing a slurry of porous inorganic oxide particles having a measurable bet surface area and then heating the slurry to obtain the particle bet surface area which was identified and associated with the desired abrasivity . as indicated , the surface area referred to herein is that measured using conventional n 2 bet surface area techniques . to measure the surface area ( and pore volume ) for these slurries , the ph is adjusted to minimize surface area reduction that can occur during drying . the slurries also have to be dried to make these measurements and are dried using conventional techniques , e . g ., heating the slurries to about 90 to about 130 ° c . for periods long enough to dry the slurry to a powder . the examples below show that the abrasivity of silica slurries , as measured by silicon dielectric removal rates , can be varied widely . the examples below show that silica removal rates of at least 150 , at least 200 and at least 250 mm per minute can be obtained . this method is an advantage when a manufacturer is faced with polishing a variety of materials and each of the materials require a different abrasive material and / or polishing rate . with applicant &# 39 ; s invention , the slurries used to polish these materials can be prepared from one material , e . g ., silica , without having to add other essential abrasives . accordingly , once the slurry has been adjusted to a suitable ph , the slurry of the invention can consist essentially of dispersing medium and the inorganic oxide particles of the invention . as indicated earlier , substantially all of the particle size distribution for the final abrasive slurry should be less than one micron . the data below indicates that the particle size distribution of the slurry after heating is substantially the same as the distribution of the slurry after milling . preferred embodiments have a median particle size less than 0 . 5 microns and in the range of 0 . 1 to about 0 . 3 microns . the particle size distribution is measured using conventional light scattering instrumentation and methods . the sizes reported in the examples were determined by a la900 laser scattering particle size analyzer from horiba instruments , inc . the solids content of the dispersion varies and depends on the solids content of the feed particle dispersion . the solids content of the dispersion is generally in the range of 1 - 30 % by weight and all other ranges encompassed therein . a solids content in the range of 10 to 20 % by weight is particularly suitable when using silica gel for polishing dielectric layers . in general , the dispersion &# 39 ; s viscosity should be such that the dispersion easily flows between the wafer to be polished and the polishing pad used to polish the wafer . the ph of the slurry is dependent upon the inorganic oxide selected and the substrate to be planarized by the slurry . silica slurries of this invention are particularly suitable for polishing silica substrates such as silica dielectric layers . silica dielectric layers prepared from tetraethyoxysilane are illustrative . slurries used to polish such layers are adjusted to a ph in the range of 10 - 11 . alumina slurries are typically used to polish metal conductive layers such as tungsten or copper . those slurries are adjusted to a ph in the range of 4 - 6 . the ph can be adjusted using standard ph modifiers . the slurries of the invention can also be modified to include additional chemistry such as hydrogen peroxide as an oxidant for polishing copper . the slurries of this invention can be used with conventional polishing equipment and pads . the examples below illustrate the performance of this invention using a strasbaugh 6ca polisher unit using a suba 500 pad . these examples , however , are merely illustrative of certain embodiments of the invention and are not intended to any way limit the scope of this invention as recited in the claims appended hereto . approximately 30 gallons of an aqueous suspension of an intermediate density ( id ) hydrous gel were prepared . the term “ id gel ” is used to refer to hydrogel which is washed in a ph range of 5 - 10 after it has been initially formed and as a result has a density which is slightly less than gels prepared from hydrogels which are washed under more acidic conditions . these latter gels are referred to as regular density ( rd ) gels . a slurry was prepared by dispersing the id hydrogel , milling it in an acm mill and partially drying the hydrogel to prepare a hydrous silica gel having a 55 % by weight total volatiles content . the hydrous gel slurry was then milled further in a netzsch media mill ( 12 liters , 1 . 2 mm zirconium silicate media ) at a rate of 1 gallon per minute . this milled slurry was then centrifuged using a dorr - oliver disc - nozzle type centrifuge ( 9 . 3 inch disc diameter ) at about 9000 rpm &# 39 ; s ( correlates to about 10 , 000 g &# 39 ; s ). the resulting slurry was designated as base silica slurry a . base silica slurry a was measured to have 90 % of the particles at or below 0 . 4 microns . a second sample of a similar gel was prepared , except that the hydrous silica gel slurry had a 50 % by weight total volatiles content . this hydrous gel slurry was then media milled using the same netzsch mill while being fed at 0 . 2 - 0 . 25 gallon per minute . this milled slurry was then centrifuged under more severe conditions to yield a finer particle size colloid designated as base silica slurry b . specifically , this slurry was centrifuged a second time at 90 minutes at around 1 , 500 g &# 39 ; s . the particle size distribution of silica slurry b was measured to have 90 % particles at or below 0 . 2 microns . three 3 gallon samples of the base silica slurry a and one 3 gallon sample of base silica slurry b were diluted to approximately 12 . 7 % solids , ph adjusted to 9 . 5 ( koh ), then sealed in a stainless steel bomb and then aged at the time / temperature conditions given in the table below . particle size , ph , and n 2 porosimetry evaluations of the autoclaved products are also given . the slurries were adjusted to a ph of 6 before drying and conducting the n 2 porosimetry measurements . this adjustment minimizes surface area reduction during the drying process necessary to measure the surface area , thereby making the measurements more accurate . the samples were dried for these measurements using conventional techniques , e . g ., heating the slurry to 105 ° c . until dry . autoclaving results in a significant surface area loss for each of the base silica suspensions , but substantially no change in particle size . prior to polishing rate evaluation , a sample of the base silica slurry a was diluted with di water to 12 . 7 % solid . this is the data reported for base silica a in fig1 . then , this sample as well as each of the autoclaved slurries a - 1 through a - 3 and b - 1 , were adjusted to a ph range of 10 . 7 - 10 . 9 with koh . these samples and a sample of a commercial slurry of fumed silica ( ild 1300 slurry from rodel ) were evaluated for sio 2 removal rate using 4 inch sio 2 coated si wafers . polish rate tests were made using a strasbaugh 6ca polisher with a suba 500 pad employing a two minute polish time . the distance between the center of the polishing pad and the center of the wafer was set at five inches . different polishing conditions ( pressure ( p ), and angular velocity ( v ) of the polishing pad ) were used . these conditions and the results are reported in fig1 showing sio 2 polish ( removal ) rate for the base silica slurries as a function of polishing severity ( pressure times angular velocity of the polishing pad ). pressure is presented as pounds per square inch ( psi ) and angular velocity is presented as revolutions per minutes ( rpm ). the data show a significant increase in polish rate with increase in autoclave severity . the rates range from approximately 50 % of the commercial polish slurry rate for the non - autoclaved silica gel product to approximately twice the rate for the commercial polish slurry rate . furthermore , a strong correlation between observed polish rate and reciprocal surface area of the autoclaved silica gel slurries is shown in fig2 . this data indicates that the abrasiveness of inorganic oxide particles can be adjusted by altering the surface area of the particles using the autoclave and modifying the conditions to obtain a certain surface area and the abrasive properties associated with that particular surface area . a three gallon 25 % by weight solids aqueous suspension of rd silica xerogel ( 7 μmps , 0 . 4 cc / g n 2 pore volume , 650 m 2 / g bet surface area ) was prepared and then adjusted to ph 9 . 4 using koh . the slurry was then media milled ( netzsch mill ) and centrifuged ( dorr - oliver ) in a manner according to example 1 . the resulting slurry had 15 . 5 % solids and a median particle size of 0 . 24μ . the slurry was then autoclaved in a manner according to example 2 at conditions of 150 ° c . for 24 hours . the resulting slurry was adjusted to 12 . 0 % solids and ph 11 . 5 using koh . properties of the slurry are summarized below . evaluation of autoclaved rd gel slurry for sio 2 removal rate the slurry of example 4 was evaluated for sio 2 removal rate using 6 inch diameter sio 2 coated si wafers . polish rate tests were made using a strasbaugh 6ca polisher with a suba 500 pad employing a two minute polishing time . different polishing conditions ( pressure , p ; pad rotation speed , v ) were used . in all cases a five inch separation distance between the pad center and wafer center was maintained during polishing . results of this polishing rate study are summarized below .	1
reference will now be made to embodiments of the invention , one or more examples of which are illustrated in the figures . the embodiments are provided by way of explanation of the invention , and are not meant as a limitation of the invention . for example , features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment may be used with another embodiment to yield still a further embodiment . it is intended that the invention encompass these and other modifications and variations as come within the scope and spirit of the invention . fig1 is a flowchart of a method for making coffee beverage according to one embodiment of the present disclosure . fig4 illustrates a coffee machine 400 that may be configured to perform the method illustrated in fig1 . at block 102 , a warming up unit 402 of coffee machine 400 may be attached to a container of the coffee machine 400 , and may be configured to warm up coffee beans in the container . at block 104 , grinding unit 404 may be configured to grind the warmed up coffee beans into coffee grounds . at block 106 , brewing unit 406 may be configured to brew the coffee grounds into coffee beverage . in one embodiment , the coffee beans warmed up at block 102 may be beans of a pre - determined roasting level and said warming up operation performed by warming up unit 402 may not change the pre - determined roasting level of the coffee beans . therefore , in one embodiment , a warm - up temperature of the coffee beans achieved by warming up unit 402 may be no higher than 190 degrees celsius to avoid strong maillard reaction that may change the roasting level of the beans . in another embodiment , the coffee beans contained in the chamber may be half - roasted beans and warming up unit 402 may be configured to increase the warm - up temperature to achieve the pre - determined roasting level . in another embodiment , coffee machine 400 may further comprise a determining unit 408 configured to determine the warm - up temperature based on a desired flavor of the coffee beverage . for example , if the desired flavor is stronger , the warm - up temperature may be higher . in one embodiment , warm - up time of the coffee beans may be determined by the warm - up temperature , desired flavor of coffee beverage as well as many other factors including initial temperature of the beans , weight of the beans , or type of the coffee beans etc . for example , for beans from room temperature and beans from the refrigerator , the warm - up time may be different . also , greater amount of beans may require longer warm up time to reach a pre - determined warm - up temperature . table 1 ( a ) provides flavor comparison between columbia sp coffee beans with and without being warmed up prior to brewing , wherein two groups of the coffee beans having different initial temperatures are used as examples . according to table 1 ( a ), the flavor of coffee beverage made from warmed up coffee beans may be rich and obvious and taste better than coffee beverage made from beans taken out of a refrigerator or even beans at room temperature . similar results may be obtained for brazil french coffee beans as illustrated in table 1 ( b ). fig5 illustrates another coffee machine 500 in accordance to one embodiment of the present disclosure . coffee machine 500 may comprise a sub - container in addition to a main container , configured to hold coffee beans enough to make one or two cups of coffee , for example 10 to 20 grams of coffee beans . coffee machine 500 may further comprise a sub warming up unit 503 attached to the sub - container , which may or may not be part of warming up unit 502 attached to the main container , configured to warm up the coffee beans contained in the sub - container . in one embodiment , at block 102 warming up unit 502 may be configured to warm up the coffee beans in the main container to , for example 60 ° c ., and warming up unit 503 may be configured to warm up coffee beans in the sub - container to , for example 80 ° c ., based on instructions from determining unit 508 . at block 104 , grinding unit 504 may be configured to grind the coffee beans warmed up by warming up unit 503 . at block 106 , brewing unit 506 may be configured to brew coffee grounds from grinding unit 504 to make one or two cups of coffee beverage . fig2 illustrates a flowchart of another method for making coffee beverage in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure . fig6 illustrates a coffee machine 600 which may be configured to perform the method illustrated in fig2 . in one embodiment , coffee machine 600 may comprise a warming up unit 602 attached to grinding unit 604 . at block 202 , grinding unit 604 may be configured to grind coffee beans into coffee grounds . at block 204 , warming up unit 602 may be configured to warm up a mixture of coffee beans and coffee grounds contained in grinding unit 604 . at block 206 , brewing unit 606 may be configured to brew coffee grounds into coffee beverage . in one embodiment , coffee machine 600 may further comprise a determining unit 608 configured to determine a warm - up temperature of the mixture of coffee beans and coffee grounds in grinding unit 604 warmed up by warming up unit 602 . fig3 illustrates a flowchart of yet another method for making coffee beverage in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure . fig7 illustrates a coffee machine 700 which may be configured to perform the method illustrated in fig3 . in one embodiment , coffee machine 700 may comprise a container configured to hold coffee grounds . coffee machine 700 may further comprise a warming up unit 702 attached to the container . at block 302 , coffee grounds may be obtained first . in one embodiment , coffee machine 700 may optionally comprise a grinding unit 704 configured to grind coffee beans into coffee grounds . in another embodiment , coffee grounds may be in commercially available format . at block 304 , warming up unit 702 may be configured to warm up the coffee grounds . at block 306 , brewing unit 706 may be configured to brew the warmed up coffee grounds into coffee beverage . in one embodiment , coffee machine 700 may further comprise a determining unit 708 configured to control said warming - up unit 702 by determining a warm - up temperature and warm - up time of the coffee grounds . in various embodiments of the present disclosure , heating mechanism adopted by said warming up unit may be induction heating , light - wave heating , heating plate / spring , or other possible means that may be configured to increase temperature of coffee materials . in various embodiments , coffee machines in the present disclosure may further comprise a thermometer ( not shown ) configured to measure the warm - up temperature of the coffee materials . it should be noted that the above described embodiments are given for describing rather than limiting the invention , and it is to be understood that modifications and variations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as those skilled in the art readily understand . such modifications and variations are considered to be within the scope of the invention and the appended claims . the protection scope of the invention is defined by the accompanying claims . in addition , any of the reference numerals in the claims should not be interpreted as a limitation to the claims . use of the verb “ comprise ” and its conjugations does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those stated in a claim . the indefinite article “ a ” or “ an ” preceding an element or step does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements or steps .	0
fig3 is a top end view of a gravel pack apparatus 100 , according to one embodiment of the present invention , positioned within wellbore 14 . fig3 a is a sectional view , taken along line 3 a - 3 a of fig3 , of the gravel pack apparatus 100 positioned within wellbore 14 adjacent the highly permeable area 15 of a formation . although apparatus 100 is shown in a horizontal wellbore , it can be utilized in any wellbore . apparatus 100 may have a “ cross - over ” sub 33 ( see fig1 ) connected to its upper end which , in turn , is suspended from the surface on a tubing or work string ( not shown ). apparatus 100 can be of one continuous length or it may consist of sections ( e . g . 20 foot sections ) connected together by subs or blanks ( not shown ). preferably , all components of the apparatus 100 are constructed from a low carbon or a chrome steel unless otherwise specified ; however , the material choice is not essential to the invention . apparatus 100 includes a wellscreen assembly 105 . as shown , wellscreen assembly 105 comprises a base pipe 110 having perforations 120 through a wall thereof . wound around an outer side of the base pipe 110 is a wire wrap 125 configured to permit the flow of fluids therethrough while blocking the flow of particulates . alternatively , wellscreen assembly 105 may be any structure commonly used by the industry in gravel pack operations which permit flow of fluids therethrough while blocking the flow of particulates ( e . g . commercially - available screens , slotted or perforated liners or pipes , screened pipes , prepacked screens and / or liners , or combinations thereof ). also disposed on the outside of the base pipe 110 are two shunts 145 . the number and configuration of shunts 145 is not essential to the invention . the shunts 145 may be secured to the base pipe 110 by rings ( not shown ). at an upper end ( not shown ) of the apparatus 100 , each shunt 145 is open to the annulus . each one of the shunts 145 is rectangular with a flow bore therethrough ; however , the shape of the shunts is not essential to the invention . disposed on a sidewall of each shunt is a nozzle 150 . fig3 b is a schematic of one of the shunts 145 showing the placement of nozzles 150 along the shunt 145 . as shown , a plurality of nozzles 150 are disposed axially along each shunt 145 . each nozzle 150 provides slurry fluid communication between one of the shunts 145 and an annulus 16 between the wellscreen 105 and the wellbore 14 . as shown , the nozzles 150 are oriented to face an end of the wellbore 14 distal from the surface ( not shown ) to facilitate streamlined flow of the slurry 13 therethrough . disposed on the outside of the base pipe 110 are a plurality of centralizers 130 that can be longitudinally separated from a length of the base pipe 110 that has the perforations 120 and the wire wrap 125 . additionally , a tubular shroud 135 having perforations 140 through the wall thereof can protect shunts 145 and wellscreen 105 from damage during insertion of the apparatus 100 into the wellbore . the perforations 140 are configured to allow the flow of slurry 13 therethrough . in operation , apparatus 100 is lowered into wellbore 14 on a workstring and is positioned adjacent a formation . a packer 18 ( see fig1 ) is set as will be understood by those skilled in the art . gravel slurry 13 is then pumped down the workstring and out the outlet ports in cross - over sub 33 to fill the annulus 16 between the wellscreen 105 and the wellbore 14 . since the shunts 145 are open at their upper ends , the slurry 13 will flow into both the shunts and the annulus 16 . as the slurry 13 loses liquid to the high permeability portion 15 of the formation , the gravel carried by the slurry 13 is deposited and collects in the annulus 16 to form the gravel pack . if the liquid is lost to a permeable stratum 15 in the formation before the annulus 16 is filled , the sand bridge 20 is likely to form which will block flow through the annulus 16 and prevent further filling below the bridge . if this occurs , the gravel slurry will continue flowing through the shunts 145 , bypassing the sand bridge 20 , and exiting the various nozzles 150 to finish filling annulus 16 . the flow of slurry 13 through one of the shunts 145 is represented by arrow 102 . fig4 is a sectional view of a nozzle assembly 150 , according to one embodiment of the present invention , disposed on one of the shunts 145 . fig4 a is an enlargement of a portion of fig4 indicated by the dotted oval labeled 4 a . the nozzle assembly 150 comprises an insert 160 with a flow bore therethrough , that features a lip 160 a that extends into a drilled hole 170 in a wall of the shunt 145 , thereby lining a surface 145 a of the shunt wall that defines the hole 170 . preferably , the insert is made from a hard material , e . g ., carbide , relative to the material of the shunt 145 . as shown , the length of the lip 160 a is substantially the same as the wall thickness of the shunt 145 . however , the lip 160 a may be substantially longer or shorter than the wall thickness of the shunt 145 . preferably , the lip 160 a features a slight taper on an outer surface 160 c for seating on the surface 145 a of the shunt wall , thereby providing a slight interference fit ; however , the taper is not essential to the invention . the insert 160 also features a shoulder 160 b which seats with a surface 145 b of the shunt wall proximate the hole 170 , thereby providing a rigid stop limiting the depth to which lip 160 a can penetrate the shunt 145 . an outer jacket 155 having a flow bore therethrough and a recess configured to receive a portion of the insert 160 may then be easily slipped on and secured to the shunt 145 with a weld 165 . preferably , the outer jacket 155 and insert 160 are tubular members ; however , their shape is not essential to the invention . preferably , the hole 170 is not perpendicular to the surface 145 b of the shunt proximate the hole ; however , the hole may be perpendicular to the surface of the shunt proximate the hole . assembly of the nozzle assembly 150 is as follows . the insert 160 is inserted into the hole 170 until the taper of the outer surface 160 c of the hard insert 160 is press fit with the shunt surface 145 a defining the hole 170 and the shoulder 160 b is seated on the shunt surface 145 b proximate the hole 170 , so that the lip 160 a lines the surface 145 a and the insert 160 is secured to the shunt 145 . in other words , the smallest end of the taper is inserted into the hole 170 first , and the tapered surface of the insert 160 self - centers until it becomes snugly seated against the side of the hole 170 at the surface 145 a . this contact occurs in the approximate area of surface 160 c on the carbide insert . the outer jacket 155 can be disposed over an outer surface of the insert 160 and securely welded with minimal handling . assembly time is greatly reduced , as is the required skill level of the assembler . once seated , the nozzle assembly 150 is restrained from translating or rotating relative to the shunt 145 . alignment of the insert bore and the jacket bore with the drilled hole 170 in the shunt 145 is assured . sand slurry 13 exiting the tube , represented by arrows 175 , passes through the lip 160 a of the hard insert , not the surface 145 a of the hole 170 . the possibility of flow cutting the surface 145 a of the hole 170 is greatly diminished . fig5 is a sectional view of a nozzle assembly 250 , according to another embodiment of the present invention , disposed on one of the shunts 145 . the nozzle assembly 250 comprises an insert 260 with a flow bore therethrough . preferably , the insert 260 is made from a hard material , e . g ., carbide , relative to the material of the shunt 145 . a proximal lip 260 a of the insert 260 extends into an aperture 270 in a wall of the shunt 145 , thereby lining a surface 245 a of the shunt wall that defines the aperture 270 . the proximal lip 260 a can include any of the features described above with respect to the lip 160 a of the nozzle assembly 150 illustrated in fig4 such that the nozzle assembly 250 is assembled in the same manner with the proximal lip 260 a serving the same functions . an outer jacket 255 of the nozzle assembly 250 includes a bore therethrough configured to receive the insert 260 . specifically , a recess 256 along an inner diameter of the outer jacket 255 proximate the aperture 270 accommodates an outer diameter of a medial length of the insert 260 . a distal extension 260 d extends from an opposite end of the insert 260 than the proximal lip 260 a and has a reduced outer diameter with respect to the medial length of the insert 260 to form an outward shoulder 261 . accordingly , the outer jacket 255 easily slips over the insert 260 and secures to the shunt 145 with a weld 265 . once welded , an inward shoulder 258 defined by the recess 256 of the outer jacket 255 mates with the outward shoulder 261 of the insert 260 to prevent outward movement of the insert 260 with respect to the aperture 270 . the insert 260 and the outer jacket 255 preferably share a common terminus due to a sufficiently sized length of the distal extension 260 d of the insert 260 . in other words , the insert 260 concentrically disposed within the outer jacket 255 lines substantially the entire length of the inner diameter of the outer jacket 255 . threads 259 on an outside end of the outer jacket 255 can replace inner threads to enable securing of a cap ( not shown ) to the nozzle assembly 250 if desired . preferably , the outer jacket 255 and insert 260 are tubular members ; however , their shape is not essential to the invention . as with other embodiments described herein , sand slurry 13 exiting the shunt 145 , represented by arrows 275 , passes through the proximal lip 260 a of the insert in order to reduce wear on the surface 245 a of the aperture 270 . in addition , sand slurry 13 exiting the nozzle assembly 250 passes through the distal extension 260 d of the insert 260 without flowing through and contacting an end of the outer jacket 255 , which may be made of a softer material similar to the shunt 145 . in this manner , the distal extension 260 d protects the shoulders 258 , 261 that cooperate to keep the insert 260 from escaping and causing failure at the nozzle assembly 250 . thus , the insert 260 can provide a carbide conduit that protects all other portions of the nozzle assembly 250 from flow cutting since sand slurry exiting the shunt 145 passes substantially entirely through the carbide conduit . the possibility of flow cutting the surface 245 a of the aperture 270 or the end of the outer jacket 255 is greatly diminished . fig6 shows a nozzle assembly 350 disposed on a shunt 345 . the nozzle assembly 350 includes an insert 360 , an outer jacket 355 , and a cap 357 that all provide a flow bore exiting the shunt 345 at an aperture 370 in a wall of the shunt 345 . the insert 360 may be made from a hard material , e . g ., carbide , relative to the material of the shunt 345 . a proximal end 363 of the insert 360 extends into the aperture 370 in the wall of the shunt 345 , thereby lining a surface of the shunt wall that defines the aperture 370 . the insert 360 may extend to terminate substantially flush with an inner diameter of the shunt 345 at the proximal end 363 of the insert 360 . the outer jacket 355 may define a tubular shape that receives the insert 360 and may be secured to the shunt 345 with a weld 365 . a distal end 361 of the insert 360 includes an enlarged outer diameter portion that creates an outward facing shoulder 367 . a mating surface such as a distal terminal face 358 of the jacket 355 abuts the outward facing shoulder 367 of the insert 360 since the inner diameter of the jacket 355 is smaller than the enlarged outer diameter portion of the insert 360 . the jacket 355 thus retains the insert 360 from further inward movement into the aperture 370 and ensures that the proximal end 363 of the insert 360 lines the aperture 370 due to the corresponding lengths of the jacket 355 and of the insert 360 from the proximal end 363 to the outward facing shoulder 367 . an annular nut or otherwise open cap 357 prevents outward movement of the insert 360 with respect to the aperture 370 of the shunt 345 . once the nozzle assembly 350 is put together , the insert 360 becomes trapped by the jacket 355 and the cap 357 from sliding movement relative to the jacket 355 . the cap 357 includes internal threads 353 threaded with external threads 359 on the jacket 355 and a central opening 352 aligned with a bore of the insert 360 . the cap 357 extends beyond the enlarged diameter portion of the insert 360 and has an inward facing shoulder 351 retaining a mating surface such as a distal terminus 369 of the insert 360 . sand slurry ( represented by arrows 375 ) exiting the shunt 345 passes through the insert 360 in order to reduce wear on the shunt 345 at the aperture 370 . the sand slurry 375 passes through the nozzle assembly 350 without contacting the outer jacket 355 , which may be made of a softer material similar to the shunt 345 . for some embodiments , the cap 357 may also be constructed of a hard material , e . g ., carbide , like the insert 360 . the cap 357 further enables replacement of the insert 360 without removing the jacket 355 from the shunt 345 such that a selected type of the insert 360 or a new replacement of the insert 360 may be installed at any time . fig7 illustrates the jacket 355 prior to placement of the insert 360 inside the jacket 355 . since the nozzle assembly 350 is oriented with an angled aspect on the shunt 345 , both the jacket 355 and the insert 360 must align with a mating rotational orientation to seat flush on the shunt 345 . a rotational keyed arrangement between the insert 360 and the jacket 355 ensures that the insert 360 is installed with a long side of the insert 360 corresponding to a long side of the jacket 355 and that this alignment is maintained during operation . for some embodiments , the keyed arrangement includes a longitudinal slot 335 in the enlarged outer diameter portion of the insert 360 at a circumferential location around the distal end 361 . the circumferential location matches a respective circumferential location of the jacket 355 where a pin 325 extends from the distal terminal face 358 of the jacket 355 . fig8 shows the insert 360 disposed inside of the jacket 355 . the jacket 355 supports the distal end 361 of the insert 360 with the proximal end 363 of the insert 360 extending beyond the jacket 355 . further , the pin 325 on the jacket 355 engages with the slot 335 on the insert 360 to lock the insert 355 rotationally with respect to the jacket 355 and in proper orientation with the aperture 370 in the shunt 345 . as shown , the nozzle assemblies 150 , 250 , 350 are used with a shunt of a gravel pack apparatus ; however , the nozzle assemblies described herein may be used with various other apparatuses . while the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention , other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof , and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow .	4
shown in fig1 is the adjustment knob assembly ( 1 ) attached to the turret ( 2 ) of a scope ( 3 ). a rubber washer ( 4 ) is placed between the turret ( 2 ) and the adjustment knob assembly ( 1 ) to create a weatherproof seal between the turret ( 2 ) and the adjustment knob assembly ( 1 ). a knurl knob ( 6 ) is placed above the lock down nut ( 5 ). the knurl knob ( 6 ) has a hollow groove ( 7 ) on its side for receiving a pin ( 8 ). a turn knob ( 9 ) is placed over the knurl knob ( 6 ) and lock down nut ( 5 ) to form the adjustment knob assembly ( 1 ), as shown in the transparent view of fig2 c . once the turn knob ( 9 ) is placed over the knurl knob ( 6 ) and the lock down nut ( 5 ), a pin ( 8 ) is placed through the turn knob ( 9 ) and is received by the hollow groove ( 7 ) on the side of the knurl knob ( 6 ), which prevents the knurl knob ( 6 ) and turn knob ( 9 ) from disengaging during the push - pull movement . when the turn knob ( 9 ) is pushed down over the lock down nut ( 5 ), the annular grooves ( 11 ) on the lock down nut , as shown in fig2 b , prevent the turn knob ( 9 ) from moving forward or backward , thus locking the knurl knob ( 6 ) and turn knob ( 9 ) in place . when the turn knob ( 9 ) is pulled up , the turn knob ( 9 ) is disengaged from the lock down nut , and the turn knob ( 9 ) and knurl knob ( 6 ) may freely rotate to make the necessary adjustments for windage and elevation . once the desired adjustment has been made , the user simply pushes the turn knob ( 9 ) down over the lock down nut ( 5 ) causing the turn knob ( 9 ) to engage the lock down nut ( 5 ) and prevent any further rotation of the turn knob assembly ( 1 ). shown in fig2 a is a side view of the turn knob ( 9 ) showing a hole ( 10 ) in the side of the turn knob ( 9 ), which receives the pin ( 8 ) after the turn knob ( 9 ) is placed over the knurl knob ( 6 ) and the lock down nut ( 5 ) in order to prevent the knurl knob ( 6 ) and turn knob ( 9 ) from disengaging during the push - pull movement . the turn knob ( 9 ), lock down nut ( 5 ) and knurl knob ( 6 ) form the adjustment knob assembly ( 1 ) as shown in the transparent view of fig2 c . the lock down nut ( 5 ), as shown more closely in fig3 a and 3b , has annular grooves ( 11 ) on the outside , which lock the knurl knob ( 6 ) and turn knob ( 9 ) in place to prevent the turn knob ( 9 ) from moving forward or backward when the turn knob ( 9 ) is pushed down over the lock down nut ( 5 ). the knurl knob ( 6 ), as shown more closely in fig4 a , 4b and 4 c , has annular grooves ( 12 ) for mating with the inside of the turn knob ( 9 ) and a hollow groove ( 7 ) for receiving a pin ( 8 ) placed through the turn knob ( 9 ) once the turn knob has been placed over the knurl knob ( 6 ) and lock down nut ( 5 ) to prevent the knurl knob ( 6 ) and turn knob ( 9 ) from disengaging during the push - pull movement .	5
the present invention provides a dual function control lever apparatus for either retrofitting to a jet propulsion pump of a boat or including during manufacture of the boat . fig1 illustrates one type of a marine jet propulsion pump 10 with a reverse thrust bucket 12 installed in the transom 14 of a boat 16 . the bucket 12 is held up and controlled with a yoke 18 via a yoke rod 19 and a bucket shift rod 20 , respectively . the steering rod 21 controls the direction of the jet nozzle 22 for steering the boat 16 . the bucket 12 is positioned over the pump &# 39 ; s water jet nozzle 22 for operation in the reverse mode . fig2 and 4 show , respectively , a front view ( hidden parts in shadow ), a rear view ( hidden parts in shadow ) and a top view of the control unit 24 . the control unit 24 can be mounted either on an inner side of the hull or on a dashboard . a frame or housing 26 has a top wall 28 , an extensive outside or front wall 30 with corner holes 32 for mounting on a surface , a left sidewall 34 , a right sidewall 36 , a bottom wall 37 , and a bottom limited inside or rear wall 38 . a combined throttle and shift lever 40 having a knob 42 on a shaft 44 is rotatably movable on an axle 46 which also rotates a planar truncated circular cam 48 . the cam 48 has a curvilinear groove 50 with a base portion c and two legs at a to b and d to e ( shown in fig2 ) which approach each other at its ends a and e , and form an acute angle with the base portion c . the cam 48 has an indented portion 52 for placement of a set screw 54 in fig4 to affix the position of the cam 48 on the axle 46 . fig2 and 3 show a dog - leg shaped planar cam follower arm 56 having a narrow end 58 attached inside the control unit 24 to the rear wall 38 by a pivot pin 60 . a median portion has a follower roller pin 62 which follows the groove 50 of the cam 48 . the opposite wide end 64 has a removable ball joint stud 66 for attachment of the throttle cable 68 from a jet engine . the rear wall 38 being limited in height as aforementioned provides clearance for the cam follower arm 56 and the ball joint stud 66 . the travel of the throttle and shift lever 40 is approximately 180 ° from a horizontal position . the axle 46 extends through the rear wall 38 of the housing 26 and is welded at one end to a first connector element 70 which has a narrowed portion with indentations 72 on both sides which cooperate with stops or bolts 74 placed in a series of apertures ( not shown ) in the rear wall 38 to limit the throw of the throttle and shift lever 40 to approximately 180 °. the first connector element 70 is connected to two other connector elements to the yoke cable 19 . the second connector element 78 is cylindrical and pivots from the opposite end of the first connector element 70 on a ball joint 76 . an opposite end of the second connector element 78 pivots on another ball joint 76 of a third connector element 80 which is planar and shaped with a finger 82 at one end and rotatably attached to the rear wall 38 at the top wall 28 on a large pin 84 . the rear wall 38 is configured to have a planar extension 86 seen in fig2 and 4 . an extension bracket 88 is fastened on the end portion of the extension 86 by a hold - down bracket 90 to support the bucket shift cable 23 . the rear wall 38 has a long rectangular support bracket 92 attached to it for supporting the bucket shift 23 by two hold - down brackets 90 . a spacer block portion 94 rotatably secured by a pin 96 separates the support bracket 92 from the rear wall 38 as best seen in fig4 . the clearance is necessitated by the space required by the connector elements 70 , 78 and 80 . the operation of the control unit 24 will now be explained . the movement of the throttle and shift lever 40 vis - a - vis the movement of the follower roller pin 62 of the cam follower arm 56 in the groove 50 of the cam 48 and the resulting controlling motions of the throttle cable 68 and the bucket shift cable 23 will be explained with reference to points a , b , c , d , and e as shown in fig2 . at point a , the throttle and shift lever 40 is fully forward and in a horizontal position as viewed from the front wall 30 of the control unit 24 . the bucket shift cable 23 ( connected to the bucket shift rod 20 in fig1 ) and the reverse thrust bucket 12 are fully retracted , but the throttle cable 68 is extended slightly to continue idling the engine 10 . at point b , the bucket 12 has been moved slightly down by an extension of the bucket shift cable 23 approximately one - sixth of its extendible length , and the throttle cable 68 has been extended approximately half its length . at point c which is the center of the path in the groove 44 , the bucket shift cable 23 has been retracted another one - sixth of its length to lower the reverse thrust bucket 12 another distance . the throttle cable 68 has not been moved . at point d , the bucket shift cable 23 has been extended two - thirds of its length , and the bucket 12 has moved further over the jet pump nozzle 22 . the throttle cable 68 has been retracted approximately one - fourth of its length . at point d , the bucket shift cable 20 has been extended approx - imately two - thirds of its extension length , and the bucket 12 has almost covered the jet pump nozzle 22 . the throttle cable 68 has been retracted two - thirds of its length . at point e , the throttle and shift lever 40 is back to horizontal with the bucket shift cable 23 fully extended for complete coverage of the jet pump nozzle 22 by the reverse thrust bucket 12 with the bucket shift cable 20 fully retracted . in summarizing the rotation movement of the throttle and shift lever 40 , the lever shaft 44 is first rotated 15 ° for a reversing position . the lever shaft is then rotated 105 ° for a shifting or neutral position . finally , the lever shaft is rotated 60 ° for a forward throttle position . the significant advantages of the present invention are as follows . the shift - throttle lever of the prior art devices must use greater leverage for shifting to reverse by rotating the lever only 60 °, whereas the throttle and shift lever 40 of the present invention must rotate at least 120 ° or twice the arc . since the control unit 24 has no breakaway point and no dead time where the bucket shift cable 20 stops travelling during the throttling mode , the reverse mode can be more efficiently utilized in the operation of a marine jet propulsion pump 10 . in the reverse mode starting from the top of the stroke , there is no movement of the bucket shift cable 20 , and only one - third of the throttle rpm need be used to prevent cavitation . in the forward mode , once the reverse thrust bucket 12 is above the stream of water , the boat 14 is moving forward . it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above , but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims .	1
a split - backplane power supply scheme is described that enables telco switching equipment that requires large amounts of power to be used with existing power distribution panels in telco facilities . the split - backplane scheme enables a single switching device / system to be supplied concurrently from multiple power sources , thereby lowering the amperage requirement for each of the power sources . in order to implement this strategy , various detection circuits are described to ensure that undesired power conditions do not occur at the split - backplane . for example , an undesired power condition occurs if power is supplied to only one - half of a split - backplane , while the other half does not receive power . under this situation , the transceiver circuitry of logic cards connected to the backplane may be damaged . one embodiment of the invention is depicted in fig1 . in this configuration , power is provided from a set of redundant battery power sources “ a ” and “ b .” a single power source with multiple service points could be used , and the power sources could be batteries or other dc sources , such as ac - powered dc power supplies , as well as ac sources . each service point provides up to 60 amps of current at − 48 volts dc , corresponding to a current limit typically available at the distribution panels of many telco facilities . power from battery source a is received by a first dc power entry module ( pem ), labeled “ pem a ,” through a pair of terminal blocks 10 and 12 . terminal blocks 10 and 12 preferably comprise 3 - position , 75 amp rated terminal blocks . similarly , power from battery source b is received by a second dc pem labled “ pem b ” through terminal blocks 14 and 16 . each pem includes a pair of substantially identical power supply conditioning circuits , wherein the conditioning circuits for pem a are labeled “ pem - a 1 ” and “ pem - a 2 ,” and the conditioning circuits for pem b are labeled “ pem - b 1 ” and “ pem - b 2 .” the function provided by each of pems a and b is identical . accordingly , the following will describe additional details of pem a , which will be understood to also apply to pem b , and the references corresponding to components of each of the pems is labeled with a suffix of “ a ” or “ b ” in fig1 as appropriate . the − 48 v from each of the entry points from power source a is routed to respective poles 18 a and 19 a of a double - pole 50 amp magnetic circuit breaker . the two poles on the circuit breaker are mechanically interlocked , forming an interlocked circuit breaker 21 a . each of the poles of interlocked circuit breaker 20 a comprises a 50 amp series trip coil , while one of the poles includes an auxiliary switch 21 a . the other pole has a remote voltage trip coil , similar to a relay trip coil , the operation of which is explained below . auxiliary switch 21 a is wired in series to the remote voltage coil so that the remote coil becomes de - energized once activated to trip . the load side of each of circuit breaker poles 18 a and 20 a is connected to a respective emi filter 22 a and 23 a , followed by respective “ oring ” diodes 24 a and 25 a . the anode side of each of oring diode 22 a , 23 a is connected to a respective “ d - sub ” output connector 26 a , 27 a that provides output power to one - half side of a system backplane 28 via respective power cables 30 a and 31 a and connectors 32 a and 33 a . preferably , each of connectors 26 a , 27 a , 32 a and 33 a provide multiple pins for power supply and signal feedback purposes , further details of which are provided below . system backplane 28 supplies power to and couples signals to and from circuitry in sets of logic cards 34 and 36 , which are contained within an electronic equipment rack 38 , via backplane connectors 40 and 41 , and card connectors 42 and 43 . logic cards 34 and 36 provide switching circuitry for performing telco switching functions . system blackplane 28 comprises a multilayer circuit board in which the power distribution routing is split into two halves , labled 44 and 46 , while the signal routing for connecting the circuitry of logic cards 34 and 36 are contiguous across the backplane . in addition , system backplane 28 includes fuses 48 and 50 to protect logic cards 34 and 36 for overcurrent conditions , and each of the logic cards includes protection circuitry for similar purposes ( not shown ). pem a comprises a first power source , while pem b comprises a redundant power source . accordingly , power routing circuitry is included in system backplane 28 and the pems to enable concurrent operation of the redundant power sources . in particular , this circuitry includes a pair of diodes 52 and 53 in system backplane 28 and oring diodes 24 a , 24 b , 25 a and 25 b in the pems . the oring diodes enable power to be supplied from the redundant power sources , whereby if one of the power sources failed , the other power source will still provide adequate power to system backplane 28 , and both pems a and b may be connected to system backplane 28 without affecting the operation of the other pem . a single pem can be used to supply power to system backplane 28 if redundancy is not required . a detailed isometric drawing corresponding to an exemplary mechanical configuration of a pem is shown in fig2 with the suffixes of the reference numerals removed . note that the mechanically interlocked circuit breaker 20 further includes an activation lever to enable someone to manual disable power from being delivered by the pem . there are various , problems associated with supplying a single backplane with power from multiple power sources . in the configuration of fig1 a primary problem occurs if only one - half of the backplane is provided with power , while the other half is not . this scenario can occur , for example , if the battery feeds become inactive , power cables get disconnected , or one of the power planes fails in a shorted condition . the result of having power to only one half of the backplane is that the plug - in cards ( e . g ., cards 34 and 36 ) with power will be interfaced to the pluin cards without power via common connections on system backplane 28 . this may cause damage to transceivers and the interface logic on the cards . in order to prevent such occurences , the pems are designed to detect when the have inadequate input supply power , or their power output falls below an accepted range , whereupon power to both planes of system backplane 28 is immediately removed . to address these problems , pems a and b include circuitry to detect under - voltage and voltage differential conditions , whereby if either an under - voltage or differential condition is sensed , both pems are automatically shut down to remove power from system backplane 28 . as shown in fig3 these circuits are shown as a differential detection circuit 54 and an under - voltage detection circuit 56 . further details of both circuits 54 and 56 are described below . each of differential detection circuit 54 and under - voltage detection circuit 56 receives a pair of input signals comprising a − 48 volt a 1 sense signal 58 and a − 48 volt a 2 sense signal 60 . − 48 volt a 1 sense signal 58 is connecteed on system backplane 28 via a jumper 62 to the − 48 volt power input provided by battery service a 1 , while − 48 volt a 2 sense signal 60 is connected on the system backplane via a jumper 64 to the − 48 volt power input provided by battery service a 2 . in addition , differential detection circuit 54 produces an output control signal 66 and under - voltage detection circuit 56 produces an output control signal 68 that are received by a trip coil drive circuit 70 to activate a remote trip coil 72 to trip interlocked circuit breaker 21 . each pem also provides four discrete power supply voltages : vee , 24v , vdd , and 5v . vee is generated by diode oring − 48 volt inputs a 1 and a 2 , as depicted by diodes 70 and 72 in the figure . vee is used to reference the circuitry to the lowest potential as well as providing a source voltage for generating the other power supply voltages . the 24v power supply ( not shown in fig3 ), is generated by regulating the circuit gnd down to 24vdc above the vee potential level . the 24v power supply preferably comprises a linear supply used to energize the remote trip coil . normally , the power supply does not provide any output power . however , if a failure of one of 48v services a 1 or a 2 is detected at system backplane 28 , the 24v power supply provides 1 a of output power to remote trip coil 68 long enough ( e . g ., & lt ; 30 ms ) to trip circuit breaker 21 . further details of the 24v power supply circuit are described below . vdd is a reference voltage supply that is 5v below the gnd potential ( i . e ., a − 5v supply ). the 5v power supply is a reference supply voltage that is 5v above the vee potential . a schematic diagram of an exemplary circuit 74 corresponding to differential voltage detection circuit 54 is shown in fig4 . circuit 74 receives 48v a 1 sense signal 58 and − 48v a 2 sense signal 60 as inputs . each of the input signals are tied to a common ground through a resistor r 1 , and are connected in series with a resistor r 2 . preferably , r 1 comprises a pair of 2 . 2k ohm resistors in parallel , and r 2 comprises a pair of 470 ohm resistors in series . the inputs are connected to opposite sides of a bridge circuit comprising four diodes d 1 , d 2 , d 3 , and d 4 . the bridge circuit further includes an opto - isolator 76 , a zener reference 78 , a 1k resistor r 2 , and a 1 uf capacitor c ,. preferably , zener reference 78 comprises a linear technologies lt1431 programmable reference . the output of opto - isolator 76 is connected to output signal 66 , which is coupled to vee through a 10k resistor r 4 , and includes a filter comprising a 10k resistor r 5 connected in series and a 0 . 1 uf capacitor c 2 tied between output signal 66 and vee . circuit 74 operates in the following manner . zener reference 78 is set to a predetermined reference level that is a few volts below the desired voltage differential set point . for example , for a 26 volt differential set point , zener reference 78 should be set to 20 . 3 volts . if a difference between the voltage levels of the − 48v a 1 and a 2 sense signals exceeds the predetermined reference level , opto - isolator 76 is activated , creating a drive current on output signal 66 , which will activate trip coil 72 through the use of trip coil drive circuit 70 , as explained below . an exemplary circuit 80 for sensing under - voltage conditions and for preventing such conditions from being detected during normal power - up and power - down conditions in accord with under - voltage detection circuit 56 is shown in fig5 . the primary sensing elements of circuit 80 comprise a plurality of hysteresis - type comparators 82 , 84 , 86 , 88 , 90 , 92 , and 94 , which are preferably provided by means of quad comparators 96 and 98 . each of quad comparators 96 and 98 include a reference voltage output that is preferably set at 1 . 22 volts ( vdd ) ( i . e ., relative to vdd , which is set at − 5 volts nominally ). the 1 . 22 ( vdd ) reference voltage is received at the non - inverting inputs of comparators 82 , 84 , 90 , 92 , and 94 , and the inverting inputs of comparators 86 and 88 . exemplary quad comparators that may be used in circuit 80 include an ltc1444 quad comparator manufactured by linear technologies . circuit 80 includes multiple diodes for signal conditioning purposes , including diodes d 5 , d 6 , d 7 , d 8 , d 9 , d 10 , d 11 , d 12 , d 13 , d 14 , and d 15 , and further includes resistors r 6 , r 7 , r 8 , r 9 , r 10 , r 11 , r 12 , r 13 , r 14 , r 15 , r , 16 , r 17 , r 18 , r 19 , r 20 , r 21 , and r 22 . preferably , resistors r 6 and r 7 are 86 . 6 kohm , resistors r 8 , r ., and r 14 are 90 . 9 kohm , resistors r 10 , r 11 , r 12 , r 13 , r 5 , r 17 , r 19 , r 21 , and r 22 are 10 kohm , resistors r 16 and r 18 are 2 mohms , and resistor r 20 is 5 kohm . as will be recognized by those skilled in the art , resistors r 10 , r 11 , r 12 , and r 13 comprise a voltage divider network , while diodes d 9 , d 10 , d 11 , and d 12 comprise a set of clamping diodes . circuit 80 operates in the following manner . under normal operating conditions , i . e ., when the voltage level − 48v a 1 and a 2 sense signals is approximately − 48v , the voltage appearing at the inverting terminals of comparators 82 , 84 , and 94 is approximately vdd , or 0v ( vdd ). accordingly , the output of each of these comparators is set such that the output of an opto - isolator 100 is deactivated under normal conditions . in contrast , if either of − 48v a 1 and / or a 2 sense signals falls below a threshold voltage level of approximately − 36 . 5 v , the voltage level at the inverting terminals of comparators 82 and / or 84 , as appropriate , will exceed the 1 . 22 v ( vdd ) reference voltage , and the output of one or both of the comparators will be set such that the output of opto - isolator 100 is activated , thereby setting a trip condition on output signal 68 . it is desired to disable sensing of under - voltage condition during normal power - up and power - down operations . during power - up , the voltage senses on a 1 and a 2 will be less than the threshold voltage level , setting the outputs of comparators 82 and 84 , which are commonly tied together . this would normally cause a trip condition . however , note that the inverting input of comparator 94 is is tied to vdd through a 47 uf capacitor c 3 , and tied to ground through a 10k resistor r 22 , and the output of comparator 94 is tied to the control side of opto - isolator 100 . as a result , when the pem is powered up , capacitor c 3 discharges for approximately six seconds , thereby preventing opto - isolator 100 from being activated . if only one of the pem &# 39 ; s − 48v dc outputs is enabled during a power - up condition , this condition will be detected by differential detection circuit 54 . circuit 80 also disables under - voltage sensing during power - down conditions . normally , this will not be necessary , since a powering down a pem will merely comprise opening a dc breaker , thereby shutting off input power to the pem , which will immediately remove power received by logic cards 34 and 36 . however , in the case of an ac source , a trip condition might occur upon shutdown . this condition is prevented by the combination of comparators 86 , 88 , and 90 . since resistors r 8 and r 9 have higher resistances than resistors r 6 and r 7 ( 90 . 9k vs . 85 . 6k ), comparators 86 and 88 will detect an under - voltage conditions at a higher voltage level than comparators 82 and 84 . the outputs of comparators 86 and 88 are commonly tied to the input of comparator 90 , while the output of comparator 90 is tied to the control side of opto - isolator 100 . as a result , during a power - down condition , the output of comparator 90 will be set so as to deactivate the undervoltage sensing provided by comparators 82 and 84 . an exemplary circuit 102 that may be implemented for trip coil drive circuit 70 is shown in fig6 . circuit 102 comprises an operational amplifier ( op amp ) 104 , transistors 106 and 108 , and a diode d 15 . the circuit additionally includes a plurality of resistors , including resistors r 23 ( 1 kohm ), r 24 ( 470 ohm ), r 25 ( 10 k ohm ), r 26 ( 940 ohm ), and r 27 ( 10 kohm ). circuit 102 operates as follows . an input signal , corresponding to output signals 66 and 68 is received at the non - inverting input of op amp 104 , while the inverting input of op amp 104 is tied to vee through 1 k resistors r 23 . note that each of signals 66 and 68 is produced by respective opto - isolators 76 and 100 . as a result , when the opto - isolators are deactivated ( i . e ., a non - trip condition ), signals 66 and 68 comprise a high impedance , and the output of op amp 104 is set such that transistor 106 is not turned on . this will also shut off transistor 108 , causing the low side of remote trip coil 72 to float , thereby disabling the remote trip coil . in contrast , if a trip condition appears on either or both of signals 66 and 68 , op amp 104 produces an output that activates transistor 106 , which then activates transistor 108 , causing the low side of remote trip coil 72 to be connected to vee , thereby producing a voltage differential across remote trip coil 72 , which will activate the trip coil , causing interlocked circuit breaker 20 a to be tripped . upon being tripped , auxiliary switch 21 a with be opened , thereby deactivating remote trip coil 72 . numerous types of circuits commonly used to activate relay coils or other devices with similar loads may be used in place of circuit 102 . for instance , remote trip coil 72 coil be activated by a relay circuit , or a power mosfet or similar type of high - power solid - state switch . in the foregoing specification , the invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments . it will , however , be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention a set forth in the following claims . the specification and drawings are , accordingly , to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense .	7
referring now to fig4 a most basic embodiment of the invention is shown . an rf ( or any frequency ) signal is inputted via input terminal rfin , into detector network 630 . detector network 630 comprises at least two basic components — a diode detector 610 and a voltage multiplier 620 . those skilled in the art will recognize that the diode used in the diode detector 610 may be utilized as a part of the voltage multiplier 620 , or the detector may be separate from the voltage multiplier . in the preferred embodiment the voltage multiplier is a voltage doubler , comprising of the detector diode and a multiplier diode , however any number of diodes may be used , to provide voltage multiplication of any factor . divider network 650 is coupled to the output of the detector network at junction 640 , and as it is coupled to the circuit ground ( equivalently referred to as ground in these specifications ), it forms a voltage divider together with the detector network . the divider network contains the same number of diodes as used in the detector network . it can be seen that the same dc current passes through the divider and detector network , and that the divider network dynamic impedance , dictated primarily by the diodes , will equal the dynamic impedance of the detector network . as the detected signal is taken before the divider network , temperature compensation is achieved . preferably , the voltage divider cuts the output voltage in ( about ) half , however as the detected voltage was doubled , the total output remains the same as that of a single diode . higher order multipliers of order m offer detection efficiency increases of m / 2 . [ 0033 ] fig5 shows a more detailed circuit example of the preferred embodiment of the invention . one terminal of capacitor c 3 receives the signal to be decoded , and the other terminal is connected to the anode of diode d 3 and the cathode of d 1 . the cathode of d 3 is coupled to ground . the anode of d 1 is connected to capacitor c 1 , which has its second terminal connected to ground . optionally the anode of d 1 is also coupled to one terminal of resistive element r 1 which may be a resistor or a fet transistor . the other terminal of resistive element r 1 , or the anode of d 1 if r 1 is not used , is connected to the output terminal v out . also coupled to v out is the divider network . if r 1 is used it is highly desirable that the divider network will contain a resistive element as well r 2 preferably being equal in value to r 1 . if so , one terminal of r 2 is connected to the v out terminal and the other terminal is connected to two diodes connected in series , d 2 and d 4 . the other terminal of the two series diodes is connected to ground . if r 2 is not used , the two diodes are connected in series between the vout terminal and ground . as mentioned above , the polarities shown and described may be reversed , and the circuit will operate in a similar manner . rf signal is inputted from the input terminal rfin , via capacitor c 3 that is used both for dc blocking and as a part of the voltage doubler . the ac signal is connected to diodes d 1 and d 3 which form a full wave detector , which in conjunction with c 1 and c 3 double the detected voltage as compared to a single diode detector . the output of the detector / multiplier is connected via junction 640 to the output terminal vout and to the divider network which comprise d 2 and d 4 which are connected in series to ground . capacitor c 1 is acts as an integrating capacitor as well as provide rf return path and noise reduction . capacitor c 2 and capacitor c 4 are used to shunt any remaining rf signal in the divider network . resistors r 1 and r 2 provide additional stability and linearity of the output curve , and limit the power required by the circuit under optional biasing . it should be noted that the resistive elements might have different resistance but the preferred embodiment employs equal resistances . it should also be noted that only diodes d 1 , d 2 , d 3 and d 4 , together with capacitors c 1 and c 3 are needed to achieve the desired circuit behavior . thus only passive components ( or components wired to act as such ) are necessary to achieve the invention objective . an analysis of the circuit shows that the same dc current will flow in d 3 , d 1 , r 1 , r 2 , d 2 and d 4 , which form the current loop via ground . therefore the dynamic impedance of all the diodes will be equal assuming the diodes are well matched . thus the temperature effects of the diodes are mutually canceled . additionally , the diodes may be forward biased as known to improve the detection range of the circuit . this can be achieved by many ways , one of which is shown schematically in fig6 by battery b 1 . other ways will include introducing a positive or negative voltage where appropriate , via a bias resistor , or other source as known . since the impedance of the loop will be temperature dependent , the preferred embodiment would be a temperature compensated constant - current source . where vdet = detected voltage , m = number of series connected diodes in either the divider or detector networks , and rdiode = dynamic resistance of a diode . therefore r 1 = r 2 will provide the best balanced detector circuit . in order to expose all diodes to similar environment and in order to achieve maximum possible matching between the diodes it is desirable to place all the diodes in the circuit on the same substrate , or at least consist of diodes from adjacent locations from a common source wafer and isothermally located in the same package . it should also be noted that all components of the circuit may be embedded within a single integrated circuit . [ 0040 ] fig6 shows an embodiment that better fits for integration and embedding the circuit within an integrated circuit . as shown resistive elements r 1 and r 2 are replaced by fet transistors q 1 and q 2 , with the gate and drain connected together . those skilled in the art will recognize that the transistors q 1 and q 2 then will act as resistors , but will consume less space and simplify the integrated circuit design . while the drawing shows the packaging of the diodes d 1 , d 2 , d 3 , and d 4 in a separate package pkg from fet transistors q 1 and q 2 in package pkg 2 , it is desirable to have a single package to include as many of the circuit component as possible . most preferably , the package is heat conducting such as a metal case . [ 0041 ] fig7 shows a general embodiment of an m th order multiplier where m is even . a plurality of full wave rectifiers are placed in series and capacitively coupled to a common input signal via capacitors c 1 , . . . c m , etc . the rf signal is returned to ground between each full wave rectifier segment by capacitors c 2 , . . . c m , etc . the plurality of full wave rectifiers has a conversion factor m times larger than a single diode detector . capacitor c m performs the integrating function . resistors r 1 and r 2 optionally control external and self biasing of the circuit . diodes d m + 1 through d 2m provide the temperature compensating divider leg . the related case in which m is odd may be implemented by replacing one full wave rectifier with a single diode detector segment and removing a corresponding diode from the divider branch of the circuit . the uses of the present invention are many and varied . it may be deployed , inter alia , as general purpose envelope detector , and an rf power to voltage converter . the circuit is small , efficient , passive and offers stable compensated operation over a large temperature range . it provides special advantages in large number of devices ranging from bolometers , to cellular telephones . it can be used in automatic gain control ( agc ) circuits , especially in digital radios . as common modulation methods of digital data require precise agc , a stable small and efficient demodulator or power meter based on the detector described herein presents a significant advantage over the present state of the art . any instrumentation that requires rf power measurements may also benefit from the unique characteristics present by a detector according to the present invention . most specifically , many piezoelectric sensors require measurements of input and / or output power , as the characteristics measured by the sensor directly effect the insertion loss or power transmission characteristics of the sensor . oftentimes considerations of temperature range , power requirements space and cost require the use of an efficient detector . therefore the invention further extend to detecting power in conjunction with a piezoelectric sensor . the invention is especially adaptable to piezoelectric sensors that measure the phase and power level shifts of an ultrasonic wave caused by a chemical or physical property of the surrounding environment . piezoelectric sensors are favored in many applications due to their ability to operate in harsh physical and chemical environments , often exceeding the ability of active electronic components . while it is possible to place such sensors at the end of a cable and perform data analysis at the remote end of the cable from the harsh sensing environment , it is very advantageous that the power level measurements be made at the location of the piezoelectric sensor . the present invention addresses this specific need , by allowing a detector that is able to withstand and operate over wide temperature ranges in close proximity to the piezoelectric sensor while providing a robust , temperature - compensated , output signal that can be measured across a meaningful length of standard cable . the skilled artisan will recognize that other components , both active and passive , may be added as desired to improve certain characteristics of the circuit such as dynamic range , signal to noise , and the like without detracting from the invention . some clear alterations include incorporating electrical matching networks , biasing circuitry , active buffer amplifiers , and the like . it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to what has been described hereinabove merely by way of example . while there have been described what are at present considered to be the preferred embodiments of this invention , it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various other embodiments , changes , and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention and that it is , therefore , aimed to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention , for which letters patent is applied .	7
system , method and computer - readable storage medium to locate a prefix hijacker of a destination prefix within a one - hop neighborhood are disclosed . in the following description , for the purposes of explanation , numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of example embodiments . it will be evident , however , to one skilled in the art , that an example embodiment may be practiced without all of the disclosed specific details . fig1 is a block diagram of an example distribution topology 100 configured to distribute ip traffic to a destination as # 134 over a transmission network 102 before hijacking of a destination prefix 108 of the destination as # 134 . the transmission network 102 may be the internet . while the example distribution topology 100 illustrates nine ases # 4 , # 6 , # 51 , # 67 , # 134 , # 635 , # 850 , # 1257 and # 1258 , for brevity , clarity and to aid understating , it is understood that the distribution topology 100 may include substantially more ases that may be disposed in substantially different relationships than shown in the distribution topology 100 of fig1 . as will be described below in relation to fig2 , each of the illustrated ases # 4 , # 6 , # 51 , # 67 , # 134 , # 635 , # 850 , # 1257 and # 1258 includes at least one border gateway protocol ( bgp ) router . the bgp router of each of the ases is configured to communicate with bgp routers of its neighboring ases to transmit ip traffic . for example , in the distribution topology 100 of fig1 , a bgp router of as # 1257 is configured to communicate with bgp routers of neighboring ases # 4 , # 850 . the bgp router of each of the ases includes a routing table that maintains for a certain destination prefix , such as destination prefix 108 of the destination as # 134 , a next hop as in a route from that as to the destination prefix and an as - level path from that as to the destination prefix ( e . g ., destination prefix 135 . 207 . 122 / 24 ). in the illustrated distribution topology 100 of fig1 , a prefix hijack monitor 104 is disposed at as # 4 and a prefix hijack monitor 106 is disposed at as # 6 . while two prefix hijack monitors 104 , 106 are shown for illustration purposes , it is understood that a substantially larger number of prefix hijack monitors may be disposed in the transmission network 102 . the prefix hijack monitors 104 , 106 are configured to monitor the destination prefix ( e . g ., destination prefix 135 . 207 . 122 / 24 ), determining and reporting as - level paths from the ases at which the prefix hijack monitors 104 , 106 are disposed ( e . g ., ases # 4 , # 6 , respectively ) to the destination prefix ( e . g ., destination prefix 135 . 207 . 122 / 24 ) across the transmission network 102 . the prefix hijack monitors 104 , 106 may execute a traceroute program to determine the as - level paths from the ases at which the prefix hijack monitors 104 , 106 are disposed to the destination prefix across the transmission network 102 . the example distribution topology 100 of fig1 is illustrated before a prefix hijacker hijacks the destination prefix 108 of the destination as # 134 . the as - level paths generated and reported by the prefix hijack monitors 104 , 106 before hijacking of the destination prefix 108 of the destination as # 134 are illustrated in fig4 a . the as - level path from the prefix hijack monitor 104 disposed at as # 4 is [ 4 , 1257 , 850 , 635 , 134 ] and the as - level path from the prefix hijack monitor 106 disposed at as # 6 is [ 6 , 1258 , 51 , 67 , 134 ]. fig2 is an example autonomous system ( as ) 200 in accordance with fig1 . as 200 includes at least one intra - domain network 202 that interconnects at least one bgp router 204 , at least one interior gateway protocol ( igp ) router 208 and optionally a prefix hijack monitor 210 . the at least one bgp router is configured to maintain and exchange inter - domain routing information with bgp routers of the neighboring ases to facilitate routing of ip traffic to and from the neighboring ases , as illustrated in fig1 , for example . the bgp router 204 includes a routing table 204 that maintains : ( 1 ) a destination prefix ; ( 2 ) a next hop as ; and ( 3 ) an as - level path . as an example , as 200 may be as # 4 of fig1 . in this example , the destination prefix of the routing table 204 is the destination prefix 108 ( e . g ., 135 . 207 . 27 / 24 ) of destination as # 134 . the next hop as associated with the destination prefix 108 is as # 1257 , and the as - level path from the as # 4 to the destination prefix is [# 4 , # 1257 , # 850 , # 635 , # 134 ]. as another example , as 200 may be as # 6 of fig1 . in this example , the destination prefix of the routing table 204 is destination prefix 108 ( e . g ., 135 . 207 . 27 / 24 ) of destination as # 134 . the next hop as associated with the destination prefix 108 is as # 1258 , and the as - level path from the as # 6 to the destination prefix is [# 6 , # 1258 , # 51 , # 67 , # 134 ]. each of other ases # 1257 , # 850 , # 635 , # 1258 , # 51 and # 67 of the distribution topology 100 of fig1 includes the destination prefix 108 ( e . g ., 135 . 207 . 27 / 24 ) of destination as # 134 , a next hop as toward the destination prefix 108 ( e . g ., 135 . 207 . 27 / 24 ) of as # 134 and an as - level path to the destination prefix 108 of destination as # 134 . the at least igp router 208 is configured to maintain and exchange intra - domain routing information with the at least one bgp router 204 and / or between other multiple igp routers to facilitate routing of ip traffic via the at least one intra - domain network 202 . the at least one bgp router 204 is further configured to communicate ip traffic from a neighboring as and destined for the at least one intra - domain network 202 of as 200 to the at least one igp router 208 . the prefix hijack monitor 210 is configured to monitor a destination prefix ( e . g ., 135 . 207 . 122 / 24 ) of a destination as ( e . g ., as # 134 ) using a traceroute program . for example , by generating and transmitting traceroute messages of increasing time - to - live ( ttl ) value along a path to the destination prefix of the destination as , the prefix hijacker monitor 210 is able to discover a router - level path towards the destination prefix by observing “ ttl - reached - 0 ” error messages transmitted back by intermediate routers as they decrement the ttl value of the traceroute messages when forwarding such messages . such a router - level path is then converted to as - level path based on which routers belong to which ases . the prefix hijack monitor 210 transmits traceroute messages to ases over the transmission network 102 via the intra - domain network 202 and the at least one bgp router 204 . fig3 is a block diagram of an example distribution topology 300 configured to distribute ip traffic to a destination as # 134 over a transmission network 302 after hijacking of a destination prefix 108 of the destination as # 134 . as illustrated in the distribution network 300 , a prefix hijacker as system # 93 is , for example , configured to maliciously hijack the destination prefix ( e . g ., 135 . 207 . 27 / 24 ) of the destination as # 134 to route ip traffic destined for the destination prefix through the prefix hijacker as # 93 . to hijack the destination prefix , a bgp router ( e . g ., bgp router 204 of fig2 ) of prefix hijacker as system # 93 is configured to generate and distribute an announcement message to ases # 1257 and # 1258 , neighbor ases to prefix hijacker as # 93 , announcing a fake as - level path to the destination prefix ( e . g ., 135 . 207 . 27 / 24 ) of the destination as # 134 . an example announcement message may include an originator as ( e . g ., as # 93 ), a destination as ( e . g ., destination as # 134 ), an as - level distance from the originator as to the destination as ( e . g ., one hop ), and an as - level path from the originator as to the destination as ( e . g ., as path =[# 93 , # 134 ]). in response to receiving the announcement message from the bgp router of as # 93 , bgp routers of ases # 1257 , # 1258 ( e . g ., bgp router 204 of fig2 ) are configured to determine whether the announced as - level path to the destination as # 134 ( e . g ., as path =[# 93 , # 134 ]) is a better path than their original as - level paths ( e . g ., original as - level path of as # 1257 =[# 1257 , # 850 , # 635 , # 134 ]; original as - level path of as # 1258 =[# 1258 , # 51 , # 67 # 134 ]), as particularly shown in the distribution topology 100 of fig1 . in this example , the as - level path announced by the prefix hijacker as # 93 is shorter than the as - levels paths of ases # 1257 , # 1258 . for example , the original as - level path from as # 1257 to the destination as # 134 is three hops , ases # 850 , # 635 , # 134 , while the as - level path through the prefix hijacker as # 93 is two hops , ases # 93 , # 134 . similarly , the original as - level path from as # 1258 to the destination as # 134 is three hops , ases # 51 , # 67 , # 134 , while the as - level path through the prefix hijacker as # 93 is two hops , ases # 93 , # 134 . in this example , as - level hop distance is used as a criterion to determine which as - level path is better . alternate or additional criteria to determine which as - level path is better may be utilized . based on this determination , the bgp routers of ases # 1257 , # 1258 are configured to update their respective routing tables ( e . g ., routing table 206 of bgp router 204 of fig2 ) for the destination prefix ( e . g ., 135 . 207 . 27 / 24 ). more specifically , the next hop as is updated to as # 93 and the as - level paths are updated to reflect paths through the prefix hijacker as # 93 , as illustrated ( via wide arrows ) in the topology of the distribution network 300 of fig3 . the bgp router of as # 1257 , is further configured , either concurrently with or after the determination , to generate and distribute an announcement message to ases # 4 , # 850 , neighbor ases to as # 1257 , announcing its updated as - level path ( path through prefix hijacker as # 93 ) to the destination prefix ( e . g ., 135 . 207 . 27 / 24 ) of the destination as # 134 . similarly , the bgp router of as # 1258 , is further configured , either concurrently with or after the determination , to generate and distribute an announcement message to ases # 6 , # 51 , neighbor ases to as # 1258 , announcing its updated as - level path ( path through prefix hijacker as # 93 ) to the destination prefix ( e . g ., 135 . 207 . 27 / 24 ) of the destination as # 134 . the example distribution topology 300 of fig3 is illustrated after the prefix hijacker hijacks the destination prefix 108 of the destination as # 134 . using the traceroute program described above , the prefix hijack monitors 104 , 106 generate and transmit traceroute messages of increasing time - to - live ( ttl ) value to other ases along paths ( illustrated via wide arrows ) to the destination prefix of the destination as # 134 . upon successfully reaching the destination prefix 108 of as # 134 , the prefix hijack monitors 104 , 106 generate and report as - level paths to a prefix hijacker location system 302 . the as - level paths generated and reported by the prefix hijack monitors 104 , 106 after hijacking of the destination prefix 108 of the destination as # 134 are illustrated in fig4 b . the as - level path from the prefix hijack monitor 104 disposed at as # 4 is [# 4 , # 1257 , # 93 , # 134 ] and the as - level path from the prefix hijack monitor 106 disposed at as # 6 is [# 6 , # 1258 , # 93 , # 134 ]. now with reference to the prefix hijacker location system 302 , prefix hijacker location system 302 is configured to locate a prefix hijacker as # 93 of a destination prefix ( e . g ., 135 . 207 . 27 / 12 ) within a one - hop neighborhood using reported as - level paths from prefix hijack monitors 104 , 106 . prefix hijacker location system 302 includes a monitor selection module 301 , a receiver module 304 , an initialization module 306 , a neighborhood generation module 308 , a suspect set generation module 310 , a one - hop suspect set generation module 312 , and a prefix hijacker determination module 314 . the monitor selection module 301 is configured to select plural prefix hijack monitors for a prefix hijack monitor set ( m ) from multiple candidate prefix hijack monitors that have been deployed on transmission network 302 for the destination prefix . for example , a certain number of the candidate prefix hijack monitors that have monitored the destination prefix ( e . g ., destination prefix of 135 . 207 . 122 / 24 ) may be selected . as an example , prefix hijack monitors 104 , 106 may be selected for the prefix hijack monitor set ( m ). assuming for example , if a multiplicity of prefix hijacker monitors were employed in the distribution topology 300 of fig3 , any subset that includes plural prefix hijacker monitors or all prefix hijacker monitors may be selected . the receiver module 304 is configured to receive periodic or on - demand as - level paths from the prefix hijack monitors 104 , 106 . for example , the receiver module 304 receives the example as - level paths of fig4 b from the prefix hijack monitors 104 , 106 after hijacking of the destination prefix ( e . g ., destination prefix of 135 . 207 . 122 / 24 ) of the destination as # 134 . more specifically , the as - level path received from the prefix hijack monitor 104 is [# 4 , # 1257 , # 93 , # 134 ] and the as - level path received from the prefix hijack monitor 106 is [# 6 , # 1258 , # 93 , # 134 ]. the initialization module 306 is configured to initialize a suspect prefix hijacker as set ( h ), a covered count set ( c ) and a total distance set ( d ) to empty or null sets . the suspect prefix hijacker as set ( h ) will include ases resulting from a union of all one - hop neighborhoods of each received as - level path after hijacking . the generation of suspect prefix hijacker as set ( h ) is described below with reference to the suspect set generation module 310 . in the example distribution topology 300 of fig3 , there will be two one - hop neighborhoods , one for each prefix hijack monitor &# 39 ; s as - level path , as particularly described below . the covered count set ( c ) will include a covered count entry for each as in the suspect prefix hijacker as set ( h ) to indicate how many times each as appears in the one - hop neighborhoods of the as - level paths . the total distance set ( d ) will include a total distance entry for each as in the suspect prefix hijacker as set ( h ) to indicate a total distance of each as from the ases in which the prefix hijack monitors 104 , 106 are disposed . the generation of the covered count set ( c ) and the total distance set ( d ) for each as in the suspect prefix hijacker as set ( h ) is also described below with reference to the suspect set generation module 310 . the neighborhood generation module 308 is configured to generate a one - hop neighborhood for each prefix hijack monitor &# 39 ; s as - level path . the one - hop neighborhood for the as - level path from prefix hijack monitor 104 is [# 4 , # 1257 , # 850 , # 93 , # 1258 , # 134 ] and the one - hop neighborhood for the as - level path from prefix hijack monitor 106 is [# 6 , # 1258 , # 51 , # 93 , # 1257 , # 134 ]. the suspect set generation module 310 is configured to generate suspect prefix hijacker as set ( h ) from the one - hop neighborhoods of prefix hijack monitors &# 39 ; as - level paths . as mentioned above , the suspect prefix hijacker as set ( h ) will include ases resulting from a union of the one - hop neighborhoods of the as - level paths . for example , the suspect prefix hijacker as set ( h ) includes the following ases [# 4 , # 1257 , # 850 , # 93 , # 1258 , # 6 , # 51 ]. because as # 134 is the destination prefix , it is not included in the suspect prefix hijacker as set ( h ). the suspect set generation module 310 is also configured to determine the covered count set ( c ) indicating how many times each as of the suspect prefix hijacker as set ( h ) appears in the one - hop neighborhoods of the as - level paths . for example , because as # 93 appears twice in the one - hop neighborhoods of the as - level paths , the covered count entry for as # 93 in covered count set ( c ) will have a value of two ( 2 ). the suspect set generation module 310 is further configured to determine the total distance set ( d ) indicating a total distance of each as in the suspect prefix hijacker as set ( h ) from the ases in which the prefix hijack monitors 104 , 106 are disposed . for example , the total distance entry of total distance set ( d ) for prefix hijacker as # 93 will have a value of four ( 4 ), e . g ., prefix hijacker as # 93 is two hops away from as # 4 of prefix hijack monitor 104 and two hops away from as # 6 of prefix hijack monitor 106 . for an as that is a neighbor of an as - level path but not included on the as - level path ( e . g ., neighbor as ), a distance from the neighbor as to an as in which a prefix hijack monitor is disposed may be determined as a distance from the as in which the prefix hijack monitor is disposed to a nearest as that is both included on the as - level path and is a neighbor of the neighbor as plus one ( 1 ). for example , a total distance for as # 850 , as a neighbor of an as - level path from as # 4 in which prefix hijack monitor 104 is disposed to the destination prefix ( e . g ., destination as # 134 ), is determined to be a distance from as # 1257 ( nearest neighbor of as # 850 and on the as - level path ) to as # 4 plus one ( 1 ) ( e . g ., value of two ( 2 )). based on the foregoing example , the suspect set generation module 310 generates a suspect prefix hijacker as set ( h )=[# 4 , # 1257 , # 850 , # 93 , # 1258 , # 6 , # 51 ]. the suspect set generation module 310 further determines for each as in the prefix hijacker as set ( h ) its covered count in covered count set ( c ) and its total distance in total distance set ( d ) as illustrated table 1 below : the one - hop suspect set generation module 312 is configured generate a one - hop suspect set that locates a prefix hijacker as of a destination prefix ( e . g ., 135 . 207 . 27 / 12 ) to within a one - hop neighborhood . more specifically , the one - hop suspect set generation module 312 is configured to determine a one - hop suspect set of ases ( a ) in the suspect prefix hijacker as set ( h ) that includes ases having the highest covered count in covered count set ( c ) and the highest total distances in total distance set ( d ). for example , ases # 1257 , # 93 and # 1258 of the suspect prefix hijacker as set ( h ) are determined to have the highest covered counts in covered count set ( c ) and the highest total distances in total distance set ( d ), shown in gray color in table 1 above . thus , the one - hop suspect set of ases ( a ) generated by the one hop suspect set generation module 312 includes ases # 1257 , # 93 and # 1258 , which have the highest covered counts in covered count set ( c ) and the highest total distance in the total distance set ( d ). the foregoing ases are within a one - hop neighborhood of a prefix hijacker as ( e . g ., prefix hijacker as # 93 ), and therefore , are most suspicious as suspects of being the prefix hijacker as . a fundamental concept of the foregoing is a determination of common ases amongst hijacked monitor - to - destination as - level paths . in a case in which the prefix hijacker as ( e . g ., as # 93 ) does not try to conceal its identity , the prefix hijacker &# 39 ; s as will show up in the altered as - level paths . therefore , the prefix hijacker as is amongst the ases which are common ( e . g ., common ases ) to all hijacked monitor - to - destination as - level paths . more specifically , among the common ases , the prefix hijacker as is an as that is closest to the ases of the prefix hijacker monitors because for all hijacked as - level paths the portions of the as - level paths after the prefix hijacker as are the same . in another case , a monitor - to - destination as - level path may be reported as hijacked but which was in fact altered because of another reason . in such a case , there may not be common ases other than the destination as of the destination prefix . the determination of common ases amongst monitor - to - destination as - level paths may not be adequate . therefore , a determination of a covered count for each suspect as is performed . in other words , ases common to a greatest number of monitor - to - destination as - level paths are determined . in a more complex case , the prefix hijacker ( e . g ., as # 93 ) attempts to conceal its own as from the monitor - to - destination as - level paths by using fake identities to respond to the traceroute messages used by the prefix hijack monitors in generating monitor - to - destination as - level paths . even in such a case , the identity of an as ( e . g ., as # 1257 or # 1258 ) immediately preceding the prefix hijacker ( e . g ., as # 93 ) on each as - level path is still accurate . therefore , the prefix hijacker ( e . g ., as # 93 ) must be present in the one hop suspect set of each monitor - to - destination as - level path . the prefix hijacker determination module 314 is configured to refine the one - hop suspect set of ases ( a ) determined to include most suspicious as suspects ( e . g ., ases # 1257 , # 93 and # 1258 ) by determining a center of one - hop neighborhoods of each as in the one - hop suspect set of ases ( a ), which is likely to indicate the prefix hijacker as ( e . g ., prefix hijacker as # 93 ). the prefix hijacker determination module 314 is configured to determine a one - hop neighbor set for each as in the one - hop suspect set of ases ( a ). this one - hop neighbor set for each such as includes only the one - hop neighbors of the as , not the as itself . for example , a one - hop neighbor set of as # 1257 includes ases # 4 , # 93 , and # 850 ; a one - hop neighbor set of as # 1258 includes ases # 6 , # 93 , and # 51 ; a one - hop neighbor set of as # 93 includes ases # 1257 and # 1258 . from the one - hop neighbor sets , the prefix hijacker determination module 314 is further configured to select an as that appears most ( e . g ., highest covered count ) in the one - hop neighbor sets , as the center as of the one - hop neighbor sets . the center as most likely indicates the prefix hijacker as . in the foregoing example , as # 93 appeared twice ( e . g ., covered count is 2 ) and ases # 1257 and # 1258 appeared once ( e . g ., each as &# 39 ; s covered count is 1 ) in the one - hop neighbor sets of the ases in the one - hop suspect set of ases ( a ). these covered counts may be accumulated with the covered counts in the respective covered count entries of the covered count set ( c ) because a highest covered count of an as from all ases of the suspect prefix hijacker as set ( h ) is important for determination of the prefix hijacker . for example , the total covered count in covered count set ( c ) for as # 93 will be four ( 4 ), and for each of ases # 1257 and # 1258 , the covered count in the covered count set ( c ) will be three ( 3 ). the as that has the highest covered count in covered count set ( c ) ( e . g ., as # 93 ) may then be selected . therefore , the prefix hijacker determination module 314 selects as # 93 as the center and therefore the most likely prefix hijacker as of the destination prefix . fig4 a illustrates example as - level paths generated and reported by the prefix hijack monitors 104 , 106 of fig1 before hijacking of the destination prefix 108 of the destination as # 134 . the as - level path from the prefix hijack monitor 104 disposed at as # 4 is [# 4 , # 1257 , # 850 , # 635 , # 134 ] and the as - level path from the prefix hijack monitor 106 disposed at as # 6 is [# 6 , # 1258 , # 51 , # 67 , # 134 ]. fig4 b illustrates example as - level paths generated and reported by the prefix hijack monitors 104 , 106 after hijacking of the destination prefix 108 of the destination as # 134 . the as - level path from the prefix hijack monitors 104 disposed at as # 4 is [# 4 , # 1257 , # 93 , # 134 ] and the as - level path from the prefix hijack monitors 106 disposed at as # 6 is [# 6 , # 1258 , # 93 , # 134 ]. fig5 is a flowchart that illustrates an example method 500 to locate a hijacker of a destination prefix to within a one - hop neighborhood using reported as - level paths from plural prefix hijack monitors . the method 500 starts at operation 502 . at operation 504 , prefix hijack monitors for a prefix hijack monitor set ( m ) are selected . as an example , monitor selection module 301 may include prefix hijack monitors 104 , 106 in the prefix hijack monitor set ( m ). at operation 505 , a monitor - to - destination autonomous system ( as ) path from each prefix hijack monitor in the prefix hijack monitor set ( m ) is received . for example , receiver module 304 may receive the as - level paths prefix hijack monitor 104 , 106 . at operation 506 , a suspect hijacker as set ( h ), covered count set ( c ) and distance set ( d ) are initialized to empty or null sets . for example , the initialization module 306 may initialize the h , c and d sets . at operation 508 , a one - hop neighborhood of monitor - to - destination as path is generated for each prefix hijack monitor of the prefix hijack monitor set ( m ). for example , the neighborhood generation module 308 may generate the one - hop neighborhood of monitor - to - destination as path for each prefix hijack monitor of the prefix hijack monitor set ( m ). as an example , the one - hop neighborhood of an as path from as # 4 ( at which prefix hijack monitor 104 is disposed ) to destination as # 134 of the destination prefix ( e . g ., 135 . 207 . 122 / 24 ) is [# 4 , # 1257 , # 850 , # 93 , # 1258 , # 124 ]. as another example , the one - hop neighborhood of an as path from as # 6 ( at which prefix hijack monitor 106 is disposed ) to destination as # 134 is [# 6 , # 1258 , # 51 , # 93 , # 1257 , # 134 ]. the following operations 510 - 528 may be performed by the suspect set generation module 310 of fig3 . at operation 510 , a prefix hijacker monitor is selected from the prefix hijack monitor set ( m ). as an example , prefix hijack monitor 104 may be selected from the prefix hijack monitor set ( m ). at operation 512 , an as is selected from the one - hop neighborhood of the monitor - to - destination as path for the selected prefix hijacker monitor . at operation 514 , a determination is made as to whether the selected as is in the suspect hijacker as set ( h ). if at operation 514 , it is determined that the selected as is not in the suspect hijacker as set ( h ), the method 500 continues at operation 516 , where the selected as is inserted into the suspect hijacker as set ( h ). at operation 518 , a covered count entry that is associated with the selected as is inserted into the cover count set ( c ). the inserted covered count entry is initialized to a value of zero ( 0 ). at operation 520 a distance entry that is associated with the selected as is inserted into the distance set ( d ). the inserted distance entry is initialized to an as - level distance from the as of the selected prefix hijack monitor to the selected as . the method 500 continues at operation 526 described below . if at operation 514 , it is determined that the selected as is in the suspect hijacker as set ( h ), the method 500 continues at operation 522 , where the covered count entry in covered count set ( c ) for the selected as is incremented by one ( 1 ). at operation 524 , the distance entry in the distance set ( d ) for the selected as is incremented by an as - level distance from the as of the selected prefix hijack monitor to the selected as . the method 500 continues at operation 526 described below . at operation 526 , a determination is made as to whether there are more ases in the one - hop neighborhood for the monitor - to - destination as path of the selected monitor . if at operation 526 , it is determined that there are more ases in the one - hop neighborhood for the monitor - to - destination as path of the selected monitor , the method 500 continues at operation 512 , and operations 512 - 526 are iteratively repeated until it is determined that there are no more ases in the one - hop neighborhood for the monitor - to - destination as path of the selected monitor , at operation 526 . if at operation 526 , it is determined that there are no more ases in the one - hop neighborhood for the monitor - to - destination as path of the selected monitor , the method continues at operation 528 , where a determination is made as to whether there are more prefix hijack monitors in the prefix hijack monitor set ( m ). if at operation 528 , it is determined that there are more prefix hijack monitors in the prefix hijack monitor set ( m ), the method 500 continues at operation 510 , and operations 510 - 528 are iteratively repeated until it is determined that there are no more prefix hijack monitors in the prefix hijack monitor set ( m ), at operation 528 . if at operation 528 , it is determined that there are no more prefix hijack monitors in the prefix hijack monitor set ( m ), the method 500 continues at operation 530 , where a one - hop suspect set of ases ( a ) of the suspect hijacker as set ( h ) is determined . the one - hop suspect set of ases ( a ) includes ases of the suspect hijacker as set ( h ) that have the highest associated covered counts in covered count set ( c ) and the highest associated total distances in total distance set ( d ). the one - hop suspect set of ases ( a ) locates a prefix hijacker of a destination prefix to within a one - hop neighborhood ( e . g ., ases # 1257 , # 93 , # 1258 ). the method ends 500 at operation 532 . fig6 is a flowchart that illustrates an example method 600 to locate a prefix hijacker of a destination prefix from a one - hop suspect set of ases ( a ) of the suspect hijacker as set ( h ) determined in method 500 of fig5 . the one - hop suspect set of ases ( a ) includes ases # 1257 , # 93 and # 1258 , illustrated in table 1 with the highest covered counts and total distances . operations 604 - 618 may , for example , be performed by the prefix hijacker determination module 314 of fig3 . the method 600 begins at operation 602 . at operation 604 , a one - hop neighbor set for each as in the one - hop suspect set ( a ) of the suspect hijacker as set ( h ) is generated . the one - hop neighbor set for each as of the one - hop suspect set ( a ) includes its neighbors only , but does not include each as . for example , for as # 1257 the one - hop neighborhood is [# 4 , # 93 , # 850 ]; for as # 93 the one - hop neighborhood is [# 1257 , # 1258 , # 134 ]; and for as # 1258 the one - hop neighborhood is [# 6 , # 51 , # 93 ]. at operation 606 , an as ( s ) is selected from the one - hop suspect set of ases ( a ). for example , as # 1257 is selected . at operation 608 , an as ( t ) is selected from the one - hop suspect set of ases ( a ). for example , as # 1257 is selected . at operation 610 , a determination is made as to whether as ( s ) is equal to as ( t ). if at operation 610 , as ( s ) is equal to as ( t ), the method 600 continues at operation 608 and operations 608 and 610 are performed to select a next as ( t ) from the one - hop suspect set of ases ( a ). for example , as # 93 is selected . if at operation 610 , as ( s ) is not equal to as ( t ), the method 600 continues at operation 612 . at operation 612 , the covered count entry in covered count set ( c ) is incremented by one ( 1 ) for the selected as ( s ) from the one - hop suspect set of ases ( a ), if the selected as ( s ) is included in the one - hop neighbor set of as ( t ). for example , the covered count for as # 1257 is incremented from two ( 2 ) to three ( 3 ). at operation 614 , a determination is made as to whether there are more ases for as ( t ) in the one - hop suspect set of ases ( a ). if there are more ases to be selected for as ( t ) at operation 614 , the method 500 continues at operation 608 and operations 608 - 614 are performed iteratively for the selected as ( s ) and all possible as ( t ) from the one - hop suspect set of ases ( a ). if at operation 614 , there are no more ases to be selected for as ( t ), the method 500 continues at operation 616 , where a determination is made as to whether there are more ases for as ( s ) in the one - hop suspect set of ases ( a ). if there are more ases to be selected for as ( s ) at operation 616 , the method continues at operation 606 and operations 606 - 614 are performed for all possible as ( s ) from the one - hop suspect set of ases ( a ). if there are no more ases to be selected for as ( s ) at operation 616 , the method 500 continues at operation 618 . at the completion of all iterations of operations 606 - 616 , the covered count of as # 1257 is three ( 3 ), the covered count of as # 93 is four ( 4 ), and covered count of as # 1258 is three ( 3 ), as compared to the covered counts in table 1 . at operation 618 , an as is selected from the one - hop suspect set of ases ( a ) of the suspect hijacker as set ( h ) that has the highest covered count in the covered count set ( c ). for example , as # 93 has the highest covered count of four ( 4 ), indicating that as # 93 is a center of the one - hop neighborhoods of the ases in the one - hop suspect set of ases ( a ), and thus as # 93 is the most likely prefix hijacker of the destination prefix . the method 600 ends at operation 620 . fig7 is a block diagram that illustrates a general computer system 800 . the computer system 700 may include a set of instructions that may be executed to cause the computer system 700 to perform any one or more of the computer based functions or methods disclosed herein . the computer system 700 , or any portion thereof , may operate as a standalone device or may be connected , e . g ., using a network , to other computer systems or peripheral devices . in a networked deployment , the computer system 700 may operate in the capacity of a bgp router , an igp router , a prefix hijack monitor , or a prefix hijacker location system . the computer system 700 may also be implemented as or incorporated into various devices , such as a personal computer ( pc ), a tablet pc , a personal digital assistant ( pda ), a mobile device , a palmtop computer , a laptop computer , a desktop computer , a communications device , a wireless telephone , a land - line telephone , a control system , a camera , a scanner , a facsimile machine , a printer , a pager , a personal trusted device , a web appliance , a network router , switch or bridge , or any other machine capable of executing a set of instructions ( sequential or otherwise ) that specify actions to be taken by that machine . further , while a single computer system 700 is illustrated , the term “ system ” shall also be taken to include any collection of systems or sub - systems that individually or jointly execute a set , or multiple sets , of instructions to perform one or more computer functions . as illustrated in fig7 , the computer system 700 may include a processor 702 , e . g ., a central processing unit ( cpu ), a graphics - processing unit ( gpu ), or both . moreover , the computer system 700 may include a main memory 704 and a static memory 706 that may communicate with each other via a bus 726 . as shown , the computer system 700 may further include a video display unit 710 , such as a liquid crystal display ( lcd ), an organic light emitting diode ( oled ), a projection unit , a television , a flat panel display , a solid state display , or a cathode ray tube ( crt ). additionally , the computer system 700 may include an input device 712 , such as a keyboard , and a cursor control device 714 , such as a mouse . the computer system 700 may also include a disk drive unit 716 , a signal generation device 722 , such as a speaker or remote control , and a network interface device 708 . in a particular embodiment , as depicted in fig7 , the disk drive unit 716 may include a computer - readable medium 718 in which one or more sets of instructions 720 , e . g ., software , may be embedded . further , the instructions 720 may embody one or more of the methods or logic as described herein . in a particular embodiment , the instructions 720 may reside completely , or at least partially , within the main memory 704 , the static memory 706 , and / or within the processor 702 during execution by the computer system 700 . the main memory 704 and the processor 702 also may include computer - readable media . in an alternative embodiment , dedicated hardware implementations , such as application specific integrated circuits , programmable logic arrays and other hardware devices , may be constructed to implement one or more of the methods described herein . applications that may include the apparatus and systems of various embodiments may broadly include a variety of electronic and computer systems . one or more embodiments described herein may implement functions using two or more specific interconnected hardware modules or devices with related control and data signals that may be communicated between and through the modules , or as portions of an application - specific integrated circuit . accordingly , the present system encompasses software , firmware , and hardware implementations . in accordance with various embodiments , the methods described herein may be implemented by software programs tangibly embodied in a processor - readable medium and may be executed by a processor . further , in an exemplary , non - limited embodiment , implementations may include distributed processing , component / object distributed processing , and parallel processing . alternatively , virtual computer system processing may be constructed to implement one or more of the methods or functionality as described herein . the present application contemplates a computer - readable medium that includes instructions 720 or receives and executes instructions 720 responsive to a propagated signal , so that a device connected to a network 724 may communicate voice , video or data over the network 724 . further , the instructions 720 may be transmitted or received over the network 724 via the network interface device 708 . while the computer - readable medium is shown to be a single medium , the term “ computer - readable medium ” includes a single medium or multiple media , such as a centralized or distributed database , and / or associated caches and servers that store one or more sets of instructions . the term “ computer - readable medium ” shall also include any medium that is capable of storing , encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by a processor or that cause a computer system to perform any one or more of the methods or operations disclosed herein . in a particular non - limiting , exemplary embodiment , the computer - readable medium may include a solid - state memory such as a memory card or other package that houses one or more non - volatile read - only memories . further , the computer - readable medium may be a random access memory or other volatile re - writable memory . additionally , the computer - readable medium may include a magneto - optical or optical medium , such as a disk or tapes or other storage device to capture carrier wave signals such as a signal communicated over a transmission medium . a digital file attachment to an e - mail or other self - contained information archive or set of archives may be considered a medium that is equivalent to a tangible storage medium . accordingly , the application is considered to include any one or more of a computer - readable medium and other equivalents and successor media , in which data or instructions may be stored . although the present application describes components and functions that may be implemented in particular embodiments with reference to particular standards and protocols , the application is not limited to such standards and protocols . such standards and protocols are periodically superseded by faster or more efficient equivalents having essentially the same functions . accordingly , replacement standards and protocols having the same or similar functions as those disclosed herein are considered equivalents thereof . thus , a system , method and computer - readable storage medium to locate a prefix hijacker of a destination prefix within a one - hop neighborhood on a network have been described . although specific example embodiments have been described , it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader scope of the invention . accordingly , the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense . the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof , show by way of illustration , and not of limitation , specific embodiments in which the subject matter may be practiced . the embodiments illustrated are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed herein . other embodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom , such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of this application . this detailed description , therefore , is not to be taken in a limiting sense , and the scope of various embodiments is defined only by the appended claims , along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled . such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred to herein , individually and / or collectively , by the term “ invention ” merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to any single invention or inventive concept . thus , although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein , it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown . this application is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments . combinations of the above embodiments and other embodiments not specifically described herein , will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description . the abstract is provided to comply with 37 c . f . r . § 1 . 72 ( b ) and will allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure of this application . it is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims . in the foregoing description of the embodiments , various features may be grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure of this application . this method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting that the claimed embodiments have more features than are expressly recited in each claim . rather , as the following claims reflect , inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment .	7
