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hereinafter , an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail . however , the following exemplary embodiment does not limit the scope of the claimed invention , and all combinations of features of the exemplary embodiment are not necessarily required to address the problem described above . as illustrated in fig1 and 2 , a vehicle lamp 10 according to the exemplary embodiment includes a housing 12 , an outer cover 14 , lamp units 16 , 17 , and an extension 38 . the vehicle lamp 10 is configured as a headlamp which is mounted on each side of a front portion of a vehicle so that the lamp 10 is oriented in a forward direction x shown in fig1 . right and left headlamps are symmetrically configured . therefore , only one of the headlamps will be described below . fig1 is a sectional view of the headlamp 10 taken along a vertical plane including the optical axis of the lamp unit 16 . the housing 12 is formed to have a box - like shape having a front opening . the outer cover 14 is made of transparent resin or glass , and has a bowl shape . the edge portion of the outer cover 14 is attached to the housing 12 to cover the opening of the housing 12 , whereby a lamp chamber is formed as a region enclosed by the housing 12 and the outer cover 14 . the lamp units 16 , 17 and the extension 38 are disposed inside the lamp chamber . the lamp units 16 , 17 are both arranged such that irradiate a region in front of the headlamp 10 . more specifically , the lamp unit 16 produces a low beam and the lamp unit 17 produces a high beam . the lamp unit 17 may be configured in a similar manner as the lamp unit 16 except that a reflector and other components of the lamp unit 17 are configured and arranged to form a high beam light distribution pattern . therefore , only the lamp unit 16 will be described in detail below , and description of the lamp unit 17 will be omitted . the lamp unit 16 is attached to the housing 12 via aiming screws 18 . the lower aiming screw 18 is configured such that it is rotated when a leveling actuator 20 is operated . that is , the optical axis of the lamp unit 16 can be moved in up and down directions by operating the leveling actuator 20 . the lamp unit 16 includes a projection lens 30 , a support member 32 , a reflector 34 , a bracket 36 , a light emitting module 40 , heat dissipating fins 42 , and a cooling fan 44 . the projection lens 30 is a plano - convex aspherical lens having a convex front surface and a flat rear surface . the projection lens 30 projects a light source image formed on the rear focal plane thereof toward the front of the headlamp 10 as an inverted image . the support member 32 supports the projection lens 30 . the light emitting module 40 includes a semiconductor light emitting device . according to the exemplary embodiment , the semiconductor light emitting device is a white light emitting diode ( led ). however , the semiconductor light emitting device may be a laser diode . further , the light emitting module 40 may not necessarily include a semiconductor light emitting device . for example , the light emitting module 40 may include an incandescent lamp with a filament or a discharge lamp . the reflector 34 reflects light from the light emitting module 40 to form the light source image on the rear focal plane of the projection lens 30 . accordingly , the reflector 34 has a reflecting surface formed by mirror treatment such as aluminum deposition . as described above , the reflector 34 and the projection lens 30 function as optical components that collect and forwardly project the light emitted from the light emitting module 40 . the heat dissipating fins 42 are arranged on a rear surface of the bracket 36 to dissipate heat generated primarily by the light emitting module 40 . the cooling fan 44 is attached to the heat dissipating fins 42 , and sends air toward the heat dissipating fins 42 to enhance the heat dissipation from the heat dissipating fin 42 . the support member 32 includes a shade 32 a . the shade 32 a shields a part of the light emitted from the light emitting module 40 and reflected by the reflector 34 so as to form a cutoff line of a low beam light distribution pattern ahead of the vehicle . the low beam light distribution pattern is well known and thus description thereof is omitted here . the extension 38 is provided so as to surround the projection lens 30 . the outer surface of the extension 38 is subjected to a mirror treatment such as aluminum deposition , and functions as a design surface that is visible from the outside . the housing 12 has a groove portion 12 f along an opening edge of the housing 12 . the groove portion 12 f is formed such that it is opened toward the front of the headlamp 10 , and a sealing member 50 fitted therein . the edge portion of the outer cover 14 is inserted into the groove portion 12 f in which the sealing member 50 has been provided . in this manner , the sealing member 50 seals up a space between the housing 12 and the outer cover 14 . the sealing member 50 is made of a hot - melt adhesive . the hot - melt adhesive is a sealing material which melts when heated , but does not become completely solidified after being cooled . according to the exemplary embodiment , the hot - melt adhesive has viscosity in a range of about 10 pa · s to 70 pa · s and a viscosity variation rate of about 20 % or lower . more specifically , the sealing member 50 is a gelled hot - melt adhesive . the hot - melt adhesive includes a styrene thermoplastic elastomer ( sebs ), butyl rubber or the like as a base polymer and additives including a tackifier made of resin or the like , a wax made of a polypropylene or the like , an anti - oxidizing agent , a pigment , and a plasticizing agent made of a low molecular polymer or the like . to provide the sealing member 50 , a molten hot - melt adhesive may be automatically supplied into the groove portion 12 f of the housing 12 using an automatic supply apparatus . the housing 12 with the hot - melt adhesive filled in the groove portion 12 f is then cooled until the hot - melt adhesive is gelled . next , the edge portion of the opening of the outer cover 14 is inserted into the groove portion 12 f of the housing 12 , and the outer cover 14 is attached to the housing 12 . as described above , the reflecting surface of the reflector 34 and the extension 38 are mirror treated by aluminum deposition or the like . such vapor deposition processed components may scatter deposition residues inside the lamp chamber due to a vibration of the vehicle or the like . further , inside the lamp chamber , there are mechanical fastening parts such as a bolt and a nut , and other metal parts . such mechanical parts may also scatter particles such as chipped off burrs inside the lamp chamber . when such particles stick onto , for example , the design surface of the extension 38 , the soiled surface is visible from the outside , which leads to deterioration of an aesthetic aspect of the headlamp 10 . in order to address this problem , the headlamp 10 according to the exemplary embodiment includes an adhesive member 52 arranged inside the lamp chamber . the adhesive member 52 has an adherence property that catches the internally - generated particles describes above so that the particles adhere to the adhesive member 52 . the adhesive member 52 is made of the same material as the sealing member 50 . therefore , the adhesive member 52 can be provided on the inner surface of the lamp chamber during the process of automatically filling the groove portion 12 f with the hot - met adhesive for the sealing member 50 . more specifically , an additional teaching may be input to a robot ( i . e ., the automatic supply apparatus ), to fill a recessed portion 12 e of the housing 12 with the hot - met adhesive to provide the adhesive member 52 in the same process as filling the groove portion 12 f with the hot - met adhesive for the sealing member 50 . according to this method , the adhesive member 52 can be provided productively with low cost . the adhesive member 52 is arranged on a portion of the inner surface of the housing 12 adjacent to the groove portion 12 f . according to this structure , a wall of the groove portion 12 f configured to receive the sealing member 50 can be used to restrict an area in which the hot - melt adhesive for the adhesive member 52 is provided . the housing 12 further includes a rib 12 d adjacent to the portion of the inner surface where the adhesive member 52 is arranged . the rib 12 d is arranged to extend substantially parallel to a direction along which the groove portion 12 f extends . owing to this , even when the headlamp is turned upside down for example during the manufacturing process or the delivering process , the adhesive member 52 is blocked from moving . accordingly , the design surface is prevented from being soiled by the adhesive member 52 . more specifically , the inner surface of the housing 12 includes a bottom portion 12 a and a vertical surface 12 b vertically extending down from the front end of the bottom portion 12 a . the housing 12 further includes a horizontal surface 12 c arranged to horizontally extend toward the front from the lower end of the vertical surface 12 b . the horizontal surface 12 c forms a part of the wall that defines the groove portion 12 f . the rib 12 b is provided protrude toward the front from the vertical surface 12 b . the recessed portion 12 e , which is opened toward the front , is defined by the rib 12 b , the vertical surface 12 b and the horizontal surface 12 c . the adhesive member 52 is provided in this recessed portion 12 e . that is , the rib 12 d provides the recessed portion 12 e to easily and reliably arrange the adhesive member 52 . the rib 12 d extends from a region below the lamp unit 16 to a region below the lamp unit 17 . therefore , as shown in fig2 , the adhesive member 52 is arranged to extend in a substantially entire region below the lamp units 16 , 17 along the width direction of the lamp units 16 , 17 . however , the adhesive member 52 may not necessarily be provided in this manner , and may be partially arranged in a region below the lamp unit 16 or the lamp unit 17 . as shown in fig1 , the groove portion 12 f and the recessed portion 12 e are both opened toward the front of the headlamp 10 . therefore , during the process for filling the groove portion 12 f with the hot - melt adhesive for the sealing member 50 , the hot - melt adhesive for the adhesive member 52 can be easily and reliably provided in the recessed portion 12 e . the bottom portion 38 a of the extension 38 is formed on substantially the same level as the bottom portion 12 a of the housing 12 . the bottom portion 38 a of the extension 38 and the bottom portion 12 a of the housing 12 form a receiving surface 58 which extends substantially in the horizontal direction in a region below the lamp unit 16 . the rear end 38 b of the extension 38 is spaced slightly away from the front end of the rib 12 b . in other words , the receiving surface 58 is formed with a gap 58 a which penetrates the receiving surface 58 in the vertical direction . the adhesive member 52 is arranged directly below the gap 58 a . the internally - generated particles described above drops onto the receiving surface 58 from , for example , the lamp unit 16 . because the gap 58 a is formed in the receiving surface 58 and the adhesive member 52 is arranged directly below the gap 58 a , the particles efficiently caught by the adhesive member 52 and adhere to the adhesive member 52 . the receiving surface 58 may be provided separately from the housing 12 and the extension 38 . in this case as well , a gap 58 a may also be formed in the receiving surface , and the adhesive member 52 may be disposed directly below the gap . according to the exemplary embodiment described above , the adhesive member 52 is disposed inside the lamp chamber of the headlamp 10 . however , the adhesive member 52 may be disposed inside a lamp chamber of other types of vehicle lamps . while the present invention has been described with reference to a certain exemplary embodiment thereof , the scope of the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment described above , and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims . | 5 |
one embodiment of the tool is illustrated in fig1 ( side view ), fig2 ( sectioned view , head area ) and fig3 ( partially sectioned view near handle ). in this embodiment the parts are made of metal and / or plastic . the tool fig1 has a cylindrical rod 12 of sufficient length to access the length of work piece . the rod 12 is attached to a handle 20 at one end . the rod 12 fits within a tubular sleeve 16 which is of a length shorter than the rod 12 and is enlarged at end 14 . sleeve 16 moves freely upon rod 12 . the diameter and length of rod 12 and sleeve 16 are proportionate to the work piece . attached to the sleeve 16 at the end nearest handle 20 is a collar 18 which is secure to the sleeve 16 while allowing the free movement of rod 12 through it . collar 18 exterior surface may be textured such as with circumferential diamond knurling as shown . the portion of rod 12 opposite handle 20 , and exposed from the sleeve , has straight knurling parallel to rod axis . the rod 12 has a female thread to accept the mating thread of a cylindrical head 10 . head 10 is shown attached to rod 12 and may include exterior texturing such as circumferential diamond knurling shown . the size of the head 10 is proportionate to the work piece bore . also shown in fig1 is a patch / swab 22 typically made of a pliable material such as woven cloth , felt or foam sheet . a tubular swab 30 is shown and which may be made of a preformed felt , foam rubber , cotton fiber or other pliable material . tubular swab 30 may also be slit 31 along the axis through one wall cross section allowing access to inside diameter along entire axis . the size of the patch or swab is determined by the size of the work piece bore . patch will be a term used to describe the cut material prior to being formed into a swab . swab will be the term used to describe a patch that has been formed about the tool or a separate type of preformed swab material such as a tubular swab 30 . looking at fig2 the sectioned view reveals an annular recess 24 in head 10 . the end of rod 12 is shown tapered down providing a gradual transition between rod 12 basic diameter and the minor diameter of annular recess 24 . also revealed is a recess / concave 28 area at end of head 10 . this recess / concave 28 area may be shaped differently in order to fit the object it is likely to act upon such as a conical projectile . also seen in fig2 is a portion of sleeve 16 . in fig3 the sectioned view of collar 18 reveals a snap ring 34 which is captive in a groove 32 . the snap ring 34 is shown positioned within a indentation 36 formed in the rod 12 ( not sectioned ). also seen are the sleeve 16 and a portion of the handle 20 . the user of the above described embodiment has multiple options as to how they use the tool . some of these options will be described in the following . fig4 a - 4d show the tool being used with a patch 22 to form an undersized swab which , is inserted into the bore of a work piece 26 then expanded at the user &# 39 ; s desired location to the desired size . in order to accomplish this , the user first wraps a patch 22 around rod 12 as seen in fig3 a . the straight knurling of the rod 12 assists in preventing the patch 22 from slipping while being wrapped around the rod 12 . after patch 22 is completely wrapped about rod 12 , it is moved towards head 10 where it is slid into the annular recess 24 ( visible in fig2 ) of head 10 , thus preventing the unwrapping of patch 22 . next as seen in fig4 c the assembly is inserted into the work piece bore 26 to the user &# 39 ; s desired location . then at the handle 20 end of the tool , the user can push sleeve 16 towards head 10 , typically using their thumb against collar 18 while maintaining the rod 12 static position at handle 20 . the results of this action are seen in fig4 d wherein the enlarged end 14 of sleeve 16 has compressed the patch / swab 22 against the head 10 . the result of this compression is the increased diametrical size of patch / swab 22 . the user can then manipulate the assembly , to and fro , as they see fit to achieve the desired cleaning or application . upon removal from work piece 26 the patch / swab 22 can be removed and replaced with clean , unused one . similar results to the above can be achieved using a preformed tubular swab 30 in place of cloth patch . to install the tubular swab 30 onto the rod 12 the head 10 can be removed swab 30 slid onto rod 12 then head 10 replaced . alternatively , the tubular swab 30 , when made from an elastic material , can be pulled over head 10 into place between head 10 and enlarged end 14 of sleeve 16 as seen fig1 . if a slit 31 is present along axis of tubular swab 30 it can be installed onto rod 12 between head 10 and enlarged end 14 of sleeve 16 by passing rod through slit 31 in tubular swab 30 until rod is within center of tubular swab 30 . once tubular swab 30 is in place on rod 12 the assembly can be inserted into work piece 26 , expanded to a larger diameter and manipulated in the same manner as previously described using the wrapped patch / swab 22 . alternatively , the same embodiment of the tool can be used as seen in fig5 a - 5c . the patch 22 is placed before head 10 and pushed down bore of work piece 26 and seen in fig5 b . if additional radial force of patch / swab 22 upon bore of work piece 26 is desired , the sleeve 16 can be manipulated towards head 10 , as described above , to compress and expand patch / swab 22 as seen in fig5 c . the sleeve 16 and collar 18 assembly can be kept from inadvertently moving along rod 12 by moving the collar 18 towards handle 20 until snap ring 34 enters indentation 36 in rod 12 as seen on fig3 . in addition , the described embodiment can be used with other implements such as brushes , pullers and retrieval worms , commercially available which can be threaded into the end of rod 12 in place of head 10 using standard threads . also , this embodiment can be used to push objects ahead of it , such as projectiles , using the recess / concave 28 area of head 10 as seen in fig2 to maintain the assemblies centered position in respect to the item it acts upon and minimize damage thereto . some of the additions and alternatives to the above described embodiment are described in the following using nomenclature used on previously described figures for reference . various different materials may be used to increase compatibility and durability with work piece and substances the tool may encounter in use . the cross sections of rod 12 , head 10 , and sleeve 16 , described as cylindrical in the above first embodiment , may be made in various sizes and shapes such as polygonal . multiple head 10 diameters may be made to allow rod 12 effective use on multiple work piece bore sizes . the head 10 may be formed at the end of rod 12 as one homogeneous piece . the tapered portion of the rod 12 where it meets head 10 may be of different angles in order to allow patch / swab 22 to transition to annular groove 24 uninterrupted . this may included no angle or , in the case of an annular recess 24 with a minor diameter larger than the rod 12 diameter , increase to allow the gradual transition between diameters . this is with the understanding that the diameter of the annular recess 24 may be determined in part by the work piece size . the head 10 may be made without annular recess 24 . the recess / concave 28 may be shaped other than concave in order to fit the object it is likely to act upon such as a conical projectile . the handle 20 may include a means to allow the rod 12 to rotate at point of attachment such as a bearing . the inclusion of handle 20 and collar 18 may be excluded . the enlarged end 14 of sleeve 16 may be of different shapes and / or sizes or excluded entirely . the head 10 may be textured , knurled , grooved or smooth on its circumferential surface . the rod 12 may be textured , knurled , grooved or smooth on its circumferential surface . the rod 12 and sleeve 16 may be mated with additional sections extending the reach of the tool . the inclusion of a taper or increasing the diameter of rod 12 from a smaller basic diameter increasing in size towards the head 10 which would force the swab to increase in diameter when sleeve 16 is moved towards the head 10 as described in the above first embodiment . from the description above , a number of advantages of some embodiments of my deep bore cleaning rod and applicator with expandable swab become evident : ( a ) debris can be removed from far end of work piece bore without first pushing debris towards far end of bore by inserting swab into bore with swab in its minor diameter state then , upon reaching a desired location , expanding swab allowing user to pull debris towards insertion point . ( b ) the loss of liquids applied to the swab will be reduced by first inserting swab containing liquid into work piece bore in its minor diameter state then expanding swab when completely within bore minimizing loss of liquid at point of insertion . ( c ) the event of a stuck or jammed swab will be reduced by allowing the user to incrementally remove debris or apply coatings . ( d ) in the event a swab does become stuck or jammed , radial force of swab upon work piece can be reduced making it easier to remove . ( e ) user is able to control the amount of radial force swab directs upon bore of work piece at any point . this is advantageous for number of applications including the controlled cleaning of specific areas of a work piece as well as the controlled polishing or removal of material when used with abrasives . ( f ) the tool can be used to perform other tasks such as pushing a projectile down a bore like a ram rod or as a rod to affix a brush or other implement onto in order to extend the reach of the implement . ( g ) the expanding swab feature makes it adjustable to bore sizes within its limits so that one tool may fit a range of work piece bore sizes . accordingly , the reader will see that the tool for expanding a swab within a bore of various embodiments can be used in a controllable manner to clean the bore of a work piece by removing debris and coatings . it also can be used to apply coatings and polish as well as used with abrasive materials forming abrasive swabs . in addition , it can be used to push items before it as well as used as an extension for other implements . furthermore , the tool for expanding a swab within a bore has the additional advantages in that : it can be produced in various lengths and diameters to better fit the intended application ; its advantages can be realized in numerous examples of work pieces ; it can be made using numerous types of materials resulting in compatibility with numerous work piece materials and substances it may contact during its use ; it can be attached to and operated by an actuator or robotic device allowing for the remote operation . while my above description contains many specificities , these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the embodiments but merely providing examples of some of several embodiments . many other variations are possible . thus the scope of the embodiments should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents , rather than by the examples given . | 1 |
the basic teachings and formulations and techniques regarding formation of silicone - based sgp lenses are known in the art , as reflected in the earlier - mentioned patents , the disclosures of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference . the sgp lens is formed from the polymerization product of compositions containing at least one polymerizable vinylic siloxane ( pvs ) monomer , and at least one hydrophilic vinylic monomer . the polymerizable vinylic siloxane monomer contains at least one polymerizable vinylic group such as acrylic , styrenyl or vinylic group , at least one polysiloxanyl group , and at least one linkage connecting these two groups ; thus , for example : ## str1 ## hydrophilic vinylic monomers suitable for use in sgp lens compositions along with the pvs include , for example , n , n - dimethylacrylamide ( nndma ), 2 - hydroxyethyl methacrylate ( hema ), glyceryl methacrylate ( gma ), n - vinyl pyrrolidone and the like . the lenses per se are formed by lathe cutting , cast molding , spin casting , or other like known techniques . as earlier noted , sgp lenses made according to the known formulations possess a high oxygen permeability but exhibit poor clinical performance . in the present invention , it has been discovered that by increase of the proportion of hydroxy acrylic monomer ( ham ) units , preferably hema and / or gma units , to silicon units at the lens surface , the clinical performance can be substantially improved . as used herein , the units referred to are the structural monomeric units or the number of silicon atoms , including those as part of an overall copolymeric structure . hydroxy acrylic monomer ( ham ) suitable for the practice of this invention correspond to the formula ## str2 ## wherein r is h or a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl , such as methyl or ch 2 cooh ; and x is a radical selected from the group consisting of hydroxyalkyloxy , hydroxyalkyl amine , and hydroxy ; with the alkyl being substituted or unsubstituted , and preferably selected from c 1 to c 10 alkyls , most preferably c 2 and c 3 alkyls ; and with the hydroxy on the alkyl being either a single hydroxy ( e . g ., as in 2 - hydroxyethyl methacrylate ) or multiple hydroxy ( e . g ., as in glyceryl methacrylate ). exemplary and preferred hydroxy acrylic monomers are : 3 . ethylene glycolato ethyl acrylate or methacrylate , i . e ., ch 2 ═ crcoo -- ch 2 -- ch 2 -- o -- ch 2 -- ch 2 -- oh 4 . glycerolglyceryl acrylate or methacrylate , i . e ., ch 2 ═ crcoo -- ch 2 ch ( oh )-- ch 2 -- o -- ch 2 -- ch ( oh )-- ch 2 -- oh as noted , the sgp lens of the invention is made from the known sgp lens compositions and , after lens formation , the lens is then treated to provide on its surface a proportion of ham units to silicon units ( e . g ., by increase of ham units and / or by decrease of silicon units ) sufficient to provide improved clinical performance of the lens , such as functional wettability , deposition resistance , dehydration resistance and comfort . one means for achieving the requisite surface proportion of ham to silicon units is by reaction of the lens surface , preferably in the dehydrated state , with a polyol of the formula r 1 ( oh ) n where r 1 is a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl , preferably a c 2 to c 5 alkyl , and n is an integer of at least 2 , such as glyceryl methacrylate , ethylene glycol , glycerine , glycerine - glycerine , polyglycerine , or the like . the reaction is preferably carried out in the presence of a base , such as sodium hydroxide , preferably in a concentration of 0 . 1 to 10 mole percent based on the polyol , or an acid or acid - containing mixture , such as ethanol / sulfuric acid , the reaction being conducted to the extent that the physical properties of the base lens ( e . g ., strength , oxygen permeability , softness , rebound elasticity , etc .) are essentially unaffected . this reaction is intended to increase the ham units in the surface layer by transesterification and / or to reduce the silicon units by the cleavage of siloxane bonds catalyzed by base or acid . alternatively , the core lens can be treated with a ham , preferably 2 - hydroxyethyl acrylate or methacrylate , by grafting , deposition or coating to the lens surface so as to provide a sufficient proportion of ham units to silicon units at the lens surface . the grafting , deposition or coating can be carried out using known radiation - induced reactions , including reactions induced by uv , x - ray , γ - ray , and other electromagnetic radiation , such as radio frequency , microwave and the like , electron beam radiation , including electrical discharge , and the like , with reactions induced by uv , γ - ray or electron beam radiation being preferred . the treating techniques per se that can be used in the practice of this invention are well known in the art , such as the grafting , deposition or coating cured by uv , γ - ray or electron beam , illustrated in u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 916 , 033 and 3 , 854 , 982 ; coating by spin casting or cast molding of the lenses cured by radiation ; or plasma treating techniques , such as those disclosed in u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 925 , 178 and 4 , 143 , 949 , as is well known in the art . the disclosures of these prior art patents are expressly incorporated herein by reference . in the preferred embodiment of the invention , the surface treatment produces on the lens surface a thin coating consisting essentially of poly ( hydroxy alkyl acrylate and / or methacrylate ), more preferably poly ( 2 - hydroxyethyl acrylate and / or methacrylate ). the required sufficient proportion of ham units to silicon units on the lens surface that produces the desirable clinical performance will vary primarily depending upon the type and amount of particular pvs and hydrophilic monomer employed . however , the sufficient proportion in the surface layer will , at any proportion , be higher than that existing in the lens body or core . preferably , the proportion of ham units to silicon units in the surface layer is at least 0 . 5 . generally , the higher the proportion the better the clinical performance of the lens , and the thicker the treated surface layer the better the durability of the lens wettability . however , the treated layer can not be so thick that the desired properties of the lens are adversely affected . the extent of acceptable surface treatment can be monitored by high resolution photoelectron spectroscopy ( esca ) or based on the clinical response as illustrated in the examples of this specification . thus , based on the disclosure of this invention , the sufficient proportion of ham units to silicon units on the lens surface can easily be determined by those skilled in the art . although not wishing to be bound by any theory as such , it is postulated that the improvement in the clinical performance of the lens comes about , at least in part , by virtue of establishment of compatibility between the delicate corneal wetting mechanism of the eye and the composition and structure of the lens surface . the known sgp lens having insufficient proportion of ham units to silicon units or containing too high a level of silicon units on the surface are too hydrophobic for the spreading and binding of mucin to the lens surface . mucin is the excellent wetting agent used in the cornea and contains a certain proportion of hydrophilic sites to hydrophobic sites . with increasing amount of ham units on the lens surface , there are provided increased sites for hydrogen bonding with the hydrophilic sites on the mucin , while reduction of silicon surface units provides fewer hydrophobic sites and thus better spreading of mucin on the lens surface . as a consequence of the preferred embodiment of the invention herein , which results in the lens surface having a sufficient proportion of ham units to silicon units , the lens surface becomes more closely matched to , and receptive to , tear mucin . as a result , the mucin can better spread on and bind to the lens surface so as to provide the improved clinical performance . thus , when the wetting angle of the lens is controlled to that of the corneal surface free of mucin , the best results of this invention may result . the invention is further illustrated with reference to the following examples . sgp lenses were fabricated from buttons which were made according to the formulations and procedures set forth in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 182 , 822 , the starting formulation consisting of 36 % ( by weight ), γ - tris ( trimethylsiloxy ) silylpropyl methacrylate ( tsm ) prepared according to example 1 of the above patent , 59 % n , n - dimethylacrylamide ( nndma ), and 5 % methyl methacrylate ( mma ) with 0 . 3 % t - butylperoxypyvalate included as a catalyst . the formulation was placed in a teflon tube . after deoxygenation by nitrogen for 15 minutes , the tube was sealed and the formulation was polymerized in a 40 ° c . water bath for six hours , followed by a 100 ° c . treatment for another six hours . the buttons cut from the rods were post - cured at 110 ° c . under high vacuum ( 0 . 5 torr ) for six hours . the lens can be made by the lathe technique known in the art . the hydrated lenses were extracted and conditioned in physiological saline solution for a time sufficient to insure no substantial irritation . the lens thus made has high dk , about 4 to 5 times higher than that of the conventional poly hema soft lens , and contains about 50 % by weight of water , and thus has softness , rebound elasticity and a highly hydrophilic lens surface . the proportion ham units to silicon units on the lens surface is equal to zero . clinically , the lenses were very poor in performance such as functional wettability , deposition resistance and comfort , making the lens unsuitable for extended wear . provision of 6 % by weight hema in the formulation , such that the formulation comprised 36 % tsm , 58 % nndma and 6 % hema , results in a lens having high dk , softness , rebound elasticity , a highly hydrophilic surface and a proportion of ham to silicon units equal to 0 . 15 , and thus an improved sgp lens having improved clinical performance , such as functional wettability , deposition resistance and comfort as compared to the control lens above . clinically , the lenses could be worn for up to several hours by test patients . in the same manner , using 20 % by weight hema , such that the lens formulation contains 36 % tsm , 44 % nndma and 20 % hema , results in a lens having high dk , softness , rebound elasticity , a highly hydrophilic surface and a proportion of ham units to silicon units equal to 0 . 5 , and thus even more improved clinical performance , such as functional wettability , deposition resistance and comfort , as compared to the control lens . clinically , the lenses could be worn continuously for up to several days by test patients , with wettability marginally unacceptable in certain circumstances . further increase of the ham to silicon proportion by increase of the amount of hema in the composition is at the expense of tsm , and thus reduces the oxygen permeability of the lens and / or causes the formation of opaque material . as shown in the following examples , further increase of the ham to silicon proportion can be achieved by surface treatment . the lens containing 20 % hema as made in example 1 , after being hydrated in physiological saline solution , is then extracted in isopropanol for 24 hours , followed by treatment in the dry state with glycerine ( 96 % purity , colgate palmolive co .) containing 1 mole % naoh at 70 ° c . for 30 minutes by stirring . the strength of the lens after the treatment was not significantly affected . the resulting lens could be used for at least weekly extended wear by the test patients . the clinical of long term wearing on one patient showed that the lenses could indeed continuously be worn for up to 3 months for at least certain patients . thus , the surface treatment resulted in substantially improved clinical performance . a sgp lens comprising 47 % ( by weight ) tsm , 45 % nndma and 8 % hema , having 38 % water content , high dk , softness , highly hydrophilic lens surface and a proportion of ham units to silicon units equal to about 0 . 15 , was found to be unsuitable for extended wear . clinically , the lens produced poor vision , discomfort and encountered serious deposition problems within less than four hours of wear . however , treatment of the same lens in dehydrated state by stirring the lens in a glycerine reagent ( 96 % purity , colgate palmolive co .) containing 10 mole % naoh at 70 ° c . for 2 hours converted the lens to one which on the same patient could be used for weekly extended wear for a three week testing period with stable vision and no observable deposition , and demonstrated a liquid layer over the lens surface . according to an independent surface study ( about 100 a ° surface layer ) by photoelectron spectroscopy ( esca ) analysis of the lens after being treated as described in example 3 showed that there was a reduction of about 18 % silicon or about 30 % siloxy group and an increase of overall carbon content from 62 . 5 to 65 % in which the c in the co group increased from 10 . 5 to 12 . 5 % and the c in the coor group increased from 5 . 3 to 6 . 3 % after the treatment . the increase of co and coor content should indicate that the transesterification of glycerine occurs , i . e ., the formation of glyceryl methacrylate . the reduction of silicon units and / or the increase of glyceryl methacrylate units after the treatment increases the proportion of ham units to silicon units which provides the substantially improved clinical performance as described above . ( note : esca data is the average value of the treated surface with 100 a ° depth . thus , the value right at the surface is substantially higher than those reported above .) an unhydrated optically polished lens button was made according to u . s . pat . no . 4 , 182 , 822 employing 36 % ( by weight ) tsm , 42 % nndma and 22 % hema , and glycerine surface treated as set forth in example 3 herein . the button was fully hydrated in physiological saline solution , and its surface was subjected to a number of simulated cleaning cycles , each cycle involving thumb - rubbing 10 times in tap water , followed by wetting in physiological saline solution . the surface wettability to the physiological saline solution was substantially the same based on visual inspection after sixty ( 60 ) cleaning cycles , equivalent to about one years service life of the lens in weekly extended wear . the surface of the untreated button was substantially not wettable by physiological saline solution under the same testing condition . although the invention has been described in connection with particular preferred embodiments , it is not intended to limit the invention to particular forms set forth , but on the contrary , it is intended to cover such alternatives , modifications and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims . | 6 |
although the disclosure hereof is detailed and exact to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention , the physical embodiments herein disclosed merely exemplify the invention , which may be embodied in other specific structure . while the preferred embodiment has been described , the details may be changed without departing from the invention , which is defined by the claims . fig8 and 9 show an implant 400 sized and configured to supplement , repair , or replace a dysfunctional native heart valve leaflet or leaflets . in use ( see , in particular , fig9 ), the implant 400 defines a pseudo - annulus that rests adjacent the native valve annulus and includes a neoleaflet element that occupies the space of at least a portion of one native valve leaflet . the implant 400 allows the native leaflets to coexist with the implant 400 . if desired or indicated , one or more native leaflets can be removed and replaced by the implant 400 . in its most basic form , the implant 400 is made — e . g ., by machining , bending , shaping , joining , molding , or extrusion — from a biocompatible metallic or polymer material , or a metallic or polymer material that is suitably coated , impregnated , or otherwise treated with a material to impart biocompatibility , or a combination of such materials . the material is also desirably radio - opaque to facilitate fluoroscopic visualization . as fig8 shows , the implant 400 includes a base or scaffold 420 that , in the illustrated embodiment , is sized and configured to rest adjacent the mitral annulus . at least a portion of the base 420 forms an annular body that approximates the shape of the native annulus . for this reason , the base 420 will also be referred to as a “ pseudo - annulus .” the base 420 supports a bridge 430 that extends into the valve . the bridge 430 is sized and configured ( see fig9 a ) to overlay the space of at least a portion of one native valve leaflet . in fig9 a , the bridge 430 overlays an anterior leaflet . however , as fig9 b shows , the bridge 430 could be oriented to overlay a posterior leaflet . as will be described later ( see fig1 ), two bridges can be formed to overlay both leaflets . as fig8 shows , the implant 400 includes a material 410 that covers or spans the bridge 430 . the spanning material 410 may be attached to the implant 400 with one or more attachment means 440 . for example , the spanning materials 410 may be sewn , glued , or welded to the implant 400 , or it may be attached to itself when wrapped around the implant 400 . the spanning material 410 may be made from a synthetic material ( for example , thin nitinol , polyester fabric , polytetrafluoroethylene or ptfe , silicone , or polyurethane ) or a biological material ( for example , human or animal pericardium ). together , the bridge 430 and the spanning material 410 comprise a neoleaflet element 470 coupled to the base 420 . the neoleaflet element 470 may be rigid , semi - rigid , or flexible . the neoleaflet element 470 is coupled to the base 420 in a manner that exerts a mechanical , one - way force to provide a valve function that responds to differential pressure conditions across the neoleaflet element . in response to one prescribed differential pressure condition , the neoleaflet element 470 will deflect and , with a native leaflet , assume a valve opened condition . in response to another prescribed pressure condition , the neoleaflet element 470 will resist deflection and , by coaptation with a native leaflet ( or a companion neoleaflet element ) at , above , or below the annulus plane , maintain a valve closed condition . in the context of the illustrated embodiment ( when installed in a mitral valve annulus ), the neoleaflet element resists being moved in the cranial ( superior ) direction ( into the atrium ), when the pressure in the ventricle exceeds the pressure in the atrium — as it would during ventricular systole . the neoleaflet element 470 may move , however , in the caudal ( inferior ) direction ( into the ventricle ), when the pressure in the ventricle is less than the pressure in the atrium — as it would during ventricular diastole . the neoleaflet element 470 thereby mimics the one - way valve function of a native leaflet , to prevent retrograde flow . the implant 400 is sized and shaped so that , in use adjacent the valve annulus of the mitral valve , it keeps the native valve leaflet closed during ventricular systole ( as shown in fig9 a and 9b ), to prevent flailing and / or prolapse of the native valve leaflet it overlays during ventricular systole . the implant 400 thus restores to the heart valve leaflet or leaflets a normal resistance to the high pressure developed during ventricular contractions , resisting valve leaflet eversion and / or prolapse and the resulting back flow of blood from the ventricle into the atrium during ventricular systole . the pressure difference serves to keep valve leaflets tightly shut during ventricular systole . the implant 400 , however , does not interfere with opening of the native valve leaflet or leaflets during ventricular diastole ( see , e . g ., fig1 ). the implant 400 allows the leaflet or leaflets to open during ventricular diastole , so that blood flow occurs from the atrium into the ventricle . the implant 400 thereby restores normal one - way function to the valve , to prevent retrograde flow . the functional characteristics of the implant 400 just described can be imparted to the neoleaflet element 470 in various ways . for example , hinges and springs ( mechanical or plastic ) can be used to couple the bridge to the base . desirably , the implant 400 is made from materials that provide it with spring - like characteristics . as shown in fig8 , in the illustrated embodiment , the base 420 and bridge 430 are shaped from a length of wire - formed material . the shape and material properties of the implant determine its physical spring - like characteristics as well as its ability to open in one direction only . the spring - like characteristics of the implant 400 allow it to respond dynamically to changing differential pressure conditions within the heart . more particularly , in the illustrated mitral valve embodiment , when greater pressure exists superior to the bridge 430 than inferior to the bridge ( i . e ., during ventricular diastole ), the shape and material properties of the bridge 430 accommodate its deflection into the ventricle — i . e ., an opened valve condition ( as fig1 shows in another illustrative embodiment ). when greater pressure exists inferior to the bridge 430 than superior to the bridge ( i . e ., during ventricular systole ), the shape and material properties of the bridge 430 enable it to resist superior movement of the leaflet into the atrium , and otherwise resist eversion and / or prolapse of the valve leaflet into the atrium ( as fig9 a and 9b also show ). the implant 400 may be delivered percutaneously , thoracoscopically through the chest , or using open heart surgical techniques . if delivered percutaneously , the implant 400 may be made from a superelastic material ( for example superelastic nitinol alloy ) enabling it to be folded and collapsed such that it can be delivered in a catheter , and will subsequently self - expand into the desired shape and tension when released from the catheter . for example , percutaneous vascular access can be achieved by conventional methods into the femoral or jugular vein . as fig2 a shows , under image guidance ( e . g ., fluoroscopic , ultrasonic , magnetic resonance , computed tomography , or combinations thereof ), a catheter 52 is steered through the vasculature into the right atrium . a needle cannula 54 carried on the distal end of the catheter is deployed to pierce the septum between the right and left atrium . as fig2 b shows , a guide wire 56 is advanced trans - septally through the needle catheter 52 into the left atrium . the first catheter 52 is withdrawn , and ( as fig2 c shows ) under image guidance , an implant delivery catheter 58 is advanced over the guide wire 56 into the left atrium into proximity with the mitral valve . alternatively , the implant delivery catheter 58 can be deployed trans - septally by means of surgical access through the right atrium . the distal end of the catheter 58 encloses an implant 400 , like that shown in fig8 , which is constrained in a collapsed condition . a flexible push rod in the catheter 58 can be used to expel the implant 400 from the catheter 58 . free of the catheter , the implant 400 will self - expand to its preordained configuration , e . g ., like that shown in fig9 a or 9 b . the implant 400 may be fixed to the annulus in various ways . for example , the implant 400 may be secured to the annulus with sutures or other attachment means ( i . e . barbs , hooks , staples , etc .) also , the implant 400 may be secured with struts or tabs 450 ( see fig8 and 9a ), that extend from the base 420 above or below the plane of the annulus . the struts 450 are preferably configured with narrow connecting members that extend through the valve orifice so that they will not interfere with the opening and closing of the valve . in this arrangement , the struts 450 are desirably sized and configured to contact tissue near or within the heart valve annulus to brace the base 420 against migration within the annulus during the one - way valve function of the neoleaflet element . in this arrangement , it is also desirable that the base 420 be “ elastic ,” i . e ., the material of the base 420 is selected to possess a desired spring constant . this means that the base 420 is sized and configured to possess a normal , unloaded , shape or condition ( shown in fig8 ), in which the base 420 is not in net compression , and the struts 450 are spaced apart farther than the longest cross - annulus distance between the tissue that the struts 450 are intended to contact . in the illustrated embodiment , the base 420 is shown resting along the major ( i . e ., longest ) axis of the valve annulus , with the struts 450 contacting tissue at or near the leaflet commissures . however , other orientations are possible . the struts 450 need not rest at or near the leaflet commissures , but may be significantly removed from the commissures , so as to gain padding from the leaflets . the spring constant imparts to the base 420 the ability to be elastically compressed out of its normal , unloaded condition , in response to external compression forces applied at the struts 450 . the base 420 is sized and configured to assume an elastically loaded , in net compression condition , during which the struts 450 are spaced apart a sufficiently shorter distance to rest in engagement with tissue at or near the leaflet commissures ( or wherever tissue contact with the struts 450 is intended to occur ) ( see fig9 a or 9 b ). when in its elastically loaded , net compressed condition ( see fig9 a and 9b ), the base 450 can exert forces to the tissues through the struts 450 . these forces hold the base 420 against migration within the annulus . furthermore , when the struts 450 are positioned at or near the commissures , they tend to outwardly displace tissue and separate tissue along the major axis of the annulus , which also typically stretches the leaflet commissures , shortens the minor axis , and / or reshapes surrounding anatomic structures . the base 450 can also thereby reshape the valve annulus toward a shape more conducive to leaflet coaptation . it should be appreciated that , in order to be therapeutic , the implant may only need to reshape the annulus during a portion of the heart cycle , such as during ventricular systolic contraction . for example , the implant may be sized to produce small or negligible outward displacement of tissue during ventricular diastole when the tissue is relaxed , but restrict the inward movement of tissue during ventricular systolic contraction . as the preceding disclosure demonstrates , different forms of heart valve treatment can be performed using a single implant . implants having one or more of the technical features just described , to thereby function in situ as a neo - leaflet , may be sized and configured in various ways . various illustrative embodiments will now be described . in fig1 , an implant 600 ( like implant 400 ) includes a base 620 that defines a pseudo - annulus , with a bridge 630 carrying a spanning material 640 together comprising a neoleaflet element 650 appended to the base 620 within the pseudo - annulus . the neoleaflet element 650 overlays an anterior native leaflet with the same purpose and function described for the implant 400 . alternatively , the neoleaflet element 650 could overlay a posterior native leaflet , as fig9 b shows . the implant 600 also includes struts 670 , which desirably contact and exert force against tissue near or within the annulus ( in the manner previously described ) to brace the base 420 against migration within the annulus . in addition , the implant 600 includes an orientation and stabilization framework 610 that may extend from the annulus to the atrial dome . in fig1 , the framework 610 rises from the base 620 with two substantially parallel arched wires , which connect to form a semicircular hoop above the base 620 . the framework 610 helps to accurately position the implant 600 within the atrium , and also helps to secure the implant 600 within the atrium . preferably the framework 610 does not interfere with atrial contractions , but instead is compliant enough to contract with the atrium . as such , the implant 600 may have nonuniform flexibility to improve its function within the heart . fig1 and 12 show another illustrative embodiment of an implant 700 . in fig1 and 12 , the implant 700 contains two neo - leaflet elements . the implant 700 includes an anterior bridge 730 spanned by an anterior bridge material 710 , and a posterior bridge 735 spanned by a posterior bridge material 720 . the bridges and materials together comprise anterior and posterior neoleaflet elements 780 a and 780 p . the implant 700 also includes an orientation and stabilization framework 770 , shown having a configuration different than the framework 610 in fig9 , but having the same function and serving the same purpose as previously described for the framework 610 . in fig1 and 12 , the base 760 includes structures like the anchoring clips 740 that , in use , protrude above the plane formed by the annulus of the valve . additionally , the implant 700 may be secured with struts 750 that extend from the base 760 on narrow connecting members and below the plane of the annulus into the ventricular chamber . the anchoring clips 740 and struts 750 desirably contact and exert force against tissue near or within the annulus ( in the manner previously described ) to brace the base 760 against migration within the annulus . fig1 shows the dual neo - leaflets 780 a and 780 b ( i . e ., the covered anterior and posterior bridges 730 and 735 ) in a closed valve position . fig1 shows the dual neo - leaflets 780 a and 780 b in an open valve position . fig1 shows another illustrative embodiment of an implant 1000 having a full sewing ring 1030 with a membrane 1010 that serves as a neo - leaflet . the device 1000 has an opening 1020 though the sewing ring 1030 opposite the membrane 1010 for blood flow . alternatively , this embodiment could have two neo - leaflets . this embodiment could be surgically attached to the valve annulus and / or combined with a framework for anchoring the device within the atrium using catheter based intraluminal techniques . additionally , the device may be secured with struts 1040 that extend from the base on narrow connecting members and below the plane of the annulus into the ventricular chamber . the struts 1040 , which desirably contact and exert force against tissue near or within the annulus ( in the manner previously described ) to brace the base 420 against migration within the annulus . as can be seen , a given implant may carry various structures or mechanisms to enhance the anchorage and stabilization of the implant in the heart valve annulus . the mechanisms may be located below the plane of the annulus , to engage infra - annular heart tissue adjoining the annulus in the ventricle , and / or be located at or above the plane of the annulus , to engage tissue on the annulus or in the atrium . these mechanisms increase the surface area of contact between the implant and tissue . a given implant can also include tissue in - growth surfaces , to provide an environment that encourages the in - growth of neighboring tissue on the implant . once in - growth occurs , the implant becomes resistant to migration or dislodgment from the annulus . conventional in - growth materials such as polyester fabric can be used . fig1 shows another illustrative embodiment of an implant 1100 having a framework 1120 and struts or tabs 1110 . this implant 1100 includes a membrane 1130 , that serves as a neo - leaflet , attached to the base 1140 of the device with an attachment means 1150 . fig1 shows another illustrative embodiment of an implant 1200 . in this embodiment , the implant 1200 includes a base 1220 that defines a pseudo - annulus and that , in use , is rests adjacent all or a portion of a native valve annulus . the base 1240 supports a duckbill valve 1210 , which forms a neoleaflet element . peripherally supported on the base 1240 , the duckbill valve 1210 rests in the pseudo - annulus . struts 1230 ( which also carry additional tab structures to increase the surface area of tissue contact ) help brace the base 1240 to tissue near or within the heart valve annulus . in this embodiment , the duckbill valve 1210 replaces the native anterior and posterior leaflets . the duckbill valve 1210 serves as dual neo - leaflets , which mutually open and close in response to changes in pressure , replacing the function of the native leaflets . fig1 shows the duckbill valve 1210 in the open valve position . in fig1 , the arrow shows the direction of blood flow through the opened valve . fig1 shows the duckbill valve in the closed valve position . when closed , the duckbill valve 1210 resists eversion and regurgitation . when the implant 1200 is used to replace a mitral valve ( see fig1 and 18 ), the duckbill valve 1210 extends from the plane of the valve annulus and into the ventricle . the duckbill valve 1210 is shown to have a more rigid or thick composition emerging from the base member , and gradually becoming less rigid or thick away from the base member . this variation in mechanical properties ensures a valve that responds dynamically to pressure changes , but that is also rigid enough to not become everted . fig1 shows the valve 1210 in an opened valve condition . in fig1 , the arrow shows the direction of blood flow through the opened valve . fig1 shows the duckbill valve in the closed valve position , without eversion and regurgitation . fig1 and 20 show another illustrative embodiment of an implant 1600 of the type shown in fig1 and 16 . like the implant 1200 , the implant 1600 includes base 1620 defining a pseudo - annulus to which a duckbill valve 1630 is appended , which serves as a neoleaflet element to replace the native anterior and posterior leaflets and serves as dual neo - leaflets . fig1 shows the duckbill valve 1630 in the open valve position , allowing forward flow of blood through the opened valve . fig2 shows the duckbill valve 1630 in the closed valve position , resisting eversion and regurgitation . in fig1 and 20 , the implant 1600 includes an orientation and stabilization framework 1610 . the framework 1610 rises from the base 1620 as two arches extending from opposite sides of the base 1620 . the dual arch framework 1610 possesses compliance to contract with the atrium . as before explained , the framework 1610 helps to accurately position the implant 1600 within the atrium , and also helps to secure the implant 600 within the atrium . the implant 1600 also includes struts 1640 , which desirably contact and exert force against tissue near or within the annulus ( in the manner previously described ) to brace the base 1620 against migration within the annulus . while the new devices and methods have been more specifically described in the context of the treatment of a mitral heart valve , it should be understood that other heart valve types can be treated in the same or equivalent fashion . by way of example , and not by limitation , the present systems and methods could be used to prevent or resist retrograde flow in any heart valve annulus , including the tricuspid valve , the pulmonary valve , or the aortic valve . in addition , other embodiments and uses of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein . the specification and examples should be considered exemplary and merely descriptive of key technical features and principles , and are not meant to be limiting . the true scope and spirit of the invention are defined by the following claims . as will be easily understood by those of ordinary skill in the art , variations and modifications of each of the disclosed embodiments can be easily made within the scope of this invention as defined by the following claims . | 0 |
the present invention includes modified - release dosage formulations of the compounds 4 , 4 ′- diaminodiphenylsulfone , its didextrose sulfonate derivative ( glucosulfone ), their analogs thereof , including sulfoxone , sulfetrone , thiazolsulfone , acedapsone , and its metabolites thereof , including monoacetyldapsone , n - hydroxymonoacetyldapsone , n - hydroxydapsone , and pharmaceutically and therapeutically acceptable salts thereof pharmaceutically and therapeutically acceptable salts of the active ingredients of the present invention include , but are not limited to hydrochloride derivatives , sulphate , phosphate , citrate , fumarate , methanesulphonate , acetate , tartarate , maleate , lactate , mandelate , salicylate , succcinate , methylsulphonic acid derivatives , and cynnamic acid derivatives . pharmaceutically acceptable carriers , excipients or diluents of the present invention may include but are not limited to sprays , gels transdermal or subcutaneous , liquids and solids incorporating lactose , sucrose , glucose , wax , mannitol , phthalates , methacrylate , silicic , sodium citrate , 1 , 2 - benzenedicarboxylic acid , ethylycellulose , dicalcium phosphate acid , absorption enhancing agents may include kaolin , sodium glycocholate , sodium caprate , n - lauryl - β - d - maltopyranoside , microcrystalline cellulose , hydrophilic polymer and compression binders may also include , sucrose , starch , hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose , polyethylene glycol , microcrystalline cellulose , hydroxymethyl cellulose , polyvinylpyrrolidone , carboxymethyl cellulose , alginates , gelatin , and mixtures thereof , disintegrating agents such as calcium carbonate , sodium starch glycholate , corn starch , tapioca starch , alginic acid , certain silicates , and sodium carbonate , lubricants and anti - adherents such as stearates including calcium stearate , magnesium stearate , talc , sodium lauryl sulfate , sodium ricinoleate , sodium tetradecylsulphate , sodium dioctylsulphosuccinate , poloxamer , glycerylmono stearate , a polysorbate , sorbitan monolaurate or a lecithin , physiological saline . active ingredients also addressed by the present invention include any and all enantiomers and diastereomers , and any combination thereof , of sulfone ( s ) contemplated herein . the above compounds are synthesized according to conventional methodology known to those skilled in the art ( e . g ., yuasa , 1997 ), and may be prepared as a composition through combination with one or more therapeutically or pharmaceutically acceptable carrier ( s ), diluent ( s ) or excipient ( s ). the modified - release dosage formulations of the present invention are based on a clinico - pharmacological rationale such as increase compliance , reduced side effects and improved efficacy . the actual dosage — quantity administered at a time — and the frequency of administrations will depend on the potency and the pharmacokinetic properties of the drugs . if a more potent compound , or a compound with longer duration of therapeutic activity is chosen . the dose and the dosing frequency may be adjusted accordingly . modified - release dosage forms of the present invention for oral administration may include but are not limited to capsules , tablets , pills , powders , granules , compression pressed granulates , micro - encapsulations , micro - spheres in a polymer film coated compressed tablet normally reserved for the stomach only — in this particular instance may be used in a controlled - release formulation of the present invention in the distal intestinal tract . modification of particle size of active substance including various degrees of micronization will also result in improved absorption of sulfone ( s ) in the distal segments of the intestinal tract . in such solid forms of the present invention , the active and inert compound ( s ) may be mixed with varying “ carrying capacities ”— to achieve the desired effect with at least one inert pharmaceutically acceptable or slightly active carrier . excipient ( s ) including fillers or binders of a central core may encompass starches , lactose , sucrose , glucose , mannitol , silicic acid and mixtures thereof . effective absorption enhancing agent ( s ) may include those such as kaolin , sodium glycocholate , microcrystalline cellulose , sodium caprate , n - lauryl - β - d - maltopyranoside and mixtures thereof . hydrophilic polymer binder ( s ) including for example , hydroxymethylcellulose , polyethylene glycol , polyvinylpyrrolidone , hydroxypropylmethylcellulose carboxymethylcellulose , alginates , gelatin , microcrystalline cellulose , sucrose , and mixtures thereof . disintegrating agent ( s ) such as calcium carbonate , sodium starch glycholate , corn starch , tapioca starch , alginic acid , certain silicates , and sodium carbonate , lubricant ( s ) such as talc , calcium stearate , magnesium stearate , sodium lauryl sulfate , sodium ricinoleate , sodium tetradecylsulphate , sodium dioctylsulphosuccinate , poloxamer , glycerylmonostearate , a polysorbate , sorbitan monolaurate or a lecithin and mixtures thereof . a preferred embodiment of an oral modified - release formulation is an enteric - coated compressed tablet consisting of the active therapeutic ingredient of the present invention . this formulation could provide a delayed release , sustained release or controlled release delivery of the active therapeutic ingredient ( s ). for the enteric - coated tablet enteric - coating ( s ) that may be used consist of ph sensitive polymers , typically the polymers are carboxylated and interact very little with water at low ph , while at high ph , as found in the distal gastrointestinal tract , including but not limited to the ascending , transverse and descending colon , polymers ionize causing swelling , or dissolving of the active hydrophilic polymer ( s ). coatings can therefore be designed to remain intact in the acidic environment of the stomach protecting either the stomach from the drug or the drug from this environment , but to dissolve in the more alkaline environment of the proximal and distal gastrointestinal tract . examples of the coating ( s ) that may be used include ethylycellulose , wax and cellulose acetate phthalate . little or no release takes place in the acidic medium of the stomach . however , as the drug leaves the stomach and enters the gastrointestinal tract , it is subjected to the intestinal fluids of ph 5 . 5 - 6 . 8 . at this ph the enteric coat commences to expose the drug to the action of the intestinal ph which the solubility of active compounds of the present invention is fairly high , which then results in high dissolution and hence higher absorption into the blood stream . the rate of release ( dissolution ) of the drug is relatively linear ( a function of the rate limiting diffusion process through the enteric - coating ) and inversely proportional to the coating thickness . the variation of enteric coatings used in the present invention allow the active therapeutic ingredient ( s ) of varying dose regimes to disseminate either in a sustained , controlled , or delayed action thereby increasing compliance , reducing side effects and improving efficacy of the active therapeutic ingredient ( s ). 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 . the surprising effects of controlled release preparations of 4 , 4 ′- diaminodiphenylsulfone , its didextrose sulfonate derivative ( s ), its analogs and its metabolites , pharmaceutically and therapeutically acceptable salts can be demonstrated by the following tests : 1 . toxicological effects and pharmacological side effects of the compounds 4 , 4 ′- diaminodiphenylsulfone , glucosulfone , sulfoxone , sulfetrone , thiazolsulfone , acedapsone , monoacetyldapsone , n - hydroxymonoacetyldapsone and n - hydroxydapsone separately when administered orally in a conventional “ instant release ” formulation . groups of mice ( males , 22 - 25 grams ) are each administered orally one of the compounds 4 , 4 ′- diaminodiphenylsulfone , sulfoxone , sulfetrone , thiazolsulfone , glucosulfone , acedapsone , monoacetyldapsone , n - hydroxymonoacetyldapsone and n - hydroxydapsone in increasing concentrations , and the doses causing side effects are determined . particular attention is paid to severe toxic manifestation such as the development of methemoglobinemia . other known side effects of 4 , 4 ′- diaminodiphenylsulfone include anorexia , psychosis , agranulocytosis , peripheral neuritis , hemolysis , nausea , vomiting , dizziness , tachycardia , nervousness , insomnia and skin disorders , and the doses causing all such side effects are determined using statistical methodology . particular attention is paid to the possible development of nervousness , and specific test methods are used in order to define the dose levels of each compound that cause such an effect . 2 . toxicological effects and pharmacological side effects of the compounds 4 , 4 ′- diaminodiphenylsulfone , sulfoxone , sulfetrone , thiazolsulfone , glucosulfone , acedapsone , monoacetyldapsone , n - hydroxymonoacetyldapsone and n - hydroxydapsone when administered in a controlled release formulation . since clinically used “ modified - release ” preparations are designed for use in humans , they cannot be used in laboratory animals . it is therefore necessary to mimic the pharmacokinetics of the modified - release formulations of the drug in humans from a carefully selected modified - release preparation ( s ). thus , in the present experiments the same dose as that given in the acute experiments described above is given as divided doses with 5 administered sub - doses , given at 2 hour intervals . groups of animals treated this way are given increasing concentrations of the compound , and the doses causing side effects are determined . particular attention is paid to severe toxic manifestation such as the development of methemoglobinemia . expected side effects of 4 , 4 ′- diaminodiphenylsulfone include anticholinergic affects , and the doses causing such side effects are determined using statistical methodology . particular attention is paid to the development of nervousness , and specific test methods are used in order to define the dose levels of 4 , 4 ′- diaminodiphenylsulfone that cause such side effects . 3 . pharmacological effects of the compounds 4 , 4 ′- diaminodiphenylsulfone , sulfoxone , sulfetrone , thiazolsulfone , glucosulfone , acedapsone , monoacetyldapsone , n - hydroxymonoacetyldapsone and n - hydroxydapsone when administered orally in a conventional “ instant release ” formulation . groups of mice ( males , 22 - 25 grams ) are administered orally one of the compounds 4 , 4 ′- diaminodiphenylsulfone , sulfoxone , sulfetrone , thiazolsulfone , glucosulfone , acedapsone , monoacetyldapsone , n - hydroxymonoacetyldapsone and n - hydroxydapsone in increasing concentrations and the doses causing anorexia , psychosis , agranulocytosis , peripheral neuritis , hemolysis , nausea , vomiting , dizziness , tachycardia , nervousness , insomnia or skin disorders are determined . particular attention is paid to manifestation of nervousness . other therapeutically important pharmacological effects of 4 , 4 ′- diaminodiphenylsulfone include methemoglobinemia , and the doses causing such effects are determined using pharmacological and statistical methodology . 4 . pharmacological effects of the compounds 4 , 4 ′- diaminodiphenylsulfone , sulfoxone , sulfetrone , thiazolsulfone , glucosulfone , acedapsone , monoacetyldapsone , n - hydroxymonoacetyldapsone and n - hydroxydapsone when administered in controlled release formulation . side effects of dapsone include anorexia , psychosis , agranulocytosis , peripheral neuritis , hemolysis , methemoglobinemia nausea , vomiting , dizziness , tachycardia , nervousness , insomnia and skin disorders , as well as other side effects that are described in the prior art . the formation of the toxic dapsone metabolite , hydroxylaminedapsone , has now been found to be reduced , by certain controlled release formulations of dapsone , its didextrose sulfonate derivative ( s ), its analogs or metabolites . this application deals with controlled release formulations that avoid the exposure of said 4 , 4 ′- diaminodiphenylsulfone , its didextrose sulfonate derivative ( glucosulfone ), sulfoxone , sulfetrone , thiazolsulfone , acedapsone , monoacetyldapsone , n - hydroxymonoacetyldapsone and n - hydroxydapsone to the intestinal tract . various galenic formulations of 4 , 4 ′- diaminodiphenylsulfone , its didextrose sulfonate derivative ( glucosulfone ), sulfoxone , sulfetrone , thiazolsulfone , acedapsone , monoacetyldapsone , n - hydroxymonoacetyldapsone and n - hydroxydapsone may be used to avoid exposure of the drug of the present invention to the upper gastrointestinal tract . numerous rectal and nasal delivery systems are known to those skilled in the art that allow the absorption of the drugs without exposure to the stomach or the upper intestines . trans - dermal delivery systems that allow absorption of drugs through the skin have also been described in the prior art . galenic formulations of 4 , 4 ′- diaminodiphenylsulfone , sulfoxone , sulfetrone , thiazolsulfone , glucosulfone , acedapsone , monoacetyldapsone , n - hydroxymonoacetyldapsone and n - hydroxydapsone may be dosed regularly ( e . g ., one to several times daily ), intermittently ( when needed ), or as a combination of regular and intermittent dosages . when used regularly or intermittently , the galenic formulations of the present invention can be combined with each other , or with other dosage forms of the same drug , or with other drugs to be used by the patient . various enteric - coated tablets have also been described , or are being used therapeutically for unrelated pharmaceuticals . enteric - coated tablets , pills , caplets etc . do not release the active components of the present invention into the stomach or upper intestines , but instead deliver the drug in the non - acid environment of the intestines after passing the stomach . modified - release dosage forms of the present invention include but are not limited to parenteral injection , nasal , transdermal , rectal administration or oral formulations except acute or instant - release formulations , including “ delayed release ” formulations ( for example , see roy et al ., 1989 ), “ sustained release ” formulations ( for example , see yang and swarbrick , 1986 ), “ controlled release ” formulations ( for example , see u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 863 , 560 and 3 , 948 , 262 ), and also includes other oral formulations that are designed to offer therapeutic activity while avoiding toxicological effects and pharmacological side effects . the pharmaceutical compositions of the present invention may be formulated for , oral administration in solid , liquid , spray or gel form , for parenteral injection , nasal , transdermal or rectal administration . the compounds of the present invention may be administered by rectal suppositories such as those described in u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 368 , 185 , 4 , 698 , 359 and 5 , 482 , 973 , the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference . the compounds of the present invention may be administered by nasal delivery devices such as those described in u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 294 , 829 , 4 , 624 , 965 , 4 , 749 , 700 , 5 , 250 , 287 , 5 , 629 , 011 and 5 , 693 , 608 , the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference . preferably the compounds of the present invention may be administered by enteric - coated delivery devices such as those described in u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 704 , 295 , 4 , 775 , 536 and 5 , 225 , 202 , the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference . preferably the compounds of the present invention may be administered by trans - dermal delivery devices such as those described in u . s . pat . nos . : 3 , 598 , 123 ; 4 , 292 , 302 ; 5 , 164 , 189 ; 5 , 312 , 627 and 5 , 464 , 387 , the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference . the preferred selected dosage level chosen for the patient of the drug to be administered will be determined on an individual basis , and will be based on the pharmacological potency of the drug , age , route of administration , diet , time of administration , body weight , sex , general health , rate of excretion , drug combination , the condition , prior medical history of the patient being treated , and at least in part , on consideration of the individual &# 39 ; s size , the symptoms , and the severity of the symptoms to be treated and the results sought . also the carrying capacity of the drug may be adjusted to accommodate for the varying dosage regimes incorporated within the embodiment of the present invention . however , it is within the skill of the art to start doses of the compound at levels lower than required for to achieve the desired therapeutic and preventative effect and to gradually increase the dosage until the desired effect is achieved . in general , preferred quantities of the compounds sufficient to eliminate an unwanted medical condition will be administered . the actual dosage ( quantity administered at a time ) and the frequency of administrations will depend on the potency and the pharmacokinetic properties of the drugs . for example about from 5 mg to about 500 mg of a compound can be contained in one or more doses , one to ten such doses can be given daily . 1 . 1 ml is accepted as the maximum volume of solid a person can swallow — of course some people can swallow more and some less — and that means about 1 . 3 gm is the maximum acceptable tablet weight since the compressed tablet can have a density greater than 1 . 0 . most commercial products intended to be swallowed whole weigh 1 . 0 gm or less usually about 400 - 600 mg . the amount of active ingredient of the present invention may be combined with carrier materials to produce one or more single dosage ( s ) form will depend on the patient and the particular mode of administration . for example , a modified - release formulation intended for oral administration of humans may contain from 5 mg to about 500 mg of active agent ( s ) compounded with an appropriate and convenient amount of carrier material ( s ) which may vary from about 5 to about 95 percent of the total composition . preferred dosage unit forms will generally contain between from about 5 mg to about 500 mg of active ingredient , typically 5 , 10 , 15 , 20 , 30 mg , 50 mg , 75 mg , 100 mg , 120 mg , 150 mg , 200 mg , 250 mg , 300 mg , 400 mg or 500 mg . however , it is within the skill of the art to start doses of the compound at levels lower than required for to achieve the desired therapeutic and preventative effect and to gradually increase the dosage until the desired effect is achieved . one skilled in the art will recognize that modifications may be made in the present invention without deviating from the spirit or scope of the invention . the invention is illustrated further by the following examples which are not to be construed as limiting the invention or scope of the specific procedures described herein . a granulate is prepared , according to the process described below , which is used for the preparation of one or more of the inner layers of the tablet . this granulate contains ( per tablet ): dapsone 100 mg mannitol 10 mg microcrystalline cellulose 70 mg sodium laurylsulphate 5 mg total tablet weight 185 mg carrying capacity 40 % dapsone 60 % excipient ( mostly com - pression binder ) the manufacturing process consists in preparing a granulate by mixing together the amounts of substances as shown above and compressing into tablets . tablets are coated with ethylycellulose . in order to evaluate the release properties of the complete tablets , the vane machine ( described in usp xxiii ) is used , working at 100 rpm and using as dissolution liquid a 0 . 01m hcl solution at 37 degrees celcius . the release of the active substance is monitored by spectrophotometric determination using a sampling and automatic reading system . a controlled release of the active substance is obtained in about 17 hours . in order to evaluate the absorption of the sulfone from the distal intestinal tract with surfactant present in the tablet , tablets with and without surfactant are inserted into a distal intestinal pouch surgically created in a series of rats , with subsequent measurement of blood levels of dapsone . with surfactant present , absorption rate in the distal intestinal tract is greater . in order to evaluate the ability of a coating to protect the tablet from commencement of dissolution in the relatively acidic proximal intestinal tract , coated and non - coated tablets are placed in 0 . 01m hcl solution at 37 degrees celcius . the release of the active substance is measured after 10 minutes by spectrophotometric determination . then the respective tablets are placed in phosphate - buffered saline at ph 7 . 4 at the same temperature . the release of the active substance is again measured after 10 minutes by spectrophotometric determination . the smaller amount of dapsone release from coated tablets compared to un - coated tablets indicates that the coated tablets are resistant to dissolution in acid environment . no “ capping ”. a compressed granulate is prepared , according to the process described below , which is used for the preparation of one or more of the inner layers of the tablet . this granulate contains ( per tablet ): dapsone 100 mg mannitol 10 mg microcrystalline cellulose 50 mg alginate 15 mg sodium laurylsulphate 45 mg total tablet weight 230 mg carrying capacity 40 % dapsone 60 % excipient ( mostly com - pression binder ) the manufacturing process consists in preparing a granulate by mixing together the amounts of substances as shown above and compressing into tablets . tablets are coated with alginate . in order to evaluate the release properties of the complete tablets , the vane machine ( described in usp xxiii ) is used , working at 100 rpm and using as dissolution liquid a 0 . 01m hcl solution at 37 degrees celcius . the release of the active substance is monitored by spectrophotometric determination using a sampling and automatic reading system . a sustained release of the active substance is obtained in about 22 hours . in order to evaluate the absorption of the sulfone from the distal intestinal tract with surfactant present in the tablet , tablets with and without surfactant are inserted into a distal intestinal pouch surgically created in a series of rats , with subsequent measurement of blood levels of dapsone . with surfactant absent , absorption rate in the distal intestinal tract is greater . in order to evaluate the ability of a coating to protect the tablet from commencement of dissolution in the relatively acidic proximal intestinal tract , coated and non - coated tablets are placed in 0 . 01m hcl solution at 37 degrees celcius . the release of the active substance is measured after 10 minutes by spectrophotometric determination . then the respective tablets are placed in phosphate - buffered saline at ph 7 . 4 at the same temperature . the release of the active substance is again measured after 10 minutes by spectrophotometric determination . the smaller amount of dapsone release from coated tablets compared to un - coated tablets indicates that the coated tablets are resistant to dissolution in acid environment . no capping . | 0 |
as best shown in fig3 and 4 , a preform 10 includes a throat 12 , a transition portion 14 , and a body 18 . throat 12 is illustrated in fig3 and 4 having a finish 21 , even though the present invention encompasses preforms that lack a finish , such as preforms adapted for forming wide mouth container in which the thread portion is blown , as will be understood by persons familiar with such wide mouth forming processes in view of the present disclosure . throat 12 forms a throat opening 20 formed therein . a circumferential support ring 23 is formed on an exterior surface of throat 20 below finish 21 . throat 12 yields to transition 14 , which yields to body 16 . body 16 is generally cylindrical , even though the present invention is not limited to employing any particular geometry of the body . body 16 terminates in an enclosed end 18 . preform 10 has an interior surface 22 and an external surface 40 . internal surface 22 includes a throat internal surface 32 , a transition internal surface 34 , and a body internal surface 36 . in general , throat internal surface couples to transition internal surface , which couples to body internal surface . the term “ couple ” when used herein to describe relationships of corresponding surfaces , encompasses having another surface disposed between the surfaces that are the objects of the term . further , the present invention encompasses radiused portions or other transitions between coupled surfaces . external surface 40 includes a throat external surface 42 , a transition external surface 44 , and a body external surface 46 . body external surface defines a diameter d1 , throat opening 20 defines an opening diameter d2 , and body internal surface defines a body internal diameter d3 . in a most preferred embodiment , and as shown in the figures , body internal diameter d3 is less than throat opening diameter d2 such that transition internal surface 34 makes the transition therebetween . throat 20 preferably has a smooth bore such that throat inner surface 32 without protrusions . throat internal surface 32 and the upper portion of body internal surface 36 are illustrated as defining substantially tight circular cylinders . the present invention is not limited to such configurations , but rather encompasses any geometric or irregular shape . further , transition internal surface 34 is illustrated as having a substantially frusto - conical shape , although the present invention encompasses any shape , including a curved shape ( in longitudinal cross section ), steps , irregularities , and the like , as will be understood to persons familiar with preform and blow molding technology considering the present disclosure . plural projections , such as elongate embosses 26 , are disposed on transition internal surface 34 . preferably , as best illustrated in fig5 three projections 26 are disposed circumferentially equidistant apart . as best shown in fig6 and 7 , each projection preferably forms a point contact 27 with an adjacent preform 10 ′ that is insertable into throat 12 . each projection 26 includes an upper rounded surface , such as half a hemisphere 28 , and a downwardly extending longitudinal tail or lower portion 30 . as best shown in fig7 projection 26 in longitudinal cross section , defines an inner edge 31 opposite transition internal surface 34 . preferably , inner edge 31 is substantially rectilinear . inner edge preferably is either parallel to preform longitudinal centerline c or inclined at a positive angle a thereto . a longitudinal line c ′ that is parallel to preform centerline c is shown in fig7 . angle a is referred to as a positive angle to indicate that projection lower portion 30 does not form an undercut , but rather is formed to facilitate removal of preform 10 from the mold . because projections 26 preferably are disposed in transition portion 14 , projections 26 are disposed in a portion of the preform that will likely be stretched and are likely to diminish or disappear during the blowing process . projections preferably are not disposed on body internal surface 36 where body internal surface forms a right circular cylinder , as a projection in such geometry would cause an undercut that would interfere with removal of preform 10 from the mold during injection molding or like process . further , the dashed lines , indicated schematically by reference numeral 11 , about preform 10 in fig4 illustrate a mold 11 employed for forming preform 10 . mold 11 forms a cavity that has the attributes of preform 10 described herein . mold manufacturing for anti - locking features described herein is generally easier and less expensive than for conventional anti - nesting features . the present invention , however , is not limited to molds that are easier and less expensive to manufacture , but rather encompasses any mold configuration subject to the description herein with respect to preform 10 . the description of the embodiment shown in the figures is provided to illustrate an embodiment of the present invention . however , the present invention is not limited to the particular attributes described herein . for example , projections 26 encompass any shapes that can provide point contact with preform 10 ′. further , point contact between projections 26 and preform 10 ′ is not required . rather , the present invention encompasses any contact between projections 26 and preform 10 ′. further , the present invention encompasses any geometry and location of projections 26 . | 1 |
below , embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the appended drawings . fig1 is a plan view of a template used for a method for manufacturing a covered string - like object according to one embodiment of the present invention . a template 1 shown in fig1 is used for an earphone cord as a string - like object to be covered . the template 1 is configured such that a plate body 2 having a rectangular shape is provided within a frame 4 , and the plate body 2 has two cut - out holes 6 and 8 formed in accordance with the shape of the string - like object to be covered . as indicated by the dashed lines in fig1 , the cut - out holes 6 and 8 are respectively covered with backings 10 and 12 attached to one surface ( the back - surface side ) of the plate body 2 using an easily removable adhesive or the like , and the string - like object ( not shown ) can be placed on the backings 10 and 12 via the cut - out holes 6 and 8 . it is preferable that the plate body 2 has such a rigidity that the plate body 2 does not deform due to the attachment of the backings 10 and 12 . the plate body 2 can be formed from , for example , cardboard , a synthetic - resin plate , or a metal plate . in accordance with the overall shape of the earphone to be covered , the cut - out holes 6 and 8 are each formed so as to be able to accommodate roughly half of the earphone cord . the cut - out hole 6 can accommodate roughly a plug - side half of the earphone cord in a straightened state . the cut - out hole 8 can accommodate the bifurcated portions of the earphone cord both in a straightened state . the cut - out hole 6 comprises a narrow holding part 6 a and a slot - like insertion part 6 b on the respective sides in the lengthwise direction . the distal part of the earphone cord is held by the holding part 6 a , and , on the other hand , an insert ( not shown ) is inserted into the insertion part 6 b to latch the mid part of the earphone cord , and it is thus possible to fix the earphone cord within the cut - out hole 6 . as with the cut - out hole 6 , the cut - out hole 8 also comprises holding parts 8 a and an insertion part 8 b . as long as the earphone cord can be reliably fixed within the cut - out holes 6 and 8 , fixing means other than the holding parts 6 a and 6 b and the insertion parts 8 a and 8 b may be used . the backings 10 and 12 are sheet - like components that a sewing - machine needle can penetrate , and it is preferable that the backings 10 and 12 are flexible so as to conform to the earphone cord during sewing . examples of the material of the backings 10 and 12 include synthetic resin film , metal foil , thin paper , and the like . since the backings 10 and 12 are eventually separated from the earphone cord , it is preferable that the backings 10 and 12 have excellent tearability , and , for example , a stretched polyethylene film or the like that is easily torn in the direction of stretch can be suitably used . next , a method for manufacturing a covered string - like object using the above - described template 1 will now be described with reference to fig2 . fig2 shows partially enlarged views of the cut - out hole 6 of the template shown in fig1 . first , as shown in fig2 ( a ) , the plug 20 a side of the earphone cord 20 in a straightened state is accommodated inside the cut - out hole 6 , the proximal part of the plug 20 a is held by the holding part 6 a , and also the side of the earphone cord 20 at the center is fixed at the insertion part 8 b shown in fig1 . in this way , the earphone cord 20 is positioned on the backing 10 via the cut - out hole 6 . subsequently , this template 1 is placed on an automatic sewing machine ( not shown ), and as shown in fig2 ( b ) , a section of the earphone cord 20 from the plug 20 a side to near the center is sewn to the backing 10 with a sewing material 22 . as shown in the enlarged view of fig3 , the sewing material 22 is composed of an upper thread 22 a and a lower thread 22 b , and a sewing - machine needle is caused to penetrate the backing 10 on both sides of the earphone cord 20 to entwine the upper thread 22 a and the lower thread 22 b by way of zigzag lockstitching , and thus the upper thread 22 a is disposed in a zigzag manner so as to cover the earphone cord 20 on the front - surface side of the backing 10 . on the back - surface side of the backing 10 , the lower thread 22 b is disposed in a zigzag manner . a pitch p of the zigzag pattern of the upper thread 22 a is emphasized in fig3 so as to appear large , but , practically , it is preferable that the upper thread 22 a is sewn at such a small pitch p that the earphone cord 20 is not exposed . it is also possible to entwine the upper thread 22 a and the lower thread 22 b in such a way that one thread forms a zigzag pattern , and the other thread linearly extends along the earphone cord 20 . as shown in fig4 ( a ) , the place where the upper thread 22 a and the lower thread 22 b are entwined may be above ( on the front - surface side of ) the backing 10 , and , also , it may be in the interior of the backing 10 or below ( on the back - surface side of ) the backing 10 as well . the thread tension can be suitably adjusted . an embroidery thread can be suitably used as the embroidery material 22 , thus making it possible to enhance the aesthetic characteristics by taking advantage of its color , luster , etc . the embroidery material 22 may be a string - like or belt - like embroidery material other than a thread - like material . the embroidery material 22 may be intended primarily for textural , anti - allergic , or like purposes other than aesthetic purposes . after about half of the earphone cord 20 is sewn to the backing 10 with the embroidery material 22 in this way , the rest of the earphone cord 20 is sewn to the backing 10 with the embroidery material 22 in the same manner as above by using the cut - out hole 8 shown in fig1 . in this way , substantially all the earphone cord 20 can be sewn to the backing 10 . thereafter , the earphone cord 20 is removed from the template 1 to separate the backing 10 from the earphone cord 20 as shown in fig4 ( b ) , and , thereby , the entire outer circumference of the earphone cord 20 is covered with the upper thread 22 a and the lower thread 22 b , and , as shown in fig2 ( c ) , it is thus possible to obtain the covered string - like object 30 in which the earphone cord 20 is covered with the embroidery material 22 . after the backing 10 is separated from the earphone cord 20 , there may be a slight remainder of the backing 10 between the earphone cord 20 and the embroidery material 22 ( see fig4 ( b ) ). forming the zigzag pattern of the embroidery material 22 at a small pitch makes it possible to prevent the remaining backing 10 from being exposed to the outside and adversely affecting the appearance . thereafter , the backing 10 ( 12 ) remaining on the template 1 is removed , then a new backing 10 ( 12 ) is attached , and it is thus possible to used the template 1 again . as described above , according to the method for manufacturing a covered string - like object of the present embodiment , the earphone cord 20 is sewn to the backings 10 and 12 with the embroidery material 22 , and then the backings 10 and 12 are separated from the earphone cord 20 . it is therefore possible to easily and reliably cover the earphone cord 20 with the embroidery material 22 without damaging the earphone cord 20 with a sewing - machine needle or the like , and thus possible to obtain the covered string - like object 30 that has good durability . moreover , the use of the template 1 on one surface of which the backings 10 and 12 have been attached makes it possible to more easily manufacture the covered string - like object 30 . one embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above , but the specific aspects of the present invention are not limited to the above embodiment . for example , the above embodiment has been described using an earphone cord as an example of a target to be covered with an embroidery material , but other string - like objects may be used as well , such as power cords , extension cords , and like electrical cords , and cables . moreover , as shown in fig5 , one or more decorative parts 14 c may be formed by making slots that are in communication with a linear cut - out hole 14 formed in a template 1 ′, such that a backing 16 is attached so as to cover the cut - out hole 14 and the decorative parts 14 c . as shown in fig6 , with this template 1 ′, the string - like object 20 such as an earphone cord is placed in the cut - out hole 14 , a decoration 30 ( such as a leaf or a flower of a plant ) is placed in the decorative parts 14 c , and the decoration 30 can be sewn to the backing 10 with an embroidery material 32 during the course of sewing the string - like object 20 to the backing 10 with the embroidery material 22 in the lengthwise direction . the embroidery materials 22 and 32 may be the same or may be different . thereafter , the backing 10 is separated from the string - like object 20 and the decoration 30 , and it is thus possible to obtain a covered string - like object having enhanced aesthetic characteristics . in fig5 , the same components as in fig1 are given the same reference numbers . | 7 |
the compound pime is prepared by reacting 1 , 4 - bisacryloyl - piperazine with n - methyl - ethanol amine , both of them being commercially available products . the preparation is made following conventional procedures that the skilled person well knows . preferably , the molar ratio between 1 , 4 - bisacryloyl - piperazine and n - methyl - ethanol amine is 1 : 2 . usually the reaction is performed in an appropriate solvent , at such a temperature that the reaction can take place in an appropriate period of time without creating by - products or decomposition products under an uncontrolled way . preferably , the temperature is included in the range of 10 and 50 ° c ., for a period lasting from some hours to some days . isolation and purification of the final product are performed with usual and known methods , i . e . by precipitating and , when necessary , further purifying the product . the use of the compound pime as chain extender in the preparation of polymers does not require any particular procedure , but the usual polymerisation techniques . in a first preferred realisation of the invention , the polymer is a polyurethane . especially preferred the polyurethane is prepared with an aliphatic diisocyanate , e . g . 1 , 6 - hexamethylene diisocyanate , and a macroglycol , selected among those conventionally known . the conditions of the reaction are known and described in the pertaining literature . therefore , temperature , pressure , solvents and catalysts are easily determined as a function of the desired polymer type . pime can be used as chain extender for polymers of biomedical interest , e . g ., besides the polyurethanes , the polyesters . polymers obtainable by using pime as chain extender can be used for the preparation of biomedical items to be used in contact with blood , to be implanted or not , such as for example circuits for extra - corporeal circulation and dialysis , catheters , probes , cardiovascular prostheses , an artificial ventricle in particular . such polymers can be used for surface coating of other materials or devices in order to improve their haemocompatibility . such polymers and devices and materials that incorporate them are heparinizable that is they form complexes with heparin , and such complexes are inside the present invention . to a solution prepared by dissolving at room temperature under magnetic stirring 3 g of 1 , 4 - bisacryloyl - piperazine ( bispip , 15 . 4 mmol ) in methanol ( 21 ml ), 2 . 3 g of n - methyl - ethanol amine ( mea , 30 . 9 mmol ) are added . the syringe used to add mea is then washed with ≡ 10 ml of methanol that is added to the reaction mixture . the reaction is allowed to take place at room temperature and in the dark for 3 days , always under stirring . the reaction mixture is concentrated to 1 / 4 of the original volume with a rotating evaporator under reduced pressure and at 55 ° c . the product is then precipitated into 100 ml diethylether and recovered by filtration . the filtrated powder is then washed three times with 50 ml diethylether each and dried under vacuum at 40 ° c . 5 . 6 g of a white powder are obtained ( yield = 99 %). elemental analysis : found % c 55 . 66 ; % h 9 . 40m % n 16 . 08 ( calculated % c 55 . 79 ; % h 9 . 36 ; % n 16 . 27 ) 0 . 5 g of pime , dried to constant weight for 12 h in oven at 40 ° c . under vacuum , is dissolved into distilled water and titrated with hcl 0 . 1n . 0 . 4075 g are titrated with 24 . 6 ml hcl 0 . 096n , corresponding to a 99 . 3 % purity . the point of colour change has been determined with an orion mod . sa 720 phmeter . the determination of the colour change was made by the differential method . potassium dichromate ( k 2 cr 2 o 7 ) is desiccated in oven at 150 - 200 ° c . for 2 h . after cooling down , a 0 . 1n aqueous solution is prepared . a 0 . 1n solution of mohr salt ( hexahydrated ammonic ferrous sulphate , fe ( nh 4 ) 2 * 6h 2 o ) is prepared and titrated with the k 2 cr 2 o 7 solution . as titration indicator a solution of ferroin is used , prepared by dissolving 1 . 485 g of o - phenantroline and 0 . 695 g of ferrous sulphate in 100 ml water . 0 . 35 g of vacuum dried pime is dissolved in water and 100 ml of k 2 cr 2 o 7 solution are added . the ph is lowered with concentrated sulphuric acid to ph & lt ; 2 . after stirring for a few minutes , 3 drops of ferroine are added and the excess of k 2 cr 2 o 7 is titrated with the mohr salt solution . a mixture of ethanol : chloroform : ammonium hydroxide in the ratio 10 ml : 5 ml : 30 drops was used as eluant . tlc plates , with 0 . 2 mm thick silica gel on aluminium support were used . tlc were developed by exposing to iodine vapours . retention factor is r f pime = 0 . 158 . instrument : bio - rad chr . system , equipped with a value chrom ™ chromatography software ; columns : bio - gel tsk - 30 + tsk - 40 ( bio - gel ); detector : uv , λ = 220 nm . phosphate buffer ( 0 . 1 m na 2 so 4 , 0 . 02 m nah 2 po 4 ph = 6 . 8 ) as eluant was used , at a flow rate of 1 ml / min . the sample of pime is solubilized in the same buffer ( 0 . 2 % w / v ) and injected . the chromatogram points out the presence of a single peak ( retention time : 19 . 55 min ). transmission infrared spectroscopy analysis ( ir ) was performed with a fourier - transformed spectrometer ft 1710 perkin elmer . the sample was directly deposited onto the kbr crystal by solvent casting from acetone solution . table 1 reports the main absorptions and their attributions . table 1______________________________________frequency ( cm . sup .- 1 ) attribution______________________________________3500 - 3300 stretching of oh 3000 - 2880 symmetric and asymmetric stretching of -- ch . sub . 2 2815 - 22780 symmetric stretching of -- ch . sub . 3 and of n -- ch . sub . 3 2820 stretching of amine -- n -- c -- h 1650 - 1600 stretching of amido c ═ o 1500 - 1350 bending of -- ch . sub . 2 1370 - 1310 stretching of tertiary aliphatic amine & gt ; n -- ch . sub . 3 1300 - 1150 stretching of tertiary amide c -- n 1230 - 1030 stretching of tertiary aliphatic amine c -- n______________________________________ . sup . 1 hnmr an 80 mhz instrument was used . the sample was dissolved in cdcl 3 , and the reference was tms . in table 2 values and attributions of the signals are reported . table 2______________________________________chemical shift ( ppm )* integration attribution______________________________________2 . 2 ppm ( s ) 6 h n -- ch . sub . 3 2 . 4 - 2 . 9 ppm ( m ) 12 h ch . sub . 2 3 . 2 ppm ( s )** 2 h oh 3 . 4 - 3 . 7 ppm ( m ) 12 h ch . sub . 2______________________________________ * s = singlet ; m = multiplet ; ** exchange with d . sub . 2 o dsc analyses were recorded with a differential calorimeter mettler ta3000 instrument , previously calibrated with an indium standard . the sample of 7 - 9 mg weight was heated at a rate of 20 ° c ./ min under nitrogen , in the temperature range from - 50 ° c . to + 180 ° c . a melting peak was observed at 110 . 5 ° c . ( δh = 197 . 9 j / g ). pime is soluble at room temperature in methanol , water , chloroform , and methylene chloride , dimethylacetamide ( concentration 10 mg / ml ); insoluble in diethylether at room temperature . 0 . 4231 g of pime desiccated to constant weight in oven at 40 ° c . under vacuum are left in the air ( relative humidity = 67 %) and weighed every 10 &# 39 ;. after 1 h the sample reaches the weight of 0 . 4293 ( weight % gain = 1 . 47 ) cytotoxicity of pime has been evaluated towards human endothelial cells ( hec ). hec were isolated from human umbilical vein by treatment with 0 . 1 % collagenase and cultured to confluence into plastic culture wells in medium 199 containing 20 % foetal calf serum , 50 mg / ml endothelial cell growth supplement , 50 mg / ml heparin , 50 u / ml penicillin , 50 mg / ml streptomycin , 2 . 5 mg / ml fungizone . as described in literature ( e . dejana , m . g . lampugnani , j . cell . biol ., 109 , 367 - 375 ( 1989 )). hec suspensions were seeded in tissue culture microplates of 96 well , 0 . 28 cm 2 , ( 4 × 10 3 cells / well ). after 4 h incubation , adhesion was verified , the medium was replaced with fresh one containing different pime concentrations ( 1 , 0 . 1 or 0 . 01 % w / v ). all the tests were made in triplicate . as controls , adhesion and growth values in wells containing only the culture medium were used . evaluation of cells growth was carried out stopping the experiment after 40 and 72 h from seeding ; non - adherent cells were removed by twice washing with ca ++ and mg ++ free pbs , fixed and stained with crystal violet . optical density was then read at 560 nm with an automatic photometer tirtrek . by this way , the cells viability was evaluated , being directly related to the colour intensity . table 3 shows the values for the control sample at increasing times table 3______________________________________time optical density at 560 nm______________________________________ 4 h 0 . 055 ± 0 . 007 40 h 0 . 108 ± 0 . 009 72 h 0 . 181 ± 0 . 012 * ______________________________________ the wells containing pime , in every concentration tested , gave optical density values identical or slightly higher than the control . from these results it can be deduced that pime shows a very good compatibility with the cell growth . the reaction takes place in two steps . in the first step the diisocyanate ( 1 , 6 - hexamethylene diisocyanate , hdi ) reacts with the macroglycol giving the macrodiisocyanate ; the reaction is catalysed by dibutyl - tin - dilaurate ( dbtdl ). in the second step the addition of the chain extender to the macrodiisocyanate occurs , creating high molecular weight linear chains . the stoichiometric ratio of the reagents macroglycol : diisocyanate : extender was 1 : 2 : 1 . by using three different macroglycols ( polytetramethylene glycol having molecular weight of 2000 and 1000 , poly ( 1 , 6 - hexyl 1 , 2 - ethyl carbonate ) diol and the same diisocyanate and chain extender three copolymers were synthesised , named in the following hepitan 2000 , hepitan 1000 and hepitan ca . copolymers hepitan 1000 and hepitan 2000 are obtained with polytetramethylene glycol ( ptmg ) having molecular weight of 1000 and 2000 , respectively . from poly ( 1 , 6 - hexyl 1 , 2 - ethyl carbonate diol ) ( ca ) the copolymer hepitan ca is prepared . the macroglycol was desiccated under reduced pressure at 90 ° c . for 24 h ; the chain extender was desiccated at 60 ° c . under reduced pressure for 14 h . the solvent of the reaction ( dmac , n , n &# 39 ;- dimethylacetamide ) was distilled under reduced pressure and kept over molecular sieves . a solution of hdi ( 1 . 61 g ; 10 mmol ) and catalyst ( 0 . 1 g ) is prepared under inert atmosphere , at 65 ° c ., under stirring . the macroglycol ( 5 mmol ) dissolved into 25 ml dmac is added dropwise . the mixture is allowed to react for 90 min at 65 ° c . ( the reaction time was estimated by titration of the isocyanate groups ). the reaction mixture is then precipitated into deionized water and the precipitate is washed twice with water , each washing lasting two hours . the product is desiccated under reduced pressure at 40 ° c . until constant weight . the titration of unreacted -- nco groups was carried out on samples withdrawn from the reaction mixture at different reaction times . the method of the analysis follows the guidelines of astm d2572 - 70 standard practice , according to which a sample of the reaction mixture is reacted with an excess of n - dibutyl amine , according to the following reaction : at the end of this reaction , the excess of n - dibutyl amine is determined by inverse titration with hcl of known titre . a sample of about 1 g weight is taken from the reaction mixture , weighed with a technical scale . dilution is made with 25 ml of dmac . 5 ml of 0 . 05m n - dibutyl amine in dmac is added with a burette , the solution is stirred for 15 minutes . titration is performed with 0 . 05n hcl , using blue of bromophenol as indicator . blank titration is performed separately . theoretical -- nco moles present in the sample taken from the reaction mixture are : ## equ2 ## where w is the weight of the sample . the reaction mixture is regularly sampled until the -- nco content is constant . from these data , the reaction can be considered ended after 5 h from the addition of the macroglycol to the solution containing the diisocyanate and catalyst . a 15 % solution of the copolymer in dimethylacetamide at 40 ° c . is prepared . the solution is washed three times with equal volume of petroleum ether in a separatory funnel . residual tin content , evaluated by inductively coupled plasma emission spectrophotometry ( icp ), is ≦ 50 ppm . considering that hard segment is composed of the diisocyanate and the chain extender , the weight per cent of hard segments (% s h ) is calculated as follows : ______________________________________ hard molar mass 2 × mhdi + mpime % s . sub . h = -- × 100 = -- × 100 polyurethane 2 × mhdi + mglycol + molar mass mpime______________________________________ table 4______________________________________ % s . sub . h______________________________________ hepitan 2000 25 . 3 hepitan 1000 40 . 5 hepitan ca 29______________________________________ characterisation is performed by viscosimetry , gel permeation chromatography ( gpc ), fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy ( ft - ir ), differential scanning calorimetry ( dsc ), and mechanical tensile tests . solubility tests of the copolymers were also performed . solubility of the purified copolymer , at a concentration of 0 . 5 % w / w , was checked . the copolymer was cut into pieces of about 3 × 2 × 0 . 7 mm and put in each of the selected solvent . it was left for 24 h under stirring at room temperature . a identical solution was then prepared , letting it at a temperature ranging between 40 ° c . and 50 ° c ., until a maximum time of 6 h . the copolymers were soluble at room temperature in dimethylacetamide , dimethylformamide , and tetrahydrofuran ; insoluble in acetone , 2 - butanone , methanol , ethanol , petroleum ether , diethyl ether , and hexane . soluble in ethanol and methanol at 45 ° c . a capillary viscometer in a thermostatic bath ( haake dc3 ) at 40 ° c . was used . the sample was dissolved into dimethylacetamide at a concentration of 1 g / dl . results are reported in table 5 . table 5______________________________________ [ η ] ______________________________________ hepitan 2000 0 . 91 hepitan 1000 0 . 98 hepitan ca 0 . 90______________________________________ the analyses have been performed with a waters gpc instrument ( pump , column thermostat , refraction index detector , thermostat , integrator ) equipped with a set of four columns in series : shodex ad 802 / s , ad 804 / s , kd 803 , ad 80 m / s . as eluant , dimethylformamide hplc grade at 40 ° c . and at a flow rate of 1 ml / min was used . the calibration curve , obtained with a kit of polymethylmethacrylate standard samples ( polymer laboratories ), had a coefficient of linear regression higher than 0 . 99 . all the samples were filtered before the analyses . all polyurethanes showed m w and m n values in agreement with data reported in literature , having dispersion indexes comprised between 1 . 5 and 2 . 5 . an example : hepitan 2000 shows m w = 257 . 000 , m n = 173 . 000 ( d = 1 . 48 ). the transmission infrared spectroscopic analyses were performed with a fourier transformed infrared spectrometer ft 1710 perkin elmer . samples were circular films of 3 cm diameter obtained by solvent casting from 0 . 5 % w / v dmac solutions . a differential scanning calorimeter mettler ta 3000 was used , with indium for calibration . the sample ( 10 - 16 mg weight ) was cooled at - 150 ° c . and subsequently heated to 300 ° c . at a flow rate of 20 ° c ./ min under dry nitrogen ( nitrogen flow rate = 50 cm 3 / min ). table 6______________________________________ tm (° c .) tmll (° c .) tg ( δh / j / g ) ( δhj / 1 ) ______________________________________hepitan 2000 - 72 14 . 5 ( 29 . 7 ) 270 ( 20 . 1 ) hepitan ca - 68 23 . 2 ( 56 . 5 ) 234 ( 4 ) ______________________________________ mechanical tensile tests on hepitan 2000 have been performed at a deformation rate of 20 mm / min at 25 ° c . with a instron dynamometer model 4301 having a 1 kn load cell and connected with a pc , allowing the control and programming of the apparatus with a software supplied by the manufacturer ( instron series xii ). the sample sheets were prepared by solvent casting from a 15 - 20 % w / v solution in dmac . the solution was cast into 8 × 5 cm rectangular dies made of glass ( about 3 . 5 g of polymer in each cast ), and then maintained at 40 ° c . under reduced pressure for 48 - 72 h . the obtained sheets had a thickness of 0 . 5 - 1 mm . from the sheets , with a manually operated cutter , specimens having size and form according to astm d - 638 standard practice , which provides the use of at least 5 dog - bone specimens , were obtained . the stress / strain curves show the typical trend of polyurethane elastomerics ( see fig1 ). following an initial increase of the modulus until the yield point , the material shows a relaxation , with a decrease of the elastic modulus , which then increases again until break . tests of structural stability were carried out for hepitan 2000 in deionized water ( 21 days at 37 ° c .) and buffered saline solution , pbs ( 25 days at 37 ° c .). as reference , two commercial polyurethanes , a polyether - urethane ( pellethane 2363 80 ae ) and a polycarbonate - urethane ( corethane ) were selected . to evaluate the presence of products released from the materials , gp - hplc analyses of contacting solutions were performed after 25 days in pbs and 14 / 21 days in h 2 o . two samples for each material , having a rectangular shape of 10 × 20 mm , with a thickness ranging from 0 . 3 to 0 . 5 mm , were desiccated in a vacuum oven at 40 ° c . for 16 h ( until constant weight ), before and after incubation with h 2 o and pbs . the samples were cut from sheets obtained by solvent casting . stability in h 2 o at 37 ° c . ( 21 days ) the samples were immersed into glass tubes containing 20 ml of deionized water . after 14 days immersion , a hplc analysis of the water in contact with the samples was performed . after having replaced this water with a fresh one , the samples were left at 37 ° c . for an additional week . this water was analysed by hplc too . the samples were then weighed , after having been dried in a vacuum oven at 40 ° c . for 16 h . table 7______________________________________stability in h . sub . 2 o at 37 ° c . for 21 days weight loss ( mg ) weight loss (%) ______________________________________hepitan 2000 0 - 0 . 3 0 . 18 corethane 80a 0 - 0 . 1 0 . 06 pellethane 0 - 0 . 2 0 . 08______________________________________ after 21 days immersion into deionized water at 37 ° c ., a per cent weight loss & lt ; 1 % was observed for the analysed polyurethanes . the chromatographic analysis of water in contact for 14 days with the materials shows only not significant traces of released substances . moreover , chromatography of the second contacting water evidenced that no substances were released from the samples . the samples were immersed into 20 ml glass tubes containing pbs ( phosphate buffered saline solution , ph = 7 . 4 ), prepared by dissolving a tablet of phosphate buffer into 200 ml of deionized water . 0 . 02 % sodium azide was added to prevent bacterial growth . the tubes were placed in oven at 37 ° c . for 25 days . after this time , as shown in table 8 , a per cent weight loss & lt ; 1 % was observed for the considered polyurethanes . table 8______________________________________stability in h . sub . 2 o at 37 ° c . for 21 days weight loss ( mg ) weight loss (%) ______________________________________hepitan 2000 0 . 8 - 1 0 . 72 corethane 80a 0 . 3 - 0 . 2 0 . 24 pellethane 0 . 4 - 0 . 8 0 . 52______________________________________ the ability of binding heparin stably by hepitan 2000 copolymer was evaluated with 125 i labelled heparin , in comparison with two commercially available biomedical polyurethanes ( pellethane 2363 80ae , and corethane 80a ). the kinetic versus time of the binding between heparin and polyurethanes was evaluated . then , the subsequent release of adsorbed heparin was checked in physiological buffer solution ( pbs ), alkaline solution ( naoh 1m ) and detergent solution ( sds 2 %), in the order . the amount of released heparin has been measured by gamma radiation counter ( cobra ii auto - gamma ( camberra packard )). heparin was reacted with the bolton - hunter reactive ( thrombosis research , 14 , 845 - 860 ( 1979 )) ( shpp : succinimidyl hydroxyphenyl propionate ), which has an aromatic ring capable of binding 125 i isotope . a gel filtration was carried out in order to purify the derivatized heparin from the unreacted reactive . the amount of labelled heparin was evaluated by a calorimetric method . 5 . 3 mg of heparin were reacted with an excess of succinimidyl hydroxyphenyl propionate ( shpp ( 5 . 3 mg )) in 5 ml of 0 . 05m sodium borate ( ph 9 . 2 ) at 4 ° c . for 20 h . the unreacted shpp excess was hydrolysed into acid and separated by gel filtration in water on a pd - 10 column ( pharmacia ) filled with a previously equilibrated sephadex g - 25 m . radio - iodination was carried out by incubating at room temperature a solution of heparin and na 125 i in a glass tube coated with iodogen ( 1 , 3 , 4 , 6 - tetrachloro - 3a , 6a - diphenyl glycoluryl , used as oxidative reagent ). free 125 i is separated from labelled heparin through a g - 25 resin column . the amount of 125 i present in the eluant was measured by gamma counter . disks ( 5 mm diameter , 0 . 5 mm thickness ) were cut from film obtained by solvent casting . tests were made in duplicate for every test time . samples were preincubated in pbs + 0 . 02 % nan 3 for 2 days ; subsequently , pbs + nan 3 is substituted and the labelled heparin ( 60 ml , 150 mg , corresponding to 50000 cpm ) is added . the amount of bonded heparin was evaluated after 30 &# 39 ;, 60 &# 39 ;, 2 h , 4 h , 6 h , 24 h . after each incubation time , the samples were washed twice with pbs + nan 3 and dried before counting radioactivity . in fig2 obtained results are plotted : time is reported in minutes along the abscissas , while the amount of absorbed heparin in mg / cm 2 is reported on the ordinates values were calculated considering that heparin is bonded at the surface of the sample , which is calculated considering the two faces of the disk and the lateral surface . the samples that had been incubated with heparin for 6 h were repeatedly washed with pbs to evaluate the amount of adsorbed , but not stably bonded , heparin . subsequently , these samples were washed with 1m naoh , in order to evaluate the amount of electrostatically bonded heparin . finally , they were washed with a detergent solution ( 2 % sds ). hepitan 2000 shows a far higher ability of binding heparin , if compared to the commercial polyurethanes , for which heparin binding is almost zero . for hepitan , the amount of bonded heparin grows quickly in the first part of the kinetic curve , after 6 h the curve reaches almost a plateau . observing the plot of heparin release it is possible to draw the conclusion that heparin is very stably bonded on hepitan 2000 : in fact , the release is slow and incomplete for the washings with in pbs and naoh , but it is necessary to use a detergent in order to achieve the total release . from these data one can conclude that the bond type between hepitan 2000 and heparin seems to be not exclusively of the ionic type , as the washing with naoh 1m does not give the total release of bound heparin . hydrophobic interactions ( which are eliminated with a detergent , such as sds ), are likely to occur together with the ionic bond . | 8 |
the present invention provides an emissive circuit capable of adaptively adjusting the brightness . some of the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail and clearly as follows . otherwise , for easily understanding and clarifying the invention , the parts of the illustration is not depicted in corresponding scale . some scales and related ratio has been exaggerated , and the unrelated parts have not fully shown for the concise drawing . however , except for the detailed description , the invention can widely apply in others . and the invention is not limited here but the claims . referring to fig2 , it shows a schematic diagram illustrating a circuit for a pixel unit of display of one embodiment of the present invention . in order to clarify the present invention , only one pixel unit is depicted here . however , the technician who is familiar in the field knows how to combine all the pixel units to form a dots array display . furthermore , the emissive device can be adapted to the invention although the embodiments take examples as an organic light emitting diode ( oled ), however , the other emissive device can to applicable the present invention . the pixel unit normally combines the emissive device 202 and the driving circuit 201 is electrically connected in series . in the present embodiment , the emissive device 202 is an organic light emitting diode ( oled ); the driving circuit 201 includes a p type thin film transistor ( p - tft ) and it can further be a low temperature poly - silicon ( ltps ), the amorphous silicon ( a - si ) or the organic thin film transistor . the pixel unit ( 201 , 202 ) and the brightness adjusting circuit 203 are electrically connected in series and they are normally using the same procedures to be formed on the glass substrate . the brightness adjusting circuit 203 is basically an optical sensor or optical detecting device or circuit . for example , it can be a device of the photo - reactive resistance ( or say light - resistance ) or it can be an apparatus that generates leakage current when receiving light . the cathode of the oled 202 is electrically connected to the power end vss and the anode is electrically connected to the drain , d of the p - tft . the two ends of the brightness adjusting circuit 203 are connected to the other power end vdd and the source , s of the p - tft , respectively and between the two ends , there is a potential difference . the potential difference depending on the changing of the intensity of the incident ray adjusts the potential of the source , s of the p - tft . the data signal vdata transmitting to the gate , g of the p - tft and the potential difference of the source , s of the p - tft control the emissive intensity of the emissive device 202 . the brightness adjusting circuit 203 is for receiving the incident ray from the ambient environment and according to the intensity of the incident ray it changes the characteristics ( such as adjusted the resistance value or adjusted the two ends potential difference ) for adjusting the potential or current of the pixel unit 201 , 202 . for instance , when the intensity of incident ray increases , the brightness adjusting circuit 203 reduces its resistance or reduces its two ends potential . in the present embodiment , when the potential difference of the two ends of the brightness adjusting circuit 203 reduces , and the inputting data vdata of the driving circuit 201 are not changed , so the source s and the gate g of the potential difference of the p - tft increase so as to immediately increase the driving current id of the emissive device 202 , then the emissive intensity of the emissive device 202 increases and the brightness and the contrast of the display are kept . on the contrary , when the intensity of the incident ray decreases , the brightness adjusting circuit 203 adjusts the driving current id for avoiding harsh lightening . referring to fig3 , it shows a schematic diagram illustrating another circuit for a pixel unit of the display of another embodiment of the present invention . similarly , in order to clarify the present invention , only one pixel unit is depicted here . in the present embodiment , the pixel unit is combined with oled 302 and n type thin film transistor ( n - tft ) 301 are electrically connected in series . the anode of the oled 302 is electrically connected to the power end vdd and the cathode is electrically connected to the drain d of the n - tft 301 . the two ends of the brightness adjusting circuit 303 are electrically connected to the other power end vss and the source s of the n - tft 301 , respectively . the inputting data vdata are received from the gate g of the n - tft 301 and it uses to control the emissive intensity of the emissive device 302 . the brightness adjusting circuit 303 receives incident ray from the ambient environment and according to the intensity of the incident ray it changes its characteristic ( such as adjusted the resistance value or adjusted the two ends potential difference ) for adjusting the outputting potential of the brightness adjusting circuit 303 , the potential of the pixel unit 301 , 302 or the value of the id current . the theory of the circuit operation is similar to fig2 and it is not going to repeat the description . fig4 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an emissive circuit and a brightness adjusting circuit according to the further embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig4 , it helps to further understand the internal operation of the brightness adjusting circuit ( including 203 or 303 ) and to understand the relation between the brightness adjusting circuit and other pixel units . the display area 402 includes the pixel unit 100 arranged in dot a array . every sequential pixel unit is electrically connected to the power line 403 , respectively . and then every power line 403 is collected to be a power bus b . the other power bus a is electrically connected to the power end vdd . in the present embodiment , the brightness adjusting circuit 401 includes one or more p - tft 4011 . however , the brightness adjusting circuit 401 also can use n - tft or other optical sensor or optical detector . when the display operation , the potential vs between the power bus b and power line 403 is : wherein , the “ i ” means that the current goes through the power bus a , the brightness adjusting circuit 401 and the power bus b . the “ ra ” means the resistance of the power bus a . the “ rb ” means the resistance of the power bus b . and the “ r401 ” means the resistance of the brightness adjusting circuit 401 . the gate - source potential vgs of the driving tft ( such as p - tft in fig2 ) in the pixel unit is : according to the equation , when the intensity of the incident ray is increased it brings about the resistance r 401 of the brightness adjusting circuit 401 decreased or the potential difference of the two ends of the brightness adjusting circuit 401 reduced , the vgs of the p - tft of the pixel unit 100 goes more negative . in other words , the absolute value of gate - source potential | vgs | of the p - tft goes larger ( such as | vgs | become big ) so as to increase the id current , which goes through emissive device ( such as emissive device 202 shown in fig2 ) to emit more strongly . it means that the intensity of the incident ray is substantially in direct proportion to the current , which goes through oled . another embodiment , since the intensity of the incident ray decreases , the resistance r 401 of the brightness adjusting circuit 401 increases . when the resistance r 401 of the brightness adjusting circuit 401 increases , the current id which goes through the oled decreases to emit more light . as the result , the invention achieves the purpose of auto - adjusting brightness . although the description discloses the preferred embodiment herein , it is not limit the spirit of the invention . it is intended that the specification and examples to be considered as exemplary only , with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims . for instance , in the embodiment of the present invention , the power line 403 and the power bus b can be suitably and selectively layout . the brightness adjusting circuit 401 is required depending on the actual condition to increase or decrease . the layout and the amount of the brightness adjusting circuit 401 also can be adjusted . for example : the brightness adjusting circuit 401 can be placed on the bottom of the display and be formed as a bar . when the shadow partially blocks the brightness adjusting circuit the display changes a little light and it does not affect viewing . when the ambient environment is not any light , the brightness adjusting circuit 401 adaptively adjusts to the minimum brightness and the user will not feel as harsh . | 6 |
fig1 through 4 of the drawing are concerned with one form of system according to the invention in which electromagnetic energy is transmitted into an explosion prone area by means of a coaxial cable conduit . in fig1 an explosion prone area is indicated diagrammatically as an enclosing structure 10 consisting of side walls and a top or ceiling wall . the components of the lighting system include a plurality of lighting devices 20 , a plurality of radiating antennas 30 which are connected to a coaxial cable conduit 40 , and an electromagnetic radio frequency power oscillator 50 located outside the structure 10 . for this system , the power oscillator 50 may generate radio frequency energy in the lower frequency ranges beginning at about 13 . 5 mhz , for example . the lighting device 20 consists of a fluroescent lighting tube 21 which may have similarities to conventional fluorescent lighting tubes , but without any electrodes . the tube 21 may be an elongated sealed glass envelope preferably having no metallic parts , the inner surface of which is coated with a fluroescent or phosphorescent material such as calcium tungstate , zinc sulphide or zinc silicate , which emit visible light when excited . the tube also contains a gas such as mercury vapor , the molecular structure of which is capable of excitation by radio frequency electromagnetic radiation , so that the excited gas in turn activates the fluorescent material . the tube may be energized then by radio frequency electromagnetic energy which irradiates the tube from an exterior radiating device and without the need of any electrical or physical connection . in this system , utilizing the medium to high frequency mode of operation , it is important that the length of the tube 21 be equal to at least a one - quarter wave length of the generated radio frequency energy of the system . it is also important that the associated radiating element or antenna , to be described , have a length equal to at least a one - quarter wave length of the generated radio frequency energy . with this described matching of physical lengths and wave lengths , the light output from the tube will be uniform and will be maximized . while the tube 21 is inherently safe , from the standpoint of causing an explosion , because it is cool operating and does not have any spark creating electrodes , the tube is desirably encased in an envelope or sleeve 22 of transparent plastic material for example to minimize the possibility of breakage from external impact for example . the outer envelope 22 may be closed in any suitable manner . the tube 21 may be conveniently retained within the outer envelope 22 by cushioning devices such as encircling o - rings 23 . as seen in fig1 the lighting devices 20 may be supported from the top wall or other surface of the structure 10 by means of a suitable bracket 24 which is electrically insulating and preferably contains no metallic parts . as seen in fig1 the coaxial cable 40 is suspended from the top wall of the structure 10 by means of suitable insulating brackets 41 , and would traverse the top wall of that structure to pass adjacent to the several lighting devices 20 . as seen in fig3 the coaxial cable 40 consists of a central conductor 42 , heavy surrounding sleeve of core insulation 43 , an outer tubular conductor 44 surrounding the core insulation , and a rugged outer insulation sleeve 45 surrounding the outer conductor preferably formed of thick plastic . in this system , as will now be described , the outer conductor 44 is not connected electrically to any component or structure within the structure 10 , but serves as a shield for the radio frequency energy transmitted by means of the central conductor 42 . accordingly , even should the outer conductor 44 be exposed through damage to the cable , there is little chance that such exposure could create a spark which might trigger an explosion within the explosion prone area . a radiating antenna 30 is coupled to the coaxial cable adjacent to each of the lighting devices 20 ; and for maximum performance of the system it is important that these antennas be tapped into the coaxial cable at the high point of the current node of the generated radio frequency energy . the proximity of the antenna 30 to the lighting device 20 would be dependent on the power of the generated radio frequency energy . in a system of low power it may be desirable that the antenna 30 be very close , such as within a few centimeters , of the lighting device . the antennas 30 may be physically supported relative to the coaxial cable in any suitable manner ; and it may be desirable that the antenna and lighting device be supported relative to or even contiguous to each other in any suitable manner . as an alternative structure , it may be desirable that the antenna 30 and the lighting device 20 be so arranged as to be contained in a single housing 70 , made of a transparent plastic or other transparent insulating material which completely encapsulates the antenna and the lighting device . the purpose of this encapsulating housing is to mitigate spurious radio frequency emissions ; and for this purpose the housing may be coated on the inside with an optically transparent but conductive coating to shield , contain and absorb the radio frequency energy . alternatively , conductive wires may be embedded in the walls of the housing 70 to serve the same purpose . the electrically conductive optically transparent coating , or the embedded wires in the housing walls , serve as a &# 34 ; faraday shield &# 34 ; and contain the radio frequency energy within the housing thereby reducing or eliminating the leakage of radio frequency energy from the housings . further , where wires or other conductive strands are embedded in the walls of the container , or possibly secured to the interior surfaces of the container walls , these wires or strands may have a flat or strip - like geometry , with the flat surfaces of the strands oriented parallel to the direction of the emitted light in order to maximize the light output from the housing . the antenna 30 consists of an elongated rod or tube 31 of copper for example completely enclosed , except at its coupling end , by a sleeve or coating of rugged insulating material which is of course transmissive of electro magnetic radio frequency energy . the insulating coating is to prevent the exposure of any metallic surface within the explosion prone area . at the coupling end , the antenna rod 31 is electrically connected to the center core 42 of the coaxial cable by means of a conductor lead 33 ; and the antenna 30 is physically supported relative to the coaxial cable in any suitable manner . to enable the coupling to the coaxial cable , a side opening is made through the outer insulation 45 , the outer conductor 44 and the core insulation 43 to expose the center conductor 42 ; and after the coupling is made , this exposed area of the coaxial cable is entirely sealed with an electrically insulating material 34 which also seals the coupling end of the antenna 30 , to assure that the lead conductor 33 is fully insulated from exposure . for maximum system efficiency , it is desirable that the radiation from the antenna 30 be directionalized toward the associated lighting device 20 . one form of directional lighting reflector is illustrated in fig3 and 4 , where the position of a lighting device 20 relative to the antenna 30 is indicated in phantom lines . for the illustrated antenna , as best seen in fig4 it is assumed that the exterior surface of the insulation body 32 surrounding the rod 31 is cylindrical and concentric with the rod 31 . approximately one half of this cylindrical surface , on one side of an axial plane , is provided with a coating or layer 36 of a material which is reflective of radio frequency electromagnetic radiation , and which may or may not include metallic particles or components . the antenna , including this layer 36 , is then enclosed or encapsulated by an outer insulating layer or sleeve 37 which is , of course , transmissive of radio frequency electromagnetic radiation . for maximum efficiency of this reflector , the distance between the antenna rod and the reflector may desirably be related to the wave length of the radiated waves . the power oscillator 50 is illustrated as having an associated power supply 51 , the power supply having a variable power control 52 for controlling the power of the generated radio frequency energy . fig5 and 6 of the drawing are concerned with another form of system according to the invention in which radio frequency electromagnetic energy is transmitted into an explosion prone area by means of a waveguide conduit 60 . in fig5 an explosion prone area is again indicated diagrammatically as an enclosing structure 15 consisting of side walls and a top or ceiling wall . the components of the lighting system include a plurality of lighting devices 20 as previously described , the wave guide 60 and associated radiating devices in the form of resonant horns 65 , and the electromagnetic radio frequency power oscillator 50 again located outside the structure 15 . for this system , the power oscillator 50 will generate radio frequency energy in the super high frequency range for example , wherein that energy must be transmitted through suitable waveguide . the lighting devices 20 may have the same construction previously described ; and are indicated as being supported horizontally from the ceiling of the structure 15 by suitable brackets 26 , again fabricated from electrically insulating material . the waveguide 60 may be fabricated from copper tubing , either circular or rectangular in cross section , and dimensioned in accordance with the frequency of the energy to be transmitted into the explosion prone area . in this higher frequency range , it is not necessary that the radiating antenna be positioned parallel to the lighting device ; and it has been found that the system works well with the radiating horn aligned axially with an elongated tubular lighting device . also , since the wave length of the radiant energy is short relative to the length of the tube , the length of the lighting tube 21 is not so critical for efficient operation . in the illustrated system , a plurality of resonant horns 65 are associated each with respective lighting devices 20 ; and these resonant horns are secured to the principal waveguide transmission conduit 60 by means of branch conduits 61 . the radiating horns 65 may be completely encased or surrounded by a thick layer of an insulating material 62 which is transmissive of electromagnetic radiation , fabricated from a plastic material for example , to prevent the possibility of another metal object contacting the horn and reducing its radiation efficiency . similarly the entire waveguide transmission conduit 60 and branch conduits 61 may be coated or otherwise protected with an insulating material for the same reason , and also to eliminate the possibility of an explosion triggering spark from metal to metal impact . should one of the lighting tubes 20 be broken by an external object , there is no danger of explosion since there is no internal electric arc , only excited gas molecules . the radiating antenna for this system may be a dishshaped antenna , rather than the illustrated resonant horn antenna 65 ; and in either case the radiating device or antenna will radiate a concentrated field of electromagnetic energy to the lighting device 20 for efficient system operation . again , as an alternative construction , the resonant horn 65 and the lighting device 20 may be arranged as to be contained in a single housing 80 made of a transparent plastic or other transparent insulating material which completely encapsulates the horn and lighting device . the purpose of the housings 80 is the same as that of the housings 70 for the system of fig1 namely to mitigate spurious radio frequency emissions . in the above described systems , the coaxial cable 40 and the waveguide 60 are described as being directly connected to the power oscillator 50 . it will be appreciated that the single conductor 42 of the coaxial cable or the wave guide may be dielectrically coupled to the generator 50 without a direct electrical connection . this will protect against the generator being struck by lightning , or being contacted by a power line , for example . one aspect of the present invention is a method for providing illumination in an explosion prone area ; and the above described systems are examples of systems for providing such illumination according to a method which includes some or all of the following steps . at least one and preferably a plurality of lighting devices are placed at the desired locations within the explosion prone area to provide the necessary or desired illumination . the lighting devices are fabricated to include a sealed envelope which has fluorescent material on the inner wall surfaces thereof , which fluorescent material is responsive to some form of excitation such as radiation to cause it to fluoresce and produce visible light . the envelopes of the lighting devices also contain a gas which is responsive to radio frequency electromagnetic radiation to excite or activate the fluorescent material of the lighting device . radio frequency electromagnetic energy is generated at a location remote from , or outside of , the explosion prone area ; and that electromagnetic energy is transmitted into the explosion prone area by means of a suitable transmission conduit such as coaxial cable or waveguide . the transmission conduit is insulated to minimize the possibility of any electric spark created either internally , or through contact with another metal object within the explosion prone area . at least one and preferably a plurality of radiating devices are placed within the explosion prone area and connected to the transmission conduit . these radiating devices are so related to the conduit to tap into the conduit at maximum energy points for efficiency of radiation ; and the radiating devices placed in physical relation to the several lighting devices to efficiently irradiate the several lighting devices with electromagnetic radiation . the radiating devices are encased or otherwise insulated with electrically insulating material which is passive to electromagnetic radiation , to prevent contact with other articles within the explosion prone area which might tend to cause a spark or intense heat . the lighting devices are excited or activated by the radiating electromagnetic energy to provide the desired illumination within the explosion prone area . all components of the system are supported within the explosion prone area in a manner to be electrically isolated from the structure which defines that explosion prone area . what has been described is a novel method and system for providing desired illumination in explosion prone areas , where the atmosphere of such areas is inherently explosion prone because of dust , vapors , or other environmental conditions , and where the occurrence of flame , spark , or intense heat may trigger an explosion . a principal feature and advantage of the system is that there is almost no possibility of the occurrence of such flame , spark or intense heat resulting from the lighting system . another advantage of the system is that the possibility of such flame , spark or intense heat is remote , even when the system is interfered with by elements within the explosion prone area which are not a part of the lighting system . an important feature of the system is that the lighting devices are completely sealed , are physically independent of the energizing source in that there is no wired or other physical connection , and may be protected against breakage without significantly impairing the illumination capability . another important feature of the invention is that the lighting devices are capable of being excited or activated by radio frequency electromagnetic energy which may be generated and irradiated over a very wide range of frequencies ; and that electromagnetic energy may be generated exterior of or remote from the explosion prone area and transmitted into the explosion prone area by suitable insulated and protected transmission conduits . an advantage of the invention is that the system may utilize conventional fluorescent tubes with damaged electrodes , which have no further useful life in the conventional fluorescent lighting systems which require direct electrical connection to the fluorescent tubes . while preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . | 7 |
the present invention relates to metal strip resistors and a method of making metal strip resistors . the method is suitable for making an 0402 size or smaller , low ohmic value , metal strip surface mount resistor . an 0402 size is a standard electronics package size for certain passive components with 0 . 04 inch by 0 . 02 inch ( 1 . 0 mm by 0 . 5 mm ) dimensions . one example of a smaller size of packaging which also may be used is an 0201 size . in the context of the present invention , a low ohmic value is generally a value suitable for applications in power - related applications . a low ohmic value is generally one that is less than or equal to 3 ohms , but often times in the range of 1 to 1000 milliohms . the method of manufacturing the metal strip resistor uses a process wherein the terminations of a resistor are formed by adding copper to the resistive material through sputtering and plating . this method utilizes photolithographic masking techniques that allow much smaller and better defined termination features . this method also allows the use of the much thinner resistance materials that are needed for the highest values in very small resistors yet , the resistor does not use a support substrate . fig1 is a cross - sectional view of one embodiment of a metal strip resistor of the present invention . a metal strip resistor 10 is formed from a thin sheet of resistance material 18 such as , but not limited to evanohm ( nickel - chromium - aluminum - copper alloy ), manganin ( a copper - manganese - nickel alloy ), or other type of resistive material . the thickness of the resistance material 18 may vary based on desired resistance . however , the resistance material may be relatively thin if desired . note that the resistance material 18 is central to the resistor 10 and provides support for the resistor 10 and there is no separate substrate present . the resistor 10 shown in fig1 also includes an optional adhesion layer 16 which may be formed of cutiw ( copper , titanium , tungsten ). the adhesion layer 16 , where used , is sputtered over the surface of the resistive material 18 for the copper plating 14 to bond to . some resistance materials may require the use of the adhesion layer 16 and others do not . whether the adhesion layer 16 is used , depends on the resistance material &# 39 ; s alloy and if it allows direct bonding of copper plating with adequate adhesion . if an adhesion layer 16 is desirable and both sides of the resistance material 18 are to receive pads then both sides of the resistance material 18 should be sputtered with an adhesion layer 16 . prior to the sputtering process a metal mask ( not shown in fig1 ) may be mated with the sheet of resistance material 18 to prevent the cutiw material from depositing onto areas of the sheet that will later become the active resistor areas . this mechanical masking step allows one to eliminate a gold plating and etch back step later in the process thus reducing cost . where gold plating is used , or other highly conductive plating , the gold plating 24 overlays the copper plating 14 . a plating 28 is provided which may be a nickel plating . a tin plating 12 overlays the nickel plating 28 to provide for solderability . also shown in fig1 is an insulative coating material 20 which is applied to the resistance material 18 . the insulative coating material 20 is preferably a silicone polyester with high operating temperature resistance . other types of insulating materials may be used which are chemical resistant and capable of handling high temperature . fig2 illustrates a relatively thin sheet of resistance material such as evanohm , manganin or other type of resistance material 18 . the resistance material 18 serves as the substrate and support structure for the resistor . there is no separate substrate present . the thickness of this sheet of resistance material 18 may be selected to achieve higher or lower resistance value ranges . a field layer of cutiw ( copper , titanium , tungsten ) or other suitable material is sputtered over the surface of the resistive material 18 as an adhesion layer 16 for the copper plating to bond to . prior to the sputtering process , a metal mask may be mated with the sheet of resistance material 18 to prevent the cutiw material or other material for the adhesion layer 16 from depositing onto areas of the sheet that will later become the active resistor areas . this mechanical masking step eliminates a gold plating and etch back step later in the process thus reducing cost . next a photolithographic process is performed . the photolithographic process may include laminating a dry photoresist film 22 to both sides of the resistance material 18 to protect the resistance material 18 from copper plating . a photo mask may then be used to expose the photoresist with a pattern corresponding to the copper areas to be deposited onto the resistance material . the photoresist 22 is then developed , exposing the resistive material in only the areas where copper or other conductive material is to be deposited as shown in fig2 . fig3 illustrates the copper pattern 14 . the copper pattern may include individual terminal pads , stripes , or near complete coverage except in areas that will be the active resistor area . the pad size may be defined at the punching operation in cases where stripes and near - full coverage patterns are used . the terminal pad geometry and number can vary depending on the pcb mounting requirements and electrical connections required such as 2 - wire or 4 - wire circuit schemes , or multi - resistor arrays . copper 14 is plated in an electrolytic process . a thin layer of au ( gold ) 24 is electroplated over the copper . the photoresist material is then stripped as shown in fig4 and subsequently the cutiw material 16 not covered by copper plating 14 is stripped from the active resistor areas in a chemical etch process . in another embodiment the gold layer 24 is not added and the cutiw layer 16 is not stripped back after removing the photoresist layer to save manufacturing cost but at the expense of electrical characteristics . in a further embodiment the gold is not added and stripping is not necessary because the cutiw material was mechanically masked at the sputtering step . the resulting terminated plate may be processed as a sheet , sections of a sheet , or in strips of one or two rows of resistors . the sheet process will be described from this point on but these subsequent processes also apply to sections and strips . as shown in fig5 , the sheet 19 is a continuous solid ( although alignment holes may be present ) and areas of the sheet 19 may then be removed to define the resistor &# 39 ; s design dimensions of length and width . preferably this is done with a punch tool but may also be done by a chemical etching process or by laser machining or mechanical cutting away of the unwanted material . the resistance values of the unadjusted resistors are determined by the copper pad spacing , defined by the photo mask , length , width , and the thickness of the sheet of resistive material . as shown in fig6 , adjustment of the resistance value may be accomplished by a laser or other means of removing material 26 to increase the resistance while at the same time measuring the resistance value . adjustment of the resistance value may also be accomplished by adding more termination material , or other conductive material , in areas where the resistive material is still exposed to reduce the value . the resistors work equally as well with no material removed or added but the resistance value tolerance is much broader . as shown in fig7 and fig8 , exposed resistor material between the terminations is covered by a coating material 20 which is an insulating material to prevent electroplating onto the resistive element and changing its resistance value . the coating material 20 is preferably a silicone polyester with high operating temperature resistance but may be other insulating materials that are chemical resistant and capable of handling high temperatures . the coating material 20 is preferably applied by a transfer blade . a controlled amount of coating material 20 is deposited on the edge of the blade and then transferred to the resistor by contact between the blade and resistor . other methods of applying the coating material 20 may be used such as screen printing , roller contact transfer , ink jetting , and others . the coating material 20 is then cured by baking the resistors in an oven . any markings that are put on the coating material 20 would be applied by ink transfer and baking or by laser methods at this point in the process . a die cutter may be used to remove each single resistor from the carrier plate . other methods to singulate the resistors from the carrier may be used such as a laser cutter or photoresist mask and chemical etching . individual resistors are then put into a plating process where nickel 28 and tin 12 are added to make the part solderable to a pcb as shown in fig1 . other plating materials may be used for other mounting methods such as gold for bonding applications . dc resistance may be checked on each piece and those in tolerance are placed into product packaging , usually tape and reel , for shipment . therefore a low resistor value material strip resistor has been disclosed . the resistor may achieve a small size , including an 0402 size or smaller package . the present invention contemplates numerous variations including variations in the materials used , whether an adhesion layer is used , whether the resistor is 2 terminal or 4 terminal , the specific resistance of the resistor , and other variations . in addition a process for forming a low resistance value metal strip resistor has also been disclosed . the present invention contemplates numerous variations , options and alternatives , including the manner in which a coating material is used , whether or not a mechanical masking step is used , and other variations . | 7 |
with reference to the fig1 and 2 this invention will be described in greater detail hereinbelow . on a connection part 1 of a conductor is applied an inner semiconductive layer 2 , and then a reinforcing insulation layer 3 is provided on the inner semiconductive layer 2 . as a material for producing the reinforcing insulation layer 3 , polyolefins that are employed conventionally in cable insulation can be used , such as polyethylene , uncross - linked polyethylene containing a cross - linking agent such as dicumyl peroxide , ethylene / propylene copolymers , etc . these materials can be applied in the form of a tape by winding it around the inner semiconductor , or alternatively they can be applied by pouring into a metal mold ( not shown ) placed around the inner semiconductive layer 2 . it is preferred to apply the reinforcing material by pouring into a metal mold , since the surface of the reinforcing insulation layer is thus rendered smooth , and the interface between the outer semiconductive members 4 , 4 &# 39 ; and a specific insulated portion 5 becomes smoother . on the thus - formed reinforcing insulation layer 3 is placed a heat shrinkable tube 6 comprising the outer semiconductive members 4 and 4 &# 39 ; and the specific insulated portion 5 and the tube 6 is heat shrunk using a burner , torch lamp , or similar conventional heating means . thereafter , the whole assembly of connection parts is heated under pressure to cause the reinforcing insulation layer 3 , inner semiconductive layer 2 , cable insulator 7 and heat shrinkable tube 6 to become integrated with each other , thereby forming an insulated connection part for cross - linked polyolefin insulated electrical wires or cables . with respect to the heat shrinkable tube 6 used in this invention tips 8 and 8 &# 39 ; of the semiconductive members in the specific insulated portion 5 are formed in a round shape in order to avoid concentration of the electric field . preferably , the tips 8 and 8 &# 39 ; may be folded as shown in fig2 . examples of materials for the specific insulated portion 5 include thermoplastic resins which can adhere to the reinforcing insulation layer 3 , such as polyethylene , ethylene - vinyl acetate copolymers , ethylene - propylene copolymers , etc ., since it is desirable to bond the specific insulated portion 5 to the reinforcing insulation layer 3 in order for the resulting electrical wires or cables to have satisfactory electric properties . a mixture of the above - described thermoplastic resin and carbon black can be used as a material for producing the outer semiconductive members 4 and 4 &# 39 ;. the heat shrinkable tube 6 can be produced as follows . first , a semiconductive heat shrinkable tube member 4 is formed by bombarding electron beams onto a tube made of the above - described semiconductive material , or by heating a tube of semiconductive material , or by heating a tube of semiconductive material containing a cross - linking agent , to effect cross - linking , and then heating the cross - linked material at a temperature higher than the softening point thereof to endow heat - shrinkability to the material thereby obtaining a semiconductive heat shrinkable member . then , two heat shrinkable tube members 4 and 4 &# 39 ; thus - produced are combined with each other through the specific insulated portion 5 comprising the above - described insulating material so as to form an assembly of the outer semiconductive members 4 and 4 &# 39 ; with the specific insulated portion 5 . preferably , the tips 8 and 8 &# 39 ; of the semiconductive members 4 and 4 &# 39 ; in the specific insulated portion may overlap each other . the assembly is then placed around a metal pipe having a diameter larger than that of the reinforcing insulation layer 3 and heated to form an integrated unit which retains heat - shrinkability . more particularly , a heat shrinkable tube according to a preferred embodiment of this invention is produced as follows . a tube having an inner diameter of 25 mm and a thickness of 2 mm is extrusion molded using a semiconductive polyethylene blended with carbon black and expanded so as to have an inner diameter of 70 mm after it is bombarded with electron beams at an intensity of 15 mrad . a tube member 30 cm in length is cut out of this tube and one end 9 thereof is folded in a length of 5 cm as shown in fig2 . the thus - obtained tube member 4 is placed over the surface of a longitudinally split half pipe of aluminum pipe 10 and is heated using a torch lamp ( not shown ) to effect shrinking . then , a cross - linked polyethylene tape which has preliminarily been elongated longitudinally is wound around the folded end 9 of the tube and the surface of the aluminum pipe adjacent thereto to a thickness of about 3 mm . further , another semiconductive heat shrinkable tube member 4 &# 39 ; having one end 9 &# 39 ; thereof folded in the same manner as above is placed so that it covers a part of the portion on which cross - linked polyethylene is wound and the aluminum pipe . the thus - formed assembly on the aluminum pipe is then heated using a torch lamp to cause shrinkage . after the whole assembly is heated at 150 ° c . for 30 minutes to form an integrated unit , the aluminum pipe is removed to obtain a heat shrinkable tube of this invention . it is preferred to further bombard electron beams onto the heat shrinkable tube thus - obtained in a narrow region thereof , including the specific insulated portion 5 , at an intensity of 20 mrad , in order to render the shrink ratio of the region including the specific insulated portion 5 smaller than the shrink ratio of the remainder of the heat shrinkable tube . since , in the heat shrinkable tube 6 according to this invention , the semiconductive members 4 and 4 &# 39 ; and the specific insulated portion 5 together form an integrated unit preliminarily before use , there is no occurrence of disadvantageous phenomenon such as that the tip of the outer semiconductive member in the specific insulated portion is fluidized or deformed to form a sharp protrusion leading to deteriorated electrical properties which would often be encountered in the conventional method in which an outer semiconductive member and the specific insulated portion are formed by winding uncross - linked polyethylene tape around the reinforcing insulation layer and these members are heat molded simultaneously together with the reinforcing insulation material . in addition to the above , insulated electrical wires and cables produced in accordance with this invention have another advantage . that is , in the heat shrinkable tube according to this invention , the shrink ratio of the specific insulated portion and the neighboring region is made smaller than the shrink ratio of the remainder of the heat shrinkable tube , and as a result this invention is free of the problem of shape retention at the connecting part of the wires or cables , and the problem wherein the tip of the outer semiconductive layer in the specific insulated portion penetrates into the reinforcing insulation layer , which would be observed in the case wherein the outer semiconductive layer and the specific insulated portion are formed by placing first a semiconductive heat shrinkable tube and then an insulating heat shrinkable tube on the reinforcing insulation layer , whereafter both tubes are heat molded simultaneously together with the reinforcing insulation layer . further , when the reinforcing insulation layer made of a cross - linking agent containing thermoplastic resin , e . g ., polyethylene , is heat treated to cross - link it and then first a semiconductive heat shrinkable tube followed by an insulating heat shrinkable tube are provided on the reinforcing insulation layer , followed by heating , penetration of the tip of the outer semiconductive layer in the specific insulated portion into the reinforcing insulation layer can be prevented . however , this method takes a relatively long time to connect the cable since heat molding is conducted twice . nevertheless , this embodiment can reduce time for working or connecting electrical wires or cables since the heat shrinkable tube can be heat molded together with the reinforcing insulation layer simultaneously after the former is placed on the latter . in this invention , it is for the purpose of preventing the occurrence of voids that heating of the connection part of electrical wires or cables is performed under pressure . as a means for pressurization a method can be used in which the connection part is sealed in a pressurizing container and a gas , or oil or similar fluid is introduced under pressure , or a method can be used in which tension generated by winding the vulcanized rubber tape strongly around the connection part of the electrical wire or cable is used to create pressure . of these methods the use of a pressurizing container and an inert gas such as nitrogen gas for pressurization is preferred , since the period of time required for heat molding can be shortened and at the same time it is possible to form a smooth finish on the surface of the connection part of the electrical wire or cable . a further advantage of this method is that there is no danger that the gas for pressurization will be incorporated in the reinforcing insulation layer since the reinforcing insulation layer is covered by the heat shrinkable tube , and that it is unnecessary to wipe out oils after heat molding . thus , this invention fully utilizes the advantages derived by the use of heat shrinkable tubes . in order to demonstrate the effects of this invention comparison was made between this invention ( examples 1 to 3 ) and conventional methods ( comparison examples 1 to 5 ) as described below . insulated connection parts were formed using a cross - linked polyethylene insulated cable having a conductor of cross section of 150 mm 2 and an insulation layer of 7 mm in thickness according to the methods shown in table 1 below . table 1__________________________________________________________________________ comparison comparison comparison comparisoncable connection method example 1 example 2 example 3 example 4__________________________________________________________________________reinforcing insulation poured into a poured into tape wound tape woundlayer ( thickness : 10 mm ) metal mold a metal moldouter semiconductive tape wound tape wound semiconductive semiconductivemember or layer heat shrinkable heat shrinkable tube tubespecific insulated portion tape wound tape wound insulating heat insulating heat ( thickness : 3 mm shrinkable tube shrinkable tubelength : 30 mm ) heat moldingreinforcing insulation shaped simulta - vulcanized shaped simulta - under nitrogenlayer neously , vulcan - tape wound neously , at gas pressure ized tape wound 210 ° c . for 210 ° c . for 2 210 ° c . for 2 * 1 210 ° c . for 4 4 hours hours under hours hours nitrogen gas pressure * 2outer semiconductive ( see above ) vulcanized ( see above ) under nitrogenmember or layer provided with tape wound gas pressurespecific insulated 210 ° c . for 210 ° c . for 2portion 2 hours hoursreinforcing insulation poured into a tape wound poured into a poured into alayer ( thickness : 10 mm ) metal mold metal mold metal moldouter semiconductive semiconductive heat shrinkable heat shrinkable heat shrinkablemember or layer heat shrinkable tube consisting tube consisting tube consisting tube of an integrated of an integrated of an integrated unit of outer unit of outer unit of outer semiconductive semiconductive semiconductive member and member and member and specific insu - specific insu - specific insu - lated portion lated portion lated portionspecific insulated insulating heat ( see above ) ( see above ) ( see above ) portion ( thickness : shrinkable tube3 mm , length : 30 mm ) heat moldingreinforcing insula - shaped simulta - shaped simulta - shaped simulta - shaped simulta - tion layer neously at 210 ° c . neously at 210 ° c . neously , neously at 210 ° c . for 2 hours for 2 hours vulcanized tape for 2 hours under nitrogen under nitrogen wound at 210 ° c . under nitrogen gas pressure gas pressure for 4 hours gas pressureouter semiconductive ( see above ) ( see above ) ( see above ) ( see above ) member or layer provided withspecific insulatedportion__________________________________________________________________________ note : * 1 vulcanized tape wound : vulcanized sbr rubber tape was elongated 10 % an wound to a thickess of 10 mm to effect pressurization . * 2 nitrogen gas pressure : pressurization was performed at a pressure of 5 kg / cm . sup . 2 using a pressurizable container . the appearance of the surface , condition of the tip of the outer semiconductive member on layer in the specific insulated portion , and ac initial breakdown value were compared and the results obtained are shown in table 2 below . table 2__________________________________________________________________________ comparison comparison comparison comparisonresults example 1 example 2 example 3 example 4__________________________________________________________________________state of interface between uneven uneven rather smoothreinforcing insulation unevenlayer and outer semiconduc - tive member or layerstate of tip of outer protrusion no protrusion protrusion no protrusionsemiconductive member or layer in penetratingspecific insulated portion into reinforcing insulation layerac initial break down value 80 kv 160 kv 110 kv 170 kvstate of interface between smooth rather uneven uneven smoothreinforcing insulationlayer and outer semiconduc - tive member or layerstate of tip of outer protrusion no protrusion no protrusion no protrusionsemiconductive member or layer in penetrating intospecific insulated portion the reinforcing insulation layerac initial break down value 120 kv 190 kv 180 kv 230 kv__________________________________________________________________________ from the results shown in table 2 above , it can be seen that forming insulated connection parts according to this invention as in examples 1 to 3 is superior to the conventional methods as in comparison examples 2 and 4 in that this invention enables one to form the parts in a much shortened period of time , and in that this invention can prevent the occurrence of protrusion formed by fluidization or deformation of the tip of the outer semiconductive layer in the specific insulated portion , which was observed in comparison example 1 or penetration of the tip of the outer semiconductive layer in the specific insulated portion into the reinforcing insulation layer , which was encountered in comparison examples 3 and 5 . thus , this invention can provide a cable connection having improved electrical properties . while the invention has been described in detail and with reference to specific embodiments thereof , it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope thereof . | 8 |
the present invention is directed to a latex paint which , when applied as a single coat , provides the hiding , tannin blocking , corrosion resistance , durability and application performance of a conventional paint system consisting of a primer coat plus two coats latex paint . the latex paint of the present invention comprises a tannin - blocking latex emulsion and low water absorbing microspheres . tannin blocking emulsions useful in the present invention include those water - borne polymer emulsions that are effective in preventing the water soluble phenolic compounds from penetrating the coating . commercially available tannin blocking latex emulsions include rhoplex ® mv - 23lo emulsion copolymer from rohm and haas company which is an all acrylic composition and eps 2532 emulsion from engineered polymer solutions , inc . which is a styrenated acrylic composition . tannin blocking emulsions are those emulsions having a rating of at least 2 on the tannin stain blocking test described below . the tannin blocking latex emulsions may be used alone , or may be used in combination with a conventional latex emulsion . the amount of tannin blocking latex emulsion present in the coating composition is generally at least about 15 % by weight of the total latex emulsion present in the coating composition . conventional latex emulsions include those prepared by polymerizing at least one ethylenically unsaturated monomer in water using surfactants and water soluble initiators . typical ethylenically unsaturated monomers include vinyl monomers , acrylic monomers , allylic monomers , acrylamide monomers and mono - and dicarboxylic unsaturated acids . vinyl esters include vinyl acetate , vinyl propionate , vinyl butyrates , vinyl isopropyl acetates , vinyl neodeconate and similar vinyl esters ; vinyl halides include vinyl chloride , vinyl fluoride and vinylidene chloride ; vinyl aromatic hydrocarbons include styrene , α - methyl styrene , and similar lower alkyl styrenes . acrylic monomers include monomers such as lower alkyl esters of acrylic or methacrylic acid having an alkyl ester portion containing between 1 to 12 carbon atoms as well as aromatic derivatives or acrylic and methacrylic acid . useful acrylic monomers include , for example , acrylic and methacrylic acid , methyl acrylate , and methacrylate , ethyl acrylate and methacrylate , butyl acrylate and methacrylate , propyl acrylate and methacrylate , 2 - ethyl hexyl acrylate and methacrylate , cyclohexyl acrylate and methacrylate , decyl acrylate and methacrylate , isodecylacrylate and methacrylate , and benzyl acrylate and methacrylate . preparation of latex compositions is well - known in the paint and coatings art . any of the well - known free - radical emulsion polymerization techniques used to formulate latex polymer can be used in the present invention . polymerization techniques suitable for use herein are taught in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 486 , 576 , incorporated by reference . the addition of low water absorbing microspheres to the paint composition provides a paint composition having a high volume solids content . useful low water absorbing microspheres include those microspheres having a maximum pigment loading of at least 50 %. the maximum pigment loading ( mpl ) percentage is an indication of the water absorption of the spherical particles . the higher the mpl , the lower the water absorption of the particles . the mpl for an extender is determined by first preparing a base mix as follows : using the base mix , a plurality of samples are prepared using different amounts of the extender . each sample is prepared and evaluated as follows : first , 300 grams of the base mix are added to a container having a diameter of 7 inches . a 3 inch hsd blade placed 1 inch from the bottom of the container is used for mixing the base mix . next , the extender is added to the container and mixing continues for 5 minutes . the sample is then cooled to 77 ° f . (± 3 °) and the viscosity is measured using an lv brookfield viscometer . the amount by weight of extender added is converted into a volume amount for the sample . using the foregoing procedure , a plurality of viscosity values for different amounts of the extender are obtained . these viscosity value are plotted vs . the gallons of dry extender per 12 . 65 gallons of base mix . from the plots , the mpl is determined . the plots result in a hyperbolic shape in which two straight lines can be drawn from the two constant slopes . the intersection of these two lines represents the point at which the mixture becomes dilatent . the x - axis reading of this point is the mpl . the mpl percentage is equal to the maximum pigment volume divided by the sum of the maximum pigment volume and base mix volume . the mpl for several conventional extenders as well as several microsphere extenders are shown in table a below . microspheres useful in the present invention have an mpl of at least 50 %. examples of such low water absorbing microspheres include expancel 551 de20 , an expanded acrylonitrile / vinylidene chloride copolymer commercially available from expancel , inc . ; sil - cell 35 / 34 , sodium potassium aluminum silicate particles commercially available from silbrico corporation ; dualite 27 polyvinylidene chloride copolymer coated with calcium carbonate , commercially available from pierce & amp ; stevens corporation ; fillite 150 ceramic spherical particles commercially available from fillite north america , inc . ; microbeads 4a soda lime plate glass particles , commercially available from cataphote inc . ; sphericel ® hollow glass spheres commercially available from potter industries inc . ; eccosphere ftd 235 hollow glass spheres commercially available from emerson & amp ; cumming ; z - light sphere w - 1200 , ceramic hollow spheres commercially available form zeelan industries inc . ; scotchlite k46 glass bubbles commercially available from 3m , and vistamer uh 1500 and vistamer hd 1800 , polyethylene particles commercially available from composite particle . preferably , the microspheres have a diameter from about 1 to about 210 microns . pigments , such as titanium dioxide and extenders , such as zinc oxide , silicon oxide , clay , calcium carbonate , talc and nepheline syenite may be added to the paint of the present invention . the amount of low water absorbing microspheres present in the coating composition is at least 50 % by volume of the total amount of extenders present . preferably , the microspheres make up at least about 75 % by volume of the total amount of extenders present . of the total volume of the coating composition , the low water absorbing microspheres make up at least 5 % by volume . there are paint additives that are useful in helping to control the problem of tannin stain bleed . these additives contain cations that will form lightly - colored water insoluble compounds with the tannate ions to prevent their migration through the paint film . reactive pigments , which include base pigments such as wollastonite , talc or mica in combination with phosphate or borate of ca or zn , and as a doping agent or active additive , one amphoteric metal hydrate of al , ti , zr , zn or si may be added to the paint composition . a preferred reactive pigment is calcium barium phosphosilicate , commercially available as halox bw - 100 from halox pigments . other reactive pigments that may be used in the paint composition include calcium phosphosilicate and aluminum zirconium phosphosilicate . a complexing agent for a transition metal ion may also be included in the paint composition . a preferred complexing agent is a salt of phosphonic acid commercially available as bubond 357 from buckman laboratories . extenders useful in helping to prevent the migration of tannate ions include calcium carbonate , nepheline syenite , talc and zinc oxide . the pigments and extenders present in the paint formulation contribute to the in tannin blocking characteristics in the paint film . the relationship between durability of the coating and the amount of pigment is represented by pigment volume concentration ( pvc ), which is the fractional volume of pigment in a unit volume of resin . thus , low pvc coatings , such as semi - gloss paints , contain relatively low levels of pigment , and high pvc coating compositions , such as satin to flat paints , contain high levels of pigments . the pvc of the coating composition of the present invention is generally within the range of 25 to 65 %, and preferably about 40 %. the solids content by volume ( nvv ) of the coating composition is generally within the range 30 - 50 %, and preferably at least 40 %. the latex paint of the present invention is prepared according to standard manufacturing techniques . such techniques involve the preparation of a polymeric binder or binders , mixing of component materials , dispersing of pigments , and a thinning adjustment to commercial standards . high speed dispersers or dissolvers are typically used in the dispersing step to intersperse the pigments into a liquid phase containing other paint components . the binder and pigment dispersions can be thoroughly and uniformly mixed with raw batch ingredients by homogenizing the binders , pigments , plasticizers and other components to form a uniform blend . the polymeric binder further maintains the pigment in stable dispersion . although special equipment conventionally used to produce high solid systems or incorporate microspheres can be employed , this invention requires no modification to any conventional latex paint manufacturing process . a paint coating composition comprising the following raw materials was produced : a coating composition was prepared substantially in accordance with that of example 1 , except that hydrous clay was used in place of the silicon dioxide and the sil - cell sodium potassium aluminum silicate microspheres were replaced with z - light sphere 1200 ceramic hollow spheres . a coating composition was prepared substantially in accordance with that of example 1 , except that the tannin blocking resin used was rhoplex mv - 23 and hydrous clay was used in place of the silicon dioxide . in addition the microspheres used were sphericel hollow glass spheres . a coating composition was prepared substantially in accordance with that of example 1 except that the tannin blocking resin used was rhoplex mv - 23 and the silicon dioxide extender was replaced with calcium carbonate . a coating composition was prepared substantially in accordance with that of example 1 , except that the tannin blocking resin used was rhoplex mv - 23 , the silicon dioxide extender was replaced with nepheline syenite extender and the microspheres used were expancel 551 de20 expanded acrylonitrile / vinylidene chloride copolymer . a coating composition was prepared substantially in accordance with that of example 1 , except that the silicon dioxide extender was replaced with nepheline syenite and the microspheres used were sphericel hollow glass spheres . a coating composition was prepared substantially in accordance with that of example 1 , except that the tannin blocking resin used was rhoplex mv - 23 , the silicon dioxide was replaced with nepheline syenite and the microspheres used were expancel 551 de20 expanded acrylonitrile / vinylidene chloride copolymer . table i below summarizes the composition and characteristics of examples 1 - 7 : the coating compositions of the present invention were evaluated for tannin stain blocking and corrosion resistance . tannin stain blocking was measured by first applying the coating composition to a six - inch section of a redwood panel and allowing the coating to dry overnight ( approximately 16 hours ). the dry . film thickness of the coating was about 4 mils . the panels were placed in a qct ( cleveland condensing cabinet ) which was maintained at 100 ° f . for 24 hours . the panels were removed from the qct and allowed to dry thoroughly . control panels were prepared by applying two coats of a commercially available premium quality exterior latex paint ( hereinafter referred to as the “ control paint ”) to redwood panels . the control paint is a white pastel base containing an acrylic polymer and having a volume solids content nvv of 34 %, a pigment volume concentration ( pvc ) of 42 % and a y - reflectance of 86 . 31 . the formulation for the control paint is set forth in control example 1 . the total dry film thickness of the coating was about 4 mils . the control panels were subjected to the qct in the same manner as the coating compositions of the present invention . each coating composition was applied to 4 different redwood panels and the y - reflectance of the coated panels was measured using fmc ii mathematics and a macbeth color - eye spectrophotometer . the percentage improvement in y - reflectance of each coating composition of the present invention over the control coating was determined and then assigned a relative rating of 0 to 5 . a rating of 0 indicates no improvement in tannin blocking over the control coating and a rating of 5 indicates at least a 50 % improvement over the control coating . a tannin blocking rating of at least 3 indicates the coating composition exhibits superior tannin blocking . corrosion resistance was measured by applying the 2 . 0 grams of each coating composition to a 3 inch by 3 inch section of a cold rolled steel panel . after allowing the panel to dry overnight , ( approximately 16 hours ) the panel was placed on a qct maintained at 100 f for 8 hours . the panels were qualitatively rated on a scale of 1 to 10 , with 10 indicating superior corrosion resistance . a rating below 5 indicates unacceptable corrosion resistance . the paint compositions of examples 9 and 10 were combined in various weight percentages with the composition of example 8 , which does not contain a tannin blocking latex resin . the corrosion resistance and tannin stain blocking were measured for the resulting compositions as shown in table ii . the durability of the coating compositions was evaluated by subjecting the coating compositions to quv testing . each coating composition was tinted with 3 ounce / gallon of phalocyanine blue colorant and applied to an aluminum panel using a 7 mil clearance dow - type applicator and allowed to dry for 1 week . the panels were then placed on a quv weatherometer and cycled between a uv light cycle at 60 ° c . for 4 hours using uva340 bulbs ( radient . 77 ) and a condensation cycle at 50 ° c . for 4 hours . the total cycle time was 1000 hours with about 500 hours of uv light time . the coatings were evaluated by measuring the δl ( change in lightness / darkness ) and δe ( total change in color ). a paint coating composition comprising the following raw materials was produced : this paint composition was evaluated for durability by the accelerated exterior exposure test emmaqua ( astm g90 ). for this test , aluminum panels were coated with a single coat and a double coat of the coating composition of example 11 . in example np , a panel was coated with two coats of the control paint of control example 1 . in example p1 , a panel was coated with a single coat of a commercially available latex primer followed by two coats of the control paint of control example 1 . in example p2 , a panel was coated with a single coat of a commercially available alkyd primer followed by two coats of the control paint of control example 1 . the spread rate for the topcoats was 300 ft 2 / gal for each coat . as shown in table iv , a single layer of the coating composition of the present invention out performed two layers of the commercially available paint which was applied over a primer layer . the control paint referred to earlier was produced from the following raw materials : the control paint has an nvv of 34 %, a pvc of 42 %, an x - reflectance of 81 . 72 , a y - reflectance of 86 . 31 , and a z - reflectance of 86 . 26 . the coating composition of the present invention was evaluated for exterior durability on various substrates and compared to 14 different commercially available exterior latex paints . the paints were exposed for 22 months to the climate of ohio and then evaluated for tannin blocking , adhesion to different substrates , corrosion resistance , efflorescence and cracking . for the tannin blocking test , the coating of the present invention was applied as a single coating having a dry film thickness of about 4 mils over redwood panels that were not primed . the commercial exterior paints were applied as two coats having a dry film thickness of about 4 mils over redwood panels that had not primed and redwood panels that had been primed with a latex primer having a dry film thickness of about 2 mils . each coating was applied to multiple redwood panels and the results presented in table v are the average rating for each coating . the adhesion of the paints was evaluated by applying each paint to a glossy alkyd substrate , a chalky alkyd substrate , a chalky aluminum substrate , a weathered vinyl substrate and a galvanized steel substrate . the glossy alkyd substrate had a 60 ° gloss of 75 . the chalky alkyd substrate had an astm d4214 chalk rating of 6 and the chalky aluminum substrate had a chalk rating of 2 . the coating of the present invention was applied to each substrate in a single coat having a dry film thickness of about 4 mils . the commercially available comparative paints were each applied to the different substrates in two coats having a total dry film thickness of about 4 mils . the corrosion resistance of the paints was evaluated by applying the coating composition of the present invention ( single coat ) and the commercially available comparative paints ( 2 coats ) to cold rolled steel substrates . the degree of efflorescence of the paints was evaluated by applying the coating composition of the present invention ( single coat ) and the commercially available comparative paints ( 2 coats ) to hot ( high ph ) cement panels . the hot cement panels were prepared by brushing onto the panels an aqueous solution of block aid powder , commercially available from glidden , and then coating the panels within 24 hours with the paint to be evaluated . the cracking resistance of the paints was evaluated by applying the coating composition of the present invention ( single coat ) and the commercially available comparative paints ( 2 coats ) to southern yellow pine panels . as shown in table v , the coating composition of the present invention consistently obtained good and excellent ratings for tannin blocking , adhesion to various substrates , corrosion resistance , efflorescence and cracking . 5 = excellent 4 = good 3 = fair 2 = poor 1 = very poor | 2 |
reference is now made to the drawings listed above , wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout . as used herein , the terms “ chattel ” and “ chattels ” refers generally to any type of property or possession ( regardless of ownership ), which may generally be carried on or by a person ( including within associated transport devices such as luggage , etc .). chattel includes , without limitation , car keys , personal security devices ( e . g ., mace , pepper spray ), knives , handguns , ammunition , tools , personal electronic devices , pharmaceuticals , cosmetics , jewelry , belt buckles or other metallized apparel , wrist watches , hats , cellular telephones , usb keys , glasses , magnetic or optical media , electric razors , personal computers , cameras , film , pagers , electronic games , purses , currency , ipods , etc . as used herein , the term “ passenger ” shall mean any entity , whether human or otherwise , who utilizes a transportation modality . as used herein , the term “ transportation modality ” refers to any form of transportation for either person , animals , and / or inanimate objects including , without limitation , aircraft , ships , ferries , land vehicles ( buses , trains , cars , etc . ), shuttles , etc . as used herein , the term “ computer program ” is meant to include any sequence of human or machine cognizable steps which perform a function . such program may be rendered in virtually any programming language or environment including , for example , c / c ++, fortran , cobol , pascal , assembly language , markup languages ( e . g ., html , sgml , xml , voxml ), and the like , as well as object - oriented environments such as the common object request broker architecture ( corba ), java ™ ( including j2me , java beans , etc .) and the like . as used herein , the term “ application ” refers generally to a unit of executable software that implements theme - based functionality the themes of applications vary broadly across any number of disciplines and functions ( such as e - commerce transactions , shipping transactions , entertainment , calculator , internet access , etc . ), and one application may have more than one theme . the unit of executable software generally runs in a predetermined environment ; for example and without limitation , the unit could comprise a downloadable java xlet ™ that runs within the javatv ™ environment . as used herein , the term “ database ” refers generally to one or more tangible or virtual data storage locations , which may or may not be physically co - located with each other or other system components . as used herein , the term “ network ” refers generally to data or communications networks regardless of type , including without limitation , lans , wans , intranets , internets , the internet , cable systems , telecommunications networks , satellite networks , and virtual private networks ( vpns ), or collections or combinations thereof , whether based on wired , wireless , or matter wave modalities . such networks may utilize literally any physical architectures and topologies ( e . g . atm , ieee - 802 . 3 , x . 25 , token ring , sonet , 3g / 3gpp / umts , 802 . 11 , hybrid fiber - coax ( hfc ), etc .) and protocols ( e . g ., tcp / ip , http , ftp , wap , gprs , rtp / rtcp , wifi , 3g , ieee 802 . 11 , etc .). as used herein , the term “ service provider ” refers generally to services provided remotely to the user including , for example , data streaming , data analysis , financial account management and trading , data archiving and storage , internet access , content delivery , telecommunications , etc . as used herein , the term “ speech recognition ” refers to any methodology or technique by which human or other speech can be interpreted and converted to an electronic or data format or signals related thereto . it will be recognized that any number of different forms of spectral analysis ( such as mfcc ( mel frequency cepstral coefficients ) or cochlea modeling , may be used . phoneme / word recognition , if used , may be based on hmm ( hidden markov modeling ), although other processes such as , without limitation , dtw ( dynamic time warping ) or nns ( neural networks ) may be used . myriad speech recognition systems and algorithms are available , all considered within the scope of the invention disclosed herein . as used herein , the term “ celp ” is meant to include any and all variants of the celp family such as , but not limited to , acelp , vcelp , and qcelp . it is also noted that non - celp compression algorithms and techniques , whether based on companding or otherwise , may be used . for example , and without limitation , pcm ( pulse code modulation ) or adpcm ( adaptive delta pcm ) may be employed , as may other forms of linear predictive coding ( lpc ). as used herein , the term “ digital processor ” is meant generally to include all types of digital processing devices including , without limitation , digital signal processors ( dsps ), reduced instruction set computers ( risc ), general - purpose ( cisc ) processors , microprocessors , gate arrays ( e . g ., fpgas ), plds , reconfigurable compute fabrics ( rcfs ), array processors , and application - specific integrated circuits ( asics ). such digital processors may be contained on a single unitary ic die , or distributed across multiple components . as used herein , the term “ integrated circuit ( ic )” refers to any type of device having any level of integration ( including without limitation vlsi , vlsi , and lsi ) and irrespective of process or base materials ( including , without limitation si , sige , cmos and gas ). ics may include , for example , memory devices ( e . g ., dram , sram , ddram , eeprom / flash , rom ), digital processors , soc devices , fpgas , asics , adcs , dacs , transceivers , memory controllers , and other devices , as well as any combinations thereof . as used herein , the term “ display ” means any type of device adapted to display information , including without limitation crts , lcds , tfts , plasma displays , leds , and fluorescent devices . the present invention allows users at a pod or other location to rapidly and easily ship their chattels to another location , such as to their travel destination or public gathering place ( concert , amusement park , sporting event , etc . ), to their home , or even a third party . as is known , millions of personal prohibited items are collected each year at airport security points alone . faced with the choice of discard or abandoning the item ( s ) or canceling their travel , the great majority of people choose to abandon the chattel , or perhaps attempt to recover it later . massive amounts of such items are collected each day throughout the nation &# 39 ; s airports . in its simplest form , the mechanism for shipment comprises a human agent and / or drop box akin to those used for fedex or other comparable courier services , that is disposed adjacent to the security checkpoint of the pod . standard courier methods are used , which may be aided through the use of more sophisticated apparatus and techniques so as to facilitate rapid and cost effective use by the customer . a variety of coding and / or tracking methods may be used , including bar codes , magnetic strips , and rfid tags of the general type well known in the art . these techniques may also be used in conjunction with one another , such as to perform different functions at different points throughout the processing or transit chain of the chattels . in more sophisticated embodiment , personal electronics ranging from user - specific rfid devices , usb keys , pdas , handhelds , cell phones or the like are used to transfer information to and / or from the kiosk or other processing entity associated with the service . it is noted that while the system and methods of the invention disclosed herein are described with respect to point - of - departure ( pod ) management of chattels , such as might occur at an airport or other transportation facility , certain aspects of the invention may be useful in other applications , including , without limitation , other types of transaction relating to chattels , such as insuring or valuation thereof , courier services between two non - pod locations , etc . referring now to fig1 , a first embodiment of a system utilizing radio frequency identification ( rfid ) tags is described . the system 100 comprises generally one or more shipping elements 104 with associated tags 106 , and a parent device 102 ( e . g ., kiosk ). the kiosk 102 contains an rf antenna 105 , as well as interrogator / reader module 108 and analysis / display module 110 . it will be recognized by those of ordinary skill that the various components and modules being part of the system 100 may be combined or integrated into one physical device as applicable , or separated , modularized , or any combination thereof , the illustrated embodiment being merely exemplary . the tags 106 of each shipping element comprise radio frequency id tags ( rfid ). rfid tags are well known in the communications art . the main advantages of an rfid sensor and tag system over other forms of id tagging include ( a ) the orientation of the tag with respect to the sensor is not critical for a correct read of the tag information ; ( b ) communication can occur within comparatively harsh operating environments ; and ( c ) the communication range between the sensor and tag can be significant even when the rf frequencies used are within the power limitations of federal communications commission ( fcc ) rules concerning unlicensed transmitters . accordingly , rfid technology is useful for several applications , especially those relating to asset inventory and management . rfid tags or various configurations are now ubiquitous and available at extremely low cost , thereby further enhancing the economic viability of the present invention . the process of “ reading ” and communicating with an rfid tag such as that used in the system 100 of fig1 comprises bringing a rfid tag within proximity to an rfid sensor (“ reader ”) 108 which emanates a radio frequency or electric wake - up field having a limited range . the rfid tag 106 detects the presence of the wakeup field of the reader 108 , and subsequently various forms or protocols of handshake occur between the tag 106 and the reader 108 in order to exchange data . all of this communication between the tag and the sensor is performed using , e . g ., rf carriers ( or even wideband waveforms ) of one or more prescribed frequencies . as is well known in the art , so - called “ low - frequency ” systems operate in the khz ( e . g ., 125 khz ) to low - mhz range ( unlicensed ). low frequency systems are generally low cost and complexity and have comparatively limited range , but are attractive since the low frequency energy tends to suffer low losses from materials like metal , polymers , tissue , and the like . high - frequency systems operate in the low - mhz to ghz range ( sometimes licensed ). high - frequency systems in general have greater range , but are more directional . additionally , the performance of these high frequency tags may be adversely affected by electromagnetic radiation or proximate metallic objects . additionally , rfid tags are generally categorized as being “ active ” ( i . e ., carry an associated power source for operation of the on - tag integrated circuit , and are capable of spontaneous transmission after reader interrogation ), or “ passive ” which utilizes incident rf energy or electric field ( from the reader , for example ) to generate electrical energy for use by the ic , and transmission . passive tags are highly energy efficient , and require only an extremely small amount of electrical power to function . in the present application , due to the premium on space and desire for ultra - light weight and low cost , a small antenna and package form factor is desired . this also avoids disincentives to the disposability of the device ( and its parent shipping element ). based on the foregoing considerations , the present embodiment of the invention utilizes a low frequency ( e . g ., 125 khz nominal ) miniature passive tag having a miniature monopole antenna 109 of the type well known in the art , although it will be recognized that active tag architectures , lower or higher frequency systems , and alternate antenna configurations ( such as “ fig8 ” loop , etc .) may be used depending on the particular application and desired attributes . passive tags are a preferred mode , yet active tags are a utilitarian and desirable mode as well for certain applications . the rfid tag 106 of the present invention further optionally includes an integrated circuit ( ic ) device ( not shown ) including a transceiver section and processing logic , as well as an integrated random access memory ( ram ) device of the type commonly available with such devices adapted to store a plurality of data bytes such as data correlating to the identity of a given user , its date of deposit , its location ( i . e ., terminal a at airport b ), destination , urgency / priority , contents classification ( e . g ., metallic , hazardous , etc . ), weight as deposited , user &# 39 ; s destination ( if different from the shipping destination ), contact information , etc . and the like . the memory device may also comprise , without limitation , proms , eproms , eeproms , uveproms , srams , drams , sdrams , “ flash ” memory , and ferroelectric memory devices . in this capacity , the construction of the parent shipping element 104 is simplified , and less complex “ off the shelf ” rfid devices meeting the physical space limitations may be used with little or no adaptation . in an exemplary embodiment , the rfid tag is distributed on one or more surfaces of the shipping element using a capacitive type substrate tag . see for example the “ bistatix ™” rfid devices previously manufactured by motorola / indala corporation ( now assa abloy ). these devices utilize a very thin , lightweight and low cost substrate employing non - metallic printed circuit technology . they are also extremely rugged , allowing for bending , crumpling , folding , etc ., and can be printed on many different types of dielectric substrates . they also utilize an extremely small ic , capable of storing a limited amount of data ( e . g ., 96 bits ), thereby mitigating the costs associated with the shipping element 104 , and its overall form factor . it will also be recognized that the shipping element surface ( s ) may be used as the substrate itself , thereby further reducing cost . in short , the “ tag ” can be printed and / or embedded onto or in the shipping element ( box , envelope , carton , canister , etc .) at manufacture or thereafter in a highly cost - efficient manner . it will be recognized that capacitive or inductive tags may be used consistent with the invention . hence , by employing this ( e . g ., bistatix ) technology within the element 104 of the present invention , the rfid tag may be disposed on any surface at extremely low cost and low profile . a complementary motorola bistatix reader may be used as the reader 108 of fig1 , although other configurations may be used as described elsewhere herein . in operation , the tag “ reader ” 108 of fig1 interrogates the element ( s ) 104 and rfid device 106 at its designated frequency , causing the tag to “ wake ” and initiate communications protocols disposed within the tag ic / memory . once such protocols are established , the reader transmits preformatted data representative of the parameters desired to be loaded into the rfid memory device . for , example , a box of “ smart ” envelopes 200 ( described below with respect to fig2 a ) can be swiped by the interrogator / reader 108 before use in the kiosk and encoded with identifying information , such as for example the airport / pod identification code , date of coding , etc . the envelopes or other elements 200 can optionally be sequentially encoded with numbers ( e . g ., envelope no . 1 , 2 , 3 , etc .) to distinguish one from another . alternatively , the tags 106 associated with the elements 200 can be pre - coded at manufacture , such as via slightly variant frequency of emission , etc . a variety of different approaches for distinguishing between two similarly situated shipping elements are well known to those of ordinary skill in the rfid arts , and accordingly are not described further herein . as can be readily appreciated , the ability to uniquely identify a plurality of different shipping elements 104 using rf technology has great implications for , inter alia , accounting for such elements during use , security scanning and shipment . herein lies a primary attribute or feature of the present invention ; i . e ., tracking and control of a number of different parcels or elements 104 . for example , the present invention allows the system operator to rapidly inventory and specifically identify particular elements 104 before shipment , and afterwards ( i . e ., during delivery to the user or designated recipient ), thereby easily and efficiently accounting for all elements 104 . this is also useful during security scanning , and inventory before loading on the selected transportation mode ( aircraft , etc . ); e . g ., to verify that no one such as a terrorist has surreptitiously inserted a “ dummy ” package into the transport bin or other mechanism between unloading of the kiosk and loading onto the aircraft . it will also be recognized , however , that the kiosk or other receptacle ( or portion thereof ) may simply be made mobile and securable such that it can be directly transferred to the aircraft without having to load or unload , thereby potentially frustrating attempts to gain unauthorized access thereto . the rfid tags 106 of the embodiment of fig1 has further utility for conducting inventory of “ smart ” shipping elements after manufacture . since each element carries it &# 39 ; s own tag , each capable of uniquely identifying itself ( whether by unique frequency assignment , or data encoded on the tag memory and transmitted to the reader ), rapid reading of a plurality of tags disposed in close proximity to one another is possible . for example , a manufacturer , distributor or pod could also use the system 100 of the present invention to control inventory ( such as by placing a reader at a “ choke point ” of a storage facility , thereby knowing precisely when each “ smart ” element 104 was brought in or out of the facility ), or determine when a re - order of supplies is needed . using the wireless data interface capabilities described subsequently herein , the kiosk can even automatically alert a supplier that it needs more shipping elements , akin to well known prior art cdpd approaches used for , inter alia , vending machines . in yet another embodiment , the tag reader 108 is placed at the door or portal to the room or space ( e . g ., airport ingress / egress ) by which a subject must pass , thereby necessarily exposing the subject to the interrogation field generated by the reader 108 . hence , where someone such as a terrorist attempts to obtain one or more elements 104 for unauthorized use ( such as to try to sneak a package into a bin of authorized elements 104 ) from the kiosk , a security perimeter is established and interrogation automatically conducted . this security perimeter can be quite small , such that anyone attempting to steal or smuggle in coded envelopes or containers 104 from the kiosk will trigger a proximity sensor based on the aforementioned interrogation . another feature of the present invention is coordination of the type of tag used , its frequency , its radiated power , etc ., thereby allowing the user to control the range at which the interrogation field generated by the reader 108 will elicit a response from the tag 106 . it is undesirable to have the tags 106 respond at too great a distance , since this would necessitate removing the shipping elements in question and the reader 108 from the proximity of other devices in order to perform an inventory ( i . e ., the user would not be able to spatially differentiate between various tagged shipping elements 104 ). hence , the aforementioned low - power low - frequency passive tag is well suited to such applications . in the exemplary embodiment , the foregoing parameters are controlled such that the tag reader 108 has an effective “ wake up ” range of 1 - 3 ft ., thereby allowing sufficient spatial resolution ; however , this value can clearly be adjusted as need in the particular application . for example , in the “ exit door ” reader embodiment described elsewhere herein , a wake - up field lobe having a main axis of 5 - 10 feet may be needed to ensure adequate tag coverage as personnel ingress / egress . the rfid tag 106 and reader 108 of the present invention , as well as other wireless or wired data links associated with the apparatus 100 , may also optionally utilize an encrypted data protocol , such that any transmissions from the tag 106 are encrypted , and accordingly must be decrypted by the authorized reader 108 before processing of the tag data , and / or writing of the tag 106 by the reader 108 , is permitted . such encryption may be applied using any number of well known techniques instituted at the protocol level , or even at the air interface . for example , in one embodiment , the rfid tag 106 and reader 108 comprise more complex variant having a direct sequence spread spectrum ( dsss ) communication system incorporating a pn ( pseudo - noise ) spreading code of the type well known in the communications art . in another embodiment , a frequency hopping spread spectrum ( fhss ) having a hopping sequence is used to enhance security . the use of multi - bit encryption / encrypted data protocols and spread spectrum techniques for security is well known in the art , and accordingly will not be described further herein . see u . s . pat . no . 5 , 539 , 775 entitled “ modulated spread spectrum in rf identification systems method ” issued jul . 23 , 1996 , and u . s . pat . no . 5 , 629 , 981 entitled “ information management and security system ” issued may 13 , 1997 , both incorporated herein by reference in their entirety . in addition or instead of the air interface , encryption may also be applied at the protocol level , such as where public / private key methods , ike , ipsec , or other techniques may be used to frustrate surreptitious interception or alteration of data transmitted to / from the rfid device , or between other components . furthermore , well known vpn or other tunneling protocols for encapsulating data during transmission across an untrusted network may be used between various entities of the present system , such as between a kiosk and a local distribution or management node . additionally , well known secure socket layer ( ssl ) or equivalent approaches may be employed across one or more links of the network ( s ), so as to enhance security . it will be appreciated that many different variations and combinations of the foregoing radio frequency communications apparatus and methods may be employed consistent with the invention ; such different variations and combinations being too numerous to describe herein . all such variations and combinations , however , are easily recognized and within the possession of those of ordinary skill . as shown in fig1 , the receptacle module 110 takes the data obtained from the tags 106 via reader 108 and analyzes it according to one or more algorithms . in the illustrated embodiment , the module 110 comprises a cisc or risc processor having one or more computer programs running thereon , the programs analyzing the digitized tag data and for example , comparing it to stored data representing a series of allowed or authorized id values for shipping elements 104 , hence enhancing security . the receptacle can also be selectively locked until the reader 108 and module 110 validate the authenticity or other information associated with the particular transaction ( including , e . g ., user payment authorization , maximum allowed weight , size restrictions , etc .). to this end , the kiosk can be configured with an electronic scale integrated with the tag reader 108 , or other complementary systems . in terms of size , the code of each shipping element 104 advantageously helps the system automatically determine the maximum size of the package ; i . e ., the family designation of each element 104 , when read by the reader 108 , tells the central processor that the package cannot physically be larger than certain dimensions . it will further be recognized that each item of inventory or shipment can have associated with it other descriptive data , as shown in the example below : owning transaction routing id code category description entity date number 0001 airport pod 10 × 12 phl / a dec . 25 , 2003 0000 - 1111 - shipping envelope 2222 - 3333 this descriptive data can , in whole or part , also be produced during a discrepancy alert ( or when merely performing a normal transaction ) to help identify the item in question . as can be appreciated , the analysis / display functionality of the module 110 may also be provided by or integrated with another device . for example , so as to reduce clutter or space requirements , an existing device such as a fedex or airborne drop box , atm machine , internet or wifi kiosk , flight insurance kiosk , etc . may be used as the parent platform for the reader 108 and / or module 110 . many existing devices include sufficient processing and storage capacity to perform the transaction processing function ( s ) along with those normally required by that equipment , and hence can be readily programmed or otherwise adapted by those of ordinary skill to accommodate the functionality described herein . as yet another alternative , a standard desktop or laptop pc , or airport boarding gate terminal may be used to provide the desired analysis / display functionality , such as where the user gets the item through security , yet none - the - less desires to ship the item rather than carry it on the aircraft . as yet another alternative , the reader 108 and analysis / display module 110 may be integrated into a single device 170 ( fig1 a ), such as a handheld device akin to portable gps receivers now ubiquitous . the user ( which may be an employee , or even the shipper ) may simply then pick up the unit , interrogate the items to be shipped ( thereby encoding the package and retrieving id data for the database in data communication with the handheld ), and then deposit the package in a one - way access receptacle ( which may also be interlocked with the handheld via wired or wireless link if desired ). as previously referenced , it will be recognized that the methods of the invention ( as exemplified in fig1 ) are ideally embodied in the form of one or more computer programs . such program ( s ) may be rendered in virtually any programming language / environment including for example c , c ++, java , fortran , basic , visual basic , unix , perl , corba , or any other medium capable of reasonably implementing such a functionality . in one exemplary embodiment , the reader module 108 comprises an antenna portion with embedded antenna 105 , the latter being either monopole or dipole as desired to interface with the antenna structure of the tag 106 at the selected centerline frequency ( ies ). the antenna 105 of the module of the exemplary embodiment generates the wakeup or interrogation field needed to elicit a response from the tag 106 when the module is brought in sufficient proximity to the tag or vice - versa . the interrogation field intensity can also be made adjustable by the user , such that each facility can “ tune ” its module to the desired range / sensitivity . this adjustment can also be accomplished automatically and / or algorithmically ( such as under control of the kiosk &# 39 ; s central processor previously described herein , or an associated microcontroller ). the reader module 108 is also optionally equipped with a rf transceiver , such as a bluetooth 2 . 4 ghz or ieee - 802 . 11a / b / g device , for communications with other entities , such as a local server or wireless gateway to another network . for example , the siw1502 radio modem ic manufactured by silicon wave corporation of san diego , calif ., is a low - power consumption device with integrated rf logic and bluetooth protocol stack adapted for bluetooth applications . the chip is a fully integrated 2 . 4 ghz radio transceiver with a gfsk modem contained on a single chip . the siw1502 chip is offered as a stand alone ic or , may be obtained with the silicon wave odyssey siw1601 link controller ic . the siw1502 form factor is 7 . 0 × 7 . 0 × 1 . 0 mm package which is readily disposed within the interior volume of the kiosk described herein , or even a portable reader or “ wand ” which may be used by the carrier , such as for providing hand scans of chattels . an rf transceiver and modulator device is adapted to generally comply with the well known “ bluetooth ™” wireless interface standard , ieee - 802 . 11 , uwb , or alternatively , so - called “ 3g ” ( third generation ) communications technologies . the bluetooth wireless technology allows users to make wireless and instant connections between various communication devices , such as mobile devices ( e . g ., cellular telephones , pdas , notebook computers , remote monitoring stations , and the like ) and desktop computers or other fixed devices . since bluetooth uses radio frequency transmission , transfer of data is in real - time . the bluetooth topology supports both point - to - point and point - to - multipoint connections . multiple ‘ slave ’ devices can be set to communicate with a ‘ master ’ device . the devices are authenticated ( optionally ) using a rand - based bonding or pairing process of the type well known in the art ( e . g ., in mode 3 link layer security , or mode 2 “ l2cap ” or service - based security ). in this fashion , the kiosk / reader of the present invention , when outfitted with a bluetooth wireless suite , may communicate directly with other bluetooth compliant mobile or fixed devices including a subject &# 39 ; s cellular telephone , pda , notebook computer , desktop computer , or other kiosks . alternatively , a number of different rf - enabled “ wands ” performing chattel scanning may be monitored in real time at a centralized location , such as the kiosk or even a remote location using the kiosk or a local wireless gateway as a proxy node . bluetooth - compliant devices , inter alia , operate in the 2 . 4 ghz ism band . the ism band is dedicated to unlicensed users , including airports , thereby advantageously allowing for unrestricted spectral access . the exemplary modulator uses one or more variants of frequency shift keying , such as gaussian frequency shift keying ( gfsk ) or gaussian minimum shift keying ( gmsk ) of the type well known in the art to modulate data onto the carrier ( s ), although other types of modulation ( such as phase modulation or amplitude modulation ) may be used . spectral access of the device is accomplished via frequency hopping spread spectrum ( fhss ), although other approaches such as frequency divided multiple access ( fdma ), direct sequence spread spectrum ( dsss , including code division multiple access ) using a pseudo - noise spreading code , or even time division multiple access may be used depending on the needs of the user . for example , devices complying with ieee std . 802 . 11a / b / f / g may be substituted for the bluetooth transceiver / modulator arrangement previously described if desired . literally any wireless interface capable of accommodating the bandwidth and / or other requirements of the system may be used . for example , in the case of an airport , the uwb system described below may be considered optimal , due to its low radiated power level , e . g ., less than − 41 . 3 dbm / mhz according the fcc unlicensed spectral uwb mask issued circa late 2003 . this low power reduces the chance of deleterious interference with , e . g ., aircraft communications systems , iff systems , or other instrumentation or control functions . in yet another embodiment of the invention , the module 400 utilizes an ultra wide - band ( e . g ., tm - uwb , ofdm , etc .) protocol for communication with other entities . specifically , in one embodiment , the module 400 is fitted with a tm - uwb soc device which utilizes pulse - position modulation ( ppm ), wherein short duration gaussian pulses ( nanosecond duration ) of radio - frequency energy are transmitted at random or pseudo - random intervals and frequencies to convey coded information . information is coded ( modulated ) onto the short duration carrier pulses by , inter alia , time - domain shifting of the pulse . for example , a pulse encodes a bit by being temporal shifting of the pulse with respect to a reference , such that a “ late ” pulse encodes a “ 0 ”, while an early pulse encodes a “ 1 ”. this scheme is somewhat akin to the well known frequency shift keying ( fsk ), wherein two ( or more ) side - band frequencies are utilized to encode data e . g ., 67 khz down - shift = 0 ; 67 khz up - shift = 1 . tm - uwb devices have the advantage of ready penetration of various mediums , as well as ultra - low power consumption and low spectral density , thereby reducing power requirements and potential interference with other device , respectively . in one exemplary variant , the tm - uwb device of the invention comprises a half duplex , 2 . 0 ghz with variable data rate in excess of 1 mbps with no forward error correction ( fec ). the gaussian monopulse is of the form : where τ is a time decay constant related to the gaussian monopulse duration , and center frequency f c = k / τ . the monopulse &# 39 ; s bandwidth and center frequency are therefore directly related to the monopulse &# 39 ; s temporal width or duration . this approach also shifts the transmission time of each monopulse over a significant time interval in accordance with a pseudo - nose ( pn ) “ hopping ” code of the type well known in the art , thereby advantageously distributing spectral density to make the spread . this approach is roughly comparable to frequency hopping spread spectrum ( fhss ) except in the time domain . exemplary devices incorporating tm - uwb components including the timer , correlator , and digital baseband signal processor and controller units ( not shown ) are available from ibm corporation ( sige or silicon germanium - based ) in the form of a chip set , although it will be recognized that an integrated single device is optimal for the invention . additional detail on the implementation of tm - uwb systems is found in , e . g ., “ time modulated ultra - wideband for wireless applications ”; time - domain corporation , 2000 , which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . by using ism or uwb communications , the rf module can also advantageously communicate with its parent device ( e . g ., a central node or gateway , another kiosk 110 with transceiver , etc .) without mutual interference with the rf signal of the tags 106 , the latter operating at 125 khz in the nominal embodiment . in another exemplary embodiment of the system , an object - oriented distributed program having client and server portions distributed on respective client and server devices is utilized ( fig1 b ). as used herein , the terms “ client device ” and “ personal electronic device ” ( ped ) include , but are not limited to , personal computers ( pcs ), whether desktop , laptop , or otherwise , personal digital assistants ( pdas ) such as the apple newton ®, “ palm ®” family of devices , handheld computers such as the hitachi “ e - plate ” or dell axim , personal communicators such as the motorola accompli devices , motorola evr - 8401 , j2me equipped devices , cellular telephones , set - top boxes , or literally any other device capable of interchanging data with a network . such devices may interface using wired or optical fiber mechanisms such as an ieee std . 802 . 3 ethernet interface , digital subscriber line ( dsl ), v . 90 modem , docsis modem , hybrid fiber - coax ( hfc ) cable , or alternatively via wireless mechanisms and protocols such as is - 95 / cdma - 2000 , bluetooth ™, irda interface , ieee std . 802 . 11 ( a ) or ( b ), wireless application protocol ( wap )/ wtls , gprs , gsm , third - generation or “ 3g ” systems ( 3gpp / umts ), or any other of myriad data communication systems and protocols well known to those of skill in the communications arts . creation of such computer programs is readily accomplished by those of ordinary skill in the programming arts , and accordingly is not described further herein . as shown in fig1 b , the distributed software embodiment of the architecture 150 utilizes a server portion 152 and client portion 154 distributed on respective server 156 and client devices 158 , ostensibly disposed at different physical locations , and in data communication with each other via a network 160 . the client portion 154 of the software can be made “ thin ” to accommodate the comparatively lower hardware capabilities associated with many client devices 158 . this architecture 150 is especially well suited to an object oriented programming environment ( e . g ., corba ), as will be recognized by those of ordinary skill . in use , the user manually or automatically establishes communication between the client device and the sever portion , thereby allowing for transfer of data relevant to the impending transaction , such as the user &# 39 ; s home address , credit card or payment information , etc . this approach obviates the user having to ( i ) stand at the kiosk and enter the information manually , and ( ii ) saves time since the link can be established while the user is performing other tasks , such as walking to the security checkpoint , parking their car , etc . hence , the user merely need walk to the kiosk , insert their chattel into a shipping element 104 , and deposit it on the reader 108 . when authenticated and encoded , the receptacle will open to allow the element 104 to gravity feed into the locked receptacle . alternatively , the encoding can be performed after entry into the receptacle ( so as to frustrate surreptitious encoding and removal ). the aforementioned communication channel between the client device and module / server can also be used for two - way ( i . e ., forward and reverse channel ) traffic , such as where transaction information is transmitted back to the client device for storage thereon . alternatively , such information may be transmitted to a third party or proxy , such as to an e - mail server or url , wherein the information is directly or indirectly provided to the user ( such as via a direct confirmatory e - mail , or as a line item on a monthly statement ). the transmitted information may optionally include date / time , user id , location , routing or tracking number , payment method , and even other information such as the weight of the shipment , results of a security scan ( e . g ., by an installed e - beam , x - ray , neutron , magnetometer , or chemical “ sniffer ” device co - located with the kiosk ), an image of the tracking label , estimated time / date of delivery , addressee , listing of contents , etc . the transfer of information to the client device may be fully automated , conditional upon assent from the user , or fully manual as desired . the foregoing architecture may also be used to remotely initiate processes on other devices , such as peds , “ smart ” phones , network agents , or home pcs . for example , in one exemplary variant , the client device software is programmed to initiate an o / s window or java applet running on a j2me or equivalent equipped distant ( e . g ., ped ) device upon transmission of a prompt corresponding to a given event . the window or applet includes a user name / password feature , wherein the distant user may instruct their client software to initiate certain algorithms or actions , such as transmission of personal information . in one embodiment , a wap 2 . 0 client and proxy are utilized . alternatively , of course , the distant end user may access the desired target ip address or other network node via the internet or comparable network directly via the ped , thereby effectuating the desired transaction . in another embodiment of the invention , a sip ( session initiation protocol ) enabled device or comparable is used to establish a secure user session to transmit the required information . in one variant , a “ poc ” ( push - to - talk { ptt } over cellular ) approach is used , wherein the user &# 39 ; s mobile device includes an architecture that supports instantaneous communications via , e . g ., the aforementioned sip protocol layered over a umts ims architecture of the type well known in the communications arts . for example , the user &# 39 ; s client process can be configured to instigate a poc session upon the user selecting the chattel proxy or application server as a “ buddy ” and invoking a ptt transmission . so - called “ ptx ” or “ push - to - anything ” technology may be used for this purpose ; e . g ., pre - formatted packages of data necessary to perform chattel management or related functions can be immediately transmitted to the desired receiver via a one - button transmit functionality . these packets may be encapsulated for security purposes , e . g ., via an application layer or other protocol such as digest , ipsec , mikey , etc . alternatively , where bluetooth is utilized , the proxy or application server can conduct a ( e . g ., user - permissive ) object pull according to the k - 11 or obex profiles . the proxy or application server may also require authentication of the user ( or mutual authentication ) before any data push or pull is allowed , such as via a rand challenge - based approach or the like . this helps mitigate “ spoofing ” or surreptitious denial of service to the user , and substitution of an unauthorized device in place of the true chattel owner , or reception of the user &# 39 ; s personal data by an unauthorized device . in another embodiment , the user &# 39 ; s cellular telephone equipped with assisted gps ( a - gps ) or other such locating system can be used to provide forwarding information . specifically , in one variant , the user &# 39 ; s a - gps system is prompted to save the coordinates of a particular location where the package must be delivered . for example , a user may want his chattel shipped to a third party where he / she is presently located . the user can merely push a soft function key on their client process , the soft function key either saving the coordinate for a later time / date , or transmitting it to a designated agent ( such as the chattel management proxy ) described elsewhere herein . that way , the user can merely specify the saved / transmitted location as the destination , without having to remember addresses , zip codes , etc . for the destination . alternatively , the user can maintain a log or listing of saved gps coordinates ( and or address information ) for easy recall at a later date . in a manner somewhat analogous to the a - gps , the user can also use their client process to exchange information with other user &# 39 ; s devices ( such as via a bluetooth “ discovery ” process or obex object exchange ). for example , a user may want their chattel shipped to a friend they are traveling with ; the user can then handshake with their friend &# 39 ; s device to pull / receive an electronic business card with the required delivery information . such an approach may be useful where the chattel is rented out or intended for temporary use . consider , for example , where the user rents a car , drives to the airport , leaves the car , and approaches the security checkpoint . the user can ( while at the car rental agency ) use either gps location or “ pushed / pulled ” data as the basis for a communication to the chattel management system , the data instructing the latter as to where to return the car keys . myriad other configurations will be recognized by those of ordinary skill provided the present disclosure . in yet another exemplary embodiment , a user can utilize a more simplified device for communicating with the kiosk or module 110 . for example , a coded rfid device ( to be distinguished from that in the shipping element 104 ) may be used to automatically provide the kiosk / module 110 with the user &# 39 ; s information , much in the way the prior art mobil “ speed pass ” provides fueling station pumps with payment information , or the mastercard paypass system allows for commercial transactions . as another option , a usb key of the type well known in the art can be simply plugged into an accessible usb port of the module 110 , thereby potentially both ( i ) transferring the user &# 39 ; s information , and ( ii ) saving a user record of the transaction within the user &# 39 ; s key . this approach can be coupled with the rapid drop capability described elsewhere herein , such that the kiosk associates a given chattel passed through its aperture or slot with a given user . for example , in one variant , the user simply places the chattel in a holding slot or receptacle , this action which prompts the user via a crt , lcd , tft , leds , audio prompt , or other ui to scan their rfid device past a sensor . after the kiosk controller / processor module and reader interrogates and retrieves the desired information from the rfid device ( and also another entity or database , if desired , such as a pay authorization entity ), the user is presented with a visual or other display of the shipping information , at which point the user may confirm or cancel . if confirmed , the kiosk then automatically opens the aperture or slot to receive the user &# 39 ; s device . internal mechanisms within the kiosk then either ( i ) tag the chattel as belonging to a particular user , such as via attachment of a tag or label , insertion in a “ tagged ” shipping element 104 , diversion to a segregated chute or container , etc . alternatively , the user can be prompted to affix a bar code , label , tag , or other identifying device , such as may be issued by the kiosk . hand sorting of the various chattels may then be accomplished by personnel emptying the kiosk receptacle . in another embodiment , computer - readable purchase receipts using multi - dimensional bar codes of the type well known in the art , or other comparable mechanisms , may be used consistent with the invention for encoding the chattels and / or shipping elements 104 . as yet another alternative , the user may simply affix their personal rfid device to the chattel , scan as previously described ( such as where the receptacle holding slot / aperture is integrated with or proximate the personal rf id reader ), and authorize , at which point their chattel and their personal rfid device are collectively shipped to the destination . this variant obviates use of the second rfid device within the shipping element , since the user &# 39 ; s rfid device contains all of the necessary information , some of which can be encoded onto the device at the time of scan at the kiosk . for example , the user &# 39 ; s rfid device can be equipped to have sufficient storage capacity and to receive data from the kiosk reader / interrogator such that this encoding of additional information occurs seamlessly . as yet another alternative , the kiosk may be fitted with a card reader adapted to receive cards pre - encoded (“ pre - paid ”) with a given monetary value . for example , as is well known , cards bearing magnetic media may be encoded at a remote terminal after the user deposits a given amount of currency . such cards are currently employed , for example , in libraries where photocopy machines are present , or for telecommunications services . in the present context , the user might deposit a comparatively large amount of currency at the encoding terminal to encode or pre - pay for the deposited amount . subsequent insertions of the card into the card reader read the encoded data ( correlating to a currency balance remaining ), subtract the amount of the current transaction , and then recode the card commensurate with the remaining balance . in this fashion , the user may avoid having to carry currency or change each time they wish to use the terminal ; rather , they simply swipe or insert / retract the card from the reader / encoder , thereby automatically debiting the card . as yet another alternative , a user &# 39 ; s pre - paid cellular device can be exchanged for services in shipping their chattel . in one exemplary embodiment , the prepaid cellular device is configured to interface with the kiosk ( such as via direct physical or wired connection , or wireless link such as rf , inductive , irda , or other ) such that the service provider for the prepaid device authorizes payment of the chattel shipping via the cell phone / kiosk interface . as even another alternative , the user who travels frequently can pre - code their devices using apparatus disposed at the pod , their home , or other locations . for example , in one embodiment , the user can attach an rfid devices to their chattels of any significant worth ( e . g ., cell phone , pda , car keys , etc .) and encode them with their personal information . alternatively , these devices may be disposed within the chattels at time of manufacture , and then encoded at or after purchase by the user . once encoded , these devices can then be immediately scanned when placed in proximity to the reader 108 at the kiosk or other location . this obviates having to carry another currency source or personal rfid device . in another embodiment , user - specific biometric data can be used alone or in conjunction with other data sources to authenticate or provide the required input to the kiosk . for example , in one variant , the user &# 39 ; s fingerprint , retinal scan , facial recognition software scan , or voiceprint are used in a two - of - two , three - of - three , etc . coincidence circuit ; i . e ., when all inputs can be authenticated and correlated to one individual , the user &# 39 ; s data is accessed ( such as may be kept in a secure data facility in data communication with the kiosk or its proxy ) and used as the basis for payment , shipping destination , etc . in another embodiment , the system 100 can be coupled to the passenger reservation system operated by the relevant transportation agent ( e . g ., airline or travel agent ), such that upon entry of the user &# 39 ; s personal information , the reservation system is accessed to retrieve the user &# 39 ; s destination and / or routing information . the option of “ route to destination ” can then be presented to the user , such as via a touch screen display on the kiosk , thereby allowing one - touch destination selection . other options may include “ home ”, “ office ”, or any parties designated by the user either manually or via download of information from the personal rfid device or client device ( e . g ., pda or cell phone ). the foregoing approaches also have the added benefit ( to varying degrees ) of reducing overhead costs associated with setting up and managing the trust , since electronic transactions / reporting are often more cost efficient that manual performance ( such as by employees interacting with various entities in person or over the telephone or via mail ). it will also be recognized that use of the invention in a pod application may also carry certain economies of scale which can be exploited to the advantage of the carrier or others . for example , where many people traveling on an aircraft utilize the services described herein to forward their chattel to their travel destination , that same aircraft on which they are traveling can be used as the carrier mechanism for these chattels . hence , if the shipping and security scanning procedures of the chattels can be accomplished rapidly enough , the chattels can optionally be loaded on the very same aircraft ( or another traveling to that same destination ), and provided to the traveler upon their egress from the aircraft using procedures which are in effect substantially the inverse of those described herein for registering / shipping the chattel . in yet another embodiment , the shipping service provided to the user can be virtual in nature either in place of or in conjunction with the tangible services previously described . for example , where the user has an electronic device with important information ( e . g ., laptop , pda , etc . ), yet they are not allowed to take the device or magnetic media on the aircraft or other modality , they can ( i ) download the relevant information to a proxy agent ( e . g ., software process ) running on the kiosk or its proxy , and direct the proxy agent to forward the information to a designated real or virtual storage location ( such as an e - mail account , accessible url , third party storage facility , etc . ), and ( ii ) utilize the kiosk to physically transfer the device to a designated location . hence , where the user simply needs a few data files from their pda , they can download these using , e . g ., a bluetooth , wifi , or other wireless link and encrypted protocols to the proxy , which then forwards the files via e - mail to an account accessible by the user at the destination . they then contemporaneously ship the device to their home for later retrieval . it will also be recognized that depending on the configuration of the tag 106 , it may be encoded at time of deposit ( or before / after , such as via the user &# 39 ; s pda which can transmit data to the kiosk module 110 or a connected device ) with various other types of information , including visual or voice data . hence , the shipping element can carry audible instructions or information when decoded at the destination using an appropriate reader with audio capability . hence , the package can also be authenticated to some degree by the recipient before opening it . other types of information , including images , data , etc . can also be encoded into the shipping element . in another variant , the kiosk may be equipped to generate photographic , ir , x - ray , spectrographic , or even holographic images of the chattel for , e . g ., ( i ) electronic transmission to the user at the destination , such as where merely the appearance or other attribute of the device is important or sufficient ; ( ii ) for a security or “ purchase receipt ” record of what was actually deposited at the kiosk , e . g ., for insurance policy claim use or loss claims against the carrier ; or ( iii ) use by the carrier in sorting a bin of chattels . in the case of option ( iii ), users may simply swipe their personal rfid device , which after authorization , results in the kiosk generating the image of the chattel , one ( tactile or electronic ) copy being provided to the user either directly or indirectly , such as via paper copy or e - mail to the user &# 39 ; s designated account , and one for use by the carrier in sorting the receptacle . other data relating to the chattel may also be obtained and encoded / transmitted , such as the item &# 39 ; s weight , ferrous content / magnetization , electric field , luminance , fluorescence , or phosphorescence , fast neutron activation ( fna ) signature , etc . referring now to fig2 a - 2 c , various embodiments of the “ smart ” shipping element 104 of the invention are described . in these embodiments , the rfid tag 106 is disposed within a soft , pliable substrate ( which may be part of the shipping element 104 itself or otherwise mated thereto , such as using an adhesive ). ideally , the tag 106 is made as discreet as possible , thereby not alerting users to its presence . an envelope ( fig2 a ), box ( fig2 b ), and tube ( fig2 c ) are shown , although other forms may be used . the envelope pouch of fig2 a is ideally formed from a flexible material such as a polymer ( e . g ., polyethylene ), tyvek , or even paper , although other materials such as aramid fibers , elastomers , shrink - wrap or thermally responsive polymers , or flexible composites may be used as well . in yet another embodiment ( not shown ) the non - metallic conductive inks of the tag 106 are printed directly on the pliable material during manufacture ( and the ic mated accordingly ). the exemplary “ bistatix ” tag 106 is generally substrate - agnostic , and therefore will operate suitably using the materials listed above or others . it will be apparent from the foregoing discussion that myriad different types of shipping element 104 and tag 106 configurations may be used , the foregoing embodiment being merely exemplary . the receptacle / kiosk may be adapted to accept only certain shapes and / or sizes of element 104 , thereby limiting what can be deposited therein . in yet another embodiment , the kiosk can be configured to automatically package the chattel for the user , the latter merely depositing down a sized slot or aperture . the slot or aperture ( in conjunction with other mechanical elements ) creates an upper bound on the size of chattel that can be inserted . the user then merely swipes their personal rfid device past the reader , which encodes the tag 106 on the shipping element , seals the element 104 , and charges the user &# 39 ; s account based on the prevailing cost structure ( e . g ., weight / destination / priority / special handling ). if for whatever reason the item cannot be processed , such as where it is too heavy or the user &# 39 ; s payment method is refused , the kiosk merely activates a chute at the bottom of the kiosk to eject the user &# 39 ; s chattel into a tray , much akin to a vending machine . again , the slot or aperture can be actuated only upon conditions precedent if desired , such as authentication of the user &# 39 ; s payment source , etc . in another embodiment , the kiosk includes an lcd display and magnetic card reader of the type well known in the art e . g ., similar to those commonly found on gasoline pumps . such terminal also includes a “ soft ” keypad having a plurality of fixed or soft ( programmable or software controlled ) function keys . such soft keypad may comprise , for example , a capacitive keypad , crt - based “ touch screen ”, lcd , tft , or any other similar technology . it will be recognized that mechanical keys or button assemblies may also be used ; however , such devices are generally less weather and foreign - matter resistant , and require greater maintenance . the function keys provide a number of different functions to the user , including a “ print receipt ” function ( which may be coupled to a paper or electronic receipt functionality ), debit / credit select keys , transaction acknowledgement key , as well as an alpha - numeric keypad for entering data such as passwords , y / n inputs , etc . such functions and technology are well known to those of ordinary skill in the electronic arts , and accordingly not described further herein . once the commands for the desired transactions have been received by the kiosk , the user is prompted and then selects their payment mode ( e . g ., debit card ) via a fixed function key , and then swipes their card through the card reader . when the magnetic strip ( or smart card ) is read by the reader , the user &# 39 ; s debit information is transferred to the processor of the terminal , wherein the algorithm running thereon next initiates a request for the user &# 39 ; s password or “ pin ” code via the display device ( or alternatively via an audio interface driven by e . g ., stored celp voice data file , not shown ). after the user enters the pin code or password via the keypad , the authorization is obtained from the user &# 39 ; s cca or financial institution using any number of existing commercial financial transaction secure links well known in the industry . once authorized , the controller of the controller issues a command to enable the reader 108 and , optionally unlock the locking device to allow insertion of the shipping element 104 . in yet another embodiment , the chattels of two or more users can be aggregated into a common shipment or shipping element 104 in order to reduce costs . for example , where a number of passengers in a security checkpoint are traveling to the same destination , and a plurality of them have chattels which cannot be taken on board , the users can pair up in groups of two or more and utilize a common shipping element . to this end , the pod facility , air carrier , etc . can also provide or facilitate such a service , such as where the air carrier provides a kiosk whereby all user &# 39 ; s with rejected chattels can deposit their chattels for shipment to the destination via the passenger &# 39 ; s aircraft or another aircraft / mode . this service may be provided either gratuitously or for a fee . in another embodiment , the user , carrier or service provider can provide “ stick - on ” or otherwise selectively attachable rfid , bar code , magnetic strips , or even printed tags which the user can apply to their chattels for tracking . for example , in one case , the user can apply a number of pre - coded bar code labels to each of their chattels before travel ( or even at the pod once they know that the chattel cannot be transported via the selected modality ). the user then simply scans the label with a bar code reader provided a the kiosk ( akin to a prior art supermarket checkout kiosk ), and deposits the chattel in the receptacle ( whether in a shipping element 104 or not ) for subsequent handling by the carrier . to this end , users can establish pre - existing accounts , much like a prior art fedex or ups account , whereby the payment , shipment , etc . information is already known by the carrier . multiple different options can also be selected by the user such as , e . g ., at time of scanning , wherein the crt or other kiosk display device prompts the user to select a shipping destination , etc . the carrier can also utilize the aforementioned economies regarding co - location to make the service more cost efficient . for example , a kiosk at san diego airport is likely to receive a large number of chattels from people in the greater san diego area requesting that the chattels be returned to their home address , thereby allowing for grouping of deliveries for greater economy . furthermore , “ intelligent ” kiosk management can be utilized , whether in operation and / or construction , so as to increase economies . for example , the kiosk or subsequent handling mechanisms can be configured to selectively sort the deposited shipping elements or chattels based on destination . furthermore , the controller module of the kiosk can be programmed to alert a parent or proxy node of the need for unloading of the receptacle under certain conditions , such as when a sufficient number of items for a given destination are received . in order to reduce cost to the user , the latter may also be given the option to trade cost for latency ; i . e ., if a user can wait longer to get their chattel back , their cost of shipment can be lowered . this dynamic is particularly relevant to the present invention , since many travelers won &# 39 ; t arrive back home for several days anyway , thereby increasing their tolerance to longer shipping delays . this metric can also be managed by the kiosk or carrier , such as where kiosks are preferentially distributed ( or alternatively are equipped with receptacles equating to different shipping priorities or delays ) such that their users are skewed towards the relevant portion of the population . for example , a “ long delay ” shipment kiosk may be placed at the international terminal , a shorter latency kiosk may be suited better to the domestic or commuter flight terminals . also , the carrier or provider of the kiosk can coordinate with other carriers ( such as fedex or ups ) so as to intelligently schedule and manage distribution of the chattels to their destinations . for example , with data coupling of the kiosk carrier system with that of other carriers , and coordination there between , duplication of routes can be minimized , such as through a cross - carrier distribution agreement . as shown in fig3 , the internet or other internet / intranet is used as the basis for one embodiment of the “ backbone ” of the system 300 . the system 300 includes , for example , a backend server 306 , a plurality of “ front end ” kiosk devices 308 , including one or more mobile wap - enabled wireless devices 310 , the kiosks interfaced through a wireless base station 312 and wap gateway 314 of the type well known in the art , the latter being in data communication with the internet 302 . the wap associated wtls security protocols may also be employed if desired . clearly , the use of wap and a wireless topology in this embodiment is merely illustrative . the internet 302 advantageously makes use of the well known and generally ubiquitous tcp / ip protocol , thereby assuring compatibility and access by a wide variety of existing client devices . the server 306 is coupled to a database 307 which provides , inter alia , storage of user - related data and information such as personal information , statistics , security information , credit card information , etc . it will be recognized that multiple database entities may be used , such multiple entities being either co - located or disparate . the database 307 may also be functionally ( as opposed to physically ) partitioned and firewalled , such that various types of data are restricted from access by certain entities . additionally , the pod kiosks 308 may coupled directly to the internet , lan , wan , man , intranet , etc . via a service provider 332 ( dedicated or otherwise ). the kiosks 308 may include for example audio - visual apparatus such as an h . 323 - compliant protocol suite adapted for transfer of audio - visual data between the user and a customer service agent 336 , whereby the user and agent can communicate audibly ( such as via voip software installed on the kiosk and agent terminal ) and visually to complete the transaction . alternatively , the kiosk 308 can be configured with speech recognition software of the type now well known in the art to convert audible speech by the user to text or other data which is then utilized by the distant end to accomplish any number of functions such as chattel deposit and routing , providing on - demand information , etc . a text - to - speech ( tts ) capability may also be employed , wherein pre - stored or dynamically generated data files may be converted to audible speech at the kiosk . alternatively , pre - stored celp or similar compressed speech data files may be decompressed and played at the kiosk to provide audio information . a capacitive or other type of touch screen is optionally provided as an input device , with the display of the kiosk 308 ( not shown ) acting as both a display device and an input device , thereby simplifying the user interface . in another embodiment , a peer - to - peer arrangement ( either aided by a network agent or server , or true p2p ) may be used as the model for communications between entities , whether customer - to - carrier , customer - to - customer , carrier - to - carrier , etc .). it is even envisioned that a user - based bidding or barter system may be established , such as where users may place bids on unclaimed chattels ( somewhat akin to the prior art “ ebay ” paradigm ), or barter between themselves via p2p to exchange chattels . for example , a user unable to carry a given chattel on an aircraft may invoke a p2p session over their wifi link , and solicit a bid for the chattel form another party on say , an incoming aircraft or waiting to pick up a passenger in the terminal . the selling user can then deposit the chattel in a nearby kiosk as described elsewhere herein , and the purchaser can be electronically enabled to access the chattel after payment is made . hence , the kiosk can act as an electronic transaction arbiter and temporary storage location , for a fee to be extracted from the seller or buyer ( or both ). the particular kiosk where the chattel is deposited can also be readily identified to the purchaser via their ped or other means , such as a page to their cell phone , etc . a user can also reroute their chattel to another location after deposit . these transactions can also be conducted via cell phone if desired , again with the kiosk or system 100 acting as the intermediary for the transaction . it will be recognized that myriad different audio , display , and input technologies may be utilized consistent with the invention to transfer information between the user and the “ agent ” of the carrier . furthermore , the term “ kiosk ” is not limited to any particular physical layout , location , or arrangement . for example , a kiosk may be fixed or mobile , stand - alone or as part of another structure or component , indoor or outdoor , etc . also , the kiosks or their components also need not be in one physical location ; rather a “ virtual ” kiosk scattered at various locations throughout the pod for example is envisaged , acting electronically as one kiosk . in this fashion , data received and actions taken by various different physical kiosks can be coordinated and / or analyzed as desired . furthermore , the kiosks of the present invention ( s ) need not be fixed , but may also be mobile , such as where they are mounted on vehicles which are roving in nature . in one variant , an airport cart is configured with a mobile kiosk with secure wifi or uwb link ; the driver drives the cart to different security locations periodically to pick up chattels from users ( or merely allow them to interact with the kiosk as previously described herein ), or even for incidental user contact , much the way one waves down a taxicab . as yet another option , the interface between the shipping agent or its proxy and the user may be implemented using a virtual private network ( vpn ) of the type well known in the art , which provided secure end - to - end communications between two or more points via an untrusted network such as the internet . this embodiment may be implemented via the aforementioned wap / wtls technology suite and associated protocol stacks , through a dedicated or shared radius server and tunneled packets , or any other comparable arrangement capable of restricting access to the transmissions , database or other repositories of information to only authorized personnel . use of such security technology may be an important criteria in certain contexts , since users may want to have their personal data ( i . e ., identity , place of residence , credit card information , etc .) maintained in strict confidence to avoid any fear of surreptitious theft and use of this information without authorization ( e . g ., “ identity theft ”), or attempts to interfere with the delivery of the shipping element at or near its destination . the internet may also advantageously be used as a medium for receipt of shipment requests or solicitation of new prospective participants , in that a url ( e . g ., designating a worldwide website ) may be used to provide information , receive data , requests for additional information , etc . furthermore , meta - tags embedded in the site will key internet search engines to locate the site upon the initiation of an appropriate search using an internet search engine ( such as yahoo !, google ™, etc .). in one embodiment , an applet or comparable browser mechanism is initiated upon such search , the applet being configured to alert the user to the existence of the url / website when a search having appropriate parameters is initiated . it will be appreciated that the chattel transport services described herein may also be provided in conjunction with other services , whether related or not . for example , chattels may be stored ( either at the pod or another location ) for a finite period of time at the user &# 39 ; s request , somewhat like an airport or bus terminal locker . in one variant , the transport destination may be designated as opod ( original pod ), such that the user can merely pay for the storage of his / her chattel , and then recover it at a later time , such as upon the completion of their return flight . others may also be authorized to access the storage facility / receptacle , such as family members , etc . other services may comprise , e . g ., cleaning , repair , maintenance , testing , etc . of the chattel , registration in a database , etc . the user may also be presented with pos ( point of sale ) options at the pod for these or other goods / services , such as flight insurance , chattel shipment insurance , mp3 or music downloads , or even carrier - authorized replacement chattels for those being surrendered by the user . it is also noted that the various tracking or marking mechanisms described herein ( i . e ., rfid , bar codes , magnetic strips , etc .) are not exclusive of one another , and in fact may be used together to advantage , such as to perform different functions at different points throughout the processing or transit chain of the chattels . for example , the rfid tagging approach may be more suitable to one portion of the chain ( such as user interface at the kiosk ), whereas magnetic media may be more desirable for other processing tasks . these different media may also be made selectively removable if desired , so that a chattel or shipping element 104 can be “ marked ” and “ unmarked ” if desired during processing , delivery , security scanning , etc . encodings used on the shipping elements can also be made human readable if desired to facilitate such processing . it should be recognized that while the foregoing discussion of the various aspects of the invention has described specific sequences of steps necessary to perform the methods of the present invention , other sequences of steps may be used depending on the particular application . specifically , additional steps may be added , and other steps deleted as being optional . furthermore , the order of performance of certain steps may be permuted , and / or performed in parallel with other steps . hence , the specific methods disclosed herein are merely exemplary of the broader methods of the invention . while the above detailed description has shown , described , and pointed out novel features of the invention as applied to various embodiments , it will be understood that various omissions , substitutions , and changes in the form and details of the device or process illustrated may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention . the described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only illustrative and not restrictive . the scope of the invention is , therefore , indicated by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description . all changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalence of the claims are to embraced within their scope . | 6 |
a digital phase locked loop which could employ the digital data phase detector of this invention is fully described and discussed in the cross reference patent application entitled &# 34 ; apparatus and method for controlling the frequency at which data is written in a disk drive system &# 34 ;. the digital data phase detector of this invention could be used as the data digital phase detector 36 of fig2 of this cross referenced patent application . fig2 is an illustration of a typical analog signal read from the magnetic media . prior to the sampling of the analog signal by one or more analog to digital convertors , the analog signal is processed to have a baseline value of rb such that the samples will have a value of r1 , rb or r2 if the phase and frequency of the clock is the same as the data . one such apparatus that performs such processing is disclosed in the crossed referenced patent application entitled &# 34 ; apparatus for compensating for non - linear characteristics of magnetoresistive heads &# 34 ;. in many system that employ a digital phase locked loop , the clock is square wave whose rising edge is used to initiate the sampling of the analog signal to obtain a digital sample . fig2 also shows 15 samples of the analog waveform taken in the sequence of s1 , s2 , s3 , s4 , s5 , s6 , s7 , s8 , s9 , s10 , s11 , s12 , s13 , s14 and s15 with values of r2 , r2 , r1 , r1 , r2 , r2 , r1 , r1 , r2 , r2 , rb , r1 , r1 , r2 and r2 respectively . assuming that an encoding scheme encoded the data such that a transition occurred in the magnetic field of the magnetic media whenever a binary 1 occurred in the data stream to be recorded . the sequence of binary bits encoded in the analog waveform would be 1 , 0 , 1 , 0 , 1 , 0 , 1 , 0 , 1 , 0 , 0 , 1 , 0 , 1 and 0 . fig1 shows a block diagram of the digital phase detector of the invention . the digital sample s generated during each clock period is presented via line 53 to shift register 15 for storage . shift register 15 has four stages , ya , yb , yc and yd , for storing the value of four consecutive digital samples . the contents of shift register 15 is made available estimators 16 , 17 , 18 , and 19 every cycle of clock a on line 54 . clock a is obtained by dividing in half the clock provided by the phase locked loop . table a demonstrates the contents of shift register 15 and which samples will be evaluated during consecutive clock a periods . table a______________________________________clock a shift register 15 evalu . period ya yb yc yd yb yc______________________________________1 s2 s1 s12 s4 s3 s2 s1 s3 s23 s6 s5 s4 s3 s5 s44 s8 s7 s6 s5 s7 s65 s10 s9 s8 s7 s9 s86 s12 s11 s10 s9 s11 s107 s14 s13 s12 s11 s13 s12______________________________________ table a shows the order in which samples are shifted through the shift register 15 and that each samples will be effectively evaluated in the sequence that the samples are stored in shift register 15 . it should be noted that each stage of shift register 15 stores a multi bit positive or negative binary number . estimators 16 , 17 , 18 and 19 each generates a predicted value for the sample received from stages ya , yb , yc or yd respectively via buses 31 , 32 , 33 or 34 respectively . the predicted value is that value which the sample should have had , r1 , rb or r2 , if the phase and frequency of the clock and the data are the same . two threshold values t1 and t2 are stored in registers 65 and 66 respectively and are provider to each of the estimators 16 , 17 , 18 and 19 via buses 67 and 68 respectively . fig2 illustrates that threshold value t1 has a value between the value of rb and r1 and that threshold value t2 has a value between the value of rb and r2 . each estimator 16 , 17 , 18 and 19 has three outputs labeled r1 , rb and r2 , one output will be high and the remaining two outputs will be low during any given period of clock a . referring to fig4 each of the estimators 16 , 17 , 18 and 19 is comprised of comparators 80 and 81 and nor 82 . comparator 80 generates the output labeled r1 which will be high only when the value of the sample received from the stage y of shift register 15 has a value greater than threshold value t1 . comparator 81 generates the output labeled r2 which will be high only when the value of the sample received from the stage y of shift register 15 has a value less than threshold value t2 . nor 82 generates the output labeled rb which will be high only when both of the outputs labeled r1 and r2 are low , that is when the value of the sample in stage y is equal to or less than the threshold value t1 and is equal to or greater than the threshold value t2 . error detector 20 generates a correction signal at terminal 10 which is provided to adder 22 via bus 47 . the correction signal is indicative of the magnitude and the direction of the error between the phase of the clock and the data encoded in the analog signal . the correction signal is derived from the value of the sample stored in stage yb received via bus 32 at terminal 0 . the sign of the correction signal is obtained from the slope of the analog signal when the sample stored in stage yb was obtained from the analog signal . the slope is determined from the sequence of predicted values established by the raised output of estimators 16 , 17 and 18 . the three outputs from estimators 16 , 17 and 18 via buses 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 and 43 respectively are received at terminal 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 and 9 respectively . the values for rb , r1 and r2 are stored in registers 57 , 58 and 59 and are provide to error detector 20 via buses 60 , 61 and 62 at terminals 11 , 12 and 13 respectively . error detector 21 generates a correction signal at terminal 10 which is provided to adder 22 via bus 48 . the correction signal is indicative of the magnitude and the direction of the error between the phase of the clock and the data encoded in the analog signal . the correction signal is derived from the value of the sample stored in stage yc received via bus 33 at terminal 0 . the sign of the correction signal is obtained from the slope of the analog signal when the sample stored in stage yb was obtained from the analog signal . the slope is determined from the sequence of predicted values established by the raised output of estimators 17 , 18 and 19 . the three outputs from estimators 17 , 18 and 19 via buses 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 and 46 respectively are received at terminal 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 and 9 respectively . the values for rb , r1 and r2 are stored in registers 57 , 58 and 59 and are provide to error detector 21 via buses 60 , 61 and 62 at terminals 11 , 12 and 13 respectively . fig5 shows the logic included within error detectors 20 and 21 . fig3 is a chart showing the sequences of predicted sample values which can be used in generating a correction signal , the slope associated with each sequence , the encoded value for each sequence , the logic element of fig5 which tests for each sequence and the formula for generating the correction value for each sequence . commonly used values are 1 for r1 , 0 for rb and - 1 for r2 and are so used in fig3 and in the discussion of the operation of error detectors 20 and 21 . the sequence of 0 1 1 in the sequence column indicates that the predicted value for the sample in stage ya is 0 and therefore the output rb of estimator 16 is raised , the predicted value for the sample in stage yb is 1 and therefore the output r1 of estimator 17 is raised and the predicted value for the sample in stage yc is 1 and therefore the output r1 of estimator 17 is raised . slope information can be obtained from the sequences listed in the sequence column of fig3 . those sequences not listed do not provided sufficient information to derive the slope of the analog signal such that the sign for any correction value can reliably be determined and therefore a correction value of 0 is generated for those sequences . referring to fig2 if the phase of the clock lags the phase of the data , that is the clock is running slow , then the analog waveform would be shifted to the left . using for example the samples s2 , s3 , s4 and s5 , such a shift to the left results in the sample value for samples s2 and s3 on the positive slope being more positive than r2 and r1 respectively and the sample value for samples s4 and s5 on the negative slope being less positive than r1 and r2 respectively . the correction value is obtained on the positive slope by subtracting from the measured sample value the predicted sample value , that is either r1 , rb or r2 , for that measured sample value and on the negative slope by subtracting the measured sample value from the predicted sample value , that is either r1 , rb or r2 , for that measured sample value . the resulting correction value will have positive sign which causes the voltage controlled oscillator in the digital phase locked loop to increase in frequency thereby effectively moving the analog signal to the right . conversely , if the phase of the clock leads the phase of the data , that is the clock is running fast , then the analog waveform would be shifted to the right . using for example the samples s2 , s3 , s4 and s5 , such a shift to the right results in the sample value for samples s2 and s3 on the positive slope being less positive than r2 and r1 respectively and the sample value for samples s4 and s5 on the negative slope being more positive than r1 and r2 respectively . the correction value is obtained on the positive slope by subtracting from the measured sample value the predicted sample value , that is either r1 , rb or r2 , for that measured sample value and on the negative slope by subtracting the measured sample value from the predicted sample value , that is either r1 , rb or r2 , for that measured sample value . the correction value will have a negative sign which causes the voltage controlled oscillator in the digital phase locked loop to decrease in frequency thereby effectively moving the analog signal to the left . it should be remembered that the samples can be either a positive or negative number and that the value of r2 is a normally a negative number . as can be seen in fig3 the measured sample value y for all sequences having a negative slope is subtracted from the predicted value yb for the sequence of ya yb yc or from the predicted value yc for the sequence of yb yc yd to obtain the correction value for the voltage controlled oscillator . in like manner for all sequences having a positive slope , the predicted value yb for the sequence of ya yb yc or the predicted value yc for the sequence of yb yc yd is subtracted from the measured sample value y to obtain the correction value for the voltage controlled oscillator . the calculations for obtaining the magnitude and sign for the correction value for a measured sample value y where r1 is a positive number , rb is equal to zero and r2 is a negative number , are as follows : referring to fig5 the logic of error detector 21 will be discussed with rb = 0 , r1 = 1 and r2 =- 1 and in conjunction with the subject matter presented in fig3 . error detector 20 will not be discussed since the operation of error detector 20 is the same as the operation of error detector 21 except for the source of the inputs at terminal 0 - 9 . a raise output will be designated as a 1 and a low output will be designated as a 0 . the predicted values generated by each estimator is encoded into two bits m and l as set forth in the following truth table : ______________________________________ m l______________________________________r1 ( 1 ) 1 1rb ( 0 ) 0 1r2 (- 1 ) 0 0______________________________________ the encoding is obtained by using the output r1 as bit m and the inverted output of r2 as bit l for each of the estimators used in determining the slope and if a valid sequence for providing a valid correction value is present in stages yb , yc and yd of shift register 15 . inverter 102 inverts the r2 output from estimator 17 appearing at terminal 3 of error detector 21 . inverter 107 inverts the r2 output from estimator 19 appearing at terminal 9 of error detector 21 . it is only necessary to investigate the first and third sample values of a sequence in order to determine the slope of the sequence and whether the sequence is a valid sequence . referring to fig3 the encoded column set forth the encode value for bit md and ld for the first predicted value yd and the encoded value for mb and lb for the third predict value yb for each sequence listed in the sequence column . the value of mb will be a 0 and the value of ld will be a 1 only when there is a negative slope . referring to fig5 the slope is determined by or 110 which will have an output value on line 130 of a 1 when the slope is positive and an output value of a 0 when the slope is negative . inverters 100 , 103 , 105 and 108 and nors 101 , 104 , 106 and 109 form a detector that will provide a 1 to or 111 only when a sequence shown in the sequence column of fig3 is being processed which in turn will then provide a 1 on line 131 . the predicted value yc as determined by estimator 18 is provided on bus 132 . transmission gate 112 will pass the value of 1 ( r1 ) at terminal 12 from register ( r1 ) 58 onto bus 132 if the r1 output received at terminal 4 from estimator 18 is a 1 . transmission gate 115 will pass the value of 0 ( rb ) at terminal 11 from register ( rb ) 57 onto bus 132 if the rb output received at terminal 5 from of estimator 18 is a 1 . transmission gate 119 will pass the value of - 1 ( r2 ) at terminal 13 from register ( r2 ) 59 onto bus 132 if the r2 output received at terminal 6 from of estimator 18 is a 1 . therefore the proper predicted value will be present on bus 132 for the calculation of the correction value . the sample value y stored in stage yc of shift register 15 is transferred from bus 33 at terminal 0 to bus 135 within decoder 21 . when the output of or 110 is a 1 ( positive slope ) the sample value y on bus 135 will pass through transmission gate 114 onto bus 133 to input a of subtractor 123 and the predicted value on bus 132 will pass through transmission gate 116 onto bus 134 to input b of subtractor 123 . when the output of or 110 is a 0 ( negative slope ) the sample value y on bus 135 will pass through transmission gate 121 onto bus 134 to input b of subtractor 123 and the predicted value on bus 132 will pass through transmission gate 120 onto bus 133 to input a of subtractor 123 . subtractor 123 performs the function of a - b . which digital values are received at input a and input b of subtractor 123 is determined by the slope of the sequence thereby allowing the correction calculation , shown in the correction calculation column of fig3 to be performed . each of the six binary bits of the correction value provided at the output of subtractor 123 is connected to one of the ands 140 - 145 . when the output of or 111 is a 1 , indicating a valid sequence , the outputs of ands 140 - 145 will be equal to the correction value of subtractor 123 . when the output of or 111 is a 0 , indicating a invalid sequence , the outputs of ands 140 - 145 will be a correction value equal to zero . the outputs of ands 140 - 145 are connect to bus 136 which exits error detector 20 at terminal 10 and continues on via bus 47 to adder 22 . in a similar manner , for each cycle of operation , error detector 21 will provide a correction value on bus 48 to adder 22 . while the subtractor 123 of error detector 20 is shown to have an output containing six binary bits , it is well understood by those skilled in the art that the number of binary bit in the output of subtractor 123 is not limited to six but rather will be defined by the designer of the specific embodiment of the invention to met the specific requirements of the designer . adder 22 algebraically adds together the two correction values to generate a total correction value and places the total correction value on bus 49 for use in the phase locked loop to control the phase of the voltage controlled oscillator . effectively the digital phase detector provides a total correction value every other clock cycle thereby allowing the digital phase detector to operate at one half the clock frequency while deriving phase information from each sample which are generated at he clock frequency . there are many logic configuration that can be designed to detect the slope and the validity of the sequence other than the preferred logic included in error detector 21 described herein . while the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the described embodiment therefore , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . given the above disclosure of general concepts and specific embodiments , the scope of the protection sought is defined by the following . | 7 |
referring to fig5 and 6 , it can be seen that the tool carousel according to this embodiment of the invention comprises a number of bracket units 200 which are interlocked to form a carousel wheel 500 . each bracket unit 200 is connected with a respective pot unit 300 and retention collar 400 . each bracket unit 200 , pot unit 300 and retention collar 400 is injection moulded from a plastics material which comprises a chemical lubricant . of course , the components could be manufactured from a different material and an alternative lubricant could be used . each of the three primary components shown in fig6 will now be described in detail . where the bracket units are described , expressions such as &# 34 ; radial &# 34 ;, &# 34 ; axial &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; circumferential &# 34 ; are used with reference to the assembled carousel wheel shown in fig5 . one of the bracket units 200 is shown in detail in fig7 a to 9 . it can be seen that the unit comprises a main bracket body portion 202 , which has a generally wedge - shaped profile when viewed in plan , such as in fig9 . on a first radially extending side of the body portion 202 , there is provided a male dovetail portion 212 . on the opposite radially extending side of the body portion 202 , there is provided a female dovetail portion 214 . each bracket unit 200 has the same configuration , so the dovetail formations from two adjacent bracket units 200 can be interlocked , so as to join them together . due to the wedge - shape of the body portion 202 , thirty bracket unit can be joined together so as to form a complete ring , thereby defining the carousel wheel shown in fig5 . of course , it is not necessary for the carousel ring to be formed from thirty bracket assemblies . if it is intended for the carousel wheel to hold a smaller or greater number of tools , then a corresponding number of bracket units should be used . in such a case , the bracket units will need to have the radially extending sides of the body portion 202 moulded at an appropriately different angle of separation . generally speaking , if a greater number of bracket assemblies are required in order to house a respectively larger number of tools , then the angle between the two sides of the body portion 202 will be relatively smaller . on the other hand , if fewer bracket units are required , then the angle between the two sides of the body portion 202 would be relatively greater . this configuration is particularly suitable for manufacture from plastics materials , hence a lightweight , relatively inexpensive wheel can be constructed , without sacrificing strength and durability . furthermore due to its modular construction , the wheel can easily be repaired or modified . integrally formed with the body portion 202 , there is a hinge arm 204 . the hinge arm 204 extends from the radially outer end of the body portion 202 and is inclined at an angle of 50 ° to the carousel wheel axis . as can be seen particularly clearly in fig8 and 9 , the hinge arm 204 is defined by a generally box - like outer wall structure 216 which is strengthened by three intersecting cross - webs 218 , 220 and 222 . an integrally formed cylinder 224 is situated at the intersection of the three cross - webs 218 , 220 and 222 . it should be noted that the cross - webs and the cylinder all have walls which are generally parallel with the wheel axis . this feature can best be seen in fig6 . the box - like section of the hinge arm 204 has generally parallel sides 226 and 228 . moving away from the junction of the hinge arm 204 with the body portion 202 , the walls 226 and 228 lead into a distal end portion of a relatively narrower width 230 , via inclined walls 232 and 234 . the distal end portion of the hinge arm 230 is provided with a transversely extending barrel 236 having a generally circular cross - section . the barrel 236 has length which is very slightly longer than the width of the distal end portion 236 . each end face 238 of the barrel 236 is provided with a respective axle lug 240 of a generally circular cross - section . the barrel 236 comprises a pair of pockets 242 , each having a rectangular cross - section . the pockets 242 extend in a direction parallel to the cross - webs 218 - 222 and the wheel axis . the cross - webs , 218 - 222 , the cylinder 224 and the pockets 242 result in a strong , yet lightweight unit that can be manufactured from a relatively small amount of material . as can be seen most clearly in fig7 a and 7b , a flexible tongue 206 extends perpendicularly from the bracket unit body 202 from a region close to the junction of the hinge arm with the body portion 202 . the tongue 206 comprises an elongate hook portion 244 extending transversely along its distal end , so as to face generally towards the barrel 236 . the tongue 206 is provided with four integrally formed ribs 246 on the opposite side to the hook portion 244 and in the region of the end at which it is joined to the body portion 202 . the ribs 246 each have a thickness which tapers in a curved fashion from the junction of the tongue 206 and the body portion 202 towards the distal end of the tongue 206 . the ribs 246 serve to constrain the flexion of the tongue 206 in a gradually reducing fashion towards its distal end , thereby providing a precisely controlled spring characteristic . the tongue comprises a further four ribs 247 on its opposite face , these ribs being directed towards the barrel and tapering in thickness from the hook portion 244 to the axial centre of the tongue . the ribs 247 reduce stresses in this part of the unit to an acceptable level when the unit is fully loaded . on a surface of the hinge arm 204 which generally faces the tongue 206 , there are provided a pair of stops 248 , one of which can be seen clearly in fig7 a . each stop is located generally towards the side of the hinge arm 204 and includes a square - section rebate 250 running in a direction generally perpendicular to the axis of the tongue 206 . as can be seen from fig7 a and 7b , the body portion 202 has a general box - structure which is strengthened by a pair of further cross - webs 252 and 254 . this structure also provides strength with low weight and requires a relatively small amount of material for manufacture . extending from the tongue - side face of the body portion 202 are a pair of lugs 256 and 258 , which extend generally parallel to the tongue 206 . each lug is generally in the form of a cylinder which extends into the box of the body portion 202 . as can be seen from fig9 the bores of the cylinders 256 , 258 extend through to the opposite surface of the body portion 202 . a further generally cylindrical portion 260 is situated in a crook defined between the cross - webs 252 and 254 and generally towards the opposite end of the body portion 202 . as with cylinders 256 and 258 , the bore of cylinder 260 extends through to the opposite surface of the body portion 202 . lugs 256 , 258 are used for radial positioning in conjunction with an annular groove in the hub upon which the carousel wheel 500 is mounted . if the annular groove is replaced by a series of accurately bored holes , the lugs can be used for circumferential as well as radial positioning of the bracket units . in such a case , the dovetail formations 212 , 214 could be omitted . the opposite surface of the body portion 202 is provided with a generally trapezoidal wall 208 that extends perpendicularly from the face of the body portion 202 in a direction parallel to the wheel axis . when the bracket units are assembled together to form a carousel wheel , the walls 208 together define a series of radial slots which are used as carousel - locator slots in a &# 34 ; geneva wheel &# 34 ; mechanism for controlling the rotational position of the carousel wheel . the end face of the body portion 202 that faces radially inwardly , when the bracket units are connected together as shown in fig5 comprises a series of radially - inwardly facing teeth 210 which , in conjunction with the teeth provided on the other connected bracket units 200 define a circular gear rack . in use , the gear rack is used to control the rotational orientation of the carousel wheel . since both the geneva mechanism and the gear rack have the same general purpose , one or the other may be deleted . however if both are provided on the bracket units , a choice of rotational position control mechanisms is provided , without requiring two different types of bracket unit to be produced . referring to fig6 and 10a to 12 , the pot units 300 will now be described . each pot unit comprises a tool cylinder 302 integrally formed with a hinge arm 304 , which extends generally radially from an outer surface of the tool cylinder 302 . the hinge arm 304 is hollow and formed from two generally planar flank walls 308 joined by a transverse end wall 310 at their distal ends . each of the flank walls 308 comprises a circular aperture 312 . due to the natural resilience of the flank walls 308 , the apertures 312 snap - fit over the axle lugs 240 provided on a bracket unit . the attachment of a pot unit to a bracket unit in this manner can be seen clearly in fig6 . as an alternative , the hinge arm 204 could be constructed to provide the necessary resilience to enable the snap - fit . each flank wall 308 comprises a cut - away portion 314 which has a generally v - shaped profile , with a somewhat rounded bottom . the cut - away portions 314 are set into the respective edges of the flank walls 308 which address a bracket unit when the two are connected together and arranged in the manner of fig6 . the cut - away portions 314 serve to accommodate the box portion 316 of the bracket assembly . the end wall 310 of the hinge arm 304 is provided with a series of axially extending ridges 316 which interlock with ribs 247 provided on the bracket unit 300 . each of the ridges 316 terminates in an undercut 322 . in use , the transversely extending hooked portion 244 provided on the tongue 206 of the bracket unit 200 snap - fittingly locates underneath the undercut 322 when the pot is rotated about the hinge 240 , 312 in the clock - wise direction , to the position shown in fig6 . this secures the position of the pot unit 300 , relative to the bracket unit 200 . although this clipping method has been found particularly effective , other arrangements may be employed . for example , a much bigger clip , for gripping a cylinder , may be provided on each bracket unit 200 . on the axially opposite side to the cut - away portions 314 , the hinge arm 304 is provided with an integrally formed barrel 318 . the barrel comprises a bore 320 , which extends in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction and the radial direction of the cylinder 302 . in use , the barrel co - operates with a lifting mechanism which comprises a fork 122 for constraining the barrel , the mechanism being used to cause rotation of the pot assembly about the hinge 312 , 240 . such a mechanism is described below . the hinge arm 304 further comprises an internal , lateral cross member 324 for strength and stiffness . two further , mutually parallel internal walls 325 extend perpendicular to the cross member 324 . these also enhance the stiffness of the structure . the tool cylinder 302 is provided , at one axial end , with a seat portion 306 for accommodating a retention collar 400 . referring to fig1 , it will be seen that the seat portion 306 takes the form of an axially extending seat cylinder 326 concentrically situated at one end of the tool cylinder 302 . extending radially into the mouth of the seat cylinder 326 , there are provided three lugs 328 at 120 ° intervals . circumferentially in line with each lug and axially inwardly of the mouth of the cylinder 326 , there is provided an elongate recess channel 329 , which has a part - circular cross - section . a similarly shaped channel 330 is provided between each pair of lugs 328 and extends from the mouth of the cylinder 326 to a shoulder 332 which faces axially back towards the mouth of the cylinder 326 . referring to fig6 and 14 , it will be seen that the retention collar 400 is generally cylindrical and provided with three radially projecting lugs 402 which are located at 120 ° intervals about its periphery , each at an axial distance which is approximately mid - way between the two end surfaces of the holder . each lug 402 is in the form of a flexible bridge , which extends across a respective axially extending channel 403 . the radially outer surface of each lug 402 is provided with an axially extending rib 404 , mid - way between its two circumferential ends . the lugs 402 co - operate with the lugs 328 provided in the cylinder 326 of the tool cylinder 302 . in use , the retention collar 400 is presented to the cylinder 326 , with the ribs 404 circumferentially aligned with the channels 330 provided on the inner face of the cylinder 326 . the retention collar is then inserted axially into the cylinder 326 , until the advancing end surface of the collar 400 abuts the shoulder 332 . at this point , the collar 400 is rotated and the lugs 402 flex radially inwardly , as the ribs 404 are urged out of the channels 330 . to secure the collar 400 in place , it is rotated until the lugs 402 are each situated behind a respective lug 328 , at which point the ribs 404 become circumferentially aligned with the channels 329 and snap into position due to the inherent flexibility of the lugs 402 . the combination of the bridge - shape of the lugs 402 and the channels 403 provides sufficient radial flexibility for this operation to be performed . once the lugs 402 are located axially behind the lugs 328 , the collar 400 is axially secured within the tool cylinder 302 . to remove the collar 400 from the tool cylinder 302 , the collar 400 must first be rotated against the radial resilience of the lugs 402 , until the ribs 404 are once again circumferentially aligned with the channels 330 , whereupon the collar can be axially withdrawn . the retention collar 400 further comprises six internal , axially extending tongues 406 , which are arranged in three groups of two , the groups being located at 120 ° intervals . each tongue 406 is secured at one end to the inner wall of the collar cylinder 400 , and , at the opposite end ( towards the top of fig1 ) is unrestrained , thereby enabling each tongue 406 to flex radially . each tongue is provided with a radially inwardly facing tool - gripping lug 408 proximate to its distal end . in use , the tongues co - operate to grip the pull - stud of a tool holder 600 to secure the tool axially within the cylinder 302 . in this regard , it can be seen in fig6 that the pull - stud of the illustrated tool holder 600 comprises a radial flange 602 . in practice , the tool holder is inserted into the tool cylinder 302 from the end of the tool cylinder that is opposite to the end in which the tool holder 400 is inserted . therefore , the pull - stud of the tool holder enters the collar 400 from the bottom of fig1 . as the pull - stud moves between the lugs 408 , the tongues 406 move radially outwardly . once the flange 602 has moved above the lugs 408 , as shown in fig1 , the tongues snap back into place , thereby resisting downward movement of the pull - stud 600 . radially inwardly directed struts 410 serve restrict radial displacement of the pull - stud during insertion , thereby protecting the tongues 406 from over - flexion . as a consequence of the described arrangement , collars having different internal dimensions , for holding tool holders configured to different standards , may be interchangeably secured within the pot cylinder . it is even possible to configure a retention collar to be axially reversible ; that is to say with means for gripping one type of pull - stud in one axial end region and different means for gripping a different type of pull - stud in the opposite axial end region . in use , the bracket units are connected together in the manner shown in fig5 . each bracket unit is provided with a respective pot unit 300 , these being connected together as shown in fig6 . each pot unit 300 has a retention collar 400 fitted inside in the manner described above . the assembled carousel is fitted to a tool changer of the general type shown in fig1 . in this arrangement , the geneva wheel indexing mechanism will be situated towards the right of the tool carousel , as viewed in fig1 and the open , tool receiving end of each tool cylinder 302 will face towards the left of fig1 . the carousel is caused to rotate using either the geneva wheel mechanism or the gear rack 210 , until the desired tool is situated at the bottom of the tool carousel . when in this position , a tool release mechanism ( described below ) causes the tongue 206 to lift up , thereby allowing the tool cylinder to rotate around the hinge 240 , 312 . the rotation of the tool cylinder is controlled by a lifting / lowering mechanism ( described below ) which interacts with the barrel 318 . once the pot unit has been moved into a position whereby the tool cylinder has its axis vertically aligned , the tool can be removed from the cylinder using a tool arm in the standard manner . a pot lifting and lowering mechanism 700 will now be described with reference to fig1 to 19 . the mechanism comprises a vertically - mounted cam wheel 702 which rotates on a horizontal axis 704 . the cam wheel comprises a radially outer geared periphery 706 which meshes with drive gearing provided on a drive motor 708 . the cam wheel 702 comprises two primary camming formations . the first of these is a spiral channel 710 which is moulded into a first face of the cam wheel 720 . the spiral channel accommodates a lug ( not shown ) of a lifting arm 121 , which extends generally vertically , as can be seen in fig1 . as the cam wheel 702 is caused to rotate by the motor 708 , the lug , which is entrained within the spiral channel and which is constrained to move only vertically , is caused to move up or down , depending upon the direction of rotation of the cam wheel 702 . this , in turn , causes the arm 121 to move up and down and , thus , the fork 122 with its mouth 123 moves up and down correspondingly . on its opposite side , as can best be seen from fig1 and 20 , the cam wheel 702 is provided with a generally circumferentially extending camming surface 712 . this camming surface bears against a release pin 714 , which is vertically mounted and comprises a lifting catch 716 at its axially lowermost end . the lifting catch 716 is hooked underneath the tongue 206 of the bracket unit currently in position . a helical compression spring 718 encircles the release pin 714 between its head 720 and the upper surface of a mounting bracket 722 , through which it extends . the compression spring 718 urges the release pin 714 upwards , but this action is resisted by the camming surface 712 , which bears on the head of the pin 720 . referring to fig1 , it will be seen that the camming surface 712 has a part - circular portion 713 that extends for 270 ° about the axis at a constant , maximum radial distance . whilst this part - circular bearing surface 713 bears against the head of the release pin 714 , the pin is maintained in the lowermost position shown in fig1 . however , the camming surface 712 also comprises a chamfered portion 715 defined by two flat portions 717 , each of which is radially closer to the rotation axis of the cam wheel 702 than the part - circular portion 713 . consequently , when the cam wheel 702 is rotated to bring the chamfered portion 715 above the release pin 714 , the pin is allowed to move upwardly , under the action of the compression spring 718 , and the lifting catch 716 lifts the tongue 206 of the pot unit 200 upwards . this releases the pot unit 300 in such a manner that it can be rotated about the hinge 240 . due to the relative configurations of the spiral 710 and the cam surface 712 , at the time that the hinge is lifted upwards , the arm 121 is caused to move downwardly and the fork 122 then begins to push the barrel 318 downwardly , thereby causing the pot unit 300 to rotate about the axis . more specifically , referring to fig1 , when the cam wheel 702 is orientated such that position a on its circumference is at the lowermost point , the arm and the release pin 714 will be positioned as shown in fig1 . if the wheel 702 is then caused to rotate in the clockwise direction of fig1 , the arm 121 is first lifted slightly , so causing the fork 122 to take the load of the clip 206 . the release pin 714 is then allowed to spring upwards , thereby lifting the tongue 206 . thereafter , the arm 121 is gradually lowered , until point b is lowermost , at which time the pot unit has been rotated around the axle 240 to such an extent that it will not longer be interfered with by the tongue 206 . therefore , the cam surface 712 once again lowers the catch . as the cam wheel 702 is rotated further in the clockwise direction , the arm 121 is lowered still further until it reaches a lowest point , when circumferential point c of the cam wheel 702 is lowest . at this point , the tool cylinder 302 has its axis aligned vertically and the tool is ready for removal by the transfer arm 4 . to lift the pot unit , the cam wheel 702 is merely rotated in the opposite direction , so as to move the cam wheel 702 anticlockwise as seen in fig1 . fig2 shows a drive mechanism 800 for use in conjunction with the circular gear track 210 . the drive mechanism comprises a motor 801 fitted with a drive shaft 802 with a radial gear 804 for meshing with the drive track 210 . the drive shaft is fitted with a steel bar 806 that rotates as the drive shaft 802 rotates . three proximity switches 808 , 810 and 812 are provided along the rotational path of the bar 806 . these are connected with a control device 814 that controls the rotational speed of the motor 801 . the operation of the mechanism will now be described with reference to fig2 . upon application of a current to the motor , it ramps up to a maximum speed indicated at w in fig2 . the motor continues at this speed until an end 850 of the bar 806 passes proximity switch 808 , as shown in chain - dot line in fig2 . once the proximity switch detects the presence of the iron bar , the motor is ramped down to an intermediate speed , the occurrence of which is shown at x in fig2 . the motor then continues to rotate at the intermediate speed , until proximity switch 810 detects the presence of the iron bar . this event is indicated at y in fig2 . it will be seen that the controller 814 then steps the motor down to the minimum rotational speed , until the leading edge of the bar end passes proximity switch 812 and the trailing edge of the bar end simultaneously passes proximity switch 810 , when the controller sends a signal for the motor to stop , as indicated at z in fig2 . this arrangement allows the rotational velocity of the motor to be arrested in a precise and controlled manner that avoids damage to any of the components of the carousel . whilst the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment , it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment , but is intended to cover various arrangements including within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements . | 8 |
the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . fig1 shows a principle of the double effect absorption type refrigerator according to the invention . the double effect absorption refrigerator is comprised of regenerators 1a and 1b , a condenser 2 , an evaporator 3 , an absorber 4 , pump means 8 for circulating absorbing solutions 6 , 6a and 6b and refrigerant 7 among these structural components and a heat exchanger 5 . each component will operate as follows . a cool water 10 is supplied into interiors of an evaporator tube bundle 9 of the evaporator 3 whereas a refrigerant 7 supplied from a refrigerant pump 8b is sprayed to the outside of the tube bundle through spray nozzles 11 to thereby remove heat out of the cool water by its evaporation latent heat . an aqueous lithium bromide solution has a vapor pressure much lower than that of water kept at the same temperature and enables to absorb water vapor generated at a considerably low temperature . in the absorber 4 , a refrigerant vapor generated in the evaporator 3 is absorbed into the aqueous lithium bromide solution ( absorbing solution ) 6 sprayed onto the outer surfaces of cooling tubes 12 of the absorber 4 . absorption heat generated at this time is cooled by a cooling water 13 passing through the tubes . a diluted absorbing solution 6b which absorbs the refrigerant at the absorber 4 to reduce its concentration has a weak absorbing ability . therefore , a part of the absorbing solution 6b is fed to a high temperature regenerator 1a by a solution circulating pump 8a and is heated thereat by a gas burner or the like to thereby evaporate and separate a high temperature refrigerant vapor 14 therefrom . as a result , the solution is condensed and returned back to the absorber 4 . the other part of the diluted absorbing solution is fed to a low temperature regenerator 1b by the solution circulating pump 8a and is heated and condensed by the high temperature refrigerant vapor 14 . subsequently , the solution 6b is mixed with the absorbing solution 6a fed out of the high temperature regenerator in the heat exchanger 5 and is returned back to the absorber 4 . the high temperature refrigerant vapor 14 separated from the solution at the high temperature regenerator 1a discharges or radiates a part of its heat and is introduced into the condenser 2 where it is cooled and condensed to be liquefied by the cooling water 13 flowing through interiors of cooling pipes 15 to become refrigerant 7 and to be returned back to the evaporator 3 . the diluted solution 6b kept at a low temperature which flows toward the high temperature regenerator 1a and the low temperature regenerator 1b from the absorber 4 is preheated by the condensed solution 6a which flows toward the absorber 4 from the low temperature regenerator 1b , to enhance its heat or thermal efficiency . the solution circulating pump 8a serves to circulate the aqueous lithium bromide solution ( absorbing solution ) and the refrigerant pump 8b serves to circulate the refrigerant ( water ). fig2 shows a cross - sectional view of the high temperature regenerator provided with an electric anti - corrosive means . the high temperature regenerator is composed of a shell 16 , tube plates 17 , heating tubes 18 , a burner 19 , an exhaust gas discharge funnel 20 and a refrigerant vapor pipe 21 . the absorbing solution 6b passes through the interiors partitioned apart from a combustion chamber 22 by the tube plates 17 and the heating tubes 18 disposed in the shell 16 and is heated and condensed in the heating tubes 18 to be circulated through the interior of the high temperature regenerator in accordance with the temperature difference . a burnt exhausted gas is discharged from the funnel 20 to the outside of the apparatus . the refrigerant vapor separated from the absorbing solution heated is introduced into the low temperature regenerator through the refrigerant vapor pipe 21 . in this apparatus , the inner surfaces of the shell 16 , the tube plates 17 and the heating tubes 18 are subjected to corrosion . however , the electric anti - corrosion is carried out thereon by applying anti - corrosive currents to the shell 16 , the tube plates 17 and the heating tubes 18 while using non - soluble electrodes 23a and 23b which are each made of meshes of palladium coated titanium wires . in the case where the electrodes 23a and 23b are used as cathodes by applying a negative voltage to the non - soluble electrodes , the shell 16 , the tube plates 17 and the heating tubes 18 are subjected to an anode electric anti - corrosion effect whereas in the case where the electrodes 23a and 23b are used as anodes by applying a positive voltage to the non - soluble electrodes , the shell 16 , the tube plates 17 and the heating tubes 18 are subjected to an cathode electric anti - corrosion effect . as the non - soluble electrodes 23a and 23b , it is not desirable to use a planar structure which would prevent convection of the absorbing solution and is preferable to use a mesh structure . as a result of the inventors &# 39 ; studies , it was found that a carbon steel constituting a part of the high temperature regenerator showed a passive state in the aqueous concentrated lithium bromide solution kept at a high temperature . in view of this fact , it was considered that a method in which a voltage was applied thereto from the outside in order to keep its passive potential , that is , the anode anti - corrosion method was available . actually , the use of both the method and the inhibitor provided a good result . a value of optimum anti - corrosion potential depended on the kinds of the inhibitors used as described in the table 1 and in addition was somewhat varied in a higher or lower direction in accordance with concentration and temperature of the solution . table 1______________________________________absorbing solution concentration : libr 63 %, lioh 0 . 2 % temperature : 160 ° c . optimum anti - corrosioninhibitor potential ( mv ) ______________________________________lino . sub . 3 - 620licro . sub . 4 - 580na . sub . 2 moo . sub . 4 - 550na . sub . 2 moo . sub . 4 + bta - 600na . sub . 2 b . sub . 4 o . sub . 7 + bta - 550______________________________________ note : bta represents benzotriazole . accordingly , the values listed in the above table 1 should be used for reference but should be disregarded in some particular cases . the values should be determined on the basis of the polarization curve measurement of anode conducted under predetermined conditoins . also , it was found that a cathode electric anti - corrosive method which had been considered undesirable was available . by changing a potential value of a carbon steel in a direction lower by 100 to 200 mv than a natural potential in the absorbing solution , an anti - corrosion effect somewhat lower than that obtained by the anode electric anti - corrosive method was confirmed . it was preferable to use this method together with the effect of inhibitor . table 2 shows natural potential values of solution . the concentrations and temperatures of the absorbing solution are the same as those indicated in table 1 . the natural potential values are also varied in accordance with a kind of inhibitor . table 2______________________________________ natural potentialinhibitors ( mv ) ______________________________________lino . sub . 3 - 700licro . sub . 4 - 760na . sub . 2 moo . sub . 4 - 740na . sub . 2 moo . sub . 4 + bta - 770na . sub . 2 b . sub . 4 o . sub . 7 + bta - 740______________________________________ since the potential is varied somewhat in a higher or lower direction in accordance with the temperature and concentration of the solution , the potential should be measured under necessary conditions , and the optimum anti - corrosive potential should be determined on the basis of the measurement . also in either of the electric anti - corrosion methods , the non - soluble electrodes made mainly of palladium coated titanium are preferably used as cathode or anode electrodes . the non - soluble electrodes made of zinc , aluminum or the like are not preferable since soluted ions such as zn 2 + or al 3 + would change its absorbing solution characteristics . as model tests , the experiments were conducted under the conditions similar to those in the high temperature regenerator of the triple effect absorption type refrigerator . a carbon steel was dipped in an absorbing solution into which was added 0 . 2 % lithium chromate admixed with 0 . 2 % lithium hydroxide and 65 % lithium bromide concentration solution as the absorbing solution . n 2 gas was inspired into the absorbing solution and deaerated so that its temperature was elevated up to a temperature of 200 ° c . and was corroded for 200 hours . one side of the carbon steel test piece was electrically anti - corroded while a palladium coated titanium electrode was used as a cathode and the potential of the carbon steel was maintained at - 580 mv by a dc constant voltage device . the other side of the test piece was dipped as it was . a corrosion of the carbon steel after 200 hours was 750 mg / dm 2 in the case of the inhibitor of lithium chromate solely whereas a corrosion was 56 mg / dm 2 in the case of additionally using the anode electric anti - corrosion method , which was one - tenth or less of the former case . in the case of using solely the lithium chromate inhibitor , a remarkable pitting corrosion was generated . on the other hand , in the case of using additionally the electric anti - corrosion method , there was almost no corrosion . the same constituents of the solution and experimental conditions as in the foregoing example 1 were used in the example 2 except for the followings . in the example 2 , one side of a carbon steel test piece was subjected to a cathode electric anti - corrosion method so that it was connected as a palladium coated titanium electrode and the surface potentional of the carbon steel was kept at - 900 mv . also , the other side of the carbon steel was used as it was . the corrosion of the carbon steel after 200 hours was 750 mg / dm 2 in the case of using solely the lithium chromate inhibitor whereas it was 120 mm / dm 2 in case of using additionally the cathode anti - corrosion method , which was a good result . the experiment was carried out in the same manner as in the example 1 . however , sodium molybodate was added by 0 . 2 % as the inhibitor and the test piece was corroded at a temperature of 200 ° c . for 200 hours . the carbon steel test piece 1 was subjected to the anode electric anti - corrosion while the potential was maintained at - 550 mv , the same test piece 2 was subjected to the cathode anti - corrosion while the potential was maintained at - 860 mv , and the test piece 3 was dipped without any measure . as a result , the corrosion was 600 mg / dm 2 in the test piece 3 whereas it was 70 mg / dm 2 in the test piece 1 and it was 136 mg / dm 2 in the test piece 3 . the present invention was applied to the double effect absorption type refrigerator having a refrigerating capacity of 60 rt . first of all , an absorbing solution containing 0 . 5 % by weight lithium nitrate as an inhibitor ( a solution of lithium bromide and lithium hydroxide ) was sealed in the double effect apparatus and were operated at a full load for 100 hours . when the amount of hydrogen gas generated at this time was measured , the generated rate was 1 ml / min . subsequently , in the high temperature regenerator of the 60 rt double effect apparatus of the same tipe , 10 electrode rods ( 15 mm in diameter × 300 l ) to which palladium was applied were used as cathodes and the wall of the high temperature regenerator was used as an anode while the surface potential was kept at - 0 . 9 v in the high temperature regenerator wall by a dc stabilizing electric source . under such a condition , a current was applied thereto . the apparatus was operated at the full load for 100 hours . the measured hydrogen generating rate was 0 . 05 to 0 . 2 ml / min , which was one - sixth or less of the case of using solely the inhibitor . the hydrogen gas is generated due to the corrosion of the carbon steel which is the constituent member of the apparatus . therefore , the hydrogen generating rate of 1 / 6 or less means that the corrosion rate is 1 / 6 or less . as has been apparent from the above , in the absorption type refrigerator , in addition to using the absorbing solution containing the inhibitor , the parts where the absorption solution temperature is kept high , that is , the high temperature regenerator is further subjected to the electric anti - corrosion method of the external electric source type so that respective parts of the refrigerator are subjected to the anti - corrosion effect in accordance with the respective corrosion conditions with a high efficiency . accordingly , in accordance with the present invention , in case that the absorbing solution temperature reaches 200 ° c ., a hole corrosion or the like is not caused and a small amount of hydrogen is generated . in addition , a refrigerator having a good corrosion proof property and an enhanced reliability may be provided with a long service life . therefore , it is possible to develop the refrigerator up to triple and four stage effect apparatus with a high efficiency . | 5 |
it has been unexpectedly discovered that a composition comprising polyphenylene ether resin and polystyrene resin can be used to advantageously mold pipes for the transmission and distribution of water and other fluids . this pipe offers advantages of being able to transmit water or other fluids at elevated temperatures of 80 ° c ., without undergoing any warpage or distortion . the pipe , because of its high temperature stability , can also be used through day and night during all seasons of the year without risk of damage to its dimensions . additionally , because of the chemical stability of the molded pipe , the water does not become contaminated with impurities . the polyphenylene ether resins used in compositions generally comprise a plurality of aryloxy repeating units preferably with at least 50 repeating units of formula ( i ) wherein in each of said units independently , each of r1 , r2 , r3 and r4 are hydrogen , halogen , hydrocarbon radical , substituted hydrocarbon radical , alkoxy radical , cyano radical , phenoxy radical , or nitro radical and n is an integer showing the degree of polymerization . non - limiting examples of substituents r1 , r2 , r3 and r4 in the formula ( i ) above are chlorine , bromine , iodine , methyl , ethyl , propyl , allyl , phenyl , benzyl , methyl benzyl , chloro methyl , bromo methyl , cyano ethyl , cyano , methoxy , ethoxy , phenoxy , nitro and combinations comprising at least one of the foregoing substituents . suitable but non - limiting examples of polyphenylene ether resins that can be used in the pipe are poly ( 2 , 6 - dimethyl - 1 , 4 - phenylene ) ether , poly ( 2 , 6 - di - ethyl - 1 , 4 - phenylene ) ether , poly ( 2 - methyl - 6 - ethyl - 1 , 4 - phenylene ) ether , poly ( 2 - methyl - 6 - propyl - 1 , 4 - phenylene ) ether , poly ( 2 , 6 - di - propyl - 1 , 4 - phenylene ) ether , poly ( 2 - ethyl - 6 - propyl - 1 , 4 - phenylene ) ether , poly ( 2 , 6 - di - methoxy - 1 , 4 - phenylene ) ether , poly ( 2 , 6 - di - chloromethyl - 1 , 4 - phenylene ) ether , poly ( 2 , 6 - di - bromo methyl - 1 , 4 - phenylene ) ether , poly ( 2 , 6 - di - phenyl - 1 , 4 - phenylene ) ether , poly ( 2 , 6 - di - tolyl - 1 , 4 - phenylene ) ether , poly ( 2 , 6 - di - chloro - 1 , 4 - phenylene ) ether , poly ( 2 , 6 - di - benzyl - 1 , 4 - phenylene ) ether , poly ( 2 , 5 - di - methyl - 1 , 4 - phenylene ) ether and combinations comprising at least one of the foregoing polyphenylene ether resins . a preferred polyphenylene ether resin is one wherein r1 and r2 in the formula ( i ) are alkyl radicals having 1 to 4 carbon atoms , r3 and r4 are hydrogen and wherein the degree of polymerization ‘ n ’ is about 50 . the polyphenylene ether resin may be either a homopolymer or a copolymer . suitable copolymers include random copolymers containing 2 , 6 - dimethyl - 1 , 4 - phenylene ether units and 2 , 3 , 6 - trimethyl - 1 , 4 - phenylene ether units . other suitable copolymers are those wherein a styrenic polymer is grafted onto a polyphenylene ether backbone . examples of styrenic polymers , which can be grafted on to the polyphenylene ether backbone , are polystyrene , α - methyl polystyrene , homopolymers of vinyltoluene , homopolymers of chloro - styrene , and combinations comprising at least one of the foregoing alkenyl aromatics . there is no particular restriction to the viscosity of the polyphenylene ether resin used in the molded pipes , however , a preferred intrinsic viscosity is in an amount of about 0 . 1 to about 0 . 5 deciliters / gram ( dl / g ) when measured in chloroform at 25 ° c . the term “ polystyrene resin ” as used herein includes polymers , which contain at least 25 % by weight of structural units derived from a monomer of the formula ( ii ) wherein r5 is a hydrogen or an alkyl radical having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms ; z 1 is a halogen or an alkyl having from about 1 to about 4 carbon atoms and p is an integer from 0 to about 5 . the polystyrene resins are generally homopolymers of styrene ( homo polystyrene ) including syndiotactic polystyrene , which has a syndiotactic content of greater than 50 mole % as determined by nuclear magnetic resonance . copolymers of styrene may also be used in the pipes . examples of styrenic monomers that may be copolymerized with styrene to form polystyrene copolymers are p - methyl styrene , α - methyl styrene , α - methyl - p - methyl styrene , chlorostyrene , bromostyrene , and combinations comprising at least one for the foregoing styrenic monomers . other polymers which may be copolymerized with the polystyrene include polybutadiene , polyisoprene , butyl rubber , ethylene - propylene diene monomer ( epdm ), ethylene - propylene copolymer , natural rubber , mixture of natural rubber with epichlorohydrin or a synthetic rubber containing styrene or modified styrene , copolymers of natural rubber with a synthetic elastomer , styrene - acrylonitrile copolymer ( san ), styrene - butadiene copolymer ( sbr ), styrene - maleic anhydride copolymer , acrylonitrile - butadiene - styrene copolymer ( abs ) and combinations comprising at least one of the foregoing polymers . the preferred polystyrene resin is homo polystyrene , syndiotactic polystyrene or rubber reinforced high impact polystyrene . it is envisioned that recycled polystyrene resin recovered from moldings or from foam can be used in the pipes . the recycled polystyrene resin may contain flame retardant additives if so desired . in addition , the polystyrene resin may be recovered from polystyrene moldings having a surface , which coated or plated with a metal . the weight average molecular weight of the polystyrene resin used in the pipe is preferably greater than or equal to about 30 , 000 g / mole , more preferably greater than or equal to about 50 , 000 g / mole . it is generally desirable to vary the amount of polyphenylene ether resin from about 5 wt % to about 95 wt % based on the total weight of the composition . similarly , it is generally desirable to vary the polystyrene resin from about 5 wt % to about 95 wt % based on total weight of the composition . a blend of polyphenylene ether resin and polystyrene resin having the above detailed characteristics respectively will display excellent thermal resistance , mechanical strength , flowability , and dimensional stability . other additives may optionally be added to the composition . these include at least one type selected from the group consisting of a rubbery impact modifier , fibrous filler , non - fibrous filler , olefinic polymer , alicyclic saturated hydrocarbon resins , higher - grade fatty acid esters , waxes such as low molecular weight polyethylene and montan wax , petroleum variety hydrocarbons , fluoro polymers such as polytetrafluoroethylene , antistatic agents such as sulfonic acid or polyoxyalkylene glycols such as polyethylene glycol or polypropylene glycol , ultraviolet ( uv ) absorbers such as compounds containing hindered amine group , benzotriazole group , benzophenone group , epoxy group and combinations comprising at least one of the foregoing uv absorbers pigments . impact modifiers may also be used in the composition . the impact modifier may be present as a homopolymer or a copolymer . in general it is desirable for the impact modifier to comprise at least one rubbery component having a glass transition temperature of greater than − 100 ° c . and less than 50 ° c . examples of such rubbery components are polyisoprene , polybutadiene , polyolefins , polyacrylics , polyesters and the like . the preferred impact modifiers are those , which contain polybutadiene such as styrene - butadiene rubber copolymerized with styrene or hydrogenated styrene . impact modifiers comprising three polymers wherein one polymer has as an acid component may also be used . non - limiting examples are acrylic acid - butadiene - styrene copolymer , carbonic acid - butadiene - styrene copolymer or an acid compound containing carbonic acid anhydride - butadiene - styrene copolymer . impact modifiers having a rubbery component that comprises polyolefins such as ethylene or propylene can also be used . copolymers of ethylene and propylene can also be used . rubbery components such as a polyolefin containing an acid modified component such as butadiene or a reactive epoxy functionality may also be used . fibrous fillers having aspect ratios from 2 to 1000 may be used to impart strength to the composition . noon - limiting examples of such fibers are glass fibers , hollow glass fibers , carbon fibers , hollow carbon fibers , titanium oxide whiskers , and warstonite . non - fibrous fillers may also be utilized to impart strength and dimensional stability to the pipe . such fillers may exist is in the form of platelets , particles which may be crystalline or amorphous . non - limiting examples of such non - fibrous fillers are talc , clay , silica , glass flakes , glass beads , hollow filler etc . combinations of fibrous and non - fibrous fillers may also be used . impact modifiers may generally be used in the pipe composition in an amount of up to about 7 wt % based on the total weight of the composition . in addition to being added as impact modifiers , polyolefins may be added to modify the chemical resistance characteristics and mold release characteristics of the composition . homo polymers such as polyethylene , polypropylene , polybutene can be used either separately or in combination . polyethylene can be added as high density polyethylene ( hdpe ), low density polyethylene ( ldpe ) or branched polyethylene . polyolefins may also be used in copolymeric form with compounds containing carbonic acid radicals such as maleic acid or citric acid or their anhydrides , acid compounds containing acrylic acid radicals such as acrylic acid ester , and the like , as well as combinations comprising at least one of the foregoing . alicyclic , saturated hydrocarbon resins such as those available from hydrogenation of aromatic hydrocarbon resin , for example generally , c9 hydrocarbon resin , c5 / c9 hydrocarbon resin , indene - chroman resin , vinyl aromatic resin , terpene - vinyl aromatic resin and the like may also be used . with respect to the terpene variety , terpene resins formed by using α - pinene , β - pinene , and diterpenes as the raw material is preferred . terpene denatured by aromatic hydrocarbon ( phenol , bisphenol a , and the like ) or hydrogen - saturated terpenes , and the like are also useful . with regards to the petroleum hydrocarbons , a liquid fraction of petroleum fraction is appropriate for use . similarly with regards to the aromatic hydrocarbon petroleum resin , aromatic hydrocarbon fraction polymer represented by c9 carbon variety is used . the hydrogen addition ratio is desired to be high , preferably at least about 30 %. if the quantity of aromatic component is greater , then desirable properties may be lost . thermal stabilizers , which increase the thermal stability of the composition , may also be added . such compounds include phosphite stabilization agents , epoxy compounds , beta - diketone , inorganic stabilizers such as perchloric acid salts , talc , zeolite and the like , as well as combinations comprising at least one of the foregoing thermal stabilizers . preferred phosphite stabilization agents are tri alkyl phosphite , alkyl aryl phosphite , tri aryl phosphite and combinations comprising at least one of the foregoing phosphite stabilization agents . thermal stabilizers may be added in quantities of greater than or equal to about 0 . 01 , preferably greater than or equal to about 0 . 1 parts by weight based on 100 parts of weight of polyphenylene ether resin and polystyrene resin . it is also generally desirable to add thermal stabilizers in quantities of less than or equal to about 70 , preferably less than or equal to about 50 parts by weight based on 100 parts of weight of polyphenylene ether resin and polystyrene resin . flame retardants such as phosphorus compounds , silicone compounds , metal salts and combinations comprising at least one of the foregoing flame retardants may also be used . flame retardants may be added in quantities of about 0 . 01 to about 50 parts by weight based on 100 parts of weight of polyphenylene ether resin and polystyrene resin . within this range it is preferable to use an amount of greater than or equal to about 0 . 1 , more preferably greater than or equal to about 3 , and most preferably greater than or equal to about 5 parts by weight based on 100 parts of weight of polyphenylene ether resin and polystyrene resin . within this range , it is also generally desirable to add thermal stabilizers in quantities of less than or equal to about 30 parts by weight based on 100 parts of weight of polyphenylene ether resin and polystyrene resin . drip prevention agents such as those that prevent dripping during combustion , may also be utilized . polytetrafluoroethylene is preferred as a drip prevention agent because of its ability to form fibrils in the composition . other drip prevention agents , which can form fibrils , are also preferred . drip prevention agents may be added in quantities of about 0 . 01 to about 5 parts by weight based on 100 parts of weight of polyphenylene ether resin and polystyrene resin . within this range it is preferable to use the drip prevention agent in an amount of greater than or equal to about 0 . 05 by weight based on 100 parts of weight of polyphenylene ether resin and polystyrene resin . within this range , it is also generally desirable to add the drip prevention agents in quantities of less than or equal to about 3 parts by weight based on 100 parts of weight of polyphenylene ether resin and polystyrene resin . the polyphenylene ether resin and the polystyrene resin along with other desired additives may be melt blended and subsequently molded into a pipe . melt blending operations are generally carried out in an extruder , ball mixer , roll mill , buss kneader and the like . during the melt blending operation , a small quantity of solvent may be added to the melt to facilitate processing if desired . during melt blending , the various components such as the polyphenylene ether , polystyrene and the other additives may be added simultaneously or sequentially if desired . in one embodiment , in one manner of proceeding , the melt blending of the polyphenylene ether , polystyrene and other additives may be compounded in an extruder by adding the components simultaneously at the throat or sequentially through different feeders located at different positions along the barrel of the extruder . the extrudate emanating from the extruder may be either fed directly to a molding machine or cooled and converted into pellets , powder , and the like for use in a future molding operation . the pipe may be molded from pellets , powder , and the like by methods such as injection molding , extrusion molding , blow molding , vacuum forming , and any other molding operations known in the art . alternatively , the pipe may be molded by feeding the components such as the polyphenylene ether resin , polystyrene resin , and additives directly into the molding machine , where the components may be mixed immediately prior to molding . both straight pipe sections as well as pipe joints may be molded . extrusion molding is generally preferred for straight sections while for injection molding is preferred for molding joints . while pipe diameter , wall thicknesses , and shape may be chosen as desired , a preferred wall thickness is from about 2 . 0 to about 10 millimeters ( mm ). pipe shapes may vary from cylindrical to quadrilateral to hexagonal , with cylindrical shapes generally being preferred . pipes made from the above composition may also be constructed in multi - layered or laminated form comprising at least two layers . multilayered pipes may be constructed utilizing as many layers as may be desired so long as they are thermally stable and have water proof properties . when a pipe has two or more layers , it is desirable that at least one layer be constructed from the composition comprising polyphenylene ether resin and polystyrene resin . pipes made for water transmission and distribution , from the above - described composition display thermal stability , strength and ability to withstand high pressures in measures similar to pvc pipes without any of the drawbacks associated with pvc . for example , the outstanding thermal stability of the composition as reflected in a v - cut softening point test measured as per jis k7206 , is more than 80 ° c . similarly a test plate cut from the pipe composition has a tensile strength greater than about 350 kgf / cm 2 at 15 ° c . and greater than about 120 kgf / cm 2 at 90 ° c . additionally because of its chemical stability , the pipe does not release any chlorine into the water and can be recycled for further use . the excellent ability of the pipe composition to provide pipes that can withstand high pressures can be seen in the water pressure test and the internal pressure creep test where water leakage does not occur . further no cracks and fissures were seen in the flatness test , which indicates the excellent pressure resistance characteristics of the composition . pipes made from the above - described composition are also advantageous in that they do not contain components such as lead , which may be transmitted by the water . further other detrimental factors such as increase in muddiness , color change , odor absorption , loss of taste , and the like , normally associated with steel pipes does not occur . additionally , since the pipe does not contain any pvc , chlorine does not get into the water from the pipe . because to the excellent thermal stability and chemical characteristics of the pipe composition , potassium permanganate normally used to purify drinking water may be used in lower quantities . the present invention has been explained below in further detail with non - limiting examples . however , the present invention is not restricted to these practical examples . the polyphenylene ether resin used in the examples was poly ( 2 , 6 - di methyl - 1 , 4 - phenylene ) ether obtained from ge plastics co . ( japan ) having an intrinsic viscosity of 0 . 46 dl / g when measured in chloroform at 25 ° c . topolex 870st , a high impact polystyrene commercially available from japan polystyrene co . ltd , was also used . triphenyl phosphate ( tpp ), commercially available from daihatsu chemical industries ltd . was used as a flame retarding agent . adegastab mk2112 , a phosphate stabilizer commercially available from asahi electro - chemical industries , was used as thermal stabilizer . kraton g - 1651 , comprising hydrogenated styrene - butadiene copolymer commercially available from shell chemical co ., was used as the impact modifier . other additives such as nuc 6570 , a denatured ethylene copolymer commercially available from japan uniker co . ltd was also used . table 1 shows the details of the composition . the composition was extruded using a biaxial extrusion - kneading machine with the barrel temperature set at about 270 ° c . to about 280 ° c . and a screw speed of 200 rpm . the extruded strand was the pelletized . the pellets were then extruded into a water distribution cylindrical pipe having external diameter of 32 mm , thickness of 3 . 5 mm and total length of 4 meters in a uniaxial extrusion machine . the extrusion conditions are shown in table 2 . [ 0035 ] table 2 practical practical practical comparative molding temperature example 1 example 2 example 3 example 1 extrusion zone 1 190 ° c . 230 ° c . 215 ° c . 200 ° c . machine zone 2 200 ° c . 240 ° c . 225 ° c . 210 ° c . zone 3 210 ° c . 250 ° c . 235 ° c . 220 ° c . zone 4 220 ° c . 260 ° c . 245 ° c . 230 ° c . ad 220 ° c . 260 ° c . 245 ° c . 230 ° c . die die 1 220 ° c . 260 ° c . 245 ° c . 230 ° c . part die 2 220 ° c . 260 ° c . 245 ° c . 230 ° c . die 3 220 ° c . 260 ° c . 245 ° c . 230 ° c . die 4 220 ° c . 260 ° c . 245 ° c . 230 ° c . sizing part sizing 60 ° c . 80 ° c . 60 ° c . 60 ° c . former vacuum water industrial industrial industrial industrial water tube spray water water water water tensile tests and thermal measurements were performed on the extruded pipe . two sections of the extruded pipe as shown in fig1 were tested for tensile strength as per jis k6776 . thermal stability ( v softening point temperature ) was also measured as per jis k7206 at a load of 5 kgf ( 49n ). the test material having a length of 10 mm , breadth 10 mm , and thickness between 2 . 5 and 4 . 5 mm was cut from the pipe . water pressure tests were measured on a test plate ( cut from the pipe ) having a length of more than 1000 mm as per jis k6776 at a water pressure of 40 kgf / cm 2 ( 3 . 92 mpa ) applied for a time period of 1 minute at room temperature . after the removal of pressure , the plate was visually examined for water leakage . high temperature internal pressure creep tests were performed on a test plate having length of more than 500 mm ( cut from the extruded pipe ) as per jis k6776 . the test consists of subjecting the plate to a water pressure of 15 kgf / cm 2 ( 1 . 47 mpa ) for 1 hour at 90 ± 2 ° c . after the removal of pressure , the plate was visually examined for water leakage . a flatness test was also performed wherein a circular test plate having a length of more than 50 mm was cut from the extruded pipe as per jis k6776 and was sandwiched between 2 flat plates and it was compressed at right angles to the direction of the pipe axis at a speed of 10 ± 2 mm per minute till the external diameter of the pipe is reduced in ½ . the pipe was then visually examined for the presence of cracks and fissures . dissolution tests were performed on a section of pipe cut in a specific size as per jis k6776 . the pipe section was then washed with hot water having temperature of 90 ± 2 ° c . for 1 hour . after this , one end was blocked with a plug containing polyethylene film after which the pipe section was filled with the test water . the test water comprised limewater added to refined water and the ph was regulated between 8 . 0 and 7 . 5 by passing co 2 through the water . chlorine was then added to the test water such that it contains approximately 2 ppm of free ( liberated ) residual chlorine following which the other end was plugged ( corked ) and it was kept undisturbed for 24 hours at normal temperature . after 24 hours , muddiness , degree of color , quantity of consumption of potassium permanganate , quantity of lead , reduced quantity of residual chlorine of the test water were evaluated as per the jis k6776 appendix . materials having the same to be less than 1 . 0 were taken as having passed the test . smell and taste were evaluated as per functional tests . as can be seen from the data of table 1 , the extruded pipe has excellent thermal stability and exhibits a good resistance to pressure . for example , it does not get damaged even if hot water having temperature in the vicinity of 80 ° c . is transmitted through it . the pipe displays an excellent balance of mechanical properties such as strength , impact resistance with thermal properties and chemical properties . it does not suffer from any damage to its dimensions , despite being subjected to the vagaries of the weather . furthermore , impurities do not contaminate water transmitted through the pipe . this pipe can therefore be used as a substitute for polyvinyl chloride piping . while the invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention . in addition , many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof . therefore , it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention . | 2 |
in the basic design shown schematically in fig1 of a cooker , one can see that this is based upon the principle of a tubular bundle heat exchanger . this is provided within a pipe - shaped jacket or casing 1 , which transitions on its two ends into a connection hub 2 , 2 ′. in the area of the transition from jacket housing 1 into the connection hubs 2 , 2 ′, there are two pipe plates 3 , 3 ′, which exhibit a large number of closely bunched boreholes 3 a , through which a correspondingly narrow bunched preferably straight tubes 4 extend . the device described until now exhibits a very slim shape ( the relationship of length to diameter is greater than 3 : 1 ) and is oriented erect . it is provided with a number of connections , namely , a pipe fitting 11 close above the lower pipe plate 3 ′ for the introduction of the material to be treated ; a pipe fitting 12 close below the upper pipe plate 3 for the withdrawal of the treated material , as well as with two pipe fittings 18 and 19 in the vicinity of the two connection hubs 2 , 2 ′ for the introduction or , as the case may be , removal of the heating medium . further , connection pipe fittings can be provided for the supplemental introduction or also withdrawal of the materials . this is shown in fig1 by way of example as a supplemental connection 15 . in operation the material to be treated flows from the lower introduction pipe fitting 11 into the jacket housing and exits through the upper end withdrawal pipe fitting 12 . the heating medium flows in , counter - current , from upwards downwardly ; it enters in the upper introduction pipe fitting 18 , flows through the bundle of tubes 4 and leaves the device through the lower withdrawal pipe fitting 19 . it is also possible for the pipe fitting 12 to be the introduction fitting , and the pipe fitting 11 to be the withdrawal fitting , so that material being treated flows through the cooker from above downwardly . for the heating medium , there applies then likewise the reverse flow direction . what is important is that within the jacket , housing baffles or deflection plates 5 are provided , which , respectively with the exception of the openings 6 , are connected flow - tight with the inner wall la of the jacket housing 1 and are also flow tight passed through by tubes 4 . the openings 6 of the deflection plates 5 are thereby in rising sequence diametrically offset with respect to each other , and namely in such a manner , that the opening 6 of the first , lower deflection plate is located precisely along the oppositely lying side of the introduction pipe fitting 11 , the opening of the next higher deflection plate 5 on the opposite lying side to the first opening , etc ., up to the upper opening , which again is situated on the opposite side of the withdrawal pipe fitting 12 . the internal space of the cooker is divided into individual flow chambers by the deflection plates , and it is achieved by the diametrically opposite lying arrangement of the openings 6 , that the material flowing into the jacket housing flows through the individual chambers respectively zigzag pattern from below towards upwards , until the mass finally again leaves through the withdrawal pipe fitting 12 . the material can pass from one chamber into the next sequential chamber only by passing through the area of the openings 6 , and this with a respective direction change of 180 °. therewith , the material can only flow perpendicular to the tubes 4 within the chambers , never in the same direction as the tubes . thereby , only very short contact times result at the individual tubes , which along all points within the cooker are practically of identical lengths . there are no points of the heating tubes 4 which experience a substantially longer contact time for the material , with which the dwell time of partial streams deviate substantially from the main stream of flow . the mass is thus evenly and carefully heated . overall , the flow - directing components within the jacket housing , that is , the deflection plates 5 with the openings 6 , are so designed , that the viscosity change of the material to be treated is precalculated in such a manner , that the flow speed perpendicular to the tube bundle between the deflection plates is kept as constant as possible . this can be achieved thereby , that the separation between two deflection plates , that is , the volume of the chambers defined between two deflection plates , is varied , for example — increases from below going upwards in a predefined manner . also , the size and shape of the openings 6 can be appropriately varied for keeping the flow as even as possible along the flow path of the material , whereby the details of the size and shape of the openings 6 are naturally also influenced by the type of the material to be treated . fig2 shows five examples of different shaped openings 6 a - 6 e . in the description of the inventive cooker it has until now been presumed that the flow directing components within the jacket housing 1 are not variable . this need not be the case . by further pursuing the inventive concept it can be seen that the size and shape of the openings 6 can be varied . fig3 shows one possibility of a stepless change of the openings 6 with the aid of an adjustment plate 7 a , which is moved upwards or downwards from outside by using a rod 9 a which can be acted upon from outside , thereby changing the size and shape of the openings 6 . fig4 shows an equivalent solution with the aid of adjustment segments 7 b , which can be rotated for example with the aid of a rotation drive 9 b from a vertical to a horizontal position , in order to change the area and shape of the openings 6 . both cases , that are shown in fig3 and 4 , make it possible to change the inner structure of the cooker without having to disassemble the cooker . this can be necessary for example when dramatic changes in the consistency of the materials to be treated occur , and this is also advantageous when a cooker is to be switched from treatment of a material a to the treatment of a different material b . one can also see from fig3 the possibility of using deflection struts 8 for supporting the evenness of the flow through . it is also of course possible , however not possible to illustrate the figure , that these deflection struts can be provided rotatable about their longitudinal axis , so that as required they can be oriented more or less perpendicular to the direction of flow and the flow of the material can therewith be more or less strongly influenced . likewise , not further illustrated is the possibility , of providing the deflection plates 5 as such slideable within the jacket housing 1 , for example , with an aid of a rod along the rod 9 a , in order to vary the size of the chamber between two deflection plates , and this either for the carrying out of the treatment of one particular material a as well as a changing over from material a to a material b . finally , it can be mentioned that the circular cross - section of the jacket housing 1 may represent a conventional design of a pipe bundle heat exchanger , but is , however , in no way a limitation for the herein described cooker . rather , it is also possible , and in many cases more advantageous , when the jacket housing 1 is provided with a different cross - section shape , for example , oval or elliptical , or in certain cases even an extended polygon . thereby , in individual cases , when the parameters of the material to be treated require it , a better result with respect to the evenness and careful heating of the material can be achieved . common to all possible designs of the inventive cooker is that the temperature difference between the heating medium and the end product temperature is very small , so that a very careful and conservative heating occurs . this mitigates against a deposition of the product on the heating surfaces in the case of product which have a tendency to burn . certainly such adhesion of product is not ruled out in all possible cases ; however , it is very minimal in comparison to known cookers not having scraped heat surfaces ( inclusive of the cooker known in de - c 35 28 426 ), and these can be removed with relatively simple means following relatively long possible production times without intermediate cleaning , that is , as a rule without chemical additives . the possibility of the addition of products which have a relatively strong tendency towards burning to an already heat treated main material mass via one or more supplemental , side pipe fittings , for example , the support or auxiliary pipe fitting 15 between inlet and outlet , further improves this relationship . an advantageous use of this cooker is that is also recommended for recipes which contain no component which have a tendency towards burning , since the reduced thermal requirement also has a positive effect on the product quality . with additional downstream equipment or components , it is possible to so influence the pressure , in the cooker , so that on the one hand , by heating under pressure higher temperatures are possible without reduction in the water component as would be the case under atmospheric conditions , this being useful for example for acceleration of carmelization ( with suppression of boiling ), or , as the case may be , to use low pressures at low temperatures to achieve higher dryness in substances with care or preservation of product , for example , for avoidance of carmelization . the compact design and the small outer dimensions , compared to known cookers , make possible with small constructive expenditure a simple incorporation of the cooker in an equipment setup . | 5 |
referring to fig1 and 6 , a preferred form is shown of the vascular sealing device 10 for effecting closure of a puncture in a blood vessel which has been entered through percutaneous techniques . the device 10 is useable with a procoagulant which is injected through a standard percutaneous vascular sheath or introducer . the vascular sealing device 10 is shown to have an elongated thin , generally tubular body or conduit 15 with proximal and distal ends 11 and 12 , respectively . basically , the proximal end 11 of the device 10 is for physician manipulation and connection to associated medical apparatus described further below , while the distal end 12 is for insertion into the patient &# 39 ; s body . located at the proximal end 11 of device 10 is an inflation / deflation port 14 . the body member 15 has a tubular structure constructed of hypotubing or a similar material . this structure also has a cylindrical and thin outer body wall with a central , continuous , and longitudinally extending lumen 28 . the body member 15 has an outside diameter preferably not greater than 0 . 038 inches ( 0 . 965 mm .). the body 15 is semiflexible and , importantly , has a predetermined rigidity such that central lumen 28 integrity is maintained . this is particularly important during longitudinal translational manipulation by the physician , through vascular introducer means ( described below ), into a percutaneous puncture in the patient &# 39 ; s skin . the hypotubing of the body 15 is preferably constructed of a metallic material such as stainless steel , for example . alternatively , the body 15 may be constructed of a polymeric material . the body member 15 is shown to have a length preferably of at least 11 . 79 inches ( 30 cm ). the proximal end 11 of the lumen or hollow interior 28 is sealed with elastomeric material , preferably silicone , to form an inflation / deflation port 14 . the seal forms the inflation / deflation port 14 by adhering to the internal wall surfaces of the proximal end 11 of body 15 . the seal is of sufficient strength to maintain a pressure difference between the internal lumen 28 and the proximally disposed exterior of the seal . this pressure difference is of a magnitude sufficient to maintain inflation of the balloon 34 , which is in continuity with the lumen 28 . the inflation / deflation port 14 is utilized by piercing its proximal face , preferably with a syringe needle , to a depth which allows the needle lumen to be in continuity with the lumen 28 . an external syringe , attached to the proximal end of the needle , provides a piston means by which a gas or liquid is pumped into the balloon 34 for inflation , or out of the balloon 34 for deflation . removal of the needle from the inflation / deflation port 14 causes the seal to reestablish the pressure differential barrier . the structure of the proximal end 11 also allows the user to later slide a standard vascular sheath over the device body 15 and then to advance it to the puncture site for positioning within the blood vessel lumen . this allows reentry into the blood vessel , if necessary , for a further interventional procedure . the bottom or distal end 12 of the device body 15 is shown to have a distal tip 29 . the distal tip 29 further has an inset segment 32 . the inset segment 32 has a tubular configuration and is oriented coaxially with respect to the distal tip 29 . the inset segment 32 preferably has a diameter which is less than that of the distal tip 29 and a length equivalent to that of the wall of the balloon 34 when deflated . thus , an inset with respect to the distal tip 29 is formed by this structure . the lumen 28 extends into the inset segment 32 and is communicatively connected to an orifice 33 , which is disposed in the side wall of the inset segment 32 . the orifice 33 is shown to have a circular configuration . referring to fig1 a and b , the balloon 34 is disposed about the inset segment 32 . in an uninflated state , the balloon 34 has a tubular configuration and is sealingly secured at each of its ends to respective ends 30 and 31 of the inset segment 32 . sealing securement may be made by various methods , including adhesives , ultrasonic welding , and compression fitting . the uninflated diameter of the balloon 34 is such that it is disposed substantially within the recess space formed by the difference in diameter of the inset segment 32 and the distal tip 29 . this provides a low profile device diameter which reduces vascular trauma and puncture site diameter upon removal . in an inflated state the balloon 34 preferably assumes a rounded configuration , for example elliptical with a minimum inflated diameter of two times the french size of the introducer sheath puncture hole being sealed . in addition , the height or thickness of the inflated balloon 34 is preferably less than one half the diameter of a typical blood vessel being sealed , so as to minimize obstruction of flow through the blood vessel . the balloon 34 is preferably constructed of an expandable material such as natural latex . a flexible atraumatic extension 37 is shown disposed at the distal end 12 of the vascular sealing device 10 , extending from the inset segment 32 . the extension 37 preferably has a tubular structure with a diameter equivalent to that of distal tip 29 . importantly , the extension 37 is formed of a flexible material such as guidewire as known in the art . the extension 37 is shown to have an end portion which is preferably curved in its inoperative state . this structure decreases the level of trauma to the vessel wall during insertion and manipulation of the device 10 . referring to fig1 refers to a distance marker upon body 15 for the purpose of indicating to the user that the balloon 34 is distal to the sheath taper end 48 shown in fig2 and 3 . by alignment of marker 81 at the top of the hemostatic valve opening at cap 45 , proper location of the balloon 34 with respect to sheath tapered end 48 is assured . referring generally to fig2 - 5 , in use , the vascular sealing device 10 is inserted into the input end 45 of an introducer or vascular sheath device 43 which has been previously positioned within the lumen 58 of a blood vessel 56 . the typical introducer 43 , as is well known , comprises a body structure 46 , an elongated sheath 47 with a tapered end 48 , a hemostatic ingress / egress valve 80 within a cap 45 , an auxiliary tube 44 and a suture connector 49 which may be used to maintain the introducer 43 in an operative position on the patient &# 39 ; s skin surface 55 for prolonged periods of time and to thereby permit reaccess to the patients vascular system 56 . the body 46 of the introducer 43 remains on the exterior of the patient &# 39 ; s body at all times , while the sheath 47 extends through puncture 60 in the skin surface 55 , tissue 59 , and vessel wall 57 . the vascular sealing device 10 is first inserted through the valve or gasket 80 of the introducer 43 , distal end 12 first , and is advanced by physician manipulation of the body member 15 , primarily , until the distal end 12 extends just beyond the distal tapered tip 48 of the sheath 47 . next , an inflator such as a syringe ( not shown ) pierces the inflation / deflation port 14 of device 10 . fluid or gas is advanced into the device 10 until a predetermined amount of balloon 34 inflation is attained . then , the inflating means is removed . next , the inflated balloon section 34 is pulled up against the vessel wall 56 at the puncture site 60 , by manipulating the body member 15 . at this point in the procedure , a hemostatic seal is effected at the puncture site 60 . next , and importantly , a procoagulant is injected through a fluid access port 44 of the introducer 43 and is released out its distal end 48 at the puncture site 60 . next , the introducer sheath 47 is withdrawn by manipulation of the introducer body 46 and sheath 47 proximal end . the balloon section 34 remains abutted against the inner intraluminal surface 56 of the puncture site 60 . after a predetermined time period , on the order of 1 - 3 minutes , the balloon 34 is deflated and the device 10 is pulled proximally out of the puncture site 60 . the procoagulant may include one of the following substances or combinations of substances : ( 1 ) thrombin , ( 2 ) collagen , ( 3 ) fibrin / fibrinogen , ( 4 ) cyanoacrylate , ( 5 ) thrombin and collagen , ( 6 ) fibrin / fibrinogen and collagen , ( 7 ) cyanoacrylate and collagen , and ( 8 ) thrombin and fibrin / fibrinogen . the advantages of the device 10 and method of the present invention include , but are not limited to , both individually and cooperatively , ( 1 ) that the inflated balloon 34 blocks egress of blood immediately upon being properly positioned in the blood vessel at the puncture site to provide fast hemostasis ; ( 2 ) that the inflated balloon 34 acts as an internal marker to permit the user to accurately gauge the depth of the puncture and the thickness of the tissues surrounding the puncture ; and ( 3 ) that the inflated balloon 34 acts as a backstop at the inner wall of the blood vessel to ( i ) precisely position the sealing clot in the puncture and ( ii ) to prevent procoagulant from entering the patient &# 39 ; s circulatory system . the descriptions above and the accompanying drawings should be interpreted in the illustrative and not the limited sense . while the invention has been disclosed in connection with the preferred embodiment or embodiments thereof , it should be understood that there may be other embodiments which fall within the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims . where a claim is expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function it is intended that such claim be construed to cover the corresponding structure , material , or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof , including both structural equivalents and equivalent structures . | 0 |
turning first to fig1 , there is shown a preferred embodiment of an interactive literacy learning guide system 10 according to the present invention . the guide system 10 includes three components . a first component is a data disc 12 which , in the preferred embodiment , is a digital video disc ( dvd ) containing an audiovisual presentation which includes examples and portrayals of how the written characters are to be formed . a second component is a work book 14 which includes pre printed pages with areas for practicing what is depicted in the audiovisual presentation . a third component of the system is an appropriate writing implement 16 which may be specially adapted for use by children with the limited motor skills commensurate with their relative immaturity . additionally , in the preferred embodiment , the writing implement 16 is a dry - erase marker for use on the dry erase pages of the work book 14 that are also present in the preferred embodiment . in the preferred embodiment , the data storage device 12 is mounted in the cover 18 of the work book 14 . the writing implement ( or implements ) 16 is held in a case 20 which is mounted to a backing board 22 upon which the work book 14 is mounted , as well . in use , the work book 14 is opened to a work page and the data disc 12 is placed in an appropriate playing device which provides an audiovisual program that can be followed by the student . turning next to fig2 , there is shown in perspective view , the learning guide 10 with the work book 16 opened to one of the work pages 24 . in the preferred embodiment , each of the pages 24 has sets of lines 26 to provide work spaces within which the alphanumeric characters can be drawn . in the preferred embodiment , each set of lines 26 includes an upper , capital letter limit 28 , a lower case letter limit 30 , a dashed line 32 as an upper limit guide for lower case letters and a set separator 34 . in the preferred embodiments , each of the lines of the set 26 is in a different color to aid in identifying a particular line . on each set of lines 26 , the outline of a character is placed for reference . as shown , on successive lines there is a lower case “ n ” 36 , an upper case “ n ” 38 , a lower case “ i ” 40 and an upper case “ i ” 42 . additional matter is provided for guidance in creating the characters such as a straight arrow 44 adjacent the straight segment of the “ n ” 36 and a curved arrow 46 adjacent the curved portion of the “ n ” 36 . referring now to fig3 , a depiction of a sample screen from the preferred embodiment of interactive literacy learning guide 10 is depicted . a partially formed “ n ” 48 is depicted . this letter is being exemplified by the exemplar hand 50 on the screen . when the learner views the materials on the disk , the learner is shown how to create the letters in much the same manner as would be employed by an in person teaching professional . in the preferred embodiment , the exemplar is a cartoon or puppet character for children . in a first alternative embodiment , such as one for an adult audience , the exemplar may include an individual or simply text being drawn on the screen . in the preferred embodiment , the exemplar hand 50 is depicted creating the characters one or more times to aid the learner in grasping the correct methodology for forming a particular character . the text of the partially formed “ n ” 48 will be completed by the exemplar hand 50 slowly , so that the learner may grasp the methodology . in the preferred embodiment , in between and along with the instruction in creating the characters , entertaining and playful characters help to maintain a child &# 39 ; s interest while learning through interaction with the child . in alternative embodiments , little or no such interaction , apart from the instruction in the way in which to create the characters , may be given . accordingly , an interactive literacy learning guide has been described . it is to be understood that the description above is not intended to limit the scope of the invention beyond that of the description of the invention in the claims . alternative embodiments , other than those depicted herein , may still be within the scope and spirit of the invention . the invention is only limited to extend described in the following claims . | 6 |
referring firstly to fig2 ( a ), 2 ( b ) and 2 ( c ) , fig3 ( a ), 3 ( b ) and 3 ( c ) and fig4 , preferred embodiments of the invention comprise three main elements which together enable an autonomous cabinet system 28 , in the sense of a data center facility within a single equipment cabinet that does not rely on external service provision other than electrical power and coolant connections . if required , power and coolant facilities can be provided using plant skids which may , for example , include a generator set for the provision of electrical power . suitably secure mains power connections are of course possible and , in most cases , preferred . the first element of the system is the equipment cabinet 30 itself , which is sealed from its immediate environment . when used in non - controlled environments 32 as in fig2 ( a ), 2 ( b ) and 2 ( c ) , the cabinet is placed within a secondary outer enclosure 34 which insulates it from the environment and provides a zone where humidity can be controlled by a small package cooling unit 36 . an equipment cooling unit ( ecu ) 38 within the cabinet 30 provides cooling / heating and humidity control and connects by a pipework system 40 to a plant skid 42 ( shown in fig4 ). the door 44 of the outer enclosure 34 is interlocked with the cabinet door via the control system to prevent both being open at the same time . further , if in an external environment , extra panels 46 may be added outside and spaced from the secondary enclosure 34 as shown in fig3 ( a ), 3 ( b ) and 3 ( c ) . these provide for passive cooling by virtue of airflow through the gaps between the panels 46 and the enclosure 34 and also ensure that the walls of the outer enclosure 34 are in shade conditions . this reduces the cooling required for the outer enclosure space 32 . specifically , the extra panels 46 reflect direct solar gain and by virtue of the gaps , they also provide a means of passive ventilation / cooling . in the event of solar gain experienced by the panels 46 , air heated in the gap between the panels 46 and the outer enclosure 34 creates a chimney / stack effect in which air enters below the bottom edge of the panel 46 and exits at the top edge . thus , there is a continuous supply of cooling fresh air and exhaust of warm air before that warm air can transfer significant heat to the outer enclosure . similarly a horizontal panel may provide a through - vented roof cavity . this ensures that the main insulated outer enclosure structure remains in shade conditions reducing the amount of cooling required to maintain a suitable ambient environment . referring now to fig4 in particular , the second element of the system 28 is the pipework system 40 connecting the cabinet ecu 38 to the remote chiller plant skid 42 . this comprises a prefabricated , insulated pipe - in - pipe system to provide maximum protection against leakage . the system 42 can be connected at high or low level to the cabinet 30 via a flexible pipe - in - pipe hose 48 . the flexible hose 48 is connected to a valve box 50 which contains flow and return isolating valves ( for individual cabinet systems ) or a prefabricated commissioning balancing set ( for multiple cabinets ). rigid pipe - in - pipe 52 runs from the valve box 50 to the chiller plant skid 42 itself . the third element of the system 28 is the remote chiller plant skid 42 comprising one of a range of modular skids sized to suit whatever permutations of cabinet numbers are required . though not shown , each skid 42 is provided with two chillers ( providing n + 1 redundancy ), a buffer tank , a mixing manifold , variable speed pump sets , an actuator and a control panel . this combination of elements allows for truly scaleable deployment , firstly cabinet - by - cabinet , and secondly by modular remote plant . as cabinets are added in small increments over time , a point will be reached where the multiplicity of remote plant modules will not be sized correctly in relation to the total load to provide maximum efficiency in running and maintenance costs . in the invention , the plant skids 42 which are therefore designed on a ‘ plug and play ’ basis can be added into or withdrawn from the pipework system 40 without closing down the service . this allows plant skids 42 to be swapped out at any time in the future , and more appropriate size modules added to maintain maximum efficiency with regard to running and maintenance costs . in contrast with current data center technology , plants are typically sized for the ultimate total load , which means that the plant may be oversized for periods of sometimes years until the actual load approaches that level . if , conversely , the plant is undersized for the eventual total load , then this may cause disruption to live services requiring upgrading . in terms of service connections , the cabinet 30 of the invention is carried by the raised floor of the data room or directly by the solid floor of the building as required . electrical power cables are connected to the cabinet 30 via panel mounted ‘ commando ’ plugs located both on the bottom and top of the cabinet 30 to allow either connection from the raised floor void or the ceiling void or other overhead services if a suspended ceiling is not fitted . there are four electrical connections to the cabinet : ( i ) 32 amp a and b ‘ clean ’ secured supply to power the dual corded equipment rack power distribution unit &# 39 ; s ( pdu &# 39 ; s ); ( ii ) 16 amp c1 and c2 ‘ dirty ’ secured supply to power the ecu 38 . these supplies ( clean and dirty ) are separated to avoid any possible earth noise problems being transmitted from the ecu 38 to the equipment rack pdu &# 39 ; s . the c1 and c2 supplies are run via the rack mounted fpu which contains a 16 amp circuit breaker which is opened in the event of a fire alarm condition to shut down the cabinet fans . an emergency power off ( epo ) link is also run from the fpu to the pdu link boxes to shut down the pdu &# 39 ; s in the event of a fire condition . if a transfer switch or rackable ups is fitted this is also connected to the fpu &# 39 ; s epo . ( iii ) between the a and b electrical inlet plugs and the equipment pdu &# 39 ; s two link boxes ( a and b ) are located in the bottom of the racked space which constantly monitor the rms voltage , rms current , and kwh of each pdu . each of the individual socket outlets ( iec 1oa as standard one socket outlet for each u position of rack space ) is remotely switchable ( no switches are fitted to the pdu strip to avoid personnel accidentally switching off the wrong service ).] ( iv ) the link boxes are provided with an lcd display of the instantaneous rms current , rms voltage , and cumulative kwh . a 32a class c double pole mcb provides over current protection . a communication port ( eia rs485 ) is 5 provided for individual socket switching , data input / output and power and a data programming port ( rj45 ). there are two chilled water connections onto the cabinet made with ‘ dry break ’ connectors and flexible hoses ( pipe - in - pipe ) 48 , either at low level or at high level . the flexible hoses connect to the sealed valve box 50 , with the outer hose screwed onto the housing of the box while the inner hose passes through the box to connect to valves therein . the valve box 50 contains either isolation valves ( single cabinet ) or a balancing / commissioning set ( multiple cabinets ). thus those items which might possibly give rise to a leak , namely the valve connections / valve bodies , are contained within a leak - proof enclosure . a rigid pipe - in - pipe system 52 runs from the other side of the valve box 50 to the plant skid 42 . the pipe system 40 is supplied in pre - fabricated format ( 3 m / 5 m lengths ) comprising an inner triple layered plastic / metal / plastic pipe to which insulation is bonded . the outer corrugated pipe facilitates pulling back the outer sleeve and insulation to make the pipe joint ( either fusion welded or crimped ). the joint , is made and a vapor seal collar applied over the joint . adjustable pre - assembled pipe supports allow fixing of the outer pipe run to the building fabric . leak detection tape can be provided in the outer pipe linked to the cabinet controller . a buffer tank requires filling with water ; but once filled does not require , a permanent cold water feed . where it is required ( and if there is sufficient cooling capacity ) to connect the cabinet system 28 into an existing facility chilled water supply , then it is necessary to provide a plant module to raise the chilled water supply temperature to 11 . 5 ° c . before entering the cabinet chilled water main . the cabinet system 28 can operate as completely stand alone , or have a data connection run from the cabinet controller to a local desktop pc , a local control room , or via a lon gateway or snmp to communicate via an intranet or internet link for remote access . similarly , the remote plant skid control panel can be linked to a local desktop pc , a local control room , or via a lon gateway or snmp to communicate via an intranet or internet link for remote access . the mains pipe - in - pipe leak detection ( if fitted , being optional ) is connected to cabinet controller . referring now to fig5 ( a ), 5 ( b ), 5 ( c ) and 5 ( d ) , the cabinet 30 of the invention is generally cuboidal and is constructed largely of rectangular steel panels which may be structural , although the cabinet 30 may also have an underlying structural frame to which the panels are attached . the panels define parallel horizontal top and bottom walls 56 , 58 and parallel vertical side walls 60 , 62 , 64 , 66 extending between the top and bottom walls 56 , 58 . a vertical partition 68 extends parallel to the side walls , also between the top and bottom walls 56 , 58 . the cabinet 30 comprises two main parts divided by the partition 68 , namely a rackable equipment space 70 beside an equipment cooling unit or ecu 38 ( fig2 ( a ) ). in other words , the partition 68 within the cabinet 30 defines a server chamber 83 for racking beside a plant chamber 85 for impelling and cooling air to pass through and between servers in the racking . the partition 68 does not extend to the full depth of the side walls 60 , 62 , 64 , 66 or the top or bottom walls 56 , 58 , therefore leaving gaps or slots at the front and rear of the partition . these gaps or slots provide for recirculating airflow between the server space and the plant space , via a front supply plenum extending over the front face of a bank of servers supported by the racking and a rear exhaust plenum extending over the rear face of that bank of servers . the invention therefore contemplates a cabinet carcass forming two internal areas ; an equipment rack space 70 and an ecu space . advantageously , the part of the carcass defining the ecu space is removable from the part of the carcass defining the rack space 70 to allow for easier installation access in existing buildings with limited door opening width . however , this is not essential to the invention in its broad sense . the carcass has a double - skin construction to reduce weight , provide structural integrity , reduce noise transmission , reduce thermal transmission and increase security . the carcass may be constructed from any of a variety of materials to best suit specific applications , or a combination of them , for example steel , aluminum or plastic skins with mineral wool filling , aluminum honeycomb , high density foam or synthetic honeycomb cores . the cabinet 30 contains racking 72 defining bays capable of accommodating a corresponding number of 1 u units such as servers . of course , deeper units of 2 u or more in thickness can be accommodated if the overall number of units in the cabinet is decreased . the units are positioned close together in a layered stack - like configuration , although the units are supported from the sides of the cabinet and are not actually stacked in the sense of resting upon one another . this means that units can be removed and replaced without disturbing adjacent units above or below . some capacity in bays at the bottom of the cabinet 30 may be devoted to an electrical power management unit such as a ups and a further capacity in bays at the top of the cabinet may be devoted to a gas fire suppressant unit . this leaves the remaining capacity for other units such as servers protected by the power management unit and the fire suppressant unit . the fire suppressant unit may , for example , be a gas dump unit containing heptafluoropropane suppressant , as is commonly sold under the trade mark fm200 of great lakes chemical corporation and known generically as hfc - 227ea . gas dumping can be triggered by a smoke detector such as is sold under the trade mark vesda of vision systems &# 39 ; group . in conventional manner , each server within the cabinet 30 defines an airflow path between ventilation openings such as grilles in its front and rear faces , which openings may be referred to as front ventilation openings and rear ventilation openings respectively . there may of course be other openings in the top , bottom or sides of servers . each server typically also includes an impeller to promote cooling airflow along that path around heat sources within the server . it will be apparent that each cabinet 30 defines a sealed environment that , in emergency situations , has an important element of self - sufficiency in terms of cooling , fire protection and power supply . to that extent , each cabinet 30 is a mini data center that is apt to be retro - fitted to an existing site , and that can be filled to its maximum capacity without overheating as will be discussed in more detail later . access to the interior of the cabinet 30 is via four doors , two on the front 74 , 76 and two on the rear 78 , 80 . one door of each pair 76 , 80 gives access to the ecu 38 and the other door of each pair 74 , 78 gives access to the equipment rack . the doors are side - hinged and sealed around their periphery . they may be glazed although that is not technically significant . the doors 74 , 78 giving access to the equipment rack 70 are spaced from the front and rear of the server units so that in conjunction with the side panels 60 , 66 and the partition 68 , they create a front supply plenum 82 communicating with the front ventilation openings of the server units and a rear exhaust plenum 84 communicating with the rear ventilation openings of the server units . the rear exhaust plenum 84 is closed to all sides but one , where it communicates with the plant chamber 85 through a gap or slot 86 at the rear of the partition , thereby to exhaust air that has been warmed by its passage through the server units . that air is cooled , filtered and impelled through the plant chamber 85 into the front supply plenum 82 via a gap or slot 88 at the front of the partition . like the rear exhaust plenum 84 , the front supply plenum 82 is closed on all other sides . substantially all of the incoming air must pass through the front plenum 82 and from there through the front ventilation openings of the servers . to ensure this where the cabinet is not full , blanking plates should be fixed across any bays not occupied by servers ; otherwise , air would flow preferentially through the resulting gaps , around rather than through the servers . each door 74 , 76 , 78 , 80 is lockable by electric ( preferably magnetic ) door locks under smart card control , to which end a smart card reader ( not shown ) is provided on the front and rear of the cabinet . smart cards may be programmed to give access to either the ecu doors , the equipment rack doors 74 , 78 or all doors depending on the duties of the personnel issued the card . additionally , cards can be programmed to operate the access doors to the room where the cabinet 30 is located and all the other access doors en route to it . at the base of the cabinet 30 , a secure drawer unit 90 houses programmable control systems that operate the system 28 . however , this positioning is not essential : other variants or models may locate the control system elsewhere , for example within the ecu space or door mounted . whatever the position , the principle is the same in that access to the controls is possible without having to enter the rackable space 70 . where different personnel maintain the ecu / controls and the rackable space , neither must have free access to the other &# 39 ; s area of responsibility to avoid operational / maintenance incidents which might result in downtime . consequently , upon presentation of the smart card to the smart card reader , the programmable controller inside the cabinet 30 checks with a security record that the user is authorized to enter the cabinet . having confirmed this , the controller then uses sensors to check the external and internal environment , which should be similar although the cabinet environment is more precisely controlled . if there is a discrepancy between the external and internal environment that could result in a dew point problem when the doors are opened , then the electric door locks are not released . otherwise , room air can deposit moisture either within the cabinet 30 to be carried by airflow onto the racked equipment or directly onto the racked equipment itself . so , in the event of such discrepancy , a warning is given by a light or buzzer to the person trying to gain access , alerting them that the cabinet environment must be adjusted first . to harmonize the external and internal environments , the controller may use variable speed fans and chilled water valves to adjust the internal environment to eliminate the problem . once this has been achieved , the warning indication ceases and the door locks release . should the external and internal environments be too far apart to harmonize in this manner , then the door locks will not release . the user then has to address the reason for the external data room environment having moved so far outside its specified limits . should the reason for denying access be due to a fault with the controller , this can be verified via another alarm ( general ) condition . if this is the case , then it is possible to open the doors with a manual override key which should be held at a separate security point . manual locks or latches may be provided in addition to the electric locks to ensure that door seals are maintained at all times when the doors are supposed to be closed . once the purpose of entry to the cabinet 30 has been completed , the user closes the 10 door ( s ) and re - presents the smart card which locks the cabinet 30 and puts the ecu 38 into ‘ soft start ’ mode . soft start is used at initial commissioning to bring the internal environment back up to set point over a timed delay ( normally 15 to 20 minutes ) to avoid any dew point problems with the room air that has been introduced into the cabinet . the ecu space contains cooling equipment comprising a chilled water coil 92 ( heat exchanger ) and a vertical array of fans . the relationship between the fans 94 and the coil 92 varies between variants . in the first variant shown in fig5 ( a ) to 5 ( c ) , the fans 94 are positioned at the rear of the cabinet 30 and draw air from an exhaust plenum 84 at the rear of the rack space 70 . the airflow is then pushed into a middle plenum 96 and then through the coil 92 and filters 98 , downstream of the fans 94 , to the front of the cabinet 30 , where it flows into the supply plenum 82 . the supply plenum 82 delivers the airflow to the front of the racked equipment , where it passes through the equipment ventilation holes , collecting heat from the electronic components and exhausting into the exhaust plenum 84 to start the cycle again . it will be appreciated that the air flow circulates continuously in a horizontal pattern akin to the movement of a curtain . this movement pattern avoids problems with stack / chimney effect , as each device is directly fed with cooled air from the coil 92 . this means that unlike all vertical airflow systems , it is no longer critical where the hottest devices are placed . the horizontal airflow also encounters less problems with cabling resistance , which is an increasing problem for containment due to the effects of compaction already noted . moreover , the invention provides a much greater ‘ duct area ’ than is possible with a vertical system . consider that the effective duct width for a conventional vertical system is set by the overall width of the cabinet enclosure ( 600 mm ) although normally , due to structural requirements , the actual width is inside the rack rails , namely 500 mm or less . ignoring systems which place the duct opening directly under the rack , the duct height depends upon the space available in front of the rack . this space can be as little as 30 mm in some cases ; whereas from tests carried out with a variety of airflow areas , the minimum duct height should be 75 mm to 100 mm . even assuming a duct height of 100 mm is provided across the full 600 mm width of the cabinet enclosure , then the maximum effective duct area for conventional vertical airflow is just 0 . 1 × 0 . 6 = 0 . 06 m2 . in comparison , the horizontal airflow of the invention enables full use of the cabinet height as the effective duct width . for example a 42 u version of the cabinet has a duct extending for 1 . 9 m in cabinet height . thus , for the same duct height of 100 mm , the effective duct area is 0 . 1 × 1 . 9 = 0 . 19 m 2 or over three times that of the conventional vertical system . the cabinet 30 of the invention also benefits from markedly lower resistance to airflow . the horizontal airflow system of the invention requires four changes of direction to complete a full cycle whereas vertical airflow employing a central plant requires ten , made through more restricted ducts . thus , the horizontal airflow system makes it possible to provide greater airflow to deal with very high loads ; with less system resistance to airflow . in the invention , the proximity of the cooling unit 38 to the equipment being cooled means that very little heat is transferred from the airflow to the inner walls of the cabinet . this , combined with the sealed environment , ensures that the cooling loads generated by the housed equipment do not influence other equipment close by . the more limited environmental area allows more precise automatic cooling to the level necessary at any given moment thus minimizing power consumption , and removing reliance on human intervention that is required with many existing cabinet enclosures . in a second variant of the invention as illustrated in fig6 ( a ) and 6 ( b ) , the fans are positioned at the front of the cabinet 30 b and pull air through the coil 92 which is located upstream of the fans , towards the rear of the cabinet 30 b . the airflow is then as above , moving into the supply plenum 82 ; through the racked equipment ; into the exhaust plenum 84 and then back through the coil 92 to start the cycle again . in the preferred embodiments illustrated in fig5 ( a ) to 5 ( c ) and fig6 ( a ) and 6 ( b ) , six fans 94 are arranged in a vertical array to push or pull the airflow through the coil 92 . five fans 94 are needed for load with one for redundancy in an n + 1 arrangement . the number of fans 94 is directly related to the total cooling load and coil configuration . currently a total of six are used for models which have total capacities of 15 kw to 20 kw of it cooling load . lower loads may require less fans but the principle is the same . it is desirable that all fans 94 should run all the time , because fans are more likely to fail on start - up , especially if they have not been turned over regularly during maintenance . should a fan fail , a non - return flap 100 closes over the failed fan to prevent ‘ short circuiting ’ of the airflow , whereupon the remaining fans speed up to take up the load . this non - return valve 100 feature is advantageous in the first embodiment where the fans are upstream of the coil , but is not necessary in the second embodiment where the fans are downstream of the coil . the fans 94 are hot - swappable requiring the release of quick - release fittings and an electrical plug connector in a process that involves approximately four minutes to swap out a fan . monitoring equipment can detect increased power consumption by any fan , 94 indicating a possible future fan failure and allowing the unit to be swapped before the failure occurs . the combination of variable speed and chilled water valves linked to sensors permits efficient cooling levels to be maintained . in other words , only the level of cooling required of the mechanical equipment is delivered automatically at anytime . n + 1 redundancy is important for the fans 94 , which are the most likely components to fail but is less important for the coil 92 which rarely fails . in any event , providing two coils 92 to achieve the same ( n + 1 ) level of redundancy as the fans would increase air resistance through the system , requiring larger fans and increasing power consumption . coils rarely fail , but when they do it is sometimes catastrophically on commissioning or more likely as a result of a blow hole . brazing flux lodged in a hole may not be revealed with a factory air test , but will then fail when filled with water upon commissioning . these incidents are very rare but not unknown , so the invention contemplates providing n + 1 redundancy on the service but not the coil itself . this is achieved by designing the coil as a cartridge which can be hot - swapped without shutting down the cabinet . to this end , the coil 92 complete with solenoid water isolation valves and two ( or three ) port modulating chilled water valves is made as an assembly 102 , as shown in fig7 . the assembly 102 is mounted on telescopic rails 104 and connected to the flow and return pipework via ‘ dry break ’ connectors 106 in which an inner valve closes before an outer coupling releases to avoid any coolant spillage . monitoring procedures detect leaks and pressure loss within the coil 92 . in the event of a coil failure , an engineer opens the doors to the ecu space leaving the fans 94 running . room air continues to circulate through the racked equipment which might rise in temperature but will stay within its operational limits . by maintaining some airflow during coil swapping , the suddenness of temperature rise within the cabinet 30 is minimized and hence the risk of thermal shock damage to the equipment protected by the cabinet 30 is reduced . a thermal shock ‘ spike ’ representing a rate of temperature rise of 10 ° c . per hour is considered acceptable in this context . once access is gained by opening the doors 76 , 80 to the ecu space , the dry break connectors 106 are disconnected together with electrical plugs . a retaining clamp is undone and the whole coil cartridge 102 slid out of the cabinet 30 on the telescopic rails 104 . in this position , retaining bolts holding the coil cartridge 102 on the rails 104 are removed and the coil 92 lifted off the rails and replaced . the procedure is reversed with a new coil , the coil bled and the doors closed to resume normal operation . it is envisaged that the total time necessary to swap a coil will be less than about ten minutes . the area in the ecu space below the coil cartridge 102 is tanked so that in the event of a spillage the contents of the coil 92 and the cabinet pipework etc are contained . leak detection sensors within the tanked area provide an alarm condition in this situation . in the event of a catastrophic leak , the chilled water valves automatically close to prevent more fluid entering the cabinet enclosure ( this facility can be disabled if required ). in standard format , the outer hose of the aforementioned pipe - in - pipe system can be used as a drain . however if a fire - rated cabinet is required then this hole is fire - sealed and it is necessary to drain the ‘ tanked ’ area manually . as mentioned above in relation to the door lock system , the cooling system is designed to maintain the cabinet environment above dew point to prevent condensation forming on the heat exchanger coil and being carried into the racked equipment by airflow or forming directly on the surface of the racked equipment . design set point for the heat exchanger water inlet temperature is 11 . 5 ° c . with a 16 . 5 ° c . outlet temperature . the sealed environment of the cabinet means the external dew point can be ignored other than when the cabinet doors are opened , when the interlocking of the door locks and the environmental controls ( described above ) prevent dew point problems . the cabinet ecu 38 in combination with the cabinet 30 provides a closed loop air / water system dealing with sensible heat only . for this reason there is no dehumidifier within the ecu 38 . the continuously circulating air is drawn originally , and from time to time during operational and maintenance access from the room air . in a data center , this air will be maintained within prescribed humidity levels — normally 50 % relative humidity ( rh ) plus or minus 5 % from the central make up fresh air system . some oem specifications allow for a much wider humidity tolerance while quoting the figure of 50 % rh as ideal . while too high humidity is to be avoided to prevent problems with condensation on equipment , too low humidity levels are also undesirable to avoid potential problems with static electricity . during the last few years , there has been an increase in the number of equipment component failures due to humidity problems . this stresses the need to target the environment within an ideal humidity tolerance band . where the cabinet 30 is to be located outside data center environments , i . e ., lacking close temperature and humidity control , care must be taken to ensure the ability of the control system to prevent condensation via door interlocking is still viable . in other words the internal and external environment must be capable of being matched to stay above dew point but also maintain adequate cooling conditions for the equipment . where there is any doubt as to this requirement , then an outer enclosure should be used as illustrated in fig2 ( a ) to 2 ( c ) and fig3 ( a ) to 3 ( c ) . this provides an insulated outer zone which is provided with a small package hvac unit 36 to maintain a stable ambient environment of 22 ° c . 50 % rh . the unit 36 provides cooling , heating ( if required ) and humidity control and is linked to the plant skid 42 by a similar but independent pipework system . if the interconnecting pipe - in - pipe flow and return mains linking the cabinet heat exchanger to the plant skid 42 are not insulated , then a sensor is attached to the pipe . thus , in the event of the measured room dew point approaching the fluid temperature set point , the skid control panel will by means of the skid actuator and variable speed pump raise the fluid temperature say 1 ° c . or more to avoid condensation forming . however in standard format the pipe - in - pipe system is supplied pre - tested and insulated , so this facility is not needed . the skid primary chilled water circuit is 7 . 5 ° c . on supply . the cabinet 30 of the invention is provided with dual - corded a and b power supplies as shown in fig4 , power monitoring and control facilities , and dual - corded c1 and c2 utility power supplies to the ecu 38 . the cabinet 30 of the invention may contain various internal features which are not essential to the invention and are not shown . for example , each power distribution unit ( pdu ) within the cabinet may contain an iec socket outlet ( a range of other outlets is possible to suit the country of location ) which is numbered and has a status neon lamp . if required , 8 u high modules ( 8 socket outlets ) can be provided with individual socket power monitoring . another internal feature not shown is a rack - mounted fire protection unit ( fpu ) which provides an in - cabinet microprocessor - controlled sub - system for extinguishing fires within the cabinet 30 . fire detection is provided by an in - cabinet laser smoke detection unit . fm200 extinguishing agent ( in a dual bottle arrangement ) is preferred as this agent is electrically non - conductive and not harmful to electronic equipment or to personnel . in the event of a fire situation detected by the smoke detection unit , only the individual cabinet 30 is flooded with extinguishing agent and shut down rather than the whole room . after a fire , extinguishant gas and fire residue may be extracted from the cabinet using a mobile gas bottle and vacuum pump , connected to a tap off valve on the cabinet side . this also removes the need to install high and low level extract ductwork , complete with dampers and fans required for room level solutions . the invention minimizes the impact of fire on the user &# 39 ; s service , and minimizes the cost : say a replacement cost of $ 340 . 00 for gas as opposed to perhaps $ 136 , 000 . 00 for flooding a whole room of area 1 , 000 m 2 , let alone the cost of downtime and possible equipment damage involved in flooding the whole room . indeed , a suitably sensitive early warning detection system provides control personnel with the option to shut off the power to the rack , which will normally prevent a potential fire , before flooding the cabinet 30 with extinguishing agent . an increased risk of fire follows from the process of compaction , requiring users to 20 consider their fire strategy . the value of business interruption for many users is far greater than the capital cost of equipment loss . the automatic system installed in the cabinet of the invention protects the racked equipment and limits the damage to one rack . being a sealed cabinet , the risk of cold smoke damage to other equipment / services in the room is removed . in contrast , the majority of data rooms use a form of total flooding ( either gas or water mist ) to protect the room space directly but the rack interiors and equipment indirectly . the invention has further benefits . for example , the cabinet construction of the invention together with its security systems provides a very high level of physical security required by many users and their insurers . moreover , by obviating raised floors , the invention avoids other problems such as the problem of metal whiskers , namely swarf from the edge of the floor tile cut - outs which may be carried by the airflow systems into the racked equipment of unsealed floor - ventilated rack cabinets . the continuing increase in equipment and cable weight has the effect of increasing the loading within rack cabinets and therefore onto the raised floor . the full load capability of a raised floor is only realized when all of its tiles are in place . in other words , the lateral strength of the floor depends upon the presence of the tiles . as ‘ discussed above , tiles are often missing in many data centers . the increased load on the raised floor increases the point loads on the structural floor , often beyond acceptable limits . for users in earthquake zones , raised floor systems create an additional hazard . while all systems are liable to experience downtime of hours or days due to loss of connectivity in the event of an earthquake , collapsed raised floors result in racked equipment damage which can extend downtime to more than a month . operation of the invention will now be described in more detail . the function of the plant is to maintain air in the data cabinet supply plenum at 22 ° c . 50 % rh . the basic temperature ‘ set point ’ is 22 ° c . which can be adjusted via an optional remote display and adjust panel ( not shown ). all other parameters to tune the control loops can also be adjusted via the optional local display and adjust panel . due to temperature stratification in the supply air plenum 82 , the average of two temperatures is used to ensure that the supply air temperature is adjusted to counter the mean cooling load in the cabinet . the supply air temperature set point is adjusted down from 22 ° c . to 20 ° c . when the average return temperature exceeds 34 ° c . should any of the necessary sensors be unreliable , i . e ., open or short circuit , it is removed from the averaged calculation . the average of the two supply temperatures is compared with a sliding set point produced by the return air average temperature exceeding 34 ° c . the chilled water valve will then be modulated in accordance with a proportional plus integral control algorithm to maintain the set point . all digital inputs are normally open for the fail condition to ensure that the wiring circuit integrity and circuit breakers are also monitored . the alarm output is switched off for an alarm condition , for the same reason . each variable volume fan maintains a constant static pressure under the control of a proportional plus integral control algorithm , using the duct static pressure transmitter as input . should this transmitter be unreliable , the fan speed will be controlled at a fixed value . following a power failure , the fan speed will ramp up gradually . each of the variable volume fans runs continuously unless disabled by any of the following conditions , namely : ‘ gas gone ’— if the in - cabinet fire protection gas dump system is active ; if smoke input from the in - cabinet fire detection system is active ; if the local isolator / alarm reset switch is off ( hardwired into the controlled equipment ); or the fan &# 39 ; s respective fault condition is detected ( hardwired into the controlled 20 equipment ). the chilled water valve will be forced 100 % open if any of the following conditions is active , namely the supply fan is disabled or if all of the return air temperatures are unreliable ( either open or short circuit ). the solenoid water isolating valves will be switched . off if water is detected within the unit . in terms of security function , a ‘ door open panel light ’ will illuminate when all the 30 following conditions are active : there is a request from the control room system ( if connected ) and the cabinet card reader ; the dew point temperature in the cabinet is higher than the dew - point required to condense moisture from air entering the unit when the doors are opened ; and there is no signal from the ‘ gas gone ’ alarm of the fire protection ( extinguishing ) unit . the ‘ door open light panel light ’ will flash when all of the following conditions are active : there is a request from the control room system ( if connected ) and the cabinet card reader ; the dew point temperature in the cabinet is being adjusted to prevent condensation of moisture from the air entering the unit when the doors are opened ; and there is no signal from the ‘ gas gone ’ alarm of the fire protection ( extinguishing ) unit . the ecu door magnetic locks will open when all of the following conditions are active : there is a request from the control room system ( if connected ) and the cabinet card reader ; the dew point temperature in the cabinet is higher than the dew point required to condense moisture from the air entering the unit when the doors are opened ; and there is no signal from the ‘ gas gone ’ alarm of the fire protection ( extinguishing ) unit . the equipment rack space magnetic locks will open when all of the following conditions are active : there is a request from the control room system ( if connected ) and the cabinet card reader ; the dew point temperature in the cabinet is higher than the dew point required to condense moisture from the air entering the unit when the doors are opened ; and there is no signal from the ‘ gas gone ’ alarm of the fire protection ( extinguishing ) unit . moving on now to the fire detection and protection system , the fire protection unit ( fpu ) has a lockable isolating switch , for use when work is being carried out in the cabinet . if the unit is locked off , the common fault will be activated . this common fault will not include the low gas pressure alarm , which is a separate input . when the air sampling smoke detection system gateway is included , the smoke input will come from a lon snvt which will replace the hardwired connection . in a manual condition , which assumes that a control room system is connected , the remote manual gas dump will be enabled if the following conditions are active : the control room has authorized that this function is active via a network connection ; the smoke input from the air sampling smoke detection system unit is active ; the door magnetic locks are not released ( ecu or equipment rack ); the pre - alarm input from the air sampling smoke detection system unit is active ; and in an automatic condition , which assumes a stand - alone configuration in which a control room system is not connected , the remote manual gas dump will be enabled if the following conditions are active . this is also a backup system to the remote manual gas dump , if the control room has not authorized the function within a given time , and the other inputs are still active : the first knock is active ( hardwired input from the air sampling smoke detection system to the fpu ); the pre - alarm input from the air sampling smoke detection system unit is active ; the second knock ( smoke input from the air sampling smoke detection system 15 unit ) is active ; the door magnetic locks are not released ( ecu and equipment rack sections ); moving on now to alarms , a ‘ common plant alarm ’ will be enabled if any of the following conditions is active : there is a fire ! smoke alarm from the air sampling smoke detection system unit ; there is a fault signal from the air sampling smoke detection unit ; there is a pre - alarm from the air sampling smoke detection unit ; the front door status does not match the commanded position ( following a grace period of 5 minutes — only if the control room is connected ); the back door status does not match the commanded position ( following a grace period of five minutes — only if the control room is connected ); the temperature ‘ set - point ’ is not being maintained ( plus or minus 2 ° c .) following 30 minutes after a power failure ; or the cabinet humidity is less than 45 % rh or greater than 50 % rh , following minutes after a power failure . the above output will latch until reset via a control room system ( if connected ) or from the portable display and adjust panel . a “ fire alarm ’ ( flashing lamp on ’ the panel ) will be enabled if there is a fire / smoke ’ alarm from the air sampling smoke detection unit . this output will also latch until reset via a control room system ( if connected ) or from the portable display and adjust panel . a ‘ gas gone lamp ’ will be enabled if there is a ‘ gas gone ’ signal from the fpu ( this is a hardwired signal ) and this will indicate which unit the alarm relates to when several units are connected together . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention has very numerous and considerable benefits over the prior art . it provides a safe and secure total environment for locating existing and new it / electrical critical technology in high - density deployment . this environment is provided in a form that can be utilized in any location where it might reasonably be required : it is not necessarily dependent on a conventional data room location . the environment is also provided in a form that permits full use ( i . e ., 100 %) of the equipment space for hot devices if required . the environment systems of the invention provide high availability and fault tolerance 10 both under operational and maintenance conditions . the environment is ‘ room neutral ’ i . e . the cabinet of the invention does not contribute to any additional cooling loads or receive any additional cooling loads from its surrounding space . it provides means for remote proactive monitoring and control of the environment systems to ensure maximum uptime . it removes as far as possible the need for personnel to schedule the order of deployment ( stacking ) of equipment for good thermal management . it automates as far as possible the environment control systems to avoid the need for manual intervention and the resulting risks of downtime . it provides true scalability upwards and downwards across all environmental systems , while maintaining environmental conditions suitable for the correct operation of all vendor / oem products . the invention allows efficient energy consumption both for operational and maintenance requirements throughout the whole life of an installation and at any given stage of build - out . the invention provides a seamless means of avoiding the ‘ fuzzy edge disease ’ of the industry , in the words , the interface problems arising between traditional complex systems provided from a variety of specialist sources , especially high costs , increased timescales , lower availability , multiple points of failure and long mean times to repair . it provides certainty to users , removing as many of the traditional uncertainties and variables as possible and thereby simplifying the decision / design process when configuring a facility . in general , the invention may be embodied in many forms . when determining the scope of the invention , reference should therefore be made to the appended claims and to other conceptual statements herein , rather than the foregoing ’ specific description . | 7 |
referring to fig2 to 5 c , an example of a rotor blade of a turbomachine . such a blade can for example be a blade of an airplane turbojet , for example at a low - pressure stage . the blade includes a lower side and an upper side positioned on either side of a stacking axis . the blade can thus include an airfoil 101 extending along a stacking axis of the blade . the airfoil 101 extends between a proximal end 102 and a distal end 103 of the blade . the blade includes a root 104 at its proximal end 102 , by which it is for example attached to a disc of the rotor of the turbomachine . the disc can drive the blade in rotation about an axis of the turbomachine . the blade has at its distal end 103 a heel 105 . the heel 105 can be made in such a manner that , when several movable blades are attached to a rotor disc , their heels 105 are set edge to edge so as to form a rotating ring delimiting a surface of revolution about an axis of rotation of the blades . this ring has in particular the function of delimiting an outer surface of a passage for the gas flow circulating between the airfoils 101 and thus to limit possible gas leaks at the distal end 103 of the blades . the heel 105 includes a platform 2 having a first edge 201 on the lower side and a second edge 202 on the upper side . the first and second edges 201 and 202 are for example opposite lateral edges . the platform 2 can delimit on the outside the gas flow passage circulating between the blades 101 . the heel 105 includes at least one seal lip 3 . the seal lip 3 has a first end portion 301 on the lower side and a second end portion 302 on the upper side . the seal lip 3 has a seal lip top extending radially outward from said platform 2 between said first 301 and second 302 end portions . the heel 105 can include an upstream seal lip 3 and a downstream seal lip 4 , upstream and downstream being defined according to the direction of gas flow . the upstream 3 and downstream 4 seal lips can be made in such a manner that , when several movable blades are attached to a rotor disc , the seal lips 3 and 4 of the blades are set edge to edge so as to form a rotating ring along the axis of rotation of the blades , this ring being contained substantially within a radial plane . such a ring makes it possible to limit the existing clearance between the blades and a stator , or a stator shroud , which surrounds them , so as to limit possible gas leaks at this location . the part of the platform 2 extending upstream of the upstream seal lip 3 constitutes an upstream portion 203 or upstream spoiler . the portion of the platform 2 extending downstream of the downstream seal lip 4 constitutes a downstream portion 205 or downstream spoiler . between the upstream portion 203 and the downstream portion 205 , the platform 2 has a central part 204 extending between the upstream 3 and downstream 4 seal lips . for the purpose of damping vibrations to which the blades are subjected in operation , the blades can be mounted on their rotor disc with a torsional stress about their stacking axis . thus , the platforms 2 can be dimensioned in such a manner that each blade is given a torsional stress by pressing against its neighbors at the heels 105 , mainly along the end portions of the seal lips 3 and 4 . for at least one seal lip 3 , for example for each seal lip 3 , the heel 105 includes , at one of its edges 201 and 202 at least , a portion forming a cup 5 extending along the end portions 301 or 302 of the seal lip 3 which corresponds to the edge 201 or 202 , the portion forming the cup 5 being designed to receive a deposit of anti - wear material 7 . thus , the heel 105 can include , for at least one seal lip 3 , for example for all seal lips 3 , at the first 201 , respectively second 202 edge , a first , respectively second portion forming a cup 5 extending along the first 301 , respectively second 302 end portion of the seal lip 3 , the first , respectively second portion forming a cup 5 being designed to receive a deposit of an anti - wear material 7 . compared to the prior art , the portion forming the cup 5 , along an end portion 301 or 302 of the seal lip 3 , allows stiffening of this seal lip 3 and therefore to better withstand the loads caused by contact with adjacent heels 105 . the referred figures represent portions forming a cup 5 at the upstream seal lip 3 , but such portions forming cups 5 can be present , alternatively or complementarily , at the downstream seal lip 4 . each portion forming a cup 5 can include two walls 501 and 502 extending on either side of the end portion of the corresponding seal lip 3 . these walls thus form two faces 501 and 502 forming lateral walls of the cup 5 and the end portion of the seal lip 3 forms the bottom of the cup 5 . these walls 501 and 502 can be reworked during subsequent machining . thus the blade can include a layer of anti - wear material 7 deposited in each cup 5 thus formed . the [ material ] constituting the blade generally has poor resistance to wear and the anti - wear material makes it possible to extend its lifetime by protecting the parts subjected to wear . the layer of anti - wear material 7 can be obtained by brazing plates of a specific alloy with high hardness to the cups 5 . the layer of anti - wear material 7 can be obtained by loading this lateral face with a melted alloy . the necessary heat can for example come from an electric arc sheathed with neutral gas or even from a laser beam . the anti - wear material 7 can be a cobalt - based alloy , for example an alloy of cobalt , chromium tungsten and carbon , for example such an alloy of the type of those marketed under the brand name “ stellite ,” having good anti - wear properties . the anti - wear material 7 can also be made on a rough blade from the foundry prior to machining , by stelliting . the presence of the cup 5 in the seal lip 3 makes it possible to deposit a small quantity and without any risk of overflowing . indeed , the portion forming the cup 5 acts like a “ gutter ” during deposit of the melted material , overflow being limited by the edges of the cup 5 . the edges of the walls of the cup 5 extending past the anti - wear material deposited can then be removed during subsequent machining allowing the machined blade of being obtained . the walls 501 and 502 of the cup portion 5 must thus have sufficient thickness to not melt completely during depositing of the melted anti - wear material . their condition after depositing can however be modified during machining . thus a thickness of 1 . 5 mm for the walls 501 and 502 , for example , is sufficient . likewise , the deposit of anti - wear material 7 does not need to have imperfections because the form of the layer can be modified during subsequent machining and possible subsequent sanding . such a blade also allows depositing of stellite along the seal lip 3 , which provides a greater lifetime for the blade because the areas protected by the anti - wear material 7 are supported on the seal lip 3 . moreover , such a blade allows automated depositing of anti - wear material and no longer requires any manual operation . as the material distributes itself along the cup 5 , it is thus easier to accomplish a deposit of a small quantity of material . it is thus possible to obtain , after machining , a layer of anti - wear material 7 . the layer of anti - wear material 7 has for example a thickness of 1 mm or a greater thickness . moreover , such a blade does not require a subsequent checking stage , the portion forming a cup 5 avoiding any overflow and the final form of the portion being obtained after machining . the result is a simplification of the method for depositing the anti - wear material , and more generally of the method of manufacture of rotor blades for a turbomachine . referring to fig6 , a method for depositing anti - wear material on a rotor blade of a turbomachine is described there . the method includes a first step 601 consisting of supplying a rough rotor blade for a turbomachine as describe above and as shown in fig5 a . the method includes a second step consisting of depositing a layer of anti - wear material 7 as described above in each cup 5 formed , to obtain a heel 105 as shown in fig5 b . the method includes a third step 603 consisting of machining the edges of the walls 501 and 502 of the cup 5 extending past the layer of anti - wear material 7 deposited , so as to obtain a machined blade as shown in fig5 c . the method can include a fourth step 604 consisting of sanding the surface of the layer of the anti - wear material 7 and of the portion forming a cup 5 after machining , so as to make them smooth . | 5 |
in the following description , various aspects of the present invention will be described . those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the present invention may be practiced with only some or all aspects of the present invention . for purposes of explanation , specific numbers , materials and configurations are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention . however , it will also be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without the specific details . in other instances , well known features are omitted or simplified in order not to obscure the present invention . parts of the description will be presented in terms of operations performed by a computer system , using terms such as data , flags , bits , values , characters , strings , numbers and the like , consistent with the manner commonly employed by those skilled in the art to convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art . as well understood by those skilled in the art , these quantities take the form of electrical , magnetic , or optical signals capable of being stored , transferred , combined , and otherwise manipulated through mechanical and electrical components of the computer system ; and the term computer system include general purpose as well as special purpose data processing machines , systems , and the like , that are standalone , adjunct or embedded . various operations will be described as multiple discrete steps in turn in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the present invention , however , the order of description should not be construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily order dependent , in particular , the order of presentation . referring now to fig1 a - 1 b , wherein a perspective view and an internal architectural view of one embodiment of a conventional video conferencing camera suitable for use to practice the present invention are shown . for the illustrated embodiment , video conferencing camera 100 includes lens 102 , communication interface 104 , video capture 106 , random access memory 108 , digital signal processor 110 , and bus 112 coupling elements 104 - 110 to each other . together , these elements 102 - 112 cooperate to enable video conferencing camera 100 to be attached and used by a computer ( not shown ) to conduct a video conference for a user of the computer . each of these elements 102 - 112 performs its respective conventional function known in the art . that is , video capture 106 in cooperation with lens 102 captures and digitizes visual images , memory 108 provides temporary storage to the digitized video data , digital signal processor 110 generates video signals representative of the visual images , and provides them to the attached computer through communication interface 104 , and so forth . elements 102 - 112 are intended to represent a broad range of these elements known in the art . in fact , video conferencing camera 100 is intended to represent a broad range of video conferencing camera known in the art . [ 0020 ] fig2 a - 2 c illustrate a perspective view , a back view and an internal architectural view of one embodiment of the camera converter of the present invention . for the illustrated embodiment , camera converter 120 includes microcontroller 122 , random access memory 124 , removable non - volatile storage medium 126 , general i / o interface 128 , first and second communication interfaces 130 and 132 , and bus 134 coupling elements 122 - 132 to each other . camera converter 120 also includes housing 136 having disposed thereon on / off switch 138 , viewfinder 140 , snap shot control button 142 , battery 144 , first and second visual displays 146 and 148 , and fastening features 150 . together , these elements cooperate to temporally convert video conferencing camera 100 of fig1 into a digital camera . housing 136 houses the electronic elements 122 - 132 , and removably accepts video conferencing camera 100 when it is not attached to a computer . video conferencing camera 100 is physically secured to camera converter 200 using fastening features 150 . camera converter 200 and video conferencing camera are electrically and communicatively coupled to each other through communication interfaces 104 and 130 . battery 144 supplies power to the electronic elements of camera converter 120 as well as to video conferencing camera 100 , through communication interfaces 104 and 130 . the physical shape and dimensions of housing 136 as well as fastening features 150 are application , i . e . video conferencing camera , dependent . communication interfaces 104 and 130 may be any one of a number of serial or parallel communication interfaces known in the art . similarly , any one of a number of known battery types as well as sizes may be employed for battery 144 . on / off switch 138 in cooperation with general i / o interface 128 facilitates a user powering the combined unit on or off . responsive to a change of position of on / off switch 138 , microcontroller 122 applies or removes power supplied by battery 144 to / from the electronic elements of video conferencing camera 100 as well as the electronic elements of camera converter 120 . upon powering up the electronic elements of the combined unit , camera converter 102 initializes and directs video conferencing camera 100 through communication interfaces 104 and 130 as an attached computer would direct video conferencing camera 100 . in response , video conferencing camera 100 starts outputting video signals for visual images “ seen ” by video capture 106 . the video signals , however , are received by camera converter 120 instead , also through communication interfaces 104 and 130 . the fact that the video signals are received by camera converter 120 is transparent to video conferencing camera 100 . view finder 140 enables a user to see the same visual images “ seen ” by video capture 106 of video conferencing camera 100 , and snap shot control button 142 in cooperation with general i / o interface 128 enables the user to control the actual taking of still images . responsive to each “ signaling ” by the user , through snap shot control button 142 , e . g . by depressing snap shot control button 142 , microcontroller 122 generates a still image by taking a “ snap shot ” of the “ current ” visual image represented by the video signals . view finder 140 is optically coordinated with lens 102 of video conferencing camera 100 to enable a user to see the same visual images “ seen ” by video capture 106 of video conferencing camera 100 . snap shot control button 142 and general i / o interface 128 are intended to represent a broad range of these elements known in the art . memory 124 is used to provide temporary storage for the received video signals , and working storage for generating the still images . removable non - volatile storage medium 126 is used to provide permanent storage for the generated still images ( until deleted ). any one of a number of memory types may be employed for memory 124 . in one embodiment , removable non - volatile storage medium 126 is a removable flash memory card . in another embodiment , it is a diskette . in yet another embodiment , the non - volatile storage medium is a fixed non - volatile storage medium instead , such as a disk drive . the stored still images may be transferred to a display and / or processing device ( not shown ), such as a compatibly equipped computer , by removing removable non - volatile storage medium 126 and “ coupling ” it to the compatibly equipped computer through a compatible input / output mechanism . for example , in the case of a flash memory card , by placing the flash memory card in a flash memory card reader of the computer . for the illustrated embodiment , the stored still images may also be transferred to a display and / or processing device , by coupling the display and / or processing device to the combined unit through communication interface 132 . communication interface 132 may also be one of a number of known serial or parallel communication interface . visual display 146 and 148 are used to provide feedback to the user to facilitate operation of the combined unit as a digital camera . for the illustrated embodiment , visual display 146 is a lcd display for use to display a numeric count of the number of still images stored , and visual display 148 is a lcd display for use to display user messages for the user . both types of displays are rendered by microcontroller 122 . [ 0029 ] fig3 a - 3 c are three flow charts illustrating one embodiment of the operational steps of the present invention . as illustrated in fig3 a and alluded to earlier , in response to a power on event , microcontroller 122 powers on the electronic elements of video conferencing camera 100 through communication interfaces 104 and 130 , as well as the electronic elements of camera converter 102 , step 152 . upon powering up , camera converter 102 starts receiving the video signals representing the visual images “ seen ” by video capture 106 , step 154 . camera converter 102 continues to receive the video signals until the power - off event is detected , step 156 , which for the illustrated embodiment , is denoted by an interrupt to microcontroller 122 triggered by general i / o interface 128 in response to the changing of the position of power on / off switch 138 . as illustrated in fig3 b , while receiving the video signals , in response to a snap shot event , camera converter 120 generates a still image of the current frame using the video signals , and stores the generated still image in non - volatile storage medium 126 , step 158 . for the illustrated embodiment , te snap shot event is denoted by an interrupt to microcontroller 122 triggered by general i / o interface 128 in response to the user “ signaling ” from snap shot control button 142 . as illustrated in fig3 c , while connected to a computer and “ idle ”, in response to a command from the attached computer , camera converter 120 downloads the stored still image to the attached computer , step 160 , if the received command is a “ download ” command . camera converter 120 deletes the stored still image , step 162 , if the received command is a “ delete ” command . otherwise , camera converter 120 handles the command in accordance with the semantics of the command , step 164 . [ 0031 ] fig4 a - 4 b illustrate a hardware view and a software view of one embodiment of a computer system suitable for use to download and display / process the generated still images . as shown , for the illustrated embodiment , computer system 200 includes processor 202 , processor bus 206 , high performance i / o bus 210 and standard i / o bus 220 . processor bus 206 and high performance i / o bus 210 are bridged by host bridge 208 , whereas i / o buses 210 and 212 are bridged by i / o bus bridge 212 . coupled to processor bus 206 is cache 204 . coupled to high performance i / o bus 210 are system memory 214 and video memory 216 , against which video display 218 is coupled . coupled to standard i / o bus 220 are disk drive 222 , keyboard and pointing device 224 and communication interface 226 . these elements perform their conventional functions known in the art . in particular , disk drive 222 and system memory 214 are used to store a permanent and a working copy of still image download / display / process application 242 . the permanent copy may be pre - loaded into disk drive 222 in factory , loaded from distribution medium ( not shown ), or down loaded from a remote distribution source ( not shown ). disk drive 222 and system memory 214 are also used to store a permanent and a working copy of operating system 244 including camera device driver 246 and communication interface driver 248 . the constitutions of these elements are known . any one of a number of implementations of these elements known in the art may be used to form computer system 200 . in general , those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention is not limited by the details described ; instead , the present invention can be practiced with modifications and alterations within the spirit and scope of the appended claims . the description is thus to be regarded as illustrative instead of restrictive on the present invention . thus , a method and apparatus for temporally converting a video conferencing camera into a digital camera . | 7 |