there is thus provided , in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention , a polymerizable composition which comprises a plurality of polymerizable monomers , a polymerization initiator , at least one filler , and a polymerizable resin comprising a thermoplastic resin and a dendritic molecule , and optionally a cross - linked , wherein said composition contains at least about 40 - 95 wt . % of the filler , and from about 0 . 1 to about 10 . 0 wt . % of the dendritic molecule and 0 . 01 % wt . nano - fibers . in a preferred embodiment of the invention , the polymerizable monomer is chosen from the group consisting of mono - and multifunctional acrylates or methacrylates , preferably methyl methacrylate , triethylene glycol dimethacrylate ( tedma ), 2 - hydroxyethyl methacrylate , hexanediol methacrylate , or dodecanediol dimethacrylate . in one preferred embodiment of the invention , the monomer is substantially the only monomer present . in another preferred embodiment of the invention , the monomer is present as part of a mixture of monomers . the monomer is polymerizable by free radical polymerization . in one preferred embodiment of the invention , the free radical polymerization may be initiated by visible light radiation . in another preferred embodiment of the invention , the free radical polymerization may be initiated by an oxidation - reduction reaction , preferably by reaction of an amine with a peroxide . in a preferred embodiment of the invention , the monomer contains one or more functional groups selected from the group consisting of urethane , amine , acrylic , carboxylic , amide and hydroxyl . in a preferred embodiment of the invention , the at least one monomer is present in the composition in an amount of between about 12 and about 20 wt . %. in a preferred embodiment of the invention . the thermoplastic resin is comprised of the group consisting of bisphenol - a - dimethacrylate , bisphenylglycidyl methacrylate ( bis - gma ), mono - and multi - functional aliphatic and aromatic urethane acrylate oligomers , epoxy - acrylate oligomers , urethane di - methacrylate or urethano - acrylate oligomers . it should be noted that the thermoplastic resin is actually the result of the polymerization of the monomers and / or oligomers that it is comprised of , although in some embodiments such resin may also be added to begin with . preferably , units of which the thermoplastic resin is composed have an average moleular weight ( mw ) of between about 500 and about 3000 . in one preferred embodiment of the invention , the thermoplastic resin comprises substantially only one type of oligomer . in another preferred embodiment of the invention , the thermoplastic resin comprises a mixture of oligomers . in one preferred embodiment of the invention , the free radical polymerization may be initiated by visible light radiation . in another preferred embodiment of the invention , the free radical polymerization may be initiated by an oxidation - reduction reaction , preferably by reaction of an amine with a peroxide . in a preferred embodiment of the invention , the thermoplastic resin contains one or more functional groups selected from the group consisting of urethane , amine , acrylic , amide , and hydroxyl . in a preferred embodiment of the invention , the thermoplastic resin is present in the composition in an amount of between about 10 and about 18 wt . %. in a preferred embodiment of the invention , the dendritic molecule is a dendrimer . in a preferred embodiment , the dendrimer has from about 1 to about 20 generations of at least one monomeric or polymeric branching chain extender . in a preferred embodiment of the invention , the terminal units of the dendrimer contain functional groups which can react with functional groups on the monomer , the thermoplastic resin or the cross - linker . in a preferred embodiment of the invention , the dendrimer has a molecular weight between about 1 , 500 and about 25 , 000 . in another preferred embodiment of the invention , the dendritic molecule is a hyperbranched molecule . in a preferred embodiment , the hyperbranched molecule has from about 1 to about 20 generations . in a preferred embodiment , the hyperbranched molecule has at least one terminal unit which can react with a functional group on at least one of the monomer , the thermoplastic resin or the crosslinker . in a preferred embodiment of the invention , the hyperbranched molecule contains functional groups selected from the group consisting of hydroxyl , amine , carboxylic , ester , amide , sulfide , carboxylate , fatty acid and any reactive functional group . in a preferred embodiment of the invention , the hyperbranched molecule has a molecular weight between about 1 , 500 and about 25 , 000 . in a preferred embodiment of the invention , the filler nanofiber or nanosphere is selected from the group consisting of carbon , silica , alumina and other glass oxides and ceramics , or thermoplastic polymers like nylon , polyurethanes , polyvinyl alcohol ( pvoh ), polylacticacid , polyglycolic - acid and copolymer of those , silk , cellulose and the like , natural as well as synthetic polymeric nanofiber . the nanofiber may be treated by special surface treatment based on sylanization reaction , preferably having an average diameter of between about 1 nm and 300 nm . in one preferred embodiment of the invention the nanofiber filler are coated with a coupling agent to bond to the resin matrix , preferably with a coating containing silyl groups or the nanofiber filler are uncoated . in another preferred embodiment , prior to mixing in the composition of the invention the nanofiber filler are optionally treated with hyperbranched polymers or dendrimers in order to enhance interfacial adhesion to the resin matrix . in a preferred embodiment of the invention , the composition comprises an oxidizing initiator selected from the group consisting of benzoyl peroxide , lauryl peroxide , benzoin , benzophenone , alpha - diketones . in a preferred embodiment , the oxidizing initiator is present in an amount of between about 0 . 3 and 1 . 5 wt . %. a preferred oxidizing initiator for use in self - cured polymerization is benzoyl peroxide . a preferred oxidizing initiator for use in photopolymerization is camphor quinone . in a preferred embodiment of the invention , the composition also comprises a reducing initiator selected from the group consisting of tertiary amines . reducing initiators are preferably used as reducing agents in combination with oxidizing initiators such as benzoyl peroxide , lauryl peroxide , or α - diketones , to effect more rapid generation of radicals . preferred reducing initiators for self - cured polymerization are n , n - dimethyl - p - toluidine and n , n - dimethyl - sym - xylidine . preferred reducing initiators for use in photopolymerization are ethyl - 4 - dimethyl - aminobenzoate ( edb ) and diethyl - aminoethyl methacrylate . preferably , the ratio of photoiniator to amine is about 1 : 1 . in a preferred embodiment of the invention , the composition comprises a cross - linker . the inclusion of a cross - linker is especially preferably when the composition will be polymerized to function as an adhesive . in a preferred embodiment , the cross - linker contains functional groups which can cross - link one or more of the monomer , oligomer and dendritic molecule . in a preferred embodiment , the cross - linker contains functional groups selected from the group consisting of hydroxyl and acrylic . in a preferred embodiment , the cross linker is selected from the group consisting of multifunctional acrylates , preferably tri - or tetrafunctional acrylates . in a preferred embodiment , the cross linker is present in the composition in an amount of between about 0 . 5 and 2 . 0 wt . %. in a preferred embodiment of the invention , a filler is selected from the group consisting of quartz or silica - glass . silica - glass preferably containes strontium , barium , zinc , boron and yttrium , aluminoborosilicate glass , colloidal silica or various other types of silica . in a preferred embodiment the caged macromolecule is polyhedral oligomeric silsequioxanes ( poss ). poss are nonostructed organic / inorganic hybrid compounds that have been used as reactive nanofillers to form nanocomposites . silsesquioxanes are a class of compounds with the empirical formula rsio1 . 5 . the caged silica may possess a variety of functional groups ( r group ) that can potentially react with the host matrix . a variety of poss structures from cage size 6 through 12 are available , generally , the cage size 8 is mostly used . poss monomers are designed to be copolymerizes or grafted into / onto the polymer chains to provide molecular level reinforcement . there is no limit to the type of functionality that can be placed on the cage , anywhere from one to eight groups . several commercial hyperbranched additives are available on the market such as hybrane ( made by dsm of the netherlands ) and boltorn ( made by perstorp corp . of sweden ). other suitable hyperbranched additives are hyperbranched polyesteramide ( such as those described in u . s . pat . nos . 6 , 387 , 496 and 6 , 392 , 006 ) and hyperbranched polyester . the hyperbranched additive may be a hyperbranched or dendritic macromolecule built up of hydroxyl units . the hydroxyl units may be combined with amide molecules having nitrogen atoms as branching points . likewise the hyperbranched additive may be a hyperbranched or dendritic macromolecule with a reactive group , wherein the reactive group is comprised of hydroxyl , amine , carboylic , ester , amide , sulfide , carboxylate or fatty acid . suitable electrospun nanofibers include fibers spun from polyvinyl alcohol ( pvoh ), poly - l - lactic acid ( plla ) and polyamides ( pa ). suitable electrospun nanospheres include spheres spun from pvoh . commonly used monomer suitable for the invention are bisphenylglycidyl methacrylate ( bis - gma ), triethylene glycol dimethacrylate ( tegdma ), 2 - hydroxyethyl methacrylate , hexanediol methacrylate , or dodecanediol dimethacrylate , bisphenol - a - dimethacrylate , 2 , 6 - di - tert - butyl - 4 - methylphenol ( bht ), 2 - hydroxyethylmethacrylate ( hema ) or n , n - dimethyl - p - toluidine . molecules built from bis - gma such as those described in u . s . patent application publications 2006 / 0058415 and 2006 / 0058418 are also suitable for the invention . preferably , the filler is in the form of particles , preferably having an average diameter of between about 30 nm and 30 μm . in one preferred embodiment of the invention the filler particles are coated with a coupling agent to bond to the resin matrix , preferably with a coating containing silyl groups ( sometimes referred to as “ silanized ” filler as is known in the art ). in another preferred embodiment of the invention the filler particles are uncoated . in another preferred embodiment , prior to mixing in the composition of the invention the filler particles are optionally treated with hyperbranched polymers or dendrimers in order to enhance interfacial adhesion to the resin matrix and nono - fibers for reinforcement of the nano - composite . in a preferred embodiment of the invention , the filler contains matter which is radiopaque . there is also provided , in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention , a process for forming a dental material , comprising the steps of ( a ) providing a polymerizable composition comprising at least one polymerizable monomer , a polymerization initiator , at least one filler , and a polymerizable resin comprising a thermoplastic resin and optionally a cross - linker wherein said composition contains at least about 40 - 95 wt . % of the filler , and from about 0 . 1 to about 10 . 0 wt . % of the dendritic molecule and ( b ) polymerizing said composition . in one preferred embodiment of the invention , the material formed is a dental composite . in another preferred embodiment of the invention , the material formed is a dental adhesive . there is also provided , in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention , a denial material having a compressive strength of at least about 200 mpa , preferably at least about 250 mpa as determined by the method of iso 9917 and linear shrinkage of less than about 2 %, preferably less than about 1 . 5 %, the dental material being the result of polymerization of a composition comprising at least one polymerizable monomer , a polymerization initiator , at least one filler , and a polymerizable resin comprising a thermoplastic resin and a dendritic molecule , and optionally a cross - linker , wherein said composition contains at least about 40 - 95 wt . % of the filler , and from about 0 . 1 to about 10 . 0 wt . % of the dendritic molecule . there is also provided , in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention , a primer for pre - treating a tooth or other dental surface prior to application of an adhesive to said dental surface , comprising a solvent acceptable for use in dentistry and between about 1 - 30 wt . % of a hyperbranched dendritic macromolecule having a core which is built up by polycondensation so that the hyperbranched molecule has functional groups , for example , hydroxyl units in the terminal units and has amide nitrogen atoms as branching points . there is also provided , in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention , a process for pre - treating a tooth or other dental surface prior to application of an adhesive to said tooth or dental surface , comprising ( a ) providing a solution comprising a solvent acceptable for use in dentistry and between about 1 - 30 wt . % of a hyperbranched dendritic macromolecule having a core which is built up by polycondensation of cyclic anhydrides with diisopropanolamine , so that the hyperbranched molecule has hydroxyl units in the terminal units and has amide nitrogen atoms as branching points , and ( b ) applying said solution to said tooth or other dental surface . in addition , 0 . 01 - 5 % wt . nano - fibers of various type ( see above ) can be added . a nanomaterial , such as a nanoclay may also be used in the dental material . one such type of nanoclay is alkyl quaternary ammonium bentonite also known by its trade name of cloisite and manufactured by southern clay products . it preferred embodiments , the present invention provides polymerizable compositions which yield dental materials having improved compressive strength and shrinkage properties vis - a - vis dental materials known in the prior art . in additional preferred embodiments of the invention , the dental materials may be formulated to have additional improved properties , such as water sorption or bonding to tooth substrates as expressed in measured shear bond strength . a common feature to all the preferred embodiments of the present invention is the incorporation into the polymerizable composition of an amount of a dendritic polymer combined with nano - fibers which upon curing is effective to impart to the composition , in conjunction with the other components in the composition , the desired properties of compressive strength and shrinkage . thus , for example , suitable combinations of monomers , thermoplastic resins and mono - or / and multifunctional acrylates or methacrylates such as methyl methacrylate , triethylene glycol dimethacrylate , 2 - hydroxyethyl methacrylate , hexanediol methacrylate , dodecanediol dimethacrylate , as the monomer , bisphenol - a - dimethacrylate , bisphenylglycidyl methacrylate , mono - and multi - functional aliphatic and aromatic urethane acrylate oligomers , epoxy - acrylate oligomers and urethano - acrylate oligomers , preferably having mw between 500 and 3000 as the thermoplastic resin , and dendritic molecules having functional groups selected from the group consisting of hydroxyl , amine , carboylic , ester amide , sulfide , carboxylate and fatty acid as the terminal groups . it has been found that when the dendritic molecule used is a dendrimer , it is preferably for the dendrimer to have between about 3 and about 770 terminal groups , and / or to contain between about 0 and 8 generations . preferably , when the dendritic molecule used is a hyperbranched polymer , the hyperbranched polymer has a degree of branching between about 0 . 4 and 0 . 9 . in preferred embodiments of the invention , the interior the dendritic molecule is built up from units containing hydroxyl or amine groups . examples of pairs of initiators suitable for use in accordance with the present invention are benzoyl peroxide , camphor quinone as oxidizing initiators and amines , preferably n , n - dimethyl - p - toluidine , ethyl - 4 - dimethylaminobenzoate and their derivatives , as reducing initiators . when cross - liners are used , these are preferably molecules capable of cross - linking the groups b on the terminii of the dendritic molecules with the thermoplastic resin and / or the at least one monomer . preferably , the initiator and cross - linker are each independently present in an amount of between about 0 . 3 and about 1 . 5 wt . %. examples of fillers suitable for use in accordance with the present invention are silanized glass and other dental fillers as are well known in the art , such as , quartz or silica - glass containing at least one of strontium , barium , zinc , boron , and yttrium , aluminoborosilicate glass , and colloidal silica and caged silica ( poss ). preferably , the fillers are coated with a dendritic molecule , preferably the same dendritic molecule used in the remainder of the composition of the invention . the fillers preferably have an average particle size of between about 10 nm and about 30 μm , and may be present a mixture of particles having a range of sizes . it has been found that dental materials prepared in accordance with the present invention exhibit low shrinkage , generally below about 2 . 0 % and preferably below about 1 . 5 %, measured by the method described below . at the same time , and in contrast to dental materials known in the prior art , including those prior art dental materials prepared from mixtures of monomers and / or oligomers and dendritic polymers , the dental materials obtained in accordance with the present invention also exhibit good compressive strength , generally at least about 200 mpa and preferably at least about 300 mpa . in one preferred embodiment of the present invention , a tooth or other dental surface to which an adhesive is to be applied may be pre - treated with a dendritic polymer as described above . such application may be made , for example , by contacting the tooth or dental surface with a solution containing from about 1 to about 30 % dendritic polymer and 0 . 01 - 5 % wt . nano - fibers in a dentally acceptable solvent , such as ethanol or another alcohol or propylene glycol or another glycol . examples of some preferred embodiments of the invention will now be illustrated through the following illustrative and non - limitative example . a highly filled dental cement is formed from a composition consisting of two parts , mixture a ( base ) and mixture b ( catalyst ) which are mixed in equal amounts and oxidatively polymerized . mixture a : to a mixture of 1 . 4000 g of bishpenylglycidylmethacrylate ( bis - gma ), 1 . 7 mg 2 , 6 - di - tert - butyl - 4 - methylphenol ( bht ) and 1 . 5000 g 2 - hydroxyethylmethacrylate ( hema ) were added 0 . 0400 g of n , n - dimethyl - p - toluidine and 7 . 0583 g of silanised glass filler at room temperature . this mixture was then ground . mixture b : to a mixture of 1 . 3400 g of bisphenylglycidylmethacrylate ( bis - gma ), 2 . 0 mg bht and 1 . 3080 g tetraethylglycidylmethacrylate ( tegdma ) were added 0 . 0400 g of benzoyl peroxide and 7 . 3100 g of silanised glass filler at room temperature . this mixture was then ground . mixtures a and b were stored separately for at least 24 hours at room temperature prior to use . a dental cement was prepared by polymerizing a mixture consisting of 2 . 500 g of mixture a and 2 . 500 g of mixture a . the procedure of example 1 was followed except that in each of mixtures a and b , 0 . 01 g of bis - gma ( representing 0 . 1 wt . % of the total weight of each mixture ) was replaced with a dendripolyamide oligomer based on a six - valent semi - flexible core ( molecular weight 12 , 100 ; h - functionality size 45 mole − 1 ; h - functionality type as versamide 125 ). the compressive strength of the resulting cement was found to be in the range of 150 . 0 ± 20 . 0 mpa . water sorption was at the range of 16 . 0 ± 2 . 0 μg / mm 3 . the result complies with iso 4049 : 2000 ( e ) requirements . linear shrinkage was in the range of ± 3 . 6 %. the procedure of example 1 was followed , except that in each of mixtures a and b , 0 . 01 g of bis - gma ( representing 0 . 1 wt . % of the total weight of each mixture ) was replaced with a hyperbranched polyesteramide . the compressive strength of the resulting cement was found to be in the range of 303 . 7 ± 20 . 0 mpa . water sorption was found to be within iso 4049 : 2000 ( e ) requirements . linear shrinkage determined as described in example 1 was ± 0 . 8 %. the procedure of example 3 was followed , except that 0 . 03 g of the same hyperbranched polyesteramide used in example 3 ( representing 0 . 3 wt . % of the total weight of each mixture ) was used in each of mixtures a and b . the compressive strength of the resulting cement was found to be in the range of 386 . 0 ± 20 . 0 mpa . water sorption was found to be within iso 4049 : 2000 ( e ) requirements . linear shrinkage determined as describe in example 1 was ± 1 . 5 %. the procedure of example 3 was followed , except that 0 . 05 g of the hyperbranched polyesteramide ( representing 0 . 5 wt . % of the total weight of each mixture ) was used in each of mixtures a and b . the compressive strength of the resulting cement was found to be in the range of 227 . 0 ± 20 . 0 mpa . water sorption was at the range of 16 . 0 ± 2 . 0 μg / mm 3 . linear shrinkage was in the range ± 2 . 3 %. the procedure of example 1 was followed , except that in each of mixtures a and b , 0 . 05 g of bis - gma ( representing 0 . 5 wt . % of the total weight of each mixture ) was replaced with a dendripolyamide oligomer with a four - valent semi - flexible core ( molecular weight 6 , 500 ; h - functionality size 30 mole − 1 ; h - functionality type as versamide 125 ). the compressive strength of the resulting cement was found to be in the range of 201 . 0 ± 20 . 0 mpa . water sorption determined was at the range of 30 . 0 ± 2 . 0 μg / mm 3 . linear shrinkage determined as described in example 1 was at the range ± 2 . 4 %. mixture a : to a mixture of 1 . 3600 g of bisphenylglycidylmethacrylate ( bis - gma ), 1 . 7 mg 2 , 6 - di - tert - butyl - 4 - methylphenol ( bht ), 0 . 0300 g by perbranched polyesteramide 1 . 5700 g of 2 - hydroxyethylmethacrylate ( hema ) were added 0 . 0400 g of n , n - dimethyl - p - toluidine and 6 . 9983 g of filler containing a mixture of colloidal silica . silanised glass , borosilicate glass and fluorine - releasing filler at room temperature . the core composite composition consists of the same components as the model one , but the filler level is different for two parts of composition and contains silanized glass , colloidal silica , borosilicate glass mixture , and fluorine - releasing filler . the changes in filler content were dictated by aesthetic demands and desired additional properties , easy handling , thermal conductivity , fluorine - release etc . this mixture of components was then ground to form mixture a . mixture b : to a mixture of 1 . 3400 g of bis - gma , 1 . 3 mg bht , 0 . 0270 g hyperbranched polyestramide 1 . 3000 g of tetraethylglycidylmethacrylate ( tegdma ) were added 0 . 0400 g of benzoyl peroxide and 7 . 2917 g of filler containing a mixture colloidal silica , silanised glass , borosilicate glass and fluorine - releasing filler at room temperature . the mixture of components was ground to form mixture b . mixtures a and b were stored separately for at least 24 hours at room temperature prior to use , and then 2 . 5 g of mixture a was mixed with 2 . 5 of mixture b and allowed to cure for 10 minutes . the dental material obtained after curing was found to have a compressive strength of 250 . 0 ± 20 . 0 mpa , linear shrinkage of 1 . 50 ± 0 . 50 %, and water sorption 23 . 8 μ / mm 3 . a comparison between the dental material obtained in example 7 and core build - up materials prepared from commercially available compositions was carried out under identical conditions . the results of physical and mechanical evaluations , measured as described above , are summarized in table 1 : mixtures a and b were stored separately for at least 24 hours at room temperature prior to use , and then 2 . 5 g of mixture a was mixed with 2 . 5 of mixture b and allowed to cure for 10 minutes . the dental material obtained after curing was found to have a compressive strength of 251 . 0 ± 20 . 0 mpa , linear shrinkage of 1 . 20 ± 0 . 15 %, and water sorption 30 . 0 μg / mm 3 . a comparison between the dental material obtained in example 8 and core build - up materials prepared from commercially available compositions was carried out under identical conditions . the results of physical and mechanical evaluations , measured as described above , are summarized in table 2 : a liquid light - curable dental adhesive was prepared by mixing 2 . 100 g of tetrathylglycidylmthacrylate ( tegdma ), 2 . 700 g 2 - hydroxyethylmethacrylate ( hema ), 4 . 200 g urethane di - methacrylate oligomer , 0 . 500 g phosphonate as a bonding agent , 0 . 446 g triacrylate monomer as a cross - linking agent , 0 . 025 g ethyl - 4 - dimethylaminobenzoate ( edb ) as a polymerization accelerator , and 0 . 029 g camphor quinone as a polymerization initiator and exposing to light of 450 - 500 nm wavelength , as described below . after bonding and curing the sample , specimens were placed in water at 37 ° c . for 24 hours . the shear bond strength ( sbs ) of the dental adhesive was found to be 6 . 3 ± 2 . 0 mpa . the procedure of example 9 was repeated , except that 0 . 020 g ( 0 . 2 wt . %) of a hyperbranched polyesteramide was added to the adhesive composition . the shear bond strength ( sbs ) was 10 . 5 ± 2 . 0 mpa . the procedure of example 9 was repeated except that 0 . 065 g ( 0 . 65 of wt . %). of the hyperbranched polyesteramide was added to the adhesive composition . the shear bond strength ( sbs ) was found to be 11 . 6 ± 20 mpa . the procedure of example 9 was repeated , except that 0 . 150 g of the hyperbranched polyesteramide was added to the adhesive composition . the shear bond strength ( sbs ) was found to be 10 . 7 ± 20 mpa . the procedure of example 9 was repeated , except that 0 . 020 g of dendripolyamide oligomer with a six - valent semi - flexible core ( molecular weight 12 , 100 ; h - functionality size 45 mole − 1 ; h - functionality type as versamide 125 ) were added to the adhesive composition . the shear bond strength ( sbs ) was found to be 5 . 5 ± 2 . 0 mpa . dental adhesives may be used for final cementation of crowns and bridges , for inlays and onlays , for posts and cores , for ceramic crowns and maryland bridges , or for bonding metal , plastic or ceramic orthodontic attachments to teeth . adhesives may also be used for amalgam restoration , veneering of alloys , and for the implantation of prostheses . this and the following two examples compare dental adhesives prepared without and with dendritic molecules . the adhesives are “ dual curable ”, i . e . polymerization may be initiated by combining the two component mixtures a and b of the adhesive , but the rate polymerization can be increased by exposing the combined components to light . mixture a : to a mixture of 1 . 240 g 2 - hydroxyethylmethacrylate ( hema ), 3 . 660 g urethane di - methacrylate oligomer and 0 . 200 g triacrylate monomer cross - linking agent were added 0 . 030 g n , n - dihydroxyethyl - p - toluidine ( dhept ), 0 . 030 g camphor quinone , 0 . 030 g ethyl - 4 - dimethylaminobenzoate ( edb ), and 4 . 810 g strontium - alumino - fluoro - silicate glass at room temperature . these components were then mixed to form mixture a . mixture b : to a mixture of 2 . 200 g bisphenylglycidylmethacrylate ( bis - gma ), 0 . 200 g of triacrylate monomer cross - linking agent and 1 . 700 g tetraethylglycidylmethacrylate ( tegdma ) were added 0 . 080 g benzoyl peroxide , 0 . 200 g aromatic acrylate monomer derivative coupling agent and 5 . 620 g strontium - alumino - fluoro - silicate glass at room temperature . these components were then mixed to form mixture b . mixtures a and b were stored separately for 24 hours at room temperature , and then 2 . 5 g of mixture a was mixed with 2 . 5 g of mixture b and allowed to cure for 1 hour . the dental material obtained after curing was found to have a shear bond strength of 3 . 4 ± 1 . 3 mpa and a compressive strength of 222 . 0 ± 20 . 0 mpa . the procedure of example 14 was repeated , except that 0 . 100 g ( 1 . 0 wt . %) of a hyperbranched polyesteramide was added to each of mixtures a and b . the shear bond strength ( sbs ) measured as in example 12 was 6 . 5 ± 1 . 3 mpa and compressive strength measured as in example 1 was 117 . 0 ± 20 . 0 mpa . the procedure of example 14 was repeated , except that 0 . 150 g ( 1 . 5 wt . %) of the hyperbranched polyesteramide was added to each of mixtures a and b . sbs was found to be 5 . 0 ± 1 . 3 mpa and compressive strength found to be 96 . 0 ± 20 . 0 mpa . mixture a : to a mixture of 3 . 840 g 2 tetraethylglycidylmethacrylate ( tegdma ), 5 . 630 g bisphenylglycidylmethacrylate ( bis - gma ) were added 0 . 180 g n , n - dihydroxyethyl - p - toluidine ( dhept ), 0 . 150 g camphor quinone , 0 . 110 g ethyl - 4 - dimethylaminobenzoate ( edb ), and 0 . 090 g hyperbranched polyesteramide without the conventional strontium - alumino - fluoro - silicate glass filler , as at example 14 , at room temperature . these components were then mixed to form mixture a . mixture b : to a mixture of 5 . 920 g bisphenylglycidylmethacrylate ( bis - gma ), 3 . 880 g tetraethylglycidylmethacrylate ( tegdma ) were added 0 . 110 g benzoyl peroxide , 0 . 090 g hyperbranched polyesteramide and without the conventional strontium - alumino - fluoro - silicate glass filler , as at example 14 , at room temperature . these components were then mixed to form mixture b . mixtures a and b were stored separately for 24 hours at room temperature , and then 2 . 5 g of mixture a was mixed with 2 . 5 g of mixture b and allowed to cure for 1 hour . unfilled dental adhesive composition with dendritic polymer and pvoh nanofibers and nanospheres mixture a : to a mixture of 3 . 840 g 2 tetraethylglycidylmethacrylate ( tegdma ), 5 . 630 g bisphenylglycidylmethacrylate ( bis - gma ) were added 0 . 180 g n , n - dihydroxyethyl - p - toluidine ( dhept ), 0 . 150 g camphor quinone , 0 . 110 g ethyl - 4 - dimethylaminobenzoate ( edb ), and 0 . 090 g hyperbranched polyesteramide without the conventional strontium - alumino - fluoro - silicate glass filler at room temperature . these components were then mixed to form mixture a . to mixture a 0 . 01 % of electrospun nano - fibers based on poly vinyl alcohol ( pvoh ) ( 2 various diameters ) were incorporated by shear mixing . mixture b : to a mixture of 5 . 920 g bisphenylglycidylmethacrylate ( bis - gma ), 3 . 880 g tetraethylglycidylmethacrylate ( tegdma ) were added 0 . 110 g benzoyl peroxide , 0 . 090 g hyperbranched polyesteramide and without the conventional strontium - alumino - fluoro - silicate glass filler at room temperature . these components were then mixed to form mixture b . to mixture b 0 . 01 % of electrospun nano - fibers based on pvoh ( 2 various diameters ) were incorporated by shear mixing . mixtures a and b were stored separately for 24 hours at room temperature , and then 2 . 5 g of mixture a was mixed with 2 . 5 g of mixture b and allowed to cure for 1 hour . results ( compressive strengths , flexural strengths and linear shrinkage ) are represented in table 3 - 5 respectively . the variants are based on the same formulation as example 18 and its properties are given also in table 3 - 5 . mixture a : to a mixture of 3 . 840 g 2 tetraethylglycidylmethacrylate ( tegdma ), 5 , 630 g bisphenylglycidylmethacrylate ( bis - gma ) were added 0 . 180 g n , n - dihydroxyethyl - p - toluidine ( dhept ), 0 . 150 g camphor quinone , 0 . 110 g ethyl - 4 - dimethylaminobenzoate ( edb ), and 0 . 090 g hyperbranched polyesteramide without the conventional strontium - alumino - fluoro - silicate glass filler , as at example 14 , at room temperature . these components were then mixed to form mixture a . to mixture a 0 . 01 % of electrospun nano - fibers based on poly - 1 - lactic acid ( plla ) ( 2 various diameters ) were incorporated by shear mixing . mixture b : to a mixture of 5 . 920 g bisphenylglycidylmethacrylate ( bis - gma ), 3 . 880 g tetraethylglycidylmethacrylate ( tegdma ) were added 0 . 110 g benzoyl peroxide , 0 . 090 g hyperbranched polyesteramide and without the conventional strontium - alumino - fluoro - silicate glass fiber at room temperature . these components were then mixed to form mixture b . to mixture b 0 . 01 % of electrospun nano - fibers based on poly - 1 - lactic acid ( plla ) ( 2 various diameters ) were incorporated by shear mixing . mixtures a and b were stored separately for 24 hours at room temperature , and then 2 . 5 g of mixture a was mixed with 2 . 5 g of mixture b and allowed to cure for 1 hour . results ( compressive strengths , flexural strengths and linear shrinkage ) are represented in table 6 - 8 respectively . the variants are based on the same formulation as example 19 and its properties are given also in table 6 - 8 . mixture a : to a mixture of 3 . 840 g 2 tetraethylglycidylmethacrylate ( tegdma ), 5 . 630 g bisphenylglycidylmethacrylate ( bis - gma ) were added 0 . 180 g n , n - dihydroxyethyl - p - toluidine ( dhept ), 0 . 150 g camphor quinone , 0 . 110 g ethyl - 4 - dimethylaminobenzoate ( edb ), and 0 . 090 g hyperbranched polyesteramide without the conventional strontium - alumino - fluoro - silicate glass filler at room temperature . these components were then mixed to form mixture a . to mixture a 0 . 01 % of electrospun nano - fibers based on polyamide 6 ( pa6 ) were incorporated by shear mixing . mixture b : to a mixture of 5 . 920 g bisphenylglycidylmethacrylate ( bis - gma ), 3 . 880 g tetraethylglycidylmethacrylate ( tegdma ) were added 0 . 110 g benzoyl peroxide , 0 . 090 g hyperbranched polyesteramide and without the conventional strontium - alumino - fluoro - silicate glass filler at room temperature . these components were then mixed to form mixture b . to mixture b 0 . 01 % of electrospun nano - fibers based on polyamide 6 ( pa6 ) were incorporated by shear mixing . mixtures a and b were stored separately for 24 hours at room temperature , and then 2 . 5 g of mixture a was mixed with 2 . 5 g of mixture b and allowed to cure for 1 hour . results ( compressive strengths , flexural strengths and linear shrinkage ) are represented in table 9 . the variants are based on the same formulation as example 20 and its properties are given also in table 9 . mixture a : to a mixture of 3 . 840 g 2 tetraethylglycidylmethacrylate ( tegdma ), 5 . 630 g bisphenylglycidylmethacrylate ( bis - gma ) containing 50 wt % of surface - modified , synthetic , sio2 - nanospheres of very small size ( diameter 20 nm ) and narrow particle size distribution were added 0 . 180 g n , n - dihydroxyethyl - p - toluidine ( dhept ), 0 . 150 g camphor quinone , 0 . 110 g ethyl - 4 - dimethylaminobenzoate ( edb ), and 0 . 090 g hyperbranched polyesteramide without the conventional strontium - alumino - fluoro - silicate glass filler at room temperature . these components were then mixed to form mixture a . mixture b : to a mixture of 5 . 920 g bisphenylglycidylmethacrylate ( bis - gma ), 3 . 880 g tetraethylglycidylmethacrylate ( tegdma ) containing 50 wt % of surface - modified synthetic sio2 - nanopheres of very small size ( diameter 20 nm ) and narrow particle size distribution were added 0 . 110 g benzoyl peroxide , 0 . 090 g hyperbranched polyesteramide and without the conventional strontium - alumino - fluoro - silicate glass filler at room temperature . these components were then mixed to form mixture b . mixtures a and b were stored separately for 24 hours at room temperature , and then 2 . 5 g of mixture a was mixed with 2 . 5 g of mixture b and allowed to cure for 1 hour . unfilled dental adhesive composition with dendritic polymer , nanospheres silica and nanofibers mixture a : to a mixture of 3 . 840 g 2 tetraethylglycidylmethacrylate ( tegdma ), 5 . 630 g bisphenylglycidylmethacrylate ( bis - gma ) containing 50 wt % of surface - modified , synthetic , sio2 - nanospheres of very small size ( diameter 20 nm ) and narrow particle size distribution were added 0 . 180 g n , n - dihydroxyethyl - p - toluidine ( dhept ), 0 . 150 g camphor quinone , 0 . 110 g ethyl - 4 - dimethylaminobenzoate ( edb ), and 0 . 090 g hyperbranched polyesteramide without the conventional strontium - alumino - fluoro - silicate glass filler at room temperature . these components were then mixed to form mixture a . to mixture a 0 . 01 % of electrospun nano - fibers based on pvoh ( 2 various diameters ) were incorporated by shear mixing . mixture b : to a mixture of 5 . 920 g bisphenylglycidylmethacrylate ( bis - gma ), 3 . 880 g tetraethylglycidylmethacrylate ( tegdma ) containing 50 wt % of surface - modified , synthetic sio2 - nanospheres of very small size ( diameter 20 nm ) and narrow particle size distribution were added 0 . 110 g benzoylperoxide , 0 . 090 g hyperbranched polyesteramide and without the conventional strontium - alumino - fluoro - silicate glass filler at room temperature . these components were then mixed to form mixture b . to mixture b 0 . 01 % of electrospun nano - fibers based on 250 nm diameter pvoh were incorporated by shear mixing . mixtures a and b were stored separately for 24 hours at room temperature , and then 2 . 5 g of mixture a was mixed with 2 . 5 g of mixture b and allowed to cure for 1 hour . results ( compressive strengths , flexural strengths and linear shrinkage ) are represented in table 10 . the variants are based on the same formulation as example 22 and its properties are given also in table 10 . it will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited by what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove . rather the scope of the present invention includes both combinations and subcombinations of the features described hereinabove as well as modifications and variations thereof which would occur to a person of skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description and which are not in the prior art .	0
in the following paragraphs , the present invention will be described in detail by way of example with reference to the figures . throughout this description , the preferred embodiment and examples shown should not be considered as limiting the scope of the present invention . the whole - cell patch clamp technique was used in mouse cortical neuronal cultures in order to screen for nmdar antagonists in danshen , the root of salvia milthiorriza bunge . danshen water extracts contained high potency , non - competitive nmdar antagonists with a readily reversible mode of action . the nmdar antagonists were identified as tanshinones . tanshinones are plant - derived diterpenoid quinones . compounds of the generic structures shown in fig5 and 6 are also expected to work in the present inventory and can be tested using various assays described herein or known in the art . chemical definitions of terms used in fig5 and 6 are defined below . as used herein , the term “ alkyl ” denotes branched or unbranched hydrocarbon chains containing between one and six , preferably one and four , carbon atoms , such as , e . g ., methyl , ethyl , n - propyl , iso - propyl , n - butyl , sec - butyl , iso - butyl , tert - butyl , and 2 - methylpentyl . these groups may be optionally substituted with one or more functional groups which are attached commonly to such chains , such as , e . g ., hydroxyl , bromo , fluoro , chloro , iodo , mercapto or thio , cyano , alkylthio , heterocycle , aryl , heteroaryl , carboxyl , alkoxycarbonyl , alkyl , alkenyl , nitro , amino , alkoxyl , amido , and optionally substituted isothioureido , amidino , guanidino , and the like to form alkyl groups such as trifluoromethyl , 3 - hydroxyhexyl , 2 - carboxypropyl , 2 - fluoroethyl , carboxymethyl , 4 - cyanobutyl , 2 - guanidinoethyl , 3 - n , n ′- dimethylisothiouroniumpropyl , and the like . the term “ alkenyl ” denotes an alkyl group as defined above having at least one double bond , e . g ., allyl , 3 - hydroxy - 2 - buten - 1 - yl , 1 - methyl - 2 - propen - 1 - yl and the like . the term “ alkynyl ” denotes an alkyl group as defined above having at least one triple bond . the term “ aryl ” denotes a chain of carbon atoms an which form an least one aromatic ring having preferably between about 6 - 14 carbon atoms , such as , e . g ., phenyl , naphthyl , indenyl , and the like , and which may be substituted with one or more functional groups which are attached commonly to such chains , such as , e . g ., hydroxyl , bromo , fluoro , chloro , iodo , mercapto or thio , cyano , cyanoamido , alkylthio , heterocycle , aryl , heteroaryl , carboxyl , alkoxycarbonyl , alkyl , alkenyl , nitro , amino , alkoxyl , amido , and the like to form aryl groups such as biphenyl , iodobiphenyl , methoxybiphenyl , anthryl , bromophenyl , iodophenyl , chlorophenyl , hydroxyphenyl , methoxyphenyl , formylphenyl , acetylphenyl , trifluoromethylthiophenyl , trifluoromethoxyphenyl , alkylthiophenyl , trialkylammoniumphenyl , amidophenyl , thiazolylphenyl , oxazolylphenyl , imidazolylphenyl , imidazolylmethylphenyl , cyanophenyl , pyridylphenyl , pyrrolylphenyl , pyrazolylphenyl , triazolylphenyl , tetrazolylphenyl and the like . the term “ amino ” denotes the group nrr ′, where r and r ′ may independently be alkyl , aryl or acyl as defined above , or hydrogen . the term “ carbonyl ” denotes compounds with a carbon to oxygen double bond ( c ═ o ), including aldehydes and ketones . the term “ halide ” denotes a binary combination of a halogen with another element , such as potassium iodide ki , or an organic compound in which halogen atoms replace one or more hydrogen atoms , for example ch 3 cl . description cite ischemic damage koroshetz w . j ., moskowitz m . a . emerging treatments for stroke in humans . tips 1996 ; 17 : 227 - 233 . animal models hunter a . j ., mackay k . b ., rogers d . c . to what extent have functional studies of ischemia in animals been useful in the assessment of potential neuroprotective agents . tips 1999 ; 19 : 59 - 66 . neurodegeneration lipton s . a ., rosenberg p . a . excitatory amino acids as a final common pathway for neurologic disorders . n . engl . j . med . 1994 mar 3 ; 330 ( 9 ): 613 - 22 . glaucoma and aids lipton s . a . retinal ganglion cells , glaucoma and related dementia neuroprotection . prog . brain res . 2001 ; 131 : 712 - 8 . kaul m ., garden g . a ., lipton s . a . pathways to neuronal injury and apoptosis in hiv - associated dementia . nature 2001 apr 19 ; 410 . lipton s . a . neuronal injury associated with hiv - 1 : approaches to treatment . annu . rev . pharmacol . todicol . general nicotera p ., lipton s . a . excitotoxins in neuronal apoptosis and necrosis . j . cereb . blood flow metab . 1999 jun ; 19 ( 6 ): 583 - 91 . jonas s ., ayigari v ., viera d ., waterman p . neuroprotection against cerebral ischemia . a review of animal studies and correlation with human trial results . ann . n . y . acad . sci . 1999 ; 890 : 2 - 3 . grand mal epilepsy toman j . e . p . animal techniques for evaluating anticonvulsants . in : nodin j . h . and siegler p . e . ( eds ) animals and clinical techniques in drug evaluation . year book med . publ . 1964 , vol . 1 : 348 - 352 . systemic convulsant leander j . d ., lawson r . r ., ornstein p . l ., zimmerman d . m . n - models methyl - d - aspartate acid induced lethality in mice : selective antagonism by phencyclidine - like drugs . brain res . ( 1988 ) 448 : 115 - 120 . pollack g . m ., shen d . d . a timed intravenous pentylenetetrazol infusion seizure model for quantitating the anticonvulsant effect of valproic acid in the rat . j . pharmacol . meth . ( 1985 ) 13 : 135 - 146 . snead iii o . c . γ - hydroxybutyrate model of generalized absence seizures : further characterization and comparison with other absence models . epilepsia ( 1988 ) 29 : 361 - 368 . stone w . e . systemic chemical convulsants and metabolic derangement . in : purpura d . p ., penry j . k ., tower d . b ., woodbury d . m ., walter r . d . ( eds ) experimental models of epilepsy : a manual for the laboratory worker . raven press , new york ( 1972 ) pp . 407 - 432 . kindled rat seizure girgis m . kindling as a model for limbic epilepsy . neurosci . ( 1981 ) 6 : 1695 - 1706 . pinel j . p . j ., rovner l . i . experimental epileptogenesis : kindling - induced epilepsy in rats . exper . neurol . ( 1978 ) 58 : 190 - 202 . genetic animal löscher , w . genetic animal models of epilepsy as a unique models of epilepsy resource for the evaluation of anticonvulsant drugs . a review . meth . fing . exptl . clin . pharmacol . ( 1984 ) 6 : 531 - 547 . oguro k ., ito m ., tsuda h ., mutoh k ., shiraishi h ., shirasaka y ., mikawa h . associated of nmda receptor sites and seizures e1 mice . epilepsy res . ( 1991 ) 9 : 255 - 230 . seyfried t . n . audiogenic seizures in mice . fed . proc . ( 1979 ) 38 : 2399 - 2404 . dba / 2 mouse carling r . w ., leeson p . d ., moore k . w ., smith j . d ., moyes anticonvulsant c . r ., mawer i . m ., thomas s ., chan t ., baker r ., foster a . c . 3 - nitro - 3 , 4 - dihydro - 2 ( 1h )- quinolones . excitatory amino acid antagonists acting at glycine - site nmda and ( rs )- alpha - amino - 3 - hydroxy - 5methyl - 4 - isoxazolepropionic acid receptors . j . med . chem . ( 1993 ) 36 ( 22 ): 3397 - 408 . neuropathic pain inoue t ., mashimo t ., shibata m ., shibuta s ., yoshiya i . radip development of nitric oxide - induced hyperalgesia depends on an alternate to the cgmp - mediated pathway in the rat neuropathic pain model . brain res . ( 1998 ) 792 ( 2 ): 263 - 70 . stevens c . w . an amphibian model for pain research . lab animal ( 1995 ) 24 : 32 - 36 . stevens c . w . alternatives to the use of mammals for pain research . life sciences ( 1992 ) 50 : 901 - 912 . kavaliers m . k ., ossenkopp k . p ., sanberg p . r . ( eds ), animal models of nociception and pain ( 1997 ) r . g . landes co . : austin . the particular compound that affects the disorder of interest can be administered to a patient either by themselves , or in pharmaceutical compositions where it is mixed with suitable carriers or excipient ( s ). in treating a patient exhibiting a disorder of interest , a therapeutically effective amount of a agent or agents such as these is administered . a therapeutically effective dose refers to that amount of the compound that results in amelioration of symptoms or a prolongation of survival in a patient . toxicity and therapeutic efficacy of such compounds can be determined by standard pharmaceutical procedures in cell cultures or experimental animals , e . g ., for determining the ld 50 ( the dose lethal to 50 % of the population ) and the ed 50 ( the dose therapeutically effective in 50 % of the population ). the dose ratio between toxic and therapeutic effects is the therapeutic index and it can be expressed as the ratio ld 50 / ed 50 . compounds which exhibit large therapeutic indices are preferred . the data obtained from these cell culture assays and animal studies can be used in formulating a range of dosage for use in human . the dosage of such compounds lies preferably within a range of circulating concentrations that include the ed 50 with little or no toxicity . the dosage may vary within this range depending upon the dosage form employed and the route of administration utilized . for any compound used in the method of the invention , the therapeutically effective dose can be estimated initially from cell culture assays . for example , a dose can be formulated in animal models to achieve a circulating plasma concentration range that includes the ic 50 as determined in cell culture ( i . e ., the concentration of the test compound which achieves a half - maximal disruption of the protein complex , or a half - maximal inhibition of the cellular level and / or activity of a complex component ). such information can be used to more accurately determine useful doses in humans . levels in plasma may be measured , for example , by hplc . the exact formulation , route of administration and dosage can be chosen by the individual physician in view of the patient &# 39 ; s condition . ( see e . g . fingl et al ., in the pharmacological basis of therapeutics , 1975 , ch . 1 p . 1 ). it should be noted that the attending physician would know how to and when to terminate , interrupt , or adjust administration due to toxicity , or to organ dysfunctions . conversely , the attending physician would also know to adjust treatment to higher levels if the clinical response were not adequate ( precluding toxicity ). the magnitude of an administrated dose in the management of the oncogenic disorder of interest will vary with the severity of the condition to be treated and to the route of administration . the severity of the condition may , for example , be evaluated , in part , by standard prognostic evaluation methods . further , the dose and perhaps dose frequency , will also vary according to the age , body weight , and response of the individual patient . a program comparable to that discussed above may be used in veterinary medicine . depending on the specific conditions being treated , such agents may be formulated and administered systemically or locally . techniques for formulation and administration may be found in remington &# 39 ; s pharmaceutical sciences , 18th ed ., mack publishing co ., easton , pa . ( 1990 ). suitable routes may include oral , rectal , transdermal , vaginal , transmucosal , or intestinal administration ; parenteral delivery , including intramuscular , subcutaneous , intramedullary injections , as well as intrathecal , direct intraventricular , intravenous , intraperitoneal , intranasal , or intraocular injections , just to name a few . for injection , the agents of the invention may be formulated in aqueous solutions , preferably in physiologically compatible buffers such as hanks &# 39 ; s solution , ringer &# 39 ; s solution , or physiological saline buffer . for such transmucosal administration , penetrants appropriate to the barrier to be permeated are used in the formulation . such penetrants are generally known in the art . use of pharmaceutically acceptable carriers to formulate the compounds herein disclosed for the practice of the invention into dosages suitable for systemic administration is within the scope of the invention . with proper choice of carrier and suitable manufacturing practice , the compositions of the present invention , in particular , those formulated as solutions , may be administered parenterally , such as by intravenous injection . the compounds can be formulated readily using pharmaceutically acceptable carriers well known in the art into dosages suitable for oral administration . such carriers enable the compounds of the invention to be formulated as tablets , pills , capsules , liquids , gels , syrups , slurries , suspensions and the like , for oral ingestion by a patient to be treated . agents intended to be administered intracellularly may be administered using techniques well known to those of ordinary skill in the art . for example , such agents may be encapsulated into liposomes , then administered as described above . liposomes are spherical lipid bilayers with aqueous interiors . all molecules present in an aqueous solution at the time of liposome formation are incorporated into the aqueous interior . the liposomal contents are both protected from the external microenvironment and , because liposomes fuse with cell membranes , are efficiently delivered into the cell cytoplasm . additionally , due to their hydrophobicity , small organic molecules may be directly administered intracellularly . pharmaceutical compositions suitable for use in the present invention include compositions wherein the active ingredients are contained in an effective amount to achieve its intended purpose . determination of the effective amounts is well within the capability of those skilled in the art , especially in light of the detailed disclosure provided herein . in addition to the active ingredients , these pharmaceutical compositions may contain suitable pharmaceutically acceptable carriers comprising excipients and auxiliaries which facilitate processing of the active compounds into preparations which can be used pharmaceutically . the preparations formulated for oral administration may be in the form of tablets , dragees , capsules , or solutions . the pharmaceutical compositions of the present invention may be manufactured in a manner that is itself known , e . g ., by means of conventional mixing , dissolving , granulating , dragee - making , levitating , emulsifying , encapsulating , entrapping or lyophilizing processes . pharmaceutical formulations for parenteral administration include aqueous solutions of the active compounds in water - soluble form . additionally , suspensions of the active compounds may be prepared as appropriate oily injection suspensions . suitable lipophilic solvents or vehicles include fatty oils such as sesame oil , or synthetic fatty acid esters , such as ethyl oleate or triglycerides , or liposomes . aqueous injection suspensions may contain substances which increase the viscosity of the suspension , such as sodium carboxymethyl cellulose , sorbitol , or dextran . optionally , the suspension may also contain suitable stabilizers or agents which increase the solubility of the compounds to allow for the preparation of highly concentrated solutions . pharmaceutical preparations for oral use can be obtained by combining the active compounds with solid excipient , optionally grinding a resulting mixture , and processing the mixture of granules , after adding suitable auxiliaries , if desired , to obtain tablets or dragee cores . suitable excipients are , in particular , fillers such as sugars , including lactose , sucrose , mannitol , or sorbitol ; cellulose preparations such as , for example , maize starch , wheat starch , rice starch , potato starch , gelatin , gum tragacanth , methyl cellulose , hydroxypropylmethyl - cellulose , sodium carboxymethylcellulose , and / or polyvinylpyrrolidone ( pvp ). if desired , disintegrating agents may be added , such as the cross - linked polyvinyl pyrrolidone , agar , or alginic acid or a salt thereof such as sodium alginate . dragee cores are provided with suitable coatings . for this purpose , concentrated sugar solutions may be used , which may optionally contain gum arabic , talc , polyvinyl pyrrolidone , carbopol gel , polyethylene glycol , and / or titanium dioxide , lacquer solutions , and suitable organic solvents or solvent mixtures . dyestuffs or pigments may be added to the tablets or dragee coatings for identification or to characterize different combinations of active compound doses . pharmaceutical preparations which can be used orally include push - fit capsules made of gelatin , as well as soft , sealed capsules made of gelatin and a plasticizer , such as glycerol or sorbitol . the push - fit capsules can contain the active ingredients in admixture with filler such as lactose , binders such as starches , and / or lubricants such as talc or magnesium stearate and , optionally , stabilizers . in soft capsules , the active compounds may be dissolved or suspended in suitable liquids , such as fatty oils , liquid paraffin , or liquid polyethylene glycols . in addition , stabilizers may be added . dosage amount and interval may be adjusted individually to provide plasma levels of the active moiety which are sufficient to maintain the kinase modulating effects , or minimal effective concentration ( mec ). the mec will vary for each compound but can be estimated from in vitro data ; e . g ., the concentration necessary to achieve a 50 - 90 % inhibition of the kinase using the assays described herein . dosages necessary to achieve the mec will depend on individual characteristics and route of administration . however , hplc assays or bioassays can be used to determine plasma concentrations . dosage intervals can also be determined using the mec value . compounds should be administered using a regimen which maintains plasma levels above the mec for 10 - 90 % of the time , preferably between 30 - 90 % and most preferably between 50 - 90 %. 578902vl several preferred embodiments in accordance with the invention are described using the following examples for illustration : nmda - evoked currents in cultured mouse cortical neurons were blocked effectively in the presence of 1 % ( v / v ) aqueous danshen extract ( fig1 a ). the major components in aqueous extracts of the salvia miltiorrhiza roots are water - soluble compounds such as tanshinol , rosmarinic acid , and salvianolic acid ( table 1 ; fig1 b ). however , none of these major chemical components of the aqueous extracts showed nmdar antagonist activity even at millimolar concentration . aqueous danshen extracts contain only very small amounts of tanshinones . in order to investigate whether tanshinones were the effective components in the water extracts , a series of purified tanshinones were tested in the patch - clamp assay . cryptotanshinone , miltirone , tanshinone i , tanshinone iia , and tanshinone iib produced a strong , but readily reversible inhibition of the nmda - induced currents similar to the effect of the aqueous extracts ( fig1 c , d ). the present example examined whether tanshinones inhibited currents of ampa and gaba a receptors evoked by ampa or gaba , respectively . currents activated by ampa ( 10 μm ) in mouse cultured cortical neurons showed either no , or only a small , inhibition by tanshinones ( 6 ± 3 % at 100 nm tanshinone iia ). similarly , currents activated by gaba ( 20 μm ) were blocked by 10 ± 3 % ( n = 3 ). the concentration dependence of the steady - state block of nmda - induced currents was determined in order to obtain the dose / response curve of the nmdar antagonist action of the tanshinones ( fig2 ). the data were fit according to a logistic equation and the concentration at which 50 % of the nmda - evoked response was blocked ( ic 50 ) was calculated from the equation . the ic 50 values ( 95 % confidence interval ) were 1 . 1 nm ( 0 . 5 - 1 . 6 nm ) for tanshinone iib , 1 . 7 nm ( 1 - 2 . 4 nm ) for cryptotanshinone , 2 . 1 nm ( 1 . 5 - 2 . 6 nm ) for miltirone , 3 . 4 nm ( 2 . 6 - 4 . 2 nm ) for tanshinone ii a and 3 . 7 nm ( 2 . 7 - 4 . 7 nm ) for tanshinone i . the electrophysiological determined ic50 values of the tanshinones are up to two orders of magnitude smaller than those of other nmdar antagonists . concentration - response curves were obtained in the presence of a saturating dose of tanshinone and increasing amounts of nmda in cultured mouse cortical neurons ( fig3 a ). the data indicated that the degree of inhibition of the nmda - evoked current by a fixed dose of tanshinone was independent of the dose of co - applied agonist . similarly , nmdar inhibition by tanshinones was not affected by increasing concentrations of co - agonist glycine . thus , tanshinones act as non - competitive blockers of nmdars . consistent with the lack of competition with nmda and glycine , no whole - cell currents were observed when danshen water extracts were either co - applied with nmda ( 200 μm ) in the absence of glycine or with glycine in the absence of nmda . these data indicate that it is unlikely that tanshinones act as partial agonists at the glutamate or glycine recognition sites . the voltage - dependence of the inhibitory effects of the tanshinones was assessed by constructing current / voltage ( i / v ) plots in the presence or absence of the drugs ( fig3 b ). the reversal potential of nmda - induced currents was close to 0 mv . similar to the effect of the water extract , the inhibition of the nmda - induced whole - cell currents by cryptotanshinone , miltirone , and tanshinones ii a , ii b , and i was voltage - independent . tanshinones had no discernible effect on nmda - evoked currents when they were added to the patch - pipette internal solution . the lack of voltage - dependence of inhibition makes it unlikely that the tanshinones act as channel blockers . this example also compared the blocking efficacy of the tanshinones in transiently transfected human embryonic kidney ( hek ) 293 cells expressing recombinant nmdars containing either the nr1 / nr2b or nr1 / nr2d subunit combinations . addition of danshen water extract ( 1 % v / v ) or purified tanshinones ( 20 nm ) reversibly inhibited approximately 80 - 90 % of the nmda - induced current in the absence of tcm in recombinant nmdars composed of the nr1 and nr2b subunits . in contrast , only little blocking activity was observed in nmdars composed of the nr1 / nr2d subunits upon co - application of nmda and glycine in the absence of mg 2 + with either cryptotanshinone ( 100 nm ; 10 ± 1 %, n = 3 ), miltirone ( 100 nm ; 11 ± 2 %, n = 3 ), or tanshinone i ( 100 nm ; 4 ± 1 %, n = 3 ). even concentrations that were two orders of magnitude higher than the ic 50 of these compounds in nr2b containing receptors did not significantly block nr2d containing receptors . however , tanshinones ii a ( 100 nm ) and ii b ( 100 nm ) blocked 61 ± 11 % and 52 ± 11 % of the nmda - induced current in nr2d containing nmdars ( fig3 c ). the inhibition produced by tanshinone iia in recombinant receptors containing the nr2d subunit was voltage - dependent with greatly reduced efficacy at positive potentials ( fig3 c ). this is in contrast to the voltage - independent inhibitory effect of the drug in recombinant nmdars containing the nr2b subunit suggesting a subunit specific molecular blocking mechanism of the drug in the two types of nmdars . one skilled in the art would readily appreciate that the present invention is well adapted to carry out the objects and obtain the ends and advantages mentioned , as well as those inherent therein . the molecular complexes and the methods , procedures , treatments , molecules , specific compounds described herein are presently representative of preferred embodiments and are exemplary and are not intended as limitations on the scope of the invention . changes therein and other uses will occur to those skilled in the art which are encompassed within the spirit of the invention . it will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art that varying substitutions and modifications may be made to the invention disclosed herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention . all patents and publications mentioned in the specification are indicative of the levels of those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains . all patents and publications are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference . the invention illustratively described herein suitably may be practiced in the absence of any element or elements , limitation or limitations which is not specifically disclosed herein . thus , for example , in each instance herein any of the terms “ comprising ”, “ consisting essentially of ” and “ consisting of ” may be replaced with either of the other two terms . the terms and expressions which have been employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation , and there is no intention that in the use of such terms and expressions indicates the exclusion of equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof . it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention . thus , it should be understood that although the present invention has been specifically disclosed by preferred embodiments and optional features , modification and variation of the concepts herein disclosed may be resorted to by those skilled in the art , and that such modifications and variations are considered to be within the scope of this invention . one skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be practiced by other than the preferred embodiments which are presented in this description for purposes of illustration and not of limitation , and the present invention is limited only by the claims that follow . it is noted that equivalents for the particular embodiments discussed in this description are also within the scope of the present invention .	0
referring to fig1 an ice detector of the present invention is indicated generally at 10 , and it is mounted onto the sidewall or skin 12 of an aircraft . the ice detector is formed with a cylindrical strut 14 that is mounted onto the aircraft . alternatively , the strut could be of a more aerodynamically shaped cross section . the strut has a first ice detector probe 16 protruding therefrom and extending laterally into airflow , the direction of which is indicated by the arrow 18 . a second ice detector probe 20 is positioned ahead of an air dam 22 that is mounted on the end plate 24 of the cylindrical strut 14 . the probes 16 and 20 can be substantially the same size and length , as shown . the air dam 22 has a radiused leading edge 25 with a front surface 26 . tapered trailing walls 28 join leading edge 25 to smooth out turbulence and aid in airflow patterns and continues surface 26 around the air dam 22 . the air dam 22 can be hollow , and can include heaters indicated generally at 30 to deice the walls of the air dam . the probes 16 and 20 , and strut 14 also can have deicing heaters thereon used in a conventional manner when ice has been detected . the first probe 16 is connected to a suitable signal conditioning circuit 32 , which will provide excitation to the probe to cause it to vibrate at its natural frequency , which changes when ice accretes or accumulates on the probe . as the natural frequency changes , this change in frequency is sensed by circuit 32 to indicate that ice is accumulating . the greater the accumulation , the greater the change in frequency . circuit 32 then outputs a signal along a line 34 to a computer or other processing circuitry 36 that is used , as will be explained , for determining not only that ice is accumulating on the probe 16 but also to compare the rate of accumulation of ice , as indicated by the rate of change of frequency , with the output from a circuit 38 that is connected to the probe 20 . the circuit 38 provides the probe 20 with excitation to vibrate it at its natural frequency , and provides an output when the frequency changes because of ice accumulation on the probe . the output from the circuit 38 that indicates icing on probe 20 is along the line 40 to the processing circuit 36 . the outputs on lines 34 and 40 are processed to determine the rate of change of the frequencies , which indicates the rate of ice accumulation or accretion on the probes . this rate of change or rate of ice accumulation is compared between the two probes to determine the relative rate of accumulation between the two probes . the air dam 22 will be intercepting supercooled water droplets carried in the airflow indicated by arrow 18 , and the smaller droplets in this airflow will tend to flow around the air dam 22 and the probe 20 , while the larger , greater inertia droplets , which are supercooled large water droplets , will tend to impact the probe 20 or the air dam 22 , rather than being carried around the air dam . the ice accreting on the probe 20 will be biased toward the supercooled large droplets , since the airflow separates to go around the air dam and the small droplets entrained will tend to be carried with the airflow . the stand alone probe 16 , or in other words the probe that is not associated or affected by the air dam 22 , will provide a small frontal area that serves as an efficient collector of all droplet sizes of supercooled water in the air , and thus will ice up at a higher rate than the probe 20 , which is biased to collect the supercooled large droplets . the ratio of rates of ice accretion , between the probes will give an indication of the presence of supercooled large droplets . if there is little or no ice accreting on probe 20 , while ice is indicated as present on probe 16 , the droplet sizes are indicated as being relatively small . the accumulation will be greater on the probe 16 than on the probe 20 . an increased ice accretion rate for probe 20 relative to probe 16 indicates an increased presence of supercooled large droplets . the positioning or spacing of the probe 20 relative to the front surface 26 of the air dam 22 provides a bias of airflow that will cause the probe to be biased to collect larger droplets . while aircraft velocity also influences the probe accretion rate , the present device is relatively insensitive to changes in aircraft velocity , as compared to the effects of the air dam because the accretion rates of the two probes are ratioed . however , if velocity is available from another source , such as an air data computer , for input into the ice detector signal processing circuitry , ice detector accuracy can be further enhanced . another variant of the invention depicted in fig1 is also recognized . in this variant 10 a , shown in fig3 probe 20 is eliminated and its function is integrated into an air dam acting as a probe 22 a . that is , the probe 22 a is a large probe that has direct ice sensing capabilities and has an excitation and sensing circuit 38 a connected thereto . the probe 22 a is effectively a larger version of the stand - alone probe 16 , and is inertially biased to collect supercooled large droplets in place of probe 20 . processing to determine the ratio of ice accumulation rates for detecting supercooled large droplets is done in the same manner as with probe 20 . again , the relative size difference between the two probes 16 and 22 a allows discernment of supercooled large droplets due to inertia effects as reviewed previously . also , the cross sectional shape of the probe does not have to be an airfoil , but can be a circular cylinder or other geometrical shape such as triangular , or other polygon . the processing circuitry 36 includes software that provides indications of the presence of the supercooled large droplets , and can also provide warning signals , or similar outputs to alert a pilot to conditions that can cause icing that would not be controllable by deicing boots or similar deicing equipment , particularly on smaller aircraft . fig4 and 5 show another form of the invention , and in this instance , an ice detector for determining the presence of supercooled large droplets made according to the present invention is indicated generally at 50 , and it comprises a flow duct or channel 52 that is mounted onto an aircraft skin or wall 54 using a strut 56 . the strut 56 can be airfoil shaped or other configurations that are desired , and its length can be varied as desired to minimize the effects of the aircraft wall on airflow through the duct or channel . as shown , the duct 50 is made so that it has an inlet opening 58 of desired size and cross sectional shape , and the inlet opening is defined in the present invention as a rectangular shaped opening having sidewalls 62 converging in the direction of airflow , which is indicated by the arrow 60 . the sidewalls 62 are generally tapered inwardly , and curved aft of the inlet and upstream of the narrow section of the channel to improve aerodynamics . the inlet is closed with parallel top and bottom walls 64 and 66 , as shown , to form a channel inlet 63 . the sidewalls 62 converge to a rectangular shaped narrow flow channel 70 which is of smaller cross sectional size than the inlet opening 58 . thus the airflow through the narrow or smaller cross section flow channel 70 will be at a greater velocity than it will at the inlet portion . a first ice detecting probe 72 is mounted in an area upstream of maximum constriction , or in other words in the channel inlet 63 upstream of the plane indicated at 76 defining the entry of upstream end of the narrow flow channel 70 . a second probe 74 is mounted downstream from the junction line or plane indicated at 76 . probe 74 is in a region slightly aft of the converging side walls in the smaller cross sectional size flow channel 70 . the probe 72 is connected to suitable processing circuitry 78 , through a line 80 , and the probe 74 is connected through a line 82 to processing circuitry 84 . the circuitry 78 and 84 is conventionally known , to provide excitation for vibrating the probes at their natural frequencies , and then to sense the change in natural frequency as ice accumulates . the outputs from the circuits 78 and 84 are provided to a processor or computer 86 that will use the signals from the circuitry 78 and 84 to indicate when icing occurs for example on the probe 72 , and when it occurs on the probe 74 , and also to calculate the ratio of the rate of change of frequency and thus the ratio of the rate of ice accretion on two probes . as was stated , the droplets that are entrained in the airflow that enters the narrow flow channel 70 have different trajectories when they move into the constricted flow channel 70 , as a function of their size . the smaller droplets will follow the air stream flow lines easily , while the larger droplets are delayed in responding to changes in airflow direction induced by converging sidewalls 62 because of relatively greater inertia . this results in the larger droplets tending to be directed towards the center of the constricted flow channel 70 , providing a heavier concentration of supercooled large droplets slightly downstream from the junction of the sidewalls 62 with the walls that define the constricted or narrow flow channel 70 . probe 74 is positioned at this location just downstream of the upstream end of the narrow flow channel , where the supercooled large droplets will be concentrated if they are present . ice detector probe 74 thus is going to have an amplified sensitivity to supercooled large droplets . an increase in the relative icing rate between the probes , which is determined by the rate of change of the natural frequency of vibration due to icing , will indicate that there are supercooled large droplets in the airflow and will indicate a supercooled large droplet ( sld ) icing condition . the contracting flow channel sidewalls 62 , have heaters 89 on the sides for deicing purposes , and the walls 62 also have openings or bleed holes 90 that will bleed off heated boundary layer air to prevent heating influences on the ice detector probes 72 and 74 . the heaters used are conventionally controlled for ice detector use . the current magnetostrictive ice detector signal conditioning circuits and software can be adapted to drive the probes , and by utilizing a processor computer for determining the ratio of the rate of change of the icing on the probes , an output can be provided that will indicate or annunciate supercooled large droplet conditions . an ice detector 110 made according to a third variation of the present invention is shown in fig6 and 8 . the ice detector has a large strut 112 that is mounted onto the side of an aircraft and supported on the aircraft skin 114 . the ice detector 110 protrudes into the air stream , which is flowing as indicated by the arrow 116 . the strut 112 mounts a large transverse dimension or large diameter probe 118 . probe 118 is a magnetostrictive probe that will be excited to oscillate at its natural frequency , when driven by a suitable excitation / sensing circuit 120 . the probe 118 is made of a suitable material , and can have deicing heaters if desired . probe 118 is mounted on an outer end wall 122 of the strut 112 , as shown , and adjacent to leading end 112 a of the strut relative to airflow direction . a second smaller strut 124 is mounted on the end wall 122 of the larger strut 112 to the rear of the leading end 112 a of the large strut 112 . the strut 124 extends laterally outwardly from wall 122 . second smaller strut 124 mounts a smaller transverse dimension or diameter probe 126 on the outer end wall 125 of the strut 124 . probe 126 projects into the air stream . the strut 124 positions the probe 126 essentially out of any disrupted or turbulent airflow caused by the larger diameter probe 118 . the probe 126 is also a magnetostrictive type probe , preferably , and it is excited to its natural frequency through an excitation and sensing circuit 128 . the circuits 120 and 128 , in addition to providing excitation for magnetostrictive vibration of the probes , are used for determining changes in frequency of vibration of the respective probes . as ice accretes on the probes , the natural frequency changes , and this change in frequency is sensed and provided as an output from the circuits 120 and 128 . the outputs from circuits 120 and 128 are provided to a processor 130 . it should be noted that both of the struts 112 and 124 can be suitably shaped , generally as elongated ovals , but could be true airfoil shape or circular if desired . the leading ends 112 a and 124 a are rounded to provide for relatively streamlined airflow around them . the probes 18 and 26 are in the airflow , so that any supercooled water droplets , regardless of size , will impinge on both of the probes . however , since the probes have different lateral dimensions or diameters , they will have different ice collection efficiencies . for small droplet size the collection efficiency of the smaller diameter probe 126 will be higher than the larger diameter probe 118 . as the supercooled water droplet size increases the collection efficiency of both probes will increase , but the larger diameter probe 18 will have its collection efficiency rise much faster . the amount of ice that accumulates on a probe is directly related to the collection efficiency of the probe , so that as the droplet size increases , the difference in the ice accretion or the ice accumulation rates on the two probes will decrease . the collection efficiency is dependent upon the inertia of the droplets , probe diameter , and air velocity . the efficiency can be described as follows ( from langmuir and blodgett , 1974 ): the two probes 118 and 126 are made so that they have similar thermodynamic properties which will prevent variations in the probe surface temperatures as ambient temperatures or other environmental conditions change . the probes are made to have similar mass and thermal capacity even though they are different size . as shown , the lengths of the probes extending from the respective struts are substantially equal . the circuits 120 and 128 provide an indication of the ice that is accumulating or has accumulated on each of the probes . this information can be provided to processor 130 , which will monitor the rate at which the ice accumulates on the probes as well as the total amount of ice accretion . the rate of change of frequency is an indication of the rate of ice accumulation , and the sensed frequency is an indication of the total amount of ice accretion . this information can be provided as an output 132 to the flight crew , or the output can be used for activating automatic systems for the deicing equipment . also , the output can be calibrated so that it will classify the rate of icing as either light , moderate or severe for a particular aircraft . the indications can be different for each model of aircraft , and can be determined by wind tunnel tests . thus , by utilizing an ice detector that has dual probes , of substantially similar mass , but different cross sectional size or frontal size presented to the airflow , information relating to the types of icing can be obtained easily , and the information about rate of icing or icing severity also can be obtained . comparison of the rates of icing on the two probes will indicate presence of large supercooled water droplets . the ice detector can be used with known excitation and sensing circuitry , as well as known processor software for obtaining the outputs that are desired . referring to fig9 and 10 , an ice detector 150 is mounted onto the side wall skin 152 of an aircraft . the ice detector in this form of the invention has an airfoil shaped strut 154 that protrudes from the aircraft skin , and as shown the leading end is rounded . the airflow direction is indicated by the arrow 156 . the strut 154 can be relatively short in axial length , that is in the direction of protrusion from the aircraft skin . the strut has a top wall 158 that is substantially planar and mounts a leading ice detector probe 160 and a trailing ice detector probe 162 . probes 160 and 162 both are generally cylindrical probes that can be of known design utilizing measurements of frequency change for determining when ice is accumulating on the vibrating probe . the probes are separated from each other in flow direction , and between the probes there is a flow deflector 164 which is generally airfoil shaped . the flow deflector 164 has a pressure side 166 and a flow guide side 168 . the probe 160 is positioned so that the flow around the airfoil shaped flow guide 164 is substantially laminar . the flow guide 164 provides for a smooth flow of particles , both large and small , around the leading end 170 of the airfoil shaped flow guide 164 . the small particles or droplets with less inertia will tend to remain close to the airfoil shaped guide as they reach the trailing side , but the larger particles will tend to separate because of their inertia , and will strike the trailing probe 162 . thus , when there are large super cooled droplets in the airflow , the change of icing rates between the two probes will indicate when the larger super cooled water droplets increase in number or density , because the trailing probe 162 will show a greater rate of accumulation of ice when larger drops are present . as can be seen in fig1 , a circuit 174 can be used for determining the change of frequency of each of the probes , 160 and 162 individually , and then a processor 176 can receive these signals and can calculate the ratio of icing between the two probes to determine the presence of super cooled water droplets . this circuitry is known as is the same as that used with the other forms of the invention . the concept of the present invention is to provide a pair of probes , one of which is an ice detecting probe that provides an indication of icing from all sizes of water droplets in the airflow , and a second probe in which the airflow around the probe is altered such that the trajectory of droplets is modified to bias the second probe to collect supercooled large droplets . the supercooled large droplets have greater inertia and account for a greater percentage of the ice mass accumulating on the second probe than on the first probe . this can be done , as shown , by having one probe substantially larger , or causing the smaller droplets to follow flow around an air dam , or concentrating the supercooled large droplets by using flow guides . inertia , causes a greater percentage of ice on one probe to be formed by large droplets . stated another way , the pair of probes are constructed or oriented so that the ice collecting on a second of the probes is formed by a greater percentage of the supercooled water droplets than the first probe . the first probe is in the free standing or free stream region . even though the second form of the invention shows that the first probe is in the inlet portion of a constricting flow , the air stream that is hitting the probe is substantially a free stream airflow because the inertial effects of the flow along the converging walls that causes the supercooled large droplets to concentrate just aft of the junction of the narrow channel 70 and the converging walls 62 . in fact , the first probe could be located in the free stream air outside of the duct . the term “ large ” droplet again is defined as a droplet that is 50 microns in diameter or greater . droplets that are smaller than 50 microns in diameter are small droplets . although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments , workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .	6
fig1 and 2 show a valve switchbox 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention attached to the mounting plate 12 of a butterfly valve 14 . this attachment may be accomplished by a plurality of screws or bolts extending up through the mounting plate 12 into threaded apertures in the switchbox 10 , drawing the switchbox 10 into close mechanical engagement with the mounting plate 12 . alternatively , the mounting plate 12 could utilize a plurality of threaded studs or the switchbox 10 could have a plurality of apertures therein to allow bolts to secure the switchbox 10 to threaded apertures in the mounting plate 12 . the valve 14 has a body 16 in which a shaft - mounted disc 18 articulates to open and close a throat 20 through which a fluid may pass ( when open ). in this disclosure , “ fluid ” would include liquids , gases and flowable solid particulates , etc . a handle 22 on the switchbox 10 is used to control the position of the disc 18 in the valve throat 20 . typically , a valve , such as valve 14 , would be provided with a handle that would be attached directly to the shaft supporting the disc 18 . as shown in fig1 , the valve switchbox 10 of the present disclosure can be positioned to intermediate between the handle 22 and the valve 14 . an optional aspect of the present disclosure is that the handle of an existing valve 14 can be utilized with the switchbox 10 in instances when the switchbox 10 is retrofitted to the valve 14 . in this manner , the handle will likely be properly sized for the given application , e . g ., long enough to provide sufficient leverage to allow operation , as well as properly marked and colored , e . g ., with indicia and colors symbolic of valve function , for identifying the composition of the fluid that is controlled by the valve 14 , as well as open and close directions , warnings , etc . alternatively , a new handle can be utilized with the switchbox 10 , which has attributes more appropriate for the task it must perform . as shown in fig1 , 2 and 3 , the handle 22 may be provided with a position lock release 24 , e . g ., having a trigger lever that releases a positioning tooth 40 from an associated detent 36 to allow the valve 14 to be selectively locked in position and unlocked to allow re - positioning . the switchbox 10 features a lock plate 26 that turns in unison with the handle 22 and is positionable in alignment with lock tabs 28 or 30 such that when the aperture 26 a of the lock plate 26 is aligned with either aperture 28 a or 30 a , a pin , padlock , cable or other lock may be inserted there through to hold valve 14 in a specific position . these features may be utilized as safety features , e . g ., to retain a valve 14 in the closed position while maintenance is conducted down - line of the valve 14 ( to prevent someone from opening the valve inadvertently ). alternatively , the valve may need to be locked open to provide essential supply of material or cooling fluid down - line . the lock plate 26 may also have a configuration that allows it to function as a motion limiter . more particularly , the lock plate 26 shown may be limited to a range of motion between stop surface 34 ( valve closed position ) and stop surface 32 ( valve open position ). alternatively , the switchbox 10 may be configured to allow full rotation of the valve 14 or embody different limits on the range of motion of the valve 14 by varying the position of the stop surfaces 32 , 34 , the shape and dimensions of the stop plate 26 , or by utilizing moveable stop surfaces 32 , 34 on adjustable ( moveable ) stops . as shown in fig2 and 3 , detents 36 may be provided on the switchbox 10 to enable the handle 22 ( and disc 18 ) to be movably positioned to a selected position ( representing an associated degree of openness of the valve 14 ). the detents 36 permit the valve 14 to be positioned at a selected intermediate position between the opened and closed positions and to retain that selected position notwithstanding the force of fluid flow through the valve ( until purposely repositioned by an operator ). a spring or other resilient member ( not shown ) may be used to bias the tooth 40 into engagement with a detent 36 . the various positions of the valve , instructions for use and other information may be expressed by indicia 38 a - d that may be embossed or otherwise placed on the switchbox 10 . fig4 - 11 show that the switchbox 10 has a cover 42 and a base 44 , which may be attached by bolts or other fasteners 46 distributed around the periphery of the switchbox 10 . alternatively , the cover 42 may be glued or fused to the base 44 , which would prevent access to the interior of the switchbox , which may or may not be preferred , depending upon the application , e . g ., considering the non - adjustability and reliability of internal components , cost and other factors . a shaft 48 extends through the cover 42 for fitting to a handle or other turning apparatus , such as a motor driven member . the shaft 48 may be provided with a threaded aperture 50 for receiving a bolt or screw to hold the handle 22 on the shaft 48 . alternatively , the shaft 48 may retain the handle 22 by means of an interference fit , a set screw or other conventional means . the opposing mating surfaces 52 , 54 , respectively of the cover 42 and the base 44 have a generally complementary castellated shape , which prevents relative shearing motion and allows the fasteners 46 ( disposed proximate the corners of the switchbox 10 ) to be recessed below the upper surface 56 of the cover 42 without substantially thinning the cover thickness . recessing the fasteners below the surface permits the lock plate 26 to pass there over , as well as facilitating handle operation ( without hitting knuckles or the handle 22 ) on upstanding fasteners 46 and also resists contaminant infiltration at the fastener openings 42 b , 44 b in the cover 42 and base 44 , respectively ( see fig1 ). the upper surface of the cover 42 features a recessed area 58 defining the area through which the lock plate 26 can be articulated and delimited by the stop surfaces 32 and 34 . the lock plate 26 shown is generally triangular in shape , but could be other shapes , depending upon the shape of the recessed area 58 . when rotated to abut stop surface 34 ( illustrated to be the closed position for the valve 14 ) the aperture 26 a aligns with aperture 28 a ( see fig4 and 5 ) in lock tab 28 , allowing a lock ( not shown ) to be slipped through the aligned apertures 26 a , 28 a , preventing the lock plate 26 , shaft 48 , handle 22 and valve 14 from being turned from the closed position . as shown in phantom view , the lock plate 26 can be rotated counter - clockwise to a position abuting stop surface 32 to the open position and locked there via lock tab 30 . detents 36 communicate with a relief groove 60 that communicates with the recessed area 58 of the cover 42 and optionally may extend across the recessed area ( see fig1 ). the relief groove 60 permits materials , e . g ., fluids , which spill or condense on the cover in the area of the detents 36 to flow out of the detents 36 , onto the recessed area 58 and off the cover 42 . the recessed area 58 may also incorporate a groove or gutter ( not shown ) to channel fluids off the cover 42 . in this manner , the likelihood of fluid intrusion into switchbox 10 or damage of the switchbox 10 by solvents is reduced and any fluids which could otherwise fill and obstruct the detents 36 , e . g ., after drying and hardening , is drained before drying . as shown in fig4 , the lock plate 26 may incorporate reliefs 26 b and 26 c to accommodate portions of the handle 22 in a retrofit application . the lock plate 26 has a shaft aperture 26 d which mates with the shaft 48 to assure conjoint rotation . as shown more clearly in fig1 , the shaft 48 has a bead 48 d accommodated in a mating recess in the shaft aperture 26 d which assures a specific shaft - to - lock plate assembly orientation . fig5 shows that the bottom surface 62 of the switchbox 10 may have a plurality of mounting apertures , 64 , e . g ., for accommodating studs or screws ( not shown ). in the instance where the switchbox 10 is attached to a valve mounting plate 12 via bolts , the apertures 64 may be threaded . a plurality of apertures 64 may be provided to match a variety of bolt / fastener patterns and permit the switchbox 10 to be mounted to a variety of valves ( mounting plates or adapters ). an output socket 66 extending from or coupled to the shaft 48 has a central aperture 68 adapted to matingly accommodate a valve shaft in order to transfer rotational motion to the valve shaft . alternatively , the central aperture 68 can be fitted with an adapter bushing 70 ( see fig1 ) for intermediating between the shape of the central aperture 68 and the shape of a given existing valve shaft . an adapter bushing 74 ( see fig1 ) may also be utilized to adapt a given shaft 48 to a given handle 22 . fig7 shows that the base 44 may be provided with an opening 72 to accommodate electrical wiring and may be adapted to receive and cooperate with electrical conduit to protect electrical wires entering the switchbox 10 and prevent intrusion of contaminants into the switchbox 10 . alternatively , quick - disconnect electrical connectors , such as hirschmann connectors , pin connectors or the like may be used to connect external wiring to electrical components , e . g ., switches 76 , 78 ( see fig1 ) inside switchbox 10 . fig1 shows that the fastener 46 may be a bolt that interacts with a nut captured in base 44 . fig1 shows the interior contents of the switchbox 10 , i . e ., within the interior hollow 10 a thereof . the shaft 48 has an upper portion 48 a adapted to couple to a handle 22 and a lower portion 48 b , the outer exterior surface of which functions as a cam . a bottom portion 48 c extends through a bore 44 a in the base 44 to couple to a valve shaft ( not shown ) directly , or via an adapter 70 . while a one - piece shaft 48 is depicted , the cam shape of the lower portion 48 b could be executed as a separate element which could be glued , welded , keyed or otherwise retained on shaft 48 so as to turn in unison with the shaft 48 . in the instance of a removable , separate cam element , a variety of cam shapes could be fitted to the shaft 48 in order to accommodate a variety of different switchbox applications . the lower portion 48 b turns relative to switches 76 , 78 , which are mounted on corresponding mounting plates 80 , 82 , respectively , which feature recesses 80 a , 82 a , respectively for matingly receiving and holding the switches 76 , 78 in a stable position . the switches 76 , 78 may be retained in the recesses 80 a , 82 a by screws , rivets , glue or any conventional means . the mounting plates 80 , 82 are retained by screws that thread into the base 44 . slotted holes 84 in the mounting plates 80 , 82 permit adjustment along the range limited by the slotted holes 84 , such that the switches can be positioned to actuate at a particular angular position of the cam . during installation , the valve 14 can be placed in a selected position , then the position of the switches 76 , 78 adjusted . proper operation can be verified based on switch 76 , 78 output . terminal blocks 86 , 88 are retained in retainers 90 extending from the interior of the base 44 to retain wires ( not shown ) entering the switchbox 10 through opening 72 . alternatively , the terminal blocks 86 , 88 could be retained in the switchbox 10 by screws , rivets , glue or any other conventional means , or the wiring could be connected directly to the switches 76 , 78 without connecting to terminal blocks 86 , 88 . seals 92 a , 92 b and 92 c seal the cover 42 and the base 44 to the shaft 48 and the cover 42 to the base 44 , respectively , preventing intrusion of contaminants into the switchbox 10 . fig1 and 14 show the switches 76 , 78 mounted to the mounting plates 80 , 82 , which are attached to the base 44 . the terminal blocks 86 , 88 are retained by retainers 90 . ( no wires are shown running between the exterior and the terminal blocks 86 , 88 or between the switches 76 , 78 and the terminal blocks 86 , 88 for simplicity of illustration .) the shaft 48 has a lock plate mounting area 48 e featuring a bead 48 d that mates with a corresponding relief in the lock plate aperture 26 d to establish a specific assembly orientation of the lock plate 26 relative to the shaft 48 and the lower portion 48 b ( cam ). the switches 76 , 78 may be used to signal the position of the shaft 48 by the cam shape of lower portion 48 b , i . e ., by being turned on / off due to cam action on the switches , moving a switch actuator lever or button . alternatively , switch operation may be a signal to turn an associated device , e . g ., a pump , on / off . for example , a pump which pushes fluid through the valve 14 may be disabled by a switch 76 or 78 when the shaft 48 is turned to a position representing a closed position of the valve 14 , preventing the pump from exercising the fruitless function of attempting to urge a fluid through a closed valve . using the same example , the open position of the valve 14 may cause a switch 76 , 78 to enable running of the pump . the switches 76 , 78 may also be used to inform an operator or computer controller that the valve has achieved a specific position , corresponding to a degree of openness . for example , a closed valve 14 may cause a switch 76 , 78 to signal to a controller that the valve is in a closed condition , such that the controller ( human or automatic ) will terminate pump operation . further , if a signal is given to move the valve to the open condition , a switch 76 , 78 may inform a controller that the valve 14 has achieved the desired state of openness . the switchbox 10 can accommodate more or fewer switches , each switch potentially performing indicating functions and / or enabling / disabling functions at selected positions of the valve 14 . the switchbox 10 may be used for data collection ( pertaining to valve position over time ) and for process tracking . fig1 shows the switchbox 10 used in conjunction with a ball valve 94 with a t - handle 96 , which , as shown , does not incorporate a detent engagement apparatus . alternatively , the t - handle could incorporate a mechanism to engage detents 36 . fig1 - 18 show the switchbox 10 coupled to a mounting plate adapter 98 having a primary mounting plate 98 a which would be coupled to a valve , like valve 14 or 94 , a secondary mounting plate 98 b which couples to the switchbox 10 , and an intermediate portion 98 c connecting the primary and secondary mounting plates 98 a and 98 b . the coupling of the mounting plate adapter 98 to the valve 14 , 96 may be by screws , nuts and bolts , studs or bolts threadedly received in apertures 64 , 98 d , clamps or other conventional means . fig1 shows a switchbox 10 which utilizes an adapter bushing 74 on the upper portion of the shaft 48 a to receive a mating handle , such as handle 22 ( see fig1 ). the adapter bushings 70 ( see fig1 ) and 74 , mounting plate adapter 98 ( see fig1 ) and the provision of a plurality of mounting aperture 64 patterns , promote the universal use of the switchbox 10 to a variety of valve applications with either the original valve handle or a replacement handle 22 . in the instance that the original handle incorporates lockout features that are incompatible with the switchbox 10 , the switchbox 10 provides any necessary lockout feature , i . e ., via the interaction of a lock with the lock plate 26 and lock tabs 28 , 30 ( through alignment of the aperture 26 a , with aperture 28 a or 30 a and insertion of the lock through the aligned apertures ). it is understood that a manual valve may have lockout features whereas an automated valve may not , in that , a locked - out condition of a manually operated valve will be observable to the operator of the valve and no effort would be expended in futilely attempting to turn the valve . in the instance of an automated valve , the automated valve actuator may not have a means to sense that the valve is locked and the actuator may futilely attempt turning resulting in damage to the valve or the actuator . fig2 shows a switchbox 110 wherein one of the switches is replaced with a potentiometer 111 . the potentiometer 111 can signal a variable resistance based upon rotational displacement , such that a potentiometer gear 113 which is rotated by a shaft - mounted gear 115 can be utilized to ascertain the rotational position / displacement of the shaft 148 ( and an associated valve ( like valve 14 or 94 ) via electronic interpretation of the potentiometer output , such as by an analog - to - digital converter . in this manner , the position of the shaft and associated valve can be determined at any position and is not restricted to discrete positions associated with cam - induced switch signaling . the potentiometer 111 and potentiometer gear 113 can be retrofitted to a shaft 148 having a configuration like that of shaft 48 shown in fig1 and can optionally be used in conjunction with one or more cam - driven switches 176 . because a potentiometer output may be stored or interpreted as zero at any given angular position of turn , there is no need to adjust the angular mounting position of the potentiometer 111 within the switchbox 110 , e . g ., by way of an adjustable mounting plate , such as 80 , 82 ( see fig1 ). a mounting plate , 80 , 82 of an appropriate thickness could be utilized to establish the alignment of potentiometer gear 113 and shaft - mounted gear 115 by setting the height of the potentiometer 111 . the switchbox 10 , 110 may be made from metal or plastic and such material may be selected to be corrosion - resistant and compatible with a given piping system , e . g ., plastic construction for a plastic piping system . plastics which may be used include pvc , cpvc and gfpp . plastic composition is often lighter and may be preferred in applications requiring lighter weight . these comments as to material of composition apply to the cover 42 , base 44 , mounting plates 80 , 82 , as well as the shaft 48 , 148 . the shaft 48 , 148 may also be made from 300 or 400 series stainless steel or aluminum depending upon the application . the switchbox 10 provides electronic indication / control based upon valve position . these features can be conferred on a mechanically operated valve and the switchbox is retrofittable to a manual valve which originally did not have such indication and control capability . it should be appreciated that a manually - operated valve 14 may be driven by automated apparatus or vice versa , by subsequent connection / disconnection from automated apparatus , such as a motor . for example , an automated valve may have the automatic rotating equipment disconnected and a handle installed either temporarily or permanently , in its place . in either case , the switchbox may be incorporated on the valve intermediate either the manual handle or the automated turning apparatus , either permanently or temporarily .	8
fig1 illustrates an embodiment of a photoacoustic laser sensor . the methods disclosed herein here may be extended to any modulation based laser spectroscopy such as photodetector - based laser spectroscopy . in an embodiment , a laser spectroscopic sensor is configured to apply a modulated light signal to a sample and to detect the resulting acoustic signal using a phase - locked detector such as a lock - in amplifier . by way of example , reference is made to fig1 , in which a laser spectroscopic sensor 100 comprises a light source 112 configured to emit a beam of radiation into a sample cell 118 . according to at least one embodiment , all elements of laser spectroscopic sensor 100 are mounted on a small footprint circuit board . light source 112 typically comprises a laser . however , any light source capable of emitting a modulated beam of light may be used . in a preferred embodiment , light source is a near infra - red semiconductor diode laser . other examples of suitable lasers that may be used include without limitation , lead salt diode lasers , quantum cascade and interband cascade lasers , fiber lasers , solid - state lasers , other semiconductor lasers , or gas lasers . filters ( not shown ) may be provided between light source 112 and sample cell 118 if desired . laser spectroscopic sensor 100 generally comprises a sample cell 118 which encloses a detector 120 and contains a sample compound of interest . however , in some embodiments , laser spectroscopic sensor 100 comprises detector 120 without sample cell 118 . sample cell 118 may be a multipass cell or any other absorption chamber if using a non - photoacoustic method . sample cell 118 can comprise a number of materials known to persons of ordinary skill in the art , and preferably comprises a sample compound substantially transparent to the wavelength ( s ) of light emanating from light source 112 . preferred sample compounds for sample cell 118 will accordingly vary depending on the wavelengths of light utilized in the spectroscopic apparatus . sample compound may be a fluid or a gas and may substantially fill sample cell 118 . sample compound can , for example , comprise a gas stream in which it is desired to detect the presence of a contaminant gas or impurity . thus , in some embodiments , sample cell 118 includes a pump ( not shown ) to adjust flow of a sample into sample cell 118 . in an embodiment , a pressure sensor 121 such as a resistive bridge pressure transducer is coupled to sample cell 118 to measure the pressure within sample cell 118 . in addition , other sensors may be coupled to sample cell 118 to measure temperature , ph , etc . the detector 120 may be mounted within sample cell 118 and in acoustic communication with a sample . detector 120 preferably comprises an acoustic transducer such as , for example , a piezoelectric element or a microphone and is mounted such that a sample compound is provided between a surface of detector 120 and sample cell 118 . in the embodiment shown , detector 120 comprises a quartz tuning fork . however , the detector 120 may comprise any suitable piezoelectric or resonant crystal material . in alternative embodiments ( not shown ), detector 120 can be any type of detector ( e . g . photodetector ) capable of detecting the absorption of light by a compound . detector 120 may be mounted on the inside or outside wall of sample cell 118 . detector 120 is typically removably mounted into sample cell 118 . in an embodiment , detector 120 additionally comprises a resonator ( not shown ) to further amplify the acoustic signal from detector 120 . the resonator is typically cylindrical in configuration , but may comprise any suitable geometry . typically , sample cell 118 also comprises a collimator 127 to focus the beam of light to detector 120 . detector 120 is in electrical communication with a preamplifier 122 , which is preferably in electrical communication with a first lock - in amplifier 152 . preamplifier 122 is used to convert and amplify the signal from detector 120 to the appropriate level for detection by first lock - in amplifier 152 . in an embodiment , preamplifier 122 is a transimpedance preamplifier . lock - in amplifiers are well - known in the art and typically comprise a low pass filter and a phase - sensitive detector . both lock - in amplifiers 148 and 152 are preferably integrated into the laser spectroscopic sensor . as such , any lock - in amplifiers or other demodulation devices known in the art may be used with embodiments of the sensor . first lock - in amplifier 152 is coupled to microprocessor 124 . in certain embodiments , microprocessor 124 processes the amplified signal from first lock - in amplifier 152 as described in further detail below . in a further embodiment , laser spectroscopic sensor 100 comprises a reference cell 144 . reference cell 144 generally contains a reference concentration of the target compound of interest . typically , a photodetector 146 is coupled to reference cell 144 . however , any device may be coupled to reference cell 144 to detect absorption . photodetector 146 senses the absorption by the reference concentration in reference cell 144 . photodetector 146 is also in electrical communication with a second lock - in amplifier 148 . in some embodiments , a preamplifier ( not shown ) may be disposed between photodetector 146 and second lock - in amplifier 148 . both first and second lock - in amplifiers 152 , 148 are preferably dual phase lock - in amplifiers . a beam splitter 126 may be included in the sensor and can be configured to facilitate division of the through beam of light . beam splitter 126 splits the light signal into a first and second beam , where first beam is directed at sample cell and second beam is directed at reference cell . in further embodiments , beam splitter 126 splits beam into more than two beams . beam splitter 126 may be any suitable device known in the art . in a preferred embodiment , the sensor 100 comprises a single microprocessor 124 such as a low - power digital signal processor . for example , the microprocessor 124 may be a msp430 - class dsp processor commercially available from texas instruments , inc . however , any suitable microprocessors may be used with the laser spectroscopic sensor . other examples of suitable processors include without limitation , field programmable gate arrays , microcontrollers , programmable logic devices , application specific integrated circuits and the like . the microprocessor 124 controls all the sub - systems or functions of the laser spectroscopic sensor 100 including without limitation , diode laser temperature control , diode laser current control , sample gas temperature , sample gas pressure , signal conditioners , waveform generation , etc . it is preferred that all sub - system controls of the laser spectroscopic sensor are integrated on a single microprocessor . integration of all controls in a single microprocessor eliminates the need for a bulky external controlling device such as a computer , or external control hierarchy . in addition , using a single microprocessor 124 consumes less power and reduces complexity in the laser spectroscopic sensor 100 . however , it is contemplated that additional embodiments of the laser spectroscopic sensor 100 may utilize more than one microprocessor . in embodiments , microprocessor 124 includes memory 191 . memory 191 may comprise volatile ( e . g ., random access memory ) and / or non - volatile memory ( e . g ., read only memory ( rom ), electrically - erasable programmable rom ( eeprom ), flash memory , etc .). in a preferred embodiment , memory 191 is flash memory . memory 191 may be used to store data or code ( e . g ., software , discussed below ) that is executed by the microprocessor 124 . the executable code may be executed directly from the non - volatile memory or copied to the volatile memory for execution therefrom . laser spectroscopic sensor 100 may also include memory external to microprocessor 124 . this external memory is generally coupled to microprocessor 124 and may comprise either volatile or non - volatile memory . in another embodiment , a plurality of frequency dividers ( not shown ) are coupled to microprocessor 124 . as defined herein , a frequency divider is any module or circuit which divides a waveform or signal into a lower frequency waveform or signal . in a preferred embodiment , the plurality of frequency dividers are asynchronous counters . however , the frequency dividers may comprise other types of frequency dividers known in art . the frequency dividers are used to divide the waveform generated by microprocessor 124 as will be described in more detail below . it is contemplated that many sensing devices or modules may be in electrical communication with microprocessor 124 to form multiple control loops . for example , in further embodiments , a current controller module 161 and a thermoelectric module 163 are in electrical communication with microprocessor 124 . current controller module 161 and thermoelectric module 163 are also in electrical communication with light source 112 . microprocessor 124 controls current controller 161 to adjust current of light source in response to changes in resonant frequency of detector . current controller module 161 is also responsible for adjusting the central wavelength and the wavelength modulation of light source 112 . thermoelectric module 163 controls the temperature of light source since temperature affects the frequency of the light signal emitted from light source . in certain embodiments , a temperature sensor ( not shown ) is coupled to light source 112 which transmits temperature data to microprocessor 124 . according to one embodiment , the microprocessor draw less than about 0 . 05 w , more preferably less than about 0 . 02 w . low power consumption is an important aspect of the laser spectroscopic sensor 100 , as the less power is used or drawn from microprocessor , the longer the sensor may be used in portable applications . thus , in preferred embodiments , the sensor 100 is powered by a battery such as a lithium ion battery ( not shown ). microprocessor 124 may be coupled to a variety of different communication devices ( not shown ). in an embodiment , microprocessor 124 is coupled to an rf or wireless antenna . alternatively , microprocessor 124 is coupled to a wireless chip . in addition , microprocessor 124 may be coupled to a communications port such a universal serial bus port , a serial port , a parallel port , firewire port , etc . in another embodiment , the laser spectroscopic sensor 100 includes input devices allowing a user to input parameters for using laser spectroscopic sensor 100 . the input devices may be coupled to microprocessor 124 to program microprocessor or adjust laser spectroscopic sensor 100 parameters . example of input devices include without limitation , keypads , jumpers , touch sensors , and buttons . in a preferred embodiment , the laser spectroscopic sensor 100 including all of its individual modules ( e . g . detector , microprocessor , light source , etc .) is mounted or is capable of fitting on a single circuit board . thus , another novel feature of the disclosed sensor 100 is its ultra - compact size . it is envisioned that embodiments of laser spectroscopic sensor 100 will be no larger than a personal digital assistant or a portable mp 3 player , thus , allowing placement of many such sensors 100 in remote locations . in general , laser spectroscopic sensor 100 including light source 112 , microprocessor 124 , and all other electronics consumes no more than 5 w of power , preferably no more than 1 w of power . in operation , a beam of light is generated by light source 112 according to a signal from microprocessor 124 and is passed through sample cell 118 to excite the molecules within the sample compound in sample cell 118 . the microprocessor 124 generally provides a reference electrical signal in the form of a sine wave or rectangular wave synchronized to the light modulation . nonradiative decay or molecular rearrangements cause expansions and / or contractions of a material within sample cell 118 to generate acoustic waves passing from sample to detector 120 . in photoacoustic embodiments , detector 120 detects the resulting acoustic waves and passes signals corresponding to , for example , gas pressure changes in the acoustic waves to first lock - in amplifier 122 . alternatively , detector 120 is a photodetector which measures the intensity of the beam of light after absorption by the sample compound . the change in intensity is proportional to the concentration of the target compound in the sample . both first and second lock - in amplifiers 152 , 148 generally comprise two channels and produces two outputs ( dc voltage levels , x and y ) corresponding to in - phase and quadrature ( e . g . 90 degrees ), components of the detector signal with respect to the reference signal . however , the lock - in amplifiers 152 , 148 may also be single channel amplifiers . the signal from first lock - in amplifier 152 is then sent to microprocessor 124 for acquisition and processing . an output device may be coupled to sensor 100 ( not shown ) and be configured to convert information obtained from microprocessor 124 to , for example , a graphical or numerical display . as mentioned above , beam splitter 126 divides the beam of light into a first beam and second beam , in which second beam is directed at reference cell 144 . reference cell 144 contains a reference concentration of the target compound to be measured . photodetector 146 provides a signal at the wavelength at which the target compound absorbs the light . the signal is relayed through second lock - in amplifier to detect the wavelength error . the wavelength error measurement is then sent to microprocessor 124 . microprocessor 124 performs a computation on the wavelength error signal , and sends this error factor to current controller 161 to adjust the wavelength of light source 112 . this feedback loop ensures that the light source 112 is emitting light at the appropriate wavelength corresponding to the absorption line of the target compound . this wavelength control is also known as “ line - locking .” in additional embodiments , microprocessor controls the wavelength modulation of light source 112 via current controller module 161 . in a further embodiment , software executable on microprocessor 124 allows for data acquisition and processing from detector 120 . as microprocessor 124 receives a signal from detector 120 via first lock - in amplifier 152 , the software instructs microprocessor to store the signal level in memory 191 . the software also enables microprocessor 124 to calculate the concentration of the target compound in the sample using the acquired data ( i . e . signal level ). furthermore , the software may instruct microprocessor to send the calculated concentration to an output device through any communications devices coupled to microprocessor 124 such as a usb port or wireless chip . in embodiments utilizing an acoustic detector , software executable on the microprocessor 124 matches the modulation frequency of the light source 112 and the lock - in amplifier frequencies with the resonant frequency of the detector 120 . the resonant frequency of the detector 120 is variable because of changes in temperature and pressure in the sample chamber 118 . in order to maximize the signal from the detector 120 , the modulation frequency of the light source 112 is tuned to match the resonant frequency of the detector 120 . in addition , the lock - in amplifiers 152 , 148 are tuned or programmed to the detector resonant frequency in order to amplify only signals at the detector &# 39 ; s resonant frequency . a power - efficient and novel method for performing the aforementioned calibration is described below . as shown in fig2 , in a preferred embodiment , the software causes the microprocessor 224 to periodically calibrate or tune the modulation frequency of the light source to the resonant frequency of an acoustic detector 220 . in an embodiment , the software causes the microprocessor to check the resonant frequency every 1 minute to 20 minutes , preferably 10 minutes . however , the period between frequency calibrations or tunings may be any suitable time period . in an embodiment , the software causes the microprocessor to calibrate the resonant frequency continuously . referring now to fig2 , to begin the calibration process , the microprocessor synthesizes or generates a first waveform that is divisible into a plurality of different waveforms at lower frequencies in block 210 . furthermore , the software may cause the microprocessor to shut off light source during the calibration or tuning process . in a preferred embodiment , microprocessor 224 generates a waveform that is divisible into 5 lower frequency waveforms . typically , f is initially the modulation frequency of the light source from the previous calibration . according to at least one embodiment , the first waveform has a frequency of 12 f . however , waveforms of any suitable frequency may be generated . in at least one embodiment , the software causes the microprocessor 224 to generate the first waveform using a direct digital synthesis algorithm ( dds ). however , any suitable methods may be used to synthesize the waveform such as programmable and controlled oscillators , direct - analog synthesis or indirect synthesis . the generated waveform is sent to a plurality of frequency dividers to divide the first waveform into a plurality of synchronized waveforms . that is , the plurality of waveforms may be formed in parallel ( i . e . simultaneously ) or with some other timing pattern . as mentioned above , the plurality of frequency dividers may be a plurality of digital counters . other frequency dividers may also be used . preferably , the 12 f waveform is sent to 5 different digital counters which divide it into 5 respective waveforms in block 211 . in an embodiment , each of the 5 waveforms has one of the following frequencies : f , 2 f , 2 f + 90 degrees , 3 f , 3 f + 90 degrees , where f is the modulation frequency of light source 212 . alternatively , the first waveform may be divided into any waveform having a frequency that is a multiple of f ( i . e . 2 f , 3 f , 4 f , 5 f , etc .). the 2 f and 2 f + 90 degree waveforms are sent as reference signals to the reference and quadrature channels of the first lock - in amplifier 252 , respectively . in addition , the 2 f waveform signal may be sent to detector 220 to excite the acoustic detector 220 if laser excitation does not provide a strong enough signal . the 3 f and 3 f + 90 degree waveforms are sent to the reference and quadrature channels of second lock - in amplifier 248 , respectively . the f waveform is sent to the light source current controller where the modulation frequency is adjusted or tuned to match the detector resonant frequency . therefore , the software executable on microprocessor 224 is optimized such that the only function for frequency calibration performed by the microcontroller 224 is to iteratively generate a first waveform divisible into the 5 specific waveforms . accordingly , a novel aspect of the software is that a plurality of synchronized waveforms may be generated with minimal processing and power draw by microprocessor 224 . a preamplifier 122 converts the signal from the detector to sufficient voltage levels for the first lock - in amplifier 252 to detect . that signal is connected to the first lock - in amplifier 252 . first lock - in amplifier 252 and light source 212 must be tuned to the resonant frequency of the detector in order to generate and amplify the signal from acoustic detector 220 . if first lock - in amplifier 252 and light source 212 are not provided with the correct reference frequency , the signal from acoustic detector 220 will not be maximized . if microprocessor 224 determines that the signal from first lock - in amplifier 252 has not reached a maximum value in block 213 , microprocessor 224 iterates another frequency in block 215 and generates another first waveform at this different frequency . this waveform is continuously divided by digital counters and sent to each respective module i . e . light source , lock - in amplifiers , etc . the software causes the microprocessor 224 to continue iterating and generating new waveforms with different frequencies until microprocessor 224 determines that the signal from first lock - in amplifier 252 has reached a maximum value . in an embodiment , the software utilizes a binary search algorithm to determine whether the signal from lock - in amplifier 252 is maximized . without being limited by theory , it is believed that once the signal from lock - in amplifier 252 is maximized the modulation frequency of light source 112 is matched with the resonant frequency of the acoustic detector 220 . once an amplified signal from the first lock - in amplifier 252 at the specific resonant frequency of the acoustic detector is detected by microprocessor 224 , the software halts the tuning or calibration process . if the signal to noise ratio is high enough , the modulation frequency may itself be modulated and a lock - in amplifier may be used to lock in the resonant frequency . referring back to fig1 , in embodiments of laser spectroscopic sensor 100 utilizing a photodetector ( not shown ), the frequency of the first waveform generally is not iterated or adjusted . instead , the microprocessor 124 is programmed to repeatedly generate a first waveform at a constant first frequency . for example , in embodiments of sensor 100 having first and second lock - in amplifiers 152 , 148 and a photodetector , the first waveform is still divided into a plurality of different waveforms using a plurality of frequency dividers . each waveform from the plurality of frequency dividers is sent to the respective channels of the lock - in amplifiers as well as light source control . however , the frequency of each of these waveforms does not change over time because the frequency of the first waveform remains constant . as a result , the disclosed techniques may increase the power efficiency for photodetection embodiments of the sensor 100 as only one waveform at a single frequency needs to be generated by the microprocessor 124 . nevertheless , it is contemplated that the calibration method for acoustic detectors described above may also be used with a photodetector if desired . the software executable on microprocessor may further utilize pulse width modulation ( pwm ) to control individual sub - systems of laser spectroscopic sensor 100 . in another embodiment , software executable on microprocessor causes the microprocessor to automatically perform pwm power conversion from a power supply for the light source or to use pwm to heat and cool the light source . the cost effectiveness and low - power utilization of the disclosed sensor 100 allows for the application of many sensors as nodes in a wireless sensor network . the sensors may be integrated into common handheld devices with other functionality ( e . g ., cell phones or personal digital assistants ( pdas )) which may be used in self - diagnostic health applications or personal air quality control ( helpful in urban or industrial environments ). a wireless network on the scale of hundreds of nodes would enable applications such as source localization for fire detection , or wide area monitoring for environmental applications . these sensors may also be capable of utilizing environmentally friendly energy sources ( e . g . solar , wind , vibration ), and work together to determine optimum duty cycles for each member of the network . although the present invention and its advantages have been described in detail , it should be understood that various changes , substitutions and alterations may be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims .	6