a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described hereinafter in connection with a computer program named “ products generator ”, which was written by the present inventors . as used herein , the names “ products generator ”, “ e - commerce essential ”, “ e - commerce management system ”, product grabber ”, “ website database wizard ”, “ ems integrator ”, “ control panel wizard ”, “ products database ”, “ product window ”, “ refresh window ”, and “ special feature products database ” are trademarks for the computer program described herein and are owned by the present inventors . the products generator computer program is a comprehensive software package contained on a removable storage medium such as a cd . the products generator program is loaded onto and executed by a client computer operated by a registered affiliate . the client computer is preferably a typical personal computer running the microsoft windows operating system or any other suitable operating system such as apple os or linux . in addition , the client computer is connectable to a client / server network , preferably the internet , and is capable of accessing one of more vendor websites over the network . the affiliate website may reside on the client computer , but preferably resides on and is hosted by a remote server that is accessible by the client computer and other computers over the network . the other computers include computers operated by consumers for making e - commerce purchases over the internet . as described hereinafter , the products generator computer program provides users with a turnkey , fully automated system for acquiring one or more commission earning products for sale from one or more participating vendor websites , and creating or updating an affiliate website to include any or all of the acquired products . the products generator program automates the process of searching for and retrieving products from vendor websites . the products generator program is an easy - to - use , user - friendly gui - based software package that allows a user who has become a registered affiliate of one or more participating vendor websites to automatically search those vendor websites for products of interest . in order to commence an automated product search of vendor websites , the registered affiliate is required to enter a list of keywords relating in some manner to products of interest to be searched for and retrieved from each vendor website . in response , the products generator program automatically retrieves all required product codes and inserts the registered affiliate &# 39 ; s unique tracking number for each vendor website into retrieved product codes before the display and marketing of such products on the affiliate website . the products generator program stores the registered affiliate &# 39 ; s unique tracking number for each vendor website and automatically incorporates the correct tracking number into all product codes retrieved from the respective vendor websites prior to storage of the product codes in a products database to guarantee payment of a commission from the respective vendor to the registered affiliate for each successful sale . accordingly , the products generator program automates the process of searching for , retrieving and incorporating product codes into an affiliate website and avoids the need for the registered affiliate to go through a lengthy log - in and product search process as required by some vendors and described above in connection with some of the conventional vendor / affiliate methods . the products generator program provides an intuitive user interface and provides a highly automated and fast method for selectively retrieving commission earning products from one or more vendor websites as compared to the time - consuming manual method currently used in connection with most vendor websites that offer registered affiliates the capability to acquire product information online . as described below , the products generator program also provides a “ website database wizard ” that automatically imports acquired product codes into an existing affiliate website . alternatively , the website database wizard assists the registered affiliate in creating an affiliate website . in addition , the products generator program includes a control panel wizard that generates a “ live on the internet ” control panel specific to each particular vendor . the control panel allows the registered affiliate to update the affiliate website in real time by enabling the registered affiliate to refresh products via new product searches , and also enables the updating , validation , selection and deselection of retrieved products from the products database so that only selected products appear on the affiliate website . in addition , as well being able to update and validate products stored in the products database , the products generator program is also capable of displaying products in “ real time ” from the affiliate &# 39 ; s website . accordingly , the products generator computer program is organized in four distinct sections , including : ( 1 ) a product search section for searching for and retrieving products from vendor websites in a fully automated , semi - automated , or manual manner ; ( 2 ) a website database wizard for assisting the registered affiliate in creating an original affiliate website complete with all the necessary code for the display of retrieved products , via template pages or by means of individual scripts ; ( 3 ) a control panel wizard for allowing a registered affiliate to create a “ live ” on the internet control panel to enable the registered affiliate to edit retrieved products directly from an affiliate website by validating , selecting and de - selecting retrieved products from a products database so that only selected and current products appear on the affiliate website ; and ( 4 ) an e - commerce management system which allows the registered affiliate to conduct product searches of vendor websites directly from an affiliate website . each of these distinct sections is described separately below . fig1 a and 1b are a flowchart illustrating many of the various functions performed by the product search section of the products generator software package in connection with a single vendor website . as will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art , the same or similar functions are performed for additional or different vendor websites . in order to simplify the process of acquiring products from vendor websites , the products generator program provides a user - friendly interface which provides step - by - step instructions and prompts the registered affiliate to enter text and other required data into simple text boxes and to make selections using familiar data input devices such as check boxes and pull - down menus . fig2 - 14 illustrate the user interface of the product search section of the products generator program . more specifically , fig2 - 14 are screen images or screen shots of images displayed on a monitor of the client computer during operation of the products generator program . thus , fig2 - 14 illustrate what the registered affiliate or other user of the products generator program would view on a computer monitor when running the program on a typical personal computer . as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art , the products generator program is designed with an intuitive user interface that utilizes selectable “ buttons ”, text boxes , check boxes , and the like , in the same manner as countless other computer programs designed for use with the microsoft windows and apple operating systems . during use , the products generator program requires users to make various selections by clicking on various buttons or check boxes and prompts the user to enter text into text boxes . the functional characteristics and operation of the product search section of the products generator program will now be described hereinafter with reference to the flowchart of fig1 a and 1b and the screen images of fig2 - 14 . when the products generator program is first activated , it generates a “ switchboard ” screen ( step 1 ). fig2 is an image of the switchboard screen . the switchboard screen displays various user - selectable options each of which launches a different products generator software routine . in particular , the switchboard screen includes vendor website selection buttons 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 for allowing selection of any one of a plurality of participating vendor websites from which goods may be searched for and selected by the registered affiliate . when any one of the vendor website selection buttons 10 - 13 is clicked on by the user , the products generator program launches a product search routine for conducting a search for products on the selected vendor website . in the presently described embodiment , vendor website selection buttons are provided for amazon . com 10 , allposters . com 11 , e - merchandise . com 12 , and art . com 13 . this is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention . as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art , a different software routine is provided in the products generator software package for each vendor website that is searchable . although product searches of all vendor websites are performed using string searches , the search routines contained in the products generator program differ from each other based on the unique steps required by the respective online vendors to access the vendor website , search for products , and acquire product codes . thus , the steps performed by the products generator program for each respective vendor website differ slightly in terms of the way they access product codes based upon differences in the format and location of product codes in each vendor website . the products generator program includes a different product search software routine unique to each vendor website that can be accessed . although the presently described embodiment of the products generator program includes only the four vendor websites mentioned above , the products generator program may be limited to one vendor website or updated to include additional or different vendor websites by adding new software routines for accessing such vendor websites in accordance with the teachings of the present invention . also , as described below , the products generator program further includes a product grabber software routine that allows users to acquire codes from any vendor or affiliate website that offers products for sale online . referring again to fig2 , in addition to the vendor website selection buttons 10 - 13 , the switchboard screen also includes a website database wizard selection button 14 that launches a website database wizard software routine for assisting the registered affiliate in creating an original affiliate website complete with all the necessary code for display of the retrieved products , via template pages or by means of individual scripts . in addition , the switchboard screen includes a control panel wizard selection button 15 that launches a control panel wizard software routine that sets up a control panel that can be accessed directly from the affiliate website without requiring the user to load and execute the products generator program . thus , the control panel wizard sets up a live control panel that is unique to each respective vendor for allowing the registered affiliate to validate , select or de - select products from the products database , directly from the affiliate website , so that only selected and current products appear on the affiliate website . the switchboard screen also includes a setup products grabber button 16 and an ems integrator button 17 . each of these features of the products generator software package are described in separately - labeled sections below . in the presently described embodiment of the products generator computer program , the switchboard screen remains “ open ” or “ active ” to enable the registered affiliate to select any one of the buttons 10 - 17 at any time during operation of the products generator program . in other words , the switchboard screen remains in the background and may be selectively called up and moved to the foreground to allow the registered affiliate to conduct additional product searches or launch one of the wizards . when the registered affiliate selects one of the vendor website selector buttons 10 - 13 by clicking on the selected button , the product search section commences a search for products on a respective vendor website based upon a newly - created or previously - stored keyword list . in the following description , it is assumed that the user has clicked on the amazon . com button 10 . prior to commencing the search , the product search section displays a welcome screen to advise first - time users of the functional characteristics of the products generator program ( step 2 ). as shown in fig3 , the welcome screen contains instructions and descriptive text to explain the purpose of the products generator program . more specifically , the welcome screen advises users that they must register with one or more of the participating vendor websites shown in the switchboard of fig2 to obtain a unique tracking number which is used to credit the registered affiliate with a commission from each sale made on the affiliate website . the welcome screen further advises users that the products generator program goes to a selected vendor website and , from a list of products that the user has input as keywords , searches the vendor website for relevant products , and retrieves for the user &# 39 ; s database product codes consisting of images , prices , descriptions and links for those products . in addition , the welcome screen advises users that as the products generator program retrieves this information , it automatically inserts the registered affiliate &# 39 ; s unique tracking number into the product code for each selected product to guarantee commission for the registered affiliate &# 39 ; s business for each sale made . accordingly , the welcome screen provides first - time users of the products generator program with an overview of the program which simplifies operation thereof . when the user clicks on the “ next ” button at the bottom right - hand side of the welcome screen using a mouse or other appropriate input device , the products generator program proceeds to display the image shown in fig4 a ( step 3 a ). thus , the next screen can be displayed once the user has read the contents of the welcome screen . users who are already familiar with the features of the products generator program may quickly proceed to the next screen without reading the contents of the welcome screen . in order for the products generator program to automatically search a vendor website for products of interest and acquire product codes for incorporation into an affiliate website , the user must first create a keyword list for use by the products generator program to search for such products on a vendor website . the products generator program does this in an automated manner as described below . fig4 a illustrates a list creation screen that is displayed when the user has selected the amazon . com button 10 in the switchboard screen of fig2 . the products generator program refers to such lists as “ pgf ” files , which is an abbreviation for “ products generator file ”. products generator files are lists formatted by the products generator program . the list creation screen shown in fig4 a includes check boxes 20 , 24 and 26 , which permit previously - created lists to be imported . such lists may be in the pgf format , meaning that they have been created or modified by the products generator program , or in another known format . in addition , the list creation screen includes a “ create a new pfg list ” check box 22 to enable the user to create a new list . when a list has been created by the user in a previous session using the products generator program or using another program or application , such as a word processing program , the user would select the appropriate one of the “ import ” check boxes 20 , 24 , or 26 to open such list . when a list created by another program is imported into the products generator program , the list is converted into a pgf file . such lists may be in the form of , for example , text files , the known csv format , or any other format suitable for such purpose . another “ import ” check box 26 is used to import a list exported from a live control panel ( described below ) ( steps 3 f , 3 g ). the “ lists ” of keywords referred to herein may be a list of any searchable terms for which products may exist , such as titles of movies , television shows , books , names of movie stars , celebrities , personalities , cars , sports teams or figures , and the like . there are no particular limits to the type or number of words or categories that may be included in such lists . in the list creation screen shown in fig4 a , the user has clicked on the “ import a csv or text list ” check box 20 and entered the name and location of the list to be imported by clicking on a text box 28 and entering the name (“ c :\ mylistfile . csv ”) therein ( step 3 b ). the registered affiliate has also clicked on a text box 30 and entered the name (“ c :\ windows \ desktop \ tommo . pgf ”) under which the pgf file is to be stored . thus , when a csv list is imported into the products generator program , it is converted into the pgf format and stored with the file name entered by the user in the text box 30 labeled “ output pgf files ” ( step 3 c .) fig4 b illustrates a list creation screen that is similar to that shown in fig4 a , but in which the registered affiliate has clicked the “ create a new pgf list ” check box 22 and provided a name and location for this list (“ c :\ windows \ desktop \ mylistfile . pgf ”) in the text box 30 ( step 3 d ). similarly , fig4 c is an image of the same screen shown in fig4 a and 4b . in fig4 c , however , the user has clicked on the “ open a pgf list file ” checkbox 24 and has provided a name and location for this list ( c :\ amazon . pgf ) in a text box 32 ( step 3 e ). this option opens a list that was previously stored as a pgf list . when the user clicks on the next button in the screen shown in fig4 b , the screen image shown in fig5 is displayed by the products generator program ( step 4 ). in this image , a text box 34 is provided that contains the items contained in the list to be created . the user may add or remove items from the displayed list by typing the name of the item in the “ item name ” text box 36 or highlighting the name in the text box 34 and clicking on the appropriate add item button 38 , remove item button 40 or update item button 42 . items inserted in the text box 34 may also be removed or updated by highlighting the items and clicking on the remove item button 40 or the update item button 42 . pgf files are lists entered into the textbox 34 shown in fig5 to enable the products generator program to search for products on a selected vendor website . when the user clicks on the next button in fig5 , the image illustrated in fig6 is displayed by the products generator program ( step 5 ). in fig6 , the registered affiliate is prompted to enter in a textbox 46 the affiliate tracking number provided by the particular vendor which , in this case , is amazon . com . thus , in the illustrated example , the products generator program prompts the user to enter the tracking number provided by the amazon . com website . the image shown in fig6 is also displayed after the user has clicked on the next button after the user has clicked on the “ open a pgf list file ” option 24 in fig4 a . in addition , the registered affiliate is provided with a set currency values button 48 for launching a currency setting routine , which will be described below . if the registered affiliate has opened a previously saved pgf list in the list creation screen of fig4 c , the previously - stored affiliate id associated with that list is displayed and need not be re - entered again in fig6 . the tracking number is inserted into all retrieved product codes for a respective vendor and is used by the vendor to pay commissions for online product sales made through the registered affiliate &# 39 ; s affiliate website . when the user clicks on the next button in fig6 , the screen illustrated in fig7 is displayed . this screen provides the registered affiliate with various products menus to make product category selections ( step 6 ). more specifically , in the presently described implementation of the products generator program , the registered affiliate is provided with the ability to create up to 10 different product windows in an affiliate website . a product window is a window created in an affiliate website in which product code for an individual product is displayed . the use of 10 product windows is merely illustrative and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention . there is no limit to the number of product windows that may be made available in the products generator program . in the product window screen shown in fig7 , product category selections may be made by the registered affiliate for one or more of the 10 pull - down product menus 50 . for each product menu 50 , a drop - down list is provided with a list of appropriate product categories . these product categories include , but are not limited to , dvd , vhs , music , books , videogames , apparel , classical , theatrical , toys , software , magazines , baby , pc - hardware , electronics , photo , tools , garden , kitchen , and wireless . these categories depend upon the specific vendor selected on the switchboard screen . the product categories can be changed at any time and the products generator program is designed to be updatable to accommodate changes in the vendor website . in the example shown in fig7 , a different selection has been made for each of the ten product menus 50 . also in fig7 , the user has clicked on the “ use filter ” checkbox 52 to ensure the integrity of retrieved products ( step 7 a ). the filter is a software routine in the products generator program that compares retrieved product codes with the words of the user &# 39 ; s keyword list and selected product categories to ensure that the retrieved products correspond thereto . a product search is performed without use of the filter routine when the “ use filter ” checkbox 52 is unchecked by the user ( step 7 b ). the filter routine double checks retrieved product results to ensure that they relate to the original keywords . for example , assuming that a search is conducted for the keyword “ play time ” and a retrieved product code contains the description “ a long time ago ”. when the filter routine has been selected by clicking on the checkbox 52 , this product will be deleted because it does not relate to the keyword . however , if the item description contains the term “ play time ”, then the product is retained . once the product category selection or selections have been made in one or more of the product menus 50 , the user clicks on the generate products button 54 in fig7 to commence automatic selection of products from the target website which , in the presently described example , is amazon . com ( step 8 ). in the lower portion of the fig7 screen , a progress calculator display 56 is provided . while the products generator program is conducting a search of the vendor website for products based on the keyword list and the selected product categories , products falling within the search categories are identified and the product codes for the identified products are retrieved . as the products generator program performs this process , it calculates the value of new and used products generated , the percentage complete , and the revenue generated at a maximum commission rate of 15 %. this figure is for calculation purposes only . commission rates vary from vendor to vendor . a user - defined applicable commission rate or percentage may be input into an appropriate text box provided for this purpose . the progress calculator displays this information in the progress calculator display portion 56 of fig7 . fig8 a - 8d illustrate various progress read - outs . as shown in fig8 a , for the keyword entry “ titanic ”, the products generator program searches the amazon . com vendor website for all products . as this search progresses , the products generator program displays a progress report indicating the percentage completed , the value of new and used products generated , and the revenue at a maximum commission rate paid by the vendor . fig8 b - 8d show similar progress reports for searches conducted for the movies “ goldfinger ”, “ batman ” and “ star wars ”. to enable use of the products generator program in different countries , a currency setting routine is also provided . for this purpose , the screen illustrated in fig6 is provided with a set currency values button 48 . when this button is clicked on by the registered affiliate , a currency setting menu is displayed , as shown in fig9 . the currency setting menu allows the user to specify the currency type for products that are to be acquired from the vendor website identified in the fig6 screen ( products input currency ) and to specify the currency type for display of the products on the affiliate website ( products display currency ). the currency setting menu also enables users to specify an applicable currency conversion rate . in the illustrated embodiment , the products generator program is capable of inputting and displaying products in u . s . dollars , british pounds , euros , or any other currency of choice . clicking on the generate products button 54 in fig7 causes the products generator program to commence an automatic search and selection of products from a target vendor website which , in the presently described example , is amazon . com . when the search is completed and all products on the vendor website corresponding to the keywords and product categories have been retrieved , they are displayed to the user for editing in a control panel ( step 9 ). the control panel provides the user with a wide variety of options for utilization of the acquired product codes in an affiliate website . operation of the control panel is described below in connection with reference to fig1 - 14 . referring first to fig1 , when the products generator program has completed its search for products identified in the keyword list , a plurality of product windows 60 are displayed showing the retrieved product codes , including graphic images , obtained from the vendor website . in particular , each product window 60 contains a graphic image of the acquired product , the price of the product , and a box indicating the type of the product . in the control panel screen , only 10 product windows 60 are displayed at any given time . product windows for additional retrieved products may be displayed by clicking on the “ next ” button at the bottom of the screen , or by use of the numeric and alphabetic menu shown at the top left - hand side of the screen . upon activation of a number or character , the related keywords are made available via a drop - down list . when any keyword in the list is clicked on , it activates the control panel to display products corresponding to that selection in the product windows . at the top right - hand side of the fig1 screen , the value of new products and used products , along with the maximum commission payable , are displayed for the products shown in the screen . the top of the control panel screen of fig1 includes a set of five tabs , including help / intro 69 , view / edit products 66 , output to database 68 , output to csv 70 , and advanced 72 . each of these tabs allows selection of a particular screen or part of the products generator program , as described below . in fig1 , the view / edit products tab 66 is selected , and the product windows 60 are displayed along with the edit buttons “ r ” 74 , “ c ” 76 , “ x ” 78 , and an unlock / lock symbol 80 in the form of an icon resembling a padlock ( step 10 ). the edit buttons 74 - 78 provided within each individual product window are used to edit the product in that respective product window ( step 11 ). in addition , similar edit buttons are provided at the bottom of the screen to perform a global edit on all product windows displayed on the screen ( step 12 ). the edit buttons allow the user to select various options , as follows : selection of this option clears the corresponding product and shows other products that have just been searched for and retrieved live from the vendor website that may be selected from . more specifically , selection of this option will clear the current product and open a new refresh window with other products that have been searched for and retrieved “ live ” and that can be selected from . when the user clicks on select on a displayed product , the selected product will replace the previous one in the source product window . it could also replace another product in another product window in the control panel that has been selected from the drop - down list in the current refresh window . if the user wishes to select all of the new products retrieved from the vendor &# 39 ; s website in the current refresh window a select all function is available . select all will take all of the products in the refresh window and will populate the control panel product windows with all of the products , thereby replacing all the current products . exceptions to this are any product windows that use the lock feature . when any product window is ‘ locked ’ no new products may be allowed to replace the current ‘ locked ’ product in that product window . the user might wish to choose this option to locate a product with a higher price so that a greater commission would be payable on a sale . “ c ”— clear this product window of current product ( steps 11 b , 12 b ). selection of this option leaves the product window open for new product searches and entries . in other words , selection of this option deletes the current product from the selected product window and leaves it open for new products if the user runs a new product search or selects “ r ” ( refresh ) again . “ x ”— disable this product window from future product entries and delete the current product ( steps 11 c , 12 c ). the padlock icon is displayed in the form of an unlocked / locked padlock to provide a lock / unlock function ( step 11 d ). if the padlock open symbol is displayed , the user has allowed new products to be entered into that product window from any and all searches . if the padlock symbol is closed or locked the current product is locked into the current product window and therefore not subject to change without the lock being de - activated . users can manually clear or update individual products with this unique products generator control panel specifically designed to edit the products which have been retrieved from vendor &# 39 ; s web sites . fig1 is the refresh window that appears when the user clicks on “ r ” ( refresh ) 74 or 82 in the control panel screen of fig1 . when the user clicks on “ select ” on a displayed product , the selected product will replace the previous one in the source product window . it could also replace another product in another product window in the control panel that has been selected from the drop - down list in the current refresh window . if the user wishes to select all of the new products retrieved from the vendor &# 39 ; s website in the current refresh window a “ select all ” function is available . “ select all ” will take all of the products in the refresh window and will populate the control panel product windows with all of the products , thereby replacing all the current products . exceptions to this are any product windows that use the “ lock ” feature . when any product window is locked , no new products may be allowed to replace the current locked product in that product window . referring now to fig1 , the “ output to database ” tab 68 has been selected ( step 13 ). output of the retrieved product codes to an internet database is illustrated in fig1 . the products generator program provides for two separate output options to enable the products generator database to run on the user &# 39 ; s website . in the first option , a sql table structure is created by clicking on the create file — table structure button 88 in fig1 ( step 14 ). then , an “ insert to sql ” script is created and the create file — data button 90 is clicked on . the first time a database is constructed or data is input thereto , the user must select the “ insert ” check box 92 prior to clicking on the create file — data button 90 . if the user is updating an existing database , the “ update ” check box 94 is selected prior to clicking on the create file — data button 90 . once the database files are produced , they may be run on the client computer or uploaded for the script to run on a server hosting the affiliate website ( step 15 ). once the script is run , the table is constructed and the product data is inserted therein . in the section option “ create php script ”, the user creates a php script , if supported by the web hosting company that serves the affiliate website ( step 16 ). the hosting company and database details are entered in the appropriate text boxes shown in the lower left - hand side of the screen and the registered affiliate then clicks on a create php script button 96 , which results in generation of a file that is then uploaded to the server and executed ( step 17 ). the products generator program also provides an ftp facility which will upload the files to the affiliate website ready for use , thereby eliminating the need for any third - party ftp program or similar upload utility . selection of either of the above - described options for outputting the product codes to an internet database results in the data being available for serving alongside the affiliate website ( step 18 ). referring now to fig1 , the “ output to csv ” tab in fig1 has been selected ( step 19 ). this screen allows the user to create a csv file containing relevant data . a csv file is a universally importable , comma - delimited text file which can be imported into any compatible program such as but not limited to microsoft word , microsoft access , and / or microsoft excel . the screen shown in fig1 allows the user to select all or none of the ten product windows ( step 20 ), or to select individual products by clicking on any of ten check boxes ( step 21 ). the user may also select whether the csv file to be created should include or exclude ( steps 22 a , 22 b ) the product category and headings ( steps 23 a , 23 b ). when the user has made the desired selections , a “ create csv file ” button is selected by the user ( step 24 ). when the advanced tab 72 in the control panel shown in fig1 has been selected ( step 25 ), the screen shown in fig1 is displayed . this screen allows the user to perform various edit features on a global basis . for instance , the user may view , edit , or remove keywords in the keyword list ( step 26 ). thus , the advanced screen is used for viewing and editing , e . g ., adding , deleting or updating existing keywords in the pgf keyword list file after the a product search and retrieval exercise has already been performed . items or keywords can be inserted singly ( step 27 ) or imported from , for instance , a list or csv file ( step 28 ). in addition , when a user selects a given keyword , the advanced screen can display how many products are assigned to the selected keyword , the value of products retrieved for that keyword , and the commission value of all the products retrieved for that keyword . the user can also globally update and / or validate all the products in the pgf file . this function allows the user to globally throughout the entire keyword list set the product window categories for each and every keyword ( step 29 ). alternately , the user can either update and / or validate each and every product in the products database ( steps 30 , 31 ), update any disabled ( step 32 ) or empty ( step 33 ) product entries and using the filter or alternative search term update and validate all products . this global option can be set so that each individual product window or a plurality of product windows can be updated and or validated . it should be noted that the control panel described above and illustrated in fig1 - 14 operates while the products generator program is being executed on the client computer . as will be described in greater detail below , the products generator program also creates a “ live ” control panel which enables the identical operations described above in connection with the control panel to be performed by a registered affiliate directly from the affiliate website . the products generator program does this by inserting software into the affiliate website to enable the above - described operations to be performed directly from the affiliate . thus , the “ live ” control panel differs from the products generator program control panel in that the “ live ” control panel runs in a browser , i . e . internet explorer , netscape navigator , or the like , and is used to edit the live data that is currently being served along with the affiliate website , i . e ., the products database which is being used for the affiliate website . therefore , it follows that if the “ live ” products database is being edited , this will result in the changes being reflected live on the affiliate website . contrastingly , the products generator program control panel works within the products generator program and edits a static pgf file on the computer . this file is static . if it is altered , then only this file is changed and only the program operator can view the altered data . in addition to the fully automated method of searching for and acquiring product codes described above , the products generator program provides a manual input method for acquiring product codes . there are various instances where a registered affiliate may encounter a product of interest and want to acquire the code for such product without going through the above - described process . thus , the products generator program provides a manual product grabber routine that enables manual product code acquisition . the product grabber routine allows a registered affiliate to acquire product codes for any product from any website , so long as the product itself originates from a participating vendor website ( in this case , amazon . com , allposters . com , e - merchandise . com , and art . com ). the product grabber routine is illustrated in fig1 a - 15c . fig1 a is a setup screen that is displayed when the product grabber software routine is setup upon selection of the setup products grabber button 16 in the switchboard screen shown in fig2 . to set up products grabber , the registered affiliate is prompted to identify one or more vendor websites and load a given setup . after setting up products grabber , the registered affiliate may import any products of interest from the identified vendor websites . as shown in fig1 b , when the registered affiliate encounters a product of interest while viewing any website , right - clicking on the computer mouse while the mouse pointer is located on the product causes a menu to be displayed on the monitor . the menu is similar to that generated by the windows operating system in response to right - clicking on the mouse . however , the menu includes additional options entitled “ products generator — grab product ” and “ products generator — grab product ( program )” that allow the registered affiliate to “ grab ” the product code for the desired product . the former option is a “ live ” version of products grabber that results in updating of the affiliate website . the latter version is used when the products generator software is being executed and does not result in automatic updating of the affiliate website . more specifically , once loaded on the computer of the registered affiliate , various products generator resources remain active and can be run at any time . these include the products grabber and manual input resources and the control panel , as described above . the “ grab product ” option can be selected by the user at any time the products generator program is running in the background . the “ grab product —( program )” option is selected by the user while the products generator program is actively running , such as during its first use . when the registered affiliate selects one of the “ grab product ” options , the manual input screen shown in fig1 c is displayed on the monitor . the manual input screen contains various text boxes in which identifying data relating to the product code acquired from the vendor website are displayed , such as the link to the product and a description of the product . thereupon , the product code is ready for specific product window selection and assignment . while the manual input screen is automatically filled in by the products grabber routine , the manual input screen also enables manual input of a specific product &# 39 ; s details . the products generator program provides a search facility within the manual input screen that enables a user to search for a specific product via the url or vendor &# 39 ; s product id . once the detail has been entered , it then retrieves all the product info . in addition to inputting products manually , a user can also manually edit existing products via the same method . as pointed out above , when the user selects the website database wizard button 14 in the switchboard screen shown in fig2 , the website database wizard is launched . fig1 is a flowchart of the website database wizard and fig1 - 30 are screen images of the various screens generated by the website database wizard . when the database wizard is initially launched ( step 16 a ), the welcome screen shown in fig1 is displayed to inform users that the website database wizard enables users to create a single or multiple web pages in a few short steps complete with all the code needed to display retrieved products stored in the products database created by the products generator program . when the user clicks on the next box in fig1 , the option screen shown in fig1 is displayed . the option screen provides users with two options for the creation of an affiliate website . option 1 launches a standard website template wizard which creates customized web pages complete with all the code necessary to display the retrieved products on the user &# 39 ; s website ( step 16 b ). option 2 launches a routine that creates php scripts to be used within an existing affiliate website to display products ( step 16 c ). selection of option 1 commences an automated process of creating an affiliate website with all the necessary coding to display retrieved products . although selection of option 1 will automatically create an affiliate website with a pre - prepared template design , it does allow the user to select several feature options , as described below . when the user has selected option 1 and clicked on the next box in fig1 , the screen shown in fig1 is displayed . this screen prompts the user to enter into text boxes the title of the web page to be created and the main heading to be inserted at the top of the web page ( step 16 d ). in fig1 , the user has entered “ my web page ” as the title in the appropriate text box and “ the greatest business in the world ” as the main heading in the appropriate text box . the user has also selected black as the color of the main heading text . when the user has clicked on the next box in fig1 , the “ web page features ” screen shown in fig2 is displayed ( step 16 e ). this screen prompts the user to select the number of columns ( 1 - 3 ) of the web page to be generated by clicking on the appropriate checkbox and allows the user to specify whether or not a search box and a drop down list are to be included in the affiliate website . thus , selection of option 1 provides the user with several multi - choice options for the features of the affiliate website . when the user clicks on the next box in fig2 , the screen shown in fig2 is displayed ( step 16 f ). in this screen , the user is prompted to click on a checkbox to indicate whether or not products retrieved from a particular vendor website are to be included in the affiliate website . in addition , the user is also prompted to indicate the number of products that are to appear in each column of the affiliate website , as well as the currency type products input from the vendor website , the currency type of products to be displayed on the affiliate website , and an appropriate conversion rate . the screen illustrated in fig2 assumes that the user has previously selected “ three ” columns in the fig2 screen . in addition , the screen shown in fig2 is specific to the amazon . com vendor website . however , if the user has conducted searches of other vendor websites , additional screens similar to that in fig2 will successively appear when the user clicks on the next button in fig2 ( steps 16 g , 16 h and 16 i ). in the screen shown in fig2 , the user is prompted to enter information needed to access the products data stored in the products database on the affiliate website ( step 16 j ). as can be seen , this information includes host , database name , username and password . the user then selects the generate button to generate the php script . ( step 16 k ). by selecting option 1 and following the instructions contained in the screens illustrated in fig1 - 22 and steps 16 b through 16 k , the products generator program produces a pre - defined template to enable a user to supply information to link to their uploaded products database ( step 16 l ). fig2 illustrates a screen generated by the products generator program when the user has selected option 2 in fig1 . this option gives the user greater control over the appearance of the affiliate website . when option 2 is selected , the “ web page features ” screen shown in fig2 is displayed ( step 16 m ). in this screen , the user is prompted to select individual features for the affiliate website , including a search box , a drop down list , and an individual result . when the user clicks on the next box in fig2 , the screen shown in fig2 is displayed , which prompts the user to select vendor websites from which products are to be displayed on the affiliate website ( step 16 n ). when the user has selected the “ individual result ” in fig2 , the screen shown in fig2 is displayed ( step 16 o ). this screen allows the user to devote an affiliate website or a single affiliate web page to one particular person or subject and to include products relating only to that person or subject . in the illustrated example , the user has entered batman as the individual value and movies as the product category . when the user has clicked on the next box in fig2 , the screen shown in fig2 is displayed ( step 16 p ). this screen prompts the user to enter information needed to link to the uploaded products database , including host , database name , username and password . when the user clicks on the generate button in fig2 , the website database wizard generates the html / php code , as shown in fig2 ( step 16 q ). under option 1 , the user must copy the html / php code and paste into the affiliate web page . under option 2 , the user must save the code as a php file to upload to the server of the affiliate website . if the user has saved the code as a php file , it can be uploaded separately and used below the & lt ; body & gt ; tag to access it . then , as shown in fig2 , after the code has been generated by the products generator program in step 16 r , there are options available to the user . for instance , the user may select the number of products required from each vendor website by clicking on a drop - down list for selection ( step 16 s ). then , the code is displayed as shown in fig3 and is ready to be copied and pasted ( step 16 t ). the user must copy and paste the code into the affiliate website ( s ) below the & lt ; body & gt ; tag wherever the user requires products to appear . ( step 16 l ) in order to enable the user to take advantage of the various editing features of the control panel described above without the need to load the products generator computer program , the products generator program generates a “ live ” control panel that is built into the affiliate website and enables the registered affiliate to edit product windows in real time . the control panel described above in connection with the product search section of the products generator program and illustrated in fig1 - 14 operates while the products generator program is being executed on the client computer . however , the products generator program also creates a “ live ” control panel which enables the same control panel operations to be performed by a registered affiliate directly from the affiliate website . this is achieved by the insertion of software into the affiliate website to enable the above - described operations to be performed directly from the affiliate . the “ live ” control panel differs from the products generator program control panel in that the “ live ” control panel runs in a browser , i . e . internet explorer , netscape navigator , or the like , and is used to edit the live data that is currently being served along with the affiliate website , i . e ., the products database which is being used for the affiliate website . therefore , it follows that if the “ live ” products database is being edited , this will result in the changes being reflected live on the affiliate website . fig3 - 35 illustrate the features of the control panel setup wizard which sets up the live control panel . in response to selection of the control panel wizard selection button 15 in fig2 , the welcome screen shown in fig3 is displayed , which instructs the user that the control panel enables editing and viewing in real time , on the affiliate website , products that the products generator program brings back from vendor websites . in fig3 , the user is prompted to select a vendor website from the participating vendor websites . a separate control panel is set up for each of the vendor websites to enable the registered affiliate to individually edit products from a respective vendor website directly from the affiliate website . when the user has clicked on the next box in fig3 , the screen shown in fig3 is displayed . this screen prompts the user to enter information needed to link to the uploaded products database , including host , database name , username and password . fig3 prompts the user to enter the affiliate id or tracking number for the selected vendor website , and fig3 permits the user to enter a user name and password in order to access the live control panel . when the foregoing information has been entered , products generator creates a file that is saved as a php script and uploaded to the server from which the affiliate website is served . this file allows the registered affiliate to perform any of the functions described above in connection with fig1 - 14 directly from the affiliate website rather than requiring the user to load the products generator program . the products generator software system is of a type referred to as an “ ems ” system . ems is an acronym for e - commerce management system . as opposed to the known content management system ( cms ), ems is a unique stand - alone system capable of generating e - commerce . ems comes into existence when integrated into a cms system . for instance , the database used by the website www . famouslocations . com is an example of a cms , and is a system of content storage for storing for display items such as locations , actors , directors , movies , and the like . the cms provides keywords for the ems product search . the full integration of a ems system into a cms system involves the use of the ems within the cms system . for instance , from anywhere within the famous locations operations windows ( such as the movies input window ), there is a link to the products generator program for the immediate search and retrieval of products . this means that if a user inputs a new , or old , movie title into the movies list of the www . famouslocations . com website , an immediate search of the participating vendor ( s ) for commission - earning products , via the products generator program , can be activated from a link on the www . famouslocations . com window . the same technique applies to actors , directors , etc . any relevant keyword in any cms can be used for the instant activation of product searches using the ems . ems integrator , or e - commerce management system integrator , is a software program or routine built into the products generator program that will add all the necessary coding , plus banner and drop - down vendor list containing the user &# 39 ; s list of registered vendors to an existing or new cms , or content management system , ( e . g ., the www . famouslocations . com database ) to enable it to access or activate the ems or e - commerce management system ( products generator ) from anywhere inside the cms . using the www . famouslocations . com database as an example of a cms , or content management system , this means that as a user inputs a new movie title , location , actor &# 39 ; s or director &# 39 ; s name , or the like , the same user can instantly generate products for that movie title , location , actor &# 39 ; s or director &# 39 ; s name , etc ., by activating one or more links to products generator ( the ems , or e - commerce management system ) from the movie title , location , actor &# 39 ; s or director &# 39 ; s name location input page on www . famouslocations . com ( the cms ). fig3 illustrates the famous locations ( cms or content management system ) “ actor ” input page with a products generator ( the ems or e - commerce management system ) banner and link to the “ get products ” function of the products generator program . the drop - down “ get products ” box has a list of vendors , amazon . com , allposters . com , art . com and emerchandise . com . when a desired vendor is selected from the drop - down list , the live control panel for that vendor is activated with the keyword , which in this case is russell crowe , a well - known actor , carried forward into the control panel . at the same time , the keyword , russell crowe , is carried forward into a refresh window which is activated with products retrieved from the vendor for that actor ready for selection and to be placed into the control panel . the result therefore is that in 2 clicks from data input into the cms the ems is activated with products available for selection . fig3 illustrates the famous locations ( cms or content management system ) “ movie ” input page with products generator ( the ems or e - commerce management system ) banner and link to “ get products .” the drop - down “ get products ” box has a list of vendors , including amazon . com , allposters . com , art . com and emerchandise . com . when the desired vendor is selected from the drop - down list the control panel for that vendor is activated with the keyword , or name of movie , titanic , as per this example carried forward into the control panel . at the same time , the keyword , movie , titanic , is carried forward into a refresh window which is activated with products retrieved from the vendor for that movie , titanic , ready for selection and to be placed into the control panel . the result therefore is that in 2 clicks from data input into the cms the ems is activated with products available for selection . although the products generator program has been described above in connection with a preferred embodiment which enables a user to search for and retrieve commission - earning products from a vendor website , the present invention is not limited to the foregoing description . for instance , the products generator program is also capable of retrieving and displaying any products , not limited to commission - earning products , from multiple vendor websites . the products generator program can also be used , for example , by a vendor to retrieve and display its own products . also , order fulfillment and credit card processing are additional features of the products generator program . a vendor has its own products and displays its own products via the products generator program . for instance , if a customer clicks on any of the displayed products on the vendor website , the customer is clicked through to an order fulfillment page and credit card processing page similar but not limited to worldpay . accordingly , the present invention includes these features as well . for instance , the products generator program also offers a facility whereby a piece of code is generated by the program and inserted into the affiliate website via the website database wizard , but not limited to the website database wizard , whereby a product designated by a particular vendor can be inserted by the vendor into a “ special feature products database ” on the affiliate website . the special product is then displayed as a “ special ” for a specific keyword on the affiliate website . for example , if the vendor obtains a brand - new stock of titanic collectors box set dvds , the vendor has the ability to instantly promote it and establish it as a “ special ” for the keyword “ titanic ” on all of its registered affiliate &# 39 ; s affiliate websites . by this method , the vendor has the facility to promote to all of the registered affiliates the vendor &# 39 ; s latest special ( s ). if the affiliate website adopts the “ special ” product by manually inserting it into the affiliate &# 39 ; s own main products database as soon as the special appears in the main products database , it is removed from the “ special feature products database .” this method saves on product runs and assures both the vendor and its registered affiliates that the latest and greatest products for every keyword are being displayed . with respect to the below claimed subject matter and specifically with request to any alterations presented in relation to any parent , child or related application set out above , applicants make no disclaimers or disavowals of any subject matter in the present application and none should be inferred . | 6 |
as shown in fig1 a and 1b , a wind driven electrical power generating apparatus comprises a rotor 2 , a gear assembly 4 and a generator 6 . the rotor 2 is a propeller - type rotor supported on a rotating shaft . the rotating shaft is rotatably supported in a housing 1 . the rotating shaft of this rotor 2 is connected to an input shaft of the gear assembly 4 . an output shaft of the gear assembly 4 is connected to a rotating shaft of the generator 6 . note that when viewing fig1 a from a direction vertical to the plane of the figure , although the left side shaft consisting of the rotating shaft of the rotor 2 and the input shaft of the gear assembly 4 , and the right side shaft consisting of the output shaft of the gear assembly 4 and the rotating shaft of the generator 6 are drawn as if the left side and right side shafts constitute one - piece structure or are directly connected to each other , the two shafts may be connected to each other via suitable coupling means or a power transmission mechanism . in fig1 b , numeral 8 denotes a controller . in addition , a sensor 10 for detecting parameters representing the generating power of the generator 6 is provided in the apparatus . for example , the sensor includes a speed sensor capable of detecting the rotational speed of the output shaft of the gear assembly 4 or the rotating shaft of the generator 6 , and / or a current meter , a voltage meter , a power meter and the like for detecting the generating power of the generator 6 . a signal from the sensor 10 is supplied to the controller 8 . based on this input signal , the controller 8 supplies a control signal to a gear ratio control mechanism within the gear assembly 4 to vary the gear ratio of the gear assembly 4 . [ 0044 ] fig2 illustrates a characteristic diagram indicating the generating power of the generator 6 , in which the axis of abscissa stands for wind speed ( m / s ) and the axis of ordinate stands for generating output power ( w ). the controller 8 controls the gear ratio of the gear assembly 4 such that the generator 6 operates at as low rotational speed as possible while securely outputting its maximum power . in the wind driven electrical power generating apparatus configured above , when the rotational speed of the rotor 2 varies in accordance with the change of wind speed , the controller 8 supplies a signal to a gear ratio control mechanism of the gear assembly 4 to vary the gear ratio of the gear assembly 4 and thus the generator 6 operates always within a desirable range of rotational speed limited to the rated rotational speed as an upper speed limit , whereby the output power of the generator never fluctuates largely . for example , when wind speed is low and the rotational speed of the rotor 2 is low , the speed increasing ratio of the gear assembly 4 is made high . on the contrary , when wind speed is high and the rotational speed of the rotor 2 is high , the speed increasing ratio of the gear assembly 4 is made low . in both cases , the controller 8 controls the gear ratio of the gear assembly 4 so that the generator 6 operates within a desirable range of rotational speed limited to the rated rotational speed as an upper speed limit . fig3 to 5 illustrate views of a preferred example of the gear assembly 4 . fig3 is a perspective view of a planetary roller type traction drive gear assembly . as shown in fig3 an outer ring 38 is disposed coaxially with a sun roller 36 and planetary rollers 40 are sandwiched between and frictionally engaged with the sun roller 36 and the outer ring 38 , and a planetary carrier 42 is connected to propellers ( not shown ). external teeth 44 are formed on the outer periphery of the outer ring 38 and a differential pinion 46 connected to a motor 48 is meshed with the teeth . thus , the motor 48 is driven in accordance with the output of the sensor ( not shown ) and as a result , the gear ratio can be controlled . [ 0047 ] fig4 a and 4b illustrate views of a preferred example of a continuously - variable - ratio transmission of the toroidal - race rolling - traction type . that is , the transmission is configured that by varying the tilt angle of a roller 54 frictionally engaged with an input disc 50 and an output disc 52 , the gear ratio between the input disc 50 and the output disk 52 can be varied . fig4 a is for a half - toroidal type transmission and fig4 b is for full - toroidal type transmission . [ 0048 ] fig5 illustrates a view of a preferred example of a continuously - variable - ratio transmission of cone traction drive type . an input shaft 21 and an output shaft 22 are disposed coaxially and the input shaft 21 is rotatably supported in a casing 25 via a shaft bearing 23 and a holder 24 , and the output shaft 22 is supported in the casing 25 via a shaft bearing 26 . a plurality of double cones 27 disposed in the peripheral space near the output shaft 22 within the casing 25 are rotatably mounted on support shafts 29 of a carrier 28 disposed movable along the output shaft 22 . on the end portion of the input shaft 21 is provided an annular member 30 frictionally engaged with one cone surface 27 a of the double cone 27 and on the end portion of the output shaft 22 is provided a cone 31 frictionally engaged with the other cone surface 27 b of the double cone 27 . the cone surfaces 27 a and 27 b of the double cone 27 , the annular member 30 and the cone 31 have the operational and structural relationship with each other described as follows : the annular member 30 and the cone 31 act pressing on the frictional contact surfaces of the double cone 27 ; and as a result of the pressing force , axial forces as reaction force are generated in the input shaft 21 and the output shaft 22 , respectively , such that the two axial forces pull each other . therefore , the rotational force of the input shaft 21 is transmitted to the double cone 27 via the annular member 30 and then the rotational force of the double cone 27 is taken out to the output shaft 22 via the cone 31 . in addition , by moving the double cone 27 along the axis of the output shaft 22 via a conveyor 32 sequentially moved to engagement with the carrier 28 , the rotational speed of the output shaft 22 can be changed . generally , as the rotational speed of a rotor of wind driven electrical power generating apparatus is low , the apparatus employs a speed - increasing gear taking into account of the generating efficiency of generator . one of typified traction drive type transmission apparatus having a constant gear ratio is a planetary roller type power transmission apparatus , in which wheels constituting a planetary toothed - wheel are replaced by rollers or ring - shaped members . the transmission apparatus is composed of a sun roller as a high - speed rotating shaft , an outer ring disposed coaxially with the sun roller , a plurality of planetary rollers disposed in a space formed between the sun roller and the outer ring , and a carrier as a low - speed rotating shaft to rotatably support the planetary rollers at equal intervals in a circumferential direction . the above - described planetary roller type power transmission apparatus is classified into two major apparatuses depending on the manner in which planetary rollers and a carrier are frictionally engaged with each other . that is , one is configured that a carrier is frictionally engaged with the inner circumferential surface of annular - shaped planetary rollers and the other is configured that a carrier is frictionally engaged with the outer circumferential surface of planetary rollers . in both types , the rotational force is transmitted between the sun roller and the carrier by making the outer ring not to rotate in a circumferential direction . in a pair of planetary roller type power transmission apparatuses described above , although it is theoretically possible that the gear ratio of a gear assembly represented by an equation , [( rotational speed of high - speed rotating shaft )/( rotational speed of low - speed rotating shaft )], is made equal to or greater than ten , it is usually made equal to three to six for balancing one bearing stress between the frictional surfaces of the sun roller and the planetary rollers , and the other bearing stress between the frictional surfaces of the outer ring and the planetary rollers . to make the gear ratio greater than the above - described usual value , it is proposed that two sets of planetary rollers are disposed in series in an axial direction ( japanese patent laid - open publication no . hei . 5 - 79450 ). such a conventional technique disclosed in the publication nearly needs two sets of planetary roller type gear assemblies and the entire space needed for a wind driven electrical power generating apparatus equipped with the gear assemblies becomes enlarged , leading to the occurrence of the problems of heaviness or bulky space occupation of apparatus . different from other various apparatuses , a wind driven electrical power generating apparatus needs to be installed at high place and therefore , it is required to become smaller and more compact . in order to overcome the above - described problems , the gear assemblies having configurations illustrated in fig6 to 14 can be employed in a wind driven electrical power generating apparatus . first , a gear assembly illustrated in fig6 and 7 includes a sun roller 134 and an outer ring 140 disposed coaxially with each other , and two kinds of rollers 136 and 138 disposed in the annular space formed between the sun roller 134 and the outer ring 140 . the rollers 136 and 138 are configured such that three or more pieces of same kind of rollers are disposed at equal intervals in a circumferential direction and multiple kinds of rollers are disposed in a radial direction ( multiple stages ) . moreover , at least one kind of rollers disposed along the same circumferential line ( at the single stage ) consist of a plurality of cylindrical rollers and further two orbital planes having turning radiuses different from one another are formed in the one kind of rollers , whereby a high gear ratio of gear assembly can be obtained . in this case , between the sun roller 134 and the outer ring 140 are interposed two sets of four pieces of rollers , the two sets consisting of first rollers 136 and second rollers 138 , and the first rollers 136 are made being frictionally engaged with the outer circumferential surface of the sun roller 134 and the second rollers 138 are made being frictionally engaged with the inner circumferential surface of the outer ring 140 . the first roller 136 is formed so as to have steps and two turning radiuses . the sun roller 134 , the outer ring 140 , and the first and second rollers 136 , 138 are assembled in a pressed and contact state by such means as shrinkage fitting to make a constant normal force act on each frictionally contacting portion regardless of torque to be transmitted . in addition , an output shaft 130 is rotatably supported in a casing 110 via two pieces of bearings 132 . moreover , there is provided means that prevents the first roller 136 and the second roller 138 from rotating ( revolving ) around the sun roller 134 . for example , a second roller support shaft 126 is mounted in the casing 110 and the second roller 138 is rotatably supported on the second roller support shaft 126 via a needle roller bearing 128 . as a result , the second roller 138 is made not to revolve and consequently the first roller 136 is also made not to revolve , whereby the first roller 136 and the second roller 138 only rotate on their axes . furthermore , an input shaft 120 is rotatably supported in the casing 110 via two pieces of bearings 122 and the input shaft 120 and the output shaft 130 are disposed coaxially . a carrier 124 is formed integrally with the input shaft 120 at the end portion thereof and the outer ring 140 is fixed to the peripheral portion of the carrier 124 with bolts 141 . in this manner , the input shaft 120 and the outer ring 140 are integrated coaxially with each other . note that in this case , although the input shaft 120 and the outer ring 140 are illustrated so that the two structures are respectively independent pieces and integrated with each other by using bolts 141 , the outer ring 140 and the carrier 124 may be formed to be of one - piece structure . in other words , the inner circumferential surface of the peripheral portion of the carrier 124 may be made to be frictionally engaged with the second roller 138 . the gear ratio , e 1 , of the gear assembly configured above can be represented by the equation , [( rotational speed of the output shaft 130 )/( rotational speed of the input shaft 120 )], and assume that when the rotational directions of the input shaft 120 and the output shaft 130 are different , the sign of e 1 becomes negative . under the above - stated condition , e 1 is represented by the following equation . e 1 =( r o × r 1l )/( r s × r 1s ) where : r o is the inner diameter of the outer ring 140 ; r 1l is the large outer diameter of the first roller ; r 1s is the small outer diameter of the first roller ; and next , fig8 and 9 show another embodiment of the present invention , particularly , the primary portion of a friction type multi - stage roller gear assembly . it is composed of an input shaft 120 and an output shaft 130 rotatably supported in a casing 110 via bearings 122 and 132 , respectively . the input shaft 120 is formed integrally with or coupled to a rotor 2 . a carrier 124 is formed integrally with the input shaft 120 at the end portion thereof to hold a second roller 138 . the carrier 124 is provided with a plurality of pins , four pieces of pins 126 in this case , at equal intervals in a circumferential direction . the second roller 138 is rotatably supported on each pin 126 via a needle roller bearing 128 . the output shaft 130 is formed integrally with or coupled to the rotating shaft of a generator 6 . a sun roller 134 is formed on the end portion of the output shaft 130 . an outer ring 140 is disposed coaxially with the sun roller 134 and fixed to the casing 110 with bolts 141 . first rollers 136 and second rollers 138 are disposed in the annular space formed between the sun roller 134 and the outer ring 140 . the first roller 136 is made being frictionally engaged with the outer circumferential surface of the sun roller 134 and the second roller 138 is made being frictionally engaged with the inner circumferential surface of the outer ring 140 the first and second rollers 136 and 138 , four pieces each in this case , are disposed at equal intervals in a circumferential direction . the first roller 136 is formed so as to have steps and two raceway surfaces having two different turning radiuses . the sun roller 134 , the outer ring 140 , and the first and second rollers 136 , 138 are assembled in a pressed and contact state by such means as shrinkage fitting to make a constant normal force act on each frictionally contacting portion regardless of torque to be transmitted . according to this embodiment , the second roller 138 and the first roller 136 are made to be capable of revolving by fixing the outer ring 140 to the casing 110 not to rotate and further rotatably mounting the second roller 138 on the input shaft 120 so as to be frictionally engaged with the inner circumferential surface of the outer ring 140 . note that a pair of side plates 142 is attached to both side surfaces of the outer ring 140 . as the inner diameter of the side plates 142 is shorter than that of the outer ring 140 , the side plates acts on the second roller 138 so that the second roller 138 is guided to revolve along the side plates . by making the first and second rollers 136 and 138 revolve around the sun roller 134 , the rotational force between the input shaft 120 and the output shaft 130 is transmitted to each other . in this configuration of the gear assembly of the embodiment , the gear ratio , e 2 , is represented by the following equation . e 2 = 1 −[( r o × r 1l )/( r s × r 1s )] that is , the gear ratio , e 2 is correlated with the gear ratio , e 1 , of the gear assembly shown in fig6 and 7 by the following equation regardless of the roller types and the number of rollers . it should be noted that although the embodiment corresponding to fig8 and 9 employs a friction type two - stage roller gear assembly , the embodiment is not limited thereto , but may employ a friction type three - stage roller gear assembly , or a friction type multi - stage , i . e ., greater than or equal to four - stage or more , roller gear assembly . in the embodiment shown in fig1 and 11 , a gear assembly includes a toothed - wheel transmission mechanism on the side of a rotor 2 and a traction drive on the side of a generator 6 . that is , teeth 125 is formed on the outer circumferential surface of a carrier 124 of an input shaft 120 and at the same time , teeth 127 is also formed integrally with a second roller 138 , and the teeth 125 and 127 are thereby meshed with each other . fig1 to 14 illustrate the embodiment employing the configuration that a gear assembly 4 and a generator 6 are connected integrally with each other . that is , in this embodiment , a sun roller 134 is formed on a rotating shaft 130 ′ of the generator 6 and pins 126 for supporting a second roller 138 are mounted in a generator casing 110 ′. while there has been described what are at present considered to be preferred embodiments of the invention , it will be understood that various modifications may be made thereto , and it is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention . | 8 |
embodiments of the present invention and the advantages thereof are best understood by referring to the following descriptions and drawings , wherein like numerals are used for like and corresponding parts of the drawings . according to the present invention and referring now to fig1 , joint prosthesis 10 is shown for use in arthroplasty . arthroplasty is a well known procedure for the treatment of osteoarthritis . for a further explanation of arthroplasty may be found in charnley , sir john . low friction arthroplasty of the hip . new york : springer , verlock , berlin , and heidelberg , 1979 incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . the joint prosthesis 10 is positioned in a long bone 12 . while the long bone 12 may be any long bone within the human anatomy , the present invention is particularly well suited for long bones which have a arcuate shape particularly adjacent the resected portion of the bone . for example , the long bone 12 may be in the form of a humerus or , as shown in fig1 , a femur . the femur 12 is resected along resection line 14 relieving the epiphysis 16 from the femur 12 . the epiphysis is shown as dashed line 11 . the prosthesis 10 is implanted in the femur 12 by positioning the prosthesis 10 in a cavity 20 formed by reaming a portion of cancellous bone 22 within medullary canal 24 of the femur 12 . the cavity 20 may be formed in the cancellous bone 22 of the medullary canal 24 by either broaching or reaming or other similar techniques to remove the cancellous bone 22 from the canal 24 . as shown in fig1 , the cavity 20 extends from metaphysis 26 into diaphysis 30 of the femur 12 . any suitable combination of drilling , reaming or broaching can be used to form a cavity which corresponds closely to the periphery of the prosthesis . typically , a broach ( not shown ) is driven into the medullary canal to form the cavity . this broach has a shape generally only slightly smaller than the portion of the implant that fits into the canal 24 so that the prosthesis is press fitted into the cavity 20 . preferably and as shown in fig1 , the prosthesis 10 includes a body or stem 32 , a portion of which is positioned within the cavity 20 of the femur 12 , and a cup 34 which is connected to natural acetabulum 36 . the stem 32 is pivotally connected to the cup 34 . the stem 32 may be in direct contact with the cup 34 or may , as shown in fig1 , include a liner or bearing 40 positioned between the cup 34 and the stem 32 . the cup 34 may be made of any suitable , durable material which is compatible with the human anatomy . for strength and durability typically the cup 34 is made of a metal such as stainless steel , a cobalt chrome alloy or titanium or may be made of a ceramic . the liner 40 may be made of any suitable , durable bearing material and is often made of polyethylene for example ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene . while the stem 32 may be made of unitary construction typically the stem 32 includes a stem portion 42 and a head portion 44 . the two - part construction of the stem 32 provides for easier manufacture and for providing varying offsets for the prosthesis by utilizing a plurality of head portions 44 and / or a plurality of stem portions 42 . the stem portion 42 may be connected to the head portion 44 in any suitable fashion . for example , the stem portion 42 may include a male taper portion 46 which mates with a female taper portion 50 on the head portion 44 . as shown in fig1 , the stem portion 42 includes a proximal stem portion 52 , a distal stem portion 54 extending downwardly from the proximal stem portion , and a neck portion 56 extending upwardly from the proximal stem portion 52 . the proximal stem portion 52 and the distal stem portion 54 are located within the cavity 20 formed within the cancellous bone 22 of the medullary canal 24 . hip prosthesis are secured to the medullary canal of the femur typically either by a press - fit with the medullary canal or with the use of a cement mantel which is positioned between the prosthesis and the cancellous bone . in utilizing a cement mantel the cavity is broached or reamed slightly larger than the stem and a quantity of cement ( for example , pmma — polymethylmethacrylate ) is placed within the cavity and the stem inserted therein . a small uniform layer of , for example , 1 – 4 mm of cement is formed between the stem portion 42 and the femur 12 . while the present invention may have some value for use in prosthesis having stems which utilize a cement mantel , the present invention is generally directed toward a prosthesis having a stem which is press - fitted into the cancellous bone . as body load or weight is transferred through the torso from the acetabulum 36 to the femur 12 the load is transmitted along trabeculae or load lines 60 . these trabeculae or load lines 60 are positioned in a direction generally conforming to the length of the femur and are curved in a direction toward the head of the femur . in the diaphysis 30 or the more distal portion of the femur 12 , the load lines 60 are generally linear and run parallel to longitudinal axis 62 of the femur 12 . this is mainly due to the fact that the femur 12 within the diaphysis has a generally circular cross - section in a generally cylindrical shape . on the other hand , within the metaphysis 26 the trabeculae or load lines 60 have a curved or arcuate shape or path and digress continually from the longitudinal axis 62 in the proximal direction . according to wolff &# 39 ; s law , hypertrophy is defined as a thickening of the cortex with retention of normal cortical texture . according to wolff &# 39 ; s law , the hypertrophy will occur at the area of highest stress surrounding an implant . the thickening of the cortex caused by the hypertrophy is a very desirable event in the postoperative patient . for many implants within a femur the location of hypertrophy is often at the distal end of the implant . this is caused by the artificially raised stress at the point of sudden transition from the flexible distal femur to the artificially stiffened proximal femur . this is true for both press - fit and cemented stems . this phenomenon of hypertrophy thus results in excellent adhesion in the diaphysis but results in a less than desirable condition between the implant and the femur in the metaphysis . to provide for the increased loading of the femur within the metaphysis and the resulted improvements caused by hypertrophy and wolff &# 39 ; s law , according to the present invention surface features 64 are located on outer periphery 66 of the proximal stem 52 . the surface features 64 serve to increase the stress or load between the implant and the femur in the metaphysis 26 to thereby gain the benefit of wolff &# 39 ; s law and hypertrophy within that portion of the femur . preferably , as shown in fig1 , the stem 32 has a shape generally conforming to the shape of the femur 12 . thus , typically , within the diaphysis 30 , the distal stem 54 is generally circular , having a shape generally similar to the circular shape of the femur within the diaphysis 30 . similarly , within the metaphysis 26 , the proximal stem 52 has a generally oval cross - section and an arcuate orientation in the direction toward the acetabulum 32 . further the proximal stem 52 becomes larger in the direction of the acetabulum 36 . this curving , oval and enlarging toward the acetabulum configuration of the proximal stem provides a shape generally conforming to the cancellous bone within the metaphysis 26 of the femur 12 . according to the present invention and referring now to fig1 , 4 and 5 , the applicants have found that the surface features 64 should be positioned in an orientation to optimally transfer load between the stem 32 and the femur 12 . applicants have further found that the surface features 64 should be positioned in an orientation relative to the load lines or trabeculae 60 . the load lines or trabeculae 60 pass through the proximal cancellous bone 22 . the load lines 60 also pass through cortical bone or cortex 65 . the cortical bone 65 has layers or normal lamellae 71 through which the load lines pass and which are concurrent therewith . the orientation of the surface features 64 to the load lines 60 is defined by angle α . applicants have further found that the surface features 64 should be optimally positioned in an orientation generally normal to the load lines or trabeculae 60 or that the angle α is optimally around about 90 degrees . while the benefit of positioning the steps in relationship to the load lines or trabeculae are optimized when the steps are positioned generally normally or perpendicular to the load lines . it should be appreciated that the invention may be practiced where the steps 64 are positioned less than an ideal 90 degrees or normal to the load lines . for example , the steps may be positioned from about 70 degrees to about 110 degrees with respect to the trabeculae or load lines . while the steps are optimally positioned generally normally or perpendicular to the load lines 60 , it should be appreciated that every long bone in every person &# 39 ; s anatomy has a different anatomical shape . for example , referring to fig1 , the long bone may have a shape other than that of long bone 12 . the long bone may have a shape as shown in long bone 13 or as shown in long bone 15 , both shown as dashed lines . while it might be ideal to make an individual , customized prosthesis with surface features designed and manufactured optimally normal to the load lines , this is probably not economically feasible . applicants have thus found that the invention may , thus , be commercially practiced by designing the surface features 64 to be selected to be optimally positioned generally normal to the load lines or to have at the surface features designed to be aligned around 70 to 110 degrees from the load limes for a average or normal femur or long bone . the outer periphery 66 of the proximal stem 52 is typically designed to be positioned within and to be spaced from and to conform generally to the inner periphery 67 of the cortical bone 65 of an average femur or long bone . the outer periphery 66 thus , preferably , generally conforms to inner periphery 67 of the cortical bone 65 of the long bone to which it was designed . referring again to fig1 , since the load lines 60 pass through normal lamellae of the cortex 65 and are concurrent therewith , the inner periphery 67 of the cortex 65 is generally in alignment with the load lines 60 . as stated earlier , to optimized the positioning of the surface features 64 , the features 64 are positioned normal to the load lines and the inner periphery 67 of the cortex 65 . thus , for an average long bone to which a prosthesis 10 is designed , the outer periphery 66 of the proximal stem 52 conforms generally to the load lines 60 . applicants have thus found that in commercially utilizing this invention , the prostheses may be designed and manufactured with the surface features positioned with respect to the outer periphery 66 of the proximal stem 52 of the prosthesis 10 . since the load exerted on the prosthesis is large around the proximal stem 52 at the center of the inner periphery of the medial portion of the proximal stem also known as medial periphery 69 of the outer periphery 66 , the applicants have discovered that the surface features 64 may be positioned with respect to the medial periphery 69 of the outer periphery 66 the surface features 64 form an angle β with medial periphery 69 . for example , the surface features may be positioned from about 70 degrees to about 110 degrees with respect to the medial periphery 69 of the proximal stem 52 of the prosthesis 10 . the surface features 64 may optimally be positioned in an orientation generally normal to the medial periphery 69 or the angle β may optimally be around about 90 degrees . thus , as shown in fig1 , in the portion of the metaphysis 26 next to the diaphysis 30 , the surface features 64 run generally perpendicular to the load line 60 and also nearly perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 62 . conversely in the portion of the metaphysis 26 further from the diaphysis 30 , the surface features 64 run generally perpendicular to the load line 60 , but far from being perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 62 . the surface features 64 are generally in the form of grooves , ribs or ridges extending inwardly or outwardly from the surface 66 . the surface feature 64 generally has a uniform cross - section as shown fig1 a through 1c . applicants have found that by positioning the surface feature 64 in an orientation generally perpendicular to the load line 60 the supporting ability of the surface features 64 may be optimized . by optimizing the load capacity of the surface feature 64 , the stress imparted from the stem 32 to the femur 12 may maximize the stress at that position . further , because wolff &# 39 ; s law encourages hypertrophy or the thickening of the cortex in the metaphysis 26 of the femur 12 , the adherence and bone growth around the implant within the metaphysis area 26 is thereby improved . the applicants have found that a large portion of the load transferred by the stem is concentrated in that portion of the stem adjacent the more curved portion of the femur 12 . for example , referring now to fig2 a , a typical cross section of the proximal stem 52 of the prosthesis 10 is shown . it should be appreciated that the proximal stem 32 may have any suitable cross section . since the cross section of the proximal portion of the long bone 12 is typically oval or non - circular , a non - circular prosthesis cross section is preferred . the shape of fig2 a is pentagonal or five sided with a large semicircular portion on the medial side . the surfaces 70 , 72 and 74 which approximate the curved portion of the femur 12 transfer a major portion of the load between the femur 12 within the metaphysis 26 . applicants have found that if the surface features 64 are positioned generally normal or perpendicular to the load lines 60 on surfaces 70 , 72 and 74 a large majority of the benefit of providing the surface features generally normal to the load lines may be accomplished . thus the surface features 64 located on other surfaces , for example , surfaces 76 , 80 and 82 may be oriented in directions other than normal to the load lines or surface features 64 may be omitted from the surfaces 76 , 80 and 82 . referring now to fig1 a , to optimize the load carrying or stress increasing capacity of the surface features 64 , the surface features as shown in fig1 a may be in the form of steps or terraces . such steps or terraces are more fully shown in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 790 , 852 to noiles and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . the terraces 64 have an inner edge 84 and an outer edge 86 . a ledge 90 is formed between outer edge 86 and inner edge 84 . the ledge is positioned distally and serves to provide optimum support or stress for the stem 32 . the terraces 64 has a vertical spacing - v - between terraces of approximately 0 . 50 to 3 . 0 mm and a depth - d - of approximately 0 . 2 mm to 1 . 5 mm . it should be appreciated that while the terraces 64 as shown in fig1 a are preferred , the invention may be practiced with other types of surface features . for example , as shown in fig1 b , the surface features may be in the form of ribs 164 which provide an angled support surface 190 . alternatively referring to fig1 c , the surface features may be in the form of grooves 164 ′ which extend inwardly from the surface . to further promote bone growth between the stem and the femur and referring again to fig1 a , the surface 66 of the surface features 64 may be coated by a coating 92 . the coating 92 may be any coating which promotes bone growth and / or interconnections between the prosthesis and the femur . for example the coating 92 may be a bio - ceramic . such suitable bio - ceramics include hydroxyapatite or tricalcium phosphates . alternatively , the coating 92 may be a porous coating . alternatively , the coating may be a porous coating and a bioceramic coating in combination . various porous coatings have found to be very effective . one particularly effective coating is sold by the assignee of the instant application under the tradename porocoat . the porocoat coating is more fully described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 855 , 638 to pilliar and hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . this porous coating consists of a plurality of small discreet particles of metallic material bonded together at their points of contact with each other to define a plurality of connected interstitial pores in the coating . the particles are of the same metallic material as the metallic material from which the substrate is formed . examples of suitable material include austenitic stainless steel , titanium , titanium alloys and cobalt alloys . the stem 32 may be made of any suitable durable material and , for example , may be made of a titanium , a cobalt chrome molybdenum alloy or stainless steel . the applicants have found that titanium ti - 6al - 4v is well suited for this application . it should be appreciated that while , as shown in fig1 , the proximal stem 52 has a taper design , the aligning of surface features with respect to the load lines of the present invention may be practiced with the taper design or with a non - taper design . further it should be appreciated that while , as shown in fig1 , the prosthesis 10 is shown with a coating 92 , the invention may be practiced without the porous coating 92 . the terraces 64 are aligned in a direction generally normal to the medial curve or load line 64 on the anterior face 70 , the medial arcuate surface 74 and the posterior surface 72 . the terraces 64 become horizontal as they approach the lateral aspect of the implant , ( surfaces 76 , 80 and 82 ) ( see fig2 a ) to align roughly normal to the lateral face of the implant . referring now to fig2 , the stem 32 is shown in an anterior / posterior view . the stem 32 is shown with the distal stem 54 not including the surface features or terraces 64 . the proximal stem 52 however includes the terraces 64 on posterior lateral surface 76 and on anterior lateral surface 80 . as shown in fig2 , the proximal stem 52 does not have terraces 64 in the lateral surface 82 . as shown in fig2 the terraces 64 on the posterior lateral surface 76 and the anterior lateral surface 80 are generally perpendicular to longitudinal axis 62 . it should be appreciated that the terraces 64 on surfaces 76 and 80 may be positioned normal to the load lines 60 . however , since most of the benefit of the positioning of the surface features 64 normal to the load line 60 is accomplished on surfaces 70 and 72 , for simplicity of design and manufacture , the terraces 64 , as shown in fig2 , may be positioned normal to the longitudinal axis 62 . further , for simplicity and ease of manufacture , the lateral surface 82 , as shown in fig2 , may be made without terraces 64 . referring now to fig3 the stem 32 is shown in a posterior / anterior position . the medial surface 74 is shown with terraces 64 on surface 66 in the proximal stem 52 . the terraces 64 are positioned normal to load lines 60 . as shown in fig3 the distal stem 54 may include a polished tip 94 extending a distance of , for example , one - half to one inch from the distal end of the stem 32 . the distal stem 54 may , for example , be grit blasted in the remaining portion 96 of the distal stem 54 . referring now to fig6 , an alternate embodiment of the present invention is shown as prosthesis 210 . prosthesis 210 is similar to prosthesis 10 of fig1 except that , whereas prosthesis 10 of fig1 includes a separate stem and head which are connectable together , the prosthesis 210 includes a head portion 244 which is integral with stem portion 242 . prosthesis 210 includes stem 232 which is pivotally connected to cup 234 and includes a bearing or liner 240 placed therebetween . as with prosthesis 10 , prosthesis 210 includes steps 264 similar to steps 64 of prosthesis 10 which steps 264 are positioned generally normal or perpendicular to load lines or trabeculae 260 . as in the prosthesis 210 the steps 264 are positioned on the proximal stem 252 of the stem 232 . the steps 264 are preferably similar to the steps 64 of the prosthesis 10 of fig1 . referring now to fig7 an alternate embodiment of the present invention is shown as shoulder prosthesis 310 . the shoulder prosthesis 310 includes a stem 332 which is implanted into a humerus ( not shown ). the prosthesis 310 also includes a head portion 344 attached to the stem 322 . the head portion 344 may be secured to the stem 322 in any suitable manor and may alternatively be integral therewith . the head portion may have a external taper 346 extending therefrom which mates with an internal taper 350 in the stem 332 . such a configuration is shown in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 314 , 479 to rockwood et al . incorporated by reference herein in its entirety . the stem portion 342 of the stem 332 includes a proximal stem 352 and a distal stem 354 . for the same reasons expressed with regard to the prosthesis 10 of fig1 , the prosthesis 310 includes steps 364 similar to the steps 64 of the fig1 prosthesis . the steps 364 are aligned generally perpendicular or normal to the trabeculae or load lines 360 . for the same reasons expressed with regard to the fig1 prosthesis 10 , the steps 364 are preferably positioned on the proximal stem 352 . referring now to fig7 a , a alternate securing arrangement is shown for connecting the head portion to the stem . in this arrangement the stem 332 ′ may have a external taper 346 ′ extending therefrom which mates with an internal taper 350 ′ in the head portion 344 ′. such a configuration is shown in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 120 , 542 to camino et al . incorporated by reference herein in its entirety . another embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig8 through 10 as stem portion 432 . stem portion 432 is similar to stem portion 32 of the fig1 prosthesis except that the proximal stem 452 of the stem portion 432 includes steps 464 similar to the step 64 of the prosthesis 10 which steps 464 are positioned completely around the periphery of the proximal stem 452 . referring now to fig8 , the stem portion 432 includes the distal stem 454 , the proximal stem 452 and neck portion 456 . the steps 464 are positioned completely around the periphery of the proximal stem 452 . in fact the steps 464 are positioned on the anterior face 472 , the anterior lateral face 480 and the posterior face 470 . referring now to fig9 the steps 464 are positioned on the posterior lateral face 476 , on the lateral face 482 and on the anterior lateral face 480 . referring now to fig1 the steps 464 are also positioned on the medial face 474 of the proximal stem 452 . referring now to fig1 , 12 and 13 a further embodiment of the present invention is shown as a stem portion 532 . stem portion 532 is similar to stem portion 32 of the fig1 prosthesis except that steps 564 , which are similar to steps 64 of the fig1 prosthesis , are positioned only on the anterior , posterior and medial faces . referring now to fig1 , the stem portion 532 includes a distal stem 554 , a proximal stem 552 and a neck portion 556 . the steps 562 , similar to the steps 64 of the fig1 prosthesis 10 , are positioned only on the proximal stem of 552 . the applicants have found since the loading on the stem portion 532 is primarily on the anterior , posterior and medial faces , the invention may be practiced with steps 562 positioned only on these faces . in fact , the invention may be practiced with the steps on perhaps less than these three faces . as shown in fig1 the steps 562 are located on the medial face 574 , the posterior face 570 and the anterior face 572 . the anterior lateral face 580 , as shown in fig1 , does not include the steps 564 . referring now to fig1 , no steps 562 are positioned on the posterior lateral face 576 , on the lateral face 582 and on the anterior lateral face 580 . referring now to fig1 the medial face 574 of the proximal stem of 552 includes these steps 564 . by providing a prosthesis which has a stem with steps which are aligned in a direction generally normal to the load lines or trabeculae of the prosthesis load carrying capacity of the proximal femur may be optimized . by optimizing the loading of the proximal femur , a manifestation of wolff &# 39 ; s law can occur which causes the raised stresses at the greatest loading to create a thickening of the cortex and improvement of the bone growth and adherence of the prosthesis to the proximal femur . by providing a prosthesis having surface features in the form of steps which are positioned generally normal to the load lines of the prosthesis , the prosthesis may benefit from a long term stability and fixation by providing an environment optimum for femoral bone remodeling . although the present invention and its advantages have been described in detail , it should be understood that various changes , substitutions , and alterations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims . | 0 |
fig1 can be a left side elevational view of a motorcycle - type two - wheeled vehicle having an engine in accordance with an embodiment . the embodiments disclosed herein are described in the context of a motorcycle - type two - wheel vehicle because these embodiments have particular utility in this context . however , the embodiments and inventions herein can also be applied to other vehicles , such as scooters , all train vehicles and other vehicles with more than two wheels which have limited space for accommodating a propulsion system . it can be to be noted that , as used herein , the terms “ front ,” “ rear ,” “ left ,” “ right ,” “ up ” and “ down ,” correspond to the direction assumed by a driver of the vehicle 1 . fig1 can be a side view of a motorcycle 1 according to an embodiment . fig2 can be a side view of the engine of the motorcycle 1 . fig3 through 10 are explanatory views illustrating a structure of a camshaft drive mechanism . a motorcycle 1 of this embodiment can be described as follows with reference to fig1 through 10 . the arrow f in the drawings indicates the forward direction in which the motorcycle 1 moves . the motorcycle 1 of this embodiment can have a head pipe 2 and a main frame 3 connecting its front end to the head pipe 2 . the main frame 3 can be formed to extend rearwardly . a front wheel 5 can be rotatably attached to the head pipe 2 via a front fork 4 . handlebars 6 can be fixed to a top end of the head pipe 2 . a rear wheel 8 can be rotatably attached to the rear of a rear arm 7 . a fuel tank 9 can be installed above the main frame 3 . at the rear of the fuel tank 9 , a driver &# 39 ; s seat 10 can be provided . to the head pipe 3 can be attached a down pipe 11 extending downwardly . a water - cooled v - type , 4 - cylinder engine 20 can be mounted between the down pipe 11 and the lower end of the main frame 3 . a radiator 12 for cooling a coolant to circulate within the v - type , 4 - cylinder engine 20 can be installed in front of the down pipe 11 . as shown in fig2 , the v - type , 4 - cylinder engine 20 according to this embodiment can be provided with a crankcase 21 for accommodating a crankshaft 22 , which can be made up of an upper crankcase 21 a and a lower crankcase 21 b . four main cylinder bodies ( not shown ) can be integrally formed with each other on the upper crankcase 21 a of the crankcase 21 . a cylinder head 23 tilts forwardly and thus forms a front bank 51 . another cylinder head 24 tilts rearwardly and thus forms a rear bank 52 . the cylinder heads 23 , 24 can be mounted to the topside of the main cylinder body . the front bank 51 can be an example of a “ first bank ” and the rear bank 52 can be an example of a “ second bank ”. however , as used herein , the identification of any component as “ first ” or “ second ” are merely arbitrary labels used solely for purposes of convenience . similarly , the cylinder head 23 can be an example of a “ first cylinder head ” and the cylinder head 24 can be an example of a “ second cylinder head ”. top covers 40 a and 40 b can be attached to the topside of the cylinder heads 23 and 24 , respectively . the crankshaft 22 can have two sprockets 22 a and 22 b as shown in fig3 . however , other sprockets can also be used . fig2 shows that a balance weight 41 , a crankshaft 22 , a primary shaft 42 and a secondary shaft 43 can be placed , in order from front to back , along a mating face between the upper crankcase 21 a and the lower crankcase 21 b . the balance weight 41 rotates at the same speed as the crankshaft 22 but in a direction reverse . the main function of the balance weight 41 is to absorb the primary vibrations of the crankshaft 22 . the primary shaft 42 and the secondary shaft 43 can be respectively provided with one or pa plurality of speed change gears ( not shown ). the primary shaft 42 , the secondary shaft 43 and the groups of speed change gears constitute a transmission 44 . a housing portion for housing the transmission 44 can be integrally formed with the crankcase 21 , on a rearward side of the main cylinder body ( not shown ) which is also on the side of the rear bank 52 on the crankcase 21 . in other words , the rear bank 52 can be positioned toward the housing portion for housing the transmission 44 while the front bank 51 can be positioned on the opposite side to the housing portion for housing the transmission 44 . as shown in fig3 , an intake camshaft 25 having a sprocket 25 a and a gear 25 b , and an exhaust camshaft 26 having a gear 26 a engaged with the gear 25 b of the intake camshaft 25 can be rotatably attached to the cylinder head 23 forming the front bank 51 . a cam chain 29 can be wound around between the sprocket 22 a of the crankshaft 22 and the sprocket 25 a of the intake camshaft 25 at the cylinder head 23 forming the front bank 51 . the cam chain 29 on the side of the front bank 51 can be located in chain chambers 23 a and 21 c which can be located at the axial midsection of the intake camshaft 25 and the exhaust camshaft 26 . as shown in fig3 , a straight chain guide member 31 can be provided on the side where the cam chain 29 for the front bank 51 is tightened , and in turn an arcuate chain guide member 32 can be provided on the side where the cam chain 29 for the front bank 51 is loosened . the side where the cam chain 29 is tightened refers to the side where the cam chain 29 is tightened by the rotation of the crankshaft 22 . the side where the cam chain 29 is loosened refers to the side where the cam chain 29 is loosened by the rotation of the crankshaft 22 . the arcuate chain guide member 32 can have a hole portion 32 a performing as a rotational pivot , a pressed portion 32 b , a vibration - absorbing portion 32 c located toward the cylinder head 23 above the pressed portion 32 b for absorbing the vibration of the cam chain 29 , and a guide portion 32 d for guiding the cam chain 29 . the hole portion 32 a of the chain guide member 32 for the front bank 51 can be rotatably supported by a support shaft 37 a of a support member 37 as shown in fig3 and 10 . a cam chain tensioner 33 for pressing the loosened - side chain guide member 32 for the front bank 51 against the cam chain 29 can be disposed between the front bank 51 and the rear bank 52 . with reference to fig3 , an intake camshaft 27 having a sprocket 27 a and a gear 27 b , and an exhaust camshaft 28 having a gear 28 a engaged with the gear 27 b of the intake camshaft 27 can be rotatably attached to the cylinder head 24 forming the rear bank 52 . the intake camshaft 27 can be example of a “ first camshaft ” and the gear 27 b can be an example of a “ first gear ”. the exhaust camshaft 28 can be an example of a “ second camshaft ” and the gear 28 a can be an example of a “ second gear ”. a cam chain 30 can be wound around between the sprocket 22 b of the crankshaft 22 and the sprocket 27 a of the intake camshaft 27 on the cylinder head 24 forming the rear bank 52 . the cam chain 30 on the side of the rear bank 52 can be located in the chain chambers 24 a and 21 d ( see fig3 ) which can be located at the axial ( b direction in fig4 ) midsection of the intake camshaft 27 and the exhaust camshaft 28 . in short , the embodiment of the present invention employs a center cam chain system . in this embodiment , a straight chain guide member 34 can be provided on the side where the cam chain 30 for the rear bank 52 is tightened ( during operation ), and in turn an arcuate chain guide member 35 can be provided on the side where the cam chain 30 is loosened ( during operation ). as shown in fig8 and 9 , the arcuate chain guide member 35 can have a hole portion 35 a performing as a rotational pivot , a pressed portion 35 b , a vibration - absorbing portion 35 c located toward the cylinder head 24 above the pressed portion 35 b for absorbing the vibration of the cam chain 30 , and a guide portion 35 d for guiding the cam chain 30 . the hole portion 35 a of the chain guide member 35 on the side of the rear bank 52 can be supported by a support shaft 37 b of a support member 37 as shown in fig3 and 10 . a cam chain tensioner 36 for pressing the loosened - side chain guide member 35 for the rear bank 52 can also be disposed therein . the cam chain tensioner 36 can be an example of a “ tension applying member ”. the cam chain tensioner 36 on the side of the rear bank 52 can be provided below the exhaust camshaft 28 as shown in fig2 and 3 . to be more specific , in this embodiment , the cam chain 30 can be wound not around the exhaust camshaft 28 but around the intake camshaft 27 , which results in no cam chain 30 being located below the exhaust camshaft 28 . this allows the cam chain tensioner 36 to be located below the exhaust camshaft 28 on the side of the rear bank 52 , thereby preventing the cam chain tensioner 36 from protruding outward of the exhaust camshaft 28 . engagement of the gear 27 b of the intake camshaft 27 with the gear 28 a of the exhaust camshaft 28 enables the rotation of the intake camshaft 27 to be transmitted to the exhaust camshaft 28 . this can reduce a distance between the intake camshaft 27 and the exhaust camshaft 28 , compared to the case where the cam chain 30 is wound around between the intake camshaft 27 and the exhaust camshaft 28 to transmit the rotation from the intake camshaft 27 to the exhaust camshaft 28 . this makes it possible to make a shape of a combustion chamber ( not shown ) undersurface of the cylinder head 24 flatter , resulting in improved combustion efficiency . in the illustrated embodiment , the cam chain tensioner 36 on the side of the rear bank 52 can be located across the mating face 24 b of the cylinder head 24 and the upper crankcase 21 a , as shown in fig2 and 3 . more specifically , as shown in fig3 , the cam chain tensioner 36 on the side of the rear bank 52 can have a mounting portion 36 a located inside the cylinder head 24 , and a pressing portion 36 b located so as to protrude toward the upper crankcase 21 a for pressing the pressed portion 35 b of the chain guide member 35 . the mounting portion 36 a of the cam chain tensioner 36 can be provided with mounting holes 36 c and 36 d through which mounting screws 60 can be inserted , and an oil supply port 36 e , as shown in fig7 . the mounting holes 36 c and 36 d and the oil supply port 36 e can be designed to extend substantially in the vertical direction with respect to the mating face 24 b ( see fig6 ) of the cylinder head 24 and the upper crankcase 21 a . the mounting holes 36 c and 36 d , designed to extend substantially in the vertical direction ( as shown by the arrow c in fig6 ) with respect to the mating face 24 b , allow the screws 60 to be inserted and secured from above the cylinder head 24 in the c direction of fig6 . this facilitates mounting of the mounting portion 36 a of the cam chain tensioner 36 to the cylinder head 24 . the oil supply port 36 e can be designed to connect to an oil passage 36 f shown in fig6 through another oil passage ( not shown ). the top end of the oil passage 36 f can be sealed by a ball - shaped plug 36 g . fig6 also shows that the pressed portion 36 b of the cam tensioner 36 can be provided with a protrusion 36 i , which can be inserted into an opening 36 h and can move in a direction shown by the arrow d by given pitch . a compression coil spring 36 j can be provided for urging the protrusion 36 i in the direction shown by the arrow d , although other types of springs can also be used . in addition , a spring 36 k for moving the protrusion 36 i in the direction shown by the arrow d by a given pitch can be located such that the spring 36 k abuts on the outer periphery of the protrusion 36 i . inside of the protrusion 36 i , a passage member 361 forming the oil passage can be attached . also , inside of the protrusion 36 i , a check ball 36 m which functions as a check valve for sealing the oil passage made of the passage member 361 , and a compression coil spring 36 n for urging the check ball 36 m in the direction in which the oil passage made of the passage member 361 can be sealed . the protrusion 36 i can have a pin 36 o attached to its side surface . a lock 36 p , which can rotate between the engaging position with respect to the pin 36 o and the disengaging position , can also be provided . the lock 36 p is configured to engage with the pin 36 o under the initial condition ( at the time when it has just been assembled ). the protrusion 36 i can be thus prevented from moving in the d direction of fig6 . this dispenses with the need for a worker to completely push in and hold the tip end of the protrusion 36 i so it does not protrude , when the worker assembles the pressing portion 36 b of the cam chain tensioner 36 so as to press the pressed portion 35 b of the chain guide member 35 . this allows the worker to easily assemble the cam chain tensioner 36 . when the cam chain tensioner 36 has been assembled , the lock 36 p can be rotated in the e direction of fig6 due to the vibration created by driving the cam chain 30 . this allows the lock 36 p to be disengaged from the pin 36 o . disengagement of the lock 36 p from the pin 36 o allows the protrusion 36 i to move by given pitch in the direction shown by the arrow d , depending on how much slack there can be in the cam chain 30 with time . therefore , the extent to which the protrusion 36 i protrudes can be automatically adjusted depending on how much slack there can be in the cam chain 30 , thereby preventing the cam chain 30 from being loosened for a long period of time . a passage member 36 q that forms the oil passage to be connected to the oil passage 36 f can be fitted into the opening 36 h . the check ball 36 s , which functions as a check valve for sealing the oil passage made of the passage member 36 q , can be placed inside of the opening 36 h . also , inside of the opening 36 h , a spring retainer 36 r can be disposed to retain the compression coil spring 36 j and press the check ball 36 s using an urging force produced by the compression coil spring 36 j such that the oil passage made of the passage member 36 q can be sealed . now , operations of the intake camshaft 25 and exhaust camshaft 26 for the front bank 51 as well as those of the intake camshaft 27 and exhaust camshaft 28 for the rear bank 52 are described with reference to fig3 . first , the reciprocating motion of the piston ( not shown ) results in a counterclockwise rotation of the crankshaft 22 , which is transmitted to the intake camshaft 25 for the front bank 51 via the cam chain 29 on the side of the front bank 51 . the rotation of the intake camshaft 25 for the front bank 51 is transmitted to the exhaust camshaft 26 for the front bank 51 through the engagement of the gear 25 b of the intake camshaft 25 with the gear 26 a of the exhaust camshaft 26 . thus , the intake camshaft 25 and exhaust camshaft 26 on the side of the front bank 51 can be driven with the rotation of the crankshaft 22 . the counterclockwise rotation ( see fig3 ) of the crankshaft 22 can be also transmitted to the intake camshaft 27 for the rear bank 52 through the cam chain 30 on the side of the rear bank 52 . the rotation of the intake camshaft 27 is transmitted to the exhaust camshaft 28 for the rear bank 52 through the engagement of the gear 27 b of the intake camshaft 27 with the gear 28 a of the exhaust camshaft 28 . thus , the intake camshaft 27 and exhaust camshaft 28 on the side of the rear bank 52 are also driven with the rotation of the crankshaft 22 . as described above , in this embodiment , the cam chain tensioner 36 on the side of the rear bank 52 for tensioning the cam chain 30 through the chain guide member 35 can be mounted across the mating face between the cylinder head 24 and the upper crankcase 21 a . also , the pressing portion 36 b of the cam chain tensioner 36 can be located on the side of the upper crankcase 21 a , which allows the point where the cam chain tensioner 36 presses against the chain guide member 35 to be located downward of or apart from the upper end of the chain guide member 35 . this can provide a longer length of the vibration - absorbing portion 35 c formed between the point where the chain guide member 35 can be pressed and the upper end thereof , so that the vibration - absorbing portion 35 c tends to easily bend . this results in sufficient absorption of the vibration of the cam chain 30 . further , in this embodiment , the mounting portion 36 a of the cam chain tensioner 36 can be mounted inside of the cylinder head 24 , as described above . thus , a possible slight oil leakage from the cam chain tensioner 36 does not cause undesirable results because lubricant oil or other oils have already adhered to the inside of the cylinder head 24 . therefore , a sealing member such as o - ring can be unnecessary , even if a hydraulic cam chain tensioner 36 is employed . the above embodiment shows an example of the present inventions to the center cam chain system in which the cam chain can be located in the chain chamber which can be located at the axial midsection of the intake and exhaust camshaft . however , the inventions are not limited to that , but they may also be applied to a side cam chain system in which the cam chain is located in the chain chamber which is located at the axial end of the intake and exhaust camshaft . in the above description of the embodiment , an example can be shown in which the tension applying means can be applied to the cam chain tensioner on the side of the rear bank . however , the present inventions are be not limited to that , and may also be applied to the cam chain tensioner on the side of the front bank . furthermore , in the above description of the embodiment , an example is shown in which the inventions are applied to a v - type , 4 - cylinder engine for motorcycles . however , the present inventions are not limited to such , and can also be applied to v - type , 4 - cylinder engines to be mounted to vehicles other than motorcycles , such as three - wheelers and atvs ( all terrain vehicles ). still furthermore , the inventions can also be applied to v - type cylinder engines other than v - type , 4 - cylinder engines , or other types of engines . further , although these inventions have been disclosed in the context of certain preferred embodiments and examples , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present inventions extend beyond the specifically disclosed embodiments to other alternative embodiments and / or uses of the inventions and obvious modifications and equivalents thereof . in addition , while several variations of the inventions have been shown and described in detail , other modifications , which are within the scope of these inventions , will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art based upon this disclosure . it can be also contemplated that various combination or sub - combinations of the specific features and aspects of the embodiments may be made and still fall within the scope of the inventions . it should be understood that various features and aspects of the disclosed embodiments can be combined with or substituted for one another in order to form varying modes of the disclosed inventions . thus , it can be intended that the scope of at least some of the present inventions herein disclosed should not be limited by the particular disclosed embodiments described above . | 5 |
in an embodiment a personal vaporizer unit comprises a mouthpiece configured for contact with the mouth of a person . at least part of this mouthpiece has an antimicrobial surface . this mouthpiece may also comprise silicone rubber , thermoplastic elastomer , organosilane , silver impregnated polymer , silver impregnated thermoplastic elastomer , and / or polymer . the mouthpiece may be removed from the personal vaporizing for washing or replacement , without using a tool . the mouthpiece may be provided in different colors . designs or other patterns may be visible on the outside of the mouthpiece . in an embodiment , a personal vaporizer unit comprises a first conductive surface configured to contact a first body part of a person holding the personal vaporizer unit , and a second conductive surface , conductively isolated from the first conductive surface , configured to contact a second body part of the person . when the personal vaporizer unit detects a change in conductivity between the first conductive surface and the second conductive surface , a vaporizer is activated to vaporize a substance so that the vapors may be inhaled by the person holding unit . the first body part and the second body part may be a lip or parts of a hand ( s ). the two conductive surfaces may also be used to charge a battery contained in the personal vaporizer unit . the two conductive surfaces may also form , or be part of , a connector that may be used to output data stored in a memory . in an embodiment , a personal vaporizer unit comprises a chamber configured to receive a cartridge . the cartridge may hold a substance to be vaporized . the chamber may be configured at the distal end of the personal vaporizer unit . a user may inhale the vaporized substance at the proximal end of the personal vaporizer unit . at least one space between the exterior surface of the cartridge , and an interior surface of the chamber , may define a passage for air to be drawn from outside the personal vaporizer unit , near the distal end , through the personal vaporizer unit to be inhaled by the user along with the vaporized substance . the personal vaporizer unit may also include a puncturing element that breaks a seal on the cartridge to allow a substance in the cartridge to be vaporized . an end surface of the cartridge may be translucent to diffuse light produced internally to the personal vaporizer unit . the translucent end may be etched or embossed with letters , symbols , or other indicia that are illuminated by the light produced internally to the personal vaporizer unit . in an embodiment , a personal vaporizer unit comprises a first wick element and a second wick element having a porous ceramic . the first wick element is adapted to directly contact a liquid held in a reservoir . the reservoir may be contained by a cartridge that is removable from the personal vaporizer unit . a heating element is disposed through the second wick element . an air gap is defined between the first wick element and the second wick element with the heating element exposed to the air gap . air enters the first wick element through a hole in a housing holding the first wick element . in an embodiment , a personal vaporizer unit comprises a light source internal to an opaque cylindrical housing that approximates the appearance of a smoking article . a cylindrical light tube is disposed inside the opaque cylindrical housing to conduct light emitted by the light source to an end of the opaque cylindrical housing . this allows the light to be visible outside of the opaque cylindrical housing of the vaporizer . in an embodiment , a personal vaporizer unit comprises a microprocessor , memory , and a connector . the connector outputs data stored in the memory . the microprocessor may gather , and store in the memory , information including , but not limited to , the number of cycles the device has been triggered , the duration of the cycles , the number cartridges of fluid that are delivered . the microprocessor may also gather and store times and dates associated with the other information gathered and stored . the microprocessor may detect an empty cartridge by detecting a specific change in resistance between a wick and a housing that is equivalent to a “ dry wick ”, and thus signifies an empty cartridge . in an embodiment , a case comprises a cradle adapted to hold a personal vaporizer unit . the personal vaporizer unit has dimensions approximating a smoking article . the case includes a battery and at least two contacts . the two contacts may form an electrical contact with the personal vaporizer unit when the personal vaporizer unit is in the cradle . the two contacts may conduct charge from the battery to the personal vaporizer unit to charge the personal vaporizer unit . the case may also download and store data retrieved from the personnel vaporizing unit . the case may download and store this data via the at least two contacts . the case may send this data to a computer via wired or wireless links . the case may have more than one cradle and sets of contacts ( e . g ., two sets of two contacts in order to hold and charge two personal vaporizer units ). fig1 is a perspective view of a personal vaporizer unit . in fig1 , personal vaporizer unit 100 comprises outer main shell 102 , mouthpiece cover 114 , mouthpiece 116 , and mouthpiece insulator 112 . the mouthpiece 116 and mouthpiece cover 114 define the proximal end of personal vaporizer unit 100 . the opposite end of personal vaporizer unit 100 will be referred to as the distal end . a cartridge 150 may be inserted into the distal end of personal vaporizer unit 100 . cartridge 150 may hold the substance to be vaporized by personal vaporizer unit 100 . the substance after vaporizing may be inhaled by a user holding the personal vaporizer unit 100 . the substance may be in the form of a liquid or gel . fig2 is a side view of a personal vaporizer unit . fig2 illustrates personal vaporizer unit 100 as viewed from the side . fig2 illustrates personal vaporizer unit 100 comprising outer main shell 102 , mouthpiece cover 114 , mouthpiece 116 , and mouthpiece insulator 112 . fig2 also illustrates cartridge 150 inserted into the distal end of personal vaporizer unit 100 . fig3 is an end view of the proximal end of a personal vaporizer unit . fig3 shows the proximal end view of personal vaporizer unit 100 comprising mouthpiece cover 114 . fig4 is an end view of the distal end of a personal vaporizer unit . fig4 shows the distal end view personal vaporizer unit 100 comprising the visible portion of cartridge 150 . fig4 a is an alternative end view of personal vaporizer unit 100 comprising a visible portion of cartridge 150 that has visible logos , letters , or other symbols . these visible logos , letters , or other symbols may be illuminated or backlit by a light source internal to the personal vaporizer unit 100 . the light source may be activated intermittently under the control of a microprocessor or other electronics internal to personal vaporizer unit 100 . the light source may be activated in such a manner as to simulate the glowing ash of a cigar or cigarette . fig5 is a figure map of fig6 and 7 . fig6 is a cross - section of the proximal portion of a personal vaporizer unit along the cut line shown in fig2 . in fig6 , the proximal portion of personal vaporizer unit 100 comprises mouthpiece cover 114 , mouthpiece 116 , mouthpiece insulator 112 , outer main shell 102 , battery support 106 , and battery 104 . the mouthpiece cover 114 surrounds and is engaged with the distal end of mouthpiece 116 . mouthpiece 116 and outer main shell 102 are preferably made of an electrically conductive material ( s ). mouthpiece 116 is separated from outer main shell 102 by mouthpiece insulator 112 . mouthpiece 116 and outer main shell 102 are thus electrically isolated from each other by mouthpiece insulator 112 . in an embodiment , personal vaporizer unit 100 is configured such that other main shell 102 comprises a first conductive surface configured to contact a first body part of a person holding personal vaporizer unit 100 . mouthpiece 116 comprises a second conductive surface , which is conductively isolated from the first conductive surface . this second conductive surface is configured to contact a second body part of the person . when personal vaporizer unit 100 detects a change in conductivity between the first conductive surface and the second conductive surface , a vaporizer internal to personal vaporizer unit 100 is activated to vaporize a substance in cartridge 150 so that the vapors may be inhaled by the person holding personal vaporizer unit 100 . the first body part and the second body part may be a lip or parts of a hand ( s ). the two conductive surfaces of outer main shell 102 and mouthpiece 116 , respectively , may also be used to charge battery 104 contained in the personal vaporizer unit 100 . the two conductive surfaces of outer main shell 102 and mouthpiece 116 , respectively , may also be used to output ( or input ) data stored ( or to be stored ) in a memory ( not shown ). battery support 106 functions to hold battery 104 in a position which is fixed relative to our main shell 102 . battery support 106 is also configured to allow air and vaporized substance to pass from the distal end of personal vaporizer unit 100 past battery 104 along one or more passageways . after air and the vapors of the vaporized substance pass by battery 104 , they may pass through openings in mouthpiece 116 , mouthpiece cover 114 , and mouthpiece insulator 112 , to be inhaled by a user . fig7 is a cross - section of the distal portion of a personal vaporizer unit along the cut line shown in fig2 . in fig7 , the distal end portion of personal vaporizer unit 100 comprises outer main shell 102 , light pipe sleeve 140 , and atomizer housing 132 , distal wick 134 , proximal wick 136 , pc board 123 , pc board 124 , spacer 128 , and main housing 160 . fig7 also illustrates cartridge 150 inserted into the distal end of personal vaporizer unit 100 . as can be seen in fig7 , cartridge 150 may hold a substance ( e . g ., a liquid or gel ) in direct contact with distal wick 134 . the substance may be drawn through distal wick 134 to be vaporized inside atomizer assembly . the atomizer assembly comprises atomizer housing 132 , distal wick 134 , proximal wick 136 , and a heating element ( not shown ). fig8 is an exploded side view of components of a personal vaporizer unit . fig9 is an exploded cross - section of components of a personal vaporizer unit along the cut line shown in fig2 . in fig8 and 9 , personal vaporizer unit 100 comprises ( from left to right ) mouthpiece cover 114 , mouthpiece 116 , mouthpiece insulator 112 , battery 104 , battery support 106 , pc board 123 , spacer 128 , pc board 124 , main housing 160 , proximal wick 136 , distal wick 134 , atomizer housing 132 , light pipe sleeve 140 , and cartridge 150 . mouthpiece cover 114 surrounds and covers the proximal end of mouthpiece 116 . the distal end of mouthpiece 116 is inserted into mouthpiece insulator 112 . battery 104 is held in place by battery support 106 . pc board 123 , spacer 128 and pc board 124 are disposed within main housing 160 . proximal wick 136 and distal wick 134 are disposed within atomizer housing 132 . atomizer housing 132 ( and therefore proximal wick 136 , distal wick 134 ) are disposed inside light pipe sleeve 140 and main shell 102 . ( note : for clarity , main shell 102 is not shown in fig8 and 9 .) light pipe sleeve 140 is disposed within main shell 102 . light pipe sleeve 140 is positioned such that light emitted from a light source mounted on pc board 124 may be conducted via light pipe sleeve 140 to a location where it is visible on the outside of personal vaporizer unit 100 . cartridge 150 is disposed within light pipe sleeve 140 . when assembled , a substance contained within cartridge 150 is held in direct contact with distal wick 134 . when cartridge 150 is inserted into personal vaporizer unit 100 atomizer housing 132 or distal wick 134 may puncture a seal or cap that contains the substance to be vaporized within cartridge 150 . once punctured , the substance held within a reservoir of cartridge 150 may come in direct contact with distal wick 134 . fig1 is a perspective view of a mouthpiece cover of a personal vaporizer unit . fig1 is a distal end view of the mouthpiece cover of fig1 . fig1 is a cross - section of the mouthpiece cover along the cut line shown in fig1 . as can be seen in fig1 - 12 , mouthpiece cover 114 has an opening 114 - 1 that allows air and the vaporized substance to be drawn through mouthpiece cover 114 . mouthpiece cover 114 is configured for contact with the mouth of a person . in an embodiment , at least part of the mouthpiece cover has an antimicrobial surface . this antimicrobial surface of mouthpiece cover 114 may comprise , but is not limited to : silicone rubber , thermoplastic elastomer , organosilane , silver impregnated polymer , silver impregnated thermoplastic elastomer , and / or polymer . mouthpiece cover 114 is also configured to be removable from personal vaporizer unit 100 by a user without the use of tools . this allows mouthpiece cover 114 to be replaced and / or washed . in an embodiment , mouthpiece cover 114 may be held in place on personal vaporizer unit 100 by annular ridge 114 - 2 which interfaces with a groove on mouthpiece 116 of personal vaporizer unit 100 to secure mouthpiece cover 114 in place . in another embodiment , mouthpiece cover 114 may be held in place on personal vaporizer unit 100 by a friction fit . fig1 is a perspective view of a mouthpiece of a personal vaporizer unit . fig1 is a side view of the mouthpiece of fig1 . fig1 is a cross - section of the mouthpiece along the cut line shown in fig1 . as can be seen in fig1 - 15 , mouthpiece 116 has a passageway 116 - 1 that allows air and the vaporized substance to be drawn through mouthpiece 116 . mouthpiece 116 may comprise a conductive surface or material configured to contact a first body part of a person holding personal vaporizer unit 100 . this first body part may be part of a hand , or at least one lip of the person holding personal vaporizer unit 100 . in an embodiment , mouthpiece 116 has an annular groove 116 - 2 around an outside surface . this groove is configured to receive annular ridge 114 - 2 . thus , annular groove 116 - 2 helps secure mouthpiece cover 114 to personal vaporizer unit 100 . fig1 is a perspective view of a mouthpiece insulator of a personal vaporizer unit . fig1 is a distal end view of the mouthpiece insulator of fig1 . fig1 is a side view of the mouthpiece insulator of fig1 . fig1 is a cross - section of the mouthpiece insulator along the cut line shown in fig1 . as discussed previously , mouthpiece insulator 112 is disposed between main shell 102 and mouthpiece 116 . as can be seen in fig1 - 18 , mouthpiece insulator 112 has a passageway 112 - 1 that allows air and the vaporized substance to be drawn through mouthpiece insulator 112 . because mouthpiece insulator 112 is disposed between main shell 102 and mouthpiece 116 , mouthpiece insulator 112 can electrically isolate main shell 102 and mouthpiece 116 . thus , in an embodiment , mouthpiece insulator 112 comprises , or is made of , a non - electrically conductive material . this electrical isolation between main shell 102 and mouthpiece 116 allow electrical impedance changes between main shell 102 and mouthpiece 116 to be detected . for example , a first conductive surface on mouthpiece 116 may be configured to contact a first body part of a person holding personal vaporizer unit 100 . a second conductive surface on main shell 102 ( which is conductively isolated from said first conductive surface by mouthpiece insulator 112 ) may be configured to contact a second body part of the person . personal vaporizer unit 100 may then activate in response to detecting a change in conductivity between the first conductive surface and the second conductive surface . in an embodiment , this change in conductivity may comprise a drop in impedance between the first conductive surface and the second conductive surface . in an embodiment , the change in conductivity may comprise a change in capacitance between the first conductive surface and the second conductive surface . the first body part may be a finger . the second body part may be a lip . the second body part may be a second finger . in an embodiment , the first conductive surface and the second conductive surfaces may be used to pass a charging current to battery 104 . the first and second conductive surfaces may also be used to transfer data to or from personal vaporizer unit 100 . fig2 is a perspective view of a main housing of a personal vaporizer unit . fig2 is a distal end view of the main housing of fig2 . fig2 is a proximal end view of the main housing of fig2 . fig2 is a side view of the main housing of fig2 . fig2 is a cross - section of the main housing along the cut line shown in fig2 . main housing 160 is configured to hold pc - boards 123 and 124 , and spacer 128 . main housing 160 is configured to fit within main shell 102 via a friction fit . main housing 160 has several holes 166 that allow light generated by a light source ( s ) on pc - board 124 to pass . once this light passes through holes 166 , it may be coupled into light pipe sleeve 140 where it is conducted to a visible location on the outside of personal vaporizer unit 100 . main housing 160 also has a hole 165 that allows an electrical conductor ( not shown ) to run from pc - board 123 or pc - board 124 through main housing 160 . this electrical conductor may be , or connect to , a heating element ( not shown ). this heating element may help vaporize the substance to be inhaled by the user of personal vaporizer unit 100 . this heating element may be controlled by circuitry on pc - board 123 or pc - board 124 . this heating element may be activated in response to a change in conductivity between the first conductive surface and the second conductive surface , described previously . the exterior of main housing 160 may also have a flat surface 164 ( or other geometry ) forming a galley that is configured to allow the vaporized substance and air to pass between the main housing 160 and the main shell 102 . once the vaporized substance and air pass by main housing 160 , they may travel through passageway 112 - 1 , passageway 116 - 1 , and opening 114 - 1 to be inhaled by a user of personal vaporizer unit 100 . the exterior of main housing 160 may also have one or more standoffs 167 ( or other geometries ) that are configured to allow air and the vaporized substance to reach the passageway formed by flat surface 164 and main shell 102 . fig2 is a perspective view of a main housing of a personal vaporizer unit . fig2 is a second perspective view of the main housing of fig2 . fig2 is a distal end view of the main housing of fig2 . fig2 is a proximal end view of the main housing of fig2 . fig2 is a side view of the main housing of fig2 . fig3 is a cross - section of the main housing along the cut line shown in fig2 . main housing 260 may be used as an alternative embodiment to main housing 160 . main housing 260 is configured to hold pc - boards 123 and 124 , and spacer 128 . main housing 260 is configured to fit within main shell 102 via a friction fit . main housing 260 has several holes 266 that allow light generated by a light source ( s ) on pc - board 124 to pass . once this light passes through holes 266 , it may be coupled into light pipe sleeve 140 where it is conducted to a visible location on the outside of personal vaporizer unit 100 . main housing 260 also has a hole 265 that allows an electrical conductor ( not shown ) to run from pc - board 123 or pc - board 124 through main housing 260 . this electrical conductor may be , or connect to , a heating element ( not shown ). this heating element may help vaporize the substance to be inhaled by the user of personal vaporizer unit 100 . this heating element may be controlled by circuitry on pc - board 123 or pc - board 124 . this heating element may be activated in response to a change in conductivity between the first conductive surface and the second conductive surface , described previously . the exterior of main housing 260 may also have flat surfaces 264 ( or other geometry ) that form a galley that is configured to allow the vaporized substance and air to pass between the main housing 260 and the main shell 102 . once the vaporized substance and air pass by main housing 260 , they may travel through passageway 112 - 1 , passageway 116 - 1 , and opening 114 - 1 to be inhaled by a user of personal vaporizer unit 100 . the exterior of main housing 260 may also have one or more standoffs 267 ( or other geometries ) that are configured to allow air and the vaporized substance to reach the passageway formed by flat surfaces 264 and main shell 102 . fig3 is a perspective view of a printed circuit board assembly of a personal vaporizer unit . fig3 is a distal end view of the pcb assembly of fig3 . fig3 is a perspective exploded view of the pcb assembly of fig3 . fig3 is a side exploded view of the pcb assembly of fig3 . as can be seen in fig3 - 34 , the pcb assembly is comprised of pc - board 123 and pc - board 124 separated by a spacer 128 . pc - board 124 may have mounted upon it light emitting diodes ( leds ) 125 - 127 or other light sources . leds 125 - 127 are configured and positioned such that when they produce light , that light passes through holes 166 or 266 in main housings 160 and 260 , respectively . this light may then be conducted by light pipe sleeve 140 to a location where it will be visible exterior to personal vaporizer unit 100 . pc - board 123 may have mounted on it a microprocessor , memory , or other circuitry ( not shown ) to activate or otherwise control personal vaporizer unit 100 . this microprocessor may store data about the operation of personal vaporizer unit 100 in the memory . for example , the microprocessor may determine and store the number of cycles personal vaporizer unit 100 has been triggered . the microprocessor may also store a time and / or date associated with one or more of these cycles . the microprocessor may cause this data to be output via a connector . the connector may be comprised of the first and second conductive surfaces of mouthpiece 116 and / or main shell 102 . in an embodiment , the microprocessor may determine a duration associated with various cycles where personal vaporizer unit 100 has been triggered . these durations ( or a number based on these duration , such as an average ) may be stored in the memory . the microprocessor may cause these numbers to be output via the connector . the microprocessor may determine an empty cartridge condition and stores a number associated with a number of times said empty cartridge condition occurs . the microprocessor , or other circuitry , may determine an empty cartridge condition determined based on a resistance between atomizer housing 132 or 232 and a wick 134 , 234 , 136 , or 236 . the microprocessor may also store a time and / or date associated with one or more of these empty cartridge conditions . the number of times an empty cartridge condition is detected , and or times and / or dates associated with these empty cartridge conditions may be output via the connector . battery 104 , pc - board 123 , pc - board 124 , and all electronics internal to personal vaporizer unit 100 may be sealed in a plastic or plastic and epoxy compartment within the device . this compartment may include main housing 160 or 260 . all penetrations in this compartment may be sealed . thus , only wires will protrude from the compartment . the compartment may be filled with epoxy after the assembly of battery 104 , pc - board 123 , pc - board 124 , and leds 125 - 127 . the compartment may be ultrasonically welded closed after assembly of battery 104 , pc - board 123 , pc - board 124 , and leds 125 - 127 . this sealed compartment is configured such that all vapor within personal vaporizer unit 100 does not come in contact with the electronics on pc - boards 123 or 124 . fig3 is a perspective view of a proximal wick element of a personal vaporizer unit . fig3 a is a perspective view of a heating element disposed through a proximal wick element of a personal vaporizer unit . fig3 b is a perspective view of a heating element of a personal vaporizer unit . fig3 is a distal end view of the wick element of fig3 . fig3 is a cross - section of the wick element along the cut line shown in fig3 . proximal wick 136 is configured to fit within atomizer housing 132 . as can be seen in fig3 - 37 , proximal wick 136 includes internal wire passageway 136 - 1 and external wire passageway 136 - 2 . these wire passageways allows a conductor or a heating element 139 to be positioned through proximal wick 136 ( via internal wire passageway 136 - 1 ). this conductor or heating element 139 may also be positioned in external wire passageway 136 - 2 . thus , as shown in fig3 a , a conductor or heating element 139 may be wrapped around a portion of proximal wick 136 by running the conductor or heating element 139 through internal wire passageway 136 - 1 , around the distal end of proximal wick 136 , and through external wire passageway 136 - 2 to return to approximately its point of origin . the heating element 139 may , when personal vaporizer 100 is activated , heat proximal wick 136 in order to facilitate vaporization of a substance . fig3 is a perspective view of a distal wick element of a personal vaporizer unit . fig3 is a distal end view of the wick element of fig3 . fig4 is a cross - section of the wick element along the cut line shown in fig3 . distal wick 134 is configured to fit within atomizer housing 132 . as can be seen in fig3 - 40 , distal wick 134 comprises two cylinders of different diameters . a chamfered surface transitions from the smaller diameter of the distal end of distal wick 134 to a larger diameter at the proximal end of distal wick 134 . the cylinder at the distal end terminates with a flat surface end 134 - 1 . this flat surface end 134 - 1 is the end of distal wick 134 is a surface that is placed in direct contact with a substance to be vaporized when cartridge 150 is inserted into the distal end of personal vaporizer 100 . the proximal end of distal wick 134 is typically in contact with proximal wick 136 . however , at least a part of proximal wick 136 and distal wick 134 are separated by an air gap . when distal wick 134 and proximal wick 136 are used together , this air gap is formed between distal wick 134 and proximal wick 136 by stand offs 136 - 3 as shown in fig3 . fig4 is a perspective view of a distal wick element of a personal vaporizer unit . fig4 is a distal end view of the wick element of fig4 . fig4 is a cross - section of the wick element along the cut line shown in fig4 . proximal wick 234 may be used as an alternative embodiment to distal wick 134 . proximal wick 234 is configured to fit within atomizer housing 232 . as can be seen in fig4 - 43 , proximal wick 234 comprises two cylinders of different diameters , and a cone or pointed end 234 - 1 . a chamfered surface transitions from the smaller diameter of the distal end of proximal wick 234 to a larger diameter at the proximal end of proximal wick 234 . the cylinder at the distal end terminates with a pointed end 234 - 1 . this pointed end 234 - 1 is the end of proximal wick 234 that is in direct contact with a substance to be vaporized . this pointed end 234 - 1 may also break a seal on cartridge 150 to allow the substance to be vaporized to come in direct contact with proximal wick 234 . the proximal end of proximal wick 234 is typically in contact with proximal wick 136 . however , at least a part of proximal wick 136 and proximal wick 234 are separated by an air gap . when distal wick 134 and proximal wick 236 are used together , this air gap is formed between proximal wick 234 and proximal wick 136 by stand offs 136 - 3 as shown in fig3 . fig4 is a perspective view of an atomizer housing of a personal vaporizer unit . fig4 is a distal end view of the atomizer housing of fig4 . fig4 is a side view of the atomizer housing of fig4 . fig4 is a top view of the atomizer housing of fig4 . fig4 is a cross - section of the atomizer housing along the cut line shown in fig4 . atomizer housing 132 is configured to fit within main shell 102 . as can be seen in fig4 - 48 , atomizer housing 132 comprises roughly two cylinders of different diameters . a chamfered surface 132 - 3 transitions from the smaller diameter of the distal end of atomizer housing 132 to a larger diameter at the proximal end of atomizer housing 132 . the larger diameter at the proximal end of atomizer housing 132 is configured to be press fit into light pipe sleeve 140 . the cylinder at the distal end terminates with a spade shaped tip 132 - 2 . this spade shaped tip 132 - 2 may break a seal on cartridge 150 to allow the substance to be vaporized to come in direct contact with distal wick 134 . other shaped tips are possible ( e . g ., needle or spear shaped ). chamfered surface 132 - 3 has one or more holes 132 - 1 . these holes allow air to pass , via suction , through atomizer housing 132 into distal wick 134 . this suction may be supplied by the user of personal vaporizer 100 sucking or inhaling on mouthpiece cover 114 and / or mouthpiece 116 . the air that is sucked into distal wick 134 enters distal wick 134 on or near the chamfered surface between the two cylinders of distal wick 134 . the air that is sucked into distal wick 134 displaces some of the substance being vaporized that has been absorbed by distal wick 134 causing it to be atomized as it exits distal wick 134 into the air gap formed between distal wick 134 and proximal wick 136 . the heating element disposed around proximal wick 136 may then vaporize at least some of the atomized substance . in an embodiment , one or more holes 132 - 1 may range in diameter between 0 . 02 and 0 . 0625 inches . in an embodiment , placing holes 132 - 1 at the leading edge of the chamfered surface places a set volume of the substance to be vaporized in the path of incoming air . this incoming air has nowhere to go but through the large diameter ( or “ head ”) end of the distal end wick 134 . when the air enters this area in distal end wick 134 it displaces the substance to be vaporized that is suspended in distal end wick 134 towards an air cavity between distal end wick 134 and proximal end wick 136 . when the displaced substance to be vaporized reaches the surface of distal end wick 134 , it is forced out of the wick by the incoming air and the negative pressure of the cavity . this produces an atomized cloud of the substance to be vaporized . in an embodiment , the diameter of the head of distal end wick 134 may be varied and be smaller than the diameter of the proximal end wick 136 . this allows for a tuned volume of air to bypass proximal end wick 136 and directly enter the cavity between distal wick 134 and distal wick 136 without first passing through distal wick 136 . fig4 is a perspective view of an atomizer housing of a personal vaporizer unit . fig5 is a distal end view of the atomizer housing of fig4 . fig5 is a side view of the atomizer housing of fig4 . fig5 is a top view of the atomizer housing of fig4 . fig5 is a cross - section of the atomizer housing along the cut line shown in fig5 . atomizer housing 232 is an alternative embodiment , for use with proximal wick 234 , to atomizer house 132 . atomizer housing 232 is configured to fit within main shell 102 and light pipe sleeve 140 . as can be seen in fig4 - 53 , atomizer housing 232 comprises roughly two cylinders of different diameters . a chamfered surface 232 - 3 transitions from the smaller diameter of the distal end of atomizer housing 232 to a larger diameter at the proximal end of atomizer housing 232 . the larger diameter at the proximal end of atomizer housing 232 is configured to be press fit into light pipe sleeve 140 . the cylinder at the distal end terminates with an open cylinder tip 232 - 2 . this open cylinder tip 232 - 2 allows the pointed end 234 - 1 of proximal wick 234 to break a seal on cartridge 150 to allow the substance to be vaporized to come in direct contact with proximal wick 234 . chamfered surface 232 - 3 has one or more holes 232 - 1 . these holes allow air to pass , via suction , through atomizer housing 232 into proximal wick 234 . the air that is sucked into proximal wick 234 enters proximal wick 234 on or near the chamfered surface between the two cylinders of proximal wick 234 . the air that is sucked into proximal wick 234 displaces some of the substance being vaporized that has been absorbed by proximal wick 234 causing it to be atomized as it exits proximal wick 234 into the air gap formed between proximal wick 234 and proximal wick 136 . the heating element disposed around proximal wick 136 may then vaporize at least some of the atomized substance being vaporized . in an embodiment , one or more holes 232 - 1 may range in diameter between 0 . 02 and 0 . 0625 inches . in an embodiment , placing holes 232 - 1 at the leading edge of the chamfered surface places a set volume of the substance to be vaporized in the path of incoming air . this incoming air has nowhere to go but through the head of the distal end wick 234 . when the air enters this area in distal end wick 234 it displaces the substance to be vaporized that is suspended in distal end wick 234 towards an air cavity between distal end wick 234 and proximal end wick 236 . when the displaced substance to be vaporized reaches the surface of distal end wick 232 , it is forced out of the wick by the incoming air and the negative pressure of the cavity . this produces an atomized cloud of the substance to be vaporized . in an embodiment , the diameter of the head of distal end wick 234 may be varied and be smaller than the diameter of the proximal end wick 236 . this allows for a tuned volume of air to bypass distal wick 236 and directly enter the cavity between proximal wick 234 and distal wick 236 without first passing through distal wick 236 . fig5 is a perspective view of an atomizer housing and wicks of a personal vaporizer unit . fig5 is an exploded view of the atomizer housing , wire guides , and wicks of fig5 . fig5 is a side view of the atomizer housing and wicks of fig5 . fig5 is a distal end view of the atomizer housing and wicks of fig5 . fig5 is a cross - section of the atomizer housing and wicks along the cut line shown in fig5 . the atomizer housing and wicks shown in fig5 - 58 is an alternative embodiment for use with proximal wick 236 . the embodiment shown in fig5 - 58 use atomizer housing 232 , proximal wick 234 , proximal wick 236 , wire guide 237 , and wire guide 238 . proximal wick 236 is configured to fit within atomizer housing 232 . as can be seen in fig5 - 58 , proximal wick 236 includes internal wire passageway 236 - 1 . this wire passageway 236 - 1 allows a conductor or a heating element ( not shown ) to be positioned through proximal wick 236 ( via internal wire passageway 236 - 1 ). the conductor or heating element may be positioned around wire guide 237 and wire guide 238 . thus , a conductor or heating element may run the through wire passageway 236 - 1 , around wire guides 237 and 238 , and then back through wire passageway 236 - 1 to return to approximately its point of origin . the heating element may , when personal vaporizer unit 100 is activated , heat proximal wick 236 in order to facilitate vaporization of a substance . fig5 is a perspective view of the proximal end wick assembly of fig5 - 58 . fig5 a is a perspective view showing a heating element disposed through the proximal end wick and around the wire guides of fig5 - 58 . fig5 b is a perspective view of the heating element of a personal vaporizer unit . fig6 is a distal end view of the wick element and wire guides of fig5 - 58 . fig6 is a cross - section of the wick element and wire guides along the cut line shown in fig6 . as can be seen in fig5 a , a conductor or heating element 239 may run through wire passageway 236 - 1 , around wire guides 237 and 238 , and then back through wire passageway 236 - 1 to return to approximately its point of origin . in an embodiment , distal wicks 134 , 234 , and proximal wicks 136 , 236 , may be made of , or comprise , for example a porous ceramic . distal wicks 134 , 234 , and proximal wicks 136 , 236 , may be made of , or comprise aluminum oxide , silicon carbide , magnesia partial stabilized zirconia , yttria tetragonal zirconia polycrystal , porous metal ( e . g ., steel , aluminum , platinum , titanium , and the like ), ceramic coated porous metal , woven metal , spun metal , metal wool ( e . g ., steel wool ), porous polymer , porous coated polymer , porous silica ( i . e ., glass ), and / or porous pyrex . distal wicks 134 , 234 , and proximal wicks 136 , 236 , may be made of or comprise other materials that can absorb a substance to be vaporized . the conductor or heating element that is disposed through proximal wick 136 or 236 may be made of , or comprise , for example : nickel chromium , iron chromium aluminum , stainless steel , gold , platinum , tungsten molybdenum , or a piezoelectric material . the conductor or heating element that is disposed through proximal wick 136 can be made of , or comprise , other materials that become heated when an electrical current is passed through them . fig6 is a perspective view of a light pipe sleeve of a personal vaporizer unit . fig6 is an end view of the light pipe sleeve of fig6 . fig6 is a cross - section of the light pipe sleeve along the cut line shown in fig6 . light pipe sleeve 140 is configured to be disposed within main shell 102 . light pipe sleeve 140 is also configured to hold cartridge 150 and atomizer housing 132 or 232 . as discussed previously , light pipe sleeve 140 is configured to conduct light entering the proximal end of light pipe sleeve 140 ( e . g ., from leds 125 - 127 ) to the distal end of light pipe sleeve 140 . typically , the light exiting the distal end of light pipe sleeve 140 will be visible from the exterior of personal vaporizer 100 . the light exiting the distal end of light pipe sleeve 140 may be diffused by cartridge 150 . the light exiting the distal end of light pipe sleeve 140 may illuminate characters and / or symbols drawn , printed , written , or embossed , etc ., in an end of cartridge 150 . in an embodiment , light exiting light pipe sleeve 140 may illuminate a logo , characters and / or symbols cut through outer main shell 102 . in an embodiment , light pipe sleeve 140 is made of , or comprises , a translucent acrylic plastic . fig6 is a perspective view of a cartridge of a personal vaporizer unit . fig6 is a proximal end view of the cartridge of fig6 . fig6 is a side view of the cartridge of fig6 . fig6 is a top view of the cartridge of fig6 . fig6 is a cross - section of the cartridge along the cut line shown in fig6 . as shown in fig6 - 69 , cartridge 150 comprises a hollow cylinder section with at least one exterior flat surface 158 . the flat surface 158 forms , when cartridge 150 is inserted into the distal end of personal vaporizer unit 100 , an open space between the exterior surface of the cartridge and an interior surface of light pipe sleeve 140 . this space defines a passage for air to be drawn from outside personal vaporizer unit 100 , through personal vaporizer unit 100 to be inhaled by the user along with the vaporized substance . this space also helps define the volume of air drawn into personal vaporizer unit 100 . by defining the volume of air typically drawn into the unit , different mixtures of vaporized substance to air may be produced . the hollow portion of cartridge 150 is configured as a reservoir to hold the substance to be vaporized by personal vaporizer unit 100 . the hollow portion of cartridge 150 holds the substance to be vaporized in direct contact with distal wick 134 or 234 . this allows distal wick 134 or 234 to become saturated with the substance to be vaporized . the area of distal wick 134 or 234 that is in direct contact with the substance to be vaporized may be varied in order to deliver different doses of the substance to be vaporized . for example , cartridges 150 with differing diameter hollow portions may be used to deliver different doses of the substance to be vaporized to the user . cartridge 150 may be configured to confine the substance to be vaporized by a cap or seal ( not shown ) on the proximal end . this cap or seal may be punctured by the end of atomizer housing 132 , or the pointed end 234 - 1 of proximal wick 234 . when inserted into personal vaporizer unit 100 , cartridge standoffs 157 define an air passage between the end of light pipe sleeve 140 and main shell 102 . this air passage allows air to reach the air passage defined by flat surface 158 . the hollow portion of cartridge 150 also includes one or more channels 154 . the end of these channels are exposed to air received via the air passage ( s ) defined by flat surface 158 . these channels allow air to enter the hollow portion of cartridge 150 as the substance contained in cartridge 150 is drawn into a distal wick 134 or 234 . allowing air to enter the hollow portion of cartridge 150 as the substance contained in cartridge 150 is removed prevents a vacuum from forming inside cartridge 150 . this vacuum could prevent the substance contained in cartridge 150 from being absorbed into distal wick 134 or 234 . in an embodiment , cartridge 150 may be at least partly translucent . thus cartridge 150 may act as a light diffuser so that light emitted by one or more of leds 125 - 127 is visible external to personal vaporizer unit 100 . fig7 is a side view of a battery of a personal vaporizer unit . fig7 is an end view of the battery of fig7 . fig7 is a perspective view of a battery support of a personal vaporizer unit . as can be seen in fig7 , battery support 106 does not form a complete cylinder that completely surrounds battery 104 . this missing portion of a cylinder forms a passageway that allows air and the vaporized substance to pass by the battery from the atomizer assembly to the mouthpiece 116 so that it may be inhaled by the user . fig7 is a top perspective view of a personal vaporizer unit case . fig7 is a bottom perspective view of a personal vaporizer unit case . personal vaporizer case 500 is configured to hold one or more personal vaporizer units 100 . personal vaporizer case 500 includes a connector 510 to interface to a computer . this connector allows case 500 to transfer data from personal vaporizer unit 100 to a computer via connecter 510 . case 500 may also transfer data from personal vaporizer unit 100 via a wireless interface . this wireless interface may comprise an infrared ( ir ) transmitter , a bluetooth interface , an 802 . 11 specified interface , and / or communicate with a cellular telephone network . data from a personal vaporizer unit 100 may be associated with an identification number stored by personal vaporizer unit 100 . data from personal vaporizer unit 100 may be transmitted via the wireless interface in association with the identification number . personal vaporizer case 500 includes a battery that may hold charge that is used to recharge a personal vaporizer unit 100 . recharging of personal vaporizer unit 100 may be managed by a charge controller that is part of case 500 . when case 500 is holding a personal vaporizer unit 100 , at least a portion of the personal vaporizer unit 100 is visible from the outside of case 500 to allow a light emitted by personal vaporizer unit 100 to provide a visual indication of a state of personal vaporizer unit 500 . this visual indication is visible outside of case 500 . personal vaporizer unit 100 is activated by a change in impedance between two conductive surfaces . in an embodiment , these two conductive surfaces are part of main shell 102 and mouthpiece 116 . these two conductive surfaces may also be used by case 500 to charge battery 104 . these two conductive surfaces may also be used by case 500 to read data out of personal vaporizer unit 100 . in an embodiment , when a user puts personal vaporizer unit 100 in his / her mouth and provides “ suction ,” air is drawn into personal vaporizer unit 100 though a gap between the end of main shell 102 and cartridge 150 . in an embodiment , this gap is established by standoffs 157 . air travels down galley ( s ) formed by flat surface ( s ) 158 and the inner surface of light pipe sleeve 140 . the air then reaches a “ ring ” shaped galley between atomizer housing 132 , cartridge 150 , and light pipe sleeve 140 . air travels to distal wick 134 via one or more holes 132 - 1 , in chamfered surface ( s ) 132 - 3 . air travels to distal wick 234 via one or more holes 232 - 1 , in chamfered surface ( s ) 232 - 3 . air is also allowed to enter cartridge 150 via one or more channels 154 . this air entering cartridge 150 via channels 154 “ back fills ” for the substance being vaporized which enters distal wick 134 . the substance being vaporized is held in direct contact with distal wick 134 or 234 by cartridge 150 . the substance being vaporized is absorbed by and may saturate distal wick 134 or 234 and proximal wick 136 or 236 . the incoming air drawn through holes 132 - 1 displaces from saturated distal wick 134 the substance being vaporized . the displaced substance being vaporized is pulled from wick elements 134 into a cavity between distal wick 134 and 136 . this cavity may also contain a heating element that has been heated to between 150 - 200 ° c . the displaced substance being vaporized is pulled from wick elements 134 in small ( e . g ., atomized ) droplets . these atomized droplets are vaporized by the heating element . in an embodiment , when a user puts personal vaporizer unit 100 in his / her mouth and provides “ suction ,” air is drawn into personal vaporizer unit 100 though a gap between the end of main shell 102 and cartridge 150 . in an embodiment , this gap is established by standoffs 157 . air travels down galley ( s ) formed by flat surface ( s ) 158 and the inner surface of light pipe sleeve 140 . the air then reaches a “ ring ” shaped galley between atomizer housing 232 , cartridge 150 , and light pipe sleeve 140 . air travels to proximal wick 234 via one or more holes 232 - 1 , in chamfered surface ( s ) 232 - 1 . air is also allowed to enter cartridge 150 via one or more channels 154 . this air entering cartridge 150 via channels 154 “ back fills ” for the substance being vaporized which enters proximal wick 234 . the substance being vaporized is held in direct contact with proximal wick 234 by cartridge 150 . the substance being vaporized is absorbed by and may saturate distal wick 243 and proximal wick 236 . the incoming air drawn through holes 232 - 1 displaces from saturated proximal wick 234 the substance being vaporized . the displaced substance being vaporized is pulled from wick elements 234 into a cavity between wick distal wick 234 and proximal wick 236 . this cavity may also contain a heating element that has been heated to between 150 - 200 ° c . the displaced substance being vaporized is pulled from distal wick 234 in small ( e . g ., atomized ) droplets . these atomized droplets are vaporized by the heating element . in both of the previous two embodiments , the vaporized substance and air are drawn down a galley adjacent to battery 104 , through mouthpiece insulator 112 , mouthpiece 116 , and mouthpiece cover 114 . after exiting personal vaporizer unit 100 , the vapors may be inhaled by a user . the systems , controller , and functions described above may be implemented with or executed by one or more computer systems . the methods described above may be stored on a computer readable medium . personal vaporizer unit 100 and case 500 may be , comprise , or include computers systems . fig7 illustrates a block diagram of a computer system . computer system 600 includes communication interface 620 , processing system 630 , storage system 640 , and user interface 660 . processing system 630 is operatively coupled to storage system 640 . storage system 640 stores software 650 and data 670 . processing system 630 is operatively coupled to communication interface 620 and user interface 660 . computer system 600 may comprise a programmed general - purpose computer . computer system 600 may include a microprocessor . computer system 600 may comprise programmable or special purpose circuitry . computer system 600 may be distributed among multiple devices , processors , storage , and / or interfaces that together comprise elements 620 - 670 . communication interface 620 may comprise a network interface , modem , port , bus , link , transceiver , or other communication device . communication interface 620 may be distributed among multiple communication devices . processing system 630 may comprise a microprocessor , microcontroller , logic circuit , or other processing device . processing system 630 may be distributed among multiple processing devices . user interface 660 may comprise a keyboard , mouse , voice recognition interface , microphone and speakers , graphical display , touch screen , or other type of user interface device . user interface 660 may be distributed among multiple interface devices . storage system 640 may comprise a disk , tape , integrated circuit , ram , rom , network storage , server , or other memory function . storage system 640 may be a computer readable medium . storage system 640 may be distributed among multiple memory devices . processing system 630 retrieves and executes software 650 from storage system 640 . processing system may retrieve and store data 670 . processing system may also retrieve and store data via communication interface 620 . processing system 650 may create or modify software 650 or data 670 to achieve a tangible result . processing system may control communication interface 620 or user interface 670 to achieve a tangible result . processing system may retrieve and execute remotely stored software via communication interface 620 . software 650 and remotely stored software may comprise an operating system , utilities , drivers , networking software , and other software typically executed by a computer system . software 650 may comprise an application program , applet , firmware , or other form of machine - readable processing instructions typically executed by a computer system . when executed by processing system 630 , software 650 or remotely stored software may direct computer system 600 to operate as described herein . the above description and associated figures teach the best mode of the invention . the following claims specify the scope of the invention . note that some aspects of the best mode may not fall within the scope of the invention as specified by the claims . those skilled in the art will appreciate that the features described above can be combined in various ways to form multiple variations of the invention . as a result , the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above , but only by the following claims and their equivalents . | 1 |
the following explanation discloses a preferred mode of practicing the invention but other implementations are possible given the teachings of the invention . u . s . patent application ser . no . 09 / 792 , 557 for storing frame modification information in memory , described in more detail in the cross reference section of this application , is incorporated herein by reference . this invention is relates particularly to the frame alteration logic 212 as shown in fig2 thereof . as frames arrive from the network , they are stored in a memory . an area is reserved in memory immediately preceding the frame &# 39 ; s data for storage of one or more frame alteration control blocks . during frame processing , software executed by a processor writes the frame alteration commands into the frame alteration control blocks . the frame is then queued for transmission onto the network by placing it in a port queue . hardware apparatus then services the port queue by reading the frame alteration control blocks , applying the requested alterations to the frame data and transmitting the modified frame onto the network . fig1 shows a 128 - bit ( quadword ) frame alteration control block . in fig1 , a one - bit bottom - of - stack field 11 specifies the frame is the bottom of stack if set to 1 . the first frame alteration control blocks in a list of multiple frame alteration control blocks will have the first bit set to 0 . the bottom - of - stack bit is then set to 1 in the frame alteration control block immediately preceding the first quadword of the packet data . a three - bit field 12 indicates the type of frame access control block . more than one type can be defined , each containing frame alteration commands that are specific to a particular scenario . some frame access control block types may be optimized for ethernet frame alteration and others , for packet - over - sonet frame alteration . the system uses the frame alteration control block type field 12 to determine how to parse information in the frame alteration commands field 17 . a four - bit displacement field 15 is used only in the bottom - of - stack frame alteration control block to define the offset to the first valid packet data byte in the first quadword of the packet data . this field is required as the starting byte position to skip over unused bytes in the first quadword of the packet data . bits 8 through 127 of the quadwords in the frame alteration control block stack contain the frame alteration commands 17 . these are the commands to be applied to a packet as it is transmitted . the frame alteration commands are specific to the frame alteration control block type . fig2 shows an example of an frame alteration control block stack with two quadwords of a data packet . the bottom - of - stack field 201 of the first frame alteration control block is set to 0 as are those of the following two quadwords . the bottom - of - stack field 202 of the fourth quadword is set to 1 since it is at the bottom of the stack . the displacement field 203 of the fourth quadword points to the beginning of the packet data in the following quadword or buffer . the flowchart of fig3 illustrates an example of a frame alteration procedure where the changes are to insert , to overlay , or to delete data within the frame . a terminal block 301 starts the procedure . a process block 302 fetches the frame alteration control block from a memory device storing the frame to be altered and parses it into the frame alteration control block portion and the data portion . the frame alteration control block commands are stored in hardware registers by a process block 303 . in a process block 305 , the input data pointer is set to the value of the disp field of the frame to skip the unused bytes in order to locate the beginning of the data in the input frame and the pointer to the output data bytes is set to zero . the first input byte is read from the input frame by an input / output block 315 . a decision block 306 determines whether the current input byte is to be deleted . this is accomplished by testing the contents of the input data pointer against the offset field in the frame alteration control block for equality . if the frame alteration control block command specifies that the current data byte is to be deleted , the input data byte pointer is incremented by a process block 307 . no further is action is performed and the present data byte is not written to the output as part of the altered frame . the process then continues at a decision block 318 which determines whether the last input data byte has been read from the frame alteration control block storage memory , i . e ., whether the end of the input frame has been reached . if so , the process is exited at a terminal block 319 . if the end of the frame has not been reached , the process continues at the input / output block 315 to read the next input data byte . if the frame alteration control block command is not a delete instruction , the process continues from the decision block 306 to a decision block 308 to determine whether the frame alteration control block command is an insert instruction . if so , the replacement byte is read from the appropriate frame alteration control block field or the alteration array 511 ( fig5 ) and written as the output byte by a process block 316 next , the output data pointer is incremented by a process block 317 . the end - of - frame test is then performed at the decision block 318 as previously described . if the frame alteration control block command is not an insert instruction , the process continues from the decision block 308 to a decision block 311 to determine whether it is an overlay instruction . if so , then the new ( overlaying ) byte is read from the frame alteration control block data field and the input data pointer is incremented in a process block 310 . the overlaying byte is then written as the output byte . if the frame alteration control block command is neither a delete , an insert , nor an overlay instruction , then the byte read from the input frame is written as the output byte after incrementing the input data pointer at the process block 310 . adding other frame alteration control block commands is within the skill of the art given the present explanation . for example , bytes can be incremented , decremented , inverted , and otherwise modified as desired . in fig4 , a data flow controller 401 is coupled to a processor 403 for generating the frame alteration commands based on the protocol of the network . in the data flow controller 401 , a receive interface 405 transfers a frame from the network to a memory interface 407 for storage in a memory . the memory interface 407 extracts the frame header from the memory 415 and transfers it to the processor 403 via a control interface 409 . the processor 403 generates the frame alteration commands contained in the header and returns frame alteration control blocks to the memory 415 via the control interface 409 and memory interface 407 . the frame alteration control blocks are stored in the memory 415 immediately preceding the beginning of the frame data . next , the data flow controller 401 reads the frame alteration control block and data from the memory 415 under the control of a transmit controller 411 and transfers them to a read unit 417 . the frame alteration control block and data are transferred to a frame alteration unit 419 which applies the alterations according to the contents of the frame alteration control blocks . the output frame data is then moved to a transmit unit 421 which transmits them to the network . details of the frame alteration unit 419 are shown in fig5 . a frame parser 501 separates the frame alteration control blocks and frame data . unaltered and unaligned frame data are sent a data aligner 503 which realigns the data to even 16 - byte boundaries since the unaltered frame data may not be so aligned . this was accomplished by setting data pointers as shown in the process block 305 of fig3 . the aligned data is then applied to an alteration engine 505 . the frame alteration control blocks are applied from the frame parser 501 to an frame alteration control block decoder 507 . the frame alteration control block decoder 507 interprets the frame alteration control block bits and moves the frame alteration commands to a frame alteration controller 509 . the frame alteration controller 509 disassembles the frame alteration commands from the frame alteration control block decoder 507 into basic instructions which are coupled to the alteration engine . an alteration array 511 is an optional storage device that supplies frequently used data patterns to be inserted or overlay data in the input frame under alteration . when a frame alteration command is decoded that designates one of the patterns is to be inserted or to overlay frame data , the designated configuration is extracted from the alteration array 511 by the frame alteration controller 509 and moved to the alteration engine 505 . the described operations accomplish the frame alterations in the alteration engine 505 by using the instruction to insert , to delete , to overlay , to increment , plus others as needed to assemble altered data frames which are then applied to the transmit unit 421 of fig4 . the process for executing the instructions were described above with reference to fig3 . fig6 shows an example of a frame alteration . fig6 a illustrates an exemplary input frame with its accompanying frame alteration control block and fig6 b illustrates a resulting altered output frame . this example inserts four bytes of data from the frame alteration control block ( top row of fig6 a ) at a 50 - byte data offset specified by bits 16 to 31 of the frame alteration control block . the bos ( bottom - of - stack bit 0 ) is set to 1 to indicate that this is the only frame alteration control block in the stack . the frame alteration control block type ( bits 1 - 3 ) identifies the format of bits 8 - 127 . the disp field ( displacement bits 4 - 7 ) specifies where the data begins . the cmd ( command field bits 8 - 15 ) is a unique code which in this example indicates that there is 4 - byte data field to be inserted at a point in the data field specified - by the offset ( bits 16 - 31 ). the data to be inserted is the field comprising bits 32 - 63 . fig6 b shows the altered frame as transmitted . the data is aligned on even numbered 16 - byte data fields and the inserted data is shown at the 50th byte , i . e ., byte 48 plus 16 bits ( two bytes ). a hardware implementation of the alteration engine 505 in fig5 is shown in fig7 . bytes from the unaltered input frame are stored in a register 709 . bytes from the frame alteration control block field to be inserted or overlaid are stored in a register 707 . each successive byte is stored by a timing signal clk . the command in the frame alteration control block cmd field is gated to a decoder 701 to be executed . in the example under consideration , the instructions are overlay ( ov ), insert ( in ), and delete ( de ). the ov and in output signals from the decoder 701 are applied to input terminals of an or gate 715 . the output signal from the or gate 715 is applied to an input terminal of an and gate 717 . the other input signal to the and gate 717 is from a flip - flop 741 which is set by a comparator 711 when the read address is equal to the offset field of the frame alteration control block . the flip - flop 741 is reset by an eof signal indicating that the end of the data to be inserted or overlaid has been reached . this permits the input ptr counter 703 to continue to advance and to address the next input data bytes from the input frame &# 39 ; s data field . the disp field contents of the frame alteration control block are set into a counter input ptr 703 by an initialization signal init and is incremented by successive clk timing signals when the command being executed is not an insert instruction by means of an and gate 737 and an inverter 739 . when the instruction is an insert , the inverter 739 inhibits the and gate 737 . the input ptr counter 703 keeps track of the next byte to be read from the unaltered input frame &# 39 ; s data field so its output signals also supply the read address of the bytes . the other input to the comparator 711 is an offset register 705 which is loaded by the init signal and stores the contents of the offset field of the frame alteration control block . the comparator 711 supplies an output signal when the read address from the input ptr 703 equals the offset value , causing the flip - flop 741 to be set at the next clk signal . the output signal from the flip - flop 741 enables the and gate 717 when bytes are to be overlaid or inserted during execution of an overlay or insert instruction from the decoder 701 as indicated by the output signal from the or gate 715 . when the and gate 717 is enabled , the new byte is passed by an and gate 723 to an or gate 724 . when the and gate 717 is disabled , either because the offset address has not been reached or the command being executed is neither an overlay or insert instruction , an inverter 719 enables an and gate 721 to pass the current input byte from the register 709 to the or gate 724 . the byte from the or gate 724 is coupled to an and gate 731 to be gated as the output byte at the next clk signal if the command is not a delete instruction ( de from the decoder 701 ). the clk signal is applied to an and gate 729 except when inhibited by the output from an inverter 727 when the command being executed is a delete instruction . when the output signal from the and gate 729 gates the output byte at the and gate 731 , it also increments an output ptr counter 735 . some data patterns are common and often repeated . for example , converting from one protocol to another usually necessitates that fixed patterns be inserted or overlaid on part of the frame data . fig8 is a block diagram showing details within the frame alteration controller 509 in fig5 for providing the new byte to the new register 707 of fig7 . data to be inserted from the facb header is coupled to one input of an and gate 801 . a pattern identifier , which can be an address supplied by a frame alteration command , reads a desired data pattern from the alteration array 511 to an input of an and gate 803 . source control signals from a frame alteration command and decoded by the facb decoder 507 enables one of the and gates 801 or 803 if a new byte is to be supplied to the alteration engine . the output from an enabled and gate is applied to an or gate 807 to supply the new byte . the contents of the alteration array 511 can be dynamic . that is , its contents can be altered under software control to enable the logic to handle a wide variety of protocols and standard data patterns . the operation of the read unit of fig5 as well as the interfaces are well known in the art and need not be explained in detail for an understanding of the invention or how to make and to use it . while the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention according to the following claims . | 7 |
fig4 shows network architecture according to an embodiment of the invention . remote destination node 102 is a server in the same subnet that the gateway 112 and router 104 are in . remote destination node 114 is another server in a different subnet from that the gateway 112 is in . the wan ip address of router 104 is cloned to local node 108 , duplicating the ip address . as shown in fig5 a , the wan ip address of router 104 can be obtained from isp 320 by dynamic destination node control protocol ( dhcp ). in step 322 , the router 104 sends a dhcp request to isp 320 . in step 324 , the isp 320 responds to router 104 with information for configuring wan interface 204 a . similarly , the router 104 can provide a dhcp service on its lan interface 104 b , and the ip address of local node 108 can be obtained therefrom . in step 304 , the local node 108 sends a request to router 104 , and in step 304 , the router 104 responds to local node 108 , assigning the same ip address of the wan ip of router 104 to the local node 108 , 223 . 82 . 179 . 6 in fig5 a . when the wan interface 104 a changes dynamically , the ip address of local node 108 is also synchronized . for example , if the wan interface 104 a fails to link to the internet , instead of assigning the wan ip address to the local node 108 , the router 104 acts as a conventional local area network dhcp server , and the local node 108 acts as a conventional local area network node having a virtual ip address , for example , 192 . 168 . 1 . 2 . as shown in fig4 , when a packet from local node 108 is destined for remote destination node 102 , it must be received and processed by the router 104 before transfer to remote destination node 102 . according to the open standard interface ( osi ) specification , packet transfer in the same subnet is accomplished by physical layer identification of a media access control ( mac ) address . in this case , in order for packets from local node 108 to be received by the lan interface 104 b of router 104 for further processing , the local node 108 queries the mac address of the destination remote destination node 102 , for example , by the way of conventional address resolution protocol , arp , and the router 104 responds with the mac address of lan interface 104 b . thus packets from local node 108 destined for remote destination node 102 are physically transferred to router 104 , and the router 104 transfers the packets to remote destination node 102 directly by physical layer identification . in another example , when a packet from local node 108 is destined for remote destination node 114 within a subnet different from wan interface 104 a , the packets are physically destined for gateway 112 for further routing . the router 104 must first receive the packet and reroute it to gateway 112 . similarly , in order for packets from local node 108 to be received by the lan interface 104 b of router 104 for further processing , the local node 108 queries the mac address of the destination gateway 112 ( aa : 00 : 00 : 00 : 00 : ff in fig5 b ), the router 104 responds with the mac address of lan interface 104 b ( 7f : 7f : 7f : 7f : 7f : 7f in fig5 b ) thus packets from local node 108 destined for remote destination node 114 are physically transferred to router 104 , and by physical layer identification . the packets can then be transferred to gateway 112 and routed toward remote destination node 114 . fig5 b shows the procedure based on arp . in step 306 , an arp request is first broadcasted , and in step 308 , upon receiving the request , the router 104 responds a packet to the local node 18 , wherein address provided in the response to this arp request is actually mac address 7f : 7f : 7f : 7f : 7f : 7of lan interface 204 b . the local node 108 accordingly fills the destination mac address in outbound packets with 7f : 7f : 7f : 7f : 7f : 7f , such that the router 104 physically receives all the packets . fig5 c shows the steps of the local node 108 sending a packet to remote destination node 102 . the local node 108 fills the destination mac address of the outbound packet 312 with the mac address of lan interface 104 b , 7f : 7f : 7f : 7f : 7f : 7f . thus the router 104 receives the outbound packet 312 and rewrites the source and destination mac addresses for further transmission . in some embodiments , the source mac address in the rewritten outbound packet 314 is the mac address of the wan interface 104 a , 80 : 80 : 80 : 80 : 80 : 80 , and the destination mac address is mac address of the remote destination node 102 , aa : bb : cc : dd : ee : ff . fig5 d shows the steps of the remote destination node 102 sending a packet to local node 108 . before the router 104 reroutes the inbound packet 318 , a verification sequence must be processed as router 104 may comprise several services , each occupying certain sessions and ports , such as nat table 210 and pat table 220 in fig3 . when the packet type does not correspond to any other services in the router 104 , it is rewritten to inbound packet 316 and sent to local node 108 . variations can be implemented for further applications . for example , the wan interface 104 a of router 104 can access isp 320 using point to point protocol over ethernet ( pppoe ) or serial line internet protocol ( slip ). in the same subnet , packets from local node 106 and local node 108 are processed in the router 104 using different schemes , therefore it is necessary to distinguish which node is associated with the packet . one solution is to provide a non - volatile memory in router 104 , to store the mac address of local node 108 , thereby whether a packet is associated with local node 108 can be determined . in summary , some embodiment of invention accomplish transparency by binding a real ip address to a destination node in local area network and using the router as an arp proxy to route every packet to and from the destination node . while the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of preferred embodiment , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto . to the contrary , it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements ( as would be apparent to those skilled in the art ). therefore , the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements . | 7 |
preferred embodiments of the invention will be described hereinbelow with reference to the drawings . fig1 is a sectional view of a first structural example of an ultrasonic transducer of the invention . the ultrasonic transducer 1 shown in fig1 is a push - pull electrostatic ultrasonic transducer , in which a diaphragm ( vibrating electrode layer ) 10 having a conducting layer is sandwiched between upper fixed electrodes ( upper driving fixed electrodes 21 a and an upper detecting fixed electrode 22 a ) and lower fixed electrodes ( lower driving fixed electrodes 21 b and a lower detecting fixed electrode 22 b ). the upper fixed electrodes ( first fixed electrodes ) and the lower fixed electrodes ( second fixed electrodes ) are arranged so as to face both sides of the diaphragm 10 . in the ultrasonic transducer 1 shown in fig1 , the fixed electrodes 21 a and 22 a and the fixed electrodes 21 b and 22 b are symmetric with respect to the diaphragm 10 . the fixed electrodes 21 a and 22 a are on the upper side and the fixed electrodes 21 b and 22 b are on the lower side with respect to the diaphragm 10 for the convenience of description ( the same applies to the other drawings ). the upper driving fixed electrode 21 a and the lower driving fixed electrode 21 b shown in fig1 are collectively called a driving fixed electrode 21 . the upper detecting fixed electrode 22 a and the lower detecting fixed electrode 22 b are collectively called a detecting fixed electrode 22 . the upper and lower fixed electrodes are collectively called a fixed electrode 20 . an upper amplitude detecting section 30 a and a lower amplitude detecting section 30 b are collectively called an amplitude detecting section 30 . an upper voltage control section 40 a and a lower voltage control section 40 b are collectively called a voltage control section 40 . fig2 a to 2c are diagrams showing structural examples of the diaphragm 10 . the diaphragm ( vibrating electrode layer ) 10 shown in fig2 a has a structure in which a conducting layer ( electrode layer ) 12 is sandwiched between insulating layers 11 . the diaphragm 10 shown in fig2 b has a structure in which one side of the insulating layer 11 is coated with the conducting layer ( electrode layer ) 12 . the diaphragm 10 shown in fig2 c has a structure in which both sides of the insulating layer 11 are coated with the conducting layer ( electrode layer ) 12 . when the diaphragms 10 shown in fig2 b and 2c are used , it is desirable to provide an insulating layer on the fixed electrode 20 that faces the conducting layer ( electrode layer ) 12 of the diaphragm 10 . referring again to fig1 , the fixed electrode 20 may have a plurality of electrode arrays that is insulated from one another . the fixed electrode 20 has through portions ( through holes ) for the sound waves generated from the diaphragm 10 to pass through . the through portions may be arranged between the array electrodes , or alternatively , may be through holes in the fixed electrode 20 . parts of the vertically opposing electrode arrays of the fixed electrode 20 are used as the upper driving fixed electrode 21 a and the lower driving fixed electrode 21 b . to the upper driving fixed electrode 21 a , the upper voltage control section 40 a is connected and , to the lower driving fixed electrode 21 b , the lower voltage control section 40 b is connected , to both of which alternating current signals ( driving signals ) are applied . the other parts of the electrode arrays of the fixed electrode 20 are used as the upper detecting fixed electrode 22 a and the lower detecting fixed electrode 22 b . to the upper detecting fixed electrode 22 a , the upper amplitude detecting section 30 a is connected and , to the lower detecting fixed electrode 22 b , the lower amplitude detecting section 30 b is connected , with which information on the vertical amplitude of the diaphragm 10 is obtained . on the basis of the amplitude information obtained by the upper amplitude detecting section 30 a and the lower amplitude detecting section 30 b , the signals ( drive voltages ) to be applied to the upper driving fixed electrode 21 a and the lower driving fixed electrode 21 b are controlled so as to vibrate the diaphragm 10 vertically symmetrically , or in response to the ( vertically ) symmetrically positive and negative input signals . the details of the structure and the operation of the amplitude detecting section 30 and the voltage control section 40 will be described later . the fixed electrode shown in fig1 has a gap across between the diaphragm 10 and the fixed electrodes 20 . alternatively , the gaps between the diaphragm 10 and the upper and lower fixed electrodes 20 may not be provided . a fixed electrode with the gap is suitable for a loud speaker ; a fixed electrode with a structure in which the diaphragm 10 is in contact with the fixed electrode 20 is suitable for an ultrasonic speaker . in the example of fig1 , the detecting fixed electrode has a structure in which one upper detecting fixed electrode 22 a is provided for the upper fixed electrode , while one lower detecting fixed electrode 22 b is provided for the lower fixed electrode . alternatively , multiple detecting fixed electrodes may be provided . in this case , the central portion where the maximum amplitude can be obtained can be used as the driving fixed electrode . the average of the amplitude voltages measured by the multiple detecting fixed electrodes is used as the amplitude output . fig1 shows the cross section of the ultrasonic transducer 1 . the plan view of the fixed electrode may be circular , rectangular , or other various patterns . also , the plan view of the through portion for a sound wave may be circular , rectangular , concentric circular ring , concentric rectangular ring , and other various patterns . fig3 is a diagram of a second structural example of the ultrasonic transducer 1 , which further has an upper actuator 23 a that adjusts the gap between the diaphragm 10 and the upper fixed electrodes ( the upper driving fixed electrodes 21 a and the upper detecting fixed electrode 22 a ) and a lower actuator 23 b that adjusts the gap between the diaphragm 10 and the lower fixed electrodes ( the lower driving fixed electrodes 21 b and the lower detecting fixed electrode 22 b ). in this example , the gaps are adjusted so that the diaphragm 10 vibrates with high fidelity to ( in proportion to ) the input signal , according to the information on the amplitude of the diaphragm 10 which is measured by the upper amplitude detecting section 30 a and the lower amplitude detecting section 30 b . the adjustment of the gaps are performed in response to the signals sent from an upper gap control section 50 a and a lower gap control section 50 b to the upper actuator 23 a and the lower actuator 23 b ( the upper gap control section 50 a and the lower gap control section 50 b are collectively called a gap control section 50 ). fig4 is a diagram of a third structural example of the ultrasonic transducer 1 , which has a combination structure of the function of the first ultrasonic transducer shown in fig1 and the function of the second ultrasonic transducer shown in fig3 . in the ultrasonic transducer 1 shown in fig4 , parts of the electrode arrays of the vertically opposing fixed electrode 20 are used as the upper driving fixed electrode 21 a and the lower driving fixed electrode 21 b . to the upper driving fixed electrode 21 a , the upper voltage control section 40 a is connected and , to the lower driving fixed electrode 21 b , the lower voltage control section 40 b is connected , to both of which driving signals are applied . the other parts of the electrode arrays of the fixed electrode 20 are used as the upper detecting fixed electrode 22 a and the lower detecting fixed electrode 22 b . to the upper detecting fixed electrode 22 a , the upper amplitude detecting section 30 a is connected and , to the lower detecting fixed electrode 22 b , the lower amplitude detecting section 30 b is connected , with which information on the vertical amplitude of the diaphragm 10 is obtained . on the basis of the amplitude information obtained by the upper amplitude detecting section 30 a and the lower amplitude detecting section 30 b , the signals ( drive voltages ) to be applied to the upper and lower fixed electrodes 20 are controlled by the upper voltage control section 40 a and the lower voltage control section 40 b so as to vibrate the diaphragm 10 vertically symmetrically . the ultrasonic transducer 1 further includes the upper actuator 23 a that adjusts the gap between the diaphragm 10 and the upper driving fixed electrodes 21 a , and the lower actuator 23 b that adjusts the gap between the diaphragm 10 and the lower driving fixed electrodes 21 b , with which the gaps are adjusted so that the diaphragm 10 vibrates with high fidelity to ( in proportion to ) the input signals , according to the information on the amplitude of the diaphragm 10 which is obtained by the upper amplitude detecting section 30 a and the lower amplitude detecting section 30 b . the adjustment of the gaps are performed in accordance with the signals sent from the upper gap control section 50 a and the lower gap control section 50 b to the upper actuator 23 a and the lower actuator 23 b . in this third structural example , the drive - voltage control by the voltage control section 40 and the gap control by the gap control section 50 are selectively used depending on the asymmetry of the upper amplitude and the lower amplitude of the diaphragm 10 which are detected by the upper amplitude detecting section 30 a and the lower amplitude detecting section 30 b . for example , while the vertical asymmetry of the amplitude of the diaphragm 10 is larger than a specified value , the gap control by the gap control section 50 is selected ; when the asymmetry becomes smaller than the specified value , the drive voltage control by the voltage control section 40 is selected . the principle of amplitude detection is similar to that of a capacitor microphone . there is a capacitor between the diaphragm 10 and the detecting fixed electrode 22 . accordingly , when the diaphragm 10 vibrates to vary the gap between it and the detecting fixed electrode 22 , the capacitance of the capacitor varies to change the electric charge in the capacitor . as a result , the voltage between the capacitor electrodes changes . thus , the gap between the diaphragm 10 and the detecting fixed electrode 22 , or the amplitude , can be determined by determining the voltage between the diaphragm 10 and the detecting fixed electrode 22 . fig5 shows a structural example of the amplitude detecting section 30 . the amplitude detecting section 30 is composed of the upper amplitude detecting section ( first amplitude detecting means ) 30 a and the lower amplitude detecting section ( second amplitude detecting means ) 30 b . the upper amplitude detecting section 30 a determines the amplitude voltage between the diaphragm 10 and the upper detecting fixed electrode 22 a by an upper voltage detecting section 31 a and detects the maximum point of the detected voltage waveform by an upper peak detecting section 32 a , thereby determining the upper amplitude of the diaphragm 10 . the lower amplitude detecting section 30 b determines the voltage between the diaphragm 10 and the lower detecting fixed electrode 22 b by a lower voltage detecting section 31 b and detects the maximum point of the detected voltage waveform by a lower peak detecting section 32 b , thereby determining the lower amplitude of the diaphragm 10 . the amplitude of the diaphragm 10 responsive to the positive and negative signals can thus be determined , allowing the asymmetrical distortion of the diaphragm 10 to be detected . fig6 shows a structural example of the voltage control section . the voltage control section 40 includes the upper voltage control section 40 a and the lower voltage control section 40 b corresponding to the upper amplitude detecting section 30 a and the lower amplitude detecting section 30 b ( refer to fig5 ), respectively . the upper voltage control section 40 a and the lower voltage control section 40 b have the same circuit structure . an upper error detection circuit ( first error detection means ) 41 a outputs the deviation of the amplitude ( detected upper amplitude ) of the diaphragm 10 which is detected by the upper amplitude detecting section 30 a ( refer to fig5 ) relative to a target upper amplitude . a lower error detection circuit ( second error detection means ) 41 b outputs the deviation of the amplitude ( detected lower amplitude ) of the diaphragm 10 which is detected by the lower amplitude detecting section 30 b ( refer to fig5 ) relative to a target lower amplitude . the target amplitudes may be set in correspondence with the drive voltage in advance or , alternatively , may be set such that the amplitude determined by one detecting fixed electrode as the target amplitude of the opposing electrode . an upper variable - gain amplifying circuit ( a first variable - gain control means ) 42 a amplifies an alternating current signal ( driving signal ) while controlling the gain of the amplifying circuit depending on the deviation from the target amplitude outputted from the upper error detection circuit 41 a . a lower variable - gain amplifying circuit ( a second variable gain control means ) 42 b amplifies an alternating current signal ( driving signal ) while controlling the gain of the amplifying circuit depending on the deviation from the target amplitude outputted from the lower error detection circuit 41 b . in this case , the gain is increased when the detected amplitude is smaller than the target amplitude (+ deviation ); the gain is decreased when it is larger (− deviation ). after the gain is thus controlled depending on the deviation in amplitude , the power is amplified by an upper power amplifier 43 a and a lower power amplifier 43 b , and the driving signal is supplied to the upper driving fixed electrode 21 a and the lower driving fixed electrode 21 b . while the gain control by the upper variable - gain amplifying circuit 42 a and the lower variable - gain amplifying circuit 42 b is principally under automatic control ( setting ), it may be under manual control ( setting ). for example , factory - default manual control allows the ultrasonic transducer to be shipped in the optimum condition . fig7 shows a structural example of the gap control section 50 . the gap control section 50 includes the upper gap control section 50 a and the lower gap control section 50 b corresponding to the upper actuator 23 a and the lower actuator 23 b ( refer to fig3 and 4 ), respectively . the upper gap control section 50 a and the lower gap control section 50 b have the same circuit structure . an upper error detection circuit ( first error detection means ) 51 a outputs the deviation of the detected upper amplitude of the diaphragm 10 relative to a target upper amplitude . a lower error detection circuit ( second error detection means ) 51 b outputs the deviation of the detected lower amplitude of the diaphragm 10 relative to a target lower amplitude . the target amplitude may be set in correspondence with the drive voltage in advance or , alternatively , may be set such that the amplitude measured by one detecting fixed electrode as the target amplitude of the opposing electrode . a gap control circuit ( first gap control means ) 52 a controls the gap between the diaphragm 10 and the upper driving fixed electrode 21 a via the upper actuator ( actuator element ) so that the deviation in amplitude ( the output of the upper error detection circuit 51 a ) becomes zero . similarly , a gap control circuit ( second gap control means ) 52 b controls the gap between the diaphragm 10 and the lower driving fixed electrode 21 b via the lower actuator ( actuator element ) so that the deviation in amplitude ( the output of the lower error detection circuit 51 b ) becomes zero . as the upper gap control circuit 52 a and the lower gap control circuit 52 b , a pi controller or a pid controller can be used . fig1 shows an example of the fixed electrode of the ultrasonic transducer in which the gaps can be controlled . as shown in fig1 , the actuator element ( an upper actuator 23 a and a lower actuator 23 b ) has a structure in which a film ( planer ) piezoelectric element such as a polyvinylidene fluoride ( pvdf ) resin is sandwiched between the diaphragm 10 and the upper driving fixed electrode 21 a and between the diaphragm 10 and the lower driving fixed electrode 21 b . the thickness of the pvdf film varies by controlling the voltage applied to the pvdf by the gap control section 50 , allowing fine control of the gap . the piezoelectric element is provided only on the surface where the fixed electrode 20 is in contact with the diaphragm 10 so as not to interfere with the vibration of the diaphragm 10 and the radiation of sound waves . other actuator means capable of fine control may also be used . although the ultrasonic transducers shown in fig3 , 4 , and 10 have a structure in which the upper and lower gap can be controlled individually , only one of the upper and lower gaps may be controlled . although the gap control by the upper gap control circuit 52 a and the lower gap control circuit 52 b is principally under automatic control ( setting ), it may be under manual control . for example , factory - default manual control allows the ultrasonic transducer to be shipped in the optimum condition . the fixed electrode 20 shown in fig1 has a gap between the diaphragm 10 and the fixed electrode 20 , thus having large vibration area and so is suitable for loud speakers with importance on reproduction in audible range . while fig1 shows the cross section of the ultrasonic transducer 1 , the plan view of the sound - wave through portion may be circular , rectangular , concentric circular ring , concentric rectangular ring , and other various patterns . fig8 shows a structural example of the fixed electrode 20 of the ultrasonic transducer , part of the fixed electrode being cut away , in which the double - side insulating diaphragm 10 is sandwiched between the fixed electrodes in contact therewith . the example of fig8 shows part of an electrode array . practically , the structure shown in fig8 is arranged side by side . since the structural example shown in fig8 has a smaller vibrating area than that of the structure shown in fig1 , it is suitable for ultrasonic speakers . in this case , structural examples of the vibrating electrode layer and the fixed electrode are as follows . in the first case , the diaphragm 10 having both sides coated with an insulating layer is used ( refer to fig8 ). in the second case , both sides of the diaphragm 10 are coated with an electrode layer , and the surfaces of the upper and lower fixed electrodes which face the diaphragm 10 have an insulating layer ( not shown ). in the third case , as shown in fig9 , the diaphragm 10 is an insulating layer having one side coated with a conducting layer ( electrode layer ), and the surface of the fixed electrode which faces the conducting layer of the diaphragm 10 has an insulating layer . although the first case ( the diaphragm having both sides coated with an insulating layer ) is preferable in consideration of vertical symmetry , it is difficult to manufacture such a diaphragm . two diaphragms of the third case ( the diaphragm with an insulating layer having one side coated with a conducting layer ) may be bonded together to form the diaphragm of the first case . however , it is difficult to bond them evenly , possibly causing local variations in the characteristic of the layer and providing little vertical symmetry . also , a conductive adhesive agent should be used . the second and third cases have no significant problem in manufacturing the diaphragm , because the technique of depositing the electrode layer on the surface of the insulating layer has already been established . also , the technique of forming the insulating layer on the fixed electrode is present , so that there is no significant problem in manufacturing . however , the case of forming the insulating layer on the step - shaped fixed electrode has the problem of causing vertical asymmetry , because it is difficult to control the thickness with high accuracy . thus the structure of fig8 tends to have a higher vertical asymmetry than that of the structure of fig1 in terms of manufacturing . the invention allows the transducer with a vertical asymmetrical structure to be vibrated vertically symmetrically . while the examples shown in fig8 and 9 have a rectangular sound - wave through portion , the through portion may be circular or other shapes . the cross section of the fixed electrode is in the form of a step to have large electrostatic force to be applied to the diaphragm 10 . alternatively , a tapered shape or a straight hole without the step is possible . the invention has been described above based on embodiments . the configuration of the ultrasonic speaker using the ultrasonic transducer of the invention can suppress the asymmetrically positive and negative distortion when driving the transducer by a modulated wave generated by modulating an ultrasonic carrier wave by an audio - range signal , thereby reducing an audible component that is generated directly from the transducer . this allows a higher directivity ultrasonic speaker to be achieved . while the invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments , it is to be understood that the ultrasonic transducer of the invention is not limited to the foregoing embodiments , and that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . | 7 |
referring now to the drawings , and initially to fig1 there is illustrated a computer system generally indicated by the reference numeral 10 . the computer system 10 comprises a plurality of processors 12 , 14 , 16 which are coupled to a common memory unit 20 by a bus 18 . the common memory unit 20 , which may comprise a block of ram , is in turn coupled to an access summary device 22 used to store requests to a common resource 24 . for example , the memory ram can be divided into 32 ring buffers 21 with each ring buffer being allocated to one of the processors 12 , 14 , 16 for storing requests to the common resource 24 . the common memory unit 20 is in turn coupled to an encoder 23 by an access event bus 26 and to the common resource 24 by a bus 28 . the common resource 24 may comprise , e . g . a processor configured to perform preselected operations or processing services for the other processing devices of the system . the output of the encoder 23 is coupled by an encoded access event bus 27 to an access summary device 22 . the access summary device 22 is in turn coupled to the common resource 24 , by a bus 34 . the access summary device 22 may comprise , e . g . a block of combinational logic 30 , and a summary register 32 . the block of combinational logic 30 determines the priority of the resource requests , from the requests made by the processors 12 , 14 , 16 in the common memory 20 . the summary register 32 stores a value which indicates that a resource request has occurred and , furthermore , which ring buffer of the memory 20 has been assigned the highest priority by the combinational logic block 30 indicating that it should be serviced next by the common resource 24 . the common resource 24 can read the summary register 32 via the bus 34 to determine which ring buffer was assigned the highest priority by the access summary device 22 and should be serviced next . after reading the summary register 32 the common resource 24 asserts a read signal which enables the clear input of the summary register 32 . the common resource 24 , which has access to the common memory unit 20 through bus 28 , can then proceed to access the selected ring buffer of the common memory unit 20 . fig2 illustrates the access summary device 22 of fig1 in greater detail . the access summary device 22 comprises a decoder 28 which has its input coupled to the five bit encoded access event bus 27 . the encoded access event bus 27 is coupled to an encoder 23 , which monitors the common memory unit 20 via the access event bus 26 to determine when requests have been written to the ring buffers in the common memory unit 20 . the encoder 23 supplies a five bit encoded access event signal to the decoder 28 as an input signal by means of the bus 27 . the encoded access event signal serves to indicate that one of the ring buffers to the memory 20 has been written to and provides a number value indicating the particular ring buffer that was accessed . the decoder 28 decodes the five bit access event signal into a 32 bit set - bit signal , with each bit in the set - bit signal representing one of the ring buffers . only one bit of the set - bit signal may be high at any one time , with the high bit indicating which particular ring buffer was written to . the output of the decoder 28 is coupled by a thirty - two bit bus 30 to a set input of a thirty - two bit logic array referred to as a bitmap 32 . accordingly , each bit in the thirty - two bit logic array referred to as the bitmap 32 comprises one of n one bit storage locations 33 . a high bit in the decoder output signal set - bit , will have the effect of setting the corresponding bit in the thirty - two bit array , bitmap 32 . thus , at any given time , there may be a number of bits set in the bitmap 32 one for each request indicated by a series of access events . a clear input to the bitmap 32 is supplied by a thirty - two bit line 34 . line 34 couples the output of a logic device 36 to the second input of the bitmap 32 . the logic device 36 is representative of an array of 32 and gates with each and gate having the clear signal output by the or gate 74 as one input and a respective bit of the signal nr & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ; as an input . the output of the logic device 36 is a 32 bit clear - bit signal input to the bitmap 32 . a high bit in the 32 bit clear - bit signal will serve to clear the corresponding bit in the bitmap 32 as will be described below . the output of bitmap 32 is coupled to a thirty - two bit bus 38 which splits into four eight bit busses 38a through 38d . each 8 bit bus 38a through 38d is in turn , coupled to a first input of a corresponding first through fourth request priority logic block rprio ( 0 ) through rprio ( 3 ) 40 - 43 . the request priority logic blocks rprio ( 0 ) through rprio ( 3 ) 40 - 43 together perform an evaluation between the most recently read bitmap output signal r & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ; from the bus 38 , which indicates the current requests for priority , and the previously determined priority request represented by a next request output signal nr & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ;, determined by the rprio logic blocks 40 - 43 in a previous cycle of operation . thus , the bus 38 divides the 32 bit bitmap output signal r & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ;, which represents the resource request stored in the bitmap 32 , into four 8 bit signals r & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ;, r & lt ; 15 : 8 & gt ;, r & lt ; 23 : 24 & gt ; and r & lt ; 31 : 14 & gt ;. each of the 8 bit signals serves as a one byte input signal to a corresponding rprio logic block . the first logic block rprio ( 0 ) 40 has the lowest 8 bits r & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; of the bitmap output signal as a resource request input signal ri & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ;. the second logic block rprio ( 1 ) 41 has the next highest 8 bits r & lt ; 15 : 8 & gt ;, of the bitmap output signal r & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ;, as a resource request input signal ri & lt ; 15 : 8 & gt ;. the third logic block rprio ( 2 ) 42 , in turn , has a resource request input signal ri & lt ; 23 : 16 & gt ; which consists of bits 23 through 16 r & lt ; 23 : 16 & gt ; of the bitmap output signal r & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ;. finally , the fourth logic block rprio ( 3 ) 43 has the highest 8 bits r & lt ; 31 : 24 & gt ; of the bitmap output signal r & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ; as a resource request input signal ri & lt ; 31 : 24 & gt ;. in addition to the resource request input signals ri , each rprio logic block 40 - 43 is supplied with a common clock signal , by a line 44 , which couples the second input of each rprio logic block 40 through 43 to the output of a system clock ( not illustrated ). a third input of each of the rprio logic blocks 40 - 43 is coupled to the output of a read detect state machine 46 by a line 48 . the read detect state machine 46 provides a priority clear or pc output signal which indicates that the common resource 24 has read the summary register 32 . the priority clear , pc signal indicates that a new priority request must be determined . the read detect state machine 46 , which generates the priority clear pc signal has both a system clock signal and the read signal as inputs . the read signal , which indicates that the common resource 24 has read the summary register 32 , is supplied to the first input of the read detect state machine 46 by the common resource 24 , whenever it reads from the summary register 32 . the system clock signal is supplied to the second input of the read detect state machine 46 , by the line 44 . the line 44 is also coupled to a clock input of a start - up state machine 50 . the start up state machine 50 , serves to put the access summary device 22 into a known good state when the system is powered up or reset . the output of the start up state machine 50 is coupled to a first input of an or gate 52 by a line 54 . the second input of the or gate 52 is coupled to a first output of the fourth request priority logic block rprio ( 3 ) 43 by a line 56 . thus , the or gate 52 has both the output signal from the start up state machine 50 and a token - out , to signal from logic block rprio ( 3 ) 43 as inputs the output of the or gate 52 is coupled to the fourth input of logic block rprio ( 0 ) 40 by a line 58 . thus , a token - in - in , ti , signal output by the or gate 52 , serves as the fourth input signal to logic block rprio ( 0 ) 40 . the request priority logic blocks rprio ( 0 ) through rprio ( 3 ) 40 - 43 , each have four output signals , a token - out signal , to , a new result signal w , a next request signal nr , and a clear request signal c . the token - out signal to from the first output of each of the rprio logic blocks rprio ( 0 ) through rprio ( 3 ) 40 - 43 serves as the token - in input signal for the next rprio logic block in the sequence . the second output of each rprio logic block is the new result signal w , which indicates that a new request has been assigned the highest priority by the respective rprio logic block and should be serviced next . the third output of each of the rprio logic blocks is an eight bit next request signal , nr . the next request signals nr , are combined into a thirty - two bit signal nr & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ; which indicates the next request which should be serviced . the fourth output of each of the rprio logic blocks is the clear bit signal c which is used to clear from the bitmap 32 the bit for the ring buffer which has been assigned the highest priority and which is to be serviced next . the lowest rprio logic block rprio ( 0 ) 40 has its fourth input coupled to the or gate 52 by the line 58 . the or gate 52 has , in turn , both the first output signal of rprio ( 3 ) 43 , to , and the output of the start - up state machine 50 as inputs . in this manner , the token - in signal ti , supplied to the fourth input of logic block rprio ( 0 ) 40 , can be supplied by either the start up state machine 50 or wrap around from the first output of the last logic block rprio ( 3 ) 43 . the first output of the first logic block rprio ( 0 ) 40 is in turn coupled to the fourth input of the second rprio logic block 42 by a line 60 . thus , the token - out , to , signal from logic block rprio ( 0 ) 40 serves as the token - in signal supplied to logic block rprio ( 1 ) 41 . the first output of logic block rprio ( 1 ) 41 , is coupled to the fourth input of logic block rprio ( 2 ) 42 by a line 62 . thus , the token - out signal of logic block rprio ( 1 ) 41 is supplied as the token - in signal to the fourth input of logic block rprio ( 2 ) 42 . following this sequence , the first output of logic block rprio ( 2 ) 42 is coupled by a line 64 to the fourth input of logic block rprio ( 3 ) 43 . the line 64 therefore supplies the token - out signal from logic block rprio ( 2 ) 42 as the token - in signal of logic block rprio ( 3 ) 43 . as noted earlier , the token - out signal of logic block rprio ( 3 ) is supplied to an or gate 52 , which generates the token - in signal to logic block rprio ( 0 ) 40 thus creating a closed loop between the rprio logic blocks 40 - 43 around which token signals may pass . in this manner , the token - in and token - out signals provide a means of communicating between the individual rprio logic blocks 40 - 43 which form the closed loop . the rippling of the token signals through the rprio logic blocks , serves as an indication to each individual logic block whether it may select the next request priority signal or whether that is the function of one of the other rprio logic blocks at any given time . the third outputs of the individual rprio logic blocks 40 - 43 are coupled , by four eight bit sections 66a through 66d of a thirty two bit bus 66 , to the input of an encoder 68 and the input of the logic device 36 . thus , each rprio logic block 40 - 43 supplies a byte of the total thirty - two bit next request signal nr & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ;, which indicates which of the thirty two ring buffers contains the request which is to be serviced next . the third output of logic block rprio ( 0 ) 40 supplies the next request output signal nr & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; to the bus 66a forming the lowest eight bits of the thirty - two bit signal nr & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ; which is found on the bus 66 . the third output of the logic block rprio ( 1 ) 41 supplies the next request output signal nr & lt ; 15 : 8 & gt ; to the bus 66b forming the second byte of the thirty - two bit signal nr & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ;. the third byte nr & lt ; 23 : 15 & gt ; of the next request output signal nr & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ; is supplied by the third output of the third logic block rprio ( 2 ) 42 to the bus 66c . the remaining byte nr & lt ; 31 : 24 & gt ; of the next request signal nr & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ; is supplied to the bus 66d by the third output of the fourth logic block rprio ( 3 ). the fourth output of each of the rprio logic blocks rprio ( 0 ) through rprio ( 3 ) 40 - 43 is coupled by an individual line 68 , 70 , 72 or 74 , to the respective first through fourth inputs of an or gate 74 . thus , the or gate 74 , has the four clear request signals co , c1 , c2 , and c3 , output by the fourth output of each of the respective rprio logic blocks 40 - 43 , as input signals . the output of the or gate 74 is coupled to an input of the logic device 36 by a line 76 . the output of the logic device 36 is a thirty - two bit clear bit signal which corresponds to the next request signal nr & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ;. the 32 bit output of the logic device 36 is coupled by the bus 34 to the clear input of the bitmap 32 . a bit in the clear bit signal is asserted when one of the clear request signals from the rprio logic blocks 40 - 43 is asserted and there is a bit set in the next request signal nr & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ;. the next request to be serviced which is indicated by nr & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ; will be used in combination with the clear request signals co , c1 , c2 and c3 to clear down the appropriate bit in the bitmap 32 . the bus 66 is coupled to the input of an encoder 68 and supplies the next request signal nr & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ; as an input signal to the encoder 68 . the next request signal nr & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ; is a value which indicates which of the thirty - two ring buffers contains the request to be serviced next . thus , only one bit in the next request signal nr & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ; will be set at any given time . the next request signal nr & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ; is encoded in the encoder 68 from a thirty - two bit signal to a five bit signal referred to as the event code . the five bits will comprise a value representative of the next ring buffer to be polled by the resource 24 . the encoder 68 also generates a one bit signal referred to as event detect signal which indicates that a resource request was actually written to one of the ring buffers in memory . if no resource request occurred , and thus none of the bits in the next request signal nr & lt ; 32 : 0 & gt ; were set , the event detect signal will be low . however , if a resource request occurred , the signal event detect will be high . the signal event detect serves as a sixth bit to indicate the difference between when no request was made , which is indicated by the event determined signal being low and all five bits of the event code being low , and when ring buffer zero contains a request and has been assigned the highest priority as indicated by a high event determined bit and all five bits of the event code being low . the output of the encoder 68 is a six bit signal comprising the encoded five bit event code and the one bit event detect signal . the output of the encoder 68 is coupled by a six bit bus 76 to an input of a latch 78 which therefore has the event code signal and event detect signal as inputs . an enable input of the latch 78 is coupled by a line 82 to the output of an or gate 80 . the or gate 80 has its four inputs coupled by lines 84 , 86 , 88 and 90 to the second outputs of the respective rprio logic blocks rprio ( 0 ) through rprio ( 3 ) 40 - 43 . the second outputs of the rprio logic block 40 - 43 supply the new result signals w0 , w1 , w2 and w3 , which indicate a new result and which block is responsible for the new next request signal . the new result signals serve as inputs to the or gate 80 . only one of the four signals w0 , w1 , w2 , or w3 may be high at any given time . the output of the or gate 80 is supplied as an input signal to the latch enable input of the latch 78 , by the line 82 . thus , the signal from the or gate 80 which indicates a new result enables the latch 78 to load the summary register 32 , via a line 33 and a bus 35 , with the six bit signal provided by the encoder 68 . the latch 78 has two output signals which are supplied to the summary register 32 . the first output of the latch 78 is the one bit event determined signal while the second output of the latch 78 is the five bit event code signal which indicates which ring buffer has been assigned the highest priority and should be serviced next . thus , the common resource can read the summary register 32 to determine if a request must be serviced and which ring buffer is to be polled next . referring now to fig3 the request priority logic blocks rprio 40 - 43 of fig2 are illustrated in greater detail as explained above , each rprio logic block rprio ( 0 ) through rprio ( 3 ) 40 - 43 is supplied with one byte of the thirty - two bit request signal r & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ;. the rprio logic blocks 40 - 43 proceed to process their assigned eight bit portion of the request signal r & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ; to determine which request is to be assigned the highest priority . the passing of a token from rprio block to rprio block in a sequential manner , provides each rprio block 40 - 43 with the ability to determine if the next request signal is to be generated from within its eight bit segment of the request signal or whether another rprio block has been assigned the task of determining the next request output signal . the use of four eight bit rprio logic blocks 40 - 43 in this manner , provides an easy to implement and expandable mechanism for determining the next priority signal as opposed to using a single thirty - two bit combinational logic block to determine the request signal with the highest priority . since each of the rprio logic blocks 40 - 43 provide an eight bit portion of the thirty - two bit next request signal nr & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ;, only one rprio logic block 40 , 41 , 42 or 43 may output a next request signal ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; with a high bit at any given time . the passing of the token , and the presence of the most recent request signal ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; which is also the output signal , provides each rprio logic block with the necessary information for the block to determine if it has the authority to determine the next request priority . the first input of the rprio logic block is supplied with an eight bit portion of the request signal r & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ; as a request - in signal ri & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ;. the eight bit request - in signal ri & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ;, supplied by bus 38a , 38b , 38c or 38d , serves as the first input into an eight bit combinational logic block rp8 100 contained within each rprio logic block . the second input , into each rprio logic block 40 - 43 , is supplied with the system clock signal . the system clock signal is thus supplied to a first input of a control state machine 102 and a d - type flip - flop 104 contained within the rprio logic block . the control state machine 102 has a total of five inputs . the third input to each of the rprio logic blocks 40 - 43 is coupled to a second input of the control state machine 102 by the line 42 . the line 42 which is also coupled to the output of the read detect state machine 46 supplies the priority clear pc signal as the second input signal to the control state machine 102 . the pc signal indicates that the common resource 24 has read the summary register 32 . the fourth input of each of the rprio blocks 40 - 43 is coupled to the fourth output of the preceding rprio block . in this manner , the token - in signal ti to each rprio block is supplied by the token - out to signal of the preceding block with the to signal from the last rprio block wrapping around to serve as the ti signal supplied to the first rprio block . the fourth input to each rprio block is coupled to the third input of the control state machine 102 which is contained within the rprio logic block . thus , the third input to each of the state machines 102 is the token - in signal ti . the fourth and fifth inputs to the control state machine 102 are generated within the individual rprio logic block . the fourth input to the control state machine 102 is coupled to the first output of the combinational logic block rp8 100 . the first output of the logic block rp8 100 supplies a signal bne , which symbolically stands for bitmap not equal to zero , to the fourth input of the control state machine 102 . the signal bne indicates that the eight bit portion of the bitmap 32 , associated with the particular rprio logic block , and represented within the rprio logic block by the request - in signal ri & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ;, has at least one bit set indicating a service request . thus , when the bne signal is high , a service request exists . the signal bne , which is the fourth input signal to the control state machine 102 , is used to determine when the control state machine 102 should send out a token , to . when the signal bne is low , and thus there are no requests present within the eight bit portion of the bitmap represented by the signal ri & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ;, the control state machine 102 will send out a token to if the previous priority request ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; had a bit set indicating that the particular rprio block was responsible for selecting the previous priority request ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ;, or if ti =` 1 `, indicating that the rprio block was passed authority to determine the next request priority . the fifth input of the control state machine 102 is coupled by a line 106 , to the output of a d - type flip - flop 104 . the line 106 also couples the output of the d - type flip - flop 104 to a second input of the rp8 logic block 100 and the third output of the respective rprio block . thus , the d - type flip - flop 104 , supplies the eight bit request output signal ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; as an input signal to the fifth input of the control state machine 102 and the second input of logic block rp8 . the eight bit request output signal ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; represents the request which has currently been assigned the highest priority by the rprio logic block . the request output signal ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ;, which is supplied to the third output of the rprio logic block , comprises eight bits of the thirty - two bit next request signal nr & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ;. the four eight bit ro signals , from the four rprio logic blocks 40 - 43 are supplied to the bus 66 by the eight bit lines 66a , 66b , 66c and 66d to form the full thirty - two bit signal nr & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ;. the control state machine 102 has a total of four outputs . the first output of the control state machine 102 serves as the fourth output of the rprio logic block and is coupled to one of the four lines 68 , 70 , 72 or 74 . the first output of the control state machine 102 is a clear request signal c0 , c1 , c2 , or c3 , which controls when a bit in the bitmap 32 will be cleared . the clear request signal is supplied to the or gate 74 located outside the rprio block , by one of the lines 68 , 70 , 72 or 74 . the second output of the control state machine 102 also serves as the second output of the rprio logic block and is coupled by one of the lines 84 , 86 , 88 or 90 to the input of the or gate 80 . in this manner , the second output of the control state machine 102 supplies the or gate 80 with the new result signal w0 , w1 , w2 , or w3 which corresponds to the corresponding rprio logic block rprio ( 0 ), rprio ( 1 ), rprio ( 2 ) or rprio ( 3 ) respectively . the third output of the control state machine 102 is the token out signal to which serves as the first output of the rprio block . the to signal serves as the token - in ti signal to the next rprio block in the chain of rprio blocks as described previously . the fourth output of the control state machine 102 is a control line 114 , which is coupled to and serves as a select line to a mux 110 . the control line 114 provides the means by which the control state machine 102 chooses between the mux &# 39 ; s two input signals ` 0 `, and rp & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; to select the desired output of the mux 110 . the output of the mux 110 is coupled by means of an eight bit bus 118 to the d - type flip flop 104 . the output of the d - type flip - flop 104 is the rprio request output signal ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; which is supplied by the line 106 , as the third output of the rprio block and as a feedback signal to both the eight bit combinational logic unit rp8 100 and to the control state machine 102 . as previously explained , the series of rprio logic blocks 40 - 43 contained in the access summary device 22 operate as a group to determine the 32 bit next request signal nr & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ; with each rprio block responsible for one byte of the thirty - two bit signal . following is an explanation of how the individual rprio blocks work individually and together to determine the next request signal nr & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ;. first , each rprio block 40 , 41 , 42 or 43 must determine if it has authority to assign the next request priority . if the rprio block has such authority , it alone can output an ro signal with a set bit while the outputs of all the other rprio blocks must be low . authority to determine the next request priority is determined by the control state machine 102 . the control state machine 102 determines if the particular rprio block has authority to determine the next request priority by checking if ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ;, which represents the current priority , has a bit set . as described above , the ro signal of the respective rprio logic block is feed back to the control state machine 102 . if a bit is set in ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ;, it indicates that this particular rprio block was responsible for determining the current priority and that it has the authority to determine the next request priority . the rp8 logic block 102 generates the signal bne and the request priority signal rp & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ;. the signal bne is used by the control state machine 102 in determining when it should send out a token and which signal it should select as the output of the mux 110 . the signal rp & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; is the output of the rp8 logic block 102 . the signal rp & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; controls what the next request priority will be if that particular rprio block has the authority to determine the next request priority . the combinational logic block rp8 100 of each of the rprio logic blocks functions by determining if there is a more significant bit set in the request - in ri & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; signal than is set in the ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; signal . the logic block rp8 100 does this by finding the first bit position set to ` 1 ` in the request out signal ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; which indicates the current priority . as detailed above , the ro signal of the respective rprio block is feed back to the rp8 logic block 100 . the rp8 logic block 100 then tests for the first bit set in ri & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; above the bit position set in ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ;. the position of the higher bit in ri & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; is determined and the corresponding bit in the request priority signal rp & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; is set to ` 1 ` and all other bits in rp & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; are set to 0 . the signal bne is also set to ` 1 ` indicating that no token should be sent out and that the control state machine 102 should select the request priority signal rp & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; as the output of the mux 110 . if there are no bits set in ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ;, the combinational logic block rp8 100 determines the first bit position set to ` 1 ` in the request in signal ri & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; and then the corresponding bit in the request priority signal rp & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; is set to ` 1 `. all other bits in rp & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; are set to 0 . the signal bne is also set to ` 1 ` indicating that no token should be sent out by the control state machine 102 . however , when there are no bits set in ri & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; the combinational logic block rp8 100 sets all the bits in rp & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; to ` 0 ` and the signal bne to ` 0 ` indicating to the control state machine 102 that a token should be sent out passing the authority to determine the next request priority to the next rprio block in the sequence of rprio blocks . the control state machine 102 is responsible for determining the rprio logic block outputs and whether the particular rprio logic block has authority to determine the next request priority . the output of the mux 110 is selected by the control state machine 102 based on the value of the signals ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; and bne . furthermore , the same signals ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; and bne are used to determine when a new result signal w , clear request signal c and a token out signal to should be asserted . upon receiving an asserted priority clear pc signal , the control state machine 102 proceeds to determine the outputs of the particular rprio logic block based on the current value of bne it receives from the logic block rp8 , the value ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; and the token - in signal to . the control state machine 102 has authority to determine the next request priority if it receives either a token - in signal , ti =` 1 `, or because any bit in the stored value of ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; equals ` 1 ` indicating that the particular rprio logic block has authority to determine the next request priority , because it determined the current priority . there are several basic sets of conditions or cases which the control state machine 102 uses to determine the outputs of the particular rprio block . in the first case , the signal ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; has a bit equal to ` 1 ` and the signal bne output by the rp8 logic block 100 is also ` 1 `. this indicates that the particular rprio logic block has authority to determine the next request priority , because it determined the current priority bne =` 1 ` indicates there is a current request ri & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; within the particular rprio logic block which has a higher priority than the current priority . given the stated conditions , bne =` 1 ` and a bit in ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ;=` 1 `, the control state machine selects rp & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; to be the output of the mux 110 . in this manner , the next request priority signal nr & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ; is determined . the control state machine also outputs a new result signal w and clear request signal c at this time . the rprio block then waits for a priority clear pc signal before determining the next request priority . since this particular rprio block determined the next request priority it does not assert the token out signal to during this selection cycle . if however , the particular rprio block determined the current priority indicated by ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; having a bit set , and there are no higher bits set in ri & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; than are set in ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ;, bne will be set to ` 0 ` by the logic block rp8 100 . the control state machine 102 will send out a token , to =` 1 `. accordingly , when the value of ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; has a bit set , ti =` 0 `, and bne =` 0 `, the control state machine 102 will select ` 0 ` as the output of the mux 110 and output a signal to =` 1 ` for that clock cycle indicating that it is passing authority to the next rprio block in the sequence to determine the next request priority . no new result signal w or clear request signal c will be asserted at this time . in the process of selecting ` 0 ` as the output of the mux 110 , the current value of the signal ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; is set to ` 0 `. the above case describes the situation where the particular rprio logic block has the authority to determine the next priority , because it determined the current priority . the token has not yet passed around the loop of logic blocks since ti = 0 . furthermore , there are no higher bits set in ri & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; than ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; indicating that there are no requests within the particular rprio block to be assigned the next request priority . this condition will always result whenever the current rprio logic block determined the current priority , and bit seven in ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; is set . in this case , the rprio block sends out a token , to = 1 , to pass authority to determine the next request priority to the next rprio block in the series of rprio logic blocks but doesn &# 39 ; t assert a new result signal w since no new next request priority signal nr & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ; was generated . another case of conditions occurs when ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; has no bits set but ti =` 1 `. this indicates that the particular rprio block has authority to determine the next request priority because it was passed a token and not because it determined the current priority . if bne =` 1 `, the control state machine 102 will select the signal rp & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; as the output of the mux 110 and thus generate the next request priority signal nr & lt ; 31 : 0 & gt ;. at the same time , the control state machine 102 will output a new result signal w , and a clear request signal c , but no token out signal , i . e ., to =` 0 `. the rprio block will then wait for a priority clear signal pc =` 1 ` before proceeding to determine the next request priority . if ro & lt ; 7 : 0 & gt ; has no bits set , but ti = 1 and bne =` 0 `, this indicates that the rprio block has authority to determine the next request priority because it was passed a token - in ti =` 1 ` but that the particular rprio block contains no resource requests . the control state machine 102 will select ` 0 ` as the output of the mux 110 and set the token - out signal , to =` 1 ` for the duration of one clock cycle . in this way , authority to select the next priority request will be passed on to the next rprio block in the chain of rprio blocks . no new result signal w or clear request signal c will be asserted at that time by the current rprio block . in this manner , a token indicating that the particular rprio logic block has authority to determine the next request priority can be passed from rprio logic block to rprio logic block until one of the blocks determines a new next request priority . following the above logic , it is possible for a token to be passed from rprio block to rprio block or &# 34 ; ripple around &# 34 ; and with it the authority to determine the next request priority . it takes only one clock cycle for the token to be passed from one rprio block to another . therefore , it takes a maximum of four clock cycles for the apparatus to parse the entire bitmap 32 with each rprio block parsing eight bits of the thirty - two bit bitmap 32 . the above approach may be extended to systems having any number of ring buffers which may be represented by bits in a bitmap . to parse a bitmap having more than thirty - two bits , additional rprio blocks may be added to the closed loop of rprio blocks or , alternatively , the number of bits each logic block parses can be increased . each additional rprio block can parse an additional eight bits at an additional time cost of only one clock cycle for each rprio block added . for example , eight rprio blocks could be used to parse a 64 bit bitmap in only eight clock cycles . | 6 |
fig1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary fluid moving system 100 such as a residential heating , ventilation and air conditioning ( hvac ) system , a light industrial hvac system , or a clean room filtering system . system 100 may include a characteristic static pressure that may be determined based on the dimensions and configuration of a contained space 102 , a temperature conditioning apparatus 104 , for example an evaporator coil of an air conditioner or a heat pump , or furnace heat exchanger , a position of a flow regulator , such as , damper 106 , and a vent or register 108 . system 100 may include a ductwork channel 110 for directing a flow of fluid , for example , air to an inlet 112 of a blower 114 . channel 110 may include a filter 115 that , over time , may be subject to clogging . a motor 116 may be coupled to blower 114 through a shaft 118 for rotationally driving blower 114 . in the exemplary embodiment , motor 116 is an electronically commutated motor ( ecm ). in various embodiments , motor 116 is coupled to blower 114 through a power transmission device , such as , but not limited to a belt , a chain , and a fluid drive . temperature conditioning apparatus 104 , may be positioned within ductwork channel 110 for conditioning the fluid flowing through blower 114 and into contained space 102 . temperature conditioning apparatus 104 may be in fluid communication with a firebox of a furnace ( not shown ) or evaporator of a heat pump ( not shown ) through a heat exchanger inlet 120 and may discharge gases to a flue ( not shown ) or a heat pump return ( not shown ) through an outlet 122 . dampers 106 and / or registers 108 may selectively be positioned manually and / or automatically in relation to demand for conditioned fluid . the varying positions of dampers 106 and registers 108 or clogging of air filter 115 may cause the static pressure , into which blower 114 is directing a flow of fluid , to change . the change in static pressure may in turn cause a change in fluid flow and speed of rotation of blower 114 and motor 116 . in the exemplary embodiment , motor 116 is configured to generate a selectable level of substantially constant torque . as the static pressure in system 100 increases , a rotational speed of blower 114 and fluid flow through blower 114 decreases . the rotational speed of blower 114 may be detected continuously or intermittently to determine that the static pressure of system 100 and consequently the flow through blower 114 is decreased . the rotational speed may be compared to a predetermined rotational speed threshold for selecting a next level of substantially constant torque at which motor 116 may operate . increasing the level of torque at which motor 116 is operating increases the rotational speed of blower 114 and the fluid flow generated by blower 114 . in the exemplary embodiment , the level of substantially constant torque of motor 116 is selectable by selecting one of a plurality of selection lines 124 that are communicatively coupled to motor 116 through a commutation electronics 126 . in an alternative embodiment , the level of substantially constant torque of motor 116 is selectable through a signal line ( not shown ) communicatively coupled to commutation electronics 126 . the signal line may transmit a digital signal to a processor ( not shown ) programmed to change the level of substantially constant torque of motor 116 . fig2 is a perspective view of an exemplary selectable torque motor 116 , such as for example , an ecm . a stationary assembly 200 includes a core or stator 202 of a ferromagnetic material , and a winding arrangement 204 . in the exemplary embodiment , the windings associated with winding arrangement 204 are configured to be electronically commutated in at least one preselected sequence . in an alternative embodiment , the windings associated with winding arrangement 204 are configured to be selectable separately or in combination to affect different discrete torque operating levels . a rotatable assembly 206 of motor 116 is rotatably associated with stationary assembly 200 and may include a permanent magnet rotor 208 operable generally for rotatably driving blower 114 . rotatable assembly 206 may be associated , in selective magnetic coupling relation , with permanent magnet rotor 208 , so as to be rotatably driven about a longitudinal axis 209 by multistage winding arrangement 204 upon the electronic commutation thereof . permanent magnet rotor 208 includes a plurality of magnet material elements 210 secured to a rotor 212 generally about the circumference thereof , and the rotor is secured about a shaft 214 . rotor shaft 214 may be journaled by one or more bearings ( not shown ) in a pair of opposite end frames ( not shown ) forming a part of stationary assembly 200 , and rotor shaft 214 is configured to be coupled in rotatable driving relation with blower 114 . motor 116 may include a commutation electronics 216 configured to sense a rotational position of rotatable assembly 206 within stationary assembly 200 and to provide signals to the winding stage in a preselected order to magnetically drive rotatable assembly 206 about longitudinal axis 209 . in the exemplary embodiment , commutation electronics 216 may include a plurality of input lines that may be used to transmit selection signals from a user &# 39 ; s control device ( not shown ) to motor 116 . in one embodiment , each of the input lines corresponds to a constant torque configuration of motor 116 . in another embodiment , the input lines may be used in combination to transmit selection signals from a user &# 39 ; s control device to motor 116 . the selection signals may be used to select one of a plurality of constant torque configurations of motor 116 . in an alternative embodiment , a processor 220 may be used to receive a selection signal or message from a user &# 39 ; s control device through a cable 222 . processor 220 may be programmed to control motor 116 to provide one of a plurality of selectable constant torque output levels based on the selection signal or message . in the exemplary embodiment , motor 116 is a permanent magnet electrical machine with magnet material elements 210 spaced substantially circumferentially along an out periphery of permanent magnet rotor 208 and multiple , spatially distributed winding arrangement 204 on stator 202 . current in the windings of winding arrangement 204 interacts with the permanent magnetic field to produce the motor &# 39 ; s torque . to maintain a constant torque as the rotor turns , the current distribution in stator 202 is continually adjusted to maintain a constant spatial relationship with the magnetic field of rotor 208 . the adjustment in current distribution is accomplished by switching (“ commutating ”) current among the various stator winding phases . commutation may be effected electronically by controlling the conduction states of a multiplicity of electronic power devices ( not shown ) electrically coupling the various stator phase windings to a power bus . fig3 is a graph 300 illustrating an exemplary flow versus static pressure relationship for a system that may be used with blower 114 and motor 116 ( shown in fig1 ). graph 300 includes an x - axis 302 graduated in divisions of fluid flow expressed in cubic feet per minute ( cfm ) and a y - axis 304 graduated in divisions of system static pressure expressed in units of inches of water ( in h 2 o ). a plurality of constant torque lines define the operating characteristics for the combination of blower 114 , motor 116 , and system 100 . a first constant torque line 306 defines an fluid flow response of blower 114 for a system static pressure that is defined by the positions of dampers 106 and registers 108 when a first torque operating level for motor 116 is selected . similarly , a second constant torque line 308 , a third constant torque line 310 , a fourth constant torque line 312 , and a fifth constant torque line 314 respectively define an fluid flow response of blower 114 for an associated system static pressure when respective torque operating levels are selected . a line 316 illustrates a desired constant fluid flow through system 100 , a line 318 illustrates a lower limit of fluid flow , and a line 320 illustrates an upper limit of fluid flow for system 100 . together , lines 318 and 320 define a band 321 of desired fluid flows through system 100 that is generally equally spaced about line 316 , although band 321 may be selected to be spaced about line 316 in non - equally . in operation , system 100 may initially be operating at a point 322 , for example , wherein motor 116 is selected to be outputting a first level of torque and blower 114 is outputting the desired fluid flow as indicated by operating point 322 being at the intersection of constant torque line 306 and fluid flow line 316 . if a change in system 100 causes an increase in system static pressure , such as a repositioning of dampers 106 and / or registers 108 , the system operating parameters will change such that system 100 will operate at a new operating point 324 along line 306 . because motor 116 is configured to maintain the selected torque output substantially constant , when system static pressure increases the system operating point changes such that the fluid flow will decrease to a value corresponding to the intersection of line 306 and the value of static pressure the system is operating at . in this example , changes to system 100 caused system static pressure to increase from approximately 0 . 25 in h 2 o to approximately 0 . 31 in h 2 o . the system operating point moves along line 316 to operating point 324 wherein the fluid flow through system 100 and the speed of rotation of motor 116 decreases correspondingly . a further change in the position of dampers 106 and / or registers 108 , or other device that may affect system static pressure may cause the system parameters to change such that the system will operate at another new operating point 326 along line 306 . if at this point the speed of motor 116 reaches a value that corresponds to an fluid flow defined by lower limit 318 , a speed sensor or a sensor configured to sense a parameter that may correspond to the rotational speed of motor 116 , may transmit a signal that causes motor 116 to operate at a second torque level defined by second constant torque line 308 . motor 116 will accelerate rotationally to operating point 328 such that motor 116 speed and fluid flow through blower 114 increases to a value corresponding to the intersection of the value of static pressure and constant torque line 308 . system 100 operates similarly for further increases in system static pressure by stepping to a next higher selectable constant torque level when the speed of motor 116 and correspondingly , the fluid flow through blower 114 decreases to lower a value defined by lower fluid flow limit 318 . fig4 is a graph 400 illustrating another exemplary flow versus static pressure relationship for a system that may be used with blower 114 and motor 116 ( shown in fig1 ). graph 400 includes an x - axis 402 graduated in divisions of fluid flow expressed in cubic feet per minute ( cfm ) and a y - axis 404 graduated in divisions of system static pressure expressed in units of inches of water ( in h 2 o ). a plurality of constant torque lines define the operating characteristics for the combination of blower 114 , motor 116 , and system 100 . a first constant torque line 406 defines an fluid flow response of blower 114 for a system static pressure that is defined by the positions of dampers 106 and registers 108 when a first torque operating level for motor 116 is selected . similarly , a second constant torque line 408 , a third constant torque line 410 , a fourth constant torque line 412 , and a fifth constant torque line 414 respectively define an fluid flow response of blower 114 for an associated system static pressure when respective torque operating levels are selected . a line 416 illustrates a desired constant fluid flow through system 100 , a line 418 illustrates a lower limit of fluid flow , and a line 420 illustrates an upper limit of fluid flow for system 100 . together , lines 418 and 420 define a band 421 of desired fluid flows through system 100 that is generally equally spaced about line 416 , although band 421 may be selected to be spaced about line 416 in non - equally . in operation , system 100 may initially be operating at a point 422 , for example , wherein motor 116 is selected to be outputting a third level of torque and blower 114 is outputting the desired fluid flow as indicated by operating point 422 being at the intersection of constant torque line 410 and fluid flow line 416 . if a change in system 100 causes an decrease in system static pressure , such as a repositioning of dampers 106 and / or registers 108 , the system operating parameters will change such that system 100 will operate at a new operating point 424 along line 410 . because motor 116 is configured to maintain the selected torque output substantially constant , when system static pressure decreases , the system operating point changes such that the fluid flow will increase to a value corresponding to the intersection of line 410 and the value of static pressure the system is operating at . in this example , changes to system 100 caused system static pressure to decrease from approximately 0 . 62 in h 2 o to approximately 0 . 57 in h 2 o . the system operating point moves along line 410 to operating point 424 wherein the fluid flow through system 100 and the speed of rotation of motor 116 increases correspondingly . a further change in the position of dampers 106 and / or registers 108 , or other device that may affect system static pressure may cause the system parameters to change such that the system will operate at another new operating point 426 along line 410 . if at this point the speed of motor 116 reaches a value that corresponds to a fluid flow defined by upper limit 420 , a speed sensor or a sensor configured to sense a parameter that may correspond to the rotational speed of motor 116 , may transmit a signal that causes motor 116 to operate at a different torque level defined by second constant torque line 408 . motor 116 will decelerate rotationally to operating point 428 such that motor 116 speed and fluid flow through blower 114 decreases to a value corresponding to the intersection of the value of static pressure and constant torque line 408 . system 100 operates similarly for further decreases in system static pressure by stepping to a next lower selectable constant torque level when the speed of motor 116 and correspondingly , the fluid flow through blower 114 increases to an upper value defined by upper fluid flow limit 420 . the above - described embodiments of methods and apparatus for discrete speed compensated torque step motor control are cost - effective and highly reliable for maintaining a relatively constant flow through a fluid system using relatively less expensive control components such that a selectable substantially constant torque is generated by the motor in response to an input signal indicative generally of motor speed . while the invention has been described in terms of various specific embodiments , those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the claims . | 7 |
while the present invention is described herein with reference to illustrative embodiments for particular applications , it should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto . those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the teachings provided herein will recognize additional modifications , applications , and embodiments within the scope thereof and additional fields in which the present invention would be of significant utility . fig1 is a partial view of the housing 10 of an electronic device , which may , for purposes of the following discussion , take the form of a body of a flip phone assembly . housing 10 may be formed of molded plastic or formed / cast metal and include a hollow , sleeve - shaped portion 12 with an indentation 14 formed on the surface thereof . as will be explained below , a hinge clutch mechanism 16 formed in accordance with the present invention is shown in fig2 . the mechanism is specifically designed to be inserted within housing 10 with a portion of the mechanism extending within hollow sleeve 12 . sleeve 12 serves as partial cover for protecting and supporting hinge clutch mechanism 16 . referring now to fig3 an exploded view of the hinge clutch mechanism 16 includes , from top to bottom , an elongated cam - shaft 18 , a face cam member 20 , a separate cam follower 22 , a compression spring 24 and a retaining member 26 . as shown in fig4 and 5 , cam - shaft 18 is substantially of rectangular configuration and includes an end portion 28 having a generally “ y ” shaped configuration . the rotational lid portion 30 of the portable electronic has a compatible , generally “ y ” shaped opening 32 as shown in fig1 . it is to be understood that the end portion 28 and the lid opening 32 could be formed of any conventional , compatible shapes that would allow for transmission of torque . when the hinge clutch mechanism 16 is assembled within housing 10 , the “ y ” shaped end 28 of cam - shaft 18 extends within the “ y ” shaped opening 32 of the lid 30 . as lid 30 is rotated relative to housing 10 , interaction of the end portion 28 with the lid opening 32 causes cam - shaft 18 to rotate in a similar manner . the importance of this rotation will soon become clear . cam - shaft 18 includes a first pair of oppositely disposed , substantially - rectangular lands 34 extending generally less than one half the length of cam - shaft 18 starting from end 28 . cam - shaft 18 also includes a second pair of oppositely disposed , substantially rectangular lands 36 , wherein each land 36 is positioned approximately 90 ° from each land 34 . the second pair of lands 36 also extends from end 28 a distance greater than the length of the first pair of lands 34 . as will be discussed , the lands 34 and 36 serve to lock cam follower 22 for joint rotation with cam - shaft 18 while allowing cam follower 22 to move along the longitudinal axis of cam - shaft 18 . cam - shaft 18 includes a further end 38 oppositely disposed from end 28 and formed with a pair of rectangular protrusions 40 . the protrusions 40 extend outwardly on opposite sides of cam - shaft 18 and are aligned with lands 34 . the protrusions 40 prevent the retaining member 26 from inadvertently separating from cam - shaft 18 in a manner that will become clear . face cam member 20 is shown in fig6 and 7 to be of generally cylindrical configuration with a cylindrically shaped through opening 42 . through opening 42 is of sufficient diameter to allow the elongated cam - shaft 18 , including lands 34 and 36 to freely extend through cam member 20 a distance until cam member 20 abuts cam - shaft end portion 28 . as shown in fig2 and 6 , a curved lip 44 extends both outwardly from the cylindrical surface of cam 20 and beyond the flat end face 46 of cam member 20 . when the hinge clutch mechanism 16 is assembled as shown in fig2 lip 44 overhangs cam shaft end portion 28 . when cam member 20 is disposed within housing 10 as part of hinge clutch mechanism 16 , the lip 44 rests in and engages a compatible opening formed in housing 10 , not shown , preventing cam 20 from rotating about its longitudinal axis . as best shown in fig7 cam member 14 further includes a specially designed , undulating ridge end face 48 confronting cam follower 22 . ridge face 48 is contoured to mate with a confronting ridge end face 50 of cam follower 22 as will be discussed . as shown in fig8 and 9 , respectively , cam follower 22 is of generally cylindrical configuration with a centrally disposed through opening 52 . opening 52 has a generally cross - shaped configuration compatible in size to the lands 34 and 36 extending from cam - shaft 18 . when assembled , the lands 34 and 36 of cam - shaft 18 pass through opening 52 of cam follower 22 . cam follower 22 can be moved along cam - shaft 18 until its ridge end face 50 is adjacent the confronting ridge end face 48 of cam member 20 . because opening 52 is similar in shape to lands 34 and 36 , rotation of cam - shaft 18 causes a similar rotation of cam follower 22 . as shown in fig9 cam follower 22 further includes a flat end face 54 oppositely disposed from ridge end face 50 . when hinge clutch mechanism 16 is assembled , a forward end of compression spring 24 abuts end face 54 , pressing confronting ridge faces of cam follower 22 cam member 20 against each other . spring 24 also functions to press cam member 20 against cam - shaft end 28 . the cylindrically - shaped retaining member 26 , are shown in fig1 and 11 to include an end wall 55 having an opening 56 of substantially rectangular configuration . opening 56 is compatible in size to the size of overall size of cam - shaft end 38 including protrusions 40 . during assembly of hinge clutch mechanism 16 , cam - shaft end 38 is inserted through opening 56 of retaining member 26 , after which retaining member 26 is then rotated approximately 90 °. such rotation brings protrusions 40 out of alignment with the rectangular shape of opening 56 . a rearward end of spring 24 presses against wall 55 of retaining member 26 to maintain wall 55 in contact with protrusions 40 , preventing separation of cam - shaft 18 and retaining member 26 . in the present specific embodiment , the undulating cam ridge end face 48 and the confronting , undulating cam follower ridge end face 50 each have two oppositely disposed peaks and two oppositely disposed valleys . specifically , ridge face 48 has opposite peaks 48 a and 48 b and opposite valleys 48 c and 48 d , respectively . likewise , ridge face 50 has opposite peaks 50 a and 50 b and opposite valleys 50 c and 50 d respectively . when a first peak 48 a rests in a first valley 50 c , cam member 20 assumes a first potential energy state or potential well corresponding to a first stable orientation of the lid portion 30 relative to housing 10 of the electronic device . at the same time the first peak 50 a rests in the first valley 48 c , the second peak 50 b will rest in valley 48 d . when the first peak 48 a rests in the second valley 50 d , the cam member 20 is in a second potential energy state or potential energy well corresponding to second stable orientation of the lid portion 30 relative to the housing 10 of the electronic device . the potential energies of cam member 20 in the first potential energy state and the second potential energy state are approximately equivalent . the relative positions of the valleys 48 c , 48 d and peaks 48 a , 48 b on the ridge 48 of cam member 20 and on the valleys 50 c , 50 d and peaks 50 a , 50 b on the ridge 50 of cam follower 22 are substantially 180 ° apart ; however , open and closed states are only 150 - 155 ° apart . the difference , substantially 25 - 30 °, facilitates the stabilization of the first and second stable orientations , corresponding to open and closed states , respectively , of the lid 30 relative to the housing 10 of the electronic device . when the hinge clutch mechanism 16 is in the first or second potential energy states , the compression spring 24 is in a more decompressed state but remains slightly compressed to maintain a spring - loaded state of the hinge clutch mechanism 16 . the hinge clutch mechanism 16 assumes a third potential energy state when a first peak 48 a rides on a first peak 50 a and a second peak 48 b rides on a second peak 50 b . in the third potential energy state , the position of the lid 30 relative to housing 10 of the electronic device is relatively unstable . similarly , the hinge clutch mechanism 16 is in a fourth potential energy state when a first peak 48 a rides on a second peak 50 b . in the fourth potential energy state , the lid 30 and the housing 10 of the electronic device are relatively unstable . the potential energies of the hinge clutch mechanism 16 in the third and fourth potential energy states are approximately equivalent . when the hinge clutch mechanism 16 is in either the third or fourth potential energy states , the spring 24 is in a more compressed state than when the hinge clutch mechanism 16 is in the first or second potential energy states . when cam - shaft 18 is caused to rotate by rotation of attached lid 30 , the lands 34 , 36 on cam - shaft 18 cause cam follower 22 to rotate in a similar direction . while cam follower 22 may rotate , cam member 20 is restrained from rotation by the engagement of curved lip 44 with the compatible cavity , not shown , in housing 10 . as cam follower 22 starts to rotate , the ridge end face 50 of cam follower 22 rides on ridge end face 48 of fixed position cam member 20 . the only way the undulating ridges 48 and 50 can rotate relative to one another is for cam follower 22 to move away from cam 20 along the longitudinal axis of cam - shaft 18 . this axial movement of cam follower 22 causes spring 24 to first compress as the peaks 48 a and 50 a come into contact with one another and then decompress as the peaks 48 a , 48 b and 50 a , 50 b each move into the valleys 48 c , 48 d and 50 c , 50 d , respectively . when peaks on the ridge 50 of cam follower 22 ride on corresponding peaks of ridge 48 of cam 20 , the spring 24 is maximally compressed and the hinge clutch mechanism 16 assumes its relatively unstable state . in this relatively unstable state , the tangential resistance about the longitudinal axis of cam - shaft 18 is relatively small . when the valleys 48 c and 48 d on the ridge 48 of cam 20 ride on the corresponding peaks 50 a and 50 b of the ridge 50 of cam follower 22 , the hinge clutch mechanism 16 is in a relatively stable state and the spring 24 is minimally compressed . the tangential resistance about the longitudinal axis of cam - shaft 18 is relatively large . when the lid 30 of the electronic device is in its fully closed or fully open position , the peaks of either the cam follower 22 or the cam member 20 are adjacent the valleys of the other component . in order to rotate the lid 30 from its closed to its open or from its open to its closed position , it will be necessary to apply sufficient force to over come the resistance exerted by spring 24 . sufficient force will be needed to move the peaks of cam follower 22 past the peaks of cam member 20 . once facing peaks are passed , the action of the spring 24 actually assists in completing the rotation of the lid 30 to its fully open or closed position , respectively . as shown in fig1 , retaining member 26 is formed with a pair of indentations 60 of sufficient size to insert a small screwdriver or similar tool . during assembly or disassembly of hinge clutch mechanism 16 , retaining member 26 can be moved along the axis of cam - shaft 18 by inserting such a tool into one of the indentations 60 and pressing in the direction of cam follower 22 . this action serves to collapse the hinge clutch mechanism 16 by compressing spring 24 . once the mechanism is sufficiently compressed , it may be easily removed from the housing 10 of the electronic device . to assist in the removal , a buttress 64 may be molded or otherwise mounted in housing 10 , see fig1 and disposed such that a small pair of pliers may have one end applied to buttress 64 and the remaining end inserted into one of the indentations 60 . by squeezing the pliers , spring 24 is compressed , allowing retaining member 26 to slide towards cam follower 22 . as shown in fig1 and 12 - 14 , a separate idler 70 is positioned in housing 10 adjacent to retaining member 26 . idler 70 is preferably formed of plastic or similar cost effective material . spring 24 presses retaining member 26 into frictional contact with idler 70 . idler 70 includes a substantially “ c ” shaped end portion 72 which extends through a portion of housing 10 , see fig1 . because of the non - symmetrical shape of idler 70 , it will not rotate relative to housing 10 . idler 70 includes a dove - tailed opening 80 extending from a central passageway 78 through a side wall to the external surface . when assembled , wire or flexible cable joining housing 10 to lid 30 may pass through slit 76 , passageway 78 and dove - tailed opening 80 . because of the continuous passageway through idler 70 and the fact that idler 70 is fixed against rotation , the wire 70 a will not be pinched or torn when lid 30 is rotated between its fully open and fully closed positions . the dove - tailed opening 80 further serves to prevent any connecting wire 70 a from slipping out of proper alignment during repeated opening and closing of lid 30 . during disassembly , after retaining member 26 is pressed toward cam follower 22 , compressing spring 24 , cam - shaft 18 may be removed from housing 10 . at this point , idler 70 may be separated from housing 10 . all parts of the hinge clutch mechanism 16 of the present invention may be molded or formed or machined by processes well known to one of ordinary skill in the art . thus the present invention has been described herein with reference to a particular embodiment for a particular application . those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the present teachings will recognize additional modifications , applications and embodiments within the scope thereof . it is therefore intended by the appended claims to cover any and all such applications , modifications and embodiments within the scope of the present invention . | 4 |
fig1 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a network device 10 in accordance with the present invention . the device 10 can be , for example , a resilient ring processor implemented on one or more integrated circuits or on a circuit board . the network device 10 comprises three , bidirectional ports ( port 1 to port 3 ), for coupling to a host , a mate , and a ring , respectively . the network device 10 generally comprises three peripheral translation blocks 11 - 13 , one for each port , and a core 15 . the core 15 represents the bulk of the functionality and structure of the device 10 . thus , for example , if the device 10 provides rpr / srp layer 2 functionality , the core 15 contains the elements that perform layer 2 functions such as checking , parsing , forwarding and terminating packets . fig1 a shows two network devices 10 . 1 , 10 . 2 coupled together to form a fully functional node 100 in a ring network 1000 . the ring network 1000 comprises an inner ring , in which data is conveyed in a counter - clockwise direction and an outer ring in which data is conveyed in a clockwise direction . as shown , the node 100 comprises two access ports to the ring network 1000 , two access ports to the host and a joint mutual access port between the two “ mate ” devices 10 . 1 , 10 . 2 . as with conventional network devices , the network devices of the present invention can also be used individually in half nodes ( e . g ., for termination functions ). while the implementation of the peripheral translation 11 - 13 is dependent on the communication protocol employed between the device 10 and the external elements ( host , mate and ring ), the implementation of the core 15 is generally independent of any such protocols . as such , the core 15 is isolated from any changes to the communications protocol , thereby minimizing the design shock caused by changes in the communications protocol . fig2 shows an exemplary format of a packet header 20 , such as would be used in accordance with the spatial reuse protocol ( srp ) architecture . table i describes the various fields of the header 20 . fig3 shows an exemplary format of a packet header 30 , such as would be used in accordance with the resilient packet ring ( rpr ) architecture . table ii describes the various fields of the header 30 . table ii field bit positions description remarks time to live [ 15 : 8 ] 8 bits indicating same in srp number of hops ring id [ 7 ] 1 bit indicating same in srp inner or outer ring mode [ 6 : 5 ] 2 bit packet 3 bits in srp type identifier fairness [ 4 ] 1 bit indicating n / a in srp eligible rate control eligibility priority [ 3 : 2 ] 2 bit priority 3 bits in srp identifier wrap eligible [ 1 ] 1 bit indicating n / a in srp eligibility to wrap parity [ 0 ] 1 bit indicating used as parity parity protection only in usage packets ; reserved in other packets as can be seen , the nine most significant bits of the srp and rpr packet headers 20 and 30 , respectively , are identical . of the bits that are different , bit 0 is used for parity in all srp packets whereas in rpr , parity is used only in special types of packets known as “ usage ” packets ( described more fully below ). furthermore , bit 1 is used to indicate wrap eligibility , and bit 4 indicates fairness eligibility in the rpr packet header 30 . the wrap eligibility bit of an rpr packet indicates whether the packet can wrap around at a node with wrap . at a node with wrap , wrap eligible packets that are received on one ring are sent out on the other ring . if a packet that is not wrap eligible ( i . e ., bit 1 = 0 ) arrives at a node with wrap , the packet is discarded . the fairness eligibility bit of an rpr packet indicates whether the packet is subject to rate control . if bit 4 is set , the bytes in the packet are counted towards determining congestion . another difference between the two architectures is that in srp packets , three bits are used for priority whereas only two bits are used in rpr packets ( see fig2 and 3 , tables i and ii ). in the srp architecture , a determination is made as to whether a packet has high or low priority by comparing the numerical value ( i . e ., 0 - 7 ) of the three priority bits to the numerical value of a three - bit priority register . if the numerical value of the priority bits exceeds that of the priority register , the packet is considered to have high priority , otherwise it is considered to have low priority . in the case of rpr packets , the lowest order priority bit , bit 1 , is replaced by the wrap eligibility bit and bits 3 and 2 indicate priority with the values 11 and 10 indicating high priority , 01 indicating medium priority and 00 indicating low priority . in order to use the same logic to determine the priority of both srp and rpr packets , the three - bit priority register in the case of rpr packets is programmed , in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention , to have a value of 011 . by programming the priority register with the value 011 , the value of the wrap eligibility bit becomes irrelevant to the priority determination , and packets with bits 3 and 2 set to 11 or 10 are treated as high priority , in accordance with the 2 - bit priority scheme of the rpr architecture . although the differences in packet header format are seemingly small , they have significant implications for the implementation of each architecture . for the forwarding , termination , and discarding of packets to be carried out correctly , the packets must be correctly identified , and these seemingly minor modifications must be implemented throughout the design , leading to a major re - design and re - verification effort . such efforts are further increased if the old and new architectures are to co - exist . in order to avoid the above - described difficulties , the present invention provides a method of translating or “ mapping ” one packet header format into the other . in accordance with the present invention , two types of peripheral translation blocks are provided , referred to as “ forward ” and “ backward ” translation blocks . a forward translation block maps the new , rpr format to the old , srp format , whereas a backward translation block maps the old , srp format to the new , rpr format . as shown in fig1 , a forward translation block , 11 . 1 , 12 . 1 and 13 . 1 , is provided at each of the three ingress points of the peripheral translation blocks 11 , 12 and 13 of the device 10 , whereas a backward translation block , 11 . 2 , 12 . 2 and 13 . 2 , is provided at each of the three egress points of the peripheral translation blocks 11 , 12 and 13 of the device 10 . fig4 illustrates the translation that is carried out by each of the forward translation blocks 11 . 1 , 12 . 1 , 13 . 1 . as shown in fig4 , the contents of a packet header in the rpr format are rearranged as indicated . as such , the header of an rpr packet flowing through the core 15 of the exemplary embodiment will have the format shown in the lower half of fig4 . in the egress direction , the backward translation blocks 11 . 2 , 12 . 2 , and 13 . 2 carry out a backward translation in which the we and fe bits return to their original positions . this backward mapping is illustrated in fig5 . also if a packet is of the type requiring parity , such as a usage packet , the parity bit ( bit 0 ) is regenerated by the backward translation block 11 . 2 , 12 . 2 , 13 . 2 , otherwise , bit 0 is set to 0 . the translation blocks 11 , 12 , and 13 can be implemented in a variety of ways known to persons of ordinary skill in the art . by thus performing format translation at the ingress and egress points , in accordance with the above - described exemplary embodiment of the present invention , the core 15 is isolated from packet format changes while keeping the function of the device 10 compatible with more than one established standard and thus capable of inter - working with other devices that adhere to those standards . any design shocks are absorbed at the peripheral translation blocks without affecting the core . the forward and backward translation of srp and rpr packet headers is presented herein to illustrate the present invention , which is not limited to these specific formats . the exemplary embodiment shown is only one application of the present invention which can be extended to any network , any protocol , or any port . in addition to the above - discussed packet header format differences , there are additional differences in the data link layers ( or osi layer 2 ) of the srp and rpr architectures . these are addressed by another aspect of the present invention described below . as discussed above , the two architectures have a substantial core functionality that is common to both and which is independent of any changes in packet format . because the packet differences are at layer 2 , substantial adaptation can be done at the periphery of each network device , including adaptation that includes pipe changes such as adding processing logic in the data path for staging and performing error correction related functions ( e . g ., error correction code generation and checking ). the aforementioned differences in layer 2 functions between the srp and rpr architectures will now be discussed with reference to fig6 a and 6b . fig6 a illustrates the general format of an srp packet 61 . as described above in connection with fig2 , the packet header 20 is protected by parity ( bit 0 ). the rest of the packet payload 62 , including the layer 2 addresses 62 a , 62 b following the header , is protected by a cyclic redundancy code ( crc ) 63 . fig6 b shows the general format of an rpr packet 65 . the header 30 , described above in connection with fig3 , the layer 2 addresses 66 a , 66 b , and the two bytes that follow , also referred to as the “ rpr header 2 ” 66 c , are protected by a two - byte header error correction ( hec ) code 67 . the balance of the packet payload 68 is protected by a crc 69 . the header error correction ( hec ) integrity check mechanism used in the rpr architecture ensures greater routing - and addressing - related integrity by isolating the first 16 bytes of the header ( which contains the routing and addressing information ) from the packet payload 68 , which is protected by the crc check mechanism . moreover , the correction capability of hec allows a packet to be forwarded despite the presence of an erroneous bit . as a result , discarding an rpr packet because of single bit errors in the routing information is rare . this feature is desirable in the transport of constant rate voice traffic where an imperfect packet is better than an absent packet for the regeneration of voice at the termination point . because of the real - time nature of voice transmission and tdm - related traffic , the retransmission mechanism available in packets is not possible . the use of hec thus enables the placement of voice , video and packet traffic on the same ring . second , in the rpr architecture , because of the addition of the two - byte rpr header 2 and the hec code which is also two bytes , the position of the layer 2 second level packet type identifiers is shifted by four bytes relative to their position in the srp architecture . the packet type identifiers comprise two bytes at the beginning of the packet payload 62 , 68 which identify the packet type for layer 3 . for packet types that are native to the ring ( e . g ., protection , usage or control packet types ) these two bytes further identify which packet ( e . g ., topology , oam , etc . for control type packets ). the remaining differences between the two architectures are related to packet switching decisions and in the implementation of advanced rate control features through the support of multi - choke algorithms enabled by the addition of various types of usage packets . a usage packet is a rate - controlling packet that conveys the rates between nodes so that congestion and choke points can be identified and appropriate rates adjusted in terms of new traffic on the node . the usage packet links all nodes on a ring for efficient and reliable running of the rate control algorithms , and in particular , the arbitration of forwarded versus new traffic ( i . e ., traffic inserted at each node ) for continued access to the ring . for legacy and backwards compatibility reasons , usage packets are the same in both the rpr and srp architectures . as described above in connection with fig3 , usage packet headers are still parity protected in the rpr architecture . an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will now be described which addresses the above - described changes allowing the adaptation and co - existence of the two incompatible architectures . an aspect of the present invention lies in the clean delineation between the core functionality , which is independent of packet format and error protection differences , and the provision of programmable adaptation at the lines coupling the various ports and the core . in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention , line adaptation of the two architectures is provided by a bidirectional data path adaptor at each of the three ports of a network device . fig7 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a network device 70 in accordance with the present invention . the network device 70 has three , bidirectional ports ( port 1 to port 3 ), for coupling to a host , a mate network device , and a ring network , respectively . the network device 70 generally comprises three bidirectional data path adaptors 71 , 72 and 73 , one for each port , and a core 75 . the core 75 represents the bulk of the functionality and structure of the device 70 . the exemplary device 70 incorporates the functionality of the device 10 described above in connection with fig1 and further addresses the additional differences described above between the srp and rpr architectures . while the implementation of the data path adaptors 71 - 73 is dependent on the communication protocol employed between the device 70 and the external elements ( host , mate and ring ), the implementation of the core 75 is generally independent of any such protocols . as such , the core 75 is isolated from any changes to the communications protocol , thereby minimizing the design shock caused by changes in the communications protocol . although the three adaptors 71 - 73 have substantial similarities , because of functional differences due their corresponding ports , the three adaptors are not logically equivalent in all modes . exemplary embodiments for the adaptors 71 - 73 will now be described with reference to fig8 and 9 . fig8 shows a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the data path adaptor 73 for the ring port of device 70 . the adaptor 73 interfaces with the network ( ring ) on one side , and the core 75 , which , as discussed , is packet format independent . the adaptor 73 incorporates the translation block 13 for mapping between the different packet header formats at the ingress and egress points , as described above . the adaptor 73 also includes a hec generator 82 and a parity generator 86 in the egress data path and a hec checker 83 and a parity checker 87 in the ingress data path . the hec checker 83 can discard packets containing more than one error and can correct ( or discard ) single - bit hec errors . in an exemplary embodiment , single - bit error correction entails the generation of 128 unique syndromes in order to detect one of 128 correctable errors . the parity blocks 86 , 87 are arranged in bypass paths around the hec blocks 82 , 83 . the bypass paths are used for srp traffic or usage packets in rpr . this feature allows the two architectures to coexist without interfering with each other . the blocks 82 , 83 or the by - pass paths are selected by selectors 84 , 85 , respectively . consistent with the discussion above with reference to fig6 a and 6b , the hec blocks 82 , 83 operate on the first 16 bytes of the rpr packets whereas the parity blocks 86 , 87 operate on the header of the srp , or rpr usage packets . the selectors 84 , 85 can be implemented with 2 : 1 multiplexers , for example and can be controlled , for example , by a programmable bit in a register ( not shown ) and / or logic ( not shown ) that detects the presence of a usage packet . the mate port data path adaptor 72 is similar to the ring data path adaptor 73 . a notable difference is that single - bit error correction and the ability to discard packets is absent in the mate data path adaptor . in the out bound data path ( i . e ., from the core to the port ), the hec is regenerated in the mate port data path adaptor 72 as in the ring port data path adaptor 73 . it should be noted that the crc mechanism is the same for both srp and rpr architectures and can thus be shared ; i . e ., the crc generating and checking functions can be implemented in the core 75 of the network device 70 . as discussed above with reference to fig6 a and 6b , the crc 63 covers the packet payload 62 of an srp packet and the crc 69 covers the packet payload 68 of an rpr packet . since the first 16 bytes of the rpr header are not covered by the crc 69 and the header 20 of the srp packet and the hec 67 of the rpr packet are both two bytes each , the boundaries of the payloads 62 and 68 are similar , thus allowing sharing of the same crc checking and generating blocks . these blocks can be implemented in conventional ways . fig9 shows a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the data path adaptor 71 for the host port of the device 70 . the host port is a termination point for layer 2 in the interface between layer 2 and layer 3 . in the pathway from the core to the host port , the hec and the rpr header 2 are stripped from each packet at blocks 93 and 95 , respectively . conversely , in the pathway from the host port to the core , the hec and the rpr header 2 are inserted into each packet at blocks 92 and 94 , respectively . additionally , the adaptor 71 incorporates the translation block 11 for mapping between the different packet header formats at the ingress and egress points , as described above . as with the adaptors for the ring and mate ports , the adaptor 71 also includes , for each data path , a bypass path around the hec blocks 92 - 95 . the bypass paths are used for srp traffic and usage packets . this feature allows the two architectures to coexist without interfering with each other . the hec blocks 92 - 95 or the by - pass paths are selected by selectors 96 , 97 , respectively . the selectors 96 , 97 can be implemented with 2 : 1 multiplexers and can be controlled by a programmable bit in a register ( not shown ) and / or suitable logic ( not shown ) for detecting the processing of a usage packet . the various protection and error detection / correction devices ( e . g ., crc / hec / parity generator / checkers ) described above can be implemented in conventional ways . it is to be understood that while the invention has been described above in conjunction with preferred specific embodiments , the description is intended to illustrate and not to limit the scope of the invention , as defined by the appended claims . indeed , various modifications of the invention in addition to those described herein will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description and the accompanying figures . such modifications are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims . it is further to be understood that all values are to some degree approximate , and are provided for purposes of description . the disclosures of any patents , patent applications , and publications that may be cited throughout this application are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties . | 7 |
the inventors have found a novel thermodynamical cycle ( system and process ) can be implements using a working fluid including a mixture of at least two components . the preferred working fluid being a water - ammonia mixture , though other mixtures , such as mixtures of hydrocarbons and / or freons can be used with practically the same results . the systems and methods of this invention are more efficient for converting heat from relatively low temperature fluid such as geothermal source fluids into a more useful form of energy . the systems use a multi - component basic working fluid to extract energy from one or more ( at least one ) geothermal source streams in one or more ( at least one ) heat exchangers or heat exchanges zones . the heat exchanged basic working fluid then transfers its gained thermal energy to one or more ( at least one ) turbines ( or other system for extracting thermal energy from a vapor stream and converting the thermal energy into mechanical and / or electrical energy ) and the turbines convert the gained thermal energy into mechanical energy and / or electrical energy . the systems also include pumps to increase the pressure of the basic working fluid at certain points in the systems and one or more ( at least one ) heat exchangers which bring the basic working fluid in heat exchange relationships with one or more ( at least one ) cool streams . one novel feature of the systems and methods of this invention , and one of the features that increases the efficiency of the systems , is the result of using a two circuit design having a higher pressure circuit and a lower pressure circuit and where a stream comprising spent liquid separated for spent vapor from the higher pressure circuit is combined with a stream comprising the spent lower pressure stream at the pressure of the spent lower pressure stream prior to condensation to from the initial fully condensed liquid stream and where the combined stream is leaner than the initial fully condensed liquid stream . the working fluid used in the systems of this inventions preferably is a multi - component fluid that comprises a lower boiling point component fluid — the low - boiling component — and a higher boiling point component — the high - boiling component . preferred working fluids include an ammonia - water mixture , a mixture of two or more hydrocarbons , a mixture of two or more freon , a mixture of hydrocarbons and freon , or the like . in general , the fluid can comprise mixtures of any number of compounds with favorable thermodynamic characteristics and solubility . in a particularly preferred embodiment , the fluid comprises a mixture of water and ammonia . referring now to fig1 a , a flow diagram , generally 100 , is shown that illustrates a preferred embodiment a system and method of energy conversion of this invention and will be described in terms of its components and its operation . a condensed working fluid having parameters as at a point 1 is divided into two sub streams having parameters as at points 2 and 27 , respectively . the stream having the parameters of the point 2 enters pump p 1 , where the stream is pumped to a desired high pressure and obtains parameters as at a point 3 . thereafter , the stream having the parameters of the point 3 passes through a first heat exchanger he 3 , where it is heated in counter flow with a returning , condensing stream in a condensing step defined by points 9 - 12 ( described below ), and obtains parameters as at a point 4 . the state of the working fluid at the point 4 corresponds to a sub cooled liquid . thereafter , the stream having the parameters of the point 4 passes through a second heat exchanger he2 where it is further heated by an external heat source stream ( e . g ., a geothermal brine stream ) and obtains parameters as at a point 5 , where the parameters at the point 5 correspond to a saturated liquid . next , the stream having the parameters of the point 5 passes through a third heat exchanger he 1 in counter flow with the external heat source stream ( the geothermal brine stream ), where the stream of working liquid is fully evaporated and slightly superheated to obtain parameters as at a point 6 . the vapor stream having the parameters of the point 6 passes through a first high pressure turbine t 1 where the vapor stream expands , producing mechanical work , and obtains parameters as at a point 7 . the stream having the parameters of the point 7 is then divided into two sub streams having parameters as at points 8 and 9 , respectively . the stream having the parameters of the point 9 passes through the first heat exchanger he 3 where it is cooled and condensed providing heat for the 3 - 4 heating step ( described above ) and obtains parameters as at a point 12 . the stream having the parameters of the point 8 is then mixed with a stream having parameters as at a point 20 ( described below ) and obtains parameters as at a point 10 . thereafter , the stream having the parameters of the point 10 passes through a fourth heat exchanger he 6 , where it is cooled and condensed , releasing heat for a heating step 28 - 19 ( described below ), and obtains parameters as at a point 11 . thereafter , streams having the parameters of the points 11 and 12 , respectively , are combined forming a stream the parameters of the point 13 enters a gravity separator s 1 , where it is separated into a rich vapor having parameters as at a point 14 and into a lean liquid having parameters as at a point 15 . the term a rich vapor stream means that the vapor has a higher concentration of the light boiling component than the original basic working fluid as at the point 1 , while the lean liquid stream means that the liquid has a lower concentration of the light boiling component than the original basic working fluid as at the point 1 . the sub - stream of fully condensed working fluid having the parameters of the point 27 ( as described above ) enters into a second pump p 2 , where it is pumped to a desired elevated pressure and obtains parameters as at a point 28 . the pressure at point 28 is substantially lower than the pressure at the point 3 . the stream having the parameters of the point 28 then passes through the fourth heat exchanger he 6 where it is heated by heat released in the process step 10 - 11 ( described above ) and obtains parameters as at a point 19 . thereafter , the stream having the parameters as at the point 19 passes through a fifth heat exchanger he 5 , where it is further heated and evaporated by the external heat source sub - stream ( e . g ., the geothermal brine stream ) and obtains parameters as at point a 18 . usually working fluid having the parameters as at the point 18 is not fully vaporized . a pressure of the working fluid in the process step 19 - 18 is substantially lower than the pressure of the working fluid in the process step 5 - 6 ( described above ). therefore , the stream in the process step 19 - 18 starts to boil at a substantially lower temperature than the stream in the process step 5 - 6 . this allows the use of geothermal brine stream to heat the working fluid in the process step 5 - 6 and thereafter to use a portion of the same brine stream having a lower temperature , to provide heat for the process step 19 - 18 . the geothermal brine stream , which is the heat source for a preferred use of the system of this invention , has initial parameters as at a point 30 . the brine stream having the parameters of the point 30 initially passes though the third heat exchanger he 1 , providing heat for the process step 5 - 6 and obtains parameters as at a point 31 . thereafter , the brine stream having the parameters of the point 31 is divided into two brine sub streams having parameters as at points 32 and 34 , respectively . the stream having the parameters of the point 32 passes through the second heat exchanger he 2 providing heat for the process step 4 - 5 , and obtains parameters as at a point 33 . meanwhile , the stream having the parameters of the point 34 passes through the fifth heat exchanger he 5 , providing heat for the process step 19 - 18 , and obtains parameters as at a point 35 ( described above ). thereafter , the cooled brine sub streams having the parameters of the points 33 and 35 are combined , forming a spent brine stream having parameters as at a point 36 , at which point the brine stream is removed from the system . the stream of working fluid having the parameters of the point 18 ( described above ) enters a second gravity separator s 2 , where it is separated into a rich vapor stream having parameters as at a point 21 ( i . e ., rich means a higher concentration of the low boiling component — ammonia in water - ammonia fluids ) and a relatively lean liquid stream having parameters as at a point 16 ( i . e ., rich means a lower concentration of the low boiling component — ammonia in water - ammonia fluids ). the liquid stream having the parameters of the point 16 passes through a second throttle valve tv 2 , where its pressure is reduced to a pressure equal to the pressure of the stream having the parameters of the point 8 , and obtains parameters as at a point 20 . the stream having the parameters of the point 20 is combined with the stream having the parameters of the point 8 forming a combined stream having parameters of the point 10 ( described above ). the stream having the parameters of the point 20 is substantially leaner ( i . e ., lower concentration of low boiling component ) than the stream having the parameters of the point 8 , and therefore , the combined stream having the parameters of the points 10 and 11 is leaner than the stream having the parameters of the point 8 . the stream having the parameters of the point 11 , is then combined with the stream having the parameters of the point 12 , forming a stream having parameters as at a point 13 , which is likewise leaner than the streams having the parameters of the points 8 and 9 . the vapor stream having the parameters of the point 21 passes though a low pressure turbine t 2 , where the vapor stream having the parameters of the point 21 expands producing mechanical work and obtains parameters as at a point 22 . meanwhile , the liquid stream having the parameters of the point 15 ( described above ) passes through a second throttle value tv 1 , where its pressure is reduced to a pressure equal to the pressure of the stream having the parameters of the point 22 , and obtains parameters as at a point 17 . thereafter , the stream having the parameters of the point 17 is combined with the stream having the parameters of the point 22 forming a stream with parameters as at a point 23 . the stream having the parameters of the point 23 is formed by combining the lean liquid stream having the parameters of the point 15 coming from the separator s 1 with the turbine exhaust stream having the parameters of the point 22 coming from the turbine t 2 . as a result , the concentration of the low boiling component in the stream having the parameters of the point 23 is substantially lower than the concentration of the low boiling component in the working fluid stream having the parameters of the point 1 . this allows the stream having the parameters of the point 23 to be condensed at a lower pressure than the pressure of the stream having the parameters of the point 1 , increasing the power output from the turbine t 2 . the stream having the parameters of the point 23 passes through an air ( or water cooled ) condenser or sixth heat exchanger he 7 , where the stream having the parameters of the point 23 is fully condensed and obtains parameters as at a point 24 . the stream having the parameters of the point 24 , where the parameters correspond to a saturated liquid , enters pump p 3 where its pressure is increased to a pressure equal to the pressure of the stream having parameter of the point 14 , and obtains parameters as at a point 25 . thereafter the streams having the parameters of the points 14 and 25 are combined forming a stream having parameters as at a point 26 . the composition of working fluid at the point 26 is the same as the composition of the working fluid at the point 1 . the stream having the parameters of the point 26 then passes though an air or water cooled condenser or a seventh heat exchanger he 4 where it is fully condensed , obtaining the stream having the parameters of the point 1 . this preferred embodiment is , therefore , a closed cycle . the parameters of all points of the proposed system are presented in table 1 . term concentration is defined as the ratio of the number of pounds of the low boiling component are each pound of working fluid . thus , for an ammonia - water working fluid , a concentration of 0 . 95 means that working fluid comprises 0 . 95 lbs of ammonia and 0 . 5 lbs of water . the term weight represents that number of pounds of material passing through a given point relative to the number of pounds of material passing through the point 6 or the first part of the high temperature circuit defined by points 2 - 7 . the system of this invention comprises two circuits ; one circuit is a high pressure circuit and the other circuit is a lower pressure circuit . the use of two circuits having different pressures makes it possible to utilize heat from the geothermal brine stream for heating the stream of the working fluid in the high pressure circuit , and heat from a portion of a cooled or lower temperature geothermal brine stream for heating the stream of the working fluid in the lower pressure circuit . unlike known two - pressure circuit systems , in the systems of this invention , the liquid produced after the partial condensation of the spent returning stream from the high pressure circuit ( i . e ., the stream having the parameters of the point 15 ) is added to the returning stream from the low pressure circuit . thus the concentration of the returning stream from the low pressure circuit is substantially lowered which in its turn allows this returning stream to be condensed at a pressure lower than the pressure at which it would be condensed if its composition had not been lowered . this results in an increased power output and efficiency of the whole system . the summary of the performance of the entire system is presented in table 2 . the most efficient system previously developed for the same application is described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 982 , 568 . a comparison of the performance of that system and the system of this invention is presented in table 3 . as shown in table 3 , the system of this invention out performs the prior art by about 18 . 83 %. referring now to fig1 b , a modified system of this invention is shown to include a fourth pump p 4 which is used to increase the pressure of a portion of the stream having the parameters of the point 25 which is combined with the lower pressure liquid stream having the parameter of the point 28 . it should be recognized by persons of ordinary skill in the art that the apparatus of this inventions also includes stream mixer valves and stream splitter valves which are designed to combine stream and split streams , respectively . in the system of fig1 a , the separator s 2 may not be need if the composition of the working fluid is adjusted so that the heated lower pressure stream is fully vaporized in the heat exchanger he 5 , which requires a fluid having a concentration of about 0 . 965 or higher . all references cited herein are incorporated by reference . while this invention has been described fully and completely , it should be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described . although the invention has been disclosed with reference to its preferred embodiments , from reading this description those of skill in the art may appreciate changes and modification that may be made which do not depart from the scope and spirit of the invention as described above and claimed hereafter . | 8 |
referring now to the drawings , the method of controlling a laser diode is generally illustrated in the graph provided in fig2 while the general schematic structure of the dual loop control system of the present invention is illustrated in fig3 . referring to fig3 there is shown a laser diode 10 and monitoring photodiode 12 . the laser diode 10 and monitoring diode 12 are arranged in such a manner wherein energy emitted from the back facet 14 of the laser diode 10 is directed onto the monitoring diode 12 . circuitry is provided to direct the signal generated by the monitoring diode 12 as a result of stimulation by energy from the back facet 14 of the laser diode 10 back into the automatic power control ( apc ) loop 16 of the present invention thereby providing the feedback necessary for the apc loop 16 to either increase or decrease the drive bias of the laser diode 10 to meet the power output requirements . energy emitted from the front face 18 of the laser diode 10 is directed as the output energy of the laser diode 10 and is utilized for its designated purpose which is not within the scope of this disclosure . the first control loop is an analog apc loop 16 that serves to maintain the laser diode 10 at a constant average power output . the second control loop operates periodically to determine the operational efficiency of the laser diode 10 as represented by the slope of the line ( as a function of the relationship between drive current and power output of the laser 10 ) and calculates the correct modulation of drive current required to maintain the laser 10 at a constant state extinction ratio during modulation of the laser 10 . the method and apparatus of the present invention utilizes a layered arrangement of laser drive current ( bias ) adjustments to provide laser output that remains at a constant average output level in addition to maintaining a constant extinction ratio for modulation of the laser diode 10 . the initial step in configuring the laser module of the present invention is manually setting the initial bias for the base line drive current of the laser diode 10 . in this step the device is attached to an oscilloscope and power is applied to the laser 10 . the laser output is monitored using the oscilloscope and the initial bias is adjusted incrementally until the laser reaches the desired power output for the given environmental conditions . the bias setting is normally done using a digital pot or digital analog converter ( d / a ) 20 as is well known in the art . once this setting is determined and the initial bias is set , the baseline bias is not changed again during the normal operating life of the laser device . once the initial bias for the device is set , the apc loop 16 monitors the feedback form the monitoring diode 12 to determine the laser diode 10 power output . using this feedback , the apc loop 16 applies an overlay adjustment to the initial bias to adjust the drive current of the laser 10 thereby maintaining the required average power output at a constant operational level . the apc loop 16 is an analog loop that compares the input signal from the monitor diode 12 and makes an adjustment to the drive current upwardly if the average output of the laser 10 falls below a preset level or downwardly if the average output increases . the change applied by the apc loop 16 is generally quite small as the operational environment in which the laser devices are operated is controlled . however , since the operation of laser diodes 10 is highly effected by the ambient temperature of the surrounding environment , this apc loop 16 provides important feedback for controlling the laser 10 and maintaining its operation at a constant level average power output . the second control loop 22 is provided to maintain the operation of the laser diode 10 at a constant extinction ratio . in this manner , the second control loop 22 provides an important function in that by maintaining a constant extinction ratio , the quality and integrity of signal that is superimposed onto the modulation of the device can be maintained . as was described above , in addition to a shift in the position of the laser diode 10 performance curve that results from changes in environmental conditions and diode age , the slope of the curve also typically decreases as the ambient temperature increases and the diode ages . as can be seen in fig1 this results in a requirement for higher drive currents , evidenced in the shift required from i ′ to i ″, in order to maintain the same output levels given the same laser diode 10 . it can also be seen that in the control schemes of the prior art , as the drive current increases , the modulation current must also be increased in order to maintain the same modulation amplitude or extinction ratio . this is clearly illustrated by the differences seen between the modulation of pattern 3 versus the modulation of pattern 4 . it is also clear that as the slope of this curve falls , larger incremental increases in current cause much smaller increases in the laser power output . this results in increasingly larger drive currents being applied to the laser diode 10 with smaller and smaller incremental changes in the laser output power p avg , and therefore increasingly smaller feedback values for system evaluation and control . turning to fig2 in conjunction with the schematic diagram in fig3 the operation of the second control loop 22 of the present invention is graphically illustrated . periodically , the controller device 24 in the laser assembly executes a test loop to evaluate the extinction ratio of the laser diode 10 . when the test loop is executed , it determines the current operating state of the laser diode 10 . since the laser 10 is running at a constant output level , the initial power output is known . this output power corresponds to p avg1 as maintained by the apc loop 16 . with the laser diode 10 operating at this state the controller 24 reads the values of a / d1 and a / d2 . by subtracting a / d1 from a / d2 and dividing by the value r of the in line resistor 26 , the controller 24 can calculate bias1 . the controller 24 then adjusts the average power output target requirement for the laser diode 10 from p avg1 to p avg2 by changing the setting of the d / a or digital pot 20 . once the output requirement for the laser 10 is increased , the apc loop 16 then begins to apply additional drive current until the laser output 10 reaches the new p avg2 target output level that corresponds to the new output requirement . with the laser diode 10 operating at this new state , the controller 24 again reads the new values of a / d1 and a / d2 that correspond to operating the laser diode 10 at an output of p avg2 . by subtracting the new values if a / d1 from a / d2 and dividing by the value r of the in line resistor 26 , the controller 24 can calculate bias2 . as can be clearly seen in fig2 the starting point for the second control loop 22 corresponds to the desired constant state output level of the laser diode 10 or p avg1 . the corresponding drive current is illustrated as bias1 ′. this drive current , bias 1 ′, corresponds to the initial manually set bias of the device as modified by the incremental overlay provided by the apc loop 16 . similarly , the second current level , bias2 ′, is the required drive current to drive the laser diode at the incrementally higher output requirement of p avg2 . once the controller completes the above operation to determine all of the required variables , namely the drive current p avg2 , bias 1 ′ and bias2 ′, the algorithm uses the change from bias1 ′ to bias2 ′ ( 6 ) and determines the operational efficiency of the laser diode 10 by solving the following linear algebraic calculation for the slope ( m ): m = p avg2 - p avg1 bias2 ′ - bias 1 ′ this value provides the characteristic operating efficiency of the laser diode 10 at that given point in time in the current environmental conditions . this number can then be utilized to determine the incremental value by which the drive current must be modulated to produce the predetermined required modulation in the laser diode 10 output to maintain a constant extinction ratio . in this manner the second control loop 22 periodically recalibrates itself using the present operational properties of the laser diode 10 to maintain a constant laser modulation having a constant extinction ratio . it can also be seen in fig2 that the present operational temperature and the corresponding apc 16 overlay set point for the initial bias of the laser 10 does not effect the operation of the second control loop 22 . as can be seen , while the operational temperature of the device increases from 25 ° c . to 75 ° c . the operational curve shifts to the right and the efficiency slope begins to fall . however , the apc loop 16 has provided an adjustment overlay that is applied to the initial bias to shift the operational bias from bias1 ′ to bias1 ″. this adjustment overlay applied by the apc loop 16 serves to maintain the operational base line of the laser 10 at the required average power output of p avg1 . consequently , when the second control loop 22 begins its test mode , the baseline output requirement is still p avg1 and the incremental change is still made by adjusting the output requirement to p avg2 . therefore , the slope of the line is simply calculated utilizing the new drive currents , bias1 ″ and bias2 ″ as modified by the apc loop 16 . it should be noted that the application of testing values in the present invention is reversed from the traditional testing methods . more specifically , the prior art methods applied increasing current and monitored the laser output until a constant output level was reached . in these prior art methods , the test used for the second control loop was the actual modulation of the laser itself . in contrast , the method of the present invention sets a higher output drive requirement and monitors the input of current until the newly set target laser output level is reached . the present method therefore only requires adjustments in the drive current relative to a small incremental change in the output requirement before applying a large modification to the drive current as required to maintain the laser 10 at a constant operational extinction ratio thereby reducing the possibility of overdriving the laser 10 . a further advantage that is seen in the present invention is illustrated clearly in fig2 . in particular , the magnitude of the feedback values provided to the controller 24 can be seen to increase as the operational temperature of the device increases . this is evidenced by the spatial relationship illustrated between bias1 ′ and bias2 ′ ( 6 ) relative to the spacing seen between bias1 ″ and bias2 ″ ( 5 ). since operation of the laser diode 10 is extremely sensitive and slope of the operational curve is relatively steep in the lasing mode of operation it can be appreciated that higher feedback values are increasingly valuable at the higher operational ranges . it can also be seen that as higher operational levels are reached in the prior art , the amount of feedback generated decreases providing decreased operational tolerance at critical operational levels . therefore , the present invention provides a feedback signal that increases at higher temperatures where the feedback is most useful . it is therefore a combination of the three biasing factors , the manually set initial bias , the apc loop 16 bias overlay and the slope of the operational curve of the laser 10 as determined by the second control loop 22 that are all factored together to control the operation of the laser 10 . the apc loop 16 bias overlay in conjunction with the manually set bias at the d / a 20 serves to maintain the laser 10 at a constant average operational power while the slope provided by the second control loop 22 is utilized to determine the required current modulation to create a constant extinction ratio during operation of the laser diode 10 . it can therefore be seen that the present invention provides a novel method for operating and controlling a laser diode 10 . in particular , the present invention provides a novel dual - loop control method for controlling a laser diode 10 that is capable of determining the efficiency and operating characteristics of the diode without unduly stressing the laser 10 . further , the present invention provides a novel dual - loop control system that is reliable and provides incrementally higher feedback values at more critical laser operational levels while also being inexpensive to manufacture and implement . for these reasons , the instant invention is believed to represent a significant advancement in the art , which has substantial commercial merit . while there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying the invention , it will be manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventive concept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms herein shown and described except insofar as indicated by the scope of the appended claims . | 7 |
referring now to fig1 , a warming system 10 of the present invention may provide for an upwardly open , concave basin 12 having a generally horizontal floor 14 surrounded by upwardly sloping and opposed sidewalls 16 and upwardly sloping and opposed end walls 18 . the end walls 18 join with the sidewalls 16 to provide a continuous watertight surface terminating at an upper rim 20 . generally the basin 12 will be fabricated from a ductile conductive metal such as aluminum to provide a heat spreading feature as will be described below . referring now also to fig2 , basin 12 is sized to receive and substantially fully support a dialysis bag 22 holding , for example , five liters of infusion liquid 23 . the infusion liquid 23 may , for example , be a saline solution for peritoneal dialysis . as is understood in the art , the dialysis bag 22 may be constructed of a flexible transparent plastic material , such as a vinyl , and fabricated by joining two sheets 24 of the material at a peripheral seam 26 to provide within the seam 26 an enclosed pocket into which sterile infusion liquid 23 may be held . the flexible material of the dialysis bag 22 permits the dialysis bag 22 to adopt a variety of different volumetric configurations and the shape of the basin 12 is designed to promote a particular configuration maximizing heat transfer to the contained infusion liquid 23 . in particular , the basin 12 is shaped to support the dialysis bag 22 with one lower sheet 24 of the dialysis bag 22 lying in close abutment to the floor 14 , sidewalls 16 , and end walls 18 of the basin 12 and so that the seams 26 between the sheets 24 lie generally along a horizontal plane displaced to be approximately symmetrically located between the sheets 24 of the dialysis bag 22 to substantially eliminate buckling or wrinkling of the lower sheet 24 and minimizing a vertical thickness of the infusion liquid 23 within this constraint . in this way , contact between the dialysis bag 22 and the heater 28 may be substantially maximized and the thermal path to any volume element of the infusion liquid 23 from the basin 12 reduced . referring momentarily to fig2 and 3 , a heater 28 may be attached to an underside of the basin 12 to attach in the regions of the floor 14 , the sidewalls 16 , and the end walls 18 so that each may conduct heat directly into the supported dialysis bag 22 . the heater 28 may be substantially continuous over the surfaces except for sections near the area of the corners of the basin 12 at the joining of end walls 18 and sidewalls 16 to facilitate manufacturing and except for small openings for basin supporting structure , thermal sensors and the like as will be described below . generally heater 28 contacts the basin 12 over a large area so that a low temperature ( gentle ) heat implemented over the portions of the basin 12 contacting the dialysis bag 22 10 rapidly heat the contained infusion liquid 23 without large temperature differences . for this purpose , the area of the heater 28 will typically be greater than 50 square inches and preferably greater than 100 square inches or more . a suitable heater 28 may be a silicone rubber electric heater . as is understood in the art , a silicone rubber electric heater provides a resistive conductive element , for example an etched foil or wire , embedded in a silicone rubber mat and is broadly commercially available from multiple vendors . referring now to fig2 , the basin 12 may be held within a housing 30 as supported on one or more spring elements 32 , for example helical compression springs . the housing 30 maybe fabricated of an injection molded thermoplastic or the like and may include a lower surface having downwardly extending feet 31 for support on a table or the like . the housing 30 may have vertically extending sidewalls 33 above a horizontally extending base wall 35 and may be open at its upper surface to expose the upper surface of the basin 12 for receipt of the dialysis bag 22 within the basin 12 . the weight of the dialysis bag 22 on the basin 12 compresses the basin downward against the spring elements 32 and into the housing 30 activating a switch 34 indicating a presence of a dialysis bag 22 that may require heating . the switch 34 may be a simple mechanical microswitch , an optical switch , a strain gauge , a magnetic switch or the like providing an electrical signal that may communicate with the controller board 36 held within the housing 30 . the controller board 36 may also communicate with the heater 28 so that the heater 28 may be activated only when a dialysis bag 22 is in place in the basin 12 . this weight - based sensing system provides for robust and positive identification of the placement of a dialysis bag 22 in the basin 12 in contrast , for example , to optical bag sensors which may require more sophisticated processing to detect the dialysis bag 22 and overcome the transparent nature of the dialysis bag 22 and the contained infusion liquid 23 . referring still to fig2 , controller board 36 may also communicate with a temperature sensor pair 38 positioned approximately in the center of the floor 14 to be near a center region of the liquid 23 contained in the dialysis bag 22 . this location provides a good measure of the average temperature of the liquid 23 in the dialysis bag 22 . the temperature sensor pair 38 may be mounted on a heat collector plate 40 that projects upward from a plane of the floor 14 of the basin 12 to provide a mesa - form pushing upward slightly on the lower sheet 24 into the dialysis bag 22 to ensure good contact therewith without substantially decreasing the thermal contact between the dialysis bag 22 and the floor 14 of the basin 12 . the heat collector plate 40 and temperature sensor pair 38 are thermally isolated from the heater 28 and the floor 14 by means of this offset and an aperture cut in the heater 28 and floor 14 and separated from the heat collector plate 40 by a thermally insulating spacer ring 42 . by promoting thermal contact between the temperature sensor pair 38 and the dialysis bag 22 through sheet 24 and distancing thermal proximity of the temperature sensor pair 38 and the heater 28 , a localized sensing region 44 projecting into the infusion liquid 23 may be created allowing better assessment and control of the liquid temperature . t a rear surface of the temperature sensor pair 38 may be embedded in a thermally insulating material 46 reducing the temperature drop between the liquid 23 and the sensor pair 38 promoting the ability to detect internal liquid temperature with an external temperature sensor pair 38 as will be discussed below . referring to fig1 , 3 , and 4 , the end walls 18 of the basin 12 and corresponding regions of the housing 30 may include cutout 50 sized to receive hands 52 of a user when the hands 52 are positioned to grasp the dialysis bag 22 at its ends along its greater length as a user places the dialysis bag 22 down into the basin 12 or lifts it there from . the cutouts 50 expose a portion of an under surface of the dialysis bag 22 in the basin 12 simplifying its gripping by the hands 52 during removal or insertion . referring to fig1 and 4 , the rim 20 of the basin 12 and regions around the cutout 50 may have drip edges 56 formed therein , the drip edges 56 being downwardly extending edges that prevent water overflowing out of the basin 12 from traveling downward along the lower surface of the basin 12 , as adhered thereto by surface tension , into the region of the controller board 36 . referring now to fig1 and 6 , an outer front surface of the housing 30 may provide for a control panel 60 having an alphanumeric display 62 , for example , displaying a current temperature of the infusion liquid 23 or desired setpoint of the infusion liquid 23 , setting switches 64 allowing changing of the setpoint of temperature control of the liquid 23 , a mode switch 66 changing a mode of display 62 , and a ready indicator 68 indicating that the temperature of the liquid 23 is at its proper setpoint , as will be described . the switches 64 and 66 may , for example , be membrane switches of a type known in the art and the ready indicator a light emitting diode . referring now to fig2 and 5 , the controller board 36 may include a microcontroller 70 or similar processor of a type well known in the art and including generally a processor , memory and various i / o circuits . the microcontroller 70 may receive signals from the thermal sensor pair 38 the switch 34 and the switches 64 and 66 and may provide control signals to the display 62 and the ready indicator 68 and the heater 28 . an internal program 72 executed by the microcontroller 70 , as indicated by decision block 74 , may first detect whether a dialysis bag 22 is in place in the basin 12 ( as shown in fig2 ) using the signal from the switch 34 . if not , an internal timer used for determining the age of the dialysis bag 22 ( with respect to how long it has been heated ) is reset , and the ready light 68 and the heater 28 are turned off ( if they are on ) as indicated by process block 76 . if a dialysis bag 22 is in place , the heater 28 may be turned on as indicated by process block 78 , for example , by means of solid - state switches such as an scr on the controller board 36 as controlled by the microcontroller 70 . at this time a bag age timer is started as indicated by process block 80 that will keep track of how long the dialysis bag 22 has been in place and heated . at process block 82 , the temperature of the temperature sensor pair 38 is read and the separate temperature readings compared to see if they are beyond the predetermined range indicating an error at process block 84 . if an error is indicated the heater may be turned off and in error indicated on the display 60 , otherwise the temperature values are averaged and this temperature is corrected for an empirically determined temperature offset representing a difference between the temperature of the contained liquid 23 and the temperature at the sensor pair 38 caused by the thermal resistance therebetween . this temperature difference will generally be added to the temperature read at the temperature sensor pair 38 at process block 84 . at decision block 86 , a determination is made to see whether the temperature of the contained liquid 23 within the dialysis bag 22 is at a desired setpoint , the latter which may be entered by the user through the control panel 60 by conventional data entry routines not shown . this comparison considers the temperature at the temperature sensor pair 38 as corrected by the temperature offset described above . the range of set points entered by the user may be limited to those representing a safe range for the infusion liquid 23 . if at decision block 86 the deduced temperature of the infusion liquid 23 is below a predetermined range with respect to the desired setpoint , the program 72 loops back to decision block 74 , otherwise the program proceeds to process block 87 and the heater is turned off and the ready indicator 68 illuminated indicating that proper temperature has been obtained per process block 88 . at any time during this process , the mode switch 66 may be activated to allow the user to switch display 62 between the temperature of the contained liquid 23 , the desired setpoint and the bag age . the temperature of the contained liquid 23 is corrected with the temperature offset as described above . referring to fig1 and 2 , the controller board 36 may receive power from a line cord 100 passing into the housing 30 and having an associated line switch as is understood in the art . multiple temperature switches 102 may be placed against the under surface of the basin 12 to monitor over temperature of the basin 12 independent of the operation of the controller board 36 to disconnect the heater 28 when over temperature conditions exist . ideally the upper surface of the basin 12 will be substantially bare to provide improved thermal conductivity ; however , it will be understood that a thin protective layer of plastic materials and / or anodization may be provided on the surface without unduly decreasing the effectiveness of the device . by providing a broad area , low - temperature heating of a substantially flattened dialysis bag 22 , rapid and accurate temperature control of the contained liquid 23 may be effected . certain terminology is used herein for purposes of reference only , and thus is not intended to be limiting . for example , terms such as “ upper ”, “ lower ”, “ above ”, “ below ”, “ clockwise ”, and “ counterclockwise ” refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made . terms such as “ front ”, “ back ”, “ rear ”, “ bottom ” and “ side ”, describe the orientation of portions of the component within a consistent but arbitrary frame of reference which is made clear by reference to the text and the associated drawings describing the component under discussion . such terminology may include the words specifically mentioned above , derivatives thereof , and words of similar import . similarly , the terms “ first ”, “ second ” and other such numerical terms referring to structures do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context . when introducing elements or features of the present disclosure and the exemplary embodiments , the articles “ a ”, “ an ”, “ the ” and “ said ” are intended to mean that there are one or more of such elements or features . the terms “ comprising ”, “ including ” and “ having ” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements or features other than those specifically noted . it is further to be understood that the method steps , processes , and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated , unless specifically identified as an order of performance . it is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed . references to a controller , computer or processor or its equivalent can be understood to include one or more computational devices including microprocessors , field programmable gate arrays , and application specific integrated circuits that can implement state aware logic and that can communicate in a stand - alone and / or a distributed environment ( s ), and can thus be configured to communicate via wired or wireless communications with other processors , where such one or more processor can be configured to operate on one or more processor - controlled devices that can be similar or different devices . furthermore , references to memory , unless otherwise specified , can include one or more processor - readable and accessible memory elements and / or components that can be internal to the processor - controlled device , external to the processor - controlled device , and can be accessed via a wired or wireless network . | 0 |
referring to fig1 one embodiment of the present invention includes a plasma generating section 1 , a section 2 for treating a fluorescent substance with active species produced in plasma generating section 1 , a section 3 for supplying gas to plasma generating section 1 , and an exhaust section 4 for reducing the pressure in fluorescent substance treatment section 2 . gas supplying section 3 includes a gas cylinder 5 having a switching valve 5a . a pipe 6 supplies gas from gas cylinder 5 to plasma generating section 1 . the flow rate of gas is adjusted by a flow meter 7 and a needle valve 8 . preferable gasses include ar , he , kr , ne , xe , h 2 , n 2 , o 2 , methane halide ( for example cf 4 ), ccl 4 , ccl 2 f 2 or a mixture thereof . specially , using the mixture of n 2 and h 2 is preferable because this mixture improves the luminous efficacy of the fluorescent substance and the stability against ultraviolet irradiation . also using methane halide gas is preferable because the cohesion and fluidity of the fluorescent substance are improved . plasma generating section 1 includes a microwave ocsillator 9 such as a magnetron . a waveguide 10 transmits microwaves from oscillator 9 to a discharge tube 11 which penetrates waveguide 10 for producing the plasma therein . discharge tube 11 is ordinarily made of quartz and has one end connected to pipe 6 for receiving the gas . waveguide 10 is provided with an impedance matching means comprising a three - stub tuner 12 and plunger 13 . discharge tube 11 is provided with a water - cooling apparatus 14 which cools discharge tube 11 . fluorescent substance treatment section 2 includes a closed and preferably cylindrical shaped vessel 16 into which the other end of discharge tube 11 opens . vessel 16 is axially aligned with the axis of discharge tube 11 . vessel 16 may be made of quartz and formed integrally with discharge tube 11 . otherwise , vessel 16 may be metal , such as stainless steel . a treatment chamber 15 is formed in vessel 16 in which the fluorescent substance is treated with the plasma from discharge tube 11 . a capacitance manometer 17 is mounted to the outer wall of vessel 16 to monitor the pressure in chamber 15 during operation of the apparatus . vessel 16 is also provided with a gas outlet 18 , preferably located near the end of vessel 16 opposite discharge tube 11 to enable the active species in the plasma produced within discharge tube 11 to flow about the fluorescent substance held in the center of chamber 15 before being exhausted . the fluorescent substance is preferably stirred while being treated to ensure uniform treatment . accordingly , a stirring mechanism is provided including a preferably cylindrical container 20 disposed in chamber 15 in an axial alignment with the axis of discharge tube 11 . fluorescent substance 41 is held in container 20 . one end 19 of container 20 is opened and faces discharge tube 11 . the other end of container 20 is covered with a plate 22 having holes 21 as shown in fig3 . plate 22 is fixed to a driving shaft 23 . the inside wall of cylindrical container 20 is provided with a plurality of integral projections 36 for stirring the fluorescent substance 41 . the end of vessel 16 is covered with an annular cover 25 . the center of cover 25 is provided with a cylindrical housing 24 which houses driving shaft 23 and a ferromagnetic substance 23a such as steel combined with the end of driving shaft 23 . o - rings 26 provide an air - tight seal between vessel 16 and cover 25 . the sealing between vessel 16 and cover 25 is aided by a partial vacuum produced in vessel 16 by exhaust section 4 . cover 25 is provided with bearings 28 and 29 . bearing 28 is disposed at the entrance of cylindrical housing 24 and bearing 29 is disposed within cylindrical housing 24 . driving shaft 23 is rotatably supported by bearings 28 and 29 . a cylindrical rotary body 31 is supported around housing 24 , but out of contact with it , by a supporting mechanism ( not shown ). a plurality of ( four , for example ) permanent magnets or electromagnets 30 are mounted at equal distances from one another on the inside wall of body 31 ( see fig4 ). rotary body 31 is rotated by a motor 34 via a belt 35 . driving shaft 23 is rotated with body 31 , because the magnetic field formed by magnets 30 is rotated in response to the rotation of body 31 . cylindrical container 20 is rotated by the rotation of driving shaft 23 . accordingly , the apparatus of the invention can rotate cylindrical container 20 and stir fluorescent substance 41 while cylindrical container 20 is kept air - tight . exhaust section , generally shown at 4 , includes a trap 39 connected to gas outlet 18 by a pipe 37 having a valve 38 . a rotary pump 40 is connected to trap 39 by a pipe 37a . in operation , the fluorescent substance is disposed in cylindrical container 20 . then , pump 40 exhausts vessel 16 to a pressure of less than about 10 - 3 torr . thereafter , switching valve 5a is opened so as to supply gas from gas cylinder 5 into discharge tube 11 through gas flow meter 7 and needle valve 8 . the pressure in chamber 15 is preferably adjusted to between about 10 - 1 and about 5 torr . and the gas flow rate is preferably adjusted to between about 30 and about 300 cc / min . while exhausting continues . the pressure and the gas flow rate are controlled by needle valve 8 while monitoring capacitance manometer 17 and gas flow meter 7 . under the conditions described above , 100 - 500 watt microwaves having a frequency of 2 , 450 mhz are transmitted from oscillator 9 to discharge tube 11 by matching impedances using three - stub tuner 12 and plunger 13 . as a result , the gas flowing in discharge tube 11 is discharged and the plasma is produced . the plasma flows into chamber 15 along with the gas flow . active species in the plasma having a short life cease to exist on their way to chamber 15 . therefore , only active species with a long life contact fluorescent substance 41 held in cylindrical container 20 . fluorescent substance 41 is stirred by rotating cylindrical container 20 . stirring is particularly effective when fluorescent substance 41 is mixed with quartz stir chips 42 . the qualities of fluorescent substance 41 are remarkably impaired when it is mixed with impurities , especially heavy metals . therefore , cylindrical container 20 and stir chips 42 are preferably made of quartz . stir chips 42 in the form of cylinders about 8 to about 15 mm in diameter and about 10 to about 20 mm in length work well to obtain an excellent stirring efficiency . using this method and apparatus the fluorescent substance is treated for usually 10 minutes to 4 hours . the method of the present invention may be applied to the treatment of many kinds of fluorescent substances such as , for example , [ ca 10 ( po 4 ) 6 fcl : sb , mn ], [ sr 10 ( po 4 ) 6 fcl : sb , mn ], [ zn 2 sio 4 : mn ], [ y 2 o 3 : eu ], [ zns : ag , cl ], [ zns : cu , au , al ], [ y 2 o 2 s : eu ], [ y ( pv ) o 4 : eu ], [ y 2 sio 5 : ce , tb ] and [( sr , ca ) 10 ( p0 4 ) 6 cl 2 : eu ]. the fluorescent substance may be treated while it is coated on the surface of a cathode ray tube or an illumination lamp , as well as when it is a powder . fig5 illustrates another embodiment of this invention which is capable of processing fluorescent substances coated on surfaces . in fig5 like reference characters designate similar parts to that of fig1 . the treatment apparatus of this embodiment does not have the cylindrical container for stirring the fluorescent substance in the chamber . a glass tube 51 for a fluorescent lamp , having the fluorescent substance coated on the inside thereof is arranged in chamber 15 such that one open end 52 of it faces discharge tube 11 . the plasma produced in discharge tube 11 flows into glass tube 51 and contacts with the fluorescent substance coated on glass tube 51 to treat the fluorescent substance . as described above , the method and the apparatus of this invention brings the active species in the plasma into contact with the fluorescent substance at a region ( chamber 15 ) separated from the plasma producing region ( discharge tube 11 ) where intense short wavelength ultraviolet irradiation is also produced . therefore , the fluorescent substance is protected from the short wavelength ultraviolet irradiation . the fluorescent substance treated according to the present invention has excellent luminous efficacy and ultraviolet irradiation resistance characteristics . the cohesion between fluorescent substance powder particles is reduced and the fluidity of the fluorescent substance is improved . as a result , the efficiency of the subsequent coating operation with the fluorescent substance is exceedingly improved . the following examples serve to establish the superior qualities of a fluorescent substance treated by the plasma according to the method of the present invention . several kinds of fluorescent substances are treated by the apparatus shown in fig1 . the treated fluorescent substances were excited by ultraviolet irradiation with a wavelength of 254 nm , and their relative luminous efficacy were measured . the conditions during treatment and the luminous efficacy are shown in table 1 , below , in which the luminous efficacy is shown as a value relative to 100 which is the luminous efficacy of the fluorescent substance prior to treatment : table 1__________________________________________________________________________ treatment condition relativefluorescent discharge treating luminoussubstance gas power time efficacy__________________________________________________________________________ca . sub . 10 ( po . sub . 4 ). sub . 6 fcl : ar 3 . 5 150 30 101 . 9sb , mn ( torr ) ( w ) ( min ) ar 3 . 5 500 30 102 . 6 he 7 . 6 500 30 101 . 8 n . sub . 2 + h . sub . 2 500 30 102 . 2 0 . 5 0 . 5 n . sub . 2 + h . sub . 2 150 30 102 . 2 1 . 8 0 . 1 n . sub . 2 + h . sub . 2 500 30 102 . 1 3 . 1 0 . 1 n . sub . 2 + h . sub . 2 500 30 101 . 9 1 . 4 20 . 0 ar + h . sub . 2 500 30 102 . 8 3 . 5 0 . 1 n . sub . 2 + h . sub . 2 + cf . sub . 4 500 10 102 . 6 1 . 8 0 . 1 0 . 1 n . sub . 2 + h . sub . 2 + cf . sub . 4 150 30 103 . 9 1 . 8 0 . 1 0 . 1sr . sub . 10 ( po . sub . 4 ). sub . 6 fcl : ar 3 . 5 500 30 103 . 1sb , mn n . sub . 2 + h . sub . 2 500 30 102 . 4 0 . 5 0 . 5 ar + h . sub . 2 500 30 101 . 8 3 . 5 0 . 1zn . sub . 2 sio . sub . 4 : mn ar 3 . 5 500 30 102 . 0 n . sub . 2 + h . sub . 2 500 30 102 . 8 0 . 5 0 . 5y . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 : eu ar 3 . 5 500 30 103 . 0 n . sub . 2 + h . sub . 2 500 30 102 . 2 0 . 5 0 . 5__________________________________________________________________________ thus , the luminous efficacy of the fluorescent substance treated according to the present invention is improved by about 2 - 4 %. several kinds of fluorescent substances were treated by the apparatus shown in fig1 . then , they were irradiated in a vacuum for four hours by ultraviolet irradiation predominantly with a wavelength of 185 nm . thereafter , the fluorescent substances were excited by ultraviolet irradiation with the wavelength of 254 nm , and their luminous efficacy were measured . the conditions during treatment and the luminous efficacy are shown in table 2 , below , in which the luminous efficacy is also shown as a value relative to 100 which is the luminous efficacy of the untreated fluorescent substance which underwent the same irradiation . table 2__________________________________________________________________________ treatment condition relativefluorescent discharge treating luminoussubstance gas power time efficacy__________________________________________________________________________ca . sub . 10 ( po . sub . 4 ). sub . 6 fcl : ar 0 . 2 500 30 102 . 8sb , mn ( torr ) ( w ) ( min ) ar 0 . 2 500 240 102 . 9 ar 0 . 5 500 30 102 . 8 ar 0 . 5 300 30 103 . 1 ar 0 . 5 300 120 102 . 3 ar 1 . 5 500 30 103 . 5 ar 2 . 0 500 30 102 . 9 ar 2 . 0 500 60 102 . 4 ar 2 . 0 500 120 102 . 0 ar 3 . 5 500 30 105 . 8 ar 3 . 5 500 120 102 . 3 ar 3 . 5 500 240 102 . 6 ar 3 . 5 150 30 102 . 7 ar 3 . 5 150 120 102 . 4 he 3 . 5 500 30 101 . 8 he 7 . 6 500 180 103 . 1 n . sub . 2 3 . 5 500 30 103 . 6 h . sub . 2 3 . 5 500 30 103 . 1 cf . sub . 4 0 . 2 500 5 102 . 3 cf . sub . 4 0 . 2 500 30 103 . 1 n . sub . 2 + h . sub . 2 500 30 107 . 7 0 . 5 0 . 5 n . sub . 2 + h . sub . 2 500 30 104 . 7 1 . 8 0 . 1 ( w ) ( min ) ( torr ) n . sub . 2 + h . sub . 2 150 30 105 . 9 1 . 8 0 . 1 n . sub . 2 + h . sub . 2 500 30 105 . 1 3 . 1 0 . 1 n . sub . 2 + h . sub . 2 500 30 105 . 4 2 . 6 12 . 0 n . sub . 2 + h . sub . 2 500 30 106 . 1 1 . 4 20 . 0 ar + cf . sub . 4 500 5 102 . 3 3 . 5 0 . 1 ar + cf . sub . 4 500 30 101 . 8 3 . 5 0 . 1 ar + cf . sub . 4 150 15 101 . 8 3 . 5 0 . 1 ar + h . sub . 2 500 30 102 . 6 3 . 5 0 . 1 n . sub . 2 + h . sub . 2 + cf . sub . 4 500 10 102 . 4 1 . 8 0 . 1 0 . 1 n . sub . 2 + h . sub . 2 + cf . sub . 4 150 10 102 . 8 1 . 8 0 . 1 0 . 1sr . sub . 10 ( po . sub . 4 ). sub . 6 fcl : ar 3 . 5 500 30 103 . 1sb , mn ar 0 . 5 500 30 102 . 4 n . sub . 2 + h . sub . 2 500 30 104 . 1 0 . 5 0 . 5zn . sub . 2 sio . sub . 4 : mn ar 3 . 5 500 30 102 . 6 ( torr ) ( w ) ( min ) ar 0 . 5 500 30 103 . 8 n . sub . 2 + h . sub . 2 500 30 104 . 1 0 . 5 0 . 5y . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 : eu ar 3 . 5 500 30 101 . 9 n . sub . 2 + h . sub . 2 500 30 104 . 3 0 . 5 0 . 5ca . sub . 10 ( po . sub . 4 ). sub . 6 fcl : o . sub . 2 + cf . sub . 4 500 30 101 . 8sb , mn 0 . 2 0 . 2 o . sub . 2 + cf . sub . 4 500 30 101 . 6 1 . 0 1 . 0__________________________________________________________________________ thus , the stability against short wavelength ultraviolet irradition of fluorescent substances treated according to the present invention is improved by 2 - 6 % in comparison with the conventional fluorescent substances . the luminous efficacy of the fluorescent substance [ ca 10 ( po 4 ) 6 fcl : sb , mn ] treated under the different conditions shown in table 3 , below , was measured by the same method as example 1 : table 3______________________________________ treatment condition dis - treat - sample fluorescent charge ingno . substance gas power time______________________________________1 ca . sub . 10 ( po . sub . 4 ). sub . 6 fcl : -- -- -- sb , mn2 ca . sub . 10 ( po . sub . 4 ). sub . 6 fcl : ar 3 . 5 500 . sup . ( w ) 15 min .- sb , mn torr 4 hr . 3 ca . sub . 10 ( po . sub . 4 ). sub . 6 fcl : n . sub . 2 + h . sub . 2 500 15 min .- sb , mn 0 . 5 0 . 5 4 hr . torr______________________________________ fig6 illustrates the relationship between treatment time and the relative luminous efficacy . thus , fluorescent substances treated for a relatively short time , especially for about 15 minutes to 2 hours , has excellent luminous efficacy . the three samples treated in example 3 were irradiated by ultraviolet irradiation predominantly with a wavelength of 185 nm in the same manner as in example 2 and then the relative luminous efficacy was measured by the same method as example 1 . fig7 illustrates the fluorescent substances treated for a relatively short time , especially for about 15 minutes to 2 hours , have excellent stability against the short wavelength ultraviolet irradiation . the fluorescent substances [ y 2 o 2 s : eu ], [ zns : agcl ] and [ zns : cu , au , al ] were treated under the condition as shown in table 4 : table 4______________________________________ treatment condition dis - treat - sample fluorescent charge ingno . substance gas power time______________________________________4 y . sub . 2 o . sub . 2 s : eu -- -- -- 5 y . sub . 2 o . sub . 2 s : eu ar 1 . 0 500 . sup . ( w ) 30 . sup . ( min ) torr6 y . sub . 2 o . sub . 2 s : eu n . sub . 2 + h . sub . 2 500 30 0 . 5 0 . 57 y . sub . 2 o . sub . 2 s : eu n . sub . 2 500 30 0 . 58 zns : ag , cl -- -- -- 9 zns : ag , cl ar 500 30 1 . 010 zns : ag , cl n . sub . 2 + h . sub . 2 500 30 0 . 5 0 . 511 zns : ag , cl n . sub . 2 500 30 0 . 512 zns : cu , au , al -- -- -- 13 zns : cu , au , al ar 500 30 1 . 014 zns : cu , au , al n . sub . 2 + h . sub . 2 500 30 0 . 5 0 . 515 zns : cu , au , al n . sub . 2 500 30 0 . 5______________________________________ these fluorescent substances were excited by an electron beam and fig8 - 10 illustrate the relationship between the relative luminance efficiency and the accelerating voltage of the electron beam . thus fluorescent substances treated by the present invention exhibit excellent luminous efficacy even when excited by an electron beam . the fluorescent substances [ ca 10 ( po 4 ) 6 fcl : sb , mn ] and [ y ( pv ) o 4 : eu ] were treated under the condition as shown in table 5 : table 5______________________________________ treatment conditionfluorescent discharge treatingsubstance gas power time______________________________________ca . sub . 10 ( po . sub . 4 ). sub . 6 fcl : cf . sub . 4 1 . 0 500 . sup . ( w ) 2 . sup . ( hr . ) sb , mn torry ( pv ) o . sub . 4 : eu cf . sub . 4 0 . 5 500 2______________________________________ angle of repose and the time necessary for the fluorescent substance to pass through a mesh were measured . for each fluorescent substance , a sample not treated by the plasma , and a sample to which 3 - 5 % almina ( al 2 o 3 ) was added were also measured . table 6 illustrates the results : table 6______________________________________ time pass angle of throughfluorescent substance repose mesh______________________________________ca . sub . 10 ( po . sub . 4 ). sub . 6 fcl : treated 46 ° 20 . sup . ( sec ) sb , mn added al . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 50 ° ˜ 60 ° 24 not treated 60 ° & lt ; ∞ y ( pv ) o . sub . 4 : eu treated 42 ° 18 added al . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 50 ° ˜ 60 ° 23 not treated 60 ° & lt ; 180 ˜ 300______________________________________ the length of time for the powder to pass through the mesh is a characteristic of the cohesion and the fluidity of the powder , and it was measured in the following manner . 50 grams of fluorescent powder was put on a horizontal wire screen which was vibrating vertically at 50 hz . then , the length of time for the powder to pass through the mesh was measured . therefore , a shorter length of time indicates a lower powder cohesion and a greater fluidity . as apparent from the results , the cohesion and the fluidity of the fluorescent substance treated by the present invention is improved in comparison with the conventional fluorescent substance . while the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments , it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments but on the contrary , is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which scope is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures . | 2 |
referring first to fig1 and 2 , the door sizing apparatus 10 of the present invention is shown disposed within a door opening or doorway 12 having left and right side door jambs 14 and a head door jamb 16 . across the foot of the doorway is the conventional threshold 18 . the apparatus includes a support member or plumb guide beam 20 , a centering mechanism generally indicated at 22 , a tracing mechanism 24 and an elongated sheet of markable material 26 extended vertically along the front face of the guide beam and anchored at opposite ends of the guide beam . the plumb guide beam 20 in the disclosed form is a channeled piece of elongated aluminum with the channel opening rearwardly . the upper end of the guide beam has a pair of rearwardly extending brackets 28 which support an upper spool 30 to which the upper end of the markable material 26 is anchored . the spool 30 is preferrably rotatably connected to the brackets 28 and gripped frictionally so that it can be rotated upon application of a predetermined force but otherwise will retain its angular orientation . the lower end of the guide beam has a bracket 32 which extends both forwardly and rearwardly of the guide beam with the rear extent of the bracket supporting a lower spool 34 to which the lower end of the markable material 26 is connected . again , the lower spool 34 is rotatably mounted in such a manner that it is frictionally gripped by the bracket 32 but can be rotated upon application of a predetermined force . the forward extent of the lower bracket 32 defines a horizontal flange 36 through which a vertically extending adjustment screw 38 is received . the adjustment screw 38 has an abuttment head 40 on its lower end adapted to engage the threshold 18 of the doorway and to be selectively disengaged therefrom when desired . a lock nut 42 is threaded onto the upper end of the adjustment screw to lock the screw into position when it has been desirably abutted or engaged with the threshold . the guide beam 20 has a front wall 44 and a pair of rearwardly extending sidewalls 46 . each sidewall 46 along its connection to the front wall is provided with a vertically extending groove 48 for a purpose to be described later . near the upper end of the guide beam , upper and lower vertically spaced pairs of notches 50a and 50b respectively are cut in the sidewalls 46 to facilitate the operation of the centering mechanism 22 . the centering mechanism includes a pair of equal length positioning arms 52 which are pivotally connected to the front wall of the guide beam at 54 and protrude laterally away from the guide beam through the lower pair of notches 50b , a biasing member 56 interconnecting the positioning arms 52 and extending through the upper pair of notches 50a , a horizontal level member 58 also interconnecting the positioning arms , and a pair of adjustment screws 60 passing vertically through the distal ends of the positioning arms . the positioning arms 52 are made , in the disclosed form , from elongated bars of generally rectangular transverse cross - section and have rubber abuttment pads 62 on their distal ends adapted to frictionally engage the side door jambs 14 of the doorway . the adjustment screws 60 which extend through the distal ends of the positioning arms in a generally vertical direction are calibrated at 64 so that their longitudinal position relative to the associated positioning arm is easily determinable . the horizontal level member 58 in the disclosed form is a conventional spirit level having conventional level indicators indicating when the level member is horizontal . at opposite ends of the level member it is provided with horizontal slots 66 which extend along the length of the level member and receive horizontal slide pins 68 which are anchored to each of the positioning arms at a location near the distal ends of the positioning arms . the tracing mechanism 24 consists of a horizontal tracing beam 70 which in the disclosed form is of solid rectangular transverse cross section having a vertical notch 72 cut in the rear face thereof at the longitudinal center adapted to receive the front portion of the guide beam 20 . at opposite sides of the notch 72 , ball bearings 74 are received in appropriate sockets and are biased inwardly toward each other by compression springs ( not shown ). the ball bearings 74 are adapted to be snapped into the grooves 48 running along opposite sides of the guide beam and serve to retain the horizontal tracing beam 70 on the guide beam as it is slid vertically along the length of the guide beam . the horizontal tracing beam can , of course , be removed from the guide beam merely by snapping the ball bearings out of the guide grooves 48 . a pair of tracer arms 76 are mounted on the top of the tracing beam 70 and each has a follower 78 at its outer end adapted to engage the adjacent side door jamb 14 . the follower 78 could be in the form of a ball or roller bearing or could merely be the blunt end of the arm 76 . each tracer arm is slidably supported axially by a pair of spaced brackets 80a and 80b , bracket 80b serving as an abuttment for one of two coaxial compression springs 82 mounted on the tracer arm . the compression springs 82 serves to bias the arms outwardly into engagement with the side door jambs . the inner end of each arm 76 passes through a generally u - shaped curve with one portion of the u - shaped curve running parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tracer arm . this portion of the u - shaped bend is slidably received in a third bracket 84 which serves to prevent the tracer arm from rotating about the longitudinal axis thereof . a marker head 86 is provided at the inner end of each tracer arm and could be in numerous forms , such as , a ball point pen , an adjustable lead , or the like . the marker heads 86 are adapted to engage the markable material 26 disposed on the front face of the guide beam 20 as to place a legible mark on the markable material as the tracing beam 70 is slid vertically along the guide beam . it will be appreciated that each tracer arm is biased against the associated side door jamb 14 so that the follower 78 engages the side door jamb . since the tracer arms are of fixed length , and the tracing beam is moved vertically along the guide beam , a generally vertically extending line will be marked upon the markable material 26 to correspond with the vertical contour of each side door jamb . in this manner , information relating to the contour of the side door jambs is placed upon the markable material which can be used later to cut the side edges of a door for the doorway so that the side edges correspond with the contours of the associated side door jambs . with the horizontal tracing beam 70 at its lowermost position on the guide beam , the distance between each end of the tracing beam and the threshold 18 of the doorway can be measured and manually written upon the markable material so that the lower edge of the door can be made to fit the contour of the threshold of the doorway . the positioning arms 52 are biased outwardly by the biasing member 56 , fig4 which includes a tubular housing 88 from which a pair of oppositely directed pins 90 protrude and are biased outwardly by a common compression spring 92 contained in the housing between the inner ends of the pins . each pin has a sperical head 94 on its distal end which is received in a spherical socket in the associated arm 52 so that it is retained in connected relationship with the positioning arm . the spherical connection allows pivotal movement between the biasing member 56 and the positioning arms 52 so that while the biasing member biases the positioning arms outwardly engaging their distal ends with the side door jambs , they are free to pivot relative to the biasing member . the rubber abuttment pad 62 on the distal end of each arm 52 frictionally engages the associated side door jamb 14 and the spring bias applied thereto by the biasing member is sufficient to suspend the entire apparatus within the doorway . since it is important that the plumb guide beam 20 be vertically oriented during the use of the apparatus so that the markable material 26 extends vertically , the apparatus has been designed so that it is self - plumbing . in other words , the positioning arms 52 are pivotally connected to the guide beam at a location 54 above its longitudinal center , which is the approximate center of gravity of the guide beam and once the positioning arms have been biased against the side door jambs to suspend the guide beam within the doorway , the guide beam will seek a vertical plumb position . after attaining a vertical position , the adjustment screw 38 at the bottom of the guide beam is advanced against the threshold 18 to secure the guide beam in the vertical position . the markable material 26 which is extended along the front face 44 of the guide beam 20 could be any suitable material upon which the desired information can be recorded in some manner , but in the preferred forms , so that the material is useful with the cutting apparatus to be described hereinafter for cutting the doors , the material 26 is a transparent tape which is secured at opposite ends to the spools 30 and 34 at the top and bottom of the guide beam respectively . preferably , the tape is of sufficient length so that information relating to a plurality of doorways can be recorded thereon by advancing the tape from one spool to the other always presenting a clean blank surface for each door opening to be measured . in operation of the apparatus 10 , it is first placed in the doorway so that the positioning arms 52 engage the side door jambs 14 adjacent the tops thereof and so that the plumb guide beam 20 is suspended in the doorway . in order to center the plumb guide beam in the doorway , the positioning arms are pivoted relative to each other until the horizontal level member 58 indicates that it is horizontal . with the horizontal orientation of the level member , the inner pivotally connected ends of the positioning arms are equally spaced from the side door jambs 14 , and the guide beam is centered in the doorway freely pivotal about the pivot connection to the positioning arms . in this orientation , the guide beam will seek a vertical plumb position as discussed before . after it has attained the vertical position , it is secured in this position by advancing the adjustment screw 38 against the threshold . the adjustment screws 60 at the terminal ends of the positioning arms 52 can then be advanced upwardly until they engage the head door jamb 16 and the relative spacing of the terminal ends of the positioning arms as indicated by the calibrated adjustment screws 60 can be recorded on the transparent markable material 26 for later use in cutting the door . with the apparatus so oriented within the doorway , the tracing beam 70 is mounted upon the guide beam so that the marking heads 86 engage the transparent marking material and the tracing beam is advanced vertically along the full length of the guide beam . the followers 78 at the outer ends of the tracing arms 76 will follow the contour of the associated side door jambs and this contour will be marked on the transparent material with the marker heads so that a pair of lines corresponding to the contour of the side door jambs are recorded on the transparent material for use in cutting the side edges of the door . by placing the horizontal tracing beam at its lowermost position on the guide beam , the distance between each end of the tracing beam and the threshold 18 of the doorway can be measured to give the angular variation of the threshold from horizontal . this information can be recorded on the transparent paper so that the lower edge of the door can be cut accordingly to match the threshold . it will be readily appreciated that the appratus is useful in quickly sizing , measuring and recording information relating to the side and head door jambs as well as the threshold of a doorway . since the marking material is long enough to accommodate a number of door measurements , the apparatus can be used over and over , each time recording information on a blank portion of the marking material so that the information relating to a plurality of doorways is recorded on the same roll of material . the information recorded on the tape 26 in accordance with the method of the present invention is used to operate a cutting apparatus 100 , fig6 through 8 , which is adapted to cut the side edges of the door in matching relationship with the lines marked on the tape . referring particularly to fig6 the cutting apparatus 100 can be seen to include a reader mechanism 102 and a pair of laterally spaced cutting blades 104 which in the preferred form are in the form of high speed straight bits each driven by an electric motor 106 similar to a large router or shaper motor . these units are mounted on cutter beds 108 so that their angle of cut is adjustable and also their depth of cut is regulated by sliding the unit toward and away from the opposite unit . each cutter unit is fixed firmly to a hydraulic ram 110 so that it can be advanced toward or away from the opposite unit in response to operation of the hydraulic ram . the hydraulic ram 100 for each cutter unit is controlled by the reader mechanism 102 which is adapted to sense the lines marked on the tape corresponding to each side door jamb of the doorway . referring to fig7 the reader mechanism has a pair of light sources 112 which project beams of light smaller than the width of the lines marked upon the material . directly below each light source , are two photo electric cell compartments 114 and 116 with a slot ( not shown ) the size of the light beam centered over the compartments in such a way that if the tape is not present , half of the light goes into each compartment and strikes each photo cell plate 118 with equal intensity . if the tape is loaded into the reading mechanism and the opaque line on the material is over the slot , then no light will pass into either compartment . the photo cells each activate an amplifier circuit 120 , which in turn activates a hydraulic valve 122 which releases the hydraulic pressure to the hydraulic ram 110 of one of the cutter mechanisms to drive the hydraulic ram toward or away from the opposite hydraulic ram . one photo cell 118 causes the associated hydraulic ram to move one direction and the other photo cell 118 causes the ram to move in the opposite direction . to operate the reader mechanism , the tape is first loaded in the mechanism and the light sources 112 turned on . the photo cells 118 are then neutralized and by manual operation of the hydraulic valve 112 the ram 110 moves with the light source until the light beam is centered on the marking associated therewith so that no light is hitting either photo cell therebeneath . this operation is carried out for the line markings relating to the left and right side door jambs . the photo cells are then activated . a drive mechanism ( not shown ) is then energized to advance the tape 26 through the reader mechanism 102 at the same rate at which a blank door member 124 is advanced between the cutter blades 104 . so long as the line markings on the tape continues to run in a straight line no light will be received by the photo cell 118 and the cutter blades will remain in a fixed position . however , if the line marking moves to the right it will begin to expose a portion of the slot and light will strike the photo cell plate on the left . this will then activate the hydraulic valve and in turn the associated hydraulic ram will move in the direction necessary to cause the light beam to also move to the right . presently , the light beam will catch up with the marking and the light will no longer hit the photo cell plate and the ram will maintain a fixed position again . with the system balanced and adjusted properly , it will follow the side door jamb contour as represented by the line marking causing the side edges of the door to be cut to correspond with the line markings and thus with the side door jambs of the door opening . after the side edges have been cut in accordance with the aforedescribed method , the top and bottom edges of the door are cut to correspond with the head door jamb and threshold of the doorway respectfully as per the instructions written on the tape designating the relationship of the head door jamb and the threshold with horizontal . after the top and bottom edges of the door have been cut , the door will be precisely cut to match the doorway in which it is to be mounted . it will be appreciated that by using the apparatus and method of the present invention , a number of doorways can be measured and sized at a particular location and the information forwarded to a cutting plant where the necessary cutting equipment is installed and ready for use . the doors can then be cut and fowarded to the installation site where they will precisely match the doorways for which they were cut . by properly coding the tape with each doorway being measured , the doors can be labeled and quickly installed once they have been delivered to the installation site . this alleviates the necessity of having a cutting instrument at each installation site and also alleviates the imprecise method previously employed for sizing and cutting doors for selected doorways . although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity , it is understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example and that changes in details of structure or procedure may be made without departing from the spirit thereof . | 1 |
the surface of the typical magnetic media hard disk contains a thin diamond like coating of 1 nm or less over the deposition of 10 - 20 nm thick layer of ferromagnetic perpendicular materials cobalt and platinum and chromium ( cr ) over a ˜ 1 μm thick nickel phosphorus ( nip ) layer deposited on an aluminum substrate that has been polished to a roughness of less than 1 å . a focused ion beam , also known as fib , is a technique used particularly in the semiconductor and materials science fields for site - specific analysis , deposition , and ablation of materials . a fib setup is a scientific instrument that resembles a scanning electron microscope ( sem ). however , while the sem uses a focused beam of electrons to image the sample in the chamber , an fib setup instead uses a focused beam of ions . fib can also be incorporated in a system with both electron and ion beam columns , allowing the same feature to be investigated using either of the beams . now some of the preferred embodiments of the device and process under the invention are described with particular reference to the drawings . fig1 is a top view of the fourteen defects fabricated on a 2400 one 31 . 5 mil 95 mm mr disk using a focused ion beam ( fib ). seven bumps of ˜ 1 . 25 μin (˜ 32 nm ) height were deposited , and seven pits ˜ 2 μin (˜ 51 nm ) deep were etched , on a disk 50 mils (˜ 1 . 27 mm ) apart on a radius , as shown . the specified area1 dimensions were 40 × 40 , 20 × 20 , 10 × 10 , 6 × 6 , 4 × 4 , 2 × 2 and 1 × 1 μm 2 respectively . following fabrication the disk was placed on the spindle of an mg250 and erased using a wide track mig inductive head . the disk was then scanned using a 50 % slider with a piezoelectric crystal mounted on the side of one of the sliders ( i . e ., a piezo glide or glide head ) and the disk was measured for mechanical force signal from the piezoelectric glide head . the mg250 read channel was then used with a 50 % slider mr head containing a magnetized mr element . the mr current was optimum at 16 ma , and the linear velocity was maintained at 500 inches per second ( ips ) [ unless otherwise noted ]. both the glide head and the mr head was moved to the approximate location of the defect under analysis , and then stepped on a radius until a signal was detected on a lecroy lc920 oscilloscope . the signal was then optimized for maximum signal level . the maximum signal was then recorded and characterized for signal amplitude and timing characteristics . [ r . d . hemstead , ibm j . res . & amp ; dev ., vol . 18 , p547 , 1974 ]. the maximum signal measured was recorded and characterized for both mr modulation and mass spin - valve signal amplitudes and timing characteristics . the disk was then removed and each individual defect was characterized utilizing a park scientific afm for defect width along the direction of the circumference as reported in table 1 . scaling up the power density based on the read - back signal for a 40 . 9 × 40 . 9 μm 2 nano - bump [ for example ] on the spinning disk produces a 2 volts signal times 16 ma dc current on the mr resistor or 0 . 032 watts of power / 40 . 9 × 40 . 9 μm 2 ; which is equivalent to a novel power density of about 20 megawatts / meter 2 . . in another words , a spinning disk sized large enough [ scaled - up ] to contain sufficient 40 . 9 × 40 . 9 μm 2 nano - bumps to cover a surface area of one square meter would produce about 20 megawatts / meter 2 . fig6 a , 6 b , 6 c , 6 d and 6 e illustrate the mass spin - valve device ; 6 a is a typical head disk assembly ; in 6 b , an afm micrograph from a 10 μm × 10 μm area pit is shown ; in 6 c a mfm micrograph of a written track from a typical hard disk is shown . a mr read back signal from a magnetically erased disk and a certification missing pulse test reading for the same 10 μm × 10 μm area nano - pit are shown in 6 d and 6 e respectively ; fig7 a illustrates a nano - bump &# 39 ; s associate afm micrograph ; fig7 b a typical pzt glide read back signal ; and fig7 c the same nano - bump &# 39 ; s mass - spin valve read back signal . it is shown that the ms signal of bump defects exhibited a negative polarity pulse as shown in fig7 b . fig7 c shows that for a 1 . 25 μin (˜ 32 nm ) 10 μm × 10 μm bump measured with an afm produces a characteristic pzt glide signal [ measured at 890 ips ] of the downward force of the bump on the downward facing head slider and a characteristic mass spin - valve signal of a bump ( labeled as non - contact ms - valve signal ). fig8 a , fig8 b and fig8 c illustrates a nano - pit &# 39 ; s associate afm ; a typical pzt glide read back signal ; and the same nano - pit &# 39 ; s mass - spin valve read back signal respectively . fig8 b illustrates that for ˜ 2 μin 10 μm × 10 μm pit measured with an afm produce a pzt glide signal [ measured at 890 ips ] and the characteristic mass spin - valve signal of a pit . the mass spin valve signal of nano - pit defect exhibited a positive polarity pulse as shown in fig8 c . fig9 illustrates the typical magnetic induction and gravitational induction characteristic for the same nano - bump &# 39 ; s mass - spin valve read back signal . fig9 illustrates that a 10 μm × 10 μm nano - bump exhibits two electromagnetic signals due to electromagnetic induction created by the edges of the bump defect following maxwell &# 39 ; s right hand rule and also exhibits the gravitational induction signal of 0 . 304 volts , or 0 . 304 nnewtons of negative magnetic force . [ maxwell &# 39 ; s right - hand rule ( rhr ): if the conductor is held with the right hand such that the thumb points in the direction of the current flow i , the fingers circling the conductor point in the direction of the magnetic flux lines .] fig1 illustrates the typical magnetic induction and gravitational induction characteristic for the same nano - pit &# 39 ; s mass - spin valve read back signal . fig1 illustrates that a that 40 μm × 40 μm nano - pit exhibits two electromagnetic signals due to electromagnetic induction created by the edges of the pit defect and also exhibits the gravitational induction signal of 0 . 378 volts with an equivalent [ upward ] force of 0 . 378 × 10 − 9 newtons produced by 7 . 69 × 10 − 17 m 3 of missing mass . this novel upward [ anti -] gravitational force [ see table 1 ] is not predicted by any known theory . fig1 illustrates the quantum gravitational characteristics of pit or bump volume versus gravitational force rectification in the mass spin - valve device . in a metallic conductor , current is carried by the flow of electrons . in semiconductors , current is often schematized as being carried either by the flow of electrons or by the flow of positively charged “ holes ” in the electron structure of the material . there exists an equivalent quantum nature to gravity associated with the presence and absence of matter on the spinning disk to the quantum nature in electromagnetism in the semiconductor junction [ or a rectifier ] as a type electromagnetic spin valve device which is based on the spin of conduction energy band electrons in the semiconductor crystal . fig1 illustrates the gravitational induction equivalent of the semiconductor ; as a gravitational rectifier in the mass spin valve device ; whereby the downward gravitational induction force [ n type donor gravitons ] is produced by additional mass ; equivalent to the electrons in the semiconductor rectifier ; and the upward gravitational induction force [ p type acceptor anti - gravitons ] is produced by the absence of mass , equivalent to “ holes ” in the semiconductor rectifier . the relationship of mass to normal gravity is described by the relationship [ additional mass ] bump volume ( μm 3 )= 6 (− g f ) 2 − 7 (− g f )− 0 . 4 [ where g f is the [−] attractive force of gravity ] which is a parabolic force field which has two mathematically real factors . [ see fig1 ] assuming the gravitational induction force (− g f ) is variable x and the volume of additional mass is y . solving for y = 0 , by simplifying the equation by multiplying both sides with 5 , gives two real factors x 1 and x 2 : x 1 = 1 . 221255 x 2 =− 0 . 054589 . repulsive [+] anti - gravity exists in hyperbolic force field with one real part and two imaginary factors [ relative to the mr sensor ] described by the relationship [ missing mass ] pit volume ( μm 3 )=− 3000g f 3 + 1000g f 2 − 200g f + 8 . [ see fig1 ] assuming the anti - gravitational induction force ( g f ) is variable x and the volume of missing mass is y , then y =− 3000x 3 + 1000x 2 − 200x + 8 = 8 (− 375x 3 + 125x 2 − 25x + 1 ) and (− 375x 3 + 125x 2 − 25x + 1 ) the factors are two imaginary one real . solving for y = 0 gives : x 1 = 0 . 0510251 x 2 = 0 . 141154 + 0 . 179826 * i x 3 = 0 . 141154 − 0 . 179826 * i fig1 a and 12b illustrate the magnetic induction is independent from the gravitational induction in the mass spin - valve device . to examine the dependence of the measured mr mass spin - valve signal on dc erase polarity , the two wires connected to the write transducer were disconnected , and re - attached to the head &# 39 ; s paddle board for the opposite polarity to be applied to the write element during erasure . fig1 a illustrates the results at one erase polarity . fig1 b illustrates that at the opposite erase polarity , the two mr modulation read back signals corresponding to the switch in the electro - magnetic field &# 39 ; s direction produced by the edges of the falling and rising edges of the pit induced by a micro - fabricated defect is dependent on the polarity of dc erase on the mr media ; but the mr mass spin - valve signal ( i . e ., the gravitomagnetic force field &# 39 ; s direction ) is independent of the polarity of dc erase . fig1 illustrates the time band gap between gravity and electromagnetism in the mass spin - valve device . fig1 illustrates the time band gap between gravity and electromagnetism ; is about 22 μsec . fig9 illustrates that within the gravitational rectifier device that time has a “ band - gap ”; much like the semiconductor again ; where that time band - gap depends on the nano - feature &# 39 ; s “ gravitomagnetic energy ” or “ mass - energy ” plus “ electromagnetic energy ” relative to the merged head 402 . fig1 a and 14b illustrate current piezoelectric glide defect detection utilized on industrial hard disk certifiers and certifier missing pulse defect detection and correction algorithms ; and the detection of the mass spin - valve signal , labeled as ms signal , in comparison to the certifier missing pulse defect detection and correction algorithms ; on a nano - features disk prototype . fig1 a illustrates that the current piezoelectric glide defect detection utilized on industrial hard disk certifiers is unable to detect pit type defects while certifier missing pulse defect detection and correction algorithms are able to detect both type defects ( i . e ., pits and bumps ) fabricated on a 2400 oe 31 . 5 mil 95 mm mr disk using a fib . fig1 b illustrates a high degree of correlation between in the detection of the mass spin - valve signal , labeled as ms signal , and the certifier missing pulse defect detection and correction algorithms utilized by in industrial hard disk certifiers . fig1 a shows a photograph of a scratch type defect on the prototype hard disk &# 39 ; s surface and 15 b illustrates the typical mass - spin valve read back signal . fig1 a and 15b illustrate the application of the product / device for a scratch type defect on the disk &# 39 ; s surface . the mass spin - valve signal is labeled as non - contact ms - valve signal . the mass spin - valve signal exhibits magnetic transition pulses from the scratch defect &# 39 ; s edges only . fig1 a shows a photograph of a shallow pit type defect on the prototype hard disk &# 39 ; s surface and fig1 b illustrates the typical mass - spin valve read back signal . fig1 a and 16b illustrate the results from a shallow pit type defect on the disk surface . the read back signal exhibits mass spin - valve signal with no mr magnetic modulation signal present from the defect &# 39 ; s edges , but the characteristic polarity mass spin - valve signal of a pit . fig1 a shows a photograph of a short bump type defect on the prototype hard disk &# 39 ; s surface and fig1 b illustrates the typical mass - spin valve read back signal . fig1 a and 17b illustrate the results from a short bump type defect on the disk &# 39 ; s surface . the read back signal exhibits mass - spin valve with no mr magnetic modulation signal present from the defect &# 39 ; s edges , but the characteristic mass spin - valve signal of a bump . fig1 a illustrates a diagram of an atomic force microscope assembly . fig1 b is the afm profile of the calibration pit used to the exact dimensions of the calibration nano - pit in this product / device . atomic force microscopies ( afms ) are a family of instruments used for studying surface properties of materials from the atomic to the micron level . all afms contain the components illustrated in fig1 a illustrates the atomic force microscope ( afm ) probes the surface of a sample with a sharp tip , a couple of microns long and often less than 100 å in diameter . the tip is located at the free end of a cantilever that is 100 to 200 μm long . forces between the tip and the sample surface cause the cantilever to bend , or deflect . a detector measures the cantilever deflection as the tip is scanned over the sample , or the sample is scanned under the tip . the measured cantilever deflections allow a computer to generate a map of surface topography . afms can be used to study insulators and semiconductors as well as electrical conductors . several forces typically contribute to the deflection of an afm cantilever . the force most commonly associated with atomic force microscopy is an inter - atomic force called the van der waals force . fig1 b illustrates the 2 - d cross section of a 10 μm × 10 μm 200 nm deep nano - pit measured with an afm fig1 a illustrates a diagram of a magnetic force microscope cantilever , and fig1 b shows the mfm profile of the calibration pit used to determine the exact gravitomagnetic force magnitude of the calibration nano - pit in this product / device . magnetic force microscopy ( mfm ) provides a 3 - d profile of the spatial variation of magnetic forces on a sample surface . for mfm , the tip is coated with a ferromagnetic thin film . the system operates in non - contact mode , detecting changes in the resonant frequency of the cantilever induced by the magnetic field &# 39 ; s dependence on tip - to - sample separation . ( see fig1 a ) mfm can be used to image naturally occurring and deliberately written domain structures in magnetic materials . fig1 b illustrates the magnetic force microscope ( mfm ) 2 - d cross section used for a control measurement using a ˜ 200 nm deep ˜ 10 μm × 10 μm nano - pit in this product / device as shown . 1 . calibration disk standards for manufacturing purposes traceable to the national institute of standards and technology requirements . quality control for high density recording requires that the computer &# 39 ; s hard disk surface be free of defects larger than 1 μm × 1 μm in a real size or better . current methods for characterizing defects of this size are limited by slow metrology techniques such as atomic force microscopy ( afm ), the associated magnetic force microscopy ( mfm ), or faster techniques like piezoelectric ( pzt ) glide . another faster defect detection technique that uses spin stands such as magnetic certification testers that detect missing pulses at high frequency write and read rates ( i . e . phase metrics mg250 a type of hard disk certifier ). 3 . 5 μin stand and mass spin - valve time band - gap based clocks to set earth gravity standards for time 5 . teleportation devices using mass - spin valve gravity rectification that converts electromagnetism with mass - energy ; using quantum entanglement ; into electromagnetism ; and back into mass - energy ; so as to transport matter and energy to another distant location without alteration . while the invention has been described in connection with what are presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments , but rather as intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements which are included within the spirit and scope of the following claims : | 6 |
before any embodiments of the invention are explained in detail , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the following drawings . the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways . also , it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting . the use of “ including ,” “ comprising ,” or “ having ” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items . fig1 illustrates a perspective view of a lock assembly 4 that includes a latch apparatus or retractor assembly 6 . one embodiment of the retractor assembly 6 includes a retractor or retractor mechanism 8 retained in a retainer apparatus 10 . fig2 illustrates one embodiment of the retainer apparatus 10 for retaining the retractor mechanism 8 . as illustrated in fig2 , the retainer apparatus 10 includes a retainer clip having a back component 15 , a first 20 and a second 25 side component , and a first 30 and a second 35 front component . in one embodiment , the back component 15 , first 20 and second 25 side components , and first 30 and second 35 front components are machined - formed from a single metal plate ( e . g ., steel plate ). in an alternative embodiment , the components of the retainer apparatus 10 can be created separately and inter - connected using any suitable means ( e . g ., spot - welded , soldered , etc .) known to those in the art . as shown in fig2 , one embodiment of the back component 15 is a curvilinear - shaped metal plate . the curvilinear shape is designed to conform to the overall shape of the lock assembly 4 . in alternative embodiments , the back component 15 can include other shapes ( e . g ., bends , flat sides , etc .) suitable for the lock assembly 4 . another embodiment of the back component 15 includes a pair of posts 40 and 45 . as shown in fig2 and 3 , the posts 40 and 45 support the retractor mechanism springs 50 and 55 . one embodiment of the posts 40 and 45 are machined stamped or cut out from the back component 15 and angled in a direction inwardly with respect to or from the back component 15 . in another embodiment , the posts 40 and 45 can be separate components attached to the back component 15 using other suitable means ( e . g ., spot - welded ) known to those in the art . in yet another embodiment , the posts 40 and 45 can be stamped or cut out from a portion of the back component 15 and each side component 20 and 25 . the back component 15 also includes a catch spring base 60 . the catch spring base 60 supports a catch spring biased against a catch of the retractor mechanism 8 ( discussed later ). the first 20 and second 25 sides form the bearing surfaces for sliding the retractor mechanism 8 in a linear direction between an extended and a retracted position . as shown in fig2 , the first 20 and second 25 side components have one end connected to each end of the back component 15 . one embodiment of side components 20 and 25 are flat plates to support the linear sliding of the retained retractor mechanism 8 . of course , the shape of the side components 20 and 25 can vary . the first 20 and the second 25 side components are designed to have some elasticity to enable installation of the retractor mechanism 8 . as shown in fig2 and 3 , the first 30 and second 35 front components constrain the retractor mechanism 8 against the back component 15 and the bias of the springs 50 and 55 . fig2 shows one embodiment of the first 30 and the second 35 front components angled inward with respect to the ends of the first 20 and second 25 side components . the inward - angled front components 30 and 35 form a narrowed gap 65 . the width of the gap 65 is designed to constrain the retractor mechanism 8 , yet allow the extension and retraction of a latch or bolt 70 ( fig1 ) of the retractor mechanism 8 . the first 30 and second 35 front components are also designed with some flexibility for installing the retractor mechanism 8 . fig3 shows a perspective view of the retractor mechanism 8 installed in the retainer apparatus 10 . the retractor mechanism 8 slides along the side components 20 and 25 to extend and retract the bolt 70 ( fig1 ). as shown in fig3 , one embodiment of the retractor - mechanism 8 includes a first 105 and a second carrier 110 , a pair of retractor bars 115 and 120 , and the pair of springs 50 and 55 . the retractor bars 115 and 120 include a pair of lips 125 and 130 that engage the bolt 70 . drive shafts 135 and 140 ( fig1 ) include cams ( not shown ) designed to engage the first 105 and second 110 carriers . when rotating drive shaft 135 to retract the bolt 70 , the cams of the drive shaft 135 engages the first carrier 105 . the rotational force of the drive shaft 135 against the carrier 105 causes the retractor mechanism 8 to slide along the side components 20 and 25 against the bias of the springs 50 and 55 . under the force of the drive shafts 135 and 140 , the retractor mechanism 8 retracts the bolt 70 . upon release of the rotational force on the drive shaft 135 and 140 , the springs 50 and 55 bias the retractor mechanism 8 forward toward its original position . thereby , the retractor mechanism 8 slides to extend the bolt 70 . the drive shaft 140 engages the carrier 110 in a similar manner as the drive shaft 135 . as shown in fig3 , another embodiment of the retractor mechanism 8 further includes a catch 141 . the catch 141 engages a spring 145 compressed against the catch spring base 60 of the back component 15 , thereby biasing the catch 141 toward an extended position . the catch 141 is operable in holding a plunger bar ( not shown ) in a locked position . fig4 illustrates a perspective view of a chassis 200 in support of the retractor mechanism 8 and retainer apparatus 10 . in one embodiment , the chassis 200 includes a first 205 and a second 210 side support for the retainer apparatus 10 . as shown in fig2 and 4 , the retainer apparatus 10 includes a plurality of prongs 240 for receiving the first 205 and second 210 side supports of the chassis 200 . the prongs 240 can be one or more extensions at each end of a component and is not limiting on the invention . in one embodiment , the back component 15 includes two pairs of back prongs 240 b and 240 d that extend past the first 20 and second 25 side components ( fig3 ). each pair of back prongs 240 b and 240 d extends parallel with the ends of the back component 15 . in addition , one embodiment of the front components 30 and 35 include front prongs 240 a ( fig1 ) and 240 c that extend outward in a similar fashion past the first 20 and second 25 side plates . similar to prongs 240 b and 240 d in relation to the back 15 , the front prongs 240 a and 240 c extend parallel with each end of the first 30 and the second 35 front plates . the back prongs 240 b and 240 d and the front prongs 240 a and 240 d are located at opposite ends of the first 20 and second 25 side components and angled inward to receive the first 205 and second 210 side supports of the chassis 200 . one embodiment of the prongs 240 a – d are machine stamped or cutout from the first 20 and second 25 side components . of course , the prongs 240 a – d can be separate components attached using other suitable means ( e . g ., spot - welded , soldered , etc .) known to those in the art . as shown in fig4 , the first 205 and second 210 side supports of the chassis 200 include reliefs 250 to receive the prongs 240 a – d of the retainer apparatus 10 . one embodiment of a relief 250 is a beveled edge at an angle compatible with the angle of the prongs 240 a – d . of course , other shapes ( e . g ., channels ) for a relief 250 in the side supports 205 and 210 of the chassis 200 can be used . as shown in fig2 – 4 , the retainer apparatus 10 allows the retractor mechanism 8 to be assembled individually from the build - up of the chassis 200 that supports the lock assembly 4 . fig2 illustrates one embodiment of the retainer apparatus 10 that is formed from machine pressing a metal plate . an operator pre - assembles the retractor assembly 6 by flexing the side components 20 and 25 , then inserting the retractor mechanism 8 inside the retainer apparatus 10 . upon unflexing the side components 20 and 25 , the retractor mechanism is constrained . once the retractor assembly 6 is pre - assembled , the retractor assembly 6 can be inserted or connected to the chassis 200 as shown in fig1 and 4 . in one embodiment , the chassis 200 is pre - assembled individually from the retractor assembly 6 . upon individual assembly of the retractor assembly 6 and the chassis 200 , an operator can insert or slide the assembled retractor apparatus 6 , as shown by arrow 255 in fig4 , into an aperture 258 formed by the assembled chassis 200 . as described above , the prongs 240 a – d secure the retractor assembly 6 to the chassis 200 . to disassemble the lock assembly 4 , the retractor assembly 6 can be removed from the chassis 200 without disassembling the retractor mechanism 8 and / or chassis 200 similar to the method for assembly described above . in one embodiment , an operator can slidingly remove the retractor assembly 6 from the reliefs 250 of the chassis 200 without disassembling the chassis 200 . thereby , the design of the retractor mechanism 8 and retainer apparatus 10 of the invention is more versatile and less cumbersome to assemble and / or disassemble . in another embodiment , the retractor assembly 6 can be slid along the reliefs 250 when assembling the chassis 200 of the lock assembly 4 . fig1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a lock assembly 4 with the retractor assembly 6 interconnected through an aperture 258 with an assembled chassis 200 . the chassis 200 includes a first 260 and a second 265 hub having openings for receiving the drive shafts 135 and 140 . the exemplary first hub 260 and second 265 hubs are mounted using screws 270 . of course , other suitable connection means ( e . g ., spot - weld , cast , etc .) known in the art can be used . one embodiment of the chassis 200 is comprised of cast metal . of course , the chassis 200 can be comprised of cast metal and / or one or more other suitable materials ( e . g ., forged metal , plastic ) known in the art of lock assemblies . thus , the invention provides , among other things , a retractor assembly having a retractor mechanism retained in a retainer apparatus for connection to a chassis of a lock assembly . various features and advantages of the invention are set forth in the following claims . | 8 |
composite - modified , double - base propellants and composite propellants have enhanced burning rate when heat - expandable beads of discrete particles of thermoplastic styrene or its copolymers which contain about 5 - 8 % of an expanding agent or blowing agent , e . g ., pentane , celogen ot , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- oxybis ( benzenesulfonyl hydrazide ) etc ., are incorporated into the matrix of the propellant . bead expansion or rupture when exposed to the flame front of burning propellant brings about disruption of the propellant &# 39 ; s surface , and the flame can penetrate into the propellant . this penetration brings about a major increase in burning rate . the incorporation of mechanical burning rate augmenters into ultrahigh burning rate solid propellants is presently considered to be essential to achieve the burning rate regimes of current interest for use in advanced interceptors . a combination of mechanical and chemical rate accelerators results in the following beneficial effects over that of chemical accelerators alone : a . the combination produces a higher burning rate than can be achieved using either accelerator by itself ; b . the combination results in a considerable reduction in the amount of chemical accelerator required to obtain a particular burning rate ; c . any approach that reduces the amount of chemical accelerator that is needed means a major reduction in the cost of the propellant ; d . the problems associated with migration of the liquid chemical accelerator to the surface of the propellant and into the liner - barrier - insulation is reduced ; e . the loss of chemical accelerator because of its volatility is also reduced . the carboranyl - catalyzed , hydroxyl - terminated polybutadiene - based propellant , illustrated in table i , requires about 9 % carborane to produce the ultrahigh - burning rates for advanced interceptors ( 9 - 10 ips @ 2000 psi .) whereas , the carboranyl - catalyzed , composite - modified double - base propellant , illustrated in table ii , containing 2 . 9 % aluminum whiskers , only needs 4 . 7 % carboranylmethyl propionate to produce the same burning rate . since the present price of carborane ranges between $ 1200 -$ 600 per pound , it is understandable why the composite - modified , double - base propellants were selected for further exploitation . since there is a larger production capacity for the manufacture of composite propellants , it is desirable to take advantage of this factor . the incorporation of heat - expandable beads can make this a reality . table i and ii provides a comparison of the composition and characteristics of composite and composite - modified , double - base propellants with and without heat - expandable beads . table i______________________________________composition and characteristics of acomposite propellant without and withheat - expandable beads propellant a b______________________________________compositionaluminum powder ( alcoa 5341 ) 12 . 0 12 . 0ammonium perchlorate ( 70 μm ) 73 . 0 73 . 0 . sub .-- n - hexylcarborane 9 . 0 6 . 0hydroxyl - terminated polybutadiene 6 . 0 6 . 0prepolymertrimethylolpropane ( additive ) 0 . 06 0 . 06ba - 114 * ( additive ) 0 . 3 0 . 3isophorone diisocyanate ( additive ) 0 . 7 0 . 7heat - expandable beads 0 . 0 3 . 0mechanical propertiestensile strength [ psi ] 260 350strain @ max . stress [%] 17 45modulus [ psi ] 1700 1200density [ lb / in . sup . 3 ] 0 . 062 0 . 062ballistic propertiesstrand burning rate [ r . sub . 2000 ] [ ips ] 9 . 00 12 . 2______________________________________ * reaction product of 12hydroxystearic acid and tris [ 2methylaziridinyl ] phosphine oxide table ii______________________________________composition and characteristics of acomposite - modified , double - basepropellant without and withheat - expandable beads propellantcomposition a b c______________________________________casting powdernitrocellulose 16 . 6 16 . 6 16 . 6nitroglycerin 6 . 1 6 . 1 6 . 1carboranylmethyl 4 . 7 4 . 7 3 . 7propionateammonium perchlorate 32 . 8 32 . 8 32 . 8 ( 1 . 0 μm ) aluminum powder 7 . 2 7 . 2 7 . 2aluminum whiskers 2 . 9 0 . 0 0 . 0heat - expandable beads 0 . 0 2 . 9 3 . 9resorcinol 0 . 7 0 . 7 0 . 72 - nitrodiphenylamine 1 . 1 1 . 1 1 . 1casting solventnitroglycerin 25 . 0 25 . 0 25 . 0triacetin 2 . 5 2 . 5 2 . 52 - nitrodiphenylamine 0 . 3 0 . 3 0 . 3hexane diisocyanate 0 . 14 0 . 14 0 . 14triphenylbismuthine 0 . 02 0 . 02 0 . 02mechanical propertiestensile strength [ psi ] 325 - 416 400 - 425 400 - 420strain @ max . stress [%] 35 - 54 40 - 50 45 - 55modulus [ psi ] 900 - 1000 1000 - 1120 1000 - 1500ballistic propertiesstrand burning rate 10 . 1 11 . 7 12 . 4 [ r . sub . 2000 ] [ ips ] ______________________________________ the data relating to mechanical properties and ballistic properties of the propellants in tables i and table ii indicate that the incorporation of heat - expandable beads into propellants results in a substantial increase in the burning rates while achieving a substantial savings in the carborane catalyst required to obtain a desired level of burning rate for advanced interceptors . the mechanical properties as a result of changes in the formulations are enhanced or retained at a level attractive for use in advanced interceptors . the term , expandable bead , is applied to discrete particles of thermoplastic styrene or its copolymers which contain 5 - 8 % by weight of an expanding agent . the capacity to expand to a broad range of densities make expandable polystyrene unique among thermoplastics . examples of styrene and its copolymers which can be employed with the expanding agent or blowing agent to form discrete thermoplastic particles or beads are : copolymers of styrene and methyl methacrylate , copolymers of styrene and vinyl chloride , and copolymers of styrene and vinyl acetate . these expandable beads have a bulk density of 38 - 40 pounds per cubic foot ( pcf ). they are expandable to a pre - expanded end product density of 1 . 0 - 4 . 5 pcf . the beads can be expanded in a stream or vacuum pre - expander . the steam pre - expander consists of an upright , cylindrical , insulated tank with a motor - driven vertical shaft to which several horizontal bars have been attached . stationary horizontal bars are mounted slightly off center across the tank so that they do not interfere with the movement of the moving bars . the procedure for preparing the expandable beads is as follows : the raw materials , styrene and pentane , are fed into the tank through the side at or near the bottom . steam is injected into the tank through a separate port . as the beads are expanded , they float to the top of pre - expander , and overflow into the discharge chute . stirring is necessary during expansion to prevent agglomeration of the beads to occur . while steam expansion is the most efficient , the product requires aging for 6 - 12 hours , depending upon density . minimum density for a single expansion is 0 . 95 pcf . lower densities can be achieved by a second expansion at a substantially lower rate . vacuum pre - expansion yields a dry , stable product having densities as low as 0 . 80 pcf . the density of the pre - expanded beads is controlled by preheat time , jacket temperature , degree of vacuum time . encapsulation of celogen ot in a polystyrene matrix is carried out in the equivalent of a sweetie barrel in which styrene and celogen ot are tumbled together . an organic peroxide , such as , t - butyl peroxide is used to catalyze the polymerization of the styrene and bead formation . | 8 |
in the drawings , elements that are identical or have the same function are identified by the same reference numerals . in fig1 a and 1 b , a first preferred feature of a heat sink 10 can be seen in perspective ( fig1 a ) and in side view ( fig1 b ). an electrical component 42 mounted on a circuit board 40 is connected to the heat sink 10 for heat dissipation . in the exemplary embodiment shown , a first heat sink portion 12 is embodied as a spring , in that the first heat sink portion 12 is bent at an angle transversely , in particular vertically , from a second heat sink portion 14 . the second heat sink portion 14 is embodied in platelike form and is affixed to the circuit board 40 with securing elements 16 . advantageously , the second heat sink portion 14 can be secured to the circuit board 40 by means of a positive - engagement connection , for instance in this case with so - called crimped feet as securing elements 16 , which engage corresponding recesses , not identified by reference numeral , in the circuit board 40 . the circuit board 40 can be connected for instance to a further circuit , not shown , or may be a portion of a larger circuit board . electrical contacts of the component 42 with the circuit board 40 are extended through suitable openings 36 in the second heat sink portion 14 . for heat dissipation , the component 42 is mechanically connected to the first heat sink portion 12 . the component 42 is spaced apart somewhat from the main face of the second heat sink portion 14 and is seated on a hump 32 of the second heat sink portion 14 . the first heat sink portion 12 is embodied in hooplike form and has a first leg 18 and a second leg 22 , parallel to the first , which are connected by a connecting piece 26 . a contact face 20 between the heat sink 10 and the component 42 that acts in a targeted way as a heat diversion face , is provided in the first heat sink portion 12 . the first heat sink portion 12 includes main faces , not identified by reference numeral , of the component 42 , and these faces are contacted over a large area by the legs 18 , 22 , in that with a clamping force , the two legs 18 , 22 contact the component 42 disposed in the hollow space 28 between the legs 18 , 22 . accordingly , the contact face 20 is disposed on an inner side of the first leg 18 . there , the leg 18 rests over a large area on the component 42 . the second leg 22 rests with its rounded end piece 24 on the opposite side and presses the component against the first leg 18 . the component 42 can be guided and optionally even held by means of guide elements 30 , which are disposed on the heat sink portion 12 and protrude transversely from it . the guide elements 30 are disposed laterally on the first leg 18 , engage side faces of the component 42 , and serve to guide the component 42 . the component 42 may for instance be a capacitor . in a variant , not shown , further components , such as field effect transistors , can be disposed on , in particular screwed to , the outer side of the leg 18 and / or 22 of the first heat sink portion 12 . the foregoing relates to the preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention , it being understood that other variants and embodiments thereof are possible within the spirit and scope of the invention , the latter being defined by the appended claims . fig2 a and 2 b show an alternative embodiment in perspective ( fig2 a ) and in a side view ( fig2 b ), in which a contact face 20 intended for targeted heat dissipation is disposed on an outer side of one leg 22 of a heat sink 10 . an electrical component 42 mounted on a circuit board 40 is connected for heat dissipation to the heat sink 10 . a first heat sink portion 12 is embodied as a spring , in that the first heat sink portion 12 is bent at an angle transversely , in particular vertically , from a second heat sink portion 14 . the second heat sink portion 14 is embodied in platelike form and is affixed to the circuit board 40 with securing elements 16 . advantageously , the second heat sink portion 14 can be secured to the circuit board 40 by means of a positive - engagement connection , for instance in this case with so - called crimped feet as securing elements 16 , which engage corresponding recesses , not identified by reference numeral , in the circuit board 40 . the circuit board 40 can be connected for instance to a further circuit , not shown , or may be a portion of a larger circuit board . in the exemplary embodiment shown , in the mounted state , the component 42 can be clamped between the contact face 20 on the outer side of one of the legs 18 , 22 and a further clamping portion 34 . the clamping portion 34 can be stamped out of the second heat sink portion 14 and curved accordingly . the first heat sink portion 12 is designed such that the two legs 18 , 22 are pressed against one another , while the legs 18 , 22 seek to move apart from one another . as a result , a spring force is exerted against the component 42 , which the clamping portion 34 counteracts and thus presses the component 42 firmly against the outer side of the second leg 22 . as a result of the intimate two - dimensional contact , a good heat transfer from the component 42 to the leg 22 and thus into the heat sink portion 12 can be accomplished . here as well , the component 42 is held or guided on the first heat sink portion 12 by means of guide elements 30 . the guide elements 30 are disposed laterally on the first leg 18 , are angled transversely to it , and engage side faces of the component 42 . the component 42 may for instance be a capacitor . in a variant , not shown , further components , such as field effect transistors , can be disposed on , in particular screwed to , the outer side of the leg 18 and / or 22 of the first heat sink portion 12 . the foregoing relates to the preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention , it being understood that other variants and embodiments thereof are possible within the spirit and scope of the invention , the latter being defined by the appended claims . | 7 |
with reference now to the figures , and in particular to fig1 a , a routing flow of outgoing internet protocol ( ip ) packet calls that are to be wiretapped in accordance with the method and system described herein is depicted . a monitored voice over internet protocol ( voip ) unit 102 ( e . g ., telephone , personal digital assistant — pda , computer , etc .) sends a voip packet ( e . g ., containing a header and voice - data ) is sent to a bearer signal switch 104 , which is preferably compliant with signaling system no . 7 ( ss7 ), as defined by international telegraph and telephone consultative committee ( ccitt ), and incorporated by reference herein in its entirety . bearer signal switch 104 sends the voip packet to a digital - to - analog converter ( dac ) 106 , which converts the voip packet into an analog signal that is transmittable across a standard public switched telephone network ( pstn ), including an analog - switched plain old telephone system ( pots ). the analog signal is then directed to a pots switch 108 , which has associated with it the technology required to perform a wiretap ( with listening and recording capability ) of calls that are routed through pots switch 108 . in one embodiment , bearer signal switch 104 is directed to send the voip packet ( and its analog signal descendent ) to pots switch 108 by an application program interface ( api ) overhead program , such as a parlay api from the parlay group . such an api allows a third - party service to control operation of bearer signal switch 104 , including the routing of calls from a telephone that is under a court order to be wiretapped . that is , this api directs bearer signal switch 104 to examine the header of the voip packet to determine what ip address sent the voip packet , and to determine from a lookup table which telephone number is associated with this ip address . if the telephone number matches one of the telephone numbers whose calls are to be wiretapped , then the api directs the bearer signal switch 104 to redirect the voip packet to the pots switch 108 to be wiretapped . if the analog signal is being sent to a pots analog telephone 110 , then the analog signal ( with analog voice information ) is sent directly to analog unit ( e . g ., telephone ) 110 . if pots switch 108 determines that the call is being sent to another voip unit 114 ( telephone , pda , etc . ), then the analog signal must first be converted back into a voip packet by an analog - to - digital converter ( adc ) 112 . referring now to fig1 b , a routing flow of calls incoming to voip unit 102 is depicted . if the call originates from analog unit 110 , then the incoming call signal is routed to a standard pots switch 105 , which is under the ( at least partial ) control of software such as the parlay api described above , such that the incoming call is redirected to the pots switch 108 that has the wiretapping capability . after being monitored / recorded at pots switch 108 , the call continues as an analog signal to an adc 112 ( which may be the same or different from adc 112 shown in fig1 a ), where it is converted into a voip packet for receipt by the receiving voip unit 102 . if the incoming call is from voip unit 114 , then the voip packet is sent to a bearer signal switch 107 ( which is preferably ss7 compliant , and may be the same or different from bearer signal switch 104 described in fig1 a ). bearer signal switch 107 is under ( at least partial ) control of an api as described above for bearer signal switch 104 , such that the voip packet is redirected to the pots switch 108 that can wiretap the call ( after being converted into an analog signal at a dac 109 , which may be the same or different from dac 106 described in fig1 a ). the analog signal is then sent to an adc 113 ( which may be the same or different from adc 112 describe in fig1 a ), and voip unit 102 receives the voip packet . note that the described “ incoming call ” may either be a newly initiated call from a third party unit ( telephone ), or may simply be a reply signal ( under a full duplex system ) from a call that was initiated by voip unit 102 . with reference now to fig2 , another flow diagram 200 as used in the present intention is presented . assume that session initiation protocol ( sip ) client 202 is a voip telephone or similar type unit that is the subject of a court - ordered wiretap . being a sip device , sip client 202 uses the basic format of rfc 2822 , as published by the network working group in april 2001 , and which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety . sip messages travel as requests from sip client 202 to sip logical server 204 , or as responses from sip logical server 204 to sip client 202 . both request and response messages include a control signal ( information that includes a method name , address and protocol version , one or more header fields that describe how a message packet is to be routed ) and a bearer signal ( message body ). when an outgoing call is made from sip client 202 , the control signal for the call is sent from sip logical server 204 to a telco “ softswitch ” 206 . telco softswitch 206 causes voip packets ( bearer signal ) from sip client 202 to be converted into analog form ( dac voip packets 210 ), which are sent to an ss7 telco circuit switch 208 , which includes analog wiretapping equipment . while tapping the call , ss7 telco circuit switch 208 forwards the analog bearer signal to the third party unit 212 , which may be an analog , digital , or voip telephone as described above in fig1 a - b . return ( or initial ) calls from third party unit 212 are converted back into digital voip format ( if necessary ) as indicated by adc voip packets 214 . referring now to fig3 , a flowchart of the steps described in fig1 - 2 is presented . after initiator block 302 , a ss7 switch receives a telephone call from or to a voip address that corresponds with a telephone number that is under a court - order to have calls wiretapped ( block 304 ). if in voip format ( either incoming or outgoing ), the call is converted into analog form ( block 306 ), in order to be easily monitored and recorded . this analog - converted call is redirected to an analog switching location that has wiretapping ( monitoring and recording ) ability ( block 308 ), where such activities occur ( block 310 ). after being monitored / recorded , if the call is being sent to a voip unit ( query block 312 ), it must be re - converted back into the voip format ( block 314 ) before being transmitted to the receiver ( block 316 ). if the call if finished ( query block 318 ), the process ends at terminator block 320 . otherwise , any call ( to or from the phone that is under court - ordered surveillance ) if converted to analog form ( block 322 ) if necessary , and the process continues at block 308 in an iterative fashion . with reference now to fig4 , there is depicted a block diagram of an exemplary client computer 402 , which may be utilized as telco softswitch 206 described above . client computer 402 includes a processor unit 404 that is coupled to a system bus 406 . a video adapter 408 , which drives / supports a display 410 , is also coupled to system bus 406 . system bus 406 is coupled via a bus bridge 412 to an input / output ( i / o ) bus 414 . an i / o interface 416 is coupled to i / o bus 414 . i / o interface 416 affords communication with various i / o devices , including a keyboard 418 , a mouse 420 , a compact disk - read only memory ( cd - rom ) drive 422 , a floppy disk drive 424 , and a flash drive memory 426 . the format of the ports connected to i / o interface 416 may be any known to those skilled in the art of computer architecture , including but not limited to universal serial bus ( usb ) ports . client computer 402 is able to communicate with a service provider server 502 via a network 428 using a network interface 430 , which is coupled to system bus 406 . network 428 may be an external network such as the internet , or an internal network such as an ethernet or a virtual private network ( vpn ). using network 428 , client computer 402 is able to use the present invention to access service provider server 502 . a hard drive interface 432 is also coupled to system bus 406 . hard drive interface 432 interfaces with a hard drive 434 . in a preferred embodiment , hard drive 434 populates a system memory 436 , which is also coupled to system bus 406 . data that populates system memory 436 includes client computer 402 &# 39 ; s operating system ( os ) 438 and application programs 444 . os 438 includes a shell 440 , for providing transparent user access to resources such as application programs 444 . generally , shell 440 is a program that provides an interpreter and an interface between the user and the operating system . more specifically , shell 440 executes commands that are entered into a command line user interface or from a file . thus , shell 440 ( as it is called in unix ®), also called a command processor in windows ®, is generally the highest level of the operating system software hierarchy and serves as a command interpreter . the shell provides a system prompt , interprets commands entered by keyboard , mouse , or other user input media , and sends the interpreted command ( s ) to the appropriate lower levels of the operating system ( e . g ., a kernel 442 ) for processing . note that while shell 440 is a text - based , line - oriented user interface , the present invention will equally well support other user interface modes , such as graphical , voice , gestural , etc . as depicted , os 438 also includes kernel 442 , which includes lower levels of functionality for os 438 , including providing essential services required by other parts of os 438 and application programs 444 , including memory management , process and task management , disk management , and mouse and keyboard management . application programs 444 include a browser 446 . browser 446 includes program modules and instructions enabling a world wide web ( www ) client ( i . e ., client computer 402 ) to send and receive network messages to the internet using hypertext transfer protocol ( http ) messaging , thus enabling communication with service provider server 502 . application programs 444 in client computer 402 &# 39 ; s system memory also include a voip wiretap software ( vws ) 448 . vws 448 includes code for implementing the processes described in fig1 - 3 . in one embodiment , client computer 402 is able to download vws 448 from service provider server 502 . the hardware elements depicted in client computer 402 are not intended to be exhaustive , but rather are representative to highlight essential components required by the present invention . for instance , client computer 402 may include alternate memory storage devices such as magnetic cassettes , digital versatile disks ( dvds ), bernoulli cartridges , and the like . these and other variations are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the present invention . as noted above , vws 448 can be downloaded to client computer 402 from service provider server 502 , shown in exemplary form in fig5 . service provider server 502 includes a processor unit 504 that is coupled to a system bus 506 . a video adapter 508 is also coupled to system bus 506 . video adapter 508 drives / supports a display 510 . system bus 506 is coupled via a bus bridge 512 to an input / output ( i / o ) bus 514 . an i / o interface 516 is coupled to i / o bus 514 . i / o interface 516 affords communication with various i / o devices , including a keyboard 518 , a mouse 520 , a compact disk - read only memory ( cd - rom ) drive 522 , a floppy disk drive 524 , and a flash drive memory 526 . the format of the ports connected to i / o interface 516 may be any known to those skilled in the art of computer architecture , including but not limited to universal serial bus ( usb ) ports . service provider server 502 is able to communicate with client computer 402 via network 428 using a network interface 530 , which is coupled to system bus 506 . access to network 428 allows service provider server 502 to execute and / or download vws 448 to client computer 402 . system bus 506 is also coupled to a hard drive interface 532 , which interfaces with a hard drive 534 . in a preferred embodiment , hard drive 534 populates a system memory 536 , which is also coupled to system bus 506 . data that populates system memory 536 includes service provider server 502 &# 39 ; s operating system 538 , which includes a shell 540 and a kernel 542 . shell 540 is incorporated in a higher level operating system layer and utilized for providing transparent user access to resources such as application programs 544 , which include a browser 546 , and a copy of vws 448 described above , which can be deployed to client computer 402 . the hardware elements depicted in service provider server 502 are not intended to be exhaustive , but rather are representative to highlight essential components required by the present invention . for instance , service provider server 502 may include alternate memory storage devices such as flash drives , magnetic cassettes , digital versatile disks ( dvds ), bernoulli cartridges , and the like . these and other variations are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the present invention . note further that , in a preferred embodiment of the present invention , service provider server 502 performs all of the functions associated with the present invention ( including execution of vws 448 ), thus freeing client computer 402 from using its resources . it should be understood that at least some aspects of the present invention may alternatively be implemented in a computer - useable medium that contains a program product . programs defining functions on the present invention can be delivered to a data storage system or a computer system via a variety of signal - bearing media , which include , without limitation , non - writable storage media ( e . g ., cd - rom ), writable storage media ( e . g ., hard disk drive , read / write cd rom , optical media ), system memory such as but not limited to random access memory ( ram ), and communication media , such as computer and telephone networks including ethernet , the internet , wireless networks , and like network systems . it should be understood , therefore , that such signal - bearing media when carrying or encoding computer readable instructions that direct method functions in the present invention , represent alternative embodiments of the present invention . further , it is understood that the present invention may be implemented by a system having means in the form of hardware , software , or a combination of software and hardware as described herein or their equivalent . thus , the method described herein , and in particular as shown and described in fig1 - 3 , can be deployed as a process software from service provider server 502 ( shown in fig5 ) to client computer 402 ( shown in fig4 ). referring then to fig6 , step 600 begins the deployment of the process software . the first thing is to determine if there are any programs that will reside on a server or servers when the process software is executed ( query block 602 ). if this is the case , then the servers that will contain the executables are identified ( block 604 ). the process software for the server or servers is transferred directly to the servers &# 39 ; storage via file transfer protocol ( ftp ) or some other protocol or by copying though the use of a shared file system ( block 606 ). the process software is then installed on the servers ( block 608 ). next , a determination is made on whether the process software is to be deployed by having users access the process software on a server or servers ( query block 610 ). if the users are to access the process software on servers , then the server addresses that will store the process software are identified ( block 612 ). a determination is made if a proxy server is to be built ( query block 614 ) to store the process software . a proxy server is a server that sits between a client application , such as a web browser , and a real server . it intercepts all requests to the real server to see if it can fulfill the requests itself . if not , it forwards the request to the real server . the two primary benefits of a proxy server are to improve performance and to filter requests . if a proxy server is required , then the proxy server is installed ( block 616 ). the process software is sent to the servers either via a protocol such as ftp or it is copied directly from the source files to the server files via file sharing ( block 618 ). another embodiment would be to send a transaction to the servers that contained the process software and have the server process the transaction , then receive and copy the process software to the server &# 39 ; s file system . once the process software is stored at the servers , the users , via their client computers , then access the process software on the servers and copy to their client computers file systems ( block 620 ). another embodiment is to have the servers automatically copy the process software to each client and then run the installation program for the process software at each client computer . the user executes the program that installs the process software on his client computer ( block 622 ) then exits the process ( terminator block 624 ). in query step 626 , a determination is made whether the process software is to be deployed by sending the process software to users via e - mail . the set of users where the process software will be deployed are identified together with the addresses of the user client computers ( block 628 ). the process software is sent via e - mail to each of the users &# 39 ; client computers ( block 630 ). the users then receive the e - mail ( block 632 ) and then detach the process software from the e - mail to a directory on their client computers ( block 634 ). the user executes the program that installs the process software on his client computer ( block 622 ) then exits the process ( terminator block 624 ). lastly a determination is made on whether to the process software will be sent directly to user directories on their client computers ( query block 636 ). if so , the user directories are identified ( block 638 ). the process software is transferred directly to the user &# 39 ; s client computer directory ( block 640 ). this can be done in several ways such as , but not limited to , sharing of the file system directories and then copying from the sender &# 39 ; s file system to the recipient user &# 39 ; s file system or alternatively using a transfer protocol such as file transfer protocol ( ftp ). the users access the directories on their client file systems in preparation for installing the process software ( block 642 ). the user executes the program that installs the process software on his client computer ( block 622 ) and then exits the process ( terminator block 624 ). the present software can be deployed to third parties as part of a service wherein a third party vpn service is offered as a secure deployment vehicle or wherein a vpn is built on - demand as required for a specific deployment . a virtual private network ( vpn ) is any combination of technologies that can be used to secure a connection through an otherwise unsecured or untrusted network . vpns improve security and reduce operational costs . the vpn makes use of a public network , usually the internet , to connect remote sites or users together . instead of using a dedicated , real - world connection such as leased line , the vpn uses “ virtual ” connections routed through the internet from the company &# 39 ; s private network to the remote site or employee . access to the software via a vpn can be provided as a service by specifically constructing the vpn for purposes of delivery or execution of the process software ( i . e . the software resides elsewhere ) wherein the lifetime of the vpn is limited to a given period of time or a given number of deployments based on an amount paid . the process software may be deployed , accessed and executed through either a remote - access or a site - to - site vpn . when using the remote - access vpns the process software is deployed , accessed and executed via the secure , encrypted connections between a company &# 39 ; s private network and remote users through a third - party service provider . the enterprise service provider ( esp ) sets a network access server ( nas ) and provides the remote users with desktop client software for their computers . the telecommuters can then dial a toll - bee number or attach directly via a cable or dsl modem to reach the nas and use their vpn client software to access the corporate network and to access , download and execute the process software . when using the site - to - site vpn , the process software is deployed , accessed and executed through the use of dedicated equipment and large - scale encryption that are used to connect a company &# 39 ; s multiple fixed sites over a public network such as the internet . the process software is transported over the vpn via tunneling which is the process of placing an entire packet within another packet and sending it over a network . the protocol of the outer packet is understood by the network and both points , called tunnel interfaces , where the packet enters and exits the network . the process for such vpn deployment is described in fig7 . initiator block 702 begins the virtual private network ( vpn ) process . a determination is made to see if a vpn for remote access is required ( query block 704 ). if it is not required , then proceed to query block 706 . if it is required , then determine if the remote access vpn exists ( query block 708 ). if a vpn does exist , then proceed to block 710 . otherwise identify a third party provider that will provide the secure , encrypted connections between the company &# 39 ; s private network and the company &# 39 ; s remote users ( block 712 ). the company &# 39 ; s remote users are identified ( block 714 ). the third party provider then sets up a network access server ( nas ) ( block 716 ) that allows the remote users to dial a toll free number or attach directly via a broadband modem to access , download and install the desktop client software for the remote - access vpn ( block 718 ). after the remote access vpn has been built or if it has been previously installed , the remote users can access the process software by dialing into the nas or attaching directly via a cable or dsl modem into the nas ( block 710 ). this allows entry into the corporate network where the process software is accessed ( block 720 ). the process software is transported to the remote user &# 39 ; s desktop over the network via tunneling . that is , the process software is divided into packets and each packet including the data and protocol is placed within another packet ( block 722 ). when the process software arrives at the remote user &# 39 ; s desktop , it is removed from the packets , reconstituted and then is executed on the remote user &# 39 ; s desktop ( block 724 ). a determination is then made to see if a vpn for site to site access is required ( query block 706 ). if it is not required , then proceed to exit the process ( terminator block 726 ). otherwise , determine if the site to site vpn exists ( query block 728 ). if it does exist , then proceed to block 730 . otherwise , install the dedicated equipment required to establish a site to site vpn ( block 738 ). then build the large scale encryption into the vpn ( block 740 ). after the site to site vpn has been built or if it had been previously established , the users access the process software via the vpn ( block 730 ). the process software is transported to the site users over the network via tunneling ( block 732 ). that is the process software is divided into packets and each packet including the data and protocol is placed within another packet ( block 734 ). when the process software arrives at the remote user &# 39 ; s desktop , it is removed from the packets , reconstituted and is executed on the site user &# 39 ; s desktop ( block 736 ). the process then ends at terminator block 726 . the process software which consists of code for implementing the process described herein may be integrated into a client , server and network environment by providing for the process software to coexist with applications , operating systems and network operating systems software and then installing the process software on the clients and servers in the environment where the process software will function . the first step is to identify any software on the clients and servers including the network operating system where the process software will be deployed that are required by the process software or that work in conjunction with the process software . this includes the network operating system that is software that enhances a basic operating system by adding networking features . next , the software applications and version numbers will be identified and compared to the list of software applications and version numbers that have been tested to work with the process software . those software applications that are missing or that do not match the correct version will be upgraded with the correct version numbers . program instructions that pass parameters from the process software to the software applications will be checked to ensure the parameter lists matches the parameter lists required by the process software . conversely parameters passed by the software applications to the process software will be checked to ensure the parameters match the parameters required by the process software . the client and server operating systems including the network operating systems will be identified and compared to the list of operating systems , version numbers and network software that have been tested to work with the process software . those operating systems , version numbers and network software that do not match the list of tested operating systems and version numbers will be upgraded on the clients and servers to the required level . after ensuring that the software , where the process software is to be deployed , is at the correct version level that has been tested to work with the process software , the integration is completed by installing the process software on the clients and servers . for a high - level description of this process , reference is now made to fig8 . initiator block 802 begins the integration of the process software . the first tiling is to determine if there are any process software programs that will execute on a server or servers ( block 804 ). if this is not the case , then integration proceeds to query block 806 . if this is the case , then the server addresses are identified ( block 808 ). the servers are checked to see if they contain software that includes the operating system ( os ), applications , and network operating systems ( nos ), together with their version numbers , which have been tested with the process software ( block 810 ). the servers are also checked to determine if there is any missing software that is required by the process software in block 810 . a determination is made if the version numbers match the version numbers of os , applications and nos that have been tested with the process software ( block 812 ). if all of the versions match and there is no missing required software the integration continues in query block 806 . if one or more of the version numbers do not match , then the unmatched versions are updated on the server or servers with the correct versions ( block 814 ). additionally , if there is missing required software , then it is updated on the server or servers in the step shown in block 814 . the server integration is completed by installing the process software ( block 816 ). the step shown in query block 806 , which follows either the steps shown in block 804 , 812 or 816 determines if there are any programs of the process software that will execute on the clients . if no process software programs execute on the clients the integration proceeds to terminator block 818 and exits . if this not the case , then the client addresses are identified as shown in block 820 . the clients are checked to see if they contain software that includes the operating system ( os ), applications , and network operating systems ( nos ), together with their version numbers , which have been tested with the process software ( block 822 ). the clients are also checked to determine if there is any missing software that is required by the process software in the step described by block 822 . a determination is made is the version numbers match the version numbers of os , applications and nos that have been tested with the process software ( query block 824 ). if all of the versions match and there is no missing required software , then the integration proceeds to terminator block 818 and exits . if one or more of the version numbers do not match , then the unmatched versions are updated on the clients with the correct versions ( block 826 ). in addition , if there is missing required software then it is updated on the clients ( also block 826 ). the client integration is completed by installing the process software on the clients ( block 828 ). the integration proceeds to terminator block 818 and exits . the process software is shared , simultaneously serving multiple customers in a flexible , automated fashion . it is standardized , requiring little customization and it is scalable , providing capacity on demand in a pay - as - you - go model . the process software can be stored on a shared file system accessible from one or more servers . the process software is executed via transactions that contain data and server processing requests that use cpu units on the accessed server . cpu units are units of time such as minutes , seconds , hours on the central processor of the server . additionally the assessed server may make requests of other servers that require cpu units . cpu units are an example that represents but one measurement of use . other measurements of use include but are not limited to network bandwidth , memory usage , storage usage , packet transfers , complete transactions etc . when multiple customers use the same process software application , their transactions are differentiated by the parameters included in the transactions that identify the unique customer and the type of service for that customer . all of the cpu units and other measurements of use that are used for the services for each customer are recorded . when the number of transactions to any one server reaches a number that begins to affect the performance of that server , other servers are accessed to increase the capacity and to share the workload . likewise when other measurements of use such as network bandwidth , memory usage , storage usage , etc . approach a capacity so as to affect performance , additional network bandwidth , memory usage , storage etc . are added to share the workload . the measurements of use used for each service and customer are sent to a collecting server that sums the measurements of use for each customer for each service that was processed anywhere in the network of servers that provide the shared execution of the process software . the summed measurements of use units are periodically multiplied by unit costs and the resulting total process software application service costs are alternatively sent to the customer and or indicated on a web site accessed by the customer which then remits payment to the service provider . in another embodiment , the service provider requests payment directly from a customer account at a banking or financial institution . in another embodiment , if the service provider is also a customer of the customer that uses the process software application , the payment owed to the service provider is reconciled to the payment owed by the service provider to minimize the transfer of payments . with reference now to fig9 , initiator block 902 begins the on demand process . a transaction is created than contains the unique customer identification , the requested service type and any service parameters that further , specify the type of service ( block 904 ). the transaction is then sent to the main server ( block 906 ). in an on demand environment the main server can initially be the only server , then as capacity is consumed other servers are added to the on demand environment . the server central processing unit ( cpu ) capacities in the on demand environment are queried ( block 908 ). the cpu requirement of the transaction is estimated , then the servers available cpu capacity in the on demand environment are compared to the transaction cpu requirement to see if there is sufficient cpu available capacity in any server to process the transaction ( query block 910 ). if there is not sufficient server cpu available capacity , then additional server cpu capacity is allocated to process the transaction ( block 912 ). if there was already sufficient available cpu capacity then the transaction is sent to a selected server ( block 914 ). before executing the transaction , a check is made of the remaining on demand environment to determine if the environment has sufficient available capacity for processing the transaction . this environment capacity consists of such things as but not limited to network bandwidth , processor memory , storage etc . ( block 916 ). if there is not sufficient available capacity , then capacity will be added to the on demand environment ( block 918 ). next the required software to process the transaction is accessed , loaded into memory , then the transaction is executed ( block 920 ). the usage measurements are recorded ( block 922 ). the usage measurements consist of the portions of those functions in the on demand environment that are used to process the transaction . the usage of such functions as , but not limited to , network bandwidth , processor memory , storage and cpu cycles are what is recorded . the usage measurements are summed , multiplied by unit costs and then recorded as a charge to the requesting customer ( block 924 ). if the customer has requested that the on demand costs be posted to a web site ( query block 926 ), then they are posted ( block 928 ). if the customer has requested that the on demand costs be sent via e - mail to a customer address ( query block 930 ), then these costs are sent to the customer ( block 932 ). if the customer has requested that the on demand costs be paid directly from a customer account ( query block 934 ), then payment is received directly from the customer account ( block 936 ). the on demand process is then exited at terminator block 938 . while the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment , 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 . furthermore , as used in the specification and the appended claims , the term “ computer ” or “ system ” or “ computer system ” or “ computing device ” includes any data processing system including , but not limited to , personal computers , servers , workstations , network computers , main frame computers , routers , switches , personal digital assistants ( pda &# 39 ; s ), telephones , and any other system capable of processing , transmitting , receiving , capturing and / or storing data . similarly , while the term “ switch ” has been used to describe analog switching devices , it is understood that the term “ switch ” also includes like technologies and hardware , including , but not limited to , routers . | 7 |