in the description to follow , the phrase injection event refers to a complete injection event , which may comprise sub - events , such as , by way of one example , a pre - injection , followed by a main injection , either as a single main injection , or a series of smaller injections . an injection event may begin at any time after the end of a combustion cycle ( power stroke ) and will end before the end of the next combustion cycle ( power stroke ). thus successive injection events in an engine operating in a two stroke or two cycle mode will occur each engine crankshaft rotation ( each 360 degrees of crankshaft rotation ), while successive injection events in an engine operating in a four stroke or four cycle mode will occur each pair of engine crankshaft rotations ( each 720 degrees of crankshaft rotation ). first referring to fig1 , a cross section of one embodiment injector in accordance with the present invention may be seen . the injector includes a needle 20 , normally held in the closed position by a spring 22 acting on a member 24 pushing against the top of the needle 20 . the injector is an intensifier type injector with intensifier piston 26 actuated by lower pressure actuation fluid acting against the top of plunger 28 , with coil spring 30 and fuel inlet pressure through a check valve ( not shown ) returning the intensifier piston 26 and plunger 28 to their unactuated position between injections . at the top of the injector is a single solenoid actuated three - way spool valve generally indicated by the numeral 32 , with spring return 34 , which valve when in a first position will couple actuation fluid through port 36 to the region above the intensifier piston 26 or , alternatively , when in the second position , will couple the region above intensifier piston 26 to vents 38 . a second smaller spool valve generally indicated by the numeral 40 is coupled to the side of the injector for direct needle control . in a preferred embodiment , spool valve 40 is a three - way magnetically latching spool valve , magnetically latching on actuation , and releasing for spring return on receipt of a small reverse current , though other types of valves , including other spool valves may be used if desired . in the embodiment disclosed , the valve either couples actuation fluid pressure in line 42 to line 44 when actuated , or alternatively , blocks the flow of actuation fluid in line 42 and couples line 44 to a low pressure vent 46 when the spool is released . through the three - way valve 40 , pressure in line 44 controllably pressurizes the region under piston 48 , which in turn controls actuator pin 24 . the area above piston 48 is permanently coupled to the source of actuation fluid under pressure , and accordingly is always pressurized when the engine is running . for piston 48 and the intensifier , the actuation fluid is preferably engine oil , though some other actuation fluid may be used , such as fuel . in operation , with the area under piston 48 vented , spring 22 and actuation fluid pressure above piston 48 will hold the needle closed , even against intensified fuel pressure in the needle chamber . when injection is to occur , needle control valve 40 is actuated to couple actuation fluid pressure to the region below piston 48 , which pressure balances the piston , allowing intensified fuel pressure in the needle chamber to force the needle open against spring 22 . of course at the end of injection , the needle control valve 40 is released , to again vent the area under piston 48 to allow actuation fluid pressure over piston 48 to force the needle closed . of course the needle control valve 40 may be operated more than once , first to provide a pre - injection , followed by a second injection , or even to provide pulsed injections . of particular importance to the present invention are the large storage volumes 50 , also shown in the cross section of fig2 , the generous porting 52 and the ( ball ) check valve 54 . this is contrary to the prior art , where this would be considered energy wasting volume because of its constant pressurization and depressurization . in the present invention , the storage of fuel at the intensified pressure is facilitated by check valve 54 , which prevents depressurization of the intensified fuel pressure when the intensifier is recycled . instead , injection is controlled by the needle control valve 40 . thus the pressurized actuation fluid may be left acting on intensifier piston 26 until recycling the intensifier after it begins to reach the limit of its stroke . this allows essentially all fuel having a pressure intensified by the intensifier , including that stored in the storage volumes 50 and generous porting and that still in the intensifier below plunger 28 , be used for injection , typically during multiple successive injection events . the intensifier need only be recycled on an as required basis , rather on each injection event . the electronic control system that controls injection may also keep track of the amount of fuel injected on each injection event , and recycle the intensifier when required . at idle and during low power settings , the intensifier need only be recycled after numerous injection events . even at a maximum power setting , preferably the storage provided is adequate for multiple injection events . this can allow injection to actually occur during recycling of the intensifier , albeit with a temporarily decreasing injection pressure . this can be useful when an engine goes from a low power setting wherein the fuel at the intensified pressure is adequate for multiple further injections , to a high power setting requiring the injection of more fuel than is left under the plunger 28 . even at a fixed power setting , this can allow letting the intensifier approach the limit of its travel before recycling during an injection event . depending on the relative volumes , initially the intensifier may need to be cycled more than once to adequately pressurize the fuel in the storage volume 50 . alternatively , a sensor such as a hall effect sensor may be used to sense when the intensifier reaches or approaches the limit of its travel to trigger intensifier recycling , regardless of whether injection is occurring or not , or between injection events . as a further alternative , the intensifier may have a displacement less than the volume of fuel injected during an injection event at maximum engine power , and be operated multiple times between and during an injection event at maximum power . the present invention provides all the advantages and eliminates the disadvantages of a fuel rail at high injection pressures . in that regard , preferably the total storage volume , intensifier plus storage in porting and storage 50 , is less than that that would cause a hydraulic lock in the engine cylinder is dumped into the cylinder on breakage of the injector tip . also , the storage volume should not be so large as to jeopardize the structural integrity of the injector . of course , while one exemplary form of direct needle control has been disclosed for purposes of setting the environment for the present invention , substantially any form of direct needle control may be used . also while the check valve 54 is shown as a ball valve , other forms of check valves may also be used . the exemplary embodiment of injector disclosed herein also uses intensifier actuation fluid for direct needle control . alternatively , intensified fuel pressure may be used for direct needle control . this is not preferred however , because of the valving difficulties at the intensified pressure . of course , substantially any method of direct needle control may be used with the present invention , as it is the combination of direct needle control , however done , together with the ability to store fuel at the intensified pressure , that provides the performance and efficiency characteristics of the present invention . now referring to fig3 , and alternate embodiment of the present invention may be seen . this embodiment is functionally the same as the previously embodiment , though has a more convenient mechanical arrangement . the embodiment of fig3 includes a needle 20 with large storage regions 50 and generous porting 52 between the needle 20 and the storage regions 50 . the major difference between the embodiment of fig3 and fig1 , however , is the general arrangement of the intensifier and direct needle control . in particular , needle control pins 56 and 58 extend upward along the axis of the injector to a direct needle control piston 62 adjacent the top of the injector . in the embodiment of fig3 , the intensifier piston 26 ′ is concentric with the needle control pin 58 and operates against multiple plunger pins 60 . in one embodiment , this comprises three plunger pins ( see fig3 a ), plumbed together and ported to storage regions 50 through porting not shown in the figure . between the plunger pins 60 are additional storage volumes 64 , which are also plumbed to the storage volumes 50 . the upper needle control pin 58 in this embodiment is encouraged to its downward most position by a relatively light spring 66 , with an additional return spring 68 for the intensifier piston 26 . the return of the plunger pins 60 is by way of fuel pressure provided underneath the plunger pins 60 from a relatively low pressurized fuel source through a ball valve which subsequently seals against intensified fuel pressures , as is well known in the art . the operation of the embodiment of fig3 is as follows . engine oil under pressure is provided through port 70 to a small spool valve 72 , shown schematically , and a larger spool valve 74 , also shown schematically . the two spool valves 72 and 74 are preferably three - way valves . the spool valve 72 provides direct needle control , and when porting the engine oil through port 70 to the top of piston 62 , holds the needle 20 down against the needle seat to seal the same against fuel at intensified pressure . thus as before , spool valve 74 may be used to port engine oil through port 70 to the top of intensifier piston 26 ′ to intensify the fuel pressure , with the intensification remaining typically through a plurality of injections as controlled by the needle control spool valve 72 . when the intensifier piston 26 ′ approaches the bottom of its range of travel , spool valve 74 is actuated to cut off engine oil communication between port 70 and the top of the intensifier piston 26 ′, and instead will couple the region above intensifier 26 ′ to a vent or low pressure oil sump , typically directly or indirectly back to the engine crankcase . during this time a ball valve 76 similar to ball valve 54 of fig1 is used to retain the intensification pressure on the remaining intensified fuel while the intensifier is cycled to intensify another charge , preferably between injection events . the preferred method of operating the present invention is to operate the intensifier throughout the full duration of the injection event , recycling the intensifier only between injection events . this has the advantages of maintaining the highest pressure , and a uniform pressure , throughout the injection event , providing maximum atomization and repeatability in the injector operation . thus one aspect of the present invention is that it can very substantially reduce the energy loss of prior art intensifier type fuel injectors and methods of operation thereof by using ( injecting ) all or substantially all the fuel at the intensified pressure before intensifying another fuel charge . this may allow a single intensification for use over multiple injection events ( injection over multiple combustion cycles ), particularly at low engine power settings , where depressurizing ( de - intensifying ) and re - intensification a large part of the intensified fuel not used in an injection event is particularly wasteful of the quite substantial energy used for intensification . while certain preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed and described herein for purposes of illustration and not for purposes of limitation , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .	5
in order for the key 50 to cooperate with the device , an insertion movement of the key 50 into the receptacle 11 is required which is illustrated by arrow 59 in fig1 and 2 . in this connection , the key contacts the cover 14 . this is the axial position 50 . 0 as indicated in a dash - dotted line in fig1 and 2 . in this way , the key is immersed with its front piece 58 in a corresponding cutout of the cover 14 which is an additional part of the receptacle 11 arranged downstream in the housing 10 . this position 50 . 0 of the key 50 will be referred to in the following for short as “ contact position ”. starting from this position , all further stroke positions of the key will be described with the aid of fig5 through 7 . after an initial insertion movement 59 corresponding to a travel stroke 51 indicated in fig5 the key reaches the first axial stroke position identified in fig5 at 50 . 1 . in this connection , as has already been mentioned , the cover 14 is pushed back and contacts its second end stop 29 in the interior of the slide 20 . the opening 13 of the receptacle is exposed but is now closed by the inserted key 50 . the cover 14 is in its insertion position 14 . 2 . in this stroke position 50 . 1 , the key 50 is secured non - positively in its receptacle 11 for which purpose securing elements 21 , 22 , 55 are provided whose configuration can be seen best with the aid of fig1 . the slide 20 is cup - shaped wherein the cup wall comprises , over portions thereof , a radially springy tongue 21 which forms a first securing element . this tongue 21 is initially a first component of the snap - in lock present between the key 50 and the slide 20 . at the end of the tongue 21 a radial projection 22 is provided which represents a further securing element of the snap - in lock . this projection 22 may also provide the already mentioned stop function of the ejection position 14 . 1 of the cover 14 . upon insertion 59 of the key 50 , the tongue 21 performs for a short period of time a radial spreading movement until the projection 22 seated on the tongue 21 engages non - positively a matching catch recess 55 on the key . this is illustrated in fig5 . the catch recess 55 is also a component of the aforementioned snap - in lock . in the following , this first stroke position 50 . 1 will be referred to for short as the “ initial position ” of the key . in this initial position 50 . 1 a non - positive securing action of the key in the receptacle 11 is present . the aforementioned spreading movement of the tongue 21 upon insertion 59 of the key is possible even though the tongue 21 has a radial counter projection 23 at its side opposite the snap - active projection 22 . in this area the housing 10 has a radial cutout 16 illustrated in fig1 into which this counter projection 23 can radially deflect upon key insertion 29 . as illustrated in the plan view of fig4 the opening 13 of the receptacle is surrounded by a cover 17 which has guide means 18 for the key 50 . they are comprised of two oppositely arranged stays 18 on the cover 17 . the correlated guide means 54 on the key are comprised of a longitudinal groove , as illustrated in fig1 and 2 . these longitudinal grooves 54 on both sides provide a good axial insertion action 59 of the key 50 , even when the outer surfaces of the key are not embodied axis - parallel for style reasons . by the way , the aforementioned securing - active catch recess 55 is arranged in the area of this longitudinal groove 54 . the key 50 , in its initial position 50 . 1 of fig5 can be manually retracted by hand in the direction of arrow 57 of fig5 . now the cover 14 returns into its ejection position 40 . 1 of fig1 . the key can be inserted also in a position rotated by 180 °. the removal 57 of the key is however prevented when the key , starting from its initial position 50 . 1 of fig5 has been moved by a further substantial travel stroke 52 into the second axial stroke position 50 . 2 illustrated in fig6 . now the key 50 is even positive - lockingly secured in the receptacle 11 . this positive - locking action is realized initially by the same securing elements 21 , 22 , 55 as in the case of the snap - in lock which previously provided the non - positive connection of the slide 20 and the key 50 . the counter projection 23 provided on the springy tongue 21 of the slide 20 in this stroke position 50 . 2 will contact a radial support surface 19 in the housing 10 which is illustrated in fig6 . this support surface 19 is located below the radial recess 16 which was previously aligned therewith in the initial position 50 . 1 . in the stroke position 50 . 2 the key 50 is thus positive - lockingly secured in the receptacle 14 . removal 57 in the direction of the arrow , also indicated in fig6 is not possible . in the following , the second stroke position 50 . 2 of the key will be referred to for short as “ center position ”. the axial position of the slide 20 of fig5 or 6 is achieved by a further insertion movement 59 of the key 50 . in fig5 the slide 20 is in the initial position identified at 20 . 1 which is the outer position of the slide in the housing 10 . this initial position 20 . 1 is by the way also present in fig1 or fig2 where the key 50 has been removed completely or contacts 50 . 0 the cover 14 . the reached stroke position 50 . 2 of the key 50 is initially secured because the slide 20 , in which the key 50 is received , is locked in the corresponding axial position 20 . 2 . for this purpose , a springy pawl 30 in the form of a latch is provided which has a locking arm 31 and a control arm 32 fixedly connected thereto . the latch 30 is stationarily but pivotably supported at 33 in the housing 10 and projects with its locking arm 31 into the movement path of a shoulder 24 which is also moved upon axial movements of the slide 20 . in this embodiment , the shoulder 24 is provided on a cam which is a component of an axial projection 25 , shown in fig5 of the slide 20 . upon movement of the slide 20 along the travel path 52 , the axial projection 25 penetrates in a telescoping way into a sleeve 45 fixed on the housing . the housing sleeve 45 and the axial projection 25 serve by the way also for receiving a strong restoring spring 40 which has the tendency to secure the slide 20 in its initial position 20 . 1 . for this purpose , it is expedient to embody also the axial projection 25 on the slide 20 of a tubular configuration , and the axial projection has an inner collar 26 on which the upper end of the restoring spring 40 is supported . the upper area of this tubular axial projection 25 , in turn , can serve as a receptacle for the already described cover pressure spring 15 which , in comparison , is much softer . the restoring spring 40 exerts onto the slide 20 a restoring force which is illustrated in fig5 by arrow 41 . in this way , the slide 20 is forced against the end stop 42 fixed on the housing which in this embodiment is formed by the inner surface of the described cover 17 . this stop 42 determines the initial position 20 . 1 of the slide 20 . the cam with the shoulder 24 is still axially above the pawl 30 in the initial position 20 . 1 of the slide 20 . the shoulder 24 acts with the pawl 30 like a so - called “ directional lock ”. the locking arm 31 is positioned with its locking end in the movement path 27 of the shoulder 24 illustrated by the dotted line 27 in fig5 . upon insertion movement 59 of fig5 the cam supporting the shoulder 24 moves against the locking arm 31 of the pawl 30 and pushes it away until the shoulder 24 has reached its position illustrated in fig6 . now the locking arm 31 snaps into place in front of the shoulder 24 and secures the slide 20 against the axial spring load 41 in the axial position 20 . 2 . a return movement of the slide 20 into the preceding axial position 20 . 1 is initially not possible . the axial position 20 . 2 of the slide 20 corresponding to the center position 50 . 2 of the key 50 of fig6 is to be referred to as “ working position ”. in this center position 50 . 2 an electronic control unit of the device detects first , for example , electrically or electro - magnetically , that the correct key 50 has been inserted . the identification means in the present case is a transponder 43 integrated into the housing 10 which is a component of the electric control device , not illustrated in detail in this context . when it has been determined that the key 50 matches the device , the control unit activates its electrical outputs and / or inputs . a locking function of the vehicle steering mechanism , which has been possibly active up to this point , is released . primarily , sensors 44 are activated which belong to an actuator 35 which in this case is manually operated . by means of these sensors 44 the desired different functions of the vehicle are selected . the actuator 35 is comprised in the present case of a pushbutton which , as can be seen in fig2 and 8 , may be integrated into the neighboring area of the same housing 10 . the pushbutton 35 , as a result of an axial guide 34 , can be axially actuated in the direction of the pressure arrow 36 of fig8 and is returned by means of a restoring spring 37 and corresponding end stops into its initial position of fig2 . which actuations result in which functions within the vehicle depends on programming of the electric control unit . one possibility resides in that for a first pushing action 36 of the pushbutton 35 a radio as well as an electronic device in the vehicle are switched on , for example , the parking light , the drive for the window opener , the motor - driven seat adjustment , and the sliding roof . also , other generally conventional control members in the vehicle can be part of the functional control of the electronic device , for example , the foot brake . the aforementioned radio adjustment is carried out in this case without actuation of the foot brake . the further functions of the vehicle can be triggered in the following way . as a result of a second pushing action 36 of the pushbutton 35 , without simultaneous actuation of the foot brake , the ignition of the motor is carried out , for example . when the pushbutton 35 is pushed 36 and at the same time the foot brake is activated , the engine is started . when the pushbutton 35 is pushed again 36 , the motor is turned off . the latter action can be performed with or without actuation of the foot brake . these functions can also be indicated optically in the area of the sensor 35 , as can be seen best with the aid of fig8 . by means of the electronic control device , for the function “ start ” a first diode 46 is activated which illuminates a part of a field 38 with lettering of the pushbutton 35 according to fig4 . light partitions 39 ensure that a partial illumination at the visible side of the pushbutton 35 is possible . when the function “ stop ” is present , the control unit , on the other hand , supplies a second diode 46 ′ with current so that in the neighboring field 38 ′ with lettering the illumination is switched on and the inscription at the exposed side of the pushbutton 35 can be read . locking of the key 50 in the center position 50 . 2 is carried out , as disclosed above , by the locking arm 31 of the pawl 30 which , by means of the shoulder 24 , also secures the slide 20 in its corresponding working position 20 . 2 . the pawl 30 , as a result of a torsion spring load , not illustrated in detail , and the corresponding rotational stops , is normally in its locking position of fig6 . the key 50 is primarily arranged in the receptacle 11 so as to be immersed and projects only with a minimal end piece 56 from the receptacle 11 according to fig6 . in order to be able to release the key 50 from the center position 50 . 2 , the key 50 must first be pushed into a deeper stroke position 50 . 3 according to fig7 in the direction of the shown insertion arrow 59 . this stroke position 50 . 3 is named for short “ end position ”. in fig7 the preceding stroke positions 50 . 0 to 50 . 2 are also indicated in dash - dotted lines . for the transition from fig6 to fig7 the key 50 is pushed only by a relatively small third travel stroke 53 according to fig7 against the axial spring force 41 . the key then reaches its lowermost third stroke position 50 . 3 which , of course , corresponds also to a matching end position 20 . 3 of the slide 20 . this end position 20 . 3 is detected by a further sensor 47 which belongs to the control unit according to the invention . in the response situation , the control unit switches on a drive 48 which is comprised of an electric lifting magnet in this embodiment . this lifting magnet 48 moves a plunger 49 or the like into a working position in which it impacts on the aforementioned control arm 32 of the pawl 30 . because the control arm 32 is fixedly connected to the locking arm 31 , this pivot movement according to fig7 moves the locking arm 31 away from its current locking position . the shoulder 24 is released . the blocking of the slide 20 is thus canceled . as a result of the spring force 41 acting thereon , the slide 20 is automatically returned in the direction of movement arrow 57 of fig7 . the locking arm 31 remains in its release position of fig7 as a result of the action of the lifting magnet 48 until the shoulder 24 moveable together with the slide 20 has passed its locking end , i . e ., up to a point shortly after the center position 50 . 2 of the key illustrated in fig6 . after the release according to fig7 the axial spring force 41 moves the slide 20 and with it the key 50 until the conditions of fig5 result again . the slide 20 stops first in its initial position 20 . 1 illustrated therein where the spring force 41 is received by the aforementioned end stop 42 for the slide 20 . the key 50 however is still located in its receptacle 11 . however , the key 50 now projects with a larger partial piece 28 from the receptacle 11 . it can be easily gripped by hand and can be completely pulled out manually in the direction of arrow 57 . in the initial position 50 . 1 of fig5 the described non - positive securing action of the key 50 in the slide 20 is again present . if a sudden return movement of the slide 20 from the end position into the initial position 20 . 1 of fig5 occurred , the key 50 could be subjected to acceleration forces which would catapult it out of the receptacle 11 , past its non - positive initial position 50 . 1 of fig5 . this can be prevented easily by a suitable damping device 60 . it is comprised in the present case of a damping wheel 60 which is stationarily but rotatably supported in the housing 10 at 61 , as shown in fig1 and 2 . the damping wheel 60 is in tooth engagement via a spur gear 62 with a toothed rack 63 which is moveable together with the slide 50 . the toothed rack 63 can be integrated into the aforementioned axial projection 25 according to fig1 and 2 , where also the cam for the shoulder 24 is located . inasmuch as the sensor 47 is in the form of a microswitch , the corresponding switching cam 64 can be seated on this projection 25 . the aforementioned control unit is connected by means of plug - in contacts 65 provided on the lower housing end with the electrical components in the interior of the housing 10 . for this purpose , a printed circuit board 66 , illustrated also in fig8 can be used which , by means of suitable intermediate bottoms 67 , can be secured in its position in the interior of the housing according to fig3 . as has been mentioned before , the key 50 is released from its positive - locking engagement in fig6 via fig7 in an electro - mechanical way and is returned automatically into its initial position 50 . 1 of fig5 . the prerequisite for this , which is monitored by the aforementioned electric control unit , is that the motor of the vehicle is turned off . when , with the motor turned on , the key 50 in the center position 50 . 2 is pushed in , the described lifting magnet 48 is not activated ; the pawl 30 remains active in the locking sense and catches the key again in the center position 50 . 2 of fig6 . accordingly , an erroneous operation of the device according to the invention is prevented . an alternative can however be provided in that , for the vehicle at rest where the wheels no longer turn , the motor is still running . this is also registered by the electric control unit . when , in the sense of fig7 the key 50 is again pushed in , the motor can be switched off by means of an impulse circuit breaker . the described positive - locking connection of the key 50 is then again released electro - mechanically and can be removed manually via the non - positive catch from the initial position 50 . 1 in fig5 . as has been mentioned before , fig9 through 14 show the configuration and operation of a second embodiment of the device according to the invention which has its independent inventive importance . for naming analog components the same reference numerals as in the first embodiment are used so that in this respect the above description applies . it is sufficient to point out only the differences . in this device , the key 50 has the form of a check card . the opening 13 at the end face of the receptacle 11 provided here is comprised of a slot in the housing 10 . the cover 14 ′ of the opening 13 is in the form of a flap whose open position is illustrated in fig1 in solid lines and whose closed position with removed key is illustrated in fig1 in a dash - dotted lines . identification means for the key 50 are integrated in the housing 10 and are comprised also in the present case , for example , of a transponder 43 . a slide 20 , as provided in the first embodiment , is not present . the holding means and locking means interact directly with the key 50 whose check card contour 68 , as illustrated best in fig1 , is profiled in a suitable way . in this case also , the key 50 can be transferred and positioned within the receptacle 11 in three stroke positions 50 . 1 , 50 . 2 , and 50 . 3 . these three stroke positions are illustrated in fig9 by horizontal lines and are illustrated together with the cooperating components in fig1 to 14 . upon insertion 59 of the key 51 first the initial position 50 . 1 of the key 50 , illustrated in fig1 , is reached where the key 50 is non - positively secured in the housing 10 by a snap - in lock 70 . in this case also , the securing element 71 is comprised of a radial springy tongue but , in contrast to the first embodiment , it is stationarily positioned within the interior of the housing . the snap - in lock 70 also includes a catch recess 55 in the key 50 which is generated by a corresponding edge profile of its aforementioned edge contour 68 . a radial projection 75 on the tongue 71 engages from below non - positively a securing edge 76 on the catch recess 55 . because in this case , as mentioned , a slide is not present , the return forces 41 indicated in fig9 act directly on the key 50 . playing a decisive role for this purpose are the doubly provided restoring springs 40 , 40 ′ which can press via a corresponding plunger 74 and 74 ′ on the lower edge 69 of the key contour 68 . in fig1 one of the plungers 74 is exactly in edge contact and exerts only a minimal restoring force 41 . the non - positive securing force of the springy tongue 71 is in any case sufficient in order to ensure the initial position 50 . 1 of the key 50 of fig1 . a removal 57 of the key is possible against the action of the snap - in lock 70 in fig1 . in this second embodiment the key 50 can also be moved 59 from the initial position 50 . 1 by a travel stroke 52 into the second center position 50 . 2 in the receptacle 11 of the device , as illustrated in fig1 . in this case also , a positive locking connection results in the center position 50 . 2 . the securing elements 81 provided for this are , in contrast to the first embodiment , not a component of the snap - in lock 70 but belong to a separate lock 80 which fulfills several functions . this lock is comprised in the present case of a pawl 80 which is pivotably supported on a stationary bearing 84 in the housing 10 . a pawl spring load 85 has the tendency to secure the pawl 80 in its position illustrated in fig1 where it acts by means of its control arm 82 on the actuator 73 of the sensor 72 formed as a microswitch . this is the case already for the key being removed according to fig1 . this control arm 82 is fixedly connected with the afore described securing element 81 of this locking device 80 . in the initial position 50 . 1 of the inserted key 50 illustrated in fig1 , the securing element 81 of the pawl 80 comes into contact with the profiled area 79 of the circumferential contour 68 by which the pawl 80 is returned against its restoring force 86 . accordingly , the actuator 73 of the pawl sensor 72 is released by the control arm 82 . this is recognized by an electrical control unit provided in this device to which this pawl sensor 72 is connected . the aforementioned transponder 43 is activated and detects whether the “ correct key ” is adjusted . only for the correct key , the first functions in the vehicle are already switched on by the control unit , for example , the current supply for a radio , for the parking light , for a drive of the window opener , a motor - driven seat adjustment , and a sliding roof . upon pushing 52 the key 50 farther into the aforementioned center position 50 . 2 of fig1 , a positive - locking connection is realized in that the securing element 81 has a hook end 87 which engages behind a shoulder 88 of the key 50 . in this way , a removal of the key in the direction of arrow 57 is blocked . by carrying out the movement 52 of the key 50 from fig1 to fig1 , stroke work against the restoring force 51 exerted by the restoring spring 40 has been carried out . however , in fig1 the other restoring spring 40 ′ will come to rest with its plunger 74 ′ 0 against the lower edge 69 of the key profile 68 . the shoulder 88 belongs to an edge cutout 89 of the check card contour 68 . as a result of its return pivot force 86 the pawl 80 is thus again in the initial pivot position , already described in fig1 , where its control arm 82 pushes on the actuator 73 of the pawl sensor 72 . in this center position 50 . 2 of the key the corresponding electric control unit switches on the ignition of the engine in the vehicle . in the center position 50 . 2 of fig1 the non - positive securing action of the lock 70 is no longer important . a radial projection 75 provided on the springy tongue 71 engages still the aforementioned catch recess 55 of the key 50 , but this projection 75 , in contrast to fig1 , is positioned at a spacing from the securing edge 76 providing the non - positive connection of fig1 . based on fig1 , the key 50 can be transferred by a further travel stroke 53 into the end position 50 . 3 illustrated in fig1 . this requires a higher force because the insertion 59 is counteracted not only by the aforementioned restoring spring 40 but also by the second restoring spring 40 ′. the end position 50 . 3 is determined by a further sensor 77 . it is comprised in the present case also of a microswitch whose actuator 78 is pushed on by the lower edge 69 of the key profile . this key sensor 77 is , of course , also connected to the electrical control unit . at the same time , the control unit in fig1 determines the pressed state of the pawl sensor 72 . as a result of its programming , the control unit turns on the starter of the motor . the engine is started . this can be realized in a time - controlled fashion . as a further prerequisite , the electrical control can monitor the pedal actuation of a foot brake . in this way , an accidental start of the engine can be prevented when the foot brake is not suppressed . moreover , in the present case the end position 50 . 3 of the key is reached only in a pulsed fashion , as can be taken from the following condition in fig1 . the afore described securing arm 81 of the pawl 80 can axially move with its hook end 87 away from the shoulder 88 , which effects locking , within the correspondingly broad edge cutout 89 of the key . despite the engagement of the pawl 80 in the edge cutout 89 , this locking action 80 of fig1 is a “ directional lock ” which prevents the removal 57 of the key 50 from the center position 50 . 2 of fig1 but allows a deeper insertion 59 of the key into the end position 50 . 3 . this is a similar action as had to be provided by separate means 30 , 31 , 24 in the first embodiment . in this second embodiment , the securing means 81 , 88 , 89 of the positive - locking lock device 80 take over simultaneously the function of this “ directional lock ”. the afore described further downward stroke 59 of the key is also not impaired by the elements of the snap - in lock 70 . as illustrated in fig1 , the size of the catch recess 55 allows a corresponding undisturbed movement of the radial projection 75 on the corresponding springy tongue 71 . the free space at 89 in the area of the pawl 80 , on the one hand , and at 55 in the area of the snap - in lock 70 , on the other hand , makes possible that the restoring force 41 exerted by the restoring springs 40 , 40 ′ returns the key 50 from the position in fig1 again into the center position 50 . 2 of fig1 . this is so because the center position 50 . 2 is secured by the securing element 81 of the pawl 80 which acts as a “ locking arm ”; the hook end 87 engages again from behind the shoulder 88 of the key 50 . now the position “ ignition ” of the motor as already described in connection with fig1 , is present again . the motor which has been started according to fig1 continues to run in fig1 . in order to turn off the motor , starting from the center position 50 . 2 of the key 50 in fig1 , the key 50 must only be pressed again , a second time , into its end position of fig1 . in this connection , it is not important whether the foot brake is also suppressed or not suppressed . instead , the electrical control can sense via a sensor the brake contact or the wheel rotation of the vehicle . the electrical control unit however also switches a drive 48 according to fig9 which acts on the pawl 80 . it is comprised in this second embodiment also of a lifting magnet 48 which acts via a plunger 49 on a release arm 83 which is fixedly connected with the pawl 80 . the pawl 80 is transferred into the release position 80 ′ illustrated in dashed lines in fig9 . now the shoulder 88 is released . because the restoring spring 40 exerts a restoring force 41 , it moves the key 50 from the center position 50 . 2 of fig1 or 9 again into the initial position 50 . 1 of fig1 . now the positive locking engagement is canceled . according to fig1 , the locking device 80 is unlocked by the described profile area 79 . accordingly , only the non - positive connection of the snap - in lock 70 is present . the manual removal 57 of the key 50 is possible again without problems in fig1 . the actuator 73 is again in the unsuppressed state at the pawl sensor 72 . starting from the initial position 50 . 1 of the key 50 in fig1 , the key 50 , of course , can also be moved alternatively by a renewed two - step pushing action 59 , via the center position 50 . 2 of fig1 in which the ignition is switched on by the control unit , into the end position 50 . 3 according to fig1 in which the motor is started . an erroneous operation is impossible . in this second embodiment the lifting magnet 48 cooperating with the pawl 80 can be used also in order to remove a “ wrong key ” from the device . initially , the securing position 50 . 1 of fig1 and possibly also the end position 50 . 2 of fig1 can be reached with the wrong key . however , at the latest at this point in time , the transponder 43 , or the like , identifies the “ wrong key ”. subsequently , the electrical control unit switches on the lifting magnet 48 which , via the plunger 49 , moves the pawl 80 into its described release position 80 ′. the restoring force 41 exerted by the restoring spring 40 forces the wrong key into the initial position 50 . 1 of fig1 . the motor cannot be started with the wrong key . inasmuch as the vehicle is provided with an “ automatic transmission ”, the selector shaft must be moved into the position “ b ” or the position “ n ” ( both idling positions ) for removing the key 57 in the initial position 50 . 1 of fig1 . moreover , in this device , as in the first embodiment , an electrical steering column lock is provided which , when the key is removed , results in a locking of the steering wheel . when the correct key , which is detected by the transponder 43 , is received in the receptacle 11 , the steering wheel lock is then deactivated . moreover , a sensor in the area of the receptacle 11 is provided , not shown in detail , which , in both embodiments , prevents a locking of the steering wheel as long as the key 50 is in one of its three stroke positions 50 . 1 , 50 . 2 , or 50 . 3 . only when the key 57 has been removed completely from the housing 10 , the steering column lock is activated . also , in all driving positions of an automatic transmission an ejection movement of the key 50 in the center position 50 . 2 is not triggered and the steering column lock is not transferred into the locking position . in this way , erroneous operation can be easily prevented . in the housing an illumination 90 may be provided , as illustrated in fig9 and 10 , which , when opening the door , is activated for a certain amount of time . in this way , the insertion slot 13 is illuminated and facilitates the insertion of the card 50 . 14 . 1 ejection position of 14 ( fig1 ) 14 . 2 insertion position of 14 ( fig6 through 7 ) 20 . 1 first axial position of 20 , initial position ( fig1 through 5 ) 20 . 2 second axial position of 20 , working position ( fig6 ) 20 . 3 third axial position of 20 , end position ( fig7 ) 22 first end stop for 14 , securing element for 50 , springy projection 36 pressure actuation arrow for pushbutton actuation of 35 ( fig8 ) 38 ′ remainder of field with lettering of 35 for 46 ′ 40 ′ restoring spring for 20 ( fig1 through 8 ) or for 50 ( fig9 through 14 ) 40 further restoring spring for 50 ( fig9 to 14 ) 41 arrow of the axial restoring force on 20 or 50 , axial spring load 50 . 0 contact position of 50 ( fig1 ) 50 . 1 first axial stroke position of 50 , initial position ( fig5 ) 50 . 2 second axial stroke position of 50 , center position ( fig6 ) 50 . 3 third axial stroke position of 50 , end position ( fig7 ) 56 projecting end piece of 50 in 50 . 2 ( fig6 ) 57 arrow of return stroke , removal movement of 50 from 11 68 card contour of 50 ( fig1 ), key profile	8
the following description sets forth numerous specific configurations , parameters , and the like . it should be recognized , however , that such description is not intended as a limitation on the scope of the present invention , but is instead provided as a description of exemplary embodiments . in the present application , a liquid reflector may be used to increase the light output of an led package . the liquid reflector may increase the light efficiency of the led package without using additional optics , such as half - ball lenses and solid reflectors . as a result , some of the drawbacks of using half - ball lenses and solid reflectors may be avoided . fig1 illustrates a cross - sectional view of an exemplary led package 100 in accordance with the present application . the led package 100 comprises a substrate 110 , a frame 120 , one or more chips ( 130 and 131 ), a liquid reflector 140 , and an encapsulation 150 . the one or more chips ( 130 and 131 ) may be any led chips . in one exemplary embodiment , the led package 100 may include a plurality of led chips , the led chips being of one or more different colors . for example , the led package 100 may include one blue , one red , and two green led chips for multi - color mixing , resulting in a broad - spectrum white light . further information on such multiple chip packages can be found in u . s . pat . no . 7 , 479 , 660 and us publication no . 2009 / 0206758 , which are incorporated herein by reference . in another exemplary embodiment , the led package 100 may include a blue led coated with phosphor for converting monochromatic blue light into broad - spectrum white light . it is contemplated that the liquid reflector may be used in other light emitting packages with light emitting chips , e . g ., lasers and photodiodes . the led package 100 includes a substrate 110 for supporting the one or more chips ( 130 and 131 ). the substrate 110 may be , but is not limited to , any thin film ceramic substrates , thick film ceramic substrates , isolated metal substrates ( ims ), and different kinds of printed circuit boards ( pcbs ). the substrate 110 may further include die attach pads ( not shown ) for attaching the one or more chips ( 130 and 131 ) onto the substrate 110 . for example , a layer of adhesive may be used to attach the one or more chips ( 130 and 131 ) onto the die attach pads above the substrate 110 . the substrate 110 may also include wire bond pads for attaching wire bonds . the led package 100 includes a frame 120 positioned on the top surface of the substrate 110 . the frame 120 surrounds the one or more chips ( 130 and 131 ). the frame maybe formed integrally with the substrate . alternatively , the frame 120 may be a separate element attached to the substrate and can made of different materials , including but not limited to plastic , ceramic , and metal . one of the functions of the frame 120 is to act as a mold for forming the liquid reflector 140 and the encapsulation 150 . as will be described in greater detail below , the height and shape of the frame 120 may affect the surface curvature of the liquid reflector 140 , which may in turn affect the light output and efficiency of the led package 100 . accordingly , the frame 120 may be a variable form frame . the frame &# 39 ; s geometry may be varied according to the specific application . for example , the geometry of the frame 120 may be modified based on different factors , including the number of chips ( 130 and 131 ), the size of the light emitting spot , the shape of the liquid reflector , and the like . in one exemplary embodiment , the frame 120 may be a cylinder or a ring positioned on top of the substrate 110 , surrounding the one or more chips ( 130 and 131 ), wire bonds , wire bond pads , and the like . however , those skilled in the art will recognize that frames in other shapes and sizes may be used as well . the led package 100 includes a liquid reflector 140 for increasing the light output . the liquid reflector 140 is formed by dispensing a liquid medium within and bound by the frame 120 , in a first preferred embodiment , the liquid medium is filled with particles for scattering light . the liquid medium is then cured to form the liquid reflector 140 . as shown in fig1 , the liquid reflector 140 covers a portion of the substrate 110 lying between the one or more chips ( 130 and 131 ) and the frame 120 without any clearance from the portion of the substrate 110 . the liquid reflector 140 surrounds the one or more chips ( 130 and 131 ) without covering the active area of the one or more chips ( 130 and 131 ). also as shown in fig1 , the shape of the upper surface 145 of the liquid reflector 140 is curved . the curvature is caused by the surface tension or surface energy of the different materials within the liquid medium . it should be recognized that the curvature of surface 145 may be modified by adjusting different factors , including the amount of liquid medium dispensed into the frame 120 , the content of the liquid medium , the concentration of the particles , the viscosity of the liquid medium , the geometry ( e . g ., the height and shape ) of the frame 120 , the surface roughness of the frame 120 , and the like . the liquid medium may be , but is not limited to , any lacquer , epoxy , silicone , or glue . for example , silicone may be used as the liquid medium . silicones are mostly two - component ( liquid a and liquid b ), addition - cure silicone rubber designed for the encapsulation of leds , photodiodes , optical waveguide connectors , solar cells , and the like . particles are added to the liquid medium for scattering light . the term scattering is used herein its broadest sense to include both specular and diffuse reflections . in a preferred embodiment , the particles suspended in the liquid medium may include aluminum oxide , titanium oxide , silicium oxide , and the like . these particles create diffuse scattering . alternatively , metal or metal coated particles might be used which reflect light . in one preferred embodiment , aluminum oxide , titanium oxide , or silicium oxide is suspended in a transparent silicone to form a white silicone liquid medium . for example titanium oxide particles with a diameter of a few micrometers are mixed with a silicone material using e . g ., a speed mixer system . the concentration of titanium oxide may be in the range of 5 to 30 percent . the concentration will influence the viscosity and the reflectivity of the liquid reflector . the viscosity can be around 5000 mpa / s and may be adjusted by varying the amount and type of silicone used or the amount of additives ( e . g ., titanium oxide ) added to the silicone . the silicone material should have a low viscosity to permit good flowability . it should also be transparent and should cure quickly . table 1 below illustrates some of the desirable properties . the led package 100 includes an encapsulation 150 for protecting the one or more chips ( 130 and 131 ), the wire bonds , and the like . the encapsulation 150 covers the liquid reflector 140 and the active area of the one or more chips ( 130 and 131 ). the encapsulation 150 may cover a portion of a wire bond without a clearance from the wire bond . the encapsulation 150 may be formed by dispensing an encapsulating material onto the liquid reflector 140 after the reflector has been cured . the encapsulation is then cured . the encapsulation 150 may be a transparent material , such as any lacquer , epoxy , silicone , glue , and the like . it should be recognized in some exemplary embodiments , the led package 100 may not include an encapsulation 150 ; the led package 100 includes a transparent plate ( not shown ) placed on top of the frame 120 and covering the one or more chips ( 130 and 131 ). the liquid reflector 140 increases the light output of the led package 100 because light reflected back into the led package 100 ( e . g ., from the encapsulation - air boundary due to total internal reflection ) is again reflected by the curved surface 145 on the liquid reflector 140 out of the led package 100 . for example , as shown in fig1 , a light ray 160 emitting from chip 130 approaches the encapsulation - air boundary at an angle of incidence greater than the critical angle . as a result , the light ray 160 is totally reflected and scattered back into the encapsulation 150 as a light ray 161 . as the light ray 161 hits the curved surface 145 on the liquid reflector 140 , the light ray 161 is reflected back as a light ray 162 , which passes through the boundary and out of the led package 100 . note that unlike the light ray 160 , the light ray 162 reflected by the curved surface 145 has an angle of incidence less than the critical angle , and as a result , the light ray 162 passes through the boundary while the light ray 160 is totally reflected . the liquid reflector 140 further increases the light output of the led package 100 because light reflected back into the led package 100 by total internal reflection is again reflected by the particles of the liquid reflector 140 out of the led package 100 . for example , as shown in fig1 , a light ray 163 emitting from chip 130 approaches the encapsulation - air boundary at an angle of incidence greater than the critical angle . as a result , the light ray 163 is totally reflected back into the encapsulation 150 as a light ray 164 . as the light ray 164 hits the particles suspended in the liquid reflector 140 , the light ray 164 is scattered by the particles as a plurality of reflected light rays , each with a different angle of incidence . since many of the reflected light rays have angles of incidences less than the critical angle , these reflected light rays pass through the encapsulation — air boundary , thus increasing the light output of the led package 100 . in addition , unlike solid reflectors and half - ball lenses , the liquid reflector 140 increases the light output of white leds as well . as discussed above , when phosphor is illuminated by a blue led , a fraction of the light undergoes the stokes shift and is transformed from shorter wavelength to longer wavelength light , which is emitted in all directions . typically , only half of the emitted light is transmitted in a forward direction and half is transmitted in a backward direction , i . e ., towards the chips ( 130 and 131 ) and the substrate 110 . the emitted light transmitted in the backward direction is mostly absorbed by the substrate 110 . since a half - ball lens is positioned on top of the led package 100 , it cannot reduce the light absorbed by the substrate 110 . by contrast , the liquid reflector 140 covers the substrate 110 ; thus , the particles may scatter the emitted light originally transmitting in the backward direction , thereby altering the light &# 39 ; s direction , sending it back out of the led package 100 , and avoiding it from being absorbed by the package 100 . in one exemplary embodiment , an led package for white emitting leds with a liquid reflector achieves approximately 40 % greater light output compared with an led package without any liquid reflector . further , the liquid reflector 140 has a number of advantages . it increases the light efficiency of the led package 100 without using additional optics , such as half - ball lenses and solid reflectors , thus making the led package 100 more cost effective . unlike solid reflectors , the liquid reflector 140 covers and protects the wire bonds ( and other components ) without putting high mechanical stress to the wire bonds . there is no minimal tolerance between the liquid reflector 140 and the wire bonds . as a result , cost and labor intensive mounting may be avoided . in addition , with no gaps between the liquid reflector 140 and the one or more chips ( 130 and 131 ) and any frame surrounding the led chips , more light may be reflected by the liquid reflector 140 out of the led package 100 . fig2 a - 2d illustrate the different views of an exemplary led package 200 in accordance with the present application . fig2 a illustrates the cross - sectional view of the led package 200 along axis c in fig2 b . fig2 b illustrates the top view of the led package 200 . fig2 c illustrates the perspective view of the led package 200 . fig2 d illustrates the perspective view , partially in section , of the led package 200 . the led package 200 comprises a substrate 210 , a frame 220 , four led chips 230 , a liquid reflector 240 with a curved surface 245 , an encapsulation 250 , a plurality of pads 260 for electrical connection , and a plurality of wire bonds 270 . as shown in fig2 a , the wire bonds 270 are partially covered by the liquid reflector 240 and partially covered by the encapsulation 250 . in this exemplary led package 200 , the frame 220 is a cylinder or a ring positioned on top of the substrate 210 , surrounding the led chips 230 , the liquid reflector 240 , the encapsulation 250 , and the wire bonds 270 . fig3 illustrates an exemplary process 300 for manufacturing the led package 100 ( see fig1 ) described in the present application . at 310 , the substrate 110 is prepared by methods known in the art . the substrate 110 can be , but is not limited to , a thin film ceramic substrate , a thick film ceramic substrate , and any kind of ims or printed circuit board . at 320 , die - attach glue is applied . the glue may be applied with dispensing , stamping , or printing approaches . at 330 , the one or more chips ( 130 and 131 ) are mounted on the substrate 110 manually or using a semi - automatic or automatic die - attach machine . for example , the chips ( 130 and 131 ) are die - bonded and the dies are cured or soldered . at 340 , wire bonds are added to the substrate 110 manually or using a semi - automatic or automatic die - attach machine . at 350 , the frame 120 is mounted onto the substrate 110 using epoxy or silicone , and the epoxy or silicone is cured . at 360 , a liquid medium is dispensed into the frame 120 , wherein the liquid medium is filled with particles . at 370 , the liquid medium is cured to form the liquid reflector 140 . at 380 , an encapsulating material is dispensed on top of the liquid reflector 140 . at 390 , the encapsulation material is cured to form the encapsulation 150 . it should be recognized that process 300 can be preceded by any number of processes performed as part of an assembly process . for example , in one preceding process , the substrate 110 may be processed with cavities and / or embosses for the chips ( 130 and 131 ) to sit on . also , any number of processes may be performed subsequent to process 300 as part of the assembly process . for example , in one subsequent process , the led packages 100 may be tested in matrix form or individually . it is contemplated that some of the acts described in process 300 may be performed in slightly different orders or may be performed simultaneously . some of the acts may be skipped . for example , some exemplary embodiments may not include any encapsulation 150 . accordingly , some of the steps in process 300 may be modified or skipped . in the embodiments discussed above , the reflections at the interface between the reflector 140 and the encapsulation 150 are created by adding particles to the reflector while it is in liquid form , prior to curing . similar performance could be achieved without adding particles to the reflector if a scattering interface can be created between the top surface of the reflector and the bottom surface of the encapsulation . this type of scattering interface has been observed where the materials used to form the reflector and the encapsulation are different . the exact nature of the scattering interface has not been determined . however , one skilled in the art will understand that that a mismatch of indices of refraction or imperfections such as bubbles at the interface can cause the light to scatter when impinging on the interface . although the present invention has been described in connection with some embodiments , it is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein . rather , the scope of the present invention is limited only by the claims . additionally , although a feature may appear to be described in connection with particular embodiments , one skilled in the art would recognize that various features of the described embodiments may be combined in accordance with the invention . furthermore , although individually listed , a plurality of means , elements or process steps may be implemented by , for example , a single unit or processor . additionally , although individual features may be included in different claims , these may possibly be advantageously combined , and the inclusion in different claims does not imply that a combination of features is not feasible and / or advantageous . also , the inclusion of a feature in one category of claims does not imply a limitation to this category , but rather the feature may be equally applicable to other claim categories , as appropriate .	7
the connecting pipe 2 , which is mounted on one side , extends from the cylinder - shaped housing 1 into the shower head 3 . the connecting pipe 2 is oscillated at an angle around its middle axle l -- l in the housing . the broad - jet nozzles 4 are arranged in the shower head 3 which is turnable on the connecting pipe 2 . the turbine wheel 5 and the reducing gear 12 are mounted inside the housing 1 , which also serves as a handle . the rotary force of the turbine wheel 5 via the reducing gear 12 is transformed into an oscillating movement by means of the eccentric means 13 , 14 and 15 . said oscillating movement is transmitted to the connecting pipe 2 carrying the shower head 3 . the connecting pipe 2 oscillates as said around its longitudinal center axis l -- l , preferably by an angle of between 50 ° and 80 °. this means that the connecting pipe 2 makes alternately incomplete rotations . the shower head 3 is fastened to the connecting pipe 2 by means of the grooved eye screw 7 , thereby being turnable around 360 °, and is sealed by means of a collar . a nozzle 8 is arranged at the entrance point of the water feed to the housing 1 , said nozzle 8 directing the water jet onto the turbine wheel 5 . the speed of the oscillating movement is controlled by control means 9 with the deflecting plate 10 , which is adapted to deflect the water jet from the turbine wheel 5 partially or completely , whereby in the latter case the water is exclusively fed to the nozzles . by means of the holding device 11 , which is a hinge member , the shower apparatus can be attached to a mandrel . the alternative embodiments comprising the rotating nozzle are shown in fig3 and 5 . the shower head 16 is fastened to the connecting pipe 2 in the same manner as the broad - jet shower head 3 , whereby the connecting pipe 2 is preferably shorter . the turbine wheel 17 is mounted in the housing 16 , the inlet nozzle 18 for the water feed being directed towards said turbine wheel 17 . the reducing gear 19 is subordinated to the turbine wheel 17 , said reducing gear effecting the rotation of the rotating nozzle 20 by means of nozzle bores 21 . the water is through the nozzle 20 internally fed to the nozzle bores 21 , which are conically directed to the outside . the collar 22 prevents the water from exiting between the rotating nozzle 20 and the housing 16 . as shown in fig5 a worm gear 24 can be provided as a driving means from the turbine wheel 23 to the rotating nozzle 25 . the embodiment of the present invention comprising the rotating nozzles 20 , 25 is a particularly attractive shower apparatus . the oscillating shower apparatus can also be combined with prior art nozzles producing bubbling or pulsating water jets . these nozzles may alternatively be replaced by the shower heads 16 or 3 .	1
fig2 a - 2 c provide an overview of the benefits of user control over task priority . fig2 a is a flow chart that illustrates what happens when a malfunction in a high - priority task occurs and how user control over task priority is useful to correct the malfunction , or minimize its damage . first , a malfunction occurs 220 with a high priority task . this malfunction causes a processor to execute instructions of that high priority task to the exclusion of executing instructions for lower priority tasks . this “ starves ” the lower priority tasks and prevents them from being executed . for example , one lower priority task may be a user interface ( ui ) services application . when a ui services application is not executed , the user interface for a computer does not function , making it appear to a user that the computer has “ frozen ” and completely stopped operating , even though the high priority task may still be executing in the background . fig2 b and 2 c are timing diagrams 200 , 214 showing how a higher priority task being executed by thread a and a lower priority task being executed by thread b are executed normally , and how the tasks are executed when a problem or malfunction occurs . fig2 b and 2 c also illustrate how that problem is addressed in one embodiment of the present invention . since two threads perform the tasks , thread a and thread b , much of the discussion below discusses the threads , rather than the tasks . thread a initially has a higher priority than thread b , as shown in fig2 c . a higher priority level means that if both threads compete for processor resources , the higher priority thread will receive them . at first , both threads are being executed normally , as shown to the left of time 210 in fig2 b . during normal execution , instructions 206 of thread a and instructions 208 of thread b are executed in turn . at time 210 , the malfunction occurs 220 with the high priority task : there is a problem with thread a . after the problem , thread a requests all the available processing power . since thread a has a higher priority than thread b , this results in only instructions for thread a being executed , and no instructions for thread b being executed . as described above with respect to fig1 and 2 a , this can result in the freezing of the program of which thread b is a part , as well as the appearance of a completely frozen computer . returning to fig2 a , the user notices that there has been a malfunction . the threads are not both being executed correctly . the user may notice that a software program is not executing correctly , or that the computer is frozen , as described above . the user may then enter 222 a predetermined command . this predetermined command causes alteration 224 of task priorities . returning to fig2 b and 2 c , the user enters 222 the predetermined command at time 212 . in response to the predetermined command , the priority of thread b is altered 224 , in this case elevated , as shown in fig2 c . thus , at time 212 , thread b is no longer lower priority than thread a . while a higher priority thread can use all or most of the cycles executed by processor , this is not typically true when two threads are of the same priority level . threads of the same priority level typically have instructions executed by the processor in a round - robin or similar schedule . because thread b has been elevated to the same priority as thread a , and instructions of threads of the same priority are typically executed in a round - robin schedule , instructions 206 , 208 of both thread b and thread a are executed after time 212 , as shown in fig2 b . in another embodiment , the malfunctioning task is lowered in priority . in yet another embodiment , an additional thread may run at a high priority that monitors the execution of other threads and may automatically initiate procedures to allow user control of task priority , or may modify priority of tasks automatically . thus , if thread b is a word processing program as discussed in the example of fig1 above , even if thread a malfunctions , it is possible for a user to cause the word processing program to work correctly by altering 224 the priority of threads . further , additional threads , such as user interface threads , can be elevated in priority just as thread b is , either automatically or through user commands . this means that the problems caused by a malfunction in thread a to other threads can be rectified . additionally , since after raising the priority of thread b malfunctioning thread a is still running it is possible for the user or technical support to determine what has gone wrong with thread a , correct the problem , and / or reduce future problems . in one embodiment , thread b returns to its original priority level after a predetermined time . returning again to fig2 a , after the task priorities have been altered 224 , the user may perform 226 other desired actions . for example , if thread b is a word processing program , the user may save an open document . the user may then shut down or reboot the system without fear of information entered in the word processing program being lost . the user may also enter other commands to lower the priority of the malfunctioning task , to quit the malfunctioning task , to attempt to determine the cause of the malfunction , to record the malfunction for later technical support , or perform 226 other desired actions . in some embodiments , these actions may be aided by a repair application that eases task priority management , and / or automatically repairs or troubleshoots the problem . as an alternative or in addition to performing 226 other desired actions , predetermined troubleshooting actions may also be performed automatically . after the user has performed 226 desired actions , the priorities of tasks are returned 228 to their normal level , in one embodiment . this may occur after the problem with malfunctioning application has been repaired , or the malfunctioning application has been ended , to prevent it from again starving other applications for instructions . alternatively , the priorities of tasks may be returned 228 to their normal level after a preselected time has passed . returning 228 task priorities to their normal level returns the system to its normal operation . fig3 is a block diagram of a system 300 for providing user control of thread priority according to one embodiment of the present invention . the system 300 is part of a computer system , such as a personal computer system . the system 300 includes an operating system kernel 314 . the operating system kernel 314 is a part of the operating system that typically remains in main memory , and provides services for the rest of the operating system and other programs , including managing memory and task management . the operating system kernel 314 includes connections to ports 320 for receiving user input from user input devices . the ports 320 may be universal serial bus ( usb ) ports , apple desktop bus ( adb ) ports , or other types of ports 320 . the input is received in the form of interrupts , such as signals from typing on a keyboard 322 or other user input devices . as illustrated , these user input devices include a keyboard 322 and a mouse 324 , although other user input devices could also be used . the input received from the ports 320 from the user input devices are sent to the human interface device ( hid ) system 316 within the operating system kernel 314 . the hid system 316 allows user input to be properly routed and used by the system 300 . the hid system 316 receives the input from the ports 320 , identifies whether they are different types of events , and if so , passes the identified events to an event thread module 312 . the event thread module 312 is part of a window server 308 . the window server 308 controls the drawing and content of windows to be displayed on the video output screen on behalf of programs running on the computer . some threads of the window server 308 may have a low priority so that the computer appears frozen to the user , while other threads of the window server 308 may have a high priority . the event thread module 312 receives events , processes them to determine the program for which the event is meant , and sends the event to the correct program . there are one or more programs , or applications , that are connected to the window server 308 and the event thread module 312 . in the illustrated embodiment , the programs that are connected to the event thread module 312 include the system user interface ( ui ) services application 304 , the font server application 306 , the repair application 326 , and other applications 302 . the ui services application 304 controls the user interface presented to the user . this includes ui aspects such as sound volume , screen brightness , and other aspects . if instructions of the ui services application 304 are not being executed , the computer will appear to have “ frozen ” to the user . the font server application 306 is another application that helps provide the user interface to the user . the font server application 306 provides fonts for use in the user interface windows of other applications . the repair application 326 is an application that allows the user to enter commands to diagnose or repair the malfunction . for example , the repair application 326 can allow the user to examine files , save information to prevent its loss during troubleshooting , change the priority of applications or threads to temporarily stop the instruction starvation and allow completion of tasks , stop execution of an application or thread , and perform other actions . thus , this repair application 326 may provide an easy way for the user to diagnose , record , or report the malfunction , end the malfunctioning thread , lower the priority of the malfunctioning thread , and / or perform other troubleshooting actions . alternatively , the repair application 326 may automatically repair the malfunctioning thread or perform other troubleshooting actions . when task priority is altered , tasks being executed are not arbitrarily stopped , so the state of the processor , related memory , and tasks being executed by the processor remains known . thus , after altering the task priority to avoid “ freezing ” the computer , the user has access to full functionality of the computer system without extra danger of corrupting data structures or causing other problems that could occur if the state of the processor , related memory , and tasks being executed were unknown . this allows the user to perform such actions as saving data , changing task priority to allow lower priority tasks to function correctly , investigate the cause of the malfunction , and other actions , providing much more freedom to perform actions and avoid problems than the prior art . the system 300 also includes a thread list 310 . in one embodiment , the thread list 310 is within the window server 308 , while in other embodiments , the thread list 310 is stored in a thread scheduler 318 or another location rather than in the window server 308 . in one embodiment , the thread list 310 stores a preselected list of threads that are to be elevated in priority in response to user input requesting such priority elevation . in another embodiment , the thread list 310 stores a list of threads that a user has caused to be elevated in priority , or that have automatically been elevated in priority but were not preselected . in yet another embodiment , the thread list 310 stores both a preselected list of threads and additional threads elevated in priority either automatically or by a user . the thread list 310 can communicate with the thread scheduler 318 in the operating system kernel 314 . the thread scheduler 318 schedules instructions from threads to be executed and thus determines how threads are executed . the thread scheduler 318 preferentially schedules higher priority threads over lower priority threads . the thread scheduler 318 is capable of receiving instructions to schedule threads that are normally low priority as if they are high priority threads . high priority threads are typically executed according to a “ round robin ” schedule , where instructions from each high priority thread are executed in turn . fig4 is an event diagram that illustrates how the components described above with respect to fig3 operate together to allow user control of task priority . in a first embodiment , the input device , such as a mouse 324 , keyboard 322 , or other input device , sends an interrupt , known as a user control interrupt 402 to a port 320 in response to a predetermined user action . this user control interrupt 402 initiates actions that allow the user control of task priority . the user action that prompts generation of the user control interrupt 402 sent to the port 320 can be arbitrarily predetermined . for example , any combination of keystrokes on the keyboard 322 could be used as the predetermined user action . other input devices , or even a dedicated “ task priority ” input device can also be used to generate the user control interrupt 402 . the port 320 to which the input device is connected receives the user control interrupt 402 . the user control interrupt 402 causes the port 320 to which the input device is connected to send a signal 404 , referred to as a user control signal 404 , to the hid system 316 of the os kernel 314 . the hid 316 receives the user control signal 404 , recognizes the signal 404 as a user control event 406 , and sends notification of the user control event 406 to the event thread module 312 in the window server 308 . events , as well as the event thread module 312 , have a high priority . the high priority of the event means that even if a high priority task has starved lower priority tasks and prevented them from functioning correctly , the user control event 406 is processed correctly . the user control event 406 causes the event thread module 312 of the window server 308 to send a request 408 to the thread list 310 to elevate the priority of the threads stored in the thread list 310 . the thread list 310 then sends a scheduling request signal 410 to the thread scheduler 318 to elevate to high priority the threads in the thread list 310 . this means that instructions of the threads in the thread list 310 will be executed , and not be starved of instructions by a malfunctioning high priority thread . in another embodiment , the window server 308 may receive the list of threads to be elevated in priority from the thread list 310 and send the scheduling request signal 410 in addition to the list of threads to be elevated in priority to the thread scheduler 318 . alternatively , the window server 308 may send the scheduling request signal 410 to the thread scheduler 318 and the thread list 310 send the list of threads to be elevated in priority to the thread scheduler 318 . alternatively , the malfunctioning thread may be lowered in priority . in one embodiment , the thread list 310 includes a predetermined list of threads that will be elevated in priority in response to the predetermined user action . these threads allow the user to perform actions such as diagnosing the problem with the malfunctioning thread and saving data in open applications . the thread list 310 may include a set list of threads that are always elevated in priority , such as threads that allow the user to diagnose the problem with the malfunctioning thread . the thread list 310 may also include threads that are dynamically determined . for example , when a user opens an application , threads related to that application may be added to the thread list 310 so that the application continues to function correctly , and the user can save data in case of malfunction . in one example of this embodiment , the threads in the thread list 310 include lower priority threads of the window server 308 , the ui services application 304 , applications used by the ui services application 304 such as the font server application 306 , and other threads that have been predetermined to contribute to allowing the user to correct the problem . by elevating the priority of these threads , the window server 308 is able to correctly function to display windows on the video output screen so that the computer is no longer frozen . depending on what threads are included in the thread list 310 , the user may have full or partial functionality of the computer . the window server 308 may make calls 412 to the threads in the thread list 310 . these calls may be to applications such as system ui services 304 , the font server 306 , a repair application 326 , and / or other applications 302 . the calls may result from threads already running in the system 300 , the window server 308 may automatically make a call 412 to the threads such as the repair application 326 to aid the user in correcting the malfunctioning thread , or the calls may be made in response to further user actions . after the threads have been elevated in priority , the user may issue additional commands to elevate or decrease the priority level of threads . such commands may be entered using the repair application 326 or through other methods . in response to such user commands , the threads 302 , 304 , 306 , and / or 326 can send thread priority commands 414 to the thread scheduler 318 . these commands 414 cause the thread scheduler to elevate or decrease the priority levels of the relevant threads and to schedule the relevant threads differently according to that thread &# 39 ; s new priority level . the threads 302 , 304 , 306 , and / or 326 may send thread list changes 416 indicating what changes have been made to the priority of other threads to the thread list 310 or other storage so that a record is kept of what threads have had their priority altered . optionally , the priority changes to threads may end , and the priorities of tasks returned to their normal level . as discussed above , this may occur after a predetermined time period , in response to user command after the problem with the malfunctioning application has been repaired or the malfunctioning application has been ended to prevent it from again starving other applications for instructions , or at another time . in one embodiment , the window server 308 sends a thread list request 418 to the thread list 310 and receives in response 420 the list of threads that have had their priorities changed to the thread scheduler 318 . the thread list 310 also stores the original priority levels of the threads that have had their priority altered . the response 420 also includes the original priority levels . the window server 308 then sends an end priority changes request 422 to the thread scheduler 318 , along with the list of threads that have had their priorities changed and the original priorities of those threads . alternatively , the original priorities may be stored by the thread scheduler 318 or elsewhere . the thread scheduler 318 then returns the priorities of the threads with altered priorities to their original priorities . fig5 is an event diagram that illustrates how the components described above with respect to fig3 operate together to allow user control of task priority in a second embodiment . in the second embodiment , the thread list 310 includes a predetermined list of some threads that will be elevated in priority , but other threads that are called are also elevated in priority as needed . the thread list 310 may include just one or a few threads . as those threads call other threads , the called threads are boosted in priority as well . this allows any threads that are needed to be boosted in priority , without boosting priority of threads that are not used . similar to the first embodiment , in the second embodiment the input device , such as a mouse 324 , keyboard 322 , or other input device , sends an interrupt , known as a user control interrupt 402 to a port 320 in response to the predetermined user action . this user control interrupt 402 initiates actions that allow the user control of task priority . the user action that prompts generation of the user control interrupt 402 sent to the port 320 can be arbitrarily predetermined . for example , any combination of keystrokes on the keyboard 322 could be used as the predetermined user action . other input devices , or even a dedicated “ task priority ” input device can also be used to generate the user control interrupt 402 . the port 320 to which the input device is connected receives the user control interrupt 402 . the user control interrupt 402 causes the port 320 to which the input device is connected to send a signal 404 , referred to as a user control signal 404 , to the hid system 316 of the os kernel 314 . the hid 316 receives the user control signal 404 , recognizes the signal 404 as a user control event 406 , and sends notification of the user control event 406 to the event thread module 312 in the window server 308 . events , as well as the event thread module 312 , have a high priority . the high priority of the event means that even if a high priority task has starved lower priority tasks and prevented them from functioning correctly , the user control event 406 is processed correctly . the user control event 406 causes the event thread module 312 of the window server 308 to send a request 408 to the thread list 310 to elevate the priority of the threads stored in the thread list 310 . the thread list 310 then sends a scheduling request signal 410 to the thread scheduler 318 to elevate to high priority the threads in the thread list 310 . in one example of this second embodiment , the thread list 310 only includes a few threads or a single thread . for example , the thread list 310 may include only the thread of the window server 308 . this means that instructions of the window server 308 thread will be executed , and not be starved of instructions by a malfunctioning high priority thread . the window server 308 thread that has been raised in priority makes thread calls 502 to other threads and applications 302 , 304 , 306 , 326 . these calls may be initiated through the normal operation of the window server 308 , by the window server 308 receiving further user inputs 504 from the input devices 322 , 324 via the ports 320 and hid system 316 , or through other methods . when the window server 308 makes a thread call 502 , the window server 308 also makes a call schedule request 506 to the thread scheduler 318 . this causes the thread scheduler 318 to increase the priority of the thread that has been called , so that the called thread will operate correctly . optionally , the window server 308 also sends call information 508 about which thread has been called to the thread list 310 so that the thread list 310 may store what threads have been raised in priority . the threads and applications 302 , 304 , 306 , 326 that have been called in turn may make further calls 510 to additional threads and applications 302 , 304 , 306 , 326 . when this occurs , the calls 510 of the threads and applications 302 , 304 , 306 , 326 are sent to the window server 308 , which in response sends additional call schedule requests 506 to the thread scheduler 318 so that the thread scheduler 318 will increase the priority of the called threads and applications 302 , 304 , 306 , 326 . the window server 308 optionally also sends call information 508 about which thread has been called to the thread list 310 so that the thread list 310 may store what threads have been raised in priority . just as in the first embodiment , in the second embodiment the priority changes to threads may optionally end , and the priorities of tasks returned to their normal level . as discussed above , this may occur after a predetermined time period , in response to user command after the problem with the malfunctioning application has been repaired , or the malfunctioning application has been ended , to prevent it from again starving other applications for instructions , or at another time . in one embodiment , the window server 308 sends a thread list request 418 to the thread list 310 and receives in response 420 the list of threads that have had their priorities changed to the thread scheduler 318 . the thread list 310 also stores the original priority levels of the threads that have had their priority altered . the response 420 also includes the original priority levels . the window server 308 then sends an end priority changes request 422 to the thread scheduler 318 , along with the list of threads that have had their priorities changed and the original priorities of those threads . alternatively , the original priorities may be stored by the thread scheduler 318 or elsewhere . the thread scheduler 318 then returns the priorities of the threads with altered priorities to their original priorities . the foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention 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 forms disclosed . persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching . persons skilled in the art will recognize various equivalent combinations and substitutions for various components shown in the figures . it is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description , but rather by the claims appended hereto .	6
the exploded view of the cable cutter shown in fig1 clearly displays the pertinent aspects of the invention . shown is a cable cutter body 10 , an attached explosive actuated cutter housing 12 , a clamp hook 14 , an anvil 16 , and an extended guide bar 18 . these items can be considered as part of prior art and are not claimed as particular improvements covered in this invention . also shown as parts of the improvements included in this invention is an acoustic transducer 20 , a pressure switch 22 , a motor 24 , electronics boards 26 and 28 , a code select circuit 30 , a battery 32 , and a pressure housing 34 . these items are also shown in the cross - sectional view of fig2 . referring to fig1 and 2 , it is to be noted that the cable cutter body 10 has connected to it the explosive actuated cutter housing 12 . the cable cutter body is carried by an installation / removal assembly 62 during the process of attaching the cable cutter to a cable to be cut . the cable to be cut is guided to the anvil 16 by the extended guide bar 18 at which time clamp hook 14 grasps the cable through the action of a spring 54 and a clamp arm 52 . once the cable is firmly grasped , installation / removal assembly 62 releases cable cutter body 10 . following this the attaching mechanism , whether it be an undersea submersible vehicle , a marine mammal , or a human diver , may retreat to a safe position for actuation of a remote triggering signal . the explosive actuated firing mechanism is contained within housing 12 and through access of a breechblock 48 the explosive cartridge may be inserted or removed . a firing plunger 50 is shown as part of the actuator assembly . this firing plunger is pierced by a hole containing a pull - pin 46 when in a cocked position prior , or awaiting , firing of the cutter mechanism . when pull - pin 46 is pulled from the hole of firing plunger 50 , the firing plunger is spring released to cause the explosive cartridge to fire and propel a chisel towards anvil 16 thereby cutting any cable held thereon . pull - pin 46 is shown connected to an initiator wire 44 . the initiator wire is rolled around a guide pin so that its attachment to pull - pin 46 is in a manner that the axis of the pull - pin and the wire are colinear . initiator wire 44 is connected at its other end to a lead screw shaft 42 . lead screw shaft 42 is fitted with a gear arrangement 40 in contact with gearing on the drive shaft of motor 24 . the motor when actuated , causes the lead screw shaft to be moved along its axis putting tension on the initiator wire . this tension causes pull - in 46 to be pulled from the hole in firing plunger 50 which causes actuation of the explosive cartridge in the cutter . during preliminary setup of the cable cutter the motor may be adjusted by operating it in reverse such that slack is provided to initiator wire 44 . this allows the insertion of pull - in 46 into the hole in firing plunger 50 thereby arming the device . control of the motors action and operation is accomplished by an electronic control circuit contained on electronics boards 26 and 28 . in addition , code select circuit 30 is part of the electronic circuit for the purpose of allowing the operator the capability of preselecting a specific signal code which when received will activate operation of the cable cutter . an electronics cover 36 shields the electronics units and battery 32 provides power to the units . in this particular embodiment pressure switch 22 has been incorporated to keep the battery disconnected from providing power unless a certain pressure is attained which activates the pressure switch to close the battery circuit to the electronics . the pressure switch is controlled by the pressure from the surrounding hydrostatic environment received through a pressure switch pressure path 58 . when the cable cutter has been taken to the proper depth and the pressure is correct , pressure switch 22 activates and closes circuits so that the battery will provide power to the electronics . the above components , the electronics assemblies , the battery , the motor , and the pressure switch , must be kept dry from the surrounding seawater . a pressure housing 34 encapsules these components and is sealed through an o - ring seal 60 to provide a pressurized and hydrostatically secure compartment . as a fail - safe measure , should seawater accidentally invade the compartment housed by the pressure housing , the seawater could cause a short of the electronics which would result in premature operation of the motor . premature firing of the cable cutter would then follow . to protect against such an event , a water instrusion fail - safe circuit 38 has been installed . this circuit , which will be described in more detail later , causes a short circuit of the battery if seawater is detected within pressure housing 34 . also shown is acoustic transducer 20 which may be a hydrophone connected to the electronic circuits . the acoustic transducer will pick up a remotely transmitted coded pulse signal designed to cause activation of the cable cutter through the electronics circuitry . fig3 shows the electronic circuitry in a functional block diagram . the acoustic transducer 20 feeds its received signal to an acoustic receiver 78 which basically amplifies and bandpass filters this signal . the signal is then fed to a detection circuit 64 . the detection circuit is displayed in fig3 but is not part of the claimed improvements in this invention . however for reference purposes the functional components of detection circuit 64 are set forth here . they include taking the output signal from the acoustic receiver into a frequency comparison unit 66 which also receives a reference frequency generated by reference frequency synthesizer 68 . the reference frequency synthesizer receives its directions concerning what frequency to synthesize from a code select circuit 70 . this code select circuit has been shown physically as item 30 in fig1 and 2 . if an initial frequency received through the acoustic transducer matches the reference frequency synthesized a signal pulse is emitted by frequency comparison circuit 66 which is transmitted to a detect latch circuit 72 and a timing comparison circuit 74 . at some predetermined time after receipt of this signal pulse timing comparison circuit 74 emits a switch signal to reference frequency synthesizer 68 . the reference frequency synthesizer then synthesizes a second frequency according to directions from code select circuit 70 and transmits this second reference frequency to frequency comparison circuit 66 . the time of the coded frequency signals is measured and compared via timing comparison circuit 74 . upon the first signal pulse emitted by frequency comparison circuit 66 the detect latch circuit has set and emits a signal to timing comparison circuit 74 . if a properly coded second frequency signal comes in and is positively identified with the second reference frequency a second pulse signal is emitted by frequency comparison circuit 66 which also proceeds to the timing comparison circuit . if the time interval between the first detected frequency and the second detected frequency is correct then a signal pulse is emitted from the timing comparison circuit to a motor drive circuit 80 . if the timing was not correct between the two received frequencies or if there was no second frequency to be detected within the code a reset signal is emitted from timing comparison circuit 74 to return detect latch circuit 72 to its original standby condition awaiting a first coded frequency for detection again . a clock timer 76 provides timing control to reference frequency synthesizer 68 and to timing comparison circuit 74 . the motor drive circuit 80 once activated , then causes power to be transmitted to the motor which thereafter pulls the pull - pin and fires the cable cutter mechanism . fig4 shows a circuit diagram for the water intrusion fail - safe circuit . this circuit interrupts any possible flow of current from a battery 82 to eventually power motor 30 prematurely if seawater leakage occurs within the electronics package . it is to be noted that battery 82 shown in fig4 is equivalent to the physical depiction of the battery in fig1 and 2 as noted by item 32 in those figs . the circuit contains a fuse 84 attached to the output positive terminal of the battery . this fuse is in the circuit line which eventually travels to the motor and , once blown , blocks any possible power arriving at the motor . attached at the end opposite to battery connected end of the fuse is the anode terminal of a silicon controlled rectifier 86 . the gate terminal of the silicon controlled rectifier is connected via a resistor 94 to one sensor of a capacitative bridge sensor . a second sensor of the capacitative bridge sensor is also connected to the end of the fuse opposite the positive terminal of the battery . the cathode terminal of silicon controlled rectifier 86 is connected to ground . between the gate terminal of the silicon controlled rectifier and r2 are a capacitor 98 and a resistor 96 connected in parallel to ground . operation of this circuit is activated when water intrudes and causes a resistive circuit to occur between the sensors of the capacitative bridge sensor 90 . such a seawater short is depicted as a water bridge resistance 92 . once this condition occurs this voltage divider network will supply a sufficiently high potential at the gate terminal of the silicon controlled rectifier to allow it to conduct . as the silicon controlled rectifier goes into conduction , its anode to cathode surge current blows fuse 84 providing the desired power disconnect . capacitor 98 prevents spurious noise spikes from accidentally turning on the silicon controlled rectifier . the sensor probes of the capacitative bridge sensor actually consists of two concentric conductive bands etched on both sides of a circular printed wiring board . fig5 shows the circuit for the motor drive operation . a second silicon controlled rectifier 104 is used to trigger operation of the motor . this silicon controlled rectifier is open circuited until a significant voltage is detected at its gate terminal to trigger it to the on condition . silicon controlled rectifier 104 is connected with its anode terminal to the ground side terminal of a motor 106 . this motor has been displayed in fig1 and 2 physically as item 24 . in this embodiment a direct current motor is being used . the other terminal of the motor is connected to receive power from the power terminal of the battery . a capacitor is shown in this embodiment connected in parallel with the motor terminals a and b . the motor may be reversed by applying a negative dc voltage probe to terminal b and a positive probe to terminal a . for this operation , a diode 114 is placed in series with the motor to protect the input of the voltage regulator while the motor is being reversed . current can only flow through the motor because both diode 114 and silicon controlled rectifier 104 are reverse biased . for operation of the cable cutter the motor is turned on by a motor drive pulse received from motor drive circuit 80 . this drive pulse occurs only after the appropriate acoustic code has been received and detected by detection circuit 64 . the drive pulse provides a sufficient potential at the gate terminal of silicon controlled rectifier to trigger it to a conduction mode which closes the power circuit of the motor thereby initiating its operation . a threshold circuit 102 is inserted to pass the motor drive pulse and to prevent noise spikes from triggering the silicon controlled rectifier . the application of this remote controlled cable cutter is quite versatile . a multiple of techniques are available for its employment . fig6 shows its employment for cutting a single cable buoyed to the bottom of an ocean area . the cable cutter 118 is shown attached to a cable 116 which is to be cut releasing a buoy 120 from an anchor 122 , thereby allowing buoy 120 to float to the surface . triggering of cable cutter 118 occurs from a remote signal source 124 shown in fig6 as mounted to a surface vessel which can be placed at a safe distance away from the release point . it is obvious that fields of multiple buoys may be released from the remote signal source by using separate cable cutters adjusted with separate coded signal programs and attached to each of the cables . by such method all cables may be preprogrammed to be cut simultaneously , or in the alternative , may be preprogrammed to be cut in a preselected sequential fashion . fig7 shows an example of multiple cable cutting techniques which could require the preprogramming of a predetermined sequential cable cutting series of events . as shown , an underwater tower 128 is supported from the surface of the ocean by buoys 126 through the use of cables 132 . cable cutters 134 have been attached to each cable 132 . each cable cutter 134 is preprogrammed to be activated upon receipt of its own preselected coded signal . the preprogrammed sequence can be adjusted such that the cable cutters attached to the cables holding up a lower end or base 142 of tower 128 are cut first . this procedure allows the base to begin sinking while an apex or top 140 of tower 128 remains attached to buoys holding it in place . the base 142 of the tower will swing down and the tower will approach the desired vertical orientation . at the time vertical orientation is accomplished , the cable cutters attached to the cables holding top part 140 of tower 128 are activated to cut their respective cables . this then will allow the tower to settle to a position on the bottom of the ocean area in a manner that the tower will be erect . clearly such a programmed method of sequentially cutting cables to control orientation of vessels to be installed in the ocean may be reversed for a similar preprogrammed procedure in cutting cables of vessels which are moored to the bottom but are to be returned to the surface in a predetermined orientation . also it is clear that the remote coded signal may be emitted from a multitude of select sources located at distances removed from the cables to be cut . obviously , many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings . it is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described .	8
turning now to fig1 , a block diagram of one embodiment of a computer system is shown . the computer system includes a processor 10 . the computer system also includes three i / o nodes numbered 20 , 30 and 40 each connected together in a chain by i / o packet bus links 50 b and 50 c respectively . i / o packet bus link 50 a is coupled between host node / processor 10 and i / o node 20 . processor 10 is illustrated as a host node and may include a host bridge for communicating with i / o node 20 via i / o packet bus link 50 a . i / o nodes 20 , 30 and 40 each include configuration space registers designated csr 22 , 32 and 42 , respectively . the i / o packet bus links formed by i / o packet bus 50 a - c may be referred to as a point - to - point links . i / o node 20 is connected to a pair of peripheral buses 25 a - b . i / o node 30 is connected to a graphics bus 35 , while i / o node 40 is connected to an additional peripheral bus 45 . it is noted that in other embodiments , other numbers of processors may be used . processor 10 is illustrative of , for example , an x86 microprocessor such as an athlon ™ microprocessor . in addition , one example of a packet bus such as i / o packet bus 50 may be compatible with hypertransport ™ technology . peripheral buses 25 a , 25 b and 45 are illustrative of a common peripheral bus such as a peripheral component interconnect ( pci ) bus and graphics bus 35 is illustrative of an accelerated graphics port ( agp ) interconnect , for example . it is understood , however , that other types of processors and buses may be used . it is noted that while three i / o nodes are shown connected to host processor 10 , other embodiments may have other numbers of nodes and those nodes may be connected in other topologies . the chain topology illustrated in fig1 is shown for its ease of understanding . in the illustrated embodiment , the host bridge of processor 10 may receive upstream packet transactions from downstream nodes such as i / o node 20 , 30 or 40 . alternatively , the host bridge of processor 10 may transmit packets downstream to devices such as peripheral devices ( not shown ) that may be connected to peripheral bus 25 a for example . as packets travel upstream or downstream on the links , the packets may pass through one or more nodes . as used herein , “ upstream ” refers to packet traffic flow in the direction of the host bridge of processor i / o from an i / o node and “ downstream ” refers to packet traffic flow in the direction away from the host bridge of processor 10 to an i / o node . during operation , i / o node 20 and 40 may translate transactions such as pci or pcix bus transactions , for example , into upstream packet transactions that travel in i / o streams and additionally may translate downs packet transactions into pci or pcix bus transactions . all packets originating at nodes other than the host bridge of processor 10 may flow upstream to the host bridge of processor i / o before being forwarded to any other node . all packets originating at the host bridge of processor 10 may flow downstream to other nodes such as i / o node 20 , 30 or 40 . each i / o stream may be identified by an identifier called a unit id . it is contemplated that the unit id may be part of a packet header or it may be some other designated number of bits in a packet or packets . as used herein , “ i / o stream ” refers to all packet transactions that contain the same unit id and therefore originate from the same node . to illustrate , a peripheral device on peripheral bus 45 initiates a transaction directed to a peripheral device on peripheral bus 25 . the transaction may first be translated into one or more packets with a unique unit id and then transmitted upstream . it is noted that each packet may be encoded with specific information which identifies the packet . for example the unit id may be encoded into the packet header . additionally , the type of transaction may also be encoded into the packet header . each packet maybe assigned a unit id that identifies the originating node or device within a node . in the present embodiment , i / o node 20 may not forward packets to a peripheral device on peripheral bus 25 from downstream ; the packets are first transmitted upstream to the host bridge of processor 10 . the host bridge of processor 10 may then transmit or “ reflect ” the packets back downstream with a unit id of the host bridge of processor 10 where i / o node 20 recognizes and claims the packet for the peripheral device on peripheral bus 25 . i / o node 20 may then translate the packets into peripheral bus transactions and transmit the transactions to the peripheral device on peripheral bus 25 . further , transactions originating at the host bridge of processor 10 may also contain the unit id of the host bridge of processor 10 . in one embodiment , the unit id of the host bridge may be zero . this may be particularly true of a host bridge that is compatible with hypertransport ™ technology . as will be described further below , during system initialization , one or more unique unit ids may be assigned to each node in the system , depending upon the number of devices existing within or connected to a node . for example , i / o node 20 may consume two unit ids , one for each of its two peripheral bus bridges . the assignment of unit ids may be performed by accessing the csr of each i / o node . further , depending upon the type of node ( i . e . which type of peripherals may be connected to the node ), certain unit id values may be reserved . for example , as described above , a hypertransport ™ technology compatible host bridge may be assigned a unit id number of zero . however , in systems using certain legacy operating systems such as windows98 ™, the unit id number zero may also be reserved for an agp device . thus , systems supporting such legacy operating systems may be configurable to accommodate such restrictions . an example of a hypertransport ™ compatible command register of an i / o node containing the unit id is shown below in table 1 for reference . it is noted that a detailed description of the configuration access types along with other configuration registers may be found in the latest revision of the hypertransport ™ i / o link specification . in addition , a description of configuration accesses may also be found in the latest revision of the pci local bus specification . fig2 and fig3 each illustrate a method for initializing the i / o nodes of a computer system . generally speaking , either at start - up or after a cold reset , the host bridge of processor 10 of fig1 may execute software instructions such as bios , for example , to initialize the computer system . the host bridge of processor 10 may then access the configuration space of each i / o node in the fabric by performing configuration read accesses and configuration write accesses . as described above , the unit id of the nodes in 110 fabric may be assigned during a process that is commonly referred to as enumerating the bus in the i / o system . in the following example , the i / o bus is the chain of i / o nodes coupled together by the i / o packet bus links 50 a - c of fig1 . in one embodiment , the i / o nodes are hypertransport ™ compatible and contain one or more command registers as shown in table 1 below . the command register for each device includes such information as the base unit id and the unit count . the unit count is indicative of the number of devices which may use a unique unit id . turning now to fig2 , a flow diagram illustrating one method of initializing the i / o nodes of a computer system is shown . beginning in block 200 , the initialization sequence begins by setting a variable designated nextid to 01h . the ‘ h ’ after the number identifies the number as a hexadecimal number . the host bridge then performs a configuration read access to device 00h ( block 205 ). it is noted that each i / o node &# 39 ; s base unit id ( buid ) may be initialized to a default value of 00h upon cold reset . thus if there are devices coupled to the host bridge , the first i / o node in the chain that has a buid of 00h may respond to the configuration read access to device 00h ( block 210 ). the first configuration read access may read information to find out the device type and whether the device has a capabilities list . the host bridge then performs a configuration read access to determine the unit count for the i / o node ( block 215 ) followed by a configuration write access to the buid register . the host bridge assigns the buid by writing the value of nextid to the buid register ( block 220 ). the host bridge also keeps a device list of which unit ids are assigned to which devices and the unit counts of each device ( block 220 ). the nextid is then incremented by the value contained in the unit count register ( block 225 ). the host bridge continues performing configuration read accesses to determine other information contained in the capabilities list . if the i / o node is determined not to have agp capability ( block 230 ), the host bridge then performs another configuration read access to a device with a buid equal to 00h ( block 205 ). the above enumeration process may continue and unit ids are assigned to each i / o node in the chain . referring back to block 230 , if the i / o node is determined to have agp capability , the host , bridge may set an agp flag or make an indication of the presence of an agp device ( block 235 ). the host bridge then continues the enumeration process by performing configuration read accesses to a device with a buid equal to 00h ( block 205 ) until no devices respond to the configuration read access to a device with a buid equal to 00h , or another bridge device such as a slave bridge , for example , is encountered ( 210 ). in either case , an end of chain bit or other indication may be selected within the host bridge to indicate that the end of the chain has been found ( block 240 ). once the end of the chain has been found , the agp flag or other agp indication is checked ( block 245 ). if the flag is not set , thus indicating that no agp devices are present , the enumeration process of the initialization is complete ( block 260 ). referring back to block 245 , if the agp flag is set however , then the unit id and unit count list is checked to see if the agp device is the first i / o node the host bridge encounters in the i / o chain ( block 250 ). if the agp device is the first i / o node in the chain , the host bridge then performs a configuration write access to the i / o node containing the agp device and sets the buid to the default value of 00h ( block 255 ). at this point , the enumeration process of the initialization is complete ( block 260 ). if the agp device is not the first i / o node in the chain ( block 250 ), the host bridge then performs a configuration write access to the i / o node containing the agp device and sets the buid to the value in nextid ( block 265 ). the host bridge then performs a configuration write access to each of the i / o nodes that has a buid value that is smaller than the buid value of the i / o node containing the agp device . each i / o node &# 39 ; s buid is incremented by the value in the agp unit count ( block 270 ). the host bridge then performs another configuration write access to the i / o node containing the agp device thereby setting the buid to the default value of 00h ( block 275 ). thus for computer systems employing legacy operating systems which require an agp device to have a buid of 00h , the above method may configure the i / o nodes &# 39 ; unit ids to be compatible . it is noted that although the base unit id of the agp device is now set to 00h , the agp device will not use the unit id of zero when initiating packet transfers . the agp device will instead use the other unit ids that are assigned to the i / o node as described in the latest revision of the hypertransport ™ i / o link specification . referring to fig3 , a flow diagram illustrating another method of initializing the i / o nodes of a computer system is shown . beginning in block 300 , the initialization sequence begins by setting a variable designated nextid to the highest useable unit id plus one . in one embodiment , the highest useable unit id is 31d . thus , nextid may be set to 32d or 20 h . the ‘ d ’ after the number identifies the number as a decimal number . it is contemplated that other embodiments may have other useable numbers of unit ids . the host bridge then performs a configuration read access to device 00h ( block 305 ). as described above , each i / o node &# 39 ; s buid may be initialized to a default value of 00h upon cold reset . thus if there are devices coupled to the host bridge , the first i / o node in the chain that has a buid of 00h may respond to the configuration read access to device 00h ( block 310 ). the first configuration read access may read information to find out the device type and whether the device has a capabilities list . the host bridge then performs a configuration read access to the unit count register to determine the unit count for the i / o node ( block 315 ). if the i / o node is determined not to have agp capability ( block 320 ), the value of nextid is decremented by the value in the unit count register ( block 335 ). the host bridge assigns the buid by writing the value of nextid to the buid register ( block 340 ). the host bridge continues performing configuration read accesses to determine other information contained in the capabilities list . the host bridge then performs another configuration read access to a device with a buid equal to 00h ( block 305 ). the above enumeration process may continue and unit ids are assigned to each i / o node in the chain . referring back to block 320 , if the i / o node is determined to have agp capability , the host bridge writes a value of 01h to the buid register of the i / o node containing the agp device ( block 325 ). an agp flag is set or other indication of the presence of an agp device is made ( block 330 ). the host bridge then continues the enumeration process by performing configuration read accesses to a device with a buid equal to 00h ( block 305 ) until no devices respond to the configuration read access to a device with a buid equal to 00h , or another bridge device such as a slave bridge , for example , is encountered ( 310 ). in either case , an end of chain bit or other indication may be selected within the host bridge to indicate that the end of the chain has been found ( block 350 ). once the end of the chain has been found , the agp flag or other agp indication is checked ( block 355 ). if the agp flag is not set , thus indicating that no agp devices are present , the enumeration process of the initialization is complete ( block 360 ). referring back to block 355 , if the agp flag is set however , then the host bridge performs a configuration write access to the i / o node containing the agp device and sets the buid to the default value of 00h ( block 365 ). at this point , the enumeration process of the initialization is complete ( block 360 ). turning to fig4 , a block diagram of the computer system of fig1 including a storage device is shown . circuit components that that correspond to those shown in fig1 are numbered identically for simplicity and clarity . the computer system of fig4 includes a storage device 60 coupled to i / o node 40 . it is noted that storage device 60 is shown coupled to i / o node 40 for exemplary purposes . storage device 60 is a memory medium that may be used to store program instructions . the term “ memory medium may include an installation medium , e . g ., a cd - rom , or floppy disks 160 , a computer system memory such as dram , sram , edo dram , sdram , ddr sdram , rambus ram , etc ., or a non - volatile memory such as a magnetic media , e . g ., a hard drive , or optical storage . the memory medium may include other types of memory as well , or combinations thereof . in addition , the memory medium may be located in a first computer in which the programs are executed , or may be located in a second different computer which connects to the first computer over a network . in the latter instance , the second computer provides the program instructions to the first computer for execution . also , the computer system may take various forms , including a personal computer system , mainframe computer system , workstation , network appliance , internet appliance , personal digital assistant ( da ), television system or other device . in general , the term “ computer system ” can be broadly defined to encompass any device having a processor which executes instructions from a memory medium . various embodiments may further include receiving , sending or storing program instructions and / or data implemented in accordance with the foregoing description upon a carrier medium . generally speaking , a carrier medium may include storage media or memory media described above , as well as transmission media or signals such as electrical , electromagnetic , or digital signals , conveyed via a communication medium such as network and / or a wireless link . the program instructions stored within storage device 60 may include bios software . the bios software , when executed by a processor such as processor 10 , for example , may perform the operations as described above in conjunction with the descriptions of fig1 through fig3 above . in one embodiment , when the storage device holds bios instructions , the storage device may sometimes be referred to as a firmware read only memory ( rom ). although the embodiments above have been described in considerable detail , numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated . it is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications .	6