next , various embodiments of the luminescence measurement method and the luminescence measurement system according to the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to drawings . incidentally , these embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention . especially , in the following embodiments , there may be explained cases where the present invention is applied to luminescent imaging . however , the present invention is not limited to such a luminescent imaging , but can be applied likewise to the measuring method using a luminometer , for instance . first of all , the construction of a luminescence observation system ( luminescence measuring system ) 100 to be employed in the luminescence measurement method ( specifically , a measuring step and an output step ) according to the present invention will be explained with reference to fig1 , fig2 and fig3 . fig1 shows a diagram illustrating one example of the overall construction of luminescence observation system 100 . as shown in fig1 , the luminescence observation system 100 is constituted by a vessel 103 ( specifically , it may be a petri dish , a slide glass , a microplate , a gel - supporting member , a fine particle carrier , etc .) housing a biological sample 102 , a stage 104 for mounting the vessel 103 , a luminescence image pick - up unit 106 , and an image analyzer 110 . herein , the luminescence observation system 100 may be constructed such that the luminescence image pick - up unit 106 for measuring a weak luminescence is disposed on the underside of the stage 104 so as to completely intercept the disturbing light from the direction above the sample on the occasion of opening or closing the cover , thereby making it possible to increase the s / n ratio of luminescent image . the luminescence image pick - up unit 106 may be formed of a laser scanning type optical system . the biological sample 102 is formed of a living cell containing luminescence - associated protein that can be obtained by introducing a luminescence - associated gene into the protein . this biological sample 102 contains more than a prescribed quantity of a substance which is capable of reacting with the luminescence - associated protein . as for the luminescence - associated protein , it is selected from those exhibiting more than a prescribed level of km value so as to make it possible to quantitatively determine the luminescence intensity in correspondence with the quantity of the substance . as for the object to be analyzed in this case , it may be a biological tissue including cells , or various kinds of internal organs or organ including such a biological tissue . alternatively , the object to be analyzed may be an embryo or a bion having such a biological tissue , internal organ or organ . the stage 104 for sustaining the object to be analyzed may be designed in such a manner that specific cell ( s ) ( one or more ) to be analyzed would not be moved out of the visual field ( preferably , the optical axis ) for observing the luminescence of the object during a desired time period of analysis ( for example , an object - fixing tool or a tracking mechanism for the stage ). the luminescence image pick - up unit 106 is , specifically , formed of an upright type luminescence microscope which is capable of picking up the luminescent image of the biological sample 102 . as shown in fig1 , the luminescence image pick - up unit 106 is constituted by an objective lens 106 a , a dichroic minor 106 b , a ccd camera 106 c and an imaging lens 106 f . the objective lens 106 a is , specifically , constructed to have a value of ( the number of apertures / magnification ) 2 which is confined to 0 . 01 or more . the dichroic mirror 106 b is employed for separating , color by color , the luminescence emitted from the biological sample 102 , thereby measuring , color by color , the quantity of luminescence and the luminescence intensity by making use of the luminescence of two colors . the ccd camera 106 c is used for taking the luminescent image and the brightfield image of the biological sample 102 that have been projected , through the objective lens 106 a , the dichroic minor 106 b and the imaging lens 106 f , on the chip surface of the ccd camera 106 c . further , the ccd camera 106 c is connected with an image analyzer 110 to thereby enable it to communicate , through a wire or wireless circuit , with the image analyzer 110 . in this case , if a plurality of biological samples 102 are existed within the range of picking up , the ccd camera 106 c may be designed so as to perform the image pick - up of luminescence images and brightfield images of the plurality of biological samples 102 . the imaging lens 106 f is employed for picking up the image ( specifically , an image including the biological sample 102 ) that has been entered , through the objective lens 106 a and the dichroic minor 106 b , into the imaging lens 106 f . incidentally , in fig1 , there is illustrated one example wherein luminescent images each corresponding to a couple of beams separated by the dichroic minor 106 b are individually taken up by a couple of ccd cameras 106 c . therefore , in a case where only one beam is employed , the luminescence image pick - up unit 106 may be constituted by the objective lens 106 a , a single ccd camera 106 c and the imaging lens 106 f . when it is desired to measure the quantity of luminescence and the intensity of luminescence color by color by making use of two color beams , the luminescence image pick - up unit 106 may be constituted by the objective lens 106 a , the ccd camera 106 c , the split image unit 106 d and the imaging lens 106 f as shown in fig2 . further , the ccd camera 106 c may be used for taking the luminescent image ( split image ) and the brightfield image of the biological sample 102 that have been projected , through the split image unit 106 d and the imaging lens 106 f , on the chip surface of the ccd camera 106 c . the split image unit 106 d is used for separating beam emitted from the sample 102 color by color and for measuring the quantity of luminescence and the intensity of luminescence color by color by making use of two color beams . further , when it is desired to measure the quantity of luminescence and the intensity of luminescence color by color by making use of a plurality of color beams ( namely , when a multi - color beam is employed ), the luminescence image pick - up unit 106 may be constituted by the objective lens 106 a , the ccd camera 106 c , a filter wheel 106 e and the imaging lens 106 f as shown in fig3 . in this case , the ccd camera 106 c may be used for taking the luminescent image and the brightfield image of the biological sample 102 that have been projected , through the filter wheel 106 e and the imaging lens 106 f , on the chip surface of the ccd camera 106 c . the filter wheel 106 e is used for separating beam emitted from the sample 102 color by color by way of filter exchange and for measuring the quantity of luminescence and the intensity of luminescence color by color by making use of a plurality of color beams . now turn back to fig1 , the image analyzer 110 is , specifically , formed of a personal computer . this image analyzer 110 is roughly constituted as shown in fig4 by a control section 112 , a clock - generating section 114 for measuring the time of the system , a memory section 116 , a communication interface section 118 , an input / output interface section 120 , an input apparatus 122 and an output apparatus 124 , wherein all of these sections are connected with each other through a bus . the details of these constructions shown in fig1 to 4 can be understood by referring to international patent publication wo2006 / 106882 ( the title thereof : a method of measuring a quantity of luminescence at a prescribed site , an apparatus of measuring a quantity of luminescence at a prescribed site , a method of measuring a quantity of manifestation , and a measuring apparatus ). since this international patent publication discloses a method of analyzing two kinds of medical information on the same cell by making use of both of the fluorescent image and luminescent image thereof , the method can be also applied , as another embodiment of the present invention , to the method of analysis wherein a plural kinds of fluorescent marker substance differing in dynamic range ( fluorescence - associated protein such as gfp , cfp , yfp , rfp , etc ., for example ) are employed . further , in the case of bret ( bioluminescence resonance energy transfer ), since it is an optical phenomenon wherein bioluminescence is combined with fluorescence , it is possible to obtain the advantage that a system for exciting fluorescence can be dispensed with . furthermore , it is also possible to utilize , as fluorescence - associated protein , oberlin , etc . other than luciferase . the memory section 116 is formed of storage means , so that it may be , as a specific example , a memory device such as ram , rom , etc ., a stationary disk device such as hard disk , a flexible disk , an optical disk , etc . this memory section 116 is designed to store data obtained by the processing of each of the sections of the control section 112 . the communication interface section 118 acts to mediate the communication between the image analyzer 110 and the ccd camera 106 a . namely , the communication interface section 118 is provided with a function to communicate with other terminals so as to receive or send data through a wire or wireless communicating circuit . the input / output interface section 120 is connected with an input apparatus 122 and with an output apparatus 124 . as for the output apparatus 124 in this case , it is possible to employ not only a monitor ( including a home television ) but also a speaker or a printer ( incidentally , in the following description , the output apparatus 124 may be referred to as a monitor ). further , as for the input apparatus 122 , it is possible to employ a key board , a mouse , a microphone as well as a monitor which is capable of functioning as a pointing device in cooperation with a mouse . in this case , based on a luminescent image displayed in a monitor employed as the output apparatus 124 , an interested region including one or more of specific cells ( or a cell group ) to be analyzed within a desired time period of analysis or an interested site in a cell as well as measuring item ( s ) are designated through the input apparatus 122 by a user , thereby enabling the positional information ( adress ) of the region ( or site ) designated in the observing visual field to be stored in the memory section 116 . due to the information thus stored in this manner , it is now possible to perform image analysis which makes it possible to check up a plurality of regions ( or sites ) or temporally check up the specific cells ( or a cell group ) on the basis of time series . further , the image analyzer 110 is constructed in such a manner that when the kind ( or the km value itself ) of luminescence - associated protein used as an object to be placed on the stage 104 is input through the input apparatus 122 by a user , the dynamic range of each of measuring item related to one of more of luminescence - associated protein to be used is specifically selected by a dynamic range adjusting section 108 from memory information that has been stored in advance such as a look - up table , thereby enabling a control mode corresponding to the collated dynamic range to be instructed to the control section 112 . in this case , once the kind of luminescence - associated protein is specified , the kind of ground substance which causes the luminescence - associated protein to radiate can be univocally determined , so that the km value to the ground substance may be also stored in advance in the look - up table . the control section 112 is designed such that each of processes ( an imaging process , an image - obtaining process , a picture image processing for analysis and a process of outputting analyzed results ) according to the instructed control mode can be executed at each of the sections ( a luminescent image pick - up instruction section 112 a , a luminescent image acquisition section 112 b , an image analysis section 112 c and an analysis result output section 112 d ) while coordinating with the address of each of the designated regions ( or sites ) that have been stored in the memory section 118 . furthermore , the information related to the luminescent image and / or the analyzed results thus obtained is displayed on the picture plane of the output apparatus 124 after the information has been converted , through the dynamic range adjusting section 108 , to an output format corresponding to the dynamic range . incidentally , when it is desired to combine the information with a measuring item wherein luminescence - associated protein is employed , it is preferable to input the kind ( or km value itself ) of the luminescence - associated protein . in this case however , since it is conceivable that , due to the modification of the luminescence - associated protein or fluorescence - associated protein , the km value thereof may be varied from the km value before the modification thereof , it is preferable to input the km value of the protein to be actually used . as for the instruction of picking up corresponding to the dynamic range and to be executed by the luminescent image pick - up instruction section 112 a , it includes picking up intervals ( for example , a video mode of not more than 5 seconds , a video mode consisting of intermediate intervals ranging from 6 seconds to 10 minutes , a time lapse mode consisting of long picking up intervals ranging from 11 minutes to 120 minutes , or a combination of these modes ). as for the instruction of acquisition corresponding to the dynamic range and to be executed by the luminescent image acquisition section 112 b , it includes for example the exposure time ( a short time exposure mode of not more than one second , an intermediate exposure time exposure mode ranging from 2 seconds to 10 minutes and a long time exposure mode ranging from 6 minutes to 120 minutes ) of an image pick - up device ( for example , a ccd camera , a cmos camera , etc .). at the image analysis section 112 c , the analysis of each of the regions ( or sites ) related to the obtained luminescent image is executed based on such a computing algorithm that makes it possible to analyze each kind of measuring items in correspondence with the dynamic range . at the analysis result output section 112 d also , the output of the output format ( an image format , a numerical format , a graphic format , etc .) corresponding to each kinds of measuring items is executed . finally , at the dynamic range adjusting section 108 , the result of each kind of analyzed results that has been transmitted from the analysis result output section 112 d is subjected to a conversion processing wherein the same or different output contents ( image , numeral , graph , etc .) are converted based on a parameter ( selected from the group consisting of color , color tone , gradation , brightness , dimension and video display speed ) corresponding to the dynamic range before the result is displayed at the output apparatus 124 . according to this system , a plural kinds of objects to be measured and varying in dynamic range or in km value with respect to a substance to be measured and corresponding to measuring item can be applied to the same or different object to be analyzed . for example , a measuring item having a wide dynamic range such as atp and a measuring item having a relatively narrow dynamic range such as a specific kind of gene expression may be applied to the same object to be analyzed , thereby realizing the advantage that each of the regions and / or site on the same picture image can be tracked concurrently and at real time . although it is made possible to identify cells one by one as a luminescent image by superimposing the luminescent image with a bright visual field image which has been also obtained in this example , the luminescent image may not be superimposed with the bright visual field image , provided that the image pick - up device or luminescent reagent ( luciferase , luciferin or other kinds of additives ) is high in sensitivity . further , as described hereinafter , depending on a purpose , even if various kinds of luminescent protein such as a glow type or flash type luminescent protein are prepared to thereby enable the same biological sample to be simultaneously labeled , it is possible to carry out the picking up and the analysis by means of the aforementioned system . therefore , it is possible to realize a combination of assays or a multi - assay . the control section 112 is provided with a control program such as os ( operating system ), a program regulating various kinds of procedures and an internal memory for storing data required , thereby making it possible to execute various kinds of processes based on these programs . this control section 112 is roughly constituted by the luminescent image pick - up instruction section 112 a , the luminescent image acquisition section 112 b , the image analysis section 112 c and the analysis result output section 112 d . the luminescent image pick - up instruction section 112 a is designed to instruct , through the communication interface section 118 , the ccd camera 106 c to execute the picking up of luminescent image and bright visual field image . the luminescent image acquisition section 112 b is designed to receive , through the communication interface section 118 , the luminescent image and the bright visual field image that have been taken by means of the ccd camera 106 c . the control section 112 is designed to control the luminescent image pick - up instruction section 112 a so as to execute repeated picking up of the luminescent image and the bright visual field image of biological sample 102 . in this case , on the occasion of performing the picking up of the luminescent image of biological sample 102 by means of the ccd camera 106 c , a luminescence - associated protein having an appropriate km value so as to prevent the generation of an extreme difference in luminescence intensity among the luminescence - associated proteins ( for example , in a case where one of them is luciferase for quantitatively measure atp and the other is luciferase for analyzing the gene expression ) is selected ( for example , luciferase having a higher km value ( km & gt ; 364 μm ) as compared with the luciferase for analyzing the gene expression is selected as the luciferase for quantitatively measure atp ), thereby making it possible to concurrently perform the picking up in the same exposure time . the image analysis section 112 c is designed to quantitatively measure the luminescence intensity of each of luminescent colors on the basis of the luminescent image that has been obtained at the luminescent image acquisition section 112 b . further , the image analysis section 112 c is designed to quantitatively measure fluctuation with time of the luminescence intensity of each of luminescent colors on the basis of a plurality of luminescent images that have been obtained at the luminescent image acquisition section 112 b . the analysis result output section 112 d is designed to feed the result of analysis obtained at the image analysis section 112 c to the output apparatus 124 . in this case , the analysis result output section 112 d may be designed such that the time series data related to the luminescence intensity of each of luminescent colors that have been obtained at the image analysis section 112 c are turned into a graph , which is then displayed at the output apparatus 124 . the above description illustrates one example of the construction of the luminescence observing system ( luminescence measuring system ) to be employed in the luminescence measuring method of the present invention . incidentally , the output apparatus 124 may be designed such that a plurality of luminescent images corresponding to at least a portion of the time series numerical data can be fed in the form of video or parallel display to a monitor . as described above , according to the present invention , not only the kinetic analysis as to how the dynamics of a bioactive substance which is wide in dynamic range has been changed but also the analysis of the expression / fluctuation of a specific gene as to how the transcription of the specific gene related to the dynamics of the bioactive substance has been controlled can be performed quickly or at real - time on the same cell ( or cell group ). therefore , it is possible to provide information accurately and quickly for use in the medical research or for clinical use ( for example , response tests of drugs for the purpose of treatment , diagnosis and preventive medicine ). incidentally , in the case where a fluorescence image - taking unit is co - used in the analysis system for executing the method of the present invention , the fluorescence image - taking unit and the luminescent image pick - up unit may be placed on the same stage in such a manner that they are respectively disposed on a different optical axis or these units may be respectively constituted by a different apparatus ( for example , a fluorescence microscope and a luminescence microscope ) which is disposed on a different stage . alternatively , these units may be designed to perform the picking up and the analysis while allowing a plurality of analyzing objects to successively move on the same or different stage . as for the analysis system , it can be applied also to a different kind of picking up system ( various kinds of fiber scope ( for example , an endoscope ) and an image analysis type spectrometer ( for example , a luminometer )) other than the aforementioned microscope - based system as long as the analysis system is equipped at least with the image analyzer as shown in fig4 . further , in the case where the object is formed of a biological sample which has been isolated from a living body and incubated or artificially processed ( cells , living tissue , internal organs ( or organs ), etc . ), the analysis system should preferably be constructed in combination with a suitable culture apparatus so as to maintain the biological activity of the object during a prescribed period of analysis . however , when the object is an individual , the picking up can be intermittently performed while appropriately supplying or feeding oxygen and nutrition to the individual in place of the culture apparatus , thereby making it possible to execute the analysis in the same manner as described above . ( enzymological properties of various kinds of luciferase and application of luciferase to luminescence measurement ) in this example 1 , with a view to find out appropriate luciferase having a suitable km value for the application of the present invention , the enzymological properties ( km value relative to d - luciferin and atp ) of luciferase available in the market ( cbg , cbr , eluc , genji , gl3 ) were determined . ( experiment method 1 : calculation of km value of various kind of luciferase relative to d - luciferin ) d - luciferin was added to a 0 . 1m atp solution ( tris - hcl ( ph = 8 . 0 )) to obtain various kinds of solutions differing in ultimate concentration of d - luciferin from each other , i . e . 5 μm , 10 μm , 20 μm , 40 μm , 80 μm , 160 μm , 320 μm , 640 μm , respectively , thus preparing 8 kinds of solutions . then , a 100 μg / ml luciferase solution was prepared by making use of 0 . 1m tris - hcl ( ph = 8 . 0 ). then , d - luciferin solutions having the aforementioned concentrations were respectively aliquoted to a vessel having 96 wells , thus creating wells each containing 50 μl of d - luciferin solution . then , the luciferase solution was connected with a standard pump of luminometer , after which a program was prepared so as to initiate the measurement concurrent with the addition of 50 μl of the luciferase solution to each of the wells . subsequently , the program was started to measure the photon - count value at each d - luciferin concentration . based on the results obtained , lineweaver - burk plot and hanes - woolf plot were prepared to determine the km value of each of luciferase relative to d - luciferin . in this case , the lineweaver - burk plot can be represented by the following formula ( 1 ) and the hanes - woolf plot can be represented by the following formula ( 2 ). ( experiment method 2 : calculation of km value of various kind of luciferase relative to atp ) atp was added to a 1 mm d - luciferin solution ( tris - hcl ( ph = 8 . 0 )) to obtain various kinds of solutions differing in ultimate concentration of atp from each other , i . e . 10 μm , 20 μm , 40 μm , 80 μm , 160 μm , 320 μm , 640 μm , 1280 μm , respectively , thus preparing 8 kinds of solutions differing in atp concentration . then , a 100 μg / ml luciferase solution was prepared by making use of 0 . 1m tris - hcl ( ph = 8 . 0 ). subsequently , the atp solutions each having the aforementioned concentration were respectively aliquoted to a vessel having 96 wells , thus creating wells each containing 50 μl of the atp solution . then , the luciferase solution was connected with a standard pump of luminometer , after which a program was prepared so as to initiate the measurement concurrent with the addition of 50 μl of the luciferase solution to each of the wells . subsequently , the program was started to measure the photon - count value at each atp concentration . based on the results obtained , lineweaver - burk plot and hanes - woolf plot were prepared to determine the km value of each kind of luciferase relative to atp . fig5 shows the km values that have been determined from the results of above experiments . fig5 is a table showing the km value of each kind of luciferase relative to d - luciferin and atp . incidentally , in fig5 , the number described inside the parenthesis represents the km value that was calculated by making use of the hanes - woolf plot and the number described outside the parenthesis represents the km value that was calculated by making use of the lineweaver - burk plot . since the km value of each kind of luciferase is treated in the same manner as kd in general , it is conceivable that as the km value becomes smaller , the affinity of luciferase to d - luciferin or atp becomes higher . as shown in fig5 , the ranking of the affinity of luciferase to d - luciferin was confirmed as being cbg & gt ; eluc & gt ; gl3 & gt ; cbr & gt ; genji . when the facts that cbg , cbr and eluc are respectively luciferase originating from hikari kometsuki and gl3 and genji are respectively luciferase originating from firefly are taken into consideration , there will be recognized the trend that the affinity to d - luciferin becomes higher in the luciferase originated from hikari kometsuki . further , with respect to the luminescence pattern obtained from the measurement using a luminometer also , the results obtained from the luciferase originated from hikari kometsuki were found different from the results obtained from the firefly - derived luciferase . specifically , while the luciferase originated from hikari kometsuki exhibited a peak luminescence intensity 5 to 6 seconds after the addition of luciferin , the firefly - derived luciferase was confirmed to exhibit a peak luminescence intensity 0 . 5 to 1 second after the addition of luciferin . as described above , since luciferase is likely to be classified into a flash type ( requiring a short time for luminescence ) and a glow type ( requiring a long time for luminescence ) depending on the species of organism representing the origin of luciferase , a desirable type of luciferase can be selected depending on the purpose of measurement or observation . further , there is a report describing that the difference of luminescence pattern as described above can be generated due to differences in amino acid residue of luciferase ( r218 , f250 , g315 , t343 , etc .) existing in the vicinity of d - luciferin - or atp - bonding site , these differences being caused by the point mutation of p . pyralis ( see bruce r . branchini et al ., biochemistry , 2003 , 42 , pp . 10429 - 10436 ). since the aforementioned amino acid residue is known as being capable of contributing to the decay rate , it has been found possible to prepare the luciferase that is capable of exhibiting a luminescence pattern which differs from the flash type or the glow type by making use of genetic engineering techniques while taking the amino acid residue in each kind of luciferase into consideration . meanwhile , the ranking of the affinity of luciferase to atp has been confirmed as being cbg & gt ; cbr , gl3 & gt ; eluc & gt ; genji . namely , the results thus obtained indicate that eluc and genji were relatively low in affinity to atp as compared with that of other kinds of luciferase . in this case , there is a possibility that since a small degree of variations in quantity of atp cannot be fully reflected to the quantity of luminescence in the case of gl3 which is high in susceptibility , the luminescence intensity will be retained constant until the quantity of atp is greatly attenuated . specifically , in the experiments conducted by the present inventor , pgl3 was transfected to hela cell and , by making use of fccp ( carbonyl cyanide p -( trifluoromethoxy ) phenylhydrazone ) acting as an uncoupler , the production of atp in mitochondria was suspended and then the luminescence intensity on this occasion was measured with time by making use of luminoview ( lv100 )( trade name ). however , the luminescence intensity was not attenuated even if the measurement was continued after the excitation thereof . the cytoplasmic atp of hela cell under the steady state is estimated as being 1 . 3 mm ( see m v zamaraeve et al ., cell death and differentiation , 2005 , 12 , pp . 1390 - 1397 ), so that if the luciferin - luciferase reaction is assumed as being abided by michaelis - menten equation , the reaction velocity of gl3 at this atp concentration would be increased to about 85 % of vmax . meanwhile , although it is reported that the concentration of cytoplasmic atp after it was left to stand for 30 minutes after the treatment thereof with fccp became about 50 % of that of steady state ( takeshi kubota et al ., biochimica et biophysica acta , 2005 , 1744 , pp . 19 - 28 ), the reaction velocity of gl3 in the reaction using 0 . 65 mm atp is expected to be about 80 % of vmax . namely , in the case of the measuring system using a cell wherein the quantity of manifestation of luciferase is caused to change , it is expected to be difficult to detect , by means of a ccd camera , the fluctuation of luminescence originating from a difference of 5 % in reaction velocity as being the fluctuation in quantity of atp . whereas , in the case of using the luciferase which is relatively low in affinity , the reaction velocity to be expected from michaelis - menten equation is slow , so that the same degree of difference in reaction velocity is caused to generate even when it is treated with drugs , thus making it possible to conclude that the aforementioned detection can be facilitated as compared with the case where gl3 is employed . namely , in the case of quantitatively measuring a substance existing at a ratio of more than a prescribed value in a biological sample such as atp , it has been found possible to obtain a relatively large difference in reaction velocity and hence to facilitate the observation of a difference in luminescence intensity by suitably selecting a luminescence - associated material which is high in a km value so as to prevent the concentration of the substance from approaching to the vicinity of vmax in the michaelis - menten equation . on the occasion of measuring the atp concentration inside a cell , it is preferable to estimate the quantity of atp inside the cell and , based on this estimation , luciferase having an appropriate km value may be selected . as described above , the low affinity ( a high km value ) to atp is an advantageous property on the occasion of measuring the atp concentration inside a cell by making use of the luciferin - luciferase reaction . the affinity to atp in this case can be varied by means of the point mutation in the vicinity of atp bonding site ( see bruce r . branchini et al ., biochemistry , 2003 , 42 , pp . 10429 - 10436 ). namely , an intracellular atp - measuring system corresponding to many kinds of cells may be constructed by preparing a series of luciferase exhibiting various degrees of atp affinity ranging from an intermediate affinity to a very low affinity ( having km values ranging from an intermediate km value to a very high km value ). incidentally , on the occasion of adjusting the atp affinity by the introduction of a mutation into luciferase , it may be performed carefully so as to prevent the decrease of luminescence intensity . the aforementioned method is directed , as an example , to an examination method wherein the luciferase which is low in affinity to a biological substance is used to measure or observe the substance for a long period of time when the substance is existed excessively in an organism . however , if the biological substance is existed only a very small quantity in an organism , the luciferase which is high in affinity to the substance may be selected . in this manner , the affinity to various kinds of biological substance existing in various degrees in an organism is respectively determined in advance and , based on the affinity thus determined , a suitable kind of luciferase is selected for any desired examination item , thereby making it possible to always perform the measurement or observation which is high in examination efficiency . as explained above , as a result of extensive studies performed by the present inventor , it has been found out that it is possible to perform excellent measurement by selecting the luciferase which is low in affinity to a substance to be examined as the substance is existed excessively in an organism , especially a cell , as in the case of atp . especially , it has been found out as a result of the studies made on the affinity to atp that it is possible to accurately measure quantitative fluctuation in an organism by selecting the luciferase having a km value of not less than 364 μm , preferably not less than 500 μm . further , when the km value is adjusted through the modification of gene , it is possible to utilize also the luciferase which inherently exhibits a km value falling out of the aforementioned range before the modification thereof . when the luciferase having such a km value is utilized for luminously labeling a biological sample including a plurality of cells , it becomes possible , through the picking up of the luminescent picture image based on the luminescence of organism , to measure the luminescence intensity of each of the cells . furthermore , it is possible to perform the analysis including the analysis of morphological fluctuation of each of cells on the basis of the luminescent image . therefore , the measuring method of the present invention can be also provided as being useful in an application for accurately specifying the morphological fluctuation of each of cells such as shrinking that has been caused by the induction of apoptosis , etc . in conformity with the stimulation using a drug for example . in this case , the stimulation to be applied to an object to be analyzed may include physical energy such as electricity , light , magnetism , ultrasonic wave , etc . other than the addition or dosing of a chemical material such as a drug . namely , in the measurement of biological substance by making use of luciferase , the affinity to an object to be measured can be suitably combined with the affinity to a luminescent substrate , thereby making it possible to perform accurate quantitative measurement ( especially , the measurement of fluctuation of concentration ) under appropriate measuring conditions even if the object is enabled to excessively existed in an organism . this indicates in turn that the measuring method of the present invention is applicable to any desired examination for detecting very weak fluctuation in an organism or to any desired examination based on fluctuation in luminescence intensity of a substance which is capable of emitting a weak light such as a cell . ( comparison of enzymological properties between yaeyama hime firefly originated luciferase and each of other kinds of luciferase ) followings are explanation with regard to the enzymological properties of yaeyama hime firefly ( scientific name : luciola filiformis yayeyamana ) originated luciferase which has been newly found and extracted by the present inventor and each of other kinds of luciferase described above and with regard to the application thereof . as a background of this example , there has been a problem that since the luciferase available in the market is already modified by a genetic engineering method , it is difficult to expect any further technical progress . with a view to get out of this difficulty , the screening of novel luciferase was conducted by the present inventor . as a result , it was succeeded to obtain the luciferase gene ( sequence no . 1 ) originated from yaeyama hime firefly . therefore , the determination of the enzymological properties of the luciferase of yaeyama hime firefly was performed . namely , in this example , the determination of the enzymological properties ( km values thereof to d - luciferin and atp ) of the newly obtained luciferase originated from yaeyama hime firefly was performed . further , for the purpose of comparison , the determination of the enzymological properties of various kinds of luciferase ( cbg , cbr , eluc , genji , gl3 ) available from the market was concurrently executed . from the sequence of gene , several kinds of firefly belonging to luciola have been known to live in japan . as a result of the following experiments conducted to genji firefly ( scientific name : luciola cruciata , the name of luciferase will be referred to as genji in the present specification ), the gene arrangement thereof being already known , differences in km value were found out . the present invention has taken notice of this differences in km value and hence one of important subject matters of the present invention is to utilize the luciferase as a luminescent marker in conformity with purposes . ( experiment method 1 : calculation of the concentration of the stock solutions of d - luciferin and of atp ) first of all , in order to calculate the concentration of d - luciferin , the ultraviolet / visible light absorption spectrum of d - luciferase was measured . in this measurement , the spectrum was measured using a diluted ( by 4000 times ) solution ( in 0 . 1m citrate / 0 . 2m na 2 hpo 4 buffer , ph = 5 . 0 ) of d - luciferin ( promega co ., ltd .) stock solution ( about 100 mm ). as for the blank , the buffer described above was employed . fig6 illustrates the ultraviolet / visible light absorption spectrum of d - luciferase . by making use of the absorbency ( 328 nm , 0 . 467 ± 0 . 006 , n = 10 ) obtained from the spectrum of fig6 , the concentration of the d - luciferin stock solution was calculated ( d - luciferin : λ max = 328 nm , ε = 18200 , ph = 5 . 0 ). as a result of the calculation , the concentration of the d - luciferin stock solution was found as being 102 . 6 mm . then , in order to calculate the concentration of atp , the ultraviolet / visible light absorption spectrum of atp was measured . in this measurement , the spectrum was measured using a diluted ( by 2000 times ) solution ( in 0 . 1m citrate / 0 . 2m na 2 hpo 4 buffer , ph = 7 . 0 ) of atp stock solution ( about 100 mm ). as for the blank , the buffer described above was employed . fig7 illustrates the ultraviolet / visible light absorption spectrum of atp . by making use of the absorbency ( 259 nm , 0 . 359 ± 0 . 004 , n = 10 ) obtained from the spectrum of fig7 , the concentration of the atp stock solution was calculated ( atp : λ max = 259 nm , ε = 15400 , ph = 7 . 0 ). as a result of the calculation , the concentration of the atp stock solution was found as being 46 . 6 mm . the purification of luciferase was performed according to the following procedure after establishing a luciferase - purification system utilizing affinity chromatography . ( procedure of transfection of luciferase expression vector to coli bacillus ) first of all , 0 . 5 μl of luciferase expression vector was introduced into 50 μl of coli bacillus ( jm109 ( de3 )). then , the resultant liquid was subjected to a thermostatic treatment consisting of ice - cooling for 10 minutes , heating at 42 ° c . for one minute and ice - cooling for two minutes . then , 2 μl of the resultant coli bacillus solution was added to 1 ml of an soc culture medium . subsequently , the resultant solution of coli bacillus / soc culture medium mixture was subjected to shaking at 37 ° c . for 20 minutes and to incubation . then , 100 μl of the resultant solution was streaked onto an lb culture medium plate ( ampicillin 100 μg / ml +) and subjected to incubation overnight at 37 ° c . then , the coli bacillus was fractured to obtain a raw extract , from which luciferase was purified by means of affinity chromatography . namely , first of all , a suspension of coli bacillus was subjected to centrifugal separation at 15000 rpm for 5 minutes to recover the pellets of coli bacillus , which was then suspended in 10 ml of tbs cooled to 4 ° c . subsequently , by making use of french pressure cell , the fungus body was fractured . the resultant fungus body - fractured liquid was subjected to centrifugal separation ( 15000 rpm , 10 minutes ) to remove settled residues and to recover a supernatant liquid . subsequently , 2 ml of tbs was added to a column having 2 ml of bed volume and subjected to filtration . then , 500 μl of a ni - agar suspension and 2 ml of tbs were added to the column and the tbs was allowed to gravitationally drop ( column equilibration ). the supernatant liquid thus recovered was added to the column and allowed to gravitationally drop . incidentally , the operation until the drop of the supernatant liquid was completed was performed inside a refrigerator at a temperature of 4 ° c . then , by making use of 1 ml of a 50 mm imidazole / tbs solution , the column was washed . further , 2 ml of a 500 mm imidazole / tbs solution was added to the column to elute luciferase . the resultant elute was recovered in a 10 ml tube and immediately ice - cooled . subsequently , the concentration of elute was performed by means of ultrafiltration . subsequently , the elute was moved 400 μl by 400 μl to a centrifugal concentration tube ( suprec ™- 02 , available from takara co ., ltd . ( exclusion limit molecular weight : 30 , 000 )) and then subjected to centrifugal separation ( 5000 rpm , 30 minutes ) until the elute was concentrated to about 100 μl . thereafter , the absorbency of the concentrated elute was measured by means of a plate reader and the concentration of luciferase was calculated from the calibration curve which was prepared by making use of bsa . after finishing the calculation of concentration , the solution of luciferase was formulated as a 50 % glycerol solution and preserved at − 20 ° c . ( experiment method 3 : calculation of km value of various kind of luciferase relative to d - luciferin ) first of all , a solution of 4 mm atp and a solution of 8 mm mgso 4 ( in 0 . 1m tris - hcl ( ph = 8 . 0 )) were prepared . then , d - luciferin was added to the atp solution to obtain various kinds of solutions differing in ultimate concentration of d - luciferin from each other , i . e . 5 μm , 10 μm , 20 μm , 40 μm , 80 μm , 160 μm , 320 μm , 640 μm , respectively , thus preparing 8 kinds of solutions differing in concentration of d - luciferin from each other . then , a 100 μg / ml luciferase solution was prepared by making use of 0 . 1m tris - hcl ( ph = 8 . 0 ) and d - luciferin solutions having the aforementioned concentrations were respectively aliquoted to a vessel having 96 wells , thus creating wells each containing 50 μl of d - luciferin solution . then , the luciferase solution was connected with a standard pump of luminometer , after which a program was prepared so as to initiate the measurement concurrent with the addition of 50 μl of the luciferase solution to each of the wells . subsequently , the program was started to measure the photon - count value at each d - luciferin concentration . incidentally , the measurement was repeated five times at each concentration of d - luciferin . based on the results obtained , lineweaver - burk plot and hanes - woolf plot were prepared . in this case , the lineweaver - burk plot can be represented by the following formula ( 3 ) and the hanes - woolf plot can be represented by the following formula ( 4 ). incidentally , the photon - count value immediately after the addition of an enzyme solution was defined as the initial velocity in the preparation of each of these plots . ( v : reaction velocity ; v max : maximum velocity ; [ s ]: concentration of substrate ; and km : michaelis constant ) graphs illustrating the fluctuation of luminescence intensity of each kind of luciferase due to an increase in concentration of d - luciferin , the results of lineweaver - burk plot and the results of hanes - woolf plot are illustrated in fig8 to 25 . namely , fig8 shows a graph illustrating the fluctuation of luminescence intensity due to an increase in concentration of d - luciferin in the case of cbg . fig9 shows the lineweaver - burk plot , relative to the concentration of d - luciferin , of cbg . fig1 shows the hanes - woolf plot , relative to the concentration of d - luciferin , of cbg . as a result of these measurements , the km value of cbg relative to d - luciferin as it was calculated from the lineweaver - burk plot was 10 . 5 μm and the km value of cbg relative to d - luciferin as it was calculated from the hanes - woolf plot was 10 . 5 μm . further , in the case of cbr , the results were obtained as follows . namely , fig1 shows a graph illustrating the fluctuation of luminescence intensity due to an increase in concentration of d - luciferin in the case of cbr . fig1 shows the lineweaver - burk plot , relative to the concentration of d - luciferin , of cbr . fig1 shows the hanes - woolf plot , relative to the concentration of d - luciferin , of cbr . as a result of these measurements , the km value of cbr relative to d - luciferin as it was calculated from the lineweaver - burk plot was 36 . 4 μm and the km value of cbr relative to d - luciferin as it was calculated from the hanes - woolf plot was 63 . 8 μm . further , in the case of eluc , the results were obtained as follows . namely , fig1 shows a graph illustrating the fluctuation of luminescence intensity due to an increase in concentration of d - luciferin in the case of eluc . fig1 shows the lineweaver - burk plot , relative to the concentration of d - luciferin , of eluc . fig1 shows the hanes - woolf plot , relative to the concentration of d - luciferin , of eluc . as a result of these measurements , the km value of eluc relative to d - luciferin as it was calculated from the lineweaver - burk plot was 15 . 0 μm and the km value of eluc relative to d - luciferin as it was calculated from the hanes - woolf plot was 15 . 0 μm . further , in the case of genji , the results were obtained as follows . namely , fig1 shows a graph illustrating the fluctuation of luminescence intensity due to an increase in concentration of d - luciferin in the case of genji . fig1 shows the lineweaver - burk plot , relative to the concentration of d - luciferin , of genji . fig1 shows the hanes - woolf plot , relative to the concentration of d - luciferin , of genji . as a result of these measurements , the km value of genji relative to d - luciferin as it was calculated from the lineweaver - burk plot was 75 . 0 μm and the km value of genji relative to d - luciferin as it was calculated from the hanes - woolf plot was 75 . 0 μm . further , in the case of gl3 , the results were obtained as follows . namely , fig2 shows a graph illustrating the fluctuation of luminescence intensity due to an increase in concentration of d - luciferin in the case of gl3 . fig2 shows the lineweaver - burk plot , relative to the concentration of d - luciferin , of gl3 . fig2 shows the hanes - woolf plot , relative to the concentration of d - luciferin , of gl3 . as a result of these measurements , the km value of gl3 relative to d - luciferin as it was calculated from the lineweaver - burk plot was 33 . 3 μm and the km value of gl3 relative to d - luciferin as it was calculated from the hanes - woolf plot was 25 . 0 μm . further , in the case of yaeyama ( luciferase originated from yaeyama hime firefly ), the results were obtained as follows . namely , fig2 shows a graph illustrating the fluctuation of luminescence intensity due to an increase in concentration of d - luciferin in the case of yaeyama . fig2 shows the lineweaver - burk plot , relative to the concentration of d - luciferin , of yaeyama . fig2 shows the hanes - woolf plot , relative to the concentration of d - luciferin , of yaeyama . as a result of these measurements , the km value of yaeyama relative to d - luciferin as it was calculated from the lineweaver - burk plot was 100 μm and the km value of yaeyama relative to d - luciferin as it was calculated from the hanes - woolf plot was 100 μm . ( experiment method 4 : calculation of km value of various kind of luciferase relative to atp ) in order to perform the calculation of km value of each kind of the luciferase to atp , an 8 mm mgso 4 ( in 0 . 1m tris - hcl ( ph = 8 . 0 )) solution of 1 mm d - luciferin was prepared at first . then , atp was added to this d - luciferin to obtain various kinds of solutions differing in ultimate concentration of atp from each other , i . e . 10 μm , 20 μm , 40 μm , 80 μm , 160 μm , 320 μm , 640 μm , 1280 μm , respectively , thus preparing 8 kinds of solutions differing in concentration of atp from each other . then , a 0 . 1m tris - hcl ( ph = 8 . 0 ) solution of 100 μg / ml luciferase was prepared . the atp solutions having the aforementioned concentrations were respectively aliquoted to a vessel having 96 wells , thus creating wells each containing 50 μl of the atp solution . then , the luciferase solution was connected with a standard pump of luminometer , after which a program was prepared so as to initiate the measurement concurrent with the addition of 50 μl of the luciferase solution to each of the wells . subsequently , the program was started to measure the photon - count value at each atp concentration . incidentally , the measurement was repeated five times at each concentration of atp . based on the results obtained , lineweaver - burk plot and hanes - woolf plot were prepared . graphs illustrating the fluctuation of luminescence intensity of each kind of luciferase due to an increase in concentration of atp , the results of lineweaver - burk plot and the results of hanes - woolf plot are illustrated in fig2 to 43 . namely , fig2 shows a graph illustrating the fluctuation of luminescence intensity due to an increase in concentration of atp in the case of cbg . fig2 shows the lineweaver - burk plot , relative to the concentration of atp , of cbg . fig2 shows the hanes - woolf plot , relative to the concentration of atp , of cbg . as a result of these measurements , the km value of cbg relative to atp as it was calculated from the lineweaver - burk plot was 200 μm and the km value of cbg relative to atp as it was calculated from the hanes - woolf plot was 290 μm . further , in the case of cbr , the results were obtained as follows . namely , fig2 shows a graph illustrating the fluctuation of luminescence intensity due to an increase in concentration of atp in the case of cbr . fig3 shows the lineweaver - burk plot , relative to the concentration of atp , of cbr . fig3 shows the hanes - woolf plot , relative to the concentration of atp , of cbr . as a result of these measurements , the km value of cbr relative to atp as it was calculated from the lineweaver - burk plot was 110 μm and the km value of cbr relative to atp as it was calculated from the hanes - woolf plot was 130 μm . further , in the case of eluc , the results were obtained as follows . namely , fig3 shows a graph illustrating the fluctuation of luminescence intensity due to an increase in concentration of atp in the case of eluc . fig3 shows the lineweaver - burk plot , relative to the concentration of atp , of eluc . fig3 shows the hanes - woolf plot , relative to the concentration of atp , of eluc . as a result of these measurements , the km value of eluc relative to atp as it was calculated from the lineweaver - burk plot was 364 μm and the km value of eluc relative to atp as it was calculated from the hanes - woolf plot was 250 μm . further , in the case of genji , the results were obtained as follows . namely , fig3 shows a graph illustrating the fluctuation of luminescence intensity due to an increase in concentration of atp in the case of genji . fig3 shows the lineweaver - burk plot , relative to the concentration of atp , of genji . fig3 shows the hanes - woolf plot , relative to the concentration of atp , of genji . as a result of these measurements , the km value of genji relative to atp as it was calculated from the lineweaver - burk plot was 500 μm and the km value of genji relative to atp as it was calculated from the hanes - woolf plot was 500 μm . further , in the case of gl3 , the results were obtained as follows . namely , fig3 shows a graph illustrating the fluctuation of luminescence intensity due to an increase in concentration of atp in the case of gl3 . fig3 shows the lineweaver - burk plot , relative to the concentration of atp , of gl3 . fig4 shows the hanes - woolf plot , relative to the concentration of atp , of gl3 . as a result of these measurements , the km value of gl3 relative to atp as it was calculated from the lineweaver - burk plot was 200 μm and the km value of gl3 relative to atp as it was calculated from the hanes - woolf plot was 200 μm . further , in the case of yaeyama , the results were obtained as follows . namely , fig4 shows a graph illustrating the fluctuation of luminescence intensity due to an increase in concentration of atp in the case of yaeyama . fig4 shows the lineweaver - burk plot , relative to the concentration of atp , of yaeyama . fig4 shows the hanes - woolf plot , relative to the concentration of atp , of yaeyama . as a result of these measurements , the km value of yaeyama relative to atp as it was calculated from the lineweaver - burk plot was 400 μm and the km value of yaeyama relative to atp as it was calculated from the hanes - woolf plot was 400 μm . the lineweaver - burk plot and the hanes - woolf plot were prepared from the photon count values obtained by the luminometer and , based on these plots , the km values were calculated . fig4 shows a summary of these results of calculation of the km values . in fig4 , the number described inside the parenthesis represents the km value that was calculated by making use of the hanes - woolf plot . since the km value of each kind of luciferase is treated in the same manner as kd in general , it is conceivable that as the km value becomes smaller , the affinity of luciferase to d - luciferin or atp becomes higher . namely , the ranking of the affinity of luciferase to d - luciferin was confirmed as being cbg & gt ; eluc & gt ; gl3 & gt ; cbr & gt ; genji & gt ; yaeyama . when the facts that cbg , cbr and eluc are respectively luciferase originating from hikari kometsuki and gl3 , genji and yaeyama are respectively luciferase originating from firefly are taken into consideration , there will be recognized the trend that the affinity to d - luciferin becomes higher in the luciferase originated from hikari kometsuki . although data are not shown herein , the results obtained from the luciferase originated from hikari kometsuki were found different from the results obtained from the firefly - derived luciferase with respect also to the luminescence pattern obtained from the measurement using a luminometer . specifically , while the luciferase originated from hikari kometsuki exhibited a peak luminescence intensity 5 to 6 seconds after the addition of luciferin , i . e . so - called glow type luminescence , the firefly - derived luciferase was confirmed to exhibit a peak luminescence intensity 0 . 5 to 1 second after the addition of luciferin , i . e . so - called flash type luminescence . with respect to the luciferase originated from yaeyama which was obtained by the present inventor at this time , since it exhibited a peak luminescence intensity 0 . 5 to 1 second after the addition of luciferin , this luciferase was confirmed as being of flash type . further , there is a report describing that the difference of luminescence pattern as described above can be generated due to differences in amino acid residue of luciferase ( r218 , f250 , g315 , t343 , etc .) existing in the vicinity of d - luciferin - or atp - bonding site , these differences being caused by the point mutation of p . pyralis ( see bruce r . branchini et al ., biochemistry , 2003 , 42 , pp . 10429 - 10436 ). since the aforementioned amino acid residue is known as being capable of contributing to the decay rate , it has been found possible to prepare the luciferase that is capable of exhibiting a luminescence pattern which differs from the flash type or the glow type by making use of genetic engineering techniques while taking the amino acid residue in each kind of luciferase into consideration . meanwhile , the ranking of the affinity of luciferase to atp has been confirmed as being cbg & gt ; cbr , gl3 & gt ; eluc & gt ; yaeyama & gt ; genji . namely , the results thus obtained indicate that , although it is inferior as compared with genji , yaeyama was relatively low in affinity to atp as compared with that of other kinds of luciferase . this low affinity to atp is an advantageous property on the occasion of quantitatively determining the intercellular atp concentration by making use of the luciferin - luciferase reaction . in this case , there is a possibility that since a small degree of variations in quantity of atp cannot be fully reflected to the quantity of luminescence in the case of gl3 which is high in susceptibility , the luminescence intensity will be retained constant until the quantity of atp is greatly attenuated . specifically , in the experiments conducted by the present inventor , pgl3 was transfected to hela cell and , by making use of fccp acting as an uncoupler , the production of atp in mitochondria was suspended and then the luminescence intensity on this occasion was measured with time by making use of luminoview ( lv100 )( trade name ). however , the luminescence intensity was not attenuated even if the measurement was continued after the excitation thereof . the cytoplasmic atp of hela cell under the steady state is estimated as being 1 . 3 mm ( see m v zamaraeve et al ., cell death and differentiation , 2005 , 12 , pp . 1390 - 1397 ), so that if the luciferin - luciferase reaction is assumed as being abided by michaelis - menten equation , the reaction velocity of gl3 at this atp concentration would be increased to about 85 % of vmax . meanwhile , although it is reported that the concentration of cytoplasmic atp after it was left to stand for 30 minutes after the treatment thereof with fccp became about 50 % of that of steady state ( see takeshi kubota et al ., biochimica et biophysica acta , 2005 , 1744 , pp . 19 - 28 ), the reaction velocity of gl3 in the reaction using 0 . 65 mm atp is expected to be about 80 % of vmax . therefore , in the case of the measuring system using a cell wherein the quantity of manifestation of luciferase is caused to change , it is expected to be difficult to detect , by means of a ccd camera , the fluctuation of luminescence originating from a difference of 5 % in reaction velocity as being the fluctuation in quantity of atp . meanwhile , in the case of using yaeyama , a reaction velocity corresponding to about 80 % of vmax in the case of 1 . 35 mm atp and a reaction velocity corresponding to about 60 % of vmax in the case of 0 . 65 mm atp are expected to be realized in view of the michaelis - menten equation , so that a difference of 20 % in reaction velocity would be caused to generate as it is treated with drugs ( fccp treatment ), thus finding that the detection can be facilitated as compared with the case where gl3 is employed . namely , yaeyama is found capable of exhibiting the most advantageous km value in the luminescence imaging method of atp . further , when the above - described examples of gl3 and yaeyama are taken into account , it is preferable to select the luciferase after estimating the quantity of atp inside the cell on the occasion of measuring the intercellular atp concentration . the affinity to atp in this case can be varied by means of the point mutation in the vicinity of atp bonding site ( see bruce r . branchini et al ., biochemistry , 2003 , 42 , pp . 10429 - 10436 ). namely , by preparing a series of luciferase exhibiting various degrees of atp affinity ranging from an intermediate affinity to a very low affinity ( having km values ranging from an intermediate km value to a very high km value ), an intracellular atp - measuring system corresponding to many kinds of cells can be constructed . incidentally , since it is known that the luminescence intensity is caused to decrease in the case of the luciferase which has been modified through the introduction of mutation , the yaeyama may be modified so as to adjust the atp affinity while taking into consideration the retention of high luminescence intensity . in this example 3 , the object of experiment was directed to a plurality of hela cells having a luciferase gene introduced therein . by making use of luminometer ( chronos , atto co ., ltd . ), the luminescence of the hela cells to be induced by drug stimulation was tracked with time and the results obtained were compared with the quantity of fluctuation in luminescence that had been brought about by the luciferase gene . a drug staurosporine ( sts ) is known as being capable of obstructing pkc and of inducing apoptosis . further , it is reported that once apoptosis has been induced by the sts , the intercellular atp concentration is caused to increase at the initial stage of apoptosis ( see m v zamaraeva et al ., cell death and differentiation ( 2005 ), 12 , pp . 1390 - 1397 ). in this example , the increase of the intercellular atp concentration on the occasion of the induction of apoptosis into the hela cells by making use of the sts was detected by the increase of luminescence to be brought about by the eluc and gl3 , and the results obtained were compared with each other . ( 1 ) a sv40 promoter / emerald luc expressing vector ( tohyobou co ., ltd .) and a sv40 promotor / gl3 expressing vector were respectively introduced into hela cells which had been seeded in a glass bottom dish , thereby preparing the hela cells which were capable of constantly expressing luciferase . ( 2 ) d - luciferin was added to the above - described samples to obtain the samples containing d - luciferin at an ultimate concentration of 0 . 5 mm . the resultant samples were left to stand for one hour in an incubator . ( 3 ) the samples were set in a luminometer and then staurosporine ( sts ) was added to these samples so as to make the ultimate concentration into 4 μm . ( 4 ) after the addition of the drug , the measurement using the luminometer was initiated and fluctuation in luminescence after the stimulation using the drug were tracked with time . as a result , fluctuation in luminescence intensity after the stimulation with sts were obtained as shown in fig4 and fig4 . in this case , fig4 is a graph showing the fluctuation of luminescence of eluc obtained in the measurement of the quantity of intercellular atp measured using a luminometer ( chronos ) and fig4 is a graph showing the fluctuation of luminescence of gl3 obtained in the measurement of the quantity of intercellular atp measured using a luminometer ( chronos ). this experiment was performed under the conditions wherein opti - mem and 0 . 5 mm d - luciferin were used in the measurement using chronos ( atto co ., ltd .) ( 36 ° c ., 10 - second integration data ). after the stimulation using 4 μm staurosporine ( sts ), the measurement was started . as shown in fig4 and fig4 , it will be recognized through the comparison between the fluctuation of luminescence of eluc and gl3 that eluc was more preferable in increasing the magnitude of fluctuation , thereby facilitating the detection using a luminometer . these results indicate that the employment of luciferase exhibiting a lower affinity to atp is advantageous in the measurement of the fluctuation of atp . in this example 4 , the object of experiment was directed to a plurality of hela cells having a luciferase gene introduced therein . by making use of lv200 ( olympus co ., ltd .) representing a luminescence imaging system which was capable of executing the picking up / observation of three kinds of images , i . e . a fluorescent - transmitting image , a luminescent ( chemical luminescence and / or biological luminescence ) image and a transmitting bright visual field image , the luminescence of specific hela cells to be induced by drug stimulation was tracked with time and the luminescence intensity thereof was tracked . this luminescence imaging system was equipped with a component which was capable of cultivating a sample including cells , with a common pick up component ( an objective lens , an imaging lens and a ccd camera ), and an illumination system which was capable of executing the irradiation for exciting fluorescence and illumination of bright visual field . it is possible , with this system , to selectively obtaining an image from these three kinds of image and to individually display or analyze each of these images in accordance with the instruction of an operator . therefore , it is possible for an operator to optionally give instructions through an interface of the system or to output the results of the analysis of these images . ( 1 ) a sv40 promoter / emerald luc expressing vector ( tohyobou co ., ltd .) was introduced into hela cells which had been seeded in a glass bottom dish , thereby preparing the hela cells which were capable of constantly expressing luciferase . ( 2 ) d - luciferin was added to the above - described samples to obtain the samples containing d - luciferin at an ultimate concentration of 0 . 5 mm . the resultant samples were left to stand for one hour in an incubator . ( 3 ) the samples were set in a luminescence imaging apparatus and then staurosporine ( sts ) was added to these samples so as to make the ultimate concentration into 4 μm . ( 4 ) after the addition of the drug , the measurement using the luminometer was initiated and fluctuation in luminescence after the stimulation using the drug were tracked with time . as a result , it was possible to observe the luminescent image and the fluctuation in luminescence intensity as shown in fig4 and fig4 . in this case , fig4 is a graph showing a luminescent image in an eluc expressing hela cell which was obtained immediately after the drug stimulation . the conditions for this experiment were as follows . by making use of 0 . 5 mm d - luciferin / opti - mem , the measurement of eluc control vector - introduced hela cell ( seeded in a glass bottom dish ) was performed using lv200 ( olympus co ., ltd .). as for the ccd camera , an imagem was used . the picking up was performed under the conditions of : em - gain 200 , binning 1 × 1 , 10 sec exposure , 15 sec intervals , 40 × objective lens . the measurement was started after the stimulation using 4 μm staurosporine ( sts ). fig4 is a graph showing the fluctuation of luminescence intensity after the sts stimulation in each of cells ( eluc expressing hela cells : 1 to 7 ) that has been analyzed from the images ( 1 to 7 ) each rectangularly encircled in fig4 . as shown in fig4 , it has been found possible to track with time the luminescence of a specific hela cell by means of luminescent imaging and by making use of the luciferase which is low in affinity to atp . further , herein , fig4 shows one example illustrating a luminescence image which was photographed prior to the stimulation of cell ( prior to the induction of apoptosis by the stimulation of cell ) according to the experiment procedures and under the experimental conditions described above . further , fig5 shows images which are designated as three measuring regions ( roi : regions of interest ) in the luminescent image shown fig4 . as shown in fig4 , according to the experiment procedures and under the experimental conditions described above , it was possible to obtain a luminescent image ( magnification : 100 times ) related to a single cell . in this luminescent image , three cells are photographed . among these cells , the cell located at the center is photographed in such a manner that the upper portion thereof is the brightest , the lower portion thereof is the next in brightness to the upper portion , and the intermediate portion thereof is somewhat dark . then , as shown in fig5 , three measuring regions ( roi ) were designated from the luminescent image of fig4 and the brightness of luminescence of each pixel group ( 49 pixels ) in three regions was measured . herein , fig5 shows the values of luminescent brightness in three regions and the graph thereof . incidentally , the values of luminescent brightness are represented by an arbitrary unit , so that the numbers “ 1 ”, “ 2 ” and “ 3 ” in the lower table of fig5 represent designated three measuring regions and the number “ 4 ” represents the background ( an optional designated region containing no cell in the image ). further , “ total ” in the table represents a total of the values of luminescent brightness in 49 pixels . “ average ” in the table represents an average of the values of luminescent brightness of unit pixel . the graph of fig5 illustrates the results obtained by correcting the average of the values of luminescent brightness with an average (= 19 . 6939 ) of the values of luminescent brightness of the background . when the atp is consumed in a state where cells are still alive , the luminescence to be derived therefrom would become dark . therefore , in the region where biological metabolic activity is weak in the same cell , the atp can be hardly consumed , resulting in the generation of bright luminescence . as shown in fig5 , it has been found possible to quantitatively perform comparative analysis by executing only one picking up of the distribution of substance ( atp ) to be measured , the distribution extending from a high concentration to a low concentration . when a tracking experiment was performed after the stimulation of the same cell , the brightness was gradually increased in every designated regions , thus indicating the deterioration of biological metabolic activity . further , it was also confirmed that as the designated region became darker , the luminescence could be more quickly turned into higher brightness . as described above , according to this example 4 , the distribution of the substance to be measured can be quantified among a plurality of cells or in each of the regions within the same cell , thereby making it possible to track the luminescence with time . in view of these results , it is possible , according to the luminescence measuring method of the present invention , to realize the execution of luminescence analysis of each of emitting sites exhibiting a wide dynamic range in an object to be analyzed ( for example , a biological tissue or a cultivated cell group ( or a segment of various internal organs )) which is positioned within the visual field of observation . therefore , it is possible to execute , while minimizing the damage to an organism , the quantitative kinetic analysis of a plurality of sites in a single object to be analyzed and / or each of a plurality of objects to be analyzed with respect to biological active substances each exhibiting diverse dynamic range ( for example , atp , calcium ion , camp ). further , since the dynamic range can be altered in conformity with the km value , it is possible to execute quantitative measurement in conformity with the quantity of substance and to adjust the luminescence intensity so as to prevent the generation of an extreme difference in luminescence intensity . as a result , it is possible to concurrently perform the tests of various items by making use of the same weak - light detecting apparatus . as described above , the luminescence measuring method and the luminescence measuring system according to the present invention can be suitably applied to various fields such as a biological field , a pharmaceutical field , a medical field , etc . | 6 |
in general the present invention is directed to high - strength herbicidal formulations containing fluroxypyr esters , in particular fluroxypyr meptyl ester . the herbicidal formulation includes the fluroxypyr ester in an amount sufficient to provide the high - strength formulation with no crystallization at temperatures as low as 0 ° c . the high - strength herbicidal formulation includes at least about 300 gae / l to about 350 gae / l based upon the fluroxypyr acid equivalent of the fluroxypyr ester . this typically corresponds to about 430 g / l to about 505 g / l of the fluroxypyr meptyl ester . other esters of fluroxypyr may be suitable for this invention such as , but not limited to , 2 - butoxy - 1 - methylethyl , 2 - butoxyethyl , butyl , 2 - methylpropyl , 2 - ethylhexyl and 1 - decyl esters . the surfactants can be anionic , cationic or nonionic in character . surfactants conventionally used in the art of formulation and which may also be used in the present formulations are described , inter alia , in “ mccutcheon &# 39 ; s detergents and emulsifiers annual ”, mc publishing corp ., ridgewood , n . j ., 1998 and in “ encyclopedia of surfactants ”, vol . i - iii , chemical publishing co ., new york , 1980 - 81 . typical surfactants include salts of alkyl sulfates , such as diethanolammonium lauryl sulfate ; alkylarylsulfonate salts , such as calcium dodecylbenzenesulfonate ; alkyl and / or arylalkylphenol - alkylene oxide addition products , such as nonylphenol - c 18 ethoxylate ; alcohol - alkylene oxide addition products , such as tridecyl alcohol - c 16 ethoxylate ; soaps , such as sodium stearate ; alkylnaphthalenesulfonate salts , such as sodium dibutylnaphthalenesulfonate ; dialkyl esters of sulfosuccinate salts , such as sodium di ( 2 - ethylhexyl ) sulfosuccinate ; sorbitol esters , such as sorbitol oleate ; quaternary amines , such as lauryl trimethylammonium chloride ; polyethylene glycol esters of fatty acids , such as polyethylene glycol stearate ; block copolymers of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide ; salts of mono and dialkyl phosphate esters ; and mixtures thereof . the surfactant or mixture of surfactants is usually present at a concentration of from about 100 g / l to about 200 g / l . the solvent , which typically makes up the remainder of the high - strength herbicidal formulation , is an n , n - dimethyl ( c 6 - c 12 ) alkylamide . n , n - dimethyl ( c 6 - c 12 ) alkylamides are commercially available under various tradenames including , for example , agnique ke 3658 and 3308 ( cognis inc .) or genagen 4166 and 4296 ( clarian gmbh ), and are often supplied as mixtures such as n , n - dimethyloctanamide / decanamide . the solvent is usually present at a concentration from about 300 g / l to about 560 g / l , more preferably from about 350 g / l to about 450 g / l . the high - strength , herbicidal formulation does not exhibit separation or precipitation ( or crystallization ) of any of the components at low temperatures . for example , the high - strength formulation remains a clear solution at temperatures below about 10 ° c ., more preferably at temperatures about 0 ° c . in addition to the formulations set forth above , the present invention also embraces the compositions of these fluroxypyr ester formulations in combination with one or more additional compatible ingredients . other additional ingredients may include , for example , one or more other herbicides , dyes , and any other additional ingredients providing functional utility , such as , for example , stabilizers , fragrants , viscosity - lowering additives , and freeze - point depressants . additional herbicidal compounds employed as supplements or additives should not be antagonistic to the activity of the fluroxypyr ester composition as employed in the present invention . suitable herbicidal compounds include , but are not limited to 2 , 4 - d , 2 , 4 - mcpa , ametryn , aminopyralid , asulam , atrazine , butafenacil , carfentrazone - ethyl , chlorflurenol , chlormequat , chlorpropham , chlorsulfuron , chlortoluron , cinosulfuron , clethodim , clopyralid , cyclosulfamuron , pyroxsulam , dicamba , dichlobenil , dichlorprop - p , diclosulam , diflufenican , diflufenzopyr , diuron , glyphosate , hexazinone , imazamox , imazapic , imazapyr , imazaquin , imazethapyr , imazosulfuron , mcpa , metsulfuron - methyl , picloram , pyrithiobac - sodium , sethoxydim , sulfometuron , sulfosate , sulfosulfuron , tebuthiuron , terbacil , thiazopyr , thifensulfuron , triasulfuron , tribenuron and triclopyr . the herbicidal formulations of the present invention can be co - formulated with the other herbicide or herbicides , tank mixed with the other herbicide or herbicides , or applied sequentially with the other herbicide or herbicides . dyes may be used in the formulated composition as a marker . generally , a preferred dye can be any oil - soluble dye selected from epa &# 39 ; s approved list of inerts exempt from tolerance . such dyes may include , for example , d & amp ; c red # 17 , d & amp ; c violet # 2 , and d & amp ; c green # 6 . dyes are generally added to the composition by adding the desired amount of dye to the formulated composition with agitation . dyes are generally present in the final formulation composition in a concentration of about 0 . 1 - 1 . 0 % by weight . the compositions of the present invention are diluted with water prior to being applied . the diluted compositions usually applied to cereals and range and pastures generally contain about 0 . 0001 to about 5 . 0 weight percent the fluroxypyr ester . a high - strength formulation was prepared containing 333 gae / l of fluroxypyr meptyl ester by dissolving 480 g / l technical fluroxypyr meptyl ester with stirring into 404 g / l genagen 4166 ( clarian gmbh ; mixture of n , n - dimethyloctanamide / decanamide ), 13 g / l soprophor flk ( rhodia inc ; polyethylene tristyrylphenol phosphate , potassium salt ), 78 . 5 g / l tensiofix n9811 hf ( omnichem nv ; proprietary anionic - nonionic blend ) and 78 . 6 g / l ethoxylated tristyrylphenol at room temperature . unlike the commercial formulation based on aromatic hydrocarbon solvents , which required packaging material with high barrier properties , e . g ., fluorinated hdpe or metal or metal lined containers , to prevent migration through the packaging material , this formulation can be packaged in standard hdpe containers . in addition , seals and o - rings are much less sensitive to the new formulation compared to the commercial formulation based on aromatic hydrocarbon solvents . the formulation of example 1 was cooled and the crystallization point was determined to be less than − 1 ° c . a seeded sample of the formulation did not crystallize at − 5 ° c . after 2 - 3 weeks , but did form a small amount of crystals after 3 - 4 months at − 9 . 9 ° c . the crystals that did form went back into solution upon warming to room temperature with gentle agitation . | 0 |
fig2 is a sectional view illustrative of a semiconductor device according to this invention . referring to the figure , numeral 9 designates an insulator made of sio 2 , which is disposed on a substrate 1 and on which a main insulator 2 is disposed . numeral 10 indicates a conductive layer which is disposed in a manner to be embedded in the main insulator 2 , and numeral 11 an insulator which covers the conductive layer 10 . the heights of the main insulator 2 and the covering insulator 11 are substantially equal . in order to manufacture this semiconductor device , first of all , the surface of a p - type single - crystalline silicon substrate 1 having the ( 100 ) face is thermally oxidized , thereby to deposit the insulator 9 which is approximately 1000 å thick . subsequently , polycrystalline silicon is deposited to a thickness of 3000 å by the low - pressure chemical vapor deposition and implanted with 31 p + ions by 5 × 10 15 cm - 2 , whereupon the resultant substrate is annealed . next , the substrate is spincoated with a negative type photoresist , which is exposed to light . then , the conductive layer ( polyerystalline si ) is etched , thereby to form the conductive layer 10 which is 3 μm wide . at the next step , sio 2 of 3500 å is deposited by the plasma cvd with the photoresist on the conductive layer 10 left intact , and the sio 2 and photoresist on the conductive layer 10 are removed by the lift - off method , to bring the insulator 2 into a desired pattern . that is , the photoresist used for the etching of the conductive layer 10 is left till the deposition of sio 2 , and after the sio 2 is deposited on the photoresist , it is simultaneously removed by removing the photoresist . thus , the sio 2 in only the area conforming in shape with the conductive layer 10 can be removed . the substrate is thereafter annealed in a dry oxygen atmosphere , whereby the conductive layer 10 is covered with the insulator 11 made of sio 2 having a thickness of 500 å . that is , the surface of the conductive layer 10 is formed with the thermal oxide layer by the anncaling . essentially , the conductive layer 10 and the main insulator 2 ought to form no gap . in the actual process , however , the conductive layer 10 is formed to be smaller than the photoresist . this is ascribable to overetching etc . even with the lift - off method , therefore , a gap is formed between the conductive layer 10 and the main insulator 2 . this gap can be filled up by the thermal oxidation because the oxide sio 2 has a volume about double that of the original si . in this way , the v - shaped gap formed at the boundary between the conductive layer 10 and the main insulator 2 is removed , and simultaneously the insulator 2 is densified . on this occasion , there is almost no step between the upper edge of the insulator 11 and that of the main insulator 2 , and the height of the protuberant part of the insulator 11 formed at the boundary between the insulator 2 and the conductive layer 10 is within 200 å . next , an opening 3 having a diameter of 30 μm is provided in the oxide 2 , 9 by a conventional photoresist process , whereupon a polycrystalline silicon layer having a thickness of 400 å is deposited by the low - pressure cvd . subsequently , using a cw laser of argon ( ar ) having a power output of 7 w , the polycrystalline si layer is irradiated with a beam having a spot diameter of about 50 μm while the latter is being scanned at a velocity of 20 cm / sec . thus , the polycrystalline si layer is recrystallized by employing as a seed the part of the substrate 1 corresponding to the opening 3 , and a single - crystalline silicon film 6 is formed . when diodes each of which included in its junction area the part of the si film 6 corresponding to the opening 3 in such semiconductor device , were formed , reverse currents of 10 - 8 - 10 - 7 a / cm 2 were exhibited with reverse biases of 1 v . in contrast , when diodes were formed the junction area of each of which existed in the si film 6 on the conductor layer 10 , an improvement of substantially one order was noted on the average . fig3 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention . in the figure , the same numerals as in fig2 indicate identical or equivalent portions . the present embodiment consists in that a plurality of conductive layers 10 are formed . when , in the prior - art semiconductor device as shown in fig1 a plurality of conductive layers 4 are formed in adjacency , the steps the number of which is double that of the conductive layers 4 appear in the si film 6 . therefore , when actual characteristics are considered , it is difficult to form the plurality of conductive layers 4 in adjacency . owing to the application of this invention , no step appears even when the plurality of conductive layers 10 are formed in adjacency as illustrated in fig3 . therefore , no hindrance is involved in providing a large number of conductive layers 10 in adjacency . fig4 is a sectional view illustrative of another semiconductor device according to the present invention , in the figure , numeral 12 indicates a conductive layer which is embedded and disposed in a substrate 1 , numeral 13 an insulator which covers the conductive layer 12 , numeral 14 a groove which is provided in the substrate 1 , numeral 2 an insulator , numeral 3 an opening , and numeral 6 a single - crystallized si film . in this case , the thickness of the insulator 2 can be rendered smaller than that of the conductive layer 12 . in manufacturing this semiconductor device , first of all , the groove 14 is provided in the substrate 1 by a conventional dry etching method . subsequently , an insulator is formed by the plasma cvd , whereupon a polycrystalline si layer is formed by the low pressure cvd . next , the polycrystalline si layer and the insulator except their parts corresponding to the groove 14 are removed by the sputter etching , to form the conductive layer 12 and the insulator 13 . on this occasion , almost no step develops between the upper edge of the conductive layer 12 and that of the substrate 1 . next , after the insulator 2 is formed , the opening 3 is provided . subsequently , a polycrystalline si layer is deposited and is recrystallized by a conventional laser annealing method , to form the si film 6 . fig5 is a sectional view illustrative of another semiconductor device according to this invention . in the figure , the same numerals as in fig2 indicate identical or equivalent portions . in addition , symbol 9a denotes an insulator which is disposed on the si film 6 , symbol 2a a main insulator which is disposed on the insulator 9a , symbol 3a an opening which is provided in the insulators 2a and 9a , symbol 10a a conductive layer which is embedded and disposed in the insulator 2a , symbol 11a an insulator which covers the conductive layer 10a , and symbol 6a a single - crystalline si film which is formed on the insulator 2a . the thickness of the insulator 2 or 2a is to such an extent that the crosstalk between the substrate 1 and the si film 6 or between the si films 6 and 6a can be prevented . device elements can be formed in the respective single - crystalline si films , and an integrated circuit of high packing density can be formed by the stacked structure . the conductive layers 10 and 10a are used for transmitting signals . besides , by way of example , the conductive layer 10 can function as the gate of a mos transistor formed on the substrate 1 and as the gate of a mos transistor formed on the semiconductor layer 6 . in this case , a gate insulator can be realized by adjusting the thickness of the insulator 9 or the insulator 11 . likewise , the conductive layer 10a can be used as the gate of a mos transistor formed on the semiconductor layer 6 or 6a . further , the semiconductor layer 6 or 6a can be turned into a conductor by , for example , heavily doping it with an impurity or changing it into a metal silicide . then , it can be used as an interconnection member . moreover , the respective semiconductor layers are connected through the openings 3 , 3a etc . and are easy of electrical connection . in this manner , a device design of high versatility is permitted by stacking the semiconductor layers . for fully exploiting the advantages of such structure , it is the requisite that each semiconductor layer has a good crystallinity . it will be readily understood that the flat structure of the present invention is effective for realizing the requisite . fig6 is a sectional view illustrative of another semiconductor device according to the present invention . in the figure , numerals 15 and 16 indicate conductive layers which are embedded and disposed in a si film 6 . the lengthwise direction of each of the conductive layers 15 and 16 is perpendicular to the sheet of the drawing , and the thickness thereof is not greater than half of the thickness of the si film 6 . numeral 17 indicates an insulator which covers the side parts of the conductive layers 15 and 16 . numerals 18 and 19 indicate heavily doped regions which are formed in the si film 6 , and which are connected with other elements ( not shown ) formed in the si film 6 . the connection with the other element may well be in a case where the diffused region 18 or 19 is used as the source , drain or gate of a mos transistor or where it is used as the base , emitter or collector of a bipolar transistor . numerals 20 and 21 designate conductive layers which are embedded and disposed in the si film 6 . the lengthwise direction of each of the conductive layers 20 and 21 is parallel to the sheet of the drawing , and the thickness thereof is not greater than half of the thickness of the si film 6 . further , the conductive layers 20 , 21 serve to connect the conductive layers 15 , 16 and the diffused regions 18 , 19 . numeral 22 indicates an insulator which covers the conductive layers 20 and 21 . the sum of the thicknesses of the conductive layer 15 or 16 , the conductive layer 20 or 21 and the insulator 22 is substantially equal to the thickness of the si film 6 . besides , a conductive layer 12 is connected with elements ( not shown ) formed on the surface of a substrate 1 , and the conductive layer 12 and a conductive layer 10 which is extended orthogonally thereto are connected . thus , many of interconnections for connecting the elements formed on the si film 6 can be formed with the thickness of the si film 6 . in forming the conductive layers 15 , 16 , etc . of this semiconductor device , the conductive layers 15 , 16 and the insulator 17 are first formed to thicknesses substantially equal to the thickness of the si film 6 , whereupon the parts of the si film 6 to form the diffused regions 18 , 19 therein and the conductive layers 15 , 16 and the insulator 17 are simultaneously etched . next , the diffused regions 18 , 19 are formed , whereuopon the conductive layers 20 , 21 and the insulator 22 are formed . the insulator films 17 may be the thermal oxide films of the side surfaces of the conductive layers 15 , 16 and the si film 6 . when a material which cannot be subjected to such an expedient as thermal oxidation is employed for the conductive layers 15 , 16 , the insulator may well be deposited by the cvd or the like . while the above embodiments have been explained as to the case where the semiconductor substrate and the semiconductor thin film are made of si , naturally this invention is also applicable to a semiconductor device which employs a compound semiconductor such as gaas . in addition , while the above embodiments have been explained as to the case where the conductive layer 10 is made of the polycrystalline si heavily doped with an impurity , a refractory metal such as molybdenum ( mo ) or tungsten ( w ) or an alloy containing the metal may well be used as the material of the conductive layer . further , while in the foregoing the single - crystalline si film 6 has been formed by scanning the laser beam for the recrystallization , the recrystallizing operation may well be performed by scanning an energy beam such as electron beam or by employing a strip heater . besides , while the polycrystalline si has been recrystallized in the foregoing , amorphous si may well be crystallized . while , in the foregoing , the si film 6 has been formed using the substrate 1 as the seed , it may well be formed by single - crystallization employing no seed crystal . in this case , it is more advantageous to single - crystallize amorphous si . while , in the foregoing embodiment , the upper edge of the insulator 11 or 22 has been rendered even with that of the insulator 2 or si film 6 , the upper edge of the conductive layer 10 or the conductive layer 20 or 21 may well be rendered even with that of the insulator 2 or si film 6 . that is , the step between the upper edge of the insulator 2 or si film 6 and that of the conductive layer portion may well be rendered within the thickness of the insulator 11 or 22 , and it is effective to set the step at or below 1000 å . fig7 a and 7b are graphs each showing the relationships among the laser scanning velocity , the laser power and the crystallinity of a single - crystalline si film in the case where polycrystalline si was recrystallized in such a way that the polycrystalline si of 3500 å thick was deposited on a structure having an oxide step and then scanned by a cw laser of ar . fig7 a and 7b correspond to cases where the oxide steps were 9500 å and 3500 å , respectively . marks , ○, and ○ indicate that the single - crystalline si film was broken , that the regrowth of the single - crystalline si film was favorable , and that the polycrystalline si did not regrow , respectively . as understood from the graphical representation , in the case of the oxide step of 9500 å , a good crystal is sometimes obtained even at a laser scanning velocity of 25 cm / sec , but the reproducibility is almost null . in order to attain a favorable crystallinity , the recrystallization needs to be performed under the narrowly limited conditions that the laser scanning velocity is at least 50 cm / sec and that the laser power is near 6 w . moreover , it cannot be said that the reproducibility is high . in contrast , in the case of the oxide step of 3500 å , the regrowth of good crystals is possible under the comparatively wide conditions that the laser scanning velocity is at least 40 cm / sec and that the laser power is 6 - 8 w . the allowable width of the laser power at the laser scanning velocity of 25 cm / sec is about 1 w , and the reproducibility is high . the results will be based on the fact that , depending upon the thickness of the oxide film , the conduction of heat particularly in the direction of the substrate differs to give rise to the differences in the conditions of the recrystallization . as the oxide step becomes smaller , it becomes less influential . as set forth above , in a semiconductor device according to this invention , steps to appear in the conductive layer portion of a semiconductor thin film are small , and hence , the crystallinity of the semiconductor thin film becomes favorable . this produces the advantage that the electrical performance of the semiconductor thin film is improved . as other advantages , the risks of the breaking of interconnections , etc . at the steps decrease in case of forming the multilayer interconnections , so that the yield is enhanced and that the reliability is improved . in this manner , the effects of the invention are remarkable . having described specified embodiments of our bearing , it is believed obvious that modification and variation of our invention is possible in light of the above teachings . | 7 |
with reference to the drawings , the embodiments incorporating the principles , features and concepts of the present invention will be described . fig6 is a sectional view of the first preferred embodiment of a high - density disk structured according to the present invention . the embodiment of a high - density disk , for example , a hd - dvd according to the present invention has same dimension as a conventional hd - dvd depicted in fig3 , namely , 1 . 2 mm in thickness and 120 mm in diameter , a center hole of maximum 15 mm diameter and a clamping zone ( or clamping area ) of 44 mm diameter encircling the center hole . in addition , when the present hd - dvd 20 of fig6 is normally placed into a disk device , its recording layer , which contains pit patterns , would be at least approximately 0 . 1 mm from the objective lens of an optical pickup as mentioned before . however , the present invention hd - dvd 20 in fig6 has a clamping zone structured such that its center hole is in asymmetric shape with respect to an imaginary horizontal center plane “ c .” the inner wall of the center hole is inclined at an angle “ θ ” with respect to a vertical line “ l .” for example , the inner diameter of the center hole decreases from bottom ( the side in which the recording layer is disposed ), where it is a maximum 15 mm , to top ( the side opposite to which the recording layer is disposed in ), where the minimum inner diameter is equal to [ 15 mm − 2 ( d 1 )]. the distance “ d 1 ” is equal to [ t ( tanθ )] and “ t ” is the thickness of the hd - dvd . the inclined angle θ preferably ranges from 30 to 60 degrees . the spindle 11 of the turntable in a disk device , which the hd - dvd 20 is placed onto , is structured such that its outer wall is also inclined at the same angle θ as shown in fig6 . if the disk 20 structured as above is placed normally onto the spindle 11 of a turntable in a disk device as shown in fig7 , the spindle 11 with an inclined outer wall of the turntable is in uniform contact with the center hole with an inclined inner wall . consequently , the disk 20 is normally clamped the same as a conventional disk . after successful clamping of the high - density disk 20 , a conventional servo - controlling operation , characterized by the operation of the turntable motor 12 , the motor driving unit 13 and the servo controller 15 , is conducted to rotate the right - clamped disk 20 at a constant and high speed . subsequently , a focusing - servo operation is conducted to focus a laser beam exactly onto a recording layer by moving the objective lens ol of the optical pickup 14 up and down within the operating distance od . once the laser beam is exactly focused , reproduction ( or recording ) of the high - density pit patterns begins . however , if the present disk 20 is placed upside down onto the spindle 11 of the turntable 11 as shown in fig8 , contact between the spindle 11 and the disk 20 only occurs where the center hole of the disk 20 is of the smallest diameter , [ 15 mm − 2 ( d 1 )]. the disk 20 is therefore supported by the spindle 11 at about middle height of the spindle 11 . in other words , there is no uniform contact between the spindle 11 and the disk 20 throughout the thickness t of the disk 20 since the spindle 11 is not fully inserted into the center hole of the present disk 20 . consequently , the surface of the disk 20 is raised by the gap g 1 over normal placement . therefore , although the objective lens ol of the optical pickup 14 moves up to the maximum distance to acquire the exact focus while the misplaced disk 20 is rotating at a high speed , the objective lens ol will not collide with the surface of the misplaced disk 20 , due to the marginal gap g 1 . furthermore , because the recording layer , and the high - density pit patterns contained within , is also further apart from the objective lens ol than in normal placement , the focusing operation will fail . as a result , the misplacement of the disk would be judged as “ no disk ”. because a judgment of “ no disk ” ceases the focusing operation , a collision between the objective lens ol and the disk 20 is avoided . fig9 is a sectional view of the second preferred embodiment of a high - density disk structured according to the present invention . the second embodiment of a high - density disk 30 according to the present invention has a clamping zone structured such that its center hole is also in asymmetric shape with respect to an imaginary longitudinal center plane c . a portion of the inner wall of the center hole is inclined at an angle θ with respect to a vertical line l . in this case , the inner diameter of the center hole decreases from bottom ( the side in which the recording layer is disposed ), where the inner diameter is a maximum of 15 mm , to a distance ( t − d 2 ), where the minimum inner diameter is equal to [ 15 mm − 2 ( d 2 )], as shown in fig9 . the distance “ d 2 ” is a depth of the center hole where the inner diameter is constant . the horizontal distance “ d 2 ” is equal to [( t − d 2 )( tanθ )]. the center hole of the present disk 30 at the top ( opposite to the side in which the recording layer is disposed ) has better durability since the there is less likelihood that the top edge of the center hole will chip or erode than in the case of the first embodiment . this is due to the vertical surface provided by the depth d 2 . the inclined angle θ in this embodiment preferably ranges from 30 to 60 degrees . the spindle 11 of the turntable in a disk device , which the hd - dvd 30 is placed onto , is structured such that its outer wall is also inclined at the same angle θ as shown in fig9 . if the disk 30 structured as above is placed normally onto the spindle 11 of a turntable in a disk device as shown in fig1 , the spindle 11 with an inclined outer wall of the turntable is in uniform contact with the center hole throughout the distance ( t − d 2 ), where the inner wall of the center hole is inclined . consequently , the disk 30 is normally clamped the same as a conventional disk . after successful clamping of the high - density disk 30 , a conventional servo - controlling operation , characterized by the operation of the turntable motor 12 , the motor driving unit 13 and the servo controller 15 , is conducted to rotate the right - clamped disk 30 at a constant and high speed . subsequently , a focusing - servo operation is conducted to focus a laser beam exactly onto a recording layer by moving the objective lens ol of the optical pickup 14 up and down within the operating distance od . once the laser beam is exactly focused , reproduction ( or recording ) of the high - density pit patterns begins . however , if the present disk 30 is placed upside down on the spindle 11 as shown in fig1 , contact between the spindle 11 and the disk 30 only occurs where the center hole of the disk 30 is of the smallest diameter , [ 15 mm − 2 ( d 2 )]. the disk 30 is therefore supported by the spindle 11 at about middle height of the spindle 11 . in other words , there is no uniform contact between the spindle 11 and the disk 20 throughout the thickness ( t − d 2 ) of the disk 30 since the spindle 11 is not fully inserted into the center hole of the present disk 30 . consequently , the surface of the disk 30 is raised by the gap g 2 over normal placement . the gap g 2 is shorter than the gap g 1 created by the misplaced disk 20 of the first embodiment . therefore , although the objective lens ol of the optical pickup 14 moves up to the maximum distance to acquire the exact focus while the misplaced disk 30 is rotating at a high speed , the objective lens ol will not collide with the surface of the misplaced disk 30 due to the marginal gap g 2 . this is similar to the case shown in fig8 of the first embodiment . furthermore , because the recording layer , and the high - density pit patterns contained within , is also further apart from the objective lens ol than in normal placement , the focusing operation will fail . as a result , the misplacement of the disk would be judged as “ no disk ”. because a judgment of “ no disk ” ceases the focusing operation , a collision between the objective lens ol and the disk 30 is avoided . fig1 and 13 illustrate a method of manufacturing a high - density disk which has a center hole with an inclined inner wall . fig1 shows a disk manufacturing process in accordance with the present invention . according to the disk manufacturing process of fig1 , a metal master is obtained through a mastering process ( s 10 ). the metal master is developed from an electroplated glass master on which pit patterns of recorded signals are formed . several stampers are made from the metal master ( s 11 ). the pit patterns reflecting recorded signals formed on the metal master are copied inversely onto the surface of each stamper . referring to fig1 , a stamper 100 is fixed firmly to the bottom of a top plate 200 of an injection molding machine ( imm ). a bottom plate 300 of the imm is tightly combined upward with the top plate 200 . afterwards , substrate material such as melted polycarbonate resin is injected at high temperature into the imm through a port 400 . then , a disk substrate having right pit patterns is produced from the fixed stamper 100 situated in the imm ( s 12 ). the bottom center of the top plate 200 of the imm has a hollow cylinder 201 , which has an outer wall that is inclined at the angle θ , in order to produce a high - intensity disk with a center hole with a θ - inclined inner wall . the part on the produced disk substrate ( having the same circumference as the port 400 ) formed by the hollow cylinder 201 is cut out vertically to form the center hole of a high - density disk . next , pit pattern side of the disk substrate is coated with aluminum reflecting film by a sputtering process in which aluminum metal ions are sputtered and stuck onto the substrate ( s 13 ). a light transmitting layer ( also called “ protective layer ”) is then formed on the aluminum reflecting layer by means well known to one of ordinary skill in the art , such as through a spin - coating method or a film bonding method ( s 14 ). for example , in a spin - coating method , a uv bonding material such as uv resin is deposited onto the central part of the disk substrate rotating at a high speed . the high - speed rotation creates a centrifugal force , instantly and uniformly spreading the uv bonding material over the reflecting layer . additionally , the uv bonding material is cured by irradiating ultraviolet rays thereon . an opposite disk plate is then bonded with the resulting disk substrate , which finally yields a high - density disk containing a center hole that has θ - inclined inner wall . finally , various quality control tests such as determining light reflecting rate etc . of a high - density disk manufactured as above are performed ( s 15 ) to ensure acceptability . fig1 is a sectional view of the third preferred embodiment of a high - density disk structured according to the present invention . fig1 a to 15 c show normal placement and misplacement of the present disk 40 of fig1 , and placement of a cd or a dvd placed onto a turntable with a spindle 21 that is structured to accept a high - density disk of the third embodiment , respectively . the third embodiment of a high - density disk 40 according to the present invention has a clamping zone structured such that its center hole is in asymmetric shape with respect to an imaginary longitudinal center plane c . in this case , the center hole encircled by the clamping zone is stepped inwards by a distance h 3 at a depth p 3 . the distance h 3 is equal to the difference between the maximum and minimum inner diameters and the distance p 3 is the depth from top ( opposite to the side in which the recording layer is disposed ). the spindle 21 of the turntable that is equipped in a disk device and which the hd - dvd 40 is placed onto is structured such that its outer wall is stepped in order to correspond to the center hole with the stepped inner wall . if the disk 40 structured as above is placed normally on a spindle or turntable 21 equipped in a disk device as shown in fig1 a , the spindle 21 with the stepped outer wall is exactly fitted to the center hole with the stepped inner wall to produce uniform contact between the spindle 21 and the disk 40 . consequently , the disk 40 is normally clamped the same as a conventional disk . however , if the disk 40 is misplaced upside down as shown in fig1 b , the minimum inner diameter of the disk 40 , which the spindle 21 encounters first upon the misplacement of the disk 40 , prevents complete and uniform contact between the spindle 21 and the inner wall of the center hole of the disk 40 . this prevention occurs because the disk 40 is now situated on the step located on the spindle 21 . consequently the surface of the disk 40 is raised by the height ( t − p 3 ) over normal placement where t is thickness of the disk 40 . in this case where the disk 40 is raised by a distance ( t − p 3 ) over the resting plate of the spindle 21 , the objective lens ol will not collide with the surface of the misplaced disk 40 , due to the marginal gap ( t − p 3 ) when the objective lens ol of the optical pickup 14 moves up to the maximum distance to acquire the exact focus while the misplaced disk 40 is rotating at a high speed . furthermore , because the recording layer , and the high - density pit patterns contained within , is also further apart from the objective lens ol than in normal placement , the focusing operation will fail . as a result , the misplacement of the disk - would be judged as “ no disk ”. because a judgment of “ no disk ” ceases the focusing operation , a collision between the objective lens ol and the disk 40 is avoided . a conventional cd or dvd can be placed and clamped at the turntable 21 with the rotating axis having the stepped outer wall , as shown in fig1 c , since the diameter of the center hole of a conventional cd or dvd is constant throughout its thickness . in addition , the disk structures of the above embodiments are applicable to a different sized disk including a mini disk with 80 mm in diameter , besides a high - density disk of 120 mm diameter . furthermore , the center hole of the high - density disk may be shaped variously other than the aforementioned embodiments . the invention may be applicable to a rewritable high - density disk as well as a read - only high - density disk without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof . alternatively , the present invention may also be applied to any other rewritable or read - only type disk medium . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention . 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 now to the drawings , fig1 a and 1b schematically illustrate an electrophotographic printer 10 embodying two drum assemblies da 1 , da 2 , of the type that are useful with the drum container of the invention . one drum assembly comprises an image - recording drum 12 having a photoconductive outer layer 13 on which toner images are formed in a conventional manner . drum 12 is rotatably driven by any suitable mechanism for rotation indicated by the arrow . the other drum assembly comprises an intermediate image - transfer drum 22 having an adhesive polymeric surface to which toner images formed on the image - recording drum are transferred prior to being re - transferred to a receiver sheet s . in brief , printer 10 comprises a corona charger 14 for uniformly charging the photoconductive surface of drum 12 , a print head 16 for imagewise exposing the charged photoconductor , line - by - line , to form a charge image , and a development station 18 for developing the charge image with toner particles . at a first transfer nip 20 , the toner image thus formed is transferred to the image - transfer drum 22 . residual toner is removed from drum 12 by a cleaning station comprising a pre - clean corona charger 23 and a cleaning brush 24 . the toner image transferred to the intermediate transfer drum 22 is then re - transferred to receiver sheet s at a second transfer nip 26 formed at the region of contact between a pressure roller 28 and drum 22 . a fusing station 30 serves to fuse the toner image to the receiver sheet . each processing station ( except for the print head ) is mounted for slight movement ( e . g . about 5 mm .) towards and away from its respective operative position adjacent the drum surface to provide minimal clearance for installation and replacement of the drum assembly . during such installation , the drum assembly is moved substantially parallel to drum &# 39 ; s axis of rotation , in the direction of the arrows , through an opening in the machine frame f . as shown in fig1 b , the respective drums 12 and 22 of the drum assemblies da 1 and da 2 are supported for rotation by a pair of drum - support members , 32 , 32 ′ and 34 , 34 ′ respectively . each drum - support member comprises a centrally located bearing b adapted to support a drum axle a for rotation . extending outwardly from each drum - support member is a plurality of reference features adapted to cooperate with corresponding reference features on each of the image - processing stations for the purpose of precisely locating each processing station in an operative position relative to the drum surface . such a scheme for locating the processing stations relative to the drum surface is disclosed in the above - referenced u . s . patent application ser . no . 09 / 474 , 352 , and the disclosure of this application is hereby incorporated herein by reference . for example , referring to fig1 b , each of the drum - support members 32 and 32 ′ is provided with a pair of bullet - shaped reference features 40 , 40 ′ which cooperate v - shaped grooves 50 and 50 ′ respectively carried by opposing ends of the charging station 14 ( and better shown in fig1 c ) for precisely positioning the high voltage grid of the corona charger 14 parallel to the drum &# 39 ; s photoconductive surface . further , the drum - support members 32 and 32 ′ carry outwardly extending reference features 44 and 44 ′, respectively , for precisely positioning the intermediate transfer drum 22 relative to the surface of drum 12 . as shown in fig1 b , reference features 44 and 44 ′ cooperate with v - shaped 54 and 54 ′ provided on the drum supports 34 and 34 ′ of drum assembly da 2 . in fig2 a - 2d , preferred structural details of the above - noted drum - support members are shown . fig2 a and 2b are isometric front and rear views of the front drum - support member 32 , and fig2 c and 2d are isometric front and rear views of the rear drum - support member 32 ′. a pair of bullet - shaped reference features 40 and 41 on drum - support member 32 cooperate with features 40 ′ and 41 ′ on drum - support member 32 ′ to position the corona charging station 14 . similarly , features 43 and 43 ′ serve to position the development station 18 ; features 44 and 44 ′ serve to position the intermediate transfer drum 22 ; features 46 and 46 ′ serve to position the pre - clean corona charger 23 ; and features 48 and 48 ′ serve to position the cleaning brush 24 . now in accordance with one aspect of the present invention , each of the drum - support members 32 and 32 ′ of the above - described drum assemblies da 1 and da 2 is further provided with a pair of outwardly extending drum - support legs 55 , 56 and 55 ′ 56 ′, respectively . these drum - support legs , shown in fig2 a - 2d , are adapted to be slidably received by a pair of spaced , parallel guide rails 54 , 56 located within the frame of the printer or utilization device for the purpose of guiding a drum to its operative position within the printer . ( see fig4 ) in accordance with a further aspect of the invention , these same drum - support legs ( 55 , 56 and 55 ′, 56 ′) are also adapted to be slidably received by a similarly spaced and parallel pair of guide channels 64 , 66 located within a drum container c for the purpose of supporting the drum within the container so that its sensitive outer surface is spaced from all surfaces within the container . referring to the exploded view of fig3 a , a preferred drum - container c of the invention is shown to comprise a pair of mating members 60 , 60 ′ that , when moved together so that their respective mating surfaces 60 a and 60 b are in contact , they collectively define a rectangular box 70 having a cylindrical opening 72 extending therethrough . ( see fig3 b .) the diameter of cylindrical opening is slightly larger than the diameter of the drum to be contained . important to note is that a groove 73 is cut along the inside edge of each of the mating surfaces to define the above - mentioned guide channels 64 , 66 for receiving the drum - support legs 55 , 56 and 55 ′, 56 ′ of the drum support members 32 and 32 ′. it will be noted that , in fig3 a and 3b , the drum - support members 32 and 34 are illustrated schematically , showing only the essential elements ( i . e ., drum - support legs 55 , 56 and 55 ′, 56 ′) that interact with the container structure ( i . e ., guide channels 64 , 66 ) for the purpose of supporting the drum inside the container &# 39 ; s cylindrical opening 72 . in actuality , they are structured as shown in fig2 a - 2d . preferably , the mating halves 60 , 60 ′ of the container are held together by a pair of end caps 80 , 82 , each having a plurality of outwardly extending pegs p 1 - p 4 that are adapted to engage holes h 1 - h 4 formed in the end walls of the mating members 60 , 60 ′. alternatively , the central portion of the container could be a unitary structure , in which case members 60 and 60 ′ would be merged into one piece , with a spaced pair of elongated parallel groove , extending generally parallel to the drum &# 39 ; s central axis ( i . e ., the drum &# 39 ; s axis of rotation ), being formed in the container &# 39 ; s cylindrical wall for slidably receiving , supporting and guiding the drum - support legs 55 , 56 , and 55 ′ 56 ′. according to a preferred embodiment , the central portion of the drum container ( end caps removed ) is pivotally mounted on the printer frame to facilitate transfer of the drum from the container to the printer . referring to fig4 an edge of the drum container is provided with a pair of pivot pins 90 , 91 which is adapted to be received by a pair of trough - shaped couplers 92 , 93 fixed to the from wall of the printer frame . the couplers are positioned so that the container can be pivoted from a vertically hanging position to a position in which the respective axes a — a and b — b of the container guide channels are aligned with the respective axes a — a and b — b of the rectilinear guides of the drum - utilization device ( printer ). in this position , the drum assembly can be readily transferred from said container to the drum - utilization device by sliding the drum - support legs along the container guide channels and into the rectilinear channels of the utilization device until the drum assembly reaches its operative position within the utilization device . optionally , a clasp or the like can be used to temporarily retain the container in its drum - loading position . from the foregoing , it will be appreciated that a technically advantageous container has been provided that not only protects the drum surface during shipping and handling , but , optionally serves as a fixture for facilitating the transfer of the drum to a utilization device , such as an electrophotographic printer . because the drum is guided along a precise rectilinear path during transfer into a printer , those processing stations that operate on the drum surface to produce and transfer images need only be minimally spaced during drum installation or removal to guard against any damage to the drum surface . the drum installer need only align the container guides with the printer guides and push on the drum assembly at one end to effect drum transfer . while the invention has been disclosed with reference to the use of a pair of drum - support legs 50 , 52 being operatively associated with each drum - support member , it will be appreciated that more than two legs can be used to provide support for the drum within the container and utilization device . each additional drum - support leg will require an additional channel guide for slidably receiving , supporting and guiding it . on the other hand , as shown in fig5 a and 5b , only a single leg need be provided if the leg 100 has , for example , a t - shaped cross - section or the like , and a rectilinear guide 102 and container guide channel 104 of substantially identical cross - section are provided in both the utilization device and container . other modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention . 40 , 41 , 40 ′, 41 ′— reference features on drum support members 32 , 32 ′ for positioning charging station 14 43 , 43 ′— reference features on drum supports 32 , 32 ′ for positioning development station 44 , 44 ′— reference features on drum support members 32 , 32 ′ for positioning image - transfer drum 22 46 , 46 ′— reference features on drum support members 32 , 32 ′ for positioning pre - clean corona charger 23 48 , 48 ′— reference feature on drum support members 32 . 32 ′ for positioning cleaning brush 24 55 , 55 ′; 56 , 56 ′— drum support legs carried by drum support members 32 , 32 ′ 92 , 93 — trough - shaped couplers for pivot pins mounted on printer frame | 6 |
fig1 illustrates a modern wind turbine 1 with a tower 2 and a wind turbine nacelle 3 positioned on top of the tower . the blades 5 of the wind turbine rotor are connected to the nacelle through the low speed shaft which extends out of the nacelle front . as illustrated in the figure , wind over a certain level will activate the rotor and allow it to rotate in a perpendicular direction to the wind . the rotation movement is converted to electric power which usually is supplied to the transmission grid as will be known by skilled persons within the area . fig2 illustrates the distribution of the wind forces which the large rotor 6 faces e . g . strong wind forces at the top of the rotor ( e . g . 10 meter per second ) and decreasing wind forces ( e . g . from 8 to 2 meter per second ) toward the bottom of the rotor . the rotor faced distribution of wind forces may result in a very strong moment on the wind turbine in which the wind forces literally try to break off the nacelle from the tower or the foundation . the wind turbine blades are controlled individually in order to level the distribution of wind forces i . e . pitched less into the wind at the top than at the bottom of the rotating movement performed by the rotor including the blades . this technique is called cyclic pitch of the wind turbine blades i . e . a cyclic change of the pitch angle during a full rotation of a blade . the asymmetric wind forces may arise or be increased by wind share or wind wake from other wind turbines in a wind park or from meteorological or geographical conditions . fig3 illustrates schematically the functionality of a pitch system in a pitch controlled wind turbine . the turbine is illustrated with just one wind turbine blade 5 . the blade is illustrated in two positions in relation to the wind direction ; a work position “ a ” and a no - acceleration or no - energy position “ b ”, respectively , and ( not illustrated ) a parking position . the blade is in the position b pitched or turned out of the wind around its longitudinal axis to such extend that an acceleration force f acc is zero i . e . a no - acceleration position for the wind turbine rotor . the position a illustrates the wind turbine blade 5 in any normal working position in which the blade has been pitched or turned into the wind whereby the wind establishes lifting forces on the blade making the wind turbine rotor and the shaft rotate . the angle φ is the angle from the positions a through b to the parking position and thus the angle from a given working position through the no - acceleration position to the parking position i . e . the angle which the wind turbine blade must be pitched during a stopping process such as an emergency stop of a wind turbine in order to protect it by removing forces from the blade ( and thus the rest of the wind turbine ). the wind affects the blade profile of the wind turbine blade with an orthogonally directed force f lift and a parallel directed force f drag on the blade profile . there is a force surplus and the wind turbine blade will accelerate if the sum of vector components points forward . and decelerate if the sum of vector components points backward . fig4 and 5 illustrate the functionality of a previous control system for controlling the wind turbine blades . fig4 illustrates schematically how a controller 7 controls the flex model 8 representing a pitch controlled wind turbine blade 5 of the rotor 6 in a wind turbine 1 during the stopping process . the continuously variable pitch may operate with an angle φ between 0 and 90 degrees in which the parking position represents the wind turbine blade being substantially out of the wind . from the normal operating position to the parking position is the angle φ which the wind turbine blade must be turned in order to stop the rotor from rotating . the angular velocity defines the pitch time from an operating position to a parking position of the wind turbine blade . the blade pitching of the wind turbine system is normally carried out by a hydraulic system with tank and pumps placed in the nacelle , whereas servo valve and cylinders are placed in the hub . the cylinders are provided with pressurized oil through the hollow low - speed shaft and a rotating oil inlet . the control of the hydraulic system is usually established by a system of electric relays . fig5 illustrates an example of a curve relation of applied force to achieve an angular pitch velocity over time in connection with the controller of fig4 i . e . a curve over the acceleration of the system . the curve comprises a first and second level of applied force to the wind turbine blade in which the first level is higher than the second in order to initiate the pitching of the blade and resulting in a substantially linear or constant angular pitch velocity from an operating position to a no - energy or parking position . the levels are chosen rather conservative with a significant margin to any level that may cause damage to the wind turbine blade or the other wind turbine components . the o / sec on the figure should be understood as °/ sec i . e . degrees per second . fig6 illustrates the pitch angle control strategy of a control system for controlling the wind turbine blades in a wind turbine rotor as illustrated in fig4 . each of the three curves illustrates the behavior of a wind turbine blade during a normal and a stopping period of the rotor in which the stopping process starts at circa 360 degrees i . e . one rotor rotation after curve start and circa one and a half rotor rotation before a pitch angle of 90 degrees is reached . the strategy comprises pitching in relation to the wind speed over the swept area whereby the pitch angle is changed cyclic in every rotation of the rotor i . e . the blades are swept in and out of the wind during a rotation . when the stopping process of the rotor is started the blades are pitched as illustrated in fig4 and 5 i . e . with a linear pitch velocity over time forcing the blades to follow the illustrated curves in fig6 . fig7 and 8 illustrate the functionality and pitch velocity of a control system for controlling the wind turbine blades according to the invention . fig7 illustrates schematically how a controller 7 controls the flex model 8 representing a pitch controlled wind turbine blade 5 of the rotor 6 in a wind turbine 1 during the stopping process . the controller 7 optimizes the pitch velocity of the wind turbine blades during the stopping process in response to one or more feedback values from feedback means 9 . the feedback values are established by sensors in the wind turbine system 1 and / or at the surroundings of the wind turbine system 1 . the sensors of the surroundings may detect or monitor the wind speed , wind direction , wind share and / or wind density as well as other relevant values of the surroundings . fig8 illustrates an example of a curve relation of applied force to achieve an angular pitch velocity over time of the present invention i . e . a curve over the acceleration of the system . the curve includes an initial high transient acceleration from 0 to circa 15 degrees / sec in the first few seconds e . g . in the first five seconds such as between the first and third second . the curve forms a steady - state after the initial transitory condition in which a no - acceleration position is reached . hereby , is assured that the angular pitch velocity has a high initial value and a lower succeeding value and thus forms a non - linear velocity curve . the wind turbine may in an emergency situation ( e . g . loss of utility load on the electric generator in which a fatal rotor runaway is imminent or high wind situations ) be stopped by quickly pitching the wind turbine blades to a “ dynamic stability position ” in which the force accelerating the blades f acc is zero ( the no - acceleration position ). the blades may hereafter be brought to a full stop in a slower pace . the necessary pitch angle for obtaining dynamic stability depends on different wind speeds but is typically circa 10 - 15 °. the wind turbine blades should be pitch individually in order to overcome any unbalance in the rotor e . g . one blade with a slower reacting pitch system than the other blade or blades . the correct approach in this situation may for example be to slow down the other blade pitch systems in order to avoid any structural damage to the wind turbine due to unbalance in the rotor . the stopping process of the wind turbine may hereafter continue as the necessary rotor balance is achieved . the o / sec on the figure should be understood as °/ sec i . e . degrees per second . fig9 illustrates a preferred pitch angle control strategy of a control system as illustrated in fig7 . each of the three curves illustrates the behavior of a wind turbine blade during a normal and a stopping period of the rotor in which the stopping process starts at circa 360 degrees i . e . one rotor rotation after curve start and circa one and a half rotor rotation before a pitch angle of 90 degrees is reached . the strategy comprises pitching in relation to the wind speed over the swept area whereby the pitch angle is changed cyclic in every rotation of the rotor i . e . the blades are swept in and out of the wind during a rotation . when the stopping process of the rotor is started the blades are pitched as illustrated in fig7 and 8 with a non - linear pitch velocity over time and feedback values allowing the pitch angle of the blades to follow the optimal curves as illustrated in fig9 e . g . with a cyclic pitch in the stopping process . fig1 illustrates schematically a preferred embodiment of a control system for controlling the wind turbine blades during a stopping process . data of the wind turbine 1 and / or the surroundings of the wind turbine are measured with sensor means 11 such as pitch position sensors , blade load sensors , tower load sensors , foundation sensors , azimuth sensors and / or teeter angle sensors . the measured sensor data are supplied to computing means 11 in order to convert the data to a feedback signal . the feedback signal is used in the controller 12 for controlling the pitch by establishing control values mf for controlling said at least one wind turbine blade 5 within control value limits + mf , − mf . the feedback signal and control values w are considered to be signals which control the blade pitch in such a way that no part of the wind turbine is affected by overloads during a stopping process e . g . in extreme situations such as loss of utility grid or high wind situations . the computing means 11 preferably includes a microprocessor and computer storage means for pre - established limit values of said control values to be compared with the present control values mf . by continuously comparing the present control values with the pre - established values in a closed feedback loop it is possible to optimize the control values to ( substantially ) to control the rotor at the design limits of the wind turbine and especially the design limits of the wind turbine blades . the invention has been exemplified above with reference to specific examples of a wind turbine with a control system for controlling the wind turbine blades during the stopping process . however , it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular examples described above but may be designed and altered in a multitude of varieties within the scope of the invention as specified in the claims e . g . in using other measuring data as a supplement or instead of the abovementioned such as temperature measurements in the relevant components of the wind turbines . 8 . flex model e . g . a pitch controlled wind turbine blade 9 . feedback means e . g . including a pitch angle , teeter angle , angular pitch or teeter velocity signal ( θ , dθ / dt ) a , b . working position and a no - acceleration , no - energy or parking position for the wind turbine rotor φ . angle between a given working position and a no - acceleration , no - energy or parking position for the wind turbine rotor | 5 |
fig1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a scale expander circuit ( sec ) 5 which may be suitably used for detecting the potential difference at the terminals of a battery for testing the operating condition of components in a vehicle charge storage system . advantageously , this circuit expands a selected segment at the top end of a voltage source so that the selected segment may be displayed over the entire scale of an analog meter or on a digital display . thus , expected values for the tested voltage may be more accurately measured and displayed . referring to fig1 the sec 5 may suitably include a voltage expander path 15 which comprises a series connection of a potentiometer 21 and two zener diodes 22 and 24 . the potentiometer 21 of the path 15 is an input to the sec 5 , and is suitably connected to the terminals of a battery in a vehicle as explained in detail below . the anode of the zener diode 24 is connected to an output a of the sec 5 . as more fully discussed below , the output a may be suitably connected to any type of electronic circuit block ( e . g ., analog meter , led &# 39 ; s or digital display ) which provides indications of the operating condition of components in a vehicle charge storage system based on measurements performed at the terminals of a battery using the sec 5 . in one embodiment of the present invention , the potentiometer 21 may be suitably connected across the terminals of a battery in a vehicle charge storage system via a remote connection . this remote connection to a battery provides for safe monitoring of charge storage system operating conditions using a simple , accurate and compact charge storage system monitoring device in accordance with the present invention . for example , the sec 5 may be suitably connected to any convenient location in a vehicle , such as an accessory fuse terminal in the fuse panel of the vehicle , which permits measurement of the potential difference at the battery terminals . in the preferred embodiment , the potentiometer 21 is connected to a battery 38 that is included in a vehicle charge storage system 40 of a vehicle 50 via a standard power outlet socket such as cigarette lighter socket 30 , which is also included in the vehicle 50 . the lighter socket 30 connects the input of the sec 5 across the terminals of the battery 38 through a cigarette lighter fuse 32 . the vehicle charge storage system 40 further includes an alternator block 39 which is coupled to the terminals of the battery 38 using standard techniques . for ease of reference , the potential difference across the terminals of the battery 38 is hereinafter referred to as v b . the sec 5 detects a range of voltages v b that may appear at the terminals of the battery 38 . in accordance with the present invention , the zener diodes 22 and 24 are operated above the reverse breakdown voltage ( 10 . 4 volts d . c .) to provide electrical levels at the output a which vary in linear relationship with the voltage levels v b above 11 volts d . c . which may appear at the battery 38 and be detected at the input to the sec 5 . operation where v b is below 11 volts d . c . will not produce the linear circuit response required for obtaining an accurate measurement of the range of v b values that may be detected between full charge and discharge . the zener diodes 22 and 24 and the potentiometer 21 in the path 15 operate in combination as a voltage switch that remains closed until v b is greater than 11 volts d . c . the switch opens at this point and the display is monitored for purposes of testing charge storage system operating conditions , for example , between 11 and 14 volts . the zener diodes 22 and 24 of the preferred embodiment are standard 5 . 2 volt motorola 1n4689 types that act as a series switch having a 10 . 4 volt drop across it . the potentiometer 21 is suitably adjusted to provide that a voltage will appear at the output a , or a current level may be produced from the output a , only if v b , measured as the octv or loaded terminal voltage at the battery 38 , exceeds a pre - determined level . further , the potentiometer 21 provides that a range of resistive loads may be inserted in the path 15 such that standard voltage or current detection devices may be connected to the output a of the sec 5 for purposes of accurately testing the operating conditions of components in the vehicle charge storage system 40 . the sec 5 , thus , is elegant in its simplicity for providing the unique and novel advantage of operating as a voltage divider type of switch that linearly reduces the range of changes in potential difference at the battery terminals for measurement using a suitable detector and prevents the development of an electrical level at the output until a specific voltage is measured at the battery terminals . for example , the sec 5 may be compensated by adjusting the value of the potentiometer 21 to accommodate the scale factor of a current detecting device , such as an ammeter , which is connected to the output a that will not begin to measure a current produced at the output a until a voltage equal to or greater than that of a fully charged battery is detected at the input to the sec 5 . in another aspect of the invention , described in greater detail below , the connection of a suitable voltage detecting means , such as an analog - to - digital converter or voltmeter , to the output a of the sec 5 permits determination of the electrolytic specific gravity of a battery with high accuracy . fig2 illustrates a test meter ( tm ) 100 which includes the sec 5 and may suitably provide indications of the following vehicle charge storage system operating conditions : ( 1 ) charging system health ; ( 2 ) battery percent charge level ( bpcl ); and , ( 3 ) battery health . in accordance with the present invention , the tm 100 comprises the sec 5 which is suitably connected to an analog display for performing remote measurement of the potential difference at a battery for purposes of accurately determining and displaying charge storage system operating conditions . for purposes of highlighting the advantages of the present invention , an explanation of the above - mentioned vehicle charge storage system operating conditions is initially provided . then , the structure and operation of the tm 100 , which provides for suitable connection of the sec 5 to the battery 38 , is explained in detail . the health of a vehicle charging system is a general representation of the operating condition of the alternator block 39 . the alternator block 39 may typically include devices such as an alternator belt , an output diode bridge and a voltage regulator which are connected to each other and ultimately the battery 38 in a well known manner . the alternator block 39 provides for charging of the battery 38 when the engine , not shown , of the vehicle 50 is running or idling . according to the present invention , the tm 100 may be utilized for indicating the health of the vehicle charging system based on measurements of v b which are performed using the sec 5 when the engine of the vehicle 50 is running or idling , in other words , when the alternator block 39 should be charging the battery 38 . it is well known that an alternator block that is operating properly , called a healthy charging system , will typically maintain the potential difference at the battery terminals between 13 . 6 and 14 . 8 volts d . c . as a function of ambient temperature . the battery percent charge level ( bpcl ) is a well known indicator of the open terminal charge level of a battery . bpcl may be determined by measuring the potential difference at the battery terminals with no load applied and when the battery is not being charged . according to well established mathematical relationships , it can be shown that bpcl is directly proportional and varies linearly with open circuit terminal voltage ( octv ) at a battery . for a battery in satisfactory operating condition , an octv level of 11 . 89 volts d . c . corresponds to a fully discharged battery having a bpcl equal to 0 %, and an octv level of 12 . 68 volts d . c . corresponds to a fully charged battery having a bpcl equal to 100 %. it should be noted that after charging has ceased , a topping voltage is retained in the electrolyte of a healthy battery for at least several hours or more , unless removed with an appropriate discharge current level . in moderate climates , for example , octv will remain at approximately 13 . 3 volts for at least ten hours after charging has ceased and , therefore , bpcl will remain near or slightly above 100 % for this interval . it may , therefore , be desirable to remove this topping voltage using the method described below before measuring bpcl . battery health is a term common to the battery testing industry , and refers to the determination of battery internal resistance by measuring the open circuit potential difference across the battery terminals before and after a predetermined load is applied . a good battery must hold its topping voltage when the load is applied . a bad battery will not . it is well known that the topping voltage of a battery which is in marginal operating condition will dissipate almost immediately after charging ceases . for example , bpcl may decrease to between 70 and 90 % after charging ceases , thereby suggesting that the battery may not be in satisfactory operating condition . in this case , battery operating condition may be determined by applying a selected accessory load to the battery in a vehicle before attempting to recharge the battery , i . e ., before starting the engine . for example , before the engine is started , a head lamp or defog switch in a vehicle may be turned on for approximately one to two minutes . the terminal voltage of a healthy battery will remain at a level higher than a pre - determined threshold level when such a load is applied . this pre - determined threshold level is related to the expected internal d . c . source resistance of a healthy battery . for a healthy battery , the source resistance is typically 0 . 03 ohms at full charge and 0 . 283 ohms at full discharge . however , for a malfunctioning or aged battery , the source resistance of the battery typically would exceed the above values , causing the terminal voltage at the battery to decrease below the pre - determined threshold level when a load is applied . a weak battery , for example , may have a source impedance equal to 0 . 06 ohms at full charge . thus , the tm 100 provides for measurement of the source resistance of a battery when a load is applied for purposes of indicating battery health based on measurement of the potential difference at the battery terminals . in accordance with the present invention , the tm 100 including the sec 5 may suitably measure the potential difference at a battery for providing an indication of vehicle charge storage system operating conditions . in the preferred embodiment , v b is measured using the sec 5 for accurately determining and displaying charge system health , battery percent charge level and battery health . referring to fig2 the tm 100 may suitably comprise a diode 125 and a needle display circuit 140 connected in series to the output a of the sec 5 . the needle display circuit 140 comprises an ammeter winding resistance r w , 130 connected to a deflecting needle 150 . the deflecting needle 150 moves transversely across a display 160 . the display 160 may suitably include scales having indicia for indicating vehicle charge storage system operating conditions ( e . g ., charge system health , battery percent charge level and / or battery health ) based upon measurements of v b that are performed using the sec 5 in accordance with the present invention . the needle display circuit 140 , including the ammeter winding resistance r w 130 and the needle 150 are standard components which are suitably connected for detecting current level through a circuit path , namely the path including the sec 5 and ammeter winding resistance r w 130 , and also for facilitating display of these measured levels on the display 160 . for example , a 0 to 1 ma ammeter manufactured by prime instruments provides a suitable needle display circuit 140 . the diode 125 , which connects the sec 5 to the needle display circuit 140 , provides temperature compensation for counteracting variations in zener break down voltage levels which may occur at the zener diodes 22 and 24 when v b measurements are performed at various temperatures . in the preferred embodiment , diode 125 is a standard signal diode 1n4001 or equivalent . it is to be understood that one or more diodes which are similar in structure and function to the diode 125 may be added in series with the diode 125 to provide for additional forward voltage drops , as may be required for coupling a highly sensitive current detection device to the sec 5 . likewise , one or more resistors may also be added in series with the diode 125 for the same purpose . referring to fig2 the display 160 may suitably include a charging system health scale 170 , a battery percent charge level ( bpcl ) scale 180 and a battery health scale 190 . in a preferred embodiment , the potentiometer 21 is suitably adjusted for calibrating the tm 100 based on the current levels which should be produced at the output a from octv measurements of a healthy battery . referring to fig2 the scale 180 may suitably include indicia indicating bpcl between 0 to 100 percent . the scale 180 is preferably subdivided into three colored regions which , from left to right on the display 160 , include a red region for 0 - 25 % bpcl , a yellow region for 25 - 75 % bpcl and a green region for 75 - 100 % bpcl . the potentiometer 21 of the sec 5 is suitably adjusted to produce current levels through the sec 5 and the ammeter winding resistance 130 which cause the needle 150 to deflect linearly across the range of the scale 180 and indicate bpcl &# 39 ; s between 0 and 100 % that vary linearly in relation to detected levels of v b , or octv values between 11 . 89 and 12 . 68 volts . as a result , the needle 150 would deflect through the red region of scale 180 for values of v b between 11 . 89 and 12 . 09 volts , through the yellow region for values between 12 . 09 and 11 . 48 volts and through the green region for values above 12 . 48 volts . for purposes of illustration , the potentiometer 21 may be selected as a 1 kohm device and the needle display circuit 140 may operate as a 0 to 1 ma full scale ammeter having an associated winding resistance r w preferably equal to 930 ohms . it has been experimentally shown that bpcl readings obtained using the tm 100 which contains these specific components are accurate to within 5 % of the expected value . the scale 170 is calibrated with reference to the scale 180 and in accordance with the well known principle that the terminal voltage of a battery undergoing alternator charge in moderate climates will vary between 13 . 6 and 14 . 8 volts . in the preferred embodiment shown in fig2 the scale 170 includes written indicia of poor in a red colored region which corresponds to deflection of the needle 150 for v b values measured between 12 . 28 and 12 . 5 volts , written indicia of fair in a yellow colored region corresponding to deflection of the needle 150 for v b values measured between 12 . 5 and 13 volts and written indicia of good in a green colored region corresponding to deflection of the needle 150 for v b values measured between 13 and 14 volts . the scale 190 is also calibrated with reference to the scale 180 and suitably includes indicia representative of battery health which are based on measurement of v b reduction when a load is applied to the battery 38 . scale 190 is based upon differences in needle movement after applying a predetermined accessory load . the test is only performed on a battery having a charge level above 75 % ( i . e ., v b = 12 . 48 volts ) on scale 180 . needle movement must be less than 10 % of scale 190 from its position prior to load application . larger movement indicates the need for a service station check . the scale 190 includes written indicia of poor in a red colored region below 11 . 7 volts , written indicia of fair in a yellow colored region between 11 . 7 and 12 . 3 volts and written indicia of good in a green colored region between 12 . 3 and 14 volts . it is noted that the scales 180 and 190 utilize different measurements for providing information concerning the operating condition of a battery . the scale 180 utilizes octv measurements to indicate bpcl , whereas the scale 190 utilizes terminal voltage levels obtained when a load is applied to the battery . for example , on the bpcl scale 180 , a v b measurement of 12 . 0 volts corresponds to an indication of a partially discharged battery , whereas , on the scale 190 , a v b measurement of 12 . 0 volts is representative of the internal source resistance of the battery , which is an indicator of battery health . in one embodiment of the tm 100 an announcer , not shown , may be included as part of the needle display circuit 140 for providing an audible indication , such as a beeping sound , when an octv measurement is made and the needle 150 , deflects into the yellow region or bpcl is between 25 - 75 %. this audible indication would inform a user that the battery operating condition is suspect . the tm 100 may be used in the following manner for testing battery operating condition using the scale 180 . for example , when an automobile is operated only on short distance trips , charging of the battery may not last for a sufficient time to allow for full charge of the battery . in this case , measurement of the battery using the tm 100 may typically result in the needle 150 deflecting to the yellow region of the scale 180 . this lower bpcl reading does not necessarily indicate the battery is not healthy , rather , the battery may merely need to be fully charged to ensure that sufficient charge is available at the battery for starting the engine at a later time . the scale 180 further may be utilized for providing bpcl readings after the topping voltage is removed from the battery terminals . after charging ceases , the topping voltage may either dissipate naturally or be removed manually or automatically using an automatic discharge circuit which applies at least a 10 ampere discharge current load to the battery 38 . in an alternative embodiment , the tm 100 may be modified to include a topping voltage removal circuit which includes either an actuating solid state switch or relay that automatically places and maintains a load ( e . g ., vehicle defogger or headlights ) on the battery terminals until the topping voltage is suitably removed , that is v b is reduced to 12 . 68 volts . at this point , bpcl can be accurately determined for providing an indication of battery condition . in addition , the scale 180 may be used for determining whether some cells of the battery are shorted and , therefore , cannot maintain a charge . when this condition exists , after charging ceases , the octv at the battery typically will not be maintained at a level above 12 . 46 volts . therefore , bpcl will always read 75 % or lower on the scale 180 immediately after charging ceases , as the octv will quickly drop to a lower than expected level . if this occurs , further testing using the scale 190 is necessary , as explained below . the scale 190 provides for measurement of battery health based on the well known fact that the source resistance of a healthy , fully charged battery is typically 0 . 03 ohms . as described above , battery health may be measured by manually or automatically applying a selected accessory load , such as a head lamp or defog current or depressing the brake pedal to operate the brake lights , to the battery for approximately one to two minutes after charging ceases . a healthy battery which is under load will maintain its terminal voltage at a level higher than a predetermined voltage level . the left - most portion of the yellow region of the scale 190 corresponds to the pre - determined threshold level . deflection of the needle 150 to the left of this level indicates a battery that is not healthy . for example , application of a load to an aging or partially charged battery would probably result in a lower v b reading than expected , thereby causing less current to be produced at the output a such that the needle 150 defects only into the red region of the scale 190 . this reading indicates that the battery may not be healthy . the user , therefore , should attempt to recharge the battery by , for example , driving the vehicle for a substantial amount of time , and then repeat the battery health test . in an alternative embodiment , the sec 5 may be used in conjunction with a standard digital display device , led driver and associated compensation resistor which are connected to the output a in place of the diode 125 , the ammeter load 130 , needle display circuit 140 and the display 160 for providing an indication of , for example , battery health and battery percent charge level using red and green colored led &# 39 ; s . for example , the potentiometer 21 may be adjusted with respect to the value of the compensation resistor for illuminating a green led corresponding to a 100 % bpcl reading , which is based on an octv measurement of 12 . 68 volts . in another aspect of the present invention , the sec 5 may be utilized for determining the specific gravity of a battery . it is well known that the octv of a battery may be measured for purposes of determining electrolytic specific gravity of a battery as octv and specific gravity levels vary linearly in relation to each other . this relationship , which is based on nernst &# 39 ; s equation , may be expressed as follows : ## equ1 ## where : octv = open circuit terminal voltage substituting the appropriate constant values , equation 1 may be reduced to : ## equ2 ## in turn , equation 2 may be rewritten as : where s . g . is the specific gravity of the battery and typically varies between 1 . 100 and 1 . 265 . this relationship has been verified empirically through many measurements by the industry . thus , according to most established standards , for a healthy battery , octv equal to 12 . 68 volts corresponds to a specific gravity of 1 . 268 at 80 ° f . fig3 shows an embodiment of a digital hydrometer ( dhm ) 200 including the sec 5 and driver circuit 208 for providing digital readings of the electrolytic specific gravity of a battery on a digital display 202 . the driver circuit 208 in combination with the sec 5 permits that a specific gravity reading may be performed on sealed batteries without the need for performing measurements directly at the cells of a battery , as the required measurements of the battery may be performed safely and accurately through remote measurement of the voltage at the battery terminals using the cigarette lighter socket 30 or like devices . a conventional hydrometer float , by contrast , is generally not calibrated to provide electrolytic specific gravity readings above 1 . 400 , which corresponds to an octv level of 13 . 2 volts . referring to fig3 the dhm 200 suitably comprises sec 5 connected in parallel to a driver circuit 208 and a load resistance 206 . driver circuit 208 , in turn is connected to a four digit display 202 . one specific embodiment of the dhm 200 , depicted in fig5 includes diode 210 and amplifier 212 connected in series to the input of sec 5 . amplifier 212 is connected as a voltage follower with its input tied to b + to act as a current source thereby widening the measurement range of the dhm 200 . amplifier 212 ( as well as amplifiers 240 , 242 and 252 ) is preferably an op9o and diode 210 is a 1n4002 type . sec 5 is identical to that described above in connection with tm 100 and load resistance 206 comprises 1n9148 diodes 214 , 216 , 218 and 220 connected in series . as described above , output a from sec 5 is input into driver circuit 208 , which in this embodiment is designed to drive a graylex industries model 30 four digit display ( not shown ). in addition , driver circuit 208 of fig5 includes circuitry 256 to calibrate the digital display to accurately display the correct specific gravity based upon the measured octv . switch 244 switches between the output of sec 5 ( i . e ., from point a ) and the output of calibrate circuit 256 , each signal being routed through buffer amplifiers 242 and 240 , respectively . the signal selected by switch 244 is routed through a voltage divider comprising a 2 . 2 kohm resistor 246 , a 250 ohm potentiometer 248 and a 8 . 2 kohm resistor 250 , to amplifier 252 . the output from amplifier 252 drives the digital display . in operation , the mc7805 voltage regulator 222 , provides + 5 volts d . c . to the graylex display and to an adm663 voltage regulator 224 of the calibrate circuit 256 . voltage regulator 224 , in turn , is configured with resistors 226 and 228 being 180 kohms and 100 kohms , respectively , to provide an output of 4 volts d . c . the 4 volt signal is then run through a voltage divider comprised of 10 kohm resistor 230 and 10 kohm potentiometer 238 to provide a voltage which corresponds to the voltage level that exists at point a when the octv of a battery under test is 12 . 68 volts . in order to calibrate the circuit , switch 244 is switched to the calibrate position to select the output of calibrate circuit 256 through buffer amplifier 240 . potentiometer 238 is then adjusted so that the display reading is 1 . 265 , which would be the approximate specific gravity of a fully charged battery ( i . e ., v b = 12 . 68 volts ) at 80 ° f . switch 244 may then be returned to the run position to select the output of sec 5 and specific gravity measurements of a battery may be taken . in one alternative of the present invention , the tm 100 and the dhm 200 may be manufactured as a stand alone , portable charge storage system testing devices . in another alternative embodiment , the dhm 200 and the tm 100 may be suitably included in a single portable device , where the respective voltage and current detection and display components may be independently connected to the output a of the sec 5 for providing either a specific gravity reading or charge system operating condition indications . fig4 shows a scale expander circuit ( sec ) 300 which may be used in place of the sec 5 in either the tm 100 or the dhm 200 for accurately measuring the potential difference at the terminals of a battery . the circuit 300 includes a potentiometer 321 which at a first end is suitably connected to a battery in the same manner as the potentiometer 21 of the sec 5 . the potentiometer 321 at a second end is connected to the collector of a pnp transistor 328 . further , the potentiometer 321 at the second end is connected in series with a resistor 326 , which is connected to the base of the transistor 328 , and in series with a resistor 320 which is connected to the base of a npn transistor 330 . a thermistor 322 and a resistor 324 connect the base of the transistor 330 to the ground return to the battery . the emitter of the transistor 330 is also connected to the ground return to the battery . the emitter of the transistor 328 is connected to an output b of the circuit 300 . in accordance with the present invention , the circuit 300 is operated over the breakdown region of the base - emitter diodes of the transistors 328 and 330 for obtaining a linear response at the output b for changes in v b which are measured at the input to the circuit 300 . the thermistor 322 compensates for reduced current gain at a transistor at lower temperatures and increased current gain at a transistor at higher temperatures , as well as the decreasing battery voltage and increasing battery internal resistance with decreasing temperature . in other words , well known transistor operating characteristics are exploited in accordance with the present invention to provide that the current produced at the output a varies linearly in relation to v b . the components in the circuit 300 are suitably selected for forward biasing the base of transistor 330 when v b is approximately 11 . 0 volts . forward biasing the base of the transistor 330 causes the base - emitter diode of the transistor 330 to conduct current . this current , in turn , causes the base voltage of the transistor 328 to reduce sufficiently to cause forward biasing of the base - collector diode of the transistor 328 . when this occurs , the emitter of the transistor 328 begins to conduct a current to the output b , which may be suitably connected to an ammeter in accordance with the present invention . in the preferred embodiment transistors 328 and 330 are type 2n2904 and 2n2222 , respectively , resistor 326 is 5 kohms , resistor 320 is 10 kohms , resistor 324 is 608 ohms and thermistor 322 is 2 . 7 kohms at 77 ° f . by adjusting potentiometer 321 to approximately 1 . 3 kohms , this circuit has been found to provide suitable output for an ammeter having a winding resistance of 930 ohms . in addition , sec 300 produces the desired output characteristics at a significantly reduced cost as compared to the circuit of sec 5 . the circuit 300 may be similarly connected in place of sec 5 in the tm 100 as described above for the sec 5 , except that the diode 125 would not be included . similarly , the circuit 300 may directly replace the sec 5 in the dhm 200 . for example , for the tm 100 including the circuit 300 , the deflection needle 150 may be calibrated on the display 160 by adjusting the potentiometer 321 and selecting values for the resistors 324 and 320 of the voltage divider which provide a very small current response at the base of the transistor 330 in response to large voltage changes at the battery 38 . fig6 illustrates another alternate scale expander circuit ( sec ) 400 , which may be used in a manner similar to the sec &# 39 ; s described above . sec 400 uses a single zener diode 450 with its cathode forming the input from the vehicle charge storage system . the anode of the zener diode 450 is connected to the voltage divider circuit formed by thermistors 422 and 424 . the base of an npn transistor 420 is connected to the junction between thermistors 422 and 424 , and its collector is connected to the junction between thermistor 422 and zener diode 450 . a capacitor 426 is also connected between the junction of thermistors 422 and 424 and ground . resistor 428 , which is connected to the emitter of transistor 420 , forms the output c of the sec 400 and is connected to a 5 ma full deflection meter 440 having coil resistance 430 . the meter 440 may include a display similar to display 160 shown in fig2 . in operation , zener diode 450 ( a type 1n4739 in the illustrated embodiment ) provides a voltage drop of approximately 9 volts d . c . this prevents the transistor 420 ( type 2n3904 ) from conducting until the battery voltage reaches approximately 9 volts d . c ., thereby provides the desired scale expansion so that the meter 440 displays an output only between 9 and 14 volts d . c . thermistors 422 and 424 ( 1 kohm and 5 kohm at 25 ° c ., respectively ), together with transistor 420 provide temperature compensation for the sec 400 . at low temperatures the resistance of thermistor 424 increases sufficiently to cause transistor 420 to conduct more current to the ammeter 440 and increase its reading at low ambient temperatures as required to compensate for decreases in circuit gain . conversely , at higher temperatures the resistance of thermistor 422 decreases , causing transistor 420 to conduct less current to meter 440 and decrease its reading to compensate for higher circuit gain at higher temperatures . this arrangement has been found to provide superior temperature compensation , particularly in the range of - 25 ° c . to + 125 ° c . capacitor 426 provides damping of the voltage at the base of transistor 420 , and thus damps the output of the sec 400 . this limits the large , rapid variations of the current sent to meter 440 , and consequently limits the large , rapid variations in the meter readout present , for example , when the engine starter of a vehicle is engaged . this allows the use of the engine starter as the load when testing the battery health ( or cranking power ) as described above . this has been found to provide more accurate results than using the headlights or other accessory load . in the illustrated embodiment , a 3 , 000 μf capacitor is used for capacitor 426 . optionally , any of the meters described herein may include a light to illuminate the display and facilitate easy reading at night . in fig6 illumination circuit 410 is provided and includes a 500 ohm resistor 412 connected in series with two led &# 39 ; s . the led &# 39 ; s may be appropriately mounted about the display of a connected meter to illuminate the face . it should be apparent , however , that other illumination circuits may be utilized , for example , an incandescent bulb . in addition to , or in place of , the illumination circuit described herein , a map light may also be provided as an integral part of the test meter . one exemplary configuration , shown in fig7 is to mount the sec circuitry in a housing 500 and mount the display 502 of an analog meter to the front of the housing 500 . a cigarette lighter plug 510 is mounted to the back of the housing 500 and the map light 520 is mounted to the bottom of the unit . it is to be understood that the embodiments and variations shown and described above are illustrative of the principles of this invention only and that various modifications may be implemented by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention . | 8 |
a built - in sink or sink unit 10 according to fig1 is inserted in the usual manner into a counter top 12 . below the built - in sink and the counter top there is a base cabinet 14 . the other configuration of the customary kitchen furnishings will not be discussed in detail here . the built - in sink 10 includes a wash basin 16 equipped with a drain 18 . wash basin 16 has an irregular shape and , in its rear region facing the kitchen wall ( not shown ), it is provided with an inwardly projecting pedestal 20 on which is mounted a faucet assembly 22 . in the niche formed on the right in fig1 next to pedestal 20 , a secondary basin 24 is removably disposed and has its own drain 26 which is associated with a separate drain ( not shown ) in the bottom of the wash basin . details of the wash basin are insignificant in the present context . on the left next to wash basin 16 , there are two garbage chutes 28 , 30 for two different types of garbage . wash basins 16 , garbage chutes 28 , 30 and pedestal 20 are enclosed by a continuous edge bead 32 which is shown only in part and serves as overflow protection and for stabilization . in base cabinet 14 two garbage containers 36 , 38 are disposed on a pull - out 34 in an arrangement one behind the other ; when pull - out 34 is pushed in , the garbage containers lie below garbage chutes 28 , 30 . in the longitudinal direction of the sink , here considered to be the longitudinal direction of counter top 12 , the sink is extended by two halves 40 , 42 of a cover plate which , in the illustrated example , is configured as a slightly inwardly sloping drip surface . in fig1 the halves 40 , 42 of the cover plate are in the outward end position in which they have been pulled out in the longitudinal direction of the built - in sink , while they are able , on the other hand , to take on the completely pushed - together position shown in fig2 in which they cover the entire built - in sink . in order to accommodate the faucet assembly 22 in the position shown in fig2 the two cover plate halves 40 , 42 are given corresponding , semi - circular recesses 44 , 46 at their facing edges . in fig1 and 2 , cover plate halves 40 , 42 are provided with guides ( shown in detail in fig5 - 7 ) which permit displacement between the two illustrated positions . these guides will be discussed in greater detail below . fig3 corresponds to fig1 but , in contrast to fig1 shows three separate smaller garbage chutes 48 , 50 , 52 for three different types of garbage . base cabinet 14 is again provided with a pull - out 54 which in this case is broader than the above described pull - out 34 and holds in its transverse direction garbage containers 36 , 38 as well as a further , identical garbage container 56 , all having a rectangular cross section , so that now three garbage containers can be accommodated . it is therefore possible , depending on the customer &# 39 ; s wishes , to provide two or three different garbage collection systems with the same garbage container and an interchangeable chute insert for the garbage chutes . fig4 is a top view of a built - in sink which essentially corresponds to that of fig1 . the embodiment shown here differs from that of fig1 only in that , next to wash basin 16 , in the mentioned niche next to pedestal 20 , a secondary basin 60 with a separate drain 62 is permanently installed with the aid of a partition 58 . number and configuration of the wash basins and garbage chutes should here be understood only as examples . the invention is primarily concerned with the coverage of the entire arrangement composed of wash basins and garbage chutes . hereafter , the guide for displacing the cover plate halves 40 , 42 will be described with reference to fig5 to 7 . fig5 is a partial cross - sectional view through the upper region of a wash basin , its edge bead and , moreover , a t - shaped rail 64 which is fastened in the longitudinal center line of the built - in sink outside of the region on counter top 12 taken up by the basins and the garbage chutes or to an edge strip of the sink which overlaps the counter top . at its outer edge shown on the left in fig5 cover plate half 40 is provided with a convexly curved section 66 which is adapted in its cross - sectional configuration to edge bead 32 and passes over it . in its longitudinal center region , cover plate half 40 is provided with a guide rail 68 at its underside . if the cover plate is composed , for example , of plastic , this guide rail may be shaped directly into it or may be applied as a separate part to the lower surface . guide rail 68 has a guide groove 70 which is undercut at both sides , has a t - shaped cross section and is adapted to the cross section of guide member 64 . in this way , the cover plate half is simultaneously guided and secured against inadvertent removal . fig6 is a partial top view of cover plate half 40 and shows in dashed lines the guide rail 68 and the guide member 64 . on the left in fig6 the convexly curved section 66 of the cover plate half can be seen while on the right side , the edge of the sink marked 72 is visible . the guide member 64 starts directly at this edge 72 and extends only over a short section in the longitudinal direction of the sink . in contrast thereto , guide rail 68 extends over the entire length of cover plate half 40 but is no longer undercut in its outer end section 74 shown on the left in fig6 . the result is that , if the cover plate half is pushed completely to the right into the position in which the sink is closed , it is possible to lift it upwardly away from guide member 64 . in this position , the cover plate half can also be attached again . the removal feature is not provided for normal use but may be needed from time to time for cleaning purposes or for other reasons . additionally , fig6 shows dashed lines extending vertically from the top to the bottom , whose meaning will be explained below in connection with fig7 and with respect to the right cover plate half 42 . an edge strip 76 which passes over counter top 12 starts at the edge 72 of the sink . the outer edge 78 of the edge strip is bent over and is provided with a downwardly oriented fastening flange 80 which engages in a cutout of the counter top that is not illustrated in detail here . guide member 64 is attached to edge strip 76 . guide member 64 simultaneously forms an abutment on both sides for the two end positions of the cover plate halves . fig7 shows that a downwardly oriented edge 82 of cover plate half 42 grips behind guide member 64 on the side of the sink , that is , on the left in fig7 . in the left end position of cover plate half 42 , a roller 84 which facilitates displacement and is mounted below the outer convexly curved section 66 abuts against the guide member . the dashed line 86 illustrates the pushed - together end position of the cove plate half . in the closed state , the built - in sink has a very short length of , for example , only 60 or 75 cm . once the cover plate halves are extended , it reaches a length of 110 and 125 cm , respectively , in this case . as is apparent from the drawings , the cover plates 40 , 42 , are longer than the sink in the longitudinal direction of the sink and , in the closed position , cover the sink and the guide members 64 . the selection between two garbage chutes 28 , 30 according to fig1 or three garbage chutes 48 , 50 , 52 according to fig3 may be left to the customer in that the chutes ar configured as interchangeable inserts . preferably , the garbage chutes have slightly downwardly outwardly sloped side walls which prevent or restrict the sticking of garbage . as evident from a comparison of fig1 and 3 , the same garbage cans can be employed independently of the number of garbage chutes , in that the rectangular cross section garbage cans are attached on pull - out 34 , 54 either in the longitudinal direction or in the transverse direction . | 4 |
reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention , examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings . while the invention will be described in conjunction with the preferred embodiments , it will be understood that they are not intended to limit the invention to these embodiments . on the contrary , the invention is intended to cover alternatives , modifications and equivalents , which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims . furthermore , in the following detailed description of the present invention , numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention . however , it will be recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details . in other instances , well known methods , procedures , components , and circuits have not been described in detail as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the present invention . although the description of the present invention will focus on an exemplary personal digital assistant or handheld computer system , the present invention can be practiced with other electronic systems or electronic devices capable of being networked ( e . g ., cellular phones , pagers , etc .). some portions of the detailed descriptions which follow are presented in terms of procedures , logic blocks , processing , and other symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory . these descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art . in the present application , a procedure , logic block , process , etc ., is conceived to be a self - consistent sequence of steps or instructions leading to a desired result . the steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities . usually , though not necessarily , these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored , transferred , combined , compared , and otherwise manipulated in a computer system . it has proved convenient at times , principally for reasons of common usage , to refer to these signals as bits , values , elements , symbols , characters , terms , numbers , or the like . it should be borne in mind , however , that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities . unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussions , it is appreciated that throughout the present invention , discussions utilizing terms such as “ generating ”, “ canceling ”, “ assigning ”, “ receiving ”, “ forwarding ”, “ dumping ”, “ updating ”, “ bypassing ”, “ transmitting ”, “ determining ”, “ retrieving ”, “ displaying ”, “ identifying ”, “ modifying ”, “ processing ”, “ preventing ”, “ using ”, “ sending ”, “ adjusting ” or the like , refer to the actions and processes of an electronic system or a computer system , or other electronic computing device / system such as a personal digital assistant ( pda ), a cellular phone , a pager , etc . the computer system or similar electronic computing device manipulates and transforms data represented as physical ,( electronic ) quantities within the computer system &# 39 ; s registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage , transmission , or display devices . the present invention is also well suited to the use of other computer systems such as , for example , optical and mechanical computers . one of the common types of electronic systems which can be used in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is referred to as a personal digital assistant , or commonly called a pda . the personal digital assistant is a pocket sized electronic organizer with the capability to store telephone numbers , addresses , daily appointments , and software that keeps track of business or personal data such as expenses , etc . furthermore , the personal digital assistant also has the ability to connect to a personal computer , enabling the two devices to exchange updated information . additionally , the personal digital assistant can also be connected to a modem , enabling it to have electronic mail ( e - mail ) capabilities over the internet along with other internet capabilities . moreover , an advanced personal digital assistant can have internet capabilities over a wireless communication interface ( e . g ., radio interface ). in particular , the personal digital assistant can be used to browse web pages located on the internet . the personal digital assistant can be coupled to a networking environment . it should be appreciated that embodiments of the present invention are well suited to operate within a wide variety of electronic systems ( e . g ., computer systems ) which can be communicatively coupled to a networking environment , including cellular phones , pagers , etc . fig1 illustrates a first network system 51 . the first network system 51 comprises a host computer system 56 which can either be a desktop computer system as shown , or , alternatively , can be a laptop computer system 58 . optionally , more than one host computer system 56 can be used within the first network system 51 . host computer systems 58 and 56 are shown connected to a communication bus 54 , which in one embodiment can be a serial communication bus , but could be of any of a number of well known designs ( e . g ., a parallel bus , ethernet local area network ( lan ), etc .). optionally , bus 54 can provide communication with the internet 52 using a number of well known protocols . importantly , bus 54 is also coupled to a cradle 60 for receiving and initiating communication with the exemplary personal digital assistant 100 . cradle 60 provides an electrical and mechanical communication interface between bus 54 ( and any device coupled to bus 54 ) and the exemplary personal digital assistant 100 for two - way communications . the exemplary personal digital assistant 100 also contains a wireless infrared communication mechanism 64 for sending and receiving information from other devices . the exemplary personal digital assistant 100 can include both a wireless infrared communication mechanism and a signal ( e . g ., radio frequency ) receiver / transmitter device . fig2 is a perspective illustration of the top face 100 a of one embodiment of the exemplary personal digital assistant or handheld computer system 100 . the top face 100 a has a display screen 105 surrounded by a bezel or cover . a removable stylus 80 is also shown . the display screen 105 is a touch screen able to register contact between the screen and the tip of the stylus 80 . the stylus 80 can be of any material to make contact with the display screen 105 . the top face 100 a also has one or more dedicated and / or programmable buttons 75 for selecting information and causing the computer system to implement functions . the on / off button 95 is also shown . moreover , a user is able to control specific functionality of the personal digital assistant 100 by using its plurality of buttons 75 ( e . g ., to invoke telephone / address data , calendar data , to - do - list data , memo pad data , etc .). furthermore , the user can utilize the stylus 80 in conjunction with the display screen 105 in order to cause the personal digital assistant 100 to perform a multitude of different functions . one such function is the selecting of different functional operations of the personal digital assistant 100 , which are accomplished by touching stylus 80 to specific areas of display screen 105 . another such function is the entering of data into the exemplary personal digital assistant 100 . fig2 also illustrates a handwriting recognition pad or “ digitizer ” containing two regions 106 a and 106 b . region 106 a is for the drawing of alphabetic characters therein ( and not for numeric characters ) for automatic recognition , and region 106 b is for the drawing of numeric characters therein ( and not for alphabetic characters ) for automatic recognition . the stylus 80 is used for stroking a character within one of the regions 106 a and 106 b . the stroke information is then fed to an internal processor for automatic character recognition . once characters are recognized , they are typically displayed on the screen 105 for verification and / or modification . fig3 illustrates the bottom side 100 b of one embodiment of the exemplary personal digital assistant or palmtop computer system 100 that can be used in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention . an extendible antenna 85 is shown , and also a battery storage compartment door 90 is shown . the antenna 85 enables the exemplary personal digital assistant 100 to be communicatively coupled to a network environment , thereby enabling a user to communicate information with other electronic systems and electronic devices coupled to the network . a communication interface 180 is also shown . in one embodiment of the present invention , the communication interface 180 is a serial communication port , but could also alternatively be of any of a number of well - known communication standards and protocols ( e . g ., parallel , scsi ( small computer system interface ), firewire ( ieee 1394 ), ethernet , etc .). fig4 is an exploded view of the exemplary personal digital assistant 100 . the exemplary personal digital assistant 100 contains a front cover 210 having an outline of region 106 and holes 75 a for receiving buttons 75 b . a flat panel display 105 ( both liquid crystal display and touch screen ) fits into front cover 210 . any of a number of display technologies can be used , e . g ., liquid crystal display ( lcd ), field emission display ( fed ), plasma , etc ., for the flat panel display 105 . a battery 215 provides electrical power . a contrast adjustment ( potentiometer ) 220 is also shown , as well as an on / off button 95 . a flex circuit 230 is shown along with a personal computer ( pc ) board 225 containing electronics and logic ( e . g ., memory , communication bus , processor , etc .) for implementing computer system functionality . the digitizer pad is also included in pc board 225 . a midframe 235 is shown along with stylus 80 . position - adjustable antenna 85 is shown . infrared communication mechanism 64 ( e . g ., an infrared emitter and detector device ) is for sending and receiving information from other similarly equipped devices ( see fig1 ). a signal ( e . g ., radio frequency ) receiver / transmitter device 108 is also shown . the receiver / transmitter device 108 is coupled to the antenna 85 and also coupled to communicate with the pc board 225 . in one implementation , the mobitex wireless communication system is used to provide two - way communication between the exemplary personal digital assistant 100 and other networked computers and / or the internet . referring now to fig5 , portions of the present electronic system are comprised of computer - readable and computer - executable instructions which reside , for example , in computer - readable media of an electronic system ( e . g ., personal digital assistant , computer system , and the like ). fig5 is a block diagram of exemplary interior components of an exemplary personal digital assistant 100 upon which embodiments of the present invention may be implemented . it is appreciated that the exemplary personal digital assistant 100 of fig5 is only exemplary and that the present invention can operate within a number of different electronic systems including general purpose networked computer systems , embedded computer systems , and stand alone electronic systems such as a cellular telephone or a pager . fig5 illustrates circuitry of an exemplary electronic system or computer system 100 ( such as the personal digital assistant ), some of which can be implemented on pc board 225 ( fig5 ). exemplary computer system 100 includes an address / data bus 110 for communicating information , a central processor 101 coupled to the bus 110 for processing information and instructions , a volatile memory 102 ( e . g ., random access memory , static ram , dynamic ram , etc .) coupled to the bus 110 for storing information and instructions for the central processor 101 and a non - volatile memory 103 ( e . g ., read only memory , programmable rom , flash memory , eprom , eeprom , etc .) coupled to the bus 110 for storing static information and instructions for the processor 101 . exemplary computer system 100 also includes an optional data storage device 104 ( e . g ., memory card , hard drive , etc .) coupled with the bus 110 for storing information and instructions . data storage device 104 can be removable . as described above , exemplary computer system 100 also includes an electronic display device 105 coupled to the bus 110 for displaying information to the computer user . in one embodiment , pc board 225 can include the processor 101 , the bus 110 , the rom 103 and the ram 102 . with reference still to fig5 , exemplary computer system 100 also includes a signal transmitter / receiver device 108 which is coupled to bus 110 for providing a communication link between computer system 100 and a network environment . as such , signal transmitter / receiver device 108 enables central processor unit 101 to communicate wirelessly with other electronic systems coupled to the network . it should be appreciated that within an embodiment of the present invention , signal transmitter / receiver device 108 is coupled to antenna 85 ( fig4 ) and provides the functionality to transmit and receive information over a wireless communication interface . it should be further appreciated that the present embodiment of signal transmitter / receiver device 108 is well - suited to be implemented in a wide variety of ways . for example , signal transmitter / receiver device 108 could be implemented as a modem . in one embodiment , exemplary computer system 100 includes a communication circuit 109 coupled to bus 110 . communication circuit 109 includes an optional digital signal processor ( dsp ) 120 for processing data to be transmitted or data that are received via signal transmitter / receiver device 108 . alternatively , some or all of the functions performed by dsp 120 can be performed by processor 101 . also included in exemplary computer system 100 of fig5 is an optional alphanumeric input device 106 which in one implementation is a handwriting recognition pad (“ digitizer ”) having regions 106 a and 106 b ( fig2 ), for instance . alphanumeric input device 106 can communicate information and command selections to processor 101 . exemplary computer system 100 also includes an optional cursor control or directing device ( on - screen cursor control 107 ) coupled to bus 110 for communicating user input information and command selections to processor 101 . in one implementation , on - screen cursor control device 107 is a touch screen device incorporated with display device 105 . on - screen cursor control device 107 is capable of registering a position on display device 105 where the stylus makes contact . the display device 105 utilized with exemplary computer system 100 may be a liquid crystal display device , a cathode ray tube ( crt ), a field emission display device ( also called a flat panel crt ) or other display device suitable for generating graphic images and alphanumeric characters recognizable to the user . in the preferred embodiment , display device 105 is a flat panel display . fig6 is a perspective illustration of an embodiment of the cradle 60 for receiving the exemplary personal digital assistant or handheld computer system 100 . cradle 60 includes a mechanical and electrical interface 260 for interfacing with communication interface 108 ( fig3 ) of the exemplary personal digital assistant 100 when the personal digital assistant 100 is slid into the cradle 60 in an upright position . once inserted , button 270 can be pressed to initiate two - way communication between the personal digital assistant 100 and other computer systems or electronic devices coupled to serial communication 265 . switching a network access configuration associated with a first electronic system to a second electronic system although the description of the present invention will focus on an exemplary personal digital assistant or handheld computer system , the present invention can be practiced with other electronic systems or electronic devices capable of being networked ( e . g ., cellular phones , pagers , etc .). fig7 illustrates a block diagram of a second exemplary network environment 700 in which an embodiment of the present invention can be practiced . in an embodiment of the present invention , the network environment 700 includes a first network 750 . in an embodiment of the present invention , the first network 750 comprises a mobitex network 750 . it should be recognized that the first network 750 can be implemented in any other manner . the mobitex network 750 is a wireless network . the mobitex network is a secure , reliable , two - way digital wireless packet switching network . the mobitex network 750 includes a plurality of base stations 731 - 733 for enabling an electronic system ( e . g ., the personal digital assistant 100 ) to access the mobitex network 750 . a base station 1 731 is coupled to the mobitex network 750 via communication connection 741 . a base station 2 732 is coupled to the mobitex network 750 via communication connection 742 . a base stationx 733 is coupled to the mobitex network 750 via communication connection 743 . in an embodiment of the present invention , the base stations 731 - 733 are configured to transmit and to receive data and information . the communication connections 741 - 743 can be implemented as a wireless connection , a wired connection ( e . g ., a telephone connection ), or in any other appropriate manner . the personal digital assistant 100 includes a radio frequency ( rf ) communication port ( or radio interface ) having an antenna 85 . moreover , the personal digital assistant 100 has the ability to transmit and receive data and information via the rf communication port . the personal digital assistant 100 utilizes the antenna 85 to couple to the base station 1 731 via the connection 720 . in an embodiment , the connection 720 is a wireless connection 720 . moreover , the wireless connection 720 is a rf wireless connection 720 . in an embodiment , a proxy server 760 is coupled to the mobitex network 750 via communication connection 761 . the proxy server 760 is coupled to the internet 765 . the proxy server 760 enables the personal digital assistant 100 to communicate with the internet 765 . it should be appreciated that within the present embodiment , one of the functions of proxy server 760 is to perform operations over the internet 765 on behalf of the personal digital assistant 100 . for example , proxy server 760 has a particular internet address and acts as a proxy device for the personal digital assistant 100 over the internet 765 . it should be further appreciated that other embodiments for the network environment 700 may be utilized in accordance with the present invention . in an embodiment , a network service provider 790 is coupled to the internet 765 . the network service provider 790 includes one or more databases for storing data for authorizing and tracking usage of the mobitex network 750 . moreover , the network service provider 790 is coupled to a network infrastructure provider 790 via connection 785 . in an embodiment , an activation gateway 770 is coupled to the mobitex network 750 via connection 771 . the activation gateway 770 is coupled to the network infrastructure provider 780 via connection 772 . the activation gateway 770 enables the personal digital assistant 100 to access the network infrastructure provider 780 . the network infrastructure provider 780 is coupled to the network service provider 790 via connection 785 . the network infrastructure provider 780 is coupled to the activation gateway 770 via connection 772 . in an embodiment , the network infrastructure provider 780 includes one or more databases for storing data for controlling and managing access to the mobitex network 750 . to access the mobitex network 750 , the personal digital assistant 100 , the activation gateway 770 , and the proxy server 760 need a network identifier . in an embodiment , the network identifier comprises a mobitex access number ( man ). the man is analogous to a phone number on a telephone network . according to an embodiment of the present invention , when a first personal digital assistant becomes inoperable , a second personal digital assistant 100 is swapped for the first personal digital assistant . the first personal digital assistant is made inoperable due to any reason . for example , the first personal digital assistant may become lost or stolen . moreover , the first personal digital assistant may malfunction . rather than activating the second personal digital assistant 100 with a new network access configuration so that a user can access the mobitex network 750 with the second personal digital assistant 100 , a network access configuration associated with the first personal digital assistant is re - associated with the second personal digital assistant 100 . the network access configuration includes the network identifier ( e . g ., the mobitex access number ). in an embodiment , the network access configuration further includes , for example , network user account data , network user privileges data , or network user profile data . thus , the user experiences a seamless transition from the first personal digital assistant to the second personal digital assistant 100 when accessing the mobitex network 750 . in an embodiment of the present invention , an application is loaded to the second personal digital assistant 100 . upon invoking the application , the application automatically switches the network access configuration associated with the first personal digital assistant to the second personal digital assistant 100 via the rf communication port of the second personal digital assistant 100 . during a first phase , the network infrastructure provider 780 updates its one or more databases such that the second personal digital assistant 100 is able to access the mobitex network 750 using the network access configuration ( previously associated with the first personal digital assistant ). during a second phase , the network service provider 790 updates its one or more databases such that the second personal digital assistant 100 is able to access the mobitex network 750 using the network access configuration ( previously associated with the first personal digital assistant ). at the conclusion of the second phase , the second personal digital assistant 100 can access the mobitex network 750 using the network access configuration ( previously associated with the first personal digital assistant ). however , the first personal digital assistant is denied access to the mobitex network 750 if the first personal digital assistant 100 attempts to access the mobitex network 750 using the network access configuration ( previously associated with the first personal digital assistant ). fig8 illustrates a flow chart diagram of steps performed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for switching a network access configuration . reference will be made to fig7 . in particular , fig8 illustrates the first phase of the method of switching the network access configuration associated with the first personal digital assistant to the second personal digital assistant 100 . at step 805 , an application is loaded to the second personal digital assistant 100 . the application is configured to automatically switch the network access configuration associated with the first personal digital assistant to the second personal digital assistant 100 . in an embodiment , a repair facility configures the second personal digital assistant 100 before sending the second personal digital assistant 100 to the user ( that previously utilized the first personal digital assistant ) at step 810 , the application is invoked using the second personal digital assistant 100 . the application prompts the repair facility to input data . in one embodiment , the repair facility inputs the user name and the hardware serial number associated with the first personal digital assistant , whereas the hardware serial number ( hsn ) uniquely identifies each personal digital assistant . in one embodiment , the user provides the user name and the hardware serial number associated with the first personal digital assistant to the repair facility . in another embodiment , the user provides his / her name . the repair facility utilizes one or more databases of the network service provider 790 to obtain the user name and the hardware serial number associated with the first personal digital assistant . the hardware serial number comprises a mobitex serial number and a mobitex serial number extension . in still another embodiment , the repair facility inputs the user name and the mobitex serial number associated with the first personal digital assistant ( rather than the hardware serial number associated with the first personal digital assistant ). at step 815 , data is transmitted to the network infrastructure provider 780 via the antenna 85 . in one embodiment , the user name , the hardware serial number associated with the first personal digital assistant , and the hardware serial number associated with the second personal digital assistant 100 are transmitted to the network infrastructure provider 780 . in addition , a request for re - associating the network access configuration associated with the first personal digital assistant to the second personal digital assistant 100 is transmitted to the network infrastructure provider 780 . in one embodiment , the second personal digital assistant 100 utilizes the mobitex access number associated with the activation gateway 770 to transmit the data to the activation gateway 770 via base station 1 731 . the activation gateway 770 transmits the data to the network infrastructure provider 780 via connection 772 . at step 816 , the network infrastructure provider 780 determines whether the data includes a request for re - associating the network access configuration associated with the first personal digital assistant to the second personal digital assistant 100 . at step 817 , the present method ends if there is no request for re - associating the network access configuration . otherwise , at step 820 , the network infrastructure provider 780 transmits data to the network service provider 790 via connection 785 . in an embodiment , the user name , the hardware serial number associated with the first personal digital assistant , and the hardware serial number associated with the second personal digital assistant 100 are transmitted to the network service provider 790 . the network infrastructure provider 780 stores and manages the mobitex access numbers . in addition , the mobitex access number associated with the first personal digital number is transmitted to the network service provider 790 . moreover , the network infrastructure provider 780 transmits a request for approving the re - association of the network access configuration . at step 825 of fig8 , the network service provider 790 determines whether to approve the request for re - associating the network access configuration associated with the first personal digital assistant to the second personal digital assistant 100 . the network service provider 790 examines its one or more databases to determine whether the user is authorized to access the mobitex network . at step 827 , the present method ends if the network service provider 790 does not approve the request for re - associating the network access configuration associated with the first personal digital assistant to the second personal digital assistant 100 . otherwise , at step 830 , the network service provider 790 sets a flag to indicate that the re - association of the network access configuration has been approved . at step 835 , the network service provider 790 transmits data to the network infrastructure provider 780 . in an embodiment , a response approving the re - association of the network access configuration is transmitted . at step 840 , the network infrastructure provider 780 updates its one or more databases such that the second personal digital assistant 100 is able to access the mobitex network 750 using the network access configuration associated with the first personal digital assistant . in an embodiment , the network infrastructure provider 780 invalidates the hardware serial number associated with the first personal digital assistant . moreover , the network infrastructure provider 780 associates the network access configuration ( previously associated with the first personal digital assistant ) with the second personal digital assistant 100 . in particular , the mobitex access number of the first personal digital assistant is associated with the hardware serial number of the second personal digital assistant 100 . at step 845 of fig8 , the network infrastructure provider 780 transmits the mobitex access number of the first personal digital assistant to the second personal digital assistant 100 via activation gateway 770 and base station 1 731 . in an embodiment , the mobitex access number of the first personal digital assistant is stored in a memory device of the second personal digital assistant 100 . in an embodiment , the memory device comprises a flash memory device . the first phase concludes at the end of step 845 . the first personal digital assistant can no longer access the mobitex network 750 . in an embodiment , the second phase ( of the method of switching the network access configuration associated with the first personal digital assistant to the second personal digital assistant 100 ) begins after a particular time interval has expired . in one embodiment , the particular time interval is one hour . fig9 illustrates a flow chart diagram of steps performed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for switching a network access configuration . reference will be made to fig7 . in particular , fig9 illustrates the second phase of the method of switching the network access configuration associated with the first personal digital assistant to the second personal digital assistant 100 . at step 905 , the second personal digital assistant 100 transmits data to the network service provider 790 via the antenna 85 . in an embodiment of the present invention , a request to complete the re - association of the network access configuration is transmitted . in an embodiment , the second personal digital assistant 100 utilizes the mobitex access number associated with the proxy server 760 to transmit the data to the proxy server 760 via base station 1 731 . the proxy server 760 transmits the data to the network service provider 790 via the internet 765 . in an embodiment , the data is implemented as a hypertext transmission protocol secure ( https ) message . at step 910 , the network service provider 790 updates its one or more databases such that the second personal digital assistant 100 is able to access the mobitex network 750 using the network access configuration associated with the first personal digital assistant . in an embodiment , the network service provider 790 invalidates the hardware serial number associated with the first personal digital assistant . moreover , the network service provider 790 associates the network access configuration ( previously associated with the first personal digital assistant ) with the second personal digital assistant 100 . in particular , the mobitex access number of the first personal digital assistant is associated with the hardware serial number of the second personal digital assistant 100 . moreover , the user name of the first personal digital assistant is associated with the second personal digital assistant 100 . at step 915 , the network service provider 790 transmits an acknowledgment ( ack ) message to the second personal digital assistant 100 via the proxy server 760 and the base station 1 731 , whereas the acknowledgment message indicates that the re - association of the network access configuration has been successful . in an embodiment of the present invention , the acknowledgment message includes the user name associated with the first personal digital assistant . in an embodiment , the acknowledgment message is implemented as a hypertext transmission protocol secure ( https ) message . in an embodiment , the user name is stored in a memory device of the second personal digital assistant 100 . according to an embodiment of the present invention , the memory device comprises a flash memory device . at step 925 , the second personal digital assistant 100 determines whether it has stored the user name and the mobitex access number of the first personal digital assistant in the memory device of the second personal digital assistant 100 . at step 927 , the method of the present invention has failed since the user name or mobitex access number is not stored in the second personal digital assistant . otherwise , at step 930 , the method of the present invention ends . at the conclusion of the second phase , the second personal digital assistant 100 can access the mobitex network 750 using the network access configuration ( previously associated with the first personal digital assistant ). however , the first personal digital assistant is denied access to the mobitex network 750 if the first personal digital assistant 100 attempts to access the mobitex network 750 using the network access configuration ( previously associated with the first personal digital assistant ). in one embodiment , the repair facility deletes the application for switching the network access configuration before sending the second personal digital assistant 100 to the user . fig1 illustrates a plurality of exemplary windows displaying information on a personal digital assistant in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . in an embodiment , the repair facility interfaces with the exemplary windows . the first window 1100 appears on the second personal digital assistant 100 upon invoking the application for switching the network access configuration associated with the first personal digital assistant to the second personal digital assistant 100 . by selecting no 1120 , the application ends without configuring the second personal digital assistant 100 . by selecting yes 1110 , the second window 1200 appears on the second personal digital assistant 100 . the repair facility can input the user name and the hardware serial number ( hsn ) associated with the first personal digital assistant . in one embodiment , the repair facility enters an authorized password to prevent unauthorized use of the application . by selecting previous 1210 , the first window 1100 appears on the second personal digital assistant 100 . by selecting cancel 1230 , the application ends without configuring the second personal digital assistant 100 . by selecting submit 1220 , the application configures the second personal digital assistant 100 as described above . the third window 1300 appears at the end of the first phase . the third window 1300 alerts the repair facility to proceed with the second phase after the particular time interval has expired . it should be recognized that the windows 1100 , 1200 , and 1300 are merely exemplary and that other configurations can be implemented in accordance with the present invention . in one embodiment , a selection is made by positioning a stylus on the selection on the window . alternatively , the selection can be made in any other appropriate manner . those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention may be incorporated as computer instructions stored as computer program code on a computer - readable medium such as a magnetic disk , cd - rom , and other media common in the art or that may yet be developed . finally , one of the embodiments of the present invention is an application , namely , a set of instructions ( e . g ., program code ) which may , for example , be resident in the random access memory of an electronic system ( e . g ., computer system , personal digital assistant or handheld computer system , etc .). until required by the computer system , the set of instructions may be stored in another computer memory , for example , in a hard drive , or in a removable memory such as an optical disk ( for eventual use in a cd - rom ) or floppy disk ( for eventual use in a floppy disk drive ), or downloaded via the internet or other computer network . thus , the present invention may be implemented as a computer program product for use in a computer system ( e . g ., personal digital assistant ). in addition , although the various methods of the present invention described above are conveniently implemented in a computer system selectively activated or reconfigured by software , one of ordinary skill in the art would also recognize that such methods of the present invention may be carried out in hardware , firmware , or in a more specialized apparatus constructed to perform the required methods of the present invention . the foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description . they are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed , and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching . the embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application , to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated . it is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents . | 7 |
preferably as used herein , the term “ dissolver ” includes a solid chemical feed unit dissolving apparatus and an associated operatively mounted solid chemical feed unit magazine or guide for holding and introducing successive solid chemical feed units sequentially to a dissolving location or station in the dissolver . as illustrated in the drawings , preferred solid chemical feed units useful in the invention are in the form of a cylinder or disc 10 having a forward face 12 defined by a circular edge 14 . disc 10 has predetermined height and is preferably , but not necessarily , from six to nine inches in diameter , about one to six inches in height and preferably three inches high . preferably , the forward face 12 is about 20 inches to 110 square inches in surface area . preferably , a single solid chemical feed unit weighs in the range of eight to ten pounds . these parameters are illustrative only ; other sizes , areas and weights could be used . one embodiment of the invention comprises a unique solid chemical feed unit magazine 16 in operable cooperation as part of a dissolver apparatus 18 wherein the magazine 16 has a slight inwardly tapered surface or constriction 20 at a lower magazine end 22 , just upstream or above a first screen 24 . as noted , a solid chemical feed unit 10 is preferably , but not exclusively , cylindrical in shape , with a lower circular face surface 12 defined by an edge 14 engaging the tapered surface 20 of the magazine 16 and sealing off upper chamber areas 26 of the magazine above the seal 28 produced by the engagement of the lower feed unit edge 14 with the tapered surface 20 . alternately , the tapered surface 20 may be operatively disposed in the dissolver 18 at a seal location downstream of the magazine 16 , while providing a seal against moisture intrusion into the magazine 16 and above the face surface 12 of a feed unit 10 being dissolved . the upper first screen 24 is disposed in the magazine 16 proximate the so - formed seal 28 and just below the lower face 12 of the forward or lowermost solid chemical feed unit 10 . the first screen 24 is of any suitable construction and preferably of stainless steel wire in no . 2 mesh , i . e . one - half inch mesh . an upwardly directed nozzle 30 is disposed below the screen 24 . the nozzle 30 sprays a consistent and preferably uniform water pattern up through the screen onto the lower circular face 12 of the solid chemical feed unit 10 , which is thus dissolved . as the solid chemical feed unit 10 is so dissolved , dissolved chemical drops toward and through the first screen 24 onto a collection funnel 32 or tapered collecting surface thereof , yet all the while its advancing lower face 12 at its circular edge 14 seals against the tapered surface 20 , preventing wetting and caking of the solid chemical feed unit or units 10 above the dissolving face 12 . the solid chemical feed unit 10 and successive solid chemical feed units descend in the magazine 16 toward the tapered surface 20 and seal as the nozzle 30 continues to spray , maintaining both the seal 28 and the presentation of a feed unit surface for dissolving by the nozzle 30 spray . the seal 28 is maintained whether the nozzle spray 30 produces continuously or intermittently . as the face 12 of the solid chemical feed unit 10 is sprayed and dissolved by the water , diluted chemical solution falls past the nozzle onto a secondary , lower screen 34 at the bottom of funnel 32 for catching any lumps or pieces of undissolved chemicals falling through the first screen 24 and which are collected and optionally presented to waste . the lower screen 34 is preferably an integral part or floor of the collection funnel 32 with a plurality of one - quarter inch holes therein , whereby pieces of undissolved chemical are captured in the floor and can be further dissolved . thus , it will be appreciated that the magazine 16 defines an upper feed unit chamber 26 for accepting a plurality of solid chemical feed units 10 in tandem and for feeding each unit 10 serially toward the tapering surface 20 , forming a seal 28 with the edge 14 of the lowermost feed unit . in another aspect of the invention , the magazine 16 defines two elongated slots 36 , 38 ( fig3 ) on opposite sides thereof . cylindrically - shaped solid chemical feed units 10 are manually lowered within the magazine 16 and from the top by physical support facilitated by the slots 36 , 38 , until the feed units 10 are settled on the seal 28 or on the proceeding feed unit 10 . a guide cover 40 is placed on the last or uppermost feed unit 10 and follows the units 10 downwardly as they are successively dissolved . if the last unit in the magazine is fully dissolved , the guide cover 40 deflects any spray from the nozzle 30 from entering the magazine chamber 26 through the screen ; it too sealing or contacting the tapering seal surface 20 . a magazine cover 42 may be disposed over the magazine 16 . this cover 42 is preferably provided with an elongated sight window 44 with measuring scale aligned with one of said slots 36 , 38 and through which the feed units 10 therein can be viewed and measured as an indication of solid chemical feed unit status and any need to load more solid chemical feed units 10 . it is thus easy for an operator to assure continued operation of a treatment process by visual observation . just below the tapered surface 20 of the magazine , 16 a circular groove 46 in a surface of either the magazine 16 or other dissolver parts accommodates , supports or positions the periphery of the circular screen 24 noted above . the further tapered surface below the screen in the form of a collection funnel 32 funnels chemical solution downwardly to a collection area or reservoir 48 within the dissolver 18 wherein one or more floats 50 , 52 are disposed to control water flow through line 55 to the nozzle 30 based on the fill condition of a solution reservoir 48 . primary chemical solution is directed to a solution reservoir 48 in which a float 52 activates a first valve 54 when the reservoir 48 is filled , shutting off water to the nozzle 30 . if that reservoir 48 has overflowed into an overflow tank 56 despite the condition of the first valve 54 and its float 52 , a second float 50 in the overflow tank 56 shuts a second valve 58 , serially connected to the first valve 54 ( through conduit 57 ) from upstream thereof , as a failsafe to shut off water from water inlet 59 , pressure regulator 59 a and conduit 61 , to the first valve 54 , line 55 and nozzle 30 and to stop nozzle 30 spray onto a feed unit 10 . the supply of water to the serially - connected valves 54 , 58 and nozzle 30 is pressure regulated to produce a consistent spray from the nozzle 30 . a pick - up tube 60 transfers chemical solution to an outlet pump 62 from the solution reservoir 58 for transport to a water system or other process stream . also , it will be appreciated that the invention is useful in multiple applications where available water pressures might vary significantly from one application to the other and in the approximate range of 25 to 100 psi and more likely 25 - 40 psi . according to the invention , the water supply nozzle 30 is regulated to about 25 psi ( regulator 59 a ) and at this pressure , the nozzle 30 delivers water diluent in a spray pattern to the face of the solid chemical feed unit at a rate of about 0 . 5 gallons per minute to produce a chemical solution at about 0 . 5 % to about 1 . 0 % concentration . preferably , and to provide consistent chemical solution by presenting a continually uniform solid chemical feed unit face 12 and surface area defined at the forward face , each solid chemical feed unit 10 has a shape such that surface area of the solid chemical feed unit is positioned at a constant distance from the nozzle 30 at the first screen 24 . provision of a uniform water pattern , emanating from a nozzle 30 at a uniform distance from the face of the operative solid chemical feed unit , and at a uniform low pressure facilitates a consistent , accurate and constant solution and treatment process . it will also be appreciated that the dissolver 18 provides a very high capacity solid chemical feed unit dissolving process but in a relatively small footprint . essentially , the dissolver unit 18 at its lower end is about 24 inches wide by 28 inches long and about one foot tall , or alternately , it could be other sizes , such as 18 inches wide and about 22 inches long . the housing 66 forms preferably integral both reservoir 48 and overflow tanks 56 of about one quart capacity each , and an additional containment tank 68 beyond these two tanks to accommodate an unexpected spill or malfunction . the magazine has an upper loading end 70 , about five feet from the bottom of the dissolver housing 66 , and is about thirteen inches in diameter , with cover 42 . the lower end of the magazine is secured to the dissolver housing 66 so it does not separate if the entire apparatus is tipped . since the lower end of the magazine 16 is disposed within the housing 66 , the center of gravity of the unity is relatively low and the dissolver is stable . for example , magazine 16 may be supported by an integral seat 72 of housing 66 , and other portions of the housing 66 and may be otherwise suitably fastened to the housing . it will thus be appreciated that the dissolver 18 is partially defined by a housing 66 or body which usefully comprises a molded housing 66 of any suitable material defining a solution reservoir 48 , an overflow tank 56 , a containment tank 68 , a seat 72 for a magazine and such conduits , valves 54 , 58 nozzle 30 and the like to perform the dissolving function . the reservoir 48 and overflow tank 56 may be an integrally formed portion of the dissolver body 66 . as will be appreciated , the magazine 16 is removably but securely seated on the dissolver 18 as shown in the drawings . the tapered sealing surface 20 and screen 24 could be formed in the dissolver 18 , below a magazine 16 , if desired , as opposed to the preferred disposition as part of the magazine 16 . in an alternate embodiment , the solid chemical feed units 10 may be provided in other shapes than cylinders or discs . for example , a disc shape with a sector removed , a unit in the form of a multiple - sided shape of curved or straight lines , or a variety of other feed unit shapes could be used . consequently , the tapering seal surface 20 may also be provided in similar and cooperating configurations to produce the seal 28 with the solid chemical feed unit 10 discussed herein and to prevent moisture transport or migration beyond a spray - receiving dissolving face 12 of such a feed unit . the parameters of a uniform pattern consistent with the shape of the solid chemical feed unit face 12 , uniform distance from spray nozzle 30 to that face , and uniform water pressure are all preferably provided and retained . these embodiments facilitate treatment of a variety of process streams from solid chemical feed units . from the foregoing , it will be appreciated that the invention provides a solid form chemical dissolver having a unique high capacity magazine and solid chemical feed units and which prevents dissolving process obstruction from wetting or caking of subsequent solid chemical feed units as well as provides consistent chemical dissolving , either continuously or intermittently , and resulting accurate solutions for system treatments . these benefits are attained in addition to such improved apparatus and methods as a result from a dissolver of small footprint , providing high capacity in a yet stable unit with accurate solution production and decreased operator time and attention . a variety of solid chemicals provided in solid chemical feed units can be used with this invention . these include , by way of example only , and without limitation : phosphonate ; tolytriazole ; molybdate ; polymers ; caustics ; sulfite and nitrate . these and other advantages and modifications will become readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art and without departing from the scope of this invention and applicant intends to be bound only by the claims appended hereto . | 1 |
embodiments of the present disclosure provide for a method and system for prioritized rerouting of logical circuit data in a data network . when a logical circuit failure is detected , the data in the logical circuit may be rerouted to a logical failover circuit at the same quality of service provisioned for the failed logical circuit . in the following detailed description , references are made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof , and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments or examples . referring now to the drawings , in which like numerals represent like elements through the several figures , aspects of the present disclosure and the exemplary operating environment will be described . embodiments of the present disclosure may be generally employed in a data network 2 as shown in fig1 . the data network 2 includes local access and transport areas (“ latas ”) 5 and 15 which are connected by an inter - exchange carrier (“ iec ”) 10 . it should be understood that the latas 5 and 15 may be data networks operated by a commonly owned local exchange carrier (“ lec ”). it should be further understood that the iec 10 may include one or more data networks which may be operated by a commonly owned iec . it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the data network 2 may be a frame relay network , asynchronous transfer mode (“ atm ”) network , or any other network capable of communicating data conforming to layers 2 - 4 of the open systems interconnection (“ osi ”) model developed by the international standards organization , incorporated herein by reference . it will be appreciated that these networks may include , but are not limited to , communications protocols conforming to the multiprotocol label switching standard (“ mpls ”) networks and the transmission control protocol / internet protocol (“ tcp / ip ”), which are known to those skilled in the art . the data network 2 includes a network circuit which channels data between a host device 112 and a remote device 114 through the lata 5 , the iec 10 , and the lata 15 . it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the host and remote devices 112 and 114 may be local area network (“ lan ”) routers , lan bridges , hosts , front end processors , frame relay access devices (“ frads ”), or any other device with a frame relay , atm , or network interface . it will be further appreciated that in the data network 2 , the latas 5 and 15 and the iec 10 may include network elements ( not shown ) which support interworking to enable communications between host and remote devices supporting dissimilar protocols . network elements in a data network supporting interworking may translate frame relay data packets or frames sent from a host frad to atm data packets or cells so that a host device may communicate with a remote device having an atm interface . the latas 5 and 15 and the iec 10 may further include one or more interconnected network elements , such as switches ( not shown ), for transmitting data . an illustrative lec data network will be discussed in greater detail in the description of fig2 below . the network circuit between the host device 112 and the remote device 114 in the data network 2 includes a physical circuit and a logical circuit . as used in the foregoing description and the appended claims , a physical circuit is defined as the physical path that connects the end point of a network circuit to a network device . for example , the physical circuit of the network circuit between the host device 112 and the remote device 114 includes the physical connection 121 between the host device 112 and the lata 5 , the physical connection 106 between the lata 5 and the iec 10 , the physical connection 108 between the iec 10 and the lata 15 , and the physical connection 123 between the lata 15 and the remote device 114 . routers and switches within the latas 5 and 15 and the iec 10 carry the physical signal between the host and remote end devices 112 and 114 through the physical circuit . it should be understood that the host and remote devices may be connected to the physical circuit described above using user - to - network interfaces (“ unis ”). as is known to those skilled in the art , an uni is the physical demarcation point between a user device ( e . g , a host device ) and a public data network . it will further be understood by those skilled in the art that the physical connections 106 and 108 may include trunk circuits for carrying the data between the latas 5 and 15 and the iec 10 . it will be further understood by those skilled in the art that the connections 121 and 123 may be any of various physical communications media for communicating data such as a 56 kbps line or a t1 line carried over a four - wire shielded cable or over a fiber optic cable . as used in the foregoing description and the appended claims , a logical circuit is defined as a portion of the network circuit wherein data is sent over variable communication data paths or logical connections established between the first and last network devices within a lata or iec network and over fixed communication data paths or logical connections between latas ( or between iecs ). thus , no matter what path the data takes within each lata or iec , the beginning and end of each logical connection between networks will not change . for example , the logical circuit of the network circuit in the data network 2 may include a variable communication path within the lata 5 and a fixed communication path ( i . e ., the logical connection 102 ) between the lata 5 and the iec 10 . it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the logical connections 102 and 104 in the data network 2 may include network - to - network interfaces (“ nnis ”) between the last sending switch in a lata and the first receiving switch in an iec . it should be understood that in data networks supporting interworking ( i . e ., utilizing both frame relay and atm devices ), data may be communicated over frame relay circuits over the uni connections between the host or remote device and the lata ( or iec ) data network , and over atm circuits over the nni connections within the lata ( or iec ) data network . as is known to those skilled in the art , each logical circuit in a data network may be identified by a unique logical identifier . in frame relay networks , the logical identifier is called a data link connection identifier (“ dlci ”) while in atm networks the logical identifier is called a virtual path identifier / virtual circuit identifier (“ vpi / vci ”). in frame relay networks , the dlci is a 10 - bit address field contained in the header of each data frame and contains identifying information for the logical circuit as well as information relating to the destination of the data in the frame , quality of service (“ qos ”) parameters , and other service parameters for handling network congestion . for example , in the data network 2 implemented as a frame relay network , the designation dlci 100 may be used to identify the logical circuit between the host device 112 and the remote device 114 . it will be appreciated that in data networks in which logical circuit data is communicated through more than one carrier ( e . g ., an lec and an iec ) the dlci designation for the logical circuit may change in a specific carrier &# 39 ; s network . for example , in the data network 2 , the designation dlci 100 may identify the logical circuit in the lata 5 and lata 15 but the designation dlci 800 may identify the logical circuit in the iec 10 . illustrative qos parameters which may be included in the dlci include a variable frame rate (“ vfr ”) real time parameter and a vfr non - real time parameter . as is known to those skilled in the art , vfr real time is a variable data rate for frame relay data frames communicated over a logical circuit . typically , vfr real - time circuits are able to tolerate small variations in the transmission rate of data ( i . e ., delay ) and small losses of frames . typical applications for vfr real time circuits may include , but are not limited to , voice and some types of interactive video . vfr non - real time circuits also communicate data frames at a variable data rate but are able to tolerate higher variations in the transmission rate and thus more delay as these circuits are typically “ bursty ” ( i . e ., data is transmitted in short , uneven spurts ) in nature . typical applications for vfr non - real time circuits include , but are limited to , inter - lan communications and internet traffic . illustrative service parameters which may be included in the dlci include a committed information rate (“ cir ”) parameter and a committed burst size (“ be ”) parameter . as is known to those skilled in the art , the cir represents the average capacity of the logical circuit and the be represents the maximum amount of data that may be transmitted . it will be appreciated that the logical circuit may be provisioned such that when the cir or the be is exceeded , the receiving switch in the data network will discard the frame . it should be understood that the logical circuit parameters are not limited to cr and be and that other parameters known to those skilled in the art may also be provisioned , including , but not limited to , burst excess size (“ be ”) and committed rate measurement interval (“ tc ”). in atm networks , the vpi / vci is an address field contained in the header of each atm data cell and contains identifying information for the logical circuit as well as information specifying a data cell &# 39 ; s destination , qos parameters , and specific bits which may indicate , for example , the existence of congestion in the network and a threshold for discarding cells . illustrative qos parameters which may be included in the vpi / vci include a committed bit rate (“ cbr ”) parameter , a variable bit rate (“ vbr ”) parameter , and an unspecified bit rate (“ ubr ”) parameter . as is known to those skilled in the art , cbr defines a constant data rate for atm cells communicated over a logical circuit . typically , cbr circuits are given the highest priority in a data network and are very intolerant to delay . typical applications for cbr circuits may include , but are not limited to , video conferencing , voice , television and video - on demand . vbr circuits communicate atm cells at a variable data rate and are able to tolerate varying degrees of delay . similar to frame relay variable service parameters , vbr circuits may be further subdivided into vbr real time and vbr non - real time . vbr non - real time circuits are able to tolerate more delay . typical applications for atm vbr circuits may include the same applications as frame relay vfr circuits . ubr circuits communicate atm cells at an unspecified bit rate and are extremely tolerant to delay . ubr circuits are typically reserved for non - time sensitive applications such as file transfer , email , and message and image retrieval . it should be understood that the logical circuit in the data network 2 may be a permanent virtual circuit (“ pvc ”) available to the network at all times or a temporary or a switched virtual circuit (“ svc ”) available to the network only as long as data is being transmitted . it should be understood that the data network 2 may further include additional switches or other interconnected network elements ( not shown ) creating multiple paths within each lata and iec for defining each pvc or svc in the data network . it will be appreciated that the data communicated over the logical connections 102 and 104 may be physically carried by the physical connections 106 and 108 . the data network 2 may also include a failover network 17 for rerouting logical circuit data , according to an embodiment of the disclosure . the failover network 17 may include a network failover circuit including physical connections 134 and 144 and logical connections 122 and 132 for rerouting logical circuit data in the event of a failure in the network circuit between the host device 112 and the remote device 114 . the failover network 17 will be described in greater detail in the description of fig4 below . the data network 2 may also include a network management system 175 in communication with the lata 5 , the lata 15 , and the failover network 17 . the network management system 175 may be utilized to obtain status information for the logical and physical circuit between the host device , 112 and the remote device 114 . the network management system 175 may also be utilized for rerouting logical data in the data network 2 between the host device 112 and the remote device 114 . the network management system 175 will be discussed in greater detail in the description of fig3 below . fig2 illustrates the lata 5 in the data network 2 described in fig1 above , according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . as shown in fig2 , the lata 5 includes interconnected network devices such as switches 186 , 187 , and 188 . it will be appreciated that the data network 2 may also contain other interconnected network devices and elements ( not shown ) such as digital access and cross connect switches (“ dacs ”), channel service units (“ csus ”), and data service units (“ dsus ”). as discussed above in the description of fig1 , the connection data paths of a logical circuit within a data network may vary between the first and last network devices in a data network . for example , as shown in fig2 , the logical circuit in the lata 5 may include the communication path 185 between the switches 186 and 188 or the communication path 184 between the switches 186 , 187 , and 188 . as discussed above , it should be understood that the actual path taken by data through the lata 5 is not fixed and may vary from time to time , such as when automatic rerouting takes place . it will be appreciated that the switches 186 , 187 , and 188 may include a signaling mechanism for monitoring and signaling the status of the logical circuit in the data network 2 . each time a change in the status of the logical circuit is detected ( e . g ., a receiving switch begins dropping frames ), the switch generates an alarm or “ trap ” which may then be communicated to a management station , such as a logical element module ( described in detail in the description of fig3 below ), in the network management system 175 . the trap may include , for example , status information indicating network congestion . in one embodiment , the signaling mechanism may be in accord with a local management interface (“ lmi ”) specification , which provides for the sending and receiving of “ status inquiries ” between a data network and a host or remote device . the lmi specification includes obtaining status information through the use of special management frames ( in frame relay networks ) or cells ( in atm networks ). in frame relay networks , for example , the special management frames monitor the status of logical connections and provide information regarding the health of the network . in the data network 2 , the host and remote devices 112 and 114 receive status information from the switches in the individual latas they are connected to in response to a status request sent in a special management frame or cell . the lmi status information may include , for example , whether or not the logical circuit is congested or whether or not the logical circuit has failed . it should be understood that the parameters and the signaling mechanism discussed above are optional and that other parameters and mechanisms may also be utilized to obtain connection status information for a logical circuit . fig3 illustrates the network management system 175 which may be utilized for prioritized rerouting of logical circuit data in the data network of fig1 , according to an embodiment of the disclosure . the network management system 175 includes a service order system 160 , a network database 170 , a logical element module 153 , a physical element module 155 , a network management module 176 , and a test module 180 . the service order system 160 is utilized in the data network 2 for receiving service orders for provisioning network circuits . the service order includes information defining the transmission characteristics or qos parameters for the logical circuit portion of the network circuit . the service order also contains the access speed , cir , burst rates , and excess burst rates . the service order system 160 communicates the service order information to a network database 170 over management trunk 172 . the network database 170 assigns and stores the parameters for the physical circuit portion of the network circuit such as a port number on the switch 186 for transmitting data over the physical connection 121 to and from the host device 112 . the network database 170 may also be in communication with an operations support system ( not shown ) for assigning physical equipment to the network circuit and for maintaining an inventory of the physical assignments for the network circuit . an illustrative operations support system is “ tirks ”® ( trunks integrated records keeping system ) marketed by telecordia ™ technologies , inc . of morristown , n . j . the network database 170 may also be in communication with a work force administration and control system (“ wfa / c ”) ( not shown ) used to assign resources ( i . e ., technicians ) to work on installing the physical circuit . the network management system 175 also includes the logical element module 153 which is in communication with the switches in the data network 2 through management trunks 183 . the logical element module 153 runs a network management application program to monitor the operation of logical circuits which includes receiving trap data generated by the switches which indicate the status of logical connections . the trap data may be stored in the logical element module 153 for later analysis and review . the logical element module 153 is also in communication with the network database 170 via management trunks 172 for accessing information regarding logical circuits such as the logical identifier data . the logical identifier data may include , for example , the dlci or vpi / vci header information for each data frame or cell in the logical circuit including the circuit &# 39 ; s destination and qos parameters . the logical element module 153 may consist of terminals ( not shown ) that display a map - based graphical user interface (“ gui ”) of the logical connections in the data network . an illustrative logical element module is the naviscore ™ system marketed by lucent technologies , inc . of murray hill , n . j . the network management system 175 further includes the physical element module 155 in communication with the physical connections of the network circuit via management trunks ( not shown ). the physical element module 155 runs a network management application program to monitor the operation and retrieve data regarding the operation of the physical circuit . the physical element module 155 is also in communication with the network database 170 via management trunks 172 for accessing information regarding physical circuits , such as line speed . similar to the logical element module 153 , the physical logical element module 155 may also consist of terminals ( not shown ) that display a map - based gui of the physical connections in the lata 5 . an illustrative physical element module is the integrated testing and analysis system (“ intas ”), marketed by telecordia ™ technologies , inc . of morristown , n . j ., which provides flow - through testing and analysis of telephony , services . the physical element module 155 troubleshoots the physical connections for a physical circuit by communicating with test module 180 , which interfaces with the physical connections via test access point 156 . the test module 180 obtains the status of the physical circuit by transmitting “ clean ” test signals to test access point 156 ( shown in fig2 ) which “ loops back ” the signals for detection by the test module 180 . it should be understood that there may be multiple test access points on each of the physical connections for the physical circuit . the network management system 175 further includes the network management module 176 which is in communication with the service order system 160 , the network database 170 , the logical element module 153 , and the physical element module 155 through communications channels 172 . it should be understood that in one embodiment , the network management system 175 may also be in communication with the lata 15 , the iec 10 , and the fail over network 17 . the communications channels 172 may be on a lan . the network management module 176 may consist of terminals ( not shown ), which may be part of a general - purpose computer system that displays a map - based gui of the logical connections in data networks . the network management module 176 may communicate with the logical element module 153 and the physical element module 155 using a common object request broker architecture (“ corba ”). as is known to those skilled in the art , corba is an open , vendor - independent architecture and infrastructure which allows different computer applications to work together over one or more networks using a basic set of commands and responses . the network management module 176 may also serve as an interface for implementing logical operations to provision and maintain network circuits . the logical operations may be implemented as machine instructions stored locally or as instructions retrieved from the logical and physical element modules 153 and 155 . an illustrative method detailing the provisioning and maintenance of network circuits in a data network is presented in u . s . patent application ser . no . 10 / 348 , 592 , entitled “ method and system for provisioning and maintaining a circuit in a data network ,” filed on jan . 23 , 2003 , and assigned to the same assignee as this application , which is expressly incorporated herein by reference . an illustrative network management module is the broadband network management system ® (“ bbnms ”) marketed by telecordia ™ technologies , inc . of morristown , n . j . fig4 illustrates an illustrative failover data network for rerouting logical circuit data , according to one embodiment of the present disclosure . as shown in fig4 , the failover network 17 includes an iec 20 , a lata 25 , and an iec 30 . the failover network further includes a network failover circuit which includes a physical failover circuit and a logical failover circuit . the physical failover circuit includes the physical connection 134 between the lata 5 ( shown in fig1 ) and the iec 20 , the physical connection 136 between the iec 20 and the lata 25 , the physical connection 138 between the lata 25 and the iec 30 , and the physical connection 144 between the iec 30 and the lata 15 ( shown in fig1 ). similarly , the logical failover circuit may include the logical connection 122 between the lata 5 ( shown in fig1 ) and the iec 20 , the logical connection 124 between the iec 20 and the lata 25 , the logical connection 126 between the lata 25 and the iec 30 , and the logical connection 132 between the iec 30 and the lata 15 ( shown in fig1 ). it should be understood that in one embodiment , the network failover circuit illustrated in the failover network 17 may include a dedicated physical circuit and a dedicated logical circuit provisioned by a network service provider serving the latas 5 , 15 , and 25 and the iecs 20 and 30 , for rerouting logical data from a failed logical circuit . fig5 illustrates a flowchart describing logical operations 500 for prioritized rerouting of logical circuit data in the data network 2 of fig1 , according to an embodiment of the disclosure . it will be appreciated that the logical operations 500 may be initiated when a customer report of a network circuit failure is received in the data network 2 . for example , a customer at the remote device 114 may determine that the remote device 114 is dropping frames or cells sent from the host device 112 ( e . g ., by reviewing lmi status information in the host device ). after receiving the customer report , the network service provider providing the network circuit may open a trouble ticket in the service order system 160 to troubleshoot the logical circuit . the logical operations 500 begin at operation 505 where the network management module 176 identifies a failed logical circuit in the data network 2 . it will be appreciated that a logical circuit failure may be based on status information received in communications with the logical element module 153 to request trap data generated by one or more switches in the data network 2 . the trap data indicates the status of one or more logical connections making up the logical circuit . for example , in the data network 2 shown in fig1 , the “ x ” marking the logical connections 102 and 104 indicates that both connections are “ down beyond ” the logical connections in the lata data networks 5 and 15 . it will be appreciated that in this example , the logical circuit failure lies in the iec data network 10 . an illustrative method detailing the identification of logical circuit failures in a data network is presented in co - pending u . s . patent application ser . no . 10 / 745 , 170 , entitled “ method and system for automatically identifying a logical circuit failure in a data network ,” filed on dec . 23 , 2003 , and assigned to the same assignee as this application , which is expressly incorporated herein by reference . after identifying a failed logical circuit at operation 505 , the logical operations 500 continue at operation 510 where the network management module 176 determines the qos parameter for the communication of data in the failed logical circuit . as discussed above in the description of fig1 , the qos parameters for a logical circuit are contained within the dlci ( for frame relay circuits ) or the vpi / vci ( for atm circuits ). the qos parameters for logical circuits may also be stored in the network database 170 after the circuits are provisioned in the data network . thus , in one embodiment of the present disclosure , the network management module 176 may determine the logical identifier for the failed logical circuit from the trap data received from the logical element module 153 and then access the database 170 to determine the qos parameter for the circuit . the logical operations then continue from operation 510 to operation 515 . at operation 515 , the network management module 176 identifies a logical failover circuit for communicating failed logical circuit data over an alternate communication in the data network 2 . for example , if as shown in fig1 , it is determined that the failure in the logical circuit in the data network 2 has been isolated to the iec data network 10 , a logical failover circuit in the failover network 17 may be automatically selected to reroute the logical data such that it bypasses the iec data network 10 . for example , the logical failover circuit may be selected including the logical connections 122 , 124 , 126 , and 132 ( as shown in fig4 ) to reroute the logical data from the host device 112 , through the lata 5 , the iec 20 , the lata 25 , the iec 30 , the lata 15 , and finally to the remote device 114 . it should be understood that the network management module 176 may select the logical failover circuit by identifying a logical connection or nni in the overbalanced logical circuit . information related to each logical connection in a logical circuit may be stored in the database 170 including the first and second ends of the logical circuit to which the logical connection belongs . once the ends of a logical circuit are determined by accessing the database 170 , the network management module 176 may select a logical failover circuit having a communication path including the first and second ends of the overbalanced logical circuit for rerouting data . it will be appreciated that in one embodiment , the logical failover circuit selected may be a dedicated circuit which is only utilized for rerouting logical data from the failed logical circuit ( i . e ., the failover circuit does not normally communicate data traffic ). in this embodiment , the logical failover circuit may be provisioned with the same qos parameter as the logical circuit to which it is assigned . in another embodiment , the logical failover circuit may be an existing logical circuit which is normally utilized for communicating data traffic in the data network 2 . in this embodiment , the selection of the logical failover circuit may also include determining whether one or more logical connections in the logical circuit are currently communicating data traffic or are currently unused . if currently unused , the logical connections may be selected for rerouting logical data . for example , a technician at the logical element module 153 or the network management module 176 may utilize a map - based gui displaying the logical connections in the lata data networks 5 and 15 and their status . a dedicated logical failover circuit ( or a currently unused logical circuit with available logical connections ) may then be selected as a logical failover circuit for communicating logical data from a failed logical circuit . the logical operations 500 then continue from operation 515 to operation 520 . at operation 520 , the network management module determines the qos parameter for the previously identified logical failover circuit . it will be appreciated that the identification of the qos parameter for the logical failover circuit may be made by identifying the logical circuit id for the logical failover circuit and then accessing the network database 170 to retrieve the qos parameter for the circuit . the logical operations 500 then continue from operation 520 to operation 525 . at operation 525 the network management module 176 compares the qos parameters for the failed logical circuit and the logical failover circuit to determine if they are the same . if the qos parameters are the same , the logical operations continue to operation 535 where the failed logical circuit data is rerouted over the logical failover circuit . an illustrative method detailing the rerouting of failed logical circuits in a data network is presented in co - pending u . s . patent application ser . no . 10 / 744 , 921 , entitled “ method and system for automatically rerouting logical circuit data in a data network ,” filed on dec . 23 , 2003 , and assigned to the same assignee as this application , which is expressly incorporated herein by reference . for example , if the network management module 176 determines that the qos for the failed logical circuit and the logical failover circuit is cbr , then the failed logical circuit data is rerouted over the logical failover circuit while maintaining the same quality of service . it will be appreciated that in data networks supporting interworking ( i . e ., both frame relay and atm devices ), the network management module 176 may be configured to reroute logical circuit data based on similar qos parameters from each protocol . for example , if the failed logical circuit has a frame relay qos parameter of vfr real time , the network management module 176 may reroute the data to an atm logical failover circuit having a qos parameter of vbr real time , since these quality of service parameters are defined to tolerate only small variations in transmission rates . similarly , a failed logical circuit having an atm qos parameter of ubr may be rerouted over a frame relay logical failover circuit having a qos of vfr non - real time since both of these parameters are tolerant of delay and variable transmission rates . if , however , at operation 525 , the network management module 176 determines that the qos parameters for the failed logical circuit and the logical failover circuit are not the same , then the logical operations continue from operation 525 to operation 530 where the network management module 176 obtains authorization to reroute the logical circuit data . once authorization is received , the logical operations 530 then continue to operation 535 where the failed logical circuit data is rerouted over the logical failover circuit . it will be appreciated that authorization may be obtained if the logical failover circuit is provisioned for a lower quality of service than the failed logical circuit . for example , authorization may be obtained from an atm circuit customer with a qos parameter of cbr to reroute logical circuit data to a failover logical circuit with a qos parameter of vbr real time . it will be appreciated that in some instances , a customer unwilling to accept delay and variable transmission rates for high priority data ( such as voice ) may not wish data to be rerouted over a lower priority circuit . the logical operations 500 then end . it will be appreciated that in an alternative embodiment of the present disclosure , the network management module 176 may be configured to provision an appropriate logical failover in real time upon identifying a failure in a logical circuit . in this embodiment , the network management module 176 , after identifying the qos parameter for the failed logical circuit , may build a failover circuit with logical connections having the same qos parameter for rerouting the failed logical circuit data . it should be understood that for portions of the logical failover circuit passing through a data network operated by a different carrier ( such as an iec data network ), the rerouting carrier may negotiate a comparable quality of service so that quality may be maintained between a host device and a remote device . it will be appreciated that in one embodiment of the present disclosure , the prioritization applied to the rerouting of logical circuit data logical circuit failover procedure may be initiated as a service offering by a local exchange carrier ( lec ) or an inter - exchange carrier ( iec ) to priority customers for rerouting logical circuit data . if a priority customer is not a subscriber , the service may still be initiated and the priority customer may be billed based on the length of time the prioritized logical failover circuit was in use . it will be appreciated that the embodiments of the disclosure described above provide for a method and system for prioritized rerouting of logical circuit data in a data network . when a logical circuit failure is detected , the data in the logical circuit may be rerouted to a logical failover circuit at the same quality of service provisioned for the failed logical circuit . the various embodiments described above are provided by way of illustration only and should not be construed to limit the invention . those skilled in the art will readily recognize various modifications and changes that may be made to the present invention without following the example embodiments and applications illustrated and described herein , and without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present disclosure , which is set forth in the following claims . | 7 |