one way to manage a diverse amount of healthcare information data is a data model . a data model consists of a set of elements and associated values . for example , the elements of a model may include clinical trial data such as protocol definitions , users , roles , experimental results , etc . depending on the size and complexity of the study , the elements used in the data model to represent the components of the study may be very complex themselves , including files , databases , or even additional data models . the elements could be arranged in a flat structure , in a hierarchy , or in some other arrangement . similar models can be used to manage patient records or complaints about healthcare products . there are numerous ways the data comprising the value of an element may be represented . for example , as shown in fig1 , values may be associated with elements in java objects , illustrated in table form in table 102 . an element that has a value associated with it is represented in an objectobject . in the java object represented by table 102 , element “ name ” has value “ kika medical ”. other elements and associated values represent an address . in the corresponding block diagram 104 of the same data , elements are represented by ovals 106 , 110 , 114 , and 118 , while data values are represented by rectangles 108 , 112 , 116 , 120 . in a hierarchical data model , as shown in fig2 , one element in an object may have as its value additional elements , which in turn may have values or contain still additional elements . for example , an object represented by table 202 corresponds to a hierarchical data model 204 , in which the element “ company ” 206 has as its value sub - elements “ name ” 208 and “ address ” 212 . the sub - element “ name ” has value “ kika medical ” 210 while the sub element “ address ” has additional sub - elements 214 , 216 , and 218 corresponding to the parts of the address , each with appropriate values 220 , 222 , 224 . in some cases , the value of an element may be represented by binary data , for example , a digital image . possible implementations of such a feature are discussed below . other data formats can be used , such as comma - separated value files , spreadsheets , or databases . the elements and values of the data model could similarly be represented by xml tags or other data formats . a data model can be very complex , containing a large amount of information . as a clinical study advances or a patient receives ongoing medical care , the data model is continually updated so that it always represents the current status of all aspects of the subject matter . whenever new information is available , it is added to the data model . if a user needs current information about some aspect of the modeled information , they use a client to access the model and find the current state of the relevant data . for example , when new information concerning a patient is available , a doctor will add those results to the model . if the doctor needs to see the patient &# 39 ; s records , he uses a client to access the model and retrieve those records . in some examples , the data model is an extension of the clinical data interchange standards consortium ( cdisc ) operational data modeling ( odm ) standard , which documents a hierarchical structure of clinical data elements . one part of each odm file , known as the metadata , describes the data collected in a study . the metadata consists of definitions , with one type of definition for each of five data levels : the first four levels are container levels while the last level is for actual data values . container definitions are lists of references , which are pointers to other data definitions . for example , the metadata defining an itemgroupdata - level element demographics may contain references to itemdefs birth_date and patient_sex , indicating that the demographics element contains two sub - elements at the itemdata level , and these sub - elements are defined according to the birth_date and patient_sex item definitions and will contain the corresponding data . the item definitions at the itemdata level describe the type of data stored in the defined element , such as text , integer , float , date , etc . in the preceding example , the item definition birth_date would indicate that the value must be of type “ date .” the cdisc standard defines two important elements , repeating and mandatory . repeating , applicable to definitions , indicates whether an element can be included more than once . for example , a studyevent - level element adverse_event , defined by a studyeventdef definition , may be repeated several times in a study , so the definition of adverse_event would include the element repeating with a value “ true .” mandatory is applicable to references and indicates whether a referenced sub - element is mandatory . the contents of a data model are changed by a transaction . a transaction may consist of instructions to add or remove elements , change the values of elements , or change the relationships between elements , such as their arrangement in a hierarchy . a single transaction may contain instructions to make multiple changes to the data model . for example , a transaction may instruct the data model to change the “ name ” element of a particular person and add a “ telephone ” element for that person . a transaction can be a data structure consisting of a subset of the elements of the data model it is intended to change . the values of the elements in the transaction could indicate explicit instructions , such as to add or delete an element . alternatively , the values of the elements in the transaction could differ from the values already associated with the elements in the data model , such that the differences constitute instructions to change the values in the model accordingly . a transaction may be represented in the same format as the data model itself . in some examples , as shown in fig3 , a transaction is represented by a java object as illustrated in table 302 and the data model is stored in memory is a comparable format . block diagrams 204 , 304 , and 306 illustrate the transaction and data model abstractly . a transaction consists of a set of elements in the object of table 302 corresponding to the object 202 representing the data model . the “ name ” element 208 - t has a different value 210 - t than the corresponding element in the data model , so the transaction is regarded as an instruction to change the value of the “ name ” element 208 in the data model . the “ address ” element 212 - t has a value consisting of the command “[ delete ]” 318 , so the “ address ” element 212 will be removed from the data model by deleting the corresponding element from the java object . the “ telephone ” element 310 - t and its value 312 - t are not found in the existing data model , so a new element and its value 312 will be added to the java object . these changes are applied to the data model represented by the java object illustrated in table 202 to produce an updated java object , illustrated in table 202 ′, with updated “ company ” and “ name ” elements 206 ′ and 208 ′, a new value 306 ′ for the name element 208 ′, and new “ telephone ” element 310 having value 312 . in some examples , a minimum set of elements and corresponding values must be included in every transaction . such elements may include a global unique identifier ( guid ) ( assigned by a system that processes the transactions ), the date of the transaction , the user id of the author of the modification , a reason for the modification , the guid of the previous transaction , and references to binaries , if any . a transaction may implicitly indicate when data is to be added or changed , simply by including the new data , or it may be required in a particular implementation to explicitly indicate for each element referenced whether data is being added , changed , or deleted . two different components are used to store the data model in a complementary manner , as shown in fig4 . the short term storage 402 runs as an application on a computer system and maintains a representation of the current state of the data model . the model 404 consists of data in memory representing each element and its current value . by applying the instructions of each transaction to the data model currently in memory as the instructions are received , the representation of the model in the short term storage always represents the current state of the data model as of the most recent transaction , and can be quickly accessed to determine what that state is . when a new transaction 406 is received , the short term storage 402 analyses the transaction to determine what changes are to be made to the data model , and it makes those changes to the representation of the model 404 currently in memory . the short term storage may be limited for technical or other reasons . for example , if the data representing the current state of the data model is stored in volatile memory , that data will be lost if the computer hosting it is shut down . storing the data in volatile memory may have advantages , such as allowing faster access to current information about the state of the data model to users or other processes that may require such information . the data representing the model could also be stored in a non - volatile memory , such as a hard disk or flash memory , with advantages and disadvantages corresponding to elements of the technology used . the long term storage component 410 also runs , on a computer system , which may be the same system as the one running the short term storage 402 , or may be separate . it stores each new transaction 406 as it is received , without analyzing the transaction or applying it to the data model . transactions are associated with a sequence value indicating the order in which they were received . a sequence of transactions 406 a , b , etc . is referred to as a “ series .” when it is desired to reconstruct the current state of the data model , for example , after the server hosting the short term storage has been rebooted , this is done by starting with an empty model , containing no elements or a default set of elements , and then loading a series of transactions from storage and applying them to the data model according to their sequence numbers to reproduce the process that led to the present state of the data model . because conditions external to the data model may change between the time a transaction is stored and the time it is used to recreate a change to the data model , it is desirable that the data values in a transaction contain actual values , rather than references to external parameters . for example , if an element is to have a value representing the date on which it was stored , the corresponding value in the transaction needs to represent the actual date , i . e ., “ 1 jan . 2006 ,” not a pointer to that value in a computer system , for example , the system clock , which may change , even though such a pointer would have been sufficient on the day the transaction was stored . to assure the consistency of the current state in the short term storage and the sequence of transactions to reproduce that state in the long term storage , each transaction is applied to the current state and stored in long term storage substantially in parallel . if a transaction is applied to the current state and not stored in the long term storage , and the current state is then reconstructed from the stored sequence of transactions , the reconstructed state will not match the previous current state . likewise , if a transaction is stored but not applied by the short term storage , the current state in memory will not represent the actual state of the project . the storage of individual transactions and information about the order in which they were applied to the model provides several benefits . it effectively gives the model a time dimension , allowing a user to look back in time and reconstruct the model as it was at any point . this allows retrieval of the state of any part of the model at some point in time , and traceability of how the model evolved . for example , a researcher can see how the data describing a particular patient changed over time . in the example of a clinical study , a model can contain not only the data collected in the course of the study , but all information pertaining to the study , including test procedures , policies , forms , i . e ., the entire protocol . the transaction storage system allows this information to also be reconstructed , for example to determine whether intake questions were changed after some patients had already started the trial . without such traceability , costly and time - consuming computations may be required to discover such a fact . this traceability also allows statistical analysis of the entire population of a study at any historical point in time . the state of the model can be recreated , by replaying all the transactions up to that point , and then the model as of that point used as the source of data for analysis . if the analysis concerns only a subset of the population , or only a particular symptom , only the transactions affecting the relevant population or symptom need to be replayed , allowing for even faster reproduction and extraction of the needed data . auditing is also improved by this model and transaction system . for example , in a clinical trial , the death of a patient requires that the trial stop . if it is learned that a death occurred and the trial continued , auditors can use the transaction history to rebuild the model as it stood at the time of the death to see what else was going on , who was aware of the situation , and why the trial was not halted . such auditing using the traceability provided by the transaction history can also reveal fraud , misrepresentations , and defective data . as shown in fig5 , a controller module is another software application , and is configured to manage the flow of transactions from clients that access the data model . it may or may not operate on the same computer system as the other components . when a transaction 406 is received , a controller 502 checks it against a set of rules to confirm that the changes it instructs to the data model are valid . the controller then provides the transaction to both the short term storage 402 and the long term storage 410 for appropriate handling . to insure reliability , the controller analyses the changes that will be made by the transaction and makes a backup copy 504 of the part 506 of the data model , as represented in the current state , that is about to be modified by the transaction . the controller may be configured to backup a larger part of the data model than will clearly be affected by the changes , to assure that the backup is adequate . the transaction is then applied to the model by the short term storage 402 , generating a new revision and current state . the state may then be checked against a set of rules to assure that the revised data model continues to comply with them . if a rule is violated , the transaction is rejected and the backup is used to restore the data model to the state that existed before the revision . if no rule is violated , then the controller 502 instructs the long term storage 410 to store the transaction . if for some reason the storage of the transaction is not successful , then the backup 504 is again used to restore the data model to its previous state . even though no rules were violated by the changes , since they were not stored , the revised state will not be recreated when the sequence of transactions is again applied , so the current state should not reflect the new changes . the controller also regulates access to the data model to prevent any inconsistencies . when a transaction is received , the controller applies a lock such that only a request handler handling the current transaction can modify the data model . this prevents other clients from submitting transactions to change the model at the same time . once the transaction is stored , the lock is withdrawn . likewise , when a client is reading the model , the controller may apply a read - only lock so that other clients may also read the model , but none will be able to change it while it is being read . the long term storage component is made up of two layers : the dispatcher and storage for series of transactions , as shown in fig6 . the sequences of transactions comprising each series may be stored on a single server or on multiple servers , depending on the needs of the system . servers storing the transactions may be integrated with the dispatcher or other components , or may be remote , or both . the dispatcher 602 receives transactions 406 that have been accepted by the controller and applied to the corresponding data model and adds them to the appropriate series . several instances 604 , 606 , 608 of a particular series may be maintained for backup purposes , such that a problem with one instance will not fatally jeopardize the integrity of the data model . each instance may be stored in a separate storage location 634 , 636 , 638 . the dispatcher 602 monitors the state of each instance . if the storage fails to add a transaction to an instance of a series , the dispatcher identifies that instance as no longer available , since writing any additional transactions to it might break the integrity of the sequence represented by that series . instances of series may be synchronous or asynchronous . a synchronous instance 608 writes each transaction to its corresponding storage location 638 as it is received , with the dispatcher waiting for each write operation to complete before sending the next transaction . asynchronous instances 604 , 606 use queues 614 , 616 of transactions to be stored in a first - in , first - out manner in corresponding storage locations 634 , 636 . the dispatcher 602 sends transactions to each queue as the transactions are ready , and the corresponding storage location takes them from the queue and writes them to the stored instance 644 , 646 of the series as fast as it is able . synchronous instances tend to provide slower access to the data , as the system has to wait until the storage operation is completed before moving on to the next one . asynchronous instances can allow faster response , allowing the system to move on while the storage is being executed , but may be less reliable . a typical installation will have at least one synchronous instance , since it is important to have at least one reliable transaction history always available . the choice of how many of each kind to use will depend on the reliability and performance requirements and available resources of a particular implementation . queues may have a limited size , in which case , if a queue fills up , the dispatcher may have to stop sending , transactions to the corresponding instance , possibly interrupting the sequence of transactions in that instance . when the dispatcher has stopped writing to an instance because its sequence of transactions has been interrupted , it may later be able to use a synchronizing tool to synchronize the series in that instance with another that was not interrupted so that the instance may be returned to service . the synchronizing tool reads from a valid instance the transactions that are missing from the interrupted series and inserts them into that instance of the series until it is up - to - date . this process could be automated by equipping the storage component with the ability to draw transactions from one instance and write them to other instances to assure that each stays up to date without the dispatcher having to monitor each instance &# 39 ; s status . the details of how a sequence of transactions constituting a series is stored will vary according to the format of the transaction . in one example , a transaction is represented by an xml file , and a series comprises a set of such xml files . each transaction file may contain a tag representing the sequence number of the transaction . alternatively , a separate list of the order of transactions in a particular series may be maintained , using unique identifiers associated with each transaction . if a value of an element in the data model is to include a binary file , which is not ordinarily accommodated by the file type of the transaction , as is the case with xml , the transaction may include an identification of the binary file , with the binary file maintained in a separate file . in one example , as shown in fig7 , an instance 704 of a series is stored locally in a directory of the file system of the server 702 hosting the dispatcher 602 . the layout of the storage directory and the file system can be optimized for reliability and speed . setup of such an arrangement may require only that the file system of the host computer have available resources . in another example , also shown in fig7 , instances 706 , 708 of a series are stored in remote file systems on servers 716 , 718 . commands to store , configure , or access stored instances can be sent to the remote file systems over the a network 720 , for example , using https or other protocols . commands may also be sent using a dedicated data connection between the local system hosting the dispatcher and the remote file system , using a virtual private network or other internet connection , or in other ways . using a remote file system allows that file system to differ from the file system used by the local computer . it may be advantageous to use an asynchronous instance on a remote file system due to latency of the network communications . proxies 734 , 736 for instances 706 , 708 stored on remote file systems may be configured in the local server 702 , for example , so that the dispatcher 602 can access the stored instances as if they were local without being required to be configured according to the details of the file systems used on the remote servers 716 , 718 . in one example , shown in fig8 , an additional server 804 maintains a duplicate of the current state of the data model , which is maintained in short term storage 402 on a server 802 . the additional server 804 reads transactions stored in the long term storage component 410 and applies each transaction to the locally - maintained duplicate 810 of the data model . to make changes to the data model , a client 806 must send a transaction to the primary server &# 39 ; 802 . the client can retrieve information about the current state of the model from the short term storage as usual . periodically , the additional server 802 requests new transactions from the long term storage 410 on server 802 . if any new transactions have been incorporated into the model since the last request , such transactions are transmitted to the server 802 and incorporated into the duplicate model 810 . a client 808 can access the duplicate model for purposes that only require read access , such as gathering statistics or reporting on the state of the data model . data 832 is transmitted to the client 808 . such an arrangement may reduce communication latency for clients that have a more direct connection to the additional server 804 than to the primary server 802 . it may also reduce the load on the primary server , as fewer clients will require its resources . it may also improve the integrity of the data model , for example by allowing certain clients to only access the secondary server , such that they can never make changes to the model . in one example , as shown in fig9 , if a client 902 needs to add a binary file 904 to the data model , it uploads the binary file to the server 906 hosting the controller ( not shown ). the server assigns a unique identifier 908 to the binary file , similar to identifiers assigned to transaction files , and sends a copy 910 of the file to the storage locations 914 responsible for each instance 912 of the series that will contain the corresponding transaction . the storage locations 914 each place the binary file 904 in a temporary storage location 916 . the server then communicates the identifier 908 of the binary file to the client . the client then sends a transaction 918 as an xml file , with one tag representing the binary file and containing the identifier of the file as its value . if the transaction is successfully added to the data model by the short term storage ( not shown ), it is sent to the long term storage ( not shown ) in the same manner as any other transaction . each storage location 914 for an instance of the series that receives the transaction 918 referencing the binary file 904 looks for the binary file in its temporary binary location 916 and moves it to a permanent location 920 . if the file is not found , the transaction fails and is removed from the data model as with any other failed transaction . the insertion of the transaction into at least one instance of the series and the moving of the binary into the permanent storage of the corresponding storage component are handled as a single operation to assure consistency . if a single binary file is referenced by more than one transaction , only a single copy of the binary needs to be placed in permanent storage . when a transaction is received referencing such a binary file , the transaction is added to the series as normal with no additional steps required . since the stored sequence of transactions is used to recreate the current state of the data model each time the short term storage is loaded , it is easy to recover older versions of the model . for example , as shown in fig1 a , the process of recreating the model can proceed as normal , starting with an empty model 1004 , with transactions 1002 a - e resulting in revisions of the model 1004 a - e . if a client 1006 wants to know what was in the model at a specific time , for example the time transaction 1002 c was entered , the reconstruction can be halted after that transaction is applied , and a copy of the corresponding revision of the model 1004 c sent to the client . similarly , as shown in fig1 b , if a client 1010 is interested in only a subset of the data represented by the model corresponding to element b , the current state or any revision state of that data may be recreated without recreating the entire data model . this is accomplished by applying only those transactions 1002 b and 1002 d that affect the element b , creating reduced versions of the model 1008 b and 1008 d , thus saving processing time and memory required to store the model . because the transactions can be represented as versions of the data model containing only data relevant to the changes made by that transaction , they can be easily filtered to find the set of transactions necessary to see the current state of any subset of the data model . for example , a set of elements in the model may represent a form a with information pertaining to a patient x , while other sets of elements may represent copies of form a with information about other patients . the set of transactions that modify sub - elements of form a for patient x can be applied to reconstruct only the form a for that patient , without reconstructing copies of form a for other patients or any parts of the model . if the data model is organized hierarchically , handling of elements in transactions may be more complex . for example , as shown in fig1 , in a hierarchical arrangement , elements may be categorized as ancestor or child nodes , e . g ., nodes a and e , respectively , and a given node could be of both types simultaneously , e . g ., node c , which is a child of node a and an ancestor of node e . a transaction 1102 must contain elements corresponding to each ancestor of any child nodes it modifies . for example , if child nodes d and f are added , all of their ancestors , a and c , must be present in the transaction and marked either to be inserted themselves or to be updated to recognize the child . if a child node e is modified , all of its ancestors are marked to also be modified . if a child node g is deleted , all of its ancestors , nodes a and b are marked either to be deleted or to be updated . all the changes in transaction 1102 are applied to the present revision of the model 1104 to produce a revised version 1104 ′. elements pertaining to the hierarchy are included in each node to facilitate model reconstruction and history recovery . in one example , these elements include the guid of the last transaction that inserted or updated any children of the node and the date that transaction was executed . with these elements , the system can rapidly discover which is the last transaction that modified a data node and from that , find who made the modification and whether other nodes were modified at the same time . for example , if a node corresponds to a particular patient , a user may want to know who was the last researcher to update that patient &# 39 ; s information , and which other patients &# 39 ; information did that researcher alter at the same time . the node for that patient , which will be a parent node for nodes representing information about the patient , will contain the guid of the last transaction that modified that patient node or any of its children nodes . that transaction can be retrieved based on its guid , and the researcher who initiated it identified . a number of embodiments of the invention have been described . nevertheless , it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . for example , a last - current copy of the model may be maintained in long - term storage to facilitate rebuilding the active model . accordingly , other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims .	6
in cellular networks at present sms is carried on isdn signalling user part isup signalling on interfaces between mscs and the smsc , and mscs and so called gateway mscs ( gmsc ) that interface to the pstn where the smsc is outside that cellular network , signalling isup over the ss7 network . the smsc also has a short message peer to peer ( smpp ) interface that allows communication between the smsc and other application servers . sms may also be delivered across fixed line networks such as the pstn using isup . sms addressing uses conventional telephone numbers for source through calling line identifier ( cli ) and destination , and optionally these may be translated by the service control point ( scp ) in an intelligent network ( in ) network , such that the cellular and pstn may suitably route the message to the mobile handset or fixed line respectively . the smsc normally implements a store and forward model for message delivery , although this can occur extremely rapidly provided the destination is available . where a mobile handset is not presently registered with a cellular network , the message is held in the smsc until the home location register ( hlr ) can record the current location of the mobile . where the mobile is registered the message is delivered immediately within the constraints of normal processing delays . furthermore the smsc has the capability to send a message back to the originator acknowledging delivery of the sms to the destination . various options are available how long the message is held . in gsm networks ussd is transported on transaction capability application part ( tcap ), similarly to sms on ss7 signalling , between the msc currently serving the handset and the hlr associated with the subscriber . this communication from handset back to the hlr occurs whether the handset is in the “ home ” mobile network ( the operator or their agent with whom the subscriber has a contract ) or roaming in a visited ( another operator &# 39 ; s ) network , provided the appropriate ussd service code is specified . in the case of the visited network , the hlr for the subscriber is identified by the sim card in the handset and potentially the use of the camel protocol ( customised applications for mobile enhanced logic ). the hlr communicates with a ussd gateway using mobile application part ( map ) on ss7 , and the gateway may be standalone or combined with the services control framework of the mobile network , or owned by another operator . the ussd gateway may be used in turn to communicate with other applications servers by smpp , as per the smsc , and several external applications servers may be distinguished by the service codes and filters used . ussd may be network or handset initiated which allows asynchronous events to occur from either end and a dialogue to ensue . notwithstanding the difference between ussd and sms of session based bidirectional messages versus store and forward respectively , those skilled in the art will appreciate that ussd may be substituted in every instance where sms is mentioned in the following description without any loss of generality except the restriction to gsm networks . similarly , the ussd gateway may be substituted for the smsc in context to provide an interface to the applications layer . in the first preferred embodiment of the present invention sms is used to signal an smsc to provide direct or act as a proxy for call control signalling . in particular the smsc belongs to the administration hosting a sip voip service . the administration could be an enterprise , a public telegraph and telephone ( ptt ) operators ( pstn ) or a cellular operator for example . in the present invention the cli ( part of the isup or the sms ) and use of a number to be called , as well as any other information embedded in the sms is used to effect call control signalling . this sms can be intercepted by the smsc ( or even by the gateway en route to the smsc ) and the type of the message as call control signalling recognised for example by the smsc number being used , an embedded code point , a form of digital signature based on information from the subscriber identification module ( sim ) card of the mobile phone for verification , authentication , non - repudiation or any other appropriate means , distinguishing it from a conventional sms between users or other form of engineering sms . the preferred embodiment of the present invention is to implement the third approach to control wifi and cellular hand - off using sms instead of sip over gprs in the cellular domain . the network comprises a wifi access domain and associated controller for wifi access point handover , a sip mobility gateway and applications server , an smsc , and connectivity via gateways as appropriate to the public switched telecommunications network ( pstn ), enterprise private branch exchange ( pbx ) and cellular access domain via the public land module network ( plmn ). a dtm handset with voip and sip clients may use the wifi access domain to place voip calls using sip signalling between equivalent users . the wifi access point controller is used to ensure seamless hand - off between possibly multiple access points in the wifi access domain . where a call needs to be placed from the dtm handset to any other user of a pbx , pstn or plmn for example then the sip applications server will connect the voip to a media gateway ( mgw ) and associated signalling gateway ( sgw ) to exit the wifi access domain . similarly incoming calls from a pbx , pstn or plmn for example are directed via the mgw and an associated sgw by the numbering plan for the user to the sip applications server which tracks the presence ( e . g . availability , location , registration ) of the dtm handset and completes the call . if one now assumes the dtm handset is engaged on a call and in the wifi access domain , the situation where the handset moves to the cellular domain is described assuming wifi access to be preferred . those skilled in the art will appreciate the same explanation would apply equally where the cellular network may be preferred , for example the placement and hand - off of emergency calls . as the dtm handset begins to lose signal strength of the wifi access domain , it requests hand - off to the cellular domain by informing the sip mobility gateway ( smg ) using sip over wifi . however it is possible that the wifi signal may fade too rapidly for this to be successfully effected which ordinarily causes loss of the signalling and voice paths . the present invention proposes that the sip client uses sms to send this call control to the smg , either natively by embedding the necessary information , by converting the sip to sms information , or by encapsulating the sip with any necessary form of compression for example zip . those skilled in the art will recognise that ussd may be used as an alternative . the sms is transmitted from the dtm handset to the smsc of the sip network administrator ideally directly by using an appropriate smsc number , although it is possible for this to be relayed or passed via gateways . in the simplest model the smsc will recognise the sms as call control and perform any necessary verification and forward the message natively using smpp to the smg . those skilled in the art will appreciate that any appropriate communication protocol may be used between the smsc and smg , the smsc can perform optionally direct protocol conversion to sip , and those functions could also be combined into a single platform . the smg will interpret the call control as a hand - off and establish a call leg through the cellular network ( and pstn if necessary ) to the dtm handset . this call could be established in the cellular using an unpublished cellular directory number or any other means of identification of the user , e . g . international mobile subscriber identify ( imsi ) or mobile station roaming number ( msrn ) which is isup routable depending on the relationship between the administration of the smg and the cellular networks . the smg may also send an acknowledgement back to the dtm handset that the call leg is established using sms . the dtm handset client recognises the incoming call leg from the smg via the cli or sms or both and switches the voice path from voip over wifi to voice over cellular ( e . g . gsm ). contemporaneously the smg bridges the newly established call leg to the dtm handset with the call leg to the other party , and releases any redundant network resources representing the former voip over wifi path . where the dtm handset moves from cellular coverage into the wifi access domain , the signal strength of the wifi can be measured and used to initiate hand - off . the dtm handset client may use sip or sms or both for this purpose depending on the circumstances , but for the purposes of illustrating the advantages of the present invention sms is assumed . this also suits a situation where the cellular coverage and wifi only barely overlap , and hand - off must be carefully controlled to allow possible reversion to cellular . the dtm handset sends an sms call control to the smsc and smg as above to initiate the hand - off . the smg responds by setting up the network resources to establish a voip call leg over the wifi access domain , and may send an sms acknowledgement . ( sip could equally be used for both purposes ). once the dtm handset has determined the voip call leg is operational , it can send an sms over the cellular network to the smg to release the call leg in the cellular domain after bridging the call leg to the other party to the newly establish voip call leg . contemporaneously the dtm handset can switch to using the voip call leg or await an sms or sip acknowledgement from the smg , or even simply release the cellular call leg . using sms in this manner may also be used to solve the problem where the dtm handset is only within cellular coverage ( not wifi ) and wishes to place a call . in order that the cli represents the numbering plan associated with the sip administration ( or its delegate ), the dtm handset client can initiate outgoing calls using sms to the smg and sip applications server that places the call by proxy . the sms would include the called party number , either translated or to be translated by the sip applications server , and the cli would be substituted with the appropriate numbering plan when the outgoing call leg is placed . the sip applications server may also be used to establish the call leg back to the dtm handset through the cellular network ( and any intervening pstn ) and send an sms , or send the sms acknowledgement and have the dtm handset establish the call leg to a particular number of the line in a hunt group on the media gateway bridging the two call legs . using sms in this manner ensures that should the dtm handset subsequently move into wifi coverage , the call can be handed - off from cellular to wifi as described before without leaving any resources used in the cellular network . this has advantage where the administration providing the user &# 39 ; s service wishes to be independent of the cellular operator as much as possible , such as when the user is roaming . sms call control may also be used to effect supplementary services for example call transfer or three way calling . by way of example but with no restriction to this example alone , to place a three way call where the dtm handset is in the cellular domain and a call is active from the handset to another party , the client sends an sms on the user &# 39 ; s behalf to the smg / sip applications server as described before requesting it establish the third party call leg . on successful establishment the smg / sip applications server can bridge the call in a network media gateway and send an sms acknowledgement . in a similar manner sms may be used to release either party call leg . call waiting , hold and forward may be implemented in the same way , as indeed can a complete set of supplementary services that mimic those of centrex , pbxs and cellular networks in general using this ability to control call lags from the application server . the key advantage of this approach is that at most one call leg through the cellular network is required , and where the dtm handset moves into wifi coverage or wishes to drop from a three way call or forward a call , no resources of the cellular network are required any longer than necessary . sms may also be used as a means for the user or dtm handset to send presence updates for example on location and availability to the sip applications server and / or a presence server of the same administration . additionally , call forwarding and screening preferences may also be updated in this manner while a call is in progress which may prevent accessing the same using sip over gprs . those skilled in the art will appreciate that other signalling systems than sip may be used . similarly the functions of call control , bridging , sip applications , smsc , ussd gateway smg , sgw , mgw , pbx may be combined in any combination or permutation in their physical realisation . furthermore the applications and supplementary services may be hosted in the sip domain as described or be part of a pbx , the plmn or pstn or any other network call control and invoked by the sip network or its equivalent by proxy .	7
fig1 shows a system for monitoring and controlling the flow rate of a fluid through the pipe 1 , which uses two field devices : a flow rate meter 2 together with a continuously adjustable valve 3 . these field devices are connected via the field bus 4 with the control units 5 , 6 , where 5 represents a hand - held terminal and 6 a commonly purchasable personal computer . for communication purposes , the data line between the field bus 4 and the computer 6 is provided with a coupling module 7 . there is an option to carry out all the control and monitoring tasks on either of these control units . in particular , the data sent out by the field device can be received and reproduced , so that the operating staff can obtain a reliable impression of the operating states of the flow rate meter 2 and the adjustable valve 3 . on the other hand , however , it is also possible for the control units 5 , 6 to exercise a direct influence on the field devices 2 , 3 . for example , the flow rate measurement can be restricted to a particular time interval , which involves a start signal or stop signal being sent to the flow rate meter 2 at the start and the end respectively of this time interval . it is also possible to change the damping applied to the value determined by the flow rate meter 2 . this is an important output variable for the preprocessing , which takes place even within the field device 2 , of the raw measured value . it specifies the time interval over which the recorded data is determined . modern flexible field devices often cover different measurement ranges . this ray make it necessary , for example , to carry out resealing of the raw data even within the flow rate meter 2 , with the measurement range and the scaling factor being adjustable by means of a command from the control unit 5 , 6 . but is it also conceivable that , for the purpose of calibrating the field devices , certain calibration signals are sent from the control units 5 and 6 to the field devices . in order for the bidirectional data traffic described , between the control units 5 and 6 on the one hand and the field devices 2 and 3 on the other hand , to function it is necessary that the program modules in the devices are matched to each other . in particular , the specifications of each of the field devices , that is the special characteristics of the device type concerned , must be known when the program is being generated . these specifications then provide the parameters required for control purposes , together with their characteristics . for example , for one of the control tasks identified above , the control modules must include a parameter which regulates the damping of the raw measured value . this parameter has certain characteristics : for example , the data which it stores may be of the floating point type with “ single ” precision . further , damping may only be permitted in a certain range , the upper and lower limits of which must be specified in the description . such descriptions are commonly set down in text form by the developer of the field device , and are interpreted and applied by the programmers of the software which is used in the devices . that is to say , the developer of the device specifies how the damping is to be effected , what the precision and data format must be for the damping parameter which is to be input , and what parameter values are basically permissible . fig2 shows schematically the programming steps which are to be carried out according to the familiar methods . a field device 2 is connected via a field bus 4 with a control computer 6 . bidirectional data and commands can be exchanged between the field device 2 and the computer 6 which is serving as the control unit , via a coupling module 7 on the control computer 6 side . the functionality of the control computer is determined by control software 12 . this includes a general part 14 , which incorporates the basic control routines , the user interface and the interface programming . this general part 14 of the control software also represents the framework of the control program , it can in principle be used for a multitude of field devices . however , in order to adapt this framework for any particular type of field device , the control computer 6 must provide stored data which reflects the particular specification of the device type . this is done by incorporating a machine - readable parameterized description 13 of the field devices . this consists mainly of a list of parameters which are required to control the field device . examples of these are the damping , codes for switching the field device on and off , upper and lower limits ( which , when the values exceed or fall below them , generate error messages ), codes for calibrating the device , together with factors for resealing the data sensed by the intelligent field device . at this point , this list must be made very selectively , because the control of modern field devices requires approximately 100 such parameters . nowadays , the parameterized description 13 is usually stored in an agreed syntax , called the ddl ( device description language ). this is directly machine - readable insofar as the sections concerned for the individual parameters can be directly read in 51 and interpreted by the routines of the general part 14 of the software . the description itemized in the ddl is conventionally produced on the basis of a description 15 set down in text form . in this , the developer of a new type of field device gives a comprehensive description of the specification of the new device . to do so , he must at least implicitly go into the parameters cited which are relevant for control purposes , and their characteristics , but may not feel obliged to itemize the description in machine - readable form . instead , it will much more often be the case that , for example , not all of the characteristics of a parameter will get a mention , because the developer can rightly assume that a reader will be able to supplement these characteristics logically if he is a person skilled in the art and familiar with corresponding equivalent devices . the conversion of this description 15 , set down in text form , into the machine - readable parameterized description 13 is shown in the sketch as the conversion step 16 . in practice , this step is subject to numerous sources of error , which result not only from the incompleteness but also from the unavoidable ambiguity of a description in text form . a certain degree of interpretation is always required of the programmer of the ddl 13 , as a result of which inaccuracies or even errors can arise in the ddl script . because ddl in its present familiar form provides a very simple and intuitively comprehensible syntax , many developers of field devices therefore feel obliged to undertake the description in ddl themselves . for the purpose of performing the control tasks which fall to the intelligent field device 2 , certain program modules 11 , referred to collectively as firmware , are brought to execution on the microprocessor of the field device 2 . the primary purpose served by this firmware is to control and read out from the field device &# 39 ; s actuators and sensors 17 . however , data , measured values and commands can also be stored here on storage module 18 , which likewise belongs to the field device , and processed on the microprocessor in a manner prescribed by the firmware . it is clear that here again separate software must in principle be produced for each type of field device , generated with regard for the hardware components concerned and their functionality . it is known how to generate 19 this firmware from the description of the field device 15 set down in text form . this program step is also subject to the same uncertainties as the conversion 16 of the text description 15 into the ddl 13 . it is indeed true that the programmer of the firmware can fall back on existing ( standard ) program modules ( so - called analog input blocks ) for a large proportion of the software which needs to be produced . equally , he is obliged to take into account , and incorporate into the program modules in the correct place , matters which are specific to the field device , which are laid down in the text format description 15 . this familiar method has the following problem : it is essential that there is absolute consistency between the software blocks in the control computer 12 and in the firmware 11 . any disagreement between these program blocks could lead to unforeseeable errors , some of which are exceptionally difficult to track down because they may only come to light under certain operating conditions of the field device or the control computer . the consequence is that , with the familiar prior - art methods , exceptionally comprehensive test phases must be carried out , before the newly - developed software can be considered as error - free , and thereby the field device reaches market - readiness . these problems are fundamentally due to the fact that two interpretation steps 16 and 19 are required , which are independent of each other . by contrast , the invention proposes a method by which the firmware 11 which is to be newly created is generated directly from the machine - readable parameterized description 13 which is in any case available . this is represented in diagrammatic form in fig3 . in this way , it is possible to forgo the interpretation and software generation step 19 . its place is taken by the automatic program generation 21 , which starts from the machine - readable description . in this way , inconsistencies between the different program modules become impossible in principle , because the firmware 11 is of necessity based on the same data set as that which underlies the parameterized description which is used on the control computer . a side effect which also results is the exceptionally fast and reliable nature of program generation for the firmware 11 , because the method is automatic and calls for no manual programming activities . fig4 shows an alternative form of application of the invention . instead of setting down the specification of the new field device initially in text form , here the developer has itemized the description directly in machine - readable and parameterized form , thus eliminating the interpretation step 16 . this does not result in any additional work , because the conversion of the description into a machine - readable form is in any case necessary , as can be seen from fig3 . this elimination of the specification can be done with no great prior knowledge because , particularly with the ddl description language , an intuitively understandable and simple method of coding is available . here again , the firmware is generated in accordance with the method according to the invention , in step 21 . as with the method shown in fig3 , here again it is not possible for any inconsistencies 22 to arise between the software blocks 11 and 12 , because the two build on the same data basis , namely the machine - readable parameterized description 13 . as an example of a machine - readable parameterized description , fig5 shows part of a description written in the device description language ( ddl ). this parameterized description was developed from a description originally set down in text form . in the extract which is reproduced , the variable “ dmp 1 ” is defined internally in line 1 , in line 4 it is specified that the type of this parameter is a floating point number with single precision . lines 6 and 7 specify that only values between 1 . 753 and 7 . 529 are allowed . these values are a result of the characteristics of the hardware used . fig6 sketches the order of events in an advantageous application of the method in accordance with the invention . the starting point for the invention is the machine - readable parameterized description of a field device . a first step 31 identifies the four parameters of the field device , contained in the description , so that it is then possible in a second step 32 to identify for each of these parameters the characteristics which are relevant for control purposes , as defined in the description . the parameter v has three characteristics , which are identified in step 32 . these are the lower limit of 1 . 753 for the allowed value range , the upper limit of 7 . 529 , and the factor n = 0 . 01 , to be used for scaling the raw data . in the subsequent method step 33 , several program modules are generated for the parameter v , into which go each identified characteristic of v . on the one hand , the declaration module 41 is generated , defining for v a particular segment on the storage means and its data type as “ floating point ”. at the same time , an access module 42 is generated , instructing the checking equipment of the field device to execute an input checking module 43 , which is also generated , when the parameter v is accessed . for each user - requested parameter change , the input checking module 43 checks whether the new parameter value lies between the limits of the allowed value range , that is between 1 . 753 and 7 . 529 . if not , then an error message 44 , which can be read out and displayed by the control computer , is generated .	6
fig1 is a schematic drawing of the image forming apparatus in this embodiment . this image forming apparatus is an electrophotographic laser beam printer a ( which hereafter will be referred to as printer ) in which a process cartridge b ( which hereafter will be referred to as cartridge ) is removably mountable . this printer a outputs an image which it forms on recording medium in accordance with the picture data inputted into the control circuit 100 ( control board ) from an external host apparatus 200 ( fig2 ) such as a computer . the control circuit 100 controls the signal exchanges among the external host apparatus and various processing devices of the printer a , the preset image formation sequence , etc . the cartridge b has an electrophotographic photosensitive drum 7 ( which hereafter will be referred to as drum ), which is a rotatable image bearing member . this drum 7 is rotationally driven in the clockwise direction indicated by an arrow mark , at a preset velocity in response to an image formation start signal . as the drum 7 is rotationally driven , the peripheral surface of the drum 7 is uniformly charged to preset polarity and potential level by a charge roller 8 as a charging means . a laser scanner unit 1 , as an optical ( exposing ) means , has a laser diode , a polygon mirror , a lens , a full - reflection mirror , etc ., and outputs a beam of laser light l while modulating it with picture signals . the uniformly charged area of the peripheral surface of the drum 7 is exposed by this laser beam l . as a result , an electrostatic latent image which reflects the picture signals is formed . this latent image is developed by a developing apparatus 10 , as a developing means , and developer ( which hereafter will be referred to as toner ), into a visible image , that is , an image formed of toner ( which hereafter will be referred to as toner image ). meanwhile , a sheet of recording medium 2 set in a sheet feeder cassette 3 a is conveyed to a transfer station t by a pickup roller 3 b , conveyance roller pairs 3 c , 3 d , and 3 e , in synchronism with the abovementioned formation of the toner image on the drum 7 . in the transfer station t , a transfer roller 4 , as a transferring mean , is disposed in a manner to oppose the drum 7 ; it is disposed in contact with the drum 7 , forming a transfer nip . the recording medium 2 is introduced into the transfer nip , and is conveyed through the transfer nip . while the recording medium 2 is conveyed through the transfer nip , transfer bias is applied to the transfer roller 4 . as a result , the toner image on the drum 7 is transferred onto the surface of the recording medium 2 . after receiving the toner image , the recording medium 2 is separated from the drum surface , and is conveyed by a conveyance guide 3 f to a fixing apparatus 5 as a fixing means . after the separation of the recording medium 2 from the drum surface , the drum surface is cleared of adherent residues , such as the toner remaining on the drum surface after the transfer , by a cleaner 11 as a cleaning means , being readied for the next image formation ( drum surface is repeatedly used for image formation ). the fixing apparatus 5 has a driver roller 5 c , and a fixation roller 5 b which contains a heater 5 a in its hollow . the recording medium 2 is introduced into the fixation nip formed by the driver roller 5 c and fixation roller 5 b , and is conveyed through the fixation nip . while the recording medium 2 is conveyed through the fixation nip , the fixing apparatus 5 applies heat and pressure to the recording medium 2 , fixing thereby the transferred toner image to the recording medium 2 . after being conveyed through the fixation nip , the recording medium 2 is conveyed between a pair of discharge rollers 3 g , through a reversal path 3 i , and between a pair of discharge roller 3 h . then , it is discharged into a delivery tray 6 which constitutes a part of the top surface of the printer a . incidentally , it is possible to rotate a flapper 3 j to allow the recording medium 2 to advance straight so that after the recording medium 2 comes out of the interface between the pair of discharge rollers 3 g , the recording medium 2 is discharged into a second delivery tray 6 a , instead of entering the reversal path 3 i . the abovementioned pickup roller 3 b , conveyance roller pairs 3 c , 3 d , and 3 e , conveyance guide 3 f , discharge roller pairs 3 g and 3 h , etc ., constitute the means for conveying the recording medium 2 . in this embodiment , the drum 7 , the processing means , more specifically , the charge roller 3 , developing means 10 , and cleaner 11 , are integrally disposed in a cartridge , making up the process cartridge b which is removably mountable in the main assembly of the printer a . the top portion of the main assembly of the printer a is provided with a door 9 , which can be opened or closed to expose or cover the opening d of the main assembly a , through which the cartridge b is mounted or dismounted . the cartridge b can be mounted or dismount by exposing the abovementioned opening d by rotating the door 9 about the hinge shaft 9 a to the position contoured by the two - dot chain line in fig1 . as the door 9 is opened , the cartridge bay in the main assembly of the printer a becomes visible . as seen from the opening d side , a pair of guide rails ( unshown ) are visible , which are on the left and right walls of the cartridge bay , one for one . the guide rails are downwardly inclined toward the rear . when mounting the cartridge b into the cartridge bay , the cartridge b is to be held , with its front side ( developing apparatus side ) facing the front side of the main assembly of the printer a , so that the cartridge b can be inserted from its rear side ( cleaner side ). more specifically , a pair of positioning bosses , which outwardly project from the left and right lateral walls ( as seen from front side of main assembly a ) are to be rested on the abovementioned left and right guide rails , one for one . the axial lines of the pair of bosses coincide with the axial line of the drum 7 . then , the cartridge b is to be inserted all the way into the cartridge bay . as the cartridge b is inserted all the way into the cartridge bay , the abovementioned positioning bosses fit into the cartridge positioning grooves ( unshown ) of the main assembly of the printer a , locking the cartridge b into the preset image formation position in the main assembly of the printer a . then , the door 9 is to be closed . when the cartridge b is in the preset image formation position , the exposure opening 12 of the cartridge b , with which the top wall of the cartridge b is provided , faces a specific area of the laser scanner unit 1 . further , as the cartridge b is moved inward of the cartridge bay during the mounting of the cartridge b , the drum cover ( unshown ), which constitutes a part of the bottom wall of the cartridge b , is opened , exposing thereby the opening , with which the bottom wall of the cartridge b is provided . as a result , the downwardly facing area of the peripheral surface of the drum 7 is allowed to contact the transfer roller 4 , through the opening of the cartridge b , forming a transfer nip . further , the mechanical and electrical connections are made between the cartridge b and main assembly of the printer a , enabling the printer a to perform an image forming operation . that is , it becomes possible for the drum 7 , and the development roller , toner stirring member , etc ., of the developing apparatus 10 , to be driven by the driving means ( unshown ) with which the main assembly of the printer a is provided . further , it becomes possible for charge bias and development bias to be applied to the charge roller 8 and development sleeve , respectively , from the electric power supplying means ( unshown ) on the printer main assembly side . moreover , electrical connection is established between the electrical sensor ( unshown ) on the cartridge b side and the control circuit 100 on the main assembly side of the printer a . further , referring to fig2 , as the cartridge b is mounted into the main assembly of the printer a , the electrical contacts 60 a and 60 b ( cartridge contacts ) of the storage means 60 ( memory tag ) attached to the drum supporting portion 18 of the frame of the cartridge b come into contact with the electrical contacts 54 a and 54 b ( main assembly contacts ) of the connector 54 on the main assembly side of the printer a , respectively . as a result , the storage means 60 , and the control circuit 100 on the main assembly side of the printer a , are enabled to communicate with each other ( contact communication method ). when removing the cartridge b from the main assembly of the printer a , the above described sequence for mounting the cartridge b is to be carried out in the reverse order . that is , referring to fig1 , first , the door 9 is to be opened , and the cartridge b is to be pulled rightward in the diagonally upward direction in fig1 . as the cartridge b is pulled , the cartridge b comes out of the main assembly of the printer a , while being guided by the abovementioned guide rails . as the cartridge b is moved outward , the drum cover closes , covering thereby the opening , with which the bottom wall of the cartridge b is provided . therefore , the internal components of the cartridge b is protected while the cartridge b is out of the main assembly of the printer a . in this embodiment , the storage means 60 is attached to the drum supporting frame 18 . more concretely , it is attached to the rear surface of the cartridge b , that is , the surface of the cartridge b , which is on the leading side of the cartridge b in terms of the direction in which the cartridge b is inserted into the main assembly of the printer a . the storage means 60 is a means for storing the information related to the cartridge and image forming apparatus . more specifically , the storage means 60 is provided with a memory chip 60 c , such as a ram or a rom , which is a storage element and is attached to the rear surface of the storage means 60 . necessary information , for example , cartridge lot number , initial values for image formation conditions , history of an image forming apparatus , characteristics of the image forming apparatus , characteristics of the processing means of the image forming apparatus , etc ., are inputted in advance in the memory chip 60 c . when the cartridge b is properly set in the image formation position in the main assembly of the printer a and the connector 54 is in contact with the storage means 60 , the exchange of the information between the storage means 60 and control circuit 100 is possible , making it possible to control the process of informing the control circuit 100 of the information regarding the condition of the cartridge b and the history of the cartridge usage to use the information for an image forming operation , the process of making an operator recognize the condition of the cartridge b by displaying the condition on a displaying device 101 , and the like . further , the memory chip 60 c is writable even during its usage . therefore , the information is written into the memory chip 60 c whenever necessary . the connector 54 , which is the connector on the main assembly side of the printer a , is held by a connector supporting member 50 , in such a manner that when the cartridge b is mounted into in the image formation position in the main assembly of the printer a , the connector 54 faces the storage means 60 of the cartridge b . the connector 54 has a springy member having the electrical contacts 54 a and 54 b ( main assembly contacts ) which electrically contact the electrical contacts 60 a and 60 b of the storage means 60 . further , the connector 54 is electrically connected to the control circuit 100 with the use of bundled wires ( unshown ). as will be described next , the main assembly of the printer a and cartridge b are structured so that the connector 54 held by the connector supporting member 50 is moved into the communication - possible position x ( fig2 ) in which the contacts 54 a and 54 b contact the contacts 60 a and 60 b , respectively , by a connector moving mechanism ( connector engaging member ) which is moved by the closing ( or opening ) movement of the door 9 . further , the main assembly of the printer a is structured so that after the connector moving mechanism moves the connector 54 into the communication - possible position x , the connector moving mechanism is retained by a connector retaining mechanism ( retaining member ), in the position in which it finishes moving the connector 54 into the communication - possible position x . further , the main assembly of the printer a is structured so that as the door 9 is opened , the mechanism for retaining the connector moving mechanism is disengaged from the connector moving mechanism by the opening movement of the door 9 , allowing the connector moving mechanism to move the connector 54 into the retreat position y in which the electrical contacts 54 a and 54 b are prevented from contacting the electrical contacts 60 a and 60 b , respectively . further , not only is the main assembly of the printer a structured so that the connector mechanism is moved between the communication - possible position x ( contact establishment position ) and retreat position y ( separation position ), but also , so that the length of time it takes for the electrical contacts of the memory tag to disengage from the counterparts after the detection of the opening of the door 9 by the door switch 90 as a detecting means , is kept longer than a preset value to ensure that the communication between the memory tag 60 and main assembly of the printer a has properly ended . to more concretely describe the abovementioned structural arrangement , the main assembly of the printer a is structured so that when the door 9 , which was open , is closed , the connector moving mechanism 55 is moved from the position corresponding to the retreat position y ( disengagement position ) to the position corresponding to the communication - possible position x ( engagement position ) by the movement of the door 9 at the speed proportional to the moving speed of the door 9 , whereas when the door 9 , which has been closed , is opened , the connector moving mechanism 55 is retained in the position corresponding to the communication - possible position x by the connector moving mechanism retaining mechanism 58 ( which hereafter will be referred to as retaining mechanism ) until the door 9 is opened to a preset position . as the door 9 is opened beyond the preset position , the retaining mechanism disengaging mechanism ( 81 - 84 ) ( which hereafter will be referred to as disengaging mechanism ), which will be described later , is activated , disengaging the retaining mechanism 58 , and therefore , allowing the connector moving mechanism 55 to move from the position corresponding to the communication - possible position x to the position corresponding to the retreat position y . with the provision of this structural arrangement , the overall moving speed of the connector moving mechanism remains constant regardless of the speed at which the door 9 is opened or closed , which characterizes this embodiment ( present invention ). fig3 and 4 are perspective views of the assembly of the above described connector supporting member 50 , connector moving mechanism 55 , retaining mechanism 58 , disengaging mechanism ( 81 - 82 ), as seen from diagonally above and below , respectively . the connector supporting member 50 and other mechanical components are attached to a housing 51 . fig5 is an external perspective view of the housing 51 , and fig6 is a partially cutaway exploded perspective view of the housing 51 . the housing 51 has : a support plate 51 a ; a pressure catching plate 51 b perpendicularly attached to the top surface of the support plate 51 a ; a through hole 51 c , with which the front side of the support plate 51 a , relative to the pressure catching plate 51 b , is provided ; a lateral plate 51 d which perpendicularly projects from the front edge ( in fig5 ) of the support plate 51 a . the housing 51 also has : a bearing plate 5 l e which perpendicularly projects from the support plate 51 a , with the provision of a preset distance between the bearing plate 51 e and inward surface of the lateral plate 51 d ; and a pair of bearings 51 f ( left and right bearings ) which perpendicularly project from the bottom surface of the support plate 51 a , with the left and right bearings 51 f positioned on the left and right sides of the through hole 51 c . further , the lateral plate 51 d is provided with a long slot 51 g which extends in the front - to - rear direction of the apparatus . on the inward side of the lateral plate 51 d , the retaining member 58 is held between the bearing plate 51 e and lateral plate 51 d , by a shaft 58 a , one end of which is fitted in the bearing hole 51 h of the bearing plate 51 e , and the other end of which is fitted in the bearing hole 51 i of the lateral plate 51 d , which opposes the bearing hole 51 h . this retaining member 58 is in the form of a lever , and is disposed in parallel to the lateral plate 51 . it is rotationally movable about the shaft 58 a . it has first and second arm portions 58 b and 58 c , which constitute the front and rear portions , respectively , of the retaining member 58 , with reference to the shaft 58 a , and hold a slight angle relative to each other , giving the retaining member 58 a shallow v - shape . the end portion of the retaining member 58 , which is on the arm portion 58 b side , is provided with a downward projection 58 d . between the second arm portion 58 c and support plate 51 a , a compression spring 59 is disposed to push the retaining member 58 upward . thus , the retaining member 58 remains slightly pressured by this spring 58 in the direction to rotate in the clockwise direction indicated by an arrow mark k in fig3 , about the shaft 58 a . therefore , when the retaining member 58 is free from the pressure other than that from the spring 59 , the retaining member 58 is kept in the attitude ( at angle ) shown in fig1 . that is , the bottom surface of the base side of the first arm portion 58 b is kept in contact with a stopper projection 51 j , with which the bearing plate 5 e is provided , as shown in fig1 , preventing the retaining member 58 from further rotating in the clockwise direction . when the remaining member 58 is kept in the above described state , the first arm portion 58 b is at a level which is lower than that of the long slot 51 g of the lateral plate 51 d , and the second arm portion 58 c is slanted so that the end portion ( rear end portion of retaining member ) is positioned higher than the base portion , in a manner to intersect with the long slot 51 g . the abovementioned housing 51 is disposed on the frame 35 which supports the laser scanner unit 1 . more specifically , the frame 35 is provided with a roughly rectangular through hole 35 a ( fig9 ), and the left and right bearing 51 f projecting from the bottom surface of the support plate 51 a are put through this roughly rectangular through hole 35 a so that the left and right bearing 51 f project beyond the bottom surface of the frame 35 . then , the support plate 51 a is fixed to the frame 35 with the use of small screws . the through hole 51 c of the support plate 51 a corresponds in position to the through hole 35 a of the fame 35 . fig7 is an external perspective view of the connector supporting member 50 , and fig8 is an exploded perspective view of the connector supporting member 50 . the connector supporting member 50 has first and second supporting members 52 and 53 , and a connector 54 . the first supporting member 52 has : a frame 52 a which engages with the second supporting member 53 ; an upward arm 52 b , with which the frame 52 a is provided ; and a pair of shafts 52 c , which project left - and rightward , one for one , from the joint portion between the frame 52 a and upward arm 52 b . the second supporting member 53 is a member in which the connector 54 is fitted . the connector 54 is pressed into the frame - like portion of this second supporting member 53 . as a result , the connector 54 is securely held to the second supporting member 53 by the locking claws of the second supporting member 53 . then , the second supporting member 53 is pushed into the frame - like portion 52 a of the first supporting member 52 , being thereby securely held to the first supporting member 52 by the locking claws of the first supporting member 52 . that is , the connector 54 is securely held to the first supporting member 52 , with the placement of the second supporting member 53 between the connector 54 and first supporting member 52 . the upward arm 52 b of the first supporting member 52 is put through the roughly rectangular through hole 35 a and through hole 51 c , from the bottom surface side of the frame 35 , so that the upward arm 52 b projects upward past the support plate 51 a of the housing 51 . further , the left and right shafts 52 c of the first supporting member 52 are inserted into the left and right bearings 51 f of the housing 51 , which are projecting downward beyond the bottom surface of the frame 35 , so that the first supporting member 52 is held to the frame 35 . as a result , the connector supporting member 50 is held to the housing 51 so that it is rotatable about the shafts 52 c , and also , so that the upward arm 52 b is positioned on the front side of the pressure catching plate 51 b of the housing 51 . on the front side of the housing 51 , a rod 55 is disposed so that it can be slid frontward or rearward on the frame 35 . fig9 is an external perspective view of this rod 55 . the rod 55 has : a door contacting portion 55 a , which constitutes the front end portion ; a pusher plate portion 55 b , which constitutes the rear end portion ; front and rear pairs of locking claws 55 c , which project from the bottom surface of the rod 55 ; and a projection 55 d , which perpendicularly projects from the lateral surface of the rear end portion of the rod 55 . the front wall 35 b of the frame 35 is provided with a hole 35 c . the door contacting portion 55 a , that is , the front end portion , of the rod 55 is put through this hole 35 c so that the door contacting portion 55 a projects beyond the front wall 35 b . further , the frame 35 is provided with the front and rear slits 35 d . the front and rear pairs of locking claws 55 c projecting from the bottom surface of the rod 55 are put through these front and rear slits 35 d , one for one . as a result , the rod 55 is secured to the frame 35 in such a manner that it is allowed to slide frontward or rearward on the frame 35 , within a range which corresponds to the length of the slits 35 d , and also , so that the pusher plate portion 55 b is positioned on the front side of the upward arm 52 b of the connector supporting member 50 . between the pressure catching plate 51 b of the housing 51 and the upward arm 52 b of the connector supporting member 50 , a first coil spring 56 , as a pressure applying member , is disposed . further , between the upward arm 52 b of the connector supporting member 50 and the pusher plate portion 55 b of the rod 55 , a second coil spring 57 is disposed . when the door 9 is open , more specifically , when the angle of the door 9 relative to the printer main assembly is no less than a preset value , the rod 55 is in the advanced position in its movable range which corresponds in size to the length of the slit 35 d ; the rod has been pushed back toward the front wall 35 b of the frame 35 (- j direction in fig3 ) by the resiliency of the springs 56 and 57 . referring to fig1 , when the rod 55 ( door 9 ) is in the above described position , the projection 55 d of the rod 55 is on the front side of the downwardly protruding projection 58 d of the retaining member 58 . further , the connector supporting member 50 is under the pressure applied to the upward arm 52 b by the resiliency of the spring 56 in the direction to rotate the connector supporting member 50 about the shaft 52 c in the - h direction in fig3 and 4 , as shown in fig1 . therefore , the connector 54 is retained in the retreat position y ( fig2 ), in which it is impossible for the electrical contacts 54 a and 54 b to contact the electrical contacts 60 a and 60 b of the storage means 60 . fig1 show the printer a , the door 9 of which has been shut after the mounting of the cartridge b into the main assembly of the printer a . as the door 9 is closed by a user after the mounting of the cartridge b into the main assembly of the printer a , the rod pushing mechanical contact portion 9 c of the door 9 comes into contact with the door contacting portion 55 a , that is , the front end portion , of the rod 55 . as a result , the rod 55 is made to retract by the door 9 in the direction indicated by an arrow mark j in fig3 . while the rod 55 is made to retract by the door 9 , the top edge portion of the projection 55 d of the rod 55 comes into contact with the downwardly facing slanted surface 58 e ( which functions as cam ) of the downwardly projecting projection 58 d of the first arm portion 58 b of the retaining member 58 , and pushes up the downwardly projecting projection 58 d . therefore , the retaining member 58 is rotated , against the spring 59 as the second pressure applying means , about the shaft 58 a in the counterclockwise direction indicated by an arrow mark - k in fig1 , allowing the projection 55 d to move past the downward projection 58 d , on the under side the downward projection 58 d . as soon as the projection 55 d moves past the under side of the downward projection 58 d , the retaining member 58 is rotated about the shaft 58 a in reverse , that is , in the clockwise direction indicated by an arrow mark k , by the resiliency of the spring 59 , as shown in fig1 . as a result , the retaining member 58 is caught by the stopper projection 51 j , being prevented from further rotating in reverse . thereafter , the retaining member 58 is retained in the same attitude as that shown in fig1 ; in other words , the projection 55 d is positioned on the inward side of the downward projection 58 d . further , the upward arm 52 b of the connector supporting member 50 is pushed by the pusher plate 55 b of the rod 55 , that is , the rear end portion of the rod 55 , with the presence of the spring 57 between the upward arm 52 b and pusher plate 55 b . thus , the spring 56 is compressed by the upward arm 52 b and the pressure catching plate 51 b of the housing 51 . therefore , the connector supporting member 50 is rotated about the shaft 52 c in the direction h in fig3 and 4 , placing thereby the connector 54 in the communication - possible position x , shown in fig2 , in which the electrical contacts 54 a and 54 b are in contact with the electrical contacts 60 a and 60 b of the storage means 60 . the connector 54 is kept in this state as long as the door 9 remains locked to the main assembly of the printer a , that is , as long as the door 9 remains shut , and therefore , the rod 55 is prevented from returning in the - j direction . the spring 57 is designed so that the amount of pressure it generates is greater than the total amount of pressure which the contact 54 a and 54 b of the connector 54 , which are springy members , generate . therefore , as long as the distance by which the rod 55 is pushed into the frame 35 is greater than a preset value , the spring 57 generates a proper amount of pressure for keeping the connector 54 pressed upon the storage means 60 . in other words , as long as the door 9 is properly shut , the connector 54 and storage means 60 are reliably kept in contact with each other . next , the disengaging mechanism ( 81 - 84 ) will be described . the door 9 is rotatable about the stationary shaft 9 a to be opened or closed . the door 9 is provided with an arm 84 , which is located on the inward side , near the shaft 9 a . this arm 84 is in the form of an arc , the center of which coincides with the axial line of the shaft 9 a . the base portion 84 a of the arm 84 is solidly fixed to the door 9 . the lever 82 , which is rotatable about the shaft 82 a , is connected to the abovementioned arm 84 of the door 9 , with the use of a first linking member 83 . the lever 82 is provided with a second linking member 81 , which is attached to the top end portion of the lever 82 so that the second linking member 81 is rotatable about the connective member , with which the second linking member 81 is connected to the level 82 . the second linking member 81 is provided with a projection 81 a , which is attached to the opposite end of the linking member 81 from the end by which it is connected to the lever 82 . the projection 81 a is fitted in the long slot 51 g , with which the aforementioned lateral plate 51 d of the housing 51 is provided . therefore , the moving range and direction of the projection 81 a is controlled by the long slot 51 g . further , while the projection 81 a moves along the long slot 51 g , it comes into contact with the top surface of the retaining member 58 . when the door 9 is shut , the arm 84 , first linking member 83 , lever 82 , and second linking member 81 are positioned as shown in fig1 , and the projection 81 a of the second link 81 is in the front end portion of the long slot 51 g , as shown in fig1 . when the projection 81 a is in the position shown in fig1 , it is above ( being therefore apart from ) the first arm portion 58 b of the retaining member 58 , and therefore , does not interfere with the retaining member 58 . the main assembly of the printer a is provided with a switch 90 ( door switch ) for detecting the state of the door 9 , that is , whether the door 9 is open or closed . when the door is closed , the actuator 90 a of the switch 90 is kept pressed by the projection 9 b of the door 9 , and therefore , the switch 90 is kept turned on , whereas as the door 9 is opened , the pressure applied to the actuator 90 by the projection 9 b is removed , and therefore , the switched 90 is turned off , and remains turned off . this on or off signal generated by the switch 90 as the door 9 is closed or opened is used to detect whether the door is closed or opened . when replacing the cartridge b in the printer a with another cartridge b , dealing with paper jam , checking up on the interior of the main assembly of the printer a , or carrying out the like processes , the door 9 is to be opened . fig1 shows the state of main assembly of the printer a in the initial stage of the opening of the door 9 . as the door 9 is rotated about the shaft 9 a in the clockwise direction l so that the angle between the door and the main assembly of the printer a reaches a preset value , the projection 9 b of the door 9 is separated from the actuator 90 a of the switch 90 . as a result , a switch - off signal is inputted into the control circuit 100 . receiving this off signal , the control circuit 100 determines that the door 9 is opened . then , the communication control portion of the control circuit 100 begins the process for ending the communication between the control circuit 100 and the storage means 60 of the cartridge b . further , as the door 9 is opened , the rod pushing mechanical contact portion 9 c of the door 9 is moved away from the door contacting portion 55 a , that is , the front end portion , of the rod 55 , eliminating the force which kept the rod 55 pressed in the direction j . as a result , the rod 55 is pushed back ( returned ) in the direction - j by the resiliency of the spring 56 and 57 . however , as the rod 55 is pushed back a short distance , the projection 55 d of the rod 55 is caught by the downward projection 58 d of the retaining member 58 , and therefore , the rod 55 is prevented from moving further in the returning direction . that is , even after the projection 9 b of the door 9 becomes separated from the door contacting portion 55 a of the rod 55 , in other words , even after the force which kept the rod 55 pressed in the frame 35 is eliminated , the rod 55 is kept in the same state as that in which the rod 55 was kept when the door was closed . therefore , it is ensured that the connector 54 and storage member 60 remains electrically connected . further , as the door 9 is opened , the arm 84 is moved in the direction l by the opening movement of the door 9 , and therefore , the first linking member 83 is moved in the direction g , causing the lever 82 to rotate about the shaft 82 a in the clockwise direction m . thus , the second linking member 81 is moved in the direction n by being pulled by the rotation of the lever 82 , causing thereby the projection 81 a to move rearward along the long slot 51 g . the distance by which the projection 81 a is moved rearward along the long slot 51 g during the initial stage of the opening of the door 9 is minuscule . thus , the projection 81 a remains above ( remains therefore separated from ) the first arm portion 58 b of the retaining member 58 , as shown in fig1 , and therefore , it does not interfere with the retaining member 58 . fig1 shows the state of the main assembly of the printer a during the mid stage of the opening of the door 9 . after the switch 90 turned itself off , the door 9 is to be further opened . as a result , the projection 81 a of the second linking member 81 is moved further rearward along the long slot 51 g , by the arm 84 , first linking member 83 , lever 82 , and second linking member 81 , which are moved by the opening movement of the door 9 . as the projection 81 a moves a preset distance , it reaches where the long slot 51 g intersects with the second arm portion 58 c of the rod retaining member 58 , coming into contact with the top surface of the second arm portion 58 c ( which gradually slopes upward toward rear ). while the projection 81 a moves from where it is in fig1 to where it is in fig1 , the projection 81 a does not contact the retaining member 58 regardless of the opening movement of the door 9 ; the range between where the projection 81 a is in fig1 and where the projection 81 a is in the fig1 provides the play . as the door 9 is further opened , the projection 81 a is moved further rearward along the long slot 51 g by the opening movement of the door 9 , pressing down on the surface of the second arm portion 58 c of the retaining member 58 . as a result , the retaining member 58 rotates , against the resiliency of the spring 59 , about the shaft 58 a in the direction indicated by the arrow mark - k , causing the downward projection 58 d to disengage from the projection 55 d , as shown in fig1 and 20 ; in other words , the retaining member 58 disengages from the projection 55 d , allowing the rod 55 to be returned in the direction - j by the resiliency of the springs 56 and 57 . as a result , the connector supporting member 50 is rotated about the shafts 52 c in the direction - h in fig3 and 4 , by the pressure applied to the upward arm 52 b by the resiliency of the first coil spring 56 . therefore , the connector 54 is moved into the retreat position y , in which it is impossible for the electrical contacts 54 a and 54 b to come into contact with the electrical contacts 60 a and 60 b of the storage means 60 , and retained in the retreat position y . that is , the connector supporting member 50 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow mark - h about the shafts 52 a , causing the electrical contacts 54 a and 54 b to separate from the electrical contacts 60 a and 60 b of the storage means 60 . as described above , during the initial stage of the opening of the door 9 , it is detected by the switch 90 that the door 9 , which was closed , has been opened . however , until the projection 81 a is moved along the long slot 51 g by the further opening of the door 9 from the point shown in fig1 to the point shown in fig1 , at which the retaining mechanism is disengaged , the connector 54 and storage means 60 are not disengaged . that is , the connector 54 and storage means 60 are disengaged from each other as the door 9 is opened by an additional angle after the opening of the door 9 is detected by the switch 90 . this period allows the communication control portion of the control circuit 100 to carry out the process for properly completing the communication between the control circuit 100 and the storage means 60 of the cartridge b . fig1 shows the main assembly of the printer a , the door 9 of which is fully open . after the separation of the electrical contacts 54 a and 54 b of the connector 54 from the electrical contacts 60 a and 60 b of the storage means 60 , the door 9 is further opened . the opening movement of the door 9 in this period keeps the arm 84 , first linking member 83 , lever 82 , and second linking member 81 moving , while leaving the connector 50 and rod 55 retained in the same positions . then , after the door 9 is opened by a preset angle , which is wide enough for the mounting or dismounting of the cartridge b , a user can pull the cartridge b out of the main assembly of the printer a . further , as the door 9 , which is fully open as shown in fig1 , is closed , the arm 84 , first linking member 83 , lever 82 , and second linking member 81 are moved in the opposite direction from the direction in which they are moved , and therefore , the projection 81 a of the second linking member 81 moves along the long slot 51 g to its initial position , shown in fig1 , which is on the front side of the long slot 51 g , and the retaining member 58 rotates back into the attitude shown in fig1 . then , the above described steps shown in fig1 - 17 are carried out , restoring finally the above described state , shown in fig1 , in which the door 9 is completely shut . the timing with which the projecting 81 a of the second linking member 81 comes into contact with the top surface of the second arm portion 58 c of the retaining member 58 can be easily adjusted by adjusting the angle of the top surface ( sloped portion ) and / or the angle and range of the long slot 51 g . that is , the timing with which the electrical contacts 54 a and 54 b of the connector 54 are separated from the electrical contacts 60 a and 60 b of the storage means 60 during the period from when the door 9 begins to be opened to when the door 9 is completely opened can be easily adjusted . in the above described embodiment , the connector supporting member 50 , housing 51 , rod 55 , spring 57 , etc ., constitute the connector moving mechanism which is driven by the closing movement of the door 9 to move the connector 54 into the communication - possible position in which the connector 54 contacts the storage means 60 . the retaining member 58 , rod 55 , etc ., constitute the retaining mechanism for retaining the connector moving mechanism in the position in which the connector moving mechanism is after the connector moving mechanism moves the connector 54 into the communication - possible position x . the arm 84 , first linking member 83 , lever 82 , first linking member 81 , projection 81 a , long slot 51 g , etc ., constitute the disengaging mechanism for disengaging the abovementioned retaining mechanism . that is , they constitute the disengaging mechanism for disengaging the retaining mechanism to allow the connector 54 to return to the retreat position y in which the electrical contacts 54 a and 54 b of the connector 54 cannot contact the electrical contacts 60 a and 60 b of the storage means 60 . in this embodiment , the above described retaining member is made up of the projection 55 d with which the rod 55 is provided , projection 58 d with which the retaining member 58 is provided , spring 59 , etc . however , the retaining mechanism may be structured so that the connector supporting member 50 is directly retained . according to the above described structural arrangement , when the door 9 , which is fully open , is closed , the connector moving mechanism is moved by the movement of the door 9 at a speed proportional to the moving speed of the door 9 . however , when the door 9 , which is completely closed , is opened , the connector moving mechanism is retained by the retaining mechanism ( retaining member ), in the position into which it was moved to move the connector 54 into the communication - possible position x , until the door 9 is opened to a preset point . then , as the door 9 is opened beyond the preset point , the retaining mechanism is activated , allowing the connector moving mechanism to move in the direction to move the connector 54 into the retreat position y . therefore , the speed at which the connector moving mechanism operates is set without relying on the opening or closing speed of the door 9 . that is , even if the amount of force applied to open or close the door 9 and / or the speed at which the door 9 is opened or closed is substantially varied , the length of time from when the opening of the door 9 is detected by the door switch to when the connector is disengaged from the storage means can be kept longer than a preset value . in other words , the length of time from when the opening of the door 9 is detected by the door switch to when the connector 54 on the main assembly side of the printer a is disengaged from the storage means 60 on the cartridge b side can be kept long enough to carry out the process for properly completing the communication between the storage means 60 and the control circuit 100 on the main assembly side . therefore , it is possible to ensure the reliability of the communication ( process for properly completing communication ) between the storage means 60 of the cartridge b and the control circuit on the main assembly side . further , until the communication is normally ended , the cartridge b cannot be taken out of the main assembly of the printer a . therefore , even if an attempt is made to quickly mount or dismount the cartridge b by opening the door 9 at a high speed , the reliability of the communication is kept intact . with the employment of the above described structural arrangement , the data communication is properly ended by the time the connector is disconnected from the storage means . therefore , the communication between the storage means and control circuit is reliably carried out . while the invention has been described with reference to the structures disclosed herein , it is not confined to the details set forth , and this application is intended to cover such modifications or changes as may come within the purposes of the improvements or the scope of the following claims . while the invention has been described with reference to the structures disclosed herein , it is not confined to the details set forth and this application is intended to cover such modifications or changes as may come within the purpose of the improvements or the scope of the following claims . this application claims priority from japanese patent application no . 314792 / 2005 filed oct . 28 , 2005 which is hereby incorporated by reference .	6
referring now to the drawings , fig1 illustrates an electrophotographic document copier 10 which is adapted to copy image information on original document pages presented thereto for copying . such copier comprises an image - recording section 12 , a document feeder 14 , and a multibin sorter attachment 16 . image - recording section 12 is adapted to record images on copy sheets contained in either of two sheet supplies 18a and 18b and to advance these copy sheets to either a top exit hopper 20 , or to one of the bins 22 of the sorter attachment . the image - recording section operates under the instructions given by a copier operator via an operator control panel 24 . an editing tablet 26 enables an operator to designate , via an electronic stylus or wand 28 , which portion of an original document page is to receive &# 34 ; special treatment &# 34 ;, e . g ., spot color , screening , etc ., in a copying operation . as better shown in fig2 document feeder 14 comprises a document supply tray 30 for receiving a multipage document d to be copied , and sheet feeding means 33 for serially presenting the individual pages of the document to the exposure platen 32 of the image - recording section . preferably , the document feeder is capable of operating in a duplex mode in which it operates to present both sides of each document page to the exposure platen for copying . upon presenting each document page for copying , the document feeder returns the page to the supply tray . a suitable document feeder is disclosed , for example , in the commonly assigned u . s . pat . no . 4 , 140 , 387 issued to g . gustafson , the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference . the image - recording section of copier 10 comprises an endless photoconductive recording element 40 which is guided along an endless path by rollers 42 - 46 . roller 42 is rotatably driven by a motor m to advance the recording element in the direction of the arrow . positioned along the endless path of the recording element are the various processing stations which collectively act to form a transferable toner image on the recording element of image information on a document page presented to exposure platen 32 . briefly , such processing stations include a charging station 48 at which a corona charger 50 applies a uniform electrostatic charge to the photoconductive surface of the recording element , and an exposure station 52 at which an image of a document page is projected onto the charged surface of the recording element to form a developable charge image thereon . the exposure station typically comprises a pair of flashlamps 54 which briefly expose the document page on the exposure platen , and a pair of mirrors 56 and a lens 58 for projecting an image of the illuminated document page onto the recording element . the charge image on the recording element is developed with toner particles at one of two different development stations 62 , 64 . these stations are adapted to apply toner of different colors to the charge image to produce a &# 34 ; spot &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; accent &# 34 ; color effect on the final image , as explained below . the toner image on the recording element is then transferred to a copy sheet s which has been advanced from one of the two aforementioned sheet supplies 18a or 18b . copy sheets are fed to a transfer station 70 in timed relationship with the arrival of the toner image . after having its toner image transferred therefrom , the recording element is cleaned of residual toner by a cleaning station 72 , and the recording element is recycled through the electrophotographic process . the timing and control of the various processing stations of the entire copier is achieved through a microprocessor based logic and control unit or lcu 75 . the production of a spot color copy is well described in the aforementioned russel and tsilibes et al . patents , the respective disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference . briefly , spot color on a copy sheet is achieved by first having the operator identify that image portion on the original page that is to receive the different color toner . this can be done by either highlighting such portion with a special marker pen , as disclosed by russel , or by using a special electronic editing tablet , as disclosed by tsilibes et al . in the russel approach , the highlighted document page ( s ) is placed in the document supply tray of the recirculating feeder 14 along with the other document pages constituting the multipage original . the operator then indicates , through a control switch on the operator control panel that this is a spot color job . the operator also indicates , via a numeric key pad , which page ( s ) in the stack require spot color . in the course of feeding original pages from the document supply tray to the copier &# 39 ; s exposure platen , the pages pass over an image scanner that is sensitive to the highlighted portions . the location of the highlighted portions of each original are detected and stored in a bit map . upon reaching the exposure platen , each original page requiring spot color is exposed twice for each copy desired , thereby producing two identical latent images on the recording element of the spot color original . operating under the control of the lcu and the bit map produced by the image scanner , a selective erase device 78 , such as an array of led &# 39 ; s or a scanning laser beam , operates to erase from one image frame only the highlighted portions of the electrostatic image , and to erase from the other image frame the non - highlighted portions . the two image frames are then developed with toners of different color , and the resulting toner images are transferred , one after the other , to a single copy sheet . upon receiving a toner image at transfer station 70 , a copy sheet will be directed along one of three different sheet paths , all of which pass through a roller fusing station 80 , which fuses the toner to the copy sheet . one path a leads from the transfer station to an external exit hopper 82 , another path b leads from the transfer station to the multibin sorter attachment 16 , and a third path c is an endless path leading from the transfer station , through an intermediate storage tray , and back to the transfer station . a pair of movable sheet deflectors 84 , and 86 , operate under the control of lcu 75 to control which of the three paths is used . deflector 84 , when activated , deflects copy sheets moving along a common portion of the three paths to the sorter , and deflector 86 , when activated , deflects copy sheets moving along a common portion of paths a and c towards the intermediate storage tray 83 . a third deflector 88 operates under the control of the lcu to direct copy sheets along either an inverting or non - inverting paths leading to tray 83 , depending on whether the toner images are to be transferred to opposite sides of the copy sheet , as in the case of duplex copying , or on the same side of the copy sheet , as in the case of spot color . as indicated earlier herein , in using copiers of the type described above to produce multiple collated copies of a multipage original in which at least one document page is to be copied with spot color , there is a latent inefficiency in operating in the &# 34 ; recirculation &# 34 ; mode , i . e ., the mode to which the copier is commonly programmed to default unless otherwise instructed . with reference to fig2 it will be appreciated that path c requires several copy sheets ( e . g . 5 to 7 sheets ) to fill . thus , after a copy sheet receives a first toner image , there is a substantial time delay before it can be returned to the transfer station to receive a second image . this delay corresponds to the time it takes for a copy sheet to traverse the entire closed loop sheet path c . when the copier is operating in its &# 34 ; recirculation &# 34 ; mode , this time delay is encountered once for each &# 34 ; special &# 34 ; page circled by the feeder , and once for each circulation . note , however , when the copier is operating in its &# 34 ; sorter &# 34 ; mode in which collated multisheet copies are delivered to each of the sorter bins of the sorter attachment , the copier can operate at full machine speed whenever the number of copies desired equals or exceeds the number of sheets required to fill the endless sheet path c . the following example will explain this difference in copying speed . assume it is desired to make seven collated copies of a five page original document . also assume the copier is operating in its &# 34 ; sorter &# 34 ; ( i . e . &# 34 ; non - recirculating ) mode , and that page 3 is &# 34 ; special &# 34 ; in that it requires spot color to complete the copying thereof . the multipage original is placed in the feeder , face up , with page 1 on top . since the feeder feeds pages from the bottom of the stack , it first circulates page 5 to the exposure station , whereupon seven exposures are made on seven consecutive image frames on the recording element . copy sheets are fed to the transfer station to receive these seven images , one toner image per sheet , and the copy sheets are delivered to seven sorter bins , face up , one sheet per bin . thereafter , page 4 is copied in the same fashion , and the copies thereof are delivered to the sorter in the same way , each copy of page 4 being delivered , face up , atop each copy of page 5 . when &# 34 ; special &# 34 ; page 3 is fed to the exposure station , it remains there until fourteen images are made . in the first seven image frames , the selective erase device 78 is used to erase that portion of the electrostatic image corresponding to the spot color portions of the desired image . the resulting transferred images are transferred to copy sheets and these sheets are advanced along sheet path c for temporary storage in tray 83 . meanwhile , the selective erase device is used to erase all but the spot color portion of the next seven image frames , i . e ., frames 8 - 14 . as the eighth frame approaches the transfer station , the first - stored copy sheet in tray 83 is advanced toward the transfer station to receive the spot color image . this process continues until the spot color copy sheets are stored in the sorter bins , and the remaining two document pages are copied as described above with reference to page 1 . the point of the above discussion is that , when copying documents of the type described , the copier is substantially more efficient , in terms of speed , when operating in the sorter mode . yet , for reasons mentioned above , the copier logic commonly defaults to the &# 34 ; recirculation &# 34 ; mode , thereby preventing this speed advantage . according to the invention , the advantage of operating in the &# 34 ; sorter &# 34 ; mode for copying jobs of the type described is &# 34 ; recognized &# 34 ; by the copier &# 39 ; s lcu , and the mode is automatically switched from the &# 34 ; recirculation &# 34 ; mode , to the &# 34 ; sorter &# 34 ; mode . when an operator selects &# 34 ; spot color &# 34 ; on the operator control panel 24 , or , for that matter selects any control switch which indicates that any document page requires two toner images to complete the desired copying job ( and this includes duplex or two - sided copying ), a control signal x is produced . the copier &# 39 ; s microprocessor - base control unit responds to this control signal to assure that the copier is operating in &# 34 ; sorter &# 34 ; collation mode . the flow - chart of fig3 illustrates the steps in the program for achieving this result . referring to fig3 if the copier is already set to operate in a non - recirculating mode , then the job is performed according to that setting . if the copier is set for its recirculation mode , the question is whether any page in the document being copied requires two toner images to complete the copying thereof . such would be the case where one or more pages requires spot color , or where one page has is a duplex page ( having images on both sides thereof . the presence or absence of control signal x from the operator control panel answers this question . if no &# 34 ; special &# 34 ; document page is present , the copier is allowed to operate in the recirculation mode . if , however , the answer to this question is &# 34 ; yes &# 34 ;, then the copier mode is switched to the &# 34 ; sorter &# 34 ; collation mode , and the pages are considered on a page - by page basis . in the case of non - special pages , the lcu controls the copier as described above , and positions deflector 84 to divert copy sheets to the sorter . if the page being copied has two image portions to be copied , the lcu directs the copier to copy the first image and to divert the copy sheets to tray 83 , along path c . the lcu then directs the copier to produce a toner image of the second image portion and to advance the copy sheets from tray 83 to receive it . after all document pages have been copied as described , the program ends . 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
the present invention provides a novel epoxide hydrolase which is highly enantioselective even at high substrate concentrations as compared to other known bacterial epoxide hydrolases for the hydrolysis of different aryl epoxides which are potential synthons of intermediates for the synthesis of chiral amino alcohols and bioactive compounds like β - blockers . the novel epoxide hydrolase is prepared in the form of whole bacterial cells that are potent enough to carry out the reactions with high substrate concentration ; thereby avoiding the use of lyophilized enzymatic preparations which are usually needed in case of fungal cultures , where the reactions with high activity are hampered due to fungal mycelia . these whole bacterial cells usually sequester the enzyme components in a small but concentrated form which is responsible for its high efficiency . the epoxide hydrolase enzyme of the present invention exhibits high enantiomeric ratio , hydrolyzing aryl epoxides at a very high substrate concentration , is superior in comparison with other known epoxide hydrolases in terms of high substrate tolerance , better substrate spectrum , non - toxic , easily and abundantly available whole cell biocatalyst for green and economic synthesis of enantio - enriched pharmaceutically important epoxides . the novel epoxide hydrolase of the present invention is isolated from a novel isolated bacterial strain of achromobacter sp mtcc 5605 , which has been isolated from petroleum contaminated sludge samples collected from petroleum refinery unit , essar oil limited , post box no 24 khambhalia , vadinar 361305 , district - jamnagar , gujarat , india . the bacterial colonies were subjected to two steps of screening : firstly the screening for epoxide hydrolase activity and secondly for enantioselectivity of the enzyme . the bacterial strains were isolated by transferring the sludge samples in enrichment medium , 1 . 0 g of each sludge sample in 100 ml of mineral salts medium for one week plated on agar plates with styrene epoxide as the sole carbon source and isolates were purified for 2 - 3 times on nutrient agar plates . the isolated pure organisms were scrapped off the agar plate and added to the microtubes individually containing fermentation medium and after two days the epoxide substrate dissolved in 0 . 5 % cyclohexane was added . the bioconversion was carried out at 37 ° c . and 250 rpm for 24 - 48 h , then the reaction mixture was centrifuged , the supernatant was extracted with ethyl acetate and the enantiopurity of substrate was determined using gc . the organism achromobacter sp mtcc 5605 has been identified based on morphological , physiological and biochemical characterization and the 16s rdna sequence determined has been deposited in embl database under the accession number fn645747 . the 16s rdna sequence of achromobacter sp . mtcc 5605 is : cgcgttacca agtgaatgcg tagatatggc ggaggaaaca ccgagtggcg aaggtcagcc tccctggata aacacgacgc tcatgcacgg aaaagcgtgg ggacaaaaca ggatttagat acccctggta gtccacgccc taaacgatgt caactagctg ttggggcctt cggggccttg gtagcgcagc taacgcgtga agttgaccgc ctggggagta cggtcgcaag attaaaactc aaaggaattg acggggaccc gtacaagcgg tggatgatgt ggattaattc gatgcaacgc gaaaaacctt acctaccctt gacatgtctg gaatgccgaa gagatttggc agtgctcgca agagaaccgg aacacaggtg ctgcatggct gtcgtcagct cgtgtcgtga gatgttgggt taagtcccgc aacgagcgca acccttgtca ttagttgcaa cgaaagggca ctctaatgag actgccggtg acaaaccgga ggaaggtggg gatgacgtca agtcctcatg gcccttatgg gtagggcttc acacgtcata caatggtcgg gacagagggt cgccaacccg cgagggggag ccaatcccag aaacccgatc gtagtccgga tcgcagtctg caactcgact gcgtgaactc ggaatcgcta gtaatcgcgg atcagcatgt cgcggtgaat acgttcccgg gttttgtaca caccgcccgt cacaccatgg gagtgggttt taccagaagt agttagccta actgccaggg gggcgattac cacggtat the biologically pure culture of achromobacter sp . mtcc 5605 produces the enzyme epoxide hydrolase upon aerobic cultivation in an aqueous nutrient medium preferably containing sources of carbon , nitrogen and inorganic substances . to enrich the enzyme , the organism was initially sub - cultured in mineral salt medium containing epoxide substrate as the sole carbon source at a temperature of 35 to 40 degree c . for 3 to 4 days . the mineral salt medium was adjusted to ph 8 . 0 with the following composition ( per liter ): ammonium sulphate 1 g , glucose , 5 g , kh 2 po 4 3 g , k 2 hpo 4 . 3h 2 o 6 g , nacl 0 . 5 g , mgso 4 . 7h 2 o 0 . 5 g , cacl 2 0 . 05 g and epoxide substrate 2 . 5 ml of 2 % final concentration . after 3 - 4 days , the culture was transferred to a production medium ( adjusted to ph 8 . 0 ) with following composition ( per liter ): glucose , 5 g , peptone 5 g , yeast extract 0 . 1 g , kh 2 po 4 2 g , k 2 hpo 4 . 3h 2 o 3 g and mgso 4 . 7h 2 o 0 . 5 g . after two days the epoxide substrate dissolved in 0 . 5 % cyclohexane was added and the biotransformation mixture was incubated at 35 degree c . the produced diol and the remaining unreacted epoxide were extracted with equal volume of ethyl acetate and quantified using chiral gc and hplc . the enantiomeric excess was calculated using equations cited in u . s . patent no . 2010 / 0261251 a1 and u . s . pat . no . 6 , 828 , 115 . the enantiomeric ratio [ e ] of achromobacter sp . mtcc 5605 was observed to be 64 . 09 with a yield of 41 . 8 %. in the present process , the whole cells of mtcc 5605 in biphasic system , hydrolysed r — enantiomer , yielding s — enantiomer with & gt ; 99 % ee s with an optical purity of 100 % and 41 . 8 % yield and an enantiomeric ratio e = 64 . 09 . the following examples are given by way of illustration and therefore should not be construed to limit the scope of the present invention . the bacterial strain producing epoxide hydrolase was isolated from petroleum contaminated sludge sample after preliminary screening steps and the enzyme activity was detected using the simple and standard representative of aryl epoxide , i . e ., styrene oxide . the substrate was subjected to hydrolysis with whole bacterial cells in 0 . 1 m tris buffer at ph 7 . 5 . the reaction was monitored by observing the formation of the corresponding 1 , 2 - diols by thin layer chromatography by comparison with synthesized diols and further confirmed using gas chromatography . the microorganism with high epoxide hydrolase activity was further identified as achromobacter sp . mtcc 5605 ( fig1 ) based on its morphological , physiological and biochemical characterization ( as given in table 1 ) followed by 16s rdna sequencing . kinetic resolution of styrene oxide using epoxide hydrolase from achromobacter sp . mtcc 5605 whole cells of achromobacter sp . mtcc 5605 at late log phase ( resting cells ) were added to 0 . 1 m tris - hcl buffer at ph 8 . 0 containing styrene oxide ( 100 mm ) and 0 . 5 % cyclohexane and incubated at 40 ° c . at 250 rpm . the reaction was terminated by monitoring the complete selective degradation of one of the enantiomer . the remaining epoxide was recovered by extraction with equal volumes of ethyl acetate and the organic layer was dried over na 2 so 4 , filtered and vacuum concentrated . this concentrated sample was injected into the gas chromatograph ( gc ) to monitor the enantiomeric excess ( fig2 ). these promising results led to pursue further the biotransformation conditions to optimize the yield and enantioselectivity of the novel epoxide hydrolase . the present invention also provides the optimization of biotransformation conditions , such as culture medium , effect of different reaction conditions like ph and temperature , effect of co - solvents and metal salts . example 2 was repeated with different ph buffers . the epoxide hydrolase activity was detected from ph 7 . 0 - 10 . 0 , moderate activity was observed between ph 6 . 0 - 7 . 0 and rapid decrease to no activity was observed under acidic conditions . the results ( fig3 ) suggested that the bioresolution by achromobacter sp . mtcc 5605 was maximum under alkaline conditions . example 2 was repeated with varying temperatures ranging from 20 - 60 ° c . the temperature mainly influences the kinetic rate of reaction with maximum activity attained between 30 - 50 ° c . ; however , temperatures lower than 30 ° c . resulted in slow hydrolysis and higher temperatures had no activity due to enzyme deactivation ( fig4 ). example 2 was repeated with different co solvents . most of the epoxide substrates have low solubility . thus , to prevent auto - hydrolysis and low yield ; it is obligatory to add a cosolvent . an organic - aqueous phase system of isooctane and tris - hcl buffer resulted in high enantioselectivity and yield . other co - solvents like cyclohexane , n - octane , iso - propanol and methanol also exhibited moderate to good activities , whereas toluene , tween 80 , tween 60 showed intermediate activities , while dmso , tween - 40 , tween - 20 exhibited low enantioselectivity ( fig5 ). example 2 was repeated with different metal salts at 5 mm concentration under standard assay conditions . the enzyme activity increased in the presence of fecl 3 , cucl 2 , and al 2 ( so 4 ) 3 , while there was almost no effect in the presence of mgso 4 ; enzyme activity was partially inhibited by cacl 2 , and no enantioselectivity was observed with bacl 2 and mnso 4 ( fig6 ). example 2 was repeated with different enzyme inhibitors ( 1 mm concentration ) like 2 - bromo - 4 ′- methyl acetophenone , diethyl pyrocarbonate , dithiothreitol , phenyl hydrazine , hydroxylamine , sodium dodecyl sulphate , ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid , cetyltrimethylammonium bromide . however , none of them showed any inhibition of epoxide hydrolase activity . the carbon and nitrogen sources are crucial for the growth and metabolic process of the microorganism . the growth and enzyme activity of the microorganism were largely affected by changing the carbon and nitrogen sources , with the prime goal of increasing the enzymatic level to obtain an efficient biocatalyst . the highest activity was observed when sorbitol was supplemented as carbon source followed by sucrose , glucose and fructose . very low enantioselectivity was observed with starch - based carbon sources and no enantioselectivity was observed for mannitol and maltose substrates ( fig7 ). the organic nitrogen sources like tryptone , beef extract , malt extract and soya peptone favoured cell growth but not enzyme activity , while the inorganic nitrogen source , ammonium chloride , showed the highest epoxide hydrolase activity ( fig8 ). there was no activity observed with other inorganic nitrogen sources like urea and sodium nitrate . this novel enzyme according to the invention can advantageously be explored for the hydrolysis of epoxide rings found in substrates of benzyl glycidyl ether , phenyl glycidyl ether , methoxyphenyl glycidyl ether , limonene epoxide , phenyl ethyl glycidate and indene oxide ( table 2 ), most of which are valuable intermediates for the synthesis of β - blocker drugs . the enzyme enriched cells ( resting cells , about 14 g ) were suspended in 70 ml of tris buffer ( 50 mm tris - hcl - 5 mm edta - 5 % glycerol - 50 mm nacl , ph 7 . 0 ) and further disrupted in 2 cycles of 5 min each , with a gap of 1 mm in each cycle , using ultrasound ( branson sonifier w 250 , output 80 w ) placed in an ice bath . the homogenate was centrifuged at 15 , 000 rpm for 30 minutes at 4 ° c . the supernatant ( lysate 1 ) in which epoxide hydrolase activity was not detected , was separated out . the pellet was re - extracted with the same tris buffer at ph 8 . 5 and centrifuged at 15 , 000 rpm for 30 minutes at 5 ° c . and in this fraction ( lysate 2 ), epoxide hydrolase enzyme activity was detected which was applied on a deae - cellulose column previously equilibrated with tris buffer ( ph 8 . 5 ). after washing the bound proteins were eluted with a linear gradient of 100 mm - 1 m nacl in the same buffer . fractions of 1 ml were collected . all the fractions were assayed for enzyme activity . the active fractions were pooled and desalted by using nanosep concentrators and separated using amicon concentrators ( 3 and 9 kda mwco ) by centrifugation . then the sample was run on sds - page to determine the molecular mass of the protein which was observed to 95 kda ( fig9 ). epoxide hydrolases from achromobacter sp . mtcc 5605 have remarkable advantages which offer a simple and green route for the synthesis of optically enriched epoxides . a major challenge in the conventional organic synthesis is to generate optically pure compounds with high enantiopurities and good yields . several chemo or bio - catalytic procedures have been developed like sharpless - epoxidation ( katsuki et al . 1980 ), jacobsen &# 39 ; s asymmetric epoxidation ( jacobsen et al . 1991 ), alkene epoxidation by monooxygenases ( archelas and furstoss 2001 ), two step synthesis using haloperoxidases and halohydrin epoxidase ( besse and veschambre 1994 ) using lipase ( cipiciani et al . 1998 ) and alcohol dehydrogenase ( hasegawa et al . 1990 ). these processes were significantly affected because of limited substrate scope and use of expensive and toxic metal catalysts , limited efficiency and productivity and compliance with , the stringent economical and environmental standards . many epoxide hydrolases have been explored earlier from microbial origin , but most of these enzymes have a limited substrate scope or rather act on low substrate concentrations due to low catalytic efficiency of the enzyme . this environmentally compliant methodology is attractive as it minimizes the costs of resources and prevents the production of toxic waste in industrial applications . although relatively better enantioselectivities were obtained from fungal epoxide hydrolases , but they have experimental constraints like inhibition at high substrate concentration and low enzymatic activity . the mycelial and filamentous fungi are often characterized by high broth viscosity , nutrient concentrated zones , insufficient oxygen and mass transfer which reduces the productivity , therefore the epoxide hydrolases require partially or purified enzymatic preparations for preparative scale experiments , however , enzymatic preparations at higher substrate concentrations get deactivated or become less enantioselective at later stages , which are avoided with the advantages of the present invention . in the present invention , the whole cell resolutions allow continuous hydrolysis for high substrate concentrations ; can be easily cultured , abundantly available and accessible to organic chemists . this novel epoxide hydrolase offers an efficient catalysis with expanded substrate spectrum and a cost effective process for practical application . the epoxide hydrolase from the newly isolated bacterium achromobacter sp . mtcc 5605 is much more enantioselective than any other known bacterial epoxide hydrolases . the active whole cells can be used in lyophilized form for resolution of pharmaceutically important epoxides with high enantioselectivity . the biphasic hydrolysis using lyophilized cells allows the use of high substrate concentration . in view of the non - toxicity , easy availability and low cost of the whole cell catalysts provides green and economical synthesis of optically pure synthons .	2