the inventor provides a multiple processor flash - based storage device and a system for managing data relative to use of the device for data storage . the invention is enabled in detail according to the following embodiments . fig1 is a block diagram illustrating a single - processor flash storage device as known to the inventor . in this system known to the inventor and briefly described above in the background section of this specification , a single processor is used to perform all of the functions relative to reading and writing data to one or more flash - based storage devices . in the system of fig1 data storage system 100 includes a data storage device 101 and a host computing device 102 . host computing device 102 may be a personal computer ( pc ) or a hand - held device such as a personal digital assistant ( pda ), a laptop computer , or some other computing device that can be coupled to data storage device 101 for the purpose of reading data from and writing data to the device . data storage device 101 is a solid state storage device that can be hardwired to or can be plugged into the host for use as a disk drive in place of a mechanical disk drive . data storage device 101 has a host interface controller 103 for adapting to the host system though a computer bus . data storage device 101 further includes a microprocessor 104 for processing commands from the host . microprocessor 104 is connected by internal bust 107 to a random access memory ( ram ) 105 used as a cache memory for the device . internal bus 107 connects processor 104 to host interface controller 103 and to a plurality of flash - based data storage devices 109 ( 1 - n ). flash - based storage devices 109 ( 1 - n ) may be flash chips bused in series or parallel . ram 105 is used for all ram - based functions including caching writes to flash for the purpose of lessening the number of actual writes that the host system makes to flash to preserve the lifespan of the flash storage devices . data management tables for both flash space and ram space are provided in ram for mitigating write addressing and lookups for reading from the flash devices . in this example writes to flash are kept to a minimum and writing to flash actually occurs in flash dumps from ram such as when there is a power interruption , a purposeful power - down event , and when ram space is approaching capacity . using ram as a fast caching system makes the application of flash - based storage more practical . however , there are limitations with this exemplary architecture that prevent this system from economical application to more robust systems like server - based storage on an enterprise scale , or mass data storage applications like redundant array of independent disk ( raid ) systems and other like mass data storage systems . the fact that only one processor is active on data storage device 101 coupled with a shared data bus produces certain performance delays in data management relative to processor speed . ram space 105 is a precious resource on device 101 . many processes other than data write and read operations compete for available ram space . some of the aforementioned processes that contend for available ram space include data encryption , error correction coding ( ecc ), and address lookups . successful utilization of ram 105 by microprocessor 104 for all ram - based data operations suffers some degradation as ram cache fills with pending flash writes and as the shared data bus becomes increasingly busy with more data traffic . providing more ram memory is not a viable option in this example as the shared data bus is only so wide presenting a bottleneck to higher performance required for more robust systems . fig2 is a block diagram illustrating a multi - processor flash storage device 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention . flash storage device 200 is a solid - state data storage system using a distributed architecture and dedicated bus structures . device 200 includes a host interface controller 204 in this example that provides an interface to a system host such as a powerful workstation or an enterprise server application . in one embodiment storage device 200 may be a shared device accessible from more than one computing station or server . also in one embodiment device 200 may be part of an aggregation of multiple similar devices to form a server data storage rack or array of disks as in a raid array or in a storage area network ( san ). flash storage device 200 may be adapted for use with a small computer system interface ( scsi ) bus , parallel advanced technology attachment ( pata ) or serial advanced technology attachment ( sata ) protocols , integrated drive electronics / advanced technology attachment ( ide / ata ) interface , an enhanced small device interface ( esdi ), a serial advanced technology attachment , ( sata ), or a parallel advanced technology attachment ( pata ) interface or a peripheral component interface ( pci ). disk 200 may also be adapted to work with enterprise fibre channel data storage networks and serial attached scsi ( sas ) networks . in this particular embodiment , disk 200 may be thought of as a solid - state mass storage device using the appropriate form factors and interfaces . flash storage device 200 includes a distributed processor architecture comprising multiple microprocessor units 202 ( 1 - n ). each microprocessor unit 202 ( 1 - n ) includes a microprocessor and an onboard or bused access to a dedicated amount of ram . the dedicated ram is used by the microprocessor in each unit for caching and other data management functions . microprocessor units 202 ( 1 - n ) are intended to be low cost dedicated processors that function independently of one another . each microprocessor has a dedicated bus to one of a plurality of flash configurations 201 ( 1 - n ). the illustration of separate ram / fmd in each processor unit 202 ( 1 - n ) is not meant to indicate that there are completely separate and autonomous ram units , but simply that each microprocessor unit has a dedicated portion of ram . as described above , the dedicated portions might be all a part of a single ram array . moreover , ram portions may be provided on flash configurations where the configuration is a removable module containing one or more flash devices and the dedicated ram . in that case , access to ram would be over a dedicated bus . a flash configuration is defined as one or more flash memory devices configured to be accessible through a dedicated bus . a flash channel is defined for the purpose of discussion as a bus connection from a processor , for example , to one or more flash chips or devices illustrated logically herein , defined as a flash device configuration or simply flash device . therefore , a plurality of dedicated internal bus structures 205 ( 1 - n ) is provided to complete the architecture . flash configurations 201 ( 1 - n ) may also be referred to as flash channels throughout this specification . microprocessor unit 202 ( 1 ) is coupled to flash configuration 1 ( flash device ) by dedicated bus 1 . microprocessor unit 202 ( 2 ) is coupled to flash configuration 2 by dedicated bus 2 , and so on for the number of processor units ( n ) on device 200 . the ratio of flash configuration to processor is one - to - one over a single bus in this example . however , this is not a strict requirement for practice of the present invention as will be detailed further below . each microprocessor unit 202 ( 1 - n ) has a dedicated bus connection to a unique dataflow controller 203 . dataflow controller 203 manages the data traffic over all of the flash channels through each of the microprocessor units . each microprocessor unit 202 ( 1 - n ) has a base address and is responsible for a single flash channel of multiple channels 201 ( 1 - n ). the microprocessor units are completely independent and do not communicate with one another in the architecture in this particular embodiment . in other embodiments , the microprocessors distributed over the architecture may be bused for communication with each other and may share data and tasks . dataflow controller 203 communicates with host interface controller 204 by way of a bus illustrated herein as a bus 206 . the host system may view flash storage device 200 as a single drive or disk or according to any particular partitioning that may be implemented such as primary storage space and backup storage space . dataflow controller 203 determines which flash channel to use , that is , which microprocessor unit to use , according to information received in a request and according to a flash management system implemented in ram in each of the microprocessor units 202 ( 1 - n ). ram at each processor unit 202 ( 1 - n ) includes flash management data tables ( fmd ) tracking the local block addresses ( lbas ) and state for the flash memory connected to the channel to which the processor unit controls access . the actual flash memory devices may be phase change memory or nand flash or any other variant of flash memory or persistent memory . such devices may be flash chips connected in parallel or daisy chained , and that are accessible as a configuration through a single dedicated bus . the invention may leverage existing flash memory types and newer flash memory types being developed . the type of ram used at each processor may also vary . available ram types include sdram , mram , fram , and nram . in one embodiment flash memory may instead be a non - volatile ram that is suitable for use as a persistent storage space . dataflow controller 203 may be a state machine implemented in software or firmware . also , dataflow controller 203 may be implemented as processor - controlled hardware . integration between host interface controller 204 and dataflow controller 203 is also plausible and may be practiced without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . application as a data storage device for a larger enterprise - scale system like a server - based system is among the many adaptation possibilities for data storage device 200 . the simple one - to - one correlation between microprocessors and flash channels in this example is exemplary only as other ratios between processor and flash memory may be observed in the architecture . some of these variations are explained more fully later in this specification . there are several optimization techniques that may implemented relative to flash memory management in terms of reads , writes , erasures , and wear leveling . one case for using ram has a cache memory for parking flash data for eventual write to flash , and uses both ram address and flash address tables in fmd , as is the case for the co - pending application referenced in the cross - reference section of this application . in one embodiment dataflow controller 203 selects a processor unit 202 ( 1 - n ) in sequential order for performing data access . in this scheme a first request will be filled by processor 202 ( 1 ), a next request by processor 202 ( 2 ) and so on . by the time the selection process loops back to the first processor , it is most likely free again ( free of ongoing data access tasks ). a goal is to have maximum throughput of data while not over utilizing or under utilizing any processing resource . in one embodiment a random selection approach for processors is used . in this approach dataflow controller 203 may select a processor for completing a write from the host based on a random assignment of addresses . in one embodiment wear leveling is practiced in conjunction with all of the flash channels by ensuring that data is evenly distributed over the collective flash memory space . dataflow controller 203 is asynchronous and may simultaneously communicate with all microprocessor units 202 ( 1 - n ). address and state tables ( not illustrated ) are provided to the dataflow controller by each of processor units 202 ( 1 - n ). in this way the dataflow controller may manage where writes occur transparently from the host . the host may view the compilation of flash devices as a single disk according to a file system - based view used by the operating system of the host . a more primitive view or block view of the flash memory space may also be ordered . it is noted herein that storage device 200 may be one of multiple devices comprising a mass storage system accessible from one or more machines . fig3 is a block diagram illustrating a distributed multi - processor flash storage device according to another embodiment of the present invention . flash storage device 300 is illustrated in this embodiment and is implemented using a distributed architecture including multiple processor units illustrated herein as microprocessor units 304 ( 1 - n ). microprocessor units 304 ( 1 - n ) each have onboard or dedicated ram for processing data management functions and for caching data before writing to flash operations . a flash channel is defined as one or more flash devices ( in configuration ) connected by a dedicated bus to a processor unit as described above . each of flash devices 306 ( 1 - n ) represent one or more flash memory devices bused to a processor unit by a dedicated bus , in this example . flash device 1 and flash device 2 of devices 306 ( 1 - n ) in this embodiment share microprocessor unit 304 ( 1 ). microprocessor unit 304 ( 1 ) is bused by a dedicated bus 305 ( 1 ) to flash device ( s ) 306 ( 1 ) to form one complete flash channel . the same microprocessor unit is bused by a dedicated bus 305 ( 2 ) to flash device ( s ) 306 ( 2 ). the same configuration is repeated on the device where one microprocessor unit is responsible for two flash channels , for example , microprocessor unit 304 ( n ) is bused by dedicated bus 305 ( m ) to flash device ( s ) 306 ( m ) and by dedicated bus 305 ( n ) to flash device ( s ) 306 ( n ). in another embodiment one microprocessor unit may handle four or eight flash channels , or other numbers of flash channels . there are many possibilities . in this case ram is shared for caching writes to both flash device configurations ( flash 1 , flash 2 ). in this embodiment ram is not dedicated to a single flash channel but is dedicated to a single microprocessor unit and is shared by two flash channels . while this may introduce some contention for ram between the flash channels , the fact that the channel pair earmarked by sharing one microprocessor unit is duplicated over entire device 300 makes any performance degradation negligible when compared to the performance of a single processor unit managing multiple flash channels over a common bus . each microprocessor unit 304 ( 1 - n ) has a single bus connection to a data flow controller 303 integrated with a host interface controller 302 . in this example dataflow controller 303 is onboard the host interface controller . dedicated data buses 305 ( 1 - n ) may be 32 - bit , 64 - bit , or 128 - bit wide buses , or some other bus configuration . the same can be said for all dedicated internal ( onboard ) buses described in the various architectures present . single bus connection bus ( 1 ) from microprocessor unit 304 ( 1 ) to dataflow controller 303 may be a 32 - bit , 64 - bit , or 128 - bit wide bus , or some other . it is possible that bus ( 1 ) may be configured to be twice as fast as buses 305 ( 1 - n ) to allow for possible bottle - necking of data traffic on the host - side of the device 300 . other optimizations may be practiced such as ram caching before write where the actual writes to flash over the dedicated buses 305 ( 1 - n ) are kept to a minimum number as much as is practical . bus ( 1 ) that connects microprocessor 304 ( 1 ) to dataflow controller 303 for communication may be a duel independent bus ( dib ) or some other bus architecture that is optimized for speed . microprocessor unit 304 ( n ) is bused to dataflow controller 303 by a dedicated bus n . dataflow controller 303 includes an onboard processor 307 with a dedicated ram with dataflow controller tables for use in microprocessor communication . dataflow controller 303 is hosted on or integrated with host interface controller 302 . it is not specifically required that dataflow controller 303 be controlled by an onboard processor to practice the present invention . the dataflow controller may be a state machine running in firmware on the host controller interface . the dataflow controller may also be controlled by a processor residing in a host system or in a system adapter without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . in this example , each multiprocessor unit manages data access to two independent flash memory configurations . the flash configuration pairs in this example do not have to be sequential such as flash 1 and flash 2 . microprocessor unit 304 ( n ) controls access to flash m and flash n , which may not be co - located on the flash storage device . fig4 is a block diagram illustrating a multi - processor flash storage device according to a further embodiment of the present invention . a flash storage device 400 is illustrated in this example and comprises a distributed microprocessor architecture in which two microprocessor units are provided to share a single flash configuration . each of multiple microprocessor units 404 ( 1 - 4 ) in this embodiment have dedicated ram for managing flash access . in this example there are two flash configurations 406 ( 1 - 2 ). flash configuration or device 406 ( 1 ) has a dedicated bus to a bridge controller logically illustrated herein . on the processor side of the bridge , two dedicated bus lines 407 ( 1 - 2 ) connect to microprocessor units 404 ( 1 ) and 404 ( 2 ) respectively . in this example , there are possibilities for managing flash memory somewhat differently than has so far been described . microprocessor units 404 ( 3 ) and 404 ( 4 ) are provided to jointly manage flash configuration 406 ( 2 ). bus lines 407 ( 3 ) and 407 ( 4 ) complete the connection to a bridge that supports the single dedicated bus to flash configuration 406 ( 2 ). moreover , each processor unit pair [ microprocessor units 404 ( 1 and 2 ); microprocessor unit pair 404 ( 3 and 4 )] is bused to a bridge on the side of a dataflow controller 403 . a single bus from each bridge connects the processor units as selectable pairs to the dataflow controller . the dataflow controller recognizes each microprocessor unit pair as an entity that controls access to the total flash space of a single flash device configuration like device 406 ( 1 ). in one embodiment the microprocessor unit pair of identical components is assigned a specific partition of the total flash space for each component . for example , microprocessor unit 404 ( 1 ) may be assigned to a flash partition in flash configuration 406 ( 1 ) reserved for routine data storage and access . microprocessor unit 404 ( 2 ) may be assigned to the rest of the flash space reserved for data backup and recovery . in another embodiment flash configuration 406 ( 1 ) may not be partitioned . microprocessor unit 404 ( 1 ) might be provided to read and write data only , and microprocessor unit 404 ( 2 ) might be provided to perform other ram - based functions like ecc , on device data encryption , updates to tables , wear leveling , and other functions . in one embodiment each microprocessor unit in a pair that controls one flash device configuration is shadowed with the event activity of the other processor unit so each processor unit knows what the other processor unit is doing . in this way , work may be divided logically between the two processor units , although they may not directly communicate with one another . in this example dataflow controller 403 includes an onboard microprocessor 401 with dedicated ram and data flow controller tables as needed for selecting processor unit pairs . the data flow controller is built into or integrated with a host controller interface 402 as described further above with reference to fig3 . in this case a single internal bus 1 connects the controller to processor unit pair 404 ( 1 - 2 ), and a single internal bus 2 connects the controller to processor unit pair 404 ( 3 - 4 ). one with skill in the art of device engineering will appreciate that there may be many more microprocessor units and flash configuration channels included on flash storage device 400 than are illustrated . there may be more than two microprocessor units dedicated to a single bused flash configuration without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . in one embodiment microprocessors are hardwired to provide certain processing capabilities relative to flash management and each microprocessor unit in a pair or grouping assumes a specific processing role in the management of the flash device configuration . in another embodiment the microprocessor units in a pair may be programmed from a remote interface and set up to perform specific processing roles . regardless of the underlying assignments , the host system may view the total space of all of the flash configurations as one storage device . likewise multiple storage devices grouped together as a rack or array of storage disks may be viewed by the host as one mass storage device . flash management data ( fmd ) may be loaded into ram at each microprocessor unit at boot and may include flash local block addresses ( lbas ) and other state data relevant to flash use . ram address tables may also be loaded into ram from flash at each microprocessor in an embodiment where ram caching is used to minimize writes to flash during operation of the storage device . dataflow controller 402 may include a microprocessor with its own ram for managing data operations at the level of the controller such as selecting flash channels for read and write based on requests from the host . all of the appropriate address and state tables may be uploaded to the dataflow controller from each active microprocessor at boot . fig5 is a process flow chart illustrating steps for storing data in a multi - processor flash device according to an embodiment of the present invention . at step 501 an incoming write request from a host system arrives at the host interface controller to write data to a storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention . at step 502 the host interface controller formats the request for the dataflow controller responsible for selecting which flash channel to queue the request for and hands off the request to the dataflow controller . at step 503 , the dataflow controller performs an internal address lookup to determine where the write will occur . at step 504 the dataflow controller accesses the correct microprocessor unit or units and flash channel for writing the data . at step 505 the system determines if ram caching for flash writes is turned on . this may be provided as a programmable mode on the flash storage device that may be switched on or off . if the system determines that ram caching is activated at step 505 , then the microprocessor unit charged with performing the write writes the data into ram on the processor at step 507 . the ram on the microprocessor unit is reserved at least in part for the purpose of ram caching if the mode is active . at step 509 the microprocessor unit updates ram and flash tables to record the write and reserve the flash lba to receive the write , although no data was actually written to flash . steps 501 - 505 , 507 , and 509 are repeated for each write request received from the host controller . the write cycles may continue uninterrupted in this fashion relative to each flash channel involving some or all of the onboard microprocessor units . if there is an interruption of power to the flash storage device at step 510 , then all writes to flash that are valid are written to the appropriate flash device configurations by the assigned microprocessor units across the board at step 506 . a power interrupt might be an intentional event like system shutdown or re - boot . a power interruption may also be an unplanned event such as an inadvertent loss of power . a time period may be provided or configured for the system to “ stay alive ” while it is moving data from ram and writing it to flash . some ram types retain data without power for a period of time before losing the data . battery backup may be provided to ensure enough time for the cycle to complete . in one aspect where ram caching mode is active , one or more of the microprocessor units on the flash storage device may inadvertently lose power or fail due to some onboard error or problem . all of the writes cached in ram at the failing microprocessor unit are , in such an event , automatically written to flash at step 506 for that flash channel . one exception to this rule may be where one flash channel is a designated backup or mirror channel to the failing flash channel . if at step 510 there is no power interrupt , then the system may make a determination at step 511 if there are any full ram caches on any of the microprocessor units on the flash storage device . this determination is ongoing as dedicated ram on one microprocessor unit may enter a full state at any time relative to other microprocessor unit ram caches for other flash channels . therefore , this decision may be local to each microprocessor unit and flash writes may occur at step 506 if the ram cache is full for that processor unit . as data is overwritten or aged out of validity ram cache may be purged and periodic writes to flash may occur on a microprocessor unit to free up the cache . with ram caching mode active and the system determination that no power interrupt is evident at step 510 and no full cache for a particular microprocessor unit selected for write at step 504 is eminent then at step 512 the system may determine by rule that a particular write is optimally written to flash and not cached in ram at step 512 . in this event certain data or data types may be marked or flagged by rule for optimal flash write overriding ram caching for that particular write operation . in the event of a write to flash at step 506 , the flash table is updated at step 508 along with the appropriate ram table if applicable . at step 512 the process ends for that write request . if none of the conditions of steps 510 - 512 are true in ram caching mode then the process ends for that write at step 512 and the data stays in ram until it is purged from ram or eventually written to flash when one or more of the conditional states change . if at step 505 ram caching mode is not active , or no ram caching mode is provided , then at step 506 the microprocessor unit writes the data to flash . the flash table for that flash configuration device is updated at step 508 and the process ends for that writes at step 512 . in one aspect of the present invention ram caching , if provided , can be selectively turned on or off for each flash channel configured on the flash storage device . optimal writes may be reserved for one or more flash channels and ram caching may be reserved for one or more other flash channels . there are many possibilities . fig6 is a process flow chart illustrating steps 600 for reading from a multi - processor flash device according to an embodiment of the present invention . at step 601 a read request arrives at the host interface controller from the system host . at step 602 , the request is formatted for the dataflow controller and handed off to the controller for further processing . at step 603 the system performs an address lookup to determine the correct microprocessor and flash channel . at step 604 , the dataflow controller accesses the correct microprocessor and flash channel based on the lookup at step 603 . at step 605 , the system determines if a ram caching mode is active on the flash channel . if at step 605 ram caching is active then at step 607 the microprocessor performs an address lookup in ram by default . at step 608 it is determined if the read address is currently valid in ram . if at step 608 it is determined that the data subject to the read request is stored in ram cache , then the microprocessor accesses ram and reads from ram at step 610 . the microprocessor returns the read data to the data flow controller at step 611 . in turn , the dataflow controller returns the read data to the host at step 612 . the data flow controller may perform one or more operations on the data before handing the data to the host . in one embodiment , the data flow controller may combine the read data with read data from other channels before sending data to the host depending upon any read optimization scheme that might be implemented on the data flow controller . at step 612 the process ends for reading from ram . with ram caching active at step 608 , if the valid data address is not found in ram then the system assumes the data is in flash . at step 609 , the appropriate microprocessor unit accesses the flash channel and the data is read from flash . steps 611 , 612 , and 613 follow in the same fashion as a read from ram . referring now back to step 605 , if ram caching is turned off or not provided , then steps 607 , 608 , and 610 are not performed . in this case at step 606 the correct microprocessor performs an address lookup for flash . the process then proceeds to step 609 where the appropriate microprocessor unit reads from flash . at step 611 the system returns the read data to the data flow controller . at step 612 the data flow controller sends the read data to the host . the process ends for that cycle at step 613 . although reading from flash does not wear down the flash memory and can be performed at speeds approaching ram access speeds , reading from ram with ram caching turned on may help diminish traffic on the dedicated buses between the microprocessors and the flash configuration devices . each flash channel reports its own state in tables to the dataflow controller . each update performed by a microprocessor unit is copied to the dataflow controller . address lookups can , in one embodiment , be performed at the level of the dataflow controller using internal updated tables freeing up the microprocessor units for read / write operations and other data management operations . one with skill in the art of data storage devices , particularly those for more robust systems , will appreciate the flexibility that the distributed microprocessor and flash channel architecture according to embodiments of the present invention provides for a flash storage device . one with skill in the art will also appreciate that multiple lower cost microprocessor units running asynchronously over flash channels on a flash storage device such as those described herein can perform the tasks of a single , more complex processor with more reliability and comparable or superior performance speed due to ram caching optimization and dedicated busing to the separate flash memories of the device . it will further be apparent to one with skill in the art that the flash storage and data management system according to various embodiments of the present invention may be provided using some or all of the described features and components without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . in one embodiment , for example , a system according to the invention could be implemented using the host cpus for some or all of the dataflow controller functions and / or flash management . it will also be apparent to the skilled artisan that the embodiments described above are specific examples of a broader invention which may have greater scope than any of the singular descriptions taught . there may be many alterations made in the descriptions without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . | 6 |
fig1 shows a current mirror circuit that utilizes the translinear principle . in this circuit , the input current i in flows through transistor q 1 and develops a base - emitter voltage ( v be1 ) given by v b e1 = v t ln ( i i n i s1 ) where v t is the thermal voltage and i s1 is the saturation current of transistor q 1 . the base - emitter voltage of transistor q 1 is impressed upon or “ mirrored ” to the base - emitter junction of transistor q 2 , producing an output current i out equal to : i o u t = i s2 exp ( v b e2 v t ) where the current densities ( j ) of the transistors are j q1 = i i n a e ( q1 ) a n d j q2 = i o u t a e ( q2 ) , with the emitter area ( a e ) of each transistor proportional to the saturation current ( i s ). fig2 shows a current gain cell that also utilizes the translinear principle . in this circuit , the input currents i in + and i in − develop the following diode voltages : v d1 = v t ln ( i i n + i s ) v d2 = v t ln ( i i n - i s ) in one embodiment , diodes d 1 and d 2 are formed using “ matched ” transistors — devices having identical dimensions and thus equal saturation currents — with their bases and collectors connected . the associated difference voltage δv d is expressed as : δ v d = v d1 - v d2 = v t ln ( i i n + i i n - ) the circuit structure of the current gain cell mirrors this difference voltage to the inside differential pair consisting of matched transistors q 3 and q 4 , thereby generating output currents that are related as follows : i q3 i q4 = exp ( δ v b e v t ) where δv be is equal to δv d . substituting the expression for δv d into the above equation gives a current gain relationship expressed as : i q3 i q4 = i i n + i i n - which can be expressed in translinear form as j d1 j q3 = j d2 j q4 . diode currents i d1 and i d2 sum into bias current i d . from this it follows that : i d1 = i d 1 + exp ( - δ v d v t ) i d2 = i d 1 + exp ( δ v d v t ) similarly , transistor currents i q3 and i q4 sum into bias current i g , so that : i q3 = i g 1 + exp ( - δ v b e v t ) i q4 = i g 1 + exp ( δ v b e v t ) noting that δv be is equal to δv d , the following important input - output relationship results : i q3 = i i n + ( i g i d ) i q4 = i i n - ( i g i d ) that clearly show that the bias current i g controls the gain of the current amplifier . fig3 shows a detailed schematic diagram of one embodiment of a translinear variable gain amplifier ( vga ) in accordance with the present invention . the current gain cell requires linear input currents , i in + and i in − , to operate properly . these currents are formed in the vga of fig3 . transistors q 5 and q 6 form emitter - follower amplifiers that buffer and transfer the input voltages , v in + and v in − , to resistors r 1 and r 2 . the resistors convert the input voltages to linear currents that feed the current gain cell . thus , the transistors q 5 , q 6 and resistors r 1 and r 2 form a buffer circuit that receives differential input voltages and produces differential input currents for input to the gain cell . the differential input voltage δv in develops the following voltage drops : δv in = v in + − v in − =( v be5 − v be6 )+ r ( i d1 − i d2 )+( v d1 − v d2 ) where the value of resistors r 1 and r 2 is r . the terms ( v be5 − v be6 ) and ( v d1 − v d2 ) are designed to be comparatively small , thus the above the expression can be rewritten as : i d1 - i d2 ≈ δ v i n r furthermore ; δ i o u t = i q3 - i q4 ≈ i g i d ( δ v i n r ) where transistor currents i q3 and i q4 are i out + and i out − respectively . this is a fundamental expression for the translinear variable gain amplifier . fig4 shows transfer function curves that illustrate how the gain of the translinear vga is set by the adjustable bias current i g . the linear input range of the translinear variable gain amplifier ( vga ) is set by the adjustable bias current i d along with resistors r 1 and r 2 . the linear input range is effectively limited to a maximum value of v in ( max ) = i d r as illustrated in the transfer function curves of fig5 . fig6 a - b illustrate the effective linearity of the translinear vga . the gain of the translinear vga is defined in terms of the transconductance parameter g m , defined as g m = ∂ i o u t ∂ v i n . it &# 39 ; s fairly constant near v in = 0 , but falls off as v in approaches v in ( max ) . this illustrates the actual linearity of the translinear vga , since gm is ideally constant and flat . fig7 shows a detailed schematic of another embodiment of the translinear variable gain amplifier in accordance with the present invention . in many applications , a wide range of gain control is needed — wider than the range available from a single vga stage . for these applications , multiple vga stages like the one shown in fig7 can be used . the circuit of fig7 is an extension of the translinear vga of fig3 and easily interfaces to additional similar stages . the amplifier structure converts the output currents to a differential voltage ( v out + , v out − ) that can be directly connected to the next stage , enabling broadband operation from dc to ghz frequencies . thus , the translinear vga provides gain and linearity control , allowing optimum performance at minimum power consumption . the vga is ideally suited for rf transmitters . its power consumption tracks the rf output power level , which is set by a control signal . in one embodiment , a vga constructed in accordance with the present invention is included in an rf transmitter circuit of a radio communication device . because of its low power consumption , the vga is ideally suited for use in portable radio communication devices , such as cell phones , pdas , portable computers , and other handheld communication devices . the embodiments described herein are illustrative of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the particular embodiments described . accordingly , while one or more embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described , it will be appreciated that various changes can be made to the embodiments without departing from their spirit or essential characteristics . therefore , the disclosures and descriptions herein are intended to be illustrative , but not limiting , of the scope of the invention , which is set forth in the following claims . | 7 |
all the figures are schematic illustrations from above the head of a user or observer of each device . the left side of the observer is the left side in each figure . in all the figures , identical references designate parts or elements of parts having identical or similar functions . the figures refer to a device cooperating with the left eye of an observer . a device may be symmetrically provided to cooperate with the right eye of an observer . a device according to the invention may also comprise both a device cooperating with the left eye and a device cooperating with the right eye of the observer . fig1 illustrates an optical device 101 of the prior art , based on a method using the stigmatism of two foci of a substantially elliptical dioptric surface . the device , in the order of the optical pathway , chiefly consists of : a light display 1 ; lenses 2 ; and an ocular dioptric surface 3 of substantially elliptical shape represented by a portion of ellipse defined by its major axis δ , its small axis δ ′, its centre o and its two foci f and f ′ located on the major axis δ , either side of the centre o , as a function of the eccentricity e of the ellipse . in the figures , the axes δ , δ ′ of the dioptric surface 3 are shown as dot - dashed lines and the central optical path δ ″ is shown as a dotted line . in the example illustrated in fig1 , the device 101 is designed to cooperate with the observer &# 39 ; s left eye 6 . it is arranged on the left side of the observer &# 39 ; s head 7 . in addition , the major axis δ passes symmetrically through the two eyes of the observer and it is therefore perpendicular to a median plane p of the head 7 . the light display 1 diffuses an image whose pathway is represented by a central optical path δ ″. the lenses 2 are aligned and centred on the central optical path δ ″. the central optical path δ ″ passes through one f of the foci of the dioptric surface then , after being reflected on said dioptric surface 3 , through the other focus f ′. the observer &# 39 ; s eye 6 is approximately aligned and centred on the central optical path δ ″ in the vicinity of the focus f ′. the spatial arrangements of the parts of device 101 in relation to the central optical path δ ″, on which they are aligned and centred , are inherent in the arrangement of the central optical path δ ″, which necessarily passes through the foci f and f ′. it is also ascertained that to observe this arrangement logic , the ocular dioptric surface 3 does not follow the periphery of the observer &# 39 ; s head at the height of the eye as does a conventional pair of spectacles . therefore the centre o of the dioptric surface is located largely outside , on the left of the left eye 6 . in addition the part 1 , 2 of the device upstream of the focus f moves significantly away from the left side of the observer &# 39 ; s head 7 over the distance between the focus f and the display 1 . this positioning of the device 101 in relation to the observer &# 39 ; s head 7 makes the device laterally bulky and of scarcely pleasing design . the device 102 illustrated in fig2 has more reduced lateral bulk than the device in fig1 . to reduce this bulkiness a side fold mirror 4 is arranged on the central optical path δ ″ in the vicinity of the focus f so that it is possible upstream of the mirror 4 to fold or direct the central optical path δ ″ substantially parallel to the median plane p and perpendicular to the major axis δ . therefore the device 102 in the order of the optical pathway is formed of : a light display 1 ; two groups of lenses 2 ; a side fold mirror 4 of planar , concave or convex shape ; and an ocular dioptric surface 3 of substantially elliptical shape represented by a portion of ellipse e defined by its major axis δ , its small axis δ ′, its centre o and its two foci f and f ′ located on the major axis δ either side of the centre o , as a function of the eccentricity e of the ellipse . the light display 1 diffuses an image whose pathway is represented by a central optical path δ ″. the lenses 2 are aligned and centred on the central optical path δ ″. the side fold mirror 4 is arranged in the vicinity of the focus f so that it reflects the central optical path δ ″ at a chosen angle in the direction of the ocular dioptric surface 3 , so that the central optical path is then reflected in the direction of the observer &# 39 ; s eye , substantially perpendicular to the major axis δ . the observer &# 39 ; s eye 6 is approximately aligned and centred on the central optical path δ ″ in the vicinity of the focus f ′. in this configuration the bulkiness is significantly reduced since the central optical path δ ″ is folded back along the side of the observer &# 39 ; s head 7 . it is to be noted that the side fold mirror 4 in the example in fig2 is positioned in the immediate vicinity of the focus f on which it can be directed . the positioning thereof , so close to the focus f , is made necessary by the fact that it can offer a surface of minimum reflection . however the side fold mirror 4 can be arranged elsewhere on the central optical central path δ ″ downstream or upstream of the focus f according to the needs of the optical design . a description will now be given with reference to fig3 and 4 of two embodiments of a device according to the invention , in how they differ from the previously illustrated prior art . fig3 is an illustration of a first embodiment of a device according to the invention . the device 103 in fig3 , in the order of the optical pathway , is formed of : a light display 1 ; two groups of lenses 2 ; a side fold mirror 4 ; a back - inverting mirror 5 ; and an ocular dioptric surface 3 of substantially elliptical shape . the light display 1 diffuses an image whose pathway is represented by a central optical path δ ″. the lenses 2 are aligned and centred on the central optical path δ ″. the side fold mirror 4 is arranged laterally in the vicinity of the observer &# 39 ; s eye 6 , in front of the observer &# 39 ; s temple , and it reflects the central optical path δ ″ at a chosen angle in the direction of the back - inverting mirror 5 . the back - inverting mirror 5 is arranged in the region of the upper part of the observer &# 39 ; s nose 10 on the right of and at the height of the left eye 6 and again reflects the central optical path δ ″ towards the ocular dioptric surface 3 . the mirrors are arranged such that the central optical path is then reflected by the dioptric surface in the direction of the observer &# 39 ; s eye 6 substantially perpendicular to the major axis δ . the observer &# 39 ; s eye 6 i . e . the centre of the pupil of the eye is approximately aligned and centred on the central optical path δ ″ in the vicinity of the focus f ′. according to the new optical scheme of the invention , the foci f and f ′ are inverted relative to the observer &# 39 ; s head . the back - inverting mirror 5 located in the vicinity of the focus f allows the virtual placing of that part of the central optical path δ ″ that is incident on the dioptric surface , and the focus f , in the observer &# 39 ; s head . that is to say that the display 1 is virtually placed inside the head 7 . yet in reality the central optical path δ ″ originates from the side of the observer &# 39 ; s head where the central optical path δ ″ was first folded or re - directed by the side fold mirror 4 . the side fold mirror 4 may now be located more distant from the focus f . the focus f is now directly related to the back - inverting mirror 5 . this gives the side fold mirror a much wider range of positioning , and hence of adjustment , the ocular dioptric surface 3 is now better adjusted to the morphological profile , curve , of the observer &# 39 ; s head in the vicinity of the eye , since the outer profile of the said ocular dioptric surface 3 tends to draw close to the side of the observer &# 39 ; s head 7 . the back - inverting mirror 5 is arranged in the vicinity of the upper part of the observer &# 39 ; s nose 10 on the pathway of the central optic path δ ″ between the side fold mirror and the ocular dioptric surface 3 . therefore the back - inverting mirror 5 can be arranged in an area hidden from the view of the observer , called a “ blind spot ”. the side fold mirror 4 is oriented angularly so that the central optic path δ ″ of the image is returned or reflected back towards the back - inverting mirror 5 and so that the back - inverting mirror 5 is oriented such that the central optic path δ ″ of the image is then returned or reflected towards the ocular dioptric surface 3 , the dioptric surface 3 being oriented so that the central optic path δ ″ of the image is then returned or reflected towards the observer &# 39 ; s eye 6 . in the embodiment in fig4 , the device 104 according to the invention is formed of : a light display 1 ; lenses 2 ; a side fold mirror 4 ; two decentring mirrors 8 and 9 arranged upstream of the fold mirror 4 , so that the they successively reflect the central optic path δ ″; a back - inverting mirror 5 of planar , convex or concave or aspherical shape ; an ocular dioptric surface 3 of substantially elliptical shape . the light display 1 diffuses an image whose pathway is illustrated by a central optic path δ ″. the lenses 2 are aligned and centred on the central optic path δ ″. the central optic path is then reflected towards the right by the first decentring mirror 8 in the direction of the second decentring mirror 9 which is arranged in the vicinity of the observer &# 39 ; s temple . the second decentring mirror 9 then reflects the central path substantially forwardly in the direction of the side fold mirror 4 , which then reflects the same towards the right in the direction of the back - inverting mirror 5 . the back - inverting mirror 5 is arranged substantially against the upper left part of the observer &# 39 ; s nose 10 substantially at the height of the eye 6 . the central optic path δ ″ is then reflected thereat in the direction of the dioptric surface 3 which reflects it back towards the observer &# 39 ; s eye 6 . the observer &# 39 ; s eye 6 is approximately aligned and centred on the central optical path δ ″ in the region of the focus f ′. the device 104 in fig4 differs from the device 103 described with reference to fig3 in that it comprises a set of decentring mirrors 8 and 9 . the use of the set of decentring mirrors 8 , 9 has the following advantages : it allows correction of the adjustment of the angle reflection of the optical path δ ″ on the side mirror 4 , to offset positioning of the said side fold mirror 4 when it is brought as close as possible to the observer &# 39 ; s temple or eye , or as close as possible to the ocular dioptric surface 3 , so that it can optionally be integrated therein , for this purpose , it allows a device to be produced that is better adapted to the observer &# 39 ; s morphology since the pathway of the path δ ″ is close to the curve of the observer &# 39 ; s head . in addition , to make the device 103 in fig3 or the device 104 in fig4 more compact , the side fold mirror 4 can be made in a single piece with the ocular dioptric surface 3 . therefore the side fold mirror 4 can be an integral part of the outer end i . e . in the illustrated example of the left end of the ocular dioptric surface 3 . for example , each of the side fold , reflective , back - inverting and / or decentring mirrors may be planar , concave or convex or substantially aspherical in a manner making it possible to improve the overall quality of the optical system . preferably a device of the invention comprises adjustment means , in particular sets of mirror and an ocular dioptric surface capable of adapting the configuration of the device , in particular the optic path , to the observer &# 39 ; s morphology . | 6 |
the present invention relates to an improved process for the preparation of l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline from d , l - diastereomer salt mixture with (+) tartaric acid , i . e ., d - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline . (+) tartaric acid salt and l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline (+) tartaric acid salt , selectively crystallizing out the l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline . (+) tartaric acid salt , racemizing the d - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline . (+) tartaric acid salt remaining in the mother liquor by heat treatment selectively crystallizing out the additional l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline . (+) tartaric acid salt thus formed and then decomposing the diastereomer to yield the desired l - proline . the product of the process , l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline , is a patent collagenase inhibitor . it is also useful as a means of efficiently introducing deuterium or tritium labels into peptides by substituting for proline in such peptides and serving as substrate for catalytic deuteration or tritiation . see u . s . patent application ser . no . 676 , 969 , filed apr . 14 , 1976 now u . s . pat . no . 4 , 041 , 023 for further details in this regard . the first step of the present process involves the reaction of d , l - dehydroproline with an equimolar amount of (+) tartaric acid in water as sole solvent . it is preferable to utilize a concentrated solution of the reactants i . e ., above 2 moles / liter and preferably about 5 moles / liter . at such concentrations it is necessary to heat the reaction medium to about 80 ° c . to effect solubilization . upon cooling of the resulting solution l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline . (+) tartaric acid salt crystallizes out and is collected . the mother liquors from the above step is then heated at a temperature of 50 ° to 150 ° c . for 0 . 5 to 48 hours under an inert atmosphere to effectuate racemization of the d - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline . (+) tartaric acid salt contained in said mother liquor . after decolorization of the reaction medium , additional l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline . (+) tartaric acid salt crystallizes out of the medium on cooling . a suitable inert atmosphere is selected from nitrogen , argon , helium , krypton or the like . the combined crops of l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline . (+) tartaric acid salt can be recrystallized and then the salt decomposed by means well known in the art . a preferred procedure is to utilize a cation exchange resin column with pyridine acetate elution . monitoring of the elution fractions is accomplished by spotting a sample of each fraction on silica gel , spraying with ninhydrin and then developing at elevated temperature . the l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline containing fractions produce a brown - orange spot on the gel . the fractions providing a positive ninhydrin test are combined , the solvent removed and the product l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline worked up in a conventional manner . a high overall yield of l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline is obtained with excellent optical purity from d , l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline . the present invention is further illustrated by the following examples . in such examples the notation &# 34 ; e . e .&# 34 ; means the enantiomeric excess as determined by chromatographic separation of l - ala - l - δ 3 - pro and l - ala - d - δ 3 - pro on an amino acid analyzer . a 400ml beaker was charged with 56 . 6g ( 0 . 50 mol ) of d , l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline , 75 . 0g ( 0 . 50 mol ) of (+) tartaric acid ( baker ) and 110ml of water ( distilled water is used throughout these examples ). the mixture was stirred and heated at 80 ° c until all starting material was dissolved . the solution was stirred and allowed to cool to room temperature ; at 48 ° the product began to crystallize . after the mixture had been stirred for three hours at room temperature and two hours in an ice bath , it was refrigerated overnight . the precipitate was collected on a glass sinter funnel ( pre - cooled in the refrigerator ), washed well with 2 × 50 ml = 100 ml of ice cold ethanol - water 1 : 1 , 75ml of ice cold ethanol - water 2 : 1 , and 75ml of ice cold ethanol and dried at room temperature ( const . weight ) to afford 52 . 3g ( 40 %) of product as off - white crystals , mp 173 ° ( dec ); [ α ] d 25 = - 114 . 7 ° ( c = 1 , 5n hcl ); e . e . 99 . 5 % + . the washings of the above described filtration were collected in a separate suction flask and concentrated on a rotavap ( water bath 40 °; aspirator vacuum ). the residual gum ( 24g ) was taken up in 150ml of warm water and combined with the mother liquor . the brown solution was heated at reflux ( oil bath 120 °) under nitrogen for 9 hours . 20 g of charcoal ( norite sg - sv ) was added , and the mixture was heated at reflux for 20 minutes and filtered through a bed of celite which was washed with 50 ml of water . the deep yellow filtrate was concentrated on a rotavap ( water bath 45 °; aspirator vacuum ). the residual orange - brown paste ( 92g ) was dissolved in 50 ml of water at 70 ° and transferred into a beaker using an additional 12 ml of water to wash the flask . the warm solution was stirred for two hours at room temperature ( when the temperature reached 40 ° the solution was seeded ) and for two hours in an ice bath . the mixture was then refrigerated overnight . the precipitate was collected on a glass sinter funnel , washed with 2 × 25ml = 50 ml of ice cold ethanol - water 1 : 1 , 40 ml of ice cold ethanol - water 2 : 1 , and 40ml of ice cold ethanol and dried at room temperature ( const . weight ) to afford 25 . 5g ( 19 %) of product as light orange crystals , mp 173 ° ( dec ); [ α ] d 25 = - 114 . 0 ° ( c = 1 , 5n hcl ); e . e . = 99 . 5 % + . the two crops were dissolved in 100ml of water at 67 °. then 200ml of ethanol was added with stirring ( soon thereafter crystallization of the product began ). the mixture was stirred in a 20 ° water bath for one hour and was then refrigerated overnight . the precipitate was collected by filtration , washed with 120ml of ice cold ethanol and dried at room temperature ( const . weight ) to afford 71 . 5g ( 54 %) of product as off - white crystals , mp 173 ° ( dec ); [ α ] d 25 = - 115 . 0 ° ( c = 1 , 5n hcl ); e . e . = 99 . 8 % + . a second crop was obtained by concentration of the mother liquor and recrystallization from water - ethanol ( 1 : 2 ) as described above : 3 . 8g ( 3 %) of product as white crystals , mp 172 ° ( dec ); [ α ] d 25 = - 114 . 5 ° ( c = 1 , 5n hcl ). 70 . 0g ( 0 . 266 mol ) of l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline (+) tartaric acid salt ( first crop material ) was dissolved in 320ml of water at 25 ° and poured onto a 6 . 4cm ( diameter ) × 17 . 5cm ( length ) column of dowex 50w - x4 cation exchange resin , 50 - 100 mesh ( biorad ). the column was washed with a total of 1550ml of water . the product was then eluted with 2 . 4 l of 0 . 5m pyridine acetate which was collected in eight 300 - ml fractions . each fraction was spotted on silica gel , sprayed with ninhydrin and developed at elevated temperature . the fractions , 5 , 6 and 7 which contained the product showed a brown - orange spot . these three fractions were concentrated on a rotavap ( water bath 25 °, p = 1mm ) and the residue was dissolved twice in 100ml of water and concentrated under the same conditions . the crystalline , wet residue ( 41 . 7g ) was dissolved in 30ml of water . to the clear colorless solution was added with stirring over 30 minutes 240ml of ethanol ( the solution was seeded after addition of the first 60ml ). the mixture was refrigerated overnight . the precipitate was collected by filtration , washed with 50ml of ice cold ethanol and 100ml of ether and dried at room temperature / 0 . 1mm to afford 25 . 3g ( 84 %) of product as colorless needles , mp 244 ° ( dec ); [ α ] d 25 = 278 . 7 ° ( c = 1 , 5n hcl ); [ α ] d 25 = - 403 . 1 ° ( c = 1 , h 2 o ); e . e . 99 . 8 % + . the mother liquor was concentrated on a rotavap ( water bath 25 °, aspirator vacuum ) and the residue evaporated from 50ml of ethanol . the crystalline residue ( 4 . 6g ) was dissolved in 9 ml of water and 40ml of ethanol was slowly added . the mixture was seeded , stirred at room temperature for one hour and refrigerated overnight . the precipitate was collected by filtration , washed with 10ml of ice cold ethanol , and 10ml of ether and dried at room temperature / 0 . 1mm to afford an additional 2 . 7g ( 9 %) of product as colorless crystals , mp 244 ° ( dec ); [ α ] d 25 = - 278 . 8 ° ( c = 1 , 5n hcl ); [ α ] d 25 = - 404 . 3 ° ( c = 1 , h 2 o ); e . e . 99 . 8 % + . | 2 |
the present invention provides a bracket for retaining of a generally cylindrical tank 12 having an upper tank neck portion 14 . it is important that the bracket of the present invention accommodates tanks having various lengths and having various different sizes in the tank neck section 14 thereof . it is also important that the tank be capable of being firmly secured with respect to the bracket in an easy , quick and efficient manner . it is also important that the tank be easily and quickly removable from securement within the bracket for the purposes of sudden emergency uses thereof . the construction of the bracket includes a backing plate 10 which extends generally in a vertical direction and includes various apertures or brackets therealong for facilitating securing thereof with respect to surrounding environmental structure . as shown in this embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention the backing plate 10 can include side retaining panels extending vertically thereon . in particular , a first side retaining panel 20 is shown extending vertically along one lateral edge of the backing plate 10 and a second side retaining panel 22 oppositely positioned from the first side retaining panel 20 will extend vertically along the other side lateral outermost edge of the backing plate 10 to facilitate secure mounting to environmental structure . in the configuration shown in this embodiment of the present invention the retaining panels 20 and 22 include various apertures or slots therein which facilitate mounting thereof with respect to environmental structure or adjacently positioned similar brackets . a lower surrounding member 16 is attached with respect to the lower surface of the backing plate 10 and defines a lower retaining cavity 18 therein with a lower surrounding member floor surface 19 defined within the cavity . the lower surrounding member 16 is adapted to receive a tank 12 by allowing the bottom of the tank to be rested upon the lower floor surface 19 to facilitate engagement of the tank relative to the bracket . the lower surrounding member 16 will surround the portion of the tank extending vertically immediately adjacent the lower surface thereof to facilitate engagement of the tank within the tank releasing zone 80 which extends vertically parallel to and outwardly displaced slightly from the backing plate 10 . an upper surrounding member 24 is positioned attached to the backing plate 10 preferably in the upper area thereof and is spatially disposed from the lower surrounding member 16 to define the tank retaining zone 80 extending therebetween . a retaining apparatus is mounted with respect to the upper surrounding member to selectively retain the tank with respect to the bracket and the backing plate 10 . the upper surrounding member 24 will preferably define an upper retaining channel 26 which is preferably u - shaped and is adapted to receive the neck 14 of the tank 12 positioned therewith to facilitate retaining thereof . an upper retaining channel opening 108 is defined in the open end of u - shaped channel 26 most distant from backing plate 10 to facilitate moving of the neck 14 of a cylindrical tank 12 therethrough into channel 26 . damage to the tank is preferably minimized by the inclusion of an upper channel edge guard 28 made of vinyl or some other soft material . commonly the construction of the upper surrounding member 24 is metal and the construction of tank neck 14 is metal , or possibly ceramic , and therefore the inclusion of an upper channel edge guard 28 of vinyl or other soft material prevents damaging to both of these parts particularly preventing damaging to the tank neck . a first bracket cam 33 and a second bracket cam 34 are included preferably pivotally moveably mounted with respect to the upper surrounding member 24 and are positioned on opposite sides of the upper retaining channel 26 . these two bracket cams are each separately and independently pivotally movable between a closed or retaining position for holding of the tank neck 14 within the upper retaining slot 26 and a releasing position for allowing movement of the tank neck 14 into and out of the channel 26 for facilitating placement and removal , respectively , of the tank neck 14 relative to the retaining channel 26 . the pivotal movement of each of the bracket cams is facilitated by the inclusion of upper pivot pins 29 and 31 . in particular , a first upper pivot pin 29 is positionable extending through the first upper surround aperture 86 defined in the upper surrounding member 24 adjacent to one side of the upper retaining channel 26 and spatially disposed from the backing plate 10 . first upper pivot pin 29 is positioned extending through first upper surround aperture 86 and therebelow in order to provide an axis for facilitating pivotal movement of the first bracket cam 33 relative to the upper surrounding member 24 between the closed position and the opened position . first bracket cam 33 will define a first cam aperture 44 adapted to receive the first upper pivot pin 29 extending therethrough and to provide the pivotal axis for movement of the first bracket cam 33 between the closed position and the opened position . control of movement of the first bracket cam 33 with respect to the upper surrounding member 24 is enhanced by the inclusion of a first upper pivot pin enlarged washer 30 or first washer 30 . first washer 30 will receive the first upper pivot pin 29 extending therethrough and will be positioned thereon between the underside of the upper surrounding member 24 and the first bracket cam 33 . such positioning of the first washer 30 will assure that the proper spacing is maintained between the first bracket cam 33 and the upper surrounding member 24 in order to position a first cam resilient biasing means 52 therebetween . the larger or standard diameter portion of the washer will provide a first spacing member 114 to achieve this desired spacing . first cam resilient biasing means 52 is preferably a coil spring positioned surrounding the washer 30 which is connected to the upper surrounding member 24 and to the first bracket cam 33 to exert a resilient bias therebetween which urges the first bracket cam 33 to move toward the closed position . thus , the steady state position of first bracket cam 33 will be in the closed position . first bracket cam 33 will include a first cam stop 48 thereon which will come into direct abutment with the upper surrounding member 24 responsive to movement to the closed position thereof . the first cam resilient biasing means 52 will urge rotational movement of the first bracket cam 33 in the clockwise direction as viewed from above until the first cam stop 48 comes into abutting contact with the upper surrounding member 24 which thusly defines the closed position thereof . at this closed position the first bracket cam 33 will extend at least partially across the upper retaining channel 26 to a position to prevent movement of a tank neck 14 through the upper retaining channel 26 of the upper surrounding member for movement thereof into or out of the tank retaining zone 80 . pivotal movement of the first bracket cam 33 in the counter - clockwise direction will cause movement thereof to the opened position . this counter - clockwise movement is performed by overpowering of the force exerted by the first cam resilient biasing means 52 and will cause movement of the first bracket cam 33 to the opened position such that movement of the tank neck 14 through the upper retaining channel 26 of the upper surrounding member for movement thereof into or out of the tank retaining zone 80 is made possible . similarly on the opposite side of the upper retaining channel 26 , a second upper pivot pin 31 is positioned extending through a second upper surround aperture 88 defined in the upper surrounding member 24 adjacent to side of the upper retaining channel 26 opposite from the location of said first upper surround aperture 86 and spatially disposed from the backing plate 10 . second upper pivot pin 31 is positioned extending through the second upper surround aperture 88 and therebelow in order to provide an axis for facilitating pivotal movement of the second bracket cam 34 relative to the upper surrounding member 24 between the closed position and the opened position . second bracket cam 34 will define a second cam aperture 44 adapted to receive the second upper pivot pin 31 extending therethrough and to provide the pivotal axis for movement of the second bracket cam 34 between the closed position and the opened position . control of movement of the second bracket cam 34 with respect to the upper surrounding member 24 is enhanced by the inclusion of a second upper pivot pin enlarged washer 32 or first washer 32 . first washer 32 will receive the second upper pivot pin 31 extending therethrough and will be positioned thereon between the underside of the upper surrounding member 24 and the second bracket cam 34 . such positioning of the washer 32 will assure that the proper spacing is maintained between the second bracket cam 34 and the upper surrounding member 24 in order to position a second cam resilient biasing means 54 therebetween . the larger diameter portion of the washer 32 will provide the second spacing member 116 as desired between the second cam bracket and the upper surrounding member 24 . second cam resilient biasing means 54 is preferably a coil spring positioned surrounding the washer 32 which is connected to the upper surrounding member 24 and to the second bracket cam 34 to exert a resilient bias therebetween which urges the second bracket cam 34 to move toward the closed position . thus , the steady state position of second bracket cam 34 will be in the closed position . second bracket cam 34 will include a second cam stop 50 thereon which will come into direct abutment with the upper surrounding member 24 responsive to movement to the closed position thereof . the second cam resilient biasing means 54 will urge rotational movement of the second bracket cam 34 in the counter - clockwise direction as viewed from above until the second cam stop 50 comes into abutting contact with the upper surrounding member 24 which thusly defines the closed position thereof . at this closed position the second bracket cam 34 will extend at least partially across the upper retaining channel 26 to a position to prevent movement of a tank neck 14 through the upper retaining channel 26 of the upper surrounding member for movement thereof into or out of the tank retaining zone 80 . pivotal movement of the second bracket cam 34 in the clockwise direction will cause movement thereof toward the opened position . this clockwise movement is performed by overpowering of the force exerted by the second cam resilient biasing means 54 and will cause movement of the second bracket cam 34 to the opened position such that movement of a tank neck 14 through the upper retaining channel 26 of the upper surrounding member for movement thereof into or out of the tank retaining zone 80 is made possible . pivotal movement of the first and second bracket cams 33 and 34 is facilitated by the inclusion of a first cam handle 40 and a second cam handle 42 defined extending outwardly therefrom , respectively . these two cam handles 40 and 42 are spatially disposed from one another at a convenient distance , such as less than five inches apart , in order to be capable of being grasped by the fingers of one hand of a user such that when compressed together in the direction shown by arrows 82 as shown in fig5 , movement of the first and second bracket cams 33 and 34 from the closed position to the releasing position is achieved to easily allow quick release of a tank 12 from the tank retaining zone 80 . it is important to appreciate that each of the bracket cams 33 and 34 are continuously urged by the respective resilient biasing means 52 and 54 toward the closed position to facilitate engagement thereof with respect to the tank neck 14 of a tank 12 when positioned within the tank retaining zone 80 for secure retaining thereof . with this construction the first bracket cam 33 and the second bracket cam 34 will define a first cam inner abutment surface 36 and a second cam inner abutment surface 38 , respectively , which will be adapted to be brought into direct abutment with the tank neck 14 of a tank 12 which is positioned within the tank retaining zone 80 whenever the bracket cams 33 and 34 are allowed to be urged by the respective biasing means thereof 52 and 54 into the tank retaining position . first bracket cam 33 will also include a first cam protruding section 110 which is selectively extendable at least partially across the upper retaining channel opening 110 when in the closed position for securing of a tank 12 within the tank retaining zone 80 . first cam protruding section 110 is defined preferably at the corner or intersection between said first cam inner abutment surface 36 and said first cam outer abutment surface 90 . second bracket cam 34 will similarly include a second cam protruding section 112 which is selectively extendable at least partially across the upper retaining channel opening 110 when in the closed position for securing of a tank 12 within the tank retaining zone 80 . second cam protruding section 112 is defined preferably at the corner or intersection between said second cam inner abutment surface 38 and said second cam outer abutment surface 92 . thus , with this construction as defined above , when it is necessary the neck 14 of a tank 12 can easily be positioned within the upper retaining channel 26 for firm securement therewithin and also can be easily released therefrom . ease of placement of a tank 12 into the bracket is also greatly facilitated by this construction . the first bracket cam 33 will define a first cam outer abutment surface 90 positioned oriented facing outwardly therefrom . when the first bracket cam 33 is in the closed position the first cam outer abutment surface 90 will face outwardly therefrom within the upper retaining channel 26 . similarly , the second bracket cam 34 will define a second cam outer abutment surface 92 positioned oriented facing outwardly therefrom . when the second bracket cam 34 is in the closed position the second cam outer abutment surface 92 will face outwardly therefrom within the upper retaining channel 26 at a position adjacent to the first cam outer abutment surface 90 of the first bracket cam 33 . to move the tank 12 into position within the tank retaining zone 80 the lower portion of the tank 12 can be positioned within the lower retaining cavity 18 and the tank neck 14 can be pivoted into engaging abutment with respect to the first cam outer abutment surface 90 and the second cam outer abutment surface 92 simultaneously . then the exertion of force against the tank neck 14 will overpower the force of the biasing means 52 and 54 cause both the first bracket cam 33 and the second bracket cam 34 to pivot away from the closed position to the opened position thereof . then the tank neck 12 will be able to pass between the two bracket cams 33 and 34 through the upper retaining channel 26 to be retained in the tank retaining zone 80 . after the tank moved to zone 80 the first and second bracket cams 33 and 34 will quickly pivot to the closed position thereby bringing the first cam inner abutment surface 36 and the second cam inner abutment surface 38 to securing abutting contact with the tank neck 12 . the construction of the bracket of the present invention is particularly enhanced by the use of a specific construction for the washers 30 and 32 . preferably first upper pivot pin enlarged washer 30 will include a first washer reduced diameter section 94 and a first washer standard diameter section 96 . the central bore extending through washer 30 will be the same inside diameter in the first washer reduced diameter section 94 and in the first washer standard diameter section 98 such that the first upper pivot pin 29 extending therethrough will be snugly retained therein . also the sizing of the first cam aperture 44 will be chosen large enough to receive the first washer reduced diameter section 94 of washer 30 therein to facilitate control of pivotal movement of first bracket cam 33 with respect to the upper surrounding member 24 . the first washer standard diameter section 96 will be too large to fit within the first cam aperture 44 and thus will be positioned between the undersurface of the upper surrounding member 24 and the first bracket cam 33 to provide the spacing for mounting of the first coil spring 52 therearound . similarly the second upper pivot pin enlarged washer 32 will preferably include a second washer reduced diameter section 98 and a first washer standard diameter section 99 . the central bore extending through washer 34 will be the same inside diameter in the second washer reduced diameter section 98 and in the second washer standard diameter section 99 such that the second upper pivot pin 31 extending therethrough will be snugly retained therein . also the sizing of the second cam aperture 46 will be sized large enough to receive the second washer reduced diameter section 98 of washer 32 therein to facilitate control of pivotal movement of second bracket cam 34 with respect to the upper surrounding member 24 . the second washer standard diameter section 99 will be too large to fit within the second cam aperture 46 and thus will be positioned between the undersurface of the upper surrounding member 24 and the second bracket cam 34 to provide the necessary spacing for mounting of the second coil spring 52 therearound . the lower surrounding member 16 of the present invention defines the lower floor surface 19 within the lower retaining cavity 18 at a specific predetermined distance from the upper retaining channel 26 . the present invention provides a means for selectively decreasing this dimension by a small distance by the inclusion of an auxiliary lower floor member 62 which is pivotally movably mounted with respect to the lower surrounding member 16 and the backing plate 10 for usage or storage as needed . this auxiliary lower floor member 62 includes a lower auxiliary floor 61 such that when the floor member 62 is pivoted to the deployed position , as shown in fig1 , an elevated floor position will be provided to accommodate slightly shorter tanks or tanks with different profiles . the lower active position or deployed position 72 wherein the auxiliary lower floor member 62 is positioned generally horizontally is shown in fig1 . the storage or de - activated position for the lower floor member 62 is shown in fig3 wherein the auxiliary lower floor member 62 is positioned in a generally vertically extending direction extending generally parallel to the backing plate . an auxiliary floor retaining means 76 such as a detachable hook and loop means or similar detachable securement means can be provided for detachably securing the auxiliary lower floor member 62 in the stored position temporarily when not being used . the pivotal movement of the auxiliary lower floor member 62 relative to the lower surrounding member 16 will be achieved by the inclusion of a first lower pivot member 64 . and a second lower pivot member 66 positioned on opposite sides of the lower surrounding member 16 . in particular , the lower surrounding member 16 will preferably define an auxiliary floor first aperture means 68 in the one side thereof and an auxiliary floor second aperture means 70 in the opposite side thereof to receive the first lower pivot member 64 and the second lower pivot member 66 , respectively , therethrough to provide the pivoting axis for aiding in the pivotal movement of the auxiliary lower floor member 62 relative to the lower surrounding member 16 . it should be appreciated that when the lower auxiliary floor member 62 is positioned in the vertical or stored position the lower floor front edge 78 thereof will extend inwardly toward the tank retaining zone 80 and thereby may be caused to come into engagement with respect to a tank 12 positioned therewithin . as such , it is important that the profile of the lower floor front edge 78 be arcuate with a recessed center portion to facilitate clearance within the tank retaining zone 80 for positioning of a tank 12 therewithin . another important construction shown in the bracket construction of the present invention is in the inclusion of a tank resiliently flexible biasing means 56 such as a flat spring or the like positioned at an intermediate location along the backing plate 10 between the lower surrounding member 16 and the upper surround member 24 . this flexible biasing means 56 will be brought into abutment with the intermediate portion of a tank 12 positioned within the tank retaining zone 18 to urge the tank to move away from the backing plate 10 and thereby firmly secure the tank in position within the retaining zone 80 . the flexible biasing means or spring 56 will cause the tank to move such that the tank neck 14 positively and firmly engages the first cam inner abutment surface 36 and the second cam inner abutment surface 38 of the bracket cams 33 and 34 thereby firmly securing the tank and minimizing rattling or movement thereof . a horizontally extending abutting section 60 of the flexibly resilient biasing means 56 will normally be capable of being brought into position immediately adjacent to the outer surface of the tank for exerting bias thereagainst from the biasing means 56 . to protect the body of the tank a jacket means 58 of soft material such as rubber or the like can be included extending along the abutting section 60 which further facilitates urging of the tank 12 securely for retaining thereof in the tank retaining zone 80 and minimizing movement while held within the bracket . to minimize damaging of tank 12 and particularly tank neck 14 thereof the edges of the abutment surface of the first and second bracket cams 33 and 34 will have arcuate edges . in particular , first cam inner abutment surface 36 will preferably include a first cam inner arcuate edge 100 . second cam inner abutment surface 38 will preferably include a second cam inner arcuate edge 102 . similarly , the first cam outer abutment surface 90 will include a first cam outer arcuate edge 104 and second cam outer abutment surface will include a second cam outer arcuate edge 106 . each of these four arcuate edges will facilitate in minimizing damage to the neck 14 or tanks 12 while in abutment therewith . while particular embodiments of this invention have been shown in the drawings and described above , it will be apparent that many changes may be made in the form , arrangement and positioning of the various elements of the combination . in consideration thereof , it should be understood that preferred embodiments of this invention disclosed herein are intended to be illustrative only and not intended to limit the scope of the invention . | 5 |
the switch of the invention is designated generally by the reference character 10 and is described herein as it is applied for use in a vehicle alarm but it should be appreciated that it could as easily be utilized in other environments which require the control of two circuits by means of a key . the switch is mounted by suitable means on a mounting disc 12 of the type that is conventionally fastened to a junction box 14 . for example , the lock 16 may have a threaded outer shell or frame 18 which is introduced into a hole in the disc 12 and clamped in place by nut 19 . thus the body or frame is fixed to the rear face of the mounting disc 12 in any suitable manner . the lock has a cylinder , only the central core 20 of which can be seen in fig1 . the shell 18 has a face plate 22 which is provided with a central perforation that cooperates with the axial end of the core 20 to present an annular slot 24 to the exterior of the lock 16 . a pair of radially outwardly extending notches 26 and 28 are also cut in the face plate 22 connecting with the slot 24 and , in this version , spaced 90 ° apart . the core 20 also has a notch 27 . the key 30 used with this type of lock 16 can be called a barrel key since it has a cylindrical barrel 32 as its body , the axial end having recesses 34 to cooperate with the internal pins for releasing the cylinder and having an outwardly extending radial tooth 36 adapted to be aligned with the notches 26 and 28 with an interior extension adapted to align with the notch 27 . the key 30 is used by inserting it into the slot 24 with its barrel 32 aligned with the slot . the thickness of the wall forming the barrel 32 is slightly less than the width of the slot 24 so that it can freely enter and bottom on a suitable stop ( not shown ). the tooth 36 must be aligned with that one of the notches 26 or 28 which is also aligned with notch 27 in order to enable the key 30 to be inserted into the lock 16 . the sequence is relatively straightforward and is well - known with locks of this kind . assuming that the lock is arranged to receive the key 30 while the cylinder is in its clockwise - most condition , the slot will accept the key 30 only when both parts of the tooth 36 are aligned with and inserted through the notch 26 but only if notch 27 is also aligned with 26 . the key 30 can now be rotated 90 ° counterclockwise and withdrawn through the slot 24 if the tooth 36 is in perfect alignment with the notch 28 . the next time the lock is to be used , the key 30 must be inserted into the slot 24 with the tooth aligned with the notch 28 and notch 27 and rotation is only capable of being effected in a clockwise direction . this lock is used to open and close electrical circuits connected into an alarm system . at its rear , the shell 18 has a rectangular bracket 38 fixedly secured thereto having a pair of lateral arms 40 and 42 bent at an angle and arranged to be axially spaced from the bracket so that the contact fingers ( to be described ) will be properly aligned with the rotor ( to be described ). each of the lateral arms carries a pair of contact fingers insulatedly mounted thereon . the arm 40 has a block of insulating material 44 , the base 46 of the contact finger 48 , another insulating block 50 , the base 52 of the contact finger 54 , another insulating block 56 and a rectangular holder plate 58 all connected together to provide an assembly by means of rivets or grommets 60 that pass through all of the mentioned members and secure them tightly on the arm 40 . the openings for the grommets 60 which pass through the bases 46 and 52 are insulated from the grommets either by insulating washer spacers in enlarged holes or by having these holes large enough to clear the grommets . these techniques are known and the structure need not be shown . at the bottom ends of the bases 46 and 52 there are extensions 60 and 62 respectively , these being free of the assembly of blocks mounting the bases 46 and 52 and comprising soldering ears to which the wires 64 and 66 are connected . the ears are bendable to keep them spaced from one another . the wires 64 and 66 are part of a circuit to be controlled by the switch 10 . the fingers 48 and 54 are formed of some conductive metal having substantial resilience , such as phosphor bronze or other alloy of copper . they are mounted to the block assembly with their free ends 68 and 70 slightly spaced apart , their bodies being outwardly bent to provide the space 72 between them . the free ends 68 and 70 are rounded and the fingers are dished as at 74 with the concave portions resulting facing outwardly from one another . in this manner the edges of the juxtaposed fingers 48 and 54 are flared outwardly to present means for piloting the rotor into the space between the fingers . as will be seen below , the inwardly facing edge 76 of the block 50 , i . e ., that edge which opens to the space 72 comprises stop means for the movement of the rotor . the lateral bracket arm 42 mounts a pair of fingers 76 and 78 which are identical to the fingers 48 and 54 in all respects and are mounted on the same structure of blocks mounting the fingers 48 and 54 . there is no need to describe them in detail , the block assembly being designated generally 80 . the fingers 76 and 78 are connected respectively to the wires 82 and 84 in the same manner as the wires 64 and 66 , these wires comprising a part of a second electrical circuit to be controlled by the switch 10 . normal condition of the fingers 76 and 78 is also spaced apart . the rear of the cylinder of the lock 16 includes a shaft 86 which is preferably threaded and which rotates through a passageway ( not shown ) in the bracket 38 . a nut 88 secures a washer 90 to the shaft , to which is mounted a rotor 92 the mounting comprising a suitable sandwich of holder plates , insulating blocks and grommets designated generally 94 functioning to secure the rotor 92 on a lateral edge of the washer 90 but fully insulated from the washer 90 . the rotor 92 is preferably made out of two sheet metal stampings 96 and 98 of phosphor bronze or the like of irregular polygonal configuration . in the examples illustrated ( including that of fig5 ) the shape is somewhat like a square with one corner clamped in place by the block structure 94 , with the opposite corner cut off and a large central radial slot 99 extending inward from the truncated corner stopping short of the block structure 94 . this configuration provides resilient blades 100 and 102 capable of flexing substantially independently without influencing one another . the slot 99 also prevents the blades from being too stiff . as stated the rotor 92 is formed of a pair of these sheet metal stampings clamped together . each sheet metal member 96 and 98 is formed with a substantial bend 97 extending between the corners opposite the ones previously mentioned as a result of which the rotor 92 has a rather substantial thickness greater than the space between the contact fingers such as 48 and 54 . this is true notwithstanding the fact that the sheet metal from which the members 96 and 98 are formed may be extremely thin . the bends 97 are convexly outward relative one another . when the rotor 92 engages between a pair of contact fingers 48 , 54 or 76 , 78 it forces the fingers apart , scrapes or wipes against the fingers and gives rise to substantial mechanical contact pressure as a result of which an unusually good electrical contact is made . it has been found through testing that the current handling capacity of such a contact arrangement is several times greater than the simple contact between two single members biased against one another . in operation , assuming that the blade 100 is at the position shown in fig3 the fingers 76 and 78 are spaced apart and the circuit represented by the wires 82 and 84 is open . the blade 102 is free . the blade 100 is forced between the fingers 48 and 54 ; hence the fingers are electrically bridged and the circuit represented by the wires 64 and 66 is closed . if the key 30 is inserted into the lock 16 and turned through 90 ° the blade 100 will leave the position between the fingers 48 and 54 , pass through the circumferential space between the separate pairs of fingers at which point the both circuits 64 , 66 and 82 , 84 will be open . at the end of the clockwise movement which follows the path described by the arcuate broken line of fig3 the blade 102 will force itself into engagement between the fingers 76 and 78 thereby closing the circuit of the wires 82 and 84 , leaving the circuit of the wires 64 and 66 open . the reverse will be accomplished by rotating the key 30 in the opposite direction . the rotor 92 has a pair of metal tabs 104 and 106 which are connected with the blades 100 and 102 , respectively , these tabs being disposed on what would be considered the leading and trailing edges of the rotor 92 considering that these edges are generally radial relative to the axis of the shaft 86 . the tabs may be formed out of the same metal as the blades and welded in place between them as indicated at 108 in fig4 or it could be integral with one of the sheet metal members forming the blades . since each is located precisely in the center between the blades , the tabs 102 and 104 align with the center insulating blocks such as 50 and will cooperate with the block edges such as 76 to form precise stop means for limiting the rotary movement of the rotor 92 in either direction . the tabs 104 and 106 can initially be deliberately made slightly longer than needed . when the switch 10 is assembled and tested with a key , if the key cannot be inserted or withdrawn in both of its two positions , the tabs 104 and 106 are easily trimmed by means of tinsnips . this requires no skill and no disassembly of the switch . in fig5 there is illustrated a rotor 92 &# 39 ; which is formed of only a single stamping of sheet metal , again bent in the center to bow out and configured to form the bend 97 &# 39 ;, the slot 99 &# 39 ; and the two blades 100 &# 39 ; and 102 &# 39 ;. ( the reference characters are the same as those of the previously described embodiment for equivalent parts , but primed .) the single sheet metal member is adapted to be secured by an insulating clamping or mounting assembly 94 &# 39 ; to a washer 90 &# 39 ; and function in the same manner as previously explained . here the tabs 104 &# 39 ; and 106 &# 39 ; are integral with the single sheet metal member . variations are capable of being made in the constructional details and configurations of the parts without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims . | 7 |
the distraction portion of the method is shown in fig1 . in the method of the present invention , a clinician places a distractor between the upper thighs of a canine patient in ventral recumbency so that the distractor contacts the inner thighs of the patient . the weight of the dog &# 39 ; s hind quarters and abdomen should rest on the device . with the device in place , the clinician can support the device with one hand ( the &# 34 ; manipulating hand &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; non - imaging hand &# 34 ;) to prevent the device from tilting relative to the legs . the device should be positioned as proximal ( toward the hip joint portion of the femurs ) as is allowed by the weight of the dog and the interposed tissues of the ventral abdomen . no additional forces need to be applied to the device to ensure that the device is appropriately positioned close to the hips . with the same hand , can apply inward pressure to the knee ( stifle ) region of both legs to achieve distraction . in clinical use , the imager usually needs a firm grasp of the device to prevent the device from tilting as force is applied to the stifles . while maintaining the inward pressure , the clinician can use the second hand ( the &# 34 ; imaging hand &# 34 ;) to position an image acquisition device to obtain non - radiographic images of the coxofemoral ( hip ) joints in distraction . the image acquisition device is preferably a non - radiographic device , and is typically an ultrasonic transducer ( such as a 7 . 5 - mhz ultrasound transducer such as si450 , siemens quantum , inc ., issaquah , wash .). a modified dorsal view provides the best sonographic plane to image the components of the coxofemoral joint and to allow measurement of the distance moved between compression and distraction . the dorsal plane of the hip is a long axis view with the transducer directed from the side ( i . e ., left to right in the left hip ). from this initial plane , the transducer can be rotated slightly ( i . e ., clockwise in the left hip ) so that the cranial aspect of the transducer is more dorsal than the caudal portion . the desired end result is an image in which the cranial - dorsal ilium appears to form a horizontal straight line and the rounded femoral head is seen well . in this position , the transducer needs only subtle adjustment to maintain the same image plane during compression and distraction maneuvers . with practice , both hips can be evaluated , and images can be collected , within ten minutes . it is not absolutely essential that the patient &# 39 ; s hair be clipped at the transducer site , especially with young ( six to eight week old ) puppies . good quality images can be obtained through the hair coat by applying copious isopropyl alcohol and acoustic gel . to compress the hip joints , the device is removed and the legs can then be gently pulled together . it is preferred that the clinician wraps the fingers of the manipulating hand around one leg at the upper thigh while the thumb of the same hand wraps around the opposite leg , whereupon the images of the coxofemoral joints in compression can be obtained in the same manner as was described above . distraction should be performed first . the movement from distraction to compression is less stressful to the patient , resulting in a lower possibility of the patient moving . the hips should be distracted , an image collected , and then the hips placed into compression . the second , and final , image is then collected in compression . in the experience of the inventors , the highest quality images of the components of the coxofemoral joint were obtained in puppies between six and sixteen weeks of age although an age range of about 4 - 26 weeks can be suitable . it is preferred that the analysis be performed before the age at which the femoral heads are surrounded by a mineralized acetabular rim . after acquiring the images of each hip in compression and distraction , preferably on split - screen images , the distracted distance is measured . in a first preferred method for determining the distracted distance , the images are digitized , and the compression and distraction images are merged (&# 34 ; blended &# 34 ;) using image analysis software capable of blending two images ( such as nih image 1 . 60 or subsequent current version ( http :// rsb . info . nih . gov / nih - image / download . html ; see fig3 a , b of o &# 39 ; brien , supra ( 1997 ) for example of such a blended image ). this analytical method has certain shortcomings in that it requires a separate computer and specialized software to perform the time consuming and technically challenging process of image blending . moreover , the ultrasound image must be converted from the proprietary data format of the device manufacturer to a conventional format such as pict or tiff . alternatively , a simply mathematical formula that corrects for differing sized fields of view using a conversion factor ( pixel per millimeter ), provides the distraction distance when four points are identified on the images . on each image , the position of the skin is known . in addition , the highest points on both the cranial dorsal acetabular rim and the femoral head are identified . from these points , the distraction distance can be determined and normalized . in this approach , four measurements are necessary from a common reference point , such as the top of the screen or image border : 3 . caudal - most point of acetabular rim ( with hip in compression ); and using these four measurements ( summarized in fig2 ), the distraction distance is determined from the formula all measurements should be drawn with a straight vertical line and the reference points should be consistent between compression and distraction images , especially on the acetabulum rim measurements . if image measurements are taken from paper images , rather than analyzed on the ultrasound machine , the calculated distraction distance must be multiplied by a proportionality factor that can be determined by comparing the known length of a line on the ultrasound image against the length of the same line on the paper image . for example , if a 3 cm line on the ultrasound image measures 2 cm on the paper image , then the proportionality factor is 0 . 667 . in a second aspect , the present invention is a distractor that , when placed between the upper thighs of the canine patient , serves as a fulcrum for laterally displacing ( distracting ) the hips . fig3 depicts a preferred distractor . in this application , inner and outer , top and bottom refer to positions relative to the center of the distractor of fig3 . a preferred distractor 10 includes a pair of end means 12 and 13 , each of which is generally rectangular in shape with an inner face and an outer face . the distractor 10 also includes a pair of generally rectangular spaced apart side bars 14 and 16 mounted perpendicularly to the end members . the end means 12 , 13 and the side bars 14 , 16 can be solid or hollow and can be made of any rigid material such as hard plastic or lucite . a portion of each of the side bars 14 and 16 along its short side edges is recessed , to receive the end members 12 and 13 . the side bars 14 and 16 should include outward facing sides that are sufficiently large to permit the apparatus to act as a fulcrum during distraction and to permit the clinician to support the distractor with one hand in the method . optional modifications to the surface of the apparatus can be provided , such as means for supporting the apparatus in use . in the preferred embodiment , side bars 14 and 16 are not strictly speaking rectangular since each includes a pair of rounded edges toward the outer face to enhance the comfort of the canine patient during distraction . the edges toward the inner face can also be rounded , although the general shape of the side bars 14 and 16 should be rectangular , as opposed to cylindrical , and the outer faces should be generally flat . the extent to which the outer edges of side bars 14 and 16 are curved is not essential to the invention , however , some curvature is preferred . the outer faces of side bars 14 and 16 can be provided with textural indicia to further discourage slippage in use . side bars 14 and 16 are in mirror image orientation relative to each other in the distractor 10 . that is , the outside edges of side bars 14 and 16 each face the outside of the apparatus while the inside edges face toward each other and toward the inside of the distractor 10 . side bar 14 can be fixedly connected to the end members . the connection can be by attachment means 18 , such as a screw , as is shown in fig3 or by adhesive connection . in an alternate construction , a single element can comprise the pair of end means 12 and side bar 14 . side bar 16 can be slidably mounted to the end members 12 and 13 . in the preferred embodiment , a slot 20 is defined through each end member 12 , 13 . the slots 20 permit the distance between side bars 14 and 16 to be adjusted . end caps 22 provided at each end of side bar 16 pass through the slots . the end caps may be loosened to permit lateral adjustment of side bar 16 relative to end members 12 and 14 , and then tightened to prevent further change in the distance between side bars 14 and 16 during use of the apparatus 10 . the distance between side bars 14 and 16 can vary with the size of the dog , as long as when the distractor 10 is in place it can act as a fulcrum on the femurs . the optimal distance between side bars 14 and 16 is between about 3 . 5 and 4 . 5 cm for puppies that are sized like a 6 - 8 week - old labrador or golden retriever . in use , the slidable side bar 16 is adjusted laterally relative to end members 12 and 13 so that side bar 16 is spaced apart from side bar 14 at a distance such that when the hips are maximally distracted , the stifles are within one to two cm of each other , but not touching . given the variation within typical litters of puppies , the device is usually adjusted only once , at the beginning of imaging . it is , of course , understood that the relationships between the end members 12 and 13 and the side bars 14 and 16 need not necessarily be exactly rectangular . however , a rectangular fit among the parts is preferred as that arrangement facilitates a stable apparatus with minimal structural requirements . other arrangements that meet these general structural requirements are intended to fall within the scope of the present invention . in a related embodiment , the spaced apart relation between the side bars 14 , 16 can be a fixed distance , if the distractor is to be used for only canines of a particular size . indeed , the entire distractor can be formed as a single part , since no movement of any element is required in use . the present invention will be better understood upon consideration of the following examples which are intended to be exemplary and not limiting on the invention . a distractor prepared in accordance with the invention was tested using the method of the present invention on 30 puppy hips . the distraction distance was also determined using existing manual methods . the data of fig6 demonstrate an association between distraction distances measured using the distractor and those obtained using manual methods . the invention is not intended to be limited to the foregoing examples , but rather to encompass all such variations and modifications as come within the scope of the appended claims . | 0 |
systems and methods in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention can overcome deficiencies in prior art concurrency models by utilizing “ optimistic caching ” or “ optimistic concurrency ”. using optimistic concurrency , it is not necessary for each transaction to read from the database and consume system resources unnecessarily . the approach is referred to herein as “ optimistic ” because a server instance does not get a lock on the data being used by a transaction . transactions are optimistic about the fact that no changes are going to be made to the data while it is being used by that transaction . under this belief , there is no need to lock the data since it will not change during the transaction . since the data is not locked , it can be used concurrently by multiple users . in order to assure the accuracy of transactions using that data , however , it will be necessary to determine whether the underlying data actually changed before transactional changes are written to the database . an invalidation scheme can be used to facilitate optimistic caching in a clustered environment , such that multiple machines in a cluster can run an optimistic algorithm in parallel . when changes are made , the machines can communicate with each other that a change has occurred , and can indicate what those changes are . this can help to avoid an optimistic conflict or exception at the end of a transaction . xml can be used with such a system , as xml provides a declarative way for a user to indicate that optimistic caching is to be used . such a system is shown in fig1 . a data item 102 is stored in a database 102 . user 106 and user 110 may both want access to the data item 102 concurrently . since the data item is not locked , an instance of the data item can be read into a cache or bean instance 104 for user 106 , and a second instance can be read into a cache or bean instance 108 for user 110 . if user 106 updates the data item 102 , the optimistic algorithm can direct cache 104 to notify cache 108 . the algorithm can also instruct the transaction for user 106 to update the instance of the data item in cache 104 . if the instance in cache 104 is updated , cache 108 can read a new instance from cache 104 . if cache 104 is not updated , cache 110 can read from the database 100 . there can be multiple nodes in a cluster that are able to access and make changes to the data in the database , as shown in fig2 . in order to make efficient use of a cluster , an application can evenly utilize any available cluster nodes 204 , 206 , 208 . for instance , a user 200 that wishes to utilize data in the database 202 can be directed to work through node 204 . the user is not aware of which node is being utilized , as the nodes appear to the user as a single server . an object can migrate from one node to another in support of even load distribution . it can be beneficial for these nodes to notify each other about any changes made to data . in fig2 , node 204 is shown to be able to send an update message to nodes 206 and 208 in the event that the user 200 updates data in the database 202 . such information can prevent other nodes from having to wait until the end of a transaction to find out that the data has changed . if a node does not find out about the change until the end of a transaction , the node will need to rollback the transaction , obtain the updated state of the data , and restart the processing of the transaction . this notification of nodes in a cluster can save both time and resources by preventing the reprocessing of transactions . different schemes can be used that allow the nodes to notify themselves of changes in the data . fig3 shows steps for a method that could be used with a system in accordance with the embodiment of fig1 . in this method , an instance of a data item is read into a first cache for a first transaction 300 . an instance of the data item is then read from the first cache into a second cache for a second transaction 302 . one of the transactions can update the data item in the database by committing changes to the data item , and can also update the associated instance in cache 304 . a notification can then be sent to the cache for the other transaction notifying the cache that the data item has changed 306 . that cache can then drop its instance of the data item and read a new instance from the database or from the updated cache 308 . certain operations can be done outside of a transaction . one such operation involves suspending the active transaction while reading data . this operation can be a global transaction , for example , that spans multiple nodes about the network and can be committed using a two - phase commit algorithm . “ creates ” and “ removes ” can be done within the context of global transactions , such that if a global transaction rolls back then the operations can be rolled back as well . long - term locks can be held during these operations . during the load , a copy of the data can be made so that the data is read during a short - term transaction . an initial copy of the data being read can be made . the transaction can then actually update a different copy of the data , such that at the end of the transaction those copies can be compared with what is in the database , in order to help determine whether to commit the transaction . this optimistic caching can also be done with enterprise javabeans ( ejbs ). an ejb has a life cycle , and certain embodiments of optimistic caching work within the context of this life cycle . the ejbs can load themselves from the database and can store themselves in the database . the ejbs can also undergo other operations , such as loading , storing , creating , removing , passivating , and activating . ejbs can also read data in a local transaction . this allows the ejbs to read data items without acquiring long - term locks on the data . in one embodiment , optimistic caching allows for the caching of data between separate transactions . in prior art systems where every transaction reads from the database , entity beans holding instances of the data do not perform any better than stateless session beans . in order to better utilize the functionality and advantages of entity beans , caching can be done between transactions to the extent possible . one way to accomplish between - transaction caching is to read data in a local transaction so there is no need for long - term locks . at the end of the transaction , the data can be checked to determine if anyone has made any changes . in one such system , a “ db - is - shared ” or equivalent tag can be replaced with a tag such as “ appservercachingenabled ”, which can allow the caching of entity beans between transactions when appservercachingenabled has a value of “ true ”. in a more optimistic embodiment for caching between transactions , data is not read at the beginning of a transaction . it is assumed that what is in cache from a previous transaction is still current with what is in the database . the currency of the data is not checked until the end of the transaction . this allows the transaction to use what is already in cache memory , which can greatly increase the speed of the transaction . if the transaction attempts to commit and finds the data has changed , it can update the data in cache so that the next transaction can read from cache and have the appropriate value . there are other optimistic concurrency embodiments that can support the ejb 2 . 0 container - managed persistence ( cmp ) specification , and can be used with or without caching between transactions . in an optimistic concurrency approach without caching , each transaction can activate its own bean instance . there is no locking within the application server . two new tags can be used , such as “ optimisticverifymodifiedfields ” and “ optimisticverifyreadfields ”. with these options , a database read can occur as a separate local transaction . in the case of optimisticverifyreadfields , the update statement can verify that every field that was read in the transaction matches the current content in the database . optimisticverifymodifiedfields can be used to check only the fields that have been updated . the transaction can abort if the update conditions fail . if the transaction is a read - only transaction , it will not produce an update statement and there will be no verification . such a system can utilize special abstract methods for cmp fields such as “ increment ”, “ decrement ”, and “ decrementgreaterthan ”. for example , if there is an item being purchased at an online store by several users concurrently , each individual transaction simply wants to decrease the inventory amount by one unit . each transaction is able to commit the update as long as the inventory is greater than zero units . the transaction does not care about how many units are in inventory , as long as there is at least one . therefore , an operator could be used such as : the optimisticverifymodifiedfields and optimisticverifyreadfields could also be used as the basis for clustered entity bean caching . a server could keep a cache that associates a primary key and field group with cached data . in a cmp 2 . 0 implementation , a field group can be a set of container - managed fields . when one member of a group needs to be read from the database , the entire group is read . by default , the cmp fields can be in a single group , but this can be changed using a deployment descriptor , for example . when an entity bean reads a field group , it can ask the cache for the field group . if the cache has the field group in memory , it can return the cached data instead of fetching the data from the database . when an updating transaction commits , the changes can be entered into the cache as well as into the database . this allows the cache to have the most recent data without having to hit the database . the cache can also measure the hit rate and optimistic rollback rate . these statistics can be used to drop or pre - fetch cached data . it can be useful to prevent some of the optimistic rollbacks that can occur if , for example , a first server updates a value and then a second server reads from the second server &# 39 ; s outdated or “ stale ” cache . one way to prevent this is to send invalidation messages between the caches . when an update commits , an invalidation can be sent to the other caches , such as by multicast . the message can contain , for example , the jndi name , the primary key , and the field group number . when an ejb cache receives an update message , the cache can drop the corresponding field group from its cache . if this field group has a high hit rate , the cache can pre - fetch the new version . while these invalidation messages can help prevent optimistic rollbacks , they do not ensure correctness . the predicated update can be used to ensure that the read or modified fields are consistent with that which is still in the database . the foregoing description of preferred embodiments of the present invention has been provided for the purposes of illustration and description . it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed . many modifications and variations will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the relevant arts . the embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application , thereby enabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and with various modifications that are suited to the particular use contemplated . it is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims and their equivalence . | 8 |
the present invention is directed to a pre - shave preparation that utilizes water soluble silicone polymers , in particular polyethylene glycol derivatives of dimethicones — for example peg 8 dimethicone . these compounds are very water and alcohol soluble . these silicones can impart lubricity that are beneficial for use with pre - shave preparations . polyethylene glycol derivatives of dimethicones are effective in such an application because they do not significantly reduce skin friction properties on skin relative to existing art . a new class of water and alcohol soluble silicone derivatives are carboxy silicone polymers as described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 867 , 317 b1 . this ingredient class is not used in pre - electric shave products and has not been known to have special lubricating properties beyond ethoxylated silicones nor are they known to provide a closer shave relative to existing art . however testing has surprisingly shown this class to provide both better skin friction reducing properties that also yields a closer shave relative to existing art . one example of a carboxy silicone is cetyl triethylmonium dimethicone peg - 8 succinate . cetyl triethylmonium dimethicone peg - 8 succinate is a siloxane polymer formed by the reaction of cetyl triethylamine with peg - 8 dimethicone ( q . v .) and succinic acid ( q . v .) having the general formula of : testing has demonstrated that this class of compounds significantly reduces skin friction to a greater extent than its parent backbone — peg - 8 dimethicone while maintaining very clear water / alcohol solutions . preferred concentrations of a carboxy silicone polymer are 0 . 05 % to 20 %. in addition to cetyl triethylmonium dimethicone peg - 8 succinate , compounds of the following general structure are useful as reducers of friction in pre - shave preparations . r and r ′ are ch 3 or —( ch 2 ) 3 — o -( eo ) a —( po ) b -( eo ) c — o — r ″- c ( o )— o — or with the proviso that both r and r ′ are not ch 3 ; r 2 and r 3 are independently either methyl or ethyl ; r ″ is selected from a group consisting of — ch 2 ch 2 —; — ch ═ ch —; — ch 2 — c ( r 7 )— h 2 ; r 1 is selected from the group consisting of lower alkyl ch 3 ( ch 2 ) n — and phenyl ; a , b , and c are integers independently ranging from 0 to 20 ; r 7 is alkyl having from 1 to 20 carbons . a second important component for a liquid pre - shave preparation is a volatile carrier such as ethanol . other acceptable volatile carriers are described in the european patent application # 0385312 a2 . ethanol or ethyl alcohol is a volatile liquid used in cosmetic preparations . it is derived from ethylene by direct catalytic hydration or with ethyl sulfate as an intermediate . for purposes of testing , as discussed below , specially denatured alcohol ( sda ) 40b was chosen , which contains bitrex and tort - butyl alcohol . the content of the above volatile carrier is at least 50 % by weight , preferably at least 70 % by weight . when the content is less than 50 % by weight , the drying characteristics of the pre - shave preparation after application is poor . this can be detrimental to the convenience and speediness in - use of the electric shaver : the higher the volatile component the faster the evaporation of moisture on the skin . in addition , the alcohol partially dehydrates some of the moisture normally present in the beard . the partial dehydration has an important effect in stiffening the beard to permit easier cutting . an optional component of this invention is a fatty acid ester . these compounds are commonly used in commercially available pre - shave preparations . the most common ester is isopropyl myristate with a chemical formula : an ester is formed by the condensation reaction between an acid and an alcohol . one or both of these components needs to be fatty in nature to produce an ester with emollient properties . the chain length of either the acid portion or the alcohol portion of an ester can be varied . for example , keeping the alcohol portion of an ester the same ( as in isopropyl myristate ) and increasing the chain length of the acid raises the melting point and makes the material more hydrophobic . as the size of the chain length increases , the ester loses its fluidity and becomes a solid at room temperature . other attributes which may affect the esters function are molecular weight , chain branching , polarity and saturation versus unsaturation . a liquid emollient ester is preferred which is soluble in a water / alcohol solution and does not interfere with skin friction . other such esters are c12 - 15 alkyl benzoate or ppg - 3 benzyl ether myristate . other ingredients suitable for use in a pre - shave hydro - alcoholic preparation include , without limitation , skin conditioners , emollients ( including esters and silicones ), humectants , color , fragrance , antioxidants , chelators , natural extracts , vitamins , uv light absorbers , solvents and combinations thereof . when consumers use a pre - shave product in conjunction with an electric razor , they can sense the friction between the skin and the razor head ( s ). friction can lead to uncomfortable skin irritation . but more importantly , friction between the razor head and skin will distort skin in front of the razor causing it to “ bunch up ” or create “ a wave .” thus changing the angle of the razor head to the beard hair being cut and greatly reducing the efficiency of the shaving process — possibly leading to a poor shave . friction testing was performed on pre - shave compositions containing a carboxy silicone polymer . this testing utilized a skin friction meter that presses a probe against a synthetic skin surface and measures the force required to either push or pull the probe on the surface . the skin friction meter measures the coefficient of friction for each tested sample . an instrument known as the skin friction meter designed by measurement technologies ( cincinnati , ohio ) is available through aca - derm , inc of menlo park , calif . the instrument is a rotary disk instrument and consists of three main parts : a probe unit , a stationary shell and a rotary disc transducer . the probe unit consists of a small dc motor with a teflon disk type probe attached . it is mounted inside the stationary shell between two ball bearings and is connected to the shell by a coil spring . the rotary probe transducer is mounted on the end of the stationary shell and is joined to the end of the probe unit by a soft coupling and monitors the position of the probe unit . since the unit has a hard probe , it may be used to measure most skin friction phenomena as is . the instrument is designed to be hand held ; and for maximum flexibility , is connected to its electronic controller by a six foot cable . for hand held use , the following design innovations are used to control application pressure . the instrument rests on the measurement area on a lexan ® plastic base plate which has a hole in the center . when resting on the skin surface , the application force causes the skin and underlying tissues to protrude through the hole . application pressure on the probe itself is controlled by its position relative to the hole in the plastic base plate . therefore , since the hole in the base plate is constant and the probe position is constant , when the measurement head rests on the measurement site with only its own weight , probe contact pressure will remain constant . in order to keep measurements within the linear range of the transducer , probe application pressure may be either increased or decreased by changing the position of the probe relative to the base plate . the probe is easily adjusted to accommodate measurements which are either too low or too high . motor speed is 69 . 4 rpm maximum and may be manually controlled from the front panel of the control box . the analog output of the instrument in its most linear range is a 6 volt d . c . range from − 3 . 0 to 3 . 0 volts . torque or force applied to the probe is measured and displayed as friction meter units . the higher the unit the greater the “ friction value ”. friction measurements were taken using a synthetically produced “ skin ” called vitro - skin as supplied by ims inc . ( orange , conn .). the “ skin ” was cut into 2 × 2 cm squares and placed in a hydration chamber according to ims directions . baseline readings were taken without application of the pre - shave preparation . a determined amount of the pre - shave preparation ( 10 μl ) was applied to the site using a micropipette and allowed to dry for 15 seconds . the probe was then placed on the site and measurements were taken after 30 and 90 sec . the latter value corresponds to an extended shaving process . the following table identifies pre - shave composition samples that underwent friction testing : for each sample , a baseline coefficient of friction measurement was taken on the synthetic skin surface without a pre - shave preparation . then the sample was applied to the surface and coefficient of friction measurements were taken of the surface at 30 seconds and 90 seconds after the sample was applied . each sample was tested three times for each period . the following table lists the average coefficient of friction measurement for the baseline , each period and the percent change in friction due to the application of each pre - shave preparation relative to the baseline : table 3 shows that compositions containing a carboxy silicone significantly reduce skin friction values . the reduction in friction is greater than compositions containing a fatty acid ester or a water / alcohol soluble silicone — a polyethylene glycol derivative of dimethicone ( peg 8 dimethicone ). samples 1 and 5 were also utilized to test actual performance in improving shaving and compare the results with shaving without a pre - shave preparation . 21 males , ages 18 - 65 , were utilized to test the two samples . the study design consisted of a split - face ( treated versus non - treated ) cross - over design , with a right / left randomization of treated and untreated . in this manner each subject generated his own internal no treatment control site . after shaving , each surface was evaluated for ease of shaving and overall skin smoothness . 24 hours later hair length measurements were taken to assess the closeness of the shave . the following table shows the percent change in beard hair length for a skin surface that utilized either pre - shave preparation versus a skin surface that did not utilize a pre - shave preparation : the preceding results demonstrate that carboxy silicones provide significant reduction of friction between the shaver head and skin ; and that preparations using carboxy silicones provide a significantly closer shave when compared to a no pre - shave treatment . although the invention has been described with reference to pre - shave preparations containing particular elements or compositions and particular relative amounts , these are not intended to exhaust all possible arrangements or features , and indeed many other modifications and variations will be ascertainable to those of skill in the art . | 0 |
referring to fig1 a - 1c of the drawings , there is shown one embodiment of the invention for effecting the concurrent supply of treatment fluid to four vertically spaced production zones with the amount of such treatment fluid supplied to each of the zones being respectively predetermined . the apparatus embodying this invention is shown in fig1 a - 1c to comprise a tubular liner 10 which is suspended within the bottom portions of the well casing 1 by a conventional hanger 5 having slips 5a and 5b respectively engaged with the interior wall of casing 2 . to minimize costs , the liner 10 is preferably of relatively small diameter , such as 2 . 5 inches id . liner 10 is fabricated by the threaded assemblage of tubular sections 10a , 10b , 10c , etc .. the liner is conventionally secured by threads 5e provided on the lower portion of the body 5d of the hanger 5 . after the liner is run into place by a conventional setting tool ( not shown ) which is engagable with internal lefthand threads ( not shown ) conventionally provided on an upper sleeve bore portion 5c of the hanger 5 , and the hanger 5 is set in the bore of casing 2 , a conventional cementing operation is provided to fill the annulus between the exterior of the liner 10 and the well bore with cement 6 , thus preventing fluid communication along the exterior of liner 10 between vertically spaced production zones p1 , p2 , and p3 . a wireline perforating gun is then inserted in the bore of liner 10 and a plurality of vertically spaced sets of perforations 11a , 11b , 11c , and 11d are produced in the wall of liner 10 and also passages 6a , 6b , 6c , and 6d through the cement layer 6 . because of the small diameter of liner 10 , and the fact that such liner will be subjected to acid corrosion during the introduction of carbon dioxide as a treatment fluid for the production zones p1 , p2 , and p3 , it becomes feasible to fabricate the liner sections 1oa , 1ob , 1oc , etc . from a reinforced plastic such as fiberglass - reinforced plastic pipe . such material is , of course , highly resistant to corrosion and has sufficient tensile strength for the particular application so long as the diameter of the liner is small and the length of the liner is not excessive . since the treatment apparatus embodying this invention requires the setting of a packer in the bore of liner 10 at a position immediately above the lowermost set of perforations 11c , a metallic section 12 is threadably incorporated in the length of fiberglass - reinforced pipe as by conventional threaded connections 12a and 12b . the metallic liner section 12 is further provided with an internal annular locking groove 12c for the purpose of receiving the locking lugs of a packer unit 25 to be hereinafter described . a tubular assemblage 20 , which is conventionally secured at its upper end by threads 20f to a tubing string ts leading to the surface of the well , is then inserted in the bore of the liner 10 . tubular assemblage 20 includes a packer unit 25 which , as previously mentioned , is disposed near the bottom of the assemblage to cooperate with the locking groove 12c provided in the metallic section 12 of the liner . packer 25 is provided with a plurality of peripherally spaced locking lugs 26 which are expandable into engagement with the locking groove 12c by an apparatus to be hereinafter described . packer unit 25 further comprises an annular elastomeric packing element 27 which is expandable through the application of compressive force thereto to effect a sealing engagement of the annulus defined between the bore of the liner 10 and the exterior of the tubular assemblage 20 . as will be described , packer unit 25 is set by the application of tension to the tubing string , and the expansion of packing element 27 effectively isolates the lowermost set of perforations 11d from the other perforations . at locations immediately above the remaining sets of perforations 11a , 11b , and 11c , a packing unit 30 is mounted on the tubular assemblage 20 in a manner to be hereinafter described in detail , and incorporates an annular elastomeric sealing element 34 which is expandable into sealing engagement with the bore of the mandrel 10 through the application of tension to the tubing string . thus each of the sets of perforations 11a , 11b , 11c , and 11d are isolated from each other . immediately adjacent each of the sets of perforations 11a , 11b , and 11c , a plurality of peripherally spaced radial ports 21a , 21b , and 21c are respectively provided , thus providing communication between the perforations and the internal bore 20a of the tubular assemblage 20 . immediately below the ports 21a , 21b , and 21c , the tubular assemblage 20a is provided with internal valve retention grooves 22a , 22b , and 22c , respectively . such grooves mount a conventional adjustable flow valving unit 40 which is provided with axially spaced external seals 40a and 40b which straddle the radial ports 21a , 21b , or 21c as the case may be , and with radially outwardly biased retention dogs 40c which respectively engage the internal valve retention grooves 22a , 22b , and 22c . the valve units 40 are a standard commercial unit , and may comprise , for example , the daniel ro - 1 - c valve which is sold by daniel equipment , inc . of houston , tex . valve 40 is provided with an internal adjustable orifice for dividing fluid flow through the valve into two components , namely an axial component and radial component , and the amount of fluid being diverted into the radial component and hence passing through the ports 21a , 21b or 21c and the respective sets of perforations 11a , 11b , and 11c , may be preselected prior to insertion of the valve into the tubular assemblage 20 . each valve 40 is provided with a fishing neck 40d by which the valve may be conveniently removed by wireline from the tubular assemblage 20 for adjustment of the radial flow rate , in the event that the initially selected adjustment is not satisfactory . the valves 40 can then be reinserted by wireline , thus eliminating any necessity for pulling the entire tubing string to make adjustments to produce the proper flow rate into each of the respective production formations p1 , p2 or p3 . since the valve 40 is a standard commercial item , further description of the structure of the valve is deemed unnecessary . lt will be noted that no orifice valve is provided for the lowermost set of perforations 11d . these perforations are supplied with treatment fluid by the residual axial flow . adjustment of the initial flow rate of treatment fluid introduced into the tubing string will adjust the residual axial flow rate . referring now to fig3 a and 3b , the detailed construction of the lowermost packing element 25 will now be described . as shown in the aforementioned figures of the drawings , the lowermost packing element 25 comprises a tubular inner body member 25a provided with internal threads 25b for conventional securement to the bottom end of a sleeve 28 which extends upwardly to form part of the tubular assemblage 20 which is suspended at its top end from the main tubing string ts ( fig . 1a ) extending to the well surface . the lower end of the tubular inner body 25a is provided with external threads 25c which are engaged by the internally threaded upper end of a connecting sub 29 . the lower end of connecting sub 29 is provided with internal threads 29a which are engaged with threads provided on the top end of an extension sleeve 28b which extends downwardly to a position adjacent the lowermost set of perforations 21c . surrounding the medial portion of the inner tubular body 25a is a lock support sleeve 25d . lock support sleeve 25d is conventionally milled out to provide a plurality of peripherally spaced recesses 25e for respectively accommodating a plurality of locking elements 26 . each locking element is biased in a radially outward direction by a pair of leaf springs 26a and 26b which are suitably mounted to the lock - supporting sleeve by bolts 26c . thus , when the lowermost packing element is run into the liner 10 and the lock elements 26 are positioned adjacent the annular locking recess 12c provided in the metallic insert 12 in the liner 10 , the locking lugs 26 will be urged outwardly into engagement with locking recess 12c , but may be cammed out of such engagement by the inclined surfaces 12d and 12e provided at the top and bottom ends of the locking recess 12c . thus , the preferred initial run - in position of the lowermost packing unit 25 places the locking lugs 26 at a position slightly below the annular locking recess 12c as shown in fig3 a . the lock support sleeve 25d is connected to the inner tubular body 25a for run - in purposes by an inwardly projecting j - pin 25g which is threadably mounted in the lock support sleeve 25d and cooperates with a j - slot 25h ( fig9 ) provided on the exterior surface of the inner tubular body 25a . in the run - in position , the j - pin 25g is engaged in the horizontal leg of the j - slot 25h and hence the lock support sleeve 25d moves concurrently with the tubular inner body 25a to the run - in position illustrated in fig3 a . the tubing string is then rotated in a counter clockwise direction a sufficient amount to move the j - pin 25g into alignment with the vertically extending portion of the j - slot 25h and tension is then applied to the tubing string to elevate same and this brings the locking lugs 26 upwardly into alignment with the lock receiving recess 12c provided in the metallic liner section 12 . the application of tension to the tubing string is continued , resulting in the upward movement of the tubular inner body 25a relative to the lock support sleeve 25d . such upward movement brings an enlarged - diameter portion 25f of the tubular inner body into a position adjacent the locking lugs 26 and prevents such locking lugs from being cammed out of the lock receiving recess 12c , thus effectively locking the lock support sleeve in a fixed axial position ( fig4 a ). below the lock support sleeve 25d , a pair of axially spaced abutment rings 27a and 27b are mounted on the tubular inner body 25a in axially spaced relationship , and respectively abut the top and bottom faces of the annular elastomeric sealing element 27 . the upper abutment ring 27a is secured to the inner body 25a by shear screws 27c . the lower abutment ring 27b is shearably secured to the tubular inner body 25a by a shear ring 27d . when the locking lugs 26c are engaged with the annular locking recess 12c , the upper abutment ring 27a is in abutting engagement with the bottom end of the lock support sleeve 25d , and thus prevents further upward movement of the annular elastomeric sealing element 27 until shear screws 27c are severed . as the upward movement of the tubular inner body 25a then continues , the annular elastomeric seal element 27 is axially compressed and expands into sealing engagement with the bore 12f of the liner section 12 and the external surface 25k provided on the inner tubular body 25a , as illustrated in fig4 a . thus , the packing element 25 is fully set and is not only anchored to the liner 10 by the locking lugs 26 but also effects a sealing engagement of the annulus between the bore of the liner 10 and the external surface of the tubular inner body 25a , thus isolating the lowermost set of perforations 11d from all of the other perforations . in order to permit the tension applied through the tubing string to the lowermost packing element 25 to be relaxed , a body lock ring 35 is mounted in the bore of the top end portion of the lock support sleeve 25d . such body lock ring cooperates with conventional wicker threads 25m provided on the top portion of the inner tubular body 25a . thus , the tension may be released in the tubing string without effecting the unsetting of the lowermost packing element 25 . to effect the unsetting of the lowermost packing element 25 , a substantially higher degree of tension is applied to the inner tubular body 25a than required to effect the setting of the lowermost packing element 25 . this degree of tension is selected to exceed the shear strength of the shear ring 27d which holds the lower abutment ring 27b in compressing relationship with respect to the annular elastomeric element 27 . once the shear ring 27d separates , the lower abutment ring 27b is free to move downwardly and thus remove the compressive forces on the annular elastomeric sealing element 27 ( fig5 a , 5b , and 5c ). upward movement of the tubing string will then bring a second smaller diameter surface 25k of the inner tubular body 25a into alignment with the inner faces of the locking lugs 26 . such locking lugs will be cammed out of the locking recess 12c by an inclined upper shoulder 12d , thus releasing the lowermost packing element 25 from its locked relation with respect to the liner section 12 . all of the outer components of the lowermost packing assembly 25 are then removable from the well with the inner tubular body portion 25a through the engagement of the top surface 29b of the connecting sub 29 with the shear ring 27d . referring now to fig6 a , 6b , and 6c there is shown in enlarged detail the construction of the upper packing elements 30 . such units comprise an upper connecting sub 31 having internal threads 31a for connection to either the bottom of the tubing string ( not shown ) or the bottom of a tubing element forming part of the tubular assemblage 20 . connecting sub 31 is provided with internal threads 31b by which it is connected to the upper end of an axially split , two - piece mandrel assemblage 32 . the threaded connection is sealed by an o - ring 31b and a set screw 31c . the upper piece 32a has a bottom end surface 32c ( fig6 b ) lying in abutment with the top end surface 32d of the lower mandrel portion 32b . immediately adjacent the abutting surfaces 32c and 32d , the top and bottom sections 32a and 32b are both provided with an annular recess 32e . a shear ring 32f is contoured to engage both annular recesses 32e and thus secure the upper and lower mandrel pieces 32a and 32b for co - movement . shear ring 32f may be fabricated as a split c - ring construction in order to facilitate assemblage . the lower portion of lower mandrel portion 32b is radially enlarged as indicated at 32p and such lower portion mounts an o - ring 32g which sealably engages the external surface of a connecting sleeve 33 . connecting sleeve 33 has an enlarged - diameter lower portion 33a which is provided with external threads 33b for engagement with the next tubing portion of the tubular assemblage 20 . the radially enlarged portion 32p of the lower mandrel piece 32b abuts the bottom face of an annular elastomeric sealing element 34 . the upper face of the annular elastomeric sealing element 34 is abutted by the bottom end face 36a of a compressing sleeve 36 . sleeve 36 mounts a plurality of peripherally spaced , inwardly projecting bolts 36b each of which extends through a vertical slot 32h provided in the lower mandrel piece 32b and engages a recess 33c formed in the medial portions of the connecting sleeve 33 . the top end of connecting sleeve 33 mounts an o - ring 33d which is disposed in sealing relationship with the internal surface of the upper mandrel piece 32a . the top end of the compression sleeve 36 is shearably secured to the bottom end of the connecting sub 31 by a plurality of peripherally spaced shear screws 31d . additionally , the compression sleeve 32 conventionally mounts a body lock ring 37 which is engagable with wicker threads 32m provided on the exterior of the upper mandrel piece 32a . the operation of the upper packing units 30 may now be described . fig6 a , 6b , and 6c illustrate the run - in position of the elements wherein they are disposed in the manner heretofore described . after setting of the lowermost packing unit 25 , any tensile forces imparted to the lowermost packing unit must pass through the upper packing elements 30 . when such tension reaches a degree to effect the shearing of shear bolts 31d , the severance of such shear bolts permits the mandrel assemblage 32 to move upwardly relative to the compression sleeve 36 and thus effect an axial compression of the annular elastomeric sealing element 34 , causing such element to radially expand to seal the annulus between the bore of the liner 10 and the external surface 32n of the lower mandrel piece 32b ( fig7 a , 7b , and 7c ). the sealing of the annulus is completed by o - ring seal 32g below the elastomeric sealing element 34 and o - ring seal 33d above the elastomeric sealing element 34 . upward movement of the compression sleeve 36 is prevented by the bolts 36b which traverse the vertically extending slots 32h provided in the lower mandrel piece 32b . when the desired degree of expansion of the annular elastomeric sealing element 34 has been accomplished , the body lock ring 37 will prevent any return movement of the mandrel in a downward direction to release the compressive forces on the annular elastomeric sealing element 34 . thus , the elements of the upper packing units 30 assume the configuration illustrated in fig7 a , 7b , and 7c . each upper packing unit 30 may be unset through the application of a tension force through the tubing string substantially greater than the force required to effect the setting of such packing unit . such force should be sufficient to effect the separation of the shear ring 32f , which effects the immediate release of the lower mandrel piece 32b , thus removing the compressive force on the annular elastomeric sealing element 34 ( fig8 a , 8b , and 8c ). the shear strength of the shear ring 32f should be less than that required to effect the shearing of the shear ring 27d of the lowermost packer unit 25 . the lowermost packer unit 25 must remain in an anchored position relative to the liner 10 until all of the shear rings 32f of the upper packing elements 30 are sheared to unset each of the upper packing elements 30 prior to unsetting of the lowermost packing element 25 , which provides the required resistance to tension applied through the tubing string to effect the shearing of the unsetting shear rings 32f of the upper packing elements 30 . those skilled in the art will recognize that the aforedescribed method and apparatus provides an unusually simple and economical solution to the problem of concurrently supplying treatment fluid , be it liquid or gas , to a plurality of vertically spaced production zones traversed by a well bore . not only is such treatment fluid concurrently applied , to all production zones , but the amount or flow rate of the treatment fluid supplied to each of the production zones may be selectively adjusted . referring now to fig2 a , 2b , 2c , and 2d there is shown a modification of this invention which is useful whenever the interior diameter of the casing 1 is large enough to accommodate a conventional side pocket mandrel in the tubing string . referring to these drawings , wherein similar numbers indicate components similar to those previously described , it will be noted that the liner 10 is identical to that previously described and is suspended from the hanger 5 in the same manner as described . the tubular assemblage 20 , however , is now connected at its upper end by threads 20f to a lower inner portion 60a of a conventional side pocket mandrel 60 . side pocket mandrel 60 is in turn connected in series relationship to the lower end of the tubing string ( not shown ). an extension sleeve 62 connected by threads 62a to the outer bottom end of the side pocket mandrel 60 and sleeve 62 is provided at its bottom end with a radially thickened portion 62b in which are mounted a plurality of axially spaced seals 62c . seals 62c effect a sealing engagement with the extension sleeve 5c provided on the hanger 5 . thus the side pocket mandrel 60 may move axially with respect to the hanger 5 , but maintains sealing engagement with the bore of the extension sleeve 5c . side pocket mandrel 60 is provided with a conventional interior side pocket 65 within which is conventionally mounted an adjustable axial flow - controlling valve 70 . such valve is entirely conventional and may comprise the daniel ro - 1 - c valve sold by daniel equipment , inc . of houston , tex ., but modified with respect to the same valve utilized in the modifications of fig1 a , 1b , and 1c to provide an adjustable axial flow outlet instead of a radial flow outlet . thus the treatment fluid introduced through the tubing string will be divided by the adjustable flow valve 70 into an inner axial component which proceeds down the bore 20a of the tubular assemblage 20 , and a second axially flowing component which proceeds down the annulus 20g defined between the exterior of the tubular assemblage 20 and the internal bores of the hanger 5 and the liner 10 . in this modification , the uppermost packing element 30 which was previously disposed above the uppermost set of perforations is eliminated and the axial flow component of treatment fluid enters the perforations 11a directly from the annular flow passage 20g . the amount of this flow is adjustable by adjustment of the adjustable flow valve 70 . for this purpose , the adjustable flow valve 70 is provided with a fishing neck 70a by which the valve may be conveniently retrieved by wireline for adjustment purposes and then reinserted in the side pocket 65 of the side pocket mandrel 60 . it will be noted that the annular flow passage 20g is sealed off at its lower end by the packing element 30 sealably located in such annulus above the next set of perforations 11b . the modification of fig2 a , 2b , and 2c is particularly useful whenever only two or three perforating zones are to be concurrently treated . with such arrangement , the adjustable flow valve 70 may be directly removed by wireline for adjustment purposes . in contrast , in the modification of fig1 a , 1b , and 1c , it is necessary to remove any flow valves 40 located above the particular valve requiring adjustment before that valve can be reached by wireline and removed for adjustment purposes . the modification of fig2 a , 2b , 2c , and 2d incorporates a lower packer unit 25 which is set above the lowermost set of perforations in the same manner as described in the modification of fig1 a , 1b , and 1c , as well as upper packing units 30 . both the packer unit 25 and all upper packing units 30 are set through the application of tension through the tubing string in the manner previously described . referring now to fig1 a , 10b , 11a , and 11b , there is shown a modified construction of a packing unit 100 . unit 100 incorporates an upper tubular body member 102 having internal threads 102a for conventional engagement with the tubular assemblage 20 . the lower end of the tubular body 102 is provided with internal threads 102b which are threadably engaged with an abutment sleeve 104 . abutment sleeve 104 secures a shear ring 106 in a radially projecting position immediately below the end of the body sleeve 102 . an inner body sleeve 110 is mounted in concentric telescopic relationship to body sleeve 102 and is provided at its lower end with external threads 110a for securement to the next section of the tubular body assemblage 102 . an o - ring seal 112 is provided on the exterior of the inner body member 110 adjacent the upper end of such body member and a second o - ring 114 , which is of somewhat larger diameter is secured to a medial portion of the inner body member 110 . such seals engage the bore surfaces 102c and 102d of the inner body member 102 in slidable and sealable relationship . an annular elastomeric seal 120 surrounds the lower portions of the outer body member 102 . a seal compressor sleeve 122 also surrounds the lower end of the outer tubular body 102 and is secured by internal threads 122a to the top end of a shear pin ring 124 . shear pin ring 124 slidably surrounds the exterior of the inner tubular body 110 and is provided with one or more radially inwardly projecting shear screws 126 which engage an annular groove 110c provided on the exterior of the inner tubular body 110 . an abutment sleeve 130 is mounted in surrounding relationship to the upper portions of the outer tubular body 102 and is secured in a fixed axial position relative to the inner tubular body 110 by one or more radially disposed bolts 132 which are threadably secured in the abutment sleeve 130 but project through axially extending slots 102e formed in the outer tubular body 102 . the anchor bolts 132 snugly engage an annular groove 110d formed in the upper portions of the inner tubular body 110 . assuming that the lower end of the tubular body assembly is anchored by a lower packing element in the manner heretofor described , the exertion of an upward tensile force on the outer tubular body 102 will first effect a shearing of the shear screws 126 , thus permitting the outer tubular body 102 to move upwardly relative to the inner tubular body 110 and the abutment sleeve 130 . the compression sleeve 122 is therefore carried upwardly by the outer tubular body 102 and effects a compression of the annular elastomeric seal element 120 into sealing engagement with the adjacent wall of the fiberglass reinforced liner 10 , as illustrated in fig1 a and 11b , thus setting the upper packing element 100 . the packing element is retained in a set position through the co - operation of a body lock ring 140 which is conventially mounted between internally projecting threads 130b formed on the interior of the abutment sleeve 130 and wicker threads 102f formed on the exterior of the outer tubular body 102 . thus , tension can be relieved on the outer tubular body 102 and the packer will remain in its set , sealed relationship with the bore of the thermoplastic liner 10 . to unset the modified upper packer 100 , it is only necessary to apply a greater degree of tension than that employed in setting the packer . such larger tensile force will effect the shearing of the shear ring 106 and thus immediately permit the compression sleeve 120 to shift downwardly to relax the compressive forces on the annular elastomeric seal element 120 . all of the elements of the packer can then be removed with the tubing assemblage 20 , if desired . although the invention has been described in terms of specified embodiments which are set forth in detail , it should be understood that this is by illustration only and that the invention is not necessarily limited thereto , since alternative embodiments and operating techniques will become apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the disclosure . accordingly , modifications are contemplated which can be made without departing from the spirit of the described invention . | 4 |
a venturi tube , or venturi , usable in a deheading system embodying features of the invention is shown in fig2 . the venturi 16 is a restricted portion of a conduit 18 enclosing a fluid channel 19 conveying a shrimp - laden fluid along a fluid path 20 . the conduit has an open entrance end 22 and an opposite open exit end 23 downstream of the entrance end . an input portion 24 of the conduit extends downstream from the entrance end 22 and defines the fluid channel with a cross - sectional area a 1 . a transition portion 26 of the conduit extends downstream from the input portion 24 to the venturi 16 . the transition portion 26 defines a length of the fluid channel with a converging cross - sectional area formed by two pairs of converging parabolic walls : large walls 25 and small walls 27 . the venturi 16 has a cross - sectional area a 2 that is less than that of the input portion 24 . in the example of fig2 , the shape of the cross - sectional area a 2 of the venturi is rectangular , but may be other shapes , e . g ., elliptical or oval , having a minor axis 28 shorter than its major axis 29 . the venturi 16 extends downstream to an open end 30 . in fig2 , the venturi &# 39 ; s end 30 opens into a downstream transition portion 32 of the conduit defining a length of the fluid channel 19 diverging outward from the cross - sectional area a 2 of the venturi to a larger cross - sectional area of an output portion 34 of the conduit . in this example , the output portion 34 has the same cross - sectional area a 1 as the input portion 24 . thus , the conduit 18 in fig2 is reversible . but the downstream transitional portion 32 may be eliminated and replaced with a flat plate having an opening forming an end wall of the output portion 34 at the open end 30 of the venturi 16 . as shown in fig3 a - 3c , the transition portion of the conduit 18 may be gradual ( fig3 a with a 30 ° taper of the long parabolic walls 25 relative to the direction of the fluid path 20 and a long length ), sharp ( fig3 c with a 60 ° taper of the long parabolic walls 25 and a short length ), or intermediate ( fig3 b with a 45 ° taper of the long parabolic walls 25 and an intermediate length ). the sharp transition portion 26 of fig3 causes a more abrupt acceleration of the fluid through the channel than the longer tapers of fig3 a and 3b and is more useful for sturdier shrimp . as indicated by the convergence of streamlines 36 in the transition portion 26 of the conduit , the flow accelerates to a higher speed in the venturi 16 . the converging flow tends to orient the shrimp along the streamlines by minimizing the surface area broadside to the flow . the hydrodynamic forces caused by the rapid acceleration of the flow at the venturi and by the non - uniformity of the flow just upstream of the venturi is sufficient to detach heads from the shrimp . the major axis 29 of the venturi cross - sectional area a 2 is long enough to admit a major portion of , if not all , the length of a shrimp into the venturi without severe collisions with the interior walls of the conduit that could break the shrimp between segments . for this reason , the venturi of fig2 is especially useful for deheading fragile cold - water shrimp . one version of a complete deheading system 40 is shown in fig4 a and 4b . shrimp are conveyed out of a feed tank 42 by a conveyor belt 44 and dropped into a fluid - filled trough 46 . a food pump 48 draws shrimp - laden fluid from the trough 46 and pumps it into a conduit system 50 , which has two venturis 52 , 53 at spaced apart locations along its length . shrimp are deheaded in the venturis and conveyed by the fluid through the conduit system to a feed plenum 54 . the shrimp bodies and detached heads drop from the plenum onto a screen slide 56 . the fluid drains through the screen and into a tank 58 in fluid communication with the trough 46 . a perforated plate 60 between the tank and the trough prevents shrimp in the trough from entering the tank 58 . the food pump 48 is driven by a pump motor 62 . together , the pump and the motor form flow control means that controls the flow rate and the fluid speed through the conduit system . the deheading system shown in fig5 has five venturis 64 connected in series in a conduit system 66 . a food pump 68 induces a flow through the conduit system 66 . such a multiple - venturi system can be effective for deheading sturdy shrimp . the deheading system of fig6 adds fluid - pressure sensor 69 at sensor locations in the conduit system 66 , for example , at locations just upstream of the final four venturis 64 to measure the hydrodynamic force of the flow . the outputs 70 of the pressure sensors control valves 72 connected between a boost pump 74 and fluid lines 76 injecting fluid into the conduit system at injection locations 78 near the sensor locations , for example , to replace any leaked fluid and to maintain the fluid pressure along the length of the fluid channel . although the invention has been described in detail with respect to a few versions , other versions are possible . for example , if large - diameter conduit , such as ten - inch — diameter pipes instead of 4 - inch — diameter pipes , the cross - sectional area of the venturis could be circular or square because the diameter of the circular opening or the lengths of the sides of the square opening would be large enough to allow shrimp through without damaging collisions with the walls of the conduit . as another example , a complete system using only a single venturi may be sufficient to detach heads from the shrimp in some situations . so , as these suggestions suggest , the claims are not meant to be limited to the details of the exemplary embodiments . | 0 |
reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the invention , examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings . wherever possible , the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts . fig2 is a perspective view of a vertical optical scanner according to this invention . fig3 is an exploded view of all the major components constituting the vertical optical scanner according to this invention . as shown in fig2 and 3 , the vertical optical scanner has a main body 1100 . a transparent panel 1300 is on one side of the main body 1100 perpendicular to the floor . the main body 1100 has a guiding slot 1500 on each side . a pair of linking bars 1600 passes through each guiding slot 1500 and fastens to the main body 1100 . all four linking bars 1600 are parallel to each other . each linking bar 1600 is free to move vertically through rotation relative to the point of attachment inside the main body 1100 . the other ends of the four linking bars are attached to the respective sides of a document cover panel 1200 . each linking bar 1600 is free to move vertically through rotation relative to the point of attachment at the document cover panel 1200 . since the four linking bars 1600 are mutually parallel , constant parallelism between the document cover panel 1200 and the transparent panel 1300 can be maintained . through simultaneous vertical movement of all four linking bars 1600 about their respective pivotal attachment points at the main body 1100 and the document cover panel 1200 , the panel 1200 is free to move towards or away from the transparent panel 1300 . there is a handle 1210 on the exterior - facing surface of the document cover panel 1200 for lifting up the cover panel 1200 . fig4 is a side view showing a lowered document cover panel of the vertical optical scanner according to this invention . before conducting a scanning operation , the document , a force is applied to the handle 1210 to lift the document cover panel 1200 . when the document cover panel 1200 is lifted up to such an extent that the four linking bars 160 are almost horizontal , a spring - loaded lock 1700 mounted on the main body 110 and located next to a pair of linking bars 1600 is employed to station the panel 1200 . the spring - loaded lock 1700 has an internal spring 1710 ( as shown in fig3 ) that pushes the lock 1700 outward and latches the linking bars 1600 at a supporting surface 1730 ( as shown in fig3 ). through this mechanism , the four linking bars 1600 are supported and the document cover panel 1200 is prevented from falling . fig5 is a side view showing a lifted document cover panel of the vertical optical scanner according to this invention . at this point , no force needs to be applied to station the document cover panel 1200 . a scan document 1400 may easily slip into the space between the transparent panel 1300 and the document cover panel 1200 . furthermore , there is a backing plate 1800 attached to the lower ledge of the main body 1200 for supporting the scan document 1400 and serving as an alignment base for the document 1400 . after proper positioning of the scan document 1400 , the spring - loaded lock 1700 is depressed forcing the linking bars 1600 to dislocate from the supporting surface 1730 and fall into a groove 1720 ( as shown in fig3 ). due to force of gravity , the document cover panel 1200 drops down bringing the cover panel 1200 back to the previous tight engagement position with the transparent panel 1300 ( as shown in fig4 ). once the scan document 1400 is firmly pressed against the transparent panel 1300 , scanning may begin . to initiate a scanning operation , an electric motor inside the main body 1100 drives a transmission device that carries a scanning module ( not shown ) to perform necessary scanning of the document 1400 on the transparent panel 1300 . the aforementioned holding device is not limited to the spring - loaded lock 1700 . a cam system using a cam 1900 such as the one shown in fig6 a and 6 b may be used . alternatively , a supporting groove 1510 sticking into the guiding slot opening such as the one in fig7 or a spring - lever fastening lock 200 having a structure shown in fig8 may be used instead . in fact , any methods or devices capable of stationing the document cover panel 1200 in a horizontal position can be employed . fig6 a and 6 b are sketches showing two cam positions for stationing the document cover panel according to this invention . as shown in fig6 a and 6 b , a cam 1900 and a rubber roller 1910 system is mounted at the junction between at least one linking bar 1600 and the main body 1100 . when the document cover panel 1200 is lifted from a position shown in fig6 a to a position shown in fig6 b , the cam 1900 and the roller 1910 are pressed together so that the document cover panel 1200 is held in a horizontal position . fig7 is a sketch showing an additional stationing device beside the guiding slot opening of the document cover panel . as shown in fig7 , a supporting groove 1510 is added to the guiding slot opening 1500 . when the document cover panel 1200 is lifted to a horizontal position , the linking bars 1600 are moved into the supporting grooves 1510 so that the document cover panel 1200 is held in the horizontal position . fig8 is a side view showing a spring - loaded lever system for locking the document cover panel according to this invention . as shown in fig8 , a spring - loaded lever lock 2000 is attached to the junction between the main body 1100 and at least one of the linking bar 1600 . the spring - loaded level lock has an internal spring 2010 and a round rod 2020 . the spring 2010 pushes against the round rod 2020 so that the movement of the linking bar 1600 from the solid line position to the centerline position is stable . hence , the document cover panel 1200 can remain in a horizontal position . 1 . floor space is reduced because the optical scanner is erected vertically relative to the floor . furthermore , volume of the optical scanner is not limited by size of the document . 2 . a simple four linkage parallel mechanism is used . this mechanism maintains a constant parallelism between the document cover panel and the transparent panel . weight of the document cover also presses a scan document firmly onto the glass surface of the transparent panel . 3 . the handle on the backing plate permits easy lifting of the document cover panel . 4 . a stationing device for holding the document cover panel in a horizontal position facilitates single hand insertion of a scan document . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention . in view of the foregoing , it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents . | 7 |
as will be described in detail hereinafter with reference to fig5 to 15 , an arrangement of a subscriber line interface circuit in a switching system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a subscriber line interface circuit package having packet communication signal processing circuits each of which include , a digital signal processing processor and a phase locked loop circuit . the digital signal processor includes an address generating circuit , a serial receiving interface circuit , a serial sending interface circuit and a parallel port interface circuit . fig5 is a block diagram showing a subscriber line interface circuit package 30 having m subscriber lines and corresponding to the subscriber line interface circuit 3a as illustrated in fig1 . the subscriber line interface circuit package 30 comprises a microprocessor cpu 31 , a switch interface circuit 32 for interfacing with the switch circuit in the switching system as illustrated in fig1 line terminal circuits or so - called borschts 34 1 to 34 m for subjecting subscriber lines 33 1 to 33 m to terminal processing and packet communication signal processors 35 1 to 35 m for assembling and disassembling the packets and processing voice signals . the switch interface circuit 32 is not connected with a system bus 36 . according to the present invention , each of the packet communication signal processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m and the switch interface circuit 32 serially receive and send data directly without using the system bus 36 . the packet communication signal processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m have input and output lines for serial data which are multiconnected ( wire ored ). furthermore , the line terminal circuits or borschts 34 1 to 34 m are not connected with the system bus 36 . the borschts 34 1 to 34 m are connected with the corresponding packet communication signal processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m by way of local buses 37 1 to 37 m . that is , each of the packet communication signal processing circuits 36 1 to 36 m finally controls one of the line terminal circuits 34 1 to 34 m . each of the packet communication signal processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m also effects a call control progress . the voice signals are sent and received as analog signals between packet communication signal processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m and the corresponding borschts 34 1 to 34 m . accrodingly , the borschts 34 1 to 34 m each employs a analog processing arrangement . in more detail , a borscht comprises a battery feed circuit , an overvoltage protection circuit , a ring circuit , a supervision circuit , a coding decoding circuit , a hybrid circuit and a testing circuit . the operation of the subscriber line interface circuit package 30 will now be described . the operating modes of the packet communication signal processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m provided for the corresponding subscriber lines 33 1 to 33 m are determined by the instructions of the host microprocessor 31 . the packet communication signal processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m control the borschts 34 1 to 34 m provided for the corresponding subscriber lines 33 1 to 33 m in accordance with the instructions of the host microprocessor 31 by way of the local buses 37 1 to 37 m ( e . g . battery feed control , ring control , testing control and the like ), collect information about the state of lines of each subscriber line 33 1 to 33 m from the borschts 34 1 to 34 m ( e . g . loop scanning of the line , numeral information sent out by the phone and the like ), and supply the collected information to the host microprocessor 31 . the analog voice signals are supplied by the subscriber lines for the duration of the call to the packet communication processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m by way of borschts 34 1 to 34 m . the packet communication signal processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m convert the analog voice signals to the digital voice signals by an oversampling analog / digital converter incorporated therein . furthermore , the packet communication signal processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m subject the converted digital signals to a variety of voice signal processings ( e . g . noise mixing elimination , voice or silence discrimination , voice coding , near - end echo elimination and the like ) and store the processed digital signals in a memory incorporated therein in an arbitrary packet format . when the data for one packet is stored in the memory , a header is allocated to the packet and a send request flag is made active . the packet communication signal processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m sense a busy signal line bsy at a prescribed timing on the basis of a synchronous signal syn supplied by the packet switched network and check as to whether the packet data can be transferred to the switch interface circuit 32 . if the busy signal bsy is inactive , a packet communication signal processing circuits 35 1 is allowed to make the busy signal bsy active and transfer its packet data to the switch interface circuit 32 as serial output data so . the packet communication signal processing circuit 35 1 to deactivates the busy signal bsy upon competion of the transfer of the packet data . if the busy signal bsy is active , the other packet communication signal processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m avoid transmitting packet data and sense the busy signal bsy at a timing prescribed on the basis of the next synchronous signal syn . the processings set forth above are repeated until the busy signal bsy becomes inactive . in contrast , when the switch interface circuit 32 transfers received or addressed packet data to one of the packet communication signal processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m , the switch interface circuit 32 first activates a packet data receiving request signal rreq at the timing assigned to each of the corresponding packet communication processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m , whereupon a packet receiving request flag incorporated in the designated one of packet communication signal processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m becomes active . the designated packet communication signal processing circuit 35 1 to 35 m checks the packet receiving request flag at the timing prescribed on the basis of the synchronous signal syn supplied by the packet switched network . if the packet receiving request flag is active , the designated packet communication signal processing circuit ; 35 1 to 35 m receives the packet data from the switching interface circuit 32 and stores it in the memory incorporated therein . the packet communication signal processing circuit deactivates its packet receiving request flag of after reception of the packet data . thereafter , the packet communication signal processing circuit extracts the received packet data from the internal memory , analyzes the header for subjecting the packet data to various voice signal processings , converts it to the analog voice signal by the oversampling digital / analog converter and supplies the analog voice signal to the corresponding one of subscriber lines 33 1 to 33 m by way of the corresponding one of borschts 34 1 to 34 m . the packet communication signal processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m will be described in more detail with reference to fig6 . the arrangement comprises one large - scale integrated circuit ( lsi ). in fig6 one of the packet commuinication signal processing circuit 35 1 to 35 m comprises an analog / digital digital / analog converter 40 ( hereinafter referred to as ad - da converter ) operable in accordance with an oversampling system , a digital signal processor dsp 41 and a phase locked loop circuit pll 42 . a synchronous signal syn and a clock signal clk are synchronous with the communication network . these signals are supplied from a host device of the subscriber line interface circuit package 30 to the phase locked loop circuit pll 42 . the phase locked loop circuit pll 42 generates a new synchronous signal syncp and two kinds of clock signals clkcp and clksmp , both of which are synchronous with the signal syn and the clock signal clk . the signal syncp and the clock signal clkcp are supplied to the digital signal processor 41 and the clock signal clksmp is supplied to the ad da converter 40 . the analog voice signal ain supplied by one of the borschts 34 1 to 34 m is sampled at high speed by the ad - da converter 40 on the basis of the clock signal clksmp and converted to a digital signal dc , which is supplied to the digital signal processor 41 . on the other hand , a digital signal di provided by the digital signal processor 41 is converted to an analog signal aout by the ad - da converter 40 on the basis of the clock signal clksmp , and thereafter supplied to the borsht . the digital signal processor dsp 41 and the phase locked loop circuit pll 42 will be described in detail . inasmuch as the ad - da converter 40 is not a featured arrangement , the explanation thereof will be omitted . the digital signal processor dsp 41 executes call processing or progress and voice signal processing in response to the instructions of the host microprocessor 31 , and supplies information obtained by the call progress to the host microprocessor 31 . the digital signal processor dsp 41 comprises , as illustrated in fig6 an address generating circuit 44 , a memory 46 having a ram 45 , an arithmetic operation unit 47 and a control unit 48 . the memory 46 , the arithmetic operation unit 47 and the control unit 48 are respectively connected with each other via an internal data bus 43 so that the data can be transferred to each other . the arithmetic operation unit 47 executes arithmetic operations and logical operations needed for effecting the call progress and the voice signal processing . the control unit 48 is connected with the microprocessor by way of an address bus ab , a bilateral data bus , a signal line for a write enable signal we , a signal line for a read enable signal oe and a signal line for a chip enable signal ( ce ). a rom is not illustrated in fig6 it can be provided along with the ram 45 in the memory 46 . the digital signal processor dsp 41 is connected with a parallel port interface circuit 49 by way of the internal data bus 43 . the parallel port interface circuit 49 is connected with the corresponding one of borschts 34 1 to 34 m by way of signal lines for a parallel data input p1 and a parallel data output po for receiving and sending data needed for the call progress , testing , maintenance , supervision and the like . the digital signal processor dsp 41 is further connected by way of the internal bus 43 with a serial sending interface circuit 50 for sending and receiving the packet data to and from the packet switch , and a serial receiving interface circuit 51 for receiving the packet data . the serial sending interface circuit 50 and the serial receiving interface circuit 51 are respectively connected with the other packet communication signal processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m by way of signal lines for sending and receiving the busy signal bsy , for sending the serial output data so , for receiving the serial input data si and the receiving request signal rreq . fig7 is a block diagram showing in detail the phase locked loop circuit pll 42 as illustrated in fig6 and fig8 is a timing diagram of for the signals . the phase locked loop circuit pll 42 comprises , as well known , a phase difference detector 52 , a low - pass filter lpf 53 , a voltage - controlled oscillator vco 54 and a frequency divider 55 . the phase locked loop circuit pll 42 further comprises , in addition to the constituents set forth just above , two nand gates 57 , 58 and an and gate 59 . the voltage - controlled oscillator vco 54 creates the clock signal clkcp ( fig8 ( d )) which is supplied to the digital signal processor 41 . the frequency of clock signal clkcp is reduced by a predetermined fraction by the frequency divider 55 . the divided frequency is supplied from the frequency divider 55 as a clock signal clksmp ( fig8 ( e )) to the ad - da converter 40 and to the phase difference detector 52 . the clock signal clk , which is synchronous with the packet switched network , is also supplied to the phase difference detector 52 . the phase difference detector 52 generates a pulse corresponding to the phase difference between the clock signal clksmp and the clock signal clk . the phase difference pulse is converted to a direct current signal by the low - pass filter 53 and supplied to the voltage - controlled oscillator 54 as a frequency control signal . the high speed clock signal clkcp is thus made to be synchronous with the clock signal clk . the synchronous signal syn ( fig8 ( a )) has a pulse width corresponding to one clock cycle of the clock signal clk and frequency which is twice the bandwidth of the analog voice signal . the phase locked loop circuit pll 42 creates a synchronous signal syncp ( fig8 ( c )) which is sycnchronous with the synchronous signal syn and supplied to the digital signal processor 41 . the shift register circuit 56 receives the synchronous signal syn as the data and an inverted clock signal clkcp provided by the nand gate 57 as the shifting clock signal . the output of the shift register 56 at some shift stage ( the second stage in fig8 ) is directly supplied to the and gate 59 , and the output of the shift register 56 at this shift stage incremented one stage is inverted by the nand gate 58 and supplied to the and gate 59 . hence , the and gate 59 supplies an output synchronous signal cyncp having a pulse width corresponding to one clock cycle of the clock signal clkcp to the digital signal processor 41 at the data timing illustrated in fig8 ( f ). the phase locked loop circuit pll 42 is included in one lsi constituting the packet communication signal processing circuit 35 , so that the arrangement thereof is simplified and and synchronized with the network . if the phase locked loop circuit pll 42 were provided outside the lsi , there would be serious problem of crosstalk in processing high frequency signals , hence the phase locked loop circuit pll 42 is included in one lsi . an overall operation of the packet communication signal processors 35 1 to 35 m will be described hereinafter . all the operating modes of the packet communication signal processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m are determined by the instructions of the host computer 31 . the packet communication signal processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m control their borschts 34 1 to 34 m by way of the parallel port interface circuits 49 on the basis of the instructions of the host microprocessor 31 ( battery feed control , ringing control , testing control ) and collect the line states from the borschts ( e . g . loop scanning of the lines , numerical information sent out from the phone ), and then convey the collected information to the host microprocessor 31 . the voice analog signal ain provided by one of the borschts 34 for the duration of a call is converted to a digital signal by the ad - da converter 40 and supplied to the digital signal processor 41 . the digital signal is subjected to various voice signal processings ( e . g . noise mixing elmination , voice or silence discrimination , voice coding , near - end echo elmination and the like ) and stored thereafter in the memory 46 in an arbitrary packet format . when the data for one packet has been stored in the memory 46 , the digital signal processor 41 allocates a header to the packet and transfers the packet to the switch circuit at high speed by way of the serial sending interface circuit 50 . on the other hand , a received packet transferred from the switch circuit by way of serial receiving interface circuit 51 is temporarily stored in the memory 46 . thereafter , the digital signal processing processor 41 extracts the received packet data from the memory 46 , analyzes the header and subjects the packet data to various voice signal processings , after which the data is supplied to the ad - da converter 40 . the packet data is subjected to digital / analog conversion by the ad - da converter 40 and supplied to the borscht as the analog voice signal aout . the address generating circuit 44 , the serial receiving interface circuit 51 , the serial sending interface circuit 50 and the parallel port interface circuit 49 respectively constituting the digital signal processor 41 will be described more in detail hereinafter . the arithmetic operation unit 47 comprises an arithmetic and logic unit alu , a multiplier , register , an accumulator acc , and the like . the control unit 48 comprises an instruction register and the like . however , neither the arithmetic operation unit 47 nor the control unit 48 need to be further explained . fig9 is a block diagram showing an arrangement of the address generating circuit 44 the address generating circuit 44 has an arithmetic unit 60 for adding a first address signal adr1 to an address varing signal δadr . the output signal of the arithmetic unit 60 is supplied to the input of a selector 61 together with an immediate addressing signal adrimm for determining the initialization . the selector 61 selects the immediate addressing signal adrimm or the output of the arithmetic unit 60 on the basis of a selection signal sel1 and has an output connected to a register 62 . the register 62 stores the output of the selector 61 and provides the first address signal adr1 on the basis of the synchronization with a latch clock signal ck1 . a selector 63 selects the output of an adder 64 or the immediate addressing signal adrimm on the basis of a selection signal sel2 , and has an output connected to a register 65 . the register 65 stores temporarily the output of the selector 63 and provides a second address signal adr2 on the basis of the synchronization of a latch clock signal ck2 . the second address signal adr2 is supplied commonly to the input of the adder 64 and to one input of a third selector 66 . the adder 64 adds 1 to the second address signal adr2 . the selector 66 selects one of the first address signal adrl and the second address signal adr2 and provides an address output signal ramadr . the second address signal adr2 is a signal to get access to the ram 45 at the time of transfer of the packet data and the first signal adr is a signal to get access to a ram 45 at the time when the packet data is not transferred . the operation of the address generating circuit 44 will be described with reference to fig1 , which shows the transfer of a packet . the voice input signal is , before transfer of the packet , first converted to the packet data format and stored in the ram 45 . when a packet has been stored in the ram 45 , a flag for requesting sending of the packet ( sreqf in fig1 , which will be described later ) is set , whereby the select signal sel of the selector 66 is controlled to select the second address signal adr2 . assuming that the first address location for transferring the packet data has previously been determined and the initial address thereof has been stored in the register 65 as a result of the immediate address signal adrimm , the address signal adr2 is supplied as the address output signal ramadr to the ram45 . as a result , the packet data corresponding to the second address signal adr2 is read and transferred to the serial sending interface circuit 50 . at the same time , the latch clock signal ck2 is supplied to the register 65 , which stores the value obtained by adding 1 to the present address . therefore , the select signal sel of the selector 60 is controlled to select the first address adr1 , whereby the digital signal processor 41 returns to execute processings other than the tranfer of the packet . assuming that the processing speed by the digital signal processor 41 relatative to that by the serial sending interface circuit 50 is 1 : 64 , the packet data is transmitted from the ram 45 to the serial sending interface circuit 50 by a transfer order every 64 steps as illustrated in fig1 . the flow chart of fig1 shows the transfer operations of the for packet data having 16 words , namely , transfer operations repeated 16 times . for example , at transfer 1 , the data stored at the address 0000h of the ram 45 is first read and supplied to the serial sending interface circuit 50 . upon completion of the transfer of the packet in transfer 1 , the digital signal processor 41 starts to process other signals . upon completion of processing of the signal located at the address 2f31h of the ram 45 at the 64th step , a second packet transfer , transfer 2 , starts . thereafter the transfer operations are repeated until transfer 16 is completed . in case of reception of the packet data , a flag for requesting reception of the packet ( rrefg in fig1 ) is set and , the packet data is successively transferred to and stored in the ram 45 . thereafter the packet data is subjected to a reproduction procesing and supplied to the ad - da converter 40 , whereby the analog voice output signal is produced . the serial receiving interface circuit 51 will now be described in detail with reference to fig1 and fig1 . the serial receiving interface circuit 51 comprises a d - type flipflop circuit 70 , and gates 71 and 72 , a shift register 73 , a latch circuit 74 , a three - state buffer circuit 75 and an rs flipflop circuit 76 . serial receiving interface circuit 51 converts a serial receiving packet to a parallel receiving packet and supplies the parallel receiving packet to the internal data bus 43 . the receiving request signal rreq ( fig1 ( b )), which becomes active when the packet data is supplied to the subscriber line interface circuit , is supplied to the digital signal processor circuit 41 . the receiving request signal rreq is supplied to the data terminal of the d - type flipflop circuit 70 . a clock pulse signal ckscn ( fig1 ( c )) having the same period ( hereinafter referred to as a frame ) as the synchronous signal syn ( fig1 ( a )) is supplied to the clock terminal of the d - type flipflop 70 . the receiving request signal rreq is sampled by the clock pulse signal ckscn in the d - type flipflop circuit 70 and a the receiving request flag rrefg ( fig1 ( d )) is set . the receiving request flag rrefg is supplied to the control unit 48 of the digital signal processor 41 as notification of a receiving request from external equipment and to the and gates 71 and 72 as a passage control signal . a shift clock pulse signal sckr ( fig1 ( f )), passes the and gate 71 when it operates and is supplied to the shift register 73 , e . g . the clock signal clkcp , has the same number of pulses in one frame thereof as the number of bits constituting a packet . a latch pulse signal lp ( fig1 ( g )), which passes the and gate 72 when it operates and is supplied to the latch circuit 74 , is generated every given number of bits in synchronism with the shift clock pulse signal sckr . the shift register circuit 73 converts a serial input to a parallel output . it receives a serial receiving data si ( fig1 ( e )) during a packet receiving operation on the basis of the shift clock pulse signal sckr passed by the and gate 71 . the data received by the shift register circuit 73 and converted to a parallel output is supplied to a data terminal d of the latch circuit 74 . the latch circuit 74 latches the output of the shift register circuit 73 on the basis of the latch pulse signal lp provided by the and gate 72 and supplies the latch output lat ( fig1 ( h )) to the three - state buffer circuit 75 . the rs flipflop 76 receives the output lp of the and gate 72 at its set terminal s and is set at the instant when the latch circuit 74 latches the output of the shift register 73 . the rs flipflop 76 supplies a receiving acknowledge flag rakfg ( fig1 ( j )) from its output terminal q to inform the control unit 48 of the digital signal processor 41 of the completion of the receipt of part of a packet . while the receiving acknowledge flag rakfg is active , a source enable signal srcen ( fig1 ( i )) indicative of a reception enable state relative to a signal source becomes active . the source enable signal is supplied to to the control terminal of the three - state buffer circuit 75 and a reset terminal r of the rs flipflop circuit 76 . when the source enable signal srcen is active , the output data of the latch circuit 74 is supplied to the internal data bus 43 and the rs flipflop circuit 76 is reset to deactivate the receiving acknowledge flag rakfg so that the rs fipflop 76 is ready for shift register 73 to receive the next data of a given number of bits . the operations are repeated until the data for one packet is received . the serial sending interface circuit 50 will now be described with reference to fig1 and fig1 . the serial sending interface circuit 50 comprises nand gates 77 and 82 , and gates 78 , 81 , 84 , 85 and 89 a d - type flipflop circuit 79 , an open collector ( or drain ) nand gate 80 , rs flipflop circuits 83 and 88 , a latch circuit 86 , a shift register circuit 87 and an open collector ( or drain ) nand gate 90 . serial pending interface circuit 50 converts the parallel data supplied via the internal data bus 43 to serial data which is supplied to the switch interface circit 32 as the addressing or sending packet . the reeiving request signal rreq ( fig1 ( b )), as explained in connection with the serial receiving interface circuit 51 , is also supplied to the serial sending interface circuit 50 . this serves as a conflic control provision for stopping a serial sending operation at the time of a serial receiving operation . the receiving request signal rreq is inverted by the nand gate 77 and supplied to the and gate 78 . the sending request flag sreqf ( fig1 ( c )) becomes active when an addressing packet is stored in the memory of the digital signal processor 41 for one packet and becomes inactive upon completion of the sending of the packet . the sending request flag sreqf is supplied to the and gates 78 81 and to the nand gate 82 . a busy signal bsy ( fig1 ( d )) provided by the output q of the rs flipflop 83 is a conflic signal that is necessary for use in the multiconnection arrangement of the packet communication signal processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m as shown in fig5 . the busy signal is inverted to an active low signal bsy ( indicating active low ) by the nand gate 80 and supplied to the and gate 78 and to the other packet communication signal processor circuits 35 1 to 35 m . as mentioned above , the conflict control is necessary since that the packet communication signal processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m are provided in a &# 34 ;; multiconnection arrangement . the busy terminals of the packet communication signal processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m are multiconnected ( wire ored ) and pulled up by an external resistor ( not shown ). the digital signal processor 41 scans the inverted busy signal bsy to ascertain whether none of the packet communication signal processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m is executing a transmission operation and sending packet data . that is , if the busy signal bsy is &# 34 ; h &# 34 ;, the digital signal processor 41 allows the busy signal bsy to become &# 34 ; l &# 34 ; so that the packet communication signal processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m cam can not start to send a packet , except by the concerned one of circuits 35 1 to 35 m , which can thereafter transmit its packet . the digital signal processor 41 makes the busy signal bsy to return to &# 34 ; h &# 34 ; upon completion of the transmission of the packet . the clock pulse signal ckscn ( fig1 ( e )) has the same frame duration as the synchronous signal syn ( fig1 ( a )) and is supplied to the clock terminal ck of the d - type flipflop circuit 79 . the d - type flipflop circuit 79 samples the output of the and gate 78 and supplies its q output to the and gates 81 , 84 , 85 and 89 . the q output also serves as a sending acknowledge flag sakfg ( fig1 ( f )) and informs the control unit 48 of the digital signal processor 41 that the packet can be transmitted . the active condition of the sending acknowledge flag sakfg indicates that , due to logical condition of the and gate 78 , ( 1 ) there is a sending request for a packet ( 2 ) there is no receiving request for a packet and ( 3 ) other packet communication signal processing circuits excepting the concerned circuit are not transmitting a packet . the rs flipflop circuit 83 receives at its set terminal s the output of and gate 81 , which is produced when the sending request flag sreqf and the sending acknowledge flag sakfg ( q79 ) are anded by gate 81 . the rs flipflop circuit 83 receives at its reset terminal r the inverted sending request flag sreqf from the nand gate 82 . the q output of rs flipflop circuit 83 is inverted by the open collector nand gate 80 to form the busy signal bsy . that is , when the sending acknowledge flag sakfg becomes active , the rs flipflop circuit 83 is set so that the inverted busy signal bsy is &# 34 ; l &# 34 ; and informs the other packet communication signal processing circuits 35 1 to 35 m that a packet is now being transmitting . when the sending acknowledge flag sakfg becomes inactive , the flipflop circuit 83 is reset so that the inverted busy signal bsy is returned to &# 34 ; h &# 34 ;. a destination enable signal dsten ( fig1 ( g )) is supplied from the digital signal processor 41 to the latch circuit 86 and the rs flipflop 88 . when the control unit 48 of the digital signal processor 41 designates the latch circuit 86 as the destination at the time of execution of the transfer instruction order , the destination enable signal dsten becomes active and at the same time the rs flipflop circuit 88 is reset . at this time , the q output of the rs flipflop circuit 88 is provided as a transfer acknowledge flag coacfg ( fig1 ( l )). the transfer acknowledge flag coacfg keeps inactive until the data latched by the latch circuit 86 is loaded into the shift register circuit 87 and informs the control unit 48 of the digital signal processor 41 that the latch circuit 86 is now operated . a shift clock pulse signal scks ( fig1 ( j )) has the same number of pulses as the number of bits constituting in one frame of a packet . the signal scks is supplied to the and gate 85 which is operable by reception of the sending acknowledge flag sakfg . a load pulse signal ldp ( fig1 ( i )) is supplied to the and gate 84 , which is operable by reception of the sending acknowledge flag sakfg . the shift register circuit 87 is used as a parallel input and a serial output device . it receives the load pulse signal ldp from the and gate 84 at the given timing when the packet data is transmitted , thereby loading the latched data of the latch circuit 86 ( fig1 ( h )). at the same time , the rs flipflop circuit 88 is set so that the transfer acknowledge flag coacfg becomes active and informs the control unit 48 of the digital signal processor 41 that the latch circuit 86 is not to be operated . the shift register circuit 87 receives the shift clock signal scks from the and gate 85 at the given timing and supplies the data in the shift register circuit 87 to the open collector nand gate 90 to provide a serial output ( fig1 ( k )). a sending enable signal sen ( fig1 ( m )) is supplied from the control unit 48 to the and gate 89 . the sending enable signal sen has a cycle corresponding to one frame and becomes active during the period when the shift register 87 provides the packet data . hence , when the sending acknowledge flag sakfg becomes active , the output of the and gate 89 allows the open collector nand gate 90 to operate . as a result , the serially converted packet data is supplied to the switch interface circuit 32 . the serial sending data so is pulled up by an external resistance ( not shown ) since it is the output of the open collector nand gate 90 . the operations are repeated until the data for one packet is transmitted . the parallel port interface circuit 49 will now be described in more detail with reference to fig1 . the parallel port interface circuit 49 comprises a latch circuit 91 and a three - state buffer circuit 92 . circuit 49 latches the data from the internal bus 43 of the digital signal processor 41 at the timing of the latch pulse signal lp1 and supplies it to the borschts . the parallel port interface circuit 49 also takes the data from the borschts into the internal data bus 43 by way of the three - state buffer circuit 92 , which is operable by a source enable signal srcen1 . | 7 |
embodiments generally relate to semiconductor devices or ics . the devices or ics can be any type of device or ic , such as memory devices including dynamic random access memories ( drams ), static random access memories ( srams ), non - volatile memories including programmable read - only memories ( proms ) and flash memories , optoelectronic devices , logic devices , communication devices , digital signal processors ( dsps ), microcontrollers , system - on - chip , as well as other types of devices . such devices or ics can be incorporated in various types of products , for example , computers and communication devices or systems such as phones and personal digital assistants ( pdas ). although embodiments are generally described in the context of semiconductor devices or ics , other types of devices are also useful . fig1 shows a cross - sectional view of a portion of an ic 200 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention . the portion includes a substrate 205 . the substrate comprises , for example , a silicon substrate . the silicon substrate is typically lightly doped with p - type dopants . other types of substrates , such as silicon - on - insulator ( soi ), silicon germanium , are also useful . the substrate is prepared with first and second active regions 208 a - b . the active regions comprise heavily doped regions 209 a - b with dopants of opposite polarity types . for example , the first active region is a p - type doped well ; the second active region is a n - type doped well . p - type dopants can include boron ( b ), aluminum ( al ) or a combination thereof while n - type dopants can include phosphorus ( p ), arsenic ( as ), antimony ( sb ) or a combination thereof . isolating the active regions from each other and other device regions on the substrate are isolation regions 280 . the isolation regions , for example , comprise sti regions . other types of isolation regions are also useful . the active regions comprise first and second transistors 210 a - b . the first transistor comprises a first type transistor and the second transistor comprises a second type transistor . in one embodiment , the first transistor comprises a n - type transistor on the p - type doped well and the second transistor comprises a p - type transistor on a n - type doped well . a transistor includes a gate or gate stack 220 . the gate stack , for example , includes a gate electrode 224 over a gate dielectric 222 . typically , the gate electrode comprises polysilicon ( doped or undoped ) while the gate dielectric comprises silicon oxide . other types of gate electrode or dielectric material are also useful . the gate stack includes dielectric spacers on the gate sidewalls . the dielectric spacers comprise , for example , a dielectric material such as oxide and / or nitride . other types of dielectric materials are also useful . in one embodiment , each dielectric spacer comprises a l - shaped silicon oxide liner 262 on which a silicon nitride spacer 260 is disposed . other types of spacers or spacer designs are also useful . first and second source / drain ( sd ) diffusion regions 235 and 237 are provided in the substrate adjacent to the gates . in one embodiment , a diffusion region includes a shallow sd extension portion and a deep sd portion . for p - type transistors , the diffusion regions comprise p - type dopants while n - type dopants are used for n - type transistors . metal silicide contacts 245 can be provided on the surface of the diffusion regions and gate stack . the silicide contacts serve to reduce sheet resistance . various types of metal silicide contacts can be used , such as nickel or nickel - alloy silicide contacts . other type of metal silicide contacts can also be useful . although only one transistor is shown in each active region , it is understood that in an ic there are typically numerous transistors in an active region . for example , an active region can include densely populated ( nested ) or less densely populated ( iso ) transistors , or a combination of both . typically , adjacent nested transistors share a common sd diffusion region . furthermore , there may also be numerous first and second type active regions . in accordance with one embodiment of the invention , a stress liner 270 is provided on the substrate . the stress liner comprises first and second stress portions . in one embodiment , the stress liner comprises first and second portions covering first and second transistors . the first and second portions have different stresses . for example , the first portion comprises a tensile stress while the second portion comprises a compressive stress . the tensile stress portion improves carrier mobility of the n - type transistors while the compressive stress improves carrier mobility of the p - type transistors . the first and second portions of the stress liner , when deposited , comprise the same material . the stress liner , in one embodiment , comprises a material having a first stress . one portion of the stress liner is treated to produce a second stress while the untreated portion is maintained at the first stress . the respective stress of the different portions improves carrier mobility of the different transistors . in one embodiment , the stress liner comprises a compressive stress material . a first portion covering the n - type transistor is treated to convert it into a tensile stress material while leaving the second untreated portion with compressive stress . the stress liner , in one embodiment , comprises silicon nitride . other types of materials are also useful . by providing a single stress layer with first and second stress portions , a smooth interface 272 between the portions results without complex processing which is required in conventional dual stress liners . as shown , the interface is located at the isolation region between the active regions . a premetal dielectric ( pmd ) layer ( not shown ) can be provided over the substrate , separating the substrate and transistor from a metal layer . the pmd layer comprises , for example , silicon oxide . other types of dielectric materials , such as silicon nitride , are also useful . via plugs ( not shown ) are provided in the pmd layer which are coupled to metal lines of a metal layer ( not shown ) over the pmd layer . the plugs and metal lines form interconnections as desired . fig2 a - e show cross - sectional views of a process for forming an ic 200 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention . referring to fig2 a , a substrate 205 is provided . the substrate can comprise a silicon substrate , such as a lightly doped p - type substrate . other types of substrates , including silicon - on - insulator ( soi ) or silicon germanium , are also useful . the substrate is prepared with first and second active regions 208 a - b . the active regions comprise heavily doped regions 209 a - b with dopants of opposite polarity types . for example , the first active region includes a p - type doped well ; the second active region includes a n - type doped well . p - type dopants can include boron ( b ), aluminum ( al ) or a combination thereof while n - type dopants can include phosphorus ( p ), arsenic ( as ), antimony ( sb ) or a combination thereof . to form the active regions , conventional ion implantation techniques , such as implantation with a mask can be used . generally , the first and second types of active regions are formed in separate processes . other techniques for forming the active regions are also useful . the substrate is also prepared with isolation regions 280 to separate the active regions from each other and other active device regions . in one embodiment , the isolation regions comprise stis . various conventional processes can be employed to form the sti regions . for example , the substrate can be etched using conventional etch and mask techniques to form trenches which are then filled with dielectric material such as silicon oxide . chemical mechanical polishing ( cmp ) can be performed to remove excess oxide and provide a planar substrate top surface . the sti regions can be formed , for example , prior to or after the formation of the doped wells . other processes or materials can also be used to form the stis . transistors 210 a - b are prepared in the first and second active regions . a first transistor is formed in the first active region and a second transistor is formed in the second active region . in one embodiment , the first transistor comprises a n - type transistor formed in a p - type well and the second transistor comprises a p - type transistor formed in a n - type well . a transistor includes a gate or gate stack 220 . the gate stack , for example , includes a gate electrode 224 over a gate dielectric 222 . typically , the gate electrode comprises polysilicon ( doped or undoped ) while the gate dielectric comprises silicon oxide . other types of gate electrode or dielectric materials are also useful . conventional processes can be used to form the gate stacks of the transistors . for example , gate stack layers such as gate dielectric and gate electrode are sequentially formed on the substrate . the gate stack layers are patterned to form the gate stacks . to pattern the gate stack layers , mask and etch processes can be used . the gate stack layers can be patterned to form gate conductors . a gate conductor serves as a common gate for a plurality of transistors . the gate stack includes dielectric spacers on the gate sidewalls . the dielectric spacers comprise , for example , a dielectric material such as oxide and / or nitride . other types of dielectric materials are also useful . in one embodiment , each dielectric spacer comprises a l - shaped silicon oxide liner 262 on which a silicon nitride spacer 260 is disposed . other types of spacers or spacer designs are also useful . forming the spacers can include forming a first and second dielectric layer and patterning them to form the spacers . first and second source / drain ( sd ) diffusion regions 235 and 237 are provided in the substrate adjacent to the gates . the doped regions are formed by ion implantation . the implant can be self - aligned or formed using an implant mask . other techniques for forming the diffusion regions are also useful . for p - type transistors , the diffusion regions comprise p - type dopants while n - type dopants are used for n - type transistors . the p - type and n - type diffusion regions are formed in separate implantation processes . in one embodiment , a diffusion region includes a shallow sd extension portion and a deep sd portion . for example , shallow sd extension portions are formed after the gates are patterned and the deep sd portions are formed after spacer formation . after the formation of diffusion regions , the dopants are activated by , for example , an annealing process . the annealing also serves to facilitate recovery from any deformation to the crystal structure incurred during the process of ion implantation . various types of annealing , such as rapid thermal annealing , spike annealing , laser spike annealing or flash lamp anneal can be used . the anneal , for example , can be performed at about 950 - 1300 ° c . metal silicide contacts 245 can be provided on the surface of the diffusion regions and gate stacks . the silicide contacts serve to reduce sheet resistance . various types of metal silicide contacts can be used , such as nickel or nickel - alloy silicide contacts . other types of metal silicide contacts are also useful . to form metal silicide contacts , a metal layer is formed over the substrate . the metal layer is processed by annealing , causing a reaction with the silicon and metal to form metal silicide contacts in the diffusion regions and gate electrode . in one embodiment , a rapid thermal anneal at a temperature of about 400 - 500 ° c . in a n 2 ambient for about 5 - 10 sec is employed . other process parameters may also be useful . untreated or excess metal is removed , leaving the metal silicide contacts . as discussed , an active region can include numerous transistors . for example , an active region can include densely populated ( nested ) or less densely populated ( iso ) transistors or a combination of both . typically , adjacent nested transistors share a common s / d diffusion region . furthermore , there may also be numerous first and second type active regions . referring to fig2 b , the process continues by depositing a stress liner 270 over the substrate . the stress liner covers the transistors in the first and second active regions . in one embodiment , the stress liner comprises a first stress . the first stress , in one embodiment , comprises compressive stress . the stress liner , for example , can be silicon nitride . other types of stress inducing materials are also useful . various techniques , such as cvd , can be used to form the stress layer . preferably , the stress liner is formed by pecvd at a temperature of about 400 - 500 ° c . typically , the stress layer is about 300 - 700 ° å thick . forming the stress layer with other thicknesses is also useful . in fig2 c , a mask layer 285 is formed on the substrate and patterned to expose one of the active regions . the mask layer can comprise photoresist . other types of mask materials are also useful . in one embodiment , the mask is patterned to expose a first portion of the stress layer over the first active region for treatment to alter the stress characteristics of that portion of the stress layer . conventional techniques , such as exposure and development , may then be used to pattern the photoresist layer . in one embodiment , a stress relaxation treatment 295 is performed on the stress liner . the stress relaxation treatment comprises , in one embodiment , first and second processes . the first process comprises implanting the exposed first portion of the stress liner with stress relaxing ions . the ions , for example , comprise ge , xe or a combination thereof . the implant dose , for example , can be about 1e14 - 5e15 ions / cm 2 at about 30 ˜ 70 kev . the mask protects the second portion of the stress layer over the second active region from being affected by the relaxation treatment . the relaxation treatment relaxes or reduces the stress in the first portion of the stress liner . after ion implantation , the mask layer is removed from the second portion of the stress liner , as shown in fig2 d . the stress liner is then further treated with a second stress relaxing treatment to cause the first portion with stress relaxing ions to produce a second stress . in one embodiment , the stress liner is further treated to produce a tensile stress in the first portion , while the second portion is maintained at a compressive stress . the tensile stress , for example , is about 0 . 5 gpa . in one embodiment , the second treatment comprises uv treatment . the uv treatment , for example , is performed at about 400 - 500 ° c . for about 10 min to 1 hour . as described , the stress liner is treated with the second stress treatment without having a mask layer over the second portion . by providing a single stress layer with first and second stress portions , a smooth interface 272 between the portions is obtained without complex processing which is required in conventional dual stress liners . the interface is located at the isolation region between the active regions . as shown in fig2 e , a pmd layer 290 is deposited over the substrate . the pmd layer serves as an interlevel dielectric layer between the substrate and a metal layer above the pmd layer . the process continues by forming interconnections to the contacts of the transistors . for example , the pmd layer is patterned to create vias and trenches . the vias and trenches are then filled with conductive material , such as copper , to form interconnects . additional processes are performed to complete the ic , for example , additional interconnect levels , final passivation , dicing , and packaging . fig3 shows a plot 300 of an experiment conducted to compare stress characteristics of a compressive silicon nitride film and one that has been treated in accordance with one embodiment of the invention . the shaded bars correspond to the compressive silicon nitride film with treatment and the un - shaded bars correspond to the untreated compressive silicon nitride film . as indicated by graph 310 , the as deposited silicon nitride films have a compressive stress of about − 1 . 9 gpa . after implantation with ge or xe , the treated film is relaxed to about − 0 . 2 gpa while the untreated film is maintained at about − 1 . 9 gpa , as indicated by graph 320 . graph 330 shows the stress characteristics of the films after uv treatment . the treated silicon nitride film has a stress of 0 . 5 gpa ( e . g ., tensile stress ). the untreated silicon nitride film is slightly relaxed to about − 1 . 8 gpa after uv treatment . it is believed that the change in stress is attributed to film shrinkage based on reflective index . implanting the film with relaxing ions causes the film to shrink a greater amount when exposed to uv . fig4 shows a plot 400 comparing the reflective index of a treated and untreated compressive silicon nitride film . the shaded bars correspond to the compressive silicon nitride film with treatment and the un - shaded bars correspond to the untreated compressive silicon nitride film . as indicated by graphs 410 , 420 and 430 , the uv causes the treated film to have a lower reflective index , evidencing a greater amount of shrinkage . the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof . the foregoing embodiments , therefore , are to be considered in all respects illustrative rather than limiting the invention described herein . scope of the invention is thus indicated by the appended claims , rather than by the foregoing description , and all changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced therein . | 7 |
in schematic form , fig1 is a cross - sectional view of an example embodiment of the component assembly according to the present invention . for example , the depicted view may be a detail of a carrier substrate 10 configured as a circuit board , upon which other component assemblies of this kind are also provided . in the illustrated exemplary embodiment , carrier substrate 10 is designed as a circuit board and functions as a carrier element for the component assembly . as a suitable material for carrier substrate 10 , conventional circuit - board material is provided , such as fr4 or fr5 . alternatively hereto , a differently configured carrier substrate 10 may also be used , such as suitable ceramic , e . g ., al 2 o 3 . electrical conductor tracks may extend in the carrier substrate 10 as an example . they may be used for the contacting of the unhoused electronic component 20 , as well as of the other components on circuit board 10 . the present example embodiment provides for a contacting of component 20 using bonding wires 21 a , 21 b . bonding wires 21 a , 21 b electroconductively connect component 20 to the conductor tracks in carrier substrate 10 . an alternative and / or additional electrical contacting of component 20 may be possible , such as a so - called narrow - ribbon contacting , or also the use of soldered connectors . in this example embodiment , component 20 is designed as an optoelectronic component or as a so - called opto - asic . in addition to optoelectronic components , such as photodiodes , it includes other electronic components for signal processing . the present invention may also be implemented in conjunction with conventional electronic components , such as asics , etc . the particular component 20 is placed on carrier substrate 10 , which may be done by bonding to carrier substrate 10 . soldering or alloying is also alternatively possible . the present invention may be suited in this case for assembling unhoused electronic and / or optoelectronic components on circuit boards , i . e ., components which do not have their own housing and , accordingly , offer a particularly space - saving design . furthermore , the component assembly according to the present invention includes a dam 30 , which is placed on carrier substrate 10 and surrounds or encircles the particular component 20 . from the plan view of the component assembly illustrated in fig2 dam 30 surrounds component 20 quadratically . alternative geometries are also possible with respect to the shape of surrounding dam 30 , e . g ., rectangular , polygonal , or round dam profiles , etc . a first function of dam 30 , with respect to the component assembly according to the present invention , is to form a boundary of the surface required for embedding component 20 using an encapsulating compound 40 on carrier substrate 10 . once dam 30 is created , encapsulating compound 40 is introduced into the well - shaped inner region of surrounding dam 30 . the purpose of embedding using encapsulating compound 40 is to protect component 20 from mechanical influences . in this connection , because of optoelectronic component 20 , a transparent and low - viscosity encapsulating compound 40 , such as unfilled epoxy resin , is used in the described exemplary embodiment . in the inner region of dam 30 , encapsulating compound 40 covers component 20 , including bonding wires 21 a , 21 b , so that , once encapsulating compound 40 is cured , these elements are reliably protected . to fulfill this purpose , encapsulating compound 40 may completely cover the elements to be protected , i . e ., in this example embodiment , also bonding wires 21 a , 21 b in particular , for which a specific level of encapsulating compound 40 to be applied , may be required . since this compound , when applied using an injection needle , is not yet cured and flows out , dam 30 ultimately is used to adjust the necessary level of encapsulating compound 40 , without covering unnecessary surface area on carrier substrate 20 . alternatively to the illustrated exemplary embodiment , bonding wires 21 a , 21 b may not be fully covered with encapsulating compound 40 , rather , for the most part , merely surrounded by the same . when no optoelectronic components are provided in the component assembly according to the present invention , a non - transparent encapsulating compound 40 may also be used . a black encapsulating compound 40 may be used which protects the particular electronic component 20 from unwanted irradiation . the component may be covered using encapsulating compound , for example when contacting using bonding wires are not provided and , accordingly , there would also be no bonding wires to protect . another function of dam 30 , specifically when using optoelectronic components , is that , virtually ideal plane boundary surfaces are able to be ensured , between encapsulating compound 40 and the neighboring air . the result is that there is no undesired deflection of incident or , as the case may be , emergent beams of rays at this boundary surface 41 . dam 30 enables a defined , i . e ., reproducible height h of the component assembly to be reliably set over carrier substrate 10 in the course of manufacturing . this may be especially significant when an assembly of this type is used , for example , under narrowed , spatial conditions . if , for instance , a component assembly of this type is used on the scanning plate of an optical position transducer disposed oppositely to a rotating partial disk , a relatively small distance is provided between the scanning plate and the partial disk in compact systems . on no account , then , may any accessories mounted on the side of the scanning plate exceed a specific , predefined height . in the illustrated exemplary embodiment of the present invention , dam 30 is composed of two dam layers 31 , 32 , which are placed one over the other and are made of the same dam material . there is a bonding between the two adjoining dam layers 31 , 32 , in their contact region . alternatively to a configuration including two dam layers 31 , 32 , a dam configuration may also be provided which includes more than two such dam layers 31 , 32 , each of the same dam material , if an even greater height h of dam 30 were necessary . a highly viscous encapsulating compound , such as filled epoxy resin or a silicon , is a suitable dam material , for example . within the scope of the present invention , a dam material for the various layers 31 , 32 of dam 30 is selected , which allows a cross - linking of the same and , thus , a stable bonding in the contact region of adjoining dam layers 31 , 32 . in the case of other dam materials , a mechanical engagement of the rough surfaces of the dam layers may be present in this contact region , for example . depending on the material selection , other connection mechanisms may be optionally present in the contact region between the dam layers . by constructing dam 30 out of two or more dam layers 31 , 32 from the same dam material , in accordance with the present invention , a defined adjustment of the desired ratio v of dam height h and dam width b ( v = h / b ) is able to be made . by applying measures described below , width b of dam 30 is set in defined fashion , without any undesired flowing of the dam material and , thus , unwanted enlargement of the required carrier substrate surface taking place . by subsequently applying one or more further dam layers 32 to first dam layer 31 , the requisite dam height h is then able to be set in definable , i . e ., reproducible fashion . the ratio v = h / b may be in the range of 0 . 5 & lt ; v & lt ; 1 as an example . however , on the basis of an appropriate process control , other ratios v may also be fundamentally adjusted . typical values for resulting dam height h and dam width b are h = 0 . 8 mm and b = 1 . 0 mm . fig3 is an enlarged view of dam 30 of fig1 which includes the two dam layers 31 , 32 . besides the geometric dimensions , dam height h and dam width b , fig3 also illustrates contact region 33 adjoining dam layers 31 , 32 , where there is a cross - linking of the two dam layers 31 , 32 and , thus , a stable bonding of the same . as illustrated in fig4 a - 4 d , one example embodiment of the method according to the present invention is presented for manufacturing a component assembly as described in fig1 - 3 . in a first process step illustrated in fig4 a , unhoused component 20 is placed on carrier substrate 10 or the circuit board and , if indicated , bonded thereto . component 20 is then electrically contacted , which may take place via wire bonding and the placement of corresponding bonding wires 21 a , 21 b . first dam layer 31 is subsequently applied to carrier substrate 10 , which , as explained above , completely surrounds component 20 . the corresponding process step is illustrated in fig4 b . the appropriate dam material is applied by a schematically indicated injection needle 50 using so - called dispensing technology . during application of first dam layer 31 , carrier substrate 10 is heated to temperature t , which is illustrated by schematically indicated heating device 60 . the heating of the circuit board or , if indicated , of an alternative carrier substrate 10 effects a precuring of the dam material of first dam layer 31 , immediately upon making contact on carrier substrate 10 . this makes it possible to prevent first dam layer 31 from flowing in unwanted fashion , and from consuming surface area . it is , therefore , possible to adjust desired dam width b in a defined manner . the desired width or height of first dam layer 31 is able to be set in a defined manner by adjusting the traversing rate of injection needle 50 , the applied quantity of the dam material , as well as temperature t of carrier substrate 10 . still during the curing of first dam layer 31 , second dam layer 32 is subsequently applied , as illustrated in fig4 c , with the aid of injection needle 50 . as explained above , for second dam layer 32 , the same dam material as for first dam layer 31 is used . since a complete curing has not taken place in the top part of first dam layer 31 , following application of second dam layer 32 in the contact region , a cross - linking of the two dam layers 31 , 32 occurs , i . e ., an especially intimate and , thus , stable bond is formed between adjoining dam layers 31 , 32 . subsequently , i . e ., after curing of the two dam layers 31 , 32 , as illustrated in fig4 d , encapsulating compound 40 is introduced into the well - shaped inner region of dam 30 , which is accomplished using an injection needle 70 . for this , it is customary in the corresponding device to use a different injection needle 60 than the one used in the preceding process steps . in this connection , the amount of encapsulating compound 40 introduced is enough to fill the inner region of the dam nearly to the upper edge of dam 30 , i . e ., to the upper edge of top - most dam layer 32 . upon curing of encapsulating compound 40 , the result is a component assembly which is protected from mechanical influences . alternatively , it may also be provided to begin introducing encapsulating compound 40 , immediately following the application of last dam layer 32 . within the framework of the present invention , there are alternative variants in addition to the described example embodiments . | 7 |