referring now to fig1 there is shown a sample load device 10 which is controlled by the load control unit 12 . load control unit 12 generates an electrical signal representative of the desired load to be applied to the loading device and transmits that electric signal to a current - to - pressure transducer 14 which converts the electrical signal to a pneumatic output . the pneumatic output is transferred to a first piston actuator 16 comprising a piston 18 moving in cylinder 20 , which is rigidly supported on housing 11 of load unit 10 . the load applied to the upper surface of piston 18 is transferred through piston rod 19 to load transfer assembly 22 which includes a load transfer platform 24 connected by stiff arms 26 to a load cell assembly 28 . load cell assembly 28 includes a force transducer 30 threaded in plastic mountings 32 and 34 , which is in turn rigidly connected to output shaft 36 , passing through linear ball bushing 42 in guide 40 and terminating in a pressure foot 38 which abuts the test sample ( not shown ) resting on base plate 39 . thus , the pneumatic load applied to the top of piston 18 is transmitted through the loading device 10 to pressure foot 38 . the load applied by foot 38 to the test sample is measured by load cell 30 . load cell 30 is a standard device generally available from a number of manufacturers and which includes two parallelly aligned mounting plates separated by springs having known spring constants . a transformer body is usually mounted on one plate and a transformer core is mounted on the other . the transformer output varies as the plates move toward or away from each other and the transformer core moves into or out of the transformer body in response to a force applied to the load cell . since the spring constant of the springs separating the two plates is known , and since the transformer output is directly related to the deflection between the two plates , the load cell can be calibrated to read an applied load . a suitable load cell may be purchased from schaevits engineering company of camden , new jersey , model no . fta - it - 20 . a signal conditioner 31 is used in association with load cell 30 to provide a power supply and to condition the output of load cell 30 to a useful format . the load cell output is directed to signal conditioner 31 and thence to load control unit 12 and to a recording means . the loads which are meant to be applied to the test samples are necessarily small and , thus , the data can be affected by the weight of the load transfer apparatus itself , including the moving parts of load device 10 , i . e ., piston 18 , piston rod 19 , the load transfer assembly 22 , load cell 30 and its mountings 32 and 34 , output shaft 36 and pressure foot 38 . to compensate for the weight of these parts of loading device 10 , the loading device 10 includes an offset counterforce system 44 , which includes a piston 46 in a cylinder 48 with a piston rod 49 rigidly connected to load transfer platform 24 . piston 48 is supplied with a constant pneumatic pressure through conduit 47 which urges piston 46 in a direction opposite to that of piston 18 so that load transfer assembly 22 is urged upward with sufficient force to counterbalance the weight of the moving parts of loading device 10 . the counterforce assembly 44 presses upwardly with a preset force somewhat greater than the weight of the moving portions of the sample loading device 10 . the device is then calibrated so that at zero load , piston 16 presses down with a force equal to or less than the counterforce exerted on piston 46 . light weight materials are used in the loading device as much as possible . the pistons are preferably made of graphite and the cylinders preferably made of glass to reduce friction loading within the cylinders . as shown in fig1 an air supply is introduced into cylinder 48 through two pressure regulators 50 and 52 . these pressure regulators can be purchased from fairchild industrial products division , winston salem , north carolina under fairchild pneumatic pressure regulator model 30 . pressure regulator 50 is preferably a 0 to 30 pound pressure regulator which is set to output about 22 pounds per square inch . pressure regulator 52 is a 0 to 2 pound pressure regulator with an output of about 1 . 8 pounds per square inch . it can be seen in fig1 that the air pressure supply from the downstream side of pressure regulator 50 is directed to the input serves as the air pressure supply for cylinder 20 . current - to - pressure transducer 14 will be discussed more thoroughly in connection with fig2 further on in the application . still referring to fig1 there is shown a linear variable differential transformer ( lvdt ) 60 rigidly mounted on a support platform 62 which also supports load device 10 . lvdt 60 is used to measure the thickness of the test sample placed on base plate 39 . transformer body 64 is adjustably mounted on the stem 72 of a vernier 74 , vernier 74 is mounted on support 62 by legs 76 . transformer core 66 is affixed to mounting 34 of load cell 30 by means of an arm 68 which extends through slot 70 in the housing of load device 10 . as foot 38 moves up and down according to the variation of thickness of the test sample , load cell support 34 , arm 68 and transformer core 66 will correspondingly move , causing core 66 to move with respect to transformer body 60 , thus causing the transformer output to vary in accordance with the motion of foot 38 . this provides a method of measuring the thickness of a sample that is being subjected to a test . the thickness of a test sample can be monitored and displayed on a digital panel meter 210 and / or recorded on a recording means such as a chart recorder . in order to set the foot at a zero thickness above the surface on which a test sample will be placed , the electronic circuit can be engaged and vernier 74 may be adjusted until the thickness on the digital panel meter reads zero . the operation of current - to - pressure transducer 14 will now be described in conjunction with fig2 . current - to - pressure transducer 14 is a force - balance instrument that balances an electromagnetic force against a pneumatic force . transducer 14 includes a permanent magnet 80 and an electrical coil 82 . an input signal current is applied to coil 82 through contacts 84 . coil 82 of transducer 14 is mounted on one end of force lever 86 which pivots on flexure pivot 88 . an adjustable baffle 90 is mounted on the other end of lever 86 which may be adjusted by means of spring loaded screws 92 . transducer coil 82 is suspended in the gap of permanent magnet 80 . as the current flow through transducer coil 82 increases , the coil moves up out of the gap of magnet 80 , raising the coil end of force lever 86 and lowering baffle 90 against orifice 94 of nozzle 95 , directing the air supply from input line 96 to output line 98 and into cylinder 20 of load device 10 . as the input signal current to the transducer coil decreases , the coil moves down into the gap of magnet 80 and raises baffle 90 out of engagement with nozzle 95 to permit the air supply from input line 96 to vent to the atmosphere , thus reducing the amount of pressure directed through output line 96 into cylinder 20 . a zero - adjustment screw 100 is provided to compress zero - adjustment spring 102 . zero adjustment 100 may be adjusted together with pressure regulator 52 to insure that when a &# 34 ; zero &# 34 ; load signal is delivered to transducer 14 , that the air in cylinder 44 is sufficient to overcome the air pressure in cylinder 20 and the weight of the moving parts of load unit 10 , so that when &# 34 ; zero &# 34 ; load exists foot 38 will automatically rise from base plate 39 . damper 104 is provided . a span adjustment 106 is provided to position nozzle 95 in relation to pivot 88 . span adjustment 106 is provided by a pair of screwdriver adjusted cams which can slide the nozzle axially of force lever 86 . thus current - to - pressure transducer 14 will convert the output of load control unit 12 to a pneumatic output for introducing a load into cylinder 20 which will be delivered through the apparatus of load device 10 to foot 38 and to the test sample . load cell 30 provides a feedback to load - control unit 12 to insure that the desired applied load is properly adjusted and maintained at the required level and will not drift from that required level . the operation and construction of load - control unit 12 are described in a separate patent application filed on the same day as this patent application u . s . pat . application ser . no . 144 , 216 by the same inventor and assigned to the same assignee as this application and is hereby incorporated by reference herein . load unit 12 can be programmed to apply a desired load for desired time periods to load device 10 . load unit 12 generates a signal representative of desired load to current - to - pressure transducer 14 which converts the signal to a pneumatic output . when load control unit 12 has completed its programmed instructions it generates a signal to coil 82 of current - to - pressure transducer 14 , which completely opens baffle 90 away from nozzle 95 and bleeds off the supply of air to cylinder 20 of load device 10 . the air supply directed to cylinder 48 against piston 46 of counterbalance unit 44 is then sufficient to overcome the weight of the moving parts of load unit 10 and raise foot 38 . thus , when load unit 12 has completed its sequence , load unit 12 shuts itself off and raises foot 38 . thus , the present invention provides a loading device compensated for the weight of the device itself so that the lower limit of the applied load need not be unreasonably constrained . although the invention has been described as a pneumatic device , it could be hydraulically operated . while this invention has been described in conjunction with certain preferred embodiments , those skilled in the art will appreciate that many changes and modifications may be made to the preferred embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention . thus , it is not intended that the scope of the invention be limited except as set forth in the following claims .	6
fig1 is a block diagram of the universal system of the invention . the system is comprised of three , an interface module functional modules a computer module 110 , 150 and a readout 170 . the interface module which is also known as the is located in the immediate physical vicinity of a source of biological or other data to which it is coupled by means of a plurality of sensors 100 . such arrangement is advantageous insofar as it permits the sensor leads 101 to be of minimal lengths so that electrical noise picked up from the environment may be kept at a mininum value . the sensors 100 are preferably conventional devices for collecting physiological or other data in the form of electrical potentials , electrical impedances , temperatures , forces , pressures , flow rates , etc . it may , moreover , be part of the sensing process to energize or apply electrical potentials to the sensors themselves or the body or other structures to which said sensors are attached or otherwise coupled . preamplification array 111 normalizes all sensor data by amplifying and / or otherwise conditioning the outputs of the sensors into electrical voltages whose values fall between pre - defined limits within the operating range of conversion circuits 120 and 130 . it is a major object of this invention to organize the whole system of fig1 so that the &# 34 ; front end &# 34 ; analog circuits of preamplifier array 111 may be reduced to their simplest possible configuration containing &# 34 ; but not limited to &# 34 ; a multiplicity of standard circuits such as those illustrated in fig2 , 4 , 5 , 6 and 7 . relatively complex system functions such as filtering , detection , comparison , sampling , etc . are performed by the computer of module 150 whenever possible . selector 120 chooses one of the outputs of preamplification array 111 and feeds the corresponding normalized analog sensor data to adc ( analog to digital converter ) 130 . adc 130 in turn translates the analog data into a corresponding digital code , which is then transmitted by means of uart 140 and circuit 141 to computer module 150 . uart 140 is a universal , asynchronous receiver / transmitter . in it , a parallel digital &# 34 ; word &# 34 ; descriptive of the value of a given sensor output is translated into its corresponding , serial form and sent via interface 141 to computer module 150 . the same uart converts each serial &# 34 ; word &# 34 ; coming from computer module 150 via circuit 141 into a corresponding parallel &# 34 ; word &# 34 ; denoting an address for selector 120 ( actually the identity of a sensor ) or , more generally , a control instruction for the circuits of interface module 110 . control circuit 131 is optional in case it is desired to further decode addresses , store control information or otherwise process instructions emanating from computer module 150 . circuit 141 includes optically coupled or other isolators , modems and line drivers and receivers , singly or in combination , or like means for the proper conditioning and isolation of both outgoing and incoming digital data . circuit 142 is an oscillator which provides clock reference signals as required by the various circuits contained in interface module 110 . last but not least , the circuit of operational amplifier 113 and resistor 112 is used to actively control the ground or background potential of the body or structure to which sensors 100 are attached . leads 102 and 103 may be tied together or at two different locations of said body or structure . lead 102 is the active lead , and lead 103 the sensing lead . lead 103 senses any deviation in the potential of said body or structure from that of the analog reference ground 114 . said deviation is then amplified and its polarity reversed in amplifier 113 , after which it is re - applied to said body or structure , thereby cancelling all voltages picked up by said body or structure acting as an antenna , notably ac &# 34 ; hum &# 34 ; from nearby electrical apparatus or power lines . resistor 112 prevents damage to amplifier 113 when lead 102 is shorted to ground or any other low impedance voltage source by limiting the maximum value of the current that is allowed to flow . the use of an active ground reference point as described contributes significantly to this invention in that it reduces the amplitude of the unwanted electrical signals ( or &# 34 ; noise &# 34 ;) picked up by the sensors . as a consequence , filtering means can be omitted from array 111 . filtering can instead be done later using computer algorithmic methods . the resulting savings in the complexity and cost of array 111 and the system in general are quite significant . fig2 , 4 , 5 , 6 and 7 illustrate a number of specific electronic circuits and methods that have in common the fact that they are useful electronic building blocks . said building blocks are mostly used in preamplification array 111 and represent the mininum that may be needed in the way of analog circuits for each sensor in the system of this invention , where the emphasis is on digital methods . the manner of use and interconnection of said blocks to form the preamplification array 111 will be readily apparent to those skilled in the electronics art . fig2 illustrates a simplified yet very effective biological amplifier suitable for eeg measurements . the circuit of op - amps 211 and 232 constitutes a high input impedance differential amplifier with a gain of 100 . the resistance values of resistors 200 and 231 must be matched to insure a high cmrr ( common made rejection ratio ). the same is true for resistors 201 and 212 . the circuit of op - amp 234 has an ac gain of 10 and a dc gain of unity because of the inclusion of capacitor 213 in series with resistor 214 . fig3 illustrates the classic &# 34 ; instrumentation amplifier .&# 34 ; it is a circuit that goes a long way to reproduce the characteristics of the ideal operational amplifier . it is widely encountered in instrumentation systems and many versions can be purchased in the form of integrated circuits . op - amps 301 and 341 form a high input impedance differential gain stage whose gain depends on the resistance values of resistor 310 , 320 and 330 . resistors 310 and 330 have the same value . to adjust the gain of the differential amplifier it is only necessary to change the resistance value of resistor 320 . the final stage consists of amplifier 321 and resistors 311 , 312 , 331 and 332 . the resistance value of resistor 311 must accurately match that of resistor 331 , and that of resistor 312 must match that of resistor 332 respectively for good cmrr . gain is changed by adjusting the ratio between the resistance of resistors 312 and 311 , and 332 and 331 , respectively . fig4 shows how instrumentation amplifier 413 may be used in sensitive impedance measurements . amplifier 413 may be the same as the instrumentation amplifier of fig3 . potentiometer 401 is used to balance a bridge consisting of impedances 410 ( zl ), 411 ( z2 ), 420 ( z3 ), and 412 ( z4 ). a sensor can be substituted in place of any said four impedances . any change in impedance of said sensor results in a corresponding voltage difference between inputs 412 and 423 of amplifier 413 which then further amplifies the signal . in most instances where a sensor is used to measure impedances , one must take into account the fact that an electrochemical interface may exist . this interface can occur between an electrode and a biological or other surface covered by , permeated by or consisting of a fluid or other mixture . said interface can act as an electrolyte , thereby forming a battery with the electrodes of the sensor . when an electric current flows through the sensor electrodes it &# 34 ; charges &# 34 ; the above - mentioned battery . electrolysis occurs , gas bubbles accumulate on the surfaces of the electrodes and a counter - e . m . f . is established . this effect causes the sensor to behave as if it was an impedance involving one or more ( fairly large ) capacitors . from the point of view of safety , accuracy and efficiency it is undesirable to cause uncontrolled electric currents to flow through the electrodes of the sensors . these currents are therefore kept small , and , in most instances , their direction is periodically reversed in order to cancel polarizing effects and electrolysis . in the preferred embodiment the excitation source (+ v and - v ) applied between terminals 400 and 430 is coupled through a capacitor ( not shown ) and energized only when the computer selects the corresponding data channel . said capacitor insures that the net current through the sensor electrodes is zero . of course , instead of a capacitor , a transformer could also be used to couple the excitation source . because it is the computer that takes care of energizing the impedance bridge , the usual ac source used to energize the bridge is avoided , as is the detector which usually must follow the instrumentation amplifier 413 . energizing currents can be kept small by carefully choosing the values of impedances 410 , 411 , 420 and 421 ( i . e ., zl , z2 , z3 and z4 ). fig5 shows how a digitally controlled resistance may be achieved using array 502 of digitally controlled cmos analog switches 503 together with an array of resistors 504 . when the resistance values of resistors 504 are chosen to be r , 2r , 4r , 8r , 16r , 32r , 64r and 128r , 256 different discrete current levels can be made to flow from the reference voltage input 500 to the output terminal 510 . this is one version of what is known in the art as a multiplying dac ( digital to analog converter ) because the output current is also proportional to the voltage difference between terminals 500 and 510 . fig6 shows how the dac of fig5 can be used to replace resistors in a standard amplifier configuration in order to control both gain and offset in response to digital control signals from digital bus 660 . the same method can be used to control the gain of the instrumentation amplifier of fig3 . in fig3 it is resistor 320 that is replaced by the dac . one can actually buy integrated instrumentation amplifiers featuring a similar digital control of gain . the above methods are very useful in implementing the kind of controls that may be called for in fig1 in regard to preamplifier array 111 . further , the use of digital computer control in conjunction with an array 111 comprised of the referenced building blocks provides an extremely flexible system in which essential circuit parameters may be easily and programmably adjusted and changed to achieve numerous advantageous system configurations and uses . fig7 is a simplified schematic diagram of an ota ( operational transconductance amplifier ). the ota is a rather unique device , also presently available commercially in integrated circuit form , singly or in arrays of two or three per package . the ota converts an input voltage , applied to terminals 710 and 720 , into an output current at terminal 713 . the magnitude of the output current is also proportional to the bias current injected into terminal 730 . transistors 711 and 712 constitute a differential amplifier pair , with transistor 741 being the current source . diode 740 and transistor 741 constitute a current mirror in which the forward voltage drop in diode 740 matches that of the base - emitter junction in transistor 741 for the same current . when current is made to flow through diode 740 in the forward direction , it developes across it a voltage such that it causes the same amount of collector to base current to flow in transistor 741 . as a result the current from the collector of transistor 741 is equal to the bias current injected into terminal 730 . transistors 711 and 712 divide the current from the collector of transistor 741 in a ratio dependant on the voltage difference across input terminals 710 and 720 . if input 710 is more positive , more of the current will flow through transistor 711 , and if input 720 is more positive , more of the current will flow through transistor 712 . the current from the collector of transistor 711 is reflected to the output terminal by means of a current mirror comprised of diode 701 and transistor 704 and results in a positive , or sourcing current at terminal 713 . the current from the collector of transistor 712 is reflected to the output terminal by means of two current mirrors , one comprised of diode 702 and transistor 703 and the other comprised of diode 742 and transistor 731 . the current from the collector of transistor 712 thus results in a negative , or sinking current at terminal 713 . when the voltage between inputs 710 and 720 is zero , the current flowing into or out of output 713 is zero also . when the voltage across the inputs is greater than needed to fully turn off either transistor 711 or transistor 712 , output 713 is ( basically ) equal to the bias current and flows out of or into output 713 , depending on whether it is terminal 710 or terminal 720 that is more positive . the ota is remarkable in that it contains only active components , i . e . transistors and diodes . it can be used as a simple and inexpensive multiplier and its high output impedance is useful in a number of applications requiring high - impedance current sources . referring again to fig1 serial digital link 151 is used between interface module 110 and computer module 150 , and is such that data flows in two directions , i . e . from circuit 141 to circuit 161 , and vice - versa , as was already explained in regard to uart 140 . processor 152 is the heart of the computer . it includes one or more interdependent microprocessors arranged into a functional hierarchy defined by the required tasks that are , in turn , defined by predesignated memory areas , ( discussed below ). provision is made for external connections to a tape recorder or other data storage device 162 and to a microterminal 160 or other means of entering data that includes a keyboard . i . 0 . ports 163 make it possible for the computer to interface with a variety of peripherals and external data bases . it is a significant feature of this invention that the organization of computer module 150 is characterized by its use of specific memory areas 153 , 154 , 155 , 172 , 173 , 174 , each corresponding to a well - defined software interface . each of these memory areas defines a processing level or task that may or may not require a dedicated microprocessor of the processor 152 . when more than one microprocessor is used a memory that is properly situated within the architecture additionally functions as a data exchange point between them . ( i . e . a software buffer ). by reserving an area of memory exclusively for such data exchange , it may be assured that inadvertent entry of data into an area reserved for programs will not occur . further , throughout this description , it will be evident to those skilled in the data processing arts that this system architecture facilitates otherwise complex programming tasks by allowing the organization of extremely complex programming processes into a number of straightforward component processes performed in physically insulated portions of the system hardware . memory block 153 is the usual complement of general purpose rom and ram memories . memory block 154 is a utility rom which contains a number of routines that are generally useful for software control , maintenance and program development . thus a user can call on specific programs or simply inspect the contents of memory , write into memory , read data stored on tape into the system , store the contents of memory on tape or eprom , etc . said routines can also include assemblers , compilers and other software development and debugging aids . memory block 155 consists of a rompr ( eprom programming module ). it operates the same way as a ram in that data can be read in or out . however , data can be read in only once , as it is permanently stored ( i . e ., in a non - volatile way ). rompr 155 can also be used under the control of software in utrom 154 to store data or programs in eproms . said eproms can then later be plugged into sockets located in the general area reserved for rom / ram 153 . memory 172 ( dmem ) is a ram in which is stored sensor data as it streams in from interface module 110 . memory 173 ( vmem ) is a ram where vector end point coordinates and other pertinent parameters are stored for the generation of line drawings on the screen of a crt . memory 174 ( amem ) is a ram in which are stored pitch , duration and other parameters pertinent to the generation of sounds and melodies . data is entered in dmem 172 , vmem 173 and amem 174 according to a predetermined format which does not change and thus allows for the improvement or even redesign of selected blocks of hardware with little or no effect on the design of hardware or software in other areas . for instance , vector data as stored in vmem 173 can be used to generate color pictures on one type of video display or black and white on another . in both cases , the same data format is used . it is important that the said data formats be such that the information in memories 172 , 173 and 174 describe situations and intended results rather than specific algorithmic steps or hardware control commands . for instance , information in dmem 172 describes sensor outputs rather than instructions for the computer ; information in vmem 173 describes coordinates , color and intensity of line segments rather than control signals for gates , integrators and other circuit elements ; information in amem 174 describes pitch , duration , intensity and timbre rather than preset values for timers , etc . the modular aspect of software is illustrated by the fact that the main program used to analyze , correlate or otherwise process sensor information need not allocate time and other resources to hardware control . a special , powerful microprocessor or , perhaps better yet , two or more of the same kind can be added at a later date if necessary to run this main program exclusively and expand on its scope so as to include artificial intelligence . a change in the main program or processor need not require a change in the others , and vice - versa . even programming languages need not be the same , or even compatible . perhaps the most important objective behind the organization of the system has to do with synergism . the various hardware and software modules are mutually enhancing . the computer has more direct access to and control over the sensors and , as a result of a careful categorization of tasks in terms of hardware and software , cost and complexity have been reduced to a mininum . functions that are best performed with the help of digital algorithms include but are not limited to filtering ( especially low frequency , high order filtering ), detection , comparison , recognition , linearization , shaping , low frequency adjustments ( like gain and offset ), coding and sequencing . on the other hand , functions that are best performed using hardware methods include but are not limited to the generation of continuous line segments and the positioning of images on the screen of a crt , the generation of audio and other high - frequency waveforms , audio volume control , high - frequency feedback loopsand , last but not least , timing of events . it is precisely because it de - emphasizes the complexity of the sensors and the individual circuits associated with them that the system of this invention can accommodate a greater number of them . an important concept in the design of the computer is that of a &# 34 ; body image &# 34 ;. using sensor information as clues to the physical or mental state of a single individual , organism or apparatus while at the same time drawing on a body of previous knowledge , the computer can arrive at advanced conclusions and representations . these can be summarized in a simple but complete statement or picture . this statement or picture is none other than the &# 34 ; body image &# 34 ; previously mentioned . the use of the most powerful or popular processor is not necessarily desirable . in fact , certain specialized computational or other tasks are best done by means of integrated cricuit modules . an example is a monolithic lsi device that would provide high - performance fixed and floating point arithmetic and floating point trigonometric operations , and which would be handled by the associated processor either using conventional i / o or by direct memory access methods . the advantage of separate , specialized algorithmic modules may be even more evident in tasks requiring the manipulation of very long digital words ( 32 bits is a good example ). the ability to process long words is an important asset in the kind of programming known as artificial intelligence . artificial intelligence tasks typically require the ability to assemble , modify and compare long lists of descriptors . there is also a tradeoff between the power of the processor and the extent and amount of pre - computed data available from lookup tables in rom . last but not least , two or more lower power processors , working asynchronously but able to communicate via memory interfaces , provide a superior combination when cost allows .. memories 172 , 173 and 174 are examples of memory blocks that can be used as interfaces between processors . of course , fifo ( first in , first out ) memories can also be used . bit - slice processors , operating in synchronism , are considered less desirable because of their timing problems . these worsen rapidly with the size and complexity of the system . optimum choice of type and number of microprocessors paves the way for easy programming at all levels . at the assembly level , the instruction set can be limited so as to be more manageable . at a higher level , tasks can be identified and called for by name . the result is reminiscent of the methods used for programming electronic calculators in which there is no syntax to worry about and where tasks are performed in a sequence that corresponds to a simple list of names ( or keys , in the case of the calculator ). it is of interest to note that in at least one artificial intelligence programming language , simple instructions can be called to operate on assemblages that include data and / or some of the same instructions . such a language operates the same way whether on a microscopic or macroscopic level . hence the need to preserve characteristics such as reentrancy and recursiveness . these characteristics can be anticipated in the design of the utility program or programs , notably in regard to the internal procedures for calling subroutines , preserving internal machine states and handling interrupts . in order to fully communicate the completed &# 34 ; body image &# 34 ; to a human observer , the readouts must be capable of generating complex yet intelligible pictures and sounds . in the preferred embodiment , readout module 170 contains a crt 192 and its associated vector generator vgen 182 , and two loudspeakers spkr 190 and 191 with their associated audio generators 180 and 181 . regarding crt 192 , a 5 inch screen is large enough due to the fact that the images generated are made up of sharp , interconnected straight line segments . this is because vgen 182 is what is known in the art both as a stroke writer and a vector generator . said vector generator works by moving the spot generated by the electron beam on the screen of a crt in the same way that a hand moves the point of a pencil when drawing on a piece of paper . the electron beam does not scan the screen in a fixed pattern ( known as a raster ) as in television . rather , it moves in a random pattern , like the electron beam in an oscilloscope in the x - y mode of deflection . indeed , an inexpensive x - y oscilloscope can be used in place of crt display 192 with good results . it is important for the success of this invention to fully realize the advantages of a vector generator . the vector generator is not , as often beleived , an expensive and cumbersome solution . this reputation comes from the early days of cad cam before the technology had matured . in the case of the vector generator , power consumption , cost , complexity and memory requirements tend to be proportional to the total number of vectors displayable at any one time . in the case of the raster scan generator , power consumption , cost , complexity and memory requirements increase exponentially with picture resolution . as far as crt parameters are concerned , light output and resolution are much more critical in raster scan applications . display memory , in particular , is affected by the choice of display generation method . with a raster scan , each pixel or picture element corresponds to one or more bits in digital ram . there are approximately 250 , 000 pixels in a standard television picture , and the corresponding digital bit or bits must be stored and read out at very high rates . yet , with as many as 250 , 000 pixels , slanted lines still appear as stair - cases , circles appear jagged and alphanumeric characters tend to look blurred . the effect is easier to understand if one considers that a television picture is in effect a mosaic , and each pixel the equivalent of a single tile in that mosaic . with a vector or random scan , each vector or line segment is represented by the x and y coordinates of its end point , plus some information as to color and intensity . the starting point of a vector is already available as the end point of the previous one . the corresponding memory requirement varies from 16 to 32 bits per vector . for a busy display with 1000 vectors , a total of 16 , 000 to 32 , 000 bits is required . this is nearly ten times less than the requirement for raster scan . the main limitation of the random or vector scan is that it is the total number of vectors which is limited . this is significant because circles , alphanumeric characters and &# 34 ; filled &# 34 ; areas use a lot of vectors . state - of - the - art , low cost vector crt displays are now used in airplane cockpits to replace conventional readouts . one of the most important reasons for using vectors is that all lines appear sharp and clear , even in dynamic displays where the position and angle of each line is subject to change . dynamic raster scan displays have been rejected because their lines often appear jagged , with or without running discontinuities . the effect is , to say the least , distracting . avionics crt displays also demonstrate the superiority of vector techniques when it comes to generating complex color pictures showing artificial horizons , trajectories , compass rosettes , alphanumeric characters and other shapes and symbols in various combinations -- all at a reasonable cost . this invention favors the vector generator for yet another , more subtle reason . it is known that the human brain recognizes shapes based on the lines that define their borders . the quality of these lines is thus very significant . experience gained with computer video games confirm that random scan displays are better able to convey movement and perspective . since the circuitry used to generate the vectors has a major impact on the cost and quality of the display , a preferred embodiment is included as a part to this invention relating to the circuits of which vgen 182 is comprised . these circuits are illustrated in fig8 a and 8b and are described in what follows . in theory , the digital circuits associated with the crt display generate a succession of numbers which correspond to dots on the screen . the placement of each dot is defined by an x and a y coordinate , each typically represented by an 8 - bit binary digital number . the role of the analog circuits of the vector generator is to draw lines between these dots . the vector generator of this invention generates both an x and a y analog deflection waveform , each having the appearance of a series of interconnected ramp functions of variable amplitude and duration . when an x or y digital coordinate is changed , the corresponding analog output is not allowed to suddenly jump to its new value , as would be the case in a standard dac . instead , the transition from one analog level to the next occurs progressively , in a controlled manner . this idea is not new ; see for instance , u . s . pat . no . 3 , 609 , 444 issued to raymond c . van den heuvel . what is new in the vector generator of this invention is a combination of circuits that makes it possible to control the time that it takes for an analog output to change from one level to another . the result is that very short and very long vectors can be accommodated equally well by the same circuit . the basic process can be explained by describing the operation of the circuit combination that includes latches 806 and 813 , dacs 807 and 814 and amplifier 815 , all of which are involved with deflection along the horizontal , or x axis . the analog outputs from dacs 807 and 814 are tied together to summing bus 803 , which is the negative input of amplifier 815 and constitutes a virtual ground . this virtual ground is the input of a deflection amplifier with a negative feedback loop such that the current that flows through deflection yoke 818 is proportional to the sum of the individual currents that are injected into summing bus 803 . the deflection amplifier itself consists of high - gain , high bandwidth amplifier 815 followed by a power stage consisting of transistors 816a and 816b . the current flowing through deflection yoke 818 also flows through resistor 819 , which has a low value of resistance and very low inductance . the voltage drop across resistor 819 is therefore proportional to the current flowing through yoke 818 and causes a current to flow through feedback resistor 817 in a direction and amount sufficient to cancel the contribution of all other current sources connected to summing bus 803 . the negative feedback loop thus implemented also guarantees that the electron beam will move with the desired accuracy on the screen of the crt . now assume that the ramp input to dac 807 is stable at its maximum value , and that the ramp input to dac 814 is stable at zero volts ( i . e ., deenergized ). assume , further , that an x coordinate of origin is available ( in digital form ) from the output of latch 806 and that an x coordinate of destination is available ( also in digital form ) from the output of latch 813 . since only dac 807 has a reference signal , it alone contributes to the value of the current flowing through the yoke . this corresponds to a stable point of origin on the screen , which soley represents the digital number stored in latch 806 . if , on the other hand , the situation was reversed , with dac 814 energized and dac 807 de - energized , the current flowing through the yoke would correspond to a stable point of destination solely representative of the digital number in latch 813 . the vector generator of this invention makes it possible to generate intermediate values of ramp and ramp voltages such that when ramp is maximum , ramp is mininum ( or zero , as in this example ) and vice - versa . furthermore , ramp and ramp change in opposite directions , so that when ramp increases linearly in a positive direction , ramp increases linearly in a negative direction , and vice - versa . ( actually ramp is the negative of ramp , as will be seen later .) returning to the limited configuration being used to illustrate the principle of operation of the vector generator , assume that the value of ramp voltage starts to decrease , and that the value of ramp voltage starts to increase . the result is that the contribution of dac 807 decreases in the same proportion , while that of dac 814 increases , also in the same proportion . at the mid - point in the transition , when ramp is equal to ramp , the current flowing through the deflection yoke is also half - way between the values it would take if either dac 807 or dac 814 were fully energized . in a more general way , it can be said that while the destination dac 814 is linearly energized and the origin dac 807 linearly de - energized , the electron beam also moves linearly between its original and final positions . the same consideration would apply if latches 826 and 833 , dacs 827 and 834 and amplifier 835 had been used as in the previous example , except that , in this case , the y or vertical axis of deflection is involved . when both x and y axes are considered simultaneously , the progressive decrease of the ramp voltage and the concomitant increase in ramp voltage will cause a straight line or vector to be drawn on the screen such that it connects a point of origin with coordinates x and y with a point of destination with coordinates x &# 39 ; and y &# 39 ;. if a new set of coordinates is then loaded into latches 806 and 826 , and the ramp voltage is then linearly increased in a positive direction while the ramp voltage is correspondingly decreased , a second vector is drawn on the screen connecting the end point of the last vector with coordinates x &# 39 ; and y &# 39 ; to a new point whose coordinates are those most recently stored in latches 806 and 826 . the next step is to load the next x and y coordinates in latches 813 and 833 , followed by another transition of the ramp and ramp voltages causing a third vector to be drawn , and so on . the circuit of latch 801 and dac 802 is used to inject a constant current offset into summing bus 803 and the circuit of latch 821 and dac 822 does the same for summing bus 823 . this combined x and y offset modifies the position of the vectors that are generated after it so that it is possible to move symbols , characters or lines to a different location anywhere on the screen without having to recompute the x and y coordinates of the vectors involved . the savings in terms of computation time can be significant . referring to fig8 b , latch 843 stores a digital binary number that represents the slew rate or speed at which the ramp and ramp signals must change . if said binary number is small , ramp and ramp will take a long time to change from mininum to maximum , and vice - versa . if it is large , the transition will take a short time . dac 844 converts the slew rate digital signal into an equivalent analog voltage . this voltage is used as a bias source for ota 851 . ota 851 is a special kind of operational amplifier known as an operational transconductance amplifier . the detailed , internal construction of an ota is illustrated on fig7 and has already been described previously in conjunction with the circuits used in array 111 . ota 851 is used as a variable current source to charge capacitor 852 . the voltage across capacitor 852 increases with a speed proportional to the slew signal and in a direction dependent on the polarity of output q of flip - flop 850 . op - amp 853 is used as a voltage follower and its output is the ramp signal described earlier . the ramp signal is obtained at the output of inverting amplifier 846 . flip - flop 850 changes state at the start of each new vector generation cycle . its clock input is connected to the clock or strobe line of the last latch to be loaded by computer 150 . before changing state , its q and q outputs are used to steer the x coordinates either into latch 806 or latch 813 , and the y coordinate either into latch 826 or latch 833 , whichever is appropriate . a soon as flip - flop 850 changes state , the voltage across capacitor 852 also starts to change , and with it , the ramp and ramp voltages , all three voltage changes being progressive and linear . latch 871 stores a binary digit representative of color and / or intensity . three of its outputs are directly connected by means of resistors 872 , 873 and 874 to the emitter of transistor 880 . three more are connected through resistors 875 , 876 and 877 to the emitter of transistor 881 . the remaining two outputs are connected through resistors 878 and 879 to the emitter of transistor 882 . transistors 880 , 881 and 882 are video transistors and their collectors are connected to the red , green and blue cathodes 893 , 894 and 895 of color crt 192 ( fig1 ). if a black and white crt is used ( with only one electron gun ), only one video transistor is used , with all resistors tied to its emitter . when one of the latch 871 outputs is low ( i . e ., zero volts ) current flows through the resistor connected to it . the magnitude of that current is inversely proportional to the resistance of said resistor . if resistors 872 , 873 and 874 have resistance values of r , 2r and 4r , respectively , it is possible to choose between eight possible levels of current , and hence , intensity values for the red gun 893 . the same is true for resistors 875 , 876 and 877 and green gun 894 . because there are only two resistors , 878 and 879 , associated with the blue gun , only four discrete levels of intensity are achievable . ( blue is the least critical color in terms of its intensity because said intensity is hard to judge by the human eye .) resistors 890 , 891 and 892 represent the load resistors of video transistors 880 , 881 and 882 and their associated peaking and biasing circuits ( not shown ). the circuit of potentiometer 860 , comparators 861 and 862 and and gate 863 are used to control voltage 864 at the bases of video transistors 880 , 881 and 882 . when base voltage 864 is positive , the video transistors function as described above , and video is &# 34 ; on &# 34 ;. when that voltage is zero , the video transistors cannot conduct and video is &# 34 ; off &# 34 ;. it will be remembered that the reference value of the ramp and ramp voltages is that voltage for which the analog outputs of the dacs correspond to their digital inputs . when the amplitude of the ramp and ramp waves exceed the dac reference value , a longer vector is drawn than called for . however , since the true end point of one vector still coincides with the true start point of the next , it is only necessary to restrict the time that video is turned on to a period during which ramp and ramp are within limits . for reasons that will become clear later , it is advantageous to be able to adjust the limiting voltage levels of ramp and ramp for which video is turned on . it is important to the optimum performance of this invention to be able to generate ramp and ramp waves whose amplitude is greater than the dac reference voltage and to be able to adjust potentiometer 860 experimentally so as to arrive at the exact range of ramp and ramp voltages for which video must be turned on . as a result of the above combination the electron beam is already moving by the time video is turned on and no bright spots appear at the beginning and end points of the vectors . in practice , potentiometer 860 is adjusted so as to close the gaps that tend to open up between vectors as a result of time delays in the deflection circuits . voltage 864 essentially defines the time video is on , i . e . the time period during which a vector is both displayed and displayable . it can thus also be used to alert the computer of a vector generator busy condition . for voltage 864 to be positive , it is necessary for the outputs of comparators 861 and 862 to be positive at the same time . this , in turn , requires that the ramp and ramp voltages both be less than the voltage at the wiper arm of potentiometer 860 . in other words , a vector is visible on the screen only when the ramp and ramp voltages are changing and have a value less than the maximum set by potentiometer 860 . the digital information loaded in the latches of fig8 a and 8b comes from vmem 173 via digital bus 171 ( fig1 ). digital bus 171 is comprised of a data bus 841 and a control bus 840 . the data bus is 8 bits wide in the preferred embodiment and is routed to latches 801 , 806 , 813 , 821 , 826 , 833 , 843 and 871 . the control bus includes lines 800 , 810 , 820 , 830 , 842 and 870 used by processor 152 to select the destination of the x , y , slew and color ( or intensity ) data being sent on data bus 841 . the control bus also includes a busy line by means of which the vector generator alerts the cpu of its status . this busy signal is sent to processor 152 by means of line 864 , which also happens to be an extension of the &# 34 ; video on &# 34 ; line . the x selection signal at line 810 is and - ed with the q of flip - flop 850 to select latch 806 in the case of odd - numbered vectors , and with the q output to select latch 813 in the case of even - numbered vectors . similarly , the y selection signal at line 830 is and - ed with the q output of flip - flop 850 to select latch 826 in the case of odd - numbered vectors , and with the q output to select latch 833 in the case of even - numbered vectors . in the preferred embodiment , the order in which vector data is stored in vmem 173 is the same as the order in which computer 150 outputs the data to the latches . before a sequence of vectors is generated , the x and y positioning coordinates are loaded into latches 801 and 821 . as has been mentioned before , this action determines the position of an object , symbol or other group of vectors relative to the center of the crt screen . while the vectors are being generated , coordinates are loaded alternately into the x and y latches ( case of the odd - numbered vectors ) and into the x &# 39 ; and y &# 39 ; latches ( case of the even - numbered vectors ), back and forth . the ramp and ramp voltages form two triangular waves of opposite polarity and varying periods . the ramp wave increases during the generation of odd - numbered vectors , and the ramp wave decreases at the same time . the situation is reversed during the generation of even - numbered vectors . flip - flop 850 keeps track of the odd and even cycles . its status changes first before the onset of a vector cycle . the generation of an odd vector begins with the q output of flip - flop 850 false or zero . data is loaded in the latches according to the following sequence : x , y , slew and finally color ( or intensity ). line 870 , used to select latch 871 , is also used to signal flip - flop 850 when digital data has been loaded prior to the generation of a new vector . as a result , the polarity of q changes to a positive value and the ramp voltage begins to increase in a positive direction while the ramp voltage begins to decrease toward zero or a negative value and the electron beam begins to move . as soon as the value of the ramp voltage becomes less than the voltage at the wiper of potentiometer 860 , video is turned on , and , unless the color or intensity data in latch 833 is zero , a luminous trace is generated on the screen . after a time period that is inversely proportional to the slew digit stored in latch 843 , the amplitude of the ramp wave exceeds the voltage at the wiper of potentiometer 860 and both busy and video signals are turned off . as soon as the busy signal is low or zero , computer 150 begins loading the latches in the same sequence as before . however , due to the fact that the q output of flip - flop 850 is now true or positive , latches 813 and 833 are loaded with x &# 39 ; and y &# 39 ; coordinates . when color ( or intensity ) data is finally entered in latch 871 , flip - flop 850 changes state again and its q output becomes false or zero , the ramp and ramp waves change in a negative and positive direction respectively , and an even - numbered vector is generated , after which an odd - numbered vector is generated , and so on , indefinitely . it is an important feature of this method that the data in the x , y , x &# 39 ; and y &# 39 ; dacs changes only when the dacs have their reference voltages equal to zero or a value such that their output does not contribute significantly to the deflection of the electron beam . indeed , most methods available from prior art involve switching operations at the beginning and / or end of each vector generation cycle . this causes discontinuities in the generation sequence that mostly affect the beginning and end points of the vectors , resulting in faded or intensified line portions , open gaps , bright dots , hooks and other unsightly features . it is another important feature that , as far as the digital circuits outside the vector generator are concerned , vector information is stored and transferred in the same unvarying order , according to a pre - determined sequence . a typical sequence occurs in the following order : x , y , slew , color , etc . this represents a universal format or protocol that can easily be implemented using any processor or any circuit made up of logic elements . fig9 is a simplified schematic circuit diagram of the preferred embodiment for sound generators agen 180 or 181 . sound is an important medium for communication and has its own special advantages as compared to visual presentations . it does not require the kind of attention where body movement is limited and where sense organs are kept trained in a single direction . it is possible to move about or close one &# 39 ; s eyes while listening . perhaps more importantly , the sense of hearing occupies a far smaller volume of the brain than the sense of sight , and consumes a correspondingly smaller amount of nervous energy . sound is very convenient when it is desired to convey information without causing the intended recipient to be unduly distracted . it is an important requirement of this invention that the sounds generated by agen 180 and 181 be as natural as possible and that the pitch , timbre and envelope features be controllable . even though one agen is sufficient in many cases , the use of two &# 34 ; voices &# 34 ; greatly enhances the potential for conveying useful information in the form of melodic statements . the main reason is that when two tones are used simultaneously , one of them can act as a reference or counterpoint to the other . intervals and harmonies convey more information than would be conveyed by each tone considered seperately . here also , the relationship is synergistic . since digital circuits , and hence computers , generate what is called &# 34 ; square waves &# 34 ;, some analog means must be found of generating sine waves , the kind that are prevalent in nature , and analog means must also be found of controlling their volume or intensity without disturbing the phase of the sine wave whenever the amplitude or envelope is changed . indeed , the ear cannot detect discrete changes in amplitude if they are sufficiently small . however when the phase of a sine wave is suddenly changed , a &# 34 ; click &# 34 ; is perceived . one might assume that computers are best suited for keeping track of time intervals and synthesizing waves of the desired frequencies . this is only partly true however , because counting and timing tasks tend to exclude a processor from doing other tasks . computers keep track of time by counting , and the process cannot be interrupted by other tasks without knowing in advance how much time these tasks take to complete . hence the popularity of programmable counters as peripheral circuits for microprocessors . referring again to fig9 the digital information necessary for the generation of sound is sent via digital bus 171 ( fig1 ) to latches 901 , 911 , 921 , 931 , 941 and 951 . in the preferred embodiment data bus 841 is eight bits wide and is routed to the input of the abovementioned latches . control bus 840 carries strobe lines 900 , 910 , 920 , 930 , 940 and 950 used by computer 150 to select the particular latch for which the information on data bus 841 is intended at a given time . latches 901 and 911 store the most significant and least significant bytes ( msb and lsb ) of a 16 bit digital number which is used as the preset for divide by n circuit 903 . this circuit divides the output of oscillator 902 by the abovementioned preset , thus generating a timing signal that recurs at twice the frequency of the pitch sine wave to be generated . said timing signal serves as a clock input for flip - flop 913 . the output of flip - flop 913 is a square wave at the desired frequency . ota 914 is an operational transconductance amplifier similar to that discussed previously and illustrated in fig7 . it is used as a programmable current source . the direction of the current is toward capacitor 915 when the q output of flip - flop 913 is negative , and away from capacitor 915 when q is positive . the magnitude of the current is commensurate with that injected in the bias input of the ota and available from output 923 of dac 922 . bias signal 923 is the analog equivalent of the slew signal stored in latch 921 and determines how fast the voltage changes across capacitor 915 . as a result , the waveform across capacitor 915 can take on any intermediate shape between a square wave and a triangular wave . amplifier 916 is a buffer stage configured as a voltage follower . square waves are typical of reed instruments and import a &# 34 ; buzzing &# 34 ; quality to the sound . sine waves are more descriptive of the flute . as far as auditory perception is concerned , triangle waves are close to sine waves and their added harmonic content contributes to a metallic &# 34 ; flavor &# 34 ; reminiscent of bells , chimes and percussion instruments such as the harp and the piano . the percussion effect , which is characterized by a sharp attack and a subsequent exponential decay of the sound envelope has to be added by suitably modulating the amplitude of the wave without , however , modifying its phase , as previously mentioned . a standard multiplying dac 932 can be used for this purpose . the voltage at output 934 is the product of the analog waveform at input 933 and the digital number stored in larch 931 which represents the magnitude of the envelope of the sound . amplifier 937 amplifies the resulting sound signal . a capacitor 935 can be used alone or added in parallel with feedback resistor 936 in order to filter out the higher harmonics , resulting in waves that more closely resemble sine waves . a seperate dac 942 can be used to further control the amplitude of the sound wave in proportion to the magnitude of the binary number stored in latch 941 . the signal stored in latch 941 is referred to as the volume of the sound wave . the use of two multipliers in series for the control of amplitude reflects the need for a wider total dynamic range than would be possible with a single 8 - bit device typical of the preferred embodiment . of course , a single 16 - bit device could be used , but the present arrangement with two separate devices has the added advantage that it conforms to the standard 8 - bit format and allows the processor to handle the envelope function as a separate parameter . amplifier 944 is a standard audio ( hi - fi ) amplifier . it drives loudspeaker 190 or 191 . ( see also fig1 ). the generation of an envelope signal requires a time reference which is also best generated by a timer separate from processor 152 . circuit 952 is a divide by m circuit provided for that purpose . it uses the &# 34 ; q &# 34 ; ( for &# 34 ; quality &# 34 ;) signal stored in latch 951 as a preset for the determination of the number of cycles of the sound wave that must be generated before a new change in the envelope patterns is due . note that time , here , is relative in the sense that the envelope of a high frequency wave changes faster than that of a low frequency wave . this is consistent with the performance of natural sources of sound . divide by m output 953 is used to set flip - flop 956 , whose output 955 flags computer 150 . as soon as the computer is available for action , it cancels the flag by resetting flip - flop 956 via acknowledge line 954 . thus it is seen that there has been brought to the data processing art a new and improved modular system for acquiring and processing data . this system is extremely flexible and may be adapted to various detectable inputs ranging from those provided by the system of the human body to those of the internal combustion engine and automobile . numerous features of the modular system are configured to interact in an optimal way . further , the architecture of the data processing system hardware facilitates and simplifies otherwise impossibly complex programming tasks and , thus , provides an additional significant and distinct advantage over prior art systems . while this invention has been described in its presently preferred embodiment , it is by no means so limited in scope . rather , its scope is to be ascertained by reference to the set of claims , and all equivalents thereof , that follows .	6
by way of further background and prior to describing the operation of the subject invention to select microradio chip orientation and polarity direction , rfid tags have been utilized extensively to be able to trace pallets from a point of shipment through a destination , with the rfid tags being passive devices that are read - out with rf energy , usually in the 900 mhz range . these passive devices are parasitically powered by the energy impinging upon the antenna of the tag that is harvested by the integrated circuits within the tag , with the result that the tag transmits the identity of the pallet in response to a probing signal . while such rfid tags are now mandated for pallets in some industries , there is increased level of interest in item - level tagging , which involves placing a tag on the item itself as opposed to on a pallet of items . however , in order to be able to make such tagging strategies possible for low - value items such as toothpaste and the like , techniques are required to be able to manufacture and deposit the tags on items at an overall cost of no more than 5 cents per item . cost in general is dictated by the size of the integrated circuit chips involved . as to the size of the tags that are currently placed on pallets , they are on the order of 2 inches by 2 inches , with the antenna dimensions being the dominating factor . it is noted that the larger the antenna , the greater the range , since a larger tag antenna can capture more energy from a reader . for short - range applications such as monitoring pill bottle inventories , the antenna can be indeed quite small . if one could make the integrated circuits very , very small , in the tens of micron size range , the cost per ic die goes down dramatically . this is because one can make millions of individual ics per wafer . with processing costs constant and sufficient yields , one can reduce the cost of the tag under 5 cents . assuming that one can successfully separate the microscopic ics from the host wafer , of particular importance in the provision of rfid tags are techniques to connect microradio integrated circuits to corresponding antennas with very little or no touch labor . while a co - pending application describes one method for coupling rfid circuits to an antenna at its feed point , there is a requirement for more efficient manufacturing methods and to obtain maximum gain and maximum output for the tag . referring now to fig1 , a microradio chip 10 is manufactured as having an integrated circuit 12 located on a substrate 14 , with the integrated circuit chip being connected to metallized ends 15 and 16 at opposite ends of the rectilinear chip structure . in one embodiment , the ratio of length to width is 2 : 1 to establish proper connection to spaced - apart antenna feed traces . it is noted that there is a longitudinal axis 18 for such a microradio chip , and a lateral axis 20 as well as a vertical axis 22 as illustrated . in a preferred embodiment , the chip has a 2 : 1 aspect ratio , with the metal ends manufactured as a modification of conventional chip manufacturing techniques . the chip can be mounted face up or facedown and achieve contact with the antenna for the tag . alternatively , a chip can be mounted in a “ capsule ” fabricated using three - dimensional etch techniques . the capsule would then have large metal caps on the ends to provide the aforementioned pads or tabs . in one embodiment , the microradio rfid chip is composed of several sublayers of integrated circuit materials and conductive materials , not shown in this figure . the insulating layer is normally applied over the chip area except for the metal pad regions . it is noted that the smaller the rfid chip that can be fabricated , the more chips that can be manufactured on a single wafer and lower the part cost for each chip . it is noted that the structure in fig1 is a three - dimensional contact structure in which the contact pads or tabs are not in a single xy plane but also have contact material in the z direction with respect to the chip . as will be seen , the purpose of the three - dimensional contact structure when these microradio chips are deposited over an antenna feed is that they can make electrical contact to the antenna feed regardless of orientation of the microradio to the antenna feed . for instance , it is not necessary to have the microradio chip have its contacts or pads or tabs on a single plane , which must be married to the contact pads of the feed of the antenna . rather , the attachment of randomly oriented microradio chips can be established in accordance with the technique described in patent application entitled “ rfid tag and method and apparatus for manufacturing same ,” by kenneth r . erickson , assigned to the assignee hereof and incorporated herein by reference . in this patent application , randomly oriented microradios can be attached to an antenna feed by having one end of the microradio attached to one feed point , with an insulating layer placed on top of it followed by a conductive printed layer or trace to attach the other end of the microradio to the other feed point of the antenna . this technique is described in provisional patent application ser . no . 60 / 711 , 217 filed aug . 25 , 2005 . with such a rectilinear structure for the rfid chip , and as illustrated in fig1 , this type of structure having opposed contact pads or tabs results in a preferential polarization direction for the rfid chip . in essence , the opposed metallic end caps 14 and 15 provide a dipole structure for the transmission of information to and from the rfid chip . referring to fig2 , assuming that one has two chips , namely chip 10 and chip 10 ′, located at the feed point of a tag antenna , then it is important that the polarization direction of these chips be aligned one with the other . to this end , chip 10 has an e - field vector at time t 0 , here labeled by reference character 24 , to be parallel to the e - field vector 24 ′ of rfid chip 10 ′. thus at time t 0 the e - field vectors are parallel to each other and in the same direction . as noted by the dotted vectors 26 and 26 ′, these e - fields will exist at t 0 + π radians , with a change in the direction of the rf signal applied to the end tabs . due to the instantaneous e - field direction at time t 0 and the opposed field direction at time t 0 + π radians , the outputs of these two identically constructed microradios or rfid chips will add coherently . should , however , the chips be oriented such that one has a north orientation for its e - field vector and the other a south orientation , then it is quite clear that the energy from these chips will cancel each other . prior to describing the coupling of the rfid chip microradio to an antenna , and referring now to fig3 , an rfid tag 48 includes inter alia an antenna 50 designed according to well - known principles . this antenna is responsive to rf energy in the chosen frequency band for the tag . as described below , this antenna is fabricated utilizing electrically conductive ink in one embodiment or any type of metallizing structure on an item to be tagged . an integrated circuit microradio with conductive surfaces 36 and 38 contains a programmable device 54 together with an rf interface 56 . also included are an energy storage device 58 , a controller 60 and a memory 62 . the functions of the rf interface , energy storage , controller and memory are typical of passive rfid tags to provide the performance described hereinbefore . here it can be seen that it is important to be able to connect the reid chip 10 to antenna 50 by virtue of the direct dc contact of pads 36 and 38 to feed points 64 and 66 of antenna 50 . having described in the broadest terms the functional components of the microradio and its coupling to its associated antenna , and referring now to fig4 , microradios 10 can be electromagnetically coupled to the feed point of an antenna described by conductive traces 50 and 100 by providing a substrate 80 with a conductive trace 52 that connects to one side of the antenna and forms a feed point to the antenna , whereas a conductive trace 54 connects to the other side of the antenna at its feed point . as illustrated , a non - conductive slurry 56 contains randomly oriented microradios 10 that are disposed in the slurry or fluid . the conductive trace 54 is coupled to the microradios through an overlying conductive ink trace 58 , which overlies the slurry containing the microradios such that rf energy from the microradios will be coupled to the feed point of the antenna 50 due to rf coupling techniques to be described . the gain of the individual microradios may not be sufficient to enable coupling energy to and from the microradios to the antenna and vice versa . however , by providing a large number of microradios in the gap between traces 52 and 58 , if coherent operation is achieved , one can increase overall output so that when added together there is sufficient signal strength . there are two issues that must be addressed in order to obtain sufficient gain for this non - direct dc coupled embodiment and that is that one needs to be able to select microradios that have a predetermined orientation , in this case a vertical orientation as indicated by vertical dotted lines 60 . it will be noted that the shaded microradios 62 are oriented such that they are , for instance , within 10 degrees of a vertical established as being perpendicular to the top surface of substrate 80 and the plane of the antenna feed traces . the ability to select for activation only microradios having this vertical orientation or indeed any predetermined orientation is critical to the obtaining of the maximum amount of gain from the ensemble of microradios in the slurry . in one embodiment this is simply accomplished by activating only those microradios having a vertical orientation , meaning that the programming power picked up by antenna 50 will only be of sufficient level to activate microradios in a predetermined orientation . other radios that are located at orientations that are non - optimal will not receive enough of a signal from the programming step to cause the programming code to be received by the microradios . assuming improper physical orientation , also the microradios may not be able to be parasitically powered . thus if the orientation direction of the microradios is suboptimal such as , for instance , as illustrated by the orientation of microradio 64 , it may not be able to be parasitically powered . referring to fig5 and taking , for instance , microradio 70 , which is vertically oriented with respect to traces 52 and 58 , this microradio can have a polarization direction as illustrated at 72 such that north points up and south points down , with the e - field associated therewith oriented as illustrated at 74 . alternatively , the orientation can be as illustrated at 76 , with the south pointing up and the e - field vector 78 pointed down . as mentioned hereinbefore , if vertically oriented microradios in one embodiment have opposite polarization directions , then there will be phase cancellation of the outputs of these radios , which deleteriously affects the operation . in short and referring to fig6 a and 6b , if the microradios are envisaged as having a cubic structure as illustrated at 80 and 82 , with opposed conductive tabs respectively 84 and 86 or 88 and 90 . then for a north - facing polarization orientation , a signal source 92 is connected as illustrated with the polarization likewise indicated . referring to fig6 b , if the connection from the signal source is reversed , then the polarization of the microradio will be in a southerly or down position . referring to fig7 , how one controls the connection of , for instance , vertically oriented microradios so that the connection from the signal source and the opposed end caps or tabs can be controlled , one has a programming unit 100 supplied with a code 102 that is to be detected by an rfid chip 104 , both for activation and to control its polarization direction . the output of the programming unit is coupled to a transmitter 106 , in turn coupled to an antenna 108 , with the power level of transmitter 106 being controlled by power level control 110 . in the illustrated embodiment , the code to which the rfid chip is to respond is a digital code 0110001 . in a programming step , upon receipt of this 0110001 code , chip 104 is activated . the chip will also respond to the inverse of this digital code , namely 1000110 , likewise to activate the rfid chip . if the chip receives the 0110001 code , the original polarity of the chip is preserved ; whereas if the chip receives a 1000110 code , then switching circuits within the chip switch the signal source polarity so as to be opposite that which it originally had . as shown in fig8 a and 8b , signal source 92 in fig8 a is coupled to opposed tabs or end caps 94 and 96 as illustrated , whereas if a polarization reversal is required , then as illustrated in fig8 b , a signal source 92 is connected inversely to tabs 94 and 96 as illustrated . thus what can be seen is that through the programming step , one can select by the power level those rfid chips or microradios which are appropriately oriented in an optimal direction such that only these chips will be activated whereas the others will not be . likewise and at the same time , utilizing the digital programming technique described , the polarization of the chip that has already been activated by virtue of its preferential orientation may be either left unchanged or inverted depending on whether or not the code received is the original code or the inverse code . while the present invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments of the various figures , it is to be understood that other similar embodiments may be used or modifications or additions may be made to the described embodiment for performing the same function of the present invention without deviating therefrom . therefore , the present invention should not be limited to any single embodiment , but rather construed in breadth and scope in accordance with the recitation of the appended claims .	6
referring now to the drawings in which like figures represent like elements , fig1 to 8 depict one embodiment of the inventive cleansing implement . in fig1 to 8 , cleansing implement 10 is made up of a flexible outer shell 12 that contains resilient core 50 . flexible outer shell 12 includes an apertured arcuate first surface 14 having a plurality of apertures 30 , a apertured substantially flat second surface 16 having a plurality of apertures 32 , axial sides 18 , sealable end surface 20 and continuous end surface 22 . axial sides 18 contain gripping elements 24 integrally molded on each axial surface 18 . end sides 20 and 22 define apertures 38 . apertured first surface 14 is formed of a foamed , pliable , resin surrounding apertures 30 and apertured second surface 16 is formed a smooth , non - foamed , pliable , thermoplastic resin surrounding apertures 32 . in fig3 , apertured second surface 16 defines center well 34 which defines apertures 36 . apetures 36 are preferably larger in area than either apertures 30 or 32 . apertured second surface 16 preferably contains flexible plastic bristles 40 that are preferably molded integrally with surface 16 and surround apertures 32 . in fig4 , sealing elements 60 are depicted in a sealed configuration . preferably sealing elements 60 are ultrasonically heat sealed after inserting resilient core 50 into and filling the interior of implement 10 . in fig5 , after inserting and sealing , resilient core 50 is shown in pressing engagement within flexible outer shell 12 . resilient core 50 provides resistance when implement 10 is squeezed . preferably resilient core 50 is composed of two or more polymeric mesh sponges , one of which is depicted in fig8 , held within flexible outer shell 12 . in use the consumer will dispense liquid body wash into implement 10 by pouring the liquid body wash into well 34 and through apertures 36 whereupon the resilient core 50 will absorb the body wash up to its capacity . next the consumer will expose the implement 10 to water while squeezing in order to generate lather . next the consumer will rub the implement via second surface 16 on their skin in the same manner as they would a toilet bar followed by rinsing . in a preferred embodiment , bristles 40 will massage the skin and enhance lather production . in one aspect of the invention is a cleansing implement for depositing a liquid cleanser on the skin of a user , comprising : a . an outer shell and a resilient core material held inside and in pressing engagement with the interior of the shell , wherein the shell is composed of a material that is flexible at use temperatures and the core material is composed of polymeric mesh sponge having a plurality of plies of an extruded tubular netting mesh ; b . wherein the shell has a arcuate first surface and an opposed substantially flat second surface , the first and second surfaces each defining a plurality of apertures ; c . wherein the plurality of apertures on the first surface occupy a surface area in the range of about 25 to 75 % based on the extent of the total surface area of first surface and the plurality of apertures on the second surface occupies a surface area in the range of about 25 to 75 % based on the extent of the total surface area of the second side ; and d . wherein not more than about 70 % of the apertures each exceed 40 square mm in area . advantageously the number of apertures on the first surface each having an area in the range of about 25 to 50 square mm are in the range of about 25 to 100 in number and the number of apertures on the second surface each having an area of about 25 to 50 square mm are in the range of about 25 to 100 in number . preferably the length of the implement along its major axis is less than 15 cm . preferably the length of the implement along its major axis is less than 14 , 13 or 12 cm and greater than 7 , 8 , 9 , or 10 cm . more preferably a plurality of soft plastic bristles orthogonal and attached to the second surface are each about 0 . 6 mm thick and about 2 mm long substantially surrounding each aperture and the surface of the second surface surrounding the apertures is substantially smooth . most preferably the second surface has one or more centrally disposed apertures each having a surface area that is larger than the other apertures defined by the second surface . preferably the second surface is composed of a non - foamed material and first surface is composed of a foamed plastic and a woven mat composite . in another aspect of the invention is a process of making a cleansing implement including but not limited to the steps of : a . bonding a flexible foamed plastic sheet with woven fibrous mesh to form a flexible composite sheet ; b . cutting a plurality of apertures in the composite sheet ; c . inserting the composite sheet into a first mold cavity ; d . suspending an inner mold within the first mold cavity and inside of the composite sheet ; e . closing the mold ; f . injecting thermoplastic resin having a shore a durometer of at least 15 at a temperature above its melt temperature ; and g . molding the foamed plastic sheet and the thermoplastic resin together to form a flexible shell . a . opening the injection molder ; b . extracting the implement ; c . removing the inner mould ; d . inserting one or more resilient polymeric mesh sponges to substantially fill and remain in pressing engagement with the inside of the shell ; and e . heat sealing the implement ( preferably by ultrasonic welding ) to capture the mesh sponges within the shell . advantageously at least 10 grams of polymeric mesh sponge are inserted inside the shell . preferably at least 12 , 14 , 16 , and 18 grams are used . more preferably at least 2 or more separate sponges are employed to make up this total . in a further aspect of the invention is a method of cleansing the skin or hair including but not limited to the steps of : a . providing a cleansing implement as described above ; b . adding at least 3 grams of a liquid cleansing composition containing about 8 to 40 % by wt . of total lathering surfactant ( s ) prior to cleansing the skin or hair ; c . adding water to the implement while manually compressing and releasing the implement to transfer a sufficient quantity of cleansing composition to the polymeric mesh sponges to generate lather ; and rubbing and squeezing the implement simultaneously on the skin . flexible outer shell 12 is composed of at least two zones of materials having different textures exposed to the touch . first surface 14 includes a foamed plastic with a rough surface finish , preferably a composite with a woven fibrous sheet . the remaining outer shell ( second surface 16 ) is composed of a thermoplastic resin with a molded smooth surface finish . the flexible outer shell &# 39 ; s second surface 16 may be any thermoplastic resin whose physical and processing properties lend themselves to manufacturing washing implements . flexible outer shell first surface 14 may be any foamed plastic that provides a rough molded surface . preferably it includes a woven fibrous mat . the inventive cleansing implement contains a resilient core held inside the flexible outer shell . a preferred resilient core consists of one or more individual polymeric mesh sponge ( s ) each comprising a plurality of plies of an extruded tubular netting mesh prepared from nylon or a strong flexible polymer , such as addition polymers of olefin monomers and polyamides of polycarboxylic acids . preferably the tubular netting has a maximum transverse expanded diameter of about 8 to 16 inches with the contracted minimum diameter on the order of about ½ inch . the tubular netting is preferably open at both ends so that it can be easily utilized in making the multi - ply netting for the preparation of the scrubbing section . the netting is prepared from fine filaments of polymeric material having a thickness preferably varying from about 10 to 18 mils . the netting is prepared from as many as 50 to 200 such filaments which appear to cross over each other at a 45 . degree . angle and are bonded at junction points at intervals varying from about 3 / 16 to ½ inch , depending upon the type of netting or fabric desired . it is important that the bonding of the filaments at the indicated intervals be of such a nature as to securely attach the filaments together and provide a strong netting for the lather generation . the bonding is preferably accomplished by the extruding technique , heat sealing the filaments together or by use of appropriate adhesives . additional examples of suitable resilient mesh material are disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 462 , 135 issued on jul . 31 , 1984 and herein incorporated by reference . the inventive cleansing implement is advantageously used with lathering surfactants . by a “ lathering surfactant ” is meant a surfactant , which when combined with water and mechanically agitated generates a foam or lather . preferably , these lathering surfactants should be mild , which means that they must provide sufficient cleansing or detersive benefits but not overly dry the skin or hair , and yet meet the lathering criteria described above . a wide variety of lathering surfactants is useful herein and include those selected from anionic , nonionic , cationic , and amphoteric surfactants and mixtures thereof . among the anionic lathering surfactants useful herein are the following non - limiting examples which include the classes of : ( 1 ) alkyl benzene sulfonates in which the alkyl group contains from 9 to 15 carbon atoms , preferably 11 to 14 carbon atoms in straight chain or branched chain configuration . especially preferred is a linear alkyl benzene sulfonate containing about 12 carbon atoms in the alkyl chain . ( 2 ) alkyl sulfates obtained by sulfating an alcohol having 8 to 22 carbon atoms , preferably 12 to 16 carbon atoms . the alkyl sulfates have the formula roso 3 − m + where r is the c 8 - 22 alkyl group and m is a mono - and / or divalent cation . ( 3 ) paraffin sulfonates having 8 to 22 carbon atoms , preferably 12 to 16 carbon atoms , in the alkyl moiety . these surfactants are commercially available as hostapur sas from hoechst celanese . ( 4 ) olefin sulfonates having 8 to 22 carbon atoms , preferably 12 to 16 carbon atoms . most preferred is sodium c 14 - c 16 olefin sulfonate , available as bioterge as 40 ® ( 5 ) alkyl ether sulfates derived from an alcohol having 8 to 22 carbon atoms , preferably 12 to 16 carbon atoms , ethoxylated with less than 30 , preferably less than 12 , moles of ethylene oxide . most preferred is sodium lauryl ether sulfate formed from 1 or 2 moles average ethoxylation , commercially available as e . g . standopol es - 2 ®. ( 6 ) alkyl glyceryl ether sulfonates having 8 to 22 carbon atoms , preferably 12 to 16 carbon atoms , in the alkyl moiety . ( 7 ) fatty acid ester sulfonates of the formula : r 1 ch ( so 3 − m +) co 2 r 2 where r 1 is straight or branched alkyl from about c 8 - to c 18 , preferably c 12 to c 16 , an r 2 is straight - or branched alkyl from about c 1 to c 6 , preferably primarily c 1 , and m + represents a mono - or divalent cation . ( 8 ) secondary alcohol sulfates having 6 to 18 , preferably 8 to 16 carbon atoms . ( 9 ) fatty acyl isethionates having from 10 to 22 carbon atoms , with sodium cocoyl isethionate being preferred . ( 10 ) dialkyl sulfosuccinates wherein the alkyl groups range from 3 to 20 carbon atoms each . ( 11 ) alkanoyl sarcosinates corresponding to the formula rcon ( ch 3 ) ch 2 ch 2 co 2 m wherein r is alkyl or alkenyl of about 10 to about 20 carbon atoms and m is a water - soluble cation such as ammonium , sodium , potassium and trialkanolammonium . most preferred is sodium lauroyl sarcosinate . ( 12 ) alkyl lactylates wherein the alkyl groups range from 8 to 18 carbon atoms , with sodium lauryl lactylate sold as pationic 138 c ® available from the patterson chemical company as the most preferred . ( 13 ) taurates having from 8 to 16 carbon atoms , with cocoyl methyl taurate being preferred . ( 14 ) fatty acid soaps consisting of soluble soaps . soluble soap is defined as a soap or soap blend having a krafft point less than or equal to about 40 c . the soluble soap ( s ) can be selected from the chain length of c6 - c14 saturated fatty acid soap ( s ) and c16 - c18 unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acid soap ( s ) or a combination of these fatty acid soaps . these soluble soaps can be derived from coco fatty acid , babasu fatty acid , palm kernel fatty acid and any other source of unsaturated fatty acid including tallow and vegetable oils and their mixtures . nonionic lathering surfactants suitable for the present invention include c 10 - c 20 fatty alcohol or acid hydrophobes condensed with from 2 to 100 moles of ethylene oxide or propylene oxide per mole of hydrophobe ; c 2 - c 10 alkyl phenols condensed with from 2 to 20 moles of alkylene oxides ; mono - and di - fatty acid esters of ethylene glycol such as ethylene glycol distearate ; fatty acid monoglycerides ; sorbitan mono - and di - c 8 - c 20 fatty acids ; and polyoxyethylene sorbitan available as polysorbate 80 and tween 80 ® as well as combinations of any of the above surfactants . other useful nonionic surfactants include alkyl polyglycosides , saccharide fatty amides ( e . g . methyl gluconamides ) as well as long chain tertiary amine oxides . examples of the latter category are : dimethylododecylamine oxide , oleyldi ( 2 - hydroxyethyl ) amine oxide , dimethyloctylamine oxide , dimethyldecylamine oxide , dimethyltetradecylamine oxide , di ( 20 - hydroxyethyl ) tetradecylamine oxide , 3 - didodecyoxy - 2 - hydroxypropyldi ( 3 - hydroxypropyl ) amine oxide , and dimethylhexadecylamine oxide . suitable amphoteric or zwitterionic lathering surfactants for use in the present compositions include those broadly described as derivatives of aliphatic quaternary ammonium , phosphonium , and sulfonium compounds , wherein which the aliphatic radicals can be straight chain or branched , and wherein one of the aliphatic substituents contains about 8 to about 30 carbon atoms and another substituent contains an anionic water - solubilizing group , such as carboxy , sulfonate , sulfate , phosphate , phosphonate , and the like . classes of zwitterionics include alkylamino sulfonates , alkyl betaines and alkylamido betaines , such as stearamidopropyldimethylamine , diethylaminoethylstearamide , dimethylstearamine , dimethylsoyamine , soyamine , myristylamine , tridecylamine , ethylstearylamine , n - tallowpropane diamine , ethoxylated ( 5 moles ethylene oxide ) stearylamine , dihydroxy ethyl stearylamine , arachidylbehenylamine , and the like . some suitable betaine surfactants include but are not limited to alkyl betaines , alkyl amidopropyl betaines , alkyl sulphobetaines , alkyl glycinates , alkyl carboxyglycinates , alkyl amphopropionates , alkyl amidopropyl hydroxysultaines , acyl taurates , and acyl glutamates , wherein the alkyl and acyl groups have from 8 to 18 carbon atoms . non - limiting examples of preferred amphoteric surfactants include cocamidopropyl betaine , sodium cocoamphoacetate , disodium cocoamphodiacetate , cocamidopropyl hydroxysultaine , and sodium cocoamphopropionate , which are particularly suitable as mild - type cleansers for skin and hair . in a preferred embodiment , the cleansing implement of the present invention is manufactured using the following method : 1 . polyurethane foam sheets ( obtained from dingban , jiangsu china ; 20 gms / cubic meter density , 25 mm thickness ) are bonded and compressed by vulcanization , at about 130 degrees c ., for about 5 minutes , at pressure of 20 t ( i . e . 200 kn ) with woven polyester mesh into a flatter sheet of 2 mm thickness . 2 . the foam sheets are then compressed again ( at about 160 degrees c ., pressure 20 t , for about 200 seconds into a curved shape . 3 . curved shapes are then die cut to the desired final shape , and the apertures are die cut out . 5 . the foam piece is inserted into the right cavity of an injection molder ( haitian international holdings limited ) 6 . an inner mould is hung inside the cavity , in order to make the implement hollow . 7 . the injection moulder is closed and tpr ( thermoplastic resin , f125g ( styrene ethylene butylene styrene block copolymer ), linhai xinbo ) having a shore a durometer of 20 , is injected ( at 190 degrees c .). this injection captures the edges of the foam so the foam and the tpr are permanently moulded together . 8 . the injection moulder is opened , and the tools are pulled out . the inner mould is then pulled out of the tpr piece 9 . at this stage , the implement has a top tab on both sides that is about ½ ″ long . 10 . 2 pieces of 9 gram tied polymeric mesh sponge ( from ninghai yuzhoul craft co , ldpe , 3 . 5 ″ width ) are inserted inside . 11 . the top tabs are ultrasonically welded shut using a heat sealing machine ( haitian international holdings limited ), a temperature of about 200 degrees c . and 2 . 5 seconds sealing time . 12 . the welded top tabs are die cut to a width of approximately 2 - 3 mm . other art recognized methods may be used to manufacture the inventive implement . except in the operating and comparative examples , or where otherwise explicitly indicated , all numbers in this description indicating amounts of material ought to be understood as modified by the word “ about ”. the following non - limiting examples will more fully illustrate the embodiments of this invention . all parts , percentages and proportions referred to herein and in the appended claims are by weight except for surface area and unless otherwise illustrated . the lathering performance of the inventive implement illustrated in fig1 - 8 and manufactured as described above was compared with a comparative implement and a bar of soap using the experimental protocol and lather test method described below . the body wash used for the test was axe phoenix shower gel sold by unilever , englewood cliffs , n . j . in the case of the implements . the lather volume results are listed in tables 1 and 2 . 4 . allow 400 ml of water to flow through a funnel onto implement or soap bar while scrubbing in a linear motion along a rough surfaced , inclined plane (“ wash station ”) about once per second . 5 . if using the inventive implement , squeeze once with each pass . ( comparative implements may be squeezed for additional tests ). 6 . place a 1000 ml capacity separation flask with a funnel inlet underneath the wash station to collect any lather that falls . 7 . allow substantially all lather to be collected ( usually 1 minute ). 8 . open valve at the bottom of the flask to allow any collected water to escape and then close valve .	1
it should be noted that in the detailed description which follows , identical components have the same reference numerals , regardless of whether they are shown in different embodiments of the present invention . it should also be noted that in order to clearly and concisely disclose the present invention , the drawings may not necessarily be to scale and certain features of the invention may be shown in somewhat schematic form . referring now to fig1 there is shown a lawn tractor 10 having a deck disengagement apparatus 12 ( shown in fig3 - 5 ) embodied in accordance with the present invention . the lawn tractor 10 includes a chassis 14 mounted on front and rear wheels 16 , 18 . a body 20 is mounted on the chassis 14 and encloses an engine ( not shown ) for driving the rear wheels 18 and a cutter , such as a cutting blade 22 ( shown in fig2 ). the engine is connected to the rear wheels 18 through a transmission ( not shown ). a cutting deck 24 enclosing the cutting blade 22 is secured to the bottom of the chassis 14 , between the front and rear wheels 16 , 18 . a seat 26 for an operator is mounted to the chassis 14 , rearward of the engine . a dashboard ( not shown ) is mounted to the body 20 and faces the seat 26 . a deck engage lever 28 extends from the dashboard . while fig1 shows the deck engage lever 28 extending from the dashboard , it will be understood that the deck engage lever 28 may be located at and extend from any and all other desirable locations on the lawn tractor 10 and that any and all such other desirable locations are intended to be within the scope of the present invention . a shifter , such as a shift lever 30 , for controlling the transmission extends from a rear fender 32 of the body 20 , adjacent to the seat 26 . the shifter is movable between reverse , neutral , and drive positions . a first end of a reverse control cable 34 ( shown in fig3 - 5 ) is connected to the shift lever 30 . the reverse control cable is covered with an outer sheath 35 . referring now to fig2 there is shown a schematic drawing of a cutter assembly 36 connected to the engine of the lawn tractor 10 . the cutter assembly 36 includes an engine pulley 38 and a cutter pulley 40 . the engine pulley 38 is secured to a drive shaft 42 of the engine so as to be rotatable therewith . the cutter pulley 40 is secured to the cutting blade 22 housed in the cutting deck 24 of the lawn tractor 10 . an endless belt 44 is disposed around the engine pulley 38 and the cutter pulley 40 . the belt 44 loosely engages the engine pulley 38 and the cutter pulley 40 so that power will not be transmitted from the engine pulley 38 to the cutter pulley 40 when the engine pulley 38 is rotating . a clutch assembly 46 is disposed adjacent to the belt 44 , between the engine pulley 38 and the cutter pulley 40 . the clutch assembly 46 includes an idler pulley 48 carried by a pivotable arm 50 . the clutch assembly 46 is movable between a release position ( not shown ), wherein the idler pulley 48 is spaced from the belt 44 , and a drive position ( shown in fig2 ), wherein the idler pulley 48 engages and thereby tightens the belt 44 . a coil spring 52 biases the clutch assembly 46 toward the release position . a first end of a deck control cable 54 is attached to the arm 50 of the clutch assembly 46 and is provided with a coil spring 53 that encircles the first end of the deck control cable 54 and has a first of its ends affixed to the arm 50 and a second of its ends joined to the cable 54 . as will be discussed in more detail below , a second end of the deck control cable 54 is connected to the deck disengagement apparatus 12 of the present invention . the deck control cable is covered by an outer sheath 55 . referring now to fig3 - 5 , there is shown the deck disengagement apparatus 12 of the present invention . the deck disengagement apparatus 12 generally includes the deck engage lever 28 , a clutch bracket 56 , a deck engage bracket 58 , and a release latch 60 . the deck engage lever 28 is formed from an elongated metal rod and includes a central portion 28 a joined between an upper handle portion 28 b and a lower mounting portion 28 c ( see fig4 ). the upper handle portion 28 b is joined to the central portion at an upper bend 28 d forming an obtuse angle , while the mounting portion 28 c is joined to the central portion 28 a at a lower bend 28 e forming a generally right angle . an annular flange 29 is disposed around the mounting portion 28 c , toward the lower bend 28 e . the clutch bracket 56 includes a base portion 62 joined at a substantially right angle to a main portion 64 . a linear slot 66 is formed in the base portion 62 and includes a closed end and an open end . the main portion 64 has a narrowed outer end 68 with a hole 70 extending therethrough . a first arm portion 72 and a second arm portion 74 extend from a side edge of the main portion 64 . the first arm portion 72 has an enlarged central opening 76 formed therein . the second arm portion 74 is l - shaped and includes an outer end 74 a having a slotted - opening 78 formed therein . a grommet 80 is secured within the slotted - opening 78 . a switch housing 82 is securely disposed within the central opening 76 of the first arm portion 72 . the switch housing 82 encloses a starter interlock switch connected into a circuit for supplying power to an electric starter ( not shown ) for the engine . the starter interlock switch includes a plunger - type actuator 84 ( see fig5 ) that extends outwardly from the switch housing 82 . the actuator 84 is movable between a retracted position , wherein the starter interlock switch closes the circuit to permit power to be supplied to the starter , and an extended position , wherein the starter interlock switch opens the circuit to cut - off power to the starter . the actuator 84 is biased toward the extended position . the deck engage bracket 58 is generally l - shaped and includes a leg portion 86 joined at a generally right angle to a body portion 88 . the leg portion 86 includes an outer end 86 a with a hole extending therethrough . the body portion 88 has an outer end with first and second guides 90 , 92 respectively secured to inner and outer surfaces thereof . a passage extends through the length of the first guide 90 . a cowled cable mount 94 is joined to the body portion 88 and extends outwardly therefrom . the release latch 60 includes a generally c - shaped body 96 having a top interior edge 98 that partially defines an enlarged opening 100 . a top portion of the release latch 60 has a sloping or cammed front edge 102 . a top opening 104 ( see fig4 ) is formed in the top portion of the release latch 60 , and a bottom opening is formed in a bottom portion of the release latch 60 . the release latch 60 is positioned to have the enlarged opening 100 face the leg portion 86 of the deck engage bracket 58 , and is pivotally secured to the deck engage bracket 58 by a bolt 106 ( see fig5 ) extending through the bottom opening and an opening in the body portion 88 of the deck engage bracket 58 . the release latch 60 is movable between a first or latched position , wherein the front edge 102 is disposed proximate the leg portion 86 of the deck engage bracket 58 , and second or unlatched position , wherein the front edge 102 is disposed distal to the leg portion 86 . a coiled latch return spring 108 ( see fig5 ) is disposed over the bolt 106 , between the release latch 60 and the body portion 88 of the deck engage bracket 58 . ends of the latch return spring 108 respectively engage the release latch 60 and the body portion 88 . the latch return spring 108 is operable to bias the release latch 60 toward the latched position . a bent second end of the reverse control cable 34 is attached to the release latch 60 through the top opening 104 . the reverse control cable 34 extends from the release latch 60 through the passage of the first guide 90 to the shift lever 30 for the transmission of the lawn tractor 10 . the outer sheath 35 of the reverse control cable 34 terminates within , and is secured to , the first guide 90 . the first end of the reverse control cable 34 is connected to the shift lever 30 such that the reverse control cable 34 moves the release latch 60 to the unlatched position when the shift lever 30 is moved into the reverse position and allows the release latch 60 to move back to the latched position when the shift lever 30 is moved into the neutral position or the drive position . the second end of the deck control cable 54 is secured to the cable mount 94 of the deck engage bracket 58 . the deck control cable 54 extends from the cable mount 94 through the grommet 80 to the arm 50 of the clutch assembly 46 as described above . the outer sheath 55 of the deck control cable 54 terminates within , and is secured to , the grommet 80 . the clutch bracket 56 is secured to a dashboard of the lawn tractor 10 . a j - shaped slot ( not shown ) is formed in the dashboard of the lawn tractor 10 . the slot 66 in the clutch bracket 56 is aligned with a straight portion of the j - shaped slot . the mounting portion 28 c of the deck engage lever 28 is journalled through the hole 70 in the main portion 64 of the clutch bracket 56 , thereby pivotally mounting the deck engage lever 28 to the clutch bracket 56 . the central portion 28 a of the deck engage lever 28 extends through the slot 66 and the j - shaped slot . with the deck engage lever 28 mounted in this manner , the deck engage lever 28 is movable from a first or disengaged position located at the closed end of the slot 66 ( and a closed end of the straight portion of the j - shaped slot ) to a second or engaged position located at a closed end of a hook portion of the j - shaped slot . when the deck engage lever 28 is moved to the disengaged position , the deck engage lever 28 engages the actuator 84 of the starter interlock switch and moves the actuator 84 to the retracted position . a washer locator 110 is secured to the mounting portion 28 c of the deck engage lever 28 on an outer side of the clutch bracket 56 . a coiled return spring 112 is disposed over the mounting portion 28 c , between the washer locator 110 and the clutch bracket 56 . ends of the return spring 112 respectively engage the washer locator 110 and the clutch bracket 56 . the return spring 112 is operable to bias the deck engage lever 28 toward the disengaged position . the deck engage bracket 58 is pivotally mounted to the mounting portion 28 c of the deck engage lever 28 , which extends through the hole in the leg portion 86 of the deck engage bracket 58 . the leg portion 86 is disposed between the annular flange 29 on the deck engage lever 28 and the clutch bracket 56 . the deck engage bracket 58 is movable between a neutral position , wherein a bottom edge 114 ( see fig5 ) of the release latch 60 abuts the second arm 74 of the clutch bracket 56 , to an active position , wherein the deck engage bracket 58 is latched to the deck engage lever 28 and the deck engage lever 28 is in the engaged position . when the deck engage lever 28 is in the disengaged position and the shift lever 30 is in the neutral position ( or the drive position ), the central portion 28 a of the deck engage lever 28 extends through the enlarged opening 100 in the release latch 60 and is aligned below the top interior edge 98 of the release latch 60 . with the deck engage lever 28 and the release latch 60 so positioned , the release latch 60 and , thus , the deck engage bracket 58 , are latched to the deck engage lever 28 . the operation of the lawn tractor 10 and the deck disengagement apparatus 12 will now be described . the description will begin with the lawn tractor 10 being in an inactive or stored condition , wherein the engine is not running , the shift lever 30 is in the neutral position , and the deck engage lever 28 is in the disengaged position . when the lawn tractor 10 is in the stored condition , the deck engage bracket 58 is latched to the deck engage lever 28 , and the starter interlock switch is closed . thus , the starter may be provided with power to start the engine . when the engine is running , the drive 42 shaft and the engine pulley 38 rotate . at this point , it should be noted that the engine cannot be started when the deck engage lever 28 is in the engaged position because the deck engage lever 28 will be spaced from the actuator 84 of the starter interlock switch . thus , the actuator 84 will be in the extended position and , thus , the circuit will be open , thereby preventing power from being supplied to the starter . when the deck engage lever 28 is moved to the engaged position , the central portion 28 a contacts the top interior edge 98 of the release latch 60 and carries the release latch 60 to the active position against the face 68 of the bracket 56 . the movement of the deck engage bracket 58 to the active position , pulls the deck control cable 54 , which moves the clutch assembly 46 to the drive position . as a result , the belt 44 tightens and power from the engine is transmitted to the cutter pulley 40 , thereby rotating the cutting blade 22 , i . e ., engaging the cutter assembly 36 . if the shift lever 30 is moved to the reverse position while the cutter assembly 36 is engaged , the reverse control cable 34 moves the release latch 60 to the unlatched position . as a result , the deck engage bracket 58 becomes disengaged from the deck engage lever 28 and moves under the force the spring 52 and the spring 53 back to the neutral position . the movement of the deck engage bracket 58 to the neutral position , releases the deck control cable 54 , which allows the spring 52 to move the clutch assembly 46 back to the release position . as a result , the belt 44 loosens and power from the engine is no longer transmitted to the cutter pulley 40 , thereby disengaging the cutter assembly 36 . a brake ( not shown ) may be provided to immediately stop the rotation of the cutting blade 22 when the cutter assembly 36 is disengaged . simply moving the deck engage lever 28 back to the disengaged position without moving the shift lever 30 out of the reverse position will not latch the deck engage bracket 58 onto the deck engage lever 28 again because the release latch 60 is still in the unlatched position . thus , in order to move the deck engage bracket 58 back to the active position and re - engage the cutter assembly 36 , the shift lever 30 must be moved to the neutral position or the drive position , and the deck engage lever 28 must be moved back to the disengaged position to permit the deck engage bracket 58 to latch onto the deck engage lever 28 again . the deck engage lever 28 may then be moved back to the engaged position to carry the deck engage bracket 58 to the active position and thereby re - engage the cutter assembly 36 . the order in which the deck engage lever 28 and the shift lever 30 are moved to their required positions for re - engaging the cutter assembly 36 is not important . if the shift lever 30 is moved out of the reverse position first , the release latch 60 will move back to the latched position below the deck engage lever 28 . this is not a problem , however . when the deck engage lever 28 is subsequently moved to the disengaged position , the deck engage lever 28 contacts the cammed front edge 102 of the release latch 60 , which translates some of the downward movement of the deck engage lever 28 to lateral movement of the release latch 60 , away from the latched position . this lateral movement of the release latch 60 permits the deck engage lever 28 to move below the top interior edge 98 of the release latch 60 . the release latch 60 then moves back to the latched position , thereby positioning the deck engage lever 28 within the enlarged opening 100 in the release latch 60 and below the top interior edge 98 . although the preferred embodiments of this invention have been shown and described , it should be understood that various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention as disclosed and claimed herein .	0
embodiments of the present disclosure provide an ion implantation solution that improves ion beam current measurement and monitoring using a scanning beam current transformer for optimizing ion beam utilization while maintaining uniform ion dose . referring to fig3 a , a top view of a current monitor 310 is shown in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure . in one embodiment , the current monitor 310 may include a scanning beam current monitor . the current monitor 310 may include a transformer 311 having a core 312 and a coil 314 wrapped around the core 312 . the core 312 may be in the shape of an annulus or a toroid and may be positioned within a transformer casing 316 . the transformer casing 316 may be formed of an electrically conductive , non - magnetic material , such as graphite or aluminum , and may be used as a shield or protective covering for the transformer 311 . another role of the transformer casing 316 may be to ensure that induced magnetic flux links the minor turns of the coil 314 and not the large major turn . additionally , eventual azimuthal currents induced in the transformer casing 316 by an axial component of the induced magnetic field ( e . g ., in the case of slight deviations from perpendicularity of the scanning beam on coil plane ) may cancel the azimuthal components of the flux in the transformer casing 316 . in one embodiment , the core 312 may be fabricated of high magnetic permeability material , e . g ., vitrovac ®, μmetal , or other similar material , and the coil 314 may be fabricated of a ferroelectric and / or conductive material , e . g ., copper or other similar material . other various materials may also be utilized . the current monitor 310 may be connected to a current integrator 318 through wires of the coil 314 . additionally , the current integrator 318 may be connected to a dose control system 700 , as depicted in fig7 . alternatively , in another embodiment , the current integrator 318 may be connected to the dose control system 700 through a feedback loop to compensate for dose variations during ion implantation . a calibration coil 320 may wrap around the current monitor 310 . in one embodiment , the calibration coil 320 may include a single turn and provide the current monitor 310 with a simulated beam current , which may be useful for calibrating the current monitor 310 . in another embodiment , the calibration coil 320 may include a predetermined number of turns for more reliable and accurate calibration . referring to fig3 b , a side view of the current monitor 310 is shown in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure . in this embodiment , the transformer casing 316 may include an inner casing 316 a and an outer casing 316 b . one or more fasteners 317 may hold the inner casing 316 a and the outer casing 316 b together to secure the transformer 311 , which may be fitted within the inner casing 316 a . in one embodiment , the inner casing 316 a and the outer casing 316 b may be formed of the same electrically conductive , non - magnetic material , e . g ., graphite or aluminum . in another embodiment , the inner casing 316 a and the outer casing 316 b may be formed of different electrically conductive , non - magnetic materials , e . g ., the inner casing 316 a may be formed of graphite and the outer casing 316 b may be formed of aluminum . other various materials may also be utilized . furthermore , in yet another embodiment , the transformer casing 316 may be symmetrically grounded . this may ensure a short path to ground as well as no generation of azimuthal currents when the ion beam spot 202 scans across the transformer casing 316 . referring back to fig3 a , as the ion beam spot 202 is be swept horizontally ( i . e ., in the x direction ) along the scan path 204 across the surface of the wafer 206 , the current monitor 310 may be used to measure the ion beam current at the wafer 206 . at each sweep along the scan path 204 , the ion beam spot 202 may cover a distance beyond the outer border of the current monitor 310 , as depicted in fig3 a . this is particularly important so that the current integrator 318 ( and other measurement electronics ) may accurately measure the ion beam current through the center of the transformer 311 by sweeping over the inner edge of the transformer casing 316 . the basis for calculating ion beam current within the transformer 311 will be discussed in further detail below . charges in motion , such as electrical current , may create a magnetic field . for example , according to biot - savart law , magnetic field generated by a current element idl may be expressed as : where db represents the magnetic field induction , μ represents magnetic permeability of a medium , and r represents a displacement vector . for the geometry of the current monitor 310 ( e . g ., a toroidal coil , as depicted in fig4 a , where a current ( i p ) perpendicular on the coil plane having a direction entering the paper sheet ), the magnetic field induction may have a direction shown on fig4 a and may be expressed as : where μ c represents magnetic permeability of the core 312 . thus , if current ( i p ) varies with time , the induced magnetic field ( b ) may also be a function of time . accordingly , the magnetic flux ( φ ) through the core may be expressed as : where a represents cross - section area of the core 312 . this forms the basis for calculating ion beam current within the transformer 311 . according to faraday &# 39 ; s law , the temporal variation of magnetic flux may then induce an electromagnetic force ( e ): where n represents the number of windings of the coil 314 . therefore , for a toroidal current transformer , e . g ., a rogowski coil , the electromotive force ( e ) may be expressed as : \| e \|=[( μ c na )/( 2 πr )]×[ di p / dt ]. when a pulsed primary current , i p , having , for example , a shape provided by a heaviside function , passes through the aperture of a rogowski coil , an induced secondary current i s in the windings of the coil 314 may be expressed as : i s ( t )=( 1 / n )· exp [(− r / l ) t ], where n represents number of windings and ( r / l ) represents the “ droop ” rate ( the inverse of the time constant ). accordingly , integration of such secondary current , i s , may yield a true value of pulsed primary current , i p . however , in the case of dc currents , or more specifically for implanting systems for which constant ion beam current for a constant dose during implant may be required , the induced emf ( e ) may be zero . as a result , the value of i p may not be readily inferred . for example , as depicted in fig4 a , when a scan path 404 a does not extend beyond an inner border periphery of the transformer 311 , in spite of a nonzero magnetic flux through the core of the coil , the induced emf ( e ) may be zero since , according to ampere &# 39 ; s law along a contour c ( the mean circumference of the coil ), ∮ c ⁢ b ⁢ ⅆ 1 = ∑ μ ⁢ ⁢ i p , there is no variation in the magnetic field induction ( b ) and no variation ( implicit ) in the induced magnetic flux ( φ ). however , as depicted in fig4 b , when a scan path 404 b extends beyond the inner border periphery of the transformer 311 , there may be a variation of primary current , i p , due to its increasing or decreasing cross - section as the beam sweeps across the inner border of the grounded housing containing the core 312 . as a result , a temporal variation in the magnetic flux ( φ ) and consequently an emf ( e ) may be induced , as shown in fig4 b . accordingly , integration of the secondary current , i s , may yield a value of the ion beam current at the wafer 206 . the secondary current , i s , may be integrated and the ion beam current , i p , at the wafer 206 may be measured . here , by extending the ion spot beam 202 beyond the outer periphery of the transformer 311 , the value of the magnetic field b at the transformer 311 and the value of the electrical current , i p , as shown in fig4 b , may provide values for which integration will yield a value for ion beam current at the wafer 206 . for a linear variation of an ion beam current as it sweeps over the inner border periphery of the transformer casing 316 , an induced secondary current , i s , may be expressed as : i s ( t )= i p ( μ c na 2 / 2 r 0 r τ )·[ 1 − exp (− tr / l )], for 0 ≦ t & lt ; t 0 ; i p ( μ c na 2 / 2r 0 rτ )·[ 1 − exp (− t 0 r / l )]· exp [−( t − t 0 ) r / l ], for t ≧ t 0 ; where r 0 and a represent a mean major and a minor radii of a torus , respectively , r represents total resistance ( coil + external ) viewed by the secondary current , i s , τ represents a sweeping time across the inner border periphery , l represents the self - inductance of the coil 314 , and t 0 represents the instant when the ion beam 202 is no longer sensed by the core 312 . for example , as depicted in fig5 , such analytical predictions on a shape of the secondary current , i s , may be reproduced in experimental measurements . therefore , an integration of the secondary current , i s , as well as a previous accurate calibration , may yield an accurate value of primary current , i p . in one embodiment , for the particular case of a torus having a mean major radius r 0 = 6 . 75 inches ( large enough to encircle a standard 300 mm wafer ), a minor radius a = 0 . 25 inches , made of magnetic material having μ r = 1 . 5 × 10 5 , theoretical predictions may give a relative magnetic permeability of the core μ c =˜ 1720 and an optimal number of coil turns n =˜ 150 . then , under the approximation of a uniform current density across the beam , the time dependency of the ion beam current as it passes the inner border of the transformer casing 316 may be expressed by : i p ( t )=( i p0 / 2π )·{ arc cos ( 1 − v s t / ξ )−( 1 − v s t / ξ )·[( 1 −( 1 − vt / ξ ) 2 ] 1 / 2 ], where i p0 represents total ion beam current , ξ represents beam radius , and v s represents scanning speed . for usual operating parameters in an ion implanter , e . g ., ion beam current of ˜ 1 ma , an ion beam diameter of ˜ 5 cm , and a scanning speed of ˜ 1 mm / μs , the induced secondary current amplitude may be ˜ 15 μa . this value may be large enough to be measured ( e . g ., as a voltage drop on an external resistor ), integrated , and further processed to obtain the accurate value of the total ion beam current i p0 at the wafer 206 . in the illustrated embodiments of the present disclosure , the current monitor 310 is shown with a ring - like ( annular ) toroidal shape since this geometry may ensure magnetic flux uniformity inside the core 312 , minimal transmit time , and improved signal - to - noise ratio . however , a current monitor having other shapes ( e . g ., elliptical , rectangular , etc .) and sizes may also be utilized , provided that these dimensional factors are taken into account in calculating self - inductance , magnetic flux losses , coil winding uniformity , etc . referring to fig6 , a top view of a current monitor 610 is shown in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure . similar to fig3 a , the current monitor 610 may include a transformer 611 having a core 612 and a coil 614 wrapped around the core 612 . the current monitor 510 may be connected to a current integrator 318 through wires of the coil 614 . the current integrator 318 may be connected to a dose control system 800 , as depicted in fig8 . a calibration coil 320 may wrap around the current monitor 610 . in one embodiment , the calibration coil 320 may include a single turn and provide the current monitor 610 with a simulated beam current , which may be useful for calibrating the current monitor 310 . in another embodiment , the calibration coil 620 may include a predetermined number of turns for more reliable and accurate calibration . however , in this embodiment , unlike fig3 a , the transformer 611 may have a rectangular shape and may be positioned within a transformer casing 616 , which may also be rectangular in shape . the transformer casing 616 may be formed of an electrically conductive , non - magnetic material , such as graphite or aluminum , and may be used as a shield or protective covering for the transformer 611 . other various materials may also be utilized . furthermore , in yet another embodiment , the transformer casing 616 may be symmetrically grounded . this may ensure a short path to ground as well as no generation of azimuthal currents when the ion beam scans across the transformer casing 616 . one benefit with utilizing a rectangular - shaped transformer 611 , as depicted in fig6 , may include a reduced size of the current monitor . having a smaller beam - to - core distance may increase the magnetic field induction b and , therefore ( implicitly ), increase the magnetic flux φ since the magnetic field b is inversely proportional with the distance from the current . a drawback with a rectangular - shaped transformer 611 , however , may include losses associated with sharp corners of the core 612 . as a result , other embodiments may be provided to balance the size of the transformer 611 with the magnetic field produced . for example , referring to fig7 , a top view of a current monitor 710 is shown in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure . similar to fig6 , the current monitor 710 may include a transformer 711 having a core 712 and a coil 714 wrapped around the core 712 . the current monitor 710 may be connected to a current integrator 318 through wires of the coil 714 . the current integrator 318 may be connected to a dose control system 800 , as depicted in fig8 . a calibration coil 320 may wrap around the current monitor 710 . in one embodiment , the calibration coil 320 may include a single turn and provide the current monitor 710 with a simulated beam current , which may be useful for calibrating the current monitor 710 . in another embodiment , the calibration coil 320 may include a predetermined number of turns for more reliable and accurate calibration . however , in this embodiment , unlike fig3 a and 6 , the transformer 711 may have an elliptical shape and may be positioned within a transformer casing 716 , which may also be elliptical in shape . the transformer casing 716 may be formed of an electrically conductive , non - magnetic material , such as graphite or aluminum , and may be used as a shield or protective covering for the transformer 711 . other various materials may also be utilized . furthermore , in yet another embodiment , the transformer casing 716 may be symmetrically grounded . this may ensure a short path to ground as well as no generation of azimuthal currents when the ion beam scans across the transformer casing 716 . the current monitor 710 with the transformer 711 having an elliptical shape may provide a smaller beam - to - core distance as compared to the annular toroidal transformer 311 of fig3 a and a reduction in losses ( e . g ., from sharp corners ) as compared to the rectangular - shaped transformer 611 of fig6 . fig8 depicts an exemplary dose control system 800 for ion implantation in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure . the system 800 may comprise a processor unit 802 ( e . g ., a dose controller ) which may be a microprocessor , micro - controller , personal computer ( pc ), or any other processing device . the system 800 may also comprise a beam movement controller 804 that controls the movement of an ion beam in an ion implanter system 80 according to instructions received from the processor unit 802 . the system 800 may further comprise a measurement interface 806 through which the processor unit 802 may receive ion beam measurement data ( e . g ., beam current , dose and shape ) from the ion implanter system 80 . the measurement interface 806 may include or be coupled to one or more measurement devices . the system 800 may be used to set up a 2 - d velocity profile for beam movement , to control an ion implantation process based on the 2 - d velocity profile , and to provide real - time , closed - loop adjustments to the 2 - d velocity profile . furthermore , the system 800 may provide dose control at the ion implanter system 80 based on the ion beam current measurements obtained from a current monitor , e . g ., a scanning beam current monitor . one advantage with utilizing embodiments of a current monitor in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure may include increased accuracy in ion beam current measurements at a wafer . because the current monitor is non - intercepting and measures ion beam current directly bombarding the wafer , accurate ion beam current measurements may be obtained . another factor contributing to increased accuracy may include the fact that current - to - area ratio calculations are no longer necessary for current monitors of the present disclosure . ion beam drift effects on dose and acceptance angle errors may also be eliminated to ultimately provide a more accurate ion beam measurement . also , since the current monitor is non - intercepting , not only is accuracy optimized , but real - time ion beam current measurements may also be obtained . another advantage of the present disclosure is that a current monitor in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure may be integrated with existing electronics . this may lead to reduced costs associated with implementing the current monitor with current systems not only to provide accurate ion beam measurements but also for dose compensation . furthermore , since a current monitor in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure involves no moving parts , little or no maintenance may be required . therefore , consistency and reliability of ion beam current measurements and dose compensation may be achieved with relative regularity . other advantages of the present disclosure may include an increase in ion beam utilization and availability of external calibration . these features may serve to reduce costs and improve measurements and calculations . the present disclosure is not to be limited in scope by the specific embodiments described herein . indeed , other various embodiments of and modifications to the present disclosure , in addition to those described herein , will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from the foregoing description and accompanying drawings . thus , such other embodiments and modifications are intended to fall within the scope of the present disclosure . further , although the present disclosure has been described herein in the context of a particular implementation in a particular environment for a particular purpose , those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that its usefulness is not limited thereto and that the present disclosure may be beneficially implemented in any number of environments for any number of purposes . accordingly , the claims set forth below should be construed in view of the full breadth and spirit of the present disclosure as described herein .	7