reference is first made to fig1 showing a trimaran 20 embodying the present invention . the trimaran 20 broadly includes a center section 22 , a set of beams 24 , two floats 26 , and a sail assembly 28 . although fig1 depicts two beams 24 , the present invention is intended to encompass interchangeable subsets of two or more beams 24 wherein the length of the beams 24 comprising a particular subset is the same , but the length of the beams 24 comprising one subset may vary from the length of the beams 24 comprising a second subset , as will be described in more detail below . as best seen in fig2 the center section 22 , includes a keel assembly 30 , a steering assembly 32 and , mast sleeve 34 . as depicted in fig3 the center section 22 further includes a main deck 36 and main hull 38 . the main deck 36 is bonded to the main hull 38 with a methacrylate adhesive , which is commercially available . plexus is a brand name of a type of methacrylate adhesive which is sold by i . t . w . adhesives , danvers , me . various other commercially available marine adhesives can be used as well , but unless otherwise mentioned marine adhesive is meant to mean a methacrylate adhesive . as illustrated in fig2 the main deck 36 has a lip 37 , that overlaps a portion of the main hull 38 . the adhesive is applied to the inside of the lip 37 where it contacts the hull 38 . returning to fig1 the main deck 36 has a front or bow section 44 , a center or mid - ship section 46 and a rear or aft section 48 . a front end 40 and a rear end 42 define the forwardmost and rearwardmost ends of the deck 36 . a front bulkhead area 50 defines the transition between the bow section 44 and the mid - ship section 46 and a rear bulkhead area 52 defines the transition between the mid - ship section 46 and the aft section 48 . the bow section 44 of the main deck 36 is molded to form a bow cover 54 and bow sides 56 having top transition edges 58 and bottom side edges 60 . the height of the bow sides 56 is greater adjacent the front bulkhead area 50 than at the front end 40 . the difference in height is attributable to a gradual increase in the height of the top transition edges 58 from the front end 40 of the main deck 36 to the front bulkhead area 50 . as depicted in fig4 the mid - ship section 46 of the main deck 36 is molded to form a driver &# 39 ; s cockpit area 62 having a driver &# 39 ; s seat 64 , a driver &# 39 ; s back support 66 , two driver &# 39 ; s leg rests 68 , 69 , two foot support panels 70 and a steering wheel binnacle 72 . the steering wheel binnacle 72 includes a right and left side panel 74 , 75 , a top panel 76 and steering wheel panel 78 . each driver &# 39 ; s leg rest , 68 , 69 extends along one side of a side panel 74 , 75 , respectively . the right panel 74 has a hinged binnacle locker door 80 , and , as seen in fig8 the left panel has a hinged stereo cover 82 . stereo speakers 83 are mounted on the foot support panels 70 . as illustrated in fig2 - 4 , the aft section 48 of the main deck 36 is molded to form a passenger area 84 having a passenger &# 39 ; s seat 86 , passenger &# 39 ; s back support 88 and leg rest 90 . the passenger &# 39 ; s back support 88 includes a rear hatch opening 92 and a rear hatch 94 . both the driver &# 39 ; s cockpit area 62 and passenger area 84 include molded splash rails 96 . as further illustrated in fig2 - 4 , the rear bulkhead area 52 is defined by the driver &# 39 ; s back support 66 , the passenger &# 39 ; s back support 88 , a right and left rear bulkhead wall 100 , 101 , respectively , and a rear bulkhead crown 102 . with reference to fig3 each bulkhead wall 100 , 101 has an aperture 104 , for receiving a rear sleeve 106 . the rear sleeve 106 fits within the apertures 104 and is glued in place with a marine adhesive , which also forms a watertight seal . in the preferred embodiment , the ends of the rear sleeve 106 extend outwardly beyond each bulkhead wall 100 , 101 and transversely to the longitudinal axis of the boat approximately 3 inches . each end of the rear sleeve 106 has two bolt holes 108 having a central axis . the bolt holes 108 are approximately 3 / 4 of an inch from each end of the rear sleeve 106 . the bulkhead crown 102 also has two apertures 110 through which two ends of a rear bulkhead rope 112 pass and which are retained by knotting both ends of the rope 112 inside the rear bulkhead area 52 . as shown in fig4 the rear hatch 94 is biased against the passenger &# 39 ; s back support 88 by an elastic cord 114 connected to the rear sleeve 106 and held in position by the complementary outside edge 116 of the rear hatch 94 and edge 118 defining the rear hatch opening 92 . with continued reference to fig2 - 4 , the front bulkhead area 50 is partially defined by the foot support panels 70 and a mast sleeve 34 . the front bulkhead area 50 includes a right and left front bulkhead wall 120 , 121 , respectively and a front bulkhead cover 122 . each front bulkhead wall 120 , 121 has an aperture 124 for receiving a front sleeve 126 . the front sleeve 126 fits within the apertures 124 , and is glued in place with a marine adhesive , which also forms a watertight seal . in the preferred embodiment , the ends of the front sleeve 126 extend outwardly beyond each bulkhead wall 120 , 121 and transversely to the longitudinal axis of the boat approximately 3 inches . each end of the front sleeve 126 has two bolt holes 128 having a central axis . the bolt holes 128 are approximately 3 / 4 of an inch from each end of the front sleeve 126 . the front bulkhead cover 122 has a mast sleeve aperture 130 . the front bulkhead walls 120 , 121 and front bulkhead cover 122 are continuous with the bow sides 56 and bow cover 54 , respectively , extending toward the bow section 44 from the steering wheel binnacle 72 , top panel 76 and foot support panels 70 to a point just forward of the front sleeve 126 . referring to fig3 the main hull 38 includes a bottom 132 , two sides 134 and a transom 136 . the transom 136 includes a circular drain hole 138 , a drain hole plug 140 , a rectangular steering cable exit hole 142 , and a steering cable exit box 143 . adjacent the front end 40 of the main deck 36 , where the two sides 134 meet to form a common edge , a bow eye 144 is attached to the main hull 38 . as shown in fig5 the main hull 38 bottom 132 includes a narrow elongated slot 146 defined by two sides 148 and two ends 150 directly beneath the mid - ship section 46 of the main deck 36 . as depicted in fig2 and 7 , the keel assembly 30 includes a centerboard 152 , a centerboard housing 154 and a pulley assembly 156 . the centerboard 152 includes a free end 158 , a pivot hole 160 and a clasp hole 162 . the centerboard housing 154 includes a trunk section 164 , a plurality of transverse support ribs 166 , a longitudinal support rib 168 , two pivot posts 170 each having an aperture 172 , and a rectangular mast step 174 . the mast step 174 is a transverse extension of the longitudinal rib 168 and has a central mast sleeve receptacle 176 . the centerboard truck section 164 includes two sides 178 , two ends 180 , a top 182 , and a bottom opening 184 . the bottom opening 184 is defined by the free edges of the two sides 178 and two ends 180 . as shown in fig2 and 7 , the centerboard 152 is pivotally attached to the trunk section 164 by a bolt 186 that passes through a first aperture 172 in one pivot post 170 , through a pivot hole 160 in the centerboard 152 , and finally through a second aperture 172 in the second pivot post 170 . a fastening member 188 such as a nut , a clasp , a cotter pin or the like retains the bolt 186 in place . the centerboard housing 154 is glued to the bottom of the main hull 38 with a marine adhesive whereby the sides 178 and the ends 180 of the trunk section 164 are positioned above the sides 148 and ends 150 of the slot 146 , as best depicted in fig2 . the keel pulley assembly 156 includes two sheaves 190 , two sheave supports 192 , a d - ring 194 , a centerboard cable 196 , and centerboard jam cleat 198 , which is shown in detail in fig4 . as illustrated in fig2 and 3 , the mast sleeve 34 is cylindrical with only one open end 200 . adjacent the open end 200 , the mast sleeve 34 includes a flange 202 . with the open end 200 up , the mast sleeve 34 is fitted into the mast sleeve aperture 130 and into the mast sleeve receptacle 176 . the edge defining the mast sleeve aperture 130 is bonded to the mast sleeve 34 adjacent the flange 202 and the mast sleeve 34 is bonded to the mast sleeve step 174 using a marine adhesive . referring to fig2 and 6 , the steering assembly 32 includes a steering wheel assembly 204 , steering cable 206 , and rudder assembly 208 . also referring to fig3 the steering wheel assembly 204 includes a steering wheel 210 connected by a pinion nut 212 to a pinion shaft 214 . the pinion shaft 214 enters a steering gear box 216 and the steering cable 206 exists the gear box 216 traveling under the main deck 36 through the main hull 38 to the rear end 42 and through the rectangular steering cable exit box 143 . the steering wheel assembly 204 is mounted to the steering wheel panel 78 adjacent the top panel 76 . this type of steering gear box 216 is commercially available and in the preferred embodiment of the present invention the gear box used is manufactured and sold by morse controls of hudson , ohio under its &# 34 ; command 230 &# 34 ; model name . however , various other commercially available steering gear boxes , such as teleflex , model 113359 , manufactured by west marine of watsonville , calif ., will function as well . the steering cable 206 is attached to main deck 36 under the passenger leg rest 90 by a cable bracket 220 . the steering cable exit box 143 , through which the steering cable 218 exits the main hull 38 , is attached to the main hull 38 with four removable screws 221 and a removable marine adhesive which is commercially available . 3m polyurethane marine adhesive / sealant , 5200 white , is a brand of a type of removable marine adhesive which is sold by minnesota mining & amp ; manufacturing , st . paul , minn . various other commercially available removable marine adhesives can be used as well . to create a water tight seal , the steering cable 206 is fitted with a rubber seal 222 where it passes through an aperture in the steering cable exit box 143 . the outer periphery of the rubber seal 222 is attached to the steering cable exit box 143 . the distal end 224 of the steering cable 218 is connected to a u - shaped bracket 226 . the rudder assembly 208 includes a rudder head 228 , kick - up rudder 230 , rudder hinge assembly 232 and l - shaped bracket 234 having an elongated slot 235 . a bolt 236 pivotally attaches the kick - up rudder 230 to the head rudder 228 . the head rudder 228 is hingedly attached to the transom 136 by the rudder hinge assembly 232 which includes two sets of gudgeon 238 and rudder pinties 240 . the l - shaped bracket 234 is fastened to the left side of the rudder head 228 and the u - shaped bracket 226 is connected to the l - shaped bracket 234 by a bolt 241 that passes through the elongated slot 235 . fastening members hold the bolts 236 and 241 in place . as illustrated by fig2 the sail assembly 28 includes a mast trunk 242 , mast 244 , boom 246 , rigging 248 and sail 250 . the mast trunk 242 consists of an outer sleeve 251 and an inner sleeve 252 . the mast trunk 242 outer sleeve 251 has an outside diameter slightly smaller than the inside diameter of the mast sleeve 34 and in the preferred embodiment the outer sleeve 251 extends above the mast sleeve 34 approximately 18 inches as depicted by d 1 in fig4 . the mast trunk 242 inner sleeve 252 has an outside diameter slighty smaller than the inside diameter of the mast 244 . the mast trunk 242 outer sleeve 251 and mast 244 have substantially the same diameter . although the mast trunk 242 is not shown in section , it should be understood that the outer sleeve 251 and inner sleeve 252 are tubular , thin - wall members like the mast sleeve 34 and mast 244 . the inner sleeve 252 is approximately 20 inches in length and approximately 10 inches of the inner sleeve 252 extend into the top portion of the outer sleeve 251 and 10 inches extend above the top portion of the outer sleeve 251 . the portion of the inner sleeve 252 that extends into the outer sleeve 251 is bonded thereto with a marine adhesive . the rigging 248 includes a main sheet rope 254 . one end of the main sheet rope 254 is connected to rear bulkhead rope 112 and the other end passes through a main sheet jam cleat 256 , which is attached to the top panel 76 of the steering wheel binnacle 72 and which is best shown in fig4 . with reference to fig3 both floats 26 include a float hull 258 and float deck 260 . like the center section 22 , in the preferred embodiment the float deck 260 is bonded to the float hull 258 with the methacrylate adhesive known as plexus manufactured by i . t . w . adhesives . however , various other marine adhesives will function as well . each float deck 260 includes two molded protrusions 262 having a generally semicircular inner surface , each adapted for receiving one float sleeve 264 . the float sleeves 264 are bonded to the protrusions 262 with a marine adhesive . each float hull 258 includes two sides 266 and a transom 268 . each transom 268 includes a circular drain hole 270 and drain hole plug 272 . in the preferred embodiment of the present invention , the set of beams 24 includes two long beams 274 , as depicted in fig8 and two short beams 276 , as depicted in fig9 . each beam 24 has four sets of holes 278 through both sides of each beam 24 as shown with the long beams 274 in fig3 . each set of holes 278 has a central axis . in the preferred embodiment , one set of holes 278 is approximately 4 inches from the end of each beam 24 and another set of holes 278 is 133 / 4 inches on either side of the center point of each beam 24 . either the two long beams 274 or the two short beams 276 can be used to connect the floats 26 to the main deck 36 , but one long beam 274 is not to be used with one short beam 276 . pins 280 having upper heads 281 are used to retain the beams 24 in rear sleeve 106 , front sleeve 126 and float sleeves 264 . cotter pins 282 are used in the preferred embodiment to hold the pins 280 in place . as seen in fig1 and 8 , a mesh tarp 284 can be attached to the beams 24 . the tarp 284 has a tarp sleeve 286 along each of two opposing edges of the tarp 284 . the tarp sleeves 286 have a slightly larger diameter than the diameter of the beams 24 . in the preferred embodiment , the trimaran 20 embodying the present invention includes a drainage system 288 . as depicted in fig8 both the driver &# 39 ; s seat 64 and the passenger seat 86 have a drain hole 290 . as shown in fig2 a drain tube 292 is connected to main deck 36 surrounding each drain hole 290 and the drain tubes 292 extend into the centerboard housing 154 . also depicted in fig2 are blocks of styrofoam 294 that are glued to sections of the bottom 132 of the main hull 38 . as shown in fig8 in the preferred embodiment , the center section 22 is 14 feet in length from front end 40 to rear end 42 , as depicted in d 2 , 29 inches wide at its approximate center , as depicted by distance d 3 , and 25 inches wide at the transom 136 , as depicted by d 4 . the floats 26 are 11 feet , 6 inches , long and 12 inches wide at the center , as depicted by d 5 and d 6 , respectively , and the centerboard 152 is 46 inches long , as depicted by d 7 in fig2 . as also shown in fig2 the height of the driver &# 39 ; s seat 64 from the bottom 132 of the main hull 38 , as depicted by d 8 , is 10 inches , the height of the rear sleeve 106 from the bottom 132 of the main hull 38 , as depicted by d 9 , is approximately 18 inches , and the height of the front sleeve 126 from the bottom 132 of the main hull 38 , as depicted by d 10 , is also approximately 18 inches . the beams 24 all have a diameter of approximately 3 inches and have 1 / 8 inch walls , and the rear , front and float sleeves 106 , 126 , and 264 , all have a diameter of approximately 31 / 2 inches and have 1 / 4 inch walls . the sleeves 106 , 126 , and 264 , can have an inside diameter that is 0 . 020 to 0 . 060 of an inch larger than the outside of the beams 24 , but preferably the difference is 0 . 040 of an inch . the long beams 274 have a length of 10 feet and the short beams 276 have a length of 4 feet , as depicted by d 11 in fig8 and d 12 in fig9 respectively . the trimaran 20 embodying the present invention , can be transported in at least one of two ways . first , the center section 22 , floats 26 , the long beams 274 , and disassembled sail assembly 28 can be transported as separate units and assembled on the waterfront . because the separate units of the preferred embodiment are relatively light , two individuals can easily carry each element if the waterfront is near . if the distance to be covered is too far , the individual elements can be loaded into a truck and / or trailer 295 to be driven to the waterfront . a second method for transporting the trimaran 20 is to assemble it in its trailering configuration , if it is not already so assembled . in its trailering configuration , as depicted in fig9 a short beam 276 is inserted into the rear sleeve 106 , a short beam 276 is inserted into the front sleeve 126 , and the ends of the short beams 276 are inserted into the float sleeves 264 . the beams 276 are retained in the sleeves 106 , 126 , and 264 by the retaining pins 280 and cotter keys 282 . the sail assembly 28 and long beams 274 can then be lashed to the trimaran 20 or secured separately on a trailer 295 . in this configuration the trimaran 20 can be loaded onto the trailer 295 ( or it can be assembled on a trailer 295 ) and driven to the waterfront where it can be unloaded . once at the waterfront , the short beams 276 are replaced with the long beams 274 , and the trimaran 20 is ready for sailing . if tarps 284 are to be attached to the beams 274 , the tarp sleeves 286 are slid on to the long beams 274 before the ends of the long beams 274 are slid into the float sleeves 264 . the trimaran 20 can be used with one tarp 284 as depicted in fig1 two tarps 284 as depicted in fig8 or no tarps 284 . if attached they can be used to carry additional passengers and / or for sunbathing . once the long beams 274 have been pinned in place the user can assemble the sail assembly 28 which includes placing the mast 244 on the mast trunk 242 , and attaching the main sheet rope 254 to the rear bulkhead rope 112 and passing the other end through the main sheet jam cleat 256 . the trimaran 20 can now be launched into the water . sitting in the driver &# 39 ; s cockpit area 62 the user &# 39 ; s legs are on either side of the steering wheel binnacle 72 . the steering wheel 210 and the driver &# 39 ; s seat 64 are in a car - like relationship so that the user can readily learn to steer the trimaran 20 . when the steering wheel 210 is turned to the right , the trimaran 20 goes to the right . all of the other controls , such as main sheet rope 254 and the centerboard cable 196 , are within the near vicinity of the steering wheel 210 . the position of the boom 246 and the centerboard 152 are maintained by the locking action of the mainsheet jam cleat 256 mounted on the top panel 76 of the steering wheel binnacle 72 , and the centerboard jam cleat 198 mounted on the steering wheel panel 78 on the steering wheel binnacle 72 . other controls or instrumentation can be mounted on the steering wheel binnacle 72 such as knotmeter 296 on the steering wheel panel 78 , and a compass 298 on the top panel 76 as shown in fig4 . in its up position , as depicted in phantom fig2 the centerboard 152 is carried within the trunk section 164 of the centerboard housing 154 . the centerboard 152 is gravity actuated . by releasing the grip of the jam cleat 198 on the centerboard cable 196 , the cable 196 can be feed through the jam cleat 198 , thereby allowing the centerboard 152 to pivot at the pivot bolt 186 to its down or sailing position . in its sailing position , the free end 158 of the centerboard 152 extends below the main hull 38 as further depicted in fig2 . the kick - up rudder 230 is also gravity actuated and stays in its down position unless biased upwardly , for example when the trimaran 20 is pulled up on land . if water splashes over the splash rails 96 , it runs down to the low point of the driver &# 39 ; s seat 64 and / or passenger &# 39 ; s seat 86 , into the drain holes 290 , down the drain tubes 292 and into the centerboard housing 154 . the water then flows out of the centerboard housing 154 through the slot 146 of the main hull 38 . if water does enter the main hull 38 , the blocks of styrofoam 294 will keep the trimaran 20 afloat . fiberglass is the preferred material for forming the main hull 38 , float hulls 258 , main deck 36 , float decks 260 , centerboard housing 154 , centerboard 152 , rudder head 228 , and kick - up rudder 230 , but any suitable material , e . g . wood or other composite materials can be used . marine aluminum is the preferred material for forming the beams 24 , mast sleeve 34 mast trunk 242 and sleeves 106 , 126 , and 264 , but any suitable material , e . g . stainless steel can be used . stainless steel is the preferred material for the fastening hardware , such as the beam pins 280 , rudder bolt 236 , and centerboard pivot bolt 186 , but any suitable material can be used . a number of variations of the present invention can be made . for example , alternative embodiments of the present invention could include a trimaran 20 with one pair of fixed beams 24 , fixed beams 24 with telescopic members , or beams 24 of different lengths than those used in the preferred embodiment . for example , rather than being 10 feet long , the long beams 274 could be 7 feet 6 inches long . this would allow the user to transport the trimaran 20 in its sailing configuration on a full size trailer . still another embodiment could include a pivoting centerboard 152 that is spring actuated rather than gravity actuated . although steering assembly 32 in the preferred embodiment includes a steering wheel 210 , the steering assembly 32 could comprise a tiller . yet another alternative embodiment could include a center section 22 and floats 26 that are each one piece and have hull and deck portions . although a description of the preferred embodiment has been presented , it is contemplated that various changes , including those mentioned above , could be made without deviating from the spirit of the present invention . accordingly , it is intended that the scope of the present invention be dictated by the appended claims rather than by the description of the preferred embodiment . | 1 |
fig1 shows an example of a diagram for the connection of the rapid - action water - saving mixer tap according to a first embodiment of the invention . this connection diagram is in various embodiments intended for a new sanitary installation or when the installation of an additional pipe for the chilled water is possible or already exists . a source of cold water such as a connection to the running - water mains distribution network 6 in various embodiments passes via a nonreturn valve 8 , to form the cold - water inlet 10 which is connected directly to a first orifice or first inlet 32 of the mixer tap 4 . the cold water inlet 10 is connected , in various embodiments also via a nonreturn valve 12 , to a water - heating device 20 . the incoming hot water 22 arriving from the water - heating device 20 is connected to a second orifice or second inlet 36 of the mixer 4 . the mixer 4 comprises an auxiliary outlet 34 connected via an auxiliary pipe 24 to the suction orifice of an automatic pump 18 . the outlet of the automatic pump 18 is connected to the inlet of the water heating device 20 . an expansion vessel 14 can be mounted on the inlet pipe of the water heating device 20 to compensate for variations in volume of the water as it is heated . an expansion vessel 16 is also in various embodiments connected to the auxiliary pipe 24 in order to optimize the size of the automatic pump 18 . fig2 illustrates the tap 4 of fig1 in greater detail . it is in a neutral position referred to as the position that shuts off the service flow , without connecting the incoming hot water and cold water . it comprises a fixed disk 42 with four orifices that are not visible in fig2 . these orifices are connected to the cold water inlet 32 and hot water inlet 36 , to the auxiliary water outlet 34 and to the service water outlet 38 . these orifices are visible in fig3 to 6 and will be detailed in relation to the description of these figures . the mobile disk 44 is able to move translationally and rotationally on the fixed disk 42 , doing so in a fluidtight manner . its movement is controlled by the control lever 40 via a mechanism visible in fig2 . the mobile disk 44 comprises a support 48 mounted in fluidtight manner on the disk . this support contains thermostatic means able to control the movement of the mobile disk 44 . the latter comprises a first cavity 50 formed by a through - orifice shown in greater detail in fig3 to 6 and allowing hot water to pass directly to the auxiliary pipe 24 while maintaining contact with the thermostatic element in the corresponding cavity of the support 48 . the direct passage of the hot water to the auxiliary pipe 24 provided by the cavity 50 makes it possible to reduce the time needed to prepare hot water to an extent such that the user will have access to hot water more quickly by actuating the hot - water preparation mode than by letting the water run into the sink , this being a further advantage and encouraging the user to accord preference to the hot - water preparation function which saves water . the compression spring fitted between the thermostatic element and the plunger in the support 48 is capable on its own of driving the mobile disk 44 , its support 48 and the control lever 40 back toward the closed position of the mixer which is the position illustrated in fig2 . the plunger is limited in its movement by a stop which slides in a groove of the support 48 of the mobile disk 44 . the plunger is locked and unlocked in the support 48 of the mobile disk as a result of the radial position of one or more balls which slide freely in the radial orifices of the plunger and press against the exterior profile of a piston which slides freely in the plunger . when the mixer in the closed position that corresponds to fig2 , the plunger is pushed back to the right under the effect of the spring until the stop comes into contact with the support 48 of the mobile disk 44 . the balls are slid toward the inside of the plunger . by pushing the lever 40 downward , the support 48 of the mobile disk is moved to the right and the plunger is forced to retract into the support 48 . the cold thermostatic element allows the piston to move to the left under the effect of the return spring , thus causing the balls to move outward in the groove of the support and therefore causing the locking of the plunger in the support . when hot water comes into contact with the thermostatic element , the expansion of the internal component thereof forces the rod and the piston back toward the right , against the effect of the return spring . the rightward movement of the piston allows the balls to slide toward the inside of the plunger , causing the unlocking of the plunger which , under the effect of the spring , pushes the support 48 back to the left into the position of closure of the mixer which corresponds to fig2 . the piston arranged vertically in the body of the tap , under the effect of its spring , causes a slight catching in order to clearly demarcate the various positions of the control . the device controlling the movement of the mobile disk which has just been described is described in greater detail in international patent application number pct / ep2012 / 050850 filed on jan . 20 , 2012 , notably in conjunction with fig1 to 13 and the description thereof . the content of that application , more particularly of the aforementioned passages and / or figures , is incorporated by reference . fig3 shows detail of the fixed distribution disk 42 and of the mobile distribution disk 44 . the contacting faces seal the mixer . the fixed distribution disk 42 is provided with four through - orifices . the first orifice 56 is connected to the cold water inlet embodied by the circle in broken line 32 corresponding to the passage through the body of the mixing tap . the second orifice 58 is connected to the hot water inlet embodied by the circle in broken line 36 corresponding to the passage in the body of the mixer tap . the third orifice 60 is connected to the auxiliary water outlet embodied by the circle in broken line 34 corresponding to the passage in the body of the mixer tap . the fourth orifice 54 is connected to the service water outlet orifice 38 of the mixer tap . the third orifice 60 is intended for removing the cold water initially contained in the hot - water pipe 22 ( fig1 ) and the warm water in this pipe that precedes the arrival of hot water . the mobile disk 44 comprises the first cavity 50 in the form of a through - orifice communicating with a chamber of the support 48 ( fig2 ) comprising the thermostatic control means . the first cavity 50 is intended to place the incoming hot water 58 in communication with the auxiliary water outlet 60 when the control lever is turned to the left and pushed down in order to activate the hot - water preparation function . when the water flowing through the first cavity 50 in contact with the aforementioned thermostatic control means gradually increases in temperature , the thermostatic means react beyond a certain temperature when moving the mobile disk 44 in return toward a closed position without establishing interconnection between the incoming hot water 58 and the auxiliary water outlet 60 . the mobile distribution disk 44 comprises a second cavity 52 intended to place the first incoming cold water orifice 56 and / or the second , incoming hot water orifice 58 in communication with the service water outlet orifice 54 of the fixed disk 42 when the lever 40 is raised in the service position . fig4 shows a plan view from above of the two distribution disks in the closed position , with the control lever horizontal and in a central position . none of the orifices in the fixed disk is in communication with one of the other orifices of the disk . fig5 shows a plan view from above of the two distribution disks when the control lever of the mixer is oriented fully to the left and pushed downward into the position corresponding to the hot - water preparation function . the incoming hot water orifice 58 is placed in communication with the auxiliary water outlet orifice 60 by the first cavity 50 and comes into contact with the thermostatic element in the support 48 ( fig2 ) of the mobile disk 44 . fig6 shows a plan view from above of the two distribution disks when the control lever is lifted in a central position of interconnecting the first , second and fourth orifices 56 , 58 and 52 respectively via the second cavity 52 in order to remove a mixture of hot water and cold water to the outlet . means of controlling the pump 18 can be provided for regularly transferring the water from the auxiliary pipe 24 to the hot - water pipe 22 . more particularly , the transfer of water can be from the expansion vessel 16 to the hot - water pipe 22 and , more particularly still , to the expansion vessel 14 . fig7 shows an example of a diagram for the connection of the rapid - action water - saving mixer tap according to a second embodiment of the invention . the reference signs for the first embodiment are used in the second embodiment for the same elements or corresponding elements , although these signs are increased by 100 for the sake of clarity and in order to make a distinction between the embodiments . specific reference signs are used for elements not present in the first embodiment , these signs being comprised between 100 and 199 . this second embodiment is intended for an existing sanitary installation in which it is difficult or expensive to add an auxiliary pipe for returning cooled water to the inlet of the water heating device . a source of cold water , such as a connection to the running - water mains network 106 in various embodiments passes via a nonreturn valve 108 to form the incoming cold - water 110 which is connected directly to a first orifice or first inlet 132 of the mixer tap 104 . the incoming cold water 110 is connected , in various embodiments likewise via a nonreturn valve 112 , to a water heating device 120 . the incoming hot water 122 from the water heating device 120 is connected to a second orifice or second inlet 136 of the mixer 104 . in a similar way to in the first embodiment of the invention , the mixer 104 comprises an auxiliary outlet 134 connected via an auxiliary pipe 124 . however , unlike in the first embodiment , the auxiliary pipe does not comprise a pump for transferring its water . it comprises an expansion vessel 116 able to accumulate the cooled hot water while hot water is being prepared . in practice , the auxiliary pipe 124 can be very short and the expansion vessel 116 can be located at the most opportune location , such as , for example , under the sink to which the mixer 104 is fitted . fig8 shows detail of the fixed distribution disk 142 and of the mobile distribution disk 144 . the contacting faces seal the mixer . the fixed distribution disk 142 is identical to that of the first embodiment ( refer for example to fig3 ). the mobile distribution disk 144 also comprises two cavities 150 and 152 like the mobile disk of the first embodiment ( refer for example to fig3 ). however , the second cavity 152 comprises an extension 162 that allows water from the auxiliary pipe 124 , more particularly from the expansion vessel 116 , to be removed to the service water outlet 138 when the lever of the mixer is in a raised central position corresponding to the opening of the mixer for mixing hot water with cold water . fig9 shows a plan view from above of the two distribution disks 142 , 144 in the closed position , with the control lever horizontal and central . none of the orifices of the fixed disk is in communication with one of the others . fig1 shows a plan view from above of the two distribution disks when the control lever of the mixer is oriented fully to the left and pushed down into the position corresponding to the hot - water preparation function . the orifice 158 for incoming hot water is placed in communication with the auxiliary water outlet orifice 160 and comes into contact with the thermostatic element via the passage in the support of the mobile disk 144 . fig1 shows a plan view from above of the two distribution disks when the control lever is lifted up in a central position for delivering a mixture of hot water and cold water to the service outlet . the extension or protrusion 162 of the cavity 152 is in communication with the rest of the cavity to allow the water contained in the expansion vessel 116 of the auxiliary pipe 124 to be discharged . in this position , the service water outlet orifice 154 is in communication with the incoming hot water orifice 158 , with the incoming cold water orifice 156 and with the auxiliary outlet orifice 160 . fig1 is a plan view from above of the two distribution disks when the control lever is lifted in a position fully to the left for delivering exclusively hot water to the service outlet . it can be seen that the contour of the third orifice 160 is configured so as to allow the second cavity 152 of the mobile disk 144 to connect the second orifice 158 exclusively to the fourth orifice 154 . the second cavity has a contour that is generally rounded and circular , and the contour of the third orifice 160 has a portion directed toward the center of the disk , which portion is inclined in such a way as to wrap around the corresponding portion of the profile of the second cavity . fig1 is a plan view from above of the two distribution disks when the control lever is lifted in a position fully to the right for a flow exclusively of cold water to the service outlet . it can be seen that the protrusion 162 of the second cavity 152 of the mobile disk 144 is configured so that it extends between the second and third orifices 158 and 160 respectively . the latter two orifices are spaced apart and the two disks are configured so that the protrusion covers neither the second nor the third orifice in the position for delivering exclusively cold water . fig1 is an example of a diagram for the connection of the rapid - acting water - saving mixer tap according to a third embodiment of the invention . the connection circuit is the same as in the first embodiment , the rapid - acting water - saving mixer tap however being of the thermostatic type . the thermostatic mixer is shown with the control lever lowered in the mode for the preparation of hot water . the reference signs for the first embodiment are used in the third embodiment for the same elements or corresponding elements , although these signs are increased by 200 for the sake of clarity and in order to make a distinction between the embodiments . specific reference signs are used for elements not present or different in the first embodiment , these signs being comprised between 200 and 299 . fig1 shows detail of the fixed distribution disk 242 and of the mobile distribution disk 244 . the contacting faces seal the mixer . the fixed distribution disk 242 comprises four through - orifices . the central first orifice 256 receives the mixed water , a mixture of cold water from the inlet 232 and hot water from the inlet 236 via the passages below and above the metering piston secured to the thermostatic element 264 . the mobile distribution disk 244 comprises just a central cavity 250 which communicates with a cavity 252 of the support 248 of the mobile disk 244 to allow water to come into contact with the thermostatic element for the preparation of hot water . the thermostatic metering device 264 that has just been described is detailed further in international patent application number pct / ep2012 / 050850 filed on jan . 20 , 2012 , notably in conjunction with fig1 to 27 and the description thereof . the content of that application , more particularly of the aforementioned passages and / or figures , is incorporated by reference . fig1 shows a view from above of the two distribution disks in the closed position , with the control lever horizontal and central . none of the orifices in the fixed disk is placed in communication with one of the others . fig1 shows a plan view from above of the two distribution disks when the control lever of the mixer is pushed down into the position corresponding to the hot water preparation function . the incoming hot water orifice 258 and incoming warm water orifice 256 are placed in communication with the auxiliary water outlet orifice 260 and the water comes into contact with the hot water preparation thermostatic element via the passage 252 in the support 248 ( fig1 ) of the mobile disk 244 . fig1 shows a plan view from above of the two distribution disks when the control lever is lifted in a central position for discharging mixed water coming from the orifice 256 and passing via the cavity 250 toward the outlet orifice 254 . in the description that has just been given of the various embodiments of the invention it should be noted that , for the sake of clarity of disclosure and illustration of the invention they have been described specifically for the preparation of hot water . it is important to note that this application is nonlimiting . specifically , these embodiments could also be applied to the preparation of chilled water . in that case , the hot water inlet becomes a chilled water inlet . the cold water inlet can then potentially become a hot water inlet . | 8 |
the heat exchanger of the present invention is designed to be used with a gas turbofan engine of otherwise conventional design . typically , such engines are mounted in a similarly shaped nacelle and include a fan at the engine inlet which provides core and bypass air flows . the core air is supplied to a compressor which discharges the core air at high pressure . the high pressure air is mixed with fuel in combustion chambers and ignited . the resulting combustion gases power successive high pressure and low pressure turbines to drive the fan and compressor and provide a net thrust . the bypass air from the fan passes through an annular bypass duct around the core of the engine , which comprises the compressor , combustor and high pressure turbine . the bypass air is cooler than the core air discharged from the compressor and is therefore effective as a cooling medium . a typical engine as generally described above is shown in hurley et al . u . s . pat . no . 4 , 271 , 666 , the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference . as shown in fig1 the present invention is a heat exchanger , generally designated 10 , used to cool components of a gas turbine engine , generally designated 20 , having a compressor 22 which forces air under high pressure out a discharge 28 , through a diffuser 29 and into a combustor 32 . the air is mixed with fuel and ignited in combustion chamber 30 , and the combustion gases pass through high pressure turbine 36 comprised of turbine nozzles or vanes 50 and turbine blades 52 . the heat exchanger 10 is in fluid communication with the high pressure compressed air discharged from the compressor 22 and functions to provide cooling air which is in fluid communication with the turbine 36 or other engine components to be cooled via a cooling manifold 54 . as shown in fig1 and 2 , the heat exchanger 10 is of a standpipe design having a cylindrical outer first member 56 made of a heat conductive material and having radially inner open end 57 rigidly connected at a flared base 58 to a boss 60 by bolts 61 . the boss 60 is integral with the combustor casing 62 and includes a frusto - conical inlet 63 opening into the combustor plenum 69 and communicating with open end 57 . a seal is made with high temperature gasket 64 between boss 60 and base 58 . the outer member 56 is preferably made from a high temperature , low density , high thermal conductive material such as a titanium aluminide . the outer member 56 has a length extending substantially radially with respect to the engine into the contained volume of the bypass air duct 18 surrounding the compressor 22 , combustor casing 62 and turbine 36 . the external surface of the outer member 56 is in contact with the bypass air 65 and preferably includes disk - shaped cooling fins 66 for increasing the area of contact with the bypass air and the rate of heat transfer thereto . the heat exchanger 10 includes a cylindrical inner second member 67 having open ends with one end being threaded into a boss 68 which is integral with diffuser 29 . the inner member 67 has a length positioned substantially radially relative to the engine 20 and extends coaxially within the outer member 56 . compressed core air at the compressor discharge 28 enters the combustor plenum 69 under high pressure , and secondary air to be used for secondary turbine cooling is received through the heat exchanger inlet 63 . the secondary air passes through an outer annular air flow passage 70 formed between the inner and outer members 67 , 56 . while the secondary air is moving through the outer air passage 70 , heat is transferred from the secondary air through the outer member 56 to the cooler bypass air 65 . at the end of the outer member 56 , the cooled secondary air reverses direction and flows through an interior air flow passage 71 of the inner member 67 . the outer member 56 has a closed end 72 with an internal contoured surface 73 which guides the air to flow radially inwardly , relative to the standpipe 10 , to the interior passage 71 . a thermal barrier coating may be applied to the inner member 67 so that heat is not transferred back to the cooled secondary air as it passes through the inner member . however , the inner member 67 is preferably made entirely from a low weight , low thermal conductive material such as a ceramic matrix composite . at the bottom of the inner member 67 , the secondary air passes through the boss 68 and hollow strut 78 into the cooling manifold 54 . the manifold 54 provides secondary cooling air passages to components of the turbine 36 . the heat exchanger 10 comprised of the elongate tubular members shown in fig1 and 2 has several advantages . for example , the air passing to the heat exchanger inlet 63 has been immediately discharged from the compressor and therefore is the coolest air within the combustor 32 . in addition , the heat exchanger 10 requires that the air change direction only one time ; consequently , both the resistance to air flow through the heat exchanger and the pressure drop across the heat exchanger are minimal . the inner and outer members 67 , 56 are not mechanically connected to each other , and therefore each member may have its own independent differential thermal growth , either axially or radially , between the hotter inlet side and the cooler discharge side without a flexible interconnecting coupling . consequently , each of the members 67 , 56 may be rigidly connected to the engine and only static seals are required , thereby minimizing leakage potential and weight . although the presence of the heat exchanger 10 in the bypass air duct will to some degree disrupt the flow of bypass air therethrough , the effects of such disruption may be minimized by utilizing a number of radially - extending heat exchangers , preferably equally spaced , around the circumference of the engine . by utilizing a plurality of heat exchangers 10 , the distance the cooled air must travel is minimized by the parallel nature of the air paths 70 , 71 within each heat exchanger . the utilization of many heat exchangers having parallel short paths is preferred over the use of fewer heat exchangers having long serpentine paths because the total pressure drop across the heat exchangers is less , resulting in greater air supply pressure to the components to be cooled . finally , the impact of a single failed pipe is reduced because less air flow would be made available for dumping air into the bypass stream . in summary , the heat exchanger cools air by directing a flow of high pressure air discharged from the compressor in a first radially - extending , annular path away from the engine , transferring heat from that air flow to the bypass air , and changing the direction of the air flow into a second radially - extending path inside and concentric with the first path back toward the engine . it should be noted that the flow areas and pipe lengths of the heat exchanger 10 may be varied to achieve an intended temperature drop . the outer member 56 may be manufactured with or without cooling fins or may contain cooling fins of different designs . other devices may also be employed to increase the effectiveness of the heat transfer . for example , the passage 70 may include elements for directing the flow of secondary air , thereby increasing the time the secondary air is in contact with a heat transfer surface as well as increasing the heat transfer surface area . also , dampers may be installed between pipes to inhibit resonance . to minimize the disruption to the flow of bypass air , the cross - sectional shape of the inner and outer members may be varied . for example , in addition to the round shape depicted in the figures , the members may be elliptical , have the shape of an airfoil or any combination thereof . further , the secondary air from the heat exchanger 10 may be ducted to various engine components utilizing hollow struts , pipes or a combination thereof . in addition , the heat exchanger 10 of the design described may be mounted at other locations on the combustor casing 62 ; for example , adjacent the turbine vane 50 to provide vane cooling . while the invention has been illustrated in some detail according to the preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings , and while the preferred embodiments have been described in some detail , there is no intention to thus limit the invention to such detail . on the contrary , it is intended to cover all modifications , alterations and equivalents following within the spirit and scope of the appended claims . | 8 |
fig1 shows an assembled frame and base , the needlework having been omitted therefrom for clarity . the frame , indicated generally at 10 , includes parallel side members 12 and 13 which are interconnected by upper and lowwer members 15 and 16 , respectively . members 15 and 16 are provided with long , narrow pieces of coarse cloth 18 to which the upper and lower edges of the needlework fabric can be basted to hold the cloth between the upper and lower members . normally , the needlework fabric will be longer or taller than the distance between members 15 and 16 , in which case a portion of the fabric can be rolled onto one or both of those members . members 15 and 16 are provided with threaded bolts protruding from the ends thereof which pass through holes in members 12 and 13 and are secured by wing nuts 20 . the frame is held on support arms 22 and 23 by carriage bolts 25 and wing nuts 26 , the bolts passing through spacer blocks 24 and the upper ends of the support arms , the lower ends thereof being attached to support blocks 28 and 29 , again by carriage bolts and wing nuts . support blocks 28 and 29 are fixedly attached to slider plates 30 and 31 which form part of the base structure along with blocks 28 , 29 and support arms 22 , 23 . a generally h - shaped structure indicated generally at 35 includes front and rear elongated base members 36 and 37 and a central member 39 which extends between members 36 and 37 and is fixedly attached thereto . central member 39 holds members 36 and 37 in a generally parallel relationship and extends between those members at a location intermediate the ends thereof to form the h - shaped frame structure . member 39 is dimensioned so that slider plates 30 and 31 can fit between the inwardly facing parallel edges of members 36 and 37 . as will be further described in connection with the other figures , track members 40 and 41 are attached to members 36 and 37 and are arranged to slidingly engage plates 30 and 31 so that those plates can be slidably moved relative to the h - shaped structure . as seen in fig1 the frame 10 is the shortest frame which can be accommodated by frame structure 35 , that is , the length , as measured between the outer surfaces of members 12 and 13 , is substantially equal to the distance between the inner surfaces of blocks 24 on support arms 22 and 23 with slider plates 30 and 31 positioned so that their inner ends are adjacent central portion 39 . a similar structure is shown in fig2 in which the same base accommodates a frame indicated generally at 45 which is considerably longer than frame 10 . the basic structure of frame 45 is the same as frame 10 , having end members 46 and 47 , upper and lower members 48 and 49 and the interconnecting hardware . however , as will be apparent , upper and lower members 48 and 49 are much longer than the equivalent members in frame 10 and , thus , the distance between the outer surfaces of members 46 and 47 is considerably greater then the equivalent distance of members 12 and 13 . accordingly , the inner surfaces of blocks 24 on support arms 22 and 23 must be further apart in order to accommodate this frame . this is accomplished by sliding the slider plates 30 and 31 outwardly away from central portion 39 , leaving a space between the inner ends of the slider blocks and the central portion . as will be apparent , there is a limit beyond which the slider plates cannot be extracted without losing engagement with the tracks 40 and 41 attached to members 36 and 37 . this limit defines the greatest length of frame which can be accommodated by this base structure . between that outer limit and the inner limit illustrated in fig1 there is a range of frame sizes which can be accommodated and which , in a practical embodiment of the structure , permits the base to accommodate at least four practical sizes of frames ranging from 13 to 22 in . fig3 and 4 show a substantial portion of the base structure with the frame removed and with support arm 23 cut away ( in fig3 ) to avoid obscuring any portion of the base structure below it . as will be seen from these figures , slider plates 30 and 31 are slidably received by tracks 40 and 41 so that they are movable toward and away from central member 39 . front and rear elongated members 36 and 37 are rigidly interconnected to member 39 by screws which pass through openings 50 and 51 which are substantially centrally located in members 36 and 37 , the screws being shown in the sectional view of fig6 . as seen in fig2 and , more clearly , in fig5 and 6 , each of the track members 40 and 41 is generally i - shaped in cross section with the height of the track being about 9 / 16 in . and the width of the top and bottom flange portions each being about 7 / 16 in . the tracks are made by extrusion using a polymeric material such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene ( abs ), resulting in a track which has stiff , self - supporting characteristics . one side of each track member is fixedly attached to its associated front or rear member 36 or 37 by the central member 39 and screw 52 which passes through the track member and into central portion 39 . the other side of each track member engages central portion 39 and , on either side of that central portion , one of the slider plates . the remainder of the members of the frame and base are preferably made of wood although plastic and other materials can be employed , if desired . the hardware is , of course , conventional in nature and includes items such as carriage bolts , lag screws , wing nuts and washers . while one advantageous embodiment has been chosen for illustration , it will be recognized by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims . | 3 |
referring now to the figures and in particular to fig1 a guided parafoil delivery system 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is shown . system 10 includes a parafoil 12 for reducing a rate of descent ( via air drag ) of a payload container 18 . the payloads transportable by system 10 are generally on the order of one to 100 pounds , but the weight of the payload should not be construed as a limitation on the present invention , unless as applied to a claim that recites a weight limitation . the present invention is applicable to delivery of chemical sensors and other electronic devices as well as other lightweight payloads . payload container 18 is mechanically coupled to parafoil 12 via a guidance system container 16 that houses components for controlling the flight path and descent of parafoil 12 . an optional telemetry antenna 17 is shown attached to payload container 18 for exchange of information via radio frequency broadcast with a ground station or airborne transceiver . a first set of control cables 14 a is connected to a set of connection points on parafoil 12 that are disposed on a back edge of the right side of parafoil 12 . shortening cables 14 a increases the drag of the right side of parafoil 12 , steering parafoil 12 to the right . a second set of cables 14 c is connected to a set of connection points on parafoil 12 that are disposed on a back edge of the left side of parafoil 12 . shortening cables 14 a increases the drag of the left side of parafoil 12 , steering parafoil 12 to the left . the first and second set of cables 14 a and 14 c are generally connected to more flexible “ risers ” on the back edges of parafoil 12 , while the remaining cables 14 b are connected to connection points on the main body of parafoil 12 , but other implementations are possible , such as configurations where risers are not employed and cables 14 b may also be absent , providing steering by shifting the center point of guidance system container 16 and payload container 18 with respect to parafoil 12 and supporting a payload entirely via the control cables 14 a and 14 c . parafoil 12 is steered by shortening a set of control cables 14 a or 14 c and simultaneously lengthening the other set of control cables 14 c or 14 a , causing parafoil 12 to turn in the direction of increased drag on the side of parafoil 12 controlled by the shortened cable set . referring now to fig2 system 10 is shown stowed in a canister 21 of the size generally available for airdrop of countermeasures electronics and sensing systems . in particular , the size of canister may be 4 ″× 4 ″ by 12 ″ in length , which is consistent with countermeasures canisters currently employed for the delivery of chemical sensor packages . parafoil 12 , is folded and stowed above guidance system container 16 and is attached to payload container 18 . a removable cover 25 on which optional telemetry antenna 17 is mounted , provides access to payloads within payload container 18 prior to insertion within container 21 . two l - shaped cover plates 23 a - 23 b surround parafoil 12 and guidance system container 16 . the cover plates are ejected after deployment of system 10 from canister 21 . a sensor s 1 , depicted as a switch , but which may be implemented as a hall effect sensor ( mounted on guidance system container 16 ) and magnet ( mounted on one of cover plates 23 a - 23 b ) or other suitable sensing device , provides detection of ejection of cover plates 23 a - 23 b after deployment . sensor s 1 provides a signal to the guidance system within guidance system container 16 to activate control of parafoil 12 . an additional time delay can be set to further delay the activation of guidance system components until parafoil 12 has completely deployed and is in stable descent . referring now to fig3 a and 3b , internal features of the guidance system container 16 and payload container 18 are depicted . a payload 19 is placed within payload container 18 for delivery to a target zone . a battery 28 and compass 29 are also mounted within payload container 18 and electrically connected to a guidance control 20 within guidance system container 16 via cables . in addition or alternative to compass 29 , a global positioning system ( gps ) antenna 27 and receiver are employed , with gps antenna 27 shown mounted conformal to the surface of guidance system container 16 . compass 29 is an electronic compass such as a magnetic compass that provides horizontal bearing information to guidance control 20 . a gps receiver within guidance control 20 and coupled to gps antenna 27 provides periodic position information to guidance control 20 in addition to compass 29 . in some embodiments , in particular for navigation systems providing data at a higher rate than standard gps , compass 29 may be omitted , and horizontal bearing may be calculated from changes in the gps reported position . further , compass 29 may be an alternative device , such as an inertial navigation system , tacan or vor receiver , or other device that may provide bearing information to the guidance control 20 . within guidance system container 16 , a motor 22 is coupled to control cables 14 a and 14 c of parafoil 12 via a winch drum 26 . when motor 22 is rotated , one set of cables ( 14 a or 14 c ) is shortened ( or tensioned ) and the other set is lengthened ( or loosened ), steering parafoil 12 in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the trajectory of parafoil 12 . paths and apertures within the walls of guidance system container 16 provide for smooth travel of cables 14 a and 14 c from winch drum 26 to the outside of guidance system container 16 . a position sensor 23 provides an indication of a “ zero position ” of winch drum ( e . g ., where the lengths of cables 14 a and 14 c outside of guidance system housing 16 are equal ), so that guidance control 20 can be properly initialized to a neutral steering condition . a shaft position sensor incorporated within motor 22 and coupled to guidance control 20 may be incorporated to control the precise length of cables 14 a and 14 c , as well as the rate of rotation of motor 22 , permitting control over the positioning profile of motor 22 . controlling the rate and acceleration curves of motor 22 provides improved control of parafoil 12 , providing smooth operation at the endpoints of motor positioning events . referring now to fig4 a schematic of a guidance control 20 and associated electronic components is depicted in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . battery 28 supplies power to the circuits of guidance control 20 and other components via a voltage regulator 32 , which provides the regulated voltage required by i / o devices and processors , while unregulated battery power is supplied to motor drivers 38 . a microcontroller 34 provides computation of the parafoil trajectory in conformity with information received from an electronic compass 29 and a gps receiver 33 ( via gps antenna 27 ). gps receiver 33 provides positional information and electronic compass 29 provides horizontal bearing information . gps receiver 33 generally does not provide data at a sufficient rate to determine horizontal bearing , therefore electronic compass 29 ( or alternatively an inertial navigation system , etc .) is needed so that proper course correction may be calculated . further , microcontroller 34 observes the rate of change of horizontal bearing from electronic compass 29 during flight to determine whether or not the system is in an undesirable flight condition . if an undesirable flight condition is detected , motor m 1 is restored to the zero position determined by sensor 23 and the system guidance algorithm restarts after flight stability is recovered . examples of undesirable flight conditions that can be detected using the rate of horizontal bearing changes are payload oscillation , where a heavy payload swings and causes the parafoil to change direction rapidly , and spiral divergence , where the payload swings out while the parafoil turns downward , causing the lift vector of the parafoil to become substantially horizontal . either condition disrupts the regular flight path and thus the guided operation of the system and therefore it is desirable to detect the above - mentioned and other unstable flight conditions so that remedial action can be taken and guided operation restored . switch s 1 optionally detects deployment of the parafoil via detection of parafoil cover ejection , separation of a suspended payload housing from the guidance system container or other suitable mechanism . at deployment , microcontroller ( via program instructions stored in a memory 34 b and executed by a processor core 34 a ) sets the motor ( and winch pulley 26 ) to the zero start position via feedback from winch position sensor 23 . microcontroller 34 then computes the deviation of the flight path from a desired path to the ground target . initially , the flight path is substantially a straight line toward the target , with a terminal cylindrical path above the target once the system has reached a predetermined distance from the target . when microcontroller 34 determines that a course correction is needed , a motor control processor 36 is instructed to turn motor 22 , in a direction corresponding to the sign of the deviation and with a torque ( motor current ) proportional to the magnitude of the deviation . motor drivers 38 supply the current from battery 28 to the motor via an h - bridge switching network , and receive feedback from the shaft sensor within motor 22 . the motor current setting can be provided by pulse width control generated by motor control processor 36 , which may follow pre - programmed profiles for acceleration / deceleration . control is proportional to the calculated deviation and adjustment of the length of cables 14 a and 14 c controlled by motor 22 can be set very precisely due to the shaft sensor feedback to motor control processor 36 . referring now to fig5 a trajectory 65 of a guided parafoil delivery system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is depicted . initially , the system is guided from a start point 64 ( the location of the system after deployment and initial start - up delay ) in a linear path toward a target 60 . with glide ratios ranging from 2 : 1 to 4 : 1 , linear flights of 2 miles for a drop height of 5000 feet can be reliably achieved . glide ratios are dependent on the parafoil design and load as well as local air conditions and wind . after the system has come within a predetermined horizontal radius above the target , guidance proceeds based on a control cylinder 62 extending axially above and symmetrically disposed circumferentially around the horizontal position of the target . control cylinder 62 is disposed around an axis 61 rising vertically above target 60 . the radius of cylinder 62 is generally 100 feet , but may be any value suitable for the aerodynamics and size of a particular system . if trajectory 65 of the system exceeds the boundary of cylinder 62 a correction is applied , turning parafoil 12 inward , thus causing parafoil 12 to veer back toward the circumference of cylinder 62 . when the system is within cylinder 62 , a variety of options may be chosen for guidance , including neutral or no control . alternatively , the set of cables 14 a or 14 c on the side facing axis 61 may be pulled to an extreme position , increasing the descent of parafoil ( if cylinder 62 is exceeded at any time , the control function described above will be resumed ). alternatively , if trajectory 65 of the system falls too far inside the boundary of cylinder 62 a correction 64 may be applied , turning parafoil 12 outward from axis 61 . the outward turning control causes parafoil 12 to veer back toward the circumference of cylinder 62 , maintaining a constant control function , but generally limiting the approach to target 60 to the radius of cylinder 62 . referring now to fig6 a , a view of internal features of guidance system container 16 and payload container 18 are depicted in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the present invention . in the alternative embodiment , guidance system container 16 is connected to payload container 18 by a set of cables 54 that extend after deployment of the system . a gps receiver 27 a is mounted on the top surface of payload container 18 and is connected to guidance control 20 ( not shown ) via a cable 55 . the above - illustrated configuration provides for operation of gps receiver 27 a without pattern distortion and blockage due to guidance system container and its internal components shadowing gps receiver 27 a . ( cables 54 will generally be longer than depicted , providing sufficient distance between guidance system container 16 and payload container 18 ). alternatively , gps receiver may also be mounted with payload container 18 and coupled to guidance control 20 via a serial or other interface . switch s 1 is mounted on guidance system container 18 for detection of separation of guidance system container 16 from payload container 18 at deployment . referring now to fig6 b , a view of internal features of guidance system container 16 and payload container 18 are depicted in accordance with another alternative embodiment of the present invention . in the other alternative embodiment , guidance system container 16 is connected to payload container 18 directly . a gps receiver 27 is mounted on the top surface of guidance system container 16 and is connected to guidance control 20 . in the depicted embodiment , battery 28 , compass 29 and motor 22 are all contained within guidance system container . while the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and other changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . | 1 |
the present invention comprises a novel method and apparatus for effecting the distal anastomosis in an aortic valve bypass procedure . more particularly , the present invention comprises the provision and use of a novel locking collar connector to effect the distal anastomosis in an aortic valve bypass procedure . this novel locking collar connector allows the distal anastomosis to be effected quickly and safely , while requiring significantly less access to the anastomosis site and without requiring suturing to the descending aorta . significantly , hemostasis is effectively maintained at substantially all times , so that the distal anastomosis can be carried out while the heart is beating . looking now at fig2 - 7 , there is shown a novel locking collar connector 5 which comprises one preferred form of the present invention . locking collar connector 5 generally comprises a ratchet bracket 10 ( fig2 , 3 , 5 and 6 ), an inner collar 15 ( fig2 , 4 , 5 and 6 ), a graft conduit 20 ( fig2 and 6 ), and an outer collar 25 ( fig2 and 7 ). in one preferred form of the present invention , and as will hereinafter be discussed in further detail , ratchet bracket 10 , inner collar 15 , and graft conduit 20 are assembled into a single integral assembly 27 ( fig6 ) during manufacture , and outer collar 25 ( fig7 ) is joined to this single integral assembly 27 during use ( fig2 ). ratchet bracket 10 is shown in greater detail in fig3 . more particularly , ratchet bracket 10 generally comprises a hollow ovoid body 30 having a distal end 35 , a proximal end 40 , and a lumen 45 extending therebetween . a pair of l - shaped support arms 50 extend distally , and radially outwardly , from distal end 35 of hollow ovoid body 30 . ratchet teeth 55 are provided on the exterior surface of hollow ovoid body 30 . preferably two sets of ratchet teeth 55 are provided on the exterior surface of hollow ovoid body 30 , with the two sets of ratchet teeth being disposed in diametrically - opposed disposition , in the manner shown in fig3 . as will hereinafter be discussed , graft conduit 20 extends through lumen 45 of hollow ovoid body 30 ( fig6 ), l - shaped support arms 50 are configured to support inner collar 15 adjacent to the distal end of hollow ovoid body 30 ( fig5 and 6 ), and the two sets of ratchet teeth 55 are configured to be engaged by corresponding elements of outer collar 25 ( fig2 ). inner collar 15 ( fig2 and 4 - 6 ) comprises a generally ovoid body 60 having an ovoid outer perimeter 65 and an ovoid central hole 70 . inner collar 15 is preferably constructed from a flat sheet of 0 . 009 ″ thick nitinol , which is heat - treated while constrained onto the outer diameter of a suitable heat - treat mandrel ( about 1 . 5 inches in diameter ) so as to form a resilient saddle - like structure . alternatively , inner collar 15 can be formed out of other suitable materials . as noted above , and as will hereinafter be discussed , inner collar 15 is intended to be mounted to l - shaped support arms 50 of hollow ovoid body 30 ( fig5 and 6 ). furthermore , and as will hereinafter be discussed , inner collar 15 is provided with a spring configuration ( e . g ., because of its nitinol construction ) which , when inner collar 15 is deployed within the interior of the descending aorta , can exert a substantial sealing force against the inner wall of the descending aorta . graft conduit 20 ( fig2 and 6 ) comprises a generally tubular structure which is preferably constructed out of woven polyester graft ( e . g ., vascutek gelweave ™). other graft materials , including gore - tex ® fabric or vascutek triplex ™ material , can also be utilized to form graft conduit 20 . as noted above , and as will hereinafter be discussed , graft conduit 20 is configured to extend through lumen 45 of hollow ovoid body 30 ( fig6 ). as noted above , ratchet bracket 10 , inner collar 15 and graft conduit 20 are intended to be assembled into a single integral assembly 27 ( fig6 ) during manufacture , and outer collar 25 is intended to be joined to this integral assembly during use ( fig2 ). more particularly , inner collar 15 is preferably attached to l - shaped support arms 50 of ratchet bracket 10 by molding the ratchet bracket about inner collar 15 so that the inner collar resides on the l - shaped support arms of the ratchet bracket ( fig5 ). woven graft ( e . g ., vascutek gelweave ™) 75 ( fig6 ) is then sewn onto inner collar 15 so as to envelop both sides of the inner collar 15 ( i . e ., so as to envelop both of the oval faces 76 , 77 ), preferably by stitching the woven graft on both the inner and outer diameters of inner collar 15 . finally , the distal end of graft conduit 20 is sewn ( e . g ., at a fluid - tight seam 80 ) to the woven graft 75 covering inner collar 15 ( fig6 ). fluid - tight seam 80 is preferably on the inner edge of the nitinol oval , as shown in fig6 . thus , the distal end of the lumen of graft conduit 20 opens on the ovoid central hole 70 of inner collar 15 , with inner collar 15 providing a resilient ovoid flange at the distal end of graft conduit 20 ( see fig6 ). significantly , with this construction , ratchet bracket 10 remains primarily outside of graft conduit 20 and is not covered with graft material ; only the two l - shaped support arms 50 ( molded onto the nitinol oval of inner collar 15 ) are enclosed in graft material . the two resulting penetrations through the graft layer ( i . e ., at the locations where the distal end of graft conduit engages the two l - shaped support arms 50 ) are sutured tightly in order to eliminate potential leak paths . outer collar 25 ( fig2 and 7 ) comprises a hollow ovoid body 85 having a distal end 90 , a proximal end 95 , and lumen 100 extending therebetween . a flange 105 is mounted to distal end 90 of hollow ovoid body 85 . a pair of ratchet arms 110 , including ratchet teeth 115 thereon , are spring mounted to hollow ovoid body 85 . as will hereinafter be discussed , hollow ovoid body 85 of outer collar 25 is intended to be slid over hollow ovoid body 30 of ratchet bracket 10 so that flange 105 of outer collar 25 opposes inner collar 15 , with ratchet teeth 115 of outer collar 25 engaging ratchet teeth 55 of ratchet bracket 10 . outer collar 25 is preferably molded out of a medical grade acetal . other materials suitable for permanent implant , such as silicone or polypropylene , can also be used . in use , and as will hereinafter be discussed , an opening is made in the side wall of the descending aorta ; the single integral assembly 27 ( fig6 ) of ratchet bracket 10 , inner collar 15 and graft conduit 20 is maneuvered so that inner collar 15 is positioned within the interior of the descending aorta while hollow ovoid body 30 and graft conduit 20 extend out the side wall of the descending aorta ; and then hollow ovoid body 85 of outer collar 25 is slid down over graft conduit 20 and hollow ovoid body 30 of ratchet bracket 10 until flange 105 of outer collar 25 engages the outer wall of the descending aorta and ratchet teeth 115 of outer collar 25 engage ratchet teeth 55 of ratchet bracket 10 , with the side wall of the descending aorta being securely clamped between inner collar 15 and flange 105 of outer collar 25 , and with graft conduit 20 in fluid communication with the interior of the descending aorta . in this way , the distal anastomosis can be provided for an aortic valve bypass procedure . thereafter , graft conduit 20 can be connected , in ways well known in the art , to the left ventricle of the heart as part of an aortic valve bypass procedure . it will be appreciated that , with this construction , ratchet bracket 10 is instrumental in locking outer collar 25 down onto the outer surface of the descending aorta while simultaneously sandwiching the aortic wall between inner collar 15 and flange 105 of outer collar 25 ( fig2 ). in this respect it will also be appreciated that outer collar 25 has two diametrically - opposed ratchet teeth 115 ( fig7 ), while ratchet bracket 10 has two corresponding diametrically - opposed sets of ratchet teeth 55 , with the two diametrically - opposed sets of ratchet teeth 55 being aligned with each end of the inner collar oval &# 39 ; s major axis ( fig5 ). with this arrangement , each end of outer collar 25 can be locked into a number of positions relative to ratchet bracket 10 ( and hence relative to inner collar 15 ), thereby accommodating for variable aortic wall thicknesses . in this respect it will also be appreciated that the general oval shape of hollow ovoid body 85 of outer collar 25 and hollow ovoid body 30 of ratchet bracket 10 serves to automatically establish and maintain alignment between the mating ratchet teeth 55 , 115 of the ratchet bracket and the outer collar . in other words , relative rotation between the outer collar and ratchet bracket is effectively prevented . it will also be appreciated that , on account of the foregoing construction , locked collar connector 5 presents only graft material to the lumen of the anastomosis site . a novel delivery instrument 200 ( fig8 - 12 ) is provided to enable the physician to easily install and deploy locked collar connector 5 through a small thoracotomy into a slit in the descending aorta , whereby to form the desired distal anastomosis for the aortic valve bypass . looking now at fig8 - 12 , delivery instrument 200 generally comprises a hollow ovoid column 205 ( fig9 ) having a pair of traction arms 210 movably mounted to the distal end thereof . more particularly , each of the traction arms 210 is pivotally mounted to hollow ovoid column 205 via a pivot pin 220 , whereby a toe 225 thereof may be moved radially inwardly or outwardly relative to the longitudinal axis 230 of hollow ovoid column 205 . a garter spring 235 is provided so as to urge toes 225 of traction arms 210 radially inwardly . a pair of handles 240 ( fig8 ) are attached to hollow ovoid column 205 . still looking at fig8 - 12 , a clothespin rod 245 , having a bifurcated clothespin clamp 250 at its distal end , is movably mounted within hollow ovoid column 205 . as will hereinafter be discussed , clothespin clamp 250 may be used to keep inner collar 15 of locking collar connector 5 folded along its long axis . when clothespin rod 245 is in its extended position ( fig9 ), clothespin rod 245 forces traction arms 210 apart , whereby to radially project toes 225 , in the manner shown in fig9 . in this way , and as will hereinafter be discussed , toes 225 can be used to support the undersides of l - shaped support arms 50 of inner collar 15 , whereby to grasp inner collar 15 to delivery instrument 200 . when clothespin rod 245 is in its retracted position ( fig1 ), garter spring 235 urges toes 225 radially inwardly , in the manner shown in fig1 . in this way , and as will hereinafter be discussed , toes 225 can be withdrawn from the undersides of l - shaped support arms 50 of inner collar 15 , whereby to release inner collar 15 from delivery instrument 200 . still looking at fig8 - 12 , a pair of collar actuators 255 are movably disposed about the exterior of hollow column 205 . more particularly , collar actuators 255 include a pair of slots 260 through which handles 240 project . by gripping handles 240 and pressing on the proximal ends of collar actuators 255 , the distal ends of collar actuators 255 can be moved distally , whereby to force outer collar 25 distally , as will hereinafter be discussed . collar actuators 255 together have an ovoid configuration . to install locking collar connector 5 onto delivery instrument 200 , collar actuators 255 are moved proximally on hollow ovoid column 205 , and clothespin rod 245 is moved proximally within hollow ovoid column 205 so that toes 225 are retracted inboard . next , outer collar 25 of locking collar connector 5 is slid onto the distal end of hollow ovoid column 25 . then the single integral assembly 27 of ratchet bracket 10 , inner collar 15 and graft conduit 20 is slid onto the distal end of hollow ovoid column 205 . next , inner collar 15 is folded along the major axis of the oval . then clothespin rod 245 is moved distally so that toes 225 project radially outward so as to support the underside of ratchet bracket 10 and so that clothespin clamp 250 holds portions of the nitinol oval of the inner collar 15 in close proximity across the oval &# 39 ; s minor axis . see fig8 - 12 . thus , the single integral assembly 27 of ratchet bracket 10 , inner collar 15 and graft conduit 20 is securely held in place on the distal end of delivery instrument 200 , with graft conduit 20 trapped in the annular gap between hollow ovoid column 205 and collar actuators 255 , and with outer collar 25 of locking collar connector 5 disposed on hollow ovoid column 205 proximal to the aforementioned single integral assembly 27 ( of ratchet bracket 10 , inner collar 15 and graft conduit 20 ) and distal to collar actuators 255 . note that a portion of graft conduit 20 is folded under , and is also held by , clothespin clamp 250 . see fig1 and 13 . when locking collar connector 5 is to be deployed off the distal end of delivery instrument 200 , collar actuators 255 are advanced distally while hollow ovoid column 205 is held stationary ( e . g ., via handles 240 ). this causes outer collar 25 of locking collar connector 5 to move distally , with flange 205 of outer collar 205 moving toward inner collar 15 so as to clamp vascular tissue therebetween , and with ratchet teeth 115 of outer collar 25 engaging ratchet teeth 55 of ratchet bracket 10 so as to lock the two members in position relative to one another , and with graft conduit 20 in fluid communication with the desired blood flow . with locking collar connector 5 in position , clothespin rod 245 is retracted proximally , releasing inner collar 15 from clothespin clamp 250 ( whereupon inner collar 15 springs back to its unfolded condition ) and allowing toes 225 to retract inwardly , whereby to free delivery instrument 200 from locking collar connector 5 . delivery instrument 200 may thereupon be withdrawn from the surgical site , leaving locking collar connector 5 in position . in this way , the distal anastomosis can be provided for an aortic valve bypass procedure . thereafter , graft conduit 20 can be connected , in ways well known in the art , to the left ventricle of the heart as part of an aortic valve bypass procedure . the preferred method for installing locking collar connector 5 into the descending aorta using delivery instrument 200 is detailed in the steps below . 1 . access to the descending aorta is created through a small thoracotomy , a thoracoscopy , or other minimally invasive opening in the thoracic cavity . 2 . two balloon catheters ( cook coda ® g36042 , for example ) are fed up from the groin through one or both femoral arteries . a first balloon (“ the proximal balloon ”) is inflated above the anastomosis site ( proximal to the heart ), and the second balloon is inflated distal to the anastomosis site (“ the distal balloon ”). see fig1 . blood flow through the aorta is effectively blocked by the two inflated balloons . 3 . the physician cuts a longitudinal slit at the anastomosis site ( fig1 ). 4 . delivery instrument 200 , with locking collar connector 5 carried thereon , is advanced through the thoracotomy to the anastomosis site . the delivery instrument is rotated so that the major axis of inner collar 15 of locking collar connector 5 is aligned with the aortic slit ( fig1 ). then inner collar 15 is inserted into the interior of the descending aorta via the aortic slit . in this respect it will be appreciated that insertion of the inner collar through the aortic slit and into the lumen of the descending aorta can be aided by “ picking up ” the descending aorta adjacent to the slit with a suitable pair of forceps ( fig1 ), and the folded inner collar presents a narrow profile that can be fed one end at a time into the aortic slit . the process is repeated at the other end of the aortic slit until inner collar 15 is fully positioned within the lumen of the descending aorta . 5 . once inner collar 15 of locking collar connector 5 is within the lumen of the descending aorta and substantially centered on the aortic slit , the physician applies traction to the inner collar via handles 240 ( fig8 ). as noted above , the handles are rigidly connected to hollow ovoid column 205 , which contains the pivot axes for traction arms 210 . the traction arms are in contact with the ratchet bracket &# 39 ; s l - shaped support arms 50 through a layer of graft . with traction applied to inner collar 15 using the handles as described above , the physician advances outer collar 25 down onto ratchet bracket 10 ( fig1 ). to this end , delivery instrument 200 has a pair of collar actuators 255 ( fig9 ) that may be moved independently of one another . the physician is able to push on either , or both , collar actuators as required so as to set outer collar 25 . this provides tactile feedback to the physician and enables him to properly compress each end of the outer collar onto the ratchet bracket . the aortic wall is thus securely clamped between outer collar 25 and the portion of the inner collar 15 near the major axis of the nitinol oval of the inner collar . as this occurs , ratchet teeth 115 of outer collar 25 and ratchet teeth 55 of ratchet bracket 10 engage with each other so as to prevent the inner collar and the outer collar from separating . see fig1 . 6 . the physician retracts clothespin rod 245 , pulling clothespin clamp 250 off the folded inner collar 15 . as a result , the inner collar springs outward until the inner wall of the descending aorta is encountered . there is sufficient spring force in the inner collar to create at least line - to - line contact along the entire inner circumference of the aortic slit , thereby establishing hemostasis . as clothespin rod 245 is further retracted , the two traction arms 210 pivot towards each other , moving toes 225 inboard and thereby releasing support arms 50 from the delivery instrument . this action is preferably aided by the provision of garter spring 235 . see fig1 . 7 . collar actuators 255 and hollow ovoid column 205 are withdrawn . the graft conduit slips out from the annular gap between the hollow ovoid column and the collar actuators . 8 . means to block the neck of graft conduit 20 , and maintain hemostasis , are provided . by way of example but not limitation , a cross - clamp on the graft conduit is one such simple approach . after the graft conduit has been blocked and hemostasis is ensured , the distal balloon is deflated and withdrawn . then the proximal balloon is deflated and withdrawn , leaving locking collar connector 5 deployed within the descending aorta . 9 . at this point , the distal anastomosis for the aortic valve bypass procedure is complete . graft conduit 20 can thereafter be connected , in ways well known in the art , to the left ventricle of the heart as part of an aortic valve bypass procedure . an alternative embodiment of the locking collar connector is shown schematically in fig1 , and includes : 1 . a prosthetic valve 300 is pre - installed in the proximal end of graft conduit 20 . 2 . a side branch 305 is provided on graft conduit 20 . this construction is useful when a valve is pre - installed in the graft conduit . in this form of the invention , side branch 305 is installed on the delivery instrument ( see below ), and graft conduit 20 hangs off to the side of the delivery instrument . side branch 305 is preferably sized to fit in the annular gap between the hollow ovoid column and the collar actuators . 3 . a connector 310 is provided for attaching the proximal end of graft conduit 20 to another conduit . this connector may be ( i ) a male - female slip connector such as is taught in fig1 of u . s . pat . no . 7 , 510 , 561 , issued mar . 31 , 2009 to richard m . beane et al . for apparatus and method for connecting a conduit to a hollow organ ( attorney &# 39 ; s docket no . correx - 033058 - 000005 ), which patent is hereby incorporated herein by reference , and / or ( ii ) a snap - together coupling of the sort known in the fluid - coupling art , with self - sealing capability on at least one side of the coupling . inner collar 15 may also be constructed out of a stacked set of thin oval steel washers , rather than out of a single nitinol sheet 0 . 009 ″ thick . by way of example but not limitation , a set of ( 4 ) 0 . 002 ″ thick stainless steel ovals can be stacked and joined together when the ratchet bracket is over - molded . acting in tandem , this stack of stainless steel oval sheets can provide suitable flexibility and spring force with a low attendant stress level . consequently , the risk of a fatigue failure can be significantly reduced . where a side branch 305 is present on graft conduit 20 , the side branch can be held within the delivery instrument instead of the graft conduit . installation then proceeds as outlined above . one advantage of this alternative configuration and approach is that a prosthetic valve 300 can be pre - installed within the graft conduit where a side branch is provided . the graft conduit , with valve , then remains undisturbed throughout the distal anastomosis . as disclosed above , the present invention may be used for effecting a distal anastomosis for an aortic valve bypass . however , it should be appreciated that the present invention can also be used for a distal anastomosis for any bypass procedure , or for substantially any joinder of one vessel to another vessel . it will be understood that many additional changes in the details , materials , steps and arrangements of parts , which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention , may be made by those skilled in the art while remaining within the principles and scope of the present invention . | 0 |
in accordance with the present invention , there is provided nucleic acid - based marker for tree phenotype prediction and method thereof . sampling was conducted at the washington state university farm plantation site in puyallup , washington and at two commercial plantation sites in northern oregon at clatskanie and boardman . the pedigree sampled was founded in 1981 by interspecific hybridization between populus trichocarpa ( clone 93 - 968 ) and p . deltoides ( clone ill - 129 ). two siblings from the first hybrid generation ( f1 family 53 ), 53 - 246 and 53 - 242 , were crossed in 1988 to give rise to a family of second generation hybrids used for genetic mapping studies ( f2 family 331 ). unrooted cuttings of the p , f1 and 55 f2 clones were planted at the sites in a modified randomized complete block design at a 2 × 2 m spacing . at the time of sampling , the trees were seven ( puyallup ) and five ( clatskanie , boardman ) years old . ten millimeters diameter increment cores were obtained at approximately breast height from 350 surviving trees ( 90 genotypes ) within the pedigree . all cores were removed through the pith from bark to bark . for pilot kraft pulping analyses , 25 stems were selected — based on the fiber properties and wood density phenotypic data — and harvested from the puyallup site . the entire stem to a 1 ″ top size was recovered in each case . genotyping experiments were performed on dna extracted from 30 g of live tissue ( leaf samples ) obtained from each of the 90 sampled genotypes spanning the three growth sites . fibers for analysis were obtained from hand - chipped 10 mm increment cores using an acetic acid / hydrogen peroxide maceration technique whereby a known oven - dried ( o . d .) weight of chips was first placed in a test tube , saturated with water then covered in maceration solution [ 1 : 1 mixture of glacial acetic acid : hydrogen peroxide ( 30 % from stock bottle )]. these samples were then incubated in a dry heating block for 48 hrs at 60 ° c . the maceration solution was washed from the chips extensively using distilled water and the pulps disintegrated in a small hamilton beach mixer . a dilution series was then used to obtain representative samples of 10 , 000 - 20 , 000 fibers ( corresponding to approximately 5 mg of macerated pulp ) which were analyzed for length and coarseness values using a kajaani fs - 200 instrument and / or an optest fiber quality analyzer . maceration yields were calculated from oven - dried recovered pulps after fiber analysis . microfibril angle ( mfa ) was measured on 45 whole increment core samples from the family 331 hybrid poplars . the cores were selected on the basis of sufficient size (& gt ; 20 mm ) and soundness of the wood . prior to analysis , the cores were extracted in denatured ethanol for three days and dried . mfa was determined by silviscan - 2 analysis using scanning x - ray diffractometry [ evans , r . a variance approach to the x - ray diffractometric estimation of microfibril angle in wood . appita j . 52 ( 4 ), 283 - 289 ( 1999 )]. acquisition time was set for 30 seconds to optimize signal to noise ratio and a single diffraction pattern was obtained for each sample to ensure that the entire length of the sample was represented . mfa was estimated from the standard deviation ( s ) of the 002 azimuthal diffraction profile where : lignin contents were determined for 90 genotypes sampled at the puyallup growth site . the determinations were performed at the paprican pointe claire facility according to tappi standard methods ( t13 wd 74 ). the samples were ground in a wiley mill at 40 mesh and a 5 - 6 g o . d . aliquot of the ground wood was placed in a soxhlet thimble and continuously extracted with acetone for 6 hours . the resulting filtrate was concentrated by rotary evaporation and filtered through a pasteur pipette with glass wool , in order to remove any large particulates . the filtrate was then freeze dried , accurately weighed and the resulting crystals re - suspended in acetone to give a concentration of 5 , 000 ppm based on the total extractives yield . the internal standards , cholesterol palmitate and heptadeptanoic acid ( c - 17 ), were added to every one of the extracted samples , at a concentration of 200 ppm . the samples were then transferred to gc vials for analysis of fatty acids by gcms , using a 10 m db - xlb column ( j & amp ; w ). the set temperature program started out at 50 ° c . for 3 minutes , before ramping the temperature up to 340 ° c . at a rate of 10 ° c . per minute . this was then followed by maintaining the temperature at 340 ° c . for 30 minutes and again ramping up to 360 ° c . at a rate of 10 ° c . per minute . the injector temperature was held at 320 ° c . and a constant flow rate of 1 . 6 ml / minute was maintained . a solvent delay of 5 minutes was set up and data acquisition began at that point . in order for ion detection to occur , a compound table of known retention times was built . peaks were detected by quantions ( ric ) and integrated . area ratios were determined relative to the internal standard , cholesterol palmitate . the peaks were identified and integrated via the compound table that was constructed as a part of the ms data calculations [ fernandez , mp , watson , pa , breuil , c . gas chromatography - mass extractive compounds in quaking aspen . journal of chromatography a , 922 ( er1 - 2 ): 225 - 233 ( 2001 ). the resulting area integrations from each spectrum were divided into the internal standard , cholesterol palmitate , to give a ratio . this relative number was then used on a peak specific basis ( peak identification by retention time ) as phenotypic data for genetic mapping experiments . the area of particular interest falls between 25 to 40 minutes and contains the waxes , sterols and steryl esters , the major components of pitch in wood . selected wood logs from the 25 hybrid poplar clones from the base up to a 1 ″ top diameter were debarked , slabbed ( if necessary to reduce the diameter ) on a portable woodmizer lt - 15 sawmill and chipped using a 36 ″ cm & amp ; e 10 - knife industrial disc chipper . a portion of the chips were air - dried and later screened in a wennberg chip classifier to obtain chips in the thickness range of 2 - 6 mm for chemical pulping . these accept chips were used in the kraft cooks . the remaining green chips were screened on a bm & amp ; h vibratory screen to remove over sized chips and fines prior to mechanical pulping . three representative aliquots of air - dried accept chips from each of the samples were kraft pulped in bombs [ 45 g oven - dried ( o . d .) charge ] within a b - k micro - digester assembly . the cooking conditions were as follows : all of the pulps produced were washed , oven - dried and weighed to determine pulp yield . kappa number and black liquor residual effective alkali were determined by tappi standard procedures ( t236 cm 85 and t625 respectively ). from these results the optimum cooking conditions required to produce pulps at 17 kappa number were estimated by fitting regression lines through each set of data ( r 2 ≧ 0 . 95 ). large quantities of kraft pulp were subsequently produced in a 28 l weverk laboratory digester . the pulps produced were disintegrated , washed and screened through an 8 - cut screen plate . a pfi mill was used to prepare 5 - point beating curves for each pulp sample by refining at : 0 , 1000 , 3000 , 6000 revolutions ( cppa standard c . 7 ). a disintegrator ( cppa standard c . 9p ) and a stainless steel sheet machine were used for testing and forming all sets of handsheets ( cppa standard c . 4 and c . 5 ). all physical and optical testing was performed in a constant temperature and humidity room , using cppa standard methods . two - stage impregnation of twenty - four hybrid poplar chips samples was carried out using a sunds defibrator prex impregnator with a 3 : 1 compression ratio . chips were steamed at atmospheric pressure for 10 min to expel entrapped air from the chips and replace it with water vapour . impregnation with a solution containing 0 . 25 % dtpa ( diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid ) was carried out in the prex impregnator . this provided a chemical charge of 0 . 26 % to 0 . 66 % dtpa on o . d . wood . first - stage impregnated chips were further impregnated with a solution containing 0 . 25 % mgso 4 , 2 . 0 % na 2 sio 3 , 2 . 35 % naoh and 1 . 5 % h 2 o 2 . this resulted in chemical charges as follows : mgso 4 applied , % o . d . wood : 0 . 36 to 0 . 69 na 2 sio 3 applied , % o . d . wood : 2 . 29 to 5 . 45 naoh applied , % o . d . wood : 3 . 69 to 5 . 89 h 2 o 2 applied , % o . d . wood : 1 . 72 to 3 . 76 after 60 min retention at 60 ° c . the side port of the preheater was opened to remove the impregnated chips for open - discharge refining in a 30 . 5 cm single - disc sprout waldron laboratory refiner to prepare alkaline peroxide refiner mechanical pulps ( aprmp ). each chip sample was refined at three energy levels to give 72 aprmp pulps in the freeness range from 144 to 402 ml csf . immediately after first pass open - discharge refining the pulp stock was neutralized to ph 4 . 5 - 4 . 8 . wood chip density and chemical uptake of hybrid poplar chip samples are shown in table xix . plates d2a507 number of passes 2 to 4 depending upon freeness level nominal plate gap 0 . 38 mm ( first pass ) 0 . 03 to 0 . 2 mm ( subsequent passes ) refining consistency 18 to 23 % o . d . pulp after latency removal , each pulp was screened on a 6 - cut laboratory flat screen to determine screen rejects . bauer - mcnett fiber classifications on screened pulps were determined . representative samples from each of the 72 pulp samples were analyzed for fiber length using a kajaani fs - 200 instrument . handsheets were prepared with white water recirculation to minimize the loss of fines and tested for bulk , mechanical , and optical properties using cppa standard methods . handsheet roughness was measured in sheffield units ( su ). the nature of the observed kraft pulp handsheet deformations was explored by both light and electron microscopy and by energy - dispersive x - ray analysis . wood chip deposits were characterized in similar fashion . the methodologies used have been described fully in a previous report . the populus genetic map used in this application , previously constructed using the same family 331 pedigree , consists of 342 rflp , sts and rapd markers and is described in [ bradshaw , h . d ., villar , m ., watson , b . d ., otto , k . g ., and stewart , s . “ molecular genetics of growth and development in populus iii . a genetic linkage map of a hybrid poplar composed of rflp , sts and rapd markers ,” theor . appl . genet . 89 , 551 - 558 ( 1994 )]. the 19 large linkage groups , corresponding closely to the 19 populus chromosomes , were scanned for the phenotypic data obtained using the program mapmaker - qtl 1 . 1 . based on the scanned genome length and the distance between genetic markers , a logarithmic odds ( lod ) significance threshold level of 2 . 9 was chosen ( this ensures that the chance of a false positive qtl being detected is at most 5 %). for more details on the qtl mapping procedure employed . for each trait examined , qtl - associated markers were identified from the genetic map and were employed to generate polymorphic products from phenotyptically selected f2 generation individuals . random amplified polymorphic dna ( rapd ) markers were purchased from operon technologies inc . ( alameda , calif ., u . s . a .) and restriction fragment linked polymorphism ( rflp ) markers were constructed from published sequence data by the biotechnology laboratory at the university of british columbia . both types of markers were used in standard pcr reactions to generate polymorphic amplified product bands corresponding to the qtl - linked markers identified on the genetic map . pcr conditions were standard for rapd analyses ( h . d . bradshaw , personal communication ) and performed using rtaq polymerase ( amersham - pharmacia ) and a techne genius thermal cycler . cycle conditions were as follows : pcr products from the phenotypically selected f2 generation individuals were separated on 1 % agarose gels according to standard methods and polymorphic bands of the appropriate size were excised from the gels . products were purified from the agarose using the amersham - pharmacia gfx pcr gel band purification kit and cloned into the promega pgem - t vector system ( with supplied competent cells ) according to manufacturers &# 39 ; protocols and standard blue / white selection cloning procedures on ampicillin agar . cloned pcr products were prepared from transformed cells using the promega wizard plus miniprep kit , again according to the manufacturers protocols , and were then sequenced at the biotechnology laboratory , university of british columbia . fiber length and coarseness and macerated pulp yield data were obtained on core samples for each of the 350 trees sampled in the study using the pulp maceration technique and either the kajaani fs - 200 or the automated optest fqa instruments and are presented in table i . previous experiments have shown no difference in the fiber properties analyses of poplar samples between these two instruments [ robertson , g ., olson , j ., allen , p ., chan , b . and seth , r . “ measurement of fiber length , coarseness and shape with the fiber quality analyzer ”. tappi j . 82 ( 10 ), 93 - 98 ( 1999 )]. the outermost ring ( age 7 ) data are presented in table i . microfibril angle data for the outermost ring of each core ( i . e . age 7 ), obtained using the silvisscan - 2 technique , are also presented in table ii . fig1 shows the results of a typical silviscan - 2 analysis of an increment core sample from bark to pith at different levels of scanning resolution . table ii microfibril angle data for hybrid poplars at age 7 . tree mfa 331 - ring 7 data 1060 29 . 22 1063 26 . 15 1064 30 . 45 1065 27 . 13 1067 32 . 09 1069 29 . 09 1072 30 . 06 1073 32 . 24 1075 33 . 55 1076 34 . 60 1078 29 . 58 1079 31 . 25 1080 23 . 40 1082 28 . 43 1084 28 . 90 1095 30 . 58 1101 25 . 48 1103 28 . 03 1104 35 . 26 1114 21 . 56 1120 25 . 75 1122 17 . 76 1126 26 . 14 1127 33 . 37 1128 25 . 15 1130 25 . 87 1131 25 . 30 1140 24 . 98 1149 28 . 42 1151 28 . 59 1158 25 . 92 1169 26 . 54 1174 25 . 25 1186 27 . 01 1580 38 . 19 1590 20 . 84 1591 30 . 02 1592 26 . 09 1593 26 . 51 significant variability is seen for all three traits — fiber coarseness ranges from 0 . 042 mg / m to 0 . 124 mg / m ; microfibril angle from 17 . 8 ° to 38 . 2 °; maceration yield from 27 . 2 % to 56 . 1 %. results of the mapmaker - qtl 1 . 1 analysis of the data are shown in table ll . one significant qtl has been found for fiber coarseness , one low significance qtl for microfibril angle and four for macerated pulp yield . the qtl for each fiber property are concident and one of the qtl for maceration yield ( p1027_p192 / r ) is coincident with the low significance qtl detected for kraft pulp yield ( table vi ). these regions may , therefore , represent particularly important areas of the genome for pulp and paper properties . table iii significant qtl detected for each examined property trait marker / linkage lod score * phen % ‡ length / cm weight dom . fiber i14_09 - f15_10 / e 3 . 49 55 . 9 37 . 3 72 . 794 − 79 . 906 coarseness microfibril i14_09 - f15_10 / e 2 . 38 * 39 . 8 37 . 3 0 . 9445 4 . 4460 angle maceration p1258 - p75 / c 3 . 50 68 . 8 3 . 3 − 6 . 3878 6 . 4285 yield i17_04 - p1275 / j 3 . 18 75 . 4 15 . 4 − 5 . 3740 7 . 8547 p1218 - g02_11 / j 4 . 26 73 . 4 13 . 8 − 5 . 7903 7 . 9257 p1027 - p192 / r 2 . 98 50 . 0 0 . 0 − 2 . 8721 5 . 7712 data for the lignin compositional analyses undertaken on the core samples are presented in table iv . table iv lignin contents for the harvested stems clone lignin (%) 14 - 129 24 . 56 93 - 968 25 . 57 53 - 242 23 . 31 53 - 246 24 . 50 331 - 1059 24 . 89 331 - 1061 25 . 75 331 - 1062 24 . 78 331 - 1075 24 . 87 331 - 1093 25 . 43 331 - 1118 23 . 99 331 - 1122 24 . 27 331 - 1126 23 . 38 331 - 1136 24 . 56 331 - 1162 22 . 93 331 - 1186 24 . 71 these phenotypic data were used in a mapmaker - qtl 1 . 1 genetic mapping experiment which resulted in the identification of a single , significant qtl for lignin content ( shown in table v ). due to the extensive industrial and academic interest in the genetic control of this particular woody plant trait , many candidate genes for this region — primarily from the lignin biosynthetic pathway — have already been sequenced , a fact which may enable the rapid characterization of this qtl . table v significant qtl detected for lignin content trait marker / linkage lod score phen % length / cm weight dom . lignin content p757 - p867 / p 3 . 32 24 . 7 16 . 7 0 . 5463 − 0 . 0099 table vi significant qtl detected for individual extractives peaks trait compound marker / linkage lod score phen % length / cm weight dom . beta - p1277 - p12612 / a 9 . 84 83 . 3 14 . 7 4 . 7882 − 5 . 8067 sitosterol ( r . t . 25 . 831 ) p856 - a18_06 / i 7 . 97 81 . 3 14 . 0 4 . 9972 − 5 . 5280 win8 - g04_20 / i 10 . 47 81 . 3 27 . 0 5 . 0064 − 5 . 5178 p1202 - p1221 / o 5 . 60 80 . 7 15 . 8 − 5 . 3093 − 4 . 9808 sterol p1277 - p12612 / a 5 . 03 69 . 4 14 . 7 − 0 . 9132 − 1 . 1720 ( r . t . 25 . 912 ) p1011 - c04_04 / a 5 . 70 68 . 8 23 . 5 − 0 . 9541 − 1 . 1478 p1322 - p1310 / a 4 . 12 67 . 6 12 . 2 − 1 . 0231 − 0 . 9421 p1074 - g12_15 / b 5 . 76 65 . 1 19 . 7 − 1 . 5614 − 1 . 4403 p44 - p1054 / b 6 . 04 65 . 4 4 . 4 − 1 . 5744 − 1 . 4237 h12_03 - p1196 / b 3 . 71 58 . 8 8 . 8 − 1 . 2545 − 1 . 0949 win8 - g04_20 / i 5 . 16 64 . 7 27 . 0 1 . 5482 − 1 . 4744 g13_17 - c10_21 / i 5 . 91 64 . 4 14 . 0 1 . 4861 − 1 . 5144 p65 - p1203 / j 4 . 86 64 . 6 9 . 1 1 . 5060 − 1 . 5576 b15_17 - p216 / x 2 . 97 31 . 5 0 . 4 − 0 . 5213 − 0 . 6455 sterol win8 - g04_20 / i 9 . 06 72 . 2 27 . 0 3 . 8061 − 3 . 6553 ( r . t . 25 . 917 ) g13_17 - c10_21 / i 9 . 20 72 . 0 14 . 0 3 . 7236 − 3 . 8242 i17_04 - p1275 / j 8 . 86 72 . 2 15 . 4 3 . 8034 − 3 . 6422 p773 - p1055 / j 7 . 17 72 . 2 3 . 9 3 . 8033 − 3 . 6495 p65 - p1203 / j 9 . 21 72 . 0 9 . 1 3 . 7858 − 3 . 6910 p1218 - g02_11 / j 9 . 55 71 . 9 13 . 8 3 . 7620 − 3 . 7391 sterol p1277 - p12612 / a 12 . 12 90 . 1 14 . 7 − 0 . 1879 − 0 . 3996 ( r . t . 26 . 319 ) h19_08 - e14_15 / c 6 . 53 81 . 7 19 . 7 0 . 3026 − 0 . 2430 p12182 - p1049 / c 5 . 17 75 . 3 19 . 0 − 0 . 2181 − 0 . 2372 p13292 - p1043 / m 6 . 27 79 . 2 12 . 0 − 0 . 2791 − 0 . 2991 p46 - f15_18 / x 8 . 18 80 . 3 17 . 9 − 0 . 2996 − 0 . 2567 e18_05 - p12743 / x 5 . 00 80 . 3 11 . 5 − 0 . 3007 − 0 . 2567 p1064 - b15_17 / x 7 . 97 81 . 2 26 . 6 − 0 . 3044 − 0 . 2468 sterol / triter p1277 - p12612 / a 5 . 30 80 . 2 14 . 7 0 . 0157 − 0 . 1606 pene ( r . t . 26 . 417 ) h19_08 - e14_15 / c 6 . 53 80 . 0 19 . 7 0 . 0858 − 0 . 0726 p12182 - p1049 / c 3 . 20 77 . 1 19 . 0 − 0 . 0730 − 0 . 1091 p1018 - p12242 / e 4 . 80 80 . 2 16 . 9 − 0 . 0705 − 0 . 0957 p1064 - b15_17 / x 3 . 14 80 . 2 26 . 6 − 0 . 0782 − 0 . 0829 sterol i14_09 - f15_10 / e 3 . 35 65 . 3 37 . 3 0 . 1014 − 0 . 0849 ( r . t . 27 . 818 ) i17_04 - p1275 / j 3 . 46 63 . 9 15 . 4 0 . 0967 − 0 . 0985 p1218 - g02_11 / j 4 . 34 63 . 5 13 . 8 0 . 0959 − 0 . 1006 e18_15 - c01_16 / m 3 . 15 68 . 7 22 . 1 − 0 . 1074 − 0 . 0778 sterol / triter p1277 - p12612 / a 18 . 15 95 . 3 14 . 7 1 . 6108 − 1 . 6355 pene ( r . t . 28 . 218 ) p1011 - c04_04 / a 18 . 99 97 . 3 23 . 5 1 . 5192 − 1 . 7546 p1291 - p1267 / l 18 . 13 95 . 5 12 . 9 1 . 5951 − 1 . 6614 triterpene / p1145 - g08_09 / m 3 . 96 78 . 4 12 . 7 − 2 . 6340 − 2 . 3716 ester ( r . t . 37 . 833 ) e18_15 - c01_16 / m 3 . 76 77 . 1 22 . 1 2 . 5955 − 3 . 5004 p1064 - b15_17 / x 4 . 72 81 . 1 26 . 6 − 2 . 6098 − 3 . 6878 triglyceride p11642 - p1145 / m 3 . 13 56 . 3 4 . 5 − 1 . 3120 − 2 . 0510 ( r . t . 40 . 084 ) the gcms method used for compound analysis was that developed and optimized by fernandez et al . for the analysis of aspen ( p . tremuloides ) extractives . peaks were identified via retention time and ion masses . the area of particular interest in the spectrum — containing the sterols and assorted waxes , compounds which are implicated in pitch formation propensity — was delineated as shown in fig2 a , at retention times greater than 25 min . the similarity between this aspen spectrum and those obtained from the hybrid poplar clones — a typical spectrum is shown in fig2 b — allowed the extrapolation of peak identification table data to the mapping population clones . identified compounds were quantified , ratio numbers were obtained relative to the internal standard and were then used for qtl experiments . significant qtl for extractives peaks are presented in table v . to date , this application has successfully identified a number of qtl that contain genes involved in the control of sterol and steryl ester content / synthesis in this family of hybrid poplars . the fact that several qtl have been independently detected for a number of related compounds provides strong evidence that the synthesis of a suite of related compounds is controlled by the same discrete genetic regions ( implying the existence of a biosynthetic pathway ) and that these qtl in particular may be regarded as non - spurious detections . these results both confirm and extend the conclusions of previous research describing clonal - based variation of extractives content in a natural population of aspen ( p . tremuloides ). whole logs of selected hybrid poplar clones were debarked and chipped as described in the experimental section . the wood density and chip quality of selected clones are presented in table vii . attempted correlations between the accept chip fraction and the wood density were unsuccessful ( fig3 ). table vii wood density and chip quality of selected clones 93 - 53 - 53 - 331 - 331 - 331 - 331 - 331 - 331 - 968 242 246 1059 1061 1062 1075 1122 1186 wood density ( kg / m 3 ) 309 316 318 303 337 285 300 283 292 45 mm round (%) 0 . 9 4 . 3 4 . 5 2 . 9 1 . 4 1 . 4 2 . 9 0 . 2 1 . 8 8 mm slot (%) 15 . 2 15 . 1 18 . 4 21 . 8 9 . 8 16 . 5 20 . 0 14 . 2 17 . 1 7 mm round (%) 81 . 5 79 . 4 76 . 0 74 . 0 83 . 1 80 . 5 75 . 8 82 . 7 78 . 7 3 mm round (%) 2 . 0 1 . 0 0 . 8 1 . 0 2 . 5 1 . 2 0 . 8 2 . 2 1 . 8 fines (%) 0 . 6 0 . 4 0 . 4 0 . 4 0 . 5 0 . 5 0 . 5 0 . 7 0 . 6 [ 0183 ] fig4 shows a plot of chip density against bulk density ( table viii ) for the sampled stems . table viii hybrid poplar chip density and chip packing density ( bulk density ) puyallup , washington site chip density bulk density sample air dried chips kg / m 3 kg / m 3 14 - 129 ( 1 ) 0 . 285 130 . 7 14 - 129 ( 2 ) 0 . 304 145 . 1 53 - 242 ( 1 ) 0 . 329 167 . 5 53 - 242 ( 2 ) 0 . 302 143 . 9 53 - 246 ( 1 ) 0 . 311 151 . 0 53 - 246 ( 2 ) 0 . 325 162 . 6 93 - 968 ( 1 ) 0 . 303 153 . 3 93 - 968 ( 2 ) 0 . 314 146 . 5 331 - 1059 ( 2 ) 0 . 303 137 . 5 331 - 1059 ( 3 ) 0 . 302 142 . 3 331 - 1061 ( 1 ) 0 . 338 176 . 1 331 - 1061 ( 2 ) 0 . 328 161 . 4 331 - 1061 ( 3 ) 0 . 345 174 . 3 331 - 1062 ( 1 ) 0 . 280 133 . 8 331 - 1062 ( 2 ) 0 . 290 136 . 2 331 - 1075 ( 2 ) 0 . 300 140 . 8 331 - 1093 ( 1 ) 0 . 279 132 . 1 331 - 1093 ( 2 ) 0 . 288 134 . 8 331 - 1118 ( 1 ) 0 . 346 165 . 7 331 - 1118 ( 2 ) 0 . 373 173 . 3 331 - 1122 ( 1 ) 0 . 283 133 . 5 331 - 1126 ( 1 ) 0 . 386 188 . 0 331 - 1136 ( 1 ) 0 . 288 146 . 5 331 - 1162 ( 3 ) 0 . 336 155 . 4 331 - 1186 ( 3 ) 0 . 292 144 . 7 the two parameters are related by a pearson correlation coefficient of 0 . 86 ( p = 0 . 000 ). higher density chips , such as those obtained from clone 331 - 1061 , are more desirable as they pack better into kraft pulp digesters and mechanical pulp mill plug screw feeders thus ensuring maximum mill production rates . if these clones were to be ranked on the basis of chip value and quality ( i . e . low oversized , pins and fines fractions ), clones 331 - 1061 , 331 - 1122 , parent 93 - 968 and triploid 331 - 1062 would be considered superior material . the 25 hybrid poplar trees ( comprising 15 distinct genotypes ) were chemically pulped according to the conditions outlined above and handsheets were prepared from the corresponding pulps . calculated data for pulping to kappa 17 , derived from table ix , are presented in table x . table ix hybrid poplar exploratory kraft pulping data ( whole log chip samples ) sample kappa % unsc &# 39 ; d yield h factor % res . ea % ea consumed % rejects 14 - 27 . 1 55 . 9 800 3 . 0 10 . 0 0 . 7 129 ( 1 ) 17 . 9 54 . 9 1100 2 . 8 10 . 2 trace 15 . 6 53 . 8 1400 2 . 5 10 . 5 0 . 1 14 - 32 . 2 57 . 6 700 3 . 1 9 . 9 4 . 7 129 ( 2 ) 23 . 1 55 . 1 1000 2 . 6 10 . 4 1 . 1 17 . 5 53 . 6 1400 2 . 2 10 . 8 0 . 1 331 - 30 . 0 56 . 5 700 2 . 7 10 . 3 3 . 2 1059 ( 2 ) 19 . 6 54 . 8 1000 2 . 3 10 . 7 0 . 3 15 . 2 54 . 1 1400 2 . 1 10 . 9 0 . 2 331 - 24 . 6 55 . 4 800 2 . 5 10 . 5 0 . 4 1059 ( 3 ) 17 . 8 54 . 1 1100 2 . 2 10 . 8 0 . 2 14 . 9 53 . 6 1400 2 . 0 11 . 0 0 . 4 331 - 28 . 8 54 . 9 800 2 . 4 10 . 6 1 . 0 1061 ( 1 ) 20 . 9 53 . 9 1100 2 . 2 10 . 8 0 . 1 17 . 9 52 . 8 1400 2 . 0 11 . 0 trace 331 - 27 . 9 55 . 5 800 2 . 5 10 . 5 1 . 5 1061 ( 2 ) 17 . 5 54 . 2 1100 2 . 3 10 . 7 trace 15 . 0 53 . 4 1400 2 . 1 10 . 9 trace 331 - 25 . 3 55 . 2 800 2 . 5 10 . 5 0 . 5 1061 ( 3 ) 18 . 3 54 . 6 1100 2 . 3 10 . 7 0 . 2 15 . 3 53 . 5 1400 2 . 0 11 . 0 0 . 3 331 - 25 . 7 55 . 5 800 2 . 7 10 . 3 2 . 4 1062 ( 1 ) 18 . 9 53 . 7 1100 2 . 3 10 . 7 0 . 5 14 . 8 53 . 2 1400 2 . 1 10 . 9 trace 331 - 25 . 2 54 . 6 800 2 . 5 10 . 5 0 . 9 1062 ( 2 ) 18 . 0 53 . 0 1100 2 . 2 10 . 8 0 . 4 15 . 1 52 . 6 1400 2 . 1 10 . 9 trace 331 - 33 . 3 56 . 0 700 2 . 7 10 . 3 5 . 4 1075 ( 2 ) 23 . 6 53 . 9 1000 2 . 4 10 . 6 0 . 7 17 . 0 53 . 2 1400 2 . 1 10 . 9 0 . 5 331 - 27 . 7 54 . 8 800 2 . 6 10 . 4 1 . 7 1093 ( 1 ) 20 . 7 53 . 3 1100 2 . 3 10 . 7 0 . 4 17 . 7 53 . 1 1400 2 . 2 10 . 8 0 . 5 331 - 25 . 7 54 . 7 800 2 . 6 10 . 4 1 . 0 1093 ( 2 ) 17 . 9 53 . 6 1100 2 . 3 10 . 7 0 . 4 15 . 8 52 . 3 1400 2 . 0 11 . 0 trace 331 - 25 . 8 56 . 2 705 2 . 8 10 . 2 1 . 3 1118 ( 1 ) 18 . 7 56 . 0 1000 2 . 6 10 . 4 0 . 4 14 . 3 54 . 7 1400 2 . 2 10 . 8 0 . 1 331 - 25 . 1 56 . 0 800 2 . 8 10 . 2 1 . 3 1118 ( 2 ) 20 . 7 55 . 0 1000 2 . 5 10 . 5 0 . 4 15 . 4 54 . 3 1400 2 . 3 10 . 7 0 . 1 331 - 25 . 8 55 . 3 800 2 . 5 10 . 5 1 . 6 1122 ( 1 ) 18 . 7 53 . 7 1100 2 . 2 10 . 8 0 . 1 14 . 6 53 . 3 1400 2 . 1 10 . 9 0 . 1 331 - 23 . 2 55 . 8 800 2 . 8 10 . 2 1 . 1 1126 ( 1 ) 18 . 1 54 . 4 1100 2 . 5 10 . 5 0 . 1 14 . 7 54 . 1 1400 2 . 3 10 . 7 trace 331 - 38 . 6 54 . 7 800 2 . 1 10 . 9 5 . 4 1136 ( 1 ) 25 . 7 52 . 6 1100 1 . 9 12 . 1 1 . 7 20 . 7 51 . 6 1400 1 . 8 12 . 2 1 . 1 18 . 0 51 . 4 1634 1 . 7 11 . 3 na 331 - 24 . 1 54 . 9 800 2 . 9 10 . 1 0 . 5 1162 ( 3 ) 17 . 1 53 . 4 1100 2 . 6 10 . 4 trace 14 . 0 52 . 8 1400 2 . 4 10 . 6 trace 331 - 24 . 3 56 . 1 800 2 . 7 10 . 3 0 . 6 1186 ( 3 ) 17 . 3 54 . 4 1100 2 . 4 10 . 6 trace 14 . 2 54 . 4 1400 2 . 2 10 . 8 0 . 1 53 - 21 . 5 56 . 0 800 2 . 6 10 . 4 0 . 8 242 ( 1 ) 16 . 9 54 . 5 1100 2 . 3 10 . 7 0 . 2 14 . 1 54 . 0 1400 2 . 1 10 . 9 trace 53 - 23 . 0 56 . 5 800 2 . 7 10 . 3 2 . 7 242 ( 2 ) 16 . 9 55 . 5 1100 2 . 5 10 . 5 1 . 0 16 . 4 55 . 1 1400 2 . 3 10 . 7 2 . 4 53 - 23 . 3 55 . 9 800 2 . 7 10 . 3 1 . 4 246 ( 1 ) 16 . 4 54 . 8 1100 2 . 4 10 . 6 0 . 2 14 . 2 54 . 0 1400 2 . 2 10 . 8 trace 53 - 23 . 1 56 . 6 800 2 . 7 10 . 3 1 . 0 246 ( 2 ) 17 . 4 56 . 1 1100 2 . 5 10 . 5 0 . 9 12 . 8 55 . 2 1400 2 . 4 10 . 6 trace 93 - 22 . 6 58 . 0 800 2 . 8 10 . 2 2 . 4 968 ( 1 ) 16 . 7 56 . 6 1100 2 . 6 10 . 4 0 . 2 14 . 2 55 . 5 1400 2 . 2 10 . 8 trace 93 - 18 . 8 58 . 5 800 3 . 1 9 . 9 0 . 9 968 ( 2 ) 13 . 2 57 . 4 1100 2 . 8 10 . 2 0 . 1 11 . 9 56 . 1 1400 2 . 5 10 . 5 trace [ 0188 ] table x kraft pulping data for harvested stems ( kappa 17 ) h - factor unscreened yield (%) % ea consumed 14 - 129 1230 54 . 4 10 . 3 1436 53 . 5 10 . 9 ? 93 - 968 1110 56 . 5 10 . 5 883 58 . 0 10 . 0 ? 53 - 242 1092 54 . 7 10 . 7 1211 55 . 4 10 . 6 ? 53 - 246 1112 54 . 7 10 . 6 1088 55 . 9 10 . 5 331 - 1059 1213 54 . 4 10 . 8 1190 54 . 0 10 . 9 331 - 1061 1448 52 . 9 11 . 0 1200 53 . 9 10 . 8 1225 54 . 0 10 . 8 331 - 1062 1219 53 . 3 10 . 8 1207 52 . 9 10 . 8 331 - 1075 1401 53 . 0 10 . 9 331 - 1093 1443 52 . 8 10 . 9 1236 52 . 9 10 . 8 ? 331 - 1118 1135 55 . 3 10 . 6 1251 54 . 5 10 . 6 331 - 1122 1206 53 . 6 10 . 8 331 - 1126 1177 54 . 4 10 . 5 331 - 1136 1684 51 . 1 11 . 3 331 - 1162 1132 53 . 4 10 . 4 ? 331 - 1186 1146 54 . 7 10 . 6 [ 0189 ] fig5 shows the relationship between h - factor and kappa number for the pulped stems . in fig4 population parents 93 - 968 and 14 - 129 form the boundaries of the variability seen in kappa number at each h - factor value . it is clear that , as was the case for aspen , the variation in h - factor required to achieve a given kappa number is substantial . for example , to achieve kappa 17 , clone 331 - 1136 requires approximately 1650h - factor whereas clone 93 - 968 requires only 1000h - factor ( a 40 % reduction ). the particular difficulty in pulping clone 331 - 1136 indicated here may be a function of this clone &# 39 ; s high level of calcium accumulation ( see below ), particularly as this clone &# 39 ; s lignin content is not unusually high ( 24 . 56 % in a population range of 22 . 93 - 25 . 75 %, see table iv . also like aspen , the swings in yield at a given unbleached kappa number are substantial . all the exploratory kraft pulping data are presented in table x herewith . at kappa 17 the yield from clone 331 - 1136 was approximately 51 %. this may be an outlier point ( excess compression wood due to plantation location , etc .). the lower limit of pulp yield is probably better represented by clones 331 - 1093 and 331 - 1062 whereas clone 93 - 968 exhibits a 57 % pulp yield ( fig6 ). in fig6 parent 93 - 968 ( pure p . trichocarpa ) forms a distinct envelope whereas the remainder of the clones examined resemble parent 14 - 129 ( p . deltoides ). superior clones are highlighted in table x . the relationship between ease of pulping and pulp yield is evident ( pearson correlation of − 0 . 828 , p = 0 . 000 ). however it should be noted that the variability in yield at a given h - factor is high as evidenced by the relatively poor r 2 of 0 . 69 , shown in fig7 . in fig7 it can be seen that the parental clones represent the extremes , ( clonal lignin content 25 . 75 - 22 . 93 %) 331 - 1162 has the lowest lignin content but gives low pulp yield and average pulping rate , therefore lignin content is not a reliable indicator of pulpability . these results confirm the necessity to pilot pulp clones for proper evaluation of properties . further , the h - factor required to achieve kappa 17 has been evaluated against the chip density in fig8 . it is clear that in addition to lignin content wood density cannot be used to predict ease of kraft pulping ( pearson coefficient − 0 . 194 , p = 1 . 000 ). table xi presents the fiber properties data obtained for the pulped clones at kappa 17 . the top three ranked clones in terms of high length and low coarseness are indicated in bold . table xi whole stem pulp fibre properties data lw fiber length coarseness ( mm ) ( mg / m ) 14 - 129 0 . 65 0 . 103 0 . 69 0 . 115 93 - 968 0 . 66 0 . 097 0 . 76 0 . 113 53 - 242 0 . 69 0 . 099 0 . 76 0 . 109 53 - 246 0 . 73 0 . 105 0 . 74 0 . 103 331 - 1059 0 . 67 0 . 087 0 . 65 0 . 092 331 - 1061 0 . 68 0 . 097 0 . 64 0 . 094 0 . 71 0 . 101 ? 331 - 1062 ? 0 . 80 ? 0 . 121 0 . 82 0 . 121 331 - 1075 0 . 69 0 . 097 331 - 1093 0 . 53 0 . 083 0 . 57 0 . 083 331 - 1118 0 . 78 0 . 105 0 . 61 0 . 101 ? 331 - 1122 ? 0 . 79 ? 0 . 122 331 - 1126 0 . 79 0 . 102 331 - 1136 0 . 46 0 . 117 ? 331 - 1162 ? 0 . 80 ? 0 . 121 331 - 1186 0 . 68 0 . 099 a positive correlation ( pearson coefficient 0 . 543 , p = 0 . 105 ) can be seen between the fiber length and coarseness data which mirrors that seen for the 7 th year ring data and the situation seen in aspen populations ( fig9 ). in fig9 the positive correlation seen here is in contrast to that seen for aspen clones but supports the data obtained for the 7 th year growth ring from each hybrid poplar in the previous study . if the outlier point for clone 331 - 1136 is omitted from the analysis , the correlation becomes much more significant ( pearson coefficient 0 . 834 , p = 0 . 000 ). the length - weighted fiber length data were also correlated to chip density values , as shown in fig1 . not unexpectedly , and bearing in mind the fiber length : coarseness relationship , the relationship is poor ( pearson coefficient 0 . 228 , p = 1 . 000 ) even if outlier points are excluded . pulp yield data at kappa 17 , were used in a mapmaker - qtl 1 . 1 analysis which revealed the presence of a single , low significance qtl for this property — table xii . the pilot - scale pulping of further clones will likely enhance the statistical significance of the detection of this qtl . significantly , the qtl kraft pulp yield ( the most important trait from an industrial production point of view ) correlate with a higher significance qtl for maceration yield but does not coincide with the lignin qtl ( table v ). table xii low significance qtl detected for kraft pulp yield trait marker / linkage lod score phen % length / cm weight dom . kraft pulp yield p1027 - p192 / r 2 . 52 * 72 . 7 0 . 0 − 1 . 8932 0 . 7270 h - factor to kappa 17 data from table ix were also used in a mapmaker qtl1 . 1 analysis . however , no significant qtls were observed which confirms that , not surprisingly , lignin content is not the single controlling factor in kraft pulping of hybrid poplar . there may be concern that this observation does not seem to relate to measurable physical properties . however , issues such as pulping liquor diffusion are also known to be a major contributor to ease of kraft pulping . the strength of hardwood pulps is becoming an increasingly important parameter given the economic impetus for lighter weight products which retain strength and optical properties and to reduce the amount of expensive softwood kraft pulp required for many paper grades . four point pfi mill beater curves were developed for each of the clonal pulps and the results of all tests are presented in table xiii . table xiii hybrid poplar kraft pulp and optical property data 14 - 129 ( 1 ) 14 - 129 ( 2 ) 331 - 1059 ( 2 ) pfi revolutions 0 1000 3000 6000 0 1000 3000 6000 0 1000 3000 6000 screened csf ( ml ) 499 480 414 361 533 479 423 353 453 435 362 322 apparent density ( kg / m 3 ) 636 703 739 754 618 705 740 767 666 775 784 784 burst index ( kpa · m 2 / g ) 4 . 7 6 . 2 7 . 0 7 . 6 4 . 2 5 . 8 6 . 6 7 . 1 6 . 1 7 . 9 8 . 8 9 . 5 breaking length ( km ) 8 . 7 9 . 3 10 . 6 10 . 5 8 . 2 9 . 1 9 . 7 10 . 1 9 . 3 10 . 6 11 . 3 11 . 6 tensile index ( n · m / g ) 85 . 1 90 . 9 104 . 1 103 . 4 79 . 9 89 . 2 95 . 1 99 . 2 90 . 9 104 . 0 111 . 1 113 . 9 stretch (%) 1 . 58 2 . 58 3 . 44 3 . 68 1 . 60 2 . 71 2 . 97 3 . 55 3 . 11 4 . 46 5 . 01 5 . 26 tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 1 6 . 0 7 . 2 7 . 5 7 . 9 5 . 6 6 . 6 7 . 1 6 . 7 8 . 3 9 . 4 9 . 0 9 . 0 ply ) tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 4 7 . 2 7 . 6 7 . 6 7 . 5 7 . 7 7 . 4 7 . 6 7 . 4 8 . 7 9 . 1 9 . 0 8 . 6 ply ) zero span breaking length 15 . 9 15 . 1 15 . 8 15 . 5 15 . 3 15 . 6 16 . 3 16 . 0 14 . 0 13 . 4 13 . 4 12 . 8 ( km ) air resistance ( gurley ) 65 . 0 121 . 5 206 . 8 372 . 4 42 . 0 85 . 4 133 . 4 292 . 8 130 . 6 249 . 6 476 . 2 862 . 1 ( sec / 100 ml ) sheffield roughness 89 52 40 27 107 68 52 33 61 31 22 17 ( ml / min ) brightness 37 37 38 opacity (%) 96 . 0 95 . 9 94 . 4 93 . 0 97 . 3 96 . 1 93 . 9 92 . 3 96 . 8 95 . 2 94 . 0 92 . 1 scattering coefficient 311 289 258 229 338 286 242 211 327 266 221 197 ( cm 2 / g ) 331 - 1059 ( 3 ) 331 - 1061 ( 1 ) 331 - 1061 ( 2 ) pfi revolutions 0 1000 3000 6000 0 1000 3000 6000 0 1000 3000 6000 screened csf ( ml ) 486 454 372 339 524 478 395 346 524 478 395 346 apparent density ( kg / m 3 ) 663 717 757 765 648 721 755 786 682 734 793 807 burst index ( kpa · m 2 / g ) 6 . 1 7 . 5 8 . 2 8 . 7 4 . 9 6 . 1 6 . 9 7 . 3 4 . 9 6 . 5 7 . 6 8 . 1 breaking length ( km ) 9 . 1 9 . 6 9 . 9 10 . 7 8 . 2 9 . 2 9 . 9 10 . 8 8 . 3 9 . 2 10 . 1 10 . 8 tensile index ( n · m / g ) 88 . 8 93 . 7 97 . 3 105 . 0 80 . 7 90 . 3 97 . 4 106 . 1 81 . 2 90 . 3 99 . 0 105 . 8 stretch (%) 2 . 78 3 . 91 4 . 77 7 . 95 1 . 96 2 . 90 3 . 45 4 . 25 1 . 99 3 . 35 3 . 73 4 . 45 tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 1 7 . 5 8 . 9 8 . 9 9 . 0 7 . 9 8 . 8 8 . 4 8 . 7 6 . 2 8 . 0 7 . 8 8 . 0 ply ) tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 4 8 . 2 8 . 3 8 . 4 8 . 4 8 . 2 8 . 2 8 . 5 8 . 5 7 . 9 8 . 3 8 . 6 8 . 1 ply ) zero span breaking length 14 . 7 13 . 9 14 . 0 13 . 7 16 . 3 15 . 2 15 . 0 13 . 7 15 . 8 16 . 1 16 . 2 16 . 0 ( km ) air resistance ( gurley ) 119 . 8 177 . 4 325 . 0 537 . 0 75 . 8 147 . 3 219 . 6 449 . 7 55 . 1 101 . 1 201 . 0 359 . 9 ( sec / 100 ml ) sheffield roughness 62 40 30 23 79 53 41 27 87 59 37 26 ( ml / min ) brightness 37 35 38 opacity (%) 96 . 5 95 . 0 93 . 0 91 . 5 96 . 4 93 . 9 93 . 0 91 . 9 95 . 4 94 . 5 93 . 1 91 . 4 scattering coefficient 323 253 214 193 298 243 222 200 305 269 232 212 ( cm 2 / g ) 331 - 1061 ( 3 ) 331 - 1062 ( 1 ) 331 - 1062 ( 2 ) pfi revolutions 0 1000 3000 6000 0 1000 3000 6000 0 1000 3000 6000 screened csf ( ml ) 552 492 420 353 554 536 469 412 561 527 466 397 apparent density ( kg / m 3 ) 625 705 736 748 642 716 745 775 619 702 735 757 burst index ( kpa · m 2 / g ) 4 . 3 6 . 1 7 . 1 7 . 4 4 . 9 6 . 1 7 . 1 7 . 6 4 . 9 6 . 2 6 . 7 7 . 6 breaking length ( km ) 7 . 7 8 . 8 9 . 0 10 . 5 9 . 2 9 . 2 10 . 1 10 . 8 8 . 5 9 . 3 10 . 1 10 . 4 tensile index ( n · m / g ) 75 . 9 86 . 0 88 . 7 102 . 6 89 . 8 90 . 6 98 . 9 106 . 0 83 . 3 90 . 9 98 . 9 101 . 7 stretch (%) 1 . 69 2 . 91 3 . 10 4 . 13 1 . 98 2 . 69 3 . 44 3 . 88 1 . 66 2 . 83 3 . 39 3 . 45 tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 1 6 . 2 9 . 0 8 . 6 9 . 2 8 . 6 8 . 7 8 . 6 8 . 5 7 . 2 7 . 2 7 . 8 8 . 4 ply ) tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 4 8 . 2 9 . 3 9 . 0 9 . 0 8 . 9 8 . 7 8 . 5 8 . 2 8 . 7 8 . 9 8 . 5 8 . 2 ply ) zero span breaking length 15 . 9 16 . 3 15 . 2 14 . 2 17 . 6 17 . 0 15 . 7 15 . 8 15 . 2 15 . 0 15 . 0 15 . 3 ( km ) air resistance ( gurley ) 28 . 4 74 . 8 140 . 6 234 . 1 72 . 5 148 . 7 279 . 1 562 . 1 51 . 7 115 . 6 210 . 5 412 . 4 ( sec / 100 ml ) sheffield roughness 115 76 55 39 87 55 38 27 109 68 43 28 ( ml / min ) brightness 37 36 37 opacity (%) 95 . 2 93 . 4 92 . 2 90 . 9 94 . 9 93 . 0 91 . 6 89 . 3 95 . 2 92 . 5 90 . 8 89 . 2 scattering coefficient 304 254 229 204 268 221 193 167 286 233 201 179 ( cm 2 / g ) 331 - 1075 ( 2 ) 331 - 1093 ( 1 ) 331 - 1093 ( 2 ) pfi revolutions 0 1000 3000 6000 0 1000 3000 6000 0 1000 3000 6000 screened csf ( ml ) 483 451 375 328 405 393 336 298 425 403 354 294 apparent density ( kg / m 3 ) 701 781 813 816 734 807 789 861 679 696 742 749 burst index ( kpa · m 2 / g ) 6 . 2 7 . 5 8 . 0 8 . 5 7 . 0 8 . 0 8 . 7 9 . 4 6 . 3 7 . 7 8 . 1 8 . 8 breaking length ( km ) 9 . 8 10 . 3 10 . 9 11 . 5 11 . 3 11 . 6 12 . 2 12 . 1 10 . 5 10 . 2 10 . 7 11 . 5 tensile index ( n · m / g ) 96 . 2 101 . 3 106 . 5 113 . 1 111 . 2 113 . 5 119 . 2 119 . 0 102 . 6 99 . 8 104 . 8 113 . 2 stretch (%) 2 . 58 3 . 41 3 . 97 4 . 73 2 . 53 3 . 77 4 . 35 4 . 61 2 . 71 3 . 42 3 . 89 4 . 80 tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 1 8 . 1 7 . 9 8 . 1 7 . 8 6 . 7 7 . 5 7 . 7 7 . 8 8 . 6 7 . 8 8 . 4 8 . 4 ply ) tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 4 9 . 0 9 . 1 8 . 5 8 . 3 8 . 3 7 . 9 8 . 0 7 . 4 8 . 2 8 . 0 8 . 1 8 . 0 ply ) zero span breaking length 16 . 3 14 . 7 14 . 3 13 . 2 15 . 0 14 . 7 14 . 3 13 . 8 15 . 7 15 . 1 14 . 5 14 . 1 ( km ) air resistance ( gurley ) 105 . 9 281 . 4 510 . 0 1152 . 7 274 . 7 409 . 6 719 . 4 1351 . 2 202 . 8 527 . 0 802 . 0 1378 . 1 ( sec / 100 ml ) sheffield roughness 61 34 22 15 37 25 17 13 46 25 16 10 ( ml / min ) brightness 35 38 38 opacity (%) 95 . 3 93 . 0 91 . 8 89 . 0 96 . 1 94 . 2 92 . 4 91 . 0 96 . 1 94 . 0 92 . 8 90 . 3 scattering coefficient 287 224 201 169 318 260 230 204 323 260 233 203 ( cm 2 / g ) 331 - 1118 ( 1 ) 331 - 1118 ( 2 ) 331 - 1122 ( 1 ) pfi revolutions 0 1000 3000 6000 0 1000 3000 6000 0 1000 3000 6000 screened csf ( ml ) 532 487 401 344 573 538 499 443 553 493 453 406 apparent density ( kg / m 3 ) 585 628 692 708 613 701 734 722 660 734 737 780 burst index ( kpa · m 2 / g ) 4 . 3 5 . 8 6 . 8 7 . 5 4 . 0 6 . 1 6 . 8 7 . 9 4 . 6 6 . 1 6 . 9 7 . 4 breaking length ( km ) 6 . 9 8 . 4 9 . 5 9 . 5 7 . 0 8 . 4 9 . 1 10 . 8 7 . 8 9 . 5 9 . 8 10 . 2 tensile index ( n · m / g ) 67 . 2 82 . 1 92 . 8 93 . 5 68 . 4 82 . 5 89 . 6 106 . 1 76 . 7 92 . 8 95 . 7 99 . 6 stretch (%) 2 . 42 3 . 86 4 . 67 4 . 74 2 . 01 3 . 22 4 . 24 4 . 80 1 . 68 3 . 07 3 . 52 3 . 82 tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 1 7 . 1 8 . 6 8 . 6 9 . 1 6 . 6 8 . 6 9 . 5 10 . 5 7 . 3 8 . 8 8 . 7 8 . 4 ply ) tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 4 8 . 6 8 . 4 8 . 7 8 . 8 8 . 6 9 . 4 9 . 5 10 . 1 8 . 6 9 . 0 8 . 4 8 . 3 ply ) zero span breaking length 13 . 1 12 . 7 13 . 3 13 . 4 14 . 1 14 . 2 14 . 6 15 . 2 14 . 4 14 . 3 14 . 0 14 . 0 ( km ) air resistance ( gurley ) 26 . 3 65 . 7 112 . 5 209 . 0 13 . 3 28 . 8 50 . 1 101 . 7 57 . 4 104 . 0 244 . 3 312 . 5 ( sec / 100 ml ) sheffield roughness 137 88 70 50 142 103 99 65 98 73 50 40 ( ml / min ) brightness 39 38 36 opacity (%) 97 . 7 96 . 0 95 . 0 93 . 6 96 . 7 94 . 2 92 . 0 91 . 1 94 . 9 92 . 3 89 . 8 89 . 2 scattering coefficient 363 290 252 221 345 264 225 197 268 216 185 169 ( cm 2 / g ) 331 - 1126 ( 1 ) 331 - 1136 ( 1 ) 331 - 1162 ( 3 ) pfi revolutions 0 1000 3000 6000 0 1000 3000 6000 0 1000 3000 6000 screened csf ( ml ) 577 530 476 422 415 409 373 365 497 457 400 346 apparent density ( kg / m 3 ) 609 695 723 742 620 652 690 678 648 707 751 760 burst index ( kpa · m 2 / g ) 3 . 4 5 . 4 6 . 5 7 . 2 5 . 9 6 . 9 7 . 4 7 . 6 5 . 2 6 . 8 8 . 1 8 . 5 breaking length ( km ) 6 . 7 8 . 0 8 . 9 10 . 1 8 . 8 9 . 3 10 . 0 10 . 6 9 . 5 10 . 3 11 . 2 11 . 5 tensile index ( n · m / g ) 65 . 6 78 . 5 86 . 9 99 . 0 86 . 2 91 . 2 97 . 6 104 . 0 93 . 4 101 . 3 109 . 9 112 . 3 stretch (%) 1 . 47 2 . 58 3 . 12 3 . 83 3 . 32 3 . 75 4 . 51 5 . 40 2 . 24 3 . 25 3 . 90 4 . 38 tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 1 6 . 0 8 . 5 8 . 2 8 . 5 7 . 8 8 . 5 8 . 3 8 . 3 8 . 5 7 . 8 8 . 3 8 . 3 ply ) tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 4 8 . 3 9 . 2 9 . 1 8 . 7 8 . 1 8 . 0 7 . 5 7 . 7 9 . 8 9 . 7 9 . 7 9 . 7 ply ) zero span breaking length 14 . 9 14 . 8 14 . 7 14 . 7 14 . 2 14 . 7 12 . 9 12 . 4 16 . 8 15 . 5 16 . 4 16 . 7 ( km ) air resistance ( gurley ) 10 . 6 21 . 3 41 . 7 65 . 0 563 . 9 1128 . 1 & gt ; 30 & gt ; 30 39 . 0 79 . 3 152 . 3 223 . 8 ( sec / 100 ml ) min min sheffield roughness 161 111 92 76 65 32 20 17 100 68 50 41 ( ml / min ) brightness 38 33 39 opacity (%) 96 . 0 94 . 6 92 . 8 92 . 0 95 . 8 95 . 0 93 . 2 91 . 2 96 . 7 95 . 5 94 . 2 93 . 6 scattering coefficient 323 273 238 219 269 233 195 165 344 292 251 234 ( cm 2 / g ) 331 - 1186 ( 3 ) 53 - 242 ( 1 ) 53 - 242 ( 2 ) pfi revolutions 0 1000 3000 6000 0 1000 3000 6000 0 1000 3000 6000 screened csf ( ml ) 489 481 418 357 569 510 440 389 513 472 405 350 apparent density ( kg / m 3 ) 673 716 759 770 631 691 723 741 640 722 779 785 burst index ( kpa · m 2 / g ) 6 . 0 7 . 3 8 . 5 8 . 9 4 . 6 6 . 5 7 . 2 7 . 7 5 . 6 7 . 0 8 . 0 8 . 5 breaking length ( km ) 9 . 3 10 . 2 11 . 4 11 . 3 7 . 8 9 . 3 9 . 6 10 . 4 9 . 0 10 . 1 10 . 4 11 . 4 tensile index ( n · m / g ) 91 . 2 100 . 2 112 . 0 110 . 6 76 . 2 91 . 5 94 . 4 102 . 3 88 . 5 98 . 8 102 . 0 111 . 6 stretch (%) 2 . 25 3 . 55 4 . 65 4 . 59 1 . 76 3 . 39 3 . 68 4 . 15 2 . 21 3 . 18 3 . 65 4 . 49 tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 1 7 . 5 8 . 6 8 . 7 8 . 4 7 . 5 8 . 3 8 . 7 8 . 5 7 . 7 8 . 7 8 . 8 8 . 4 ply ) tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 4 8 . 5 8 . 7 8 . 2 8 . 5 8 . 4 8 . 6 8 . 6 8 . 7 7 . 8 7 . 7 7 . 5 7 . 6 ply ) zero span breaking length 15 . 4 15 . 2 15 . 6 15 . 2 16 . 1 16 . 0 16 . 5 15 . 0 14 . 3 13 . 4 15 . 6 14 . 3 ( km ) air resistance ( gurley ) 79 . 9 166 . 7 294 . 7 538 . 4 32 . 1 80 . 8 148 . 0 271 . 4 72 . 7 136 . 8 243 . 2 402 . 1 ( sec / 100 ml ) sheffield roughness 74 45 36 26 106 71 54 35 81 55 35 28 ( ml / min ) brightness 38 40 39 opacity (%) 95 . 7 93 . 9 92 . 4 91 . 3 95 . 1 92 . 2 91 . 0 89 . 8 95 . 5 93 . 6 91 . 8 90 . 0 scattering coefficient 302 247 222 194 325 250 224 202 301 249 219 193 ( cm 2 / g ) 53 - 246 ( 1 ) 53 - 246 ( 2 ) 93 - 968 ( 1 ) pfi revolutions 0 1000 3000 6000 0 1000 3000 6000 0 1000 3000 6000 screened csf ( ml ) 549 491 436 385 550 531 468 389 550 508 429 368 apparent density ( kg / m 3 ) 651 710 746 765 615 707 737 775 617 657 720 737 burst index ( kpa · m 2 / g ) 4 . 3 6 . 5 7 . 3 7 . 7 4 . 3 6 . 1 7 . 2 7 . 3 5 . 0 6 . 4 7 . 3 7 . 6 breaking length ( km ) 8 . 1 9 . 1 10 . 0 10 . 0 7 . 4 8 . 9 9 . 1 10 . 0 9 . 0 8 . 9 10 . 3 10 . 5 tensile index ( n · m / g ) 79 . 7 89 . 2 98 . 3 98 . 5 72 . 6 87 . 3 89 . 0 98 . 5 87 . 8 87 . 6 100 . 9 102 . 6 stretch (%) 2 . 08 3 . 54 4 . 15 4 . 28 2 . 00 3 . 59 3 . 78 4 . 76 2 . 11 2 . 97 3 . 80 4 . 11 tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 1 7 . 0 8 . 2 8 . 0 8 . 6 7 . 1 7 . 8 8 . 5 8 . 1 8 . 2 8 . 5 8 . 7 8 . 0 ply ) tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 4 7 . 7 8 . 3 8 . 4 8 . 1 8 . 2 8 . 5 8 . 4 8 . 2 8 . 5 8 . 2 8 . 0 8 . 1 ply ) zero span breaking length 15 . 5 14 . 5 14 . 7 15 . 4 14 . 9 14 . 6 14 . 0 15 . 3 16 . 2 15 . 0 15 . 6 14 . 9 ( km ) air resistance ( gurley ) 48 . 2 114 . 9 195 . 2 306 . 4 32 . 8 77 . 0 146 . 0 207 . 4 39 . 0 82 . 2 146 . 1 261 . 2 ( sec / 100 ml ) sheffield roughness 92 59 40 30 119 75 54 38 113 76 54 43 ( ml / min ) brightness 40 40 41 opacity (%) 95 . 8 93 . 9 92 . 5 90 . 3 96 . 0 94 . 8 91 . 9 91 . 3 95 . 4 93 . 6 92 . 0 91 . 0 scattering coefficient 341 272 235 211 347 287 240 226 333 282 248 228 ( cm 2 / g ) 93 - 968 ( 2 ) pfi revolutions 0 1000 3000 6000 screened csf ( ml ) 468 455 409 340 apparent density ( kg / m 3 ) 555 642 679 690 burst index ( kpa · m 2 / g ) 4 . 5 6 . 0 6 . 9 7 . 5 breaking length ( km ) 8 . 0 9 . 2 10 . 0 10 . 4 tensile index ( n · m / g ) 78 . 7 89 . 9 98 . 0 101 . 9 stretch (%) 1 . 90 2 . 95 3 . 62 3 . 80 tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 1 6 . 1 7 . 2 7 . 6 7 . 6 ply ) tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 4 6 . 9 7 . 2 7 . 1 7 . 1 ply ) zero span breaking length 14 . 2 14 . 7 14 . 6 14 . 4 ( km ) air resistance ( gurley ) 51 . 3 81 . 1 117 . 7 190 . 4 ( sec / 100 ml ) sheffield roughness 131 91 63 50 ( ml / min ) brightness 39 opacity (%) 95 . 3 94 . 2 93 . 4 92 . 7 scattering coefficient 319 288 263 244 ( cm 2 / g ) in a plot of tensile index vs . bulk , presented in fig1 , it can be seen that there is a strong negative correlation between the properties ( pearson coefficient − 0 . 74 , p = 0 . 001 ). in fig1 , negative relationship confirms previous aspen data . most clones show superior strength properties when compared to average values for eucalyptus species ( tensile index 70 n · m / g ). more importantly , some clonal pulps ( e . g . 331 - 1122 , 1 . 26 cm 3 / g @ 100 n · m / g ) are less bulky at given tensile strengths than are others [ e . g . 331 - 1136 , 1 . 45 cm 3 / g @ 100 n · m / g . ( fig1 )] this was not predicted from the coarseness data in table xi ( 331 - 1122 , 0 . 122 mg / m vs 331 - 1136 , 0 . 117 mg / m ) and highlights the importance of carrying out pilot scale pulping trials . a coarseness cutoff of & lt ; 0 . 1 mg / m is adequate for predicting low bulk / high tensile / fine fibers . it is worth nothing that for pulps prepared from eucalyptus species ( the major competitor envisaged for northern populus plantation resources )— a tensile index value of 70 n · m / g is considered “ standard ”. most of the hybrid poplar pulps examined in this study exceed that strength value even in an unbeaten state ( fig1 ). additionally , the wide range of tensile indices suggest that there is wide variation in cell wall properties amongst the clones , a possibility which opens up potential multiple end - use applications for the pulps . the wide range of cell sizes is further confirmed by the range of tensile indices observed at a given freeness , ( a strongly negative relationship between tensile index and freeness properties exists pearson coefficient − 0 . 74 , p = 0 . 001 ; fig1 ). similarly the relationship of air resistance ( gurley ) to sheet density , presented in fig1 , shows the wide ranging results consequent from cell wall property differences . for example , at beating levels of 6000 pfi revolutions , clones 331 - 1093 and 331 - 1075 exhibit the high tensile indices ( 116 . 1 and 113 . 1 n · m / g respectively ) coupled with high air resistances ( 1364 . 7 and 1152 . 7 sec / 100 ml respectively ) which indicate that they possess thinner cell walls than do the other clonal pulps . by contrast , the pulp from clone 53 - 246 possesses the low tensile index and low air resistance values typical of a thicker cell - walled fiber ( 98 . 5 n · m / g , 256 . 9 sec / 100 ml ). interestingly , the high calcium - containing pulp obtained from clone 331 - 1136 forms an outlier point for this analysis , exhibiting a combination of lower tensile strength ( 104 . 0 n · m / g ) and very high air resistance (& gt ; 30 min / 100 ml ). these variations mirror that seen in a separate study on a population of natural aspen clones . again the potential for producing pulps for different end - use applications is clear and should be emphasized . a number of the kraft pulping properties described here were used in a qtl mapping experiment to attempt to determine the chromosomal locations of any genes involved in the control of these important properties . the outcomes of this analysis are presented in the qtl mapping results section . in terms of sheet formation properties , smoothness shows significant relationships with freeness ( pearson coefficient 0 . 76 , p = 0 . 000 ) tensile strength ( pearson coefficient − 0 . 87 , p = 0 . 000 ), and sheet density ( pearson coefficient − 0 . 81 , p = 0 . 000 ; fig1 ). hardwood kraft pulps principally impart optical and surface properties to paper rather than simply strength parameters . fig1 shows the wide range of pulp scattering coefficients obtained from the unbleached clonal pulps at various freeness levels ( at 0 pfi rev ., the range is 268 - 363 cm 2 / g ). a number of the pulps are exceptional ( e . g . 331 - 1118 )— even compared to aspen clones . for the purposes of comparison with the major competitive species , it should be noted that typical eucalypt pulps ( eucalyptus nitens samples ) give scattering coefficients over a very similar range , 286 - 360 cm 2 / g . it was readily evident from a visual inspection of the resultant sheets that some unusual surface deformations , in the form of raised “ bumps ” approximately 1 mm in diameter , were prevalent ( fig1 ). the deformations were present in handsheets made after various levels of beating using standard pfi protocols ( 0 - 6000 rev .). it could also be observed that these deformations were present to a greater or lesser degree in the sheets dependent on the clonal source of the corresponding pulps . sheets from the pulps were rated for the numbers of deformations using an arbitrary scale for visual inspection ( similar to the ranking system used for assessing pest damage to hybrid poplars in pest - resistance qtl mapping studies . the ratings for each genotype analyzed are tabulated in table xiv . table xiv arbitrary scale rating of degree of surface deformation accumulation in test handsheets genotype handsheet deformation rating number of clones ill - 29 1 . 5 2 93 - 968 3 2 53 - 246 2 2 53 - 242 3 2 331 - 1059 2 . 5 2 331 - 1061 2 3 331 - 1062 2 . 5 2 331 - 1075 0 1 331 - 1093 3 2 331 - 1118 3 . 5 2 331 - 1122 2 1 331 - 1126 0 1 331 - 1136 4 1 331 - 1162 3 1 331 - 1186 3 1 the results of the mapmaker - qtl 1 . 1 analysis performed using the phenotypic ranking data obtained from handsheet analyses ( table xiii ) of each of the poplar clones are presented in table xv below . table xv significant qtl detected for calcium deposition lod length / trait marker / linkage score phen % cm weight dom . calcium p1150 - h07_10 / n 2 . 94 81 . 7 13 . 8 0 . 3286 − 1 . 7214 deposits on further investigation , the deformations were found to be caused by a crystalline deposit found in some vessel elements in the pulp samples used to make the handsheets . these deposits were characterized by sem / eds and were found to consist primarily of calcium salts ( fig1 ). examination of wood chips taken from the poplar clones by light microscopy and sem also revealed the calcium deposits and , more intriguingly , their specific and exclusive nature . fig2 shows an electron micrograph of two adjacent vessel elements in a wood chip , one of which is completely occluded with a deposit . by contrast , the adjacent element is completely free of crystals . contrary to some literature reports , the deposits seen in this application ( as examined microscopically ) do not appear to be associated with any form of fungal attack or other decay process . the raw data for the alkaline peroxide refiner mechanical pulping ( aprmp ) from each of 15 hybrid poplar clones consisting of 24 hybrid poplar trees are shown in table xvi . table xvi properties of aprmp pulps from hybrid poplars 14 - 129 ( 1 ) 14 - 129 ( 2 ) 1466 - 4 1466 - 3 1466 - 2 1473 - 4 1473 - 3 1473 - 2 unscreened csf ( ml ) 202 263 378 178 195 259 specific energy ( mj / kg ) 5 . 9 5 . 0 3 . 9 4 . 2 3 . 7 3 . 1 screened csf ( ml ) 208 274 408 181 206 266 reject (% o . d . pulp ) 0 . 0 0 . 0 0 . 1 0 . 0 0 . 0 0 . 1 apparent sheet density ( kg / m 3 ) 388 380 350 464 458 439 burst index ( kpa · m 2 / g ) 2 . 0 1 . 8 1 . 5 2 . 7 2 . 6 2 . 5 breaking length ( km ) 4 . 0 3 . 8 2 . 9 5 . 1 4 . 8 4 . 4 tensile index ( n · m / g ) 39 . 1 36 . 8 28 . 4 50 . 1 47 . 5 42 . 8 stretch (%) 1 . 57 1 . 49 1 . 16 1 . 97 1 . 83 1 . 66 tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 4 - ply ) 5 . 5 5 . 7 5 . 1 6 . 1 6 . 3 6 . 3 sheffield roughness ( su ) 137 167 268 105 115 123 brightness (%) 78 79 79 77 78 78 opacity (%) 85 . 5 85 . 0 84 . 5 82 . 4 81 . 4 81 . 6 scattering coefficient ( cm 2 / g ) 510 506 503 416 416 418 r - 48 fraction (%) 43 . 6 46 . 1 50 . 0 43 . 4 43 . 2 44 . 6 fines ( p - 200 ) (%) 14 . 1 13 . 1 12 . 0 14 . 1 13 . 9 14 . 2 w . weighted average fibre length ( mm ) 1 . 00 1 . 06 1 . 20 0 . 99 0 . 97 1 . 03 l . weighted average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 78 0 . 80 0 . 84 0 . 78 0 . 78 0 . 79 arithmetic average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 54 0 . 54 0 . 54 0 . 54 0 . 54 0 . 54 53 - 242 ( 1 ) 53 - 242 ( 2 ) 1458 - 4 1458 - 3 1458 - 2 1452 - 4 1452 - 3 1452 - 2 unscreened csf ( ml ) 215 250 373 207 269 380 specific energy ( mj / kg ) 6 . 8 6 . 1 4 . 9 6 . 8 5 . 7 4 . 4 screened csf ( ml ) 211 275 372 220 262 378 reject (% o . d . pulp ) 0 . 0 0 . 0 0 . 2 0 . 0 0 . 0 0 . 2 apparent sheet density ( kg / m 3 ) 390 377 359 395 386 364 burst index ( kpa · m 2 / g ) 2 . 1 2 . 0 1 . 8 2 . 1 2 . 0 1 . 7 breaking length ( km ) 3 . 9 3 . 5 3 . 3 4 . 0 3 . 7 3 . 5 tensile index ( n · m / g ) 38 . 5 34 . 7 32 . 5 39 . 2 36 . 3 34 . 1 stretch (%) 1 . 67 1 . 40 1 . 44 1 . 52 1 . 38 1 . 41 tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 4 - ply ) 5 . 7 5 . 8 6 . 1 5 . 3 5 . 4 5 . 5 sheffield roughness ( su ) 133 156 227 126 158 237 brightness (%) 75 76 76 75 76 76 opacity (%) 86 . 5 86 . 0 85 . 2 86 . 9 85 . 8 85 . 2 scattering coefficient ( cm 2 / g ) 498 498 489 500 492 482 r - 48 fraction (%) 49 . 1 49 . 2 54 . 1 45 . 4 47 . 2 52 . 5 fines ( p - 200 ) (%) 16 . 9 17 . 2 14 . 1 14 . 8 14 . 4 12 . 5 w . weighted average fibre length ( mm ) 1 . 06 1 . 08 1 . 11 0 . 97 1 . 00 1 . 12 l . weighted average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 84 0 . 84 0 . 86 0 . 77 0 . 78 0 . 81 arithmetic average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 57 0 . 56 0 . 57 0 . 52 0 . 53 0 . 54 53 - 246 ( 1 ) 53 - 246 ( 2 ) 1472 - 4 1472 - 3 1472 - 2 1460 - 4 1461 - 3 1461 - 2 unscreened csf ( ml ) 198 237 372 221 308 388 specific energy ( mj / kg ) 5 . 2 4 . 4 3 . 2 6 . 5 5 . 8 4 . 5 screened csf ( ml ) 184 236 374 227 326 416 reject (% o . d . pulp ) 0 . 1 0 . 1 0 . 7 0 . 0 0 . 1 0 . 5 apparent sheet density ( kg / m 3 ) 425 403 382 440 401 374 burst index ( kpa · m 2 / g ) 2 . 6 2 . 4 2 . 0 2 . 3 2 . 1 1 . 8 breaking length ( km ) 4 . 6 4 . 3 3 . 8 4 . 4 3 . 8 3 . 3 tensile index ( n · m / g ) 44 . 7 42 . 1 37 . 1 42 . 8 37 . 6 32 . 1 stretch (%) 1 . 89 1 . 64 1 . 51 1 . 99 1 . 69 1 . 37 tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 4 - ply ) 6 . 8 6 . 5 6 . 5 6 . 2 6 . 3 6 . 4 sheffield roughness ( su ) 117 122 213 110 152 231 brightness (%) 79 79 79 76 76 77 opacity (%) 82 . 5 81 . 7 81 . 5 86 . 8 85 . 8 85 . 1 scattering coefficient ( cm 2 / g ) 435 428 427 501 488 473 r - 48 fraction (%) 46 . 5 48 . 8 52 . 5 47 . 4 50 . 2 55 . 4 fines ( p - 200 ) (%) 15 . 0 13 . 4 12 . 2 14 . 9 15 . 4 11 . 3 w . weighted average fibre length ( mm ) 1 . 05 1 . 11 1 . 16 1 . 02 1 . 15 1 . 19 l . weighted average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 81 0 . 83 0 . 86 0 . 82 0 . 87 0 . 89 arithmetic average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 54 0 . 55 0 . 55 0 . 55 0 . 56 0 . 56 93 - 968 ( 1 ) 93 - 968 ( 2 ) 1459 - 5 1459 - 4 1459 - 3 1450 - 3 1450 - 2 1451 - 2 unscreened csf ( ml ) 246 315 382 222 325 382 specific energy ( mj / kg ) 8 . 5 7 . 3 6 . 1 5 . 6 4 . 5 3 . 8 screened csf ( ml ) 256 304 377 236 344 398 reject (% o . d . pulp ) 0 . 0 0 . 1 0 . 1 0 . 0 0 . 1 0 . 9 apparent sheet density ( kg / m 3 ) 399 368 361 405 379 357 burst index ( kpa · m 2 / g ) 2 . 2 1 . 9 1 . 8 2 . 2 1 . 9 1 . 8 breaking length ( km ) 4 . 1 3 . 7 3 . 4 4 . 2 3 . 5 3 . 5 tensile index ( n · m / g ) 39 . 8 36 . 3 33 . 1 41 . 2 34 . 6 34 . 3 stretch (%) 1 . 82 1 . 54 1 . 40 1 . 51 1 . 33 1 . 28 tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 4 - ply ) 6 . 1 5 . 9 6 . 2 5 . 9 5 . 7 5 . 7 sheffield roughness ( su ) 127 169 216 124 194 245 brightness (%) 75 75 76 74 75 75 opacity (%) 89 . 1 88 . 6 87 . 1 88 . 1 87 . 1 85 . 9 scattering coefficient ( cm 2 / g ) 534 528 510 522 516 487 r - 48 fraction (%) 43 . 6 51 . 3 56 . 5 45 . 4 50 . 9 54 . 5 fines ( p - 200 ) (%) 15 . 5 13 . 5 12 . 6 15 . 5 14 . 0 12 . 5 w . weighted average fibre length ( mm ) 1 . 09 1 . 15 1 . 22 1 . 05 1 . 09 1 . 28 l . weighted average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 87 0 . 89 0 . 92 0 . 81 0 . 83 0 . 90 arithmetic average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 61 0 . 60 0 . 61 0 . 56 0 . 56 0 . 58 331 - 1059 ( 2 ) 331 - 1059 ( 3 ) 1453 - 3 1457 - 3 1453 - 2 1454 - 3 1455 - 3 1455 - 2 unscreened csf ( ml ) 210 249 329 216 239 312 specific energy ( mj / kg ) 8 . 9 7 . 8 7 . 2 9 . 1 8 . 5 7 . 4 screened csf ( ml ) 230 257 336 212 250 314 reject (% o . d . pulp ) 0 . 1 0 . 6 0 . 8 0 . 3 0 . 8 1 . 9 apparent sheet density ( kg / m 3 ) 378 363 352 376 350 350 burst index ( kpa · m 2 / g ) 2 . 2 2 . 2 1 . 9 2 . 3 2 . 2 2 . 0 breaking length ( km ) 3 . 9 3 . 8 3 . 5 4 . 2 4 . 0 3 . 7 tensile index ( n · m / g ) 38 . 5 37 . 6 33 . 9 40 . 9 38 . 7 36 . 3 stretch (%) 1 . 84 1 . 70 1 . 58 2 . 01 1 . 89 1 . 65 tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 4 - ply ) 5 . 1 6 . 3 5 . 7 6 . 2 6 . 3 6 . 2 sheffield roughness ( su ) 138 151 181 143 157 187 brightness (%) 75 75 76 78 78 78 opacity (%) 88 . 7 87 . 4 87 . 1 87 . 4 86 . 5 86 . 5 scattering coefficient ( cm 2 / g ) 559 518 528 548 537 530 r - 48 fraction (%) 46 . 8 51 . 2 51 . 0 49 . 2 50 . 4 53 . 6 fines ( p - 200 ) (%) 17 . 1 15 . 9 16 . 2 16 . 6 17 . 6 14 . 0 w . weighted average fibre length ( mm ) 1 . 03 1 . 18 1 . 14 1 . 07 1 . 16 1 . 20 l . weighted average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 78 0 . 82 0 . 81 0 . 79 0 . 81 0 . 83 arithmetic average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 51 0 . 51 0 . 52 0 . 52 0 . 52 0 . 52 331 - 1061 ( 1 ) 331 - 1061 ( 2 ) 1476 - 4 1476 - 3 1476 - 2 1474 - 4 1474 - 3 1474 - 2 unscreened csf ( ml ) 169 237 357 194 265 383 specific energy ( mj / kg ) 5 . 0 4 . 0 3 . 0 6 . 0 5 . 1 3 . 9 screened csf ( ml ) 190 248 380 205 264 375 reject (% o . d . pulp ) 0 . 0 0 . 1 0 . 3 0 . 0 0 . 1 0 . 3 apparent sheet density ( kg / m 3 ) 426 399 390 386 381 356 burst index ( kpa · m 2 / g ) 2 . 7 2 . 4 2 . 1 2 . 2 2 . 2 1 . 9 breaking length ( km ) 4 . 9 4 . 2 3 . 7 4 . 5 3 . 9 3 . 5 tensile index ( n · m / g ) 48 . 2 41 . 0 36 . 6 44 . 2 38 . 4 34 . 2 stretch (%) 1 . 81 1 . 39 1 . 40 1 . 83 1 . 40 1 . 32 tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 4 - ply ) 6 . 2 5 . 6 6 . 1 5 . 6 5 . 7 5 . 7 sheffield roughness ( su ) 99 130 219 130 156 239 brightness (%) 76 77 78 76 77 78 opacity (%) 80 . 5 80 . 5 79 . 8 85 . 7 84 . 2 83 . 8 scattering coefficient ( cm 2 / g ) 387 394 391 482 471 465 r - 48 fraction (%) 48 . 1 50 . 2 53 . 8 46 . 9 49 . 3 56 . 0 fines ( p - 200 ) (%) 15 . 1 14 . 9 9 . 8 14 . 5 11 . 9 12 . 7 w . weighted average fibre length ( mm ) 1 . 07 1 . 11 1 . 19 1 . 06 1 . 08 1 . 21 l . weighted average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 83 0 . 86 0 . 89 0 . 78 0 . 79 0 . 84 arithmetic average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 54 0 . 56 0 . 57 0 . 52 0 . 53 0 . 53 331 - 1061 ( 3 ) 331 - 1062 ( 1 ) 1475 - 5 1475 - 4 1475 - 3 1456 - 4 1456 - 3 1456 - 2 unscreened csf ( ml ) 219 273 363 220 247 361 specific energy ( mj / kg ) 7 . 3 6 . 3 5 . 1 7 . 0 6 . 2 4 . 9 screened csf ( ml ) 226 301 371 231 270 359 reject (% o . d . pulp ) 0 . 0 0 . 1 0 . 1 0 . 0 0 . 1 0 . 5 apparent sheet density ( kg / m 3 ) 359 354 336 374 370 349 burst index ( kpa · m 2 / g ) 1 . 9 1 . 7 1 . 6 1 . 9 1 . 9 1 . 6 breaking length ( km ) 3 . 4 3 . 3 2 . 9 3 . 6 3 . 4 3 . 2 tensile index ( n · m / g ) 33 . 5 31 . 9 28 . 2 35 . 5 33 . 2 31 . 4 stretch (%) 1 . 25 1 . 35 1 . 15 1 . 43 1 . 31 1 . 34 tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 4 - ply ) 5 . 0 5 . 0 4 . 9 5 . 5 5 . 6 5 . 7 sheffield roughness ( su ) 168 219 276 132 156 225 brightness (%) 78 79 80 77 77 77 opacity (%) 84 . 9 83 . 7 83 . 0 86 . 2 85 . 8 84 . 7 scattering coefficient ( cm 2 / g ) 490 478 466 498 501 482 r - 48 fraction (%) 48 . 0 54 . 0 56 . 1 51 . 6 53 . 7 57 . 2 fines ( p - 200 ) (%) 15 . 4 13 . 6 11 . 4 17 . 4 17 . 0 13 . 5 w . weighted average fibre length ( mm ) 1 . 04 1 . 06 1 . 18 1 . 13 1 . 22 1 . 30 l . weighted average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 82 0 . 81 0 . 85 0 . 87 0 . 89 0 . 92 arithmetic average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 52 0 . 53 0 . 53 0 . 55 0 . 55 0 . 56 331 - 1062 ( 2 ) 331 - 1075 ( 2 ) 1462 - 4 1462 - 3 1462 - 2 1444 - 4 1444 - 3 1446 unscreened csf ( ml ) 209 273 351 237 284 411 specific energy ( mj / kg ) 5 . 2 4 . 3 3 . 5 10 . 8 9 . 5 7 . 9 screened csf ( ml ) 225 289 359 250 297 422 reject (% o . d . pulp ) 0 . 0 0 . 0 0 . 1 0 . 1 0 . 1 0 . 3 apparent sheet density ( kg / m 3 ) 409 397 386 344 324 309 burst index ( kpa · m 2 / g ) 2 . 1 2 . 1 1 . 9 1 . 7 1 . 6 1 . 3 breaking length ( km ) 4 . 1 4 . 1 3 . 7 3 . 3 2 . 8 2 . 5 tensile index ( n · m / g ) 40 . 6 40 . 3 36 . 3 32 . 0 27 . 4 24 . 8 stretch (%) 1 . 39 1 . 46 1 . 29 1 . 36 1 . 21 1 . 23 tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 4 - ply ) 5 . 4 5 . 4 5 . 4 4 . 8 4 . 7 4 . 3 sheffield roughness ( su ) 116 135 208 182 235 306 brightness (%) 77 77 78 75 75 76 opacity (%) 85 . 4 84 . 0 83 . 4 89 . 3 88 . 6 88 . 1 scattering coefficient ( cm 2 / g ) 492 460 458 577 556 549 r - 48 fraction (%) 47 . 2 48 . 6 52 . 9 41 . 0 46 . 4 50 . 0 fines ( p - 200 ) (%) 15 . 7 15 . 8 13 . 1 18 . 6 17 . 3 14 . 2 w . weighted average fibre length ( mm ) 1 . 07 1 . 15 1 . 10 0 . 99 1 . 07 1 . 15 l . weighted average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 83 0 . 87 0 . 85 0 . 78 0 . 80 0 . 83 arithmetic average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 56 0 . 58 0 . 56 0 . 54 0 . 54 0 . 54 331 - 1093 ( 1 ) 331 - 1093 ( 2 ) 1470 - 4 1470 - 3 1470 - 2 1467 - 4 1467 - 3 1467 - 2 unscreened csf ( ml ) 160 200 295 184 210 275 specific energy ( mj / kg ) 5 . 7 5 . 0 4 . 0 4 . 6 4 . 1 3 . 4 screened csf ( ml ) 171 214 305 192 220 292 reject (% o . d . pulp ) 0 . 0 0 . 1 0 . 4 0 . 0 0 . 0 0 . 1 apparent sheet density ( kg / m 3 ) 384 381 353 427 424 413 burst index ( kpa · m 2 / g ) 2 . 4 2 . 2 2 . 0 2 . 5 2 . 4 2 . 1 breaking length ( km ) 4 . 5 4 . 3 3 . 8 4 . 7 4 . 6 4 . 1 tensile index ( n · m / g ) 44 . 5 41 . 7 36 . 8 46 . 3 44 . 8 40 . 5 stretch (%) 1 . 67 1 . 55 1 . 50 1 . 64 1 . 63 1 . 53 tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 4 - ply ) 5 . 8 6 . 1 5 . 7 5 . 5 5 . 6 5 . 5 sheffield roughness ( su ) 120 137 186 108 127 159 brightness (%) 74 75 76 79 78 79 opacity (%) 86 . 5 86 . 3 85 . 8 84 . 4 83 . 8 84 . 0 scattering coefficient ( cm 2 / g ) 522 506 506 493 484 495 r - 48 fraction (%) 44 . 2 46 . 4 49 . 6 39 . 0 42 . 0 45 . 3 fines ( p - 200 ) (%) 16 . 6 14 . 8 13 . 2 15 . 6 13 . 4 11 . 4 w . weighted average fibre length ( mm ) 1 . 04 1 . 06 1 . 21 0 . 96 0 . 97 1 . 00 l . weighted average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 74 0 . 75 0 . 79 0 . 73 0 . 73 0 . 74 arithmetic average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 51 0 . 51 0 . 52 0 . 52 0 . 52 0 . 52 331 - 1118 ( 1 ) 331 - 1118 ( 2 ) 1468 - 3 1468 - 2 1469 - 2 1471 - 4 1471 - 3 1471 - 2 unscreened csf ( ml ) 149 191 283 184 223 358 specific energy ( mj / kg ) 4 . 2 3 . 8 3 . 0 6 . 5 5 . 5 4 . 3 screened csf ( ml ) 159 200 296 197 240 383 reject (% o . d . pulp ) 0 . 0 0 . 0 0 . 4 0 . 0 0 . 0 0 . 3 apparent sheet density ( kg / m 3 ) 463 458 393 376 358 340 burst index ( kpa · m 2 / g ) 2 . 9 2 . 8 2 . 2 2 . 2 2 . 0 1 . 7 breaking length ( km ) 5 . 3 5 . 0 4 . 3 4 . 1 3 . 6 3 . 1 tensile index ( n · m / g ) 51 . 7 49 . 5 41 . 7 40 . 2 35 . 1 30 . 7 stretch (%) 1 . 90 1 . 83 1 . 65 1 . 69 1 . 41 1 . 25 tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 4 - ply ) 6 . 0 6 . 0 6 . 3 5 . 6 5 . 6 6 . 1 sheffield roughness ( su ) 103 113 161 135 164 264 brightness (%) 77 78 78 77 77 78 opacity (%) 83 . 3 82 . 0 82 . 3 86 . 2 86 . 2 85 . 3 scattering coefficient ( cm 2 / g ) 431 429 439 508 520 496 r - 48 fraction (%) 40 . 5 40 . 8 47 . 6 42 . 3 45 . 7 48 . 5 fines ( p - 200 ) (%) 13 . 7 13 . 6 12 . 1 17 . 2 15 . 0 14 . 3 w . weighted average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 97 0 . 96 1 . 11 1 . 01 1 . 07 1 . 15 l . weighted average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 74 0 . 74 0 . 78 0 . 77 0 . 78 0 . 80 arithmetic average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 52 0 . 52 0 . 53 0 . 53 0 . 53 0 . 54 331 - 1122 ( 1 ) 331 - 1126 ( 1 ) 1447 - 4 1447 - 3 1448 - 2 1465 - 4 1465 - 3 1465 - 2 unscreened csf ( ml ) 210 300 425 191 255 379 specific energy ( mj / kg ) 7 . 3 6 . 1 4 . 3 6 . 3 5 . 2 4 . 0 screened csf ( ml ) 227 313 420 202 267 403 reject (% o . d . pulp ) 0 . 1 0 . 2 0 . 7 0 . 0 0 . 0 0 . 2 apparent sheet density ( kg / m 3 ) 360 339 327 363 345 320 burst index ( kpa · m 2 / g ) 1 . 7 1 . 6 1 . 4 1 . 8 1 . 7 1 . 4 breaking length ( km ) 3 . 6 3 . 3 2 . 8 3 . 5 3 . 3 2 . 8 tensile index ( n · m / g ) 35 . 8 31 . 9 27 . 2 34 . 8 31 . 9 27 . 1 stretch (%) 1 . 33 1 . 37 1 . 11 1 . 45 1 . 40 1 . 25 tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 4 - ply ) 4 . 0 3 . 9 3 . 8 4 . 8 5 . 0 5 . 0 sheffield roughness ( su ) 144 220 290 164 221 304 brightness (%) 75 75 76 75 75 76 opacity (%) 88 . 0 87 . 2 86 . 3 86 . 3 86 . 2 85 . 2 scattering coefficient ( cm 2 / g ) 533 518 506 505 497 480 r - 48 fraction (%) 45 . 6 54 . 1 56 . 0 44 . 3 48 . 6 52 . 1 fines ( p - 200 ) (%) 15 . 8 14 . 0 11 . 3 20 . 3 15 . 8 14 . 9 w . weighted average fibre length ( mm ) 1 . 00 1 . 06 1 . 25 1 . 08 1 . 10 1 . 24 l . weighted average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 75 0 . 78 0 . 84 0 . 85 0 . 87 0 . 90 arithmetic average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 49 0 . 52 0 . 52 0 . 58 0 . 58 0 . 59 331 - 1162 ( 3 ) 331 - 1186 ( 3 ) 1464 - 4 1464 - 3 1464 - 2 1449 - 4 1449 - 3 1449 - 2 unscreened csf ( ml ) 170 215 266 188 253 380 specific energy ( mj / kg ) 5 . 4 4 . 8 4 . 0 7 . 6 6 . 5 5 . 1 screened csf ( ml ) 197 232 291 212 269 382 reject (% o . d . pulp ) 0 . 0 0 . 0 0 . 1 0 . 0 0 . 0 0 . 1 apparent sheet density ( kg / m 3 ) 417 400 394 409 402 354 burst index ( kpa · m 2 / g ) 1 . 9 1 . 8 1 . 8 2 . 4 2 . 1 1 . 7 breaking length ( km ) 3 . 7 3 . 6 3 . 3 4 . 3 3 . 8 3 . 4 tensile index ( n · m / g ) 36 . 5 35 . 5 32 . 8 42 . 0 37 . 4 32 . 9 stretch (%) 1 . 36 1 . 38 1 . 17 1 . 74 1 . 44 1 . 36 tear index ( mn · m 2 / g ) ( 4 - ply ) 5 . 0 5 . 1 4 . 5 5 . 8 5 . 6 5 . 6 sheffield roughness ( su ) 115 136 163 104 142 226 brightness (%) 74 74 74 76 77 78 opacity (%) 88 . 5 87 . 9 87 . 1 86 . 2 85 . 6 84 . 8 scattering coefficient ( cm 2 / g ) 530 514 518 505 500 499 r - 48 fraction (%) 45 . 3 45 . 4 46 . 5 46 . 4 48 . 7 51 . 6 fines ( p - 200 ) (%) 19 . 5 14 . 1 14 . 1 16 . 0 16 . 1 14 . 6 w . weighted average fibre length ( mm ) 1 . 06 1 . 10 1 . 06 1 . 00 1 . 04 1 . 12 l . weighted average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 84 0 . 86 0 . 84 0 . 79 0 . 80 0 . 83 arithmetic average fibre length ( mm ) 0 . 57 0 . 57 0 . 57 0 . 52 0 . 52 0 . 53 in general , appropriate baseline values of pulp freeness and specific refining energy are the two parameters commonly used to monitor mechanical and optical properties of aprmp pulps . thus , to facilitate data analysis and discussion , the raw data were standardized by interpolation or extrapolation to a freeness of 200 ml csf ( table xvii ) and a specific refining energy ( sre ) of 6 . 0 mj / kg ( table xviii ). table xvii properties of aprmp pulps from hybrid poplars at a constant freeness of 200 ml csf length specific weighted refining r - 48 fines fiber sheet tensile bright - sheffield scattering energy fraction ( p - 200 ) length density index stretch tear index ness roughness coefficient opacity hybrid no . ( mj / kg ) (%) (%) ( mm ) ( kg / m 3 ) ( n · m / g ) (%) ( mn · m 2 / g ) (%) ( su ) ( cm 2 / g ) (%) 14 - 129 ( 1 ) 5 . 9 43 . 5 14 . 0 0 . 78 392 40 . 0 1 . 60 5 . 5 78 130 510 85 . 5 14 - 129 ( 2 ) 3 . 7 43 . 2 13 . 9 0 . 78 459 48 . 2 1 . 87 6 . 3 78 111 416 81 . 9 53 - 242 ( 1 ) 7 . 0 48 . 0 17 . 4 0 . 81 392 39 . 0 1 . 68 5 . 7 75 128 498 86 . 6 53 - 242 ( 2 ) 6 . 9 44 . 5 15 . 2 0 . 77 399 40 . 0 1 . 54 5 . 3 75 113 503 87 . 3 53 - 246 ( 1 ) 5 . 2 47 . 3 14 . 5 0 . 81 417 43 . 8 1 . 80 6 . 7 79 118 432 82 . 2 53 - 246 ( 2 ) 6 . 7 46 . 5 15 . 8 0 . 82 448 44 . 5 2 . 09 6 . 2 76 95 506 87 . 0 93 - 968 ( 1 ) 9 . 3 40 . 0 17 . 4 0 . 85 413 42 . 5 1 . 94 6 . 1 75 90 547 90 . 1 93 - 968 ( 2 ) 5 . 9 43 . 3 16 . 3 0 . 79 417 42 . 5 1 . 56 5 . 9 74 95 528 88 . 7 331 - 1059 ( 2 ) 9 . 1 45 . 0 17 . 5 0 . 79 383 40 . 0 1 . 90 5 . 0 75 127 565 88 . 8 331 - 1059 ( 3 ) 9 . 3 48 . 5 17 . 0 0 . 79 383 41 . 2 2 . 06 6 . 2 78 137 550 87 . 4 331 - 1061 ( 1 ) 4 . 6 48 . 6 15 . 1 0 . 84 417 46 . 0 1 . 75 6 . 2 76 103 389 80 . 5 331 - 1061 ( 2 ) 5 . 9 46 . 8 14 . 5 0 . 78 389 44 . 5 1 . 83 5 . 6 76 127 482 85 . 7 331 - 1061 ( 3 ) 7 . 5 47 . 4 16 . 2 0 . 80 361 34 . 8 1 . 30 5 . 0 78 150 494 85 . 4 331 - 1062 ( 1 ) 7 . 2 50 . 4 18 . 3 0 . 87 382 37 . 0 1 . 48 5 . 5 77 107 504 86 . 6 331 - 1062 ( 2 ) 5 . 3 46 . 5 16 . 7 0 . 84 413 42 . 0 1 . 50 5 . 4 77 105 490 85 . 6 331 - 1075 ( 2 ) 11 . 1 38 . 0 19 . 8 0 . 77 361 34 . 0 1 . 40 5 . 0 75 155 580 89 . 5 331 - 1093 ( 1 ) 5 . 0 45 . 6 15 . 7 0 . 75 382 42 . 7 1 . 59 6 . 0 75 132 511 86 . 4 331 - 1093 ( 2 ) 4 . 3 40 . 0 14 . 8 0 . 73 426 45 . 9 1 . 64 5 . 5 79 114 490 84 . 2 331 - 1118 ( 1 ) 3 . 7 40 . 8 13 . 6 0 . 75 448 49 . 5 1 . 83 6 . 0 78 113 429 82 . 0 331 - 1118 ( 2 ) 6 . 0 42 . 5 17 . 2 0 . 77 376 40 . 2 1 . 69 5 . 6 77 137 508 86 . 2 331 - 1122 ( 1 ) 7 . 5 43 . 8 16 . 5 0 . 74 368 37 . 0 1 . 45 4 . 0 75 128 536 88 . 2 331 - 1126 ( 1 ) 6 . 1 44 . 3 20 . 3 0 . 85 363 34 . 8 1 . 45 4 . 8 75 164 505 86 . 3 331 - 1162 ( 3 ) 5 . 0 45 . 3 19 . 5 0 . 85 415 36 . 5 1 . 36 5 . 0 74 115 530 88 . 5 331 - 1186 ( 3 ) 7 . 3 46 . 3 16 . 1 0 . 79 415 43 . 0 1 . 78 5 . 8 76 94 505 86 . 3 the specific refining energy consumed to reach a given freeness in the range of 150 to 425 ml csf for the 24 hybrid poplar trees is shown in fig2 . the raw data show considerable scatter thanks largely to intraclonal variability which renders clonal effects non - significant ( anova p = 0 . 067 ). each set of points in fig2 is surrounded by envelopes rather than a best - fit line or curve . the envelopes can be classified into three general groups as shown below . high sre group medium sre group low sre group 93 - 968 ( 1 ) 14 - 129 ( 1 ) 14 - 129 ( 2 ) 331 - 1059 ( 2 ) 53 - 242 ( 1 ) 53 - 246 ( 1 ) 331 - 1059 ( 3 ) 53 - 242 ( 2 ) 331 - 1061 ( 1 ) 331 - 1075 ( 2 ) 53 - 246 ( 2 ) 331 - 1062 ( 2 ) 93 - 968 ( 2 ) 331 - 1093 ( 1 ) 331 - 1061 ( 2 ) 331 - 1093 ( 2 ) 331 - 1061 ( 3 ) 331 - 1118 ( 1 ) 331 - 1062 ( 1 ) 331 - 1162 ( 3 ) 331 - 1118 ( 2 ) 331 - 1122 ( 1 ) 331 - 1126 ( 1 ) 331 - 1186 ( 3 ) the differences in sre demand are more evident at 200 ml csf as clones 93 - 968 ( 1 ) and 331 - 1059 ( 3 ) require 9 . 3 mj / kg sre whereas clones 14 - 129 ( 2 ) and 331 - 1118 ( 1 ) require 3 . 7 mj / kg sre or 60 % of the energy demand ( table xvii ). clone 331 - 1075 ( 2 ) is clearly exceptional as it required 11 . 1 mj / kg of specific refining energy to the same freeness level . the three distinct sre groups shown in fig2 are consistent with previous observations of chemithermomechanical ( ctmp ) pulping of nine different “ wild ” aspen clones from northeast british columbia . naoh / h 2 o 2 uptake for each tree are shown in table xix . the data indicate a much lower chemical uptake for the unusual high energy consumption clone 331 - 1075 ( 2 ) than for the other clones investigated in this study . naoh uptake values for each clone at 200 ml csf are plotted against sre in fig2 . fig2 shows that high chemical uptake reduces energy demand at a given freeness of 200 ml . the significant negative relationship noted here ( pearson coefficient − 0 . 526 , p = 0 . 025 ) agrees well with previous findings that sre of hardwood mechanical pulps increases with diminishing chemical uptake , although the variability seen here is greater than that observed for aspen ctmp pulps . the reasons for intraclonal variability in chemical uptake are not clear . the most probable explanation for low chemical uptake by certain clones is likely a function of the cell wall thickness and lumen diameters of earlywood ( large ) and latewood ( small ). it has been reported that a thicker s1 wall makes it more difficult for the hardwood fiber to absorb chemical in order to swell and / or collapse . a plot of the naoh uptake vs . chip density ( fig2 ) also confirms previous observations that wood density does not affect chemical uptake by populus species chips and further contrasts with data suggesting that earlywood density affects chemical uptake for eucalyptus nitens . table xix chip density and chemical uptake for aprmp pulps chip thickness = 2 - 6 mm chip density a naoh h 2 o 2 sample no . ( kg / m 3 ) (% o . d . wood ) (% o . d . wood ) 14 - 129 ( 1 ) 285 5 . 39 3 . 44 14 - 129 ( 2 ) 304 6 . 07 3 . 88 53 - 242 ( 1 ) 329 5 . 13 3 . 27 53 - 242 ( 2 ) 302 4 . 41 2 . 82 53 - 246 ( 1 ) 311 6 . 24 3 . 99 54 - 246 ( 2 ) 325 4 . 57 2 . 92 93 - 968 ( 1 ) 303 4 . 20 2 . 68 93 - 968 ( 2 ) 314 3 . 80 2 . 43 331 - 1059 ( 2 ) 303 4 . 63 2 . 95 331 - 1059 ( 3 ) 302 4 . 59 2 . 93 331 - 1061 ( 1 ) 338 6 . 40 4 . 09 331 - 1061 ( 2 ) 328 5 . 41 3 . 46 331 - 1061 ( 3 ) 345 4 . 35 2 . 78 331 - 1062 ( 1 ) 280 4 . 20 2 . 68 331 - 1062 ( 2 ) 290 6 . 51 4 . 24 331 - 1075 ( 2 ) 300 3 . 39 2 . 16 331 - 1093 ( 1 ) 279 4 . 23 2 . 70 331 - 1093 ( 2 ) 288 5 . 38 3 . 43 331 - 1118 ( 1 ) 346 5 . 89 3 . 76 331 - 1118 ( 2 ) 373 3 . 42 2 . 18 331 - 1122 ( 1 ) 283 3 . 80 2 . 43 331 - 1126 ( 1 ) 386 2 . 69 1 . 72 331 - 1162 ( 3 ) 336 4 . 22 2 . 69 331 - 1186 ( 3 ) 292 4 . 69 3 . 00 as expected , the long - fiber fraction r - 48 ( retained on the 48 - mesh screen of a bauer - mcnett fiber classifier ) and lwfl ( length - weighted fiber length ) increased with increasing freeness and decreasing sre , whereas the fines content p - 200 ( passed through the 200 - mesh screen of a bauer mcnett fiber classifier ) increased with decreasing freeness and increasing sre as shown in table xvii . the lwfl values obtained from the mechanical aprmp pulps at a freeness of 200 ml ( table xvii ) show a significant correlation ( pearson coefficient 0 . 479 , p = 0 . 018 ) with the lwfl values observed for the chemical pulps ( table xi ) obtained from the same clones . unexpectedly , the lwfl values for aprmp pulps were consistently longer than those from the chemical pulps obtained from the same trees . the reasons for this observation is not clear . perhaps , the alkali treatment of hybrid poplar have softened the middle lamella thus allowing the individual fibers to be peeled from the matrix in a longer and a more intact state in the refiner than those from the chemical pulping process . tensile index increased with decreasing freeness , increasing sheet density , and increasing specific refining energy ( table xvi ). in addition , lwfl also has a highly significant negative relationship with aprmp pulp tensile index ( pearson coefficient − 0 . 74 , p = 0 . 001 ). in general , there is considerable variability in tensile strength from the various clones at a given freeness of 200 ml csf and a given specific refining energy of 6 . 0 mj / kg ( tables xvii and xviii , respectively ). at a given freeness of 200 ml csf the tensile index values range from 34 . 0 to 49 . 5 n · m / g . there is also considerable interclonal variability in tensile strength , for example , the three individuals comprising the genotype clone 331 - 1061 have a mean tensile index of 41 . 8 n · m / g with a standard deviation of 5 . 0 n · m / g at a given freeness of 200 ml csf ( table xvii ). in fig2 , naoh uptake is plotted against tensile index . again , the data are variable , but it is clear that despite this at a given freeness , increasing chemical uptake results in an increase in tensile strength ( pearson coefficient 0 . 700 , p = 0 . 022 ). this finding is in good agreement with previous work by johal et al . and jackson et al . who found that the tensile indices of aspen ctmp pulps increase with increasing chemical uptake . intraclonal variation is again the largest component of the variability seen in the tear index data at a given freeness of 200 ml csf ( table xvii ). as anticipated , sheet density increases with decreasing freeness and increasing specific refining energy ( table xvii ). the extent of the intra - and interclonal variability seen at 200 ml freeness , from 361 kg / m 3 to 459 kg / m 3 , is of the same order as that previously noted for aspen clones and is shown in table xvii . whilst some clones ( e . g . parent 93 - 968 ) produce sheets with similar density properties , others ( e . g . parent 14 - 129 ) exhibit wide intraclonal variability . the role of alkali uptake at 200 ml freeness in the consolidation of sheet density of hybrid poplar clone aprmp pulps is shown in fig2 . the significant positive relationship seen ( pearson coefficient 0 . 616 , p = 0 . 001 ) indicates the importance of good chemical impregnation to soften fiber cell walls and improve sheet consolidation . as expected , scattering coefficient consistently increased with decreasing freeness and increasing sheet density ( table xvii ). significant positive correlations were observed between sre and optical properties scattering coefficient ( pearson coefficient 0 . 779 , p = 0 . 000 ) and printing opacity ( pearson coefficient 0 . 738 , p = 0 . 003 ). in fig2 , the fines content ( p - 200 ) is shown as a function of scattering coefficient . the significant positive relationship ( pearson coefficient 0 . 637 , p = 0 . 001 ) confirms previous observations for aspen in that those clones with the highest fines content also exhibit high scattering coefficients and high opacity values . the negative effect of chip alkali uptake — on light scattering development is indicated in fig2 ( pearson coefficient − 0 . 713 , p = 0 . 000 ). the most probable explanation for this negative effect is that increased alkali uptake makes the fiber separation at the middle lamella easier and thus producing fewer fines . secondly , the higher alkali uptake makes the fibers more flexible and hydrophilic thus resulting in more fiber bonding and reduced light scattering . sheffield roughness increased with increasing freeness ( fig2 ). the plot of sheffield roughness vs . tensile strength ( fig2 ) indicates that at high tensile index , most clones exhibit excellent sheet surface properties . the significant negative relationship seen ( pearson coefficient − 0 . 602 , p = 0 . 002 ) does not alter the fact that , within this hybrid population , a wide variety of pulp strengths can be had whilst maintaining a constant smoothness level ( see table xx ). table xx interclonal variability of strength properties for given formation properties clone tensile index ( n · m / g ) sheffield smoothness ( su ) 331 - 1118 ( 1 ) 49 . 5 113 331 - 1162 ( 3 ) 36 . 5 115 the brightness of the aprmp pulps from different clones under significantly variable h 2 o 2 uptake was surprisingly similar . a tight range of brightness values was obtained from the hybrid poplar pulps , from 74 - 79 %. this compares very well with previous brightness results for aspen clones which showed greater variability over a lower spectrum of values , from 49 - 69 %. the aspen values may be explained by the occurrence in natural stands of highly stained wood and by wide differences in the lignin content of the examined trees . for most of the pulping parameters examined in this study , both intra - and interclonal factors were significant determinators of the population variability encountered . this , coupled with the necessarily small sample size utilized , makes the correlation of genotypic and phenotypic variability statistically challenging . some data sets did yield significant qtl detections — for example , a putative qtl has been found for h - factor with a lod score of 4 . 04 ( see fig3 and table xxi ). in fig3 , the 19 populus linkage groups and positioned rflp , rapd and sts markers are shown . positions of detected qtl which exceed the significance threshold lod score are indicated by colour - coded vertical bars adjacent to the linkage groups . phenotyping data colour codes are described in the legend . importantly using the kraft pulping data , a significant qtl for tensile index ( lod score 3 . 48 ) and a less significant qtl for air resistance ( lod score 2 . 62 ) were detected in a chromosomal position coincident with that detected for fiber coarseness and microfibril angle . these results are depicted in table xxi . these data suggest that not only does this genetic region contain genes which affect multiple related pulp parameters and is therefore worthy of further investigation , but that the coarseness values obtained from the peracetic acid maceration / fqa fiber analysis technique do indeed accurately reflect the performance of the pulp in terms of a number of important parameters . the observation strongly supports the use of this procedure as a technique for rapid assessment of tree populations for wood quality . most of the qtl found , however , had lod significance scores of approximately the threshold value of 2 . 90 or lower , indicating a high possibility of spurious detection . qtl mapping of these data is , therefore , not presented here as the data sets are simply not extensive enough for statistical significance . these data will form part of a larger and continuing study on this population of hybrid poplars with the eventual goal of genetic mapping of specific pulping and papermaking characteristics . this is considered to be an important outcome as , as has been clearly shown by this and numerous other reports , it is often highly problematic to accurately predict pulp and papermaking properties from easily measured parameters such as fiber properties , wood density , etc . to actually determine the pulp and paper properties of a clone , it is still necessary to pilot pulp the entire stem . it is anticipated that qtl mapping of a large enough sample set of pilot pulps will enable the detection of the particular subset of genes which directly affect pulp and paper parameters and the development of rapid assessment methods for those properties of immediate industrial value . this study represents the first steps towards eventual achievement of this highly important objective . table xxi significant qtl detected for h factor trait marker / linkage lod score phen % length / cm weight dom . h factor pal2 - p214 / y 4 . 04 95 . 6 6 . 6 169 . 83 − 337 . 80 tensile index i14_09 - f15_10 / e 3 . 48 87 . 2 37 . 3 1 . 5378 9 . 8668 air resistance i14_09 - f15_10 / e 2 . 62 * 88 . 4 37 . 3 519 . 36 − 250 . 13 ( gurley ) fiber i14_09 - f15_10 / e 3 . 49 55 . 9 37 . 3 72 . 794 − 79 . 906 coarseness ** [ 0232 ] fig3 illustrates the current status of qtl mapping using the family 331 hybrid poplar mapping pedigree . the map shows the 19 linkage groups that are approximately equivalent to the 19 populus chromosomes as vertical bars labelled a - y as obtained from the university of washington . positions of assigned rflp , rapd and sts markers are indicated on each linkage group . assigned qtl regions for each of the traits examined in the study are indicated as colour - coded bars adjacent to the linkage groups . details on the significance of the qtl and the genetic distances they cover can be found in the appropriate tables , although it is important to note that — with the single exception of kraft pulp yield — each reported qtl exceeds the 95 % statistical confidence level , as determined by the lod threshold score of 2 . 9 . table xvi shows the screened suite of markers associated with the qtl linked to the specific traits of interest examined in this study . each of these rapd / rflp markers was used in a pcr reaction to generate a polymorphic product from the phenotypically selected f2 generation individuals indicated . table xvi also presents the number of sequences generated from the polymorphic bands isolated . proposed functionalities for the sequences , based on similarities to sequences already in public databases , can be found in table xvi . the sequences are tabulated in table xvii . the polymorphic marker bands have been fully or partially sequenced and functionality has been assigned according to similarity with previously published sequences on public databases ( e . g . genbank ). by sequence homology it will now be possible to identify orthologous functional genes in trees of the genus populus , picea , berula , abies , larix , taxus , ulmus , prunus , quercus , malus , arbutus , salix , platanus , acer , tsuga , pseudotsuga , pinus , fraxinus , eucalyptus , acacia , abrus , cupressus , fagus , juniperus , thuja and canya . # product size trait marker sequences ( bp ) database id maceration i17_04 2 ( ac007018 ) arabidopsis thaliana yield chromosome ; ( ap002820 ) putative transposable element tip 100 protein rice maceration g02_11 5 1138 , 990 , ( ac006136 ) putative retroelement yield 1032 , 976 , 986 pol polyprotein [ arabidopsis ] ( ac009400 ) hypothetical protein [ arabidopsis thaliana ; & gt ; gi | 13241678 | gb | aak16420 . 1 | ( af320086 ) rire gag / pol protein [ zea mays ]; unknown ; ac020580 ) hypothetical protein , 3 &# 39 ; partial yield / h e01_04 3 347 , 334 , 356 ( ac002332 ) hypothetical protein factor [ arabidopsis thaliana ]; ac007357 ) f3f19 . 15 [ arabidopsis thaliana ]; ( ab024037 ) emb | cab77928 . 1 ˜ gene_id : msk1 0 . 2 ˜ similar to unknown yield / h - p1027 3 539 , 589 , 593 hypothetical protein , at ; putative factor retroelement ; at est atts1136 , putative disease resistance gene . lignin p757 2 281 , 199 arabidopsis retrotransposon - like protein , z97342 . coarseness / i14_09 3 545 , 545 , 869 unknown ; tensile low hits : cotton fad aj244890 ; index / air poplar agamous ( 64 % in 197 nt ); resistance copia - like polyprotein [ arabidopsis thaliana ] f15_10 2 950 , 980 unknown arabidopsis gene ; many proline - rich proteins (# 1 = cicer arietinium ), + 3 frame extractives b15 2 1756 , 1693 endo - 1 , 4 - betaglucanase , fibronectin repeat signature h19_08 1 810 transformer - sr ribonucleoprotein g13_17 2 1400 , 1628 several dnaj - like protein [ arabidopsis thaliana ]; gi | 1491720 | emb | caa67813 . 1 | ( x99451 ) extensin - like protein dif10 [ lycopersicon esculentum g12_15 1 677 1 = unknown at protein , 2 = hypothetical ca - binding protein from at c04_04 1 357 genomic dna t7n9 . 15 [ arabidopsis thaliana ] p1054 1 787 cicer arietinum mrna for glucan - endo - 1 , 3 - beta - glucosidase p1018 1 522 ac007197 arabidopsis thaliana chromosome h12 3 332 , 386 , 350 hypothetical protein ( cop1 regulatory ), endoglucanase , 3 - oxo - 5 - alpha - steroid - 4 - dehydrogenase . calcium h07_10 3 977 , 978 , 754 ( ac003970 ) similar to glucose - 6 - deposition phosphate dehydrogenases , at ; ac006267 ) putative polyprotein [ arabidopsis thaliana ]; ( ac006267 ) putative polyprotein [ arabidopsis thaliana ] while the invention has been described in connection with specific embodiments thereof , it will be understood that it is capable of further modifications and this application is intended to cover any variations , uses , or adaptations of the invention following , in general , the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the invention pertains and as may be applied to the essential features hereinbefore set forth , and as follows in the scope of the appended claims . | 2 |
in the following detailed description of the present invention , a method and system are provided for internet - based and automated recorded media distribution and retrieval ; specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention . it will be obvious , however , to a person skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details , and changes may be made to the description herein without departing from the scope of the invention . the integrated recorded media distribution system is centered on combining instant physical access to recorded media with the convenience of internet based e - commerce . the system is particularly adapted to support digital versatile disk ( dvd ) recorded media , and other optically recorded disks . in the preferred embodiment , an internet - connected central server integrates customers , suppliers , employees , kiosks , owners , and the video industry in a “ hub and spoke ” system that is preferably automated and interactive , providing real time business - to - consumer and business - to - business capabilities . the system kiosks are part of the hub and spoke network system . the kiosks act as brick and mortar spokes , providing a faster , more convenient way for customers to obtain and return dvd videos or other optical recorded media . each kiosk is a self - service unit that combines electro - mechanical dispensing devices and components , internet connectivity and a touch screen monitor for customer interaction . the compact nature of the dvd format allows up to 102 disks to be stocked in a kiosk , like the kiosk shown in fig8 . the kiosk &# 39 ; s small space requirement allows placement in high - traffic locations that are more convenient than traditional retail locations . internet connectivity allows customers to have the choice of shopping online or on - site or to access a variety of real - time services . each kiosk is a self - service unit that includes an internal processor , internet connectivity , and a touch screen monitor for customer interaction . the small physical footprint of the kiosk enables it to be placed in a variety of locations . the kiosks can operate 24 hours a day , 7 days a week , providing instant electronic access to products . the kiosks are fully automated providing customer service through the internet ; on - site staffing is not required to support customer needs . the system web site provides 24 - hour access to on - line customer support . it also provides access to specific kiosk inventory , movie trailers and reviews , customer inquiries , special orders , regular individually tailored e - mailed updates , and overall service . the integrated remote kiosk monitoring system allows low cost inventory management , tailored marketing promotions , operations planning , advertising management , and system diagnosis . in the preferred embodiment , the kiosks are physically designed to meet american disabilities act ( ada ) specifications so that they may be placed in public facilities . the kiosks also preferably meet other regulatory requirements of public transportation facilities , universities , and office buildings . the system central server supports a world wide web site . the central server includes promotional drivers and accessory services that route through the system website in conjunction with the kiosks . customers may use the internet to query a specific kiosk for availability , or to purchase new and used optical recorded media , register for e - mailed updates , or participate in various targeted programs . the integrated system allows fast transactions . a simple and easy to use title search process minimizes shopping time and allows rapid transactions . transaction times from walk - up to walk - away can be less than 40 seconds and average 2 . 5 minutes . return of media is also simple , as the disks only need to be re - inserted into the dispensing / retrieval mechanism . upon the return of a disk at a kiosk , the internal computer reads individual identification information from the disk and restocks it automatically . the system allows remote price changes and can also gather up - to - the minute product availability and customer data . thin - client computing technology keeps hardware costs low and speeds up application deployment by centralizing management , and enhancing security . e - mailed receipts generated from the kiosks through the central server allow ongoing access to customers after the completion of the transaction . recorded disk pricing may be determined on a kiosk - by - kiosk basis based on local market conditions . pricing also varies depending on market elasticity ; for example , premiums may be placed on dvd videos available in airport terminals . differentiated pricing can be used for newer releases vs . older releases . in addition , rental terms and promotions may vary based on kiosk locations and the time of week , and can be adjusted remotely on demand . at a kiosk such as shown in fig8 a graphical user interface ( gui ) utilizing a touch screen display provides a user - friendly interface even to consumers lacking computer experience . once a touch screen is activated , a computer in the kiosk generates a touch - selectable list of available media : movie genres such as action , drama , romance , and comedy , for example . by touching on one of the genres , a selection of associated titles and / or a promotional picture may appear on the screen . touching an image causes basic information to be displayed about that media such as cost and rating , along with an option to rent or purchase the media . when selection of media is complete , a credit , debit card , and / or other membership id is requested to execute the transaction and then the disk is dispensed to a customer . return of rental media is similar ; a customer may select “ rental return ” button on a touch screen , and then insert a disk into an opening in the kiosk . an optical scanner first verifies that the disk belongs to the system before accepting a disk . internet connectivity and a dynamic customer database provide product promotion capabilities and consumer access . product information and promotions may be tailored to each location &# 39 ; s demographics and additionally to each kiosk &# 39 ; s rental and sell - through history . advertising is available on the kiosk , kiosk screen , additional associated monitors , disk cases , dispensed coupons , e - coupons , e - mailed receipts , and through various web - based interactions . . advertising with the kiosk system provides mechanisms to promote specific marketing initiatives as well as additional local and global advertising . the system website allows consumers to search for kiosks and to query a specific kiosk for available content . the website also carries updated lists of used media for sale at discounted prices at individual kiosks . a customer may reserve and pay for a dvd stocked at a specific kiosk from the website , then pick up the dvd within a specified time period at the specific kiosk . once a customer enters e - mail information at the kiosk or at the website , that customer is eligible to receive frequent tailored e - mailed updates and e - coupons from the central server on current promotions . additional products potentially distributed through the kiosks include a variety of recorded media such as books on optical recorded disks , dvd music videos , dvd - rom , dvd video games , dvd - audio , sa - cds and cds . the modularity of the system allows for easy adoption of additional disk - based content distribution . some portions of the following detailed description are presented in terms of procedures , logic blocks , processing steps , computer program code and other symbolic representations of data operations within a computer memory . a procedure , logic block , process , etc ., is a self - consistent sequence of steps or instructions leading to a desired result . the steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities . a practitioner will recognize that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities . unless specifically stated , terms such as “ processing ,” “ computing ,” “ calculating ,” “ determining ,” “ displaying ,” refer to the action and processes of a computer system or similar electronic computing device . [ 0068 ] fig6 illustrates a computer system 612 suitable for use in the kiosk of fig8 or in central server 103 , fig1 . in general , computer system 612 used by the preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a bus system 600 for communicating information between system components . a central processing unit 601 for processing information and instructions is coupled to bus system 600 . a processing unit may be a processor , a microprocessor or any group or combination of processors or microprocessors . a random - access memory 602 for storing information and instructions for the central processor 601 is coupled to bus system 600 . a read - only memory 603 for storing static information and instructions for the processor 601 is coupled to bus system 600 . a data storage device 604 , such as a magnetic or other disk drive , for storing information and instructions is coupled to bus system 600 . a display device 605 for displaying information to the kiosk user is coupled to bus system 600 . an alphanumeric input device 606 , including alphanumeric and function keys ( e . g ., a touch screen ), for communicating information and command selections to the central processor 601 , may be coupled to bus system 600 . a cursor control device 607 for communicating user input information and command selections to the central processor 601 may be coupled to bus system 600 . a signal - generating device 608 for communicating data or signals between devices external to system 612 and processor 601 may be coupled to bus system 600 . [ 0069 ] fig1 illustrates a preferred embodiment of an optical disk distribution system 100 . generally , system 100 distributes recorded optical media in disk form ; for example a digital versatile disk ( dvd ), or a compact disc ( cd ). a disk , recorded disk , dvd , cd , or recorded optical media are used interchangeably herein to refer to an optical recorded media . system 100 integrates one or more kiosks 101 with a server system 103 through a virtual network 107 that uses the internet 104 . server system 103 is connected to the internet 104 also for direct linking to individual email accounts 105 and 105 ′. server 103 supports a world wide web page set 108 for general access by customers using the internet 104 . generally , access to system web page set 108 supported by server 103 is through an internet service provider ( isp ) that provides an internet connection for a personal computer 106 . kiosk 101 has a display 106 for viewing and entering information . kiosk 101 dispenses and receives disks 102 , via an opening in its front . [ 0070 ] fig2 illustrates a schematic embodiment of a kiosk 200 ( e . g ., kiosk 101 , fig1 ). kiosk 200 is a self - contained unit dispensing system that contains computer devices and mechanical devices . a central processing unit 201 is operably connected to a system bus 250 . system bus 250 may be a single bus or a series of busses for communicating data or signals between various devices and central processing unit 201 . a memory device 202 for storing instructions and / or other information is operably connected to system bus 250 . a data storage device 203 for storing data , or containing databases and / or other instructions , is connected to system bus 250 . a display device 204 having alphanumeric input capability is operably connected to system bus 250 . a magnetic card reader 211 for reading magnetically imprinted cards is operably connected to system bus 250 . any device suitable for uniquely identifying a customer such as a smart - card , license reader , fingerprint scanner / identifier , or other identification device may be substituted for , or augmented to , magnetic card reader 211 when appropriate . an optical reader 205 for reading bar codes is operably connected to system bus 250 . reader 205 may include a digital camera to view optical media and an associated housing , to facilitate access control of media to the kiosk . a disk shuttle assembly 206 for accessing and storing disk media is operably connected to system bus 250 . a media storage unit 207 for storing optical media 214 is contained in kiosk 200 . shuttle assembly 206 may be contained in , or integrated with , media storage unit 207 for accessing optical media 214 . a kicker device 208 for dispensing or receiving optical disk media 214 is operably connected to system bus 250 . a communications device 216 such as a modem or network connection is operably connected to system bus 250 . an optional audio device 212 for providing kiosk sound capability may be connected to system bus 250 . an optional dvd - ram or dvd - rom drive 213 for reading data from , or writing data to , optical media may be operably connected to system bus 250 . an optional coupon - dispensing device 217 may be operably connected to system bus 250 . an optional alarm state recognition device or algorithm 218 may be connected to system bus 250 . an optional secondary transaction device 219 for processing custom banking processes such as local debit card transactions may be connected to system bus 250 . an optional error detection system 209 for detecting damaged optical disc media may be internal to or external to kiosk 200 . when error detection system 209 is internal to system kiosk 200 , error detection system 209 is operably connected to system bus 250 , and dvd - ram or dvd - rom drive 213 is operably connected to system bus 250 . other output / input signal devices 210 may be connected to kiosk 200 , as needed . by way of example , one input device 210 includes a digital camera for capturing images of persons and / or objects near to kiosk . such a camera is useful , for example , in capturing the user while he or she inputs identification or credit card information ; later the information may be compared to the input data in the case of fraud . by connecting camera device 210 to bus 250 , images captured thereby may be downloaded to the central server , as needed , in this process . an optional advertising device 215 for broadcasting advertising and promotional materials to additional monitors may be internal or external to kiosk 200 ; when advertising device is internal to kiosk 200 , advertising device may be operably connected to system bus 250 , as shown . those skilled in the art should appreciate that kiosk 200 may alternatively function with computer system 612 as at least part of internal schematic items 201 , 202 , 203 , 204 . each kiosk 200 preferably has a database stored in memory 203 of its kiosk inventory ; and this inventory is preferably duplicated at the core server 103 , fig1 . memory 203 also preferably stores a set of kiosk parameters specific to a kiosk . this set is fed from the core server 103 and includes any local language translations , logos , color schemes , advertisements or video graphics , and the advertising play list . all transactional data passes through to core server 103 and is preferably not stored , long term , in local memory 203 . kiosk 200 interacts with a central server preferably as shown in fig1 . central server 103 preferably polls each individual kiosk 103 ( e . g ., kiosk 200 ) for status information , every five or ten minutes , for example . if the information from kiosk 200 is not normal , then one or more alarm states are generated to administrators of the central server . alarm states may be generated for any of a variety of reasons , for example indicating : that kiosk 200 is not on ; an incorrect inventory ; security breaches ; incorrect readings by any internal device or sensors ; and combinations thereof . this feature is very powerful to assist in management of the array of kiosks . alarm state messages may be relayed to a core server administrator by email , pager messages , cell phones and the like , and in near real time to indicate a problem at any of the connected kiosks 101 . [ 0076 ] fig3 is an illustration of a preferred embodiment of a central server computer 300 . the system central server computer 300 may also be computer system 612 . system server 300 provides command and control and collects and delivers data to and from kiosk 200 . server computer 300 has a central processing unit 301 that is operably connected to server system bus 350 . a memory device capable of storing instructions 302 is operably connected to server system bus 350 . a database 303 for storing data is operably connected to system bus 350 . a communication device 351 capable of transmitting and receiving data or html 304 is operably connected to system server bus 350 . an optional second communication device 353 for exchanging data for commercial transactions 305 may be operably connected to server system bus 350 . an optional secondary transaction server device 306 for processing secondary transactional data such as grocery store club card data may be operably connected to server system bus 350 ; server device 306 may alternatively be a connection to facilitate connection to a remote server to accomplish like function . [ 0077 ] fig4 depicts a preferred embodiment of the system data transfer mechanism 400 . mechanism 400 for example facilitates item 107 of fig1 . a virtual network connection 107 provides data exchange between kiosk 200 , fig2 and server computer 300 , fig3 . the kiosk - server virtual network system 107 can be a local network system or a remote network system that may utilize an html - based data exchange , e . g . an intranet or extranet . the exchange of data in html format includes an html request 425 and an html page 435 ; alternative communications between server computer 300 and isp 401 may occur through signal line 420 . both kiosk 200 and server computer 300 may request and receive data using the html protocol , allowing a two - way data - exchange system . the use of the html protocol allows an internet browser to be a system interface , and additionally allows system 100 , fig1 to be administered by an application service provider ( asp ) using the internet . an asp provides software applications across the internet by basing resident software on central server 103 that is accessed using an internet browser . the use of asp &# 39 ; s is desirable where the functionality of a network is desired , but the use of a private server - system is impossible or impractical . an internet service provider ( isp ) 401 may also be an asp . isp 401 provides a connection to the internet to individual computer users . exchange of data using virtual network 107 , fig1 is accomplished in a secure manner using methods of data encryption and decryption known in the art . secure transfer of data through isp 401 provides a virtual private network connection . an additional data exchange may occur on a dedicated private network connection for banking services , or alternatively using a virtual network as in item 107 . server computer 300 may obtain credit or debit or other membership authorization using information received from a customer . a credit authorization request 412 is transmitted from server 300 to a bankcard verification service 410 , which generally is a secure server computer . after receiving credit authorization request 412 , bankcard verification service 410 processes credit authorization request 412 , and transmits a response 411 to server computer 300 . response 411 is conveyed to kiosk 200 , fig2 through virtual network 107 , fig1 . [ 0079 ] fig5 illustrates a preferred embodiment of a disk - dispensing transaction process 500 , in accord with the invention . process 500 begins with a request to dispense a media selection from kiosk 200 , fig2 in step 501 . information including , for example , credit - card number , and / or license or identification information , is next received from a customer to kiosk 200 , in step 502 . kiosk 200 then securely transmits data received in step 502 to isp 401 , fig4 in step 503 . data securely transmitted in step 503 is received to isp 401 in step 504 . data received to isp 401 in step 504 is securely transmitted to system server 300 , fig3 in step 505 . data securely transmitted to system server 300 in step 505 is next received at system server 300 in step 506 . system server 300 next securely transmits debit and / or credit authorization request data to a credit verification server in step 507 . system server 300 next securely receives credit authorization data from a credit verification service in step 508 . system server 300 next securely transmits authorization data received in step 508 to isp 401 in step 509 . in step 510 , data transmitted by system server 300 in step 509 is received by isp 401 . in step 511 , isp 401 securely transmits to kiosk 200 authorization to dispense requested media received from system server 300 in step 510 . in step 512 , kiosk 200 securely receives authorization to dispense media transmitted from isp 401 . optionally , in step 513 , an email address is securely received for customer . in step 514 , kiosk 200 dispenses requested media to a customer . in step 515 , system server 300 transmits to isp 401 an e - mail receipt for a debit transaction occurring in steps 507 and 508 for an e - mail address supplied in step 513 . in step 516 , isp 401 transmits email receipt data received from system server 300 in step 515 to an email address received in step 513 . in a preferred embodiment of the invention , shown in fig7 an optical bar code 701 uniquely identifies each recorded disk 700 . a region on the case between the media outside diameter 705 , and the center region 704 may be used for a label region 702 . a center region 704 exists between the label region 702 and the center hole 703 . the center region 704 may contain printed information ( e . g ., a bar code ) on both single - sided and double - sided optical media . for recorded disk 700 , barcode 701 is read by capturing a digital picture of barcode 701 , and then internal software to kiosk 200 rotates an image of barcode 701 to perform one or more “ pseudo ” scans of barcode 701 . [ 0081 ] fig8 is an exemplary perspective - view embodiment of a kiosk 200 , fig2 . a kiosk housing 900 forms an enclosure . the outer dimensions of housing 900 may be about 25 ″ tall , 25 ″ wide , and 15 ″ deep . a computer , e . g ., computer 612 , fig6 or cpu 201 , fig2 is included inside housing 900 . a touch screen display 904 is positioned on the front of housing 900 . display 904 may show advertising play list images and movie trailers in addition to providing user interface functions described herein . an input / output slot 940 is positioned on the front of housing 900 to dispense and receive optical recorded media disks . a magnetic strip reader 911 is positioned on the front of housing 900 . a transfer mechanism / controller is included in housing 900 to manipulate disks into and out of housing 900 . this transfer mechanism may be shuttle / carousel 206 , fig2 or the structures illustrated in fig9 - 18 in the preferred embodiment , touch screen display 904 has an lcd backed up by a metal plate to protect internal components should the lcd break . around display 904 is a cast bezel 920 , providing protection for the customer and the display 904 . the display lcd may be sealed to bezel 920 to protect it from fluids and moisture . bezel 920 is angled at the top 921 to discourage people from placing objects on it . access to inside of housing 900 is through a cam lock 924 . access within housing 900 facilitates mounting or dismounting of housing 900 to walls or other surfaces ; internal access is also used to access power and communications connections . the key for cam lock 924 cannot be removed in the unlocked position . magnetic strip reader 911 is used by kiosk 200 , fig2 to identify a customer or member , and / or to bill the customer , and / or to verify age . reader 911 is thus preferably usable with magnetic strips used in driver &# 39 ; s licenses , credit cards , membership cards , student body cards , etc . all cases and optical media inventory normally enter and exit thru input / output slot 940 . housing 900 and slot 940 thus cooperate to protect media inventory ; specifically , inventory cannot be removed from housing 900 ( e . g ., by stealing ) without breaking the housing and optical media . authorized access can only occur through use of cam lock 924 and special tools used to disassemble the carousel from the spindle ( described in more detail below ). slot 940 is also constructed to prevent a person from inserting a finger into internal working mechanisms . cast covers 926 and 927 protect input / output mechanisms of slot 940 , and further shields the bar code scanner / camera ( described in more detail below ) housed internally to housing 900 . cast covers 926 and 927 may only be removed from the inside with tools . housing 900 includes a sheet metal enclosure 901 with welded seams 903 to protect internal components from moisture , dirt and vandalism . sheet metal enclosure 901 is shaped to provide a 5 - degree back - angle tilt to the faceplate 907 . this angle assists in viewing lcd 904 as well as providing a gravitational vector that assists the seating of disks in carousel 950 . enclosure 901 has a flat bottom to allow for counter - top installation , and a sloped top to discourage customers from placing objects on the kiosk . kiosk 200 , fig2 runs without an external cooling fan and mounts easily on a wall , thru a wall , on a countertop , or on a pedestal . enclosure 901 serves as a “ heat sink ” to radiate heat from heat - generating inner components , such as a computer 612 , and drive motors ( described in more detail below ). housing 900 also has a full - length side piano hinge 905 to protect the kiosk from vandalism and contamination . a cast main faceplate 907 serves as the front of housing 900 and provides a mechanically stable platform for the working elements of kiosk 200 ; it also serves to deter penetration by vandals . the remaining seam 909 between faceplate 907 and enclosure 901 is baffled and gasketed to protect against penetration by mechanical means or by dust or liquids . [ 0088 ] fig9 shows a perspective view of electro - mechanical elements that are internal to housing 900 . a carousel 950 that rotates to dispense optical disks holds 102 cases ; carousel 950 is lightweight and easy to fabricate using interlocking aluminum extrusion . the extrusions after assembly are jigged and welded to minimize run - out and to assure stability . carousel 950 is preferably driven by chain drive 952 to ensure “ no - slip ” operation . an eject mechanism 954 dispenses optical recorded media from housing 900 , through input / output slot 940 ; mechanism 954 connects to faceplate 907 by two mechanical screws . one cable ( not shown ) serves to power and control mechanism 954 , via the internal computer and connected power . a servo - controller and rs232 - 485 converter 956 drives the carousel motor 958 . carousel drive motor 958 may , for example , mount within housing 900 by three mechanical screws ; two cables generally connect to motor 958 to provide power and electrical control . [ 0089 ] fig1 shows further detail of internal mechanics of kiosk 200 , fig2 within enclosure 900 , fig8 . a spindle assembly 960 holds carousel 950 for rotation thereon . fig1 shows a perspective view of carousel 950 alone . each slot 951 of carousel 950 holds one optical media disk within a case , described in more detail below . carousel 950 has a central hub 953 for mounting on spindle assembly 960 . carousel 950 is removed from spindle assembly 960 by three mechanical screws ( not shown ). fig1 also shows a more detailed view of speakers 962 , providing audible tones , music and communications to users of kiosk 200 . speakers 962 for example may be audio device 212 of kiosk 200 , fig2 . [ 0090 ] fig1 shows an encoder 970 that is used by kiosk 200 to accurately position carousel and spindle 950 , 960 . the standoffs 972 act as supports and as preload springs for drive chain 952 . a sprocket 974 drives chain 952 and , thereby , carousel 950 . gear motor 958 provides the torque and speed to accurately position carousel 950 . [ 0091 ] fig1 shows further detail of mechanical components within housing 900 . the gear motor 959 rotates cam 980 to move eject arm 976 in and at a controlled speed and position . optical sensors 978 provide feedback with motor 959 to accurately position eject arm 976 in the “ out ” position ( i . e ., clear for carousel rotate ) and in the “ in ” position ( i . e ., arm 976 is in position for kiosk 200 to sense an incoming case ). a flag 992 trips optical sensors 978 above . an optical sensor 982 provides additional feedback indicating that an eject maneuver is in fully ejected position ; a flag 988 trips optical sensor 982 in performing this function . an optical sensor 984 picks up a flag on carousel 950 as a home reference for carousel position . the offset value is adjusted in operating software . a reflective optical sensor 986 senses the presence of a case in a slot 951 , fig1 .. a mechanical switch 990 senses a case during a return to a slot 951 . eject arm 976 supports mechanical case switch 990 and pushes a case into the input / output rollers ( described below ) during an eject cycle . [ 0092 ] fig1 shows additional features of a kiosk of the invention , including internal electro - optical and electro - mechanical components to facilitate the operations herein . fig1 specifically shows these components used in conjunction with the input / output slot 940 , fig8 . a digital camera 1000 couples to a mount 1002 , as shown . one suitable camera for camera 1000 is a 3com 00371800 homeconnect pc digital camera . camera 1000 captures an image approximately 1 . 6 ″ in diameter , through its illustrative field of view 1003 . this image is then processed by the internal kiosk computer ( e . g ., computer 612 , fig6 ) to assess barcodes , patterns and / or characters on a disk 700 , fig7 . a special pattern may be placed on optical media label 702 and next to barcodes 701 to deter fraud . barcodes 701 captured by camera 1000 as a digital image can be decoded at various angles . the image is stored locally or at the core server 103 , fig1 for post processing should an issue arise regarding a related transaction . illumination for camera 1000 in capturing the digital image is through active illumination ( e . g ., a light ). a gear motor 1004 provides the torque and speed to accurately position a case in or out of a slot 951 . a gear motor 1006 provides the torque and speed to accurately drive a cam that operates the door , door lock and pinch rollers ( discussed below ). [ 0093 ] fig1 shows additional features of a kiosk of the invention , including internal electro - optical and electro - mechanical components to facilitate the operations herein . fig1 specifically shows these components used in conjunction with the input / output slot 940 , fig8 . a ridge 1012 provides relief for the post machining of cast main plate 907 , and further provides a reference for gasketing and a shield against mechanical penetration . cable routing apertures 1014 facilitate cable connections through bezel 920 ; cable routing apertures 1015 facilitate cable connections through main plate 907 . drive gears 1016 rotate the intake / output rollers 1018 . a pair of case glides 1020 physically guides a case into and out of kiosk 200 . [ 0094 ] fig1 shows additional detail of the input and output mechanism of kiosk 200 . the pinch rollers 1030 force a case through guides 1020 against the intake / output rollers 1018 , fig1 , and also set the case during a return . a door 1032 prevents an unauthorized case or object from entering the kiosk and shields inventory when carousel 950 is rotating . the case sensors 1034 determine whether a case is valid to trigger an image read by camera 1000 , fig1 . the activation sequence of sensors 1034 is used to determine if a case is removed prematurely during a return cycle or if a case is adequately ejected during an output cycle . the case sensor leds 1036 provide the operating light for case sensors 1034 . optical sensors 1038 provide the feedback required to position camshaft 1048 ( fig1 ). sensor 1038 ( a “ door closed ” sensor ) may be used to show when door 1032 is fully closed so that carousel 950 can be safely rotated with a clear doorway . a door lock 1040 automatically latches and locks door 1032 as soon as a case clears the doorway during either an input or output cycle . [ 0095 ] fig1 shows additional features of a kiosk of the invention , including internal electro - optical and electro - mechanical components to facilitate the operations herein . fig1 specifically shows these components used in conjunction with the input / output slot 940 , fig8 . a flag 1042 trips “ door closed ” sensor . a door cam 1033 operates to open and close door 1032 . a door lock cam 1044 operates the door lock 1040 . a gear 1046 drives camshaft 1048 for cams 1033 , 1044 , and 1052 . three flags 1050 position cam shaft 1048 in following four distinct positions : 1 ) door 1032 closed and lockable ; pinch rollers 1030 open two pinch roller cams 1052 move pinch rollers 1030 to closed and open positions . [ 0101 ] fig1 shows a front view of carousel 950 . carousel 950 is preferably extruded as a series of parts shown in detail within fig1 - 22 . fig1 shows the center extrusion hub 950 a . fig2 shows the inner ring extrusion 950 b . fig2 shows the spoke extrusion 950 c . fig2 shows the outer ring extrusion 950 d . carousel 950 is thus extruded in three main sections : ( 1 ) the center extrusion hub 950 a has the inside portion 1200 of the disk alignment fins and slots for the spoke extrusions 950 c ; ( 2 ) the spoke extrusions 950 c are notched at 1202 to align with the slots in the center extrusion hub 950 a and ring extrusions 950 b , 950 d ; and ( 3 ) outer ring extrusion 950 d contains outside disk alignment fins 1204 and is also slotted at 1206 to accept spoke extrusions 950 c . the finished outer ring extrusion consists of six sections 950 d welded together with six spoke extrusions 950 c to complete carousel 950 . [ 0102 ] fig2 shows an inside view of one case 1100 suitable for housing optical recorded media for input and output with a kiosk 100 such as described in connection with fig8 - 17 . fig2 shows an outside view of case 1100 . fig7 shows case 1100 in a closed position , housing disk 700 . fig2 illustrates case operation through intake slot 940 . a disk 700 sits within insert molds 1102 and around central hub 1104 . case 1100 has a hole 1106 used by sensors 1034 to detect whether case 1100 is suitably keyed for kiosk 200 , fig2 . intake slot 940 is shaped to align case 1100 with sensors 1034 , fig1 , in the kiosk intake housing . an example of keying is as follows : one sensor 1034 a is aligned with hole 1106 , providing an “ open position ”, and the 2 nd sensor 1034 b is blocked by the case 1100 in a “ closed position ”. arrows 1130 indicate common direction for the case 1100 inserted into slot 940 . in operation , the intake mechanisms of kiosk 200 preferably operate according to the following steps : 1 ) after dispensing a disk , carousel 950 , fig1 , is rotated such that an available return position is adjacent the input / output slot 940 , fig8 ; the return position being a slot 951 that does not contain a disk 700 . 2 ) to initiate a return , a “ return rental ” button is triggered at the touch screen display 904 , fig8 . 3 ) a disk 700 within a case 1100 is inserted into the intake slot 940 , fig8 until it reaches a door stop 1032 ; at this position , sensors 1034 on case 1100 are read to activate the barcode scanning process . 4 ) barcode 701 , fig7 is read : the barcode image is scanned to acquire the appropriate code response ; if the code is not acquired , the image is rotated 30 ° and is re - scanned ; this cycle is repeated until the codes are acquired , or for a maximum of three cycles . once the code is decoded , bar code 701 a , fig7 is read to determine which group code disk 700 is associated with ; if cleared , kiosk door 1032 , fig1 , is opened by rotating cam shaft 1048 . the group code 701 a identifies the disk as originating from a specific “ kiosk group ”. door 1032 is opened if the kiosk is associated with the group code . concurrently , the kiosk reads a serialized code from bar code 701 b to identify the individual disk 700 and to register it with the disk inventory database . the inventory database information is eventually relayed to core server 103 , fig1 . 5 ) if a disk is accepted , the cam motor rotates camshaft 1048 to unblock door 1032 and then to clamp rollers 1018 , fig1 , onto the case . the intake roller motor is activated to pull the case into a carousel slot 951 . the camshaft continues to rotate to prep the door block spring . at the end of the intake motion , the case clears the door and allows the door block spring to move the intake block into a closed position . the intake rollers complete the transport of the disk into a free carousel slot 951 . 6 ) a rear slot sensor 986 , fig1 , verifies the existence of a case in the slot and sensor 990 verifies the completed transport of the case through the intake rollers 1018 , fig1 , and into carousel 950 . 7 ) a transaction finishes with the insertion of the serialized disk information into database tables . in operation , kiosk 200 has a resting state that performs the following steps : 2 ) eject arm 976 , fig1 , is in a read position . 3 ) carousel 950 is held at an open slot 951 . in operation , kiosk 200 preferably operates to accept returns ( e . g ., recorded disk media 700 , fig7 in a case 1100 , fig2 - 24 ) according to the following sequential steps and / or states : 2 ) a return - rental button is triggered by a user of the kiosk , by pressing a graphical representation of the button on touch screen 904 . the return - rental button triggers activation of the light for camera 1000 . 3 ) a user inserts a disk 700 , within a case 1100 , to slot 940 . in operation , kiosk 200 preferably operates in a rental transaction according to the following sequential steps and / or states : 2 ) sensors 1034 a and 1034 b checked for intake blockage . the above is a description of a method and system for internet - based automated disk distribution and retrieval . it is expected that others will design alternative methods and systems for internet - based disk distribution using stand - alone automated kiosks as set forth in the claims below either literally of through the doctrine of equivalents . | 6 |
the embodiments described below are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed in the following detailed description . rather , the embodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the art may appreciate and understand the principles and practices of this disclosure . in this disclosure , terms such as “ vertical ,” “ perpendicular ,” “ parallel ,” “ horizontal ,” “ longitudinal ,” “ central ,” “ rectangular ” and the like are used to describe the orientation , position or general shape of structural elements disclosed herein . as would be readily recognized by one of ordinary skill , it shall be understood for purposes of this disclosure and claims that these terms are not used to connote exact mathematical orientations or geometries , unless explicitly stated , but are instead used as terms of approximation . with this understanding , the term “ vertical ,” for example , certainly includes a structure that is positioned exactly 90 degrees from horizontal , but should generally be understood as meaning positioned up and down rather than side to side . other terms used herein to connote orientation , position or shape should be similarly interpreted . further , it should be understood that various structural terms used throughout this disclosure and claims should not receive a singular interpretation unless it is made explicit herein . by way of non - limiting example , the terms “ chamber ,” “ conduit ,” “ boom arm ,” to name just a few , should be interpreted when appearing in this disclosure and claims to mean one or more . all other terms used herein should be similarly interpreted unless it is made explicit that a singular interpretation is intended . the automotive concrete pump 10 in fig1 has a chassis 12 with a substructure 14 which bears a concrete dispensing boom 18 . the concrete dispensing boom 18 is mounted on the substructure 14 at a boom pedestal 16 and has rotary joints 34 , 34 ′, 34 ″ and 34 ′″ in which the boom arms 22 , 22 ′, 22 ″ and 22 ′″ can be moved about a horizontal axis of rotation . the concrete dispensing boom 18 is formed with a concrete delivery conduit 20 which has pipe bends 50 and pipe segments 30 which are articulatedly connected to one another by way of pipe couplings 32 and rotary couplings 52 . fig2 shows the boom arm 22 in cross section along the line ii - ii in fig1 . the boom arm 22 has a hollow chamber profile which has a closed , elongate hollow chamber 24 and a circumferentially open hollow chamber 26 which extends in the longitudinal direction . in other words , chamber 26 has an opening extending along its length or is open on one side , as is depicted in fig2 . the hollow chamber profile of the boom arm 22 is in the form of a box which has an upper flange 28 and a lower flange 36 . the box has a first side wall 38 and a second side wall 40 . the first side wall 38 is a partition in the hollow chamber profile . the upper flange 28 and the lower flange 36 are parallel to one another , wherein the first side wall and / or the second side wall are / is perpendicular to the upper flange and / or to the lower flange . the first side wall 38 is positioned so as to be set back in relation to the upper flange 28 and the lower flange 36 . that pipe segment 30 in the concrete dispensing boom 18 which is associated with the boom arm 22 is arranged outside the hollow chamber 26 on the opening side thereof . that is , pipe segment 30 is arranged outside of the opening extending along the length of chamber 26 . it is pointed out that it is however basically also possible for the pipe segments 30 of the concrete delivery conduit 20 to be arranged partially within or even entirely within the open hollow chamber 26 . the pipe segment 30 is held on the boom arm 22 by means of a pipe bracket 42 which projects into the hollow chamber 26 and is fixed to the first side wall 38 . by means of this measure , it can be achieved that the torsional moment introduced into the boom arm 22 via a pipe bracket 42 by the load of the concrete delivery conduit 20 , which acts in accordance with the arrow 46 , is minimized . the boom arms 22 ′, 22 ″ and 22 ′″ in the concrete dispensing boom 18 shown in fig1 also have a construction corresponding to the construction of the boom arm 22 . fig3 shows a section of a further boom arm 62 for a concrete dispensing boom with a concrete delivery conduit 80 . the boom arm 62 has a hollow chamber profile which has a closed elongate hollow chamber 64 and which comprises two circumferentially open hollow chambers 66 , 68 which extend in the longitudinal direction . the hollow chamber profile of the boom arm 62 is also in the form of a box which has an upper flange 70 and a lower flange 72 . the box has a first side wall 74 and a second side wall 76 . the two side walls 74 , 76 are partitions in the hollow chamber profile . the upper flange 28 and the lower flange 36 are parallel to one another , wherein the first side wall 74 and / or the second side wall 76 are perpendicular to the upper flange 70 and to the lower flange 72 . it is however also possible in the case of a boom arm according to this disclosure to provide an upper flange and a lower flange which taper toward one another in conical fashion . by contrast to the boom arm 22 shown in fig1 and 2 , the boom arm 62 has a cranked section 78 . the concrete delivery conduit 80 is fixed to the boom arm 62 by means of the pipe brackets 82 , 84 on the first side wall 74 and by means of the pipe brackets 86 , 88 on the second side wall 76 . in the cranked section 78 , the concrete delivery conduit is led from one side of the boom arm 62 to the opposite side of the boom arm 62 through the first side wall 74 , the closed hollow chamber 64 and through the second side wall 76 . in the section 92 , the spacing a of the first side wall 74 from the second side wall 76 is constant . in the section 78 , the spacing between the first side wall 74 and the second side wall 76 decreases . in the section 94 , the spacing b of the first side wall 74 from the second side wall 76 is defined by b & lt ; a . with this measure , the torsional resistance of the boom arm cross section is adapted across the boom arm 62 to the load thereof . fig4 shows , in relation to the line 90 of the common center of area of the upper and lower flanges 70 , 72 in the boom arm section 92 , the torsional load t introduced into the boom arm 62 by the load of the concrete delivery conduit 80 . by virtue of the fact that the concrete delivery conduit 80 is led through the side walls 74 , 76 of the boom arm 62 , it can be achieved that the torsional moment t introduced into the boom arm 62 after the cranked section 78 at least partially compensates the torsional moment introduced into the boom arm 62 before the cranked section 78 . in the case of the boom arm 62 , the side walls 74 , 76 are designed for attachment to the upper flange 70 and the lower flange 72 by way of attachment sections 71 forming an attachment structure . said attachment structure is designed such that , in the set - back position of the side walls 74 , 76 , a high - quality connection to the upper flange and lower flange 70 , 72 is made possible . the sections of the side walls 74 , 76 are then fixed to said attachment structure by screw connection or by welding . fig5 shows a further boom arm 122 , constructed alternatively to the boom arm 22 , for a concrete dispensing boom in a cross section corresponding to the view of fig2 . the boom arm 122 also has a hollow chamber profile which has a closed elongate hollow chamber 124 and a circumferentially open hollow chamber 126 which extends in the longitudinal direction . the hollow chamber profile of the boom arm 122 is likewise in the form of a box which has an upper flange 128 and a lower flange 136 . the box has a first side wall 138 and a second side wall 140 . the upper flange 128 and the lower flange 136 are parallel to one another , wherein the first side wall and / or the second side wall 138 , 140 are perpendicular to the upper flange and / or to the lower flange . in this case , the first side wall 138 is positioned so as to be set back in relation to the lower flange 136 , and has the spacing d u1 from the flange edge 137 on the side of the first side wall 138 . by contrast , the flange edge 129 of the upper flange 128 on the side of the first side wall 138 has the spacing d o1 & lt ; d u1 . the first side wall 138 is a partition in the hollow chamber profile . the second side wall 140 is also a partition in the hollow chamber profile . the second side wall 140 is positioned so as to be set back in relation to the upper flange 128 and has the spacing d o2 from the flange edge 131 on the side of the first side wall 138 . by contrast , the flange edge 139 of the lower flange 136 on the side of the second side wall 140 has the spacing d u2 & lt ; d o2 . the upper flange 128 and the lower flange 136 together with the first side wall 138 form a circumferentially open hollow chamber 128 which has a cross section 127 in the form of a convex trapezoid . together with the second side wall 140 , the upper flange 128 and the lower flange 136 define a further hollow chamber 148 with a cross section 154 in the form of a convex trapezoid , said further hollow chamber likewise being circumferentially open . the pipe segment 130 , associated with the boom arm 122 , of the concrete delivery conduit in the concrete dispensing boom 118 is arranged outside the hollow chamber 126 on the opening side thereof , and is fixed to the first side wall 138 by means of one or more pipe brackets 142 . it is pointed out that it is however basically also possible for the pipe segments 130 of the concrete delivery conduit to be arranged partially within or even entirely within the open hollow chamber 126 . it is furthermore possible for the pipe segments of the concrete delivery conduit to also be arranged on the side of the circumferentially open hollow chamber 148 of the boom arm 122 , specifically either within or only partially within or else outside the circumferentially open hollow chamber 148 . it is furthermore pointed out that , in a further alternative embodiment of the boom arm , the first side wall 138 may be flush with the upper flange 128 , or the second side wall 140 may be flush with the lower flange 136 . in this case , the cross section 127 of the circumferentially open hollow chamber 126 has the form of a right - angled triangle . a corresponding situation applies to the circumferentially open hollow chamber 148 . fig6 to 8 show further boom arms 122 ′, 122 ″, 122 ′″ of alternative construction to the boom arm 22 for a concrete dispensing boom in a cross section corresponding to the view in fig2 . in this case , elements which functionally correspond to one another are denoted in fig5 to 9 using reference signs with the same numerals . in the case of the boom arm 122 ′ shown in fig6 , the upper flange 128 ′ and the lower flange 136 ′ are positioned symmetrically in relation to the axis of symmetry 155 ′ of the hollow chamber 124 . that is to say , for the spacing d u1 of the flange edge 137 ′ of the lower flange 136 ′ and the spacing d o1 of the flange edge 129 ′ of the upper flange 128 ′ from the first side wall 138 ′, and for the spacing d u2 of the flange edge 137 ′ of the lower flange 136 ′ and the spacing d o2 of the flange edge 129 ′ of the upper flange 128 ′ from the first side wall 138 ′, the following applies : d o1 = d o2 & gt ; d u1 = d u2 . in the case of the boom arm 122 ″ shown in fig7 , the flange edge 137 ″ of the lower flange 136 ″ and the flange edge 129 ″ of the upper flange 128 ″ have the spacing d u1 & gt ; d o1 from the first side wall 138 ′. the flange edge 131 ″ of the upper flange and the flange edge 139 ″ of the lower flange 136 ″ have in this case the spacing d u2 & gt ; d o2 from the second side wall 140 ″. in this case : d o1 = d o2 & lt ; d u1 = d u2 . the boom arm 122 ′″ shown in fig8 has a circumferentially open hollow chamber 126 ′″ with a pipe segment 130 ′″ of a concrete delivery conduit arranged therein . in the case of the boom arm 122 ′″, the flange edge 137 ′″ of the lower flange 136 ′″ and the flange edge 129 ′″ of the upper flange have the spacing d u1 = d o1 from the first side wall 138 ′″. the flange edge 137 ′″ of the lower flange 136 ′″ and the flange edge 129 ′″ of the upper flange have in this case the spacing d u2 & lt ; d o2 from the second side wall 140 ′″. fig9 shows a further boom arm 222 which is of alternative construction in relation to the boom arm 22 in fig2 and which has a hollow chamber profile of box form with a circumferentially open hollow chamber and with a first and a second side wall 238 , 240 . in the case of the boom arm 222 , the flange edge 237 of the upper flange has , over the longitudinal direction , the varying spacing d o1 from the first side wall 238 corresponding to the values d o1 ( 1 ) , d o1 ( 2 ) , d o1 ( 3 ) . the spacing of the flange edge 231 of the upper flange from the second side wall 240 is in this case constant over the longitudinal direction . in an alternative embodiment according to this disclosure of the boom arm 222 , it is possible for also the spacing d u1 of the flange edge of the lower flange on the side of the first side wall 238 , or only the spacing d u1 of the flange edge of the lower flange , to assume different values along the longitudinal direction of the boom arm 222 . in the case of the boom arm 322 shown in fig1 , the upper flange and the lower flange together with a first and a second side wall 338 , 340 likewise form a hollow chamber profile of box form , wherein in this case , the spacing d u2 or d o2 from the flange edge 331 of the upper flange to the second side wall 340 assumes different values d o1 ( 1 ) , d o1 ( 2 ) , d o1 ( 3 ) . . . over the longitudinal direction of the boom arm 322 . it is pointed out that , in this case too , in an alternative embodiment according to this disclosure of the boom arm 322 , the spacing d u1 or d o1 of the flange edge 337 of the lower flange or upper flange , respectively , on the side of the first side wall 338 , the spacing d u1 of the flange edge 331 of the lower flange on the side of the second side wall 340 , or only the spacing d u1 of the flange edge of the lower flange , may assume different values along the longitudinal direction of the boom arm 322 . with the embodiments for a boom arm in a concrete dispensing boom described above on the basis of fig5 to fig1 , it can likewise be achieved that the torsional moment introduced into the boom arm by the load of the concrete delivery conduit via a pipe bracket is low . it is pointed out that the hollow chamber profiles of the boom arms described above may be composed not only of metal but at least partially also of fiber composite plastic . it is also pointed out that this disclosure also encompasses further modifications and refinements of concrete dispensing booms which arise from combination of different features of the exemplary embodiments described above . in summary , the following can be stated : a concrete dispensing boom 18 for static and mobile concrete pumps has multiple boom arms 22 which are connected to one another at joints 34 , and has a concrete delivery conduit 20 which is composed of multiple pipe segments 30 which are articulatedly connected to one another preferably by way of pipe bends 50 and rotary couplings 52 and which are guided along and fastened to the individual boom arms 22 . at least one of the boom arms 22 has a hollow chamber profile with at least two hollow chambers 24 , 26 which are separated from one another by a partition 40 and of which at least one is closed 24 and one 26 is circumferentially open . in this case , the pipe segment 30 associated with the respective boom arm 22 is arranged on the opening side outside , partially within or within the open hollow chamber 26 . while exemplary embodiments have been disclosed hereinabove , the present invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments . instead , this application is intended to cover any variations , uses , or adaptations of this disclosure using its general principles . further , this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims . 129 , 129 ′, 129 ″, 129 ′″ flange edge of the upper flange | 4 |