chlorodifluoromethane ( f22 ) is currently manufactured on a large scale for commercial refrigeration but also to serve as a starting material for the production of ptfe . when the use of f22 as a refrigerant liquid is banned , it will be useful to be able to continue exploiting this compound in other applications . the present invention provides a particularly advantageous means in this respect , since it has been found that chlorodifluoromethane ( f22 ) can be converted selectively into f134a and f32 by continuously pyrolysing f22 at a temperature of above 500 ° c . in the presence of hydrogen , but in the absence of metals in the reaction zone . the amount of hydrogen used is such that the h 2 / f 22 molar ratio is between 2 and 50 and more particularly between 5 and 15 . the working pressure may range up to 100 bar , but the process is generally carried out at a pressure of between 0 . 1 and 20 bar absolute , preferably of approximately between 0 . 5 and 5 bar absolute and , more particularly , at atmospheric pressure . the working temperature may be between 500 ° and 1000 ° c ., but the process is preferably carried out at between 650 ° and 800 ° c . the residence time may be between 0 . 1 and 100 seconds , but the process is preferably carried out for between 1 and 20 seconds . by working with short residence times , the formation of f32 is promoted , whereas with long residence times , the production of f134a is considerably increased . when the latter product is the interesting one , the f32 co - produced may obviously be recycled into the reactor in order to convert it into f134a . depending on the operating conditions , the f134a formed is accompanied by a variable amount of f134 ( hf 2 c -- chf 2 ) which is readily isomerizable into f134a . the examples which follow illustrate the present invention in a non - limiting manner . all the examples are performed in a tubular quartz reactor 47 cm in height and 2 . 3 cm in diameter , placed in an electric oven with a power rating of 1 . 5 kw . the working pressure is atmospheric pressure and the oven temperature is measured using a thermocouple . the reactants are introduced simultaneously and continuously by means of calibrated rotameters which allow the flow rates and thus the molar ratios to be controlled . the flow of the reactants in the reactor may be diluted with a flow of inert gas such as helium or nitrogen . all of the gas flow leaving the reactor is acidic and is conveyed to a glass reactor containing aqueous sodium hydroxide in order to remove the hydrochloric acid co - produced . the exiting gas flow is then dried over molecular sieves and then condensed at low temperature (- 78 ° c .) in a stainless - steel container fitted with valves which allow the gaseous products to be stored at ordinary temperature . analysis of the gas mixtures obtained is carried out by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrography so as to identify the reaction products with certainty . __________________________________________________________________________ residence conversion selectivity (%) towards temperature time h . sub . 2 f22 of f22 f32 ch . sub . 4 f134a f134 balance cexample (° c .) ( s ) mmol / h mmol / h % % % % % % __________________________________________________________________________1 550 14 473 . 2 37 . 4 32 41 0 36 19 982 600 13 473 . 2 37 . 4 77 38 0 40 22 983 650 12 473 . 2 37 . 4 97 39 0 40 18 974 700 11 473 . 2 37 . 4 100 41 1 43 15 965 650 12 473 . 2 60 . 3 98 32 1 40 23 996 700 11 473 . 2 60 . 3 100 35 1 41 15 96__________________________________________________________________________ the process is performed as in the previous examples , in a quartz reactor 47 cm in height and 1 . 5 cm in diameter , with flow rates of hydrogen and of f22 of 218 . 8 mmol / h and 21 mmol / h respectively . working at atmospheric pressure and with a residence time of 12 . 4 seconds in the isothermal region ( 650 ° c . ), a 93 % degree of conversion of the f22 was obtained with selectivities towards f32 , f134a and f134 of 26a , 28 % and 18 % respectively . the process was performed as above in a quartz reactor 47 cm in height and 2 . 1 cm in diameter , under the following conditions : the degree of conversion of the f22 was 93 % with selectivities towards f32 , f134a and f134 of 30 %, 30 % and 12 % respectively . the process was performed in the same reactor as in example 7 , under the following conditions : the degree of conversion of the f22 was 92 % with selectivities towards f32 , f134a and f134 of 34 %, 33 % and 18 % respectively . although the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments , it is evident that many alternatives and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description . accordingly , the invention is intended to embrace all of the alternatives and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims .	2
referring to fig2 , a system is shown which is an embodiment of the invention . the system performs a process which is described below with reference to fig3 and 4 . the system of fig2 includes a consumer application 111 ( ca ) which runs on a computer ( not shown ) operated by a consumer , such as a personal computer , laptop or mobile device ( e . g . a mobile phone or tablet computer ). the consumer application is capable of communicating with a merchant server 112 ( ms ), typically over the internet . the merchant server 112 , which is operated by a merchant ( an individual or organization which supplies products and / or services in return for payment ), may in fact comprise multiple physical servers cooperating together to provide a merchant website , offering one or more products and / or services . the ca may be supplied by the merchant , and may be arranged to present to the consumer the item ( s ) ( product ( s ) and / or service ( s )) which the merchant supplies . it may include a database describing these item ( s ), or obtain the information as required by communicating with the merchant server 112 . the merchant also operates at one or more points - of - sale distant from the merchant server ( e . g . at least 500 m , at least 10 km , and perhaps 10 s , 100 s or even 1000 s of kilometers distant from the merchant server ). indeed , the point - of - sale may be a mobile point - of - sale , such as one located in a vehicle ( a taxi , bus , or train ), which is able to give the consumer ( and / or any accompanying persons ) a ride . it may alternatively be at a station where vehicles arrive or depart . at each point - of - sale there is respective equipment running an application associated with the merchant : a “ merchant application ( ma )”. the consumer may be at one of these points - of - sale , and / or wishes to obtain a product and / or service delivered at this point of sale . the merchant application at this one of the points - of - sale is denoted by 112 in fig2 , and the merchant applications at any other points - of - sale are omitted from fig2 . these other points - of - sale play no role in the process described below . the point - of - sale is typically equipped with any necessary physical items and / or personnel to implement the purchase . for example , if the purchase is of a physical product , that product may be located at the point - of - sale , so that the consumer may take it away following the purchase , or so that it can be delivered to him from the point - of - sale . in another example , if the purchase is of a food and / or beverage , the point - of - sale may be a café or restaurant , where the food and / or beverage may be prepared and consumed . in a further example , the point - of - sale may be at a location where a train , bus or taxi may be mounted or dismounted , with any necessary driver also being present . in yet a further example , purchase may relate to the rental of a physical item ( e . g . a bicycle or car ) and the point - of - sale may be a location where the consumer may obtain or return the physical item . note that the equipment running the merchant application may not be owned by the merchant , or dedicated to running the application . for example , it is possible to envisage a retail store providing equipment which is arranged to run a respective merchant application for each of a plurality of merchants . each application would permit the consumer , when he or she is at the point - of - sale , to make a purchase of a product and / or service from the corresponding merchant . the merchant is also able to communicate with a service provider 114 ( sp ). the merchant maintains a bank account with a bank 115 (“ acquiring bank ”), which typically also operates the service provider 114 . the service provider 114 is , unlike the merchant server 112 , assumed to be a secure environment . as in the system of fig1 , the consumer has a digital wallet provided by a wallet provider ( wp ) 116 . the consumer has pre - registered one or more payment cards ( credit cards and / or debit cards ) with the wallet provider ( wp ) 116 , which is able to access a database containing payment credentials of the registered cards , i . e . data which can be used to make a payment using the payment card . this data is typically the primary account number ( pan ) which , conventionally , is a 16 digit number of the card . the wallet provider ( wp ) is typically operated by a bank which issued the pre - registered payment card ( s ). the service provider 114 is able to interact with the wallet provider 116 to access the payment credentials , but since the wallet provider 116 is assumed to be secure , this does not compromise the security of the system . note that the system of fig1 does not contain an element corresponding to the service provider 114 . the service provider 114 is pci ( payment card industry ) compliant ; that is , it conforms to the pci data security standard ( pci dss ) maintained by the pci security standards council . turning to fig3 the various communications within the system when a payment transaction is to be made , are shown , numbered 1 - 15 . fig4 is a flowchart showing the steps 1 - 15 of the method which results in the respective communications 1 - 15 . in step 1 , the consumer operates the consumer application 111 ( ca ), and decides to make a purchase , and instructs the consumer application 111 accordingly . at this stage , the consumer application 111 may display a number of different payment options ( e . g . using respective payment methods ), and the consumer selects to make a payment by the method proposed here . for example , he may click on branding ( a payment acceptance brand ) displayed by the consumer application 111 and associated with the present method . that is , it includes an acceptance of the use of a payment card registered with the digital wallet 116 . note that the displayed payment options may include multiple digital wallets ( e . g . associated with different issuing banks ), so that the consumer can select the appropriate digital wallet . the consumer application 111 then sends a request to the merchant server 112 ( ms ) to obtain payment credentials . this includes a message that a payment card registered with the digital wallet is to be used . the request further includes data specifying the identity of the point - of - sale , i . e . one at which the consumer is located and / or from which he or she wishes to receive a product and / or service . specifically , it includes merchant information such as a unique merchant identifier for which a payment acceptance mark has been established . in step 2 , the merchant server 112 requests payment credentials from the service provider 114 ( sp ) by sending it a message . in step 3 , the service provider 114 requests payment credentials from the wallet provider 116 ( wp ) by sending it a message including the identity data . the wallet provider 116 then verifies the identity of the consumer by further steps which are not shown in fig1 , but are as in conventional methods . typically , the wp renders to the consumer ( e , g . using the ca which connects to the wp using the internet ) a page where the consumer will have to enter identity data , such as a user name and , typically , a secret password . alternatively , the wallet provider may use a so - called “ 2 factor authentication ”, by sending a one - time - pass ( otp ) by sms to a mobile device ( perhaps the one on which the ca is running ) associated with the consumer . this information is not transmitted through the service provider , but directly between the consumer and the wallet provider . the consumer can transmit the otp back to the service provider 114 ( e . g . directly over a telecommunications network , or the internet ). using the identity of the consumer , the wallet provider 116 obtains payment credentials of a payment card associated with the consumer from its database . if multiple payment cards associated with the consumer are registered with the wallet provider 116 which the consumer selected , then the consumer is enabled to select one of them . this may be done by a separate process ( not shown ) of communication between the consumer and the wallet provider 116 . in step 4 , the wallet provider 116 sends the service provider 114 the ( real ) payment credentials of the selected payment card from the wallet provider 116 . the service provider 114 then generates a token for the selected payment card . the token is preferably generated using the real payment credentials , and preferably , but not necessarily , has the format of payment card credentials ( e . g . it too is a 16 digit number ). it preferably also encodes the identity of the merchant . the token may be regarded an alternative payment credential linked to the original ( i . e . real ) payment credential transmitted by the wallet provider 116 . the token may be a hexadecimal number or may mimic an iso ( independent sales organization ) based card number . it may be generated by any conventional method , or for example , as described in u . s . patent application ser . no . 14 / 514 , 290 . it may subsequently be encrypted . in step 5 , the service provider 114 sends the token to the merchant server 112 . in step 6 , the merchant server 112 sends the consumer application 111 a message saying that the merchant server 112 has received a token . the token is retained in the merchant server 112 . in step 7 , the consumer initiates the purchase , rental or hire of a particular item ( product and / or service ). for example , if the consumer has ordered or been given a certain food and / or beverage , the consumer indicates that he or she wants to pay the bill for them . the consumer controls the consumer application 111 to send a message to the merchant server 112 specifying the item to be bought , in step 8 the merchant server 112 sends the merchant application 113 a message indicating that the consumer wants to make the purchase . in step 9 the merchant application 113 sends the merchant server 112 a message which includes the amount of the transaction (“ the final transaction amount ”). for example , depending upon the nature of the merchant , this might be the total ( including taxes ) restaurant or café bill , taxi fare , etc . in step 10 , the merchant server 112 sends the consumer &# 39 ; s token for the selected payment card , and the final transaction amount obtained in step 9 , to the service provider 114 , as a transaction authorization request . in step 11 , the service provider 114 decrypts the token received in the transaction authorization request ( if it was encrypted ), and performs a de - tokenization operation on the token , to retrieve the ( real ) payment credentials which the service provider 114 received in step 4 . detokenization means that the service provider 114 converts the token obtained from the merchant server 112 to the real payment credentials ( funding pan ), such as by looking the token up in a mapping table . the service provider 114 sends the real payment credentials to the acquiring bank 115 . then , according to the same steps as the prior art the bank 115 obtains authorization from the issuer of the payment card (“ issuing bank ”) for a payment of the final transaction amount via the payment network . the payment settlement and reconciliation will subsequently be carried out , according to a conventional protocol . in step 12 , the bank sends an authorization response to the service provider 114 , indicating that the payment has been approved . in step 13 , the service provider 114 forwards the authorization response to the merchant server 112 . in step 14 , the merchant server 112 notifies the consumer application 111 that the payment has been authorized . in step 15 , the merchant server 112 notifies the merchant application 113 that the payment has been authorized . note that steps 14 and 15 may alternately be performed in the opposite order or simultaneously . note that during this process the real payment credentials are only sent to the ( secure ) service provider 114 , not to the ( insecure ) merchant server 112 . furthermore , the service provider 114 may store the payment credentials only for the time taken to generate the token , after which they can be deleted ; the service provider regenerates the payment credentials in step 11 . the service provider 114 will only perform step 11 if it receives the token from the same merchant whose identity was used to generate the token . thus , the token can only be used to make a payment using the merchant server 112 . therefore , if the token is stolen , the thief will not be able to use it to make a payment to another merchant . furthermore , the service provider 114 will preferably only accept a given token once . that is , when it receives the transaction authorization request , it checks that it has not previously received the token it contains , and only completes step 11 in the case that this check is positive . this means that after the transaction is completed , a thief who obtains it will not be able to use the token to make a subsequent payment via the merchant server 112 . when the consumer wants to make a further transaction using the merchant 112 , the entire process of fig3 and 4 must be repeated , including generating a new token . this new token will be different from the old token . for example , it may be generated using a clock time from a reference clock ( e . g . maintained at the service provider 114 ) or counter associated with the wallet , so that differing instances of generated tokens generated are different . many embodiments are possible within the scope and spirit of the invention as will be clear to a skilled reader . firstly , although the embodiment shown in fig2 includes both a merchant server 112 ( ms ) and also a separate merchant application 113 ( ma ) running on equipment at a point - of - sale , in certain embodiments of the invention there is no separate merchant application at a point - of - sale . instead , the merchant server itself may be capable of fulfilling the purchase , either by performing a service ( such as making a travel booking ) or fulfilling a product purchase product ( e . g . by dispatching the purchased product to the consumer , or by sending an order to a separate warehouse to do so ). in this case , steps 8 , 9 and 15 of fig3 and 4 are omitted . secondly , the token need not necessarily encode the ( real ) payment credentials . instead , the service provider 114 could issue tokens which are generated using a random or unpredictable number generator . the service provider 114 might keep a database which , for each token it has issued , contains the corresponding payment credentials , so that when the service provider receives a token , it can extract the payment credentials from its database . alternatively , the service provider 114 might keep a database which , for each token it has issued , indicates the identity of the corresponding consumer , so that the service provider 114 can obtain the payment credentials again from the wallet provider 116 . thirdly , in principle the operations of the wallet provider 116 and the service provider 114 could be performed by a single server ( so that the messages of steps 3 and 4 are unnecessary ). this variation would , for example , be appropriate if the card issuing bank happens to be the same as the acquiring bank 113 . fourthly , although fig2 and 3 refer to a single merchant server 112 and a single service provider server 114 , in some embodiments either of these roles may be implemented using multiple servers which cooperate together to play the role . thus , for example , a merchant may maintain multiple servers , e . g . distant from each other , which cooperate to present a consumer website to consumers .	6
the flow chart for obtaining highly purified gonadotropins is shown in fig1 . the elaboration technique of fraction k m constituting purified menotropins will be described below . fraction c is chromatographed on a chromatographic column containing 10 liters of strong cationic exchange resin of the sulphopropyl type . fraction c ( 110 – 140 g ) is dissolved in 1600 – 1800 ml of a 0 . 05 – 015 m ammonium acetate solution , ph 5 . 0 – 7 . 0 . the column is run and eluted with the necessary amount of 0 . 05 – 0 . 15 m ammonium acetate solution to bring the volume to 20 liters . the elution is continued with solutions of 0 . 15 – 0 . 20 m ammonium acetate , ph 5 . 0 – 7 . 0 ( 20 liters ) and 0 . 2 – 0 . 5 m ammonium acetate , ph 5 . 0 – 7 . 0 ( 20 liters ). the active fraction eluted with the latter solution is added with stirring to 4 volumes of 96 % ethanol and enough acetic acid to reach a mixture ph of 5 . 5 – 5 . 7 . a precipitate is formed , separated by centrifugation , washed with ethanol and dried in vacuo until ethanol is removed and humidity is lower than 5 % ( fraction f ). fraction f is chromatographed on a chromatographic column containing 4 liters of strong anionic exchange resin of ammonium quaternary type fraction f ( 40 – 60 g in 650 ml ) is dissolved in 0 . 01 – 0 . 05 m ammonium acetate solution , ph 5 . 0 – 7 . 0 , the column is run and eluted with the same solution to bring the volume to 7 liters . elution is continued with 12 liters of 0 . 05 – 0 . 07 m ammonium acetate ph 5 . 0 – 7 . 0 , then with 10 liters of 0 . 07 – 0 . 2 m ammonium acetate ph 5 . 0 – 7 . 0 . the active fraction eluted with the latter solution is subjected to an ultrafiltration process using a pm 10 ( 10000 d ) ultrafilters ( amicon - millipore ) membrane . the solution is concentrated and dialyzed against 50 mm sodium phosphate buffer , ph 5 . 5 – 5 . 7 to a concentration of 2 – 4 g of protein in 100 – 150 ml of buffer . then it is frozen at − 75 ° c . ( fraction g ). fraction g is chromatographed on a chromatographic column containing 400 ml of a hydrophobic interaction resin ( phenyl sepharose hp , amersham - pharmacia biotech ). a sufficient amount of ammonium sulfate is added to the solution of fraction g to obtain a 0 . 8 – 1 . 2 m concentration . the chromatographic process to be carried out will allow the co - purification of fsh and lh or the separation of both hormones . the course of action will depend on the prior analyses conducted with fraction g ( biological assays ), through which the fsh : lh ratio has been determined . once this ratio is known , the overstock of the hormone in excess of 1 : 1 fsh : lh ratio will be removed . d - 1 ) if the product is balanced ( 1 : 1 fsh : lh ), the chromatography of concentrated and dialyzed fraction g will be conducted as follows : put the solution of fraction g in the chromatographic column , 0 . 8 – 1 . 2 m in ammonium sulfate . elute with 2 volumes of 50 – 200 mm sodium phosphate buffer , 0 . 8 – 1 . 2 m ammonium sulfate , ph 5 . 0 – 7 . 0 . continue the elution with 2 volumes of 50 – 200 mm phosphate buffer ( 50 – 70 % v / v ) and 96 % ethanol ( 50 – 30 % v / v ). the active fraction eluted with the latter buffer ( fraction j4 ) is frozen at − 75 ° c . this fraction has fsh and lh activity . d - 2 ) if the fsh : lh ratio of fraction g is different from 1 : 1 , the overstock of the hormone in excess will be removed as follows : run an aliquot of the solution of fraction g in the chromatographic column . 0 . 8 – 1 . 2 m in ammonium sulfate . elute with 2 volumes of 50 – 200 mm sodium phosphate buffer , 0 . 8 – 1 . 2 m ammonium sulfate . ph 5 . 0 – 7 . 0 . continue the elution with 2 volumes of 50 – 200 mm sodium phosphate buffer , 0 . 4 – 0 . 6 m ammonium sulfate , ph 5 . 0 – 7 . 0 , and finally with 2 volumes of 50 – 200 mm phosphate buffer ( 50 – 70 % v / v ) and 96 % ethanol ( 50 – 30 % v / v ). the active fraction eluted with 50 – 200 mm sodium phosphate buffer , 0 . 4 – 0 . 6 m ammonium sulfate ( fraction j2 ) is frozen at − 75 ° c . this fraction has mostly fsh activity . the active fraction eluted with 50 – 200 mm phosphate buffer ( 50 – 70 % v / v ) and 96 % ethanol ( 50 – 30 % v / v ) ( fraction j3 ) is frozen at − 75 ° c . this fraction only has lh activity . fractions j2 , j3 , j4 are defrozen , dialyzed and concentrated using ultrafiltration through a pm 10 ( diaflo ultrafilters , amicon - millipore ) membrane against a 50 mm sodium phosphate buffer , ph 5 . 7 . each resulting solution is filtered using a 0 . 45μ membrane under the necessary conditions to obtain a sterile product , and then added to 4 volumes of 96 % ethanol and enough acetic acid to obtain a mixture ph of 5 . 5 – 5 . 7 . the mixture is allowed to stand overnight . the precipitate is separated by centrifugation and dried in vacuo until ethanol is removed and humidity is lower than 5 % ( fraction k ). properties of fraction k may vary depending on the precipitated fraction being j2 , j3 or j4 . fraction k m obtained from fraction j4 will contain approximately equivalent units of fsh and lh . fraction k f obtained from fraction j2 will be comprised of fsh and lh traces . fraction k l obtained from fraction j3 will be comprised of lh and fsh traces . 231 . 2 g of fraction c were divided in two equal portions and chromatographed in two equivalent processes on a chromatographic column as above described . 115 . 6 g of fraction c ( in each process ) were dissolved in 1700 ml of 0 . 05 m ammonium acetate buffer , ph 5 . 0 the column was run and eluted with further 18 . 7 liters of the same chromatographic buffer . the elution was continued with 20 liters of 0 . 15 m ammonium acetate buffer , ph 5 . 0 and finally with 20 liters of 0 . 5 m ammonium acetate buffer , ph 5 . 0 the active fraction obtained by eluting with 0 . 5 m ammonium acetate ( 22 liters ) was added with stirring to a solution of 88 liters of 96 % ethanol and 2400 ml of acetic acid . the ph of the mixture was 5 . 7 . the precipitate obtained was left in the refrigerator ( 2 – 8 ° c .) overnight . the precipitate was centrifuged , washed with 96 % ethanol and dried in vacuo for 17 h . on each of the two equivalent processes , two fractions f of 20 . 7 g and 19 . 5 g were obtained , respectively . the two fractions f obtained in the above step were brought together and chromatographed on column according to the described technique . 40 . 2 g of fraction f were dissolved in 650 ml of 0 . 01 m ammonium acetate buffer , ph 5 . 0 . the column was run with this solution and eluted with 6350 ml of the same dilution buffer . the elution was then continued with 12 liters of 0 . 05 m ammonium acetate , ph 5 . 0 and then with 10 liters of 0 . 2 m ammonium acetate , ph 5 . 0 . the active fraction ( 4500 ml ) eluted with the latter solution was subjected to an ultrafiltration process using a pm 10 ( 10000 d ) diaflo ultrafilters ( amicon - millipore ) membrane . the solution is concentrated and dialyzed against 50 mm sodium phosphate , ph 5 . 7 for obtaining a concentration of 2 – 4 g of protein in 150 ml of buffer . final solution ( 400 ml ) was frozen at − 75 ° c . fraction g was biologically tested in animals detecting a fsh potency of 42 . 000 iu / ml and lh potency of 33 , 780 iu / ml . with this result , it was considered necessary processing a portion of the solution ( 80 ml ) of fraction g under conditions for separating fsh and lh fractions j2 and j3 respectively ). the rest ( 320 ml ) was chromatographed under conditions so as not to separate both hormones ( fraction j4 ). aliquots of fraction j3 and fraction j4 where then mixed to obtain a final fsh : lh ratio of approximately 1 : 1 ( fraction k m ). i ) preparation of fractions j2 ( highly purified fsh ) and j3 ( highly purified lh ): ammonium sulfate was added to an aliquot of fraction g ( 80 ml ) until a concentration 1 m . this solution was run in phenyl - sepharose hp chromatographic column and was eluted with 2 volumes of buffer , 50 mm sodium phosphate , 1 m sulfate ammonium , ph 5 . 1 . the elution was continued with 2 volumes of buffer , 50 mm sodium phosphate , 0 . 5 m ammonium sulfate , ph 5 . 1 , and finally with 2 volumes of 50 mm sodium phosphate buffer ( 60 % v / v ) and 96 % ethanol ( 40 % v / v ). the fsh active fraction eluted with buffer , 50 mm sodium phosphate , 0 . 5 m ammonium sulfate , ph 5 . 1 ( fraction j2 ) was dialyzed and concentrated using pm 10 membrane ultrafiltration ( diaflo ultrafilters , amicon - millipore ), against a 50 mm sodium phosphate buffer , ph 5 . 7 , and then was frozen at − 75 ° c . the lh active fraction eluted with 50 mm sodium phosphate buffer ( 60 % v / v ) and 96 % ethanol ( 40 % v / v ) ( fraction j3 ) was dialyzed and concentrated using pm 10 membrane ultrafiltration ( diaflo ultrafilters , amicon - millipore ), against a 50 mm sodium phosphate buffer , ph 5 . 7 , and then was frozen at − 75 ° c . a second aliquot of fraction g ( 320 ml ) was defrozen and ammonium sulfate was added until a 1 m concentration was obtained . this solution was run in a phenyl - sepharose hp chromatographic column and was eluted with 2 volumes of buffer 50 mm sodium phosphate , 1 m ammonium sulfate , ph 5 . 1 . the elution was continued with 2 volumes of phosphate 50 mm ( 60 % v / v ) and 96 % ethanol ( 40 % v / v ). the eluted fraction with this buffer ( fraction j4 ) was frozen at − 75 ° c . fractions j3 ( 40 ml ) and j4 ( 25 ml ) were defrozed , filtered through 0 . 45μ membrane under necessary conditions for obtaining a sterile product ( final volume 100 ml ), and then admixed and stirred with 4 volumes of 96 % ethanol ( 400 ml ) and acetic acid necessary for reaching a ph 5 . 5 ( 1 ml ). fraction j2 ( 40 ml ) was defrozen , filtered through a 0 . 45μ membrane under necessary conditions for obtaining a sterile product ( final volume 60 ml ), and then admixed and stirred with 4 volumes of 96 % ethanol ( 400 ml ) and acetic acid necessary for reaching a ph 5 . 5 ( 0 . 5 ml ). fractions were allowed to precipitate in the refrigerator overnight at 2 – 8 ° c . the next morning , the highly purified menotropins precipitate , obtained from fraction j3 y j4 was separated by centrifugation and dried in vacuo until ethanol was removed and moisture was lower than 5 % ( fraction k m , 4 . 50 g ). the highly purified fsh precipitate obtained from the j2 fraction was separated by centrifugation and dried in vacuo until ethanol was removed and humidity was lower than 5 % ( fraction k f , 0 . 55 g ). the biological analysis performed with fractions k m ( highly purified menotropins ) and k f ( highly purified fsh ) exhibited the following results : 250 . 06 g of fraction c were divided in two equal portions and chromatographed in two equivalent processes in a chromatographic column as the one described above . 125 . 03 g of fraction c ( in each process ) were dissolved in 1 , 700 ml of 0 . 05 m ammonium acetate buffer , ph 5 . 1 . then , the column was run and eluted with further 18 . 7 liters of the same chromatographic buffer . the elation was continued with 20 liters 0 . 15 m ammonium acetate buffer , ph 5 . 1 , and finally with 20 liters of 0 . 5 m ammonium acetate buffer , ph 5 . 1 . the active fraction obtained by elution with 0 . 5 m ammonium acetate ( 22 liters ) was added under stirring to 88 liters of 96 % ethanol and 2 , 200 ml of acetic acid . the mixture ph was 5 . 7 . it was observed the appearance of a precipitate . the mixture was left in the refrigerator at 2 – 8 ° c . overnight . the precipitated was centrifuged , washed with 96 % ethanol and dried in vacuo for 22 hs . in each of the equivalent processes , two fractions f of 21 . 57 g and 21 . 15 g were respectively obtained . the two fractions obtained in the previous stage were brought together and chromatographed on column according to the process described above . 42 . 58 g of fraction f were dissolved in 650 ml of 0 . 01 m ammonium acetate buffer , ph 5 . 1 . this solution was run in the column and eluted with 6 . 350 ml of the same buffer dissolution . the elution was continued with 12 liters of ammonium acetate 0 . 05 m , ph 5 . 0 , and then with 10 liters of ammonium acetate 0 . 2 m , ph 5 . the active fraction ( 4 , 500 ml ) eluted with this last solution was subjected to an ultrafiltration process with a pm 10 membrane ( 10 , 000 d ) ( diaflo ultrafilters , amicon - millipore ). the solution was concentrated and dialyzed against a 50 mm sodium phosphate buffer , ph 5 . 7 , until a concentration of 2 – 4 g of protein in 150 ml of buffer is obtained . the final volume of 500 ml was frozen at − 75 ° c . fraction g was biologically tested in animals , showing a fsh potency of 49 , 790 iu / ml and a lh potency of 39 , 600 iu / ml . with this analysis , it was considered necessary processing one part of the solution ( 100 ml ) of fraction g under conditions for separating fsh and lh ( fractions j2 and j3 respectively ) and the rest ( 400 ml ) under conditions so as not to separate both hormones ( j4 ). aliquots of fraction j3 and fraction j4 where then mixed to obtain a final fsh : lh ratio of approximately 1 : 1 ( fraction k m ). i ) preparation of fraction j2 ( highly purified fsh ) and j3 ( highly purified lh ): ammonium sulfate was added to one aliquot of fraction g ( 100 ml ) until a 1 m concentration is obtained . this solution was run in the phenyl - sepharose hp chromatographic column and was eluted with 2 volumes of buffer 50 mm sodium phosphate , 1 m ammonium sulfate , ph 5 . 1 . then the elution is continued with 2 volumes of buffer 50 mm sodium phosphate , 0 . 5 m ammonium sulfate , ph 5 . 1 , and finally with 2 volumes of 50 mm sodium phosphate ( 60 % v / v ) and 96 % ethanol ( 40 % v / v ). the fsh eluted active fraction with buffer 50 mm sodium phosphate . 0 . 5 m ammonium sulfate , ph 5 . 1 ( fraction j2 ) was dialyzed , concentrated using membrane ultrafiltration with pm 10 membrane ( diaflo ultrafilters amicon - millipore ), against a 50 mm sodium phosphate buffer , ph 5 . 7 , and then was frozen at − 75 ° c . the lh eluted active fraction with 50 mm sodium phosphate buffer ( 60 % v / v ) and 96 % ethanol ( 40 % v / v ) ( fraction j3 ) was dialyzed , concentrated using membrane ultrafiltration with a pm 10 membrane ( diaflo ultrafilters , amicon - millipore ), against a 50 mm sodium phosphate buffer , ph 5 . 7 , and then was frozen at − 75 ° c . to a second aliquot of fraction g ( 400 ml ) ammonium sulfate was added until a 1 m concentration was obtained . the solution was run in phenyl - sepharose hp chromatographic column and was eluted with 2 volumes of buffer 50 mm sodium phosphate , 1 m ammonium sulfate , ph 5 . 1 . the elution was continued with 2 further volumes of 50 mm phosphate buffer ( 60 % v / v ) and 96 % ethanol ( 40 % v / v ). the active fraction eluted with this buffer ( fraction j4 ) was frozen at − 75 ° c . fractions j3 ( 50 ml ) and j4 ( 30 ml ) were defrozen , filtered through a 0 . 45 % membrane under necessary conditions for obtaining a sterile product ( final volume 110 ml ), and then were added under stirring to 4 volumes of 96 % ethanol ( 440 ml ) and enough acetic acid to achieve a ph 5 . 5 ( 1 ml ). fraction j2 ( 50 ml ) was defrozen , filtered through a 0 . 45μ membrane under necessary conditions for obtaining a sterile product ( final volume 70 ml ), and then was added under stirring to 4 volumes of 96 % ethanol ( 280 ml ) and enough acetic acid to achieve a ph 5 . 5 ( 0 . 5 ml ). fractions were allowed to precipitate in the refrigerator overnight at 2 – 8 ° c . the next morning , the highly purified menotropins precipitate , obtained from fractions j3 and j4 was separated by centrifugation and dried in vacuo until ethanol was removed and moisture was lower than 5 % ( fraction k m , 5 . 71 g ). the highly purified fsh precipitate , obtained from fraction j2 , was separated by centrifugation , dried in vacuo until ethanol was removed and moisture was lower than 5 % ( fraction k f , 0 . 70 g ). the biological analysis performed with fractions k m ( highly purified menotropins ) and k f ( highly purified fsh ) showed the following results : high purified products were also obtained using the process of the present invention starting with less active materials . in this case an fsh of about 5000 iu / mg protein and menotropins of a potency of about 2500 iu / mg protein for both fsh and lh were obtained . fractions k a1 and k f were characterized by the following techniques : 2 . 7 . a ) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis ( page ) 2 . 7 . b ) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by western - blot analysis 2 . 7 . c ) isoeiectrofocusing 2 . 7 . d ) size exclusion chromatography ( sec ) in hplc 2 . 7 . e ) protein contents measurement 2 . 7 . f ) biological potency dosage in animals ( previously informed ) fractions k m and k f were analyzed by electrophoresis according to the following procedure : equipment : ultrathin polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis system , phastsystem ( amersham pharmacia biotech ). gels : phast gel gradient 8 – 25 ( amersham pharmacia biotech ). buffer : buffer strips / sds ( amersham pharmacia biotech ). separation technique : file 110 , phastsystem , sds - page development technique : file 200 , phastsystem for coomasie brilliant blue . low molecular weight probes : electrophoretic calibration kit containing 6 purified proteins ( amersham pharmacia biotech ). each kit vial contains a lyophilized blend with approximately 100 μg of each protein . each vial was dissolved with 100 μl of sample buffer . 250 mg of sds and 0 . 5 ml of β - mercaptoethanol were dissolved in 10 ml of buffer a . the samples were dissolved so that the final concentration was 1 , 100 – 1 . 300 fsh iu / ml of sample buffer . the sample was heated at 100 ° c . for 5 minutes . blue bromophenol was added until a 0 . 01 % concentration was obtained . after the electrophoretic run and the development , the gels were dried with hot air . the electrophoresis runs of fractions k m ( fig2 ) and k f ( fig3 ) gave as result a profile in which it is observed in an almost exclusively way a unique band developed with brilliant coomassie blue with a migration distance midway of the standards of molecular weight 20 , 100 d and 30 , 000 d , indicating an approximate molecular weight of 25 , 000 d . the assignment of the observed band in the electrophoresis of fractions k f and k m was performed by two ways : a ) by comparison with 2 commercial products containing fsh as the sole active ingredient : gonal - f ( serono ) containing fsh of recombinant origin , metrodine hp ( serono ) containing fsh of urinary origin ( see fig4 ). the samples of fractions k m and k f were analyzed by western blot . after performing a polyacrylamide electrophoresis process in gradient similar to the one described in 2 . 7 . a ), the bands were transferred to a nitrocelluose support and developed by antibody action . specific antibodies for chain β - fsh , chain β - lh and against chain α of both hormones were used . technique : the transfer technique no . 221 was used for the phastsystem ( amersham pharmacia biotech ), employing the following transfer buffer : transference buffer : tris 25 mm , glycine 192 mm , ph 8 . 3 , containing , 20 % methanol . staining solution : 0 . 1 % solution of phast gel blue r in methanol 30 % and acetic acid 10 % in distilled water . final solution : mix 1 part of the staining solution with 1 part of acetic acid 20 % in distilled water . procedure : color the membrane in the final solution for 30 minutes with gentle stirring . wash the membrane with solution of methanol : water : acetic acid ( 30 : 60 : 10 ) twice and then with acetic 20 %. buffer used : pbs ( sodium phosphate 0 . 01 m , sodium chloride 0 . 25 m , ph 7 . 6 ). 3 ) monoclonal antibody against α - subunit of pituitary hormones ( immunotech ) ( igg1 - mice ), catalogue no . 0375 . secondary antibody solution : the secondary antibody used was : biotin - sp - conjugated affinipure f ( ab ′) 2 fragment goat anti - mouse igg ( h + l ), ( heavy chain and light chain ). ( immunotech , cat . no . 0816 ) diluted 1 : 500 in pbs . peroxidase - conjugated streptavidine solution : a dilution 1 : 500 in pbs of peroxidase - conjugated streptavidine ( immunotech , cat . no . 0309 ) was used . development solution : horseradish peroxidase conjugate substrate kit ( bio rad , cat no . 170 - 6431 ), containing a solution blend of oxygenated water , 4 - chloro - 1 - naphtol and buffer for developing the color , was used for preparing 1 liter of solution . 2 ) wash with washing solution a ) twice for 5 min . each time . 4 ) wash with washing solution a ) three times for 5 minutes each time . 6 ) wash with washing solution a ) three times for 5 minutes each time . 8 ) wash with washing solution a ) three times for 5 minutes each time . after performing the polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of fractions k m and k f , the bands were transferred to nitrocellulose membranes according to the above informed technique , and developed . the following results were found . in view of these results , it is concluded that the band developed with coomassie blue in the electrophoresis of fraction k m had both fsh and lh activities . instead , fraction k f only reacted positively against the specific antibody for fsh , and not for lh . given that α - chain of fsh and lh are common , both fractions km and kf showed a positive reaction with an antibody against the α - chain . fractions k m ( highly purified fsh ) and k f ( highly purified fsh ) were analyzed by isoelectrofocusing according to the following procedure : equipment : ultrathin polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis system , phastsystem ( amersham pharmacia biotech ). gels : phast gel ief 3 – 9 ( amersham pharmacia biotech ). separation technique : file 100 , phastsystem . development technique : silver kit ( amersham pharmacia biotech ). pi standards : ief calibration kit ; broad pi kit 3 – 10 ) ( amersham pharmacia biotech ). soybean trypsin inhibitor , pi 5 . 85 ( sigma ). bovine carbonic anhydrase , pi 4 . 55 ( sigma ). samples were dissolve to have a concentration of 2 . 5 mg / ml to 1 . 25 mg / ml . after the electrophoretic run and the development , the gels were dried with hot air . the pi distribution for both the k f ( highly purified fsh ) and k m ( highly purified menotropins ) are shown in fig5 and fig6 . the acidic nature of the gonadotropins is confirm by the ief pattern . in fact , as fully described in the literature , isoforms are restricted to the acidic range . high performance liquid chromatograph shimadzu , lc - 10avp , with manual injector 7725i , with position sensor and loop of 20 , 50 or 200 μl , rheodyne . working station for processing chromatographic data shimadzu class - cr 10 , program class cr10 and module cbm - 101 . sample preparation : inject approximately 1 ml of the mobile phase in the vial containing the sample , stir until dissolution . the following chromatograms of fractions k m and k f showed the presence of only one peak at a retention time of approximately 8 . 1 – 8 . 2 sec . the retention time coincides with the one obtained by chromatography of a commercial product , gonal - f ( serono ) containing recombinant fsh . ( see fig7 , 8 and 9 ) method : the method of lowry [ journal of biological chemistry 193 , 265 ( 1951 )] with a folin - ciocalteu reactive , and a standard curve of albumin . results : the protein percentage for both fractions k m and k f indicated in examples 1 and 2 was approximately 77 %. as it was previously reported in section 2 . 5 , fractions k m and k f were biologically analyzed in rats . the steelman - pohley method [ steelman , s . l . & amp ; pohley , f . m ., endocrinology 53 , 604 ( 1953 )] of ovarian weight increase was used in immature 21 – 24 days - old female rats , injected with three doses of a product containing fsh . the doses should keep a ratio such that the difference between the logarithms of the greater dose and the medium dose is equal to the difference between the logarithms of the medium dose and the smaller dose . animal lots were used in which the weight difference between the heaviest and the lightest animal was not more than 10 grams . the animals were injected subcutaneously during three days with three different doses of the sample dissolved in phosphate / albumin buffer and the corresponding doses of a standard . on the fifth day the animals were sacrificed , the ovaries were extracted and weighted . the data obtained with sample were compared with the data obtained with the standard and the potency of the different samples was calculated using the statistical scheme indicated for the analysis of a sample against standard in a 3 × 3 test ( see biological analysis of usp xxiii ). the method of weight increase of seminal vesicle in immature 21 – 24 days - old male rats injected with three doses of a product containing lh was used . the three doses should keep a ratio such that the difference between the logarithms of the greater dose and the medium dose is equal to the difference between the logarithms of the medium dose and the smaller dose . animal lots were used in which the weight difference between the heaviest and the lightest animal was not more than 10 grams . the animals were injected subcutaneously during four days with three different doses of the sample dissolved in phosphate / albumin buffer and the corresponding doses of a standard . on the fifth day the animals were sacrificed , the seminal vesicles were extracted and weighted . the data obtained with sample were compared with the data obtained with the standard and the potency of the different samples was calculated using the statistical scheme indicated for the analysis of a sample against standard in a 3 × 3 test ( see biological analysis of usp xxiii ). the standard used was a sample of menotropins calibrated against the 3rd international standard of urinary fsh and lh prepared by the nibsc ( national institute of biological standards and control — great britain ) depending on the who ( world health organization ). excipients that may be used in the composition are lactose , mannitol , and mixtures thereof . other conventional excipients can also be used . in the present invention , lactose was used as an excipient in the injectable preparation . the preparation ph can be corrected to a value in the range of 6 , 0 – 7 , 0 by adding acids or bases ( phosphoric acid or others and / or sodium phosphate or others ). 3 ml borosilicate glass type i vials with bromobutyl stoppers are used as containers . the calculated amount of menotropins of high purity ( with a 10 % overfilling ) is dissolved in 500 ml of water for injection . on the other hand , 100 gr . of lactose is dissolved in 4 liters of water for injection . both solutions are mixed , the ph is adjusted , if necessary , by the addition of an acid or base , the resulting solution is completed to 5 , 000 ml and sterilized by filtration through a of 0 . 2μ membrane . vials are filled with the prepared solution ( 1 ml ) and loaded into a sterile lyophilizer at a temperature of – 40 ° c . for at least 8 hr . the lyophilization starts heating at 3 ° c ./ hr up to temperature of + 30 ° c ., which is maintained till the end of the cycle . the present example is similarly applied for the preparation of highly purified follitropin .	2
referring now to the drawings , in particular to fig1 and 2 , there is shown a contact bridge carrier 1 coupled in the usual manner to a magnet system ( not shown ) disposed in the lower part of the switching apparatus housing 2 . a plurality of contact bridges 3 are inserted into apertures 4 and 5 of contact bridge carrier 1 and are spring - loaded by means of springs 6 each clamped between two of the contact bridges . as shown in fig1 fixed contact elements 7 and 8 contact bridges 3 form &# 34 ; break &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; make &# 34 ; contacts , respectively . to achieve this &# 34 ; break &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; make &# 34 ; function , fixed contact elements 7 and 8 can be connected to a terminal element 9 , illustrated in the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings as a terminal screw 10 screwed into a terminal bar , by means of a u - shaped contact 11 which is spring - loaded by means of a spring 12 against fixed contact elements 7 and 8 and terminal element 9 . spring 12 is braced against a slider 13 which is movably supported in the switching apparatus housing 2 . the slider has a handle 14 which simultaneously serves as an indicator of the position of the slider . the terminal leads for fixed contact elements 7 and 8 are bent into the plane of terminal element 9 , as shown in fig2 so that contact 11 bridges , in the position shown in fig1 terminal element 9 to fixed contact element 8 . in this position , the contact arrangement is set to &# 34 ; make &# 34 ; contact since contact element 7 is not connected to terminal element 9 . after the contact bridge carrier is actuated , contact bridge 3 engages fixed contact element 8 , i . e ., the contact arrangement is set to &# 34 ; make &# 34 ; contact . if slider 13 is moved towards fixed contact 7 , and contact 7 is electrically connected to terminal element 9 , the contact arrangement functions to &# 34 ; break &# 34 ; contact . in the embodiment of the invention illustrated in fig4 a pin - shaped slider 14 is used to bridge terminal element 9 to fixed contact elements 7 and 8 . in this arrangement slider 14 is , contrary to the design shown in fig1 movable transversely with respect to the longitudinal axes of the contact bridges and establishes connection between terminal element 9 and fixed contacts 7 and 8 by means of electrically conductive inserts 15 . as shown in fig3 terminal element 9 may be u - shaped so that the shape of the slider 14 and conducting inserts 15 can be made simpler . fig5 illustrates another embodiment of the invention in which a spring - loaded bracket 16 is disposed in a cylinder 17 rotatably mounted in the switching apparatus housing so that the longitudinal axis of the cylinder is disposed transversely with respect to the longitudinal axes of the contact bridges 3 . a spring 18 is clamped between the ends of the bracket so that contact surfaces 19 are pressed against one of the fixed contact elements or terminal element 9 with a relatively large contact force . brackets 16 are arranged in cylinder 17 so that when the cylinder is rotated by an angle of 90 ° , the electrical connection between terminal element 9 and fixed contact element 8 is broken and terminal element 9 is electrically connected to fixed contact element 7 . brackets 16 are disposed in recesses provided in cylinders 17 so that only the contact surface 19 of each bracket protrudes beyond the contour of the cylinder . cylinder 17 has a slot 20 provided in one end thereof for receiving a screw driver or similar tool to enable rotation of the cylinder from the front of the switching apparatus housing . a marking in the form of an arrow 43 is disposed on the front side of cylinder 17 so that the position of bracket 16 and , thus , the function of the contact , can be read from the front side of the apparatus housing . the lower set of contacts illustrated in fig5 facing the mounting surface of the apparatus is also provided with a cylinder 17 , but , as will be noted from the drawings , this cylinder is disposed on the opposite side of the contact bridges of the upper set of contacts in order to preserve accessibility and avoid the necessity of enlarging the switching apparatus . the fixed contact elements in this design are , accordingly , extended . similarly , fixed contact element 21 , which is u - shaped , functions as a common lead and has extended leg members so that contact is made in the upper set of contacts in a corresponding range and so that contact bridges 3 of the upper and lower sets of contacts can be of identical design . fig7 illustrates another embodiment of the invention similar to that shown in fig5 and 6 in that the apparatus includes a rotatably - supported cylinder 17 and an elastically - resilient bracket 16 inserted therein . this embodiment of the invention differs from that shown in fig5 and 6 , however , in that the direction of making contact is through the bracket in the direction of motion of the contact bridge , i . e ., transverse with respect to the mounting plane of the switching apparatus . terminal element 9 and fixed contact elements 7 and 8 , respectively , are , accordingly , disposed one behind the other in the direction of the contact bridge . the advantage of this arrangement is that the apparatus is more sensitive to the application of force from outside the switching apparatus housing than the embodiment of the invention shown in fig5 and 6 . in other words , a reliable contact with terminal element 9 is provided by means of bracket 16 . in the embodiment of the invention illustrated in fig8 through 10 , terminal element 9 is electrically connected to fixed contact elements 7 and 8 by means of a plurality of plugtype connectors . in fig8 a connecting spring 22 having a staple form is secured in a plastic member 23 . legs 24 of spring 22 are bent back in hair - pin fashion and are resilient so that the legs can be inserted into openings 25 provided in fixed contact elements 7 and 8 and terminal element 9 . another connecting spring 26 having similar legs 24 is secured to plastic part 23 in a recess 28 disposed on the opposite side of recess 27 in which spring 22 is disposed . as can be seen from the drawings , the distance between legs 24 of connecting spring 26 is less than the distance between the legs 24 of connecting spring 22 and the legs of spring 26 are insertable into openings of fixed contact element 8 and terminal element 9 . in order to establish a connection between fixed contact element 8 and terminal element 9 , plastic part 23 is turned 180 ° from its position in which terminal element 9 is electrically coupled to fixed contact element 7 . in fig9 plastic part 23 includes only the connecting spring 22 . in this embodiment of the invention , terminal element 9 has a pair of openings 25 and fixed contact elements 7 and 8 are connected and disconnected to and from terminal element 9 by laterally moving plastic part 23 from one position to the other in the apparatus housing . in fig1 , electrically - conductive plug members 29 are utilized to electrically connect the fixed contact elements with terminal element 9 . this embodiment is designed similar to a crossbar distributor and requires that the contact elements 7 and 8 be located beneath terminal element 9 similar to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in fig7 . one advantage of this arrangement is that commercially - available plug members can be utilized . in the embodiment of the invention illustrated in fig1 and 12 , terminal element 9 is disposed in a housing part 30 which is separate and detachable from the rest of the switching apparatus housing . housing part 30 includes an intermediate electrically - conductive spring 31 which is engageable with fixed contact elements 7 and 8 depending upon which direction housing part 30 is inserted into the switching apparatus housing 2 . housing part 30 has a pair of cone - shaped apertures 32 for receiving the wire connecting lead so that rotation of the housing part 30 through 180 ° is possible . position markings 33 are provided on switching apparatus housing 2 , as shown in fig1 , to indicate , in conjunction with symbols 34 provided on housing part 30 , connection of the switching equipment . a simple and reliable connecting design is illustrated in the embodiment of the invention shown in fig1 and 14 . in this embodiment , fixed contact elements 7 and 8 are provided with slit - like openings 35 in which a threaded shank 36 of terminal screw 37 can be moved . terminal element 9 similarly has a correspondingly - shaped opening 38 . a clamp 40 is disposed between terminal element 9 and fixed contact elements 7 and 8 and is substantially u - shaped . the ends of fixed contact elements 7 and 8 are surrounded by a lug 41 in which a thread 42 for terminal screw 37 is provided . in this embodiment of the invention , it is simply necessary to loosen terminal 37 and move the screw laterally until contact element 8 is electrically connected to terminal element 9 in order to change the &# 34 ; make &# 34 ; function of the apparatusinto a &# 34 ; break &# 34 ; function , and vice - versa . electrical contact is established by means of the u - shaped arms of clamp 40 which are engaged between termial element 9 and the fixed contact element . in the foregoing specification , the invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof . it will , however , be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereunto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims . the specifications and drawings are , accordingly , to be regarded in an illustrative rather than in a restrictive sense .	7
this description , which references and incorporate the identified figures and incorporates the appended claims , describes and illustrates one or more exemplary embodiments of the invention ( s .) these embodiments , offered not to limit but only to exemplify and teach , are shown and described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to make and use the invention ( s ). thus , where appropriate to avoid obscuring the invention ( s ), the description may omit certain information known to those of skill in the relevant art . some embodiments of the invention are particularly applicable to a computer - implemented legal text processing system and method for semi - automatically identifying characteristics , such as citations and quotations , within a legal document and identifying relationships between the legal document and other legal documents stored in - the database . the legal document may be a legal case , a statute , a law review article , an alr article or a legal treatise . it is in the context of a legal case that the exemplary embodiments are described . it will be appreciated , however , that the system and method in accordance with the invention has greater utility and may be used for different legal documents , such as statutes , legislative histories , and administrative proceedings , and patents . some embodiments apply the teachings herein to non legal documents , such as scientific literature . before describing the preferred embodiment of the invention , a brief description of the terminology that will be used to describe the invention will be provided . any reported decision of a legal case is presumed to be an authoritative statement of the law when it is written . then , later events may affect the authoritativeness of this legal case &# 39 ; s decision . these later events may include later proceedings or written decisions during the same litigation ( e . g ., direct history ), a decision of a later legal case from a different litigation which resolves the same issues in a different way or using different reasoning and overrules the earlier case , or a decision of a later legal case from a different litigation which resolves the same issue differently , but does not explicitly overrule the case . the direct history of a legal case may include a record of the connections between the legal cases that are part of the same litigation . the direct history may be of varying degrees of relevance and may include positive history ( i . e ., maintaining or supporting the authority ( of the legal case ) or negative history ( for example , the legal case may no longer have the authority it once had )). the indirect history of a case is a record of the connections between legal case and other legal cases which are not part of the same litigation . the indirect history of a legal case may also be positive or negative . the significance of a particular case may often be indicated by the amount of discussion ( i . e ., the amount of text ) that a later case uses in discussing a decision of another legal case while following , overruling or explaining the case . this is referred to as the depth of treatment of the case , as described below . one or more embodiments described herein may also be implemented on a system , such as that described in co - pending u . s . patent application ser . no . 10 / 751 , 269 , which was filed dec . 30 , 2003 and which is incorporated herein by reference . fig1 is a block diagram of a computer system 30 in which the invention may be embodied . the system may semi - automatically identify characteristics , such as citations and quotations within a legal case document , and then generate information about the legal case in the context of other legal cases . the computer system may include a computer 32 , a server 34 and a plurality of client computers 36 . the computer 32 may further include a central processing unit ( cpu ) 38 , a memory 40 and one or more processes 42 , which may be software applications that are stored in the memory 40 . the cpu controls the operation of the computer and executes the software applications stored in the memory . in operation , a plurality of pieces of electronic data corresponding to the text of the published decisions for the legal cases are fed into the computer and temporarily stored in the memory 40 . in the following discussion , the written opinion of the legal case is referred to as the legal case . each piece of electronic data ( i . e ., each written opinion of a legal case ) may be automatically processed by the cpu , using the processes contained in the software applications contained in the memory , to generate information about the legal case , as described below . for example , the cpu may parse the text of the legal case to identify candidate ( i . e ., unverified ) citations to other legal cases and mark these citations for later processing , may identify candidate ( i . e ., unverified ) quotations in the text of the legal case and mark the text accordingly , may verify the source of a quotation in the text of the legal case , may determine a depth of treatment of a cited legal case ( i . e ., the significance of the cited legal case based on some predetermined criteria ), may determine the negative treatment of the legal case , and may assign subject matter text , such as headnotes , in accordance with a predetermined classification system to citations in the legal case . each of these processes may be performed by a software application in the memory 40 , which is executed by the cpu 38 . the details of each of these processes will be described below . once the processing has been completed by the processes 42 , the computer 32 outputs a data record 44 for the particular legal case which contains information about the history of the legal case , information about the depth of treatment of citations in the legal case , information about quotations within the legal case , and information about the subject matter text ( i . e ., headnotes ) assigned to each citation in the legal case . the data record generated by the computer 32 for each legal case may be stored in a database 33 in a server 34 . then , when a user of one of the plurality of client computers 36 requests information about a legal case , the server 34 generates a user interface containing a variety information about the requested legal case based on the data records in the database 33 , and presents the user reviewing the legal case with a variety of information about the legal case . an example of the user interface provided to the user of each client computer is described below with reference to fig2 a - 2d . in this manner , a user of the client computer may request data about a particular case , and the system in accordance with the invention provides that data to the user . as the electronic data for the text of each written opinion for a new legal case is received by the computer 32 , the legal case is processed as described above and the results of the processing is stored as a data record 44 in the database 33 of the in the server 34 . the users of the client computers may then retrieve data about a particular legal case from the server 34 . thus , while the server 34 is providing data about a legal case to the one or more users of the client computers , the computer 32 may be simultaneously processing additional new legal cases and adding the information for that new legal case into the database 33 in the server 34 . now , an example of a preferred user interface and information provided to the user of a client computer will be described in more detail . fig2 a - 2d are screen shots illustrating examples of a preferred user interface and the information provided to and displayed by a client computer in accordance with the invention . fig2 a shows a computer screen 50 on a client computer displaying a legal case being reviewed by the user of the particular client computer in which the user interface has a windows format , a toolbar , pull down menus , etc . in this example , the display is of the text of a legal case called pleasant v . celli which was decided by a california court of appeals . as described above , any citation for a legal case has a well - defined format which facilitate the identification of these citations within the text of the written opinion of the legal case . in order to access more information about the displayed legal case , the user of the client computer may select the citation service , which may be referred to as keycite ™., from the services menu 51 by clicking on a “ kc ” button 52 or click on a symbol 54 . keycite ™. is a trademark of a citator of the assignee of the present invention . the symbol may be a colored symbol , e . g ., a flag , which gives a quick status of the legal case . a red colored flag may warn that the legal case being reviewed may not be good law for at least some portion of the legal case , a yellow colored flag may indicate that the legal case has some negative history , as described below , or another colored symbol , such as a blue h , may indicate that the legal case has some history which is not negative . the invention , however is not limited to any particular types of symbols or colors . once the user of the client computer has selected the citator system in some manner , the screen shown in fig2 b may be displayed . fig2 b is a screen shot showing an example of a computer screen 50 which the invention may employ having a control interface portion 58 , and a display portion 60 . the control interface portion of the display permits the user to customize the information being displayed . for example , if a first radio button 62 is selected , then the full history of the legal case , including direct history which is negative or positive , negative indirect history , and any related references may be shown . if a second radio button 64 is selected then only the negative direct and indirect history may be shown . if a third radio button 66 is selected , then only the direct history of the legal case may be displayed so that any minor direct history ( including references ), remote direct history ( such as appeals after remand ) and mildly negative indirect history are not displayed . the control portion 58 of the display also may indicate the number of cases which are considered to be the history of the legal case . the control portion 58 may also include a fourth radio button 68 and an indication of the number of citations to the legal case being displayed . when the fourth radio button is selected , a list of other documents is displayed . in the example shown in fig2 b , the full history of the pleasant v . celli case is indicated . as shown , the various types of history , such as the direct history and the negative indirect history are displayed in the display portion 60 and are separated from one another by headings . for each piece of history , a short description of the history or tag , such as “ opinion vacated by ”, “ disapproved of by ”, or “ disagreed with by ” may indicate the relationship between the cases listed and the base case . in this example , an earlier decision of the same court was vacated by the pleasant case . ( fig1 - 1 to 13 - 35 show other exemplary interfaces that may be used in conjunction with the embodiments described via fig2 b and / or elsewhere in this description .) now , the citations to the legal case will be described with reference to fig2 c . fig2 c is an example of a screen shot showing the computer screen 50 having the control interface portion 58 , and the display portion 60 . this screen displays the legal cases which have cited the legal case currently being reviewed ( i . e ., pleasant v . celli in the example ). in this screen shot , the fourth radio button 68 is selected . thus , the control portion may also have a button 70 which permits the user of the system to limit the types of citations displayed , as described below with reference to fig2 d . the display portion 60 may also display a quotation mark symbol 72 and a depth of treatment symbol 74 , which are associated with the citations for the legal case , etc . which cite to the legal case of interest . the quotation symbol 72 indicates that the cited legal case directly quotes from the case of interest ( i . e ., in the example lubner v . city of los angeles contains a quotation from pleasant v . celli ). a method for identifying quotations and verifying the source of the quotations in accordance with the invention will be described below . the depth of treatment symbol 74 , which may be , for example , one or more stars , where the number of stars indicate the degree to which the legal case &# 39 ; s written opinion is treated , e . g ., the amount of text in the cited case opinion which is devoted to the case of interest . the details of the depth of treatment assignment process will be described below in more detail . now , a screen which permits a user to the limit the citations displayed in the display portion will be described with reference to fig2 d . fig2 d is an example of a screen shot showing the computer screen 50 with the control portion 58 and the display portion 60 . in this screen shot , it is assumed the user of the system has selected the limit citation button 70 shown in fig2 c . as shown , the user of the system may restrict the citations displayed based on headnotes or topics and the system will evaluate all of the citations against the selected headnotes or topics so that only the legal cases containing the selected headnotes or topics are displayed in the screen shot shown in fig2 c . a headnote may be a few sentences / paragraph which are located at the beginning of a legal case and indicate a summary of the law of a particular portion of the legal case . the user interface of the system permits a researcher to quickly and efficiently perform verification and collocation functions on a legal case . the details of the system for generating information about the legal case and providing the verification and collocation functions in accordance with the invention will now be described . fig3 is a diagram illustrating a method 100 in accordance with the invention which may be implemented on the computer system of fig1 for processing a legal case to generate information about the legal case which may be used for verification and collocation functions . as an aid in understanding the processes , the movement of a single legal case will be described . it should be understood , however , that a plurality of legal cases may be processed at the same time since each legal case may be at a different point in the process . an electronic version of the text of a legal case 102 , referred to herein as “ wlload ”, is fed into a citation identification process 104 ( acite ) that identifies candidate citations to other legal cases and other legal material within the text of the legal case , and marks up the text , i . e ., adds a characteristic mark - up symbol to the text , so that the citations may be easily identified at a later time . an example of a mark up symbol may be that the symbol combination “% v ” placed at the beginning and at the end of the citation . this identifies the citation for later processing . briefly , the citation identification process identifies candidate citations by identifying certain patterns of text in the legal document and compares these patterns to a predetermined set of reference patterns . in particular , digits may be first identified in the text . next , the text is scanned for abbreviations proximate to the digits which correspond to known reporter abbreviations , such as “ cal .” or “ p .”. once a piece of text having the particular formatting and punctuation of a candidate citation is identified , a case control database 124 is queried to determine if the identified candidate citation corresponds to a valid citation in the case control database . if the identified candidate citation matches a citation in the case control database , a second processing pass is performed . if no match is located , the identified candidate citation may be flagged for later manual review . as described above , each citation has a predetermined format . the format may be & lt ; case name & gt ;, & lt ; volume number & gt ;& lt ; abbreviation of reporter name & gt ;& lt ; series number ( if more than one )& gt ;& lt ; page number in volume & gt ;. for example , in “ 18 cal . app . 4th 841 ”. “ cal . app . 4th ” refers to the “ california appellate ” reporter , 4th series ; “ 18 ” refers to volume 18 ; and “ 841 ” refers to page 841 , the page of volume 18 of cal . app . 4th where the case decision begins . as example of a citation to a legal case is pleasant v . celli , 18 cal . app . 4th 841 , 22 cal . rptr 2d 663 ( 1993 ) in which the first name portion , i . e ., pleasant v . celli , identifies the parties of the legal case ; the second reporter portions , i . e ., 18 cal app . 4th 841 and 22 cal . rptr 2d 663 , identify the reporters which themselves have a particular characteristic format as described above . once text corresponding to a reporter name is located , the text adjacent the reporter name is analyzed to identify the volume , series and page number of the citation as well as the year of the published opinion . once this information is found , the candidate citation is identified and marked up , as described above , to identify it as a citation . the citation identification process may use a two pass process in which first , full format citations , such as pleasant v . celli , 18 cal . app . 4th 841 , 22 cal . rptr 2d 663 ( 1993 ), are identified , matched to the case control database , and placed within a table . in a second pass through the legal case , short form citations , such as pleasant , may be identified based on the text of the full citations that are contained in the table . it should be noted that these short form citations cannot be identified automatically without first identifying each full citation . for doubtful short form citations which don t match the table , a tentative identification may be made . the citation identification process 104 in fig3 outputs a file 106 containing the text of the legal case with any citations marked up . the file 106 may then be fed into a quote identification process 108 ( iquote ) in which the text of the legal case is parsed quotations in the text of the legal case are identified and marked up , and a possible source of the quotation is also identified . at this point , the marked up quotations have not been verified . they are merely candidate quotations which must be further processed to be verified . the details of the quote identification process will be described below with reference to fig4 - 6 . the quote identification process may output a file 110 that contains the text of the legal case in which both the citations and the quotations are marked up . at this point , the text of the legal case with the citations and quotations mark - ups may be stored in a database for later use and may also be fed into several processes . these processes may include a quote verification process 112 , a depth treatment process 114 , and a negative treatment process 116 . as shown , these processes may execute in parallel on the same file since each process generates information about the legal case which is separate and independent from that generated by the other processes . each of their processes will be described in more detail below with reference to fig7 , fig9 , and fig8 , respectively . in general , the quote verification process 112 verifies that the candidate quotations identified by the quote identification process 108 are in fact from the source ( i . e ., the citing case ) by comparing the candidate quotation in the cited case to the quotation in the citing case . the process then generates a data record 118 containing information about the verified quotation . the depth treatment process 114 uses information generated by the system , including the verified quotations to generate depth treatment information , such as the number of occurrences of a citation and the characteristics of the citation based on its position ( e . g ., whether it is free standing , at the head of a string or in the interior of a string ). the process then generates a data record 120 containing information about the depth of treatment information that is applied to each citation in the case of interest . the negative treatment process 116 generates information about any negative treatment the case of interest has received by any of the citing cases and , in step 122 , a database 124 containing information about each legal case being processed is updated manually to reflect the negative treatment . the data records 118 , 120 from the quotation verification and depth treatment processes , respectively , may be combined together by a grouper process 126 along with a headnote assignment data record 128 ( hnresult ), as described below , to generate a single data record containing the depth treatment information , the quotation information , and the headnote assignment information , about the legal case being processed . this single data record may then be used to generate the information displayed on a computer screen to the user as shown in fig2 a - 2d . the data record 118 containing the information about the verified quotations in the legal case also may be fed into a citation loci identification process 130 which attempts to identify the supporting text surrounding quotations and citations in the legal case to generate a citation loci data record 132 . the citation loci data record may then be input into a subject matter assignment and thresholding process 134 which matches the words and phrases in the quotations to one or more headnotes or topics and then determines , based on a threshold value , which headnotes are selected , as described below with reference to fig1 . the subject matter assignment and thresholding process 134 outputs the data record 128 ( hnresult ) containing the selected subject matter text , such as headnotes , which is fed into the grouper 126 , as described above . thus , the system in accordance with the invention automatically generates information about a legal case and then provides that information , using a graphical user interface , to a person using the system when requested . the user may quickly and efficiently locate various information , such as citation information , depth of treatment information , negative treatment information and subject matter text , such as a headnote , about the legal case from a single source . more details about the system will now be described with reference to fig4 . fig4 is a diagram illustrating more details of the quote identification process 108 , the quote verification process 112 , the depth treatment process 114 , the negative treatment process 116 , the citation loci identification process 130 and the subject matter assignment and thresholding process 134 of fig3 . as shown , the outputs from each of these processes are fed into a system information database 33 , as described above . the quote identification process 108 uses the file containing the text of the legal case with marked up citations to identify and mark - up quotations as described above . the text the legal case contains unverified quotations while the file 144 containing the verified quotations is stored in the database 33 . the output of the quote identification process is a plurality of data records in which each data record has an identified quotation and a possible source of the quotation . the output of the quote identification process may be combined with the file containing the text of the legal case and the marked up citations to produce a file with marked up citations and quotations 110 which is used as an input to the depth of treatment process 114 , the negative treatment process 116 , the loci identification process 130 and the subject matter assignment and thresholding process 134 . during the quote identification process 108 , as described below in more detail with reference to fig5 and 6 , several processes are performed . first , candidate quotations in the text file are identified by scanning the text to identify symbols , e . g ., quotation marks , which indicate the beginning or end of a quotation . next , the beginning and end of the identified quotations are marked up with a quote identifier symbol , such as “% q ”. finally , a possible source of the quotations , such as the legal case or other legal material from which the quotations originate is tentatively identified . the source of the quotation is then verified during the quote verification process 112 as described below . the output of the quote identification process 108 may include a qdata file 140 which contains information about each quotation that is later verified against the probable source of the quotations and a qtxt file 142 which contains the actual text of the quotations . the qdata and qtxt files 140 , 142 are then fed into the quote verification process 112 which uses an electronic database of legal cases , already available , to find and verify the possible source of each quotation found by the quotation identification process . for each quotation , the possible source of the quotation is retrieved . next , the quotation identified by the quotation identification process is matched against the text of the possible source to locate text in the source corresponding to the quotation . this verifies the source as the origin of the quotation . for each quotation with a verified source , a data record 144 containing the verified quotations for a legal case is stored in the database 33 . then , when a legal case containing verified quotations is displayed as a citation to a legal case , the citation will contain a quotation symbol , as described above , indicating that the legal case has a verified quotation . the depth treatment process will now be described . the depth treatment process 114 may receive the file 110 containing the legal case text with the marked up citations and quotations and , in step 146 , the depth treatment process performs several processes in order to determine the significance of the citation based on a set of predetermined criteria that are related in some ways to significance . these criteria may be the number of times that the citation appeared in the legal case , the type of the citation , and the association of a verified quotation with the citation . first , the depth treatment process reads through the file 110 and identifies citations which have been marked up previously by the citation identification process . for each identified citation , the type of the citation is determined to be either an ordinary citation , a middle of a string citation , or the head of a string citation . an ordinary citation is a typical citation which usually appears within a legal case and that does not have other citations adjacent to it . a middle of a string ( interior ) citation is a citation that appears in the middle or at the end of a string citation in which a series of legal documents are cited together in a sentence or paragraph . an interior citation is usually perceived by users as contributing less to the depth with which the cited case is discussed . the head of string citation is a citation that appears at the beginning of a string citation and is perceived by users as contributing more to the depth since it is conventional to place the most pertinent citation at the head of a string citation . the depth of treatment process may also identify the page number of the legal case for all available pagination on which the citation appears so that a depth record is written as many times as page breaks occur in the legal case . the information about each citation in a legal case , such as the total number of times that the citation appears in the legal case document , the types of each of these citations , and the page number for each citation occurrence is output in a file 148 which is stored in the database 33 . this information , in addition to any verified quotations associated with any of the occurrences of the citation , may be used to generate both the “ citations to the case ” section described above and the depth of treatment symbols . the technique for generating the depth of treatment symbols will be described in more detail below . the negative treatment process 116 may include an automatic processing step 150 and a manual verification step 152 which generate a list of the negative history ( i . e ., other written opinions from other legal case which disagree with or overrule the current legal case ) for the legal case . during the automatic processing step 150 , the file containing the legal text with the marked up citations and quotations is scanned in order to identify stems of certain words , such as “ overrule ”, “ recede ”, “ disapprove ”, or “ distinguish ”, which may indicate negative treatment . as an illustration , the process to identify the root of the word “ overrule ” in the text of the legal case is described . when an instance of the root “ overrule ” is identified , a set of heuristic rules , as described below , are applied to make a determination about whether the sentence containing the identified root is actually an overruling , as described below with reference to fig8 . then , during the manual verification process 152 , a human operator of the system verifies the results of the automatic process and the actual verified overrulings are added to the case control database 124 . the human operator may also identify other negative history about the legal case which cannot be easily identified automatically , as described below . the negative treatment process aids a human operator in rapidly identifying overrulings . these overrulings are negative history which affect the authority of the reasoning of the legal case . the loci identification process 130 uses the file containing the legal case text with marked up citations and quotations and a file 144 containing the verified quotations , identifies any marked up citations , and applies a set of heuristic rules , as described below , to identify and select a portion of text from around each citation which may indicate the text supported by the citation . if a citation appears multiple times in a legal case , the surrounding text for each of the occurrences of the citation is combined . in addition , if the quote verification process , as described above , has verified any quotation associated with that citation , the text of that verified quotation is also combined with the other text surrounding the citation . all of the identified text that surrounds each citation may then be used to determine one or more headnotes or subject matter headings which may be applicable to the citation . the subject matter heading classifies the citation based on a predetermined number of subject matter areas , such as intellectual property or patents . a process 154 ( headqf ) reads all of the text identified adjacent to a given citation and generates a natural language search query to search an existing database for matches to the identified text , as described below . the natural language query process is generally described in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 265 , 065 and 5 , 418 , 948 , which are assigned to the same assignee as the present application and are incorporated herein by reference . the headqf process 154 generates a file 156 containing the natural language queries . using the natural language queries , a subject matter assignment process step 158 runs the natural language queries against a headnotes database to identify subject matter headings , such as headnotes , which possibly match the text surrounding the citation . for each matched subject matter heading , the query also generates a belief score value indicating how close the subject matter heading match was to the text . a predetermined number of the most closely relevant subject matter headings and their belief scores are provided to a thresholding process step 160 . the thresholding step uses the subject matter headings identified and performs various calculations which take into account the rank of the subject matter headings , the belief score of the subject matter headings and the number of citations which reference that subject matter heading . after the calculations are performed , a predetermined number of top headnote hits and a flag for each headnote indicating if the headnote passed the thresholding are stored in the database 33 with a link to the citation . these subject matter headings permit citations in the legal case to be classified by and searched for using these subject matter headings , as described above with reference to fig2 d . now , the quote identification process will be described in more detail . fig5 and 6 are diagram illustrating more details about the quote identification process 108 in accordance with the invention . the quote identification process 108 may include a lexical scanner process 170 , a paragraph buffer 172 and a main loop process 174 to receive the text of the legal case and automatically generate a file containing each quotation identified and a possible source for each quotation . the lexical scanner 170 splits documents into logical fragments , known as tokens , and these tokens are then used by the main loop process 174 to identify quotations . the tokens which are identified by the lexical seamier may include capitalized words , punctuation marks that might end a sentence , white space such as one or more spaces , case names , footnote references , star of quote markers and end of quote markers . the lexical scanner process used may be based on any of a number of commercially available software applications , such as , for example , an application known as flex , available from sun microsystems inc , mountain view , calif . the lexical scanner accepts grammar specifying patterns and identifies an action when a specific pattern is located . in particular , the lexical scanner , in accordance , with the invention may divide a legal case into the certain types of paragraphs based on a predetermined set of criteria , such as a set of rules : 1 ) a paragraph which might contain a quotation ; 2 ) paragraphs which are indented block quotations ; 3 ) paragraphs which contain important information about the document , such as the star of the document , the document &# 39 ; s serial number or the end of the document ; and 4 ) paragraphs which are of no interest to the quotation identification process , such as headnotes , headings and the like . a variety of different criteria and rules may be used to identify these paragraphs . an example of a set of rules which may be used by the invention will now be described . the set may include a rule that identifies paragraphs which do not contain any quotations and stores them in the paragraph buffers where they are overwritten by the next paragraph , and a rule for paragraphs with possible quotations in which the lexical scanner returns a tag to the main loop indicating that the paragraph is either a normal text paragraph , an indented block quotation paragraph , or that the text of the quotation appears in a footnote . once the type of the paragraph is determined , the lexical scanner processes the text within the paragraph in the same manner to identify any tokens in each paragraph . within each paragraph , the lexical scanner may identify the following tokens : a capitalized word , a non - capitalized word , a numeric character string , an abbreviation , a proper name ( i . e ., “ mr . smith ”), a case citation , a section reference ( i . e ., “ section 150 ”), a case name ( i . e ., roe v . wade ), an embedded reference , any end of the sentence punctuation , any other punctuation characters , a colon , semicolon or comma followed by a space , single or multiple white space characters , a start of a quotation , an end of a quotation , the number of a footnote , open and close parentheses , open and close brackets , open and close curly braces , a mark - up for a citation , and a mark - up for an embedded reference . more details about the operation and modification of the flex software application is available from the sun microsystems inc . reference manual , programmer &# 39 ; s overview utilities and libraries , chapter 9 , pp , 203 - 226 , which is incorporated herein by reference . the paragraph buffers 172 are where the tokens about the paragraph most recently scanned by the lexical scanner are stored before being processed by the main loop 174 and then possibly written out into an output file if a quotation is identified in the paragraph . the main loop 174 may decide what action to take for each token returned by the lexical scanner , manage the paragraph buffers , and decide when to discard data for a previous paragraph from the paragraph buffer , link several physical paragraphs together into a virtual paragraph for quotations which run over several physical paragraphs , determine where the breaks between sentences occur within a paragraph , and decide when to process a virtual paragraph by a set of heuristic rules , as described below . fig6 is a flowchart of the quotation identification process 108 in accordance with the invention . in step 180 , the legal case text is scanned paragraph by paragraph and for each paragraph , the sentences and tokens in the paragraph are identified . in the step 182 , a set of heuristic rules is applied to each token in a paragraph to determine if a quotation had been identified . one of the most important functions of the lexical scanner and the quotation identification process is to identify the beginning and end of a quotation . this is difficult since each writer may use a slightly different format for the beginning and ending of a quotation . therefore , several rules are needed to identify the beginning and ending of a quotation . an example of a set of heuristic rules that may be applied to accomplish such identification will now be described . these rules may use the lexical scanner to identify a conventional start quotation punctuation symbol , such as “ or ”, to identify a conventional end of quotation delimiter , such as “ or ”, or to identify a start / end of quotation symbol in a longer string of characters . for example , a rule may attempt to identify strings in which the conventional end of quotation symbol is embedded within a sentence . for each of these rules , the characters surrounding the token may be checked to ensure that the token is in fact a star of end of the quotation . once the rules have been applied to each token in a paragraph , the quotation identification process determines if another paragraph exists in step 184 and loop to step 180 to process a new paragraph . once all of the paragraphs have been analyzed , in step 186 , the process output the data record containing the identified quotations and the possible source of those quotations . now , the quotation verification process will be described . fig7 is a flowchart illustrating the method 112 for verifying a quotation in accordance with the invention . at step 200 , the quote verification process reads in the text strings identified as quotations by the quote identification process 108 and identifies separators , when present , from a predetermined set of separators in the text strings . the separators may include ellipses , bracketed expressions , and stop phrases . the stop phrases include a variety of legal phrases and others which do not help identify the source of a quotation , for example , “ citation ( s ) omitted ”, “ sic ”, “ emphasis provided ” and the like . when present , the separators are used to parse the text string into segments in which each segment includes the works that occur between a pair of separators . in step 202 , the text string is parsed to determine its length since the minimum verifiable quote length may be , for example , six non - stop words , where stop words are non - content bearing words such as articles and prepositions . the text string is also parsed to collapse any words which contain apostrophes or other punctuation marks ( e . g ., “ t ] hen ”). the parsed quotation text string falls into one of two distinct categories : ( 1 ) a text string with a single segment , or ( 2 ) a text string with multiple segments . thus , in step 204 , the system determines if the text string has a single segment . if the text string has a single segment , then in step 205 , the collection normalized inverse document frequency ( idf ) for each term ( word ) in the single segment of the text string is determined . a document frequency value indicates the frequency of a particular term in a typical document collection , while idf is equal to the reciprocal of document frequency ( i . e ., 1 / doc freq ), or in other words , the rarity of a term in a document collection . in a preferred embodiment , the collection normalized inverse document frequency ( idf ) may be calculated , if the number of occurrences of a word is greater than zero , as : where doc_occurences is the number of documents in which the given term is present and collection_docs is the total number of documents in the collection . the idf is used for purposes of determining good terms for matching , since a rare word is more likely to be distinct and provide a good indication that the quotation is from the candidate source . once the idf has been calculated for each term , a selected number of the terms ( i . e ., six ) with the highest idf values below a selected threshold may be ranked by idf value ( step 206 ) and placed into a “ template ” ( i . e ., storage array ) ( step 207 ) which indicates the position of each term in the text string . any terms with an unusually high idf value ( e . g ., greater than 0 . 80 ) are not used , since such infrequently occurring terms are often misspelled words . if there are several terms with the same idf value , then the alphanumeric ordering of the terms may be used as a secondary key for ranking the terms for the template . should there still exist equivalent terms ( e . g ., terms with the same idf values and alphanumeric spellings ) then the position of the terms in the text string may be used as a third key for ranking the terms in the template . the template may then be compared to the quotation from the candidate source document to determine if an exact match , based on the positions of the high idf terms , occurs in step 208 . if an exact match occurs , then in step 210 , the verified quotation is output and fed into the database as described above . in the event that an exact match does not occur in step 212 , a certification match failure message is generated and the quotation is not stored in the database . in step 204 , if the text string has multiple segments ( i . e ., it contains one or more separator terms in the text string , such as “ the roof fell in . . . crashing down ), the process goes to step 214 in which the idf for each term within each required segment is determine . then , a selected number of terms ( e . g ., four ) within each segment , with the highest idf values below the threshold , are ranked by idf ( step 215 ) and placed into a template ( step 216 ) in order to determine the position of the terms in the segment for matching purposes ( step 208 ). for a text string with more than four segments , the first two and last two segments may be used to match against the candidate source document ( step 217 - 218 ). in this manner , the quotations identified by the automatic quote identification process are automatically verified and any verified quotations are identified by a quotation symbol , as described above . now , the negative treatment process in accordance with the invention will be described . fig8 is a diagram illustrating a method 220 for determining the negative treatment of a legal case in accordance with the invention . the file 110 containing the text of the legal case with the marked up quotations and citations is input into the automatic negative treatment process 150 . the automatic negative treatment process may 1 ) identify occurrences of the word stem “ overrule ” in the legal case ; 2 ) determine the proximity of the stem to a citation ; and 3 ) exclude any bad legal cases . prior to identifying the stem “ overrule ”, the case control database 124 may be checked and the automatic processing stopped if any history already exists for the legal case . to identify the occurrences of the stem “ overrule ”, the text of the legal case is are scanned and the verb tense of any occurrences of the stem is determined . the verb tense of the stem indicates whether the overruling refers to the current case overruling a previous case or some other type of overruling . a set of heuristic rules may look for a particular verb tense and then take an action based on the verb tense . an example of the set of the rules used will now be described , but the invention is not limited to any particular set of rules . for example , one rule may locate “ overrule ” or overrules ” in a sentence and then scans backwards for up to four words . if “ not ” or never ” is located , then the sentence is discarded since it does not refer to an actual overruling . if “ we ” is found , then the sentence is added to the list of possible overruling which are reviewed by a human being . if none of the phrases is located during the backwards scan , the sentence is also added to the list . another rule may locate “ overrule ” and then scans backwards for up to five words to attempt to locate non - case words which would indicate that something other than the legal case is being overruled so that the sentence is not added to the list . a few examples of these non - case words include “ request ”, “ motion ”, “ objection ”, “ claim ”, and “ verdict ”. if the rule locates “ point ” or “ points ”, then the sentence may be scanned forward to the end of the sentence and if “ case ”, “ cases ” or “ supra ” is located , then the status of the sentence is unknown and it is passed on to the human reviewer . another rule may locate “ overrule ” and scan backwards or forwards , and reject or accepts possible overrulings based on the other words within close proximity to the word “ overrule ” since these additional words will provide the context in which the word “ overrule ” is being used . for example , once “ overrule ” is located , four words before the word may be scanned and the following actions are taken when the following words are located : 1 ) if “ we ” is located , and the word prior to “ we ” is “ that ”, the “ we ” is ignored ( discussion about overruling only ), but if no word “ that ” is located , then the sentence is a possible overruling ; 2 ) if the verb is modified by a word that indicates uncertainty , such as “ rather ”, “ might ”, etc . . . . the sentence is rejected since the court may be only indicating it might overrule the case ; 3 ) if any word indicates a discussion of an overruling , then the sentence is rejected ; 4 ) if a word indicates that another person did the overruling , then the sentence is rejected ; and 5 ) if “ will ” or “ should ” are located , the process looks back five words for a positive word in order to accept the sentence . there may also be a similar set of rules for the verb “ overrules ”, the infinitive form of the verb and the passive voice of the verb . another set of rules may look for various words which indicate a discussion of whether to overrule , whether a court has the authority to overrule or a past overruling since these sentences are rejected as not containing an actual overruling . another set of rules may reject sentences which indicate that someone else is doing the overruling ( i . e ., another court in the past ). still another rules may look for “ overruling ” and then determine if the sentence is rejected or accepted based on the sentences surrounding the word , as described above . there are also other rules which look for particular features of a sentence independent of the verb “ overrule ”. for example , if the phrase “ court :” is located at the beginning of a sentence , which indicates a direct quotation from the judge , the sentence may be accepted . if the word “ congress ” is located at the beginning of a sentence , which may indicate that a congressional statute is being overruled or that congress itself is overruling a case , the sentence may be rejected . if the word “ circulated ” is found in a sentence near the word “ overrule ”, the sentence may be accepted to catch unusual language , such as “ because the decision overrules an opinion of this court , it was circulated to all active judges . . . ” which could not be automatically identified in some other manner . another rule may look for “ overrule ” within a quoted string and reject the sentence since it is usually an overruling by another court of a case which is being quoted by the current court . in addition to the word stem “ overrule ”, other synonyms may be searched for and identified . for example , the rules may also detect the word stem “ abrogat ” for california cases which use the term “ abrogated ” and the phrase “ receded from ” for florida cases since these terms are used to indicate an overruling in each respective state . these verb tense rules may be applied in any order and the invention is not limited to any particular set of rules or any particular order of execution of the rules . the output of the set of verb tense rules from the automatic negative treatment process is a list of possible overrulings . then , a proximity rule is applied to each possible overruling to determine if the overruling applies to a particular legal case . for example , the proximity rule may eliminate a possible overruling if the sentence containing the stem does not contain a citation , if the previous or next sentence does not contain a citation or the sentence with the stem “ overrul ” does not contain a word or phrase used to refer to a case such as “ case ”, “ opinion ”, “ holding ”, “ precedent ”, their plurals or “ progeny ” or “ v .”, “ ex rel ”, “ ex parte ” or “ supra ”. any sentences which contains the stem “ overrul ” and satisfies the proximity rules are added to a suggested list 222 of overruling in the legal case . these suggested overrulings are then reviewed and checked during the manual review process step 152 by a human being . the human being , during the manual review process , also determines the case which is overruled and that data is entered into the case control database 124 which tracks legal cases within the legal cases database . in accordance with another aspect of this negative treatment process , the automatic process may also identify relationships other than overruled , such as “ disting ” for “ distinguished ” or “ apposite ” in a legal case , by extending the method to the language that characterizes those other relationships . in summary , the negative treatment process aids the human reviewer in determining possible overruling in the legal cases by automatically determining possible locations of overruling so that the amount of text that has to be actually reviewed by the human being is significantly reduced . thus , the negative treatment process increases the speed with which overruling in a legal case may be identified and added into the negative history of the legal case . now , the depth treatment process will be described in more detail . fig9 is a flow chart of the depth treatment process 114 in accordance with the invention in which a depth treatment symbol is assigned to each citation within a legal case so that a person using the system may quickly determine the amount of text devoted to discussing a particular citation . this information may be utilized as one indication of the relevance of the citation since a court will devote more text and discussion to a highly relevant citation . at step 230 , the file with the text of the legal case and the marked up citations and quotations , as described above , is received by the depth treatment process . at step 232 , the depth treatment process identifies a citation in the legal case , and then in step 234 , the type of citation is determined . each citation in the legal case may be 1 ) a citation at the head of a string citation ; 2 ) a citation without other accompanying citations ; 3 ) a citation within the interior of a string citation ; or 4 ) a pro form a history citation ( i . e ., a citation that , in the context of the document , are cited solely as a ancillary historical references for one of the cases cited in its own right ). each of these types of citations has a different amount of significance . for example , a lone citation or a citation at the head of a string citation tends to be more significant than a citation in the middle of the string . the depth treatment process next determines if there are any additional citations in the legal case in step 236 and loops back to step 232 to process the next citation in the legal case . once all of the citations in the legal case have been identified and sorted into one of the types described above , they are fed into the grouper process 126 as shown in fig3 . after the grouper process , in step 238 , the depth treatment process determines , for each different citation , the total number of each type of citation in the legal case . for example for a citation to pleasant v . celli , there may be a total of five cites in the legal case of which three are at the head of a string citation and two are within the interior of a string citation . this information about each citation in the legal case and any data about a verified quotation which is associated with a particular citation are used in step 240 to determine the depth symbol which will be assigned to the particular citation . once the depth symbols have been assigned for each citation , the depth treatment process has been completed . one example of a technique for assigning a depth symbol to a particular citation will now be described , but the invention is not limited to any particular technique for assigning the depth symbols . in addition , the invention is not limited to any particular type of depth symbol . in this example , a citation in the legal case with one to three occurrences of any type of citation ( i . e ., the citation standing along , the citation is the head of the string citation or the citation is in the middle of a string citation ) in the legal case is assigned two stars ( e . g ., ), a citation in the legal case with four to eight occurrences of any type of citation is assigned three stars ( e . g ., ), and a citation with nine or more occurrences of any type of citation is assigned four stars ( e . g ., *). to further refine these assignments , a citation with three occurrences of any type of citation and a verified quotation associated with the citation is assigned three stars ( e . g ., *) while if a citation has only internal string citation types , one star is deducted from that citation . thus , the depth symbol for a particular citation in the legal case is automatically assigned by the system in accordance with the invention . the depth symbols help a user of the system more quickly determine which citations are probably more relevant . now , the subject matter text assignment process in accordance with the invention will be described . fig1 is a flowchart illustrating a method 250 in accordance with the invention for assigning a piece of text nom the cited case to the citation in the legal case . in the example described below , the text of a headnote in the cited case is assigned to the citation , but the text assignment process in accordance with the invention may be utilized with a plurality of different pieces of text in the cited cases . in step 252 , a citation locus ( i . e ., a region of text likely to correspond to the text supported by the citation ) for each citation is assigned according to the a set of rules which are now described . to identify the citation locus , several text - parsing rules may be used , some of which are stronger than others , but which collectively would be highly likely to identify the text . to allow for varying effectiveness of the different rules , the extracted text may be divided into three groups , “ high ”, “ medium ” and “ low ”, according to the likelihood that the extracted text was part of the correct citation locus . these rules may include : 3 . if there is no type 2 sentence , then all of the first 4 . all text that can be identified as a quotation form the cited ( but not contiguous to ) the base citation and a type 2 sentence . ( but not contiguous to ) the base citation and a type 3 7 . if there is not type 2 or type 3 sentences , and the paragraph 8 . if there is not type 2 or type 3 sentences and no type 6 9 . if any of the text areas identified by any rule includes a 11 . if the citation occurs in a footnote , it is treated as if it then , in step 254 , the terms in the citation loci are weighted according to the rule that was used to identify them , with a high , medium or low matching corresponding to weights of 2 . 0 , 1 . 0 and 0 . 5 , respectively . different types of documents , such as legal cases or law review articles , may require a different set of rules to determine the weights . once the pieces of text have been identified and assigned a belief value , in step 256 , the identified pieces of text are matched against pieces of text which may be within the cited document . in one example , the pieces of text within the cited document may be headnotes , but the invention is not limited to any particular type of text which the identified pieces of text are matched against . the matching may be done using natural language query as described in previously referenced u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 265 , 065 and 5 , 418 , 948 which are owned by the assignee of this application and are incorporated herein by reference . the results of the search is a list of possible pieces of text from the cited case , such as a headnote , which may be assigned to the citation in the legal case and a belief score for each possible piece of text . next , in step 258 , the one or more pieces of text that are going to be assigned to the citation are selected though a thresholding process . the thresholding process ranks the pieces of text for each citation based on the belief score . the piece of text may be posted to the database whenever the following quantity equals or exceeds 0 . 5 : document rank β 0 β 1 β 2 β 3 non - alr 1 4 . 0451 3 . 1975 0 . 8477 . 9033 non - alr 2 0 . 5573 9 . 0220 1 . 0348 0 . 6743 non - alr 3 − 2 . 0421 11 . 2619 0 . 8949 0 . 2954 alr 1 − 1 . 4256 50 . 4929 0 . 3488 0 . 0000 alr 2 − 2 . 8199 65 . 6148 0 . 6207 0 . 0000 alr 3 − 2 . 3701 40 . 8479 1 . 2445 0 . 0000 alr 4 − 3 . 3474 60 . 8075 1 . 7349 0 . 0000 alr 5 − 3 . 0805 55 . 6003 1 . 3188 0 . 0000 where the columns marked “ alr ” contain variables for alr articles , as described above , which have a higher belief score than the non - alr documents . the columns labeled “ non - alr ” contain variables for non - alr documents . in the equation , freq is the total citation frequency for the citation pair , and lag2 is the belief score of the second following candidate when the candidates are sorted by belief score in descending order ( or 0 . 4 if there is no such candidate ). once the thresholding has been completed and the one or more pieces of text has been assigned to each citation in the legal case , one or more pieces of text are stored in the database in step 260 as described above so that it may be retrieved for a user when requested . in summary , the subject matter assignment process automatically generates one or more pieces of text for a citation in the legal case based on pieces of text in the cited case such as a headnote . the process first automatically identifies supporting text in the legal case and assigns a belief value to the supporting text , matches all of the piece of text against pieces of text in the cited cases , and then automatically assigns a piece of text , such as a headnote , from the cited case to the particular citation . these subject matter assignments permit a citation to the legal case to be sorted or selected by the subject matters which helps during the collocation process . thus , the machine implemented system in accordance with the invention automatically processes a document , such as a legal case , and generates information about the document which may provide the user of the system with useful information about the contents of the document . in a conventional system , on the other hand most of this information about the document would be generated by a human being reading the document and making notes about the document which is a slow , expensive , error - prone process . for a legal case , the system may automatically generate information about the negative history the legal case , about the depth treatment of a citation by the legal case , about the quotation in the legal case which are verified as originating from a particular source , and about one or more headnote which are assigned to a particular citation in the legal case . thus , the operator of the system may rapidly generate this information about the legal case and a user of the system may quickly locate this information since it is all readily accessible from a graphical user interface . the following is a summary of rules relating to the figures of the present invention , as well as an article pertaining to graphical keycite : where there is a t intersection between a parent and child , the bottom vertical line will be offset . the relationship split will occur in the court level of the parent . cases sent down will start with a line from the right of the case to the top of the case sent down to . when there is more than one case sent down from a single parent , the line from the right of the parent will continue on to accommodate the additional cases . parents that have a line coming into the top of the case will have a line coming out of the right that will then connect to it &# 39 ; s children . parents will be drawn to the left of a child , when they are in the same court level and there relationship is on the lateral litigation list . if a parent cannot be centered below a child , it will be offset below a child . the width of the child will expand to the point necessary in order for all of it &# 39 ; s parents relationships to be drawn . when the parent would need to go around one child to get to another it will be offset . motions for the same parent in the same court level are stacked on top of each other . stacked procedural motions are ordered with the earliest on the bottom and the latest on top . when the procedural motions have the same date , they are stacked in whatever order we receive them . when ordering the children from left to right , an entire stack of procedural motions takes on the date of its earliest member . the children will be in order with the earliest child on the left and the latest child on the right . when lines need to cross their will be a bump on the horizontal line at the point where the lines cross . if a procedural box has different history treatments to display , it shall be promoted to a substantive box . a case has remanded child and a lateral litigation child there should have two lines coming out of the right of the box . beyond citation checking : graphical keycite paints a picture of procedural case history a picture is worth a thousand words . for legal researchers , the powerful , new graphical keycite may be worth even more because it literally illustrates the procedural history of case law . thomson west , a business within the thomson corporation ( nyse : toc ; tsx ; toc ) totally introduced graphical keycite , the latest innovation to keycite ®, the service that has revolutionized citation checking since it was first introduced . in that year , law librarians at the american association of law libraries applauded the intuitive keycite flags that instantly let legal researchers know whether a judicial opinion was still good law , as well as the depth - of - treatment stars and sumbols that indicated how extensively the case had been relied on in other opinions . keycite also was the first citation checking service to enable researchers to effortlessly probe the history of a case . graphical keycite takes these innovations to a new plateau by literally painting a picture of a case &# 39 ; s direct history . the feature links citations to later motions , pleadings and lower - court decisions as the case ascents to higher courts . this exclusive keycite feature helps researchers to instantly see how a case moved through the court system over time , and to quickly understand the impact as each level . “ for the first time , the history of the court case is illustrated , helping researchers understand the impact faster ,” said jon medin , director of product development for keycite . medlin added that keycite combined analysis from legal editors at thomson west with technology to illuminate issued such as how much the citing case discussed the cited case . “ the same attorney - editors who author west &# 39 ; s extensive collection of authoritative case law headnotes also assign the keycite flags and symbols attorneys and the judiciary rely on to see whether citations are still good law ,” noted medin . documents on westlaw include more links to related sources than any other legal research service . medin noted that graphical keycite leverages those links and uses proprietary technologies to illustrate the connections between court documents as they move through the judicial system . additionally , researchers can simply click icons to open the full text documents on westlaw . “ in our tests , researchers using graphical keycite understood the direct history of cases faster and more accurately ,” said mike bernstein , senior director of westlaw marketing for thomson west . “ for anyone performing citation research , a graphical keycite picture is definitely worth a thousand words . : while the foregoing has been with reference to a particular embodiment of the invention , it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes in this embodiment may be made without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention , the scope of which is defined by the appended claims .	8
the apparatus a of the present invention is shown in fig1 . the perforating gun is generally referred to as 10 . perforating gun 10 can be of various lengths and is generally assembled in sections to the desired length . on the outer surface of perforating gun 10 are a plurality of ports 12 through which the explosive charge exits and perforates the formation . as seen in fig1 the ports are generally arranged in a helical pattern around the periphery of perforating gun 10 , and auger 14 is shown on the outer periphery of perforating gun 10 . while the auger 14 is schematically represented as being continuous , it may have periodic discontinuities if perforating gun 10 is assembled from a plurality of joints to obtain the desired length . there may be a slight gap which is preferably less than 12 inches . the pitch is preferably 4 - 8 inches . while the schematic representation of fig1 shows the auger 14 connected directly to the outer surface of the perforating gun 10 , it is also within the purview of the invention to take the auger 14 , which has a general helical pattern , and mount it to a mandrel or hollow core which can slip over the periphery of perforating gun 10 and be fitted up so that the openings 12 not only align with openings on the core but also fall between the flights to avoid damage to the auger 14 when the gun 10 is fired . in the latter configuration , the auger 14 , mounted on a core which is basically a tube that overlays the perforating gun 10 , is connected to perforating gun 10 by fasteners which extend through the mandrel into receptacles 16 mounted to perforating gun 10 . the auger 14 should be noted as being lefthand . the normal direction of rotation of the rotary table is righthand , which results in the tightening up of all the joints in the tubing string above perforating gun 10 . the advantage of making auger 14 with a lefthand thread is that it facilitates removal of the gun 10 from the compacted sand in the event any obstruction is encountered . the turning of the rotary table , which in turn acts to tighten all the joints , drives the auger 14 in the opposite direction to promote loosening of the gun 10 , which may stick in the compacted sand . the auger 14 extends beyond the perforations . in the preferred embodiment , the length of the auger above the perforation should be approximately equal to the length of the auger in the perforated zone . some of the advantages of using the apparatus a of the present invention can be further appreciated by examination of fig2 and 3 , which show a preferred embodiment of the tubing string above the gun 10 . drill collars 18 are located toward the bottom of the tubing string . below the drill collars is an annular operated reversing valve ( aorv ) 20 which is reponsive to the pressure in the annulus 22 to allow flow from the annulus 22 into the tubing 24 . below the aorv 20 is a multi reverse circulating valve ( mrcv ) 26 . below the mrcv 26 are additional drill collar 28 , followed by a pressure - operated test valve ( potv ) 30 . below the potv 30 are a recorder carrier , hydraulic jars , a rotational release safety joint , a crossover sub , and a retrievable packer 32 . below the packer is a ported disc assembly 34 , which is followed by the mechanical firing head , then the perforating gun 10 . fig2 shows the position of the components while running in the hole . the seals on the packer 32 are retracted . the potv 30 is closed , as is the mrcv 26 and the aorv 20 . thereafter , an underbalance may be created using nitrogen followed by setting the packer 32 to seal off the annulus 22 from the formation to be perforated . the perforating gun 10 is fired . as shown in fig3 upon firing of the gun 10 the formation begins to flow through the perforations 36 and / or the openings 38 if it is a cased hole ( see fig4 ). the formation begins to flow , bringing with it the debris generated by the functioning of gun 10 . the flow is directed toward the ported disc 34 , which is in fluid communication with the inside of the tubing 24 . the flow up toward ported disc assembly 34 proceeds along the helix of auger 14 , as shown by arrows 40 in fig1 . thus , one of the advantages of the apparatus a of the present invention is illustrated in that the relatively narrow spiral path followed by the fluids produced from the formation increases their velocity and improves the ability of those fluids to carry with them the debris generated by the actuation of the gun 10 . after the perforating and after allowing a sufficient time for the well to flow to remove debris to the surface , the perforations 36 can be isolated by using potv 30 and putting it in a closed position . thereafter , reverse circulating with kill fluid can proceed , as shown in fig4 through the mrcv 26 to remove any debris and produced hydrocarbons from the tubing 24 as well as killing the well by flowing down through the annulus 22 , through the mrcv 26 and up the tubing 24 . thereafter , sand can be spotted adjacent potv 30 by pumping down the tubing 24 with a suitable carrier fluid , preferably a stimulating fluid , with the potv 30 closed and the aorv 20 or the mrcv 26 open . in this manner , the sand can be spotted adjacent potv 30 without introduction of any well - killing fluids into the formation . it should be appreciated that up until this time there has been no surface - applied pressure against the formation from the reversing out , nor have any of the chemicals normally associated with killing the well by the method of circulating or reversing out come in contact with perforations 36 . when the charge of sand is located adjacent potv 30 , it is then opened , with aorv 20 and mrcv 26 closed . the carrier fluid for the sand is thus forced into the formation by being pushed through ported disc assembly 34 into perforations 36 . the sand is deposited in perforations 36 . the amount of sand to be pumped is determined from the amount of debris recovered , the volume of the well in the area surrounding the perforations , and an additional charge of approximately 25 percent to replace the volume taken up by the gun 10 after its removal . the stimulating fluid carrying the sand is pumped until an increase in pressure is observed at the surface , indicating that the sand has been sufficiently packed into the perforations 36 , a situation commonly referred to as a &# 34 ; screen out .&# 34 ; it should be noted that throughout this procedure , the packer 32 remains seated , sealing off the perforations 36 from the annulus 22 . having appropriately placed the sand into the perforations 36 , the gun 10 is withdrawn by applying an upward force to the tubing 24 after releasing the packer 32 . the presence of the auger 14 facilitates the extraction of the gun 10 . instead of in the prior designs where the sand could compact around and on top of the gun 10 , leaving a large surface area on gun 10 to adhere to the packed sand , the presence of the auger 14 creates numerous parallel shear lines around its outer periphery which can easily overcome the forces applied by the compacted sand to facilitate release of the gun 10 upon upward pulling of the tubing string 24 . the pulling force on tubing string 24 must initially be high enough to overcome the weight of all the sand wedged between the flights of auger 14 and an additional incremental force to initiate the shearing action in the sand layer , thus initiating upward movement of the gun 10 . it should be noted that rotation of the gun 10 is not necessary in a normal circumstance as the gun 10 should easily come out in view of the auger 14 . however , the tubing string 24 can be rotated while it is being lifted to initiate rotation of gun 10 along with the lifting force . due to the lefthand thread of auger 14 , the righthand rotation of gun 10 imparts a loosening force or an unscrewing motion to the gun 10 to facilitate its upward movement in the well for ultimate removal at the surface . in an extreme case , the fasteners holding the core and auger 14 can be sheared off , allowing the core to drop off while the gun 10 is retrieved . having removed the gun 10 from the hole , a screen can be mounted to the bottom of the tubing string 24 , which itself has an auger similar to that of auger 14 . this screen is lowered into the compacted sand at the perforations 36 and , to the extent necessary , rotated into the compacted sand or simply lowered into the compacted sand by its own weight and the weight of the tubing string above it without any rotational force , depending upon the application . of course , in these situations the packer 32 is once again connected to the tubing string directly above the gravel - pack screen , which is placed in the sand adjacent the perforations 36 . thereafter , normal production from the perforations 36 can begin through the screen . in the preferred embodiment , the spacing of the flights on auger 14 is preferably approximately 4 - 8 inches . one of the advantages of having the auger 14 on a core , which can be fastened to the gun 10 through fasteners engaging the gun 10 at opening 16 , is that in the event a serious problem of sticking the gun 10 does arise , the tubing string 24 can be rotated to shear off the fasteners engaging the gun 10 at opening 16 , facilitating removal of the gun 10 while leaving the auger 14 , mounted to the core , in the hole for subsequent removal by a fishing operation . alternatively , the core can be welded to the gun 10 , without departing from the spirit of the invention . the auger 14 continues above the openings 12 so that when the extra charge of sand is pumped down the tubing 24 and adjacent the perforations 36 , the entire gun 10 that may be embedded in sand has the auger continuing on its outer face beyond perforations 36 so that the auger facilitates the removal operation . another advantage of auger 14 is it acts as a centralizer for the gun 10 . the auger 14 mounted on a core can be taken off one gun 10 and reused on another gun which has a similar pattern of openings 12 . as to the gravel - pack screen which is inserted after the gun 10 is removed , the auger blades that would be on it have a righthand thread to facilitate the screwing in forces which can be imparted to the tubing 24 to get the screen to go into the packed sand . the foregoing disclosure and description of the invention are illustrative and explanatory thereof , and various changes in the size , shape and materials , as well as in the details of the illustrated construction , may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention .	4
as used herein , the term alkyl includes straight or branched chains . alkylene , referring to a divalent alkyl group , similarly refers to straight or branched chains . cycloalkylene refers to a divalent cycloalkyl group . cycloalkenyl refers to a c 4 - c 6 cycloalkyl ring comprising one double bond . heteroaryl means a single ring , bicyclic or benzofused heteroaromatic group of 5 to 10 atoms comprised of 2 to 9 carbon atoms and 1 to 4 heteroatoms independently selected from the group consisting of n , o and s , provided that the rings do not include adjacent oxygen and / or sulfur atoms . n - oxides of the ring nitrogens are also included . examples of single - ring heteroaryl groups are pyridyl , oxazolyl , isoxazolyl , oxadiazolyl , furanyl , pyrrolyl , thienyl , imidazolyl , pyrazolyl , tetrazolyl , thiazolyl , isothiazolyl , thiadiazolyl , pyrazinyl , pyrimidyl , pyridazinyl and triazolyl . examples of bicyclic heteroaryl groups are naphthyridyl ( e . g ., 1 , 5 or 1 , 7 ), imidazopyridyl , pyrido [ 2 , 3 ] imidazolyl , pyridopyrimidinyl and 7 - azaindolyl . examples of benzo - fused heteroaryl groups are indolyl , quinolyl , isoquinolyl , phthalazinyl , benzothienyl ( i . e ., thionaphthenyl ), benzimidazolyl , benzofuranyl , benzoxazolyl and benzofurazanyl . all positional isomers are contemplated , e . g ., 2 - pyridyl , 3 - pyridyl and 4 - pyridyl . r 5 - substituted heteroaryl refers to such groups wherein substitutable ring carbon atoms have a substituent as defined above . certain compounds of the invention may exist in different stereoisomeric forms ( e . g ., enantiomers , diastereoisomers and atropisomers ). the invention contemplates all such stereoisomers both in pure form and in mixture , including racemic mixtures . certain compounds will be acidic in nature , e . g . those compounds which possess a carboxyl or phenolic hydroxyl group . these compounds may form pharmaceutically acceptable salts . examples of such salts may include sodium , potassium , calcium , aluminum , gold and silver salts . also contemplated are salts formed with pharmaceutically acceptable amines such as ammonia , alkyl amines , hydroxyalkylamines , n - methylglucamine and the like . certain basic compounds also form pharmaceutically acceptable salts , e . g ., acid addition salts . for example , pyrido - nitrogen atoms may form salts with strong acid , while compounds having basic substituents such as amino groups also form salts with weaker acids . examples of suitable acids for salt formation are hydrochloric , sulfuric , phosphoric , acetic , citric , oxalic , malonic , salicylic , malic , fumaric , succinic , ascorbic , maleic , methanesulfonic and other mineral and carboxylic acids well known to those skilled in the art . the salts are prepared by contacting the free base form with a sufficient amount of the desired acid to produce a salt in the conventional manner . the free base forms may be regenerated by treating the salt with a suitable dilute aqueous base solution such as dilute aqueous naoh , potassium carbonate , ammonia and sodium bicarbonate . the free base forms differ from their respective salt forms somewhat in certain physical properties , such as solubility in polar solvents , but the acid and base salts are otherwise equivalent to their respective free base forms for purposes of the invention . all such acid and base salts are intended to be pharmaceutically acceptable salts within the scope of the invention and all acid and base salts are considered equivalent to the free forms of the corresponding compounds for purposes of the invention . compounds of formula i can be prepared by known methods from starting materials either known in the art or prepared by methods known in the art ; see , for example , wo 95 / 01356 and j . med . chem ., 39 ( 1996 ) 1164 - 1171 . preferably , the compounds of formula i are prepared by the methods shown in the following reaction schemes . in scheme 1 , alkylation of a 5 - amino - pyrazolo [ 4 , 3 - c ]-[ 1 , 2 , 4 ]- triazolo [ 1 , 5 - c ] pyrimidine of formula ii is used to prepare compounds of formula i : starting materials of formula ii can be reacted with an alkyl diol ditosylate and a base such as nah in an inert solvent such as dimethylformamide ( dmf ), or with a chloro - bromo - or dibromo - alkyl compound under similar conditions , to obtain the alkyl - substituted intermediate of formula ii . the compound of formula iii is then reacted with an amine of the formula z — y — h in an inert solvent such as dmf at an elevated temperature to obtain a compound of formula ia , i . e ., a compound of formula i wherein x is alkylene . alternatively , staring materials of formula ii can be reacted with a compound of formula z — y — x — cl and a base such as nah in an inert solvent such as dmf to obtain a mixture of a 7 - substituted compound of formula i and the corresponding 8 - substituted compound . to prepare compounds of formula i wherein y is piperazinyl and z is r 6 — c ( o )—, r 6 — so 2 —, r 6 — oc ( o )—, r 7 — n ( r 8 )— c ( o )— or r 7 — n ( r 8 )— c ( s )—, a compound of formula i wherein z — y is 4 - t - butoxycarbonyl - 1 - piperazinyl is deprotected , for example by reaction with an acid such as hcl . the resultant free piperazinyl compound , iv , is treated according to procedures well known in the art to obtain the desired compounds . the following scheme 2 summarizes such procedures : another method for preparing compounds of formula i is shown in scheme 3 : in this procedure , chloropyrazolo - pyrimidine v is reacted with a compound of formula z — y — x — cl in a manner similar to the alkylation procedure of scheme 1 , and the resultant intermediate is reacted with a hydrazide of formula h 2 n — nh — c ( o )— r ( or with hydrazine hydrate , followed by a compound of formula cl — c ( o )— r ). the resultant hydrazide undergoes dehydrative rearrangement , e . g ., by treatment with n , o - bis -( trimethylsilyl ) acetamide ( bsa ) or a combination of bsa and hexamethyldisilazane ( hmds ) and at elevated temperatures . starting materials are known or can be prepared by processes known in the art . however , compounds of formula ii are preferably prepared by the novel process disclosed above and described in further detail here . in the first step of the process , 2 - amino - 4 , 6 - dihydroxypyrimidine ( vi ) is converted to the corresponding 4 , 6 - dichloro - 5 - carboxaldehyde by treatment with pocl 3 or socl 2 in dmf as described in helv . chim . acta , 69 ( 1986 ), 1602 - 1613 . the reaction is carried out at an elevated temperature , preferably about 100 ° c ., for 2 to 8 hours , preferably about 5 hours . in the second step , 2 - amino - 4 , 6 - dichloropyrimidine - 5 - carboxaldehyde ( vii ) is treated with a hydrazide of the formula h 2 n — nh — c ( o )— r , wherein r is as defined above , to obtain the compound of formula viii ; the compound of formula vi and the hydrazide are used in a molar ratio of approximately 1 : 1 , with a slight excess of the hydrazide being preferred . the reaction is carried out at room temperature or up to about 80 ° c . in a solvent such as ch 3 cn or dmf . the reaction time is about 16 hours ( e . g ., overnight ). in the third step , the compound of formula viii is heated at 60 - 100 ° c . with 1 - 5 equivalents of hydrazine hydrate in a solvent such as ch 3 cn or dmf for 1 - 24 hours to obtain the compound of formula ix . in the last step , the compound of formula ix undergoes dehydrative rearrangement by treatment with a mixture of hmds and bsa or with bsa alone . the reaction is carried out at elevated temperatures , preferably about 120 ° c ., for about 16 hours ( e . g ., overnight ) after each step of the process , the crude material is purified by conventional methods , e . g ., extraction and / or recrystallization . compared to previously published methods for preparing the intermediate of formula ii , this method proceeds in fewer steps , under milder reaction conditions and with much higher yield . the compounds of formulas v and vii are known ( helv . chim . acta , 69 ( 1986 ), 1602 - 1613 ). another method for preparing compounds of formula i is illustrated in the following scheme 4 . chloride viii is treated with a hydroxyalkyl - hydrazine in an inert solvent such as ethanol at temperatures from ambient to 100 ° c . to furnish derivative x . this is subjected to dehydrative cyclization , similarly to ix , such as with bsa , to provide tricyclic xi . tricyclic xi is then converted to bromide iiia with pbr 3 at elevated temperature from 80 ° c . to 150 ° c . for 1 to 24 hours . intermediate xi can also be converted into the tosylate analogous to iiia by toluenesulfonyl chloride and base . bromide iiia is converted to compounds of formula i as described above for iii . another method for preparing compounds of formula i is illustrated in the following scheme 5 : in analogy to scheme 1 , chloride v is converted into alkylated compound xii , and this is further reacted with carbazate xiv , where r ′ is preferably t - butyl or benzyl , to obtain derivative xiii . a solvent such as dmf may be employed at a temperature of 60 - 120 ° c . this is then reacted as in scheme 1 to furnish xv . the r ′ group is next removed , such as removal of a t - butyl group with hcl or tfa , furnishing hydrazine xvi . acylation of xvi furnishes xvii , which is subjected to dehydrative cyclization as described above to provide desired ia . alternatively , xii may be reacted with a hydrazide xviii to obtain xix , which can be converted to xvii analogously to preparation of xv . step 1 : stir pocl 3 ( 84 ml , 0 . 9 mol ) and chill to 5 - 10 ° c . while adding dmf ( 17 . 8 ml , 0 . 23 mol ) drop - wise . allow the mixture to warm to room temperature ( rt ) and add 2 - amino - 4 , 6 - dihydroxypyrimidine vi ( 14 g , 0 . 11 mol ) portion - wise . heat at 100 ° c . for 5 h . strip off excess pocl 3 under vacuum , pour the residue into ice water , and stir overnight . collect solids by filtration and recrystallize the dried material from a filtered ethyl acetate ( etoac ) solution to give the aldehyde , vii , m . p . 230 ° ( dec ). mass spectrum : m += 192 . pmr ( dmso ): δ 8 . 6 ( δ , 2h ); δ 10 . 1 ( s , 1h ). step 2 : stir a mixture of the product of step 1 ( 0 . 38 g , 2 mmol ) and 2 - furoic hydrazide ( 0 . 31 g , 2 . 5 mmol ) in ch 3 cn ( 50 ml ) containing n , n - diisopropylethylamine ( 0 . 44 ml , 2 . 5 mmol ) overnight at rt . solvent strip the reaction mixture , and partition the residue between etoac and water . dry the organic layer over mgso 4 , remove the solvent , and recrystallize the residue from ch 3 cn to give the desired compound viii . mass spectrum : mh += 282 . step 3 : add hydrazine hydrate ( 75 mg , 1 . 5 mmol ) to a hot ch 3 cn solution of the product of step 2 ( 0 . 14 g , 0 . 5 mmol ). reflux 1 h . cool to rt and collect the yellow product ix . mass spectrum : mh += 260 . step 4 : heat the product of step 3 ( 5 . 4 g , 0 . 021 mol ) in a mixture of hexamethyl - disilazine ( 100 ml ) and n , o - bis ( trimethylsilyl ) acetamide ( 35 ml ) at 120 ° c . overnight . remove volatiles under vacuum and slurry the residue in hot water to give a solid precipitate . recrystallize from 80 % aqueous acetic acid to give the title compound . combine the product of preparation 1 ( 6 . 0 g , 25 mmol ), ethylene glycol ditosylate ( 11 . 1 g , 30 mmol ), and nah ( 60 % in oil , 1 . 19 g , 30 mmol ) in dry dmf ( 30 ml ). stir under n 2 for 24 h and filter to obtain the title compound as a cream solid ( pmr in dmso : δ4 . 47 + 4 . 51 triplets , 8 . 03 s ). isolate additional material by chromatography of the filtrate . in a similar manner to preparation 1 , but employing 2 - thienoylhydrazide , prepare the title compound as a yellow solid , mass spectrum : mh += 258 . in a similar manner to preparation 2 , but using the product of preparation 3 , prepare the title compound as a yellow solid , pmr ( dmso ) δ 4 . 49 + 4 . 54 triplets , 8 . 05 s . 1 -( 2 , 4 - difluorophenyl ) piperazine is prepared from 2 , 4 - difluorobromobenzcne . to the bromide ( 8 . 0 g , 41 . 4 mmol ), piperazine ( 21 . 4 g , 249 mmol ), sodium t - butoxide ( 5 . 6 g , 58 mmol ) and binap ( 1 . 55 g , 2 . 5 mmol ) in toluene ( 20 ml ), add pd 2 ( dba ) 3 ( 0 . 477 g , 0 . 83 mmol ). heat the mixture at 110 ° c . under n 2 for 20 h . allow to cool and extract with 1n hcl . basify the extract with naoh to ph = 10 , extract with ch 2 cl 2 , dry and concentrate to obtain the title compound as a brown oil . in a similar fashion , prepare the following arylpiperazines ( me is methyl ): 1 -( 5 - ethyl - 2 - pyrimidinyl ) piperazine is prepared from 2 - chloro - 5 - ethylpyrimidine . heat the chloride ( 2 . 0 g , 14 mmol ) and piperazine ( 3 . 0 g , 35 mmol ) in etoh ( 70 ml ) at 90 ° c . for 2 h in a sealed vessel . concentrate and partition between ch 2 cl 2 and 2n naoh . dry the organic with mgso 4 and concentrate . chromatograph the crude product on silica ( ch 2 cl 2 — ch 3 oh ) to obtain the piperazine as a yellow oil . in a similar fashion , prepare the following piperazines from the appropriate chloride : 1 -( 4 - cyano - 2 - fluorophenyl ) piperazine is prepared from 3 , 4 - difluorobenzonitrile . heat the nitrile ( 2 . 0 g , 14 . 4 mmol ), piperazine ( 6 . 2 g , 72 mmol ) and k 2 co 3 ( 2 . 4 g , 17 mmol ) in toluene ( 10 ml ) at reflux for 22 h . allow to cool , and extract with 1n hcl . basify with naoh to ph = 10 . extract with ch 2 cl 2 and wash with water and then brine . dry the organic with mgso 4 and concentrate to give the piperazine as a white solid . in a similar fashion , prepare the following piperazines from the appropriate fluoride ( et is ethyl ): 1 -( 4 -( 2 - methoxyethoxy ) phenyl ) piperazine is prepared from 4 -( 4 - hydroxy - phenyl )- 1 - acetylpiperazine . to nah ( 60 % in mineral oil , 0 . 79 g , 20 mmol ) in dmf ( 25 ml ) add the phenol ( 3 . 0 g , 13 . 6 mmol ), followed by 2 - bromoethyl methyl ether ( 2 . 27 g , 16 . 3 mmol ). stir at rt 18 h , concentrate , and partition between etoac and 5 % citric acid . wash the organic with 1n naoh , then brine . dry over mgso 4 , and concentrate to obtain the alkylated product as a white solid . heat this material ( 2 . 2 g , 7 . 9 mmol ) in 6n hcl ( 30 ml ) at reflux for 1 h . allow to cool and basify to ph = 10 with naoh . extract with ch 2 cl 2 and wash with water and then brine . dry the organic with mgso 4 and concentrate to give the piperazine as a yellow oil . in a similar fashion ( except basic hydrolysis is employed for the cyclopropyl - methyl ether ) prepare the following piperazines : 4 -( 2 - methylaminoethoxy ) fluorobenzene is prepared from 4 -( 2 - bromo - ethoxy )- fluorobenzene . combine the bromide ( 1 . 0 g , 4 . 6 mmol ) in ch 3 oh ( 5 ml ) with ch 3 nh 2 in ch 2 oh ( 2m , 46 ml , 92 mmol ) in a sealed vessel . heat at 60 ° c . for 18 h , concentrate , and partition between etoac and sat , nahco 3 . wash the organic with brine , dry with mgso 4 , and concentrate to obtain the amine as a yellow oil . n - methyl - 2 -( 4 -( 2 - methoxyethoxy ) phenoxy ) ethylamine was prepared in two steps . combine 4 -( 2 - methoxyethoxy ) phenol ( 1 . 68 g , 10 . 0 mmol ), 1 , 2 - dibromoethane ( 16 . 9 g , 90 mmol ), and k 2 co 3 ( 2 . 76 g , 20 mmol ) in ch 3 cn ( 20 ml ) and dmf ( 10 ml ). heat at reflux 22 h , allow to cool , filter , and partition between ether ( et 2 o ) and 1n naoh . wash with brine , dry over mgso 4 , and concentrate to provide the bromoethyl ether as beige solid . combine this ( 0 . 97 g , 3 . 5 mmol ) with 2m ch 3 nh 2 / ch 3 oh ( 35 ml ). heat in a sealed tube ( 65 ° c ., 18 h ), concentrate , and partition between et 2 o and 1n nahco 3 . wash with brine , dry mgso 4 , and concentrate to provide the amine as an orange oil . 1 - phenyl - 2 - piperazinone is prepared from 4 - benzyloxycarbonyl - 1 - phenyl - 2 - piperazinone . combine this material ( 1 . 61 g , 5 . 2 mmol ) with 10 % pd / c ( 0 . 4 g ) in etoh ( 50 ml ) and 1n hcl ( 6 ml ). hydrogenate at 45 psi for 2 h and filter . concentrate and chromatograph the residue on silica ( eluting with ch 2 cl 2 : ch 3 oh : nh 4 oh ) to obtain the piperazinone as a cream solid . step 1 : dissolve the product of preparation 1 , step 2 ( 0 . 56 g , 2 . 0 mmol ) in hot ch 3 cn ( 200 ml ). add 2 - hydroxyethylhydrazine ( 0 . 51 g , 6 . 0 mmol ). heat at reflux 2 h and concentrate . treat with 25 ml water and stir to give a solid . collect and dry to give the alcohol , ms : m / e = 304 ( m + 1 ). step 2 : heat the product of step 1 ( 0 . 10 g , 0 . 33 mmol ) in bsa ( 10 ml ) for 4 h at 115 ° c . concentrate in vacuo and warm with aqueous ch 3 oh . collect and dry to give the cyclization product , ms : m / e = 286 ( m + 1 ). step 3 : combine the product of step 2 ( 0 . 285 g , 1 . 0 mmol ) and pbr 3 ( 2 . 0 ml , 21 mmol ). heat at 145 ° c . for 2 h , cool , and pour onto ice . filter and dry the solid . recrystallize from ch 3 oh to obtain the title compound , ms : m / e = 348 + 350 ( m + 1 ). combine 5 - bromo - 2 - furoic acid ( 0 . 50 g , 2 . 6 mmol ) and nahco 3 ( 0 . 44 g , 5 . 2 mmol ) in hexane ( 6 ml ) and water ( 5 . 2 ml ). add selectfluor ® ( 0 . 98 g , 2 . 8 mmol ) and stir 2 h . separate the hexane layer and dry over mgso 4 to provide a solution of 2 - bromo - 5 - fluorofuran . dilute with thf ( 6 ml ) and cool to − 78 ° c . add 2 . 5m n - buli / hexane ( 4 . 2 ml , 11 mmol ). stir 10 min ., add excess dry ice , and stir 1 h additional . treat with 1n hcl , extract with ch 2 cl 2 , and dry over mgso 4 . concentrate and dry to obtain the title compound as a white solid , pmr ( cdcl 3 ) δ6 . 70 + 7 . 28 . combine the tosylate of preparation 2 ( 0 . 55 g , 1 . 25 mmol ) and 1 -( 2 , 4 - difluorophenyl ) piperazine ( 0 . 50 g , 2 . 5 mmol ) in dmf ( 7 ml ) and heat at 80 ° c . for 20 h . concentrate and purify by flash column chromatography ( ch 2 cl 2 , ch 3 oh + nh 3 ) to obtain the title compound as a cream solid , mass spectrum m / e = 466 ( m + h ). combine the product of preparation 1 ( 0 . 60 g , 2 . 5 mmol ), 1 , 3 - dibromopropane ( 0 . 60 g , 3 . 0 mmol ), and nah ( 60 % in oil , 0 . 119 g , 3 . 0 mmol ) in dry dmf ( 9 ml ). stir under n 2 for 2 h , concentrate and flash chromatograph to obtain the title compound as a solid ( pmr in cdcl 3 + cd 3 od : δ 2 . 43 quint ., 3 . 38 + 4 . 51 triplets , 8 . 09 s ), as well as 8 - substituted isomer . combine the product of step 1 ( 0 . 050 g , 0 . 14 mmol ) and 1 - phenylpiperazine ( 0 . 045 g , 0 . 28 mmol ) in dmf ( 2 ml ) and heat at 80 ° c . for 4 h . concentrate and purify by flash column chromatography ( ch 2 cl 2 , ch 3 oh + nh 3 ) to obtain the title compound as a cream solid , mass spectrum m / e = 443 ( m + h ). the compound of example 1 - 2 was also prepared by the following procedure : combine the product of preparation 1 ( 0 . 15 g , 0 . 62 mmol ), 1 - phenyl - 4 -( 2 - chloroethyl ) piperazine ( 0 . 17 g , 0 . 75 mmol ), and nah ( 60 % in oil , 0 . 035 g , 0 . 87 mmol ) in dry dmf ( 7 ml ). stir under n 2 for 48 h , add additional chloride ( 0 . 03 g ) and nah ( 0 . 005 g ) and stir another 72 h . concentrate and purify by flash column chromatography ( ch 2 cl 2 , ch 2 oh + nh 3 ) to obtain the title compound as a cream solid , mass spectrum m / e = 429 ( m + h ). the compound of example 1 - 3 is similarly prepared , as are the following compounds : combine 1 -( 2 , 4 - difluorophenyl ) piperazine ( 1 . 5 g , 7 . 6 mmol ), ethyl 2 - bromopropionate ( 1 . 65 g , 9 . 1 mmol ) and dipea ( 1 . 1 g , 8 . 3 mmol ) in dmf ( 8 ml ). stir 4 h , concentrate , and partition between et 2 o and water . wash with brine , dry ( mgso 4 ), and concentrate to obtain the ester as a yellow oil , nmr ( cdcl 3 ) consistent . to the product of step 1 ( 2 . 15 g , 7 . 2 mmol ) in thf ( 10 ml ), add lialh 4 ( 1 . 0 m in thf , 4 . 4 ml , 4 . 4 mmol ) dropwise . heat at 60 ° c . 1 h , add water ( 0 . 16 ml ), 15 % naoh ( 0 . 16 ml ), and then water ( 0 . 49 ml ). filter and concentrate to obtain the alcohol as a yellow oil , nmr ( cdcl 3 ) consistent . to the product of step 2 ( 0 . 90 g , 3 . 5 mmol ) in ch 2 cl 2 ( 10 ml ) at 5 ° c ., add socl 2 ( 0 . 38 ml , 5 . 3 mmol ). allow to warm and stir 16 h . concentrate and partition between ch 2 cl 2 and 1n naoh , wash with water , dry ( mgso 4 ) and concentrate to obtain the crude product as a yellow oil . step 4 : combine the product of preparation 1 ( 0 . 20 g , 0 . 83 mmol ), the product of step 3 ( 0 . 34 g , 1 . 2 mmol ) and nah ( 60 % in oil , 0 . 040 g , 1 . 0 mmol ) in dry dmf ( 5 ml ). heat at 60 ° c . for 24 h , add additional chloride ( 0 . 15 g ) and nah ( 0 . 02 g ), and heat another 4 h . concentrate and purify by flash column chromatography ( ch 2 cl 2 , ch 3 oh + nh 3 ) to obtain the title compound as a yellow solid , mass spectrum m / e 479 ( m + h ). using the procedure of example 1 , substituting the tosylate of preparation 4 for the tosylate of preparation 2 , prepare the following compounds : step 1 : to a solution of the product of example 3 - 1 ( 4 . 17 g , 9 . 2 mmol ) in ch 2 cl 2 ( 500 ml ), add anhydrous hcl ( 120 ml of 4 . 0 m dioxane solution ) and stir 2 h . concentrate to dryness under vacuum and take up the residue in water . make alkaline with aqueous naoh and collect the precipitated de - protected product . mass spectrum : mh += 354 . step 2 : stir a mixture of the product of step 1 ( 71 mg , 0 . 2 mmol ) and 4 - methoxy - benzoyl chloride ( 51 mg , 0 . 3 mmol ) in dry dmf ( 10 ml ) containing n , n - diisopropyl - ethylamine ( 52 mg , 0 . 4 mmol ) for 6 h at rt . pour the solution into water and collect the precipitated title compound . mass spectrum : mh += 488 . to a solution of the product of example 6 , step 1 ( 53 mg , 0 . 15 mmol ) in nmp ( 10 ml ) add 4 - chlorophenylisocyanate ( 25 . 3 mg , 0 . 165 mmol ) at rt . stir overnight , add an additional 25 . 3 mg of the isocyanate , and stir 1 h to complete conversion of all starting material . pour into water and collect the precipitated title compound . mass spectrum : mh += 507 . in a similar fashion , prepare the following from the appropriate isocyanate , isothiocyanate or carbamoyl chloride : slurry the product of example 6 , step 1 ( 53 mg , 0 . 15 mmol ) in dry dmf ( 20 ml ) containing triethylamine ( 77 mg , 0 . 76 mmol ); add 2 , 4 - difluorobenzenesulfonyl chloride ( 37 μl , 0 . 225 mmol ). stir at rt 2 days . pour into water and collect the precipitated title compound . mass spectrum : m += 529 . add 4 - methoxyphenyl chloroformate ( 56 mg , 0 . 3 mmol ) to a slurry of the product of example 6 , step 1 ( 71 mg , 0 . 2 mmol ) in warm dmf ( 25 ml ) containing triethylamine ( 101 mg , 1 . 0 mmol ). stir the mixture overnight at rt . concentrate the solution to ⅓ its volume and pour into water . collect the precipitate , wash with water , and dry in vacuo . recrystallize from ch 3 oh / ch 2 cl 2 to give the title compound . mass spectrum : mh += 504 . step 1 : combine 1 - bromo - 2 , 4 - difluorobenzene ( 1 . 00 g , 5 . 18 mmol ), n , n ′- dimethyl - ethylenediamine ( 2 . 74 g , 31 . 1 mmol ), nao - t - bu ( 0 . 70 g , 7 . 2 mmol ), pd ( dba ) 2 ( 0 . 060 g , 0 . 10 mmol ) and (±)- binap ( 0 . 19 g , 0 . 31 mmol ) in toluene ( 10 ml ). heat at 110 ° for 18 h , allow to cool , and extract with 1n hcl . basify the aqueous solution with naoh and extract with ch 2 cl 2 . dry , concentrate , and purify by plc to give n -( 2 , 4 - difluoro - phenyl )- n , n ′- dimethylethylenediamine . step 2 : combine the product of preparation 2 ( 0 . 100 g , 0 . 23 mmol ) with the product of step 1 ( 0 . 091 g , 0 . 46 mmol ) in dmf ( 2 ml ). heat at 80 ° for 90 h , allow to cool , concentrate , and purify by column chromatography to obtain the title compound as an oil , mass spec m / e = 467 . the compound of example 1 - 2 was also prepared by the following procedure . to a solution of the product of preparation 1 , step 1 , ( 768 mg , 4 mmol ) in dmf ( 20 ml ) add n , n - diisopropylethylamine ( 0 . 88 ml , 5 mmol ), followed by hydrazine hydrate ( 0 . 2 ml , 4 . 1 mmol ). the solution warms and a solid precipitates which gradually dissolves over 1 h . after stirring 3 h , concentrate the solution under vacuum to about ⅓ its volume , and pour into water . collect the precipitate and recrystallize it from ch 3 oh to give the chloropyrazolopyrimidine . mass spectrum : mh += 170 . to a stirred solution of 1 - phenylpiperazine ( 6 . 5 g , 40 mmol ) and 50 % aqueous chloroacetaldehyde ( 6 . 4 ml , 48 mmol ) in ch 2 cl 2 ( 125 ml ) at 5 - 10 ° c . add , portionwise , na ( oac ) 3 bh ( 12 . 72 g , 60 mmol ). when foaming ceases , allow the mixture to warm to rt and stir for 3 h . dilute with ch 2 cl 2 ( 100 ml ), and shake with 1n aq naoh to bring ph above 8 . wash organic layer with water and brine , dry over mgso 4 , and solvent strip . chromatograph on silica and elute with 1 % ch 3 oh / ch 2 cl 2 to give the title compound . mass spectrum : mh += 225 . to a slurry of 60 % nah ( 0 . 14 g , 3 . 5 mmol ) in dmf ( 30 ml ) at ice bath temperature add , portionwise , the product of step 1 ( 0 . 51 g , 3 mmol ). when gas evolution ceases , add the product of step 2 . stir the resulting mixture at rt overnight . filter off dark red insoluble matter , and concentrate the filtrate to dryness under vacuum . triturate the gummy residue with ch 3 oh to give the title compound as a light yellow solid . mass spectrum : mh += 358 . the product of step 3 was treated as described in preparation 1 , steps 2 and 4 , to obtain the compound of example 1 - 2 . step 1 : to nah ( 60 % in oil , 142 mg , 3 . 5 mmol ) in dmf ( 15 ml ) add the chloride of example 11 , step 1 ( 500 mg , 2 . 9 mmol ). add to this 1 -( 2 - chloroethyl )- 4 -( 2 , 4 - difluorophenyl ) piperazine ( 846 mg , 3 . 5 mmol ). stir at rt 90 h and concentrate . chromatograph to obtain the desired compound as a white solid . pmr in dmso : δ2 . 57 ( 4h , s ), 2 . 76 ( 2h , t ), 2 . 85 ( 4h , s ), 4 . 30 ( 2h , t ), 7 . 0 ( 2h , m ), 7 . 15 ( 1h , dxt ), 7 . 26 ( 2h , s ), 7 . 97 ( 1h , s ). step 2 : treat the chloride of step 1 ( 37 mg , 0 . 095 mmol ) in dmf ( 95 ml ) with hydrazine hydrate ( 9 . 2 μl , 0 . 19 mmol ). after 4 h , concentrate and chromatograph on plc to obtain the hydrazine as a brown oil . mass spectrum : mh += 390 . step 3 : treat the hydrazine from step 2 ( 18 mg , 0 . 047 mmol ) in dmf ( 2 ml ) with thiophene - 2 - carbonyl chloride ( 5 . 2 μl , 0 . 047 mmol ) and dipea ( 12 . 2 μl , 0 . 07 mmol ). after 4 h , concentrate and chromatograph on plc to obtain the hydrazide as a yellow oil . mass spectrum : mh += 500 . step 4 : heat the hydrazide from step 3 ( 13 mg , 0 . 026 mmol ) in n , o - bis ( trimethyl - silyl ) acetamide ( 1 ml ) for 2 h at 100 ° c . concentrate and chromatograph on plc to obtain the title compound as a white solid . mass spectrum : mh += 482 . the 1 -( 2 - chloroethyl )- 4 -( 2 , 4 - difluorophenyl ) piperazine employed in this sequence is prepared in two steps . add chloroacetyl chloride ( 1 . 76 ml , 22 . 1 mmol ) and n - methylmorpholine ( 2 . 65 ml , 24 . 1 mmol ) to 1 -( 2 , 4 - difluorophenyl ) piperazine ( 3 . 98 g , 20 . 1 mmol ) in ch 2 cl 2 ( 15 ml ) at 0 ° c . stir at rt 1 h , concentrate , partition etoac - water , dry , and concentrate to obtain the amide as a brown oil . to a 0 ° c . solution of this ( 4 . 71 g , 17 . 1 mmol ) in thf ( 25 ml ) add dropwise bh 3 ● ch 3 s / thf ( 2m , 12 . 8 ml , 25 . 6 mmol ). stir at rt overnight , quench with ch 3 oh , concentrate , and partition with ch 2 cl 2 - water . dry and concentrate the organic layer . treat the crude product a second time with bh 3 ● ch 3 s / thf and work up as above to provide the chloroethylpiperazine as a brown oil . step 1 : to nah ( 2 . 14 g , 60 % in oil , 53 mmol ) in dmf ( 20 ml ), add the product of example 11 , step 1 ( 7 . 55 g , 45 mmol ). add 1 - bromo - 2 - chloroethane ( 14 . 8 ml , 178 mmol ). stir 1 . 5 h and concentrate . chromatograph to give the dichloride as a white solid . step 2 : in the product of step 1 ( 3 . 7 g , 16 mmol ) in dmf ( 20 ml ) add 1 - butyl carbazate ( 2 . 53 g , 19 mmole ). heat at 80 ° c . for 18 h and concentrate . chromatograph to obtain the carbazate as a while solid . step 3 : to the product of step 2 ( 3 . 16 g , 9 . 6 mmol ) and ki ( 1 . 6 g , 9 . 6 mmol ) in dmf ( 25 ml ) add 1 -( 2 , 4 - difluorophenyl ) piperazine ( 3 . 82 g , 19 mmol ). heat at 90 ° c . for 68 h and concentrate . chromatograph to obtain the piperazine as a brown solid . step 4 : dissolve the product of step 3 ( 3 . 38 g , 6 . 9 mmol ) in 1 : 1 ch 3 oh — ch 2 cl 2 ( 50 ml ). add 4m hcl in dioxane ( 20 ml ). stir 16 h and add aq . nh 3 to ph 11 - 12 . concentrate and chromatograph to obtain the hydrazine as a yellow solid . step 5 : combine the product of step 4 ( 0 . 120 g , 0 . 31 mmol ) with 5 - bromo - 2 - furoic acid ( 0 . 071 g , 0 . 37 mmol ) and hobt . h 2 o ( 0 . 050 g , 0 . 37 mmol ) in dmf ( 6 ml ). add edcl ( 0 . 071 g , 0 . 37 mmol ) and stir 1 h . concentrate and chromatograph to obtain the hydrazide as a yellow solid . step 6 : dissolve the product of step 5 ( 0 . 163 g , 0 . 28 mmol ) in n , o - bis ( trimethylsilyl ) acetamide ( 6 ml ). heat at 120 ° c . for 16 h and pour into ch 3 oh . concentrate and chromatograph to obtain the title product as an off - white solid : ms m / e 544 + 546 ( m + 1 ). similarly prepare compounds of the following structure , wherein r is as defined in the table : treat the product of example 13 , step 4 ( 0 . 080 g , 0 . 20 mmol ) with nicotinoyl chloride hydrochloride ( 0 . 044 g , 0 . 25 mmol ) and diisopropylethylamine ( 0 . 086 ml , 0 . 49 mmol ) in dmf ( 4 ml ). stir 2 h , concentrate and chromatograph to obtain the hydrazide as a white solid . treat this material with bsa as in example 13 , step 6 to obtain the title compound as a white solid : ms m / e 477 ( m + 1 ). similarly prepare compounds of the following structure , wherein r is as defined in the table : step 1 : to the product of example 13 , step 2 ( 3 . 54 g , 10 . 8 mmol ) and ki ( 1 . 79 g , 10 . 8 mmol ) in dmf ( 35 ml ) add 1 -( 4 -( 2 - methoxyethoxy ) phenyl ) piperazine ( 5 . 1 g , 22 mmol ). heat at 90 ° c . for 90 h and concentrate . chromatograph to obtain the piperazine as a brown solid . step 2 : treat the product of step 1 with hcl as in example 13 , step 4 , to obtain the hydrazine as a yellow solid . step 3 : treat the product of step 2 with 5 - chloro - 2 - furoic acid as in example 13 , step 5 , to obtain the hydrazide as a yellow solid . step 4 : treat the product of step 3 with bsa as in example 13 , step 6 . chromatograph to obtain the title compound as a white solid , ms m / e 538 + 540 ( m + 1 ). similarly prepare compounds of the following structure , wherein r is as defined in the table : combine the product of example 1 - 83 ( 0 . 080 g , 0 . 16 mmol ) with ac 2 o ( 0 . 028 ml , 0 . 28 mmol ) and 4 - dimethylaminopyridine ( 0 . 004 g , 0 . 03 mmol ) in dmf ( 5 ml ). stir 4 h , concentrate , and chromatograph to obtain the acetate ester as a white solid , ms : m / e = 532 ( m + 1 ). combine the product of example 1 - 21 ( 0 . 100 g , 0 . 21 mmol ) with h 2 nhoh ● hcl 0 . 029 g , 0 . 42 mmol ) in 95 % etoh ( 9 ml ). add 10 drops conc . hcl , heat at reflux 5 h , add dmf ( 1 . 5 ml ), heat 18 h , allow to cool , and filter to obtain the oxime as a white solid , ms : m / e = 487 ( m + 1 ). chromatograph the mother liquor to obtain additional product . step 1 : to a solution of 4 - bromophenethyl alcohol ( 0 . 600 g , 2 . 98 mmol ) and 3 - pyridinylboronic acid ( 0 . 734 g , 5 . 97 mmol ) in toluene ( 35 ml ) and etoh ( 9 ml ), add a solution of k 2 co 3 ( 0 . 8826 g , 5 . 97 mmol ) in h 2 o ( 16 ml ) and tetrakis ( triphenyl - phosphine ) palladium ( 0 ) ( 0 . 172 g , 0 . 149 mmol ). heat in a sealed tube 18 h at 120 ° c . and cool . extract with etoac , wash with brine , dry ( k 2 co 3 ) and concentrate . chromatograph on silica ( 30 - 50 % etoac / hexanes ) to obtain the biaryl alcohol . step 2 : to the product of step 1 ( 0 . 540 g , 2 . 71 mmol ) in ch 2 cl 2 ( 15 ml ) at 0 ° c . add mesyl chloride ( 0 . 35 ml , 3 . 52 mmol ) and et 3 n ( 0 . 57 ml , 4 . 00 mmol ). stir 2 . 5 h and extract with ch 2 cl 2 . dry ( na 2 so 4 ) and concentrate to obtain the mesylate . step 3 : add the product of preparation 4 ( 0 . 347 g , 1 . 44 mmol ) to the mesylate of step 2 ( 0 . 480 g , 1 . 73 mmol ) in dmf ( 4 . 5 ml ), followed by nah ( 60 %. in oil , 0 . 082 g , 4 . 04 mmol ). stir 18 h and extract with etoac . wash with h 2 o dry ( k 2 co 3 ) and concentrate . purify by ptlc ( 5 % ch 3 oh / ch 2 cl 2 , developed twice ) to obtain the title compound as a white solid , ms : 423 ( m + 1 ). by the above method , prepare the following ( example 18 - 8 from commercial biphenylethanol ): step 1 : combine 4 - bromophenethyl alcohol ( 3 . 00 g , 14 . 9 mmol ), triethylamine ( 2 . 68 ml , 19 . 2 mmol ), dimethylaminopyridine ( 0 . 180 g , 1 . 47 mmol ) and t - butyidimethylsilyl chloride ( 2 . 45 g , 16 . 3 mmol ) in ch 2 cl 2 ( 75 ml ). stir 1 h , wash with h 2 o , dry ( k 2 co 3 ), and concentrate . chromatograph on silica ( hexanes ) to obtain the silyl ether . step 2 : to the compound of step 1 ( 0 . 300 g , 0 . 95 mmol ) in dry toluene ( 15 ml ) add 2 -( tri - butylstannyl ) pyridine ( 1 . 05 g , 2 . 86 mmol ) and tetrakis ( triphenylphosphine )- palladium ( 0 . 11 g , 0 . 095 mmol ). flush with n 2 and heat 16 h at 120 ° c . cool , filter through celite , and wash with nh 4 cl , brine and then water . dry ( k 2 co 3 ) and concentrate . chromatograph on silica ( 3 - 5 % etoac / hexanes ) to obtain the biaryl , ms 314 ( m + 1 ). step 3 : combine the biaryl of step 2 ( 0 . 180 g , 0 . 57 mmol ) and tbaf ( 1 . 0 m in thf , 1 . 7 ml ) in thf ( 5 . 7 ml ). stir 2 h , wash with saturated nh 4 cl , and extract with etoac . wash with h 2 o several times , dry ( k 2 co 3 ) and concentrate to obtain the alcohol . steps 4 and 5 : conduct as in example 18 , steps 2 and 3 , to obtain the title compound as a white solid , ms : 423 ( m + 1 ). to the product of example 18 ( 0 . 055 g , 0 . 13 mmol ) in ch 2 cl 2 ( 1 . 5 ml ) at − 78 ° c . add m - cpba ( 0 . 050 g , 0 . 29 mmol ). allow to warm , stir 5 h , and wash successively with sat . na 2 s 2 o 3 , 5 % k 2 co 3 , and h 2 o . dry ( na 2 so 4 ) and concentrate . purify by ptlc ( 10 % ch 3 oh / ch 2 cl 2 ) to obtain the title compound , ms : 439 ( m + 1 ). similarly , oxidize the product of example 18 - 2 at 0 ° c . or rt to produce the sulfoxide , ms : 484 ( m + 1 ), or the sulfone , ms : 500 ( m + 1 ). combine the product of preparation 6 ( 0 . 104 g , 0 . 30 mmol ), 4 - methyl - benzenethiol ( 0 . 075 g , 0 . 60 mmol ), and k 2 co 3 ( 0 . 091 g , 0 . 66 mmol ) in dmf ( 20 ml ). heat at 80 ° c . for 5 h and concentrate . partition between etoac and water , wash with brine , dry over mgso 4 and concentrate . recrystallize from ch 3 oh to obtain the title compound , ms : m / e = 392 ( m + 1 ). combine the product of preparation 6 ( 0 . 11 g , 0 . 25 mmol ), 3 , 4 - dimethoxy - phenol ( 0 . 154 g , 1 . 0 mmol ), and k 2 co 3 ( 0 . 138 g , 1 . 0 mmol ) in dmf ( 5 ml ). heat at 90 ° c . for 48 h and concentrate . partition between etoac and water , wash with 1 n naoh and then brine , dry over mgso 4 , and concentrate . chromatograph on silica ( 1 . 5 % ch 3 oh / ch 2 cl 2 ) to obtain the title compound , ms : m / e = 422 ( m + 1 ). step 1 : to nah ( 60 % in oil , 1 . 32 g , 33 mmol ) in dmf ( 25 ml ) at 5 ° c . add dropwise , with stirring , 3 , 4 - dimethoxyphenol ( 4 . 77 g , 30 mmol ). after 0 . 5 h , add 1 , 5 - dibromo - pentane ( 20 . 7 g , 90 mmol ). stir 2 h and concentrate . chromatograph on silica ( ch 2 cl 2 ) to obtain the monobromide , ms : m / e = 303 ( m + 1 ). step 2 : to nah ( 60 % in oil , 0 . 044 g , 1 . 1 mmol ) in dmf ( 25 ml ) at 5 ° c . add the product of preparation 1 ( 0 . 241 g , 1 . 1 mmol ). after 0 . 5 h , add the compound from step 1 . allow to warm , stir 18 h , and concentrate . partition between etoac and water , wash with 1n naoh and then brine , dry over mgso 4 , and concentrate . chromatograph on silica ( 2 % ch 3 oh / ch 2 cl 2 ) and recrystallize the appropriate fraction from ch 3 cn to obtain the title compound , ms : m / e = 464 ( m + 1 ). step 1 : combine 1 , 4 - dioxa - 8 - azaspiro ( 4 , 5 ) decane ( 0 . 48 ml , 3 . 8 mmol ) with the product of preparation 2 ( 0 . 66 g , 1 . 5 mmol ) in dmf ( 10 ml ). heat at 90 ° c . for 16 h , allow to cool , filter and wash with ch 3 oh to give off - white solid , ms : m / e 411 ( m + 1 ). step 2 : heat the product of step 1 ( 0 . 476 g , 1 . 16 mmol ) in acetone ( 10 ml ) and 5 % hcl ( 10 ml ) at 100 ° c . for 16 h . cool , neutralize with sat . nahco 3 , and extract with 10 % ch 3 oh in ch 2 cl 2 . dry ( mgso 4 ), concentrate and chromatograph on silica with ch 3 oh — ch 2 cl 2 to obtain the ketone as a white powder , ms : m / e 367 ( m + 1 ). step 3 : combine the product of step 2 ( 0 . 050 g , 0 . 13 mmol ) with o - methylhydroxyl - amine hydrochloride ( 0 . 033 g , 0 . 39 mmol ) in pyridine ( 3 ml ). stir for 16 h and concentrate . partition between nahco 3 ( sat .) and 5 % ch 3 oh in ch 2 cl 2 . dry ( mgso 4 ), concentrate and chromatograph on silica with 5 % ch 3 oh — ch 2 cl 2 to obtain the title compound as a white solid , ms : m / e 396 ( m + 1 ). step 1 : combine benzyl 4 - oxo - 1 - piperidinecarboxylate ( 1 . 0 g , 4 . 3 mmol ) with h 2 noh . hcl ( 0 . 89 g , 13 mmol ) in pyridine ( 5 ml ). stir 16 h and concentrate . partition between nahco 3 ( sat .) and etoac , dry ( mgso 4 ) and concentrate to give the oxime . step 2 : combine the product of step 1 ( 0 . 44 g , 1 . 8 mmol ) with 2 - bromoethyl methyl ether ( 0 . 20 ml , 2 . 2 mmol ) and nah ( 0 . 10 g , 2 . 7 mmol ) in dmf ( 8 ml ). stir 16 h and concentrate . partition between nh 4 cl ( sat .) and ether , dry ( mgso 4 ), and concentrate . chromatograph the residue on silica with 20 % etoac - hexane to obtain the alkylated oxime . step 3 : stir the product of step 2 ( 0 . 45 g , 1 . 47 mmol ) over 5 % pd / c ( 0 . 045 g ) in etoac ( 25 ml ) under h 2 for 6 h . filter and concentrate to obtain the amine . step 4 : treat the amine of step 3 with the product of preparation 2 as in example 24 , step 1 , to obtain the title compound as a white solid , ms : m / e 440 ( m + 1 ). add sodium triacetoxyborohydride ( 0 . 083 g , 0 . 39 mmol ) to a mixture of the product of example 24 , step 2 ( 0 . 050 g , 0 . 13 mmol ), aniline ( 0 . 035 ml , 0 . 39 mmol ), and acoh ( 0 . 045 ml , 0 . 78 mmol ) in dichloroethane ( 3 ml ). stir 16 h and partition between nahco 3 ( sat .) and 5 % ch 3 oh in ch 2 cl 2 . dry ( mgso 4 ) and concentrate . chromatograph ( 5 % ch 3 oh — ch 2 cl 2 ) to obtain the title compound as a white solid , ms : m / e 444 ( m + 1 ). in similar fashion , prepare the following compound , ms : m / e 445 ( m + 1 ). step 1 : combine 4 - bromophenol ( 3 . 46 g , 20 . 0 mmol ) with 2 - bromoethyl methyl ether ( 2 . 82 ml , 30 . 0 mmol ) and k 2 co 3 ( 8 . 30 g , 60 . 0 mmol ) in acetone ( 50 ml ). heat at reflux 16 h , cool , filter , and concentrate . chromatograph on silica with 5 % etoac / hexane to give the ether as a clear oil . to this ether ( 2 . 73 g , 11 . 8 mmol ) in dry thf ( 50 ml ) at − 78 ° c . add n - buli ( 1 . 6 m in hexane , 7 . 4 ml , 11 . 8 mmol ). stir for 10 min . and add a solution of benzyl 4 - oxo - 1 - piperidinecarboxylate ( 2 . 5 g , 10 . 7 mmol ) in dry thf ( 5 ml ). stir for 2 h and allow to warm . partition between sat . nh 4 cl and etoac , dry ( mgso 4 ) and concentrate . chromatograph on silica with etoac / hexane ( 20 : 80 , then 40 : 60 ) to obtain the alcohol . step 2 : to a solution of the product of step 1 ( 0 . 386 g , 1 . 0 mmol ) and triethylsilane ( 0 . 80 ml , 5 . 0 mmol ) in dry ch 2 cl 2 ( 10 ml ) at − 78 ° c . add trifluoroacetic acid ( 0 . 38 ml , 5 . 0 mmol ). allow to warm over 2 h and partition between sat . nahco 3 and ch 2 cl 2 . dry ( mgso 4 ) and concentrate . chromatograph on silica with 20 % etoac / hexane to obtain the reduction product , ms : m / e 370 ( m + 1 ). step 3 : stir the product of step 2 ( 0 . 300 g , 0 . 758 mmol ) over 5 % pd / c ( 0 . 030 g ) in etoac ( 5 ml ) and ch 3 oh ( 5 ml ) under h 2 for 2 h . filter and concentrate to obtain the amine . step 4 : treat the amine of step 3 with the product of preparation 2 as in example 24 , step 1 , to obtain the title compound as a white solid , ms : m / e 503 ( m + 1 ). treat the product of example 1 - 145 ( 0 . 020 g , 0 . 044 mmol ) in etoh ( 0 . 5 ml ) at 0 ° c . with sodium borohydride ( 0 . 005 g , 0 . 13 mmol ) and with an equal amount again after 0 . 75 h . after another 0 . 75 h , partition between ch 2 cl 2 and sat . nh 4 cl . dry ( na 2 so 4 ) and concentrate . purify by ptlc ( 10 % ch 3 oh / ch 2 cl 2 ) to obtain the title compound as a white solid , ms : 459 ( m + 1 ). treat the product of example 1 - 145 ( 0 . 020 g , 0 . 044 mmol ) in pyridine ( 0 . 5 ml ) with methoxyamine hydrochloride ( 0 . 011 g , 0 . 13 mmol ). stir 16 h and concentrate . partition between ch 2 cl 2 and sat . nahco 3 . dry ( na 2 so 4 ) and concentrate . purify by ptlc ( 5 % ch 3 oh / ch 2 cl 2 ) to obtain the title compound as a white solid , ms : 486 ( m + 1 ). similarly , prepare the oxime 29 - 2 as two separated geometric isomers , each a white solid , ms : 472 ( m + 1 ). because of their adenosine a 2a receptor antagonist activity , compounds of the present invention are useful in the treatment of depression , cognitive function diseases and neurodegenerative diseases such as parkinson &# 39 ; s disease , senile dementia as in alzheimer &# 39 ; s disease , and psychoses of organic origin . in particular , the compounds of the present invention can improve motor - impairment due to neurodegenerative diseases such as parkinson &# 39 ; s disease . the other agents known to be useful in the treatment of parkinson &# 39 ; s disease which can be administered in combination with the compounds of formula i include : l - dopa ; dopaminergic agonists such as quinpirole , ropinirole , pramipexole , pergolide and bromocriptine ; mao - b inhibitors such as deprenyl and selegiline ; dopa decarboxylase inhibitors such as carbidopa and benserazide ; and comt inhibitors such as tolcapone and entacapone . one to three other agents can be used in combination with the compounds of formula i , preferably one . the pharmacological activity of the compounds of the invention was determined by the following in vitro and in vivo assays to measure a 2a receptor activity . human adenosine a 2a and a 1 receptor competition binding assay protocol a 2a : human a 2a adenosine receptor membranes , catalog # rb - ha2a , receptor biology , inc ., beltsville , md . dilute to 17 μg / 100 μl in membrane dilution buffer ( see below ). membrane dilution buffer : dulbecco &# 39 ; s phosphate buffered saline ( gibco / brl )+ 10 mm mgcl 2 . compound dilution buffer : dulbecco &# 39 ; s phosphate buffered saline ( gibco / brl )+ 10 mm mgcl 2 supplemented with 1 . 6 mg / ml methyl cellulose and 16 % dmso . prepared fresh daily . a 2a : [ 3h ]- sch 58261 , custom synthesis , amershampharmacia biotech , piscataway , n . j . stock is prepared at 1 nm in membrane dilution buffer . final assay concentration is 0 . 5 nm . a 1 : [ 3h ]- dpcpx , amershampharmacia biotech , piscataway , n . j . stock is prepared at 2 nm in membrane dilution buffer . final assay concentration is 1 nm . a 2a : to determine non - specific binding , add 100 nm cgs 15923 ( rbi , natick , mass .). working stock is prepared at 400 nm in compound dilution buffer . a 1 : to determine non - specific binding , add 100 μm neca ( rbi , natick , mass ). working stock is prepared at 400 μm in compound dilution buffer . prepare 1 mm stock solutions of compounds in 100 % dmso . dilute in compound dilution buffer . test at 10 concentrations ranging from 3 μm to 30 pm . prepare working solutions at 4 × final concentration in compound dilution buffer . perform assays in deep well 96 well plates . total assay volume is 200 μl . add 50 μl compound dilution buffer ( total ligand binding ) or 50 μl cgs 15923 working solution ( a 2a non - specific binding ) or 50 μl neca working solution ( a 1 non - specific binding ) or 50 μl of drug working solution . add 50 μl ligand stock ([ 3h ]- sch 58261 for a 2a , [ 3h ]- dpcpx for a 1 ). add 100 μl of diluted membranes containing the appropriate receptor . mix . incubate at room temperature for 90 minutes . harvest using a brandel cell harvester onto packard gf / b filter plates . add 45 μl microscint 20 ( packard ), and count using the packard topcount microscintillation counter . determine ic 50 values by fitting the displacement curves using an iterative curve fitting program ( excel ). determine ki values using the cheng - prusoff equation . male sprague - dawley rats ( charles river , calco , italy ) weighing 175 - 200 g are used . the cataleptic state is induced by the subcutaneous administration of the dopamine receptor antagonist haloperidol ( 1 mg / kg , sc ), 90 min before testing the animals on the vertical grid test . this test , the rats are placed on the wire mesh cover of a 25 × 43 plexiglass cage placed at an angle of about 70 degrees with the bench table . the rat is placed on the grid with all four legs abducted and extended (“ frog posture ”). the use of such an unnatural posture is essential for the specificity of this test for catalepsy . the time span from placement of the paws until the first complete removal of one paw ( decent latency ) is measured maximally for 120 sec . the selective a 2a adenosine antagonists under evaluation are administered orally at doses ranging between 0 . 03 and 3 mg / kg , 1 and 4 h before scoring the animals . in separate experiments , the anticataleptic effects of the reference compound , l - dopa ( 25 , 50 and 100 mg / kg , ip ), were determined . adult male sprague - dowley rats ( charles river , calco , como , italy ), weighing 275 - 300 g , are used in all experiments . the rats are housed in groups of 4 per cage , with free access to food and water , under controlled temperature and 12 hour light / dark cycle . the day before the surgery the rats are fasted over night with water ad libitum . unilateral 6 - hydroxydopamine ( 6 - ohda ) lesion of the middle forebrain bundle is performed according to the method described by ungerstedt et al . ( brain research , 1971 , 6 - ohda and cathecolamine neurons , north holland , amsterdam , 101 - 127 ), with minor changes . briefly , the animals are anaesthetized with chloral hydrate ( 400 mg / kg , ip ) and treated with desipramine ( 10 mpk , ip ) 30 min prior to 6 - ohda injection in order to block the uptake of the toxin by the noradrenergic terminals . then , the animals are placed in a stereotaxic frame . the skin over the skull is reflected and the stereotaxic coordinates (− 2 . 2 posterior from bregma ( ap ), + 1 . 5 lateral from bregma ( ml ), 7 . 8 ventral from dura ( dv ) are taken , according to the atlas of pellegrino et al ( pellegrino l . j ., pellegrino a . s . and cushman a . j ., a stereotaxic atlas of the rat brain , 1979 , new york : plenum press ). a burr hole is then placed in the skull over the lesion site and a needle , attached to a hamilton syringe , is lowered into the left mfb . then 8 μg 6 - ohda - hcl is dissolved in 4 μl of saline with 0 . 05 % ascorbic acid as antioxidant , and infused at the constant flow rate of 1 μl / 1 min using an infusion pump . the needle is withdrawn after additional 5 min and the surgical wound is closed and the animals left to recover for 2 weeks . two weeks after the lesion the rats are administered with l - dopa ( 50 mg / kg , ip ) plus benserazide ( 25 mg / kg , ip ) and selected on the basis of the number of full contralateral turns quantified in the 2 h testing period by automated rotameters ( priming test ). any rat not showing at least 200 complete turns / 2 h is not included in the study . selected rats receive the test drug 3 days after the priming test ( maximal dopamine receptor supersensitivity ). the new receptor antagonists are administered orally at dose levels ranging between 0 . 1 and 3 mg / kg at different time points ( i . e ., 1 , 6 , 12 h ) before the injection of a subthreshold dose of l - dopa ( 4 mpk , ip ) plus benserazide ( 4 mpk , ip ) and the evaluation of turning behavior . using the above test procedures , the following results were obtained for preferred and / or representative compounds of the invention . results of the binding assay on compounds of the invention showed a 2a , ki vaules of 0 . 3 to 57 nm , with preferred compounds showing ki values between 0 . 3 and 5 . 0 nm . selectivity is determined by dividing ki for a1 receptor by ki for a2a receptor . preferred compounds of the invention have a selectivity ranging from about 100 to about 2000 . preferred compounds showed a 50 - 75 % decrease in descent latency when tested orally at 1 mg / kg for anti - cataleptic activity in rats . in the 6 - ohda lesion test , rats dosed orally with 1 mg / kg of the preferred compounds performed 170 - 440 turns in the two - hour assay period . in the haloperidol - induced catalepsy test , a combination of sub - threshold amount of a compound of formula i and a sub - threshold amount of l - dopa showed a significant inhibition of the catalepsy , indicating a synergistic effect . in the 6 - ohda lesion test , test animals administered a combination of a compound of formula i and a sub - threshold amount of l - dopa demonstrated significantly higher contralateral turning . for preparing pharmaceutical compositions from the compounds described by this invention , inert , pharmaceutically acceptable carriers can be either solid or liquid . solid form preparations include powders , tablets , dispersible granules , capsules , cachets and suppositories . the powders and tablets may be comprised of from about 5 to about 70 percent active ingredient . suitable solid carriers are known in the art , e . g . magnesium carbonate , magnesium stearate , talc , sugar , lactose . tablets , powders , cachets and capsules can be used as solid dosage forms suitable for oral administration . for preparing suppositories , a low melting wax such as a mixture of fatty acid glycerides or cocoa butter is first melted , and the active ingredient is dispersed homogeneously therein as by stirring . the molten homogeneous mixture is then poured into convenient sized molds , allowed to cool and thereby solidify . liquid form preparations include solutions , suspensions and emulsions . as an example may be mentioned water or water - propylene glycol solutions for parenteral injection . aerosol preparations suitable for inhalation may include solutions and solids in powder form , which may be in combination with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier , such as an inert compressed gas . also included are solid form preparations which are intended to be converted , shortly before use , to liquid form preparations for either oral or parenteral administration . such liquid forms include solutions , suspensions and emulsions . the compounds of the invention may also be deliverable transdermally . the transdermal compositions can take the form of creams , lotions , aerosols and / or emulsions and can be included in a transdermal patch of the matrix or reservoir type as are conventional in the art for this purpose . preferably , the pharmaceutical preparation is in unit dosage form . in such form , the preparation is subdivided into unit doses containing appropriate quantities of the active component , e . g ., an effective amount to achieve the desired purpose . the quantity of active compound of formula i in a unit dose of preparation may be varied or adjusted from about 0 . 1 mg to 1000 mg , more preferably from about 1 mg to 300 mg , according to the particular application . the actual dosage employed may be varied depending upon the requirements of the patient and the severity of the condition being treated . determination of the proper dosage for a particular situation is within the skill of the art . generally , treatment is initiated with smaller dosages which are less than the optimum dose of the compound . thereafter , the dosage is increased by small increments until the optimum effect under the circumstances is reached . for convenience , the total daily dosage may be divided and administered in portions during the day if desired . the amount and frequency of administration of the compounds of the invention and the pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof will be regulated according to the judgment of the attending clinician considering such factors as age , condition and size of the patient as well as severity of the symptoms being treated . a typical recommended dosage regimen for compounds of formula i is oral administration of from 10 mg to 2000 mg / day preferably 10 to 1000 mg / day , in two to four divided doses to provide relief from central nervous system diseases such as parkinson &# 39 ; s disease . the compounds are non - toxic when administered within this dosage range . the doses and dosage regimen of the dopaminergic agents will be determined by the attending clinician in view of the approved doses and dosage regimen in the package insert , taking into consideration the age , sex and condition of the patient and the severity of the disease . it is expected that when the combination of a compound of formula i and a dopaminergic agent is administered , lower doses of the components will be effective compared to the doses of the components administered as monotherapy . the following are examples of pharmaceutical dosage forms which contain a compound of the invention . those skilled in the art will recognize that dosage forms can be modified to contain both a compound of formula i and a dopaminergic agent . the scope of the invention in its pharmaceutical composition aspect is not to be limited by the examples provided . mix item nos . 1 and 2 in a suitable mixer for 10 - 15 minutes . granulate the mixture with item no . 3 . mill the damp granules through a coarse screen ( e . g ., ¼ ″, 0 . 63 cm ) if necessary . dry the damp granules . screen the dried granules if necessary and mix with item no . 4 and mix for 10 - 15 minutes . add item no . 5 and mix for 1 - 3 minutes . compress the mixture to appropriate size and weigh on a suitable tablet machine . mix item nos . 1 , 2 and 3 in a suitable blender for 10 - 15 minutes . add item no . 4 and mix for 1 - 3 minutes . fill the mixture into suitable two - piece hard gelatin capsules on a suitable encapsulating machine . while the present invention has been described in conjunction with the specific embodiments set forth above , many alternatives , modifications and variations thereof will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art . all such alternatives , modifications and variations are intended to fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention .	2
the object of conventional bandgap reference voltage generators are typically dependent upon both supply voltage v cc and temperature . see , for example , the simplified bandgap reference shown as fig1 . 9 on p . 499 of integrated circuits applications handbook , ed . a . h . seidman ( mcgraw - hill 1983 ). in order to avoid the problems discussed in the background section above , attempts have been made to design bandgap reference voltage generators whose output , v cs , is independent of supply voltage , v cc . such an attempt is shown in d . h . hodges et al , analysis and design of digital integrated circuits , pp . 279 - 283 ( mcgraw - hill 1983 ) and in fig1 . the bandgap reference voltage , v cs , is derived , as shown in fig1 between the v ee potential line 19 and line 21 which is connected to the emitter of transistor 16 . this bandgap reference voltage generator is supposedly compensated . in theory , because of the shunt regulator 13 the collector current of transistor 12 is held constant , even as v ee is changed with respect to v cc , i . e ., as the supply voltage v cc varies . if the current through transistor 12 should tend to increase , due to changes in v cc , the voltage drop across resistor 22 would increase , thereby causing shunt regulator 13 to conduct increased current thereby shunting current away from transistor 12 through transistor 13 . as a consequence , changes in the supply voltage , v cc , have no effect on the collector currents of transistors 10 , 11 and 12 . since there is no change in the current through transistor 12 , v be12 does not change . also , with no change in the current through transistor 11 there is no change in the voltages across resistor 23 or resistor 18 . the result is that v cs is insensitive to changes in the supply voltage . however , this insensitivity can only be designed at a single temperature since the collector current of transistor 12 varies over the temperature . ## equ1 ## because v be13 varies over the temperature range , therefore i 12 also varies over the temperature range . also , the above circuit requires the use of a pnp transistor which requires a larger area than an npn transistor and is more difficult to fabricate with specified characteristics . another attempt at reference voltage generation with v cc independence and with partial temperature compensation is shown in u . priel , &# 34 ; fixed voltage reference circuit &# 34 ;, u . s . pat . no . 4 , 277 , 739 . here , two output voltages are made substantially independent of power supply voltage variations by regulating the voltage supplied to resistor 22 and the principal transistor ( transistor 12 , fig1 ) of the bandgap voltage regulator . this is accomplished by stacking another bandgap voltage generator onto the principal bandgap voltage generator . by adjusting the ratios of certain transistors , either a positive or negative temperature coefficient can be designed into the circuit . if a zero temperature coefficient is chosen , the output of the principal bandgap voltage generator can be made temperature independent . the disadvantages of this circuit are that capacitors are required for the added bandgap - like voltage generator -- an undesirable addition to an integrated circuit ; a second δv be generator is required entailing the use of large area transistors ; and a potential imbalance is introduced between the two branches of the principal bandgap voltage regulator and the added v be generator due to the second order base current effect . also there is no active feedback between the voltage reference output and the bandgap voltage generator . the bandgap reference voltage generator of the present invention accomplishes v cc independence by producing a constant current in transistor 32 of the self - regulating loop consisting of current source resistor 45 , transistors 39 and 40 , resistor 42 and transistor 32 . in normal operation , v ref is partially isolated from changes in v cc by this self - regulating loop . with the present invention the current through transistor 32 is regulated to be constant so that the output voltage , v ref , remains constant over changes in v cc and temperature . in fig2 all circuit elements to the right of the dotted vertical line passing between emitter - coupled transistors 33 and 32 make up a bandgap reference voltage generator of the type disclosed in g . w . brown , &# 34 ; resistor ratio circuit construction &# 34 ;, u . s . pat . no . 4 , 079 , 308 . all circuit elements to the left of the dotted line are included in the compensation circuit . each of the prior art bandgap reference generators discussed above as well as the bandgap reference generator of fig2 can be described by a unique network equation . in each set of network equations there will be v cc - dependent terms . typically , there will also be temperature - dependent terms . the present invention employs a circuit element in the compensation portion of the circuit to compensate for each of the v cc - dependent terms so that the output voltage , v ref , has no v cc dependence . in a preferred embodiment the compensation for v cc also produces compensation at all temperatures . in the prior art , as described in detail above , v cc dependence has either only been by nonoptimum circuitry , has only been partially achieved or has not held for all temperatures . the network equations which describe the operation of the bandgap reference voltage generator of fig2 shown to the right of the dotted line , are as follows : ## equ2 ## where v k = voltage across k &# 39 ; th circuit element i j = current through specified portion of j &# 39 ; th circuit element , i . e ., and ## equ3 ## then ## equ4 ## now ## equ5 ## where a l = area of the l &# 39 ; th transistor . ## equ6 ## the first term defining v r42 has a positive temperature coefficient whereas the second term has a negative temperature coefficient . therefore by adjusting the ratios r 42 / r 47 , r 42 / r 48 , a 30 / a 31 , or r 42 / r 38 , r 38 v ref can be designed to have a desired temperature coefficient . preferably , the v ref in an ecl circuit application will have the value of where v x has a zero temperature coefficient . this will be accomplished by making ## equ7 ## for the above derivation , the equality of the ratio of r 48 / r 41 to r 42 / r 38 and the relationship v be31 = v be32 holds over the operational temperature range of the bandgap generator . the relationship r 48 / r 41 = r 42 / r 38 is easily accomplished in integrated circuits . however , the value for v be32 is basically dependent on v cc as seen in the following equation for a stand - alone bandgap reference voltage generator where no compensation network is used : ## equ8 ## where i s32 = saturation current for transistor 32 . thus , it can be seen that in order to obtain a constant v ref output at terminal 55 a constant current needs to be maintained through constant current transistor 32 ; therefore , transistor 32 is hereinafter designated as the constant current transistor . this is accomplished in the prior art by regulating the voltage , as described above for u . priel , u . s . pat . no . 4 , 277 , 739 . in the present invention a constant current is achieved by the compensation circuitry . the current which passes through constant current transistor 32 also passes through a current source resistor 45 . resistor 45 also passes the current supplied to transistor 33 . this total current is given by ## equ9 ## a consolidation which is permissible since the base - to - emitter diode drops can be designed to be the same for all transistors by assuring that the current densities for the transistors are the same . v x is a constant because v r42 can be designed to be constant in accordance with the above equations . but the term i 45 still varies both directly and indirectly with v cc and temperature . the compensation circuitry incorporated in the bandgap circuit of the present invention serves to ensure that the sharing of this current by transistors 33 and 32 is such that a constant current flows through constant current transistor 32 even as the current through resistor 45 changes . thus , transistor 33 is a compensation transistor and is hereinafter designated as the compensation current transistor . compensation transistor 33 must be driven to follow and compensate for variations in i 45 . thus , the preferred value for the collector current of transistor 32 will be v x / r 45 . thus , in order to leave this term as a real and precise current through constant current transistor 32 , it is necessary to drive compensation transistor 33 to have a current which is equal to ## equ10 ## by subtracting i 33 from i 45 the positive current v x / r 45 is seen to pass through constant current transistor 32 . the circuit objective of driving i 33 to the value described above could be accomplished with many specific circuits . a preferred circuit embodiment is shown to the left hand side of the dotted vertical line in fig2 . here , the current through transistor 33 is controlled by the potential at node a on its base . the potential on node a is determined by two features of the circuit . first , transistor 37 , hereinafter designated as the feedback transistor , has its base connected in active feedback fashion to the v ref output line of the bandgap reference voltage generator . the current through feedback transistor 37 is given by ## equ11 ## now , the current through resistor 44 is given by ## equ12 ## and , since the current through resistor 44 is shared by feedback transistor 37 and transistor 35 , the current through transistors 35 and 34 is given by if , in the above equations , the values of resistors 44 , 45 , and 46 are chosen such that then the current through transistor 34 is given by ## equ13 ## this is due to the fact that the current through transistor 34 is mirrored by the current through compensation transistor 33 . as a consequence of driving the value of the current through compensation transistor 33 to the above value , the instantaneous current through constant current transistor 32 is given by ## equ14 ## it can thus be seen that the current through constant current transistor 32 will always be given by a constant term so that the value of v ref on output terminal 55 will be constant whatever the instantaneous value of v cc . if should be noted that in this preferred embodiment there is also no temperature dependent term remaining . the foregoing description of a preferred embodiment of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description . it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed , and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in 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 .	8
the present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings , in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown . the invention may , however , be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein ; rather , these embodiments are provided for thoroughness and completeness . like reference character refer to like elements throughout the description . with particular reference to fig1 , there is provided a vehicle 1 provided with a battery ( not shown ). the battery comprises a plurality of battery cells which can be charged and discharged depending on the specific battery operating mode . the vehicle 1 depicted in fig1 is a bus for which the inventive method for determining the reliability of state of health parameter values , which will be described in detail below , is particularly suitable for . turning now to fig2 , there is provided a flowchart of an example embodiment for determining if it is reliable to calculate battery state of health . the flowchart in fig2 comprises a first part which relates to the present accuracy of the state of health parameter values , referred to in the following as the parameter accuracy status module 202 , and a second part which relates to present state of the state of health parameter values , referred to in the following as the parameter state status module 204 . starting with the parameter accuracy status module 202 , it comprises , according to the non - limiting example embodiment depicted in fig2 , a state of charge accuracy status 206 , a temperature accuracy status 208 , and a voltage accuracy status 210 . the main purpose of the parameter accuracy status module 202 is to determine if the measured , or calculated , parameters are accurate enough when the measurement , or calculation , was made . the state of charge accuracy status 206 of the parameter accuracy status module 202 relates to the accuracy of calculated state of charge parameter values which can be used in the calculation of state of health of the battery . the state of charge of the battery can be calculated by a measured voltage value , a measured electric current value , or a combination of a measured voltage value and a measured electric current value . an example of a voltage - state of charge curve is given in connection to the description of fig3 below , illustrating state of charge for an open cell voltage curve . the determination of state of charge accuracy is thus dependent on how accurate the measured voltage and / or electric current was . the following will describe factors that affect the accuracy of voltage values , electric current values , as well as the combination of voltage and electric current values . starting with voltage values , one parameter that is decisive when determining if the voltage value is accurate enough is in which state of charge region the voltage value was measured . these regions will be described further in relation to fig3 below . another parameter that affects the accuracy of the measured voltage value is when the voltage measurement was made , or more particularly , for how long time the battery has “ rested ” since it was previously electrically charged or discharged . hereby , the measured voltage value is considered less accurate if the time period since the battery was charged / discharged is within a certain time period before the voltage measurement was made , i . e . the voltage measurement was executed to close in time from the previous charging / discharging of the battery . hence , the measured voltage value changes in relation to the electric current which is charging / discharging the battery . if the battery is charged with electric current , the measured voltage value will thus not represent the true state of the battery and as such be considered unreliable . also , the voltage value will need some time to converge to its “ true ” value after charging / discharging of the battery is executed . furthermore , the measured voltage value is also dependent on the battery temperature at the time when the measurement was made . for example , an increased temperature will increase a resistance of the battery and thus , for a constant electric current , provide a measured voltage value which is higher than what may be the real situation . hence , if the temperature of the battery is not within a specific range when the measurement was made , the voltage value is not considered accurate . also , if the temperature difference between the battery cells is not within a specific temperature range , the measured voltage value may be higher or lower than what would be the case if the temperature of the cells is within the specific temperature range . further , and described above , the temperature of the battery cells should not vary too much during the period when the temperature measurement is made , i . e . a relatively steady state of the temperature is preferable to be able to calculate a reliable battery state of health . moreover , the accuracy of the voltage values may also be dependent on the spread in voltage values between the battery cells . if the difference between the largest cell voltage and the lowest cell voltage is outside a predetermined acceptable voltage range , the overall measured battery voltage may be determined not to be accurate . when it comes to determining if a measured electric current is accurate or not , other parameters may also be of importance for providing a reliable state of health calculation . for example , it may be relevant to check if the battery was charged or discharged with electric current at the moment when the electric current measurement was made . also , if the electric current was measured when the electric current was less stable , i . e . electric current measurements tend to fluctuate over time , the electric current measurement is considered not to be accurate . another parameter relating to accuracy of electric current is the sum of integrated electric currents for all the battery cells . this may be of interest when using the integrated electric current values for calculating state of charge when the voltage - state of charge derivative function is below a predetermined threshold value . naturally , also the temperature is an important aspect for determining if the measured electric current is accurate or not for the same reasons as described above . finally , when determining if a state of charge , which is calculated by means of both voltage and electric current , is accurate , it may be important to determine that a combination of the above described parameters for voltage and electric current is accurate . accordingly , with at least some of the above described parameters , it can be determined if a calculated state of charge accuracy status 206 is sufficiently accurate . turning to the temperature accuracy status 208 , this accuracy status relates to the accuracy of the measure temperature of the battery , which can be used for calculating the state of health of the battery . as described above , the temperature of the battery may be an important aspect when determining if other parameters , such as measured voltage and electric current are accurate . the temperature parameter itself may however also be provided in a state of health calculation and its accuracy may therefore be important to consider before calculating battery state of health . there are a number of aspects that can be considered when determining if a measured temperature of the battery is accurate or not . for example , the temperature measurement may be considered inaccurate if there are not enough sensors provided to the battery , i . e . an insufficiently amount of battery cells are provided with a temperature sensor . for example , it may be determined that at least every other cell should be provided with a temperature sensor in order to provide a temperature measurement which is considered accurate . this is of course dependent on the specific battery as well as the specific application of the battery , for some applications it may be sufficient that every third cell , or even every fourth cell , is provided with a temperature sensor . the accuracy of the temperature may also be determined by verifying that the difference between the largest temperature of the battery cells and the lowest temperature of the battery cells are within a predetermined range , i . e . that a spread of the temperature is within a specific and accepted temperature range . further , another aspect is that the temperature measured from two adjacent temperature sensors must not differ too much . if this is the case , it may be determined that the temperature measurement is not sufficiently accurate . still further , the accuracy of the temperature sensors themselves may also be an aspect to consider . if the accuracy of the sensors is not sufficient , then the measured temperature value is thus not considered accurate . as a final example of the temperature accuracy , if the change of temperature over time changes too rapidly or too slowly , then a temperature measurement made during this time period may not be considered sufficiently accurate to be used in a state of health calculation . it should be noted that the temperature of battery cells are often measured on the surface of the cells , or at the pole of the cells . one further aspect to consider is whether the difference in temperature between the core of the cells and the surface of the cells are such that a measured temperature on the surface of the cell , or the pole of the cell , sufficiently describes the “ true ” temperature of the cells . this may be the case if the measurement is made too close in time since the battery was charged or discharged . since it is the cell core that is heated and the cell surface that is cooled , it will be difficult to assess whether the measured temperature on the surface describes the true characteristic of the cell temperature . hereby , in order to determine that the dynamically measured temperature is accurate , the measurement should preferably be made a time period after the battery has been charged / discharged with / from electric current . further , the core of the cells may have a higher temperature then the surface of the cells in cases where the battery has been exposed to “ severe ” charging / discharging , after which it takes a time period until the temperature of the cells and the surface have converged to substantially the same temperature level . accordingly , with at least some of the above described parameters , it can be determined if a measured temperature accuracy status 208 is sufficiently accurate . turning now to the voltage accuracy 210 , this accuracy status relates to the accuracy of measured voltage values for the different cells . the accuracy of the measured voltage value may be dependent on the specific temperature at the time of the measurement . accordingly , if the temperature is too high when measuring the battery voltage , the measured voltage value may not be considered reliable or accurate enough to provide a reliable value when calculating battery state of health . also , other parameters affecting the accuracy of the measured battery voltage is e . g . in which open cell voltage area the measurement was made , as described further below in relation to fig3 , or the time period since battery was previously charged / discharged , as described above , etc . with the state of charge accuracy 206 , the temperature accuracy 208 and the voltage accuracy 210 , a parameter accuracy value 212 can be provided . accordingly , if it is determined in 206 that the calculate state of charge is accurate , that the temperature measurement in 208 is accurate and that the voltage in 210 is accurate , then the battery parameter values are considered accurate . it should however be readily understood that a parameter accuracy value 212 indicating that the battery parameters are accurate can be provided by means of only one of state of charge accuracy 206 , temperature accuracy 208 or voltage accuracy 210 , it is not a prerequisite that all accuracy values are provided for receiving a parameter value indicating an accuracy of the battery . as described above , different parameters are more important for some applications than for others and it may therefore only be important to consider the specific parameters which are important for the specific applications . turning now instead to the battery state status module 204 , it comprises a state of charge state 214 , a temperature state 216 , and a voltage state 218 . the main purpose of the battery state status module 204 is to be able to determine if the state of the battery is such that it is beneficial to calculate the battery state of health . accordingly , the battery state status module 204 determines if the level of the parameter values will provide a calculated state of health value that is substantially reliable , i . e . substantially accurate . to be able to determine how much a battery has aged , the parameter value that is measured and used in calculating the aging of the battery needs to be compared to a reference parameter value when the battery was new . when the battery was new , measurement of various parameters was made under certain circumstances and it is therefore of interest to keep track of the circumstances that influence the parameters for determining the aging of the batteries , in order to assure that a reliable result of the calculation of the battery state of health is provided . firstly , the state of charge state 214 determines if a calculated state of the state of charge is such that it will contribute to a reliably calculated state of health value , i . e . that the state of charge is reliable . the state of charge state may be determined to be reliable if , for example , the state of charge value is calculated when the derivative function , as described below , is above a predetermined threshold value . the temperature state 216 determines if the state of the measured temperature is such that it will contribute to a reliably calculated state of health value . the measured temperature value may be determined to be reliable if the mean value of the measured temperature is within a specific range , i . e . the battery was neither too warm nor too cold when the measurement was made . also , the individual cell temperatures should not deviate too much from the mean temperature of battery in order for their value to be considered reliable . finally , the voltage state 218 determines if the measured voltage is such that it will contribute to a reliably calculated state of health value for the battery . when studying the voltage values it can be determined that voltage values are reliable if the voltage measurement was made within a predetermined time period since the previous balancing of the battery was executed . hence , a voltage value can be considered reliable if the spread between the voltage values of the different cells are within a predetermined voltage range . studying the range of the battery cell voltage can be an important aspect since e . g . a similar mean value can be provided for two measurements but where the spread between the highest and lowest battery cell voltage differs significantly between the measurements . hereby , only the voltage mean value having a cell voltage spread within the predetermined range is considered reliable . accordingly , the voltage values may be considered reliable shortly after balancing of the battery have been executed , since the spread in voltage will be reduced after battery balancing . also , the voltage value may be considered unreliable if it is either too high or too low . more specifically , if the level of the voltage value of a cell is too high or too low , this may probably indicate that the cell in question is damaged . hereby , calculating state of health of the battery based on a voltage value when one cell , or a plurality of cells , is broken , will not provide a sufficiently reliable state of health value . further , for the state of charge state 214 , the temperature state 216 and the voltage state 218 , it may also be of interest to determine the spread of the values for each of the parameters , i . e . how a cell value deviates from the other cell values , or from a calculated mean value of the cells , etc . with the above states 214 , 216 , 218 of the battery , the battery state module 220 determines whether the battery state is beneficial for providing a reliable state of health calculation by using the above described parameters . furthermore , it should be understood that the battery state module 220 is not necessarily dependent on receiving the state from all of the various parameters , i . e . from the state of charge state 214 , the temperature state 216 , or the voltage state 218 . it may , for the same reasons as described above in relation to the description of the parameter accuracy module 212 , be sufficient to receive input from only one of the modules . finally , the parameter accuracy module 212 and the battery state module 220 provides their result to a state of health determination status module 230 . the state of health determination status module 230 determines , based on the received input from the parameter accuracy module 212 and the battery state module 220 , if the measured parameter values are considered reliable for calculating a substantially accurate state of health of the battery . although fig2 illustrates that the state of health determination status module 230 should receive input from both the parameter accuracy module 212 and the battery state module 220 , the invention should be understood to function equally as well with a state of health determination status module 230 receiving input from only one of the parameter accuracy module 212 and the battery state module 220 . turning now to fig3 illustrating an open cell voltage graph 300 . the graph 300 illustrates how the battery voltage 302 depends on the state of charge 304 of the battery . the graph 300 in fig3 is divided into five sections 306 , 308 , 310 , 312 , 314 . the battery can either be charged , indicated by the arrows 316 showing increased voltage and increased state of charge of the battery , or be discharge , indicated by the arrows 318 showing a decrease in voltage as well as a decrease in state of charge of the battery . the following will mainly describe the graph in a battery charging state , illustrated by the arrows 316 . in the first section 306 the battery is charged from an empty state . hereby , the derivative function of the voltage - state of charge is relatively steep , i . e . a relatively large increase in voltage 302 in comparison to the increase in state of charge 304 . conversely , when the battery is discharged , the first section 306 indicates that the battery will soon be out of power . in the second section 308 of the graph 300 , the derivative function of the voltage - state of charge has been slightly reduced in comparison to the first section 306 , but the voltage 302 of the battery is still increasing with increased state of charge 304 and the voltage level of the battery is still in its lower region with regards to its overall capacity . in the third section 310 of the graph , the above defined derivative function is approximately zero . hereby , the state of charge 304 of the battery is in this section still increasing but the voltage level is remaining approximately the same . in the fourth 312 and fifth 314 sections of the graph , the derivative function has increased such that the battery voltage 302 is increasing and the state of charge 304 is also increasing . in the fifth section 314 the charging level of the battery has almost reached its complete capacity . now , as described above in relation to fig2 , measuring a voltage value during specific points in time may provide parameter values that cannot be considered accurate enough . in fig3 , this is illustrated by the third section 310 where the derivative function is approximately zero . more specifically , if a voltage measurement is made when the battery state of charge is in the third section 310 , the accuracy of the corresponding state of charge of the battery will be relatively uncertain , since a small change in voltage 302 will provide a relatively large change in state of charge 304 . accordingly , in the third section 310 , it may be difficult to provide an exact , or approximately exact , state of charge value with the measured voltage value , thus making the measured voltage value , as well as the state of charge value inaccurate at the third section 310 . in the first 306 , second 308 , fourth 312 and fifth 314 sections of the graph 300 , the derivative function is above a predetermined accepted threshold value and a measured voltage value will correspond to a relatively precise state of charge value . hereby , the measured voltage value as well as the corresponding state of charge value is in these sections considered accurate enough for providing a reliable state of health calculation . furthermore , the state of charge value can thus be considered reliable if the state of charge calculation was executed at a point in time when it was beneficial to do so , i . e . in one of the first 306 , second 308 , fourth 312 or fifth 314 sections described above . however , although the measured voltage value and the corresponding state of charge value is considered accurate , other parameter values may result in that it is determined not to perform a state of health calculation . for example , although the voltage - state of charge is in one of the first 306 , second 308 , fourth 312 or fifth 314 sections of the graph 300 , other parameters such as the temperature may have such a large spread between the cells that it is determined that this will render a calculated state of health unreliable . other parameter values that may result in the decision of not performing a state of health calculation is given above in relation to fig2 . in order to summarize the inventive method according to the present application , reference is made to fig4 illustrating a flowchart of an example embodiment of the method according to the present invention . according to the example depicted in fig4 , a first step s 1 of the method is to receive measured state of health parameter values from the battery . the measured state of health parameter values can , for example , be any one of those described above in relation to the description of fig2 and 3 . the measured state of health parameter values relate to parameter that can be used when calculating state of health of the battery . thereafter , the measured state of health parameter values are compared s 2 with at least one parameter criterion . the at least one parameter criterion is described above and can be set differently for different parameters as well as for different fields of application for the battery . finally , it is determined s 3 that the measured state of health parameter values are reliable if the state of health parameter value fulfils the at least one predetermined parameter criterion . hereby , the method can further determine if a state health parameter calculation , which is to be based on the received measured state of health parameter values , will provide a result which is accurate or not , i . e . if the result from the calculation will indicate a state of health of the battery which will substantially correspond to the true behaviour of the battery . it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings ; rather , the skilled person will recognize that many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims .	6
the concrete wall 12 between the two aeration tanks 13 and 14 carries the air supply main 15 . this main supplies air to all the diffuser headers which are disposed in the two tanks on opposite sides of wall 12 . the walk - way 16 forms the top side of wall 12 for access to the headers . only the one diffuser header 17 is shown in the drawings . it is located in tank 14 and is connected to the lateral 18 extending from air supply main 15 as will be described . lateral 18 is controlled by the valve 19 and is connected to the air supply main 15 located below walkway 16 . the present invention is directed to the mechanism for raising and lowering header 17 and also includes in part the subject matter of the copending application referred to ( ser . no . 496 , 573 ) wherein the upper hanger pipe comprises two pipes and each rotary joint comprises a tee and two rotatable elbows , as will be immediately described . as shown best in fig2 and 4 , the tee 20 fixed to and extending from wall 12 has its lateral connected to the lateral 18 from air main 15 . tee 20 is part of the upper rotary joint which further includes the elbows 22 and 23 . the lower rotary joint includes the elbows 24 and 25 and the intermediate tee 26 . the dual pipes 28 respectively join the elbows 22 and 24 and the elbows 23 and 25 and comprise the upper hanger pipes . the lower hanger pipe 29 connects tee 26 of the lower rotary joint and the tee 31 of header 17 . it is noted that the axes of the rotary joints referred to and the header 17 are horizontal and parallel to wall 12 as will be further described . the diffusers carried by header 17 are not shown ; they may be of any type . the opposite ends of header 17 are closed but may be provided with suitable means for draining , not shown . in the lowermost , operating position of header 17 , the header is secured laterally by the steady bracket 33 suitably supported within the tank . the support as shown in fig3 and 4 is illustrative only and includes the upright 34 standing from the floor of tank 13 . bracket 33 is bolted to the upright member 34 so as to be adjustable vertically if necessary and includes the saddle 33a as shown in fig3 . according to the present invention , and as will be further described , the upper and lower hanger pipes are held in their fully extended downward position by the two detent blocks 36 which are located between and which respectively engage pipes 28 . the single pipe 29 is provided with a lift bracket which carries the detent blocks 36 . this bracket comprises the two spaced arms 38 extending upwardly from tee 26 and the horizontal rod 39 which joins the upper ends of arms 38 . in fig1 the pipes 26 are shown as they are pushed apart by the blocks 36 as will be further described hereinafter . fig1 will be referred to as follows in describing the construction of both the upper and lower rotary joints and in identifying their axis . elbows 24 and 25 include horizontal extensions 24a and 25a respectively which are turnable in the aligned horizontal ends of the tee . their axis is the axis 40a of the lower rotary joint . the elbows 24 and 25 are joined by the tie rod 37 which extends through tee 26 on said axis . the upper elbows 22 and 23 are of a similar construction and are similarly rotatable respecting the tee 20 . the upper rotary joint comprising tee 20 and elbows 22 and 23 is disposed to have a similar horizontal axis extending centrally through the laterals of the tee as at 40b . as previously noted , axis 40b and 40a are horizontal and parallel to wall 12 . in the preferred embodiment shown the header 17 and pipes 28 and 29 are of a resin - bound glass filament wound construction and tees 20 , 26 and 31 and elbows 22 -- 25 are of a molded plastic construction . the elbows and pipes 28 are bonded together ; the tees 26 and 31 are bonded to the ends of pipe 29 . this preferred construction is generally of lower cost than constructions of metal which must be corrosion resistant such as brass , or galvanized steel . the required flexibility of pipes 28 would not be provided if they were of metal . the header 17 with hanger pipes 28 and 29 and bracket 33 are installed in tank 14 while the tank is dry . that is the upper tee 20 may be connected to lateral 18 with header 17 already connected to pipe 29 and with pipe 29 connected to pipes 28 so that the entire assembly hangs from lateral 18 . in this position , the pipes 28 are engaged in the recesses 36a by detent blocks 37 as shown in fig7 . also , the tee 26 should be at some vertical position alongside of brace 34 and on the side thereof remote from wall 12 . the bracket 33 is then adjusted vertically on brace 34 so that the tee 26 fits in the saddle 33a of the bracket . it should be understood , of course , that the overall dimensions of similar assemblies would be identical and that it should only be necessary then to set bracket 33 at some predetermined distance below lateral 18 . with the header 17 installed as described , and all the other headers similarly installed , of course , the tank 14 is ready for filling and operation . the header 17 is held securely in place against lateral movement , that is toward or away from wall 12 , by saddle 33a . upward movement and any pivotal movement is prevented by the connection of tee 20 to lateral 18 which is well fixed to wall 12 . that is , the dual pipes 28 and lower pipe 29 are part of a single , rigid structure . their relative pivotal movement is adequately prevented by the arms 38 carrying detent blocks 36 which are engaged with pipes 28 . the pipes 28 are rigid , of course , in the usual sense , but it is their nominal flexibility which allows the header 17 to be lifted from the tank . the apparatus for raising and lowering header 17 includes the cart 41 having a hoist arm 42 . the arm 42 is preferably tubular and is adjustable in length if desired . at its outer end the arm carries the latch 43 which is shown in the open position in fig1 . the latch 43 includes the spaced fingers 43a and the pivoted hook 44 which may be variously operated . as shown , a cable 45 is provided and extends from hook 44 through arm 41 and is tied to the handle 46 at the rear end of the cart 41 . the hoist arm 42 is pivotally supported by the forward end of cart 41 which may be positioned above the axis 40b of the upper rotary joint which is formed by tee 20 and elbows 22 and 23 . the cart 41 is provided with the castered wheels 47 so that it may be readily moved along walk - way 16 and positioned at each diffuser assembly . as shown , the locking pins 48 of the cart are engageable with the stationary lugs 49 fixed to wall 12 . similar lugs are positioned at each header location to secure the cart as required . the hoist arm 42 is raised and lowered by an electric motor 53 through a reduction gearing or by a hydraulic torque converter and suitable gearing , all indicated generally by the numeral 54 . the electric power for motor 53 is generally that supplied to the sewage treatment plant and is provided by extension cables , not shown , laid along the walkway 16 . a separate generator is also used where more convenient . when the assembly is installed in tank 14 as in fig4 the cart 41 is pushed into position generally with the hoist arm 42 in its upright position as the arm appears in fig1 . when the cart 41 is suitably positioned as described and secured by locking pins 48 , the hoist arm 42 is lowered . it should here be noted that the pivot bearing axis of the hoist arm is indicated by the numeral 55 and is located a preselected distance above the upper rotary joint axis 40b . the rod 39 is similarly disposed the same preselected distance above the axis 40a of the lower rotary joint so that the hoist arm 41 and the dual pipes 28 are substantially in parallel relation . as the arm 42 is lowered , that is , it is rotated clockwise as shown , about axis 55 , the latch 43 is opened such as by pulling cable 45 . as hoist arm 42 approaches its downward position , the latch 43 approaches rod 39 so that the rod enters the space between fingers 43a . suitable means , not shown , is provided to reclose latch 43 upon release of cable 45 . the hoist arm 42 is then in position to lift the diffuser 17 from tank 13 . before doing so , it is preferable that the air supply to header 17 be turned off by closing valve 19 . as the hoist arm 41 swings in the counter - clockwise direction as viewed in the drawings and around axis 55 , the arm pulls rod 39 to the right , or away from wall 12 . the initial movement of diffuser header 30 is only vertical because header tee 31 is restrained from any other movement by the saddle 33a of bracket 33 . ( see fig3 ) the first stage in the lifting sequence proceeds as follows with reference to fig3 . the pipes 28 in moving from the position shown in broken lines , pivot about axis 40b and the lower pipe 29 pivots about axis 40a as this axis moves in an arc away from wall 12 . the movement of pipes 28 relative to pipe 29 causes the detent blocks 36 to push pipes 28 apart as shown in fig8 . when the pipes 29 have cleared the recesses 36a of blocks 36 and are on the cam faces 36b of the blocks , the tee 31 ( shown in broken lines in fig3 ) becomes disengaged from bracket 33 , and the resilience of pipes 29 pushed against cams 36b cause pipe 29 to rotate about axis 40b relative to pipes 28 and to such extent as to raise tee 31 so that it clears the saddle 33a . this relative movement is also assisted by the buoyancy of header 17 . as the entire assembly moves around axis 40b to the position shown in full lines in fig3 the detent blocks 36 generally remain in contact with pipes 28 . in the next stage upward , the pipes 28 pass through the horizontal positions shown in fig6 and 5 and the pipe 29 is securely held in a vertical position by hoist arm 42 . the upper limit of the lifting cycle is shown in fig1 and is readily some number of degrees past a true vertical position so that the header 17 is placed somewhat nearer to or over the walkway 16 for better access . as shown , the end of cart 41 and the gearing mechanism 54 fits between pipes 28 and the header 17 lies across the pipes 28 as shown in fig2 . after servicing of the air diffusers , not shown , which are attached to header 17 , the header is relowered into tank 14 by the electric motor 53 . the hoist arm 42 swings clockwise about axis 55 and initially pushes rod 39 to the right as viewed in fig1 or outward over tank 14 . the weight of header 17 generally holds pipe 29 in the vertical position and so that the header will move readily away from pipes 28 . the first stage in the downward movement is shown in fig5 and is generally just after the header 17 has entered the water or sewage . preferably the air supply should be turned on partially so that the diffusers carried by the header 17 remain unclogged . the buoyancy of the header 17 now in the water or sewage here operates with an effective lever arm represented by the distance from axis 40b to the axis 40a of the two rotary joints . the hoist arm 42 here must apply maximum downward force to rod 39 . in approaching the position shown in fig5 and in moving downwardly , the buoyancy of the header 17 causes it to have a great tendency to move away from under rod 39 . the hoist 42 and pipes 28 are here required to hold pipe 29 in a near vertical position and until reaching the second stage which is shown in fig6 . in the second stage proceeding downwardly , the cams 36b of detent blocks 36 engage pipes 29 as shown in fig9 and prevent relative rotation of pipe 29 respecting pipes 28 about axis 40a until the tee 31 has engaged bracket 33 above the saddle 33a . the assembly is then in the third stage which is shown in fig3 ( full lines ). further rotation of hoist arm 42 about axis 55 now pushes rod 39 toward wall 12 and the detent blocks 36 are pushed between pipes 28 . the pipes are pushed apart by the cams 36b of the blocks and at the same time the tee 31 moves downwardly into saddle 33a . when tee 31 is within the confines of saddle 33a , but not fully , the pipes 28 enter the recesses 36b of the block . their entry is effected by the resilience of the pipes and occurs with something of a snap - action . the pipes 28 and 29 are then also in their fully extended position and tee 31 is then located within saddle 33a . the resilience of pipes 28 which has been mentioned and their flexibility are essential to the securement of the header 17 in its operating position . in part , the elbows 24 and 25 also have some elasticity . alternatively or additionally , the arms 38 which carry detent blocks 36 may be deflected toward each other as shown in fig1 and , of course , the detent blocks themselves have some elasticity . in general , however , the pipes 28 which are in the order of 8 feet long can be deflected or beam loaded to provide the movement into and out of recesses 36a . pipes 28 are typically between 3 and 4 inches in diameter ; between 1 and 2 inches of deflection is required so that the blocks 36 adequately extend around pipes 28 as shown in fig7 . as shown in fig4 the ends 36c of blocks 36 which are remote from wall 12 are extended and function as abutments to prevent overtravel of the blocks after the header 17 is in its lower operating position . the operation of the hoist arm 42 between pipes 28 is important to the present invention in that the entire mechanism is symmetrical about its centerline and there are no angular other than normal forces applied to the rotary joints . the operation of the cart including arm 42 requires the coordinated functioning of blocks 36 and bracket 33 including saddle 33a . in placing header 17 in the downward position , the cam surfaces 36b of blocks 36 must promptly engage pipes 28 as described to ensure that the lower tee 31 does not engage saddle 33a but instead clears or passes over saddle 33a and engages bracket 33 as shown in full lines in fig3 . tee 31 will then be moved downwardly properly into saddle 33a as shown in fig4 . however , in lifting header 17 from its lower position , the tee 31 must continue to be held by saddle 33a until pipes 28 have moved out of recesses 36a of blocks 36 and are being held apart by the cam surfaces 36b of the blocks . that is , if tee 31 becomes disengaged from saddle 33a before pipes 28 have reached cam surfaces 36a , the pipes 28 and 29 will remain interlocked in their extended position and bind as the arm 42 swings upwardly . this possibility is readily avoided or overcome , and is described to assure an understanding of the operation of the invention . the pipes 28 and blocks 36 comprise a detent mechanism and arms 38 function as a lever . the flexibility of pipes 28 uniquely provides the bias necessary for the mechanism . however , other biasing means can be provided . for example , the arms 38 may have some flexibility although not necessarily such that they entirely can accommodate the displacement of blocks 36 toward and away from each other as would be required . as a further consideration , it should be understood that the elasticity referred to must be substantially permanent . generally , any elastic metals would be corroded away in the 20 - 50 year service life which is generally expected of sewage treatment tank equipment . dual pipes 42 which are of a wound glass filament reinforced epoxy resin have been found to provide adequate elasticity when used with molded urethane elbows 22 - 25 . the elbows 22 and 23 and elbows 24 and 25 are held together by corrosion resistant rods 37 . rods 37 may be fabricated of stainless steel ( including the nuts at their ends ). various embodiments of the invention may be carried out within the scope of the following claims wherein the bracket 33 and saddle 33a are referred to as abutments . also in the claims , header 17 is considered to include tee 31 and pipe 29 is considered to include arms 38 and rod 39 . similarly , resilient detent means is intended to include any means securing the upper and lower pipes in their extended position and which is selectively releasable and engageable merely by the additional force which is required to overcome the resilience of the detent means . it should also be noted that the upper and lower positions of the header are similar ; that is , the header is not turned upside down in its upper position but has substantially the same orientation at all times .	8