an embodiment of the present invention will now be explained . fig2 is a cross section of a forming device , which can apply the forming method applicable to the optical element of the present invention . upper die 2 is movably provided on lower die 1 . cylindrical movable - die 3 is slidably included in upper die 2 and movable die 3 ′ is slidably included in lower die 1 . aspherical surface 3 a of the optical element , and micro - sized shape 3 b , which corresponds to a structure causing structural birefringence , are formed on the lower surface of movable die 3 . aspherical surface 3 a ′ of the optical element , and micro - sized shape 3 b ′ which corresponds to a structure causing structural birefringence , are formed on the top surface of movable 3 ′. heater 4 ′ are incorporated inside movable die 3 and 3 ′. in this embodiment , lower die 1 and upper die 2 are fixed dies . fig3 is a flow chart showing the forming method of the present invention . the forming method will subsequently be explained by referring to fig3 . firstly , at step s 101 , closing dies after disposing lower die 1 , upper die 2 , movable dies 3 and 3 ′ as shown in fig2 . then , in s 102 resin material heated and melted by an external heating cylinder ( not shown ) is injected into the lower die 1 and upper die 2 through gate g . ( material filling step ) at step s 103 , injected material is cooled . ( natural cooling or forced - air cooling , which exposes the material to the ambient temperature by removing movable dies 3 or 3 ( dash ) are allowed . ); in this step , aspherical surface structure 3 a of movable die 3 has been transferred , however transferring micro - sized shape 3 b cannot be sufficiently transferred only by injecting the material . therefore , in step 104 , the temperature is raised to more than the glass transitional point of the material by heating movable dies 3 and 3 ′ by heaters 4 and 4 ′. ( a step to raise the temperature of the material to more than the glass transitional point ) after that , in step s 105 , pressing movable dies 3 and 3 ′ toward each other onto the resin material with a small force ( the weight of movable die 3 located in the upper portion in a gravity direction is adequate ) driven by a driving device ( not shown ), then the surface of the resin material , which comes into forced contact with micro - sized shapes 3 b and 3 b ′, is melted and the melted resin material flow into all secluded recesses of micro - sized shapes 3 b and 3 b ′. consequently , micro - sized shape whose aspect ratio is equal to 1 or more and whose radius curvature in a cross section through the optical axis direction will be precisely transferred . after that , at step 106 , cool down and solidify the resin material by stopping heating of heater 4 . then an optical element having highly precise micro - sized shape can be formed by removing lower die 1 , upper die 2 and movable dies 3 and 3 ′ in that order . in conventional injection forming , in order to complete the injection forming , it took several tens of seconds without transferring a micro - sized shape , and about one minutes with transferring a micro - sized shape . on the other hand , in the forming method of the present invention , it takes 2 - 3 seconds to transfer the micro - sized shape onto the surface of article , which has been molded within predetermined tolerances . when starting from the injection forming of the article , in order to transfer the micro - sized shape , in addition to the conventional injection forming time , only 2 - 3 seconds is additionally required . consequently , it becomes possible to precisely and assuredly transfer the micro - sized shape within the tolerances of several nanometers , which has been difficult to achieve in the prior art . fig4 is an example of an optical element molded by the forming method mentioned above . optical element 10 shown in perspective view in fig4 ( a ) has micro - sized shape 10 a having a structural birefringence characteristic on the front surface as shown in fig4 ( b ) and saw tooth shaped diffraction structure 10 b in the back surface of optical element 10 in cross section of the optical axis as shown in fig4 ( b ). the cross sectional view of micro - sized shape 10 a of the structural birefringence has concentric circle shaped and rectangular grooves as shown in fig4 d . for example , assuming that refraction index of optical element 10 is 1 . 92 and the wavelength of the incidental light beams is λ , then the length of each portion is : d1 = 0 . 25λ , d2 ( the width of the groove )= 0 . 39λ , d3 = 2λ , d4 ( the depth of the groove )= 1 . 22λ . and in fig4 ( c ), radius curvature r of an angle of saw tooth shaped diffraction structure 10 b in the cross section in the axis of the light beam is less than 1 μm . fig5 shows another example of an optical element molded by the forming method described above . optical element 20 whose cross section is shown in fig5 ( a ) has saw tooth shaped diffraction structure 20 a as shown in fig5 ( b ). further , many corn shaped holes 20 b whose diameter reduces in the depth are formed in the slanted surface of diffraction structure 20 a . holes 20 b having an antireflection function occupy 20 % to 40 % of the area of the slanted surface ( preferably 30 %). fig6 is a sectional view of the forming device of the optical element , which can conduct the forming method according to the second embodiment . in fig6 ( a ), upper die 12 is arranged movably on fixed lower die 11 . inside upper die 12 , heater 4 is arranged , and inside the lower die 11 , pipe 5 for flowing cooling water is arranged . on the lower surface of upper die 12 , matrix shape 12 a corresponding to an aspheric surface shape of the optical element to be molded , and fine shape 12 b corresponding to an shape for generating the structural double refraction are formed . on the one hand , on the upper surface of the lower die 11 , matrix shape 11 a corresponding to an aspheric surface shape of the optical element to be molded , is formed . fig7 is a flowchart showing a forming method according to the second embodiment . fig8 is a view showing a control profile in the forming method according to the present embodiment . referring to fig6 - 8 , such a forming method will be described below . initially , in step s 201 , as shown in fig6 ( a ), upper die 12 is set in an opened status to lower die 11 , and raw material m as a bulk material is charged into a cavity of lower die 11 . further , in step s 202 , in the situation that , to the surface of material m ( it is preferable that an elastic modulus at the normal temperature is 1 - 4 ( gpa )), the lower surface of upper die 12 is pushed , the heat generation of heater 4 is started , and the upper die is heated more than a glass transition point temperature tg , ( a step that the temperature of the die is set higher than the glass transition point temperature of the raw material ). thereby , the surface temperature and the inside temperature of raw material m rise together with the temperature rise of upper die 12 , and are more than glass transition point temperature tg ( a step that the surface temperature and the inside temperature of the raw material are heated up to the temperature higher than the glass transition point temperature ). further , in a stage ( t1 in fig8 ) in which lower surface of the upper die 12 is heated more than the glass transition point temperature tg , as shown in fig6 ( b ), raw material m is pressed by a first pressing force p1 by upper die 12 , ( a step s 203 : a die is pressed to the raw material by the first pressing force ). then , the raw material , which is heated more than the glass transition point temperature tg to the inside is deformed , and onto the upper surface , matrix shape 12 a of upper die 12 is transferred , and onto the lower surface , matrix shape 11 a of lower die 11 is transferred . hereupon , at this time , micro - sized shape 12 b is scarcely transferred . following that , the heat generation of heater 4 is stopped , and the cooling water is introduced from the outside through pipe 5 , and lower die 11 is compulsively cooled , and upper die 12 is naturally cooled ( may also be compulsively cooled ), and thereby , the temperature of raw material m is lowered lower than the glass transition point temperature ( step s 204 : a step in which the inside temperature of the raw material is cooled up to the temperature lower than the glass transition point temperature ). herein , the pressing of raw material m by upper die 12 is interrupted ( time t2 in fig8 ). further , in step s 205 , the heat generation of heater 4 is started again , and when the temperature of the upper die is risen , surface of the raw material m which is in contact with the lower surface of the upper die 12 , is heated and more than glass transition point temperature tg , however , because the compulsive cooling of lower die 11 is continued , the inside temperature of raw material m is lower than glass transition point temperature tg ( a step in which , while the inside temperature of the raw material is kept lower than the glass transition point temperature , the surface temperature of the raw material is heated more than the glass transition point temperature ). in a stage in which the lower surface of raw material m which is brought into contact with upper die 12 is heated more than the glass transition point temperature , ( t3 in fig8 ), raw material m is pressed by the upper die 12 by the second pressing force p2 lower than first pressing force p1 , ( step s 206 : a step in which the die is pressed to the raw material by the second pressing force ). then , because the inside is not higher than glass transition point temperature tg , and as the whole , raw material m is a rigid body , and because , while the matrix aspheric surface condition transferred by matrix shapes 12 a and 11 a , is maintained , only the upper surface is heated more than the glass transition point temperature tg , the melted raw material m is entered into the micro - sized shape ( refer to fig6 ( c )), and micro - sized shape 12 b can be accurately transferred . further , while the heat generation of heater 4 is stopped and the pressing is conducted for a predetermined time ( t4 in fig8 ), because the surface temperature of whole raw material m is cooled so that it is lower than glass transition point temperature tg and approaches the room temperature , ( step s 207 : a step for cooling the die ), the shape onto which micro - shape 12 b is transferred is hardened , and becomes a stable condition . after that , in step s 208 , upper die 12 is released from lower die 11 , and molded optical element can be taken out . according to the present embodiment , because the matrix aspheric surface of the optical element can be formed by the first pressing of upper die 12 , and by the second pressing , the micro - sized shape of the optical element can be formed , the optical element having the micro - sized shape can be formed from the raw material as the bulk material , without depending on the injection forming for which a large - scaled production apparatus is necessary . fig9 is a sectional view of the forming device of the optical element on which the forming method according to the third embodiment can be conducted . in fig9 ( a ), upper die 12 ′ is movably arranged on fixed lower die 11 ′. inside lower die 12 ′, the heater 4 is arranged , and inside the lower die 11 ′, the pipe 5 for flowing the cooling water is provided . on the lower surface of upper die 12 which is generally plane , a parallel slit - shaped micro - sized shape 12 b ′ whose aspect ratio is high for using , for example , for a wavelength plate , is formed . on the one hand , the upper surface of the lower die 11 is a plane . fig1 is a flowchart showing the forming method according to the third embodiment . fig1 is a view showing the control profile in the forming method according to the present embodiment . referring to fig9 - 11 , such a forming method will be described below . initially , as shown in fig9 ( a ), upper die 12 ′ is placed in the opened condition to lower die 11 ′, and plate - like raw material m , ( it is preferable when the elastic modulus at the normal temperature is 1 - 4 ( gpa )), is arranged in the cavity of lower die 11 ′. next , in step s 301 , in a condition that the lower surface of the of the upper die 12 ′ is separated from the surface of the raw material m , the heat generation of heater 4 is started , and upper die 12 ′ is heated more than the glass transition point temperature ( tg + α ) ( a step in which the temperature of the die is set higher than the glass transition point temperature of the raw material ). on the one hand , the cooling water is introduced from the outside through pipe 5 , and when lower die 11 ′ is compulsively cooled , raw material m is maintained blow the room temperature . further , in step s 302 , as shown in fig9 ( b ), while the lower surface of upper die 12 ′ which is heated more than the glass transition point temperature tg is pressed to the surface of raw material m by the pressure of , for example , 2 mpa , ( time t1 in fig1 ), only a portion which is practically brought into contact with upper die 12 ′ of raw material m is heated more than the glass transition point temperature ( tg + β ) ( step s 302 ). when this pressing time is too long , because a portion other than a portion which is practically brought into contact with upper die 12 ′ of the raw material m is also heated , the caution is necessary for control of time t2 - t3 . further , from time t3 to t4 , upper die 12 ′ is approached to lower die 11 ′ by the distance corresponding to the height of the micro - sized shape 12 b ′, and , the raw material m is pressed by the pressure of , for example , 14 mpa ( step s 303 : a step in which only a portion which is practically brought into contact with the upper die 12 ′ of raw material m is heated more than the glass transition point temperature , and a step in which the die is pressed to the raw material ). then , because the inside of raw material m is not larger than glass transition point temperature tg , while raw material m maintains its shape , only the upper surface is heated more than glass transition point temperature tg , melted raw material m enters into the micro - sized shape , and micro - sized shape 12 b ′ can be accurately transferred . after that , while the heat generation of heater 4 is stopped and the pressing is conducted for a predetermined time period , because the surface temperature of all the raw material m is lower than glass transition point temperature ( tg − γ ) and it is cooled so that the temperature approaches the room temperature , ( step s 304 ), the shape onto which the micro - sized shape 12 b ′ is transferred is also hardened and becomes a stable condition . when it is in such a condition , the upper die 12 ′ is released from the lower die 11 ′, and the molded optical element can be taken out ( step s 305 : a step in which the die is released from the raw material ). according to the present embodiment , while the inside temperature of the raw material is maintained , when only the surface is heated by pressing upper die 12 ′, while the shape of raw material m is maintained , the micro - sized shape can be accurately transferred onto the surface . as described above , the present invention is described by referring to the embodiments , however , the present invention is not to be construed by limiting to the above embodiments , but it is of course that it can be appropriately modified and improved . the present invention is not limited to the optical element for the optical pick - up device , but can be applied also to the forming of various optical elements or heads of the inkjet printers . | 6 |
in accordance with the present invention , a guidepath composition , which emits radiation for detection by automated guidance vehicles , which comprises a dispersion or solution of a sulfonated luminescent dye in its acid state . the aqueous dye solution has an adjusted ph below 4 . 0 and preferably below 2 . 0 . when the dye is dissolved in a non - aqueous solution , the dye compound has sulfone groups which are protonated . automated guidance vehicles detect luminescent emissions from guidepath materials by using an ultraviolet light source . photocell sensors on the agv guide the vehicle along a predetermined path . to achieve full advantage of the guidepath compositions , a preferred embodiment of the present invention is disclosed as follows : a preferred guidepath dispersion or solution phase includes an aqueous solution or dispersion of a sulfonated luminescent dye compound ; a solvent such as water , ethanol , methanol , propanol and / or isopropanol ; a ph adjustor ; and a surface active agent to improve penetration such as triton gr - 5m from union carbide ( wetting agent ). the sulfonated luminescent dye is capable of absorbing ultraviolet light and emitting radiation which can be detected by the photocell sensors on the agv . the emissions can be detected at preferred wavelengths thereby allowing separation from background emissions . luminescent solutions which include dye compounds which are sulfonated and contained in an aqueous guidepath solution , display an adjusted ph below 4 . 0 and preferably below 2 . 0 . the sulfonated luminescent dye material will form a permanent bond with the carpet fiber or backing due to an interaction between the sulfonic acid groups present and the amide functional groups contained in the carpet . a suitable luminescent dye which serves the basis of the guidepath composition is 2 -( 5 - benzamido - 3 - benzoyl - 2 - hydroxyphenyl ) benzoxazole . to produce this desired compound , 2 -( 5 - amino - 2 - hydroxyphenyl ) benzoxazole is dissolved in pyridine . the benzoxazole compound can be produced in a variety of ways ( see u . s . pat . no . 3 , 162 , 642 ). benzoyl chloride is added in a ratio of 2 molar equivalents of the benzoyl chloride to one molar equivalent of the benzoxazole , over several minutes , and kept at a temperature equal to 20 °- 25 ° c . the mixture is concurrently stirred during which the product precipitates out of solution resulting in a slurry . the slurry is then mixed with water and filtered . the filter cake is washed with distilled water and methanol . the product is then dried at 100 ° c . for 16 hours . the resultant product [ 2 -( 5 - benzamido - 3 - benzoyl - 2 - hydroxyphenyl ) benzoxazole ] is white in color and luminesces with a bright yellow - green emission . the prepared dye is then sulfonated . the dye material , produced above , was added over a short , 15 minute , period to fuming sulfuric acid . the mixture is initially cooled with an ice bath . after 16 hours , the mixture is poured over ice . a light yellow precipitate is formed and is separated from the water by vacuum filtration . the filter cake is washed with ice water . the material is then dried at 100 ° c . for 16 hours to form the sulfonated 2 -( 5 - benzamido - 3 - benzoyl - 2 - hydroxyphenyl ) benzoxazole ( see u . s . pat . no . 3 , 491 , 106 ). a solution of 1 % by weight of the dye was prepared using distilled water as the solvent . to this solution is added a small amount of a wetting agent . the ph of the solution is adjusted to below 4 . 0 preferably below 2 . 0 by the addition of concentrated hydrochloric acid . a stripe of the resultant solution was applied to a grey cut pile nylon carpet with a white felt roller pad . after drying overnight , the stripe was not visible under white light . when illuminated with an ultraviolet lamp the guidepath stripe luminesced with an intense yellow - green color . the carpet with the test stripe was exposed to ultraviolet radiation for 100 hours . a portion of the stripe was covered to prevent exposure . at the end of the test period there was no noticeable difference between the exposed portion of the test stripe and the portion that had been covered . the carpet with the test stripe was then scrubbed with a conventional carpet cleaning solution , ph 10 . 5 . after scrubbing , the cleaning solution was extracted with a wet vacuum . after drying the stripe of luminescent dye , the stripe was not visible under white light , and no change in its luminescent properties was observed when it was illuminated with an ultraviolet light . another suitable acidic fluorescent dye compound which serves the basis of the guidepath composition is 2 -( 5 -( p - fluorobenzamido )- 3 -( p - fluorobenzoyl )- 2 - hydroxyphenyl ) benzoxazole . to produce this compound , a process identical to the process discussed above is employed with 4 - fluorobenzoyl chloride being substituted for benzoyl chloride . sulfonation is also performed as previously described . however , the sulfonated molecule is only slightly soluble in water in its acid state . production of the guidepath from the sulfonated 2 -( 5 - p - fluorobenzamido - 3 -( p - fluorobenzoyl )- 2 - hydroxyphenyl ) benzoxazole requires the use of a solvent mixture of 50 % methanol and 50 % water . the sulfonated product is first mixed with water , and the ph of the mixture is adjusted to below 4 ( preferably 2 . 0 ). after the ph adjustment , the methanol is added and the dye fully dissolves . a solution which was 1 % by weight of the dye was prepared in the above - described manner . the dye was tested by applying a stripe of the material to a red - orange , nylon fiber , cut pile carpet . after drying , the line was invisible under white light . when illuminated under ultraviolet light , the stripe luminesced with a strong yellow emission . other guidepath materials are not readily detectable by an agv on a red - orange carpet . this guidepath was easily detected on this carpet by an agv equipped to detect luminescent guidepaths . the guidepath was unaffected by scrubbing with a conventional carpet cleaning solution , such as contempo v from spartan chemical . one hundred hours of exposure to ultraviolet radiation did not affect the appearance of the guidepath or the intensity of its luminescent emission . other benzoxazole derivatives such as 2 -( 5 - benzamido - 2 - hydroxyphenyl ) benzoxazole ; and 2 -( 5 -( p - fluorobenzamido )- 2 - hydroxyphenyl ) benzoxazole are synthesizable by similar methods and are usable , when sulfonated and incorporated into a solution with an adjusted ph below 4 . 0 , preferably 2 . 0 , for the present invention . it should be understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of a preferred embodiment and that numerous changes in details of construction , combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . | 2 |
while this invention can be embodied in many different forms , there is shown in the drawings and described in detail , a preferred embodiment of the invention . the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principle of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated . fig1 illustrates a typical use of variable moment load cells , whereby four ( 4 ) load cells 8 are used to support weighing platform 2 through flexible vertical supporting members 4 and 6 . load cells 8 are supported by structure 10 and base 12 . fig2 illustrates a cross sectional view of two ( 2 ) variable moment load cells 8 and 8 &# 39 ; and two ( 2 ) different types of vertical compression supporting members to connect load cells 8 and 8 &# 39 ; to weighing platform 2 . the right hand side of fig2 and fig3 illustrates a ball 6 , which functions as a movable carriage , and socket 4 type connection used as a compression member to support weighing platform 2 . moving the ball position , which is retained by threaded fastener 18 laterally in slot 7 varies the bending moment detected by the strain gages on load cell 8 . when the desired output is achieved , the ball is rigidly secured to load cell 8 by tightening threaded fastener 18 . lateral adjustment of load cell 8 is achieved by loosening threaded fastener 20 and sliding the load cell into or out of support 10 to the desired position and securely clamping it by tightening threaded fastener 20 . the left hand side of fig2 and fig4 illustrates a &# 34 ; universal &# 34 ; type connection with base 22 connected to weighing platform 2 with fastener 34 and is further connected to the other &# 34 ; universal &# 34 ; base 30 by means of pins 26 and floating member 24 . &# 34 ; universal &# 34 ; base 30 , which functions as a movable carriage , is connected to load cell 8 &# 39 ; by means of threaded fastener 32 , and is laterally adjustable in slot 7 to increase or decrease the output of load cell 8 &# 39 ;. the lateral adjustment needed to vertically align &# 34 ; universal &# 34 ; base 30 with weighing platform 2 is provided by either using slot 35 in the weighing platform or laterally sliding load cell 8 &# 39 ; into or out of support 10 where it is secured by tightening threaded fastener 20 . fig5 illustrates a cross sectional view of two ( 2 ) variable moment load cells 8 and 9 and two different types of vertical compression supporting members to connect load cells 8 and 9 to weighing platform 2 . the right hand side of fig5 and fig6 illustrates a rigid compression supporting member 36 , which functions as a movable carriage , and is used to connect weighing platform 2 to variable moment load cell 8 . this design is less costly to construct , but requires that deflections of base 10 , support 12 , load cell 8 , and support platform 2 , be minimized so that only forces due to the object weight are detected rather than deflections of the support structure . the left hand side of fig5 and fig7 illustrates vertical compression supporting member 23 supporting weighing platform 2 on a threadably adjustable carriage configured as collar 14 that is grooved to provide a positive but flexible contact point between compression member 23 and collar 14 . collar 14 is threadably adjustable on load cell 9 and is secured in the desired position by lock nut 11 . lateral adjustment of vertical compression supporting member 23 is provided by slotted hole 27 and threaded fastener 17 which is securely tightened after adjustment of load cell 9 . retainer 15 is connected to vertical compression supporting member 23 by clip 19 and threaded fastener 21 to prevent removal of weighing platform 2 from the scale base 12 . fig8 fig9 and fig1 illustrates variable moment load cell 52 that has a movable carriage configured as collar 44 installed on one end . the collar is prevented from rotating by key 46 that rests in keyway 54 of load cell 52 . moving collar 44 inwardly or outwardly is accomplished by turning nuts 48 and 50 to set the load cell output and then locking it into position when they are tightened . ball portion 6 of the swivel connection is secured to collar 44 by stud bolt 42 . socket portion 4 of the swivel connection is secured to platform 2 by threaded fastener 16 which passes through slotted hole 35 to provide lateral adjustment for the variable length load cell . load cell 52 is further fastened to support 58 by use of &# 34 ; u &# 34 ; bolts 56 and nuts 57 to provide lateral adjustment of load cell 52 relative to support 58 and base 12 . fig1 , and fig1 , illustrates variable moment load cell 60 with a movable carriage configured as collar 64 that is movable inwardly or outwardly on load cell 60 and secured in position by collars 62 and set screws 63 . weighing platform 2 could be suspended below the load cells as suspended platform 76 or raised above the load cells by using spacing member 80 . suspended platform 76 is attached to movable collar 64 by means of threaded fastener 66 through which cable 68 passes and is secured by use of a suitable adhesive . the other end of cable 68 passes through threaded fastener 70 and is also secured by an adhesive . cable 68 provides a flexible link to eliminate bending moments that would be induced in a solid link of weighing platform 2 , or suspended platform 76 , experienced a lateral movement . preventing lateral movement of platform 76 or 2 by means of suitable stops would allow use of a rigid connection between collar 64 and suspended platfrom 76 . by judiciously selecting the strength of the adhesive , cable 68 , or alternately , a rigid link , the structural connection between load cell 60 and suspended platform 76 can be designed to act as an overload device that would break before the costly load cell was damaged by an excessive weight placed on the weighing platform . variable moment load cell 60 is supported by insert 86 that is installed in tube 84 and is further retained by threaded fasteners 88 , 96 , and 98 , which pass through nuts 90 and 94 . tightening threaded fasteners 88 and 96 pushes load cell 60 to the opposite wall by reacting against threaded nuts 90 and 94 . threaded fastener 88 contacts load cell 60 in notch 91 that prevents rotational movement of the load cell as it is adjusted inwardly or outwardly after its output has been set . tightening threaded fastener 98 prevents horizontal movement of load cell 60 . support tube 84 is further supported by compression member 82 which is supported by base 12 . placement of the vertical fasteners 88 and 96 near the bending reaction points causes the reaction forces to be carried primarily by the threaded fastener . utilizing high strength material such as steel for fasteners 88 and 96 to support the reaction forces directly , permits using of lower strength materials such as engineering plastics for insert 86 . using engineering plastics in combination with nonmetallic fasteners provides an electrically insulated load cell which is important in scales that are field welded . by using stainless steel load cell supporting members , which are costly , an insert of a non - corrosive material , such as an engineering plastic , stainless steel fasteners , and a thin wall stainless steel supporting tube , a corrosion resistant load cell support and load cells can be constructed at minimum cost . fig1 and fig1 illustrate variable moment load cell 100 attached to suport 102 by threaded fasteners 104 that are laterally adjustable in slotted hole 106 , or alternately with the slotted holes installed in support 102 . weighing platform 114 is attached to yoke 108 that is supported by carriage pin 110 and captive support member 111 , that is movable in slot 122 to vary the bending moment detected by load cell 100 . carriage pin 110 is securely held in position by tightening threaded fasteners 112 . fig1 and fig1 illustrates variable moment load cell 126 with strain gage 146 attached and further supporting carriage 134 which is attached to &# 34 ; universal &# 34 ; type vertical supporting member 128 by threaded fastener 130 . fig1 illustrates carriage 134 is movable to increase or decrease the output of load cell 126 and is securely held in position by tightening threaded fasteners 136 which pass through slots 144 . &# 34 ; universal &# 34 ; vertical supporting member 128 is further attached to suspended weighing platform 114 by means of threaded fastener 132 . load cell 126 is supported by &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; beam support 142 and is secured in position by plate 140 which is securely clamped by threaded fasteners 138 after lateral adjustments are made . support 142 is further supported by base 12 . fig1 illustrates a double variable moment load cell 152 which has strain gages 154 and 156 attached whose outputs are independently adjustable by moving swivel assemblies 150 and 151 in slots 155 and 157 respectively . loosening threaded fasteners 148 , which pass through slotted holes 147 and 149 allow the output of the load cells to be adjusted and then tightening threaded fasteners 148 securely connects swivels 150 and 151 to weighing platform 146 . the electrical circuit for this load cell requires two ( 2 ) strain gages in tension as shown in fig1 and also two ( 2 ) gages in compression which are not shown . the compression strain gages can be obtained by taking a load cell similar to the one shown in fig1 and turning it over so that the strain gages are on the bottom side of the load cell supporting member where they will detect compressive strain . the strain gages could also be installed so that the strain gage on one ( 1 ) end of the load cell experience tension while the strain gages on the other end experience compression . the load cell supporting member shown in fig1 could be further incorporated into a complete full bridge load cell by adding two ( 2 ) compression gages under gages 154 and 156 . this configuration makes the load cell suitable to be suspended in the midsection so the ends could support suspended loads such as hoppers and kettles where there is minimum overhead clearance for a load cell . fig1 and fig2 illustrate variable moment load cell 168 supporting movable carriage 162 which is secured to swivel assembly 150 by threaded fastener 164 . swivel 150 is further secured to weighing platform 146 by threaded fastener 148 which passes through slotted hole 149 and provides adjustment of the weighing platform relative to load cell 168 . movable carriage 162 is secured to load cell 168 by threaded fasteners 166 and 167 as illustrated in fig2 . threaded fastener 166 passes through arcuate slot 180 which allows precise adjustment of the load cell output by providing a gradual change in the bending moment as carriage 162 pivots around fixed fastener 167 . load cell 168 has strain gage 171 positioned in a weaken area over hole 170 to increase the strain detected and is further supported by rectangular tube 172 by means of threaded fasteners 174 and threaded member 176 . rectangular tube 172 is further supported by base 178 . fig2 illustrates variable moment load cell 190 supported by vertical support 182 and pin 180 on one end and by movable carriage 184 on the opposite end . moving support 184 longitudinally relative to load cell 190 increases or decreases the bending moment detected at strain gage 188 . weighing platform 192 is supported by support pin 194 and support member 196 . either one or both end supports of the load cell could be movable using any of the methods illustrated in fig2 through fig1 . placement of the strain gage ( s ) at the platform support attaching point produces the highest strain values . also attaching the platform support and strain gage ( s ) nearer to one end support causes the movable support nearest to the strain gage to act as a course adjustment when it is moved , while the movable support farthest from the strain gage will act as a fine adjustment thereby facilitating setting the desired output on the load cell . | 6 |
the present invention relates to a rotor shaft and rotor body assembly suitable for use in a x - ray device having a rotating anode . in particular , presently preferred embodiments significantly reduce or eliminate thermal expansion and contraction shear stresses in the brazed interface between the shaft and the rotor body . in addition , embodiments of the present invention also provide an improved interconnection between the rotor shaft and the rotor body assembly that resists decoupling in the event of a catastrophic failure of the braze material between the two components . reference will now be made to the drawings wherein like structures will be provided with like reference designations . it is to be understood that the drawings are diagrammatic and schematic representations of presently preferred embodiments of the present invention , and are not necessarily drawn to scale . fig2 is a perspective view of a presently preferred embodiment of a disassembled rotor shaft and rotor body assembly 110 constructed in accordance with teachings of the present invention . the rotor shaft and the rotor body assembly 110 comprise a cylindrical rotor shaft 112 having a reduced diameter towards the distal end 140 , and an enlarged diameter towards the proximal end 154 . formed at the distal end 154 is a rotor shaft chamfer section 156 . formed within rotor shaft 112 is bore 130 , as is designated via phantom lines . also shown is a rotor body 114 , which is also cylindrical in shape . a cut - away view of rotor body 114 reveals a rotor body inner bore 136 and a rotor body outer bore 138 , axially disposed within rotor body 114 , and separated by a rotor shaft chamfer seat 164 . assembly of the rotor shaft 112 and the rotor body 114 of fig2 requires the rotor shaft 112 to pass through rotor body 114 with the distal end 140 first , from below the rotor body 114 . the rotor shaft chamfer 156 has a diameter that exceeds the diameter of rotor body inner - bore 136 . consequently , when the rotor shaft 112 distal end 140 is passed through rotor body outer bore 138 , past rotor shaft chamfer seat 164 , the rotor shaft chamfer 156 seats against rotor shaft chamfer seal 164 . for dimensional analysis purposes , the dimensions depicted in fig4 are in arbitrary units , but they may be considered to be in inches by way of non - limiting example . in a preferred embodiment , rotor shaft 112 is made of molybdenum or a molybdenum alloy called tzm or another refractory or alloy . tzm comprises about 99 % molybdenum with variable fractional percentages of titanium and zirconium . the tzm material exhibits superior structural strength to pure molybdenum material , it is easier to machine , and it withstands the centrifugal stresses imposed upon it during rotation and cycling through a thermal change from approximately room temperature to about 900 ° c . and above , returning to room temperature . fig3 illustrates the rotor shaft and rotor body assembly 110 in an elevational cut - away cross section immediately prior to brazing the rotor shaft 112 to the rotor body 114 . it can be seen that the interface between the rotor shaft 112 and the rotor body 114 is entirely devoid of any horizontal thermal shear planes . in this embodiment , the lack of any horizontal thermal shear planes is made possible by the interface of the right - cylinder shape of the rotor shaft main section 142 within the rotor body inner bore 136 and the diagonal , frusto - conical interface between the rotor shaft chamfer seat 164 and the rotor shaft chamfer 156 . a braze ring 168 is depicted as sitting against the rotor shaft main section 142 and simultaneously sitting upon proximal surface 148 of the rotor body 114 adjacent the rotor shaft main section 112 . in order to achieve a reliable braze joint between the rotor body 114 and the rotor shaft 112 , it is preferable to configure respective diametric sizes that provide an interposed gap when the rotor shaft 112 is fully inserted upwardly through the rotor body 114 until the rotor shaft chamfer 156 seats against the rotor shaft chamfer seat 164 . in a presently preferred embodiment , the gap that forms the interface between the rotor shaft 112 and the rotor body 114 may have a dimension in the range of about 100 mils to about 1 , 000 mils in order to provide spacing that will facilitate capillary action wetting as braze ring 168 liquefies and fills into the gap to form the braze . various suitable braze materials are well known in the art . examples of preferred brazing materials may be found in u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 736 , 400 and 4 , 969 , 172 , the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by specific reference . preferably , the brazing material has a melting temperature so that it doesn &# 39 ; t melt under ordinary operating temperatures of the x - ray tube . the brazing material may also be a composition that forms an intermetallic with rotor shaft 112 and / or rotor body 114 . at room temperature , an intermetallic composition is brittle relative to traditional metals , but at elevated temperatures where traditional metals begin to soften and / or melt , an intermetallic begins to behave as a traditional metal with favorable ductility , tensile , and compressive qualities at operating temperatures in the range from about 700 ° c . to about 1 , 200 ° c . and higher . in an alternative embodiment of the present invention , the rotor shaft and the rotor body assembly 110 , depicted in fig3 is assembled entirely without braze material . tolerances are chosen between the convex right - cylinder interface of the rotor shaft main section 142 and the concave right - cylinder shape of the rotor body inner bore 136 such that the rotor shaft and rotor body assembly 110 can be assembled only by applying force to push the rotor shaft 112 into the rotor body inner bore 136 , and thereby provide a tight and frictionally secure fit between the two . another preferred method of making the rotor shaft and rotor body assembly 110 without the presence of a braze material is to heat the rotor body 114 to a temperature sufficiently high such that thermal expansion allows for rotor shaft 112 to pass substantially through rotor body inner bore 136 until the chamfer 156 abuts against rotor shaft chamfer seat 164 . as the rotor body 114 cools , the interface between the rotor shaft 112 and the rotor body 114 become increasingly tight due to the thermal contraction of rotor body 114 . once the rotor shaft and rotor body assembly 110 have substantially cooled to room temperature following assembly , field use thereof will not substantially diminish the tightness of the fit of the rotor shaft 112 within the rotor body because both the rotor shaft 112 and the rotor body will be heated and cooled substantially as a unit . in this embodiment , a failure of rotor shaft and rotor body assembly 110 would require either the rotor body 114 to crack under tensile stress or the rotor shaft 112 to crack under compressive stress . preferred temperature differentials between the rotor body 114 and the rotor shaft 112 for this type of assembly process are in a range from about 0 ° c . to 900 ° c ., and in a preferred embodiment are between about 200 ° c . to about 350 ° c . the coefficient of static friction between the rotor shaft 112 and the rotor body 114 is sufficient to hold assembly 110 together , similar to the use of the braze material . as an alternative embodiment , brazing may be done in addition to the tight fit . fig4 is a detail section taken along the dashed line 4 — 4 from fig3 in which it can be seen that a vertical braze joint 170 and a diagonal braze joint 172 form a continuous braze interface between the rotor shaft 112 and the rotor body 114 beginning at the proximal surface 148 where braze ring 168 ( see fig3 ) was located , and ending approximately at rotor shaft proximal end 154 . in comparison to the type of braze joints utilized in the prior art and discussed above , no horizontal thermal shear plane is present between the shaft 112 and the rotor body 114 . additionally , as the rotor shaft 112 heats by conduction from the rotating anode target disk , thermal expansion of the rotor shaft 112 exerts only a compressive stress upon the braze at vertical braze joint 170 . similarly , during temperature escalation of the rotor shaft and rotor body assembly 110 , and where the rotor body 114 experiences an allotropic phase transformation from bcc to fcc , additional non - shear stresses upon the vertical braze joint 170 may be experienced . it can be seen that a diagonal braze joint 172 completes the braze that connects the rotor shaft 112 with the rotor body 114 . the diagonal braze joint 172 may carry a horizontal thermal shear component that is proportional to the compressive stress in the vertical brazed joint 170 multiplied by the cosine of the angle α . the total amount of horizontal thermal shear experienced between the rotor shaft chamfer 156 and the rotor shaft chamfer seat 164 is minimal and substantially nondestructive compared to stresses existing in structures of the prior art . one possible reason for this is that the heating of the rotor body 114 begins substantially at the proximal surface 148 across vertical braze joint 170 , and then continues downward in both the rotor shaft 112 and the rotor body 114 . this heat conduction pattern ensures that the thermal gradients within the diagonal braze joint 172 cause substantially only compressive stresses to occur . the angle α designated in fig4 defines the contour of the rotor shaft chamfer 156 in relation to the axial configuration of the rotor shaft main section 142 . the angle may be varied to minimize a horizontal thermal shear component within diagonal braze joint 172 . for instance , as the angle α becomes larger and approaches 90 °, any horizontal thermal shear component within diagonal braze joint 172 approaches zero . in presently preferred embodiments , the value for angle α is in a range from about 30 ° to about 80 °, and in one embodiment is in a range from about 60 ° to about 70 °. a primary purpose for the rotor shaft chamfer 156 is to retain the rotor shaft 112 within the rotor body 114 , even in the event that the braze 170 or 172 fails due to a crack . as such , the angle α need only be any angle less than 90 ° that will facilitate retention of rotor shaft 112 within rotor body 114 under the operating conditions of the particular x - ray device . rotor shaft chamfer 156 , with the above - discussed configurations of angle α , is one example of a means for retaining the rotor shaft in the rotor body . fig5 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention , which illustrates how the size and shape of the rotor shaft chamfer may be varied in its vertical height , v , and in its horizontal extension , h , in relation to the rest of the rotor shaft . in fig5 the rotor shaft 212 has a rotor shaft chamfer 256 that originates substantially at the same height as the proximal surface 248 of the rotor body 214 , and that terminates at the rotor shaft proximal end 254 . the vertical height , v , of the rotor shaft chamfer 256 corresponds to the distance between the rotor shaft proximal end 254 , and the rotor body proximal end 258 , which is also at the same height as the proximal surface 248 . a diagonal braze joint 272 comprises the entire braze that attaches the rotor shaft 212 to the rotor body 214 . again , the angle α determines the amount of a horizontal thermal shear component that may be experienced within the diagonal brazed joint 272 . where the horizontal extension , designated as h , is sufficiently small such that angle α approaches 90 °, any horizontal thermal shear component experienced within the diagonal braze joint 272 approaches zero . where the vertical height v of rotor shaft chamfer 256 begins at rotor shaft proximal end 254 and terminates at the level of the rotor body proximal end 258 , the angle α may be small . for example , in this illustrated embodiment angle α may be in a range from about 30 ° to about 89 °, and preferably is from about 60 ° to about 89 °. fig6 is a detail section taken from a structure at a location similar to that taken from fig3 and illustrates another embodiment of the present invention . here , the vertical height v of the diagonal braze joint 372 depicted between the rotor shaft chamfer 356 and the rotor body chamfer seat 364 is minimized due to the relatively larger height of a vertical braze joint 370 . diagonal braze joint 372 is therefore present as a minor portion of the braze . in this embodiment , vertical height , v of the rotor shaft chamfer 356 is minimized and angle α is maximized to approach 90 °. while the structure depicted in fig6 may not have the same capability to retain rotor shaft 312 upon catastrophic failure of the braze , it does minimize the extent of diagonal braze joint 372 and therefore minimizes any horizontal thermal shear component that may occur therewithin . in one preferred embodiment , vertical height v has a value of approximately 0 . 022 inches , and angle α has a value in a range from about 45 ° to about 89 °, and preferably is between about 75 ° to about 89 °. the rotor shaft chamfer in connection with the rotor body may be implemented with other structures . fig7 is a detail section illustrating one such embodiment . in fig7 an amount of a braze material is provided to form a vertical braze joint 470 , which stops at or before the braze material makes contact with rotor shaft chamfer seat 164 . to do so , the cross - sectional area of the braze ring 168 ( seen in fig3 ) must be substantially equal to the cross - sectional area of the vertical braze joint 470 seen in fig7 . as such , the rotor shaft chamfer seat 164 is in contact with little or no braze material . one of ordinary skill in the art may calculate the amount of braze material needed by determining the cross - sectional area of the gap that forms the interface between the rotor shaft 112 , and the rotor body 114 , a representative portion of which is indicated in the hatched section of fig7 . the fact that a given braze material will tend to show a greater affinity for either the rotor shaft 112 or rotor body 114 may be used as an advantage . for example , in one instance the particular braze material may be selected to have an affinity for , and tend to wet rotor body 114 . when the braze material is applied to form vertical braze joint 470 , the rotor shaft and rotor body assembly 110 may be inverted and a capillary action and wetting of the rotor body 114 by the braze material may be balanced against the force of gravity . moreover , temperature control may be used to adjust the brazing process in order to achieve a vertical braze joint 470 that does not wet chamfer 156 and / or chamfer seat 164 . this method of providing an amount of braze material so as to only form a vertical braze joint 470 and at the same time avoid the formation of any diagonal braze joint is one example of a step for resisting the formation of a braze joint with horizontal thermal shear . reference is next made to fig8 which illustrates yet another embodiment . here , a vertical braze joint 570 , in the form of a cylindrical shell , is formed between the rotor shaft 512 and the rotor body 114 . the vertical braze joint 570 has filled the space between the rotor shaft 512 and the rotor body 114 from the proximal surface 148 down to about the level of vertical height v of the rotor shaft chamfer 556 . also , the spacing between rotor shaft main section 542 and rotor body 114 is relatively larger than the spacing between rotor shaft chamfer 556 and rotor shaft chamfer scat 564 . in the illustrated embodiment , the space or interface between the rotor shaft chamfer 556 and rotor shaft chamfer seat 564 is in the form of a frusto - cone shell . the reduced spacing between rotor shaft chamfer 556 and rotor shaft chamfer seat 564 as compared to that between rotor shaft main section 542 and rotor body 114 reduces the amount of braze material needed between chamfer 556 and chamfer seat 564 . preferably , the spacing between chamfer 556 and seat 564 is less than 100 mils , and in a most preferred embodiment is less than about 10 mils . the first spacing ( between 542 and 114 ) facilitates the flow of braze material , and the second spacing stops ( or reduces ) the flow of braze material . preferably , the braze material between rotor shaft 512 and rotor body 114 comprises the entire vertical braze joint 570 . this embodiment may also be fabricated by selecting an amount of braze material that will be equivalent to the area between rotor shaft 512 and rotor body 114 above the level of rotor shaft chamfer 556 and rotor shaft chamfer seat 564 . in the embodiment of fig8 the interface between chamfer 556 and chamfer seat 564 involves two vertical heights v and v ′. in this embodiment , v ′ is less than v . the process of selecting a braze material under sufficient flow conditions to form a braze joint and to braze such that substantially no braze material fills between rotor shaft chamfer 564 and rotor shaft chamfer seat 556 is another example of a step for resisting the formation of a braze joint with horizontal thermal shear . fig9 illustrates yet another embodiment of the present invention . a vertical braze joint 670 is depicted as being between a rotor shaft 612 and a rotor body 614 . because capillary action of braze material under flow conditions may cause wetting to extend downwardly beyond the occurrence of the rotor shaft chamfer 656 and the rotor shaft chamfer seat 664 , a rotor body depression such as a rotor body v - notch 676 and optionally a rotor shaft v - notch 674 may be provided . either or both of these v - notches act as a braze material stop or well that will accumulate braze material and that will stop the downward flow of the braze material during the formation of vertical braze joint 670 . thus , a rotor shaft and rotor body assembly 610 comprises rotor shaft 612 , rotor body 614 , rotor shaft v - notch 674 , and rotor body v - notch 676 into which vertical braze joint 670 has filled and has substantially stopped the downward flow of braze material during formation of the assembly . rotor shaft v - notch 674 or rotor body v - notch 676 may be configured at a level at or above vertical height v according to the specific application . additionally , either v - notch can have an angular shape , or any other geometric configuration that may receive the excess braze material to a sufficient volume . in a preferred embodiment , the rotor shaft v - notch 674 and rotor body v - notch 676 may each have an angle in a range from about 90 ° to 30 °, and most preferably about 60 °. the configuration of rotor shaft v - notch 674 to act as a stop or braze material well is an example of a means for resisting the formation of a braze joint with horizontal thermal shear . fig1 is a detail section taken from a structure at a location similar to that taken from fig3 along the line 4 — 4 that illustrates yet another embodiment of the present invention . in place of a rotor shaft chamfer , a rotor shaft 712 may have an enlarged portion near the rotor shaft proximal end 754 . in this embodiment , the enlarged portion is depicted as a flange 757 . a vertical braze joint 770 is depicted as having filled against rotor shaft main section 742 beginning at proximal surface 748 and as having terminated at a rotor body v - notch 774 . the rotor body 714 has a flange seat 765 that abuts against rotor shaft flange 757 . an alternative embodiment of the invention depicted in fig1 is eliminates the rotor shaft v - notch 774 . in this embodiment , an amount of braze material is selected so as to only form vertical braze joint 770 , for example as is set forth for the embodiment depicted in fig7 . additionally and / or alternatively , the spacing between rotor shaft main section 742 and rotor body 714 and rotor shaft flange 757 and flange seat 765 can be adjusted such that braze material flows to form vertical braze joint 770 , but is prevented from forming any horizontal thermal shear joint between flange 757 and rotor body 714 . in preferred embodiments , spacing between flange 757 and flange seat may be less than 100 mils , and most preferably less than 10 mils . either or both of rotor body v - notch 774 and spacing between rotor shaft flange 757 and the abutting portion of rotor body 714 is another example of a means for resisting the formation of a braze joint with a horizontal thermal shear . fig1 is a detail section taken from a structure at a location similar to that taken from fig3 along the line 4 — 4 that illustrates yet another embodiment of the present invention . in fig1 , it can be seen that rotor body 114 is coupled with a rotor shaft 812 that contains a depression such as a rotor shaft v - notch 875 that acts as a stop or well for braze material as it flows from proximal surface 148 downwardly in the direction of the rotor shaft chamfer 856 and rotor shaft chamfer seat 164 . as with other embodiments previously set forth , spacing between rotor shaft main section 842 and rotor body 114 may be larger than spacing between rotor shaft chamfer 856 and rotor shaft chamfer seat 164 to control the flow of braze material . where the braze material that is used to form vertical braze joint 870 has a wetting affinity for rotor body 114 greater than rotor shaft 812 , greater care may be required to form vertical braze joint 870 without filling braze material into the space between rotor shaft chamfer 856 and rotor shaft chamfer seat 164 . the presence of rotor shaft v - notch 875 as well as the optional close proximity between rotor shaft chamfer 856 and rotor shaft chamfer seat 164 , that resists the flow of a selected amount of braze material beyond the occurrence of rotor shaft v - notch 875 is another example of a means for resisting the formation of a braze joint with horizontal thermal shear . a depression such as a v - notch or another shape may be cut into either the rotor shaft or the rotor body , or both , in order to facilitate the formation of a vertical braze joint and avoid horizontal thermal shear planes . additionally , other notch profiles may be formed such as a notch with a curvilinear cross - sectional profile as opposed to a notch with a rectilinear cross - sectional profile of a v - notch other “ notch ” configurations that control the flow of braze material could also be used . presently preferred embodiments of the present invention utilize a palco ® braze material under braze temperatures known in the prior art . other materials could also be used . to summarize , embodiments of the present invention have distinct advantages over that of the prior art . one advantage is that the parts are more easily machined because there is no thread - cutting operation , either for the rotor shaft where external threads were previously required , or for the rotor body where internal threads were previously required . as a result of the absence of threads , the parts are more easily machined and also easier to assemble . another distinct advantage is that no special welding or bonding techniques are required such as electron beam welding often required in the prior art . the absence of any special welding or bonding techniques also eliminates destructive embrittlement of the interface between the rotor shaft and rotor body . another distinct advantage of embodiments of the present invention is that they eliminate substantially all thermal sheer stresses in the rotor braze joint . this greatly increases the operational life of the assembly . another distinct advantage of embodiments of the present invention is that the rotor shaft and rotor body assembly allows the x - ray tube to be operated at higher temperatures . substantially no thermal sheer is experienced to compromise the integrity of the braze joint . moreover , even if the braze joint is compromised , the rotor shaft and rotor body assembly will not de - couple because of the chamfer or flange feature that holds the assembly together regardless of the presence or absence of the braze joint . the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics . the described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrated and not restrictive . the scope of the invention is , therefore , indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description . all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope . | 7 |
referring now to the drawings wherein certain embodiments of the invention are illustrated in flow charts , fig1 illustrates the general framework of a system starting with step 101 wherein an advertiser submits a product or service to advertise . using the programmed computer of the invention , the system receives an order from an advertiser 101 and determines 102 which social networks the ad should be placed on , places the ads 103 , returns performance data 104 , and reallocates 105 the advertising spend based on which network performed the best in terms of the criteria set by the advertiser client . the system uses a set of variables to determine and optimize performance of an ad based on parameters and targeting available from social network platforms . fig2 illustrates a process flow chart wherein an the system receives 201 parameters submitted by an advertiser client and looks 202 for any previous campaigns with similar product or service keywords , then queries 203 a database for a match . if there is no match , the user inputs 204 ad information and selects network for deployment . the system automatically deploys 205 the ad content on sites . if there is a match in the database , the system uses psychological targeting parameters to associate 206 user behaviors on different social sites . the database is again queried 207 for a match and depending on whether or not there was a match , the system recommends 208 which network ( s ) the advertiser should chose . upon confirmation or revision by advertiser client , the system automatically deploys 209 the ad on social network sites . the system , according to the invention , tracks 210 performance on each network , reallocates 211 spend / ad units based on network performance , and reports 212 information and data to the advertiser . as shown in fig3 , the system can take a designated ad from advertiser and place that ad on a collection of fragmented self - serve ad platforms . these platforms can include but are not limited to facebook , myspace , linkedin , reddit , and plenty of fish , among the currently popular social networks , with other networks expected to become popular and useful in the future . the system can deploy the same piece of ad unit across multiple mediums ( web , mobile , video , audio , offline ). the system can return data and performance from all channels and all mediums back to advertiser . in step 301 an ad is received from an advertiser and then the advertiser or the system can chose 302 which self - serve social networks the ad will be deployed on , and then normalize 303 the ad form parameters across all platforms and mediums , and normalize 304 the targeting parameters across all platforms and mediums . the system then deploys 305 the ad across web , mobile , video , audio , and offline channels and finally returns 306 performance scores to the advertiser . fig4 illustrates an embodiment wherein ads are deployed across different self - serve social networks starting with receipt 401 of parameters of a product or service to advertise and selection 402 of networks for deployment . the system then takes a template ad unit and morphs 403 it into each selected network by changing 404 the advertisement using an algorithm which modifies an ad in view of size , scale , budget requirements , url requirements , title length , and body length , and connects 405 to multiple social ad platforms 406 , reports 407 success or failure . if success 407 , the system continuously and repetitively tracks 408 performance on each network , reallocates 409 spend / ad units based on network performance , returns 410 all information and data through an analytics platform to the advertiser client . if failure 408 , the process repeats by connecting 405 to multiple ad platforms . fig5 illustrates the weighing performance of a given ad platform or given click from a given ad network and using the information to better target and optimize an advertiser &# 39 ; s ad unit across multiple self - serve ad platforms wherein the system connects 501 to many self - serve ad platforms and monitors 502 individual networks for performance , then places 503 an index or quality score for network or for network &# 39 ; s clicks to optimize for goal . the system automatically , continuously , and repetitively optimizes 504 performance against quality of clicks based on weights . referring now to fig6 , the system again is connected 601 to multiple social self - serve ad platforms 602 which return 603 statistics and performance metrics , including in this embodiment clicks , click through rate ( ctr ), impressions , conversions , cost , average cost per click ( cpc ), and product keywords and type 604 . the platforms also return 609 performance by ad unit in terms of network , image , title / body , and type of variant 610 which , along with the statistics and performance metrics 604 are processed 605 by the system according to an algorithm and the system tracks 606 performance and weight for each campaign , reallocates 607 spend / ad units based on network performance and returns 608 resultant data and information through the analytics platform to the advertiser client . in the embodiment shown in fig7 , the system is configured to take an inputted ad unit consisting of an image , title , and body and permute on those three inputs to generate any number of additional similar ad units . the system can then take all generated ad units and deploy them across multiple self - serve ad networks to determine which ad units were the most successful , upon which the system will remove underperforming ads and continue to optimize ads that are successful . starting with step 701 , the advertiser submits to the system a product / service to advertise and the system analyzes 702 three variables , title , image , and body , and targeting , geo , and demo data . the system permutes 703 all the variables using algorithms and databases and deploys 704 the resultant ad units across multiple platforms , removing 705 ads which underperform and continuing to run successful ads , which repetitively analyzing the variables 702 . in fig8 , a process is shown wherein one ad template is used to generate multiple ad unit variations in a circuit fashion in a manner analogous to genetic evolution . starting again with receipt 801 from an advertiser of a template ad with image , title , body , and keywords , the system looks up 802 in an approved database related images and queries 803 the database for a match . a variant analysis is then performed 804 where the variables are color , border , filter , edge , blue - green or blue green red balance , and overlay , which is used to generate 806 variations and inject 807 keywords into the title and or body . the system is connected 808 to multiple social self - serve ad platforms 809 and tracks 810 performance and weight for each campaign , reallocating 811 spend per ad units based on network performance , returning 812 information and data through an analytics platform to the advertiser client . the system can ping 813 a genetic algorithm for the next set of ad units based on current performance and generate 814 variations of the ad , while continuously tracking 810 performance and weight , etc . ( 811 - 813 ). referring to fig9 illustrates an embodiment wherein campaign and associated data is received from an advertiser and social networks are monitored 902 for trends , referred to in the art as “ going viral ,” wherein the system takes viral coefficients for the advertiser &# 39 ; s content and finds 903 a match which is automatically 904 placed on the social network with the highest viral coefficient . in this process the system receives data and processes it to determine how many users of a social network are talking about a brand , for example . the viral coefficient calculated in the process shown in fig9 is illustrated in more detail in fig1 wherein after the advertiser &# 39 ; s parameters of product or services is received 1001 , the web is scanned 1002 for conversations and dialogue related to the product or service . for example , if may users of facebook are entering comments or likes about a chevy volt , the conversational elements are assigned 1003 a weight in terms of volume , impact , sentiment , and type of site , for example 1004 , the data is processed and the system recommends 1005 which networks the advertiser should use based on the viral metrics . the system can automatically deploy 1006 ad content on recommended sites based on viral metrics . since the system is connected 1007 to multiple social self service ad platforms 1008 , the system can track 1009 performance on each network , reallocate 1010 spending per ad units based on network performance and return all the information and data through the analytics platform to the advertiser . in the embodiment illustrated in fig1 , the system receives 1101 campaign and associated data from the advertiser , uses 1102 a custom index for price based on chosen segments , and combines 1103 and deploys ads against these segments to fulfill target budget instead of bidding . in this way the system does not use bids to purchase ads but uses correlated prices of certain demographic and targeting segments valued by network to charge advertiser clients for ad buys on social properties . fig1 illustrates an embodiment wherein the system receives 1201 campaign and associated data from the advertiser , uses 1202 a custom index for price based on chosen segments , the custom index created 1203 by monitoring average prices for each individual metric over time and creating the index for these prices by segment . the system , as noted earlier , is connected 1204 to multiple social self - serve ad platforms and deploys ads based on budgets rather than on bids , finally returning 1205 all information and data through the analytics platform to the advertiser . in this way the system does not use bids to purchase ads but uses correlated prices of certain demographic and targeting segments valued by network to charge advertiser clients for ad buys on social properties . the present invention , therefore , is well adapted to carry out the objects and attain the ends and advantages mentioned , as well as others inherent therein . while the invention has been depicted and described and is defined by reference to particular preferred embodiments of the invention , such references do not imply a limitation on the invention , and no such limitation is to be inferred . the invention is capable of considerable modification , alteration and equivalents in form and function , as will occur to those ordinarily skilled in the pertinent arts . the depicted and described preferred embodiments of the invention are exemplary only and are not exhaustive of the scope of the invention . consequently , the invention is intended to be limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims , giving full cognizance to equivalents in all respects . | 6 |
hereinafter , a method of neutralizing an amine gas odor for a cold box process according to the present invention and amine gas generators 100 and 200 using the method will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings . first , as shown in fig1 , an amine gas generator 100 according to a first embodiment includes an amine gas supplier 110 storing an amine gas , an odor neutralizer supplier 120 supplying an amine gas odor neutralizer , and a gassing line 130 and a purging line 140 through which an amine gas is injected into a mold 10 . an amine gas in the amine gas supplier 110 is supplied to the mold 10 through the gassing line 130 . a first regulator 131 connected to an air tank 150 and receiving compressed air from the air tank 150 to maintain the pressure of injected amine gas at a predetermined level is disposed in the gassing line 130 . as compressed air passes through the first regulator 131 from the air tank 150 for supplying the compressed air , the first regulator 131 adjusts the pressure of the compressed air to a predetermined level , and when the compressed air is sent into the mold 10 , an amine gas is supplied into the mold 10 with the compressed air by the pressure of the compressed air . the generator further includes an air heater 151 that heats the compressed air from the air tank 150 at 40 to 100 ° c ., when it flows into the gassing line 130 . when the temperature of the compressed air is lower than 40 ° c ., an odor neutralizer may turn to liquid , and when it is higher than 100 ° c ., the amine generator 100 may be damaged . accordingly , it is important to maintain and supply compressed air at an appropriate temperature using the air heater 151 . a first valve 133 stopping / passing an amine gas is disposed between the amine supplier 110 and the gassing line 130 . when the first valve 133 is open , an amine gas is supplied to the gassing line 130 from the amine generator 110 , and when the first valve 133 is closed , an amine gas is not supplied to the gassing line 130 from the amine supplier 110 . the first valve 133 has a first valve timer 133 a that opens / closes the first valve at predetermined times . a third valve 135 that opens / closes the gassing line 130 is disposed in the gassing line 130 . the third valve 135 opens or closes to adjust the amount of the compressed air that has passed through the first regulator 131 , so the compressed air and the amine gas that are supplied into the mold 10 are adjusted . the third valve 135 may have a third valve timer 135 a that controls opening / closing of the third valve 135 at predetermined times . the supply amount of an amine gas adjusted by the first valve 133 can be checked through a first check cylinder , if necessary . the check cylinder comes from the gassing line 130 and it is possible to check the supply amount of an amine gas in real time , using a graduation marked on the first check cylinder . a second regulator 141 that maintains the compressed air from the air tank 150 at a predetermined pressure is disposed in the purging line 140 . similar to the first regulator 131 , as compressed air passes through the second regulator 141 from the air tank 150 , the second regulator 131 adjusts the pressure of the compressed air to a predetermined level , and when the compressed air is sent into the mold 10 , an odor neutralizer is supplied into the mold 10 with the compressed air by the pressure of the compressed air . a second valve 143 stopping / passing an odor neutralizer is disposed between the amine neutralizer supplier 120 and the purging line 140 . similar to the first valve 133 , when the second valve 143 is open , an odor neutralizer is supplied into the purging line 140 , and when the second valve 143 is closed , an odor neutralizer is not supplied . the second valve 143 , similar to the first valve 133 , has a second valve timer 143 a . a fourth valve 145 that opens / closes the purging line 140 is disposed in the purging line 140 . the fourth valve 145 adjusts supply and stoppage of the compressed air that has passed through the second regulator 141 . the fourth valve 145 may have a fourth valve timer 145 a that controls opening / closing of the fourth valve 145 . the supply amount of the odor neutralizer adjusted by the third valve 143 and the fourth valve 145 can be checked by the second check cylinder , similar to the first check cylinder . when the amount of an amine gas supplied to the mold 10 and checked through the first check cylinder reaches to a predetermined level , the supply of the amine gas is stopped by the first valve 133 or the third valve 135 . further , when the information about the supply amount of the amine gas is transmitted to a controller 160 or a user inputs it to the controller 160 , the controller 160 sends a signal to the second valve 143 or the fourth valve 145 so operate them . when the supply of the amine gas is stopped , the compressed air and the odor neutralizer are injected into the mold 10 . the second valve 143 or the fourth valve 145 may operate such that the odor neutralizer is injected in an amount of 5 to 15 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of amine gas . when the amount of the odor neutralizer injected is less than 5 parts by weight , it cannot sufficiently neutralize remaining amine gas , and when the amount of the odor neutralizer injected is more than 15 parts by weight , it can sufficiently remove the odor of amine gas , but the cost is high . accordingly , the odor neutralizer may be injected in the amount of 5 to 15 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of amine gas an amine gas generator 200 of a second embodiment is the same as the first embodiment in the configuration of the amine supplier 210 and the odor neutralizer supplier 220 , but different in that the gassing line 130 and the purging line 140 are integrated into one injection line 230 . an amine gas in the amine gas supplier 210 is supplied to the mold 10 through the injection line 230 . a regulator 230 connected to an air tank 250 to maintain the injection pressure of the amine gas at a predetermined level and receiving compressed air heated by the air tank 250 and an air heater 251 is disposed in injection line 230 . when compressed air is supplied into the mold 10 through the regulator 231 , an amine gas is supplied into the mold 10 or stopped by the amine supplier 210 and the first valve 233 in the injection line 230 . the odor neutralizer to be supplied to the injection line 230 is adjusted by a second valve 235 disposed between the odor neutralizer supplier 220 and the injection line 230 and stopping / passing the odor neutralizer . when a necessary amount of an amine gas is injected into the mold 10 , the supply of the amine gas to the injection line 230 through the first valve 233 is stopped and the second valve 235 is opened , so the odor neutralizer is injected with compressed air into the mold 10 and neutralizes the amine gas odor . the first valve 233 and the second valve 235 may be simultaneously controlled by a controller 260 . the first valve 233 and the second valve 235 may have a first valve timer 233 a and a second valve timer 235 a , respectively . in the related art , when an amine gas supply is stopped , only compressed air is supplied into the mold 10 to discharge the amine gas in the mold to the outside . however , when only compressed air is supplied , as described above , the amine gas remaining in the mold 10 and the amine gas leaking through a gap of the mold gives off a bad smell , so a worker feels discomfort . however , according to the present invention , it is possible to reduce an amine gas odor by supplying an odor neutralizer with compressed air . a method of neutralizing an amine gas using the amine gas generators 100 and 200 is as follows . as shown in fig2 , molding sand 30 is made by mixing sand and forming resin ( s 1 ). the sand and the forming resin are used as materials for manufacturing a core or a molding and they are mulled by a blender such as a mixer , thereby making the molding sand 30 . the molding sand 30 is put into the mold 10 ( s 2 ). the molding sand composed of the sand and the forming resin is put into the mold 10 fitting to the shape of a core or a mold . the mold 10 is divided left and right and the molding sand 30 is put into the mold 30 through the upper portion of the mold 10 . an amine gas or an odor neutralizer is also injected through the portion for injecting the molding sand 30 . the molding sand 30 is hardened by injecting an amine gas into the mold 10 ( s 3 ). compressed air and an amine gas are injected into the mold 10 having the shape of a core or a mold and filled with the molding sand 30 , through the same inlet of the mold 10 . when the amine gas is injected as a catalyst for the molding sand 30 composed of the sand and the forming resin , the forming resin hardens by reacting with the amine gas . when the molding sand is hardened by amine gas , a core or a mold made of polyurethane can be finally obtained . the amine gas odor is removed by injecting an odor neutralizer ( s 4 ). after the molding sand 30 hardens in the mold 10 , the amine gas is discharged into a neutralizing tank 50 , and is then neutralized in the neutralizing tank 50 and discharged to the atmosphere . some of the amine gas may remain in the mold 10 or the amine gas may leak through a gap of the mold 10 while it flows into the neutralizing tank 50 , and in this case , the amine gas emits a bad smell discomforting a worker . accordingly , with discharging of the amine gas , compressed air and an odor neutralizer are injected into the mold 10 through the inlet through which the amine gas was injected . when an odor neutralizer is injected through the inlet of the mold 10 , it neutralizes the amine gas remaining in the mold 10 or in the gap of the mold 10 , so the distinct odor of ammonia is reduced . accordingly , a worker does not feel excessively uncomfortable . since the odor neutralizer is injected into the mold 10 simultaneously with discharging of the amine gas , there is no additional step and there is no difference between the process time and the process times of the related art , so a worker is not troubled . in some cases , it may be possible to additionally neutralize the amine gas discharged to the atmosphere through the neutralizing tank 50 by additionally installing the odor neutralizer supplier 120 to the neutralizing tank 50 . the odor neutralizer may be injected in an amount of 5 to 15 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the amine gas . when the amount of the odor neutralizer injected is less than 5 parts by weight , it cannot sufficiently neutralize the remaining amine gas , and when the amount of the odor neutralizer injected is more than 15 parts by weight , the odor neutralizer is too much in comparison to the remaining amine gas , so the odor neutralizer may be wasted . when the amine gas in the mold 10 or in a gap of the mold 10 remains , a worker may be discomforted by the gas odor . however , as in the present invention , when an odor neutralizer is injected into the mold 10 , it neutralizes the amine gas remaining in the mold 10 or in the gap , so a worker can more easily work . further , since the process of injecting an odor neutralizer is performed simultaneously with discharging of the amine gas from the mold 10 , there is no need for an additional process and the work time does not increase , so it is efficient . although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described for illustrative purposes , those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications , additions and substitutions are possible , without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims . | 0 |
referring to fig1 and 2 , the numeral 10 refers to a transversely movable load path controlling platform . the platform has a rectangular frame 11 of greater length than its width in the direction of movement . the frame has a peripheral frame including front and back members 12 joined by shorter end members 13 and a central frame member 14 ( fig3 ). the movable platform has stiffeners ( not shown ) to give rigidity to the platform . these stiffeners are not illustrated since they are conventional and not part of the invention . such stiffening members have long been used in the conveyor industry . the platform 10 is supported by wheels 20 which roll along a pair of laterally extending tracks 21 . the tracks are substantially longer than the width of the platform whereby the platform can be moved transversely in either direction from its central position relative to the path of articles being transported on the conveyor with which the invention is used . the platform has a pair of side - by - side roller assemblies 22 and 22a , each occupying one half of the surface of the platform ( fig1 ). one end of each of a majority of the individual rollers 24 of each roller assembly is journaled to one of the side or end frame members of that roller assembly and the other end to the central frame member 14 . the rollers of the assemblies 22 20 and 22a are arranged with their axes inclined to the path of the articles entering the platform . the rollers of the assembly 22 are inclined oppositely to those of assembly 22a . thus , these rollers form a herringbone pattern , the apex of which is centered where the assemblies adjoin each other and points downstream of the movement of articles over the platform . the ends of the rollers mounted on either the end members 13 or the central frame member 14 are supported between the top flange of one of the end members 13 or of the central frame member 14 and a bracket 40 ( fig4 ). the axle 41 of each roller is sandwiched between plastic isolator pads 43 and the top flange and the bracket 40 and clamped by a bolt 42 . this arrangement allows for vibration and sound damping from the axle to the end or frame member . the attachment of the rollers to the front and back frame members 12 is illustrated in fig5 and 6 . in this case , the end of the roller axle 41 is secured by a bolt 48 which clamps it between the bracket 45 and a top member 46 ( fig5 ). the bracket and top member have a pair of spacers 47 between them through each of which the bolt 48 extends to pull the bracket and the top member together ( fig5 and 6 ). the frame member is reinforced by a stiffener 49 between the bracket 45 and the frame member 12 . again , the arrangement allows vibration and sound damping between the roller and the frame 12 . an infeed conveyor 30 aligns with the central portion of the platform 10 when the platform is in its neutral position , that is , centered between ends of the platform support ( fig1 ). the platform has a pair of guide rails 31 and 31a which are supported on stationary supports 32 and 32a , one at each end and which , in turn , are secured to the platform &# 39 ; s supporting structure ( fig1 and 13 ). the guide rails are arranged to form a v - shaped track , the narrow end of which is aligned with and just wide enough to receive the articles from the infeed conveyor 30 . the discharge end of the path defined by the guide rails is substantially wider and aligns with a pair of receiving conveyors 34 and 35 . the movable platform 10 is supported by rollers 20 on the tracks 21 of a stationary frame 25 for movement either to the left or to the right with respect to both the infeed conveyor 30 and the receiving conveyors 34 and 35 . as it moves , it shifts the herringbone conveyor configuration onto which the articles are discharged by the infeed conveyor 30 ( fig2 ). thus , when the platform is shifted to the left of an observer looking downstream of article movement , as illustrated in fig2 the inclination of the rollers over which the articles will be moved will bias the articles to the right . on the other hand , if the movable platform is shifted as far as it can go to the right , the articles will be biased to move to the left . if the platform is shifted , only a portion of its possible travel from center in either direction a greater proportion , but not all , of the articles will be caused to exit the platform onto the conveyor opposite that toward which it has been shifted . thus , by shifting the platform either to the right or to the left , the discharge of the articles can be proportioned between the conveyors as needed or directed entirely to one of the conveyors . this is a simple and easy to operate system for adjusting the conveyor to accommodate widely varying volume demands . to accomplish this purpose , the platform is supported on wheels 20 which travel on tracks 21 ( fig1 and 14 ). movement of the platform along the rails is effected by a dog 60 which engages driver 61 mounted on the threaded member 62 . the axis of the threaded member parallels the tracks 21 and is driven by the prime mover 63 to rotate in either direction , depending upon which direction it is desired to move the platform . the dog 60 is slidably mounted for vertical movement in a support member 64 secured to one of the platform &# 39 ; s cross members . the dog is normally seated in the slot 65 in the driver member 61 so that movement of the driver member will cause the platform to travel with the driver member . if it is desired to release the platform from control by the driver , the handle 66 at the end of the platform is maneuvered to cause the dog to be lifted and disengage from the driver 61 . this is necessary because it is essential in large warehouse operations that this type of equipment continue to be operative even though the functionality of such control means as the prime mover 63 fails . by releasing the platform 10 from the driver 61 , it is free to be manually pushed to a position which will accommodate the load of articles being received over the input conveyor and properly proportion their delivery between the two receiving conveyors 34 and 35 . what has been described is satisfactory for situations involving only packaged articles or articles having significant three dimensional characteristics . the handling of flat , thin articles , such as letters and the like , involves the problem of interception of the articles by the guide rails 31 and 31a without the possibility that the article might be carried down under the rails by the rollers rather than transported on the rollers &# 39 ; upper surfaces . the problem is further complicated by the fact that as the frame is moved laterally , whatever means are employed to prevent entrapment of these flat articles by the rollers must be capable of both deflection to pass over the rollers and of automatically returning to active extended position between the next pair of rollers . at the same time , they must positively prevent the articles from being discharged downwardly between adjacent rollers . the invention provides a simple means of accomplishing this by creating a barrier formed of a plurality of fingers 50 each of which has a rounded lower end designed to extend into the space between a pair of adjacent rollers and there provide a positive restraint against both further lateral movement over and downward movement between the transport rollers and by so mounting each finger that it can be retracted by the roller as the platform moves laterally beneath the guide rails ( fig7 - 10 ). to do this , each of the fingers 50 preferably is a bolt or pin having a rounded end 52 . the tubular housing 53 for the pin and spring is press - fitted into openings in a support block 54 . the support block can be molded of a plastic such as ultra high molecular weight polyethylene sold by e . i . dupont de nemoirs and have openings 55 of a size such that the pin housing 53 can be press - fitted into it and frictionally held in place . the depth of insertion can be controlled by a flange 57 at the end of the housing ( fig9 ). in extended position , each finger extends partially into the convergent slot between a pair of adjacent rollers to a depth such that it extends below the plane of the tops of the rollers ( fig8 ). since the fingers extend below this plane they will not allow even a flat object such as an envelop to become trapped between a pair of adjacent rollers and , thus , either be removed from the conveying surface or progressively destroyed by the continuing abrasion of the rollers . to pass over each of the rollers as the platform 10 is moved lengthwise of the track 21 the 21 and transversely of the rails 31 and 31a fingers 50 are mounted for sliding vertical movement in the tubular housing 53 and urged into extended position by a spring 58 ( fig9 ). the spring 58 need exert only a light pressure against the finger since its purpose is only that of assuring finger extension when roller obstruction is removed . under normal operating conditions , the weight of the finger alone can effect this action . the spring also increases the resistance to a flat object lifting the fingers just as the fingers pass over the tops of the rollers during lateral travel of the guide rail . as many of the fingers 50 are provided as there are gaps between rollers over which each of the guide rails are seated . so that the entire space above the surface of the movable platform and between the guide rails 31 and 31a remains unobstructed for the movement of articles , the fingers 50 and their support block 54 are mounted on the outer face of the guide rails by suitable means such as screws 56 ( fig7 ). the rollers of the frame controlling the delivery of the articles received from the conveyor 30 are driven by a belt and prime mover assemblies 70 ( fig3 and 11 ). these assemblies 70 are mounted to the platform 10 beneath the rollers 24 and each has a belt 71 supported on rollers 72 which hold it in driving engagement with the bottom surfaces of the article transporting rollers above ( not illustrated in fig3 and 11 ). each belt 71 is driven by a prime mover 73 . as will be observed from fig3 in order to drive all of the rollers , four of the assemblies 70 are provided and travel with the platform as it is shifted from side - to - side . when the articles are discharged from the path controlling platform 10 , they pass onto the receiving and aligning conveyor sections 34 and 35 . preferably , these sections also have rollers with axes inclined to the sides of the conveyors to arrange the articles in single file along one side . to facilitate this , the outer side of each of the receiving conveyor sections is equipped with guard rail sections 90 to cause the articles to become properly aligned . the use of this equipment is not part of this invention and can be understood from u . s . pat . no . 4 , 044 , 897 entitled conveyor sorting and orienting system issued aug . 30 , 1977 and u . s . pat . no . 4 , 284 , 186 entitled unscrambling conveyor issued aug . 18 , 1981 . however , this equipment is useful in effecting neat and orderly arranged articles as they enter the next phase of their transport in the warehouse or other type of facility . it will be recognized that the quantity of articles entering the flowsplitter can be monitored manually or automatically . irrespective of the manner in which it is monitored , it is the purpose of the invention to provide easily and quickly manipulable equipment for positively , easily and expeditiously transporting articles under conditions in which the volume the equipment must handle may vary widely . having described a preferred embodiment of the invention , it will be understood that various modifications of the invention can be made without departing from its principles . such modifications are to be considered as included in the hereinafter appended claims , unless the claims , by their language expressly state otherwise . | 1 |
the receiver antenna system according to the invention as shown in fig1 and fig2 includes several individual antennae 2 1 , 2 2 , . . . , 2 n , in the minimal configuration , two individual antennae 2 1 and 2 2 . these individual antennae 2 1 , 2 2 , . . . , 2 n are attached to a printed circuit board 3 as printed conductors . the antenna receiver system 1 has an extension 4 for the individual antenna with the largest mechanical antenna height , which receives the long - wave transmission signal . for protection , the printed - circuit board 3 with the individual antennae 2 1 , 2 2 , . . . , 2 n is enclosed within a synthetic - material tube . each individual antenna 2 1 , 2 2 , . . . , 2 n , has respectively a mechanical antenna height l 1 , l 2 , . . . , l n and an antenna diameter d 1 , d 2 , . . . , d n . the individual antennae 2 1 , 2 2 , . . . , 2 n , each provide several printed - conductor portions 1 μ , ν , which are connected to one another via impedance elements z μ , ν . for example , the individual antenna 2 1 in fig2 provides printed - conductor portions 1 1 , 1 , 1 1 , 2 , . . . , 1 1 , m − 1 , 1 1 , m and 1 1 , m + 1 , and the intermittent impedance elements z 1 , 1 , . . . , z 1 , m − 1 and z 1 , m , while the individual antenna 2 n consists of the printed - conductor portions 1 n , 1 , 1 n , 2 , . . . , 1 n , n − 2 , 1 n , n − 1 , 1 n , n , and 1 n , n + 1 , and the intermittent impedance elements z n , 1 , . . . , z n , n − 2 , z n , n − 1 and z n , n . the individual impedance elements z μ , ν consist of a circuit , which provides a very low impedance value with low received frequencies , and which , in the ideal case of a received frequency converging towards zero , short circuits the two adjacent printed - conductor portions 1 μ , ν and 1 μ , ν + 1 . by contrast , with high received frequencies , the circuit provides a high real component of the impedance , which , in the ideal case of an infinitely high received frequency , as a pure resistor , suppresses the current flow between the adjacent printed - conductor portions 1 μ , ν and 1 μ , ν + 1 and therefore reduces the electrically - active antenna height of the individual antenna 2 μ . in this manner , it is possible , through corresponding parametrization of all impedance elements z μ , ν associated with the respective individual antenna 2 μ and their positioning on the individual antenna 2 μ , to adjust the electrically - active antenna height of the respective individual antenna 2 μ to the optimum antenna height for the respective frequency range of the individual antenna 2 μ . in order to realize a frequency - dependent impedance characteristic of this kind , the individual impedance elements z μ , ν are realised , for example , in a known manner , by a parallel circuit with an inductance l μ , ν and an ohmic resistor r μ , ν . these impedance elements z μ , ν can be distributed on the individual antennae 2 1 , 2 2 , . . . , 2 n either in a discrete manner or continuously as correspondingly - formed printed conductors . the respective individual antennae 2 μ and 2 ν are arranged on the printed - circuit board 3 with a spacing distance of d μ , ν , which is typically a few centimeters . the respective base - points 5 1 , 5 2 , . . . , 5 n of the respective passive antenna regions 6 1 , 6 2 , . . . , 6 n of the individual antennae 2 1 , 2 2 , . . . , 2 n are electrically coupled to the active base - point electronics 7 1 , 7 2 , . . . , 7 n , for example , amplifier elements and / or impedance converters . the passive antenna regions 6 1 , 6 2 , . . . , 6 n can be designed in all radiator structures , such as monopoles , dipoles etc . impedance conversion , amplification and coarse filtering — through the frequency response of the respective individual antenna — of the transmission signals received respectively in the passive antenna regions 6 1 , 6 2 , . . . , 6 n of the individual antennae 2 1 , 2 2 , . . . , 2 n , are implemented in the base - point electronics 7 1 , 7 2 , . . . , 7 n . after their impedance conversion , amplification and filtering in the respective base - point electronics 7 1 , 7 2 , . . . , 7 n , the received transmission signals are phase - matched in the subsequent phase matching networks 8 1 , 8 2 , . . . , 8 n , especially in the overlapping range of the filters of the frequency crossover network of the individual adjacent or overlapping received frequency ranges , in order to guarantee an addition instead of a subtraction of the individual received transmission signals . the phase matching in the individual phase matching networks 8 1 , 8 2 , . . . , 8 n is optimized to such an extent that the maximum possible phase deviation of two received transmission signals is 90 °. after the phase matching in the phase matching networks 8 1 , 8 2 , . . . , 8 n , a band limitation and combination of the individual transmission signals received in the individual antennae 2 1 , 2 2 , . . . , 2 n to form a single overall received signal , which provides an overall reception bandwidth , which corresponds to the sum of all of the individual partial received frequency ranges of the individual antennae 2 1 , 2 2 , . . . , 2 n , takes place in the subsequent frequency crossover network 9 . in fig3 , in order to visualise the geometric antenna optimization , a portion of the two passive antenna regions 6 1 and 6 2 printed on a printed - circuit board 3 of the individual antennae 2 1 and 2 2 of the minimal configuration of a receiver antenna system 1 is illustrated for a lower and an upper partial received frequency range respectively . they consist in each case of the printed - conductor portions 1 1 , 1 , 1 1 , 2 , and 1 1 , 3 and 1 2 , 1 , 1 2 , 2 , 1 2 , 3 , 1 2 , 4 , 1 2 , 5 , 1 2 , 6 , 1 2 , 7 , 1 2 , 8 etc . and the intermittent impedance elements z 1 , 1 , and z 1 , 2 , and z 2 , 1 , z 2 , 2 , z 2 , 3 , z 2 , 4 , z 2 , 5 , z 2 , 6 , z 2 , 7 , ect ., which are shown in fig3 not in their concrete interconnection but as free space relative to their positioning . the optimization of the passive antenna regions 6 1 and 6 2 of the individual antennae 2 1 and 2 2 in order to minimize the electromagnetic couplings takes place through an optimum design of the antenna diameters d 1 and d 2 , the spacing distance d 1 , 2 between the two individual antennae 2 1 and 2 2 , the position of the individual impedance elements z μ , ν relative to one another within the respective individual antennae 2 1 and 2 2 and between the two individual antennae 2 1 and 2 2 . it is evident from fig3 that , according to the invention , with a larger spacing distance relative to the base - points 5 1 and 5 2 , the printed - conductor portions 1 82 , ν are increasingly shorter in length . moreover , it is evident that the length l 1 of the individual antenna 2 1 for the reception of relatively high - frequency transmission signals is designed to be shorter than the length l 2 of the individual antenna 2 2 for the reception of low - frequency transmission signals . finally , the antenna diameter d 1 of the individual antenna 2 1 for the reception of relatively higher - frequency transmission signals is designed according to the invention to be significantly greater than the antenna diameter d 2 of the individual antenna 2 2 for the reception of relatively low - frequency transmission signals . in fig4 , in order to visualise the electrical optimization , the minimum configuration of the individual antennae from fig3 is presented with the individual antenna 2 1 for the reception of high - frequency transmission signals and the individual antenna 2 2 for the reception of relatively low - frequency transmission signals . according to the invention , the input impedance of the base - point electronics 7 1 of the individual antenna 2 1 , which provides a shorter antenna height for reception in the upper frequency range , has a lower value with lower received frequencies . in this manner , low - frequency currents in the individual antenna 2 1 are conducted with low resistance to earth at the input of the base - point electronic 7 1 , so that the low - frequency currents coupled from the individual antenna 2 2 to the individual antenna 2 1 do not generate unnecessary losses in the input impedance 10 1 of the base - point electronics 7 1 thereby impairing the efficiency of the antenna 2 2 and do not therefore have a negative influence on the individual antenna 2 2 through electromagnetic parasitic coupling with the adjacent individual antenna 2 1 . in order to realise a small input impedance of the base - point electronics 7 1 with low - frequency received signals , a parallel circuit consisting of an inductance l e1 and an ohmic resistor r e1 is used as the input impedance 10 1 of the base - point electronics . with higher - frequency received signals , the input impedance 10 1 of the base - point electronics 7 1 provides an input impedance matched to the passive antenna structure . it is also evident from fig4 that the inductances l 2 , ν in the individual impedance elements z 2 , ν become high - resistance on receiving relatively high - frequency transmission signals , and in combination with the resistors on the individual printed - conductor portions 1 2 , ν of the individual antenna 2 2 , behave like a ferritized conductor . accordingly , relatively high - frequency currents on the individual antenna 2 2 are suppressed . as a result , there is no coupling with the adjacent individual antenna 2 1 . with low - frequency received signals , the inductances l 2 , ν of the impedance elements z 2 , ν of the individual antenna 2 2 are of low resistance and do not lead to a suppression of the currents on the individual printed - conductor portions 1 2 , ν of the individual antenna 2 2 . in the overall operating - frequency range , the input impedance 10 2 of the base - point electronic 7 2 provides a high - resistance , capacitive input impedance . the input impedance 10 2 consists of a parallel circuit with a high - resistance resistor r e2 and a capacitor c e2 with very small capacity . in general , it can be stated that all of the impedance elements z 1 , ν in the individual antenna 2 1 and all of the impedance elements z 2 , ν in the individual antenna 2 2 not only perform the function of the frequency - dependent electrical shortening of the respective antenna height , but , by variation of their impedance z 1 , ν on the individual antenna 2 1 , influence the current i 1 in the individual antenna 2 1 in a targeted , frequency - dependent manner , and , by variation of their impedance z 2 , ν on the individual antenna 2 2 , influence the current i 2 on the individual antenna 2 2 in a targeted , frequency - dependent manner , and accordingly also minimize the extent of coupling between the two individual antennae 2 1 and 2 2 in a targeted manner . alongside the above - named designs , the input impedances 10 1 , 10 2 , . . . , 10 n of the base - point electronics 7 1 , 7 2 , . . . , 7 n are additionally mismatched relative to the base - point impedance of the respective passive antenna regions 6 1 , 6 2 , . . . , 6 n of the individual antennae 2 1 , 2 2 , . . . , 2 n preferably outside the useful frequency range of the individual antenna . in this manner , targeted reflections occur at the inputs of the base - point electronics 7 1 , 7 2 , . . . , 7 n , which have the overall effect of minimizing the electromagnetic couplings between the individual antennae 2 1 , 2 2 , . . . , 2 n . the invention is not limited to the embodiment presented . in particular , the invention also covers different antenna geometries , different interconnections of the impedance elements and different input interconnections of the base - point electronics . | 7 |
fig1 shows a bottle including an approximately spherical reservoir 1 equipped with a tapped neck 2 . the neck 2 has a collar 3 extending radially around its outer surface . the axis a of the bottle is defined by the axis of symmetry of the reservoir 1 , said axis passing through the center of the neck 2 . a threaded stopper 4 for sealing the neck 2 is screwed on the latter . an annular frustoconical skirt 5 is fitted on the neck 2 by snap - fastening . more specifically , the portion of the skirt with the smaller diameter has an axial annular part 6 forming a shoulder the internal diameter of which is approximately the same as the diameter of the collar 3 of the neck , said collar being inserted in the annular part 6 and resting against the shoulder . snap - fastening means formed by a complementary groove and bead system are provided for fitting the skirt on the neck . alternatively , the skirt can be force fitted on the neck . the portion of the skirt 5 with the larger diameter is directed towards the bottom of the reservoir 1 , opposite the neck 2 along the axis a of the bottle . the frustoconical skirt 5 also has an outer annular shoulder 7 at its end with the smaller diameter . an approximately cylindrical hollow cap 8 has an open end 9 having an inside diameter approximately the same as the diameter of the outer shoulder portion of the skirt , the other end 10 of the cap being closed . the cap may be made of synthetic material , glass , wood , resin or cardboard . the open end 9 of the cap 8 is snap - fastened onto the outer shoulder 7 of the skirt 5 , using for example a complementary groove and bead system , such that the axis of the cap corresponds to the axis a of the bottle . the cap 8 thus fitted on the skirt 5 defines with the neck 2 a volume 11 in which an approximately cylindrical pod 12 is located . the pod 12 which is designed to accommodate an object ( not shown ) consists of two shells 13 that fit into one another . the bottle is covered by a film ( not shown ) over its entire peripheral surface . in this way , on first usage , the consumer removes the cap 9 by tearing the film , removes the pod 12 and disassembles the two shells 13 in order to reveal the object . the consumer can then put the cap back on the bottle , or not . the cap can also be used as a measuring means or as a glass . fig2 shows a second embodiment of the invention in which the same elements have the same references as in fig1 . in order to make the drawing clearer , only the outlines of the reservoir 1 , of the neck 3 and of the pod 12 have been shown . in this embodiment , the bottle has no frustoconical skirt 5 , the cap 8 being mounted directly on the neck 3 by snap - fastening . in order to produce this type of fitting , the cap has a bead 14 around the inner surface , offset from the open end of the cap toward the closed end , such that when the cap 8 is in the mounted position on the neck 3 , the bead 14 engages with the collar 3 to bring about the snap - fastening . according to a third embodiment which is not shown , the cap has two open ends , the volume used to contain the object being defined by the neck , the cap and the film covering the bottle . according to another embodiment which is not shown , food products , for example confectionery or a lollipop , are housed inside the capsule . it goes without saying that the invention is not limited to only those embodiments of this system which have been described hereinabove by way of examples , but also includes any variants thereof . thus , among other things , the film could cover only part of the bottle or the bottle could contain no pod , in which case the object could be located directly in the volume defined by the cap . | 1 |
one embodiment of the device according to the invention is disclosed below based on fig1 a to 6 b ; identical parts are essentially assigned the same references and said parts are therefore not described more than once . [ 0057 ] fig1 a shows a diagrammatic representation of the principles of operational interaction of an actuator 2 , a transmission element 4 and a control member 20 . the actuator 2 can for example be a piezoelectric actuator , comprising a number of piezo disks stacked one on top of the other , as shown in the drawing . the actuator 2 can be expanded in a linear manner along a longitudinal direction l by applying an electric voltage , whereby the longitudinal direction l is parallel to the central axis m of the actuator 2 . the actuator 2 acts with its lower face 3 or an intermediate member not shown here on a transmission element 4 , which is supported in a fixed manner peripherally on a first bearing area 6 . the first bearing area 6 can for example be a fixed housing edge , etc . the point of contact between the actuator 2 and the transmission element 4 is hereafter referred to as the second bearing area 8 . a third bearing area 10 is a point of contact between the transmission element 4 and the control member 20 and can for example be a valve piston , etc . all three bearing areas 6 , 8 , 10 can be configured as linear contact or as point bearings . as can be seen from fig1 a , the central axes m of the actuator 2 and m of the control member 20 are preferably coincident , which allows space - saving incorporation of the entire device . the device according to the invention can for example be used as a valve control member in an injection valve , where there is generally only limited space for incorporation in the cylinder head of an internal combustion engine . for this reason a concentric arrangement of the actuator 2 and control member 20 is in some circumstances advantageous as is the shortest possible actuator 2 . in order however to be able to achieve adequate travel of the control member 20 in an ideally short actuator 2 , the transmission element 4 is used to achieve a translation of short excursions of the actuator 2 — depending on the translation required — to longer excursions of the control member 20 . as can be seen in the diagrammatic representation , a second straight section 14 of the transmission element 4 configured as an offset plate 5 ( see fig4 ) assigned to the first bearing area 6 is provided , which opens via a step into a first straight section 12 of the plate 5 . the second bearing area 8 is assigned to upper side of this first straight section 12 and the third bearing area 10 to the lower side . the distance of the first lever arm a between the first bearing area 6 of the housing and the second bearing area 8 of the actuator 2 is substantially smaller than the distance of the second lever arm b between the second bearing area 8 and the third bearing area 10 of the control member 20 . this gives a lever ratio of 1 : 4 to 1 : 20 , but preferably approx . 1 : 6 to 1 : 7 . a piezoelectric actuator with typical dimensions of 7 × 7 ( cross - sectional length × cross - sectional width , both in millimeters )× 30 ( length of actuator 2 in direction of central axis m in millimeters ) is able to achieve maximum excursions of approx . 45 μm . this corresponds to an excursion of the control member of approx . 270 to 315 μm , depending on the translation required . with a typical overall plate 5 length of approx . 10 mm , this results in a first lever arm a with a length of approx . 1 . 4 mm and a second lever arm b with a length of approx . 8 . 6 mm . in a preferred embodiment of the invention not only is a transmission element 4 provided between the actuator 2 and the control member 20 but at least two transmission elements 4 disposed in a parallel or concentric manner in relation to each other . in this way the control forces of the actuator 2 , which is expanding in a linear manner , are transmitted in a substantially more even manner to the control member 20 , as at least two bearing areas 6 , 8 , 10 are provided in each instance on each of the components 2 , 4 , 20 . this configuration at the same time serves to reduce the compressive load at the bearing areas 6 , 8 , 10 and results thereby in less wear due to abrasion , which increases the life of the device according to the invention . the transmission elements 4 , which are preferably configured in a triangular manner in longitudinal cross - section , with the third bearing area 10 in the acute - angled point of the triangle , can thereby be slightly interlaced if required and therefore parallel to each other , with the third bearings areas 10 of each transmission element 4 projecting in each instance over the central axis m , from their peripheral areas of the second straight section 14 . where there are more than two transmission elements 4 , these are preferably disposed in a concentric or radial manner , with their third bearing areas 10 not projecting over the central axis m . [ 0063 ] fig2 shows a diagrammatic longitudinal section of a transmission element 4 configured as an offset plate 5 between the actuator 2 and the control member 20 , which are enclosed by a housing 30 comprising a number of parts . the oblong actuator 2 here is enclosed by a similarly oblong actuator housing 32 , which is closed off by an upper face . the actuator housing is connected non - positively or by a material fit to an upper housing part 34 , which in turn is connected positively , non - positively or by a material fit to a pedestal - type lower housing 36 . the housing parts 32 , 34 , 36 are preferably made of steel , as a certain rigidity is required due to the actuator motion . [ 0064 ] fig1 b shows a variant of the arrangement according to fig1 a , in which the central axis m of the actuator 2 and the central axis m of the control member 20 are not coincident but are offset by a third lever arm c . this variant is preferably suitable for the use of only one transmission element 4 between the actuator 2 and the control member 20 . the actuator 2 can hereby be configured in a stepped manner to form a second bearing area 8 , as shown in fig1 b . the remainder of the structure corresponds to that of fig1 a . as can be seen from fig2 the offset plate 5 rests with its first bearing area 6 of the second straight section 14 on an edge of a support element 40 ( see fig5 ), which comprises a base side 42 with the contour of a quadrant segment and a peripheral section 44 perpendicular to this . the base side 42 rests with its flat lower side on a circular disk element 46 , which comprises a central recess to allow the control member 20 to pass through and for its part lies with its flat lower side on the lower housing part 36 . the lower face 3 of the actuator 2 is adjacent to an intermediate member 50 ( see fig6 a and 6 b ), which comprises the second bearing area 8 in respect of the plate 5 on its substantially flat lower side . the intermediate member 50 lies with its upper side connected positively to the lower face 3 of the actuator 2 and in turn forms the second bearing area 8 in respect of the transmission element 4 or the second bearing area 8 in respect of the two or more transmission elements 4 on its lower side . as can be seen in fig3 a , which shows a detailed section of the diagrammatic representation of the principles according to fig1 the second bearing area 8 and the first bearing area 6 are each configured as a raised edge , each of which preferably has a height of approx . 200 μm above the lower side 52 of the intermediate member ( bearing area 8 ) or the upper side of the peripheral section 44 ( bearing area 6 ). these raised edges are preferably rounded in a hemispherical manner and each bring about linear contact with the offset plate 5 at a defined bearing edge in each instance . with the significant control forces occurring during operation due to the actuator travel , this prevents flattening of the flat lower side 52 of the intermediate member 50 or the flat upper side of the peripheral section 44 of the support element , which would otherwise be subject to plastic deformation or material degradation , which would result in a slow migration of the bearing areas 6 , 8 and therefore displacement of the effective lever articulations . the defined rotation through an angle α about the approximately constant point of rotation of the first bearing area 6 can be seen in both fig1 and fig3 . the bearing area 8 here is subject to minimal displacement due to the very short first lever arm a and the relatively small angle α . assignment of the two bearing areas 6 and 8 on one plane means there is minimal rotational motion in the contact points . the third bearing area 10 between the first straight section 12 of the offset lever 5 and the upper side of the control member 20 is subject to relatively the largest displacement . as can be seen in fig3 b , which shows a variant of the embodiment according to fig3 a , the second bearing area 8 and the first bearing area 6 are each configured as raised edges on the transmission element 4 . the raised edges each project by a height of approx . 200 μm above the first straight section 12 ( bearing area 8 ) or the second straight section 14 ( bearing area 6 ) of the offset transmission element 4 . the raised edges each bring about linear contact with the lower side 52 of the actuator 2 or with the control member 20 . with the significant control forces occurring during operation due to the actuator travel , this prevents flattening of the flat lower side 52 of the intermediate member 50 or the flat upper side of the peripheral section 44 of the support element , which would otherwise be subject to plastic deformation or material degradation , which would result in a slow migration of the bearing areas 6 , 8 and therefore displacement of the effective lever articulations . the defined rotation through an angle α about the approximately constant point of rotation of the first bearing area 6 can be seen in both fig1 and fig3 . because of the very short first lever arm a and the relatively small angle α , the bearing area 8 is subject to minimal displacement . assignment of the two bearing areas 6 and 8 on one plane means there is minimal rotational motion in the contact points . the third bearing area 10 between the first straight section 12 of the offset lever 5 and the upper side of the control member 20 is subject to relatively the largest displacement . [ 0071 ] fig4 shows a perspective representation of the offset plate 5 of the transmission element 4 , which shows a triangular contour in longitudinal cross - section . the first straight section 12 with the second lever arm b passes via a step formed between the second bearing area 8 and the first bearing area 6 into the second straight section 14 . the plate 5 is preferably forged from a steel material and then ground , to ensure optimum wear resistance even during long - term operation . the plate 5 can if necessary also be milled , although a forged part has the advantage of more favorable fiber orientation for operating strength in the material . the surfaces , which later form the first , second and third bearing areas 6 , 8 , 10 , are preferably ground , resulting on the one hand in an ideally smooth surface structure and on the other hand , depending on the contact pressure of the grinding wheels , so that the required compression and therefore surface area toughness can be achieved in the material . [ 0072 ] fig5 shows a perspective representation of the support element 40 between the plate 5 and the control member 20 , which is preferably also milled or cold or hot formed from a steel material and has ground surfaces . on the base plate 42 , which forms a quadrant segment , a peripheral section 44 is provided peripherally at a right angle , on the surface of which the approx . 200 μm raised edge is provided to form the first bearing area 6 . [ 0073 ] fig6 a shows a perspective representation of the intermediate member 50 between the actuator 2 and the transmission element 4 , which is preferably also milled or forged from a steel material and has ground surfaces . viewed from above ( see fig6 b ), the intermediate member 50 has the contour of a quadrant and is provided on its upper side 54 with a spigot 56 , which has the contour of a quarter ellipse ( see fig6 b ) with a flat surface . on its lower side is the intermediate member with the raised edge forming the second bearing area 8 , said edge being preferably rounded and having a height of approx . 200 μm . the raised spigot 65 is at the side of the actuator 2 , the lower side 3 of which rests in a planar manner on the upper side 54 of the intermediate member 50 . [ 0074 ] fig7 shows a diagrammatic representation of the principles of an embodiment of the device according to the invention , in which two lever devices are connected in series . the device shown comprises a first , substantially plate - shaped , transmission element 104 , which is disposed perpendicular to the direction of excursion l of an actuator 102 . the first transmission element 104 or the plate 105 has a first bearing area 106 , which is assigned to a first counter bearing 107 formed in a housing 130 . the first transmission element 104 also comprises a second bearing area 108 , which is assigned to the actuator 102 . a third bearing area 110 of the first transmission element 104 is assigned to a second transmission element 160 , which will be described below . the first transmission element 104 comprises a ( slightly ) convex surface 174 , the form of which can be defined for example by grinding . the second bearing area 108 is hereby formed by the highest area . the lower side of the first transmission element 104 comprises a recess 176 , which allows relative motion between the first transmission element 104 and the housing 130 . this relative motion is produced , when the actuator 102 acts in the second bearing area 108 of the first transmission element 104 . a second transmission element 160 , which can be configured with a structure identical to that of the first transmission element 104 , comprises a fourth bearing area 162 , which is assigned to a second counter bearing 172 , which is provided in the housing 130 . the second transmission element also comprises a fifth bearing area 164 , which is provided in the highest area of the convex surface 178 . a sixth bearing area 168 is assigned to a control member 120 to be activated . in order to ensure the clearance required for relative motion between the second transmission element 160 and the housing 130 , a recess 180 is provided on the lower side of the second transmission element 160 . recesses or graduations 182 are also provided in the housing 130 to allow the respective relative motions . the first transmission element 104 comprises a first ( short ) lever arm a 1 and a second ( long ) lever arm b 1 . similarly the second transmission element 160 comprises a first ( short ) lever arm a 2 and a second ( long ) lever arm b 2 . a downward excursion of the actuator 102 is transmitted by the structure shown to the control member 120 , by the third bearing area 110 of the first transmission element 104 first being deflected according to the ratio of a 1 and b 1 . the third bearing area 110 of the first transmission element 104 thereby acts on the fifth bearing area 164 of the second transmission element 160 and deflects the second transmission element 160 . the sixth bearing area 168 of the second transmission element 160 thereby acts on the control member 120 and deflects this according to the size of the excursion of the actuator 102 and the lengths of the lever arms a 1 , b 1 , a 2 and b 2 . the two - step lever device shown allows a large lever action without taking up much space . of course more than two lever steps can be provided , if required . with the embodiment shown the central axis m of the actuator and the central axis m of the control member coincide , which is a requirement in many cases . the central axes m and m thereby pass through the second bearing area 108 and the sixth bearing area 168 . a preferred translation ratio of the excursion of the actuator 102 to the excursion of the control member 120 is approximately 1 : 5 . an example of the dimensions of the respective lever arms is a 1 = a 2 = 2 . 4 mm and b 1 = b 2 = 3 . 6 mm . [ 0075 ] fig8 shows a diagrammatic representation of the principles of an embodiment of the device according to the invention , in which the relative motion between the transmission elements and the housing is achieved by rolling . with this embodiment of the device according to the invention , an actuator 2 , which is only partially shown , acts on two transmission elements 4 , which are disposed opposite each other . the transmission elements 4 comprise first and second lever arms a and b , the lengths of which determine the translation ratio of the excursion of the actuator 2 to the excursion of the control member 20 . both transmission elements 4 comprise a first bearing area 6 , which is assigned to a respective counter bearing 170 . both transmission elements 4 also comprise a second bearing area 8 , which is assigned to the actuator 2 . third bearing areas 10 of the two transmission elements 4 are assigned to the control member 20 . in the embodiment shown in fig8 the counter bearings 170 comprise two drums 62 , which are supported in a rotatable but fixed manner in the housing 30 . the drums 62 form rounded sections 58 , which interact with rounded sections 60 forming recesses in the transmission elements 4 so that the relative motion between the housing 30 and the transmission elements 4 is a rolling motion . the geometry of the recesses in the transmission elements 4 here is preferably adapted to the geometry of the drums 62 . the relative motion between the actuator 2 and the transmission elements 4 is achieved by sliding in the area of the second bearing area 8 . the embodiment shown in fig8 thereby minimizes losses , which occur due to relative motion between the transmission elements 4 and the housing 30 . [ 0076 ] fig9 shows a diagrammatic representation of the principles of an embodiment of the device according to the invention , in which the relative motion between two transmission elements and the housing is achieved by a combination of rolling and translation . the structure of the embodiment of the device according to the invention shown in fig9 corresponds , apart from the differences described below , to the structure according to fig8 . in the embodiment shown in fig9 however , the counter bearings 170 comprise separate elements 64 , which are supported in a movable manner in the housing 30 . the separate elements 64 have a rounded section 58 on their upper side , with a hemispherical cross - section in the case shown . these rounded sections 58 interact with rounded sections 60 , which are formed by ( small ) recesses in the transmission elements 4 . in this case too the geometry of the rounded sections 58 and the rounded sections 60 should preferably be coordinated . the rounded sections 58 , 60 allow the transmission elements to roll , while the sliding of the separate elements 64 in the housing 30 allows a translatory motion . relative motion between the actuator 2 and the transmission elements 4 is also achieved in this embodiment by sliding , whereby the relative motion between the actuator 2 and the transmission elements 4 can be dispensed with in the embodiment shown in fig9 as in the embodiment according to fig8 . both in the embodiment according to fig8 and the embodiment according to fig9 the surfaces of the separate elements 62 , 64 of the sections of the housing 30 coming into contact with these and the transmission elements 4 are preferably such that low friction values are achieved . the same applies to the surfaces in contact in the area of the second bearing area 8 . although not shown , similar results can also be achieved , if the rounded areas are not formed by separate elements 62 , 64 but form a single part with the transmission elements 4 or the housing 30 , for example in the form of suitable projections . the transmission element according to the invention can advantageously be used to active a servo - valve in a fuel injector , as the relatively small linear excursions of a piezoactuator here can effectively be converted to longer travel to regulate a valve . the transmission element according to the invention is therefore suitable both for what is known as a common rail injector in a high - pressure storage type injection system and for what is known as a pump - nozzle injector , in which the injection pressure is generated with every power stroke by means of a high - pressure pump assigned to each injector . it is evident to the person skilled in the art that the invention is not restricted in design to the preferred embodiments outlined above . instead further variants are also conceivable , which make use of the solution presented even with fundamentally different types of design and are therefore covered by the invention . | 8 |
referring to fig1 a - 1c , a condiment package 110 is shown in its sealed configuration , according to one embodiment . in fig1 a , the frontal perspective view illustrates two visible components of package 110 comprising planar member 112 and flexible membrane cover 114 . the planar member 112 is shown in a roughly egg - or fan - shaped profile , according to one embodiment . in other embodiments , this profile might be circular , rectangular , or a shape optimized for gripping , dispensing , and spreading the contents . additionally , in order to perform these functions the planar member 112 should provide a rigid or semi - rigid backbone for the package 110 . as such it should be of appropriate thickness and made from a durable , lightweight material such as plastic . elevated features to assist in single - hand operation , such as grip 130 , may in one embodiment be incorporated into the planar member 112 . the flexible cover 114 is shown sealed to region 120 of the visible planar surface 112 . note that only a portion of the cover 114 is sealed to the planar member 112 , leaving a portion free to grip and remove to open the reservoir and dispense the package contents . the region 120 might , in one embodiment , be elevated above the planar member 112 to provide a definitive sealing surface and help the user to grip the un - sealed portion of the flexible cover 114 . the planar member 112 also comprises a distal edge 118 and distal surface 126 , both of which provide a spreading and manipulating feature for the contents of the package . fig1 b shows the condiment package 10 from the opposing rear perspective view . again , the package 110 is shown in the as - sealed configuration , with flexible membrane reservoir 116 forming a dome or pouch which will hold the contents of the package between its inner surface and the planar member 112 . the flexible reservoir membrane 116 is shown with a perimeter that is roughly circular in one embodiment . in other embodiments , the perimeter may be oval , elliptical , rectangular or another shape suitable for forming a reservoir to hold material . this perimeter is sealed to the surface of the planar member 112 in a permanent fashion . the reservoir membrane 116 must be flexible enough to be deformed for the purpose of expelling the contents while at the same time be rigidly fixed to planar member 112 such that it cannot be removed after manufacture . accordingly , this membrane can be made of flexible plastic , foil , mylar or a similar material . in the figure , the distal edge 118 of the planar member 112 is shown with a row of serrations 128 . these serrations are shown on one side only , but in other embodiments could be present on both sides of planar member 112 . the serrations 128 allow package 110 to be utilized as a cutting tool as well as a dispensing and spreading tool . fig1 c shows a side profile view of the package 110 , illustrating the linear and thin aspects of the planar member 112 . the flexible membrane 116 is shown sealed to one side of the planar member 112 , forming a protruding reservoir of ample volume to hold the contents . flexible cover 114 is shown partially sealed to the opposing side of planar member 112 , with a small portion unsealed to provide easier removal during use . distal edge 118 is shown to terminate in a sharp edge in one embodiment , which may help facilitate the spreading and cutting functionality of the package 110 . in fig1 d , the package 110 is shown in the exploded pre - sealed state from the rear perspective view . here all three components can be clearly distinguished -- the rigid planar member 112 , the flexible cover 114 used to form the removable seal , and the flexible membrane 116 used to form the sealed condiment reservoir . a hole 124 extends through the planar member 112 . the circular perimeter of the dome - shaped reservoir membrane 116 will seal approximately as shown along the dashed lines of region 122 . the shape of this region will depend on the specific shape of the perimeter of reservoir membrane 116 , but generally this perimeter and seal region 122 will fully surround opening 124 . when assembled , reservoir membrane 116 will thus form a reservoir that can be filled with condiment through opening 124 , be fully sealed with flexible cover 114 for storage and transport , and be used to dispense condiment through opening 124 when flexible cover 114 is removed during use . referring now to fig1 e , the package 110 is shown in the exploded pre - sealed state from the frontal perspective view . in this view , the internal concave surface of reservoir membrane 116 is clearly seen . once sealed to planar member 112 , this surface will form the reservoir to hold the contents of the package . additionally , the perimeter region 132 of membrane 116 is shown . this region , which can vary in shape and cross - sectional thickness , will form one part of the permanent seal . the position of the opening 124 is shown with respect to the seal region 120 of the flexible cover 114 . when sealed , this membrane will cover opening 124 and provide an aseptic barrier for the contents of the package . a detailed view of the distal section of planar member 12 is shown in fig1 f . this view provides a closer look of the serrations 128 along distal edge 118 . as mentioned previously , these serrations allow the package 110 to perform the additional functions of a cutting and spreading utensil . fig2 shows a package 210 , according to an alternative embodiment . in the embodiment illustrated , the single opening 124 of the previously described embodiment is replaced with an array of holes 224 . these holes can be of varying size or shape and can arranged in varying patterns , as long as each feature extends all the way through the rigid planar member 212 and is fully surrounded by the perimeter seal of the flexible membrane reservoir 216 . additionally , the flexible cover 214 is shown modified to fully cover the array of holes 224 . ideally , the pattern would serve to optimally dispense and spread the contents using the distal portion 226 of the planar member 212 . in fig3 , a frontal view of a package 310 is shown , according to another alternative embodiment . in this embodiment , the flexible cover 314 is shaped so as to extend the sealed region down to the distal edge 318 of the rigid planar member 312 . the flexible cover 314 would be sealed distally , with an unsealed region above region 320 that provides a pull - tab for removal . this extended flexible cover 314 , when removed , leaves a larger uncontaminated region for dispensing and spreading the contents of the package . this is especially advantageous for a single - use sealed condiment package application , since transport and storage are often performed in uncontrolled , potentially contaminated conditions . referring to now to fig4 a - 4d , which illustrate the package 410 in multiple stages of use . fig4 a depicts the first stage of use , wherein the user &# 39 ; s hand h is shown removing the flexible cover 414 from the sealed region 420 of planar member 412 . the unsealed portion of flexible cover 414 is presented as a means to grip between the thumb and index finger . when pulled in the direction of the arrow , removal of flexible cover 414 provides access to opening 424 and the condiment reservoir . in fig4 b , the package 410 is shown in use , with its contents being dispensed . in this figure , the flexible cover 414 has been removed , leaving the opening 424 unsealed . with single handed operation from user h , a pressure — indicated by arrows — is applied to the flexible membrane 416 with the index , middle , or any combination of fingers while the package 410 is gripped with the thumb in contoured region 430 . pressing downward and toward the distal end 418 , the entire contents 438 of the package can be expelled from the flexible membrane reservoir 416 through opening 424 . referring now to fig4 c , the condiment package 410 is shown being utilized in a spreading capacity . here the user h grips the package 410 and dispenses contents 438 distally as illustrated in fig4 b while moving the package in the transverse along the spreading substrate — in this case bread b . the distal spreading surface 426 and distal edge 418 provide a means to evenly spread the contents 438 onto the substrate . finally , in fig4 d , the package 410 is shown in use as a cutting device . with the grip demonstrated in fig4 b - 4c , the user h can use the distal edge 418 to cut or manipulate food item b . the addition of serrations 128 as in fig1 f can assist in this cutting functionality . | 1 |
in fig1 , reference numeral 10 generally indicates a process , in accordance with the invention , by which adhesive is applied to a sheet 11 as the sheet 11 passes through a printer incorporating an adhesive applicator . a driving station d drives the sheet 11 in the direction of an arrow 32 . the driving station d comprises a pair of opposed pinch rollers 12 . the sheet 11 is driven through a printing station p and then an adhesive application station a . alternatively , the adhesive application station a precedes the printing station p . however , it is preferred that the adhesive application station a follow the printing station p so that adhesive on the sheet 11 does not clog a print head or print heads of the printing station p . for single sided sheet printing , the printing station p comprises a single print head 13 . the print head 13 is a pagewidth drop - on - demand ink jet print head . alternatively , the print head 13 is that of a laser printer or other printing device . if the sheet 11 is to be printed on both sides , a pair of opposed print heads 13 are provided . it will be appreciated that in an embodiment where the print heads 13 are ink jet print heads , wet ink 15 on the sheet 11 could pass through the adhesive application station a . this could result in smudging and distortion of the print on the sheet 11 . thus , the printer incorporates an air cushion application means that is configured to be positioned on either side of the sheet 11 as it passes through the printing station p . the print head 13 defines an airflow path or gap 14 through which air can pass to generate the air cushion . it will be appreciated that the air serves to dry the ink . the adhesive application station a can comprise an adhesive applicator 16 at one or both sides of the sheet 11 , depending upon which side or sides of the sheet to which adhesive is to be applied . as shown in fig2 , the sheet 11 having matter printed thereon by printing station p also includes a strip 17 of adhesive applied at the adhesive application station a . the strip 17 is positioned adjacent to a leading edge 27 of sheet 11 . the application of strip 17 adjacent to the leading edge 27 is suitable for those situations where the adhesive applicator does not touch the sheet 11 , or touches the sheet 11 at a velocity accurately matching that of the sheet 11 as it passes the adhesive application station a . alternatively , the strip 17 is applied adjacent to a trailing edge 28 of the sheet 11 . this is more suited to adhesive applicators that make physical contact , such as brushing , with the sheet 11 as it passes the adhesive application station a . a margin 29 between the strip 17 and edge 27 or 28 of sheet 11 is 1 to 2 . 5 mm wide . various methods of applying adhesive to the sheet 11 are envisaged , some of which are schematically depicted in fig3 . method 1 in fig3 is a non - contact method of applying adhesive to the moving sheet 11 . in this method , a stationary adhesive applicator 16 sprays adhesive on to one side of the sheet 11 as it passes the adhesive applicator 16 . the adhesive applicator 16 is formed integrally with the print head 13 . instead , the adhesive applicator is located upstream or downstream with respect to the print head 13 . method 2 also applies adhesive to one side of the moving sheet 11 . however , in this method , an adhesive applicator 16 . 1 touches the sheet 11 while applying the adhesive . the adhesive applicator 16 . 1 is pivotally mounted about a fixed pivot point and is pivoted so that a tangential speed of the applicator matches a speed at which the sheet 11 passes through the adhesive application station a . a reaction roller 30 bears against an underside of the sheet 11 as the adhesive applicator 16 . 1 applies adhesive to the sheet 11 . method 3 applies adhesive to both sides of the sheet 11 as it passes through the adhesive application station a . a pair of opposed , pivotally mounted adhesive applicators 16 . 2 are pivoted so that a tangential speed of the applicators matches a speed at which the sheet 11 passes through the adhesive application station a . thus , the applicators 16 . 2 both touch the sheet 11 simultaneously and mutually counteract each other &# 39 ; s force component normal to the sheet 11 . method 4 employs a pair of adhesive applicator rollers 16 . 3 spaced from either side of the sheet 11 until activated to apply adhesive . at that point , the rollers 16 . 3 move toward and touch the sheet 11 , leaving the strip of adhesive 17 at either side of the sheet 11 . the rollers 16 . 3 mutually counteract each other &# 39 ; s force component normal to sheet 11 . method 5 employs a pair of adhesive spray applicators 16 . 4 positioned on each side of the sheet 11 . the applicators 16 . 4 do not touch the sheet 11 . each applicator 16 . 4 applies one part of a two - part adhesive to a respective side of the sheet 11 so as to apply strips 17 a and 17 b . like method 1 , method 5 employs an adhesive applicator formed integrally with the print head 13 . a channel for the flow of one part of a two - part adhesive is provided in each print head 13 . the use of a two - part adhesive is beneficial in situations where there might be some delay in the printing / binding operation . the reason for this is that the two part adhesive requires mixing in order for setting to occur . thus , if there were a computer software or hardware malfunction partway through a printing / binding operation , the use of a two - part adhesive could provide sufficient time within which to rectify the problem and complete the binding process . fig4 illustrates a stack of sheets 11 with all but the top sheet provided with an adhesive strip 17 at an upper surface adjacent one edge to be bound . an alternative is depicted in fig5 wherein all but the bottom sheet has an adhesive strip 17 applied to its bottom surface adjacent an edge to be bound . in fig6 , a stack of sheets is shown with a part 17 a of a two - part adhesive applied to the upper surface of all but the top sheet 11 and a second part 17 b of the two - part adhesive applied to the bottom surface of all but the bottom sheet 11 . when the stacks of sheets of fig4 and 5 are pressed together , adhesion of the sheets occurs as a result of mixing of the parts 17 a and 17 b . when the sheets 11 of fig6 are pressed together , the respective parts of the two - part adhesive in strips 17 a and 17 b combine so as to react and set . in an embodiment where the print head 13 is an ink jet print head , and non - contact adhesive application methods 1 and 5 are employed , the adhesive strip 17 is applied to sheet 11 before ink on the sheet 11 passing through the adhesive application station 10 has dried . air passing through the air gap 14 accelerates the drying process . adhesive is applied to the sheet 11 as it passes out of the print head 13 . the air passing through the gap 14 facilitates a relatively high velocity of the sheet 11 , even though the adhesive strip 17 is applied to the sheet 11 . when the strip 17 is applied alongside the leading edge 27 of the sheet 11 , any alteration to the velocity of sheet 11 would adversely affect print quality . hence , application of the adhesive strip 17 alongside the leading edge 27 is carried out using non - contact adhesive application methods or methods where the velocity of the adhesive applicator touching the sheet 11 is substantially the same as that of the sheet 11 . when the adhesive strip 17 is applied alongside the trailing edge 28 of the sheet 11 , the same situation is also desirable . for example , if the speed of the adhesive applicator of methods 2 to 4 was faster than that at which the sheet 11 was passing the print head 13 , the sheet 11 could buckle . a particular embodiment of the present invention incorporates the use of a two - part adhesive . further , in this embodiment , the adhesive applicators are positioned within the print heads 13 themselves . thus , the print head 13 defines at least one passage for the flow of adhesive through the print head 13 . the advantage of this embodiment is that it would provide space and cost saving benefits . the likelihood of adhesive “ gumming ” and blocking such channels is diminished where a two - part adhesive is used . this is achieved by having only one part of the two - part adhesive passing through any particular channel or channels of the print head 13 . where respective parts of a two - part adhesive are applied to opposed sides of the sheets 11 , those respective parts pass through dedicated channels in the respective print heads 13 on either side of the sheet 11 . this greatly reduces the likelihood of adhesive blockages in the flow channels . the adhesive or respective parts of a two - part adhesive can be provided in a chamber of a replaceable ink cartridge providing ink to the print head . the print head 13 is positioned proximate the pinch rollers 12 . the reason for this is that the rollers 12 provide a mechanical constraint upon the sheet 11 to enable accurate printing . the pinch rollers 12 , print heads 13 and adhesive applicator 16 are illustrated in fig7 alongside a sheet support tray 18 . thus , the sheet support tray 18 receives sheets 11 once the adhesive strips 17 have been applied to the sheets 11 . the tray 18 is suspended from a frame 21 with respective dampers 22 at each corner of the tray 18 . the dampers 22 are elastomeric dampers or small hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders . the floor of the tray 11 has a lower - most corner 23 beneath which a vibrator 19 is positioned . the vibrator 19 is a subsonic vibrator ( i . e . a vibrator having a frequency below 20 hz ) or an out - of - balance electric motor . a binding press 20 is situated above the tray 18 over aligned leading edges of the sheets 11 , in use . alternatively , the binding press 20 is positioned over the trailing edge 28 of the sheets 11 . in fig8 , a first sheet 11 is shown moving towards the tray 18 . the sheet 11 has a strip of adhesive 17 on its upper surface adjacent the leading edge 27 . it will be appreciated that the sheet 11 catches a pocket of air beneath it as it moves into position . this facilitates such movement by reducing friction substantially . the leading edge 28 then strikes a wall 31 of the support tray 18 as shown in fig9 . the vibrations of the tray 18 caused by the vibrator 19 results in the sheet 11 coming to rest with the leading edge 27 positioned adjacent the corner 23 of the tray 18 as shown in fig1 . eventually , the leading edges 27 of the sheets 11 bear against the wall 31 of the tray 18 as shown in the drawings . in fig1 , a second sheet 11 is shown moving towards the tray 18 . the second sheet 11 comes to rest upon the first sheet 11 in a position aligned with the first sheet 11 as depicted in fig1 . if the sheets 11 have the adhesive strip 17 applied to the upper surface , the final sheet 11 is provided without any adhesive and it comes to rest at the top of the stack as depicted in fig1 . if , instead , the majority of sheets 11 had the adhesive strip 17 applied to their bottom surface , the first sheet 11 ( i . e . the sheet at the bottom of the stack ) would have no adhesive applied to it . this would be suitable for multiple binding compressions . as shown in fig1 , the binding press 20 is driven downwardly towards the stack of sheets 11 over the aligned adhesive strips 17 . the stack is then compressed into a bound volume 24 as shown in fig1 . it should be noted that no subsequent edge trimming of the bound volume is required provided standard - sized sheets 11 are used . the reason for this is that the vibrator 19 aligns the sheets 11 into the lower - most corner 23 of the tray 18 as described earlier . in fig1 and 18 , multiple volumes 24 are shown stacked one upon another with the upper - most volumes being progressively compressed by repeated applications of the press 20 . the binding press 20 is shown schematically in the figures and could be pneumatically or hydraulically driven , or could be driven by other mechanical means such as rack and pinion , electrical solenoid or otherwise . one embodiment of the binding press 20 is depicted in fig2 , 21 and 22 . in this embodiment , the binding press 20 incorporates a plurality of semicircular disks 34 each spaced apart , but fixedly mounted to a common , rotatably driven shaft 36 extending along an axis of rotation 26 . each disk 34 passes through a respective vertical slot 32 formed in the wall 31 of the tray 18 . in an initial condition , the disks 34 are in the orientation shown in fig2 . upon rotation of the shaft 36 , the disks 34 pivot into a position shown in fig2 and 22 to press down upon the sheets 11 . the tray 18 is provided with a floor of adjustable height so that a top sheet 11 can be positioned proximate the binding press 20 . this reduces noise levels by minimizing a stroke length of the binding press 20 . the floor of the tray 18 is driven to move downwardly as each sheet 11 is fed into the tray 18 . this ensures that the top sheet 11 remains at a constant level . this also minimizes the extent of necessary movement of the binding press 20 . in the embodiment in which the adhesive strips 17 are applied alongside the trailing edge 28 , the trailing edges 28 are pressed together with a pressing mechanism 38 provided in a position opposite the wall 31 . | 8 |
referring to the figures , there are shown several prior art hinges and one , but not the only , embodiment of the invented self - closing hinge 100 . the preferred embodiment 100 of the invented self - closing hinge , as shown best in fig2 c , 3 a , 3 b , 6 and 7 , comprises fitting of an upper cam 2 inside of a lower cam 3 , the lower cam 3 being formed into a generally cylindrical cup with an outwardly - extending flange 31 that hangs on a shelf 41 built into the housing 44 of the hinge base 4 . the top surfaces of the two cams 2 , 3 are preferably coplanar with lifting surface 11 , which are near and parallel to the lower surface of the insert 8 , and the lower surface of the blade 9 portion that surrounds the insert 8 ( see fig2 c ). this way there is no gap between housing 44 and blade 9 when the door is fully closed . also , a notch 33 provided in the lower cam 3 is cut into the flange 31 , and said notch mates with a similarly - shaped portion 45 on the housing 44 so that the lower cam 3 does not rotate relative to the housing 44 . this way , because the notch is near the top of the lower cam 3 in the flange 31 ( and not placed in the lower end of the lower cam 3 ), the bottom end of the lower cam 3 and the housing 44 ( nor the base 4 ) need not contact each other and need not be mated or otherwise secured to each other . this permits the cutting away of useless material in the lower part of the housing 44 , thus , making room for the spring 5 to fit between the housing 44 and cams 2 , 3 . also , the nut 6 tightens against the washer 7 and spring 5 rather than against the housing 44 , which allows the nut 6 and washer 7 to be hidden from view within the housing 44 and covered with a plastic cap 110 . the pieces - parts of the preferred embodiment are listed below by call - out number and described , with particular reference to fig3 a , 3 b , and 4 - 7 : 1 . lift pin ( also called “ pushrod ”)— depending on the material chosen , the lift pin 1 could be sintered , machined , or injection molded , for example . the pin is made of a stronger metal than the base 4 and blade 9 to handle relatively high tensile and bending loads during operation of the hinge . the lift pin flange 14 extends radially out from the lift pin 1 to rest on a ledge 21 built into the upper cam 2 . as the door d ( see fig3 b ) is opened by a user of the door d , rotation of the blade 9 ( being the structure connecting the door to the lift pin 1 and upper cam 2 ), causes the upper cam 2 to ride up as it rotates relative to the lower cam 3 , which relative movement of the slanted cam surfaces 26 , 36 serves to lift the lift pin 1 , and , in turn , also the blade 9 and door d to a slightly higher level than when the door is closed . the lift pin 1 top end ( see the generally square end of the lift pin 1 in fig5 ) is received in the offset insert 8 that is inserted into blade 9 , and extends down through the entire hinge mechanism and attaches to the nut 6 . 2 . upper cam — the upper cam 2 is preferably injection - molded delrin ™ or another suitable material that will be understood by one of skill in the art . the upper cam 2 is constrained concentrically inside the lower cam 3 , and the upper cam inclined surfaces 26 , which are exterior bottom surfaces of the upper cam 2 , rest on the lower cam inclined surfaces 36 . the upper cam 3 turns (“ rotates ”) as the door d turns . an adaptation is made in the hinge to prevent relative rotation between the upper cam 2 and the lift pin 1 ; preferably , this is done by shaping the ledge 21 in such a way that it holds / supports the lift pin flange 14 but does not allow relative rotation between the upper cam 2 and the lift pin 1 . in the preferred embodiment , this shaping takes the form of the flange 14 having an outer surface 114 that is elliptical ( in cross - section ) rather than circular , and the inner surface 121 ( which terminates at its bottom extremity at ledge 21 , fig4 ) also being elliptical ( in cross - section ) rather than circular . the flange 14 will fit into the space above the ledge 21 , with surface 114 mating with surface 121 so that the flange 14 and the upper cam 2 will not rotate relative to each other , thus , operatively connecting the lift pin to the upper cam . other non - circular surface shapes for surface 114 and surface 121 could also be used , but this simple elliptical shaping is very effective . the upper cam 2 is preferably made of delrin ™ because of self lubricating qualities of that material . 3 . lower cam — the lower cam 3 is preferably injection - molded delrin ™, because of self - lubricating properties , or other suitable material that will be understood by one of skill in the art . the lower cam 3 rests on a ledge 41 built into the housing 44 , with notch 33 in flange 31 mating with portion 45 of the housing 44 in such a way that rotation is not allowed between the lower cam 3 and the housing 44 . the inclined surface 36 of the lower cam 3 is located at the interior bottom of the cup shape of the lower cam 3 , said cup shape providing a radial constraint for the upper cam 2 . 4 . base — the base 4 provides containment for the various components of the preferred hinge and an anchor structure for connection to the freezer body or other door frame structure surrounding the door . the base 4 may be injection molded zinc alloy , or other suitable material that will be understood by one of skill in the art . the base 4 comprises a plate 43 for attachment to said freezer / body or door frame , and a generally cylindrical housing 44 , protruding out from the plate 43 , that encloses the cam and spring mechanism . in preferred embodiments , the plate 43 connects to the external freezer body wall with three machine screws . 5 . spring — preferably , the spring 5 component can be purchased from a custom hardware manufacturer for cost savings . the spring 5 fits concentrically around the lower cam 3 and within the housing portion 44 of the base 4 . when the door d is opened , the spring 5 is compressed between the stationary underside 42 of the ledge within the housing portion 44 and the washer 7 that is connected to and rises with the lift pin 1 . thus , when the door d is opened , the blade 9 rotates together with the upper cam 2 and the lift pin 1 ( with no relative movement between these parts ), and so the lift pin 1 ( being raised by the cam surfaces as the slanted cam surfaces slide relative to each other to “ separate ,” lengthening the overall length of the cam system ) compresses the spring 5 . this compression of the spring 5 provides a bias that urges the reverse operation , that is , rotation of the upper cam 2 with the lift pin 1 in the opposite direction to a position where the cam surfaces slide relative to each other to be “ back together ” ( shortening the overall length of the cam system ). in addition , by adjusting the position of the nut 6 and washer 7 on the bottom end of the lift pin 1 , various amounts of compression of the spring may be provided even when the hinge is in the door - closed position . 6 . nut — this may be a common nut , as in a cooperating nut and bolt . the nut 6 retains washer 7 by threading onto the end of the lift pin 1 . this nut 6 is preferably hidden from view by being received inside the lower end of the housing 44 and covered by lower cap 110 . 7 . washer — this component can be purchased from a custom hardware manufacturer for cost savings . the washer fits concentrically over the end of the lift pin 1 , and is secured between the lower end of the spring and the nut via the threaded connection of the nut 6 to the lift pin 1 . the washer 7 serves to compress the spring , as the lift pin 1 rises due to the cam action . adjusting the initial spring 5 compression ( present prior to opening of the door ) may be done by threading the nut ( and sliding the washer ) farther up on the lift pin . 8 . offset insert — for longevity and safety , a cast steel might be best for the offset insert 8 , but injection - molded zinc alloy or similar substitute may also suffice . the offset insert 8 fits into the blade 9 . as shown to best advantage in the schematic top view of fig3 d and 3e , the offset insert 8 comprises multiple square cutouts 181 , 182 , 183 , 184 through its body , wherein the lift pin upper end 13 may be inserted into any of said square cutouts so that the outer , square ( in cross section ) pin end 13 will mate with the chosen cutout for operative connection of the insert 8 to the pin ( via end 13 ). the cutouts 181 , 182 , 183 , 184 are overlapping , but , because of their shapes , the pin end 13 will not slide from cutout to cutout — rather the pin end 13 may be moved to another cutout only upon removal of the pin from , and reinsertion into , the insert 8 . the relative position of the cutouts 181 , 182 , 183 , 184 to each other allows the door to be positioned at one of four different offset positions in ¼ inch increments ( by moving the pin end 13 into the four various cutouts as may be seen in fig3 c - e , for example ). preferably , the offset insert 8 may be designed so that it can be removed from the blade and rotated 180 degrees ( illustrated by the arrow in fig3 d ) for re - insertion into the blade 9 so that the same cutouts ( now rotated 180 degrees due to the insert being rotated 180 degrees to reside in the orientation shown in fig3 e ) become available for four different offsets , thus , providing a total of eight offset positions in ⅛ inch increments . in fig3 d and 3e , this is illustrated by showing the offset insert 8 in position relative to a reference plane , whereby one may see that each cutout 181 , 182 , 183 , 184 is a different distance from the reference plane in fig3 d , and , when the insert 8 is rotated into the position in fig3 e , the four cutouts are all slightly farther from the reference plane , resulting in a total of 8 possible positions , relative to the reference plane , for the pin that will be inserted into the cutouts . this is made possible by having the set of cutouts 181 , 182 , 183 , 184 located in the insert 8 at a different distance from one perimeter edge 91 than from the opposing perimeter edge 92 , for example . upon rotation , therefore , the cutouts 181 - 184 are shifted a slight amount ( preferably ⅛ inch ) relative to a reference plane ( such as the plate 43 ), thus , providing the second set of four offset distances ( offset from the first four by ⅛ inch ). other cutout shapes besides squares may be used , with the pin end 13 being a cooperating shape . 9 . blade — the blade 9 is preferably injection - molded zinc alloy . typically , the blade is the same material and made by the same manufacturing process as the base 4 . sometimes a blade for a hinge may be called a “ strap ,” although perhaps this blade 9 is shorter than most “ straps .” the blade 9 attaches to the door with four machine screws and transmits lifting and turning force between the door and hinge . the top and bottom halves of the blade are preferably symmetrically - shaped , so that , upon removal of the upper cap 10 , the blade may be lifted up off of the lift pin 1 and housing 44 , and switched , for example , from the orientation in fig3 b to point in the opposite direction for connection to an oppositely - opening door . 10 . upper cap — this upper cap 10 may be an abs plastic molded aesthetic cover that fits inside the exposed hole in the blade ( the top end of the blade bore ). there may be a notch in the upper cap 10 to aide in removal . this cap 10 must be removed in order to transition between right and left handed operation by switching the direction of the blade 9 relative to the base 4 . 11 . lower cap — this lower cap 110 may be an abs plastic molded aesthetic cover that fits inside ( or over ) the exposed hole in the bottom of the base beneath the washer 7 and nut 6 . there may be a notch in the lower cap 110 to aide in removal . this lower cap 110 must be removed to insert , remove , or replace the spring or to adjust the initial spring compression . by removing the lower cap 110 , removing the nut 6 and washer 7 , the spring is exposed and may be easily removed and replaced . by threading the nut farther up onto the lift pin 1 ( which pushes and retains the washer farther up in the housing 44 ), the initial spring 5 compression may be adjusted ( in effect , by compressing the spring more or less to start with ). note that the preferred hinge operating parts are symmetrical about a longitudinal plane that is perpendicular to the plate 43 ( and the wall , freezer / body , or door frame to which the hinge plate 43 is attached ) to allow both right and left handed operation / movement of the hinge . preferably , the spring 5 encircles the outer surface of the lower cam 3 , so that the spring reaches up inside the housing 44 to an extent that it extends at least half way along the axial length of the lower cam 3 , and more preferably ½ - ⅔ of the way up from the bottom surface of the lower cam toward the top surface of the lower cam . as the upper cam 2 is received inside the cup - shaped structure of the lower cam 3 , one may also say that the spring preferably reaches up inside the housing 44 to a location approximately at or above the cammed surfaces of the cams 2 , 3 ( when they are in the door - closed position ). a lower portion of the spring extends down past the bottom of the lower cam 2 , to leave room between the lower cam 3 and the washer 7 for the lift pin 1 and the washer 7 and nut 6 to move when the door d opens . the spring is of greater diameter than both the lower cam 3 and the upper cam 2 , as the preferred spring fits around the outer side wall of the outermost of the cams ( here , lower cam 3 ). it may be seen that the preferred embodiments of the present invention may operate even with the spring removed but with no other hardware changes ( besides removing or eliminating the spring ), because the gravity - assist cam feature is present and operable without the spring . optionally , a spring add - on kit purchased by the consumer may contain only the spring itself , to convert a spring - less hinge according to embodiments of the invention to a spring - assisted hinge according to embodiments of the invention . it will not be visually apparent without disassembly of the hinge ( removing the lower cap 110 ) whether there is a spring present or not . the preferred hinge may be said to be a “ reverse - action spring ” hinge , because of the operation of the spring comprises the spring being compressed ( shortened ) when the cam system lengthens and the spring becoming relaxed ( lengthening , less compression ) when the cam system shortens . it is this bias of the spring that urges the cam system to shorten and , in view of the operative connections between the hinge components , to cause swinging of the blade and the door to a closed position . it may be said that , when an object is to be connected to a spring and located in the approximately the same location as that spring , the simplest connection is to mate the top of the object to the top of the spring and to mate the bottom of the spring to the bottom of the object . then , if the object elongates ( lengthens ), the spring stretches ( tension ). however , springs do not work best in this mode , and , instead , are better in compression . the inventors have made the spring in their hinge a reverse - action spring , wherein lengthening of the object to which the spring is connected causes shortening ( compression ) of the spring , rather than the opposite . the top of the present inventors &# 39 ; cam system is thus operatively connected to the bottom of their spring , and the bottom of their cam system is operatively connected to the top of the spring . in conventional devices , a spring clip may be used to connect to the outside of a spring to an object . the inventors , on the other hand , have invented a unique way of positioning and operatively connecting their reverse - action spring . as described and portrayed elsewhere in this description , this unique system comprises placing the spring substantially around the cam system , and adapting the housing / casing of the hinge components to provide a shelf on which the lower cam rests while the top of the spring abuts against ( and is compressed against ) preferably the same shelf . further , the system comprises the bottom of the spring being operatively connected to the lift pin and , hence , to the upper cam , via the washer system . in the preferred embodiments , the uppermost portions of the hinge , except for a portion of the plate 43 , is the upper cap 10 immediately on top of the blade . there is no spring above the blade and no spring sleeve , shell , or cover protruding up or down from the main body / housing of the hinge ( in other words , the preferred hinge has no exposed spring sleeve ). also , the preferred spring , which is below the blade , is entirely contained within the housing 44 , and there is no need for a spring shell or cover protruding down from the housing that contains the cams . therefore , the housing 44 has the appearance of a compact , neat , single - exterior - diameter unit , without unsightly protrusions and variations in external diameter of the main body of the hinge . although this invention has been described above with reference to particular means , materials , and embodiments , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these disclosed particulars , but extends instead to all equivalents within the scope of the following claims . | 4 |
this improved stack and bale mover , as illustrated in fig1 is mounted behind a tractor and attached to the tractor three - point hitch . the implement includes an upstanding mast 10 comprised of two transversely positioned , coplanar and parallel memebers 12 secured together at their respective end portions by end braces 14 . two pair of upstanding hitch support members 16 are secured by u - bolts 18 to the forward side of the mast . between each pair of supports 16 is secured a hitch mounting pin 20 whereupon the lower links 22 of the tractor three - point hitch is secured . a third pair of upstanding hitch support members 24 is secured midway between the other hitch supports 16 , and support a pin 26 upon which the upper link 28 of the three - point hitch is secured . lift assist assemblies 30 , essentially identical in structure , are rockably secured to each mast end brace 14 . each lift assist assembly 30 includes a lift arm 32 , an extensible and retractable power means 34 and a caster wheel assembly 36 . each lift arm 32 is rockably carried on a pin 38 mounted between the lower portion of its respective end brace 14 and a respective l - shaped mounting member 40 . pivotally secured to and extending between each end brace 14 upper portion and its respective lift arm 32 middle portion is the hydraulic cylinder 34 . at the rearward end of the lift arm 32 is rotatably secured a typical caster wheel assembly 36 . lifting tines 42 are pivotally secured by tine pins 44 between upright tine supports 46 . the tine supports are in turn fastened to plates 48 mounted on the rear surface of the mast horizontal members 12 . as best observed in fig4 a stop plate 50 is secured between the upright tine supports 46 directly above the forward portion of each tine 42 and forward of and over the tine pivotal pin 44 . this plate is located relative to the tine pivotal pin 44 such that a u - shaped tine shoe 54 fixed to the forward end of the respective tine 42 contacts the stop plate 50 when the tine 42 is raised to an angle of approximately 45 ° above horizontal . when the tine shoe 54 contacts the plate 50 , further upward rotation of the tine is prevented . the tines 42 are hollow , triangularly - shaped and tapered from their front portions to their rearward portions , with each tine 42 having a pointed tip 56 to facilitate easier entry under stacks and bales . attached to the rearward portion of the mast 10 is a boom support 58 . the boom support 58 includes two tubular members 60 secured to the rearward side of the mast 10 and a cross brace 62 therebetween . extending rearwardly from the boom support 58 and pivotally attached to the support 58 for swinging movement about a horizontally transverse axis is a boom 64 . a hydraulic cylinder 66 extends between the boom 64 and the boom support cross brace 62 . the cylinder 66 operates to swingably rotate the boom 64 . to the rearward portion of the boom 64 and supported above the tines 42 , is rockably attached a load securing or clamping means 68 for securing the load between the boom 64 and the tines 42 . the clamping means 68 includes a clamp having arch - shaped fingers 70 positioned above and transverse to the tines 42 . the clamp 68 is rockably secured at 72 to the boom 64 and is movable about both a transverse and a lateral axis . to load a stack or bale , the operator simply backs the implement up to the load , lowers the tines 42 to the ground and slidably maneuvers the tines 42 under the load . a stack or bale can be loaded with the lift assist assembly 30 either raised or lowered . the wheels should be raised when the stack or bale is on inclined ground since the tines 42 must slidably follow the ground contour and avoid digging into the ground or stack . as illustrated by the dotted lines in fig2 each tine is capable of independently pivoting about its pivotal pin 44 to slide over uneven ground or contours as they are encountered during the loading or unloading process . when the stack or bale is on level ground or elevated above the ground , the lift assist assembly 30 can be used to position the tines 42 to the proper height and to assure support for the loaded tines 42 . since the pivotable tines will not dig into the ground as readily as fixed tines , less tine and implement damage are incurred during loading operations . often a stack or bale must be transported over rough terrain or for long distances . during such transport the stack or bale is often jarred and will lose its compacted condition . to minimize this problem , the implement is provided with the clamp 68 and the lift assist wheels . the wheels serve to stabilize the tractor - implement combination and provide support for the tine platform to thereby cushion it against shocks . the wheels can also be adjusted to assure that the load rides high enough off the ground to avoid contacting bumps during transport to secure the stack or bale during transport , the clamp 68 is automatically lowered at the end of the lift cycle and the load stabilized between it and the tines . the hydraulic cylinder is sized to give optimum hold down force on any height stack or bale at full system pressure . the arch - shaped clamp allows the implement to be used for stable transport of both stacks and bales . the coupling 72 between the clamp 68 and the boom 64 permits the clamp 68 to pitch or roll to thereby grasp whatever size or shape load being transported . to unload a stack or bale requires that the lift assist wheels be raised and the tines lowered until the load is resting on the ground . the clamps automatically raises and the operator pulls the tines out from under the load . because the tines are triangular and because they are tapered , they will easily slip out of the load without sticking or binding as is often the situation with flat tines . | 0 |
the claimed devices and alternate versions 10 , 20 , 30 shown in fig1 , and 5 are comprised of a body 1 with at least one inlet tube 21 and at least one outlet tube 24 for feeding and removing products being processed . inside body 1 are mounted at least one rotor 2 , 22 having a central axis of rotation 101 and one or more stators 4 . the device 10 may be made with a two - facet rotor 2 with stators opposing each rotor face as shown in fig1 or with a one - facet rotor 22 and stator 20 as shown in fig3 and 5 . the central , i . e ., hub part 27 of the stator may be made in the form of a conical or cylindrical shell , and the peripheral part 29 in the form of a disc or frustum of a cone . in addition , apertures 6 may be made in the conical or cylindrical shell of the central part 22 of the stator . to amplify the treatment effect , the stator ( s ) may be mounted with the possibility of varying the clearance relative to the rotor and / or with the possibility of deviation from alignment of the rotor and stator . turbulizing elements 3 , 8 with either rectangular or trapezoidal cross sections may be mounted on the opposing surfaces of the rotor and stator ( s ). turbulizing elements with trapezoidal cross sections permit a substantial increase in the total area of operating clearances between the rotor and stator while preserving the same number of turbulizing elements compared to turbulizing elements with rectangular cross sections . through choke channels or apertures 6 may be made in the central part of the stator hub 27 , which enables cyclic treatment of a flowing liquid medium within the device . moreover , choking of the flowing mechanism using channels and at the inlet or outlet of the device provides various degrees of cyclicity . the peripheral part 29 of the stator may be made in the form of a disk or frustum of a cone . such a design permits it to induce forced bulk vibrations by exerting an acoustic effect on the treated flowing liquid medium . the mounting of two or more stators on one side of the rotor disk means that each of said stators , possessing individual geometric dimensions , also possesses individual acoustic properties . each of said stators operates most efficiently in its own frequency range and proves effective in its own stage of dispersion . and since the size of the phase particles is not uniform during dispersion , each group of such particles is most strongly affected by a certain stator with certain geometric characteristics . thus , the spectrum of frequencies emitted by the stator is expanded . the fabrication of stators with various stiffnesses , and consequently various intrinsic frequencies , is accomplished by manufacturing them of various materials ( metals ), various disk or cone wall thicknesses , or various coaxial cylinder thicknesses . as in the previous example , this expands the spectrum of frequencies emitted by the stator , which in turn increases the effectiveness of processes such as dispersion . mounting the stator ( s ) with the possibility 11 of varying the clearance between the rotor and stator and the amount of misalignment of the rotor and stator axes permits the selection , or each specific treated medium , of the optimal distances between the rotor and stator , at which the maximum ultrasound acoustic emissions of the vibration system of stator ( s ) and rotor are achieved , which in turn permits an increase in effectiveness of treatment of the treated medium by the vibration system of stator ( s ) and rotor , and in a process such as dispersion , produces particles of the dispersed phase with the smallest possible particle diameter for the given system and / or exerts the maximum sterilizing action on the medium . the rotor may be made in the form of a disk 2 , 22 with turbulizing elements 3 . between turbulizing elements 3 , the rotor has incisions and / or slots 9 located on the periphery of the rotor and / or along concentric circles . the disk of rotor 2 may also incorporate one or more apertures 5 , fig1 and fig2 . the apertures 5 permit passage of the medium being processed toward the gap between each rotor - stator pair in the two - facet 22 version of the apparatus . the rotor is spun using an adjustable drive , such as an electric motor , attached to the rotor shaft 7 which enables selection of the rotor speed that will produce resonance or near - resonance acoustic frequencies in the body , stator , and rotor . the central part 27 of stator ( s ) 4 can also have apertures 6 , as shown in fig1 , 7 and 8 . these apertures 6 are made such that their hydraulic resistance is greater than that of the two rotor - stator channels 14 in the two - facet version of the device . this embodiment prevents unprocessed substances from entering the outlet tube of the apparatus . stator 4 has turbulizing elements 8 and is located in body 1 with a clearance such that on each side of disk 2 there may be one , two or more stators 4 . the central part 27 of stator 4 is mounted to body 1 in the area of the rotor &# 39 ; s axis of rotation and has at least one support point 10 ( fig5 ). the attachment of stator ( s ) 4 to body 1 , as shown in fig5 and 6 , permits wide variation of the shape and type of the vibrations of stator ( s ) 4 during operation . the amplitude characteristics of the vibrations of stator ( s ) 4 are determined by preliminary calculation . there is a rotor - stator clearance adjustment means 11 . in one embodiment , the device 10 , 30 is equipped with a system for the adjustment of the gaps between the rotor 2 , 22 face and stator 4 face by variation of the thickness of spacers 11 . this passive gap regulation system is designed to compensate for the wear of turbulizers 3 , 8 and to ensure superfine processing of the medium at minimal gap sizes , if required by quality conditions imposed on the output product . the flowing liquid medium being processed passes through inlet tube 21 of the claimed device into a channel 15 a formed by the hub of stator 4 and the shaft 7 of rotor 3 . then part of the medium passes through apertures 5 into the cavity 15 b between shaft 7 and the hub 27 of stator 4 . acted upon by centrifugal forces created by the rotation of rotor 3 , the medium being processed enters the device &# 39 ; s work zone , 12 formed by rotor 3 and stator 4 . moving in the channels 14 between the rotor 2 and stators 4 , the flowing liquid medium being processed is subjected to combined action in the form of a broad - band pulsed pressure front , cavitation , and ultrasonic vibrations . the guaranteed conditions for the production of ultrasonic vibrations are provided by a special ( eccentric ) mount for the device &# 39 ; s stator ( s ) relative to the axis of the device &# 39 ; s rotor , as shown in fig4 . additional factors which contribute to the production of ultrasonic vibrations are the operation of apertures 6 in stators 4 , which because of their hydraulic resistance , regulate the level of the medium being processed in the space 15 between the stators 4 and the walls of body 1 , thereby creating variable conditions for stator vibration damping or amplification according to the physical chemical properties of the medium being processed and the purposes of its processing . at the same time , part of the flowing liquid medium in the gaps 15 between stators 4 and the walls of body 1 are further processed in the channels 14 between stator 4 and rotor 3 due to the gradual outflow through apertures 6 . the ultrasound acoustic effect of the rotor - stator vibration system on the medium is more powerful for the present device due to differences in the rotor design and the very intense mixing of the medium being processed in the zone ( s ) exposed to the acoustic effect . in a preferred rotor there are a plurality of grooves and / or through slots 9 between the turbulizers 3 which can be located on the periphery of the rotor 2 , 22 and along concentric circles on the rotor &# 39 ; s face ( s ). the incorporation of grooves and through slots permit production of active rotor components with various intrinsic vibration frequencies expanding the spectrum of resonance frequencies of the rotor as a whole . the device may be equipped with at least one additional stator mounted coaxially to the existing stator on the same side of the rotor , and the stators may be made with matching or non - matching intrinsic frequencies . the device may also be fitted with at least one additional stator mounted on the other side of the rotor and may be made with matching or non - matching intrinsic frequencies . in another embodiment two or more stators 4 , 4 a ( fig9 ) are used on the same side of the rotor disk , and that each of them can have different dimensions ( a stator 4 a located near the rotor &# 39 ; s axis of rotation is smaller than a stator located at a large diameter ), permitting the user to obtain each stator &# 39 ; s own intrinsic resonance vibration frequency . stators with smaller dimensions will have higher intrinsic vibration frequencies than stators with larger dimensions . in this embodiment , each device has two or more stators that each operate individually most efficiently in their own rotor speed range . in addition , the grooves and / or slots 9 on the rotor 2 , 22 enable construction of rotors with various intrinsic vibration frequencies . thus , the device with two or more stators located on the same side of the rotor disk , has a rotor - stator system with a wider range of intrinsic vibration frequencies . making stators of different elasticities , i . e ., of various materials with various moduli of elasticity , and also with various disk designs and shapes , also expands the spectrum of intrinsic vibration frequencies of the rotor - stator system , which makes the device more universal and enables it to process a wide range of various flowing liquid media possessing various physical properties ( viscosity , interphase surface tension , sound propagation rate in the system , dissipation of acoustic vibrations ). using the adjustable speed drive , the most efficient rotor speed can be selected to create the most intensive dispersion , and / or sterilization , and / or mixing , or a combination of these and other processes occurring in the media being processed , depending on the desired objective . in yet another embodiment mounting multiple stators on both sides of the rotor disk both increases process efficiency by increasing throughput and also expands the range of the initial stage of breakaway acoustic cavitation because the stators located on different sides of the rotor disk directly affect one another through the flowing liquid medium being processed . mounting the stator ( s ) in the body with the ability to change the distance between it and the rotor and with the ability to misalign their axes increases the effect of the rotating rotor on the stator ( s ). reducing the gap or distance between the rotor and stator , beside intensifying the processing of the flowing liquid medium , also increases the heat released into the fluid , and sharply increases the temperature of the medium being processed . so , for each specific flowing liquid medium processed , the rotor - stator clearance is selected so that high temperature does not cause changes in the liquid medium that would have adverse effects . in contrast , misaligning the stators and the rotor increases the effect of the rotating rotor on the stator ( s ), since any increase in the irregularity of the gap between the rotor and stator will increase the resulting effect of the rotor on the stator , which will in turn intensify the acoustic processes in the rotor - stator system — this also intensifies the processes occurring in the medium being processed . thus , the claimed device considerably intensifies the processes of dispersion , homogenization , mixing , and dissolution , and enables sonochemical ( acoustic chemical ) reactions and / or the aforementioned processes of pasteurization or sterilization of flowing liquid media . active mixing , combined with intense ultrasound acoustic treatment , produces favorable conditions during dispersion of solutions , for example , hydrophobic colorants , during homogenization of milk and milk products , preparation of and ultrafine emulsions and dispersions . the two aforementioned factors also have a favorable effect in pasteurization and sterilization processes , since they permit the entire treated medium to be subjected uniformly to intense acoustic effects that destroy bacteria and microorganisms . the adjustable drive permits selection of the rotor speed that produces near resonant or resonant acoustic vibration frequencies in the body , stator and rotor . the mounting of two or more stators on one side of the rotor disk , because each has different dimensions ( the stator located closer to the rotor axis is smaller than the stator located at a larger diameter ), enables each of them to produce its own intrinsic resonance vibration frequency . stators with smaller dimensions will have higher intrinsic vibration frequencies than stators with larger dimensions . in this case , the device has two or more stators , each of which separately operates most effectively in its own intrinsic rotor speed range . in addition , the incisions and / or slots on the rotor permit production of rotors having various intrinsic vibration frequencies . thus , the device under discussion , with two or more stators located on one side of the rotor disk , has a rotor - stator system with a wider spectrum of intrinsic vibration frequencies . making stators with various stiffnesses , i . e ., of various materials possessing various moduli of elasticity , and with various disk designs and shapes , also expands the spectrum of intrinsic vibration frequencies of the rotor - stator system , which makes this device more universal and permits its use for treatment of a wide range of various flowing liquid media possessing various physical properties both originally and during treatment ( viscosity , interphase surface tension , sound propagation rate in the system , dissipation of acoustic vibrations in the system , etc .). by using the adjustable drive at the acoustic vibration maximum , the most effective rotor speed can be selected , at which , depending on the objective to be accomplished , the most intense dispersion and / or sterilization , and / or mixing , or a combination of these and other processes occurring in the treated media occurs . the mounting of stators on both sides of the rotor disk permits both an increase in process efficiency through increased throughput and an expansion of the range of initial stage of breakaway acoustic cavitation because the stators located on opposite sides of the rotor disk exert a direct effect on one another through the flowing liquid medium being treated . the mounting of a stator or stators in the body with the possibility of varying the distance between them and the rotor and with the possibility of deviation from alignment between them enhances the effect of the rotating rotor on the stator ( s ). reducing the clearance ( distance ) between the rotor and stator besides amplifying the effect of treatment of the flowing liquid medium , also increases heat released into the liquid and sharply increases the temperature of the treated medium . therefore , for each specific flowing liquid medium treated , the clearance between the rotor and stator ( s ) is selected such that the high temperature does not produce changes in the liquid medium with negative consequences . the misalignment between the stator ( s ) and the rotor disk , on the other hand , intensifies the effect on the part of the rotating rotor on the stator ( s ), since any amplification or increase in the irregularity of the gap between the rotor and stator amplifies the resulting effect on the part of the rotor on the stator , which in turn intensifies the acoustic processes in the rotor and stator system . this also intensifies the processes occurring in the treated medium . thus , the claimed device enables considerable intensification of the processes of dispersion , homogenization , mixing , dissolution , and permits sonochemical reactions and / or the aforementioned processes to be performed in combination with high - performance pasteurization or sterilization . | 1 |
as can be seen in fig1 the inventive toilet flush actuator has a stem 1 on a first end of which a handle member 2 is attached . the handle member 2 can be connected to the end of the stem 1 either removably or permanently . removably connecting the handle member 2 by , for example a threaded connection , permits interchanging of different types and shapes of handle members as required by different environments and applications . instead of or in addition to the handle member 2 , other extension members 3 project from the stem 1 so as to form a recess which can receive the wrist or forearm of an individual so that the toilet can be flushed by those without the ability to actuate the toilet with their hands . the stem 1 passes through a sleeve 4 so that the second end of the stem 1 projects from the sleeve 4 . an engaging member 7 is attached to the second end of the stem 1 and is preferably in the shape of a wheel whose axis is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the stem 1 . a bracket 5 has a first end fixed to the end of the sleeve 4 from which the second end of the stem 1 projects . the bracket 5 is shaped so as to hook over the top edge of a toilet tank 9 while still permitting the tank lid 12 to be placed on top of the tank 9 . the second end of the bracket 5 has a threaded hole therein through which a set screw 6 can pass . the set screw 6 can be tightened against the inside of the tank 9 so as to secure the bracket 5 and thus the overall device . the bracket 5 is further shaped so as to maintain the sleeve 4 in a substantially vertical orientation . when the bracket 5 is mounted on the tank 9 , the engaging member 7 rests on the toilet lever 8 . the sleeve 4 has a longitudinal slot 11 in which a pin 13 , that projects orthogonally from the stem 1 , slides . the slot 11 and pin 13 serve to limit the travel of the stem 1 through the sleeve 4 . a spring 10 , such as a coil spring , is arranged in the sleeve 4 so as to be coaxial to the stem 1 . one end of the spring 10 engages the pin 13 while the other end of the spring 10 engages the bracket 5 to which the sleeve 4 is connected . the spring 10 serves to keep the pin 13 in its upper limit position against the upper end of the slot 11 . as the stem 1 is pushed down against the force of the spring 10 , the engaging member 7 pushes down the flush lever 8 of the toilet . once the flushing action of the toilet begins and the handle member 2 or extension member 3 is released , the spring 10 forces the stem 1 upward which disengages the engaging member 7 from the flush lever 8 of the toilet and allows the toilet tank 9 to refill . fig5 shows another embodiment of the invention in which the stem 1 is connected at its lower end with an elastic sleeve 14 . the elastic sleeve 14 is well suited for use with toilets that operate with pressurized water . such toilets generally have a round handle and do not have a tank . thus , it is not possible to use the first described embodiment of the present invention . in this second embodiment the elastic sleeve 14 stretches to surround the toilet handle and is held in place by the elastic forces of the sleeve 14 . the elastic sleeve 14 is also provide with an additional sleeve portion 18 that is molded to the body of the sleeve 14 so as to be perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the sleeve 14 . the additional sleeve portion 18 is dimensioned so that it must be expanded to permit the stem 1 to be placed therein . the elastic force of the additional sleeve portion 18 serves to connect the stem 1 to the elastic sleeve 14 and the elastic sleeve 14 in turn holds the stem 1 on the toilet handle . in certain situations the elastic sleeve 14 , 18 will not sufficiently hold the stem 1 in a vertical orientation . to overcome this problem , a guide member 15 is provided that has one end with an eyelet or through - hole 16 through which the stem 1 can pass . the other end 17 of the guide member 15 is then mounted to the wall of the bathroom by a , for example , a suction cup . the other end 17 of the mounting member 15 can also be mounted to the wall in other way which would be readily apparent to those skilled in the art , for example by gluing or screwing to the wall . all of the components of the above - described embodiments , with the exception of the elastic sleeve 14 , 18 , can be made of a variety of different materials based upon cost and manufacturing considerations which provide the desired physical characteristics . for example , the spring 10 can be made of either plastic or metal while the remaining components can be made of plastic , metal or wood . while the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a toilet flush actuator , it is not intended to be limited to the details shown , since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention . without further analysis , the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can , by applying current knowledge , readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that , from the standpoint of prior art , fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention . what is claimed as new and desired to be protected by letters patent is set forth in the appended claims : | 4 |
as shown in fig1 and 2 , an exemplary deboning machine 20 is illustrated and includes a compression type conveyor screw or auger 22 that operates in close proximity to a perforated frusto - conical body 24 defined as a separation chamber 25 . bone connected meat is communicated from a feed end 26 of the machine 20 to a bone discharge end 28 of the machine 20 . separation chamber 25 includes a number of perforations 30 defined in a circumferential wall of the body 24 . as rotation of auger 22 moves meat and bone material through body 24 toward discharge end 28 , meat separated from the bone material passes radially through the perforations 30 in body 24 and the remaining bone material is dispelled from machine 20 proximate bone discharge end 28 of machine 20 . a valve ring may surround the auger 22 and engage a threaded surface 32 ( fig1 , and 4 ) defined by a head frame member 34 . the valve ring creates a back pressure to provide a choke for controlling pressure within the separation chamber 25 , thereby controlling extrusion through the perforations 30 of the chamber 25 of the separated meat . it is further appreciated that the perforations 30 associated with the separation chamber 25 can be manipulated to be provided in different patterns , sizes , shapes , and / or frequency to provide variable operating pressures along a longitudinal length of the separation chamber 25 and to alter the separation performance of machine 20 . the separation chamber 25 is typically of machined heavy duty steel for withstanding the high pressures associated with the deboning operation . the perforations 30 extend between radial inner and outer surfaces of the chamber wall , and present a plurality of sharp arcuate edges which , in cooperation with the fluted turns of the auger 22 , function to strip the meat from its bone as the bone connected meat is moved progressively by the turns of the auger 22 from the feed end 26 to the bone discharge end 28 . accurate and controllable spacing between the auger 22 and the separation chamber 25 is necessary to attain proper or desired processing of the raw materials to attain a desired finish material content and consistency . accurate and controllable spacing also reduces premature and / or undesired wear of the auger 22 and / or the separation chamber 25 , with such wear being attributable to improper spacing between the auger 22 and the separation chamber 25 . commonly , during the service life of the auger 22 and / or the separation chamber 25 , it is periodically necessary to adjust the spacing between the auger 22 and the separation chamber 25 to maintain the desired characteristics of the finished product . as the auger 22 and the separation chamber 25 are commonly provided in concentrically oriented frusto - conical shapes , lateral translation of the auger 22 , or translation of the auger 22 in a direction aligned with a longitudinal axis 48 ( see fig4 ) of the auger 22 , relative to the concentrically positioned separation chamber 25 provides a uniform spacing along the longitudinal interface between the auger 22 and the separation chamber 25 . there is presently a demand for an adjustment assembly for manipulating the position of the auger 22 relative to the separation chamber 25 that is convenient to use , easy to adjust , and provides repeatable positioning of the auger 22 relative to the separation chamber 25 . referring to fig1 - 6 , machine 20 includes an auger mount assembly 40 that supports one end 44 of auger 22 relative to a support housing or head 46 of machine 20 . mount assembly 40 includes one or more bearings 50 , 52 that cooperate with an opening 54 formed in head 46 . a retainer 56 extends longitudinally through and is supported by bearings 50 , 52 and cooperates with the opening 54 so as to fix the longitudinal position of retainer 56 relative to head 46 . a longitudinal opening 58 is formed through retainer 56 and shaped to slidably cooperate with a shaft portion 60 of auger 22 . a threaded section 62 is formed along shaft portion 60 of auger 22 near end 44 . shaft portion 60 of auger 22 extends beyond an outboard directed end face 64 of retainer 56 and operatively cooperates with a nut 66 that can be engaged therewith . a number of fasteners or bolts 70 , 72 , 74 ( fig2 ) cooperate with nut 66 . fasteners 70 , 72 pass through respective openings 76 , 78 defined in nut 66 and engage respective corresponding cavities 80 , 82 defined in an outboard directed end face 64 of retainer 56 . fastener 74 is oriented in a transverse direction relative to the longitudinal axis 48 of the auger 22 and longitudinal axes of fasteners 70 , 72 , and cooperates with nut 66 , but does not otherwise interfere with or engage retainer 54 . as explained further below , fastener 74 provides a first manner of temporarily fixing the orientation of nut 66 such that nut 66 cannot rotate relative to auger 22 . a thrust plate 84 is secured to head 46 and fixes the lateral orientation of retainer 56 relative to head 46 . retainer 56 is allowed to rotate relative to head 46 , but , with respect to the direction of the longitudinal axis 48 of auger 22 , the retainer 56 is positionally fixed with respect to head 46 . retainer 56 includes a tool lip 86 that extends beyond an outboard facing sidewall 88 of thrust plate 84 . tool lip 86 is constructed to operationally cooperate with a tool such as a wrench 90 . as explained further below , the cooperation of a wrench 90 with retainer 56 , nut 66 with retainer 56 , and shaft 60 of auger 22 allows a user to repeatedly and conveniently establish a working distance or spacing , indicated by arrow 96 ( fig4 and 6 ) between flutes 100 of auger 22 and a radially internal facing surface 102 of separator chamber 25 . preferably , working distance 96 is provided as approximately ⅛ inch although other working dimensions are envisioned . with continued reference to fig1 - 6 , wrench 90 is adapted to engage tool lip 86 of retainer 56 and rotate the retainer 56 relative to the head 46 . the nut 66 is coupled to the retainer 56 via fasteners 70 , 72 and rotates with the retainer 56 . the nut 66 threads onto the threaded portion 62 of the auger 22 until the nut 66 engages the wrench 90 . a space 95 is provided by a width 94 of the wrench 90 and the space 95 is between the nut 66 and the outboard facing sidewall 88 of the thrust plate 84 . the wrench 90 is then removed from the tool lip 86 and the nut 66 can be further advanced onto the auger 22 an amount equal to the space 95 . as explained further below , when fully assembled and configured for operation , the distance associated with space 95 allows translation of auger 22 in a lateral direction out of contact engagement with internal facing surface 102 of separation chamber 25 . said in another way , space 95 defines working distance 96 associated with the position of auger 22 relative to separation chamber 25 . during assembly of machine 20 , auger 22 is introduced into separation chamber 25 from the left - hand side ( as viewed in fig4 ) such that shaft 60 passes through retainer 56 , the threaded portion 62 of auger 22 extends beyond retainer 56 , and the nut 66 can be engaged with the threaded portion 62 at a location outboard of thrust plate 84 . auger 22 is laterally translatable along the longitudinal axis 48 with respect to retainer 56 , but is rotationally supported by the retainer 56 . retainer 56 is rotatable relative to head 46 and auger 22 via manipulation of wrench 90 so as to align nut 66 for engagement of bolts 70 , 72 with openings 80 , 82 of retainer 56 . as mentioned above , wrench 90 has a thickness , indicated by arrow 94 ( fig4 and 5 ) such that wrench 90 extends in an outboard direction , or a direction toward nut 66 , beyond the end face 64 of retainer 56 so as to maintain space 95 between nut 66 and retainer 56 when nut 66 is loosely engaged with auger 22 . as explained further below , when fully assembled , space 95 defines the working distance 96 between auger 22 and separation chamber 25 . with nut 66 loosely engaged with threaded portion 62 of auger 22 , fasteners 70 , 72 may be loosely engaged with retainer 56 . nut 66 may be rotated to capture wrench 90 between nut 66 and outboard facing sidewall 88 of thrust plate 84 . rotation of wrench 90 , and thereby retainer 56 , facilitates the alignment of fasteners 70 , 72 with the respective openings 76 , 78 in nut 66 and cavities 80 , 82 in retainer 56 . with fasteners 70 , 72 loosely engaged between nut 66 and retainer 56 , rotation of wrench 90 in a tightening direction , associated with arrow 104 , advances nut 66 along the threads 62 of auger shaft 60 to translate auger 22 in a lateral direction , indicated by arrow 106 , relative to retainer 56 . said another way , rotating the wrench 90 in the direction associated with arrow 104 rotates retainer 56 and nut 66 , thereby moving the auger 22 in the direction associated with arrow 106 and into abutting engagement with surface 102 of separation chamber 25 . this abutting engagement is commonly termed “ bottoming out ” of the auger 22 relative to the separation chamber 25 . when rotation of wrench 90 can no longer advance auger 22 in the lateral direction 106 toward surface 102 due to the contact between the auger 22 and the surface 102 , machine 20 is not configured for operation as auger 22 must be backed off a desired distance from surface 102 to attain the desired working spacing 96 between the auger 22 and the surface 102 of the separation chamber 25 . operation of machine 20 requires removal of wrench 90 and the final securing of nut 66 relative to shaft 60 of auger 22 and retainer 56 , and thereby the final positioning of auger 22 relative to separation chamber 25 . slight counter - directional rotation of wrench 90 from the bottomed out orientation allows wrench 90 to be disengaged from retainer 56 . once wrench 90 has been removed , tightening of bolt 74 manipulates an internal circumference of nut 66 such that nut 66 circumferentially compresses about threaded portion 62 of shaft 60 and thereby effectively fixes the positional orientation of nut 66 relative to shaft 60 . however , at this stage of assembly , auger 22 has yet to attain the working orientation associated with spacing 96 as gap 95 still exists between nut 66 and retainer 56 . once nut 66 has been positionally fixed with respect to shaft 60 via tightening of fastener 74 , tightening of fasteners 70 , 72 moves nut 66 and auger 22 in a left - hand direction ( as viewed in fig4 and 5 ) toward and into contact with retainer 56 a distance equal to gap 95 . the dimension associated with gap 95 is translated to provide working space 96 between auger 22 and surface 102 of separation chamber 25 . referring to fig3 - 5 , a portion of nut 66 includes a slot 108 that extends in a circumferential direction around the nut 66 and at least one of the openings 76 , 78 associated with receiving fasteners 70 , 72 communicates with the slot 108 . initial tightening of the respective fastener 70 , 72 translates nut 66 and auger 22 in a direction that moves the auger 22 out of contact engagement with surface 102 of separation chamber 25 . this distance associated with gap 95 translates to the working spacing 96 between the auger 22 and the surface 102 . once nut 66 abuts retainer 56 , thereby indicating that auger 22 has achieved a desired operational working spacing 96 relative to separation chamber 25 , continued tightening of the respective fastener ( s ) 70 , 72 compresses at least an outboard oriented portion of nut 66 on an outboard side of slot 108 to drive threads 120 associated with the outboard portion of the nut 66 proximate slot 108 to a position of interfering engagement with the threads 62 auger 22 . accordingly , mount assembly 40 provides two manners of resisting movement of auger 22 relative to nut 66 when the mount assembly 40 is fully assembled : ( 1 ) the compression of the nut 66 around the threaded portion 62 of the auger by tightening fastener 74 ; and ( 2 ) the presence of the slot 108 and the associated interference created by compressing the outboard portion of the nut 66 into the threaded portion 62 of the auger 22 . in one exemplary embodiment , wrench 90 may include a graphical depiction that represents the sequential operation of nut 66 , wrench 90 , and fasteners 70 , 72 , 74 . such graphical representation may be similar to that illustrated in fig7 and may include just pictures , just text , or both pictures and text . exemplary text may include a variety of steps . for example , steps 1 - 5 may be associated with the top left illustration in fig7 and may recite : 1 ) install auger onto machine ; 2 ) install head onto machine ; 3 ) thread nut onto auger leaving ⅛ inch clearance ; 4 ; hand - tighten 2 screws into face of nut ; and 5 ) insert wrench . additionally , for example , step 6 may be associated with the top right illustration in fig7 and may recite : 6 ) turn wrench as far as possible until auger bottoms out on chamber . moreover , for example , steps 7 - 9 may be associated with the bottom left illustration in fig7 and may recite : 7 ) back out nut minimal distance so wrench can be removed ; 8 ) tighten screw in side of nut with hex key wrench ; and 9 ) remove wrench . furthermore , for example , steps 10 and 11 may be associated with the bottom right illustration and may recite : 10 ) tighten both screws in face of nut ; and 11 ) rotate auger inside head using hex key wrench . in addition to being convenient to operate , mount assembly 40 provides an auger mounting arrangement that allows convenient adjustment of the position of the auger 22 relative to the separation chamber 25 to achieve a desired spacing therebetween . that is , it is envisioned that wrenches of different thicknesses 94 could be provided which may be configured to provide a desired working spacing 96 between the auger 22 and the separation chamber 25 . any such desired working spacing 96 may be a function of the desired operation , product yield , tolerable yield product quality , material being processed , separation chamber 25 and / or auger shape and / or construction , etc . the auger mounting arrangement provides a convenient and easy to use configuration for creating a repeatable , accurate , and desirable spacing between the auger 22 and separation chamber 25 of compression type deboning machines . the abstract is provided to allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure . it is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims . in addition , in the foregoing detailed description , it can be seen that various features are grouped together in various embodiments for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure . this method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require 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 . thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description , with each claim standing on its own as a separately claimed subject matter . while various embodiments of the disclosure have been described , it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that other embodiments and implementations are possible within the scope of the disclosure . accordingly , the disclosure is not to be restricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents . | 8 |
referring now to the drawings , fig1 - 11 depict various embodiments of a metallic microwavable bowl . referring now to fig1 , a microwavable container 2 of the present invention is provided in an exploded view , and which identifies a metal lid 4 with interconnected pull tab 26 , as well as a removable plastic lid 6 which is positioned thereon . in use , the metal lid 4 is hermetically sealed to the metallic side wall upper portion 10 of the container after the foodstuff is placed in the container during filling operations . during use , the metal lid 4 is removed from the metallic sidewall 8 , and the removable plastic lid 6 is positioned on an upper end of the metallic side wall 8 , to prevent splattering and to improve the heating of the foodstuff contained in the microwavable container 2 . referring now to fig2 , a detailed drawing of the upper portion of one embodiment of the microwavable container 2 is provided herein and which depicts the interconnection of the metal lid 4 which is used in conjunction with a sealant material 20 , and further identifying a seam with a lower lip used to retain the removable plastic lid 6 . alternatively , the metal lid 4 is interconnected to the metallic side wall upper portion by a conventional double seam commonly used in the container manufacturing industry . referring now to fig3 , the microwavable container 2 of fig1 is provided herein as viewed from a bottom perspective view . more specifically , the microwavable container 2 comprises a metallic side wall 8 which includes a sidewall upper portion 10 , a metallic sidewall lower portion 12 , and a reinforcing member 16 which is used to interconnect the microwavable transparent bottom portion 14 to the metallic sidewall 8 . in one embodiment of the present invention the microwavable transparent material is comprised of a polyethylene or a polypropylene / evoh , nylon , pet or other plastics , and as appreciated by one skilled in the art can comprise any number of materials which allow the passing of microwavable energy . furthermore , in a preferred embodiment of the present invention , the microwavable transparent bottom portion 14 has a cross sectional area of at least about 1 . 25 square inches , to allow optimum heating of the foodstuff contained within the microwavable container 2 . the bottom reinforcing member 16 is used for interconnecting the metallic sidewall lower portion 12 to the microwavable transparent bottom portion 14 , and is generally comprised of a metal material such as aluminum , or steel . however , as appreciated by one skilled in the art this material may also be comprised of a plastic material such as polypropylene , polyethylene or other well known materials in the art . referring now to fig4 , a cut - away sectional view of one embodiment of a microwavable container 2 is provided herein , and depicts additional detail oft he double seam used to interconnect the microwavable transparent bottom portion 14 to the metallic sidewall lower portion 12 and the bottom reinforcing member 16 as further provided in fig5 . as shown in fig5 , a conventional double seam 30 is used in one embodiment of the present invention and which efficiently interconnects the bottom reinforcing member 16 to the peripheral edge of a microwavable transparent material 18 and to a lower portion of the metallic sidewall 12 . additionally , a sealant material 20 may be positioned between at least 2 of either the metallic sidewall lower portion 12 , the microwavable transparent material 18 , or the bottom reinforcing member 16 to improve and assure the hermetic seal of the microwavable container 2 . preferably the sealant is comprised of an elastomer , a silicon or a latex based material . referring now to fig6 , an alternative embodiment of the present invention is provided herein which depicts a bottom perspective view of a microwavable container 2 which utilizes an alternative geometric pattern for the microwavable transparent material 18 . although in this embodiment additional rigidity is provided with the bottom reinforcing member 16 , and which creates 4 individual pieces of the microwavable transparent material 18 , any variety of geometric shapes and configurations may be used as appreciated by one skilled in the art . preferably , and as stated above , the microwavable transparent material 18 has a surface area sufficient to efficiently heat the foodstuffs contained within the microwavable container 2 , and thus is preferably at least about 1 . 25 square inches , and more preferably about 3 . 0 square inches . furthermore , and again referring to fig6 , the upper portion of the container 2 has a greater diameter than a lower portion , which appears to have superior heating qualities when compared with a traditional food container with a generally cylindrical shape . alternatively , the lower portion of the container 2 may be designed to have a larger diameter than an upper portion of the container , or a generally cylindrical shape may be utilized . referring now to fig7 - 11 , sectional front elevation views of a lower portion of alternative embodiments of a microwavable container 2 are provided herein . more specifically , various embodiments are provided herein which show the interconnection oft he microwavable transparent material 18 , the bottom reinforcing member 16 , and the lower portion of the sidewall 12 . more specifically , as shown in fig7 , a weld 22 is provided which effectively interconnects the microwavable transparent material 18 to the bottom reinforcing member 16 along an upper edge oft he bottom reinforcing material 16 . as shown in fig8 , the weld 22 in this embodiment extends over a portion of the bottom reinforcing member 16 and along a portion of the bottom edge . referring now to fig9 , yet another embodiment of the seal between the microwavable transparent material 18 and the bottom reinforcing member 16 is shown herein and wherein the weld 22 extends downwardly along the bottom reinforcing member 16 in a slightly different configuration . referring now to fig1 - 11 , two alternative embodiments of the present invention are provided , wherein a double seam is not utilized to interconnect the microwavable transparent material 14 to a lower portion of the container sidewall 12 . further , in both of the embodiments depicted in fig1 and fig1 the microwavable container 2 rests completely on the microwavable transparent material 14 , and there is no requirement for a bottom reinforcing material 16 . rather , the lower portion of the container sidewall 12 is merely welded 22 directly to the microwavable transparent material 14 to create an airtight seal , thus eliminating entirely the requirement for the reinforcing material 156 and the step of double seaming these materials together . further , based on the inherent rigidity of the metallic sidewall 12 and microwavable transparent material 18 , there is no need of the bottom reinforcing member 16 , and thus a significant cost savings . although each of the geometric configurations provided in fig7 - 11 have proven to be effective , numerous other variations may be provided as appreciated by one skilled in the art and which may be dictated by preferred geometric shapes , material costs , and / or manufacturing concerns . referring now to fig1 - 14 , bar graphs are provided herein which summarize test data taken during development to compare the heating efficiency oft he hybrid microwavable container 2 of the present invention with respect to a typical plastic or foam microwavable bowl , and more specifically a container comprised of a polypropylene evoh thermo formed barrier sheet material . as depicted in the graphs , each of the containers were filled with a beef with country vegetable soup , and heated over a period of time up to 150 seconds at a power rating of 1100 watts . during this time period , the temperatures of the soup were taken at various positions within the containers , and the data collected and provided herein . more specifically , fig1 depicts the average temperature comparison oft he soup within the hybrid microwavable container 2 and the plastic bowl , while fig1 represents the middle top temperature of the soup in the containers . fig1 represents the middle bottom temperature , while fig1 represents the top side temperature , while the bottom side temperature is depicted in fig1 . a line graph further depicting the comparisons between the heating in the microwavable container 2 and a typical plastic container is further shown in fig1 , which shows the various temperature over time in different portions of the container . as supported by the data shown in fig1 - 15 , the metal microwavable container 2 of the present invention is shown to have superior heating characteristics for the middle portions of the container , which is advantageous compared to typical plastic and foam microwavable containers which typically overheat the contents near the sidewall and lower portions of the container , thus causing burning of the foodstuffs contained therein , as well as potential deformation of the plastic container and an alteration in taste . with regard to the test data used to plot fig1 - 15 , table 1 is provided herein , and which identifies the temperatures taken at various locations within the containers , and comparing both a conventional microwavable plastic bowl and the hybrid metallic microwavable bowl of the present invention . for example , after 60 seconds the middle bottom of the hybrid bowl has a temperature of 173 ° f ., while a conventional plastic / foam bowl comprised of a polypropylene evoh thermo formed barrier material has a temperature of only 107 ° f . furthermore , the top side of the conventional bowl has a temperature of 163 ° f ., as compared to the hybrid bowl of the present invention , which has a temperature of 83 ° f . similar readings may be found at times of 90 seconds and 150 seconds , which clearly show the advantage of the hybrid bowl which heats from the “ inside out ” as opposed to the “ outside - in ”, and thus substantially reducing the likelihood of inconsistent heating and deformation of the container along the sidewalls . # components 2 microwavable container 4 metal lid 6 removable plastic lid 8 metallic sidewall 10 metallic sidewall upper portion 12 metallic sidewall lower portion 14 microwavable transparent bottom portion 16 bottom reinforcing member 18 peripheral edge of microwavable transparent material 20 sealant material 22 weld 24 insulative material 26 pull tab 28 venting apertures 30 double seam while an effort has been made to describe various alternatives to the preferred embodiment , other alternatives will readily come to mind to those skilled in the art . therefore , it should be understood that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or central characteristics thereof . present examples and embodiments , therefore , are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive , and the invention is not intended to be limited to the details given herein . | 1 |
reference will now be made in detail to a preferred embodiment of the system and the method for silicon cooler with intelligent mobile device disclosed in the present patent application , examples of which are also provided in the following description . exemplary embodiments of the system and method disclosed in the present patent application are described in detail , although it will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art that some features that are not particularly important to an understanding of the system and method may not be shown for the sake of clarity . furthermore , it should be understood that the system and method disclosed in the present patent application is not limited to the precise embodiments described below and that various changes and modifications thereof may be effected by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of the protection . for example , elements and / or features of different illustrative embodiments may be combined with each other and / or substituted for each other within the scope of this disclosure . embodiments of the present patent application described hereafter present an active temperature sensor system coupled with the cooler actuators . the exact mobile devices for this purpose in the network have been developed . silicon cooling end and heating end pairs are used to fulfill this localized temperature control task , since the conventional fan system has only static information [ 3 ] . temperature balance techniques are provided according to one broad aspect of the present patent application and may be used on top of such solutions as water proof design for cup holder warm or cool application , to just enhance the user experience . with reference to fig1 , a handle 106 is added to a typical projector 105 including a pair of left and right led and cameras ( labeled 101 ˜ 104 ). the material of the radiator 107 in handle 106 could be gold , silver , aluminum , copper , titanium , platinum , etc . the figure of handle 108 for rectangular projector 109 is shown on the left ; the figure of handle 110 for square projector 111 is shown in the middle ; the figure of club handle 112 for projector 113 is shown on the right . with reference to fig2 , a waterproof foldable tri - pod 205 ( shown on the left ) is made up of two hotlegs 201 / 202 and a coldleg 203 . the working status on a projector 204 is shown on the right . with reference to fig3 , two flips form a hot pad 302 and a cold pad 303 to cool or warm an object 301 in water cup 304 . the right side shows the side view of the two flips , with hot cover 305 and cold cover 306 respectively . with reference to fig4 , a projector having cold pad 401 and hot pad 403 is combined with a secondary mobile battery charge 402 . with reference to fig5 , the software flow diagram illustrates a typical cooling procedure . first of all , certain humidity requirements must be met , otherwise wait until met . once met , startup cooler control manager to prepare for cooling . then check temperature regularly . if temperature is very high or moderately high , turn on actuator to cool and turn on corresponding display led ; if temperature is moderately low , turn off overheat warning display led and actuator diode to stop cooling ; if temperature is abnormally low , go back to the very beginning to check if humidity requirements still met . with reference to fig6 , a projector with a pair of actuators used as silicon cooler is demonstrated . the upper part shows that actuator 601 is connected from positive electrode to actuator ′ 602 , then back to negative electrode . the lower part explains that the silicon cooler is made up of several pairs of sensors and actuators . in each pair , sensor n senses temperature , actuator n used for cooling and actuator n ′ used for heating . with reference to fig7 , camera 701 and 704 is connected to qualcomm modem 715 through csi 714 and 716 respectively . two dsi outputs 711 and 712 from qualcomm modem 715 are connected to virtual keyboard 710 and lcd 713 respectively . meanwhile , dsi outputs 711 and 712 are transformed to rgb format 707 and 709 by quicklogic interface 708 . then rgb signal 707 and 709 is transmitted to dmd 702 and 703 under the control of dlpc 705 and 706 , respectively . an embodiment of the present patent application involves extending traditional cooler to warmer or even projector for comprehensive usability . the multi - function concept may be used in temperature control devices to enable the self stander at the same time . according to an embodiment of the present patent application , the final temperature is adjusted to effectively reach a compromise between battery performance and the brightness . for example , different season can be associated with different level of temperature . implementations of the embodiments of the present patent application disclosed herein may also be useful for future internet of things communication , where unattended sensors need temperature controlling by the machine itself . the silicon cooler principles disclosed herein are also substantially independent of system architecture and may be used for virtually all embedded devices need the temperature control . one basic rule which could be implemented in accordance with an implementation of the embodiments of the present patent application is when the temperature becomes too high , water can be used to as the coolant . the specific type of each component will be implementation - dependent . the particular structure and operation of the cool - hot pairs may be different for different formats of mechanical designs . in addition , the present patent application is in no way restricted to implementation with mobile devices or other types of device having the specific structure shown in the drawings . different or fewer components , with different sensor and actuator interconnections , may be used in a device in which an implementation of the present patent application can be done . according to another embodiment , a single device incorporates both portable charger , cooler , or warmer , with the projecting devices , can be built to form the said multi - function products with any smart phone , with corresponding applications , to fulfill the bright projector applications . in one proto - type system , part of the projector is sourced from ti dlp6401 processor , the coloring flash is provided by quicklogic dsi - rgb bridge , both wifi and lte is from qualcomm , the cooling warming thermal diode pair is from maxim . many different types of implementation and realization of the present patent application are possible , e . g . the camera can be included to detect the human eyes , once the eye is detected , the brightness is lowered immediately to protect human from fainting side effect . other different types of implementation and realization of the present patent application are possible , e . g . the thermal diode can be included to detect the temperature on pcb , once the hot spot is detected , the heat pump is kicked off to move the heat to outside radiation handle or legs immediately to protect pcb heat sick for led light from over heat . components or devices described as hardware above may alternatively be implemented partially in application software . similarly , method steps disclosed herein may be performed by hardware or implemented in software code . the embodiments effectively eliminate the fan cool noise , and allow the water cool of legs as an option . it does so with the sensor actuator feedback pair . the unique water cool methodology is optimized for projector on built in tri - pod . all embedded feedback controlling firmware system implementations are supported , with humidity sensors . while the present patent application has been shown and described with particular references to a number of embodiments thereof , it should be noted that various other changes or modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention . | 6 |
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