reference will now be made to the drawings to describe specific exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure in detail . referring to fig1 , a display device 100 according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure is shown . the display device 100 may be an lcd in one embodiment . the display device 100 includes a liquid crystal panel 101 , a gate driver 102 , a data driver 103 , and a timing controller 104 . the liquid crystal panel 101 include a plurality of pixel units arranged as a matrix . each pixel unit may include an active element which is configured to activate the pixel unit in response to a scanning signal provided by the gate driver 102 . the active element may be a thin film transistor ( tft ), which includes a gate electrode electrically coupled to the gate driver 102 , a source electrode electrically coupled to the data driver 103 , and a drain electrode electrically coupled the a pixel electrode of the pixel unit . under the control of the timing controller 104 , the gate driver 102 may output scanning signals to the pixel units in a determined time interval , so as to activate the pixel units row by row . when the pixel unit is activated , a corresponding data signal ( e . g ., a gray scale voltage signal ) outputted from the data driver 103 is transmitted to the pixel electrode via the active element , such that the pixel unit is driven to display a related image . the data driver 103 is configured to receive display data from the timing controller 104 , convert the display data into corresponding gray scale voltage signals , and output the gray scale voltage signals to the pixel units of the liquid crystal panel 101 . in one embodiment , the display data may be in an rsds form . moreover , the data driver 103 can also receive a timing control signal from the timing controller 104 . the timing control signal may be a 2 - bit binary code , which may control the data driver 103 to dynamically configure a setup time and a hold time of the data driver 103 so as to enable the data driver 103 to successfully receive and identify the rsds display data . for example , the data driver 103 may include a look - up table pre - stored in the data driver 103 . the table includes a plurality of entries each corresponding to a respective 2 - bit binary code . the entries are configured to indicate mapping relations between the 2 - bit binary codes and the corresponding setup time values and hold time values . in one exemplary embodiment , the pre - stored table may be illustrated as follow , where t represents an rsds clock cycle of the rsds display date . upon receiving the timing control signal , the data driver 103 may select a corresponding entry in the table based on the timing control signal , obtain a setup time value and a hold time value from the selected entry , and then configure the setup time and the hold time the data driver 103 correspondingly . by use of the table , the data driver 103 can automatically and dynamically adjust the setup time and the hold time the data driver 103 , and thereby satisfying different display timing requirements . as such , even if a refresh frequency of the liquid crystal panel 101 is adjusted during an operation of the display device 100 , the data driver 103 can identify the received rsds display data efficiently , and thus generate corresponding gray scale voltage signals all the same . reference will now be made to the fig2 - 4 to describe the how the timing control signal is provided to the data driver 103 . the timing controller 104 is configured to receive original display data from an interface circuit ( not shown ), convert the original display data into the rsds form , and then provide the rsds display data to the data driver 103 . in particular , the original display data may be in a low voltage differential signaling ( lvds ) form . moreover , the timing controller 104 can also generate the 2 - bit timing control signal according to the display timing of the display device 100 , and output the timing control signal to the data driver 103 . in particular , the timing controller 104 may employ a timing signal generator 105 to generate the timing control signal . referring to fig2 , in one embodiment , the timing signal generator 105 includes a memory 12 , a control unit 10 , a detector 15 , and a digital code converter 16 . the memory 12 may be an electrically erasable programmable read - only memory ( eeprom ), which is used to store a plurality of timing codes each corresponding to a refresh frequency . each timing code is a 4 - bit digital code , and can be selected and outputted by the control unit 10 to the digital code converter 16 as to generate a corresponding timing control signal . for example , a 4 - bit digital code ( 1 , 1 , 0 , 0 ) may correspond to a refresh frequency of 60 hz , while a 4 - bit digital code ( 1 , 0 , 0 , 1 ) may correspond to a refresh frequency of 75 hz . in particular , the timing codes can be obtained through experiments on the display device 100 during the manufacturing processor , and pre - stored in the memory 12 . the detector 15 may detect a frequency of the original display data received by the timing controller 104 , and provide a frequency indication signal to the control unit 10 in accordance with the detected frequency . by analyzing the frequency of original display data , the detector 15 can obtain a current refresh frequency of the liquid crystal panel 101 . when the refresh frequency is adjusted by a user , the detector 15 can update the frequency indication signal , so as to inform the control unit 10 with the adjusted refresh frequency . the control unit 10 may analyze the frequency indication signal outputted by the detector 15 , and thereby obtaining the current refresh frequency of the liquid crystal panel 101 . based on the refresh frequency , the control unit 10 may further select a corresponding one of the timing codes from the memory 12 , and then parallel output the timing code to the digital code converter 16 . upon receiving the timing code , the digital code converter 16 may convert the timing code into a 2 - bit timing control signal , and output the timing control signal to the data driver 103 , so as to enable the data driver 103 to adjust a setup time and a hold time thereof . the digital code converter 16 may include a first transistor q 1 , a second transistor q 2 , a third transistor q 3 , and a fourth transistor q 4 . the first to fourth transistors q 1 - q 4 may be metal oxide semiconductor filed effect transistors ( mosfets ). gate electrodes of the transistor q 1 - q 4 serve as four input terminals of the digital code converter 16 , and are configured to receive the 4 - bit timing code in parallel . drain electrodes of the transistors q 1 and q 3 are both electrically coupled to a digital power voltage dvdd , and source electrodes of the transistors q 2 and q 4 are both grounded . two resistors r 1 and r 2 are electrically coupled in series between a source electrode of the first transistor q 1 and a drain electrode of the second transistor q 2 , and a node between these two resistors r 1 and r 2 serves as a first output terminal of the digital code converter 16 . two resistors r 3 and r 4 are electrically coupled in series between a source electrode of the third transistor q 3 and a drain electrode of the fourth transistor q 4 , and a node between these two resistors r 3 and r 4 serves as a second output terminal of the digital code converter 16 . the first and second output terminals may cooperative parallel output the 2 - bit timing control signal to the data driver 103 . for example , when the detector 15 detects a current refresh frequency of the liquid crystal panel 101 is 60 hz , the control unit 10 select a corresponding 4 - bit timing code ( 1 , 1 , 0 , 0 ) from the memory 12 , and output the timing code ( 1 , 1 , 0 , 0 ) to the digital code converter 16 . the timing code ( 1 , 1 , 0 , 0 ) causes the first and third transistors q 1 and q 3 to be turned on , while the second and fourth transistor q 2 and q 4 to be turned off . thus , a 2 - bit timing control signal ( 1 , 1 ) is generated and outputted to the data driver 103 by the digital code converter 16 . based on the timing control signal ( 1 , 1 ), the data driver 103 obtains a desired setup time value in a range from 4t / 16 to t / 2 and a hold time value of 4t / 16 from the table pre - stored therein , and then configures the setup time and the hold time thereof according to the obtained values . as such , the data driver 103 is ensured to identify the received rsds display data efficiently and provide corresponding gray scale voltage signals to the liquid crystal panel 101 . in an alternative embodiment , the timing controller 104 can employ another timing signal generator 205 as illustrated in fig3 to generate the timing control signal . referring to fig3 , the timing signal generator 205 is similar to be above - described timing signal generator 105 in fig2 , but differs in that the timing signal generator 205 need no digital code convert as illustrated in fig2 , instead , the timing control signals corresponding to different refresh frequencies are directly stored in a memory 22 thereof . specifically , the timing signal generator 205 includes the memory 22 , a control unit 20 , and a detector 25 . in operation , the control unit 20 may select a corresponding 2 - bit timing control signal from the memory 22 based on the current refresh frequency detected by the detector 25 , and directly output the timing control signal to the data driver 103 . furthermore , when the liquid crystal panel has a relative large size , pixel units of the liquid crystal panel can be divided into a plurality pixel regions . each pixel region can be driven by a respective data driver . that is , multiple data drivers may be adopted in the display device to drive different regions of pixel units . referring to fig4 , in such kind of display device , the control unit 30 of the timing signal generator 305 may simultaneously output the timing control signals to multiple data drivers 36 , such that multiple data drivers 36 can configure the setup time and the hold time properly . it is to be further understood that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of a preferred embodiment have been set out in the foregoing description , together with details of the structures and functions of the embodiments , the disclosure is illustrative only ; and that changes may be made in detail , especially in matters of shape , size and arrangement of parts within the principles of present disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed .	6
fig1 illustrates a mold 10 which embodies features of the invention having channels 11 in a wall 12 of the mold . the mold has an outer surface , and an inner surface which defines an interior chamber 13 , as best shown in fig2 illustrating a longitudinal cross section of the mold 10 of fig1 , taken along line 2 - 2 , and in fig3 and 4 illustrating transverse cross sectional views of the mold of fig2 , taken along lines 3 - 3 and 4 - 4 , respectively . a polymer tube 14 is in the mold chamber 13 . in the embodiment of fig1 , the channels 11 are longitudinally extending slots , the entire length of which extend through the wall 12 of the mold 10 from the outer surface to the inner surface , so that the channels 11 are in fluid communication with the chamber 13 , as best illustrated in fig2 and 3 . the mold chamber 13 has a central section 15 , proximal and distal tapered sections 16 , 17 at either end of the central section 15 , a proximal end section 18 at the proximal end of the proximal tapered section 16 , and a distal end section 19 at the distal end of the distal tapered section 17 . in the embodiment of fig1 , the channels 11 extend along the central section 15 and the tapered sections 16 , 17 of the mold chamber 13 . however , in alternative embodiments ( not shown ), the mold 10 has channels 11 extending along at least a portion of one or both of the end sections 18 , 19 of the mold chamber 13 in addition to or instead of extending along at least a portion of the other sections of the mold chamber 13 . for example , in one preferred alternative embodiment , the mold 10 has channels 13 extending along the tapered sections 16 , 17 and the end sections 18 , 19 of the mold chamber 13 , and not along any of or at least part of the central section 15 , and most preferably not along a central portion of the central section 15 . in the embodiment of fig1 , the mold 10 has multiple channels 11 spaced around the circumference thereof , and specifically eight channels 11 . however , the number of channels can vary , and is typically about 4 to about 16 for a mold 10 having a central section 15 with a length of about 30 to about 40 mm . fig1 illustrates the polymer tube 14 in position in the mold 10 for being blow molded to form a balloon for a catheter . in a method of making a balloon for a catheter which embodies features of the invention , the polymer tube 14 is heated in the mold chamber 13 , and the heated tube 14 is axially elongated and radially expanded in the mold chamber 13 . in a presently preferred embodiment , the tube 14 is heated by heating the mold 10 , although depending on the polymeric material forming tube 14 , the tube may additionally or alternatively be heated by introducing heated fluid ( air or liquid ) into the interior of the tube 14 in the mold 10 . the mold 10 is formed of a metal such as stainless steel , and the mold 10 is typically heated by a hot air nozzle not in direct contact with the mold 10 . as a result of heating the mold 10 , the tube 14 is heated by radiative heat from the mold wall and convective heat of heated air from the channels 11 extending through the mold wall 12 . the convective heat is the result of heated air which enters the chamber 13 of the mold 10 from the channels 11 . the outer opening of each channel is thus unobstructed in whole or at least in part sufficiently to allow the supply of air to enter the channels 11 . preferably , the air entering the channels is the ambient air around the mold 10 which diffuses into the channels , and is naturally drawn into the channels due to convection driven by the internal temperature gradients during the blow molding procedure . alternatively , a pressurized supply of air forced into the channels 11 may be used if desired ( i . e ., advection ). in the embodiment illustrated in fig1 , the channels are perpendicular to a tangent of the outer surface of the mold wall . in an alternative embodiment ( not shown ), the channels are canted , and preferably at an angle of about 30 to about 70 degrees . the heated polymer tube 14 is axially elongated and radially expanded in the mold chamber 13 by pulling on the ends of the tube 14 and introducing pressurized air into the inner lumen of the tube 14 with one end of the tube 14 blocked off . fig5 illustrates the tube 14 in the mold 10 after the tube is axially elongated and radially expanded therein . the axially elongated tube 14 typically has a length which is about 1 to about 2 times the original length of the tube 14 , and a radially expanded diameter corresponding to a blow - up - ratio of about 5 to about 8 ( i . e ., the ratio of the final radially expanded outer diameter of the tube 14 to the initial unexpanded inner diameter of the tube 14 ). the thus blow molded tube 14 is cooled to ambient temperature , and deflated and removed from the mold 10 , and may be further processed to form a balloon for a catheter . fig7 illustrates an over - the - wire type balloon catheter 20 having a shaft 21 , and an inflatable balloon 27 formed using the mold 10 of fig1 . catheter 20 generally comprises elongated catheter shaft 21 having an outer tubular member 22 and an inner tubular member 23 . the coaxial relationship between outer tubular member 22 and inner tubular member 23 defines annular inflation lumen 26 . inner tubular member 23 defines a guidewire lumen 24 configured to slidingly receive a guidewire 25 , as best shown in fig8 illustrating a transverse cross section view of the distal end of the catheter shown in fig7 , taken along line 8 - 8 . inflated balloon 27 disposed on a distal section of catheter shaft 21 has an inflated cylindrical working section , inflated tapered sections at either end of the central working section , a proximal skirt section sealingly secured to the distal end of outer tubular member 22 , and a distal skirt section sealingly secured to the distal end of inner tubular member 23 , so that its interior is in fluid communication with inflation lumen 26 . an adapter 28 at the proximal end of catheter shaft 21 is configured to provide access to guidewire lumen 24 and to direct inflation fluid through arm 29 into inflation lumen 26 . fig7 illustrates the balloon 27 inflated , with a stent 30 mounted thereon for implanting in a patient &# 39 ; s body lumen 31 . in use , the distal end of catheter 20 is advanced to a desired region of the patient &# 39 ; s body lumen in a conventional manner , and balloon 27 inflated to perform a procedure such as expanding the stent 30 into place in the body lumen , and the balloon deflated for removal of the catheter from the body lumen , leaving the stent 30 implanted therein . as a result of being axially elongated in the mold chamber 13 , the parts of the tube 14 which ultimately form the central inflated working length , the inflated tapered sections at either end thereof , and the skirt sections of the balloon 27 typically have at least a portion thereof heated in a different section of the mold chamber 13 than the section in which it is ultimately radially expanded . thus , during the axial elongation of the tube 14 , the part of the tube 14 located in the slotted tapered sections 16 , 17 of the mold chamber 13 during heating of the tube 14 in the mold is stretched into the adjacent end section 18 , 19 of the mold chamber 13 and radially expanded therein to form at least a portion of the skirt sections of the balloon 27 . depending on the length of the mold chamber 13 sections , the entire length or only a portion of the part of the tube 14 in the tapered sections 16 , 17 of the mold chamber 13 may be stretched into the adjacent end sections 18 , 19 of the mold chamber 13 . similarly , the part of the tube 14 in the proximal and distal ends of the central section 15 of the mold chamber 13 may be stretched into the adjacent tapered sections 16 , 17 or therebeyond and also into the end sections 18 , 19 of the mold chamber 13 . the preferred extent to which tube 14 is stretched in mold chamber 13 ( i . e ., the stretch ratio ) will vary depending on factors such as the material selection of tube 14 . at least a portion of part of the tube 14 heated in the central section 15 of the mold chamber 13 forms the central working length of the balloon 27 . although the resulting balloon 27 illustrated in fig7 has a uniform wall thickness in the inflated configuration , it should be understood that the different sections of the finished uninflated balloon may have different wall thicknesses . as best illustrated in fig6 , in the embodiment of fig1 , the dimension and orientation of the channels 11 is such that the polymeric material of the tube 14 remains in the mold chamber 13 and does not enter the channels 11 , or at most only slightly enters the channels 11 , such that the polymeric material of tube 14 is not molded in the channels 11 during the blow molding . as a result , the balloon 27 has a cylindrical outer surface along the working length thereof with a uniform outer diameter . fig9 illustrates a transverse cross section of an alternative embodiment of a mold 40 in which the width of the channels 41 is larger than the channels 11 in the mold 10 of fig6 , so that the polymeric material of the tube 14 is molded in the channels 41 of the mold 40 during the blow molding . the channels 41 in the embodiment of fig9 typically have a width of about 0 . 021 to about 0 . 05 inches , whereas the channels 11 of the embodiment of fig6 have a width of about 0 . 008 to about 0 . 02 inches . fig1 illustrates a transverse cross section of a distal section of an alternative embodiment of catheter 10 having a balloon 47 blow molded in the mold 40 of fig9 . balloon 47 has raised ridges corresponding the channels 41 in the wall of the mold 40 of fig9 so that the outer surface of the balloon 47 has a non - uniform outer diameter along the central inflated working length of the balloon 47 . in the embodiment of fig1 , the entire length of the channels 11 extend through the wall of the mold 10 . in one embodiment , one or more restraining members ( not shown ) such as bands or straps are provided around an outer surface of the mold 10 of fig1 , to radially restrain the slotted sections of the mold during radial expansion of the polymer tube 14 . the restraining members ( not shown ) are preferably sized to cover only a small amount of the length of the channels 11 , and specifically , in one embodiment each restraining member covers about 1 % to about 3 % of the length of the slots forming channels 11 , so that the convective air flow into the channels 11 is not blocked by the restraining members . fig1 illustrates an alternative embodiment of a mold 50 in which the channels 51 are slots with only a portion of the length of each slot extending completely through the wall of the mold , so that the slot has a first portion 52 which extends through the wall of the mold 50 , and a second longitudinally adjacent portion 53 which extends partially through the wall of the mold 50 forming a break in the channel 51 , as best shown in fig2 , illustrating a longitudinal cross section of the mold 50 of fig1 . fig3 illustrates a transverse cross sectional view of the mold 50 of fig1 , taken along line 13 - 13 . in the embodiment of fig1 , three sections of the channel 51 extending through the wall of the mold 50 are separated by two breaks 54 ( i . e ., two sections of the wall of the mold 50 ). however , a variety of suitable configurations may be used with fewer or more breaks 54 . in one embodiment , each break 54 in the channel 51 has a length equal to about 1 % to about 3 % of the total length of the channel 51 . in the embodiment of fig1 , the break 54 has a depth through the wall of the mold 50 of about 50 % of the mold wall , although a variety of depths may be used typically ranging from about 30 % to about 80 % of the wall of the mold 50 . in the embodiment of fig1 , the portion of the channel extending partially through the wall of the mold 50 is formed on an inner surface of the mold , so that the channel 51 extends continuously along the inner surface of the mold ( albeit only partially though the wall in places along the length of the channel 51 ), and extends intermittently along the outer surface of the mold 50 . in an alternative embodiment ( not shown ), the portion of the channel extending partially through the wall of the mold 50 is formed on an outer surface of the mold , so that the channel 51 extends continuously along the outer surface of the mold and intermittently along the inner surface of the mold . fig1 illustrates an alternative embodiment of a mold 60 having channels 61 in the form of intermittently spaced holes . the holes typically have a diameter of about 0 . 02 to about 0 . 05 inches in the embodiment in which the polymeric material of the tube 14 is not molded in the holes 61 , to form a balloon with a cylindrical uniform outer diameter along the working length thereof . the holes 61 typically have a diameter of about 0 . 02 to about 0 . 06 inches in the embodiment in which the polymeric material of the tube 14 is molded in the holes 61 during blow molding , to form a balloon with raised portions on an outer surface of the working length thereof . similar to the embodiment of fig1 , the holes 61 may be located in one or more of the sections of the mold chamber 63 in addition to or instead of the central section of the mold chamber 63 , and the holes may extend in whole or in part through the wall of the mold 60 . as best illustrated in fig1 showing a longitudinal cross section of the mold 60 of fig1 , taken along line 15 - 15 , the holes 61 extend completely through the wall of the mold 60 from the outer to the inner surface of the mold 60 . as best illustrated in fig1 showing a transverse cross section of the mold 60 of fig1 , taken along line 16 - 16 , the holes 61 are spaced apart around the entire circumference of the wall of the mold 60 . typically , about 40 to about 60 holes 61 are provided for a mold 60 having a central section 63 which is about 18 to about 20 mm in length . to the extent not previously discussed herein , the various catheter components may be formed and joined by conventional materials and methods . for example , the outer and inner tubular members 22 , 23 can be formed by conventional techniques , such as by extruding and necking materials found useful in intravascular catheters such a polyethylene , polyvinyl chloride , polyesters , polyamides , polyimides , polyurethanes , and composite materials . the length of the balloon catheter 20 is generally about 108 to about 200 centimeters , preferably about 137 to about 145 centimeters , and typically about 140 centimeters for ptca . the outer tubular member 22 has an outer diameter ( od ) of about 0 . 017 to about 0 . 036 inch ( 0 . 43 - 0 . 91 mm ), and an inner diameter ( id ) of about 0 . 012 to about 0 . 035 inch ( 0 . 30 - 0 . 89 mm ). the inner tubular member 23 has an od of about 0 . 017 to about 0 . 026 inch ( 0 . 43 - 0 . 66 mm ), and an id of about 0 . 015 to about 0 . 018 inch ( 0 . 38 - 0 . 46 mm ) depending on the diameter of the guidewire to be used with the catheter . the balloon 27 has a length of about 10 mm to about 80 mm , typically about 20 mm to about 40 mm , and an inflated working diameter of about 1 . 5 mm to about 40 mm , typically about 3 mm to about 10 mm . while the present invention has been described herein in terms of certain preferred embodiments , those skilled in the art will recognize that modifications and improvements may be made without departing form the scope of the invention . for example , although the embodiment illustrated in fig7 is an over - the - wire stent delivery catheter , balloons of this invention may also be used with other types of intravascular catheters , such as rapid exchange balloon catheters . rapid exchange catheters generally comprise a distal guidewire port in a distal end of the catheter , a proximal guidewire port in a distal shaft section distal of the proximal end of the shaft and typically spaced a substantial distance from the proximal end of the catheter , and a short guidewire lumen extending between the proximal and distal guidewire ports in the distal section of the catheter . while individual features of one embodiment of the invention may be discussed or shown in the drawings of the one embodiment and not in other embodiments , it should be apparent that individual features of one embodiment may be combined with one or more features of another embodiment or features from a plurality of embodiments .	1
first some prior art circuits will be described for comparison with circuits according to the invention . thus fig1 shows a prior art power amplifier 1 of the one - transistor amplifier type for use in a portable radio communications device . although the amplifier in a practical circuit will typically comprise several additional components , it is here illustrated as consisting of a transistor 2 and an impedance 3 . the impedance 3 can be any type of impedance , e . g . a current generator having a very high impedance at radio frequencies . the input to the power amplifier 1 comes from a radio circuit 4 , and the amplified output is delivered at the out - terminal . the output power from the amplifier is connected to an antenna 5 , but because the antenna 5 will normally present an impedance mismatch to the output of the power amplifier 1 , an isolator 6 is normally inserted between the output of the power amplifier 1 and the antenna 5 in order to improve the vswr ( voltage standing wave ratio ) of the circuit . in a portable radio communications device , such as a mobile telephone , the power amplifier is generally driven so strongly that overloading occurs . this means that the transistor is driven in its non linear region , and ripple in the form of pulses will be generated in the current drawn from the supply voltage ( vcc ) to the amplifier , and thus on the supply voltage itself . this is illustrated in fig2 which shows that one pulse is generated for each period of the radio frequency signal amplified by the power amplifier . for e . g . a gsm mobile phone the frequency could typically be 900 mhz or 1800 mhz . the form of the pulse shown is just illustrative , and similarly , the amplitude is shown exaggerated for illustrative purposes . the presence of this ripple on the supply voltage to the power amplifier prevents the power amplifier from being integrated on the same chip as the rest of the radio circuit 4 , because this circuit contains some very sensitive components , and unacceptable distortion would be the result . the ripple can be reduced by combining multiple transistors , such that the current drawn from the supply voltage is divided between the multiple transistors , provided the transistors do not conduct simultaneously . one way is to use a differential amplifier 11 as shown in fig3 . the radio circuit 14 now delivers the signal to be amplified to the power amplifier 11 as a differential signal which is amplified by the two transistors 12 and 13 . as long as such an amplifier is driven in its linear region the current through the transistors is close to being constant ( 2 × i ), but as mentioned above , this is not the case . the two transistors now conduct in anti - phase , and thus the pulses in the current drawn from the supply voltage , and thus in the supply voltage itself , are phase shifted 180 ° from each other . at the same time the amplitude of each pulse is halved , because the total current is divided between the two transistors . this is illustrated in fig4 . the upper diagram shows the ripple caused by transistor 12 , while the next diagram similarly shows the ripple caused by transistor 13 . finally , the lower diagram shows the combined ripple . it will be seen that the frequency of the ripple is doubled and the amplitude halved , but still the ripple is significant and prevents the power amplifier from being integrated together with the rest of the radio circuit . the combination of multiple transistors can also be implemented in a power amplifier in which the transistors are connected together by means of an arrangement of hybrid couplers as illustrated with the power amplifier 21 in fig5 . the two transistors 22 and 23 are connected to the two hybrid couplers 24 and 25 . for better understanding of this circuit , the function of a hybrid coupler will be briefly described below . when circuits are implemented in e . g . microstrip or stripline technologies , an electrical leakage field extends a short distance outside the conductive pattern . this gives rise to capacitive coupling between two adjacent conductors . the coupling increases with decreasing separation of the conductors , and the strongest coupling is achieved when the two conductors are in close proximity for a distance of a quarter of a wavelength at the operating frequency . in addition , a strong directional effect is obtained . as an example , a direct - coupled line coupler is shown in fig6 . if power is applied to the arrangement via port 1 , a portion of the power is transferred to the other conductor . in case of ideal matching at all ports , all the power transferred to the other conductor will be fed out through port 3 . no power is transferred to port 4 , and therefore the coupler is called a directional coupler . through adjustment of the distance between the conductors the proportion of power transferred to port 3 can be varied . if the losses in the line structure are disregarded , all the remaining input power will flow through port 2 . in this case the so - called 3 db coupler , in which the power is split equally between ports 2 and 3 , is the most interesting one , but other variations are possible . an important characteristic of the shown hybrid coupler is the relative difference between the phases of the signals at ports 1 , 2 and 3 . in particular , it is noted that for this coupler the phase difference between the two output ports , i . e . ports 2 and 3 , is 90 °. therefore , the coupler is called a quadrature hybrid . fig7 shows how this coupler can be implemented in a microstrip technology . the conductors 31 and 32 are placed on one side of a substrate 33 , while a ground plane 34 is located on the opposite side of the substrate 33 . in a stripline technology the conductors of the coupler would be placed in the middle of a substrate having ground planes on both sides . in a practical solution it can be difficult to position the two conductors close enough to each other to obtain sufficient coupling . therefore , a practical solution is often implemented as e . g . a lange coupler , which is well known and therefore not described in further detail here . it can be noted that the coupler is symmetrical , such that if a signal is input to e . g . port 2 instead of port 1 , port 3 will be the isolated port and the input power will be divided equally between ports 1 and 4 , with the same relative phase positions . the coupling between two lines can also be effected by connecting lines . a simple version of a line - coupled hybrid is shown in fig8 . the best characteristics are obtained when the distance between the coupling lines as well as the length of the lines correspond to a quarter of a wavelength at the operating frequency . with 50 ω coupling lines and 35 ω characteristic impedance for the intervening line sections , both 3 db coupling and a 50 ω impedance of the ports are achieved . the characteristics of this type of hybrid are also shown in the figure . if a signal is applied to port 1 , the power is split between ports 2 and 3 with the mutual phase difference being 90 °. this hybrid is therefore also of the quadrature type . hybrids of the quadrature type as described above can be used in the circuit of fig5 . when the signal from the radio circuit 4 is coupled to the input port of the hybrid 24 there will be a 90 ° phase difference between the output ports , which corresponds to a λ / 4 difference in the propagation path . provided the connection lines from the output ports of the hybrid 24 to the input of the transistors 22 and 23 have equal electrical lengths , the inputs of the two transistors will also have a 90 ° phase difference , and thus the transistors will conduct with a 90 ° phase shift between each other . the outputs of the transistors 22 and 23 are connected to a hybrid 25 which is of the same type as the hybrid 24 . provided again that the connection lines from the transistors to the hybrid 25 are of equal electrical lengths , the two input signals to the hybrid 25 will also have a 90 ° phase difference . the hybrid is symmetrical , and thus it will now function with two input ports to which the two input signals with a 90 ° phase difference are connected , and these signals will be combined to one signal at the single output port while the fourth port is still isolated . the total electrical length of the two paths through the transistors should be the same from the input of the input hybrid to the output of the output hybrid . in this way the two waves are added optimally in phase in the output hybrid . in order to minimize the effect of mismatch in the transistor inputs , the electrical lengths from the input of the input hybrid to the input of the two transistors should differ by λ / 4 , because then reflected waves from the transistors will cancel each other in the input hybrid . this difference is obtained in the quadrature hybrid . as mentioned above , this means that the transistors will conduct with a 90 ° phase difference between each other . therefore the pulses in the current drawn from the supply voltage , and thus in the supply voltage itself , will also be phase shifted 90 ° from each other . similarly to the circuit of fig3 the amplitude of each pulse is halved compared to the one - transistor solution , because the total current is divided between the two transistors . this is illustrated in fig9 . the upper diagram shows the ripple caused by transistor 22 , while the next diagram similarly shows the ripple caused by transistor 23 . finally , the lower diagram shows the combined ripple . it will be seen that in this case the frequency of the ripple will still have a component of the operating frequency , and there will also be a component of twice the operating frequency . again , the amplitude is halved , but still the ripple is significant and prevents the power amplifier from being integrated together with the rest of the radio circuit . the hybrids described above are of the quadrature type . however , in some applications other types are preferred , and thus the design principles of two other hybrid types , in which the two output signals are in phase , will be described . fig1 shows a wilkinson hybrid which basically consists of a forked line . to obtain a coupling impedance of 50 ω in port 1 , the 50 ω lines in ports 2 and 3 are transformed to 100 ω at the fork by means of a quarter - wave 70 ω impedance transformer . on matching of both port 2 and port 3 , identical voltages are obtained on both sides of the 100 ω resistance . thus , no power is lost in the resistance , which can be seen as an internal isolated port . another hybrid , which can produce output signals in phase , is the circular hybrid shown in fig1 . if a signal is applied to port 1 , two waves result which travel in opposite directions round the circular line . the circumference ( 3 / 2λ ) of the circular line and the relative positions of the ports have been chosen such that the two waves will be added in phase or in anti - phase at the points where the ports are connected . if the signals are added in anti - phase , no output signal will result . this corresponds to the isolated port . these hybrid couplers can be used in an amplifier circuit similar to that of fig5 and a modified version of the circuit is shown in fig1 . the amplifier 41 differs from the amplifier 21 in fig5 in that hybrids 44 and 45 having in - phase ports are used instead of the quadrature hybrids 24 and 25 . these hybrids have the same electrical length from the input port to the two output ports , or , in the opposite direction , to two input ports to a common output port . in order to maintain a 90 ° phase difference between the transistors , the connection lines from the output ports of the hybrid 44 to the inputs of the transistors 22 and 23 are arranged to have a λ / 4 difference in their electrical lengths . similarly , the connection lines from the transistor outputs to the input ports of the output hybrid 45 have a λ / 4 difference in electrical length in order to ensure that the inputs to the hybrid 45 are in phase . thus again , the total electrical length of the two paths through the transistors is the same from the input of the input hybrid to the output of the output hybrid , and the two waves are added optimally in phase in the output hybrid . the ripple of this solution is the same as the one shown in fig9 and thus the amplifier is not suitable for integration together with the rest of the radio circuit . this problem is solved by the invention . the idea is to implement a hybrid coupler as a differential hybrid , as will now be described . fig1 shows an example of a differential hybrid coupler of the line - coupled type . the structure is similar to that of fig8 but instead of using the ground plane as a reference plane , two identical structures 51 and 52 , both similar to the one known from fig8 are implemented above each other in separate layers . each of the differential lines in the structure has the same impedance and the same length as the single ended hybrid of fig8 . a differential signal applied to the two ports labelled “ 1 ” will be divided between the differential ports 2 and 3 with the mutual phase difference being 90 °. thus this hybrid is a differential quadrature hybrid . no signal will be present at the differential port 4 , and thus again this port is an isolated port . the isolated port can be terminated with a resistor to ensure impedance matching , but , as mentioned , no signal will be present across such resistor . fig1 shows how this differential line - coupled hybrid can be implemented in a microstrip technology . two substrate layers 53 and 54 are used . the conducting pattern 51 is placed on the top side of the substrate layer 53 , while the pattern 52 is placed between the two substrate layers in line with the pattern 51 . like before , a ground plane 55 is located at the opposite side of the substrate 54 . the figure does not show the connections to the structure , but these are easily implemented , as is well known in the microstrip technology . alternatively , the structure can also be implemented in a stripline technology as shown in fig1 . the structure is very similar to the microstrip structure , but a further substrate layer 56 is added at the top of the layer 53 , such that also the conducting pattern 51 will be placed between two substrate layers . a second ground plane 57 is located at the top of the layer 56 , so that the conducting patterns are placed between two ground planes , as is well known in the stripline technology . above , a differential hybrid of the line - coupled type is described , but it should be noted that any of the other hybrid types illustrated in e . g . fig6 and 11 can easily be implemented as differential hybrids as well . this is also the case for other hybrid types not specifically described in this document . a power amplifier circuit utilizing the differential hybrid couplers is shown in fig1 . when the differential signal from the radio circuit 14 is coupled to the differential input port of the hybrid 66 there will be a 90 ° phase difference between the output ports , which corresponds to a λ / 4 difference in the propagation path . one of the differential output ports is connected to the two transistors 62 and 63 which conducts in anti - phase because of the differential signal , provided the connection lines have equal electrical lengths . the other differential output port , which has a 90 ° phase difference from the first one , is connected to the transistors 64 and 65 . these transistors also conduct in anti - phase . since each transistor pair conducts in anti - phase , and there is a 90 ° phase difference between the two pairs , the conduction periods for the four transistors are now distributed equally with a 90 ° phase difference between each period . the outputs of the transistors 62 and 63 are connected to one differential input port of the differential hybrid 67 which is of the same type as the hybrid 66 . similarly , the outputs of the transistors 64 and 65 are connected to the other differential input port of the differential hybrid 67 . provided again that the connection lines from the transistors to the hybrid 67 are of equal electrical lengths , the two differential input signals to the hybrid 67 will also have a 90 ° phase difference . also the differential hybrid is symmetrical , and thus it will now function with two differential input ports to which the two differential input signals with a 90 ° phase difference are connected , and these signals will be combined to one differential signal at the differential output port while the fourth port is still isolated . again the total electrical length of the paths through the transistors should be the same from the input of the input hybrid to the output of the output hybrid . in this way the waves are added optimally in phase in the output hybrid . the isolated ports of the two hybrids are terminated with the resistors 68 and 69 . the circuit of fig1 uses differential quadrature hybrids , but again also in - phase hybrids can be used , as is shown in the circuit 71 in fig1 . the only differences from fig1 are that in - phase hybrids 72 and 73 are used instead of the quadrature hybrids , and that the electrical lengths of the connections between the transistors and the hybrids in the upper part of the circuit differ with λ / 4 from the connections in the lower part of the circuit to ensure that the transistors 62 and 63 still have a 90 ° phase difference from the transistors 64 and 65 . as mentioned above , the four transistors in fig1 or fig1 will conduct with a 90 ° phase difference between each other . therefore the pulses in the current drawn from the supply voltage , and thus in the supply voltage itself , will also differ 90 ° from each other . the amplitude of each pulse is now reduced to one quarter compared to the one - transistor solution , because the total current is divided between the four transistors . this is illustrated in fig1 . the upper diagram shows the ripple caused by transistor 62 , while the next diagrams similarly show the ripple caused by transistors 65 , 63 and 64 . finally , the lower diagram shows the combined ripple . it is seen that the ripple now has a frequency four times the operating frequency , and that the amplitude is now much reduced . as mentioned before , the shown shape of the ripple is only illustrative , but even with other shapes the ripple will at least be reduced to a quarter of the ripple for the one - transistor solution . further , four times the operating frequency is far easier to filter out in other blocks . this means that with this solution it is possible to integrate the power amplifier with the transistors and the hybrids together with the more sensitive functions of the radio circuit on one chip or very close in the same package . as mentioned for the single ended hybrid amplifier , the output hybrid will make the load of the collectors of the transistors unsensitive to load mismatch at the output , or at least the circuit can be compensated therefor by a feed - back coupling . this also applies to the differential hybrid amplifier , although the load is of course differential . thus this solution also allows that the output can be connected directly to the antenna without the need for an isolator between the amplifier and the antenna . the solution also allows for lower voltage operation . this is due to the fact that the peak current is now divided between four transistors . further , because the transistor stages are differential they can in practice work with twice the actual supply voltage even without inductive chokes at the supply lines . if chokes are used , it could be up to four times the actual supply voltage . thus it is possible to operate the power amplifier with very low supply voltages , which is often a demand in e . g . mobile telephones . although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described and shown , the invention is not restricted to it , but may also be embodied in other ways within the scope of the subject - matter defined in the following claims .	7
fig1 diagrammatically illustrates pertinent portions of exemplary embodiments of a data processing system according to the invention . examples of the data processing system include wireless telephones , laptop computers , and set - top boxes . the exemplary system of fig1 includes a host processor 11 ( for example a microprocessor ) and one or more co - processors 13 ( for example additional microprocessors and / or dsps ). the processors 11 and 13 can be embedded together in a single integrated circuit chip , or can be provided on separate integrated circuit chips . a man - machine interface ( mmi ) 12 , for example a keyboard / keypad , visual display , etc . permits a user to access user applications 14 associated with the host processor 11 . when a user application determines that a co - processor should execute a particular function , the application directs a server 15 in the host processor 11 to obtain program information to be downloaded from the server 15 to the co - processor , and then used by the co - processor in performing the desired function . in response to the request from the user application 14 , the server 15 uses an application programming interface ( api ) 16 to retrieve the program information from a file storage facility ( e . g . a file system or other file storage mechanism ) 17 where executable files are stored . according to the invention , a given executable file stored in the file storage facility 17 includes not only program information which the co - processor uses to perform the desired function , but also includes non - program information associated with the program information . for example , the non - program information could include platform requirement information such as described above , setup parameters , or other general properties of the program . the api 16 distinguishes the program information from the non - program information , and provides both sets of information to the server 15 . based on the non - program information , the server can , for example , make a determination as to which of a plurality of available co - processors is suitable for execution of the desired program , and can then forward the program information to the selected co - processor . fig2 diagrammatically illustrates exemplary manners in which the aforementioned non - program information can be configured . as shown in fig2 , during a program development phase , the developer uses software tools to configure a virtual database 17 ′ which stores object ( i . e . program ) attributes such as , for example , platform requirement information , setup parameters , etc . the virtual database 17 ′ is provided within the storage facility 17 of fig1 as will be described in more detail below . a configuration tool 21 provides the attribute ( non - program ) information . a uuid generation tool 23 provides to the configuration tool 21 a universally unique identifier ( uuid ) for identifying each set of attribute information stored in the virtual database 17 ′. the uuids are included in the attribute information provided by the configuration tool 21 . after the virtual database 17 ′ has been established during the development phase , the api 16 accesses the stored object attributes and provides them to the server 15 during the runtime phase . fig3 diagrammatically illustrates an exemplary process for providing the virtual database 17 ′ of fig2 in the storage facility 17 of fig1 . in the example of fig3 , the configuration tool 21 is based on texas instruments incorporated &# 39 ; s commercially available graphical configuration tool ( gconf ). this tool is a windows gui application that presents different configurable data modules in a manner similar to windows explorer . the developer can conduct a dialogue in conventional fashion with the gconf tool , inputting the desired attributes for each program ( or object ) in fig3 . the programs are designated as obj 1 , obj 2 , . . . objn in fig3 . using conventional techniques , the gconf tool can be suitably programmed to convert the input attribute information into information which is suitable for integration into an executable file , for example a coff ( common object file format ) executable file . after the attribute information has been input into a suitable configuration file in the gconf tool 21 during the aforementioned dialogue , the developer uses the gconf “ file / save ” command , which prompts the gconf tool to automatically generate header files , assembly macros and linker command files based on the attribute information provided by the developer during the dialogue process . the linker command files will contain the attribute is information in a format suitable for integration into an executable file . each of the assembly / linker files 32 , 33 and 34 ( which include the aforementioned linker command files ) is combined with its associated program information ( i . e ., code and data ) at 36 , 37 and 38 , which program information is contained in conventional executable files ( e . g . coff files ). the combining operation can be performed by a conventional compiler / linker 31 . the compiler / linker 31 combines the data in the assembly / linker files 32 , 33 and 34 with the program information from the files 36 , 37 and 38 , respectively , to produce corresponding executable files , in this example coff executable files 39 , 40 and 41 , that include both program information ( from 36 , 37 and 38 ) and non - program information ( from 32 , 33 and 34 ). each of the executable files 39 , 40 and 41 illustrated in fig3 includes program information and non - program information , as illustrated generally by the example of fig7 . the executable file 40 illustrated in fig7 includes program information ( code and data ) and corresponding non - program information , for example platform requirement information for the program , as described above . although the example executable file 40 of fig7 includes only a single program and its associated non - program information , other executable files in the storage facility 17 could include code and data corresponding to a plurality of programs , together with a plurality of sets of non - program information respectively corresponding to the plurality of programs . the non - program information included in the various executable files 39 , 40 and 41 in fig3 constitutes the virtual database 17 ′ of fig2 , more particularly a virtual database including non - program information corresponding to the various programs stored in the storage facility 17 . fig4 shows examples of attribute information associated with an exemplary codec node ( i . e ., codec program ). as shown , the aforementioned uuid can be obtained by the developer ( from the tool 23 of fig2 ) and provided as attribute information for the codec program . referring again to fig1 , when the server 15 begins the process of loading an executable file onto a coprocessor for the first time , the api 16 will record the file path of the executable file . in some embodiments , the api 16 performs data retrieval through a parser 51 as illustrated in fig5 . the parser 51 uses the uuid information described above to identify uniquely each program in the storage facility 17 , and to identify data sections within the executable files wherein the corresponding non - program information is stored . executable files that conform to coff , for example the coff utilized by texas instruments incorporated , support non - downloadable data regions . using this feature of coff , the compiler / linker 31 of fig3 automatically stores the non - program information within the non - downloadable data regions of the coff executable files . thus , the parser 51 will search through the coff executable files within the storage facility 17 , comparing the uuids of the non - downloadable data sections with the uuid provided to the parser 51 by the user ( via the server 15 ). when the parser finds a non - downloadable data section uuid match , the non - program information from that section can , in some embodiments , be loaded into a corresponding data structure in the api 16 . the non - program information can be provided to the server 15 along with the corresponding program information read from the storage facility 17 , whereupon the server 15 can utilize conventional techniques to , for example , evaluate whether a given co - processor is suitable for execution of the desired program and / or to setup / configure the co - processor to execute the desired program . the parser 51 can be used to determine the file path information described above , and this information can be stored in an otc ( object to coff ) map 53 . this map 53 can thereafter use the user - provided uuid information to map the various programs to their corresponding coff files . fig6 illustrates exemplary operations of the present invention . the program code and data is provided at 61 , and the related non - program information is provided at 62 . at 63 , the non - program information is configured for inclusion in an executable file . at 64 , the configured information is integrated into an executable file together with the program code and data . when it is desired at 65 to download the program from the host processor to a co - processor , the server at 66 obtains the executable file contents , and uses the non - program information to select the co - processor , after which the program can be downloaded into the co - processor at 67 . fig8 is provided to illustrate by comparison exemplary advantages of the invention described above with respect to fig1 - 7 . fig8 diagrammatically illustrates the consequences of the lack of database standardization across different target operating systems . whereas the invention described above with respect to fig1 - 7 is clearly cooperable with multiple target operating systems while using only a single api design and a single ( virtual ) database configuration , fig8 illustrates that , without the invention of fig1 - 7 , multiple target operating systems could be supported only by multiple corresponding database access apis , one database access api for each os - specific database . as a result , the overall complexity of the system would increase significantly as clearly shown by a comparison of fig1 and 8 . it should also be noted that the invention described above with respect to fig1 - 7 provides a unique data access approach inasmuch as no other database server will be able to access the data in the above - described virtual database 17 ′ unless , for example , that server has access to the uuids that are needed to access the data in the virtual database 17 ′. the above - described integration of non - program information with program information in an executable file permits non - program information to be communicated from the developer to the server of the host processor in an efficient manner , and without increasing the size of the runtime program . this is accomplished by , for example , taking advantage of the non - downloadable data section feature of coff executables . the invention eliminates the need for an auxiliary database on the host processor , thus saving the resources required by a traditional database , which is particularly advantageous for resource - constrained systems such as a system on a chip . the invention further simplifies the process of downloading a program to a co - processor because both program and non - program information can be provided in a single file , thereby advantageously avoiding the conventional requirement of handling two separate files . also , as described above with respect to fig8 , the invention provides compatibility across multiple platforms with far less complexity than would result through application of conventional techniques . although exemplary embodiments of the invention are described above in detail , this does not limit the scope of the invention , which can be practiced in a variety of embodiments .	6
fig1 : a schematic showing the general operating principle of a separator apparatus of a type incorporated in embodiments of the present invention in which the following reference numerals refer : 1 . filtration unit 2 . porous filter 3 . upper ( pre - filtration ) chamber for receiving fluid sample . 4 . fluid sample 5 . lower ( post - filtration ) chamber for receiving back - flushing fluid . 6 . fluid provided in the post - filtration chamber 7 . resonating substrate 8 . acoustic energy generating element 9 . vacuum draw ( optional ) the porous filter 2 separates a filtration unit 1 into two chambers ; an upper ( pre - filtration ) chamber 3 into which a fluid sample 4 requiring cell separation is introduced and a lower ( post - filtration ) chamber 5 into which a fluid 6 capable of transmitting an acoustic standing wave is introduced . an acoustic element 8 is coupled to a substrate 7 which is located within and at the bottom of the lower chamber and which resonates in response to the acoustic generating element and generates a standing wave through the two fluid phases and the filter to agitate the sample . simultaneously , a cyclic process of vacuum draw 9 causes movement of the sample downwards through the filter . vacuum pressure , fluid flow rate and frequency of vibration are controlled by a controller ( associated with appropriate pumps and valves . a concentrated fraction of desired larger cells is retained on top of the filter whilst smaller cells pass through the filter to a waste receptacle ( not shown ). in a specific embodiment of the invention the acoustic element is a speaker having a power of 0 . 4 w , resistance of 4ω , amplitude in the range of between about 4 . 2v to 7 . 36v peak to peak and a frequency range in the range of between about 300 - 700 hz . fig2 : a photograph of illustrating the component assembly of an embodiment of the filtration unit of the invention in which the following reference numerals refer : 10 . upper chamber 11 . middle chamber 12 . lower chamber 13 . clamps to secure upper chamber and middle chambers 14 . membrane filter 15 . o - rings sealing to filter when the upper and middle chambers are clamped together 16 . upper tissue sample reservoir within middle chamber 17 . input into saline reservoir below filter 18 . acoustic energy generating element 19 . o - rings sealing to acoustic element 20 . exit for acoustic element electrical connection fig3 : a photograph of a separation apparatus of a type incorporated in embodiments of the present invention in which the fluids in the pre - and post - filtration chambers are sequentially moved across the filter , and in which the following reference numerals refer : 21 . filtration unit ( process chamber ) 22 . control unit 23 . lcd : acoustic frequency 24 . lcd : vacuum pressure 25 . drip counter 26 . drip sensor cable 27 . pressure sensor 28 . signal volume 29 . acoustic frequency 30 . vacuum knob 31 . pressure sensor cable 32 . pump switch 33 . audio cable 34 . saline line ( from syringe to process chamber ) 35 . waste line ( from process chamber to waste chamber ) 36 . waste chamber this figure illustrates an apparatus which comprises a filtration unit 21 and a control unit 22 . the control unit 19 can be programmed to control the vacuum pump ( koge kpv14a - 6a ) ( not shown ). an amplifier and signal generator chip built into the control unit allows the frequency and amplitude of the acoustic element ( not shown ) to be set via the plc . the plc also operates together with a load cell ( not shown ) so as to vary the applied acoustic energy as the volume of fluid above the filter ( not shown ) changes , in accordance with aspects of the present invention . fig4 : schematic representation of a further embodiment of the apparatus of the invention and in which the following reference numerals refer : 37 . filtration unit 38 . acoustic energy generating element 39 . load cell 40 . acoustic sensor 41 . interactive ldc panel — lcd user interface 42 . micro processor 43 . printed circuit board , pcb 44 . vacuum pump 45 . pressure sensor 46 . waste chamber the pcb 43 is programmed to switch the acoustic energy generating element 38 and vacuum pump 44 ( koge kpv14a - 6a ) on and off . it is also integrated with a pressure sensor 45 and an acoustic sensor 40 ( e . g . microphone ) to constantly monitor and adjust the working vacuum pressure and the acoustic energy to an optimum . the lcd interface 41 guides the user through the entire process / procedure with interactive flashing icons indicating what the user should do in each step . the entire system is powered up by a ‘ power source ’ e . g . batteries . fig5 : photograph of the lcd user interface on the control unit of the invention and in which the following reference numerals refer : 47 : input saline 48 : input biological fluid 49 : input required final volume 50 : processing 51 . required volume reached ( processing completed ) 52 : press set / next button 53 : fluid volume 54 : battery power indicator 55 : set / next button 56 : up and down button for adjusting fluid volume . in normal operation the separation chamber of the apparatus is initially free of fluid . the lcd interface will display ‘ input saline ’ 47 and ‘ input biological fluid mixture ’ 48 icons to indicate the user to deliver the fluids into apparatus . the volume of the biological fluid mixture added is registered by the load cell and displayed on the lcd 53 . this will be followed by the ‘ input required end volume ’ 49 icon which can be set by using the ‘ up and down buttons ’ 56 on the panel . once the required final volume is set the biological fluid mixture will undergo processing , which will be indicated by the ‘ processing in progress ’ 50 icon . during processing , the acoustic element and the vacuum pump are switched on . the acoustic energy and the vacuum pressure applied will be constantly monitored and automatically adjusted as the processing fluid volume decreases . the acoustic energy has amplitude fixed at 11v and an amplifier signal voltage of less than 5v . the signal volume range from 2 to 6 and the frequency range from 350 to 650 hz , this drives a standing wave through the fluid and the fluid observed to be in constant agitation . the negative vacuum pressure applied range from 0 . 2 to 0 . 3 psi to keep a net unidirectional flow of biological fluid through the filter into the waste chamber . once the desired / entered end volume is reached , ‘ process completed ’ icon appears 51 , and the pcb is permanently disabled with a ‘ kill ’ command form the micro - processor . the processed biological fluid above the filter is then removed and is ready for use . the flow diagram of fig6 shows a currently preferred operating principle for the control system of embodiments of the present invention , with fig7 showing the role of the pcb in controlling , monitoring and regulating the vacuum pressure , fluid volume / load and acoustic energy . the separation apparatus of fig4 has a load cell that measures the mass of the fluid and a microprocessor that controls the frequency of an acoustic actuator . the fluid mass above the porous filter in the separation chamber was recorded every 20 seconds , as well as the corresponding acoustic frequency at that time point . a representative mass - frequency profile is shown in fig8 for the separation apparatus using porcine bone marrow . the measured data is best represented by the correlation : y = 733 . 12 x ( e − 0 . 1516 ) with an r 2 = 0 . 9759 . in practice , the generalised correlation would be applied within the microprocessor software , such that for a given measured fluid mass the appropriate frequency would be applied to the acoustic actuator in the separation apparatus . another representative mass - frequency profile is shown in fig9 for the separation apparatus of fig8 using both human and porcine bone marrow aspirate ( bma ). the measured data is best represented by the linear regressions : as fluid processing progressed , the mass of fluid contained above the filter was registered on an lcd coupled to a load cell . simultaneously , the frequency of the acoustic element was registered on an independent lcd display . these data were generated using the same device . the regressions show that irrespective of tissue type the same linear change in frequency correlates to the change in fluid volume . the data also suggests that for human tissue there is constant reduced offset in frequency of approximately 30 hz . various materials may be used as a loudspeaker cone / diaphragm , but the most common are paper , plastic and metal . the ideal material would be light ( to minimise starting force requirements ), stiff ( to prevent uncontrolled cone motions ) and well damped ( to reduce vibrations continuing after the signal has stopped ). in practice , the three criteria cannot be met simultaneously using existing materials . as a result , many loudspeaker diaphragms are made of some sort of composite material . fig1 shows an exploded view of a substrate or ‘ soundboard ’ 57 made of composite material that , when used as loudspeaker cone / diaphragm in combination with an acoustic energy generating element , is capable of delivering appropriate acoustic energy into the biological fluid . it is a composite panel with layered / bonded sandwich construction , consisting of a polycarbonate disc core 58 and two outer stainless steel skins 59 of specific thickness . the outer skins 59 are extremely strong and the core 58 is lightweight and very much weaker , but with the use of a suitable adhesive the benefits are realised . details are shown in table 1 . this combination of materials gives the soundboard 57 a unique material stiffness and performance characteristic such that , when used as speaker cone / diaphragm in combination with an acoustic actuator , it generates fluid resonance through efficient acoustic energy delivery which in turn provides efficient filtering in the cell separation apparatus of embodiments of the present invention . a current working embodiment of an alternative embodiment of the invention is schematically represented in fig1 comprising hinged separation chamber 60 together and a pcb / microprocessor 61 . the hinged separating chamber is a pop - up sub - assembly held in a preloaded position as described below : the hinged supporting platform 62 is a moulding that incorporates the separation chamber as well as keeping the separation chamber and the porous filter 63 in the horizontal position . it is designed to pop - up to desired tilt angle once the biological fluid processing is complete , thus allowing for maximum recovery of the processed fluid . the actuator spring 64 is located at the opposite end to the hinge 65 sandwiching between the hinged supporting platform 62 and the base 66 . it provides a uniform elevation force on the hinged separating chamber . the spring is under compression when the assembly is in the preloaded position . a fusible filament 67 ( e . g . polymer filament loop ) is tethered at one end to the hinged separation chamber ( opposite to the hinge ), drawn taut and tethered to the filament retainers 68 at the other end . this action anchors the separation chamber with the spring compressed such that the pop - up sub - assembly is grounded and preloaded . the filament is in direct contact with the fusible resistor 69 which , when activated , melts the filament and thereby allowing the preloaded subassembly to pop - up once processing is completed . the filament retainers hold the filament within the assembly by providing a method of attaching the filament to the pivoting bodies , whilst maintaining the tension in the filament in the preloaded position . the base provides the grounding points and guides for the filament to run through . when the specified final volume is reached ( i . e . processing completed ) and recognised by the load cell of the separation chamber , it triggers the pcb / microprocessor to activate the fusible resistor such that the filament is melted and broken at the point of contact . once the thread is broken , the compression springs serve to release the anchored separation chamber that then mechanically locks out into the desired tilt angle . this is shown in fig1 b . the pre - set tilt angle is determined by ( 1 ) the uncompressed actuator spring length and ( 2 ) the position of the spring relative to the hinge ( pivot point ). this is demonstrated in fig1 , showing the relationship : θ = tilt angle o = length of relaxed spring − length of compressed spring a = distance between hinge and spring fig1 is a flow chart showing a decision - making process used in embodiments of the present invention illustrated in fig1 and 12 . fig1 and 15 illustrate an embodiment of the invention in its pre - load and automatically tilted configurations , respectively . the figures show the base 70 which includes a display 71 and user controls 72 , the hinged supporting platform 73 , the separation chamber 74 an outlet port 75 to which a syringe ( not shown ) may be attached in order to take a sample of filtrand or residue , and input ports 76 , 77 . the hinged supporting platform and the separation chamber are preferably configured as a disposable unit incorporating the tether ( not shown ). once the tether has been broken and the hinged platform has popped up into the tilted configuration of fig1 , the hinged platform cannot be locked back in the preload configuration of fig1 , thereby preventing accidental re - use of the unit , which might otherwise result in cross - contamination between clinical samples and / or patient tissue . fig1 shows an alternative embodiment in which the automatic tilt mechanism has been redesigned by using the filament or tether 78 to release a simple trigger mechanism instead of holding the full force of the sprung pivoting section . with this arrangement , the tether 78 would be only under a small amount of tension — just enough to overcome a small spring force . for example , a small pivoting trigger 79 ( e . g . made from polypropylene with a living hinge ) would be under tension from a small spring 80 , and held in its ‘ set ’ position by the tether . when in the preload position , the pivoting section ( e . g . a hook depending from the hinged supporting platform ), would snap into place . when the tether is released , the trigger would be released and the pivoting section would pop - up . fig1 to 24 show alternative embodiments of the apparatus utilising manually - operated tilt means . in fig1 , a tilt lever 81 is hingedly mounted to the base 82 of a separation device . the tilt lever 81 comprises a span portion 82 and a pair of arms 83 with hinge pins 84 . the hinge pins of the arms are adapted for snap fitting into complementary hinge recesses ( not shown ) in the base . as illustrated , when fitted to the base , the tilt lever 81 can be moved by hand from a first position ( step 1 ) in which it is substantially recessed in the base , to a second position ( step 4 ) in which the span portion projects from a bottom of the base causing the device to assume a tilted orientation on a surface on which it is disposed . a pair of recesses ( not shown ) are provided in opposed side walls of the base to enable the tilt lever 81 to be accessed easily by a user &# 39 ; s fingers . the resulting tilt angle is determined by the width and angle of the span portion 82 when in the second position .	6
a human finger has the tendency to slightly vibrate when pressed against a surface . by sensing this vibration it is possible to determine whether a physical contact exists . by measuring the vibrations exerted by a human finger to a surface , a device and method can be used to sense whether a physical contact between a human finger and a surface exists . the preferred mechanical construction utilizes piezoelectric elements for sensing the forces caused by the vibration , but the invention is not limited to any particular way of measuring the exerted forces . in a first known application , capacitive sensing technology detects the presence of a human finger but is unable to detect whether the finger is actually touching the surface or is close to it . in a second known application , non - capacitive technologies such as piezoelectric elements or inductive elements are used to sense the human touch by measuring the change in forces projected to the surface of the user interface . many of these technologies only react to change in forces instead of being able to measure the static force . therefore they have limited accuracy and reliability in detecting the beginning and end of a human finger interaction . in a third known application , a user interface sends haptic feedback to a human finger for generating a sensational feeling to the user . in order for most haptic feedback technologies to function a physical contact between the surface and the human finger is required . thus a haptic feedback system benefits greatly from being able to send the haptic feedback only after a physical contact for the finger is present . the present device and method are not limited to any of the aforementioned applications ; the aforementioned applications however serve as particular examples where the present device and method can be utilized . the device 1 comprises one or more piezoelectric elements 22 . a piezoelectric element 22 produces an electric voltage in response to changes in mechanical stress applied to it . when the mechanical stress of a piezoelectric element is varied , the output voltage of the element 22 varies correspondingly . when the mechanical stress of a piezoelectric element is static and does not vary , the output voltage of the piezoelectric element is constant . referring now to the structure of the device 1 in more detail , fig1 shows an example mechanical construction for attaching a piezoelectric element 22 into a surface 10 such that when perpendicular force f is applied to the surface 10 , the force is utilized to mechanically stress the piezoelectric element 22 by bending it . the base plate 20 provides support for the stack of layers on top of it . in the example construction , the base plate 20 is a printed circuit board manufactured of glass reinforced epoxy laminate sheet ( also known as fr4 material ). attached on top of it there is most preferably a 90 μm gold plated copper layer 18 that provides both an electrical connection to the bottom of the piezoelectric element 22 and enough room for the piezoelectric element 22 to bend downwards . for the copper layer 18 , other thicknesses can be used as well , most advantageously between 20 μm and 1 mm , but 90 μm is particularly suitable providing protection against overload and enough room for bending , and being possible to produce with standard printed circuit board processes . gold plating improves the reliability of electrical contact but is not mandatory . in particular when a circular piezoelectric element 22 is used , a circular hole 27 is etched into the copper layer 18 with a slightly smaller diameter to support the piezoelectric element from the sides . as a result , there will be a recess on the top of the base plate 20 - copper layer 18 - combination . most preferably , no hole or recess is made in the base plate 20 . the piezoelectric element 22 comprises a circular layer 28 of piezoelectric material sintered on metallic base plate 25 that most preferably comprises or consists of brass or stainless steel and has a larger diameter than the layer 28 of piezoelectric material . the dot 26 is not directly part of the piezoelectric element 22 , since it is screen printed to the conductive foil 14 to induce pretension and secure the contact , thus improving the sensitivity of the device 1 . the purpose of the dot 26 is also to ensure electrical contact between the piezoelectric element 22 and the conductive foil 14 , since a ) thickness tolerances vary and b ) since heat coefficients are different between adhesive and piezo elements . the device 1 works also without the dot 26 but its reliability as regarding different tolerances can be improved much by using the dot 26 . alternatively , the dot 26 may be on the other side of the conductive foil 14 or even in a different layer . if the dot 26 is located as shown in fig1 , it is preferably either a ) comprise conductive material or be made of conductive material , or b ) be covered with conductive material . for the preferred embodiment , we have chosen to cover the dot 29 with screen printed silver to make its outer surface conductive . the layer 28 of piezoelectric material may be circular but it can have any other form as well . in particular , it was recently found out that the most advantageous form for the layer 28 of piezoelectric material is if it has a triangular shape . we have used oval shapes or shapes close to oval as well , since so it was possible for us to reach the most realistic haptic user experience with the device 1 . the piezoelectric element 22 is enclosed in hole 31 within an adhesive layer 16 . the height a of the adhesive layer 16 is the same as the height of the piezoelectric element 22 . the thickness of the base plate 25 and the layer 28 of piezoelectric material is slightly lower than the height a of the adhesive layer . the total thickness of the base plate 25 the layer 28 of piezoelectric material and of the dot 26 ( when it is uncompressed ) is slightly larger than the thickness a of the adhesive layer 16 in order to obtain pretension . on top of the piezoelectric element 22 is a conductive foil 14 that provides electrical contact to the top electrode of the piezoelectric element 22 . the conductive foil 14 is attached to the surface 10 by an adhesive layer 12 . the surface 10 is visible to the user . when a force f is applied to the mechanical construction in fig1 , the piezoelectric element 22 starts to bend ( fig1 shows the piezoelectric element 22 in bent state ). when the force f is removed , the layered construction returns to its original non - bent state ( the piezoelectric element 22 in fig1 would be shown as straight ). bending is one form of mechanical stress , and so the piezoelectric element 22 produces a voltage between the copper layer 18 and the conductive layer 14 . the copper layer 18 and the conductive layer 14 are connected to a measurement equipment such as a microcontroller for measuring the voltage . the device 1 is not limited to the shown construction and not limited to the use of a separate piezoelectric element 22 . as the element 22 of the device 1 ceramic piezoelectric elements , crystal piezoelectric elements or a polymer construction that exhibit piezoelectric characteristics may be used . any construction is suitable that transfers the applied mechanical force f into a mechanical stress of the piezoelectric material . when the surface 10 in fig1 is not touched by a human finger , i . e . the applied force f is zero , the mechanical construction is steady and the voltage output of the piezoelectric element 22 is steady . when the surface 10 is being touched by a human finger , the finger exerts varying forces f to the surface 10 during the time the finger is physically against the surface 10 . due to the nature of a human finger , the finger has a tendency to slightly vibrate even when kept as steadily as possible . this varying force f cause the voltage output of the piezoelectric element 22 to vary in time . by measuring the amount of variation in the voltage output of the piezoelectric element 22 in a certain time period , it can be detected whether a human finger is being touching the surface , i . e . whether a physical contact exists between the human finger and the surface . an example of actual measurement data is shown in fig2 . the x axis of the plot denotes time and the y axis denotes the measured voltage . before point 40 no force f was applied to the surface 10 and so the mechanical construction and the output voltage was stable . at point 40 a human finger was placed onto the surface 10 such that a physical contact was present . due to the nature of a human finger , the finger vibrated and caused a time - varying force f and thus time - varying bending of the piezoelectric element 22 . from the plot in fig2 it can be clearly seen that the signal became erratic after point 40 . at point 42 the finger was lifted off of the surface 10 . as soon as the physical contact between the finger and the surface 10 was lost at point 42 , the applied force f became zero and the output voltage of the piezoelectric element 22 became steady . by measuring the stability of the output voltage of the piezoelectric element 22 using a suitable electrical circuit , it can be determined whether a human finger has a physical contact to the surface 10 . the example in fig2 was recorded using an electrical circuit as shown in fig3 . the electrical circuit shown in fig3 is an example embodiment of a measurement system but the invention is not limited to this particular way of measuring the sensor element . the microcontroller ic 1 contains software algorithms for measuring the output signal of the piezoelectric element pz 1 using the analog - to - digital converter of the microcontroller ic 1 . the output signal of the piezoelectric element pz 1 is in the simplest implementation the voltage v caused by the layer 28 of piezoelectric material lead through the conductive layers 14 and 18 to the microcontroller ic 1 . the algorithms analyze the measured signal and determine its degree of stability . if the signal is highly stable , or at least sufficiently stable , physical contact between a human finger and the surface 10 does not exist . if the signal is not stable but contains vibrations characteristic to a human finger , a physical contact between a human finger and the surface 10 does exist . the output signal of the piezoelectric element pz 1 was measured via input p1 . 0 of the microcontroller ic 1 with resistors r 2 and r 3 and capacitor c 3 as shown in fig3 . an offset voltage was generated inside the microcontroller ic 1 and output from pin uref / p0 . 0 . the offset voltage was half of the maximum voltage the analog - to - digital converter can measure . this offset voltage is conducted to input p1 . 0 via resistors r 3 and r 2 . when the force f is zero , the voltage at input p1 . 0 is the same as the offset voltage . when the force f is varying , the piezoelectric element pz 1 produces a varying voltage over the resistor r 3 and changes the voltage at input p1 . 0 by the same amount . this construction allows the unipolar analog - to - digital converter to measure bipolar ( positive and negative ) voltage levels produced by the piezoelectric element pz 1 . the active low reset input nrst was driven from the + 3 . 3 v power source via resistor r 1 . this causes the microcontroller ic 1 go out of reset and start running once the operating level rises to proper level during power - up . operating power for the microcontroller ic 1 was obtained from a power source over a connection grounded via and stabilized by capacitors c 1 and c 2 and fed to operating power input vdd . a simple yet effective example implementation of a software algorithm to determine whether the output signal from the piezoelectric element 22 is highly stable or , at least , sufficiently stable , works as follows : the piezoelectric element 22 voltage is sampled with analog - to - digital converter at sampling frequency r , for example r = 250 hz . the sampled values for the last t seconds , for example , t = 0 . 1 s , are stored in memory . the number n of most recent samples in memory is thus n = t r , which in our example would be 25 . after each sampling by the analog - to - digital converter , the following calculations are performed : the sum s of the most recent samples xn in memory is calculated by an arithmetic mean m of the samples in memory is calculated by for each sample xn in memory , the error en is calculated by the error en calculated by equation ( 3 ) is the difference of each sample from the arithmetic mean and raises the difference in square ( i . e . power two ) thick causes higher differences to have exponentially more influence , and also ignores the sign of the difference . the total error e is calculated as the sum of all sample errors : after each analog - to - digital sampling , the total error e indicates the stability of the signal . when the surface is not being contacted by a human finger , the total error e is low , for example e = 25 , consisting of measurement noise . a human finger , when having a physical contact with the surface 10 , characteristically causes a highly erratic signal with distinct spiking . there is no single parameter to describe the signal , but the frequency of the spiking is roughly 20 hz . when a slight contact exists between a human finger and the surface , i . e . the force f is present and presses the surface 10 , the error e in the example embodiment can be e = 600 , for example . the mechanical construction , electrical implementation and measurement noise dictate the predefined threshold h which can be used to determine whether physical contact with a human finger exists . if a physical contact exists , due to the high sensitivity of piezoelectric sensors , the example embodiment is able to detect forces with a resolution of roughly 1 - 10 mn , which is enough for detecting even very slight contacts with a human finger and its vibration . in other words , the limit , when a signal can be considered as “ highly stable ” or “ sufficiently stable ” may be defined depending on the actual implementation . in the example configuration , when the total error e & lt ; 150 , the signal is considered as highly stable . for e & lt ; 150 , the signal amplitude variation has to be less than 0 . 5 % of the total measurement range . a more robust commercial implementation may of course use higher sampling frequency and a low - pass filter for the measured samples with medial filtering to increas ethe signal to noise ratio . the device and method can be used in particular in the following applications : user interfaces of alarm devices , in particular , fire or burglar alarms ; power switches and user interfaces of home appliances , in particular in dishwashers , washing machines , herds , ovens , herd - oven combinations , microwave ovens , and bathroom furnitures .	6
in the drawings , like numerals indicate like elements throughout . certain terminology is used herein for convenience only and is not to be taken as a limitation on the present invention . the embodiments illustrated below are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed . these embodiments are chosen and described to best explain the principle of the invention and its application and practical use and to enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention . a fluid conveying conduit according to a first embodiment of the invention is designated generally by the reference numeral 10 , as shown in fig1 . the fluid conveying conduit 10 comprises a conduit body 12 which defines a medical tube for administering fluids . the conduit body 12 includes three luminescent markers 14 . each luminescent marker 14 includes an elongate , luminescent rib 16 which extends along the length of the conduit body 12 . each elongate rib 16 includes a luminescent pigment ( not shown ). in a preferred embodiment the luminescent pigment is a phosphorescent pigment . a particularly preferred phosphorescent pigment is alkaline earth metal silicate aluminate . in the embodiment shown , all three elongate ribs 16 lie adjacent to an inner surface 18 of the conduit body 12 , as shown in fig4 . the elongate ribs 16 are equally spaced from one another around the inner surface 18 of the conduit . in other embodiments , of the invention one or more elongate ribs 16 may lie adjacent to an outer surface 20 of the conduit body 12 . in addition , other embodiments of the invention may include different numbers and arrangements of elongate ribs 16 . furthermore , different shapes of cross - sectional profile are also possible . in a low light condition , i . e . typically less than 1 lumen , each elongate rib 16 emits light so as to render the conduit visible to a user or carer . each elongate rib 16 is able to emit visible light for many hours without the need for an external power source . in the embodiment shown in fig1 , the entire conduit body 12 is transparent which means a user or carer is able to see the contents of the conduit 10 . one type of polymer from which it is convenient to make the conduit body 12 is pvc . in other embodiments , not shown , the conduit body 12 may include one or more dyes or secondary pigments so as to emit or reflect incident light in a predetermined range of wavelengths . in this way it is possible to provide a translucent conduit body 12 which has a predetermined tint , so as to provide a visible indication of what fluid is being administered by the tube 10 . a desirable level of translucency , or tinting , is 5 % as this provides a suitable visible indication while still allowing the contents of the conduit 10 to be seen . the luminescent pigment in one or more elongate ribs 16 may also include one or more dyes or secondary pigments . in such embodiments , each elongate rib 16 , in use , emits light of a particular colour . this provides a visible indication of what fluid is being administered by the conduit 10 in a low light condition . a fluid conveying conduit according to a second embodiment of the invention is designated generally by the reference numeral 30 . the second fluid conveying conduit 30 shares many features with the first fluid conveying conduit 10 . these common features are designated by the same reference numerals . the second fluid conveying conduit 30 includes an opaque conduit body 12 which defines a medical tube , and has three elongate ribs 16 integrally moulded therewith . each elongate rib 16 extends along the length of the conduit body 12 . the conduit body 12 and each elongate rib 16 includes a luminescent pigment ( not shown ). consequently , in a low light condition , the whole conduit 30 emits light so as to render it visible . a fluid conveying conduit according to a third embodiment of the invention is designated generally by the reference numeral 40 . the third fluid conveying conduit 40 shares many features with the first and second fluid conveying conduits 10 , 30 . these common features are designated by the same reference numerals . the third medical tube 40 includes a conduit body 12 which defines a medical tube , and may be transparent , translucent or opaque . an ink 42 which includes a luminescent pigment ( not shown ) lies on the outer surface 20 of the conduit body 12 . the ink 42 is arranged as a graphic symbol which assists a user or carer in identifying the fluid being carried by the conduit 40 . in the example shown , the graphic “ o 2 ” is printed on the outer surface 20 . other embodiments may include different graphics and / or arrangements of ink 42 . in a low light condition , the ink 42 glows , thereby allowing a user or carer to see the conduit 40 as well as readily identify the contents , i . e . oxygen . a fluid conveying conduit according to a fourth embodiment of the invention is designated generally by the reference numeral 50 . the fourth fluid conveying conduit 50 shares many features with the first , second and third fluid conveying conduits 10 , 30 , 40 . these common features are designated by the same reference numerals . the fourth medical tube 50 includes a conduit body 12 which defines a medical tube , and is transparent . in other embodiments , the conduit body 12 may be translucent or opaque . the conduit body 12 includes two luminescent markers 14 , each of which includes an elongate , luminescent band 52 , 54 that lies within the conduit body 12 and extends along the length thereof , as shown in fig5 . each elongate band 52 , 54 includes a luminescent pigment ( not shown ). the cross - sectional shape of each elongate band 52 , 54 may differ from that shown in fig5 . for example , in other embodiments the or each elongate band 52 , 54 could have a circular , oval , elliptical , oblong or square cross - sectional shape . a first elongate band 52 lies completely within the conduit body 12 , whereas one portion of a second elongate band 54 is coterminous with the outer surface 20 of the conduit body 12 . in a low light condition , each of the elongate bands 52 , 54 emits light along substantially the entire length of the conduit body 12 , thereby rendering the whole length of conduit 50 visible . a fluid conveying conduit according to a fifth embodiment of the invention ( not shown ) has a conduit body 12 which defines a medical tube , and includes an antimicrobial additive . in this way the fourth conduit is also able to inhibit the spread of infection within a medical facility or home . whilst the examples described above relate to medical tubing , it is envisaged that the invention could be applied to other fluid conveying conduits such as hoses and pipes .	0
fig1 is a schematic view an embodiment of a nasal filter structure in accordance with the disclosure . referring to fig1 a nasal filter 10 comprises a generally oval - shaped configuration dimensioned to be slightly larger than the usual size of the periphery of a person &# 39 ; s nasal orifice , namely a person &# 39 ; s nostril . fig2 is a cut - away view of the fig1 structure . in fig2 , the nasal filter 10 comprises a filter layer 12 that includes a microporous filter material . the microporous filter material of the filter layer 12 can comprise a moisture resistant filter material with sufficient pore size to filter out the unwanted particulate , bacteria or virus . in an embodiment of the disclosure , the microporous filter can be , for example , a nonwoven spunlaced polyester fabric . an example of a nonwoven fabric is ps - 1025 available form polymer science , inc . of 2787 s . freeman rd ., monticello , ind . 47960 , the technical disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference . the ps - 1025 is a ¾ ounce beige colored apertured spunlaced polyester fabric , with a total thickness of 0 . 003 inches . as would be appreciated by a person skilled in the art , various color nonwoven fabrics could be utilized so as to match the color of nasal filter as closely as possible to the color and hue of the user &# 39 ; s skin , further diminishing the visibility of the nasal filter when worn . similarly , transparent nonwoven fabrics could be utilized , which would also reduce the visibility of the nostril filter when worn . this fabric is comfortable while also mechanically stable allowing the fabric to be used effectively in the nasal filter disclosed herein . the filter 12 is also preferably designed to be up to 99 % percent effective at screening particulate matter and other matter such as respiratory droplets and carcinogens . the placement of a nasal filter structure in accordance with the disclosure in the nasal passage allows the structure to be automatically flush when the wearer exhales . thus , the nasal filter structure in accordance with the disclosure is self - cleaning for long periods of use or during long work periods . this effect is also increased by the proximity of the screen placement to the nasal passage by the outer ring . the filter layer 12 is adhered in a fixed manner to the upper surface of an oval ring - shaped base layer 14 , preferably comprising a clear plastic material . an adhesive 16 is applied to the underside of the base layer 14 . adhesive 16 is designed to securely adhere to the peripheral edge of the person &# 39 ; s nostril , yet is removable when desired . the ring - shaped base layer 14 may comprise an appropriate size and configuration that fits a traditional nostril size such that it only adheres to the peripheral edge of the nostril . in a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure , the filter layer 12 and ring - shaped base layer 14 are flexible . flexibility allows the nasal filter to completely seal a nostril . in a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure , the ring - shaped base layer 14 is preferably no more than 1 / 16 of an inch wide , and preferably as small as 1 / 32 of an inch wide . this minimal size combined with the flexibility of the material is sufficient to firmly attach the nostril filter 10 to the user &# 39 ; s nostril , regardless of the shape and size of the respective nostril . referring to fig1 - 3 , a nasal filter of an embodiment of a nasal filter structure in accordance with the disclosure can include a secondary outer filter layer 17 . the secondary outer filter layer may be applied in addition to the filter layer 12 . the secondary outer filter layer 17 can have a lesser filtering efficiency . in an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure , the secondary outer filter layer 17 can comprise a material such as ps - 1025 - 2a provided by polymer science inc ., 2787 s . freeman rd ., monticello , ind . 47960 . with this exemplary material , smaller partials pass through the secondary outer filter layer 17 to the filter layer 12 . in an embodiment of the disclosure , the secondary outer filter layer 17 can be sprayed , such as an outer surface thereof , with a very light adhesive . an example adhesive is ps - 1034a available from polymer science inc ., 2787 s . freeman rd ., monticello , ind . 47960 . the light adhesive allows the secondary outer filter layer 17 to trap larger particles that can be subsequently examined under microscope to determine what someone is being exposed to . with such a subsequent analysis of the material trapped by the filter , a person can be treated for what they are being exposed to and not what they are allergic . this may save billions of dollars and many lives as well especially effective for molds and particulate matter . fig3 is a schematic view of an embodiment of a nasal filter structure in accordance with the disclosure . referring fig3 an embodiment of the nasal filter 10 of the invention comprises a clear , oval ring - shaped base layer 14 with the adhesive 16 applied to the underside of the base layer 14 . the filter layer 12 is formed in a smaller size relative to the clear base layer 14 and is affixed to the underside of the base layer 14 , while secondary outer filter layer 17 has , in the illustrate exemplary embodiment is larger than the filter layer 12 , but smaller than the base layer 14 . as seen from fig3 , the base layer 14 slightly overlaps the peripheral edge of the filter layer 12 such that the filter layer 12 is adhered to its underside by the adhesive 16 . however , the size of the base layer 14 is sufficiently large to define an adhesive area 14 a on the base layer 14 beyond the periphery of the filter layer 12 . the adhesive 16 thus functions to permanently adhere the filter layer 12 to its underside while also providing adhesive area 14 a that removably adheres to the person &# 39 ; s skin about the periphery of the person &# 39 ; s nostrils . it is noted that additional adhesiveness may be provided to the adhesive area 14 a . more specifically , a stronger adhesive 165 may be applied to the inner portions of the filter layer 12 that overlap with the base layer 14 . as shown , the stronger adhesive 165 may comprise spots of adhesive 165 that are applied to opposing sides of the overlapping of the filter layer 12 and base layer 14 . in this regard , it is believed that only two spots are necessary to provide adequate adherence to the peripheral edge of the person &# 39 ; s nostril . different strength adhesives can be utilized for different uses . for instances , industrial uses where high level of airborne contaminants are present benefit from stronger adhesives . these stronger adhesives securely maintain the seal around the user &# 39 ; s nostril preventing contaminants from entering the user &# 39 ; s nasal passage . a preferred industrial adhesive is a double coated medical grade acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive such as polymer science , inc .&# 39 ; s ps - 1006 , the technical specifications of which are hereby incorporated by reference . polymer science , inc .&# 39 ; s ps - 1006 is a double coated high performance medical grade acrylic adhesive with a polyethylene carrier on a 54 # c2s paper differential release liner . adhesives such as the ps - 1006 from polymer science , inc . bond well to most porous and non - porous surfaces . additionally , these adhesives have high initial tack , enabling immediate application to a user &# 39 ; s nostril once the nasal filter is removed from its packaging . similarly , these adhesives provide exceptional skin adhesion and leave no residue when removed from the skin . alternatively , for more recreational usages whereby the contaminant level is not so severe , a lighter weight adhesive suffices . a preferred recreational adhesive is a single coated medical grade acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive , such as polymer science , inc .&# 39 ; s ps - 1010 , the technical specifications of which are hereby incorporated by reference . polymer science , inc .&# 39 ; s ps - 1010 is a single coated high performance medical grade acrylic adhesive with a polyethylene carrier on a 54 # c2s paper differential release liner . adhesives such as the ps - 1010 from polymer science , inc . bond well to most porous and non - porous surfaces . additionally , these adhesives have high initial tack , enabling immediate application to a user &# 39 ; s nostril once the nasal filter is removed from its packaging . similarly , these adhesives provide exceptional skin adhesion and leave not residue when removed from the skin . referring to fig1 and 3 , a nasal filter structure in accordance with the disclosure can include a dilator 15 . preferably , the dilator 15 comprises a clear plastic so as to be inconspicuous . the dilator 15 can have a variety of different structures depending upon the application or cost target of the nasal filter structure . for example , it can be either a solid , a hinged locking , or a ratcheting piece of soft but firm plastic . in an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure the dilator 15 can comprise a central portion 15 a and two curved portions 15 b and 15 c . the curved portions 15 b and 15 c are preferably curved to the shape of the curve of the nasal filter structure and the natural curve of the flex points of a nasal passage . the two curved portions 15 b and 15 c can also flex and shape to individual nasal passage shape and are connected by a center extension 15 a extending across the center of the nasal passage as shown in , for example , fig4 . the dilator 15 creates a rigid center to tighten the nasal filter structure and expand the nasal passage wider than normal to increase breathability . in preferred embodiments , the center extension 15 a can be solid , ratcheting , or include a center self - locking hinge assembly that locks or snaps in place . the center extension 15 a will also prevent nasal screen from being inhaled or accidentally inserted . fig4 illustrates an embodiment of a nasal filter structure in accordance with the disclosure positioned in a nasal passage . as shown in fig4 , the dilator 15 extends between nasal flex points to aid in opening the nasal passage . in an illustrative embodiment , the two curved portions 15 b and 15 c can be sandwiched between both seals and under ( e . g ., directly ) the nasal passage half - moon shaped inner seal 165 shown in fig3 . this design and placement helps provide extra support and helps with proper placement of the dilator 15 at a flex point of a nose . the dilatorl 5 does not necessarily need to be used with curved portions 15 b and 15 c . in an embodiment of the nasal filter structure such as shown in fig5 a and 5b , the dilator 15 can be used in a nasal filter structure in accordance with the disclosure without the curved portions 15 b and 15 c . in this embodiment , the dilator 15 aids in tightening the filter media , e . g ., filter layer 12 and secondary outer filter layer 17 if it is used . fig6 a , 6 b and 6 c illustrate an embodiment of a dilator center extension 15 a in accordance with the disclosure . fig6 a , 6 b , and 6 c illustrate a locking mechanism . in the illustrative embodiment of fig6 a , 6 b , and 6 c , the locking mechanism includes a hinged locking mechanism , which can be a cylinder locking mechanism . referring to fig6 b , the center extension 15 a includes a flexible cylinder locking mechanism comprises a cylinder 200 and a complementary curved portion 210 . the cylinder 200 snaps into or is press fit into the complementary curved portion 210 . in an exemplary embodiment , the cylinder 200 and complementary curved portion 210 each have a latch portion . in one exemplary embodiment a latch portion can comprise a concave portion on either the cylinder 200 or the complementary curved portion 210 , and a protruding portion on the other of the cylinder 200 or complementay curved portion 210 . the corresponding latch portions latch when the flexible cylinder locking mechanism is in the locked position such as shown in fig6 c . fig6 a illustrates the flexible cylinder locking mechanism in a relaxed , non - latched position . for example , with the illustrative exemplary latch portion mentioned above , when the flexible cylinder locking mechanism is in the locked position , the protrusion portion engages the concave portion to tend to hold the structure in place via , for example a dimple and detent type action . fig7 illustrates an embodiment of a dilator in accordance with the disclosure , including a locking mechanism . in the illustrative embodiment of fig7 , the locking mechanism includes a ratchet mechanism . referring to fig7 , the dilator 15 includes two opposing arms , 215 and 220 . the opposing arms are joined by a ratcheting mechanism 225 . when pressured is applied along the length of the dilator 15 , the clips 230 within the ratcheting mechanism 225 lock . the ratcheting mechanism 225 allows the wearer to adjust how much extension , and therefore how much dilation is applied to a nasal passage . in one example , the ratcheting mechanism 225 can provide ⅛ th inch extension per clip 230 . depending upon the dimensions of the dilator and the amount of extension desired , air flow can be increased up to 100 %. fig8 a and 8b illustrate an embodiment of a dilator in accordance with the disclosure . referring to fig8 a and 8b , the dilator 15 includes a secondary extension 235 . the secondary extension 235 extends onto an extension 240 of , for example the layer 14 . this structure allows the extension 235 and 240 to conform around the natural curve of the flared portion of a nasal passage . the secondary extension 235 creates a slight outward pull . such a slight outward pull tends to improve the users breathing ability and increase air flow . in a preferred embodiment , the secondary extension 235 can be covered by a curved tab of clear adhesive to remain inconspicuous as shown in fig8 a and 8b . in the illustrative embodiments mentioned above , applying an outward force to the nasal filter structure causes the two sides of the dilator 15 to stretch away from one another . the action causes the locking mechanism to close ( e . g ., snap close ). this allows the dilator to open the nasal passage and allows the user to breath a greater volume of air compared to not using a nasal filter structure in accordance with the disclosure . fig9 illustrates an embodiment of a nasal filter structure in accordance with the disclosure . referring to fig9 , a nasal filter structure in accordance with the disclosure can include tabs 250 . the tabs 250 aid in positioning the nasal filter structure with the user &# 39 ; s nose 255 . this aids in properly positioning the nasal filter structure as a whole and in particular the dilator 15 . fig1 illustrates a nasal filter structure in accordance with the disclosure on an applicator 265 . referring to fig1 , the applicator 265 includes the tabs 250 mentioned above . each nasal filter structure is positioned upside down on the applicator 265 and held in position with easy release adhesive 260 . the easy release adhesive allows the nasal filter structures to be held in place on the applicator 265 , while allowing the applicator 265 to be easily pealed away from the nasal filter structure when in position , using , for example the tabs 250 to assist in positioning the nasal filter structure on a user &# 39 ; s nose . the use of the applicator also avoids the user touching the nasal filter structure during application , reducing the risk of unnecessary contamination . as noted above , the tabs 250 , when placed at the tip of a nasal passage on either side of a nose will automatically apposition the nasal filter structure . this allows easy application regardless of the direction of the nasal passage . fig1 schematically illustrates a nasal filter structure in accordance with the disclosure positioned on a person &# 39 ; s nose 270 . referring to fig1 , an outer clear seal 16 conforms to the shape of the nasal passage 275 . in the illustrated embodiment , the curved portions 15 b , 15 c of the dilator 15 are positioned in the area of the half moon portions 165 , which in the illustrated embodiment correspond to a natural flex point of the user &# 39 ; s nose 270 . having thus described illustrative embodiments of the invention of the disclosure in detail and by reference to embodiments thereof , it will be apparent that modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of the invention defined in the appended claims .	0
the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to a few preferred embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings . in the following description , numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention . it will be apparent , however , to one skilled in the art , that the present invention may be practiced without some or all of these specific details . in other instances , well known operations have not been described in detail so not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention . referring now to fig1 through fig2 in one embodiment , a wall mounted appliance holder 100 is comprised of a wall mount assembly 200 , a shaft assembly 300 , and an appliance holder assembly 400 . the appliance holder assembly 400 is dimensioned for the snug holding of a conventional hand held blow dryer . the shaft assembly 300 cooperates pivotally with the wall mount assembly 200 and the appliance holder assembly 400 to facilitate the positioning of the snuggly held blow dryer to the angle desired by a user . the shaft assembly is further comprised of a shaft element 310 having a bottom ball joint 320 at the near end of the shaft element 310 and a top ball joint 330 at the distal end of the shaft element 310 . the shaft assembly is further comprised of a plurality of snap ring 340 . the wall mount assembly 200 is further comprised of a wall mount interior assembly 210 and a wall mount exterior assembly 220 . the wall mount interior assembly 210 is further comprised of a wall mount interior base 211 , and a bottom ball joint holder 212 having a bottom ball joint holder sleeve 213 , formed substantially as illustrated in fig5 a and fig5 b and dimensioned for the insertion of the bottom ball joint 320 . at least one of snap ring 340 securely holds bottom ball joint 320 within bottom ball joint holder 212 . the wall mount interior base 211 is further comprised of a plurality of interior base fixture hole 214 . the wall mount exterior assembly 220 is comprised of a wall mount exterior base 221 , and an exterior encasement 222 having an exterior encasement hole 223 dimensioned for insertion of the bottom ball joint 320 therein . the wall mount exterior assembly 220 is further comprised of a plurality of exterior base fixture hole 224 . the appliance holder assembly 400 is comprised of a u - shaped holder 410 , and a plurality of gasket 420 . the u - shaped holder 410 is further comprised of a u - shaped cavity 411 on the bottom side of the u - shaped holder . within the u - shaped cavity 411 is formed a top ball joint holder 412 having a top ball joint holder sleeve 412 , dimensioned for the insertion of top ball joint 330 . at least one of snap ring 340 securely holds top ball joint 330 within top ball joint holder 412 . in an exemplary embodiment , a wall mounted appliance holder 100 is comprised of a wall mount assembly , a shaft assembly , and an appliance holder assembly . the wall mount assembly is further comprised of a wall mount base 510 having a lower socket 511 formed on the non - wall side of the wall mount base 510 , a plurality of base fastener holes 512 , and a plurality of base fasteners 520 . the wall mount assembly 500 is further comprised of a bottom cap 530 . the appliance holder assembly is comprised of a male holder 710 having a male gripper insert 711 affixed . the appliance holder assembly is further comprised of a female holder 720 having a female gripper insert 721 affixed . the appliance holder assembly is further comprised of an upper socket 730 and upper socket fasteners 740 that attach the upper socket 730 to the female holder 720 . the male holder 710 is formed to mate securely to the female holder 720 . the shaft assembly is comprised of two halves designed to fit together , a male arm 610 and a female arm 620 . arm fasteners 630 connect the male arm 610 with the female arm 620 . the shaft assembly is further comprised of a lower snap ring 640 and an upper snap ring 650 . the lower snap ring 640 connects the lower portion of the assembled shaft assembly to the lower socket 511 . the upper snap ring 650 connects the upper portion of the shaft assembly to the upper socket 730 . from the foregoing , it will be appreciated that , although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration , various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention . for example , many of the features and components described above in the context of a particular wall mounted appliance holder configuration can be incorporated into other configurations in accordance with other embodiments of the invention . accordingly , the invention is not limited except by the appended claims .	5

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.